"Kill him!" Right now, the shouts of slaughter around them shook the heavens.
Ryan Ling didn’t hesitate for a second—he unleashed his strongest slash, Melting Hell, sweeping out sideways with full force.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
In an instant, Murong Taicang exploded in terror—his whole body blew apart, blood and flesh splattering everywhere, and Ryan Ling kicked his head into a bloody pulp.
"We won!" The moment they saw Murong Taicang completely dead, everyone cried out in shock, excitement written all over their faces.
"Nicely done, Ryan Ling! At your age, you’ve already killed the Three Saints of Yan Capital back-to-back, and now you’ve slain a Middle Saint—forget just being canonized as a Saint, you could straight-up be crowned King of Jiangnan!" Guihai One-Blade’s voice rang out beside him, obviously full of pride.
"Everything I’ve achieved today is thanks to you, Senior. I hope you’ll keep supporting me just like always!" Ryan Ling steadied himself and spoke with deep respect.
No need to spell it out—if not for Guihai One-Blade today, things would’ve ended in a total bloodbath.
"Don’t worry, I’ll support you whenever you need it. But right now, you’ve got to shoulder the big responsibilities yourself. The World Dominion Society has heavy hitters gathering everywhere—maybe they’ll hesitate because of me for now, but soon enough they’ll start tripping you up. What you need to do next is keep leveling up your strength, because the road ahead is even more dangerous than today. You have to protect your parents and loved ones, just like you did now!" Guihai One-Blade said, his voice full of weight.
"Don’t worry, Senior, I’ll do exactly that—no way I’ll slack off for even a second!" Ryan Ling nodded. The road ahead was long and full of obstacles; today’s decisive kill of Murong Taicang felt awesome, but he knew the grudge with the World Dominion Society was now impossible to resolve.
Even though Guihai One-Blade is backing him now, he can't protect him forever—Ryan Ling has to get even stronger himself.
But as for what to do next, Ryan Ling still had to think it over carefully!
In the following days, as things gradually calmed down, Jinling returned to its prosperous state. With no more extortion from the three major families, many industries and merchants finally breathed a sigh of relief—their wallets were fuller, and smiles spread across their faces.
As for Cindy Nang, who was injured, with the help of Ryan Ling’s Heavenwood spirit liquid and Simon Sun the Medicine King’s bone-setting, her broken spine was rejoined. She couldn’t get up immediately, but was much better than before!
A few days later, amid the cheers of his brothers and the witnesses from all over Jiangnan, and personally hosted by Guihai One-Blade, Ryan Ling was formally canonized as a Saint.
Ryan Ling didn’t want to be crowned king—obviously, that would be way too flashy. Being canonized as a Saint was enough!
Originally, this canonization was prepared for Philip Qin—all the rituals and items were ready. But now Philip Qin obviously doesn’t need them, and everything went to Ryan Ling.
Of course, it was only natural for Ryan Ling to use these things—nobody dared say otherwise.
This canonization was all to stabilize Ryan Ling’s status. Since he’d already challenged the World Dominion Society, he had to make sure his momentum lasted to the end!
With the title of Jiangnan’s First Saint shining over him, outsiders would definitely think twice before making trouble!
After all this was done, Guihai One-Blade temporarily left—his true body seemed to be undergoing even bigger upheavals and couldn’t spare attention for long.
Not long after Guihai One-Blade left, the Ghost Elder inside Ryan Ling’s body chuckled, “Ryan, good news—want to hear it?”
“What good news?” Ryan Ling was stunned for a moment, then smiled, “Did I just get another system reward?”
“You’re right, there’s a reward! After you dominated Hong Kong and unified Jinling, the Netherworld is promoting you. You were a Seventh-Grade Spirit Officer, now you’re being promoted three ranks to Fourth-Grade. This kind of rapid promotion has never happened before—the Netherworld will soon assign you a judge and ten ghost generals. Your power in the living world has grown, and your foundation in the Netherworld is solidifying too—this is great news!” The Ghost Elder grinned widely, clearly pleased that the ordeal, though painful, brought huge rewards.
Right, a Fourth-Grade Spirit Officer is a major official. Plus, when you announced it, even my Ghost-King Robe seemed to upgrade!” Ryan Ling replied.
You sensed it? The Ghost-King Robe is celebrating for you too. I bet before long you’ll be a true Ghost King—then you’ll be the real Yama, an unrivaled existence!” The Ghost Elder gave a thumbs-up.
Ryan Ling nodded heavily. Though the road ahead was sure to be full of thorns, at least this outcome was good and worthy of all his hard effort.
Ryan, that’s just a minor thing. The real good news is what you’ve dreamed of—your Yama dad has approved your marriage with Sophie Su. From now on, you can do whatever you want with her!” The Ghost Elder laughed mischievously.
Hearing this, Ryan Ling almost spat blood. After waiting so long, the day had finally come—he was dazed, like it was all a dream.
Don’t be dumb—go do what you want! I bet your Sophie has been waiting for you!” The Ghost Elder grinned slyly.