「In the cell.」

Luo Xiu let out heart-wrenching screams of agony. This time, he wasn't faking it; he was truly crying out from the excruciating pain.

A Refining Thunder Whip had bored deep into his chest, forcibly extracting wisps of azure energy from his body. Being stripped of his Life-bound Green Lotus was a pain equivalent to having his bones gouged out.

After a long while, the wisps of azure energy coalesced into a Green Lotus the size of a palm.

Luo Xiu suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood. He reached out, pulled the Refining Thunder Whip from his chest, and sank weakly to one knee. It took him a moment to recover. He looked up at the Green Lotus floating in the void and was struck by a profound sense of unfamiliarity.

Before the separation, he had felt the Green Lotus was his own kin, closer than blood, an inseparable part of his body. But now, looking at it was like seeing a lotus that had nothing to do with him. In that instant, Luo Xiu understood. It was itself, and he was himself. He was a man of flesh and blood, not a flower. Suddenly, he was struck by the peculiar feeling of a child growing up and leaving home. He was the child, and the Green Lotus was his home.

BOOM!

A muffled blast suddenly resounded, shattering Luo Xiu's thoughts. The cell's stone door was pushed open.

Jiu Ye strode into the cell. When he saw Luo Xiu kneeling on the ground, he paused in surprise. His gaze then shifted to the Green Lotus, gradually growing fiery.

"I didn't expect the Green Lotus to be extracted in just two days!"

"Azure Emperor, it is regrettable, but the last moments of your life have arrived. It's time for your blood sacrifice!" Jiu Ye swaggered toward Luo Xiu with a sinister smile, looking at him as if he were prey.

Luo Xiu slowly rose to his feet. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, then turned to face Jiu Ye.

A look of dark concentration flashed in his eyes as an eerie black lightning suddenly burst forth, instantly coalescing into a Thunder Halberd. The Thunder Halberd shot through the air, effortlessly piercing Jiu Ye's chest.

Jiu Ye's body shook, and he stood frozen. Under the erosion of the Aura of the Dead, his cultivation dissipated rapidly along with his life force. His gaze trembled as he looked incredulously at Luo Xiu.

"Wh… why?" he stammered. "Weren't you afflicted by His Majesty's Blood Ban Technique, your cultivation sealed? How can you still possess such…"

Luo Xiu slowly advanced, reached out to grasp Jiu Ye's neck, and lifted him as if he weighed nothing.

"Don't worry, I'll be sending your Majesty to join you soon. You can ask him then where he learned his Blood Ban Technique."

A short while later, Luo Xiu kicked Jiu Ye's corpse away. Before the body hit the ground, it was consumed by the Indestructible Divine Flame. This time, however, Luo Xiu did not burn the soul. Instead, he captured it with the Soul Capturing Technique and sealed it within the Soul Imprisonment Mark.

After dealing with Jiu Ye, Luo Xiu slowly crouched and punched the ground.

With a loud bang, the entire cell vibrated, and the floor cracked open to reveal a chasm-like fissure. Luo Xiu leaped into the fissure, entering the pitch-black space below.

"Do you want to come with me?" he asked.

The residual soul of the Emperor of Calamity Extermination emerged from the Ancient Coffin. "Helping you dispel the Blood Ban Technique consumed too much of my power," he said. "This wisp of my residual soul is about to dissipate.

"Azure Emperor—no, I should call you Luo Xiu now.

"Luo Xiu, take this Ancient Coffin. It contains my undying body. If one day the Mysterious Central Realm brings back my complete soul, I will awaken and fight alongside you.

"But before that, you must become stronger to face the Great Calamity of the Void. If possible, you should also try to find the bodies of the other nine.

"Furthermore, Luo Hao has used my dojo's Formation as a foundation. Empowered by the Fortune-Forming Power, he built an altar here to sacrifice living beings in blood rituals. You must destroy it."

Luo Xiu nodded slightly, then flew up, lifted the Ancient Coffin, and carried it out of the fissure back into the cell.

「Back in the cell.」

Luo Xiu looked at the Green Lotus still hovering there, suddenly recalling that it also served as his Storage Magical Treasure. After some thought, he decided to place the Ancient Coffin in the Land of Lawlessness. He then emptied all the items he had stored in the Green Lotus, moving them to the Land of Lawlessness as well.

Hua Muyan asked, "Master, what about this Green Lotus?"

"We'll take it with us for now to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands."

「On the Lingtian Plateau, within a certain district of the Heaven Azure Empire's vast Imperial Palace.」

Luo Hao sat cross-legged in a secret chamber. He suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood, his face turning pale in an instant. On the wall before him hung a large mirror.

At that moment, his reflection in the mirror was aging at a visible rate. Wrinkles appeared on his face, and his hair turned snow-white.

Fortune often comes at a price… and the rapid decrease in lifespan is the price for overusing the Fortune-Forming Power, Luo Hao murmured to himself. He then shakily stood and walked toward the mirror, looking as though he had truly grown old.

A short while later, he stopped before the mirror. Gazing at his aged reflection, he muttered, "Tian'er, could it be that in your past life, you didn't focus on studying the Fortune-Forming Power because you knew it would consume one's lifespan?

"You even chose not to bring it with you for the battle in the Boundless Heavens.

"No… that's impossible.

"Besides myself, no one in this world knows the secrets of the Fortune-Forming Power!"

Muttering to himself, Luo Hao took out a Green Lotus, bit into it fiercely, chewed, and swallowed. As the Green Lotus went down, his aged appearance reverted to that of his youth in an instant.

The Green Lotus he had just devoured was none other than the Companion Green Lotus stripped from Luo Xian.

Once I break through that barrier, I will achieve a lifespan equal to that of heaven and earth, becoming immortal. At that point, the cost of the Fortune-Forming Power will be of no concern.

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