The underground auction hall of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion lay three hundred zhang beneath the earth.
Sealing formations covered the surrounding walls.
Thousands of luminous pearls were embedded in the domed ceiling.
At the center stood a circular auction platform.
Thirty-six VIP stone chambers were arranged around it.
Each chamber was protected by a concealment formation.
But concealment formations could hide one from ordinary people—
not from anyone who truly wanted to see.
Wang Hao sat in Chamber Nineteen, with spirit tea and pastries laid out before him.
He took a bite of a pastry and frowned.
“Awful.”
Yin Jiuyou said quietly, “Your Majesty, this is the most expensive spirit pastry in Black Sky City.”
Wang Hao replied, “Expensive and delicious are two different things.”
The New Emperor Sword had transformed into a young man and sat in the corner, gnawing on a broken sword as if it were a snack.
Crunch.
Crunch.
An annoyed voice came from the chamber next door.
“Who’s eating metal?”
The New Emperor Sword froze, then lowered his voice.
“Master, he insulted me.”
Wang Hao said, “Put up with it.”
The New Emperor Sword looked aggrieved.
“I want to cut him down.”
Wang Hao glanced toward the neighboring chamber.
“Wait until the auction starts.”
The New Emperor Sword immediately perked up.
“All right!”
The Demon Lord sat in the shadows and sneered.
“That sword is just as shameless as you are.”
Wang Hao took a sip of tea.
“It’s nowhere near as bad as I am.”
The Demon Lord found himself unable to argue.
A moment later, Zi Yuan stepped onto the auction platform.
She had changed into a purple-and-gold gown. With a radiant smile, she spoke in a voice that carried throughout the hall.
“Honored guests.”
“Black Sky City has always recognized only money, never grudges.”
“At tonight’s auction in the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, the highest bidder wins.”
“If anyone dares to start a fight inside the venue, Black Sky City will deal with it.”
As her words fell, countless gazes crossed throughout the hall.
Some people sneered.
Some ran their fingers along their blades.
Others silently reached for their storage rings.
The first item was soon brought out.
It was a bottle of Lunar Soul Spirit Liquid.
When the jade bottle was opened, a wave of chill spread through the hall.
Inside the stone chamber belonging to the Taiyin Sacred Land, a murderous aura erupted instantly.
An elder of the Taiyin Sacred Land stared fixedly at the bottle.
“Lunar Soul Spirit Liquid.”
“That came from the Cold Moon Mine.”
In the stone chamber of the Yellow Springs Demon Sect, someone let out a sinister laugh.
“Are you sure you saw correctly, fellow cultivator from the Taiyin Sacred Land?”
“Don’t go claiming that the Yellow Springs Demon Sect stole it again.”
The Taiyin elder replied coldly, “You people from the Yellow Springs Demon Sect dare to do it but refuse to admit it?”
The Yellow Springs elder roared, “Nonsense!”
“If we had really stolen it, we would have taken it back to the sect and refined it into a soul banner long ago. Why would we put it up for auction?”
The Taiyin elder paused.
That did sound reasonable.
But in the next moment, he became even angrier.
“So after stealing it, you decided it wasn’t even worth using?”
The Yellow Springs elder was speechless.
He was beginning to realize that reasoning with people from a sacred land was exhausting.
They could interpret every single sentence as a provocation.
Zi Yuan smiled and announced, “Ten bottles of Lunar Soul Spirit Liquid. The bidding starts at three hundred thousand spirit stones.”
From Chamber Nineteen, Wang Hao drawled lazily, “Five hundred thousand.”
The Taiyin elder immediately shouted angrily, “Who is that?”
Wang Hao altered his voice and spoke in an eerie tone.
“Since it belongs to the Yellow Springs Demon Sect, naturally the Yellow Springs should be the ones to buy it back.”
The Yellow Springs elder shot to his feet.
“Who are you?”
Wang Hao replied calmly, “One of your own.”
The Yellow Springs elder was dumbfounded.
