Evan Yang sat cross-legged in the cave. After the first day, his body finally eased a bit, but just as he relaxed, the next day's Source Surge arrived. Evan cursed—how could it come so quickly, his body had barely recovered.
A powerful aura entered Evan's body again. Instantly, he felt completely immobilized. Helpless, he could only wait for the Heaven‑Cold Seed to help him.
After half an hour, the Source Surge receded, and a voice beside him sounded: "Still alive?"
"Barely," Evan replied.
"Looks like your body really is unusual. You can withstand the Source Surge here—not bad. Stick it out for a few months, and soon you'll move freely. You'll see unexpected results." The man laughed.
Evan smiled, muttering to himself, "If this doesn't work, then I'm just getting battered for nothing every day."
In the days that followed, Evan let the Heaven‑Cold Seed slowly repair his body. He considered letting Lynn Lin and the others out, but realized they weren't as lucky as him, so he just updated Lynn and the others inside the Strange Spiral Shell about the situation outside.
Hearing how domineering the Source Surge was, they gave up the idea of coming out. Evan could only stay here and wait for the next round of cultivation.
Eyes closed, Evan began circulating his qi with the Heaven‑Cold Seed, slowly absorbing the new energy. Day after day passed—each day brought small progress, and the time he was immobilized gradually shortened. At first he couldn't move for a whole day, then half a day, and now just a few hours.
After three months, Evan could stabilize his internal qi within half an hour and move freely. He also found that, unexpectedly, his cultivation had broken through in just three months. The man beside him was secretly shocked by Evan's progress—this was simply genius.
Evan began to experiment, seeing if he could move forward a bit. When Evan managed to shift ahead, the person in the cave asked, "Are you sure you moved forward?"
"Yeah, I'm planning to give it a try," Evan said.
"Alright, but be careful. Every step forward is tough," the man warned.
Evan nodded, indicating he understood. He then asked, "How much should I move at once?"
"Ten meters is enough. Any further and the pressure gets intense," the man suggested.
"Alright, I'll try it," Evan agreed. He moved forward ten meters, picked a new spot, sat down, and waited for the next Source Surge.
Sure enough, when the next Source Surge came, Evan was again immobilized for a whole day, spending a lot of time enduring hardship here.
And so, a year, two years—many years went by, and Evan had moved a great distance.
The person who had spoken to Evan before, after several years, concluded Evan was practically a monster. Evan himself had made great progress in his cultivation, though each step grew harder.
But for Evan, this was already enough.
During these years, Evan was discovered by some of the Gods here. They grew curious about this mysterious young man—who was he, to have the ability to reach such depths?
Until one day, the previously quiet cave abode was disturbed—six Gods found Evan's trail and realized he was the one who disappeared with King Haiten.
"That's him, no doubt," one God said. The others checked as well and confirmed Evan was the one who vanished last time. All six stepped out, heading toward the meditating Evan.
When Evan sensed several Divine Senses sweeping over him, he curiously opened his eyes—and was shocked to see the six figures.
"Kid, where is he?" one God demanded.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Evan replied calmly.
"Still won't admit it? You've got guts, showing up in this cave under our noses. But if you don't tell us where that guy is, this cave will be your grave," one of the Gods threatened.
Evan realized the crisis he was in. He frowned, not knowing what to do. At that moment, an old man stepped out from behind the six Gods—the elder who had spoken and taught Evan for years. He looked at the six and said, "What are you six up to?"
"Old Carl, this doesn't concern you. Go back to your cultivation," one God said.
"And what if I say I want to meddle?" Elder Carl replied.
"We know you're strong, but even so, you can't withstand all six of us together. So you'd better stay out of this—or else you'll end up just as badly," one God threatened.
"I'm just an old man with no real hobbies except meddling. What, you don't want me to? Well, I insist! If you want to attack him, you'll have to get through me first." Elder Carl snorted, then flashed to Evan's side in an instant.
Seeing Elder Carl appear beside him in the blink of an eye, Evan was secretly shocked and deeply grateful. "Thank you, Senior," he said.
