"Stop spacing out and come out already." Seeing Lauren Shell stunned, Evan Yang directly prompted her.
Lauren snapped back to herself. "You're way too fierce."
"Fierce?" Evan Yang didn't know why she described him that way, but outside, a burst of noise erupted.
"We're doomed, they've found us!" Hearing the commotion outside, Lauren Shell exclaimed in panic.
"Aside from the Hall Master, who else in Godslayer Hall is the strongest?" Evan Yang wasn't as anxious as Lauren, instead wanting to know if there were any Spirit-Wandering experts in Godslayer Hall.
"He's already the strongest. Plus, the Godslayer Dagger in his hand is similar to yours—it lets him fight close to Spirit-Wandering Realm power." Lauren answered.
"That's already the best they've got?" Evan Yang asked, puzzled.
"Isn't that strong enough?" Lauren Shell found Evan's question strange and even felt a bit contemptuous inside. "If it wasn't strong, could they dominate the Southern Sea Stone Forest?"
Just then, several people burst in from outside. All were stronger than Lauren Shell—she'd been captured by them many times before. She immediately looked at Evan Yang in alarm, hoping he could deal with them.
But unexpectedly, Evan Yang just waved his hand and those people went flying, as if it took no effort at all.
Lauren Shell froze, watching as those men, each crawling up with broken arms or legs, struggled to their feet.
Evan Yang said to them, "Go call Godslayer Hall's strongest, and bring the Godslayer Dagger with you."
Frightened by Evan Yang's strength, the men did whatever he said, quickly limping away with their injuries.
"Kid, are you crazy? Hurry up and run!" Lauren Shell, who was just relieved Evan handled the attackers so easily, now shouted loudly after hearing his words and seeing the men flee.
"Run? No need. But tell me, why does Godslayer Hall keep coming after you?" Evan Yang wasn't running—he was curious about what the Hall's people had said.
"Are you just lucky or what?" Lauren Shell stomped her foot, seeing that Evan Yang had no fear at all.
"Just say it. As for here, unless there's a Spirit-Wandering expert, there's nothing to worry about." Evan Yang replied.
Unless there's a Spirit-Wandering expert, there's nothing to worry about? What did that mean? Lauren Shell was completely confused by Evan Yang.
Confused or not, Lauren Shell—who grew up in the Southern Sea Stone Forest—knew Godslayer Hall was dangerous. She didn't care to stay any longer and immediately ran ahead, shouting, "Idiot, hurry up and go!"
"Don't run! Wait for him—I still want him to hand over the goods." Evan Yang shouted after her when he saw Lauren running away.
"What exactly are you trying to do?" Seeing Evan Yang trailing behind, Lauren Shell snapped, totally exasperated.
"I want his Godslayer Dagger," Evan Yang shouted.
Just as he stepped out, the words spread through the crowd. The newly arrived young man and everyone around exchanged bewildered looks.
Was he crazy?
Everyone here knew who held the Godslayer Dagger—and to take it, you'd have to defeat that person. That was the master of Godslayer Hall, whose strength was at Soul-Forming Great Perfection and could well break into the Spirit-Wandering Realm. Nobody dared defy him.
"You want my Godslayer Dagger? Kid, who are you really?" The young man who just arrived sneered after hearing that.
"Me? You guys used to chase me all the time, and I left you a message: help me keep the Godslayer Dagger safe." Evan Yang recalled and said.
Once Evan Yang said that, the other side quickly recognized him. "So it was you causing trouble!"
"Looks like you remember. Then bring out your Godslayer Dagger." Evan Yang grinned as the other reacted.
"I haven't even taken you down, and you want my Godslayer Dagger? You're overestimating yourself!" The young man snorted when he realized it was Evan Yang.
"Ready to fight?" Evan Yang grinned, seeing everyone getting ready to throw down.
Lauren Shell was pretty depressed—there was no way to escape now, just wait to get caught again. She knew exactly who this guy was: his strength was nearly Spirit-Wandering, way above hers.
In Lauren Shell's eyes, no matter how strong Evan Yang was, he couldn't beat that guy. So she was resigned, face gloomy, looking at Evan Yang and the Godslayer Hall Master.
"Don't do anything, let me handle this." The young man said to the crowd after hearing Evan Yang, and everyone put away their aura at his command.
"Just you?" Evan Yang said, making everyone wonder if he was nuts.
"Kid, I'm more than enough. Couldn't catch you before, but now I don't believe you can escape. Before we fight, let me introduce myself: I'm Nigel Nangong, founder of Godslayer Hall. The Godslayer Dagger you mentioned—this is it. I hear you have one too, so I'm curious to see it." The young man sneered, and to him, Evan Yang was already as good as dead.
"Yeah, I do—and not just one." Evan Yang grinned with a hint of mischief.
"Not just one? Aren't there only two?" The young man was shocked when Evan Yang said he had several.
