Evan Yang knew that in the Human World he used spiritual power, but here, everything ran on Soul‑Power. Now he finally understood the difference, but he was still curious—how did you actually get Soul‑Power? He asked, "How do you train it?"
"I really don't know. If I did, I wouldn't still be stuck working here as a laborer," Zach sighed.
Evan figured Zach was still young, so it made sense he didn't know. Still, Evan made up his mind—he had to figure out how to get Soul‑Power, and once he had it, how to actually fight with it.
Zach had no idea Evan came from outside; he just assumed Evan was from some tribe. So he didn't hide anything and told Evan everything he knew.
It was late at night when the two finally went to sleep. The next day, as darkness faded, the whole place got lively again—a total change from the quiet of night.
Evan kept working at the inn, helping out while listening to the conversations around him.
So Evan spent half a month at the inn, picking up all kinds of things he never knew before.
One day, when Evan had some free time, he went to find the innkeeper. Everyone said the innkeeper was tough—a guy who could use Soul‑Power, which made him stand out to the locals.
That night, after the innkeeper finished up and was about to go to bed, Evan caught up with him.
Evan had been working hard lately, so the innkeeper had a pretty good impression of him. He smiled and said, "Why aren't you getting some rest?"
"Innkeeper, I've got something I want to ask you," Evan said with a grin.
"Oh? What's up?" the innkeeper asked, curious.
"Innkeeper, I heard you can use Soul‑Power. How does Soul‑Power actually come about?" Evan asked, genuinely curious.
"Why do you want to know that?" the innkeeper frowned.
"Seeing those people flying around and doing crazy stuff, I'm pretty jealous. I just want to know if I can do it too," Evan said, smiling.
The innkeeper looked around, making sure no one was nearby, then said quietly, "Didn't you know? In the Soul‑World, if anyone wants to cultivate Soul‑Power, they need permission from the Soul‑Heaven Palace."
"Why?" Evan asked. This was the first time he'd heard about such a rule.
"Looks like you really don't know. Let me break it down for you: Soul‑Heaven Palace doesn't let ordinary folks cultivate Soul‑Power because they don't want anyone rising up against them. You get what I mean?" the innkeeper explained.
Evan hadn't expected cultivation to be forbidden in this realm. No wonder so many people didn't understand it—and those who could use Soul‑Power were basically the elite in the Soul‑World, always respected wherever they went.
The innkeeper could run a hotel here and hold his ground thanks to his special status—and because he'd learned Soul‑Power years ago. Only a handful of staff knew about this secret; everyone else was clueless.
So when Evan brought it up, the innkeeper couldn't help but look surprised.
"Innkeeper, could you tell me how to actually train? I promise I won't tell anyone," Evan said, sounding hopeful.
"No way. That would get you in trouble, and if anyone found out, not just you—my whole inn would be in danger too," the innkeeper said, shaking his head.
Evan hadn't expected things to be this serious, but he still pressed on. "Innkeeper, I swear I won't tell anyone you told me."
"Nope. Just be a good, honest guy—at least that way you won't die so soon," the innkeeper replied again.
Evan realized that no matter what he said, the innkeeper wasn't going to spill. Facing this, Evan thought for a moment and argued, "Even if I can't use Soul‑Power, I can use other stuff. If they find out, I'm dead anyway, so you might as well tell me."
"What else can you do?" the innkeeper asked, puzzled.
Evan waved his hand, and the table beside them burst into flames. The innkeeper freaked out, "Put it out, quick!"
Evan waved again, and the table froze over—the fire was gone, and the table looked normal, though a bit scorched.
Seeing Evan pull off those moves, the innkeeper was stunned. "How do you even do that?"
"I was born with it, but I don't know how to cultivate Soul‑Power," Evan explained.
When the innkeeper heard Evan say he was born with those abilities, he was floored. He hurried Evan into his own room, pulled him aside, and said, "You're sure you were born with that?"
"Yeah," Evan replied, knowing he'd caught the innkeeper's attention—now was the perfect time to dig deeper.
The innkeeper looked Evan over and said, "You've really got a gift for Soul‑Power cultivation."
Evan hadn't expected the innkeeper to say that, but he played it up, acting surprised. "Really? Then teach me, innkeeper!"
The innkeeper thought it over. Seeing Evan could use fire and ice, he got excited—Evan was like a raw gem, just waiting to be polished, maybe destined to become someone great.
"I won't teach you myself, but I can recommend you to my tribe. Then my tribe can recommend you to Soul‑Heaven Palace. All you need to do is show them your fire ability, and they'll officially let you cultivate Soul‑Power. Then you can learn however you want—no sneaking around," the innkeeper said.
