Ian Song's gaze fell upon the jade bracelet. The moment he saw the formation runes carved onto its surface, his eyes narrowed in interest, and he couldn't help but feel tempted. Staring at the middle-aged Daoist nun, he said, "I can teach you an immortal cultivation method, but you must never betray me for the rest of your life. Can you do that?"
"I can."
Grace Jing couldn't help but rejoice. Nowadays, the Mystic Maiden Sect had already fallen to the ranks of third-rate sects, and since all their disciples possessed the traits of cauldrons, in order to preserve their lineage, they were forced to send some beautiful disciples out to become playthings for others. In short, the Mystic Maiden Sect had been struggling to survive for years.
Becoming Ian Song's servant might be a major sacrifice, but for the Mystic Maiden Sect, it was a chance to escape their current humiliating predicament.
Over the years, she had desperately searched for traces of immortal cultivators, but hadn't found a single one. That showed just how precious true cultivators were. So, becoming a cultivator's servant was nothing shameful at all.
"Raise your head!" Ian Song commanded.
"Yes!"
Grace Jing lifted her head, nervously looking at Ian Song.
The next moment, Ian Song pressed a finger to her brow, then activated Puppet Mastery Divine Art.
After a brief daze, Grace Jing's eyes regained clarity. She respectfully kowtowed to Ian Song and said, "Grace Jing greets Master!"
"Mm!"
Ian Song nodded, then sent a strand of Radiance of Life into her body to heal the injuries on her face. She thanked him once again.
Now that she was under his control via Puppet Mastery Divine Art, Ian Song directly transmitted the Origin-Nurturing Scripture to her, all the way up to the Innate Ninth Layer.
Receiving the cultivation method, Grace Jing was overjoyed, treating it like a priceless treasure. She immediately sat cross-legged and began to comprehend it.
A quarter of an hour.
Half an hour.
Three-quarters of an hour.
After an hour, a powerful aura suddenly erupted from within Grace Jing's body. With the complete immortal cultivation method, she broke through in one go to the Innate Fifth Layer.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Grace Jing respectfully knocked her head three times on the floor toward Ian Song. "Thank you for your grace, Master!"
"Mm!" Ian Song nodded. "Tell me about the Innate experts in your Mystic Maiden Sect."
"Yes, Master!"
According to Grace Jing's explanation, Ian Song learned that the Mystic Maiden Sect had just over a hundred members. Besides herself as sect leader, her four junior martial sisters were all Innate masters: one at the Innate Third Layer, one at the Second Layer, and two at the First Layer.
The remaining disciples, at best, only reached Postnatal completion. The red-haired woman was named Lilian Yue, and she was the disciple of her junior martial sister Claire Jing.
After hearing Grace Jing's report, Ian Song was quite satisfied. Once this matter was settled, he planned to visit the Mystic Maiden Sect and subdue her four junior martial sisters as well, adding four more Innate masters to his ranks.
Ian Song then instructed her that without his permission, she was not allowed to teach the Origin-Nurturing Scripture to anyone else. Grace Jing quickly nodded in agreement.
That night, Ian Song stayed in the small courtyard.
With a thought, he took out the bronze sword, pricked his finger, and dripped a drop of fresh blood onto the blade. Instantly, the bronze sword absorbed his blood.
Soon, Ian Song felt a special connection form between himself and the bronze sword.
Holding the bronze sword in one hand and a spirit crystal in the other, he began channeling true essence into the blade.
However, what happened last time did not repeat itself. After absorbing some true essence, the blade emitted a cracking sound—the corroded copper patina fell away, revealing a simple, unadorned sword body beneath.
"Buzz!"
At the same time, a stream of information flowed from the bronze sword into Ian Song's mind.
Bronze Sword, Third-Grade Upper-Tier Flying Sword!
Magical artifacts are also divided by grade, from First Grade—the lowest—to Ninth Grade—the highest. Each grade is further split into lower, middle, and upper tiers.
A Third-Grade Upper-Tier Flying Sword was still a bit difficult for Ian Song to control, but as a trump card it was excellent.
Forming a sword seal, the originally plain sword body suddenly burst into radiance, then shot out like lightning.
"Puff!"
With a soft sound, the flying sword sliced into the wall as easily as cutting through tofu.
"Return!"
With another soft sound, the flying sword flew out from the wall and landed in Ian Song's hand.
"Excellent!"
Ian Song smiled in satisfaction and tossed the flying sword into his storage ring. There are two ways to store magical artifacts: one is to place them directly in the dantian for nurturing, but this requires thoroughly refining the artifact. Since Ian had only just refined this flying sword, it would take some time before he could house it in his dantian.
After refining the Bronze Sword, Ian Song took out the jade pendant, performed blood recognition, and channeled true essence into it, completing its preliminary refinement.
The pendant was called Green Fish Pendant, a defensive magical artifact of Third-Grade Middle-Tier. As long as there was enough true essence to maintain it, any attack below the Foundation Establishment level couldn't break through its protective barrier!
After refining two magical artifacts in a row, Ian Song decided to press on and refine the bracelet that Grace Jing had offered up.
"Huh!"
After initial refinement, Ian Song was startled to find that the bracelet was also a storage-type magical artifact, but what it stored was three strands of sword qi left by Golden Core-stage experts.
Each strand of sword qi contained the full-force strike of a Golden Core-stage expert, and the Golden Core sword qi possessed sentience, able to lock onto any living being within a kilometer for attack.
"That's simply heaven-defying!"
Ian Song couldn't help but marvel. For now, Innate Ninth Layer was the strongest martial artist around, but a single strand of sword qi could slaughter an Innate Ninth Layer dozens of times over.
The next day.
Ian Song, Grace Jing, the red-haired woman Lilian Yue, Grace Jing's disciple Queeny, and three outer disciples of the Mystic Maiden Sect set out from Xingnan City, heading into the mountains to search for the cultivator's tomb.
As for Qingfeng Fu, he had originally intended to join them, but Ian Song refused. First, the Fu family had suffered a major upheaval and had many matters to deal with. Second, they were searching for a cultivator's tomb, and Ian didn't want too many people involved lest word got out.
As the saying goes, men die for wealth and birds die for food. If this matter leaked, it would surely attract even more powerful figures.
The seven of them rode together in a business-class Mercedes.
Once in the car, Ian Song took out the Bronze Sword to play with, actually refining it further with true essence, aiming to store it in his dantian as soon as possible.
Queeny, the young girl, still held a grudge against Ian Song for kicking her unconscious yesterday. Knowing she couldn't beat him, she could only glare at him. After a while, seeing Ian pay her no mind, she could only withdraw her gaze in defeat.
Lilian Yue, who was sitting in the back seat, regarded Ian Song with curiosity.
Ever since her senior aunt was slapped by Ian Song yesterday, her attitude had completely changed. Later, she even became extremely respectful. This made Lilian Yue wonder if her senior aunt's mind had been damaged by Ian Song's slap.
Of course, what she was even more curious about was Ian Song's strength.
Just a few months ago, he was an ordinary student. How had he become an Innate Fifth Layer expert in just over two months?
Indeed, in her mind, Ian Song was an Innate Fifth Layer expert. Since her senior aunt was Innate Fourth Layer and Ian Song could defeat her, he must be Innate Fifth Layer.