Evan Yang listened quietly to Yan Jun’s words. He just smiled at Yan Jun’s analysis, then continued on his way. Meanwhile, Yan Jun and his two companions, after collecting themselves, prepared to leave—they’d been trapped here for far too long.
Evan arrived at the Fifteenth Layer’s gate. After entering, he encountered two powerful guardians. With Earth-Rock Aegis, he didn’t even need to worry about defense—no matter how they attacked, he was completely unafraid.
So Evan easily defeated them and moved on to the Sixteenth Layer.
The two guardians at the Fifteenth Layer were left frustrated. What was going on? Why was Evan’s defense so strong? No matter how they attacked, he acted like nothing happened.
Thinking of Evan’s sturdy physique, the two could barely imagine it—he seemed almost unreal. Finally, one said, “This guy must be terrifying.”
“Yeah, I wonder how many layers he can reach,” the other replied.
Evan entered the Sixteenth Layer without stopping, pushing onward.
From the Sixteenth Layer, he moved into the Seventeenth, and finally reached the Eighteenth Layer—his limit. Evan knew that if he went any deeper, he might run into Immortal Sovereign-level opponents.
Knowing he couldn’t keep going, Evan searched around the Eighteenth Layer, planning to see what he could find here.
The flames on the Eighteenth Layer were like venomous snakes—falling from the sky and erupting from the ground, scorching everything in their path.
On this layer, Evan didn’t dare linger anywhere for long. The flames seemed able to sense people, suddenly bursting from the sky or underground, catching him off guard every time.
“This place is really incredible,” Evan muttered to himself.
Still, Evan was glad to have come here. He realized these flames weren’t just natural—they were terrifying, far stronger than ordinary wild fire.
So Evan picked a spot without hesitation, wrapped himself in Sacred Flame, and let Ice-fire Sacred Flame swirl inside him. That way, he could automatically absorb the surrounding flames without being affected by the heat.
Evan became like a heat-absorption engine, drawing in all the flames around him. Once a spot was drained, he moved to another—over and over, tens of thousands of times.
Finally, he absorbed almost all the powerful flames on the Eighteenth Layer. His Sacred Flame had grown much larger than before.
After three hundred years, Evan noticed the whole area’s flames had gradually weakened—it was nothing like when he first arrived.
Just as Evan was about to head for the last region, a group of people suddenly appeared, surrounding him.
Evan sensed something was off. Why did so many people show up out of nowhere? “Who are you?”
“Kid, are you here to cause trouble? You actually absorbed all the flames here—how are we supposed to cultivate now?” one of them snapped angrily.
“You’re from the Flame Temple?” Evan asked. He knew only Flame Temple cultivators would train in a place like this—and anyone who made it here had to be at least peak Emperor, maybe even half a step into Immortal Sovereign.
“That’s right, kid. How did you make the flames disappear? Spit them back out, or we’ll teach you a lesson!” one of them snapped.
Evan counted six people—all from the Flame Temple. The only reason they hadn’t attacked yet was fear of his strength. After all, anyone who could pacify these flames was way beyond their expectations.
“Sorry for disturbing your cultivation here,” Evan said.
“Sorry doesn’t solve anything! Damn it,” the man growled.
“There’s still another region with flames. You can go cultivate there,” Evan offered, apologetic.
“What do you take us for? Don’t think you’re something special just because you absorbed these flames. Hmph! Everyone, get him!” the man shouted.
Evan was shocked. Facing six peak Emperor-level experts, he knew he wasn’t invincible. Even if he could block their attacks, he couldn’t handle so many at once. Without hesitation, he said, “Farewell, everyone.”
He immediately sped up, rushing toward the Seventeenth Layer. But somehow, they blocked the way back. The six chased after him, glaring, and one said, “You’re strong, but I don’t believe you can handle all six of us alone.”
“Maybe I can’t beat you all, but you won’t catch me either,” Evan replied with a smile. He pushed his speed to the limit and slipped away, leaving the six cursing as they chased after him.
But they still couldn’t catch up to Evan. Evan had to figure out a way to shake them off.
So, the seven of them kept weaving through the Eighteenth Layer until Evan reached the last region. Without hesitation, he slipped through, while the others stopped.
Evan gradually merged into the flames, leaving the others shocked.
