Evan Yang could only see about a meter ahead; everything beyond was invisible. He kept descending, gripping the rope tightly in his hand.
"This rope is really impressive—it can extend freely," Evan thought. He had no idea how deep he'd gone, only feeling a constant downward pull. Used to heavy gravity, Evan didn't find this place unfamiliar.
Just as Evan was sighing inwardly, his foot bumped into something. "?"
Curious, Evan crouched down and looked beneath his feet. It was a black object.
"What is this?" Evan reached out with his other hand to pick it up, but the moment he touched it, the black object moved. It darted to Evan's back, then leaped onto his head.
The black object then transformed into a bead-like mass, and suddenly a powerful suction appeared, as if it wanted to devour the flower within Evan's Three-Bloom Convergence.
"Damn, what is this thing?" Evan exclaimed in shock. At that moment, his Three-Bloom Flower was already being pulled out, fiercely resisting the suction.
Right now, above Evan's head was a giant flower—the manifestation of Great Perfection, where three flowers merge into one. Not only that, but it also had three leaves, each a different color.
One leaf crackled with electricity. Just as the black object prepared its next attack, currents began to flicker—crackling and sparking.
The electricity shot out, and the black object trembled as soon as it touched the current, then quickly darted away.
"It fears electricity?" Evan wondered, surprised by its reaction.
But after it left, Evan still couldn't see beyond a meter, though he sensed a particularly strong pull coming from a certain direction.
"Let's check over there." Evan moved toward the direction where the attraction felt strongest.
After a while, he saw the scene before him—it was that same black object from earlier.
"Is it the source of the attraction?" Evan muttered, and curiously tried to touch it again. This time, it was smarter—at the slightest provocation, it quickly dodged away.
"Looks like it's scared now. I have to catch it and see what it really is." Evan laughed at its reaction. He continued sensing the attraction until he found it again, confirming this little creature was the culprit.
Getting close, Evan didn't touch it immediately; he prepared to grab it.
He stretched out a hand and quickly caught it. It immediately resisted, releasing a powerful suction.
Evan quickly sealed it, immobilizing the creature. The attraction vanished. Just as Evan was relieved he'd handled it, an even stronger suction suddenly attacked.
And this new suction was purposeful, targeting Evan directly.
Evan sneered coldly. As soon as the flower above his head appeared, the black entity tried to touch it—but a surge of electricity shot out.
The current flowed directly into the black entity.
The black entity instantly shuddered, but it didn't leave. Furious, it said, "Damn it, you actually wield electricity."
"Tell me, what exactly are you? Why are you here?" Evan pressed.
"You want to question me? You're not qualified!" the black entity retorted angrily.
"Is that so?" Seeing it refuse, Evan intensified the current. The black entity tried to dodge but couldn't escape—the electricity had paralyzed its whole body.
The black entity, enraged, said, "You..."
"Speak," Evan demanded.
"Fine, I'll talk," the black entity replied, frustrated.
"That's more like it," Evan said with a smile.
"I'm a Spirit Stone—lifeform that feeds mainly on Attraction Stones," the black entity answered.
"Spirit Stone? How many of you are here?" Evan asked curiously.
"Just me and the one you caught earlier. The others are dead," the black entity replied.
"Dead? Why?" Evan asked, puzzled.
"There used to be a huge block of Attraction Stone here. We grew from it, but as the stone gradually disappeared, we lost our home. Many starved to death. I was lucky enough to become sentient and survive, eventually gaining the power of attraction—same as the one you caught," the black entity explained.
"So that's it." Evan finally understood—no wonder there was such attraction here; it was caused by Attraction Stones, which produce different levels of attraction depending on the person.
"Can you let me go now?" the black entity asked, frustrated.
Evan wanted to release it, but worried it might escape. So after sealing it, he said, "All right."
"Why can't I move?" the black entity exclaimed in shock.
"Of course I did that," Evan replied.
"I have no grudge against you, so why did you capture the two of us?" the black entity asked, frustrated.
