The white-haired elder laughed when he saw Evan Yang was serious. "This is my domain."
"You created it?" Evan Yang glanced around, saw no one else, and smiled.
"Wrong." The white-haired elder's smile instantly turned serious.
"It's not your domain? Then how did you get in here?" Evan Yang was suspicious—could this powerful elder have forced his way in by attacking someone else's domain?
What came next left Evan Yang utterly shocked.
"I entered this domain back when I was at the early stage of Spirit-Wandering Realm. It's been many years now—sigh." The white-haired elder sighed helplessly.
"What?" Evan Yang and Warren Dugald were both stunned by this.
"Why would I lie to you? This domain lets you in, but you can't get out!" The white-haired elder grew anxious seeing their disbelief.
"You can enter but not leave?" Evan Yang and Warren Dugald were even more horrified.
"Otherwise I'd have left long ago. Damn place," the white-haired elder muttered, baffled.
From the aura that could match late-stage, even peak Spirit-Wandering experts, Evan Yang guessed that the elder had been trapped here for at least several hundred years, possibly a thousand.
Once Evan Yang calmed down, he asked, "Senior, how many years have you been here?"
"If you count precisely, it should be over a thousand years, maybe even more." The white-haired elder, who hadn't seen sunlight for ages and whose hair had turned white, looked almost like a ghostly figure before Evan Yang and Warren Dugald.
"Is this really a space you can enter but can't leave?" Hearing this, Evan Yang felt a bit disheartened. If even the white-haired elder couldn't break out, he didn't expect he could do it either.
But the white-haired elder was curious about Evan Yang's ability to traverse space. If possible, he would like to leave with Evan Yang, finding another way out.
"Kid, now it's time you explained how you walk through spatial cracks," the elder said excitedly after finishing his story.
Evan Yang thought for a moment and said, "I use a special artifact to move through space."
"What kind of artifact?" The white-haired elder's eyes lit up at the mention of an artifact, staring intently at Evan Yang.
"This artifact is quite unique. I'll let you see for yourself," Evan Yang said, deciding it was easier to let the elder experience it directly.
The white-haired elder was more than happy and urged Evan Yang to proceed quickly.
Evan Yang stood there, and with a single thought, drew the white-haired elder into the Sky-Piercing Tower.
At first, the white-haired elder was surprised and instinctively resisted. Evan Yang realized that if the elder resisted, he was powerless to overcome him, so he sent a voice transmission: "Senior, please don't resist. Otherwise, I won't be able to show you."
Hearing this, the white-haired elder withdrew his aura. In a flash, he appeared inside Evan Yang's Sky-Piercing Tower, where everything was perfectly arranged.
After years without seeing mountains or water, he gazed around excitedly, shouting, "Good, very good! This is truly a marvelous artifact."
Then he began running wildly, like a madman dashing across the hills and fields.
He finally stopped beneath the Sky-Piercing Stele.
There were three names inscribed above. He recognized the first two, but not the third. With a puzzled look, he muttered, "Why did those two old fellows from the Free Alliance leave their names here?"
As the master of the tower, Evan Yang could clearly hear him. Did the elder really know the people named on the stele?
In a flash, Evan Yang and Warren Dugald entered. Evan asked the white-haired elder, "Senior, you know those two people?"
"Of course. Back then, they were the top figures of the Free Alliance—extremely powerful. Later, they both went into seclusion. As for what happened after, I don't know." The white-haired elder shook his head.
Hearing this, Evan Yang understood and asked, "Senior, do you believe me now?"
"I believe you, I believe you. The Sky-Piercing Stele—this must be the Free Alliance's Sky-Piercing Tower." The white-haired elder finished examining the stele and finally understood, laughing.
"You know about it too?" Evan Yang was surprised that someone outside the Free Alliance also knew of the tower.
The white-haired elder laughed. "You know, I actually had a friendship with those two. When they entered the Sky-Piercing Tower, I was a guest at the Free Alliance. Later, the three of us even went to the Death Crystal Field together."
"What?" Evan Yang was shocked to hear the elder had such ties with the two Free Alliance seniors.
"Kid, are you from the Free Alliance?" The white-haired elder now looked calmly at Evan Yang.
Evan Yang nodded slightly. The white-haired elder smiled, "New talents rise with every generation. I never expected someone so young could control the Sky-Piercing Tower."
"Senior, you flatter me." Evan Yang knew his spiritual sense was stronger than most, and when he obtained the Sky-Piercing Tower, he was lucky to discover the tower spirit beneath a pile of rubble.
"Come, let's go outside." Since learning Evan Yang was a Free Alliance successor, the white-haired elder became much friendlier, making Evan Yang wonder if he too was from the Free Alliance.
But Evan Yang didn't ask directly; by now, they had already arrived outside.
