"Who's this moron?" Lin Ran asked in confusion.
"The youngest daughter of the current Left Chancellor, Chen Yanxin."
Tantai Jin spoke calmly, as if he hadn't been the one nearly shot dead by an arrow just now. In fact, that arrow really couldn't have killed him. He had already mastered Demonic Power and had only refrained from acting because he knew an arrow like that couldn't hurt Lin Ran.
Lin Ran waved his little paw. A ten-meter pit appeared, with Chen Yanxin's mangled remains at its center.
"I'm out of here! You'd better run too! Otherwise, those people who can't stand you will find trouble with you again!"
With that, Lin Ran vanished like a wisp of smoke. Helpless, Tantai Jin could only circulate his Demonic Power and flee swiftly as well.
Before long, he spotted a somewhat impatient Ye Xiwu, with Xiao Liang pestering her relentlessly beside her.
Ye Xiwu was feeling irritated when she suddenly sensed a white blur rushing toward her. Startled, she thought she was under attack, only for a little figure to land in her arms. Looking closely, she saw it was Little White, whom she had been yearning for day and night!
"Little White! Where did you run off to?" Ye Xiwu hugged Lin Ran and showered him with caresses, making him narrow his eyes in comfort.
"Isn't that your little pet? Didn't it run off a while ago? It actually survived!"
Lin Ran opened his eyes and glanced at the damned fatty. With a thought from him, Xiao Liang suddenly felt something trip him. His obese body slammed heavily into the ground, his head striking a stone and immediately splitting open in a bloody mess.
Ye Xiwu took two steps back in disgust. Lin Ran's arrival had caused quite a few incidents during this hunting excursion, and everyone was urgently summoned.
Learning that the Left Chancellor's most beloved youngest daughter had died during the hunt, Ye Xiwu couldn't help being startled. Baibai had just happened to return a moment earlier; she couldn't help suspecting that Baibai had done it.
"Was it you, Little White?" Ye Xiwu asked quietly.
Lin Ran shook his head. Whether he admitted it didn't matter to him, but Ye Xiwu was a foolish woman. If she knew he had done it, she would certainly betray a guilty conscience when questioned.
Fortunately, the destruction Lin Ran had casually wrought at the scene was beyond anything these uncultivated mortals could have caused, so no one would suspect Ye Xiwu or the others.
In the carriage back to the Ye Residence, Ye Xiwu still held Lin Ran and refused to let go.
"Don't squeeze so tight. I can't breathe!"
Silence fell over the carriage. Ye Xiwu and Chun Tao stared straight at Lin Ran with wide eyes.
"You can talk now?" Ye Xiwu asked uncertainly.
"What's so strange about being able to talk? Plenty of demons can speak human language. I made quite a breakthrough while I was away."
"Wow! Then what realm are you in now, Little White?" The two crowded around Lin Ran like curious children.
"You two even know about cultivation realms?" Lin Ran asked, somewhat puzzled, before understanding dawned. Ye Xiwu was a general's daughter, after all. The Ye Family had probably encountered cultivators, so it was hardly surprising that she knew something about cultivation.
"Of course. There's the most basic Body Tempering, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, and Nascent Soul. There are more after that, but I haven't heard of them."
"Have you reached the Golden Core Stage now, Little White?"
"Who are you looking down on? Ever heard of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage? That's where I am now. I just don't plan to reveal my strength yet, so keep it a secret for me."
"Tri-trib-Tribulation Transcendence Stage? They say only the sect master of the Carefree Sect, a great immortal sect, has ever reached the Tribulation Transcendence Stage. Little White, you're not lying to us, are you?"
"What do you think?"
Ye Xiwu and Chun Tao were half convinced and half doubtful, but seeing that Little White had no intention of explaining further, they stopped asking.
Over the next year and more, Lin Ran kept as low a profile as possible. As he had expected, Tantai Jin married Ye Xiwu. Although Ye Xiwu didn't like Tantai Jin, she didn't target him either. Dandan Jin's days at the Ye Residence were passable, at least much better than life in the palace.
