Twelve Holy Lands Enter the Fray, the Demonic Path Harbors Resentment as They Besiege the Venerable

Ash-gold radiance illuminated the city of Black Heaven beneath the dark sky.

Wang Hao’s voice rang out, vast and commanding as an imperial decree.

“Esteemed seniors!”

“The Demon Lord is devouring his incarnations in an attempt to break into the Immortal Realm—an upheaval unseen in Jiuzhou for ten thousand years!”

“In my capacity as Emperor of Great Xia, I hereby declare the provisional establishment of the Jiuzhou United Office for Resisting Demons and Ascending to Immortality!”

The assembled Martial Gods: “???”

Wang Hao continued:

“Anyone who takes part in stopping the Demon Lord’s ascension shall, after the battle, receive a share of Black Heaven City’s inheritance according to their contribution!”

“Anyone who stands idly by shall be regarded as an accomplice of the Demon Lord!”

“Anyone who secretly aids the Demon Lord shall be placed on Great Xia’s blacklist of tax fugitives!”

At last, the Demon Lord turned his head.

His gaze was icy.

“Wang Hao.”

Wang Hao smiled pleasantly.

“Senior, don’t be hasty.”

“I’m not finished yet.”

He turned to the many Martial Gods of the demonic path.

“Esteemed seniors of the demonic sects, think this through.”

“Once the Demon Lord becomes immortal, the holy lands may perhaps still manage to survive.”

“After all, the holy lands have ancestral artifacts, deep foundations, and reputations to uphold.”

“But what about you?”

“Your demonic sects spend your days fighting over territory, refining soul banners, stealing disciples, and digging up ancestral graves. Which one of those things hasn’t offended the Demon Lord?”

“If he ascends, you’ll have to bid for the privilege of kneeling before him.”

The experts of the Blood Prison Demon Sect looked livid.

The soul-fire in White Bone Old Monster’s eyes flickered.

The Martial Gods of the Ten Thousand Souls Sect wore dark expressions.

Then Wang Hao looked toward the powers of the holy lands.

“And don’t laugh, seniors of the holy lands.”

“If the demonic path is united, do you think your holy lands can keep lording it over everyone?”

“When that time comes, those holy sons and holy maidens of yours may well be sent to the Demon Palace as hostages.”

A female Martial God from the Blood Lotus Holy Land said coldly,

“Wang Hao, are you trying to use us as blades?”

Wang Hao nodded candidly.

“Yes.”

Everyone froze.

He actually admitted it?

Wang Hao answered with perfect righteousness:

“This is what you call an open scheme.”

“You don’t have to be the blade.”

“But once the Demon Lord ascends, the blade will be at your throats.”

“Strike now, and everyone can cut him down together.”

“Refuse to strike now, and later he alone will cut down all of you.”

“Do I really need to teach you how to choose?”

A dead silence fell over the skies above Black Heaven City.

Every Martial God looked utterly grim.

Because Wang Hao had put it too plainly.

Too bluntly.

And far too correctly.

The Demon Lord said coldly,

“You dare?”

Only three words.

Yet heaven and earth fell silent.

The Demon Lord’s pressure surged skyward from the ancestral nest.

Countless martial artists dropped to their knees on the spot.

Even the Martial Gods felt a crushing weight settle upon their shoulders.

This was the Demon Lord.

Though he had not yet become immortal,

he could still suppress all the heroes of Jiuzhou by himself.

Yet it was precisely at that moment that the last trace of hesitation vanished from everyone’s hearts.

He was already this arrogant before becoming immortal.

If he truly ascended, what then?

Taiyin Old Matriarch was the first to act.

A frigid Taiyin moon rose behind her, its cold light falling directly upon the ancestral nest.

“Demon Lord.”

“You cannot become immortal.”

Yellow Springs Ancestor was the second to strike.

A great river of Yellow Springs stretched across the void, its rolling deathly aura sweeping toward the Demon Lord.

The Sword Ruins powerhouse said nothing.

He merely drew his sword.

The instant the sword-light emerged, heaven and earth seemed to be cleaved in two.

Then came the Blood Prison Demon Sect.

The White Bone Demon Sect.

The Ten Thousand Souls Sect.

The Blood Lotus Holy Land.

The Golden Pavilion Holy Land.

One Martial God after another made their move.

Not for justice.

Nor because they trusted Wang Hao.

But because none of them wanted an immortal above their heads.

Wang Hao stood at the edge of the fissure in the ancestral nest, his face full of satisfaction.

“See?”

“This is the unity of Jiuzhou.”

Han Shanyue’s mouth twitched.

“Your Majesty, isn’t this more like being forced into a desperate alliance?”

Wang Hao shot him a glance.

“The histories will call it unity.”

Han Shanyue immediately nodded.

“Your servant understands.”

Locked in by the attacks of so many Martial Gods, the Demon Lord finally turned around slowly.

He was not angry.

Instead, he laughed.

That smile held disdain, dominance, and a wild madness suppressed for centuries.

“Good.”

“Very good.”

“Before I have even ascended to immortality, you are already afraid.”

“Then I shall show you all.”

“Beneath the immortal path, who is worthy of standing in my way?”

Boom!

The Demon Lord suppressed the Demon Lord with one hand.

