"Then let him move one hand," someone suggested, and the other two agreed.
So the lead man said, "You can use your right hand to throw out all your treasures."
Throw them out? Evan Yang had no choice but to take out a tower and toss it over.
The lead man quickly grabbed it, looking it over left and right. "What is this?"
"This is—" Evan Yang had just spoken two words when a smile appeared on his face, making the three men uneasy. At that moment, the clone inside the tower jumped out. The lead man felt a powerful force strike his chest, and a mouthful of blood sprayed out.
"This—this is a spatial treasure!" one of them exclaimed in shock.
Then the three men retreated and fled. Now, one was lightly injured, one was seriously injured, and the last one was unharmed, but just one Evan Yang was enough for them to handle. With two, they didn't think they could escape, so the three didn't hesitate and ran for their lives.
They even abandoned the Binding Compass. Evan Yang watched them go, helplessly returned to the tower, then his main body put the tower away and picked up the Binding Compass with his other hand.
"You shouldn't have let them go," the young man said weakly.
Evan Yang walked over with a smile and said, "Your Binding Compass is really impressive. Earlier, I wanted to kill them, but your Binding Compass kept locking onto me. Only once they left could I move."
"But your clone could move, right?" the young man said awkwardly.
"I have a clone, but don't they also?" Evan Yang said with a helpless smile.
"You might not know, but all three of their clones have already been destroyed. That's why they were so desperate to escape just now," the young man explained when he saw Evan Yang didn't know.
"Oh? Then I really missed a good opportunity," Evan Yang said with a sigh.
"Forget it, they were lucky. By the way, how should I address you, senior?" The young man sat half-upright on the ground, supporting himself with one hand, and asked Evan Yang.
"Just call me Evan Yang. And you?" It was Evan Yang's first time in a strange place, so he was especially curious about the young man who had just been attacked.
"I'm Tanner Xiao," Tanner Xiao replied with a smile.
"Tanner Xiao? That's a good name," Evan Yang said with a smile.
Tanner Xiao was about to speak again, but due to his serious injuries, his chest felt heavy and he coughed up a mouthful of blood. Seeing this, Evan Yang quickly treated him.
Once Tanner Xiao's condition improved, he gratefully said, "Senior, your medical skills are truly remarkable."
"It was nothing," Evan Yang said modestly.
With his injuries healed, Tanner Xiao could walk freely as long as he didn't fight. He climbed to his feet and smiled, "Thank you for saving my life, senior. I wonder if you'd be willing to come to my home and let me properly thank you."
"Go to your home?" Evan Yang said in surprise.
"What, senior, you don't want to be friends with me?" Tanner Xiao frowned.
"That's not it. Since that's the case, I'll go with you. And this—should be yours, right?" Evan Yang hadn't planned to visit his home, but since he was unfamiliar with everything here, he decided to find a local to help him understand the situation before making plans.
Seeing Evan Yang selflessly return the Binding Compass, Tanner Xiao was even more convinced that Evan wasn't a treasure-hungry person. He gratefully took it, then led Evan away from the area.
On the way, Tanner Xiao told Evan Yang the story of what had happened.
It turned out Tanner Xiao was a member of the Xiao Family, a clan that wasn't large but wasn't small either—ranked in the top ten here.
Not only that, Evan Yang also learned something surprising: this place had a name—Northridge Star.
At first, Evan Yang didn't understand why it was called that. It turned out this was a planet. Wondering what a planet was, Evan Yang asked Tanner Xiao for an explanation.
It turned out that here, each planet was separated by vast distances and could only be reached using planetary teleportation arrays. This made Evan Yang wonder if his own place was also called a planet, but he didn't know what it was named.
Seeing how little Evan Yang understood, Tanner Xiao asked curiously, "Senior, you're not from this planet?"
"Yeah, I came from another planet. But something went wrong halfway—you saw it yourself, I suddenly appeared here." Evan Yang started calling his own place a planet, just like Tanner Xiao.
"Makes sense. Otherwise, I'd have thought you were just waiting around there and suddenly popped out," Tanner Xiao said with a smile. Deep down, he was grateful—without Evan Yang, he would have died already.
"Brother Xiao, does Northridge Star have a manager?" Evan Yang asked curiously.
