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

"Let Zhou Xiaoyou browse through it."

Seeing his master's respectful demeanor, Zhang Yunqing felt extremely aggrieved.

He fell to his knees in a disheveled state, his fingertips digging deep into the cracks between the stone bricks.

His usually cold and stern face twisted into a grimace as he stared intently at the lingering sword energy in his palm.

That pure yang sword energy just now almost exhausted his entire Golden Core cultivation.

But when it crashed into the space in front of Zhou Ran, it disappeared without making even the slightest sound.

It wasn't blocked, nor shattered, but rather transformed into a rain of swords that gradually dissipated.

This realization threw Zhang Yunqing into a state of great turmoil, and a series of fine cracking sounds emanated from the depths of his Dao foundation.

The elders around him were all pale-faced and had dry throats.

They took a half step back, none of them daring to look Zhou Ran in the eye.

It felt as if the air itself was bowing down to the young man with every step he took.

This is not the aura of a cultivator, but a forbidden rule never seen before.

This person is terrifying!

In contrast, Zhang Suxuan was much more shocked, and even remained calm.

He had spent many days with Zhou Ran, and he had already experienced his skills back at the Zhenhun Temple in the Jiangcheng sea area.

Zhou Ran lowered his eyelids and looked at Zhang Yunqing in a calm tone:

"Your sword is too slow."

Your path is empty.

These six words, once they reached Zhang Yunqing's ears, were more humiliating than being slapped in the face.

A metallic taste rose in his throat, his chest heaved violently, and he finally couldn't hold on any longer. A mouthful of thick blood splattered onto the stone bricks, and he passed out.

Master Xuyun stood not far away, his expression complex.

He waved his sleeve, signaling his disciples to take the disgraceful apprentice away, before taking out the purplish-black ancient wooden token from his robe.

That is the decree of the contemporary Celestial Master, the backbone of Longhu Mountain for two thousand years.

Xu Yun held the token, his hand trembling slightly.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, the secret chamber behind this door holds the last secret of the Celestial Master's Mansion."

Zhou Ran accepted the token.

The token felt heavy in my hand, and its material exuded an extreme coldness.

Without any formalities, he pushed open the door and entered.

As the stone door was pushed open, a musty, decaying smell of grass and wood filled the air.

The interior was dark, without any lights, only filled with the dust of withered wood in the air.

There's no need for any defensive formations here; the truths recorded over the past two thousand years are the heaviest shackles themselves.

Zhou Ran stood in front of the rows of towering bookshelves, his purple-gold demonic eyes swirling.

He needs to find a way.

Since Bai Xuan asserted that Lan Xing had lost his chance to form a core, there must be some remaining fragments in this ancestor's collection.

Countless blurry words on the bookshelf were reflected in his pupils.

Those bamboo slips, tortoise shells, and even rare books wrapped in animal hides vibrated under the purple-gold luster. The words detached from their carriers and transformed into messages like quicksand, all rushing into Zhou Ran's sea of ​​consciousness.

He is searching for the truth.

Although these records span a long period of time, they contain little useful information.

Most of the things recorded in those ancient books are useless anecdotes about cultivating immortality.

Until Zhou Ran's fingertips brushed against a stack of parchment that was badly eroded, a hidden narrative was revealed.

"A superhuman?"

Zhou Ran squinted and examined it closely.

This group of people never absorbs qi into their bodies; instead, they steal the power of heaven and earth by implanting some kind of bizarre bloodline awakening.

This approach is remarkably similar to the tricks he'd seen in this dimensional collision that overridden the rules.

He remembered.

I did see several people with superpowers when I was in the prison.

The blonde woman in the blue robe.

It can even summon the wind and snow of a region with a spell.

That man with the lightning element was even more bizarre.

It can even summon lightning out of thin air.

If they hadn't underestimated him at the time, and if he hadn't had that old devil's guidance, he would have really suffered.

"It seems that there are quite a few cultivation systems passed down on Earth."

Zhou Ran casually tossed the parchment aside, and with his fingertips, he pulled out a black, tattered scroll wrapped in more than a dozen demon-slaying talismans from the bottom of the bookshelf.

