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

The sentry post at the gates of hell has been reassigned.

The group of lazy underworld officials who used to burn bone banners and roast little ghosts have all been incorporated into Qiao Kun's team, and now they are the orthodox patrol officers of the Three Palaces.

Two rows of ghostly soldiers stood ramrod straight, spears in hand. When they saw Zhou Ran approaching, they all clasped their fists in salute.

"Grand Commander."

Zhou Ran nodded without stopping.

Perhaps they heard Zhou Ran's mutterings.

A newly surrendered palace guard hesitated for a long time before jogging to catch up.

"Grand Commander, I have some recollection of the Penglai mentioned by the Heavenly Corpse."

Zhou Ran glanced at him.

The patrolmen's standard armor still bore the inscription of the Sixth Palace. They had surrendered less than two days ago, and their faces still showed the guilt of having chosen the wrong side.

"explain."

The patrolman kept his voice as low as possible.

"When I was serving in the Sixth Palace, I heard an old story from an older ghost official."

There was also a disturbance in the underworld several hundred years ago.

They almost rebelled.

Zhou Ran's steps were a beat slower.

"It wasn't the Ten Kings of Hell who settled the matter back then."

The patrolman took half a step closer.

"They are a group of cultivators who stormed in directly from the mortal realm."

He claimed to be a disciple of Penglai.

Nascent Soul cultivation level.

A dozen or so men arrived and directly suppressed the rebel forces of three palaces.

Zhou Ran stopped.

"And then?"

"I didn't claim credit or seek recognition afterward."

The patrolman recalled,

"They went straight deeper underground."

He never came out again.

"The Ten Kings joined forces to block the news."

Only a few old ghost officials in the Sixth Palace were spreading the word privately; the younger ones didn't know.

Zhou Ran turned to look at him.

Are you sure it's 'Penglai'?

"Sure."

The patrolman nodded.

"The leader was dressed in white and held a bronze ruler in his hand."

My master said that when he slammed that ruler on the ground, half the hall shook.

Zhou Ran didn't ask any more questions.

He patted the patrolman on the shoulder and continued walking.

Penglai Pavilion.

Nascent Soul cultivation level.

A hundred years ago, they stormed into the underworld to suppress a rebellion.

Afterwards, they went deeper into the area and never reappeared.

It matches the two words that the Heavenly Corpse said.

The Heavenly Corpse is waiting for the people of Penglai.

We've waited for more than a century.

There are old grievances between these two parties.

At the end of the Road to the Underworld, a colossal bronze gate stands in the darkness.

The imprint of the idealistic laws that Zhou Ran left when he entered the underworld is still there.

He raised his hand to activate it, and the door slowly opened.

A sliver of sunlight peeked through the crack in the door.

The light was very faint; in the mortal world, it would probably only be considered a cloudy day.

But for a living person who has been in a completely shady environment for several days, it is even more dazzling than the midday sun.

The primordial energy and blood surged within his body.

Every pore was stretched open, desperately absorbing the yang energy seeping in through the crack in the door.

The accumulated coldness in the meridians was expelled layer by layer, and white mist rose from the crevices of the bones.

Zhou Ran passed through the portal.

Illusions appeared in the interdimensional space.

Countless transparent figures lined up in long queues, walking in opposite directions.

Faces blurred, steps slow, unable to reach the end and unable to stop.

Those lonely souls who were previously trapped between the barriers of Yin and Yang.

The side effects of sealing off the River of Oblivion.

The dead cannot cross the Bridge of Helplessness and cannot be reincarnated; they are stuck here.

The purple-gold demonic eyes swept over.

The number has exceeded ten thousand.

Zhou Ran withdrew his gaze and sped through.

My feet set foot on the earth.

Zhou Ran stood firm outside the ancient well.

The air of the mortal realm rushed into his lungs, and the golden elixir began to circulate at high speed, devouring the surrounding yang energy in large gulps.

The remaining cold energy in the meridians was mostly expelled within a quarter of an hour.

His cultivation level has returned to about 60%.

A person was kneeling outside the ruins.

Xiaorou.

