Ian knew this was Kara Moran's petty revenge for him refusing to continue Journey to the West. Susie, shy and unable to refuse Kara's request, turned back to give Ian an apologetic look as she entered the tent.
Ian smiled at her, indicating she shouldn't worry about it.
Inside the tent, Ian didn't sleep. Instead, he sat cross-legged like a meditating monk, cultivating.
Now, the sword essence in his lower dantian was far denser and purer than when he'd just broken through to mid Foundation Establishment. So, he focused his efforts on cultivating his middle dantian, aiming for another breakthrough.
He'd entered this world in desperation, fleeing for his life.
Now that he'd completed two missions, he wondered if, upon returning, he could escape the Nascent Soul demonic tiger.
Even with the Silverglow Skiff, his chances of escape were slim.
So, he started making plans.
He settled on two plans. Plan One: enter the Divine Temple to find a way to survive.
In a little over two years, the Divine Temple will descend from the sky. Everyone knows entering it brings incredible opportunities, but few realize danger comes with those chances.
Just over a month ago, the three Holy Lords came together to battle Ian at Sunrise Peak.
He won that battle and even turned the three Holy Lords into his puppets, so he learned a lot about the Divine Temple from them.
The Divine Temple contains nine Challenge Domains.
Only forty-nine people can enter, and each is forced into the first Challenge Domain.
According to the three Holy Lords, the first Challenge Domain presents three puppets at the challenger's cultivation level.
If you defeat all three puppets within a month, you earn a Divine Temple reward. Fail, and you're erased—there's no second chance if you die.
After clearing the first tier, you can choose to stop. When time's up, you're sent out of the Divine Temple.
Of the forty-nine, only nine completed the first tier and received rewards.
Of those nine, six chose to continue to the second tier.
Those six became the founders of the three empires and three Holy Lands; the other three gave up.
The three who gave up joined the Nine Great Sects and became leading figures, but their achievements paled compared to the founders of the empires and Holy Lands. The second Challenge Domain is tougher: you have to defeat six puppets at your own cultivation level.
But the rules for the second tier are different from the first.
Even if you die during the second tier, the Divine Temple revives you—though only once.
Luckily, all six challengers completed the second tier and earned its rewards.
And the six of them entered the third Challenge Domain together.
The third Challenge Domain is even harder: you have to beat nine puppets at your own cultivation level, but you get two revivals.
Even after using both revivals, those six still couldn't clear the third tier.
Still, with only the second tier's rewards, they were able to found their own empires and Holy Lands.
Ian analyzed that in the Divine Temple, the puppets only match your cultivation level—not your real strength.
So Ian is fully confident he can clear the third tier and claim the first three rewards from the Divine Temple.
As for the fourth tier, since he lacks information, Ian is only eighty percent confident. Based on the pattern, each tier adds three more puppets, so the fourth should have twelve—though exceptions are possible.
Ian's first plan is to obtain the first four Divine Temple rewards, hoping to find something that could help him survive the Nascent Soul demonic tiger.
As for Plan Two...
Keep delaying his third system mission to forcibly remain in this world.
Given how the system works, this world probably has hidden missions. He could uncover and complete them while raising his cultivation.
But it's risky—hidden missions are unknown, and failure could mean being trapped here forever.
Of course, he'd only use this plan if he had no other choice.
Whoosh!
Exhaling, Ian stopped cultivating. The sword essence in his middle dantian had accumulated enough—he'd break through to mid Foundation Establishment in at most two months.
Wooo... wooo... woooo!
Suddenly, Ian heard a faint flute melody at his ear, carrying a subtle, bewitching power.
But Ian's spiritual strength was so strong that the bewitching power couldn't affect him at all.
However, the three women sleeping in the neighboring tent couldn't resist.
He saw the three women close their eyes and, like sleepwalkers, step out of the tent, their bodies stiff as they slowly walked in a certain direction.
Ian's expression instantly turned cold. Someone actually dared to plot against him—clearly courting death.
With a thought, Ian activated his Clairvoyant Vision and looked toward the source of the flute.
Three li away, there was a small hill.
On the hill stood nine mysterious figures in black robes, each wearing an evil-spirit mask.
The leader wore a silver evil-spirit mask, the eight behind him wore bronze ones, and the flute music came from the silver-masked man.
Ian was a bit surprised by this.
To Ian's surprise, the silver-masked man was actually an early Heaven-and-Man realm martial artist, while the eight bronze-masked men behind him were all at the Innate Ninth Layer.
With a thought, Ian pretended to be controlled by the flute and followed behind the three women, heading toward the small hill three li away.
A quarter-hour later, all four arrived at the foot of the hill. The silver-masked man stopped playing the flute.
Seeing Ian's blank expression, one of the bronze-masked men flattered, "Hall Master's soul-capturing melody really is impressive—even the Number One Bandit Under Heaven fell for it!"
"No, he didn't fall for it!"
The so-called Hall Master was the silver-masked man. He shook his head, his gaze sharp on Ian. "Chief Ian Steele—Young Master Ian Steele—am I right?"
"That's right. With such cheap tricks, you think you can plot against me? Go practice for another ten years." Ian said coldly. At his words, Susie, Kara, and Hannah snapped awake, shocked by their surroundings.
Luckily, Susie turned her head and saw Ian, immediately feeling reassured.
"How dare you disrespect our Hall Master!" The same bronze-masked flatterer barked at Ian.
"You're the ones being disrespectful!"
Ian's face went cold. Without warning, he raised a hand and flicked out a finger. A streak of finger force tore through the air, instantly piercing the bronze mask and the man's brow with a 'thud.'