"Ghost-King Robe, spare us! Spare us!" At this moment, the nine remaining Ten Reapers finally saw things clearly—every last one of them dropped to their knees.
"Die!" Ryan Ling didn’t hesitate for a second. He swung a wild punch across, and those nine couldn’t take it—they instantly crumbled, bodies exploding apart. All nine Void-Realm corpses, plus the half-dead Dragon-Head Aaron Zhao, were swept straight into the Hell Furnace.
With that, the six original Void-Realm masters, plus ten more from three neighboring provinces—sixteen Void-Realm experts in total—had all been slain by Ryan alone.
East River was shaken!
All of Jiangnan was shaken!
Even all of China was rocked!
By now, word had spread overnight—everyone knew that East River Province had produced a top-tier master.
Tons of people came, hoping to meet Ryan Ling, but he’d already slipped away.
If he stayed in East River, he’d be way too conspicuous. Ryan didn’t want to be that high-profile, and he definitely didn’t like being surrounded by crowds.
Now that he’d reached the Foundation-Building Stage, he understood even more how great immortal cultivation was—its advantages totally outstripped martial arts. And this Foundation-Building was just the beginning; there was a long road ahead.
Of course, after this battle, Ryan could already sense that the real experts of Jinling City were watching him. Jinling’s the heart of Jiangnan—masters everywhere. With his current power, Ryan’s definitely number one in East River, but in Jinling? Who knows.
For now, the East River situation was basically wrapped up. Gabriel Xue took back command of the Special Warfare Unit, replacing Commander Victor Tang as overall commander. He was even granted a special promotion to major general by the Jinling Military Region for his anti-Japanese merits—but he’d have to go to Jinling in person to get his rank.
Ryan’s brothers all got their rewards too—whether it was Jason Lin, Harvey Jin, Warren Yuan, or Frank Qin, they’d all be given official posts in the army. It was a huge boost for their futures.
East River Province is just a small corner. If you’re a dragon, you’ve gotta soar.
And now it was September—the start of the school year.
Ryan hadn’t taken the college entrance exam, but thanks to the Jinling Military Region, Jinling University sent him a special invitation. For Ryan, college doesn’t really matter for cultivation, but when his parents were alive, their biggest wish was for him to make something of himself and get into college. Jinling University is a top school nationwide, so going there would fulfill their dream.
There was another big reason too—Lily Yan’s mom, Serena Yan, personally came to visit.
Both mother and daughter are jaw-droppingly gorgeous, but compared to Lily, Serena’s aura is on another level. Calling her a Jinling socialite is no exaggeration.
She really hoped Ryan would come to Jinling to teach Lily martial arts—and casually invited him to visit the Yan Family anytime.
Honestly, Serena’s vibe really was kind of attractive. Her words even hinted at wanting to pledge loyalty. Ryan was already planning to get close to the Yan Family—after all, being a Fifth-Rank Spirit Officer is a big deal. Serena’s been running things in Jinling for years, both in the human world and the Netherworld. If he could take over her networks smoothly, it’d be a huge boost for his own power base.
Right now, Jason Lin and the crew were working hard to level up. Hitting peak Purple-Realm grandmaster shouldn’t be a problem, and Void-Realm might take a bit longer—but it’s definitely within reach. Harbor City base was getting stronger, Divine Medicine Valley was expanding thanks to Simon Sun, and with Gabriel Xue and Jinbiao Chen holding down the Provincial Capital, both military and business fronts were solid. Basically, he’d already won in the living world.
But in the Netherworld, he still didn’t have a real faction of his own. Now that he was wearing the Ghost-King Robe and was officially Yama’s heir, he had to build his own party. Last time the System talked so much about the Western Pacifying King, Ryan realized he needed to set up real Netherworld power—just Ghost Elder and Granny Soul weren’t nearly enough.
And for building that kind of power, Serena Yan was the perfect breakthrough point!
So of course Ryan agreed. Lily Yan immediately rushed to perform the formal apprenticeship ceremony, calling “Master, Master!” nonstop with pure delight.
“I’m telling you, Ryan—Lily Yan’s a real little minx. Why not let her warm your bed tonight?” The System popped out, snickering.
