Xie Wujiu’s underhanded move from afar plays right into Wang Hao’s hands.

After a long time, the Martial God's Remnant Will finally spoke slowly, "You are very eloquent."

Wang Hao said modestly, "Average. Mostly, I'm just sincere."

Martial God's Remnant Will: "..."

As soon as these words came out, even the phantom of the surrounding battlefield seemed to sway slightly.

It stared at Wang Hao, as if trying to judge whether this person was truly shameless or just pretending.

Eventually, it slowly raised its hand.

"Empty words are not enough."

"The heart of an Emperor still needs to be tested."

Boom!

As its voice fell, the ancient battlefield suddenly transformed.

The distant mountains of corpses and seas of blood vanished, replaced by the phantoms of countless civilians, children, the wounded, and refugees. They surged from all directions, panicking, crying, and begging for help. Behind them, black mist billowed, and eerie demonic shadows stirred restlessly.

"Defend them."

"Abandon them."

"Kill them."

"Choose one to reveal your true heart."

At this moment, the sense of a trial became much heavier.

If he could pass just by running his mouth, it would be too easy.

Looking at the scene before him, Wang Hao actually felt more relieved.

The fact that it was a multiple-choice question meant this remnant will still had some martial ethics.

What he feared most were those open-ended "figure it out yourself" questions.

Wang Hao only took one glance before stepping directly forward.

He didn't rush toward the civilian phantoms, nor did he charge at the black mist behind them.

Instead, he stood right between the two.

"I choose the fourth option."

The Martial God's Remnant Will's voice sank slightly. "There are only three."

"That is your question, not my answer," Wang Hao said with a natural expression. "Defending is not thorough enough; abandoning is too stupid; killing puts the cart before the horse. If an Emperor can only choose from these three, then what kind of Emperor is he? He might as well go home and farm."

The aura around the Martial God's Remnant Will visibly fluctuated.

This kid... why does he never answer the question as presented?

Wang Hao had already begun.

"I will first establish a defensive line, separate the military from the civilians, sever the source of the black mist, and then clear out those who have lost control."

"Save those who can be saved, isolate those who cannot, and kill those who must be killed last."

"An Emperor is not someone who chooses one out of two, or one out of three."

"An Emperor is the one who, knowing the situation is terrible, still finds a way to protect as many people as possible."

"If the question itself is wrong, then change the question."

As soon as these words were spoken, the surrounding space violently shook!

The panicking, fleeing phantoms all suddenly froze, and the black mist behind them seemed temporarily suppressed by some kind of power. The Martial God's Remnant Will looked at him, remaining silent for a long time.

Wang Hao was already eighty percent sure in his heart.

This kind of remnant will did not value "benevolence" or "ruthlessness" the most, but rather "responsibility" and "decisiveness."

One must have both the heart to shoulder the burden and the courage to make decisions.

And the core of his little speech just now was simply one sentence: I refuse your garbage options; I will forge my own path.

To a Martial God-level figure, this was highly effective.

Because those who truly reached such heights mostly didn't survive by playing by the rules back in their day.

Sure enough, a moment later, the Martial God's Remnant Will slowly retracted its hand, and the surrounding anomalies began to dissipate.

"You are very good at talking."

"And very good at fighting for what you want."

Wang Hao nodded seriously. "Senior flatters me. Mainly, I just like to reason things out."

The Martial God's Remnant Will fell silent for a few more breaths, as if making its final judgment.

Finally, it raised a finger and pointed.

A dark gold battle seal flew out from its palm and hovered in mid-air.

"The Martial God Battle Seal, bestowed upon you."

"Holding this seal, you may temporarily command the battle souls of the outer hall and middle layer, and borrow a portion of the Martial God's Relic Domain's might."

"However—"

Its voice sank.

"In the deepest part of the secret realm, the demon-suppressing core has shifted. The rift is gradually opening, and a great evil is about to emerge. Since you have received my seal, you must bear this responsibility."

Wang Hao reached out and caught the battle seal.

The moment the battle seal entered his hand, a heavy and ancient will surged into his sea of consciousness. The positions of countless battle souls, the mechanisms of the outer hall, and the formations of the middle layer all faintly reflected in his mind.

This thing was good stuff.

Truly good stuff.

It was countless times stronger than what those ten temporary workers had obtained earlier.

Not only could it fight, but it could also control the field.

Even better, it was essentially free.

Thinking of this, Wang Hao almost couldn't suppress the corners of his mouth from curling up.

But his face remained solemn as he said in a deep voice, "Rest assured, Senior. Since I have taken it, I will naturally take care of it."

The Martial God's Remnant Will looked at him one last time.

That gaze contained a rare and indescribable complexity.

It looked like approval, but also like it was doubting whether it had just been smooth-talked by this kid.

The next instant, the world collapsed.

Wang Hao reappeared on the trial platform.

