"Ryan Ling, quit screwing around and unleash the Primeval Heavenwood already! Stop playing with fire!" The System was sweating bullets watching Ryan’s defenses teeter on the edge.
But Ryan wasn’t actually getting steamrolled by the Void Realm’s power—he just refused to tap into his ancient Heavenwood’s wood-element immortal qi. He was using Mitsuo Mitsui’s Void Realm beatdown as a hardcore training montage for his own body.
Yeah, this was pure insanity—playing with fire for real. Probably nobody in history but Ryan would dare this stunt.
A grandmaster using a Void Realm master as a sparring partner? That’s never happened, ever.
"Got it!" Ryan nodded, feeling his body-refining session was just about done. His Yanluo Golden Body had hit a freakishly high level—peak of the peak. This would be a killer foundation for his future Foundation-Building.
"You little punk, still standing? Get down on your knees, now!" Mitsuo Mitsui was losing his mind watching Ryan refuse to kneel.
"Old Jap dog, I’m gonna make you kneel!" Suddenly, Ryan’s aura dropped low and the Primeval Heavenwood’s life force flooded into him, life droplets bursting inside one after another.
"Baka! Are you dreaming? You think you can fight back now? You’ve got a death wish! Die!" Mitsuo Mitsui snapped, unleashing his full Void Realm aura at Ryan. The space he’d sealed exploded, with Ryan right at ground zero.
But against all odds, Ryan somehow tanked the hit. And then—boom—his internal qi shot up dozens of times.
"What the—how is this possible?" Mitsuo Mitsui was totally stunned. A Void Realm titan couldn’t even suppress one grandmaster, and now there were signs Ryan might bounce back.
"Is this guy even human?" Inside the Demon-Snaring Bowl, Chiharu Mitsui was floored. She’d been ready to cheer for her dad, but this scene was just a total meltdown.
All the other grandmasters were frozen. Nobody had ever seen someone’s qi spike like that out of nowhere—it was like a dying guy suddenly jumping up and running a marathon. Straight up unnatural.
"Old Jap dog, I told you—kneel!" Ryan sucked in a deep breath, going all out. All those green life droplets the Heavenwood had been saving up got dumped into him at once. He was so pumped, his momentum actually crushed Mitsuo Mitsui’s.
Nobody could believe a grandmaster’s momentum was actually overpowering a Void Realm master. Everyone’s eyes popped—even the Mitsui staff looked like they’d seen a ghost.
Ryan had his reasons for pulling this off. According to the System, the martial grandmaster tier runs Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Blue, Purple; Void Realm experts also have their own tiers: Heaven, Earth, Black, Yellow. Mitsuo Mitsui had just hit Yellow—he wasn’t top-tier Void Realm. That meant Ryan could actually hang with him. If Mitsuo was truly top-tier, Ryan would’ve had to bail.
"Kneel to you? Kneel to your ancestors!" Mitsuo Mitsui was about to pop a lung. Getting clowned by a grandmaster was next-level humiliation. He started hollering like a madman, then suddenly jumped back and whipped out a black demon-blade from his waist—way more evil than Chiharu Mitsui’s sword.
In a flash, the demon-blade came swinging straight at Ryan.
Ryan didn’t hesitate—he drew the Ghost-Head Greatsaber and unleashed his triple slash combo: Severing Desire, Severing Soul, Severing Spirit.
The ground shook like an earthquake, but the two of them weren’t even touching down anymore—they were going full berserk in mid-air.
"Sky-Rending Slash!"
"Setting-Sun Slash!"
"Blood-Sea Slash!"
......
Up against Ryan’s savage counterattack, Mitsuo Mitsui busted out the Mitsui clan’s ultimate killer saber arts—each slash nastier than the last. And that demon-blade? It was no joke; the power it unleashed could slice gods and demons.
For the first time ever, Ryan’s Ghost-Head Greatsaber was taking a beating—cracks started forming along the blade’s edge.
