"There's no time! Those elite squads are about to arrive—they're practically at the doorstep!" At this moment, the Ghost Elder was so anxious he stomped his feet.
"Don't tell me this really isn't going to work?" Ryan Ling couldn't help but roar, his aura erupting all at once. Clearly, with so many powerful enemies converging, if he couldn't break through to Transcending Core, he'd seriously be outmatched.
He might have already fused with the Primeval Heavenwood's power and hit a peak, so handling a single Sub-Saint was still doable, but it took everything he had. Facing a siege by three Sub-Saints at once, his previous strength obviously wasn't enough.
Right now, this was a road Ryan Ling had to walk—there was no backing down. He could only use this crushing pressure to force himself forward. Without it, he'd have zero hope of smashing through to Transcending Core in such a short time!
Only pressure brings motivation—it's the one rule that never changes!
That's why Ryan didn't just bail after nuking Chiba Shrine—he wanted to declare war on all of Japan from the jump.
Compared to that nightmare Society in Yanjing, if he couldn't even handle these problems right now, going back to Huaxia would just be a dead end. Might as well go all in—break the cauldrons and sink the boats, and carve out a path of blood.
"Charge! Charge! Charge!" Ryan clenched his teeth at this moment. The essence he'd absorbed from Hiroshi Tojo was already fully digested, but that power wasn't nearly enough for a Transcending Core breakthrough. The Primeval Heavenwood's spirit-liquid was way stronger, but Ryan couldn't process it all at once. It was like he'd fused with the Heavenwood, but most of that power was just converted into 'fat reserves' inside him. To really make it capital for a breakthrough, he'd have to burn those 'fat reserves' completely—and right now, that's exactly where he was stuck.
Maybe Ryan's breakthrough attempt was just too intense—his chest and back exploded with bloody holes in an instant, and blood spurted everywhere.
"Stop! You can't brute-force it!" The Ghost Elder freaked out as soon as he saw this. If Ryan kept going like this, not only would it fail to help him break through, he'd just end up wrecking himself.
"No time left. Coming to Japan was a one-way bridge for me—no way back, only forward! Charge!" Ryan gritted his teeth and roared again, forcing all his power upward. But his Golden Core, under that force, didn't crack at all—instead, it became even more unified and solid.
"Ryan, stop! That's not how you break through to Transcending Core! You need to find a way to melt it—otherwise you'll just make your Golden Core tougher and tougher!" The Ghost Elder yelled, shaking his head nonstop.
"Whew!" Ryan let out a long breath, his aura slowly calming down. For him, this was probably the first real wall he'd hit on his upgrade path. Breaking through to Golden Core, then Nourishing Core, then Transforming Core had never been this hard. Even fusing the Primeval Heavenwood was just a matter of time. But now, trying to melt open the Golden Core—he just couldn't crack it.
So yeah, the Ghost Elder was right—melting the Golden Core needed a trick, and brute force was a dead end. Plus, Ryan's Golden Core had been reinforced inside and out, way tougher than a normal one. That used to be his edge, but now, at the Transcending Core step, all those advantages had turned into a wall he couldn't climb.
But what the hell was the trick?
"Ryan, there's no time—try to dodge! All three squads are about to hit at once, and their combined Sub-Saint power is insane. You can't take them head-on, not yet!" The Ghost Elder saw the sky's aura shift and shouted urgently.
"Too late! They've already locked onto me!" Ryan's senses were razor-sharp; he'd already felt several powerful auras targeting his vital points. Real Sub-Saints are so strong, they can take your head from miles away—a single Saint Word could wipe out a city.
"Then we fight to the death!" The Ghost Elder gritted his teeth and shouted.
"Fight to the death?" Ryan froze, then his heart twisted. The Ghost Elder had already risked his life in the last battle against the Chiba Shrine forces—now his ghost-life was hanging by a thread, clearly too spent to fight again. But here Ryan was, still stuck at the breakthrough, so exhausted he almost wanted to howl.
