Saintess Serena of the Heavensnare Order never imagined Ian Song could hold his own against three enemies at once, let alone unleash a sweeping sword-qi arc that forced her to retreat. Instinctively, she glanced back—only to see the three old fiends, bloodied and frozen like statues, clearly locked in place by a pressure point technique.
A chill swept through her heart. All three of those old monsters were veteran ninth-stage Transforming-Gang experts, their strength overwhelming. Even with the Heavensnare Sect’s top martial arts, she couldn’t claim she could defeat even one of them.
Yet such powerful experts, working together, were crushed in an instant by Ian Song. Just what level had Ian reached? Had he already broken through the ninth stage to the legendary Heaven-Man Unity Realm?
The thought sent a jolt through her—shock and envy tangled in her chest.
“President Song, please don’t misunderstand! I wasn’t trying to escape—I was going to fetch reinforcements. I just never imagined President Song’s strength would be so overwhelming, that you’d handle those three old fiends so easily. Clearly, I was overthinking it!”
After reading the details, Ian couldn’t help but grin. It was a Soul Stone—a treasure that could absorb free-floating soul power from the world, purify it, and store it as refined soul energy. Cultivators could directly absorb this power to advance their soul realm and spiritual strength.
“Not at all! I should be thanking President Song for saving me!” Serena replied, her voice full of gratitude.
As soon as he finished speaking, Ian’s figure blurred. With a flick of his wrist, he grabbed the three old fiends and vanished into the woods in an instant.
Staring at his disappearing figure, Serena couldn’t help but curse, “You bastard! Shameless scumbag! One day, I’ll pay you back double—no, ten times, a hundred times over!”
She was truly furious. Ever since Ian took her Azure Lotus, her cultivation speed had slowed. So she spent half a year in seclusion, training relentlessly until she reached the ninth stage of Transforming-Gang, then headed back to that ancient ruin to hunt for treasure.
Serena knew she couldn’t hide it, but she was unwilling to hand over the treasure so easily. So she lied, “Fine, since President Song already knows, I won’t hide it anymore. But that item is hidden in a secret place. Let me take you there to retrieve it!”—planning to stall for time and slip away.
Years ago, she broke through two layers and obtained both the Essence-Lock Powder and that soul relic lotus, which catapulted her to fame in the sect.
“…You…!”
Serena was so angry she could barely speak, but then she switched to pleading. “President Song, you already took one of my treasures last time. This one was so hard for me to get—can’t you show some mercy and not snatch it from me?”
Ian still wasn’t swayed. He stepped forward, saying, “Looks like I’ll have to take it myself!”
Seeing this, Serena finally snapped. "Ian Song, you’re such a shameless bastard! All you ever do is steal women’s treasures. If you’re so tough, go find your own loot!"
Ian just laughed, unfazed. “When did I ever rob you? Last time, I exchanged your life for that treasure. This time, I saved your life, so you should repay me with another treasure!”
“That’s bandit logic!” Serena snapped.
“I think you’re just ungrateful!” Ian shot back.
As they argued, Ian had already stepped up to Serena and reached toward her waist.
“Jerk! Don’t touch me! I’ll give it to you!”
With a mix of humiliation and fury, Serena snatched a pitch-black crystal from her waist and hurled it at Ian.
Ian reached out and caught the crystal effortlessly.
“Omniversal God-Eye!”
With a thought, a flash of divine light appeared in Ian’s eyes. Instantly, information about the black crystal flooded his mind.
After reading the details, Ian couldn’t help but grin. It was a Soul Stone—a treasure that could absorb free-floating soul power from the world, purify it, and store it as essence. Cultivators could directly absorb this soul power to advance their soul realm and spiritual strength.
“Hmm, that’s a pretty decent reward. I like it. Well then, Saintess, I’ll take my leave!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Ian’s figure flickered. With a wave of his hand, he grabbed the three old fiends and disappeared into the forest in a few flashes.
Staring after Ian’s disappearing figure, Serena erupted in a string of curses, her voice echoing through the woods. "You bastard! Shameless scumbag! Someday, I’ll make you pay—twice over, ten times, a hundred times!"
She was truly furious. Ever since Ian took her Azure Lotus, her cultivation speed had slowed. So she spent half a year in seclusion, pushing herself to the ninth stage of Transforming-Gang, then headed back to that ancient ruin to hunt for treasure.
That ruin had many layers of restrictions, each layer guarding a different treasure.
Years ago, she broke through two layers and obtained both the Essence-Lock Powder and that soul relic lotus, using the lotus to soar to prominence.
Later, she returned hoping to claim more treasures, but discovered that opening the third restriction required a ninth-stage Transforming-Gang expert. That was why she trained so hard in seclusion.
But when she finally arrived, she found the three old fiends had beaten her to it—they’d already broken the third restriction and taken a black crystal from inside.
She didn’t know what the black crystal did, but anything stored in the third layer had to be extraordinary. So she lay in wait, seized an opportunity to snatch it from the three old fiends, and was then chased for thousands of kilometers.
Who could have guessed that in the end, all her effort would just help that bastard Ian Song!
Several kilometers away, Ian casually released the three old fiends, then instantly drove Puppet Mastery Divine Art into their bodies. Since all three were ninth-stage experts, he wasn’t about to waste them by killing.
Three heartbeats later, the art took effect—all three were completely under his control.
“Greetings, Master!”
All three knelt respectfully before him.
“Alright, get up. Tell me—where did you get this Soul Stone?” Ian asked, holding out the crystal.
“Master, we found it in a ruin. That ruin had several layers of restrictions. After breaking the third layer, we obtained this item!”
“Several layers of restrictions?”
Ian’s heart leapt—he sensed that ruin must contain many treasures.
“How far is that ruin from here?”
“It’s over a thousand kilometers away!”
“No time to waste. You’ll take me there!”
“Yes, Master!”
Ian had planned to keep posing as Jason Stone and study the Heavensnare Order’s inner workings, but now he decided treasure hunting was more important.
After running for over a hundred kilometers, Ian grew impatient. He released his flying sword, grabbed one elder to act as guide, and sent the other two off to report in at the Yanhuang Survivor Base.
Using sword-essence to control his flying sword, Ian’s speed multiplied several times over. Even while carrying someone, it only took an hour to reach the ruin.
The entrance to the ruin was a massive sinkhole.
After flying for an hour, Ian had burned through a third of his sword-essence. He took out several pills and swallowed them; in less than fifteen minutes, his sword-essence was fully restored.
“Let’s go!”
Ian grabbed the elder and flew down into the sinkhole on his sword again.
The sinkhole was conical, widening as they descended. They flew down three thousand meters before reaching the bottom.
Guided by the elder, they walked underground for over ten minutes before arriving at a huge cave. At the entrance stood a two-man-tall stone stele inscribed with hundreds of strange characters.
Neither Ian nor the elder could recognize the writing.
But Ian had a solution. With a thought, he activated the Omniversal God-Eye.