The Flame Behemoth knew it was only a short distance away, while up above, Ember Yang was still trapped by that strange artifact, her strength slowly being drained. He had to alert Evan Yang immediately.
So, with a single determination—that even if he died dragging his body, he had to reach that small hill—he charged forward. Seeing the heavily injured Flame Behemoth still so persistent, the man couldn't help but click his tongue. "Tsk tsk, if only I had such a loyal pet. But I need your inner core even more."
As he finished speaking, he flashed onto the Flame Behemoth’s back and struck hard. The blow dealt massive damage, tearing off many scales and sending the beast crashing into the small hill with a thunderous bang.
Inside the pocket space beneath the hill, Evan Yang and his companions naturally sensed the impact. Evan opened his eyes, muttering, "What was that sound?"
Curious, Evan Yang got up. At this moment, the Dream Deity also arrived and asked, "What happened?"
"No idea," Evan Yang shook his head.
"I thought you were cultivating," said the Dream Deity.
"No, that impact was huge. Let's go take a look," Evan Yang said. He and the Dream Deity went outside, just in time to see someone about to dig out the Flame Behemoth’s inner core.
Both the Dream Deity and Evan Yang were shocked. In a flash, Evan appeared beside the man and threw a punch.
He moved so fast that the man barely had time to react before being knocked away.
"Damn it, how dare you ruin my plans!" The man crawled up from the side, fuming.
Evan Yang ignored him and turned to the Flame Behemoth, channeling Heaven-Cold qi as he asked, "What happened to you?"
"The Fire Phoenix... the Fire Phoenix..." The Flame Behemoth was so weak it could barely speak, but at the mention of Ember Yang, Evan immediately sensed something was wrong. "What about her?"
With the Heaven-Cold qi infused, the Flame Behemoth improved a bit and said, "Golden Heaven Temple people came above. They bound the Fire Phoenix and want to take her inner core."
"Damn it, who dares!" Evan Yang roared. Even the man who was about to attack Evan was startled—Evan's voice was more terrifying than the Flame Behemoth's. In his heart, he wondered who this man really was.
The Dream Deity was furious as well. She immediately drew her bow and fired at the man, while Evan Yang quickly stored the Flame Behemoth in a pocket space. Together, they surged up through the water toward the surface.
On the surface, Leon Li and the others were laughing as they watched Ember Yang's painful struggle. At that moment, a streak of light shot out from the water, and everyone saw one of their own blasted into the sky by a powerful force.
This immediately drew suspicious looks from everyone. Seeing the man's agonized expression and his body stiffly thrown high before crashing down, someone exclaimed in shock, "That's one of ours!"
Leon Li's face changed dramatically. "Everyone, be careful!"
"Careful of what? Me? Damn you, all of you deserve to die!" Evan Yang, his fury boiling over, flashed behind Leon Li. He hadn't been this angry in ages. To Evan, Ember Yang was like his own daughter—seeing others torture her for her core was utterly unforgivable.
Before Leon Li could react, Evan Yang punched him in the back, slamming him face-first onto the water. The other three were shocked and prepared to act, but the Dream Deity already had her divine bow ready—her rapid, powerful shots kept them from approaching.
Evan Yang flashed to the Thousandfold Shackles, seeing Ember Yang covered in blood. His eyes burned with rage as he asked, "Are you alright?"
"Dad, you finally came. I'm fine," Ember Yang managed a weak smile, then fainted—trusting completely that her father would protect her now that he was here.
Evan Yang said softly, "Sleep well. I'll make them pay for what they've done to you."
Evan Yang drew the Soul-Devouring Divine Sword and slashed apart the Thousandfold Shackles. The furious Leon Li, returning, hesitated when he saw Evan cut through the shackles with his sword.
Ember Yang, restored to her usual form, fell into Evan Yang's arms, soothed by him. Evan placed Ember into a treasure, telling Lynn Lin and the others to watch over her.
Evan Yang, his eyes blazing with fury, stared at Leon Li. "You're from Golden Heaven Temple."
"Who are you? Why are you ruining my plans?" Leon Li demanded.
"Reverend Fang Buyi of Golden Heaven Temple—his soul is right here. What do you think?" Evan Yang held up the Soul-Devouring Divine Sword, with Reverend Fang's soul hovering above the blade.
Reverend Fang Buyi, seeing the vice sect master, cried out in delight, "Vice Sect Master, save me!"
“Fang Buyi, just what kind of monster did you provoke? That aura is terrifying, and that last attack—even though it was just a simple blow—my back feels like it’s about to snap.” Seeing Fang Buyi, Leon Li was deeply shocked, his eyes burning with disbelief as he stared at Evan Yang and Fang Buyi.
The other three, locked down by the Dream Deity’s aim, didn’t dare act rashly. Evan Yang glanced at the silent Leon Li and asked, “What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue? Let me tell you, none of you are escaping your fate today! I want every one of your souls!”
“Kid, you’re too arrogant!” Leon Li snorted coldly when he heard this.
Evan Yang was still furious. Before Leon Li could finish, he flashed to Leon’s side again. Leon was shocked and hurriedly tried to block Evan’s attack.
