The Tyrant First Sends Cannon Fodder to Test the Path, Scavenging Trash on the Burial Soldier Platform

Wang Hao spouted no more nonsense and directly ordered the execution.

Thus, the next scene became extremely surreal.

The Great Zhou Imperial Guards tied up several captured demonic beasts tightly and threw them into the crack of the bronze doors.

The first one had just entered when, not even three breaths later, a miserable howl echoed from within. Then, the entire beast was sliced into dozens of pieces by some invisible force, showering the ground with blood.

The second was slightly smarter. After going in, it tried to turn around and run, but a strand of crimson-gold battle intent suddenly surged from the crack, directly shattering its soul. Its corpse fell to the ground with a thud.

The third was even more tragic. The moment it touched the ground inside the doors, its demon core inexplicably exploded, blowing itself into a sky full of minced meat.

This scene made many people's scalps tingle with fear.

Especially the ten temporary workers, whose faces all turned green.

They finally understood why Wang Hao didn't charge in himself.

This wasn't freaking cowardice; this was called being professional!

The pathfinding continued.

After throwing demonic beasts, they threw dharma treasures.

A high-grade Profound-tier flying sword had just gone in, and the next second, the blade let out an overwhelmed wail, forcefully ground into iron dust by that ancient battle intent.

A low-grade Earth-tier armored puppet walked in a dozen steps when it suddenly seemed to trigger some sort of restriction. Its entire body twisted with a series of cracks, tearing into pieces, while a wisp of black smoke rose from its chest.

Finally, Wang Hao actually had his men bring over a few heinous death row inmates.

Those death row inmates were originally howling and begging for mercy. Upon hearing that they could be pardoned from death just by going in to scout the path, they each acted as if they had grasped a lifeline, scrambling wildly toward the doors.

As a result, the first one had just stepped inside when, the next second, he clutched his head and rolled on the ground. His eyes rapidly dyed blood-red, and he madly screamed, "Kill! Kill! Kill!" before drawing his waist blade and slitting his own throat alive.

The second was even more absurd. He directly knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the air, shouting, "Martial God spare my life, Demon Lord spare my life!" After kowtowing dozens of times, his head was literally smashed to a pulp.

The third went the furthest, but as he walked, he suddenly began to laugh maniacally. He stripped naked and danced in place. Halfway through the dance, his entire body exploded into a mist of blood with a bang.

The entire scene was dead silent.

Even the usually stubborn-mouthed Yun Meng couldn't help but let her mouth twitch slightly at this moment.

She had originally thought that Wang Hao was too much of a scumbag, not even being the first to enter a secret realm, which was somewhat refreshingly cowardly. But now, seeing these outcomes, she suddenly felt... although this scummy man was despicable, his despicability made perfect sense.

Meanwhile, Wang Hao leaned against the dragon palanquin, nodded in satisfaction, and turned to the three women beside him to seriously educate them.

"See that? This is called scientific exploration."

"When encountering an unknown area, first do a risk assessment, establish samples, observe variables, and then formulate countermeasures. Brainless charging is the behavior of a brute and does not conform to the basic principles of my Great Zhou's development."

Shen Xue's eyes twitched, and she said coldly, "Speak human."

Wang Hao coughed, "It means letting others die first, and I will go in last to pick up the bargains."

Yun Meng scoffed and rolled her eyes. "You really don't pretend at all."

"Pretend what?" Wang Hao spread his hands. "Only those who can survive to get the fortuitous encounters have the right to pretend. Those who die at the door, no matter how handsome their posture, are just corpses."

Although these words were shameless, they were incredibly realistic.

Shen Xue fell silent for a moment, unable to find a rebuttal.

On the other side, the artillery battalion had also finished their preparations.

"Your Majesty, the angle calibration is complete! Shall we fire?"

"Fire."

"Bombard it for three consecutive rounds for me. Mine clearance by firepower."

"Boom—Boom—Boom—!"

Hundreds of runic cannons roared simultaneously. The sky full of artillery fire dragged blazing tail flames as it viciously smashed toward the crack in the bronze doors.

This scene could be called completely deranged.

When others encountered an ancient Martial God secret realm, they were always deeply respectful and walked as if treading on thin ice, terrified of disturbing some ancient restriction. Wang Hao, on the other hand, came up and blasted it with cannons right away, bombing until the earth shook and the mountains swayed, with smoke and dust soaring into the sky. Those who didn't know better would think the Great Zhou was doing demolition work.

Xiao Chen and the others felt their hearts bleeding as they watched.

That was the entrance to a Martial God secret realm!

Couldn't you show a little respect!

What if you blew up the fortuitous encounters!

But facts proved that Wang Hao's wild operation had hit the mark by a fluke again.

After the first round of artillery fire, a large number of hidden restrictions indeed erupted around the door crack. Crimson-gold light patterns emerged one by one, spreading out like spider webs. A few of them even transformed into invisible blade qi, instantly slicing the nearby rocks into fine powder.

