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

"presumptuous!"

Ghost Fang Daoist suddenly turned around, the tip of his peach wood sword pointing directly at Zhou Ran's nose, his old face contorting with rage.

"How dare this mere brat criticize my teachings!"

With a roar, he unleashed his inner strength, causing the crystal chandelier in the hall to sway and scatter light and shadow.

The sound wave hit Mrs. Liu, making her chest feel tight, and she swayed and fell back onto the sofa.

Emboldened, Song Qingshu leaped out from behind the sofa, pointed at Zhou Ran's nose, and screamed:

"Zhou Ran! Who do you think you are!"

"Master Ghost Fang used the ancient and wondrous technique 'Seven Stars Life Extension.' How dare you, a piece of trash who rose to power through women, offer your opinion?!"

"To prolong life?"

Zhou Ran laughed, but there was no warmth in his smile, only indifference as he looked down upon inanimate objects.

He ignored the sharp peach wood sword and strolled toward the seven flickering oil lamps.

As Zhou Ran approached, the seven eerie green flames all retreated.

The flame was pressed tightly against the wick, revealing the fear of a subject facing his emperor.

"The methods of the Wuji Sect are always so underhanded."

"The true Seven Stars Life Extension draws upon the immense vitality of the Big Dipper in the heavens."

Zhou Ran extended two fingers and pinched the wick of one of the lamps.

"Sizzle—"

When the fingertips touched the flame, there was no sound of flesh burning; instead, it was like boiling oil being poured into an ice cave, producing a crisp sound of grease solidifying.

A wisp of black smoke rose, transforming into a pained human face, only to be crushed by an invisible force.

"And these seven lamps of yours form a deadly trap of 'Greedy Wolf Devouring Evil'."

With a gentle rub of his fingertips, Zhou Ran turned the lamp wick, soaked in corpse oil, into ashes.

"The oil is the corpse oil extracted from a pregnant woman who died unjustly."

"The core is the hemp rope used by hanged ghosts."

"You're not prolonging his life; you're draining Governor Liu of his last bit of yang energy to feed this room full of evil spirits."

He looked around, his voice not loud, but clearly reaching everyone's ears.

"In another half hour, Governor Liu will no longer be human."

"He will become a walking corpse that only obeys your orders."

"I think this is the Song family's real purpose."

"By leveraging Liu Jianguo's power, we'll allow you rats from the gutter to gain a foothold in Jiangnan!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Upon hearing the words "walking corpses," Madam Liu turned pale, and her gaze toward Ghost Fang Taoist was filled with nothing but deep hatred.

"You...you're talking nonsense!"

Ghost Fang Daoist was thrown into chaos. His core conspiracy was completely exposed by this young man in just a few words!

"You little brat, you're asking for it!"

Enraged, Ghost Fang Daoist unleashed his murderous intent and slammed his withered left palm heavily onto the altar!

"rise!"

Boom!

The smooth, hard marble floor tiles are cracking inch by inch!

Four streams of dark, malevolent energy surged from the ground, coalescing into four giant pythons as thick as water buckets.

It opened its foul-smelling maw and blocked Zhou Ran's escape routes from all four directions!

Four Fiends Soul-Locking Formation!

"Zhou Ran!"

Chen Ya's breath hitched, and her palms became sweaty.

Chen Guodong grabbed his daughter's arm. The old man, who had survived countless battles, was now ashen-faced.

Don't go over there!

That stuff kills you if it touches you!

Faced with the four black pythons that seemed intent on devouring everything, Zhou Ran didn't even blink.

He simply lifted his right foot.

Then, gently stomp on the ground.

thump—

This kick produced no shockwave, no brilliance.

The entire villa, along with the mountain it was on, trembled and emitted a dull thud!

An invisible wave, centered on Zhou Ran's landing point, aggressively expanded outwards.

The four monstrous black pythons, brimming with arrogance, vanished silently upon contact with the energy fluctuations, completely erased from the world!

"puff--!"

