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

The gray cracks on the golden elixir moved along the elixir's body.

very slow.

Yet it carries the sensation of swallowing and spitting out that only living things possess.

Zhou Ran's face remained unchanged, but his right hand was pressed against his abdomen.

Emperor Song's pupils contracted sharply; he sensed it.

King Qin Guang's projection also floated forward half a step, and the golden light mist surged violently.

"In your golden core—"

Emperor Song blurted it out.

"There's the aura of a celestial corpse?!"

Zhou Ran did not hide anything.

"One year ago."

He released his hand from his abdomen.

"When I was spying in the virtual world, Ji Yue glanced at me."

"That one glance left a gray mark in my mind."

"At the time, I thought it was surveillance."

He looked down at his dantian.

"Now it seems, it's more than that."

Emperor Song paused for a moment.

"Fragments of the Will of the Void Realm"

"Shares the same origin as the Heavenly Corpse."

The projection of King Qin Guang was clearly messed up.

The golden mist contracted inwards, its edges constantly collapsing.

"no."

King Qin Guang's voice came from the light mist, filled with fear.

"This person is now a walking catalyst."

"Once the gray mark within him resonates with the underground celestial corpse, he himself will become the key to awakening the celestial corpse's third eye!"

King Qin Guang's projection turned towards Emperor Song.

"He must be immediately imprisoned in the First Palace's sealed dungeon."

"Isolate all fluctuations."

"Not a single drop can be leaked."

Zhou Ran looked up.

He looked at the projection of King Qin Guang, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled up.

"Lock me up?"

Two words were uttered.

The remaining pebbles on the stone table bounced slightly from the impact.

"King Qin Guang".

Zhou Ran leaned back in his chair, arms crossed.

"What's the point of ignoring me?"

He held up two fingers.

"The Heavenly Corpse's two eyes are already open."

"The rebel army, consisting of three thousand combined soldiers and executioners, is launching a full-scale attack on the Third Palace."

"Even if you imprison me for ten thousand years, can you stop the army of Yama, the King of Hell?"

The projection of King Qin Guang fell silent.

The golden mist tightened even further.

Emperor Song did not side with King Qin Guang.

He sat down again and stared at Zhou Ran for a long time.

"you're right."

His tone calmed down again, and his scholarly air returned to his eyes.

"It's no use arguing with you."

"What the Third Palace lacks now is not prison cells, but knives."

He stretched out his finger and pointed in the direction of Zhou Ran's dantian.

"Your idealistic golden elixir is entirely customizable."

"The duty of the Heavenly Corpse is passively defined."

"It erased everything according to the instructions of the virtual realm."

"You set boundaries and legislate according to your own will."

"This is precisely why I chose you."

Emperor Song looked at Zhou Ran.

"So you're not just a catalyst."

"You might also be the knife plunged into the rules of the Heavenly Corpse."

Zhou Ran didn't rush to reply.

He closed his eyes and looked inward.

On the surface of the golden core, the gray crack was still moving.

Zhou Ran opened her eyes.

"interesting."

Seemingly sensing a rule similar to that of shared origin, he murmured something.

The next moment, he activated his golden core.

A stream of pure, idealistic energy flowed into the gray cracks.

Emperor Song suddenly stood up.

"you--"

Zhou Ran raised her hand to stop him from speaking.

The moment the True Essence of the Mind touched the gray cracks, the two forces collided inside the Golden Core.

grey.

Dead silence, emptiness, erasure.

black gold.

Fiery, domineering, definition.

The collision lasted only a moment.

The gray crack was pressed down a bit.

What made Zhou Ran's eyes light up even more was...

The speed at which the Golden Elixir circulated increased by 30%.

The shockwaves from the conflict did not damage the Dan body.

Instead, they were tapping on the Golden Core.

Again and again.

The body became tighter, heavier, and more stable.

Zhou Ran's lips curled into a smile.

He knew that feeling all too well.

