Faced with the fourth restriction, Ian Song sat cross-legged on the ground, placed his hands in midair, released divine power, and carefully sensed and studied the structure of this restriction.
Time slowly passed.
Twenty days later, Ian suddenly opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashing within them.
He began rapidly weaving restriction hand-seals with both hands, sending them into the void one after another. The space before him started to ripple, but soon settled back into stillness.
"Failed!"
Ian wasn’t discouraged in the slightest and immediately resumed sensing and studying the restriction.
Another three days went by.
Ian once again unleashed a string of restriction hand-seals. The sequence was similar to before, but included a few subtle changes.
Finally, after he sent out 976 restriction hand-seals, the void before him rippled violently, then shattered like a mirror with a crash.
"It's broken!"
Ian stepped forward, finding the path completely unobstructed.
Soon, he arrived before the fifth restriction segment.
But this time, instead of rushing to sense the fifth restriction, he began to reflect on how the first four segments had been arranged, trying to grasp their subtlety and cleverness.
If formations are about utilizing laws, space, and time, then restrictions are about finely altering laws, space, and time.
Formations expand; restrictions compress...
As he pondered, Ian’s restriction skill advanced by leaps and bounds. After reverse deduction, even his array Dao improved considerably.
He sat there for a full three months.
Ian felt he had gained immensely. Then he stood up and examined the fifth restriction segment.
Previously, he needed to touch the restriction and release divine power to sense its existence and structure.
But now, he could see the structure of this restriction with just his naked eyes.
As he observed, one restriction after another surfaced in his mind. The fifth restriction segment inside the cave wall was formed by more than thirteen thousand small restrictions—a truly complex structure.
He repeatedly deduced and analyzed.
Gradually, he broke down the complex restriction in his mind.
After several days of observation—
Ian moved his hands. He sent restriction hand-seals into a specific node, and this time, with only thirty-six hand-seals, the entire restriction instantly collapsed.
But immediately, his hands began to move again, weaving rapidly.
In just three breaths, he actually restored the collapsed fifth restriction segment.
"Excellent!"
Ian smiled in satisfaction. He knew his restriction skill had reached an entirely new level.
He continued onward.
Ian encountered the sixth restriction segment. This time, it took him only three days to easily break through.
For the seventh restriction, he took five days.
For the eighth restriction, he took seven days.
For the ninth restriction, he spent nineteen days.
After breaking the ninth restriction, a cave mansion appeared directly in his sight. Outside the mansion, a massive black Poison Flood Dragon was coiled.
Around the dragon’s neck hung a pale yellow bead.
At a glance, Ian immediately judged that it was a restriction treasure. It was precisely because of this treasure that the Poison Flood Dragon could pass through the nine restrictions in the cave wall unimpeded.
"Roar!"
Seeing a stranger intrude, the Poison Flood Dragon was furious.
It turned into a black shadow and lunged at Ian Song.
Ian was completely unafraid. He formed two restriction hand-seals and sent them into the pale yellow bead around the Poison Flood Dragon’s neck. Instantly, the bead erupted in mysterious golden light, freezing the dragon midair like a statue.
Ian walked over.
He took the pale yellow bead from the dragon’s neck and sensed it briefly. As expected, it was indeed a restriction treasure.
"Die!"
A divine sword appeared in Ian’s hand. He swung down, severing the Poison Flood Dragon’s head. He stored both halves of its body in his storage God‑ring, then walked to the mansion’s entrance.
The cave mansion looked utterly ordinary.
But in reality, the stone door held a grand restriction array composed of 109,825 restrictions.
Ian stood before the door, observing for a full month before attempting to break the grand array.
The first attempt failed.
The second attempt failed.
The third attempt failed.
……
After more than five hundred failures, Ian still refused to give up. Throughout these failures, his restriction skill improved significantly.
Finally—
After more than 3,600 failures, Ian succeeded in breaking the grand restriction array on the stone door.
"Rumble!"
With a dull roar, the stone door sank straight into the ground.
Ian looked up and saw a simply furnished hall.
Except for a stone table, there was nothing else.
He stepped inside unimpeded, encountering no more restrictions.