A massive pressure descended from above, and a slab of hard stone hurtled down at incredible speed. Evan had no time to dodge; trying to summon water here felt like a drop in the bucket. Unless his Ice-fire Sacred Flame grew even stronger, he couldn't hope to counter such a huge stone.
Still, Evan refused to show weakness. He spread his hand, releasing a cloud of mist that collided directly with the giant stone. But the mist moved too slowly—the rock began breaking apart, but its descent was far too fast. Fearing he wouldn't make it in time, Evan could only spray mist while falling downward himself.
At Yellow Immortal Gate, people suddenly saw darkness overhead, growing ever darker. Looking closely, they realized a small mountain was falling from the sky.
Everyone was shocked and hurried to evacuate. Once they escaped the shadowy zone, they heard a booming crash—the ground shook as if struck by an earthquake.
Cultivators training inside Yellow Immortal Gate all rushed out, wanting to see what was happening.
Not only that, but water splashed everywhere, leaving everyone baffled—what kind of water could be so exaggerated?
When a figure descended from above, it was the Sect Master of Yellow Immortal Gate. He glanced around and spoke, "Everyone, get back to your business. You don't need to worry about what's happening here."
The crowd slowly dispersed, but the mountain standing there still looked odd. The Sect Master secretly chuckled: "I'll press you for a few days and see if you break apart! You think your little water tricks can make a difference?"
With that, the Sect Master sat down atop the small mountain.
"Senior brother, what's going on?" Guan Tianshan asked suspiciously.
Don Bin said, "No need to look. I'm sure the Sect Patriarch has him pinned under the mountain."
"Can he really crush him to death?" Guan Tianshan asked skeptically.
"That I don't know," Don Bin replied. "Since the mountain was conjured by the Sect Patriarch, it must have some special qualities. It shouldn't be weak." Seeing such a huge mountain pressing down on Evan, Don Bin shivered—if it were him down there, he'd be turned to mush for sure.
Meanwhile, Evan had dug out a small tunnel beneath the mountain. Inside, he activated the Night-Eye Technique; everything around him was sealed off.
"Want to crush me? Keep dreaming." Evan laughed, then started digging. The mountain was simply too massive—breaking it apart with brute force was out of the question.
So Evan began clearing a path using mist formed from Sacred Flame and Ice-fire Sacred Flame. The condensed earth in front of him gradually crumbled away.
Up on the mountain, the Sect Master had no idea what was happening below—he still thought Evan was pinned right where he left him.
Evan kept digging. By now, the mountain was fused with the ground, making it hard to tell what was mountain and what was earth. Evan just picked a direction and kept going—unbeknownst to him, he'd tunneled from the fake mountain into the real one, working for most of the day and covering nearly several kilometers. He muttered, "This mountain is way too big."
If the Sect Master knew, he'd cough blood for sure. This was ridiculous—Evan had actually managed to escape, and with his bizarre water attribute technique, no less.
"Upward?" Evan figured it would be easier to dig up—after all, the higher he went, the less mountain there was and the easier it would be to get out. So he changed direction and started digging upward.
As he dug, Evan suddenly broke into another space—pitch black everywhere. Luckily, he had the Night-Eye Technique and could see what was inside.
"Weird, what is this place?" Evan wondered aloud.
In front of Evan was a sealed chamber, completely dark—he could only rely on his own abilities to see.
"Why is sand bubbling up over there?" Evan noticed the chamber was strange—there was nothing inside except for sand erupting from the ground in one spot.
Curious, Evan walked over, squatted down, and examined the opening. "What are these things?" he wondered.
Evan, intrigued, reached out to touch the pebbles. As soon as they made contact, they covered his hand, then his whole body—instantly, he was surrounded by the sand.
"No way, this sand can attack people?" Evan was startled and quickly tried to move—Sacred Flame and Ice-fire Sacred Flame combined, fighting against the sand.
All Evan could do was let the two flames act freely—he himself couldn't move at all. "Damn it, what's going on?"
Cursing, Evan felt just as miserable as when the Sect Master trapped him with that strange mountain. Time passed, but the sand didn't retreat—instead, it piled up on Evan, wrapping him up bit by bit. "Oh crap, am I really going to die so pathetically?" Evan cursed, unable to move at all.
Today was shaping up to be Evan's unlucky day—he kept running into bizarre situations. Even Sacred Flame and Ice-fire Sacred Flame couldn't keep up with the sand, which threatened to swallow him whole.
Evan closed his eyes, his whole body buried in the sand. Suddenly, the Heaven-Cold Seed inside him activated—a cloud of energy radiated from him.
As soon as that energy appeared, the sand paused—then stopped covering him, retreating like a receding tide.
Once Evan could move again, he stared at the strange sand and muttered, "Weird, why did it back off?"
