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

"The Moon Emperor fled with the Heavenly Corpse, and I led the Rift Mountain Camp in pursuit. You saw what happened next."

Ye Futian recounted the devastating defeat in a calm tone, as if settling old scores.

The Moon Emperor scoffed, "You've lost."

Ye Futian nodded calmly.

"Yes, I lost."

He raised his hand, and the Taihuang Black Blade flew into his palm on its own.

"So today's finishing blow."

The Moon Emperor pressed down with his palm, and the laws of the Silver Sea instantly transformed into a giant moon wheel, with countless life lines intertwined within it, crushing towards Ye Futian.

Ye Futian did not go to meet that vast silver sea. He was left with only a lingering will; he could not win the overall battle, but it was enough to break through to a single point.

He turned to look at Zhou Ran: "I'll borrow your mark of the new Demon Lord."

Zhou Ran immediately released the demonic runes on his chest. The military seals left by the three demonic dukes vibrated violently within his body.

In the manor far away in Jiangcheng, the three dukes looked up at the same time, and the magic runes on the chests of the five hundred demon soldiers heated up.

Outside the old building housing women and children, the demon soldiers guarding the city gripped their weapons tightly.

Beneath the manor, the headless corpses of the Rift Mountain Camp demons all opened their empty eyes.

They did not resurrect, but their fighting spirit remained.

Ye Futian raised his sword.

"Lieshan Camp".

"Return the sword."

boom!

Hundreds of dark red battle intents crossed the two realms and roared in.

Those were neither souls nor resurrected beings, but merely the killing intent that was not unleashed at the last moment 30,000 years ago.

They all merged into the Primordial Black Blade.

The blade first turned pure black, then crimson, and finally all its brilliance subsided, condensing into a deep dark gold.

This sword intent shook off the life lines binding Zhou Ran's nascent soul, tearing open a fleeting gap.

Ye Futian wanted to use his last remaining regret to unleash the final strike he had failed to complete years ago.

But this knife no longer belongs to him; it belongs to Zhou Ran.

Zhou Ran released his grip, and the Taihuang Black Blade fell completely into Ye Futian's hand.

"Take it."

Ye Futian laughed.

"readily."

The Moon Emperor's voice was tinged with contempt: "You think a lingering remnant of your will can harm me?"

Ye Futian wielded his sword and advanced, the lifelines in the silver sea piercing his tattered demonic armor, each one carrying away a spark of black gold.

His figure grew increasingly faint, yet his steps did not cease.

"I thought I could kill you back then, but I found out I couldn't."

You're too good at escaping, too good at hiding, and too good at weaving others into your life.

He stepped across the silver sea, the moon already pressing down on his head.

Ye Futian raised his sword, without shouting or using any moves, nor did he unleash the Heavenly Demon Light; he simply slashed out with a single strike.

A thin crack ripped through the void.

Wherever the rift passed, the silver sea opened up, the moon shattered from within, the afterimage of the high platform turned to dust, and even the reflection of the judgment behind the Moon Emperor was neatly cut in half.

The Moon Emperor raised his hand to block, and his silver imperial robe shattered inch by inch.

The knife wound pierced through her palm and went straight into her chest.

puff.

No blood splattered, only large shards of silver command tokens gushed out.

A crack appeared on the Moon Emperor's chest, revealing a dense network of life lines behind it, with 30% of them leading directly to Jiang City.

Ye Futian's eyes lit up.

"Found it."

He twisted the knife handle with his other hand.

boom!

Those three-tenths of the lifeline broke off simultaneously, and the silver sea immediately receded.

In the direction of Jiangcheng, the gray line has shrunk significantly.

Inside the manor's array, the six characters "Jiangcheng will not be a sacrifice" suddenly shone brightly.

The ancient compass in Li Zhiyao's hand stopped spinning wildly. She looked up and said, "The gray line is broken by thirty percent!"

Wang Pangzi had just finished dismantling the second remnant of the Holy Radiance artifact when he heard the news through the bone fragments, and he plopped down on the ruins.

