Strength is what Evan Yang is after right now. The more he interacts with the Blue Clan and those top experts, the more he realizes that even reaching the early Spirit‑Wandering Realm doesn’t help much. So he plans to go into seclusion and cultivate.
Before he begins his secluded training, he plans to visit a certain place. Meanwhile, Winter has been arranged to enter the Sky‑Piercing Tower to cultivate as quickly as possible and reach a higher realm.
Evan Yang’s destination is the Free Alliance. There, he meets Wyatt Wolf and the others.
When Vice Alliance Master Grant of the Free Alliance sees Evan Yang, his face is full of excitement. "I finally get to meet you."
"Sorry, some things held me up, so I haven’t had a chance to report to you," Evan Yang says with an embarrassed smile, thinking to himself that he took someone else’s artifact and hasn’t formally come to explain.
Vice Alliance Master Grant shakes his head and laughs, "It’s fine. We know all about your situation—and about the Sky‑Piercing Tower. Wyatt Wolf and the others have already told us everything."
Speaking of the Sky‑Piercing Tower, Evan Yang gives an awkward smile. "About the Tower—I took it without permission. I hope you’ll forgive me."
"You’re already one of us in the Free Alliance. Besides, no one else can control it. Since you can, it’s your opportunity. That’s why the Free Alliance has decided to gift the Sky‑Piercing Tower to you as a treasured token of your joining us," Vice Alliance Master Grant says with a smile.
Hearing the news that the Sky‑Piercing Tower is being gifted to him, Evan Yang finally feels relieved. With a smile, he says, "Thank you."
"You earned it. Your strength has already proven your ability. And you saved three members of the Free Alliance—everyone here knows about it. Excellent, excellent." Vice Alliance Master Grant raises his evaluation of Evan Yang to a new level.
Oh? What's it like inside? How is it different from the outside? Evan Yang asked in surprise after hearing that the Vice Alliance Master had been there.
"Of course it's different inside. You can encounter various spaces, and there are many cultivators or spirit beasts within. Sometimes, you might even come across creatures none of us have ever seen before," the Vice Alliance Master explained.
"Is it very dangerous? And why do people choose to cultivate there—is it because the spiritual energy is denser inside?" Evan Yang asked, still puzzled.
"Danger depends on the area. Some places are very risky, while in others, you might just stumble upon spaces left behind by powerful experts. If you're lucky, nothing happens—sometimes you can even obtain treasures or cultivation techniques left by those experts," he replied.
"As for the issue of dense spiritual energy, that's definitely true. Otherwise, those Spirit-Wandering experts at the late stage or peak wouldn't risk entering the Death Crystal Field," the Vice Alliance Master said with a smile.
"How much of the safe regions does the Free Alliance know about?" Evan Yang finally couldn't help but ask.
The Vice Alliance Master, seeing Evan's intent after all his questions, smiled and asked, "You want to go in?"
"Yeah. Only by tempering myself can I hope for greater improvement," Evan answered. Right now, there are only a few places where he can truly challenge himself, and the most mysterious is the Death Crystal Field.
The Vice Alliance Master agreed with Evan's thinking, so he didn't try to stop him. Instead, he said, "Yes, your idea is correct. Only by enduring hardships can you reach a higher level. Especially in the Sky-Piercing Tower, where your cultivation was unfettered, you gained many insights that can't be understood except through life-and-death trials or breaking through your limits."
"Mm." Evan Yang replied with a smile.
"Actually, I've been in some regions, but unfortunately, the spaces inside shift constantly. That means once you enter the true interior of the Death Crystal Field, you might come out in a completely different place than where you entered," the Vice Alliance Master replied.
Hearing for the first time that the interior of the Death Crystal Field was like this, Evan Yang was shocked. "That's incredible."
"Yes, it's a place full of danger, but also full of opportunities. That's why only those at a bottleneck, or people like you seeking to challenge themselves and reach a higher realm, would try it," he said.
"Then I really need to be careful." Evan had thought there were a few safe places to test things, but now it seemed that was wishful thinking; he'd have to go in and try for himself.
"Yes, you can start from the outer edge and slowly work your way in. After all, the spiritual energy grows denser the deeper you go, and so does the danger. Only by adapting gradually can you respond to changes. And remember, don't be too curious—otherwise, it's easy to get yourself killed," the Vice Alliance Master warned him.
Evan Yang nodded and smiled, "Then I'll go check out the outer region first."
"Alright, be careful. Many people have died inside, or gotten trapped. So in any case, I hope you'll be cautious," the Vice Alliance Master said with a final reminder.
Evan Yang kept all this in mind, said his farewells, and left the Free Alliance.
Watching Evan walk away, the Vice Alliance Master sighed, "I wonder if he'll ever be able to stand against the Blue Clan's top figure."
Evan Yang had no idea that the Vice Alliance Master had such high hopes for him.
Actually, it isn't just the Vice Alliance Master who thinks this way—many people in the underground world speculate about it. After all, Evan Yang is now publicly the youngest Spirit-Wandering expert; from cultivation to now, it hasn't even been a hundred years. In reality, Evan has lived several hundred years, but outsiders don't know that.
Hearing for the first time that the interior of the Death Crystal Field was like this, Evan Yang was shocked. "That's incredible."
