After a brief moment of contemplation.
Ian Song decided not to wake them for now. The power of Upper Heavenly Gods was simply too great—if either of those two turned against their savior, he’d have no way to resist.
As for the Primordial Forbidden Zone scouting mission, when he was chased inside by Selena Nangong, he’d already used a recording stone to capture everything within ten li of the Zone’s edge.
There was still some time left before the mission deadline. He decided to use some gray origin liquid to boost his cultivation first, then return to Elmridge Prefecture.
Storing the two Upper Heavenly Gods’ bodies in his storage God‑ring, Ian quickly set up a formation nearby, entered it, and swallowed ten drops of gray origin liquid.
The moment the gray origin liquid entered his mouth, it transformed into streams of mysterious power that flowed down his esophagus and into his body, rapidly spreading through his limbs, bones, and even his sea of consciousness, constantly strengthening his flesh, divine power, and Divine Soul.
When the effects of the ten drops of gray origin liquid were fully spent, his body, divine power, and Divine Soul were all much stronger than before.
Ian Song exhaled softly and muttered, "I’m not far from breaking through to Upper‑Rank God. Should I just go for it?"
But he hesitated.
He’d only been in the God Realm for less than a year—jumping from Mid‑Rank God to Upper‑Rank God so soon would draw way too much attention, and might even attract greedy or hostile gods.
"Whatever. I might have to face the Owens Family head‑on someday anyway. Only by getting stronger can I survive!"
With that thought, Ian took out another ten drops of gray origin liquid and swallowed them.
This time, before the liquid’s effects were even half spent, Ian’s cultivation broke through naturally to the Upper‑Rank God realm—just like water flowing downhill.
Upper‑Rank Gods were many times stronger than Mid‑Rank Gods.
Ian threw a light punch, and a sonic boom rippled through the air—the force was seriously impressive.
"Nice!" Ian grinned in satisfaction. He was still a ways off from matching a Lower Heavenly God, but once he reached peak late‑stage Upper‑Rank God, most Lower Heavenly Gods wouldn’t be able to handle him.
Because he cultivated the Primordial Chaos Body, both his soul and flesh were way beyond his peers. So breaking through to Upper‑Rank God didn’t destabilize his foundation at all—he could keep training without any worries.
So, Ian took out more gray origin liquid and swallowed it.
Feeling his overall strength rise, he couldn’t help but stay hyped the whole time.
Over the next few days, Ian kept taking hundreds of drops of gray origin liquid.
His cultivation realm started rising at breakneck speed.
Early-stage Upper‑Rank God.
Mid-stage Upper‑Rank God.
Late-stage Upper‑Rank God.
Peak late-stage Upper‑Rank God.
When he hit peak late-stage Upper‑Rank God, Ian felt his soul was almost ready for its eleventh metamorphosis. But time was running out—only one day left until the mission handoff.
He’d finish his eleventh soul metamorphosis once he got back to Elmridge Prefecture.
Taking down the formation, Ian shot off toward Elmridge Prefecture in a streak of light.
Compared to when he first arrived, his speed had increased at least tenfold.
So in less than an hour, Elmridge Prefecture was already in sight.
Ian slowed down.
He entered the city without incident and headed straight for the God‑Demon Corps.
After submitting the mission and collecting his reward, he was about to head back to his courtyard.
But in the mission hall, Ian overheard some news.
More than ten days ago, Talon, a Four-Star God‑Demon, was killed by a mysterious person right in the city.
The higher-ups in the God‑Demon Corps were furious and outraged, since Talon was an Upper‑Rank God. For someone to kill an Upper‑Rank God so brazenly in the city was a direct provocation.
But after more than ten days, the God‑Demon Corps still hadn’t identified the mysterious killer. Ian figured even if they did, they’d probably pretend not to know—he was sure the Owens Family was behind Talon’s death.
His face darkened, and killing intent flashed in his eyes.
But he kept quiet.
He didn’t plan to tell the God‑Demon Corps higher-ups either. Even if he did, they probably wouldn’t dare offend the Owens Family for Talon’s sake—and it might even get him killed.
"Talon, don’t worry. One day, I’ll find your killer and avenge you!"
Ian promised silently, then let his expression return to normal.
He greeted a few familiar God‑Demons before heading home.
"Boss, you’re back! How’d the mission go this time?"
Nathan Southwind and the others came up to ask.
Ian nodded. "Mission went smoothly!"
"Boss, we want to join the God‑Demon Corps too!"
Nathan Southwind said, a bit shyly.
"Sure!"
Ian nodded without hesitation.
Nathan Southwind, Ethan Eastcloud, and Noah Northsky all looked excited.
They couldn’t wait. "Boss, this is great! When can we sign up?"
Ian tossed them a storage ring. "You can go anytime. Just remember—pick missions suited to your strength, and do a couple team missions first before trying solo ones."
"Got it, Boss! By the way, after you left, we checked with Lord Hu at the Ascension Platform, but still haven’t seen Hannah Murong or the others ascend."
"That’s strange."
Ian frowned. He’d been in the God Realm for over half a year; more than twenty thousand years should have passed in the Langya Immortal World. Even if Hannah Murong was badly injured, she should have recovered by now.
His masters, too, had plenty of resources and god‑grade techniques. By now, they should’ve reached the eighteenth layer of Ancestral Immortal and ascended as well. Why hadn’t they?
What Ian didn’t know was that after he left, Hannah Murong had found his parents.
The reason Hannah Murong hadn’t ascended after recovering was that she was waiting for Ian’s parents to reach the eighteenth layer of Ancestral Immortal.
His parents’ talent was only average. In over twenty thousand years, they’d barely reached the tenth layer of Ancestral Immortal—even with Hannah Murong and Ian’s masters helping as much as they could.
It would take tens of thousands more years for them to reach the fifteenth layer.
Ian worried, but he knew it was pointless. The Divine Temple couldn’t be opened, and he had no way to return to the Immortal World. If, after he opened the Divine Temple, Hannah Murong and the others still hadn’t ascended, he’d go back to check on them.
For now, he needed to enter seclusion and attempt his twelfth soul metamorphosis.
He entered his room, set up several layers of formations, and sat cross-legged on the bed. Soul metamorphosis would take a long time and couldn’t be interrupted, so he set up the formations to keep people away.
This time, instead of swallowing the gray liquid, he placed ten drops directly onto his soul.
His soul rapidly absorbed the mysterious power from the ten drops, reaching the critical point and starting to transform. Ian couldn’t interfere—he could only let his soul undergo metamorphosis on its own.