A breath of tension eased in Qian Jin’s heart. Whatever had just occurred, at least for the moment, it appeared that Mu Ne Zhen Ce had broken free from whatever control had bound him.

Lucifer Flow walked close to Qian Jin and sighed softly. This man was usually decisive and ruthless in his actions, but sometimes his heart wasn't quite hard enough. If their situations were reversed, that Prince might have drawn his bow and loosed the arrow without hesitation.

Qian Jin caught the Heart of Lucifer. Instantly, countless piercing screams echoed in his ears, and endless negative emotions flooded his brain, threatening to drive him mad at any second. "This situation is a hundred, a thousand times weaker than before..." Qian Jin looked at the sleeping Mu Ne Zhen Ce with admiration. Even holding this thing made him agitated, yet this man had managed to retrieve the Heart of Lucifer from that coffin. What kind of mental fortitude and willpower did that require?

Qian Jin placed the Heart of Lucifer into his Battle Realm, then turned and strode toward a relatively smaller coffin. Placing both hands beneath it, he began to lift it up inch by painstaking inch.

"Qian Jin's sheer brute strength..." Duan Feng Bu Er watched, sighing and shaking his head repeatedly. "Many Behemoths would have to bow their heads in defeat before him. Perhaps only those Golden Behemoths could even compare? That coffin must weigh over ten thousand catties, right?" The massive coffin was tossed into the Battle Realm by Qian Jin. His eyes flickered with immense regret: "I can't take them all; time doesn't allow it. Otherwise, I truly wish I could take every single one for thorough study..."

"Destroy it?" Duan Feng Bu Er proposed with a smile.

Chekfurit directed a Destruction Ray onto the coffin—it didn't even pierce the wood, only leaving a fist-sized mark before the ray lost all its power.

Duan Feng Bu Er's smile became somewhat strained. This coffin was far sturdier than anticipated. At the very least, he wouldn't dare face Che Shuai's scorching Eye of Destruction head-on.

Lucifer Flow walked toward the exit while rapidly stuffing every rare material she could carry into her own Battle Realm, fully embodying the plundering style of the desert bandits.

They ascended the long steps and finally returned to ground level.

Qian Jin breathed in the crisp night air, hearing Mu Ne Zhen Ce groan behind him as he stirred awake from his coma.

"Still alive," Mu Ne Zhen Ce murmured, looking up at the sparse stars in the night sky, his voice filled with the relief of one who had narrowly escaped disaster. "I truly didn't expect this..."

"Congratulations..." Duan Feng Bu Er said cheerfully, watching Mu Ne Zhen Ce. "If you can survive this, perhaps you truly are destined to be an Emperor..."

Mu Ne Zhen Ce managed a weak smile, struggling to stand up from Fen Tu Kuang Ge's embrace, and looked toward Qian Jin, who was watching him with a faint smile.

"Idiot..." Mu Ne Zhen Ce glared coldly at Qian Jin. "How could you be soft-hearted like a woman?..."

The smile on Qian Jin's face froze. Mu Ne Zhen Ce shook his head repeatedly. "You should have been more ruthless! If I were in your position, I would have struck without hesitation!..."

"However..." A warm spring smile broke through the cold expression on Mu Ne Zhen Ce's face. "Thank you. Being alive feels incredibly good..."

"Alright, we let you live; why so much whiny nonsense?" Duan Feng Bu Er slapped Mu Ne Zhen Ce on the back of the head. "Hurry up and get out of here, find a safe place, and let's divide that thing up..."

Lucifer Flow nodded vigorously. If they didn't divide this item quickly, no one knew what problems might arise later, and if it were stolen, the loss would be catastrophic.

Qian Jin's gaze fell upon Lucifer Flow. Near the Fallen City of the Demon Race, only this princess truly understood the safest routes and locations.

"I know of a grove..." Lucifer Flow paused in thought. "It's open to the sky, but because it lacks any wild beasts or demonic beasts—just a simple stretch of woods—no one pays attention to that place. It’s safer than any artificially hidden spot..."

Fen Tu Kuang Ge nodded in agreement. "The more artificially concealed a location is, the easier it is for demons to search and probe. Conversely, a place like that won't be detected by demon sensors."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Duan Feng Bu Er rubbed his hands together eagerly. "I am very eager to see what benefits this Heart of Lucifer will bring us..."

Lucifer Flow selected a direction and took the lead, dashing away at high speed using her movement technique.

Duan Feng Bu Er followed closely behind, but lost his balance mid-air and nearly crashed to the ground, quickly raising a hand to rub his forehead, muttering, "Why am I so dizzy? I feel like throwing up..."

"Pregnant..."

Chekfurit's utterly nonchalant voice drifted into Duan Feng Bu Er's ears.

"You're pregnant!" Duan Feng Bu Er shouted back. "I'm a man!"

Qian Jin caught up and whispered, "It's the side effect of using your Soul Domain before achieving Sainthood. It will pass soon..."

