"Don't get cocky. Once I catch you, I'll take my time studying you," Evan Yang said.
"Catch me?" The toad didn't believe Evan Yang could get hold of it.
Evan Yang didn't bother arguing. He stepped forward, reached out with one hand to grab it, but the toad leapt away, bouncing around the space.
Inside this pocket space, the toad was completely at ease, almost playing. Evan Yang knew it had the advantage here, especially since he couldn't use earth power and had to find another way. But what could he use?
If he wanted to catch it, speed was the only answer. And his fastest attribute right now was lightning. With that in mind, Evan Yang decided to use lightning.
Bolts of lightning crackled and thundered, appearing right above the toad's head. With a loud boom, the lightning struck it directly.
The toad let out a miserable croak and rolled on the ground, its whole body paralyzed.
"Well? How does that feel?" Evan Yang grinned.
"You... how do you know that technique?" the toad trembled all over as it spoke.
"Looks like you're afraid of this stuff," Evan Yang laughed, seeing its reaction.
"Why do you even have this?" the toad snapped angrily.
"Why should I tell you? Anyway, now you'll see how I subdue you," Evan Yang said with a smile.
The toad flew into a rage, spewing thick black poison straight at Evan Yang, engulfing him. "I don't believe this poison won't kill you."
As soon as the poison entered his body, Evan Yang felt it was even stronger than before. He suffered a brief paralysis, but his Heaven-Cold Qi revived him and he recovered.
During this process, the toad's body also returned to normal. It said, "Let's see who lasts longer."
"Oh yeah? Then let's see." With that, Evan Yang unleashed lightning again, even bigger than before. The toad let out another miserable cry and spewed black poison once more.
The black poison entered Evan Yang's body again, leaving him unable to move. He just wanted to regain mobility quickly, so he could take down the toad before it recovered. The toad, meanwhile, hoped to act before Evan Yang could move, so it could escape its own space and trap him.
Both had different goals. Whenever they could move at the same time, each would make their move. Evan Yang didn't feel pain, so it didn't bother him, but the toad was different—every lightning strike hurt badly. Gradually, the timing started to shift.
Evan Yang realized that if this kept up, his advantage would become obvious. Still, he felt a bit helpless—if his powers were stronger, he could keep the toad paralyzed even longer.
The toad grew anxious. If this continued, it would definitely suffer, but there was nothing it could do except keep waiting—until Evan Yang recovered and rushed forward at the first opportunity.
Just as the toad was about to open its mouth, Evan Yang sealed it.
"What did you do to me?" The toad was shocked to find this was even worse than being paralyzed.
"Nothing much, just made it so you can't circulate your qi. How's that? Feels good, right?" Evan Yang picked it up like a pet. Its skin was covered in lethal poison, instantly blackening his hand, but his Heaven-Cold Qi kicked in and restored it.
"Let me go, now!" the toad demanded angrily.
"No way. I still want you as my guest, so you're coming with me," Evan Yang said with a smile.
"No, I'm not going! Let me go!" the toad protested.
"First, tell me how to get out of here," Evan Yang said.
"I can leave, but you can't," the toad replied.
"Oh? Why not?" Evan Yang asked.
"This space was custom-made. When I created it, only my aura was recognized, so I can come and go freely. Others can enter but can't leave, unless they're strong enough to break the space itself," the toad explained.
Evan Yang hadn't expected the toad to be so ruthless, making it a dead end. But right now, there was nothing he could do except hold on and say, "You really are vicious."
The toad fell silent. It couldn't kill Evan Yang here, so all it could do was wait for his strength to grow enough to break out, though that day seemed far off.
Evan Yang had no choice but to send a message to Hannah Nangong, telling her not to worry—he was trapped somewhere and getting out wouldn't be easy.
Hearing this, Hannah Nangong grew anxious, but she had no idea where the pocket space was and couldn't find it. All she could do was wait.
Evan Yang didn't know how long it would take to break out, so he told Hannah Nangong and Hector Xiang to head back. But neither would leave until Evan Yang came out, so they stayed put while Evan Yang kept studying the space.
After studying it over and over, Evan realized he could only force it open, but his ability was limited. He grabbed the toad and asked, "How did you leave this place?"
"At the spot where you came in, there's a pile of stones, and in that pile there's a hole. But something was added to the hole—so only I can come and go, no one else," the toad replied, fearing death in Evan's hands and hoping honesty might save it.
After hearing this, Evan walked over, squatted down, and cleared away the stones. Sure enough, he found an opening about the size of a palm. When he tried to touch it, he felt something blocking him.
Evan started attacking the barrier and found it had some effect—the spot would dent, but quickly recover.
"What's going on here?" Evan asked.
