Almost nobody recognized Evan Yang and Kuang Skyler, so their guide simply led them into the area where Yellow Heaven Sect disciples usually gathered.
Whenever someone questioned them, Kuang Skyler answered smoothly, letting Evan and him pass without trouble.
Yellow Heaven Sect had many branches, but this was the headquarters. The area was surrounded by mountains and buildings, with numerous teleportation arrays connecting to other planets.
As they walked, Kuang Skyler introduced everything to Evan Yang. Evan learned his real name was Kuang Skyler. Since few recognized him now, Kuang Skyler answered all questions smoothly, helping them blend in.
"Kuang, are you familiar with this place?" Evan Yang asked.
"Yeah, I used to be in a branch and often reported here. But it's been so long since I returned, so things aren't as clear now," Kuang Skyler replied.
"It's only been a few hundred years, shouldn't be a big deal," Evan Yang replied.
"True, and your freakish treasure." Kuang Skyler knew Evan's artifact could accelerate time fiftyfold, which was why he agreed to teach Lance Blue and the other disciple their techniques.
Just as Evan Yang was about to say something, they noticed a crowd gathering ahead, naturally drawing their attention.
When Evan Yang walked over, he saw Lance Blue and his female companion surrounded by the crowd.
One of the leading Yellow Heaven Sect disciples shouted, "Traitors of Yellow Heaven Sect! Surrender now!"
"Surrender for what? You hypocrites tricked us into coming here," Lance Blue snorted.
"You were traitors to Yellow Heaven Sect from the start—what's wrong with that?" The speaker was none other than Tyler Guan, an elite disciple of Yellow Heaven Sect.
Don Bin was the one tracking Evan Yang, and Tyler Guan was Don Bin's junior martial brother. But since Lance Blue wasn't familiar with them, he didn't know Tyler Guan was a Yellow Heaven Sect disciple.
When Tyler Guan discovered Lance Blue's strength had reached the Shadow-God Realm—just like his own—he knew he couldn't take Lance down directly. So he pretended to befriend Lance and his companion, slowly luring them to Yellow Heaven Sect headquarters.
After arriving at Yellow Heaven Sect, Lance Blue sensed something was off, but he didn't say anything right away. When Tyler Guan left for a moment, Lance sent a message to Evan Yang.
When Tyler Guan brought Don Bin over and saw the 'traitors', he was overjoyed and moved to take down Lance Blue and his companion.
This led to the current scene.
"Traitors? We were framed by you!" Lance Blue snorted.
"Hmph, you took the Immortal artifact and refused to hand it over. Isn't that against sect rules?" Tyler Guan sneered.
"We risked our lives for it. All you care about is collecting the reward," Lance Blue retorted disdainfully.
"Enough talk. Let's just take them down," Don Bin said impatiently.
"Alright, senior brother, I'll listen to you. Everyone, move in—capture these two and don't let them escape!" Tyler Guan shouted loudly.
With those words, the crowd stirred restlessly. Seeing so many experts, Lance Blue was shocked, realizing they were in real trouble. He turned to the woman and said, "You go. Leave this to me."
"No, if we leave, we leave together. If we die, we die together!" the woman replied.
"No way!" she refused outright.
The crowd laughed loudly, and Tyler Guan laughed even harder. "You think this is some random place? You came here and still want to leave? No one leaves today!"
"Damn it," Lance Blue cursed.
"Everyone, move in," Tyler Guan sneered.
Just then, a gust of wind swept through, along with a thick wave of wine fragrance. All the low-level disciples who were about to attack fell unconscious one by one.
Only Lance Blue, the woman, Tyler Guan, Don Bin, and a few other stronger cultivators were still standing.
This left Evan Yang and Kuang Skyler exposed at the edge of the crowd. Lance Blue, seeing them, knew his saviors had arrived and ran over joyfully. "You're here!"
"I saw you two arguing over who would die first, so I couldn't help stepping in," Evan Yang said with a smile.
Lance Blue gave an awkward laugh. Tyler Guan and Don Bin were furious. They recognized Evan Yang right away—he was not only Evan, but the Genius Pavilion Grand Pavilion Lord whose Violet Seventh-Tier assessment they'd witnessed on Genius Star.
"Let's go," Don Bin said to Tyler Guan, knowing full well how strong Evan Yang was.
But could they just leave? Of course not. Evan Yang reached out, and neither of them could even run—they were slowly pulled over to his side.
"What do you want from us?" Tyler Guan asked in fear. Don Bin was just as baffled—how had Evan Yang become so terrifying in just a few years? Back then, they were the ones chasing him, but now they couldn't even escape.
"Ask them," Evan Yang said, turning to Lance Blue. He'd already offended Yellow Heaven Sect, so he wasn't worried about making it worse.
Lance Blue glared at the two and said angrily, "You two think I'm easy to bully? Today I'm going to teach you a lesson."
Just as Lance Blue was about to strike, a voice called out from above, "Spare them!"
