There were simply too many divine senses sweeping over him. Evan Yang scanned each one in turn as he slowly walked toward the northern part of the city, pretending to be unaware.
But Evan Yang's own divine sense was strong as well, and he quickly located where Quinn Qing was hiding. "So that's where you're lurking."
Quinn Qing had no idea Evan Yang had already pinpointed his location by special means. At this moment, he was still completely unaware, watching Evan and debating whether to go out and deal with him.
"Still not coming out?" Evan Yang muttered to himself, his divine sense fixed on Quinn Qing.
Meanwhile, Hannah Nangong kept her eyes on Evan Yang, watching as he walked out of the city. Quinn Qing finally couldn't hold back and muttered, "They don't know where I am. I can defeat him as long as I don't reveal myself too soon."
Quinn Qing planned to get close to Evan Yang, deliver a fatal blow, and then escape—making sure Hannah Nangong had no chance to find him.
"He finally came out?" Evan Yang saw Quinn Qing emerge, wrapped in thick fur clothing with his head covered. In this snowy land, if you didn't look closely, you wouldn't know it was Quinn Qing.
But since Evan Yang knew it was Quinn Qing, he naturally stayed alert. At this moment, Evan had already reached the chaotic rocky slope, thinking to himself, "Let him taste some of this poison."
So Evan Yang released a few insects and placed them in the snow, then stood up. Quinn Qing had no idea what Evan was doing, only seeing him seemingly searching for something.
Evan Yang indeed arrived at the dried-up well, considering how he could lure the toad out from inside.
"Should I try pouring in water?" Evan Yang thought for a moment, then pushed snow into the well, melted it, and watched as the water flowed into the broken hole, never filling up again.
"Looks like this tunnel is really deep," Evan Yang said suspiciously.
Soon after, Quinn Qing, who had left the city, quickly approached. Just as he was about to attack Evan Yang with a weapon, something bit his foot—one of the insects—and Evan turned, smiling, "I've been waiting for you."
"You—" Quinn Qing hadn't expected Evan Yang to discover him, but immediately calmed down. "Let's see who will help you now."
He finished speaking and was about to attack Evan Yang. Hannah Nangong, realizing the fur-clad figure was Quinn Qing, was shocked and quickly flashed over to intercept.
But Quinn Qing was still a bit faster. Just as he was about to strike Evan Yang, he noticed something was off—his hand felt weak, and he realized it was poisoned.
"Ah, how could this happen?" Quinn Qing exclaimed in shock.
"You're already poisoned. Don't bother struggling," Evan Yang said.
"You—" Quinn Qing, truly a worthy elite, knew he couldn't linger here or he'd be trapped once Hannah Nangong arrived. Gritting his teeth, he threw out a sphere.
Boom! Snow exploded upward. The moment Hannah Nangong appeared, Quinn Qing vanished. Evan Yang hadn't expected Quinn Qing to have such a trick up his sleeve.
"What was that?" Evan Yang had no idea what that thing was—could it really take someone away instantly?
"That's a famous Teleportation Pearl, and it's one-to-one. Looks like he probably returned to his clan," Hannah Nangong said with a frown.
"Teleportation Pearl? What exactly is that?" Evan Yang asked, puzzled.
So Hannah Nangong explained to Evan Yang: the Teleportation Pearl was crafted long ago by an ancient space-formation Grandmaster. No one knows how powerful he really was; only that he left behind fifty pairs of Teleportation Pearls before leaving the Immortal Realm, and somehow the Qing Family obtained a few pairs.
Each use destroys a whole pair, so they're precious life-saving treasures for escaping danger.
"That's incredible! Who was that space-formation Grandmaster, anyway?" Evan Yang exclaimed in awe.
"No one knows. Some say he was above Emperor level, others say he was just an Emperor, or maybe a peak figure of the Immortal Realm. No one really knows for sure," Hannah Nangong shook her head.
"So that's how it is. Quinn Qing really is lucky," Evan Yang said.
"Exactly. But since he lost a pair of Teleportation Pearls, his luck isn't all that good," Hannah Nangong laughed.
"Right. Now that he's gone back to his clan, he won't be coming after us for a while. Let's keep trying to see if we can draw the toad out here," Evan Yang said.
Hannah Nangong started shoveling the surrounding snow into the well, and under Evan Yang's flame, it instantly turned to water and flowed down.
They kept busy, not knowing how deep the lower opening really was.
On the other side, Quinn Qing arrived at his clan's preset location, his face darkened, his whole body purple, cursing, "Evan Yang, I won't let you off!"
He sat down to check his body and found he couldn't remove the poison. "What kind of poison is this? Damn it!"
Unable to resolve the poison, Quinn Qing grew anxious and hurried out to find a famous doctor in the clan. As soon as he appeared at the door, he frightened the clan members, and soon the news spread throughout the clan.
Quinn Qing knew someone would report it, so he just waited in his room. After a while, a burly man with a beard, dressed in green, appeared before Quinn Qing.
