But the moment the System finished speaking, the Hong Family Grandmaster Ancestor’s gang‑qi hurricane slammed into Ryan Ling with a deafening roar. Instantly, the entire lawn around Ryan exploded, sending dirt and dust flying and completely burying him—nobody could tell if he was alive or dead.
Everyone else instinctively backed away, faces drained of color. That strike was as brutal as a small missile hitting the ground—the crowd was stunned to see the earth sink more than a meter deep. No matter how tough your body, nobody could survive a hit like that.
“Hahaha! Dead, totally dead! You little bastard, now you get it—this is the power of the Hong family! With your lowlife status, you really thought you could wipe us out solo? Dream on! You wanted to send me down to the Eighteenth Level of Hell? Well, you can go first!” Stanley Hong burst out laughing, almost manic with arrogance, eyes gleaming with pride.
Beside him, the Grandmaster Ancestor gave a cold smile. With his attack, any so‑called expert would be instantly crushed. Most people couldn’t see his face, but Warren Yuan saw it clearly—it looked almost exactly like Stanley Hong’s, with that same ‘I’m number one, everyone else is an ant’ attitude.
Right now, faced with this sudden turn of events and Hong Sihai’s wild laughter, everyone was basically stunned.
Even Jason Lin and the others looked pale. Sure, they knew better than anyone how strong Ryan Ling was—like, next‑level strong—but this attack was way too sudden and way too vicious. Just now, they’d even seen real fear on Ryan’s face, something he hadn’t shown even when fighting the snake demon.
No wonder—they figured Ryan might really be done for this time.
“The main troublemaker’s dead now, but these people all challenged the Hong family’s authority. That’s a capital offense—none of them can be allowed to live! Ancestor, I say we kill them all, leave no witnesses!” Stanley Hong sneered, his smile twisted and crafty. Everyone present saw the ugly side of him; if he didn’t silence them now, his hard‑earned reputation in Harbor City would collapse overnight.
Hearing this, the Grandmaster Ancestor didn’t hesitate at all. More brutal gang‑qi erupted from him—this hundred‑year master was stronger than any fierce ghost. Who could stand against that kind of power? Even if everyone here joined forces, they wouldn’t last a second against him.
His grandmaster aura was totally maxed out.
“Everyone, move! Get out now!” At this critical moment, Samuel Su and the Harbor City Martial Arts Association reps shouted out. Even though it hurt to see Ryan Ling’s fate unknown, saving lives was the priority.
“Warren, Frank, let’s help too!” Jason Lin’s eyes were red as he yelled. Warren Yuan already had tears welling up, his whole body shaking, but he forced himself to stay strong. Frank Qin was so furious that smoke was practically pouring out of him—zombie rage going full blast. At this point, nothing else mattered.
Harvey “Million” Jin was totally stunned. He grabbed a machine gun and started spraying bullets like crazy into the black mist, cursing the Hong clan’s ancestors for eighteen generations: “Screw your ancestors! Screw your forefathers! Screw the Hong family all the way back—arghhh!”
But all that machine‑gun fire did nothing—a single blast of gang‑qi sent Harvey flying.
“Harvey!” Warren Yuan, who was closest to Harvey “Million” Jin, rushed to catch him—but before he could move, gang‑qi wrapped around his legs and slammed him to the ground.
“Useless trash, trying to fight back? Drop dead, all of you! Ancestor, wipe them out—leave no one alive!” Stanley Hong snarled, practically foaming at the mouth.
The Hong Family Grandmaster Ancestor gave a cold snort. Instantly, countless gang‑qi threads spread out like spiderwebs, trapping everyone in the crowd. A few people had almost escaped, but those ‘qi threads’ dragged them right back.
“Leave no one! Kill them all!” Stanley Hong slashed his arm through the air, and the Grandmaster Ancestor attacked again.
“Hong Sihai, you bastard! Even if I die and become a ghost, I’ll never let you off!”
“I’ll turn into a fierce ghost and curse your dog‑ass—slaughtering so many people today, you’ll get what’s coming to you!”
“Hong Sihai, all you Hong clan bastards—you’re all headed straight for the Eighteenth Level of Hell!”
...
