Jade Jia certainly knew how terrifying those insects were. Otherwise, the Blue Clan wouldn't have invited the entire continent, so she wasn't foolish enough to clash head-on with the insects.
Meanwhile, Evan Yang arrived at a deserted spot and released Winter and Warren Dugald.
Warren Dugald looked at the scene outside and smiled, "It's time for me to leave."
"Not coming with me?" Evan Yang smiled.
"Your path is different from everyone else's, and your potential is huge. I believe in you—keep it up." Warren Dugald had witnessed Evan's rapid progress, so he teased a bit as he spoke.
Evan Yang smiled, then saw Warren Dugald off. Before leaving, they exchanged Transmission Stone imprints so they could contact each other in the future.
Winter, holding Sprig, said, "I miss my mother."
"Next time I come back, I'll go rescue your mother." Evan Yang still wasn't fully confident he could defeat Joel Qiao, especially since the enemy held hostages. He planned to wait until he returned from the Northsource Region before confronting the Demon Sect.
Winter nodded firmly, trusting him completely.
Sprig excitedly jumped down and was about to open its mouth, but Evan Yang stopped it. "Don't spit things out here. If anyone finds out, you'll be in big trouble."
Sprig looked at Evan Yang in confusion. Inside the tower, it could do whatever it wanted, so why not here? Winter understood Evan's meaning, so after communicating with Sprig, she returned to the tower. Evan headed toward the Northsource Region.
His destination: the deepest part of the snowfields. But before going in, Evan Yang stopped by his own sect.
But he didn't see those three people at the moment. Instead, the sect members were shocked and delighted to see Evan Yang return.
"Hello, everyone," Evan Yang greeted with a smile.
"Kid, you sure have good timing. They left, and now you show up," teased a young woman with a childlike appearance.
Evan Yang knew exactly who they meant—the Three Snow Eccentrics.
"What a coincidence? I was just planning to deal with them!" Evan had come here to settle that old trouble first.
"Looking for them? Forget it, they're gone," laughed another young man with a childlike appearance.
Evan Yang couldn't do anything about not seeing those three. Looking around, he noticed only three people were present, as if someone was missing. "Where's the sect master?"
"Her? She left too." The three answered in unison.
"She left? Where to?" Evan Yang asked curiously.
"The north has trouble now. Lots of powerful experts are gathering there. If we were stronger, we'd go too," the girl sighed.
"The north?" Evan Yang frowned. Wasn't that the domain of the snow beasts? What could possibly happen there—and Mad Wolf's lair was also deep in that area.
"Looks like you don't know yet. Let me explain," the girl said, seeing Evan's puzzled expression.
Evan Yang really didn't know anything. He hadn't been to the Northsource Region in ages and was completely unaware of what had happened there.
So they began telling Evan about the recent events in the Northsource Region.
The main cause was the underground ice palace. In the Northsource Ice Palace, a corpse was discovered. Although it was a corpse, the energy it contained was incredibly powerful, sparking fierce competition among the snow beasts.
Their struggle alerted the people of the Northsource Region. Historically, humans and snow beasts have been at odds, always restraining each other. Now, with this incident, the locals immediately notified all the region's experts to rush over and try to stop the corpse from being seized, fearing it would bring trouble to the Northsource Region.
Evan Yang hadn't expected such a strange event in the Northsource Region. With so many people heading there, things were bound to escalate. But after hearing the trio's explanation, he realized that besides the corpse, many treasures had appeared in the ice palace, so plenty of people were after those or other valuables.
"So that's what's going on. So now the sect only has you three? And the senior sister in seclusion?" Evan said after hearing their explanations one by one.
"Yeah, just us. If Master hadn't forbidden us, I'd want to go too," the girl said helplessly.
"Heh, you? Careful, a powerful snow beast might wipe you out—leaving not even a corpse," the boy laughed.
"Would it kill you not to argue with me?" the girl glared at the boy.
The boy waved his hand, intent on mocking her.
Evan Yang smiled helplessly. "Well, I'm leaving. If I come back, I'll find you again."
"Leaving so soon? Not waiting for Master to return?" The girl turned her gaze to Evan when she heard he was leaving so quickly.
"I've got something to do, so I'll go first. If possible, maybe I'll run into the senior uncle," Evan smiled, then flashed away.
Even the three sighed in admiration. The girl muttered, "When did he get so strong?"
"I don't get it. What realm is this kid in now? I can't see through him at all," the boy replied.
All three were baffled—when did Evan Yang reach a realm none of them could see through?
Evan Yang was riding the Firebird, flying through the snow and ice.
"What exactly is in the ice palace to attract so many people?" Evan Yang wondered as he flew on the Firebird.
Evan Yang arrived at the S zone, the deepest part of the snowfields. He originally planned to look for Mad Wolf and the others, but saw a crowd gathered in a certain area.
Evan Yang's spiritual sense was much stronger than normal. After spotting the crowd, he descended from the sky and approached slowly. Few in the Northsource Region knew Evan, but to avoid trouble, he disguised himself. Unless someone specifically checked, they wouldn't recognize his true face.
"So many people." Evan Yang walked in and saw that the crowd was large, and nearly all were Spirit-Wandering experts.
Evan Yang scanned the crowd but didn't see his master's wife. However, he did spot a few familiar faces.
"Situ Lan, and her master—that's them." Besides seeing some friends, Evan also spotted the sect leader of Dianxue Sect and several Spirit-Wandering experts.
They had once chased Evan Yang, even coming to his sect to find him. Back then, Evan was only in the Nascent Soul stage. Now, as a late-stage Spirit-Wandering cultivator, facing them was effortless.
Still, he didn't make a move right away and continued to observe the situation.
"She's reached the Nascent Soul stage." Evan Yang focused his spiritual sense on Situ Lan and the old witch beside her.
Seeing them muttering, Evan Yang activated his Thousand-Mile Sound to listen in.
'Master, is the ice palace really that magical?' Situ Lan asked, puzzled.
'Yes, every time the ice palace appears, strange things happen. This time is even more bizarre. If the snow beasts' battle hadn't drawn our attention, Northsource would never have known the palace appeared again—especially with that corpse and those treasures,' Situ Lan's master said.
'How much longer?' Situ Lan asked after a moment's thought, curious.
'I don't know. Several groups have already gone in. If nothing comes out soon, I'll go in myself. You stay here,' Situ Lan's master replied.
'No, I want to go in with Master,' Situ Lan shook her head stubbornly.
'I can agree to anything, but not this. Even Spirit-Wandering experts may have problems inside—you're only at Nascent Soul,' her master retorted.
Situ Lan knew her master cared for her and wouldn't let her go inside, so she quickly fell silent—but in her heart, she made other plans.
Seeing Situ Lan fall silent, her master could only shake her head helplessly.
After the two fell silent, Evan Yang turned his spiritual sense to other people, hoping to overhear something about the ice palace.