With the other, he raised it to meet the attacks of the martial gods filling the sky.

Darkness boiled.

The Nine Provinces trembled.

Wang Hao narrowed his eyes.

He knew the real trouble had arrived.

The Demon Lord was going to devour the Demon Lord by force.

One hand pressed down on the Demon Lord’s head.

The other fended off the combined assault of martial gods from across the realm.

This scene was enough to be recorded in the annals of the Nine Provinces.

Black Heaven City had completely collapsed.

The neutral black market once said to be forever unsinkable now resembled an ancient ship torn apart by the gods.

City walls split apart.

Pavilions and towers toppled.

The ancestral nest beneath the earth lay exposed under daylight.

Yet that daylight had been stained a bizarre seven colors by demonic qi, sword qi, the Yellow Springs, lunar yin, and seas of blood.

Countless surviving martial artists fled in panic.

None dared look back.

For what lay behind them was no ordinary battle.

It was the greatest martial gods of the Nine Provinces joining forces to besiege a supreme demon lord on the verge of entering the immortal realm.

The Demon Lord’s black hair whipped wildly in the wind.

Beneath his palm, the Demon Lord struggled madly.

“Demon Lord!”

“You cannot devour me!”

“I have already forged a lineage of my own!”

The Demon Lord’s expression remained indifferent.

“Everything you possess belongs to me.”

The Demon Lord howled.

“I hate you!”

The Demon Lord replied,

“Even that hatred was given to you by me.”

Boom!

The Demon Lord’s five fingers tightened.

The Demon Lord’s body began to break apart.

Countless black runes poured out from within him, transforming into the very origin of the demonic path and flowing continuously into the Demon Lord’s body.

The Demon Lord’s aura began to surge.

Peak Martial God.

Half-step Transcendence.

At the threshold of Transcendence.

And then higher still.

This was no simple rise in cultivation.

It was like a demonic river, severed for centuries, finally being rejoined.

High in the heavens, a vague immortal gate began to appear.

Beyond that gate were no auspicious signs.

No immortal radiance.

Only endless darkness.

As though, should the Demon Lord ascend to immortality, what he would open would not be a path to ascension, but a demonic prison that would engulf the entire Nine Provinces.

Every martial god’s expression changed.

The Taiyin Old Matriarch cried out sharply,

“Stop holding back!”

“He has begun to complete his Dao Fruit!”

The Yellow Springs Ancestor roared,

“Yellow Springs Bury the Gods!”

The Yellow Springs River swelled ten thousand zhang high. Countless skeletal ghosts emerged from its waters, dragging death laws toward the Demon Lord.

The Demon Lord lifted his eyes.

With a single glance—

Countless ghosts within the Yellow Springs River exploded on the spot.

The Yellow Springs Ancestor grunted and was forced back a hundred zhang.

The Sword Ruins powerhouse stepped into the sky.

“Sword Splits the Heavenly Ruins!”

His sword came crashing down.

The sword light seemed to awaken from an ancient sword tomb, carrying an edge capable of severing all laws as it shot directly toward the Demon Lord’s brow.

The Demon Lord raised his hand and caught the sword light between two fingers.

Crack!

The sword light shattered.

Blood burst from the Sword Ruins powerhouse’s hand, yet there was no fear in his eyes.

“Again.”

A powerhouse from the Blood Prison Demon Sect roared as a sea of blood churned behind him.

“Demon Lord!”

“If you attain immortality, my Blood Prison Demon Sect will be the first you purge!”

“I’m done pretending!”

“Today, I rebel against you!”

The sea of blood transformed into a colossal crimson demon, which swung its fist down.

Seeing this, the White Bone Old Monster gritted his teeth and attacked as well.

“White Bone Calamity!”

Hundreds of millions of bone spears emerged from the void, densely filling the air as they shot toward the Demon Lord.

A martial god of the Myriad Souls Sect brought forth the Myriad Souls Banner.

Countless vengeful souls howled from within it.

The Valkyrie of the Blood Lotus Sacred Land stood atop a blood-red lotus. Its petals bloomed, each one releasing a divine ray of slaughter.

Behind the Martial God of the Golden Palace Sacred Land, a golden hall materialized, its myriad golden beams descending like heavenly punishment.

At this moment—

the Sacred Lands and the demonic path had actually joined forces.

Though everyone was cursing Wang Hao inwardly,

none of them held back in the slightest.

Standing at a distance, Wang Hao watched and nodded repeatedly.

“Not bad.”

“They’re fighting with real spirit.”

New Emperor Sword asked:

“Master, aren’t we going in?”

Wang Hao glanced at it.

“Do you think if you went up there now, you’d be cutting down the Demon Lord—or just sharpening his teeth?”

New Emperor Sword considered this seriously.

“Then I can pick off the leftovers.”

Wang Hao said approvingly:

“You’re making progress.”

Han Shanyue quietly said from beside him:

“Your Majesty, shouldn’t we retreat a little farther?”

Wang Hao nodded.

“Retreat.”

Yin Jiuyou froze.

“Your Majesty, we’re really retreating?”

Wang Hao replied:

“Of course.”

“I lit the fire. Do you think I’m going to stand in the stove and wait to be cooked?”