The person inside the stone, seeing that Evan Yang didn't answer, asked again, "Who are you? If you don't say, then we won't be polite anymore."
"My name is Evan Yang. Of course, I came here to see what Lingku Cave is like. May I ask your name? Can you come out and meet me face-to-face?" Evan Yang replied.
"You want to meet me? No way! I don't care who you are. Leave now—there's a tunnel behind you. If you don't go, I'll close it, and you'll be in for a world of trouble," the other person said.
Since Evan Yang had come this far, there was no way he would just leave. He smiled and said, "I don't feel like leaving yet."
"Looks like you haven't tasted the power from earlier," the voice said.
Evan Yang looked around. This was no longer a tunnel, but a space with a cliff separating him from the stone, and behind him was a forest with an entrance—the tunnel the person just mentioned. There was nothing else here for the stone to use, so Evan Yang smiled and said, "Can you still do what you did before in this place?"
"Who said it's impossible? You clearly don't understand the terrain here. Watch closely," the voice sneered. Suddenly, walls appeared all around Evan Yang, dividing the space into new tunnels. Seeing this, Evan Yang cursed under his breath, "Damn, this works too? What the hell is this place?"
"Now you know how tough it is, right?" Seeing Evan Yang's shocked expression, the other person snorted.
Here, Evan Yang felt like he was in a dungeon. Wherever he went, a new tunnel would automatically form, and the stone would follow, trying to crush him.
Faced with this situation, Evan Yang could only start fighting back. He quickly formed an ice wall in front of him, blocking the stone's path.
"Your wall packs some power, but let's see whose wall is stronger." The voice inside laughed, and suddenly, giant walls appeared from all directions, smashing Evan Yang's ice walls to pieces.
"Damn, that's way too overpowered!" Evan Yang exclaimed, shocked at how easily his walls were destroyed.
"I told you, it's useless. I gave you a chance before, but it looks like you're going to die here—just another ignorant, arrogant person," the voice mocked.
Evan Yang looked around, thinking of how to deal with these walls that appeared out of nowhere.
"He must be earth-attribute," Evan Yang muttered to himself. He condensed another ice wall, and seeing Evan Yang try again, the other person laughed, "You're really stubborn. I'll just destroy it again."
As soon as he finished, those walls appeared again, ready to smash the ice. But this time, Evan Yang shouted, "Break!"
Suddenly, the walls shattered into powder, scattering everywhere.
The voice inside was shocked. "How did you do that?"
"Not telling you," Evan Yang replied. This was his only way to deal with the opponent right now; if the other person found out, it would be trouble.
Hearing Evan Yang refuse to answer, the person inside said, "So you won't say? No problem. I'll crush you right now."
After saying that, the stone became even more aggressive and charged at Evan Yang, but Evan Yang quickly reinforced his ice wall to block its path.
Since the stone was round, once it was blocked by the ice wall, it was hard for it to move forward. Unless it retreated and then charged again, it couldn't build up enough force to break through.
But having to do this every time was driving the person inside crazy. Finally, someone flew out from inside—it was a person only half as tall as a normal man, wearing a hat.
"You are..." Evan Yang almost burst out laughing.
"I'm going to duel you one-on-one!" the little man said angrily, then pulled out two giant axes. Evan Yang didn't dare underestimate him—those axes gave off a dangerous vibe the moment they appeared.
Evan Yang took out the Limitless Spear. He noticed that the giant axes had faint currents of electricity running along them, and when they sliced through the air, they made a splitting sound.
"Your axes are pretty special—they've got electricity," Evan Yang said with a smile, blocking them with his Limitless Spear.
"Glad you noticed. You'd better not let your weapon touch mine, or you won't even know how you died," the little man snorted.
Evan Yang didn't believe him—how could touching the axes kill him? So he clashed the Limitless Spear against them. The little man snorted, "Looking for death." The twin axes unleashed a massive surge of electricity, slamming right at Evan Yang.
Bolts of electricity rained down on Evan Yang's head, and the axe-wielder was sure Evan Yang was done for. But Evan Yang stood there perfectly fine—he wasn't afraid of electricity at all, and his body just absorbed all the power.
"Impossible! How are you unharmed?" The dwarf was shocked and looked at Evan Yang suspiciously.
"What if I told you I'm not afraid of electricity?" Evan Yang said with a smile.
Hearing this, the dwarf withdrew his axes and kept his distance from Evan Yang. Evan Yang also put away the Limitless Spear and said, "I didn't come here with any hostility, and you can't do anything to me now. Why don't we just call it even?"
