The Immortals who had been besieging the monster were all stunned when it exploded, then burst into cheers. Every time a monster appears, it usually causes many casualties, but this time, not a single person died—the monster was wiped out in an instant, with only a few buildings damaged.
At the same time, everyone noticed Lana Gale, the one who had single-handedly destroyed the monster.
That monster possessed at least Earth Immortal-level cultivation and extremely tough defenses—even late-stage Earth Immortals would have trouble killing it. In Thousandmount Town, the strongest Immortal barely reached early-stage Earth Immortal.
So, anyone who could crush the monster with a single palm had to be a powerhouse at the Golden Immortal level.
"Look, isn't that Lord Jun Jiutian? Could he know that Golden Immortal who made the move?"
"Wow, Lord Jun Jiutian has really struck it rich—he’s actually connected to a Golden Immortal powerhouse!"
The crowd was filled with envy.
Led by the only Earth Immortal in Thousandmount Town, the group of Immortals who had been fighting the monster walked over.
The only Earth Immortal in Thousandmount Town was named Luke Starriver, and he was also the town mayor.
Luke Starriver led the group to bow to Lana Gale. "I, Luke Starriver, thank you, honored one, for ridding Thousandmount Town of that monster!"
"No need for formalities—my Martial Uncle, Elder Gideon Skyreach, is also from Thousandmount Town!"
Lana Gale casually waved her hand and helped everyone back up.
Hearing this, Luke Starriver and his group nearly popped their eyes out. Wasn't Elder Gideon Skyreach just a mid-stage Human Immortal? How could he possibly have a Golden Immortal-level disciple? They even suspected their ears were playing tricks on them—it was just too unbelievable.
Just then—
Ian Song walked over to where the monster had exploded, a look of puzzlement appearing on his face.
Just now, he had sensed an extremely faint trace of Chaos Aura from the monster.
Why would an Earth Immortal-level monster carry Chaos Aura?
This puzzled him greatly.
"Do you know where these monsters come from?"
Ian Song looked at Luke Starriver and the others as he asked.
Although Luke Starriver couldn't sense Ian Song's cultivation at all, the aura of a true powerhouse was unmistakable. He respectfully replied, "Honored one, we don't really know where these monsters come from. About every three years, one will crawl out of a time-space rift and wreak havoc on the region!"
"Is something wrong, Junior Brother?" Lana Gale asked.
"It's nothing," Ian Song replied, shaking his head. He vaguely suspected that the thin immortal essence in this place was somehow connected to the recurring monsters.
Ian Song shook his head, feeling that the area’s lack of immortal essence was probably related to these monsters in some way.
"By the way, Brother Luke, I plan to leave Thousandmount Town soon!"
Elder Gideon Skyreach addressed Luke Starriver.
"Please, Elder Gideon, just call me Brother Luke!" Luke Starriver said, a bit flustered. Knowing Gideon had a Golden Immortal-level disciple, he didn’t dare accept the honorific as casually as before.
Suddenly, a thought struck him. He looked at Elder Gideon and asked, "Brother Gideon, you were living just fine in Thousandmount Town—why leave all of a sudden?"
"My disciple has established a foundation outside. He’s come to take me and Elder Bloodsun away!"
Elder Gideon Skyreach tried to sound indifferent, but his eyes couldn’t hide a trace of pride.
"Brother Gideon, you're truly blessed. By the way, who is your disciple?"
As he spoke, Luke Starriver glanced between Ian Song and Jasmine Jiang.
Elder Gideon Skyreach smiled and introduced Ian Song, "Disciple, this is Mayor Luke Starriver of Thousandmount Town. He’s always looked out for us. Three years ago, when monsters attacked, he even saved my life!"
"Mayor Luke, thank you for saving my master!"
Ian Song quickly bowed to Luke Starriver, startling him so much he could only stammer that it was nothing. In his mind, if Gideon's disciple was a Golden Immortal, then Ian himself had to be one too.
"Mayor Luke, please accept this token of my gratitude for looking after my master!"
With that, Ian Song handed Luke Starriver a jade bottle.
He waited until Ian and his group had left before cautiously opening the pill bottle. When he saw three top-grade Elephant-Origin Pills inside, he nearly cried out in shock.
He’d been stuck at peak early-stage Earth Immortal for years. With these three Elephant-Origin Pills, he was sure to break through to mid-stage Earth Immortal in no time.
He also realized that anyone who could casually gift three Elephant-Origin Pills couldn’t be an ordinary Golden Immortal. If only he’d taken better care of Elder Gideon in the past—maybe he could’ve gotten even more benefits.
When Ian Song and his group returned to Elder Gideon Skyreach's residence, they found the courtyard already packed with dozens of people.
Ian glanced at a beautiful middle-aged woman in a pale yellow gauze dress and joked, "Master, is she my Master's Wife?"
Elder Gideon Skyreach's face flushed bright red.
"Don't talk nonsense!"
Everyone burst out laughing.
Ian Song laughed inwardly, then strode over to the middle-aged lady and formally saluted her. "Disciple Ian Song greets Master's Wife!"
"Get up, get up!"
Hannah Huang quickly helped Ian up, her manner graceful and composed.
Elder Gideon Skyreach stood awkwardly to the side, his face full of embarrassment.
Hannah Huang smiled, "I've heard Gideon mention you many times. He said taking you as a disciple is his greatest pride. I never thought you'd become a Profound Immortal supremacist!"
"It's all thanks to Master's teaching!"
Ian Song replied modestly.
After a few brief greetings, Ian tossed out an immortal ship and ferried everyone in the courtyard skyward toward Greenvine City.
Soon, the group arrived in Greenvine City.
Ian made sure not to neglect any of the Immortals who followed him to Greenvine. He had residences arranged for each, and gifted everyone a generous sum of one hundred thousand immortal stones and a hundred top-grade cultivation pills.
Everyone was delighted, especially after learning that Greenvine City's Immortalization Pool was free to use. They eagerly headed there in groups to condense their immortal bodies.
As for his master, Master's Wife, and Elder Bloodsun, Ian personally took care of their arrangements.
Ian deeply respected Elder Gideon Skyreach, so he gifted him a divine-grade cultivation method and set up the Heaven-and-Earth Inversion Grand Array around his residence, making the immortal essence extremely dense and Law power highly active. He also gave him a huge stock of pills, more than enough to reach the Profound Immortal realm.
For Hannah Huang and Elder Bloodsun, he gifted each a top-grade Immortal Tome and large quantities of pills and immortal stones.
These gifts were more than enough to support their cultivation all the way to Profound Immortal.
After so many years apart, master and disciple had plenty to talk about, so Ian spent several days with Elder Gideon Skyreach.
A few days later...
Ian Song returned once more to Thousandmount Town.
He wanted to investigate why the monsters carried traces of Chaos Aura.
He sought out Mayor Luke Starriver again, asking in detail about everything related to the monsters.
It wasn't any great secret, so Luke Starriver told Ian everything he knew without reservation.
"From Hell, huh? Interesting!"
Leaving Luke Starriver's residence, Ian began searching for time-space rifts near Thousandmount Town.