At this moment, two Immortal Lords were following Sean Shen and the others. Evan Yang was right behind them. After a short while, he spotted a shining formation ahead.
Sean Shen, Chase Chu, and the others entered first. The teleportation array sent them away, and seeing them leave, Evan Yang finally felt at ease.
The two Immortal Lords—one masked, one unmasked—seemed to be from different factions. Both snorted in frustration and left. After all, this formation led to Blue Robe Sect; entering would mean making enemies of Blue Robe Sect, and neither had the guts for that.
Evan Yang was quite curious which side the masked man belonged to and why he needed to hide his face, so he planned to subdue him.
Especially by making use of the formation here, combined with his own formation skills, Evan Yang could do things he normally couldn’t.
When the masked man tried to retrace his steps, he accidentally entered a new area—filled with thick fog, making it impossible to see anything.
"Strange, why isn’t this the right path?" the masked man muttered.
Hidden in the shadows, Evan Yang chuckled. "Brother, since you’ve chased us all the way here, why not take off the mask?"
"Who? Who are you?" The masked man was startled.
"Don’t make a fuss. Just take it off already." Evan Yang smiled.
"Hmph, if you’ve got the guts, come catch me." the masked man snorted coldly.
"Oh really? Better be careful—or you might get poisoned without even knowing it." Evan Yang clicked his tongue and laughed.
Hearing this, the masked man grew nervous, glancing left and right, afraid he might touch something poisonous.
Evan Yang walked up behind him and laughed, "Stop searching. I’m right here."
"You—it's you!" The masked man was shocked to see Evan Yang, disguised as the white-haired elder.
"Who sent you here?" Evan Yang knew these masked men must have secrets, since only they wore masks while the others didn’t, so he felt less concerned.
"That’s none of your business." the masked man snorted.
"Whether it’s my business or not, let’s find out." Evan Yang smiled. In the outside world, he might not be able to handle the man, but here, combining his own formations with the local ones, he could create a powerful illusion effect.
Suddenly, Evan Yang split into fifteen more identical bodies—sixteen in total—surrounding the masked man.
The masked man was shocked. "You—you…"
All sixteen looked exactly the same—he couldn’t tell who was who. In truth, each was Evan Yang, and yet not.
This was the technique Evan received from the altar guardian on the last floor of the Fiend Underpalace. Now he had cultivated sixteen bodies, each capable of unleashing sixteen times the original strength.
This was Evan Yang’s first time using it, and with the illusion formation all around, no one would notice.
"You have one last chance. If you don’t speak, don’t blame me for what happens next." Evan Yang smiled.
Right now, Evan Yang felt he could control all the bodies at once, and could shift his consciousness to any of them instantly.
"Fake. It’s all fake!" The masked man couldn’t believe Evan Yang had this ability, so he shouted loudly.
"Fake? Try me." Evan Yang smiled. Then all sixteen bodies punched at once.
Sixteen fists landed on the masked man. He gathered his qi, trying to block the attacks, but fifteen fists struck with sixteen times normal force—only Evan Yang’s true body hit with much more. With his starry-sky cultivation method, Powerburst Gauntlets, and soul force, he could unleash five thousand times the power of an eighth-tier Heavenly-Immortal.
That five-thousandfold eighth-tier Heavenly-Immortal power was at least several tiers above Immortal Lord, and with the clones attacking from all directions, the masked man couldn’t tell which was the real body. His defense scattered. The other fists didn’t do much, but Evan’s true punch sent him flying, coughing blood.
He slid a long way across the ground before stopping, lying there gasping, "You… who are you?"
"Seems like I should be the one asking you that," Evan Yang replied.
"If I tell you, will you let me go?" the man asked.
"Yes. I don’t like killing. As long as you don’t keep opposing the Chu family, I’ll let you go," Evan Yang said.
"Alright. We’re from the Li family," the man said.
Evan Yang laughed. "I figured as much. Only your family would be so afraid of open conflict with the Chu family that you’d have to cover your faces."
"So, can you let me go now?" the man asked.
"I can, but let me warn you—don’t go back to the Li family. If I find out, I won’t be so nice next time." Evan Yang smiled, then dispelled the formation and left.
The gravely wounded man was left behind, feeling frustrated. "Just who did I provoke today? Looks like the plan failed. I’d better go back and find the family head—hopefully he’ll know how to deal with this guy."
But as soon as he tried to get up, he found his whole body weak, as if cursed—he couldn’t gather any strength.
"What’s going on?" the man panicked. If he lost his cultivation, that would be worse than death.
