The voice was so familiar, yet he couldn't recall who it belonged to. Evan Yang could only move toward the source of the sound.
Soon, he heard a familiar voice. "Is it him?" Evan thought in shock.
The person before him was none other than Benson Blue's true body, now at late-stage Spirit-Wandering. At that moment, Benson was chatting with a middle-aged man, whose avatar was also guarding a cave, channeling spiritual power into it.
"Second Uncle, it's been ten years. He must be dead by now." The middle-aged man spoke after noticing Benson Blue's heavy expression.
"Dead? I think so too, but somehow it never feels that easy." Benson Blue muttered.
"Our senior said nobody can survive inside. Is he supposed to be stronger than our senior?" The man laughed after seeing Benson's skeptical look.
"You wouldn't understand." Benson Blue, who had witnessed Evan's methods, shook his head. Sometimes he wondered if Evan had made him paranoid—whenever he cultivated, he kept thinking about him.
Evan had no idea he'd cast such a shadow over the Blue Clan. He was simply curious, listening to their tone and words—all these people were Blue Clan members.
And it seemed the Blue Clan was guarding something here.
"What exactly are the Blue Clan guarding these caves for?" Evan wondered to himself.
Just as Evan was deciding whether to check the other caves, one of them began to glow. The middle-aged man said, "Second Uncle, it's happening again."
"I'll help you." Benson Blue saw the glowing cave and immediately poured his spiritual power into the entrance, which began to flicker.
"It's a formation?" Evan used Heaven's Eye Sight and saw that the cave entrance was protected by a ninth-rank formation. Its true power came from Spirit-Wandering experts endlessly injecting spiritual power; otherwise, a formation like this would be easily broken by a single Spirit-Wandering cultivator.
After a while, the middle-aged man's true body received a message on his Transmission Stone. He took it out, and his expression changed drastically after reading the message.
"What's wrong?" Benson Blue, noticing the man's strange expression, asked curiously.
"Bad news. Third Brother is about to break through, but Third Sister can't hold the barrier. It looks like the strongest surge is happening on their side this time." the middle-aged man explained one by one.
"Damn it, how could this happen? You guard this place with your true body; I'll go help them." Benson Blue's expression changed drastically.
"Alright." The middle-aged man's true body stepped forward to inject spiritual power, working together with his avatar, while Benson Blue withdrew his power and hurriedly ran down a tunnel.
Evan listened to their conversation and sensed something was happening, so he followed Benson Blue out of curiosity.
Benson Blue never imagined Evan had survived, let alone that he was now following him from behind.
In just a few breaths, Benson Blue arrived at another cave entrance. There, a man and a woman stood; the man appeared to be meditating with his eyes closed, while the woman was struggling to guard the cave. Both her true body and avatar were at work, but the cave's membrane looked as if it was about to burst from swelling energy.
Seeing this, Benson Blue leapt forward and shouted, pouring all his spiritual power in and forcibly suppressing the swelling membrane.
"Second Uncle!" the woman exclaimed with delight.
"How is he?" Benson Blue asked the woman as he continued injecting spiritual power.
"He just had an insight—looks like he's about to break through to mid-stage Spirit-Wandering." The woman glanced at the man and replied.
"How could it be such a coincidence!" Benson Blue muttered in confusion.
"I don't know, it was so sudden. Luckily you arrived in time; if you'd been a bit later, we'd have become sinners of the Blue Clan." The woman said, frustrated.
"It's not your fault. This time, the surge just happened to target your cave. Normally, you two could handle it." Benson Blue didn't blame her; instead, he explained the situation.
The woman nodded, then calmed herself and resumed injecting spiritual power.
Time passed bit by bit, but both their faces grew increasingly grim.
"Second Uncle, this time feels different from before." The woman kept injecting spiritual power, but her energy was clearly starting to run low, and she spoke in surprise.
"I noticed it too. What's going on?" Benson Blue's expression was extremely grim as he stared at the cave, as if facing this kind of fierce situation for the first time.
"If this keeps up, we'll run out of spiritual power." The woman said, frustrated.
"Damn it, if only I still had my avatar, we could take turns." Benson Blue wished he had another avatar to help suppress the barrier and recover.
The woman had both her true body and avatar, but her strength wasn't enough; it was mainly Benson Blue holding the line.
"Should we use that stone?" The woman pondered for a moment before suggesting.
"It's our only choice. Use it as little as possible, though—the stones are scarce." Benson Blue agreed.
When Benson Blue agreed, the woman's true body, nearly out of energy, quickly took out a piece of violet-black energy stone and absorbed its power, recovering her spiritual energy. She then switched to her avatar to continue restoring, while Benson Blue did the same. As her true body and avatar worked together, he absorbed a stone and immediately rejoined the fight.
