The White Bone Old Monster said weakly,
“I have only my bone fire left.”
“At most, I can hold out for one breath.”
Wang Hao said,
“One breath is still a contribution.”
The White Bone Old Monster asked,
“How many times?”
Wang Hao said solemnly,
“Ten times.”
The White Bone Old Monster’s spirits lifted.
“What about the deduction?”
Wang Hao glanced at him.
“You’re down to nothing but fire, Senior. I can’t bring myself to deduct anything.”
The White Bone Old Monster was moved.
“You finally sound like a human being.”
Wang Hao added,
“But the bone-ash disposal fee is separate.”
The White Bone Old Monster roared,
“Wang Hao!”
Everyone suddenly laughed.
It was a laugh born of desperation.
A laugh steeped in sorrow.
When the laughter faded, everyone turned toward the Dark Immortal Gate.
Ten breaths.
They would use their battered bodies to buy Wang Hao ten breaths.
The Taiyin Old Matriarch stepped forward first.
The two Taiyin Martial Gods beside her were already tottering on their feet.
Yet they still followed her.
“Taiyin Sacred Land.”
“Demon-Sealing Abyss.”
The three of them burned the last of their origins at the same time.
The waning moon rose once more.
This time, the waning moon did not crash into the Demon Lord.
Instead, it stretched across the front of the immortal gate.
The black aura of the Demon Abyss slammed into the waning moon, producing a sizzling sound as it corroded the light.
The bodies of the Taiyin Old Matriarch and the other two visibly aged.
The first breath.
The Yellow Springs Ancestor followed close behind.
He tore open the center of his brow and cast the fire of his soul into the Netherworld Portal.
“The Yellow Springs ferry no living man.”
“But today, it shall ferry demons!”
The Yellow Springs River reversed its flow and surged upward, blocking the path behind the Taiyin waning moon.
Countless souls from the Yellow Springs wailed as they threw themselves at the black aura of the Demon Abyss.
The second breath.
A powerhouse from the Blood Prison Demon Sect rose to his feet.
He no longer had a heart.
But people from the Blood Prison Demon Sect could go mad even without one.
He laughed loudly as he charged toward the immortal gate.
“Wang Hao!”
“Remember this!”
“I’m not doing this for you!”
“I’m doing it for the half-immortal blood!”
Wang Hao shouted,
“Understood!”
“The inscription will read: Senior Blood Prison fought for the half-immortal blood and remained greedy even in death!”
The Blood Prison Demon Sect powerhouse nearly fell from the sky.
“Dare to write that, and I’ll rise from the dead and bite you!”
His battered body exploded, transforming into a barrier of blood prison.
The third breath.
The White Bone Old Monster’s pale bone fire drifted upward.
“All my life, I’ve deceived people, eaten people, and refined bones.”
“I never thought that in the end, I’d have to save people.”
“What rotten luck.”
The bone fire transformed into a ghastly white wall of flames, blocking a tentacle of the Demon Abyss that had forced its way out.
The fourth breath.
The surviving Martial Gods of the Golden Palace Sacred Land roared and lifted the phantom of the shattered golden palace.
The fifth breath.
The Blood Lotus Valkyrie burned away half of her black hair, and the ninth-grade Blood Lotus bloomed once more.
The sixth breath.
The Martial Gods of the Myriad Manifestations Sacred Land manifested mountains, rivers, and all the phenomena of creation, only to watch them be devoured inch by inch by the black aura of the Demon Abyss.
The seventh breath.
The Yellow Springs Ancestor’s Netherworld Portal cracked apart.
The Taiyin waning moon shattered into three pieces.
The blood-prison barrier was corroded through in several places.
The White Bone Old Monster’s wall of flames was nearly extinguished.
The Martial Gods had all reached their limits.
At last, Wang Hao began to act.
In his left hand was the Half-Immortal Blood Tax Decree.
In his right was the incomplete asset map of Blackheaven City.
Above his head hovered the Myriad Contracts Aligned as One Seal.
All three objects began to shine at once.
The Martial God ninth-level blood and qi within Wang Hao’s body suddenly ignited.
The phantom of an emperor emerged.
At that very moment, the willpower of the countless citizens began to boil as well.
Throughout Great Xia,
countless commoners suddenly felt something stir within their hearts.
They had no idea what was happening amid the ruins of Blackheaven City.
They only felt a heavy weight in their chests, as if someone far away were holding up a piece of heaven for them.
