Boom! Lord Gareth Monroe's massive iron hammer crashed down, striking Lord Jun Yang squarely in the chest. The breastplate of his Luminous Golden Aegis Armor instantly shattered, and Jun Yang was sent flying hundreds of yards, blood gushing from his mouth nonstop. It seemed that with one more blow, he would fall for good.
"You two..."
Jun Yang stared at the two figures before him, unable to speak from shock and anger. Before he could say anything, another mouthful of blood sprayed out.
Right now, Yang Chenghu was also severely wounded. Just moments ago, Lord Gareth Monroe had secretly manipulated the fight, forcing Jun Yang and Yang Chenghu to go all out against each other, all while pretending to be slow to help. Whenever Yang Chenghu took a heavy hit, Monroe would then turn his attacks on Jun Yang.
"Hahaha! Jun Yang, you're finally about to die! I've waited over a thousand years for this day! Hmph! Back when you killed my brother, you should've known this was coming!"
Pfft! As soon as Yang Chenghu finished speaking, he also spat out a mouthful of blood. Jun Yang's last strike had nearly killed him, and right now, he was barely any better off than Jun Yang.
"Oh? Is that so? I'm dying, sure, but do you really think you'll walk away alive? Huh? Turns out you're useless in strength and full of holes in your head! Teaming up with the Monroe Legion—you're just asking for trouble!"
Just as Jun Yang finished speaking, Yang Chenghu sensed something was off. He turned to look, only to see Lord Gareth Monroe gathering powerful Stellar Power, coldly smirking at him.
"What are you doing? You bastard!!" He had a guess in his heart, but Yang Chenghu didn't dare let himself think it through.
"Heh! He's right—things have come this far, you can die together. Sorry, but my real goal is to rule this star region, not to kill Jun Yang with you. If you want to blame someone, blame your own ambition for being too big."
Yang Chenghu wanted to say something, but Lord Gareth Monroe gave him no chance.
Boom!
A single blow from Monroe's Starlight Giant Hammer smashed down hard. Yang Chenghu never imagined he'd end up dying at the hands of the very ally he'd paid such a heavy price to recruit.
"Heaven's punishment can sometimes be forgiven, but self-inflicted sins cannot be survived! Yang Chenghu brought this on himself."
"Enough about him. I'll send you to join him soon enough."
Monroe's Starlight Giant Hammer rose high again, and at that moment, Jun Yang felt his life was about to end.
"Do it... Just make it quick..."
Huh? But just as he braced himself for death, ready to self-detonate and drag Monroe down with him, a surge of boundless Stellar Power erupted within his body!
This Stellar Power felt so familiar—it actually contained all Nine Elements!
Instinctively, he looked down and saw, far off, Evan Chu—Adrian Xuan—his entire body covered in cracks, blood streaming along his muscles, teeth clenched as if enduring something unimaginable.
How could he possibly have such overwhelming power? What was he doing? Jun Yang suddenly recalled Evan Chu asking him for all the legion's refined stars earlier, but still couldn't figure out what Evan was up to.
Boom! Suddenly, an explosion sounded in his ears—Monroe's attack had already arrived. Jun Yang instinctively blocked, but this time an immense power erupted, directly repelling Monroe.
"What?! How do you still have such terrifying power?!"
Monroe cursed under his breath—damn it, something was happening he hadn't foreseen, and a sense of dread welled up inside him.
"Heh! There are plenty of things you don't know about yet!"
Jun Yang had no idea how Evan Chu managed to transfer his Stellar Power into him, but now his strength was restored to its peak, and even most of his injuries were healed.
His resolve to die vanished, replaced by a blazing battle intent. Staring at Monroe, his eyes gleamed with golden light.
"Thanks for helping me get rid of a troublesome enemy. Now, let me see just how strong you really are!"
"Damn it!"
Monroe had no idea what was going on, but could only grit his teeth and keep fighting Jun Yang. He just hoped all this was a bluff—if Jun Yang's power really was this strong, then he'd bitten off far more than he could chew...
No one else knew what was happening, but Evan Chu did.
With Starshift Reversal, Evan Chu could channel its power at will. Earlier, he'd used this heaven-defying technique to transfer all his gathered Stellar Power into Jun Yang, making sure Jun wouldn't die before Evan finished his final step.
Now, Evan was ready for his final move—a technique even more heaven-defying than Starshift Reversal: Stellar Detonation!
Stellar Detonation means Evan can use the stars he's refined to absorb all available power, unleash their full might, and then detonate them!
The thirty thousand stars he'd received from the Blazing-Flame Legion couldn't compare to the Crimson Demon Star or Blood-Fiend Star, but their sheer number made up for it.
Evan refused to detonate his own precious stars, but blowing up these ordinary meteors was different. They're not rare, and with enough strength, he could always gather more later. Once Evan reached the Holy Emperor Realm, he'd have the means to replace every soldier's meteor if needed.
Right now, trading stars for a life was absolutely worth it!
"Blazing-Flame Legion, everyone withdraw! Fall back together—move!"
Evan could barely contain the Stellar Power raging inside him. With one last shout, he began triggering the stellar explosions.
Fortunately, the Blazing-Flame Legion's strategists and vice-commanders had already noticed Evan's actions. The Stellar Power here was too intense and unstable—if just one star exploded, the entire Blazing-Flame Legion and their defenses would vanish from this Star-River Dominion before the enemy legions even struck.
"Everyone, fall back!"
With the strategists and commanders giving the order, the Blazing-Flame Legion retreated in perfect formation—not a single soldier broke ranks.
But as they withdrew, more Monroe and Sky Tiger Legion troops surged forward. Over a thousand Blazing-Flame soldiers died in the chaos; by now, more than five thousand had fallen here, not counting the losses from the vanguard detachment!
"Good! That's exactly what we need!"
Evan Chu grinned—these damned enemies, they were all going to die! Wipe out the Blazing-Flame Legion? Dream on!
The ultimate secret art of the second turn of Ninefold Stellar Transformation—right now, Evan Chu was unleashing Stellar Blazeburst!
But even this was the strongest technique Evan could control at the moment. Not only was it extremely demanding—it also carried a deadly backlash.
His previous safe limit was detonating five thousand meteors, but to maximize the destructive force against the two enemy legions, he forcefully fused thirty thousand stars!
That meant once Evan finished all the steps, he'd suffer a vicious backlash—at best, he'd fall into a coma; at worst, even his physical body could be destroyed.
But he couldn't afford to worry about that now. He shouted, "Stellar Blazeburst!" (Vote for monthly tickets, recommendations, and give a tip if you can!)