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

The door to the side hall was kicked open.

Wood chips and hinge fragments were blown away at the same time.

As Bloodlust crossed the threshold carrying his spear, Huan Yin's hand was still on Zhou Ran's back.

Dark red soul power flowed from the point of contact between the two, while the blue flame of the spirit lamp illuminated Zhou Ran's bare back and the few strands of hair that Huan Yin had hanging over his shoulders.

His bloodthirsty red eyes almost bled the moment he stepped through the door.

The pupils narrowed to the size of pinpoints, and the crimson in the iris surged into a dark tide.

The butt of the spear struck the stone slab with a crisp sound.

The fact that she didn't have an attack was more frightening than the attack itself.

Bloodlust, carrying a long spear, strode up to face Zhou Ran.

The soles of his boots rolled across the ground, each step carrying the oppressive aura unique to the Blood Sea Lord.

She pressed down on Zhou Ran's right shoulder with one hand, her fingers gripping tightly, so hard that Zhou Ran's shoulder bone made a slight creak.

She forcibly pulled the person away from Huanyin's grasp.

Huanyin's hand slid off Zhou Ran's back.

The crimson soul power receded at her fingertips. She turned her head to look at Bloodlust, the corners of her mouth curving slightly. There was no provocation, nor did she back down.

"The repairs are just one final round away."

Bloodlust didn't look at her; her red eyes were fixed on Zhou Ran's face. She knew this wasn't the time to be angry.

"Two of your meridians are severed."

Bloodlust was uttered slowly, each word grinding between his teeth, his voice forced out from his chest.

"Can her fancy footwork, which she keeps touching and fiddling with, really reconnect your meridians?"

Zhou Ran opened his mouth. Bloodlust didn't give him a chance to speak.

She loosened Zhou Ran's shoulders, turned her left hand over, and pointed her wrist upwards.

He deftly bit through the skin on his wrist.

It wasn't cut open with magic, it was cut open with teeth.

Crimson ancestral blood gushed from the wound.

Thick, scalding hot, and exuding the violent aura of the deepest part of the Blood Sea Ancestral Pool.

Liquid dripped onto the ancestral blood mark on Zhou Ran's collarbone.

The flag has been activated.

Crimson light burst forth from the surface of the collarbone, and ancestral blood flowed down along the muscle lines of the chest.

The scalding liquid clung to his skin, causing his muscles to involuntarily tense as it passed over his chest, and a hissing sound could be heard coming from between his bones as it passed over his ribs.

The ancestral blood, burning away the stagnation at the broken points of the meridians, burned out a path for reconnection.

Bloodlust knelt on one knee before him.

The spear rested diagonally on his shoulder, while his free left hand gripped Zhou Ran's chin.

Tighten your fingers.

The force was just enough to lock his neck in place, preventing him from looking down or tilting his head, forcing him to look directly into her eyes.

The two were so close that their noses were touching.

Bloodthirsty red eyes filled Zhou Ran's entire field of vision. He could see his own reflection in those scarlet pupils.

"My blood has entered your body."

His bloodthirsty voice trembled deeply.

The things churning in her red eyes were too complex: murderous intent, possessiveness, heartache, and resentment, all mixed together, burning her so that she was trembling all over.

"Where Huan Yin's hand touched, my blood would cover it inch by inch."

The ancestral blood is infused into the meridians.

The two severed meridians desperately tried to heal under the scorching heat of the crimson energy.

The granulation tissue at the cut was scalded, curled up, withered, regenerated, and scalded again. The repeated tearing caused Zhou Ran's pupils to dilate twice from the pain.

The bloodthirsty hand gripping his jaw didn't loosen.

Each time Zhou Ran convulsed in pain, his bloodthirsty fingers tightened by half a point.

Her thumb and forefinger were still covered with an old, scabbed wound. The wound from when she gripped the gun barrel in the corridor last time hadn't fully healed yet, and now it had been torn open again by the force of her grip.

Crimson ancestral blood mixed with her own blood, flowing down Zhou Ran's jawline.

Huan Yin leaned against the long table, arms crossed, her dark red eyes half-closed as she watched the whole thing.

She neither intervened nor made any sarcastic remarks.

But her fingernails dug into the cracks in the long table's wood, leaving five white marks.

The first severed meridian healed.

The scorching heat of the ancestral blood spread outward from the meridian walls, causing Zhou Ran's entire right arm to tremble.

The second one. Deeper, closer to the main meridian of the dantian.

The moment the ancestral blood was poured in, Zhou Ran's body jerked.

His bloodthirsty left hand pressed down hard on his jaw, preventing him from tilting to the side.

"Bear with it."

The bloodthirsty voice was three octaves lower than usual, squeezed out from the deepest part of his throat.

"Not just anyone can withstand my blood."

"You endured it; this meridian is the one I, the deity, helped extend your life."

