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

He carried the heavens at night and died as the emperor's son.

Black gold ancient characters burned on the register.

Zhou Ran's fingertips touched the paper, and a muffled sound came from inside the black coffin.

Nine Netherworld chains pierced through his dantian, causing his Nascent Soul cultivation to stagnate.

His connection with the Unified Army Register was severed by layers of deathly aura, with only the delivery mark in the center of the coffin lid still shining.

Turn to the second page of the roster.

The darkness inside the coffin receded to both sides, and the wasteland outside Blackwind City spread out beneath Zhou Ran's feet.

One hundred thousand demon soldiers were driven to the city wall by the Bone Devourer, and Nuqi burned in his chest.

Three thousand weak and elderly demons without any cultivation stood outside the city, and the bone-devouring heavy armored army was pushing them toward the center of the formation.

A black stone tablet rose from the ground.

[Sacrificing three thousand people to open the city's defensive formation can protect an army of one hundred thousand.]

Outside the coffin, Jiuyou's fingers, which were pressed against the head of the coffin, tightened slightly.

Thirty thousand years ago, Ye Futian walked through the same questioning of his heart.

At that time, he beheaded the demon general guarding the array's core, personally initiated the sacrifice, and engraved the names of three thousand people into the scabbard.

Night will remember the cost, but will still choose the path with the least cost.

Jiuyou wondered if Zhou Ran would do the same.

In the illusion of Blackwind City, the Bone-Eating Phantom stood on the city wall, looking down at Zhou Ran.

"Your Majesty only needs to nod, and the 100,000 troops will remember your life-saving grace. Those 3,000 people have no cultivation and no military rank; living them will only continue to consume food. Exchanging them for 100,000 elite soldiers is a worthwhile deal no matter how you look at it."

The three thousand men were forced to kneel on the ground by the slaves, unable to even lift their heads.

Zhou Ran walked to the stone tablet, already holding half of the bone pen in his hand.

The answer on the stone tablet was enveloped in black and gold flames. Once he puts pen to paper to confirm it, the first test of his conscience will be over.

Zhou Ran added a stroke to the word "sacrifice".

"One item was missed in this calculation."

The illusory figure of the Bone Devourer narrowed its eyes: "What's missing?"

Zhou Ran looked up at the city wall: "Without your life, the city's protective formation needs a blood sacrifice. Using a Grand Duke who has transcended tribulation to fill the gap is more reliable than using three thousand mortals."

With a stroke of the white bone pen, the object of sacrifice on the stone tablet was forcibly changed to someone who swallows bones.

The phantoms on the city wall distorted. The 100,000 slave contracts were released simultaneously, and the array patterns beneath the three thousand demons reversed direction, all swirling towards Devouring Bone.

The Blackwind City illusion could not withstand this new answer and collapsed along with the stone tablet.

Outside the coffin, Huanyin's lips curled into a smile.

"He didn't even choose the options the black coffin offered. Jiuyou, you're probably going to lose a lot of your coffin money in this trial of the heart."

Jiuyou ignored her.

The black coffin had already extracted a small portion of Zhou Ran's cultivation from his primordial spirit.

Rejecting a given answer comes at a price.

The scene inside the coffin changed again.

White Pagoda Island hangs suspended on the cracked sea, and the projection of the Emperor's Son has already raised his finger. Chen Ya stands guard in front of the main control panel, Xu Youwei's silver eyes are locked by the rules, and the black pattern of the path of return that Lin Qingxue left on Zhou Ran's sleeve is fading.

A new stone tablet blocked Zhou Ran's way.

[Hand over Chen Ya to preserve the White Pagoda's legacy; hand over Xu Youwei to preserve the Silver Eyes; hand over Lin Qingxue's coordinates in exchange for immunity from Jiangcheng. Choose one.]

Black and gold flames flowed between the three names.

The Emperor's projection had already pressed its finger against the top of the White Tower. In the illusion, Chen Ya turned around, blood seeping from the lines on her palm.

"Zhou Ran, stop wasting time here. I once ruled the White Tower, and I was one of the people the Emperor Prince wanted most. Trade my coordinates for Jiang City; at least we can save more people."

