Great Tyrant, you shameless bastard, even feeding dogs is more generous than this.

Wang Hao dodged the punch of the divine corpse while storing the second chain fragment into his system space.

[Obtained: God-Burying Chain Fragment x2.]

[Mystery of the Buried Gods progress increased to 18%.]

[Detected that the Cursed Artifact New Emperor Sword possesses devouring compatibility with the God-Burying Chain Fragment.]

[Prompt: Devouring a small amount can enhance the Cursed Artifact's resistance to dark erosion.]

Wang Hao's eyes flickered, and he took out a God-Burying Chain Fragment.

New Emperor Sword was instantly so moved that its eyes shone.

"Tyrant! Is this for me? I'm so touched, I've decided not to call you Tyrant anymore."

Wang Hao pondered.

"A small amount."

New Emperor Sword nodded frantically.

"A small amount! I am very restrained!"

Wang Hao broke off a tiny speck of black dust from the fragment.

It was truly only the size of a fingernail.

New Emperor Sword was stunned.

"You call this a small amount?"

Wang Hao said, "What else?"

New Emperor Sword said in grief and indignation, "Great Tyrant, you shameless bastard, you're more generous when feeding a dog!"

Wang Hao said indifferently, "A dog can guard the door, can you?"

New Emperor Sword was left speechless and swallowed the black dust with tears in its eyes.

The next moment, its blade trembled violently.

Black patterns flashed across the blade.

Its eerie aura surged.

[New Emperor Sword devoured the God-Burying Chain residue.]

[Cursed Artifact ranking improved: 345 to 338.]

[Seventh-realm combat power steadily increased, gained faint dark resistance.]

New Emperor Sword was instantly revived with full health.

"I feel like I'm good to go again!"

Wang Hao didn't even look at it.

"Go stall for one breath of time."

New Emperor Sword: ...

It suddenly felt that its evolution was a bit hasty.

On the other side of the battlefield.

Pavilion Master Heavenly Sword and Patriarch Ren, along with others, desperately surrounded a divine corpse.

They had already discovered that as long as they could slow down the divine corpse's movements slightly, Wang Hao could find an opportunity to sever the chains.

Thus, everyone stopped trying to break its defenses.

They only sought to stall.

The Sky Soaring Realm experts formed a skirmish formation, exclusively targeting the eye sockets, joints, and the areas near the chains.

They were like a pack of wolves besieging a giant elephant.

Every time they approached, they risked being trampled to death.

But no one retreated.

An ancestor of a Southern Ridge sect was swept by the divine corpse's fist wind, and half of his body exploded on the spot.

Yet, he tightly gripped a talisman nail and drove it into a crack in the divine corpse's ankle.

"Your Majesty!"

"Right here!"

Wang Hao's gaze focused.

The fourth palm strike descended.

"Suppress the Cosmos."

The divine corpse's footsteps paused.

A white sword gleam slashed across the sky.

Crack!

The third chain broke.

That Southern Ridge ancestor fell from midair.

He had already lost his breath.

His disciples' eyes were bloodshot, but they did not cry.

On the battlefield, crying was for the living.

Right now, they didn't have the right to cry.

Wei Zhongxian took a look and said in a low voice, "Write it down."

"Supreme Elder of the Southern Ridge Green Pine Sect, died in battle."

"Ten times the pension, his descendants shall be granted the title of Count."

"The Green Pine Sect is exempt from taxes for three years, and its disciples have priority admission to the Great Zhou Martial Academy."

Wang Hao heard it and did not object.

He just said indifferently, "Add one more rule."

"If anyone in the sect dares to embezzle the pension, their entire family's assets will be confiscated."

Wei Zhongxian bowed.

"This old servant understands."

This was Wang Hao.

He wouldn't say pretty words on the battlefield.

Nor would he shed hypocritical tears.

But for those who died under his banner, he wouldn't short them a single copper of what they deserved.

