"From here on out, you'll have to rely on yourself. I don't know much about the rest, but here's something that might help you." The Snow Wraith was making a gamble—she wasn't sure Evan Yang would ever reach the End of the Sky, nor was she certain that, if he did, he would actually return.
As soon as she finished speaking, the Snow Wraith transmitted the restriction pattern to Evan Yang.
Evan Yang received the pattern and glanced at it. He found it similar to a formation, but unlike a formation, it didn't require physical anchors. There was no formation eye—only those who understood how to break it, or the person who cast the restriction, could unlock it.
Judging by the Snow Wraith's tone, even late-stage or Great-Perfection Spirit-Wandering experts could be trapped by this. Evan Yang had lucked out—after all, his current formations stopped at ninth-grade, and he didn't know how to go further, so they couldn't restrain Spirit-Wandering masters. This restriction was a real treasure.
With this restriction, Evan Yang could add a new layer to his formation arsenal. He was thrilled, thanked her, and then left.
Watching Evan Yang leave, the Snow Wraith muttered, "So young—he might really have a chance." Then she fell silent again.
Evan Yang split off a strand of divine sense to memorize the pattern, then walked out of the cave. Outside, Mad Wolf and his companion immediately pressed him for details about what happened inside.
As for the End of the Sky, such a major matter, Evan Yang had no plans to tell them yet. He would wait until the day he actually set out for the End before saying anything.
So he simply smiled and said, "She just taught me a bit about this restriction."
"Restriction? What's your relationship with her? Why would she teach you? I've never heard of her passing anything to me, her old neighbor." Mad Wolf was puzzled. If he had this restriction, his own cave would be much safer.
“Take you with me? Don’t be ridiculous. It’s dangerous out there.” Evan Yang replied, protective but firm. Every move he made was risky, and bringing Minnie Dale would only add trouble.
“Dangerous?” Minnie Dale, who had never faced real danger, looked completely fearless and unconcerned.
Mad Wolf, of course, knew how dangerous it was outside—especially with powerful insects roaming the continent. If Minnie Dale left, he’d worry for her life, so he opposed her leaving. Minnie could only watch Evan Yang depart.
“Wolf Uncle, when will I finally be allowed outside?” Minnie Dale asked, feeling gloomy after Evan left.
“Once you reach Spirit-Wandering, I’ll let you go. Otherwise, stay here and keep cultivating.” Mad Wolf replied, strict but caring.
Hearing she’d have to reach Spirit-Wandering to leave, Minnie Dale nearly fainted. “Wolf Uncle, isn’t that like locking me up for life?”
“That depends on how you do.” Mad Wolf chuckled, then turned and left.
Minnie Dale hurried after him, arguing and giving all sorts of reasons—anything to get out sooner.
Even though Evan Yang had left, he could still hear their conversation with Thousand-Mile Echo. Smiling, he sped up, and soon saw the crowd gathered ahead.
But chaos had broken out there—snow beasts had suddenly charged into the fray.
Now, the sky and ground were filled with people and snow beasts, fighting wildly. The once white snow was stained red.
Evan Yang frowned, quickly expanding his divine sense to search for his master and Lana Situ.
“Where are they?” Evan Yang sent out hundreds of strands of divine sense but couldn’t find them. Instead, he spotted the Three Snow Eccentrics.
Unable to find his allies, Evan Yang decided to ask the Three Snow Eccentrics.
One of the Three Snow Eccentrics was fighting a snow beast when he saw someone rush through the crowd. He looked closer—Evan Yang! Shocked and delighted, he killed the beast with all his strength, then glared at Evan, eyes red. “Kid, I didn’t expect you to show up. Tell me, where’s that thing? And bring out your sect’s forbidden technique. If you don’t, you’ll end up like that snow beast.”
Evan Yang ignored him and asked, “Where are they?”
“Hey, I’m talking to you, and you dare ignore me?” The eccentric snorted coldly, offended that Evan Yang didn’t answer.
He even tried to attack. Evan Yang, desperate to find his friends, frowned and dodged, then landed a tenfold punch. The blow shocked the eccentric—he never expected Evan’s strength to be so terrifying.
