At this moment, Ryan Ling and Guihai One-Blade sat cross-legged on either side of the Divine Dragon Hide. The situation was dire, but neither of them was panicking—after all, the dragon hide shed by China’s Divine Dragon was right in front of them. If Ryan could refine the essence of the whole hide, even if he couldn't break through to the Nascent Soul stage yet, his strength would skyrocket far beyond its current level.
Guihai One-Blade’s own cultivation would also recover massively. After the battle with the World Dominion Society and giving his Life Core to Ryan, Guihai One-Blade’s power had dropped to barely above the Saint Realm. Now, with the nourishment of the Divine Dragon Hide, he could at least regain some ground.
About half an hour later, the surging energy within Ryan finally calmed down. His qi gradually harmonized, his complexion improved, and—most importantly—his internal power ramped up, roughly back to his former Glazed Golden Core peak. Compared to his fight with the Shaman Sect patriarch earlier, his strength had shot up at least a hundredfold.
“Senior, how are you feeling?” Ryan let out a long breath and looked over at Guihai One-Blade.
Guihai One-Blade’s physical condition was way worse than Ryan’s. After losing his Life Core, his power kept slipping and his vital signs were unstable. Ryan was hoping the dragon hide would help Guihai recover and stabilize—after all, Guihai’s Life Core had been sacrificed for him!
“Not bad. This Divine Dragon Hide really is a top-tier treasure. Its nourishment has made me feel a lot better. At least for now, my power won’t drop below the Saint Realm!” Guihai One-Blade chuckled with a hint of self-mockery.
“Don’t worry, Senior. Once we’re through this mess, I’ll find a way to make it up to you!” Ryan replied quickly.
“Forget that. For now, make the most of this dragon hide. I sense even greater danger ahead—we need to grab the hide and get out of here, fast. Since you have a special link to the Divine Dragon, you should be able to use it to track its whereabouts. Our enemies are surely searching too. We must find the Divine Dragon before they do. It may have escaped their pursuit for now, but after failing its Heaven-Tribulation, it’s half-dead. We have to find it, fast!” Guihai One-Blade clearly wasn’t worried about himself; he was focused on their next move.
Ryan nodded. His internal injuries were stable now, and after repeated contact with the dragon hide, his sense of the Divine Dragon had grown much stronger. It was obviously time to set out for the South Sea again—they had to move, and fast!
But just as they made up their minds to leave immediately, Paula Bloom burst in from outside, drenched in sweat.
"Bad—bad news! Something huge just happened!"
"What is it? Don’t panic, just tell us!" Ryan urged.
"We’re surrounded! Niyama’s black wizards have us completely boxed in!" Paula blurted out.
"Black wizards?" Ryan was shocked. He instantly unleashed his powerful senses and detected over a thousand top-tier experts encircling the Shaman Sect. Their power was insane—every single one outclassed the Shaman Sect patriarch, and each was possessed by multiple ghosts. Any one of them was radiating God-Realm might.
"Where did all these monsters come from? How can they be this strong?" Ryan was floored. Back when he wiped out the entirety of Japan, only a handful of God-Realm experts had shown up. But now this tiny Southeast Asian country had suddenly produced over a thousand God-Realm elites? It was absolutely mind-blowing!
"It’s gotta be the Kunlun League working behind the scenes. There’s no way a country like Niyama could pull this off alone. The Kunlun League’s reach really does cover the whole globe now—they’re way stronger than last time!" Guihai One-Blade muttered. He’d tangled with these guys before, and his injuries were definitely thanks to the Kunlun League.
"Forget it for now—let’s just break out!" Ryan gritted his teeth. If the Kunlun League was involved, these Niyama black wizards were almost certainly here for him.
Without hesitation, Ryan stashed the Divine Dragon Hide away. With his current strength, fighting a thousand top-tier black wizards head-on would be tough. But thanks to his recent fusion with the dragon hide, he’d absorbed a ton of dragon qi essence. He could use that to simulate the Divine Dragon and unleash powerful dragon qi bombs—hopefully enough to shake off these black wizards and escape.
This fight wasn’t about going toe-to-toe with them—it was all about breaking through and finding the Divine Dragon. That was the real priority!
He needed to break through to Nascent Soul stage.
Guihai One-Blade’s strength couldn’t be fully restored by just the dragon hide.
After all, the Divine Dragon Hide’s power was less than a billionth of the real Divine Dragon’s. Only finding the actual Divine Dragon could do the trick.
And with the Divine Dragon’s fate still unknown, their only real shot was to unite their strength and work together.
Seeing Ryan’s expression, Paula Bloom steadied herself and said, "You guys go ahead—I’ll hold them off!"
Paula was sharp—she immediately picked up on what Ryan was thinking.
Ryan smiled and replied, "You’re coming with us. Get your whole Bloom Family out—don’t throw your lives away for nothing!"
As he spoke, Ryan grabbed Paula Bloom. With so many powerful black wizards, her family wasn’t even qualified to be cannon fodder. Plus, these black wizards were gunning for him—and right after him, their next target would be Paula. If the Shaman Sect was wiped out, it meant Kunlun’s Huaxia base was uprooted, and they’d definitely want to finish off the Bloom Family next. So, getting her people out was the smartest move, and keeping Paula with him was the safest bet. If she tried to escape alone, there was no way she could dodge a thousand pairs of black wizard eyes.
(This chapter isn’t over yet~.~ Click next page for more!)
"But I—" Paula started to argue, wanting to prove her worth, but Ryan had already dragged her away before she could finish.
In no time, the three of them dashed out of the Shaman Sect’s temple and sped away from the compound.
A few minutes later, Paula Bloom, still being dragged along, finally couldn’t take it and yelled, "Hey—you’re hurting me! I’m all swollen down there!"
Only then did Ryan realize he’d been way too rough. For the second time now, he’d grabbed her bra strap by mistake—and with Paula’s ample bust, a hard yank really hurt. She clearly couldn’t hold back anymore.
"Sorry, I was in such a rush I didn’t pay attention!" Ryan apologized quickly. She was a woman, after all—he couldn’t just be so rude.
"This is the second time you’ve ‘not paid attention’—and you still have the nerve to say that! You nearly burst them!" Paula, clearly in pain, just stripped off her clothes and started massaging herself. She did it with her back to Ryan, but the scene was still tantalizing enough to make him gulp. Compared to those little schoolgirls, a mature woman like her was way more attractive—and way less shy!
"Sorry, sorry!" Ryan scratched his head, speechless. Seriously, with everything going on, who had time to think about this stuff?
"Let’s just get off Southcape Island first—head for the nearest pier!" Guihai One-Blade said, scanning the area.
"I know where the nearest pier is. I’ll lead the way!" Paula replied, already dressed again. Ryan noticed she probably wasn’t wearing a bra anymore—he must’ve snapped the strap with that last pull.
Ryan couldn’t help sneaking a glance at the faint outline of Paula’s curves under her clothes, swallowing hard. Women in their thirties really were teenage boy-killers. He sighed inwardly as the three of them hurried on for several more miles.
The escape went smoothly enough. Soon, they could hear the sound of waves ahead—if they could just reach the South Sea, it was so vast that even a thousand black wizards couldn’t track them down quickly. Plus, with the Divine Dragon Hide, Ryan could take them straight into the deep ocean.
But just then, several terrifying auras suddenly blasted in from behind—moving at insane speed, instantly surrounding them…