"Alright, understood. I should head to my sect's holy land now," Blossom Fay said.
"Holy land?" Evan Yang asked, confused.
"After coming to the Immortal Realm, that's the place we must go. There are Hundred-Bloom Palace people there, so it's what we're supposed to do. I've already delivered your message, and now it's time for me to leave," Blossom Fay explained.
"Alright, take care of yourself," Evan Yang said.
"Mm." Blossom Fay nodded.
Evan Yang escorted Blossom Fay out, then returned to the Ethereal Sanctuary quarters—though he had changed his appearance.
Inside the Ethereal Sanctuary quarters, Nangong Palace Lord was angrily scolding a subordinate—the very one who lost track of Evan Yang and Blossom Fay.
"Useless! You can't even watch one person! Contact her immediately!" Nangong Palace Lord snapped.
"Yes." The subordinate tried to contact Blossom Fay, but she gave no response. The more this happened, the deeper Nangong Palace Lord's frown grew.
After a while, the nervous subordinate said, "Palace Lord, is it possible she might quit halfway and not compete?"
"That won't do! She's supposed to be one of our top three Earth-Immortal representatives. If she disappears now, how am I supposed to explain to the other sects? I should've never let her compete—damn it!" Nangong Palace Lord said angrily.
Everyone could only look at each other. Now that she was missing, finding her again would be extremely difficult.
"Quick, contact the formation maintenance team and have them keep an eye on Blossom Fay—see if she leaves the formation zone," Nangong Palace Lord said, growing more furious.
The subordinate hurried out to contact the eighth great power, hoping they could help check whether Blossom Fay had left.
Outside, Evan Yang saw the attendant rush out, not knowing what he was up to.
"Isn't that the guy who was tracking us earlier? What's he doing now?" Evan Yang wondered to himself.
After a while, the subordinate returned. Evan Yang considered whether to capture someone from Ethereal Sanctuary to ask about the Yang Family's whereabouts, but realized such secrets were probably only known to Nangong Palace Lord.
Kidnapping Nangong Palace Lord was out of the question. All Evan could do was keep waiting, watching Ethereal Sanctuary's movements. He was sure they'd eventually connect with the Yang Family.
When the subordinate came back, he reported to Nangong Palace Lord, "Palace Lord, I've spoken with them. They said they'll keep a close watch, and if they spot Blossom Fay, they'll stop her right away."
"Good. Still, prepare a backup contestant. I'll go inform the other sects. If she keeps hiding and we can't find her, that's no solution either," Nangong Palace Lord said, frowning.
'Mm.' The subordinate nodded.
Nangong Palace Lord went to discuss with other sects. When they heard the news, they were furious, but eventually calmed down. Nangong Palace Lord returned home, still angry, and muttered, 'Damn it.'
'Palace Lord, what now?' the subordinate asked.
'Just stay here for now. The Yang Family will arrive in a few days,' Nangong Palace Lord said.
'Should we observe the strength of the other groups?' the subordinate asked, suspicious.
'Of course. Sparring is inevitable. But don't send contestants—send people of comparable strength, but not too weak, or others will notice,' Nangong Palace Lord said.
'Alright, I'll find people in the next few days to stir up trouble with those groups.' The subordinate, feeling guilty for mishandling Blossom Fay's issue, wanted to make amends and volunteered.
'Mm, you handle it. Just don't cause trouble,' Nangong Palace Lord said.
The subordinate nodded, then left with a few trusted aides, leaving Nangong Palace Lord and some experts in the room.
'Palace Lord, is that kid really dead?' a man walked over, unwilling to accept it. This was Marcus Hale, the ninth-tier Profound-Immortal who lost to Evan Yang. He was representing the Profound-Immortal group this time, with dual attributes—a dark horse.
His greatest failure in life was losing to Evan Yang. Back then, Evan was only a Heavenly-Immortal, but Marcus Hale still vividly remembered everything Evan did—and his own defeat.
Normally, Nangong Palace Lord would have dealt with Marcus for his loss, but since they needed him for the Territory War Contest, he kept him around. Marcus had spent years in seclusion, hoping to surpass and defeat Evan Yang one day.
But when Marcus emerged and heard the news of Evan Yang's death, he never believed it.
Nangong Palace Lord smiled and said, "He was poisoned by the Million-Year Venom Toad. Do you really think he could live more than ten years?"
"Didn't a Qing Family member survive the same poison?" Marcus asked.
"He got lucky and had someone cleanse it for him. I don't believe Evan Yang could be so lucky, or have someone help him detoxify!" Nangong Palace Lord replied.
"I still feel like he's not dead," Marcus said.
"Really? I doubt it," Nangong Palace Lord replied, suspicious.
