Nine Palms Strike in Unison, the God-Burying Chains Shatter, Xie Wujiu Goes Mad.

Xie Wujiu's expression changed drastically.

Because he found that his control over the five divine corpses had been cut off for an instant.

Heavenly fate was suppressed.

Heavenly secrets malfunctioned.

It was in this very instant.

The sword light in Wang Hao's left hand surged.

The first three strikes of the Nine Heaven-Cleaving Swords were unleashed in succession.

Fissure.

Severing Flow.

Cutting Karma.

The white sword light, like three heaven-cleaving divine threads, slashed at the same black chain.

Crack!

The fourth God-Burying Chain projection broke.

The divine corpse wailed, the black flames on its body extinguishing instantly.

Wang Hao didn't stop.

He forcefully turned around, using the residual momentum of his right palm to suppress another divine corpse.

The sword light in his left hand slashed again.

First sword.

Second sword.

Third sword.

Crack!

The fifth chain broke.

[Obtained: God-Burying Chain Fragment x5.]

[God-Burying Mystery progress increased to 28%.]

[Prompt: The God-Burying projection is about to collapse.]

Above the night sky, the giant dark palm vibrated violently.

Large swaths of ancient runes in its palm shattered.

The Great Zhou military camp erupted in earth-shattering cheers.

"Long live Your Majesty!"

"The chains are broken!"

"That ghost thing is going to dissipate!"

But Wang Hao didn't smile.

Because there were still three divine corpses left.

Moreover, the aura from the black star gate had not retreated.

Instead, it grew deeper.

Xie Wujiu's crazed voice sounded as if it came from the depths of the void.

"Wang Hao!"

"Do you think you've won just like this?"

"So what if the God-Burying projection collapses?"

"The more chains you cut, the more you will awaken it!"

"You have no idea what you're messing with!"

Wang Hao heard him.

His expression was calm.

"Of course I know."

"Valuable things."

Xie Wujiu was almost angered to death by these words.

Wang Hao looked up at the collapsing God-Burying projection, then looked at the remaining three frenzied divine corpses.

The national destiny black dragon behind him had dimmed considerably.

Eight consecutive palm strikes, plus multiple heaven-cleaving sword lights, had consumed a massive amount of his energy.

If it were an ordinary mid-stage Skysoaring Realm cultivator, they would have been drained ten times over.

But Wang Hao was still standing.

He could even continue to fight.

He slowly raised his right palm.

At this moment, everyone between heaven and earth felt an indescribable oppression.

That was not the suppression of the eighth palm.

It was a level higher.

As if a hand was about to crush the entire world into a cage within its palm.

The Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Sword Pavilion's pupils shrank.

"The ninth palm?"

Patriarch Ren's expression changed.

"He's still going to attack?"

Old Master Li murmured, "Is this kid really not afraid of draining himself dry?"

Xiao Chen looked at that figure, his mind shaken.

He finally understood why he could never see through Wang Hao.

Because Wang Hao never treated his limits as limits.

He only treated his limits as the upper bound of his current budget.

If it wasn't enough, he would add more.

Wang Hao's right palm slowly pressed down.

"Heaven-Imprisoning Earth-Overturning Palm."

"The ninth palm."

"Heaven-Imprisoning."

Boom—

No words could describe this palm strike.

The night sky was like a piece of paper, crumpled by an invisible giant hand.

Space, spiritual energy, darkness, lightning, vitality, national destiny—all powers were forcefully incorporated into a massive golden cage under this palm.

The three divine corpses were frozen mid-air.

They struggled madly.

The black chains vibrated.

The God-Burying Qi erupted.

But it was useless.

Under the Heaven-Imprisoning Palm, even their connection to the void was briefly sealed.

Wang Hao brought his fingers together on his left hand.

The first three swords of the Nine Heaven-Cleaving Swords were unleashed again.

But this time, the sword light did not scatter.

Three swords combined into one.

A single thread cleaving heaven.

Sizzle!

White light streaked across the night sky.

The three black chains were struck almost simultaneously.

Crack.

Crack.

Crack.

Three consecutive breaking sounds.

The black flames on the remaining three divine corpses went out.

The netherfire dimmed.

The God-Burying projection completely collapsed.

The night sky revealed the stars and moon once more.

That giant dark palm shattered bit by bit over the Great Zhou military camp like decaying smoke.

The entire field was silent.

Everyone looked up at Wang Hao.

His black sleeping robe was torn.

His long hair was blown disheveled by the lightning and black qi.

His face was slightly pale.

But he still stood in the sky, slowly retracting his right hand, while his left hand drew the three chain fragments into his palm.

[Obtained: God-Burying Chain Fragment x8.]

[God-Burying Mystery progress increased to 35%.]

[Prompt: The core seal aura of the God-Burying Abyss has been touched.]

[Warning: An unknown existence has remembered your aura.]

The moment the prompt appeared.

