Ian Song had absolutely no intention of making a move on Maya Han, his "little wife."
So when she started acting pouty, Ian didn't bother to comfort her—he just pretended not to notice.
His "ignore her" attitude only made Maya Han even more upset.
As night fell, under the dim lights of the base, the War God Squad members were all squeezing in some rest and cultivation.
The Secret Realm was full of spiritual energy, making cultivation here twice as effective with half the effort.
"Hey, why are you ignoring me, you jerk?"
Maya Han snuck up next to Ian Song, pouting, looking all aggrieved.
Ian knew Maya Han's personality inside out—classic little-girl attitude, quick to get angry but just as quick to cool off. Back at the base in Yandu, he'd always make her storm off, but by the next day, she'd be back, all excited to find him again.
"You're the one ignoring me, aren't you?" Ian shot back.
Maya Han looked even more aggrieved. "Hmph! You disappeared for over ten days without a word. I was really worried, you know! And now you see I'm mad but you don't even try to comfort me."
"Alright, alright, it's my fault. Here, I got you a present!"
Ian pulled out a dagger from his Storage Ring and handed it to Maya Han.
This dagger was a gift from the Black Heaven Cult Master, supposedly seized when he destroyed Jade Pool Holy Land—a true god-grade weapon.
It was worthy of being called a god-grade weapon: it could slice through iron like mud, easily cut ordinary weapons, and had an ice attribute. If it struck a target, it would trigger the weapon's ice power, unleashing cold energy to freeze the victim.
"Tch, just a dagger? You think that's enough to make up for it?" Maya Han glanced at the dagger in Ian's hand, feigning disdain, though she was secretly pleased.
"Fine, don't take it then."
Ian pretended to take the dagger back, but Maya Han snatched it away first. "Hmph, who said I didn't want it?"
"Shiiing!"
As soon as she drew the dagger, a clear ringing sound echoed, and a chill spread outward, instantly dropping the temperature by several degrees.
Everyone nearby turned to look, their eyes filled with curiosity as they sized up the dagger in Maya Han's hand.
"Wow, what kind of dagger is that? It looks amazing!"
"Of course it's amazing." Ian explained all the perks of the dagger, and Maya Han's eyes sparkled more and more. Even though Ian spoke quietly, everyone was eavesdropping, and after hearing about the dagger's powers, they couldn't help but look envious.
Maya Han stroked the dagger like a treasure, then thought for a moment and said, "From now on, it'll be called Frostfall. What do you think, you rascal?"
"Sure, whatever." Ian replied perfunctorily.
"What do you mean, 'whatever'? It's a great name!" Maya Han glared at him.
"ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!"
Just then, a series of beastly roars echoed through the base, startling everyone.
A moment later, the ground began to shake violently.
"This is bad—there's a huge horde of Demonic Beasts coming!" Vaughn Jin suddenly stood up, his face serious.
With a thought, Ian activated his Clairvoyant Vision and saw that, seven or eight li away, at least five thousand Demonic Beasts were stampeding straight for the base.
"There are at least five thousand Demonic Beasts. Everyone, get ready!"
Ian gave everyone a quick heads-up, then strode out of the base.
The moment they heard "five thousand," everyone's face changed dramatically. After all, there were fewer than a hundred fighters in the base—how could they possibly handle five thousand beasts?
"How could there be so many Demonic Beasts?"
"What should we do—run or fight?"
Vaughn Jin and the other three commanders quickly discussed their options.
"This is the crossing point—no matter what, we can't lose it! If we do, we'll never get back!" Logan Long said gravely.
"Agreed. In that case, we fight!"
Inside the base, the four commanders rallied everyone for a do-or-die defense. Meanwhile, Ian flew up into the sky on his flying sword and activated Clairvoyant Vision to scan behind the beast horde.
He figured the beasts must be under some kind of influence to be charging the base so madly.
However, after searching thoroughly, Ian couldn't find the source affecting the Demonic Beasts. And with the beast horde less than five li from the base, he could only suppress his sword-light and land several hundred meters outside the base.
Soon, the beast horde roared as it charged closer.
"Go!"
"Slash!"
Ian split his focus, sending out the bronze flying sword to slaughter Demonic Beasts while his longsword unleashed sword-qi to cut down more of them.
"Puff, puff, puff, puff!"
The bronze flying sword moved at incredible speed, piercing the heads of seven or eight beasts in a single breath. Meanwhile, his longsword sent out dozens of sword-qi slashes, each one claiming the lives of two or three Demonic Beasts. In just one round of attacks, nearly two hundred beasts were killed.
"Again!"
He unleashed a second round of attacks, instantly killing another two hundred beasts.
Even with a beast horde of five thousand, after losing four hundred, a gap appeared in their ranks.
Just then, Vaughn Jin, Logan Long, and the other three commanders led the defenders out of the base. Seeing Ian's slaughter, their faces showed utter shock.
These night-raiding beasts were all at least Innate Third Layer, with plenty at Innate Ninth Layer, and yet Ian was cutting them down in swathes.
"Quick! Everyone form up into a defensive phalanx and hold back the beast assault!"
After a brief moment of shock, Vaughn and the others quickly issued their orders.
Ian glanced back at the group, frowning slightly. If he let the beasts charge in, even with a defensive formation, they wouldn’t be able to hold—the humans didn’t even have a single Innate Ninth Layer, while the beasts boasted more than four hundred at that level.
"Forget it, I’ll just have to reveal a bit more of my strength!"
Ian stepped back a few meters, the Azure Lotus Sword already in his grip. His eyes flashed with a sharp light as he squinted slightly and slashed down with the sword...
Lotus Sword Formation!
Buzz!
With one slash, heaven and earth seemed to split apart and collapse, trapping at least a thousand Demonic Beasts inside.
Within the sword formation, the sound of flesh being torn echoed for about three seconds. When the formation dispersed, every beast caught inside had been reduced to chunks of meat.
"What the...?"
Seeing this, the four commanders, the War God Squad, and even the eight disciples from the Immortal-Dao Alliance all stared wide-eyed, utterly shocked.
To wipe out a thousand beasts with a single sword—this level of strength was beyond their imagination.
Especially the eight Immortal-Dao disciples—they’d seen Ian kill several Foundation Establishment experts before. Though they’d temporarily compromised, they hadn’t forgotten their grudge against him.
But now, seeing Ian’s true strength, they realized he must have held back a lot during the tournament.
"Could he already be at mid Foundation Establishment?"
The eight disciples were all dumbfounded by the thought.
"Again!"
After slaughtering a thousand beasts, Ian unleashed another Lotus Sword Formation.
This time, at least fifteen hundred beasts died inside the formation. Ian followed up with two more slashes, leaving less than two hundred out of the original five thousand.
"The rest is up to you guys!"
Ian put away the Azure Lotus Sword and stepped aside.
The strongest of the remaining beasts was only at Innate Seventh Layer, so the defenders could handle them easily. Ian, meanwhile, kept scanning the surroundings, still suspicious of the sudden coordinated beast attack.