Evan Yang surveyed his surroundings, then pointed at a spot. Instantly, ice formed there. The spectators gasped—reaching the point of freezing water showed remarkable control, something not even an Immortal Lord could typically achieve.
But Evan did it anyway. One spot froze, then gradually the whole area iced over. Venom Finger was shocked and tried to stop Evan, only to find the ice was so hard it couldn’t rotate anymore.
Inside, Evan threw a punch—boom!—and a hole appeared. He walked out from within, instantly drawing the attention of many onlookers.
Even those who’d had no interest in Evan before now looked over curiously.
Venom Finger not only lost face, but also wanted revenge—though it seemed unlikely now. This made him furious, so he narrowed his attack. From his fingertip, a thin stream of black water sprayed out.
Evan saw the black water and looked suspicious. Suddenly, an ice wall appeared before him, its temperature so low that everyone nearby could feel the chill.
“What realm has this kid cultivated to?” Bianca King muttered. Her own water cultivation was high, but even she couldn’t freeze water so freely. Evan’s move stunned not only the Palace Lord, but also made others who couldn’t freeze water feel inferior.
Venom Finger couldn’t create ice, but now he tried to break through Evan’s wall. The water he sprayed slithered across the ice like venomous snakes, devouring the blocks. The ice slowly melted.
Evan was secretly alarmed—the ice wall was being corroded. He thickened the wall and started thinking of ways to deal with the black liquid.
But the black liquid surged forward, and the ice wall couldn’t keep up. Evan knew it would soon break through, so he quietly infused a trace of Heaven-Cold power into the wall. No one outside knew what he was doing.
That ice wall, after just a short while, became so sturdy that even the black liquid couldn’t affect it. Venom Finger was stunned—he’d gathered that liquid in the Devil Realm, and it could corrode almost anything. Normally, it melted ice because the corrosion generated intense temperature changes.
But he had no idea that Evan’s Heaven-Cold power was immune to all poisons. The black liquid, as it corroded, was neutralized by Heaven-Cold and lost its effect.
Spectators outside were curious—just a moment ago the liquid was working, so why did it suddenly fail? They really wanted to know what Evan had done. Evan, pleased that Heaven-Cold worked, smiled at Venom Finger and said, “Now it’s my turn to attack.”
Evan smiled, and as he spoke, a wave of cold swept out, instantly surrounding Venom Finger and freezing him in a block of ice. To guard against any leftover liquid, Evan infused another trace of Heaven-Cold power.
Venom Finger was shocked to be frozen. He tried to break out, but found the ice block impossibly hard—no matter what he tried, he couldn’t escape.
Ethan Dunn’s face darkened as he cursed under his breath, “He lost—damn it.”
Venom Finger cursed too. No matter what he tried, he was stuck there. It was clear Evan’s ice was incredibly hard. On top of that, Venom Finger felt a chill invade his body, making him shiver uncontrollably. As a water cultivator, he had no way to keep warm and could only use weak devil qi to protect himself.
After a while, everyone outside could see who had won. Evan’s victory made people curious—even Palace Lord Bianca King looked puzzled. “This kid isn’t simple. I’ll have to keep an eye on him.”
“Big Sister, is everyone here as strong as him?” Lena King asked curiously.
“No, he’s special. You know it’s not easy to condense water into ice,” Bianca King replied.
Lena King nodded. She’d spent years trying to turn water into ice, but still hadn’t succeeded.
Marina Wade officially announced Evan’s victory. At that moment, Evan released the ice block. Everyone expected Venom Finger to walk away normally, but he was still trembling, steam coming from his mouth. He glared at Evan and said, “Damn you.”
“Survived a great catastrophe,” Evan said with a smile.
Venom Finger shot Evan a vicious glare, then slowly walked back to his original seat. Evan became the highlight of the Newcomer Ceremony.
After Marina Wade declared the match over, she led everyone back. But before leaving, she received new orders from the Palace Lord.
On the way back, Leo Drake patted Evan’s shoulder and said, “You did great—I’m thrilled.”
“Just happened to counter him,” Evan replied with a smile.
“By the way, how did you refine your ice? I’ve worked at it for years and still can’t condense it,” Leo Drake asked curiously.
“Honestly, I don’t really know. I just kept cultivating and it happened,” Evan replied, smiling. He couldn’t possibly tell them it was because he had both ice and fire powers, making his cold so intense it could freeze water.