The crowd below the platform all looked at him.

Especially those ten temporary workers, whose eyes were full of mixed emotions.

Envy, sourness, jealousy, defiance, helplessness—they had it all.

Because at this moment, the aura of the dark gold battle seal in Wang Hao's palm was completely incomparable to the "small seals" in their hands. It was literally the difference between a father and a son.

Yun Meng was the first to ask, "Did you pass?"

"Yeah." Wang Hao nodded breezily. "The Senior is a nice guy. We had a great chat, and he insisted on giving me this. I couldn't refuse, so I had to accept it."

The ten temporary workers: "..."

A great chat?

Do you think you were just visiting a neighbor?

Shen Xue looked at the battle seal in his palm, her gaze narrowing slightly. "It's not just a simple reward, is it?"

"You're smart as always." Wang Hao gave her an approving look. "This battle seal can mobilize a portion of the battle souls and formations in the secret realm."

As soon as he said this, everyone's breathing changed.

The outer hall, the middle layer, battle souls, formations.

What did this mean?

It meant that in this secret realm, Wang Hao's home-field advantage had just skyrocketed.

Originally, they were only wary of his strength, trump cards, and methods.

Now?

Even the geographical advantage was practically entirely in his grasp.

Xiao Chen looked down at the dark gold battle seal he had just obtained and previously thought was amazing, suddenly feeling that it was rather dull.

The gap between people sometimes really made one want to curse.

But before the crowd could fully digest this information, the relaxed expression on Wang Hao's face suddenly receded slightly.

Holding the battle seal, he looked up toward the deeper parts of the outer hall, his eyes slowly darkening.

"Something's not right."

"What's wrong?" the Wang Family Ancestor immediately asked.

Wang Hao didn't answer immediately. He just closed his eyes, using the Martial God Battle Seal to sense the entire secret realm.

Soon, his brows furrowed tighter and tighter.

"The demon-suppressing core is loosening."

"And it's not a natural loosening."

"It's like... someone from the outside tampered with it across space."

This single sentence instantly made everyone's hearts sink.

Xie Wujiu.

With almost no need to think, this name popped into everyone's minds.

That Tianji Pavilion Master, even if he wasn't physically here, would absolutely never sit quietly and watch Wang Hao reap benefits in the secret realm.

Shen Xue's voice grew a few degrees colder. "He tampered with the secret realm's seal?"

"Eighty percent likely." Wang Hao opened his eyes. Instead of getting angry, he slowly smiled.

Seeing that smile made the hearts of those familiar with him skip a beat.

Here he goes again.

Every time this dog emperor showed this kind of smile, it usually meant—

He wasn't the one about to suffer a loss.

Someone else was about to get extremely unlucky.

"Good." Wang Hao weighed the battle seal in his hand, his smile growing brighter and brighter. "I was just worrying about how to quickly get into the deepest part."

"He's quite considerate."

"Perfect timing."

In the distance.

From the direction of the secret realm's deeper layers, a deafening explosion suddenly rang out.

The entire Martial God Outer Hall began to tremble slightly along with it.

BOOM—!!!

That loud explosion did not sound like an ordinary landslide.

It felt more like some ancient mechanism, slumbering for countless years, had been forcibly triggered by someone from another world.

The entire Outer Hall of the Martial God was shaking.

Battle runes on the ground lit up and dimmed one after another. Debris rustled down from the ruined pillars of the dome, and the faint, oppressive feeling in the air suddenly multiplied in intensity.

Someone's face turned pale: "What's going on?!"

Wang Hao did not answer immediately.

He merely looked down at the Martial God Battle Seal in his hand.

The Battle Seal was currently emitting a low hum. The sensations coming from it were extremely chaotic, as if the deep array structure of the entire mystic realm had suddenly been violently tugged by some force.

It was not a normal opening.

It was being pried open by force.

Yun Meng frowned. "Is it really Xie Wujiu?"

"Who else could be so free and so insidious?" Wang Hao's tone was light. "He doesn't come himself, but insists on striking from afar. A classic Tianji Pavilion move."

Speaking of this, he suddenly paused, a strange smile slowly surfacing in his eyes.

"However..."

"This old thing struck even faster than I expected."

Looking at his expression, Shen Xue suddenly felt a strong sense of familiarity.

It was as if—this unexpected change had, to some extent, fallen right into his calculations again.

"Did you guess early on that Tianji Pavilion had a backup plan in the mystic realm?" she asked.

"I guessed a little." Wang Hao didn't hide it. "Since the Yanshan Mystic Realm is related to suppressing demons, there's no reason for Tianji Pavilion not to lay out points in advance. A person like Xie Wujiu loves burying chess pieces where others can't see them. If I were him, I would do the same."

"So what did you do?" Shen Xue stared at him.

Wang Hao smiled and held up two fingers.