"Of course it does. Every planet has a manager. Some are private and not controlled by any major clan or sect, but wealthy planets are managed by sects, clans, or even people from the Three Great Star Systems," Tanner Xiao explained with a smile.
"Oh? What are the Three Great Star Systems?" Evan Yang felt clueless and wanted to ask everything clearly.
"The Three Great Star Systems are tied to the Three Palaces: Sky-Mystic Palace, Hundred-Bloom Palace, and Ninefold Palace. These three palaces govern the Three Great Star Systems. Generally, wealthy planets or those seeking protection are managed by these star systems," Tanner Xiao explained, seeing Evan Yang was like someone just arriving and patiently continued.
Evan Yang asked, "So how many planets like this are there in the world?"
"Planets? There are countless. No one keeps track—big and small, even the Three Palaces don't know the exact number. But for the ones they manage, they have records," Tanner Xiao replied.
"Are the Three Palaces really that powerful?" Evan Yang suddenly asked out of curiosity.
Tanner Xiao stared at Evan Yang like he was a monster for a long time, then said, "Brother Yang, let me warn you—don't talk about the Three Palaces too much, and definitely don't offend them. They're the rulers of this world. No one can go against them. Otherwise, you'll be hunted by everyone."
Evan Yang didn't really understand what the Three Palaces' strength meant, so he tried to find a comparison. After thinking for a while, he asked, "So what level is Spirit-Wandering Realm in their eyes?"
"Uh, Brother Yang, you must have trained so much your brain's gone soft. Spirit-Wandering Realm? They don't even have that realm there. Any random guard is above Spirit-Wandering, and only planetary managers are qualified to enter the Three Palaces. Everyone else? Not a chance," Tanner Xiao sighed.
After hearing Tanner Xiao's explanation, Evan Yang was a bit skeptical. "Really?" he asked.
"Why would I lie to you? If you don't believe me, you can ask around later," Tanner Xiao argued.
"I'm not saying you lied. Maybe I'm just not used to this place yet—hope you understand," Evan Yang said, unsure whether it was true, but seeing Tanner Xiao's expression, he softened his tone.
"It's fine. Once you get to my house, I'll explain everything properly," Tanner Xiao said with a smile.
After walking a few steps, Evan Yang asked, "So which of the Three Great Star Systems does Northridge Star belong to?"
"A fifth-class planet under the Ninefold Star System, managed by Ninefold Palace. The planetary governor is the Old Man of Northridge, whose cultivation is above Spirit-Wandering, at the Out-of-Body Stage. As for whether he's in the late stage or something else, nobody knows," Tanner Xiao replied.
"Ninefold Star System? Fifth-class planet? What are those?" Evan Yang had no concept of planetary classifications and was also curious about realms above Spirit-Wandering, which seemed to be more than just a few.
"Here's how it works: Sky-Mystic Palace governs the Sky-Mystic Star System, Ninefold Palace governs the Ninefold Star System, and Hundred-Bloom Palace governs the Hundred-Bloom Star System. Each star system's planets are classified based on their overall strength: first-class, second-class, third-class, fourth-class, and fifth-class. So as long as you're within these three star systems, it's easy to look up information about your planet," Tanner Xiao explained.
Evan Yang thought it was all so vast, but what Tanner Xiao said next surprised him even more.
"A first-class planet has many second-class planets below it, and a second-class planet has many third-class planets, and so on. Each star system has thousands upon thousands of planets."
"Thousands upon thousands?" Evan Yang exclaimed.
"Yes," Tanner Xiao replied.
"So the manager of a fifth-class planet is above Spirit-Wandering, meaning there are at least thousands upon thousands at the Out-of-Body Stage," Evan Yang exclaimed. He thought about his own place—anyone at the Out-of-Body Stage could practically rule it.
Thinking about this, Evan Yang felt the world was enormous, especially the Three Palaces, the peak of existence. He boldly asked, "Brother Xiao, do immortals exist?"
"Immortals? Of course they exist. But they're far from us—only the palace lords of the Three Palaces or those reclusive masters might know about them. We're far from their level, so knowing doesn't help much," Tanner Xiao replied casually.
But this casual answer delighted Evan Yang, because he finally confirmed that immortals really existed in this world, boosting his confidence once again.