"I didn't expect you to know about this too!" Darius Black, the Shadow Killer, stared at Evan Yang.
"Don't think only you high and mighty types know about it." Evan Yang smiled.
"That makes it even more impossible to let you live. Your potential is too great—whether Immortal-Gate Keys appear or not in the future, you must die!" Darius Black declared.
"You talk big! And why's that?" Evan Yang laughed.
Darius Black laughed, "Black Hand Gate has stood here for years. We don't want you Genius Pavilion folks to replace us—do you understand what I mean?"
"Looks like your Black Hand Gate isn't any better. When someone threatens you, you still have to step up." Evan Yang smiled.
Darius Black said, "You're right. You already have the power to deal with those old guys from the Three Palaces. No matter what, today I'll kill you, take you back to Black Hand Gate, and study you thoroughly. I heard you have that Ancestor of Ten Thousand Insects, too."
Evan Yang smiled, "You know a lot, but it all depends on whether you have the ability."
"Enough talk. Today, you're dead!" With that, Darius Black attacked.
Evan Yang stood still. As Senior Black launched his attack, Evan flashed aside and vanished. Senior Black was shocked—his speed was incredible. Iris Storm was stunned, too; she hadn't realized Evan's true speed wasn't even unleashed before, and now, at full force, she couldn't track his movements at all.
Senior Black wasn't slow either. He stood there, released his divine sense, and scanned around. Just as he spotted Evan Yang, Evan moved to attack.
The two clashed fists. According to Senior Black's thinking, no matter how strong Evan Yang was as a Nine Tribulations cultivator, he shouldn't be able to block a true Pseudo-Immortal.
But not only did Evan block him, he made Senior Black's fist feel incredibly uncomfortable. Senior Black growled, "Kid, you've really got some skills."
"You're too kind," Evan Yang smiled.
"Hmph, let me show you why they call me the Shadow Killer!" Darius Black grinned.
"Shadow Killer?" Evan Yang had never heard of that title, but Iris Storm knew. Long ago, there was a powerful expert called the Shadow Killer—never defeated, able to slay even Pseudo-Immortal cultivators.
This shocked Iris Storm. At that moment, Darius Black already had four daggers in his hand. They looked sharp, some kind of artifact, but Evan Yang knew these daggers were nothing compared to his own.
"Daggers?" Evan Yang laughed.
"That's right. Watch and see what it means to be the Shadow Killer!" Darius Black grinned. The four daggers formed four corners, locking onto Evan Yang. Then four turned to eight, eight to sixteen, constantly splitting.
Now, over a thousand daggers surrounded Evan Yang, dazzling to the eye. Anyone else would be terrified by this formation, afraid to move recklessly—after all, any movement might trigger an attack from all those daggers.
"Kid, these thousand blades lock onto every angle. One careless move and I'll slice you up, turn you into a sieve!" Senior Black laughed loudly.
Iris Storm was shocked. She quickly pulled out a magic treasure—an oval-shaped artifact—and sent it flying. Senior Black saw it and laughed, "Trying to save him? Ridiculous!"
One of the daggers flew out and collided directly with the artifact.
"It actually exploded? Destroyed the artifact too?" Evan Yang muttered to himself after seeing Iris Storm's treasure blown up. But for him, this was nothing—a thousand, even five thousand daggers wouldn't be a problem. His divine sense was far beyond others.
"Ah!" Iris Storm cried out in shock.
"Why are you fussing? Just sit back and watch the show—see how I turn him into a sieve!" Senior Black laughed.
Then, from among the thousand blades, he drew five and stabbed straight at Evan Yang. Evan just flicked his finger, sending out a burst of qi—before the daggers even got close, they exploded.
Iris Storm was delighted by the sight, but Senior Black frowned, then smiled, "That was only five. Let's see if you can stay this calm with fifty."
But it was the same—fifty daggers exploded just like the five.
"Damn it, how does he know exactly which ones I'm controlling to attack him?" Senior Black was secretly shocked.
Evan Yang just smiled, "Fifty? Looks like that's not enough."
"Then take two hundred!" Senior Black gritted his teeth. Two hundred daggers shot at Evan Yang from all directions.
Boom, boom—the sound of explosions rang out as all two hundred daggers shattered at once.
"How is that possible?" Senior Black was stunned, unable to believe it.
Evan Yang smiled, "No need for you to bother with the rest—I'll take care of them myself." With that, he destroyed nearly a thousand remaining daggers in one go.
"You—!" Senior Black was shocked. This was his proudest technique, one that had slain countless Pseudo-Immortal experts, but Evan Yang had just cracked it.
"Is that all you've got?" Evan Yang laughed.
"Kid, remember this—even if I can't deal with you today, doesn't mean I can't deal with you at all. Just wait, I'll come for you after I return to Black Hand Gate." Senior Black said, then vanished in a flash.
Iris Storm couldn't believe it—Senior Black had actually been scared off by Evan Yang. Not just her, but many experts watching from the planet were shocked.
