The Heavensword scattered, but the green-robed Daoist still stood in midair.
Seeing this, Silas the Snake King, Eagle King, Ricky the Rat King, and the others all showed looks of despair. Even when the Heavensword merely hovered overhead, it made them tremble with fear; the power it would unleash if it actually fell was unimaginable.
But this green-robed Daoist had actually shattered the Heavensword head-on—how could anyone possibly defeat someone like that?
Ricky the Rat King, in particular, began to tremble all over—he was born timid, and if not for being enslaved by Puppet Mastery and unable to defy Ian Song’s commands, he would’ve already turned tail and fled.
Silas the Snake King and Eagle King both stared at the Daoist with complicated expressions, secretly thinking: this guy’s strength is probably on par with an ordinary Tribulation expert.
But in the next instant, something completely unexpected happened.
"Tss!"
A faint tearing sound rang out as a tiny crack appeared on the Daoist’s face, shaped like a miniature sword. From within the crack, a wisp of golden blood mist sprayed out.
"What—?"
The Daoist instinctively reached up to touch the tiny crack.
Right then—
"Tss tss!"
Two more sword-shaped cracks split open on his forehead and chin, each spraying out golden blood mist.
"Why? I clearly shattered that Heavensword—so why am I wounded...?" the Daoist roared. His cry seemed to trigger something crucial.
The next moment—
"Tss tss tss tss!"
Sword-shaped cracks began to appear densely across his face, scalp, and body, spraying out torrents of golden blood mist until the Daoist was stained completely gold.
"Ha! That’s great!"
Seeing this, the six mid-Fusion puppets finally relaxed, knowing the Daoist wasn’t unscathed but had actually suffered horrific internal injuries.
Ian Song, though, hadn’t shown the slightest surprise from start to finish—he’d known this would happen all along. In fact, that Heavensword hadn’t been shattered by the Daoist at all; it had dissolved into countless strands of microscopic sword-qi that invaded his body.
"No!"
The green-robed Daoist roared again, frantically channeling all his energy to try to stop the sword-qi from tearing apart his body. But it was too late—his face was covered in dense cracks, blood streaming everywhere, making him look utterly gruesome and terrifying.
"Ah! It's all your fault—I'm going to kill you!"
Suddenly, the Daoist glared at Ian Song with venomous hatred and lunged at him.
Clang!
The black chains snapped taut, and in the next instant, with several squelching sounds, the Daoist’s body was abruptly sliced into several pieces.
"Finally dead!"
Seeing this, the six mid-Fusion experts all let out a huge sigh of relief.
Ian reached out and caught a Storage Ring—it was the Daoist’s own.
Suddenly, Ian sensed something and hurriedly withdrew his array, turning his gaze to the ice wall. Earlier, when the seven mid-Fusion puppets battled the Daoist, the entire gorge had been blasted to ruins—except for that ice wall, which remained perfectly intact.
A radiant glow burst forth—the ice wall began to shine.
"Master, the Ice Souls are about to emerge!"
Carl Yelson shouted excitedly, his one arm waving.
Sure enough, the next moment, a fist-sized, crystal-clear orb shot out from within the ice wall.
"Master, that's an Ice Soul!"
Carl shouted again, barely able to contain himself.
The Ice Soul seemed already spiritually aware—it actually flew off in the opposite direction from Ian and the group.
"Where do you think you're going!"
Ian reached out and grabbed the freshly-emerged Ice Soul. The orb was icy cold to the touch, its aura refreshing and calming, radiating a soothing energy that eased the mind and spirit.
"Master, quickly seal it in a jade box, or its effects will weaken dramatically," Carl reminded.
With a flick of his palm, Ian produced a jade box, sealed the Ice Soul inside, then carved a restriction onto the box before tossing it into his Storage Ring.
Soon after, another Ice Soul flew out, and Ian snatched it up and stored it in another jade box.
An hour later, the glow on the ice wall faded, and no more Ice Souls emerged.
In that hour, Ian had captured a total of one hundred and eight Ice Souls.
"Congratulations, Master! In the past, I’d only ever managed to get a dozen or so Ice Souls each time. But you actually got a hundred and eight in one go!" Carl Yelson said, envy written all over his face.
Hearing this, Ian couldn’t help but look thoughtful, then turned his gaze back to the ice wall.
Since the Ice Souls flew out from inside the wall, maybe there were even more hidden behind it?
Thinking that, he walked up to the ice wall and placed his hand against it.
Instead of icy cold, he felt an indescribable warmth.
When he withdrew his hand, a tiny strand of sword-qi was left on his fingertip.
"Ding!"
The sword-qi that could pierce a Fusion expert’s body struck the ice wall, but only produced a metallic clang. No wonder even a bunch of Fusion experts fighting couldn’t damage it—the wall was just that tough.
"You all give it a try—see if you can break this wall!" Ian said to the Rat King, Eagle King, Snake King, and the other mid-Fusion experts.
Seeing this, Carl Yelson hesitated, but in the end, said nothing.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
All six mid-Fusion experts attacked the ice wall as Ian commanded, but strangely, they still couldn’t inflict the slightest damage.
"What a sturdy wall! It’s as tough as a ninth-grade spirit artifact. If we could harvest it for forging, we might even be able to make an immortal artifact!" one Fusion expert exclaimed.
Ian tried several more methods, but nothing worked. Instead of disappointment, he only grew more interested.
His tests showed that the wall was not only incredibly tough, but also immune to all kinds of Dao Arts. If he could harvest some and forge it into armor, it would make for an unbeatable treasure coat.
But what frustrated him was that, despite having such a treasure right in front of him, he had no way to claim it. It was like having billions in the bank but not knowing the password.
"Wait—that’s not right!"
Suddenly, Ian thought of a crucial detail: the Ice Souls could pass through the wall, which meant the wall wasn’t immune to everything. He also remembered an old divine power he hadn’t used in ages—his Omniversal God-Eye.
This divine power could discern the true nature of anything in the world.
"Omniversal God-Eye!"
Ian’s eyes changed, turning into two deep gray vortices that reflected the image of the ice wall.
The next moment, a flood of information appeared in Ian’s mind. When he finished reading it, his face lit up with joy.
Flamefrost: Immortal-grade material. Features: extremely tough, immune to Dao Arts and Immortal Arts. The perfect material for forging immortal armor. Weakness: loses all properties when exposed to Weakwater.
Weakwater is also a top-tier immortal material, rarely found in the cultivation world. But there happened to be some in the temple’s artifact forging room. Not only could Weakwater counter Flamefrost, it could also cleanse spirit and immortal artifacts of runes and restrictions, and even break down damaged artifacts into raw materials.