Miss Cloud said anxiously, "No need, I'll just wait here for him. If he doesn't come down, I'm not going anywhere."
"Miss Cloud, after today, it will be very difficult to see this place again," Zeke Wood said.
Evan Yang had already seen through Zeke Wood's intentions. In fact, he was deliberately trying to get the two together, then have Miss Cloud go down, and afterward pull himself down as well.
"No, I'm going to wait for him," Miss Cloud said.
"Miss Cloud, with such a good place, of course we should go. I'll come down now," Evan Yang said.
Zeke Wood raised his eyebrows, and Miss Cloud looked at Evan Yang in surprise and said, "Then hurry up and come down!"
Zeke Wood didn't think Evan Yang could come down. The trees here were all extremely tough, and combined with his own power, it was hard to break through. But unexpectedly, the trees around Evan suddenly withered as if drained, leaving almost nothing behind.
This sudden turn of events shocked both Zeke Wood and Miss Cloud. Evan Yang jumped down from above, came over to Miss Cloud, and smiled, "Alright, I'm down. Let's go enjoy the scenery."
At this moment, Zeke Wood's face was extremely ugly. The trees here were all very valuable, but now they looked as if they'd lost all their essence. He seized on this as an excuse and shouted angrily, "Do you know how precious these trees are? You just killed them like that! You've broken the rules of our Wood Temple. No matter what, I have to take you to see the Palace Lord for judgment today!"
Evan Yang hadn't expected such a strong reaction from the other party. Miss Cloud hurriedly explained, "Brother Zeke, he was just trying to come down. Isn't this a bit much?"
"Miss Cloud, this is very serious. I advise you not to stay with him. If you get implicated later, I won't be able to help you," Zeke Wood immediately changed his expression and smiled at Miss Cloud.
Miss Cloud stubbornly replied, "I don't care. No matter what, I'm staying with him. If we're punished, we'll be punished together."
Zeke Wood's expression changed dramatically. He hadn't expected Miss Cloud to protect Evan Yang so fiercely. But no matter what, he still had to capture Evan Yang for judgment, so he said, "Are you just going to hide behind a woman?"
"A woman? Who says so? If you can take me away, I'll let you do whatever you want. But if you can't, then I'm leaving," Evan Yang said.
"Arrogant. Take this!" Zeke Wood snorted coldly, while Evan Yang motioned for Miss Cloud to stand aside.
Suddenly, countless wood vines appeared around Zeke Wood, directly targeting Evan Yang and wrapping him up inside.
Evan Yang looked at Zeke Wood and smiled, "Do you really think this will work?" As he spoke, a burst of fire appeared, instantly burning the vines to ash. Not only that, but a wave of cold energy surrounded Evan, protecting him so that he was completely unharmed in the blazing fire.
In the blink of an eye, the vines were burned to ashes. Zeke Wood was shocked, but refused to give up. He snorted, "Hmph, your attributes are just stronger. But as for attack power, I want to see how much strength you really have."
With that, Zeke Wood suddenly sped up and rushed to Evan Yang, sneering, "Die!" He threw a punch straight at Evan.
Evan Yang smiled, "That speed won't cut it." With that, Evan flashed away, making Zeke Wood miss completely. Zeke Wood quickly stopped and turned around, seeing Evan not far behind him, watching. Miss Cloud smiled at Evan, and seeing their interaction, Zeke Wood's jealousy flared even higher. Without hesitation, he stood his ground and shouted angrily. Suddenly, countless wood vines appeared, but this time they wrapped around him, forming an armor-like shell. "What's this move?" Evan asked curiously.
"This is my strongest transformation technique. Prepare to die," Zeke Wood snorted. His speed doubled compared to before, surprising Evan Yang. The only thing Evan could do now was fight back, so he threw a punch. The two collided head-on.
Zeke Wood sneered, "Die!"
"Is that so? We'll see about that." Evan Yang threw another punch, this one even stronger than before, directly injuring Zeke Wood's arm.
"Damn it, you—" Zeke Wood was shocked, not expecting Evan Yang to be hiding more strength.
"If that's all you've got, I suggest you step back. Otherwise, I can't guarantee what happens next," Evan Yang said with a smile.
Zeke Wood refused to give in and immediately powered up again. But each time he did, Evan Yang noticed it cost him a lot of energy. "All that just for pride? Not worth it," Evan Yang sighed to himself.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest, Cole Wood sensed Zeke Wood's changed aura and exclaimed, "What's going on? Has Zeke run into danger?"
Cole Wood was alarmed and hurried toward the source of the aura. When he arrived, he saw a stranger attacking the injured Zeke Wood.
"Stop!" Cole Wood flashed in front of Zeke Wood, blocking Evan Yang's attack.
That blow forced Cole Wood back several steps. Zeke Wood staggered and managed a bitter smile, "Senior Brother."
