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

Her bloodthirsty eyes burned, and the temperature inside the hall rose by dozens of degrees under the suppression of her aura. Dense bubbles began to rise from the surface of the spirit spring pool.

Huan Yin followed closely behind and stepped into the palace gate, her dark red dress no longer as splendid as it had been stained by the dust of the battlefield.

She was much calmer than bloodthirsty, even with a hint of scrutinizing interest.

The soul imprints were frantically transmitting information. Zhou Ran's emotional fluctuations at this moment were even more intense than when he slew the Emperor's son's secondary body.

The last one to enter was Jiuyou.

She didn't go through the door; she materialized directly from the shadows in the corner of the side hall.

The deathly aura emanating from the coffin clashed with the bloodthirsty, scorching energy, creating a distinct boundary between hot and cold in mid-air.

Jiuyou's gaze fell on Lin Qingxue's wrist.

The gray line disappeared, leaving burn marks on the wrist.

She looked up and glanced at Zhou Ran's bare left wrist.

"The gray line is broken."

The voice of the Netherworld has no warmth.

"You burned down your own path back to Earth just to drag them here."

Zhou Ran did not explain.

He slowly stood up and handed Lin Qingxue to Chen Ya, who was standing beside him, to hold.

The spiritual spring water poured down his body, mixing with the dark red blood flowing from the wound on his right arm, and spread at the bottom of the pool.

Then he took off his Demon Emperor cloak and turned around to wrap Chen Ya, Xiao Hongli, and Lin Qingxue inside it.

Xiao Hongli's fingers began to tremble when she saw the source of the three pressures from the Tribulation Transcending stage cultivators.

But she still tried her best to keep her back straight, staring intently at the three intimidating women at the door, and subconsciously shielded Chen Ya and Lin Qingxue behind her.

Chen Ya hugged Lin Qingxue tightly, shrinking into her cloak, but her gaze remained fixed on Zhou Ran's back.

The pressure from the three peak Tribulation Transcending experts intensified simultaneously.

The bloodthirsty killing intent is the strongest, the illusory sound's scrutiny is the deepest, and the deathly aura of the Nine Netherworlds is the coldest.

The combined forces caused cracks to appear on the walls of the entire side hall.

"so--"

The bloodthirsty spear slammed into the ground, its sound chilling to the bone.

"You risked your life to open a portal through the void, crippling an arm like this, sacrificing the gray line, the path home, and the precious time you gained through seven hundred years of life, all just to save these three women from Earth?"

The last five words were squeezed out from between her teeth, filled with undisguised contempt and anger.

She is not someone who looks down on Earth.

She couldn't stand that Zhou Ran was willing to risk his life for them.

"Bloodlust."

Zhou Ran turned around to face the three empresses, and pulled the Taihuang Black Blade out of the pool. Its six patterns shimmered with a cold light in the water vapor.

I don't like to repeat myself after saying something only once.

"Then tell me!"

Bloodlust took a step forward, the tip of his spear pointing directly at the three people behind him. His aura suddenly intensified, causing the water in the spirit spring pool to surge to both sides.

Tell me, what are they?

There are tens of thousands of soldiers who can be evacuated from the White Pagoda. Why don't you save them, but instead save three women who can't fight, can't defend the city, and can't even stand properly? Is it worth it?

Zhou Ran carried his knife up a step and stood between Bloodlust and the three women behind him, facing the pressure of the three Tribulation Transcending Stage cultivators head-on.

Even a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator is no match for this kind of pressure.

His knees bent slightly for a moment under the pressure, but he immediately straightened them, the joints rubbing together with a crisp sound.

"They don't need to be worth much."

Zhou Ran's voice was very low, but everyone in the hall could hear it clearly.

"They are my bottom line. Anyone who touches them, I will cut them down."

Her bloodthirsty eyes were red, and the gun butt was clenched so tightly in her palm that it cracked.

These words struck her heart more deeply than any slap in the face.

