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

The Great Master's soul drifted to within ten feet of Zhou Ran.

His silhouette flickered in the water, and with each step forward, fragments of his soul crumbled from its edges.

But those empty soul eyes were fixed on the dragon core, their depths burning with a thousand-year-old obsession.

"Zhou Ran, you can't stand up anymore."

His voice was ethereal, and his ancient Japanese accent grew increasingly pronounced.

"Give me the dragon core..."

I'll take it with me, and from now on I'll never set foot in China again!

Your friend...

He can still live.

Zhou Ran knelt in the mud.

The unicorn bone on his left arm was exposed, and there wasn't an inch of good skin left on his entire body.

The dragon energy from the dragon core was continuously flowing into his body, and the foundation stone for core formation in his dantian was greedily devouring this energy.

He raised his bloodshot eyes.

"Take it away?"

Not only will I not let you take it, but I'll also take back the Black Dragon Society's dragon corpse!

Zhou Ran's voice was hoarse, but her words were clear and distinct.

With each word uttered, the Great Master's soul shrank a little, and the scattered soul power at the edges became disordered.

"Don't think I don't know where your demon ninjas came from."

You want to use these two Flood Dragon Pills to reshape your body.

Then, let's come back stronger.

The Great Master's soul flickered violently.

Zhou Ran's taunts didn't stop.

"Do you think I'm a three-year-old?"

"If Zhao Tao's physical appearance hadn't crumbled, you probably wouldn't be speaking to me in such a humble tone, would you?"

"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you, your Heian-kyo is gone. You're just being imprisoned in this submarine by Song Zhentian."

I was just being used by him.

Zhou Ran wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his dark gold eyes filled with mockery.

"Nonsense!"

The Great Master's soul image contracted inward.

All the grayish-white soul power was compressed into a single point, without stirring the water at all, and shot off in an unexpected direction!

It wasn't Zhou Ran.

It was Miao Yingying, completely unprepared, inside the water curtain barrier in the distance.

The ethereal light, though silent and unseen, displaced all the water pressure along its path, traveling in a straight line.

Miao Yingying was hugging Wang Pangzi, burying her face in his chest and crying bitterly.

Her spiritual energy was exhausted, and she was completely unaware of the murderous intent behind her.

The soul was less than three feet away from her back.

"Yingying!"

Just then, a withered figure came rushing from afar.

It is Miao Laoshi.

The old man, whose hands were completely shattered, used his broken wrist to grab the last golden-armored corpse that still retained a trace of spiritual power.

He used himself as a shield and his corpse as armor.

He stood in front of Miao Yingying.

The soul spear pierced through the golden-armored corpse.

It pierced through the chest of Miao Laoshi.

The old man's body was thrown backward by the impact, his back landing heavily on Miao Yingying's shoulder.

A mouthful of black blood flowed from his lips, but in his turbid old tears lay a sense of relief.

"Yingying..."

Grandpa has let our ancestors down in this lifetime.

His voice was broken, almost nonexistent.

"But I'll protect you this time..."

It's worth it.

Miao Yingying's eyes widened to their maximum.

She reached out to cover the hole that had pierced through the old man's chest, but her fingers went right through it and couldn't stop it.

"grandfather--"

Miao Laoshi's hand fell limply to his side.

The relieved smile on that withered face was captured by the river.

Miao Yingying's scream was completely swallowed up by the thick layer of water.

The moment Miao Laoshi fell, the surging dragon energy in his dantian propelled the remaining primordial power, all of which rushed into Taihuang's left arm.

He braced himself with one hand and tried to stand up.

The bones emitted a grinding sound as if they were about to break under the weight, and the broken bone fragments rubbed against each other. Every inch of movement felt like being slowly tortured.

In the end, he stood up.

He took only one step, and his figure appeared in front of the master.

Taihuang spread his five fingers on his left arm and grabbed directly at the core of the Great Master's soul.

That burning flame of obsession pulsating in the center of his soul.

The three-colored primordial power poured in, crushing the outer shell of the Great Master's soul into dust.

The elder man did not struggle.

He looked at his soul fragmenting away, and on his withered face, which had remained unchanged for a thousand years, only a deep-seated weariness remained.

"Is Heian-kyo... really gone?"

It disappeared a thousand years ago.

Zhou Ran clenched his fists.

He crushed the flame of obsession that had burned for a thousand years.

Fragments of the soul scattered in the water, turning into specks of firefly light, slowly sinking into the darkness at the bottom of the river.

The riverbed was finally quiet.

Zhou Ran turned around and walked towards Miao Yingying.

The girl knelt in the mud, her hands tightly embracing the already cold body of Miao Laoshi. Her gray hair was disheveled in the water, lifeless.

She looked up at him, her lips moving, but she couldn't utter a single word.

Zhou Ran squatted down.

He picked up the blood-soaked dove-shaped staff from Miao Laoshi's waist and took out the oiled paper package.

The bag contained a secret manual for transporting corpses passed down through generations of the Miao people, and three bone talismans to seal away the corpse's energy.

He placed the two items into Miao Yingying's arms.

Then, with his broken left arm, he lifted Miao Yingying up along with the remains of Miao Laoshi.

"From now on, you will continue the Miao people's tradition."

Miao Yingying finally burst into tears.

It wasn't a suppressed sob, but a heart-wrenching wail.

Zhou Ran held the two of them, preparing to float to the surface of the water.

Just then, a faint but clear "thump-thump" sound came from the depths of the water eye beneath his feet.

The sound came from the rock cave at the very bottom of the water eye.

The rhythm is even.

It's a heartbeat.

Two heartbeats.

Zhou Ran brought Miao Yingying and Miao Laoshi's bodies to the surface and handed them to Zhang Xuansu, who was some distance away. Without pausing for a moment, he turned around and dived back down.

The heartbeat deep within the water's eye grew ever clearer.

He dragged his battered body, following the path the old dragon had taken as it fell deeper into the darkness.

He found the source of the sound in a cave at the very bottom of the water's eye.

Two fist-sized, egg-shaped objects.

The deep blue blood of the dragon wrapped them into blood cocoons, the patterns on the surface of which were exactly the same as the scales of the old dragon, and faint dragon energy flowed inside the egg walls.

Zhou Ran placed his hand over one of the coins.

The Qilin bone in his left arm resonated slightly the moment it touched the dragon egg.

That was an echo between the primordial origin and the bloodline of the dragon, spanning four thousand years.

"A dragon egg?"

Unexpectedly, there was an even bigger surprise: he put the two dragon eggs into his pocket.

He then scraped away a layer of old dragon scales that had been shattered by the heavenly tribulation lightning and fire from around the water eye.

Bai Xuan needs this; the remains of a four-thousand-year-old dragon can accelerate its recovery.

Before leaving, he took one last look at the dark riverbed.

The old dragon's remains had sunk to the bottom and disappeared without a trace.

As it surfaced, the morning light fell perfectly on the riverbank.

Fatty Wang lay on the stretcher, breathing steadily.

The Su sisters lay unconscious side by side, their faces deathly pale.

Xiao Rou's situation is the most critical.

Although Su Qingwu sealed the penetrating wound in her chest with her tidal spiritual power, her natal Gu was shattered, and the Gu poison in her body was spreading wildly. Her life force was teetering on the brink of extinction.

Without any hesitation, Zhou Ran took out one of the dragon eggs.

He channeled his primordial energy and blood, using his palm as a blade to strike the eggshell!

Click!

The eggshell shattered instantly.

The life essence within the egg, even purer and more primal than that of the dragon pill, surged forth!

Zhou Ran drew out a strand of liquid and poured it directly into Xiao Rou's mouth.