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

The mind does not lie.

Huan Yin saw on White Tower Island that Zhou Ran, with his still unstable Nascent Soul realm, forcefully snatched Blue Star's path to survival from the Emperor's son.

The primordial spirit was covered with spiderweb-like cracks and was on the verge of collapse.

The black-gold eye that remained deep within the crack was coldly gazing into the void.

His divine sense surged forward like a tide.

Just as the spatial passage was about to close, Zhou Ran sent the authorization jade slip back to Jiangcheng.

On the other end of the jade slip, Chen Ya and Lin Qingxue stood in front of the formation, ultimately not stepping into the Demon Realm.

It's not that Zhou Ran can't take them away.

Instead, he deliberately cut off his own path of return, directing all of the Emperor's son's deadly intent towards himself.

"You erased the coordinates of Earth, but you yourself fell into the Sixth Heaven."

Huan Yin's voice echoed in his mind: "If you hadn't landed near Blackwind City, you would have died in the gravity field long ago."

"Just being alive is enough," Zhou Ran replied calmly.

"What about those women who stayed on Earth?"

"They have their own paths to follow."

Huan Yin offered no comment, and her divine sense continued to penetrate deeper.

The Battle of Jiangcheng, the sealing of the gates of the underworld, the audit of White Pagoda Island, the list of retained imperial princes... a series of images flashed by like thunder.

She saw Lin Qingxue remove the black silk and examine the markings on Zhou Ran's chest with her magic eyes.

They also saw that wisp of black light from the Dharma Eye was quietly left on Zhou Ran's sleeve.

At the cuff, the black pattern of the path of return flickered with light under the suppression of the rules of the demon realm, but it never went out.

"This one looks quiet, but it actually manages quite a lot," Huan Yin chuckled.

"Don't look through anything unrelated to the soul examination."

"Every memory within your primordial spirit may contain the remnant soul of Ye Futian. I must see it clearly."

Huan Yin spoke with conviction, but her consciousness instantly locked onto another scene.

Xu Youwei sat in the center of the platform, a broken hairpin piercing her palm, her silver eyes roaring madly.

Zhou Ran, writing from afar, penned the words, "Those who hold the eye do not feed on it," forcibly bearing the backlash of the rules for her.

The scene then changes.

Chen Ya sat upright in the position of chairperson of the White Tower and blatantly rejected the cleansing plan that would wipe out 70% of the world's population.

The moment the Black Gold Agreement invaded his body, Zhou Ran used the Forgotten River Heart Seal to extract the rules and severed the inheritance main line with the Primordial Black Blade.

Huanyin also saw Xiaorou standing in front of Zhou Ran, using the Nourishing Essence Gu to cleanse the demonic energy impurities.

Seeing Qin San draw his sword against the high-level cultivator even when he knew he was going to die.

They also saw Gu Li, Xuan Ying, and the newly surrendered Gu Ji kneeling outside the Devouring Demon Palace, awaiting the arrival of a new order.

These people were mobilized by Zhou Ran, and they were indeed taking risks for him.

But Zhou Ran never treated them as tools.

He will leave Fatty Wang to guard Jiangcheng, he will take the backlash for Xu Youwei, he will register the name of every dead person after the war, and he will burn the slave contracts as soon as he enters the Demon Palace.

"No wonder you said that people are not an inheritance."

Huan Yin's consciousness stopped in front of a frozen coffin.

Yue Zhao lay in the coffin, her body wrapped in the old edict of the Moon Emperor, yet her soul fire remained independent.

Zhou Ran stood outside the ice coffin, not attempting to forcibly awaken her, but carefully put away the three proofs left by Meng Po.

"They didn't even touch this," Huan Yin whispered. "If it were Ye Futian, he would probably wake her up first and then ask her if she's willing."

"Therefore, I am not him."

"That's definitely not the case."

Huan Yin withdrew part of her divine sense and stared into the deepest part of Zhou Ran's primordial spirit.

There are no remnants of the night's burdened soul there.

The Demon Emperor's original bone has been depleted, leaving only a wisp of pure origin.

Taihuang Black Blade acknowledges Zhou Ran himself.

The 100,000 demons who surrendered after Devouring Bones' death were not forcibly controlled by bloodline.

There was no trace of possession on Zhou Ran's body.

He was a human from the Blue Star who entered White Tower Island at the Nascent Soul stage and escaped into the Sixth Heaven amidst the projection of the Emperor's Son and the tribulation of the God Transformation.

