Nationwide Coffin Carrying, Sending the Immortal Ghost on Its Way (Part Two)

The tower shook ever more violently.

Faintly,

it truly seemed intent on breaking free of Wang Hao’s control.

Wang Hao lowered his head.

The Myriad Pact Origin Seal in his palm spun frantically.

But what he had bound by contract was the Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower—

not the Xuanming power now growing within it.

The two sides struggled against each other.

The black tower began swaying from side to side.

One moment it leaned toward Xuanming;

the next, it desperately tried to return to Wang Hao’s side.

As if it were repeatedly hopping back and forth.

Wang Hao spoke.

“If you dare betray me,

all the shares we agreed on before will be canceled.”

The Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower abruptly froze.

The eye that had just opened on the sixth floor

visibly stiffened.

Wang Hao continued,

“Not only will your share be canceled,

I will also collect payment for every bolt of lightning

you have devoured in Great Xia over all these years.”

From inside the black tower,

an enraged roar suddenly erupted.

The silver-black eye was engulfed by countless purple bolts of lightning,

then exploded on the spot.

The feathers that had grown on the seventh floor

were also reduced to ashes by a single breath from the Thunder Phoenix.

The Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower proved through its actions

that it would never betray him.

This had nothing to do with loyalty.

It simply could not afford the debt.

Xuanming’s laughter came to an abrupt halt.

Fourth breath.

Of the twenty-four dead realms, seven had already collapsed.

The first seven floors of the Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower

were completely filled with Burial Realm Immortal Lightning.

Within the eighth floor,

three Thunder Phoenixes continuously devoured the silver-black lightning.

Their bodies swelled to several times their original size.

One of the Thunder Phoenixes could no longer bear it.

It exploded with a deafening boom.

Countless lightning feathers scattered in every direction.

The remaining two Thunder Phoenixes swooped down,

devouring even their companion’s lightning essence.

There were fewer Thunder Phoenixes now,

but their aura had grown even stronger.

The gate to the ninth floor

remained empty.

To store enough power for a single ninth-realm attack,

at least ten more bolts of Burial Realm Immortal Lightning were needed.

Yet the Nail of Fate, Set by All Beings

had only six breaths left.

Xuanming would not simply sit and wait for death.

Twelve pairs of immortal-eldritch wings abruptly spread wide.

Chains formed from wing feathers

pierced from the Heart Realm into the Nine Provinces.

They did not attack the cities.

Instead, they coiled around the souls of Great Xia’s citizens.

He sought to erase all awareness of himself from the minds of the people.

As long as the people of Great Xia no longer acknowledged Xuanming’s existence,

the Nail of Fate, Set by All Beings

would loosen on its own.

Within the northern border city,

countless citizens’ eyes grew vacant.

They stared at the immortal-eldritch being in the sky,

yet gradually found themselves unable to remember his name.

At the western frontier,

Zhao Ergou bit down on his tongue,

only to discover

that the name was vanishing from his memory.

“His name is…”

“What was it?”

Beside him, Zhang Shan drove his spear through his own thigh.

The intense pain briefly restored his clarity.

He threw back his head and roared,

“Xuanming!

“The Fifth Debtor!”

Zhao Ergou’s eyes lit up.

“Right!

“Xuanming!

“The one who owes His Majesty money!”

More and more people came to their senses.

If they could not remember the immortal-eldritch Dao,

then they would remember the debt.

If they could not comprehend the twenty-four hearts,

then they would remember that he was the fifth.

Across every province of Great Xia,

countless voices rose once more.

“Xuanming!”

“The Fifth Immortal Calamity!”

“Pay your debts!”

Xuanming’s twelve pairs of wings trembled violently.

He had lived for countless ages.

Yet for the first time,

he discovered that debt

could also become a force that anchored reality.

The Nail of Fate, Set by All Beings, stabilized once more.

The bronze nail drove inch by inch deeper into Xuanming’s true body.

Fifth breath.

Xuanming flew into a complete rage.

His half-silver, half-black heart

suddenly split apart.

The silver half

transformed into a sacred immortal phantom.

The black half

became a faceless eldritch beast.

The immortal phantom raised its hand

and pointed a finger at Wang Hao’s brow.

The eldritch beast opened its jaws

and bit toward Wang Hao’s chest.

Both attacks

were locked onto his Imperial Soul.

Wang Hao tried to dodge.

Yet his body had already reached its limit.

The terrifying pressure within the Star-Burial Heart Realm.

It left him unable to move.

The immortal shadow's fingertip.

Pierced Wang Hao's brow first.

At the instant the aura of death descended.

Within the Imperial Dao River.

A pale-golden shield.

Finally finished condensing.

The divine ability that protected the body with votive power.

Was triggered on its own.

The figures of countless living beings across the Nine Provinces.

Appeared simultaneously before Wang Hao.

