Old Venom glared at Evan Yang, his hatred for him now absolute. If Evan hadn't meddled, he wouldn't have gone against the Fenn Family, nor would he have been severely injured by Patriarch Fenn, forcing him to hide on this planet to recover.
"Don't look at me like that. Your disciple and those Sevenmile Peak lords have all been subdued by me. I advise you to just talk—who knows, maybe I'll be kind enough to let you go someday." Evan Yang said with a smile.
"You... damn it, you've been scheming against me all along!" Old Venom snapped.
"Wrong. I was originally scheming against the Fenn Family. I didn't expect you to show up, so I let you two fight it out. Who could have guessed Patriarch Fenn was hiding such terrifying strength?" Evan explained.
"You—" Old Venom glared.
"Honestly, you shouldn't worry about that map anymore. The Three Palaces and Patriarch Fenn have already joined forces, contributed their fragments, and are calling for anyone with the full map to assemble and find the Immortal Gate entrance. Once you reach the Pseudo-Immortal Stage, you can go with them. Evan Yang smiled.
"Why are you telling me all this?" Old Venom growled.
"I'm telling you because there's nothing left between us to resent. The map's not worth obsessing over anymore. As long as you reach the Pseudo-Immortal Stage, you can join the Fenns and enter the Immortal Gate with them." Evan Yang smiled.
"Do you take me for a fool? Patriarch Fenn is a monster—he'd never let me go. Besides, I'm still thousands of years away from the Pseudo-Immortal Stage. You really think they'll wait that long? All of this is your fault." Old Venom snorted coldly.
"I haven't reached the Pseudo-Immortal Stage either, so of course I'm not contributing my fragment. You get what I mean, right?" Evan Yang smiled.
Old Venom was startled by Evan Yang's words. He looked at Evan and asked, "What do you mean?"
"What I mean is, I'll only join my map fragment with theirs once I reach the Pseudo-Immortal Stage. Do you really think I'll reach the Pseudo-Immortal Stage before you do?" Evan Yang smiled.
"Why did you spare my life?" Old Venom wasn't stupid—he knew Evan could have killed him, yet here he was, alive.
"You're smart. But let me tell you, I have a grudge with the Fenns, and I bet you do too. Even if you wanted to make peace, Patriarch Fenn probably wouldn't agree. So it's simple: with a common enemy, if I let you go, I've got another partner." Evan Yang smiled, secretly amused: "Let you two fight it out—your poison is still useful to me."
Old Venom believed Evan's words. If he could leverage his own advantages, he could fight Patriarch Fenn. As long as he survived, he'd have a chance to go to the Immortal Gate when all the map fragments came together.
"Well? You can agree or refuse." Evan Yang smiled.
"Fine, I agree." Old Venom said.
"You're a Nine Tribulations Realm cultivator, so I'm still a bit uneasy about letting you go. How about this—offer up your soul." Evan Yang said.
"What?" Old Venom exclaimed.
"It's simple. Just give me a wisp of your soul." Evan Yang smiled.
Evan Yang suddenly produced a Soul-Locking Urn in his hand. Back on the continent, people used this kind of item to control others from below, preventing rebellion.
Evan Yang put it to use, and Old Venom had no choice but to comply, offering up a wisp of his soul. Evan smiled, "Relax. I won't threaten you for no reason. As long as you don't do anything that displeases me, you'll be fine."
"What counts as 'displeasing you'?" Old Venom asked angrily.
"Simple. Don't betray me or cause me harm—including my friends and family." Evan Yang smiled.
"So basically, I'm your henchman now? At your beck and call?" Old Venom said angrily.
"You can always choose death instead." Evan Yang smiled.
"Do I really have a choice?" Of course Old Venom didn't want to die, so he could only reply helplessly.
Seeing Old Venom finally give in, Evan Yang smiled. "Alright, back to our topic. Where's the person I asked for earlier?"
"He's in my space ring," Old Venom replied.
Evan Yang released Old Venom, who then took out his space ring. Elder Liu emerged from inside.
Evan Yang smiled. "All good."
