"Speak, sister," the young woman asked.
Her sister smiled. "It's nothing much, just palace rules. You should know them all, but there's one I need to emphasize: you're absolutely forbidden from having any relationship with outsiders, understand?"
"Yes, sister, I understand. You've said that so many times already," the young woman laughed.
"Good, then let's go," her sister said.
Meanwhile, Evan Yang had already been led away by Marina Wade. Not only that, he soon noticed many others—Leo Drake, Ethan Dunn, Venom Finger, and several more.
Evan estimated there were about sixty people altogether.
Leo Drake caught up to Evan and laughed, "Why haven't I seen you these past few days?"
"I was just wandering around, so you didn't spot me," Evan replied with a smile.
"I see. But you'd better be careful this time," Leo advised Evan.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of myself," Evan said with a grin.
"That's good. But your arrival has finally brought some life back to the Coral Pavilion," Leo Drake said, glancing at the dozens of people behind them with a smile.
"Are all these people from the Coral Pavilion? Isn't there supposed to be over ninety?" Evan asked curiously.
"You don't know. People come and go. Some feel they've cultivated enough and just leave," Leo laughed.
"I see," Evan replied after hearing this.
With Leo chatting, Evan didn't feel bored. Soon, led by Marina Wade, they flew off this planet and arrived at another one. This new planet was more normal—it had land, unlike the original planet, which was all water. Evan was curious: his old planet was all water, so why did the passage lead to a place with land? Maybe there was some kind of spatial tunnel.
That was just Evan's guess, though. He didn't ask anyone else, since only he knew about it. If he told someone and got found out, it would be trouble.
Right now Evan was basically in a hidden state—he couldn't let anyone know he had another purpose for being here.
Marina Wade brought everyone down from the void, landing on a stretch of land. Seats had been arranged there for people to sit, and a newcomer plaque was hung up. The so-called newcomer plaque was Evan's marker—on it was written: 'Number 100, Evan Yang.'
Evan and Leo found a spot and sat down. Since Evan was new, all the Coral Pavilion people looked at him curiously.
Evan scanned the area and saw that only two-thirds of the seats were filled, while the remaining third were empty. Besides that, the empty seats were special—each had leaves or something similar placed underneath.
"Who sits in those seats?" Evan asked curiously.
"Those are reserved for Water Palace people," Leo replied.
"So are they all super strong?" Evan said in surprise.
"Not necessarily, but overall they're powerful. Some are even feared by Immortal Sovereigns," Leo explained.
"Then I really want to see who they are," Evan muttered, frowning.
A while later, people started arriving. Except for one or two, Evan couldn't see through their cultivation; that only meant one thing—most of them were already at Immortal Sovereign level.
Seeing such a lineup, Evan was a bit shocked.
Just as Evan was about to keep watching, his eyes met the young woman's. Evan was startled, and the woman's face turned even more panicked. If people weren't still entering, her expression would've been noticed immediately.
Evan watched as the young woman sat down somewhere, but her eyes stayed locked on him, as if afraid he'd slip away.
Evan felt frustrated. He knew if she exposed him, he'd have no hope of staying here. So he sent a sound transmission: "Miss, sorry about last time. If you have any complaints, let's settle it privately, okay?" "Okay," the woman replied without hesitation.
Evan was surprised at how easily the woman agreed. What she was really thinking was: if she exposed Evan now, all their past dealings might get dragged out, or Evan might get kicked out—which she didn't want. So she agreed, planning to settle things privately.
Leo Drake noticed Evan staring at a woman and laughed, "Kid, you have a good eye."
"What's up?" Evan snapped back to attention.
"Do you know who that woman is?" Leo asked.
"No, I was just about to ask you," Evan said, curious about her background.
"Her name is Lena King. She's the Young Palace Lord," Leo explained.
"Lena King? Young Palace Lord?" Evan said in surprise.
"That's right. She's the Young Palace Lord, and the woman beside her—the one with a powerful aura—is Bianca King, the current Water Palace Lord. I haven't interacted with them, but Bianca King manages the Water Palace very strictly. She forbids any palace women from having relationships with outsiders. So, kid, my advice: don't even think about her. Otherwise, you'll have a bad ending. Someone once broke through the defenses and left with an outsider, but after being caught and brought back, things ended badly," Leo warned.
