What the hell is going on in that girl's head? Ryan Ling couldn't help but shake his head. Sophia Long was obviously locked on to dual cultivation mode—no way she was giving up. Ryan: speechless, max level.
Damn, Ryan, you got girls dropping in like loot boxes! One after another, lining up for your XP grind. If you bagged someone from the Dragon Group, that'd be a power-up for sure—those guys are boss-tier in Huaxia. With them backing you, even Yan Capital would be easy mode! Ghost Elder snarked from inside his body.
Ryan waved it off: "Yeah, yeah, whatever." Bro was not in the mood for romance side quests. That whole thing with Chiharu Mitsui? Purely for cultivation buffs, thank you very much. Now her effect was pretty much on cooldown, and after Ryan's hell-level pounding, she was basically melted into a puddle. Might as well let Jin Million and the boys have a turn next round.
Ghost Elder piped up again: "Ready to punch in for Hell? I've got your Guiding Pass Medallion right here, and check it—Soul-Guiding Lantern, too! Full gear, no scuffed runs this time."
Ryan blinked. "Whoa, we're going full official this time?" Ghost Elder was busting out tokens like a gacha addict and even whipped out his Fourth-Grade Spirit Officer uniform. This trip was clearly next-level compared to their usual casual Hell strolls.
Ghost Elder rolled his eyes: "Obviously! Before, you were just speedrunning the Hell outskirts. But if you wanna grind out the last eight Infernal Madblade forms, you gotta dive deep—at least first three layers, so you get the real Hell vibe. Otherwise, you're just cosplaying, not unlocking the true Madblade OP."
He gave Ryan a long, meaningful look. Kid’s stats were already off the charts—unless Ghost Elder unsealed himself, he couldn’t keep up. Teenager this stacked? Legendary! But with a base this strong, every upgrade has to be solid. No wasted XP.
Back in the day, Guihai One-Blade was just a random mob—only after grinding months of Hell dungeon runs did he unlock his current swag. Ryan's following the same questline, but his starter pack is way better: Fourth-Grade Spirit Officer, Crown Prince of Yama, Ghost-King Robe, Hell Furnace. Even in Hell, he's basically VIP. With this build, every step forward is S-tier.
Ryan was all-in: "Fine, boss, I’m on your script—let’s roll!" No time to AFK. He only had one night left before the Hector Fujita deathmatch, and the whole East Asia server (plus global livestream) was watching. He could already sense the US troops in Japan getting antsy—those guys were the real final bosses, and Ryan was poking their cheese. If he wiped tomorrow, they’d go full raid on him.
If he did lose, it’d be GG—Japan, US garrison, World Dominion Society, all the big guilds would dogpile him. Getting smashed to bits? That’d be the easy ending!
No hesitation—Ryan followed Ghost Elder, speedrunning straight into Hell. Before, they’d just hung around the outskirts; now it was time for the hardcore core zone. Hell’s got eighteen layers, and today’s destination was Tongue-Pulling Hell: the place where rumor-mongers and drama queens get their tongues yanked for eternity. Justice served, Hell-style.
"Hold up—where do you think you’re going? No Western Pacifying King token, no entry to Tongue-Pulling Hell!" Ghost Elder was just leading Ryan in when a bunch of ghost soldiers jumped out, blocking their path like NPC guards.
Ghost Elder went full boss mode: "You blind? Take a good look—this is Lord Yama’s pass, and he’s a Fourth-Grade Spirit Officer from the human world! Blocking a big-shot official from the living realm—are you trying to get deleted from the server?"
"Uh… uh…" The ghost soldiers glitched out, exchanging panicked looks. Not one dared to hit reply.
A ghost general sauntered out, acting all slow-mo: "Rules just patched—now you need the Western Pacifying King’s token, even if you’ve got Lord Yama’s pass. No exceptions."
Ryan cracked his knuckles. "Big talk for a ghost general." With his current stats, he could one-shot this guy if he felt like it.
