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

Three thousand kilometers above the ground, in the gale layer.

The air currents here are so violent they could tear steel apart, and the temperature is extremely low.

Even the jet-black Zanpakuto was covered with a layer of white frost.

A streak of light burning with purplish-black demonic flames pierced through this forbidden zone of death at a speed that completely defied the laws of physics.

Zhou Ran carried the mushroom spirit Bai Xuan in one hand, stepping on his Zanpakuto, his figure resembling a demonic sword drawn from its sheath.

The sound barrier had long been left far behind him.

With each breath he took, he was burning the spiritual power he had just acquired through foundation building.

"This is insane!"

Boss, you've really gone crazy!

Bai Xuan screamed, feeling as if its cap was being torn apart by the speed.

"By burning your cultivation platform for supersonic migration, will you still have 30% of your cultivation left when you arrive in Jiangcheng?!"

"At that point, you'll have trouble even walking, let alone saving anyone!"

Zhou Ran ignored Bai Xuan's screams.

His newly formed purple-gold demonic eyes were fixed on the southeastern horizon.

The closer he got to Jiangcheng, the clearer the chilling aura that made his heart pound became.

"It's a formation!"

Bai Xuan also sensed it, and his voice revealed fear.

"What an overbearing restriction!"

It's sealing off the spiritual energy of that world!

Any cultivator who enters will have their cultivation suppressed!

"Boss, this is a spirit-locking array!"

They knew you'd come back, and they're here with their pockets open, waiting for you!

Zhou Ran's gaze was as cold as ancient ice.

Instead of slowing down, he poured even more spiritual energy into the Zanpakuto beneath his feet.

In the night sky, a second, even larger sonic boom cloud surged forth.

His speed increased again!

"It's too late."

Zhou Ran's demonic eyes flashed, dispelling illusions as he gazed at the towering Xiao Group building.

I felt an ominous scene flash before my eyes.

"Bai Xuan, if I die, you won't live either."

Zhou Ran's voice was icy cold and resolute.

"Uh... Boss, I get it!"

Bai Xuan broke out in a cold sweat, wishing he had just left it rotting in the ground.

How did I end up running into such a jinx!

It reluctantly extended its tendrils and gently pierced Zhou Ran's neck, generously injecting the essence of herbs and plants treasured for centuries.

"Dad...this is all my hard work!"

Zhou Ran took a deep breath and charged towards Jiang Cheng, moving even faster!

……

At the same time, in Jiangcheng, at the headquarters of the Xiao Group.

Top floor conference room.

The news article consisted of only one brief line, accompanied by a blurry profile photo of Liu Jianguo being put into a car.

[Liu Jianguo, Governor-General of Jiang Province, was taken away this morning to assist in an investigation on suspicion of serious disciplinary violations.]

The last glimmer of light in Xiao Hongli's eyes went out.

Liu Jianguo... has fallen?

Their last resort was thwarted at the most critical moment.

"Politics is an art."

Song Ren commented slowly and deliberately, appreciating the despair on their faces.

"The Song family's resources in the capital are beyond the comprehension of local tyrants like you."

"A little manipulation and some unsubstantiated evidence were enough to deprive him of his freedom for forty-eight hours."

Song Ren extended two fingers and gently waved them in the air.

"And forty-eight hours..."

"Enough for me to swallow Jiangcheng whole!"

It’s over.

Chen Ya collapsed to the ground, the last bit of strength that had been supporting her body drained away.

The authorities remained silent.

The family was wiped out.

The lover is trapped in a deadly situation.

This is a tight net, impenetrable and leaving no way out.

"Is this all there is to despair?"

Song Ren enjoyed the thrill of having everything under his control.

He walked up to Lin Qingxue, squatted down, and his slender fingers did not touch her, but instead lightly brushed across the back of her smooth neck.

Like a butcher, he meticulously examined the most perfect offering, planning the patterns for the blade beneath his blade.

