"Eternal life?" Ryan Ling heard that and his brain went full dial-up modem—was he even hearing this right?
Those two words felt lightyears away—like stars up in the sky, totally out of his league!
"Sure, that's just the dream. Who's actually pulled it off? But if you can crack Wood-Element Immortal Arts, maybe you've got a shot—just chill and don't rush it!" The System braced itself, then kept going: "Ryan, now you've scored the immortal loot, I say you go full hermit mode and soak up all the wood-element energy you can. Martial-wise, you're already at Purple Realm grandmaster, but that doesn't mean squat. Cultivation-wise, you're at the very top of Qi-Refining, but not Foundation-Building yet. If you use the wood-element qi to lay your foundation, that's prime time. If you can smash through the Qi-Refining wall, even better. But 'Foundation-Building' is way tougher than it sounds—it's all about fate. Just remember, now that you've got the immortal loot, no jumping the gun!"
"Alright, got it. No rush, zero rush!" Ryan took a deep breath, reminding himself: the bigger the score, the less you can afford to get antsy—or you'll just blow it all to hell.
Ryan waved him off, then spun to Simon Sun: "Old Sun, you head down first—I'm holing up solo at the Lotus Pond. Unless the sky's falling, nobody bugs me for the next few days!"
"Seclusion?" Simon Sun was a cultivator himself, but he couldn't for the life of him see what was so hot about that busted chunk of wood. Still, Ryan had called the shots, so he didn't dare argue. He nodded quick, then hustled, "If you're gonna hole up here, Ryan, want me to send Cindy up to handle your grub and daily stuff?"
"No way!" Ryan broke out in a cold sweat—he saw right through Old Sun's schemes. The dude was clearly trying to hawk his own daughter again, so Ryan shut him down without a second thought.
But Old Sun wasn't about to tap out that easy. He grinned and kept hustling: "Come on, this is the Sun family's turf and you're a guest—we can't just leave you hanging! Besides, it's steep and wild up here, not exactly room service. You need someone to look after you, and Cindy grew up here—she's tough and knows how to take care of folks. Just let her come! If you say no, you're treating me like a stranger..."
Old Sun rattled off a whole laundry list of excuses, clearly scared Ryan might butt in—and then bolted like a rabbit, gone in a flash before Ryan could even open his mouth.
"Man, Old Sun's a real character—hands you a sky-high immortal relic, then tries to toss in his daughter as a bonus. What a legend!" The System couldn't help but roast him inside Ryan.
"Alright, you win. Enough with the chatter—let's find a spot and start cultivating!" Ryan shot the System a look, then made up his mind to start training and absorbing the wood-element spiritual energy right away.
Right now, he had two reasons to hurry: first, he genuinely needed to cultivate; second, now that the immortal relic was exposed, its aura was leaking out. Sure, the mountain was remote and dense, tough for outsiders to find—but who could guarantee that no top expert would sense it?
Ryan already knew there were other peak experts hiding in China—definitely people stronger than him. If word got out about the immortal relic, plenty of them would come fighting for it.
So Ryan had to absorb the relic's aura as fast as possible, make it recognize him as its master, and completely cut off its connection to the outside world. That was the safest move.
He took a couple deep breaths, then sat cross-legged between the three big trees, hands curved like he was holding a Tai Chi ball. The half-charred wood hovered between his palms, and as he channeled the Purgatory Soul-Suppressing Art at full force, the outer bark started to flake off, unleashing a surge of wood-element spiritual energy inside.
In a blink, wisps of blue-green mist began rising from the wood. The mist looked like it was made of countless tiny blue droplets, each packed with surging life force and wood-element qi. If an ordinary person absorbed even one of those drops, the raw energy would overwhelm them instantly.
"That's insanely powerful. I bet there's something even more mysterious hidden inside." The System couldn't help but marvel at the sight.
