Godpiercer!
A flash of black sword light pierced toward Leon the Lion King at lightning speed, trailing a mysterious sword intent that instantly spread out, enveloping him. His breath caught, his body went rigid, and a surge of terror welled up inside.
The Heavenbreaker Sword Canon was an immortal-grade technique—top-tier even among immortal arts. Most importantly, it was a sword cultivator's manual, and sword cultivators were always the deadliest in battle.
Before, Ian Song’s cultivation had been too low. Though he’d mastered five of the nine forms in the Heavenbreaker Sword Canon, he could never unleash their true power.
Now, his realm had reached late Soul-Split, and his true essence was refined to a level that rivaled mid Fusion—maybe even approaching late Fusion.
So when he activated the Heavenbreaker Sword Canon again—even using the same form—the unleashed power was worlds apart from before.
"Pfft!"
Space itself tore open. The spirit sword, charged with 'stab' sword intent, slashed toward Leon the Lion King. Around him, a demon-qi barrier two meters thick spun smoothly, looking utterly unbreakable.
But the spirit sword slipped through with ease. Sword intent surged. With a boom, the barrier shattered.
As the sword pierced his shield and shot straight for him, Leon's pupils shrank and his mane bristled. But instead of rousing his inner savagery, a chill of fear ran through him.
"Boom!"
He instantly revealed his true form. Demon-qi surged and twisted, transforming him into a spinning vortex—like a black hole.
"Qi-Devouring the World!"
A mighty roar echoed from the swirling vortex. Suddenly, a massive suction force made of thousands of different powers yanked Ian Song toward the black hole.
"Hmph!"
Ian Song just snorted. Instead of struggling against the suction, he accelerated and charged straight into the spinning vortex.
The star map inside him lit up. As he activated the Body of Ten Thousand Stars, his whole body shone with dazzling light. A mysterious force shielded him from the vortex’s chaotic powers.
But Qi-Devouring the World was a legacy move from the Swallowing Heaven Lion clan—a true divine-beast technique, not something so easily countered. When brute force failed, thousands more powers surged out, sweeping toward Ian Song.
"Immortalsbane!"
Sensing real danger, Ian Song drove his spirit sword again, slashing along a mysterious trajectory.
"Boom!"
Sword intent and sword-qi exploded together. The sword's 'destroy' intent rampaged through the vortex, and hundreds of black sword-qi blades—each hundreds of meters long—slashed in every direction.
Sword-qi was unstoppable. Wherever it landed, threads of light flashed.
The vortex was split apart.
"Again!"
Sword-qi surged out once more. Before the vortex could recover, another wave came crashing down.
"Pfft!"
Like torn cloth, the vortex shattered completely.
"Ugh!"
Leon the Lion King’s figure reappeared, stumbling backward and coughing up blood again and again.
Whoosh!
Ian Song soared into the sky, sword in hand, robes fluttering in the wind. He calmly raised his spirit sword and pointed it at the barely-standing Leon, saying coolly, "So? Is my strength passable?"
Leon stared at Ian Song, his gaze complicated. Inwardly, he cursed—where did this freak come from, shattering my Qi-Devouring the World with just late Soul-Split cultivation?
Back then, when he’d first been thrown into the Demon Prison and besieged by more than ten enemies of his own realm, he’d unleashed Qi-Devouring the World and swallowed every last one of them. That was how he broke through to Fusion.
"What, not convinced?"
Ian Song’s face suddenly turned cold. He raised his sword, and faint traces of blood-red light drifted from the blade. A wave of killing intent spread out, covering thousands of meters. Leon felt as if he’d been thrown onto a battlefield piled with hundreds of thousands of corpses.
Corpses everywhere, rivers of blood, enough to make anyone’s hair stand on end.
"Stop, stop! I surrender!"
Leon shouted.
As soon as he spoke, the feeling vanished, and his whole body felt light again.
"To keep you from betraying me down the line, I’ll need to plant a restriction in your Divine Soul. Any objections?" Ian Song sheathed his spirit sword and addressed Leon.
"Do my objections even matter?" Leon asked.
"Not at all!" Ian Song replied.
"Damn, if it doesn’t matter, why even ask!" Leon grumbled, then dispersed his true essence and urged, "Hurry up and get it over with, then take me out of this hellhole!"
Ian Song didn’t use Puppet Mastery to enslave Leon—he just left a complex restriction in his Divine Soul and had Leon swear by Heavenly Tribulation. To reassure him, Ian also swore that once they left this place, he’d bring Leon back to the real world.
Inside the Immortal Cloud Pavilion’s private box.
The tableful of delicacies had turned into a battlefield of empty plates. Leon chugged his thirty-sixth pot of wine, patted his belly, and sighed with satisfaction, "Damn, this is what it means to live like a person!"
"Relax. Since we’re both from the same world, you can eat and drink like this every day if you want." Ian Song smiled.
