At this moment, in Kyoto, Ryan Ling was quietly cultivating at the Mitsui family estate.
Yesterday's earth-shaking battle rocked all of Japan—and East Asia too. The media went full coverage, and so many people tried to watch the livestream that half the internet crashed.
For a while, anywhere Chinese people gathered, 'Ryan Ling' was basically the new word for 'War God.'
Officially, Huaxia didn’t say a word about the duel, but you can bet they were secretly loving it—especially the military. Jiangnan’s forces had always been weak compared to the tiger-wolf divisions up north and around the capital, but since Ryan Ling is a brigadier in the Goldridge Military Region...
Thanks to that fight, even the Goldridge Military Region got bumped up a notch. General Kenneth Li, who technically broke orders by rolling into Japan, didn’t get punished—instead, he got promoted. Honestly, every patriotic Huaxia person hates Japan’s guts, so winning back face with a duel was just pure catharsis.
As for Ryan’s reward? No suspense—the military commission ordered last night to promote him to lieutenant general. With that, Goldridge slowly morphed into the new 'iron triangle' setup.
General Kenneth Li is the commander-in-chief, Gabriel Xue is the vice-commander running day-to-day military stuff, and Ryan Ling, despite being the youngest, is now the spiritual leader of the whole region.
In the martial arts world, Ryan Ling is now officially the Saint of Jiangnan—his rep is off the charts. Suddenly, martial artists from all over the country were swarming Goldridge, just hoping to catch a glimpse of their idol.
Meanwhile, Japan’s whole top brass was busy holding crisis meetings. Everyone knew their national face had been totally wrecked yesterday. Tons of planned joint projects started getting shelved, and even little Southeast Asian countries were giving Japan the cold shoulder. And this was just the start—if they couldn’t turn things around, Japan was headed for way more trouble.
“Doesn’t matter what it takes—we have to kill that Huaxia kid. Even if we throw everything the nation’s got at him, he needs to die. Otherwise, the fallout will never end, and the whole country’s morale will collapse.”
“But now, even Fujita the Hegemon couldn’t beat him—who in our country could possibly kill this kid? Whether it’s the Chiba Shrine onmyōji, the ninja clans, or the sword families, almost all have been wiped out by Ryan Ling. Who else can we send after him?”
“Doesn’t matter how tough it is, we have to take him out. If we don’t, it’s not just the nation’s reputation on the line—the Imperial House’s face will be gone too. Princess Makoto is still half-dead at home, you’ve all seen the video—our own princess got humiliated like that. What, are we supposed to let our people become slaves to the Chinese?”
“Baka!” At these words, everyone in the room clenched their teeth. No way were they swallowing this humiliation.
Just then, a guy with a shadowy face walked in from outside. The moment he entered, everyone tensed up and got to their feet.
“Chinese bastard, how’d you get in here? Guards! Guards!” one of the Japanese bigwigs in a military uniform shouted.
“Minister Nagata, chill. I’m not here to cause trouble—today I’m here to help!” The speaker was none other than Eagle King from the World Dominion Society.
“You want to help us? You’re that generous?” another Japanese official gave Eagle King a very skeptical look.
Right then, a samurai in a kimono stepped forward and bowed. “Please trust Eagle King, everyone. My father broke through to the God Realm at Mount Fuji thanks to Eagle King’s help. Too bad that kid was too strong—even my master couldn’t handle him and got killed.”
“Fujita-kun, are you for real?” The officials’ faces finally eased up a bit.
Then a middle-aged Japanese official smiled: “Looks like the World Dominion Society really has a grudge with Ryan Ling. Since we’re all in the same boat, let’s cut to the chase—how do we wipe him out for good?”
“Straightforward! Here’s the deal: Ryan Ling’s only so cocky because he’s got a bigger backer—Guihai One-Blade. But now, Guihai One-Blade is stuck in Goldridge City and can’t help him. We’ve cut off all his backup and power-ups. You really think he can still make waves?” Eagle King grinned darkly, clearly ready to move against Guihai One-Blade.
“So what you’re saying, Eagle King, is that Ryan Ling’s power all comes from Guihai One-Blade boosting him?” Minister Nagata’s eyes went wide—he was Japan’s defense minister and a big deal.
The navy commander jumped in: “I’ve heard of Guihai One-Blade—he’s scary as hell. No martial artist’s ever beaten him, not even God Realm!”
“Exactly! This kid’s power shot up in less than a month—he can even kill God Realm experts. That means some top dog is boosting him with their own strength, helping him level up. Only Guihai One-Blade could do that! But now, Guihai One-Blade’s under our control, and Ryan Ling’s lost his biggest shield. Can he still act tough? Now’s the best time to finish him off! I’ve already mapped out two kill routes: First, have the Imperial House send a master and invite the Great Shō War-God to possess them. I bet Princess Akihito’s obsession with fighting Ryan Ling was really the War-God’s influence. Even if it can’t guarantee a kill, it’ll definitely crush his hype, especially now that he’s lost Guihai One-Blade’s boost—his power’s way down. Second, get the U.S. military involved—say Ryan Ling attacked the Imperial Palace and tried to take over Japan, call him a terrorist, and have them take him out. With both forces hitting him, Ryan Ling is absolutely dead meat!”
“Alright. Since Eagle King’s here in Japan, you should join in too!” Minister Nagata grinned, obviously on board with the plan.
“Of course! I came here today to help out—no way I’m letting that kid win again!” Eagle King shot back, teeth clenched.
“Good. With the Imperial House, U.S. military, and World Dominion Society all teaming up, even if that kid’s a god descended to earth, he’s still toast!” Minister Nagata said, immediately ordering the setup of a massive net to take down Ryan Ling.
After a full day of cultivation and recovery, Ryan Ling’s strength was even more solid. He was now standing at the absolute peak of the Golden Core Realm, his whole Golden Core melted into every inch of his body.
But even at the peak, his Nascent Soul Realm wasn’t budging. Forming Core, Nourishing Core, Transforming Core, and Transcending Core were all just sub-levels of Golden Core, but breaking into Nascent Soul was a real leap—a breakthrough that’s anything but easy.
Now that he’d hit this bottleneck, he had to put the breakthrough on the agenda. To actually make it, he’d need to collect Nascent Soul spirits—a grind that’d take at least a few months.
“Ryan, the Imperial House envoy’s here—they want you to come to the palace and collect the palace itself, plus the hundred-billion-dollar wager!” Just then, Sophia Long walked in.
“These Japanese are caving this fast?” Ryan Ling stood up, looking suspicious. He knew these guys were stubborn as hell and would never bow unless they had no choice—it was the ultimate disgrace for them.
“No way. This is definitely a trap!” Sophia Long said, dead certain.