You Dare to Swallow What Belongs to Me

The black-gold heart stretched across the treasury realm.

Twenty-four enormous mouths.

Devouring everything in every direction.

Within each mouth

lay an endless black hole.

Spirit-stone stars collapsed one after another.

Countless treasures became a raging torrent,

pouring into the depths of those black holes.

A continent composed entirely of seventh-realm materials

lasted only three breaths

before it was swallowed clean.

Wang Hao watched that continent vanish.

His gaze grew colder and colder.

Seventh-realm materials.

At least a hundred thousand pieces.

Gone.

Though they had only temporarily entered the other party’s stomach,

moving state assets without registration by the Great Xia Ministry of Revenue

was an act of an exceptionally heinous nature.

Lu Qianjin and the others stood outside the entrance.

First, they were stunned.

Then greed rose in their eyes.

“That is Xuanming's Greed!”

The Crone of Hundred Burial Mountain recognized the origin of the black-gold heart.

“One of the Twenty-Four Hearts of the Immortal Aberrations!”

“It has not yet completed its transformation!”

“As long as we refine it,

we can seize control of the entire treasury!”

Lu Qianjin shouted,

“Everyone, enter the treasury!”

“Whoever refines Greed first

will become the Seventh Merchant Lord!”

The warriors of the Wusheng Merchant Alliance

charged into the treasury at once.

The Starbreaker Hall and Hundred Burial Mountain

were unwilling to fall behind as well.

The experts of all three factions

turned into streams of light,

rushing toward the black-gold heart.

Wang Hao did not stop them.

He looked over the system intelligence.

[Xuanming's Greed Treasury Spirit.]

[Current realm: Late-stage Martial God Realm.]

[Special ability: Devour Treasures, Transform the World.]

[With every treasure it devours, its strength increases by a measure.]

[There are twenty-four Treasury-Suppressing Heavenly Pillars within the treasury. As long as the pillars remain intact, the Greed Treasury Spirit can draw upon the treasury’s power to resurrect endlessly.]

[Weakness: The more treasures the Greed Treasury Spirit devours, the more unstable the space within its body becomes.]

[Destroying the twenty-four Treasury-Suppressing Heavenly Pillars will sever its source of power.]

[Special notice: Xuanming's Greed Treasury Spirit contains one hundred and eight ownerless Heavenly Tribulations.]

Wang Hao’s eyes shifted slightly.

One hundred and eight ownerless Heavenly Tribulations.

The dormant Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower

seemed to have sensed something.

From deep within the tower

came an exceedingly faint tremor.

Like someone who had gone hungry for a very long time

catching the scent of food.

Wang Hao looked at the black-gold heart.

“Spit them out.”

All twenty-four mouths of the Greed Treasury Spirit burst into laughter.

“Mortal emperor!”

“Xuanming is already dead!”

“This place belongs to no one!”

“Whoever can swallow it

owns it!”

Wang Hao said,

“That same old line again.”

He had heard enough of it.

The people of the Shattered Immortal Domain

seemed to believe that

anything without an owner

belonged to whoever seized it.

But Xuanming clearly owed the Great Xia money.

It had failed to repay its debts.

Even in death, it still had not paid them back.

Its estate

should naturally be confiscated by the state.

That was called lawful asset recovery.

How could it be considered robbery?

Just then,

the people of the Wusheng Merchant Alliance were the first to reach the Greed Treasury Spirit.

Lu Qianjin raised his golden abacus into the air.

Countless beads

transformed into a golden cage,

sealing off the area around the Greed Treasury Spirit.

“Ten Thousand Treasures Return to Commerce!”

“Suppress it for this Merchant Lord!”

The golden cage contracted.

All twenty-four mouths of the Greed Treasury Spirit

turned toward Lu Qianjin at once.

“Commerce?”

“Money?”

“Treasure?”

“All of it is mine!”

One massive mouth suddenly flew open.

The golden cage twisted instantly.

The abacus in Lu Qianjin’s hand

flew away beyond his control.

His expression changed drastically.

He tried to retrieve it,

but it was already too late.

The abacus, along with his entire right arm,

was swallowed in a single bite by the Greed Treasury Spirit.

“Argh!”

Lu Qianjin screamed and staggered back.

The Crone of Hundred Burial Mountain seized the chance to attack.

Hundreds of thousands of coffins.

forming a massive formation of white bones.

It descended from the sky.

The Greedy Vault Spirit opened its mouth again.

One bite.

Half of the hundreds of thousands of coffins vanished.

A second bite.

The remaining coffins

were swallowed whole as well.

The Crone of Hundred Burial Mountain coughed up blood.

Her Martial God manifestation

was intimately linked to those coffins.

Now that the coffins had been devoured,

the manifestation began to collapse.

The young man of Starbreak Hall gritted his teeth

and raised his right hand.

Nine star warships

charged into the secret vault at once.

The stellar cannons at their prows

fired with a thunderous roar.

Nine brilliant beams

tore through the void

and struck the surface of the Greedy Vault Spirit.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Nine enormous holes were blasted open in the black-gold heart.

Thick, viscous blood sprayed everywhere.

