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

She knew that her illusory self would make this choice. If it could truly restore Zhou Ran's primordial spirit, she wouldn't even wait for him to speak.

That's why this choice is the most ruthless.

Jiuyou closed his eyes.

The final challenge Ye Futian faced was sacrificing a besieged personal army in exchange for the coordinates of the three heavens of the Demon Realm.

He accepted the conditions and then spent three hundred years compensating the descendants of that elite army for their military exploits.

That was the emperor's choice.

Black Coffin believes Zhou Ran will also choose.

Zhou Ran walked up to Xiao Rou and raised his hand to press down on the black and gold chain wrapped around her shoulder.

Do you think I would agree?

In the illusion, Xiao Rou lowered her head: "All three returns are important."

Sacrificing myself can save many more people on Earth.

This is the optimal solution provided by the black coffin, and it's currently the only viable path.

"The only way it can get through is because it has seen too few roads."

Zhou Ran tore off the chains binding her one by one.

With each broken branch, the black coffin stripped a portion of his cultivation from his primordial spirit. His aura, initially at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm, steadily declined until it finally stopped at the peak of the Nascent Soul realm.

The choice monument issues a final warning.

Refusing to offer sacrifice will result in losing the Demon Emperor's approval.

Zhou Ran pulled out the half-broken bone pen stuck next to the stele, and used the pen as a knife to slash directly at the three conditions.

"She followed me from the mortal realm to the demon realm, raising Gu poisons, taking hits, and guarding formations for me. Yet, all that's left in your account is a line of cost for sacrifice."

The white bone pen cleaved through the black and gold flames, and the chosen monument split open from the center.

"The answer is hard to find, so I'll find it myself."

Zhou Ran put down his pen again, and the entire stone tablet shattered into pieces.

"Her life is not worth your price."

The Blue Star Illusion trembled violently.

The Emperor's Giant Eye unleashed countless black and gold chains, but none could bind Xiao Rou again. Zhou Ran's sealed Demon Emperor essence rose from the bottom of the coffin on its own, transcending the rules of the Heart-Questioning Realm, and returned to his body.

The black coffin recognized its master.

Outside the coffin, the Netherworld opened its eyes.

She voluntarily withdrew the Soul Refining Fire and personally untied the nine Netherworld Chains.

"Ye Futian always wanted to win the entire war with the least cost. You knew the cost could be even lower, yet you still insisted on leaving people's names on the books."

The Nine Netherworld Seal detached from the coffin lid and fell intact into the Unified Army Register.

The final layer of blockade on the Nine Cities and the 20,000 Netherworld Guards was lifted simultaneously.

Jiuyou looked at the slowly opening coffin lid and bowed his head for the first time.

"Zhou Ran, you are indeed different from him. The Nine Nether Domain recognizes you as its master."

Before the coffin lid was fully opened, a loud noise suddenly came from below the main hall.

The Nine Nether Well was forcibly opened by external force.

The hand wearing a white bone glove passed through the well opening, bypassed the four-domain blockade, and directly probed into the black coffin.

That hand held a black and gold imperial decree, pressing the bright red character "诛" (to execute) onto Zhou Ran's head!

The moment the Black Gold Emperor's Decree pressed down, Zhou Ran's newly restored Demon Emperor essence fell silent once more.

Seven imperial patterns shone on the surface of the white bone gloves.

The oppressive aura from the late stage of the tribulation spread along the inner wall of the black coffin, and the ghost patterns left by the Nine Netherworlds were smoothed out layer by layer.

"Swallow Bone, you've been dragging your feet for too long."

The voice from the other end of the well was cold and hard, devoid of any emotion.

"The Emperor has changed his orders. Zhou Ran's remnant soul must be personally verified by this envoy, and anyone who has come into contact with him must be brought back for cleansing."

Outside the coffin, Jiuyou raised his hand to close the well opening.

Zhou Ran, however, pressed down on the Nine Nether Domain Seal inside the coffin, stopping her.

The divine messenger has already placed the execution order into the black coffin; at this point, sealing the well will only sever this arm. The opponent's true form is still outside the Nine Nether Well and can reappear at any time from a different location.

Zhou Ran looked up at the white bone gloves, but his voice changed to a deep, soul-stirring tone.

