Sixteen Sacred Lands' Divine Powers Manifest Together, I Am Merely a Good Samaritan Passing By

The Central Continent battlefield could no longer be called a battlefield.

It was a great black cauldron being lifted by Heaven and Earth together.

Being boiled inside it were the mountains and rivers, all living beings, the foundations of ancient clans that had endured for ten thousand years, the blood of disciples from the sacred grounds, the battle flags of ancient imperial dynasties, and the countless corpses—eerie, rotting, and twisted beyond recognition.

Black cracks spread across the sky.

The earth had been saturated by the Eerie Domain, resembling human skin left to rot in water. Even a single step caused black blood to seep from the ground.

Ji Wushang stood at the center of the battlefield.

He was like a dark divine mountain with no end.

The white flame of his Eerie Heart beat within his chest, once after another. With every beat, countless cultivators clutched their chests as blood poured from their eyes, ears, noses, and mouths.

The small coffin in his abdomen opened and closed, devouring every trace of death qi on the battlefield.

The incomplete Eerie Eye hovered before his brow. Though its cracks remained horrifying, it had healed considerably compared to before.

More frightening still, as the masses of eerie beings converged, the Level Ten Eerie Domain behind him had begun to take on the form of something almost resembling a “kingdom.”

Black palaces.

A throne of white bones.

Upside-down stars.

A river of blood.

Countless eerie beings knelt at the edge of the Eerie Domain, like subjects worshiping an emperor.

The Central Continent coalition forces had fought until now at tremendous cost.

Of the thirty-six main warships belonging to the Ancient Qin Dynasty, twelve had already fallen.

The Vajra Formation of the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple had been torn open by the Grinning Flesh Buddha, and three Martial God monks had transformed into eerie beings on the spot.

Seven demon kings of the Sky Demon Mountain had died. Their corpses, however, were stitched together with eerie qi into a grotesque, mismatched monster that turned around and charged into the demon ranks.

The sword formation of the Eastern Wilderness Lin Clan had suffered more than fifty percent casualties. Its sword light remained fierce, but it now carried a touch of tragedy.

The ancient Transcendent monsters from the various major factions surrounded Ji Wushang and attacked again and again, yet they still could not suppress him completely.

In fact, every time a Transcendent was wounded and bled, Ji Wushang’s Eerie Domain would churn with excitement.

He was eating.

Corpses.

Souls.

Spiritual energy.

Pain.

Fear.

The despair of this entire world.

Wang Hao stood atop a broken peak at the edge of the battlefield, his expression grim.

“We can’t keep fighting like this.”

The Demon Lord stood beside him, his black robes billowing in the wind. His voice was low.

“They all know that.”

“But they have no other choice.”

Han Shanyue gripped his battle-ax tightly. As he watched a Martial God of the Ancient Qin Dynasty get smashed apart by a single palm from Ji Wushang, his eyes filled with solemnity.

“The frontal battlefield has become a millstone.”

“Anyone who steps onto it gets ground to pieces.”

Yin Jiuyou spoke cautiously.

“Your Majesty, perhaps we should retreat first?”

Wang Hao glanced at him.

Yin Jiuyou immediately changed his wording.

“What I mean is, we should make a strategic withdrawal, then look for an opportunity to pick up… I mean, provide support.”

Wang Hao did not scold him.

Because Yin Jiuyou was telling the truth.

Remaining here was extremely dangerous.

If Ji Wushang noticed him, the few people from Great Xia might not be able to withstand the assault.

Even with the willpower of the ten thousand people protecting him, allowing him to withstand one full-strength attack from a peak Martial God, Ji Wushang was not a peak Martial God.

That thing was a true Level Ten Eerie Being.

Its attacks could no longer be measured purely by the standards of martial cultivation.

Wang Hao narrowed his eyes.

The Check-in Intelligence System trembled softly within his sea of consciousness.

[Information Updated: Ji Wushang’s current eerie body has not fully recovered.]

[The White Flame Eerie Heart in his chest, the Heaven-Burying Coffin in his abdomen, and the incomplete Eerie Eye are his three core weaknesses.]

[The incomplete Eerie Eye was previously grievously wounded by the host’s lightning and the New Emperor Sword. It remains one of his weaknesses.]

[If struck by the rules of at least sixteen different ancestral divine arts from the sacred grounds, the rhythm of his Eerie Domain’s devouring can be disrupted for a short period.]

