Burn Out the Dao Fruit, Who Doesn't Have a Hidden Trump Card

Wang Hao gripped a sword in one hand and held up the tower with the other.

The eighth level of the Thunder Abyss Demon- suppressing Tower rumbled open.

Shriek!

A thunder phoenix soared into the sky.

Purple-blue lightning transformed into a divine bird. Its wings spread for a thousand zhang as it slammed into the demonic spear.

Immediately afterward, the gate to the ninth level opened.

Roar!

A purple thunder dragon burst forth with a furious roar.

That was a full-power strike from the Ninth Realm!

Although it possessed only the power of the Ninth Martial Realm, not the strength of a demigod, lightning was naturally the bane of demons.

The purple thunder dragon wrapped itself around the demonic spear, frantically tearing at the demonic patterns etched across it.

The demonic spear slowed once more.

Wang Hao took one step forward.

The Nine Swords of Creation!

First Sword!

Second Sword!

Third Sword!

…

All nine swords struck in succession!

Golden and silver sword-light layered upon one another, descending like the gates of the nine heavens.

At the same time, he raised his left palm.

Heaven-Prisoning Earth-Covering Palm!

First Palm—Imprison the Heavens!

Second Palm—Cover the Earth!

Third Palm—Suppress the Mountains and Rivers!

Fourth Palm—Crush the Void!

Fifth Palm—Shatter the Ancestral Nest!

Sixth Palm—Collapse the Demonic Seal!

Seventh Palm—Overturn the Lakes and Seas!

Eighth Palm—Sever Cause and Effect!

Ninth Palm—Unite as One!

Boom!

Sword-light.

Palm-prints.

The thunder dragon.

The thunder phoenix.

Three great forces converged in midair, transforming into a vast torrent of imperial thunder, sword-light, and palm force that crashed head-on into the demonic spear.

The heavens and earth fell silent.

Then the entire void exploded.

Wang Hao felt an indescribable force slam into his chest.

His entire body was sent flying backward. His imperial robe tore apart, and he spat out mouthfuls of blood.

The Thunder Abyss Demon-suppressing Tower let out a mournful cry, its lightning dimming.

The New Emperor Sword screamed as it spun away, a fine crack appearing across its blade.

“Master!”

“I’m cracked!”

Wang Hao coughed up blood.

“As long as you’re not broken, it’s fine.”

“A crack is a medal of growth.”

The New Emperor Sword cried out indignantly, “Why aren’t you cracked, then?”

Wang Hao lowered his head and glanced at his chest.

Several of his bones were broken.

He said calmly, “I’m cracked too.”

The demonic spear finally shattered.

It transformed into countless fragments of black light that scattered across the heavens and earth.

When the Martial Gods saw this, shock filled their eyes.

They had blocked it.

Working together with Wang Hao’s final outburst, they had actually stopped the projection of a demigod weapon summoned by the Demon Lord through the injury to his Dao Fruit.

The Demon Lord’s body trembled.

The wound in his chest widened once more.

A dull cracking sound came from the Dark Immortal Gate.

Crack!

A massive fissure spread from the top of the Immortal Gate all the way to its base.

The Demon Lord spat out a mouthful of black blood.

This time, it was no ordinary demigod’s blood.

It was blood containing the origin of his Dao Fruit.

Wang Hao’s eyes instantly lit up.

The Blood Tax Edict trembled frantically inside his sleeve.

It looked like a dog that had gone hungry for three days and suddenly spotted a meat bun.

Wang Hao forcibly restrained it.

“Not yet.”

“This drop is too conspicuous.”

“Let them fight a little longer first.”

The New Emperor Sword said weakly, “Master, you’re already in this state, and you’re still thinking about blood?”

Wang Hao wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

“What do you know?”

“Your master is seeking profit amid pain.”

“Otherwise, wouldn’t taking this beating have been for nothing?”

The New Emperor Sword was rendered speechless.

The Demon Lord raised his head.

