Amid the commotion, everyone watched Evan Yang walk out of the crowd with Leon Wong and Victor Wu.
"Who was that just now?" After Evan and the others left, the outer disciples began discussing excitedly, some even showing smug expressions, making the nearby inner disciples look extremely displeased.
"What are you looking at! Do you think you’re anything like him?" The inner disciples, all proud of themselves, finally couldn’t hold back and cursed when they saw the outer disciples acting so arrogantly.
As soon as these words were spoken, the outer disciples quickly left the edge of the pool, not wanting to cause trouble for themselves. Although the disturbance was temporarily suppressed, it wasn’t long before the news spread throughout the entire sect.
As for Evan, Leon, and Victor, they had no idea what was happening outside. Led by Leon, Evan and the others arrived at the entrance of a cave. Leon sneered, "If you’ve got the guts, come inside!"
"Shaoyang Cave!" Seeing the blood-red characters above, Evan felt a wave of dizziness, just like when he first saw the inscription at Lecture Cliff.
Leon had no idea Evan was drawn to the characters above. Instead, he thought Evan was scared and showed a mocking expression. "What’s wrong? Afraid?"
Victor Wu also looked at Evan with disdain. Although his exploding pill hadn’t injured Evan earlier, he believed Evan must have some treasure on him. So not only did he plan to deal with Evan, he also intended to get whatever treasure he wanted from Evan.
Evan snapped out of it and replied calmly, "Let’s go in."
The three of them entered. As soon as Evan stepped inside, he felt like the outside and inside were two completely different worlds—outside, snowflakes were swirling; inside, the cave was unbearably hot.
"Whew." Evan felt his whole body heating up, as if he’d stepped into a furnace.
Seeing Evan’s flushed face, Leon sneered, "Kid, I lost to you outside, but in here, you’ll be tortured to death by me."
Victor Wu also had a playful look on his face.
Evan glanced at the two of them, then looked around. He saw that the cave walls were carved with large characters, just like outside, all written in blood-red script. When Evan saw the writing, he realized it was the first three layers of the Ninety-Ninefold Purefire mental formula. "This..." Evan was secretly shocked.
"Curious, aren’t you? This is the famous Ninety-Ninefold Purefire. Hardly anyone cultivates it outside anymore, so today I’m using this formula against you—consider yourself honored." Leon spoke proudly, holding a clump of Sparkfire in his hand.
"Sparkfire?" Evan asked in surprise.
"Haha, so you’re not stupid—you recognize it. Today I’ll let you taste the power of Ninety-Ninefold Purefire." Leon laughed wildly, as if determined to toy with Evan.
After confirming that Leon was indeed using Ninety-Ninefold Purefire, Evan was secretly shocked. "This guy’s talent really is strong—he’s actually managed to cultivate Sparkfire."
Victor Wu stood to the side, watching like he was enjoying a show.
"Is it really just the two of you?" Evan thought Leon would call for backup, but instead he’d been lured into this strange Shaoyang Cave.
"One is enough. Outside, in the freezing snow, Sparkfire’s power is weaker because of the low temperature. But here—hmph!" Leon wasn’t afraid of Evan learning his secret; instead, he boasted proudly.
"So that’s why." Evan finally understood why Leon brought him here. First, the environment was perfect for cultivating Ninety-Ninefold Purefire. Second, it would limit Evan’s ability to use his full strength, affected by the surroundings.
But Evan already knew Ninety-Ninefold Purefire. After two years of grinding training, he had pushed Sparkfire to its peak. Seeing Leon’s tiny fireball, Evan didn’t know whether to laugh or be angry that his enemy would go so far to lure him here.
"Kid, it’s not too late to admit your mistake now!" Leon sneered.
"What if I say no?" Evan replied expressionlessly.
"Fine, then you’ll be the first to taste my Sparkfire." Leon snorted, then sent several pale-yellow flames flying toward Evan. They moved about as fast as when Evan first used fire, but something strange happened—the flames vanished on contact, as if doused in water.
"How is he unharmed?" Leon had expected Evan to scream after being hit by the flames and was shocked. Victor Wu was equally stunned, now certain Evan had some kind of treasure—otherwise his exploding pill wouldn’t have failed, and Leon’s Sparkfire wouldn’t have fizzled out.
Evan had only been testing things—he usually trained his own flames, but had never tried being hit by someone else’s Sparkfire. To his surprise, he discovered he could control the incoming Sparkfire, which was its most primitive state.
Understanding this, Evan looked at Leon and said, "Thank you."
"Thank you for what?" Leon and Victor Wu sensed something was wrong—their opponent was far too calm, beyond ordinary composure.
