Evan Chu's flight speed truly opened the middle-aged man's eyes. All he could hear was the rush of wind, his facial muscles twisted into all sorts of shapes by the force, and he was so terrified that cold sweat broke out all over him.
Evan didn't actually know the exact location of Sunsetfall City, so he could only keep teleporting eastward. Before nightfall, the two of them arrived above a fairly large city.
At this moment, Evan asked, "Is this Sunsetfall City?"
"I'm not too sure, but probably not. Sunsetfall City is at least ten thousand li from Tang Sect, and we've only flown for less than two hours. No matter how fast we go, it shouldn't be this quick!" the middle-aged man replied, puzzled.
"Let's go down and take a look. Even if this isn't Sunsetfall City, we should be close. We'll ask around, and if it's not the place, we'll keep going," Evan said.
The two landed in a deserted spot to avoid unnecessary trouble. When they reached the city gate, Evan was delighted to see three bold characters—Sunsetfall City—written in a dragon-and-phoenix style on the stone wall above the gate.
Evan saw it, and of course the middle-aged man did too. Right now, he looked at Evan as if he were dreaming, his face full of shock—how could they have crossed ten thousand li so quickly? It was simply unbelievable.
If he knew Evan had actually slowed down by nearly half, who knows how he'd react. The real issue was that his cultivation was too weak—flying at such speed could easily injure him.
Even at night, Sunsetfall City had guards stationed at the gate. Normally, the gates only closed at midnight. Evan and the middle-aged man entered the city without any trouble, just paying two low-grade Starstones as the entry fee.
Now that they were close to their destination, Evan finally relaxed. He found an inn for himself and the middle-aged man, and naturally treated him to a good drink to calm his nerves.
The next morning, Evan and the middle-aged man got up early and left Sunsetfall City. "You should remember the location of that valley, right? I'll fly, you just guide me," Evan said.
The middle-aged man pointed south of Sunsetfall City and said, "If we fly in that direction, with your speed we'll reach the valley in no time."
Hearing this, Evan acted instantly—he grabbed the man and teleported away. In no time, the two were looking down at a massive valley, its peaks steep on both sides, and they landed from the air.
"This is definitely the place, right? Do you remember where you saw that flying beast covered in flames? It's really important to me," Evan said.
"I can't remember exactly—it's been too long. But there was a huge boulder there, that's all I can recall, because I was hiding behind it at the time," the middle-aged man said.
Evan then took out two supreme-grade Starstones and dozens of high-grade Starstones from his storage ring. "Alright, your job's done. These Starstones are enough for you to live comfortably for the rest of your life. Just don't go doing shady business anymore—not everyone is as lucky as you," he said.
Seeing the crystals in Evan's hand, the middle-aged man immediately accepted them. "Are these two supreme-grade Starstones?"
"That's right. I said I wouldn't shortchange you, and I meant it. Following me only brings danger. That flying beast covered in flames is actually a Scarlet Phoenix sacred beast—if you ever saw it, you could be killed in an instant. Don't breathe a word of this to anyone, or you'll be courting death," Evan warned.
"Thank you, Young Master Chu! I swear I'll turn over a new leaf. I'll take my leave now—please take care!" With that, the middle-aged man turned and left.
At this, Evan asked his Sword Spirit, "Luna, your spiritual sense is stronger than mine. Can you sense the entrance to the Phoenix Clan?"
After a while, Luna finally spoke: "Wait a bit. This valley is pretty long, so I need to sense the energy fluctuations at the entrance. The Phoenix Clan's energy is extremely well-hidden and hard to detect."
Evan was troubled by one question: Why was it that when Roxanne awakened her Phoenix bloodline, the people from the Phoenix Temple found her so quickly? Even if they could sense her, this place was tens of thousands of li from Heavenly Dragon Academy. Could the Phoenix Clan really move faster than he could, reaching her in such a short time?
But he quickly dismissed that thought. Maybe there was a Phoenix Clan teleportation gate near the academy, or maybe the clan had already known Roxanne's identity—once she awakened, they would know instantly, which explained how they arrived so fast.
Just then, Luna said, "There's a faint energy fluctuation about ten li away. That might be the Phoenix Clan entrance you're looking for. But be careful—the Phoenix Clan is notoriously hot-tempered. If you don't handle things right, the consequences could be serious."
Evan teleported over immediately. Once he reached the spot Luna mentioned, he spread out his spiritual sense and searched carefully. Sure enough, not far away was a huge boulder—just like the middle-aged man described. After a while, he found the source of the energy fluctuation.
It was indeed a cliff face. Without using spiritual sense, there was no way to know that the cliff was actually the entrance to the Phoenix Clan. It was almost identical to the entrance Qing Shuang had set up before—completely natural, without a single flaw.
"How do I break this barrier? Can I just attack it directly?" Evan asked.
"That should work, but don't use too much force. If you accidentally collapse the mountain, that'll be a real problem," Luna replied.
Evan didn't draw the Frostbane Sword. Instead, he used Demon-Breaking Fist—now fused with five-element power, it's even stronger than Tyrant Cleave and consumes less Chaos Force. It was the perfect choice to break this barrier.
Aiming at the source of the energy fluctuation, Evan struck with a punch. With a loud boom, he was sent flying several meters back—his arm tingled with pain. The barrier's rebound force was shockingly strong; clearly, it wasn't something simple.
He had attacked the cliff, but it didn't show the slightest sign of damage. Evan couldn't believe his Demon-Breaking Fist had accomplished nothing, and he felt a bit disappointed.
Determined, he drew the Frostbane Sword and unleashed Earthsplitter at the spot he'd attacked. This time, Evan was still knocked back, but at least he wasn't hurt.
"Lin Feng, the barrier's started to crack. A few more attacks should break it. But once you do, the Phoenix Clan will definitely know—someone's probably already on their way," Luna said.
"All the better—they'll come to me, and I won't have to look for them. But I have to admit, this barrier is impressive. The Phoenix Clan must have some real experts," Evan said.
Meanwhile, inside the Phoenix Temple, a middle-aged man in red robes frowned. "Someone's attacking our entrance barrier. Whoever it is, they're no ordinary person. Left and Right Guardians, go check it out and bring this reckless intruder to me."