Thinking of the benefits of the Sixteenfold Demon Heaven Shift, Evan Yang smiled, then stowed his clone inside the Sky-Piercing Tower. With his true body outside, he checked the altar one last time, and, seeing no one else around, could only leave it with a hint of resignation.
"Whoever created this must have been extraordinary," Evan Yang mused as he slowly walked out of the staircase. Reaching the end, he spotted the exit and headed inside.
With a flash, he stepped outside and found Winter, Xin Jiang, and Tara Chu sitting there. Evan looked at the three curiously—Winter recognized his current appearance, but Xin Jiang and Tara Chu did not.
"You're back!" Winter exclaimed in delight, walking over to Evan. Xin Jiang and Tara Chu were stunned for a moment, then realized he must have disguised himself.
"What's going on?" Evan asked suspiciously, noticing the three had been waiting specifically for him.
Winter pulled Evan aside, and with the other two gathered around, explained everything that had happened. When she finished, Evan's expression changed dramatically. "How did he get out?"
"No idea. Fiend Palace doesn't know either," Winter replied.
"Even if someone broke him out, they don't know?" Evan asked skeptically.
The three fell silent, showing they had no idea. As for how Elder Liu escaped, they knew absolutely nothing.
"Bring out Sprig first, let me take a look," Evan said, now extremely anxious. With no leads, all he could do was heal Sprig first, then track down Elder Liu's whereabouts.
Winter took out Sprig. Evan examined it, then placed it in his palm. After a short while, Sprig recovered from near death to full liveliness.
"Finally healed," Winter said joyfully. Sprig excitedly jumped onto her. Evan turned to the three and asked, "Do you want to enter the tower or stay here?"
"We want to go with you to rescue Faye Gale and the others," Winter replied. Evan nodded, then took the three to a secluded spot and stored them inside the Sky-Piercing Tower. After pondering for a moment, he flashed over to Owen Bing.
When Owen Bing saw Evan appear again, he was overjoyed. "Captain Wood!" he called out.
"Are you all doing okay?" Evan asked.
Owen Bing nodded and smiled. "Yeah, things have been pretty stable lately."
"I might need your help with something," Evan suddenly said.
"If Captain Wood needs anything, just let us know," Owen Bing replied.
Evan told him, "Have your people search everywhere for Elder Liu's whereabouts."
"Elder Liu?" Owen Bing said in surprise.
"Yeah, that's right." Evan knew only with enough people could they get more eyes and ears, which was why he sought out Owen Bing, someone he had originally cultivated as his own force within Fiend Palace.
Owen Bing didn't know why Evan wanted to find Elder Liu, but coincidentally Fiend Palace had just issued the same order, so he immediately got to work.
As for Evan, he didn't pause either, heading straight to the Fiend Palace Lord. At that moment, the Palace Lord was anxiously pacing back and forth. Hearing Evan's arrival, he looked curiously at this fourth-rank general. When Evan changed back to his true appearance, the Fiend Palace Lord was shocked. "So it's you!"
"Yes, I apologize for hiding my identity before, Palace Lord. This time, I've come because Faye Gale and another friend of mine were captured by Elder Liu," Evan said.
"It's been so many years and still no leads. Elder Liu has vanished without a trace," the Fiend Palace Lord sighed.
Just then, two men walked in from outside—one was the Crown Prince, the other the Second Prince. The Second Prince, whom Evan had disciplined and sealed for many years, still held a deep grudge against him.
Seeing Evan here, the Second Prince was clearly displeased. When the Crown Prince realized it was Evan, he stared at him. Sensing the tension, the Fiend Palace Lord spoke up. "What kind of attitude is this from you two?"
"Someone's friends have been captured for so many years, and he only shows up now. Who knows where he's been all this time," the Second Prince mocked.
Evan understood what he meant, but he had only just learned about it. If he'd known earlier, things wouldn't have turned out like this.
"I was cultivating. I just came out and heard about this," Evan said.
"Excuses," the Second Prince snorted coldly.
"Enough! Do you have any manners?" The Palace Lord knew Evan's strength was at the Nine Tribulations Realm, and his younger son's attitude would eventually cause trouble.
"I'm just stating facts. If he really cared, why didn't he release the Tracking Hall's expert earlier?" the Second Prince said.
Mentioning the expert, the Palace Lord turned to Evan. "Is that person still with you?"
"Who?" Evan asked curiously.
"The expert who can track by aura. The Tracking Hall is scattered now, but only he still has that ability," the Second Prince said.
The Fiend Palace Lord nodded. Evan finally understood. Back then, the Fenn Family had hired that man to track Ye Chen by aura.
Thinking about how Elder Liu lived in Fiend Palace for years, he must have left behind aura traces. Evan quickly released the man.
The man was still alive but unconscious. The Palace Lord was overjoyed, and Evan hurried to unseal him. When he saw the Palace Lord and the others, he was delighted. "Palace Lord!" He immediately hid behind the Palace Lord, terrified Evan would capture him again.
