Due to the urgency, after a brief exchange, Ian Song quickly sent Raymond Lei to the frontline, while Madam Lei stayed behind at Heavenly Melody Sect.
Integrating an army of four million is no easy task.
So, the moment Raymond Lei arrived at camp, he was thrown into a whirlwind of work.
Meanwhile, Ian had plenty to handle in the South Domain, so after dropping Raymond off, he returned to Pristine Way Sect.
Once the battle plan was set, Ian ordered the Chamber of Commerce to shut down all pill shops in the territories of Rift-Heaven Sword Sect, Suncrest Sect, Soaring Heaven Sect, and Heavenly Sword Sect.
After several days, all pill shop staff within the four sects' domains had already withdrawn.
So, he decided it was time to make a move.
First target: Rift-Heaven Sword Sect!
With Ian's order, a 1.5-million-strong army marched straight for Rift-Heaven, while Ian himself led thirty Martial Saints directly to the sect's mountain gate.
Around Rift-Heaven's gate, Ian's Martial Soul avatar Huang Yan had already buried supreme-grade spirit crystals as formation nodes; with a single formation seal, he could trap the entire gate area in a grand array.
To truly shock Rift-Heaven, Ian didn't just snatch their sect master—he planned to fight his way in from the gate.
"Who are you people?"
The gatekeeping disciple eyed the thirty-one newcomers, feeling inexplicably tense. He couldn't gauge their cultivation, and all but the leading young man wore fierce bronze masks.
"I'm Leon Huang, Alliance Leader of the South Domain Martial Alliance and Sect Master of Pristine Way. I've come to take Rift-Heaven Sword Sect under my control!"
As he spoke, Ian's lips curled into a devilish smirk.
"How dare you!"
The gatekeepers were stunned by his words and, drawing their swords, charged at Ian.
"Get lost!"
One Martial Saint stepped forward, waved his hand, and a surge of force swept the disciples up and hurled them dozens of meters away.
The Rift-Heaven gatekeepers were no weaklings—all were ninth-layer Qi-Refining disciples, and their leader was even a Grandmaster.
"Quick, notify the sect—an enemy force is attacking!"
The Grandmaster disciple scrambled up and led another charge, while one person dashed into the sect to report.
"Fools!"
The Martial Saint who struck snorted coldly and unleashed a punch like a raging torrent. Every gatekeeper hit by the force spat blood and was sent flying, especially the lead Grandmaster, who suffered the worst—after several mouthfuls of blood, he collapsed unconscious.
"Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!"
Nine deafening bell tolls echoed throughout Rift-Heaven Sword Sect, startling every disciple, steward, elder, and high-level leader.
Nine tolls meant a major enemy was attacking.
In an instant, disciples of all ranks rushed toward the mountain gate.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Figures tumbled—Rift-Heaven disciples were knocked to the ground one after another, but only one person had been attacking the whole time.
Finally, Rift-Heaven's true experts appeared.
A late-stage Great Grandmaster led dozens of Great Grandmasters and hundreds of Grandmasters, all charging forward with swords drawn.
"Capture them!"
The leading Great Grandmaster glared at the hundreds of groaning disciples on the ground, furious.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
Thousands of sword auras erupted, blotting out the sky like a raging river, surging toward Ian and his group with overwhelming force.
"Kill!"
The Martial Saint soared into the air, unleashing nine consecutive punches.
"Boom... Splurt!"
Punches and sword auras clashed again and again, annihilating each other!
Moments later, the nine punches and thousands of sword auras faded away. The powerful backlash forced hundreds of Rift-Heaven disciples to stagger backward, while the Martial Saint on Ian's side was sent flying, barely steadying himself after several steps.
"Rift-Heaven Sword Sect really knows their stuff!" the Martial Saint grumbled, clearly annoyed at being embarrassed.
As a formation expert, Ian could tell those thousands of sword auras, seemingly chaotic, actually followed a formation pattern—it was a sword aura formation. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to repel a Martial Saint. Of course, the Martial Saint's carelessness played a part too.
"Again!"
The Martial Saint charged once more, this time wielding a spirit-grade long saber.
"Slash!"
A snow-white saber light, dozens of meters long, shot forth, startling hundreds of Rift-Heaven elite disciples into unleashing sword auras to meet it.
"Clang, clang, clang!"
The clash of metal rang out—countless sword auras struck the saber light, but couldn't move it at all, each one deflected away.
"Boom!"
The saber light blasted into the crowd of elite disciples, and with a thunderous explosion, most were sent flying, screaming.
"Who are you?"
At that moment, two figures arrived together, landing nearby. Seeing the wounded disciples all around, their faces turned grim.
But when their eyes fell on the group of bronze-masked figures behind Ian, they were visibly shaken.
Both men were Martial Saints of Rift-Heaven Sword Sect.
Among experts, there’s a sense of mutual awareness. Immediately, they realized all those bronze-masked figures were Martial Saints.
Thirty Martial Saints?
Since when did Martial Saints become so common?
At the same time, they were utterly terrified. Just the two of them—how could they possibly resist thirty Martial Saints? For a moment, both felt the urge to turn and flee.
"I am Leon Huang, Alliance Leader of the South Domain Martial Alliance. Today, Rift-Heaven Sword Sect can surrender and live—or refuse, and not even the dogs and chickens will be spared!"
Ian stepped forward, facing the two Martial Saints of Rift-Heaven Sword Sect head-on.
"Isn’t that a bit too domineering?"
Hearing Ian's threat, both Martial Saints were furious.
"Not convinced?" Ian’s eyes flashed coldly. "Everyone, listen up!"
"Awaiting your orders, Young Master!" all thirty Martial Saints replied in unison.
"Leave no one alive in Rift-Heaven Sword Sect! Kill them all!"
Ian's icy voice made both Martial Saints shudder instinctively. One quickly shouted, "Wait, wait!"
"You have ten breaths to decide—surrender or not?" Ian asked coldly.
Half an hour later.
Ian left Rift-Heaven Sword Sect with his thirty Martial Saints. Under his pressure, the sect surrendered in the end, but the surrender was unstable, so Ian took extreme measures and had a private talk with the sect master.
Then he used Puppet Mastery Divine Art to enslave him.
Rift-Heaven Sword Sect's territory was vast, and taking it over wasn't easy. Fortunately, the sect cooperated, and with Ian's preparations, it still took three days to barely complete the takeover.
While Ian was annexing Rift-Heaven Sword Sect, the East Domain’s four-million-strong coalition was already locked in direct confrontation with the three million elite warriors of the Military Affairs Camp.
Neither side chose to go all out.
The East Domain sent out half a million troops, while the Military Affairs Camp dispatched three hundred thousand.
After a day of fierce fighting, the Military Affairs Camp gained the upper hand, defeating five hundred thousand of the East Domain coalition with only three hundred thousand elite soldiers.
Military Affairs Camp, closely monitoring the battle, quickly spread news of their victory across the land. Instantly, every ambitious person in the domains felt a chill in their heart.
Only Ian in the South Domain paid it no mind—he was busy gathering his forces, preparing to strike at Suncrest Sect!