How had he never heard of such a person in the Yellow Springs Demon Sect?
The Taiyin elder, however, exploded.
“So it really is the Yellow Springs Demon Sect!”
“One million!”
Wang Hao chuckled.
“One point two million.”
The Taiyin elder gritted his teeth.
“Two million!”
Zi Yuan was smiling so broadly that her eyes had nearly narrowed into slits.
This wasn’t an auction.
It was hatred blooming and spirit stones bearing fruit.
In the end, the Ten Bottles of Moon-Soul Spirit Liquid were bought back by the Taiyin Sacred Land for three million spirit stones.
They knew perfectly well they were being fleeced.
But they had no choice.
If something stolen from their own mine were auctioned off by the Demon Sect on the black market, where would that leave their reputation?
Wang Hao lifted his teacup.
“The first installment of rent has been collected.”
Yin Jiuyou silently entered it into the accounts.
His Majesty wasn’t selling stolen goods.
He was making the victims ransom back souvenirs from the scene of the crime.
The second item up for auction was the core of a White Bone Corpse Puppet.
Inside the White Bone Demon Sect’s stone chamber, the ghostly fire in the eye sockets of the gaunt Martial God flickered.
“Our sect’s corpse-puppet core.”
In the Sword Ruins’ stone chamber, a sword cultivator said coldly:
“Nothing but an evil object. Best to destroy it.”
Wang Hao immediately adopted the tone of a sword cultivator.
“Three hundred thousand.”
The White Bone Martial God roared:
“You bastard from the Sword Ruins! You dare buy our White Bone Demon Sect’s corpse core?”
Wang Hao replied:
“I’m buying it to sharpen my sword.”
Everyone in the Sword Ruins was stunned.
Who was that voice?
It didn’t sound like one of their own.
But the words felt damn good.
So one of the Sword Ruins’ younger disciples immediately chimed in:
“That’s right. Buy it to sharpen our swords!”
The White Bone Martial God’s fury soared.
“One million!”
Wang Hao sneered.
“One and a half million.”
The White Bone Martial God: “Two million!”
Wang Hao: “Three million.”
The White Bone Martial God: “Five million!”
Wang Hao stopped.
The White Bone Martial God froze.
He suddenly realized that something was wrong.
It seemed he had been pushed onto the hook.
Zi Yuan had already brought down the hammer.
“Sold!”
The White Bone Martial God’s face turned as dark as water.
Unconcealed laughter drifted over from the Sword Ruins.
Inside the stone chamber, Wang Hao spoke in a mild tone:
“The second installment of rent.”
Yin Jiuyou’s hand trembled as he recorded the transaction.
Not from fear.
From excitement.
So this was how money could be made.
No wonder His Majesty was always saying that the imperial treasury wasn’t short of money—it was merely waiting for other people to deliver it.
One item after another was brought onto the stage.
Cold Marrow from the Frostmoon Mine.
Sword Marrow Crystals from the Broken Sword Mound.
Fragments of a Yellow Springs Soul Banner.
Golden Vault Soul-Suppressing Nails.
The remnants of a Blood Lotus Venom Vial.
Essence from the Blood Prison’s blood pool.
Every item that appeared was like a slap across the face of some faction.
What was even more outrageous was that Wang Hao kept changing identities as he called out his bids.
Sometimes he sounded like someone from the Yellow Springs Demon Sect.
Sometimes like a cultivator from the Taiyin Sacred Land.
Sometimes like a disciple of the Sword Ruins.
Sometimes like a demon cultivator from the White Bone Demon Sect.
And sometimes he even sounded like an independent cultivator who loved nothing more than watching the chaos unfold.
“I want this. I’ll buy it to keep my home secure.”
“Secure your ancestors! That’s a secret treasure of our sect!”
“If it’s your sect’s secret treasure, then why is it on the auction block? Clearly, it was destined to be mine.”
“Impudent!”
“Then raise the bid! What are you shouting for if you won’t?”
The atmosphere in Blackheaven City’s auction hall grew more and more unhinged.
