The villains are redeemed, and the heroines cry and beg for forgiveness.

Cheng Youmeng herself didn't know why, but Gu Ran's image always kept appearing in her mind.

For a moment, he thought he would become a martial arts master and impress him.

She was also thinking about her failure to break through to the Golden Core realm of martial arts, and how Gu Ran looked down on a "weakling" like her.

Her various thoughts made her quite irritable.

This made it harder for her to concentrate on practicing martial arts as before.

Thinking of this, Cheng Youmeng suddenly felt a pang of self-hatred.

If she could adjust her mindset on her own, perhaps her sister wouldn't have noticed that something was wrong with her.

If she weren't so useless, she could have broken through to the Golden Core stage of martial arts on her own, and wouldn't have needed to enter the ruins.

Even if she had persisted a little longer and relied on her own abilities to break through, she wouldn't have been able to enter the ruins...

So when her sister had an accident, she wouldn't stay far away from her sister, and she wouldn't even know what had happened to her sister.

After emerging from the ruins, she saw that the Ni Yuan Martial Arts Hall was in complete disarray and her sister was nowhere to be found, which nearly drove her mad.

She initially thought it was the work of the other eight martial arts schools and was ready to take revenge immediately, but later she found a letter left behind in her sister's room.

It was because of that letter that she left Canglong City.

There was one sentence in that letter that she still remembers to this day.

"Sister, as long as you do as I say, we will definitely meet again."

With just this one sentence, and after she went to the other eight martial arts schools to investigate, she couldn't find any information about her sister. It was as if her sister had vanished into thin air.

That's why she thought her sister was alright for the time being and that she was just being "tested".

Then she left Canglong City, completing the "test" her sister had left her while trying to find out about her sister.

To her surprise, several years have passed and she still hasn't been able to find out any news about her sister.

Furthermore, the "test" her sister left her was stuck on the last task, leaving her completely clueless.

She had planned to return to Canglong City to manage the Niyuan Martial Arts Hall, reopen it, and check for any clues she might have missed, while also calmly considering how to complete her final mission.

However, to her surprise, she encountered Gu Ran, who had become the "ruler" of Canglong City, outside the Niyuan Martial Arts Hall.

Then, Gu Ran handed the sword to her.

It was said to be a keepsake left to her by her older sister.

And that sword is the one in her arms, the same sword that Gu Ran pulled from the stone in the light screen and used to slaughter the alien creatures!

At first, Cheng Youmeng was not sure, but now she is increasingly certain that the sword in the light screen and the sword in her arms are definitely the same sword!

But why did Gu Ran give this sword to her, and why did Gu Ran sacrifice her sister's blood to this sword?

Previously, she thought Gu Ran was a wolf in sheep's clothing, so she didn't care about her sister at all.

But now it seems that things are not as I thought.

A complex and unfathomable look flashed in Cheng Youmeng's eyes.

At this moment, everyone's attention was focused on the screen or Xue Xiling, and no one noticed Cheng Youmeng's complicated feelings.

......

In the light screen.

As Gu Ran listened to Cheng Caimeng's words, she could feel the deep affection between the sisters.

He had paid attention to Cheng Youmeng several times at Lanxin University, and each time he saw Cheng Youmeng diligently practicing martial arts or studying.

He could feel that intense drive, that desperate desire to become stronger and stronger, just so that his loved ones could escape their predicament.

Gu Ran said, "If you continue to neglect your health like this, then your sister will have no one to take care of her."

“Don’t you still have me? Cough… You’ll take care of her, won’t you? She’s a student at Lanxin University, so she’s your student too. You certainly wouldn’t abandon your student, right?” Cheng Caimeng didn’t take the bait from Gu Ran. Instead, she asked him with sparkling eyes.

Gu Ran replied with an indifferent expression: "I have a lot of students. I can't possibly take care of every single one of them, can I? Your sister and I haven't really talked much. We're not very familiar teacher and student, so I don't need to take care of her."

It must be said that Gu Ran's acting skills are excellent.

Seeing Gu Ran's indifference from outside the screen, Cheng Youmeng felt a pang of sadness in her heart.

"Hmph, I, Cheng Youmeng, a dignified martial arts grandmaster, do not need anyone to take care of me."

......

Cheng Caimeng looked at Gu Ran's expression for a while, then suddenly said, "Youmeng seems to like you? I've noticed she's paying a lot of attention to your news."

Gu Ran was taken aback.

Cheng Youmeng, standing outside the screen, froze.

What nonsense is my sister talking about?!

