"Honored elders, I have here a coordinated Immortal Art set. I wonder if the five of you would be interested?"
Suddenly, Ian Song smiled and spoke up.
Hearing this, the five Fusion patriarchs were collectively stunned. Their breathing grew rapid, and their eyes flashed with a greedy green light, locking onto Ian Song. If not for the fact that they were in the Secret Realm, they would have pounced to snatch the Immortal Art from Ian on the spot.
What is an Immortal Art?
It’s a power that transcends ordinary dao-arts—a technique of overwhelming might. Any Immortal Art possesses tremendous force; mastering one lets you become invincible at your realm and even kill across realms. It’s the dream of every cultivator under heaven.
It’s said that throughout the entire Tang Dynasty, only the Prime One Church controls a handful of Immortal Arts. That makes them unimaginably rare and precious.
Gradually, the five Fusion patriarchs regained their composure, but the fiery longing in their eyes was impossible to hide.
Shaoyang Chen stared at Ian Song and asked, “Little Song, what’s your condition for teaching us the Immortal Art?”
"I want you to become my followers."
Ian Song spoke slowly.
When they heard this, the five Fusion patriarchs' faces all changed—some even looked angry. But soon, they understood: Immortal Arts were so precious that even Tribulation-stage experts couldn't resist their allure. If they didn't pay a price, how could Ian Song possibly teach them?
After a round of soul-voice discussion, Shaoyang Chen spoke again: "Little Song, we need to discuss this amongst ourselves!"
"Alright, I have something to say—please listen first, Seniors." Ian Song nodded and continued, "Let me ask you bluntly: Do you believe you can reach Tribulation stage?"
For a moment, the five Fusion patriarchs fell silent.
Even with the techniques Ian Song had gifted them, none of them felt confident about ever reaching Tribulation stage.
"But I can guarantee this: if you follow me, I can help you all reach Tribulation stage—and even becoming Immortal won't be impossible!" Ian Song declared, his words like a thunderclap.
The five patriarchs, whose emotions had just calmed, were stirred up again. To become Immortal—such a tempting word! It was the greatest pursuit in every cultivator's heart, but how incredibly difficult it was. In the entire Tang Dynasty, only the Prime One Church had produced a single Immortal.
There were more than ten billion cultivators in the Tang Dynasty, and yet only one had become Immortal. The odds were unimaginably low.
After a long pause, the five patriarchs gradually calmed down again.
The Sunrise Sword Sect's patriarch spoke up: "Little Song, how can you guarantee that?"
"Five hundred years!"
Ian Song raised five fingers. "You will serve me for five hundred years. If I can't help you become Immortal in that time, I'll compensate each of you with one Immortal Tome and two million top-grade spirit crystals."
"One Immortal Tome, two million top-grade spirit crystals!"
The five Fusion patriarchs were shocked once again.
Ian Song's voice rang out again: "Immortal Tomes may be rare treasures to you, but to me they're within easy reach. The master of the Divine Temple is someone who has surpassed even Immortals. The five manuals I've given you are actually fragments of Immortal Tomes—their complete versions can be cultivated all the way to Immortal Emperor!"
According to ancient legend, Immortals have ranks: Human Immortal, Earth Immortal, Heaven Immortal, Golden Immortal, Mystic Immortal, and Ancestral Immortal—with the highest being Immortal Emperor.
"That's all I have to say. Please discuss among yourselves—there's no need to rush your decision!"
With a flicker, Ian Song's figure disappeared.
As soon as Ian Song left, Shaoyang Chen spoke slowly: "What do you all think? Are you in or out?"
The four other patriarchs' expressions kept changing.
After a long silence, the Sunrise Sword Sect's patriarch was the first to speak: "Little Song is right. At best, we'll reach mid-Fusion in this lifetime, which only adds a thousand years to our lives. I'm not willing! Ten thousand years of cultivation, and in the end, I still turn to dust. Why should only Prime One Church cultivators become Immortal ancestors, and not me?"
His face was full of unwillingness.
The Spiritfish Sect patriarch nodded. "Evan is right. Sure, it's a bit humiliating for Fusion experts to serve an early Soul-Split junior, but Ian Song is no ordinary Soul-Split. At his realm, we wouldn't even be qualified to help carry his shoes."
The Setting Sun Sect patriarch laughed. "I think this is a great opportunity. Whether you agree or not, I've decided to hug Little Song's thick thigh! Even if I can't become Immortal or reach Tribulation, making it to late Fusion is already a huge profit. Without Ian, we'd just sit and wait to become dirt in a few hundred years. Serving depends on who you serve, and serving Ian isn't shameful!"
The Coldreach Sect patriarch joked, "You're a master at boot-licking, but it's a pity Ian isn't here to hear it."
The atmosphere relaxed, and the five patriarchs had essentially made up their minds—they were just waiting for Ian Song to return so they could give him their answer.
Meanwhile, Ian Song ignored them for now and returned to his practice chamber to continue studying restriction arts.
After five more days of research, Ian Song tried again to break the second layer of restrictions inside the five-flag Array Flag set.
He finally discovered a method to break the second-layer restriction and immersed himself in the task, losing all sense of time.
Only then did he realize just how formidable these restrictions were—perfectly interlinked, exquisitely constructed. Whoever had inscribed them was clearly no ordinary person.
Days passed—one, two, three. By the seventh day, Ian Song finally made progress and found a way to break the second-layer restriction. He threw himself into the work, completely oblivious to the passage of time.
The five patriarchs grew increasingly anxious; more than a month inside the Secret Realm passed without Ian Song appearing.
At last, another month went by, and Ian Song finally broke the second-layer restrictions in all five flags. As the seals shattered, each Array Flag erupted with powerful spiritual pressure.
"This is ninth-grade spirit artifact pressure!"
Ian Song was ecstatic; unlocking just the second layer already released ninth-grade spiritual pressure. If he could break all nine layers, the five-flag set would surely reach Immortal Artifact level.
He chuckled darkly to himself, glad that the Prime One Church's Fusion expert was dead. If that expert had known the flags were Immortal-grade, he would have gone mad trying to unlock them at any cost.
Suddenly, Ian Song remembered he'd left the five patriarchs on the deserted planet for a very long time.
With a single teleport, he appeared on the planet.
As soon as Shaoyang Chen saw Ian Song, he couldn't help but complain, "Little Song, you finally came! We've been waiting so long!"
Ian Song quickly apologized, "Seniors, please forgive me! I got caught up in my research and lost track of time. I hope you won't hold it against me!" Then he smoothly changed the subject: "So—have you all made your decision?"
Suddenly, Shaoyang Chen bowed deeply to Ian Song. "Greetings, Young Master!"
Ian Song hurriedly helped him up, laughing, "Senior Chen, there's no need for such formality!" But inside, he was absolutely delighted.
"Greetings, Young Master!"
The other four patriarchs also bowed together. Seeing this, Ian Song could barely contain his joy.
With their open submission, Ian Song had successfully bound five early Fusion patriarchs as his sworn servants for the next five hundred years.
He now had a growing cadre of high-level subordinates to help topple the Prime One Church’s altar network, shatter its financial base, and reshape the power landscape of the Tang cultivation world.
(End of chapter)