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

"Now?"

"The cracks in your primordial spirit will widen every hour."

Huan Yin turned her head to the side, a smile in her eyes.

"What, are you afraid I'll eat you up?"

Zhou Ran followed.

The secret chamber was not large, and its four walls were made of the Illusionary Sound Stone, which was unique to the Formless Domain, and could isolate all external divine senses.

After entering, Huan Yin unleashed three layers of restrictions, and a dark red light curtain enveloped the entire secret room completely.

"sit down."

The illusionary sound pointed to the stone platform in the center of the secret chamber.

Zhou Ran sat cross-legged in front of the stone platform.

Huanyin didn't sit opposite him, but instead went around to his back.

She knelt on the edge of the stone platform, her long arms encircling his shoulders from both sides, her fingers interlocked in front of his chest.

Warm breath fell on the back of his neck.

"Relax your mind."

Huan Yin's voice was extremely low, carrying the unique soul resonance of the Boundless Domain.

"Synchronous repair requires me to enter the edge of your consciousness."

"If you keep your composure, I can't get in."

Dark red soul power seeped from her fingertips, flowing along Zhou Ran's shoulders and into his meridians. The power was extremely gentle, enveloped in Huan Yin's own aura.

The crack in Zhou Ran's primordial spirit trembled slightly as this soul power approached, and the edges of the crack actively closed up.

The two souls began to synchronize.

"Ye Futian has never allowed me to sit behind him."

Huanyin suddenly spoke.

Her chin rested on Zhou Ran's shoulder, her voice carrying a hint of reminiscence, but more so of scrutiny.

"He has a habit of pushing everyone away, including me."

Even for something as simple as soul testing, which requires a close connection between the soul and the spirit, he never allows anyone to touch his back.

Her fingers tightened slightly on Zhou Ran's chest.

"You're different. You don't push people, you embrace them."

On White Pagoda Island, they pinned the list on themselves; in the Black Coffin, they shouldered the trials; now that the Eradication Order has arrived, they've used their primordial spirit to block my path.

The dark red soul power seeped deeper.

Zhou Ran suddenly sensed something was wrong.

Mixed within Huan Yin's soul power was an extremely fine wisp of essence. This was no ordinary repair material; it was her life essence. When life essence is implanted into another's sea of ​​consciousness, it forms a permanent, irreversible connection.

Zhou Ran grabbed her wrist with his other hand.

The movements were quick, but the force was not strong.

"What are you planting?"

Huan Yin did not struggle, nor did she withdraw her soul power. Her lips were almost touching his earlobe, her breath slightly warm and moist.

"When you were holding onto the name-erasing order without letting go, I couldn't feel anything."

Huan Yin's voice lost its usual playful tone and became very soft.

"I can't even find where you are. There's not a single fluctuation in the entire Sixth Heaven to tell me that your primordial spirit is being torn apart."

Her fingers twitched where he was gripping her, but she didn't try to pull away.

"This essence is a locator. The next time you are corrupted by the rules, I will be able to find you across thousands of miles. I won't have to wait until your name disappears to realize something is wrong."

Zhou Ran turned his head to the side.

They were so close that he could see the lingering dark red soul light on Huan Yin's eyelashes. Her expression didn't seem to be lying, nor did it seem like she was playing any ambiguous tricks.

"I owe you my life."

Huanyin stared into his eyes.

"I don't like being in debt. Once this essence is implanted, the debt will be even. You won't lose out, and I won't owe anything."

Zhou Ran released her wrist, but neither nodded nor refused.

He looked at the seriousness in her eyes and said nothing more.

Huan Yin's lips curved back into a triumphant smile.

Her arms tightened again, and the dark red soul power, carrying her life essence, continued to seep into the edge of his sea of ​​consciousness.

The protective barrier of the sealed room suddenly trembled violently.

The triple-layered, formless light barrier was shattered in the same instant by a violent surge of blood energy. Before the crimson fragments of the collapsing barrier could even hit the ground, a blood-red spear had already pierced the door frame of the secret chamber, the blood-red patterns on its shaft spreading wildly.

Bloodlust stood at the door.

