"Demonic qi? Why is there so much demonic qi here, and what's it for?" Evan Yang muttered to himself.
Just as Evan wondered about the abundance of demonic qi, the surrounding qi condensed into a physical form—a Black Qi Entity. Its hollow eyes stared at Evan and said, "Welcome to this place."
He noticed all the black qi converging toward him, growing stronger by the second. Evan realized that if this kept up, the Black Qi Entity would become extremely powerful. He had to interrupt it immediately, so without hesitation, Evan launched attribute attacks at the black qi—only to find they had no effect.
The Black Qi Entity laughed, "Ha! You can't destroy me. But if your luck runs out, I can destroy you."
"Destroy me? That depends on whether you can keep up with me!" Evan shot back, seeing he couldn't handle the black qi head-on, so he quickly dodged aside.
The Black Qi Entity floated up, moving fast, but no matter how quick it was, it couldn't match Evan's Meteor Flight Art. With a single flash, Evan sped through Zone One.
After passing through Zone One, Evan entered Zone Two. It was just like the first zone, only the black qi was even denser.
The Black Qi Entity here was even stronger and moved faster, but Evan's Meteor Flight Art was quicker still. With another burst, he shot through, surprised at how easily he cleared both Zone One and Two.
Now he was in Zone Three. Seeing more black qi and another Black Qi Entity, Evan sighed, "Still the same thing? Looks like I'll have to dash through again."
Just as he thought it would be easy to rush through, Evan found his Meteor Flight Art wasn't working. The space around him felt like a bottomless pit—no matter how he tried, he couldn't move from his spot.
Evan was shocked to see the black qi condense into another entity. This one was smaller—about his size—unlike the huge ones he'd faced before.
Even though it was small, Evan sensed real danger. The Black Qi Entity grinned and said, "Trapping you? That's a piece of cake."
"Is that so?" Evan knew he had an hour—if he couldn't get out, he'd fail. Since rushing through wasn't an option, he figured he'd have to defeat the black qi in front of him.
"Go ahead and try. Let's see just how fast you really are." The Black Qi Entity laughed.
Evan realized speed wouldn't work, and attacks were useless against it. It was as if this Black Qi Entity had nothing that could restrain him anymore.
But Evan knew that since someone had set up this challenge, there had to be a way through—it couldn't be impossible for everyone.
Thinking it over, Evan recalled what happened in the Ashen‑Dark World, and an idea struck him. He spread his hands and smiled at the Black Qi Entity, "I wonder if you're afraid of this."
"What?" The Black Qi Entity asked curiously.
"Light!" Evan knew that attributes counter each other, so the black qi must have a weakness. He tried it, and as soon as light appeared in his hands, the Black Qi Entity let out a miserable scream. Its body began to dissipate, but it still managed to complain, "How do you have the light attribute?"
"Who says I'm not allowed to have light?" Evan replied with a grin.
"Damn it, damn it, I messed up!" The Black Qi Entity tried to say something, but vanished. A path appeared ahead, and Evan collected himself, wondering what other methods could pass besides light—maybe some special artifact would work.
As Evan was the first to exit, Ghost Monk on the other side looked at him curiously, "Didn't expect you to be so fast."
"Just lucky," Evan replied.
Ghost Monk shook his head, "That's not luck. The first two checkpoints are all about speed. If you're fast enough, you can pass. But the third? Speed won't help—you need something that counters the black qi. I bet you have an artifact that does exactly that, right?"
Evan nodded, "That's right."
Ghost Monk nodded, "Congratulations, you're now a core member."
"Thanks." Evan hadn't expected to pass so easily. Over the next hour, more people exited within the time limit—nine others joined Evan, making ten core members in total.
There were quite a few advanced members—over fifty. The rest were just ordinary.
Yang Tian and the others were among the advanced group. When they saw Evan standing with Ghost Monk, they were shocked, but remembered Evan was Cangxue's deputy and sent by the Alliance Leader, so he shouldn't be weak. They didn't doubt him, only envied him.
Ghost Monk addressed the newly divided groups, "Each of you will get a token. From now on, you're members of Demon Mountain. Do your jobs, don't do what you shouldn't, or you'll be kicked out—no mercy."
Everyone nodded, taking Ghost Monk's warning to heart.
