Before Signing In for the Nine Secrets

The moment he heard the curses coming from nearby, Lu Zhou roughly guessed what had happened.

Qin Yao must have been taking out the Demon Emperor's Essence Blood to hand over to Immoral Taoist when Black Emperor saw it.

That damn dog had been coveting the Demon Emperor's Essence Blood!

Lu Zhou could even picture the scene in his mind.

That damn dog would most likely argue that it had only been taking a look!

"Looks like my other friend has arrived too. Let's go meet him together!"

Amid the mountain pavilions, Lu Zhou spoke to Yan Ruyu.

Yan Ruyu also wanted to know what exactly had happened over there, so she nodded.

Then, the two of them flew toward the source of the noise.

By the time they arrived, the situation had already been brought under control by several elderly demon women under Yan Ruyu's command.

"Lu Zi? It's you! I didn't expect you to be here too."

Ye Fan was the one who spoke.

The moment he saw Lu Zhou appear alongside Yan Ruyu, surprise rose in Ye Fan's heart. He was astonished that Lu Zhou had actually gotten together with Yan Ruyu, but his face was filled with delight.

More than three years had passed. To reunite with an old friend from the Other Shore of the Starry Sky, someone who had once lived under the same roof with him for several months, was truly no small surprise for someone as loyal and sentimental as Ye Fan.

And since Lu Zhou had appeared together with Yan Ruyu, did that mean Pang Bo could be saved as well?

"It's me. It's been a few years. How have you been?"

"Ah!"

Ye Fan shook his head and sighed.

"It's a long story."

There was a trace of bitterness in his voice.

Compared to Lu Zhou's life, Ye Fan had suffered far more over the past three-plus years.

In a word, ever since Lu Zhou left, Ye Fan had either been hunted down or on the way to being hunted down in one fashion or another.

He had even nearly been refined alive as a humanoid supreme medicine.

Lu Zhou naturally knew all this.

In truth, with his abilities at the time, Lu Zhou could have completely spared Ye Fan from those experiences.

But Lu Zhou had never entertained such a thought.

As the ancients said: jade must be carved before it can become a useful vessel.

Lu Zhou believed that the reason Ye Fan could become Emperor Ye in the future was inseparably tied to the hardships and dangers he encountered throughout his life.

Since he already knew Ye Fan could safely overcome those trials and crises, Lu Zhou naturally could not casually interfere in certain matters involving Ye Fan.

He was not Ye Fan's nanny.

For all he knew, if he interfered in Ye Fan's affairs at will, he might ultimately prevent Ye Fan from reaching the heights of a Heavenly Emperor.

If that really happened, things would get interesting. Lu Zhou did not dare imagine what consequences it might bring.

As for taking some of Ye Fan's opportunities?

For example, the Origin Scripture, Jiang Taixu, and the Fighting Character Secret...

Lu Zhou had considered that as well!

One thing had to be said: when he took these opportunities from Ye Fan, he had inevitably altered some of Ye Fan's future life trajectory.

Without the inheritance of the Origin Master lineage, would the storm over cutting sources in Divine City, which Ye Fan had supposedly set off, still happen?

Lu Zhou thought it probably would not!

If Ye Fan had not met Jiang Taixu in Purple Mountain and had not saved Jiang Taixu's life, how would he break into the Four Extremities realm in the future?

And then there was the Fighting Character Secret!

This secret technique had shone brilliantly during Ye Fan's rise, providing him with far too much help!

Without the Fighting Character Secret, would Ye Fan still possess such formidable combat power in the future?

Lu Zhou had thought through all these questions!

He had long since formed some ideas about them!

"If it's a long story, then we'll talk about it slowly! But there's no rush. You came at just the right time—there happens to be a great opportunity waiting for you here!"

"What opportunity?"

Those four words came simultaneously from Ye Fan and Black Emperor.

"It has nothing to do with you!"

Lu Zhou glanced at Black Emperor. Ignoring its grumbling, he said to Ye Fan again.

"See? Isn't it exactly what they're discussing right now?"

As he spoke, his gaze shifted toward Immoral Taoist.

While Lu Zhou was catching up with Ye Fan, Duan De was also discussing something with Yan Ruyu in the distance.

Their gazes drifted toward Ye Fan from time to time.

At that moment, Ye Fan's expression froze.

He had not expected the so-called opportunity Lu Zhou mentioned to be this matter.

He already knew Duan De had sold him out, but he still had no idea what these demons intended to do to him.

All he knew for now was that these demons were very interested in his body and were searching for some sort of precious physique.

"Don't worry. If I said it's a good thing for you, then it's a good thing. I'll tell you the details later!"

Lu Zhou patted Ye Fan on the shoulder, telling him not to overthink it.

Ye Fan had always had a good impression of Lu Zhou and trusted him to some extent. Seeing Lu Zhou emphasize once more that this was an opportunity, Ye Fan's heart settled considerably.

Lu Zhou actually had some ideas regarding the Demon Emperor Heart as well.

But what he wanted more was the Demon Emperor's Essence Blood. He wanted to see whether he could use it to accelerate the growth of the Azure Lotus in his Qiankun Pearl.

Lu Zhou remembered that the Demon Emperor's true form had also been an Azure Lotus, with an extraordinary origin.

If so, then the Demon Emperor's Essence Blood should presumably be able to accelerate the growth of that Azure Lotus, right?

Lu Zhou estimated that, given the current state of his body, it could probably also be used to nourish the Demon Emperor Heart.

Although his Wheel and Sea had changed drastically and even his Life Spring was gone, the black hole within his Wheel and Sea still possessed all the power of a Life Spring.

Therefore, Lu Zhou could indeed nourish the Demon Emperor Heart within his body.

But he was deeply resistant to the idea. He did not want something else appearing inside his body.

Moreover, Azure Emperor was not completely dead yet. Lu Zhou was not sure whether putting the Demon Emperor Heart into his Wheel and Sea would cause any problems over time.

There was another reason. The original novel made it very clear that the reason Azure Emperor's primordial spirit, lost within the Desolate Pagoda, could regain consciousness was because the Demon Emperor Heart had once been nourished in Ye Fan's bitter sea Life Spring.

It was because Ye Fan had once madly drained the Demon Emperor Heart and taken quite a bit of its blood.

Lu Zhou remembered that when he first read the original novel and saw an Azure Lotus take root in Ye Fan's bitter sea, he had thought it was related to Azure Emperor—that Azure Emperor had been resurrected through it.

Earlier, when Lu Zhou had spoken with Yan Ruyu about reviving Azure Emperor, he had already decided to make everything follow the original plot as closely as possible.

This concerned one of Lu Zhou's long-term plans!

As he pondered this, Immoral Taoist had already finished speaking with Yan Ruyu and was preparing to leave directly, while Yan Ruyu walked toward them.

At that moment, Lu Zhou suddenly remembered that since arriving at Xuan Yuan Sect, he had yet to sign in.

Now, so many people from Covering the Heavens who possessed immense fortune had gathered here.

Lu Zhou hoped to try his luck and see whether he could sign in for something good.

With that thought, he hurriedly silently signed in while Immoral Taoist had not yet gone far.

The next instant, the system gave Lu Zhou a ding!

Ding! The host has signed in at Xuan Yuan Sect in the Southern Territory. The host has obtained the Qianzi Secret of the Nine Secrets!

Thanks to big boss 20230927105733744 for the monthly ticket!

Thanks to Wudang Wang Ye from Q Read for the two monthly tickets!

Thanks to big boss 20230723225233866 for the two monthly tickets!