Seeing Elena's expression change, Winter said, "Don't overthink it. It'll be fine."
"You're not angry?" Elena suddenly asked, not knowing why.
"Angry about what?" Winter's cold face showed a hint of curiosity.
"I..." Elena's face started to blush, unsure how to explain.
"Don't overthink it. Evan had plenty of girls before." Winter said with a half-smile.
"What?" Elena looked surprised—this was the first time she'd heard Winter mention Evan had other girls.
Seeing Elena was no longer awkward, Winter started telling her all about Evan's past.
As for Evan, he had no idea what the two girls were up to. At that moment, he was slowly recovering, and it wasn't until a month later that all his injuries were fully healed.
"Whew, finally healed." Evan got up and took a deep breath.
Then he walked out of his room. Seeing him was fine, everyone outside finally relaxed—except Elena, who was staring at Evan with a half-smile.
Evan, creeped out, pulled Elena aside and asked, "What's up with you?"
"It's nothing. Just hearing about your past really opened my eyes." Elena laughed.
"My past?" Evan glanced suspiciously at Winter, who was giggling nearby.
A smile appeared on Winter's cold face—if they were outside, it would definitely charm a crowd of men.
Even the old guys here couldn't handle it anymore; they quickly avoided her and went back to cultivating.
Noticing everyone's reactions, Evan snapped back to himself and asked Elena, "What did she tell you?"
"She said you used to have a lot of girls, and your relationships were all pretty unusual." Elena laughed.
"What do you mean, unusual? They're all just friends." Evan said, feeling helpless—aside from Winter and one special case where he had to save someone, he hadn't even touched the others.
"Look at you getting all nervous. No need to explain, we get it. But what about you—how'd you end up so badly hurt?" Elena asked.
Evan wanted to explain, but seeing everyone, he worried they'd get anxious, so he just smiled, "It's nothing, I just ran into some powerful people."
"Was it the Fenns?" Elena asked suspiciously.
"No, don't worry. I just went somewhere else." Evan smiled, then after briefing Winter and the others, started checking the situation outside.
A month had passed in the tower, but outside it was only half a day. Evan wanted to see what had happened to his tower.
He was stunned when he saw the scene outside.
Several pseudo-Immortal souls were gathered around, studying his tower.
The noises they made were completely incomprehensible to Evan; he had no idea what they were saying.
After each soul finished investigating, and found nothing, the same pseudo-Immortal soul that had previously encountered Evan picked up the tower and walked off.
"Where are you going?" Evan muttered.
The pseudo-Immortal soul kept walking until it reached the edge of a cliff, about two hundred meters wide.
There was a path on the other side, but they didn't fly across—instead, they simply tossed the tower down into the gorge.
Evan felt everything spinning wildly until, with a thud, the tower plunged into sinking concrete-like mud.
"Swamp?" Evan muttered, but the outside grew harder to see until the whole tower was buried in the mud.
"Did he leave or not?" Evan wondered as the tower sank, feeling uneasy.
After a while, Evan carefully guided the tower upward, until it finally broke through the mud's surface.
"Gone?" Evan muttered when he saw the pseudo-Immortal soul at the cliff edge had left.
He kept guiding the tower slowly upward.
Once at the cliff edge, Evan didn't go back to where he'd been—he knew there were several pseudo-Immortal souls there, and going would mean certain death. Instead, he headed for the opposite side, over two hundred meters away.
After reaching the other side, Evan looked down and saw some black mud. He muttered, "What are these things?"
While he was thinking, the tower touched the ground, making a series of squeaking noises.
Evan was startled—the black mud stuck to his tower was reacting with the soil, seeming to corrode it.
"It's corrosive?" Evan said in surprise.
Evan was glad he hadn't recklessly exited the tower while it was submerged in the black mud—otherwise, the consequences would have been serious.
This also made Evan realize why the pseudo-Immortal soul had thrown him into that swamp-like black mud—it was meant to corrode the tower, but his artifact was too tough to dissolve.
After discovering the black mud's properties, Evan thought for a moment and guided the tower back down to the cliff base.
Seeing a swamp of black mud stretching like a river, Evan had an idea and absorbed some of it into his tower.
Instantly, a section inside the tower was filled with black mud, which sizzled loudly as it touched the ground.
Everyone nearby was drawn over by the commotion.
Curious, Elena tried to get closer, but Evan shouted, "Don't touch it!"
