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

The air inside the sealed room instantly became viscous.

It felt as if all the oxygen had been sucked out by an invisible force.

The eerie green flames at the four corners were not lamplight, but ghostly fire.

This thing can freeze even the bone marrow into ice shards as soon as it touches a soul.

A woman came out.

It is squeezed directly from the air.

He was dressed in the official robes of the underworld, with blood-red spider lilies embroidered on a black background, and he was carrying a bamboo pole with a dim yellow lantern hanging from it.

Feng Xi, the ferryman of the River of Oblivion.

The moment she appeared, the defensive array runes on the walls of the secret chamber dimmed inch by inch and completely froze.

That day in Jiangcheng, the old Taoist priest Zhang Suxuan called her out once.

At that time, it was to help Xiao Qi's shattered soul find peace.

This time, however, Feng Xi didn't look at Zhou Ran.

Her gaze was like a knife, piercing straight at the Yin-gathering banner in the corner.

The Gathering Yin Banner was trembling.

The dark red spider lily pattern on the banner now shone eerily.

"Things from the underworld cannot remain in the mortal realm."

"I'm taking this soul with me."

Feng Xi slammed the bamboo pole in her hand to the ground, making a crisp sound.

Zhou Ran heard this, but made no move.

It was as if he hadn't heard or seen anything.

He placed one hand on the Gathering Yin Banner and stroked the head of the young dragon with the other.

A bamboo pole was handed over, ready to be used to directly remove the Yin-gathering Banner.

Zhou Ran reached out his hand.

That hand, imbued with a burning golden aura of blood, gripped the bamboo pole tightly.

"You trespassed on my territory and harmed my people."

"Did you ask me?"

Zhou Ran raised his eyes, and the purple-gold light in his demonic pupils transformed into two balls of raging fire, staring directly at Feng Xi's frost-covered face.

Feng Xi frowned.

Her bamboo pole was made of dark wood from the bottom of the River of Oblivion, and nothing in the mortal world could touch it.

How dare this mortal use his physical body to fight?

I forgot, you can see me.

However, you cannot act recklessly now.

Feng Xi said coldly.

"Why don't you try moving?"

Zhou Ran spoke calmly, but the young dragon on his shoulder suddenly opened its mouth and spewed a breath of dragon fire at Feng Xi.

The dragon's breath was not flames, but a dense black-gold death aura that rushed straight towards Feng Xi's face.

This deathly aura posed no harm to Feng Xi, but it caused her to sway slightly.

This was because within this deathly aura lay a familiar aura from another world!

Just then, a soft laugh came from the Gathering Yin Banner.

"Sister Fengxi, it's been two thousand years, and your reach is still as long as ever."

A phantom shadow emerged from the banner and slowly solidified.

Li Zhiyao's translucent soul was currently entwined with a pale blue dragon aura, and her cold and arrogant demeanor was exactly the same as Feng Xi's.

Feng Xi looked at Li Zhiyao, her brows furrowed:

"You're still here?"

"Disperse?"

"Even the underworld hasn't sunk, how could I bear to part with it?"

Li Zhiyao said coldly,

"You went to all this trouble to cross over from another realm, and besides wanting this 'key,' what price did the other kings of hell offer you?"

"You know that too."

Feng Xi's eyes were solemn.

"The underworld is in chaos, and the current situation is far worse than you and I can imagine."

The rift between worlds is widening; someone wants to tear open this gap and spread the authority of the underworld to the mortal realm.

"That's a matter for your underworld."

Zhou Ran chimed in with a cold laugh.

I don't care what kind of key it is.

She's mine, and you can't take her away.

"You really don't know your own limitations."

Feng Xi shook her head and turned her gaze to Li Zhiyao.

"You should know better than this kid."

Your soul is the shortest path to connect the realms of Yin and Yang.

Those rebels want more than just you; they want the Yin law that's suppressed within your soul!

"Once they obtain the laws of the underworld, those people will be able to alter the laws of the human world."

At that point, whoever they want to die, they can die.