His hair hung loose, his aura was chaotic, and the Immortal Gate behind him was covered in cracks.

Yet he remained terrifying.

A demigod was still a demigod.

Even with his Dao Fruit suffering backlash, even after being besieged by numerous Martial Gods, even with the Immortal Gate on the verge of collapse, he still had not fallen.

He swept his gaze across the crowd, his voice hoarse and icy.

“Good.”

“Very good.”

“A bunch of ants actually forced me to this point.”

“In that case…”

He suddenly thrust both hands into his own chest.

With brute force, he grabbed hold of the demigod Dao Fruit that was currently rebelling against him.

The expressions of all the Martial Gods changed drastically.

The Yellow Springs Ancestor cried out in alarm, “What is he trying to do?”

The powerhouse from the Sword Mound narrowed his eyes.

“He’s squeezing the Dao Fruit!”

The Taiyin Old Matriarch’s voice turned cold.

“He intends to burn through the backlash of an entire incense stick’s worth of time in advance, in exchange for one ultimate outburst!”

Wang Hao’s heart sank.

Damn it.

The Demon Lord truly wasn’t so easy to kill.

In the next instant, the demigod Dao Fruit in the Demon Lord’s chest began to burn.

Black flames illuminated the heavens and earth.

The Dark Immortal Gate behind him shook violently within those flames as well.

An aura more berserk, more desperate, and more dangerous than before swept across three thousand li of ruins.

The Demon Lord slowly raised his head.

“Even if my Dao Fruit shatters today…”

“I will first slaughter every one of you!”

The heavens and earth dimmed.

Black flames surged toward the sky.

The true bloodbath had entered its most brutal stage.

Wang Hao stared at the Demon Lord, whose Dao Fruit was burning, and remained silent for a moment.

Then he turned toward the Martial Gods and spoke sincerely.

“Senior predecessors.”

“Bad news—the Demon Lord has activated his ultimate move.”

The Martial Gods’ faces darkened.

Wang Hao continued, “The good news is that this is merely the last flare of a dying flame.”

The Martial Gods’ eyes shifted.

Wang Hao added, “The slightly worse news is that people are usually at their strongest during that final flare.”

The Martial Gods: “…”

Can you shut up?

Wang Hao drew a deep breath and tightened his grip on the New Emperor Sword.

Yet there was no hint of retreat in his eyes.

“Everyone.”

“Stop holding back your trump cards.”

“If you keep saving them, you’ll only have them left for your graves.”

“Kill!”

The moment the Demon Lord burned his demigod Dao Fruit, the entire Black Heaven City ruins seemed to be dragged into the underworld.

Black flames descended from the heavens.

The earth split open, spewing pitch-black demonic flames.

In the void, chains formed from fragmentary demigod laws stretched across the heavens and earth.

Those chains were incomplete because the Demon Lord’s Dao Fruit had already suffered backlash from the three anchor points, and the Immortal Gate was on the verge of collapse.

But even incomplete, they were still demigod laws.

Before them, the power of a Martial God was like a boulder facing a giant wave.

It could block the wave.

But it would shatter.

The Demon Lord vanished.

In the next instant, he appeared behind a Martial God from the Myriad Souls Sect.

The Martial God’s expression changed drastically.

“Save me!”

Too late.

The Demon Lord pressed down with one palm.

There was no earth-shaking explosion.

The Martial God of the Myriad Souls Sect, along with half of his Myriad Souls Banner, was smashed into the earth by that palm.

Boom!

The ruins shook for a thousand li.

A massive palm print was blasted into the ground.

Within it, the Martial God’s physical body shattered. His soul was wrapped in black flames as he let out a shrill, agonized scream.

All the resentful souls remaining within the Myriad Souls Banner turned on their master, transforming into a twisted cloud of souls.

The Demon Lord opened his mouth and inhaled.

The soul cloud entered his stomach.

The wounds on his chest actually healed slightly, if only for a moment.

