Above the dark Immortal Gate, cracks spread in every direction.
Each fissure was like a wound torn open across heaven and earth.
Endless darkness churned beyond the gate, as though ancient demon gods were whispering within it—or as though the corpses of countless billions drifted in its depths.
The Demon Lord stood before the Immortal Gate.
His chest was split open, black semi-immortal blood dripping without cease.
Every drop that struck the ground corrupted the earth with demonic energy, sprouting pitch-black bone spines.
Yet the semi-immortal who should have stood high above all others, looking down upon the masses, now had an unsteady aura.
The Myriad Pact Platform had backlashed.
The Earthvein Demon Pillar had backlashed.
The remaining source of the Human-Skin Lake had backlashed.
All three anchor points had been severed. It was no different from forcibly ripping out, one by one, the foundations that had allowed him to step into the Semi-Immortal realm.
He was still standing.
But his Semi-Immortal Dao Fruit was tearing him apart from within.
That was more terrifying than an injury.
Injuries could be healed.
But once the Dao Fruit cracked, it meant the collapse of one’s Great Dao.
Black light flickered madly in the Demon Lord’s eyes.
He stared at Wang Hao.
His killing intent was as vast as the sea.
Wang Hao stood some distance away, still holding the Semi-Immortal Blood Tax Token.
A dim golden radiance flowed across the token as it quietly collected the scattered semi-immortal blood from the edge of the battlefield.
One drop.
Two drops.
Three drops.
Wang Hao’s movements were steady.
His expression was solemn.
As though he were not stealing the Demon Lord’s blood, but handling an official matter of grave importance to the safety of the Nine Provinces.
The Demon Lord was so enraged that he laughed.
“Wang Hao.”
“Do you truly think that, just because I am suffering backlash, I cannot kill you?”
Wang Hao immediately put away the Blood Tax Token, his face full of righteous indignation.
“Senior, you misunderstand.”
“I have never thought that.”
“I have always believed that even if you had only one breath left, you could still give me a very hard beating.”
The Martial Gods: “...”
That was certainly honest.
But why did it sound so punchable?
The Demon Lord’s gaze turned icy.
“Then how dare you steal this venerable one’s semi-immortal blood?”
Wang Hao sighed.
“Senior, let me explain this once more.”
“This is not theft.”
“This is the recovery of hazardous materials following an incident.”
“Your blood has spilled everywhere. It pollutes the environment, corrodes space, and endangers public safety across the Nine Provinces.”
“As the Emperor of Great Xia, if I do not clean it up, who will?”
Veins bulged on the Demon Lord’s forehead.
He had lived for countless years.
He had seen the greedy.
He had seen the vicious.
He had seen those who feared no death.
But he had never seen anyone like Wang Hao—someone who could make shamelessness sound so thoroughly high-minded.
What enraged him even more was this:
While Wang Hao spoke, the Semi-Immortal Blood Tax Token hidden in his sleeve was still secretly glowing.
It collected another two drops.
The Demon Lord finally flew into a complete rage.
“Die!”
He suddenly raised a hand.
The dark Immortal Gate trembled.
A pitch-black demonic spear flew out from a crack in the gate.
No one knew what the spear had been formed from. Ancient demonic runes covered its shaft, and the instant it appeared, every ray of light between heaven and earth was swallowed up.
The Martial Gods’ expressions changed drastically.
The Taiyin Old Matriarch shrieked:
“Fall back!”
“That is the projection of a Semi-Immortal Dao weapon!”
The Yellow Springs Ancestor’s pupils contracted.
“He has gone mad!”
“Using an Immortal Gate projection while suffering a Dao Fruit backlash—he is trading his life for his enemy’s!”
The Sword Ruins powerhouse gripped a broken sword hilt, his voice hoarse.
“No.”
“He intends to kill Wang Hao first.”
Everyone’s heart sank.
Whom did the Demon Lord hate most right now?
There was no question.
Wang Hao.
This brat had severed all three anchor points, destroyed the foundations of the Demon Lord’s ascension to immortality, and even taken the chance to collect his semi-immortal blood.
Anyone would go mad.
Much less the Demon Lord, whose demonic nature already towered to the heavens.
The demonic spear tore through the air.
There was no earth-shattering boom.
Because when it pierced through the void, even sound was swallowed up.
Every hair on Wang Hao’s body stood on end.
The perception of a ninth-layer Martial God screamed a frantic warning.
He couldn’t block it.
This strike was absolutely no ordinary aftershock from a Half-Immortal.
This was a killing move the Demon Lord had forcibly unleashed at the cost of worsening the fractures in his Dao Fruit.
Wang Hao made his judgment in an instant.
If he took it head-on, he would die.
If he ran, he might not escape.
The shield formed from the willpower of the people had yet to fully recover. At most, it could withstand a peak Martial God’s blow. Against this spear, it was no sturdier than paper.
The Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower still had one trump card left.
A second full-power strike of the Ninth Realm: the purple thunder dragon.
But even a full-power strike from the Ninth Realm could only weaken the projection of a Half-Immortal Dao weapon. It could not stop it completely.
