Evan Yang and Hannah Nangong had no idea what Evan was going through at this moment.
It wasn't until the next day, when Evan and Hannah returned to Elder Deng, that Elder Deng said, "Looks like you might be in a bit of trouble today."
"Oh? May I ask why you say that, Senior?" Evan asked curiously.
"Do you know whose disciple you trapped yesterday?" Elder Deng asked.
Evan thought for a moment, then smiled. "No idea."
"That was a disciple of one of the elders. And this elder has a pretty hot temper. He might give you a hard time later," Elder Deng sighed.
"If he wants to make things difficult, so be it. I'm not afraid," Evan said with a smile.
"Not afraid? I really don't know what you're thinking. Anyway, let's go. I'll see if I can talk them down," Elder Deng said.
"Thank you, Senior," Evan said gratefully.
With that, Elder Deng led the two of them on a winding path until they arrived at a cave residence called Qianqing Cave. Inside, there were already five people present. With Elder Deng, that made six. As Elder Deng explained, this assessment would be presided over by six elders.
So as soon as Evan entered, Elder Deng smiled at the five elders and said, "Fellow elders, I've brought him. Please take care of him."
Two of the five showed obvious hostility toward Evan. He could sense it clearly, though he wondered who else he had offended besides the master of yesterday's trapped disciple.
"Elder Deng, is this Evan Yang?" Elder Chun asked. "Yes, Elder Chun," Elder Deng replied.
"Alright, since we're all here for the sect's sake, let's not waste words. Grand Elder, please make the arrangements," Elder Chun said after confirming.
Elder Deng then looked at another older elder, whose demeanor made it clear he was the Grand Elder. The man said, "Very well, let's follow sect tradition. Start with array-laying: third-tier Immortal-grade. One each of illusion, defensive, offensive, and trapping formations."
After speaking, Elder Deng nodded to Evan. Evan glanced at the group, then stepped forward. Hannah was led off to the side by Elder Deng.
Evan noticed the elder with hostility was Elder Chun, while the other, he didn't recognize.
"Let's begin," said the Grand Elder.
Evan nodded and, with a wave of his hand, laid down an illusion array—third-tier Immortal-grade. The elders nodded in approval; though some secretly wanted to teach Evan a lesson, they had to admit his skill. Since this was array-laying, they couldn't say much. Their only chance to make things harder would be during the array-breaking stage.
Evan didn't bother figuring out which elder was the master of the disciple he'd immobilized. He simply set up each formation as required.
After a short while, Evan had completed all the formations.
The four arrays shimmered in place. Elder Deng was delighted, and the Grand Elder objectively commented, "Excellent. To finish them so quickly meets the array-laying requirement. Let's move to the second stage. Who wants to set up the formations for him to break?"
"Count me in," Elder Chun said.
The other elder with hostility toward Evan also said, "Me too."
Elder Deng naturally volunteered as well, since it would at least ease some pressure. "I'll do one too," he said.
"Alright, you three, plus myself—four people, one formation each," the Grand Elder said.
None of the elders objected. Evan, Hannah, and the remaining two elders waited, while the four who would set up formations went deeper into the cave to prepare.
About an hour later, they returned. Elder Deng's face was a bit grim, and Evan could tell from his expression that things wouldn't be simple. He didn't ask further.
Elder Deng walked up to Evan and said, "Sigh, looks like you've got trouble this time."
"Oh? What's going on?" Evan asked curiously.
"For some reason, Elder Xie also has issues with you. Both his and Elder Chun's formations are quite sinister—I'm afraid they're specifically targeting you," Elder Deng sighed.
"Oh? Elder Xie? Is he the one with darker skin?" Evan asked.
"That's right, it's him. How did you recognize him?" Elder Deng asked curiously.
Evan knew the two elders were hostile toward him, but he didn't say so. He just smiled, "I guessed."
"Alright, you can start breaking the formations. You have four hours—if you can't get out, you lose, and you might even be trapped inside until death," the Grand Elder said from nearby.
Evan smiled, "Alright."
Hannah was deeply worried for Evan, so she squeezed his hand. Even Evan was surprised—he hadn't expected Hannah to take his hand.
"Be careful. I'll be right here, waiting for you until you come out," Hannah said.
"Alright, got it," Evan replied.
"Kid, good luck. Elder Chun's formation is an attack array, Elder Xie's is an illusion array—both are tricky. The trap array is mine, so it won't be too hard. The defensive array is standard, that's the Grand Elder's," Elder Deng transmitted to Evan.
