Just as Ryan Ling finished speaking, a thunderous roar erupted. In an instant, over ten thousand troops all around were slowly lifted into the air by some invisible force. Not just people—even armored vehicles, tanks, and nearby attack helicopters lost control and were yanked upward by this formless power.
Obviously, Ryan Ling had made his move!
"Boss is getting more and more insane—if you told me he wasn't a god, I wouldn't believe it myself!"
"Seriously, he's basically a god now. No normal person could have this kind of power—it's terrifying!"
"I swear, the whole Korean army must be shaking right now. With Boss this strong, he's basically the ruler of half the planet!"
......
Everyone around was stunned by the scene—even Ryan's closest comrades, who saw him every day, were totally blown away.
Of course, only Guihai One-Blade really understood what was going on. After the Bohai Gulf battle, Ryan's strength had skyrocketed. He was originally just early Nascent Soul Stage, but after that fight—and with the Divine Dragon Power and saint power pouring in—Ryan's cultivation had probably jumped all the way to mid-to-late Nascent Soul.
The peak of the God Realm—once you go beyond that, you reach the Nascent Soul Stage.
The supreme level in martial arts is Nascent Soul, and the Nascent Soul Stage itself is split into early, mid, late, peak, and perfection.
At this point, Ryan Ling's power had totally surpassed that of a normal late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.
His progress was just unreal—like he was straight-up hacking the game!
But what fired Guihai One-Blade up even more was seeing how fast Ryan's Primeval Heavenwood was growing. Right now, it looked just like a towering ancient tree, crazily sucking up all the qi, with Divine Dragon Power and saint power boosting it like mad. The tree was leveling up to a whole new life stage, absorbing energy at a freakish rate—and Ryan was reaping massive benefits!
Honestly, if Ryan just fused all that power together, he might break through to late Nascent Soul any second now!
But right as Guihai One-Blade was getting hyped, and just as those tens of thousands of Korean soldiers were about to get wiped, a sudden blast of sword qi shot straight at Ryan.
"Damn, that's some serious sword qi!" Everyone was stunned—even Ryan paused for a split second. This sword qi was pure Nascent Soul-level, and anyone who reached Nascent Soul with sword cultivation was basically unbeatable in East Asia.
"Who are you?" Ryan stepped back, skillfully dodging the sword qi. But not a single one of the soldiers floating in the air dropped down.
"Ryan Ling, nice to meet you. With power like yours, you shouldn't be wasting time on mortals. Let them go—let's talk." The newcomer spoke, sword light flickering all around. He was like an ancient longsword himself; every casual move sent sword light sweeping through the air.
"Wait—is that Lee Min-ho, East Asia's number-one sword?" Guihai One-Blade sucked in a breath and quickly whispered to Ryan, "Ryan, this guy is Korea's top sword master. He used to be just Saint Realm, but now he's crazy strong—his spiritual power is off the charts!"
"I see it," Ryan nodded. This guy was no pushover—his power was easily on par with Ascendant Dragon Master Longfei. What was weird was, his spiritual energy was so thick it was like a whole city, maybe even a whole country!
"Ryan Ling, can we talk?" Seeing Ryan ignore him, Lee Min-ho's eyes turned icy.
"Talk about what? Get lost or die!" Ryan's eyes blazed. These days, everyone who showed up thought they could boss him around—like he'd ever listen!
"You—?" It was clearly Lee Min-ho's first time being insulted like this; his face turned purple with rage.
"Anyone who blocks me dies. Anyone who gets in the way of my slaughter gets chopped to pieces!" Ryan didn't hesitate for a second—blades swept out in all directions, instantly making Lee Min-ho's sword qi look thin and weak.
"Tough guy, huh? Don't think you're invincible—Ten Thousand Swords Return to Sect! Kill!" Lee Min-ho roared, and ten thousand swords slashed down from the sky. For a moment, it was like the heavens were ripped open, blood-red and terrifying as hell!
"Get out of the way, now!" Guihai One-Blade snapped. They were way too close to Ryan—if even the aftershocks of that move hit, they'd be toast!
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!
The sky exploded in an instant. Then came a wild scream—Lee Min-ho was sent flying, stripped of all his sword qi, his cultivation wiped out completely!
Ryan, on the other hand, was totally unharmed. Even the tens of thousands of soldiers he'd grabbed were still dangling in midair.
"Still want to challenge me? If you don't scram now, I'll kill you on the spot!" Ryan snorted, ignoring Lee Min-ho completely as his eyes swept toward South Korea's capital.