Evan Yang and Sharla's arrival quickly drew attention. Aurora Qing noticed and came out from her room, looking at Evan and saying, "You finally came back." "Senior," Evan greeted respectfully. "As long as you're alright, that's all that matters. Those two girls worry about you every day." Seeing Evan unharmed, Aurora relaxed. She knew Evan was the extremely rare Three‑Attribute Heaven, and absolutely must not fall—finding another like him would be nearly impossible. "Where are they?" Evan was already prepared to apologize, since he'd promised to take the two girls with him but left alone. Now he had come to admit his mistake. "Follow me," Aurora said.
Evan nodded, then brought Sharla along and followed Aurora. After circling behind the house and walking along a rugged mountain path, they reached a mountaintop. There, two people were fully absorbed in cultivation—the two were none other than Lora Luo and Hannah Nangong.
Hearing their master's voice, the two girls opened their eyes. But when they saw who was beside Aurora, their faces lit up with surprise and excitement—they rushed over, not even knowing what to say. However, with Sharla standing behind Evan, the atmosphere became a little awkward.
"You actually tricked us," Hannah said, putting on a stern face. Seeing this wasn't her place, Aurora stepped back, leaving the four of them there. Evan looked at the three, each with different expressions. Hannah pressed him for answers, so Evan quickly explained, "I'm sorry I didn't bring you along. You know how dangerous my affairs are, so I came to apologize."
"Apologize? That's all? You think a single sentence is enough?" Lora complained.
"Then what kind of compensation do you want?" Evan asked helplessly.
Hannah and Lora exchanged a glance, then Hannah spoke: "Making us worry for over a hundred years—that's not something material can make up for."
"It was urgent, and I had important things to do, so I couldn't bring you. You know if you'd come with me, you'd just be forced to hide or stay sealed inside my inner space—what would be the point?" Evan said, helpless.
"Your inner space is even better for cultivation," Lora said. (In the xianxia world, 'inner space' refers to a personal, artifact-contained pocket dimension used for cultivation and storage.)
Hannah nodded, "That's right. Your inner space is so special—what, you can't bear to let us use it?"
Seeing their teasing get more and more outrageous, Evan was nearly exasperated. When he couldn't find words, Hannah laughed, "We're just joking with you. Now that you're back, we're relieved."
"Yeah, look at you—your face is almost changing color from embarrassment," Lora laughed too.
Realizing they were just teasing him, Evan sighed, "You two are impossible. But I keep my word. Since I didn't bring you, I owe you compensation. Tell me, what do you want?"
"You really mean compensation?" Hannah asked.
Lora asked curiously, "Really?"
"That's right. Just say it—if I can do it, I will," Evan said.
"Alright, we've already decided—you have to practice a sword technique with us," Hannah said.
"A sword technique?" Evan asked, surprised.
"That's right. Elder Joe originally wanted me to practice this art with Senior Brother Shen. Now we've decided—you'll be our partner and practice this technique with us. How about it? You won't back out, right?" Lora said.
"Uh, isn't this technique meant for just two people? How can the three of us practice it together?" Evan asked doubtfully.
"Hehe, Master said three people can practice it too. So, if you want to make it up to us, you have to join us. Looks like it'll take at least a few hundred years to train this technique, so if you want to back out, now's your chance," Hannah said.
Evan looked at Hannah and Lora, thought for a moment, and said, "Alright, I can do that. It's just practice, right? I'll take the spot."
"Good, you said it yourself—we didn't force you. As for her?" Hannah looked over at Sharla.
"Oh, this is a new friend I met—she helped me before. Her name is Sharla," Evan introduced.
Hannah nodded, "I'm Hannah Nangong."
"I'm Lora Luo," Lora said.
Sharla smiled happily, "Thank you both for not minding me."
"What are you talking about? If you're Evan's friend, you're our friend too. But for the next while, you might have to put up with being left out—he has to practice sword techniques with us," Hannah said. "It's fine, you guys go ahead. I'll go cultivate too," Sharla replied. "Alright, let's find a place then," Hannah said.
"Does this place need anything special?" Evan asked.
"Yes, in the Blue Robe Sect's forbidden ice pool," Hannah said.
"Ice pool?" Evan asked, puzzled.
"Yeah, let's go," Hannah said. Lora nodded as well.
