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

The red scales' voice echoed at the bottom of the Nine Nether Well.

"The real imperial prince? Master, you've finally found me."

Jiuyou tightened his grip on the black coffin, causing the coffin to creak and crack, and new lines appeared on the five divine envoys' claw marks.

The temperature inside the hall plummeted, and layers of frost condensed on the ghostly patterns.

Crimson Scales raised the Black Gold Imperial Decree.

Thousands of bone needles sank half an inch at the same time, and black blood seeped from the hostage's brow.

Suppressed cries of pain echoed above Nine Nether City, and crimson array patterns lit up the city's defensive ley lines, all wrapping around the causal anchor on the seventh layer.

Once the master-disciple soul imprint is triggered, the anchor will immediately capture the origin of the Nine Netherworlds.

Chi Lin stepped on the back of the Netherworld Guard Commander's neck and stared at Zhou Ran in the black coffin through the omnidirectional projection.

"Bring the Devouring Heaven Seal to Nine Nether City, and I will release the people. The Emperor's son is purging Blue Star, but the Demon Realm is not on the list. You hide behind three women, and in seven days, the name will be erased and the decree will sweep across the four realms from the Nine Nether Well."

The coffin made a squeezing sound again.

Nine Netherworlds nurtured Red Scale for three thousand years, personally teaching him the Twelve Formations of Nine Netherworlds, and entrusting him with the Wellhead Formation Diagram for safekeeping during his slumber.

These trusts are now all anchored in cause and effect.

When Chi Lin pinned thousands of Netherworld Guards to the array platform, his eyes remained unwavering.

The people of the Nine Nether Domain had long been his bargaining chip in exchanging the Emperor's trust.

"Open the seventh floor."

Jiuyou raised his hand, and the Nine Nether Domain Seal spun in his palm, causing the earth veins of the nine dead cities to rumble.

The Crimson Scale Emperor commanded the infusion of demonic energy.

Ten people kneeling at the edge of the platform were suspended by bone needles, and causal threads extended from their brows, binding the earth veins of Nine Nether City.

"If Master wants to come in, I won't stop him. With every step you take, a hundred people will bear the backlash from the earth's veins. By the time you reach me, how many intact sections of the Nine Nether City's walls will still be left?"

The black lines between Jiuyou's brows opened.

The deathly aura from the bottom of the well, which had existed for 30,000 years, surged towards the dome of the main hall.

Qin San held his sword in front of the black coffin. The Taihuang Black Sword rang out, and death energy swept around everyone, transforming into a ten-thousand-foot-long ghost hand that appeared above the Nine Nether City.

Chi Lin raised the corners of his mouth.

Below the causal anchor, the soul line between master and disciple lit up.

Zhou Ran flipped his hand and grasped the Nine Nether Domain Seal.

The unified military register was pressed into the black coffin, forcibly severing the Nine Netherworlds' control over the ley lines of the Nine Cities.

The ten-thousand-foot-long ghost hand stopped just a hundred feet away from the seventh-level array platform, about to touch the red scales.

"open."

Jiuyou turned to look at Zhou Ran, the deathly aura behind the black patterns almost solidified into a tangible form.

"He used my people as sacrifices to create an array, and he used what I taught him to open a door for the Emperor's son. If I don't cripple him today, I will have no face to rule the Nine Nether Domain."

Zhou Ran didn't let go.

"You can't cripple him if you go there now."

He pointed to the glowing soul lines beneath Chi Lin's feet, and the broken white bone pen circled twelve master-disciple marks on the military register.

"Red Scale is provoking you. He placed the hostages on the global projection and deliberately brought up events from three thousand years ago, just to make you personally mobilize the Nine Netherworld Origin."

Huan Yin approached the military register, her dark red soul voice seeping into the soul threads.

Empty marks appeared on the array platform beneath Chi Lin's feet.

The shape of the brand is consistent with the black lines between Jiuyou's eyebrows.

The death energy in Jiuyou's hand stopped.

Crimson Scales wanted more than just the fourth Domain Seal.

He needs Jiuyou to personally activate the karmic connection between master and disciple to replenish Jiuyou's original source.

If the anchor had taken just one more step forward, it could have stolen the complete authority of the Nine Netherworld Seal by following the Soul Thread.

Huan Yin withdrew her soul voice.

"Good disciple. You even calculated in advance how your master would get angry into the formation."

"If you really rush over there, the Nine Netherworld will fall into the Emperor's hands even before the hostages."

In the global projection, Chi Lin's smile faded.

He hadn't expected Zhou Ran to forcibly sever the domain seal when Jiu You was enraged.

The divine messenger in the black coffin was nailed to the execution order by the Taihuang Black Blade, and disappointment flashed in his eyes.

The arrangement for Chi Lin was fine, and Jiu You's temperament was also within the Emperor's calculations.

Zhou Ran was still the one who exceeded expectations.

A Nascent Soul Peak cultivator dared to place his Domain Seal before the fury of a Tribulation Peak cultivator.

Jiuyou actually stopped.

Qin San turned the bronze mirror to project the entire area, recording the changes in the causal anchor soul power.

He followed Zhou Ran through the battle of White Tower Island and was extremely familiar with the way the Emperor Prince used media to transmit rules.

The four marks on the mirror surface were separated.

"Your Majesty, the projection of the authority of the Three Realms of Formlessness, Blood Sea, and Nine Netherworlds already exists within the Causal Anchor."

