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

Six o'clock in the morning.

Before dawn, the manor's living room was brightly lit.

Zhou Ran sat alone on the sofa.

On the coffee table in front of him were two items.

A shriveled, curled-up, dark purple Gu worm, its shell wrinkled like a corpse.

Next to it is Wu De's personal file.

This Gu worm was something he had just extracted from Wu De's empty sea of ​​consciousness.

That middle-aged man who always talked about "boss" and was always at his beck and call was dead.

The souls of mortals are inherently fragile.

The demonic gu had been lurking for many days, devouring his brain marrow and turning it into a lump of mud.

Zhou Ran's fingertips traced the fawning smile on the file.

Wu De, 54 years old.

Orphaned at a young age, he fought his way up in casinos in Dongguan and Macau, eventually securing his position as the head of the Wu family in Jiangcheng.

This is a ruthless and cunning man who has spent half his life licking blood from the edge of a knife.

In the eyes of cultivators, they are not even chess pieces, but merely a speck of dust on the chessboard.

But this speck of dust had once shielded him from a bullet and saved him countless troubles.

"Boss, Uncle Wu, he..."

Su Qingling stood at the top of the stairs, her voice trembling with barely suppressed sobs, her nose red.

"I know."

Zhou Ran closed the file, his words devoid of emotion.

"Contact the best funeral home in Wuhan and use the highest standards."

Su Qingling nodded vigorously, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Every year during Qingming Festival, please burn an incense stick for him on my behalf."

Zhou Ran stood up, and a cluster of purple-gold demonic fire suddenly ignited in his palm.

The remains of that Gu worm were completely obliterated in the flames, leaving not even ashes.

Wu De died from the Heart Demon Gu.

The Heart Demon Gu originated from the Black Witch Village.

He will personally go to the Southern Frontier to repay this blood debt with the bones of the entire Black Witch Village.

After finishing these tasks, Zhou Ran turned and headed towards the basement.

Qin San's life was tougher than Wu De's.

He was a trained fighter, with strong muscles and bones, and his core consciousness still held onto a last glimmer of hope.

Inside the basement, Qin San was bound to an iron bed by thick iron chains. His skin was ashen, and strange blackish-purple veins covered half of his face. His breathing was barely audible.

Zhou Ran placed his palm on his forehead.

Beneath the purple-gold demonic eyes, the entrenched Gu worm was still making its final struggle.

"That time at Longhu Mountain, we gave that old devil a good beating."

"This time, it's my turn."

Zhou Ran exerted force with his five fingers, and the primordial energy and blood gushed forth from his palms.

Without Ye Futian sharing the food, he took charge of the cooking himself.

The powerful energy transformed into countless sharp edges, fiercely rushing into Qin San's sea of ​​consciousness, encircling, piercing, and grinding the Gu worm!

The Gu worm was refined alive into a wisp of black energy, which Zhou Ran extracted and swallowed into his dantian.

Qin San's body suddenly sprang up.

"...Boss?"

His pupils, once lifeless, regained their sparkle.

"He's been bewitched."

Zhou Ran released his grip and flicked a pill into his mouth.

"You've been saved; Wu De wasn't as lucky as you."

Qin San's expression froze, and his eyes quickly turned bloodshot.

He struggled to sit up, the chains rattling loudly.

"Lie down."

Zhou Ran pressed down on his shoulder.

"If the meridians are completely severed, and the person moves recklessly within three days, even a god cannot save them."

"Wu De, he..."

"I'm gone."

Qin San's body tensed up, then his neck stiffly turned to one side, and his shoulders began to tremble uncontrollably.

Zhou Ran didn't say anything to comfort her.

"Recover well from your injury."

His tone was as calm as still water.

"A tough battle is coming up in the Yangtze River in a month."

"You have to live on, and kill your way to his share."

Qin San suddenly turned around, and the grief in his bloodshot eyes faded, leaving only a fierce glint like that of a wolf cub.

"yes!"

Zhou Ran went upstairs and closed the basement door.

In the corridor, Xiao Hongli, dressed in a smart suit, stood at the door with her suitcase.

"The capital city project will be completed within two weeks."

She was concise and to the point.

"Um."

She opened the car door, but stopped, without turning around.

"Next time you use me as bait, give me a heads-up so I can collect more interest."

"understood."

