"Senior, please stop tormenting me," Evan Yang said, feeling frustrated.
"How am I tormenting you? I was just passing by and happened to spot someone interesting. I only said a few extra words, but you dislike my nagging, so I'll leave. Go on, keep playing," the old man said with a laugh.
"Senior, that's not what I meant. If you don't want to tell me, could you at least tell me how to get back?" Evan Yang thought for a moment. The person before him seemed incredibly powerful—maybe he knew the direction to the Immortal Realm.
"Where are you from?" the old man asked with a smile.
"The Immortal Realm," Evan Yang replied.
"Immortal Realm? Where's that?" the old man asked suspiciously.
Evan Yang was speechless. Turns out the person before him was from a different world entirely and wouldn't know where the Immortal Realm was.
"Well, all I know is that my original place was called the Immortal Realm. I don't really know the exact name," Evan Yang said awkwardly.
"These days, there really are many like you—don't even know where they came from, so how can I help you?" the old man sighed.
"Senior, please help me out. I was blown here by the reverse current, so I don't know the way back. I'm not trying to make things difficult for you," Evan Yang said.
"Reverse current? You say you survived the reverse current?" The old man grew even more interested and asked with a smile.
"I only survived thanks to a treasure. With my own strength, I couldn't possibly have lived through the reverse current," Evan Yang said awkwardly.
The old man sized Evan Yang up and laughed, "Then could you lend me your treasure for a look? Maybe I can figure out its origin and point you in the right direction."
Evan Yang thought for a moment. The old man didn't seem like a bad person, so he took out the Strange Spiral Shell. The instant Evan brought it out, the old man's smile froze. Evan thought maybe he was angry or something, but then the old man's smile relaxed and he said, "So this is a life-bound treasure of that guy. Not simple at all. Kid, you actually managed to get his treasure."
"Senior, I don't understand what you mean," Evan Yang said, confused.
"If you survive long enough, you'll understand," the old man said with a smile.
"Then, Senior, could you tell me if I can use this treasure to find my way back?" Evan Yang asked.
"Kid, are you stupid? This treasure has a memory-route function. If you study it carefully, you'll find your way back," the old man laughed heartily.
Evan Yang didn't understand and was about to ask again, but the old man had already left, leaving behind a single sentence: something about regret coming soon. "What a strange person, but his strength is terrifying... Could he be a God?" Evan wondered. But then he remembered that all the Gods had vanished, so was this old man really a God?
Unable to figure it out, Evan Yang could only keep studying his Strange Spiral Shell. After communicating with the shell's consciousness, he discovered it really did have a memory-route of its drifting. Overjoyed, he went inside and let the shell retrace its original path.
As the Strange Spiral Shell began retracing its original path, Evan Yang kept thinking about the old man's voice. He'd never met anyone like that before, but he knew the man's power was beyond his comprehension.
Like that, Evan Yang passed through many large and small world-realms and finally returned to the vicinity of the Immortal Realm. This time, Evan wasn't so careless—he stopped before getting too close, carefully observed his surroundings, and only then made a decision.
"Titus Skyflood and Damon Darklord probably haven't left yet," Evan Yang muttered.
He then entered the Realm-Shuttle Pen, put away the Strange Spiral Shell, aimed carefully, and blinked once—appearing right at the entrance to the Immortal Realm.
That blink—Titus Skyflood and Damon Darklord had been waiting, and as soon as they saw the flash of light, they appeared, ready to intercept. But Evan Yang was already at the Immortal Realm's entrance. Smiling at them, he said, "See you two next time," and stepped into the Immortal Realm.
At that moment, both Titus Skyflood and Damon Darklord's faces turned black with rage. After who knows how many years, not only did they fail to get any of the Three Gods' Exclusive Artifacts, they didn't kill Evan Yang either—and he even returned safely to the Immortal Realm.
"Damn it, I'm furious! Evan Yang, you and I are mortal enemies now. Next time, you won't get another chance!" Titus Skyflood roared in the Chaos World.
Damon Darklord kept turning over Evan Yang's return to the Immortal Realm in his mind, then said, "Let's go back to the Devil Realm and make plans. The Chaos World is full of danger."
Titus Skyflood nodded, still fuming, and followed Damon Darklord back to the Devil Realm. Once there, Damon Darklord passed news of Evan Yang's return to the Immortal Realm on to Lan Wind.
Lan Wind, Mu Hei, and the others had been waiting at the Wood Temple for a long time without seeing Evan Yang return. They thought he must be dead, but Damon Darklord's message made them rejoice.
So Lan Wind immediately went to find Palace Lord Lan and Mu Hei.
"What? He's back?" Mu Hei said, delighted.
"Yeah, he should be returning to the Wood Temple soon. We need to find a way to intercept him outside; otherwise, we can't take Evan Yang inside the Wood Temple," Lan Wind said.
"But how? He doesn't listen to us," Mu Hei said, frowning.
