Water poured down like a waterfall from above Evan Yang's head. In that man's eyes, Evan was surely doomed. But Evan simply raised his hand, and a blazing flame burst forth above him. The fire grew bigger and bigger, instantly evaporating all the water.
"Impossible!" the man protested. How could a single flame evaporate all that water? Just how powerful must that fire be to vaporize such a massive torrent?
Not far away, the old man chuckled inwardly, "His mastery of fire-soul power is so skilled—excellent, excellent."
Little did they know, Evan's fire was no ordinary flame. Though its appearance seemed normal, the temperature was far beyond what common fire could achieve.
Just as Evan was about to evaporate all the water, a voice rang out from afar: "Impressive technique."
A purple-haired man stepped forward, his eyes fixed on Evan. Evan wasn't stupid—he realized these two must have gone to fetch this person.
As for the man's identity, Evan had no idea who he was. At the moment when the water evaporated, Evan withdrew his hand and asked, "What do you want with me?"
"We have some business with you. Come with me," said the Right Palace Lord.
Evan shook his head. "I'm about to join the Great Operation. No time."
"Kid, do you know who you're talking to?" The man who used water-soul power glared at Evan, clearly unwilling to accept this.
Evan followed the group as they left, descending from above. The two men continued to tail him, while the people in the city below looked up in surprise at the sudden appearance of so many figures in the sky.
Evan originally planned to check on Zach, but considering the identities of the two men, he gave up the idea and left the city, looking for a chance to shake them off.
Unfortunately, these two weren’t slow—they kept up with Evan easily. Seeing this, Evan started calculating his next move.
Everyone else scattered in different directions, so Evan wasn’t worried about being discovered. He walked alone in another direction, far from everyone’s sight and beyond divine sense detection. Once he stopped, he smiled and said, "So what do you really want?"
"Kid, don’t think you’re free now. If you obediently come with us to Right Heaven Palace, you’ll at least be safe. If not, when our Palace Lord arrives, you’ll be in real trouble," one of them laughed.
The other man smiled broadly at Evan, but Evan just grinned back. "Is that so?"
Suddenly, Evan moved. Blazing flames erupted, startling the two men—they hadn’t expected Evan to make a move. One manipulated water, the other summoned fire.
But as soon as water appeared, it froze solid. The man was shocked, and the other’s fire was instantly extinguished—Evan’s flames devoured it. As the man screamed, Evan moved again, sealing him directly. The other, seeing the frozen water, tried to escape, but Evan blocked him and sealed him as well.
Evan tossed the two aside and smiled, "You guys love following me so much? Now I’ll leave you here—let you stay like this forever."
The two men stared at Evan in terror. Once Evan knocked them out, he left, heading toward where his body was hidden. He needed to use the Body-Entry Art quickly, before anyone discovered his body.
So Evan sped toward that direction, moving swiftly. Soon he arrived, but was shocked to find a group of people surrounding the area.
"This is bad—they’ve found it!" Evan saw them studying the site but not daring to get close.
Someone said, "Quick, contact the Palace Lord—we’ve found a body, but its exterior is impossible to open."
Evan knew that the glowing membrane was left by Mad Elder. Thankfully, it was still there—otherwise he would’ve been taken away already.
"Alright, I’ll go report to the Palace Lord now," someone said, and quickly left.
Evan intercepted him halfway and, without hesitation, knocked him unconscious.
After tossing him aside, Evan continued to watch the others from a distance for a while before taking action.
The group was waiting for the Palace Lord to arrive when suddenly a figure appeared and carried the body away, shocking everyone.
There were several experts among them, and each began fighting Evan. Evan moved nimbly among the crowd.
"Kid, who are you? Speak up!" someone shouted, curious why Evan could hold the body when others couldn’t.
So Evan sped toward that direction, moving swiftly. Soon he arrived, but was shocked to find a group of people surrounding the area.
"This is bad—they’ve found it!" Evan saw them studying the site but not daring to get close.
Someone said, "Quick, contact the Palace Lord—we’ve found a body, but its exterior is impossible to open."
Evan knew that the glowing membrane was left by Mad Elder. Thankfully, it was still there—otherwise he would’ve been taken away already.
"Alright, I’ll go report to the Palace Lord now," someone said, and quickly left.