"If you want to break it, you'd need at least the peak of the Heavenly-Immortal Realm. But even if you break it, the hole is so small you can't crawl out," the toad said.
Evan wasn't bothered by the small hole—he had his own ways. As long as he cracked it open, he could get out.
Peak Heavenly-Immortal? He'd at least need to reach the early Heavenly-Immortal stage. With that, Evan put the toad away and entered his tower, undoing his self-suppression.
His cultivation surged like breaking bamboo, instantly reaching eighth-tier Earth-Immortal. Two more breakthroughs and he'd be done.
So Evan prepared to cultivate in the tower.
Time ticked by. Since entering the Immortal Realm, Evan had been through a lot, including that magical place in the North Sect. Unbeknownst to him, his cultivation speed was much faster than ordinary people—after just three hundred years, he broke through to first-tier Heavenly-Immortal.
Reaching first-tier Heavenly-Immortal, Evan walked out of the tower and found tons of messages from Hannah Nangong. Seeing them, he replied, "Are you still there?"
Hannah Nangong, unaware Evan had been cultivating in the tower, had worried for six full years. When she finally got his reply, she was overjoyed. "How are you?" she asked.
"I'm fine. How about you guys?" Evan asked.
"We're good. We're still waiting at the same spot," Hannah Nangong replied.
"No problem, I'll be out soon," Evan Yang replied.
Hearing that Evan Yang would be coming out soon, Hannah Nangong was overjoyed.
Evan Yang focused his power into his gauntlets, merged it with his soul, and punched down. With a screech, the opening was blasted open.
Seeing the small hole, Evan Yang knew the passage was open. He hadn't expected his strength to increase so much after reaching the Heavenly-Immortal Realm, and even his qi felt different now.
"Is this the unique qi of the Heavenly-Immortal Realm?" Evan Yang muttered to himself. Then, with a flash, he entered the tower, shrank it, and left the tunnel.
After a while, Evan Yang saw Hannah Nangong and Hector Xiang still waiting at the spot where he had disappeared.
Just as they were wondering when Evan Yang would come out, he flashed out of the tower.
A figure appeared not far from the two. They immediately noticed him. When they saw Evan Yang, both hurried over—Hannah Nangong, especially, ignored Hector and threw herself at Evan, exclaiming excitedly, "I finally waited you out!"
"There's no one else here, you don't have to pretend anymore," Evan Yang said with a smile, sending a voice transmission.
Reminded by this, Hannah Nangong let go, stepped back, and said with an awkward smile, "You finally made it out."
Hector Xiang smiled, "Welcome back, Evan."
After their greetings, Evan Yang took out the toad. When the two saw it, they were delighted—especially Hector Xiang, who wanted to touch it. Evan warned, "Its skin is extremely poisonous. Better not touch it."
"That's true. I've heard a toad's poison covers its whole body—it's terrifying," Hector Xiang replied, withdrawing his hand and staring at the subdued toad.
"How old is this one? Can you tell for sure?" Evan Yang asked again. "Definitely. It's at least a million years old, and it's the same one from before," Hector Xiang confirmed.
Hearing it was at least a million years old, Evan Yang was thrilled and put it away with a smile. "That's perfect."
"Evan, I'd like to invite you to visit our sect," Hector Xiang said, knowing Evan's poison resistance would make him popular there.
But Evan Yang shook his head and smiled, "I have other matters to handle, so I probably can't visit for now." "I see. No problem—if you ever get a chance, you're always welcome at our sect," Hector Xiang replied. "Thanks," Evan said, knowing Hector was sincere—otherwise, he wouldn't have waited so long, not knowing when Evan would return.
"Let's head out. It's too dark here, and after all these years, toads keep showing up," Hannah Nangong said.
"Oh? There are other toads?" Evan Yang asked curiously.
"Yeah, a few days every year, but they're not that strong. Hector uses powder to drive them away," Hannah Nangong explained.
Evan Yang nodded, "I see. All right, let's go up." With that, Evan used earth-attribute techniques, and the three shot upward.
They quickly returned to the surface. Heavy snow still fell, covering the well. After appearing, Evan Yang thought for a moment and said, "We should seal this place. There's too much poison here—it could cause trouble for others."
"Agreed," Hector Xiang supported Evan's idea. After all, this was the poison of a million-year toad—extremely dangerous.
So the three worked together, moving rocks into the well and blocking it. Then Evan Yang used earth-attribute techniques to cover the area with earth.
When everything was done, Evan Yang said, "Finally, it's finished."
"Well, I guess it's time to say goodbye, Evan. You really opened my eyes this time—and thanks for saving my life," Hector Xiang said as things wrapped up.