"What happened?" Cole Wood saw that Zeke Wood had used his transformation technique several times, leaving him completely exhausted.
"He... he damaged the Wood-Water Pool like this, so I..." Zeke Wood said, then fainted.
Cole Wood looked at the pool and exclaimed, "Who are you? Why did you damage our Wood-Water Pool?"
"I'm from the Water Temple. As for the damage, that's not quite right. Your junior used it to trap me, so I had no choice but to break it to get down," Evan Yang explained.
Cole Wood exclaimed, "My junior would never do such a thing! You must have done something to provoke him."
"If you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do. Let's wait until he wakes up and talk then," Evan Yang said.
"Hmph, regardless, you damaged the Wood-Water Pool and must be punished. Come with me to accept your sentence, or I won't be so lenient," Cole Wood said.
Evan Yang smiled, "Your junior said the same thing earlier. If you keep pestering me like this, there's nothing I can do."
"Arrogant! Then let me see what you've got," Cole Wood said, and started fighting Evan Yang. Cole Wood was much stronger than Zeke Wood, and his transformation abilities were impressive. If Evan Yang hadn't relied on the Heaven-Cold Seed to sense Cole's wood aura and predict his attacks, he wouldn't have been able to dodge so easily against someone already at the Void-Realm stage.
Cole Wood was shocked to find that Evan Yang, who was supposedly only at the Emperor Realm, possessed such power. He couldn't believe how Evan managed it.
The two fought for a long time, both growing tired. Cole Wood was out of breath, and Evan Yang was also a bit exhausted. They stared at each other.
Soon, many people gathered around, drawn by the commotion of their battle.
Palace Lord Rowan of the Wood Temple arrived, seeing Cole Wood weakly standing, Evan Yang and Miss Cloud off to the side, and Zeke Wood lying on the ground. He frowned at the state of the Wood-Water Pool and asked, "What happened here?"
"Master, he damaged the Wood-Water Pool and injured my junior," Cole Wood said.
Morgana Dreamhaven also arrived, just in time to hear this. She frowned, thinking Evan Yang wasn't the reckless type, and asked, "Is that really what happened?"
"Who are you?" Cole Wood asked, puzzled.
"I'm from the Water Temple. They're all here with me, so I have the right to ask about what happened," Morgana Dreamhaven replied.
"Well said. If you have the right, then ask him whether that's really what happened," Cole Wood said.
Palace Lord Rowan looked at Cole Wood, then at Morgana Dreamhaven, feeling troubled. He was angry but also confused. If Evan Yang weren't favored by Elder Woodspirit, he would have lost his temper already.
Seeing his master didn't get angry but instead stared at Evan Yang, Cole Wood asked in confusion, "Master, what's wrong?" "Nothing, just asking," Palace Lord Rowan replied, then walked up to Evan Yang. "Is that really what happened?"
"I'm afraid I can't explain it clearly. Better let Miss Cloud do it," Evan Yang said, not wanting to waste words and feeling a bit weak.
Palace Lord Rowan looked at Miss Cloud with suspicion. "Miss Cloud, what really happened here?"
Miss Cloud explained everything that had happened. After Cole Wood and Palace Lord Rowan listened, they guessed what was going on. They knew the Wood-Water Pool could be controlled, but the rule about only one person per day was definitely false. It was entirely Zeke Wood's fault.
To confirm, Palace Lord Rowan woke Zeke Wood. When Zeke saw so many people, he was delighted. "Master, you're here too!"
"Yes, so what really happened?" Palace Lord Rowan asked.
Zeke Wood explained the process, but added, "He was awful, he ruined the whole Wood-Water Pool." "Why don't you explain why he had to break it?" Palace Lord Rowan replied.
"He just didn't like it, so he destroyed it," Zeke Wood said.
Everyone who had just heard Miss Cloud's explanation now found Zeke Wood's story suspicious. No one believed him, and Palace Lord Rowan's face darkened. He shouted, "I told you to cultivate, but you never do. Now you pull something like this? Get back to training!"
Cole Wood didn't know what to say and quickly led the injured Zeke Wood away.
Some people laughed at the scene, but Palace Lord Rowan couldn't smile. He turned to Evan Yang and Miss Cloud and said, "Sorry for the trouble."
"No trouble at all. We're the ones who caused Palace Lord Rowan trouble," Evan Yang replied.
Palace Lord Rowan sighed helplessly. "I don't know how you made these trees like this, but if you can, I'd like you to fix it. After all, it's one of the Wood Temple's forbidden grounds and has its uses."
Morgana Dreamhaven frowned. "Palace Lord Rowan, the trees are already like this. How could they possibly recover?"
"I know it's difficult, but I've heard from Elder Woodspirit that Evan Yang has this ability," Palace Lord Rowan suddenly revealed, surprising everyone—even Evan Yang. Evan's ability to revive withered trees was supposed to be a secret, so how did Elder Woodspirit know?