It was the same feeling when I devoured the Night Demon's Essence.

Poison can also be a tonic.

"Emperor Song".

Zhou Ran stood up.

"I don't intend to seal this crack."

Emperor Song frowned.

"I don't intend to avoid the Heavenly Corpse either."

The projection of King Qin Guang shook violently.

Zhou Ran walked up to the sheepskin map and pressed his finger on the chest of the humanoid silhouette of the Heavenly Corpse.

"I want to proactively approach its fluctuation range."

"Use resonance at the same frequency to refine my idealistic elixir."

He turned around and looked at Emperor Song.

"If I can suppress the rules of the void realm within the Golden Core."

"My golden core will gain an additional attribute."

"Resist the Void Realm"

There was silence for five breaths around the stone table.

King Qin Guang's projection finally couldn't hold back any longer.

"You're insane!"

An aged voice exploded from the golden mist.

"That's a powerful expert at the Tribulation Transcending stage!"

"You, a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator, are using your own Golden Core to grind it?"

Zhou Ran smiled.

His smile carried the ruthlessness he displayed when he severed his left arm in the Dragon Vein Underground Palace.

"I've always been crazy."

King Qin Guang's projection shattered for a moment, then reformed.

Emperor Song stared into Zhou Ran's eyes for a long time.

What he saw was not out of control.

It's cold.

What are your conditions?

Emperor Song asked.

Zhou Ran held up three fingers.

"First."

"Give me all the ancient texts and sealing methods related to the Heavenly Corpse from the Three Palaces."

Emperor Song nodded.

"second."

"When I went deep behind enemy lines, you held the Third Hall to the death."

"Even if only one soldier remains, we cannot allow the rebels to touch the spine of the Heavenly Corpse."

"third--"

Zhou Ran withdrew two fingers, leaving only one.

"I need to borrow something from the underworld."

Emperor Song asked:

"What?"

Zhou Ran said that name.

King Qin Guang's projection shattered on the spot.

The golden light mist exploded into countless fragments, tumbling in the air for three breaths before reforming into a human shape.

The Book of Life and Death.

The Song emperor's hand froze in mid-air.

Meng Po's hand, which was holding the bowl, was also shaking violently.

A few drops of soup spilled from the bowl, landing on the ground with a hissing sound, and scalding the stone surface with several black spots.

"What do you need the Book of Life and Death for?"

Emperor Song's voice was very low.

Zhou Ran looked into his eyes.

"I don't interfere with other people's lifespans."

"I only change my own."

The Song emperor's gaze deepened.

"Change lifespan?"

"no."

Zhou Ran said.

"Lifespan is a number."

"What I need to change is the judgment."

He raised his hand and gently tapped his heart with his fingertips.

"I want to cross my name off the Book of Life and Death."

The main hall fell completely silent.

Outside the door, Qiao Kun's iron chain fell to the ground with a crisp sound.

He had just pressed his ear against the crack in the door to eavesdrop.

At this moment, the entire ghost froze.

Altering the Book of Life and Death?

Cross out the name?

Is this person crazy, or does he/she want to die even faster?

Emperor Song stared at Zhou Ran for a full ten breaths.

Then he stood up.

They did not say they agreed.

They didn't say they refused.

He walked to the deepest part of the main hall.

There is a stone wall covered with cracks.

A faint golden light seeped through the cracks, and something was moving behind the wall.

Emperor Song reached out and placed his hand on the center of the stone wall.

The cracks on the wall lit up at the same time.

Golden light flowed along the patterns, eventually converging into a circle.

Click.

The stone wall split in the middle and receded to both sides.

Behind the wall was a dark room.

It's only three steps wide.

In the center of the dark room, an open, yellowed ancient book floats in mid-air.

The words on the pages kept changing.

The fates of all the living and the dead in the world flow in this book.

Zhou Ran stood at the door of the dark room, looking at the ancient book that was floating in the air.

The gray cracks within the golden core suddenly sprang to life.