Everyone was startled and stared at Evan and the mud, curiosity piqued.
A spot about the size of a small pool was soon covered in the stuff.
"What is this?" Elena asked, startled after Evan shouted.
"It's dangerous stuff," Evan replied, but everyone was still confused.
So Evan grabbed a random treasure—a Twin Tiger Staff he'd gotten from the Wang family—and said, "This is a treasure weapon. Watch closely."
He dipped the staff in the mud, and everyone watched as the spot that touched the mud began to melt, droplets of material falling off right before their eyes.
"Ah!" Elena cried out, relieved she hadn't touched the strange mud—otherwise, her hand would've been ruined.
The others were shocked as well.
After showing everyone how dangerous it was, Evan warned, "From now on, this area is off-limits. Don't come near—it's too dangerous."
With Evan's demonstration, no one was foolish enough to mess with the stuff anymore. They all nodded in agreement.
Once everyone understood, Evan went back outside, guided the tower to the cliff edge, and stepped out.
"The other side belongs to those pseudo-Immortal souls—I can only go further back." Evan muttered, cleaning off the tower before leaving, moving quickly to avoid running into any more powerful pseudo-Immortal souls.
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He moved fast, but annoyingly, as he flew back, he saw nothing. He wondered, "Is this also pseudo-Immortal territory?"
Just as he worried about running into more powerful souls, a huge water basin appeared before him.
The water was crystal clear. Evan walked over, bent down, and was startled—the water could reflect things, but his divine sense couldn't penetrate it.
"What's this?" Evan saw his own reflection in the water, but it wasn't his body—it was his soul.
Evan was shocked. "What is this place?"
Just then, many shadows appeared in the water, all kinds and colors, startling Evan. He looked around, but there was no one—where were the reflections coming from?
Thinking he was seeing things, he looked closer and realized they were real—and the shadows drifted toward a certain spot.
That place was far away, beyond Evan's divine sense. The figures in the water quickly disappeared from sight, then another batch drifted over—again and again, in endless cycle.
"Is this... the Cycle of Rebirth?" Evan muttered. He saw his soul in the water, so the other shadows must be souls too—he couldn't see them normally, but this water was special, able to reflect souls.
In a place full of yin souls, Evan could only associate this spot with the Cycle of Rebirth.
"Cycle of Rebirth—the place where souls are reborn. I wonder where it leads." Evan thought, curiosity driving him to fly over the water's surface.
Luckily, the water could be flown over, so Evan didn't have to walk on it.
Unlike the rest of the yin-soul realm, the Cycle of Rebirth had a bright sky—not the usual gloom.
It made Evan feel comfortable flying above. Following the soul shadows beneath the water, he kept searching for their destination.
After three days, Evan finally saw where they were headed—a thousand meters ahead stood a gate, just a frame, with a tunnel of shining light inside.
"Is that their reincarnation gate?" Evan muttered, flying closer out of curiosity, but suddenly everything changed.
The bright sky turned dark, and a voice rang out: "Living beings, keep away!"
"Who?" Evan cried out in shock.
"This isn't your place. Leave now, or don't blame me for being harsh!" the voice said again.
"Is someone guarding this?" Evan wondered aloud.
"I told you to leave. Why aren't you gone yet?" The voice sounded annoyed.
"Fine, I'm leaving," Evan muttered.
He turned to leave, the sky brightening again. Evan had no choice but to fly back, but just as he moved, the voice rang out once more: "Stop!"
The sky darkened again.
"Who are you? First you tell me to leave, then to stop!" Evan said angrily.
"You carry three souls. They shouldn't be with humans. Release them." The voice commanded Evan.
"You know about that?" Evan was stunned.
"Any soul, even if hidden, I know. So be honest—leave them here and you can go." The voice spoke with authority.
The three fused souls had huge potential and could help him greatly in the future—there was no way Evan would abandon them. He replied, "They're my friends. I won't leave them behind. Give up."
With a flash, Evan quickly escaped the dangerous place.
"Trying to run? Not happening!" the voice shouted. The water surged up, blocking Evan's path.
"Who are you, really?" Evan yelled, backing away quickly.
"I'm the guardian here, so you'd better listen. Otherwise, you won't even have a chance to leave." The voice sneered coldly.
"Enough with the mysterious act. If you've got guts, show yourself!" Evan shouted angrily.
"Me? Someone as lowly as you will never see me. Just do as I say." The voice replied with disdain.