Forty Ancestors Enter the Account, Wang Hao to Fight a Blocking Action

After the order to withdraw the army was passed down, a brief silence fell over the Broken Sky Ridge military camp.

Many soldiers did not want to leave.

They had just endured the battle of the divine corpse.

They had just lent their vitality to Wang Hao.

They had just shouted, "The Black Dragon does not retreat."

Now they were being told to pull back.

For men of war, it was hard to accept.

A one-armed colonel knelt before the central command tent, gritting his teeth. "Your Majesty, I can still fight!"

Wang Hao looked at him.

"Fight with what?"

The colonel said, "I still have one hand left."

Wang Hao said flatly, "The Night Fiend is coming. That hand of yours might strangle you in your sleep."

The colonel: "..."

Wang Hao said, "Go home alive. Heal your wounds. Spend time with your wife and give her many strong sons."

"There will be more battles, more rewards, more land to grant."

"The Great Zhou has no shortage of chances for you to prove your loyalty."

The colonel’s eyes reddened.

The words weren’t exactly tender.

But they stirred a warmth in his chest.

"I obey your decree!"

More and more soldiers began to withdraw.

The Duke of Ying personally led the army.

One of the Black Dragon banners—a secondary flag—was detached to accompany the rear guard.

Wei Zhongxian arranged for the Eastern Depot eunuchs to transport the wounded, damaged supplies, and divine corpse remnants.

The New Emperor Sword watched in anguish.

"My bones!"

"My remnants!"

"My evolution fodder!"

Wang Hao said, "That’s state property."

The New Emperor Sword growled, "I’m state property too!"

Wang Hao glanced at it.

"Which means you can’t eat other state property."

The New Emperor Sword was silent for a moment.

"Human logic is too vicious."

The withdrawal lasted an entire half-day.

The seven hundred thousand troops flowed out of Broken Sky Ridge like a black tide.

No collapse.

No chaos.

The military formations remained sharply disciplined.

This shook many of the old patriarchs of the Demon-Suppressing Alliance.

If this were any ordinary dynasty’s army, the divine corpse battle would have shattered them completely.

But the Great Zhou army could still retreat in order.

It showed that Wang Hao’s terror wasn’t just his personal strength.

He was truly forging the Great Zhou into a war machine.

A war machine that kept accounts, provided pensions, registered names, and even swore at people.

Once the army had withdrawn a hundred miles, Broken Sky Ridge fell quiet.

The once-crowded camp now showed only a few lights in the central zone.

More than forty experts gathered inside the main tent.

The atmosphere was heavy.

Xie Wujiu had broken through to Martial God and sealed the Night Fiend into his body.

These words pressed on everyone’s hearts like an invisible mountain.

Old Master Ren was the first to speak.

"Wang kid, what are your odds?"

Wang Hao thought for a moment.

"Three in ten."

The faces around him hardened.

Xiao Chen couldn’t help asking, "You never used to move unless you had eight in ten, right?"

Wang Hao corrected him.

"I never used to move unless I had five in ten—and had someone else test the waters first."

Xiao Chen: "..."

That was even more unsettling.

Old Master Li said in a low voice, "Three in ten is too low."

Wang Hao nodded.

"That’s why we’re having a meeting."

The New Emperor Sword muttered, "I thought the meeting was for assigning blame."

Wang Hao said, "It serves that purpose too."

Everyone: "..."

The Pavilion Master Heavenly Sword looked at Wang Hao.

"Your Majesty, the Night Fiend’s deadliest weapon is nightmare corruption."

"It bypasses physical defense and attacks the soul directly."

"Even demigods, if their mental state has cracks, can be dragged into a dream."

Wang Hao asked, "How are all your mental states?"

The tent was silent.

After a moment, Old Master Ren coughed.

"I had rather too many romantic entanglements in my youth."

Old Master Li sneered.

"That’s not a mental crack—that’s moral decay."

Old Master Ren snapped back, "You hypocrite! When you wanted that spirit herb back in the day, you pretended to be dead for three months and tricked your own brother!"

Old Master Li’s face darkened.

"It was strategy, you understand?"

Wanyan Gu said seriously, "We northern barbarians don’t usually fake death. When we die, we really die."

Xiao Chen pressed his forehead.

