Lord Ridge looked at Lan Wind and said, "Alright, but what are you planning?"
"I have my own plans. Just help me make the connection," Lan Wind replied.
"Okay, wait here. I'll go make contact," Lord Ridge said, then left, leaving Lan Wind alone to ponder.
Lord Ridge used his Wood Temple connections to locate Cole Wood.
"Are you Cole Wood?" Lord Ridge asked.
"That's right, it's me. What's going on?" Cole Wood asked curiously, especially since an Earth Temple Palace Lord was seeking him out.
"It's nothing. I have a disciple who wants to talk with you. Is that convenient?" Lord Ridge asked.
"Oh? Do you know what he wants to talk about?" Cole Wood asked suspiciously.
"It's about Evan Yang. He might have a way to help you defeat Evan," Lord Ridge said.
Cole Wood showed a surprised and doubtful expression. Seeing his reaction, Lord Ridge added, "If you're interested, follow me."
After speaking, Lord Ridge led the way up front, while Cole Wood, naturally curious, wondered what kind of person and method could help him defeat Evan Yang. Although he had never truly fought Evan with his full strength, after observing Evan before, Cole had little confidence—he always felt Evan possessed some unexpected power.
Lan Wind waited for Lord Ridge in a forest. When he saw Cole Wood being brought over, Lan Wind exchanged a glance with Lord Ridge, who then left, leaving Lan Wind to face Cole Wood.
Cole Wood asked curiously, "Who are you?"
"My name is Lan Wind, from the Earth Temple. I know you're about to compete with Evan Yang for first place, so I want to know—when you fought him before, how much strength did you use?" Lan Wind said.
"Why are you asking?" Cole Wood frowned.
"I'm asking because I want to know if you have a chance to beat him," Lan Wind replied.
Cole Wood gave Lan Wind a strange look, and Lan Wind laughed when he saw it. "What? You don't believe me?"
"We don't know each other. Why should I trust you?" Cole Wood said.
"I knew you'd say that. But if you can't beat Evan Yang, as a Wood Temple disciple, you should know the difference between getting first place and not, right?" Lan Wind smiled.
Of course Cole Wood understood. If he got first place, he'd have a chance to receive Elder Woodspirit's blessing. He naturally wanted that. Now that first place was only one step away, he didn't want anything to go wrong.
Seeing Cole Wood convinced, Lan Wind said, "I have a way to help you win."
"Go on," Cole Wood asked.
"Here, this is Soulbane Weed. As a wood-attribute cultivator, you should know how to use it, right?" Lan Wind smiled.
Cole Wood didn't know what Soulbane Weed was, but as a plant, being wood-attribute, he could naturally fuse it into his attacks for effect. Still, he asked, "What does this Soulbane Weed do?"
"Soulbane Weed, as the name suggests, harms the soul. As long as its liquid enters Evan Yang's body, his soul will become briefly confused. At that moment, you can attack however you want," Lan Wind said.
"That's so despicable!" Cole Wood exclaimed, shocked.
"This is a competition, not despicable. It's just another tactic. Is there a rule against using poison?" Lan Wind asked.
Cole Wood felt tempted after hearing Lan Wind's words.
"If you get first place, you'll gain unimaginable benefits. Why let him take advantage?" Lan Wind continued to persuade.
Cole Wood gradually fell into temptation, took the weed, and asked, "Why are you doing this?"
"I lost to Evan Yang, so I'm not convinced. I hope you defeat him. It's that simple," Lan Wind replied.
The reason seemed plausible enough. Cole Wood answered, "Alright, I'll definitely defeat him."
"Good, go study the Soulbane Weed carefully," Lan Wind said, letting Cole Wood leave. After Cole left, he felt uneasy, but thinking about the benefits of first place, he began to make plans.
Watching Cole leave, Lan Wind sneered inwardly, "Evan Yang, even if I don't act, someone else will want to defeat you. This Soulbane Weed isn't just temporary—it's forever."
Cole Wood had no idea how powerful Soulbane Weed was. He thought it was only temporary, and that winning the match wouldn't really harm Evan Yang, so he wouldn't get in trouble. But Lan Wind wanted Evan's life, and also wanted the major palaces to fight each other. He'd previously tried to provoke the Flame Palace against the Water Palace but failed, so now he could only stir up conflict between the Water and Wood Palaces. Lan Wind also wanted to see if Lord Woodspirit would appear, so he could observe his strength.
