The Emperor Corpse let out a thunderous roar.
It had no complete sentience, but its instincts remained.
This sword was disgusting.
Not only did it slash at the Corpse.
It devoured it, too.
And it wasn't satisfied with just eating—it cursed while it ate.
This was a twofold trampling of the Emperor Corpse's dignity.
The Emperor Corpse suddenly lifted its foot, trying to crush Wang Hao.
Wang Hao moved like lightning, dodging to the side in an instant.
At the same time, he delivered his fifth strike, Star-Breaker, carving directly into the Corpse's ankle.
The Emperor Corpse's body tilted.
The New Emperor Sword was so excited its voice cracked.
"Master!"
"Cut its leg!"
"Cut it off! Cut it off!"
Wang Hao sneered.
"Do I need you to teach me?"
Sixth strike—Heaven-Splitter!
The blade-light sliced upward.
A terrifying gash tore open at the Emperor Corpse's left knee.
Gray-white death qi erupted like a volcanic blast.
The people of Great Xia watched, blood boiling.
Han Shanyue clenched his fists, eyes reddening.
"His Majesty is beating the Emperor Corpse down!"
Yin Jiuyou murmured, "That's the Emperor Corpse, though..."
Xue Wuhen's voice was hoarse.
"If we make it out of here alive today, who in the world would still dare call His Majesty just a tyrant?"
The Demon Lord watched Wang Hao's back, his gaze complicated.
A tyrant?
Of course.
Greedy, sharp-tongued, black-hearted, grudging.
But when this tyrant stood at the front, he looked more like an emperor than any sage-king ever had.
He never said grand, righteous things.
But every time danger struck hardest, he was at the very front.
Cursing.
Scheming.
And then carving out a path to survival through sheer force.
Ghost Granny whispered, "Does Great Xia's fortune turn on having an emperor like this?"
The Demon Lord was silent for a moment.
"For enemies, it's a curse."
"For us..."
He looked at the figure wreathed in thunder.
"Maybe a blessing."
The Emperor Corpse suffered blow after blow.
Ji Wushang's expression, however, shifted from fury to cold calm.
He no longer moved to rescue it.
Instead, he watched quietly as Wang Hao tore the Corpse apart, sword stroke by sword stroke.
Wang Hao noticed immediately.
A chill settled in his heart.
Something was wrong.
Ji Wushang was too quiet.
A schemer like him would never watch his Emperor Corpse get crippled without doing something.
Unless...
He wanted the Corpse to be crippled.
Wang Hao slashed the Corpse back with one strike, his gaze snapping to Ji Wushang.
"What's the matter?"
"Not going to save your Emperor Corpse daddy?"
The New Emperor Sword immediately chimed in.
"Probably planning to change his family name—the unfilial son's giving up!"
"Man, that old Emperor Corpse is getting played hard!"
"Honored in life, a pawn in death, sold out by his own son!"
The Emperor Corpse seemed to understand some of it and howled even more ferociously.
It smashed through the black-thunder chains and lunged at Wang Hao.
Wang Hao's eyes turned cold.
Since Ji Wushang wasn't going to save it, then he'd finish crippling the Emperor Corpse first.
Whatever Ji Wushang was scheming, the more intact the Corpse was, the stronger his trump card would be.
Crippling it first was always the right move.
"Nine Palms!"
Wang Hao raised his left hand.
Nine consecutive strikes of the Heaven-Sealing Earth-Crushing Palm.
First Palm!
Second Palm!
Third Palm!
...
Ninth Palm!
Nine colossal azure palms stacked in the air above the abyss.
Each palm carried Imperial Dragon Qi.
Each palm blazed with thunder's fury.
The nine palms merged into one, slamming down like the very heavens descending.
The Emperor Corpse looked up, arms raised to block.
But it was already wounded by the Nine Sword Forms of Heaven's Opening, and the New Emperor Sword had devoured a vast amount of its death essence.
Now, forced to take the nine palms head-on, its body finally gave out.
BOOM!
The bones in the Emperor Corpse's arms shattered.
Its knees slammed into the remnants of the sacrificial altar.
The ruined altar sank another thousand zhang.
The Emperor Corpse knelt.
Not on one knee.
Both knees!
The people of Great Xia burst out with unrestrained cheers.
"His Majesty is mighty!"
"His Majesty is unstoppable!"
"The Emperor Corpse has knelt!"
The New Emperor Sword vibrated to its limit.
It conjured its artifact spirit, standing on the blade with hands on hips, cackling.
"AH HA HA HA!"
"Old Emperor Corpse!"
"Who was it that slapped yours truly earlier?"
"Now you're kneeling before me!"
"Show me how tough you are!"
"You said your bones were hard? Well, yours truly specializes in breaking hard things!"
Wang Hao shoved its spirit form back inside the blade.
"Stop showing off."
The New Emperor Sword protested.
"Master, let the sword curse a little more!"
Wang Hao said coldly, "Keep it up, and when the enemy turns the tables, are you going to take responsibility?"
The New Emperor Sword went quiet instantly.
"Master is wise. The sword will shut up."
Wang Hao turned to Ji Wushang.