"Your arrival is timely, Divine Envoy. After slaying this man's physical body, I discovered that his remnant soul was fused with the Demon Emperor's essence. If I forcibly remove it, the remnant soul will disintegrate along with the essence. I can only use the Nine Nether Black Coffin to slowly peel it away."

The people outside the coffin remained silent.

Devourer of Bones had already died in the Demon Realm's Heavenly Punishment, but the Divine Envoy did not witness the final events. The Emperor's Bone Transmission Array had also been disguising Zhou Ran as Devourer of Bones.

At this moment, the black coffin isolates the speaker's aura, and the divine envoy can only determine the speaker's identity through the primordial blood.

Zhou Ran took out the last half bottle of Bone-Swallowing Origin Essence Blood from his storage space and smeared it on the inner wall of the black coffin.

The pressure at the other end of the wellhead paused for a moment.

"The evidence you sent back contained two errors. Huan Yin's testimony has been archived, and the Blood Sea has broken free of the delivery control. The Emperor suspects that you have been reverse-contaminated by Zhou Ran and has ordered this envoy to examine your origin first."

The white bone glove spread its five fingers, and a beam of black and gold light enveloped the inside of the coffin.

Swallowing the original blood of the bone has no rejection or screening.

Every breath the divine messenger sensed came from the true Bone Swallower.

Zhou Ran hid in the Netherworld layer formed after the black coffin recognized its master. His cultivation level had dropped to the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, and his primordial spirit had been weakened by the Questioning Heart technique; his aura was barely stronger than a wisp of a remnant soul.

This weakness actually makes the disguise more believable.

The divine messenger withdrew the beam of light: "Hand over Zhou Ran's remnant soul. The Emperor's son only cares about the outcome; he will not give you a third chance to make amends."

Zhou Ran extracted a wisp of false soul from the crack in his primordial spirit.

The fake soul had the same appearance as him, but contained a trace of a door bolt's aura. That was a remnant left by the Gate of Cause and Effect on White Tower Island, which could briefly simulate the soul power fluctuations after he was marked by the Emperor's son.

As soon as the fake soul appeared, the character "诛" (execute) on the execution order lit up.

The messenger did not collect it immediately.

He observed for a few breaths through the well opening, when suddenly the white bone gloves tightened.

A corner of the fake soul was crushed.

The aura of the door bolt was leaked out, but an even stronger pull of soul power emanated from the depths of the black coffin. It seemed that the real Zhou Ran was still locked at the bottom of the coffin, and what had just been sent out was only a part of him.

"You dare keep a remnant soul here, you bone-devouring fellow?"

The wrath of the divine messenger pressed down into the black coffin.

Large cracks appeared in the coffin walls, and the main hall of the Devouring Demon Palace was shaken.

Zhou Ran maintained the Bone-Swallowing Soul Sound, his tone now tinged with just the right amount of fear:

"Your subordinate dares not deceive you."

Zhou Ran used the Gate of Cause and Effect to lock the remnant soul. If his subordinates pulled on the bolt from the outside, it would destroy all his memories.

The Emperor needs the coordinates of Blue Star, which is why I didn't dare to take them by force.

The words "Blue Star Coordinates" stopped the divine messenger from continuing to crush the false soul.

He descended to the sixth heaven ahead of schedule, precisely for the sake of the coordinates.

The Emperor's projection on White Tower Island lost its blue star location. If the divine messenger can personally bring back the complete coordinates, the responsibility for the previous failed projection can fall on Tun Gu and the others.

Outside the coffin, Huanyin heard a subtle change in the divine messenger's breathing.

Greed has already arisen.

Her fingertips lightly touched the black coffin, and the formless soul sound entered the well mouth through the netherworld's layers. The aura of the door bolt sensed by the divine envoy then split into nine layers, each layer seemingly containing a portion of Earth's coordinates.

Bloodlust gripped his spear tightly, secretly sealing off the spatial node in the direction of the sea of ​​blood.

Jiuyou then completely connected the black coffin to the bottom of the well, leaving only the passage that the divine messenger was using.

Qin San stood guard outside the coffin, without drawing his sword.

He wasn't skilled in illusion magic, nor could he interfere with a late-stage Tribulation Transcending God Envoy. But he knew why Zhou Ran had entrusted the Primordial Black Blade to him.

Once the divine messenger's true form enters the black coffin, he will cut off the last escape route.