When Ye Xiwu pushed Ye Bingchang into the water, Lin Ran knew the main plot was about to begin.
"Here's a treasure for you. Drink it, or you might never see me again." Lin Ran handed Ye Xiwu a vial of Heavenly Soul Liquid. That tiny vial alone had cost him five hundred thousand Origin Points.
Its effect was simple and direct: the Heavenly Soul Liquid could merge Ye Xiwu's soul with Li Susu's, rather than letting Li Susu directly take over Ye Xiwu's body. The difference was that even after Li Susu transmigrated into Ye Xiwu's body, she would still possess her previous memories.
He stayed by Ye Xiwu's side over the following days, until an unusual change suddenly came from her body. Lin Ran studied her curiously, realizing that Li Susu must have arrived!
Ye Xiwu, or perhaps Li Susu, studied Lin Ran with some confusion. At this moment, Ye Xiwu was Li Susu, and Li Susu was also Ye Xiwu.
As Ye Xiwu's memories returned, Li Susu stared blankly at Lin Ran.
"Ye Xiwu?" Lin Ran waved a paw before Ye Xiwu's face, and she scooped him into her arms. Having just experienced her closest loved ones dying horribly at the Devil God's hands, it was hardly strange for her to react this way. Lin Ran turned into a large tiger and gently patted her head.
"Don't cry, don't cry. I'll help you overturn the fate of the Devil God descending upon the world." Refusing to rest until his words shocked someone, Lin Ran spoke Li Susu's greatest secret outright.
"You know who I am?" Li Susu no longer had room to grieve and asked in some surprise.
"Not much. I'll explain everything to you all later."
Lin Ran waved his paw, and Li Susu fell peacefully asleep. He placed her on the bed, tucked her under the quilt, then jumped onto the roof.
Gazing at the bright moon in the distance, Lin Ran felt a little homesick. Although he hadn't done particularly well for himself on Blue Star, his parents both loved him dearly, and he had friends of his own.
"System, what you said about my parents winning the lottery after I left-that was true, right?"
[Replying to the host: yes, it was true. This was a piece of cake for the system.]
"That's good." Lin Ran nodded his large head and mentally reviewed the plan he had refined over and over during the past three years.
First, he would awaken Dandan Jin's seven emotions and six desires, step by step. Then he would send Li Susu's true spirit back five hundred years into the future. At that point, he would also take his most important step in this world.
Finally, he would take Dandan Jin to find Li Susu and give the two a happy ending. As for the Evil Bone and the Three Devil Artifacts, he would take them all!
When Li Susu slowly woke, Chun Tao happened to come to help her get up. The two searched the room but couldn't find Lin Ran anywhere. It was Tantai Jin who discovered the figure sleeping on the roof.
In the courtyard, Li Susu studied Tantai Jin with a complicated expression. Was this the future Devil God? He seemed nothing like what I imagined.
Someone as incomparably brutal as the Devil God had actually been like this before becoming the Devil God!
Lin Ran stood up and made a war god's leap, shaking the snow covering him onto the three people's heads. Chun Tao and Li Susu cried out and hurriedly scooped the snowflakes out of their collars.
Dandan Jin, on the other hand, looked very calm, and even wore a hint of a smile.
"Little White! You're awful!"
Lin Ran shrank and lay on top of Chun Tao's head. Already accustomed to it, Chun Tao even reached up to smooth his fur.
"Miss, why are you two acting so strangely today?" Chun Tao couldn't help muttering. She had noticed early that morning that something seemed off about her young lady, who kept secretly studying her husband!
"Yes, I also feel that Second Miss is acting a little strangely today," Tantai Jin said, likewise staring at Li Susu, unable to understand why she kept staring at him today.
Lin Ran studied the pair. Over the past half year and more, they had treated each other with the courtesy of honored guests. Although Ye Xiwu didn't truly like Tantai Jin, she hadn't deliberately tormented him either, and had even let him sleep in a side room. Tantai Jin could even sit down to eat with the Ye Family.
After breakfast, Lin Ran let Li Susu hold him in her arms and began to doze.