Ghost Elder waved him off: "Chill, let me handle this!" He stepped up, snorting: "Oh, it’s you, Martin Ma. Open your dog eyes and see who you’re dealing with—think you can flex on me? Get lost, scrub!"
Ghost Elder went full horror mode, face twisted like a demon boss.
"G-Ghost Elder, sir?" Martin Ma’s face went green, knees almost hitting the ground. But his ghost eyes spun as he tried to save face: "Ghost Elder, weren’t you demoted…"
"Demoted your ass—move it!" Suddenly, a familiar voice cut in, and a long, gorgeous leg sent Martin Ma flying like a ragdoll.
Who else? Zoe Zhong had entered the chat.
Ghost Elder wiped imaginary sweat: "Zoe, you showed up just in time—if not, I’d still be stuck at the door!"
Zoe Zhong went off: "He wouldn’t dare! Martin Ma’s just a nobody, hiding behind the Western Pacifying King and bullying people. If he so much as squeaks again, I’ll peel his ghost skin off myself!"
"M-Miss Zhong…" Martin Ma instantly lost all his swagger. Her brother, Marshal Zhong Kui, was a legend—Martin Ma wouldn’t dare mess with her, and neither would anyone else with half a brain.
The ghost soldiers around them all dropped to their knees, like dominoes.
"All of you, clear out!" Zoe Zhong barked. The ghost soldiers scrambled to the sides like NPC mobs obeying a GM command.
"Ghost Elder, Ryan, go on in. I’ll hold the door—let’s see who dares to mess with you!" Zoe Zhong planted herself at the gate, full-on door god mode.
"Thanks!" Ryan didn’t hesitate, just breezed right in—no more roadblocks.
Zoe Zhong grinned: "No need to thank me!" After the last boss fight, her heart was already rolling a crit for Ryan.
Inside Tongue-Pulling Hell, Ryan side-eyed Ghost Elder: "So the Western Pacifying King doesn’t even care about my old man now? Is he about to start a rebellion arc or what?"
Ghost Elder shrugged: "No clue. But yeah, things are getting spicy. Still, focus on grinding your stats first!" He clenched his fist, clearly feeling the pressure. Even with Ryan’s OP build, the Western Pacifying King was still a raid boss too far.
Ryan just nodded, no overthinking—straight into Tongue-Pulling Hell, body and soul merged. Time to unlock the hell fusion dao, the real cheat code of Infernal Madblade!
Suddenly, the whole Tongue-Pulling Hell—its structure, karma, formation—started swirling in Ryan’s mind. He caught sight of a shadow grinding away inside, like a time-travel bug: it was Guihai One-Blade, mid-training montage.
Ryan didn’t hesitate—fused with the phantom and started training right alongside it. Full immersion, no lag.
In that moment, Ryan’s whole avatar started morphing—inside, outside, system log updating. Full set: Infernal Madblade Eighteen Styles, rebooted and replayed from scratch.
Ghost Elder was hyped: "Nice, NICE! This fusion’s got real results!" He kept nodding, clearly loving Ryan’s progress bar.
Suddenly, Zoe Zhong burst in, looking like her app just crashed: "Bad news—Western Pacifying King’s procession just rolled up!"
Ghost Elder’s eyes bugged: "What, again? RNGesus hates us! Last time at Half-Step Border Town, now here in Tongue-Pulling Hell—Western Pacifying King keeps showing up. Last time, we could dodge, but now Ryan’s mid-enlightenment, can’t even alt-tab out!
Ghost Elder clenched his fist: "We’ll go block the procession—Ryan’s grind can’t be interrupted!" Brow furrowed, he was already sweating. The Western Pacifying King, Hell’s legendary iron-hat king, probably came for Ryan—the elusive Crown Prince of Yama. This was 100% trouble.
Before Ghost Elder and crew could move, a duck-screech voice blared outside: "By order of the Western Pacifying King, Fourth-Grade Spirit Officer Ryan Ling is commanded to come forth and attend His Lordship!" Cliffhanger unlocked!