The three—Wayne Lan and his companions—refused to answer, so they kept trying all sorts of methods to trap Evan Yang. But Evan broke through each one. When all three were exhausted, Evan smiled and said, "Do you want to keep going?"
Wayne Lan and his two companions exchanged glances, realizing they couldn’t possibly stop Evan Yang. They had to admit—even more than they’d expected—Evan’s strength was terrifying.
"Alright, I’ll talk," Wayne finally said.
Shawn Lan and Jun Lan knew this was their last option; they had no way to stop Evan any longer.
"If you’d just said so earlier, why bother with all that?" Evan laughed.
Wayne ignored him and explained, "Earth-Rock Aegis is the Earth Temple’s strongest defensive art. But it was taken away and brought here, so we’re searching for its whereabouts."
"So it’s from your Earth Temple, huh? What’s so powerful about this art?" Evan wanted to confirm, so he asked out of curiosity.
Wayne said, "Of course it’s powerful. At its peak, this art can block an Immortal Sovereign’s attack."
Evan had already seen the inscription for Earth-Rock Aegis. Now that they confirmed it, he felt at ease and said, "Since you’ve told me, it’s fine. I’ll head out now."
With that, Evan slipped away.
The three looked at each other, then hurried down into the tunnel. When they saw the inscription, their faces turned gloomy—it said Fifteenth Layer? They knew just how far away the Fifteenth Layer was for them.
At best, they could reach the Tenth Layer. The Fifteenth Layer was basically impossible. Thinking about it, all three were about to collapse. They’d fought Evan for so long, only to get such disappointing news.
"What now?" Jun Lan asked.
"What else? That art has nothing to do with us now. I just wonder how many layers Evan can clear," Wayne Lan frowned.
"Even if he gets Earth-Rock Aegis, so what? He’s not even an earth cultivator," Shawn Lan said.
That woke Wayne and Jun up. Wayne said, "Why didn’t you say that earlier?"
"What’s the problem?" Shawn asked, confused.
"If I’d known it was useless for him, I’d have just told him everything. Why bother fighting so long?" Wayne said, frustrated.
Shawn muttered, "How was I supposed to know?"
As for Evan, he’d already broken through the Ninth-Layer gate and entered the Tenth Layer. The Tenth Layer was a world of water—but not a peaceful one. Strange beasts kept surfacing below, each fierce and razor-toothed.
On top of that, flight was restricted in the air—meaning you could only fly low, and at low altitude, you’d be easily attacked by the fierce beasts.
Faced with this situation, Evan had to think of a solution. If he wanted to move safely across the water’s surface, there was only one way. Evan used Phantom Spirit Birds to scout the area, and finally found the right target.
He saw a gigantic fish on the surface. The nearby beasts didn’t dare approach, because the fish released electricity, scaring them off.
"That’s the one." Evan leapt onto the back of the sleeping giant fish.
As soon as Evan landed, the giant fish’s eyes snapped open and it roared in anger. Usually, it was the king here—no beast dared get close. But today, a human actually stood on its back.
So it dove into the water and released electricity—but that meant nothing to Evan. He just smiled, "Go on."
The fish was stunned. Was its electricity not working? That couldn’t be! It tried several more times, but got the same result. In the end, it thrashed around in the water, and the other beasts thought it had gone mad, keeping their distance.
Evan didn’t want to be tossed around like that—his head was spinning. So he leapt up onto the water’s surface. The fish realized electricity was useless, so it decisively opened its huge mouth and sucked Evan inside.
If Evan resisted, he could have stopped it easily—but he didn’t. He wanted to enter its belly and teach it a lesson. So Evan put up a protective shield and let himself be carried into its stomach.
Satisfied, the big fish returned to its resting spot and closed its eyes again. The other beasts relaxed, seeing it settle down.
Evan moved deeper, only to find the fish’s belly was oddly structured—like a maze. He dropped into a pool of highly corrosive liquid, and even his spiritual shield was being eaten away. Alarmed, Evan quickly leapt up and looked around, realizing he seemed to be in a deep abyss. "Weird, where in the fish is this? It’s so deep," Evan muttered, continuing upward. In the middle, he sensed someone watching him. Turning his gaze, he was stunned—a figure stood nearby, watching him.
"Who are you?" Evan asked in shock.
"Are you here for this round of training?" the person asked. They wore a veil and held a silver staff that glimmered in their hand.
"That’s right. And you are...?" Evan asked, puzzled.
