"Victor Hua?" Ryan Ling froze for a split second. The newcomer was clearly the top figure in China's military world right now—the supreme expert, Victor Hua.
"Sixth-tier God Realm!" Even Ghost Elder inside his body furrowed his brows. Clearly, Victor Hua's strength was overwhelming—he completely overshadowed everyone else. At this moment, he didn't care about the rest of the Dragon Group or the Nang Family members. As long as he captured Sophia Long and Cindy Nang, it was like grabbing Ryan Ling's lifeline. And just as Ryan emerged from that underground chamber, another powerful sealing formation appeared around him. It was obvious now: all the previous obstacles—the Chow Family, Lin Xiao, Howard Wang, even the Bright Left and Right Envoys—were just bait. This was the real main course!
In an instant, Ryan Ling was left with nowhere to run. The sealing array around him burst into purple flames that shot hundreds of meters into the air. What terrified him even more was that Sophia Long and Cindy Nang—sucked into the Blue Hell Gourd—were now in the most dangerous crisis of their lives.
"Ryan Ling, did you really think we'd just let you walk out of here that easily?" Just as Victor Hua was about to strike, another booming voice rang out. It was none other than Zane Ouyang, the cult master of the World Dominion Society.
These two were the true 'gods' of Yan Capital. Ryan was wary of them both. Honestly, from the moment he invaded Hebei, he’d been wondering when they’d show up. Sure enough, they popped out right at the most critical moment!
And now, he finally understood—the underground chamber was actually the deadliest spot, the formation’s eye. The moment Ryan charged in, the annihilation array would activate, trapping him right at the center, with no way forward or back.
"Just as I thought—those two bastards really buried their ultimate trump card here!" Ghost Elder gritted his teeth inside Ryan’s body.
"Don’t panic!" Ryan clenched his fists. He’d come prepared, already expecting all sorts of trouble. Right now, he grabbed Guihai One-Blade’s Life Core—his life-bound divine pearl. Ryan knew that if he wanted to fight these two true gods head-on, his current strength was nowhere near enough. That’d be a one-way ticket to the grave.
But since he was here already, he had no choice—he had to fight to the death!
"Ryan Ling, let’s see how you get out of this one! Activate the array!" Victor Hua shouted, his voice booming. Instantly, endless killing intent surged toward Ryan alone; explosions erupted all around him, their force way more terrifying than any of Howard Wang’s so-called cutting-edge weapons. For a moment, those brutal blasts drove Ryan step by step toward the Blue Hell Gourd!
At this moment, there was nowhere left to run. With Sophia Long and Cindy Nang in mortal danger, Ryan Ling clenched his fist and charged straight toward the Blue Hell Gourd.
"What a hopeless romantic!" Seeing Ryan make that choice, Victor Hua burst out laughing. Meanwhile, Ghost Elder's face went pale as a sheet—this gourd was clearly a top-tier Dao artifact for trapping people. Once you go in, your chances of survival drop even lower.
But right now, Ryan had no choice!
"Ryan, we dragged you into this!" Sophia Long and Cindy Nang saw Ryan fly straight into the gourd, and instantly clung to him in terror, tears streaming down their faces.
"This isn’t your fault. I saw this coming ages ago. But we haven’t lost yet!" As Ryan spoke, the Primeval Heavenwood’s roots inside him instantly burst forth, wrapping all three of them in a cocoon and temporarily blocking the gourd’s flames from burning them.
"Nice! This guy’s got more treasures on him than I expected!" Victor Hua’s eyes lit up as he saw those powerful roots burst out.
"Bet he’s got even more goodies stashed away!" Zane Ouyang chimed in right after.
"We’ll strip him clean, one treasure at a time!" Victor Hua declared. Instantly, the flames inside the gourd flared up again, and the entire Chow Family forbidden zone started burning along with it.
"Xuanxuan!"
"Xinyi!"
......