[Warning: Ji Wushang harbors an extremely strong killing intent toward the host. Once he confirms the host’s identity, he will pursue the host as his top priority.]

A flicker passed through Wang Hao’s eyes.

Sixteen ancestral divine arts from the sacred grounds?

He instinctively looked toward the remnants of the sacred grounds in the distance.

Of the sixteen sacred grounds of the Central Continent, the Purple Sun Sacred Ground, the Profound Ice Sacred Ground, and the Sun Sacred Ground had already been destroyed.

The Heavenly Profound Sacred Ground had previously been dragged into the war. Though it had not been completely annihilated, it had been left half-crippled.

The remaining twelve sacred grounds had now all entered the battlefield.

All kinds of sacred-ground divine arts intertwined across the battlefield.

Sword light, Buddha fire, starlight, freezing tides, seas of lightning, blood lotuses, the Profound Yellow Qi, Yin-Yang diagrams…

If it were anyone else, secretly learning the ultimate arts of sixteen sacred grounds would be nothing short of a pipe dream.

The inheritances of the sacred grounds were guarded with the utmost secrecy.

An ordinary martial artist might not even understand what they saw after witnessing the surface of one.

But Wang Hao was different.

He had the Check-in Intelligence System.

Along the way, through scavenging, rescue operations, watching from the sidelines, ambushes, and hasty escapes, the system had refreshed an enormous amount of information in the ruins of multiple sacred grounds.

Combined with his second-layer Martial God cultivation, foundation in divine-grade martial techniques, and the supreme swordsmanship compendium known as the Nine Swords of Creation, he was more than capable of imitating the outer shell of several sacred-ground divine arts in a short time.

Of course, they would be nothing more than shells.

Their power could never compare to the genuine ancestral divine arts.

But he did not need to fool the ancestors of the sacred grounds.

He only needed to fool Ji Wushang.

Or rather, he did not even need to fool him.

He merely had to make Ji Wushang believe that the sixteen sacred grounds were joining forces to ambush it.

That would be enough.

The corners of Wang Hao’s lips slowly curled upward.

Yin Jiuyou’s heart sank when he saw it.

Whenever His Majesty wore that smile, it meant that someone was about to suffer.

And usually, more than one person.

“Your Majesty, have you thought of a solution?”

Wang Hao replied indifferently, “I’ve thought of a solution that isn’t very moral, but will be extremely effective.”

Yin Jiuyou became solemn.

“Then it must be a good solution.”

The Demon Lord frowned.

“What are you planning?”

Wang Hao did not answer him directly. Instead, he looked toward the New Emperor Sword.

The New Emperor Sword was sprawled atop the remains of an eight-level eerie being, gnawing away with loud crunches.

Sensing Wang Hao’s gaze, it suddenly shuddered.

“Master, I’ve been very well-behaved lately!”

Wang Hao smiled.

“I know.”

The New Emperor Sword grew even more frightened.

“Master, don’t smile like that. It makes me want to break my own blade and beg for mercy.”

Wang Hao said, “You can take human form, can’t you?”

The New Emperor Sword nodded.

“Of course I can.”

“Take the form of a middle-aged sword cultivator.”

The New Emperor Sword froze.

“Why?”

Wang Hao took a black robe from his storage ring, followed by a bronze ghost mask.

“Put on a mask.”

“Pretend to be an expert.”

“Ambush Ji Wushang.”

The New Emperor Sword’s body instantly went limp.

“Master, I’m only an Eerie Artifact ranked eighty-ninth.”

“Our opponent is a Level Ten Eerie Being.”

“You’re sending a dog to bite a natural disaster!”

Wang Hao corrected it.

“I’m not sending you.”

“I’m going myself.”

The New Emperor Sword was even more alarmed.

“That’s even more dangerous!”

Wang Hao remained calm.

“So you’ll have to cooperate with me and put on an act.”

The Demon Lord’s brows drew together even more deeply.

“You’re planning to act personally?”

“With your strength, ambushing Ji Wushang is far too dangerous.”

Wang Hao looked at Ji Wushang, who was growing stronger by the moment in the distance.

“If I don’t act now, it will be even more dangerous.”

“It hasn’t fully recovered yet.”

“Once it continues devouring everything here, the question won’t be whether we want to attack. It will be when it comes to the Eastern Wilderness to devour Great Xia.”

Han Shanyue spoke in a deep voice.

