Evan Yang continued studying earth-attribute power in his room. At this point, he could wield fire, water, lightning, and earth—four attributes. The first three were relatively strong: fire had been unsealed, ice-fire had absorbed some grass and lightning, and during tribulations, Evan had absorbed plenty of lightning. As for earth, he had obtained it at Yellow Immortal Gate.
He simply wasn’t familiar with this earth-attribute power. Back then, it had entered Evan’s body on its own. Now, Evan was carefully studying it, hoping to see if he could, like Hugh Hu, control many different forms of earth.
Just as Evan was sitting there, a new order arrived. The order was, of course, to deal with the so-called Void Shredder Bugs. Each bug corpse was worth ten points, giving hope to many residents who had no points.
But this hope was cruel, too. Since there were no restrictions against robbing others, it meant that if a strong cultivator saw a weak one with Void Shredder Bugs, they could simply steal them—using the weak as stepping stones for their own gains.
Chris Lee had been excited when he heard Evan would join him—at least now he felt a hint of safety.
Evan followed the order and went to the First Palace’s gathering site. Once he arrived, he realized just how many people were in the First Palace—a glance revealed thousands, and this was only one Palace.
Chris Lee found Evan in the crowd, happily saying, "Senior Evan, you’re here!"
"Don’t call me Senior—I should be calling you Senior Brother instead," Evan said with a smile.
"Please don’t! In the Immortal Realm, strength is everything—whoever’s stronger is Senior. If you call me Senior Brother, I’ll be doomed," Chris Lee said, laughing awkwardly.
Evan laughed, then asked, "Are all these people from Ethereal Sanctuary’s First Palace here in the Earth-Immortal Newcomer Star System?"
"No, this is just a portion," Chris Lee replied.
"A portion? Why? Are there others?" Evan asked, puzzled.
"That’s right, this is just the First Palace. Ethereal Sanctuary has ten Palaces in the Earth-Immortal Newcomer Star System—they’re called the Ten Ethereal Palaces," Chris Lee explained.
"Ten? You mean there are ten places like this on this planet?" Evan said in shock.
"Yeah, that’s right," Chris Lee replied.
Evan finally understood—he was just one among tens of thousands, and this was still only the Earth-Immortal Star System. But thinking about it, it made sense; most people here were bullied, with only the strong getting stronger and the weak getting weaker, some even losing any way to survive.
Just then, Evan noticed several unfriendly gazes from the side.
Curious, Evan looked over and saw one person staring especially fiercely.
"That’s the fifth-ranked expert. You melted his Flameguard Robe, so he holds a grudge against you," Chris Lee explained when he saw where Evan was looking.
Evan was secretly startled—he hadn’t realized that guy was ranked fifth. Still, Evan wasn’t afraid, no matter how fierce the glare.
Besides that, Evan noticed another group—he’d fought all of them before: Hugh Hu, the madman Skyler Xiao, and Neil Ning. The three stood together, glaring at Evan.
"Are those three still not done getting taught a lesson?" Evan muttered to himself.
"That guy is way too arrogant," Neil Ning sent a voice transmission to the other two.
"Relax. He acts tough here, but once we get there, it’ll be his grave," Hugh Hu sneered.
"Why?" Neil Ning asked, confused.
"Don’t you know Void Shredder Bugs are immune to spell attacks? Even artifacts don’t work. You can only use your fists and feet. So what’s a cripple like him going to do? Use those flying needles? That flame? Looks like he’s just there to get bullied," Hugh Hu sneered.
Neil Ning and Skyler Xiao nodded—this was the perfect chance to deal with Evan. If they missed it, they might never get another. The three began plotting how to cripple Evan; he was simply too dominant, and if he challenged them someday, they’d just end up bullied and lose their points to him.
Evan, for his part, wasn’t so petty. He wouldn’t deliberately challenge people just to earn a few points. That meant nothing to him; what he wanted was to grow stronger, to survive in danger. Only that could push him to become truly powerful.
But those rivals didn’t think that way. They just wanted to cripple Evan while they had the chance, so they could feel safer in the future. It was better to destroy an opponent completely than let him grow strong enough to suppress them.
Evan had no idea what they were plotting—all he saw were their weird smiles. "What are they scheming now?" he wondered.