Wang Hao looked toward the other two sides.
Aboard the Starbreak warship,
a young man with a long spear strapped to his back stepped out.
Peak Eighth Realm.
Yet behind him
sat a blurry phantom.
The aura radiating from that phantom
had likewise reached the early Martial God Realm.
The Crone of Hundred Burial Mountain,
on the other hand,
was genuinely at the early Ninth Realm.
Three factions.
Two Ninth-Realm experts.
One Ninth-Realm projection.
And dozens of Eighth-Realm experts.
They had already surrounded the World-Bearer from all sides.
Chains upon chains
were driven into the limbs of the headless ancient corpse,
forcibly slowing its advance.
Lu Qianjin held a golden abacus in his hand,
his fingers constantly clicking the beads.
“Put more power into it!”
“Before entering the Ancient Abyss of Burial Sun,
we must open the Third Secret Vault of Xuanming!”
“Anyone who dares retreat—
deduct a hundred years of wages!”
The martial artists of the Lifeless Merchant Alliance
simultaneously activated the grand formation.
Hundreds of pillars of light
bombarded the bronze gate.
The patterns of twenty-four hearts
beat faster and faster.
Beneath Wang Hao’s feet,
the Imperial Dao River trembled faintly.
A system notification appeared.
【A special sign-in location has been discovered!】
【Xuanming’s Third Secret Vault: the Twenty-Four Heart Gate!】
【Would you like to sign in?】
Wang Hao silently gave the command in his heart.
Sign in.
【Sign-in successful!】
【Congratulations, Host. You have obtained: Complete Understanding of the Xuanming Heart Lock!】
【Congratulations, Host. You have obtained: one Taixu Calamity-Substitution Talisman!】
【Congratulations, Host. You have obtained: one Myriad Worlds Door Nail!】
【Information has been updated!】
【Xuanming’s Third Secret Vault is carried by the World-Bearer, and its entrance is sealed by twenty-four heart locks.】
【Forcibly attacking the heart locks will awaken the Heart Slave Imprint Xuanming left within the gate.】
【The Heart Slave Imprint will devour the attackers’ blood and vital essence, activating the Greedy Vault Spirit.】
【Opening the secret vault requires Xuanming’s immortal bone as the key, along with the resonance of twenty-four different thoughts.】
【Special Notice: After Xuanming’s death, the Greedy Vault Spirit lost its restraints. It is currently attempting to devour the entire secret vault and transform into an independent immortal fiend.】
After reading the information,
Wang Hao’s expression remained unchanged.
Before the bronze gate,
Lu Qianjin had already noticed the black ark.
He saw the Lifeless Merchant Alliance martial artists pulling it.
His plump face
immediately darkened.
“Where is Ku He?”
The Eighth-Realm martial artist bound at the very front
struggled to raise his head.
“Venerable Withered River…”
“is dead.”
“Who killed him?”
The man looked toward Wang Hao.
Lu Qianjin followed his gaze.
The anger on his face
slowly turned into astonishment.
A man without hands or feet,
whose imperial soul was nearly transparent,
whose physical body was rotting like a rag—
had killed Ku He, a mid-stage Martial God?
Lu Qianjin’s eyes narrowed slightly.
When he saw the Xuanming immortal bone
in the arms of the silver-haired youth,
his pupils abruptly contracted.
“An immortal bone!”
The Crone of Hundred Burial Mountain
and the young man of Starbreak Hall
also turned their heads at the same time.
The auras of all three factions
locked onto the black ark.
The silver-haired youth hugged the bone tighter.
“Master.”
“They’re eyeing state-owned assets again.”
Wang Hao said,
“Of course.”
“People who’ve never seen money
always have unclean eyes.”
Lu Qianjin stepped through the air.
The golden abacus floated automatically before him.
“Was it you who killed Ku He?”
Wang Hao replied,
“Yes.”
“Do you know
that he was a member of the Lifeless Merchant Alliance?”
“He isn’t anymore.”
“Why not?”
“He’s already dead.”
The fat on Lu Qianjin’s face twitched.
“Hand over the Xuanming immortal bone.”
“Then hand over the weapon you used to kill Ku He.”
“As the Alliance Master, I can make the decision myself.”
“I’ll kill only you
and spare the cargo behind you.”
A-Li’s body trembled.
Instinctively, they retreated.
Wang Hao glanced at the people who had just been rescued inside the cabin.
Then he looked back at Lu Qianjin.
"I can make the decision as well."
"You may leave now."
"You will only be charged a toll."
"But if you dare come near again..."
"You will be treated as rebels."
