You... you didn't use your full strength.

Before the words had even faded, his figure vanished from where he stood.

It wasn’t shadow teleportation—it was pure speed. After transforming, his velocity reached its peak, leaving a trail of afterimages in the air, each one frozen in the posture of charging forward with wings spread.

Thirty-six flying blades moved even faster than he did, shooting toward Wang Hao from thirty-six different angles, sealing off every possible route of evasion. Every single blade was coated with the concentrated venom of Dark Abyss Tears. A single scratch on the skin would corrode and destroy a Martial God’s foundation in the span of three breaths.

The true body of Shadow hid behind the storm of afterimages and blades. The eight bone blades on his claws thrust out simultaneously, aimed straight for Wang Hao’s dantian. He refused to believe that a Ten-Thousand-Poison Immunity Talisman could block the concentrated version of Dark Abyss Tears—a substance ten times more toxic than its gaseous form, potent enough to turn an entire lake into a dead zone in an instant.

Wang Hao did not dodge.

He simply raised his right hand, spread his five fingers, and gently pressed down toward the storm of blades and Shadow’s true form.

Heaven-Sealing Earth-Covering Palm: First Strike.

A golden palm print spanning a hundred zhang materialized out of thin air, its five fingers like towering mountains, the lines on its palm as clear and distinct as those on a real hand.

The moment the first strike collided with the blade formation, the thirty-six flying blades were scattered in all directions by the shockwave.

Then came the second, third, and fourth strikes. Four overlapping palm prints stacked upon one another, forming a golden wall of condensed palm force before Shadow.

The flying blades clattered against the wall, producing sharp ringing sounds before being deflected. None of them managed to breach that golden barrier.

Shadow’s true body followed close behind. All eight of his bone blades slammed into the wall of palm force, producing a grating metallic screech.

The blades sank in half an inch—and no further.

“Not bad for effort,” Wang Hao said from behind the wall, a faint smile on his face. “But you’re still far from mid-stage Martial God. I’ve sparred with eight Martial Gods and Demon Gods at Heavenly Void Peak. At your level, you’d barely rank ninth.”

Then he switched techniques.

Not the fifth strike—the seventh.

Heaven-Sealing Earth-Covering Palm: Seventh Strike.

This was the first time he had unleashed it at full power since stepping into the Martial God realm. The seventh strike brought far greater force than it ever had during his Sky-Stepping stage.

The palm print expanded from a hundred zhang to three hundred zhang. Golden light blazed across the entire Black Wind Valley, illuminating everything. The air between the five fingers was compressed to its limit before exploding outward with a deafening roar.

That single palm struck Shadow square in the chest, sending him and his claws flying backward through the air.

Shadow coughed up a spray of dark green blood mid-flight. He flapped his bat wings frantically, trying to stabilize himself, but before he could adjust his posture, Wang Hao’s eighth strike had already arrived.

Heaven-Sealing Earth-Covering Palm: Eighth Strike.

Faster, larger, and more ferocious than the seventh.

The palm print swelled from three hundred zhang to five hundred zhang. The golden light had transformed—no longer purely gold, but tinged with a translucent white. It was a phenomenon born from the destruction-infused Dao marks merging into the palm technique.

This strike landed on Shadow’s back, driving him from midair straight down into the ground.

The floor of Black Wind Valley was smashed into a pit a hundred zhang in diameter. Spiderweb-like cracks radiated outward from the crater’s center, spreading in every direction. The entire Eagle’s Sorrow Cliff trembled under the aftershock of that single blow.

At the bottom of the pit, three of Shadow’s bat-wing bones were snapped. Most of the dark green scale armor on his body was shattered. The thirty-six flying blades lay scattered across the ground, their blade edges tarnished, the eerie green toxic glow almost completely extinguished.

He struggled to push himself up—until a foot pressed down on his chest.

Wang Hao looked down at him, still wearing that same brilliant grin.

“Grand Commander, I just used eight strikes. Guess how much of my strength I put into beating you?”

