Did I raise you just to eat free meals

Ji Wushang's body continued to rise higher and higher.

Ten zhang.

A hundred zhang.

A thousand zhang.

Finally, he ceased to be a mere humanoid form.

He became a living, grotesque divine mountain.

A halo of decay crowned his head.

A tattered banner of eyeballs draped his back.

A strange heart of white flame burned in his chest.

The sound of coffin drums echoed from his belly.

A spine-like chain hung down, like a black river of heaven locking the firmament.

Between his forehead and chest, the Strange Eye finally opened.

However, it was not complete.

A crack ran along the edge of the pupil.

It was the wound left by the final desperate impact of the Emperor Corpse's lingering will.

It was also the gap left by Wang Hao when he stole the last remnant of the Emperor's Corpse.

But it opened nonetheless.

The moment the Strange Eye opened,

a chill shot through Wang Hao's heart.

A sliver of its gaze fell upon him.

It wasn't Ji Wushang attacking proactively.

It was merely an overflow of residual energy leaking from the eye as it opened.

Yet even this sliver of energy was enough to annihilate an ordinary peak Martial God.

Hum!

Within Wang Hao's body, the Wills of the Myriad People gathered of their own accord.

A golden shield materialized before him.

It was a protective divine ability that formed on its own when the collective will of the Great Xia people reached a certain concentration.

When struck by a fatal attack, the willpower power automatically negates one death sentence.

With his current total willpower, it was enough to withstand a full-strength strike from a peak Martial God.

But at this moment, the moment the golden shield appeared, it was blasted into violent tremors by the Strange Eye's overflow.

Crack!

The golden shield shattered.

The phantom of the myriad people let out a silent groan.

Wang Hao staggered back half a step, a trace of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

The willpower shield was gone.

It could not reform anytime soon.

Wang Hao raised his hand and wiped the blood from his lips. His gaze darkened.

Good news.

Ji Wushang was incomplete.

Bad news.

An incomplete Level Ten Abomination was still not something a human could trifle with.

Even worse news.

His Transcendence physical examination card was just about to expire completely.

And there was one absurd piece of news.

The New Emperor Sword was currently rolling on the ground clutching its belly—no help to be expected for now.

"Master..."

The New Emperor Sword lifted its head with difficulty.

"I think... I'm about to evolve..."

"And also... I think I'm about to burst from overeating..."

Wang Hao said coldly, "Before you burst, shut your mouth first."

The New Emperor Sword felt wronged.

"Master, Little Sword is in this state and you're still scolding me."

Wang Hao's face was expressionless.

"If I praised you right now, could you get up and slash him?"

The New Emperor Sword went silent.

Then it quietly rolled over.

"Then you'd better keep scolding me."

Wang Hao: "..."

Ji Wushang's colossal abomination body looked down upon Wang Hao.

His voice was no longer the voice of one person.

It was a thousand voices layered over each other.

Men.

Women.

Old people.

Children.

The shrill laughter of cursed artifacts.

The low growls of the Emperor Corpse's lingering will.

And Ji Wushang's own venomous, frenzied shriek.

"Wang Hao."

"You took my last piece of the Emperor's Corpse."

"You made it so I cannot become a perfect Level Ten."

"Very well."

"Truly, very well."

"I will make you know what it means to beg for death but find none."

Wang Hao looked up at him.

His gaze was terrifyingly calm.

"Perfect Level Ten?"

"You dare use the word perfect?"

"A defective product is a defective product—no need to dress it up so elegantly."

The black light in Ji Wushang's Strange Eye surged violently.

"Even as a defective Level Ten, I am beyond your ability to contend with!"

"A Transcendent before me is nothing but food!"

"Let alone the fact that you are merely borrowing Transcendent power through external means."

"Your true cultivation is only the second layer of the Martial God realm!"

These words landed, and the hearts of the Great Xia people sank.

Second layer of Martial God.

Yes.

His Majesty's true realm was merely the second layer of Martial God.

From Skin Tempering, Muscle Tempering, Bone Tempering, Organ Tempering, to Meridian Opening, True Intent, Qi Energy, Void Flight, and then Martial God.

Martial God was already a peak that countless martial artists could never reach in their lifetime.

But before a Level Ten Abomination, the second layer of Martial God was too low.

As low as a mortal gazing upon a black sun.

As low as a speck of dust facing the abyss of heaven.

Wang Hao, however, smiled.

