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

"right."

Zhou Ran answered decisively.

Li Zhiyao did not try to dissuade her.

She knew better than anyone that once that remains were activated, the 30 million people of Jiangcheng would be buried with it.

Instead of waiting to die in the mortal world, it's better to fight your way into the underworld and cut off the source of the problem.

But she also knew that Zhou Ran couldn't leave yet.

"The people around you haven't trained yet."

Li Zhiyao leaned against the cold wall, her gaze sweeping over the four women and one dragon, each enduring their own hardships.

"The moment you enter the underworld, the rebel army of the underworld will raze the manor to the ground."

"I know."

Zhou Ran didn't say much.

He had a very clear plan in mind.

Going to the underworld isn't as simple as just rushing in and killing people.

The rear of the living must be solid, and the people around must be capable of standing on their own.

Otherwise, no matter how much fun he has in the underworld, if he comes back and finds his home destroyed, it will all be for nothing.

Just then.

The communication array in the underground chamber lit up.

Qin San glanced down and his expression changed slightly.

"Boss, Xiao Rou's natal Gu is sending an alarm in the southern border region."

Zhou Ran frowned.

A few days ago, he specifically asked Xiaorou to return to southern Xinjiang.

The purpose was to call for reinforcements and to find out the information about the "extraterrestrial demons" that Xiaorou mentioned.

"understood."

He raised his hand and pressed down, and Xiao Rou's voice appeared in the array plate.

It wasn't her usual meek and obedient tone; it carried an barely suppressed urgency.

"Owner."

Xiao Rou's voice squeezed out from the array plate, mixed with soft panting.

"Something has happened at Black Witch Village."

"Three days ago, they used the lives of three hundred tribesmen as a blood sacrifice at the underground altar deep in the Ten Thousand Mountains."

"What are we offering sacrifices for?"

"Extraterrestrial Demons".

Xiao Rou lowered her voice even further.

"It is the god that Black Witch Village has worshipped for thousands of years, and who is said to have descended from heaven."

That lump of black mud-like stuff.

"It's awake."

"Within two days, they swallowed up six of Black Witch Village's branch villages."

"More than three thousand people of our tribe were assimilated by that thing and turned into black mud figures."

It's alive, it can move, and it can kill.

"Now the entire southern foothills of the Ten Thousand Mountains are covered with that kind of thing."

The Black Witch Village chief led the remaining men to retreat to the old village on the northern slope; they wouldn't last three days.

A muffled scream came from the communication array, its despair palpable even from a thousand miles away.

The atmosphere in the sealed room suddenly became heavy.

Chen Ya struggled to her feet, her face pale and her body contorted with pain.

"Extraterrestrial Demons?"

What is that?

"It's just a piece of trash used to test the waters."

Zhou Ran said calmly.

A slight smile played on his lips, as if he had anticipated this outcome.

Offering help in times of need is always better than adding to someone's already good fortune.

Now is the best time to make a move!

"I've said that before."

Zhou Ran closed his eyes and his mind raced.

"The cleaners at the very bottom of the sixth level of the Demon Realm."

Specialized in cleaning up rotting flesh and remains on the battlefield.

A few of them peeked out from the crack back then and were worshipped as gods by the indigenous people of southern Xinjiang for thousands of years.

He opened his eyes.

"They've been fed for thousands of years, so they've fattened up quite a bit."

Even the fattest pig is still a pig.

On the other end of the communication array, Xiao Rou remained silent for two breaths.

"Master, but they are indeed killing people now."

The chieftain is about to collapse.

Zhou Ran remained silent.

He was thinking about something else.

Southern Xinjiang cannot be lost.

The geographical location of the Ten Thousand Mountains naturally isolated some of the messy supernatural organizations in East Asia.

Xiao Rou's settlement there is equivalent to guarding the southern gate for him.

If the Black Witch Village is destroyed by the Heavenly Demon, the Gu Dao system in Southern Xinjiang will collapse.

If those foreign forces were to invade unimpeded, he would have to divide his attention in Jiangcheng and be unable to attend to both.

But he can't leave Jiangcheng now.

The remnants of the earth veins could move at any time, and Xu Changsheng has been gone for a month without any results. The underworld rebels' spies have not been completely eradicated.

Going to southern Xinjiang at this critical juncture is like picking up a sesame seed and losing a watermelon.

