After another two rounds of ice-and-fire extremes, the Iron-Shell Turtle’s life force finally vanished completely.
After spending nearly half an hour, the group butchered the Iron-Shell Turtle into various materials, then continued onward, searching for their next hunting target.
Suddenly, Ian Song’s brows furrowed slightly. He noticed that the black-clothed elder who had been tailing them for days had vanished from his detection range—though the three women were still present.
"Did he notice the presence of the three women in green and leave? Or is it something else...?"
Whatever the case, Ian decided he should stay extra vigilant.
The training team hadn’t gone far before they ran into a group of sea demonic beasts.
There were more than a hundred sea demonic beasts in the group—most were first-tier, with only a dozen or so second-tier.
Everyone worked together, and it took more than two hours to kill the entire group. Of course, the reason it took so long was mainly because Ian wasn’t fighting at full strength—he was keeping some power in reserve, wary of the missing black-clothed elder, so he held back a bit in the hunting.
By evening, the training team stopped hunting and tallied up their haul: one third-tier, twenty-one second-tier, and over two hundred first-tier sea demonic beasts. The total value of materials and monster cores reached five hundred thousand taels.
It was a massive harvest. Counting the previous tens of thousands of taels, each person could take home about sixty thousand taels.
This made most people especially excited—even though they were quite tired, smiles still hung on their faces.
After setting up camp, Ian started preparing dinner for everyone.
Everyone’s tastes had been spoiled by Ian, so while breakfast and lunch were with their own food, dinner was always left to Ian to prepare.
At that moment, there was a valley over a hundred li away from Ian and the others’ camp.
In the valley, more than five hundred sea demonic beasts lived, including five third-tier, over two hundred second-tier, and the rest were first-tier.
In a flash, a dark figure appeared on the cliff by the valley entrance.
His gaze swept over the hundreds of sea demonic beasts in the valley, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. If he led this herd to those rookies’ camp, none of them would survive.
The next moment, he took out a black incense stick from his storage ring.
This incense stick was called Soul-Luring Incense. When lit, it released a strange fragrance that was extremely attractive to demonic beasts. Any beast below fourth tier that caught the scent would become violent, bloodthirsty, and madly pursue the source of the incense.
Sure enough, not long after the black-clothed elder lit the Soul-Luring Incense, the sea demonic beasts in the valley began to riot, roaring as they surged toward the valley entrance.
The black-clothed elder saw this and couldn’t help but reveal a satisfied smile. Holding the Soul-Luring Incense, his figure flickered and he sped toward Ian’s camp.
The sea demonic beasts in the valley, lured by the Soul-Luring Incense, swarmed out and closely followed behind the elder, drawn by the scent.
Half an hour later, the black-clothed elder had led the Soul-Luring Incense to within ten li of the camp.
Ian, who was just about to sprinkle seasoning on the barbecue, suddenly paused—he had discovered that the missing black-clothed elder had reappeared and was speeding toward their camp.
"Could he finally be making his move against us?"
Thinking of this, Ian quickly called out, “Everyone get ready—there might be enemies incoming!”
Everyone trusted Ian implicitly. Hearing his warning, they quickly drew their weapons from their storage rings and began circulating true qi, preparing for battle.
“Ian, what rank of sea demonic beast is it?”
“It’s not a sea demonic beast—it’s a person!”
Ian answered while using Clairvoyant Vision to lock onto the black-clothed elder.
The elder sprinted at Grandmaster speed, arriving at the camp perimeter in just a few dozen breaths. He tossed a burning black incense stick into the camp and then flashed away.
“What the hell is this?”
Ian blinked forward and returned to his spot, now holding the burning black incense stick.
The incense stick wasn’t poisonous—it just emitted a special fragrance.
“Ian, what’s that in your hand?” Yoon Zhengyang asked.
“This... this is Soul-Luring Incense!”
Celine Murong’s face changed dramatically in shock.
“Celine, is Soul-Luring Incense really that scary?” Winnie Shentu asked curiously, seeing her reaction.
Celine quickly explained, “Soul-Luring Incense isn’t deadly, but it can lure all demonic beasts below fourth tier within a hundred li. Hurry, we need to leave now or we’ll be surrounded by a massive wave of sea monsters!”
Hearing this, everyone’s faces changed. Through Clairvoyant Vision, Ian saw a huge group of sea demonic beasts already within ten li.
“A huge wave of sea demonic beasts is already attacking. You all retreat east—I’ll draw the beasts away!”
With a flicker, Ian disappeared with the Soul-Luring Incense. The others were moved and worried by his actions.
“Hurry, let’s go!”
Ian ran straight toward the sea demonic beasts with the Soul-Luring Incense, stopping about five li out.
Soon, hundreds of sea demonic beasts appeared in his vision—five third-tier leaders, more than two hundred second-tier, and the first-tier ones had long since scattered. Even so, they could still follow the scent of the Soul-Luring Incense.
“Such a vicious plan!”
Ian looked at the five third-tier and over two hundred second-tier sea demonic beasts, his face dark and grim. If not for his Clairvoyant Vision, their whole group would have fallen victim to the black-clothed elder’s scheme.
Thinking of this, Ian released the Golden Howler.
Having been locked up for months, the Golden Howler had long grown restless. Now freed, it couldn’t help but frolic around Ian in delight.
“Go, finish them off!” Ian ordered.
Ian patted the Golden Howler’s head, then pointed at the five third-tier sea demonic beasts.
Instantly, the Golden Howler’s eyes blazed with ferocity and it vanished in a streak of golden light.
In the blink of an eye, all five third-tier sea demonic beasts had their skulls pierced by the Golden Howler’s claws. It plucked out a handful of brains, ate them, and moved on to the next beast.
“Puchi! Puchi! Puchi! Puchi!”
In an instant, all five third-tier sea demonic beasts were killed, and the Golden Howler landed a few meters away, roaring thunderously at the more than two hundred second-tier beasts.
“Roar! Roar!”
The Golden Howler’s roar carried immense majesty, terrifying the two hundred plus second-tier sea demonic beasts into collapsing and trembling on the ground.
Seeing this, Ian calmly walked over and stored the five third-tier corpses in his ring.
The Golden Howler continued to rampage, slaughtering the second-tier beasts. Ian watched for a while, then turned and left to catch up with the others.
These five third-tier beast corpses were worth tens of thousands of taels each.
Then Ian’s gaze fell on the two hundred plus second-tier sea demonic beasts. Second-tier beasts were also valuable, so he didn’t intend to let them go. With the Golden Howler intimidating them, they didn’t dare move, so Ian drew the Falling Star Sword and began a wild massacre.
In less than two minutes, he cleaned up all two hundred plus second-tier sea demonic beasts.
After storing all the second-tier beast corpses, Ian’s expression grew dark again. Muttering to himself, he said, “It’s time to settle the score with that old bastard!”