The New Emperor Sword?
Forget it.
That thing had just swallowed Half-Immortal blood. It was so full that its blade was trembling. If he forced it into battle, it would probably cry, “This feels amazing!” even as it snapped in two.
Countless thoughts flashed through Wang Hao’s mind.
The next moment, he shouted sharply.
“Esteemed seniors!”
“The Demon Lord is panicking!”
“This is a perfect opportunity!”
“He has invoked the Immortal Gate projection. His injuries will inevitably worsen!”
“Block this spear, and the Demon Lord will suffer severe damage!”
The eyelids of the Martial Gods twitched wildly.
It sounded good enough.
The question was: who was going to block it?
That was a projection of a Half-Immortal Dao weapon!
The Blood Prison Demon Sect powerhouse roared angrily.
“Wang Hao, this killing move is something you provoked yourself. You expect us to block it?”
Wang Hao replied earnestly,
“Senior Blood Prison, that is not quite right.”
“The Demon Lord is trying to kill me because I destroyed his anchor point.”
“I destroyed that anchor point so that everyone could survive.”
“So, in theory, this spear is a shared liability.”
The Blood Prison Demon Sect powerhouse nearly spat out blood.
A shared liability?
You could even split the bill for getting beaten?
White Bone Old Monster’s ghostly bone-flames leaped violently.
“I knew long ago that you weren’t human!”
Wang Hao immediately said,
“Senior White Bone, there’s no use insulting me now.”
“The demonic spear is here.”
“If you don’t act, your name won’t be on the list when we divide the spoils after the battle.”
White Bone Old Monster froze.
Damn it.
He knew perfectly well that Wang Hao was threatening him.
But he really did want a share of the spoils.
Half-Immortal blood.
The inheritance of Black Heaven City.
The Demon Lord’s remnant body.
Those things were simply too tempting.
Tempting enough that a group of old monsters who had lived for over a thousand years would knowingly leap into a trap.
Yellow Springs Ancestor gritted his teeth.
“Block it!”
“We can’t let Wang Hao die!”
All the Martial Gods turned to look at him.
Yellow Springs Ancestor’s face darkened.
“What are you looking at?”
“If he dies, who will know where the incomplete map of Black Heaven City’s assets is?”
Everyone immediately understood.
That made sense.
Perfect sense.
Wang Hao felt moved.
Sure enough.
Profit was the strongest bond of friendship.
The next instant, Yellow Springs Ancestor was the first to move.
He bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a mass of dim-yellow natal blood.
“Yellow Springs Reverse Crossing!”
Boom!
A branch of the Yellow Springs River surged forth from the depths of the void.
This time, it was not a bridge.
It was a curtain of Yellow Springs stretching across heaven and earth.
Countless souls rose and sank within the Yellow Springs, their features forming hideous faces as they lunged toward the demonic spear.
The spear pierced into the Yellow Springs curtain.
It did not pause.
The curtain was instantly pierced through.
Countless souls vanished without a sound.
Yellow Springs Ancestor groaned, stumbling back a hundred zhang. His face turned as pale as that of a corpse.
“Can’t stop it!”
“Next!”
Taiyin Old Matriarch’s eyes turned icy.
She knew that, at this moment, no one could retreat.
Wang Hao could not die.
At least, not yet.
He possessed the power of the Broken Anchor, the Blood Tax Decree, the Asset Map, and a devious mind capable of stirring up the entire battlefield.
That brat was infuriating enough while alive.
But if he died, the situation might become even worse.
The Taiyin Old Matriarch formed seals with both hands.
Behind her, a damaged Taiyin moon rose.
That Taiyin was no longer whole.
A crack marred its edge—the wound left from when it had forcibly withstood the Demon Lord.
“Taiyin Seals the World!”
Icy radiance spread outward.
The temperature between heaven and earth plummeted.
Before the demonic spear, the void froze into layer upon layer of transparent ice crystals.
Within every layer of ice shimmered the reflection of a phantom Taiyin moon.
The demonic spear plunged into them.
Crack.
The first layer shattered.
The second layer shattered.
The third layer shattered.
In the blink of an eye, all ninety-nine layers of Taiyin ice crystals collapsed.
The Taiyin Old Matriarch spat out a mouthful of silver blood, and the crescent moon behind her became even more broken.
But the demonic spear slowed by a fraction.
The Sword Ruins powerhouse stepped forward.
Only a sword hilt remained in his hand.
His right arm, too, had withered after he had turned his body into a sword moments earlier. Its flesh and blood had dried out, nearly leaving it nothing but sword-like bone.
Yet he still stood perfectly straight.
There was no fear in his eyes.
Only the sword.
“I have cultivated the sword for one thousand seven hundred years.”
“I have slain demons.”
“I have slain devils.”
“I have slain fellow disciples.”
“And I have slain myself.”
“But never before have I slain a half-immortal Dao weapon.”
He slowly raised the sword hilt.
Suddenly, countless swords rang throughout heaven and earth.
They were not physical swords.
They were the lingering traces of sword intent left in this world by generations of Sword Ruins masters.
One spectral sword after another emerged from the void.
