Evan Yang was still healing the wounded, not yet ready to leave, when suddenly someone struck him from behind. Evan quickly withdrew his hands and brought them up to block the incoming punch.
A surge of force traveled from Evan’s hands straight to his chest, making him feel as if something was about to invade his body. A wave of nausea rose in his throat.
Evan forced himself to stay focused, staring at the attacker. The man was an elder, quickly withdrawing his fist and sneering, "A mere Spirit-Wandering dares to act wild in my Purple Cloud Sect!"
“Senior brother, you’ve misunderstood!” At that moment, one of the six heavily injured guardians managed to crawl up and spoke to the elder who had just attacked.
“Misunderstood?” The elder looked at Evan and the six men in confusion.
Then he listened to the explanation, while Evan kept his eyes fixed on the elder, cursing inwardly, “Damn it, why does every good deed get me misunderstood?”
After hearing everything, the elder showed no gratitude to Evan, but instead snorted coldly, “What’s your name, and why are you here?”
“Evan Yang. As for why I’m here, obviously I saw that shadow.” Evan stared back at him as he spoke.
“Whose disciple are you? Why haven’t I seen you before?” the elder pressed, unwilling to let it go.
Evan was speechless for a moment, but quickly replied, “I’m just a herb farmer.”
“Herb farmer?” Everyone looked at him with skeptical expressions.
“Don’t believe me? You can check the Middle-Tier Fields. I’ve been here a month already.” Evan smiled.
Just then, another elder walked in and asked, “What’s going on here?”
When the group saw this elder, they all greeted him respectfully, then began to explain the situation. From their conversation, Evan realized this elder was the Sect Master of Purple Cloud Sect.
After hearing Evan’s story, the Sect Master was first surprised, then asked, “Did you see who that shadow was?”
“I only saw a moon-shaped mark on his forehead.” Evan felt this Sect Master wasn’t as nasty as the previous elder, so he answered naturally.
Evan’s words instantly stunned everyone.
“So it was Moonshadow Hall.” The Sect Master replied.
“Despicable!” The elder who had struck Evan snorted coldly.
The Sect Master glanced at Evan, then at the six guardians, and said to Evan, “Thank you. As for Brother Chu, he made a mistake and injured you. On behalf of Purple Cloud Sect, I apologize.”
It was the first time Evan had seen a Sect Master who wasn’t arrogant, apologizing to him. He found it curious and smiled, “It’s fine, he just hit a bit hard. I’ll need a few days to recover.”
The Sect Master smiled, “Come with me. As for the rest of you, stay here and keep watch. I’ll send another group over soon.”
“Yes, Sect Master!” the six guardians replied.
The elder who had injured Evan left in a huff, while the Sect Master shook his head helplessly and said, “Let’s go.”
With that, he led Evan out of the cave.
Evan followed the unfamiliar Sect Master to a residence. It was simple, but the air was filled with a pleasant fragrance.
“Have a seat.” The Sect Master motioned Evan to a chair, and Evan, still wary, sat down.
“Don’t be so tense, I mean you no harm,” the Sect Master said with a smile.
“With you acting like this, it’s hard not to be.” Evan replied awkwardly.
“I really feel bad about earlier. As Sect Master of Purple Cloud Sect, I don’t want us to seem ungrateful. I brought you here to see how we can repay you,” the Sect Master said.
Evan hadn’t expected the Sect Master to say something like that.
Seeing Evan stunned, the Sect Master smiled, “Go ahead, speak.”
Evan thought for a moment. All he wanted was a good medicinal herb, and since the Sect Master had offered, he didn’t hold back. Recalling the herbs he’d seen in the cave earlier, he said, “I want to look inside that cave.”
“Look inside the cave? What are you searching for?” The Sect Master asked suspiciously.
“I’m looking for a medicinal herb I need. Can you allow it?” Evan asked.
The Sect Master pondered for a moment, then smiled, “Alright, I’ll allow you to enter for one quarter hour. After that, you must come out—even as Sect Master, that’s all I can offer, since you’re just a herb farmer.”
Evan felt that a quarter hour was far too short, so he asked, “Sect Master, could you extend the time?”
Evan fiddled with Barry Li’s bindings for a moment, then Barry was free. He looked at Evan excitedly, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”
“That’s not your concern. Tomorrow I’m going to Purple Cultivation Hall. As for Leo Summer and the others, I’ll leave them to you. If I find out you mistreat them, or anything else, I’ll come back and teach you a lesson.” Evan grinned wickedly.
Barry Li was shocked to hear Evan was going to Purple Cultivation Hall. After hearing the rest, he seemed to deflate and promised, “No problem. Go ahead, I’ll make sure they’re all fine.”
After Barry Li assured him, Evan smiled and left the fourth floor, leaving Barry Li dazed. “Purple Cultivation Hall isn’t where our sect recruits cultivators—is he planning to join?” Barry wondered aloud.
He’d originally planned to report Evan, but since Evan had already entered Purple Cloud Sect, what was the point? Besides, he had no evidence. So Barry Li just calculated how to send Evan’s friends away after a year—he didn’t want to offend them and risk Evan coming back for revenge.
Evan had no idea he’d left such a strong impression on Barry Li.
The Sect Master thought for a moment, then smiled, “It’s simple to become a disciple of our sect. There are two ways: one is through cultivation, the other through alchemy.”