"They have those stones too?" Evan was startled to see them use stones similar to the ones he'd obtained in that strange space.
But things didn't go smoothly. After five days, both had used several pieces of violet-black energy stone, but the situation hadn't improved. Their faces grew increasingly grim.
"This can't go on." Benson Blue watched the dwindling pile of violet-black energy stones, his expression darkening.
The woman wasn't faring any better.
"Second Uncle, what should we do?" the woman asked anxiously.
"Let me think." Benson Blue had never faced such a situation, but as the highest commander here, he had to make a quick decision or risk disastrous consequences.
Evan had been observing for five days without making a move. He didn't want to play the villain; even though he had a feud with the Blue Clan, if he was going to take their lives, it would be in an open fight—unless they threatened his friends, forcing him to attack from the shadows to save them.
Now, everything was fair. Evan wanted a real battle with the Blue Clan, not to ambush them in secret.
Only true trials lead to progress. The further he went, the fewer worthy opponents Evan found, and this left him with fewer opportunities to temper himself.
So this time, Evan wouldn't ambush them, but he was determined to find out what the Blue Clan was really doing.
"Use that." Benson Blue took a deep breath.
"Use what?" the woman asked curiously.
Benson Blue kept pouring spiritual power with one hand, while with the other he took out a black talisman.
"What's that?" The woman, having never seen such a talisman, asked suspiciously.
"It's a talisman our Blue Clan got by chance. There were only two; one was used for testing, so it's gone. This one, if we attach it, can hold for a month." Benson Blue said, frowning.
"That powerful?" The woman was shocked to hear it could stabilize the barrier for a month.
"Yeah, that's why it's precious. Once we use it, it's gone." Benson Blue sighed, then stared at the talisman and injected spiritual power into it.
The talisman grew to human size. Benson Blue pressed it onto the membrane at the cave entrance, and the cave mouth quickly looked as if it was sealed by some force.
"Done." Benson Blue let go.
The woman's true body and avatar also let go, looking at the black talisman and muttering, "It really is powerful."
"There's only one left. If the same thing happens at another cave, we'll be in trouble." Benson Blue said helplessly.
No sooner had he finished speaking than his Transmission Stone received a message. After reading it, his expression turned extremely ugly.
"Second Uncle, what's wrong?"
"Looks like I was right—your big brother's cave is in trouble too." Benson Blue said.
"What do we do?" They'd just solved one crisis, and now another erupted. The woman was anxious.
Benson Blue was used to big crises. As the highest commander, he made a quick decision: "Guard here, and when he wakes up, keep guarding together. I'll go check on your big brother." With that, he rushed to another cave.
Evan naturally followed, still deeply curious about what was inside these caves and why the Blue Clan was trying so hard to suppress it.
All these questions kept growing in Evan's mind—the more he learned, the more curious he became.
Benson Blue arrived at another cave, where an older man—both true body and avatar present—had already reached mid-stage Spirit-Wandering.
Without a word, Benson Blue joined in and told him, "Rest for a bit, I'll hold the barrier."
"Alright." The man nodded and began recovering his spiritual power.
Once he recovered, he helped Benson Blue again. Time passed, and Benson Blue had no idea how much longer he could last; their violet-black energy stones were nearly gone.
"Second Uncle, maybe we should announce this to the world." The man knew they didn't have enough manpower to keep this up.
Benson Blue had thought of that, but who would believe it if he said it?
But if they didn't, when would it end? Or if disaster broke out here and outsiders only realized after, it would be too late.
To speak or not to speak—Benson Blue struggled with the decision. Just as he was about to answer, the swelling pressure in the cave disappeared.
"It's gone?" Both men were surprised.
They looked at each other, then kept watching. After confirming the pressure had truly vanished, Benson Blue withdrew his power.
"Second Uncle, why was this wave so fierce?" The man asked, worried.
"I don't know, so I'm planning to go in and take a look." Benson Blue said after thinking for a moment.
"Second Uncle, don't! It's too dangerous, especially since lately it's been happening more often. It used to be once a year, now it's once a month, and each time it's stronger. I'm scared." The man immediately objected when he heard Benson Blue's plan.
"Don't worry. I'll go in for twenty days. If I'm not back in twenty days, tell your father and ask him to announce it to the world and request help from all Spirit-Wandering experts." Benson Blue patted his shoulder as he spoke.
"But it's dangerous. Even our clan's senior went in and hasn't come out in decades." The man felt it was terrifying for Benson Blue to go in.