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

A dozen or so black Land Cruisers tore through the night, charging onto the lawn like steel behemoths.

The blinding headlights illuminated the entire Wu family villa as bright as day.

The car doors opened simultaneously.

Master Qin was the first to jump out of the car, the heavy machete in his hand reflecting a chilling glint under the lights.

Behind him, dozens of men in black outfits filed out, exuding a menacing aura.

These people represent all the wealth Qin San accumulated over more than a decade in Jiangcheng's underworld; each of them has seen blood on their hands.

"Surround this place completely!"

Master Qin roared, his voice echoing through the night sky.

"Don't let a single mouse out!"

He's brimming with confidence now.

Looking across Jiangcheng, the Wu family is a powerful and influential family, and even Qin San would have to give them some face when he met them.

But tonight is different.

The god standing behind him was powerful enough to crush all the rules of Jiangcheng!

The door of the last car opened.

Zhou Ran walked down the street at a leisurely pace.

His gaze simply fell lightly on the thin mist of energy above the villa, barely perceptible to the naked eye.

A cold smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"A formation?"

Inside the villa lobby.

Wu De saw the scene outside through the huge floor-to-ceiling window and was so frightened that he almost collapsed from his wheelchair to the ground.

"Oni... Lord Oni-Shadow!"

He...he really came! How dare he come!

A cruel smile appeared on the ghostly figure's old face, which resembled withered tree bark, as he toyed with a pitch-black jade pendant in his hand.

"Good timing."

"I'm afraid he won't dare to come!"

"Soul-Slaying Killing Formation, activate!"

With a low shout, the ghostly figure suddenly exerted force with its five fingers!

"Snapped!"

The black jade pendant in his hand shattered instantly!

Om-!

A deep, resonant sound, like the tolling of an ancient bell, emanated from beneath the villa.

The black mist that had been hanging over the villa suddenly began to boil and churn.

It transformed into a visible black light curtain, like an inverted giant bowl, completely sealing off the space within a radius of fifty meters!

Just as Qin Sanye and the others rushed to the door, their bodies suddenly sank.

The air suddenly became thick and sticky, as if it had turned into an invisible swamp, and a terrifying pressure squeezed in from all directions.

"Snap!"

Several of the weaker henchmen had their kneecaps shattered on the spot, screaming as they collapsed to their knees, their faces turning a deep purplish-red, their eyes bulging, as if they would be crushed into a pulp in the next second.

"What...what the hell is this?!"

Qin San was horrified. He desperately tried to circulate his inner energy to resist, but he felt as if he were stuck in cement, and even raising his arm became extremely difficult.

He's a Grandmaster of Internal Energy Transformation!

Inside the villa, Ghost's smug, hoarse laughter came through the loudspeaker.

"Hahaha!

Welcome to my "Soul-Slaying Killing Array"!

"Within the formation, gravity is ten times stronger, and spiritual energy is completely cut off!"

"Young man surnamed Zhou, I know you are no ordinary person."

But here, all your supernatural powers will be suppressed; your physical body will be your only prison!

"Right now, you're nothing more than a slightly stronger sitting duck!"

Before he could finish speaking...

A dozen ghostly figures emerged from the balcony and roof of the villa on the second floor.

They wore special forces camouflage, carried heavy weapons, and their cold tactical goggles gleamed with an inhuman light in the night.

Two of them were carrying menacing man-portable anti-tank rocket launchers on their shoulders!

The dark muzzle of the cannon was locked onto Zhou Ran in the center of the formation.

"Shadow Mercenaries, we send you to your death."

The ghostly voice was filled with a sense of triumphant pronouncement.

"Fire!"

boom!

boom!

Two blinding tongues of fire shot out instantly, the rocket trailing a long tail flame, emitting a shrill whistle that tore through the air, heading straight for Zhou Ran's face.

Qin Sanye roared in despair.

Finished!

Under such a saturation attack of modern heavy firepower, no matter what grandmaster or deity, they will be torn to shreds!

However, Zhou Ran stood still, without moving.

He didn't even bother to lift his eyelids.

He slowly pulled a palm-sized, charred wooden stamp from his pocket.

The wooden seal is simple and unadorned, yet it is imprinted with seemingly natural purple thunder patterns, exuding a chilling and desolate aura.

It was the low-grade magic weapon he had refined that afternoon—the Thunderclap Seal.

Zhou Ran parted his thin lips slightly and uttered a single word.

"thunder."

His voice wasn't loud, but his words carried profound meaning.

Boom!