Evan looked at the token in his hand—at least it meant he could do a lot more now.
After handing out the tokens and registering everyone, Ghost Monk told them to check what they'd received. Each had a patrol route, marking their usual area. Ordinary Demon Mountain members handled most patrols; advanced members had more time to cultivate and some patrols, while core members were the freest—many places were open to them.
At that moment, Evan and the others gathered together. Yang Tian praised him, "Didn't expect you to be so amazing, Brother Mu—became a core member just like that."
"You're not bad yourselves," Evan replied with a smile.
"So, what do we do now?" Yang Tian asked curiously.
Evan said, "I might have come to Demon Mountain too, so while you patrol, get to know people and learn the situation. Also, find out about Taotian Demon Lord—if you hear anything, contact me right away."
Yang Tian and the others nodded. Splitting up was the best way—any news would be sent to Evan, who could then gather everyone.
Yang Tian, Lingzi Qiong, and Linus Fenn agreed to leave together, patrolling and searching for clues about Taotian Demon Lord. Shui Jing looked at Evan, "Senior Mu, what now?"
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"Patrol," Evan said with a smile.
"Patrol? We're here to patrol?" Shui Jing was confused—they were supposed to investigate Taotian Demon Lord and deal with him, but Evan was really getting into his role.
"If you want to leave safely, just do as I say," Evan told her.
Evan sounded serious, so Shui Jing nodded, "Alright, got it."
Shui Jing followed Evan on patrol. At first she adapted, but after a while she complained, "When are we ever going to get any news?"
"Just be patient," Evan said with a smile.
"Patient? We know people, but no one will tell us anything," Shui Jing said.
"If you don't know them, find a way to get close. If you can, try to build rapport," Evan said with a smile. "How do I build rapport?" Shui Jing asked, confused.
Evan activated his spiritual sense, then smiled, "Got it. Follow me."
Shui Jing followed Evan, still confused. After a while, they reached a mountainside with a river, where two groups were gathered.
On one side was a man, on the other a woman, with an injured old man standing in front of her.
The man laughed, "Why are you so stubborn? If your lady comes with me, she'll live in luxury. Why resist?"
"You—you—we may just be servants here, but you can't bully us like this! Besides, she's my lady," the old man protested.
The woman trembled, clearly frightened.
"Old Mu, you've been here for thousands of years, right? How many times have I helped you? Now I just want a little payback, but you refuse—it's heartbreaking," the man sighed.
"I know you're kind, but my lady doesn't want this. Please don't make things hard for her. If you insist, I'll have betrayed our late master," the old man said anxiously.
"So stubborn! If that's how it is, I'll teach you a lesson and take her with me," the man said, pointing at the woman.
Just as the man was about to act, Evan and Shui Jing arrived. Seeing the man's behavior, Shui Jing was furious—maybe out of sympathy for the woman. She shouted, "Who are you? Why are you doing this?"
"Wow, lucky day! Am I about to score a double?" the man laughed.
"Double? I'll make sure you fly plenty!" Shui Jing attacked, and the man was no match for her—after a few rounds, he was beaten black and blue.
The once arrogant man was now kneeling before Shui Jing. "Don't—don't kill me! I'm from Demon Mountain!"
"I don't care if you're from Demon Mountain or wherever—I'm pissed today," Shui Jing said, ready to kill him. Evan quickly stopped her, sending a message, "This is Demon Mountain. If you kill him and cause trouble, our identities will be exposed."
Shui Jing saw his point and snorted, "Lucky for you."
Evan didn't let the man leave. He smiled, "Don't rush off." The man, seeing Evan could stop Shui Jing, became respectful. "Senior, what do you want?" Evan pulled out a pill, "Take this. If you talk about today or bother them again, you'll die horribly."
Seeing the pill, the man stopped smiling and felt miserable. He knew he couldn't escape unless he swallowed it, so he did. At first nothing happened, but Evan patted his shoulder, "Behave from now on. Don't harass them again, or you'll never use your powers again."
The man was shocked as his power suddenly vanished. "What's going on?"
"You took the pill—it's only temporary. If you behave, I'll give you the antidote. Don't try to get revenge, or you'll never get it," Evan said with a smile. He secretly laughed, since he'd sealed the man's power himself, not with the pill—the pill was just a decoy.