He then, at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm, killed the Tribulation-Crossing Grand Duke and seized the Devouring Heaven Demon Palace.

The so-called rebirth of the Demon Emperor has always been nothing more than the imagination of the world.

What Zhou Ran needs to do is become the new ruler of this demon realm.

"Have you verified it?" Zhou Ran asked coldly.

"Just one more floor to go."

Huan Yin's consciousness suddenly transformed into countless fine threads, piercing into the deepest part of Zhou Ran's memory.

That was a forbidden zone he didn't want anyone to touch, and also the most vulnerable spot where his remnant soul could easily lurk.

The Taihuang Black Blade suddenly thrust forward half an inch.

The blade sliced ​​through Huan Yin's red dress at the waist, but did not damage her skin.

"If you go any further, I will cut you down."

The illusory voice didn't stop; instead, it moved closer to Zhou Ran's ear, the sounds overlapping.

"What if the Night Brings Heaven away there?"

"I will kill him with my own hands."

"You're holding his knife."

"The knife recognizes its current master."

"You are using his origin."

"The origin has already paid the price."

"His old subordinates are bowing down to you."

"They are kneeling before living people, not graves."

As soon as he finished speaking, a knife mark suddenly appeared in Zhou Ran's primordial spirit.

That wasn't the power of the Taihuang Black Blade, but rather Zhou Ran's own will.

The knife mark lay across the deepest memory, severing all the threads of Huan Yin's consciousness.

Huanyin opened her eyes, and the fragrant bed beneath her trembled slightly.

Despite being only at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm, with her primordial spirit riddled with cracks, Zhou Ran managed to preserve the last boundary within her domain.

If one forces a breakthrough, it will inevitably trigger the Taihuang Black Blade's life-or-death counterattack.

Huan Yin withdrew her divine sense and let out a long sigh of relief.

"That's good, at least they know to leave themselves a door open."

Zhou Ran opened her eyes as well: "The result."

Huan Yin didn't answer immediately, but reached out to straighten the torn hem of her skirt.

Her gaze shifted, and she suddenly leaned close to Zhou Ran's ear.

"You are neither Ye Futian nor his vessel."

"You're cleaner than that old man, but your heart has more doors than his."

"And it seems you've been involved with just as many women as he has."

Zhou Ran said expressionlessly, "The soul examination is over."

"I am merely stating the facts."

The last sentence is irrelevant to the outcome.

"That's a bonus item included with the soul test."

Huan Yin raised her hand, preparing to retract the Soul-Capturing Bell between the two of them.

The moment his fingertips touched the bell, the black-gold eyes in the crack of Zhou Ran's primordial spirit suddenly turned.

The pupils contracted to the size of pinpoints.

The imperial bone patterns spread wildly from the edges of his eyes, instantly covering Zhou Ran's entire sea of ​​consciousness.

Five ancient black and gold characters suddenly appeared above the incense bed.

[Those who test the truth are guilty of the same crime. 】

Huan Yin's smile froze instantly.

She instantly understood the logic behind the Emperor's rule.

Zhou Ran has been placed on the reserved list of the highest threat levels.

Anyone who helps him verify his identity or proves that he is not a sample will be considered to be assisting the contaminant in evading cleansing.

Huan Yin was not testing Ye Futian.

She was proving to Zhou Ran that he had an independent identity and did not belong to the Emperor's son.

Therefore, they are guilty of the same crime.

"It wants to judge me?"

Huan Yin raised her hand, and the divine soul power of her peak Tribulation Transcending Realm crashed down on the five ancient characters.

The black and gold characters did not shatter; instead, they spread in the opposite direction along with her divine sense.

A black line, barely visible to the naked eye, pierced through the illusion, crossed the twelve layers of restrictions in the Demon Palace, and sped toward the Wuxiang Pavilion.

The dark red bell on Huanyin's ankle emitted a piercing, crisp sound.

The bell split in the middle.

At the same time, in the deepest part of Wuxiang Pavilion.

A natal soul lamp that had been dormant for 30,000 years suddenly ignited with black and gold flames.

The two elderly women guarding the lamp looked up in shock.

The twelve array platforms surrounding the Soul Lamp melted away in an instant.

The flames did not burn the wick, but instead followed the cause and effect of the soul, heading straight for Huan Yin's primordial spirit.

Huanyin slowly sat up on the fragrant couch.

She looked at the shattered bell on her ankle, and for the first time, a chilling glint appeared in her eyes.

"My natal soul lamp, which I left in the Wuxiang Pavilion... has been ignited by it."