Evan Yang knew perfectly well that Shawn Bai had ulterior motives, but he agreed anyway—he needed to strengthen himself. At this moment, he had already returned to the city where Hannah Nangong was staying and found her at the inn.
"How did it go?" Hannah Nangong asked when she saw Evan return.
"Yeah, it's all taken care of. There's nothing left for me to do now," Evan replied.
"So fast? Tell me about it," Hannah asked curiously.
So Evan recounted the whole process to Hannah Nangong. It took him a while to finish. Afterward, Hannah asked, "I see, so you met people from Fire God Palace? They want you to go there?"
"Yeah, the people from Fire God Palace want to take me there," Evan said.
"This is probably a trap. I think you shouldn't go—just leave," Hannah Nangong said after thinking it over.
"It's fine. I'll go," Evan said after a moment's thought.
Hannah Nangong was puzzled—why did Evan insist on going? So she asked, "Why do you have to go?"
"I want to check out the techniques at Fire God Palace," Evan said.
"Do you really trust them?" Hannah Nangong asked.
"Yeah, but I know he's definitely up to something. Don't worry, though—he can't kill me," Evan said after thinking it over.
"In that case, I'll go with you. It'll be safer that way," Hannah Nangong said. "Better not. I'm going to join the sect, and if you come, you might get kicked out," Evan replied after considering it.
"That's easy. I'll just stay in your tower. Let me out if you need me," Hannah said.
Seeing Hannah Nangong insist, Evan had no choice but to accept. He brought her into the tower and headed for the agreed-upon city.
"I'm a fifth-tier Heavenly-Immortal. I can contend with Profound-Immortals, but if I show off too much, people will notice. Better keep a low profile," Evan muttered to himself.
Evan quickly arrived at the destination city. Outside, he saw Shawn Bai and Colin Green waiting. Colin seemed unusually calm, but Evan knew they were definitely plotting something against him.
"How should I address you?" Shawn Bai asked, delighted that Evan had arrived on time.
"I'm Mu Han. Who are you two?" Evan asked.
"I'm Shawn Bai, and this is my junior, Colin Green. I know you two had some misunderstandings, so I brought him along," Shawn said with a smile.
"Brother Mu, this was all just a misunderstanding. I, Colin Green, apologize to you," Colin hurriedly said.
Evan felt the change was a bit too abrupt, but he smiled and replied, "It's fine, it's fine. I only took your mother away for her own good—this way, you can avoid unnecessary conflict."
Colin heard this and felt frustrated inside, but forced a smile. "Brother Mu, you're right. I was wrong before, locking my mother up. Now that you've taken her away and made her happy, I can rest easy."
"Oh? If Brother Green really thinks that way, that's great. I'm sure your sister would be happy too," Evan said with a smile.
Evan's words were pure sarcasm, but Colin could only nod and force a smile. "That's right. I was wrong before, but now as long as they're happy, that's all that matters."
"Mm, not bad. Admitting your mistake and changing is good," Evan said with a smile.
Shawn Bai saw where Evan's words were going and quickly stepped in to smooth things over, worried they might actually start fighting. He laughed, "Alright, it's getting late. Let's head to Fire God Palace."
"Alright," Evan nodded. Colin also nodded, though inside he was furious, his eyes flashing with hostility as he cursed silently, "Just wait, kid. I'll let you off for now, but once we reach Fire God Palace, I'll slowly play you to death."
Evan didn't care what Colin was thinking. Right now, he was just curious whether Ninety-Ninefold Purefire was really that powerful. Three major realms, each with many sub-realms, and Evan realized the nine layers he'd learned before were wrong—he'd only studied the lowest tier.
On the road, Shawn Bai tried to win Evan over and asked, "Brother Mu, what's your connection to the Wood Family?"
"You mean the Wood Family here? No relation, my clan's just a small family," Evan replied.
"I see. Brother Mu, your strength is really something—your speed is amazing," Shawn said with a smile.
"Thanks for the compliment, but that's my secret. I hope you two can help me keep it quiet," Evan said with a smile.
"Oh? No problem," Shawn said, clearly delighted. He misunderstood Evan's meaning, but Evan took advantage of Shawn's mindset—this way, Shawn would help keep the secret, so only he would know.
"Thanks. Maybe you two will be my senior brothers in the future," Evan joked.
"That's possible. All nine branches in Fire God Palace are powerful, and our sect strictly forbids internal strife. So in Fire God Palace, you can safely cultivate and master Ninety-Ninefold Purefire," Shawn said with a laugh.
"Oh? Fire God Palace doesn't allow internal fighting? Why is that?" Evan asked curiously.
"Of course, it's for unity. If disciples fought among themselves, it'd be a mess. So internal fighting is banned, but sparring is allowed to help improve cultivation," Shawn explained.
"But that rule seems pretty standard—every sect and clan has something like it," Evan mused, thinking it was normal.
"It's normal, but Fire God Palace's rule is stricter. If anyone's caught attacking a fellow disciple, the consequences are serious—sometimes their cultivation is stripped," Shawn replied.
"Really?" Evan was surprised.
"That's why, once I knew you practice Ninety-Ninefold Purefire, I gave up any ideas—I sincerely treat you as a fellow disciple. Otherwise, I'd be in trouble," Shawn said with a laugh, hoping to reassure Evan and show he wouldn't target him anymore.
Colin chimed in, "Yeah, so I won't have any thoughts about you either. Once you join, we're all brothers."
"Thanks to both of you. What are the detailed requirements for joining Fire God Palace?" Evan asked curiously.
"First, anyone who has mastered Ninety-Ninefold Purefire and hasn't killed or opposed Fire God Palace can join directly. Second, there's an entrance test—at minimum, you need fire attribute, and you must pledge loyalty to Fire God Palace," Shawn explained.
The three, each with their own thoughts, headed to a grand hall called the Newcomer Hall. It was strikingly imposing, fiery red and eye-catching like a blaze.
"This hall is impressive," Evan said with a smile.
"Of course! This is the main hall for outsiders—most newcomers see it first, so it's Fire God Palace's symbol to the outside world," Shawn said with a laugh.
"I see," Evan nodded, noticing that many people were already lining up at the Newcomer Hall.
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