"Lady Four, he's here! That guy standing at the prow is Tiger Hua—look at his power, that's definitely peak Purple Realm grandmaster level!" Chen Lang blurted out, eyes wide as Tiger Hua approached.
"He really does have some tricks!" Lady Four Huo took a deep breath. To drive a dragon boat weighing at least twenty tons with pure grandmaster gang-qi—this kind of strength is almost unheard of, probably never seen even in Dragonridge.
The four Blue Realm grandmasters nearby were green with envy. Everyone knew that true Purple Realm grandmasters were insanely rare—out of a thousand Blue Realm experts, you might not find even one.
"Master Hua, I've heard so much about you!" As soon as Tiger Hua jumped off the boat, Lady Four Huo rushed up to greet him.
"Lady Four Huo, hello. Never thought that after all these years, I'd set foot in China again and end up dealing with the Huo Clan. I heard you folks lost to that kid named Ryan Ling too!" Tiger Hua held his head high, totally unbothered by the Huo Clan's status—if anything, his words had a mocking edge.
Lady Four Huo's face clearly soured at that. To her, the Huo Clan was sacred and untouchable, but she couldn't blow up at Tiger Hua right now. So she forced a smile and said, "Master Hua, don't underestimate Ryan Ling. When he killed your disciple, he was barely at Yellow Realm grandmaster level. But just a few days later, his power's already exploded to Purple Realm grandmaster—he's basically on par with you now!"
"Purple Realm? You guys must be seeing things. Breaking into Purple Realm isn't that easy—you've all been tricked, I bet. That kid must've used some kind of illusion!" Tiger Hua finished speaking, and suddenly, thick Purple Realm grandmaster qi erupted from him, swirling above his head and forming the image of a tiger descending from the mountains.
In an instant, the four Blue Realm grandmasters were totally stunned. Sure, they'd seen Ryan Ling's Purple Realm aura before, but compared to Tiger Hua's, it was worlds apart—like heaven and earth.
No doubt about it—this was a real, bona fide peak Purple Realm grandmaster!
Lady Four Huo was shocked too, but after being mocked like that, there was no way she could just swallow it. Gritting her teeth, she shot back, "You think the Huo Clan would fall for some cheap trick? Master Hua, you say Ryan Ling used an illusion, but how do we know your display isn't just another trick?"
"Lady Four?" Lady Four Huo was never one to hold her tongue, but even she had just said something so gutsy that everyone around—Blue Realm grandmasters and Chen Lang alike—instantly broke out in a cold sweat.
Clearly, mouthing off to a real Purple Realm grandmaster like that was seriously unwise!
"How dare you!" As expected, Tiger Hua instantly snapped.
He let out a thunderous shout, and his Purple Realm grandmaster qi instantly condensed into a massive purple longsword. Sword raised high, he swung it hard at the nearby canal.
With a deafening boom, the canal—over ten meters wide—was literally chopped in half.
Everyone was stunned. Lady Four Huo went sheet-white, almost collapsing into Chen Lang's arms, her lips trembling so much she couldn't get a word out.
On the other side, the river surged and boiled, patrol boats blaring their sirens—but nobody had any clue what had just happened.
"Master Hua, please, calm down!" It took a full half minute before the eldest Blue Realm grandmaster managed to speak up.
Tiger Hua just snorted coldly. "If it weren't for Hector Huo's reputation, your head would've 'moved house' already!" With that, he strode off toward the Huo Clan's swankiest black car. No one dared say a word.
......
Next morning, at dawn.
All around Divine Medicine Valley, flowers bloomed wildly and the trees looked extra lush, like the whole place was celebrating something huge. After a few days of recovery, Warren Yuan's injuries were finally almost healed—Simon Sun's bone-setting skills were insane, and that demon-snake spine was top-tier. Warren was already up and walking early that morning, which had Jason Lin, Harvey Jin, and the others grinning from ear to ear.
"Congrats, Sect Master Yuan! Getting your Dao-root reattached is no small feat. Guess it's true what they say—barely surviving disaster means good fortune's on the way!"
