After ambushing several Strongarm Bull Devil patrol squads in succession, Ian Song obtained even more complete intelligence.
After Sam took over as the ten-thousand-man commander, he had no plans to send out troops in the near future. Since he was new to the post, it would take some time for him to fully control the ten-thousand-strong camp.
Still, Sam had some ability. In just ten days, he had already subdued two thousand-man commanders and placed his own trusted followers into five vacant thousand-man posts. That gave him control over seven thousand-man commanders, and it wouldn’t be long before he commanded the entire camp.
Soon, Ian Song was lurking near the camp.
Sam was extremely cautious—maybe because of the impact of Brock’s assassination, his tent wasn’t placed at the center of the camp. In fact, the tent he lived in was identical to those of ordinary soldiers, clearly meant to guard against assassins.
But what he never imagined was that, in the eyes of Ian Song with Clairvoyant Vision, his whereabouts were still completely exposed.
Sam even had those two late-stage Great Grandmaster bodyguards stationed inside his own tent, giving Ian Song the perfect chance to catch them all in one net.
Time slowly passed.
Curled up outside the camp, Ian Song quietly waited.
One hour passed.
Two hours passed.
Finally, Sam fell asleep.
The two bodyguards stood to the left and right of the bed, entering their cultivation state.
"Here’s my chance!"
Ian Song called out inwardly and instantly activated the Art of Great Teleportation, appearing inside the tent.
"Spatial Stasis!"
Buzz!
A small bubble of frozen space instantly appeared, enveloping Sam and both bodyguards.
"Kill!"
Purple Thunder flashed, and three heads flew.
He stored their heads in his Storage Ring, leaving the bodies where they were, then with a single flicker, Ian Song returned to the far bank of the Blood River.
"Ha! Three Great Grandmaster-level Devils—another thirty thousand merit points in the bag!"
Ian Song couldn’t help but break into a wide grin.
The next day, the headless corpses of Sam and his two guards were discovered.
The thousand-man commanders looked at each other in shock; a wave of panic welled up inside them. If three Great Grandmaster-level experts could be assassinated just like that, what if the assassin came for them—could they possibly escape?
News of Sam and his two bodyguards being assassinated quickly reached the ears of the Ninth Prince, Prince Darius Ironhorn.
When he heard the news, Prince Darius Ironhorn was truly enraged.
He immediately sent another personal guard to take over as the new ten-thousand-man commander, and to prevent another assassination, he dispatched ten Great Grandmaster-level experts to protect him.
Once they set out—
Prince Darius Ironhorn summoned his trusted fixer, Morris Shade.
Morris Shade wasn’t a Strongarm Bull Devil, but a Shadow Devil.
"Morris, who do you think carried out these two assassinations?" Prince Darius Ironhorn asked.
Morris Shade shook his head. "That’s hard to say."
"If I send you to secretly investigate and find the killer, do you have confidence?" the Ninth Prince pressed.
"I’ll do my best!"
Morris Shade replied solemnly. The Shadow Devils were born assassins, skilled at concealment and killing.
On top of that, Morris Shade’s cultivation had reached the initial Martial Saint stage. If his target wasn’t prepared, even late-stage Martial Saints might not be able to avoid his assassination.
In a flash, three more days passed.
Liam Liang and the others, who had been training in the city all this time, couldn’t sit still any longer. They finally came to Ian Song: "Captain, when are we heading back to the battlefield?"
During this period, aside from training, everyone had also been drinking in taverns and sleeping with women in brothels—the silver flowed like water.
Now, almost everyone was strapped for cash, so naturally they wanted to get rich on the battlefield.
"No rush—let’s wait a bit longer," Ian Song shook his head.
"But the brothers all want to get back on the battlefield!" Liam Liang said awkwardly.
"It’s pointless even if we do—those Devils aren’t coming over at all!" Ian Song replied, a little annoyed.
"Why not?" Liam Liang asked, puzzled.
"Because both of their last ten-thousand-man commanders were assassinated!" Ian Song said.
"What?!"
Liam Liang was truly stunned. Someone had actually assassinated the Bull Devils’ ten-thousand-man commanders? Could the assassin be a Martial Saint? Wait—how did Captain know?
"Alright, you can share the news with everyone, but tell them not to spread it around!"
After sending Liam Liang away, Ian Song went back to pondering sword-dao.
When night fell again, Ian Song figured the Bull Devils’ new ten-thousand-man commander had already arrived.
So he directly used the Art of Great Teleportation to reach the outskirts of the camp.
He activated Clairvoyant Vision.
After investigating the camp’s situation, Ian Song was shocked.
"Damn, there are eleven Great Grandmasters, and there’s even a Martial Saint hiding in the dark. They’re really taking me seriously now!"
For a moment, Ian Song hesitated, unsure whether to go ahead with the assassination.
Thinking it over, he decided to observe a little longer.
After Ian Song’s careful observation, he realized it was a complete trap.
The so-called ten-thousand-man commander’s tent in the center wasn’t occupied by the real commander at all, but by an expert posing as him. The actual new commander had disguised himself as a guard and was mingling with the other elite bodyguards.
Spatial Stasis may be a heaven-defying ability, but its range is limited, and it only lasts three seconds. Worse yet, it can only be used once per day.
The new ten-thousand-man commander, though among the guards, kept a certain distance from the others.
Spatial Stasis could cover him, but not the other guards.
If Ian Song made a move, he’d expose the secret of Spatial Stasis.
Spatial Stasis was his trump card; he didn’t want to give it away yet. So pulling off an assassination without revealing it was really tough.
"What should I do?"
Ian Song racked his brain for a solution.
"Maybe I should try a diversion?"
At this, Ian Song’s eyes lit up.
With a single Art of Great Teleportation, he arrived at a corner of the camp, summoned his Sword Puppet, and handed it the seventh-grade spirit sword gifted by Duanmu Chong.
"Go!"
Ian Song patted the Sword Puppet’s shoulder, and it vanished in a blur, heading straight for the ten-thousand-man commander’s central tent.
Since the Sword Puppet wasn’t alive, it gave off no aura.
So it wasn’t until the Sword Puppet neared the commander’s tent that the nearby guards noticed it.
"An assassin—catch him!"
Two guards rushed over and attacked the Sword Puppet.
Boom!
The Sword Puppet swung its longsword, sending out two massive sword-qi blasts that knocked the charging guards flying.
The other guards charged in at that moment.
Run!
The Sword Puppet turned and bolted, as if it knew it had fallen into a trap.
The guards weren’t about to let this chance slip by—they chased after it with everything they had.
But the new ten-thousand-man commander stayed put.
Soon, the Sword Puppet escaped the camp, and the ten guards in hot pursuit lost track of it.
"Too bad," Ian Song sighed.
Ian Song’s silhouette appeared on the far bank of the Blood River. The diversion had fooled the ten guards, but the Martial Saint didn’t take the bait.
Since the Martial Saint didn’t fall for it, Ian Song didn’t dare risk an assassination and could only leave in disappointment.