Within the imperial palace of Great Xia,
officials raised their heads.
Border soldiers tightened their grips on their weapons.
Farmers in the fields stopped their hoes.
Children in the streets gazed toward the sky.
Strands of willpower crossed mountains and rivers, converging upon Wang Hao.
The recovery speed of the people’s willpower increased, finally displaying its true purpose at this moment.
Golden light began to gather around Wang Hao once more.
Although it was still insufficient to form a complete shield, it was enough to strengthen his imperial authority.
Wang Hao unfolded the asset map.
Every mark on it lit up at the same time.
The dying embers of the Myriad Contracts Platform.
The broken traces of the earth-vein demon pillars.
The remaining source of the Skin Human Lake.
Old Man Heitian’s hidden treasury.
The Demon Lord’s substitute palace.
The underground blood vault.
In the end, all the lines of light converged upon the Dark Immortal Gate.
Dense columns of accounts appeared across the immortal gate.
Every demonic rune was a crime.
Every strand of black aura represented a life.
Every fragment of the immortal gate was stained with the skin stripped from people, the blood drained from them, and the souls refined by Blackheaven City over eight hundred years.
Wang Hao’s gaze turned cold.
“So that’s how it is.”
“You refined all living beings into accounts.”
“Then I’ll settle those accounts for you.”
The voice of the Demon Lord came from within the immortal gate, carrying boundless hatred.
“Wang Hao!”
“Don’t even think about it!”
The immortal gate trembled.
The power of the Demon Abyss surged wildly against the Martial Gods’ defensive line.
The eighth breath.
The Taiyin Old Matriarch spat out her final mouthful of silver blood.
The two Taiyin Martial Gods were sent flying, their fates unknown.
Half of the Yellow Springs Ancestor’s soul was swallowed by the Demon Abyss, and he let out a muffled groan.
Three petals of the Blood Lotus Valkyrie’s ninth-grade Blood Lotus shattered.
Everyone was close to collapse.
Wang Hao suddenly pressed the Half-Immortal Blood Tax Decree against the Myriad Contracts Aligned as One Seal.
Dark gold and gray-gold light intertwined.
“By the authority of the Myriad Contracts.”
“By the decree of the blood tax.”
“With the illegal asset map of Blackheaven City as evidence.”
“I, Emperor of Great Xia, Wang Hao—”
His voice suddenly rose, descending like the law of heaven.
“Hereby declare—”
“The Dark Immortal Gate is the master ledger of Blackheaven City’s illegal assets!”
“The evidence is conclusive!”
“Seized immediately!”
Boom!
The heavens and earth shook.
The Myriad Contracts Aligned as One Seal erupted with unprecedented light.
All the half-immortal blood accumulated within the Half-Immortal Blood Tax Decree burned away, transforming into a dark-gold chain.
The asset map rose into the air and covered the immortal gate.
The countless accounts on the map transformed into runes and branded themselves onto the Dark Immortal Gate.
The immortal gate shook violently.
The demonic shadow behind it let out a furious roar.
The Demon Lord’s voice became sharp enough to distort.
“No!”
“My immortal gate!”
Blood spilled from Wang Hao’s eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
The backlash from sealing the immortal gate was far more terrifying than he had imagined.
This was not the seizure of an ordinary treasury.
He was wrestling simultaneously with the Demon Lord’s remaining Dao fruit, eight hundred years of crimes committed by Blackheaven City, and the will of the Demon Abyss behind the gate.
His bones cracked loudly.
His meridians felt as though they were being torn apart.
The blood and qi of the Martial God ninth level were being consumed at a frantic rate.
The New Emperor Sword grew anxious.
“Master!”
“You won’t be able to hold on much longer!”
Wang Hao clenched his teeth.
“Shut up!”
“I’m collecting the debt!”
The ninth breath.
Most of the Martial Gods’ defensive line collapsed.
The black aura of the Demon Abyss broke through the waning moon and the Yellow Springs.
A gigantic tentacle of the Demon Abyss emerged through the crack in the gate and reached for Wang Hao.
Wang Hao could not move.
He was in the middle of sealing the immortal gate. If he let go, all his previous efforts would be wasted.
The New Emperor Sword roared,
“How dare you touch my master?”
It transformed into the humanoid form of a sword spirit.
With silver hair, black eyes, and a phantom of its true sword in hand, it charged directly at the tentacle of the Demon Abyss.
Although it possessed only the strength of a seventh-level Martial Artist,
although it was practically no match for the tentacle of the Demon Abyss,
it still charged forward.