“That punch is just interest for my senior sister.” Evan Yang wasn’t about to waste time—finding his friends was more important.
The eccentric was about to explode in rage, but Evan Yang subdued him, sealing his strength.
Evan Yang dragged the eccentric aside and interrogated him. “Speak.”
Evan Yang frowned, quickly expanding his divine sense to search for his master and Lana Situ.
The eccentric was stunned—he never expected the restriction to be so powerful, leaving him completely immobile. He was both angry and frightened, glaring at Evan. “You’d better let me go. If my big brother finds out, you won’t escape.”
Evan Yang knew the 'big brother' he mentioned was the strongest of the Three Snow Eccentrics, at Great-Perfection Spirit-Wandering.
But Evan Yang wasn’t intimidated. “If you still refuse to talk, you won’t even get the chance to speak.”
“I won’t talk,” the eccentric said stubbornly.
“Fine, then I’ll ask the other two.” Evan Yang snorted. The eccentric tried to say something, but Evan made a move and he couldn’t speak anymore.
“You can just wait here to die.” Evan Yang sneered, leaving the eccentric in the snow. Any snow beast passing by could kill him.
Cold sweat broke out on the eccentric as he desperately hoped Evan Yang would release him and let him explain.
Evan Yang grabbed another eccentric; meanwhile, a cultivator saw the first was in danger and rescued him, now protecting him.
Evan Yang didn’t care. No one on the continent could break his seal except himself, so he questioned the second eccentric, who was late-stage Spirit-Wandering. “Speak. Where are they?”
The second eccentric wasn’t as tough as the first—he’d already been punched twice by Evan Yang, tears nearly streaming down his face. Just as he tried to fight back, he realized his spiritual power was completely immobilized, and Evan dragged him aside.
“You brat, I regret letting you escape last time.” He glared angrily at Evan Yang.
“If you don’t talk, you’ll end up like him.” Evan Yang pointed to the first eccentric, whose face looked terrible—he couldn’t speak and could only pray someone kept protecting him.
The eccentric saw the first one tossed in the snow and his face darkened. Finally, under Evan Yang’s pressure, he gave in. “Alright, I’ll talk. They’re still inside, but there’s a powerful snow beast fighting them.”
“How did you get out?” Evan Yang asked, curious how the eccentrics escaped.
“We followed the snow beasts out through a secret passage.” The eccentric replied reluctantly.
“Where’s the passage?”
“Over there.” The eccentric, resigned, told Evan Yang where it was.
After learning the location, Evan Yang sealed his mouth and tossed him aside.
At this point, the two eccentrics shared the same miserable fate, staring at each other in frustration, unable to speak.
The last one, the fat eccentric, finished off his snow beast and noticed the commotion. With a flash, he appeared beside the other two.
He saw the two immobilized, unable to move, only able to look at him.
“What happened?” the fat eccentric yelled angrily at those nearby.
No one knew the details, only that someone had left the two there. After hearing their explanation, the fat eccentric released his divine sense to search for Evan Yang, grumbling, “Damn it, I’ll catch you for sure.”
He told the two, “I’ll bring him back to unlock you. Wait here.” Then he told the others, “Protect these two for me.”
The others had never seen the Three Snow Eccentrics before and assumed they were just threatened by snow beasts, so they agreed. The fat eccentric quickly chased in the direction Evan Yang had disappeared.
He locked onto Evan Yang with his divine sense and gave chase.
Evan Yang ignored the fat eccentric behind him and headed straight for the secret passage.
There, many snow beasts were gathered—some strong, some weak—charging out from within. If Evan Yang wanted to enter, he’d have to fight his way through.
The situation was urgent. Evan Yang didn’t hesitate—he opened up his formation, slashing a bloody path through the beasts. But this slowed him down, and the fat eccentric caught up, shouting from behind, “Kid, don’t run!”
Evan Yang knew he had to deal with this pursuer or he’d have trouble advancing. He slipped out of the beast horde and shot into the sky, landing in an area without snow beasts. The strong beasts nearby, sensing the tension, stayed to watch, knowing these two had a personal feud.