The Imperial Dao River changed course.
Golden water flowed across the Shattered Immortal Realm,
heading northwest.
Wang Hao walked at the very front.
More precisely,
he floated.
The imperial bones in both his legs had been completely shattered.
His flesh was a mangled mass.
Only the golden light of the people’s wishes wrapped around his body,
barely keeping him in human form.
The silver-haired youth followed behind him.
He carried the New Son-of-Heaven Sword over his left shoulder,
while dragging the Dragon-Slayer with his right hand.
Half of a Xuanming immortal bone was clenched between his teeth.
Every few steps,
a crisp crack rang out
as he bit off another small piece.
The Dragon-Slayer’s head
kept striking the surface of the golden river.
Thunk.
Thunk.
Thunk.
The rhythm was perfectly steady.
Wang Hao glanced back.
“Gently.”
The silver-haired youth paused.
“Master,
are you feeling sorry for him?”
Wang Hao replied calmly:
“If you damage him,
the medical bill will go up.”
The silver-haired youth fell silent.
Then,
he flipped the Dragon-Slayer over.
Instead of dragging him face-down,
he dragged him with the back of his head against the river.
“Is this all right?”
“Fine.”
Even while unconscious,
one of the Dragon-Slayer’s fingers twitched again.
It seemed he had something he wanted to say.
But then he decided
that remaining unconscious was probably for the best.
The Imperial Dao River stretched onward.
It was not moving quickly.
The whole nation—nearly a billion living beings—had just carried the coffin together.
Their strength had been almost completely exhausted.
Although the power of all living beings’ wishes was still gathering,
it could no longer sustain that terrifying level of consumption.
The golden water gradually grew dimmer.
Fine cracks appeared from time to time
along both sides of the river.
System notifications appeared.
【Formation Progress of the People’s Wish-Power Shield: 42%!】
【Imperial Soul Damage: 87%!】
【Imperial Bone Integrity: 9%!】
【Current Status: Near Death!】
Wang Hao glanced at them.
He did not stop.
Nine percent.
Enough.
He still had one breath left.
And he had not gotten paid yet.
How could he die?
The Shattered Immortal Realm was vast beyond imagination.
There was no complete world here,
nor any distinction between up and down.
Fragment after fragment of continent
floated in the darkness,
like pieces of a bronze mirror smashed to bits.
Some of the continents
still held ancient cities.
Each city
was as large as one of the Nine Provinces.
But they had long since been emptied of life.
Only gray-white bone dust
drifted along the broken streets.
A dead ancient star loomed ahead.
At its center,
someone had blasted five finger-holes through it with supreme power.
Each hole
was hundreds of thousands of li deep.
The silver-haired youth looked up.
“Master.”
“Is this also a palm strike?”
Wang Hao said:
“It looks like it.”
“Is it more powerful than your Heaven-Imprisoning Earth-Covering Palm?”
Wang Hao was silent for a moment.
“A palm print left behind by a dead man.
There’s no point comparing them.”
The silver-haired youth pondered this.
“Because dead people can’t collect money?”
“Because the dead can’t argue back.”
Wang Hao raised his only remaining right shoulder,
knocking a fragment of a star out of his way.
Then he continued forward.
The golden river
passed through the ancient star’s finger-holes.
From behind that dead ancient star,
an endless sea of corpses came into view.
It was not a real sea.
Rather,
it was countless ancient corpses
gathered together by some force
and floating through the void.
Among them were demon beasts a hundred zhang tall,
otherworldly races with wings sprouting from their backs,
humanoid beings clad in bronze armor,
and even the remains of an ancient god with only half its skull left—
yet still larger than the imperial city of the Nine Provinces.
The sea of corpses stretched endlessly.
It rose and fell with the turbulence of the void.
From a distance,
it truly looked like a black tide.
Beneath Wang Hao’s feet,
the Imperial Dao River suddenly sank.
Across the surfaces of countless corpses.