A thick, dark cloud suddenly burst open in the clear night sky without warning!

A ferocious purple bolt of lightning, like a dragon's claw, ruthlessly tore through the night, striking the two high-speed rockets before they even reached them!

A deafening explosion rang out in mid-air!

The terrifying shockwave even blew up rubble from the ground.

But the purple lightning did not dissipate; instead, it exploded into countless tiny electric snakes.

It frantically wandered and spread along the energy patterns of that black light curtain!

Crackling sounds!

It sounded like countless panes of glass shattering simultaneously, crisp and jarring.

The seemingly indestructible black light barrier instantly became covered in cracks, then crumbled inch by inch, dissipating into countless points of light.

The terrifying gravity that had been pressing down on Master Qin and the others vanished in an instant.

"puff--"

Inside the villa, the ghostly figure spat out a mouthful of black blood, and the smug smile on his face froze completely, turning into endless horror and fear.

"To...to use lightning for one's own purposes?!"

"Using the might of Heaven?!"

"That's impossible!"

This is a technique only a Foundation Establishment cultivator possesses!

"What...what kind of monster are you...?"

His understanding and his worldview were shattered at that moment.

Zhou Ran did not answer him.

He simply made a hand seal, and the Thunder Seal, suspended in mid-air, shone with a brilliant purple light. The lightning patterns on its surface seemed to come alive, exuding an aura of destruction.

"Since you're already here..."

Zhou Ran raised his eyes, his indifferent gaze sweeping over the mercenaries on the rooftop who had fallen into a daze.

"Let's leave them all here."

He pressed his finger down and uttered the second word.

"fall."

As he pressed his finger down.

The dark cloud in the sky seemed to have been pierced through.

As if guided by eyes, more than a dozen bolts of lightning struck precisely at the mercenaries lurking on the rooftops and balconies.

"Oh shit!"

"Oh, little goose!"

Those top mercenaries who usually killed without blinking an eye were now screaming in terror.

But in the face of lightning speed, human reactions seem utterly ridiculous.

boom!

boom!

boom!

Where lightning strikes, flesh and blood turn to charcoal.

The high-explosive grenades and ammunition they were carrying were instantly detonated, leaving the Wu family's luxurious villa, which cost hundreds of millions of yuan, riddled with holes and engulfed in flames.

A single glance.

The Song family's proud "Spirit-Slaying Killing Formation" has been broken.

The elite "Shadow" mercenary squad, hired at great expense, was completely wiped out.

Zhou Ran withdrew the Thunderclap Seal. The purple light on the surface of the wooden seal dimmed slightly, and it felt slightly hot to the touch.

He strode forward, stepping over the rubble and scorched earth, toward the villa gate.

Where he went, thunder and destruction followed.

The place he walked towards was one of despair and death.

Master Qin and his men were completely stunned, their bodies ice-cold, and they even forgot to breathe.

This……

This is no longer martial arts, nor magic.

This is divine punishment!

"Still standing there?"

Zhou Ran's voice came without him turning his head.

"Dispose of garbage."

Qin Sanye was jolted awake, and an extreme fervor of worship welled up from the bottom of his heart. He raised his machete high and roared with all his might.

Brothers!

"Following Lord Zhou... to act on behalf of Heaven!"

"kill--!"

The shouts of battle were deafening.

Zhou Ran stepped into the hall.

The smell of gunpowder and blood filled the air.

The Zhao father and son, along with Wu De, huddled in the corner of the sofa like three dead dogs, trembling like leaves.

A pungent, warm, and wet smell emanated from beneath Zhao Tao, and the sound of his teeth chattering could be clearly heard in the deathly silent hall.

In the center of the hall, only the ghostly figure remained, standing alone.

His black robe was tattered, his hair was disheveled, and there was a shocking amount of blood at the corner of his mouth. The backlash from the broken formation made it difficult for him to even stand.

"Who...who are you?"

The ghostly figure stared intently at Zhou Ran, its voice hoarse like a broken bellows.

"Which reclusive sect are you a true disciple of?"

Longhu Mountain?

Or is it the Shenxiao Sect?

In his limited imagination, only those ancient Taoist sects with a history of thousands of years could possibly cultivate such a prodigy.

Zhou Ran stopped and looked at him with indifferent eyes, as if he were looking at an ant.

Longhu Mountain?

The Divine Firmament Sect?

He let out a soft laugh, a laugh that carried a deep-seated contempt and disdain.

"Does anyone deserve to call themselves a sect before me, the successor of the Demon Emperor?"