"Dad, you're here," Quinn Qing exclaimed.
"What's going on?" The man was Quinn Qing's father, Quentin Qing.
"I got ambushed and poisoned, but I don't know what kind of poison it is. I can't force it out," Quinn Qing said.
"Don't worry, sit tight and let me check," Quentin Qing told him. He had Quinn sit down and circulated his power to try to remove the poison, but found it had fused completely with Quinn's blood, impossible to extract.
Finally, Quentin Qing stood up and said, "This poison is too vicious. Rest here, I'll go find others to help."
"Okay," Quinn Qing nodded. He believed that with such a large clan, there must be a way to remove the poison. Meanwhile, his hatred for Evan Yang deepened.
Evan Yang and Hannah Nangong had no idea about Quinn Qing's situation, and continued pouring water. After several hours, Evan stopped and said, "I think this tunnel might be extending outwards. Let me try probing it further."
"How will you probe it?" Hannah Nangong asked curiously.
"I have my own method," Evan Yang smiled. With a wave of his hand, several Phantom Spirit Birds appeared and flew into the well.
Hannah Nangong couldn't see anything, only saw Evan Yang wave his hand as if something appeared, but she couldn't find it.
"What are you doing?" Hannah Nangong asked curiously.
"Nothing, just released a few Phantom Spirit Birds," Evan Yang smiled.
"Phantom Spirit Birds? That mysterious Pure Natural Art from your North Sect?" Hannah Nangong asked curiously.
"How did you know?" Evan Yang asked curiously.
"I heard people mention it before. They say only North Sect disciples can cultivate it; others can't," Hannah Nangong said.
"Oh? Is that so? I didn't even know myself," Evan Yang said, surprised that only North Sect disciples could cultivate Pure Natural Art.
"Yes, everyone is curious about it, but we've never found the reason," Hannah Nangong said.
Evan Yang pondered for a while, secretly muttering, "Could it be those two mysterious trees?"
"What are you spacing out about?" Hannah Nangong asked, seeing Evan Yang lost in thought.
"Nothing, just thinking about some things," Evan Yang replied.
"What are we doing now?" Hannah Nangong looked around; there was no one, only snowflakes falling.
"Wait," Evan Yang said.
Hannah Nangong sat there waiting. After a while with no movement, Evan Yang said, "Let's head back for now."
"We're just leaving like this?" Hannah Nangong asked curiously.
"Maybe we'll get some news soon," Evan Yang smiled, and he and Hannah Nangong returned to the inn.
With no one bothering them, Evan Yang and Hannah Nangong spent a peaceful night.
But Evan Yang didn't sleep, waiting for news. Hannah Nangong didn't sleep either, thinking about everything that happened that day.
"Is that guy really dumb or just pretending?" Hannah Nangong muttered, looking at her right hand, not knowing how many times Evan Yang had held it, her face tinged with a faint blush.
Evan Yang had no idea what Hannah Nangong was thinking, and kept pondering the depth of the tunnel, wondering why the Phantom Spirit Birds hadn't returned.
The two waited with different moods until the next morning. At dawn, Hannah Nangong came to find Evan Yang and asked about the situation.
Evan Yang shook his head, "I don't know why, but the whole night passed and they're still not back."
"Is the tunnel really that deep?" Hannah Nangong asked curiously.
"I don't know. Looks like we'll just have to keep waiting," Evan Yang said, resigned.
The two spent the rest of their days at the inn. Days passed, but the Phantom Spirit Birds still hadn't returned. Evan Yang grew worried, and the toad gathering event was fast approaching—only half a day left.
All they could do was wait; there was nothing else to try. Meanwhile, the Qing Family was overwhelmed—experts from the clan and allied families and sects all came to help, but none could remove the poison.
Finally, an Emperor told Quentin Qing, "I think I know what poison he's afflicted with."
"Tell me, Emperor Li." Quentin Qing was desperate after these days, and was glad someone finally knew the answer.
"Let me ask your son how he got poisoned first," the Emperor said.
"Alright, no problem," Quentin Qing replied. The Emperor then asked Quinn Qing, whose whole body was now dark, "How did you get poisoned?"
"Someone used some unknown method on me," Quinn Qing said.
"Where?" the Emperor asked curiously.
'On a planet at the edge of the Snowveil Star System, in a certain city,' Quinn Qing replied.
The Emperor's expression shifted from surprise to certainty. "If I'm not mistaken, this is the most famous toad venom in the Snowveil Star System."
"Toad venom?" the Qing Family members exclaimed.
"That's right. The older the toad, the more potent the venom. Some are so strong even Emperors can't cure them. Judging by the toxicity, we can't resolve it either—it must be a very old toad," the Emperor said.
"What? Was I bitten by a toad?" Quinn Qing couldn't believe it—he was sure Evan Yang caused the poisoning, but the Emperor sounded convincing.