Gabe Little-Imp remembered the warning, then took her reward and left excitedly, while Evan Yang kept his divine sense locked onto the man.
"Everwind Valley, ten days from now. Heh, I still found out about it. Even if I don’t go with you, I can find other partners, or maybe cause you some trouble." The man laughed.
Evan had no fondness for this stranger, but he was curious whether the Five-Spirit Pills in Everwind Valley were really as miraculous as claimed.
So, for the next few days, Evan kept his divine sense locked onto the man, watching everything he said and did, hearing it all clearly.
Over these days, Evan discovered the man spread the news everywhere.
Soon, everyone in Myriad City knew about it. For ordinary people, the news meant nothing; those with low cultivation backed off as soon as they heard 'Soul-Forming Realm.' As for reclusive Spirit-Wandering experts, they occasionally heard the rumor but just treated it as a joke.
Only those who had lingered at Soul-Forming Great Perfection for years, unable to break through to Spirit-Wandering, would be interested in going.
Besides that, Evan kept his divine sense locked onto the five conspirators, especially the one who first suggested going to Everwind Valley.
One day, Evan unexpectedly found this man's movements suspicious. He secretly met someone in an inn—someone Evan recognized: the masked cultivator who had appeared at Heaven-Earth Gate speaking with Easton Situ, whose voice Evan still remembered clearly.
"Strange, do they know each other?" Evan wondered, then locked Thousand-Mile Echo onto the two, wanting to hear their conversation.
"How did things go?" the masked man asked.
"Don’t worry, I’ve already invited four people. Not only that, the one I originally wanted to invite somehow got my message and tried to scheme against me, so he spread the news even further. It’s going smoother than expected." The man laughed.
"Mm, I heard about that too. Not bad. As long as this succeeds, you’ll be the hero—breaking into Spirit-Wandering Realm will be easy," said the masked man.
The man smiled, then asked curiously, "Is he really that amazing?"
"Of course. Just look at me," the masked man replied with a grin.
The two continued chatting, mostly about Everwind Valley. It all seemed like someone had engineered the whole thing. At that moment, Evan sat in his broken shack, wondering, "Strange, what are their real identities? Was the Everwind Valley rumor deliberately released?"
Curiosity always tugged at Evan, making him determined to check it out himself.
So, in the following days, Evan used the beggar gang’s information network to learn a lot. He discovered many people were probing whether the Everwind Valley rumor was true, and plenty had already decided to go check it out.
He didn’t know how many Soul-Forming experts were in Myriad City, but just those investigating the rumor numbered at least ten. Evan also spotted several from big families—like the Huang Clan, Northmere Family, and Dugu Clan.
"Are they going too?" Evan hadn’t expected the rumor to stir up so many people.
Besides that, Evan also sensed there might be something hidden behind all this.
Everwind Valley—a place no one used to care about—suddenly became famous. One day, Evan vanished from Myriad City, and when he reappeared, he was already outside a valley.
This place was called Everwind Valley, where maple leaves covered the ground year-round. The valley was unusually close to the Death Crystal Field, which surprised everyone. The Soul-Forming experts were wary of the Death Crystal Field, but since they weren’t entering its core, they ignored any connection between Everwind Valley and the Death Crystal Field.
When Evan arrived at this leaf-strewn valley, many Soul-Forming experts had already gathered. Just those visible numbered fifty or sixty—not much less than the crowd at Shadowhand Guild's secret world.
Looking around, people walked atop the maple leaves. Evan had already concealed his aura and disguised himself; unless someone was a Spirit-Wandering expert, no one could see through him.
Those who noticed Evan saw only a mist-shrouded figure. After a brief look, they didn’t think much of it—after all, anyone who reached Soul-Forming wasn’t simple, and everyone had their own treasures.
Evan relaxed when they quickly shifted their attention away from him, then followed the crowd toward Everwind Valley.
The others were excited to search for the Five-Spirit Pills, but Evan wasn’t. He just wanted to know what purpose had drawn all these Soul-Forming experts here.
Some Soul-Forming experts seemed to be working together, even coming from the same place.
A few people tried to recruit Evan, but he refused them all—including several from the Huang Clan. Evan had never liked the Huang Clan, so of course he wouldn’t agree.
