On the Eve of Challenging the War God Arena

Evan Yang still tried launching his flying needles, but they bounced back as if hitting something hard.

"I told you, it's useless. My body is harder than most people." The man sneered. Earlier, he had been afraid of being killed, but now, empowered, he was arrogant and furious.

Evan knew that to pierce the tough skin on his body, he needed something sharp—a dagger.

Thinking of this, Evan decided to combine his daggers. Just as the man approached to cripple Evan, Evan shouted, "Combine!"

The man suddenly saw ten small items converge into Evan's hand, and then a large sword appeared in Evan's grasp.

"That sword of yours is pretty impressive—it's actually modular." The man wasn't afraid; instead, he sneered.

"Modular? That's a good word. But you'll soon see how powerful it really is." Evan smiled, then gripped the sword handle and swung hard.

The strike was incredibly fast. The man dodged, but Evan still sliced his arm. With a hissing sound, the man's arm deflated like a punctured bellows, growing thinner as his stored power leaked out through the wound.

"Ah!" The man cried out in shock and hurried to seal the wound. Evan seized the opportunity, gripping the sword and slashing down again.

Evan slashed down from the top of the man's head. The man's body was destroyed, and as his soul tried to escape, it was devoured by Evan's Soul-Reaping Water.

Evan, exhausted, sat down and said, "Whew, that consumed a lot of Immortal Essence." Then he watched as the greatsword split back into ten daggers, which returned to his body.

To erase all traces, Evan stored the corpse in his personal space and burned it with flame, then carefully cleaned the surroundings. Only after making sure nothing remained did he break the isolation formation.

"Truly harming others only ends up harming yourself," Evan muttered to himself.

After this incident, Evan became even more cautious. He set up trigger formations around him so he would be alerted if anyone approached, then resumed cultivating.

Outside, the Heavenly-Immortal thought his agent had succeeded and planned to collect Evan's corpse in ten years, unaware that the assassin had already been eliminated by Evan.

At this moment, Evan was already cultivating peacefully.

Time passed bit by bit, year after year. With only a short while left before the ten years were up, Evan opened his eyes—he heard a thunderous rumbling, so loud that everyone on the first layer could hear it, and it came from the second layer.

Many people gathered at the entrance to the second layer, until someone came out and said, "It's nothing. Everyone, continue cultivating."

"Nothing? With all that noise?" Evan and the others silently wondered to themselves.

Just as the crowd was about to disperse, the rumbling started again, this time accompanied by miserable screams.

"What was that just now?" someone asked in fear.

"I said it's nothing. Go back to your cultivation," the official replied, a bit annoyed, but he glanced back at the second layer with visible worry.

Anyone with a sharp eye knew something had gone wrong in the second layer; otherwise, the Profound Immortals and Immortal Lords there wouldn't be screaming like that.

But the person who came out insisted everyone leave, saying, "It'll be fine soon. Some people just overdid their cultivation and lost control—things will quiet down soon."

"Qi deviation? Lost control?" That was what everyone was thinking.

At first, Evan thought the same—maybe someone had lost control or gone into qi deviation. But for that to happen here seemed a bit odd.

Seeing no one had answers, Evan and the others prepared to return to their cultivation. But the noises only grew louder, as if a tragedy was unfolding in the second layer.

Finally, a voice echoed through the air: "Due to changes in the space, everyone must evacuate immediately. Leave quickly and return the way you came."

Hearing that something was wrong in the second layer, everyone hurried to evacuate. Even Profound Immortals and Immortal Lords couldn't handle it, so ordinary cultivators were just cannon fodder. Evan joined the retreat, and before leaving, he saw the entrance to the second layer cracking, with the surrounding space shimmering as if something was about to happen.

Many noticed and rushed out. Soon, the first layer was empty. As for the second layer, no one knew what was happening. After everyone exited, the teleportation array was sealed. The steward who brought Evan in said, "There's been a spatial anomaly, so no one should enter for now."

Evan looked around—now it was just the three of them: Zeke Zishan, Hugh Hei, and himself. They left the same way they had entered, and the others likely did as well.

"Alright, stop dawdling—go home," the steward said.

The three left, and the steward stared at the teleportation array, muttering, "This is a big problem. Looks like this space won't be usable anymore."

Evan returned to his room, barely settled before Chris Lee came looking for him. "Senior Evan, you're back!"