He'd meant to throw out another taunt.
But the words died in his throat.
Because Ji Wushang was smiling.
Not with anger.
Not with frustration.
But with the smile of a plan fulfilled.
Ji Wushang slowly raised his head, the black crystal in his chest ceasing its rotation.
He looked at the kneeling Emperor Corpse, then at Wang Hao, and a mocking pity flickered in his eyes.
"Wang Hao."
"You really are smart."
"And you really can fight."
That unease in Wang Hao's heart grew stronger.
Ji Wushang continued, "Too bad."
"No matter how smart you are, you're just working for me."
The moment the words left his mouth, Ji Wushang's figure vanished.
Not flying.
Not a movement technique.
But through the final lingering connection between the Nine-Coffin Altar remnants and the Emperor Corpse, he teleported directly in front of the Corpse.
Wang Hao's pupils contracted.
"Stop him!"
The Black-Thunder Tower of Demon Suppression fired waves of black lightning.
The New Emperor Sword lashed out with a streak of blade-light.
But Ji Wushang had already raised his hand.
In his palm was a black core.
Darker, deeper, and more unnatural than the one in his chest.
It looked as though countless faces were screaming inside it.
Ji Wushang grinned fiercely.
"Now."
"Time for me to check the goods."
In one motion, he slammed the black core straight into the Emperor Corpse's forehead.
The instant the core sank into the forehead, the Ten Thousand Graves Abyss fell silent.
Not the kind of silence where sound disappears.
The kind where every sound is swallowed by something far more sinister.
Thunder stopped.
Death qi froze.
The heartbeats of Great Xia's people felt crushed by an invisible hand.
The next moment, the Emperor Corpse's forehead split open.
The vertical mark that once fired beams of dark death-light was now forcibly pried apart by the black core.
Countless thin black veins burrowed from the core like living things, driving into the Corpse's skull.
The Emperor Corpse threw its head back and screamed.
That scream was no longer mere death instinct.
It was agony.
It was fury.
It was a dead emperor's body being desecrated by something even more evil.
Ji Wushang stood before the Corpse, arms spread wide, his face twisted in near-insane elation.
"HAHAHAHA!"
"Wang Hao!"
"Did you really think I was using the Emperor Corpse as a mere enforcer?"
"Did you really think I schemed this long just to pilot a dead emperor's body?"
Wang Hao's face darkened, ice creeping through his gut.
He'd been played.
He'd figured Ji Wushang's goal was to control the Emperor Corpse, use it to kill them, or use the Nine-Coffin Altar to awaken some emperor-level power.
So his best move had been to sever the connection between Ji Wushang and the Corpse, then cripple the Corpse.
But now—
What Ji Wushang wanted was never an intact Emperor Corpse.
It was one weakened enough to devour.
The harder Wang Hao hit the Corpse, the weaker it got.
The weaker it got, the easier it was for Ji Wushang to sink his hooks in.
For the first time, Wang Hao's eyes went truly cold.
Not with killing intent.
But with the frustration of being out-schemed by a master of manipulation.
It felt terrible.
Like spending half a day haggling, only to realize the shopkeeper had been trying to palm off counterfeit goods on you the whole time—and even made you help him move his storage room.
Absurd.
Thoroughly absurd.
The New Emperor Sword realized it too.
Every inch of the blade bristled.
"Ji the Dog!"
"You dare snatch my food, you bastard?"
"That Emperor Corpse is mine!"
"Mine!"
"I can level up by devouring it!"
"You thing with a black egg growing out of your chest, how dare you steal my food!"
Ji Wushang didn't even bother to respond.
The crystal core in his chest and the black core on the Emperor Corpse's forehead lit up simultaneously.
Between the two cores erupted billions of black rune threads.
Those threads pierced through the void, linking to the remnants of the Nine Coffin Altar.
Rumble!
From the ruins of the altar, a host of cursed artifacts rose into the air.
There was a broken bronze ring.
A bloodstained bone lamp.
A tattered banner covered in eyeballs.
Half a length of black iron chain.
A small coffin that kept seeping blood.
Dozens of them in total, densely packed.
Each cursed artifact emanated a heart-stopping aura.
Some ranked low, yet were utterly sinister.
Some were battered and broken, yet still preserved some ancient rule.
These cursed artifacts revolved around Ji Wushang and the Emperor Corpse, forming a massive vortex of dread.
Cursed qi shot into the heavens.
The black tide flowed backward.
Even the thunderlight released by the Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower was forcibly blocked outside.
Wang Hao wasted no words.
He hated it most when enemies monologued while transforming.
So he struck directly.
"Thunder Abyss!"
From the eighth floor of the Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower, the Thunder Phoenix emerged once more.
Its cry tore through the silence.
Countless thunder feathers descended like heavenly blades, raining down on Ji Wushang and the Emperor Corpse.
At the same time, Wang Hao raised his hand and unleashed the Heaven-Imprisoning Earth-Covering Palm.
First strike!
Second strike!
Third strike!
No probing.
No hesitation.
Straight into a combo.
The giant celestial palm, bearing the imperial dragon aura, slammed toward the vortex of cursed artifacts.
