Chapter 198 Taking it All! Transforming into a Nascent Soul, the Mad Female Ghost in the Demon Emperor's Arms
Space locked down.
No path to the heavens.
No gate to the earth.
This wasn't a Law at all; it was pure power crushing down.
Zhou Ran's lips twitched.
No fear.
Nowhere to retreat, so he wouldn't.
With his Purple-Gold Demonic Eyes swirling, he intended to give his all to find a flaw in this phantom.
Through his clothes, his right hand pressed the shriveled Mushroom in his bosom deeper.
This was enough.
This debt had to be settled standing up.
He raised his only remaining right arm.
A black light flashed upon it, and the zanpakuto erupted with a dazzling black glow.
Facing that Black Iron Halberd that could split heaven and earth.
Zhou Ran took a step forward, straight and true.
A wild wind whipped his face.
The wind held no sharpness of a blade, only a resolute Death Qi.
Just as the weapons were about to clash.
A moon-white shadow forced its way into this death trap.
Carrying a flurry of crushed stones, she forcefully broke the Soul Transformation lock.
She stood crosswise in front of Zhou Ran.
The halberd cleaved down.
No thunderous roar.
Only the crisp sound of bones snapping.
Li Zhiyao's Yin Spirit body had long ago overdrawn a thousand years of yin virtue.
Under the Soul Transformation strike, this soul body exploded.
From head to toe, cracks grew wildly.
Dark green soul blood sprayed from the fissures.
The blood splashed onto Zhou Ran's face.
It was terrifyingly hot.
A Yin Spirit's blood should have been cold.
Zhou Ran snapped his eyes open.
His right arm reached out, steadily catching the falling body.
Light.
This was no physical entity; it was clearly a cloud of mist that could dissipate at any moment.
Li Zhiyao leaned halfway into Zhou Ran's blood-stained embrace.
That face, unchanged for a thousand years, was covered in cracks from the blow.
She raised her hand.
Her hand, with its long nails, clawed fiercely into the mangled flesh of Zhou Ran's chest.
She dug in with all her might.
"Who do you think you are..."
Dark green soul blood flowed from the corner of her mouth.
She gritted her teeth, every word dripping with blood.
"I've waited for thousands of years...
These bones are mine!"
"Who asked a lunatic like you to come and steal the spotlight?"
She trembled all over from the pain.
Yet her hand clawing at Zhou Ran's wound refused to let go.
"I am a Reincarnator, a Yin Spirit!"
"The skulls of those who offended me a thousand years ago were all used as flower pots by me!"
"A piece of trash like you...
If you die, you die!"
"But I, Li Zhiyao, will never owe a favor to the living!
I'll never let you turn into a ghost and come bother me on the road to the Yellow Springs!"
Her scolding was fierce.
But her volume grew lower and lower.
The strength in her nails also ebbed away.
Zhou Ran let her pinch him.
He looked down at this woman.
He saw through all the sharpness she feigned.
"Truly a stubborn, crazed woman."
Li Zhiyao's gaze went past Zhou Ran's shoulder.
She looked up.
Staring at the heavy-armored shadow in mid-air.
This was the obsession she had guarded for a thousand years.
For these bones of Li Chengfeng.
She could overdraw her yin virtue, she could forcibly open the Yellow Springs, she could suffer her Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering.
But the moment the halberd cleaved toward Zhou Ran's face.
Her mind went blank, and she threw herself into it.
What did a thousand years matter?
In this world, how could there be a living person who, for a female ghost like her who had been dead for a thousand years, would sever his own left arm without even blinking?
How could someone risk Possession and use their life to fill the hole in the Dragon Vein?
Li Zhiyao had lived for a thousand years, wandering between the realms of Yin and Yang.
What kind of schemes had she not seen?
But she simply couldn't withstand this kind of unreasonable protectiveness.
She chose this ruthless madman she had only known for a few days.
Li Zhiyao released her grip on the wound.
There was no fear in her eyes.
The fatigue accumulated over a thousand years came flooding out.
"The person is gone...
Brother, we should let go..."
Her voice was extremely faint.
Torn apart by the surrounding wild wind.
Yet it was heard clearly in this empty underground palace.
"Don't make things difficult for him...
Okay?"
It was entirely a plea.
Carrying a grievance unspoken for thousands of years.
Carrying the resolution to sever the past.
That halberd, capable of splitting mountains, froze mid-air.
