And this wasn't even the most explosive piece of news—rumor had it that all sixty-nine Prime One Church branch altars, including the previous forty-nine, were destroyed by Ian Song, leading experts from the Divine Temple.
"Impossible! Wasn't Ian Song locked up in the Prime One Church's Demon Prison?"
Upon hearing this, someone immediately objected.
"Exactly! The Prime One Church's Demon Prison is a cage in the mortal world. Even Tribulation experts can't escape once they're locked in, let alone Ian Song. So this rumor must be nonsense!"
"Isn't it possible the Divine Temple sent experts to the Demon Prison and rescued Ian Song?" someone suggested.
The Divine Temple's reputation had already spread far and wide, but it remained shrouded in mystery—no one truly knew its real face or any extra details.
A cultivator close to the Prime One Church sneered, "It's all smoke and mirrors, just trying to attract attention. The Divine Temple may not even exist—maybe Ian Song made it up."
Many people agreed, loudly claiming the Divine Temple didn't exist. Otherwise, why wouldn't it dare to reveal itself to the world?
"Why not? For a calamity like Little Demon Song, even the Prime One Church might not be able to raise someone like him. Only a secretive force like the Divine Temple could nurture such a monster!"
Everyone agreed. As Ian Song's deeds spread, it became common knowledge that Little Demon Song had heaven-defying combat power, was a master of formations, and possessed outstanding intelligence.
Just as these two opinions clashed, a message arrived from Battlefront Province.
It turned out that the three first-rate clans in the provincial capital jointly spoke out, confirming that the Divine Temple really exists. They revealed Ian Song comes from the Formation Hall, one of the Temple's nine main halls, and confidently declared that the Divine Temple's strength is far beyond outsiders' imagination.
The words of these clan ancestors were trustworthy. Although they didn't say outright that the Divine Temple was stronger than Prime One Church, the implication was clear: the Divine Temple surpassed it.
But others pointed out: If the Divine Temple is stronger than Prime One Church, why not declare war? Clearly, its strength is inferior.
No matter how heated the debate, the Divine Temple became famous—and so did Ian Song.
As for why the three clan ancestors in Battlefront Province spoke up together, it was because Ian Song visited them, bringing a gift. Previously, to set up the ambush for Terry Xie, he had used the three families without them gaining anything.
So this time, Ian Song went to compensate them.
His compensation was to give each family a cultivation manual that could reach late Tribulation stage.
Prime One Church monopolized top-tier manuals within the Tang Dynasty, allowing it to dominate and making it hard for first-rate clans to produce Fusion-stage cultivators.
Although Ian Song's gift was meant to compensate the three clans, he was likely also planting hidden allies within Prime One Church's sphere of influence.
As soon as several late Tribulation experts appear within the Tang Dynasty, Prime One Church will find it much harder to bully the major sects.
Doesn't Prime One Church have Immortals overseeing things?
If there are Immortals present, would Tribulation experts dare to make trouble?
The answer is: yes, they would.
Ian Song had learned from a book in the Library Pavilion that Immortals can't casually act in the lower world. If they do, Heaven's Dao might notice.
Once Heaven's Dao takes notice, the Immortal will either be obliterated, or forced to ascend to the Immortal Realm.
So unless their sect faces extinction, Immortals never intervene. That's why Tribulation experts are the peak combatants of this world.
No matter how chaotic things got in the Tang Dynasty, Ian Song quietly left with his people, heading for the High Zhou Imperium.
He had no idea that Diana Toba had been running herself ragged searching for him, building up anger and worry as she failed to find him.
Meanwhile, the Fire God Church took advantage of the destroyed branch altars, quietly making moves. In just ten days, they seized ten provinces that originally belonged to Prime One Church, leaving Prime One in shock.
Prime One Church hurriedly mobilized experts to the borders.
Unfortunately, during the destruction of the branch altars, Ian Song killed more than a hundred Fusion-stage experts. Only now did Prime One realize their Fusion manpower was stretched thin.
The three great churches have a secret agreement: in territorial struggles, neither side may dispatch experts above Fusion stage. If they do, it means all-out war.
With its foundation damaged, Prime One Church didn't dare risk a death match against Fire God Church.
So while sending experts to the border, Prime One quietly sent people to negotiate with Fire God Church.
But Fire God Church was ambitious; before Prime One could reinforce its positions, Fire God Church quickly seized five more provinces.
After that, Fire God Church halted its advance.
In the end, after negotiations, Fire God Church returned three provinces but Prime One had to formally cede twelve others to Fire God Church.
News of this deal shocked the entire Tang Dynasty. Prime One Church's prestige plummeted, but they had no choice—after losing so many Fusion experts, they couldn't risk war.
Especially since Prime One made the decision without royal approval, unilaterally handing twelve provinces to Fire God Church. The Tang royal clan grew increasingly dissatisfied with Prime One.
Victor Li, acting as regent, kept silent about the matter.
He understood that the royal clan lacked top experts and couldn't compete with Prime One Church. Only when the royal clan produced late Tribulation experts would its status rise significantly.
So, no matter how much dissatisfaction he felt, he could only endure it for now.
Half a year passed in a flash.
Victor Li officially ascended the throne, becoming the new Tang Emperor, while former Emperor Leonard Li quietly entered seclusion.
Meanwhile, since Ian Song stopped stirring up trouble, talk about him gradually died down.
But half a year ago, Prime One Church secretly dispatched three Tribulation experts and a host of Fusion-stage experts to search for Ian Song and other missing beings. After checking, they found Ian had vanished from the Demon Prison, and the first and second tiers were mysteriously emptied.
Prime One suspected that not only Ian Song had escaped, but also the creatures from the first and second tiers of the Demon Prison.
The Prime One leadership was so anxious because they learned the Demon Prison had also held several inner disciples of Phoenix Heaven Church.
If Phoenix Heaven Church found out Prime One had imprisoned their disciples, it would spell big trouble.
Two spirit beast carriages sped out of a forest and landed on a wide road.
"Haha, we're finally back in High Zhou!"
Four people leaped out of the carriage, shouting in excitement.
These four were Chad Zhao, Logan Wang, Terry Zhang, and Aunt Ma—the ones Ian Song had rescued from the Demon Prison.
At that moment, another carriage opened and out stepped Ian Song, Lila Li, Wendy Lin, and Raina Quinn.