"Don't panic—the more desperate things get, the calmer you need to be. Find the trick to breaking through. You're literally half a step from Transcending Core; it's just a matter of finding the key. Take it slow—go easy!" The Ghost Elder watched Ryan torture himself and tried to comfort him.
"Stillness! Stillness! Stillness!" Right then, Ryan mentally wrote the word 'stillness' three times in his heart. As soon as he finished, his mood finally calmed down—facing big trouble without panic, keeping his mind like still water, that's what being a true cultivator is all about.
Facing these powerful enemies, Ryan couldn't afford even a hint of panic.
Maybe it was a flash of inspiration, or just a lucky turn, but right as Ryan was losing it, his unbreakable Golden Core suddenly trembled, and the Primeval Heavenwood qi inside him started surging back and forth.
"What the hell?" Ryan was totally confused—this plot twist hit right at the critical moment, and he had no idea what was going on.
Don't rush—seriously, don't rush. The enemies might be right in front of him, but Ryan had to stay cool. If he could just figure this out, he might break through to Transcending Core in an instant.
Transcending Core is also called 'small Nascent Soul.' Once he broke through, the power boost was just the start—the real win was how much easier it'd make his future jump to full Nascent Soul. And as long as he cracked Transcending Core, he'd actually have a shot at returning to Huaxia.
Ryan was dead sure—if he broke through, forget Sub-Saints, he wouldn't even fear Saint Kings!
But just as he was searching for the reason, he suddenly noticed Wendy "Wako" Chiba had walked over. She'd been knocked out in Chiba Shrine's main hall, but now she'd woken up, spotted Ryan, and was slowly coming his way.
And the instant she approached, Ryan's impossible-to-crack Golden Core actually reacted!
"Ghost Elder, what's going on?" Ryan turned to the Ghost Elder—only he could explain something this weird!
"That Japanese woman might just be the golden key to cracking your Golden Core! Ryan, give her a kiss and see what happens!" The Ghost Elder said this with a totally straight face.
Ryan nearly spat blood when he heard that.
"Boss, can you please be serious for once?" Ryan shot the Ghost Elder a glare.
"I am being serious! I just realized Wendy Chiba's plant-control cultivation is genius—she can totally dissolve the Primeval Heavenwood power. In other words, if you borrow her ability, you can melt through to Transcending Core. That's it!" The Ghost Elder rattled off a whole string of explanations, but Ryan was still kind of lost.
"What are you waiting for? Grab her, quick!" The Ghost Elder was getting desperate—Ryan's brain was totally stuck at this crucial moment.
Wendy "Wako" Chiba, on the other hand, totally got it. She shook her big butt and said with a lewd grin, "Master, if you ever need anything, just use me. I'll serve you well!"
Compared to Ryan, Wendy was way more eager—she started rubbing her butt against him as she spoke.
"Ryan, what are you waiting for? Take her—Transcending Core breakthrough guaranteed!" The Ghost Elder was so anxious he started stomping his feet again.
"A-alright!" Ryan gulped, and Wendy couldn't wait—she was already all over him.
This older woman really was a fire-quencher—Ryan was done for the moment she started!
Wendy "Wako" Chiba was immediately pinned to the ground by Ryan.
"Quick, quick—don't hold back!" Wendy cried out, her whole body shaking with rhythm. Ryan hadn't even really touched her yet, and she'd already hit climax after climax!
But right then, the ninja clan, Tokugawa clan, and Sword King—disciple of the Sword Saint—all arrived at the foot of Chiba Mountain!
"Go! Kill that Huaxia brat!" Sword King Miyamoto shouted, and Victor Orochi and Masao Tokugawa didn't hesitate for a second.
But just as those squads charged up the mountain, Sophia Long arrived too.
"Attack! Go all out—we can't let anything happen to Ryan!" Sophia shouted, charging up the slope. But just as she rushed forward, a team member with a satellite livestream rig ran over, looking flustered.
"Captain, uh, something's weird up there. Ryan doesn't look like he's in trouble—in fact, it looks like..."
"Like what? Spit it out!"
"I—I can't say it!"
Sophia froze, grabbed the livestream device, and checked the feed—her face instantly turned bright red. The scene was just way, way too spicy...