If anyone dared to be greedy, he would even appraise their ancestral tombstones and confiscate them for the treasury.

After the third chain broke, the God-Burying projection visibly became a fraction more illusory.

The descent speed of the giant dark palm slowed down.

Xie Wujiu's expression turned even uglier.

"Damn it!"

"He's using the divine corpses for practice!"

Xie Wujiu finally understood.

Wang Hao was still slightly unfamiliar when he cut the first chain.

It required the coordination of palm suppression, sword slashes, and lightning.

But with the second and third, he was getting faster and faster.

This wasn't a battle.

This was a dismantling.

This tyrant was learning on the spot how to dismantle the Heavenly Secret Pavilion's forbidden artifacts!

A chill rose in Xie Wujiu's heart.

If this continued, all eight divine corpses would be dismantled by him.

He couldn't drag this out.

He had to make Wang Hao lose focus.

A hint of madness flashed in Xie Wujiu's eyes.

He raised his hand and tore open his chest robes, revealing a black star pattern over his heart.

"With five hundred years of my lifespan."

"Open a sliver of the Star Gate."

"God-Burying Qi, descend!"

Boom!

Deep within the Heavenly Secret Pavilion, that black Star Gate which had never been opened, slowly cracked open a sliver.

A wisp of black qi, even colder and more ancient than the divine corpses, surged out from the Star Gate.

At the exact same moment.

On the Heaven-Severing Ridge battlefield, the remaining five divine corpses stopped moving simultaneously.

The spectral fire in their eye sockets turned deep black.

Their auras skyrocketed.

They were no longer just approaching the early stage of the Martial God realm.

Instead, they truly and briefly touched the threshold of the early Martial God realm.

Wang Hao watched this scene, his eyes darkening slightly.

"Raising the price?"

New Emperor Sword gulped.

"Tyrant, it seems this delivery has lost its temper."

Wang Hao sneered.

"Even if it lost its temper, it still has to be signed for."

"I want to see."

"How much lifespan Xie Wujiu has left to burn."

The black Star Gate opened a sliver.

Only a sliver.

Yet it completely changed the aura of the entire Heaven-Severing Ridge battlefield.

If the previous nine divine corpses were like nine sealed humanoid volcanoes, then at this moment, the remaining five divine corpses were like deep volcanoes injected with black oil from hell.

Boom!

The cyan-gray skin on the surface of the five divine corpses cracked inch by inch.

Inside the cracks was not blood.

But black flames of light.

Their bones let out teeth-aching cracks, and their three-zhang tall bodies grew another half-zhang.

The black chains at their collarbones became even more solid.

They no longer looked like projections.

Instead, they looked like true God-Burying iron chains dragged out from the depths of the void.

On every chain link, ancient divine runes surfaced.

Those divine runes flickered slightly, causing large swathes of the surrounding space to collapse.

In the Great Zhou military camp, everyone felt a wave of suffocation.

"They've grown stronger..."

Xiao Chen supported himself with his broken sword, his face pale.

He was already heavily injured.

His ribs were broken, his internal organs were torn, and his true qi was almost depleted.

Yet he was still standing.

It wasn't just him.

Ye Guyun, Qin Hongye, Wanyan Gu, and those surviving geniuses, Sky Soaring Realm experts, and demigod ancestors were all standing on the battlefield.

Every one of them knew clearly.

They couldn't stop the divine corpses.

But they had to stand.

Because behind them was an army of seven hundred thousand.

Because Wang Hao was still in the sky.

Because this battle was not a simple clash of experts.

This was the first head-on collision after Great Zhou and the Heavenly Secret Pavilion truly tore off all pretenses.

If they retreated tonight, the Heavenly Secret Pavilion would once again become that invincible ten-thousand-year shadow.

If they won tonight, all factions in the Eastern Wasteland would understand one thing—

The Heavenly Secret Pavilion could also die.

