I Can Buy Lives

Wang Hao said,

“One eighth-realm material.”

The silver-haired youth’s expression softened.

“Two.”

“One.”

“One eighth-realm material.”

“And we’ll call it even for the three pieces I just ate.”

Wang Hao looked at Lord of Wealth.

“Agreed.”

The silver-haired youth immediately transformed into the New Emperor Sword,

and fell into the Dragon-Slayer’s hand.

The Dragon-Slayer gripped the hilt.

A vast, sinister power

surged into his sea of consciousness once more.

His face stiffened slightly.

He couldn’t help glancing at Wang Hao.

This dark side

was even stronger than before.

While he’d been unconscious,

what had Wang Hao done?

The silver-haired youth’s voice

came from within the sword.

“Old man.”

“Don’t break me this time.”

The Dragon-Slayer said,

“I know.”

“Who am I cutting down?”

Wang Hao pointed at Lord of Wealth.

“Cut the money.”

The golden coin hanging from Lord of Wealth’s neck

was the core of his soul.

As long as the coin remained intact,

Lord of Wealth could keep using the laws of trade

to transfer his injuries.

The Dragon-Slayer glanced at the coin.

“That looks pretty hard.”

Wang Hao said,

“Hard means valuable.”

The Dragon-Slayer tightened his grip on the New Emperor Sword.

The life force within him

was nearly spent.

But this time,

the vault was full of precious healing treasures.

If they won,

he wouldn’t have to burn through the last of his lifespan.

Wang Hao’s Imperial Dao River

flowed beneath the Dragon-Slayer’s feet.

Threads of vow-power

lifted the sword’s edge.

Lord of Wealth sensed the danger.

He didn’t hesitate.

“Kill them!”

The three remaining Martial Gods

charged at once.

One early-stage Martial God

rushed at the Dragon-Slayer.

Another early-stage Martial God

went after Wang Hao.

The last, a mid-stage Martial God,

charged into the vault,

hoping to seize A-Li and the others

and force Wang Hao to back down.

Killing intent flared in Wang Hao’s eyes.

“Starbreak Hall.”

“Hundred Burials Mountain.”

“Looking to claim a share?”

The young man from Starbreak Hall asked,

“How do we divide it?”

“By how much you contribute.”

“Take as much as you earn.”

The old woman from Hundred Burials Mountain narrowed her eyes.

“Can we trust you to keep your word?”

Wang Hao said,

“No.”

The old woman’s face darkened.

Wang Hao continued,

“So you’d better keep a tally.”

“That way, the Emperor won’t shortchange you.”

The young man from Starbreak Hall drew his spear.

“Better to walk away empty-handed

than be killed by the Wusheng Merchant Alliance!”

The four battered warships that remained

lit their formations once more,

blasting the mid-stage Martial God

who was charging into the vault.

The old woman from Hundred Burials Mountain gritted her teeth

and called back the last of her Martial God corpses.

They surged toward an early-stage Martial God.

The warriors from the various factions whom Wang Hao had rescued

joined the fight as well.

They knew that if the Wusheng Merchant Alliance won,

every witness

would be killed.

In that moment,

the three factions who had been fighting over the vault

were forced to stand together.

On the wreckage of the black vessel,

A-Li took hold of the helm again.

Behind her,

thousands of Realm-Gatherers

poured their blood and energy into the remnants of the formation.

“Ram them!”

There were no sails,

no intact hull—

only half of the black vessel remained.

Still, it burst out of the vault,

the blood Uncle Shi had left behind staining its prow,

and slammed into a merchant alliance warship.

Boom!

Both ships shattered.

The impact hurled A-Li through the air.

One Realm-Gatherer caught her by the ankle.

Another grabbed the first by the clothes.

Hundreds linked together in a long chain,

pulling A-Li back from the edge of a rift in the void.

The battle erupted in full.

The Dragon-Slayer took a single step across the starry void.

