This way, Evan Yang could spar with Warren Dugald, and also spend time with his beloved. Even if he couldn't leave this space, life was quite pleasant. But he was single-minded in his pursuit of higher realms, so most of his time was devoted to cultivation.
Sometimes he would even go out to seek guidance from the white-haired elder, asking him about anything he didn't understand.
The white-haired elder was always kind to Evan Yang, answering every question he asked.
Evan Yang was grateful to him and asked many times about his identity, but the elder only smiled and remained silent, so Evan could only address him as 'Senior.'
Sometimes Evan Yang would even spar with him a few rounds.
Whenever Evan Yang emerged with great progress, the white-haired elder would always be shocked.
Thanks to this cycle of cultivation, learning, and guidance, Evan Yang's progress soared. Not only that, but subtle changes occurred in the Heaven-Cold Seed within him—the roots became even more robust and entrenched.
Ten years outside meant five hundred years inside the tower. In this way, another five hundred years passed inside the tower for Evan Yang, and his cultivation reached the peak of mid-stage Spirit-Wandering Realm—just one step away from late stage.
He could now unleash five-fold attacks almost one hundred percent of the time, and even Warren Dugald was no longer a match for him.
Evan Yang could now battle the white-haired elder at Spirit-Wandering peak for several rounds. Although his aura wasn't as strong as the elder's, Evan's technique was exceptionally refined—neither his speed nor attack power lagged behind the elder at all.
This gave Evan Yang confidence—even if he encountered Connor Hawke outside the Death Crystal Field, he would finally have the opportunity to exchange blows.
So on this day, he happily sparred with the white-haired elder for several rounds.
After their bout ended, the white-haired elder laughed, "Only five hundred years, and your speed has reached this level. I've been cultivating for over a thousand years and I'm almost at my limit."
"Senior, you're too kind," Evan Yang replied with a smile.
The white-haired elder nodded cheerfully, then asked Evan Yang, "Your attacks are strange. Suddenly you burst out with five-fold power—you're almost catching up to my own attacks."
"Still a bit short," Evan Yang replied modestly.
"That's already impressive. Are you interested in leaving this place?" the white-haired elder asked.
Evan Yang had lingered at this realm for a long time, unable to break through to the next. Warren Dugald was no longer a worthy opponent, and the gap with the white-haired elder was too great. So Evan Yang also wanted to leave. Hearing the elder's words, he grew excited. "Do you have a way out?"
"Originally, I tried many times and couldn't leave—at most I could open a few spatial cracks. But if you join forces with me, maybe we can." The white-haired elder had his eye on Evan Yang's explosive attack power. If they combined their strength, maybe they really could break through this space.
Evan Yang understood what the elder meant, so after thinking for a moment, he answered, "Let's give it a try."
"Alright." The white-haired elder nodded, then he and Evan Yang agreed to attack the same spot together.
Once both were ready, they focused their attacks on a single point. Though there was a bit of error, the combined force of their attacks hit the same area. Evan Yang and the elder felt a flash before their eyes, and the surroundings began to shake.
"What's this?" Evan Yang felt the situation seemed familiar.
"Looks like we did it. But this place is about to explode—let's hurry and get out!" the white-haired elder said, both startled and delighted.
Of course Evan Yang wanted to leave quickly, but seeing all the treasures here, he couldn't resist grabbing them. So he had the Sky-Piercing Tower sweep up all the violet-black energy stones without restraint.
He piled them up into a small mountain inside the tower. Once he was satisfied and saw the space about to collapse, he hurriedly followed the white-haired elder and flew out.
Suddenly, they heard a thunderous boom behind them—the space exploded, and a huge crack appeared. Evan Yang and the elder didn't dare linger, quickly stepping forward several times. When they looked back, the dark space had closed. The elder was so excited, he exclaimed, "I've finally gotten out!"
"Senior, you look really happy," Evan Yang said, equally thrilled.
