At the instant the Imperial Jade Seal split in two, Master Conrad Cole spat out a mouthful of blood, his face suddenly turning pale and listless.
"This is bad! Fellow Daoists, join forces—cut down this little thief!"
Seeing Ian Song split Master Conrad Cole’s magic treasure in half with a single sword strike, the other seven Foundation Establishment elders instantly realized something was wrong. This Ian Song wasn’t some mortal martial artist—he was a cultivator even stronger than they were.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
A series of sonic booms rang out as the seven Foundation experts flashed to surround Ian Song.
"Who exactly are you?" demanded Master Adrian Young, sect master of Jadepure Palace.
"I’m your grandpa!" Ian Song sneered.
"Courting death!"
Master Adrian Young roared, hurling a golden measuring ruler. With a flick of his finger, the ruler multiplied into hundreds, shooting toward Ian Song like a golden storm.
"Azure Lotus Bloom!"
Ian Song swung the Azure Lotus Sword. Nine sword lotuses suddenly appeared in midair, exploding into hundreds of condensed sword-qi strands.
Sword-qi collided with the golden rulers, unleashing waves of violent energy. Sand and stones flew, and wild winds howled across the arena.
"Quick, fall back!"
The commotion spilled over beyond the arena, startling the bodyguards, who hurriedly shielded the Head of State and the nine Grand Elders as they retreated.
In the air, hundreds of sword-qi strands shattered hundreds of golden rulers, leaving only the main body ruler still flying toward Ian Song.
Slash!
A flash of sword-light—Azure Lotus Sword struck down hard on the golden ruler. With a crisp crack, the ruler shattered into countless fragments.
"Pfft!"
Master Adrian Young spat out a mouthful of blood. Just as Ian Song was about to chase him down, six more magic treasures came hurtling toward him.
Helpless, Ian Song could only give up the pursuit, brandishing the Azure Lotus Sword and slashing in all directions.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
As the battle grew fiercer, wild energy raged out of control. Within two hundred meters, even Innate Ninth-Layer experts couldn’t stand their ground.
"Whoosh!"
A figure broke away from the battlefield and landed a hundred meters away—it was Ian Song.
Honestly, the fourth-grade treasures controlled by Foundation experts were way stronger than those wielded by Innate Eighth-Layer fighters in the earlier bouts. Just now, even with six attacking together, Ian hadn’t gained any advantage.
In fact, the six Foundation elders fighting Ian were all secretly stunned—six of them together still couldn’t take him down. Normally, their combined force could overwhelm even a mid-stage Foundation cultivator.
"Could he be a late-stage Foundation expert?"
Ian Song’s gaze swept slowly over the six. Meanwhile, Master Adrian Young had already retreated outside the arena to stand with the wounded Master Conrad Cole. Both had their magic treasures wrecked by Ian, leaving them injured and much weaker.
"Looks like I’ll have to use some real power to beat this crowd."
With a thought, Ian’s sword essence began circulating along a special route inside his body, and the cultivation he’d been suppressing surged upward.
Innate Eighth Layer.
Innate Ninth Layer.
Foundation Establishment early-stage.
When his aura reached Foundation Establishment early-stage, Ian slowly raised the Azure Lotus Sword.
The moment he lifted the sword, Sister Lydia among the six felt herself locked onto by a strange aura. The sensation terrified her—it was the feeling of death.
"Quick, attack him!"
Sister Lydia let out a shrill roar, hurling a blue wooden fish straight at Ian Song.
The other five sensed the fear in her voice. Though they didn’t know why, they still sent their magic treasures flying at Ian Song.
A layer of blue light appeared around Ian Song’s body.
He neither dodged nor blocked, letting all six magic treasures slam into him.
Seeing this, the six lit up, thinking it was a golden opportunity. They poured even more zhenyuan into their treasures, making them shine brighter than ever.
But just then—
A terrifying aura exploded out from Ian Song, razor-sharp and unstoppable, making everyone feel utterly powerless.
"Sword Essence Slash!"
Ian gave a quiet shout and swung the Azure Lotus Sword.
A sound like both a dragon’s roar and a sword’s cry rang out. A ten-zhang-long sword-qi dragon appeared, flashing like lightning to Sister Lydia and lunging to bite her.
"No!"
She frantically activated her defensive treasure and tried to retreat.
But the sword-dragon was faster—it opened its jaws and swallowed her whole.
"Help me!"
Her brief cry echoed from within the sword-dragon. The other five Foundation elders instantly recalled their treasures and smashed them at the dragon in a frenzy.
Boom!
The sword-dragon exploded, and a bloody figure shot out, crashing to the ground.
"It’s Sister Lydia!"
Master Jinguang flashed to her side. Sweeping her with spiritual sense, he found that although Lydia still had a breath left, her body was ruined—her dantian, brow point, and heart had all been pierced by sword-qi.
Master Jinguang flashed to her side. Sweeping her with spiritual sense, he found that although Lydia still had a breath left, her body was ruined—her dantian, brow point, and heart had all been pierced by sword-qi.
"How vicious you are!"
Master Jinguang turned to glare at Ian Song.
"Tch, you’re all my enemies. Why would I show mercy?" Ian sneered. One Sword Essence Slash killed a Foundation expert in an instant, but it burned half his sword essence.
So he decided—unless absolutely necessary, he wouldn’t use Sword Essence Slash again.
With that thought, Ian’s gaze fell on the remaining five Foundation elders. Feeling his hostile look, all five shivered.
"Fellow Daoist, let’s call it a truce!" said Master Qingyu.
Ian hesitated. Even if he went all out, he might not be able to kill all seven Foundation elders, and he’d end up offending the entire cultivation world. Who knew if slaughtering them all would attract even stronger enemies?
Thinking that, he called out to Han Song, who had retreated two hundred meters away: "Old Han, come over here!"
With a flash, Han Song appeared at Ian’s side, beaming with surprise. "Kid, you’ve given us all a huge shock!"
Ian smiled humbly. "You flatter me, Old Han. By the way, what are we fighting these cultivators for, anyway?"
"It’s to decide how the Secret Realm loot gets split!" Han Song said gravely.
"Oh? How’s it divided?" Ian pressed.
"We split the loot from the Secret Realm into ten shares—Yanhuang gets one, the cultivators get two, and the remaining seven are divided by the results of this tournament!" Han Song explained.
"So that’s how it is!"
Ian nodded, then looked again at the five Foundation elders. "If you want me to stop, fine—but from now on, you get no share of the Secret Realm!"
"No way! The best we’ll accept is fifty-fifty!" said Master Wu.
"Bullshit, fifty-fifty my ass! Then we keep fighting. Old Han, step aside—I’ll cut them all down!" Ian raised the Azure Lotus Sword again. Master Wu and the others instantly paled. "Wait, wait, we’ll settle for four shares!"
Ian snapped, "Screw you! Yanhuang discovered the Secret Realm, why should we give you anything? One share, take it or leave it!"
"No way, at least—"
But before Master Wu could finish, he felt Ian’s killing intent lock onto him. Terror and the sense of death flooded him. Instantly recalling Lydia’s earlier scream and the sword-dragon, he hurriedly changed his tune: "Fine, I accept—just one share."