"The six of them are terrifying together. I don't know how long I can hold out. You'd better retreat deeper. Whether you survive depends on your own luck," Elder Carl transmitted to Evan.
Evan was shocked and grateful to this senior. He quickly said, "Thank you," then turned and headed deeper into the cave.
When the six saw Evan retreating, they were alarmed and tried to chase after him, but their way was blocked by Elder Carl.
"Carl, are you really going to oppose us? You're strong, but we're not afraid of you," one of them said angrily.
"Let your hands do the talking, not your mouth," Elder Carl replied.
The six looked at each other, then one said, "Fine, then let's fight." With that, all six attacked Elder Carl. Though none of the seven seemed to move, in the blink of an eye they'd exchanged countless blows, each emerging with different injuries.
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By now, Evan had already gone far ahead and had no idea what was happening behind him. The deeper he went, the weaker Divine Sense became.
At that moment, one of the six Gods took advantage of a distracted Elder Carl, flashed through a gap, and vanished ahead. Elder Carl was secretly alarmed, but he couldn't leave—if he did, the remaining five would charge after Evan too.
"Isn't this pointless, Carl? One of us already got through," one of them laughed.
"Blocking you five is enough. As for the other one, that's up to his own fate," Elder Carl replied.
"I really don't get it—what's your connection to him? You're actually standing up to all six of us for his sake, but we're not so easy to bully," another said.
"At this point, is there any point in explaining further?" Elder Carl said.
Seeing Elder Carl so stubborn, the others could only keep fighting him. They weren't worried about Evan escaping—after all, one of them had gone after him.
Soon, Evan sensed a powerful aura behind him. Sure enough, one of the Gods appeared and sneered, "Still trying to run?"
Evan stopped, knowing he'd never outrun a God's speed.
"Gods really are on another level when it comes to speed," Evan said with a wry smile.
"You can still laugh at a time like this? I can't tell if you're just bold or pretending to be calm," the God laughed.
"Either way, I know you won't let me go. So since it's like this, why should I be afraid?" Evan replied with a smile.
"Why be afraid, huh? Kid, tell me—where is he?" the God pressed.
"I told you, I don't know who you're talking about," Evan answered.
"Do you think I'll believe you? I saw you leave together. Stop denying it, or else—you know what'll happen," the God said.
"What consequences? You're just Gods. It's not like you can overturn the heavens," Evan said with a smile.
"You've got quite the attitude, kid. In that case, let me show you the power of a God." The God sneered. In the blink of an eye, several wounds appeared on Evan's body.
Even Evan didn't see how it happened—he was shocked. "You—"
"Your blood?" The God looked suspicious when he saw Evan's blood wasn't like a human's.
"I'm not human, so of course my blood is different," Evan explained, recalling how some spirit beasts could transform into humans and their blood would naturally be different. He was mentally prepared and explained right away.
"No wonder you were so close to that guy—you're the same kind. In that case, I won't hold back. Take this!" The God attacked again, leaving more wounds on Evan.
"Are you toying with me?" Evan said angrily.
"That's right. I'm going to play with you—slowly, until you're dead," the God sneered.
Evan was furious, but he didn't want to use the Strange Spiral Shell or the Shuttle Pen at such close range. The God would surely notice if he did.
So the God kept tormenting Evan, leaving him covered in wounds. Furious, Evan snorted, "You think I'll give in because of this?"
"Not really, but it's fun to play this way," the God said with a smile.
"Don't let me get a chance to turn the tables, or I'll kill you," Evan said.
"You? I'm standing right here and you can't touch me," the God laughed.
"Is that so?" Evan flashed forward to attack, but the God vanished and reappeared behind him, saying, "I've seen through your speed from the start."
"You—" Evan was shocked. This was terrifying—was this the difference between Gods and non-Gods?
"Surprised? Too bad, you can't escape your fate," the God said with a smile.
"Sometimes fortune favors me," Evan said mysteriously.
The God was puzzled. "Fortune? You think you have a way to defeat me, or escape from my hands?"