They opened their eyes at the same time.
Scarlet.
Cold.
No consciousness.
Only a hunger for the living.
The next instant—
The sea of corpses erupted.
Tens of millions of ancient corpses
charged toward the River of Imperial Dao from every direction.
The silver-haired youth spat out the fragments of immortal bone in his mouth.
Then he drew the New Heavenly Son Sword in one swift motion.
Battle intent surged in his eyes.
“Master.”
“Do these count as spoils of war?”
“They count as trash.”
The silver-haired youth froze halfway through drawing his sword.
“Then I won’t kill them.”
“Cleaning up trash
can earn military merit.”
The silver-haired youth’s eyes lit up again.
“How much military merit for one eighth-realm material?”
“One hundred million.”
The silver-haired youth looked at the boundless sea of corpses.
Then he seriously began counting.
“Are there a hundred million of them here?”
Wang Hao said,
“You can count them one by one.”
The silver-haired youth grinned.
The sword let out a piercing hum.
It had begun at rank eighty-nine among cursed artifacts.
After devouring its way upward,
it had now stabilized at rank seventy-seven.
Though its overall power
was still at the eighth martial realm,
the dark, sinister power within its blade
was already far beyond that of ordinary eighth-realm weapons.
“Kill!”
A streak of silver sword-light burst from the River of Imperial Dao,
sweeping across the sea of corpses.
With one slash,
tens of thousands of ancient corpses were severed at once.
Black corpse blood and bone dust exploded into the air.
The New Heavenly Son Sword devoured them frantically.
[The New Heavenly Son Sword is devouring remnants of ancient corpses!]
[The target’s energy is far too thin!]
[No change in cursed artifact ranking!]
The silver-haired youth’s face darkened.
“Master!”
“This trash is useless!”
Wang Hao said,
“Military merit is useful.”
Gritting his teeth, the silver-haired youth
swung his sword again.
Dozens of streaks of silver sword-light
crisscrossed through the sea of corpses.
Countless ancient corpses were torn apart.
But there were simply too many.
The moment he cleared an open patch,
more corpses surged in to fill it.
Among them, a corpse beast ten thousand zhang tall
opened its rotting maw
and bit down at the silver-haired youth.
Just as he was about to swing his sword,
a deep horn sounded from the darkness.
Woooo—
The horn echoed across the sea of corpses.
Countless ancient corpses froze.
Then,
every corpse turned at once
and knelt toward a single direction.
From the depths of the corpse sea,
a massive black vessel fashioned from ancient beast skulls
slowly sailed forth.
The vessel was a hundred thousand zhang long.
Dense bronze chains
were nailed along both sides of its hull.
At the end of every chain
was bound a corpse puppet that had not yet fully decayed.
A full hundred thousand corpse puppets
crawled laboriously through the void,
dragging the massive vessel onward.
At the prow
stood a gaunt old man dressed in gray robes.
His skin clung tightly to his bones,
his eyes sunken deep in their sockets.
In his hand, he held a scepter made from human bone.
The pressure of the ninth realm
descended like dark clouds,
shrouding the entire sea of corpses.
The gray-robed elder looked at Wang Hao.
Then at the New Heavenly Son Sword in the silver-haired youth’s hand.
Finally,
his gaze settled upon the half-section of Xuanming Immortal Bone.
A trace of greed surfaced
in his hollow eye sockets.
“Living people?”
“I haven’t seen any in a long time.”
Behind the old man,
several hundred martial artists emerged from the ship’s cabin.
The weakest among them were already in the sixth realm.
The two leaders
had even reached the peak of the eighth realm.
All of them bore
a black boat-shaped mark upon their bodies.
The silver-haired youth returned to the River of Imperial Dao
and said in a low voice,
“Master.”
“He has his eye on my bone.”
Wang Hao said,
“It isn’t yours.”
The silver-haired youth immediately corrected himself.
“He has his eye on state-owned assets.”
Wang Hao nodded.