Its edge was less than three inches from the center of Zhou Ran's brow.
The wild wind in the underground palace ceased instantly.
The crushed stones lost their support and crashed back to the ground.
The hand of that violent phantom holding the halberd was trembling.
Behind the visor, the killing intent completely receded.
A long-lost clarity regained control.
The halberd was retracted.
The ten-foot-tall heavy-armored figure shrank inch by inch.
The heavy armor faded away.
It transformed into an elegant man wearing a simple, ancient robe.
He looked down.
Looking at his sister, who was on the verge of dissipating.
He gave a long sigh.
"Silly girl."
Li Chengfeng's voice was deep and resonant.
"You've finally grown up and learned how to care for someone."
He didn't look at Li Zhiyao's stunned expression.
His gaze shifted.
Those eyes that could see through everything stared intently at Zhou Ran.
No pressure, no killing intent.
Only appraisal.
Li Chengfeng looked at Zhou Ran's tense right arm and his posture protecting Li Zhiyao.
"Your Heart-Nature is ruthless enough.
Your decisiveness far exceeds that of ordinary people."
Li Chengfeng nodded.
"Most precious of all, you harbor a Demon Seed, yet you strictly guard your bottom line."
This wasn't a dead end.
The moment Zhou Ran severed his arm to suppress the Vile Dragon, Li Chengfeng's remnant soul had awakened.
Swinging the halberd was merely the final test for this young man.
If Zhou Ran had taken even half a step back just now.
The halberd would have absolutely obliterated him.
But he chose to stand his ground.
And Li Zhiyao's intervention further dissolved the last bit of violence in the remnant soul.
Li Chengfeng raised his hand.
"Consider this trial passed."
"My, Li Chengfeng's, legacy, and the Origin of this Taihuang Tyrant Body, have finally found a master."
Before Zhou Ran could recover from all this.
Li Chengfeng's illusory fingertip tapped the center of Zhou Ran's brow.
No light or shadow.
A massive amount of information crashed brutally into Zhou Ran's mind.
"Great Desolate Tyrant Body Art".
A comprehensive Body Cultivator manual, tempered a thousand times by a Soul Transformation expert.
Every word and line of the cultivation route was carved directly into his marrow.
Those cultivation Bottlenecks, combat techniques, and Physical Body potential developments.
He gave them all to Zhou Ran without reservation.
Li Chengfeng's shadow began to fade.
His shell transformed into starlight.
The starlight swept up the complete Qilin Origin Bone on the high platform.
The two forces merged into one.
They slammed hard into the stump of Zhou Ran's left shoulder.
The black, out-of-control Devilish Qi was forcibly suppressed by this power.
Flesh churned, and bones restructured.
A brand-new arm with muscle lines flowing with a dark gold luster was reshaped within a few breaths.
The Arm of the Great Desolate, perfectly fused with the Qilin Origin.
Zhou Ran raised his new left arm.
He closed his fingers and made a fist.
His knuckles popped.
The air in his palm was directly crushed.
No loss of control.
Only absolute clarity.
Only pure violence that could tear everything apart.
Zhou Ran inspected his internal state; his Meridians were widened and reinforced.
The cracked dao platform was completely healed.
His Physical Body strength soared on the spot.
His cultivation was thoroughly stabilized at the Seventh Level of Foundation Establishment.
With the "Great Desolate Tyrant Body Art" and Soul Transformation experience paving the way.
His path forward was terrifyingly wide.
Winner takes all.
After the starlight dissipated, Li Chengfeng's remnant soul finally returned to the heavens.
The underground palace fell silent once more.
Zhou Ran withdrew his focus.
He looked down.
Looking at Li Zhiyao, whose aura was weak in his arms.
On that exquisite face, all the thorns were gone.
Only paleness remained.
Zhou Ran pulled open his tattered jacket with one hand.
Tearing off strips of cloth.
He wrapped her damaged soul body tightly.
"Take a sleep."
Zhou Ran lowered his voice.
He circulated his Dantian.
Mobilizing the Great Desolate Origin within his new left arm.
He drew out a gentle trace of vitality.
Following his fingertip, he tapped it into the center of Li Zhiyao's brow.
Firmly guarding the last bit of her spiritual light.
Zhou Ran held her tight.
"When we get back to the Imperial Capital, I'll use the best yin virtue in the world to nourish you."