When the second round of artillery fell, another batch of those residual restrictions was forced out, even triggering a few collapses inside, revealing some ancient steps that had previously been covered.

After the third round of artillery fire, the chaotic battle intent attached to the outer layer of the ancient bronze doors was finally blasted away by a large margin.

The door crack, which originally could only open a sliver, also slowly expanded, enough for several people to walk in side by side.

The smoke and dust dispersed.

Everyone stared fixedly at that entrance.

Then, a broken and ancient ruin finally slowly revealed its true face before everyone.

It was a massive stone platform, resembling the outer section of some ancient battlefield altar. On top of the stone platform, broken weapons were planted everywhere: snapped spears, cracked swords, shattered halberds, chipped blades... densely packed, as if thousands upon thousands of ancient powerhouses had buried their weapons here forever after their deaths.

Right at the front of the stone platform, four desolate ancient characters were carved:

Martial God Weapon Burial Platform.

And in the very center of that ruin, a broken sword was quietly planted in a cracked black stone pedestal.

It only had half of its blade left, entirely dark and gloomy, its edge covered in notches, as if it had experienced countless bloody battles. But even so, a terrifying and fierce aura that made one's heart palpitate still slowly permeated from that broken blade.

As if it were not a weapon.

But a peerless fierce beast that had slumbered for ten thousand years.

In this instant, everyone's breathing grew heavy.

Ye Guyun's pupils shrank slightly; the broken sword in his hand was actually vibrating slightly.

The strange fire within Xiao Chen's body quietly grew restless.

Even the gazes of the several royal ancestors became solemn and fervent.

Wang Hao looked at that broken blade, narrowed his eyes, and suddenly revealed an extremely bright, and extremely inhumane smile.

"Very good."

"It seems the cannons weren't fired in vain."

"Come on, prepare to enter. Nobody be polite with me today. All this junk on the ground—oh no, state-owned strategic resources—I am going to pack them all up and take them away."

Meanwhile, in the deeper darkness, it seemed as if something older and more dangerous had been awakened by this round of artillery fire.

The outer layer of the Martial God Weapon Burial Platform was dead silent.

But this silence was completely different from quietness in the ordinary sense. It felt more like a solidified sensation precipitated from countless amounts of blood and slaughter, pressing down on people's chests until they felt stifled. Broken weapons and shattered armor littered the surroundings; any single piece looked like scrap metal, but with just a slight sweep of divine sense, one could feel the ancient will inside the weapons that had yet to dissipate.

That was not simple sharpness or spirituality.

But the "echo of killing intent" left behind after experiencing mountains of corpses, seas of blood, and the fierce battles of gods and demons.

Even though an unknown number of tens of thousands of years had passed, these broken weapons were still silently stating a cruel fact—

A great war capable of tearing apart heaven and earth had once occurred here.

As soon as the crowd stepped into the outer layer of the ruins, their breathing involuntarily lightened.

Especially the ten "temporary workers" like Xiao Chen, Ye Guyun, and Rong Xiaotian, whose eyes had long gone straight.

They were all heaven-chosen geniuses who had fought their way up from grassroots backgrounds, so they knew exactly what resources meant. Looking out right now, the ground was littered with broken weapons, shattered armor, ancient talismans, and fragments tainted with the will of ancient experts. Just picking up a random piece and taking it outside would probably trigger a storm of blood and carnage in the outside world.

At a glance, Xiao Chen spotted a broken spear half-buried not far away. Its shaft was covered in cracks, but a wisp of crimson fire patterns coiled around it, clearly bearing the residual marks of martial dao.

Ye Guyun locked his eyes on a sword tip buried in the ashes. It was only the size of a palm, yet the sword intent within his body resonated with it almost instinctively.

Rong Xiaotian was even more exaggerated. He had already set his sights on a pair of tattered gauntlets, practically drooling over them.

The light in their eyes was exactly like that of someone who had starved for three months suddenly seeing a grand imperial feast.

However, before they could pounce forward and claim their respective fortunes, Wang Hao's lazy voice poured over them like a bucket of ice water.

Halt.

Who gave you permission to just pick things up?

Everyone's footsteps stiffened in unison.

Wang Hao stood with his hands behind his back, his dragon robes swaying gently. His gaze swept across the ground full of broken weapons. There was no fanaticism of an ordinary treasure hunter in his eyes; instead, he looked exactly like a black-hearted boss inspecting his mining area.

From this moment on, all excavated resources within the Weapon Burial Terrace area will be uniformly incorporated into the management of the Great Zhou imperial court.

Everyone, no matter what you obtain, must hand it over immediately for registration. Then, the imperial court will conduct a unified distribution based on a comprehensive assessment of your merits, loyalty, performance, tax records, and ideological awareness.

