Big Fly collapsed to the ground, Howard Lee and Fatty Lowe dropped straight to their knees, and Firecracker—already a coward—looked so terrified he was about to have a heart attack.
"Brother, you decide—how should I deal with these guys? Just say the word and I’ll toss them in the river to feed the fish!" Jason Lin snarled, glaring murderously at the crowd.
Who was Jason Lin? The fearsome Axe Club boss, a former international special-forces operative rumored to have killed at least a thousand men on the battlefield. He’d fought his way to the top in Harbor City’s underworld by sheer brutality.
Killing and street brawling—totally different leagues. No matter how wild Big Fly got, compared to Brother Lin, he was dirt.
Big Fly’s face went ghost-white. He scrambled over, dropped to his knees in front of Jason Lin, and wailed, "Brother Lin, I was wrong! I swear I didn’t know Ryan Ling was your brother—I’m scum, I’m livestock!"
"Get lost, you piece of crap! What good is ‘sorry’ now?" Jason Lin’s temper exploded. He swung his leg and kicked viciously.
With a loud "bang!" two of Big Fly’s front teeth went flying.
Howard Lee and Fatty Lowe were so scared they pissed themselves and started kowtowing like mad to Jason Lin.
"Quit the damn kowtowing. String them up and beat them—beat them good!" Jason Lin waved his hand, and a few men in suits charged forward.
In no time, Big Fly and the other two were howling like pigs being slaughtered.
As the beating continued, more and more people gathered—school leaders, nearby residents, everyone came to watch.
Jason Lin didn’t care at all—in fact, he thought the beating wasn’t nearly enough, and was about to grab a brick and start smashing heads.
Ryan Ling worried someone might actually get killed. After all, those three were still Harbor City High students. He quickly pulled Jason Lin back, "Brother Lin, that’s enough. They’ve learned their lesson, and look—I’m not even hurt. Plus, with so many people around, it’s not a good look!"
"Just let them go? That’s way too easy on them!" Jason Lin grumbled, clearly displeased.
"Do me a favor, let it go—this is still a school!" Ryan Ling pleaded, holding Jason Lin back.
"Fine. Since you’re asking, I’ll give you this favor." Jason Lin gritted his teeth, still annoyed, but shouted to his men, "Alright, that’s enough!"
Big Fly and the others instantly sprawled on the ground, shouting, "Thank you, Brother Lin! Thank you, Brother Lin!"
"Are you blind? Why are you thanking me? Thank my brother! If he hadn’t spoken up, you three would be dead meat already, got it?" Jason Lin’s temper flared again, and he slapped all three across the face.
The three nodded frantically, then turned to Ryan Ling, thanking him over and over—and started yelling, "Brother Feng! From now on, you’re our boss!"
Ryan Ling didn’t care about any of that and quickly told them to get up.
Just as things were wrapping up, Ryan Ling spotted a familiar figure trying to sneak away—it was none other than the most despicable of the bunch: Firecracker.
He could go easy on the others this time, but one person absolutely had to be punished—Firecracker.
Ryan quickly explained Firecracker’s dirty tricks to Jason Lin, whose veins bulged with rage. He stomped on Firecracker’s backside so hard that Firecracker literally crapped himself.
"B-Brother Lin, spare me! I’ll pay Kevin Lee back right now!"
"Now you want to pay him back? Too late! Weren’t you the one trying to get my brother’s leg chopped off today? Guess I’ll have to take your leg instead!"
"Brother Lin, please! I’ll pay back ten times, a hundred times—whatever you want!"
"A billion times wouldn’t help. After I take your leg, I’ll chop it up and feed it to the dogs!"
Hearing that, Big Fly shuddered violently; Howard Lee and Fatty Lowe rolled their eyes and fainted on the spot.
……
Thanks to Jason Lin’s help, Ryan Ling dodged disaster this time. Not only did Big Fly and the others start calling him Brother Feng—even the school’s usually arrogant security guards joined in.
Suddenly, all kinds of people—even school leaders—would bow and nod to Ryan Ling. It was like his status at school had shot up to top boss overnight. And it wasn’t just Ryan—even Kevin Lee’s own 'street cred' soared, going from just 'Qiangzi' to 'Brother Qiang.'
Of course, a lot of people wondered in private how Ryan Ling, who had no power or connections, suddenly became best buddies with Jason Lin. It was like a beggar getting a royal decree and instantly becoming crown prince—absolutely shocking.
