When Mason Gu saw the trace of soul lingering on the grass, he was shocked and furious. "You!"
"This is the Soul-Losing Sacred Ground. Do you think your fragment of soul can escape? Let me tell you, this place is designed for people like you who think you can break apart your bodies at will." The woman snorted coldly.
Mason Gu grew enraged at her words and frantically attacked the ice blocks. But Evan Yang had infused them with a great deal of Chaos Soul-Power and further compressed them with Soul Battle Will, making the ice prison incredibly solid. No matter how Mason Gu attacked, he couldn’t break through. Finally, he looked helplessly at Evan and said, "Kid, I don’t care what your relationship with her is. If you let me out, Evil King Darren Duan will reward you beyond imagination."
"Oh? Are you trying to tempt me? Sorry, I’m not interested. I’m about to leave anyway." Evan Yang laughed.
"Leave? Damn it, you can't just abandon me!" Mason Gu said angrily.
"We have nothing to do with each other, so I have no reason to stay." Evan Yang replied casually. Then he turned to the woman and said, "Consider this my way of repaying you for helping me find the missing soul fragment."
After that, Evan Yang led Gavin White out of the Soul-Losing Sacred Ground. Seeing Evan about to leave, the woman hurriedly ran out, painfully calling after them, "You two are already being watched by Evil King Darren Duan’s other Evil Souls. I advise you not to go—stay and hide here instead."
"We don't even know them—why would they be watching us?" Evan Yang asked in confusion.
"The Soul-Losing Sacred Ground can interfere with Evil Soul tracking, but once you show up, all images from your battle with Mason Gu will automatically be transmitted to them." the woman explained.
"Is there really something so miraculous?" Evan Yang asked curiously.
"That's right. I came from there, so how could I not know what they're capable of?" the woman replied.
Reminded by the woman, Evan Yang exchanged a glance with Gavin White and decided to stay and clarify things before leaving. The two climbed back up the stairway and returned inside.
When the struggling Mason Gu saw that Evan and Gavin hadn't left, his expression changed dramatically, even turning ugly. Seeing this, Evan was now sure the woman's words were true, so he smiled and said, "You really wanted me to leave? I almost got tricked by you just now."
"You! Why are you back? Didn't you leave?" Mason Gu exclaimed in shock.
"I had no idea there was something so incredible—that just by leaving here, our battle would automatically be broadcast to your companions. Isn't that right?" Evan Yang asked with a smile.
"You—how did you know that?" Mason Gu was shocked, unable to believe it.
"I told him," the woman said.
"How do you know everything? Who are you, really!" Mason Gu had chased this strange woman for years, but still didn't know her true identity—only that she had stolen the Spirit Prison Evil Orb.
"Me? Have you ever heard of the Fa-Spirit Clan?" the woman asked.
"Fa-Spirit? Impossible! That clan was wiped out years ago for disobeying Evil King Darren Duan!" Mason Gu exclaimed in shock.
"Yes, the clan was wiped out back then. I was lucky enough to survive, blending in among you all without you realizing my identity. For years, I've worked to reclaim our clan's treasure, cultivate its secret arts, and one day take revenge on your Evil King!" the woman snorted coldly.
"Revenge? With your strength? Maybe try again in a billion years," Mason Gu said.
"No matter how many years it takes, I'll keep working at it. For now, you'd better worry about yourself." the woman said.
Mason Gu hadn't expected her to be from the Fa-Spirit Clan. If that's true, there's no way he'll be released—after all, the Fa-Spirit Clan was originally under Evil King Darren Duan, but for some unknown reason, Darren Duan wiped them out, and the clan disappeared.
Hearing the clan mentioned again today shocked Mason Gu. The Fa-Spirit Clan had been insiders, knowing many secrets, so it was natural for the woman to understand strange things about the Evil Soul faction.
After listening to their story, Evan Yang asked the woman, "Your story sounds interesting. Can you tell me more?"
Seeing Evan Yang ask, the woman said, "This story starts a long time ago."
Evil King Darren Duan is one of the incarnations of evil in the Spirit Prison Realm. There are several Evil Kings like him, and they constantly clash with the Saint Kings, who are avatars of the divine. These two forces inevitably come into conflict—evil wants to conquer the divine, so the Evil faction tries to swallow up cities ruled by the Saint Kings.
Among Evil King Darren Duan’s subordinates was the Fa-Spirit Clan, one of the most peculiar tribes. But when Darren Duan discovered they possessed the Spirit Prison Evil Orb, he wiped them out.
The woman was the daughter of the clan chief. Her name was Huan Wuqin. She escaped with the Spirit Prison Evil Orb, hid among Darren Duan’s other subordinate clans, but was eventually discovered and fled here.