Leo Drake was frustrated by Evan’s answer, but Evan smiled and said, “Don’t worry, Brother Leo. Keep working at it—one day you’ll get there too.”
“Got it. I’ll keep working hard,” Leo Drake replied with a smile.
Ethan Dunn passed by and snorted, “No matter how much you cultivate, the result’s always the same.”
“Oh? Ethan Dunn, are you looking for trouble with me?” Leo Drake laughed loudly—after all, even Venom Finger had been taught a lesson by Evan. What could Ethan possibly do?
“Just wait. Don’t think this is over,” Ethan Dunn snorted, then left with Venom Finger and his group.
As Venom Finger passed Evan, he sent a message with his divine sense: “You’re impressive, but next time someone else will deal with you.”
Evan was used to such threats and didn’t care. He just followed Leo Drake and the others back to the Coral Pavilion.
Soon after they arrived, Marina Wade found Evan and said, “Come with me.”
“Senior? Where are we going?” Leo Drake asked curiously.
“He won, so of course I’m taking him to claim his reward,” Marina Wade replied with a smile.
Leo Drake laughed. “So that’s it. Good luck, Brother Evan.”
Evan hadn’t really thought about what reward to claim, but since someone was looking for him, he decided to go. Marina Wade led him away.
Meanwhile, Bianca King was with Lena King, discussing the match.
“Sister, do you really want to invite him here?” Lena King asked in surprise.
“Yes. You’ve been stuck at that bottleneck for a long time. Since he can condense ice so easily, he must be very skilled at it. If he explains it to you, I think you’ll quickly have a breakthrough,” Bianca King said with a smile.
Lena hadn’t expected the Palace Lord to call Evan over, or to arrange something like this for her. After a moment’s surprise, she smiled and said, “Thank you, Sister.”
“But remember, you can’t become friends with him. Right now, you’re just acquaintances—understand?” Bianca King warned, worried that Lena might be influenced by Evan.
“I know, Sister. Don’t worry,” Lena replied.
“Good. I’ll head back now. You wait here—Marina Wade will bring Evan soon,” Bianca King said.
“Thank you, Sister,” Lena said.
Bianca King nodded and left. Lena looked around—this was the back garden, the very place Evan had accidentally entered before.
Beside her, the spirit monkey lay there, watching Lena King.
Lena muttered, “What kind of person is he, really? And why won’t Sister let me be friends with outsiders?”
The spirit monkey chattered something unintelligible, but Lena understood. She said, “You’re lucky—carefree and happy. Not like me, stuck here every day. I’m going crazy. I really want to go out and see the world.”
Just after Lena finished speaking, she saw two people approaching in the distance: Evan and Marina Wade.
Evan realized he’d come to the same place as before, and saw Lena. He was surprised and wondered, “Are they planning to deal with me?”
Not knowing Lena’s intentions, Evan assumed they had plans for him. Marina Wade smiled and said, “Evan, you’re in luck. The Palace Lord said if you can teach the Young Palace Lord how to condense ice, she’ll arrange a powerful master for you. I’m sure you won’t refuse.”
Hearing the real reason, Evan relaxed. It was a great chance to spend time alone with Lena, so he smiled and said, “Don’t worry, Senior. I’ll share everything I know.”
“Good. I’ll leave you two to talk,” Marina Wade said, signaling Lena, then left in a flash.
Once Marina Wade left, the restless spirit monkey rushed over, chattering nonstop, and started throwing stones at Evan—as if he were its chosen target.
Evan frowned. “If you keep this up, I’ll have to teach you a lesson.”
“Spirit monkey, come here!” Lena knew Evan was powerful and didn’t want her pet turned into an ice block, so she quickly called it over. Then she looked at Evan and said, “Welcome.”
“You called me here?” Evan asked.
Lena quickly shook her head. “No way! I didn’t call you—my sister did.”
“Oh? So you don’t want me here?” Evan frowned.
“I don’t, but my sister insisted,” Lena said, embarrassed.
“If you don’t want me here, I’ll leave. If your heart isn’t in it, you won’t learn anything,” Evan said.
Hearing Evan was about to leave, Lena panicked. It was rare to have someone interesting to keep her company, so she quickly said, “Don’t go! If you leave, what am I supposed to do?”
“What do you mean? You’re still you. What’s the problem?” Evan asked, confused.
“My sister said if I don’t learn, she won’t acknowledge me as her sister. Are you going to let our bond break?” Lena said.
Evan nearly laughed at that, but held back. He thought to himself, “She clearly doesn’t want me to leave—how odd.”