Evan wasn't bothered by the first part—just thought Bianca King was strict. But when he heard the second half, his heart started pounding. Was this about his mother?
Thinking of this, Evan forced himself to calm down and asked, "Do you know what happened to that woman afterward?"
"That, I don't know. But it definitely wasn't good. According to the rules, it's punishment by the Yin-Nether Flame," Leo said.
"I've heard about that too, but I have no idea where the punishment place is, or where you could even find such a flame," Evan asked curiously.
But Leo just shook his head. "I don't know either. Only the Palace Lord, or someone close to her, would know the details."
"What, you want to try it?" Leo laughed when he saw Evan frown after hearing this.
(This chapter isn't over yet ^.^, please click next page to continue reading!)
Evan snapped out of it and smiled. "No worries."
"I thought you wanted to give it a shot," Leo laughed.
"No, just curious, that's all," Evan said awkwardly with a smile. But in his heart, he knew that if he wanted to find out more, he'd have to get close to the Palace Lord. But the Palace Lord was strict and would never tell him. As for Lena King, she knew he'd been to that place but hadn't exposed him, which meant she wasn't that bad. Maybe he could get the info from her. Plus, her cultivation wasn't as high as the others, so she was a good place to start.
Lena King had no idea Evan was planning to start with her. She was just wondering who Evan really was.
Once everyone had arrived, Marina Wade announced, "This time we have a newcomer. His name is Evan Yang. As usual, let's all get to know him, and have him spar with the previous newcomer so everyone can see for themselves."
After that, Marina pointed at Evan, and he stepped into the center. Instantly, countless auras swept over him, probing his strength. They sensed he was only at Immortal Lord level, so they withdrew—like it didn't matter to them, or maybe he was just too weak in their eyes.
On the field, besides Leo Drake, a few people who hated Evan, and Lena King, no one else seemed interested in him. The Newcomer Ceremony was just routine, and only a few Water Palace representatives had shown up—most of the real experts didn't bother.
Unless Evan was at Immortal Sovereign level, maybe then a few experts would show up to see if they wanted to take him as a disciple or something.
Bianca King glanced at Evan, then said to Marina Wade, "Begin."
Marina nodded, then called out, "Number Ninety-Nine, your turn."
Venom Finger was thrilled to be chosen. He secretly resented Evan and planned to teach him a lesson—show him what a real powerhouse was, and what happened to people who messed with him.
Some people started whispering as Venom Finger stepped up—after all, he'd been through this before, so they began commenting on how impressive he'd been last time.
Lena King noticed Evan was the hundredth participant and muttered, "So he's the new guy."
"What did you say?" Bianca King, sitting beside Lena, asked curiously.
"Nothing, just that I've never seen this kind of match before, so I was curious," Lena said with a smile.
Bianca King, seeing Lena King was fine, turned her attention back to the arena. Everyone else focused on Evan and Venom Finger.
At Marina Wade's command, Evan and Venom Finger officially began their match.
Surrounded by strong experts and promising talents, everyone watched Evan's duel with Venom Finger. Most thought Venom Finger had the advantage—Evan was only first-tier Immortal Lord, not much use.
"Kid, prepare to die," Venom Finger said, instantly shrouded in devilish qi. People who hated devilish qi frowned, but Evan just smiled. "Stop releasing so much devilish qi. It doesn't work on me," Evan said.
"Doesn't work on you? Are you kidding yourself?" Venom Finger didn't believe Evan wasn't afraid of devilish qi—it was the bane of Immortal Realm people, able to drive them mad.
Seeing Venom Finger didn't believe him, Evan ignored it, letting the devilish qi wrap around him. It had no effect at all.
Seeing Evan was totally fine, Venom Finger was shocked. "How is that possible?"
"I told you, your devilish qi doesn't work. Try something else," Evan said.
"Something else? Then watch this," Venom Finger said, waving his hand. A powerful force surrounded Evan, spinning rapidly—a vortex so strong it could tear apart even an Emperor Lord.
But Evan was completely fine inside. The vortex couldn't threaten him at all; he just stood there, watching the whirlpools.
People outside couldn't see what was happening inside—they thought Evan was struggling or something.