That night, Ian Song's figure flashed and appeared near the Strongarm Bull Devils' army camp.
He activated his Clairvoyant Vision, searching for the whereabouts of the black-robed Bull Devils.
Soon, he found the group of black-robed Bull Devils. They all lived in a single tent, and at this moment were seated cross-legged on the ground. The blood-red Skull Crystal Sphere floated before them, silhouettes flickering inside, issuing waves of silent, agonized roars.
Among those howling silhouettes were both Bull Devils and Humans, their faces twisted with fear, pain, hatred, and unwillingness.
If Ian Song guessed correctly, these black-robed Bull Devils were using the Skull Crystal Sphere to erase the consciousness of those souls.
"Could this be the real purpose behind the Bull Devils starting this war?"
Staring at those eerie Skull Crystal Spheres, Ian Song fell deep into thought.
An hour passed.
Two hours passed.
Finally, after the third hour, the floating crystal spheres slowly descended. Each black-robed Bull Devil wore an utterly exhausted expression. Clearly, erasing the will of those souls with the Skull Crystal Sphere was no simple task.
These black-robed Bull Devils weren't very strong, only at Grandmaster level, and beneath their robes, their faces looked extremely pale.
With a thought, Ian Song released Huang Yan.
Huang Yan's figure flashed, appearing behind one of the black-robed Bull Devils inside the tent. First, he chopped the Bull Devil's neck with a hand strike, then grabbed the Bull Devil and vanished from the tent—along with a Skull Crystal Sphere.
Seeing their companion abducted, the other black-robed Bull Devils were shocked.
"Whoosh!"
Huang Yan appeared beside Ian Song. Then, the two simultaneously used the Art of Great Teleportation and reappeared in the small courtyard inside Blood River City.
Puppet Mastery Divine Art!
Ian Song shot a Puppet Mastery Divine Art into the unconscious black-robed Bull Devil. His spiritual strength was already extremely weak after erasing the souls’ will in the crystal sphere, and on top of that, he was unconscious, so the Puppet Mastery Divine Art took hold instantly.
Soon, the black-robed Bull Devil slowly woke up. The moment he saw Ian Song, he knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Subordinate Morgan Duo greets Master."
"Why are you collecting souls?" Ian Song asked.
Morgan Duo answered truthfully, "Master, this is an order from Emperor Magnus Ironhorn. He commanded us to collect two million souls!"
"So it really is Emperor Magnus Ironhorn!"
Ian Song muttered to himself, "Why does he want to collect souls?"
Morgan Duo replied, "Master, my guess is that he wants to perform a heaven-and-earth sacrifice to raise his cultivation to the Devil God realm!"
A Devil God is equivalent to a Human Martial God.
At the same time, Ian Song understood the real reason Emperor Magnus Ironhorn started the war. Just for his own ambition, he would let two million people die—including Bull Devils themselves. This Emperor Magnus Ironhorn was truly ruthless.
Thinking of this, Ian Song asked again, "What are these crystal spheres, and why do you erase the will of those souls?"
Morgan Duo replied, "Master, these crystal spheres are a special type of spiritual artifact. They attract souls and can also erase the will of any soul drawn inside. The main reason for erasing the will is because the sacrifice requires the purest soul essence, without any stray thoughts."
After learning all this, Ian Song made up his mind: he would stop the Strongarm Bull Devils from becoming a Devil God through sacrifice.
With that thought, he took the black-robed Bull Devil straight to the Commander’s Headquarters.
Half a quarter hour later, after listening to Ian Song's account, Raymond Lei's expression grew extremely grave.
The Devil Race was already far stronger than the Human Race. If the Strongarm Bull Devils produced a Devil God, it would be a disaster for humanity.
So Raymond Lei made a snap decision: no matter what, those hundred-plus black-robed Bull Devils had to be killed, to stop them from collecting more souls.
Half an hour later.
Jason Song, Hannah Han, Shawn Tu, and Tyson Xiong appeared in Ian Song’s courtyard.
After cultivating with supreme-grade spirit crystals for several days, all of them had made noticeable progress.
"Commander, what’s the mission this time?" Jason Song asked excitedly.
"Assassination!" Ian Song said in a deep voice, then explained the situation to the four. After hearing him out, all four showed unwavering resolve—they would kill those hundred-plus black-robed Bull Devils, even at the cost of their own lives.
Soon, Ian Song led the four out to the Strongarm Bull Devil army camp.
He activated his Clairvoyance Divine Art and found that the black-robed Bull Devils were still inside the same tent. However, there were now six Bull Devil Martial Saints guarding the area.
"This is going to be tough!"
Ian Song frowned. Martial Saints were unbelievably fast. With six Bull Devil Martial Saints on alert, if they showed themselves, those six would burst into the tent instantly.
Four against six Martial Saints—there was no chance of winning, especially inside the enemy’s army camp.
"Commander, when do we move?" Jason Song asked.
"No rush. Wait for the right moment," Ian Song replied in a deep voice.
But by dawn, Ian Song still hadn’t found an opening. He could only lead the four Martial Saints back to Blood River City.
Commander’s Headquarters.
Raymond Lei looked at Ian Song expectantly. "Did it work?"
Ian Song shook his head. "No chance to strike."
"Then what do we do?" Raymond Lei asked anxiously.
Ian Song said, "I've observed them. After every major battle, those black-robed men go out to the battlefield to collect souls. We can strike at that time. But since I abducted one last night, they’re already on guard. So today, it’ll be very difficult to act. And if we do, we must succeed in one blow—otherwise, there may never be another chance!"
Raymond Lei thought for a moment. "Alright, I’ll assign all the Martial Saints in Blood River City to you!"
…………
Today’s siege began again. After a day and night of rushing production, over three thousand catapults had been added to the city walls, and the number of iron cauldrons increased to five thousand.
With the two deadly weapons—catapults and boiling sewage—fifteen thousand Strongarm Bull Devils died.
When the day’s siege ended, the black-robed Bull Devils appeared on the battlefield again, collecting souls with Skull Crystal Spheres.
This time, they were surrounded by twenty Bull Devil Martial Saints. Even if Ian Song wanted to assassinate the black-robed Bull Devils, there was no chance.
By rough count, the black-robed Bull Devils had already collected over a million souls. At most ten days, and they’d have two million.
In a flash, five days passed.
Under the Strongarm Bull Devils’ assault, Blood River City was already on the verge of collapse.
If the city fell, the soldiers inside Blood River City would stand no chance against the brutal Bull Devils.
And Ian Song still hadn’t found a chance to ambush those black-robed Bull Devils.
For a while, he grew restless, pondering how to assassinate the black-robed Bull Devils and minimize the losses.