Lu Qianjin looked as though he had heard a joke.
"Rebels?"
"Do you really think you're an emperor?"
Wang Hao said,
"I am one."
Lu Qianjin spread his arms wide.
He pointed at the shattered immortal domain.
"There is no dynasty here."
"No law."
"And certainly none of your territory!"
"Here..."
"Whoever finds a treasure first..."
"Owns it!"
Wang Hao nodded.
"Understood."
Lu Qianjin sneered.
"Then hand it over."
"You misunderstood," Wang Hao said.
"Xuanming was killed by me."
"I pulled out the immortal bone."
"I found the treasury."
"So..."
"It all belongs to me."
Lu Qianjin's expression stiffened.
Wang Hao continued,
"You arrived first."
"That only proves you run fast."
"It does not prove that the treasure is yours."
The young man of Starbreak Hall, a long spear slung across his back, stepped forward.
"The treasury has yet to be opened."
"Everything inside..."
"Is naturally ownerless."
Wang Hao looked at him.
"A debtor's property..."
"Is not ownerless."
"How much Xuanming owes Great Xia..."
"The Ministry of Revenue has not finished calculating."
"But this treasury..."
"Is certainly not enough to cover it."
The Crone of Hundred Burial Mountain said coldly,
"Young man."
"Do not be so greedy."
Wang Hao asked,
"What did you come here for?"
"To seek treasure."
"Then you have no right to call me greedy."
Wang Hao looked toward the bronze gate.
"This is my final warning."
"Do not attack again."
"There is something inside the gate."
Lu Qianjin's eyes flickered.
"You know how to open it?"
"I do."
"Hand it over."
"The information is for sale."
"One ninth-realm material."
Lu Qianjin's face darkened completely.
"You are courting death!"
He flicked his golden abacus.
One bead shot forth.
It rapidly expanded in midair.
Transforming into a golden star.
It smashed toward Wang Hao.
Before Wang Hao could act,
the Dragon-Slayer lay on the deck.
With a flick of his finger,
a thread of saber intent
struck the golden star.
The star split down the middle.
Lu Qianjin spun around.
"Another Martial God?"
The Dragon-Slayer coughed up black blood.
"Not quite."
"I'm merely close to death."
Murderous intent rose in Lu Qianjin's eyes.
But the Crone of Hundred Burial Mountain suddenly spoke.
"There is no need to bother with them."
"Open the gate first."
She raised her staff.
Hundreds of thousands of coffins opened at once.
Countless corpses surged out of the sea of white bones.
They crashed into the bronze gate.
Lu Qianjin hesitated for a moment.
Then he turned and gave the order.
"Keep firing!"
The nine warships of Starbreak Hall
lit up the formations at their prows simultaneously.
Wang Hao said calmly,
"I warned you."
Boom!
The attacks of all three sides
struck the Twenty-Four-Heart Gate at the same time.
Thump!
The twenty-four heart-shaped patterns
suddenly began to beat.
The entire bronze gate
seemed to come alive.
Veins, half silver and half black,
burst from the seams of the gate.
In an instant, they pierced through more than a thousand martial artists.
The victims had no time even to scream.
The blood and vitality were drained completely from their bodies.
The veins continued to spread.
They burrowed into a Starbreak warship.
Its sturdy hull
rotted away at a visible pace.
As for the hundreds of thousands of corpses from Hundred Burial Mountain,
they all turned their heads in unison.
Silver-black light
appeared in their hollow eye sockets.
"Become Xuanming."
"Offer this heart."
"Become eternal."
Countless eerie voices
echoed through the void.
The Crone of Hundred Burial Mountain’s expression changed drastically.
“Heart Slave corruption!”
Beneath her,
the Martial God Bone Coffin
suddenly opened its enormous maw
and bit off the Crone’s left leg.
The Crone roared in fury
and shattered the bone coffin with a single palm strike.
Lu Qianjin turned and fled.
But dozens of blood vessels
had already wrapped themselves around the golden tower ship,
dragging a large number of martial artists aboard
toward the bronze gate.
Screams rose one after another.
The three forces that had seemed so imposing moments ago
were thrown into utter chaos.
The silver-haired youth looked at Wang Hao.
“Master.”
“Should we save them?”
Wang Hao replied:
“Save them.”
The silver-haired youth was somewhat surprised.
“Without charging?”
“Rescuing people costs money.”
“The later the rescue,”
“the higher the price.”
The silver-haired youth understood at once.
Sure enough,
his master was still his master.
Wang Hao’s imperial soul raised its right hand.