The hearts of the Martial Gods turned cold.

He was devouring Martial Gods to heal his injuries!

After burning his Dao Fruit, the Demon Lord no longer cared about the consequences.

Before he completely collapsed, he intended to eat every last one of them.

The Yellow Springs Ancestor roared, “Spread out!”

“Don’t let him pick us off one by one!”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the Demon Lord appeared in front of another Martial God from the Golden Watchtower Holy Land.

That Golden Watchtower Martial God had already been gravely wounded.

Now that he saw the Demon Lord descend before him, despair flashed through his eyes.

But he did not retreat.

No one who had cultivated to the Martial God Realm was truly useless.

He raised both hands toward the sky, and the phantom of a battered golden palace appeared once more.

“Golden Watchtower Suppresses Heaven!”

The golden palace descended.

The Demon Lord threw a punch.

The golden palace exploded.

The Golden Watchtower Martial God’s arms burst into clouds of blood.

The Demon Lord seized his head with five fingers and said coldly, “A Holy Land Martial God is nothing more than blood food.”

The Golden Watchtower Martial God’s face was covered in blood, yet he suddenly laughed.

“Blood food?”

“Even if I am blood food, I’ll still knock out one of your teeth!”

Golden light surged within his body.

The Martial God’s origin began to burn in reverse.

Wang Hao’s eyes narrowed.

“He’s going to self-destruct!”

Boom!

The Golden Watchtower Martial God exploded.

Golden divine light erupted from the Demon Lord’s grasp like a blazing sun.

The Demon Lord’s figure was blasted back dozens of zhang.

Half his sleeve was destroyed, and the flesh of his hand was mangled.

But that was all.

The self-destruction of a Martial God had only forced him back dozens of zhang.

The hearts of everyone present grew heavy.

This was the might of a demigod.

Even in a crippled state, he still pressed down on them until they could barely breathe.

Wang Hao stood in the distance, gripping the New Emperor Sword tightly.

The injury in his chest continued to throb with pain.

The Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda hung above their heads, its tower dim. It would be difficult to unleash the ninth-level Thunder Dragon again anytime soon.

The Half-Immortal Blood Tax Edict, however, was still very active.

But this was clearly not the time to collect blood.

Wang Hao understood that perfectly.

After the Demon Lord burned his Dao Fruit, the battle had entered its most dangerous phase.

If they could not withstand this burst of ultimate power, everyone would die.

But if they endured it, the Demon Lord would inevitably decline to the extreme.

Their opportunity lay beyond this moment.

The question was: who would hold the line?

The answer was simple.

Everyone.

Wang Hao took a deep breath and raised the Myriad Contracts, Same Origin Seal.

“Senior fellows!”

“The Demon Lord has burned his Dao Fruit and is devouring Martial Gods to heal his wounds!”

“Whoever keeps hiding their trump cards will be next on the menu!”

“Don’t count on someone else dying first!”

“Every Martial God the Demon Lord eats gives him another mouthful of strength. The more he devours, the stronger he becomes!”

“If we fight now, we can kill a demigod!”

“If we hide now, we’ll just be lining up to enter his stomach!”

His voice rang across the battlefield.

The Martial Gods all looked grim, yet they had no choice but to admit that Wang Hao was right.

The most terrifying thing about the Demon Lord at present was not merely his burst of ultimate power.

It was that he could devour Martial Gods to replenish himself.

If they were defeated one by one, they would only make the Demon Lord more ferocious with every battle.

The Taiyin Old Matriarch clenched her teeth.

“Form the Taiyin Deathblow Formation!”

The remaining Martial Gods of the Taiyin Holy Land flew toward her.

The Taiyin Holy Land had already suffered grievous casualties.

Of those still on the battlefield, only the Taiyin Old Matriarch and two heavily wounded Martial Gods remained.

The three formed the formation.

A waning moon rose into the sky.

The moon was no longer cold and serene.

