The man looked at Evan Yang in terror and asked, "If I tell you, I won't end well either."
"Is that so? Then you'd rather stand here forever, not knowing if those insects occasionally pass by. Who knows what they'd do to a living person left here?" Evan Yang threatened.
Hearing this, the man's soul trembled. He had witnessed those insects devour people before—it was horrific. He didn't want that fate, so he quickly said, "I'll talk, I'll talk! But you must promise to let me go."
"Do you think you're in any position to bargain with me?" Evan Yang asked.
"You..." The man exclaimed in shock.
"Go ahead. If I'm satisfied, I'll make sure to keep you alive," Evan Yang said.
"Alright, I'll talk. I'm from the Bear Clan," the man said.
"Bear Clan?" Evan Yang asked suspiciously.
"That's right, the Bear Clan," the man replied.
"Why does the Bear Clan want to kill us? And who sent you?" Evan Yang asked.
"The Bear Clan patriarch," the man answered again.
"Alright, I understand. Since you've told me, I'll spare your life for now—but you'll stay inside a Space Ring," Evan Yang said.
With that, he sealed the man's mouth, tossed him into a Space Ring, and then dispelled the formation.
With this matter settled, Evan Yang retraced his steps to search for Lydia Yang and the others.
At that moment, Lydia Yang was locked in a fierce aerial battle with the assassin. Evan Yang's sudden appearance excited Lydia, while the opponent looked shocked—clearly suspecting something had happened to the one sent after Evan.
With this doubt, the assassin was clearly distracted in battle. Evan Yang laughed from the side, "Hey, your friend is dead. Are you still going to continue?" "Impossible, don't try to fool me!" the man shouted angrily. "Oh? You think I'm lying? Then let me ask, you're from the Bear Clan, right?" Evan Yang smiled, moving around as he spoke.
"You... how do you know?" The assassin was shocked, as if Evan could see right through him.
"I told you, I've already dealt with your friend. He told me everything—who sent you, why you're here. I know it all," Evan Yang said.
"You..." The assassin was starting to believe him, while Lydia Yang seized the moment to shout angrily, "So it's the Bear Clan! You have some nerve, daring to attack us!"
"Now that you know, you must die today," the assassin said furiously.
"Die? Looks like that's your fate," Evan Yang said with a laugh. As soon as he finished, a formation activated and the surroundings changed instantly, startling both Lydia Yang and the assassin.
Evan Yang said to Lydia Yang, "Step back."
Lydia Yang quickly retreated. The assassin, having lost his target, found himself trapped in an illusion array. Facing this formation, he shouted, "Trying to trap me with a formation? No way!" Then he launched an attack at a random spot.
Evan Yang said to the curious Lydia Yang, "I'll explain later. Let's deal with him first."
Lydia Yang nodded, and the two watched the assassin attack wildly. Then, following Evan Yang's soul-sense guidance, they approached from two directions. Lydia could see the assassin, but he couldn't see them inside the formation.
Once Lydia Yang was within attack range, Evan Yang said, "Attack."
With that, both Lydia Yang and Evan Yang unleashed fire simultaneously. The flames appeared like venomous snakes, suddenly striking from front and back.
"Ah!" The assassin couldn't dodge in time and was engulfed by fire. When he reappeared, he was covered in wounds. Using the formation, Lydia Yang flashed behind him and struck.
Evan Yang also flashed forward and sealed the heavily injured assassin.
Lydia Yang worried the assassin might escape and was about to strike again, but Evan Yang said, "It's fine now."
Lydia Yang stopped her attack and realized the assassin couldn't move at all.
"What happened?" Lydia Yang exclaimed in surprise.
"It's one of my techniques. I can temporarily immobilize people," Evan Yang explained.
"Wow." Lydia Yang looked astonished.
Evan Yang tossed the assassin into a Space Ring and said, "If you have any questions, feel free to ask."
Lydia Yang could hardly believe that the two of them had defeated three sixth-tier Emperor Realm experts. It was beyond anything she could have imagined.
So she asked curiously, "How did you attack from underground just now?"
"Watch closely," Evan Yang said with a smile. With that, a wall appeared in front of him.
"You're dual-attribute?" Lydia Yang was both surprised and delighted. Dual-attribute cultivators were extremely rare in the Yang Clan—rare even in the Immortal Realm—so her excitement was obvious to Evan Yang.
"You could say that," Evan Yang didn't deny it, though he wasn't ready to reveal all his attributes yet.
"That's wonderful! Our Yang Clan actually has such talent—amazing! By the way, do you also know formations?" Lydia Yang exclaimed, recalling the illusion array from earlier.
"Yes," Evan Yang nodded.
"Honestly, if your father knew, he'd be so proud," Lydia Yang said, tears of excitement streaming down her face.
