On a massive mountain shrouded in clouds and mist, a cluster of palaces stood in solemn silence.
Ian barked coldly and swung his sword to meet them head-on.
Facing eight at once, he didn't flinch for a second.
In less than half an incense stick's time, he'd beaten all eight of them.
Looking at the eight Upper Heavenly Gods sprawled across the ground, Ian stood tall and declared, "Go back and tell that old dog King Azurefin: I'm waiting for him in the Misty Forbidden Land. If he's got the guts, let him come in here and try to kill me!"
With that, Ian turned and strode right back into the Misty Forbidden Land.
The eight Upper Heavenly Gods looked utterly stunned—a mere Mid Heavenly God daring to provoke King Azurefin? Even though Ian had just defeated them, they couldn't believe he could actually handle a God-King.
Soon enough, the eight of them hurried off to report back.
They didn't waste any time—word was sent to King Azurefin immediately.
As soon as he heard the report, King Azurefin flew into a rage.
"A mere Mid Heavenly God dares provoke me again and again!" he snarled.
With a casual swipe, he tore open the void in front of him and stepped through. When he reappeared, he was already outside the Misty Forbidden Land.
But he didn't rush in recklessly.
After all, anything called a 'forbidden land' had to be dangerous.
He sent out his divine sense, trying to probe the Misty Forbidden Land's secrets.
But his face quickly darkened.
His divine sense could only reach the entrance—it couldn't penetrate any deeper.
Meanwhile, inside the Misty Forbidden Land, Ian already knew King Azurefin had arrived.
Several corpse puppets were hidden at the entrance, after all.
The corpse puppets had their own special way of relaying messages.
Glancing around at the five towering Corpse Puppet Kings, Ian raised his voice and hollered, "Azurefin, you old turtle! If you've got any guts, come into the forbidden land—I'll beat you till you piss and shit yourself!"
Faced with Ian's shouting, King Azurefin frowned.
This forbidden land was bizarre—it didn't just suppress his divine sense; the space inside was unusually solid. Once he entered, he couldn't tear open the void to escape.
Still, after only a moment's hesitation—
King Azurefin flashed straight into the Misty Forbidden Land, heading for Ian's position. He couldn't use divine sense, but with his God-King intuition, he could roughly pinpoint Ian's location.
"He's in," Lito said, listening closely and reporting to Ian.
"Tell them to get into position," Ian ordered.
Ian glanced at the five Corpse Puppet Kings and nodded at Lito.
The five Corpse Puppet Kings silently sank into the ground.
Barely twenty breaths later, King Azurefin appeared a few hundred meters away.
"So you're Ian Song, the little thief?"
King Azurefin glared at Ian, his eyes full of menace.
Ian grinned, "And you must be that old turtle Azurefin!"
Ian let out a weird laugh and shot back with a taunt.
"Courting death!" Azurefin snapped.
Just as Azurefin raised a finger to strike, a massive figure shot up from the ground and blocked his attack. At the same time, four more giants erupted from the other directions, surrounding him.
Ian snickered, "Old turtle, I hear you're mid-stage lower God-King. Think you can handle five Corpse Puppet Kings at once?"
Azurefin's face turned downright ugly. Corpse Puppet Kings were on par with God-Kings, and the gap between God-Kings wasn't nearly as huge as in lower realms. Even if these five were only early-stage, he couldn't take them all; at best, he could barely handle two.
"Escape!"
The next instant, Azurefin shot into the sky, trying to blast his way out of the Misty Forbidden Land.
But the five Corpse Puppet Kings moved with lightning speed, chasing after him and launching their attacks.
The five Corpse Puppet Kings reacted instantly—just as Azurefin moved, they shot after him and unleashed a barrage of attacks.