Broken swords.
Rusty swords.
Blunt, heavy swords.
Ancient blades as slender as autumn water.
Ten thousand sword phantoms converged into a single blade.
The Sword Ruins powerhouse spoke softly.
“I borrow the sword intent of Sword Ruins, accumulated over three thousand years.”
“To cleave the demonic spear.”
His sword descended.
Heaven and earth became a single line.
At last, a crack appeared upon the demonic spear.
The Sword Ruins powerhouse was hurled backward, a mist of blood exploding from his chest.
The sword hilt in his hand shattered completely as well.
Yet he smiled.
Because he had cracked the projection of a half-immortal Dao weapon.
The Blood Prison Demon Sect powerhouse burst forth with a wild laugh.
“Out of the way!”
“Leave this to me!”
The blood-red heart in his chest, covered in fractures, began to pound violently.
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
Each beat resounded like a war drum.
The Blood Prison Demon Sect powerhouse tore open his chest with both hands and forcibly pushed out that heart.
“Blood Prison Demonic Heart!”
“Explode!”
Wang Hao’s eyelid twitched.
That old demon was truly ruthless.
Ruthless toward others.
Even more ruthless toward himself.
Boom!
The blood-red heart exploded before the demonic spear.
The bloody light transformed into a boundless prison, locking the demonic spear within.
The demonic spear shuddered.
The Blood Prison shattered.
Half the Blood Prison Demon Sect powerhouse’s body exploded as he was blasted backward, his screams echoing across heaven and earth.
“Wang Hao!”
“This time, you’d better put me down for a major contribution!”
Wang Hao immediately shouted back,
“Noted!”
“Absolutely noted!”
“Senior Blood Prison gave up his heart to save the nation—an act so moving that it shakes heaven and earth!”
The Blood Prison Demon Sect powerhouse coughed up blood and cursed furiously.
“Who the hell said I was saving the nation?”
Wang Hao replied seriously,
“It’ll make the inscription on the postwar monument worth more.”
The Blood Prison Demon Sect powerhouse nearly passed out.
The demonic spear continued onward.
Yet after being stopped by the four great powerhouses of Yellow Springs, Taiyin, Sword Ruins, and Blood Prison, its power had been weakened by nearly half.
Even so, it could still kill Wang Hao.
The White Bone Old Monster let out a shrill, eerie laugh.
“Looks like this old man will have to do it after all!”
The half of his skeletal body that remained suddenly scattered apart.
Bone after bone ignited with pale-white flames, forming a great bone formation in the void.
“White Bone Immortal-Burying Array!”
The moment the bone formation was complete, the demonic spear pierced straight into it.
Boom!
Countless bones exploded into fragments.
The White Bone Old Monster’s bone fire was nearly extinguished, and even his voice had grown much weaker.
“Wang Hao…”
“If this old man dies…”
Wang Hao immediately picked up the cue.
“I’ll erect a monument for you.”
The White Bone Old Monster’s voice was as faint as a thread:
“Have it say… Give me a share of the Black Sky City inheritance…”
Wang Hao fell silent for a moment.
“That inscription might not be very dignified.”
The White Bone Old Monster roared:
“Then write it bigger!”
Wang Hao solemnly nodded in respect.
“Rest assured, Senior.”
“I’ll use the largest font available.”
The Martial Gods: “…”
Was this really the time for them to be discussing the size of the inscription?
The demonic spear had broken through the Bone Burial Immortal-Sealing Formation and was now less than a thousand zhang from Wang Hao.
Wang Hao did not retreat again.
There was no point in retreating anyway.
His gaze turned icy.
“New Sword.”
The New Emperor Sword flew back from afar, its silver blade now streaked with a strand of black blood.
After swallowing the blood of a half-immortal, its aura had risen dramatically.
Although it still had not truly entered the Martial God realm, its edge was several times sharper than before.
The sword spirit’s voice was excited yet nervous.
“Master, are we going all out?”
Wang Hao replied:
“No.”
The New Emperor Sword breathed a sigh of relief.
Wang Hao continued:
“You are.”
The New Emperor Sword: “…”
It knew it!
Wang Hao raised his hand and beckoned.
The Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda appeared above his head.
The ancient pagoda had nine levels, its surface covered in thunder patterns.
Before its gates had even opened, thunderclouds began gathering across the heavens and earth.
The qi and blood within Wang Hao’s body erupted with the might of a ninth-level Martial God.
His imperial robes billowed wildly.
The hazy shadow of an emperor appeared behind him once more.
He stood upon mountains and rivers,
looking down upon the mortal world.
“I don’t want to go head-to-head with a half-immortal either.”
“But all of you Seniors have already fought this far.”
“If I keep hiding, it really would be unbecoming.”
The New Emperor Sword said, deeply moved:
“Master, you’re finally going to fight fair and square?”
Wang Hao shot it a glance.
“You’re overthinking it.”
“I merely feel that after this strike, I absolutely must record the largest contribution on my own credit ledger.”
The New Emperor Sword: “…”
Its familiar master.
He hadn’t changed one bit.
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down 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!" "......"
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