Patriarch Ren coughed up blood and wiped the mud off his beard.

"There are five left."

Old Master Li panted and asked, "Can you still move?"

Patriarch Ren snorted.

"Of course this old man can."

After saying that, his legs gave way, and he almost knelt down.

Old Master Li reached out and supported him.

"Don't push yourself."

Patriarch Ren fell silent for a moment, then whispered, "Old Li, if this old man dies, remember to tell His Majesty for me that the Ren family's pension cannot be shorted."

Old Master Li's mouth twitched.

"Is your Ren family lacking that little bit?"

Patriarch Ren spoke righteously.

"Whether we lack it is one thing, whether it should be given is another."

Old Master Li looked at him and suddenly smiled.

"You are becoming more and more like someone from Great Zhou."

Patriarch Ren sighed, "I can't help it. After staying with Wang Hao for so long, you even want to settle accounts before you die."

On the other side.

After New Emperor Sword swallowed the black chain dust, its aura had indeed grown significantly stronger.

But looking at the five berserk divine corpses, it still honestly shifted half a step behind Wang Hao.

Wang Hao glanced at it.

Scared?

The New Emperor Sword immediately puffed out its chest.

Who is scared?

I am protecting the Emperor's back!

Wang Hao said, I do not need you to protect my back.

The New Emperor Sword fell silent for a breath.

Then I will protect your nightrobe.

Wang Hao was speechless.

Down below, Wei Zhongxian's eyelids twitched violently as he listened.

Master Sword could always drag the atmosphere in an unserious direction at the most dangerous moments.

But it had to be said, it was useful.

Seeing the New Emperor Sword still acting like a clown, the fear in the soldiers' hearts actually dissipated by a few fractions.

Wang Hao looked up at the five divine corpses.

Before his eyes, the system's light screen continuously refreshed.

Warning: The divine corpses have received an infusion of God-Burying Aura, and their physical strength has briefly increased to the early stage of the Martial God realm.

Warning: The chain projections have solidified, and the difficulty of severing them has increased.

Prompt: The God-Burying Aura originates from the black star gate, and its duration is supported by the caster's lifespan.

Prompt: The caster's lifespan is rapidly burning away.

The corners of Wang Hao's mouth curled up slightly.

Xie Wujiu is risking his life.

Very good.

The New Emperor Sword did not understand.

Why are you happy when he is risking his life?

Wang Hao said indifferently, The more desperate the enemy is, the more it shows he has no other choice.

When a fortune-teller starts burning his life to fight, it means he can no longer divine a way out.

This is called a bankruptcy-style counterattack.

The New Emperor Sword thought for a moment.

That sounds miserable.

Wang Hao said, Miserable as it may be.

Debts must still be collected.

The five divine corpses moved.

This time, they did not scatter again.

The five black chains intertwined with each other, forming a more solid, miniature Innate Extinction Array.

They stepped through the air, the void beneath their feet constantly shattering.

With every step they took, it was as if a rift was stomped into heaven and earth.

The giant dark palm pressed down once again.

Although the God-Burying projection had become much more illusory due to the severing of three chains, it solidified once more after the black aura from the star gate poured in.

Under the palm's shadow, the military camp's defensive arrays cracked layer by layer.

The Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower was forced to divert more than half of its lightning snakes to protect the military camp, rendering it unable to fully assist Wang Hao.

The situation had once again reached a peak of extreme danger.

In front of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion's divination platform, Xie Wujiu's appearance had rapidly aged from middle age.

The hair at his temples was snow-white.

Deep wrinkles had formed at the corners of his eyes.

But his eyes were filled with madness.

Wang Hao!

This Venerable wants to see whether you will save your army or slay the corpses!

Do you not love settling accounts?

Today, this Venerable will give you more than you can calculate!

Wang Hao seemed to hear his inner thoughts and sneered.

Childish.

I am best at multi-threaded account settling.

He waved his right hand.

The Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower flew directly above the military camp.

Thunder Abyss, protect the army.

Boom!

All nine levels of the tower lit up simultaneously.

Countless lightning snakes poured down, transforming into a massive thunderous barrier that enveloped the central army, the medical camp, the provisions and baggage, and the core of the arrays.

The military formations in all four directions gained a moment of respite and quickly contracted their defensive lines.

Wei Zhongxian immediately took over the dispatching.

Heavily wounded, retreat!

Void-Walking Realm cultivators, fill the gaps!

Crossbow formations, aim for the joints!

Array masters, do not spare the spirit stones! His Majesty said we will seek reimbursement from the Heavenly Secret Pavilion after the battle!

The array masters' eyes lit up.

An old array master spat blood while cursing, You should have mentioned reimbursement earlier!

Bring out everything at the bottom of the trunk!

Boom boom boom!

Temporary grand arrays were frantically laid out one after another.

Spirit stones burned as if they cost nothing.

Of course, it was not that they truly cost nothing.

Wang Hao had simply unilaterally decided that this expense would be paid by the Heavenly Secret Pavilion.

As for whether the Heavenly Secret Pavilion agreed, it did not matter.

The defeated party has no financial autonomy.

Wang Hao withdrew his gaze.

Without the Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower acting as the main attacker, his pressure surged as he faced five berserk divine corpses that had truly stepped into the early stage of the Martial God realm.

But there was no fear in his eyes.

Instead, there was an extremely dangerous excitement.

It had been a long time since he truly tested his current limits.

Mid-stage of the Void-Walking Realm.

After fifty years of cultivation entered his body, his foundation was so profound that it did not resemble that of a martial artist in the same realm.

The divine-grade martial art, Heaven-Imprisoning Earth-Shattering Palm, he could already execute the first eight palms with proficiency.

The ninth palm, he could also strike.

It was just that the consumption was immense.

And tonight.

With the blood and vitality of a seven hundred thousand strong army.

With the Great Zhou's national destiny black dragon.

With the clear target of the God-Burying chains.

It was worth it.

Wang Hao slowly exhaled a breath.

The true qi within his body roared.

Like ten thousand rivers returning to the sea.

He raised his right palm.

First palm.

Suppress the Void.

Boom!

The void solidified.

The charging momentum of the five divine corpses slowed down.

Second palm.

Suppress the Mountains and Rivers.

The earth's qi veins were forcibly suppressed, and the black chain array patterns beneath the divine corpses' feet stagnated.

Third palm.

Suppress the Eight Desolates.

The space in all eight directions compressed layer by layer, as if an invisible cage had appeared around the five divine corpses.

Fourth palm.

Suppress the Universe.

Heaven and earth seemed to flip simultaneously, and the power of the universe pressed upon the shoulders of the divine corpses.

The five divine corpses roared in unison.

The black chains vibrated.

The God-Burying Aura erupted madly, attempting to tear open the suppression of the palm print.

Wang Hao's eyes were icy cold.

Fifth palm.

Suppress the Heavens.

Boom!

The golden palm print transformed into a small firmament, pressing the five divine corpses down a hundred fathoms simultaneously.

Sixth palm.

Suppress Gods and Demons.

As this palm fell, countless mournful low roars echoed from the depths of the void.

It was as if the intent of the palm had touched the ancient remnant souls within the God-Burying Aura.

Even the black star gate trembled slightly.

Xie Wujiu suddenly spewed blood.

How could his strike reach here?

Seventh palm.

Suppress Reincarnation.

A golden vortex emerged in the center of Wang Hao's palm.

The dark restorative power continuously reviving on the divine corpses was forcibly slowed down, as if trapped in some kind of stagnant reincarnation.

Eighth palm.

Suppress Destiny.

BOOM!!!

When this palm was struck, heaven and earth lost their voices.

Even the star map on the Heavenly Secret Pavilion's divination platform flickered violently.