Suddenly, the Dragon Scale flashed with light—Ryan Ling jumped in shock, clearly not expecting such a change. Even crazier, at the most critical moment, the Dragon Scale transformed into a pale yellow protective membrane, wrapping Ryan up tight. Then, with a violent explosion, everything—absolutely everything—vanished into thin air.
"Dead? Is he dead?" The spectators nearby were all left dumbstruck.
"Definitely dead. The guy's already gone—just now, Philip Qin's strike wiped him out for good. What a shame, a legendary young genius snuffed out so early. Eighteen years old and already that strong—if he'd survived, East River State might've totally changed, maybe even the whole Jiangnan Region would've turned things around. Too bad, now it's all just a pipe dream!"
"Yeah, no kidding. Right now it's still the Qin Family running the show—honestly, it's a tragedy for Jiangnan martial arts. Even a legit champion of the Southriver Regional Martial Arts Tournament gets erased just like that. I bet tons of people will flee overseas after this. Who's gonna risk their neck for the country under this kind of oppression?"
"Sigh, after this disaster, Jinling's about to turn into a bloodbath. The Qin clan's been ruthless for three generations—narrow-minded to the core. Ryan Ling may be dead, but he's still got plenty of loyal followers, even the whole East River State backing him. Anyone connected to him is in big trouble now. We'd better shut up before we get ourselves killed!"
......
Right now, everyone around was watching in shock, and in the end, all they could do was shake their heads again and again.
In the blink of an eye, snow started falling harder across all of Jinling. September snow drifting down on the world—like it was foreshadowing the end of a tragedy.
And the news that "Ryan Ling" had been killed spread across all of China within minutes!
......
In a haze, with no idea how much time had passed, Ryan Ling finally woke up to find himself lying on a beach. Right next to him, the Dragon Scale was quietly stuck upright in the sand.
"Where am I? Am I alive or dead?" Ryan stared blankly at the ocean, totally dazed. Scene after scene flashed through his mind, like ages had gone by. Even weirder, he suddenly realized his face had changed—now it looked totally unfamiliar, and there was a new scar across it.
"Who the heck is this guy?" Ryan stared at himself, even more confused.
He vaguely remembered his body splitting apart—did he get possessed? Or maybe transmigrated?
Ryan's mind was just one big question mark.
But right then, a familiar voice rang out by his ear: "Damn, that ride almost made me puke!"
"Ghost Elder—you’re still alive?" Ryan shouted, instantly excited.
"Alive? What do you mean alive? I’m dead by default! I dream of coming back to life, but your old man won’t let me—otherwise I’d have been reincarnated ages ago!" The Ghost Elder yelled in his usual jokey style.
No sooner had he finished than Granny Soul, jealous as ever, snorted: "Why do you wanna come back to life? To chase human girls? Ryan’s got that covered! Don’t think I don’t know about you and that ghost chick from Half-Step Border Town. I’ll settle that score with you sooner or later!"
"Oh come on, lady, is this really the time? Ryan’s situation is way more important—let’s save our drama for later!" The Ghost Elder snapped back, sounding genuinely annoyed.
"Fine, got some attitude now, huh? Whatever—I'll let it slide for Ryan's sake today. Next time, I'm coming for you. Damn, after all that shaking, I gotta go fix my makeup!" With that, Granny Soul vanished without a trace.
At that moment, seeing the Ghost Elder with his hair all messed up, Ryan blurted out, "What—what the heck just happened?"
The Ghost Elder straightened his long hair and said, "Don't worry, we're all fine. It was that magical Dragon Scale that saved us at the last second. This thing is seriously a divine artifact—I bet the dragon who shed it must've reached at least the Nascent Soul realm. Otherwise, there’s no way a scale like this could bust open space-time. If it hadn't torn a wormhole for us at the crucial moment, we'd be toast!"
"So you're saying all this was thanks to the Dragon Scale?" Ryan stared at it in disbelief. After all that grinding to reach peak Foundation-Building Stage, after slaughtering his way through Jinling, it turned out none of that could compare to this one scale.
