After teaching them a lesson, Evan Yang didn't bother with them any further. He continued searching until he finally found the steward's office in a corner of the palace, where a sign read: First Palace Steward's Office.
The steward, seeing Evan Yang's condition, showed no surprise and asked, "You're the newcomer?"
"Yeah," Evan Yang replied.
"Here's your palace address code. It's the 150th spot on the bottom floor of the First Palace," the steward told Evan Yang.
Evan Yang nodded, then searched for his room according to the address code. The palace was a square shape: on the first floor, three sides were lined with rooms, and the fourth side led to the main hall and outside. From the second floor up, all four sides were rooms, making it look a bit like a courtyard.
"11150," Evan Yang looked at the code. It meant First Palace, first floor, room 150.
Evan Yang released his divine sense and quickly found the room. On the way, many people saw him but acted especially indifferent, not bothering to greet him.
As for Evan Yang, he didn't waste time thinking about it. He went straight into the room and found that his information was already there.
All the information was automated. "So fast?" Seeing his name, sect, and origin marked on the door, Evan Yang muttered to himself.
He walked in, closed the door, found the bed, sat down, and gritted his teeth, struggling to say, "Immortal Lord Lin, just wait. I, Evan Yang, won't let you off."
After speaking, Evan Yang entered the tower. He left a strand of divine sense outside to monitor the situation, while he himself stayed inside.
Inside the tower, Evan Yang spent fifty days healing all his bones and meridians. This was thanks to the Heaven-Cold Seed; without it, he doubted he could have recovered in decades.
"Having a fully healed body really is best," Evan Yang said, stretching his hands and feet with a smile.
After practicing a bit inside the tower, Evan Yang finally stepped out and returned outside, planning to see just how Ethereal Sanctuary trained its people.
He prepared to go to the steward to learn more, but realized that recovering in just one day would raise suspicion. So, Evan Yang disguised himself again, letting his arms and legs hang limp as if they were still broken.
"This should work." Evan Yang smiled, then opened the door and headed for the steward's office. Seeing Evan Yang return just one day later, the steward asked, "Why are you back?"
"I want to know why Ethereal Sanctuary is called so cruel," Evan Yang asked, confused.
"Want to know? Here, these are the detailed rules," the steward said, tossing a booklet of regulations to Evan Yang.
Evan Yang took the rule sheets and prepared to head back to his room to study them, but was stopped halfway by a group of people.
"You again?" Evan Yang said, looking at the bald man and the yin-yang voiced man.
"Of course. If we don't finish you off, how could we sleep well? Today, just accept your fate—we're definitely going to cripple your cultivation," the bald man sneered.
Evan Yang wondered what these two planned to use against his fire.
The two of them each pulled out a magic treasure. "Bringing out your treasures already?" Evan Yang sneered.
"We don't want to kill you, as long as we can cripple your cultivation," the bald man sneered.
Even when injured, Evan Yang could subdue them—let alone now, when he was only pretending to be hurt. With their level, there was no way they'd notice.
"Looks like if I don't cripple you two, you won't give up!" Evan Yang sneered.
"Kid, you're pretty arrogant. With your limbs messed up, you still want to fight us? Ridiculous. Today I'll show you how strong I am," the bald man snorted.
Evan Yang ignored them and directly controlled his flying needles. With a faint whistling sound, both the bald man and the yin-yang voiced man were struck, screaming in pain.
Both were hit in vital spots.
"Just because my limbs can't move doesn't mean I can't use hidden weapons! Let's see what you can do to me now," Evan Yang sneered.
Neither of them expected Evan Yang to use such a method, nor did they expect his flying needles to be so strange. The needles lodged in their bodies, making them feel unable to move. Whenever they tried to exert force, their bodies froze in place.
"What did you do to us?" the bald man asked in terror.
The yin-yang voiced man was also shocked. "What is this?"
"Why should I tell you?" Evan Yang smiled.
Evan Yang turned and left the two behind. They couldn't move at all—any attempt to do so made their whole bodies uncomfortable, and they remained stuck.
"What do we do now?" the bald man asked the other.
The yin-yang voiced man replied, "How should I know? We need to find a way to escape, fast."
The two stood there deep in thought until the bald man suddenly exclaimed in terror, "Did you notice something?"
"What?" the yin-yang voiced man asked curiously.