"Those people?"

"That's right, it's a Western organization with superpowers."

Feng Xi said calmly.

Zhou Ran narrowed his eyes, thinking of the strange runes on the bodies of those superhumans.

So that's what was going on behind the scenes.

"What they want is power."

Feng Xi's tone turned somber.

"They don't care about the balance of yin and yang at all."

They stole the power of heaven and earth by implanting bloodlines, but that was not enough.

They intend to integrate the laws of the underworld into the core of their superpowers, causing a complete transformation of the human world.

At that time, Earth will no longer belong to cultivators, but will become their colony.

Li Zhiyao's eyes flickered slightly as she glanced at Zhou Ran, then transmitted her voice:

These words are true.

Although Feng Xi is cunning and treacherous, what she fears most in this life is chaos in the underworld, because if chaos breaks out, her ferry will never be able to dock again.

"Did you hear that?"

Zhou Ran looked at Feng Xi,

"The Ten Kings of Hell are in turmoil, and the rebels are colluding with outsiders."

"I see your underworld as nothing more than a disorganized mess."

Feng Xi's anger surged:

"It's not up to you, a mere Foundation Establishment stage junior, to comment!"

The chaos in the underworld is due to the ever-widening rift between the two worlds.

"The more soul you leave here, the greater the risk to the underworld!"

A greedy green glint flashed in Zhou Ran's eyes.

A fissure in the underworld.

Upon hearing those four words, the image of the Void Realm immediately came to mind.

Plane overlap can occur in Laoshan and Longhushan.

It can certainly appear in the underworld as well.

Doesn't this mean that I finally have another chance to find out the truth?

Then, one can accumulate experience for comprehending the Great Dao.

"I'm determined to keep this ghost."

Zhou Ran looked at Feng Xi, a cold, sharp smile curving his lips.

"Whether it's rebels from the underworld or some damn Western conglomerate."

"If anyone dares to lay a hand on Li Zhiyao, I will personally take action."

"Overestimating yourself!"

Feng Xi has lived for a thousand years and has never seen such a self-important fool.

She swung the bamboo pole, dispelling Zhou Ran's aura, and took a step back.

That's all I have to say.

If Li Zhiyao stays in the mortal realm, it won't be long before the pursuers from the underworld raze this place to the ground.

Those superhumans know everything about you; they're already on their way.

Feng Xi's figure began to blur.

"The next time we meet, it will be when the ghost army passes by."

At that time, you won't even have a chance to regret it.

As Feng Xi disappeared, the yin energy in the secret room instantly dissipated.

Zhou Ran's eyes were icy.

Regret?

These two words never existed in Zhou Ran's dictionary.

He looked at the Yin-Gathering Banner behind him. Li Zhiyao's soul had already shrunk back, clearly indicating that the conversation had consumed a lot of her spiritual energy.

Outside the secret room, a faint sound of knees scraping the ground could be heard.

Xiao Rou knelt there.

"master."

Xiao Rou's voice trembled, revealing urgency.

"I just sensed that the aura of Black Witch Village has changed."

The two newly appointed elders, along with their men, have already entered the dock.

They carried the same kind of yin energy as before.

They've definitely come to take me back.

Zhou Ran narrowed his eyes.

No sooner had Feng Xi left than this group of so-called "overseas monsters" and remnants of the Black Witch Village crept over.

They moved quickly.

He rubbed away the remaining fragments of yin energy from his fingertips, looked at the fear on Xiaorou's pure and beautiful face, and sneered.

"The warning from the guiding light had barely been given when someone came to die."

Zhou Ran rolled up his sleeves, revealing glimpses of dark gold scales on his arms.

Feng Xi said this place will be razed to the ground?

Row.

He also happened to be lacking a "sacrifice".

He imprinted his insight into "nothingness" thoroughly into the rules of Jiangcheng.

"They're going to rescue you?"

Zhou Ran looked down at Xiao Rou, his eyes filled with a chilling, demonic light.

"Then so be it, let them go to the underworld to line up first."