After I stopped trying, a rich woman trained me into a demon emperor.

Zhou Ran's projection flickered, and the Black Gold Law peeled away at the edge of his clothes. No one in the basement dared to speak first.

Xu Youwei leaned against Qin San, her lips pale.

Upon hearing that Lin Qingxue had been taken away, a silver glint flashed in the depths of her eyes, and her fingers gripped Qin San's sleeve.

"That Taoist nun's name is Xu Youning."

Zhou Ran stopped what he was doing.

Xu Youwei looked up and forced herself to finish speaking.

"She is my senior martial sister, and also the youngest clerk in the Penglai Discipline Hall."

"When I was a child, I studied ancient law, and she taught me many things."

Her voice lowered a few decibels.

"She came into contact with the left eye of the Heavenly Corpse even earlier than my grandfather."

Zhou Ran turned around.

"Anything else?"

Xu Youwei stood up straight, leaning against the wall, her chest heaving violently.

"She has a genuine fragment of a bronze ruler in her possession."

"The one Grandpa used was just a replica."

"That fragment came from the first Pavilion Master, and it's said to have been brought back from near the left eye of the Heavenly Corpse."

Zhou Ran understood.

The reason why the manor's death formation can be broken is here.

Xu Youning was not holding an ordinary ancient legal artifact, but rather an object of the same origin as the left eye of the Heavenly Corpse.

Thanks.

Zhou Ran raised his hand and tore open the space in front of him.

The black and gold projection stepped into the rift.

The next moment, outside the entrance to the Taihuang Tomb in Mangshan, the night wind carried a chilling aura through the ruins.

This is still the site of that Black Mountain Inn.

The ground still bears the patterns left by Zhou Ran when he last opened the bronze gate.

The entrance to the Taihuang Tomb has not yet been revealed.

Xu Youning has not arrived yet.

Zhou Ran stood in front of the door, the Taihuang Black Blade stuck in the gravel at his feet.

He closed his eyes, and the pressure of his nascent soul spread outwards.

Ten miles.

Twenty li.

Thirty li.

The entire Mangshan Mountain seemed to be shrouded in a subdued atmosphere.

The beasts in the mountains and forests lay prone in the depths of the grass, the lonely souls in the ditches shrank back into the mud crevices, and even the wandering eerie fires dimmed.

Half an hour later, a white figure appeared at the end of the mountain road.

Xu Youning has arrived.

She was dressed in a plain white Taoist robe, holding a whisk, and cradling an unconscious woman in her arms.

That face belonged to Lin Qingxue.

Zhou Ran opened her eyes.

Xu Youning stopped in her tracks.

"What are you doing here?"

Zhou Ran drew his black knife.

"I travel fast."

Xu Youning's eyes narrowed, and he immediately raised his hand to summon the fragment of the bronze ruler.

The fragment was only half a finger long, and as soon as it appeared, the Yin-Yang barrier at the entrance of the Taihuang Tomb began to tremble.

She wanted to force open her vaginal opening.

Zhou Ran took a step forward.

The pressure from the Nascent Soul cultivators descended, pressing the rubble on both sides of the mountain road into the soil.

The moment the fragment in Xu Youning's hand lit up, it was grabbed by a hand.

Zhou Ran stood in front of her, his five fingers clenched together.

Click.

The bronze ruler fragments shattered into powder.

Before Xu Youning could retreat, Zhou Ran struck down with a backhand palm.

She crashed into the rocks, sending dirt and stones flying, blood gushing from her mouth, and half of her face collapsed.

Zhou Ran caught Lin Qingxue in his arms.

Zhou Ran looked down.

The breath is right.

Bloodline connection.

The appearance is also correct.

It's so complete.

It's so natural that it defies common sense.

He did not sheathe his sword; his purple-gold demonic eyes pressed down on the woman's brow in his arms.

At the bottom of the pit, Xu Youning's shoulders twitched, his mouth was full of blood, yet he laughed out loud.

"Zhou Ran".

"So what if you catch up with me?"

Zhou Ran held the woman in his arms, his eyes filled with a deep killing intent.

Xu Youning's laughter became even hoarser.

"Why don't you take a look and see who you're actually holding?"

Lin Qingxue in her arms opened her eyes.

Those eyes had no pupils, only grayish water.

In the blink of an eye, she turned into ashes and liquid, which flowed from Zhou Ran's palm.

substitute.

Zhou Ran showed no surprise; instead, the black and gold flames on the blade intensified.

Xu Youning used herself as bait, using a substitute to hold him off for half a breath.

The real fragments of the bronze ruler had already been sent deep into the Mangshan Mountains long before she appeared.

Zhou Ran looked up.

Deep within Mangshan Mountain, the true Yin Gate of the Taihuang Tomb has already opened a crack.

The bluish-white bloodstains were disappearing through the crack in the door.

The real Lin Qingxue has already been sent to the underworld.

Zhou Ran turned around.

The Grand Commander's Decree appeared in his palm.

The gray patterns on the token were still wriggling, drilling into his hand bones along his palm.

Zhou Ran ignored it and poured his Nascent Soul True Essence into the token.

Deep within the Mangshan Mountains, the entrance to the Taihuang Tomb trembled.

The outline of the colossal bronze gate pressed out from the void.

