Faced with Xuanyuan Tao's threat, Sterling Ling was filled with grief and indignation, yet there was absolutely nothing he could do. If he fought head-on, what could he possibly rely on? The other side had over three hundred Ancestral Immortals. Even admitting defeat was useless, because what they wanted was the cultivation method—something he simply didn't have!
Helpless, he could only say, "Brother Xuanyuan, I am willing to swear to the heavens—my Ling Family truly did not obtain any cultivation method!"
"Really?"
For Ancestral Immortals, swearing to the Heavenly Dao is no trivial matter. By the time one reaches the Ancestral Immortal realm, they have cultivated their own Dao. If they swear an oath to the Heavenly Dao and the oath is false, the Heavenly Dao will send down a lightning tribulation.
This kind of lightning tribulation is extremely powerful—even a fifteenth-layer Ancestral Immortal might not dare to withstand it head-on. So, with Sterling Ling only at the twelfth layer, there was no way he would joke about such a thing.
Therefore, when he heard Sterling Ling was willing to swear to the Heavenly Dao, Xuanyuan Tao believed him a bit more. Still, he refused to let the matter drop, forcing Sterling Ling to swear the oath in public.
Sterling Ling felt utterly stifled, but could only face the Heavenly Dao and swear: "Today, I, Sterling Ling, swear to the Heavenly Dao—on that day, I absolutely did not obtain any cultivation method. If this is false, I am willing to cast myself into the Nine Nether Hell and never be reborn!"
When the Ancestors heard Sterling Ling's oath, they all hurried to distance themselves—just in case his vow was false and the Heavenly Dao sent down a lightning tribulation, they didn't want to get caught up in it.
"No reaction!"
After waiting a while, the sky remained perfectly clear—there was absolutely no reaction at all.
"Brother Xuanyuan, are you satisfied now?"
Sterling Ling stared at Xuanyuan Tao as he spoke.
"Haha!" Xuanyuan Tao laughed awkwardly. "Brother Ling, please forgive me—it was my mistake. I just remembered I have some matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave!"
Before he finished speaking, Xuanyuan Tao vanished from sight.
The Ancestors who had just helped destroy Ling Family buildings quickly slipped away as well, not wanting to be held accountable later. In moments, all three hundred Ancestral Immortals were gone, leaving the Ling estate in ruins.
One of the Eight Great Clans of the Purple Dragon Domain, the Ling Family had actually been wrecked like this. Not only Sterling Ling, but even the ordinary disciples felt both sorrow and hatred.
Thinking that all this happened because of a nonexistent cultivation method, and that it brought such disaster to the Ling Family, Sterling Ling hated Ian Song to the bone. He shouted, "Spread my order: Whoever kills Ian Song will be rewarded with ten Dao-Ancestral Artifacts and one ninth-grade immortal pill! Whoever captures Ian Song alive—the rewards will be doubled!"
Such generous rewards tempted even the Ling Family's own Ancestors, not to mention disciples of lower ranks.
Very soon, news of the Ling Family offering huge rewards to capture or kill Ian Song spread throughout the Purple Dragon Domain.
Xuanyuan Family.
When Xuanyuan Tao heard the news, he was annoyed—not at Sterling Ling, but at Ian Song. Both he and Sterling Ling had been misled by that brat, which was why such a huge farce had occurred.
The entire Ling Family probably hated him to death by now.
So, he ordered, "Anyone who manages to kill Ian Song will receive fifteen Dao-Ancestral Artifacts and one ninth-grade immortal pill as a reward!"
He did this partly to curry favor with the Ling Family, but there was a deeper reason: he didn't want the Ling Family to get their hands on Ian Song. He'd rather see someone else kill Ian Song than let him fall into Ling Family hands.
Once the news spread, plenty of low-tier Ancestral Immortals sprang into action.
After all, just by killing Ian Song, the rewards from the Ling and Xuanyuan Families totaled twenty-five Dao-Ancestral Artifacts and two ninth-grade immortal pills.
