But right at that moment, while everyone was still in shock, Ryan Ling—who hadn’t moved an inch and looked like he’d been cut down—suddenly trembled, then shouted at the top of his lungs: “Hey!”
Instantly, all the sword-qi on him was blasted away, and even Nate Ye spun through the air several times.
The whole arena went dead silent; everyone was totally stunned—some people nearly bit through their teacups.
On the Wuzhou stand, everyone’s faces went pale. The Dai and Qiu clan members wiped cold sweat, and Darren Deng kept swallowing nervously—if he hadn’t seen it himself, he’d never believe such insane defense existed.
On the ring, Ryan Ling shook off the last of the sword-qi. He hadn’t fought back at all—he was relying on the Purgatory Soul-Suppressing Art, a top-tier Hell technique. He’d already reached the first realm’s perfection, making his attacks and defense stronger than ever. Plus, with his body now ‘ice skin and jade bones,’ the System, Ghost Elder, and Granny Soul had all confirmed he’d stepped onto the Daoist path. That’s why he dared to take the risk.
This wasn’t anything like Nate Ye’s cocky arrogance.
But even so, this was already his limit.
“Do we even need to keep fighting? If Ryan Ling can block a super sword move like that, he’s obviously number one!” The organizers were sweating, trying to please the Harbor City team.
“Yeah, the gap’s just too big. I say we let Nate Ye stop and admit defeat...” Another organizer nodded quickly. Nate Ye, hearing this, turned red-eyed, gripped his sword, and started screaming in rage.
“Admit defeat? Never! I, Nate Ye, am number one under heaven—I’ll never bow to lowly Harbor City people! Raging Tides Triple Slash, second strike—River-Piercing!”
Nate Ye shouted, and his blue-green sword flashed with green light. The second strike was nothing like the first—while the first slash was all about sword-path dominance, the second was pure killing power. This time it was a thrust, far more precise and deadly than a slash. Nate Ye moved so fast that as soon as he finished speaking, the sword tip was almost at Ryan Ling’s throat.
“Watch out!” Several people couldn’t help but shout at Ryan Ling.
But Ryan Ling had already seen it coming. He twisted his body, dodged the killing thrust, and clamped the blue-green sword between two fingers, shattering the sword-qi. With a sharp flick, he sent Nate Ye flying again, slamming him into the ring.
“Whoa!” Nate Ye spat out a mouthful of blood, and his sword clanged to the ground beside him.
“You lost.” Ryan Ling shot him a contemptuous look, then glanced around the ring.
“Ryan champion!”
“Ryan number one!”
“Ryan invincible!”
In an instant, it wasn’t just the Harbor City section—tens of thousands all around the arena joined in.
At this moment, the result was obvious.
Ryan Ling was the clear champion—the power he unleashed was so overwhelming, it left everyone speechless.
On the Wuzhou side, not a single person made a sound.
Everyone shot Nate Ye a look of disdain, but he just kept his face dark and didn’t say a word. No one knew what he was thinking.
“Ryan, you were amazing! I’m so proud of you!” Lily Liu was the first to rush over, her heart bursting with excitement as she hugged Ryan Ling.
Lin Zhan, Yuan Zhengang, and the other eight brothers, plus Leonard Liu and the Harbor City martial arts reps, all rushed up. The Harbor City crowd was so excited they were bouncing around like a sea of joy.
Alright, I hereby announce that the champion of this martial arts conference is Harbor City, and the best fighter of the tournament is none other than Ryan Ling!
Applause thundered throughout the arena, but the Wuzhou big shots just shook their heads.
Darren Deng, the Dai brothers, and Qiu Tiexin were all grinding their teeth in frustration—they didn’t even realize they’d all gathered around Nate Ye.
Suddenly, Nate Ye snatched up his sword, his whole body erupting with wild sword-qi. In a flash, man and blade fused together, and all that sword-qi locked onto the Harbor City fighters on the ring.
What’s this guy trying to pull?
Wait, is this the strongest move—Dragon-Slaying—from Raging Tides Triple Slash? The fight’s already over, does Nate Ye really still want to go another round with Ryan Ling?
No way, he’s not aiming at Ryan Ling—he’s going for that girl, isn’t she Ryan’s sister? Wasn’t this guy supposed to be some elite, Tiger Hua’s top disciple? How can he be so shameless?
Everyone around was screaming at the sudden turn of events—it all happened so fast that the security staff couldn’t react. Meanwhile, Darren Deng, the Dai and Qiu clans were fueling the chaos, clearly determined to get their revenge no matter what.
In an instant, Nate Ye’s “Dragon-Slaying” sucked Lily Liu right into the center of the sword-qi. The Dai and Qiu clan fighters, plus Darren Deng and the martial association, all pointed their blades at her—dozens of swords blocked off every escape route.
“R-Ryan…” Lily Liu had never seen anything like this before—her face went ghostly pale.
Everyone else was completely stunned—no one expected the Wuzhou team to go this far.
Are you all insane? Let her go, now! The provincial organizers were furious.
Ryan Ling’s face was as dark as could be, his teeth clenched: “Let her go!”
Fine—cripple both your arms and abolish your martial arts, or she dies right now! Nate Ye roared.
That’s right, no room for negotiation! Cripple yourself now, hurry up! Dai and Qiu clan swords already drew blood from Lily Liu’s throat.
Master!
Boss, these bastards!
...
Lin Zhan, Yuan Zhengang, and the others were so furious their faces twisted in rage.
Right then, the Red Dragon Slash on Ryan Ling’s back started trembling violently. He knew there was no way out today—if he didn’t unleash a real massacre, it would be impossible...