"Hahaha, you dumbasses walked right into it! Once you’re inside my Dragon-Trap Golden Bowl, let’s see you try to pull off any tricks!" Martin Ma’s voice outside was pure smugness, practically bursting with glee: "Kid, I don’t care if you just chopped up five Void Realm bigshots—once you’re stuck in this bowl, you could be Superman and you’d still be dead meat!"
Inside the bowl, Martin's voice sounded a little muffled and weird, but Ryan Ling could still mostly make it out. Clearly, this bowl was no ordinary artifact.
Ryan didn’t waste time—he went full berserker, hammering the bowl with everything he had. The thing just went BOOM and stretched out like rubber candy, but not a single scratch! He kept swinging, but it was like punching a trampoline—totally useless, zero effect.
Outside, Martin Ma was still cackling, looking insanely pleased with himself. It was like, for once, he actually felt more badass than those five Void Realm guards he bribed.
"Ryan, stop wasting your energy. This bowl is definitely a Shadow-Soul Cult treasure, probably forged out of Heavenstone. No matter how you attack or rip at it, it's useless. Even a real dragon couldn't break out once it's trapped. We're seriously screwed." Serena Yan seemed to recognize the artifact, her face turning grim as she spoke.
"Shadow-Soul Cult? What kind of creepy cult is that?" Ryan shot Serena a weird look.
Serena took a deep breath and started explaining. After her rundown, Ryan finally understood that the Shadow-Soul Cult was some underground group up in North Jinling, run by a bunch of western-Hunan shamans.
These guys? Straight-up soul-sucking villains. Their whole deal is snatching souls, torturing spirits, and powering up by being the nastiest cultists in town.
Since Serena was Jinling’s Fifth-Rank Spirit Officer, she was their arch-nemesis. The two sides brawled nonstop, but these Shadow-Soul cockroaches were basically unkillable—squash one, ten more pop up. It was like whack-a-mole, but with evil shamans.
But in the past half year, with Victor Yan sick as hell, Serena had let her guard down around these guys. Now it was clear why Martin Ma dared to revolt—he didn't just team up with the five Void Realm guards from the Yan Family, he was also deep in bed with the Shadow-Soul Cult. Martin's no idiot; if he wasn't one hundred percent sure of his plan, he wouldn't have made a move.
"Seriously, there’s gotta be SOME way to bust out of this damn bowl, right?" Ryan was losing his cool. His own aura was off the charts, but the bowl just laughed at him—shrinking, stretching, turning from solid metal to squishy jelly in a blink. He could’ve brought a chainsaw and it’d still be hopeless.
"My Soul-Tracing Compass needle could've poked a hole in this Dragon-Trap Golden Bowl, but Martin Ma stole all my Spirit Officer gear. If I'm right, he handed everything to the Shadow-Soul Cult. Ugh, what a useless Fifth-Rank Spirit Officer I am!" Serena Yan sighed, clearly annoyed.
"Serena, honestly, I came here to borrow your Soul-Tracing Compass. Now look at us—forget borrowing, we’re gonna have to wipe out the whole Shadow-Soul Cult if we want to get anything done!" Ryan was so done. He thought this would be a quick errand, but now it was a full-blown boss fight.
"Wait, you’re a Spirit Officer too! Plus, you’ve got the Ghost King’s robe—shouldn’t you have some tricks up your sleeve?" Serena turned to Ryan, asking urgently. Only she knew Ryan’s true identity right now.
"Let me think!" Ryan’s brain was spinning at max speed, but still nothing. Trapped in this damn bowl? Talk about a nightmare. He was already starting to wheeze, like someone had put a plastic bag over his head.
"There’s only one way to crack the Dragon-Trap Golden Bowl—use the Heavenwood Spirit Root." The Ghost Elder’s voice suddenly echoed inside Ryan.
"Heavenwood Spirit Root? Yeah, that’s it." Ryan started running through his gear—only the ancient Heavenwood could do the trick. After months of Tina Tian’s spiritual nourishment, it had doubled in size. Still tiny, but the roots were now way longer, and it’d even sprouted new buds.