Ryan didn't say anything, but he knew even better—those droplets in the mist were ridiculously dense. Even a single drop felt like it weighed a hundred pounds. The wood-element qi inside was off the charts. But if he could refine and dilute it, then inject it into someone's body, it could easily extend their life by over ten years and multiply their strength.
Before this, Ryan had worked with Divine Physician Hua Tuo to develop the Grandmaster Pill, but those pills were only mid-grade at best. For ordinary folks in Harbor City, they were fine for self-defense, but not enough for offense. Right now, most of his brothers were stuck between the Red and Orange grandmaster tiers. With that level, forget storming the provincial capital—even in Dragon State they'd barely hold the line. That's why boosting their strength was urgent, especially since their next fight was against the Azure Dragon Society's core.
If he could figure out how to use these blue droplets, it'd be the perfect chance to power up his core team!
Boom! At that moment, Ryan started condensing one of those blue droplets, trying to refine a single bead. Soon, the mist thickened and a light, crystal-clear droplet slowly formed.
"That's gorgeous!" Ryan admired the bead to himself—it looked like jade or pearl, shimmering with rainbow light.
"Ryan, don't hesitate! That's the first prime bead refined from this spirit wood—it's priceless. Swallow it, now!" The System shouted as soon as it saw the bead.
Ryan didn't hesitate—he swallowed the bead in one gulp. Instantly, it exploded inside him, flooding his body with a massive surge of blue wood energy and life force, almost drowning him.
A wave of pure bliss swept through his whole body—the rush of life force was way better than any double-flying swallow with Angie Chen and Cindy Sun. For a moment, every cell in his body felt like it was peaking.
And that wasn't all—the residual energy pouring out of Ryan made the nearby withered plants swell with life, turning lush and vibrant. Even the dead branches on the ground started sprouting new buds.
Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable!
On top of all that, the second layer of his Purgatory Soul-Suppressing Art—which he'd unlocked using Yin-Maiden energy—was now perfected to its peak.
And as for his martial grandmaster realm, his strength shot straight up to the summit of the Purple Realm grandmaster tier in an instant.
Right now, Ryan's skin, muscles, eyebrows—even his pupils—were radiating a thick Purple Realm aura. If Simon Sun had stuck around a moment longer and seen this, he probably would've fainted from shock.
Across all of China, only Ryan could boost his strength this fast.
And that was just on the surface—the real magic was the vast wood-element qi steadily filling his body. His Dao body was being cleansed and reinforced. Even the supreme Infernal Glass Ghost-General Armor, once worn by Yama's little brother, was being re-infused and slowly merging with Ryan's own flesh.
On top of that, the wood-element qi was even starting to tame the Hell Furnace. Normally, this top-tier artifact from the Oil Cauldron Hell was proud and unruly—almost a proto-Dao weapon, with its own will. Even though Ryan was Yama's godson, the Furnace never gave him any respect!
That's why, in all those battles, the Hell Furnace never really helped out. But now, even the Furnace was awed by the sheer power of the wood-element qi.
And somewhere in the background, the second move of the Hellblade—the "Soul Sever"—was finally starting to reveal its secrets!
Right now, for Ryan, everything felt absolutely perfect!
But while Ryan's body and power were undergoing earth-shaking changes, far away on the canal outside Dragon State City, a luxurious dragon boat was gliding along. Standing on deck was an elderly man with graying hair.
Inside the dragon boat's cockpit, the two old canal hands were already green with fear. The massive vessel wasn't even using its engine—the old man was hauling it along with nothing but his inner strength.
"Is this guy even human or ghost? Where the heck is he taking our dragon boat?"
"No clue. Let's just do what he says. That guy's definitely a top master. Yesterday I saw him sitting cross-legged on the canal for half a day, and a giant whirlpool formed beside him. All the boats were blocked, but not a single canal official dared say a word!"
"My god, he's gotta be some kind of monster!"
Of course, those two boatmen had no idea—the old man was none other than Tiger Hua, North America's number-one Chinese martial arts master, here in Dragon State to hunt down Ryan.