"Kid, you have no idea—I was stuck in there for over a thousand years, facing that same space every day. It drives a person crazy! Now I can finally go see the outside world." At this moment, the white-haired elder was so excited, it was almost over the top.
"Then you go ahead," Evan Yang said with a smile after thinking for a moment.
"You're not planning to leave?" The white-haired elder, seeing that Evan Yang's strength was already comparable to late-stage Spirit-Wandering and could even tangle with peak experts, asked suspiciously.
"No, I won't leave until I reach late-stage Spirit-Wandering," Evan Yang replied honestly.
"You're a real madman. Well, take care of yourself—especially in the Death Crystal Field. The deeper you go, the scarier it gets. Even peak Spirit-Wandering experts can't always come out whole." The white-haired elder gave Evan Yang a final warning, knowing he wouldn't leave so easily.
Evan Yang nodded and then saw the elder off.
Before leaving, the white-haired elder said, "If you see those two people, give them a message for me—tell them I miss them."
"Who are you?" Evan Yang wanted to ask, but found the elder was already gone, moving incredibly fast.
"Just left like that?" Watching the elder's distant figure, Evan Yang sighed.
Ten years outside meant five hundred years inside the tower. Evan Yang had no idea what was happening outside, but right now, his most important mission was to break into late-stage Spirit-Wandering—only then would he be qualified to challenge those people.
With strong resolve, Evan Yang set out once again to find a place to temper himself.
At mid-stage Spirit-Wandering, Evan Yang could exert power even greater than late-stage experts. Not only that, but he'd begun to touch the edge of the next realm of the Starheart Method. If conditions were right, his attacks could even burst out at ten-fold, though the odds were low—most of the time, he remained at five-fold. This was mainly tied to his cultivation: the higher his realm, the greater both his power and the chance of triggering higher multipliers.
This was Evan Yang's latest insight into the Starheart Method, so he wasn't worried at all. As long as his cultivation advanced, he'd naturally be able to unleash ten-fold attacks.
"Where am I now?" Evan Yang looked around at the dense white mist, having no idea where he was. The only thing he was sure of was to follow the densest spiritual energy—wherever it led, that would be his main battlefield.
The thicker the spiritual energy, the deeper inside he must be—or so Evan Yang estimated.
That was the only way to roughly determine his direction, so Evan Yang slowly walked deeper in.
As he walked, Evan Yang could now split his divine sense even further—his Ever-Changing Thousandfold Strikes now allowed him to manifest six hundred threads of divine sense.
Six hundred threads meant even more 'eyes' to scout the way, making things much safer.
With all these eyes, Evan Yang could spot any danger or cracks ahead.
As he walked, Evan Yang saw a low, continuous mountain range up ahead—at most a few stories tall, with many cave openings dotting its sides.
Curious, Evan Yang slowly approached, wanting to see what this place was.
It wasn't until he saw a line of writing beside a cave entrance that Evan Yang stopped.
"Danger zone—do not enter, or you will be instantly destroyed." Evan Yang muttered each word, then checked the signature: "Blue Clan."
"Blue Clan again! Their reach is really long," Evan Yang grumbled.
Anyone else seeing this would probably avoid it, but not Evan Yang. The more he saw the Lan Family's mark, the more he wanted to see what was inside.
Why was there a mountain range in the Death Crystal Field, and why did the Blue Clan claim it? Driven by curiosity and his dislike for the Blue Clan, Evan Yang walked in.
Inside, the passages branched everywhere. With his divine sense restricted, Evan Yang could only search one by one. In a maze like this, even the strongest newcomer couldn't find the right path without a map, so he wandered for a whole day and night.
It wasn't until the second day, when his Thousand-Mile Echo caught a faint sound, that he started heading toward it.
As he got closer, the sound grew clearer, drawing him onward with a sense of urgency.
"Another ten years have passed—sigh." A man sighed.
A woman replied, "I wonder how our children outside are doing."