Zi Yuan’s smile grew brighter and brighter.
She was even beginning to feel somewhat dazed.
After tonight, the Myriad Treasures Pavilion might complete ten years’ worth of profit targets in a single stroke.
As for whether they would face retaliation?
That was tomorrow’s problem.
The greatest virtue of black-market dealers was that they never let tomorrow’s worries frighten away today’s money.
However, halfway through the auction—
Deep within the ninth level,
an emaciated old man slowly opened his eyes.
His body resembled a withered log hollowed out by the passage of time.
Half of his flesh remained.
The other half was nothing but black bones.
He sat inside a bronze coffin, a cold, ghostly light rising in his eyes.
Old Man Heitian.
The true trump card of Blackheaven City.
Hearing the arguments drifting up from the underground auction hall, he slowly knitted his brows.
“Things have gotten out of hand.”
Beside him, a middle-aged man in black spoke in a low voice:
“Old Ancestor, these are merely old grudges between the Sacred Lands and the Demon Sects.”
Old Man Heitian’s voice was hoarse.
“No.”
“Someone is fanning the flames.”
The man in black was startled.
“Should we stop the auction?”
Old Man Heitian fell silent for a moment.
“No.”
“We’ve already taken the money.”
The man in black: “…”
The Old Ancestor was indeed still the Old Ancestor.
His Dao-heart was unshakable.
Old Man Heitian slowly said:
“Keep an eye on Chamber Nineteen.”
“There’s something wrong with the people inside.”
In the underground Chamber Nineteen.
Wang Hao suddenly raised his head and looked toward the domed ceiling.
The corners of his lips curled upward.
“We’ve been noticed.”
Yin Jiuyou’s heart tightened.
“Old Man Heitian?”
“Most likely.”
Wang Hao was not nervous in the slightest. If anything, he looked even more satisfied.
“The big fish has awakened.”
The Demon Lord narrowed his eyes.
“A Half-Step Transcendent is not someone to provoke.”
Wang Hao replied:
“So we won’t provoke him.”
The Demon Lord sneered.
“You? Not provoke someone?”
Wang Hao answered with complete justification:
“I’m merely letting someone else provoke him.”
The Demon Lord suddenly lost all desire to speak.
Because he knew that Wang Hao had certainly come up with an even more despicable plan.
Just then, Zi Yuan’s voice rang out once more.
“The next item up for auction is rather special.”
“We do not know its origin or its purpose. However, after appraisal by the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, it was confirmed to contain the aura of an ancient dragon vein.”
“The starting bid is ten million spirit stones.”
On the auction stage.
A tattered ancient map slowly unfurled.
In an instant, the entire underground auction hall fell silent.
The ancient map was no larger than a palm.
Its mountains and rivers twisted across the surface like a dragon or serpent lying in wait.
A faint golden aura rose from it.
Vast.
Ancient.
Weighty.
It was as though the pulse of the Nine Provinces had gently throbbed at that very moment.
Inside one of the Sacred Land chambers, an old man suddenly rose to his feet.
“A remnant map of the Nine Provinces’ dragon veins!”
Inside a Demon Sect chamber, a Martial God also lost control of his voice.
“How did this thing end up in Blackheaven City?”
Zi Yuan’s expression shifted slightly.
She had not expected anyone to recognize it.
Even less had she expected such a violent reaction from all sides.
Wang Hao’s eyes lit up.
The grand finale had finally taken the stage.
He took out the Myriad Contracts Unity Seal, which the system had just given him, and gently pressed it down.
An invisible aura of contractual power quietly settled onto the remnant dragon-vein map.
In the next instant.
Two entirely different auras emerged from the map.
One came from an ancient covenant of the Sacred Lands.
The other came from a blood contract of the Demon Sects.
The entire hall fell deathly silent.
The Martial God from Sword Mound spoke in a frigid voice:
“Blackheaven City, you actually dared to conceal an item sealed by the World-Calming Alliance?”
