As soon as Ian Song gave the order, twelve Martial Saints shot out like arrows.
The Strongarm Bull Devils trapping Lance Xuanyuan numbered only a few thousand—not nearly enough to pose a threat to this group of Martial Saints. In just a few breaths, all of them were reduced to corpses.
Surrounded and despairing, Lance Xuanyuan stared blankly at the twelve figures slaughtering Strongarm Bull Devils like chickens and dogs, unable to contain his joy—he was finally rescued.
In an instant, the thousands of Strongarm Bull Devils were completely wiped out.
Lance Xuanyuan quickly clasped his fists and thanked the twelve Martial Saints, "Thank you, seniors, for saving me!"
Jason Song sneered, "Heh, if the commander hadn’t given the order, I wouldn’t have bothered with your life!"
Shawn Tu’s voice followed, "Kid, you’re really stupid. Did you think this was a place you could just stroll into?"
"That’s right, Young Master Xuanyuan, you were way too reckless!"
Fiona Li stepped forward, looking at Lance Xuanyuan as she spoke.
Faced with Shawn Tu’s rebuke, Lance Xuanyuan dared not protest. Seeing Fiona Li, a familiar face, he was especially pleased: "So it’s Deputy Fiona Li! What are you all doing here...?"
"We’re following the commander to wipe out the Strongarm Bull Devil army," Fiona Li explained.
Suddenly, an idea struck Lance Xuanyuan. "Deputy Fiona Li, could you introduce me to your commander? Just now that senior said you all came to rescue me on his orders, so I’d like to thank him in person."
Lance Xuanyuan realized that all twelve who saved him were Martial Saints. Anyone who could lead such a group had to be an extraordinary figure. Getting to know someone like that would be a huge honor.
Hearing this, Fiona Li’s expression turned a bit strange. She knew Lance Xuanyuan and Ian Song were rivals. Since Ian hadn’t shown his face, he clearly didn’t want to meet Lance. So she replied, "That’s probably not necessary."
"How could I not thank someone who saved my life? Please, Deputy Fiona Li, let me!"
With that, Lance Xuanyuan bowed deeply.
"Well... I’ll go ask the commander and see if he’s willing to meet you!"
With a quick movement, Fiona Li went to Ian Song’s side and said, "Commander, Lance Xuanyuan wants to meet you and thank you in person. Should I let him?"
Ian Song thought for a moment, then said, "Bring him over."
Soon, Fiona Li brought Lance Xuanyuan over and pointed at Ian Song, introducing, "Young Master Xuanyuan, this is our commander."
"Lance Xuanyuan greets the commander! Thank you for saving us!"
Lance Xuanyuan bent low in a respectful bow.
"No need for formalities. Get up," Ian Song said coolly.
Hearing Ian's voice, Lance Xuanyuan froze, instinctively raising his head. The light was dim, but he could still make out Ian's face. Instantly, his expression changed, and he shouted in shock:
"Leon Huang—why is it you?!"
"Why can't it be me?" Ian replied with a faint smile.
"You bastard! You dared to mess with me—I'll kill you!"
The memory of bowing to Leon Huang made Lance's anger boil over. He stomped forward and threw a punch straight at Ian.
A shadow flickered.
A fist was raised and hurled!
Bang!
Lance Xuanyuan's body flew backward, crashing to the ground dozens of meters away. Before he could recover, Jason Song reached out and grabbed him, hauling him through the air to land right in front of him.
Towering over Lance, Jason glared down and barked, "You little punk—how dare you disrespect the commander! Believe it or not, I'll kill you right now!"
"Senior, I didn't mean it! I just wanted to teach Leon Huang a lesson for messing with me!" Lance protested.
Smack!
Jason grabbed Lance by the collar and slapped him across the face again, scolding, "Still trying to argue? You think I'm blind? Ungrateful brat—the commander saved your life, and you dare attack him!"
He followed up with another slap to Lance's face.
"Wait—Leon Huang... he's your commander?"
Smack!
"You think you can call the commander's name so casually?" Jason barked, delivering yet another slap.
"Enough, Old Song. Let him go!" Ian's voice rang out.
"Yes, Commander!"
Jason released Lance immediately.
Ian glanced at Jason and Fiona Li. "Old Song, Brother Li, you two step aside for now. I have something to say to him."
"Yes, sir!"
"Understood, Commander!"
Once the two stepped aside, Ian looked at Lance and said, "Honestly, there's nothing between me and Lynette Ji. The only reason I accepted your challenge was to temper myself on the battlefield."
Lance couldn't help but sneer at Ian's words. He slowly stood, wiped the blood from his mouth, and glared at Ian with venomous eyes. "You think you've won? Don't act like some big-shot victor in front of me!"
Seeing Lance's attitude, Ian immediately lost interest in talking further. His face turned cold. "Suit yourself. I'm leaving."
At this, Lance couldn't hold back and shouted, "Stop right there! Using Martial Saints to oppress me proves nothing. If you've got guts, beat me yourself!"
Ian frowned, even more disappointed in Lance. "Fine. I'll show you just how weak you really are."
He'd tolerated Lance again and again, but Lance just kept pushing his luck—a spoiled, chuunibyou brat through and through.
He'd only put up with Lance out of respect for Dean Xuanyuan, but he wasn't Lance's father and couldn't let him get away with it forever. Time for a reality check.
"Die, you bastard!"
In the next instant, Lance whipped out his sword and shot toward Ian like a bolt of lightning.
Whoosh!
Art of Great Teleportation.
Ian vanished from sight and reappeared hundreds of meters away, leaving Lance's attack swinging at nothing.
Lance was stunned—he hadn't expected Ian to be so fast. Twisting his body, he charged in for another attack.
Whoosh!
Ian vanished again, and of course, Lance's attack missed once more.
In the blink of an eye, Lance launched dozens of attacks, but every single one hit nothing but air.
"Damn it! If you've got guts, stop dodging and fight me for real!" Lance shouted, frustrated that he couldn't even touch Ian's sleeve.
"The only reason I've been dodging is because you're too weak—I'm not even interested in attacking," Ian replied calmly.
"I'm too weak? Ha! You're just an early-stage Grandmaster—how dare you laugh at me!" Lance was so furious he almost laughed.
"Then can you even land a hit on me?" Ian said, his tone flat.
Lance's laughter stalled for a moment.
"Alright, you've attacked me enough times. Now I'll attack you once. If you can block my move, I'll admit defeat."
As soon as he finished speaking, Ian appeared right in front of Lance—Spatial Stasis activated.
By the time Lance snapped back to reality, he felt a cold, purple sword pressed against his neck. The blade glinted with a chilling light—one twitch, and it would slice his throat.
"Convinced now?" Ian looked at him with a playful smile.