Everything was moving according to Lan Wind's plan.
Soon, the match began—the decisive duel for first place, between the champions of the first and second groups. In everyone's eyes, there was no suspense; Cole Wood from the second group should defeat Evan Yang.
But some said Evan Yang wasn't so simple, sparking lively debate about who would win.
"This is the last and most important match. No matter the outcome, both are true experts," Palace Lord Rowan told the crowd.
Everyone exchanged glances. Palace Lord Rowan continued, "Now, let's invite Evan Yang and Cole Wood to duel. Everyone, clear the area."
Soon, a relatively large space was left for the two. The pair stood quietly facing each other, saying nothing, only silence.
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"Senior brother, why hasn't he made a move yet?" Zeke Wood muttered.
"He's observing, trying to see what kind of attack Evan Yang will use," Palace Lord Rowan replied.
"Oh? Does it make a difference? Just strike first and gain the advantage," Zeke Wood said.
"When experts duel, even the surrounding space can clash. It's not always about who attacks first," Palace Lord Rowan explained.
Zeke Wood didn't understand at first, but soon realized: sparks were flying around the two, the clash of aura, each testing the other's momentum.
At first, Evan Yang's aura seemed weaker, but gradually he began to push back, surpassing his previous level.
This made everyone curious about Evan Yang—how could his aura be so strong?
"This guy's aura is so intense," Lan Wind thought, startled.
Morgana Dreamhaven and others were both curious and excited, eager to see Evan Yang take first place.
"Your aura is strong. If this keeps up, I might lose, so I'll have to use other methods." With that, Cole Wood stopped the aura clash and released vines all around.
The vines wrapped around Evan Yang, but a burst of flame instantly burned them away. Seeing the vines fail, Cole Wood unleashed 'Thousand Petals Scattered Flowers'—flowers floated in the air, but these weren't for show; they were deadly.
Suddenly, a flower bloomed behind Evan Yang like a sharp blade, slicing toward him.
Evan Yang was startled and quickly activated the Earth-Rock Aegis. As soon as he did, Lord Ridge furrowed his brow, "Isn't that the Earth-Rock Aegis from the Earth Temple? How did this kid learn it? Was it that time? Did he meet that person?"
Lord Ridge immediately recognized Evan Yang's technique, shocked and finding it hard to believe Evan could cultivate Earth-Rock Aegis to such a level. He even considered befriending Evan to learn about the origin of the technique.
With Earth-Rock Aegis protecting him, the flower couldn't harm Evan Yang.
Seeing the flower's attack wasn't strong enough, Cole Wood instantly gathered countless blossoms into a giant trumpet-flower. When he played it, a powerful wind blew Evan Yang backward.
Evan Yang was startled, quickly gathering power to anchor himself, but still retreated a few steps, frowning, "I didn't expect you had this ability."
"Of course, it's all thanks to this," Cole Wood took out a horn-shaped flute. Its mouth resembled the trumpet-flower's, and when he used it, the artifact could blow a gale through the flower, almost sweeping Evan Yang away.
"What a powerful artifact," Evan Yang said.
"That's right. If you can't withstand my artifact, then concede," Cole Wood said.
"Is that so? Let's see if your artifact is stronger, or if I am," Evan Yang replied. His eyes turned fiery red, and a beam of Polar Sacred Flame shot out, hitting Cole Wood's hand.
Cole Wood's hand felt burned and frozen at the same time, extremely painful, and he cried out.
The crowd saw Evan Yang's terrifying gaze and were all shocked.
Even Lan Wind was secretly amazed at how far Evan Yang's flame control had progressed, beyond his expectations.
"Let's see if your artifact is faster, or my flame," Evan Yang smiled.
Cole Wood knew he had to keep moving while controlling his artifact, or risk being attacked by Evan Yang. Seeing Cole move while using the artifact, Evan Yang refused to be outdone: he planted the Limitless Spear in the ground, gripped it to anchor himself so the wind couldn't blow him away, while rapidly attacking Cole with Polar Sacred Flame.
The two stalemated like this. The spectators sighed—how could Emperor Realm juniors have such abilities? It was unbelievable.
"Damn, this can't go on," Cole Wood muttered to himself.
At that moment, Lan Wind sent him a voice transmission, "If you want to defeat him, use Soulbane Weed. Otherwise, this stalemate will only work against you."