“Your Majesty, allow me to go in your place!”

Wang Hao shook his head.

“You can’t.”

Han Shanyue was stunned.

Wang Hao continued, “Your face is too upright. Anyone can tell at a glance that you’re a loyal minister.”

“You’re not suited for this kind of underhanded work.”

Han Shanyue: “…”

For a moment, he could not decide whether he should feel pleased or offended.

Yin Jiuyou asked in a small voice, “Your Majesty, what about me?”

Wang Hao looked at him.

“You look like underhanded work itself.”

Yin Jiuyou: “…”

The Demon Lord stared at Wang Hao and suddenly understood his plan.

“You intend to impersonate an expert from one of the sacred grounds.”

Wang Hao nodded.

“Exactly.”

“Ji Wushang hates me most right now.”

“But if it discovers that the ones who truly dealt it a devastating blow were the sixteen Holy Lands, who ambushed it together…”

“Then its hatred will be redirected.”

The Demon Lord’s eyelid twitched.

“You’re not only planning to ambush it—you’re also framing the sixteen Holy Lands?”

Wang Hao replied indifferently,

“Don’t make it sound so unpleasant.”

“I’m merely helping Ji Wushang recognize that the Holy Lands of the Central Continent are its greatest enemies.”

Yin Jiuyou sucked in a cold breath.

“Your Majesty is wise!”

“This is called borrowing the fiend to kill the Holy Lands, and borrowing the Holy Lands to block the fiend!”

Wang Hao nodded in satisfaction.

“Your comprehension has improved lately.”

The Demon Lord fell silent.

He suddenly felt that Ji Wushang was terrifying.

But Wang Hao was no normal person either.

One of them ate people.

The other ate schemes.

Ji Wushang ate in a straightforward manner.

Wang Hao ate with considerably more culture.

At the center of the battlefield,

Ji Wushang attacked once more.

He pressed down with one palm, and the black eerie domain transformed into a gigantic maw, swallowing an ancient-clan battle formation whole.

Tens of thousands of cultivators did not even have time to scream before they turned into a bloody mist, which was sucked into the small coffin in its abdomen.

The Ancient Qin Patriarch roared,

“Beast!”

Burning his dragon blood, he charged into the eerie domain with his black-gold battle halberd in hand.

But in the very next instant, a pale hand reached out from the depths of the eerie domain. It seized the battle halberd and forcibly crushed it into molten iron.

The Ancient Qin Patriarch spat blood and was sent flying backward.

Everyone’s hearts sank.

It was too powerful.

Even with the entire Central Continent joining forces, it would be difficult to restrain it.

Just then,

a black-robed figure appeared soundlessly in the far distance of the battlefield.

He wore a bronze ghost mask. His build was tall and straight, and his aura was unfathomable.

There were no battle standards.

No attendants.

Only a long sword wrapped in black aura hovered at his side.

The black-robed man walked through the air. Every step he took sent ripples through the void.

No one knew who he was.

Nor did anyone have the time to pay attention to him.

The battlefield was simply too chaotic.

Wang Hao’s gaze was calm to the point of coldness behind the ghost mask.

He used the Demon Lord’s demonic aura to conceal his imperial dragon aura, while having the New Emperor Sword suppress the fluctuations of its sword spirit.

At the same time, he circulated within his body the manifestations of sixteen Holy Land divine abilities he had analyzed through the intelligence system.

The Nine Suns Burning Heaven of the Purple Sun Holy Land.

The Eternal Frost Prison of the Profound Ice Holy Land.

The Great Sun Divine Fist of the Solar Holy Land.

The Meteor Sword Art of the Starry Sky Holy Land.

The Profound Heaven World-Suppressing Seal of the Heavenly Profound Holy Land.

The Nine Heavens Thunder Punishment of the Thunder Extremity Holy Land.

The Moonshadow Killing Art of the Lunar Holy Land.

The Blood Sea Lotus Throne of the Blood Lotus Holy Land.

The Earth Vein Dragon Fist of the Mountains and Rivers Holy Land.

The Boundless Light Wheel of the Boundless Holy Land.

The Ten Thousand Swords Returning to the Void of the Sword Mound Holy Land.

The Azure Emperor’s Life-Giving Art of the Divine Wood Holy Land.

The Yin-Yang Grinding Disc of the Yin-Yang Holy Land.

The Gengjin Heavenly Halberd of the Golden Watchtower Holy Land.