Wish-power gathered into a gigantic golden palm
that swept across the front of the bronze gate.
Hundreds of immortal-weird blood vessels
were seized in one grasp
and then violently torn apart.
The countless martial artists ensnared by the blood vessels
plummeted from the sky.
The Imperial Dao River surged past,
dragging them onto the black warship.
A-Li and the rescued World-Pickers
immediately stepped forward to treat the wounded.
Lu Qianjin retreated in a sorry state,
his face shifting between green and white.
Wang Hao looked at him.
“One eighth-realm material
for every person rescued.”
“We just saved three hundred and twenty-one of your people.”
“I’ll waive the odd one.”
“That makes three hundred and twenty pieces.”
Lu Qianjin shouted angrily:
“Why don’t you just rob us?”
“I could have robbed you.”
“But I believe in rules.”
Lu Qianjin was left speechless.
More and more blood vessels
spread across the bronze gate.
The World-Bearer was only its final million li
away from the Ancient Abyss of Sun Burial.
Scorching flames
had already begun burning its enormous body.
Wang Hao looked at the silver-haired youth.
“The immortal bone.”
The silver-haired youth was reluctant to part with it.
“Will you return it?”
“We’ll see.”
“See what?”
“Whether it can be reimbursed.”
The silver-haired youth took a step back,
clutching the immortal bone.
Wang Hao said calmly:
“Refusing to carry out an order during wartime”
“can result in the confiscation of all your property.”
The silver-haired youth immediately handed over the immortal bone.
“Take it.”
“I was only asking.”
Half of the Xuanming immortal bone
flew toward the bronze gate.
The designs of twenty-four hearts
stopped beating at the same time.
The immortal bone embedded itself in the center of the gate.
The first heart-lock opened.
Crack!
Immediately afterward,
Wang Hao connected the Imperial Dao River
to the Nine Provinces.
His voice
entered the hearts of nearly a billion living beings.
“Lend me one thought.”
Zhao Ergou,
who had just crawled to his feet,
looked up in confusion.
“The Emperor wants to borrow something again?”
Zhang Shan wiped the blood from his palm.
“What is he borrowing this time?”
“No idea.”
“Let’s lend it first and ask questions later.”
Zhao Ergou closed his eyes
and sent his strongest thought
into the Imperial Dao River.
It was the wish to make it home alive.
The thought of the old general of the northern frontier
was to hold the nation’s gate with a single spear.
The thought of the old fisherman of the Eastern Sea
was to have a good harvest this year.
The thought of the little girl of the southern borderlands
was that the aged giant elephant would never be hurt again.
The thought of the old official of the Ministry of Works
was to get reimbursed.
The thought of the military officer of the Ministry of War
was for the old man from the Ministry of Works to shut up.
The thought of the official of the Ministry of Revenue
was to recover every last Xuanming debt.
Nearly a billion living beings.
Nearly a billion different thoughts.
Not two of them were exactly alike.
Yet when they began beating together,
they transformed into a single voice.
Boom!
The hearts of all living beings
resounded throughout the shattered immortal realm.
The second heart-lock.
The third heart-lock.
The tenth.
The twentieth.
The twenty-fourth!
All of them opened!
Rumble!
The bronze giant gate.
It opened inward.
Beyond the door was no palace.
Only a vast world.
Spirit stones piled into stars.
Divine weapons paved continents.
Countless rare materials
had become glittering rivers of stars.
Auras of the Ninth Realm
rose one after another.
Even Lu Qianjin and the others,
accustomed as they were to priceless treasures,
were left utterly stunned.
The silver-haired youth gaped,
the silver light in his eyes flaring.
"Master!"
"We've struck it rich!"
For the first time,
a satisfied expression appeared on Wang Hao's face.
But in the next instant,
at the heart of the treasury world,
a black-and-gold heart covered in twenty-four mouths
slowly opened its eyes.
All of its mouths opened at once.
Then it drew in a violent breath.
Countless spirit-stone stars,
continents of divine weapons,
and rivers of materials
all flew toward it.
The silver-haired youth was closest.
He and his sword were swallowed whole.
"Master!"
"It's eating your money!"
The black-and-gold heart let out a piercing laugh.
"Xuanming is dead!"
"The treasury belongs to me!"
"I will devour this entire vault!"
"This heart shall become the new Xuanming!"
The satisfaction on Wang Hao's face
vanished bit by bit.
He looked at the heart devouring the entire hidden treasury.
His voice was cold as ice.
"I chased you for thirty-seven million miles."
"And you tell me
the treasury belongs to you?"
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."
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?”
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
