"So, Miss, what do you plan to do?" Aaron Long had recently investigated the person in the portrait as instructed by the lady before him. Now, someone had provided information and even wanted to capture him.
"Forget about this job. Just report any news about him directly to me. As for Forden Wayne, just brush him off in the future." The lady thought for a moment before giving her orders.
"Understood." Aaron Long responded, then turned and left.
The lady was left alone, muttering, "Disappeared for over half a year, finally some news about you."
Evan Yang had no idea that buying a map would stir up so much trouble. At this moment, he was walking on the road toward the outer area of the Death Crystal Field, holding the map he'd just purchased.
"This map is detailed when it comes to sects and family stations, but the rest is just blank," Evan Yang realized. The map basically only showed where the sects and families were stationed; other areas had no notes about safety, and many mountains weren’t even labeled.
After studying the map, Evan Yang cursed the greedy merchant who sold it.
Evan wasn’t the only one—many who bought these maps felt the same way. Still, temptation won out, and driven by profit, they headed for the unmanned areas.
"Such a simple map, and it costs so many crystals? Damn, what a scam. I’ll go settle the score with them when I get back!" As Evan Yang passed a small village, he overheard one of the cultivators complaining.
The others stopped him and said, "Are you stupid? Having a map is already pretty good. Don’t forget, in Eightfold City, there’s only one place selling these maps. Obviously, someone’s controlling things behind the scenes. You’d be wasting your time if you went there."
"So we’re supposed to just rely on this map to get in?" the complaining cultivator grumbled.
"What else can we do? Just find more people to go in together," another cultivator replied helplessly.
Just then, someone spotted Evan Yang not far away. Seeing his shabby clothes and the map in his hand, they called out, "Hey, friend, come over here!"
"Me?" Evan Yang pointed at himself. Seeing everyone looking at him, he glanced around to make sure he was the only one there, then walked over.
Evan saw at least ten cultivators gathered here, all relying on one person. That man looked at Evan and said, "I’m Ray Boone. These are my friends. Are you here to search the outer Death Crystal Field for treasures?"
"Isn’t that obvious?" Evan glanced at his map, cursing inwardly, but smiled and said, "Yep. I was just passing by—what’s this village called?"
"This is Tiger Village, the closest settlement to the Death Crystal Field’s outer rim. There are over a hundred people living here, mostly hunters. We happened to pass by and want to invite more loose cultivators to join us for the trip," Ray Boone explained, giving Evan a quick rundown of their purpose and the village.
So they just want to gather more people, Evan realized, a bit surprised.
Seeing Evan understood, Ray Boone continued, "What should we call you, friend?"
"Evan Yang," he replied, giving his name.
"So you’re Evan, huh? You’re alone—why not join us? More people means more safety, and we’ll split whatever we find evenly. What do you think?" Ray Boone laid out the terms, hoping Evan would join.
Evan looked over the group and nodded. "Alright, sounds good."
"Great, that’s one more on our side! Once two more people arrive, we’ll head out," Ray Boone laughed. The others nodded in agreement.
Evan walked into the crowd, then slipped past them, wanting to check out the village and learn about the local situation.
The cultivators didn’t question Evan’s odd behavior. Every cultivator had their own quirks. The rest stayed at the village entrance, waiting for the last two arrivals.
Tiger Village lived off hunting? That meant they’d been here for generations. Curious, Evan walked into the village, and the villagers watched him with interest.
A bold young boy approached and asked, "Who are you?"
"Just passing through, looking for some water," Evan Yang replied, acting like a thirsty beggar.
The boy believed him right away and smiled, "Come on, I’ll take you to the best water in our village."
"Thanks." Evan Yang, not knowing what kind of water it was, replied politely and followed the boy into the village. When the villagers realized Evan was just passing through and asking for water, they relaxed.
The village wasn’t big, but its defenses were solid. Stone walls several meters high surrounded it to keep wild beasts out. Every house had hunting tools hanging outside, making it look like a village full of hunters.
"Hey, kid, how long have you all lived here?" Evan asked, smiling as he drank the mountain spring water.
"Us? A really long time—so long I don’t even know what generation we’re on," the boy replied with a hearty laugh.
"What’s your name?" Evan asked, seeing the boy’s smile and remembering his own childhood—running through the village every day to care for his father, sometimes walking miles to find him.