"That's where you come in. You're a Wood Temple member, so you can give orders. When Evan Yang comes back, tell him to wait on the planet outside the Wood Temple, saying Elder Woodspirit wants to meet him there," Lan Wind said after thinking for a moment.
"Will they believe it? I'm just a Wood Temple member, I don't really have that authority," Mu Hei said, frowning.
"How will you know if you don't try?" Lan Wind replied.
Mu Hei had no choice but to grit his teeth and use his status in the Wood Temple to issue the order. With Palace Lord Rowan away, no one knew if the command was real or fake, so the patrolling disciples around the Wood Temple just assumed it came from above and kept a close watch for Evan Yang's arrival.
After a while, Evan Yang arrived outside the Wood Temple. Just as he was about to fly in, a Wood Temple disciple saw him and asked, "Are you Evan Yang?"
"Yeah, that's me. What's up?" Evan Yang asked.
"Elder Woodspirit has given an order. If you return, fly east and you'll see a pink planet. He'll be waiting for you there," the disciple said.
[Irrelevant system message, skip translation.]
Evan Yang heard this and was suspicious, so he sized the disciple up. Seeing nothing unusual, he wanted to confirm, so he asked, "Who told you that?"
"It's an order from above," the disciple replied.
Evan Yang thought for a moment and brought out Palace Lord Rowan. When the disciple saw Palace Lord Rowan, he greeted him respectfully, "Greetings, Palace Lord."
"Alright, understood. You may leave now," Palace Lord Rowan said.
The disciple nodded and left, then Palace Lord Rowan turned to Evan Yang and said, "He really is one of our Wood Temple disciples, but Elder Woodspirit wouldn't give such an order. I want to see what's going on."
With that, Palace Lord Rowan took Evan Yang back to the Wood Temple. After some questioning, they found out who gave the order.
"It was Mu Hei?" Palace Lord Rowan said, puzzled.
"Strictly speaking, he's not Mu Hei anymore. There's an Otherworld creature inside him," Evan Yang said.
"What? How is that possible?" Palace Lord Rowan exclaimed, finding it hard to believe his beloved disciple was possessed by an Otherworld creature.
Evan Yang explained Mu Hei's situation to Palace Lord Rowan. Though it was harsh, Palace Lord Rowan had to admit, "If that's the case, I need to report this to Elder Woodspirit. You should come with me."
Palace Lord Rowan took Evan Yang to the outside of the wooden hut.
"Elder Woodspirit, we've returned," Palace Lord Rowan said.
"Alright, I know," came the voice from inside the hut.
"There's something I need to say first—someone in our palace has been possessed by an Otherworld creature," Palace Lord Rowan said after thinking for a moment.
"I know about this. Go handle your affairs; I have something to say to Evan Yang," the voice inside said.
Palace Lord Rowan nodded and left, leaving Evan Yang standing there, staring at the mysterious wooden hut.
"You did well this time, bringing back all three Gods' Exclusive Artifacts," Elder Woodspirit laughed from inside.
"I was lucky, but it was close—Titus Skyflood and Damon Darklord almost managed to hurt me," Evan Yang said.
"I know all about it. You did well—not only escaping from those in the Devil Realm, but also returning safely despite the Otherworld creature's interference," Elder Woodspirit said with a smile.
Evan Yang smiled. "If Senior hadn't sent Palace Lord Rowan ahead of time, I don't know what would've happened to me."
"I thought sending him would help you, but it didn't work out as planned," Elder Woodspirit said.
"That's not true, he still helped," Evan Yang replied.
"Alright, let's not talk about that. Where are the Three Gods' Exclusive Artifacts?" Elder Woodspirit asked.
Evan Yang took out the Three Gods' Exclusive Artifacts. Three items floated in the air—a hatchet, an arrow shaft, and a wooden staff.
"Fire, earth, wind—all three. Thank you for protecting the Three Gods' Exclusive Artifacts," Elder Woodspirit said.
"How many Gods' Exclusive Artifacts are there?" Evan Yang asked, curious.
"That's hard to say. I only know the whereabouts of these three. I don't know about the others," Elder Woodspirit replied.
"Then, Senior, please take these Three Gods' Exclusive Artifacts. My task is done, so it's time for me to leave," Evan Yang said, having completed his mission.
"Not so fast. There's still something I need your help with," Elder Woodspirit said.
"Please, Senior, go ahead," Evan Yang asked.
"I told you before—the Otherworld Lord will awaken early, bringing great danger. Even if I become a God, it's not enough. That's why so many Gods vanished back then; it shows how powerful the Otherworld Lord is. The only thing we can do is try to stop him from waking. As a God Guardian, you should know that anyone with Three Attribute Heaven can enter the Otherworld. This is your moment to connect with the Otherworld. So I plan to train you, then send you into the Otherworld to help everyone and, if possible, find out what happened to the other Gods," Elder Woodspirit said.
Evan Yang was surprised when he heard this.