“Cut it out. Don’t talk nonsense!” Ryan shot him a glare.
“Haha, you’re the Hell Crown Prince now—it’s totally normal to have a few more concubines. Honestly, I think Serena Yan’s even better. Just bag both mother and daughter at once!” The System kept cackling.
“Get lost!” Ryan snapped, kicking the System out of his head.
But as soon as the System slunk off, Ryan couldn’t help sneaking a few more glances at Serena Yan. The more he looked, the more he found her… seriously tempting.
......
After a few days relaxing in the Provincial Capital, Ryan quietly boarded a flight to Jinling City by himself. This time he went solo—Jason Lin and the brothers stayed behind to help Gabriel Xue stabilize the Provincial Capital and earn some military merit in the Special Warfare Unit, so when they came to Jinling later, they could snag officer posts. Ryan’s women also stayed: Cindy Sun went back to Divine Medicine Valley to help her father expand their pharma empire, Lily Liu and Sophie Su stayed at the Chen estate, Angie Chen and Rose Yates were swamped with family business.
It’s true what they say—half the beauties in China come from Jinling. Once on the plane, Ryan realized the flight attendants were all stunning, one after another, and super polite. Those legs? You could stare at them for a whole year.
It was Ryan’s first time leaving his home province, so he was curious about everything. While he was looking around, a stylish young woman in tight pants sat down next to him. She had light makeup, a fresh face, and a few books in her bag—very cultured. She gave Ryan a sweet smile, and that smile was seriously adorable.
With a hottie like that for company, this flight wasn’t going to be boring!
After chatting for a bit, Ryan learned her name was Tina Tian—a local Jinling girl. She was super friendly and gave him a vivid rundown of Jinling’s sights and history. Ryan felt she was really knowledgeable, and it gave him a direct, fresh look at the city.
[Irrelevant system message about chapter end—skip translation.]
Jinling’s an ancient capital with six dynasties—prosperous, loaded with historic sites, and super developed in every way. The Provincial Capital’s nice too, but compared to the heart of Jiangnan, it’s still a notch below. Ryan found himself looking forward to Jinling even more.
“Sorry, I drank too much water—I need to use the restroom!” Halfway through their chat, Tina Tian clutched her stomach and got up. Ryan quickly said okay, and watching her embarrassed face, he found her super cute. But as he checked out her back, he noticed her pants were a little damp. Ryan blinked, thinking, wow, she must really have to go.
After two or three minutes, Tina still hadn’t come back. Bored, Ryan glanced at her book bag and suddenly spotted a book with a bold title: 'What to Do When Women Frequently “Leak Urine”?'
Ryan’s head was full of question marks—he was seriously surprised. So Tina had a medical issue? Just then, her voice floated over from the back.
“What are you doing? Don’t touch me!”
Ryan jerked to his feet, thinking—who’d dare act up at ten thousand meters in the air?
The plane’s security rushed over. After some persuasion, Tina Tian ran back to her seat in a panic, and the whole cabin was in chaos.
"Passengers, please stay calm. There was just a misunderstanding, it’s been resolved. Please return to your seats, we’re about to enter cloud cover." The flight attendant’s voice came over the speaker.
"What happened? Did someone mess with you?" Ryan’s sharp eyes caught it instantly. Seeing the marks on Tina’s leg, he knew this was no misunderstanding—someone was clearly harassing her.
"It’s fine, really. Can I sit by the window?" Tina was a little upset but wouldn’t say more. It seemed the troublemaker was someone important—she didn’t dare provoke him, and even the security staff just let it slide.
Ryan hadn’t known Tina long, but seeing her bullied made him furious—he couldn’t help clenching his fists.
"Just let it go. I can’t afford to make trouble—once we’re off the plane, it’ll be fine." Tina clearly wasn’t one to stir things up, and she was sensitive enough to see Ryan’s clenched fists and quickly tried to calm him.
"Alright." Ryan sighed, forcing himself to hold back.
But just then, a few burly men swaggered over, shoving other passengers aside and plopping down right in front and behind Ryan.
"Hey, gorgeous, those legs are amazing—mind if I cop another feel?" One of the young punks stood up, grinning lewdly.