The talisman on the seal was withered, yet it exuded a chilling aura.

He tapped lightly with his fingertips.

"Bang."

The talisman shattered instantly.

The Records of the Underworld.

The moment Zhou Ran turned the page, he smelled a faint scent of blood.

The underworld described here is completely different from the hell he heard about in folk tales.

This is not the paradise after death.

This is a vast, rigid world with its own independent legal framework.

There exists a completely different order there, and the rulers of this order are known as the "Ten Kings of Hell".

Turning to the last page, a strangely beautiful spider lily suddenly appears before your eyes.

The line of vermilion annotations on the side caused the temperature in Zhou Ran's hand to drop sharply.

[All judges of the underworld in the mortal realm are "reincarnated beings," and their registers have been destroyed. Those who defect with the laws of the underworld will be killed without exception.]

Zhou Ran closed the tattered scroll, a playful smile curving his lips.

No wonder.

This so-called Yin law is probably the core rule of the Yin realm.

The reason why the illusory realm can penetrate the underworld is that these underworld laws record the most important rules of the underworld.

Zhou Ran looked inward and saw that the three-colored dantian was still spinning.

The domineering nature of the wilderness, the nobility of the true dragon, and the destruction of the heavenly tribulation.

All three are indispensable, yet one is missing. To form a core, four more sources must be gathered.

In a spiritually barren place like Blue Star, trying to gather all four elements is simply a pipe dream.

But this book, "The Record of the Underworld," opened a window.

If Heaven has blocked the path to Earth, then he'll go to other planes and smash the doors.

Go to that so-called underworld, meet those Yama Kings, strip away their rules, and forcibly stuff them into your own dantian.

The windows of the secret chamber were open, and the sea of ​​clouds surged in the distance.

That is the back mountain of Longhu Mountain, and also the gap in this world.

Zhou Ran felt his blood heating up, and that long-lost thrill of killing surged through his bones.

Since Li Zhiyao is the judge there, he must know the way home very well.

He tucked the Celestial Master's Token into his robes, turned and strode forward, the door of the secret chamber making a dull thud behind him.

Zhang Xuansu, who had been waiting at the door, instinctively took a step back when he saw Zhou Ran come out.

The young man entered the room like a heavy sword, its sharpness concealed.

Now, the sword has been sharpened, and its edge carries a godlike, cold killing intent.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, have you gained anything?"

Zhang Xuansu asked very softly.

Zhou Ran did not turn around and walked straight towards the mountain gate.

There's no time to waste on these Taoist priests anymore.

The family business is waiting for him to manage it.

He still had to go to Mangshan, which he had promised Feng Bancheng.

Most importantly, I need to talk to Li Zhiyao about that trip to the underworld.

Yama, the King of Hell?

It sounds exciting.

As Zhou Ran stepped onto the stone steps, each step caused a tiny crack to seep into the bricks beneath his feet.

That was his understanding of "emptiness" fermenting.

Although he had only just begun to grasp the basics of this power, it was already enough for him to roam freely in this world.

He walked to the edge of the cliff, the wind blowing his stray hairs.

"The path to forming the Golden Core lies right beneath your feet."

Half an hour later, Zhou Ran pushed open the door of the secret chamber.

Master Xuyun was waiting outside the door early in the morning.

"Finished watching?"

Xu Yun asked.

"I've finished watching it."

Zhou Ran spread his hands.

"Master, your disciple has repaid kindness with enmity, which makes me very unhappy."

As compensation, give me one thousand high-grade Qi-cultivating pills and three hundred soul-stabilizing pills.

I'm taking it with me.

Xu Yun's eyelids twitched wildly.

Is this treating the century-old heritage of Longhu Mountain like candy?

But looking into Zhou Ran's eyes, which left no room for negotiation, Xu Yun swallowed his anger and beckoned his disciple to fetch the goods from the warehouse.

Before leaving the Celestial Master's Mansion, Zhou Ran went to the Taiyi Green Wood Formation on the back mountain.