Martial Soul Hall, inside the dimensional space.
Ian Song held one person in each hand, repeatedly using the Art of Great Teleportation. After each use, he would activate his Clairvoyant Vision to scout the area.
Thanks to this, in just three days, he had scoured the entire area within several li around them.
Naturally, the harvest was immense. Including the seven common Martial Souls previously stored in the Divine Temple, he had now collected another twenty-five ordinary Martial Souls.
The only thing that left Ian a bit frustrated was that he still hadn't found any High-Grade Martial Souls, let alone a King-Rank Martial Soul.
"Let's rest for a few hours before we continue!"
With a flicker, Ian brought Harriet Gu and Princess Nissa to a flat grassy lawn.
For the past three days, the three of them had barely rested. Not only were Harriet and Princess Nissa exhausted—even Ian himself was starting to feel worn out.
After eating some water and food, Ian released the Golden Howler and the Sword Puppet to stand guard, and the three of them lay straight down on the soft grass.
Two hours later, Ian woke up, all traces of fatigue gone.
However, Harriet Gu and Nissa were both still asleep.
Harriet's sleeping posture was elegant, a sweet smile playing at her lips as if she were dreaming of something wonderful. Ever since she'd started dating Ian, her frosty demeanor had gradually melted, making her more and more like a normal girl.
Nissa, on the other hand, was a mess—her head lolling to one side, legs sprawled out, a thin line of drool trailing from her mouth, and she was muttering something under her breath. Ian listened in, and his face darkened.
Turns out, Nissa was mumbling about how she’d get back at him and torture him someday.
"Hehe!"
A string of gleeful giggles escaped Nissa’s lips. Hearing her muttering, Ian could easily guess what the Moon-God princess was dreaming about.
He had no idea when the girls would wake up, but Ian didn’t want to waste time. He sat down cross-legged and began cultivating the Upper Moon Meditation Formula.
This meditation formula really lived up to its reputation—the efficiency of the Upper Moon grade was off the charts. In just three or four sessions over the past few days, Ian's mental power had already increased by more than ten points.
He couldn't help but regret not extorting the formula from Nissa earlier.
After nearly half an hour of meditation, Ian sensed something, opened his eyes, and saw Harriet was already awake, gazing at him with a dazed expression.
But Ian’s sudden movement startled her. Harriet quickly turned her head away, but her bashful, evasive look only made Ian chuckle.
"Leon, don’t laugh at me!"
Seeing Ian’s grin, Harriet blushed even harder.
"Tsk tsk, my Harriet actually knows how to act cute now. Amazing." Ian’s eyes lit up at her words.
"I am not!" Harriet protested, but her denial only made Ian laugh harder.
Suddenly, Ian’s laughter cut off and his voice turned serious: "Someone’s coming our way!"
With a thought, Ian activated his Clairvoyant Vision and spotted a blood-soaked man desperately fleeing several li away. On closer inspection, he realized it was Ethan Sun, his fellow Pristine Way Sect disciple.
No one seemed to be chasing him, but Ethan himself was gravely wounded and refused to stop running.
If this kept up, he’d probably bleed out and die before long.
"Harriet, wait here for me!"
Ian’s figure flickered and vanished, reappearing a dozen meters ahead of Ethan Sun.
Ethan, still fleeing, saw someone suddenly appear in front of him. His bloodstained face twisted with ferocity as he roared, "Bastard! If you want to steal my Martial Soul, dream on! Get lost!"
With a furious shout, Ethan swung his sword at Ian.
Ian frowned slightly, but didn’t get angry. He knew Ethan was half-delirious from blood loss and his injuries were even worse than expected.
"Senior Brother Sun, it’s me—I’m Leon Huang!"
Ian shouted loudly.
Ethan snapped back to his senses at Ian’s shout. He squinted and realized it really was his fellow Pristine Way disciple, Leon Huang. He hurriedly withdrew his sword.
But he’d used all his strength for that last attack. Pulling back, the recoil sent him staggering and spitting blood, collapsing to the ground. Just before fainting, he gasped, "Junior Brother Huang, get me out of here—I fused a King-Rank Martial Soul, someone’s after me!"
He passed out as soon as he finished speaking.
"A King-Rank Martial Soul!"
Ian was stunned—Ethan had actually fused with a King-Rank Martial Soul! No wonder he was in such a sorry state; he must’ve been hunted by countless greedy Grandmasters, and escaping alive was pure luck.
Without hesitation, Ian channeled Radiance of Life into Ethan’s body.
Radiance of Life was absurdly powerful—if Ethan had to heal on his own, it would’ve taken months. But with Ian’s help, his wounds vanished in seconds.
Ethan was still unconscious, though.
Ian didn’t mind the blood and grime. He simply picked Ethan up and carried him back to their camp.
"Isn’t that Senior Brother Sun? What happened to him?" Harriet exclaimed in shock.
"He fused a King-Rank Martial Soul and got hunted down. He’s lucky to have survived," Ian sighed.
After laying Ethan on the grass, Ian fetched some water and wiped the blood from his face.
"Are his injuries serious?" Harriet asked again.
"He’s fine now. I already treated him," Ian replied. Just then, his brows furrowed again—he sensed more than a dozen powerful auras speeding toward them.
It was almost certainly the group that had hunted Ethan down.
Ethan had another companion, Drake Long, but he was nowhere to be seen—he’d probably met a grim end.
Ian now had two options: the easy way was to use the Art of Great Teleportation and escape with Ethan.
The other was to stay and wipe out the pursuers.
He quickly shook Ethan awake: "Senior Brother Sun, what happened to Drake Long?"
At the mention of Drake, pain flashed across Ethan’s face. "Drake died protecting me—those bastards killed him!"
Ian’s gaze turned icy, a cold glint flickering in his eyes.
At that moment, the group finally appeared, rushing toward them.
There were fifteen of them.
Three were late-stage Grandmasters, five mid-stage, and the rest were early-stage.
"Kid, that guy stole our prize. If you know what’s good for you, walk away now—or don’t blame us for what happens next!"
The leader, a late-stage Grandmaster named Gavin Tang, spoke coldly.
Ethan stood up from the grass, surprised to find his wounds completely healed. He shot Ian a grateful look, then glared fiercely at Gavin Tang. "Gavin Tang, you despicable coward! I’ll kill you and avenge my brother!"
As soon as he finished, Ethan tried to charge with his sword, but Ian grabbed his shoulder. "Senior Brother Sun, don’t act impulsively. Leave this to me."
With that, the stage was set for a showdown: Ian would face Gavin Tang’s group, defending Pristine Way Sect’s honor and Ethan’s King-Rank Martial Soul.
Harriet and Nissa, watching from the side, could only hold their breath as the tension mounted.
The air was thick with danger, but Ian’s gaze was steady—he was ready to face whatever came next.