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

Zhou Ran called out in a hoarse voice.

no respond.

His heart clenched, and he channeled his magic into his fingers to probe her spiritual state.

His life force was almost completely depleted, his vital energy was depleted, and his aura was as weak as a candle flickering in the wind.

But it didn't break.

He was just one breath away from dying.

Zhou Ran spat out a mouthful of bloody foam. Just as he was about to channel his inner energy into her, a hand reached out from the side and grabbed his collar.

They pulled him halfway out of the water.

"Zhou Ran, you bastard!"

Her voice, trembling with sobs, was already hoarse beyond recognition.

Chen Ya knelt beside him, soaking wet, one hand clutching his collar, the other hand frantically touching his chest, arms, and face, as if confirming that he was real.

Her eyes were red and swollen, tears mixed with the spring water, making it impossible to tell them apart.

"Look at yourself! Look at what you've become!"

Chen Ya's fingers traced the gray hair at his temples, her voice completely shattered.

"How old are you? Your hair is already so white!"

You promised me you'd be alright, you lied to me!

Zhou Ran opened his mouth, but didn't have time to speak.

The other person had already stood up.

Xiao Hongli struggled to straighten her upper body from the pool.

She had only arrived at Baita with reserve supplies from the outskirts of Jiangcheng three days ago to provide support, and before she even had a chance to familiarize herself with the structure of Baita, she was caught up in this calamity.

Her business suit, which was clinging to her body, had already been mostly torn to shreds by the void turbulence, but she couldn't care less about that at the moment.

He staggered two steps to Zhou Ran, squatted down, and stared at his right arm.

From shoulder to fingertips, there wasn't a single patch of intact skin.

Xiao Hongli's chin was clenched tightly, and her lips were trembling.

She took a breath and slapped Zhou Ran across the face.

It wasn't very forceful, but the sound was crisp.

"I'll beat you to death."

Xiao Hongli's tone was cold and hard, just like when she was in the company's quarterly meeting, but her eyes were already red.

Do you know how long we've been waiting over there?

Do you know how many times Sister Chen called your name while holding Qingxue when the ceiling of the White Pagoda was collapsing?

Did you consider our feelings when you closed the road?

"I've thought about it."

Zhou Ran took the slap and grinned with a bloody smile.

"So I'm here to pick you up now."

Xiao Hongli finally couldn't hold back her tears, and they fell into the spiritual spring pool with a splash.

She turned her head away and wiped her face, forcing back her sobs, while maintaining a thin layer of toughness on her lips.

"Too late. The interest has doubled."

"OK."

Zhou Ran readily agreed.

He glanced down at Lin Qingxue in his arms, then drew upon his Demon Emperor essence from his dantian, transforming it into a warm energy film that enveloped her entire body.

The chilling energy from the void was eroding her already extremely weak meridians, and it had to be completely expelled within half an hour, otherwise her foundation would be utterly destroyed.

The spring water was a great help.

The natural energy contained in the warm spring water is slowly repairing the frostbite and cracks on the three people's surfaces, but deeper damage requires Zhou Ran's personal intervention.

He first channeled a stream of vital energy into Lin Qingxue to stabilize her breathing.

Then he turned his head to look at Chen Ya and Xiao Hongli, raising his uninjured left hand.

"come over.

"If the cold air from the void is not completely removed, your meridians will become brittle from the inside out."

Without saying a word, Chen Ya came over and pulled Xiao Hongli along.

The two women leaned against him, one on each side. Zhou Ran divided his remaining magical power into three streams, channeling it into his left palm. Using the spiritual spring water as a medium, he forced the cold air out of their bodies inch by inch.

The steam from the spring rose up, enveloping the surrounding area in a hazy white mist.

Three women, soaking wet, huddled around him, each shivering to varying degrees.

It's less about being cold and more about the physiological reaction of surviving a disaster.

Chen Ya rested her head on his less injured left shoulder, wiping away tears as she murmured to herself.

"You've lost so much weight, your shoulders are all bone, it's so uncomfortable..."

Xiao Hongli bit her lip and remained silent, but her hand kept gripping Zhou Ran's clothes, her knuckles turning white, and she refused to let go.

Lin Qingxue finally showed a slight reaction in his arms.

Her eyelids twitched, her fingers moved, and her lips moved, emitting an extremely faint sound.

Zhou Ran leaned closer to listen.

"...Is the gray line... still jumping...?"

Zhou Ran lowered his head and glanced at his left wrist.

The gray line has completely disappeared.

The fragments of the cross severed the last causal link, leaving his wrist bare and empty.

But she was in his arms.

"No need to jump anymore."

Zhou Ran's voice was rough.

"Everyone's here, what's the point of dancing?"

Lin Qingxue closed her eyes, her lips curved slightly, and then she fell into a deep sleep again.

Chen Ya looked up, her eyes red, at the white hair at his temples and the fine lines on his face.

She reached out and touched him, her fingertips tracing from his temple across his brow bone, finally stopping at the new scar at the corner of his eye.

"Zhou Ran, you've aged so much."

Chen Ya's voice was full of heartache.

"You're only in your twenties..."

"I've taken on some responsibilities."

Zhou Ran smiled and brushed it off vaguely.

"Did you take on some work?"

Xiao Hongli coldly repeated his words, then turned to face him.

The spring water slid down the lines of her collarbone, but her eyes were colder and hotter than the water.

"Do you think you're under pressure to meet performance targets or quarterly KPIs?"

You're carrying the weight of the entire world on your shoulders; did you even ask us if we wanted to help you carry it?

Zhou Ran paused for a moment, then smiled.

"Mr. Xiao, do you apply business logic to relationships even in the Demon Realm?"

"Shut up."

Xiao Hongli choked up and turned her head away.

Chen Ya watched the two of them from the side, a hint of an indescribable smile appearing in her originally red and hot eyes.

She opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, she opened it again.

"Oh, right."

Chen Ya suddenly remembered something and clenched Zhou Ran's sleeve.

"Youwei is still guarding the main array's core at the White Tower; she can't leave. You need to find a way..."

The entire side hall began to tremble violently.

It wasn't an earthquake.

It's an intimidating force.

Three terrifying auras simultaneously locked onto the side hall, surging in from outside the door and causing the surface of the spirit spring pool to sink an inch.

The pool water began to churn.

Chen Ya's face turned deathly pale, and Xiao Hongli stopped breathing.

They didn't understand the cultivation system, but their instinctive fear couldn't lie; three powerful figures standing at the top of the world were approaching.

Three figures had already arrived outside the palace gate.

The palace gate was smashed by a single shot.

Bloodlust, carrying the ancestral blood spear, strode across the threshold, his crimson pupils sweeping over the mess in the hall.

A shattered roof, a churning pool of spiritual spring water, and four people huddled together in the pool.

Her gaze first fell on Zhou Ran's right arm, which was covered in cuts and bruises, and her eyelids twitched.

Then he moved to the pale, unconscious woman in his arms.

Then there was Chen Ya leaning on his left shoulder, and Xiao Hongli clutching the hem of his clothes on his right.

Three women.

Three Earth women, soaking wet and with almost no fluctuation in their cultivation.