"You little punk, I'm going to wipe you out right now!" Marshal Zhong Kui finally couldn't hold back anymore—lightning exploded from his palm, ready to crush these Western Pacifying King brats.
Ghost Emperor Decree, Ghost Emperor Decree—he couldn't care less anymore!
But just then, Ryan Ling's Nascent Soul power erupted wildly, and on top of that, he instantly unleashed the Hell Mad Blade Eighteen Styles.
This Hell Mad Blade Eighteen Styles was born in Hell itself, and now that Ryan is literally in Hell, its power instantly skyrocketed by hundreds of times. In a flash, millions of saber edges tore out and actually shredded Warren Damon's Heaven-Tribulation lightning.
"Wait—he's that strong?!" The crowd was stunned. If Ryan's first strike earlier was just luck, this time Warren Damon had thrown out his full ten-tenths Heaven-Tribulation power, basically risking his life. But Ryan still blocked him head-on, which proved his strength was beyond ridiculous.
"Lord Yama, are you sure your kid is just Nascent Soul Stage?" Even Marshal Zhong Kui was stunned, blurting out.
"That's right, I'm sure!" Even Lord Yama looked a little lost—he couldn't quite see through Ryan anymore. But with his own strength, he could tell Ryan had a Primeval Heavenwood constantly pumping him full of power.
Basically, Ryan's Nascent Soul power was already nuts, and the real cheat was that Primeval Heavenwood kept feeding him energy nonstop. It's like these guys are running full hacks. Warren Damon, even forcing himself, barely had the strength of a first-layer Heaven-Tribulation. Going toe-to-toe with Ryan was honestly a struggle!
But Lord Yama knew, aside from all that, Ryan had something even stronger hidden in him. What really blew his mind, though, was that even as a top dog with ninth-layer Heaven-Tribulation, he still couldn't see through it!
This foster son he used to have to prop up—now he was really all grown up.
"No way, no freaking way—how could a trash Nascent Soul block my full Heaven-Tribulation power?! Who—who's helping him? Which one of you?!" Warren Damon stared, eyes bulging, practically ready to burst a blood vessel.
"What a joke! Which dog-eye of yours saw us make a move? I'm strictly following the Ghost Emperor Decree—if you suck, don't blame us! Hilarious!"
"Exactly! The Western Pacifying King's son, once bragged he was the strongest of the underworld's youth, now getting beat down by our Crown Prince of Yama. Talk about thick skin!"
"For real. A Heaven-Tribulation expert can't even handle a Nascent Soul? And you still dream of ruling the whole underworld? Keep dreaming!"
Warren Damon's face was so dark, it looked like he just ate a pile of coal.
"I don't buy it! No way I can't beat a mere Nascent Soul!" Warren Damon was totally losing it. This was just too humiliating—came to the Hell Court to flex, and now this? If word got out, not only would he lose face, even his old man, the Western Pacifying King, would be utterly disgraced. Might even mess up his dad's next moves!
In that instant, Warren Damon gritted his teeth and squeezed out every ounce of potential he had. Sure, a Heaven-Tribulation master going all-out against a Nascent Soul is already embarrassing, but if he didn't kill Ryan, it wasn't just about losing face—it'd be a slap to his father's reputation!
Suddenly, Warren Damon shot into the air, his Heaven-Tribulation power going berserk, blasting at Ryan Ling. In a blink, Ryan was totally trapped—his Nascent Soul force seemed to scatter!
"Ryan—him?" Marshal Zhong Kui swallowed nervously, instantly on edge again.
"Don't worry—he's got this!" Lord Yama was totally chill. Because as soon as Warren Damon went all out, the flower-power from Ryan's Primeval Heavenwood poured into him, instantly boosting his strength to Heaven-Tribulation level!
But at that moment, aside from Lord Yama, nobody else noticed the change!
BOOM BOOM BOOM! Right then, Warren Damon's berserk Heaven-Tribulation power finally kicked in!
His aura was wild—Ryan Ling looked like he was about to get totally flattened!
But just as things got critical, Ryan shot out like a cannonball, unleashing his full flower-power. In a blink, he devoured every last bit of Warren Damon's Heaven-Tribulation, and at that instant, Ryan whipped out his God-Slaughter Halberd and went straight for Warren!
"What—the hell?!" Warren's eyes went green. He tried to dodge, but got slammed to the ground, his whole head pinned under Ryan's foot.
"You think you're so tough? Eat shit!" Ryan sneered and stomped Warren's face a few times, hard.
For a moment, Warren Damon couldn't put up the slightest fight—Ryan's power had him totally sealed up!
"Damn, that spatial control is almost catching up to mine! Unbelievable!" Marshal Zhong Kui couldn't stop marveling—he honestly couldn't believe what he was seeing.
That bully Warren Damon actually lost!
And he lost to Ryan Ling, a Nascent Soul!
"Get down!" The middle-aged man barked, and Warren Damon instantly crashed to the floor.
"Dad, you gotta avenge me!" Warren scrambled over, sniveling and crawling toward his old man.
"Scram!" The Western Pacifying King shot him a glare, and Warren was swept right out of the Hell Court.
"Western Pacifying King, your kid’s way too wild—he actually dared to wave the Ghost Emperor Decree in the Hell Court just to snatch a bride. What, you want me to hand over my throne to him?" Lord Yama said, not bothering with pleasantries.
"No kidding! And the key point is, he even lost to Ryan Ling in a duel. What a humiliation!" Marshal Zhong Kui chimed in, rubbing it in.
"Western Pacifying King, looks like we’re in the wrong here!" One of Damon’s sixth-layer tribulation generals muttered, swallowing nervously.
"Shut up!" Damon snapped, glaring hard at Ryan Ling, then turned to Lord Yama. "My son was reckless. He can apologize, he can even take his punishment in Hell. But you—bringing a crowd of dead soldiers straight into the Hell Court, planning to resurrect them? Isn’t that just as illegal?" Damon’s eyes swept over Kenneth Li and the other Chinese ghosts.
"Us? We’re not street thugs—we died for our country, for Huaxia!" Kenneth Li shot back, bristling at being called a thug.
"Dead meat! If I say you’re a thug, then you’re a thug!" Damon didn’t bother with niceties. In a flash, his gaze swept over Kenneth Li, yanking him into the air, and a massive ghost whip cracked down, making Kenneth scream in agony.
"Arrest all the other soldier ghosts—they’ve committed Fivefold Killing. Throw them all into the Oil-Cauldron Hell!" Damon barked. Instantly, dozens of his underworld henchmen moved in to shackle Kenneth and the rest...
The chapter ends with the Netherworld’s central court on a knife-edge: Ryan has just proven he can beat Damon’s son across realms, but Damon himself now stands in the Hell Court with multiple high-layer tribulation experts and is using underworld law to try to drag Kenneth Li and the other Huaxia war martyrs into eternal torment, forcing Lord Yama and Ryan into a direct political and moral clash with the Western Pacifying King’s faction.