"It's a misunderstanding, you don't need to be so nervous," the Palace Lord reassured him, knowing what he meant.
The man looked at Evan and the others in confusion, not knowing what was going on. The Palace Lord spoke again: "Vice hall master, there's an important task for you. If you succeed, you'll become manager of the Tracking Hall."
Those words made the man feel as if a pie had fallen from the sky.
"What is it, Palace Lord?" the man asked, shocked.
The Palace Lord explained the situation. Hearing about Elder Liu's betrayal and the aftermath, the man was stunned—this was a huge opportunity. If he really found Elder Liu, he'd become the future manager of the Tracking Hall, high above the rest.
"As long as I have something Elder Liu used, I can definitely find him," the man promised.
"Good! Let's go to the Tracking Hall's secret chamber," the Palace Lord said happily, leading him, the two princes, and Evan to the hall.
The Tracking Hall was now in chaos; few experts remained, and those who could track by aura were even scarcer.
Seeing how different things were from before, the man sighed inwardly about Elder Liu's faction, but realized this was his big chance.
Arriving at the secret chamber, he searched around, only to find all traces wiped clean. "Damn it," he cursed.
"What's wrong?" the Palace Lord asked suspiciously. Evan looked at him curiously.
The man said, "Elder Liu has erased all traces of his aura here."
"Does that mean we can't find him now?" The Palace Lord was shocked, not expecting this outcome.
The man nodded. "That's right. Unless we have something with his aura, we can't track him."
"Damn it, Elder Liu dealt with everything in the Tracking Hall before leaving," the Palace Lord cursed.
The two princes had no solution. Just then, Evan spoke up. "Is anything he's used good enough?"
"Yes." The man looked at Evan with some fear and nodded.
"Then I have a way," Evan said.
"What way?" the Palace Lord asked suspiciously.
Evan looked at the Palace Lord and said, "In a moment, I'll let you meet someone. But once you do, you mustn't pursue his past."
"Who?" the Palace Lord asked curiously.
"Promise me first, or I won't let him come," Evan said.
The Palace Lord, worried about Faye Gale's safety after so many years, didn't want to wait any longer. So he agreed. "Alright."
Evan contacted someone. After a while, at the Fiend Palace gate, the Palace Lord met the Phantom Elder. "It's him!"
"Yes, it's him," Evan said.
The Phantom Elder walked over, smiling. "How are you, Palace Lord?"
"Fine," the Palace Lord replied awkwardly. Years ago, he and Elder Liu destroyed the Phantom Elder's sect, and now he needed his help.
Luckily, the Phantom Elder only held grudges against Elder Liu, not the Palace Lord, so he came at Evan's invitation.
Evan broke the awkward silence. "Senior Phantom, do you have the Mother-Child Tower?"
"Yes, as you asked, I brought it." The Phantom Elder produced the tower Elder Liu had used to trap Evan years ago. Evan knew it must still carry Elder Liu's aura.
Indeed, Elder Liu never expected Fiend Palace and Evan would become allies, nor that this day would come, so he hadn't specially erased his aura from the tower.
When the Phantom Elder produced the Mother-Child Tower, the Palace Lord was overjoyed. This was the treasure Elder Liu used years ago, and he hadn't expected it to end up with the Phantom Elder. Excited, he said, "Thank you."
"No need to thank me, Palace Lord. We all have a common enemy now," the Phantom Elder replied with a smile.
The Palace Lord nodded and handed the Mother-Child Tower to the vice hall master. He was delighted. "There really is a trace!"
Everyone was overjoyed and watched the vice hall master work. His method was just as Evan had seen before.
Soon, Elder Liu's location appeared on the large mirror.
"Where is this place?" Everyone wondered as they looked at the mirror's image.
Evan frowned. "I know where it is."
"You know?" Everyone looked at Evan in confusion. Though Fiend Palace knew the Fiend Realm well, Evan seemed to know this place even better, which struck them as odd.
Evan said, "Come on, follow me."
With that, Evan led the Palace Lord and Phantom Elder away. The Phantom Elder took back the Mother-Child Tower, while the princes and vice hall master stayed behind in Fiend Palace.
"How do you know?" the Palace Lord asked, curious.
"Because I've been there," Evan replied.
"You've been there?" the Palace Lord asked, skeptical.
"Do you know the Corpse Refining Ghost?" Evan asked.
"Yes, that guy is eccentric. No one knows where he is. Why?" the Palace Lord asked, and the Phantom Elder also looked at Evan in confusion.
"The image just now was the mountain where the Corpse Refining Ghost lives, surrounded by strange gas," Evan explained.
"What? Elder Liu is at the Corpse Refining Ghost's place?" the Palace Lord exclaimed.
"If the display was correct, that's where he is," Evan answered.