Right now, nearly every player on Experimental High School’s soccer team was out there guarding Ryan Ling—inside and outside the goal area, they’d pretty much blocked everything off. The atmosphere on the field was at absolute max tension.
Both principals’ eyes were wide as saucers—everyone knew this shot would decide the fate of both schools.
And all hope rested on Ryan Ling alone.
The ref already had his whistle in his mouth, ready to end the game any second now.
Just then, Ryan Ling made a sudden move and fired off a shot.
In a flash, four defenders plus the goalie rushed out to block it. Honestly, Ryan’s shot was way too straight, and with that many people defending, the odds of getting blocked were basically a hundred percent...
Sure enough, the ball was stopped cold by the other team.
Watching that block, Principal Tony Zhang and our coach basically couldn’t bear to look.
The referee checked his watch and began signaling for the end of the match.
Honestly, Harbor City High School getting this far today was already a miracle. Even if we didn’t beat Experimental High, for most Harbor City students, today’s match was pure soccer bliss—and Ryan Ling, no question, was already the hero of the whole school.
Suddenly, the ball swerved out of nowhere, found the tiniest gap, and shot straight into the other team’s goal.
At that exact moment, the ref blew the final whistle.
The shot Ryan Ling had taken—a total long shot—somehow, like fate or magic, actually went in.
Four to three! Harbor City High School’s soccer team had pulled off a last-second comeback.
Instantly, the whole stadium went nuts. The joy of victory hit Harbor City High like a caffeine overdose—kids were screaming, hugging, even the teachers were losing it. Principal Tony Zhang was jumping and cheering like he’d just won the lottery, looking less like a school leader and more like a kid who’d found a giant red envelope.
The pros outside the pitch were dumbfounded—everyone looked baffled, faces full of disbelief and confusion.
Seriously, nobody thought that ball would go in. Most people were staring at Ryan Ling, curiosity maxed out.
Ryan Ling didn’t care about all that. He’d come out today partly for the school’s honor, but honestly, he mostly wanted to see how his Wish-Bound Telekinesis Art really worked.
But right now, tons of people saw Ryan Ling as their idol. Principal Tony Zhang was so pumped, he treated Ryan like a lifesaver. The whole school finally washed away its shame, and the best part was, Principal Tony Zhang finally got to scold the Experimental High principal like a scolded grandson—he laid into him with all the pent-up energy of years of losses. That scene was just epic.
“You’re Ryan Ling, right? I’m Frank Fan. I’ll remember you!” Just as Ryan was leaving the field, a gritted-teeth voice called out—it was that player who’d tried to take him out earlier.
Right now, Frank’s knee was totally swollen, looked like he’d even messed up the bone. The way he stared at Ryan, you’d think he wanted to kill him.
“You brought it on yourself!” Ryan couldn’t be bothered to deal with him. He tossed out the words and walked away.
“Kid, I’ll make you pay!” Frank Fan clenched his fists, murder in his eyes.
...
Gotta admit, playing that match was seriously exhausting. And it wasn’t just physical—his mind felt sore and burned out. Clearly, overusing the Wish-Bound Telekinesis Art was rough on his body too. He’d have to take it easy in the future.
After all, he was still way too weak. If his power leveled up, this kind of fatigue would probably get way better.
But that was for later. Ryan didn’t stick around at school, just went home, showered, changed into clean clothes, and headed over to Seven Wang’s place for dinner. Ever since Ryan gave him that 100,000 yuan, Seven Wang’s family life had gotten way better—their health improved, Molly Wang finally found a good doctor for her tinnitus, and Seven Wang was beyond grateful to Ryan, swearing he’d cover all Ryan’s meals from now on.
Ryan Ling was more than happy to take him up on that. Living alone, he always had trouble eating decent meals, and Seven Wang was a pretty good cook. No way was he passing up that kind of “freebie.”
But halfway through dinner, Ryan Ling suddenly got a call from his goddess, Sophie Su.
“Ryan Ling, where are you right now? I’m in some trouble, can you come help me? I’m at No. 320 Lucky Fortune Road…”
Before Sophie could finish, a middle-aged man’s voice yelled from the other end: “You hit me, that’s the same as insulting the gods! No one you call can save you!”
Hearing that, Ryan Ling was totally thrown. Who the heck had Sophie pissed off, saying stuff like that? But he realized Sophie was in real trouble.
Plus, she hadn’t been showing up at school lately. Ryan had already thought it was weird, wanted to reach out, but never found the right chance.
Now that his goddess was in trouble, of course he had to rush over right away.