"My aura is getting weaker. It's like my cultivation is starting to regress," the bald man said.
"What? Let me check," the yin-yang voiced man said, inspecting himself and realizing something was indeed wrong.
"This is bad—if this keeps up, won't we end up crippled?" the bald man exclaimed, seeing the yin-yang voiced man's grim expression.
"You're right. I just checked, and if things go on at this rate, in a few days our cultivation will be gone," the yin-yang voiced man said in terror.
"No way, I can't stay here—I have to leave. He's too terrifying," the bald man regretted provoking Evan Yang, never expecting someone with broken limbs to have so many tricks.
The yin-yang voiced man felt the same. Losing cultivation meant having no status here, only waiting for death or being bullied and humiliated.
Just as the two were panicking, a teenager appeared behind them and asked, "What are you doing? Are you trying to block my way?"
Hearing the voice, they turned and saw it was that teenager. Their shock and fear grew even stronger.
"Relax, I'm just wondering why you're blocking my path," the teenager asked.
"No, no, we're not doing it on purpose. Someone did this to us, now we can't move," the bald man explained respectfully.
The teenager asked suspiciously, "Someone did this? Did the First Palace get another newcomer?"
"That's right, we're the ones he messed up. Brother Yu, please help us out," the bald man pleaded.
"Help you? You think I'm some big charity? Don't forget where you are. Why would I just let you move freely?" Brother Yu chuckled.
The bald man and the yin-yang voiced man had run into trouble. But the guy before them was no pushover—in their minds, even if all their people joined forces, they couldn't beat him. His reputation was well established.
"Well..." The bald man knew this was the likely outcome, but things were dire now, so he said, "Brother Yu, just help us out."
"I can help you, but you'll have to play a game with me," Brother Yu suddenly smiled.
"A game?" The two looked at each other, knowing trouble was coming. Every time Brother Yu mentioned a game, it meant torment, so they never wanted to discuss games with him.
"I know you don't like these games, but if you want to be able to move, I can help. If you want to stay stuck here, that's up to you," Brother Yu said with a smile.
The bald man and the yin-yang voiced man looked at each other, then after some hesitation, the bald man gritted his teeth and said, "If we can't leave anyway, we might as well go along. Playing a game beats standing here unable to move."
"Good, that's straightforward. Don't worry, this game won't be too dangerous," Brother Yu smiled.
"So you can help now, right, Brother Yu?" the bald man said, depressed.
Seeing their pleading eyes, Brother Yu smiled, then checked their bodies. He found many needles stuck in them, all affecting their meridians like vents slowly releasing their energy.
"Got it," Brother Yu said. He produced a magic treasure with absorption powers and swept it over the bald man's body. Wherever it passed, it drew out the embedded needles.
Several hours later, Brother Yu finally extracted all the fine needles from both men. Overjoyed, they quickly tested their bodies and found they could move again, though their cultivation felt suppressed.
"What's wrong?" Brother Yu asked, seeing their expressions.
"We can move, but our strength is limited. It's like our cultivation just disappeared," the bald man said, frustrated.
The yin-yang voiced man felt the same. Brother Yu was curious. "What do you mean, your cultivation disappeared?"
"The places where the needles were stuck slowly drained our cultivation, so now it feels like our power has dropped," the bald man said in fear.
Brother Yu was intrigued, but set the matter aside for now. "Come on, it's time to play the game," he said.
"May I ask what kind of game?" the bald man asked curiously.
"You'll find out when you get there. I suggest you each bring a couple of strong helpers," Brother Yu said.
"Why?" the bald man asked, puzzled.
"No explanation. You'll know when you get there," Brother Yu said with a smile.
Knowing they couldn't escape, the two had no choice but to obey. Each brought two strong allies and gathered before Brother Yu. When the newcomers saw Brother Yu, they were shocked.
They all knew exactly who Brother Yu was.
"All set?" Brother Yu asked with a smile.
"Yes, Brother Yu," the bald man replied.
"Let's go then," Brother Yu said, leading all six away. Three were from the bald man's side, and the others were chosen by the yin-yang voiced man.
With questions in their minds, they followed Brother Yu to the tenth floor of the First Palace.
Evan Yang had no idea what was happening outside. He was reading the regulations and found that the rules were brutally clear: those on the lower levels could fight and even cripple each other, as long as no one was killed.