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

Before the blade fell, Zhou Ran etched this rule into his mind.

Only the lock is broken.

Without harming Yue Zhao.

The knife did not touch the person inside the ice.

The blade was aimed at the silver-gray threads wrapped around Yue Zhao's neck, wrists, and heart.

The shackles that the Moon Emperor placed on his younger sister imprisoned her for 30,000 years.

The knife cuts, the thread breaks.

The silver-gray light surging in Yue Zhao's pupils suddenly went out.

That cold, greedy, and arrogant will had just climbed to her brow when it was cleanly sliced ​​away by the blade.

With a soft hissing sound.

The silvery-gray thing curled up and retracted into the ground.

The bluish-white color in Yue Zhao's eye faded, returning to her original pupil color.

She looked at Zhou Ran, tears still clinging to the corners of her eyes.

This time, only clarity remained in my tears.

"Thank you."

Three words, spoken intermittently.

For the first time in thirty thousand years, she spoke for herself.

The ice stone trembled slightly.

The faint glimmer of life within sank to the bottom, returning to stillness.

Yue Zhao closed her eyes, as if she had finally had a peaceful sleep, and no one could take her life anymore.

The hundred-foot-tall heart underground, after beating wildly for the seventh time, suddenly slowed down.

Eighth grade.

Ninth grade.

Each drop was heavier than the last, and each drop was farther than the last.

Zhou Ran knelt on one knee.

The burning sensation from the six gray lines on his chest eased by half.

He grabbed the Yin-Yang Communication Bone Fragment and poured his true essence into it.

"Li Zhiyao".

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the bone fragment.

Then came suppressed, rapid breathing.

"The gray line has stopped."

"Nine thousand eight, it's stuck there."

Li Zhiyao's voice trembled.

"Qingxue... her hair roots are no longer white, and she's still dizzy."

The force that was pulling her down was gone.

Zhou Ran closed his eyes.

The wire broke.

Since Yue Zhao's vessel no longer recognizes a master, the vessel for her divided soul has nowhere to return.

He was about to speak.

Wang Pangzi's shouts burst in from within the bone fragments.

Even more anxious than Li Zhiyao.

"Ran-ge!"

People from the manor have arrived!

"A bunch of white people!"

He wore a badge of Holy Light on his waist!

Dozens of them!

They just kicked down the front door!

Zhou Ran's eyes turned cold.

Marcus is dead.

The remnants of Saint Radiance certainly know how to pick their timing.

"Don't break the bone."

Zhou Ran's voice was as flat as the surface of water.

"I'll read, you do."

......

The world of the living.

Xiao Family Manor.

Jack stepped on the broken copper ring of the gate.

His blond hair was slicked back and shiny, and his leather shoes trod on the still-dampened blood-red lawn.

Behind him were thirty-odd loyal followers of Holy Radiance.

A ball of light was concentrated in the palm of each person's hand.

The red, blue, and purple lights made half the courtyard feel scorching hot.

They acted exactly like a bunch of spirited young men.

"Zhou Ran!"

Jack spoke very loudly, and his Chinese was heavily accented.

"come out!

Hand over the woman surnamed Lin, and I'll spare the entire city's prisoners!

Fatty Wang stood on the steps.

His bald head was shiny, and one hand was held upright in front of his chest.

With his other hand, he squeezed the bone fragment in his arms, leaving a fingerprint.

Seeing that no one responded, Jack grinned. He raised his hand to give the order.

"S-rank is enough to break through the shell of a Nascent Soul."

First, raze this dilapidated courtyard to the ground—

In the bone fragments.

Zhou Ran's voice steadily reached Fatty Wang's ears.

"Fatty, protect the main building with your golden body."

"Xiao Rou, cast the spell."

Fatty Wang grinned.

"Understood."

A Buddhist chant.

Golden light exploded from his body.

A three-zhang-tall golden Buddha phantom spread out behind them, completely enveloping the main building.

Jack's first beam of supernatural energy struck the golden light.

Not even a single white speck was splashed out.

next moment.

The lawn beneath Jack's feet "came to life".

Countless black insects, the size of fingernails, crawled out of the mud and swarmed up the trouser legs of those people.

Xiao Rou stood at the second-floor window, her fingers forming a hand seal, her eyes half-closed.

"The master said,"

Her voice was light and airy.

"Disable their superpowers first."

