An Immortal Descends to the World, I First Retreat to a Safe Distance

“Want me to arrange an extension for you?”

The moment Wang Hao said those words, heaven and earth fell silent for an instant.

Above the ruins of Blackheaven City, every Martial God felt a chill run down their backs.

They had seen people looking for death.

But they had never seen anyone wash their neck clean and even sharpen the blade for the executioner.

The Demon Lord stood at the center of the collapsed ancestral nest.

His black hair whipped wildly in the air.

One hand still clutched the Demon Lord’s ruined body.

His other hand slowly lowered.

He did not fly into a rage at once.

The calmer he was, the more terrifying he became.

The Dark Immortal Gate in the sky trembled violently.

That gate had opened only a sliver.

There was no immortal radiance behind it, no auspicious beasts, no golden lotuses formed from the Great Dao.

Only darkness.

It was like an abyss abandoned by the heavens and all the worlds.

And now, the gate to that abyss was becoming unstable.

Because the most crucial strand of the Demon Lord’s origin had been snatched away by Wang Hao.

More precisely, it had been carried off by the New Son of Heaven Sword.

The New Son of Heaven Sword had transformed into a silver-haired little man. It hugged that mass of pitch-black origin, demonic qi still hanging from the corner of its mouth, its face filled with intoxication.

“Master.”

“This thing tastes amazing.”

“It’s a little like burnt heavenly fate.”

Wang Hao shot it a glance.

“Don’t eat recklessly.”

“If you get a stomachache from that thing, don’t expect me to reimburse your medical expenses.”

The New Son of Heaven Sword immediately covered the origin with both hands.

“Then I’ll eat it slowly.”

Wang Hao fell silent for a moment.

Ever since this sword had started following him, it really had become more and more promising.

In the past, it only knew how to hack people apart.

Now it had learned to snatch food straight from a half-immortal’s mouth.

It was growing quickly.

Unfortunately, it was also prone to dying young.

The Demon Lord finally spoke.

“Wang Hao.”

The two words fell, and the entire world seemed to be pressed beneath deep water.

Countless warriors of the Skyfaring Realm dropped from the sky on the spot.

Warriors of the Astral Qì Realm bled from all seven orifices.

Those below the True Intent Realm did not even possess the right to raise their heads and look.

This was not mere pressure.

It was an overwhelming suppression of the very level of life.

It was like ants suddenly hearing the heavens speak.

Behind Wang Hao, Han Shanyue’s face had gone pale.

Yin Jiuyou and Xue Wuhen both stepped forward half a pace, shielding Zi Yuan behind them.

Wang Hao, however, raised a hand and signaled for them not to move.

He looked at the Demon Lord.

His smile remained bright.

But his heart was being perfectly honest.

He couldn’t fight him.

He really couldn’t.

He was now a fifth-layer Martial God.

After Old Man Heitian’s death, the remaining fragment of the Heavenly Mandate Tax Register had collected the debts of fate. The willpower of the people had flowed back into him, while the imperial aura of the Emperor’s Dao had surged. All of it had forcibly pushed his cultivation to the fifth layer of the Martial God realm.

With the divine martial art, Heaven-Imprisoning Earth-Covering Palm, in hand, he could unleash nine palms in succession—enough to stop even a mid-stage Martial God.

Together with the Nine Swords of Creation, the Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, the New Son of Heaven Sword, and the protection of the people’s willpower, he could already be considered unstoppable throughout the Nine Provinces.

The problem was—

the person standing before him was not a normal contestant from the Nine Provinces.

The Demon Lord had devoured most of the Demon Lord. Even though his ascension had been interrupted, he had already stepped across another threshold.

A half-immortal.

Not transcendent.

Not a true immortal.

Yet more than enough to look down upon Martial Gods.

The Demon Lord slowly tightened his five fingers.

The Demon Lord’s ruined body let out a scream.

“Your Excellency!”

“You can’t devour me completely!”

“Without that strand of origin, you’ll never be complete!”

The Demon Lord said indifferently, “Even incomplete, I am sufficient to slaughter this entire age.”

