Several days flashed by in a blur.
During this time, the Ward Clan kept trying to uncover the true reason for the True-Dragon Blood Pool’s collapse. They even risked exposing the pool’s existence by inviting top formation masters to investigate, and eventually brought in several strange sorcerers to trace back time and re-create the events of that day.
But True-Dragons are beings comparable to gods, and True-Dragon essence blood contains special alien power. Plus, with Ian Song protected by the System, the sorcerers exhausted themselves trying to divine the truth, only to cough up blood and fail.
When the sorcerers tried their divinations, Ian Song sensed it, but he wasn't worried. Not only them—even immortals can't calculate events closely tied to him.
The Ward Patriarch was deeply unwilling to accept this and repeatedly considered killing someone to vent his anger.
On this day, he finally summoned Ian Song, Victor Ward, and Gavin Ward again.
"Think carefully—did you notice anything unusual in the True-Dragon Blood Pool that day?"
"We didn’t sense anything!"
Ian Song shook his head.
Victor Ward and Gavin Ward both shook their heads as well.
"Forget it. Have someone escort you out of the Ancestral Land." The Ward Patriarch waved his hand helplessly, his mood at rock bottom.
Half an hour later.
Ian Song returned home safely.
"Husband!"
Seeing Ian Song come back, Lynne Ward's face lit up with happiness.
"Wife!"
Ignoring everyone else's stares, Ian Song strode forward, pulled Lynne Ward into his arms, and kissed her soft, moist lips.
"N-no... don't!"
Lynne Ward blushed furiously and tried to push Ian Song away, since there were still plenty of people watching.
But Ian Song had no intention of letting her go. Little by little, she gave up resisting and melted into his wolfish kiss.
A whole month passed in a blur.
After a month together, Ian Song and Lynne Ward were sweeter than honey, their marriage growing ever more harmonious. Lynne shed her former coldness and became increasingly warm and human.
Ian was quite proud of turning an aloof, fairy-like beauty into a gentle little wife.
Still, throughout this period, he remained vigilant. Ever since his return, a Demigod expert had been secretly monitoring him—but the moment surveillance began, Ian had already noticed.
"Did any of the three show signs of abnormality?"
In the main hall, the Ward Patriarch asked the three Demigod elders assigned to monitor Ian Song, Victor Ward, and Gavin Ward. Although he had released the three, he hadn't given up—instead, he ordered them closely watched, since everyone suspected the three were the most likely cause of the True-Dragon Blood Pool's collapse.
The three Demigod elders sighed and shook their heads.
Crack!
The armrest of the chair shattered with a snap, and the Ward Patriarch's face darkened again.
"How about using a secret art to soul-search the three of them?"
After a moment, one Demigod elder suggested.
"No!"
As soon as he finished speaking, another Demigod elder objected: "With the True-Dragon Blood Pool gone, those three are our last hope for entering the Central Domain. Soul-searching would severely damage their souls, and without the pool, even our backup candidates can't endure Divine Descent."
"That's right. As long as we can enter the Central Domain, we can rise quickly even without the True-Dragon Blood Pool!" another Demigod elder agreed.
"Dismissed!"
The Ward Patriarch waved his hand, looking utterly exhausted.
"What about the soul-searching?" the elder pressed, unwilling to give up.
The Ward Patriarch replied, "No need to mention it again. Pick a day for Evan Chu to receive the Sovereign-Grade scripture. In the days ahead, focus all resources on training the three, and strive to have them complete the Divine Descent ritual within a year!"
Finally, they're gone!
Inside the manor, Ian Song finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Glancing at Lynne Ward sleeping soundly in his arms, Ian Song gently brushed her sleep acupoint, sending her into deeper slumber. He then summoned Huang Yan, his Emperor-grade Martial-Soul avatar, to impersonate him and practice next door while Ian slipped into the Divine Temple.
For the past month, he hadn't entered the Divine Temple, wary of the Demigod elder's surveillance.
Now that the elder was gone, Ian could finally enter the temple and devour the nine blood-red dragons.
In the next instant, Ian Song appeared in the Divine Temple's training room.
All nine blood-red dragons were sealed here. With a wave, one dropped into his hand. Without hesitation, he swallowed it whole.
Boom!
A torrent of staggering energy exploded inside him. Had he not activated his Star God Body in advance, he would have been reduced to pulp.
Absorb it!
Ian's face flushed red, his eyes bulged, and a massive star chart surged up from within him, hovering overhead. Countless stars spun at high speed, alternating between light and dark.
With each shift, the energy from the blood-red dragon was drawn in, devoured, and transformed into pure star power that rained down over Ian.
His Star God Body rapidly advanced, and his soul grew stronger as well.
Boom!
Just as the energy from the blood-red dragon was nearly spent, his Star God Body broke through to the late third tier.
Good!
Ian squeezed his hand, and crackling sounds erupted. The surge of power made him feel he could tear apart anything.
Ian was certain.
With his current physical strength, he could easily crush an early-stage Human Immortal. Even a mid-stage would be no match for him, and he could challenge those at the late stage.
At this moment, in this world, he finally had the means to survive. Even if deities descended, he would not fear them—he could even strike back.
His eyes burned as he glanced at the remaining eight blood-red dragons.
He reached out and grabbed two more dragons, swallowing them whole.
Boom!
Starlight rained down...
Soon, the energy from the two dragons was fully absorbed, and the Star God Body was close to the fourth tier.
Once he reached the fourth tier, a powerful divine ability would emerge—the Blade of Time.
A single slash could span a thousand years; at full power, it could cut through ten thousand.
With just a casual swing of the Blade of Time, Ian could reduce a Demigod to bones or dust.
Come!
He grabbed three more dragons and devoured them.
Not enough!
After digesting the three dragons, he felt only a step away from the fourth tier.
Again!
He grabbed another dragon and swallowed it. The powerful energy turned into star force, and the star chart above his head exploded, then quickly reformed into a dazzling galaxy. In its center, a pitch-black star was born.
That was his main star.
Star God Body, fourth tier achieved; main star appears, Blade of Time born.
With a thought, a transparent longsword infused with the essence of time appeared in Ian's hand.
Unfortunately, with no one to test it on, Ian could only dismiss the Blade of Time.
Glancing at the two remaining blood-red dragons, Ian decided to let Cici absorb them.