Too powerful.
Even with his Dao Fruit unstable, even with one anchor severed, the Demon Lord was still so overwhelmingly strong that it inspired despair.
Wang Hao’s gaze darkened.
The anchor at the Myriad Contracts Platform was only the first step.
The second anchor was the leyline demonic pillar in Black Heaven City.
The third anchor lay in the remnant source beneath the human-skin lake in the Ancestral Nest.
If they did not continue severing them, the Demon Lord would soon resume drawing in energy.
He lowered his head and glanced at the New Emperor Sword.
The New Emperor Sword was secretly gnawing on that mass of Demon Lord essence.
Wang Hao smiled.
“Is it tasty?”
The New Emperor Sword froze.
“Not bad.”
Wang Hao said, “Want something bigger?”
The New Emperor Sword’s eyes lit up.
“Yes!”
Wang Hao pointed toward the spot beneath the Demon Lord’s feet at the center of the battlefield.
“Go.”
“Take that mass of essence and fly around his left side.”
The New Emperor Sword’s expression gradually stiffened.
“Master.”
“I have a feeling you’re not sending me there to eat.”
“You’re sending me to act as bait.”
Wang Hao’s tone was gentle.
“Don’t put it that way.”
“You’re high-grade bait.”
“Premium guest edition.”
The New Emperor Sword fell silent for a moment.
Then it said solemnly and tragically, “Pay extra.”
Wang Hao was shocked.
“You’re a sword, and you’re asking me for money?”
The New Emperor Sword answered seriously, “I learned it from Master.”
Wang Hao nodded in satisfaction.
“Good. You’re making something of yourself.”
“When you come back, I’ll give you a big bite.”
The New Emperor Sword instantly transformed into a streak of silver light and flew around the Demon Lord’s left side, carrying the mass of Demon Lord essence.
The Demon Lord sensed the aura of his essence, and his gaze locked onto it at once.
That was the missing portion of his Dao Fruit.
As long as he recovered it, the gap would be more than half restored.
He took one step forward and reached out to seize the New Emperor Sword.
Wang Hao immediately shouted, “He’s panicking!”
“He’s desperate to reclaim his essence and repair the Immortal Gate!”
“Press the left flank!”
The Martial Gods cursed Wang Hao’s treachery inwardly.
But they still advanced at once.
The Taiyin Old Matriarch, the experts of the Sword Ruins, and the Blood Lotus Valkyrie simultaneously sealed off the void on the left.
The experts of the Blood Prison Demon Sect also gritted their teeth and charged forward.
As it fled, the New Emperor Sword shouted, “Master!”
“He’s looking at me like he hasn’t eaten in thirty thousand years!”
Wang Hao shouted back, “Have some confidence!”
“He really hasn’t eaten in thirty thousand years!”
The Demon Lord was forcibly held back.
Meanwhile, Wang Hao lowered his head and took the second Severing Immortal Anchor Talisman into his palm.
His gaze settled on the distant depths beneath the earth.
There, a black demonic pillar pierced through heaven and earth from the depths of Black Heaven City.
The second anchor.
The leyline demonic pillar.
It was more powerful than the remaining flames of the Myriad Contracts Platform.
And it was closer to the center of the battlefield.
Wang Hao narrowed his eyes.
“This position is troublesome.”
“Too dangerous.”
Han Shanyue was not by his side, so no one was there to complain.
But Wang Hao supplied the response himself.
“So naturally, I can’t be the one to go.”
He raised his head and looked toward the Blood Prison Demon Sect expert nearest to the leyline demonic pillar.
“Brother Blood Prison!”
The Blood Prison Demon Sect expert’s heart gave a jolt.
Every time Wang Hao called him that, nothing good ever followed.
Sure enough, the next moment, Wang Hao pointed enthusiastically at the leyline demonic pillar.
“You’re the closest!”
“Smash that pillar!”
“If you succeed, I’ll appoint you the foremost hero of the Nine Provinces Anti-Demon Ascension Alliance’s Leyline Assault Office!”
The Blood Prison Demon Sect expert was so furious that his vision darkened.
“Wang Hao!”
“I’ll kill you sooner or later!”
Wang Hao shouted encouragement, “Survive today first!”
The Blood Prison Demon Sect expert let out an angry roar.
A sea of blood surged and churned.
He charged toward the leyline demonic pillar, filled with hatred.
His charge carried three parts tragedy,
seven parts frustration,
and twelve parts fury at wanting to kill Wang Hao.
He was a dignified Martial God of the Blood Prison Demon Sect, a figure who had dominated the Nine Provinces for a thousand years. When had anyone ever used him as a battering ram?
And yet Wang Hao had pointed him toward the right target.
The leyline demonic pillar was currently channeling the power of Black Heaven City’s leylines into the Demon Lord.
With every passing breath, the dark Immortal Gate behind the Demon Lord grew more stable.
The Blood Prison Demon Sect expert did not want to be a hero.
He simply did not want to end up kneeling and calling someone “father.”
The demonic path had never feared fierce men.
What it feared was a father so fierce that no one was qualified to resist him.
“Blood Prison Burns the Heavens!”
The Blood Prison Demon Sect expert roared.
The blood-colored heart in his chest flew out and hovered above his head.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
With every beat of the heart, the sea of blood swelled to twice its size.
By the end, the entire sky had turned crimson.
Countless blood-colored demonic shadows crawled out of the sea of blood and hurled themselves one after another against the leyline demonic pillar.
The Demon Lord turned his head.
“Courting death.”
He raised one hand and pointed.
Dark Immortal power condensed into a beam of light.
There was no sound.
No disturbance.
Yet everywhere that beam passed, every blood-colored demonic shadow silently vanished.
The Blood Prison Demon Sect expert’s expression changed dramatically.