“Only I’m allowed to insult my master!”
“Only I’m allowed to dislike him!”
“Only I’m allowed to secretly wish for a new master in my heart!”
“What do you think you are?”
Boom!
The sword spirit was sent flying by the tentacle.
Its humanoid form shattered on the spot, transforming back into a sword that crashed heavily to the ground in front of Wang Hao.
Cracks spread across the blade.
But the tentacle had also been slashed open.
Immediately afterward, the White Bone Old Monster’s final bone fire slammed into the tentacle.
“Wang Hao!”
“Ten times the contribution!”
The bone fire exploded.
The tentacle paused.
The Blood Lotus Valkyrie dragged her battered body forward and struck down with her blade.
The Taiyin Old Matriarch used her final wisp of cold energy to seal the tentacle in place.
The Yellow Springs Ancestor knelt halfway in the void, gritting his teeth as he pulled out the final chain of the Yellow Springs.
With their lives, everyone managed to hold on through the ninth breath.
The tenth breath.
Golden light surged within Wang Hao’s eyes.
Behind him, the willpower of the countless citizens condensed into a hazy landscape of mountains and rivers.
He seemed to see the people of Great Xia.
He saw the beacon fires along the border.
He saw smoke rising from the fields.
He saw the lights of the imperial city.
Seeing those who did not know they were being protected, yet still lived earnestly,
Wang Hao suddenly smiled.
He was indeed no saint.
Greedy.
Scheming.
Vindictive.
And fond of taking advantage of others.
But he was the emperor.
His realm could not become a lake of human skin.
His people could not become food for the Demon Abyss.
“Demon Lord.”
Wang Hao raised his head, his voice hoarse but resolute.
“You want to bury the world.”
“I disagree.”
He suddenly pressed both hands downward.
“Seal!”
Boom!
The dark-gold chains completely wrapped around the Dark Immortal Gate.
The asset map transformed into a gigantic sealing strip and stretched across the gate.
The Myriad Contracts Sharing One Source Seal came crashing down.
A massive “Seal” character was branded into the center of the Immortal Gate.
The Dark Immortal Gate let out a shrill wail.
The gap in the gate began to close.
The demonic shadows behind it slammed against the barrier in a frenzy.
The Demon Lord’s remnant consciousness roared.
“No!”
“This lord refuses to accept this!”
“This lord has already become a half-immortal!”
“This lord should never have lost to a bunch of ants!”
Wang Hao coughed up blood and said coldly:
“You didn’t lose to ants.”
“You lost because your accounts didn’t balance.”
The Martial Gods: “……”
At a time like this,
he still had to twist the knife.
And yet, for some reason, those words were immensely satisfying.
Cracks spread rapidly across the Immortal Gate.
Once the power of the sealing had been imposed, it could no longer maintain its sacrificial state.
The Demon Lord’s remaining Dao Fruit was forcibly squeezed out of the Immortal Gate.
The black Dao Fruit, covered in cracks, hovered in midair and shook violently.
The eyes of the Martial Gods changed instantly.
The Immortal Gate was sealed.
The Demon Lord’s Dao Fruit was exposed.
This was their final chance!
Wang Hao forced himself to remain standing and raised the New Emperor Sword.
The sword was already cracked.
He could barely stay on his feet.
Yet he still lifted the sword and pointed it at the Dao Fruit.
“Senior cultivators.”
“The accounts are sealed.”
“Now, it’s time to collect the debt.”
Taiyin Old Matriarch raised her head.
Yellow Springs Ancestor rose to his feet.
Blood Lotus Valkyrie gripped her blade.
The surviving blood shadows of the Blood Prison Demon Sect powerhouse began to condense once more.
The faint bone-fire of the White Bone Old Monster, nearly extinguished, flickered weakly back to life.
Every Martial God who was still alive turned their gaze toward the Demon Lord’s Dao Fruit.
The half-immortal no longer had an Immortal Gate.
The Dao Fruit was already cracked.
If they did not kill him now, when would they get another chance?
Wang Hao grinned, his mouth filled with blood, smiling like a foolish emperor who had just discovered the key to the imperial treasury.
“Kill him.”
“Half-immortal inheritance.”
“Settle the accounts on the spot.”
world slacker. But a genius female disciple just had to get clingy, insisting that he take her as a disciple. Not only that, she was always making advances on him, thoroughly disrupting his peaceful slacker life...
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!
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!" "......"
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.
