"Patriarch Cloud, don’t get agitated. This isn’t the first time it’s happened—maybe there’s a way to resolve it," Evan Yang comforted him. "Is there hope?" Lynton Cloud asked curiously after hearing Evan’s words.
Evan nodded. "There is. Cloud’s End Palace."
"What? Go there?" Lynton Cloud exclaimed.
"She used to belong to Cloud’s End Palace. Since that’s the case, maybe we can find her origins there. At the very least, we’ll learn how she came to possess the Cloud. There might really be a solution," Evan replied.
Lynton Cloud was reluctant, knowing Cloud’s End Palace’s hatred for Clouds. Years ago, a powerful Cloud killed many people, so whenever anything involved a Cloud, Cloud’s End Palace always intervened. Now that Tina Cloud had killed so many, Lynton trusted their people even less.
Evan saw Lynton’s worries and said, "Don’t worry. I promise she’ll be safe in Cloud’s End Palace."
"I know you’re strong, but Cloud’s End Palace has many experts, even elders who are Immortal Sovereigns. You can’t go up against them," Lynton said.
"Relax. If they want to return, they’ll have to do as I say," Evan replied.
"Return? What do you mean?" Lynton didn’t understand. Evan just smiled. "Nothing. You’ll find out later."
Seeing Evan’s confident smile, Lynton Cloud knew all he could do was trust him. He replied, "If that’s how it is, let’s go to Cloud’s End Palace."
"Alright, let’s go," Evan said.
So the two of them took Tina Cloud and set off for Cloud’s End Palace. Meanwhile, the five who had arrived earlier brought Patriarch Song to a hall. Inside, the man who had sent everyone out saw four unharmed and one seriously injured, plus an extra person, and frowned. "What’s going on?"
"Protector Hu, things have gotten way beyond what we expected," someone said.
"Oh? What happened? Is that Cloud really powerful?" The man asked curiously. His name was Philip Hu. At Cloud’s End Palace, he managed Cloud-related affairs and held a high position.
"No, the Cloud—we five could suppress her, that’s not the problem. It’s just that suddenly someone appeared, took her away, and injured Xiao Zhi," the man explained.
Philip Hu glanced at the injured man, his expression darkening. "What? Someone dared to interfere? Who was it?" "Well, let him explain," someone replied. Everyone turned to Patriarch Song, who, knowing he had no other choice, pinned all the blame on Evan Yang.
When he heard that Evan Yang protected the Cloud and even slandered Patriarch Song, Philip Hu snorted coldly. "Who is this person, so arrogant?"
"Protector, should we send someone to catch him?" someone asked.
"Yes, of course. As long as the Cloud remains, we can’t rest for a day," Philip Hu said.
Just then, a messenger arrived from outside.
"Protector Hu, someone outside Cloud’s End Palace says they’ve brought a Cloud host to see the Cloud management authority, so I came to report it," the messenger said.
"Someone brought a Cloud? Could it be that guy?" someone exclaimed.
Philip Hu said, "We were just talking about him, and now he’s come on his own. I want to see who’s so bold—abducting someone and daring to bring them here."
He had the messenger lead the way. Soon, Philip Hu brought the five men and the trembling Patriarch Song to Cloud’s End Palace, where they encountered Evan Yang, Tina Cloud, and the others.
"Kid, do you know what mistake you’ve made?" Philip Hu demanded as soon as he arrived.
"May I ask your name? And what mistake have I made?" Evan replied.
"I am Protector Hu of Cloud’s End Palace, in charge of Clouds. This time you dared to abduct a Cloud, and tried to get someone to cover for you. Now you even show up at the door yourself—what are you playing at?" Philip Hu said angrily.
Hearing he was in charge of Clouds, Evan said, "Then I’ve found the right person. But about slandering—wasn’t that what he said?"
"What? Is there a problem?" Philip Hu asked.
"I haven’t even said he slandered me yet. Everything about the Cloud started with him, and you still believe him?" Evan said.
Philip Hu paused, then looked at Patriarch Song and asked, "What’s going on here?" "He’s trying to slander me," Patriarch Song replied.
"Do you have anything to say now?" Philip Hu turned to Evan Yang.
"Protector, how do you plan to tell which of us is telling the truth?" Evan suddenly asked, putting Hu on the spot.
Hu knew one of them had to be lying, but Evan had abducted the Cloud and injured someone first, so he was inclined to think Evan was lying. He said, "Don’t worry about how I judge. The Cloud is in your hands—if you hand her over, I’ll act like nothing happened."
