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

"Zhou Ran, you only have one problem to face right now..."

"Is this demon realm yours, or his?"

Zhou Ran did not answer immediately.

His gaze lingered on the words on the bottom of the coffin for a long time.

Then he reached out, inserted his five fingers into the coffin, and placed the seven characters on his palm.

The Demon Emperor's essence surged from his palm, covering the entire bottom of the coffin.

The lingering aura of Ye Futian on the handwriting was gradually eroded, covered, and devoured by his original essence.

Ten breaths later, those seven words completely disappeared from the bottom of the coffin.

Instead, there were burn marks left by Zhou Ran's Demon Emperor origin.

"From today onwards, it's mine."

……

As soon as she finished speaking, Huan Yin's body froze without warning.

Her dark red pupils strained to their limit as she clutched her chest with both hands.

He spat out a mouthful of dark, putrid blood.

Black blood splattered on the walls of the bronze coffin, hissing and emitting white smoke.

"he……"

Huan Yin's voice changed, filled with obvious fear.

"He left something inside me!"

……

Before Huan Yin could finish speaking, Shi Xue and Jiu You both changed their expressions.

The imperial blood mark on the Bloodthirsty Collarbone suddenly turned from dull to a dazzling bright gold.

The heat made her arch her back, and she let out a muffled groan.

She gripped the spear tightly with both hands, the shaft of which was dented in her palms.

The Nine Netherworlds' reaction was quieter, but also more frightening.

Her body began to transform from solid to semi-transparent, as layers of deathly aura peeled away, revealing pale, almost transparent skin beneath.

A thin, spiderweb-like golden line was slowly emerging at the corner of her eye.

It extends from the corner of the eye to the temple, then disappears into the hairline.

Three golden lines, three women, all flaring up at the same time.

Zhou Ran's pupils constricted.

He used his early-stage Void Refinement perception to scan the three people's internal conditions with all his might.

What he saw made his blood boil.

Deep within the consciousness of each of the three women, a golden seed the size of a thumb was expanding wildly.

The roots of the seeds penetrated into the deepest layers of their primordial spirits, becoming intertwined with their original power.

Each root carries the essence of the night sky.

These seeds are not newly grown.

The thickness and depth of their roots clearly indicate that they have been dormant within them for thousands of years.

For 30,000 years, these seeds have quietly hidden in the darkest corner of the sea of ​​consciousness, absorbing the essence of the three empresses and growing stronger little by little.

The seed was only remotely activated the moment Ye Futian left the bronze coffin.

"The Old Master's curse mark."

Lin Qingxue was helped by Chen Ya to walk closer. Her remaining divine eyes swept over the three women's bodies, and her face turned pale again.

"A forbidden technique used by the leader of an ancient demonic sect to control his core subordinates."

"Once the seed matures, it will completely take over the host's consciousness."

Behavior, memory, and emotion are all controlled by the seed's owner.

She spoke very quickly, so quickly that some words were unclear.

"The seed has been activated, expanding far beyond its normal pace."

"He's forcing them to mature, wanting to control the three of them in the shortest possible time."

Huanyin knelt on the ground, her hands supporting her against the coffin wall.

Black blood trickled from the corner of her lips, dripping down her chin onto the bottom of the bronze coffin.

Her soul imprint, which resonated with Zhou Ran's, was being severed one by one by the roots of the golden seed.

The transmitted signal was intermittent, filled with static and pain.

"Zhou Ran..."

Huanyin's voice was broken into incoherent sentences.

"Kill me."

My sea of ​​consciousness...

Explode it, seeds and all.

"This thing can't be allowed to ripen..."

Bloodlust, leaning on his spear, barely managed to stand upright, his crimson pupils filled with bloodshot veins.

The words were forced out from under his throat.

"Stop talking nonsense, just do it."

"While I can still control myself."

If that old bastard manages to take control of the 300,000-strong Blood Demon army through me...

You can't handle it.

Jiuyou did not seek death.

She simply looked at Zhou Ran quietly, the gold lines spreading from the corner of her eye to half of her face.

A thin layer of warmth, which shouldn't belong to her, appeared in those eyes that were originally so cold they had no temperature.