"Has Palace Lord continued investigating Evan Yang and Miss Nangong's whereabouts?" Marcus just wanted to know if Evan was alive.
Nangong Palace Lord frowned, "I have, but not much. Let me check for updates."
Nangong Palace Lord took out a Transmission Stone and contacted the team tasked with searching for Nangong Yanxia and the others.
He hadn't checked it in ages, and since arriving here, he'd kept the Transmission Stone turned off. When he activated it, he found a flood of messages. After reading them, his expression turned extremely grim.
"What's wrong?" Marcus sensed something was off.
"Looks like you were right. He's still alive!" Nangong Palace Lord said angrily.
"Oh? Really?" Marcus was both shocked and thrilled—shocked that Evan Yang wasn't dead, thrilled for the chance to challenge him again and settle his score.
"All these years, they've been on Flowcloud Star. Evan Yang seems to have offended several clans and the powerful Shadow Soul Sect, so he's been hunted nonstop. He just resurfaced recently and then vanished again," Nangong Palace Lord said, furious.
Marcus thought about the news. If Evan Yang had survived this long—over a hundred years—he must have cleared the poison.
This chapter isn't finished yet~.~ Please click next page to continue reading!
"So that means his poison is gone?" Marcus said, overjoyed.
"Why are you so happy? I'm furious! Damn it, he actually cleared the poison." Nangong Palace Lord was extremely angry to learn Evan Yang wasn't dead. In his eyes, Evan was a disaster—if he wasn't eliminated, he'd never feel at ease.
"Don't worry, Palace Lord. I'll definitely defeat him," Marcus said. "Defeat him? Keep dreaming. Did you break through during your seclusion?" Nangong Palace Lord asked, not to discourage Marcus but out of frustration. "No breakthrough yet, but after this contest I should break through. Otherwise, I won't belong in the Profound-Immortal group," Marcus replied.
"That's true. You make a good point. Just focus on the contest for now—you're still not a match for that kid," Nangong Palace Lord said.
"Did they mention anything about his current strength?" Marcus was eager to know how Evan Yang had progressed over the century.
"You want to know? Me too. Only the Li Family and Shadow Soul Sect would know specifics, but I'm not sure if they've come this time. If they have, that's good—we'll have allies in tracking him. No matter how strong that kid is, with so many forces after him, let's see how long he can stay free," Nangong Palace Lord said.
Marcus was full of anticipation, wanting to know Evan Yang's true strength. He wondered if he'd improved more than Evan over the past hundred years—and he was about to reach Immortal-Lord, a whole new level.
Evan Yang had no idea Nangong Palace Lord was discussing him. At that moment, he was pacing around, keeping an eye on Ethereal Sanctuary's movements.
Elsewhere, a skeletal elder, a bald man, and a handsome man stopped at the foot of a mountain.
"We're here. This is the place," the skeletal elder said.
The handsome man was startled. "Spring Sect Master, are you sure this is it? Why is there nobody around?"
The bald man was curious too. "That's right."
"You don't understand. You'll see once we're inside," the skeletal elder said, and the three went in.
These three were none other than Simon Spring, Lee, and Sean Shen, here to hire someone to find Evan Yang.
It had taken them a long time to get here. Once inside, they saw a completely different scene—crowds moving about, many just like them, all here to search for someone.
Simon Spring walked to a building where many people were queued up. Naturally, the three joined the line.
It took half a day before it was Simon Spring's turn.
A clerk asked Simon Spring, "Who are you looking for? Enter all the information here."
Simon Spring took a wooden slip for recording information and entered the details.
The clerk glanced over it and said, "Pay the fee and leave your contact info. That's all." "How long will it take to find them?" Simon Spring asked.
"If we're fast, maybe tomorrow. If slow, a few days," the clerk replied.
"Oh? That fast? That's great," Simon Spring said with a smile.
"Go pay," the clerk said.
Simon Spring nodded, paid the fee, left his contact info, and waited on the mountain.
"Spring Sect Master, is it really that simple? You just input information and they can find someone?" Sean Shen found it hard to believe.
"You don't get it. They're specialists—very skilled. I've heard many here have special abilities," Simon Spring said with a smile.
"Special abilities? What kind of abilities?" Sean Shen asked, curious.
"Prediction and detection," Simon Spring replied.
"Prediction and detection?" Sean Shen still didn't understand.
"It means they can detect the past and predict the future," Simon Spring explained.
"What? Isn't that crazy? Detecting the past is fine, but predicting the future—that's just..." Sean Shen was amazed. People with abilities like that were truly extraordinary.
"Detection of the past is one hundred percent accurate, but prediction of the future is only fifty percent reliable. The world changes constantly; the next moment might not be the same as now," Simon Spring explained.