The people of Starbreak Hall looked delighted.

But the next moment,

deep within the secret vault,

the twenty-four Vault-Suppressing Heavenly Pillars

lit up simultaneously.

Boundless power

poured into the black-gold heart.

The nine gaping holes

healed in the blink of an eye.

The Greedy Vault Spirit let out a furious roar.

A tongue covered in teeth

lashed out in a sweeping strike.

Five of the nine star warships

were smashed apart on the spot.

Countless martial warriors screamed as they fell.

The silver-haired youth's voice

came from inside the Greedy Vault Spirit's belly.

"Don't shove!"

"Who stepped on my head?"

"That eighth-realm material is mine!"

"Who dares steal it from me?!"

Dazzling silver light

flashed continuously within the black-gold heart.

The ringing of swords came one after another.

Clearly,

the silver-haired youth who had been swallowed

was not frightened in the least.

Instead, he was scavenging treasures inside.

Wang Hao relaxed slightly.

If he could still fight over loot,

then he was not dead.

He looked at the Dragon-Slayer.

"Can you move?"

The Dragon-Slayer braced himself against the railing and stood.

"I can still swing once."

"I don't have a blade."

Wang Hao glanced at the bow of the ship.

With a casual use of Imperial Dao laws,

he tore off a mast ten thousand zhang long

and tossed it to the Dragon-Slayer.

"Use this for now."

The Dragon-Slayer stared at the mast in his hands.

"You call this a blade?"

"Shave off one side,

and it's a blade."

The Dragon-Slayer's face darkened.

Why did those words

sound so familiar?

Wang Hao had already turned away.

He looked toward the World-Pickers aboard the black ark.

"Everyone who can still move,

get on the ship."

A-Li asked,

"Where are we going?"

Wang Hao pointed toward the depths of the secret vault.

"To ram the pillars."

The twenty-four Vault-Suppressing Heavenly Pillars

were scattered throughout the secret-vault world.

Each one

was larger than a mountain range.

Countless immortal-fiend blood vessels

coiled around the pillars.

Any ordinary martial warrior who drew near

would be corrupted.

A-Li looked at the pillars.

Without hesitation,

she ran straight for the helm.

The World-Pickers who had just been rescued

also sprang into action.

Some raised the sails.

Some carried formation arrays.

Some tied up the martial warriors of the Deathless Merchant Alliance

even more tightly.

From deep within the ship's hold,

a one-eyed old man emerged.

His name was Uncle Shi.

He had been

the black ark's first helmsman.

Later, Venerable Withered River slaughtered his clan,

seized the ark,

and locked him in the hold,

making him a slave for six hundred years.

Uncle Shi came to A-Li's side

and gripped the helm.

"You're not strong enough.

I'll do it."

A-Li shook her head.

"Your body can't take it."

Uncle Shi smiled.

"I've lived for more than seven hundred years.

That's long enough.

Before, when I pulled this ship,

I pulled it for others.

Today, for this one charge,

I'll ram it for myself."

The black ark turned about.

Every formation inscribed upon its hull

lit up at the same time.

Several hundred martial warriors of the Deathless Merchant Alliance

were forced to burn their vital blood

to supply the ark with power.

Someone cursed angrily.

"You're insane!"

"If you ram the Heavenly Pillar,

everyone will die!"

Uncle Shi looked at them.

"Afraid of death?"

"Back when you forged my son into a soul lamp..."

"He was afraid too."

Uncle Shi suddenly wrenched the helm.

The black colossal vessel let out an earth-shaking roar.

It rammed straight toward the first Heaven-Pillar that Suppressed the Treasury.

The Greedy Treasury Spirit sensed the danger.

More than a dozen tongues

stretched across the world at once,

lashing toward the colossal vessel.

Wang Hao stood at the bow.

The Imperial Soul raised its right hand.

"Imprison Heaven, Overturn Earth."

The first palm strike!

A gigantic golden palm collided with the tongues.

Great masses of immortal-aberrant flesh exploded.

The second palm strike followed immediately after.

All the remaining tongues

were slapped aside.

The black colossal vessel charged through the storm of flesh and blood

and smashed violently into the first Heaven-Pillar that Suppressed the Treasury.

Boom!

The bow shattered instantly.

The entire colossal vessel

split down the middle.

The martial warriors of the Lifeless Merchant Alliance,

bound at the very front,

were more than half killed or wounded.

Uncle Shi's body

also burst into a mist of blood in the collision.

But the first Heaven-Pillar that Suppressed the Treasury

had broken.

Crack!

The Greedy Treasury Spirit shuddered.

Its aura visibly weakened.

A-Li knelt beside the shattered helm,

staring blankly at the place where Uncle Shi had vanished.

She did not cry.

She merely reached out,

grabbed a bloodstained splinter of wood,

and clenched it tightly.

Wang Hao's voice came from behind her.

"Remember his name."

"One day,

write it into Great Xia's Roll of the Fallen in the Immortal Calamity."

A-Li asked softly,

"What use is writing it down?"

Wang Hao replied,

"So that the descendants of Great Xia will know

he was not a slave.

He was a man who fought for himself."

A-Li lowered her head.

