Evan Yang had considered asking the Fiend Palace diviner, but unfortunately he didn’t know either, so Evan had no choice but to head for the next bustling city to gather information.
Evan Yang withdrew his hand and smiled, "It's done."
"What's going on?" Ye Chen still didn't quite understand, especially since her own aura now contained a hint of Evan Yang's energy.
"Shopkeeper, do you have any Dragon-Nether Grass here?" Evan Yang asked.
When Ye Chen heard that Third Young Master Fenn had once tracked her using aura-tracing methods, she was shocked.
After quickly visiting every medicinal herb shop in the city, Evan Yang had no choice but to head for the next city.
After finishing all this, Evan Yang took out the fine filament, then brought out some Spirit Crystal Ore, directly tying the filament to the ore and stacking several more pieces on top.
With this setup, the filament lost its function. Evan Yang didn’t know exactly why, but it was just as that person had said.
Once everything was settled, Evan Yang left the Sky-Piercing Tower, instructing Derek and the others to stay inside, while he went to search for the whereabouts of Dragon-Nether Grass.
"Damn it, that old guy won't tell me—who am I supposed to ask now?" Evan Yang muttered in frustration.
Evan Yang had considered asking someone from Fiend Palace, but unfortunately they didn’t know either, so he had no choice but to head for the next bustling city to gather information.
Flying swiftly, Evan Yang arrived at the nearest city.
"This city is big enough, but I wonder if anyone actually knows." Evan Yang muttered, then started looking for medicinal herb shops or pill shops to ask around.
"Boss, do you have any Dragon-Nether Grass here?" Evan Yang asked.
After visiting several shops, he found that nobody knew—no one had even heard of Dragon-Nether Grass. Even the more experienced sellers who recognized the name had no idea where to find it.
After quickly visiting every medicinal shop in the city, Evan Yang had no choice but to head for the next city.
But the next city didn’t have any either, so Evan Yang kept searching, unwilling to give up. After visiting ten cities, he finally arrived at another major city.
This place was extremely prosperous—the largest city Evan Yang had seen so far.
"There should be some here, right?" Evan Yang muttered, frustrated.
After checking several big shops, he finally found a shop manager who knew something.
"Manager, do you know where Dragon-Nether Grass can be found?" Evan Yang asked.
"I’ve heard my master mention it before, but I’m not sure if it’s true." The manager was quite approachable; after Evan Yang asked, he thought for a moment and replied.
"Oh? Where?" Evan Yang didn’t care if the news was true or false—any lead was worth checking out.
"Grimshade Valley in the Fiend Realm," the manager said.
"Grimshade Valley? Where’s that?" Evan Yang was unfamiliar with the name, especially with the Fiend Realm itself.
"I don’t really know much about Grimshade Valley either, but you can visit that big shop up ahead—they deal in trade year-round and should have introductions to all sorts of strange places." The manager pointed to a large shop by the roadside.
Evan Yang nodded gratefully, "Thank you."
With a flash, he arrived at the entrance of the big shop, which was called Hundred Routes Hall.
Evan Yang walked in curiously. The manager approached and asked, "What do you need?"
"I’d like information about Grimshade Valley. Do you have any?" Evan Yang asked, intrigued.
"We do have it, but we only passed by and made a mark. As for what’s inside, we don’t really know." The manager looked at Evan Yang skeptically.
"That’s fine. Could you make a copy for me?" Evan Yang smiled.
"Sure, but Hundred Routes Hall has always made a living by selling maps. So for Grimshade Valley, we can make a copy for you, but the price won’t be cheap." The manager looked greedy.
"How much?" Evan Yang asked.
"Fifty million high-grade Spirit Crystal Ore. Not a bit less." The manager smiled.
"Is this a rip-off?" Evan Yang felt like he was being gouged.
"Take it or leave it. If you don’t want it, that’s fine." The manager was confident, knowing that hardly anyone would ever go there—only those who truly had to would even consider it.
"Fine, call it a rip-off. How about this—I've got a piece of magic mud. I'll trade you for it." Evan Yang reluctantly took out a piece of Immortal Yellow Earth.
The other party’s eyes lit up at the mention of magic mud. When he saw Evan Yang actually had Immortal Yellow Earth in hand, he immediately grinned, "No problem, I’ll get it for you right away."
Soon, he enthusiastically produced a map, marked with Evan Yang’s current location and the direction and position of Grimshade Valley.
Evan Yang glanced at it and saw the distance was immense; even flying would take more than half a month. Still, he didn’t give up—after handing over the Immortal Yellow Earth, he left the shop.
The manager excitedly put away the Immortal Yellow Earth—a huge windfall, worth at least seventy or eighty million outside. Even if he didn’t sell it, he could make good use of it later.