One of the six said, "Is this kid really not afraid of the flames in there?"
The other five looked thoughtful. These weren’t ordinary flames. The six of them had never dared come here—even as fire cultivators, they wouldn’t set foot in this place. It was just too terrifying.
The first thing Evan felt after entering was that the flames here were much hotter than elsewhere. He ramped up his Ice-fire Sacred Flame to the max—only then could he stand the heat.
“Whew, looks like they’re scared of this place,” Evan muttered to himself.
Thinking that, Evan found a hidden spot. “If you don’t dare come in, then I’ll just absorb all the flames here,” he decided.
Evan sat down, planning to absorb all the flames in the area—leaving nothing for them. He sat quietly, ignoring how terrifying the flames were. One by one, the flames entered his body and merged into his Sacred Flame.
After several years, Evan finally felt unwell—his whole body was burning up. He stopped absorbing, and the temperature around him dropped noticeably thanks to his efforts.
(Irrelevant system message skipped.)
Seeing the situation around him, Evan didn’t dare absorb any more. He checked his body—nothing seemed wrong, but he couldn’t figure out why he felt so hot.
He examined himself for a long time, then circulated Heaven-Cold Qi through his blood. That finally helped.
“Did I absorb too much?” Evan muttered to himself.
Evan stood up, looked at the remaining flames, and wondered, “Where did these flames come from? How did those people create them?”
Curious, Evan searched the area. The simplest way was to sense where the flames were thickest.
Since all the flames around were similar, Evan had to spend a lot of time searching that region. Eventually, he sensed stronger flames in a crevice.
“This must be it. Let’s go down and take a look,” Evan decided after a moment’s thought.
So Evan rested a bit, then went down through the crevice. It was deep, and the surrounding rocks seemed ready to crumble into dust at the slightest touch.
“This must have been here for ages,” Evan muttered as he continued downward, discovering a fiery underground chamber below.
The flames there danced, and every so often, tiny sparks would float upward.
“Is this the birthplace of natural flames?” Evan wondered to himself.
He kept going down, but the temperature was too intense—even his Ice-fire Sacred Flame barely helped. Evan realized he’d only be able to return once his Ice-fire grew stronger.
“Whew, looks like I’ll have to come back someday,” Evan thought, eyeing the clusters of fireballs and a flickering object below.
Knowing the Eighteenth Layer was no ordinary place, Evan steadied himself and flew upward, releasing his Phantom Spirit Bird to check if the others were still outside.
Sure enough, he found them waiting in one spot. But Evan could leave from another direction—along the crevice. He acted on the idea immediately.
Evan slipped through the lower passage and emerged at another crevice exit, far from the group. Their spiritual senses were limited here, so they couldn’t detect him.
Evan smiled and headed for the exit. Seeing the barrier formation still in place, he wasted no time breaking it. Once it was destroyed, he vanished in a flash.
The group sensed the disturbance in the formation and rushed over, shocked. When they saw it had been broken, all six were furious. They knew only they and Evan were here, but hadn’t expected him to escape so easily.
The place was no longer suitable for cultivation, so after a brief discussion, the six decisively left.
Evan knew they would surely chase after him, so he didn’t hesitate—he left the Eighteenth Layer and headed for the First.
As for the three Palace Lords outside, they often saw people coming out—those were cultivators who had lingered inside before.
One day, Evan appeared there. The three Palace Lords looked at him in surprise—he was the first of eight people to emerge.
Bianca frowned, not seeing Bianca Yun, worried something had happened to her.
When Evan released Bianca Yun, Bianca finally relaxed. The three Palace Lords had to remain, but Bianca couldn’t help asking, “You’re back?”
“Yes,” Evan replied.
“Isn’t there still time? Why aren’t you staying inside?” Bianca asked curiously.
“I’d like to, but…” Evan trailed off, unsure how to explain. Just then, six Flame Temple cultivators appeared. Seeing Evan, they rushed forward, intent on killing him.
Bianca frowned. “What are you doing?”
The six knew these three were Palace Lords, so they stopped. One stepped forward and said, “Palace Lords, please uphold justice for us.”
“Oh? What justice?” Ignace Blaze recognized the six as Flame Temple disciples and eyed them suspiciously.