Sudden Turmoil in the Central Plains, the Sacred Land's Grand Formation Fully Activated

At the border of the Central Province, the moment the sky ripped open, several terrifying presences awakened simultaneously.

First came a bell toll.

Dong——!

The sound of the bell came from deep within a holy land in the distance, surging and rolling, shaking the sea of clouds for a thousand miles.

Then, a second, a third, a fourth... dozens of bell tolls rang out in succession. The sky above the entire Central Province border was lit up layer by layer by golden formation runes, as if countless great dragons were turning over beneath the earth.

"Enemy attack!"

"Activate the border grand formation!"

"Hurry, send word to the holy land!"

Countless cultivators looked up in panic. Above the border mountain range, the fissure that had originally only been able to accommodate a handful of people was suddenly smashed open by an azure-gold ancient boat. Behind the crack lay a churning black sea of death, and a colossal, grotesque shadow so vast it inspired sheer despair.

Half of that thing was still stuck inside the fissure, while the other half had already pressed into the Central Province border.

The moment it appeared, the spiritual qi of heaven and earth turned black, as if a contaminated river had flowed through.

"What is that thing?!"

"Corruption... is it an army of Corruption?"

"Not an army—it's a single monster!"

The border cultivators' faces went pale.

Many of them had never truly witnessed the battlefields of the Southern Sea in their lifetimes, only heard rumors. But seeing the true body of a half-step tenth-rank Corruption entity with their own eyes finally made them understand what despair meant.

That was no living creature.

It was like a moving calamity.

Wang Hao stood at the prow of the Ten-Thousand-Mile Star-Chasing Boat, his black hair flying in the wind, his gaze cold as a blade.

He did not rush to strike. Instead, he first swept a glance over the border grand formation of the Central Province.

"Quite fast."

"These old fogies of the Central Province have sharp noses."

Heavenly Sword stood beside him, hefting his blade on his shoulder, brimming with excitement: "Your Majesty, want me to take a swing first? This Central Province is way better than the Southern Sea—the spiritual qi here smells like a proper place for a fight."

"Hold on."

Wang Hao looked toward the sacred cities floating in the sea of clouds in the distance.

There, several figures were already standing in midair.

One of them wore a silver-white Daoist robe, sleeves embroidered with twin wheels of sun and moon, his aura deep as an abyss. He was clearly a late-stage Martial God realm powerhouse.

"The Central Province reacted faster than I expected," the Demon Lord said in a low voice.

"It's not that they reacted fast. It's that the gift I gave them was too big," Wang Hao said flatly. "With something this massive crashing down on them, unless they were all blind, there's no way they could pretend not to see it."

The moment he finished speaking, a furious shout roared across the sea of clouds.

"Who dares trespass upon the Central Province border!"

The old man in the silver-white robe stepped forward, cracking his whisk once. Behind him, a massive heavenly wheel dharma image manifested, radiating golden light for ten thousand zhang, shaking the border mountain range itself.

"It's the Supreme Elder of the Heavenly Wheel Holy Land, Reverend Bai Xuan!"

"The Reverend is here!"

"Thank heavens! With the Reverend here, he'll surely subdue this monster!"

The Central Province border cultivators grew excited.

Wang Hao looked at the figure, his expression indifferent.

"Heavenly Wheel Holy Land?"

"I'll remember that."

He raised a finger and pointed at the half-step tenth-rank Corruption entity that was still struggling.

"That thing? I drove it all the way here from the Southern Sea."

"If you have the means, take it."

Reverend Bai Xuan's gaze landed on Wang Hao, his pupils contracting sharply.

"Wang Hao?"

"You actually dragged this thing all the way to the Central Province!"

His voice carried disbelief and barely suppressed fury.

Wang Hao simply smiled.

"You recognized me only now?"

"I thought your Central Province's intelligence network was supposed to be impressive. Guess it's nothing much."

Reverend Bai Xuan was enraged beyond words.