After hearing this, Evan Yang couldn't help but be shocked. The Spirit Prison Realm was far more complicated than he'd imagined. He asked curiously, "Miss Huan, what exactly is the Spirit Prison Evil Orb? Why would Evil King Darren Duan abandon an entire clan just to seize it?"
"It has coexisted with the Spirit Prison Realm from the beginning. Legend says that when the Spirit Prison Realm appeared, so did the orb. Whoever obtains it can cultivate the arts sealed within. If fully mastered, these arts could even destroy the Spirit Prison Realm itself," Huan Wuqin said.
Evan Yang was stunned. "Destroy it? That's..."
"Don't worry, I have no intention of destroying this realm. I only want to cultivate enough to defeat Darren Duan," Huan Wuqin quickly said after seeing Evan's reaction.
"I thought you were angry enough to actually destroy this world," Evan Yang joked.
"I won't, but someone else just might. If he gets the orb, he might really destroy this place and break out. I don't know what the outside world is like, but I've heard that if people from here escape, they'll become even stronger. I don't know if that's true," Huan Wuqin said curiously.
"We're from the outside. I don't know if your people would, but outsiders who enter here definitely have their strength restricted," Evan Yang said.
"Seems the legend is true. That's why so many Evil Kings want to leave—they have to destroy this realm first. But to do that, they need the Evil Orb. So now they're probably searching for me everywhere," Huan Wuqin sighed.
At this moment, Mason Gu chimed in, "See? Even these outsiders say leaving will make you stronger. Why stay here? Just listen to our Evil King, hand over the orb, destroy this world, and everyone can leave. Wouldn't that be great?"
Even now Mason Gu tried to sway Huan Wuqin, but she snorted coldly, "I will never join those who destroyed my clan. Even if I die, I'll guard this orb to the end!"
"Guard it to the end, huh? But what's the point? Sooner or later, Evil King Darren Duan will find a way to track me down, then find you, and you'll never escape." Mason Gu now could only try to persuade Huan Wuqin to let him go.
Huan Wuqin snorted coldly, "If you keep talking, do you believe I'll kill you?"
"Kill me? Go ahead, I'm not afraid of death," Mason Gu said.
"Oh, I almost forgot—the Four Evil Spirits can't be killed, only trapped. So you want me to kill you? I refuse," Huan Wuqin replied.
Mason Gu cursed inwardly, frustrated that the woman seemed to know everything about him, as if she'd studied him thoroughly. Evan Yang spoke up, "Every place has its own laws. Trying to overturn them could throw this world into chaos. I think you should just stay here."
"Damn it, you're no better than the rest," Mason Gu said angrily.
"Enough, stop wasting words on him. I still don't know your names," Huan Wuqin said.
"I'm Evan Yang, and she's Gavin White. We're both from the outside. We came here mainly because a friend's soul was lost here, so we came to look for it," Evan Yang said.
"I see. Then you'll probably have to stay here for a few days, wait for the right opportunity, and then leave," Huan Wuqin said.
"What opportunity?" Evan Yang asked curiously.
"Soon, the Evil Kings and Saint Kings will gather for a major battle. The Evil Spirits will join in, and that's when you can slip away. I'll leave too, heading somewhere else," Huan Wuqin said.
"Evil Kings and Saint Kings fighting? This world will be torn apart," Evan Yang exclaimed.
"Sigh, there's no other way," Huan Wuqin said helplessly. All she could do was wait for a chance, while Evan Yang and Gavin White followed her advice, spending their free time teasing Mason Gu and interrogating him about what he knew.
After several days, Mason Gu was nearly driven mad, as Evan Yang interrogated him daily.
Meanwhile, the major Evil Kings and Saint Kings were secretly making preparations. They all knew that when the great battle began, it would be a chance for their factions to devour the opposition.
Whoever claimed victory on the battlefield would gain overwhelming momentum for their side.
One of them, Saint King Hanlin, after investigating his own faction, contacted his superior, Saint King Wood.
After hearing Hanlin's report, Saint King Wood asked, "Who is that outsider? He has the power of two Saint Kings and a madman?"
"I don't know. We wanted him to help us, but he had his own matters and left. We couldn't force him to stay, so we let him go to the Soul-Losing Sacred Ground," Hanlin replied.
"We should thank Saint King Hua for that. Without him, your faction would be overrun by the Evil forces," Saint King Wood said.
"Yes, if it weren't for that senior, I wouldn't have discovered so many hidden factions in my ranks so easily," Hanlin said.
Saint King Wood nodded. "If you see that young man again, try to keep him. We need him."
"I wonder if Saint King Jiang and Saint King Duan will show up this time?" Hanlin asked curiously.