Ian Song still had more than five hundred million qi luck.
However, ascending to immortality would trigger the Immortal Tribulation, and the commotion would inevitably be too great.
Therefore, he had to leave Yu King Palace to face the tribulation. Besides that, he needed to gather even more qi luck to ensure a safe breakthrough.
With a thought, he walked out of his courtyard and headed straight for the Outer Sect Quest Hall.
Although Yu King Palace also provided cultivation resources, if one wanted more, they had to take on quests and use contribution points to buy them.
It didn't take long.
Ian Song arrived at the Quest Hall.
The hall was packed with people.
"Hey, junior brother, are you here to take a quest too? Our team is still short one person—interested in joining?"
An Outer Sect disciple in the Tribulation stage came over and invited Ian Song to join their team.
"Sorry, I prefer to work alone!"
After declining, he walked over to the quest wall, quickly scanning the missions until his gaze landed on one in particular.
This quest required entering the Wild Wastes Secret Realm to capture eighty-one types of poisonous insects. Because it was dangerous, the reward was high—a full thousand contribution points.
Once he made up his mind, he went straight to the steward to register.
The time limit to complete the quest was half a year—plenty of time.
After accepting the quest,
Ian Song left Yu King Palace and headed for the Wild Wastes Secret Realm.
After flying for three days and nights, he finally arrived at the entrance to the Wild Wastes Secret Realm—a black tunnel that reeked of foul, sinister stench.
Inside the Wild Wastes Secret Realm lurked countless poisonous insects and fierce beasts. Anyone below the Tribulation stage who entered was almost certainly doomed.
"Whoosh!"
With a flicker, Ian Song slipped through the tunnel and charged into the Wild Wastes Secret Realm.
"Swish, swish, swish!"
The moment he touched down, dozens of multicolored beams shot toward him.
"Hmph!"
Ian Song gave a cold snort, instantly shattering all the poisonous insects attacking him into dust.
Then, his figure shot skyward.
He kept tossing spirit stones into the spatial nodes overhead, his hands weaving formation seals in a blur, sending them flying out one after another.
"Boom!"
A massive True-Fire Grand Formation took shape, instantly enveloping a hundred-li radius.
He first checked whether any of the mission's target poison insects were inside the formation.
To his surprise, he found over thirty types.
After gathering up those insects, he activated the True-Fire Grand Formation.
Endless true fire cascaded down, burning relentlessly as poisonous insects died one after another.
Meanwhile, his qi luck soared rapidly.
Once every poisonous insect in the formation's range was wiped out, Ian was delighted to find his qi luck had increased by more than ten million.
"Haha! This place is basically a leveling paradise!"
A broad grin spread across Ian Song's face as he put away the formation and moved on to set up in a new spot.
By the end of the day,
Ian Song had reaped a massive harvest.
He'd gained over two hundred million qi luck, and collected all the poisonous insects needed for the quest.
Then he stopped.
He'd read the introduction for the Wild Wastes Secret Realm—messing around in the outskirts was fine, but if he ventured deeper, he might run into countless Tribulation-stage poison insects.
Even with his current cultivation, that would be dangerous.
Leaving the Wild Wastes Secret Realm, he found a spot and spent seven days setting up a formation.
He began fusing the modified Ninefold Sun Mirage Canon.
As the fusion progressed, his internal energy kept climbing, finally shattering the Tribulation bottleneck and advancing straight into the Human Immortal realm.
But he still didn’t stop—his energy kept rising.
Thick Tribulation Clouds gathered overhead.
Ian Song didn’t worry much; in this world, heaven and earth were pretty forgiving, and tribulations weren’t usually that strong.
Plus, he had double protection: the formation he’d spent seven days arranging, and his qi luck.
"Boom!"
After hours of brewing, the Immortal Tribulation finally arrived.
"Boom!"
A bolt of thunder crashed into the formation, but its power was quickly weakened. By the time it pierced the array, it had less than one percent of its original might—Ian Song shrugged it off easily.
Second strike.
Third strike.
Fourth strike.
......
Ninth strike.
After nine bolts of immortal thunder, Ian Song’s true essence rapidly transformed into Immortal True Qi.
At the same time, the System kept pouring in energy.
A month later,
Ian Song exhaled heavily inside the formation—he’d already reached mid Earth Immortal.
There was still plenty of time before the quest deadline.
So, he decided to stay in the formation and refine the Eternal Codex. Earlier, he’d completed its framework.
What does a cultivator cultivate?
Early on: the body, the Divine Soul, and divine abilities.
Middle phase: laws.
Later phase: origin and the Great Dao.
Final step: attain eternity.
Right now, he’d just stepped into the middle phase.
Just as Ian Song expected, after becoming an Earth Immortal, his perception of laws became much clearer.
Next, he immersed himself in contemplation.
Unknowingly, three months slipped by.
After three months of comprehension, he’d created an immortal-grade cultivation method.
Then, in another month, he converted all his Immortal True Qi into Eternal True Qi.
After the conversion, his apparent realm dropped by one stage, but his actual power grew even stronger.
The next moment,
He rose to his feet, dispelled the formation, and flew straight back toward the Wild Wastes Secret Realm.
It didn’t take long.
He entered the Wild Wastes Secret Realm again; with a casual wave, firelight filled the sky.
"Crackle!"
Countless poisonous insects were burned to death.
His qi luck increased at a rate you could practically see.
Three days later,
He’d reached the depths of the Wild Wastes Secret Realm, where Tribulation-stage poison insects swarmed everywhere.
"Die!"
He waved his hand again, and another firestorm erupted—this time, the flames were purple.
One Tribulation poison insect after another was burned to ash, turning into massive qi luck gains.
After killing who knows how many insects, he finally reached the very end of the Wild Wastes Secret Realm.
There, nine Human Immortal-level poison beasts lurked.
"Die!"
Ian Song pointed, light flashed, and all nine poison beasts were instantly slain.
His qi luck instantly shot up by over nine hundred million.
By now, his total qi luck collected over these days had surpassed ten billion.
Then, Ian Song’s gaze landed on a fist-sized black bead radiating a strange aura—an irresistible lure for poisonous creatures.
It was this bead that had allowed the Wild Wastes Secret Realm to form in the first place.
After a moment’s thought, Ian Song chose not to take the bead and turned to leave.
Less than a day after he left,
A figure burst into the Wild Wastes Secret Realm. Seeing all the poison insects exterminated, his face twisted in fury: "You bastard, whoever you are—destroying Lord Venomsky’s poison nest, I’ll make sure you pay!"
He snatched up the black bead and sped away from the Secret Realm.
In less than a day,
Ian Song had returned to Yu King Palace.
He handed in the quest, received a thousand contribution points, traded for some pills, and then headed to Daisy’s place.
Ever since joining Yu King Palace, Daisy had felt a strong sense of crisis.
She’d been cultivating hard for months and had already advanced to mid Void Fusion.