The Demon Lord Turns Hostile, So I Make a Strategic Retreat First

The Demon Lord’s demonic energy fell into Wang Hao’s palm.

In that instant, Wang Hao felt as though he was not holding a strand of power, but an abyss collapsing in on itself.

Cold.

Domineering.

Devouring all things.

The Demon Lord’s Dao was completely different from Old Man Heitian’s.

Old Man Heitian’s power was sinister and rotten. It stripped people down into commodities, then drafted a contract to go with them.

The Demon Lord’s power, however, was pure.

So pure that it could be summed up in only four words:

Those who submit to me shall live.

Those who oppose me shall die.

Golden light surged from Wang Hao’s palm. The Myriad Contracts Origin Seal hovered above his head, forcibly compressing that demonic energy into a black-gold spear.

Zi Yuan’s pupils contracted.

She had never seen anyone dare to use the Demon Lord’s power like this.

Borrowing the Demon Lord’s strength—

yet not being corrupted by it.

This wasn’t a matter of courage.

It was as if courage had never grown in any place on his body where it was supposed to.

The Demon Lord said coldly, “Not just anyone can wield this lord’s power.”

“If it devours you, this lord will not save you.”

Wang Hao flashed a grin.

“Relax.”

“If I die, I’ll make sure to issue you an inheritance tax bill before I go.”

The corner of the Demon Lord’s eye twitched.

He suddenly regretted lending Wang Hao his demonic energy.

This kid wasn’t merely reckless.

He was also infuriatingly foul-mouthed.

Wang Hao said no more.

He took one step forward.

The Dark Ancestral Nest beneath his feet shook violently.

The Human-Skin Lake churned. At the bottom of the lake, the enormous Heitian Master Contract lit up, like an evil eye that had been sleeping beneath the earth for eight hundred years.

Countless contract sigils wove together into a web.

Every sigil was connected to a human skin.

And every piece of skin represented someone who had once been swallowed by Heitian City.

Some had been head managers.

Some had been accountants.

Some had been slaves.

There had even been martial artists who were once filled with ambition and pride.

Now, all of them had become garments worn by Old Man Heitian.

Zi Yuan’s fingertips trembled.

She saw many familiar faces.

There was the person who had taught her how to keep accounts.

There were those who had climbed out of the slave market alongside her.

There were also people she had personally sent to their deaths.

She had thought she no longer possessed a conscience.

Yet when she truly saw those human skins struggling in the lake, her chest still felt as though an icy hand had clenched around her heart.

Her voice hoarse, she said, “Three inches to the lower left.”

“That’s where the master contract changes skins.”

“Every time Old Man Heitian replaces his body, he extracts the karmic consequences of the human skins from there.”

Wang Hao nodded.

“That’s enough.”

He raised his hand.

The black-gold spear took shape.

The demonic energy formed its tip.

The will of the people formed its shaft.

The Myriad Contracts Origin Seal became its lock.

A fragment of the Mandate Tax Register served as its guide.

This strike was no ordinary attack.

It was a nail forged from the Demon Lord’s power of annihilation, Great Xia’s mountain-and-river will, and the authority to rewrite contracts.

A nail meant to pin down black-hearted agreements.

The Demon Lord stared at the spear, his gaze growing slightly solemn.

“You can actually refine this lord’s demonic energy into something like that?”

Wang Hao said calmly, “Power itself is neither righteous nor evil.”

“But the invoices have to be legitimate.”

The Demon Lord fell silent.

He didn’t understand what that meant.

But he knew it definitely wasn’t anything good.

Wang Hao thrust the spear downward.

Boom!

The black-gold spear pierced through the Human-Skin Lake.

The lake exploded.

Countless human skins let out shrill cries, like ten thousand vengeful spirits wailing all at once.

The densely packed contract sigils on the Heitian Master Contract writhed frantically, trying to block the attack.

But the Myriad Contracts Origin Seal was suppressing them from above.

Whenever a contract sigil drew near, it trembled violently, as though it had encountered its own ancestor.

The fragment of the Mandate Tax Register began moving without any wind.

Gray-gold light shone down upon the master contract.