Zhou Ran smiled, stepped forward, and gave her a hug.

"...He broke his promise."

The black Maybach merged into the traffic and disappeared into the morning mist.

Zhou Ran stood on the steps, and several new messages lit up on his phone screen.

Chen Ya: The hidden spies in Tianjin have been eliminated, and the waterway has been restored.

Xiao Rou, on the other hand, has already returned to the village, and everything went smoothly.

He filed the message and circled a date heavily on the calendar.

There are 27 days left until the Yangtze River turns into a dragon.

"alright."

He put away his phone, turned around, and looked at the Su sisters sitting upright in the living room.

Paijiao, Black Dragon Society, Black Witch Village.

With three forces intertwined, he was ultimately unable to handle everything on his own.

From this day forward, his task is to forge two sufficiently sharp knives.

"From today onwards, I will personally teach you."

The second basement level of the manor was once Mr. Xiao's wine cellar, which was also directly beneath the bamboo grove.

Zhou Ran spent a morning transforming this place into a simple cultivation chamber.

Twelve thick black iron pillars rose from the ground, covered with qi-guiding array patterns he had personally inscribed, connecting to the spiritual veins tributaries beneath the manor.

"Stand in the middle."

Su Qingwu and Su Qingling stood side by side, dressed in thin training clothes, their bare feet on the floor.

Zhou Ran walked around them once, as if examining two weapons about to be sharpened.

His demonic eyes swept over their meridians, and his brows furrowed.

"Your Tidal Sacred Body has been 70% sealed by the sect's Taoist magic."

Su Qingwu's body tensed slightly.

"Our sect says that the sacred body should not be shown to others easily, as it will attract evil spirits..."

"madness."

Zhou Ran's assessment was simple and blunt.

"The core of the Tidal Sacred Body lies in 'resonance'."

You two sisters must achieve absolute synchronization of your Qi, blood, spirit, and meridians in order to draw upon the power of the tides of heaven and earth.

The cultivation methods your master taught you were entirely based on the principles of nurturing in a furnace or cauldron!

Su Qingling timidly raised her hand:

"Then...boss, do you have a solution?"

"have."

Zhou Ran stood between the two, placing his left hand on the back of Su Qingwu's neck and his right hand on the back of Su Qingling's neck.

Two streams of primordial energy surged into the two people's bodies from his palms!

"Um!"

The two sisters groaned in unison, their bodies trembling violently.

That power was too domineering!

It doesn't follow the usual meridians, but goes straight to the spine, along every nerve ending, launching a brutal scour of the limbs and bones!

Their faces flushed bright red in an instant.

This is not pain.

Rather, it is a tremor that originates from the depths of one's bones, a dormant bloodline forcibly awakened by external force!

Su Qingling's knees buckled, and her body leaned forward uncontrollably, only to be caught by Zhou Ran's arm around her slender waist.

"Hold on tight."

"I...I can't stand up..."

Su Qingling's voice was choked with sobs, and her eyes were already red.

Su Qingwu was in no better condition. She bit her lower lip tightly, her legs were taut, and the spiritual energy in her body was churning like boiling water, completely out of control.

Zhou Ran withdrew some of his strength.

"The meridian pathways of the Tidal Sacred Body are contrary to those of ordinary people."

Others draw their breath into their dantian, but you draw your breath throughout your entire body.

What I need to do is use my Primordial Origin as a key to forcibly unlock the shackles of bloodline resonance between you sisters.

He released his grip and took two pure black ribbons from the iron pillar.

"Blindfold them."

Why?

Su Qingwu asked warily.

"Vision can interfere with your perception."

From this moment on, you must use your bodies to 'see' each other's presence.

Zhou Ran's tone left no room for argument.

The two hesitated for a few seconds, but still obediently did as instructed.

Darkness descends.

Sight is deprived, but other senses become more acute.

The hum of the metal pillars in the air, the underfloor heating from the ground, and even their heartbeats all penetrated their senses.

"Back to back."

The two groped their way to each other, their backs touching.

Zhou Ran's hand fell again.

This time, he pressed both of their Mingmen acupoints simultaneously.

The primordial energy and blood differentiated into two completely different frequencies, one yin and one yang, like two spiraling torrents, pouring in again!

"ah--!"

Su Qingling was the first to scream in surprise.