She knelt for a long time, pressing two deep pits into the soil beneath her knees.

His back was ramrod straight, his head was bowed, and his hair hung down, covering most of his face.

Hearing footsteps, she trembled.

"Owner.

You're finally back!

There were twelve people standing behind her.

They all had uniformly southern Xinjiang features, dark skin, and sharp eyes. Elite Gu Masters.

Xiao Rou didn't look up, but her hands were trembling.

Zhou Ran walked past her.

"stand up."

Xiao Rou stood up quickly and followed three steps behind him.

Xiaorou immediately reported:

"During the time when the master entered the underworld, four days passed in the mortal realm."

Something happened in Jiangcheng.

She recounted the events one by one.

A bus overturned on the East City Expressway, killing 17 people; the incident has made the news.

The official explanation is "gravitational disturbance caused by geological anomalies".

The prescriptions for three residential buildings in the west of the city disappeared into thin air.

There was no explosion, no theft, and the entire kitchen, along with the gas pipes, was physically wiped out.

On that wall of the entire building, only a bottomless vortex remained.

The fountain in the central square turned blood red on the third day.

Then it disappeared.

The authorities cordoned off the scene, but the video footage had already spread across the internet.

Panic is spreading among the public.

Zhou Ran listened with a calm expression.

The fluctuations of the Heavenly Corpse are rewriting the physical rules of the mortal realm.

It hasn't reached the point of being out of control yet.

But he doesn't have much time left.

Another voice came from the side.

"Boss Zhou."

Aning stood under a withered tree on the side of the ruins.

She changed into clean clothes, but the dark circles under her eyes indicated that she hadn't slept much for several days.

"News from the Holy Light Foundation."

She came over and handed me a folder.

"They sped up during the four days you were gone."

Zhou Ran took it and opened it.

Three domestic pharmaceutical companies were acquired.

A controlling stake in a military-related research institute has changed hands.

All buyers are targeting shell companies newly registered by the Sheng Hui Consortium.

The last page of the document contains a photograph.

A white male around fifty years old, with gray hair, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and a dark blue suit.

His chin was cleanly shaved, and his smile was perfect.

"Marcus Weber."

Aning said,

"The new president of the Shenghui Consortium arrived in Jiangcheng three days ago."

"To take the place of Davis, whom you killed."

Zhou Ran stared at the photo for two seconds, then closed the folder.

He sat down on a flat stone in the ruins and took out a twig to draw on the ground.

A line is drawn from the "Holy Radiance Foundation" to the "Underworld Rebels".

They provide Western undead combat power, as well as fusion technology.

A line is drawn from the "Underworld Rebels" to the "Heavenly Corpses".

The purpose of these two groups is to awaken the Heavenly Corpse and overthrow the regime in the Underworld.

The final line draws back from "Heavenly Corpse" to "Jiangcheng, where the Holy Radiance Consortium is located".

The three lines form a closed loop.

Where is the most efficient node to cut off?

The world of the living.

Destroying the Holy Radiance Foundation's psychic relay equipment would simultaneously cut off the rebels' technology supply and part of the Heavenly Corpse's intelligence sources.

Zhou Ran stood up, broke off the branch, and threw it away.

"A-Ning, you stay here and guard Mangshan."

Monitor the entrance to the desolate tomb.

Notify me immediately of any unusual activity.

"clear."

"Xiao Rou, let's go back to the manor first."

Zhou Ran sat in the Maybach that was already waiting for him, his mind racing with only one thing.

The rolled-up bamboo slips on the Song emperor's desk.

The ink is wet.

When Zhou Ran entered the hall, he hurriedly covered himself with his sleeve.

I don't want anyone to see what's written on it.

Zhou Ran rubbed his kneecap with a moderate amount of pressure.

Which of the intelligence reports given by the Three Palaces are true?

Which ones are genuine but contain some fakes?

Which fakes are wrapped in a layer of real ones?

Penglai Pavilion, what is this thing?

He couldn't give an answer at the moment.

But one thing is certain.

From now on, every word that comes from the underworld must be sieved three times before it is used.