"Perfect timing!"
Watching the giant hand reach through the channel again, Ian couldn't help but grin. With a thought, he deliberately let the Divine Temple's will clash with the hand for a moment before shattering it.
Once again, a surge of immortal essence exploded forth. Ian unceremoniously absorbed it, converting it into his own immortal yuan force.
Twice now, both attacks had been dissolved by the lower-realm being. For a moment, the Immortal Realm cultivator on the other side hesitated, unsure whether to continue. But after a brief pause, he attacked once more.
He couldn't afford to lose face—if word got out that he couldn't handle a brazen lower-realm thief, he'd be a laughingstock.
Boom!
The Immortal's third strike was even more overwhelming, dozens of times stronger than the last, already equivalent to a full-powered blow from a peak Human-Immortal.
Even outside the Divine Temple, now that Ian had reached early Tribulation, he was confident he could break down this attack. After stepping into early Tribulation, his strength was already approaching Earth-Immortal; even against an Earth-Immortal, he could put up a fight.
But Ian wanted to harvest even more immortal essence, so he deliberately had the Divine Temple's will play weak, taking a full half-hour to break down the Immortal's third strike into pure immortal essence, which he then devoured and refined into immortal yuan force.
In an instant, his immortal power surged several times over, nearly reaching the peak of early Tribulation.
One more wave like that, and he'd have enough foundation to break through to mid Tribulation.
"Bastard!"
On the other side of the channel, the Immortal was now thoroughly enraged. His gaze turned cold, and a fiery-red bead appeared in his hand—the Fire-Spirit Orb, an Immortal Artifact capable of unleashing Red-Lotus Karmic Flame. Under its burning, even those who have condensed an immortal body would find their bodies collapsing.
"Go!"
With a casual toss, the Immortal hurled the Fire-Spirit Orb through the channel. It quickly appeared inside the Divine Temple, heading straight for Ian.
"What a generous guy!"
Ian burst out laughing and simply had the Divine Temple's will suppress the Fire-Spirit Orb, erasing its spiritual imprint in the process.
Meanwhile, on the other side...
The Immortal spat out a mouthful of golden blood, his face twisted in disbelief and rage. He could sense that the Fire-Spirit Orb's imprint had been wiped away—his life-bound Immortal Artifact, which had taken vast time and resources to refine.
"I'm going to kill him!"
With a flicker, the Immortal tried to enter the channel himself, intending to cross over and kill the lower-realm thief with his true body.
But as soon as he entered, he felt the suppressive force of the Immortal Realm's will. Terrified, he hurriedly retreated, yet his immortal body was already covered in cracks—without centuries of recovery, it would be impossible to heal.
For a moment, he felt like crying, regret filling his heart. If only he had pretended not to see the lower-realm thief stealing immortal essence, he wouldn't be gravely injured or have lost his life-bound Immortal Artifact.
"Forget it. Losing face is better than losing my life!"
The Immortal took one last long look at the channel, then fled at top speed.
He really just ran off!
Ian looked a bit disappointed.
He'd been hoping to squeeze a few more benefits out of the guy. Of course, if the other had managed to cross the channel and enter the Divine Temple, that would have been even better—he could have captured him and forced out intel about the Immortal Realm.
After all, Ian would go to the Immortal Realm sooner or later, so getting some advance info would be ideal.
"Can we keep expanding the channel?"
Ian asked the Temple Spirit.
"It's best not to—otherwise, you might attract the attention of true Immortal Realm heavyweights!" The Temple Spirit didn't mind Ian's idea, but cautioned him all the same.
"Alright then. Can you condense the stolen immortal essence into immortal stones?" Ian asked again.
"Of course!"
In the blink of an eye, a day passed. By stealing immortal essence from the Immortal Realm, Ian had produced a thousand immortal stones of excellent quality—far purer than any he'd had before.
With the Temple Spirit handling the immortal essence theft, Ian had nothing to worry about—so he simply left the Divine Temple.
He'd spent ten years in closed-door cultivation inside the Divine Temple, yet only a little over three days had passed in the outside world.
"It's finally time to head to the Central Domain!"
The Central Domain was a long way from the Sky-Sun Region—even a Demigod expert would need several days of travel at full speed.
But with the Art of Great Teleportation, Ian could make the trip in a single day at most.
After a quick round of preparations, Ian led Lena Wei, Rosie Ning, Yanna Zhou, Wes Wei, Holly Hong, and Conrad Wu on their journey toward the Central Domain.
The closer they got to the Central Domain, the denser the world's spiritual energy became.
At last, after a day of travel, Ian and his six companions appeared at the border between the Imperial Region and the Central Domain. Of all nine outer domains, the Imperial Region was the strongest.
"Huh?"
Ian had planned to sneak straight into the Central Domain, but as soon as he approached, he felt a powerful repulsive force from the local heavens and earth.
If they tried to force their way in, they would even suffer backlash from the region itself.
"What's going on?"
Lena Wei suddenly spoke up: "Young Master, as your maid, I've looked into the rules of the Central Domain. They say only those who possess identity tokens issued by the Central Empire can freely live here. Otherwise, you'll be repelled—and even suffer backlash!"
"So how do we get an identity token?" Ian asked.
Lena Wei explained: "You have to apply at the Empire's official offices. The tokens come in several grades. The lowest is the Temporary Identity Token; it lets you stay in the Central Domain for a year, but costs a million gold taels and everything is more expensive. Citizen Tokens are usually only for natives—outsiders pay a steep price. Noble Tokens require no fees and let nobles recruit retainers. Retainers get Retainer Tokens, which last up to twenty years and usually cost ten million gold taels. That's why big powers from other domains spend a fortune buying Retainer Tokens from minor nobles."
Ian laughed. "So these nobles basically live off the rent from Retainer Tokens! Must be a sweet deal."
"Isn't that the truth?"
Lena Wei curled her lip. "And as your maid, I've heard people in the Central Domain are super arrogant—they really look down on outsiders!"
"Let's go. First, we'll grab a few Temporary Identity Tokens!"
As he spoke, Ian spread his vast divine sense and quickly located a small city nearby.
This little city was a transit hub—anyone from the outer domains wanting to enter the Central Domain had to come here to get their Temporary Identity Tokens.