Crimson Scales stole three secondary images from the earth's veins using the maintenance stones.

Qin San magnified the mirror, and finally the empty space appeared.

"After the establishment of the unified military register, the Devouring Heaven Demon Palace became the main headquarters of the four regions."

For the causal anchor to be fully activated, it must be authorized by the Devouring Heaven Seal.

The three secondary shadows in Chi Lin's possession can only lock down cities; they cannot locate Blue Star across boundaries.

Bloodlust slightly raised his spear, and his bloodlust surged along the military register towards the Nine Nether City.

She bypassed the causal anchor and cut into the Nine Netherworld veins from the old path of the Blood Bone River.

As soon as the blood energy approached the seventh-level array platform, blood-red cracks appeared in the bodies of more than a hundred hostages.

Bloodlust immediately withdrew its power.

Red Scale divided the hostages into several batches according to the origins of the four domains in advance.

Regardless of which domain is forcibly infiltrated, there are corresponding hostages in place to withstand the impact.

"The emperor's son made thorough preparations for him."

Bloodlust gripped his gun as he stared at Zhou Ran, his red eyes devoid of any jest.

"I can draw water from the Ancestral Pool to flood the Nine Nether Well, and use the blood energy of 300,000 Blood Demons to destroy the anchor core."

The hostages may not all survive, and Crimson Scale will definitely not make it out of the seventh level.

Jiuyou spoke.

"The people of the Nine Netherworld do not need the Blood Sea to decide their life and death."

Give me half an hour, and I will sever the soul seal between master and disciple.

The karmic backlash will destroy part of his cultivation, at least causing him to lose one anchor line.

Huan Yin looked at the thousands of hostages in the projection and used her fingertips to deduce and replace the coordinates.

"Half an hour is enough for Red Scale to pierce the entire city with bone needles."

I can create the same number of soul phantoms, but someone needs to approach the array platform.

Though separated by 370,000 miles, I cannot erase every thread of cause and effect.

All three options have flaws.

Red Scales did not urge him.

He knew that the longer it dragged on, the more easily the morale of the troops in the four regions would waver.

The full-area projection has covered all cities.

The soldiers of the Devouring Demon Palace, the Formless Snowfield, and the Twelve Cities of Blood Sea were all watching to see what choice Zhou Ran would make.

Giving up one person in exchange for the temporary safety of the Nine Netherworlds, the Nine Cities, and the Demon Realm seems like the best deal imaginable.

Lieshan was pinned in a corner of the main hall, his limbs and veins severed.

Upon hearing the conditions set by the Crimson Scales, a look of pleasure appeared on his ashen face.

"Zhou Ran, you just used the military register to calculate accounts for everyone."

Now the stakes are laid out before you, a life for the people of nine cities. If you don't go, all those previous words will become a joke.

Qin San swept his sword sheath horizontally.

The mountain split and crashed into the stone pillar.

"You haven't even finished reviewing your accounts, yet you're already rushing to make decisions for the Emperor. Say one more word, and I'll make you count out the military pay for the past three hundred years, one tooth at a time."

Lieshan coughed up blood and foam, still staring at Zhou Ran.

He wanted to see how this new ruler, who had just been recognized by the four domains, would back down in front of the entire military and civilian population.

Zhou Ran closed the unified military register.

"Give the Crimson Scale the Heaven-Devouring Seal to him."

The atmosphere in the main hall suddenly became heavy.

Qin San took half a step forward, his expression even more solemn than when he was facing the divine messenger.

"Your Majesty, the Devouring Heaven Seal connects to the main tents of the four domains. If you bring the seal into the Nine Nether City, Crimson Scales can use the Causal Anchor to lock your primordial spirit. The Primordial Black Blade remains outside; no one can sever the Emperor's Son Rules for you."

Zhou Ran raised his hand and took out a black square seal from the military register.

"Therefore, you shall continue to keep the knife."

The bottom of the square seal is engraved with the thirty-six demonic veins of the Devouring Heaven Demon Palace, which is also the entrance to the unified army's general register.

"I will take the seal to the meeting; you will remain in the Demon Palace."

The Bloodthirsty Spearhead sealed the palace gates first.

"You can go, but I will bring the Blood Navy with me. If Crimson Scale dares to touch the Causal Anchor, I will nail the Nine Nether Well and him together into the Ancestral Pool."

Jiuyou stood on the other side, and the black lines between his brows closed again.

"Chi Lin is familiar with the Twelve Formations of the Nine Netherworlds. Outsiders who enter will only be separated layer by layer."

I'll take you in; I'll handle the karma between master and disciple.

Even if you use some of your cultivation to fill the formation, it's not your place to bear the burden for the Nine Nether Domain.

Huanyin did not participate in the argument.

She stood behind Zhou Ran, watching him quietly press the Black Gold Killing Order into the bottom of the Devouring Heaven Seal.

The movement was so subtle that even Bloodlust and Nine Netherworlds didn't notice.

She and Zhou Ran were once in sync.

She could sense that Zhou Ran was preparing to make herself a causal anchor target.

Zhou Ran bypassed the Bloodthirsty Spear and walked out of the hall.

"Nine Nether City needs the combined efforts of three people."

Whoever follows me into the city will cause the other two key points of the formation to lose their suppression.

Since Chi Lin wants to see me alone, I will give him that opportunity.