Evan Yang once again arrived outside the formation he had visited before. Elder Maris waved her hand, bringing Evan inside from the outside.
Once inside, everything outside vanished from view. Only the inner world remained—flowers, trees, water, and especially the river. Evan remembered it vividly; it was the Spirit-Will Cauldron that had made him jump into the water without a word back then.
"Do you know why I brought you here?" Elder Maris asked.
"Senior, I do not know," Evan replied honestly. He truly had no idea why Elder Maris had summoned him, even though he had already reached the ninth stage of the Nine Tribulations Realm and would step into the Pseudo-Immortal Stage within a hundred years.
"Follow me." Elder Maris said, then led Evan down into the water. Last time, Evan had been thrown out; thinking about it now, it felt just like yesterday.
After a while, Evan arrived at the secret chamber he had visited last time. There was a mural, showing several women and flames burning around them.
Seeing this mural, Evan always felt a deep impression, as if someone was right there in the painting.
"Do you know what this place is?" Elder Maris asked.
"No idea," Evan shook his head.
Elder Maris smiled, tapped Evan’s forehead, and Sacred Flame crawled out. Evan was shocked—he had no idea what was happening, especially since Sacred Flame was drawn out by someone else. That made him both worried and surprised.
"Don't be surprised. Sacred Flame is familiar with me, so it came out on its own," the old woman said with a smile.
"Huh?" Evan Yang was skeptical. He'd gotten this flame back on Minor Sky Planet—how could the old woman possibly know it?
"You'll understand later. I brought you here to fully unseal it," the old woman replied, smiling.
"Unseal it? What does that mean?" Evan asked, confused.
"Right now, it's half-sealed and not very strong. That's why it could stay in your body when you were just starting out. Otherwise, it would've destroyed you ages ago," the old woman chuckled.
Evan Yang watched, half skeptical, as the old woman pressed Sacred Flame against the wall, knelt down, and started chanting something he couldn't understand.
When Sacred Flame touched the mural, it seemed to shift a bit. Evan couldn't tell what had changed, so he stared at it. Sacred Flame grew from a small wisp, slowly getting bigger—first larger than a person, then two people—until a huge fireball covered the whole mural.
The old woman stood up, tapped Sacred Flame, and it flew straight back into Evan's body.
Evan was startled—a tiny flame had suddenly become a massive fireball. He felt a surge of pressure.
"What's going on?" Evan asked, suspicious.
"Try sensing the fire element," the old woman said, smiling.
Evan closed his eyes. Sacred Flame had become incredibly powerful—now, even low-level Nine Tribulations cultivators would be no match. He could burn them to ashes with ease.
Inside Evan's soul-world, Sacred Flame now occupied a huge territory.
"That's all I can do. Since you've passed my test, Sacred Flame will truly be yours from now on. I need to leave," the old woman said with a gentle smile.
"Leave? Where are you going?" Evan asked, surprised.
"I've been out for a long time. It's time I went back to where I belong," the old woman replied.
"How will I find you again?" Evan asked, curious.
"You'll have your chance someday. Just keep working hard—don't waste your talent," the old woman said.
Evan wanted to ask more, but the old woman suddenly vanished. The mural faded, and the world around him disappeared, leaving him exposed outside.
When the Genius Pavilion crowd arrived, they found Evan Yang alone. Everyone looked around curiously. The Genius Pavilion Master stepped forward and asked, "Where did that senior go?" "She's gone," Evan replied.
"What?" The members of the Genius Pavilion were shocked. That senior was their guardian deity—her departure brought invisible pressure, but recalling Evan Yang’s actions today, how even the Three Palaces and Yellow Immortal Gate couldn’t contend with him, they finally felt at ease.
"Alright, everyone disperse," Evan Yang said.
The ordinary disciples of Genius Pavilion withdrew, leaving only the high-level members. Just as they were about to speak, Evan said, "With the Three Palaces and Yellow Immortal Gate now threatened by that evidence, I doubt they’ll be foolish enough to provoke Genius Star again."
"Does the Pavilion Lord have any plans now?" the Genius Pavilion Master asked.
"The Immortal-Gate Entrance Map—five fragments have surfaced. I want to go take a look," Evan Yang replied.
"It’s said there are five, but the holders of the other two have always refused to show them. They insist on waiting until the sixth fragment appears," the Pavilion Master explained.
Evan Yang wasn’t sure why those two refused to reveal their fragments, but he knew that as long as any four were brought together, the rest would automatically converge.
So at this moment, Evan wasn’t worried at all. As long as they didn’t assemble the fragments, he’d have time to reach the Pseudo-Immortal Stage. With the Sky-Piercing Tower, a hundred years inside meant only two years outside.
This didn’t impact Evan much, but the news excited him. Whether or not the two fragments appeared, once he entered the Pseudo-Immortal Stage, he could act.
"Alright, I’ll go check it out," Evan Yang said.