When General Quinn Ba led his troops into the Zhao Kingdom, Ian Song received the news immediately.
Three days later, Quinn Ba joined forces with Meng Feng, bringing their numbers up to eighty thousand—matching Qi’s troop strength.
Quinn Ba really was outrageously bold. The next day, he sent a written challenge directly to General Victor Zhao’s camp, loudly demanding a decisive battle.
Victor Zhao was just as proud and aloof—how could he possibly fear Quinn Ba? Besides, he’d been close friends with Gu Min and was still brooding over not being able to avenge him while Quinn Ba was in the Yan Kingdom. Now that Quinn Ba had come to Zhao, Victor certainly wasn’t going to miss this chance.
So, the very next day, the two armies clashed on an open plain.
The chaotic battle lasted for five hours, almost from dawn to dusk. In the end, the Qin army scraped out a bloody victory.
News of Victor Zhao’s defeat quickly reached Ian Song’s ears.
His brows furrowed. Victor Zhao had gunpowder weapons years ahead of this world, plus the Wolf Cavalry backing him—yet he still lost.
Ian was honestly shocked.
“Does the son of the plane really have luck on his side?”
Thinking this, Ian decided he couldn’t wait any longer—he had to go to the battlefield himself and kill Quinn Ba. Otherwise, if Quinn kept building up his momentum, he’d be much harder to deal with later.
Ian didn’t tell anyone about his trip to the front. Instead, he slipped out of Lingshui City at night and sped toward the Zhao battlefield with his full movement technique.
By now, he was already an Innate Eighth Layer master.
His true essence was far denser than a typical Innate Ninth Layer warrior, and in terms of quantity, he also had much more. He was confident that a normal peak-Innate would not last three moves against him.
He hadn’t chosen to ride a horse because he found it too slow. At full speed, he could easily cover a thousand miles in a day.
So, in less than a day, he arrived at the Zhao battlefield.
Qi had lost to Qin in yesterday’s battle, suffering over thirty thousand casualties. Victor Zhao, with the remaining troops, retreated into the city to look for a new opportunity.
Of course, Qin’s losses were heavy too, with about twenty thousand dead or wounded.
In the main command tent, Victor Zhao was gathering his officers to discuss strategy.
Suddenly, a shadow flickered—and Ian Song appeared.
Everyone was startled at first, then immediately dropped to their knees, bowing to Ian Song.
"Get up, all of you. Except for General Zhao, everyone else may leave!"
"Yes, sir!"
The others withdrew, but Victor Zhao, still kneeling, refused to get up. "Master, I have failed you. I've brought shame upon you!"
"Victory and defeat are the norm in war. Besides, Quinn Ba is the son of the plane in this world, blessed by fate. Losing to him is nothing to be ashamed of!" Ian said gravely.
Ian then asked for details about the battle with Quinn Ba, and after getting the information, sat cross-legged in the command tent to adjust his condition.
Ian was about to go assassinate Quinn Ba. According to Victor Zhao, Quinn's cultivation was only at Innate Second Layer, but Ian still didn't dare be careless. Who knew what surprises might pop up? He wanted to be at his absolute peak.
The night was utterly silent. Ian turned into a dark blur, shooting off the city wall and heading straight for the Qin army camp.
When he was about a kilometer away from the camp, he stopped and activated Clairvoyant Vision.
It didn't take long before he located Quinn Ba's command tent.
But what surprised Ian was that the guy was actually making out with someone dressed in a regular Qin soldier's armor.
Ian froze. Wait, was this guy... gay?
But soon he realized something was off—the soldier wasn't a man, but a woman.
Talk about guts—bringing a woman along on campaign, and not just any woman: she was a martial artist, her cultivation way above Quinn Ba's.
Just to be safe, Ian scanned the whole area with Clairvoyant Vision. He found no lurking experts, so he sped toward the Qin camp.
He moved so fast that ordinary soldiers couldn't see him at all, especially with the cover of night. Ian reached the outside of Quinn Ba's tent without a hitch.
Since Quinn Ba wanted privacy with the female warrior, he'd dismissed his personal guards—which made things even easier for Ian.
"Whoosh!"
His figure flashed into Quinn Ba's tent. With a flick of his wrist, dozens of copper coins shot out like lightning, targeting the vital points of both Quinn and the woman.
Both were skilled, but compared to Ian, they were way outclassed.
They only noticed the hidden weapon when it was almost upon them, but it was too late—even if they wanted to dodge, there was no time.
He saw the terror on Quinn Ba's face, his pupils shrinking rapidly.
"Vmmm!"
The air trembled lightly. Just as the copper coins were about to pierce through their bodies, a faint radiance burst out from inside Quinn Ba, enveloping both of them.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
With a series of metallic crashes, all the copper coins were knocked to the ground.
"Son of a—! He really is the son of the plane!"
Ian cursed under his breath. In a blur, he appeared right in front of them, channeling all his true essence and slamming his palms against the radiance.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
After taking dozens of Ian's palm strikes, the radiance grew dimmer and dimmer. Quinn Ba, caught inside it, wasn't unharmed either—blood streamed from his seven orifices under the force of Ian's blows.
Ian could see the radiance around Quinn Ba was about to break.
Suddenly, an old figure appeared outside the tent.
"Villain, stop hurting my disciple!"
Ian turned and saw a white-haired old man. With a sweep of Clairvoyant Vision, he realized this guy had pushed his central dantian cultivation to the absolute limit—a true powerhouse.
"Damn it! I checked the whole area for experts—where did this old guy come from?"
Ian was speechless. With a thought, he summoned the bronze flying sword he'd refined into his body; it shot out from his brow.
Whoosh!
Driven by his Innate Eighth Layer true essence, the sword's speed reached its peak.
A flash of light swept by.
"Pfft!"
With a soft sound, the old man's brow was pierced clean through by the flying sword. But just then, Ian sensed a rush of wind behind him—the disheveled female warrior was lunging at him, dagger stabbing viciously toward his back as she shouted, "Ba Xian, run!"
Her cultivation was, at best, Earth Realm Fifth Layer, so Ian didn't take her seriously. He swatted her aside with a casual palm—only to realize Quinn Ba had torn open the tent and bolted.
Ian flashed outside the tent in pursuit, only to find himself surrounded by a mass of soldiers.
"Loose arrows!"
Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish!
Arrows rained down from all directions, shooting toward Ian.
Dealing with the arrows wouldn't be hard, but Ian didn't want to waste time—Quinn Ba was already fleeing in one direction.
Whoosh!
With a flicker of movement, Ian vanished.
In just a few flashes, Ian caught up to Quinn Ba, sneering, "Son of the plane, let's see how many people try to save you tonight!"
As soon as he finished speaking, six experts shot over, forming a line that blocked Ian's path.
"Move, or die!"
Ian said coldly.
"Why do you want to kill Ba Xian?"
One of the experts asked.
"Because he deserves to die."