But before he could speak again, the half-step tenth-rank Corruption entity had fully crossed out of the fissure. Its massive black arm swept downward, smashing straight into the border grand formation.

Boom!

The entire Central Province border grand formation blazed to its absolute limit in an instant.

Countless runes spun wildly, barely managing to block the strike. Even so, over a dozen mountain peaks collapsed, earth veins snapped, spiritual qi went into chaos, and a great swath of cultivators vomited blood and staggered backward.

"So strong!" Reverend Bai Xuan's face turned grim.

He finally understood—this was not a monster that border defenses alone could hold back.

"Report to the holy land at once!" he roared. "Activate the Heavenly Wheel Reality-Suppressing Formation!"

"Yes!"

Almost the moment he gave the order, Wang Hao moved.

He didn't wait for the Central Province holy land to respond, nor did he have any interest in exchanging pleasantries with the old man.

"Sky-Sealing Earth-Covering Palm, seventh stance."

A golden palm imprint descended from the heavens, slamming directly onto the patch of flesh that was still stuck inside the fissure behind the half-step tenth-rank Corruption entity.

This strike wasn't meant to kill it. It was meant to—

"Get back in there."

Boom!

The monster's colossal body was shoved forward, sliding half a li deeper into the Central Province's interior from the fissure.

Reverend Bai Xuan's eyeballs nearly popped out.

"Wang Hao! You've lost your mind!"

Wang Hao glanced at him and said flatly:

"I'm not crazy."

"I just want it to come a little further in."

"You people of the Central Province like to hide things, don't you?"

"Well, today I'm helping you drag all the things you've hidden out into the open."

The moment he finished speaking, from the distant sea of clouds, a second, third, fourth—even more terrifying presences—began to stir awake.

Clearly, Reverend Bai Xuan of the Heavenly Wheel Holy Land was not the only one to be alarmed.

Wang Hao's lips curled slightly.

"Finally starting to come out."

"Now that looks more like it."

In the Central Province, at the Heavenly Wheel Holy Land.

Inside an ancient hall floating above the nine heavens, several white-haired elders opened their eyes at the same time.

Before them hung a massive water mirror, reflecting the terrifying figure of the half-step tenth-rank Corruption entity at the border, as well as Wang Hao standing calmly at the prow of the boat.

"It really is him."

"That brat Wang Hao actually dragged this thing all the way to the Central Province!"

"This kid has nerves of steel. He's courting death!"

Amid the commotion, the elder seated at the center, draped in a purple-gold dharma robe, slowly raised his hand to silence the others.

"Hold your curses for now."

His voice was low, but it brought the entire hall to immediate stillness.

"Look closely. That monster's condition is wrong."

At those words, everyone looked back at the water mirror.

A moment later, their faces changed in unison.

"It's wounded?"

"And severely!"

"Its regeneration is being suppressed. Someone has tampered with its body from the inside!"

The elder in the purple-gold robe narrowed his eyes, his gaze sharp as lightning.

"If Wang Hao truly possessed such skill, he would be more than just some Eastern Frontier emperor."

"There's more behind him. Other cards we haven't seen."

The others fell into a grim silence.

Just then, hurried footsteps echoed from outside the hall.

A disciple burst in, dropping to one knee: "Elder, the Heavenly Wheel border is in full alarm. Reverend Bai Xuan requests the holy land immediately activate the Reality-Suppressing Formation. And... the Corruption entity Wang Hao brought with him is pressing toward the Central Province's heartland!"

"What?!"

"Audacious!"

"Activate the Reality-Suppressing Formation now!"

"Send orders to all peaks—seal the border for three thousand li!"

The hall erupted into chaos.

But just as the grand formation was about to fully activate, Wang Hao in the water mirror suddenly raised his head, as if gazing across infinite void, staring straight at them.

That single glance, for reasons unknown, sent a chill through the hearts of the several sacred elders present.

It was as if he had known they were watching all along.

“Gentlemen.”