The white-haired elder said to Evan Yang, "Spatial cracks are dangerous places. Even with the Sky-Piercing Tower, you might find another exit, but it could turn out to be unreachable or lead somewhere even more perilous."
"You're right, Senior," Evan Yang replied. He shared the same thought, so he had no intention of leaving immediately and planned to search for another way out later.
"Since that's the case, why don't you both stay and cultivate here with me?" the white-haired elder said with a smile.
Evan Yang and Warren Dugald exchanged looks—were they really going to sit here for a thousand years and come out white-haired like the elder?
Both of them had this odd thought.
Seeing their expressions, the white-haired elder laughed, "Don't think this place is ordinary. Aside from the difficulty of leaving, it's probably the best cultivation spot in the entire Death Crystal Field."
"What's so special about it?" Evan Yang looked around, noticing the space was small and the walls emitted a faint glow, but nothing else stood out.
Seeing they didn't understand, the elder broke off a piece of violet-black stone from the wall and handed it to Evan Yang. "Try absorbing it."
Evan Yang and Warren Dugald curiously took the stone and attempted to absorb it as they would a crystal ore.
At first, they felt nothing special, but once absorbed, Evan Yang discovered the spiritual energy was incredibly dense—far richer than even supreme-grade crystal ore. This shocked him, and Warren Dugald was equally amazed.
"This is a kind of energy stone, stronger than supreme-grade crystal ore. When I first arrived here, I didn't notice it, but later I discovered its value, so I've been cultivating here ever since, hoping one day to break out of this space." the white-haired elder explained.
"So that's how it is." Evan Yang murmured, gazing at the faintly glowing walls.
"You can bring these into your Sky-Piercing Tower. After all, your tower has a fifty-fold time ratio," the white-haired elder said with a smile.
"You know even that?" Evan Yang exclaimed in shock.
"Like I said, I was quite familiar with those two seniors from your Free Alliance, so I naturally know these things," the white-haired elder replied with a laugh.
"Why don't you join us inside?" Evan Yang thought for a moment, realizing this was indeed a great place to cultivate, and asked the elder.
The white-haired elder shook his head. "No need. I'll stay here and keep attacking the space. Maybe, if I'm lucky, I can break it open and finally leave this damned place."
Hearing the elder's reason for staying, Evan Yang was a bit shaken. In the end, he gathered some violet-black stones and returned to his own space with Warren Dugald.
As soon as they entered, Warren Dugald couldn't wait to start cultivating.
Evan Yang went to the base of the tower and found Winter. He gave her some stones, and she examined them curiously until Evan explained their purpose.
Then he took out the egg.
"What is this?" Winter asked, curious about the egg.
Evan Yang explained the whole story to Winter.
After hearing Evan Yang's account, Winter looked at the egg in surprise. "Such a pitiful child—born without a mother."
"Whether it can hatch is still uncertain," Evan Yang sighed, then placed a violet-black energy stone beside the egg.
Sure enough, Evan Yang's guess was right. The supreme-grade crystal ore was its energy, but the violet-black stone was even stronger. Soon, they saw spiritual energy drifting from the stone to the egg.
"How amazing," Winter exclaimed in astonishment.
"Maybe this will help it hatch," Evan Yang said with a smile.
"Let me try," Winter said excitedly, placing a stone on the egg. Sure enough, spiritual energy flowed from the stone onto the egg.
Winter smiled with satisfaction.
Seeing Winter with the egg, Evan Yang smiled, said goodbye, and went off to cultivate elsewhere.
Winter gradually became the egg's caretaker, and she was always happy whenever Evan Yang visited.
Evan Yang always brought enough stones, then disappeared again.
In this way, Evan Yang spent many years inside the Sky-Piercing Tower.
If it used to be boring, now, after cultivating for a while, Evan Yang would spar with Warren Dugald to improve his battle skills. Every time, Warren ended up battered and would say he'd never do it again, but after ten years, Evan would drag him back for another round.
At first, Warren Dugald could withstand Evan Yang's attacks and track his movements. But as time went on and Evan kept training, Warren found Evan to be a monster—each bout brought new improvements, whether in speed or strange attack power, making it unbearable.
Evan Yang was never afraid of hurting him; whenever Warren was injured, Evan would heal him.
Warren Dugald always rolled his eyes at Evan Yang, complaining about being used as Evan's sparring dummy.
But under Evan Yang's guidance, Warren made great progress. That was what gratified him most, so he kept letting Evan tempt him into sparring.
After each bout, Evan Yang would review his progress, then find Winter to coach her and check her cultivation steps.
Occasionally, there would be moments of physical contact. The two would look at each other, and the shy Winter—unlike before—would blush deeply, her whole face turning red.