Simply put...

He paused, then smilingly spat out a sentence that was enough to make everyone's blood pressure soar.

Any treasure picked up in the Weapon Burial Terrace will first be considered the state-owned property of Great Zhou.

The air instantly froze.

Xiao Chen's face turned green.

The veins on the back of Ye Guyun's sword-gripping hand bulged.

Yun Meng was even more dumbfounded on the spot. After a long while, she could not help but curse in a low voice, Are you kidding me? Has this dog emperor gone mad from poverty?

Shen Xue kept a cold face, but a trace of absurdity flashed through the depths of her eyes.

Having grown up in the Ice and Snow Divine Palace, she was used to major sects distributing disciples' fortunes through various layers, and she had seen elders prioritizing the interception of secret realm treasures. But someone like Wang Hao, who directly announced in public that everything here belongs to the court, and whoever finds anything must hand it over first, was a first for her.

Moreover, he spoke with such righteous conviction, even faintly exuding a holy aura of I am not robbing you, I am protecting the public interests of Great Zhou.

To be shameless to this extent was practically an art form.

Ren Mingyue blinked, suddenly feeling a bit like laughing.

She increasingly found that this His Majesty's most formidable trait was not his cultivation base, nor his political maneuvering, but the fact that he could always make extremely shameless deeds sound as if he were carrying out justice on behalf of heaven and benefiting the common people.

It was simply an extraordinary innate talent.

Your Majesty, Xiao Chen finally could not hold back and spoke cautiously. Is this... perhaps a bit inappropriate? Secret realm fortunes have always belonged to those fated to have them. Whoever finds it first gets to keep it. This is also the rule of the martial world.

The rule of the martial world? Wang Hao glanced at him and chuckled. You are within the capital region of Great Zhou, excavating a Martial God secret realm within Great Zhou's borders. You are utilizing the soldiers of the Great Zhou Imperial Guard, the cannons of the Great Zhou imperial court, and the security and logistics provided by the Great Zhou emperor. And now you want to talk to me about the rules of the martial world?

What, I painstakingly blasted the door open, cleared all the traps, and brought you in from the outside, only to watch helplessly as each of you packs a bag and runs off with state-owned assets?

You think this is a secret realm?

No.

This is a key development project of my Great Zhou, the Weapon Burial Terrace Resource Extraction Experimental Zone.

And you all...

Wang Hao's gaze slowly swept over the crowd, his smile both gentle and cruel.

Are the senior miners I have temporarily hired.

When this sentence came out, never mind Xiao Chen and the others, even the corners of the royal ancestors' mouths could not help but twitch. But well said, truly worthy of being the Qilin child of the Wang family.

Senior miners.

What the hell do you mean, senior miners.

Out of the ten grassroots children of destiny, which one of them was not a proud and arrogant, counter-attacking ruthless character who treated themselves as a future mighty figure in training? Yet in Wang Hao's mouth, they were directly downgraded from heaven-chosen geniuses to miners.

And the worst part was, they could not easily fall out with him.

Because the logic Wang Hao presented was, damn it, somewhat sound.

He brought the people, he blasted open the door, and others had braved the risks for them. If they really had to argue about it now, they had indeed hitched a free ride on Wang Hao's coattails.

But knowing it was one thing; feeling terrible about it was another.

Especially Ye Guyun. People like him originally placed the utmost importance on fate and the sword heart. After seeing the Weapon Burial Terrace, a strong intuition had already bloomed in his heart that this place rightfully holds a fortune for me. But now, before this intuition could even sprout, it was stomped into the mud by Wang Hao.

Ye Guyun's face turned ashen as he said coldly, How is Your Majesty's action any different from robbery?

Hearing this, Wang Hao was not angry in the slightest. Instead, he revealed an expression that said, I just love employees like you who dare to ask questions.

Robbery? How could you say that about me.

I am establishing standards, eliminating corruption, preventing embezzlement, and guaranteeing fairness.

Saying this, he even made a show of earnestly explaining to the three women, Shen Xue, Yun Meng, and Ren Mingyue:

Do not misunderstand, I am truly not being greedy.

I am primarily worried about these youngsters. They have shallow experience and poor judgment. What if they pick up something carrying a curse, evil energy, or mental pollution, and hide it away for themselves? In minor cases, they could suffer qi deviation; in severe cases, they could bring disaster to the country and the people.

I am doing this for their own good.

And for the good of the common people of the world.

Yun Meng nearly choked to death on these words.

Her peach-blossom eyes went perfectly round, and the corners of her mouth twitched madly. It took her a long time to squeeze out a sentence: Could you be any more shameless?

Wang Hao thought about it seriously. Yes.

But I will hold back a little today.

Yun Meng: ...

Shen Xue silently turned her face away, afraid that if she kept looking, she would not be able to resist smashing the Ice Soul Pearl in her hand against his forehead.