Outside, a fierce battle rages. Inside, three people hurry to slot their Immortal-Gate Keys one by one. Instantly, each key transforms into a beam of light that envelops its owner.
Could this be the moment of becoming Immortal? The crowd watches in curiosity, but the next scene leaves them stunned. Crackling sounds erupt as the light envelops the three, instantly shattering all spatial bags and spatial treasures they carry.
"Are those beams automatically destroying spatial treasures?" Evan Yang asked in shock and doubt.
Everyone else was also alarmed, and so were the three inside the light, though it was only a scare—luckily, none of them had brought anyone with them.
But outside, the fighting continued, and those beams of light remained.
Over a dozen Pseudo-Immortal experts fell one after another, and only a few scattered cultivators were left. They rushed inside.
"Are they still trying to snatch the keys?" Evan wondered, and the others watched the scene curiously.
One man started fighting with the Ninefold Palace expert inside, while three others ganged up on the Hundred-Bloom Palace and Heaven-Mystic Palace key-holders.
Those outside grew restless, but whenever someone appeared, even more would follow, so everyone held back, waiting to see how things developed.
The Ninefold Palace expert was clearly outmatched. After taking a heavy blow, his aura dropped, and he was immediately chased down by his opponent.
The Ninefold Palace expert tried to escape, hurrying out of the Immortal Gate Hall. As he exited, the beam of light vanished from his body, but it remained in that area. His pursuer was overjoyed and quickly stepped into the light, which instantly began to recognize him as its new master, shattering all his spatial treasures.
"That actually works?" The crowd was shocked.
The Ninefold Palace expert regretted his choice, but it was too late—he was badly injured and could only withdraw from the field in frustration.
Inside the zone, three people were still besieging two others—one from Heaven-Mystic Palace and one from Hundred-Bloom Palace. Soon, the Heaven-Mystic Palace expert couldn't hold out and had to retreat, choosing to save his life.
Another man copied the earlier tactic, stepping into the beam of light. The last two then struggled over the Hundred-Bloom Palace expert's light.
At that moment, the crowd grew restless. Just then, a woman appeared and walked in—she was from Fiend Palace. Evan Yang was startled, recognizing her as the veiled woman. She walked up and said, "Ancestor-master, let me help you."
The woman joined the Hundred-Bloom Palace expert to fight those two attackers. With a sudden ally, the two enemies were pressured.
"Her cultivation has increased a lot," Evan remarked in surprise, noticing that she now had Nine Tribulations, ninth stage strength.
Others were also curious about how the Hundred-Bloom Palace Lord had grown so powerful.
Not only that, the Hundred-Bloom Palace Lord, though only at the ninth stage, was no weaker—in fact, she was stronger than her ancestor-master. Her ancestor-master soon couldn't withstand the attack and sent a voice transmission: "I can't hold out much longer. I'll leave this to you. I'll take one down with me."
"Ancestor-master!" Fairy Blossom cried out in shock.
"Don't let it fall into someone else's hands!" The Hundred-Bloom Palace expert told Fairy Blossom. With everyone watching, she suddenly unleashed a powerful attack on her opponent, burning a large amount of her own power.
"Is she going for mutual destruction?" The crowd was stunned. They watched as the Hundred-Bloom Palace expert blasted her opponent out of the Immortal Gate Hall. She and her foe clashed fiercely—both were badly injured. Seeing the situation outside, Fairy Blossom gritted her teeth and took over the light left behind by the Hundred-Bloom Palace expert.
"Can someone at the ninth stage really do that?" the crowd wondered, as there was still one person in the zone fighting Fairy Blossom.
At first, the two were evenly matched, but it was clear Fairy Blossom hadn't fully converted her spiritual power—she hadn't truly entered the Pseudo-Immortal Stage and couldn't hold out, so she slowly edged closer to the side.
This made many people restless.
"Looks like I'll have to help her out!" Evan Yang muttered, remembering the favor he owed Fairy Blossom.
Just as the crowd was about to rush in, Evan Yang suddenly appeared in the zone. Most people recognized him—was he here to fight for the opportunity?
Patriarch Fenn and the others were also puzzled. "Is this kid trying to snatch it?"
Evan Yang's arrival instantly became the focus. Everyone knew his strength—even the Black Hand Gate's black-skinned expert couldn't withstand him.
So everyone watched Evan Yang with curiosity. As soon as he entered, the two already wrapped in beams of light quickly moved to the side and teamed up, wary that Evan might try to snatch their slots.
But Evan didn’t even glance at them—instead, he headed straight for the duel between Fairy Blossom and her opponent.
“Is he going to steal Fairy Blossom’s slot?” The crowd cried out in shock. The heavily wounded Hundred-Bloom Palace senior—her ancestor-master—was horrified to see Evan’s movement, her face drained. She knew Evan’s strength and cursed inwardly, “Damn it.”
Fairy Blossom hadn’t expected Evan to appear, nor had her opponent. Seeing Evan, the man kept a wary eye on him while still fighting Fairy Blossom.
