Master Mingtan looked a bit surprised. He hadn’t expected Ian Song to break free of his aura suppression. Of course, he was only using less than one percent of his true power. A playful, cold smile appeared at his lips. “Interesting!” he sneered.
The very next moment—
Boom!
The pressure inside the main hall surged again.
Pfft! Pfft!
Unable to withstand the crushing force, Old Man Tanner and Raina Quinn both spat blood and collapsed, unconscious. Seeing this, Ian Song’s eyes narrowed slightly, but he was in no position to help them—he could barely protect himself.
Crack! Crack!
Even with his World-Shaping Avatar active, Ian was barely holding on. He could hear his own bones shattering. He knew the easiest way out was to give up resistance and just sprawl on the ground like a toad.
But he refused to do that. Even if it meant death, he would never bow to Master Mingtan.
Aaaahhh!
He roared loudly, his muscles bulging, and his true essence surged throughout his body, constantly resisting the pressure from all sides.
Don’t make pointless resistance!
Master Mingtan’s voice rang out again, full of mockery: “You’ve been stirring up trouble in the Royal Capital and think you’re somebody? In my eyes, you’re just an ant—maybe a slightly bigger ant. To kill you, I wouldn’t even need to lift a finger.”
Lila Li’s marriage to Lucas Li was personally decreed by me, and yet an ant like you dares to interfere. You truly have no sense of self-preservation. Kneel!
As soon as he finished speaking, the pressure around them suddenly more than doubled!
Boom!
Visible waves of force pressed down on Ian, making his tall body bend again. He could feel his bones reaching their limit, on the verge of shattering.
Crack, crack, crack!
The next moment, Ian felt a sharp pain—three sections of his spine suddenly snapped!
Rumble!
His body crashed heavily onto the main hall floor, blood pouring from his mouth and nose.
Ah!
Ian roared inwardly, forcing his true essence to assault the Soul-Split realm barrier.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
It felt like countless war drums were pounding inside him, his blood surging and his true essence frantically charging forward.
Once!
Twice!
Three times!
Again and again, Ian crashed against the barrier. With each attempt, he could only use his physical body to withstand the external pressure. His spine broke in several more places, and blood streamed from his mouth, nose, ears, and eyes.
"What? Still refusing to yield? If you beg me, I’ll spare your life!" Master Mingtan’s voice echoed through the hall, lofty and cold as a god from the heavens.
"Beg your damn ass!"
Ian cursed loudly, gathering all his true essence and ramming it against the bottleneck.
Rumble!
With relentless effort, the Soul-Split barrier finally shattered. His Nascent Soul and true essence transformed at lightning speed, while the surrounding spiritual qi rushed into him!
"He actually broke through?"
Master Mingtan grew more surprised, but quickly sneered, "So what if you broke through? An ant is still an ant!"
Bang!
A crushing force slammed into Ian, sending his body flying and crashing dozens of meters away.
Spurt! Spurt!
Ian coughed up blood repeatedly, but seized the opportunity to grab a handful of pills from his Storage Ring and shove them into his mouth.
These pills were all Soul-Split-grade, meant to boost his cultivation.
He had just broken through—the realm was there, but his true essence hadn’t yet reached the early Soul-Split stage.
Swallowing the handful of pills, they instantly turned into a torrent of energy.
His Nascent Soul was like a sponge, frantically absorbing the medicinal power from the pills.
A moment later, Ian’s body shrank back to normal size. True essence surged through him as he stood up again, meeting Master Mingtan’s gaze.
"Are you trying to provoke me now? How ridiculous!"
Master Mingtan sneered, and the pressure in the hall spiked again. Ian had reached early Soul-Split, but compared to a mid-Tribulation master like Mingtan, he was still far too weak.
Spurt!
He spat blood again, sent flying and pinned hard to the hall floor.
"If you’ve got the guts, break through again and show me!" Master Mingtan sneered.
Ian gave a bitter smile inside. Breaking through to Soul-Split had boosted his power tenfold, but against Master Mingtan, it still wasn’t enough. A Tribulation-stage cultivator was simply too powerful.
But he refused to surrender.
"Open up!"
With a roar, his true essence surged again. Against the crushing pressure in the hall, Ian forced himself to his feet and locked eyes with Master Mingtan.
Seeing Ian stand up again, Master Mingtan was truly surprised. His eyes grew colder. He was already using two percent of his aura—enough to crush even late Soul-Split experts—yet this brat kept getting up. What unnerved him most was the look in Ian’s eyes: no fear, only unyielding anger.
"Kid, let me teach you something: when you’re weak, you’d better keep your head down. Your stubbornness is laughable to me!"
Boom!
The pressure in the hall doubled yet again. Ian’s bones creaked and cracked—as taut as a drawn bow, ready to snap at any moment.
Blood gushed from all seven orifices, cracks split his skin, and he looked like a man made of blood. But his eyes stayed locked on Master Mingtan as he growled, "Master Mingtan, I, Ian Song, swear—if I survive today, I’ll cut you down myself!"
Even as he spoke, Ian staggered forward against the pressure. Every step was agonizing, leaving a bloody footprint behind.
Master Mingtan laughed. "Cut me down? You could cultivate for ten thousand years and never reach my level. And you won’t get the chance, since you’ve already ruined my plans. Did you think I’d let you live?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the pressure in the hall doubled once more.
But just then, a faint wave of light radiated from Ian’s fist, and within a radius of several dozen meters, everything froze—even the crushing pressure vanished.
"Go!"
Ian grabbed the unconscious Old Man Tanner and Raina Quinn, and with one Great Teleportation, vanished from sight.
Crack! Crack!
The instant he disappeared, the pocket world created by the spatial stasis shattered under the external pressure.
Seeing Ian vanish without a trace, Master Mingtan’s face showed a rare moment of confusion, quickly replaced by fury. His vast divine sense instantly blanketed the entire Royal Capital.
"Nothing?"
After searching everywhere, he couldn’t find any sign of Ian Song.
In fact, what Master Mingtan didn’t know was that after breaking through to Soul-Split, Ian’s Great Teleportation range had multiplied. With one move, he left the capital and hid inside the Divine Temple, far beyond Mingtan’s senses.