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

"Bang!"

The impact of the true energy shattered the heavy wooden door of the stone chamber into countless fragments.

Amidst the flying sawdust, Zhang Yunqing stepped in, carrying a three-foot-long sword.

Behind him were several purple-robed elders from the Celestial Master's Mansion, each exuding murderous intent, completely blocking the corridor.

In the eyes of Zhang Yunqing and the others, this person exuded a chilling aura.

From the moment they knocked on Longhu Mountain's door last time, they harbored malicious intentions.

"This evil energy from beyond the realm is emanating from you!"

"Evil heretics!"

Zhang Yunqing pointed his sword at Zhou Ran, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed, and rebuked him:

"You fiend, how dare you summon evil spirits in the forbidden area of ​​Longhu Mountain and destroy my mountain-protecting formation."

Today, the Celestial Master's Mansion cannot keep you here!

Zhou Ran's divine sense had just escaped from the illusory realm and was in a state of utter exhaustion.

His face was frighteningly pale, with undried black blood hanging from his lips, and even the Taihuang scales on his left arm had lost their luster.

He swayed, as if he were about to fall at any moment.

Faced with the pressure from the Golden Core stage elder, Zhou Ran didn't even raise an eyebrow. He simply lifted his eyelids and glanced at Zhang Yunqing with the look of someone looking at a dead object.

"I withstood the Moon Emperor's oppressive aura."

Zhou Ran spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, his tone completely flat and devoid of any inflection.

"And what are you people?"

Zhang Yunqing was so angry that she burst out laughing.

As a discipline elder of Longhu Mountain, when had he ever been humiliated like this by a junior in the Foundation Establishment stage?

There was no point in saying more. He activated his golden core to its fullest extent, and the green sword in his hand emitted a long cry.

"The Pure Yang Demon-Slaying Sword!"

laugh!

A sword aura several meters long appeared out of thin air.

The sword energy, carrying the majestic might of heaven and the true essence of the Daoist sect, sucked up the air in the room and cleaved down towards Zhou Ran's head with the force to shatter everything.

Zhang Yunqing used all his strength in this sword strike, aiming to kill Zhou Ran on the spot.

Outside the stone chamber, Miao Yingying and Fatty Wang tried to rush in to rescue the people, but they were locked down by the aura of the other elders and could not move.

The sword energy has arrived.

A few stray hairs on Zhou Ran's forehead were cut off by the strong wind.

He neither dodged nor activated the primordial energy.

Deep within his pupils, two gray vortexes swirled.

The endless debris he saw in the void realm, and the "emptiness" rule that devoured everything, became clearer in his mind than ever before.

What is existence?

I believe that if you do not exist, then you have no reason to exist.

At this moment, it seemed as if he had realized something.

Zhou Ran raised his hand, his index and middle fingers joined together to form a sword finger, and pointed at the incoming pure yang sword energy from afar.

He uttered a single word:

"null."

It possesses no magical power, no vital energy, only an ineffable "principle".

The golden sword energy, which rushed to within three inches of Zhou Ran's brow, suddenly stopped in mid-air and did not advance any further.

It was neither blocked by any shield nor shaken off.

It hung there in mid-air, its blade trembling incessantly, emitting a mournful buzzing sound.

The pure Yang true essence within the sword energy was still roaring, but it could no longer fall.

Zhou Ran defined this place as "empty".

If it's empty, where can the sword strike?

The pure yang fire within the sword energy was still burning, and the lightning was still flashing, but they could not advance even a millimeter further.

Because Zhou Ran had just defined this "idealistic" realm, and he had implanted a concept into it.

This sword energy does not exist.

This creates a fatal logical paradox.

The rules of the cultivation world support the existence of sword energy, while Zhou Ran's idealistic will denies its existence.

Although Zhou Ran's understanding of the higher-dimensional rules of the Moon Emperor was only superficial.

He couldn't simply erase the sword energy like he could in the Void Realm, so...

The sword energy has stopped working.

It froze in mid-air, with lightning and flames flashing continuously, eventually turning into countless tiny specks of spiritual energy that fell like flower petals.

The remaining force of the sword energy slammed heavily against the stone wall behind him.

Most of the guesthouse was sheared away, with rubble flying everywhere.

Everyone stood there, stunned.

Zhang Yunqing remained in the sword-wielding posture, his eyes practically bulging out of their sockets.

His hand holding the sword was trembling.

The elders outside the door were also stunned.

A killing move from a Golden Core cultivator was dodged by a heavily injured Foundation Establishment cultivator simply by tilting his head.

Why did that sword energy stop on its own?

And why did it transform into a sky full of starlight swords?!

"Yun Qing, how dare you!"

Stop it right now!

A furious roar descended from the sky.

Master Xuyun and Zhang Xuansu transformed into streams of light and landed in the ruins.

"Master!"

This child has attracted...

Zhang Yunqing still wanted to argue.

"Shut up!"

Xu Yun interrupted sharply.

"You idiot!"

If it weren't for Young Master Zhou's intervention that overturned those rules, Longhu Mountain would have become a dead zone today.

"Step back!"

Zhang Yunqing's face turned pale and then flushed.

He glared at Zhou Ran with resentment, then sheathed his sword and stepped aside.

According to his understanding, these evil creatures from beyond the realm were brought here by this boy!

Xu Yun turned around, his gaze falling on Zhou Ran, his expression more solemn than ever before.

He saw it clearly from the air just now.

There was no demonic energy surging around Zhou Ran, nor did he activate his Overlord Body.

But the subtle charm he displayed when he broke through the opponent's move made the old master's heart skip a beat.

That was a Daoist technique that none of our ancestors had ever displayed!

That kind of thing doesn't belong to Taoism, Buddhism, or even this world.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, that finger strike you just made..."

Xu Yun asked tentatively.

Zhou Ran wiped the blood from her lips with her thumb and stood up from the bed.

The ancient graveyard in the virtual world still lingered in his mind.

"Idealism".

Zhou Ran opened his palm.

"All phenomena are empty; only the mind creates all things."

"The rule of the virtual world is to devour definitions, so my path is to define it myself."

As the old Celestial Master said, my path to achieving the Golden Core is not in this world.

Then I will define it myself.

Zhou Ran's demonic eyes flashed, and within them, his divine wisdom was profound. The moment he stepped out of the illusory realm, he gained an even deeper understanding.

The Great Emperor's Dojo is, after all, the Great Emperor's Dojo.

If he has the chance, he will go again!

After that, there is no need to absorb spiritual energy in a step-by-step manner.

Since there are countless remnants of the origins of worlds in the virtual realm, and since there are countless laws in the world.

Then stuff all these completely different fundamental rules into your own dantian.

Not following the natural order.

To create a realm of idealism that belongs only to oneself within the dantian.

Zhou Ran raised his head, his gaze fixed on the old Celestial Master.

"Old Master, that thing isn't a demon, it's the end of the world."

"You're just waiting to die by guarding those old, tattered books."

Xu Yun's eyes twitched, but he couldn't utter a single word in rebuttal.

"Bring me all the secret texts from Longhu Mountain concerning 'other worlds,' 'planetary overlap,' and 'ancient emperors.'"

Zhou Ran's tone left no room for refusal.

"I need to look up some things."

Xu Yun remained silent for a long time, finally letting out a long sigh.

He knew that the young man in front of him had embarked on a path that even they, the old folks, could not comprehend.

"Open the highest-secret cabinet."

Xu Yun waved to Zhang Xuansu.

"Let Zhou Xiaoyou browse through it."