Fairy Blossom focused entirely on her opponent, not guarding against Evan at all.
“That foolish girl! Why isn’t she wary of him?” The ancestor-master cursed inwardly, watching Fairy Blossom’s actions.
“Stop.” Evan said to the man.
“This kid is arrogant—why should anyone listen to him?” The crowd muttered to themselves.
The man scoffed, “You may be strong, but why should I listen to you? If you’ve got guts, fight me!”
“Alright, let’s go!” Evan replied, then launched a palm strike. The man stretched out his hand to block, but his arm was shattered, crackling loudly, breaking in several places. The crowd was stunned.
Fairy Blossom’s pressure vanished instantly. She looked at Evan and asked, “Why are you here?”
The crowd wondered if the two knew each other. The man with the broken arm screamed and fled, while Evan didn’t bother chasing him. Instead, he said to Fairy Blossom, “Consider your debt repaid today.”
“That’s a convenient excuse.” Fairy Blossom laughed, finally relaxing—now that Evan was protecting her, she wasn’t afraid of anyone else entering.
Hearing Evan and Fairy Blossom’s exchange, the crowd exchanged glances, while Hundred-Bloom Palace was overjoyed.
Evan smiled, then his smile faded as he addressed the crowd outside, “Anyone who tries to take her slot is making an enemy of me. I’ll take all challengers!”
His words caused an uproar—he was clearly declaring support for Fairy Blossom and Fiend Palace. Their members were delighted, and even Fairy Blossom hadn’t expected Evan to say such a thing.
“Thank you.” Fairy Blossom smiled.
Evan nodded, saying no more, but kept his attention on the scene—this was still a dangerous moment.
Seeing this situation, the Fiend Palace Lord appeared with his two elders. To outsiders, it looked like Fiend Palace was about to attack the three inside, but the Lord and his companions walked over to Evan, smiling, “You brat.”
“You guys carry on—I’ll reluctantly play bodyguard for you.” Evan laughed. “You brat,” the Fiend Palace Lord chuckled.
The exchange between the two left everyone stunned. Did these people know each other too? But when the Fiend Palace Lord and his two elders also produced their keys, the crowd was shocked—there were now seven keys: three from the Three Palaces, three from Fiend Palace, and one from the Black Hand Syndicate.
Soon there were seven people in the zone, six of them already enveloped in beams of light.
“How long is this going to take?” Evan wondered. Half an hour had already passed with no end in sight, and anyone who left would have their beam remain behind.
The Fiend Palace Lord saw Evan’s doubts and said, “This will probably take several days, so get comfortable.”
“That long?” Evan asked, surprised.
“Mm.” The Fiend Palace Lord nodded.
The crowd outside grew restless—seven keys had appeared, only three remained, and countless Pseudo-Immortals were now eyeing the slots greedily.
Some figured that since their thirty-thousand-year lifespan was nearly up anyway, they might as well make a move. Several old monsters on the verge of their limit started to attack.
But those people were no match for Evan and were quickly dealt with by him.
Seeing Evan’s monstrous strength, the two unfamiliar qualifiers inside the zone stayed as far from him as possible, terrified he might attack them.
Everyone wondered why Evan didn’t attack those two, not realizing he himself had a key—he just hadn’t revealed it yet.
He was waiting for Fiend Palace and Fairy Blossom to finish first, since they needed all the strength they could get to keep others from barging in.
So, about half a day passed. More people tried to enter, but Evan drove them out again.
Then Patriarch Lucius Fenn appeared. Evan frowned, “Are you here to seize a slot?”
“Are you kidding? I have my own key, why would I need to steal?” Lucius replied.
“You have one too?” Evan asked, curious.
The crowd was shocked—this was the eighth key to them, but to Evan, it was the ninth.
“Yeah, I don’t want to be your enemy, so you get it.” Lucius said.
Evan stepped aside—he didn’t want more trouble, since plenty of strong cultivators outside were just waiting for a chance to rush in if things got chaotic.
Lucius bypassed Evan and inserted his key.
Soon Lucius was wrapped in light. The crowd watched jealously. After another day, waves of people started attacking. Evan, the Fiend Palace Lord, his elders, and Fairy Blossom stood together on one side, while Lucius had to join the other two qualifiers.
Seeing Evan and Fiend Palace’s group together—five in total—and Lucius’s side with only three, everyone naturally chose to target Lucius’s group.
This only added trouble for Lucius and his companions.
Watching Lucius and the others being battered and exhausted, Evan was secretly pleased and didn’t intervene.
Lucius felt bitter—if he hadn’t antagonized Evan, he could have stood with them and avoided this disaster.
Now everyone was picking the weakest target, regardless of Lucius’s status. Driven by their goal, they all rushed forward.
Outside the Immortal Gate Hall, corpses piled up—most caused by Lucius’s group blocking the entrance. At a critical moment, Lucius used the Nine-Color Mirror.
Evan was curious about the strange, cracked mirror and paid close attention to its power.