The New Emperor Sword, moreover, was enraged to the extreme.
It shot out of Wang Hao's hand on its own, its blade radiating blazing black light, its artifact spirit manifestation charging at the front while shouldering the sword.
"Ji Wushang, you dog!"
"Give back my Emperor Corpse!"
"That's my leveling material!"
"Whoever steals my meal dies!"
Wang Hao's eye twitched.
"Get back here!"
The New Emperor Sword roared.
"Master! This is unforgivable!"
"If I endure this, my sword-heart will shatter!"
Wang Hao said coldly, "You have a sword-heart?"
The New Emperor Sword said, "Yes! A devouring sword-heart!"
Wang Hao: "..."
That answer left him with no retort.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Thunder Phoenix, the palm strike, and the sword light all crashed into the cursed artifact vortex at once.
But the next moment, Wang Hao's expression darkened further.
Blocked.
All the attacks were stopped by the dense layer of cursed qi surrounding the vortex.
The thunder feathers sank into it like mud into the sea.
The Heaven-Imprisoning palm force slammed down, only causing ripples on the vortex's surface.
The New Emperor Sword hacked in with one strike, and just as its devouring power was about to activate, it was simultaneously repelled by dozens of cursed artifacts. With a whoosh, it was sent flying back to Wang Hao's side.
"Ouch!"
"Master!"
"They ganged up on me!"
Wang Hao caught the sword and said coldly, "So now you know what pain feels like?"
The New Emperor Sword was furious.
"Pain doesn't matter!"
"What matters is they fight dirty!"
Wang Hao stared at the vortex of cursed artifacts, calculating furiously in his head.
No.
It wasn't that it couldn't be broken.
It was that there wasn't enough time.
These cursed artifacts were clearly part of a fusion array Ji Wushang had prepared in advance.
He had been waiting for the moment when the Emperor Corpse was heavily wounded, its imperial body instinctively weakened, and the death essence leaked out.
Then, using the black core as a bridge, he linked himself, the contamination source of the Emperor's Fallen Monument, the Emperor Corpse's remnant body, the Nine Coffin Altar, and dozens of cursed artifacts all together.
This wasn't possession.
Nor was it corpse refinement.
This was devolution into a cursed entity.
Ji Wushang was going to fuse himself with the Emperor Corpse, refining both into some higher form of aberrance.
Ghost Granny's face was pale as paper.
Her voice trembled, nearly cracking.
"Level ten..."
"He wants to ascend to a level-ten cursed entity!"
The hearts of the Xia Empire warriors shook violently.
Level-ten cursed entity?
In the high-martial world, above the ninth realm of martial arts was War God.
Above War God was Transcendence.
But the cursed system is different.
Cursed artifacts, cursed objects, cursed beings—their ranks are unfathomably inscrutable.
If classified by threat level, a level-ten cursed entity would almost correspond to a Transcendent Emperor!
In some respects, it might even be more terrifying than an Emperor.
Because an Emperor can die.
A cursed entity might not.
Ji Wushang's laughter boomed out from within the vortex.
"Exactly right!"
"What I want was never to become an Emperor!"
"How impossibly hard is it for a half-step Transcendent to truly take that final step?"
"Even if I became an Emperor, so what?"
"Emperors die too!"
"This Emperor Corpse is proof!"
His voice grew increasingly fanatical.
"Look!"
"Once a lofty Emperor, yet after death, still buried in a coffin!"
"Still contaminated!"
"Still driven by me!"
"So-called Transcendence is nothing but slightly stronger flesh!"
"But a cursed entity is different!"
"A cursed entity never ages!"
"A cursed entity cannot be killed by time!"
"A cursed entity is true immortality!"
"I will use the Emperor Corpse as my foundation, the Emperor's Fallen Monument as my source, the Nine Coffin Altar as my furnace, and countless cursed artifacts as my bones!"
"To become a level-ten cursed entity!"
"Truly undying and indestructible!"
The Emperor Corpse thrashed wildly in desperation.
agon king storylines. At the start, I obtained the "Ultimate Lackey System" - the more I act as a lackey, the stronger I become. What else could I do? I chose to become the personal henchman of the ultimate villain, Su Muwan. I provoke all sorts of chosen ones, snatch away their opportunities, and commit every evil deed imaginable. You ask who's behind me? Hmph! You're not worthy of knowing my lady's name! ...... ....... I am Su Muwan, the eldest daughter of the Su family. Since childhood, I've possessed extraordinary talent in martial arts, which led to my arrogant and domineering personality in my past life. I was even foolish enough to repeatedly challenge those favored by heaven, ultimately resulting in a tragic death. In this life, I must behave and absolutely cannot walk the same path again!! However... SLAP!! "So you're the Dragon King, huh?!" When I saw my little lackey swagger over and viciously slap the Dragon King who was hiding his identity, I felt my heart sink. Su Muwan's suspended heart finally died as she watched Qin Luo, her utterly loyal lackey, standing before her. She fainted on the spot from shock. Heaven is determined to destroy me!! (Pure love 1v1, light-hearted, no angst, single female lead, villain, reincarnation, lackey)
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
