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

Only the sound of the wind remained on the deck of the warship.

The remains of the Emperor's third clone were burned into a mass of black-gold charcoal, the shattered mask revealing the empty void within.

But the crimson beam of light that shot out before its death still hung overhead, piercing the sky and shooting straight into the depths of the void.

Zhou Ran looked down at his left wrist.

The gray line is flashing violently, and the frequency is completely out of control.

This fine line of cause and effect, formed by Lin Qingxue's Dharma Eye, fades visibly with each jump.

The color faded faster than ever before.

The Imperial Court's signal has arrived.

"Emperor!"

Qin San dragged his half-crippled body up from the direction of the city wall, the bloodstains at the corner of his mouth still not wiped clean.

"A crack has appeared in the causal barrier in the direction of Blue Star, and the rule-based light points of the Imperial Court's purge team have already penetrated it at an extremely fast speed—"

"how long?"

"Based on the feedback frequency of the Bloodlust Mark, it should take at most one incense stick's time."

A stick of incense.

Zhou Ran gripped the hilt of the Taihuang Black Blade tightly with his five fingers, his knuckles turning white.

His personal orders were still engraved in the military register.

The return route was sealed off, and all power supply channels were cut off, not even by his own orders.

That order was correct. The Emperor's son was watching with predatory eyes; any trace of cause and effect leading to Blue Star would become a signpost for the enemy.

But he didn't expect the prince to use self-destruction as a way to lead the way.

"It's too late."

Zhou Ran lowered his voice, his gaze falling on the mangled remains of the Emperor's son's secondary body at his feet.

The shattered black and gold armor lay scattered on the ground, the largest piece being the fragment of the Judgment Cross that he had cleaved in two with a single strike.

The fragment still bears the positioning rules of the Imperial Court, which are of the same origin and frequency as the blood-red light that shot towards the blue star.

Zhou Ran squatted down and picked up the fragment of the cross.

"Your Majesty, what are you doing?"

Qin San's tone changed.

"open circuit."

"What?!"

Qin San stood rooted to the spot.

"You said it yourself, seal off the way back, and no one's orders are allowed."

"Yes, I said it."

Zhou Ran stood up, her gray hairs flying wildly in the leaden wind.

"So I'm defying them myself now."

He didn't give Qin San time to react. With a surge of magic power in his palm, the black gold fragment was instantly activated, emitting a frequency of the same rule as that blood-red pillar of light.

The reason is very simple.

The Emperor's location signal is a key, so he must have the same type of lock in his possession.

By tracing back along this frequency, we can forcibly intercept that causal path before the signal reaches Earth.

It's not clearing the way, it's intercepting.

"You're insane!"

Bloodlust appeared on the deck at some unknown time, its crimson pupils staring at the fragment in his hand, a long spear held horizontally in front of it, the tip pointing directly at Zhou Ran's wrist.

"Your primordial spirit is already shattered like this, yet you still dare to inject signals from the Imperial Court into it?"

"Are you trying to die even faster than you already?!"

Huan Yin followed closely behind, the hem of her dark red dress stained with battlefield dust, and the silver strands in her hair standing out starkly in the dim light.

She didn't stop them, but stood aside, her lips pressed into a thin line, the fragments of the same-frequency soul imprint in her eyes flashing wildly.

She had already sensed Zhou Ran's entire intention through the soul imprint.

"You can't stop him."

Huan Yin spoke, her voice very soft.

"He's even willing to break a bone pencil; do you think one arm can stop him?"

Bloodlust gritted his teeth and pushed the tip of his spear forward half an inch.

The voice of Jiuyou drifted from the void, cold and devoid of any warmth.

"That gray line is the final causal line between you and Blue Star."

Once you intercept the Imperial Court signal, the gray line will be completely burned out by the backlash of the rules.

From now on, you will have no further contact with that side.

Zhou Ran paused for a moment.

The gray line broke, and the 86,400 heartbeats Lin Qingxue used to make every day could no longer be received.

