Ian Song drove his true essence forward in one burst, smashing straight through the bottleneck to mid Soul-Split.
Boom!
It was like the primordial chaos splitting open—a bolt of thunder exploded inside his Nascent Soul. Thunder meant destruction, so his Nascent Soul shattered with a violent crash.
But thunder also contains boundless vitality.
Nourished by a mysterious force, the shattered Nascent Soul slowly began to re-form.
A quarter-hour passed.
Half an hour.
Half an incense stick’s time.
After one hour, the shattered Nascent Soul finally reassembled itself. Compared to before, it was denser, its features sharper, and it radiated an indescribable spiritual charm—the sign of true Nascent Soul perfection.
With a thought, Ian released hundreds of top-grade spirit crystals from his Storage Ring. They instantly shattered, filling the air around him with thick, misty spiritual energy.
Breathe!
Like a giant whale swallowing water, the spiritual energy swirling around him was sucked into his body at lightning speed, then converted into true essence and poured into his Nascent Soul.
After breaking through to mid Soul-Split, his Nascent Soul’s capacity for true essence increased at least five- or six-fold. In ancient times, cultivators had only three major realms: Refining Essence into Qi, Refining Qi into Spirit, and Returning Spirit to Void.
When Refining Essence into Qi reached perfection, one could condense a Golden Core. Perfecting Refining Qi into Spirit led to the formation of a Divine Soul. And at the peak of Returning Spirit to Void, an Immortal Foundation could be formed within the body.
The Soul-Split stage is really just the late phase of Refining Qi into Spirit.
The key to breaking through from Soul-Split to Fusion is transforming the Nascent Soul into a Divine Soul.
Back to the main point: with a foundation of top-grade spirit crystals, it took only two hours for Ian’s Nascent Soul to reach a full state. From here, he just needed to slowly temper his true essence.
"So extravagant!"
Seeing Ian burn through over two thousand top-grade spirit crystals in just a few hours, even Fusion-stage experts like Lana Blue and Rex Steele felt it was wasteful.
Whoosh!
Letting out a long breath, Ian stood up. Back at early Soul-Split, his true essence was already stronger than most late Soul-Split cultivators. Now, after advancing to mid Soul-Split, his true essence could easily suppress an average early Fusion-stage expert.
If he fought Leo Hunter again, even using only the Heavenbreaker Sword Canon and not his secret divine arts, he could win with ease—nothing like the struggle from before.
"Congratulations on your breakthrough, Master!"
Old Freak Zhou and the Black Widow stepped forward together to offer their congratulations to Ian.
"Master, congratulations on reaching a new level!"
Lana Blue, Rex Steele, and Yellowhide also came forward together to offer their congratulations.
The late Soul-Split cultivators Ian had subdued all stepped up to congratulate him as well.
"Enough!"
Ian raised his hand, and the noisy hall instantly quieted. Then he strode over to Leo Hunter, Whitney White, and Gavin Black.
Leo Hunter’s wounds hadn’t healed yet; the bleeding had only stopped.
"Greetings, Master!"
Leo Hunter gave Ian a complicated look, then bowed respectfully.
"Greetings, Master!" Whitney White followed suit, bowing as well. Finally, Ian’s gaze landed on Gavin Black.
"Greetings, Master!" Under Ian's gaze, Gavin Black felt immense pressure and quickly knelt, performing a grand salute.
"Don’t resist!"
Ian tapped out three fingers, firing three Puppet Mastery Divine Art sigils into their Divine Souls.
With this, Ian now had six Fusion-stage puppets under his command.
"Let me heal your wounds!"
He activated the Radiance of Life twice, and Leo Hunter’s injuries began to heal visibly before everyone’s eyes.
"Thank you, Master!"
Leo Hunter expressed his gratitude.
Half a quarter-hour later, in the Bear King’s crude main hall, Ian sat confidently on the throne. Six Fusion-stage experts and eighty-one Soul-Split cultivators stood in two rows on either side.
After giving brief instructions, Ian ordered the Soul-Split crowd to leave, but kept Old Freak Zhou, Black Widow, and the four Phoenix Heaven Church Inner Sect disciples behind.
"Rex Steele, how many years do you have left to live?" Ian asked.
"Not more than twenty years, Master!" Rex replied bitterly. If he hadn’t been thrown into the Demon Prison, he might already have reached mid Fusion-stage.
"How many top-grade spirit crystals do you need to break through?" Ian pressed.
"At least two thousand." Rex’s eyes lit up, faintly guessing Ian’s intentions.
"Take them. Here are three thousand top-grade spirit crystals." Ian tossed him a Storage Ring.
"Thank you, Master!"
Rex Steele knelt in thanks, full of gratitude.
The next moment, Ian casually waved his hand and opened a space-gate: "This is my private Secret Realm. Go inside and cultivate!"
"A Secret Realm?"
Everyone present was shocked, their faces full of surprise. Legend said that after reaching the Immortal stage, one could evolve a small world inside their body for living beings. If an Immortal died, that inner world would become a masterless Secret Realm.
"Did Master inherit an Immortal’s legacy? No wonder his strength is so overwhelming!"
"Thank you, Master!"
Rex Steele bowed in thanks once more, then stepped into the space-gate.
Seeing this, the others looked on with undisguised envy.
"Don’t worry, you’ll all have a chance to enter the Secret Realm in the future. This is your reward!" Ian said, tossing out eleven more Storage Rings. Five went to his Fusion-stage lieutenants, each containing two thousand top-grade spirit crystals; six went to late Soul-Split subordinates, each with one thousand.
"Thank you, Master!"
All his followers knelt to express their gratitude.
An hour later, a sharp voice rang out beyond the territory: "Bear King, an old friend is here to visit—aren’t you coming out to greet me?"
Outside the territory stood a short, rotund old man, barely 1.2 meters tall, exuding arrogance. Behind him respectfully stood six early Fusion-stage experts.
This was Rat King, one of the eight lords of the second tier of Demon Prison.
"Greetings, Rat King. Our Bear King is in seclusion and cannot receive guests. Please come back another time," Yellowhide said, leading two Soul-Split cultivators from within the territory.
"Yellowhide, how dare you! Go call Bear King out to greet my master!" snapped one of the figures behind Rat King, stepping forward with a hostile glare.
"Heh, Rat King, our Bear King really is unavailable. Maybe you could come back in a few days?" Yellowhide replied with a forced smile.
"Seclusion?" Rat King sneered. "I bet he’s just hiding away to enjoy his blood feast."
At these words, Yellowhide’s expression changed slightly, but he kept smiling. "Rat King, you do love to joke."
"Yellowhide, I saw with my own eyes that you caught eighty-two blood slaves. That’s far too many for just your clan to consume!" the Fusion-stage subordinate said again, his tone full of mockery and threat.
Rat King’s sharp voice followed: "Yellowhide, hurry up and report this! This isn’t for you to decide. If you don’t, don’t blame me for turning hostile!"
"No need to report anything—the Bear King has already gone to meet Yama!"
A voice sounded, and Ian arrived with Leo Hunter, Lana Blue, Whitney White, and Gavin Black.
Seeing this, Rat King's beady eyes flashed with confusion as he stared at Ian. "Kid, what do you mean by that? Are you saying you killed Bear King?"