Once the bronze bell was in hand, Ian Song didn’t stand on ceremony—he poured his true essence into it and forcibly erased the spiritual imprint.
"Pfft!"
The instant the artifact’s imprint shattered, the black-robed middle-aged Lance Ji spat out a mouthful of blood, his complexion turning ashen.
"You... You actually dare erase the imprint from my magic tool!" Lance Ji’s finger trembled as he pointed at Ian Song, his eyes full of venomous hatred.
Ian Song ignored him and instead used his true essence to probe the artifact’s attributes.
Soul-Fixing Bell: First-rank, top-grade magic tool. Can immobilize a person’s soul.
So it was only a first-rank magic tool—Ian Song couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed.
Magic tools are divided into nine ranks, each rank split into top, middle, and lower grades.
Back on Aqua-Blue Star, he had also obtained four magic tools: a storage spirit ring, a third-rank top-grade bronze flying sword, a third-rank middle-grade defensive artifact—the Bluefish Pendant—and a special storage tool containing three strands of Golden Core sword qi.
Seeing Ian Song stay silent, Lance Ji grew even angrier and shouted, "Thief! Return the Soul-Fixing Bell to me at once, or my Mountain-Sea Divine Palace will never let you off!"
"You say this magic tool is yours?" Ian Song looked up, staring at him with a playful glint.
"Don’t play dumb—just give it back!"
"Then call to it—if it answers you, I’ll give it back!" Ian Song teased.
"You insolent wretch! How dare you mock me—I’ll kill you!"
With a sudden movement, Lance Ji lunged at Ian Song, but midair, his body twisted and he darted straight for the hall’s exit.
"Did I say you could leave?"
Ian Song smirked and flicked a copper coin from his hand, striking Lance Ji’s back at a vital acupoint. In midair, Lance Ji’s body stiffened and, with a thud, crashed to the ground.
Seeing Lance Ji so helpless, Daniel Jiang was utterly despairing, his body slumped on the throne and trembling uncontrollably.
Ian Song strolled over to Lance Ji, looking down at him from above.
"Thief, I advise you to let me go. Otherwise, you won’t be able to withstand the wrath of my Mountain-Sea Divine Palace!"
"Is that so?"
Ian Song gave a meaningful smile, then raised a finger and sent a thread of Puppet Mastery Divine Art into Lance Ji’s brow.
A flash of confusion and struggle crossed Lance Ji’s eyes, but soon they cleared, and his gaze toward Ian Song shifted from hatred to reverent awe.
"Tell me about Mountain-Sea Divine Palace," Ian Song asked with a smile.
"Yes, Master. Mountain-Sea Divine Palace is located on an overseas island called Penglai. The island has thirty-six menial disciples, twelve inner disciples, five true disciples, three elders above the true disciples, and the sect master above them all."
Ian Song nodded. "So, the entire Mountain-Sea Divine Palace has fewer than a hundred people. By the way, how are your realms divided, and which level are you at in the sect?"
Lance Ji replied, "There are three grand realms—Heaven, Earth, and Human—divided into twenty-seven tiers. The thirty-six menial disciples are all at the Human Realm. The twelve inner disciples are at Earth Realm tiers one to three. True disciples are at Earth Realm tiers four to six. Of the three elders, two are at Earth Realm tier six, one at tier seven, and the sect master is at Earth Realm tier nine. I’m the eleventh of the twelve inner disciples, at Earth Realm tier three."
Ian Song mused, "Aren’t there supposed to be three grand realms? Why are there no Heaven Realm experts in Mountain-Sea Divine Palace?"
"Master, the Heaven Realm is only a theoretical stage the sect master speculated about. He’s been stuck at Earth Realm tier nine for decades. No one has ever broken through to the Heaven Realm."
According to this world’s realm divisions, Ian Song was now certain: the so-called Human Realm is basically Postnatal martial artists, Earth Realm is Innate, and Heaven Realm would be Foundation Establishment.
"Where did you get this magic tool?" Ian Song raised the Soul-Fixing Bell and asked again.
"Anyone who breaks through to the Earth Realm is eligible to enter the sect’s treasure vault and choose a magic tool to refine, automatically becoming an inner disciple," Lance Ji answered truthfully.
Ian Song’s eyes flickered. He thought to himself that he ought to check out Mountain-Sea Divine Palace’s treasure vault someday. He continued, "Besides Mountain-Sea Divine Palace, are there any other sects in this world?"
"Yes! There’s another sect on Fuso Island to the east—Sea God Hall. Sea God Hall also has fewer than a hundred members, with strength equal to Mountain-Sea Divine Palace."
"By the way, do you happen to carry your sect’s cultivation manual?" Suddenly, Ian Song thought to ask.
"Master, please look. This is the Mountain-Sea Codex, our sect’s core cultivation method." As he spoke, Lance Ji pulled a beast-hide scroll from his robe.
Ian Song took it and saw that it was densely covered in fine script.
After reading ten lines at a glance, Ian Song closed his eyes to ponder its contents.
After a while, Ian Song returned the Mountain-Sea Codex to Lance Ji. This so-called codex was crude beyond belief—a shallow, simplistic cultivation method. No wonder the energy they produced was so flawed. Worse, it required extremely rare physical conditions: only those with a naturally unblocked middle dantian could practice it.
The middle dantian is different from the lower dantian.
For 99.99% of people, the middle dantian is blocked; only 0.01% are born with it naturally open.
This alone drastically limits the number of cultivators.
No wonder there are only two sects in the entire world, with fewer than two hundred members in total.
In fact, all the cultivators in this world have gone down the wrong path. If they could create techniques for cultivating the lower dantian, then with this world’s rich spiritual qi, even with fewer people than on Aqua-Blue Star, the number of martial artists would far surpass it.
With a sigh, Ian Song realized he’d overlooked something and asked Lance Ji, "By the way, what was your purpose in coming to Qi this time?"
"I dare not hide it from you, Master. In fact, Yan, Zhao, and Qi are all vassal states of Mountain-Sea Divine Palace. The previous King of Qi tried to throw off our control, so Yan and Zhao joined forces to destroy Qi. Now that Qi is about to be restored, the sect master sent me here to make Qi a vassal state again."
But after arriving in Qi, I discovered that you are the true power behind the throne. Compared to the young King of Qi, he’s much easier to control, so I started thinking about killing you instead."
"I see!" Ian Song nodded, then asked, "What about Chu and Qin? Are they vassals of Sea God Hall?"
"Correct," Lance Ji nodded. "The current female chancellor of Qin, Vivian Gee, is a true disciple of Sea God Hall."
"Interesting!" Ian Song murmured. He hadn’t expected that one of the Four Great Beauties, Vivian Gee, was actually a true disciple of Sea God Hall.
"Lance Ji."
Suddenly, Ian Song called out.
"At your service!"
"Aside from you, are there any other Mountain-Sea Divine Palace members on the Shenzhou Continent?"
Lance Ji nodded. "Yes, Lady Lila Pearce and Lyra Hale—two of the Four Great Beauties—are also true disciples of Mountain-Sea Divine Palace."
"What?" Ian Song was delighted by the news. "Where is Lady Lila Pearce now?"
"After Qi was destroyed, she returned to Penglai Island!"
"Don’t tell me Serena Hart is a member of Sea God Hall too?"
"Exactly. She is a true disciple of Sea God Hall!"
"Interesting—this is getting more and more interesting!" Ian Song couldn’t help but smirk. It seemed he really needed to pay a visit to Mountain-Sea Divine Palace and Sea God Hall.