They did not kneel.

They merely stood there.

Like a wall forged from the will of the masses.

Boom!

The Xuanming Immortal Finger.

Struck the votive-power shield.

The shield caved in violently.

Countless cracks spread across it at breakneck speed.

This strike.

Had already reached the peak of the Ninth Realm.

The pale-golden shield held for only an instant.

Then exploded with a thunderous crash.

The votive power dispersed back into the Imperial Dao River.

But that single instant.

Was enough for Wang Hao to regain control of his body.

He twisted aside, avoiding the faceless eldritch beast's gaping maw.

His right hand seized one of the beast's fangs.

His body was dragged tens of thousands of li.

All the flesh on his right shoulder was torn apart.

The arm that was all he had left.

Nearly tore free from his body as well.

But Wang Hao did not let go.

Using the beast's charge.

He instead surged straight to Xuanming's true body.

“I've got you.”

The immortal shadow of Xuanming's expression changed.

Twelve pairs of wings struck toward Wang Hao at once.

Every feather.

Was an immortal-eldritch blade.

At that moment.

An aged voice.

Came from beyond the Heart Realm.

“A tree has branches.”

“And roots as well.”

“Chopping the branches takes too long.”

“Just cut the roots.”

The Dragon-Slayer.

Finally made his move.

He still held only half a sword hilt.

But a gray-white sword bone.

Had been bound to its front.

It was the remnant bone of the Heavenly-Deficiency Main Sword.

Which Wang Hao had just sent out through the Imperial Dao River.

The Dragon-Slayer gripped this makeshift woodcutter's blade.

His right hand trembled incessantly.

He had no blood essence left.

No true essence.

He could not even remain standing.

Without leaning on half of the Primordial One Bell's body.

This strike.

Would burn through his remaining lifespan.

Wang Hao's voice carried over.

“I only lent you the sword bone.”

“If you break it, you owe me compensation.”

The Dragon-Slayer nearly lost his breath.

“I'm practically dead already!”

“Your descendants can inherit the debt.”

“Shut up!”

The Dragon-Slayer brought the blade down.

He did not strike at any particular wing.

Instead, he slashed behind Xuanming.

There was nothing there.

Yet as the blade descended.

A fine line appeared simultaneously across all twenty-four pairs of immortal-eldritch wings.

They seemed to grow from Xuanming's true body.

But in truth, their roots.

Were all anchored in that void rift.

It was the shared root system.

Connecting the twenty-four eldritch hearts.

To Xuanming's true body.

The woodcutter's blade fell.

The Heavenly-Deficiency sword bone shattered on the spot.

The last half of the hilt.

In the Dragon-Slayer's hand.

Also disintegrated into dust.

Crack!

The invisible roots.

Were severed with a single stroke.

Xuanming's twelve pairs of wings stiffened at once.

Then, one pair after another.

They tore free from his true body.

“Insignificant insect!”

Xuanming let out a furious roar.

One severed wing.

Passed through the Heart Realm and into reality.

It swept viciously across the Dragon-Slayer.

The Dragon-Slayer's chest caved in.

His body flew away like a kite with its string cut.

He crashed into the shattered immortal domain.

And did not move again.

Wang Hao's eyes turned ice-cold.

“That strike from Senior.”

“Was expensive.”

“Xuanming.”

“You're going to pay for it.”

The sixth breath.

The remaining death worlds.

Collapsed simultaneously.

Seventeen Burial-Realm Immortal Thunders.

Struck toward the Nine Provinces together.

The lightning-conducting pillars in every province.

All overloaded in an instant.

Tens of thousands of black iron pillars exploded into molten metal.

The formation core of the Ministry of Works.

Collapsed with a thunderous roar.

Hundreds of officials and artisans.

Were blasted into the air at the same time.

The senior official from the Ministry of Works who was overseeing the formation.

Had both arms burned to charcoal.

Yet he clung desperately to the last formation disk.

“Don’t stop!”

“Have the Martial Gods of every province!”

“Use their Dharma Idols as pillars!”

Above the imperial city.

Several Martial God Dharma Idols rose from the earth.

The Northern Frontier.

The Western Wastelands.

The Eastern Sea.

The Southern Borderlands.

Martial God realm experts from every province

charged into the sea of lightning at the same time.

They could not possibly withstand the World-Burial Immortal Lightning.

But they could redirect its course.

One Martial God Dharma Idol after another shattered.

One expert after another from the Nine Provinces fell from the sky.

Yet the seventeen bolts of World-Burial Immortal Lightning

ultimately did not strike the cities.

They were forcibly drawn in by the River of Imperial Dao.

All of them crashed into the Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower.

Rumble—

The gateway to the eighth floor

turned completely silver-black.

The final two thunder phoenixes cried out toward the heavens.

