"We'll have to trouble you today, little brother. No celebration for you, I'm afraid," Cyril Shaw said awkwardly.
Evan Yang had suggested this himself, so he had already planned for it. He smiled, "You don't need to say that, Patriarch Shaw."
"Then I'll leave it to you," Cyril said gratefully again.
Evan nodded, then left the secret chamber under Tanner Shaw's guidance. Landon Lynn remained with Cyril Shaw, and the two talked for most of the day, mainly about Evan and the Santos Family.
"If we'd known he could detoxify, we wouldn't have needed to travel so far," Landon Lynn sighed.
"We were too anxious back then, so we didn't ask him. He's truly a genius," Cyril Shaw said, still not fully recovered from his amazement.
"Tomorrow, I have to see how he actually fights," Landon Lynn said, his eyes filled with curiosity and anticipation.
"Too bad I can't go. I'll leave it to you then," Cyril Shaw sighed.
"Don't worry, I'll handle it," Landon Lynn nodded.
"That despicable Santos Family, I'll settle accounts with them after the tournament," Cyril Shaw snorted coldly.
"Cyril, what if the Santos Family wins the Star Lord's seat? Will you still go after them?" Landon Lynn raised a serious question.
"Them? Hmph, even if they become Star Lord, I won't let them off easily!" Cyril Shaw was thoroughly disgusted with the Santos Family.
"Then our two families will lose our place on Northridge Star," Landon Lynn sighed.
"Landon, this problem needs to be solved sooner or later. Whether they win or not, we must prepare for the worst, in case they use their power against us once they become Star Lord," Cyril said, knowing there wasn't much time left before things came to a head.
"I've been thinking the same. The Santos Family is no good, and since you can't compete for the Star Lord seat this time, we should secretly transfer whatever needs to be moved. No one can know about it," Landon Lynn said.
"Alright, I'll make arrangements in secret. Which planet should we choose?" Cyril Shaw replied after thinking it over.
After a moment's thought, Landon Lynn answered, "Let's go to a fourth-class planet. Even a five-star Star Lord can't just arrest people there."
"Then let's pick one far away. After the tournament ends, we'll act. The Santos will suffer for this." Cyril nodded. Moving to a fourth-class planet was safer; though they weren't top experts there, as Out-of-Body Realm cultivators, they wouldn't be bullied either.
"Alright. I'll make arrangements too," Landon Lynn said, then took his leave from Cyril Shaw.
Meanwhile, Evan Yang and the others were laughing and chatting in the rear garden, until Cyril Shaw called Tanner Shaw over again. Evan and Lexi Lynn curiously guessed what Cyril wanted Tanner to do.
Around midnight, Lexi Lynn left, leaving Evan Yang alone in the rear garden, gazing up at the dark sky.
"Planet... I wonder what our planet is called," Evan Yang muttered, staring at the sky and thinking of his hometown and past hardships.
Tanner Shaw returned to the garden looking uneasy, and seeing only Evan Yang, he asked, "Where is she?"
"Probably tired, went back to rest," Evan Yang replied casually.
"With such cultivation, still needs to rest?" Tanner Shaw muttered.
"What's wrong?" Evan Yang asked, noticing Tanner's odd expression.
Tanner glanced at Evan, then shared Cyril Shaw's plan with him. Evan showed little reaction, as if he'd expected it all along.
"Why aren't you surprised?" Tanner asked, confused.
"What's there to be surprised about? The feud between the Santos and your Shaw Family has to be settled eventually. I think this is a good opportunity. No matter who becomes Star Lord, the Shaws won't get off easy," Evan Yang explained.
Tanner didn't understand Evan's meaning, so Evan explained how the Star Lord had shown repeated dissatisfaction with the Shaw Family. Whether it's the Santos or the Star Lord, trouble is bound to come; he just couldn't say what form it would take.
After Evan Yang's warning, Tanner Shaw was even more determined to follow Cyril Shaw's orders and start the transfer. Evan, meanwhile, was only focused on how to defeat his opponents and what made them special.
The Out-of-Body Realm and Spirit-Wandering Realm are fundamentally different. According to the Strange Fiend's explanation, Evan Yang understood the theory, but couldn't truly experience it yet.
Once a Spirit-Wandering cultivator advances to the Out-of-Body Realm, the true body and avatar merge into one. If either is missing when breaking through, the cultivator's strength is relatively weaker.
Take the Strange Fiend, for example: he's at mid Out-of-Body Realm, but his strength isn't much higher than Lance Blue at early Out-of-Body. Otherwise, Lance wouldn't have handled him so easily at that stage.
Additionally, after reaching the Out-of-Body Realm, cultivators can spirit-wander. At night, they can open their divine sense and roam the sky, which is why nighttime cultivation is faster than daytime.
This marks a new change in cultivation methods. One of the most obvious features of the Out-of-Body Realm is that the soul can leave the body and roam within a certain range.
