The four guards argued back and forth, realizing that this couldn't go on. If they wanted to deal with Evan Yang, the only way was to push him into real danger.
Blake Bai explained the previous plan to the other three. Gavin Chu listened and asked, "Are you saying Galen Chao is protecting Evan Yang?"
"Yeah, that's right. So much time has passed, but Evan Yang hasn't been affected at all, and the Hall of Judgment hasn't tried to arrest him," Blake Bai said.
"Looks like Galen Chao really has sided with the Holy Saintess," Gavin Chu frowned.
"If you have any ideas besides this, speak up," Blake Bai said curiously.
The other two guards fell silent. Gavin Chu thought for a moment and said, "With his strength, unless we join forces, we might not beat him. But we're all injured right now, so we'll have to wait until we've recovered."
"But I'm afraid by the time we're healed, he'll have left the Light Guard Hall and gone to the Holy Saintess. Then it'll be even harder to deal with him," Blake Bai said.
"Then we can only use the Hall of Judgment or lure him there. We know the place well, but he hasn't been there. Only official Guards go there regularly," Gavin Chu said.
"You mean that place?" Blake Bai asked, surprised.
"That's right, it's exactly that place. It's full of danger, and without someone to guide him, he'll definitely get devoured," Gavin Chu said.
"Exactly. He's not an official Guard yet, so he hasn't qualified to enter and definitely doesn't know what it's like inside. If we lure him in, he'll get lost, and even if we don't kill him, the things in there will swallow him up," Blake Bai laughed.
"So what are we waiting for? I'll go invite him," Gavin Chu chuckled. The four discussed the details and went to harass Evan Yang again.
Evan Yang thought he could finally get some peace, but as soon as he returned to the Light Guard Hall, he received another paper note. Reading the message, he muttered, "These guys are really troublesome. Looks like I need to cripple all four this time so they'll stop bothering me."
So Evan Yang steadied himself, determined to cripple all four guards this time and end the trouble for good. Meanwhile, Galen Chao was shocked by Evan's actions. Back in the hall, he reported the situation to his superior. When he went to check on Evan, he found Evan gone.
"Did those guys show up early?" Galen Chao frowned.
Helpless, Galen Chao could only return to his own hall, but every so often he would visit Evan Yang's cave to see if he had come back.
Evan Yang had already followed Gavin Chu's directions to a valley entrance. Unable to use his divine sense, he couldn't tell what was inside—the mist made it impossible to see through.
At that moment, four people stood outside the valley entrance, smiling as they watched Evan Yang.
These four were none other than Blake Bai and his group. Blake Bai sneered, "Evan Yang, you've got guts, I'll give you that."
"You're really annoying. You're not even my match, yet you still come looking for trouble," Evan Yang said.
"Hmph, arrogant. We underestimated you last time, that's the only reason you got away. This time, we won't let you off," Gavin Chu said.
"Oh? Are you planning to attack all four at once, or what?" Evan Yang asked.
"If you've got guts, come inside and fight us," Blake Bai sneered.
Staring at the entrance shrouded in white mist, Evan Yang began to ponder. Seeing him hesitate, the four tried to provoke him with taunts. But Evan wasn't timid—even if he died, he had ways to revive. For him, it was no big deal to go in and kill all four inside.
Evan Yang laughed, "Fine, I'll go in. I'll make sure you crawl out crippled."
"Arrogant, let's see if you've got what it takes," Blake Bai snorted. The four entered the entrance one by one, and Evan Yang followed without hesitation, flashing inside.
Once inside, thick mist made it impossible to tell direction. The only thing he could hear was the four laughing from four directions, making it seem like they were surrounding him.
But in reality, the four were clustered together, laughing and then secretly transmitting messages to coordinate. When Evan Yang heard the laughter stop, he frowned, staying alert—the thick fog meant any sudden attack would be troublesome.
Still, Evan Yang was sure the place wasn't set up by the four. He'd noticed the valley was huge even before entering, and if they'd made it, it wouldn't have been done so quickly. He also saw many different marks on the ground.
