Ancestor of the Holy Land, Lend Me Your Life for a Bit

Wang Hao held up the last Immortal-Severing Anchor Talisman.

His smile was dazzling.

So dazzling that it sent a chill through the hearts of all the Martial Gods.

The kid was already at the ninth level of the Martial God realm.

By all rights, he was qualified to join the battle.

But the problem was that his way of participating remained very much Wang Hao's style.

He would not charge in first.

He would not serve as the main force.

He wanted others to escort him inside so he could sever the anchor.

And those escorting him were supposed to thank him for the opportunity.

A Blood Prison Demon Sect expert snarled,

“Wang Hao, now that you are at the ninth level of the Martial God realm, why don’t you fight your way in yourself?”

Wang Hao looked utterly shocked.

“Senior of Blood Prison, how can you say such a thing?”

“I am the Emperor of Great Xia.”

“The Realm’s Central Authority.”

“If something happens to me, who will coordinate all of the Nine Provinces?”

White Bone Old Monster sneered.

“What have you coordinated, exactly?”

Wang Hao replied,

“Coordinating your beatings.”

White Bone Old Monster: “...”

Damn it.

He could not even refute that.

Taiyin Old Matriarch said coldly,

“Wang Hao, enough nonsense.”

“If you truly can sever the final anchor point, my Taiyin Sacred Land can escort you for part of the way.”

The moment she spoke, everyone’s expressions shifted slightly.

The Taiyin Sacred Land had made its position known.

This meant that the Sacred Land faction had accepted reality.

No matter how much they disliked Wang Hao, they had to admit it.

Without him, this battle could never have reached this point.

Of course—

It was an infuriating kind of merit.

Yellow Springs Ancestor said in a sinister tone,

“This old man can escort you as well.”

“But after the battle, you are not to interfere with what the Yellow Springs Sect obtains in Black Heaven City.”

Wang Hao immediately shook his head.

“No.”

Yellow Springs Ancestor’s eyes turned cold.

“You have a death wish?”

Wang Hao answered seriously,

“You misunderstand, Senior.”

“It is not that I refuse to give it to you.”

“I am afraid that after receiving stolen goods, you will continue to evade your taxes.”

The veins on Yellow Springs Ancestor’s forehead bulged.

For the first time in his life, the mighty Yellow Springs Ancestor felt that even a half-immortal was less detestable than Wang Hao.

The Sword Ruins powerhouse said evenly,

“This is not the time to haggle.”

Wang Hao looked at him and immediately put on an amiable expression.

“Senior of Sword Ruins truly has great vision.”

“How about this? If Sword Ruins escorts me into the Ancestral Nest, after the battle, I will grant you priority purchase rights for sword-type cursed artifacts from Black Heaven City.”

The Sword Ruins powerhouse frowned.

“Purchase?”

Wang Hao nodded.

“That’s right.”

“You pay, and I allow you to purchase them.”

The hand of the Sword Ruins powerhouse tightened around his sword hilt.

For a moment, he dearly wished to strike Wang Hao with a sword first.

But the Demon Lord gave them no more time to bicker.

The dark immortal gate shook once again.

The third inhalation had begun.

Countless pale gray faces surfaced from the remnants of the Skin Lake.

Those faces seemed to come alive.

Their mouths opened as they silently worshipped the Demon Lord.

Strands of grayish-white origin energy rose from the lake and flowed into the immortal gate behind the Demon Lord.

The wound split across the Demon Lord’s chest began to heal slowly.

Even the disturbance to his Dao Fruit caused by the shattered earth-vein demonic pillar was being forcibly suppressed.

Everyone’s expressions changed drastically.

“Not good!”

“The third anchor is beginning to nourish him!”

“If we delay any longer, all our previous efforts will be wasted!”

Wang Hao’s gaze instantly sharpened.

Jokes aside—

He understood better than anyone that they could not wait any longer.

He pressed the Immortal-Severing Anchor Talisman against his palm, then tucked the fragment of the Heavenly Mandate Tax Ledger into his sleeve.

“Everyone, clear the way.”

Taiyin Old Matriarch snorted.

“Taiyin Sacred Land, with me.”

She was the first to move.

The three Martial Gods of the Taiyin Sacred Land behind her formed a formation at once. Taiyin frost energy spread into a road of ice, leading straight toward the Ancestral Nest.

But just as this great Dao took shape, the Demon Lord raised a hand and pressed down.

Dark immortal light cascaded like a waterfall.

Crack!

The Dao of Frost shattered inch by inch.

One Taiyin Martial God was grazed by the immortal light. Half his body instantly froze apart, only to be demonized in the next moment. Screaming, he fell from the sky.

A flicker of grief passed through the Taiyin Old Matriarch’s eyes.

That had been a junior of her Taiyin Sacred Land.

He had cultivated for thirteen hundred years and possessed exceptional talent.

He had once held the hope of advancing even further.

Yet on a battlefield of half-immortals, a single breath was enough to reduce him to ash.

