Wang Hao unleashed five sword strikes in a single breath, each layer of sword qi piling upon the last before crashing into the seal over the corpse’s chest.
The Demon Lord struck as well.
He drove out a fist, and a ten-thousand-zhang demonic abyss turned upside down and descended from above.
At last, the seal over the corpse’s chest shattered.
Wang Hao reached out and seized it.
The final fragment of the Dragon Vein Map fell into his palm.
Buzz!
All four fragments of the Dragon Vein Map began vibrating at once within his storage space.
A vast aura surged into Wang Hao’s body.
The voice of his Sign-In Intelligence System rang out in his mind.
[Special location detected: Core of the Black Heaven Ancestral Nest.]
[Sign in?]
Wang Hao did not hesitate.
“Sign in.”
[Sign-in successful!]
[Reward: A strand of the origin of the remnant dragon vein of the Nine Provinces.]
[Intelligence updated: The Demon Lord’s true objective on this trip is not Old Man Heitian, but the Demon Lord’s soul fragment lurking deep within the Black Heaven Ancestral Nest. The Demon Lord was the strongest avatar the Demon Lord severed from himself many years ago. After developing sentience over several centuries, it has secretly grown stronger through the Black Heaven City’s trade. The Demon Lord intends to devour the Demon Lord, complete his demonic path, and break into the Immortal Realm.]
The smile on Wang Hao’s face instantly froze.
What the hell?
A Demon Lord?
The Demon Lord’s avatar?
And he wanted to ascend to immortality?
He abruptly turned to look at the Demon Lord.
The Demon Lord stood in the darkness, his black robes billowing and his eyes unfathomably deep.
He resembled a sovereign who had stepped out of some primordial demonic wasteland.
And at the bottom of the lake of human skin, where the corpse had split apart…
An even more ancient and sinister demonic shadow was slowly awakening.
Its aura was extremely similar to the Demon Lord’s.
Yet it was more evil.
More deranged.
It seemed like a monster that had been abandoned, chewing on its resentment in the darkness for centuries.
The demonic shadow opened its eyes.
It looked toward the Demon Lord.
“Original self.”
“You’ve finally come.”
The Demon Lord replied calmly, “It’s time for you to return.”
The corner of Wang Hao’s mouth twitched.
Well, well.
Old Man Heitian was not completely dead yet, and over here, the Demon Lord had already begun staging a family drama.
And judging from the situation, the original self had come to collect his avatar.
After absorbing it, he would ascend to immortality.
Wang Hao understood the situation very clearly.
He couldn’t win.
Absolutely couldn’t.
The Demon Lord was already at the pinnacle of the Martial God Realm.
If he devoured the Demon Lord and completed his Dao fruit, then even if he did not become a true immortal, he would have one foot firmly in the Immortal Realm.
What could Wang Hao use to stop him?
The Heaven-Imprisoning Earth-Covering Palm?
Being able to withstand a mid-level Martial God did not mean it could stop a quasi-immortal.
The Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda?
Its two purple lightning dragons had been enough to blast Old Man Heitian, but if they struck the Demon Lord, they would probably only be good for washing his hair.
The Shield of Belief?
It could withstand one full-strength attack from a peak Martial God.
But after the Demon Lord ascended, if he slapped Wang Hao, the shield might block the first blow—but by the second, Wang Hao would be erecting his own gravestone.
Wang Hao took a deep breath.
He had made up his mind.
Run.
This wasn’t cowardice.
It was a strategic retreat.
He was the emperor of Great Xia, a man of immense value. How could he risk his life fighting a demonic monster on the verge of ascending to immortality?
His eyes shifted as he secretly sent a voice transmission to Yin Jiuyou, Xue Wuhen, Han Shanyue, and Zi Yuan.
“Prepare to withdraw.”
Han Shanyue was stunned.
“Your Majesty, the treasury…”
Wang Hao’s voice transmission was utterly calm.
“No matter how important the treasury is, someone still has to be alive to spend it.”
Han Shanyue immediately grew solemn with admiration.
His Majesty truly was His Majesty.
When forced to choose between the treasury and his life, he had finally made a normal decision for once.
The New Emperor Sword was still happily gnawing on the corpse’s severed finger.
Wang Hao grabbed it by the back of its hilt.
“Let’s go.”
The New Emperor Sword was shocked.
“Master, I haven’t finished eating!”
Wang Hao lowered his voice.
“If you keep eating, the Demon Lord will use you as a toothpick.”
The New Emperor Sword glanced at the Demon Lord, then at the Demon Lord beneath the lake.
It silently swallowed the black scale in its mouth.
“I think taking the leftovers with us would be more civilized.”
Wang Hao: “…”
This useless sword really did take after him.
However…
Just as Wang Hao was preparing to retreat from the ancestral nest, the Demon Lord suddenly turned his head and looked at him.
“Where are you going?”
Wang Hao kept his expression unchanged.
“I’m going upstairs to see whether Old Man Heitian is dead yet.”