Before the yin-yang patterns on the door were fully illuminated, Zhou Ran had already thrown a punch at it.

"open."

The bronze gate emitted a deep, resonant sound.

The door was only three inches wide.

Zhou Ran raised his hand, and the Taihuang Black Blade entered his palm.

"I said, open."

The blade flashed.

The giant gate burst open to both sides.

The yin energy surged out from behind the door, stirring up pebbles scattered all over the ground.

Zhou Ran stepped inside.

Within the spatial interlayer, countless lonely souls remained, still wailing. But the moment Zhou Ran stepped in, all the souls retreated simultaneously.

Just as the ghostly soldiers were forming their ranks at the Gates of Hell, a black and gold light crashed towards them.

The chief Yin general was greatly alarmed.

"Grand Commander?"

Zhou Ran brushed past him.

As soon as Yin raised his halberd, the pressure of the Nascent Soul descended on his shoulders, forcing him to kneel on both knees.

"Those who obstruct will be killed."

As soon as those three words were spoken, no ghostly soldiers dared to step forward on the road to the underworld.

As the black-gold figure charged toward the Third Hall, the underworld officials lowered their weapons.

A young ghost messenger spoke in a low voice.

"Wasn't he just alive?"

The old ghost officer next to him grabbed his head and pressed it down.

"Speak less."

"Whoever touches that guy now is doomed."

Outside the main hall of the Third Hall, the Yin Law Array was still in operation.

The palace gates were tightly closed.

Zhou Ran cleaved it in two with a single stroke.

Inside the hall, the underworld officials knelt down in unison, but the area behind the tables remained empty.

The Song emperor was not present.

Zhou Ran looked around the main hall, where a bluish-white bloodstain remained on the ground.

The bloodstains stretched all the way down into the underground mine tunnels.

He didn't stop, but continued straight down the mine tunnel.

The remnants of the shattered seal still remain, and the walls are covered with scorch marks and knife marks left from the old battle.

The deeper they went, the heavier the Heavenly Corpse's heartbeat became.

Each sound came from deep within the mine shaft, causing dust to fall from the stone walls.

Before the seventh layer of black wall, the sealing token had already cracked open.

Zhou Ran didn't look at it.

Gray fog swirls in front of the eighth floor door.

The spinal gate leading to the heart of the Heavenly Corpse has been wide open.

A person was standing in front of the door.

Emperor Song.

His robes were tattered, his face was pale, and he held the Yin Law Chain in his hand.

At the other end of the chain was Lin Qingxue.

She lowered her head, her long hair was half white, her eyes were closed, and a silver line appeared between her eyebrows.

Zhou Ran stopped.

All the ghost soldiers and messengers on the eighth floor retreated to the wall, suppressing even their breathing.

The Song emperor looked at him and let out a sigh.

"Zhou Ran, you're too late."

Zhou Ran stared at the chain on Lin Qingxue's wrist.

"Untie it."

Emperor Song shook his head.

"The soul drawn out by the Moon Emperor's younger sister must be taken away by the Underworld."

"This is the death warrant left by the first Yama."

Zhou Ran chuckled.

The laugh was very soft.

Emperor Song's eyelids twitched.

The next moment, the Taihuang Black Blade pointed at his brow.

"Fuck your death order."

"Anyone who dares to touch her today, I'll make them vanish into thin air."

Emperor Song did not draw his sword, nor did he activate the Yin law.

He simply took a step back.

"Do you think I can still make those decisions?"

Zhou Ran lowered his gaze.

Inside the gate of the spine, gray light swirled back.

An immense pressure surged out from behind the door.

That's not a Nascent Soul.

It is not a transformation into a deity.

It is not the authority of the underworld.

It showed no anger or murderous intent; it simply descended for a moment, and the ground of the eighth level collapsed downwards.

One by one, the Yin Law runes behind Emperor Song shattered.

The silver lines between Lin Qingxue's eyebrows lit up.

Within Zhou Ran's dantian, six gray lines simultaneously entered his nascent soul.

A clear and detached voice entered everyone's consciousness.

"Thirty thousand years."

"Finally, someone has collected both twin souls."

Emperor Song's eyes narrowed.

"The Moon Emperor..."

Zhou Ran tightened his grip on the knife little by little.

From deep within the gate of the spine, a silver hand reached out.

The hand was enormous, with long, slender fingers, and ancient symbols flowing within its palm lines.

It neither struck Zhou Ran nor paid any attention to Emperor Song.

It lunged directly at Lin Qingxue.

Emperor Song's expression changed drastically, and he raised his hand to invoke the Yin Law.

Nine black chains were placed in front of Lin Qingxue.

"The underworld has decreed that this soul must not..."

boom.

All nine chains shattered simultaneously.

Emperor Song was sent flying backward, crashing through the eighth layer of stone wall, spraying blood from his mouth, unable to finish his sentence.

Zhou Ran took a step forward.

Black and gold energy surged up.

The Great Wilderness Overlord Body is fully activated.

The Demon Emperor's essence is burning.

The vital energy and blood of the dragon surged out from the gaps in the bones.

He stood in front of Lin Qingxue, gripping the Taihuang Black Blade with both hands, raising the blade horizontally to block the giant silver hand.