The line she used to transmit data to his wrist, stroke by stroke, with her remaining essence, will disappear completely.

His Adam's apple bobbed.

Then he pressed the fragment of the cross onto the gray line on his left wrist.

"Burn it then."

The moment the magic power was poured in, an indescribable burning sensation burst forth from the wrist, coursing through the body along the meridians.

The ancient symbol on the gray line flashed three times, curling and turning black from the edge, fading out piece by piece.

However, he forcibly cut off a segment of the Imperial Court's positioning frequency, creating an extremely fragile bridge between the gray lines and the blood-red light.

A reverse passage.

"Ten breaths."

Zhou Ran's face was ashen, and blood gushed from between his fingers as he pressed the shards, dripping onto the deck in large drops.

"This passage can only last for ten breaths at most."

"What can you do in ten breaths?!"

Bloodthirsty roar.

Zhou Ran did not answer.

He thrust the Taihuang Black Blade onto the deck, freeing his right hand, along with half of his arm, to probe directly into the torn void rift in front of him.

The Demon Emperor's essence poured out, breaking through the barrier between the two realms along the reverse passage.

On the Blue Star, above the White Tower, the Imperial Court's Cleansing Team's Rule Blade was cutting through the last layer of protection.

Zhou Ran's right hand traversed the entire sky of the Sixth Heaven, crossed the turbulent void between the two realms, and passed through the cutting and tearing of countless fragments of rules.

In an instant, the sleeve was shredded into pieces, the skin and flesh on the arm rolled up, and the white bones were exposed.

He did not back down.

Five breaths.

His palm touched a cold, thin wrist.

There was a gray line on my wrist, throbbing faintly.

is her.

Zhou Ran clenched his fists, gripping the wrist tightly.

The hand trembled slightly, then gripped back with all its might.

Lin Qingxue's hand.

Three breaths.

The next moment, he felt two completely different forces coming from his forearm.

A pair of soft hands gripped his forearm tightly, their nails digging into his flesh. Another pair of stronger hands held his hand firmly, the bones at the joints pressing painfully against it.

Three pairs of hands.

It wasn't just one person.

Zhou Ran had no time to discern the situation; the passage's ten-breath limit had already been reached. The void rift was closing at an alarming speed, and the sharp blades of law on both sides had begun to slash at his arms.

He only had time to do one thing.

"come over!"

Zhou Ran roared, and the Demon Emperor's essence exploded in his meridians, causing his bones to crack and pop.

He gritted his teeth and, with brute force, uprooted the three people from the other side of the void!

The shockwave from the collapsed passageway overturned half of the deck.

Zhou Ran was thrown away by the shockwave, his back slamming heavily against the wall of the black coffin.

He didn't care about himself; he was holding one person in his arms, with two more hanging from his right arm. The three of them, along with him, plummeted from the edge of the shattered deck.

The distance from the warship to Jiuyou City is several hundred feet.

Zhou Ran used his remaining magic power to barely wrap the four people's bodies, but the direction was completely out of control.

Instead of landing in the main hall, they smashed through the roof of a side hall on the east side of the Demon Palace, beneath which happened to be a healing spring pool.

"boom!"

The water column shot into the sky, and the array on the pool wall was shattered by the enormous impact.

The spiritual spring water, carrying abundant vital energy, poured down from all directions.

Zhou Ran lay on his back at the bottom of the pool, the back of his head hitting the stone steps, his temples ringing.

His right arm was covered in lacerations from his shoulder to his fingertips, with traces of the void's rules still visible in the bone. The pain was so intense it felt like his consciousness was being burned away.

But his left hand remained firmly in place.

He looked down.

Lin Qingxue collapsed against his chest, her body so thin she was just skin and bones.

Her face was so pale it was almost transparent, her lips were completely bloodless, and her long, wet hair clung to her face and neck.

His eyes were closed, and his breathing was so shallow that it was almost imperceptible.

But her left hand was still tightly gripping Zhou Ran's wrist, her nails digging deep into his flesh, refusing to let go no matter what.

"Qingxue".