"Mm, how have you been lately?" Evan asked with a smile.

"Very well, all thanks to you. Without you, our North Sect wouldn't have it so good here," Chris Lee replied, smiling.

"As long as you're alright," Evan said.

"By the way, the other North Sect members from the different palaces want to meet you," Chris Lee said.

"Other palaces? How many North Sect people are there?" Evan asked curiously.

"Six in total. They've been here for ages, never left, so they want to see you," Chris Lee explained.

"See me?" Evan asked, puzzled.

"Yes, that's right," Chris Lee replied.

Evan thought about it. They were fellow sect members, and even though he hadn't spent much time in the North Sect, they'd helped him out quite a bit. So he nodded and followed Chris Lee.

Chris Lee led him to a room where five people were seated; with Chris Lee, there were six in total.

When they saw Evan—the person everyone had been talking about—they all stood up.

"No need to be so formal," Evan said with an awkward smile, seeing how polite they were.

"Everyone, take a seat," Chris Lee added.

The five nodded and sat back down.

One of them couldn't help but say, "Senior Evan, you're our idol."

"Don't call me 'Senior.' Just call me Evan," Evan said with a smile.

The six looked at each other, clearly struggling with it. Finally, one said, "Senior Evan, we can't change that. In the Immortal Realm, strength is everything—those with power stand above the rest. Please just bear with it."

Evan felt awkward—he was being called 'Senior' by people who were, in some cases, several generations older.

"Alright, Senior Evan, please accept it. We actually have another reason for asking you here," Chris Lee said.

"Oh? What is it?" Evan asked curiously, wondering what they needed him for.

"We've been here for many years. Some of us are crippled, some have lost our abilities, and can only spend the rest of our lives here. The able ones can still use our sect's technique to send a message home with a Spirit Bird, but that's it," Chris Lee explained.

"That's true," Evan thought. The North Sect's technique was quite natural—only the user's will mattered, and others couldn't see it. But it required cultivation; if your abilities were crippled, it was nearly impossible to use.

"So we'd like to ask you for a favor," Chris Lee said, looking hopeful. The other five did too.

This made Evan feel odd, so he asked, "What kind of favor?"

"Take us out—help us leave this place. We don't want to stay here any longer," Chris Lee said.

"Senior Evan, please—we beg you," the other five said in unison.

Evan asked, confused, "I can take you out? As far as I know, Ethereal Sanctuary doesn't have such a rule."

"There is," Chris Lee replied.

"Oh? What rule?" Evan asked curiously.

"Anyone ranked in the top ten of a palace can take people out, but you have to clear a challenge. Each time you succeed, you can take one person," Chris Lee explained.

"Oh, is that so? Tell me about this challenge—I’d like to help if I can. After all, this place is only fit for the strong; the weak will only get weaker, or even be crippled here," Evan said.

Chris Lee explained the Ethereal Sanctuary’s Low‑Level War God Arena to Evan.

Inside the Low‑Level War God Arena, there’s a challenge: a first‑rank Heavenly Immortal appears, and if you defeat him, you can take one person out.

Because the Heavenly Immortal’s strength varies, you might get lucky and face an easy opponent—or you might meet a tough one and lose your life. Usually, only the top one or two in each palace have the strength to challenge; the rest don’t have the ability.

It’s called the Low‑Level War God Arena because, outside of the Ethereal Sanctuary, there are also Intermediate and High‑Level War God Arenas.

"I see. No problem, then. Is there any procedure I need to follow?" Evan asked.

No one expected Evan to agree so readily. They all looked grateful.

"The procedure is simple—just go with us to the Low‑Level War God Arena and sign up," Chris Lee said.

"Alright, let’s go," Evan said, and led the six out. They were thrilled; if Evan succeeded, they would finally be able to leave.

When others heard Evan was going to challenge the Low‑Level War God Arena to help the North Sect members leave, they all looked envious. Many wished their own sect or family had someone who could challenge the arena for them.

News that Evan had survived reached a certain Heavenly Immortal, who was surprised. He tried repeatedly to contact his associate, but couldn’t reach them. When he heard Evan was about to challenge the arena, he decided to go see for himself.

A crowd had already gathered outside the War God Arena—some were experts, others just ordinary cultivators. Some wanted to see how Evan would handle the challenge, while others hoped he’d fail so they could take advantage.