Zhou Ran gritted his teeth, and the veins in his neck bulged.

His bloodthirsty fingertips pressed against those bulging veins, his palm feeling the pulse beat with each beat.

The meridians have healed completely. The pain suddenly subsided.

In its place came a warm, tingling sensation that spread from the lower abdomen to every part of the body.

After being burned by the ancestral blood, the newly formed meridian walls were 20% thicker than before, more resilient, and their ability to withstand the torrent of magical power was significantly enhanced.

The bloodthirsty hand loosened its grip on Zhou Ran's jaw.

As my fingertips brushed against the side of his neck, they touched the edge of the ancestral blood mark.

The marker is still hot.

Just as Bloodlust was about to withdraw his hand, he caught a glimpse of something unusual on the side of his neck.

On her collarbone line.

A line is emerging beneath the skin close to the nape of the neck.

Dark gold.

Extremely small, about half the size of a fingernail.

It is shaped like a seal, with clear edges and the lines in the middle still slowly taking shape.

Bloodlust caused his pupils to constrict abruptly.

She reached out and touched the patterned mark; the dark gold imprint felt slightly warm under her fingertips.

The texture of that heat was completely different from the ancestral blood she poured into Zhou Ran's body.

That is the blood of the emperor.

The imperial blood seeping from the depths of Zhou Ran's primordial spirit crack flowed back into his bloodthirsty body through the channel through which ancestral blood was poured.

The restlessness that Huan Yin had stirred up when she repaired her primordial spirit was diverted out through the two-way conduit opened by the ancestral blood.

The ancestral blood opened a path from him to her, and the imperial blood flowed back along this path.

A remnant of the Emperor's Hidden Nail was now clinging to the bloodthirsty collarbone.

Bloodlust lowered his head, his red eyes fixed on the small, dark gold seal.

The entire side hall fell silent.

Huanyin straightened up from beside the long table, her dark red eyes falling on the mark on the side of the bloodthirsty neck.

Her pupils contracted slightly.

Zhou Ran looked down at his palm.

The black and gold patterns remaining after the Emperor's blood was extracted flickered extremely faintly in my palm, perfectly synchronized with the flickering frequency of the mark on the side of Bloodthirsty's neck.

Bloodlust slowly raised its head.

Her red eyes met Zhou Ran's.

He didn't say anything.

But her fingers, which were gripping the spear, slowly loosened, one by one.

The shaft slid out of the tiger's mouth, and the butt of the spear struck the stone slab with a dull thud.

Bloodlust rises.

She looked down at the dark gold mark on her collarbone again.

"Your things have ended up on the main body."

She reached out and picked up the spear, hoisting it onto her shoulder.

"I didn't ask you to return it."

The sound of boots rolling over the stone slabs led them out of the side hall.

When he reached the door, Bloodlust didn't turn back.

He pressed his left hand against the door frame, and the blood from his fingertip burned a bright red palm print into the wooden door frame.

The palm print glowed faintly, carrying the aura of the Blood Sea's origin, and was firmly imprinted on the door frame.

It looks like a stamp.

The sound of bloodthirsty boots faded into the distance. Only Zhou Ran and Huan Yin remained in the side hall.

The blue flame of the lamp flickered and almost went out.

Huanyin walked to the door and looked at the bright red handprint on the door frame.

"She poured her blood into you, and you soaked her with imperial blood. This is a difficult debt to settle."

Huanyin reached out and flicked some dust next to the palm print.

"My soul imprint resides in your sea of ​​consciousness; it cannot be retrieved or touched. Compared to a dark golden seal imprinted on your flesh..."

She stopped.

Two breaths later, the dark red dress disappeared around the corner of the corridor.

The last half of the sentence was left unfinished.

Zhou Ran sat alone in the center of the side hall.

He looked down at the palm of his right hand.

The remnants of the Emperor's Blood mark were faintly visible in the lines of his palm, flashing in sync with the mark on the side of his bloodthirsty neck.

He glanced at his left wrist again.

The gray lines on the return path are still dancing.

It's a little better than yesterday, but it's still as fine as spider silk. At the end of the gray lines, the ancient symbol that emerged when the moon path closed is quietly embedded in the skin.

The Moon Emperor spoke of the "fourth mark".

He's older than three women.

Zhou Ran pulled down her sleeves to cover everything.

He stood up, supporting himself with the Taihuang Black Blade.

The cracks in his primordial spirit were mostly repaired, and two of his meridians had healed. His body was still weak, but he was a bit stronger than yesterday.

The sound of Ming Cang running hurriedly came from the direction of the main hall.

"Your Majesty! The Imperial Mark signal has been updated! The results of the first round of the Imperial Court's inspection are in!"

Zhou Ran clenched the hand beneath her sleeve.

He strode towards the main hall.