Obviously, Ryan Ling wasn’t challenging the authority of the entire Elder Council with that line—he was straight-up provoking Arthur Shentu. Everyone knew the sect basically already decided Arthur was the one who’d get into Celestial Hall, so when Ryan said that, no way Arthur was letting it slide!
“You think you’re worthy of Celestial Hall?” After a few seconds of awkward silence, some elders immediately started throwing shade.
But most people turned to look behind them—under the blazing sun, a towering figure was glaring this way. That was Arthur Shentu.
“Bro, you’re seriously overestimating yourself. You’re just asking to get wrecked!” Another elder chimed in, clearly trying to stir the pot.
At that moment, Arthur Shentu’s face looked even uglier than before.
But Elder Harold Hong was sharp—he saw right through the situation and immediately spoke up: “Everyone, maybe we should actually talk this out. Every year the newcomer king gets a shot at Celestial Hall, and Ryan Ling’s strength totally qualifies him as this year’s king. So if he wants in, why not?”
The surrounding elders heard that and, honestly, it did kinda make sense.
Year after year, the strongest newcomer gets to enter Celestial Hall, and right now Ryan Ling’s power definitely matches that level.
If that’s the reason, nobody can easily argue against it!
But just then, Arthur Shentu’s voice rang out: “Sure, newcomer king usually gets Celestial Hall, but this year I want to break the rules. I want it all to myself—even the king doesn’t get in!”
“What did you just say?” Ryan Ling gritted his teeth. Arthur Shentu was acting all high and mighty, which was beyond annoying—and saying that was straight-up picking a fight. Ryan still had Shade Thirteen in his grip, so he totally had leverage to bargain. Getting into Celestial Hall was his number one goal, and he’d do whatever it took to make that happen!
“Kid, you think you can use that loser as a bargaining chip? If that’s what you’re going for, you’re dead wrong. I honestly don’t care if you just kill him right here!” Arthur Shentu smirked, eyes full of contempt.
“Arthur Shentu, you bastard—save me first!” Shade Thirteen screamed, his eyes blazing with hatred.
Arthur Shentu just shrugged, acting like he couldn’t care less whether Shade Thirteen lived or died.
“Oh, you’re trying to provoke me? Fine, I’ll show you—I’ll kill him right now!” Ryan Ling didn’t hesitate; the sound of bones cracking echoed as Shade Thirteen was left barely hanging on.
“Ryan Ling, let him go! Ryan, stop—let him go now!” The elders around started freaking out. If Ryan really killed Shade Thirteen, they’d all be responsible, since Arthur Shentu was one of their own. This was basically forcing Ryan’s hand!
Elder Harold Hong also jumped in: “Arthur Shentu, you’re way out of line! You’re deliberately provoking Ryan Ling—does Shade Thirteen’s life mean nothing to you? Enough, I’m the acting elder in charge of Ruins Sect right now, and I’m deciding that Ryan Ling gets into Celestial Hall. He’s qualified, it’s fair, and this year you two can share Celestial Hall!”
“Harold Hong, who do you think you are? You think you can boss me around? Not a chance!” Arthur Shentu yelled, looking ready to throw hands with Harold Hong.
Suddenly, the atmosphere got super tense, like the whole Ruins Sect was about to erupt into an all-out brawl!
Just then, a voice suddenly rang out: “The Sect Master has decreed—this year, Celestial Hall has two slots. One for Arthur Shentu, one for Ryan Ling. And nobody’s allowed to bring up today’s incident ever again. If you do, you’ll be executed by sect law—period!”
Everyone immediately knew that voice came from the Sect Master’s personal attendant—so it was 100% the sect’s official decision.
For a moment, the Elder Council crew looked a little confused.
Arthur Shentu clenched his teeth, obviously seething inside. It was like he had a huge cake all to himself, and now someone else barged in to take a slice—no way he was okay with that!
But Elder Harold Hong was the first to reply: “Sect Master is wise! We obey!”
Once Harold Hong said it, the other elders quickly echoed: “Sect Master is wise! We obey!”
I mean, this was the Sect Master’s order—who’d dare say no?
Even if Arthur Shentu was a genius, he didn’t dare say a word right now—he just had to swallow his anger and keep quiet.
“Ryan Ling, you can let Shade Thirteen go now—don’t push your luck.” Elder Harold Hong winked at Ryan, who immediately understood Harold was on his side. Ryan let Shade Thirteen go right away; honestly, killing that guy wouldn’t have changed anything for him at this point.
He’d already achieved his main objective!
“Listen, kid, don’t think just because the Sect Master spoke up you’ll actually get anything out of Celestial Hall. As long as I’m here, forget it!” Arthur Shentu came over, eyes like a death god locked onto Ryan.
Ryan Ling just smirked coldly, totally ignoring him. Still, he could feel the guy’s aura was seriously fierce—Arthur Shentu’s Heavenly Immortal qi was basically exploding. Ryan figured Arthur might break through to the next realm any day now, and going to Celestial Hall was obviously his way to level up!
With his current strength, Ryan Ling couldn’t really go toe-to-toe with Arthur yet. But the sect had spoken, so even if Arthur was pissed, he wouldn’t dare go wild—especially since Celestial Hall was so close to Ruins Sect’s top brass. No way anyone could get away with crazy moves here!
“Ryan, are you okay?” The women nearby were overjoyed to see Ryan safe and sound. Pulling off a comeback in a mess like this just proved how badass he was.
“I’m fine—actually, I feel great!” Ryan Ling smiled, full of hope for the future.
He turned to Elder Harold Hong, who’d clearly helped him more than anyone. Ryan thanked him right away: “Elder Harold, thank you—if it weren’t for you…”
Before Ryan could finish, Harold Hong waved him off: “Don’t mention it—I’m just looking out for the sect’s future. When Ruins Sect faces crisis, I hope you’ll step up!”
“Don’t worry, I will!” Ryan nodded. Harold Hong was clearly talking about Nine-Dragon Gate, and right now Ryan was already planning to take them down. He didn’t need Harold to ask—he was going to do it anyway!
Harold Hong nodded in satisfaction, then added, “Get ready—you’ll be heading to Celestial Hall tomorrow. Just be super careful with Arthur Shentu. If you can avoid provoking him, do it, okay?”
“Got it!” Ryan was crystal clear—what he really wanted was the Primeval Heavenwood branch. Everything else, like Celestial Hall’s training perks, didn’t matter to him at all.
That night, Ryan was way too hyped to sleep!
Early the next morning, Harold Hong led Ryan deep into the sect. The Ruins Sect core was packed with powerful arrays, and the formations were seriously intense. There were all kinds of top experts moving around—Ryan counted at least a dozen Heavenly Immortals. This place was next-level strong!
But there was one absolute top-tier presence whose power had reached the very peak of Heavenly Immortal—yet there wasn’t a hint of Profound Immortal aura. Above Heavenly Immortal is Profound Immortal, the strongest in the Immortal Domain World. And above Profound Immortal is Golden Immortal—if you reach that, you have to ascend, because the Immortal Domain World can’t even handle someone that strong!
Of course, none of that was Ryan’s concern right now. All he wanted was to get into Celestial Hall ASAP!
Lost in thought, Ryan finally saw a super mysterious palace up ahead. From Tender Haven, Celestial Hall had looked tiny, but up close it was massive—like ten times bigger than Tender Haven!
“Is that Ryan Ling?” A voice boomed out at the gate—so commanding and powerful it felt like it could see right through you…