Hearing that Ian Song was a Grandmaster-level expert, Yvette Cao was so shocked because Grandmasters were extremely rare and highly respected; even in the Prince of Yan Residence, there were only two Grandmaster martial artists.
One served as the head of the guards.
The other was her father's personal bodyguard. Even her father, Prince Adrian Cao, treated them with utmost respect, and all the princes and princesses—including herself—would show deference to them as juniors.
Besides, in her eyes, for Ian Song to achieve Grandmaster status at such a young age meant that in the future, he might even become a Great Grandmaster.
In the entire Valeguard Kingdom, there were only ten Great Grandmasters, and such figures were truly extraordinary. Not just her father—even the emperor of Valeguard would not dare slight a Great Grandmaster.
After all, even if tens of thousands of troops were dispatched, they might not be able to keep a single Great Grandmaster. If a Great Grandmaster turned assassin, unless protected by another Great Grandmaster, no one could save you.
Thinking that Ian Song was also Chloe Cao’s junior brother, she couldn’t help but feel a surge of jealousy in her heart.
"So what if I am? So what if I’m not?"
Ian Song stood with his hands behind his back, his expression indifferent as he spoke.
"Sir, why don’t we make a deal? You let us go, and we’ll release these noble ladies!"
One of the masked Innate experts gritted his teeth and said.
"Heh!" Ian Song’s face suddenly turned cold. "Are you threatening me?"
"We wouldn’t dare. We just want to live!"
"If you want to live, it’s simple—everyone surrender at once!" Ian Song sneered.
"Impossible!" the masked Innate expert shouted. "Don’t push us, or we’ll fight to the death! You may be able to kill us, but we can take these noble ladies down with us!"
"You’re overestimating yourselves. Do you really think your little underlings can threaten me? Fine, I’ll make you give up completely!" As soon as he finished speaking, Ian Song reached out and grabbed a fist-sized stone, lifting it into the air before crushing it to pieces.
"Go!"
With a low shout, the fragments of stone suddenly turned into streaks of black, shooting out like lightning.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Thud, thud, thud!
In an instant, all the masked men holding Yvette Cao and the others were struck by flying stones, sent tumbling to the ground. To their horror, the stones hadn’t just knocked them down—they’d hit their acupoints, leaving them paralyzed and unable to move.
The freed noble ladies weren’t stupid—they immediately ran toward Ian Song.
"Second brother, let’s split up!"
Seeing this, the two Innate masked men froze, then darted off in opposite directions, trying to escape.
"None of you are leaving!"
Ian Song flicked out two fingers in midair.
Invisible qi shot into the two masked Innate experts. Both cried out and crashed to the ground, defeated.
The remaining masked men saw their two leaders captured. They immediately dropped their weapons and knelt, surrendering.
As for trying to run? Forget it. After what they’d just seen, they knew one more stone would knock them all out cold.
"Are you Ziyu Song?"
A charming young noblewoman gazed at Ian Song, her eyes flashing with intrigue. It was Sophia Chang.
"That’s me. Sorry I arrived late and frightened all you ladies!"
Ian Song smiled at the group.
"You’re too kind, Young Master Song. If you hadn’t come when you did, we’d have been doomed!" a beautiful noble lady said, gazing at him with starry eyes.
"Yes, Young Master Song, your poem was amazing! ‘If only life were always like our first meeting—why must autumn winds bring sorrow to painted fans?’"
Surrounded by chattering noble ladies, Ian Song couldn’t help but laugh and shake his head. These girls were something else—almost kidnapped, and yet still fangirling.
About half an hour later—
The group from Panyang Prefecture finally arrived. Ian Song let out a sigh of relief, tossed out a quick farewell, and slipped away.
Mainly, he’d had enough of being mobbed by noble ladies.
Every one of them had stars in their eyes—some looked ready to eat him alive. Especially Sophia Chang; her heated gaze could practically melt steel. To avoid unnecessary trouble, Ian decided it was best to make himself scarce.