Instead, it radiated a pallid light filled with grim resolve.

The Taiyin Old Matriarch’s voice was old, but firm.

“Wang Hao.”

Wang Hao looked at her.

The Taiyin Old Matriarch said, “If this old woman dies, the gains earned by the Taiyin Holy Land after the battle must not be seized by the Demon Sect.”

Wang Hao was silent for a moment before replying, “I can guarantee that they will be distributed according to contribution.”

The Taiyin Old Matriarch gave a cold laugh.

“This old woman doesn’t trust you.”

Wang Hao sighed.

“That hurts, Senior. We have some feelings between us.”

The Taiyin Old Matriarch said, “Do we have feelings between us?”

Wang Hao seriously considered the question.

“We have a debtor-creditor relationship.”

The Taiyin Old Matriarch nearly broke character.

That boy could still infuriate people at a time like this.

Yet, for some reason, the heaviness in her heart before death was slightly eased.

She snorted coldly.

“Then settle the accounts properly.”

“The Taiyin Holy Land lost two Martial Gods in this battle and had three more wounded.”

“If I die, record me as one of the chief contributors.”

Wang Hao nodded.

“Noted.”

“I’ll record it personally.”

The Taiyin Old Matriarch looked at him.

“Don’t falsify the books.”

Wang Hao put on an expression of perfect righteousness.

“I never falsify the books.”

From a distance, the White Bone Old Monster said in a hollow voice, “He merely gives the accounts a reasonable interpretation.”

The Taiyin Old Matriarch fell silent.

She suddenly felt a little regretful about entrusting this matter to Wang Hao.

But there was no time left.

The Demon Lord had already arrived.

The three of them simultaneously burned their origin energy.

“Taiyin’s Fall!”

The waning moon descended.

It was not moonlight pouring down.

The entire Taiyin moon itself crashed toward the Demon Lord.

The void froze in its path, and the black flames were extinguished.

The Demon Lord looked up and threw a punch.

His fist collided with the waning moon.

A blinding chill erupted across heaven and earth.

The two Taiyin Martial Gods spat blood and were sent flying. Their bodies nearly froze into fragments.

The Taiyin Old Matriarch’s white hair snapped strand by strand, and the wrinkles on her face deepened.

But the Demon Lord’s fist was frozen for a brief instant as well.

That instant was enough.

The Yellow Springs Ancestor arrived.

He no longer maintained the tributary of the Yellow Springs.

Instead, he forced the entire tributary into his own body.

His body became half-human and half-ghost, while a gate to the netherworld appeared behind him.

“Open, Gate of the Yellow Springs!”

The gate opened.

Countless strands of deathly Yellow Springs aura transformed into chains and wrapped around the Demon Lord’s arms.

Blood flowed from the Yellow Springs Ancestor’s eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.

“Quickly!”

The powerhouse from the Blood Prison Demon Sect dragged his battered body forward, laughing wildly.

“Old ghost, hold him down!”

“I’ll come and bleed him dry!”

A phantom blood heart condensed once more within his ruined chest.

Though it was not as powerful as before, it was even more frenzied.

He transformed into a streak of bloodlight and slammed straight into the crack in the Demon Lord’s Dao Fruit.

“Blood Prison Devours Heaven!”

The Demon Lord’s eyes turned icy.

“Courting death.”

He shook his shoulder, snapping most of the Yellow Springs chains.

One hand broke free and reached toward the powerhouse from the Blood Prison Demon Sect.

At that moment, the White Bone Old Monster shrieked.

“This old man doesn’t have many bones left!”

“Wang Hao!”

“You have to record triple contribution for me!”

Wang Hao immediately replied, “Five times!”

The White Bone Old Monster froze.

That generous?

Before he could even feel touched, Wang Hao added, “But I’ll deduct the battlefield pollution-control fee.”

The White Bone Old Monster cursed furiously.

“You son of a—!”

Cursing was one thing.

He still made his move.