The Ghost Elder finished talking, and Ryan didn’t waste a second—he whipped out the ancient Heavenwood and jammed it right into the bowl’s dirt edge, like he was planting a bomb. Let’s see this magic wood do its thing!
The ancient Heavenwood touched earth, and its roots instantly dug in.
"It’s working!" Ryan’s heart skipped a beat. This Heavenwood was the real deal. He waited for the Spirit Root to work its magic—but suddenly, Serena Yan started gasping for air and collapsed to the ground with a thud.
She’d already purged the Soft-Bone Powder’s poison, but her strength hadn’t really come back yet. She was weak, and inside this bowl, it wasn’t just the thin air—the pressure was brutal, like having a giant rock crushing her chest.
"You okay?" Ryan glanced at Serena—her face was white as a ghost and her lips were turning purple. He could tell she was in trouble.
"Ryan, what are you waiting for? Give her mouth-to-mouth, now!" Inside Ryan, the System’s Ghost Elder was yelling at him.
Serena, being a Fifth-Rank Spirit Officer, could hear the Ghost Elder too. Her cheeks instantly flushed—last time Ryan rubbed medicine on her butt, now he was about to kiss her. She was seriously dying of embarrassment.
But stuck in the bowl, she felt more and more miserable, like her throat was being squeezed shut. If no oxygen got in soon, she’d be done for.
So even though Serena was embarrassed, she grabbed Ryan’s hands and held on tight.
"O-okay!" Ryan had no other choice—this was a rescue, and he was way stronger than Serena. Plus, he was already fused with the Heavenwood Spirit Root, so as its roots kept stretching, a little outside air trickled into his body. It wasn’t much, but it was enough for him to breathe easy.
Serena was about to pass out, so Ryan didn’t even think—he dove in, took a deep breath, and gave her the most heroic mouth-to-mouth ever. After a few rounds, Serena started coming back to life, looking way less like a zombie. But here’s the kicker: their tongues kept bumping, and the sparks flying were enough to light up the whole bowl. Even when the rescue was technically done, their lips just didn’t wanna break up.
Serena’s face was tomato red, and Ryan’s heart was going full drum solo. And man, her scent? It was like some forbidden perfume—crazy addictive, especially with the bowl sealed tight. He was getting high just breathing her in.
Finally, Serena realized this was way too much and tried to pull away from Ryan.
But Ryan suddenly pulled her into his arms and pressed his nose right up against her body, breathing in deep.
"Ah!" Serena yelped and quickly pulled her lips away, stammering nervously, "Ryan, th-this isn’t right!"
"Don’t overthink it, I just wanted to smell you. You really do have an amazing scent!" Ryan was totally caught up in the moment and couldn’t help kissing her again.
"Ryan, you should be with Tina, not me—I’m way too old, and I’ve got a husband. This really isn’t okay…" Serena panicked, trying to push Ryan away, but suddenly her body just wouldn’t cooperate. Instead of fighting, she found herself sinking deeper into his embrace.
Honestly, Martin Ma was right—Victor Yan was gravely ill, and Serena was basically living like a widow. It hadn’t just been six months; it’d been almost a year since she’d done anything. Serena had her daughter young, so she was only in her thirties now—the prime age for, well, needing relief. That’s why she’d secretly bought some toys to take care of things herself.
Now, with Ryan glued to her like a furnace, even if Serena was made of glacier ice, she’d be melting by now. Ryan was just too much. Back in Provincial Capital, when Serena had dinner with Angie Chen and the girls, their secret girl-talk had already confirmed Ryan was a beast in bed. Serena hadn’t said a word, but she’d definitely swallowed hard.
Women her age? Their needs are way stronger than girls like Anya Chen, who’s just a teenager.
Right then, Serena snapped—her desire went nuclear. When a woman like her flips the switch, even the toughest guy better watch out. Bam! She rolled Ryan under her, and her hands moved like lightning—next thing you know, she’s got a handful of Ryan’s butt…