Evan smiled, "Thank you," then walked forward, ready to break the formations. As he passed Elder Xie, the elder let out a strange laugh—subtle, barely noticeable, but Evan caught it thanks to his keen senses.
"So odd. Who is he, and why is he so hostile toward me?" Evan wondered, then stepped into the array ahead.
As soon as he entered, he found himself inside a four-layered formation: illusion mixed with trap, attack, and defense arrays.
So Evan was surrounded by dense mist from the start. He activated Heaven's Eye Sight, instantly seeing all the formations and their details.
"Looks like I need to break through the trap array first," Evan muttered, heading toward it. The trap array was third-tier Immortal-grade, but to Evan it was no real challenge.
He easily broke through it, and a new attack array appeared ahead. As soon as Evan stepped in, he was assaulted by endless attacks.
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Facing this, Evan relied on his extreme speed to dodge rapidly within the array.
The attack array's coverage was immense, and its speed was frightening—Evan had barely gotten his footing before the assaults came at him. Only by using his wind power could he dodge quickly; otherwise, he'd have been shredded.
"Damn it, Elder Chun is really ruthless," Evan cursed inwardly.
Evan pushed forward as fast as he could. After about half an hour, he made it through the attack array and quickly reached the outer defensive array. Using his deep understanding of formations, he broke it and arrived at the edge of the illusion array.
Just as Evan thought he was about to exit, a few crawling insects appeared before him.
"There are bugs in the illusion array? Are they real or fake?" Evan wondered.
Soon more and more bugs attacked Evan. He considered for a moment, then unleashed his flame—cultivated by the Fire-Gathering Pearl, making it especially fierce. Evan easily burned the bugs away.
"These bugs are really poisonous. Good thing my flame wiped them out. What's Elder Xie playing at—raising poisonous insects?" Evan wondered, and soon walked out of the illusion array.
Seeing Evan emerge from the illusion array in just about an hour, some were amazed, some delighted, and others secretly furious.
"How did that kid break through?" Elder Xie muttered to himself. Elder Chun also looked puzzled, thinking, "This is bizarre."
The Grand Elder smiled when he saw this. "Excellent, excellent. Looks like you're the first to break all four formations in such a short time."
"Thank you, Senior," Evan said.
"No need to call me Senior anymore—just call me Grand Elder. If you need anything, come directly to me. From today, you're a core disciple of Celestial Resonance Sect. Here, this is your token," the Grand Elder said with a smile.
Elder Deng, Evan, and Hannah were all overjoyed at the news.
The other elders didn't seem to care much and simply left. The two who had shown hostility toward Evan said a few parting words and departed without further comment.
Elder Deng and the Grand Elder smiled at Evan, chatting for a bit. Eventually, Evan asked, "Elder Deng, Grand Elder, now that I'm a core disciple, may I ask about ancient transmission arrays?"
"You want to ask about ancient transmission arrays?" the Grand Elder asked curiously.
"Yes, that's right," Evan replied.
Elder Deng added, "Grand Elder, he became a core disciple precisely to learn about ancient transmission arrays."
"I see. That's fine. Now that you're a core disciple, you can enter the Core Formation Pavilion of Celestial Resonance Sect. It contains precious records of formations—you should find some information on ancient transmission arrays there," the Grand Elder nodded.
"Thank you," Evan said joyfully.
"Let Elder Deng take you," the Grand Elder said with a smile.
Evan nodded, and Elder Deng led Evan and Hannah away. After they left, the Grand Elder's smile grew even wider. "A genius, a genius. If he participates in that event, I'm sure he'll do fine."
Evan had no idea what the Grand Elder was thinking. He only wanted to reach the Core Formation Pavilion. Elder Deng brought Evan to its entrance.
Elder Deng said to Evan, "You can go in now, but this young lady will stay outside."
Evan knew only core disciples could enter, so he said, "You stay with Elder Deng."
Hannah naturally listened to Evan and nodded. Evan entered alone. There was a gatekeeper inside, who asked Evan to show his token. Evan presented it and was allowed in.
After Evan left, the gatekeeper muttered, "When did we get another newcomer?"
Only core disciples and above can enter the Core Formation Pavilion, so only a few people come and go each day. The gatekeeper could easily recognize everyone, so seeing Evan as a stranger, he looked curious.
Evan walked inside and found the place was tall and filled with floating shelves—a vast library lined with books. To get any particular manual, he would have to fly up to reach it.