Their bodies exploded again and again beneath the immortal lightning,

only to reform each time.

On the ninth floor,

a purple dragon phantom finally emerged.

At first, it was only ten feet long.

Then it rapidly expanded.

A hundred feet.

A thousand feet.

Ten thousand feet.

A million feet!

[The Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower is absorbing the World-Burial Immortal Lightning!]

[The lightning might of the ninth floor is beginning to condense!]

[Current number of complete attacks: Zero → One!]

[Warning!]

[The immortal-abyss lightning power has exceeded the tower’s structural limit!]

[If forcibly released, the Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower will enter a prolonged period of dormancy!]

The Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower flew above Wang Hao’s head.

Its body was covered in cracks.

Beyond the gates of all nine floors,

every lightning soldier roared.

Wang Hao spoke.

“Xuanming, two-tenths.”

The black tower trembled once.

“Three-tenths.”

The black tower continued to tremble.

Wang Hao sighed.

“At most, three and a half tenths.”

The gateway to the ninth floor of the Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower

burst open.

Xuanming heard this exchange.

For an instant, his heart seemed to stop.

He could not understand

why, at a moment like this,

Wang Hao was still bargaining with an ominous artifact.

What he understood even less

was why that black tower was truly willing,

for the sake of three and a half tenths,

to bear the price of falling dormant.

The purple lightning dragon

shot out from the ninth floor.

Its body was no longer pure.

The edge of every purple dragon scale

was entwined with silver-black lightning.

Within its eyes

were reflected the scenes of twenty-four dead worlds collapsing into ruin.

[The Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower releases the full-force strike of the Ninth Realm!]

[Attack attribute has changed!]

[World-Burial Purple Lightning Dragon!]

[Remaining complete attacks of the ninth floor: Zero!]

The purple lightning dragon let out a roar.

The entire Burial Star Heart Realm

began to collapse beneath that dragon’s cry.

Xuanming’s silver immortal projection raised both hands.

The black aberrant beast opened its enormous maw.

The powers of immortal and aberration

stood together before his true body.

“I am an Immortal Aberration!”

“Beyond immortals and mortals alike!”

“You think a mere Ninth Realm lightning strike

can kill me?”

The purple lightning dragon slammed into the immortal projection.

Layer by layer,

the silver immortal radiance was ground away.

The dragon’s body, too, was continuously breaking apart.

The black aberrant beast pounced forward,

biting down on the lightning dragon’s neck.

The two savagely tore at each other amid the stars.

Yet Xuanming’s true body retreated, using the opportunity.

He was waiting.

Once the ten breaths of the All-Beings Fate-Nailing Spike had ended,

he would be able to shift his heart once more.

The seventh breath.

The silver immortal projection

was shattered by the purple lightning dragon.

The eighth breath.

The black aberrant beast

bit off half the lightning dragon’s neck.

But it, too, was blown apart by the immortal lightning into a skyful of black mist.

The ninth breath.

The crippled lightning dragon

finally crashed into Xuanming’s true body.

Boom!

The half-silver, half-black heart

split down the middle.

Vast amounts of silver-black origin essence burst forth.

Xuanming let out a shrill scream.

Twelve pairs of broken wings

twisted frantically amid the stars.

But the heart had not shattered completely.

The purple lightning dragon had already exhausted its power.

Only the last section of the dragonbone remained.

Embedded within the fissure.

The Nail That Fixes the Fate of All Beings

was also beginning to fade into illusion.

The tenth breath

had arrived.

Within Xuanming’s ruptured heart,

twenty-four tiny sinister hearts

lit up at once.

His voice was crazed.

“Time’s up!”

“Wang Hao!”

“You can’t kill this Immortal!”

The bronze nail withdrew from his heart, inch by inch.

Xuanming’s true form began to blur.

Twenty-four paths of reincarnation

reappeared.

Wang Hao lowered his head

and looked at his empty left shoulder.

His right arm had been completely severed.

Both of his hands were gone.

Xuanming burst into laughter.

“You can’t even hold a weapon anymore!”

“What can you possibly do?”

Within Wang Hao’s sea of consciousness,

the Emperor Soul opened its eyes.

The golden Emperor Soul

also had only one hand left.

Yet in that hand,

it held a sword that did not exist in reality.

The sword intent of the Nine Swords of Heaven-Opening

gathered within the entire river of the Imperial Dao.

At the same time,

a faint silver light suddenly flickered within Wang Hao’s body.

The slumbering New Emperor Sword

let out a dissatisfied hum.

The silver-haired youth emerged from the blade.

He still had only one arm.

The hole in his chest had not healed either.

His face was so pale that it was almost translucent.

“Master.”

“How come you’ve lost your hands too?”

Wang Hao glanced at the silver-haired youth.

“To keep you company.”

The silver-haired youth was visibly moved.

“Can the compensation be doubled, then?”