From within the mirror, Wang Hao spoke across the void, his voice ringing clear and distinct into the great hall.

“No need to rush closing the gates.”

“I have not come to Central Province today for a visit.”

“I have come to deliver a gift.”

The elder in the violet-gold robe darkened his expression: “Presumptuous!”

But Wang Hao paid him no mind, and continued:

“This gift is called a Half-Step Tenth Order Aberration.”

“Whether you accept it or not, is none of my concern.”

“But I suggest you take it seriously and keep it well. Because if it gets hungry later, the ones who suffer won’t just be the borderlands.”

“Arrogant!” roared an elder with a fiery temper. “A mere Emperor of the Eastern Wasteland, daring to act so boldly before the sacred grounds of Central Province——”

Before he could finish, a streak of black-gold sword light flashed through the water mirror.

The next instant, that elder’s soul lamp in the corner of the hall gave a violent jump.

“What?!”

“Soul lamp resonance?!”

“Mirror attack?!”

The crowd was thrown into shock.

At that moment, the Heavenly Sword inside the water mirror was gleefully waving toward the outside.

“Hey, old-timers, don’t panic.”

“This one is merely sending greetings on behalf of His Majesty.”

“And to let you know—your Central Province smells even richer than the Southern Sea.”

The Central Province elders’ faces turned iron-gray.

The violet-gold robed elder shut his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, they were filled with biting cold.

“Have all the sacred grounds prepare.”

“This is no longer a border skirmish.”

“Wang Hao—he wants to force us to reveal every card we hold.”

Elsewhere, among the Sixteen Sacred Grounds of Central Province, the remaining sects received word at nearly the same moment.

Azure Cloud Sacred Ground.

“A Half-Step Tenth Order Aberration, driven by Wang Hao from the Southern Sea all the way to Central Province?”

“Has he lost his mind?”

“Not madness. He wants to use our hands to kill that thing.”

Mystic Firmament Sacred Ground.

“Wang Hao did this on purpose.”

“He is not fleeing, nor is he losing. He is forcing us to take the fight.”

“If we don’t act now, once that monster feasts its way into the heart of Central Province, it will be too late.”

Crimson Sun Sacred Ground.

“Go. Dispatch three thousand Flame-Scorching Soldiers.”

“Since Wang Hao dares to send us a gift, then let him learn—even if he won one round, Central Province is still no place for him to stir up trouble.”

News spread like the wind, and the Sixteen Sacred Grounds moved almost in unison.

Just as the various great powers were preparing to strike, another muffled thunderclap split the sky above the Central Province border.

The Ten-Thousand-Mile Star-Chasing Vessel sped past, dragging a trail of azure-gold light behind it, pressing the Half-Step Tenth Order Aberration straight toward the second defense line of Central Province.

At that moment, everyone watching from the border skies was stunned speechless.

“He… he’s still pushing it?”

“This isn’t luring a monster—this is herding pigs!”

“He really is driving it into Central Province!”

“Madness, absolute madness!”

Standing at the bow of the vessel, Wang Hao coldly swept his gaze across the gathering sacred-ground powerhouses ahead. There was not a trace of retreat in his eyes.

“Perfect timing.”

“I was afraid you wouldn’t come out.”

“The more people, the livelier this show becomes.”

With that, he raised a hand, and a new black token materialized in his palm.

It was the second critical intelligence reward that the System had just refreshed.

[Intelligence Update: At the edge of the forbidden land “Abyss of Ten-Thousand Ruins” in the Northern Domain of Central Province, there lies a half-ruined ancient formation site that no sacred ground has fully mastered. If struck by the force of the Half-Step Tenth Order Aberration, it can briefly unleash the residual power of the formation.]

Wang Hao’s gaze flickered slightly.

“Abyss of Ten-Thousand Ruins?”

“Remains of an imperial formation?”

“I see.”

A faint, barely perceptible curve slowly spread at the corner of his mouth.

“Now I know exactly where to drive it next.”