Everyone started shouting, hurling their final curses—despair written all over their faces.
But right at that life‑or‑death moment, a thunderous voice rang out: “Ninth‑Grade Spirit Officer opens court to hear the case—what fierce ghost dares be arrogant before a Spirit Officer? Kneel at once!”
That voice seemed to come straight from the abyss, icy cold and bone‑chilling. Instantly, everyone shuddered—and the whole ‘trapping formation’ made of gang‑qi vanished in a puff of smoke.
“Wh‑what just happened?”
“Ryan’s not dead—he’s alive! No way someone like Ryan would go down that easy!”
“Awesome! I told you—if he could even kill a snake demon, there’s no way he’d die like that. My Master Ryan, you’re still alive—this is the best news ever!”
Warren Yuan, Jason Lin, Harvey “Million” Jin, and the others were instantly overjoyed. Their tears of despair turned to tears of happiness.
Samuel Su and the Harbor City Martial Arts Association folks also shouted with excitement. After surviving that brush with death, everyone’s blood was running hot.
“Justice stands strong!”
“The Way of Heaven endures!”
The crowd shouted the Harbor City Martial Arts Association’s founding creed. Even after years of oppression, the people of Harbor City never gave up hope—and now, their faith was stronger than ever.
As everyone cheered, the dust cleared. Ryan Ling sat high in the air like a true deity, surrounded by swirling mist—as if legions of ghostly soldiers stood at his back.
(This chapter isn’t over yet ^.^—click next page to keep reading!)
“Master!” Warren Yuan couldn’t hold back his excitement and dropped to his knees. Others were just baffled, but Warren was completely awestruck.
In Warren Yuan’s eyes, Ryan Ling wore full Underworld officer robes, flanked by eight fierce, vicious ghost messengers—and beside him stood two even more mysterious Underworld ‘giants.’ Warren could barely look at them, not knowing they were actually the system’s ghost elder and the Soul Elder, both top-tier mysteries even in the Underworld. Today, they’d come out to back Ryan’s first Spirit Officer trial and to intimidate the Hong Family Grandmaster Ancestor.
With that kind of lineup, even the fiercest evil spirit would be scared out of its wits—let alone any ordinary person.
Right now, only Warren Yuan and the Hong Family Grandmaster Ancestor could see this rare sight. The Grandmaster Ancestor’s arrogant swagger was gone—his gang‑qi shrank like a frightened rabbit, and his hundred‑year soul trembled as if facing a natural enemy.
But Hong Sihai was still totally clueless, his arrogance undimmed. Staring up at Ryan Ling, he kept barking, “You little bastard, don’t think you’re tough just because you dodged the Ancestor’s attack. The Ancestor’s still got plenty of tricks—tear off his disguise, kill him, skin him alive!”
Everyone turned to stare at the swirling black mist—they all knew how dangerous it was. Even though they expected Ryan Ling to strike back, nobody felt truly confident.
“Victor Hong! Spirit Officer in session—kneel and await judgment, or do you want to be thrown into the Eighteenth Level of Hell?” That thunderous voice rang out again.
“You little bastard, playing at gods and ghosts—how dare you speak my ancestor’s name with that filthy mouth? Ancestor, I beg you, slap him and cut out his tongue! What Spirit Officer? He thinks he’s some kind of god?” Stanley Hong kept screaming, treating Ryan as a lowborn nobody unworthy to give him orders.
But just as Stanley finished, the Grandmaster Ancestor couldn’t hold out any longer. His whole black soul-mass slammed to the ground, kowtowing and crying out: “This little ghost didn’t know the Spirit Officer was in session! I deserve ten thousand deaths—please, Spirit Officer, forgive me!”
Stanley Hong was utterly dumbfounded.
Everyone else was stunned too.
Because just as the Grandmaster Ancestor dropped to his knees, an astonishing scene appeared in midair.
The two murderers from Wuzhou High, Tiger Fang the Xingyi master, Thomas the Western sword expert, seven Wuzhou killers, and the Hong clan’s two young masters—all the slain souls appeared in midair.
They wore shackles and prison garb, all kneeling before Ryan Ling. Off to the side, a line of blood-red characters blazed: Eighteenth Level of Hell Entrance...