“Good, very good! Surround him! Don’t leave a single blind spot!” Hong Sihai, watching the battle formation, got hyped immediately and shouted, “All Hong family disciples, listen up—launch every poisoned dart and arrow you’ve got at that kid! He said he wants everyone at once, right? If he’s gonna talk big, we might as well help him make it happen!”
“That’s right, Dad’s got it! Seal every escape route—I don’t believe he can survive a full-on swarm!”
“Yeah, all at once! No matter how strong his martial arts are, he’s dead meat!”
The two Hong family young masters were getting pumped too—it was like they were born for this kind of gang beatdown.
Ryan Ling just clenched his fist, still calm as ever, not even bothering to lift an eyelid. His whole vibe screamed ‘couldn’t care less.’ No matter how many people came at him today, Ryan wasn’t fazed at all.
Because like he said—these guys were just a pack of rabid mutts barking at nothing.
“Kill!” The Dai clan’s lead killer roared, and the crowd, itching for action, charged in at once.
Thomas was even faster—his Western sword aimed right for the back of Ryan’s head, moving at freakish speed, the blade trailing wild streaks of sword-qi. If that thrust landed, Ryan would’ve been toast.
But just as Thomas was feeling smug, an even weirder and scarier burst of sword-qi blasted from behind him. He nearly jumped out of his skin—he’d never faced sword-qi this intense, and Ryan hadn’t even turned around.
Before he could react, his prized Western sword—and his whole bloody right arm—were sliced clean off and sent flying. At the same time, a Hong family killer’s poisoned arrow punched straight through the back of his skull. Thomas hit the ground with a thud, blood pooling everywhere.
"Why?" Thomas stared at Ryan Ling, who still hadn’t moved a muscle, and let out his last words before kicking the bucket.
On the outskirts, Hong Sihai took several steps back. Besides Thomas getting wrecked, those seven top-tier Valor City killers couldn’t even get close to Ryan Ling under these ‘kill zone’ conditions. It was like an invisible force around him blocked every attack, and all the weapons bounced off like they’d hit their natural enemy—totally useless.
The two Hong family young masters were so stunned they couldn’t even talk. Defense that insane? No one had ever seen anything like it.
“No way! Don’t panic—everyone, channel all your innate power and focus it on one spot! I refuse to believe we can’t break his defense. Even if he’s made of diamond, I’ll drill a hole through him!” Thomas was dead, but the seven were still standing. Against a monster like this, weapons were pointless; only pure innate power—internal force—could do the job.
The lead killer finished his speech, and the other six instantly ditched their weapons. They unleashed every bit of innate power they had, seven streams twisting into one. The force was way stronger than Thomas’s sword strike—this kind of mad combo could punch through solid steel.
Even Hong Sihai, standing off to the side, could faintly sense the aura of a "grandmaster"—that’s a martial arts rank so rare, it means someone’s reached legendary power. Seven streams of fierce innate qi combined—yeah, that was straight-up grandmaster-level force. No one could block that kind of killer strike.
“You little bastard, die! Just die already!” Hong Sihai had lost two heavy hitters in a row and finally snapped, eyes bloodshot as he screamed.
As he howled, that grandmaster-level shockwave slammed straight at Ryan Ling.
Ryan Ling could instantly tell this innate shockwave was on another level. He took a step back, gathering power. Up till now, he’d barely used the Purgatory Soul-Suppressing Art—mainly because it was way too destructive. It was fine for monsters like that python demon, but for regular martial artists, he’d rather not; it was just overkill.
But right now, he had no choice. As the thought flashed by, the sword-qi swirling around him suddenly mutated—pure, roaring gang-qi erupted (gang-qi: the signature energy of a true grandmaster, able to crush lesser fighters). Gang-qi was a grandmaster’s trademark, but his was even purer than most.
