Before, Ian Song only knew the general location of Oblivion Peak, but now, with the partial memories of Marcus Mistveil, he could find his way there with ease.
In just a moment, he arrived at Oblivion Peak.
Currently, Yellow Mountain and Lydia Liu were being kept under soft confinement in a small courtyard, with guards stationed inside and outside.
Outside the courtyard stood two Martial Saint-level servants.
Inside the courtyard was Senior Brother Zhu.
At the moment, he was brewing a pot of tea, holding a book as he sat at the stone table in the yard, looking quite relaxed.
"Who are you people?"
The moment Ian Song and Tessa Heavenreach appeared, the two Martial Saint servants grew wary. Having lived on Oblivion Peak for years as servants, even the Oblivion Martial God rarely saw them, so they had no idea who Tessa Heavenreach or Ian Song, the Great Martial Emperor, were.
"Get lost!"
After being ambushed by Oblivion and Mistveil, Tessa Heavenreach had zero goodwill toward anyone from Oblivion Peak. With a casual sweep of her sleeve, she sent the two Martial Saint servants flying, knocking them out several meters away.
"Who dares cause trouble on Oblivion Peak?"
With a cold shout, Senior Brother Zhu flashed into view. But when he saw Tessa Heavenreach’s face, his expression changed dramatically. He hurriedly bowed, "Zhu Qian greets the Great-Grand-Master. I did not know you were here. Is there something urgent?"
"I don't need to report my business to you. Move aside!" Tessa Heavenreach replied icily.
Zhu Qian’s heart trembled at her words, and he quickly stepped aside, not daring to say anything more. At the same time, he secretly sized up Ian Song.
Ian Song pushed open the courtyard gate and strode inside.
However, his parents weren’t in the yard—they were in their room, cultivating behind closed doors.
Knock, knock!
Ian Song knocked on the door. "Father, Mother, it's me. Open up!"
"Baby, is that you?"
Lydia Liu’s excited voice came from inside. The door swung open, and Ian was swept into a warm embrace. "Baby, it really is you! I’ve missed you so much!"
Tessa Heavenreach, who had followed right behind, was first stunned by the scene, then couldn’t help but smile in amusement. Who would’ve thought the awe-inspiring Great Martial Emperor had...
"Ahem, dear, there are outsiders here, and our son is now an emperor. You really should change how you address him." Yellow Mountain walked out just in time to catch Tessa Heavenreach’s amused smile and gently reminded his wife.
Lydia Liu wasn’t one to make a fuss. After her husband’s reminder, she realized her son was now the emperor of a nation, and calling him 'baby' was definitely out of the question. If word got out, it would undermine his authority.
So, she let go of Ian and asked with concern, "Son, why have you come here?"
Suddenly, her gaze landed on Tessa Heavenreach not far away. She scrutinized her for a moment, then nodded in satisfaction. "Son, is this young lady also your...?"
Before Lydia Liu could finish, Ian hurriedly cut her off. "Mom, this is Tessa Heavenreach."
"What?"
Lydia Liu and Yellow Mountain exclaimed in unison.
Ian then spent some time explaining everything that had happened. Even Yellow Mountain, who always respected his elders, couldn’t stay on Oblivion’s side after learning about his dirty tricks.
"Dad, Mom, let me check your bodies!" Ian said.
"Alright!"
The couple nodded together.
Ian grabbed both his parents’ wrists and sent a gentle stream of qi-luck power into each to inspect them.
Oblivion hadn’t tampered with their bodies.
Next, Ian pushed his Clairvoyant Vision to the limit and checked their seas of consciousness. Sure enough, he saw a blood-red sigil in each soul, radiating a sinister, powerful aura. If the sigil exploded, it would instantly destroy the soul seas of Yellow Mountain and Lydia Liu.
"Senior Heavenreach, do you know how to remove the blood sigils from my parents’ souls?"
After explaining the situation, Ian frowned and asked Tessa Heavenreach.
Tessa Heavenreach said, "From your description, the sigils in your parents’ souls should be Blood Soul Sigils. These marks are extremely wicked. Once planted, they keep draining the host’s soul power and eventually fuse with the soul itself, ultimately devouring it and turning the victim into an empty shell! As for removing them, only the caster can do it. If anyone else touches the sigils, the caster will sense it immediately and can detonate them with a single thought..."
Tessa didn’t bother to elaborate on what would happen if the sigil exploded, but everyone present understood the consequences.
For a moment, Ian’s frown deepened.
"Life and death are fate, son. You don’t need to worry about your mother and me—just do what you need to do!" Yellow Mountain suddenly spoke, his tone carefree.
Lydia Liu nodded. "That’s right, son! Oblivion is rotten to the core. Even if I die, you mustn’t give in to him. Otherwise, that old guy will just keep using us to threaten you, forcing you to do things you don’t want!"
Ian was deeply moved by their words. His parents were willing to die for him.
Suddenly, Ian smiled. "Who said there’s no way? I have an idea, but it’s risky. Would you both be willing to try it?"
"Go ahead, son! Even if you fail, it’s fine!" Lydia Liu said, unconcerned.
"That’s right! Do whatever you need to!" Yellow Mountain agreed.
"Alright! Dad, Mom, please relax your minds!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Ian tapped both their foreheads with two fingers, sending a Puppet Mastery Divine Art sigil into each of them.
The Puppet Mastery sigils shot straight toward their seas of consciousness, aiming for the blood sigils.
Since the blood sigils fused with and devoured soul power, they were essentially soul-type constructs—and Puppet Mastery was designed to target soul power. As long as Ian enslaved them, Yellow Mountain and Lydia Liu would be safe.
Sensing the invasion of the Puppet Mastery sigils, both blood sigils flared with blood-red light. Yellow Mountain and Lydia Liu screamed and fainted.
Ian didn’t have time to worry about anything else. He split his consciousness in two, driving both Puppet Mastery sigils at the blood sigils.
Whoosh, whoosh!
In an instant, the Puppet Mastery sigils engulfed the blood sigils. But because the blood sigils were planted by Oblivion, they contained a trace of his Martial God soul power. Even a single thread of a Martial God’s soul was terrifyingly strong.
So even after being swallowed, the blood sigils kept fighting back.
"Hmph!"
Ian snorted coldly and sent in two more Puppet Mastery sigils.
Finally, under the pressure of the paired Puppet Mastery sigils, the blood sigils lost all strength to resist.
"Come out!"
At his mental command, the Puppet Mastery sigils flew out from Yellow Mountain and Lydia Liu’s seas of consciousness.
"Ugh!"
Both parents coughed up blood, their faces turning extremely pale.
The blood sigils had absorbed quite a bit of their soul power, so after being removed, their souls were damaged. But it didn’t matter—once Ian taught them the Meditation Formula, they’d be able to recover over time.
Far away, inside the grand array of the Holy Capital, Oblivion’s face suddenly changed. He sensed that the blood sigils he’d planted in Yellow Mountain and Lydia Liu’s souls had lost contact.