When Evan’s attack didn’t succeed, he transformed on the spot—a green-skinned monster appeared before Leon Li. Even the Dream Deity was startled, and Evan’s aura surged to a terrifying level.
Leon Li’s face changed dramatically. He realized Evan Yang was beyond his imagination and had to escape. But just as he tried to move, Evan smashed him in the back again.
Leon was struck again, this time suffering serious injuries and coughing up blood.
“This is just the beginning. I’m going to shatter every bone in your body.” Evan grabbed Leon Li and unleashed a furious barrage of punches. The three other monks were horrified—Evan Yang had completely surpassed their understanding. As for Leon, their vice sect master, they knew how powerful he was, yet he was being pummeled like this.
Leon Li cursed inwardly that he hadn’t managed to activate his Heavenly Dao Intent before being smashed by Evan. That’s the tragedy of having half a foot in the Heavenly Dao—he couldn’t unleash it instantly, it had to be condensed. But before he could even gather it, Evan, in his fury, crushed him to pieces.
Finally, only a tattered soul remained, glaring at Evan Yang. “You can’t escape. Golden Heaven Temple will hunt you to the ends of the earth.”
“Bring it on! Worst case, I’ll wipe out your Golden Heaven Temple!” Evan roared.
Evan’s words were so outrageous Leon Li and the others couldn’t believe how terrifying he truly was. But at that moment, Evan threw Leon’s soul into the Soul-Devouring Divine Sword, then swept his gaze over the remaining three. “You’re next.”
“Let me handle it. You need to withdraw that power now,” the Dream Deity said, noticing Evan’s aura was growing unstable. Evan nodded. He knew he’d lost control in his rage and transformed without thinking, which had damaged his body. So he followed the Dream Deity’s advice and withdrew the power, but kept the surrounding domain barrier active to prevent the three from escaping.
Evan instructed the Dream Deity, “Shoot them dead, but leave their souls.”
“No problem,” replied the Dream Deity. Now returned to her true body, she was far stronger than when she’d possessed someone else.
The Dream Deity drew her bow; the three monks panicked, searching for a place to hide. They’d lost all courage to fight—Evan Yang had scared them senseless.
This made it easy for the Dream Deity to pick them off one by one. Their bodies fell, and Evan used the Soul-Devouring Divine Sword to collect their souls.
Glaring at the three, Evan coldly asked, “How did you find this place?”
One of them replied fearfully, “The vice sect master used our sect’s Tracking Mirror to locate you.”
“Tracking Mirror? What’s that?” Evan asked.
“It records all of our sect’s divine artifacts. Since you took the Heaven-Seeking Compass, you were bound to be tracked,” the monk explained, his voice tinged with resignation.
“So where’s the Tracking Mirror?” Evan pressed.
“It’s with the vice sect master—on him, I think,” the monk replied.
Evan extracted the three souls, then swept his gaze around and soon found the vice sect master’s shattered body floating in the bloody water.
He flashed over, searched the corpse, and found a strange mirror on Leon Li’s chest.
“So this is the Tracking Mirror?” Evan muttered suspiciously.
“Looks like it. That’s the Tracking Mirror, used to record divine artifacts. Golden Heaven Temple must use it to track their treasures,” the Dream Deity said.
“Is that so? Good. Let’s see how I’ll seize all of Golden Heaven Temple’s divine artifacts.” Even after killing Leon Li, Evan was still not satisfied. He figured Leon must have already contacted the Golden Heaven Temple, so instead of waiting for them to come, he’d rather go to them himself.
The Dream Deity was shocked to hear Evan say he wanted to go to Golden Heaven Temple. “No way—you know they have a true Heavenly Dao expert. Even if you transform like before, it won’t be enough.”
“I have plenty of ways to escape. I don’t believe a Heavenly Dao cultivator can guard me all day long,” Evan replied.
Seeing Evan so determined, the Dream Deity knew she couldn’t change his mind. “Fine, I’ll go with you.”
“You?” Evan was surprised the Dream Deity would accompany him.
“You’ve helped me so much already. It’s my turn to repay you. Besides, I want something from Golden Heaven Temple, too,” the Dream Deity said.
Evan didn’t know what she was after, but nodded. “Alright. Let me heal Ember and the Flame Behemoth first—once they’re recovered, we’ll head out.”
“Okay.” The Dream Deity nodded.
Back in the underwater space, Evan brought out Ember Yang and the Flame Behemoth. Thanks to previous injections of Heaven-Cold qi, the Flame Behemoth was conscious, but Ember remained unconscious.
“Heal the Fire Phoenix first,” the Flame Behemoth said when it saw Evan about to treat them both at once.
Looking at the Flame Behemoth, Evan said, “Thank you. If not for you, I might never have known she was in danger.”
“It’s what I should do,” replied the Flame Behemoth.
Evan hadn’t expected the Flame Behemoth to be so sentimental. He’d thought it only followed him out of fear, but now he realized the beast saw him and his companions as true friends—and that, too, was a kind of rebirth.