Evan really had no grudge against them; he just wanted to find out why there was such a strong attraction here. Now that he understood the reason, he was still a bit puzzled—if the Attraction Stone was gone, why was there still attraction? The only explanation pointed to the Spirit Stone.
"Tell me, are you the one constantly releasing attraction?" Evan asked.
"Yes," the black entity replied.
"Why do you do that?" Evan asked curiously.
"We're just too bored. We wanted to see the world above, but we can never leave this place. So we keep attracting things from outside to see what comes down," the black entity explained.
"So that's it. No wonder," Evan replied.
"It's not its fault—let it go," the black entity said, glancing at the smaller black creature Evan had caught.
Evan looked at it and replied, "I'll release it, but not right now. Come with me first."
So Evan took both creatures and began swimming upward. Without the attraction, he easily reached the surface.
Faye Gale, who had been worried, was surprised to see Evan burst up. "Are you okay?" she asked.
"I'm fine," Evan replied with a smile, then released the creatures from his hand.
Seeing the two immobilized creatures, one large and one small, Faye asked curiously, "What are these?"
"These are the culprits," Evan said with a smile, then explained the whole process to Faye.
"What? You mean it can emit attraction?" Faye was skeptical.
Evan knew she wouldn't believe it, so he unsealed the small one, grabbed it, and said, "Try it yourself."
Curious, Faye touched it—and sure enough, a powerful attraction clung to her hand.
Evan understood this effect varied depending on the person.
He quickly sealed it again and smiled, "Now you believe me?"
"What a truly magical thing," Faye murmured.
Evan smiled. "All right, it's fine now. Let's head back."
Evan then put both creatures away, storing them in his spatial ring.
Faye glanced around. "There's a cave up there—let's check it out."
"Still want to explore?" Evan was speechless.
"This time is different. With those two troublemakers dealt with, now we can check out the cave," Faye said with a mischievous grin.
"Just look from the outside—don't go in," Evan warned. He couldn't guarantee what was inside, and if even Faye couldn't withstand it, they'd be in trouble. He reminded her to be cautious.
Faye agreed, but who knew what she was really thinking? The two walked to the cave entrance, where a powerful, dense aura greeted them.
"Such pure energy," Faye exclaimed in surprise.
"Don't go in," Evan said with a frown. He realized this aura wasn't simple—it was incredibly pure, even surpassing the energy of top-grade crystal sources.
"You're really not going in?" Faye was still tempted.
"This is the Human Realm, and it's someone else's forbidden area. If we're discovered, it'll be a big problem," Evan explained. He knew a forbidden area wouldn't be so simple.
Thinking of the attraction earlier, Faye became a bit fearful. "Forget it, let's just take a look and leave."
Evan had no choice but to follow Faye down the mountain. As they left, he glanced back at the cave entrance, curious why his Ice-Fire was restless—was there something inside it liked?
Once they reached the lowest path, Evan brought out the unconscious person and asked, "How did you sneak in here?"
Faye knew this person was knocked out by Evan, but she was different—her cultivation had advanced, so she moved fast enough to avoid detection.
"Me? Heh, of course my cultivation improved. I used Flash Step," Faye said with a smile.
"Flash Step?" Evan asked, puzzled.
"You wouldn't understand yet. You'll get it someday—when your cultivation reaches a certain level, you can pierce through space for short distances," Faye explained with a smile.
"Short-distance spatial piercing? What is that?" Evan asked, still puzzled.
"Watch me demonstrate—pay attention," Faye said with a smile. As Evan focused, Faye vanished, then tapped him on the back.
Evan was startled. "How did you get behind me?"
"That's Flash Step—it lets you pierce a certain distance without being noticed," Faye said with a smile.
"That's terrifying," Evan exclaimed.
"You've never seen anything scarier. If you measure by the Human Realm's planets, one step could span several worlds," Faye said with a laugh.
"What?" Evan exclaimed in shock.
"Don't believe me?" Faye chuckled.
Evan recalled the elder from the Gravity Heart, who once carried them several breaths' distance. If Evan didn't believe it, he had firsthand experience of that speed—it could only be described as piercing through space.