Her red eyes moved away from Zhou Ran and landed on Huan Yin's arms wrapped around his shoulders, then on the back of their necks and the sides of their faces that were almost touching.

It wasn't jealousy.

A marriage contract that had been shelved for three thousand years has now been taken by someone else before her.

It was murderous intent.

"Illusory Sound".

The Bloodthirsty Mouth opened, half a level lower than usual.

The spear was pulled from the door frame, its tip pointing at the floor of the secret room, yet the bloody aura caused the temperature in the entire room to plummet.

"When are you going to take your hands off him?"

Huan Yin did not let go.

Her arms remained wrapped around Zhou Ran's shoulders, dark red soul power flowing between them. Facing the bloodthirsty spear and killing intent, Huan Yin merely turned her head, her tone languid.

"I was repairing the Soul Seal of the Same Frequency, and you broke through the barrier and barged in. It's as if I did something shameful."

Bloodlust ignored her.

She strode into the secret chamber, the power of the Blood Sea spreading from the soles of her feet, red patterns crawling all over the ground. Her spear was held diagonally at her waist, her free left hand reaching directly for Zhou Ran's collar.

Tighten your fingers.

Zhou Ran was pulled up from the stone platform by her.

Huan Yin's arms were forced to loosen, her dark red soul power collapsed, emitting a sharp buzzing sound.

Bloodlust pulled Zhou Ran close to her chest, and the power of the Blood Sea surged from her palms, locking him in place along his waist and back. Only a thin layer of clothing separated them.

She was a head shorter than Zhou Ran, and when she raised her face, the bloodshot light in her red eyes was almost within reach.

"As I said before."

The bloodthirsty voice was kept extremely low, carrying the unique, sweet, and metallic scent of the Blood Sea.

"Retracting the wedding invitation does not mean that the person in question does not want to inspect the goods."

Her left hand moved from Zhou Ran's collar to the back of his neck, her fingertips gripping his neck bone.

Zhou Ran felt her lips press against his, not lip to lip, but on the side of his neck, right in front of his carotid artery.

The tips of the teeth pressed against the skin.

The power of the Blood Sea tentatively surged into his meridians from that point of contact. That power circulated within Zhou Ran's body, measuring the value of a prey.

The Taihuang Black Blade was drawn half an inch from its sheath.

The blade was held horizontally in front of her bloodthirsty abdomen, the back of the blade against her waist. Zhou Ran didn't push the knife in, but that half-inch of sharpness clearly marked the boundary.

Their breaths collided in the slightest of a second.

The power of the Blood Sea suppressed his meridians, while the Demon Emperor's patterns on the Primordial Black Blade spread out from the scabbard, forcing back the red ripples layer by layer.

The bloodlust hasn't subsided.

Her sharp teeth pressed a shallow indentation into Zhou Ran's neck, and blood concentrated and seeped from that point, trying to leave something in his veins.

"Ye Futian owes me three thousand years. You say you won't repay his debt, and I accept it."

A bloodthirsty voice came from the side of his neck, vibrating.

"But I must personally confirm whether you are worthy of my abandonment of past grievances."

Zhou Ran gripped the Taihuang Black Blade tightly.

The blade advanced another inch, pressing against the gap in the armor at Bloodlust's waist. The metal touched his skin, and Bloodlust's breath trembled slightly.

Huanyin leaned against the wall of the secret room, arms crossed, watching this scene.

She did not intervene.

The emotions in his dark red eyes were complex.

There was annoyance at being interrupted, an interest in watching the show, and a very faint sense of competition.

Bloodlust used methods she wouldn't normally employ: direct, brutal, and without beating around the bush.

This method is working because although Zhou Ran's Taihuang Black Blade is unsheathed, he has not pushed away the Bloodlust.

He is tolerating it.

Or rather, he was maintaining a delicate balance with a half-inch blade.

The bloodthirsty fangs finally left Zhou Ran's neck.

She took a half step back, her tongue tracing a line across the corner of her lips.

The murderous intent in his red eyes dissipated, replaced by a satisfied scrutiny.

"Your blood is cleaner than the night that has borne the sky."