Ryan Ling took a deep breath. He knew perfectly well that these guys were way stronger than any provincial team before—none of them were pushovers. Each one was radiating the glow of the Profound-Tier Void Realm. Sure, Jason Lin, Harvey "Million" Jin, and the other five were no slouches either, with plenty of tricks up their sleeves, but truth be told, they hadn’t truly stepped into the Profound-Tier Void Realm yet.
But right now, Ryan wasn’t making a move. He understood—if you want to really level up, you have to fight tough opponents. When heroes meet on a narrow path, only the bravest win. You only grow by daring to challenge the strong.
That goes for everyone else—and for his own brothers too.
Ryan Ling had to be ruthless about this!
Right now, all the banter and trash talk had vanished. Before a real battle, everyone’s focus zeroed in on the fight itself. And as soon as Jinling’s five Profound-Tier Void Realm fighters unleashed their aura, nearly everyone in the stands held their breath.
Nobody said another word. All eyes were locked on the ring—at this point, even the jokers shut up, because the vibe between these top fighters was deadly serious.
"Damn it, I’ve let you play around long enough! Time for this show to end. You Jiangdong scum, drop dead—now!" Shane Shen didn’t hesitate for a second; he charged straight in, and the other four followed to kill.
The overwhelming aura of five Profound-Tier Void Realm fighters swept over the whole arena in an instant!
"Screw it! Kill!" On the other side, Gabriel Xue was the undisputed leader—he didn’t hesitate either. He’d never backed down on the battlefield, and he wasn’t about to start here.
With his command, all the good men charged in too.
The two sides’ massive auras crashed together with a thunderous boom. A giant crack split open right down the center of the arena, and the thousand people in the front rows were all knocked flat.
"Activate the defense system! Protect the audience!" The organizers finally realized how bad things were getting. With a shout, huge protective barriers shot up all around. Normally, these shields stayed off—unless it was a top-tier showdown like this.
In the last three tournaments, the shields had only ever gone up once. This time, with Ryan Ling and Quentin Qin about to clash, the organizers had reinforced the barriers just in case. But nobody expected they’d have to turn them on before the two top dogs even started fighting—total surprise for the whole staff.
"Go spread the word—get all the organizers’ top fighters out there, posted at every corner to reinforce the shields! And move the first ten rows of spectators back—don’t let anything crazy happen!" The staffer wiped sweat from his forehead, staring at the surging battle aura. His heart was pounding—nobody knew how wild things might get next.
Now, with two truly powerful sides clashing, tricks and techniques didn’t matter anymore. What counted was pure Void Realm aura.
Among masters, it all comes down to raw internal force!
That’s how it’s always been—since ancient times!
Right now, both sides’ auras were swirling like wild dragons, sparking with lightning and fire. The crack in the middle kept widening, and jets of flame shot up several meters high.
"Holy crap, this is what a real showdown looks like! This is the peak of Jiangnan martial arts—now the real show’s on!" Tons of people nearby were shouting in excitement.
After all, this tournament isn’t just for show—it’s for watching the fights.
"You fat pig, how dare you mess with my cousin just now? Get down on your knees!" Fiona Shangguan's eyes locked onto Harvey "Million" Jin, the weakest of the five. Instantly, her Pure Maiden Art wrapped him up—his leg buckled, and he dropped to one knee with a loud thud.
A moment later, Harvey looked like he was getting smothered by thousands of invisible threads. His skin and fat shrank tight, and his whole chunky frame shriveled down to nearly half its size.
"See that, Ryan? That's Pure Maiden Art. This technique's wild—soft but deadly, and once those threads start wrapping, you're finished! Every filament is pure essence. If you could absorb all of them, your Foundation-Building Stage would hit the peak, and you'd finally have a shot at Golden Core!" The Ghost Elder couldn't help but shout when he saw Fiona unleash her move.
"Definitely wild stuff!" Ryan nodded, feeling the tension ratchet up inside him.
"One down—now I'll drop you all!" Shane Shen roared, unleashing a savage gale. Only Gabriel Xue and Warren Yuan, the strongest, stayed steady; everyone else staggered, barely hanging on.
Meanwhile, Quentin Qin lounged back in his seat, totally satisfied. Behind him, seven or eight pretty-boy courtesans were hauled off like corpses, their butts all busted up. The steward just shook his head, thinking his own ass felt super itchy now.
"Perfect, keep smashing 'em! Take out those losers first, then crush Ryan Ling!" Quentin Qin burst out laughing as he watched. Two of his brothers—both already Profound-Tier Void Realm—sat on either side, ready to back him up.
The three of them cracked up together, and suddenly the Jinling Team’s section was rocking with smug laughter, wave after wave. No matter how hard Jiangdong fought, it looked like they’d end up eating dirt at Jinling’s feet.
"Damn it!" Ryan clenched his fists hard. He was already set to jump in!
But just then, Frank Qin the zombie and Anqi Chen couldn’t hold back any longer—they charged into the fight right at the critical moment.
With two fresh heavy-hitters joining, the nearly beaten Jiangdong crew suddenly rallied. Even Harvey "Million" Jin broke loose from the Pure Maiden threads.
"Jiangdong never falls! We're always unbeatable! Brothers, fight!" Gabriel Xue was fired up, howling at the sky. His aura boiled over, and the other six didn’t hesitate—they downed every pill Ryan had given them.
Suddenly, the seven-man squad's momentum went wild—they spiked so hard they actually outmatched Shane Shen and his five.
"No way! These bastards!" Shane was stunned, and Fiona Shangguan’s face flushed red—she was dying inside from the loss.
"Kill, kill, kill! Jinling Team is truly invincible! Wipe out these Jiangdong losers—kill them all!" Fiona Shangguan shouted, charging to the front. Her glare locked onto Anqi Chen—her number-one rival. Just seeing Anqi was enough to make Fiona’s temper explode.
"All for one, brothers unite—crush!" Gabriel Xue didn’t flinch, roaring as the seven powers merged into one and smashed into Fiona. Alone, she couldn’t hold back the flood; she staggered, her black outfit shredded, and even her pink bra got exposed.
"Hell yeah, nice shot!" Ryan stood on the Jiangdong Team’s high platform, shouting with excitement.
Inside Ryan, the Ghost Elder cackled, "See that, Ryan? Fiona’s got some serious assets. She’s a pure maiden, you know what that means? It means no man’s ever touched her—not even a finger. That’s Pure Maiden. You gotta snatch her up, and don’t go easy—wreck her, the rougher the better. That’s how you break her and make Jinling bow down. Why should Jinling always be on top? That’s total BS! Remember what I said!"
"Got it, sheesh!" Ryan nodded quickly. When the Ghost Elder goes nuts, nobody can compete.
But after hearing all that—and seeing that sexy bra—Ryan couldn’t help but find Fiona a little tempting. If no guy’s ever touched her, then maybe it’s time she met a real man. Watching her act so high and mighty just made Ryan even more fired up.