"We’re supposed to be discussing the Night Fiend, not hosting a scandal convention."

But Wang Hao looked thoughtful.

"The more dirt in your past, the easier for the Night Fiend to exploit."

The old patriarchs’ expressions stiffened.

Wang Hao looked at Wei Zhongxian.

"Make a note."

"Everyone here will submit a self-examination of their inner demons."

Wei Zhongxian bowed.

"This servant understands."

Old Master Ren’s eyes widened.

"We have to register that too?"

Wang Hao said flatly, "No registration? Then when the fight starts, you’ll dream of an old flame and turn around and smash me with your staff?"

Old Master Ren choked.

Old Master Li said glumly, "He has a point."

Old Master Ren snapped, "Shut up!"

Wang Wudi directly backed his great-grandson. "The emperor is right. I support it."

The tension eased slightly.

But everyone knew this was just a brief breath before the storm.

Wang Hao raised his hand, and his true qi condensed into a simple map in the air.

Broken Sky Ridge.

The folded space of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion.

The old site of the Crimson Moon Demon Sect.

The Abyss of the Night Fiend.

He marked several locations.

"Xie Wujiu currently has three advantages."

"First, he’s at the peak of Martial God, half-human, half-demon."

"Second, the Night Fiend’s corruption."

"Third, Heavenly Mechanism deduction."

"He can calculate us."

"He can corrupt us."

"And he can beat us head-on."

Xiao Chen’s mouth twitched.

"Sounds like we’re just going to be slaughtered."

Wang Hao said, "Think more confidently."

"We’re delivering ourselves in style."

Xiao Chen: "..."

But Ye Guyun spoke up. "He also has weaknesses."

Wang Hao looked at him.

Ye Guyun said, "He just broke through. His foundation isn’t stable."

"The Night Fiend has been sealed for too long and isn’t at full strength."

"By sealing the Night Fiend inside himself, Xie Wujiu now carries three forces simultaneously: human, demon, and remnant celestial tribulation."

"These three cannot perfectly fuse."

The Pavilion Master Heavenly Sword’s eyes showed appreciation.

"Correct."

"He looks powerful now, but there must be internal conflict inside him."

Wang Hao nodded.

"So the strategy is simple."

"We can’t drag this out."

"The longer we delay, the deeper his fusion becomes, and the harder he is to kill."

"We have to strike while he’s still in the middle of his transformation—make him suffer indigestion."

The New Emperor Sword’s eyes lit up.

"Indigestion? I know that feeling!"

"I get it when I swallow demon artifacts!"

Wang Hao said, "That’s why you’re ranked three hundred and forty-five."

The New Emperor Sword roared, "Could you stop citing my ranking? Even a sword has its pride!"

Wang Hao ignored it and continued.

"The Thunder Abyss Suppression Tower still has one Eighth-Order Phoenix Thunderstrike left."

"Thunder serpents below Eighth Order can still be released, but they need recharging."

Wei Zhongxian said, "The nearby thunder veins have mostly been drained."

Wang Hao looked toward the distant sky.

"Xie Wujiu just weathered a heavenly tribulation. The Crimson Moon site must still have residual tribulation lightning."

"Tribulation lightning remnants—that’s good stock."

Everyone exchanged strange glances.

When others heard "tribulation lightning," their first instinct was danger.

Wang Hao’s first instinct was restocking.

The Pavilion Master Heavenly Sword asked, "Your Majesty plans to go to the Crimson Moon site?"

Wang Hao nodded.

"I have reasons I can’t ignore."

No one understood what "reasons I can’t ignore" meant.

But they were used to Wang Hao occasionally speaking like it was from some celestial text.

Every time he did, he’d probably pull out a new trump card.

Xiao Chen whispered to Ye Guyun.

"You think he still has hidden cards?"

Ye Guyun said, "Definitely."

Wanyan Gu said, "Or maybe not."

Xiao Chen looked at him.

Wanyan Gu said seriously, "But he’ll act like he does."

Qin Hongye said calmly, “What’s even more terrifying is that the enemy usually believes it.”

No one could refute that.

Wang Hao laid out the plan. “Pavilion Master Heavenly Sword, Ye Guyun, you’re in charge of the sword formation.”