“That makes this serious.”
The gray-robed elder raised his human-bone scepter
and pointed it toward the golden river.
“This place is under the jurisdiction of the Wusheng Merchant Alliance.”
“Those passing through the corpse sea—
the living surrender their souls,
and the dead surrender their corpses.”
“Seven-tenths of any treasure.”
His tone was indifferent.
As though he were stating a rule that had been passed down through countless ages.
Wang Hao asked:
“Do you have the land deed?”
The gray-robed old man frowned.
“What?”
“You said this place is under your jurisdiction.”
“Then produce the deed.”
The old man's expression darkened.
“The Shattered Immortal Domain.”
“Here, strength is the only law.”
Wang Hao nodded.
“So you don't have one.”
He raised his only remaining shoulder.
Then pointed at the Imperial Dao River beneath their feet.
“This river.”
“Is mine.”
“You've blocked my river.”
“How much will you be paying for passage?”
The people aboard the massive vessel.
All froze at once.
Behind the gray-robed old man.
A peak eighth-realm martial artist sneered.
“Venerable Withered River is a mid-stage Martial God.”
“He has ruled the Sea of Corpses for eight hundred years.”
“And you, a crippled remnant soul with your limbs completely destroyed.”
“You dare demand a passage fee from the Venerable?”
Wang Hao looked at him.
“For insulting the emperor.”
“Add another fine.”
The man was about to speak again.
Venerable Withered River raised a hand.
Stopping him.
“The Imperial Dao.”
“An emperor.”
“You come from some mortal dynasty?”
Venerable Withered River stared at Wang Hao.
The greed in his eyes grew even more intense.
“To spread the Imperial Dao throughout the Shattered Immortal Domain.”
“It seems your dynasty.”
“Has quite a large population.”
“Hand over the coordinates of your dynasty.”
“This old man can spare your remnant soul.”
“Your people.”
“Will also become the finest merchandise for the Deathless Merchant Alliance.”
As soon as he finished speaking.
The calm in Wang Hao's eyes.
Disappeared bit by bit.
The silver-haired youth silently retreated half a step.
He knew.
Whenever his master was truly angry.
He would actually stop cursing.
Wang Hao asked:
“You capture living people?”
Venerable Withered River split his mouth in a grin.
Revealing a full set of black teeth.
“This old man is engaged in business.”
“Living people.”
“Souls.”
“Blood and vital essence.”
“Lifespans.”
“As long as there is a buyer.”
“Anything can be sold.”
He pointed at the corpse puppets pulling the vessel on either side.
“See them?”
“When they were alive.”
“They were all goods this old man collected from various minor worlds.”
“Their bodies pull the ship.”
“Their souls fuel the lamps.”
“A single piece of merchandise.”
“Can earn twice.”
Venerable Withered River's grin grew wider.
“Your dynasty.”
“How many people does it have?”
Wang Hao said:
“Nearly a billion.”
The entire vessel.
Suddenly fell silent.
The breathing of several hundred Deathless Merchant Alliance warriors.
All grew heavy at once.
Nearly a billion living people.
This was not merely a dynasty.
It was an inexhaustible fortune.
The hand gripping Venerable Withered River's bone scepter.
Was trembling faintly.
“Hand over the coordinates!”
“This old man can take you as a slave!”
“And let you continue being their emperor!”
“All you have to do is.”
“Submit one hundred million blood offerings to the Deathless Merchant Alliance every year!”
Wang Hao did not answer.
His Imperial Soul.
Slowly took one step forward.
The golden river beneath his feet.
Came to a sudden halt.
All the power of faith.
Converged upon him in that instant.
Wang Hao had no hands.
Yet between heaven and earth.
A hand appeared.
It was a golden palm condensed from the laws of the Imperial Dao.
Its palm lines resembled mountains and rivers.
Its finger bones resembled dragon veins.
At the center of the palm.
A phantom of Daxia's nine provinces and mountains.
Slowly emerged.