The Dragon Group and Nang Family members who’d escaped the forbidden zone didn’t leave completely—they lingered at the edge of Hebei, safe for now but their hearts all hung up on Ryan and the other two.
If something really happened to them now, not a single person here would have the will to go on!
Meanwhile, at the center of the Primeval Heavenwood cocoon, Ryan and the girls were temporarily safe, but the flames were closing in. All three of them were sweating buckets in no time!
Obviously, if they stayed here much longer, even if the flames didn’t burn them alive, the heat would straight-up roast them to death!
"I can’t take it anymore!" Cindy Nang, the weakest of the three, was the first to crack—she started stripping off her clothes.
Seeing Cindy do that, Sophia Long couldn’t hold out either—she stripped down too. The two girls were drenched in sweat, panting with white mist escaping their lips. If this kept up, they’d both pass out from dehydration.
"Ryan, those two won’t last an hour! Hurry up and crush Guihai One-Blade’s Life Core—break through to Nascent Soul, even if it’s just temporary! Only with Nascent Soul power can you bust out of here!" Ghost Elder was freaking out too—even as a ghost, he was sweating buckets.
"Got it!" Ryan nodded. Honestly, it wasn’t just Sophia and Cindy—his own Glazed Golden Core body was feeling the burn like never before. The Heavenwood’s defenses were slowly getting torched, and if the roots weren’t so lush right now, they’d have been cooked in seconds!
Time was running out. Ryan didn’t hesitate—he whipped out Guihai One-Blade’s Life Core and crushed it on the spot!
He really hadn’t wanted to do this so easily, but right now, he had no other choice!
The moment the Life Core shattered, all its divine power surged into Ryan’s body. Guihai One-Blade’s strength was no joke—his source power was way above Zane Ouyang and Victor Hua out there. As that power rushed in, Ryan felt his cultivation shoot up like crazy.
"Break! Break! Break!" Ryan roared, his voice deep and fierce. In that instant, he pushed for a breakthrough like a madman—sure, he was riding Guihai One-Blade’s power, but the process was exactly like charging into Nascent Soul!
As his power soared, a hard lump in his dantian started to swell, slowly forming into a baby shape—the legendary Nascent Soul every cultivator dreams of!
Golden Core master, Nascent Soul patriarch—once you reach Nascent Soul, you become the ancestor of a family, a true titan. With that kind of power, you’re basically invincible among God Realm experts!
Even Zane Ouyang and Victor Hua, sixth- and seventh-tier God Realm monsters, wouldn’t stand a chance against a Nascent Soul!
"Nascent Soul—finally!" Ryan threw caution to the wind. With one last shout, his dantian’s Nascent Soul finally formed, and his strength hit a whole new level!
And as Ryan broke through, the Primeval Heavenwood inside him suddenly exploded with growth. The Heavenwood had long since fused with him—its fate tied to his. As Ryan’s power skyrocketed, the roots grew like mad, and not just a little bit, either.
"What’s going on? He’s still got energy left?"
"No way he’s got any left. The real shocker is that treasure! Even under this Yin-Yang Inferno, it’s still holding out!"
"Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he suffers! Burn, Yin-Yang Inferno!"
Outside, Victor Hua and Zane Ouyang kept a close eye on the gourd. Seeing the changes inside, both immediately ramped up the flames!
But as the Primeval Heavenwood’s roots exploded with growth, its life-giving liquid began to surge. Instantly, the temperature around Ryan dropped, the air freshened, and it felt like springs bubbled up at his side. Sophia and Cindy, who’d been suffering from the heat, suddenly brightened up.
"Ryan! I’m so thirsty!"
"Ryan, me too!"
......
Without another word, both girls crawled over and started licking the moisture off Ryan, their movements wild and uninhibited.
Ryan had just broken through to Nascent Soul, his inner fire blazing. With the girls like this, he instantly felt a surge of sensation.
"Don’t hold back, Ryan! Take them both, and your Nascent Soul state will last even longer!" Ghost Elder snickered mischievously from inside.