At this moment, Ryan Ling took on the full force of the poison explosion, saving hundreds of thousands of lives in Harbor City all by himself. But the Ten‑Thousand‑Poison Source had invaded his organs completely—his whole body was scorched black, unable to move at all. If his body weren’t already a dao body, he’d probably have been sent straight to the deepest pit of Hell.
“Impressive. Truly extraordinary. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe it—blocking the Ten‑Thousand‑Poison Source with nothing but flesh and blood, and you actually survived. Your body only changed color, not rotted away. Ryan Ling, you excite me so much! I bet even a hundred thousand poison‑men can’t match you alone. It’s my honor to have you, and I’m going to make you into the strongest poison‑man in history. Maybe thanks to you, I’ll get promoted straight to Azure Dragon Society Protector. Hahaha!” Penny Pan was both shocked and elated by Ryan’s transformation. She slammed her palm down, the ground caved in, and a prison appeared—Ryan was tossed straight inside.
Beside them, Angie Chen didn’t hesitate for a second—she shouted Ryan’s name and jumped in after him. Penny Pan just snorted and ignored her, waving her hand to summon several Azure Dragon Society underlings from a distance.
“Rudder Master, what are your orders?”
Smack! Penny Pan slapped him across the face, instantly rotting his skin—he screamed in agony.
“Incense Master Tan!” The nearby underlings were so terrified they dropped to their knees.
“Do you all want to end up like him?” Penny Pan shouted.
“N-no, we wouldn’t dare!” Everyone hurriedly lowered their heads, not daring to look at Penny Pan’s terrifying face.
“All of you, lift your heads and look at me!” Penny Pan’s last three words were spoken through gritted teeth.
None of them dared say a word. They all raised their heads in terror, faces turning green, shivering and drenched in cold sweat.
“Enough. Just look at you losers—I wouldn’t even want to use Soul‑Hook Drain on you, you’d disgust me. When I was in danger just now, not a single one of you stepped up. You all deserve to die, but I need manpower right now, so I’ll spare you for now. Listen up!” Penny Pan finished, and the crowd finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“Immediately notify the Hall Masters of the Divine Martial Hall, Blazing Fire Hall, and Cold Ice Hall, plus the Rudder Masters Chasing‑Soul and Mad‑Kill. And don’t forget—make sure the Azure Dragon Protector comes! I want everyone’s power combined to refine the number‑one poison‑man under heaven!” Penny Pan’s order left everyone kneeling in shock—such a massive mobilization was rare even for the Azure Dragon Society.
“Are you all deaf? Did you hear me or not?” Penny Pan shouted again.
“We—we heard! Loud and clear!” The leading Incense Masters kowtowed immediately.
“Then get moving! I want them here by dawn tomorrow—if you fail, you’re all dead. Got it?” Penny Pan finished. The crowd kowtowed hard, then scattered in all directions. With a treasure like Ryan Ling in her hands, Penny Pan was already itching to start the live refining process. But with her current strength, she knew she couldn’t handle Ryan Ling alone. After their fight, she’d lost too much vital energy, and without the last boost from the Ten‑Thousand‑Poison Source, she’d have been totally defeated.
So her next step had to be careful—no mistakes allowed. Refining Ryan Ling was way more important than refining all of Harbor City. If she succeeded, with her status and influence, she’d be a shoo‑in for Protector by year’s end, maybe even Elder in three years. Then she’d be the empress of Jiangdong Province and the surrounding region, able to get anything she wanted—including any handsome man she wanted, just by snapping her fingers.
She could have three thousand pretty boys in her harem—life would be pure bliss!
Thinking of this, Penny Pan burst out laughing. Meanwhile, all of Harbor City had fallen into a state of white terror.
...
Deep beneath the Pill Hall, inside a natural cave prison, Ryan Ling lay unconscious while Angie Chen looked around in terror. The whole place was riddled with tunnels, reminding her of the hive‑like building above.
Looking around, Angie saw countless tunnel openings in the underground prison—no way to tell which led to life or death. It sounded like giant bees were buzzing past, their wings beating loudly. She wanted to scream but didn’t dare, so she just clamped her hand over her mouth.
In front of her, Ryan Ling still didn’t move. His face looked worse and worse, his body temperature kept dropping, like he might freeze solid at any moment.
“Ryan, Ryan, wake up, please?” Helpless, Angie Chen kept shaking him, but it did nothing. It felt like there was no way out for either of them.
Right now, Angie Chen just wanted to break down and cry—her tears wouldn’t stop flowing.
Meanwhile, Ryan Ling’s soul seemed to drift right out of his body, floating through a strange, chaotic void. He had no idea where to go, and it felt like he’d never had a way out—lost in confusion, as if his whole life had just ended.
Was this really how he’d die?
Ryan Ling gave a bitter smile. If dying to save hundreds of thousands in Harbor City counted as a worthy death, maybe it wasn’t so bad.
But what about Lily Liu, Sophie Su, Jason Lin, Warren Yuan, Harvey ‘Million’ Jin, and all his good brothers—if they found out he was gone, they’d be devastated. And then there was Angie Chen...
His relationship with Angie Chen was always a little weird—he’d always seen her as a clingy "human glue stick." But after all their bickering, they’d built something special. Especially when she jumped in after him, Ryan suddenly realized this woman had real feelings for him, and maybe she was worth protecting.
Ryan Ling sighed softly. Maybe this was really the end—maybe all his relationships were over, and no amount of thinking could change that now.
“Kid, you really planning to just give up like this?” Suddenly a voice thundered in his ear.
“Who—wait, is that the System?” Ryan Ling shuddered. He’d thought he was dead, but that familiar, snarky voice was back again.
“Who else would it be? Not bad, kid—you didn’t disgrace your Yama dad at the crucial moment. Sacrificing yourself for all of Harbor City, the whole Netherworld knows about it now. Your dad’s proud, and a bunch of senior ghost kings have given you a thumbs-up. You might even win ‘Annual Best Spirit Officer’ this year—major honor!" The System kept praising him, clearly delighted. For the first time, Ryan actually saw the System’s true form: a guy with a little mustache, looking friendly but still kind of sleazy.
“System, what’s the point of all that now? I can’t even protect myself—my soul’s out of my body, and my flesh is probably about to be eaten away by that poison gas!” Ryan shook his head and sighed.
“You’re really underestimating yourself. A dao body isn’t so easy to destroy. Plus, you’ve got huge responsibilities—building a human-world Yama Palace, restoring order, that’s a massive job. There’s no way you’d die that easily. And don’t forget, you’ve got your old man behind you—who’s gonna wipe you out?” The System immediately shot down Ryan’s pessimism.
“You mean I can go back?” Ryan was stunned, then instantly overjoyed.
“Exactly! Not only can you go back, but with such a huge achievement, the Netherworld’s gonna reward you big-time. You’ll be living the good life soon—there’s already three merit accountants tallying it up for you. Just wait for the good news!” the System said.
“That’s... actually pretty awesome! But I’m facing some serious enemies, my body’s full of poison—how am I supposed to deal with that? And I can sense several strong enemies heading for Harbor City. You’re not gonna give me some magic treasures to help out?” Ryan asked anxiously.
“Magic treasures? Your best treasure is right next to you! Get back there and eat her—seriously, that’s the real deal. No time to waste, go!” The System said, then smacked Ryan hard on the butt...