The Overturning Sea Seal of the Vast Sea Holy Land.

And the Sacred Spirit Blood-Burning Art of the Sacred Spirit Holy Land.

He naturally could not have mastered the true inheritances of all sixteen Holy Lands.

But their manifestations were enough.

Divine manifestations were meant to be seen by others in the first place.

Their destructive power would be supplied by his own strength.

The Heaven-Imprisoning Earth-Covering Palm.

The Nine Swords of Creation.

The Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda.

The New Emperor Sword.

These were the true blades.

Wang Hao drew a deep breath.

“Prepare yourself.”

The New Emperor Sword said in a low voice,

“Master, I’m scared.”

Wang Hao replied,

“Good. You should be.”

“That means your mind hasn’t broken yet.”

The New Emperor Sword asked,

“Are you scared?”

Wang Hao gazed at Ji Wushang.

After a moment of silence, he said,

“Yes.”

“But I’m even more afraid that the people of Great Xia will become its breakfast in the future.”

The New Emperor Sword froze.

It was the first time it had heard Wang Hao admit so directly that he was afraid.

It was also the first time it had truly felt that this emperor—normally scheming, shameless, stingy, and always eager to pick up whatever advantages he could find—really did carry an entire world on his shoulders.

He was afraid of death.

But he would not retreat.

Because behind him, at the very end of that retreat, stood Great Xia.

The next moment,

Wang Hao moved.

He did not charge straight at Ji Wushang.

Instead, at the instant Ji Wushang devoured the blood essence of an elder from the Black Tortoise Patriarch of the Sky Demon Mountain’s clan, Wang Hao shattered the void and circled around to the side and rear of the eerie domain.

That was where the rules of the incomplete eerie eye were at their weakest during their fusion.

It was also the only opportunity the system had given him.

A cold gleam surged in Wang Hao’s eyes.

First technique—the manifestation of the Purple Sun Holy Land!

Nine purple-black suns emerged behind him.

But the force truly driving them was the imperial dragon aura combined with the power of the eighth level of the Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda—the Thunder Phoenix’s might.

“Nine Suns Burning Heaven!”

He deliberately lowered his voice, making it old and hoarse.

Boom!

The nine great suns crashed into the edge of the eerie domain.

Ji Wushang abruptly turned its head.

Violence surfaced within its incomplete eerie eye.

“The Purple Sun Holy Land…”

It recognized the aura of the Purple Sun Holy Land’s manifestation.

Though impure, it was enough amid the chaos of the battlefield to trigger the hatred left behind when it had devoured the Purple Sun Holy Land.

Wang Hao did not stop.

Second technique—the manifestation of the Profound Ice Holy Land!

An eternal frost prison unfolded out of thin air, and the surface of the black eerie domain briefly froze over with frost.

“Eternal Frost Prison!”

Third technique—the manifestation of the Solar Holy Land!

A fist descended like the sun itself, smashing toward the crack in the eerie eye.

“Great Sun Divine Fist!”

Ji Wushang roared. The eerie domain churned, and thousands of strange creatures instantly exploded, transforming into black spears that shot toward Wang Hao.

Wang Hao remained expressionless and raised his hand, unleashing the Heaven-Imprisoning Earth-Covering Palm.

First palm!

Second palm!

Third palm!

Three golden giant palms descended one atop another, shattering all the black spears.

He did not linger in battle.

His figure flashed, and he shifted positions once more.

The manifestation of the Starry Sky Holy Land erupted.

Countless rays of starlight condensed into a rain of swords.

But hidden at the core of that sword rain was the first sword of the Nine Swords of Creation.

“Meteor Sword Art!”

The sword light descended.

Splurt!

A section of the black strands of law binding the incomplete eerie eye of Ji Wushang was severed.

For the first time, it let out a howl of pain.

“Roar—!”

The roar caused the entire battlefield to freeze for an instant.

Countless people turned their heads.

What had they just seen?

A mysterious black-robed expert was ambushing Ji Wushang!

And he had actually managed to wound it!

The Ancient Qin Patriarch’s eyes widened.

“Who is that?”

The old monk from the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple pressed his palms together, his face filled with shock.

“What an incredibly mixed assortment of Holy Land auras…”

The White Tiger Demon King of the Sky Demon Mountain gritted his teeth.

“He looks like someone from the Holy Lands, but not quite.”

“But anyone who can wound that monster is one of us!”