Osmanthus Courtyard, Harriet Gu's new residence.
After handling sect affairs, Ian Song made his way here. He had originally planned to propose to Harriet Gu right after his enthronement as Sect Master.
But now, with Pristine Way facing a major upheaval, the wedding has to be postponed.
Although Harriet is understanding and wouldn’t complain, Ian still felt it was necessary to come and comfort her.
He knocked on the door and stepped inside.
"Leon, you’re here?"
Harriet’s eyes lit up with joy.
"Harriet, I’m sorry you have to wait." Ian gently took her hand, his voice soft.
"Leon, I don’t feel wronged at all—as long as you keep me in your heart." Harriet replied softly, her gaze full of deep affection.
"Meeting a girl like you is the greatest luck I’ve ever had."
Lowering his head, Ian kissed her moist cherry lips.
Even though it wasn’t their first kiss, Harriet’s reaction was still adorably shy.
After some sweet flirting and heartfelt words, Ian finally took his leave.
Back at his own residence, Lynn Ning greeted him warmly, fussing over him. She’d worried that after he became Sect Master, he wouldn’t need her service anymore, but she quickly realized her worries were unnecessary.
"Lynn, is there something else?"
Ian picked up the fragrant tea Lynn had brought, took a sip, and looked at her curiously as she hesitated to speak.
After a moment’s hesitation, Lynn bit her lip and said, "Brother Huang, I have a small request."
"Go ahead, Lynn—there’s nothing you can’t say to me." Ian smiled.
Hearing this, Lynn’s heart melted a little. "Brother Huang, do you know when my brother will be back?"
Ian smiled, "Don’t worry, Lynn. I’ve already sent word to your brother, telling him to wrap up his secret mission and return to Pristine Way!"
"Ah!"
Hearing the news, Lynn Ning couldn't help but burst out happily, "Brother Huang, you're honestly the best!"
Watching Lynn Ning skip away, Ian Song felt a pang of guilt. He’d already predicted she would ask about Nate Moore, so he’d prepared his answer in advance—that’s why he’d replied so smoothly just now.
But he had no idea how heartbroken Lynn would be once the news of Nate's death came back.
That’s right—he was going to arrange for Nate Moore to die a ‘glorious death.’
"Sigh."
Thinking about all this, Ian couldn’t help but let out a quiet sigh.
After finishing his tea, Ian headed to the training room.
He sat cross-legged on a jade cushion and sent his consciousness into his sea of awareness.
Within his sea of awareness, three Martial Soul clusters floated, radiating a strong vitality. With his constant spiritual nourishment, all three Martial Souls grew stronger.
Even the Emperor-Rank Martial Soul, which had been silent for days, started to stir just now.
Focusing his mind, Ian connected with the Emperor-Rank Martial Soul.
In that instant, dazzling light burst forth in his sea of awareness, illuminating everything. The jelly-like Emperor-Rank Martial Soul began to morph.
After a while, the light faded, and the Emperor-Rank Martial Soul had turned into a perfectly formed human figure.
And that figure looked exactly like Ian himself.
"Whoosh!"
In a flash, the figure—the Emperor-Rank Martial Soul—appeared right in the training room.
At that moment, Ian felt an indescribable strangeness—as if he’d become two people.
With a single thought, the Emperor-Rank Martial Soul suddenly opened its mouth: "Hey there, buddy!"
Hearing the Martial Soul avatar greet him, Ian felt even stranger, but also found it pretty amusing. He laughed and replied, "Hello to you too!"
"Hahaha!"
Right after, Ian and the Emperor-Rank Martial Soul both burst out laughing together.
After a while, the two stopped laughing. Ian began to examine the Emperor-Rank Martial Soul's condition.
The Emperor-Rank Martial Soul had taken on his appearance, but it had no cultivation yet. Still, all its meridians were open, every acupoint activated, and its body was filled with surging power.
With a physique like this, whether for immortal cultivation or martial arts, it was a once-in-ten-thousand-years super constitution.
"Let's give it a try!"
With a thought, the Emperor-Rank Martial Soul sat down cross-legged opposite Ian and began to cultivate.
The training room was saturated with dense spiritual energy.
As the Undying Phoenix Codex activated, the surrounding spiritual energy rushed toward the Emperor-Rank Martial Soul.
"Boom!"
A strand of true qi appeared in the Emperor-Rank Martial Soul's dantian and quickly grew stronger. After one full cycle of cultivation, the avatar reached the first layer of Qi-Refining.
"Damn, that's insanely fast! Geniuses in this world are trash compared to the Emperor-Rank Martial Soul!"
"Keep going!"
After less than half an hour, the Emperor-Rank Martial Soul's aura changed again—it had reached the second layer of Qi-Refining.
Third layer of Qi-Refining.
Fourth layer of Qi-Refining!
Fifth layer of Qi-Refining!
............
From the first to the ninth layer of Qi-Refining, the Emperor-Rank Martial Soul only took three hours.
"Boom!"
After another half hour, the Emperor-Rank Martial Soul's aura shifted again—breaking through straight into the early Master realm. Its domain appeared as well, and though it was single-attribute, the range reached a full three hundred meters.
It was freakishly overpowered.
Upon entering the Master realm, the Emperor-Rank Martial Soul didn’t stop cultivating, but the training room’s spiritual energy started running short.
Ian immediately took out ten fourth-grade Profound Pills and had the Emperor-Rank Martial Soul swallow them.