"Heh, I’m late Fusion, you know—a super enforcer like me deserves room and board!" Leon said, picking his teeth with a toothpick. "So, Boss, what’s my monthly salary in spirit crystals?"
At that, Ian Song slowly held up one finger.
Leon’s eyes went wide. "Ten thousand? No way! Minimum twenty thousand low-grade spirit crystals a month, or I’m out!"
Ian Song rolled his eyes. "Can you be any more short-sighted? I’ll give you a million low-grade spirit crystals a month!"
"A million?"
For a moment, Leon’s eyes were as round as saucers. Then he broke into a goofy grin. "A million a month—so that’s twelve million a year! Ha, never thought I’d hit a seven-figure salary! Awesome! I’m freakin’ awesome!"
"Bumpkin!" Ian Song couldn’t help but laugh at Leon’s silly grin. Twelve million low-grade spirit crystals was just twelve top-grade crystals—barely pocket change for him, not even as much as he’d once paid for maids.
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But then he figured it was normal. Leon had been stuck in the Demon Prison since late Soul-Split, hadn’t seen a spirit crystal in thousands of years, and now he’d suddenly scored a mountain of them. No wonder he was thrilled.
"Here, take it—your first year’s salary!"
Ian Song tossed Leon a Storage Ring.
Seeing the mountain of low-grade spirit crystals inside, Leon started grinning like an idiot all over again.
Ian Song only cultivated with top-grade spirit crystals now; these low-grade ones were all looted from the Prime One Church’s branch.
Knock, knock!
Someone knocked on the door.
"Come in!"
The door to the private box opened. Pavilion Mistress Bei led Prince Victor Li and Bada inside.
"Second Brother!"
Seeing Ian Song, Victor Li’s expression was excited. He hurried over, grasped Ian’s hand, and said, "It’s so good to see you! By the way, how did you escape from that place?"
"It’s a long story. How are things on your end?" Ian Song smiled.
"Pretty good. The sixth prince was crippled, so he’s out of the running, and Li Old Two is even less of a threat!" Victor Li said. Suddenly, his expression grew serious and he sent a voice transmission, "Father plans to abdicate early—he’s going into seclusion to break through to the Tribulation Crossing Realm!"
Victor Li’s eyes shone with excitement.
"Congratulations, Big Brother!"
"I owe it all to you."
After chatting for a while, Victor Li left—now that Li Tianxing was going into seclusion for his breakthrough, all the responsibilities of the Tang Dynasty fell on Victor’s shoulders. He was busier than ever.
Half an hour later.
In an elegant room, Ian Song was savoring tea. Before long, Cece arrived, dressed in a white gown and carrying a guqin. Thanks to Pavilion Mistress Bei’s care, Cece no longer performed for guests, instead training other musicians. Hearing Ian Song was here, she asked to play a song for him.
"Greetings, Young Master Song."
Cece bowed slightly, guqin in her arms, saluting Ian Song.
"No need for formalities, Miss Cece." Ian Song nodded gently.
"You can just call me Cece!" She smiled sweetly, then sat before the desk with her guqin. Her fingers danced, and a beautiful melody flowed forth.
The music reflected her heart. Listening to Cece’s song, Ian Song sensed the shifts in her mood.
When the song ended, Ian Song invited Cece to join him for tea.
"What are your plans for the future, Cece?" Ian Song asked.
"The world is so vast—I want to travel and see it all." Cece replied softly.
"A fine idea," Ian Song praised.
"What about you, Young Master Song?" Cece asked, looking at him.
"Me? I’ll probably leave the Tang Dynasty soon."
Ian Song said—he planned to head to the Great Zhou Empire to complete his system’s second quest. But before leaving, he wanted to destroy a few more Prime One Church branches.
"Where are you headed, then?" Cece asked again.
"The Great Zhou Empire!" Ian Song replied.
"Oh." Cece nodded and changed the subject to music.
An hour later, Cece took her leave.
Then Pavilion Mistress Bei entered.
"Are you leaving, Young Master?" Pavilion Mistress Bei’s expression was tinged with melancholy.
"Here, take this."
Ian Song tossed her a jade slip and said, "If you ever run into trouble, just go to the Fourth Prince."
"Thank you, Young Master!"
Soon after, Ian Song left the Immortal Cloud Pavilion with Leon. As he departed, a sudden melody rang out. Meanwhile, Pavilion Mistress Bei opened the jade slip in her room. When she finished reading, her face was filled with emotion, shock, and gratitude.
It was a powerful cultivation technique that could reach late Fusion—its value was unimaginable.
Five days later.
News spread through the capital: another wave of Prime One Church branches had been destroyed, bringing the total to twenty. Twenty Fusion branch leaders and eighty Fusion experts were all dead.
With more than half their branches destroyed, the Prime One Church’s foundations were finally shaken.