General Northcliff arrived alone in the area. Seeing only miners, he pulled out a Transmission Stone and asked General Chiba, who was monitoring Trial Mountain on the other end, "Where did he go?"
"He went to the nearby Little Sky City," General Chiba replied. Northcliff flashed away and flew toward the city, but upon arrival was told that Evan Yang wasn’t there.
Evan Yang knew they had this tracking method, so he never stayed anywhere for more than a quarter-hour. By the time Northcliff arrived, Evan had already left.
Northcliff was so furious at Evan Yang that smoke practically poured from his ears. He truly wanted to capture Evan and tie him up, but Evan never did as he wished—he just kept moving, as if deliberately opposing him.
Moreover, Evan’s flight was completely aimless, leaving Northcliff and Chiba utterly baffled.
About a day later, the time Evan had agreed upon with Derek arrived. With a flash, Evan vanished from another city and reappeared at Derek’s location, where Derek was waiting at the spot they’d separated.
"How did it go?" Evan Yang asked.
"I made some gains, but it’s still not enough," Derek replied.
"As long as you gained something, that’s good. Come on, let’s head to another place," Evan said, taking Derek with him as they left the area.
They searched for another large mining zone. Just as before, Evan dropped Derek off and then vanished again.
Time passed bit by bit. After about a month, Derek was nearly saturated and needed to digest the Fiend Star Sources.
So Evan Yang brought him into the Sky-Piercing Tower, then took him to another city, set him down, and said, "Derek, you’ve grown up now. It’s time for you to go into seclusion and cultivate, and who knows how long that will take. As for me, your master, I’ll be leaving now too."
Hearing that Evan was leaving the Fiend Realm, Derek immediately became reluctant. "Master, I..."
"Such a big boy, acting like a child," Evan said with a quick smile upon seeing Derek’s expression. Truthfully, he felt the same reluctance inside.
"Master, when will you come back to the Fiend Realm?" Derek asked, looking at Evan.
"Hard to say. If possible, I’ll be back soon," Evan replied with a smile.
"Take care," Derek said, knowing Evan’s situation.
"Don’t worry. You hurry up and get into the city. You’ve grown up now, so those people won’t recognize you. As for the Swain Family, I’ve deliberately spared them for you. When you feel strong enough, go deal with them yourself," Evan told Derek.
"Thank you, Master." Derek was grateful, knowing Evan left the Swain Family for him.
"Go on, I’ll let your junior master and the others know," Evan said, patting Derek on the shoulder with a smile.
Derek nodded, then went into the city to find a place to cultivate. Evan Yang flashed away—he knew he couldn’t stay long, or he might bring trouble to Derek as well.
After leaving that city, Evan returned to the first city he’d entered. He glanced at the tunnel entrance guarded by yellow-armored soldiers, calculated his options, and prepared to leave.
Just as Evan flashed to the tunnel mouth, a red-armored man suddenly appeared, blocking his path. He laughed, "Just as I expected, you’d eventually try to leave from here."
Then the yellow-armored soldiers quickly surrounded them. General Chiba in silver armor appeared, and Captain Lee arrived with a group of men as well.
"Quite the spectacle," Evan Yang said with a smile, though inwardly he was alarmed—they’d been waiting here like hunters for him to appear.
"Of course. If it weren’t spectacular, how could we capture you?" Northcliff replied with a smile.
"What’s your status?" Evan asked with a smile, noticing everyone was centered around Northcliff.
"Sixth-Rank General of Fiend Palace, Northcliff," Northcliff answered with a cold smile.
"Red armor? Sixth rank? You Fiend Palace people are certainly unique," Evan said with a smile.
"Interested? Then come with me to Fiend Palace—I’ll give you the full introduction," Northcliff said with a smile.
"Forget it, maybe next time," Evan said with a smile. Then his smile faded, and he flashed past everyone, brushing right by Northcliff.
"Trying to leave? Not a chance!" Northcliff reacted first, reaching out to seize Evan.
But Evan’s speed was simply too fast. Northcliff hadn’t expected it, so he had to unleash his full power to keep up with Evan.
The others weren’t nearly as fast. By the time they reacted, Evan had already entered the tunnel, with Northcliff close behind. Seeing this, the rest followed as well.
"Kid, stop right there!" Northcliff and Evan’s speeds were nearly identical, only five or six paces apart.
"No need to be so polite. Fiend Palace—I’ll visit when I have time," Evan said, laughing as he ran.
"You! Courting death," Northcliff said angrily.