The ten pills instantly turned into surging medicinal power, which the Emperor-Rank Martial Soul absorbed and converted into cultivation. With all its meridians open and resilient, there was no risk of being overloaded.
So, in just a quarter of an hour, the Emperor-Rank Martial Soul advanced again—reaching mid-Master realm.
"Nice!"
In less than a day, the Emperor-Rank Martial Soul had reached Ian’s own cultivation level.
Ian then took out thirty more fourth-grade Profound Pills and fed them to the Emperor-Rank Martial Soul.
A day passed in a flash.
Looking again, the Emperor-Rank Martial Soul’s cultivation had already soared to late-stage Grandmaster.
Not only that, its true qi showed no instability from the fast rise—instead, it was pure and robust, fully under the avatar’s control.
If it weren’t such turbulent times, Ian would have even tried to push the Emperor-Rank Martial Soul to break through to Martial Saint.
With cultivation reached, as for combat skills—the Emperor-Rank Martial Soul didn’t need any training, because it was him and he was it. Whatever Ian knew, the avatar also knew.
Of course, the system-granted divine abilities were out of reach for the Emperor-Rank Martial Soul.
"From now on, your name is Huang Yan!"
Ian smiled at the Emperor-Rank Martial Soul as he spoke.
"Thank you for the name, True Body!" Huang Yan smiled and bowed to Ian.
The next moment, Huang Yan turned into a stream of light and returned to Ian’s sea of awareness, sitting cross-legged at its center.
Ian pushed open the training room door and walked out.
He headed for the sect leader’s office, where the guards all greeted him respectfully.
Several documents were piled up on his desk, most of them submitted by the Grand Elders.
Following his orders, disciples of the Qingwei Sect were retreating in large numbers. By the end of the day, most had withdrawn back to the sect, but quite a few refused, determined to fight to the death alongside disciples of the Thirty-Eight Sects to defend Qingwei’s honor.
"Go summon Elder Gu Xie, Elder Duanmu, and Elder Cang!" Ian ordered the guards outside.
Soon, the three elders arrived one after another.
Ian got straight to the point: "Exactly how many people are refusing to retreat to the sect?"
"Sect Master, there are more than two hundred!" Duanmu Chong replied.
"Hmm." Ian nodded. "These are all good disciples of Qingwei. We can’t let them die in vain. Send someone again, and no matter what, bring them back to the sect!"
Duanmu Chong gave a bitter smile. "We’ve sent people to persuade them many times. They just won’t leave!"
"Fools! If they won’t leave, should we just let them die? Bottom line, you must bring them back—even if you have to tie them up!" Ian gave a strict order.
Ian was no stranger to leadership. In the Great Qin world, he’d been the all-powerful General of Qi; in the apocalypse, he’d led a settlement; and in the martial world, even as a bandit chief, he had plenty of followers.
Issuing orders came naturally to him. Even without trying to act authoritative, the three elders felt his presence—a true-born sect master.
The three elders accepted his orders and left.
Ian began considering reforms for the Grand Elder position after this incident.
The Grand Elders had no clear duties, yet wielded enormous power. Without defined responsibilities, chaos could easily arise.
But now was not the time for reforms. Once the Thirty-Eight Sects coalition was repelled, he’d propose changes—no one would dare oppose him then!
After summoning a few more Grand Elders and issuing a series of orders, Ian went to a secluded courtyard.
This courtyard housed a group of mysterious guests—crucial to Ian’s victory this time.
Sky City.
The place where the Thirty-Eight Sects coalition had gathered.
Sky City was once the most prosperous city in Tianhe Prefecture, rich in resources and minerals. That’s why Qingwei Sect had stationed a Grandmaster here.
But just an hour ago, the city was taken by the coalition forces.
In recent days, the Thirty-Eight Sects coalition had swept through everything, unstoppable. Of the six prefectures under Qingwei’s control, four had already fallen.
It seemed only a matter of days before the coalition reached Qingwei Sect’s main gates.
In the coalition’s command tent, Chen Yizhou stood in armor at the head of the table.
On both sides sat thirty-seven others—the leaders of the remaining Thirty-Seven Sects.
Over the past few days, as their armies conquered city after city, Qingwei Sect barely put up a fight. Once inside, the troops scrambled for loot, stuffing themselves to the brim.
After discussing the next day’s marching route, Chen Yizhou returned to his temporary command residence.
This residence had once been the Sky City Lord’s mansion.
The city lord was now imprisoned, and Chen Yizhou had become the new master here.
He entered a small courtyard, pushing the door open.
Inside sat an elderly man with snow-white hair and beard, leisurely sipping tea.
"Greetings, Grandmaster Uncle!"
Chen Yizhou bowed deeply.
Xiao Zhengnan nodded. "Come, have a seat."
After sitting down, Chen Yizhou couldn’t hide a trace of worry. "Grandmaster Uncle, things have come to this—does Qingwei Sect still have a chance to turn the tables?"
"That Young Master Huang is far too mysterious. I truly don’t know!" Xiao Zhengnan’s face showed a hint of worry. He’d once had great confidence in Ian, but now he was wavering. With the Thirty-Seven Sects’ army—excluding Guiyuan Sect—numbering over two million,
such a force could easily conquer Guiyuan Sect. What could Qingwei Sect possibly use to resist?
And as for top experts, that Nangong Wushuang had brought six Martial Saints. If Huang Yan’s three Martial Saints were suppressed, Qingwei Sect could be wiped out at any moment!
PS: Four chapters today.
(End of chapter)