"Void Realm’s supposed to be the backbone of national martial arts, huh? Looks like that’s not just hype!" Even the System had to admit it.
"System, quit hyping up the enemy! No matter how tough he is or how nasty his demon-blade looks, he’s still just a mortal. I’ve got Immortal Arts—why should I be scared?" Ryan shot back, totally unfazed by the System’s worry.
With a flick of his mind, Ryan unleashed another wave of Heavenwood qi, sending a surge of energy to repair the cracks on his Ghost-Head Greatsaber.
"Kid, I gotta admit, your wood-element Immortal Arts are freakishly smooth. Looks like having you specialize in wood-element was the right call!" The System was genuinely impressed—he hadn’t expected Ryan to pull off a move like that.
"Ha! Thanks for the props. Unless this old Jap dog’s got some secret tricks left, he’s toast!" Ryan cracked his knuckles and went in swinging again.
Right now, Mitsuo Mitsui was practically getting his mind blown. He’d never imagined Ryan’s strength and tricks ran this deep.
Even a Void Realm master had started backing off!
"Holy crap, if I hadn’t seen this myself I wouldn’t believe it—Ryan actually forced a Void Realm master to retreat! This deserves a spot in Chinese martial arts history, no question."
"No kidding. Today’s a day for all Jiangdong to celebrate. We’ve been crushed by Japan for ages—now we’re finally back on top! If Ryan really kills Mitsuo Mitsui, the nation’s top brass should give him the highest state honors!"
"Damn right. At this point, Ryan’s the undisputed War God of Jiangdong and the anti-Japan hero—nobody can touch that."
"Honestly, if I wasn’t so old, I’d totally拜师 to Ryan—make him my master."
(Skip: Web-novel navigation message, irrelevant to story.)
"Forget master—at this point, I’d call him Dad if he asked!"
In a flash, a bunch of old, white-haired Chinese martial artists were bickering over who got to be Ryan’s adopted son.
But while these martial artists were losing their minds over Ryan, the Azure Dragon Society bigwigs looked like they’d swallowed a bug—clenching fists, grinding teeth, wishing for Ryan’s death.
The Azure Dragon Society had already made up their minds: even if Mitsuo Mitsui only wounded Ryan, they’d swoop in while he was down and finish him off. No matter what, this was their shot to wipe out Ryan for good.
But with the way things were going, not only was Ryan not dead—he actually looked like he might kill Mitsuo Mitsui.
"Damn, we can’t just sit here and wait to get steamrolled. Should we give Mitsuo Mitsui a hand?" one of the Azure Dragon execs whispered, voice dripping with scheming.
"Yeah, but keep it sneaky—hit him in the dark, and make it quick!" another gritted out.
"Use this—go for his back and snap his spine!" Another exec whipped out a barbed iron ring, a nasty sneak-attack artifact.
"Alright, together—kill!" The Azure Dragon Society bigwigs traded looks and lunged at Ryan’s back. No one saw it coming, not even Ryan—a silent artifact shot straight for his spine.
But Rose Yates just happened to catch it. She shouted, "They’re using a hidden weapon—Ryan, watch out!"
Ryan jolted, but all his focus was locked on Mitsuo Mitsui—he couldn’t react in time. The hidden weapon slammed right into his back.
"Pfft!" He spat out a mouthful of blood—old and dark.
Everyone’s jaws dropped. Nobody expected Ryan to get blindsided right when he was about to make Jiangdong history.
"Nice! That’s the way—Ryan, you’re dead meat today!" Mitsuo Mitsui swung his demon-blade at Ryan again. Ryan ignored the agony in his back and blocked with the Ghost-Head Greatsaber.
Ryan managed to block the demon-blade, but then—out of nowhere—Mitsuo Mitsui’s stomach burst open and a woman’s head lunged straight for Ryan’s groin. It was Chiharu Mitsui’s mom, Hideko Chiba, her mouth packed with top-tier poison. Ryan was in serious trouble...