Those marks proved that more than just their group had been here—others had definitely come before.
"The ground? I wonder if it's passable." Evan Yang squatted and touched it, then closed his eyes to examine its structure. He smiled—within ten meters of the surface, he could move underground. That meant he could travel below.
So Evan Yang wasted no time, sending his true body underground and leaving a clone above. Before going below, he also released countless Phantom Spirit Birds.
The four couldn't see Evan Yang, but could hear his footsteps—he made them on purpose to lure the guards into exposing themselves.
So the four foolishly laughed and shouted, deliberately trying to draw Evan Yang toward their direction.
Evan Yang knew which direction they were in, but couldn't pinpoint their exact location yet. He continued moving underground, checking for traces above.
Eventually, Evan Yang's true body sensed the four gathered together. Smirking, he thought, "All four together? Good, I'll give you a wake-up call."
With that, Evan Yang drew his small sword and suddenly thrust upward from underground, instantly destroying one guard's physical body.
"Ah!" The guard screamed as his body was destroyed, leaving only his soul. The other three were shocked, having no idea what had happened.
"When did this place become dangerous? He wasn't even near us!" Blake Bai exclaimed.
The guard whose body was destroyed cried in fear, "I don't know! Quickly, store my soul—I don't want to die!"
Blake Bai took out a treasure and stored the fallen guard's soul, then said to the other two, "I don't know what's going on. Let's hurry deeper—once we've trapped him, we can escape."
The other two were frightened and quickly nodded. One of them shouted toward Evan Yang's clone, "If you've got the guts, follow us!"
The group rushed toward a spot, while Evan Yang's true body continued underground. His clone only heard chaotic noises and couldn't tell where the three had gone; it was up to his real self to track their auras below.
When the three finally stopped, Blake Bai said, "This is it. Any further and it'll be too dangerous. Let's wait for Evan Yang here."
"Will he come? Can he hear us?" Gavin Chu frowned.
"He can attack us, so he must have a way to find us. Relax, just wait. And everyone, stay alert—don't mess up like last time," Blake Bai said.
So the three stood back-to-back, not daring to be careless. Evan Yang found the ground beneath them was now impermeable, but the distance from his position to theirs was short—he needed a lightning-fast strike to take out another.
Evan Yang recalled his clone, then, just a few meters away, suddenly burst up from underground. His sword shot out and struck another guard.
The sudden attack shocked the three. One guard couldn't dodge in time and was badly wounded, while Blake Bai and Gavin Chu retreated to the side.
Now Blake Bai and Gavin Chu stared at Evan Yang, who approached the wounded guard and smiled, "What kind of place did you pick?"
Blake Bai and Gavin Chu exchanged glances. The wounded guard angrily shouted, "Let me go!"
"Let you go? Not until I cripple you first," Evan Yang replied. He abolished the guard's cultivation, ruining him so badly that future cultivation was impossible. The guard screamed in despair.
Blake Bai and Gavin Chu cursed Evan Yang's cruelty in their hearts.
Evan Yang looked at the two, "Why aren't you leaving? If you keep going, I won't be able to see you anymore."
Here, the mist was thinner than outside, so Evan Yang could still see their exact positions, and they could see his every move.
"Damn it, you actually destroyed two of us!" Blake Bai shouted angrily.
"So what? You keep coming after me again and again. If I don't cripple you now, you'll just cause more trouble. I don't have that much time," Evan Yang snorted.
"Fine, since that's how it is, let's settle this once and for all!" Blake Bai shouted.
"Oh? Bring it on," Evan Yang grinned. He targeted Blake Bai and flashed forward to attack.
Blake Bai didn't dodge. Instead, he grabbed Evan Yang's hand and stepped back. Suddenly, Evan Yang's vision brightened as the surroundings changed. Blake Bai released him, coughed blood, and fled in one direction, vanishing from Evan's sight.
"Trying to escape? No way!" Evan Yang snorted, then flew after him. With a palm strike, he destroyed Blake Bai's body, sending him tumbling forward.
Blake Bai's soul was all that remained. He cried out, "Spare me!"