"Call it even? No way, unless you help me with something," the dwarf replied.
"Seriously? Another weirdo?" Evan Yang thought of meeting Dreamshadow before, and now a little dwarf.
"Will you do it or not? If you help me, I'll let you roam Lingku Cave freely, no obstacles. But if you refuse, I'll trap you here," the dwarf said, axes in hand, ready to fight again.
Evan Yang said helplessly, "Alright, if I can help you, I won't object."
Seeing Yang Han agree, the dwarf laughed, "Let me introduce myself. My name is Burch."
"Burch? That's a pretty unusual name," Evan Yang said curiously after hearing it.
"What's so strange about it? Around here, that's considered a good-sounding name," Burch replied.
"You guys? Are there others here?" Evan Yang asked curiously.
"Of course. There's a whole clan here," Burch replied.
"A clan?" Evan Yang was shocked after hearing that.
"That's right. I need your help, but first, I have to take you to meet our patriarch," Burch said.
"But what if your patriarch doesn't let me stay here? Would I have to face your whole clan?" Evan Yang wondered if things would get worse if the patriarch refused.
Burch laughed, "Don't worry. If the patriarch doesn't agree, I'll still make sure you can move freely here."
"That's good," Evan Yang said with a smile. Then Burch invited Evan Yang into the stone, and Evan Yang followed curiously. Inside, he saw a space with a screen that showed the outside.
"What kind of artifact is this? How does it have these abilities?" Evan Yang wondered how they managed it.
"Our clan is a great crafting clan. It's a gift from heaven—no one else has our kind of wisdom," Burch said.
"That's true. Your kind of wisdom is really unique," Evan Yang thought. Creating a space inside such a big stone, with a control area—it's something most people couldn't even imagine.
Burch started showing off in front of Evan Yang. Soon, the stone moved, quickly weaving through the tunnels until it entered an underground chamber. There, Evan Yang saw many little dwarfs like Burch. When the stone opened, Burch told Evan Yang to step out, and the others stared at him curiously.
One dwarf in particular, with a horn on his head and a hammer in his hand, walked over and asked, "Why did you bring an outsider in?"
"We need his help," Burch replied.
"We've never needed humans. Their intelligence is really low," the dwarf said.
"I've got my own arrangements for this. Where's the patriarch?" Burch said immediately. Evan Yang felt awkward—since when were humans considered so dumb, and what exactly was this clan? They looked human, but didn't admit to being human.
"The patriarch won't see him. You'd better take him away, or I'll have to expel you both," the dwarf said.
"Little Thunder, I said I'll handle this. Just tell me where the patriarch is," Burch said.
"I don't know," replied the one called Little Thunder.
"Seems like your clansmen have an issue with me," Evan Yang said.
"Can't be helped. They're just like me—think they're a cut above humans, so they don't want to be around you," Burch replied.
Hearing this, Evan Yang thought for a moment and then smiled, "You're called Little Thunder, right? Then I challenge you. If I win, you'll tell us what we want to know."
Little Thunder burst out laughing when he heard Evan Yang's challenge. "Haha, sure! I've been wanting to use my hammer anyway."
Burch didn't expect this turn of events, but Evan Yang said, "It's the only way."
"Enough talk—let's get started!" Little Thunder said. The others gathered around, watching curiously.
"Little Thunder, don't be too rough with our guest," Burch said, worried that Little Thunder might injure Evan Yang and ruin their plans.
"Hmph," Little Thunder snorted, seemingly ignoring the warning. He grabbed his hammer and swung it at Evan Yang.
Evan Yang dodged, and a pit immediately appeared where he had stood. The ground cracked outward from the center. Evan Yang noticed the floor was made of Blood Black Stone—something so hard, yet Little Thunder smashed it easily, showing his immense strength.
Realizing this, Evan Yang knew he couldn't go head-to-head. Little Thunder laughed, "What? Afraid after just one try? Are all humans so cowardly?"
"Not really. I just want to deal with you in another way," Evan Yang said with a smile. Since brute force wouldn't work, he'd use speed. He flashed behind Little Thunder.
Sensing someone behind him, Little Thunder swung his hammer backward. Evan Yang quickly retreated before he could even reach out, and though the hammer missed, the force pushed Evan Yang back.
"You're definitely not ordinary," Evan Yang said.
"Human, if that's all you've got, then get out," Little Thunder snorted after seeing Evan Yang retreat.