On the fragment, the four words “evading tax arrears” behind Old Man Heitian’s name glimmered faintly.

The next moment, the Heitian Master Contract was forcibly classified as an asset under Old Man Heitian’s name.

Wang Hao’s eyes lit up.

“Excellent!”

“Since it’s an asset under his name, then this will be easy.”

He pressed his hand downward.

“Deduct for unpaid taxes.”

Crack!

A fissure split open across the Heitian Master Contract.

In the distance, Old Man Heitian’s true body vomited blood once more.

This time, the blood came out fast and violently.

The various Martial Gods surrounding him all froze for a moment.

An expert from the Blood Prison Demon Sect couldn’t help asking, “Again?”

The Yellow Springs Ancestor narrowed his eyes.

“What exactly is that little emperor doing down there?”

Taiyin Old Matriarch sneered.

“What else could he be doing?”

“Most likely conducting another asset seizure.”

Old Man Heitian roared, “Wang Hao!”

“You won’t die a good death!”

Inside the ancestral nest, Wang Hao heard the furious roar and remained utterly calm.

Let him curse.

People who owed money were usually stubborn about admitting it.

At the bottom of the Human-Skin Lake, the fissure in the master contract continued to widen.

Zi Yuan seized the opportunity to form hand seals, her hands dripping with blood.

One after another, Heitian contract sigils flew from her palms and embedded themselves backward into the cracks in the master contract.

She had been the chief manager for many years.

Although Old Man Heitian had raised her as a spare skin, he had genuinely taught her a great deal of Heitian contract arts.

Now, every one of those arts had become a blade pointed at Old Man Heitian.

“Open!” Zi Yuan shrieked.

Boom!

The master contract split apart.

The entire Human-Skin Lake suddenly fell silent.

Then—

the human skins that had originally been flying toward the corpse shell abruptly lost control and stopped in midair.

One by one, their anguished faces slowly opened their eyes.

Their gazes were no longer vacant.

Instead, they turned toward the thousand-zhang corpse shell.

Toward Old Man Heitian’s soul in the center of its brow.

In those gazes were resentment.

Hatred.

And the madness of eight hundred years without release.

Old Man Heitian’s expression finally changed.

“No!”

“You’re nothing but this old man’s skins!”

“You have no right to rebel against this old man!”

But in the next instant—

countless human skins pounced upon the corpse shell at once.

They did not cover it with clothing.

They tore into it.

Layer after layer of human skin clung to the corpse shell, gnawing in reverse through its flesh, its contract sigils, and its soul-light.

The corpse shell shook violently.

Its power had depended on these human skins to complete it.

Now that the skins had turned against it, it was like putting on a garment halfway through, only for it to suddenly begin strangling the wearer.

New Emperor Sword stared in shock.

“Wow.”

“The clothes have rebelled.”

Han Shanyue said solemnly, “This indicates that unclear ownership of property can lead to serious administrative risks.”

Wang Hao shot him a glance.

“Write it into the Ministry of Revenue’s case studies when we get back.”

Han Shanyue nodded seriously.

“This subject obeys.”

The Demon Lord watched the scene, a strange glint flashing through his eyes.

He finally understood why Wang Hao had been able to make it this far.

This kid wasn’t merely capable of fighting.

What was even more terrifying was his ability to find an enemy’s ledger, contracts, weaknesses, and cracks in their hearts even in the depths of despair.

Then he would turn everything into a blade of his own.

Old Man Heitian was sinister enough.

But Wang Hao was even more devious.

The difference was that Old Man Heitian’s treachery reeked of rot.

Wang Hao’s was entirely righteous.

Rumble!

The second dark-gold black nail in the corpse shell’s chest began to loosen.

The remnant dragon-vein map shone brilliantly.

A sharp glint flashed through Wang Hao’s eyes.

The opportunity had come.

He raised his hand and summoned the Suppressing-Vein Black Nail, shooting into the sky with it.

The Nine Heaven-Splitting Swords!

First sword!

The sword-light was like dawn tearing through the darkness.

Second sword!

The sword intent was like mountains and rivers cleaving the sky apart.

Third sword!

Fourth sword!

Fifth sword!