Leo Summer woke up and found Evan missing. Alarmed, he jumped up and searched everywhere, but there was no sign of Evan.
“Where did he go?” Leo Summer asked anxiously. At that moment, Barry Li appeared. Seeing Barry, Leo calmed down and stared at him.
Barry Li coughed lightly. “Leo Summer, right? Work hard. I believe you’ll soon manage this herb plot well.”
Before Leo Summer could react, Barry Li left, leaving Leo stunned. Evan saw this and smiled to himself, thinking, “At least Barry Li didn’t do anything to upset me. Otherwise, I’d have come back for him right away.”
Soon, an elder walked in. Evan looked closely—it was none other than the elder who had injured him earlier.
“Colin Chu, Third Elder of Purple Cloud Sect, he’s in charge of cultivation,” the Sect Master introduced to Evan.
Colin Chu looked at Evan, then at the Sect Master. "Senior Brother, why did you call me here?"
Evan didn’t like Colin Chu at all—especially since he’d been injured by him, expected an apology, and Colin Chu hadn’t shown any remorse.
The Sect Master explained Evan’s situation to Colin Chu. After hearing it, Colin Chu was first surprised, then sneered, “You think you can just waltz into Purple Cloud Sect? Ridiculous!”
“Elder Chu, what must I do to enter?” Evan was determined to join Purple Cloud Sect, so he could access the precious herbs and obtain their essence.
“Fine, don’t say I didn’t give you a chance. Come to Purple Cultivation Hall tomorrow morning—I’ll tell you then.” Colin Chu said, then bid farewell to the Sect Master and left.
Evan smiled, watching Colin Chu leave. The Sect Master sighed, “That’s just his personality, don’t take it to heart.”
“Sect Master, don’t worry. Tomorrow, I’ll definitely earn his approval.” Evan said confidently.
“Good, I’ll be there tomorrow too. As long as his demands aren’t too excessive, I’ll just watch from the side. If things get out of hand, I’ll help you fight for a fair chance.” The Sect Master said to Evan.
Evan was grateful for the Sect Master’s kindness, then he said goodbye and left.
On his way back, Evan noticed many places were lit up and filled with noise—mostly people searching for the shadowy figure.
Hearing mention of the shadowy figure, Evan snorted, “Moonshadow Hall? And that guy—he’d better hope I don’t run into him again.”
Evan hated that person. If the Sect Master hadn’t been reasonable, he would likely have been surrounded and killed by Purple Cloud Sect members. Evan didn’t know the Sect Master’s true strength, but he was sure it wasn’t weaker than the Out-of-Body stage—especially since Third Elder’s punch had injured him.
Soon, Evan quietly slipped back into the middle-tier area, went up to the fourth floor of the management building, lit a fire, and looked at Barry Li still lying on the ground.
Evan smiled, “How are you doing?”
Barry Li blinked at the fire, then became excited when he saw it was Evan. After Evan removed the seal from his mouth, Barry exclaimed, “You—you finally came back!”
“What? You missed me that much?” Evan hadn’t succeeded today, but at least he had a chance to go there. Seeing the glowing rare herbs in the cave earlier made him even more determined to get in, no matter what it took.
“Just let me go, okay? You’ve already been inside, right?” Barry Li said, frustrated.
Evan fiddled with Leo Summer’s bindings for a moment, then Leo was free. He looked at Evan excitedly, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”
Evan fiddled with Barry Li’s bindings for a moment, then Barry was free. He looked at Evan excitedly, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”
Leo Summer was shocked to hear Evan was going to Purple Cultivation Hall. After hearing the rest, he seemed to deflate and promised, “No problem. Go ahead, I’ll make sure they’re all fine.”
“That’s not your concern. Tomorrow I’m going to Purple Cultivation Hall. As for Leo Summer and the others, I’ll leave them to you. If I find out you mistreat them, or anything else, I’ll come back and teach you a lesson.” Evan grinned wickedly.
He’d originally planned to report Evan, but since Evan had already entered Purple Cloud Sect, what was the point? Besides, he had no evidence. So Leo Summer just calculated how to send Evan’s friends away after a year—he didn’t want to offend them and risk Evan coming back for revenge.
Barry Li was stunned to hear Evan was going to Purple Cultivation Hall. After hearing the rest, he seemed to deflate and promised, “No problem. Go ahead, I’ll make sure they’re all fine.”
Evan didn’t return to his old room. Instead, he found a place to sit until dawn, then asked someone for directions to Purple Cultivation Hall and disappeared from the middle-tier area.
After Barry Li assured him, Evan smiled and left the fourth floor, leaving Barry Li dazed. "Purple Cultivation Hall isn’t where our sect recruits cultivators—is he planning to join?" Barry wondered aloud.
Evan had no idea he’d left such a strong impression on Barry Li.
He’d originally planned to report Evan, but since Evan had already entered Purple Cloud Sect, what was the point? Besides, he had no evidence. So Barry Li just calculated how to send Evan’s friends away after a year—he didn’t want to offend them and risk Evan coming back for revenge.
Before Leo Summer could respond, Barry Li left, leaving Leo Summer stunned. Evan saw all this and smiled, thinking, “At least Barry Li didn’t do anything to upset me. Otherwise, I’d have come back for him right away.”