Boom!

The remaining body of the Demon Lord exploded completely.

Countless black runes, like billions upon billions of demonic insects, madly burrowed into the Demon Lord’s body.

Behind him, the Dark Immortal Gate opened another sliver.

Strands of aura that surpassed the Martial God realm descended from above.

The laws of heaven and earth began to twist.

Above the ruins of Blackheaven City, countless broken walls and shattered tiles floated into the air before silently crumbling to pieces.

The void wrinkled like paper.

The great Yellow Springs River flowed backward.

The cold Taiyin Moon was shrouded in dust.

The swords in the hands of the Sword Mound’s experts rang uneasily.

The expressions of every Martial God changed.

The Taiyin Old Matriarch spoke in a hoarse voice.

“A half-immortal.”

The Yellow Springs Ancestor’s eyes were so gloomy they seemed ready to drip water.

“He still became a half-step immortal in the end.”

An expert from the Blood Prison Demon Sect cursed loudly.

“Wang Hao!”

“Didn’t you say you’d interrupted him?”

Wang Hao answered with complete justification, “I did interrupt him.”

“Can’t someone with a broken leg still crawl over and bite you?”

The Blood Prison Demon Sect expert nearly spat blood from anger.

The words were horribly unpleasant.

But he had no way to refute them.

The Demon Lord raised his eyes.

His pupils had already turned completely black.

That black was not a color.

They were like two bottomless demonic abysses.

“This lord will kill you first.”

Wang Hao immediately took half a step back.

“Senior.”

“That isn’t very reasonable of you.”

“Everyone here is attacking you. Why do you have to kill me first?”

The Demon Lord gave no answer.

He took one step forward.

As his foot came down, a black line appeared between heaven and earth.

The black line spread from the center of the ancestral nest, slicing straight toward Wang Hao.

Everything in its path—the space, the ruined buildings, the demonic qi, even the laws themselves—was split in two.

There was no palm strike.

No flash of a blade.

Only a single thought from a half-immortal.

Wang Hao’s pupils contracted sharply.

“Nine Swords of Creation!”

Clang!

The New Son of Heaven Sword instantly reverted to its original form, and Wang Hao gripped it in one hand.

The sword hummed.

It had just swallowed the Demon Lord’s origin, and an eerie black-gold pattern now coiled around its blade.

Wang Hao swung his sword.

The first sword.

A Single Line to Open Heaven!

A silvery-white sword light tore through the darkness and collided with the black line.

Crack!

The sword light shattered on the spot.

Wang Hao’s wrist trembled, and the web between his thumb and forefinger split open.

He did not stop.

The second sword.

Sea-Cleaving!

The third sword.

Mountain-Rending!

Three slashes struck in succession. Sword qi poured down like a river from the heavens, forcing a tiny crack open before the black line.

Wang Hao seized that instant.

“Go!”

He kicked Han Shanyue in the rear.

Han Shanyue flew away, dragging Zi Yuan along with him.

Yin Jiuyou and Xue Wuhen did not dare delay either. They retreated as two streaks of blood-red light.

Wang Hao himself did not leave at once.

He raised his left hand.

Heaven-Imprisoning Earth-Covering Palm!

First palm!

Second palm!

Third palm!

Golden palm seals stretched across the sky, imperial majesty crashing down like mountains and rivers.

Fourth palm!

Fifth palm!

Sixth palm!

The layers of palm seals piled atop one another, pressing the ruins of Blackheaven City even farther into the earth.

If an ordinary mid-stage Martial God had been there, their muscles and bones would have been blasted into powder beneath six palms.

But the black line merely paused for the briefest moment.

Wang Hao’s eyelid twitched.

“This trial-version immortal really has no sense of martial ethics.”

Seventh palm!

Eighth palm!

Ninth palm!

The nine palms merged into one.

Heaven-Imprisoning Earth-Covering!

The golden giant palm resembled the mountains and rivers of an entire imperial dynasty. Carrying the imperial might to suppress all people and seal heaven and earth, it came crashing down.