"Brother is awesome."

Wait, what exactly was I doing in there?

Have you processed the divorce and divided the property for the Moon Emperor?

Chen Ya's voice came from the bone fragment:

"Continue dismantling."

Fatty Wang immediately got up:

"receive."

Inside the Silver Sea Court, the crack on the Moon Emperor's chest made her lose her composure.

She stared intently at Ye Futian, her killing intent almost freezing the space around her.

"You're asking for it."

Ye Futian looked down at his hands; his knuckles had begun to dissipate, and black and gold sparks were peeling off his body.

"I'm already dead."

After he finished speaking, he turned to look at Zhou Ran.

Zhou Ran's life lines have diminished considerably, and his golden nascent soul has risen again, with the six gray lines still burning.

Ye Futian handed the knife back.

Zhou Ran caught it; the hilt was scorching hot, and the aura belonging to Ye Futian was rapidly dissipating from it.

Zhou Ran asked him, "What about the Demon Realm?"

Ye Futian chuckled, this time very softly.

"Don't ask me. Once you accept the military seal, you are the Demon Emperor."

"I may not manage things the way you want them to be."

Ye Futian waved his hand: "Don't be like me. I chased and killed my way through, losing everything along the way, until in the end all I had left was a name."

He gazed into the distance at the Silver Sea, and then looked towards Jiangcheng across the distance.

"You have a lot of people behind you, which is troublesome, but it's also a good thing."

Zhou Ran remained silent.

As Ye Futian's demonic armor began to peel away piece by piece, he remembered something else and added:

"That bastard Akagi doesn't count as part of the Demon Realm."

Those idiots from Lieshan Camp, well, that's it.

"If you encounter any former subordinates from the Lower Six Heavens who are not yet completely dead, recruit them if you can; otherwise, execute them."

Zhou Ran nodded: "I know."

Nightfall was satisfied.

He turned around and took one last look at the Moon Emperor.

"If you run away once, you'll run away a second time."

This kid is more annoying than me, you'll just have to put up with him.

The Moon Emperor raised his hand, and the Silver Sea Fate Lines coalesced once more.

Ye Futian's figure had completely dissipated, and black and gold sparks rose up, all falling into the Taihuang Black Blade and being extinguished within it.

His soul and spirit were completely destroyed, leaving not even a trace behind.

The knife was empty.

As Zhou Ran gripped the knife, half a silver imperial emblem fell out from the crack in the Moon Emperor's chest.

The imperial emblem landed on the sea surface but did not sink; instead, it slowly drifted toward Zhou Ran.

The Moon Emperor's expression changed: "Don't touch it."

Zhou Ran looked at her: "The more you forbid it, the more I want to try."

He raised his hand, and the purple-gold nascent soul extended a beam of magical light, touching the half of the imperial rune.

boom!

Six gray lines burned in opposite directions simultaneously, and Zhou Ran felt as if he had been stabbed through the chest.

The nascent soul tilted its head back.

From the depths of the silver sea, a broken command resounded.

—Welcoming the return of the Moon Emperor.

That half of the imperial emblem contained no spiritual power, no supernatural abilities, only the remnants of a command.

"Welcoming the Moon Emperor's Return".

Zhou Ran had seen this phrase far too many times.

Its traces are everywhere: in the heart of the Heavenly Corpse, in its left eye, in the white bone pen in its right hand, and in the womb of the old building of the Women and Children's Hospital.

It is a nail, driven into the center of the Moon Emperor's 30,000-year plan.

Zhou Ran grasped the imperial emblem, and scenes from the past flashed through his mind.

He blocked the door, he changed the order, he saved people, he twisted "return" into "return", he saved "sacrifice" into "living people", and he even used the white bone pen to decree "Jiangcheng will not be a sacrifice".

He seemed to have won many times, but he realized that every time he resisted or broke the deadlock, he was stepping on the path set by the Moon Emperor.

Whether he writes "closing the door" or "welcoming back," he is writing about the question given by the Moon Emperor.