Ian Song had long expected that Galen Silverwing and Rhea Redmoon would eventually ask him this question, but he hadn't thought they'd wait so long before bringing it up.
So he replied, "By sheer luck, I once obtained a Teleportation Divine Talisman. Once activated, it could send me dozens of kilometers away. I relied on that talisman to escape!"
"Really?"
Rhea Redmoon didn't really believe Ian's explanation. That place was far too unusual—even she and Galen Silverwing, after exhausting every method, still couldn't escape and were forced to seal their sea of consciousness, surviving in a half-dead state.
"This is the Teleportation Divine Talisman, but it can only be used once!"
As he spoke, Ian handed the spent talisman over to Rhea Redmoon.
Although the talisman had lost its power, Rhea Redmoon could still sense lingering spatial law energy from it, making her even more suspicious. "Could this kid really have escaped with just this talisman?" she wondered.
After that, Rhea Redmoon didn't bring up the topic again and just chatted with Ian casually.
Before long, Rhea Redmoon took her leave.
"How did it go?"
After Galen Silverwing set up a soundproof restriction, he asked in a deep voice.
Rhea Redmoon sneered, "That kid said he left that place using a Teleportation Divine Talisman, and he does have a used talisman on him. But I don't really believe it!"
Galen Silverwing snorted coldly, "Hmph! I say we should just grab him and interrogate him. I don't believe he could keep any secrets from us with our methods!"
"Not necessarily!"
Rhea Redmoon shook her head. "That kid's the type who yields to kindness, not force. He's only an Upper-Rank God, yet dares to go against a God-King family. If we use harsh methods, we might not get his secrets. It's better to keep befriending him; it might take time, but we could learn his secrets. If all else fails, I can use my Nightmare divine ability to extract what's in his heart!"
Galen Silverwing nodded. "Alright, let's do as you say. By the way, it looks like the God-Demon Corps is determined to get that pseudo–God-King godhead. I doubt we have much chance of getting it ourselves!"
"No big deal, it's just a pseudo–God-King godhead! Once we open that place, becoming a God-King will be easy for us!" Rhea Redmoon said indifferently.
"True enough!"
Galen Silverwing nodded. "It's just that place is too dangerous. Every inch of the void is filled with powerful restrictions—even with our strength, we can't really get inside!"
"Enough, let's not talk about this anymore, lest it leak out!"
Rhea Redmoon waved her hand, her eyes wary.
The night passed in a flash. Everyone sat cross-legged inside the warship, quietly waiting for the right moment.
Finally.
The Owens Family's main force finally arrived in the canyon. Immediately, they activated the arrays set up around the canyon, sealing it off completely. What they didn't know was that someone had already snuck in.
Leading the Owens Family was their patriarch, a thin, elderly man.
Beside the old man was a young man whose cultivation had reached late-stage Upper Heavenly God. His name was Owens Wushuang, the patriarch's son and the one chosen by the Owens Family to absorb the pseudo–God-King godhead.
In the center of the canyon, a massive array altar had already been built, with ninety-nine blood-red stone pillars standing tall. Below each pillar was a groove.
These grooves formed ring after ring, and at the center of the altar, they created a Taiji fish pattern.
At the six cardinal points of the altar, there were six smaller array platforms, each engraved with mysterious runes—eerie and strange.
"The moment has finally arrived!" The old patriarch came to the altar, his eyes full of barely contained excitement. As long as the Owens Family could create a God-King, all of Yushan Prefecture would belong to them.
"Bring out the sacrifices!"
Suddenly, with a wave of the patriarch's hand, a late-stage Upper Heavenly God flicked his wrist, and ninety-nine gods were summoned from a storage God-ring—men and women, young and old.
All of them had reached Mid-Rank God cultivation, and among them, there were even eighteen Upper Heavenly Gods.
No one knew how the Owens Family had managed to capture so many gods.
It was clear they'd been planning this for years.
The gods' expressions were all vacant, clearly under the influence of some secret art.
"Tie them all to the pillars!"
Immediately, gods moved to bind all ninety-nine captives to the blood-red stone pillars.
"Puff, puff, puff!"
At that moment, dozens of sharp spikes suddenly grew from the blood-red pillars, piercing through the gods' bodies. Fresh blood flowed down the pillars, slowly gathering in the grooves below.
"Six elders, take your positions on the array platforms!"
The patriarch called out again, and six Upper Heavenly Gods landed on the six small array platforms. They began weaving complex array hand-seals, instantly activating the giant altar, which burst into a ring of bloody light, enveloping the entire altar.
"Buzz, buzz, buzz!"
Suddenly, the altar started to tremble violently, as if it had come alive. The blood from the ninety-nine gods began to flow faster, running into the grooves and converging toward the center Taiji fish.
Yet the gods remained vacant and dazed, as if unaware of anything.
Time passed slowly.
The blood in the ninety-nine gods was almost drained when the six Upper Heavenly Gods from the Owens Family suddenly shouted, their hand-seals speeding up as they began chanting an ancient incantation in unison.
With their chanting, the void throughout the canyon began to tremble.
Many Owens Family gods and cultivators showed expressions of pain, and finally, the faces of the ninety-nine gods bound to the blood pillars twisted in agony.
Meanwhile, the old patriarch and Owens Wushuang were visibly excited, staring intently at the Taiji fish at the center of the altar.
At last.
A shadow drifted out from the Taiji fish, then the blood that had gathered there surged upward, gradually forming a blood figure—made from the blood of ninety-nine gods.
"This is a God-King Blood Puppet. It can only be refined using a God-King's corpse as the catalyst!"
Inside the warship, Frank Shaw explained calmly to Ian Song.
"What's the use of this blood puppet?"
Ian Song asked curiously.
Rhea Redmoon walked over and continued, "It's used to temper the godheads. Fusing ninety-nine godheads is no easy feat—even if an Upper Heavenly God tried to absorb them, it would be certain death. But this blood puppet can merge those godheads together, forming a pseudo–God-King godhead!"
Sure enough, the next moment, diamond-shaped crystals flew out from the foreheads of the ninety-nine gods.
These diamond crystals were their godheads.
"Roar! Roar!"
The blood puppet let out a wailing roar as all the godheads flew toward it, then were absorbed into its belly.