Actually, Evan Yang had sealed his strength, just to prevent him from returning to the Li family and reporting what happened.
Meanwhile, Evan Yang had already arrived outside the grand formation. Chaos reigned outside; many Chu family members were injured.
But all the fighters had disappeared—probably fleeing after seeing things go wrong. When Evan Yang appeared, he saw Nangong Yanxia wounded, sitting and healing herself.
Evan Yang rushed over, crouched down, and helped her heal. "How are you?"
Nangong Yanxia froze. She knew this healing method well—it was Evan Yang’s.
"You…" Nangong Yanxia was stunned.
"Yes, it’s me. I kept quiet earlier to avoid those people," Evan Yang explained.
Chu Xiang, standing nearby, didn’t understand what they were talking about.
"What about Chu Yi?" Now that she knew it was Evan Yang, Nangong Yanxia relaxed—at least Evan Yang wouldn’t let Chu Yi get caught, right?
Chu Xiang, hearing that she was asking about Chu Yi, curiously stepped over. He was a bit injured, but it wasn’t serious. "How’s my son?"
Since only Evan Yang went into the formation, both Chu Xiang and Nangong Yanxia were eager to know Chu Yi’s whereabouts.
Evan Yang smiled. "Don’t worry, Chu Yi is fine. He’s safely entered Blue Robe Sect."
"That’s good," Chu Xiang said, relieved.
"Did you find out who those men in black were?" Nangong Yanxia knew Evan Yang wouldn’t let them go without reason, and trusted his ability to deal with them.
"Li family," Evan Yang replied.
"What!" Chu Xiang exclaimed. He’d suspected it might be the Li family, but still found it hard to believe.
"Let’s not announce this yet, Chu family head. Let’s wait and see what the Li family does," Evan Yang said.
"Good thing my son is safe, or I’d be heading to the Li family for revenge right now," Chu Xiang said angrily.
"It’s fine now. As for Chu Yi, you can rest assured," Evan Yang said.
"This has been a lot of trouble. I really appreciate you, Evan Yang, and all your friends," Chu Xiang said gratefully.
Evan Yang smiled. "It’s nothing. I have things to deal with myself. Once I’m done, I’ll go to Blue Robe Sect and check on Chu Yi."
"Let him take me along when he goes," Chu Xiang said. Though Chu Yi had only just left, he’d never been away before, so Chu Xiang was still uneasy.
"Alright, you all head back first. Miss Nangong, come with me," Evan Yang said.
Nangong Yanxia knew Evan Yang’s identity, so she didn’t refuse. Chu Xiang was surprised, but didn’t ask, and took everyone back.
Watching them leave, Evan Yang smiled. "We should go, too."
"Where to now?" Nangong Yanxia asked curiously.
"To take care of some things." Evan Yang changed his appearance to the one he used when meeting Luo Tong, then took Nangong Yanxia and left the planet.
At Blue Robe Sect, Chu Yi and the others arrived safely. It was a remote planet, surrounded by nothing else. The planet was huge, with many buildings and people, most living in isolation. Only at major gatherings did they come together.
Sean Shen said to Little Fortune, "Take him to the sect leader, and explain what happened."
"What about you?" Little Fortune asked curiously.
"Your senior sister is still there. I’m worried, so I’ll go check on her," Sean Shen replied. Actually, he wanted to bring Luo Tong back to make things easier—otherwise, who would dual cultivate with him?
Little Fortune nodded, then led the wide-eyed Chu Yi away.
Sean Shen tidied up, checked if he’d left anything behind, then left the sect via the teleportation array.
Following the original route, he had to exit the outer formation. On the way, he saw a patch of blood, which made him curious. After walking a bit more, he found a man in black under a tree, mask removed.
That man in black was the one Evan Yang left behind. He was struggling to find a way out, but didn’t expect to run into a nemesis.
When Sean Shen saw him, he stared, realizing the man was badly wounded, then walked over and sneered, "Just tried to hunt us down, did you!"
"Let me go—I was just following orders!" The man broke out in cold sweat, powerless to resist.
"Doesn’t matter who sent you. If we hadn’t run fast, you’d have gotten us. Hmph!" Sean Shen snorted.
"Spare me—I’ll tell you anything you want to know!" The man tried to trade information for his life.
"You have nothing I want to know—so die!" Sean Shen was already in a bad mood, and today’s events made him furious. He finished him off on the spot.
Evan Yang hadn’t expected Sean Shen to double back, nor that he’d finish off the man.