Song Residence, rear garden.
Ian Song and Lila Li stood side by side.
Suddenly, Ian spoke: "I'm planning to deal with the Prime One Church."
Hearing this, Lila's heart sank slightly. These past few days, while Ian was in seclusion at the Divine Temple, she had spent a lot of time talking with the Jade Maiden Sect women and learned they'd been hunted by a group of mysterious pursuers.
Although the women didn't know who was after them, Lila had her suspicions. Now, hearing Ian mention going after the Prime One Church, she was sure—the mastermind behind the attempt to wipe out the Jade Maiden Sect was indeed the Prime One Church.
"Be careful."
After a moment, Lila said softly.
"Is there anything else you want to say to me?" Ian looked at Lila and asked gently.
Lila shook her head. "A wife follows her husband, whether he's chicken or dog. I may have been born in the Prime One Church, but compared to my husband, I care more about him."
"You..."
Ian couldn't help but pull Lila into his arms. "Don't worry. Master Mingtan is your teacher, after all—I'll spare his life."
"Thank you, husband," Lila said gratefully.
"There's no need for thanks between us. All right, I should get going."
"Go early and come back early. Everyone in the residence is thinking of you."
"Okay."
Ian nodded solemnly. With a flicker, his figure disappeared.
After dozens of rapid teleports, Ian arrived at the main city of Crescent Province in the Tang Dynasty.
He didn't bother to disguise his face, striding openly toward the Prime One Church's Crescent Province Branch Altar.
Eight Nascent Soul disciples guarded the branch altar's gate.
"Who goes there?"
One of the guards barked a question.
"Ian Song."
Ian answered calmly. Although the Jade Maiden Sect suffered no losses, the Dualis Order was implicated because of him—the entire sect was either killed or captured, nearly wiped out.
That's why he intended to destroy every Prime One Church branch altar.
"Ian Song? Why does that sound familiar?" The guard mused, staring at Ian's face, feeling a strange sense of recognition.
"You... you’re Ian Song!"
At that moment, another guard beside him suddenly asked in a trembling voice, his words full of terror. After Ian left the Tang Dynasty, the Prime One Church sent his portrait to every branch altar for all disciples to study.
But it had been more than two years, and since Ian hadn’t reappeared, the branches that hadn’t been attacked gradually stopped caring.
So this guard only found Ian’s name familiar and his face vaguely recognizable.
"That’s right!" Ian nodded at the other guard.
The first guard was a bit confused—hadn’t this man already announced his name? Why was Levi Li still asking if he was Ian Song?
"This is bad! Ian Song—the Little Demon Song—is here!"
Just then, another guard let out a shrill scream and shot into the altar as a streak of light.
His shout woke the other seven guards at once. The harmless-looking young man before them was actually the infamous Little Demon Song who had destroyed more than half of the Prime One Church’s branch altars. Their faces instantly turned pale, and even their bodies began to tremble.
"W-why have you come to our branch altar?" The first guard stammered, terrified.
"What do you think?" Ian flashed a brilliant smile.
"You’re not here to destroy us, are you?" the guard asked, voice trembling.
Ian replied teasingly, "Correct! Since you guessed right, here’s your reward: you and your companions can defect from the Prime One Church and leave Crescent Province right now. If you do, I won’t kill you."
"Defect!"
The seven guards’ faces turned extremely ugly, but compared to their own lives, defecting from the sect suddenly didn’t seem so bad.
"Run for it!"
One guard immediately threw away his Prime One Church identity token and fled in the opposite direction from the altar.
Seeing this, the other six guards gritted their teeth, tossed aside their tokens, and also fled.
Watching the fleeing guards, Ian put away his smile and strode into the Crescent Province Branch Altar.
Meanwhile, word of Ian's arrival had already reached altar master Damon Zou through the ranks, making his face turn extremely ugly.
After Little Demon Song destroyed more than half the branch altars, the Prime One Church Main Altar strengthened branch defenses. Crescent Province now boasted six Combined-Body experts.
Even so, Damon Zou had no confidence in stopping Ian.
Soon, Damon led five other Combined-Body experts and a group of Soul-Split cultivators to meet Ian.
Seeing Ian, Damon didn’t shout or attack. Instead, he bowed respectfully: "I didn’t know Young Master Song was coming. Forgive me for not welcoming you sooner."
"No need for such courtesy. I trust you know why I’m here?" Ian said calmly.
"Young Master Song, is this really necessary?"
Damon sighed.
Ian smiled. "Since you’re so polite, I’ll give you a chance to live. Swear a Heavenly Tribulation oath to follow me, and I’ll spare you."
"Young Master Song, must you really be so aggressive?" Damon said, a little annoyed.
"You have ten breaths to decide."
As soon as he finished, Ian closed his eyes as if dozing. Damon and the other Combined-Body experts looked extremely grim, while the Soul-Split cultivators behind them erupted in anxious murmurs.
"What do you all intend to do?" Damon asked the other five Combined-Body experts.
"This Little Demon Song is going too far! I refuse to believe we six together can’t take him!" one expert said angrily.
But the other five didn’t echo his words; instead, their eyes flickered with hesitation.
"You’re not thinking of betraying the Prime One Church, are you?" he demanded, sweeping his gaze over them.
"Even ants cling to life. Sorry, old friend—I don’t want to gamble on such slim odds!" As he spoke, one Combined-Body expert stepped forward and bowed to Ian: "Young Master Song, I, Yancey Jiang, am willing to follow you. Please accept me!"
"I, Logan Lu, am also willing to follow Young Master Song. Please accept me!"
The other two Combined-Body experts also quickly pledged themselves, leaving only altar master Damon Zou and the stubborn expert who wanted to fight Ian.
"Have you made up your minds?"
Ian opened his eyes and slowly swept his gaze over Damon Zou and the remaining expert.
His gaze seemed ordinary, but when it passed over the two men, both felt their breathing tighten.
"Little Demon Song, I’ll fight you to the death!"
With a furious roar, the stubborn expert attacked. Dazzling sword light tore through the air, slashing toward Ian.
Ian glanced at him and lightly extended a finger.
With that single finger, he effortlessly shattered the full-force sword strike and tapped the man’s brow. With a soft sound, the man’s head and Primordial Spirit were pierced simultaneously.
In the next moment—
The man’s corpse crashed to the ground.
For a moment, the entire hall was stunned into silence.
The four Combined-Body experts who surrendered all felt a surge of relief and gratitude.