"Truly a perfect gem in its rough."

Song Ren praised sincerely, his words revealing an almost anatomical obsession.

"The Yin-Yang Spiritual Body is naturally the best cultivation vessel for the Ghost Path."

He didn't get up, but picked up the remote control and switched the huge screen to another display.

The scene shows a close-up of Xiao Hongli's grandfather, Xiao Zhenguo, being trampled underfoot by assassins.

Song Ren slowly walked up to Xiao Hongli, his gaze lingering on her exquisite curves.

"Her exquisite beauty, though unadorned, is already unparalleled in the world."

His gaze shifted back and forth between Xiao Hongli and her grandfather's humiliated face on the screen, relishing the cruel contrast.

Finally, he looked at Chen Ya.

The scene on the screen switched again, showing Chen Guodong fighting a bloody battle inside the Chen family compound.

"And this body imbued with the purple aura of the family's fortune."

Song Ren closed his eyes, took a breath, and his face turned a sickly flush.

"Our ancestor will surely be extremely satisfied with this birthday gift."

"Once the Ancestor possesses Zhou Ran's one-in-a-million demonic body, then we'll use the primordial yin essence of the three of you as a catalyst..."

"My Song family will truly step into the realm of immortals, looking down upon all living beings!"

"As for you..."

He leaned close to Lin Qingxue's ear, his voice low, the words he uttered chilling.

"Your flesh and blood will be drained, your souls will be burned into sky lanterns, and you will wail in endless darkness for all eternity."

Lin Qingxue's body trembled violently.

She is not afraid of death.

But she feared this humiliation, feared that her very existence would become the sharpest knife to hurt Zhou Ran.

She turned her head and looked out the window.

Dark clouds loomed over the city, turning the entire city into a giant tomb.

"Brother Zhou..."

She cried out in her heart again and again.

"Don't come back..."

"Please, please don't come back..."

This was clearly a hellish battlefield prepared for him, a trap from which he was doomed.

She would rather fall into the abyss herself than let him die, so that he could live on, carrying her hope with him.

Seeing the three women consumed by despair, Song Ren got up with satisfaction and walked towards the wine cabinet.

Just as he poured the wine.

The protective jade pendant left by Zhou Ran on the back of Lin Qingxue's neck suddenly became scorching hot.

"Sister, I'm here to help you..."

That wasn't Zhou Ran's voice.

More like a...

A response from another world.

That voice...

Is it Xiao Qi?

In an instant, a long-buried, gray memory tore through her consciousness.

Before meeting Zhou Ran, her world was filled with loneliness and fear.

Because of her eyes that can see both the yin and yang, she always sees more than others.

More common are those twisted ghosts lurking in the corners, harboring greed and malice towards living beings.

Until Xiaoqi appeared.

He was originally a child who was abducted by a matchmaker and later beaten to death.

Because of a lingering resentment, he has been unable to enter the cycle of reincarnation.

However, he did not become a vengeful ghost that plagued the world, nor did he deliberately torment Lin Qingxue like other ghosts.

Instead, he followed her quietly, like an abandoned stray cat.

Lin Qingxue remembers that drizzly afternoon.

She held up her umbrella, walked to a deserted corner of the riverside park, and squatted down.

She lit the paper money she had secretly bought, along with a set of exquisitely painted paper Ultraman toys.

That was the first and only time she took the initiative to respond to that world.

In the flickering firelight, she saw Xiao Qi's semi-transparent figure standing not far away.

From that day on, he became her silent guardian.

Zhou Ran's arrival was like a sun illuminating her life, dispelling all the gloom.

Xiaoqi has also disappeared.

Lin Qingxue thought that he was afraid of Zhou Ran's domineering aura.

Or perhaps, that poor child has finally found the path to reincarnation.

She had silently wished for this in her heart.

Unexpectedly, he had always been there.

He has always been using his insignificant strength to protect her, the sister who once gave him the only warmth.