"Absolutely, Sect Master Yuan! Once you're back on your feet, Righteous Unity Daoist Sect is sure to take the lead. With full support from Valley Master Sun, you'll be out front, leading all the Daoist sects in Dragonridge—your future's looking limitless!"
Nearby, Daoist Master Xuanlong from Taiyi Sect and Franklin Fu from Golden Sword Gate both stepped up to offer congratulations. They were sect leaders too, but looking at the current Dragonridge power map, it was obvious that backing Ryan Ling was the only smart move.
Ryan Ling wiped out Orthodox Unity single-handed, took over Divine Medicine Valley, and even sent the Huo Clan packing in total disgrace. His strength and tactics were on a whole different level.
With Warren Yuan recovering and ready to rebuild Righteous Unity Daoist Sect, both major sects made it clear they wanted to join forces. After all, it's always better to stick with a giant tree—and Ryan Ling's tree was basically reaching the heavens now!
"Daoist Master Xuanlong, Sect Master Fu, looks like I'll be dropping by to bother you guys a lot more from now on!" Warren Yuan knew exactly what was up. Since they wanted in, he wasn't about to refuse—his sect was badly hurt and needed fresh blood.
"No worries, no worries—now we're all family, so why bother with formalities?" The three of them shared a knowing laugh, all on the same page now.
"For Divine Medicine Valley, these past few days have been nothing but good news—one big happy event after another. Warren's healed, Orthodox Unity's reborn as Righteous Unity Daoist Sect and is uniting all the Daoist powers in Dragonridge, and my wife Rose Zhan came back from the dead so our family is whole again. All of this is thanks to Ryan Ling!" Simon Sun said with a big smile.
Everyone nodded along. At that moment, not just the locals but even outsiders like Jason Lin felt more fired up than ever.
But for Simon Sun, the best news was actually pushing Cindy Sun and Ryan Ling together. Right now, Ryan was in seclusion at the Lotus Pond, and Cindy had already snuck up there—prime time for some relationship-building. As long as his daughter could put down roots in Ryan's heart, Simon figured his own future as a father-in-law was gonna be pure bliss.
But just as Divine Medicine Valley was basking in all this joy, a sudden thunderclap exploded outside the valley—like the whole mountain had been hit by a bomb.
"What the hell? Who dares to cause trouble at Divine Medicine Valley's gate?"
"Don't tell me it's Lady Four Huo again. Are they seriously coming back to die?"
"Enough talk—I'll go check it out first!"
......
Nearby, the Taiyi Sect and Golden Sword Gate folks were all shouting, especially Golden Sword Gate's sect master Franklin Fu—he was extra eager. Last time Taiyi Sect stepped up against Lady Four Huo, so now Golden Sword Gate had to show what they were made of.
He didn't wait for anyone's opinion—just drew his sword and charged straight out.
Nobody else hesitated either. They left Sophie Su and Lily Liu to watch over Warren Yuan, and the rest all followed outside.
As soon as the group reached the valley gate, sure enough, they saw a crowd of Huo Clan people standing there—same bunch as last time. Lady Four Huo was front and center, super arrogant, with one foot grinding down on the stone stele carved with 'Divine Medicine Valley.'
"Lady Four Huo, you're really pushing it! Didn't Ryan Ling teach you a lesson already? It's only been a few days and you dare show up again? You really think my brother won't kill you?" Seeing this, Simon Sun instantly shouted, way tougher now with Ryan Ling as his 'son-in-law.'
"Kill me? I'm afraid he doesn't have the life for that anymore!" Lady Four Huo sneered. Right then, a figure slowly stepped out behind her—it was none other than Tiger Hua, lugging a giant sword wrapped in white cloth, his face dark and gaze sweeping over everyone like they weren't even worth noticing.
"Lady Four Huo, so you brought backup, huh? Well, I don't care who you called—whoever it is, they're dying under my sword today!" Franklin Fu couldn't wait to show off and swung his sword at once.
But right as he raised his sword, Tiger Hua's eyes snapped over to him. A wave of bone-chilling killing intent swept through Franklin, and in a split second, his whole back was drenched in cold sweat...