Just then, a burst of yellow earth gas erupted, rushing straight at Evan. Before he could react, the gas enveloped him.
"What the heck, what kind of trick is this?" Evan was stunned.
He couldn't move at all until the gas suddenly vanished, and Evan regained control. "What the heck is going on?"
Evan couldn't help but curse aloud. The sand had stopped and disappeared—gone was the earlier eruption.
"Weird, what's going on?" Evan muttered, still suspicious.
When Evan withdrew his Sacred Flame and Ice-fire Sacred Flame, he was shocked by what he saw.
"No way!" Evan was startled—the yellow earth gas was now inside his divine sense world, alongside Sacred Flame, Ice-fire Sacred Flame, and lightning.
Though the yellow earth gas was faint, once it entered, it claimed a spot. Evan muttered, "Could this be earth attribute?"
Seeing how much it resembled earth attribute, Evan decided to test it. Just like controlling lightning, Sacred Flame, and Ice-fire Sacred Flame, he extended his hand—one thought, and his fingers turned to stone.
(Irrelevant system message skipped.)
"It's really earth attribute," Evan thought, amazed. He hurried into the tower to find Kuang Skyler and asked him for the Earth-Path Art.
After learning it, Evan began training in secret. Before, without earth attribute, he wouldn't have cared about this technique. But now, combined with Immortal Yellow Earth, mastering it would be a breeze. He especially admired the Sect Master's strange earth attribute attack style.
So without hesitation, Evan started cultivating right there.
Though two months passed inside, only most of a day had gone by outside. Evan left the tower and, just as he'd hoped, could transform his body into stone at will. He could manifest any earth attribute defense he wanted.
"With this earth attribute, I can earth-burrow!" Evan suddenly had a wild idea. One thought, and he vanished—when he reappeared, he was outside the mountain.
"Just as I thought!" Evan was overjoyed.
Now, somewhere in the Yellow Immortal Gate, Evan released his divine sense—and found the Sect Master still sitting there, foolishly waiting to suppress Evan for days.
Heh, go ahead and try to suppress me. I'm leaving now," Evan thought with a grin. He wasn't confident he could beat the Sect Master, so he didn't want to confront him—especially with hidden experts lurking nearby.
So Evan flashed away. A day after Evan left, the Sect Master felt something was off and checked under the mountain, only to find no one there—just a tunnel. Shocked, he hurried along the tunnel and, upon reaching a secret chamber, was stunned: "This is bad!"
He quickly left and went elsewhere. In an isolated chamber inside Yellow Immortal Gate, he rushed in, where three stone statues sat.
The Sect Master spoke nervously, "Seniors, something's wrong—the earth qi has disappeared."
"What?" The three stone statues instantly shattered, and three elders appeared before him.
The Sect Master explained everything. After hearing his account, one elder shouted, "Hunt him down! No matter what, we must find him. This is Yellow Immortal Gate's sacred relic—how could we let him take it?"
The Sect Master immediately left and summoned all the top experts and elders, spreading the news that Evan must be captured, even if seriously injured.
But the Sect Master knew Evan's strength was beyond what these elders could handle, so he added: anyone who provides information can enter Yellow Immortal Gate's Sacred Ground to cultivate.
Everyone was thrilled. Though Yellow Immortal Gate's Sacred Ground wasn't as powerful as Immortal Yellow Earth, it was still an excellent place to train earth arts, so they left Yellow Immortal Gate excitedly.
Not long after Evan left, rumors spread everywhere that he'd stolen Yellow Immortal Gate's sacred relic.
Evan had barely stepped onto the street before hearing the news, so he quickly slipped out of the city and headed for the countryside, muttering to himself, "Sacred relic? Wait, is that Yellow Immortal Gate's sacred relic?"
Staring at the earthy yellow qi swirling in his mind, Evan kept muttering.
But Evan would never be dumb enough to give it back—that thing was a massive windfall. With it, he could cultivate the Earth-Path Art, gain earth attribute, and earth-escape. That could be a lifesaver in a pinch.
So Evan ignored the fuss, found a quiet spot, and released Lance and the other cultivator. He told them, "Honestly, you two should just find somewhere to train. Don't go out for now."
"We’ve left Yellow Immortal Gate?" Lance asked, seeing they were outside the city.
"Yeah, but Yellow Immortal Gate's basically out for blood now—they won't let me go, and they definitely won't spare you guys either," Evan replied.
"What did you do to Yellow Immortal Gate?" Lance asked curiously.
Evan grinned. "I took their sacred relic."
"Sacred relic? The legendary earth qi?" Lance exclaimed, shocked.
"Oh? You know about it?" Evan asked, surprised.
"Of course. Ever since I joined a Yellow Immortal Gate branch, I learned about it. There's a sacred relic called earth qi, hidden somewhere deep in the headquarters. How did you find it?" Lance asked, still in disbelief.