"I'm his friend. May I ask who you are, Senior?" the thin man asked.
"I'm also Derek's friend." Evan Yang wasn't sure what kind of relationship this man had with Derek, so he didn't disclose his identity.
"I've never heard Derek mention a friend like you," the thin man said suspiciously, then his wounds acted up and he grimaced in pain.
Seeing this, Evan placed his hand on the man's wound and injected spiritual power. The man watched as his wound healed before his eyes. When Evan withdrew his hand, the thin man gratefully said, "I didn't expect Derek to have such a powerful friend."
"Where is he now?" Evan asked.
"He's seriously injured and recovering somewhere," the man replied.
"Injured? Where? Take me there, quick!" Evan said, frowning.
"Well..." The thin man hesitated.
"What's wrong?" Evan asked suspiciously when he saw the man's hesitation.
"I'm not sure you're really Derek's friend. If you're with those people, Derek could be in danger." The thin man finally voiced his concern. Since Evan's background was unclear and he didn't know him at all, bringing him to see Derek could be risky if Evan turned out to be someone trying to capture Derek.
Evan didn't get angry when he heard the man's reasoning. Instead, he said, "So how do you want me to prove it?"
"That's easy. Just wait here. I'll send your portrait to him, and if he agrees, I'll take you over." the thin man said cautiously.
"No problem, hurry up and contact him," Evan said.
The thin man contacted Derek. A muffled voice came from the other end, broken and intermittent—it was obvious Derek was badly injured.
"Little Kai, did you find the medicine?" came the voice from the other side.
"Brother Derek, I did find it, but I was captured by them," the thin man sighed.
"What? Where are you now? I'll come rescue you," the voice said angrily.
"No need, I've already been rescued. And the person who saved me claims to be your friend," the thin man said.
"My friend?" the voice asked suspiciously.
At this moment, Evan spoke up, "Derek, where are you now? I'll come see you."
Hearing Evan's voice, Derek was both shocked and overjoyed. "Grandmaster, is that you!" he exclaimed.
"Yes," Evan replied, while expressing concern for Derek's serious injuries.
The thin man was startled—he knew Derek had two masters, but never expected the one who saved him to be one of them. He looked at Evan in shock.
"Let's go," Evan said to the thin man.
The thin man quickly put away his Transmission Stone and led Evan, flying through the void.
After about half an hour, they arrived at a mountain range floating in the void.
"He's inside this mountain range," the thin man said, then led Evan into the mountains.
Soon they reached a cave. With the thin man leading the way, Evan went inside. At the deepest point, he saw Derek lying there, covered in wounds, his eyes fixed on the entrance as if on guard.
"Grandmaster!" Derek tried to get up excitedly when he saw Evan, but his body was too badly injured.
"Don't move. Let me treat you first." Evan looked over Derek's body—almost nowhere was uninjured. His heart ached at the sight. The thin man stood aside, watching Evan heal Derek.