Suddenly, a stone-armored figure appeared. Everyone, including Evan Yang, was startled. Tyler Guan exclaimed with delight, "Grandmaster!"
Don Bin was also overjoyed. "Grandmaster!"
The newcomer was at the Pseudo-Immortal Stage—and a powerful one. Evan Yang sensed this and asked warily, "And who are you?"
As he finished speaking, the stone armor faded away, revealing an old man standing before Evan Yang.
"I am the current Sect Master of Yellow Heaven Sect," the man said.
"I see. In that case, I'll be direct: I'm the Grand Pavilion Lord of Genius Pavilion. These two hurt my friends, so I'm taking them with me. You have no objections, right?" Evan Yang said with a smile.
"Grand Pavilion Lord of Genius Pavilion? Since when did such a lord exist?" the Yellow Heaven Sect Master asked suspiciously.
"Grandmaster, save us!" Tyler Guan shouted. Evan Yang answered, "Just appointed—you might not have heard yet." But he cursed inwardly, "Old monster, you don't even know what's happening outside. Looks like I can't bluff my way through."
"This is Yellow Heaven Sect. I can't let you take them away. If they've done wrong, I'll discipline them myself. You should just leave," the Sect Master said.
Lance Blue, worried about the man's overwhelming strength, said to Evan Yang, "We should just go."
Evan Yang lowered his hand but didn't agree to leave right away. As he was about to speak, Tyler Guan and Don Bin ran behind the Sect Master. Tyler Guan said, "Grandmaster, they stole our sect's Immortal artifact. You can't let them go!"
"Oh? Is that true?" Hearing about the Immortal artifact, the Sect Master was shocked. After all, Immortal artifacts were precious—Yellow Heaven Sect had fewer than ten. Hearing this, he was tempted to keep Evan Yang and the others.
"That artifact was obtained by my friend, and it doesn't belong to Yellow Heaven Sect. He's not even a disciple anymore, so it's not theft—it's rightfully his," Evan Yang said.
Tyler Guan wasn't convinced and retold the story, adding his own spin. Hearing this, the Sect Master frowned and said, "Young man, no matter who you are in Genius Pavilion, that Immortal artifact originally belonged to Yellow Heaven Sect. You should hand it over."
"Hand it over? Impossible," Evan Yang replied, then sent a voice transmission to Lance Blue and the others: "A big fight is coming. Go into the tower first."
As soon as Evan Yang said this, Lance Blue and the others vanished.
"Are you planning to fight?" Seeing Evan Yang put everyone away, the Sect Master sneered.
"No Immortal artifact for you, but if you want a fight, bring it on," Evan Yang said.
"Arrogant. Fine, let's see what you're capable of today," the Sect Master sneered.
The Sect Master charged at Evan Yang, who met his attack head-on.
But to Evan Yang's frustration, every time he was about to land a blow, a layer of condensed earth appeared on his opponent, harder than stone. Evan's strikes had no effect and only hurt his own hands.
"Such weak attacks!" the Sect Master sneered.
"It's just your unique technique—don't get cocky!" Evan Yang snorted.
The two fought from the ground to the air, then into the void. Yet the Sect Master's earth armor kept appearing. Evan Yang snorted, "I refuse to believe I can't break through!"
He drew his dagger and attacked with full force, but even at eight thousandfold power, he couldn't break the Sect Master's defense.
Still, Evan Yang didn't panic and kept trying. Unexpectedly, the Sect Master chanted a strange formula, and Evan Yang was completely encased in condensed earth.
Now Evan Yang was a stone statue, unable to move.
"The Earth-Path Art's power is beyond your understanding. Now, even if you want to escape, you can't. Hand over the Immortal artifact, or I'll smash the stone—your body will shatter with it!" the Sect Master said after subduing Evan Yang.
Evan Yang realized he couldn't move at all. "Damn, what technique is this? It turns people into stone!"
Now, only Evan Yang's divine sense and speech remained active—his body was frozen like stone.
"No answer? I'll give you fifteen minutes. If you don't respond, I'll show no mercy!" the Sect Master snorted.
Evan Yang found he couldn't contact Little Leo—he'd put him in his spatial ring and hadn't taken him out in time, so now the ring was frozen.
As Evan Yang wondered what to do, he remembered the ice-fire in his soul world. "That's it—water counters earth."
Evan Yang activated the ice-fire, combining it with sacred flame to create water. The cold energy spread throughout his body, carrying water with it.
Slowly, Evan Yang's frozen body began to return to normal. With a loud crash, the earth shell in front of him shattered. The Sect Master was shocked. "You have water attribute?"
"Sorry, but I do. So your technique can't control me," Evan Yang said with a smile.
"Damn it, don't think you're special just because you have water! Let me show you what it means to be crushed!" the Sect Master roared.
Suddenly, a massive mountain appeared above Evan Yang's head.
"What is that?" Evan Yang exclaimed in shock.