Deep in the sky vault.

That shadow, massive beyond description, slowly opened an eye.

It wasn't a real eye.

More like a black sun.

It looked at Wang Hao across countless seals, countless spaces, and countless years.

A deep, ancient voice landed in Wang Hao's mind.

"Human Emperor..."

"Key..."

"Come..."

Wang Hao's eyes turned slightly cold.

The national destiny black dragon roared, shattering that voice.

"Playing the devil."

"Want me to go over?"

"Do I look like an idiot?"

The black eye slowly closed.

The void returned to calm.

But everyone knew.

Something had been awakened.

Before the deduction platform of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion.

Xie Wujiu fell to his knees, his hair completely white, his skin withered and wrinkled, as if he had aged thousands of years in an instant.

Nine divine corpses.

Eight chains severed.

The God-Burying projection collapsed.

Not only did he fail to kill Wang Hao, but he also personally handed over the key to the God-Burying Mystery.

What was even more terrifying was...

Wang Hao was still alive.

Xie Wujiu struggled to lift his head, looking at that black star gate.

From behind the star gate came some kind of summons.

He gritted his teeth and stood up.

"It's not over yet."

"Wang Hao, do you think destroying the divine corpses is enough to enter the Heavenly Secret Pavilion?"

"The true forbidden land has just begun."

Dragging his aging body, he walked step by step into the black star gate.

The star gate slowly closed.

The Heaven-Severing Ridge battlefield.

The last three divine corpses, now devoid of chains, were casually slapped into the ground by Wang Hao with three palm strikes, their mobility shattered by the remaining lightning of the Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda.

The New Emperor Sword rushed over excitedly.

"Tyrant! Can I eat these?"

Wang Hao landed, his face still a bit pale, but his first words were: "Register them first."

The New Emperor Sword was indignant and grieved.

"You just fought such a huge battle, and your first words are to register?"

Wang Hao looked at the devastated camp.

The formations were shattered.

Tents had collapsed.

Countless soldiers were injured.

The experts were covered in blood and grime.

But the black dragon flag was still standing.

The Great Zhou military formation was still intact.

The army of seven hundred thousand had not collapsed.

Wang Hao said lightly, "If we don't register them after winning, are we supposed to wait for someone to steal them?"

Wei Zhongxian immediately bowed.

"This old servant will arrange it right away."

Wang Hao added, "Tally the casualties."

"Calculate the battle merits."

"Double the pensions."

"List all losses in the ledger."

Wei Zhongxian asked, "Where should the tab be kept?"

Wang Hao looked up towards the folded space deep within the Heaven-Severing Ridge.

The corners of his mouth slowly curled up.

"Tell the entire army."

"Rest for one night."

"The Heavenly Secret Pavilion."

"Tomorrow, I will personally lead them to annihilate it."

Outside the Heaven-Severing Ridge, the night wind still carried the scent of blood.

The Great Zhou military camp was in ruins.

The deep craters left by the nine divine corpses were still smoking, and the lightning fire released by the Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda danced among the rubble like little snakes that hadn't quite died yet.

In the medical camp, the military doctors were so busy their feet barely touched the ground.

The operatives of the Eastern Depot held ledgers, recording casualties on one hand, and the remains of the divine corpses on the other, while also having to prevent the New Emperor Sword from sneaking a bite.

The New Emperor Sword circled a broken bone of a divine corpse three times.

"I'll just take one lick."

Wei Zhongxian smiled and said, "Master Sword, the Emperor said, register them first."

The New Emperor Sword said indignantly, "Your Great Zhou imperial court even registers bones, is there no sword rights at all?"

Wei Zhongxian said, "If Master Sword gets half an inch closer, this old servant will register you as a battle casualty as well."

The New Emperor Sword fell silent for a moment.

"You castrated thief, you are acting more and more like the tyrant."

Wei Zhongxian's smile grew even more benevolent.

"I am honored by Master Sword's praise."

In the military camp, the soldiers were so exhausted they could barely stand.

But they did not collapse.

The Black Dragon Banner still stood firmly atop the central command platform.

The flag was tattered, yet it still fluttered fiercely in the night wind.

This night, an army of seven hundred thousand had witnessed the descent of the divine corpse with their own eyes, and they had also watched Wang Hao sever the God-Burying Chains and smash the divine corpse to pieces.

They had felt fear.

They had felt despair.

There was even a moment when they felt that human strength was completely meaningless before such a monster.

But in the end, Wang Hao stood in the sky and forcibly dragged them back from the abyss of despair.

Therefore, even with the camp full of the wounded, and even though the ground beneath their feet looked as if it had been plowed three times over by their ancestors, a fire still burned in their hearts.

That fire was called the Great Zhou.

It was also called Wang Hao.

However, unlike the brief respite at the Heaven-Severing Ridge battlefield.

Deep within the Heaven's Secret Pavilion, behind the folded space.

A black stargate slowly closed.

