"You—you dare? You're openly defying the World Dominion Society, defying the whole world!" Adrian Liu gnashed his teeth, still roaring in fury.
"Die!" Ryan Ling didn't even bother to acknowledge him. With a sudden burst of force, Adrian Liu's neck split open instantly. Now that Ryan Ling was Jiangnan's First Saint, his power far surpassed the Middle Saint level. For a mere Early Saint to bark at him like this was pure suicide—if Ryan couldn't kill him instantly, he'd lose all face.
"Governor Liu—he, he actually killed Governor Liu! And crushed the Saint Banner! He's literally going against heaven itself!"
"Don't say anything—do you want to die too?"
At this moment, the Su Province troops didn't dare utter a word. Ryan Ling took out Adrian Liu in one move, completely ignoring the Saint Banner. This was the rhythm of a king staking his own territory.
"Gabriel Xue, and the rest of you—watch these people. If anyone speaks out of turn or acts rashly, kill them without mercy!" Ryan Ling shouted.
"Understood!" Gabriel Xue instantly obeyed. In a flash, all the soldiers surrounded the group inside and out.
At this moment, Ryan Ling didn't hesitate at all. With a step, he shot out like a bullet—clearly, what he wanted now was that pill about to come out of the furnace. Everything else was irrelevant.
So right now, what he needed was time!
Meanwhile, atop the highest peak in Qianzhou, everyone's eyes were glued to the blazing furnace. Not just the two onmyōji, but even the so-called Silver High Priest was holding his breath. After half a year of hard work, the result was finally about to emerge—they couldn't help getting excited.
Inside the furnace, the so-called Imperial Dawn Elixir was glowing bright red, bouncing up and down like a beautiful woman dancing in the flames—full of life and seductive energy.
"Quick—bring all the yin maidens over! Now's the time!" The Silver High Priest shouted excitedly as he watched the scene in the furnace.
"Got it!" An onmyōji next to him rushed out, shouting orders.
Within minutes, a sleazy-looking Japanese samurai led over twenty beautiful women toward them. All the women were sobbing, clearly terrified out of their minds.
Among them were college students, office workers, and amateur models—all kidnapped out of nowhere. One of them was Old Xu's daughter, Kelly Xu.
"Naikawa, you didn't do anything to them, did you?" The Silver High Priest turned to the sleazy samurai.
"Me? I wouldn't dare! These beauties are all meant to be sacrificed to the Emperor—they have to stay virgins. Even if I had the guts, I wouldn't touch them!" Naikawa giggled, looking even more perverted.
"Enough, start the bloodletting! Use their yin maiden blood to enhance the Imperial Dawn Elixir. Hurry!" The Silver High Priest was clearly getting impatient.
"Understood!" The two onmyōji nearby, including Naikawa, immediately got to work.
Over twenty women's wrists were slashed open, their screams echoing through the valley.
Virgin blood spurted into the furnace, making its flames blaze brighter and more twisted. Fueled by the pure blood, the pill inside glowed even more luridly—clearly, it was about to be born.
"Everyone, kneel! Welcome the birth of the sacred Imperial Dawn Elixir!" The Silver High Priest dropped to his knees, and the other onmyōji and Naikawa followed, chanting the Emperor's holy name with fanatical devotion.
But just then, a giant hand shot down from the sky and grabbed the furnace. The newborn Imperial Dawn Elixir shrieked like someone getting their throat crushed.
"Who dares snatch my country's Imperial Dawn Elixir?" The Silver High Priest froze, then exploded with rage.
Before he could finish, the pill was crushed to powder and sucked straight into the intruder's mouth.
"Damn, this stuff is even purer than I thought!" the newcomer said. It was none other than Ryan Ling.
He’d arrived right as the Imperial Dawn Elixir was born—talk about perfect timing.
"I'm gonna kill you!" The Silver High Priest went berserk. Half a year of work, gone in an instant—he was ready to drop dead from rage.