Soon, Evan rushed out of the tunnel into an area filled only with stone blocks, where flight was impossible. Relying on his memory, Evan stepped across the stones. Northcliff followed, and after a while, the others arrived but only stood on the platform, watching the red-armored man chase Evan.
"General Chiba, should we keep chasing?" Captain Lee asked curiously.
"Chase? How? Each stone only holds one person. If you miss a step, what then?" General Chiba snorted.
Captain Lee could only wait after hearing this.
Soon, Evan and Northcliff disappeared from everyone’s sight.
"Still chasing?" Evan muttered, noticing Northcliff was still on his tail.
"I refuse to believe I can’t catch you!" Northcliff snorted.
Evan kept moving forward, Northcliff kept chasing, and the two maintained a steady distance.
Soon they reached the platform where Evan had first entered. Evan flashed through again, with Northcliff relentlessly pursuing.
"Damn, there’s no way out!" Evan soon reached the end of the path, but didn’t know how to return—the three-month agreement with the white-bearded, bald elder had long expired.
"Run, let’s see how you escape now!" Northcliff laughed loudly, as if all his resentment was about to be vented on Evan.
"You guys manage this area too?" Evan asked, frustrated.
"Of course. This is still the very edge of the Fiend Realm—it’s under our control. You’re not getting out," Northcliff snorted.
"Damn it, why is there no way out?" Evan cursed inwardly.
"What’s wrong? Speechless now?" Northcliff sneered.
Evan thought for a moment, then smiled, "I’m just curious—how do people from the Human World get back?"
"You don’t know, do you!" Seeing Evan clueless about the way back, Northcliff laughed even harder.
Evan pretended to smile, "That’s only because you pressed so hard—I never had time to ask." He’d thought there was some kind of tunnel, but found nothing here.
"A token? I heard you even tainted your token with something filthy. That’s perfect—let’s see how you get out now!" Northcliff wasn’t worried about Evan escaping, since the only way out was blocked, and without the token, Evan couldn’t leave.
"A token? You need a token to get out?" Evan asked in surprise.
"Exactly. Now you know, but there’s no turning back. Just hand over all your treasures and come with me," Northcliff said with a smile.
"What, are all you Fiend Palace people greedy for treasures?" Evan mocked.
"What’s your point? Doesn’t matter, curse all you want—you’re out of options," Northcliff sneered.
Evan wasn’t about to sit and wait for death. If he couldn’t leave, he’d find another way. He refused to believe that without a token, escape was impossible, so he activated Heaven’s Eye, and all the nearby formations appeared clearly in his mind.
"Turns out there’s a teleportation array behind me, and the activation energy is that token," Evan realized. He kept up the argument with Northcliff on the surface, but inwardly was amused.
Northcliff had no idea Evan was a formation expert, nor that Evan had quickly grasped the array’s structure. What happened next shocked him: he was still mocking Evan, planning to vent his anger and then capture him.
But Evan smiled and said, "Goodbye."
"Goodbye?" Northcliff was confused.
A flash of light, and Evan vanished. "Damn it, how does he have a token!" Northcliff was shocked, quickly took out his own token, injected spiritual power, and disappeared as well.
When Northcliff appeared outside, Evan was already flying away, several zhang ahead.
"Damn it, I—" Northcliff was about to chase Evan when a cloaked figure appeared, blocking him. "This is the Human World. Go back."
"Senior, he—" Northcliff recognized the man, who guarded the boundary between Human World and Fiend Realm, so he greeted him respectfully.
"No matter what he’s done, this is the Human World. If you want to enter, you need a pass—just like the Fiend Realm token. You should know this," the man said expressionlessly to Northcliff.
Northcliff dared not defy him. Furious, he stomped the ground, then injected spiritual power into his token and disappeared.
Evan only heard someone stop Northcliff. What happened afterward, he didn’t know. At this moment, he was on an unknown planet, surrounded by mountains, with no signs of life.
"What planet is this? That senior—just because he’s powerful doesn’t mean I am!" Evan complained after flying for a long time and seeing only mountains.
He also released Ye Chen.
"What? We’re back?" Ye Chen exclaimed after hearing Evan say they’d returned.
"Yeah, I left Diray in a city and came back. I didn’t tell you because I was afraid you’d be reluctant, and things were urgent at the time," Evan explained.
"What a pity, I wanted to play more." Most of Ye Chen’s time in the Fiend Realm was spent inside Evan’s tower, so she didn’t get to explore much.
Evan shook his head. "It’s been five years. I was worried something happened to your family, so I wanted you back first. As for me, I can always ask the senior to take me back."
Evan’s words struck a chord with Ye Chen. Five years had passed outside, but in her heart, it felt like hundreds. Of course she missed home.