Evan intercepted him halfway and, without hesitation, knocked him unconscious.
After tossing him aside, Evan continued to watch the others from a distance for a while before taking action.
The group was waiting for the Palace Lord to arrive when suddenly a figure appeared and carried the body away, shocking everyone.
There were several experts among them, and each began fighting Evan. Evan moved nimbly among the crowd.
"Kid, who are you? Speak up!" someone shouted, curious why Evan could hold the body when others couldn’t.
One person was even more shocked—he noticed the corpse looked exactly like Evan.
Seeing that everyone had recognized his face, Evan estimated there were eight people here. He’d have to knock them all out, or his identity would be exposed and escaping would be much harder.
"You’ve all seen it—this is mine. Today, I’ll deal with you," Evan said.
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As soon as he finished speaking, a chill swept out. The group was shocked—what kind of technique was this? Evan intensified his Soul Power, and the people began to freeze. Even those who could use fire were helpless.
Once everyone was frozen, Evan wasn’t satisfied. He melted the ice around each one and sealed them, then left them there and took his body away.
Evan moved farther and farther away, not daring to approach the border at all. After all, today was the day of the unified operation, and there would be plenty of people near the boundary.
Evan flew until he reached a deserted spot. He found a hidden place, set his body down, and muttered, "Phew, I wonder what will happen after I enter the body?"
Evan wasn’t sure if the Body-Entry Art had side effects. He’d only read that someone had used it successfully before. Because of that, he decided to try it here.
Evan began meditating, following the Body-Entry Art’s instructions. He sat atop his original body and started using Soul Power to seal the memory region of his mind. Though he was a soul, he still had a place for memories.
That region was in the mind. The first step of the Body-Entry Art was sealing it, so his consciousness would naturally drift into the body. This was the most dangerous moment—if anyone disturbed him, the process could be ruined.
That’s why Evan had to find a safe place—otherwise, his soul would be sealed away and he’d never get into his body.
As he sealed the memory region, Evan felt himself fall into a deep sleep, and his soul slowly merged into the body. When the soul and body finally fused together…
Three days later, Evan regained consciousness. When he opened his eyes, he found himself lying inside the protective membrane. "Did it work?"
Overjoyed, Evan sat up, and the membrane instantly vanished—this was the effect of breaking it from the inside.
"This is great!" Evan was ecstatic—the familiar feeling had returned. But as he celebrated, his body began to change.
"A breakthrough?" Evan hadn’t expected that soul cultivation, once entering the body, would trigger such a transformation.
So Evan entered the tower, found a quiet place, and began his breakthrough.
Inside, fifty years would pass for every year outside. Evan underwent a massive breakthrough. Maybe it was due to his soul, but not only his body, his soul also advanced.
Previously, he was at early Shadow-God. Now, Evan advanced from early to mid, then late, then Shadow-God Great Perfection.
He went straight into the Crossing-Shadow Realm. This stage was something Ye Chen had told Evan about—he didn’t even know what came next. Evan advanced all the way to Crossing-Shadow Great Perfection.
Evan’s strength skyrocketed. "Did combining soul and body make me stronger?"
He credited his soul cultivation for the improvement and tested his attack power and other abilities.
His Phantom Step Art had reached thirtyfold speed, his attack power five hundredfold, and sometimes he could burst to a thousandfold. With Powerburst Gauntlets and Fly-Fire Boots, Evan knew he could now surpass a whole major realm.
Now, even challenging the next realm’s Great Perfection stage was no problem for Evan.
"What comes after Crossing-Shadow?" Evan muttered. He wanted to know how many stages were left, and how far he was from becoming immortal.
After muttering to himself, Evan left the tower. He changed his plan—originally he meant to escape right after regaining his body, but now he had something else to do: rescue that woman.
"A promise is a promise," Evan sighed. The mother and son had moved him—it reminded him of his own experiences.
Evan donned black Elite Palace robes. Now that his soul and body were fused, he was no different from before, except his aura-concealing abilities were even stronger, and he could alter his appearance.
"Done." With his appearance changed and dressed in black, Evan easily reached the pillar and went up.
The gatekeeper saw the Elite Palace uniform and heard Evan recite his number, so he let him through.