Gavin Stone, still dizzy from Evan Yang's defeat, replied, "No, I'm not the master here—I've just been trapped and can't get out."
"You can't get out? Then how did you get in?" Evan Yang asked curiously.
"Honestly, I don't know. I wandered in here a long time ago by accident, and I've had no choice but to stay. As for that so-called mirror, it's all illusions inside—I can't make any sense of it," Gavin Stone said.
"At least you're honest. Go wait over there—I need to examine the Divine Mirror," Evan Yang said.
Gavin Stone nodded and retreated to the side. Evan Yang walked up to the Spirit-End Divine Mirror, studied the illusions inside, and then, following the old man's instructions, infused his own power into the mirror. Instantly, the Divine Mirror began to shine, the light growing brighter and spreading from Spirit-End Valley to cover all of Cloud's End.
On Lock-Cloud Mountain, the hidden elder saw the radiance and exclaimed with delight, "It's finally succeeded."
Outside Spirit-End Valley, Elder Li noticed the light and looked suspicious, then was shocked. "Is Cloud's End really about to return?"
This radiance gave many in Cloud's End hope for return. Those who knew nothing about Cloud's End's origins naturally had no idea what was happening—everything proceeded according to fate. Evan Yang also received some information from the Spirit-End Divine Mirror.
When he saw that information, his face was full of confusion, but he didn't have time to study it now. He withdrew his hand, waiting for Cloud's End to return, and with his mission complete, prepared to leave.
Gavin Stone noticed the changes in the Divine Mirror and guessed what was happening. He looked at Evan Yang and said, "You came to make Cloud's End return, didn't you?" "That's right—you figured it out?" Evan asked.
"Of course I know. I've heard about it long ago—Cloud's End was forcibly dragged away from its original world," Gavin Stone said.
Evan Yang also saw some strange images in the Spirit-End Divine Mirror: the birth of Cloud's End, its disappearance from its original plane, those two terrifying eyes, and the figure standing in the void. Evan couldn't even imagine what realm such a person belonged to.
"I saw all that. Anyway, I'm leaving now. Goodbye." Evan Yang had no grudge against this beast and didn't plan to kill it—he simply let it go and left himself.
Gavin Stone watched Evan Yang disappear and muttered, "He really is a miraculous human." After mumbling, he was overjoyed, knowing his awareness could finally return to its original world.
As Evan Yang left Spirit-End Valley, he immediately spotted Elder Li staring right at him.
"What, Senior, are you still waiting for me here?" Evan Yang smiled at this man who clearly had issues with him.
"You're not from Cloud's End, are you?" Elder Li asked.
"That's right," Evan Yang replied.
"No wonder you could go in. So that's it. And you entered just for the Divine Mirror?" Elder Li asked again.
"Exactly. What, are you interested in it too?" Evan Yang asked with a smile.
"Interested? I'm absolutely fascinated! I never expected you'd actually trigger Cloud's End's return. But listen—after a year, if you haven't left Cloud's End, you'll simply disappear, because you don't belong to this world," Elder Li sneered.
Evan Yang hadn't expected that after Cloud's End returned, he wouldn't even be able to stay for a year. He looked suspiciously at Elder Li, and from his gaze, sensed that Li wanted to keep him here.
"Are you planning to detain me?" Evan Yang asked.
"Exactly. You have the Cloud! I want to control the Cloud—but I've never succeeded. Now the Cloud is sealed inside you; maybe if I experiment on you, I can figure something out," Elder Li sneered.
Evan Yang looked at Elder Li and said, "So that's it—you want to capture me and study the Cloud?"
"That's right, kid. Be smart and come with me—I might let you be a good Cloud host. But if you resist, I'll kill you right now and extract the Cloud from your body," Elder Li said, staring at Evan Yang.
"Oh? So the Cloud can be extracted?" Evan Yang asked doubtfully.
"That's right. As long as the host dies, you can just find another one," Elder Li replied.
"Then you'd better not get any ideas about me, Senior, because I won't obey you," Evan Yang said with a smile.
"You think you have the ability?" Elder Li said, reaching out to grab Evan Yang—but at that moment, Evan had already entered the pen's space, leaving Elder Li clutching only a writing brush.
"Damn it, just a brush—I don't believe I can't break it!" Elder Li snorted and tried to shatter the artifact with force, but it didn't budge or even show a mark. Seeing he couldn't succeed, he started thinking of other ways.
"Don't waste your energy—you can't break it," Evan Yang said.
"Can't break it? I don't believe that. This is the consciousness realm—artifacts here are illusory. With the right method, they can be destroyed; they're not as terrifying as in reality," Elder Li snorted.