Black insects burrowed into the collar and cuffs, specifically targeting the energy nodes.

Screams filled the air.

A B-level die-hard fan clutched his wrist and howled. The ball of light in his palm flickered a few times and then went out with a "poof".

"My superpower!"

"I'm incapable!"

Jack's smile froze on his face.

He turned around abruptly and saw that the thirty-odd people were in complete chaos, and the lights were going out one after another, as if someone had unplugged them all at once.

Within the bone fragments, Zhou Ran's voice was cold and devoid of warmth.

"The rest, break their arms and legs, but leave them alive."

Wang Pangzi's golden Buddha phantom took a step forward, and with a flick of his sleeve, five or six still-movable loyalists were sent flying by the golden light, crashing into the courtyard wall, the sound of bones shattering echoing into the yard.

Qin San charged out from the side, wielding a ring-pommel sword, aiming his blade at the knees and elbows, leaving a trail of screams in his wake.

In less than a minute, all thirty-odd Holy Radiance loyalists collapsed to the ground, none of them able to stand up.

Jack slumped in the middle of the lawn, his blond hair stained with mud and blood, his whole body trembling.

He couldn't understand how Zhou Ran, without even showing his face, could turn his S-class team into a complete mess with just two subordinates and a swarm of insects.

Fatty Wang held the bone fragments close to his face.

"Our boss has a message for you."

Zhou Ran's voice came from the bone fragment, each word striking Jack's face.

"Go back and tell your European headquarters."

Jiangcheng is your forbidden zone.

"One comes, one is rendered useless."

Fatty Wang put away the bone fragments and kicked Jack in the chest.

"roll."

Jack scrambled and stumbled as he fled out the door; without his powers, he limped as he ran.

He crawled over the kicked-down door, just about to breathe a sigh of relief—

There was a person standing outside the door.

The old man, wearing a gray cloth jacket and carrying a bamboo cane, looked at him with a smile.

Jack instinctively tried to dodge.

The old man raised his bamboo cane and gently touched the center of the man's forehead.

There was no sound.

Jack's entire body split open from between his eyebrows, turning into a pool of blood that splashed onto the doorstep before he could even scream.

The old man put away his bamboo cane, slowly stepped over the pool of blood, and walked into the manor.

At the second-floor window, Xiaorou gripped the bone fragment tightly, her knuckles turning white.

"Owner……"

Her voice was kept very low.

"The old man with the bamboo cane... has come in."

On the other end of the bone fragment, Fatty Wang and Xiao Rou held their breath at the same time.

Zhou Ran, deep within the heart of the Heavenly Corpse, let out a groan.

Gray cloth jacket, bamboo cane, a single point between his eyebrows, dead S-class.

Apart from Elder Xu, the head of Penglai Pavilion, there is no other like him.

This old fox personally cleared out Jack, seemingly to help him sweep the doorway, but in reality, to establish his authority.

In the mortal realm, under the oppressive weight of Heaven's will, even Nascent Soul cultivators dare not easily unleash their full power. Yet, Elder Xu could turn a person into blood in the street, clearly telling everyone—

Penglai exists in the mortal realm, free from constraints.

"Don't move."

Zhou Ran said to the bone fragment,

"Let him in."

See what he wants.

In the mortal realm, Old Xu, leaning on his cane, slowly strolled into the living room.

He was followed by two Nascent Soul stage guards, Xu Youwei and Shen Zhui.

The two guards paused as soon as they stepped into the manor's protective barrier.

The murderous aura Zhou Ran left on the barrier had not yet dissipated, causing them to break out in a sweat.

Only Old Xu walked steadily and gracefully.

He sat down on the sofa, planted his bamboo cane on the ground, and looked up at the communication bone fragment suspended in mid-air.

"Young friend Zhou".

He smiled kindly.

"I took care of that dog at the gate for you, aren't you going to thank me?"

The bone fragments glowed with a dark gold.

Zhou Ran's voice came out flatly.

"Old Xu helped me send people back to Jiangcheng, not to watch the door for me."

Old Xu didn't beat around the bush.

"The sacred mountain of the illusory realm, that ice stone."

He tapped his knuckles on his elbow.

"There was a silver-haired woman sealed inside."

Give me her coordinates.

"Penglai has guarded the Heavenly Corpse for 30,000 years; the Moon Emperor's remains should rightfully be taken over by Penglai."