He tried to dodge.
But a single finger from a half-immortal locked onto more than just his physical body.
It locked onto his karma as well.
At that moment, the White Bone Old Monster came rushing over, cursing as he went.
“You idiot!”
“If you die, I’ll have to take your place at the front!”
His ruined skeletal body unfolded, and billions of bone fragments assembled into a ghastly white shield.
Boom!
The dark Immortal light struck the bone shield.
The shield exploded.
The White Bone Old Monster was sent flying backward, and the bone fire within him dimmed by more than half.
The Blood Prison Demon Sect expert grabbed him.
“Old Bones, you saved me?”
The White Bone Old Monster cursed angrily, “Don’t flatter yourself!”
“I was saving myself!”
In the distance, Wang Hao clapped his hands, deeply moved.
“Excellent!”
“Demonic comrades helping one another—truly heartwarming!”
“Historian, make a note of this. Senior White Bone sacrificed himself to save his friend, while Senior Blood Prison charged forward through his tears!”
The White Bone Old Monster nearly fell from the sky.
“Wang Hao!”
“If you dare write it that way, I’ll dig up your imperial mausoleum!”
Wang Hao’s expression turned solemn.
“Watch your words, Senior.”
“The Great Xia imperial mausoleum hasn’t even been finished yet.”
“If you’re interested, I can subcontract the earthworks to you.”
The White Bone Old Monster was so furious that even his bones clattered.
But the battlefield allowed no time to waste.
The Demon Lord had begun his second inhalation.
His chest rose and fell.
The leyline demonic pillar rumbled.
The entire ruin of Black Heaven City resembled a dying colossal beast, its power being forcibly drawn from its spinal bones by the Demon Lord.
The earth split open into chasms tens of thousands of feet deep.
Underground magma, blackened by demonic energy, erupted into the sky.
Countless martial artists who had not yet escaped were screaming as they were swept into the cracks.
Martial artists in the Skin Tempering, Muscle Tempering, and Bone Tempering realms were less than dust before a battle of this level.
Those in the Aperture Opening realm desperately sealed their five senses.
Those in the True Intent realm clutched their heads and knelt on the ground, howling.
Those in the Gang Qi realm could still barely flee through the air.
Those in the Skyfaring realm could only escape a little farther.
Below the Martial God realm, everyone was merely struggling to survive amid the aftershocks.
Wang Hao saw this, and a chill flashed through his eyes.
He was shameless.
He was calculating.
He enjoyed scheming.
But he was not the Demon Lord.
To the Demon Lord, all living beings were food.
To Wang Hao, they were sources of tax revenue.
Taxpayers had to stay alive to have any value.
“Yin Jiuyou!”
Wang Hao transmitted his voice through the Myriad Contracts Unity Seal.
“Take everyone back another fifty miles.”
“Don’t let those low-level martial artists get swallowed by the leyline cracks.”
Yin Jiuyou’s voice quickly came back.
“Your Majesty, there are too many cracks. We can’t stop them all!”
Wang Hao raised his hand, and the remnant map of the Dragon Veins unfurled.
The incomplete Nine Provinces Dragon Vein Map floated in midair.
He bit his fingertip and pressed a drop of imperial blood onto the map.
“Then redirect them.”
The Dragon Vein Map trembled.
A strand of the people’s collective will poured into it.
The remaining leylines near Black Heaven City were forcibly drawn aside, shifting several cracks by three inches.
Only three inches.
Yet those three inches allowed several thousand fleeing martial artists to avoid certain death.
Wang Hao’s face paled.
That move had consumed a considerable amount of energy.
But he did not stop.
He raised his head and looked toward the leyline demonic pillar.
“You draw upon the leylines?”
“Then I’ll seal the leylines.”
A remnant page from the Heavenly Mandate Tax Ledger flew into the air.
Gray-gold light shone upon the black pillar that pierced heaven and earth.
The remnant page began to tremble violently.
The leyline demonic pillar was not a person.
It had no household registration.
But it belonged to Black Heaven City.
Black Heaven City was classified as an illegally held asset awaiting recovery.
As the emperor of Great Xia, Wang Hao kept things simple.
Old Man Heitian owed him.
Black Heaven City owed him.
Even the leyline beneath Black Heaven City owed him.
Debts had to be repaid.
That was only right and proper.
A few lines slowly appeared on the ashen-gold remnant page.
“Black Heaven City leyline demon pillar.”
“Illegally occupied.”
“Pending seizure.”
The Martial Gods all felt their scalps tingle.
That actually worked?
A Martial God from the Golden Vault Holy Land couldn’t help asking, “What in the world is this Great Xia tax ledger?”
Yellow Springs Ancestor said ominously, “I believe it now. Sooner or later, Wang Hao will put Yellow Springs on his tax delinquency list too.”
Wang Hao heard him.
He immediately called out, “Don’t worry, Senior Yellow Springs! As long as you operate your business legally, I won’t levy taxes unfairly!”
Yellow Springs Ancestor’s expression darkened even further.
Operate legally?
Not a single soul in the Yellow Springs Sect had ever done so—not even their ancestors.
The Demon Lord sensed the leyline demon pillar being restrained by the Heavenly Mandate Tax Ledger. His second breath faltered once more.
His eyes blazed with murderous intent.
“Wang Hao.”
“Do you really think I wouldn’t abandon these people and kill you first?”
Wang Hao immediately retreated ten miles.
“Of course you would, Senior.”
“That’s why I’m keeping my distance.”
With that, he turned to the assembled Martial Gods.
“Everyone!”
“His second breath is almost ready!”
“If the leyline demon pillar isn’t stopped, get ready to line up and call him ‘Dad’!”
“Holy lands to the left, demon sects to the right, rogue cultivators—bring your own cushions!”
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
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!
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.
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