"Death Crystal Field, here I come," Evan Yang said as he arrived outside the mist-shrouded mountain range, gazing at the peaks covered in white fog.
In many mountain ranges, Evan found places where Spirit Crystal Ore could be excavated, and saw many crystals exposed on the cliff faces.
Looking at those glittering Spirit Crystal Ores, Evan thought of something and summoned his three soul-splits.
The three soul-splits, upon seeing the Spirit Crystal Ore, acted as if they'd found food and began absorbing it frantically.
Evan himself was already at the Spirit-Wandering Realm, but the three soul-splits he had just summoned were still stuck at previous stages. Now, they needed to absorb a lot of crystal energy to reach his current level.
With primordial crystal sources available here, Evan wasn't in a hurry. He let them out and allowed them to absorb as much as they wanted. Meanwhile, he gazed at the misty mountains ahead, opening his divine sense to examine what might lie beyond. However, everything was blocked by a layer of formation.
This formation was impossible for Evan to see through, so his divine sense couldn't penetrate to find out what was behind the mountain range.
"How can there be such a formation on the continent!" Evan truly couldn't understand it. Right now, everyone only knows that Spirit-Wandering Realm is the highest level; if even Spirit-Wandering experts can't guarantee safe passage, how was this place created?
Besides, this formation definitely wasn't formed naturally. Evan, with his Heaven's Eye, could see the energy circulating around it, and the source was likely these crystal veins.
What exactly is the Death Crystal Field? After seeing this formation, Evan's curiosity grew even stronger. After a while, the three soul-splits finished absorbing, and their cultivation quickly rose to match Evan's—early Spirit-Wandering Realm.
"Master," the first soul-split exclaimed in surprise, feeling its power surge.
"Yes, that's right." Evan had long known that as long as these soul-splits absorbed enough, they'd reach the same realm as him. Still, seeing it happen so quickly was startling—others spend centuries cultivating, but his soul-splits could just eat their way to his level.
The three soul-splits, feeling their power change, were extremely excited.
Once the three soul-splits stabilized, Evan recalled them and began his first step into the Death Crystal Field.
Legends say that unless you've reached Spirit-Wandering Realm, you'd best not enter the Death Crystal Field. Why? Because there are countless spaces left behind by powerful experts, and a careless mistake could leave you wounded by some mutated remnant. Besides that, the interior is full of dangers—no one knows what's at the very core, or what might be hidden there. No one has ever reached the deepest part; even the Blue Clan's supreme figure only brushed past it, never entering the true heart.
As for these legends, Evan put them all aside for now. He wanted to seek a breakthrough here, so he had to be prepared for anything—even if it meant risking his life, he wouldn't back down.
So, upon entering, Evan showed no weakness. He spread out five hundred strands of divine sense, monitoring every change around him.
He found that his divine sense could only reach a certain distance; beyond that, everything was obscured, as if some rule was restricting him. He could only see so far—whether everyone faced this same limit, Evan didn't know, but he knew he had to be extra cautious.
With the help of his five hundred strands of divine sense and his quick pace, Evan could search for the most likely path to enter deeper inside.
Inside, it was like a giant maze—just like a massive illusion formation. According to Mad Wolf, he was once trapped in an Immortal-grade array here; if you ran into a powerful one, you might never escape, but if it was just a weak illusion, you could temporarily withdraw.
Even though it was an illusion formation, Evan—who had a decent grasp of formations—couldn't see through it, but his understanding of their nature let him anticipate what might appear and mentally prepare himself.
Even if a terrifying illusion appeared before him, Evan would find a way to unravel it.
The three soul-splits, feeling their power change, were extremely excited.
Once the three soul-splits stabilized, Evan recalled them and began his first step into the Death Crystal Field.
Legends say that unless you've reached Spirit-Wandering Realm, you'd best not enter the Death Crystal Field. Why? Because there are countless spaces left behind by powerful experts, and a careless mistake could leave you wounded by some mutated remnant. Besides that, the interior is full of dangers—no one knows what's at the very core, or what might be hidden there. No one has ever reached the deepest part; even the Blue Clan's supreme figure only brushed past it, never entering the true heart.
As for these legends, Evan put them all aside for now. He wanted to seek a breakthrough here, so he had to be prepared for anything—even if it meant risking his life, he wouldn't back down.
So, upon entering, Evan showed no weakness. He spread out five hundred strands of divine sense, monitoring every change around him.
He found that his divine sense could only reach a certain distance; beyond that, everything was obscured, as if some rule was restricting him. He could only see so far—whether everyone faced this same limit, Evan didn't know, but he knew he had to be extra cautious.
With the help of his five hundred strands of divine sense and his quick pace, Evan could search for the most likely path to enter deeper inside.
Inside, it was like a giant maze—just like a massive illusion formation. According to Mad Wolf, he was once trapped in an Immortal-grade array here; if you ran into a powerful one, you might never escape, but if it was just a weak illusion, you could temporarily withdraw.
Even though it was an illusion formation, Evan—who had a decent grasp of formations—couldn't see through it, but his understanding of their nature let him anticipate what might appear and mentally prepare himself.
Even if a terrifying illusion appeared before him, Evan would find a way to unravel it.