"I’m Tyson. Among the kids in Tiger Village, I’m the strongest. Just a few days ago, I killed a tiger! Pretty impressive, huh?" Tyson introduced himself, proudly telling Evan about his achievement.
"You killed a tiger? How’s that possible?" Evan was shocked at first, then laughed.
"You don’t believe me? Let’s see who’s stronger!" Tyson, seeing Evan’s disbelief, pouted stubbornly like a kid.
Evan was dragged along, so he extended his right hand. Tyson did the same, and before Evan could react, Tyson pulled him to one side. Evan stumbled forward several steps, and Tyson laughed, "See? Now you believe me?"
Evan was secretly amazed—a kid about ten years old was actually stronger than an adult. He started to believe Tyson really could kill a tiger.
"Most of the adults in the village aren’t as strong as me," Tyson said proudly.
"You really are something else," Evan thought to himself, but said with a smile, "Kid, you’ve got some serious strength. Are your family members all this strong?"
"Family? I don’t have any. I’ve been an orphan since I was little," Tyson replied, his smile practiced, but Evan caught the sadness behind it.
Both of them had lost their parents. Evan felt a stronger sense of kinship with Tyson.
Just as Evan was feeling emotional, a commotion broke out in one of the village houses.
"What happened?" Evan snapped out of it and looked curiously toward the house.
Tyson reacted first, saying, "Something’s wrong." He took off running, and Evan followed close behind, wanting to see what was going on.
Outside the house, a crowd had already gathered. Tyson used his strength to force a path through, and inside, they saw a little girl lying on the bed, her breathing weak.
"Lily!" Tyson shouted when he saw the frail little girl on the bed.
"Sigh, looks like there’s no hope," some elders said, and a few adults sighed along.
Evan entered the house and saw Tyson shaking the girl. The villagers sized Evan up but didn’t pay much attention, focusing instead on the dying girl on the bed.
"Lily! Don’t leave me!" Tyson shouted, but the little girl seemed not to hear him, staring at the ceiling with lifeless eyes that slowly closed, her breath barely hanging on.
Seeing this, Evan felt a deep sadness. In a flash, he moved to the girl’s side. Before anyone could react, Evan placed his hand on her forehead and checked—he found a strand of spiritual energy inside her body.
"That’s odd," Evan murmured, curious about how a mortal could have spiritual energy inside her.
Tyson, thinking Evan was a countryside doctor, grabbed his sleeve and pleaded, "Please, save her!"
"Well..." Evan had never tried saving someone before and couldn’t guarantee anything, but seeing how serious Lily’s condition was, he knew he had to try.
Thinking Evan was unwilling, Tyson begged, "I’m begging you, please save her!"
Seeing Tyson kneel, Evan quickly helped him up and said, "Go guard the door. Don’t let anyone in."
"Okay, okay." Tyson excitedly drove everyone out of the house, shut the door, and sat at the entrance, not letting anyone peek inside. He was anxious, placing all his hopes on Evan.
The villagers had seen what happened. Some asked, "Tyson, are you sure he can save Lily?"
"I trust him," Tyson nodded, glancing back at the door every so often.
Everyone had already given up hope for Lily, so they waited outside, hoping for a miracle.
Inside, Evan began using his own spiritual energy to guide the mysterious power within Lily.
"How can a mortal have spiritual energy inside?" Evan muttered after checking the girl, while Lily coughed weakly, on the verge of death.
Seeing Lily about to die, Evan didn’t hesitate. He placed his right hand over the spot where the energy was, took a deep breath, and decided to try.
A faint green mist slowly flowed from Evan’s hand into Lily’s body. As the green mist entered her, the original energy inside her reacted in terror, trying to flee.
"Trying to escape, huh!" Evan saw that his pale green spiritual energy had a strong effect and happily increased the output, blocking the strange energy’s escape routes.
The strange energy tried to flee on its own. Evan was surprised, but he tightened his spiritual energy, trapped it in Lily’s abdomen, then pushed it out with all his strength.
Once the energy left Lily’s body, it began to dissipate without a host. Evan, curious, reached out and absorbed it into himself. The strange energy darted around inside him, but when it encountered his pale green qi, it shrank back, hiding far from his dantian, not daring to approach.