The Thunder Hell Astral Canon totals over eighty thousand words, yet every line is a gem, packed with deep meaning—truly worthy of being called an Immortal Tome. If not for Ian Song's extraordinary intellect, anyone else would find it impossible to comprehend, let alone master; to them, it would be as inscrutable as the heavens themselves.
So Ian Song asked, "Chloe, are you able to grasp the cultivation method of this Thunder Hell Astral Canon?"
Chloe thought for a moment and replied, "Honestly, I can't truly understand it. But thanks to the Radiant Emperor's memories, which include his own interpretations of the Thunder Hell Astral Canon, I can barely manage to comprehend it if I rely on those."
Next, Chloe carefully explained the Radiant Emperor's understanding of the Thunder Hell Astral Canon, recounting it in detail.
Ian Song listened and nodded repeatedly, certain that the Radiant Emperor's grasp of the Thunder Hell Astral Canon ran deep—if he had kept cultivating it, he might well have reached godhood.
Unfortunately, as emperor, most of his energy was consumed by endless affairs of state, and by the time he inherited the throne, chaos had already taken root. Had he been born in an age of peace, he surely could have become a god; instead, his dynasty ended in ruin, and he was forced to split his divine soul and hide it inside the Secret Keys—a truly pitiful fate.
With the thousandfold time-acceleration function, Ian Song wasn't worried about wasting time.
Under his protection, Chloe entered another round of cultivation. In just two months, her realm skyrocketed straight to the late Soul-Departure stage.
All of this was thanks to the benefits brought by fusing with the Radiant Emperor's remnant soul.
At the same time, Ian Song also cultivated the Thunder Hell Astral Canon to initial mastery over those two months.
His martial power increased by at least ten percent, and breaking through to the Saint Sea Realm was now within reach.
"Chloe, come stay out in the real world with me for a while before going back into seclusion!"
Ian Song suggested.
"Okay, I'll listen to you, big brother." This time Chloe didn't insist, instead nodding sweetly. After all, her cultivation had jumped several realms in a row—she couldn't keep improving just by training in isolation.
"Young Master, you're back?"
When Ian Song brought Chloe into the room, Flora greeted them, her gaze quickly landing on Chloe.
Ian Song introduced them: "Flora, this is Chloe, my little sister. Chloe, this is Flora—just call her Sister Flora!"
"Nice to meet you, Sister Flora."
"No need to be so formal, little sister."
After a brief moment of awkwardness, the two girls quickly warmed up to each other. Flora then volunteered to take Chloe around the estate for a tour.
Meanwhile, Ian Song had to consider how to deal with the Tanner clan’s assets.
The Tanners’ assets included all the resources in their estate’s Treasure Vault, as well as various real estate holdings.
If converted to spirit crystals, those resources alone were worth at least several million top-grade spirit crystals, and the real estate was worth far more than that.
But now Flora was unwilling to take over the Tanners, and if Ian left things alone, those properties would just get swallowed up by other families. Even with a pile of spirit crystals, he didn’t want to let those families profit for nothing.
So he decided to invite representatives from the eleven major families in Skywind City to a banquet, planning to sell them the Tanners’ assets.
He had also considered letting the Ward Family take over the Tanners’ real estate.
But that wasn’t realistic—first, the Wards weren’t locals from the Central Domain, so they’d definitely be excluded here.
Second, the Ward Family simply didn’t have enough strength to hold those assets. For Ian, Skywind City was just a temporary stop, so the best solution was to liquidate the properties.
Thus, Ian wrote eleven invitations in a row and had Wes Wei, Holly Hong, Yanna Zhou, Conrad Wu, and Rosie Ning each deliver them to the eleven families. He planned to invite them to a banquet at the city’s largest restaurant.
The five worked efficiently.
Not only did they deliver the invitations, but they also brought back a piece of news.
The Third Prince of the Dragonfolk Empire was arriving from the far east, traveling in a triple-dragon carriage, and would be staying in Skywind City for several days.
Instantly, every major power in Skywind City sprang into action, eager to curry favor with the Third Prince.
On Manggu Continent, countless races coexist; humanity may be one of the top ten races, but only ranks eighth. The Dragonfolk, however, are fourth among the ten.
And this Third Prince is the emperor’s third son, said to be deeply favored by the Dragonfolk Emperor.
As for the prince himself, he’s a prodigy among the Dragonfolk—barely three hundred years old, yet already stronger than a ninth-tier War General.
The Dragonfolk calculate age differently than humans.
Although the Third Prince is over three hundred years old, among Dragonfolk, that’s equivalent to a sixteen-year-old human teenager.
Reportedly, the oldest Dragonfolk can live for more than twenty thousand years.
Thanks to their longevity, the Dragonfolk have an endless supply of top experts—there are over ten thousand ninth-tier War Generals officially recorded, just out in the open.
As for how many there are in secret, it’s impossible to estimate—after all, the Dragonfolk live so long.
Because of the Third Prince’s arrival, everyone was scrambling to curry favor, and Ian Song’s banquet plan was likely doomed. In the eyes of those eleven families, Ian couldn’t possibly compare to the Third Prince.
Not long after, Wes Wei, who’d gone to reserve a table at the best restaurant in Skywind City, returned.
Wes reported, "Young Master, the best restaurant has already been booked by the eleven families working together. Tonight, they’re hosting a banquet for the Third Prince of the Dragonfolk!"
"A bunch of shameless sycophants!"
Wes scoffed.
"Forget it—if it won’t work today, we’ll try again another time."
Ian Song wasn’t upset about being snubbed.
"Let’s go, we’ll take a stroll around the city!" Ian suggested.
Half a quarter-hour later.
Led by Ian Song, the group left the Tanners’ estate and headed to the busiest street in Skywind City.
The group included: Chloe, Wes Wei, Flora, Yanna Zhou, Rosie Ning, Conrad Wu, Holly Hong, and Conrad Wu.
Of the six women, aside from Holly Hong who was a bit plain, the other five were all stunning beauties, each with her own unique charm.
Chloe was sweet and adorable, evoking a protective urge in others.
Wes Wei was sexy—her figure, especially her chest, was simply explosive.
Flora had a cool, queenly demeanor.
Yanna Zhou was the classic rich girl type, a bit spoiled and proud.
Rosie Ning was a mature, alluring woman.
So when this group walked down the street, they drew plenty of attention.
Several young scions even tried to flirt with them, but Flora casually displayed her poison arts, making it clear to those playboys that she was a rose with thorns—not to be trifled with.
Shopping is in a woman’s nature, so they ended up browsing for several hours.
During that time, each woman spent at least several million taels of gold—naturally, all paid by Ian Song. After all, he was the resident tycoon.
Before they knew it, night had fallen.
After a full day out, Ian Song and his group were about to head back home, but were suddenly blocked by a crowd.
Leading the group were the very same playboys who’d tried flirting earlier, only to be poisoned by Flora.
Behind them stood nearly two hundred men, including five semi-divine martial artists.
“Kid, hand over those five women, or you’ll regret it!”
A young man in green stepped forward, pointing at Ian Song and issuing a threat.