Whitecrest City, City Lord's Mansion.
Looking at Steward Mi Yu standing respectfully below, Ian Song asked, "Who manages the Immortalization Pool?"
Mi Yu replied, "Reporting to my lord, the Immortalization Pool was originally managed by Terry Wanyan. After he disappeared, Victor Tu had me take over temporarily."
Terry Wanyan, one of Victor Tu’s two Golden Immortal subordinates, was now imprisoned by Ian inside the Divine Temple.
"From this day forward, all prices for the Immortalization Pool will be set at five hundred immortal stones!" Ian declared in a deep voice. Native Immortals only needed to pay five hundred immortal stones to condense an immortal body, but ascenders had to pay two thousand. It was unfair to them.
As a fellow ascender himself, Ian naturally wanted to do something for his own kind.
Hearing this, Steward Mi Yu's face changed dramatically, a trace of fear flickering in his eyes. He hurriedly said, "My lord, you must not do this!"
"Why not?"
Ian's gaze suddenly turned cold.
Feeling Ian's gaze, Steward Mi Yu immediately knelt down. "My lord, please don't misunderstand. I'm not trying to stop you, but if you do this, you'll bring disaster upon yourself!"
A trace of doubt flickered in Ian's eyes. "Oh? Stand up and speak!"
"Thank you, my lord!"
Mi Yu let out a sigh of relief, then carefully explained, "The Immortalization Pool's pricing was set collectively by the top Immortal World powerhouses. No one is allowed to lower the fee for ascenders to condense an immortal body. Anyone who dares to break this rule will be punished—at best, their cultivation crippled, at worst, their soul scattered. In the past, some ascenders seized cities and tried to change the price, but all ended up soul-scattered. I've even heard that not even Profound Immortals can escape punishment!"
"Is that so?"
A look of astonishment flashed in Ian's eyes.
Mi Yu quickly added, "Every word is true—I'd never dare to hide anything. Any Immortal who's lived a while knows about this!"
Sure enough, after summoning Steward Mi Yu, Ian made a point to investigate the matter. It was just as Mi Yu said: anyone who dared lower the price for ascenders to condense an immortal body would face severe punishment.
Those who set the rules were all Ancestral Immortal-level figures.
Compared to Ancestral Immortals, Ian was still far behind. At best, he was invincible among Golden Immortals; even Profound Immortals might not be his match.
Ian wasn't impulsive. Since the matter couldn't be changed, he temporarily let go of adjusting the Immortalization Pool prices, planning to wait until his strength reached a level where he no longer feared Ancestral Immortals.
He did find it odd, though—why were those Immortal World bigshots so intent on making things hard for ascenders? He hadn’t been in the Immortal World long, and his status was too low to uncover any of the secrets behind it.
So, he set the matter aside for now and returned to the Divine Temple to refine Elephant Yuan Pills.
He’d already stripped the medicine gardens from the City Lord’s Mansions of the Five-Emperor Alliance, scooping up plenty of fifth- and sixth-grade Immortal Medicines. Combined with the ones he’d traded from other powers, he now had enough to refine Elephant Yuan Pills to break through to the Golden Immortal realm.
Alchemy didn’t take long—just a single day.
Once the pills were ready, he began secluded cultivation inside the Divine Temple.
One day!
Two days!
Five days!
Ten days!
After a month and eight hundred Elephant Yuan Pills, Ian’s immortal yuan finally reached full saturation.
"Break through!"
With a light shout, he activated the Heavenbreaker Sword Canon. Instantly, the bottleneck within him shattered, and his realm smoothly advanced to Golden Immortal. His immortal soul and immortal yuan began to transform automatically.
This transformation lasted a full three months before it was complete.
To his disappointment, the inherited cultivation methods sealed within his Pangu Bloodline still hadn’t awakened.
On second thought, it made sense—the Pangu Bloodline was many times stronger than the Cain bloodline. Otherwise, Pangu wouldn’t have been able to slaughter most of the Three Thousand Demon Gods alone.
The harder it was to awaken, the more terrifying the Pangu Bloodline truly was.
Even though the inheritance hadn’t awakened, Ian could sense that both his physical strength and immortal yuan far surpassed ordinary Golden Immortals. If he activated his divine body, he might even be able to withstand a Profound Immortal head-on!
With that thought, he left the Divine Temple to talk with his women.
Purple Dragon Domain—one of the eight great Immortal Domains of the Langya Immortal World.
The Eight Great Immortal Domains were said to have been created by eight ancient Immortals of immense power. Legend had it that these ancient Immortals never died but instead slumbered within their respective domains, waiting to awaken someday.
The Purple Dragon Domain was founded by Purple Dragon, one of the eight ancient Immortals.
Today, the Purple Dragon Domain is jointly ruled by eight great clans, all descended from or closely related to Purple Dragon. Each clan has an Ancestral Immortal guarding it—making them incredibly powerful.
The Ling Family—one of the eight great clans of the Purple Dragon Domain.
At this moment, in a Ling Family garden, a tall middle-aged man was playing with a beautiful Immortal bird in a cage while a young man behind him reported in a low voice.
After hearing the report, the tall man frowned slightly. "Useless fool, dying at the hands of an ascender!"
"My lord, that ascender is exceptionally strong. All eleven Golden Immortals who fought him alongside Levi Ling were killed—none survived!" the young man added.
"Oh? Now that's interesting." The tall man’s interest was piqued. "It's been ages since an ascender seedling like this appeared. Spread the word—maybe we can draw out some of those old guys!"
A cold light flashed in the tall man's eyes. "Those old guys are just like rats, hiding in the shadows, always jumping out to cause trouble whenever they get the chance. I'd love to slaughter them all!"
Murderous intent surged in the middle-aged man's eyes.
After a brief pause, the tall man waved his hand. "Enough, you may go! Remember—keep things covert. Don't alert the rats, or they’ll avoid that kid altogether!"
"Yes, sir!" the young man replied obediently.
The young man bowed and left. Far away in Whitecrest City, Ian had no idea he’d already become bait in someone else’s scheme.
A few days later.
In a remote mine, a burly man was digging away when his brows twitched slightly—then he returned to normal. Soon, another person appeared in the mine.
The newcomer was a middle-aged man dressed as a miner.
"Why are you here? Didn’t I tell you not to come unless it was important?"
The burly man didn’t turn his head and kept working as he spoke.
"If it wasn’t important, I wouldn’t be here!" The middle-aged miner smiled. "This time, we’ve found a promising candidate!"
"Is that so?"
The burly man didn’t seem to care, his tone dismissive.
The middle-aged miner continued, "This candidate is extraordinary. He’s only been in the Immortal World for less than a year, yet he killed a Golden Immortal and seized a city!"
"Oh, really?" The burly miner’s eyes flickered with surprise. "That just means he’ll die even faster!"
The middle-aged miner nodded in agreement. "Exactly. That’s why we need to recruit and protect him, or he’ll die too soon!"
"And you’re sure he’s not one of their plants?"
"No, because he also killed a Golden Immortal from the Ling Family in the Purple Dragon Domain!" the middle-aged miner said with conviction.