At last, the black line was knocked off course.

It skimmed past Wang Hao’s shoulder.

Pfft!

Half of Wang Hao’s shoulder exploded into a spray of blood.

The willpower of the people gathered on its own, forming a shield.

The moment that golden shield appeared, it was covered in cracks.

It could withstand one full-force strike from a peak Martial God.

But a half-immortal was not a peak Martial God.

Wang Hao did not hesitate in the slightest. He turned and ran.

He ran openly.

He ran with complete justification.

His imperial robe billowed behind him, and even his crown nearly tilted off his head.

In the distance, Han Shanyue watched with the corner of his eye twitching.

“His Majesty is really running?”

Yin Jiuyou said solemnly, “This is called a strategic retreat.”

Xue Wuhen added, “And it’s an extremely correct strategic retreat.”

Zi Yuan watched the retreating figure, who was coughing blood even as he pulled back, her feelings complicated.

This Great Xia Emperor had dared to mock the Demon Lord to his face just moments ago.

And in the next instant, he ran faster than anyone else.

Shameless?

Absolutely shameless.

But if he didn’t run, everyone would already be preparing to collect his corpse.

Wang Hao retreated all the way beyond the crack in the ancestral nest.

It still wasn’t enough.

He withdrew again, until he reached the broken walls on the outskirts of Blackheaven City.

He still didn’t feel safe.

So he continued retreating.

He did not stop until he had reached the rear of the encirclement formed by all the Martial Gods.

Only then did he halt.

He coughed up a mouthful of blood, straightened his imperial robe, and solemnly took out the remaining fragment of the Heavenly Mandate Tax Register.

Gray-gold radiance rose into the sky.

The Myriad Contracts Origin-Unity Seal hovered in midair.

Wang Hao’s voice carried across the battlefield.

“Senior cultivators!”

“The Demon Lord has become a half-immortal!”

“But he isn’t a complete True Immortal!”

“What does that tell us?”

The Martial Gods instinctively turned to look at him.

Wang Hao slapped the tax ledger.

“It means everyone was fighting well just now!”

“It means he can feel pain!”

“It means he can be interrupted!”

“It means that as long as we keep attacking, he won’t be able to complete his ascension in peace!”

A powerhouse from the Blood Prison Demon Sect roared, “Don’t just stand there talking!”

“You go up there!”

Wang Hao stared at him in shock.

“I went up just now.”

“I even snatched a bite.”

“With so many of you here, do you seriously expect a fifth-level Martial God like me to serve as the main force?”

Everyone fell silent.

That was shameless.

But it also made sense.

Wang Hao really had gone up just now.

He had even snatched a crucial fragment of origin from the Demon Lord’s mouth.

The method had been despicable.

But the results were genuine.

The Demon Lord stepped out of the Ancestral Nest.

With every step he took, another layer of the ruins of Blackheaven City collapsed.

Behind him, the phantom of a dark immortal gate grew increasingly solid.

But there was a gap in its frame.

The gap looked like a wound, constantly dripping black immortal energy.

Wang Hao’s eyes lit up.

He immediately pointed at the gap and shouted:

“See that?”

“There!”

“His Dao Fruit is leaking!”

“Whoever attacks that spot gets first priority when the spoils are divided after the battle!”

The Taiyin Old Matriarch’s eyes turned cold.

The projection of the Taiyin Ancient Mirror shone down once more.

Its freezing radiance struck directly at the gap in the immortal gate.

The Yellow Springs Ancestor let out a cold snort and sent the Yellow Springs Stele crashing down.

The powerhouse from the Sword Ruins said nothing. His sword intent towered like a mountain as he slashed directly at the gap.

The Demon Lord raised a hand.

Boom!

Half-immortal demonic energy swept across all eight directions.

The Taiyin radiance shattered.

The Yellow Springs Stele was blasted backward.

The powerhouse from the Sword Ruins groaned, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

But everyone saw it.

The Demon Lord had blocked the attack.

He had been forced to block it.

That meant Wang Hao had been right.

The Blood Lotus Sacred Land’s female Martial God’s eyes flickered.