"Two? Who said that?" Evan Yang sneered.
"Impossible! One is in my hand, the other is with that person—there can't be more!" The young man insisted, not believing it.
Evan Yang was stunned when he heard that. "Could the ninth dagger have appeared?"
"Kid, what ninth dagger, what number? Don't try to fool me!" The young man didn't get what Evan Yang meant and snorted.
"Doesn't matter which number—just hand yours over." Evan Yang snapped out of it, grinned, and in a flash moved so fast no one could see clearly. Even the young man only saw a blur appear in front of him. When he realized what happened, the Godslayer Dagger in his hand was gone.
"Nice, they're exactly the same." Evan Yang smiled after inspecting the dagger, then put it away.
Everyone was stunned, no one dared say a word—except the young man, who stared at Evan Yang in terror. "You...Spirit-Wandering Realm?"
Spirit-Wandering Realm—those words struck everyone like thunder, and they all backed away.
Lauren Shell pinched herself, then shouted, "Kid, you're really at Spirit-Wandering Realm?"
"Yeah." Evan Yang nodded.
With Evan Yang's confirmation, everyone scattered, afraid he'd punish them. In their hearts, they cursed their luck—how did they run into a Spirit-Wandering expert today?
Nigel Nangong looked worse than anyone—his treasure had just been snatched away. He'd wanted to teach Evan Yang a lesson, but now he was the one being taught. Others could escape, but he was locked in place by Evan Yang's divine sense.
"Tell me, who else have you seen with this kind of dagger?" Evan Yang got the eighth dagger and heard news of a ninth, and couldn't help but ask.
"A Spirit-Wandering expert like you, but he's secluded somewhere. I don't know where, but someone by your side does." Nigel Nangong pointed straight at Lauren Shell.
Evan Yang looked curiously at Lauren Shell. "You know?"
"You mean the Godslayer Dagger?" Lauren Shell snapped out of it and looked at Evan Yang before asking.
"Yeah, that's what you all call the Godslayer Dagger." Evan Yang knew the dagger they talked about was the same one.
"I do, but it's dangerous. Only I know how to get there." Lauren Shell answered after a moment's thought.
Just then, Nigel Nangong suddenly attacked Evan Yang.
Evan Yang had five hundred strands of divine sense—just one was enough to know what Nigel Nangong was planning. The moment Nigel moved, Evan Yang punched him hard. Nigel screamed, and even his primordial spirit was destroyed in a single blow.
"I was going to let you go, but you tried a sneak attack." Evan Yang withdrew his hand and looked at Nigel Nangong's corpse, sighing.
With just one blow, Evan Yang settled the Godslayer Hall Master. Not only were the distant Godslayer Hall members shocked, even Lauren Shell was stunned, staring at Evan Yang.
"This place isn't great. Let's go for a walk outside," Evan Yang said to Lauren Shell, now that he'd handled the hall master and gotten the eighth dagger.
Lauren Shell followed close behind Evan Yang. The people lurking in the shadows didn't dare make a sound, afraid Evan Yang might turn around and deal with them too.
Once Evan Yang and Lauren Shell had gone far enough, the others finally stepped up to check. After confirming the Godslayer Hall Master was dead, they started madly fighting over the treasures in the main hall.
"That's humanity for you," Evan Yang sighed, seeing what happened afterward.
"What's wrong?" Lauren Shell asked, curious after hearing Evan Yang's sigh.
"Nothing. Just saw some people's true nature. So, tell me—how did Godslayer Hall track you, and who is 'that person'?" Evan Yang didn't mention what he saw, but asked directly.
"It started when I went treasure hunting with some people. I made it back safely, but the others died. Because of my Sea-Beast Whip, Godslayer Hall found out I'd been there and kept hounding me, hoping I'd reveal the exact route to that place," Lauren Shell sighed.
"Treasure hunting? Then who is the person he mentioned?" Evan Yang, hearing it was about treasure hunting, pressed for the identity of the one with the ninth dagger.
"A sea beast, already at Spirit-Wandering Realm. Before Godslayer Hall was founded, he was the strongest around here. Later, he went treasure hunting—the same place I went—and disappeared, never came back. Some say he died, others say he's secluded," Lauren Shell explained.
"So he's probably secluded, right?" Evan Yang recalled Nigel Nangong's words—the person was Spirit-Wandering Realm and secluded, and only Lauren Shell knew.
Lauren Shell nodded. "Yeah, he's secluded there. Nobody bothers him. When I saw him, I was scared out of my wits, but luckily he let me go."
"Where is that place? Can you take me there?" Evan Yang, hearing the man spared Lauren Shell, didn't think he was evil, so he really wanted to meet him and see the ninth dagger. After all, with ten daggers, missing one means they can't be used; Evan Yang naturally hoped to collect all ten and see what a complete set would be like.