Shadow glared back at him, dark green blood seeping steadily from the corners of his mouth. At least thirty percent of the meridians inside his body had been shattered by those three consecutive strikes. The spirit Qi in his dantian was clogged and sluggish, corrupted by the destructive aura embedded in the palm force.

He had been defeated—cleanly, decisively, without a single chance to turn the tables.

“You… weren’t going all out,” Shadow rasped, his voice like a broken bellows.

“Smart,” Wang Hao nodded. “I was using about seventy percent. If I had wanted you dead, I could have jumped straight to the eighth strike from the first. You wouldn’t even have had time to transform. I spared your life because I need you to deliver a message.”

He lifted his foot, took a step back, and pulled a Memory Crystal from his sleeve. He held it up in front of Shadow, who was now barely clinging to life.

“Go back and tell the guild masters of the Eight-League Alliance in Dark City: your Shadow Guards tried to assassinate me, and I wiped them out. By the rules of the martial world, you made the first move, and I retaliated. It’s only fair. I’m in the right. And since I’m in the right, I’ll march straight up to Dark City with my head held high and collect every spirit stone you owe me—principal and interest.”

He paused, and his grin carried a trace of bone-chilling killing intent.

“Of course, if you think I’m not enough on my own, I’d be happy to bring the Eastern Wasteland’s seven hundred thousand troops along. Then it won’t just be about spirit stones. I’m an easy man to deal with—if you pay me back willingly, I’ll even leave you one shop to run. But if I have to force my way in before you beg for mercy… then you only get to keep your life. And for those who neither pay nor beg? How many mines does Dark City own? I think those would make fine compensation.”

As his words fell, the battle in the valley was winding down.

Under the coordination of Xiao Chen and the other four, the majority of the fifty Shadow Guards had been neutralized—seventeen captured, twenty-three severely wounded and combat-incapacitated, ten killed in action.

Not a single one had escaped.

Five thousand elite Imperial Guard soldiers had already sealed off the valley entrance. Twenty Sky-Stepping Realm Ancestors had encircled Black Wind Valley from all sides. Every hidden sentry had been rooted out. The three outer support points had all been dismantled by Wang Wudi’s personal squad.

Shadow lifted his head with great difficulty. He looked at the Shadow Guards lying scattered across the valley floor, then at the neatly lined Eastern Wasteland Imperial Guard soldiers at the valley mouth. His lips trembled for a long moment before he finally forced a single word out through his throat.

“…Go.”

“Oh?” Wang Hao raised an eyebrow.

“I’m in no rush. It’ll take you at least an incense stick’s time to recover enough to move. In that time, we can have a nice chat. For instance, your life-bound Curse Weapon, Dark Annihilation. I saw it ranked ninety-ninth—not bad. It’s lower than my Son of Heaven Sword, but it would make a decent gift for one of my subordinates.”

Shadow’s eyes shot wide open. “You wouldn’t dare—”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Wang Hao countered. “Dark City dared to send assassins after me. Taking a few Curse Weapons as interest is hardly unreasonable. Speaking of which, I’m also confiscating the teleportation array you have here in Black Wind Valley. That thing starts at a market value of fifty million spirit stones. I’ll count it against your debt—lighten your load a little.”

He turned and waved at Wei Zhongxian.

Wei Zhongxian had already appeared at the valley entrance, still clutching that thick ledger.

“Old Wei, make a note. Grand Commander Shadow of the Shadow Guards owes me the following: gambling debts plus mental distress damages from the assassination attempt—total, let’s say, one hundred million spirit stones. Confiscate his life-bound Curse Weapon, ‘Dark Annihilation’—valued at eighty million spirit stones, subtracted. Confiscate the Black Wind Valley teleportation array—valued at fifty million spirit stones, subtracted. Also confiscate all equipment and storage rings from the remaining fifty Shadow Guards. Once the total is tallied, how much do they end up owing me?”

Wei Zhongxian, keeping his expression blank, cooperatively flipped open the account book, and crackled the abacus a few times:

“To report to Your Majesty, including the previous debt from the Crimson Dragon Gambling House, the Dark City currently owes Your Majesty a total of approximately three hundred and one point five billion spirit stones. Deducting the value of the items confiscated this time, the remaining debt is about three hundred and one point three seven billion spirit stones.”

