Using a tracking spell, Rowan rcer found Evan Ward within minutes.
He appeared above a wide, empty plaza on the outskirts of the city.
Below him, three masked youths—two n and a woman—were sprawled across the pavent, groaning.
Evan stood in the center, brushing dust off his coat.
To be precise, it wasn’t a gang beating Evan.
It was Evan beating the life out of them.
"Three-on-one at midnight?" Rowan said as he drifted down from the air. "That’s either dedication or terrible planning."
Evan turned at the sound of his voice.
"Rowan rcer?" he blurted out, stunned.
Rowan smiled and gave him a lazy wave.
"Evening, Master Ward. My sister said she poured a lot of drinks into you tonight. You look surprisingly sober."
Before Evan could answer, the three masked youths scrambled to their feet and stared at Rowan in disbelief.
"Wait—Rowan rcer?"
"The Rowan rcer who won the Sky Summit Tournant?"
"The one who wiped out the Hale family by himself?"
Their voices shook with excitent.
One of them—the girl, with a bruised eye—ran up, dug a pen out of her pocket, and rolled up her sleeve.
"Mister rcer, could you sign my arm? I forgot my notebook!"
Rowan blinked but took the pen and signed anyway.
"...I have fans now?" he muttered.
Evan looked completely lost.
"Why are they acting like you’re so kind of celebrity?"
One of the young n hurried to explain.
"You don’t know? The Hale family got erased from the underground world. People are calling Rowan rcer and the Grand Master the Twin Absolutes now."
Evan froze.
"...The Hale family is gone?"
He had left Beijing two days early and cut himself off from the scene entirely. He hadn’t checked any forums or underground channels since.
Too busy dealing with stalkers.
Too busy worrying about his family being watched.
Too busy planning how to disappear.
Rowan turned to him.
"Out late sparring with masked challengers, huh?"
Evan scratched his head awkwardly and explained what had happened.
The three attackers were from the Greene family, part of a long-standing occult lineage. They had no real malice. They just wanted to test the guy who’d beaten their generation’s top prodigy.
Their leader, Calvin Greene, had already called Evan to apologize.
"I told Douglas to book a Cantonese place," Evan added. "Calvin’s flying in. Since we ran into each other, want to join us?"
He hesitated, then added honestly, "Also... I borrowed a lot of money from your sister earlier today. Figured I should at least be polite to her terrifying little brother."
Rowan laughed.
"Fair enough. Lead the way."
Douglas, Evan’s long-suffering family manager, stared at the group in horror.
"Sir, the car only seats five."
Rowan stepped forward and tapped the hood of the rcedes.
"Reshape."
The car shimred, stretched, and reassembled itself into a sleek, extended luxury sedan.
Douglas almost dropped his phone.
"...You people are unreal."
The Greene siblings stared at Rowan like he’d just rewritten reality in front of them.
After picking up Calvin Greene at the airport, they arrived at a high-end Cantonese restaurant called Silver Cauldron.
They had barely sat down when Rowan casually placed a thin book on the table.
"Evan," he said. "Interested in this?"
Evan squinted.
"...Is that what I think it is?"
"The Heavenly Talisman."
Evan sprayed tea across the table.
"You can’t just drop sothing like that in the middle of dinner!"
Rowan leaned back in his chair.
"Heavenly Talisman for your spatial technique. Straight trade. No strings."
Evan stared at the book like it might explode.
"...You’re serious?"
Rowan nodded once.
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