"Come over here first," the person said. Evan flew over, finding this was another tunnel in the fish, but it had been remodeled into a private residence. Outside was a formation-like barrier blocking the stench; passing through the membrane, he felt instantly refreshed—the air was completely different.
Inside, it felt like a cultivation room. The person said, "Sit. It’s pretty simple here."
"Okay." Evan nodded and found a spot to sit, though he was full of questions—how could someone live inside a giant fish’s belly?
"You’re curious why I’m here, aren’t you?" the person smiled.
"Yes, please enlighten me," Evan said.
"Which of the three palaces are you from?" Instead of answering, the person asked.
"Water Temple," Evan replied.
The person froze for a moment, then smiled. "Is Palace Lord Bianca and the others still well?"
"They’re fine. And you are...?" Evan sensed this person had some connection to the Water Temple.
"Me? I was training here, but missed the window to leave. I thought I’d die here. Outside, as you saw, there are all kinds of powerful beasts. They don’t fear running out of energy—they can recover. But once the trial realm’s support shuts off, we can’t recover our strength."
"So you hide inside this fish’s belly?" Evan asked, surprised.
"That’s right. By chance, I found this spot inside the fish’s belly. Since so many beasts fear it, I figured no beast could kill it, so I hid here. Every time the realm reactivates for a thousand years, I cultivate." the person explained.
Evan was shocked. "How long have you been here?"
"How long? Take a guess," the person smiled at Evan.
"Tens of thousands of years?" Evan guessed.
But the person shook their head. Evan kept asking, going from tens of thousands to millions of years, until finally the person smiled, "It’s been five million years." "What?" Evan exclaimed.
"Feels like a long time, doesn’t it?" the person smiled at Evan.
"It really does. I never imagined senior had been here so long," Evan said, shocked.
"Actually, we come here to train. Isn’t it nice to have a place like this? Before the realm closes, I hide in here; when it reopens, I go out. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve done this," the person laughed.
"Which palace are you from, senior?" Evan asked, puzzled.
"Same as you—the Water Temple. Since we’re both water, the Tenth Layer suits me well," the person smiled.
"What?" Evan was surprised to hear she was from the Water Temple.
"You probably don’t know me. I’ve been in the Water Temple a long time. Everyone calls me 'Water Ghost.'" the person laughed.
"But isn’t everyone in the Water Temple female? Or are you an exception, senior?" Evan asked, puzzled.
The person laughed, "You’re the exception." Then she removed her veil, revealing a beautiful woman’s face. Evan was shocked. "But your voice...?"
"You mean this?" The woman smiled, taking a tiny device from her mouth—it could alter her voice.
"How should I address you, senior?" Evan asked. Seeing she was from the Water Temple and had stayed here so long, he figured she must have valuable experience and wanted to know her name.
"Didn’t I just say? They call me Water Ghost. But if you want my real name, it’s Bianca Qiongqi," Bianca smiled.
"So it’s Senior Bianca," Evan said respectfully.
"Well, I’ve been cut off from the Water Temple for over five million years here, so I don’t know what’s happened there," Bianca said.
"Do you plan to leave, Senior Bianca?" Evan asked.
"Leave? Cultivators train to become Immortal Sovereigns, aiming to reach the peak. If I left, I’d still be cultivating elsewhere. Better to train here in the Twentieth Layer, where results are twice as good for half the effort," Bianca said.
"Aren’t you always alone here? Isn’t it lonely?" Evan asked, surprised.
"Lonely? Loneliness means nothing to people from the Three Palaces. They can never make friends with outsiders—their lives are no different from cultivation," Bianca said.
Evan felt she made sense. That was true. His mother had chosen to be with his father, so he could imagine the pressure she’d faced. Thinking of this, Evan felt deeply moved.
"But I have something to ask you," Bianca suddenly said.
"Senior, ask anything you like. If I know the answer, I’ll tell you," Evan replied.
"Alright, let me ask—have any heirs appeared in the Three Palaces?" Bianca asked.
"Heirs?" Evan didn’t understand what she meant.
"No one told you about heirs?" Bianca asked, curious. "Icefire? Heir?" Evan had only heard of such heirs, so he asked out of curiosity.
Bianca smiled, "That’s right—Icefire Heir, Fire Temple’s Sacred Fire Heir, and Earth Temple’s Earth Spirit Heir."
Evan was stunned. How could he possess all three attributes as heirs? That was too outrageous. He felt a bit unsettled.
Seeing Evan’s strange reaction, Bianca asked curiously, "What’s wrong?"