The New Emperor Sword slashed toward the golden coin.

Lord of Wealth clasped his hands together.

“All living beings are commodities!”

“Heaven and earth have a price!”

Golden figures appeared above everyone’s heads.

An eighth-realm warrior:

Three thousand superior spirit stones.

An early-stage Martial God:

One hundred eighth-realm materials.

The Dragon-Slayer:

Three years of remaining life.

Worth half a ninth-realm material.

Above Wang Hao's head,

a string of numbers appeared as well.

But the moment that string of numbers emerged,

it began to grow at a terrifying rate.

Ten thousand.

A million.

Ten million.

A hundred million.

The golden numbers grew longer and longer,

until they filled the entire starry sky.

The copper coin around Lord of Wealth's neck

shook violently.

"How is this possible?"

"He's a man on the verge of death!"

"Why can't he be valued?"

Wang Hao said,

"You're calculating the worth of a person."

"But behind me

stands an entire dynasty."

The faith of nearly a billion living beings

rose from the River of Imperial Dao.

The golden numbers above Wang Hao's head

exploded with a thunderous boom.

Lord of Wealth's Law of Trade

was hit by a backlash.

The cracks on the golden coin

widened once more.

The Dragon-Slayer seized the opportunity

and brought his sword down.

"Woodcutter's Cleaver."

"Sever Wealth!"

The silver sword-light

struck precisely into the crack in the coin.

Crack!

The golden coin

split down the middle.

Lord of Wealth's body suddenly went rigid.

He had no head,

yet he let out a shrill scream.

"The Lifeless Merchant Alliance will never let you go!"

"Our Alliance Master has already reached the Martial God's peak!"

"And behind the alliance

stands an existence beyond the Martial God realm!"

Wang Hao's imperial soul appeared before him.

"I, too, am in the Transcendence Realm."

The shattered remains of Lord of Wealth's coin

trembled violently.

This was the first time Wang Hao

had truly revealed his realm

before the people of the Shattered Immortal Domain.

The first level of the Transcendence Realm!

Beyond the Martial God realm!

Even though his physical body had been destroyed,

only nine percent of his imperial bones remained,

and nearly ninety percent of his imperial soul was damaged,

his level of existence

still stood above the Ninth Realm.

Lord of Wealth finally understood

why Ku He had died.

He also finally understood

why Wang Hao, despite being wounded so severely,

had still not fallen.

It was not that he was forcing himself to endure.

It was that the Martial God realm

simply had no right

to judge a transcendent by ordinary standards.

Wang Hao's imperial soul

pressed its right hand onto half of the golden coin.

"Heaven-Binding, Earth-Covering."

His five fingers closed.

The coin gave off a sharp, grating sound

as it began to crack.

Lord of Wealth roared in terror and rage.

"Wait!"

"I can buy my life!"

"The Lifeless Merchant Alliance possesses Ninth-Realm materials!"

"We have coordinates to ancient immortal ruins!"

"And complete world seeds!"

Wang Hao's movements paused slightly.

Hope rose within Lord of Wealth's heart.

"Let me go!"

"I'll give you everything I have!"

Wang Hao asked,

"Aren't your possessions

all mine now?"

Lord of Wealth froze.

The Heaven-Binding, Earth-Covering Palm

closed completely.

Boom!

The golden coin

exploded into fragments that filled the sky.

Lord of Wealth's soul was annihilated.

His headless body

fell from the void.

The silver-haired youth detached himself from the sword

and immediately rushed forward,

grabbing the largest fragment of the coin.

"My Eighth-Realm material!"

Wang Hao said,

"That's a Ninth-Realm material."

The silver-haired youth's eyes shone even brighter.

"Master."

"You're going to give me a Ninth-Realm material?"

"Keep dreaming."

Wang Hao raised a hand and beckoned.

More precisely,

it was his imperial soul's right hand.

All the fragments of the coin

flew into the Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda.

The silver-haired youth clung to one of them,

refusing to let go.

