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

"There's no need to send anyone to find me. I'll come myself to verify His Majesty's authenticity."

The woman's voice pierced through the twelve layers of restrictions, entering the cultivation room and reaching the ears of every commander of the Devouring Heaven Demon Palace.

Inside the main hall, just as Ming Cang raised his head, the heavy hall doors slid open on their own to the sides.

There were no military formations or attendants outside the gate, only a white skeletal carriage parked at the foot of the steps.

The carriage curtain was lifted by a delicate hand.

A woman wearing a dark red dress stepped out of the car.

She was barefoot, with a dark red bell tied around her pale ankle.

When barefoot they stepped across the Demon Palace floor, the bells made no sound, and the twelve layers of defensive barriers did not react in any way.

The two demon generals guarding the gate froze in place. They didn't intend to stop her, but only realized there was another person in front of the hall after the woman walked past them.

Qin San pressed down on the hilt of the knife, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force.

He had seen Nascent Soul cultivators on Earth, and also Void Refinement, Body Integration, and Tribulation Transcending in the Demon Realm, but the woman before him gave him a completely different feeling from Devouring Bones.

The power of the Bone Devourer was obvious, like a giant mountain pressing down; yet Empress Huanyin did not reveal the slightest bit of her aura, her entire being blending into the light and shadow in the hall.

Xiao Rou's sleeve twitched slightly, and three Gu worms quietly crawled out.

But it suddenly stopped when it was about ten feet away from the woman, its six wings clinging tightly to its shell, trembling.

"return."

Xiao Rou beckoned with her finger and pulled the Gu worm back into her palm.

Huan Yin glanced at her, a slight smirk playing on her lips: "Little girl from Southern Xinjiang who raises Gu worms, your insects are smarter than Tun Gu, at least they know what they can't bite."

Xiao Rou didn't back down, but simply held the Gu box in her palm: "It will bite when it's starving."

"interesting."

Huanyin continued forward until she stopped in the center of the main hall.

The black veil hanging in front of the throne remained unlifted, Zhou Ran's aura was hidden deep within the array, and only the Demon Emperor's essence enveloped the hall.

Ordinary demons would have their bloodlines suppressed by this point, but Huan Yin ignored it and stepped directly onto the nine steps.

Qin San blocked the final blow with his sword.

"One more step and there lies the imperial throne."

Huan Yin looked at the knife lying in front of her, but did not get angry. She simply raised a finger and lightly tapped the back of the knife.

Qin San's tiger's mouth split open instantly.

The blade curved into a dangerous arc. His feet were planted firmly on the ground, but the stone slabs behind him shattered one after another. He was pushed backward by that finger and slid three zhang (approximately 10 meters).

Huan Yin withdrew her finger, and Qin San's knife returned to normal.

"The sword is good, and the person is good too, but their cultivation level is a bit lacking."

Qin San wiped the blood from his tiger's mouth and gripped the hilt of his knife tightly again: "One more time, I'll draw my blade."

"You can't stop it."

"We must stop them even if we can't."

Huan Yin's eyes held a newfound scrutiny.

Just as she was about to continue forward, Zhou Ran's voice suddenly came from behind the black veil.

"Qin San, let her in."

Qin San remained silent for a moment, then sheathed his sword and retreated to the side, but did not leave the area around the throne.

The black veil slowly parted.

Zhou Ran sat in the center of the throne, the Taihuang Black Blade lying across his lap, his face paler than usual.

He had just refined the first piece of Condensing Spirit Jade, and the cracks in his primordial spirit had not yet been repaired, so his aura remained at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

Huan Yin glanced at it only once before walking to the throne.

She neither bowed nor stood below the steps, but instead sat sideways on the armrest of the throne.

One leg hung down naturally, and the dark red bell landed right next to Zhou Ran's hand.

Mingcang's eyelids twitched, and he immediately lowered his head.

In the entire Sixth Heaven, no more than three people dare to sit on the armrest of the Demon Emperor's throne.

Huan Yin dared to do it before, and she still dares to do it now, but the person on the throne is no longer Ye Futian.

Zhou Ran didn't look at her, but instead pressed the last bit of power from the Concentrating Spirit Jade into his primordial spirit.

"I sent people to find you, but you broke into my palace instead."

"This palace was originally a bone-swallowing structure, and I helped modify seven of the twelve layers of restrictions."

Huan Yin raised her hand, her fingertips brushing against the old patterns on the throne.

"As for that big oaf you sent out, I knew about it the moment he left the teleportation array."

