"Dad, aren't you bullying me here?" Chase Chu said, feeling frustrated. He worried even more, since Evan Yang hadn't formally accepted him as a disciple yet—what if this made Evan refuse him altogether?
"Bullying? You're overthinking it. I didn't gain any advantage—in fact, he really is a remarkable person," Victor Chu laughed.
"What do you mean, Dad? You didn't gain any advantage? Did you not go all out?" Chase asked curiously.
"I used eighty percent of my strength, but I still couldn't suppress his qi—instead, his qi pushed mine back," Victor Chu said with an awkward smile.
"Dad, are you serious? Is he really that strong? Looks like I picked the right master!" Chase Chu said, overjoyed.
"Just look at yourself. He hasn't even agreed to take you as a disciple, and you're already acting like this," Victor Chu sighed.
"Tomorrow's the assessment. I'm sure I'll pass and become his disciple!" Chase Chu declared confidently.
"Then I'll be watching to see how you pass the assessment," Victor Chu laughed.
"Dad, maybe you should just wait until I pass. I'm going to prepare," Chase Chu said, then left.
He left his father behind—Victor Chu, the current head of the Chu family.
Watching his son suddenly determined to become someone else's disciple, and so focused about it, Victor Chu could hardly believe it. He sighed, "I used to try finding him a master, but he absolutely refused. Now he's working so hard—what kind of charm does that guy have?"
Evan Yang had no idea how important the assessment was to Chase Chu. Instead, he was deep in studying the map until midnight. When Hannah Nangong saw Evan snap out of it, she asked, "So, did you finish reading?"
"No, I just looked at part of it," Evan replied.
"So what are you doing now?" Hannah asked curiously.
"I'm thinking about tomorrow's assessment for him, and how to set it up so he'll give up on his own if he can't make it through," Evan said.
Hearing this, Hannah was taken aback. "You're not really that cold-hearted, are you?"
"It's not about being cold-hearted. If he can't meet my standards, what's the point of accepting him? Might as well start my own sect and take in a bunch of people," Evan replied.
"That's true," Hannah admitted. She knew Evan wanted elite disciples, not just anyone, so she agreed.
After chatting with Hannah, Evan stood up and said, "I'm heading east of the city to get something done. You stay here."
"What are you going to do now?" Hannah asked suspiciously.
"You'll see tomorrow," Evan said with a smile.
After that, Evan left, heading east. Though it was late at night, the city was still lit up—nightlife as vibrant as ever.
Evan moved through the crowd and arrived in the eastern part of the city. At a glance, it was all mountains, with only a few roads for mortals—cultivators would surely just fly overhead.
"How should I test him tomorrow? Let's check these mountains and see if any are suitable for the assessment," Evan muttered to himself.
So Evan began moving through the mountains, carefully observing everything around him.
"The night view is nice—you can see the city lights," Evan muttered.
After some observation, Evan decided to set up a formation at one spot. These formations, ranging from simple to difficult, were all for testing Chase Chu. Eventually, Evan reached a waterfall.
"There's actually a waterfall here—interesting. I'll make this the main site," Evan thought, moving to the pool beside it to prepare the final layer of the formation.
But as he stood by the pool, he seemed to hear something—some faint movement, which Evan caught clearly. He immediately activated Thousand-Mile Echo to investigate.
"Strange, sounds like wind, but there's no cave here." Evan found the noise odd, so he investigated further. Soon, he traced the source—it was coming from underwater.
After some thought, Evan dove into the water. He moved freely below, and eventually discovered an underwater tunnel. Swimming through it, he found several chambers inside, with winds connecting them and creating the sounds he'd heard earlier.
"Strange, why is there a cave here?" Evan was surprised to see an underwater passage leading into the mountain.
Not only that, Evan noticed many marks around him—scratches made by something sharp, as if someone had been training here.
"Whose cave manor is this?" Evan knew some cultivators liked solitude and would create their own retreats in places like this.
As Evan wondered, he seemed to step on something. With a click, the surroundings changed—a wall shifted, and shining stones appeared, instantly lighting up the area.
In one spot, several characters were carved: "Sage Sovereign was here."
"Sage Sovereign? Who's that—a Sovereign? An Immortal Lord? An Immortal Venerable?" Evan had no idea who this so-called Sage Sovereign was, and wondered to himself.