He was dragged toward the pagoda's gate

along with the fragment.

"Master!"

"You promised me an Eighth-Realm material!"

"This Ninth-Realm material is too big."

"I can cut it myself!"

Wang Hao said,

"I'll give it to you after it's cut."

The silver-haired youth was half-convinced.

In the end, he let go.

With Lord of Wealth dead,

the remaining three Martial Gods

had no will to fight.

One of them turned and fled,

only to be struck simultaneously

by all four warships of the Star-Severing Hall.

His Martial God Aspect exploded.

The Dragon-Slayer followed up with another sword strike,

severing his soul.

The other two tried to surrender,

but the old woman from Hundred Burial Mountain

gave them no such opportunity.

Hundreds of thousands of corpses surged forward.

They tore one of them to pieces.

The last mid-stage Martial God.

Charged toward Wang Hao.

He knew there was no escape.

So he chose to self-detonate.

“Then we’ll die together!”

The blood and qi of the Ninth Realm.

Ignited in an instant.

A blood-red sun.

Rose through the starry void.

They were too close.

The Dragon-Slayer had no time to return and rescue him.

The Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda had also exhausted its Ninth-Realm thunder might.

Wang Hao had nowhere to flee.

The system notifications flashed wildly.

【A mid-stage Martial God has self-detonated!】

【The current attack poses a fatal threat to the host!】

【Formation progress of the People’s Will Shield: ninety-nine percent!】

The blood-red sun.

Swallowed Wang Hao.

Throughout the Nine Provinces.

Everyone’s heart clenched at the same moment.

Zhao Ergou had just finished bandaging his hands.

Then he suddenly sprang to his feet.

“Your Majesty!”

Nearly one billion living beings.

All looked up at once.

They could not see the battle in the shattered immortal realm.

But they could sense it.

At the other end of the Imperial Dao River.

The Emperor was facing danger.

Strands of the people’s will.

Flowed into the river of their own accord.

The final trace of golden light.

Completed the formation.

【The protective divine art of the people’s will has been fully formed!】

【The current reserve of the people’s will can cancel out one full-power attack from a peak Martial God!】

Boom!

At the center of the blood-red sun.

A golden shield.

Rose abruptly.

Across the surface of the shield.

Nearly one billion faces appeared.

Soldiers.

Commoners.

Officials.

The elderly.

Children.

The self-detonation of a mid-stage Martial God.

Struck the golden shield.

It only made the shield tremble slightly.

The next moment.

All the blood-red radiance.

Was completely erased by the power of the people’s will.

Wang Hao stood at the center of the shield.

Unscathed.

More precisely.

There were barely any places on him left that could be injured further.

The self-detonation ended.

The shield of the people’s will dissipated once more.

Wang Hao looked toward the place where the Martial God had vanished.

“What a waste.”

“An intact Martial God corpse.”

“That could have sold for quite a bit.”

The battlefield gradually fell silent.

The surviving warriors of the Wusheng Merchant Alliance.

All dropped their weapons.

Of the three hundred black-gold warships.

Only one hundred and seven remained intact.

The rest had either been destroyed by the thunder dragons.

Or exploded amid the melee.

The young man from Starbreaker Hall put away his spear.

Then came before Wang Hao.

“The secret vault.”

“How are we dividing it?”

The old woman from Hundred Burial Mountain also dragged her broken body over.

She had lost one leg.

Her Martial God manifestation was severely damaged.

Yet her eyes remained fixed on the secret vault.

Wang Hao said:

“Take inventory first.”

The Imperial Dao River connected to the Nine Provinces’ Ministry of Revenue.

The elderly official in charge of the Ministry of Revenue.

Had long since led more than a thousand clerks.

They had prepared the account books.

One treasure after another.

Was projected into the Ministry of Revenue’s main hall by the laws of the Imperial Dao.

The clerks stared at the resources piled up like stars.

Their hands trembled around their brushes.

