"Saint Earthward, I'll admit I'm no match for you right now, but don't get cocky just yet. You're still a bit too weak to take me on—Void Immortal Talisman, activate!" At this critical moment, Damon, Lord of the West, didn't hesitate for a second. He instantly triggered the Void Immortal talismanic sigil, and his entire body transformed, radiating illusory golden light from inside out. Every single ray seemed packed with infinite power—definitely not something a Ghost Immortal could withstand, and strong enough to tear through the fabric of time itself.
For a moment, it felt like the entire Netherworld was under Damon’s control—the whole realm actually started spinning in sync with his thoughts!
"No way! Void Immortal power—this really is Void Immortal power! That’s insane!"
"We're doomed. Void Immortal power is way too much for us, there's no way we can hold out—this time we're really finished!"
"Even at his peak, Saint Earthward’s power is just Ghost Immortal level—there’s no way he can block a rampage like this!"
......
Right now, everyone around—Marshal Zhong Kui, Ghost Elder, and the rest—looked absolutely ghost-white. Damon’s power was just unfathomable. At this moment, all the qi in heaven and earth was orbiting around him, and Saint Earthward’s aura instantly weakened.
Lord Yama’s face went deathly pale—he could only shake his head, totally speechless.
He knew perfectly well that from this moment on, the entire Netherworld belonged to Damon.
But right then, Saint Earthward didn’t move at all. He just stared Damon down, eyes locked, and started silently chanting something—nobody knew what. All they could tell was, as he chanted, his body began to burn, little by little!
"Bodhisattva, are you really sacrificing yourself—are you going to fight this demon to the end?" Lord Yama watched Saint Earthward’s fearless resolve and couldn’t help but feel a surge of hope.
"Bodhisattva!" The other experts around all dropped to their knees at the sight.
"Saint Earthward, you really are stubborn as hell. Fine, I’ll send you off to your so-called nirvana!" Damon sneered, all mockery in his eyes. He didn’t hesitate at all—roared, and the Void Immortal sigil’s aura turned into countless killing blades, billions of them shooting straight at Saint Earthward.
Saint Earthward’s body was burning like crazy, but even that couldn’t hold back Damon’s Void Immortal power.
"If I don’t descend to hell, who will? Damon, kill me alone and spare the innocent, okay?" By now, half of Saint Earthward’s body was already burned away, but his gaze was still infinitely compassionate, not a trace of resentment.
"You think you’re in any position to bargain with me? Crawl away right now and I’ll let you keep half your life, Bodhisattva! Hahaha!" Damon’s eyes had zero respect for any Buddha or Bodhisattva—his murderous intent was off the charts.
"Stubborn to the end! If you keep this up, someone else will come to deal with you!" Saint Earthward shouted, and his whole body exploded, leaving only his head. Instantly, all his scattered flesh and blood flowed back into the shattered Netherworld—where the two top experts’ rampage had nearly collapsed the realm, now, thanks to the Bodhisattva’s sacrifice, the Netherworld slowly started healing again!
"Hahaha, who are you talking about? You still counting on Lord Yama, that useless loser? Is there anyone left in the Netherworld who can stop me, Damon?" Hearing Saint Earthward talk like that, Damon just laughed wildly, his eyes filled with contempt for every living soul.
"You’ll find out soon enough!" Saint Earthward retorted, his head still glaring at Damon with utter contempt—like, even in defeat, a guy like Damon wasn’t worthy to meet his eyes.
"Fake, phony mercy—who asked you to talk? Blow up!" Damon sneered, then shouted. Instantly, a savage blast of killing intent slammed into Saint Earthward’s head. With a thunderous boom, it exploded into dust, and the Bodhisattva’s presence was totally wiped from the Netherworld!
"Bodhisattva!" At that moment, every single ghost present—including Lord Yama—fell to their knees. It was obvious: they’d hit absolute despair. Their hearts shattered right along with Saint Earthward’s explosion.
"Bunch of weaklings! Well, now your big boss is toast—so it’s your turn!" Damon’s eyes swept over all the ghosts present. With Saint Earthward gone, he felt absolutely no hesitation, no mercy. Saint Earthward had been his one real obstacle—now that he’d crossed that line, killing anyone else didn’t even faze him.
"Go on, kill me however you like!" Lord Yama seemed to have let go of everything. He closed his eyes, pressed his palms together—almost imitating Saint Earthward’s nirvana.
"Yama, you and I go back thousands of years. Tell me where Ryan Ling is hiding and maybe I’ll show a little mercy!" Damon was in full tyrant mode now, staring at Lord Yama and instantly remembering Ryan Ling. At this point, killing anyone else didn’t matter—the real goal was to find the guy the Immortal Domain big shot wanted.
Even though Damon was doing whatever he wanted here, in front of that big shot, he was still just an ant.
"Heh, dream on!" Lord Yama replied, not even bothering to open his eyes.
"Then you’re asking for death!" Damon snarled, his rage exploding to the max.
Ghost Elder and Granny Soul exchanged a look; deep down, they were both hoping Ryan Ling could really turn things around. They were honestly praying for a miracle.
And right at that critical, desperate moment, suddenly all the ghosts heard a massive explosion from the very bottom of the Eighteenth Hell. In an instant, thunderclouds gathered overhead—the scene was absolutely earth-shaking. Someone was ascending the Heaven-Tribulation, and the spectacle was so epic that half the Netherworld was covered in thunderclouds!
"Ryan Ling!" Ghost Elder and Granny Soul shouted at the same time, suddenly overcome with excitement. At this point, there was no doubt—no one else could be breaking through the Heaven-Tribulation here except Ryan Ling.
Seeing this unfold, even Damon looked a little puzzled.
But as he took a closer look, Damon just snorted coldly—this kind of breakthrough was nothing to him, like kids playing house.
Then, golden light burst forth, and a figure appeared—it was none other than Ryan Ling!
"Ryan Ling!" Lord Yama saw him too, his feelings impossibly tangled. Watching his adopted son break through at a time like this, he couldn’t help but feel a bit proud. But the enemy was Damon, who’d just wiped out even Saint Earthward. Against such overwhelming power, even if Ryan Ling succeeded in breaking through the fifth-layer Heaven-Tribulation, what good would it do?
"Ryan Ling, Ryan Ling—you’re the one I’ve been searching for, and you just show up on your own, ascending the Heaven-Tribulation too! What should I say to that? You really think your fifth-layer Heaven-Tribulation can handle me? Hahaha!" Watching Ryan Ling so focused on his breakthrough, Damon didn’t bother to stop him, just laughed in utter disdain. To him, even if Ryan Ling broke through to the ninth-layer Heaven-Tribulation, he’d still be nothing but an ant.
"Lord Yama, trust Ryan Ling! He’s fought tooth and nail to keep ascending—he must have his reasons. He’s definitely got what it takes to beat Damon, I believe in him!" Ghost Elder blurted out, still buzzing with excitement.
"R-really?" Hearing Ghost Elder, Lord Yama’s hands started to shake. That one sentence hit him hard. The other ghosts all looked at Ghost Elder too, clearly in disbelief.
"Nonsense! You want me to crush him right now?" Damon obviously heard that too, snorted coldly, and was about to make a move. But then he suddenly remembered the Immortal Domain big shot’s warning: they needed Ryan Ling alive.
So he just laughed and said, "Fine, I’ll wait for him to break through—let’s see if he can beat me!"
At that moment, Ryan Ling saw everything—there was no way to hide his breakthrough this time. He worried that if Damon interfered, all his efforts would go up in smoke!
But now, hearing Damon’s words, Ryan Ling immediately realized—this was his real chance to turn things around…