He unleashed a Middle Saint punch that could punch through a mountain—normally, Ryan would need all ten Infernal Madblade forms just to block it. But with the Imperial Dawn Elixir boosting him, his power was peaking, almost at the Nourishing Core stage.
He didn’t even bother dodging the Middle Saint’s punch.
He went toe-to-toe, bare-knuckle.
Boom! The mountain lost its peak, giant rocks tumbled, trees crashed down—just one clash between these monsters was a natural disaster.
"So this is a Japanese Middle Saint? Pretty weak!" Ryan sneered, gulping down the pill’s power. The Japanese were nuts—the pill acted like a proud, wild woman, still trying to break free even inside Ryan. But he prided himself on handling wild women; no way this pill was escaping him.
The pill totally underestimated Ryan. No beauty could slip out of his grasp—this feminine pill was no exception.
While Ryan was busy subduing the Imperial Dawn Elixir, Mitsui Chiharu inside the Demon-Snaring Bowl started screaming, yelling "Yamete!" like she was the one getting conquered. She’d had enough of Ryan messing with her for days!
"Break!" Ryan shouted. The pill’s struggling soul was crushed, and all that pill power flooded into his organs—he’d never felt so good in his life.
"Baka! Baka!" The Silver High Priest was about to blow a gasket. He screamed and charged Ryan like a madman.
Not just him—two more Middle Saints joined the attack.
Three Middle Saints versus Ryan, all at once—a first for him.
Normally, even ten Infernal Madblade forms might not cut it, but with the Imperial Dawn Elixir, his power was going wild—he was already brushing up against Nourishing Core. No way he’d back down from three Middle Saints.
He charged in—this was the perfect trial for his breakthrough. He didn’t use any techniques, just his iron fists. The other side was fully armored, each wielding a blood-stained saber.
"Die, you little punk—Slash!"
"Slash!"
"Slash!"
The three Middle Saints unleashed a triple slash, aiming to split the mountain. The force was way beyond a single Middle Saint punch.
But to their shock, Ryan blocked all three. He went a little pale, but tanked it with his bare body—unthinkable back in Jinling.
"Ryan, this Imperial Dawn Elixir is basically an immortal pill for you!" The Ghost Elder shouted from inside, blown away by Ryan’s defense.
Ryan was hyped. Last time in Jinling, fighting Murong Taicang, he only won thanks to Guihai One-Blade’s help—not his own breakthrough.
But now, there was zero help from Guihai—just him, solo. This was huge for his confidence and future breakthroughs.
Even the three Middle Saints were stunned, faces white as sheets.
They knew Ryan’s rep—his fight in Jinling was legendary across Jiangnan, and the Tokugawa crew here had all the intel.
They’d figured Ryan was maybe Middle Saint level, tops. But now he’d blocked their best shot, solo, with just his body—his power-up was nuts!
"No way! This can’t be happening! Our intel can’t be wrong!" The Silver High Priest screamed, voice cracking.
"High Priest, it’s gotta be the Imperial Dawn Elixir!" an onmyōji blurted.
"Baka! Baka! Kill him! I want him refined alive!" The Silver High Priest snapped, losing it over someone else stealing his hard-won pill.
He howled, slashing his saber in the air, carving a giant ‘Kill’ character. The other two onmyōji did the same, slashing ‘Kill’ into the sky.
The three ‘Kill’ characters glowed blood-red, dyeing the whole sky above the mountain.
"Watch out, Ryan! That’s Japan’s Blood-Kill Formation, one of Chiba Shrine’s top arrays!" The Ghost Elder warned.
"Blood-Kill Formation, huh? Now it’s getting fun!" Ryan grinned, summoning the Kanglong Mace. A dragon’s roar echoed overhead.
Even the Ghost Elder was shocked—Ryan could now summon a phantom Divine Dragon. Behind him, a giant dragon twisted in the air…