“Thirteenth-Realm materials.”

“Thirteen items in total!”

“Four of them are damaged!”

“Eighth-Realm materials: three hundred and seventy-two items!”

“Seventh-Realm materials: twenty-eight thousand nine hundred and fourteen items!”

“Sixth-Realm materials and below.”

“Still impossible to count for now!”

“High-grade spirit stones.”

“Equivalent to three thousand seven hundred and sixty-two ore veins!”

“Ancient divine weapons: fourteen thousand items!”

“Complete world seeds: two!”

“Damaged world membranes: seven!”

“The ownerless heavenly tribulation has been absorbed by the Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda!”

“Martial God corpses: eleven!”

The elderly official’s breathing grew faster and faster.

He grabbed the clerk beside him.

“Quick!”

“Bring me a heart-protecting pill!”

The clerk hurriedly asked:

“My lord.”

“Is your heart troubling you?”

The old official glared at him.

“I’m afraid I’ll be too happy.”

“Better take one in advance!”

The elderly Ministry of Works official, his arm charred black, stormed into the Ministry of Revenue hall.

“The materials to repair the Demon-Suppressing Tower of Thunder Abyss!”

“They must be allocated to the Ministry of Works first!”

A military officer from the Ministry of War followed close behind.

“The Martial God’s remains belong to the Ministry of War!”

“They can be used to forge a nation-defending war puppet!”

The elderly Ministry of Works official snapped angrily,

“Without the Ministry of Works,

what are you going to use to forge it?”

The military officer sneered.

“Without the Ministry of War,

who will use it after you finish making it?”

The two elderly officials argued in the Ministry of Revenue hall until their faces were red.

The elderly Ministry of Revenue official slammed a hand onto the table.

“Enough!”

“The goods have not even entered the treasury yet!”

“First, deduct the costs of recovering them!”

“Then deduct His Majesty’s medical expenses!”

“Then deduct postwar reconstruction for the provinces!”

“Then deduct compensation for the fallen!”

“Only what remains

can be discussed among the Six Ministries!”

Far away in the secret treasury, Wang Hao nodded in satisfaction.

Just as expected of the Ministry of Revenue.

The young man from the Starbreak Hall asked,

“What about our share?”

Wang Hao said,

“Four warships.

“You held back one Martial God.

“You get three eighth-realm materials.”

The young man frowned.

“Four Starborne Warships

are worth only three items?”

“And one hundred and twenty-seven martial artists died.”

Wang Hao fell silent for a moment.

“Add one more item.

“Their names

can be entered into Great Xia’s Register of Foreign War Merits.”

The young man from Starbreak Hall froze.

“A Register of War Merits?”

“What use is that?”

“In the future, when people from Starbreak Hall enter Great Xia,

they may pay ten percent less tax

based on their merits.”

The young man dearly wanted to say that Starbreak Hall had no intention of entering Great Xia at all.

But as he looked at Wang Hao’s calm expression,

he suddenly could not bring himself to say it.

Before today,

he had not even known where Great Xia was.

But a nation that could have nearly a billion living beings carry coffins for their country—

a nation that, by the strength of a mortal dynasty,

could slay immortal abominations—

was it truly not worth seeing for himself?

The old woman of Hundred Burials Mountain asked,

“And what about this old woman?”

Wang Hao looked at her.

“You destroyed three Heaven-Pillars of the Treasury.”

“You held back one Martial God.

“You also receive four eighth-realm materials.”

The old woman said,

“This old woman wants one ninth-realm material.”

“None available.”

“Then include information about the Profound Nether Immortal Bone.”

“You know the locations of the other two secret treasuries?”

The old woman shook her head.

“This old woman does not know.”

“Then what information do you have?”

The old woman of Hundred Burials Mountain said solemnly,

“This old woman knows

how to refine that half-section of Immortal Bone

into a divine medicine that can regrow bones.”

Wang Hao’s gaze shifted slightly.

“Deal.”