Inside the Divine Temple.
Ian Stone sat cross-legged in the training room, a hint of hesitation on his face.
He had long anticipated that the Zhu Family would use the Chu Family to threaten him into showing himself, so he had already set up a grand array in Gracefield Town, just waiting for them to walk right into his trap.
After hearing Conrad Wu’s report, he quietly moved near the town and used his Clairvoyant Vision to scout it out, discovering that there were actually six Sun-Soul experts present.
Because his cultivation and primordial spirit were sealed, his formation skills were also drastically weakened.
Sigilforge experts have the ability to briefly traverse the void. According to his calculations, the array he left in Gracefield Town could trap Sun-Soul experts, but it wouldn’t be able to kill them outright.
So, to deal with them, he would have to take action himself.
But the problem was, he was only at late Origin Core stage—two whole realms below Sun-Soul experts.
Martialists in this world were especially fierce—even a beginner Sigilforge expert could unleash power comparable to a Divine Ability cultivator. That meant a Sun-Soul expert’s strength might reach late Soul-Split or even Fusion realm.
So, his top priority was to increase his own strength as quickly as possible.
Originally, Ian Stone had planned to obtain a few more Royal-Grade techniques and condense several divine sigils at once. But now, it seems he can only make do with King-Grade techniques.
At present, he possessed eleven King-Grade techniques—eight from the Imperial Crown Auction House, two from the Scarlet Flame Sect, and one from the Zhu Family.
Among them, Heavenly Sun Art, Nine Suns Art, and Flame God Canon are all yang-fire techniques, and since he already has Solar Divine Art, Ian doesn't plan to cultivate these.
However, Netherflame Art, Bloodflame Art, and Supreme Sunflame Canon are yin-fire techniques that he can cultivate, with Netherflame Art being the strongest of the three.
Cultivate!
He directly set the time acceleration to a thousandfold.
Ian began cultivating Netherflame Art. Although he hadn't practiced these techniques after acquiring them, he had studied and researched them, so his understanding was quite thorough.
A few days later.
The Netherflame inner energy he cultivated directly reached the Divine Ability tier.
So, Ian sped up the process, took out top-grade spirit crystals to absorb, and in just three days, he advanced his cultivation to late Divine Sea stage.
Ten days later, the Netherflame Origin Core was formed.
Half a month later, the Netherflame Origin Core reached great completion and could now condense a divine sigil.
Looking at the Solar Origin Core and the Netherflame Origin Core in his dantian, Ian took out another technique from the Imperial Crown Auction House: Crimson-Gold Codex.
This technique was a mid-tier King-Grade manual focused on the metal attribute.
After a month, Ian had cultivated a great-completion Crimson-Gold Origin Core in his dantian.
Relentlessly, he pressed on.
He continued to cultivate the water-attribute technique, Weakwater Codex.
Because water and fire naturally oppose each other, the Solar and Netherflame Origin Cores resisted the water-attribute technique, so it took him three full months to achieve great completion of the Weakwater Origin Core.
Next, he began cultivating Deep-Earth Codex, another mid-tier King-Grade manual.
This time, it only took twenty days to reach great completion of the Deep-Earth Origin Core.
Thus, his dantian now contained five great-completion Origin Cores.
Two were fire-attribute, and one each of metal, water, and earth.
He actually wanted to cultivate other attributes, but unfortunately, he didn’t have any more techniques.
According to what he knew, most martialists only condense one divine sigil. Those with outstanding talent can condense two; three means a once-in-a-generation genius, four is seen only once in a thousand years, and five is nearly unheard of.
Although Ian hadn’t condensed five-element Origin Cores, even five Origin Cores was something ordinary people couldn’t achieve.
With a thought,
Ian circulated all five Origin Cores through his body, repeatedly tempering his flesh.
Months passed.
Ian’s entire body was suffused with a certain divine radiance, shining brilliantly, like a peerless treasure body.
At the same time, while tempering his body, Ian didn’t forget to purify the impurities in his Origin Cores. Since he cultivated with top-grade spirit crystals, there were very few impurities to begin with.
After this round of tempering, all five of his Origin Cores reached an extremely pure and refined state.
The quality of the Origin Core directly affected the excellence of the divine sigil.
Condense the sigil!
With a soft shout, Ian formed hand seals, and the Solar Origin Core began to undergo a mysterious change.
A few days later.
The Solar Origin Core in Ian’s body transformed into a crimson flame-like divine sigil, and at the same time, he mastered a new divine ability—Heaven-Earth Copper Furnace!
After taking a Frost-Soul Pill to relieve mental fatigue, Ian began converting the Netherflame Origin Core.
This time, it was even easier; it only took a day to successfully condense a Netherflame sigil, and Ian gained another divine ability—Soul-Scorch.
Soul-Scorch meant burning another person’s soul directly.
Five days later, Ian condensed the Crimson-Gold sigil and gained the divine ability—Unbeaten Golden Body.
Half a month later, Ian condensed the Deep-Earth sigil and gained the divine ability—Earth-Burrow.
A month later, Ian condensed the Weakwater sigil and gained the divine ability—River-Domain.
If he used this ability in water, his strength could triple.
The five sigils floated at five positions in his dantian, each fulfilling its role, constantly releasing divine power to nourish his body and soul.
He stayed another year in the Divine Temple, completely stabilizing his realm.
If he unleashed his full power, it would rival a Fusion-realm cultivator.
Ian couldn’t help but marvel at how dominant the martial path of this world was—no wonder the System had hinted that he should cultivate along it.
Gracefield Town.
The Chu Family, once the number-one clan of Gracefield Town, was now in a state of panic and unrest.
Even the patriarch’s private courtyard was occupied by Gavin Zhu, who personally sat in town to ensure Ian couldn’t escape. This time, he was determined to kill Ian himself and not let that bastard slip away.
"Has the word gotten out?"
Gavin Zhu looked down and asked calmly.
A Sigilforge expert replied, "Reporting to the patriarch, with the help of the Scarlet Flame Sect and the Lei Family, as long as Evan Chu is within ten thousand li, he’ll hear about it!"
"Excellent!" Gavin Zhu narrowed his eyes and nodded coldly. "Go, have a few Chu Family guards killed and hang their heads at the town gate!"
"Yes, sir!"
Half a quarter of an hour later.
Eight Chu Family guards’ heads now hung from the flagpole at the entrance of Gracefield Town, leaving the town’s martialists sighing in shock.
As for the other three martial families in Gracefield Town...
Learning of this, they felt not joy, but an indescribable fear.
Roger Qin felt an ominous premonition—this time, the Chu Family might truly be doomed.
He had once watched the forces stationed at the Chu Family from afar—even the most ordinary guards were late Divine Sea, and there were plenty of Origin Core experts; he suspected there were even Sigilforge experts among them.
Even in Cloud Maple City, Sigilforge experts could sweep through everything—let alone here in Gracefield, which was just a small town.
He had no idea where Evan Chu had provoked such powerful enemies.
Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but sigh.
Myriad Flower Valley.
In a certain pavilion, a sudden surge of energy erupted. After a while, a stunningly beautiful girl sitting cross-legged inside suddenly opened her eyes and murmured, "Evan Chu, this fairy has now reached Sigilforge. Next time I see you, I’ll beat you until you’re searching the ground for your teeth. Let’s see if you still dare call yourself a genius and ignore me!"
Whatever she was thinking, she couldn’t help but let out a laugh, as if a sea of flowers had bloomed—beautiful beyond words.