The White-Bone Martial God also roared furiously:
“There’s also the aura of an ancient blood contract from my Demon Sects!”
“Does Blackheaven City intend to betray both the Sacred and Demonic factions?”
Beneath the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, every formation lit up at once.
Zi Yuan’s face turned pale.
“Everyone, this is a misunderstanding…”
Wang Hao suddenly assumed an aged voice and spoke in a deep, eerie tone:
“A misunderstanding?”
“No wonder the war between the Sacred and Demonic factions has continued without end.”
“So it turns out someone is trying to seize the Nine Provinces’ dragon veins while the world is in chaos.”
Those words were like a knife.
They stabbed directly into everyone’s heart.
The Sacred Lands grew suspicious of the Demon Sects.
The Demon Sects grew suspicious of the Sacred Lands.
But now, they suddenly realized that Blackheaven City—the so-called neutral party—did not seem entirely innocent either.
Once the remnant dragon-vein map became involved, this was no longer a matter of a single mine or a single ruin.
It concerned the fortune of the entire world.
It concerned the foundation of the Nine Provinces.
It was something that no Sacred Land or Demon Sect could pretend not to see.
On the ninth level.
Old Man Heitian’s expression finally changed.
“Who tampered with the contractual aura?”
The man in black asked in terror:
“Ancestor, it wasn’t us!”
Old Man Heitian slammed a palm onto the bronze coffin.
“Useless!”
“Seal the building!”
Boom!
All nine floors of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion shook at once.
A black curtain of light descended from above, instantly sealing off the entire auction hall.
Zi Yuan called out urgently:
“Everyone, please remain calm!”
“The Myriad Treasures Pavilion will give everyone an explanation!”
Wang Hao sat inside Chamber Nineteen and gently set down his teacup.
“An explanation?”
“If explanations were useful, why would anyone need a blade?”
With that, he flicked a finger.
A Yellow Springs Soul Talisman slipped silently into the chamber of the Taiyin Sacred Land.
Another Taiyin Frost Talisman landed inside the chamber of the Yellow Springs Demon Sect.
Then he turned his gaze toward the New Emperor Sword.
“Time to get to work.”
The New Emperor Sword’s eyes lit up with excitement.
“Who are we cutting down?”
Wang Hao smiled.
“Start with the lamps.”
The New Emperor Sword transformed into a streak of black-and-gold sword light and instantly slashed toward the luminous pearls in the ceiling.
Boom!
Thousands of luminous pearls exploded at once.
The underground auction hall plunged into darkness.
The next instant, a shrill scream rang out.
“Those Taiyin bastards launched a sneak attack!”
“The Yellow Springs Demon Sect is making its move!”
“The Sword Ruins destroyed my corpse puppet!”
“The White Bone Demon Sect stole the fragmentary dragon-vein map!”
In the darkness, flashes of blades and swords erupted all at once.
At that moment, the rules of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion were shattered completely.
No killing was allowed in Blackheaven City.
But in the darkness, no one could see.
If no one could see it, then it didn’t count as killing.
That was their own rule.
Now, Wang Hao was merely helping them enforce it a little more thoroughly.
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
ng to die together with you." Lin Xuan is dead, his body thrown into the river by his scumbag lover and her accomplice. She, the president of the Su Group, is decisive, ruthless, and ice-cold. For three days and three nights, she had his body fished out of the river, and without hesitation, she kissed the bloated corpse of Lin Xuan. She laid down beside him in a cold coffin, their fingers intertwined, a smile lingering on her lips as she closed her eyes. The noble and cold-hearted woman, only bending for one man—Lin Xuan. Lin Xuan, with his golden finger, is reborn and returns to the day of his wedding to the treacherous woman. Su Qiang comes to steal the bride. Lin Xuan's eyes light up, eager to pledge his loyalty on the spot, but instead, her kiss transfers a glass of drugged wine into his mouth, causing him to pass out... 【Male Protagonist with Single Female Lead】【Yandere Tycoon】【Action-Packed】【True vs. Fake Heir】
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