"We’ll deal with the Cloud later. First, I want this man to learn that slandering others leads to consequences," Evan said. His eyes flashed with lightning-like flames, which instantly ignited Patriarch Song.
"Ah!" Patriarch Song screamed, not expecting Evan to act so directly. Philip Hu was shocked—someone dared to attack right in front of him. "This is Cloud’s End Palace, not a place for you to run wild!" he shouted.
"Once I deal with him, I won’t run wild," Evan replied.
Philip Hu realized that if this kept up, Patriarch Song’s life would be at risk. He summoned a torrent of water to wrap around the flames. "So Protector Hu is water-attribute, but I doubt your water can contain my fire," Evan laughed. He increased the flames, and instead of cooling them, the water boiled—like cooking meat.
Patriarch Song was reduced to a mess, barely holding on. Philip Hu was shocked by Evan’s fire, so he prepared to strike at Evan. But Evan withdrew the flames and laughed, "What, Protector Hu? Want to take me on?"
Boom! Before Philip Hu could respond, Patriarch Song collapsed.
Seeing Patriarch Song scorched and cooked through, Philip Hu felt utterly humiliated. He growled, "Do you know where you are?"
"I know—Cloud’s End Palace. But he wasn’t one of yours; he was my enemy," Evan replied.
"Outrageous! I didn’t permit you to kill him. What right did you have?" Philip Hu shouted.
"Kill him? Not really. It was your water that drowned and burned him," Evan replied.
Philip Hu saw the state Patriarch Song was in and realized Evan was right. Furious and embarrassed, he said, "Damn it, today I’m going to teach you a lesson."
With that, he charged forward to fight Evan. Their battle immediately caused a stir—mountains collapsed, trees fell, seas of fire and water appeared. It was a truly dangerous place.
Soon, a giant crater appeared before them, filled with both fire and water. Everyone else kept their distance, and many experts gathered to watch.
"Kid, you’ve got plenty of tricks. I didn’t expect you wouldn’t be scared," Philip Hu said angrily.
"Alright, that’s enough. Let’s end this," Evan replied.
"End it? You think you can just end it whenever you want? Ridiculous," Philip Hu snorted.
"So what do you want?" Evan asked.
"Of course, I want to destroy you!" Philip Hu shouted.
"With so many people here, you still want to continue? Let’s talk about the Cloud instead," Evan said.
"Cloud? We’ll discuss the Cloud after I deal with you," Philip Hu said unwillingly. Evan hadn’t used his true power yet; he was drawing Cloud’s End Palace’s experts here for his own benefit and to learn more about Tina Cloud’s origins.
"I’m done playing with you. If you keep pushing, I won’t show any mercy," Evan replied.
"You! You really think you’re something? Let me show you my strength!" Philip Hu shouted.
With that, he charged Evan, but Evan dodged swiftly, reappearing behind Hu and patting him on the back. "I don’t want to hurt you—otherwise, you’d already be dead," Evan said.
Philip Hu was shocked by Evan’s power but refused to give up. He turned to attack again, but just as Evan was about to teach him a lesson, a voice rang out from afar: "Stop!"
Evan stopped, and Hu did too when he recognized the voice. An elder walked over, and Hu greeted him respectfully, "Master."
"Xiao Ping, step aside for now," the elder said.
"What? Master?" Philip Hu hadn’t expected his master to tell him to step aside.
"Just do as I say," the elder replied.
Philip Hu glared at Evan, then stepped aside. The elder turned to Evan and said, "Let’s discuss the Cloud."
"Gladly," Evan said.
"She is the Cloud, but hasn’t been fully devoured yet," the elder said.
"So, senior, you mean she can still regain clarity?" Evan recognized the elder’s strength, possibly an Immortal Sovereign, so addressed him respectfully.
"That’s right. But I just want to know how she came to possess the Cloud," the elder asked Evan, curious.
Evan looked at the elder and asked, "If I tell you, will you spare her?"
"It depends. If it’s serious, she must be eliminated. If not, I’ll try to drive out the Cloud from her body," the elder replied.
Evan understood the elder’s stance was clear, but he would never let Tina be lost so easily. He said, "Fine, I’ll tell you—she’s from Cloud’s End Palace."
"From Cloud’s End Palace? Impossible!" the elder said in disbelief. The others didn’t believe it either. Philip Hu glared at Evan. "Kid, don’t spout nonsense!"
"I’m telling the truth. If you don’t believe me, let Patriarch Cloud show those two items," Evan said.
Everyone was curious—what could prove that this Cloud host was from Cloud’s End Palace?