"Really?" Actually, Evan had hoped the innkeeper would teach him, but hearing he'd get to go to Soul‑Heaven Palace, he started planning. After all, Soul‑Heaven Palace ran the whole Soul‑World—if anyone knew how to leave, it'd be them.
The innkeeper smiled. "Yeah, I'll set it up for you tomorrow. Whether it works or not depends on Soul‑Heaven Palace."
Evan nodded, chatted with the innkeeper for a bit, then smiled and said, "Thanks, innkeeper."
"Go get some rest," the innkeeper said with a smile.
So Evan said goodbye to the innkeeper and headed back to his room, where he found Zach waiting.
"Why aren't you asleep yet?" Evan asked, noticing Zach was still up.
"I couldn't sleep because you hadn't come back. I thought something happened to you," Zach replied.
The words were simple, but they made Evan feel the pure, heartfelt emotions that souls in the Soul‑World shared.
"I'm fine, really. Go to sleep now," Evan said with a smile.
Zach nodded and went to bed, but Evan stayed awake. Later, Zach started mumbling in his sleep, and hearing him, Evan sighed to himself, "He says this almost every day. Looks like Soul‑Heaven Palace really is cruel—taking people away and leaving a kid stuck with nightmares every night."
Right now, Evan saw Soul‑Heaven Palace as not just mysterious, but cold and heartless—a symbol of tyranny, since they wouldn't let ordinary people cultivate Soul‑Power.
Whether things were really as Evan imagined, he could only wait and hope the innkeeper's recommendation worked. For now, Evan played down his fire abilities, wanting to figure out Soul‑Power and how to train it before revealing anything more.
So the next morning, Evan got busy with everyone else, but kept waiting for news from the innkeeper, who left early as promised.
By midday, when the inn was packed, the innkeeper returned. He pulled Evan aside and said with a smile, "I got your recommendation through, but you'll have to wait three days. Someone will come to pick you up then."
"Thanks, innkeeper," Evan said, excited.
"I believe in you. Good luck," the innkeeper said, knowing Evan could use both fire and ice.
Evan nodded, and spent the next three days waiting.
Three days later, before dawn, the innkeeper called Evan out. Zach watched Evan leave and wondered, "Why did the innkeeper call Big Bro Mira so early?"
To Zach, Evan was like a big brother, so he always called him that in private. Evan was used to it and never minded.
Evan followed behind the innkeeper, knowing he was about to meet the person who'd take him to Soul‑Heaven Palace.
Soon, Evan was brought to the inn's main hall, where an elder sat dressed head‑to‑toe in black. He looked a bit like those Black Hand Syndicate assassins Evan had seen before, but the big difference was: no scissors, no mask—just plain black clothes.
"Second Uncle, this is the one," the innkeeper said to the elder.
Hearing what the innkeeper said, Evan realized the man in front of him must be from the innkeeper's tribe.
The elder looked Evan up and down. "So this is the guy who can use fire?"
"Yep, absolutely," the innkeeper replied.
The elder glanced at Evan, making sure he wasn't bluffing, and said, "Show me—let's see what you can do."
Evan figured they'd want proof, so he grabbed a useless box nearby and waved his hand—instantly, it burst into flames.
Seeing Evan really could use fire, the elder was thrilled, though he kept a straight face. "Which tribe are you from originally?" he asked.
"Mira Tribe," Evan answered.
"Mira? Well, would you like to join our Huang Tribe?" the elder asked.
"Huang Tribe?" Evan was surprised. From what he'd heard, there were four big tribes under Soul‑Heaven Palace, each overseeing a bunch of smaller ones.
One of those major tribes was the Huang Tribe. Now Evan understood why the innkeeper could cultivate Soul‑Power—he was an insider.
"Yeah, so how about it? If you join us, I'll take you to Soul‑Heaven Palace right now," the elder said.
Evan didn't really belong anywhere here, so whichever tribe he joined didn't matter much. He nodded, "Alright, I'll join."
"Great. From now on, you're one of us. As for your name, let's change it to Huang Han," the elder said, knowing Evan came from the Mira Tribe.
Evan's real name wasn't Mira Han anyway, so he didn't care. He nodded, "Sure."
And just like that, Evan joined the Huang Tribe and took on the new name Huang Han.
The innkeeper grinned from the side, while the elder led Evan out of the inn and toward the big pillar.
"Innkeeper, where's Big Bro Mira?" Zach asked, worried since Evan hadn't come back for a while.
The innkeeper smiled. "He's got something to take care of."
"Not cool. He didn't even say goodbye," Zach complained.
The innkeeper smiled helplessly. "You'll get to see him again someday."
"Really?" Zach asked, skeptical.
"Yeah," the innkeeper nodded. Hearing that, Zach went back to his room, but he couldn't help feeling sad—just like when his own family left.
Evan had no idea Zach now saw him as family, nor did he notice Zach hiding in his room, feeling down.