Xie Wujiu, dragging his broken and aged body, stepped step by step into another realm.

His white hair hung down to his waist.

His skin was dry and wrinkled like dead tree bark.

His eyes, once as profound as a sea of stars, were now bloodshot.

With every step he took, the aura of his lifespan withered a fraction more.

The God-Burying projection had been shattered.

The projections of the nine God-Burying Chains had been severed.

The nine divine corpses were essentially destroyed.

The trump card he had activated using ten thousand years of the Heaven's Secret Pavilion's accumulation had not only failed to kill Wang Hao, but had actually allowed Wang Hao to obtain the fragments of the God-Burying Chains.

This was not just a failure.

This was utter humiliation to his face.

Xie Wujiu felt hatred.

He hated so much that his chest felt like it contained an erupting volcano.

He hated Wang Hao.

He hated this Great Zhou Emperor who had suddenly popped out of nowhere.

He was clearly only at the early stage of the Qi Imperial Realm.

According to the deductions of heaven's secrets, he was supposed to be the incompetent last ruler of the Great Zhou, destined to die in the tide of the kings' rebellion and the revival of anomalies.

Yet, this man had forcibly torn his fate to shreds.

Killed the Child of Destiny.

Tamed the noble families.

Reformed the government.

Improved the treasury.

Founded the Avengers Alliance.

Suppressed anomalies.

Subdued the Demon Suppression Alliance.

Pacified the evil demons of the Western Regions and the Crimson Moon.

He even treated the divine corpse trap, which the Heaven's Secret Pavilion had spent ten thousand years setting up, as recyclable assets.

Xie Wujiu also hated the Demon Suppression Alliance.

Those old fogeys should have complied with heaven's secrets and acknowledged that the Heaven's Secret Pavilion was the true ruler of order in the Eastern Wasteland.

Yet they chose to side with Wang Hao.

They would rather cooperate with a tyrant whose head was full of account books and who rarely spoke human words, than submit to the Heavenly Dao.

"Fools."

"All of them are fools."

Xie Wujiu muttered softly.

His voice was hoarse, yet it carried an almost maddening obsession.

"This venerable one represents the Heavenly Dao."

"All that this venerable one does is the will of heaven."

"Wang Hao obstructing me is defying heaven."

"The Demon Suppression Alliance aiding him is betraying the Dao."

"Since you all wish to rebel, then this venerable one will let you know what the true wrath of the Heavenly Dao looks like."

Behind the black stargate was not the Heaven's Secret Pavilion.

But a void rift path leading to a distant region.

At the end of the path, blood-red mist surged.

A desolate demonic mountain could faintly be seen.

That place was once the stronghold of the Crimson Moon Demonic Sect.

The mountain range laid out like dragon bones, and the earth was cracked with countless deep ravines.

Ruined palaces collapsed in the blood-colored dirt, and ancient altars were entangled in vines.

This area had long been swept clean and destroyed by Wang Hao's army.

The Crimson Moon Demonic Sect had migrated westward en masse, attempting to flee to the southern part of the Western Regions, but in the end, they were completely wiped out by Wang Hao.

What the world did not know, however.

Was that the true reason the Crimson Moon Demonic Sect left this place back then was not merely due to oppression by the Great Zhou.

It was more because they could not control the entity sealed here.

A peak Level Nine Anomaly.

The main body of the Night Mare.

It was not an ordinary anomaly.

Ordinary anomalies killed people relying on resentment, flesh and blood, and corruption.

When the Night Mare killed, it killed through dreams.

It could drill deep into a martial artist's divine soul, turning a person's most fearful, most desired, and most painful memories of their life into a cage.

Its sealing ground had to be suppressed using the body of a Martial God; it was simply too dangerous.

During the peak of the Night Mare's power, an entire city could fall into a deep slumber overnight.

The next day, the city would remain perfectly intact.

The houses would be intact.

The food in the pots would still be warm.

But the millions of people in the city would all be reduced to empty shells.

Their divine souls would be eaten clean in their dreams, leaving only their bodies maintaining the postures they had in life.

Some were still pushing doors.

Some were still feeding horses.

Some were still smiling.

But they were already dead.

This kind of anomaly was something even a Martial God would not easily provoke.

The Crimson Moon Demonic Sect had once vainly attempted to borrow the power of the Night Mare to establish a Demonic Nation of Ten Thousand Souls.

As a result, two of their three Demigod sect masters went mad overnight, and the remaining one hugged the ancestral tablet, crying for his mother.

Since then, the Crimson Moon Demonic Sect left entirely, leaving behind only layers upon layers of seals.

They were not giving up a treasured land.

They were fleeing for their lives.

And now, Xie Wujiu had arrived.

Behind him, another person followed.

The Child of Destiny who had repeatedly suffered defeat at Wang Hao's hands in the past.

The Holy Son of the Heaven's Secret Pavilion.

Lin Wuwang.