The deaths of Zack Zhang and Ricky Li made the faces of the five remaining alliance lords of Heaven's Dao Alliance look extremely grim.
"Big brother, why bother fighting this brat one-on-one? Why don't we just gang up on him!" suggested Zhao Wu, his face shadowed.
"Exactly, that's what we should've done!" Gavin Guan nodded in agreement. "We've all fallen into this thief's trap. Otherwise, our third and fourth brothers wouldn't have died!"
They didn’t bother lowering their voices, so everyone else heard their conversation.
For a moment, everyone looked thoughtful.
Ian Song just laughed loudly and mocked, "What a bunch of cowards, scared to die! If you’re so afraid, why don’t you just run home and guard your Heaven's Dao Alliance turf like little old men?"
People live for reputation, just like trees live for their bark. Ian Song openly mocked the five top experts in front of so many cultivators, calling them cowards. If word got out, their reputations would be ruined.
Instantly, each of them felt a surge of anger. Zhao Wu was especially furious and shouted, "You little thief, what did you just say?"
Ian Song glanced at him with disdain. "If you want to fight, stop running your mouth. If you’re not convinced, come duel me one-on-one. Believe it or not, I’ll send you to join Zack Zhang and Ricky Li in three moves!"
"...I...!"
Zhao Wu’s face flushed bright red, but he just didn’t have the guts to fight Ian Song one-on-one. It was obvious—even late Soul-Split experts couldn’t beat Ian, so as a mid-stage, he’d just be throwing his life away!
Ian Song stopped targeting Zhao Wu, slowly swept his gaze across the others, and asked, "Anyone else want to challenge me?"
"Caw caw, you really think getting lucky killing two nobodies makes you invincible? Let me show you what real power looks like!" As he spoke, the Ugly Daoist strode forward, his hideous old face full of disdain.
The Ugly Daoist was a late Soul-Split expert who’d made his name years ago. His strength was in a whole other league from Zack Zhang’s—even Old Man Tanner wasn’t sure he could beat him.
So when the Ugly Daoist stepped forward, Old Man Tanner and the others all looked a little uneasy, worry flickering in their eyes.
"You may be ugly, but your strength isn’t bad. Come on!"
Ian Song beckoned to the Ugly Daoist, then drew the Ink-Black Sword.
The Ugly Daoist absolutely hated people talking about his looks. Ian had just insulted him for the second time, so his ugly old face instantly turned frosty. "You little cur, I’ll teach you a lesson today—disaster comes from the mouth!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the Ugly Daoist attacked first.
He slapped his hands rapidly through the air, and several blazing red seals appeared, pressing down toward Ian Song’s head.
"Break!"
Ian Song lifted the Ink-Black Sword, and several sharp sword-qi bursts shot out, smashing into the blazing red seals with a crisp sound—the giant seals shattered instantly.
Ian Song left the Fourth Prince Residence three days after Heaven-Sword Elder’s public announcement.
What was he doing during those three days?
Naturally, he entered the Divine Temple to fully refine and attune to the Ink-Black Sword.
Although he still can’t unleash the sword’s full power, using sixty to seventy percent is no problem.
With the Ink-Black Sword as his personal weapon, the Heavenbreaker Sword Canon was like a tiger growing wings. Even a casual sword-qi release now packed the punch of a standard late Soul-Split expert’s attack.
Seeing the Ink-Black Sword’s power, the spectators suddenly realized why Ian Song hadn’t used it earlier. If he had, he could’ve easily killed someone like Ricky Li—a mid-stage Soul-Split expert—in an instant.
The Ugly Daoist was shocked by the sword’s might, his face growing more serious. Suddenly, a pair of golden gloves appeared on his hands.
"You little cur, die!"
With a low shout, the Ugly Daoist attacked again. He formed hand seals, and a ten-zhang-long fire dragon appeared out of thin air, roaring as it charged at Ian Song. At the same time, his figure flickered, circling Ian while making more hand seals—eight more fire dragons materialized.
Each of these fire dragons had the power of a late Soul-Split expert. In other words, Ian Song was now facing an assault from nine late Soul-Split experts at once.
"Is this the Ugly Daoist’s strongest dao art—the Great Might Fire-Dragon Seal?"
Someone exclaimed at the sight.
Another added, "A thousand years ago, the Ugly Daoist used the Great Might Fire-Dragon Seal to fight five late Soul-Split experts. He was wounded, but still managed to escape. Now, a millennium later, his technique is even stronger. Ian Song might be in real danger!"
Facing the siege of nine fire dragons with late Soul-Split strength, even with the Ink-Black Sword, Ian Song felt immense pressure. And with the Ugly Daoist lurking outside, ready to strike, Ian’s nerves were stretched to their limit as he swung the Ink-Black Sword again and again.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Compared to the previous two fights, Ian Song’s battle with the Ugly Daoist was especially fierce. Roaring fire dragons and flying sword-qi filled the air, turning a kilometer around them into a forbidden zone and forcing the spectators to retreat again and again.
In the blink of an eye, Ian Song fought dozens of moves against the nine giant fire dragons. The crushing pressure rapidly drained his true essence, but he still didn’t use the Heavenbreaker Sword Canon. He realized that under this extreme pressure, his control over his own power was improving at lightning speed.
This was exactly what he wanted—it was his goal all along.