The gaunt elder looked full of energy, but a closer look revealed a faint aura of decay lingering around him.
"Greetings, Ancestor!"
Victor Wu bowed deeply, his expression extremely respectful.
Shaoyang Chen waved his hand, signaling Victor Wu not to stand on ceremony. His gaze, however, was fixed on Ian Song, burning with intensity. "Young friend, were your earlier words true?"
This man was Shaoyang Chen, the founding ancestor of the Lesser Sun Sect, now over 9,300 years old.
Out-of-Body cultivators can live around five thousand years, Soul-Split cultivators about eight thousand, and early Fusion-stage cultivators no more than ten thousand. In other words, Shaoyang Chen had little time left.
Even ants struggle to survive, let alone a dignified early Fusion-stage master.
That’s why, over the years, Shaoyang Chen never stopped trying to deduce a mid-Fusion technique, nor did he stop sending people to search for one.
Unfortunately, creating a new manual is extremely difficult, and he’d made no real progress. As for finding an existing mid-Fusion technique, that too had failed—every first-rate sect in the realm wants such arts, and any that appear trigger a bloody scramble. So when Shaoyang Chen learned that Ian Song could provide a manual reaching late Fusion, he was naturally thrilled.
If he could reach mid-Fusion, his lifespan would increase by a thousand years; late Fusion, another thousand; and if he broke through to Tribulation, his life could soar straight to twenty thousand years.
"Of course it's true!" Ian Song met Shaoyang Chen's heated gaze and nodded firmly.
"Do you have any proof?" Shaoyang Chen pressed.
"Senior, please take a look!"
Ian Song produced a jade slip and handed it over.
Shaoyang Chen snatched up the jade slip eagerly and sent his divine soul inside to probe it. Instantly, a cultivation manual surfaced in his mind.
With his early Fusion-stage vision, he could easily judge the quality of a manual.
After a quick browse of this technique—which could be cultivated to early Fusion—he was certain it far surpassed his own.
Taking a deep breath, Shaoyang Chen withdrew his divine soul and looked hard at Ian Song. "You're handing over this manual—aren't you afraid I'll just take it by force?"
Ian Song shook his head with quiet confidence. "I believe senior isn't that shortsighted. If you cooperate with me, both you and the Lesser Sun Sect will gain much more. If you try to seize my manual by force, you might not succeed!"
"And what makes you so confident?"
Suddenly, Shaoyang Chen, his figure slightly hunched, lashed out at Ian Song with a claw—completely without warning. It looked ordinary, but was infused with Dao intent. As the target, Ian felt his whole body freeze, even his soul trembling.
"Shiiing!"
The Ink-Black Sword flashed out of its sheath.
Blood splattered!
Sword Dao intent erupted, transforming into a blood-red sword light that struck Shaoyang Chen’s palm with pinpoint accuracy.
"Pfft!"
The force exploded—Ian Song was blasted back to the doorway before he could steady himself, while Shaoyang Chen was forced a step back by Ian’s sword.
Shaoyang Chen hadn’t expected to be forced back by a mere early Soul-Split junior. He paused, visibly surprised, then broke into praise: “Good! Such powerful swordsmanship!”
Victor Wu was stunned, his gaze fixed on Ian Song in awe. He was certain that if he had faced that sword strike, he’d have only a ten percent chance of surviving. But seeing even the ancestor forced back, he felt a bit better.
“Thank you for your praise, senior!”
Ian Song sheathed the Ink-Black Sword and smiled.
"You’re the Ian Song being hunted by the Prime One Church, aren’t you?" Shaoyang Chen suddenly asked, his tone meaningful.
"That’s right!" Ian Song nodded, straightforward and unashamed.
Victor Wu was once again shocked—he’d never dreamed this was the very Ian Song who’d destroyed four Prime One Church branch altars, the infamous Little Demon Song.
"What do you plan to do next?"
Shaoyang Chen asked.
Ian Song replied, "There are three Fusion experts stationed at the Great Wild Province Branch Altar. So, we’ll need to find four more allies to ensure nothing goes wrong!"
"Who do you plan to recruit?" Shaoyang Chen pressed.
Ian Song listed the names of four sects.
Shaoyang Chen smiled. "It seems you came well prepared."
The four first-rate sects Ian Song named all had close ties or friendly relations with the Lesser Sun Sect.
"What terms will you offer them?" Shaoyang Chen fixed his gaze on Ian Song.
Ian Song replied, "If we take down the Great Wild Province Branch Altar, each of them will receive fifteen percent of the resources. As an extra reward, I’ll gift them a cultivation manual that reaches mid-Fusion stage!"
"Excellent! You know how to handle things!" Shaoyang Chen said approvingly. "Don’t worry, I’ll take care of contacting those four old fellows!"
"Thank you, senior!" Ian Song smiled.
"Alright, Victor, you take care of him. I’ll go visit those four sects myself!" With that, Shaoyang Chen prepared to leave.
"Wait, senior!"
"What is it now, kid?"
Ian Song once again respectfully offered a jade slip. Shaoyang Chen had a hunch, and when he checked it, he was so excited he trembled all over—this was the continuation of the earlier manual, one that reached mid-Fusion stage.
After a long moment, Shaoyang Chen regained his composure. With a complicated expression, he said to Ian Song, "Since you’re so thoughtful, I won’t let you down. Don’t worry—even if those four old ghosts refuse, I’ll invite four other Fusion experts for you!"
With those words, Shaoyang Chen vanished.
Victor Wu, who witnessed all this, guessed what Ian Song’s second jade slip contained. He was thrilled—if their ancestor could break through to mid-Fusion, the Lesser Sun Sect’s strength would soar.
"By the way, Sect Master Wu, I forgot to give you a greeting gift earlier. Please accept this small token!"
As he spoke, Ian Song presented a jade bottle.
Victor Wu didn’t dare inspect it on the spot. He waited until he’d personally escorted Ian Song to the VIP suite and returned to his own courtyard before opening the jade bottle.
When he saw the twenty pills inside, Victor’s eyes went wide—they were Godbreaking Pills! Twenty Godbreaking Pills could add twenty new Nascent Divinity experts to the Lesser Sun Sect.
In the VIP suite, Ian Song was meticulously reviewing every step of his plan. Although Shaoyang Chen had promised to recruit four Fusion experts, Ian wasn’t about to pin all his hopes on him—he had other arrangements.
He pondered for two full hours, running through the plan dozens of times. Only when he was sure there were no flaws did he finally go to bed.
Lying in bed, Ian Song couldn’t help but picture Fiona Chen’s face.
After slaying Terry Xie, he’d secretly gone to see Fiona Chen, leaving her enough resources to reach late Out-of-Body stage, along with three Godbreaking Pills.
With three Godbreaking Pills, she was guaranteed to reach Nascent Divinity.
With the Pill Condensation Technique, pills were nothing special to him—especially after raiding four Prime One Church branch altars, he had more spirit medicines than he could count. If he refined them all into pills and sold them, he’d make at least hundreds of thousands of top-grade spirit crystals.
That’s why he could give Victor Wu twenty Godbreaking Pills without a second thought.