Ian Song smiled and said to Mara Zhou, "You haven’t even condensed an immortal body yourself—why should I trust you?"
Besides, other Immortals dream of condensing an immortal body, but he’s already cultivated the Body of Ten Thousand Stars—whether he condenses an immortal body or not doesn’t matter to him.
Hearing Ian’s words, Mara’s expression suddenly froze.
The people behind her showed dissatisfied expressions. Someone said to Ian, "What kind of attitude is that? Newcomer, do you even know the rules? Hurry up and apologize to our captain!"
Ian’s face turned slightly cold as he looked at the speaker. "What rules? I’ve never heard of them. Why don’t you teach me?"
"You’re looking for trouble!"
A fierce light flashed in the man’s eyes. He strode forward and swung his fist straight at Ian’s cheek.
Seeing this, Toren and the others didn’t look worried at all—they knew Ian’s strength perfectly well. Mason Mu was strong, but compared to Ian, he was far behind.
Bang!
A figure was sent flying.
Not only did Mason Mu fail to hit Ian, he was kicked flying instead.
Seeing this, Mara narrowed her eyes. When Mason looked like he wanted to charge again, she quickly shouted, "Mason Mu, stand down!"
Then she looked at Ian again. "Ian Song, as the saying goes, ‘a wise bird chooses the right tree to nest in.’ You should reconsider my offer!"
"I appreciate your kindness, but I’ll have to decline," Ian shook his head.
"Fine. If you change your mind, come find me anytime. Let’s go!"
With that, Mara hurried off with her subordinates.
"Brother Ian, thank you!"
Once they left, Toren turned to Ian gratefully.
"Brother Toren, there’s no need to be so formal. I’ll head back first. Tomorrow, let’s go to Julu Town together!"
"Alright!"
Ian returned to his courtyard and found that, aside from Cici and Joy, the other girls were all cultivating.
The immortal essence in the Immortal World was everywhere, so their cultivation progressed rapidly. Most importantly, they felt pressure—there were over twenty thousand Immortals even in this small village, and many descendants of those Immortals were stronger than them.
But Cici and Joy were vampires, and their way of advancing was different. The best method for them was to feed on the blood of Immortals.
"Master, we feel so weak!"
Both Cici and Joy looked a little down.
Right now, Joy’s strength was only a bit better than an early-mid stage Human Immortal, while Cici was barely at early stage.
"Don’t worry, I’ll find a way!"
Ian gave the two girls a gentle head pat.
"Thank you, Master!"
Both girls obediently rested their heads on Ian’s shoulder.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Ian frowned slightly, opened it, and invited Mara Zhou inside.
"Captain Mara, is there something you need?"
Ian asked calmly.
Mara’s face darkened slightly. "Ian Song, why do you keep pushing me away like this?"
"Captain Mara, let’s just get to the point."
Ian’s expression remained unchanged.
"Fine!"
Mara nodded helplessly, then produced a Storage Ring. "There are a thousand immortal stones in here. If you join my squad, they’re yours. I’ll pay you a hundred stones a month, and within a year you can enter the Immortalization Pool and condense an immortal body!"
Ian looked at her in surprise. "You must have at least two thousand immortal stones—why not use them to condense an immortal body yourself?"
A hesitant look flashed in Mara’s eyes. Finally, she gritted her teeth and said, "I offended the son of the steward who controls the Immortalization Pool. Even if I have enough stones, I can’t use it!"
"Then you could go to another city," Ian said.
"Do you think I don’t want to? First, another city is too far from Giantwild Village. Second, who knows if I’ll run into bandits or ferocious immortal beasts along the way!" Mara’s face was full of helplessness as she spoke.
Suddenly, Mara leaned in close, her breath fragrant. "You have great talent—freshly ascended and already this strong. If you condense an immortal body, you’ll be even stronger. I can’t condense one myself, so I want to invest in someone promising. If you join my squad, once you condense an immortal body, I’ll give you my captaincy, and even become your woman!"
As she spoke, Mara rubbed her ample chest against Ian’s.
Ian frowned and stepped back. "Captain Mara, please behave yourself!"
Hearing this, a trace of annoyance flashed in Mara’s eyes, but she quickly recovered, her gaze turning flirtatious again. "Ian Song, do you really look down on me that much?"
"You’ve investigated me. You should know I already have plenty of women," Ian replied.
Mara’s eyes flashed with disdain. "They might be pretty, but their cultivation is too low. I’m at peak late-stage Human Immortal. If you become my man, I can support you even better. Besides, it’s normal for a capable man to have many women. My only request is to be your main wife!"
"You’re overthinking it. I have no such plans," Ian shook his head, thinking this woman was a bit too self-important.
"...You...!"
Mara was left speechless, not expecting Ian to be so utterly unmoved.
"What will it take for you to join my squad?" Mara asked after a long pause.
"I told you, no matter what, I won’t agree. Besides, don’t you have plenty of late-stage Human Immortals under you? You could easily support one to condense an immortal body!" Ian replied.
"Them?" Mara’s eyes flashed with contempt. "They’re far inferior to you. I wouldn’t bother!"
Ian mused, "I do have a suggestion: you could bring your squad under Toren’s hunting team."
"Why should I?"
Mara was furious and shouted at Ian, "What kind of spell did Toren put on you? Why do you defend him so much?"
"Nothing special. I just like the way he does things," Ian said calmly.
Mara was left speechless again, glaring fiercely at Ian. "Ian Song, you’ll regret this!"
With that, she slammed the door and left.
Early the next morning, Ian set out with Toren and the others for Julu Town to sell immortal beast carcasses.
On the road, one of the squad’s vice-captains sidled up to Ian and whispered, "Brother Ian, Mara Zhou came to see you privately yesterday, didn’t she?"
"Yeah," Ian nodded.
"She didn’t try to tempt you?" The vice-captain gave a lewd grin.
"How did you know?"
Ian smiled.
The vice-captain sneered, "Everyone knows she ropes in experts by sleeping with them!"
"Is that so?"
Ian wasn’t surprised at all—he’d already pegged Mara as a wanton woman.
After two hours of travel, the group arrived at Julu Town. Last time, they suffered because they brought too few people, so this time Toren brought more than a hundred.
"Oh, isn’t this Captain Toren? Back again so soon?"
As soon as they stepped into the immortal beast shop, the shopkeeper greeted them with a teasing tone.
"Of course we’re here to sell immortal beasts!"
Toren replied calmly.
"How many are you selling this time?" the shopkeeper asked with fake concern.
"Two thousand!" Toren said. He’d discussed it with Ian and decided not to sell all the beasts at once, to avoid drawing too much attention. They planned to sell in batches at different places.
Hearing ‘two thousand,’ the shopkeeper was clearly shocked. "You’re not joking, are you?"