Xu Youwei pressed down on Yin Yan: "She controls the White Tower array's core, so she's more valuable alive. Yin Yan has already been marked by the Emperor's son, so handing her over to me is the most worthwhile thing to do. If you don't even dare to make a choice, then memorizing the list for everyone earlier was just an impulsive act."

Lin Qingxue remained silent.

She simply raised her hand and placed an unfinished account book in front of Zhou Ran. The account book recorded the compensation for the fallen soldiers of Jiangcheng, as well as Zhou Ran's unfulfilled promise to return.

The three women's reactions were consistent with their individual personalities. The black coffin retrieved these details from Zhou Ran's memories without even a hint of error in its gaze.

Zhou Ran didn't look at the three choices on the stone tablet.

"You reenacted White Tower Island, but changed the most important thing."

The finger projected by the Emperor Prince stopped in mid-air.

The three women looked at him at the same time.

Zhou Ran gripped the bone pen and used it to create a crack leading to the Demon Realm along the edge of the White Tower.

"The Japanese Emperor never chose any of the three as sacrifices. It is not your place to set prices for me."

He typed his name in one stroke.

All the black and gold chains pointing at the three changed direction, piercing through Zhou Ran's primordial spirit. White Tower Island sank into the sea with a roar, but the three figures were sent out of the illusion by the rift in the demon realm.

The second stone tablet split in two.

The rules within the coffin emitted a sharp, soul-piercing sound. It didn't accept this answer and forcibly extracted a memory from Zhou Ran's primordial spirit.

The lights of Jiangcheng Gym quickly faded from his mind.

The scene of Chen Ya handing over the ancestral jade pendant to him for the first time was also partially burned away by the Netherworld Flames.

Blood seeped from Zhou Ran's brow, but he did not collapse.

Outside the coffin, Qin San's Taihuang Black Blade was drawn half an inch from its sheath.

"The Emperor's aura has weakened."

Xiao Rou placed her palm on the coffin lid, but the Gu worms could not penetrate the Netherworld Ghost Pattern.

Her face was pale, yet she still accurately discerned the fluctuations in the primordial spirit:

"The black coffin took away a piece of memory from the mortal realm. If it happens again, the rift will touch the true form of the primordial spirit."

Bloodlust glared at Jiuyou, the bloodlust from the spear tip pressing down on the coffin: "You are the one who initiates the rules of the Heart Inquiry. If Zhou Ran loses himself inside, I will dismantle the black coffin first, and then settle accounts with you."

The black lines between Jiuyou's brows opened and closed continuously.

"The final test has begun. If we forcefully open the coffin now, he will pay the price for his previous refusal. At that time, he will lose more than just a memory."

Inside the coffin, White Pagoda Island had completely vanished.

Zhou Ran returned to the skies above Blue Star.

The city is detaching from the ground, and the seawater hangs upside down in the sky. The projection of the Emperor's son covers the entire star, and the list of those retained by Blue Star hangs below the giant black-gold eye.

This time, Zhou Ran only had Xiao Rou by his side.

She was still wearing the clothes she had worn when she entered the Demon Realm, holding the golden Gu worm with its carapace covered in cracks in her palm. Countless imperial chains bound her limbs, suspending her before a new choice monument.

The final conditions appeared on the monument.

[Sacrifice the one who raises the Gu poison to repair their primordial spirit.]

[Obtained the complete Demon Emperor's essence.]

[Obtained coordinates of Blue Star.]

Any one of the three returns would be enough for Zhou Ran to change the current situation.

If he obtains all three at the same time, he will not only be able to leave the black coffin, but also return to Blue Star before the divine messenger descends again.

After Xiao Rou read the inscription, she loosened her grip on the Gu talisman.

"Your Majesty, it's not surprising that Gu cultivators risk their lives to raise insects, and end up being traded for something. If you can return to Blue Star, Qin San will keep the Gu box safe for me."

She raised her face, her eyes showing no fear, only a deep-seated reluctance.

"But after you go back, could you take a look around southern Xinjiang for me? I've been away for so long that I can't remember the roads in the villages anymore."

The black coffin carried these words outside.

Xiao Rou heard her own voice and dug her nails deep into her palm.