Regret.

She carved Zhou Ran's name on the coffin lid.

Ye Futian watched her carve from inside the coffin.

Every stroke of the pen, every thought made, was treated as a joke from beginning to end.

"The coffin was originally reserved for you."

Jiuyou's lips moved, and his voice carried far.

"Great, the original owner of the coffin is going to take us back."

Zhou Ran stood between the three women.

On the left is Huanyin, spitting out black blood; on the right is Shixue, whose body is burning hot; and in front of them is Jiuyou, who is becoming translucent.

Three women who risked their lives, shortened their lifespans, and drained their very essence for him told him, "Kill us."

He heard every word they said.

Then he laughed.

That smile was devoid of any warmth, so cold that even the demonic energy of the Abyss of Annihilation was momentarily stunned.

The Taihuang Black Blade popped half an inch out of its sheath, and all seven of its patterns lit up simultaneously.

The black and gold light made his features stand out sharply.

"My woman, not even the King of Heaven can take her away."

Zhou Ran hoisted Huan Yin onto his shoulder and turned to look at Chen Ya and Xiao Hongli.

"Hongli, the entrance to the Abyss of Despair is sealed off. No one is allowed to enter."

"Sister Ya, turn off all communication frequencies listed in the military register."

What happened here tonight is none of anyone else's business.

Xiao Hongli gripped the pen tightly, her lips pressed into a thin line.

She wanted to say something, but after glancing at Zhou Ran's face, she swallowed her words and turned to leave.

He took two steps, turned back, and threw down a sentence.

"Don't die."

Chen Ya stood still, holding the military manual, and looked at Zhou Ran for three seconds with red eyes.

Go ahead.

They are your people too, and I won't be jealous just because you saved them.

"I'm not a little girl anymore."

He paused for a moment.

"Just kidding, I'm so jealous."

But life is more important than vinegar, go quickly.

……

Zhou Ran placed Huan Yin next to the bronze coffin and gestured for Shi Xue and Jiu You to come closer as well.

The three empresses, who were at the peak of their tribulation, were extremely weak.

The expansion of the golden seeds is consuming their consciousness at an alarming rate.

Huan Yin's soul imprint of the same frequency has been broken by 70%.

The imperial blood mark on the bloodthirsty collarbone was eroded by the golden light until only a blurry outline remained.

The concentration of death energy in the Nine Netherworlds dropped to a point where even she herself could no longer maintain her physical form.

"Qingxue."

Zhou Ran turned his head.

Lin Qingxue was already kneeling beside the coffin, her remaining eyes shining like a faint silver star deep within them.

"I'll locate the position, you cut it."

Lin Qingxue didn't utter a single superfluous word.

"The roots of the seeds are intertwined with their origin; forcibly pulling them out will shatter their consciousness along with them."

"You must use the Emperor-level dark patterns of the Primordial Black Blade to sever them one by one, ensuring that the force of each strike does not exceed the tolerance limit of their sea of ​​consciousness."

Her fingers quickly pointed out three sets of coordinates in the air.

"The seed of the illusory sound is located in the very center of the sea of ​​consciousness, with the most roots—one hundred and thirty-seven."

"Forty-two of them are wrapped around the core channel of the soul imprint of the same frequency. When you move these forty-two, your hand must not shake."

"The seed of bloodlust lies at the bottom of her consciousness, its roots running deep, some even penetrating the very foundation of her soul."

"When cutting, you should peel it out layer by layer, not all at once."

"The most troublesome one in the Nine Netherworlds."

"The seed grew at the intersection of her coffin burial law and her sea of ​​consciousness, its roots mingling with her deathly essence, making it impossible to distinguish which belonged to the seed and which to her."

Zhou Ran gripped the Taihuang Black Blade tightly.

The light from the seven background patterns was reduced to its extreme, and the black and gold luster on the blade was compressed into a line as thin as a hair.

This Primordial Black Blade, which has slain the Emperor's son and cleaved the Heavenly Demon Emperor, is now to be used as a scalpel.

"Let's start with Huan Yin."

He probed the tip of the knife into Huanyin's sea of ​​consciousness.