"First, a few days ago, according to my orders, the people of the Western Depot copied all the accessible ancient array runes in the outer and middle layers."

"Second—"

"I had them conveniently alter a few strokes."

The entire scene fell dead silent.

Ren Mingyue was the first to react, her pupils shrinking slightly.

"You tampered with the mystic realm's array runes?"

"Let me correct you." Wang Hao said solemnly. "It wasn't tampering, it was a minor adjustment. I helped do a bit of structural optimization for this antique array."

The ten temporary workers almost cursed out loud collectively.

Optimize my ass!

That's an ancient array of the Martial God Mystic Realm!

And you dared to change it?

The most outrageous part was that, judging by his words, he had actually changed it in advance.

In other words, before Xie Wujiu launched his remote attack, Wang Hao had already anticipated that the other party might make a move and had bent the "wiring board" out of shape ahead of time.

This wasn't just having a lot of schemes anymore.

This was having a mind like a hornet's nest of schemes.

"So..." Gu Han stared at him. "What happens once Xie Wujiu triggers it?"

"Originally, it should have detonated the demon-suppression rift, disrupting the mystic realm's structure, and ideally burying me inside while at it." Wang Hao spoke casually, as if critiquing someone else's chess game. "But now..."

Boom!

Another loud crash echoed from the depths.

Immediately after, several ruined walls deeper in the Outer Hall simultaneously collapsed!

A massive amount of ancient stone that had been blocking the way for years crashed down, revealing a huge passageway behind it that had originally been buried and sealed. The end of the passageway was deep as an abyss, with pitch-black demonic mist faintly churning, while an extremely ancient and heavy martial arts aura leaked out.

The crowd looked at the path that had suddenly been "blown" open and fell into a collective silence.

After a long while.

Yun Meng finally spoke, looking as if she had seen a ghost: "He... opened the door for you?"

"That's right." Wang Hao smiled radiantly. "Look how sensible he is."

"This is the professional conduct of a top-tier schemer."

"The person hasn't arrived, but the gift arrives first."

Bai Zhantang swallowed hard and muttered, "I'm starting to feel a bit sorry for Xie Wujiu."

Rong Xiaotian nodded vigorously. "Me too. Going through all that effort to scheme against someone, only to end up blowing the door open for them... who could stomach that?"

Xiao Chen's mouth twitched, feeling stifled on behalf of the distant Tianji Pavilion Master.

Too miserable.

Truly too miserable.

Running into someone like Wang Hao, if you try to plot against him, he's already dug pits along all the paths you might use before you even start plotting. In the end, you step right into it, thinking your scheme was brilliant, but you've only ended up doing his work for him.

This wasn't a battle of wits.

This was social death.

And a long-distance social death at that.

Wang Hao was clearly in a very good mood. He even pulled a Record Stone from his sleeve and handed it to Wei Zhongxian.

"Did you record those two tremors just now?"

Wei Zhongxian bowed, his eyes filled with a familiar flattering smile: "To answer Your Majesty, it has all been recorded. The collapse of the outer hall walls, the opening of the passageway, and the reactions of the lords here—not a single detail was missed."

"Very good." Wang Hao nodded in satisfaction. "Edit it later and add some commentary."

"I've already thought of the title: 'Pavilion Master Xie Cares for the Great Zhou, Opening Doors for Me from Afar'."

Wei Zhongxian almost lost his composure and hurriedly lowered his head: "Your Majesty is wise."

Everyone else: "..."

This was no longer just destroying someone physically and mentally.

This was making absolutely sure Xie Wujiu would never have the face to see anyone again.

Shen Xue couldn't help rubbing her temples.

She was beginning to understand more and more why every time Tianji Pavilion clashed with Wang Hao, they ended up looking like they had been slapped in the face with a slipper.

This man was truly wicked.

Wicked in a class of his own.

But the next moment, the smile on Wang Hao's face suddenly faded a bit.

Because the passageway opening didn't mean it was purely a good thing.

What seeped out from that deep entrance was not only the ancient martial arts aura but also an increasingly dense demonic nature and sense of corruption. That feeling spread outward like a tide, making one's skin crawl and their sea of consciousness feel faintly stifled.

The Martial God Battle Seal vibrated even more intensely in his palm.

A clear warning sign rose in his heart.

The demon-suppression rift had truly been pried open.

And much faster than he had anticipated.

"Quiet, everyone." Wang Hao raised his hand, his expression finally turning serious. "The door is open, but whatever crawls out from inside might not be so easy to greet."

Everyone's hearts skipped a beat.

The emotions that had just been led astray by him were instantly pulled back.

They had come to the mystic realm for the Martial God's fortuitous encounters and the secrets of demon suppression. But they couldn't forget that the true nature of this place had never been a treasure trove; it was a prison.

A prison meant to suppress things.

And now, deep within this prison, a tear had been forcibly ripped open by someone.