After all, the Fenn Family's planet had gathered quite a few Pseudo-Immortal experts, all here for the Immortal-Gate Entrance Map. As Evan Yang fought in the void, they watched closely—but none stepped out. The Fiend Palace Lord was about to intervene, but after seeing Evan handle things so easily, he didn't, though he was curious how Evan managed it.
"How did you do that?" Iris Storm asked, full of curiosity.
"You want to know?" Evan Yang smiled.
"Of course," Iris Storm replied.
"Then tell me your name," Evan Yang chuckled.
"You—" Iris Storm exclaimed, surprised.
"What? If you don't tell me, then I won't tell you either." Evan Yang waved his hand.
"Whatever," Iris Storm said stubbornly.
"Not telling? Fine, I'll go find my friends." Evan Yang said helplessly. Iris Storm still refused, using a new veil to cover her face, then followed Evan Yang to the Tianxiang Grand Tavern.
"That was a pretty spectacular fight you just had." The Palace Lord smiled as he poured Evan Yang some wine.
Evan Yang smiled. In fact, he'd planned this all along—being so high-profile in the sky was to show everyone that the Grand Pavilion Lord of Genius Pavilion wasn't weak, letting them see for themselves that anyone who dared provoke Genius Pavilion was courting death.
Evan Yang played his hand perfectly. Many people were truly intimidated, realizing Genius Pavilion had such a prodigy—so powerful he could even handle Black Hand Gate's experts.
Meanwhile, the Fenn Family Patriarch cursed quietly, "What's going on? He's so young, yet even Senior Black can't handle him?"
The steward and others noticed too, feeling anxious—worried Evan Yang might turn on them, since they'd tried to harm him before.
Fenn Third Young Master didn't dare mention Evan Yang's name, feeling like he was staring at an indelible demon.
At the same time, Evan Yang's origins piqued everyone's curiosity—where exactly did he come from?
"This wine is still too mediocre," Iris Storm commented.
"Then bring out your own brew," Evan Yang smiled.
"Fine, I'll bring it out." Iris Storm said, then took out a bottle and placed it on the table—her own carefully crafted brew.
The Fiend Palace Lord eagerly poured himself a cup and tasted it, praising it nonstop. Evan Yang tried it and smiled, "This is supposed to be good?"
"Kid, what do you mean by that?" Iris Storm said, displeased.
"No big deal, but you've learned the art of the Wine Immortal—you're not worse than others. Still, compared to me, you're way behind. Here, try mine." Evan Yang casually grabbed a bottle.
Iris Storm tasted the wine, half skeptical. Once she tried it, she realized Evan Yang's brew was truly extraordinary.
The Fiend Palace Lord was even more enchanted by the wine. After Iris Storm put down her cup, Evan Yang smiled, "Well?"
"You really are amazing," Iris Storm admitted.
The Fiend Palace Lord nodded, and the three began chatting. Evan Yang tried to learn more about Iris Storm, but she refused to share anything about herself.
So Evan Yang switched to discussing the Immortal-Gate Entrance Map with the Fiend Palace Lord. It turned out the map had been passed down from previous Palace Lords.
This time, the Fiend Palace was officially participating—once the Immortal-Gate Entrance Map was found, within a century they'd bring eligible members to seek the keys and enter the Immortal Realm.
"Palace Lord, haven't you ever collected keys?" Evan Yang doubted that a place as vast as the Fiend Realm wouldn't have gathered any.
The Fiend Palace Lord smiled, "Of course we've collected them. Who would be foolish enough to wait until the Immortal-Gate opens to start?"
"Oh? How's the collection going?" Evan Yang asked, curious.
"We've collected three, which is already pretty good. After all, there are only ten Immortal-Gate Keys—not more, not less. It's always like this: if the ten aren't used when the entrance opens, they'll automatically roll over to next time. That's how the Fiend Realm has accumulated them over the years," said the Fiend Palace Lord.
Evan Yang was curious. He hadn't expected the Immortal-Gate Keys to be so limited—just ten in total. He had one, the Fiend Palace had three, so there were six left.
Who held those six? Evan looked at Iris Storm, "Your strength isn't weak—at least Nine Tribulations, Eighth Realm. You should know the details about the Three Palaces, right?"
"Why do you ask?" Iris Storm asked, curious.
"I want to know how many keys the Three Palaces have," Evan Yang asked.
"Three Palaces? I've only heard that each Palace has one, so three in total," Iris Storm said after thinking for a moment.
"Do you know who else has them?" Evan Yang asked, curious. "No idea, but once the Immortal-Gate Entrance is found, we'll know. There will be a great war, and the Human Realm will be thrown into chaos—the Fiend Realm won't escape, either," Iris Storm said, suddenly sounding sad.
Evan Yang felt her words were meaningful, and he knew she was right. With only ten keys and so many Pseudo-Immortal experts, he couldn't count them all. But he was sure Iris Storm was right—various factions would use their power to seize others' keys, leading to fierce conflict.
Such conflict would last at least ten years, unless someone entered the Immortal Realm early with a key. But the rest would still be fought over by those without keys.