"So what if it's the second layer of Martial God?"

"Even at the second layer of Martial God, I still figured you out as a defective product."

"Once I reach the third layer, are you going to kneel and call me daddy?"

The Great Xia crowd: "..."

These words were arrogant beyond measure.

But inexplicably, they lifted everyone's spirits.

Han Shanyue's blood surged with passion as he roared, "His Majesty is invincible!"

Yin Jiuyou also shouted, "His Majesty is yin... brilliant!"

Xue Wuhen glanced at him.

Yin Jiuyou quickly corrected himself.

"I meant brilliant!"

The Demon Lord took a deep breath, dark demonic energy beginning to burn within him.

He knew that what followed would be the true deadly battle.

By seizing the Emperor Corpse's remnant, Wang Hao had torn the situation from certain death into a slim chance of survival.

But a slim chance of survival still meant nine in ten were death.

Ji Wushang was now a true Level Ten Abomination.

Even if it was the weakest, even if it was flawed, it was absolutely nothing compared to the previous half-step Transcendent.

Above the abyss, the Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower trembled violently.

The ancient lightning runes on its body flickered dimly and brightly.

Nine Imperial Dragon Qi coiled around Wang Hao, but they too grew heavy under the suppression of the abomination's domain.

The New Emperor Sword was still rolling on the ground.

Its belly grotesquely swollen.

It spat out gray death qi, then black devouring light, then let out a burp.

"Burp—"

It said with difficulty, "Master."

"The Emperor Corpse old man is acting up in my belly."

"It looks like it's trying to kick me."

Wang Hao said flatly, "Kick it back."

The New Emperor Sword wept without tears.

"I don't have feet!"

Wang Hao said coldly, "Then curse it out with your mouth."

The New Emperor Sword's eyes lit up.

"That, Little Sword is good at!"

The next instant, clutching its belly, it launched into a torrent of curses at the Emperor Corpse's lingering will inside it.

"Old man!"

"You dare make trouble now that you're in my stomach?"

"So what if you were an Emperor in life?"

"Now you're food!"

"Food ought to know its place!"

Wang Hao couldn't be bothered to listen anymore.

He looked up, facing Ji Wushang directly.

The last of the Transcendent's burden-bearing power within him began to burn.

The Imperial Dragon Qi roiled in unison.

The Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower slowly descended behind him.

Behind him, phantom images of the myriad people began to emerge.

They were not a shield.

They were the will of the Great Xia mountains and rivers.

Countless subjects, in the unseen realm, lifting their last hopes and wishes onto this emperor—sharp-tongued, black-hearted, greedy, vindictive, yet always standing at the very front.

Wang Hao grasped the hilt of the New Emperor Sword.

Even though the sword still had a bloated belly.

Even though it was howling in pain.

Wang Hao lifted it anyway.

The New Emperor Sword was horrified.

"Master!"

"Little Sword hasn't finished digesting yet!"

Wang Hao said calmly, "No matter."

"Fight and digest at the same time."

The New Emperor Sword broke down.

"You always do this!"

Wang Hao sneered.

"I raised you to be dead weight, is that it?"

The New Emperor Sword glanced at its own swollen belly.

For a moment, it was speechless.

It really had just eaten a big one.

Ji Wushang's massive body slowly raised a hand.

That hand was no longer a human hand.

Five fingers were like five black pillars supporting the heavens, each fingertip growing a bizarre eyeball, each eyeball reflecting a different scene of death.

Before his palm even descended, the entire Myriad Ruins Abyss began to collapse.

The abomination domain pressed down from above.

Thunder was corrupted.

Death qi turned into black snow.

In the void, countless black coffin phantoms emerged, as if to bury all living things within them.

Ji Wushang looked down at Wang Hao, his voice like ten thousand ghosts weeping in unison.

"Wang Hao."

"Kneel."

"And I will allow you to die... slowly."

Wang Hao raised his head, his smile ice-cold.

"Kneel?"

"In this life, I only make others kneel."

"The weakest of the tenth rank is still tenth rank?"

"Funny you should say that."

"I excel at finishing off those who are already battered."

He stepped forward.

The Imperial Dragon Qi blazed.

The Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower rumbled.

The New Emperor Sword, with its round, pudgy belly, was forced to unleash a black-gold blade of light.

From the depths of the abyss, the palm of a maimed tenth-rank anomaly pressed down.

And Wang Hao raised his sword, charging straight at it.