Evan Yang realized a problem: this really was the consciousness realm. Aside from a few artifacts, most couldn't be used here—only those with their own awareness could function.
The pen had a spirit, so Evan could use it at will. But now there was a problem: if Elder Li really did find a way to break it, the pen spirit would also be affected.
Thinking of this, Evan Yang said with a smile, "So, what method do you have?"
"Of course I have a way! I'll take you to Cloud's End Palace and show you something that can destroy all illusory artifacts," Elder Li snorted.
Then Elder Li took the brush and left, while Evan Yang tried to find a way to escape—otherwise, the pen spirit might be implicated by his actions.
But Evan Yang was always lucky. As soon as Elder Li brought him to Cloud's End Palace, a voice called out, "Elder Li, my master says to let him go."
"Damn, discovered again," Elder Li cursed inwardly, but smiled outwardly. "What are you saying? I don't understand."
"The artifact—and the person inside the artifact," Mason Meng said.
Elder Li knew he still couldn't escape that person's gaze, but couldn't help being tempted: "I won't release him."
"Elder Li, are you going to ignore my master's words?" Mason Meng asked.
"He has the Cloud Parasite—I can't just let him go. Even if your master comes, I'll say the same." At this moment, Elder Li was determined: once he returned to Cloud's End Palace, he'd hide himself.
Mason Meng hadn't expected Elder Li to ignore him, so he was furious: "Elder Li, if you insist, I'll have to ask my master to intervene." "Go ahead," Elder Li replied, then disappeared, returning to Cloud's End Palace. Once there, he found a secret chamber, then a hidden tunnel, and finally arrived at a space he'd secretly created.
Inside this space, Elder Li laughed, "This place is completely isolated from the outside. I don't believe he can find it."
As long as a year passes and his awareness returns to his true body, that old man will find it even harder to locate him.
Once everything was ready, Elder Li took the Realm-Shuttle Pen to a pool. Its water looked ordinary, but as soon as he placed the pen in, Evan received a message from the Pen's Spirit: this water corrodes awareness.
If the Pen's Spirit's awareness is destroyed, the artifact will be useless, and Evan inside would be affected. Thinking of this, Evan didn't want the Pen's Spirit to disappear, so he flashed out and put the pen away. "Can't bear to part with it?" Elder Li laughed.
"That's right, I can't bear to part with it. It's not just my artifact—it's my friend. How could I let my friend suffer? Since that's the case, let's battle." Evan Yang said.
"Let's battle? Brat, you gotta be kidding. What strength do you have? What strength do I have? We're on completely different levels," Elder Li laughed wildly.
"How can you know without trying? Although you're an Immortal Sovereign, in this consciousness realm, your power is limited—it's not as terrifying as in reality, right?" Evan remembered what the Alliance Leader had told him: in the consciousness realm, Immortal Sovereigns don't actually have their real strength. So Evan realized that the person before him wasn't truly an Immortal Sovereign, just a bit stronger than a peak Immortal Lord.
"Didn't expect you to know that. Looks like you've learned a lot outside. Even so, even without Immortal Sovereign strength, I can still crush you," Elder Li sneered.
"Is that so? I hadn't realized before, but now I know—I have nothing to fear from you. Let's begin," Evan Yang said with a smile.
"Then let me see what you're capable of, daring to challenge me." Elder Li snorted, then reached out, his hand like a giant claw locking Evan Yang in its center. For the first time, Evan thought it was Immortal Sovereign power, but now he realized it was laughable. He ignited his Sacred Flame—after tempering it in the Fire Temple, his Sacred Flame was unmatched below Immortal Sovereign level.
Elder Li suffered a setback; his hand was instantly stabbed with intense pain, so he quickly released Evan Yang: "Damn it, your Sacred Flame is terrifying."
"What, surprised by my power? Now, let's see—this space is small, so how will you counterattack?" Evan Yang noted the space wasn't large, but he was agile, and his Sacred Flame could even shoot from his eyes.
Evan Yang's Sacred Flame sprayed toward Elder Li like a jet. Having suffered before, Elder Li didn't want to touch it directly, so he tried to approach Evan with speed—but Evan was even faster.
"Didn't expect your strength was just so-so. I used to worry about how powerful you were—ridiculous," Evan Yang laughed.
"Damn it, you dare mock me!" Elder Li was furious—he never expected to be mocked by an Immortal Lord. As an Immortal Sovereign, how could he tolerate this? He shouted, and with a wave of his hand, the pool water flew up.
Evan Yang knew that water wasn't ordinary—if it touched him, his awareness would be affected. So he opened his palm, sending out a ball of Ice-fire Sacred Flame that instantly froze the water.