After arriving at Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion, Evan Frost and his companions didn’t linger. Snow Lin was now the Pavilion Master and treated Evan with great respect. She wanted him to stay another day, but Evan insisted the matter was urgent and declined, saying he needed to head for Monster Beast Forest.
He also told her not to spread word of his affairs. Snow Lin took his words to heart. Evan had originally wanted the Violet Thunder Fox to travel back with them to Monster Beast Forest, but because of the rush, he left without summoning her.
After passing through the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion’s teleportation gate, Evan and his group arrived at the Western Beast King Hall. This time, the monster-beast guards didn’t act rashly as they had before, since Evan had left a deep impression on them last time. Many recognized him now, and with Luna Chu and Skylar Yule present, there was no chance of misunderstandings.
Heaven Ape quickly learned of Evan’s arrival. After Evan explained his intentions, Heaven Ape said, “Sect Master, let me escort you out together with Elder Joan He. In Monster Beast Forest, you might encounter some reckless beasts that could cause unnecessary trouble. With me here, that can be avoided.”
“Then I’ll trouble you, Old Ape. Let’s go! We’ll head out now,” Evan said.
Heaven Ape also knew about the passage leading from Monster Beast Forest to the Mermaid Kingdom. With two guides, Evan felt much more at ease.
Immediately, Evan and the others flew toward the passage out of the forest, with Heaven Ape naturally leading the way at the front.
After flying for a whole day and night, they arrived at the location of the passage, resting twice along the way since Luna Chu and Skylar Yule weren’t very strong and needed to recover their Stellar Power.
The passage lay at the foot of a mountain. Heaven Ape said, “Sect Master, you need to break the restriction to pass through. With your current strength, it’s as easy as flipping your hand. Just strike it with force and the barrier will open.”
This restriction was probably left by your people back then. The stronger your attack, the longer the passage stays open. With your power, you should be able to let everyone pass through easily.
After hearing Heaven Ape’s explanation, Evan understood. He looked at the mountain wall ahead and asked, “Where’s the passage? There aren’t any special markings here.”
“Sect Master, just scan with your divine sense. Wherever you sense energy fluctuations, that’s the entrance. We’ll escort you only this far—take care! I hope you can complete your mission soon. I’m waiting for the day we go together to the Divine Battlefield.” Heaven Ape said.
“Sect Master, remember to come back early—Frostbane Sect’s burdens are on your shoulders. Don’t forget about that dark organization; if it rises again, it’ll be real trouble,” Joan He reminded.
“Got it. You two head back. Stay in touch from time to time—if anything happens, we can solve it together.” With that, Evan unleashed a Demon-Breaking Fist, infused with Fivefold Element-Shift power, shaking the surrounding space.
A thunderous boom echoed from the mountain wall in front of Evan, and a massive passage appeared before everyone. Evan knew the passage they saw was actually an illusion—a special kind of teleportation gate.
This teleportation gate didn’t need Starstones for energy but was powered by attack force—the stronger the attack, the greater the energy, and the longer the gate stayed open. Just as Heaven Ape had explained.
“Let’s go!” Evan said, striding into the passage without looking back.
Claire Ouyang, Luna Chu, and Skylar Yule followed him in. About half a minute later, the passage trembled violently and a powerful pulling force surged through. The four of them vanished instantly.
After the four left, the passage slowly closed and the mountain wall returned to normal. Without knowing a hidden teleportation gate was here, no one would ever think to scan an ordinary cliff face with divine sense.
The pulling force inside the passage was nothing to the four of them. Before long, they were transported out, but the place they arrived was not the same valley in the Azure Tide Ruins where they had entered before. Everything felt completely unfamiliar.
Evan looked around and said, “Where are we? It doesn’t seem like we ended up in that valley in the Mermaid Kingdom.”
Claire Ouyang wasn’t familiar with the Mermaid Kingdom either. As a princess, she rarely traveled, so she shook her head at the unfamiliar surroundings. “I don’t know either. But since we’ve come out, we must have left the Azure Tide Ruins. Let’s see if there’s a town nearby and ask around.”
“That’s all we can do. Let’s go!” Evan said, and the four of them took to the skies again. The area was mountainous, but the peaks weren’t high. After a short flight, they reached a plain.
“Look, there’s a town up ahead. Should we check it out?” Claire Ouyang suggested.
When they were about two li from the town, Evan and the others landed in a secluded spot before strolling openly onto the main road.
There weren’t many travelers on the road. Soon, Evan’s group arrived at the town gate, where dozens of guards stood watch. The sight struck them as odd.
“Hey, you four—get over here for inspection!” barked a guard, his face full of arrogance.
Evan glanced at the guards—the strongest among them was only at the first layer of the Earth Martial Realm. Utterly unimpressive. Still, he held back and walked over.
“Where are you from? What brings you to Moonrise City? Are you Blackmount Kingdom spies? If you don’t explain yourselves, none of you are leaving,” the guard demanded.
“Blackmount Kingdom? Never heard of it. Officer, which empire is this?” Evan asked.
“Hahaha! That’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard all day. You don’t even know where you are? How did you get here? Stop playing dumb—admit you’re from Blackmount Kingdom!” the guard snapped.
“We really don’t know. We’ve never heard of Blackmount Kingdom. But if you tell me which empire Moonrise City belongs to, this high-grade Starstone is yours as a reward,” Evan said, producing a high-grade Starstone.
“A Starstone? You actually have a Starstone? Good! Very good!” The guard grinned, then waved to the others. “Men, arrest these four! How dare you try to gather intel in Moonspirit Kingdom—you think a mere Starstone will buy you information?”
Evan and his companions were utterly confused—was this guy an idiot? None of what he said made any sense. But several guards were already rushing over…