So for the next few days, he was thrilled, feeling like he’d struck gold. Then, one day, a group of armored men arrived.
The leader wore white armor, but unlike the others, his shoulder bore a pattern—five horizontal stripes.
Anyone with eyes could tell what his status was—it was the mark of a Fifth-Rank General from Fiend Palace.
He went straight to the manager and asked, "Have you seen this person here?"
The manager looked at the portrait of Evan Yang and nodded, "Yes."
"What did he come here for?" the man asked.
"For a map," the manager replied respectfully.
"What map?"
"Grimshade Valley."
"Grimshade Valley?" The leader frowned.
"Um, I’m not sure what you experts want." The manager was nervous, afraid they’d find out he had Immortal Yellow Earth.
"Give us a copy of that map," the leader ordered.
"No problem." The manager hurried off to make a copy for the leader.
The leader took the map and left Hundred Routes Hall.
"What are these people up to? Did that guy offend them?" Watching the Fifth-Rank General leave with a bunch of Sixth-Rank Generals, the manager wondered aloud.
As for the Fifth-Rank General, he went out into the void and took out a Transmission Stone to contact someone.
"Elder Liu, he’s already headed to Grimshade Valley. Should we go after him?" the Fifth-Rank General asked.
"Yes. No matter where he goes, you must follow! Make sure you catch him!" came the angry reply.
"Understood." The Fifth-Rank General replied respectfully, then hung up the Transmission Stone.
"Captain Shaw, I heard Grimshade Valley isn’t a good place. Are we really going?" a Sixth-Rank General asked worriedly.
"If you don’t want to go, fine—but you can face Elder Liu’s wrath instead." Captain Shaw said helplessly.
Everyone understood what Captain Shaw meant. Right now, they only blamed Evan Yang for running so fast—and for heading to such a strange place.
If they hadn’t heard along the way that Evan Yang was asking every shop about Dragon-Nether Grass, they would have had no idea where to look for him.
So they followed the trail of cities where Evan Yang made inquiries, and finally found Hundred Routes Hall—learning where he’d gone.
Evan Yang, of course, had no idea that his inquiries would let the Fiend Palace people track him down so quickly. But he’d already been gone for days, still flying along the road.
Captain Shaw and his group sped up, heading for Grimshade Valley.
Because the Sixth-Rank Generals were weaker and slower, the Fifth-Rank General had to accompany them.
"Captain Shaw, why doesn’t Elder Liu just send some Fourth-Rank or higher generals instead of us?" one Sixth-Rank General complained.
"I heard that all Fourth-Rank Generals and above have been sent out to look for someone." Captain Xiao replied vaguely, not really sure himself.
"Who are they looking for? Why would it take Fourth-, Third-, and Second-Rank Generals?" The Sixth-Rank General asked in confusion.
In Fiend Palace, anyone below Second-Rank General can be sent out on missions, while First-Rank Generals stay in the palace to maintain order.
Not only that, but there are very few First-Rank Generals in Fiend Palace, since the ranking is strictly based on strength.
"I don't know the details, but it's definitely related to those two young masters. Otherwise, why would they send Fourth-Rank Generals to help us?" Captain Xiao guessed.
"Honestly, those two young masters are something else—leaving the Fiend Realm behind and insisting on heading to the Human World." One of the Sixth-Rank Generals complained.
"That's not for you to comment on. Get moving—if Elder Liu comes out of seclusion and we haven't caught that kid yet, you'll all be demoted." Captain Xiao scolded.
Everyone had no choice but to keep flying quickly.
Evan Yang followed his usual speed and spent about ten days reaching the location marked on the map.
"Is this Grimshade Valley?" Evan Yang looked at the scene before him, a bit skeptical.
It looked like stacked layers of clouds, but here in the void, only three colors were visible, and the whole place seemed shrouded in gloomy winds.
Just as Evan Yang was wondering how to enter, a figure appeared, muttering, "I knew you'd be stubborn. You actually managed to find this place."
"It's you!" Evan Yang stared in shock—it was none other than that old man from Hundred Treasures Hall.
"I knew you'd be stubborn, so I came to check. And sure enough, I ran into you—you little rascal." The old man glared.
"Senior, you wouldn't tell me, so I found it myself—and now you're blaming me?" Evan Yang said, feeling frustrated.
"Enough. Looks like this is your fate. Go on." The old man said helplessly.
"What do you mean, 'my fate'? Stop saying half-riddles, half-truths." Evan Yang always felt these old monsters just showed up occasionally to watch others struggle.
"It's fine, just go." The old man said.
Evan Yang had no choice and headed toward the cloud layers.
The old man stood there watching Evan Yang's back. "I originally wanted to stop you from searching for Dragon-Nether Grass, but you still found the place yourself. Maybe this really is your fate."