“Ancestor…”

Before falling, that Taiyin Martial God managed only those two words.

The Taiyin Old Matriarch did not look back.

She could not.

If she did, more people would die.

Wang Hao witnessed the scene, and his gaze darkened slightly.

But he offered no words of comfort.

On the battlefield, comfort was the cheapest thing of all.

He merely memorized where that Taiyin Martial God had fallen.

If they survived today—

A monument could be erected.

The taxes would still need to be collected.

But the monument had to be erected.

The Yellow Springs Ancestor filled the gap left by the Taiyin Old Matriarch.

With an angry roar, a tributary of the Yellow Springs stretched across the void, forming a muddy, murky bridge.

“Wang Hao!”

“Get on the bridge!”

Without hesitation, Wang Hao stepped onto the Yellow Springs Bridge.

The Yellow Springs churned beneath his feet. Countless restless souls reached up, trying to seize his ankles.

Wang Hao glanced down.

A torn page from the Ledger of Heaven’s Mandate Taxes gave off a faint glow.

The souls immediately shrank back.

Wang Hao frowned.

“Senior Yellow Springs.”

“Your bridge’s sanitation standards are rather poor.”

The Yellow Springs Ancestor nearly lost control of the bridge in anger.

“Shut up!”

Wang Hao readily complied.

“Understood.”

“But I recommend renovations after the battle.”

The Yellow Springs Ancestor: “...”

Seeing Wang Hao approach across the bridge, the Demon Lord’s gaze turned icy.

He extended a single finger.

A half-immortal finger strike.

It locked onto karma.

It severed all life.

This strike was not aimed at the Taiyin Old Matriarch, nor at the Yellow Springs Ancestor.

It pointed directly at Wang Hao.

Every hair on Wang Hao’s body stood on end.

The instincts of a ninth-layer Martial God screamed a warning.

If that finger descended, even the shield formed from the faith of ten thousand citizens might not be able to stop it.

His shield of faith had already shattered once before. It had yet to fully recover.

“Block it!” Wang Hao shouted.

He did not need to say it.

The Sword Ruins powerhouse had already drawn his sword.

A broken sword cut through the sky.

Its sword-light became an ancient boundary line.

The half-immortal finger struck that line.

Boom!

The Sword Ruins powerhouse retreated seven steps. With every step, he crushed the void beneath his feet.

The broken sword in his hand finally shattered completely.

Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, yet his gaze remained calm.

“Keep going.”

The Golden Watchtower Sacred Land Martial God took his place.

The projection of a golden palace condensed once more, though it was already battered and incomplete.

With a furious roar, he hurled the palace at the lingering force of the Demon Lord’s finger strike.

The golden palace exploded.

The Golden Watchtower Martial God was blasted away, the bones in his chest shattered.

The Blood Lotus Valkyrie came striding through the air barefoot, her hands forming seals.

Behind her, a ninth-grade blood lotus bloomed.

Every petal burned with her life’s blood.

“Wang Hao,” she said coldly.

“If you fail to sever that anchor point, then even as a ghost, I will never forgive you.”

Wang Hao replied swiftly,

“Don’t worry.”

“I’m most afraid of female ghosts.”

The Blood Lotus Valkyrie froze for a moment.

Then she nearly laughed.

But in the next instant, demonic energy surged toward her.

Using the ninth-grade blood lotus to block the aftershock, she was hurled backward, half her dark hair turning white.

Wang Hao raced across the Yellow Springs Bridge, his speed soaring.

At this moment, the full extent of his ninth-layer Martial God cultivation was revealed.

He was not merely skilled at scheming.

When it was time to act, he was just as terrifyingly fast.

Golden vitality swirled around his body.

The might of the Imperial Dao Martial God pressed down upon the countless spirits beneath the Bridge of the Yellow Springs, leaving none of them daring to raise their heads.

The New Son of Heaven Sword transformed into a streak of silver light and guarded his side. Its artifact spirit shouted:

“Master!”

“To the left!”

Wang Hao struck back with a single palm.

The first palm of the Heaven-Imprisoning Earth-Covering Palm!

A golden palm imprint suppressed the void, smashing to pieces a gray-white skin serpent that had crawled out of the Human-Skin Lake.

The second palm!

The third palm!

The fourth palm!

The force of his palms came one after another, as though mountains and rivers were being overturned from above.

Stronger and stronger.

Heavier and heavier.

The bizarre creatures formed from the remnants of human skin had not even come within three hundred paces of Wang Hao before they were crushed into gray-white mist by the power of his palms.

The Martial Gods watched, their hearts trembling.

Wang Hao, now at the ninth level of the Martial God realm, was indeed no weakling.

He was even outrageously powerful.

In his hands, a divine-grade martial art finally revealed its true ferocity.

The fifth palm descended.

One side of the Ancestral Nest’s mountain wall collapsed.

The sixth palm descended.

The outer restrictions surrounding the Human-Skin Lake exploded apart.

The seventh palm descended.

A thousand-zhang wave surged across the gray-white surface of the lake.