The Demon Lord replied calmly, “There’s no hurry.”
“Stay.”
Wang Hao smiled.
“Senior Demon Lord, this is a family matter of yours.”
“As an outsider, it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to watch.”
The Demon Lord said, “Aren’t you always fond of watching the fun?”
Wang Hao answered seriously, “I’ve recently given that up.”
The corners of the Demon Lord’s lips curved slightly.
“Wang Hao, what have you learned?”
The air within the ancestral nest froze instantly.
Yin Jiuyou and Xue Wuhen tensed at the same time.
Han Shanyue silently shifted his storage bag behind his back.
Zi Yuan’s face went pale.
The Demon Lord merely stood there.
Yet his pressure had already spread throughout the entire ancestral nest.
The Demon Lord beneath the lake let out a low chuckle.
“Original self.”
“This little emperor is quite interesting.”
“He knows you intend to devour me.”
The Demon Lord was not surprised.
He merely gazed at Wang Hao with even greater depth in his eyes.
“So you want to run?”
Wang Hao sighed.
“You’re making it sound so distant.”
“I simply feel that after working together this long, our accounts have been settled and the goods have been collected. It’s time for everyone to return home.”
The Demon Lord took one step forward.
Boom!
The entire ancestral nest trembled.
“What if I refuse to let you leave?”
Wang Hao fell silent for a moment.
Then he raised his head, his smile radiant.
“Then I’ll have to remind you.”
“There are still twelve Sacred Lands and the Martial Gods of the various demonic sects outside.”
“If they learn that you intend to ascend to immortality, do you think they’ll let you cultivate in peace?”
A demonic gleam flashed through the Demon Lord’s eyes.
“You’re threatening me?”
Wang Hao shook his head.
“It’s not a threat.”
“It’s a friendly reminder.”
He paused, then added, “Of course, if you feel friendship isn’t worth anything, I can turn it into a paid reminder.”
The Demon Lord finally laughed.
His laughter was low and deep.
Yet it caused the darkness throughout the area to tremble.
“Wang Hao.”
“You truly are suited to live in my era.”
The next moment…
The Demon Lord raised his hand.
A palm struck toward Wang Hao!
There was no warning.
No killing intent leaked out beforehand.
It was merely a casual strike.
Yet when that palm descended, a demonic wasteland seemed to appear before Wang Hao’s eyes.
Countless skeletons knelt in submission.
The stars of the heavens went dark.
A demonic shadow stood beyond the heavens, raising one hand to suppress the ages.
Wang Hao’s expression changed drastically.
“Withdraw!”
He shoved Han Shanyue and the others away with one hand.
At the same time, he raised his palm to meet the attack.
The Heaven-Imprisoning Earth-Covering Palm!
First palm!
Second palm!
Third palm!
Three palms struck in succession, golden palm seals layering over one another.
But the Demon Lord’s palm seal merely paused for an instant before continuing downward.
Fourth palm!
Fifth palm!
Sixth palm!
Blood burst from Wang Hao’s arms.
The dark ground beneath his feet shattered inch by inch.
Seventh palm!
Eighth palm!
The force of the palms descended like the heavens themselves folding over.
At last, a crack appeared in the Demon Lord’s palm seal.
A ruthless glint flashed in Wang Hao’s eyes.
Ninth palm!
Boom!
The nine palms merged into one.
The Heaven-Imprisoning Earth-Covering Palm!
The golden palm seal collided head-on with the demonic palm.
The entire ancestral nest exploded.
A dark tide rolled backward.
The lake of human skin was blasted into countless fragments.
Wang Hao flew backward, smashing through the bronze gate as blood gushed from the corner of his mouth.
The Demon Lord, however, retreated only half a step.
Half a step.
That was all.
Wang Hao wiped the blood from his lips, with only one thought in his mind.
This fight was impossible.
Truly impossible.
The Demon Lord looked at him, and for the first time, clear admiration appeared in his eyes.
“A second-layer Martial God, yet you were able to take one of this lord’s strikes.”
“Very good.”
“Once I devour the Demon Lord, I’ll come back and kill you.”
Wang Hao narrowed his eyes.
“Are you sure you’ll still have the chance to devour him peacefully?”
The Demon Lord’s brows shifted slightly.
The next instant…
Wang Hao suddenly pulled out a fragment of the Mandate of Heaven Tax Ledger. The Myriad Contracts One Source Seal hung suspended in midair, and his voice rang out like thunder, echoing through the Ancestral Nest and across the entirety of Black Heaven City.
“Everyone!”
“Stop beating up Old Man Heitian!”
“The Demon Lord is about to ascend to immortality!”
“If you don’t come down now, we’ll all have to kowtow to the Demon Lord and pay protection money together!”
High above Black Heaven City,
the various Martial Gods who had been surrounding and attacking Old Man Heitian froze in place simultaneously.
The Demon Lord: “…”
Wang Hao smiled with utmost sincerity.
“Senior.”
“I can’t beat you.”
“But I can call in reinforcements.”
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.
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
