Of course.
Aside from regret, the other God-Demons were also shocked by Ian Song's strength. He was clearly only at early-stage Mid-Rank God, yet could easily defeat a late-stage Mid-Rank God. Many felt that Ian hadn't even used his full power—he was still holding back.
As for Aubrey North, after seeing Ian Song steal the spotlight, his hatred only deepened. But he also grew more wary of Ian, especially after their recent exchange.
Though he didn't want to admit it, Aubrey understood that Ian Song's strength had already far surpassed his own.
The next morning, at dawn.
The convoy continued forward. Over the next few days, the escort team remained relatively peaceful and didn't encounter many fierce beasts.
Meanwhile, after Ian Song displayed his extraordinary strength that night, most of the God-Demons proactively came to befriend him.
Even Talon began to look at him with newfound respect.
This made Aubrey North jealous, while Gavin Summers could only grit his teeth in secret.
For now, though, he couldn't do anything to Ian Song. Although the Summers Family had a Lower Heavenly God ancestor, they couldn't kill a God-Demon Corps member without a proper reason.
After all, compared to the God-Demon Corps, whose influence spans the entire God Realm, the Summers Family seems rather insignificant.
Meanwhile, Jade Shaw basically clung to Ian Song every night, asking him to tell her a story.
As for this...
Ian Song was always patient. Jade Shaw, although a 'second-generation god,' didn't have any of that spoiled arrogance. She was actually quite pleasant to be around.
On this day—
The group arrived at the edge of a desert. Next, they would have to cross it.
With a serious look, Talon warned, "Let me remind everyone: there's a fierce beast in the desert called the Devour-God Ants. They appear in huge numbers—thousands at a time. So whatever you do, don't get tangled up with them. If you encounter them, run as fast and as far as you can!"
"Yes, sir!"
Everyone responded in unison, their expressions growing more serious.
"Move out!"
With a wave of Talon's hand, the team entered the desert.
According to Talon, this desert wasn't very large—crossing it would be just over eight hundred kilometers. If all went smoothly, they'd be out in a little over an hour.
Along the way, Talon explained just how terrifying the Devour-God Ants really were.
These small fierce beasts live in legions—a 'small' legion of Devour-God Ants can easily number over ten thousand. They can spray a special anesthetic toxin; even Upper-Rank Gods hit by it will be paralyzed, and then the ants will swarm over you and gnaw you to the bone.
But individually, a Devour-God Ant isn't that strong—just early-stage Lower-Rank God level.
Soon, an hour had passed.
To everyone's relief, they hadn't encountered those terrifying Devour-God Ants.
"Wow, there's a God-grade Medicine over there!"
Suddenly, a One-Star God-Demon shouted with excitement and broke away from the group, running toward the left front. There, a one-meter-tall God-grade Medicine was growing, bearing nine thumb-sized scarlet fruits.
"That's a Scarlet Crystal Fruit—each one is worth a hundred god-crystals! That kid is seriously lucky!"
A Two-Star God-Demon couldn't help but say with envy.
Team rules stated that during group missions, if someone killed a fierce beast or collected a God-grade Medicine on their own, they could keep half the value; the other half would be split among the team.
Nine Scarlet Crystal Fruits were worth nine hundred god-crystals. If he picked them, that One-Star God-Demon would get four hundred and fifty god-crystals.
"Brother Chen, get back! It's dangerous!"
Suddenly, Ian Song's expression changed. He shouted to the One-Star God-Demon.
Hearing Ian's shout, Talon also sent out his divine sense to investigate. He discovered that beneath the Scarlet Crystal Fruit, there were Devour-God Ants. His face changed too, and he yelled, "Get back!"
But the One-Star God-Demon was already close to the Scarlet Crystal Fruit and couldn't bear to give up. He reached out quickly to grab the fruit.
Just then, disaster struck.
"Sss sss sss!"
Several streams of black liquid shot up from beneath the sand, splattering all over the One-Star God-Demon. Instantly, his body collapsed to the ground. Then, hundreds of fist-sized ants covered in black crystal armor darted out and swarmed over him.
“Ahhh! Help! Somebody help!”
In that instant, the One-Star God-Demon let out a heartbreaking scream.
“It’s the Devour-God Ants! Run! Get out of here!”
Talon shouted loudly.
No one dared to hesitate; everyone rushed forward at top speed. As for that One-Star God-Demon, his body was already crawling with Devour-God Ants—no one could possibly save him now.
Still, he kept crying for help, but after just a few seconds, his voice faded away.
“Sha sha sha sha!”
A chilling sound echoed—the sand up ahead suddenly erupted with a massive swarm of Devour-God Ants!
“Run this way!”
Talon immediately led everyone to change direction.
A moment later—
The team finally escaped the pursuit of the Devour-God Ants. If they hadn't noticed the danger early enough, the whole squad would probably have been wiped out in the desert.
After leaving the desert—
Talon pulled Ian Song aside and asked quietly, “How did you spot those Devour-God Ants?”
Because the laws of the God Realm are just too restrictive—
Only Upper-Rank Gods can barely release divine sense, and even then, only for a short distance.
But Ian Song’s soul has undergone ten metamorphoses, so his divine sense can extend out, though only to about five hundred meters.
Of course, he didn’t tell the whole truth. He just said, “Sir, I’ve always had a sharp sixth sense. When Brother Chen got close to the Scarlet Crystal Fruit, I heard something moving under the sand.”
Talon didn’t press further, whether Ian was telling the truth or not. He just smiled and said, “Good thing you warned us in time. Otherwise, if the Devour-God Ants had finished surrounding us, at least half our people would’ve died. When we get back, I’ll submit merit for you!”
“Thank you, sir!”
Ian Song answered with a bright smile.
After this incident, everyone felt a little more grateful toward Ian Song—even Aubrey North dropped his old resentment and came over to thank Ian himself.
Gavin Summers, however, was still full of hatred toward Ian Song.
Finally, after more than a month of long-distance travel, the team arrived at Yunshui Prefecture.
Compared to Yushan Prefecture, Yunshui’s city was much more prosperous. Once Gavin Summers was delivered to his home turf, the team completed their mission. After checking in at the local God-Demon Corps branch, every God-Demon received their promised reward.
Afterwards, Talon gathered everyone together and said, “We’ll be staying in Yunshui Prefecture for three days. During that time, I’ll look for a return escort mission back to Yushan Prefecture. Make the most of these three days to explore Yunshui, and be sure to regroup here on time!”
“Yes, sir!”
Everyone answered in unison.
“Ian Song, this is my first time in Yunshui Prefecture. How about we go sightseeing together?”
Jade Shaw suggested.
After more than a month of traveling together, the two of them had grown much closer.
“Sure!”
Ian Song naturally wouldn’t refuse. He nodded in agreement—he also wanted to buy some God-grade Medicines in Yunshui to refine new pills.