When forced to bow his head under another's roof, Ian Song could only grit his teeth and endure Mira Skylar's smug attitude, planning to get his revenge slowly.
Above the star-sea.
A ship was sailing straight toward Demon Island.
"Little Yan, I'm thirsty!"
On the deck, Mira Skylar called out to Ian Song.
"What does your thirst have to do with me? And stop calling me Little Yan!" Ian replied with a dark face.
Mira just smiled sweetly, her voice full of threat: "If you don't want to be locked up for tens of thousands of years, you'd better hurry up and make tea and pour water for me!"
"Whatever!"
Ian couldn't be bothered to deal with her and just sat cross-legged to rest with his eyes closed.
"Hmph!"
Mira's face darkened. Suddenly, a silver rope appeared in her hand and shot toward Ian with a swoosh.
But just as the rope was about to reach him, Ian's body flickered and moved aside.
Mira just sneered and tossed out a talisman. Instantly, a milky-white glow erupted, freezing the surrounding void—including Ian's body. The silver rope flew over and tightly bound him, with the other end held firmly in Mira's hand.
"Bang!"
With a single kick, Mira sent Ian flying straight into the star-sea.
That rope was clearly a God-King artifact—not only did it bind his body, it even locked his soul. To break free, Ian would have to use some of his hidden trump cards.
Seeing Ian remain calm even after falling into the star-sea, Mira grew increasingly annoyed. Suddenly, a bell appeared in her hand.
"Ding ding ding!"
As Mira shook the bell, soft chimes rippled out in all directions. Ian immediately sensed fierce sea beasts rapidly converging toward him.
Just as expected.
In less than ten breaths, hundreds of fierce sea beasts had gathered around Ian, eyeing him hungrily.
"Little Yan, beg me! If you ask nicely, I'll pull you up. Otherwise, if those beasts bite you, don't blame me!" Mira said with a mischievous grin.
"Go ahead, let them bite me to death. Let's see who will break restrictions for you then!" Ian retorted, refusing to back down.
"Hmph, you just don't know what's good for you!"
Unhappy, Mira huffed and shook her Ten-Thousand-Beast Bell again. Instantly, a small beast about a meter long swam up to Ian, opening its mouth to reveal rows of jagged teeth.
"Scram!"
Ian simply glanced at the beast, and it abruptly turned and swam away at top speed.
"What just happened?"
Mira glanced suspiciously at her Ten-Thousand-Beast Bell. Her father had personally refined this bell for her; while it wasn't a God-King artifact, it could control any beast below Upper Heavenly God level.
"Yin yin yin!"
Mira shook the bell again, sending out waves of pleasant chimes. Yet the beast completely ignored her and kept swimming away.
Seeing she couldn't control that beast, Mira summoned two more to charge at Ian.
"You two, scram as well!"
Ian shouted again.
Immediately, the two beasts turned and left without hesitation.
"How are you able to control them?"
Mira stared at him in astonishment.
"What's so hard about it? These beasts' Divine Souls are too weak. My soul is naturally strong—so even tied up, I can easily intimidate them!" Ian said disdainfully.
"I don't believe it!"
Mira shook the bell again. Waves surged, and the remaining hundreds of beasts rushed toward Ian all at once.
"All of you, show Miss Skylar a somersault!"
Ian shouted at the sea beasts. Under Mira's stunned gaze, every beast leapt out of the water and flipped in midair.
"Hmph!"
Seeing the beasts were useless against Ian, Mira angrily hauled him back onto the deck and threatened, "Little Yan, let me ask you one more time—are you going to make tea and pour water for me or not?"
"If you want tea, go ask someone else!" Ian scoffed, turning his head away.
"Fine! I refuse to believe I can't deal with you!"
As she spoke, a black whip appeared in Mira's hand. She smiled darkly, "Little Yan, this is the God-Smite Whip. It won't hurt your body, but it will make your Divine Soul ache terribly. If you don't want to suffer, there's still time to change your mind!"
"Heh."
Ian let out a cold laugh.
"You asked for it!"
With that, Mira swung the God-Smite Whip and lashed it at Ian.
"Crack!"
A crisp sound rang out, but Ian only felt his Divine Soul tremble slightly—there was no pain at all. He instantly realized that after thirteen metamorphoses, ordinary soul-type artifacts couldn't hurt him.
So he mocked Mira, "Did you even eat? That was so weak!"
"Hmph!"
Mira increased her strength and lashed Ian again with a loud crack.
"Try harder, that's not enough!"
"Crack!"
"Tsk, and here I thought you were an Upper Heavenly God. Is that all you've got?"
"Crack crack crack!"
After three more lashes, Mira finally used her divine power—this time, Ian actually felt a bit of pain.
Ian sneered, "Heh, Mira Skylar, when I caught you last time, I didn't torture you at all. If this is how you treat me, you'd better hope you never end up in my hands!"
"As if I'd be afraid of you!"
Angered by Ian's words, Mira lashed even harder, but Ian ignored her, closing his eyes as if resting.
Seeing this, Mira only got angrier, pouring more and more divine power into each strike.
"Enough!"
Just then, the voice of Snowsun God-King rang out. He stepped from the cabin, and with a casual gesture, the silver ropes binding Ian retracted into Mira's hand.
"Young man, my daughter was out of line. I apologize on her behalf!"
"It's fine! It's fine! I'll just chalk it up to a girl's tantrum."
Ian stood up and waved it off, unconcerned.
"...You...!"
Mira was so angry she couldn't speak.
An hour later.
The divine ship arrived at Demon Island. Snowsun God-King led Ian and Mira straight to Demon Emperor City.
Once inside Snowsun God-King's residence, Ian noticed that all the Heavenly Gods he'd previously enslaved with his Puppet Divine Art were restored—Snowsun must've broken his technique.
"Young man, stay here for a few days. When the time comes, we'll set out together." Snowsun said politely.
"Whatever you say, sir!"
Ian replied indifferently, though he cursed inwardly, Damn it, like I could refuse anyway!
This is what happens when you lack strength—you end up at everyone's mercy.
But once I reach Upper Heavenly God, even if I can't beat a God-King, at least I'll have a chance to escape!