"At least a comrade is knowledgeable," Duan Feng Bu Er shot a sidelong glance at Chekfurit, who was speeding ahead.

Chekfurit gave Duan Feng Bu Er a weak look, stubbornly retorting, "Pregnant..."

"You're just jealous that I have a Soul Domain."

"I'll have one too someday, and it will be complete."

"It will definitely be a broken Soul Domain..."

"It will certainly be the strongest Soul Domain..."

The two kept bickering as they ran. Fen Tu Kuang Ge watched them and sighed repeatedly—these two wouldn't starve even if all their energy was crippled one day. If they just argued like this on the street for people to watch, their income would probably surpass that of many bards.

After sprinting at high speed for some time, Lucifer Flow found a few warhorses. Mounting them, they galloped toward the small woods.

They raced all the way to the grove Lucifer Flow had mentioned. Only then did Qian Jin understand why the princess considered this location safe.

A small wood? Qian Jin rarely saw trees this small. The narrowest trunk required four or five people to encircle it. The truly massive ones would need a dozen people to barely link hands around the base. These trees grew lush and verdant, each reaching a height of a dozen zhang. Standing among them brought an indescribable sense of spiritual relaxation. Even more curiously, Qian Jin discovered that his voice, when spoken, would completely vanish after traveling only a few meters, as if the trees possessed a function to absorb sound. Any aura that spread from them seemed to be immediately and thoroughly absorbed by the massive trunks.

Lucifer Flow found a clearing that wasn't too large and stopped.

Qian Jin looked around. These trees not only blocked sound dispersion but also the dissipation of aura. It was truly a naturally concealed environment. In this place, even if they caused a commotion, it would be difficult to attract the attention of other demons.

Qian Jin carefully took out a specialized magic device that could both absorb and release energy simultaneously. Its base was a disc, featuring a magic mechanism shaped like a dragon's claw, perfectly sized to clamp onto the Heart of Lucifer.

Qian Jin gingerly extracted the Heart of Lucifer. Waves of indescribable negative emotions surged toward his brain like a tide: slaughter, pain, sorrow, melancholy, despair... Clang!

As the claw touched the Heart of Lucifer, it immediately snapped inward, securing the artifact completely. The moment the metal sphere was gripped, it seemed to sense a threat, emitting a buzzing metallic sound from its core. Within it, strange powers seemed to be stored, pulsing wildly as if straining to break free from the claw at any moment.

Feeling the rebound from the sphere, the magic runes beneath the claw began to flare layer by layer with dazzling, brilliant light.

Hum!

A massive spectral silhouette of a Fallen Angel suddenly ascended from the Heart of Lucifer. Its three pairs of enormous black wings spread wide, seeming ready to envelop the entire earth beneath them.

One by one, huge spectral shadows of Fallen Angels flew out—some with two pairs of wings, others with just one. Each was strikingly handsome or beautiful. The Lucifer lineage was renowned for producing exceptional beauties and handsome men, and that handsomeness and allure were magnified when their Fallen Angel bloodline battle form was active.

One after another, the angelic shadows appeared, circling above the group, seemingly chanting a magnificent melody passed down from ancient times. Arrogance, confidence, beauty! A melody filled with infinite charm that evoked different sensations in everyone's heart, as if they had entered the perfect realm of their dreams.

"This is..." Mu Ne Zhen Ce stared around blankly. His powerful Demon Lord brother, countless faithful followers, all knelt before his golden imperial throne. In the distance, the armies of the Demon Race, the Zhen Ce royal line, and the Barbarian hordes all knelt in unison, awaiting inspection.

"I have finally united the Human, Demon, and Barbarian races! I have become a more outstanding Emperor than even Fu Long Zhen Ce!" Mu Ne Zhen Ce felt a surge of joy, immediately followed by endless desolation as he looked at everyone kneeling with their heads bowed, feeling an inexplicable loneliness.

Kneeling in the front row were Qian Jin! Duan Feng Bu Er! Fen Tu Kuang Ge! Chekfurit, and Lucifer Flow! They were all kneeling respectfully, dressed in full noble regalia, too deferential to lift their heads.

"Why is this..." Mu Ne Zhen Ce felt even more forlorn. "You all, raise your heads..."

Upon hearing this, Qian Jin and the others looked up, their eyes filled with worshipful loyalty. Mu Ne Zhen Ce narrowed his eyes into slits, as if unable to meet that blinding light.

"How can this be?"

Looking at the gazes of Qian Jin and the others, Mu Ne Zhen Ce felt no happiness, only a deeper sense of loss.

"But this is the wish you desired, isn't it? To rule all things, with no one daring to defy you, everyone loyal to you... everyone..."

"No... it's not..." Mu Ne Zhen Ce looked at Qian Jin and the others, suddenly overwhelmed by an inexplicable loneliness, shaking his head compulsively. "This isn't what I want. This isn't what I wanted at all..."