Normally, people can't see souls, and these wandering souls aren't offensive, so they're mostly used for observation and scouting. But it's risky—if a soul encounters a soul-attacking treasure or special place, it may never return to the body, becoming a lonely soul until it fades away for lack of support.
This was Evan Yang's preliminary understanding of the Out-of-Body Realm. Since he hadn't advanced yet, he couldn't experience what it felt like for the soul to leave the body.
Still, Evan Yang felt the Out-of-Body Realm was more than just this. He looked forward to breaking through, but his body's abnormality prevented immediate advancement. He could only search for herbs that would let the Heaven-Cold Seed absorb medicinal power.
So Evan planned to start searching after the tournament. The trouble was, he didn't know which herbs would trigger the Heaven-Cold Seed's next evolution; ordinary herbs simply weren't potent enough.
Tanner Shaw went off to handle his tasks, so Evan Yang sought out the Strange Fiend to learn more about the Out-of-Body Realm.
"You said people have souls, so in the Out-of-Body Realm, the soul can leave the body. But how can I tell if a cultivator nearby is soul-wandering?" Evan Yang asked curiously.
"Only someone in the Out-of-Body Realm can sense it. Spirit-Wandering cultivators can't, unless they have a special treasure," the Strange Fiend replied.
"How do you sense it in the Out-of-Body Realm?" Evan Yang asked, still skeptical.
"Once you reach the Out-of-Body Realm, your soul naturally leaves the body, and it becomes much more sensitive. If a soul appears within a hundred feet, you'll sense it. So it's best not to let your soul approach cultivators above the Out-of-Body Realm—otherwise, you might never return," the Strange Fiend explained.
After hearing the Strange Fiend's explanation, Evan Yang finally understood.
"Many people set up soul-blocking formations or use special items for safety when they go into seclusion to cultivate," the Strange Fiend added, sharing all he knew with Evan Yang.
That last bit made it all clear for Evan Yang. He left the tower, looked around, and activated Heaven's Eye Sight.
"Strange, did the Shaw Family set up a formation beyond ninth-level?" Evan wondered, seeing that something covered the area around the Shaw estate through Heaven's Eye Sight.
Curious, Evan Yang decided to ask Tanner Shaw about it.
Tanner Shaw nodded when Evan Yang asked about the Shaw Family's formation. "Yes, it's a tenth-level defensive array with multiple functions. According to my father, it can block abnormal souls from approaching, and when the family is in crisis, it can be activated to temporarily shield the estate from attack."
"Tenth-level?" Evan Yang was surprised—he only knew about arrays from first to ninth-level, and had always mistaken anything above ninth for Immortal Arrays.
"Yes, tenth-level," Tanner Shaw confirmed, not hiding anything from Evan.
Evan Yang, curious, asked how formations were classified in this world.
Tanner Shaw was used to Evan's questions—someone unfamiliar with the Three Palaces wouldn't know these divisions. He explained, "Arrays are ranked from first to tenth-level. Beyond tenth-level, there are Spirit Formations, which are split into three grades: one, two, and three, each stronger than the last. Above that are Pseudo-Immortal Formations, also in three grades. As for Immortal Formations, there's no set classification."
"Spirit Formation? Pseudo-Immortal Formation?" Evan was amazed by these higher levels.
"That's how formations are classified," Tanner Shaw nodded.
Evan Yang finally understood, but wondered if his bottleneck at Spirit-Wandering Realm was why he couldn't see past tenth-level arrays.
He was eager to break through to the Out-of-Body Realm and see how much Heaven's Eye Sight could reveal then.
Noticing Evan's expression, Tanner Shaw asked, "Brother Yang, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing, just that I only ever heard about up to ninth-level. Anything above that, I had no clue," Evan said with an awkward smile.
"Then your planet must be pretty backward," Tanner said, laughing.
"Maybe so," Evan replied, embarrassed. But inwardly he sighed, "Of course it's backward. If it weren't for that eccentric and the formation I managed to repair, who knows how long we'd have stayed stuck."
"Get some rest. You need to be ready for tomorrow," Tanner said, seeing it was getting late and not wanting to disturb Evan before the big match.
Even though the Shaw Family had already decided not to compete for the Star Lord position, they weren't about to just give up—and Evan even less so. Since he insisted on seeing the tournament through, the Shaw Family threw their full support behind him.
Back in his secret chamber, Evan took out the Spirit-Draining Box and started pouring spiritual power into it, just in case.
The next day, Tanner escorted Evan to the tournament grounds. The place was packed—more people than yesterday, by a long shot.
As Evan appeared, someone pointed him out. "Look, that's the Spirit-Wandering cultivator who fought for the Shaw Family yesterday."
"That's him?" Several people exclaimed, surprised.
Evan hadn't expected things to be so lively, and most of the crowd seemed to be here for him. No matter what they said, he could hear every word clearly.
At that moment, the stands were filled with members of all the great clans. Landon Lynn had also arrived.