Dao-Ancestral Artifacts were impressive enough, but ninth-grade immortal pills were the most prestigious pills in the Immortal World. Even Ancestral Immortals benefited greatly from them, so their price was sky-high.
Ordinary Ancestral Immortals simply couldn't afford them.
Even if you could afford one, it was nearly impossible to find a place to buy it—almost no one sold ninth-grade immortal pills.
"Damn it! This is a total mess!"
Inside a tavern in a certain city, Ian Song—his appearance completely altered—looked deeply frustrated. He'd originally wanted to lure the Ancestral Immortals into attacking the Ling Family, but Sterling Ling had pulled out a Heavenly Dao oath.
Now, Immortals everywhere wanted to hunt him down. There were already hundreds of Ancestral Immortals after him, along with quite a few teams of Profound Immortals.
Of course, he wasn't afraid.
With the Transformation Divine Art, it would be very difficult for those Ancestral Immortals to find him.
Besides, he still had the Divine Temple cheat. He could travel freely—but unfortunately, using the Divine Temple to teleport consumed a huge amount of immortal stones each time, millions for a single jump, and a hundred million if crossing realms.
Luckily, his two masters had given him plenty of immortal stones, so he wasn't worried about running out.
From now on, though, he couldn't show his true face anymore.
Otherwise, the moment he appeared, he'd be besieged.
"This is so suffocating!"
Ian Song downed a mouthful of wine and muttered bitterly.
Suddenly, he thought of the senior brothers and sisters who'd betrayed him. At first, he'd been angry, but then he realized—they all depended on their clans. If they didn't bring back news like this, they'd be seen as traitors. Kathy Wenren, for example, was already branded a traitor to her family.
He still felt guilty about it, thinking he'd dragged Senior Sister Wenren into trouble.
But after all this chaos, his Prestige had skyrocketed.
To the Ancestral Immortals, he was probably just a clown. But to the Profound Immortals and Golden Immortals, it was different—he'd led a thousand Ancestral Immortals on a wild chase, and nearly got the Ling Family wiped out.
So as the story spread, countless young Immortals started to see him as an idol. To offend a thousand Ancestral Immortals—he was probably the only one in history.
Wasn't someone like that worth admiring?
His Prestige had now reached over nine billion, almost ten billion. That was enough for more than ninety lottery draws.
Since arriving in the Immortal World, he hadn't used the lottery even once.
Prestige lottery draws came in three tiers.
The lowest tier cost ten thousand Prestige per draw.
The middle tier cost a million Prestige per draw.
The top tier cost a hundred million Prestige per draw.
So far, Prestige was only useful for lottery draws. Ian decided to play a few rounds for fun.
After paying his bill, he found an inn to stay at, then entered the Divine Temple directly—mainly because he was worried he might draw something bizarre and cause a scene.
He started with a small draw.
He summoned the small draw's roulette wheel, tapped it, and the lottery began.
"Ding! Congratulations, Host, you've won one low-grade immortal stone!"
"Are you kidding me?!"
Ian Song was speechless. He'd spent ten thousand Prestige just to win a single immortal stone—what a rip-off!
Again!
"Ding! Congratulations, Host, you've won a damaged common immortal artifact!"
Ian Song rolled his eyes. A common immortal artifact was bad enough, but it was actually damaged.
I'll draw again!
Ian refused to believe he couldn't win something good.
On the third try, he won another low-grade immortal stone.
On the fourth try, he won a dudou once worn by a female Profound Immortal.
On the fifth try, he won a pair of underpants worn for ten thousand years by some male immortal.
On the sixth try, he won a first-grade immortal beast.
On the seventh try, he won a common cultivation technique.
On the eighth try, he won a wine cup.
On the ninth try, he won a mid-grade immortal stone.
On the tenth try, he won a ruined immortal pill.
After that, he gave up. He'd resigned himself to fate—the small draw simply wouldn't give out anything good.