How could she possibly like Gu Ran?

She merely regarded Gu Ran as a mountain peak she wanted to surpass in her martial arts journey.

When she saw the looks from others, she said somewhat angrily, "That was just a misunderstanding on my sister's part. I just thought Gu Ran was very strong and regarded him as an opponent I wanted to defeat, so I paid more attention to him. But my heart has always been only focused on martial arts!"

"Besides, you yourselves have been watching Gu Ran's memories. I haven't had much interaction with Gu Ran at all, so how could I possibly fall in love with Gu Ran?"

When it came to the last point, the others believed it to some extent.

They didn't see Cheng Youmeng appear much in Gu Ran's memories, which suggests that Gu Ran's entanglement with Cheng Youmeng was probably not deep.

But Gu Ran was just too outstanding at the time. Did Cheng Youmeng really not develop any special feelings for Gu Ran?

This question arose in the minds of some people, but they did not voice it.

Even if Cheng Youmeng did have a girlish crush on Gu Ran back then, it's understandable. After all, with someone as dazzling as Gu Ran, what girl wouldn't have a fleeting thought of him?

The past is the past. As long as Cheng Youmeng doesn't become an obstacle for them to kill Gu Ran, that's fine.

Lin Fan glanced at Cheng Youmeng.

Although she was so certain that she had never had any feelings for Gu Ran, after what had happened before, he was starting to doubt it.

At that moment, he suddenly felt that he was getting further and further away from replacing Gu Ran.

This made him increasingly anxious and irritable.

He wished he could kill Gu Ran immediately, but he had tried to manipulate the triangular crystal cone more than once to speed up the process of killing Gu Ran, but the result was the same as before.

—Whenever he summons this triangular crystal cone, the process of the triangular crystal cone killing enemies will be beyond his control; he can only let this triangular crystal cone kill enemies autonomously.

He didn't feel anything before, but now he feels increasingly uneasy.

......

In the light screen.

"If Youmeng goes well, she should be able to advance to the Martial Arts Grandmaster soon. She is actually able to take care of herself."

Cheng Caimeng's face gradually regained its normal expression, and she licked her somewhat dry lips.

However, because she was leaning against Gu Ran's chest, she looked as if she was seducing him.

Their breaths mingled together, and the two people nestled together became the only decoration in this monotonous space.

Although Gu Ran felt that the two of them were in a somewhat ambiguous position, this was not the time to care about such trivial matters, so he didn't say anything.

Cheng Caimeng, on the other hand, noticed the current posture between the two of them, and her ears suddenly turned red.

"What I... I want to say is that Youmeng is actually strong enough. Once she becomes a martial arts grandmaster, there will be fewer people who can bully her."

"But if Youmeng still encounters someone she can't defeat after becoming a martial arts master, then it means that the other party must be someone extraordinary. I hope... you can help her out at this time."

Gu Ran suddenly realized: "You made a bet with me before, and the bet you wanted me to fulfill wasn't to help the Niyuan Martial Arts Academy get out of its predicament... but for your sister?"

"Because in your heart, the most important thing is not the inanimate object that is the martial arts dojo, but your only family member."

"So then you made another bet with me. What do you want me to fulfill for that second bet?"

Gu Ran suddenly became a little curious.

“You’ll find out eventually, but it’s not the right time yet.” Cheng Caimeng broke free from Gu Ran’s embrace and turned her back to him. “I hope you can also fulfill the second promise of the bet.”

"We will safely overcome this crisis in Canglong City, and you will successfully rescue Xue Xiling afterward. However, this will require your utmost effort, otherwise my abilities may malfunction. Hurry up and get busy; you probably don't have much time left, right?"

It turns out that Cheng Caimeng disregarded her body and used her abilities for...

A sense of guilt rose in her heart, and Gu Ran remained silent for a moment.

"I will keep my promise regarding the second bet."

Consider it compensation; whatever she asks for, he will try his best to fulfill it.

Gu Ran turned around and left the space.

In the remaining time, Gu Ran didn't do much—because there wasn't much he could do anyway.

He activated the still-intact energy protection devices within Azure Dragon City and used the broadcast system to announce that everyone should remain hidden within the underground defense system and not come out for the time being.

As for those still on the ground, those trapped in collapsed buildings, those injured and wailing... he could only leave them to their fate.

Because he is only one person, although he is very powerful, he cannot be in multiple places at the same time and cannot do so many things at the same time.

And the important thing now is to survive the upcoming arrival of extraterrestrial aliens.