But then, Evan slid his hands against each other, as if coating his arms with fuel, and flames erupted. This was the ultimate state of Sparkfire that Evan had cultivated—he could spread fire across his whole body, but now he only covered his arms. Leon saw the most terrifying thing of his life, utterly shocked: "You—you—how can you—how can you do that?" He backed away, afraid to approach Evan.
Victor Wu had heard the rumors about Ninety-Ninefold Purefire. Seeing Evan’s Sparkfire was even more advanced than Leon’s, he was completely stunned.
At first, Evan only intended to deal with Leon, but now that the two were together, he knew he had to deal with both.
Leon and Victor Wu rolled on the ground as if burned alive, desperately trying to put out the flames, but couldn’t. It was like their bodies were coated in burning oil—on Evan, it was fuel; on them, it was gunpowder.
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Leon fared slightly better, since he had cultivated Sparkfire. Even though he couldn’t control Evan’s ultimate Sparkfire, he suffered a bit less. Meanwhile, Victor Wu screamed, "Brother Leon, save me!"
After rolling on the ground, Leon managed to sit up. He tried to control Evan’s Sparkfire, but cold sweat poured from him, and as it touched the flames, it turned to steam and drifted upward.
But Evan’s flames were far beyond Leon’s control. Seeing Victor Wu about to collapse, Leon shouted angrily, "Kid, we have no real grudge with you. I’m just unlucky today—let us go!"
It was Leon’s first time begging for his life, already humiliating enough. But Evan only sneered, "No grudge? That’s a good one—no grudge!"
"You!" Leon was shocked, not understanding why Evan said that.
"Leon, four years ago I nearly died at the hands of your servants. Two years ago, I almost died because of Joel Qiao. Tell me, isn’t our grudge deep?" Evan snorted coldly.
"You—you—you’re that Evan Yang!" Hearing Evan’s words, Leon finally showed fear, staring at him and even seeing the rootless boy from four years ago in Evan’s eyes.
"So you remember! If you hadn’t targeted me, you could have kept cultivating with your talent. But you wouldn’t even let a rootless nobody like me go." Evan recalled everything, especially the two times he barely survived, and felt no sympathy for Leon.
Leon struggled against the flames leaping on his body, fearfully saying, "Brother Evan, I was wrong—please let me go!"
"Let you go? Is that possible?" Evan sneered. He wasn’t stupid, and neither were his enemies.
Seeing Evan had no intention of letting him go, Leon switched to a vicious expression. "Kid, if you dare kill me, you’ll never survive in the Rising Sun Sect!"
"Rising Sun Sect? What if I say I want to leave?" Evan sneered at Leon.
"Even if you leave, the Wong Clan will get revenge sooner or later!" Leon just hoped Evan would be scared; otherwise, he’d be burned alive by Sparkfire.
"I never planned to let you go today. And your brother—I’ll find him sooner or later." Evan pulled out a dagger, the one he usually used for cutting herbs.
Seeing Evan take out the dagger, both Leon and Victor Wu broke out in cold sweat and showed terrified expressions.
"You—you can’t do this." Leon finally couldn’t sit still, scooting away from Evan as fast as he could.
"Die!" Evan stepped forward and stabbed Leon directly in the dantian. Blood poured out, and Sparkfire leapt onto the blood, burning fiercely.
Already badly burned, Leon screamed and rolled on the ground, his eyes filled with disbelief as he died.
Seeing Evan’s ruthlessness, Victor Wu forgot his pain and pleaded in terror, "Fellow cultivator, I have no grudge with you—let me go! It’s all Leon’s fault."
"A Human-Rank Alchemist—if I let you live, I’ll never have peace." Evan thought of the prestige and influence of a Human-Rank Alchemist and had no intention of sparing Victor Wu.
"I swear to heaven, I’ll never trouble you!" Victor Wu begged, retreating step by step.
"Just now, both of you wanted me dead. Now that he’s gone, you won’t fare any better." Evan, holding his bloodstained dagger, rushed forward and stabbed Victor Wu in the dantian, spilling fresh blood.
"You—" Victor Wu stared at his own body in disbelief, then at Evan, unwillingly pointing at him.
With a bang, Victor Wu was burned to ash by Sparkfire. When both bodies were reduced to ashes, one item remained unburned—a transparent bead, about the size of a fist.
Curious, Evan picked up the transparent bead. Suddenly, a pair of fierce red eyes stared at him, and a hoarse, furious voice said, "Boy, you dare kill my disciple!"
"Damn!" As soon as Evan saw those strange eyes and heard the voice, he smashed the bead against the wall. With a crash, it shattered into pieces, and the figure inside vanished.