Suddenly, Hong Sihai started shaking all over, his face turning ghostly pale. Up till now, no matter what crazy tricks Ryan Ling pulled, Hong Sihai stayed cool. But now, it was like a mountain had collapsed—he was totally falling apart.
Grandmaster! (A martial artist who’s reached a legendary level of power—almost mythic in the modern world.)
The teenager in front of them—the one they’d planned to capture, maybe even kill and offer up to Valor City and Logan Long as a token of surrender—Ryan Ling was actually a rare grandmaster.
That terrifying thought exploded in Hong Sihai’s mind. He couldn’t stand his ground anymore.
“Dad—Dad, what’s wrong?” The two Hong family young masters, whose martial arts knowledge was limited to racing cars, chasing girls, and clubbing, had no clue what gang-qi even was.
"Go, go now, hurry!" Hong Sihai screamed, his nerves shot. Grandmasters were basically extinct in Harbor City; even in Valor City, they were rare, and in the provincial capital, they were absolute legends.
Right now, Hong Sihai wasn’t just panicking—he was regretting everything.
He really shouldn’t have acted so rashly. If he’d known the kid was a grandmaster, he’d never have cozied up to Valor City so fast—at least he’d have waited and weighed his options.
Bottom line: even the Hong family couldn’t afford to mess with a grandmaster.
“Dad, why are you freaking out? We’ve got so many people—how could we possibly be scared of just him? Even if Thomas is toast, those seven Valor City killers are all top-tier…” The Hong family eldest son couldn’t help but shout.
“What the hell do you know? Activate the strongest defense formation, open the underground bunker—no, prep the cars, we’re leaving the manor NOW!” Hong Sihai was totally losing it, rambling so much the staff were left dazed.
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Even the closest people around him had never seen Hong Sihai this rattled before.
Right then, that supposedly invincible combo of innate power got shattered with a boom. The seven fierce Valor City killers were blasted away, and grandmaster-level gang-qi whipped through the air.
Swish! Swish! Swish! ...
Gang-qi and sword-qi teamed up—in a flash, the seven killers’ necks were sliced clean through. Seven bloody heads hit the floor, spraying blood all over the banquet hall.
Every Hong family member was totally stunned. Even the cowardly second young master, and the supposedly tough eldest son, just collapsed to the ground, legs giving out.
"Go! Move! You useless idiots, open the damn door!" In the chaos, the staff were so freaked out they couldn’t even get the exit open. Hong Sihai was stomping his feet, nearly ready to ram the door himself.
At that moment, Ryan Ling strode forward like a demon from hell, stepping through his enemies’ blood toward Hong Sihai.
Hong Sihai’s face turned green with fear. He might be Harbor City’s so-called ‘spiritual leader,’ but his actual skills were average at best. Sure, the Hong family once had grandmasters, but by his generation, all he’d learned was how to schmooze, network, and build alliances—the rest of his talent went to the dogs.
He knew better than anyone—when a grandmaster was standing in front of you, escape was impossible.
"Ryan Ling, let’s talk this out! I get your situation now, totally! As a Harbor City native, I swear I’ll stand with you from now on. The Hong Syndicate will give everything to help you fight those Valor City scumbags. Hey—how about we shake hands and call it a truce?" Hong Sihai was bawling, as sincere as he could possibly fake.
Ryan Ling just laughed coldly. "Heh, Hong Sihai, I really underestimated you. I thought your shamelessness was unbeatable, but your thick skin is actually world-class. I gotta hand it to you. Too bad everything you say is garbage!" He shook his head, eyes flashing with murderous gang-qi (that deadly grandmaster aura) again.
Hong Sihai was so freaked out he nearly collapsed, like he could hear the funeral bells ringing.
"No—don’t kill me! You can’t! I’m Harbor City’s spiritual leader—everyone here will come for you if you do!"
"Old dog, hand over your life!" Ryan Ling couldn’t care less about his yapping—a blast of gang-qi (the lethal energy only grandmasters wield) roared out, ready to kill…