Chapter 4: Melodrama

In the boundless void, within the endless black expanse, Tao Ran flew on his sword, chasing with all his might a figure that was rapidly fleeing ahead.

At this moment, the 'starlight' rays radiating from the surroundings were constantly scorching his spirit, while the nearby chaotic elemental storms were causing the true essence and magical power within his body to gradually collapse and become disordered.

Yet Tao Ran paid no heed; his will was as hard as an ancient, unchanging iceberg, unshakable and immovable.

After who knows how long, the fleeing Nine Heavens Desire Demon, Dugu Tianyi, finally slowed down. This one had clearly reached the point of exhaustion, his limbs and body disintegrating inch by inch. He simply turned his head and looked back at Tao Ran with a gaze full of venom.

'Sword Inquiring Tao Ran!'

Dugu Tianyi's face, which should have been as beautiful as jade, fresh and elegant, and exceedingly handsome, was now twisted and hideous beyond recognition.

'It seems you are determined to kill me to the last today, leaving no room for mercy?'

'Isn't that only natural?'

Tao Ran smiled: 'Tao never does the foolish thing of letting a tiger return to the mountains! The Demon Lord stirred up a demonic calamity in the Primordial Dome Realm, causing the deaths of billions of living beings. Now it's time to give them an account.'

As the distance between them grew closer, his long-stored sword momentum surged and swelled, on the verge of erupting.

A deep despair appeared in Dugu Tianyi's eyes, but instead of anger, he laughed, his eyes filled with mockery: 'Don't speak so self-righteously. What kind of good person are you, Sword Inquiring Tao Ran? In these twenty years, using this demon's blade to kill, how many dissidents have you eliminated? The Cold Mystery Sect, the Huaming Sword Sect, and the three thousand enshrined mages of the Langya Heavenly Dynasty—you and I both know the score.'

'Say what you will, Demon Lord. I have a clear conscience and am at peace with myself.'

Tao Ran's expression was indifferent, without any emotional fluctuation: 'The Demon Lord is, after all, a hero of his generation. Now that you face death, you should show some heroic spirit. Don't let Tao think little of you—'

Before his words had even finished, a grand silver light streaked across the black void. The supremely sharp sword light directly split Dugu Tianyi's entire body in two, followed by tens of thousands of flying swords that surged like a tide, beginning to bombard, sever, and devour the last remnants of this unparalleled demon lord.

Throughout the process, Dugu Tianyi offered no resistance, still gazing at the swordsman opposite with blood-red eyes.

However, all his disintegrating and separating body parts turned into blood flames, converging into his pupils.

'Are you joking with me? When a person dies, it's like a lamp going out—nothing remains. Why bother with heroic spirit? But ah, this game between us is far from over. As the saying goes, a cornered rat will bite a cat, a trapped beast will still fight. So will I! Listen carefully, Sword Inquiring Tao Ran! In the future, you will surely sink into endless desire, and this demon will be reborn from your corpse. We are not finished yet—'

...

The next morning, Tao Ran suddenly woke from his dream, gasping heavily. It took three minutes before he calmed the terror in his chest, then he frowned deeply and fell into contemplation.

After being reborn through possession, he had actually forgotten this most important matter.

'You will surely sink into endless desire, and this demon will be reborn from your corpse'—that is to say, the anomaly that occurred yesterday, was it because of you? Dugu Tianyi?

A cold glint appeared in Tao Ran's eyes, but then he shook his head and turned his gaze toward the alarm clock, finding it was already nine in the morning.

At that moment, a sour and swollen sensation suddenly came from his right arm, as if the limb was about to no longer belong to him.

Tao Ran knew what was happening and could only smile bitterly. It was the aftereffect of that sword strike yesterday; such sword speed had clearly exceeded the tolerance of this body.

Although he had done some simple treatment afterward, without specialized acupuncture tools, the effect was minimal.

He had been foolish at the time, thinking this was still his original physical body?

Tao Ran tapped his head with a hint of regret, then got up from the bed and walked heavily to the bathroom, staring at 'himself' in the mirror and examining carefully.

Regarding the situation of the body's original owner, Tao Ran had more or less figured it out yesterday on the school bus, and roughly understood his own circumstances.

The body he now occupied was not only far from 'fortunate' but also a poor wretch who had lost his parents half a year ago, enough to draw sympathetic tears.

It is worth mentioning that the original owner's background was also somewhat complicated, extremely 'melodramatic' in the words of this world.

—This had something to do with both of Li Mochen's parents. First, his father Li Chunchu. The body's original memory had little knowledge of his father, only knowing that he was once a disciple of some famous sect in the Eastern world. Over twenty years ago, he was expelled from the sect and subsequently moved to the United States of America.

Also, Li Mochen's mother, Elena Wiltonstein, was equally of distinguished origin.

She was once a member of the Wiltonstein family, a direct descendant of the current patriarch, and the fourth heir of the Wiltonstein Holding Group.

The so-called Wiltonstein Holding Group was one of the most important industries of the 'Wiltonstein' family.

The latter was a renowned family ranking at least in the top fifty in the United States of America, with a long heritage of nearly nine hundred years, one of the original pioneers of the New World. It held great influence in both the business and political worlds of today.

However, this did not mean that the body's original owner could gain any benefit from this background. It was because his parents' union had not received the blessing of his mother's family.

And Li Mochen's mother, Elena Wiltonstein, had been stripped of her inheritance rights twenty-five years ago due to this marriage.

Although Li Mochen himself, for some unknown reason, was still within the Wiltonstein family's inheritance sequence, the Wiltonstein family had always ignored him. The body's original owner had never even seen many of his maternal relatives from childhood to adulthood.

Thus, the current Li Mochen was almost isolated and without any relatives.

Actually, it couldn't be said he had no relatives at all. Li Mochen had an older sister, and on his father's side, there were a few relatives in the United States.

But judging from the body's original memory, those so-called 'relatives' were as good as none.

As for that older sister who had already returned to the family—

Thinking of that Jennifer Wiltonstein, some images suddenly flashed through Tao Ran's mind, causing him to frown deeply, and a hint of displeasure appeared in his eyes.