At last, tears fell.

The next moment,

she rose to her feet again.

"There are still twenty-three left."

The young man of Starbreak Hall came over.

His expression was complicated.

"My warships

can still move. Four of them."

Wang Hao said,

"Ram them."

The young man frowned.

"After they're smashed,

will you compensate me?"

Wang Hao said,

"The debt for saving your life

will offset the loss of the warships."

The young man's mouth twitched.

"What kind of accounting is that?"

"I have calculated it."

"There can be no mistake."

The young man desperately wanted to refuse.

But in the distance,

the Greedy Treasury Spirit had already devoured even more treasures.

Its aura was rising toward the peak of the Martial God Realm.

If they did not destroy the Heaven-Pillars,

everyone would die.

"Starbreak Hall, heed my command!"

"Four ships, split up!"

"Ram the pillars!"

The four battered warships

rushed in four separate directions.

The Crone of Hundred Burial Mountain also gritted her teeth and gave the order,

sending the remaining corpses

to climb three of the Heaven-Pillars that Suppressed the Treasury.

Lu Qianjin clutched his severed arm,

his face grim.

He had intended to flee amid the chaos.

But the Imperial Dao River had quietly blocked his escape route.

Wang Hao looked at him.

"I saved three hundred and twenty-one of your people."

"Now it is time for you to work."

Lu Qianjin gritted his teeth.

"The golden tower ship of the Lifeless Merchant Alliance

is worth a ninth-realm material!"

Wang Hao said,

"Fine."

Lu Qianjin froze.

He had not expected Wang Hao to agree so readily.

Wang Hao continued,

"We'll deduct it from the fee for saving your lives."

Lu Qianjin nearly coughed up blood.

But he had no choice.

The golden tower ship ignited every one of its formations,

becoming a streak of golden light.

It rammed through two Heaven-Pillars that Suppressed the Treasury in succession.

The thunderous crashes continued.

The fifth.

The eighth.

The twelfth.

One Heaven-Pillar after another collapsed.

The Greedy Treasury Spirit howled madly.

Its body kept shrinking.

Its strength began to wane as well.

But every warship

had already been destroyed.

Seven Heaven-Pillars remained.

They were scattered throughout the deepest reaches of the secret treasury.

Beside one of them

floated a sea of violet lightning.

Within that sea of lightning,

one hundred and eight Heavenly Tribulation chains

were interwoven.

Every single chain

radiated an aura of destruction.

Deep within Wang Hao's sea of consciousness.

The Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower suddenly shook.

The gates of all nine floors

roared open at once.

“Finally, something to eat.”

Wang Hao’s Imperial Soul enveloped the Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower.

He took a single step into the violet sea of lightning.

One hundred and eight ownerless heavenly tribulations

awakened simultaneously.

Boom!

Violet lightning

engulfed Wang Hao’s battered body.

The golden glow of faith power around him

instantly dissipated by more than half.

His already damaged Imperial Bones

shattered further.

System notifications flashed frantically.

【Fatal attack detected!】

【Faith Power Shield has not yet fully formed!】

【Current progress: 58%!】

【Taixu Tribulation-Substitution Talisman automatically activated!】

A grayish-white talisman

flew from Wang Hao’s Imperial Soul.

The talisman swiftly transformed into Wang Hao’s likeness,

taking the full brunt of the lightning in his place.

Rumble!

The tribulation-substitution talisman burned into ash.

Seizing the opportunity, Wang Hao hurled

the Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower into the heart of the lightning sea.

“Open the gates.”

The long-silent gate of the first floor

burst open.

Then came

the second floor.

The third floor.

Until the ninth!

The gates of all nine floors

became nine black holes devouring lightning,

madly absorbing the ownerless heavenly tribulations.

One stream.

Ten streams.

Fifty streams.

All one hundred and eight streams!

The violet sea of lightning rapidly dried up.

The cracks across the surface of the Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower

were gradually filled with lightning.

Within the gate of the eighth floor,

a Thunder Phoenix opened its eyes.

Deep within the ninth floor,

a violet thunder dragon

slowly raised its head.

【The Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower has absorbed 108 ownerless heavenly tribulations!】

【The cursed artifact is recovering!】

【The thunder might of the eighth floor is fully charged!】

【The thunder might of the ninth floor has been charged once!】

Wang Hao raised the right hand of his Imperial Soul

and pointed at the seven remaining treasury-suppressing pillars.

“Thunder Phoenix.”

“Leave the tower.”

Screech!

A phoenix cry

shook the entire secret treasury realm.

From the gate of the eighth floor,

an endless sea of lightning surged forth.

A violet Thunder Phoenix, its wings spanning a hundred thousand li,

shot into the heavens.

The Thunder Phoenix spread its wings.

Countless lightning feathers

fell like a torrential downpour.

The first pillar was pierced through by lightning feathers.

The second pillar was torn apart by its talons.

The third pillar.

The fourth pillar.

One after another, they collapsed.

The Thunder Phoenix let out a long cry,

then hurled its entire body toward the final three pillars.

Boom!

Lightning pierced through the world.

All twenty-four treasury-suppressing pillars

were shattered!