With the formation broken, Ghost Fang Taoist suffered a backlash, spitting out a mouthful of blood and flying backward, smashing the entire altar to pieces.

A peach wood sword and yellow talisman paper were scattered all over the ground.

"You...you've manipulated the earth's ley lines!"

Ghost Fang Taoist clutched his collapsed chest, his eyes filled with incomprehensible terror.

This kick wasn't made with a cultivator's true energy at all!

This is the legendary power of words becoming law, borrowing the supreme power of a region!

Who exactly is this kid in front of me?!

Zhou Ran ignored his shock, turned and walked towards the broken French window, pointing towards the courtyard.

The central koi pond had become murky and murky, with precious red koi lying belly up, their deaths tragic.

"This formation is called 'Carp Leaping Over the Dragon Gate,' and it is a feng shui treasure land that can boost one's official career."

"But now, Lungmen is dead."

"Someone buried something at the bottom of the pool."

Madam Liu had no more doubts about Zhou Ran's words, and roared with all her might:

"dig!"

"Dig up the pool for me!"

Several daring guards jumped into the icy pool and began digging with entrenching tools.

Song Qingshu was already so frightened that his legs went weak. He was about to slip away in the chaos when he discovered that the doorway was now filled with expressionless guards.

"Young Master Song, don't rush off, the real show is just beginning."

Zhou Ran's voice rang in his ears.

"Dig... I found it!"

A piercing scream came from the courtyard.

With trembling hands, a guard pulled an object wrapped in red cloth from the foul-smelling mud.

When the rotten red cloth was unveiled.

A curled-up, shriveled dead infant was exposed to everyone!

Seven rusty steel needles were conspicuously driven into the head, chest, and limbs of the dead infant.

On the talisman paper at the end of the needle, Liu Jianguo's birth date and time were written in blood!

"ah--!"

Upon witnessing this scene, Madam Liu let out a short, mournful cry, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.

Chen Guodong was so angry that his whole body trembled, and he slammed his fist into the load-bearing pillar next to him!

"brute!"

Pierced by a thousand arrows, may he be childless and without descendants!

How vicious!

"Now, we have both witnesses and physical evidence."

Zhou Ran turned around, his gaze piercing through the crowd, like two scalpels, precisely nailing to Ghost Tooth Taoist.

"Any last words?"

Ghost Fang Taoist's face twitched; he knew he was doomed to die today.

But he was not willing to give up!

He was an elder of the Wuji Sect, a great cultivator in the Foundation Establishment stage. How could he die at the hands of a mere youth?!

"good!"

"good!"

"good!"

Ghost Fang Taoist stood up, supporting himself on the ground, and laughed wildly, his laughter maniacal and hoarse.

"Since you've ruined my plan, you'll pay with your life!"

Before he finished speaking, the temperature in the hall plummeted and all the lights went out at once.

In the darkness, only Ghost Fang Taoist himself emanated an ominous light.

His hair was disheveled, his eyes were bloodshot, and his emaciated body made cracking sounds.

It's not a fracture, but rather the bone growing wildly and forcibly!

His skin was torn open from the inside, and several pale bone spurs, covered in sticky black blood, pierced out from his back and elbows.

A stench, a mixture of rotting flesh and aged blood, permeated the air.

"You were able to force me to use the 'Asura Bone Fiend,' you can be proud of your death."

Ghost Fang Taoist's voice became murky, and his height increased by nearly a foot, transforming him into a deformed humanoid beast.

"Taste the strength and power of this old master!"

He stomped his foot, and the marble floor tiles beneath his feet turned to dust!

He left a blur in place, moving so fast that it was imperceptible to the naked eye, and appeared in front of Zhou Ran!

The mutated right claw, its nails growing three inches long and as black as ink, accompanied by a piercing shriek, aimed straight for Zhou Ran's throat!

No skill involved, just sheer physical strength!

This strike is enough to tear through a tank's armor!

Chen Guodong's pupils shrank to pinpoints as his hand touched the gun at his waist.

But to his despair, he discovered that his own reaction speed couldn't even keep up with the other person's movements!