Earlier, in order to save Tessa Heavenreach, Ian Song was slashed to pieces by Osric Oblivion, reduced to a cloud of blood mist.
Afterwards, neither of them noticed that the blood mist hadn’t dissipated, but instead hovered in midair.
It wasn’t until Tessa Heavenreach was defeated by Osric Oblivion and stomped into the ground that the blood mist surged wildly, condensing into a brand-new body in just moments.
Tessa Heavenreach had heard of rebirth by possession.
But she’d never heard of someone surviving after being blasted into blood mist—until today, when she saw it with her own eyes.
Sensing the change in Tessa Heavenreach’s expression, Osric Oblivion instinctively turned to look, just in time to see Ian Song’s body reformed. For a moment, even his face showed a hint of shock.
"You... how are you...?"
"Not dead, huh?" Ian Song grinned, and at that moment, his Soul-Control Brand took shape and shot out...
Osric Oblivion saw a flash before his eyes, then a black shadow plunged into his body—and he lost consciousness.
"Give up resisting!"
Ian Song commanded.
Immediately, the flames on Osric Oblivion’s body were extinguished.
Ian stepped forward, gathered his full qi-luck power into his palm, and struck down on Osric Oblivion’s head.
"Buzz!"
The force of that palm was overwhelming, erupting and swallowing Osric Oblivion whole, twisting the surrounding space.
In the next moment, as the radiance faded, nothing remained except a spinning, rhombus-shaped Godhead Crystal.
"Are you okay?"
Ian Song put away the Godhead Crystal, then reached out to help Tessa Heavenreach up.
"Can you put some clothes on?" Tessa Heavenreach shyly closed her eyes.
Hearing that, Ian Song looked down and realized he was completely naked. When he’d reformed his body, he’d rushed to use the Soul-Control Brand and hadn’t had time to conjure clothes. Embarrassed, he quickly pulled out a robe and put it on. "Okay, you can open your eyes now!"
Ian Song pulled Tessa Heavenreach out of the crater and sent three beams of Radiance of Life into her body. Her physical wounds healed instantly, but her Godhead power was so drained she couldn’t even access a single layer of her peak strength.
Clearly, Ian noticed her weakness too. He took out Marcus Mistveil’s Godhead Crystal and handed it to her. "Here, absorb this Godhead and you should fully recover your strength!"
Tessa Heavenreach looked at him, her gaze a little complicated.
Ian Song looked back at her.
After a moment, Tessa Heavenreach finally spoke: "You should keep this Godhead. I can recover my cultivation slowly."
"Alright then! If you need anything, just ask!"
Ian Song didn’t insist, and put the Godhead Crystal away. With these two Godheads, he could quickly cultivate two new Martial Gods.
After dismantling the grand array and recovering the supreme spirit crystals, Ian Song led Tessa Heavenreach back to the Imperial Palace.
The next day, an imperial edict was proclaimed across the land, appointing Tessa Heavenreach as Imperial Archmage of the Grand Martial Empire.
As the edict spread, Ian Song felt his qi-luck power grow again. Clearly, making Tessa Heavenreach the Imperial Archmage made the people even more loyal.
Deep within the Imperial Palace, in a quiet courtyard.
Steam rose from the tea kettle. Ian Song, Darren Fang Easton, and Cole Chong Duan sat around a stone table. Off to the side, Lynn Ning was actually pouring tea—making Cole a little uncomfortable, though Darren was completely at ease. No matter how high Ian’s status rose, he was still Darren’s disciple, and Lynn serving tea felt perfectly natural.
Seeing Darren’s calm demeanor, Cole couldn’t help but regret. If he’d fought harder to make Ian his own disciple, Darren wouldn’t be sitting here now.
"Master, Uncle Cole, I invited you here today because I wanted your advice on something," Ian Song said with a smile.
"Please speak, Your Majesty!" Cole Chong Duan replied respectfully.
"Today, there’s no emperor and ministers—just elders and junior."
Ian Song waved his hand, then flipped his palm to reveal two Godhead Crystals. "These are two Godheads. If you refine one, you can become a Martial God. But once you do, you’ll never be able to surpass the original owner’s level. Master, Uncle Cole, would you be willing to refine them?"
Darren Fang Easton and Cole Chong Duan exchanged glances, both seeing the burning desire in each other’s eyes.
Martial God—the peak of every cultivator’s dream.
Even with all their confidence, neither believed they could reach Martial God on their own.
So even if their cultivation could never improve after refining the Godhead, they were still more than willing to do it.
In the end, Darren Fang Easton received Osric Oblivion's Godhead Crystal, while Cole Chong Duan received Marcus Mistveil's. Both went into seclusion within the palace to refine them. Once successful, the Grand Martial Empire would have two more Martial Gods.
The internal Human turmoil had been quelled, but the Demon and Monster Races hadn’t stopped attacking the Seven Great Battlefronts.
Judging by the daily battle reports, this time the Demon and Monster Races weren’t just feinting—they really seemed determined to wipe out the Human Race together.
So the formations that could have lasted three months would be broken in at most one month under their frenzied attacks.
Still, one month was enough.
Heavenworks Institute.
After constant research, the Heavenworks Institute’s academicians, using Ian Song’s black gunpowder formula, developed a powder ten times stronger and made oversized Thunder Grenades as Ian requested.
Looking at the pumpkin-sized Thunder Grenades in front of him, Ian Song felt a bit strange. According to the institute’s experts, each grenade weighed a hundred jin. In the real world, such a heavy bomb would be useless—too heavy for even a super grenadier to handle.
But in this world, even body-refining warriors could throw a hundred-jin Thunder Grenade dozens of meters, and Qi-Refining experts could easily hurl them hundreds or even over a thousand meters.
As for their power, that needed testing.
"You there!"
Two soldiers at the ninth layer of Qi-Refining arrived. "Your Majesty!"
"At ease!"
Ian Song nodded.
The two soldiers each picked up a Thunder Grenade, opened the mechanism, and threw them.
Both grenades landed five hundred meters away at the same time.
"Boom! Boom!"
Two earth-shaking explosions rang out.
When the smoke cleared, each grenade had blasted a five- or six-meter-deep crater, surrounded by countless small holes—those came from the iron pellets inside the Thunder Grenade.
The explosive force matched a Grandmaster’s full-strength strike, but the lethality was several times higher. Throw one into a crowd of several hundred, and at least a hundred would die—most of the rest would be wounded by flying iron pellets.
"How many Thunder Grenades can you make per day now?" Ian Song asked the institute director.
"Your Majesty, with our current manpower, we can only make a thousand Thunder Grenades per day!"
Ian Song frowned. "A thousand is way too few—I need at least a hundred thousand per day. Write a memorial to the Cabinet, and I’ll order full support!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Leaving the Heavenworks Institute, Ian Song headed straight for the Archmage Hall. After being appointed Imperial Archmage, Tessa Heavenreach had moved into the palace to recover her strength. Ian had already granted her fifty years of extra lifespan; now he planned to give her the remaining fifty.