Wang Wudi nodded with satisfaction, then looked down at Shadow: “Grand Commander, you heard that? You still owe Us three hundred and one point three seven billion spirit stones. Go back and tell the eight chiefs: We give them three days. Either pay up—or—”

He bent down, leaned close to Shadow’s ear, and whispered the last few words under his breath.

Shadow’s face went from pale to ashen.

No one knew what Wang Wudi said.

But everyone saw Shadow’s expression—an expression like someone had driven a knife straight into his deepest fear.

Wang Wudi straightened up and clapped his hands: “Alright, today’s banquet ends here. Grand Commander, We won’t see you out.”

“We’ve confiscated the teleportation formation. You’ll have to fly back on your own.”

“Watch your step. And don’t let anyone from the Central Continent see you—you look pretty pathetic right now.”

He turned and waved at Xiao Chen and the others: “Back to camp. Tonight, we throw a victory feast—and celebrate the successful auction.”

Outside Black Wind Valley, the seventy-thousand-strong Eastern Wasteland army struck their tents and marched off in the night.

The dying embers of the campfires flickered in the wind, illuminating the faces of the soldiers, still buzzing with excitement.

This battle had been won so easily and so swiftly that many hadn’t even realized it—Dark Shadow’s most elite Shadow Guards had just been wiped out in one fell swoop?

It wasn’t until the next morning, when the detailed battle report from Black Wind Valley spread throughout Conduit City, that everyone truly understood what had happened.

In Black Wind Valley, Shadow slowly climbed up from the deep pit.

His bat wings were broken, his scale armor shattered, three-tenths of his meridians severed, his natal demonic artifact confiscated, and all fifty of his elite troops lost.

He had lived for four hundred years and had never lost this thoroughly. Trembling, he reached into his robe and pulled out a black communication jade slip.

This was the Dark City’s encrypted communication jade slip, directly linked to the headquarters of the Eight Clans Alliance. Eight different runes were engraved on the slip, each representing one of the eight chiefs.

He hesitated for a long time, then finally injected his last shred of astral energy into it.

The jade lit up with an eerie green glow, and all eight runes flickered simultaneously.

“Headquarters,” Shadow’s voice was hoarse as gravel scraping together,

“The Black Wind Valley mission… has failed. All fifty Shadow Guards have fallen. The target is completely unharmed.”

“Repeat: the target is completely unharmed. Additionally, the target claims that in three days, he will march on the Dark City, demanding the Eight Clans Alliance to either—”

He paused, struggling to force out the last four words:

“Pay up, or die.”

There was a long silence on the other end of the jade slip.

Then, a cold female voice came through from the slip: “Shadow, what did you say?”

“This subordinate has failed,” Shadow closed his eyes.

“The plan was leaked. The target set up a counter-ambush in advance. Not only has he broken through to Martial God, but he also possesses a countermeasure against the Tears of the Abyss.”

“His combat strength far exceeds the early Martial God realm—I fought him at full power with my Dark Demon True Form, and he defeated me in three palm strikes.”

Another silence on the slip.

This time, it lasted even longer.

Then, another hoarse male voice spoke: “What else did he say?”

Shadow gritted his teeth and repeated Wang Wudi’s final words word for word:

“He said—‘Your Dark City owes Us spirit stones that your offspring can’t repay for generations. How about switching things up—sell the Dark City to Us, and We’ll leave you a way out.’”

On the other end of the jade slip, eight different astral signatures erupted in fury.

“Arrogant!”

“Courting death!”

“Just some newly promoted Martial God, and he thinks destroying the Shadow Guards lets him throw his weight around against the Dark City?”

“Notify every clan to activate their highest alert! Let him come—and never leave!”

Amid the roar of rage, only one low female voice stayed calm.

That voice came unhurried, yet it silenced all the raging outbursts.

“Enough.”

The jade slip went quiet.

“Shadow, come back. Tell me the details in person.”