"I don't need to go."

After Zhou Ran finished speaking, he raised his right hand.

Place your index finger directly in the center of your chest.

Deep within Ye Futian's dantian, the remnants of his Demon Emperor essence slowly condensed, and a drop of crimson blood was forced out.

Heart's blood.

This drop of blood contains the Demon Emperor's highest authority that Ye Futian retained.

He rules over the six heavens below the Demon Realm and commands the imprints of billions of demons.

Even though Ye Futian has died and his soul has vanished, this mark will not disappear.

Because the rules of the demon realm are different from those of the human realm.

The Demon Emperor's authority does not recognize people, but only the origin.

Whoever carries this mark is the Demon Emperor.

"Xiao Rou".

Zhou Ran stared at the communication array panel, his voice low.

"Slit your wrists."

The person on the array plate paused for a moment.

I didn't ask any more questions.

Two breaths later, Xiao Rou let out a muffled groan.

The pink natal Gu worm was forced out of the body.

Zhou Ran flicked out the drop of blood from his heart.

The crimson essence blood entered her body along the restriction that Zhou Ran had left inside her years ago.

Xiao Rou's muffled groan turned into a short scream.

The tyrannical aura of the Demon Emperor poured into her meridians and spread wildly along her bloodstream.

She convulsed, and her natal Gu worm turned from pink to thick black, before being quickly absorbed.

"Well……"

Xiao Rou was breathing heavily, her voice trembling.

"Owner……

What is this...?

"My body..."

"Shut up, don't waste it."

Zhou Ran's tone was flat.

"Carry this spirit with you, and go find the chieftain."

"Stand in front of that lump of mud."

"They will kneel."

Xiao Rou was stunned for a moment.

"Master, is this enough?"

"The level of the ghouls in the Demon Realm is so low as to be worthless."

Just do it!

"Yes."

Xiao Rou didn't ask any more questions.

Zhou Ran added another sentence.

"After the Heavenly Demon kneels down, if the chieftain knows what's good for him, let him lead the rest of the people to surrender."

Tell him that from this day forward, the Gu Dao of Southern Xinjiang will only recognize one master.

"If you don't know what's good for you..."

"You know what to do."

Inside the communication array, Xiaorou's breathing quickened for a moment.

"Xiaorou understands."

The array plate went dark.

Zhou Ran withdrew his hand and turned his gaze to Bai Xuan, who was huddled in the corner of the flowerpot.

"There's one more thing."

The white mycelium trembled.

"In Ye Futian's memories, there is a secret passage leading to the first level of the Demon Realm."

The entrance, however, is in the void.

Zhou Ran's voice was very soft, as if she were talking to herself.

"Ghouls are trash, that's for sure."

But even in a garbage dump, there are things that can be used.

He closed his eyes.

In his mind, the map of the Demon Realm left by Ye Futian unfolded like a fragmented star map.

The first level, ghouls.

The second level, the Soul-Eating Bat.

The third heaven, the Asura of Purgatory.

Each level is inhabited by millions of demons.

They have no owner.

After Ye Futian's death, the six lower heavens of the Demon Realm fell into a chaotic war that lasted for tens of thousands of years.

Without the Demon Emperor's suppression, the demons on each level devoured each other, fighting fiercely until the heavens and earth were darkened.

But once the Demon Emperor's authority reappears...

The rebels in the underworld have Western financial groups as their external support.

Then Zhou Ran would call for reinforcements from the Demon Realm.

"Going to the underworld is not something that can be rushed."

Zhou Ran opened his eyes and said to Li Zhiyao.

"After the special training is over, after the Southern Frontier is completely pacified, and after I have thoroughly explored the secret passages of the Demon Realm left behind by Ye Futian."

"Take another shot."

Li Zhiyao looked at him without saying a word.

A moment later, she straightened up from the wall.

"OK."

She nodded.

"Then I'll contact Feng Xi first and bring your conditions into the underworld."

Little did she know that Feng Xi had already been utterly destroyed.

"Um."

Zhou Ran turned around and walked back to sit down on the meteorite iron in the center of the great formation.

His divine sense spread out again, covering the four women and one dragon who were struggling to break through.

Inside the underground chamber, screams, the whistling of swords, and the churning of lava intertwined once more.

The Asura Refining Furnace continues to operate.