Gu Li, who was on his way to Wuxiang Pavilion, was unaware that he had not only missed his target, but was also being called a big, dumb oaf by a peak Tribulation Transcending expert.

Huan Yin leaned down, her long hair slipping down her shoulders, her fingertips touching Zhou Ran's Adam's apple.

Just as Qin San's killing intent arose, Zhou Ran raised his hand.

"Let her get tested."

Huan Yin applied slight pressure with her fingers, feeling the Demon Emperor's essence flowing in Zhou Ran's blood.

After a few breaths, the smile in her eyes gradually faded.

"Ye Futian's blood is not so quiet. When he is injured, his demonic blood will actively devour the living beings around him."

"Your blood contains the Demon Emperor's essence and his sword intent, but this body is not his, and neither is his primordial spirit."

She moved even closer, her breath almost falling on Zhou Ran's ear.

"You are not Ye Futian."

Inside the main hall, you could hear a pin drop.

Mingcang and Guji both lowered their heads, and the guards outside the hall dared not utter a sound.

Empress Huanyin personally denied Zhou Ran's identity. If this were to get out, the 100,000 demon soldiers who had just surrendered would surely waver again.

Zhou Ran showed no reaction whatsoever, only calmly asking, "So?"

Huan Yin narrowed her eyes: "So you sat on his throne, took his sword, recruited his old subordinates, and even had someone summon me here in the name of the Demon Emperor."

"A mere early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator impersonating Ye Futian, how many lives do you think you have?"

You've got one thing wrong.

Zhou Ran finally turned his head to look at Huan Yin, who was standing right in front of him.

"I have never said that I am Ye Futian."

Huan Yin paused slightly at the tip of her finger.

Zhou Ran continued, "Xuan Ying and Gu Li address me as the Emperor, the 100,000 demon soldiers kneel before the one who killed the Devourer of Bones, and the Devouring Heaven Demon Palace recognizes a new master who can change the old rules."

"Whether you come or not depends solely on whether you still recognize the tassel left by Ye Futian, and has nothing to do with whether I am impersonating him or not."

The expressions of everyone in the hall changed slightly.

Huanyin had considered many possible answers.

Zhou Ran might feign ignorance, use the excuse of being the reincarnation of Ye Futian to stall, or even activate the Demon Emperor's essence to force her to admit it.

But what he never expected was that the man would sever his connection to Ye Futian.

This is not an excuse, but a statement that they simply disdain borrowing it.

Huanyin looked at him for a moment, then traced her finger half an inch down from his Adam's apple before stopping.

"Then I have three questions for you."

"Go ahead and ask."

"What's the first thing Ye Futian does every time he returns from the Blood Sea?"

"have no idea."

"Below his seventh rib on the left side, there is a wound that only I have seen. Who left that wound?"

"have no idea."

The light in Huan Yin's eyes gradually turned cold, but she asked the third question even more slowly.

"What did he say to me when he last left the Wuxiang Pavilion thirty thousand years ago?"

Zhou Ran still did not answer.

A dark red magical light suddenly emanated from Huan Yin's fingertips.

The demonic light did not touch Zhou Ran's skin, but it caused the cracks in his primordial spirit to vibrate violently, and the injuries he had just suppressed almost got out of control.

Qin San drew his sword, and Xiao Rou opened the Gu box.

"You can't even answer a single question, yet you dare to make Ye Futian's former subordinates bow down to you?"

Huan Yin stared at Zhou Ran: "Or is it that you only obtained his essence, and didn't get his memories at all?"

Zhou Ran gripped the Taihuang Black Blade, forcibly stabilizing his primordial spirit amidst the turmoil.

"Why should I answer?"

"Because only the true Night's burden to Heaven knows."

"Unfortunately, I am not him."

Zhou Ran looked at her and said, word by word:

"I will not inherit his memories, nor will I settle the old scores from 30,000 years ago, nor will I take over his women just because I obtained his essence."

As the last few words were spoken, the main hall fell completely silent.

Mingcang wished he could just cover his ears on the spot.

Qin San took a half step back expressionlessly, but his grip on the knife tightened even more.

Huan Yin stopped pressing her fingers against Zhou Ran's throat.

The smile on her face vanished completely, and the entire Devouring Heaven Demon Palace fell silent at that moment.

The demon soldiers outside the palace remained in their original positions, the demonic birds flying overhead froze beneath the clouds, and even the Gu worms in Xiao Rou's palm fell into a deep sleep.