She could withstand the cross of the Emperor's son, withstand the blood sacrifice array that could split mountains, and transfuse ancestral blood into him until the Emperor's blood mark was engraved on his collarbone.

But the bottom line he mentioned...

Those three women from Earth are the bottom line.

"I've raised an army of 300,000 Blood Demons for you."

Bloodlust spoke slowly and deliberately, his voice very low.

"When I slapped the Blood Sea Domain Lord's Seal into your palm, you didn't even flinch."

Now you're telling me you'd rather burn down the road home than not rescue them?"

Jiuyou spoke softly from the side.

"Originally, there was only one seat left in the coffin for you."

Now you've brought back three, there aren't enough coffins.

In the pool, Xiao Hongli couldn't understand the terminology of the cultivation field, but she understood what territoriality and competitive relationships meant.

Her pupils swept back and forth between the three empresses, and the corners of her mouth slowly tightened.

"Sister Chen."

Xiao Hongli lowered her voice.

"Those three, are they all Zhou Ran's people here...?"

Chen Ya was silent for two seconds, then hugged Lin Qingxue even tighter.

"have no idea."

Chen Ya's voice was filled with weariness and a kind of indescribable bitterness.

"But I know all too well the way those three women look at Zhou Ran."

The atmosphere inside the hall had reached a critical point.

With its bloodthirsty guns and the deathly aura of the Netherworld, this side hall could easily turn into a battlefield of carnage if anything went wrong.

Zhou Ran stood in the middle.

He held a knife horizontally in his left hand, while blood continued to drip from his right arm.

His spine stood straight, and he did not retreat a single step in the face of the pressure from the three peak Tribulation Transcending Realms.

He was well aware of what these three women had sacrificed for him.

Huan Yin carried half of his seven-hundred-year lifespan. Ancestral blood, soul imprint, and coffin markings—all were the lifeblood they left on him.

But the three people behind him were also his life, something he had fought his way from Blue Star to the Sixth Heaven, something he had never let go of.

The lives of the two sides collided, and there was no choice between them.

All he could do was stand in the middle.

At this moment, Huan Yin, who had been silent all along, stirred.

She raised her hand and pressed down on the protruding barrel of the Bloodthirsty Gun. The pressure was light, but the Bloodthirsty Gun remained motionless.

That's enough.

Huanyin said calmly.

But her gaze passed over Zhou Ran's shoulder and landed precisely on Chen Ya's face, which was wrapped in a cloak, before sweeping over her, Xiao Hongli, and the unconscious Lin Qingxue in turn.

She was using her soul power to sense the causal relationship between the three people.

"No wonder."

Huanyin suddenly chuckled.

The laugh was light and airy, but it sent chills down the spines of everyone in the hall.

He frowned, his eyes bloodshot.

"No wonder what?"

Huan Yin didn't answer Bloodlust, but turned her face away and stared straight into Chen Ya's eyes.

Those dark red pupils reflected the white mist rising from the spiritual spring pool, as well as Chen Ya's pale face.

Chen Ya was startled by that gaze, and an instinctive unease gripped her.

Huanyin spoke.

Every word was pierced into the ears of everyone present.

"The one in my arms has lost his eyesight, and the other two don't even know how to refine their qi."

Even if all three of them were together, they wouldn't be enough for me to flick with one finger.

But he was willing to pay the price of an arm to pull you back within ten breaths.

She tilted her head slightly, her dark red pupils staring intently at Chen Ya, her smile completely gone.

"So I'm particularly curious about which of the three women he risked his life for..."

Who on earth made him willingly cut off his way home?

There was silence inside the hall.

The gurgling sound of the spring water became the only background noise.

Zhou Ran tightened his grip on the knife, his bloodthirsty breathing became heavy and rapid, and the deathly aura of the Nine Netherworlds condensed into visible black frost.

At that moment, Lin Qingxue, who was in Chen Ya's arms, opened her eyes without warning.