"Light—a miraculous energy. In the world of light, you can do anything you want. It's the nemesis of darkness." This inscription followed Sage Sovereign's mark.
"Light?" Evan knew water, fire, earth, wood, wind—but seeing Light Attribute here surprised him.
"Light represents brightness. It can purify evil things, and truly dispel the harm caused by demon clan techniques," Evan read aloud.
He found Light truly miraculous, especially since it mentioned the darkness of the Death Realm—Dark Attribute only appears there.
Yet Evan felt he'd encountered someone with Dark Attribute before, though he couldn't recall when. This made him all the more curious about Light Attribute.
The shimmering light came from gemstones—Evan passed by them and found an intriguing inscription: "Light-Source Stones. Contain the inheritance left by Sage Sovereign. Whoever obtains the energy within these Light-Source Stones will possess the power of Light."
"Are these stones a kind of energy source—like Sacred Flame or Ice-Fire?" Evan wondered, touching them and feeling energy flow into his body.
The energy entered his body, finally forming a ball of light in his divine sense—a tiny sphere, only fist-sized, utterly insignificant compared to his other attributes.
Yet even this small amount exhausted all the energy in the Light-Source Stones, plunging the cave into darkness—Evan now relied entirely on his Night-Eye Technique to see.
"Light? Brightness? Who exactly was this Sage Sovereign, and why did he do this?" Evan was baffled.
Just then, several images appeared in his mind.
"Young man, though I don't know who you are, fate has brought you my inheritance. You are now Sage Sovereign's successor. I don't know how many years have passed since my death, but I ask only one thing: that someday, you avenge me and save the world." That was the final message.
Evan wanted to ask questions, but nothing remained except those last words: "Save the world?"
"What's happened to this world? Why does it need saving—and why me? I don't get it. Maybe some great figure is just playing with me," Evan muttered.
Seeing nothing else of interest, Evan composed himself to leave. But before departing, curiosity got the better of him—he waved his hand, and wherever he wished, a beam of light shone from his body, as if he were the energy source himself.
"The power is too weak—it can only illuminate things, not attack anyone." Evan examined the energy and muttered, realizing it was nearly impossible to use Light for combat.
So Evan left, not realizing that his accidental discovery had brought him closer to understanding the world.
Though Evan didn't care much, the mystery lingered. After finishing his errands and returning to the inn, he called Hannah Nangong over. "Do you know anything about the Sage Sovereign?"
"No idea—who is that?" Hannah asked, curious.
"I'd like to know too. Have you ever heard of Light Attribute?" Evan asked.
"Light Attribute? Never heard of it. I've only heard that Dark Attribute exists in the Death Realm—never Light Attribute," Hannah replied, shaking her head.
Evan smiled. "Never heard of doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It must be a truly miraculous attribute."
If Evan couldn't release Light Attribute, he wouldn't believe it existed either. But since it happened so suddenly, he didn't want to become the center of attention and be studied by cultivators from the Immortal Realm.
"Why are you suddenly asking about this?" Hannah asked curiously.
"No reason, just curious. Do you know how many attributes exist in this world?" Evan asked, still curious.
"I know a few—the common ones are water, fire, earth, wood. Rarer ones include wind, lightning, and Dark Attribute. As for others, I really don't know," Hannah replied.
Evan nodded—he himself possessed water, fire, earth, wind, and lightning. Now he had Light Attribute as well. If Ten-Cold Seed counted as wood, then he should have that too.
But all these were still weak—only fire was strong, thanks to the Fire Gathering Pearl's nourishment. There was also Ice-Fire, nurtured by that mysterious pearl. Every so often, Evan would go to the tower and absorb the liquid it produced.
So Sacred Flame was strongest, Ice-Fire second, and the others had yet to develop. Thinking about how much time and resources he'd need to grow them all gave Evan a headache.
"What's wrong?" Hannah asked, seeing Evan lost in thought.
"It's nothing, just thinking about some things," Evan replied with a smile.
"You always zone out—it's scary. By the way, are you ready for tomorrow?" Hannah asked.
"Yes, I'm ready. If he has patience and insight, he'll succeed. If he lacks either, he won't," Evan said.
"Isn't that a bit strict?" Hannah asked.