Evan looked at the two, then said to Sharla, "You go cultivate in my inner space first."
"Alright," Sharla nodded. Evan sent Sharla into the Sky-Piercing Tower inside the Strange Spiral Shell, then followed Hannah and Lora, curious about what this Blue Robe Sect ice pool was all about.
After a while, the three reached the entrance of a cave, guarded by someone. Lora took out a token, and after the guard checked it, he said, "You may enter."
On the way in, Evan asked curiously, "Where did that token come from?"
"My master gave it to me. She waited for your return all these years, so she left it with me. Now we finally get to use it," Lora said with a smile.
"I see," Evan replied, as he felt a cold current flowing ahead.
The deeper they went, the colder it got. Lora complained, "Why is it so cold in here?"
Hannah nodded, "Yeah, Master never mentioned this."
"No idea, let's just check it out," Lora replied. Evan wasn't bothered—warm energy flowed through him. He asked curiously, "You've never been here before?"
"Never been. You can only come here to cultivate that technique, and you weren't around, so how could we practice?" Lora said.
"What exactly is this technique? Why do you need me?" Evan asked, puzzled.
"It's a special technique—it requires both a man and a woman. Since we're both women, well, it just happens to be your lucky day," Lora said with a teasing smile.
"What do you mean, 'work out for me'?" Evan said, speechless.
"Hehe, let's go, we're almost there," Lora laughed.
Hannah just smiled without saying anything, leaving Evan confused about what the two were up to.
Soon, the three arrived in a cavernous space. There was a pool of water with white mist floating above it—a pool that didn't freeze, even though the air was so cold it seemed like it should. Evan was intrigued, "How was this ice pool formed? Why doesn't it freeze?"
"No idea. We'd have to ask some elders of the Blue Robe Sect to find out," Lora shook her head.
Hannah shivered, "When do we start?"
"Master said we have to get in the water first, then the images will appear on the walls," Lora explained.
Evan and Hannah followed Lora. The three tried entering the water—instantly, icy cold surged up from their feet. Evan was fine, but Hannah and Lora were shivering so hard they couldn't even speak, let alone cultivate.
"How are we supposed to cultivate? You two are like this?" Evan muttered.
"No idea. Master said to look at the walls," Lora stammered, teeth chattering.
Evan looked at the walls—nothing but darkness. Lora and Hannah saw the same, just black walls all around.
All three were curious why nothing was appearing. Just as Evan started to doubt the whole thing, the images gradually appeared—first blurry, then clear—depicting sword techniques for men and women.
"There it is!" Lora exclaimed.
Hannah smiled, "Yeah."
As Evan studied the images, he was reminded of the Painting Array—a formation system that uses paintings to create quasi-real inner worlds, blending formation arts with pictorial representation. He thought to himself, "These are extensions of the Painting Array. Whoever set this up is no ordinary person—they actually used yin and yang energy as the key to unlock it."
The so-called yin and yang energy meant there had to be both a man and a woman, with the key being a man—there could be multiple women, but only one man.
Fascinated by the mysterious paintings, Evan kept studying them. Lora, seeing him lost in thought, asked, "What's wrong?"
Evan snapped out of it and, noticing the two girls looking at him curiously, smiled, "Nothing, just that this Painting Array is pretty interesting."
"Painting Array? What's that?" Lora asked, puzzled. Hannah was also confused. Evan knew it would be too complicated to explain, so he just smiled, "Nothing."
"Let's get started. It looks like the technique begins here," Lora said, ignoring Evan's explanation and focusing on the images.
Evan asked, "What weapons will you use?"
Lora and Hannah smiled, then each produced a sword—one red, one white. Aside from the color, they were identical in shape.
Evan asked curiously, "What are these?"
"These are the Twin Cauldron Swords our master gave us," Lora said with a smile. (The Twin Cauldron Swords are a pair of mysterious immortal artifacts—sometimes powerful, sometimes inexplicably weak.)
Evan examined them closely and smiled, "These swords are extraordinary. They're beyond the level of ordinary immortal weapons."
"That's right. Master said these swords are strange—sometimes they're incredibly powerful, sometimes weak. That's why she gave them to us to study," Lora said with a smile.
Evan nodded, "Then you two should treat them well. The day you connect with the sword spirits, you might reach true strength."
"Sword spirits?" Lora and Hannah said in unison, puzzled.