Everyone walked through Everwind Valley and found nothing but maple leaves—nothing else. The rumor about the Five-Spirit Pills said a gateway would open here, and the time was set for half a day later.
The crowd picked spots around the valley and sat in meditation, waiting for the legendary gateway to appear.
Evan followed suit, sitting quietly. About an hour later, the masked man arrived alone and sat not far from Evan.
Curious, Evan glanced at him.
The masked man glanced back at Evan, as if wondering why Evan was observing him so intently.
Evan hadn’t expected the man’s spiritual sensitivity to be so strong. Spiritual sensitivity meant that anyone scanning you with divine sense could be detected instantly, and the stronger your sensitivity, the quicker you’d notice—even if their cultivation was higher than yours, let alone lower.
Seeing the masked man look at him, Evan ignored it and continued observing everyone else.
"Strange, who is this guy anyway?" the masked man muttered, then withdrew his gaze and closed his eyes to meditate.
Evan only muttered to himself after the masked man stopped looking his way, "He really noticed fast."
This made Evan avoid scanning him again. As for the others, Evan checked them one by one, but recognized none and didn’t pay much attention. By the time only a quarter-hour remained before the predicted opening, more than a hundred Soul-Forming experts had gathered.
Some of these experts were familiar faces—many had rushed to the Shadowhand Guild’s mountain cave when Evan set up arrays there, and quite a few were the same people.
None of them noticed Evan’s presence, nor did they realize that the Evan who once stirred up chaos across the Central Province and Eastern Continent was now sitting right there, unnoticed.
This situation made Evan feel calm, while the masked man revealed a strange smile, secretly muttering, "A hundred is enough... more than enough, definitely enough."
Luckily, he only thought this to himself—if everyone else heard it, they'd be shocked to realize they'd been set up, and that a hundred Soul-Forming experts were needed for such a bizarre scheme.
Evan only knew the masked man was suspicious, but had no idea why he wanted to gather all these people here.
Just as the masked man was feeling pleased, someone suddenly shouted, "It’s open!"
Everyone opened their eyes and saw a tunnel entrance appear in the center. After days of anticipation, they all rushed to see if the Five-Spirit Pills were inside.
No one knew how these spaces formed, but these people were fearless—except for a few forbidden zones, they’d go anywhere. They raced to the tunnel, scrambling to be first, and vanished one by one.
Everyone else, terrified that someone might seize the Five-Spirit Pills first, acted the same way.
Only the masked man and Evan remained at the back, with no urge to rush in.
"Why aren’t you going in?" the masked man asked, staring at Evan.
"Aren’t you also not going in?" Evan replied with a smile.
"Strange, everyone else is rushing in—why aren’t you?" the masked man asked, clearly curious why Evan was so calm and going against the crowd.
"Aren’t you also not going in?" Evan repeated, making the masked man sigh, "Fine, I’ll go in now."
The masked man walked inside, and Evan followed closely behind.
Once inside, they found themselves in a strange space—dark, with faint light and a lingering smell of blood. The crowd was puzzled; the Five-Spirit Pills were supposed to be Medicine King’s creation, so why would they be in such a place?
Only the masked man secretly laughed, "Hmph, you can all wait to die." He walked alone, while the others began exploring the space. Despite the stench, they endured it.
Everyone focused on searching for the legendary Five-Spirit Pills, never noticing the hidden schemer among them. Only Evan occasionally swept the masked man with his divine sense, sometimes deliberately, sometimes not.
At first, the masked man wondered if Evan was doing it on purpose, but seeing Evan acting like he was just searching the space, he stopped worrying and kept moving, watching the others.
Soon, the masked man arrived at a gorge filled with liquid—not water or mud, but blood.
Evan was shocked when he scanned the area, and a few others noticed the anomaly too, rushing over to see what the liquid was.
The masked man stood there, seemingly by accident, until a Soul-Forming beginner approached and stared at the blood, puzzled. "Strange, why is there so much blood here?"
"A place that gathers the blood of Soul-Forming experts is bound to have plenty," the masked man replied with a smile.
The man asked, confused, "Blood of Soul-Forming experts?"
"You'll understand soon enough," the masked man said with a grin. He opened his hand, and a golden insect shot out, aiming straight for the man's forehead.
The man felt something invade his body and tried to scream, but it was too late. The scene that followed shocked Evan.