"He exploded?"
"Where is he!"
"Aiden Zhou is gone."
You Mingdao's face darkened.
You Han's expression changed.
On the other side, Lucy Bai's eyes suddenly widened as she stared blankly at the spot where Aiden Zhou had been just a moment ago.
Now, over there, not a single trace of anyone remained.
The sky was clear, the breeze gentle.
Yet no one stood in the distance; everything in the mountain seemed ordinary, as if nothing had happened at all.
"How dare you!"
Zhou Tiantong's pupils suddenly contracted as he glanced at the spot where Aiden Zhou had last been.
He had sensed trouble and was about to intervene to save him, but by then it was already far too late.
His disciple, his first and foremost disciple—Aiden Zhou—had been utterly blown apart by the surge of energy!
It was just like someone dying from overeating at a meal.
"He wanted powerful strength, so I gave him strength."
Evan Lin withdrew his hand, looking over: "As a person, you can't get anywhere without a bit of ambition; otherwise you'll be lazy and never improve. But too much greed is just as bad. If you don't know your own limits and try to shake a great tree like an ant, it's laughable."
Evan Lin shook his head.
Everyone stared at that spot. If not for the terrifying energy still lingering in the air, almost tangible, they'd hardly believe anything had happened here at all.
That energy wasn't just the force Evan Lin had blasted toward Aiden Zhou at the end—it also included all the energy Aiden had absorbed from Evan earlier.
At this moment, all that energy had been completely released.
The surging energy, like a long river, now condensed over there, awe-inspiring and intimidating.
The energy hung suspended in midair, dense and unmoving.
"You owe my disciple two lives!"
Zhou Tiantong looked at Evan Lin, his entire expression now completely dark.
He clenched his fists, staring at Evan Lin's face.
"Aiden Zhou followed me for twenty years. I watched him grow up, carefully nurtured him, taught him, guided him by word and example."
"He was supposed to inherit my mantle after my hundred years, and now, in front of my eyes, you destroyed him?"
Although Zhou Tiantong tried to restrain himself, his words still carried extreme fury.
"Even if he was wrong a thousand times, made countless mistakes, he didn't deserve to die!"
"You could have spared him, handed him over to me for punishment!"
Zhou Tiantong's eyes turned icy cold, like a furious wild beast.
Evan Lin didn't even bother to look at him, walking straight toward the wooden frame over there.
"All those things you said—you should've told him to kneel and beg me for mercy before he died, not nag me about it after."
Evan Lin walked up to Yvette Locke, looked at the girl in front of him—so weak and pale—and sighed, reaching out to rub her head. "Why put yourself through this? Grandmaster Zhou Tiantong of Hong Kong was always my business to handle."
"Your foundation is still shallow. Your talent is good, but you're too young, not yet ready, and this isn't the age to act tough."
Evan Lin's tone was gentle, with a hint of helplessness.
In fact, even while Evan Lin was in seclusion, his senses remained sharp.
When Yvette Locke decided to go looking for Zhou Tiantong to 'stand up for Master Lin from Seacrest,' Evan Lin already knew and sent the Three Maiden Spirits to accompany her.
When Yvette climbed the mountain, entered the Coldspire Grand Array, and was captured, the Three Maiden Spirits were actually right there, watching.
At that critical point in his seclusion, Evan Lin couldn't come out, and although the Three Maiden Spirits were strong, they were still a bit weaker than Zhou Tiantong.
So Evan Lin didn’t order the Three Maiden Spirits to forcibly rescue her on the spot—just to follow. And then Yvette Locke ended up tied here.
Fortunately, Aiden Zhou never intended to kill her during that time. Otherwise, even if it meant shattering ten thousand Nourishing Spirit Pills and ruining his breakthrough, Evan Lin would have immediately come out.
Ironically, that let Yvette suffer some hardship—and let Aiden Zhou live a few days longer.
But the path of cultivation is inherently tough and full of obstacles. Evan Lin can’t always be at Yvette’s side, helping her grow and protecting her every step of the way.
So, for Yvette, this ordeal wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
"I just wanted to help you beat him up."
Yvette stood there, rubbing her stomach as it growled. She looked a little embarrassed, and a bit sad. "I thought I was pretty strong already."
She was telling the truth.
After absorbing two types of fire Evan Lin gave her—even though he handed them out casually—they were absolutely huge boosts for Yvette.
Now, Yvette’s Fire-Spirit Mortal Body had reached a bottleneck.
With focused cultivation, it wouldn’t take long for her to break through and achieve the Fire-Spirit Divine Body.
Plus, Yvette was now in the Pointing-to-Mystery Realm, and on her way up she’d never lost a single fight, so her confidence was sky-high—which was only natural.
"Eat something and rest for a bit."
Evan Lin turned his hand and took out two Nourishing Spirit Pills, handing them over.
Out of over ten thousand Nourishing Spirit Pills, Evan Lin had kept a hundred or so high-grade ones as backup.
The moment the Nourishing Spirit Pills appeared, Zhou Tiantong, You Mingdao, and Lucy Bai’s eyes all changed.
They were all spell-casters and could sense the immense energy sealed inside Evan Lin’s pills.
"This kind of pill is priceless."
An elder sighed, "Master Lin from Seacrest—didn’t expect him to be so generous."
Lucy Bai remained silent.
Ever since Aiden Zhou was blown apart by the surge of energy, whenever Lucy Bai looked at Master Lin from Seacrest, she felt something indescribable deep inside.
Every step had seemed unbelievably stupid, yet the final outcome always moved exactly in the direction Master Lin from Seacrest had predicted.
Instead, it made Lucy Bai feel stifled over her repeated judgments that Master Lin from Seacrest was an idiot.
"It's like I'm a frog at the bottom of a well."
Lucy Bai squinted, feeling indignant.
But seeing Yvette Locke swallow both Nourishing Spirit Pills in one go, and Master Lin from Seacrest watching her with genuine concern—eyes not even blinking at the priceless pills—while she sat there looking silly and cute after being tied up so long...
Lucy Bai unexpectedly felt a stab of jealousy deep inside.
The moment she sensed it, Lucy Bai was startled, her brows furrowing as she quickly shifted her gaze.
"But he's my disciple. Even if he wiped out your whole family, you still shouldn't have taken his life right in front of me!"