Ian Song spent more than a year secluded inside the Divine Temple, and his mastery of restrictions soared. He had successfully unlocked the third layer of restrictions within his five Array Flags.
With the third layer open, the power of the five Array Flags shot up more than tenfold. Now, even Fusion-stage experts could be trapped and killed by his formations. But that still wasn't enough to go head-to-head with the Prime One Church, since they had Tribulation-stage powerhouses and Immortals on their side.
So, he let his avatar, Huang Yan, show up and snatch Lila, making sure the Prime One Church believed the avatar was his real body. He even let the avatar carry the Ink-Black Sword and packed its Storage Ring with millions of top-grade spirit crystals.
Meanwhile, Ian's true body was hiding out in the Sixth Prince Residence, waiting until he confirmed there were no Prime One Church elites lurking nearby before making his move.
As for the avatar locked up in the Demon Prison, he could recall it at any time if he wanted. But he wasn't about to do that yet—if the Prime One Church went to all the trouble of stripping him of the Ink-Black Sword and millions of spirit crystals, they deserved to pay a price.
Even with his strongest attacks, Lucas Li couldn't budge the barrier at all. No matter how unwilling he was, he had no choice but to give up.
He turned back, glaring uneasily at Ian Song: "What exactly do you want?"
"Relax. For the sake of the Fourth Prince, I won't kill you. But don't even think about keeping your cultivation!" Ian said blandly.
"No! You can't cripple my cultivation!"
Lucas Li screamed in terror—if his cultivation was crippled, he'd become just an ordinary person. That was something he couldn't accept.
"You don't have a choice!"
As soon as Ian finished speaking, he stepped up to Lucas Li and pointed a finger at the center of his brow.
"Ian Song, just kill me!"
Lucas Li howled, his face twisted as he swung his sword in desperate resistance.
"Clang!"
With a flick of Ian's finger, Lucas Li's longsword flew out of his hand. At the same time, Ian's other finger had already tapped the center of Lucas's brow.
"Pffft!"
It sounded like a balloon deflating—Lucas Li's cultivation rapidly drained away, his realm plummeting in just a few breaths, falling all the way down to early Soul-Split.
Ian Song had shattered his sea of consciousness; from now on, even if Lucas wanted to re-cultivate, it would be impossible.
Realizing this, Lucas Li's face went deathly pale. "You're ruthless!"
Ian Song said calmly, "Not really. I already spared you once, but you still insisted on going against me. If you want to court death, then you'd better be ready to swallow the consequences!"
In just fifteen minutes, Lucas Li went from a late Soul-Split expert to an ordinary mortal. He instantly aged, turning from a handsome young man into a washed-up middle-aged man.
With his cultivation crippled, Lucas Li would only grow older from here on out. Even with spirit medicines, he wouldn't live past a hundred.
"Bang!"
With a single chop of his hand, Ian knocked Lucas Li unconscious. Then he returned to Lila Li's side, took her hand, and asked softly, "Are you willing to wander the world with me?"
"Mm!"
Lila Li nodded hard. After everything that had happened, her whole heart was now tied to Ian Song.
"Take me away from here!"
Lila Li lifted her head and looked at Ian Song.
"No rush. I still have some business to handle in the Royal Capital. Why don't you rest in the Divine Temple for now?" Ian gently pulled Lila into his arms and softly sought her opinion.
Hearing this, a complicated look flashed in Lila Li's eyes. She vaguely guessed what Ian Song wanted to handle, but she didn’t ask—this time, the Prime One Church had really let her down.
After sending Lila into the Divine Temple, Ian casually stowed away his five Array Flags, then stepped into the temple himself. Using its shuttle function, he teleported straight to the Demon Prison.
The Divine Temple could pierce even world barriers, so while the Prime One Church’s Demon Prison could block Tribulation-stage experts, it couldn’t stop the temple.
Crossing between worlds was costly, but shuttling into the Demon Prison only used up a thousand top-grade spirit crystals—well within Ian’s means.
First tier of the Demon Prison.
Huang Yan, who was meditating, suddenly looked up.
Space rippled, and Ian Song stepped out. Seeing him, Huang Yan instantly turned into a streak of light and merged back into Ian’s body.
Just then, two figures shot over from not far away—Old Freak Zhou and the Black Widow.
"Black Widow, is this kid really as strong as you say?" Old Freak Zhou eyed Ian Song suspiciously.
"If you don’t believe me, go test him yourself," Black Widow sneered.
"Forget it. True essence is too precious to waste. Let's team up and take this kid down!" Old Freak Zhou said warily.
Ian Song's voice suddenly rang out: "Black Widow, I spared your life earlier, but that won't happen again. I'll give you a chance to redeem yourself—help me take down Old Freak Zhou, and I'll let bygones be bygones!"
Hearing this, Black Widow grew more wary, but she figured she'd only been hurt before because she was careless. Now, if she went all out and teamed up with Old Freak Zhou, taking down this kid shouldn't be a problem. Putting on a show of confidence, she sneered, "Kid, stop bluffing! Once we catch you, I'm going to eat you alive!"
"Heh, eating people alive is the best! I love it too!" Old Freak Zhou cackled.
"Go!"
With a sharp shout, Black Widow attacked first. She moved so fast she left a trail of afterimages, her hands turning into razor-sharp ghost claws as she lunged at Ian Song.
Old Freak Zhou followed close behind, forming a fist seal and swinging at Ian Song with a surging, overbearing aura.
Facing their attack, Ian just raised his brows slightly, then threw out two punches in quick succession.
"Bang! Bang!"
With muffled grunts, Old Freak Zhou and Black Widow were both sent flying, crashing to the ground hundreds of meters away.
"How is that possible?"
As they were sent flying, both shouted in disbelief. They couldn't believe that even teaming up, they still weren't a match for someone at early Soul-Split.
"Run!"
The two scrambled to their feet and shot off in different directions as streaks of light.
Seeing this, Ian Song's lips curled in disdain. "Get back here!"
He barely moved, and instantly both fleeing figures coughed up blood and were yanked back through the air.
"Submit or die!"
Ian Song looked at the two and said blandly.
"We’re willing to submit, sir!"
Old Freak Zhou and Black Widow both dropped to their knees at the same time.
"Don't resist!"
Ian Song formed hand-seals and sent two restrictive imprints into their seas of consciousness. This restriction couldn’t rewrite their minds like the Puppet Mastery Divine Art, but it was a powerful deterrent.
"Ah! Ah!"
Suddenly, Old Freak Zhou and Black Widow rolled on the ground screaming, begging for mercy:
"Spare us, sir!"
"Spare us, sir!"
Ian Song relaxed his will, and both instantly felt the pain vanish like a receding tide.
"If you don’t want to go through that again, you’d better behave!" Ian said blandly.
"Don’t worry, sir! From now on, I’m your dog—whoever you tell me to bite, I’ll bite!" Old Freak Zhou vowed eagerly.
"Good. Since you’re my dog, I won’t treat you badly!"
As he spoke, Ian tossed out ten top-grade spirit crystals. "That should be enough to restore your cultivation, right?"
"More than enough! Thank you, master!" Old Freak Zhou said excitedly, grabbing the crystals and kowtowing like crazy. Black Widow, seeing this, quickly pledged her loyalty too.