Seeing her tears, Evan Yang felt a pang in his heart and grew even more eager to see his father. So he asked, "Will my father be released as soon as the patriarch appears?"
"He has to agree," Lydia Yang replied.
"So what would make him agree?" Evan Yang asked curiously.
"With your level of talent, he'll definitely want to nurture you. You can use that as leverage to ask for your father's release," Lydia Yang said.
Evan Yang nodded. "Got it."
Lydia Yang was overjoyed, but quickly calmed down. "It's strange—the Bear Clan sent a third of their strength against us. A third?" Evan Yang asked suspiciously. "Yes, that's right. The Bear Clan doesn't have many Emperor Realm experts, and three sixth-tier Emperors are basically their strongest enforcers. Their patriarch is only seventh-tier, just a second-rate collateral family under the Yang Clan," Lydia explained. "Have they often tried to assassinate Yang Clan members before?" Evan Yang asked. "No way—they wouldn't dare," Lydia replied. "Looks like this needs to be investigated. They even tried to kill you," Evan Yang said doubtfully. "I'll report this to the patriarch. That assassin will be crucial evidence—don't let him die," Lydia said. "Understood," Evan Yang nodded. "Be careful these next few days. Someone clearly wants you dead within three days, and I'm just collateral," Lydia analyzed. "No matter how many come, I'll kill them all. But I'm very curious who can control the Bear Clan. Looks like not everyone in the Yang Clan welcomes me," Evan Yang said bitterly. "Don't worry—whoever in the Yang Clan dares target you will be my enemy. I won't let them off," Lydia Yang said.
Evan Yang smiled, "I'm not worried. Whoever opposes me will end up like today's assassins." "You keep surprising me, but the stronger you are, the happier I am," Lydia Yang laughed.
Seeing Lydia Yang's smile, Evan Yang felt comforted—at least here, he felt a bit of family warmth.
But their peace didn't last. Over the next few days, people kept coming to harass them—not just from one family, but from all sorts of minor clans.
After two days, Lydia Yang, frustrated after fending off another attack, said, "What's gotten into these families?" Evan Yang replied, "For so many clans to act, their determination is clear. And the ones behind them must be high-ranking Yang Clan members. I wonder who in the Yang Clan hates my father enough to want me dead?" Evan was eager to know who in the clan held prejudice against his father—hoping to figure out who was behind the attempt on his life.
"The patriarch—my father—has three sons and one daughter. I'm the youngest, and I've always been close to my second and third brothers; they treated me well and we grew up together. But my eldest brother—Terry's father—has always been at odds with us. He used to be jealous of your father's talent and argued with the patriarch several times. Only after he had Terry, who was considered the most promising junior in the clan, did his own status rise," Lydia Yang explained.
"So, he's the one most likely to hold a grudge against me?" Evan Yang asked.
"No need to guess—it's all of them. Especially his wife, my sister-in-law. She hated your father most of all," Lydia Yang said.
"Why?" Evan Yang asked curiously.
"She was the daughter of another major clan's patriarch, but she liked my eldest brother and married into the Yang Clan. Once here, she wanted to be the center of attention, but your father's brilliance overshadowed her. She didn't like it and repeatedly made trouble for him. Even recently, you must have seen how she refused to acknowledge you as a Yang Clan member and wanted to detain you," Lydia Yang explained.
"I understand," Evan Yang said, recalling the hateful look that woman gave him that day. He still remembered it vividly.
"It seems they're the most likely culprits. After all, they're in control of the clan now, and many families follow their lead," Lydia Yang said.
"That's troublesome. If they keep using other families, we'll be busy every day," Evan Yang said, feeling overwhelmed.
"Don't worry. I'll take you to the Yang Clan Hall—no one dares make a move against you there, or they'd be defying the patriarch's orders. Once the patriarch is out, I'll explain everything to him," Lydia Yang said.
Evan Yang nodded. "Alright."
As soon as Evan Yang and Lydia Yang arrived on the fiery red planet, they were stopped by a group. These were trusted aides of Terry's parents, who blocked their way and said, "Miss, he can't go in."
"Why not?" Lydia Yang asked, frowning.
"The eldest young master has ordered that until it's confirmed he's a Yang Clan member, he has no right to enter," the aide replied.
Lydia Yang snorted, "Who says he's not? Get out of my way!"
"Miss, please don't make things difficult for us," the aide said.
"Difficult? You call this difficult? Ridiculous! No matter what, I'm taking him in today—unless you want to defy me and the patriarch's orders," Lydia Yang said.
"The patriarch only said not to harm him, but we're responsible for maintaining order. We'll protect this passage with our lives," the aide replied.
"You—!" Lydia Yang hadn't expected that response.
The aides then had several guards block the road. Evan Yang realized they were exploiting loopholes—the patriarch only said not to attack him, not that he could come and go freely.