Dogwood God Nation, over a thousand cities, within the Governor's Mansion, a small courtyard.
A middle-aged man in a blue robe strode out, his expression indifferent as he looked at the intruder. The other’s aura was only at early Void Realm, but to have snuck in here—he had to admit, that took some skill.
"I am Ian Song. Greetings, Governor Lin!"
Even with his figure exposed, Ian Song showed no sign of panic, remaining perfectly calm.
Liam Lin’s face showed a touch of interest. "Tell me—what did you go through all this trouble to sneak in here for? If you can’t give me a good reason, I’ll have to punish you!"
Liam Lin’s words carried an air of superiority. Clearly, he didn’t take Ian Song seriously—the gap between them was just too great.
"I have a secret art. I came to ask Governor Lin to appraise it." Ian Song remained calm.
Hearing this, Liam Lin was momentarily stunned, then burst out laughing. "Hahaha! You little thief, you really don’t know your place. It’s one thing to break into my mansion, but you actually dare to challenge me?"
"Why not?"
Ian Song replied in a deep voice.
"Fine! If you want to shake a tree like an ant, I’ll give you a chance! But…" At this, Liam Lin’s face turned cold. "If you can’t satisfy me, don’t blame me for shattering your soul and destroying your true spirit!"
"Please!"
Ian Song gestured for him to proceed.
"Heh!"
Liam Lin laughed in exasperation and stood with his hands behind his back. "Go ahead, then. Show me what you’ve got!"
"Governor Lin, be careful!"
After a brief warning, Ian Song released a flash of divine light from his brow, shooting straight toward Liam Lin’s forehead.
"Soul-type divine ability?"
Liam Lin looked amused. The other actually wanted to use a soul-type ability against him—did he not know how vast the gap was between the Void Realm and the Ancestral Realm souls?
So he didn’t resist at all, letting the divine light enter his sea of consciousness.
Seeing this, Ian Song was genuinely surprised, but quickly realized that Liam Lin simply didn’t take him seriously.
"Governor Lin, you’re really too arrogant!"
Ian Song said meaningfully.
Before he finished speaking, the divine light that had entered Liam Lin’s sea of consciousness suddenly flared, freezing Liam’s inner world in an instant—even his Divine Soul was immobilized.
"How... how is this possible!"
Liam Lin cried out in horror. He found he couldn’t control his own Divine Soul. But at his level, even his body had developed its own spirituality, and sensing his soul was in danger, it stepped forward and threw a punch.
Bang!
Ian Song met the punch head-on.
The two fists collided in midair with a tremendous crash. Space shook, and fine cracks appeared.
Ian Song retreated two steps.
Liam Lin, meanwhile, only retreated a single step.
"Damn it!"
In that instant, Liam Lin realized that this Void Realm wasn’t ordinary—not only did he possess a bizarre soul-type ability, but his strength wasn’t far off Liam’s own at Ancestral third-layer.
He’d underestimated him.
For a moment, regret filled his heart—but it was too late.
He reached into the void, and a black spear appeared in his hand. But just as he was about to strike, his body suddenly shuddered and froze in place.
Ian Song’s Soul-Seizure Divine Art had already completely seized his Divine Soul. With his soul now in control of his body and the body’s own spirituality suppressed, Liam Lin could no longer even form the thought of attacking Ian.
Ian Song’s so-called soul seizure was different from ordinary body seizure.
Ordinary body seizure destroys the opponent’s Divine Soul to claim their body. But Ian’s method seizes their thoughts, making them absolutely and completely obedient inside and out.
It’s somewhat similar to puppet mastery, but puppet mastery can be broken by someone stronger than Ian Song. This soul-seizure, though—even the strongest can’t break free.
Just then—
The Governor’s Mansion guards were alarmed and rushed over.
"Nothing’s wrong here. All of you, return to your posts!"
Liam Lin said calmly.
At once, the guards all withdrew.
Ian Song didn’t linger in the mansion. With Liam Lin’s soul seized, he could now directly read his memories.
After resting for a night in Millhaven City, Ian set out for Dogwood God Nation’s second major city.
From Liam Lin’s memories, he learned that Drakefall City’s governor was Brandon Lian. This man was no ordinary figure—he was the Dogwood King’s younger brother, his cultivation had reached Ancestral second-layer, but his combat power was so fierce he could slay even Ancestral fourth-layer experts.
In the last national war, he led the army to break the enemy lines, and in a two-on-one fight, killed both an Ancestral second-layer and an Ancestral third-layer, suffering only minor injuries himself. So even Liam Lin had no chance against Brandon Lian.
Meanwhile—
From Liam Lin’s memories, Ian Song also learned that the Primordial Chaos Continent was a hub connecting many chaos universes; through it, one could reach countless chaotic worlds.
Therefore—
Many of the beings living on the Primordial Chaos Continent actually came from various chaos worlds.
However—
To enter here from a chaos universe, even a peak Holy Emperor, if lucky, could cross the Chaos Death Zone and arrive.
But to return the other way, not even an Ancestral ninth-layer peerless powerhouse could re-enter a chaos universe; only those who had reached the Chaos Realm could do so.
Still, unless they had special reasons, Chaos Realm experts wouldn’t enter a chaos universe—because to them, the Primordial Chaos Continent was the best place for them. The chaos universes simply couldn’t contain such supreme beings who could transform into chaos itself.
For a moment—
Ian Song couldn’t help but wonder again: could the creator of the System be a Chaos Realm supreme?
Thinking of this—
Ian Song asked Meowu again.
Unfortunately, Lord Meow's attitude was getting more and more arrogant, completely ignoring Ian.
This made Ian suspect that the so-called system spirit might actually be a split soul of the system’s creator.
"Stop guessing. I was created too!"
Meowu suddenly spoke up.
"Damn, you stupid cat finally spoke! Quick, is the system’s creator really a Chaos Realm supreme?"
"Why rush? If you succeed in this mission, won’t you get your answer?"
Meowu was as infuriating as ever.
Ian couldn’t be bothered to ask further, and sped toward Drakefall City.
Within a day, he arrived at Drakefall City.
Compared to Millhaven, Drakefall felt much more prosperous.
After a round of exploration, Ian figured out the direction of the Governor’s Mansion. He also learned that Brandon Lian was quite confident in his strength, and every few days, he would go drinking at a certain tavern in the city.
It had been six days since Brandon Lian last visited, so by this calculation, within three days he would appear at the tavern again.
With that, Ian could set things up in advance and wait for Brandon Lian to walk right into his trap.