The young man in the lead was Warren Ao, a rising star among the younger generation of the Sea Emperor Sect. His cultivation had already reached mid‑Grandmaster realm, and his personality was notoriously arrogant and domineering.
This was during the Sea Emperor Sect’s joint operation with the Divine Moon Sect and Sky‑Net Gate targeting the Pristine Way Sect.
Warren Ao acted as the executioner, personally beheading three Grandmaster‑rank disciples of the Pristine Way Sect.
Among those the Pristine Way disciples most wanted to kill, he ranked in the top three.
So when Ethan Sun and Drake Long saw him, both immediately looked as if they were grinding their teeth in hatred—especially after hearing his mocking words, which made them want nothing more than to rush over and cut him down on the spot.
Ian Song heard the insult and his face turned cold. "Where did this mad dog come from? Why does it bite everyone it sees?"
Warren Ao, who had been looking smug, instantly darkened, his eyes turning sinister as he stared at Ian. "Who are you, kid?"
Ian ignored Warren Ao completely and turned to Ethan Sun and Drake Long, speaking seriously: "Humans don’t talk to dogs. Senior Brother Sun, Senior Brother Long, let’s hurry up and go—otherwise, if the mad dog goes crazy, it’ll start biting people!"
"Haha, exactly, exactly! Brother Huang is right, we should hurry and go before the mad dog bites us!" Ethan Sun glanced at Warren Ao, laughing loudly. Seeing Warren’s dark expression, he felt especially satisfied inside.
"Yes, yes, let’s go quickly. I’ve been afraid of mad dogs since I was a kid!" Drake Long echoed right away.
Watching Ian and the other two play off each other, Warren Ao’s face grew even uglier, tinged with green. He glared at Ian and roared, "Kid, who are you calling a mad dog? You’re not leaving until you make it clear!"
Ian stared at Warren Ao for a long moment before speaking again: "Sigh, what a world—now even mad dogs wear clothes and pretend to be human. Really fits that saying, 'a dog in human form.'"
At these words, Warren Ao nearly spat blood from rage, his eyes practically shooting flames. "Kid, I’m going to kill you!"
"Brother Ao, don’t!"
The two young men standing beside Warren Ao quickly grabbed him before he could lunge. This was Kirin City, not Sea Emperor City—if they started a fight here, it would be hard to clean up the mess.
They left the teahouse.
Ethan Sun grinned at Ian, full of admiration. "Brother Huang, your words are just too sharp. Look at how mad you made Warren Ao!"
Drake Long added, "Seriously, Brother Huang, your mouth is sharper than a sword! I used to think the stories about people being cursed to death were fake, but after seeing your skills, I believe it now!"
Faced with their praise, Ian just smiled indifferently. With all his internet trash‑talk experience, there really weren’t many people in this world who could out‑mouth him.
After having lunch with Ethan Sun and Drake Long, Ian and Harriet Gu finally returned to the Cloud‑Guest Inn.
Meeting Ethan Sun and Drake Long today made Ian seriously consider returning to the Pristine Way Sect.
Right now, Pristine Way was in dire straits under pressure from the Sea Emperor Sect, Divine Moon Sect, and Sky‑Net Gate. His mission was to become the sect master of Pristine Way, so the sect couldn’t be destroyed—if it was, he’d never complete his second system quest.
He had to go back and resolve the crisis facing Pristine Way.
As for resolving the crisis, he was actually pretty confident. After all, he had several Ninth‑Grade Spirit Artifacts in his possession. If he equipped a few Supreme Elders with these, Pristine Way’s combat strength would skyrocket. Up until now, the entire sect only had one Ninth‑Grade Spirit Artifact.
As the saying goes, sometimes fate works in mysterious ways.
That evening, when Ian and Harriet Gu went downstairs to the inn’s main hall for dinner, they unexpectedly spotted Warren Ao and his group at another table.
Warren Ao noticed them, too.
Bang!
Warren Ao slammed his cup down hard, fixing Ian with a venomous glare as if he wanted to tear him apart.
Warren’s companions followed his gaze and immediately spotted Ian and Harriet Gu as well.
"If I don’t vent this anger, I won’t be able to eat or sleep. You guys think of a way—let’s properly deal with those two dogs!" Warren Ao withdrew his gaze and spoke to the four people at his table.
The Sea Emperor Sect ruled over four provinces and was a dominant force in its region, but here in the Holy City, they didn’t dare act out—there were too many powers that could crush them. Even Warren Ao, arrogant as he was, knew better than to cross the line.
"That won’t be easy," one person said, troubled.
Another nodded. "Yeah, if this were anywhere else, we could just beat them up directly. But here, if we start a fight, it’s not worth the trouble!"
"Idiots, I know all that! But I have to vent my anger!" Warren Ao snapped.
The other four fell silent.
After a while, one suddenly spoke up. "Brother Ao, I think I’ve got an idea."
"Spit it out," Warren Ao said eagerly.
"This isn’t the place to talk. Let’s go back to our room!" The man glanced warily at Ian.
"Fine!"