And the fact that Sophie thought of him when she needed help—obviously, he meant something special to her. Ryan was lost in those thoughts as he hopped in a cab.
From Ryan’s place to Lucky Fortune Road was about a ten-minute ride—not far at all.
While in the cab, the system pinged him: his reward for fighting for the school’s honor had come in—200 Merit Points, plus his jurisdiction had expanded. Besides the fifty members of his class, the system gave him a special bonus: he could randomly pick fifty more people from outside his class.
In other words, Ryan could pick these fifty people at random—not just from the school. Plus, his Book of Life and Death, which used to be thin, was now twice as thick. All those extra pages were blank; apparently, if he wrote anyone’s name down, their whole life story would appear, and they’d fall under his management.
But right now, all Ryan Ling could think about was Sophie Su’s safety—he didn’t care about any of that other stuff.
Soon, the cab pulled up to Lucky Fortune Road. As soon as he turned the corner, he heard a noisy crowd up ahead.
“This girl really doesn’t know her place, actually dared to hit Master Lin! Doesn’t she know Master Lin is the most famous fortune-teller in all of Harbor City? And that’s not even the worst—she smashed a Buddha statue too! Now the gods are gonna get angry!”
“Exactly! Master Lin isn’t just anyone—he’s our generation’s earth god. Eight Characters readings, weddings, funerals, house building—none of it happens without Master Lin. Hitting him is basically blasphemy!”
“Right! All the rich folks around here treat him like a god. I wanna see how this girl gets out of this mess—her family’s got some money, but this isn’t something you can fix just by paying up.”
...
After listening to the crowd, Ryan Ling more or less pieced together what had happened.
“Make way!” Ryan squeezed into the crowd and saw Sophie Su cornered, surrounded by people. A greasy middle-aged man sat nearby, a clear handprint on his face. On the ground, a Buddha statue and an incense burner lay smashed in half. Several middle-aged women were kneeling and worshipping the man like he was a deity, clearly hoping he’d calm down.
Ryan Ling felt stifled—he was the adopted son of Lord Yama and even he didn’t put on this kind of show. But this so-called Master Lin was really acting like he was some kind of god.
Plus, Ryan Ling knew Sophie Su—she’d never hit someone unless she absolutely had to. Seeing her torn clothes, Ryan was sure this so-called master had done something he shouldn’t.
Then Master Lin suddenly spoke up: “Folks, it’s not that I’m picking on this girl. She really insulted the gods! I just communed with the spirits, and they’ve agreed there’s only one way to settle this—she has to pay a hundred thousand yuan to appease them, or disaster will strike.”
“What? I came to you for a reading, you tried to bully me, and I only hit you because I had no choice. Now you’re just using this to extort me…” Sophie Su shot to her feet.
Ryan Ling’s heart skipped—just as he’d suspected. He glared hard at Master Lin. He had to teach this guy a lesson, especially since he was faking supernatural stuff to scam the crowd. This was something Ryan had to handle.
Just as Ryan made up his mind, Master Lin stood up too, face red and white: “Me, bullying you? Ridiculous! I’m a real master of fate, you think I’d bully a little girl? You hurt me, smashed the Buddha statue, and now you’re accusing others—hopeless! Honestly, the money is just what I bargained with the spirits for. If you don’t pay, once the gods get angry, you’re doomed—and everyone around you will get dragged down too. You’re too young to understand how serious this is!”
It was obvious Master Lin had a routine—his words instantly turned this into a public crisis.
All the superstitious old folks immediately mobbed Sophie Su, like they were starring in some cult drama.
It was clear they were pressuring her to pay up. Master Lin saw it and couldn’t help but smile—he looked like a cat that’d just found the cream, totally sure he’d get his payoff.
No matter how Sophie tried to explain, the crowd wasn’t listening anymore.
“Stop! Don’t listen to his nonsense—he’s just a straight-up con artist!” Ryan Ling didn’t hesitate, stepping in front of Sophie.
Sophie had been so anxious she was about to cry, but when Ryan Ling showed up, she immediately hid behind him, finally feeling a little safer.
“Another punk talking nonsense!” Master Lin gritted his teeth, eyes flashing. Suddenly he pointed at Ryan: “Folks, I just did a quick reading—this guy and that girl are both bad news. Especially him—he’s got a demonic aura, could bring disaster on everyone. We have to beat him, make him bleed, or we’ll all be cursed!”
The crowd was already brainwashed by Master Lin. One word from him and a bunch of angry people started closing in—like zombies chasing fresh meat...