“The Nine Heavens Cleaving Sword can sever karma, but Xie Wujiu’s fate lines are complicated—I need you to lock down the spatial rift points.”

Pavilion Master Heavenly Sword nodded.

“Understood.”

Wang Hao then turned to his great-grandfather Wang Wudi, as well as the patriarchs of the Ren and Li families.

“You all will seal the outer dream domain.”

“You don’t need to kill Xie Wujiu—just don’t let the nightmare spread.”

Old Master Ren let out a cold snort.

“Easy for you to say.”

Wang Hao replied, “After the battle, the slots for studying the Divine Coffin Lock Chain will be distributed according to contributions.”

Old Master Ren immediately said, “Well, I suppose it could be easier to say.”

Old Master Li sneered.

“No backbone.”

Wang Hao added, “The Li family gets a slot too.”

Old Master Li straightened up and declared gravely, “This old man is willing to guard the dream domain for the Eastern Wastelands.”

Old Master Ren cursed, “You’re worse than me!”

Wang Hao looked at Xiao Chen, Qin Hongye, Wanyan Gu, and the others.

“The Heavenly Prodigy Squad handles the mobile response.”

“You don’t need to stand up to a Martial God in direct combat.”

“If you spot anything abnormal, raise the alarm immediately.”

“Anyone who acts reckless on their own—after the battle, their resources are cut to zero.”

Xiao Chen had felt a spark of heroic fervor, but those words slammed him back to reality.

“Got it.”

Wanyan Gu raised his hand.

“If I accidentally get corrupted by nightmares, can I count it as a workplace injury?”

Wang Hao said, “Depends on whether you’re worth anything when you wake up.”

Wanyan Gu nodded seriously.

“Understood. I’ll make sure to wake up valuable.”

Qin Hongye turned to Wang Hao.

“And what about you?”

All eyes fell on Wang Hao.

Wang Hao said calmly, “I’ll take the front line.”

The tent fell silent.

Even though they had braced for it, shock rippled through everyone’s hearts.

Standing on the front line against a half-divine, half-aberrant Martial God like Xie Wujiu—that was essentially putting himself in the deadliest position possible.

Xiao Chen couldn’t help saying, “You’re only at the peak of the Qi Control Realm.”

Wang Hao looked at him.

“Did you just find that out tonight?”

Xiao Chen was left speechless.

Wang Hao said coolly, “Realm is just paper data.”

“Fighting depends on your total assets.”

“I’ve still got enough assets left for now.”

The New Emperor Sword immediately spoke up. “Does that include me?”

Wang Hao replied, “You count as a liability.”

The New Emperor Sword was heartbroken with rage.

Just then.

A cold wind swept through the tent.

All the candles suddenly turned blood-red.

At the edge of the camp, several void-walking elites on watch duty changed expression.

Far in the sky, a faint crimson moon phantom had appeared.

The moon seemed distant.

Yet it felt like it was pressed against everyone’s retinas.

The next moment.

A voice, both young and ancient, echoed in everyone’s ears.

“Wang Hao.”

“I’m here.”

As the voice fell, the ground beneath everyone in the tent turned into a black expanse of water.

In the water’s reflection, each of them saw another version of themselves.

Aged.

Terrified.

Mad.

Dead.

The Night Fiend dream domain had already reached Severed Heaven Ridge.

Pavilion Master Heavenly Sword drew his blade.

Old Master Ren gripped his staff.

Old Master Li summoned his Blood Wolf Soul.

Xiao Chen’s true qi surged.

Ye Guyun’s sword intent pierced the sky.

Qin Hongye’s cold light blazed in her eyes like snow.

Wanyan Gu hoisted his newly acquired heaven-grade low-tier wolf-toothed club and said seriously, “This time, it’s not wooden.”

The New Emperor Sword shouted excitedly, “Finally, it’s my turn!”

Wang Hao stood up.

His black sleeping robe swirled without wind.

There was no fear in his eyes.

Only the irritation of someone whose bill had come due ahead of schedule.

“Meeting adjourned.”

“Prepare to start the war.”

He looked up toward the crimson moon, and a slow grin crept across his face.

“Xie Wujiu.”

“Good timing.”

“Saves me the trouble of hunting you down.”