“His immortal energy is unstable.”

The Martial God of the Golden Pavilion Sacred Land spoke gravely.

“If he manages to stabilize it, no one in the Nine Provinces will be able to restrain him.”

The White Bone Old Monster gritted his teeth.

“Then keep attacking!”

The powerhouse from the Blood Prison Demon Sect’s eyes reddened.

“I’ve been led straight to my ancestral grave by Wang Hao today.”

Wang Hao immediately corrected him.

“It wasn’t a trap.”

“It was a joint effort to safeguard public security throughout the Nine Provinces.”

The powerhouse from the Blood Prison Demon Sect cursed, “Shut up!”

Wang Hao was very receptive to advice.

He shut up for one breath.

Then he shouted again:

“All you demonic cultivators, listen up!”

“His half-immortal state hasn’t stabilized yet. What he needs most is to blood-sacrifice kindred demonic cultivators to fill the gap!”

“Take a guess: will he eat the sacred lands first, or you ready-made old demon sects?”

The faces of the demonic powerhouses instantly turned green.

The White Bone Old Monster shouted angrily, “Nonsense!”

Wang Hao looked toward the Demon Lord.

“Senior, why don’t you explain?”

The Demon Lord offered no explanation.

He merely raised a hand, and a wisp of half-immortal demonic energy descended toward the White Bone Old Monster.

The White Bone Old Monster’s expression changed dramatically as billions upon billions of bone spears appeared around him for protection.

Boom!

The bone spears shattered completely.

Half of the White Bone Old Monster’s body ruptured, and the fire within his bones wavered violently.

All the Martial Gods from the demon sects felt their hearts turn cold.

Wang Hao immediately twisted the knife.

“See?”

“He’s confirming it.”

The powerhouse from the Blood Prison Demon Sect let out a roar. His blood-red heart pounded like a heavenly war drum.

“Demon Lord!”

“You want to eat me? Then I’ll smash your teeth in first!”

A sea of blood surged into the heavens and crashed directly toward the Demon Lord.

The Martial God of the Ten Thousand Souls Sect no longer hesitated either. The Ten Thousand Souls Banner unfurled, and billions upon billions of wailing vengeful souls swooped down.

The powerhouses of the Taiyin, Yellow Springs, Sword Ruins, Golden Pavilion, and Blood Lotus Sacred Lands attacked at the same time.

In an instant, the sky above Blackheaven City seemed filled with gods and demons from every corner of the heavens.

A frigid moon came crashing down.

The Yellow Springs stretched across the sky.

A mountain of swords pressed down upon the world.

A sea of blood churned and surged.

White bones rose into the heavens.

A golden hall descended to suppress the demon.

The Demon Lord stood at the very center.

His half-immortal body withstood the combined assault of all the Martial Gods beneath heaven.

He raised a hand and shattered the Yellow Springs.

He turned and broke the mountain of swords.

With a single glance, he forced back the Blood Lotus powerhouse.

Yet the gap in the immortal gate continued to drip immortal energy.

He was unable to break free completely.

Wang Hao stood at the very edge of the battlefield, watching with great seriousness.

Even as he watched, he did not forget to give orders.

“Senior Taiyin, a little farther to the left!”

“Yellow Springs Ancestor, your river’s crooked! Aim it at his immortal gate, not at our own people!”

“Brother Blood Prison, you’re doing great! Keep it up! I’ll put you down for an Outstanding Anti-Demon Contributor after the battle!”

The powerhouse from the Blood Prison Demon Sect roared:

“I don’t need that!”

Wang Hao nodded.

“Modest.”

“Your Majesty likes exemplary demonic cultivators like you who seek neither fame nor profit.”

The powerhouse from the Blood Prison Demon Sect was so furious that his Dao heart nearly wavered.

Surrounded and besieged by everyone, the Demon Lord finally turned completely cold.

He looked toward Wang Hao in the distance.

For the first time, the killing intent in his eyes grew so intense that it was almost tangible.

“Do you think hiding behind the others means this venerable one can’t kill you?”