"I used to think that too, but since I never saw him kill that Star Lord with my own eyes, I can't be sure either," Reed Kong said, first startled, then sighing.
"You don't need to see it to know. Do you realize, aside from the first one, how many of the next ten were late-stage Out-of-Body Realm?" Elder Mu asked.
"I have no idea," Reed Kong replied, not knowing the identities or strength of those who died.
Elder Mu smiled, "At least three, based on what I've learned so far. If that's just luck, then his luck is way too good. And I've heard, sometimes he killed several at once. Honestly, calling him Azure Fifth‑Tier might even be underrating him—he could very well have Blue Sixth‑Tier potential."
"What!" Reed Kong hadn’t expected Elder Mu’s evaluation of Evan Yang to be so high.
"There's nothing impossible about it. I suddenly feel very interested in him. Killing so many across two major realms—Ninefold Palace must be reaching their limit. Soon enough, they’ll probably figure it out. If the other two Palaces hear about it, and confirm he’s Blue Sixth‑Tier, they might even try to poach him away," Elder Mu continued analyzing.
"If he really is Blue Sixth‑Tier, he’d be much safer. But that’s just our guess," Reed Kong muttered.
"Right. So until we’re sure of his true potential, we act like we know nothing. Same as before—just try to catch him as usual. As for him, those Ninefold Palace people won’t let him go. They’ll do everything to catch him, so we can watch and see if this kid really is just lucky," Elder Mu said, eyes focused.
Reed Kong was amazed, but could only chat with Elder Mu for a bit before preparing to leave. Just before he left, Elder Mu said, "It's not that Genius Pavilion doesn’t want to step in, but he’s killed so many—especially a direct descendant of House Laird. If we intervene, it’ll cause a lot of trouble. So we just let him develop freely."
Reed Kong understood Elder Mu’s meaning, so he awkwardly said, "Thank you, Elder Mu."
"Go on," Elder Mu said helplessly.
Reed Kong could only leave with a heavy heart. As he was about to reach the planetary teleportation array on Genius Star, Gavin Qiao appeared, grinning at Reed and saying, "Heard you were here, so I hurried over to see if you were still alive."
"What’s that supposed to mean?" Reed Kong snorted coldly.
"Wasn't Elder Mu summoning you to punish you?" Gavin Qiao mocked.
Reed Kong understood exactly what Gavin meant—he must have assumed Elder Mu called him in to blame him for Evan Yang. Not wanting to arouse suspicion among other Genius Pavilion members, Reed Kong snorted, "That’s none of your business!"
"Just as I thought. I was wondering why Elder Mu called you over—turns out your little beggar caused trouble again," Gavin Qiao clicked his tongue.
"Hmph," Reed Kong snorted, planning to leave.
But Gavin Qiao mocked from behind, "Heh, now I can righteously kill him. But for your sake, I’ll tell my men to leave him a whole corpse."
"You—!" Reed Kong hadn’t expected Gavin Qiao to stoop to such dirty tricks.
"Don’t look at me like that. He brought it on himself—dared to tell me to shut up! So let’s see who shuts up forever first! Still, if I went to kill him myself, that’d be bullying. Letting my genius squad deal with him seems like a pretty good idea," Gavin Qiao sneered.
Reed Kong said angrily, "Then you'd better pray your people make it back alive." With that, he strode into the array, still fuming.
Hearing Reed Kong’s words, Gavin Qiao still couldn’t help but snort, "What’s so great about him? But once I catch him, I’ll make sure he dies right in front of me!"
Evan Yang hadn’t expected that a single remark he’d made would have such an impact on Gavin Qiao.
Because of Evan Yang, even more people had arrived on Prodigy Star—especially from Ninefold Palace, whose numbers had increased. Genius Pavilion, meanwhile, had always allowed free passage, so no one bothered counting how many came and went.
Fifty years inside the Sky‑Piercing Tower was only a year outside. After that year, Evan Yang emerged from the tower. At this point, his divine sense was strong enough to match a peak Out‑of‑Body Realm cultivator, and his cultivation had advanced from early to mid stage. Now, even if he encountered a late‑stage Out‑of‑Body, he could defeat them in a few moves—no longer struggling as before.
"The outside world is still the best." Evan Yang opened his senses, letting his divine sense sweep across the surrounding scene.
Just then, someone appeared within the range of his divine sense. That person seemed to notice Evan Yang as well. The two hovered in midair—unable to see each other directly, but their divine senses made it clear they were both watching one another.
"Don’t tell me I’ve just come out and already run into someone from Ninefold Palace?" Evan Yang cursed inwardly.
That person was already slowly moving toward Evan Yang.
"Let’s wait until they get closer. If it really is someone from Ninefold Palace, I’ll deal with it then." Evan Yang didn’t immediately retreat, but kept his eyes fixed as the person approached.