"You!" Elder Liu was shocked. He recognized Evan Yang—this was the man who killed his grandson, Mason Liu, forcing him to use Mason's soul to create a new body.
"Looks like your soul is still intact. Your body may have changed, but you still recognize me." Evan Yang smiled.
"Damn you, I'm going to kill you!" Elder Liu shouted angrily. Old Venom just stood by, waiting to see Elder Liu suffer.
Evan Yang sighed. "Someday I'll take you back to the Fiend Palace and hand you over to the Palace Lord. That would be best."
"What do you mean?" Elder Liu stopped in surprise.
"No need to explain. Just clean up." Evan Yang smiled, then sealed Elder Liu, who stared at Evan in terror.
Evan Yang tossed him straight into the tower, then said to Old Venom, "The Sevenmile Peak disciples still need your intimidation."
"Why don't you intimidate them yourself?" Old Venom knew exactly what Evan meant—he wanted Old Venom to drive off the Sevenmile Peak people.
"I'm not as famous as you." Evan Yang smiled. So Old Venom followed him, unable to resist under Evan's control. After gathering all the beast cores, Old Venom left with Evan, a little disgruntled.
On the way, Evan Yang said, "Once you're done intimidating them, you can come back here to cultivate. But you're not allowed to disturb anyone else on this planet."
"What do you mean?" Old Venom grumbled, reluctant.
"Because I grew up on this planet, I won't let anyone destroy it—or hurt my friends. And you don't know who my friends are. If you kill the wrong person, you know what happens." Evan Yang said.
"You—" Old Venom was frustrated. That meant he couldn't touch anyone on the planet. If he accidentally harmed one of Evan's friends, he'd break their agreement.
(Irrelevant system message skipped.)
"So I'll remind you—don't hurt anyone else. Just rest and recover here. When you're better, you can go hassle the Fenns. As for the Immortal Gate, I won't contribute my map fragment until I reach the Pseudo-Immortal Stage, so just focus on healing and cultivating." Evan Yang smiled.
Evan Yang's words reassured Old Venom. After all, Evan was only at the Nine Tribulations Realm; reaching the Pseudo-Immortal Stage was even further away for him than for Old Venom.
Seeing Old Venom settle down, Evan Yang smiled and led him to the rendezvous spot. A crowd of Sevenmile Peak people had gathered there. When they saw Old Venom, they were especially respectful. Old Venom was surprised that Evan had managed to gather them all—maybe even his own disciples had suffered.
Evan Yang sent a voice transmission to Old Venom: "Go ahead. Tell them to leave. They shouldn't stay here anymore."
Old Venom looked at the crowd and said, "Everyone from Sevenmile Peak, thank you for your hard work these years. I don't need beast cores anymore, so you can leave the planet—go wherever you want. From now on, Sevenmile Peak is no more."
His words immediately stirred up a commotion among the crowd below.
Then, under Evan Yang's instructions, Old Venom announced, "From now on, no one is allowed to harm the people, spirit beasts, or anything on this planet. Any violation will be punished by death."
Everyone was shocked—how had things changed so suddenly? But the facts were clear: if they didn't obey, they'd die. One after another, they agreed to comply.
Once everything was settled, Old Venom told them to leave, then turned to Evan Yang. "Satisfied now?"
"That's more like it. If I didn't mind killing so many, they'd all be dead already." Evan Yang smiled.
"True enough. Be careful—if you kill too many, you'll suffer during your tribulation." Old Venom snorted coldly.
"Don't worry about me. Go back and rest up. I look forward to the day you cause trouble for the Fenns." Evan Yang smiled.
"That's none of your concern. I'll go, and when the Immortal Gate opens, I'll be there too." Old Venom snorted, then left for the Thieves' Sect, disgruntled.
The continent began its withdrawal on all fronts. The Sevenmile Peak forces that once opposed the continent dispersed, each going their own way and avoiding conflict with the locals.
Evan Yang rode a Firebird to the big city and spread the news: the invaders had withdrawn. At first, few believed it, so the cities stayed quiet—but after a few days...