Back in the Provincial Capital of East River State, when Ryan first got his hands on the Dragon Scale, he studied it for ages but couldn’t figure out anything. He’d planned to head to the South Sea someday to check it out, but once he got to Jinling, stuff kept piling up and he never got the chance. Now, looking back, if he’d just gone to the South Sea straight away, maybe all this tragedy could’ve been avoided.
Right now, just thinking of his parents and those brothers who died, Ryan couldn’t help but break down in tears.
"Ryan, don’t be sad. This is just one of your tribulations—anyone who wants to accomplish big things has to weather some storms. It’s unavoidable. But we’ve gotta look ahead and stay positive. I already checked your parents’ fate: even though they’ve suffered for ten years, their lifespans aren’t up yet—they can hold out at least another half year. And your folks aren’t just ordinary mortals. When they ate the Saint Fruit, it wasn’t as simple as Justin Qin made it sound. There might be stuff even he doesn’t know!" The Ghost Elder said, but Ryan interrupted him.
"Wait, what? My parents aren’t just normal people? How’s that possible!" Ryan was floored by the news.
"Believe it or not, your parents aren’t ordinary at all—but even I don’t know the full story yet!" The Ghost Elder nodded, then added, "Let’s put that aside for now and dig into it later. As for your brothers—even though their bodies were destroyed, you managed to pull their souls into the Demon-Snaring Bowl at the critical moment. As long as we find the right vessels, bringing them back to life won’t be a problem, so chin up!"
Hearing that, Ryan finally felt a weight lift off his heart. If his brothers could come back, that would be the greatest comfort of all.
"There's one more thing that's to your advantage! After being squeezed through space-time, your face has temporarily changed—so you'll avoid a ton of trouble. For now, your main mission is to break into the Golden Core Stage as fast as possible. Only once you reach Golden Core can you really take revenge and kill Philip Qin!" the Ghost Elder said calmly, then gazed out at the ocean.
(This chapter isn't over yet~.~ Click 'Next Page' to keep reading the good stuff!)
"I get it now—head to the South Sea and seek the dragon. Only a true dragon can help me!" Ryan steadied himself. The Ghost Elder was right: now wasn't the time for despair. He had to toughen up, rebuild his resolve, and charge toward the Golden Core Stage. Only by forging a Golden Core could he truly get revenge and save his parents. There was no other way!
"Exactly. I just checked—we traveled thousands of miles through space-time. We're now on Southcape Island, the southernmost tip of China—the legendary 'End of the Earth.' Ahead lies the endless South Sea. Take the Dragon Scale, and let's go hunt for the dragon!" the Ghost Elder confirmed.
"No time to waste—let's go!" Ryan spotted several huge cruise ships docked nearby. Southcape Island is a major hub for goods going from the South Sea to the Indian Ocean and Arabia, with ships constantly coming and going. Right now, several cruise ships were sounding their horns, ready to depart—just in time for Ryan to hop aboard.
Plus, Ryan knew that heading out to sea again, he wasn't just hunting for the dragon—he had to meet up with an old friend. The Infernal Madblade Style, eighteen forms—he'd only learned the first three. Fifteen more were still waiting for him. Now was his chance to level up!
"The Sea Princess—South Sea Circle Cruise! Not bad!" Ryan picked out a luxury cruise ship, the Sea Princess, which happened to be headed for the South Sea and Southeast Asia—exactly his next destination. Without hesitation, he leapt straight onto the ship.
"Did you just see someone fly past?"
"Nah, you’re seeing things."
"No way, I swear someone just zipped by!"
"Alright, hurry up and check tickets—the ship's about to leave!"
Down on the deck, two pretty ticket checkers were chatting in surprise, while Ryan was already upstairs on the balcony, sipping a glass of wine in a gentleman's suit, totally relaxed.
And so, the thrilling South Sea dragon-hunting adventure quietly began...