But while everyone was busy gossiping and speculating about Ryan’s background, he was totally absorbed in something else.
After successfully disciplining Big Fly and his crew, the System rewarded him again—nothing fancy, just another 50 Merit Points.
But when Ryan’s Merit Points jumped from 250 to 300, the System suddenly popped up a dialog box.
"Merit Points reached 300—now you can redeem all kinds of items!"
Ryan Ling clicked in, curious—and it was like opening a whole new world.
Inside the virtual store, all sorts of weird and wonderful items popped up—there were ordinary goods, but the special skills column instantly caught Ryan’s eye.
"200 Merit Points: Redeem all high school English answer keys."
"400 Merit Points: Unlock high school math and Olympiad-level thinking."
"800 Merit Points: Boost your memory and IQ to more than three times that of a normal person."
……
Ryan Ling’s heart raced—given his current academic struggles, he could really use a new brain.
But those weren’t even the best ones. Flipping to the next column, Ryan’s blood practically boiled.
"300 Merit Points: Redeem Shaolin Demon-Subduing Fist skill."
"500 Merit Points: Redeem Kongtong Seven-Injury Fist skill."
"700 Merit Points: Redeem Wudang Taiji Sword."
……
Every single one was a legendary martial art.
Of course, with just a few hundred Merit Points, he could only unlock the beginner level. Still, for Ryan, that was more than enough to protect himself—after all, if Jason Lin hadn’t shown up in time during that fight with Big Fly, who knows what kind of trouble he’d be in now.
But if he knew martial arts himself, the outcome would’ve been totally different.
He kept scrolling through the special skills section, and the most powerful one was the Six-Pulse Divine Sword—a top-tier sword technique. But you needed a thousand Merit Points just to unlock the beginner level of the Shaoze Sword.
But just thinking about how awesome the Six-Pulse Divine Sword was, even learning a little bit of it would be totally worth it!
Besides, Ryan’s status panel still had ‘third-class cripple’ written on it—just looking at it made him feel awful.
But right now he only had 300 Merit Points, and spending it all on Shaolin Demon-Subduing Fist felt kinda lame.
Ryan tried tapping one of the skills, and two buttons instantly popped up—Buy Now or Pre-Order.
"Wait, you can pre-order? In that case, I might as well go for the strongest one!" Ryan’s eyes locked onto the Six-Pulse Divine Sword, but just as he was about to hit Pre-Order—
The System suddenly exploded with a giant firework, and a bold headline appeared—Special Skill Sale! Wish-Bound Telekinesis Art, now only 2,000 Merit Points.
“Wish-Bound Telekinesis Art?” Ryan blinked. That name sounded even cooler than the Six-Pulse Divine Sword.
"Bro, you’re seriously lucky! The virtual item store just opened and there’s already a special skill sale, and it’s the super promising Wish-Bound Telekinesis Art. Hurry up and pre-order—this skill is insanely OP!" The System was hyped.
"Is it really that awesome?" Ryan was starting to doubt the System’s hype.
"Of course! If you master the Wish-Bound Telekinesis Art, you’ll be able to move mountains and seas, swap the sky and sun, and crush tens of thousands of demon soldiers in a snap. It’s a top-tier immortal technique!" the System gushed.
"That crazy? And it’s an immortal technique?" Ryan swallowed hard. He’d just wanted a little self-defense, not some legendary spell.
But the System seemed to read his mind and jumped in, "Come on, bro! You’re Lord Yama’s son, destined for the immortal ranks! Learning regular martial arts is way beneath you. Go for immortal techniques!"
"You know what, that actually makes sense!" Ryan nodded, suddenly feeling pretty high-class.
"Then hurry up and click! If you wait, the item could disappear any second!" the System urged.
Ryan didn’t hesitate—he hit Pre-Order right away.
Instantly, the System flashed: Pre-Order Successful! A line popped up below: Pay 2,000 Merit Points within one week, or the item will expire and you’ll be fined 10% of its Merit Point value.
Ryan swallowed nervously—he only had 300 Merit Points now, and scraping together another 1,700 in a week was going to be brutal. After a few rounds of missions, he’d already learned that Merit Points weren’t easy to earn.
But just imagining learning an immortal technique made Ryan’s eyes light up—he was fired up and ready to grind…