Venerable Withered River's eyes narrowed.
His Martial God aspect rose with a thunderous roar.
A rotting river.
Spanned a hundred thousand li of starry sky.
Countless corpses drifted within it.
“You are already on the verge of death.”
“And you still dare fight this old man?”
Wang Hao's voice remained calm.
“Have you considered the possibility.”
“That even if I am close to death.”
“I'm still stronger than you?”
Boom!
The first palm descended.
The Heaven-Imprisoning Earth-Covering Palm!
The black vessel abruptly sank.
A hundred thousand corpse puppets snapped their chains at once.
The rotting river churned violently.
Venerable Withered River gripped the human-bone staff in both hands.
The Martial God's vital energy erupted without restraint.
“Break for this old man!”
The river surged skyward.
It collided with the golden palm.
The first palm shattered.
Before Venerable Withered River could even breathe a sigh of relief—
The second palm
was already descending.
Its power
was twice that of the first.
Boom!
The rotting river split apart on the spot.
At the prow of the colossal ship,
a fissure stretching ten thousand zhang tore open.
Dozens of martial artists from the Wusheng Merchant Alliance
coughed up blood simultaneously.
Venerable Withered River roared.
“He’s at the end of his strength!”
“Activate the Corpse Sea Grand Formation!”
Around the colossal ship,
tens of millions of ancient corpses raised their heads at once.
Strands of black corpse qi
converged upon Venerable Withered River.
The third palm
fell.
The ancient corpse formation exploded apart.
The fourth palm.
The hundred-thousand-zhang colossal ship tilted downward.
The fifth palm.
The rotting river was completely vaporized.
The sixth palm.
The human-bone staff in Venerable Withered River’s hand exploded into powder.
When the seventh palm descended,
the Martial God avatar behind him
split with a crack that ran through its entire body.
At last, terror appeared
in Venerable Withered River’s eyes.
“Impossible!”
“You have no vital energy!”
“No physical body!”
“You don’t even have hands!”
Wang Hao looked at him.
“Palm techniques
don’t rely on hands.
They rely on whose fist is bigger.”
The eighth palm
covered a hundred thousand li of starry sky.
Venerable Withered River turned and fled.
The rotting river beneath his feet
became a streak of black light,
trying to break free from the sea of corpses.
The five fingers of the golden giant palm closed.
The entire void
was forcibly clenched within its grasp.
The space around Venerable Withered River froze solid.
He was like an insect trapped in amber,
unable to move.
“The Wusheng Merchant Alliance will not let you go!”
“There are peak Martial God Realm experts within the alliance!”
“And ancient beings that awakened from the ruins of the Immortal Realm!”
“If you dare kill me—”
Wang Hao said blandly,
“You sure talk a lot.”
The ninth palm
descended.
e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
y came from. The chests contained supplies, currency, class-change scrolls, skills, talents… and even godhood! The laws of the world were completely rewritten. This became a world where everyone gambled with their fate! Some people, despite having nothing, opened a divine artifact and rose to the top, eventually ruling the world. Others went bankrupt, opened nothing but worthless junk, and leaped from skyscrapers in despair. Lin Ye arrived in this world from another reality, utterly bewildered. “What is going on? Why is everyone a gambling addict?!” “Opening chests? No way. I refuse to gamble. I’ll start with myself!” Until— On his first chest, he obtained a Mythic Talent: Void Incarnation! He could become completely intangible, pass through all things, and reduce everything to nothingness! … On his fiftieth chest, he obtained a Mythic Weapon: Blade of Karma! With a single slash, karma shattered, twisting the universe and overturning the myriad phenomena of creation! … On his ninety-ninth chest, he obtained a Mythic Divine Treasure: Primordial Purple Energy! It could split open the heavens and earth, create all things, and evolve countless worlds with a single thought! Lin Ye: “Now that I think about it… shouldn’t someone have told me that every chest is guaranteed to contain something Mythic?!”
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
