“Deliver the decree.”
“Confiscate their estates.”
Wang Hao’s voice rang out.
Three hundred and forty-one black-gold warships.
All at once, they sailed toward the first golden realm gate.
The Imperial Dao River stretched across the heavens.
The Great Xia dragon banners.
Spread across the dark void beyond the Nine Provinces.
At the very front of the fleet,
the silver-haired youth supported Wang Hao.
His face looked even worse than Wang Hao’s.
“Master.”
“I’d like to apply for an injury-on-duty claim.”
Wang Hao said:
“Your reason?”
The silver-haired youth pointed at the cracks in his sword.
“One sword strike that split the heavens.”
“Cracked in service to the nation.”
“I can still feel air leaking out.”
Wang Hao listened carefully.
“I don’t hear anything.”
The silver-haired youth grew anxious.
“I hear it!”
“An auditory hallucination.”
“Master!”
“Abnormal mental state.”
Wang Hao said:
“Your military pay is docked for another year.”
The silver-haired youth instantly recovered.
“It’s not leaking anymore.”
“I think I can still fight for another eight hundred years.”
The Dragon-Slayer stood beside them.
He silently swallowed the words he had been about to say.
He had originally wanted to ask
whether the wound in his chest
could also count as an injury sustained while fighting for Great Xia.
But judging by the situation,
it was better not to give Wang Hao another excuse to charge him.
The first golden realm gate
was drawing closer and closer.
On the other side of the gate
was not a branch vault,
but a crimson star.
This star had no rivers.
No oceans.
Only countless smokestacks soaring into the clouds.
Millions upon millions of black chains
coiled around the entire world.
Earthfire erupted from the cracks,
burning the heavens a dark red.
One enormous furnace after another
was rooted in the ground.
Beside the furnaces,
people filled the land as densely as ants.
Those people were bare-chested,
with iron chains locked around their feet.
Some pushed ore carts.
Some carried red-hot ore on their backs.
Others were hung directly from the furnace walls,
using their own qi and blood
to fuel the flames.
Without exception,
every one of them
bore the brand of a black-gold slave seal.
The moment the Imperial Dao River drew near,
the entire star
let out a deep rumble.
A black-gold light curtain
rose from the edge of the world.
A line of large characters
appeared across its surface:
“Restricted Grounds of the Lifeless Merchant Alliance.”
“Those who trespass”
“will be handled as damaged goods.”
After reading it,
the silver-haired youth looked puzzled.
“Why not handle them as people?”
A-Li stood behind the ship’s helm
and said coldly:
“In the eyes of the Merchant Alliance,”
“people are goods.”
The silver-haired youth thought about it.
“Then Master and they should have plenty to talk about.”
Wang Hao said:
“Two years.”
The silver-haired youth lowered his head,
pretending he had said nothing.
The next moment,
a system notification appeared.
【A special location has been detected.】
【First Branch Vault of the Lifeless Merchant Alliance: the Myriad Furnace Realm.】
【Would you like to check in?】
Wang Hao silently said in his heart:
“Check in.”
【Check-in successful.】
【Reward obtained: One Nine-Turn Imperial Soul Lotus.】
【Nine-Turn Imperial Soul Lotus: Born in the Sea of All Souls, it blooms once every ninety thousand years and bears a lotus seed once every ninety thousand years. It can repair damaged souls and rebuild the foundation of an Imperial Soul.】
【Intelligence updated.】
【Intelligence One: The visible inventory of the First Branch Vault accounts for only ten percent of its actual reserves.】
【Intelligence Two: The remaining ninety percent of the reserves are hidden in the core of the Myriad Furnace Realm.】
【Intelligence Three: The core of the Myriad Furnace Realm has been refined into a Ninth-Realm self-destruct formation. Once activated, all eight hundred and seventy thousand fire slaves will be sacrificed at the same time, and the entire world will transform into a world bomb.】
【Intelligence Four: The self-destruct formation has two control seals. One is held by the First Branch Vault’s chief steward, Marquis of Ten Thousand Furnaces. The other is held by Heavenly Lord of the Scales.】
【Intelligence Five: Beneath the Ten Thousand Furnaces Realm lies a world-marrow vein that the Lifeless Merchant Alliance has been siphoning for three thousand years. Return the marrow vein, and you will earn the recognition of all beings in this realm.】
Wang Hao’s eyes flickered.
The First Sub-Treasury.
It was nothing less than a bomb.
The Lifeless Merchant Alliance had clearly made preparations long ago.
The moment the sub-treasury could no longer be defended,
they would rather destroy all its assets
than leave them to their enemies.
Ruthless.
And terribly wasteful.
Wang Hao raised a hand.
The Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda rose from the Imperial Dao River.
The gate to the first level opened.
A black-and-gold sphere
slowly floated out.
Inside the sphere,
Heavenly Lord of the Scales’ battered soul was still roaring.
“Wang Hao!”
“If you have the guts, kill me!”
“You refined me into this state.”
“What kind of skill is that?”
Wang Hao said,
“Hand over the control seal for the First Sub-Treasury.”
Heavenly Lord of the Scales sneered.
“Dream on!”
“The First Sub-Treasury has already activated its realm-guarding formation!”
“As soon as Marquis of Ten Thousand Furnaces notices something is wrong,
he’ll detonate the entire world!”
“Eight hundred and seventy thousand slaves.”
“An entire world-marrow vein.”
“Nine eighth-realm divine weapons.”
“Thirty-seven warship furnaces.”
“All of them will be reduced to ashes!”
“Weren’t you planning to loot the place?”
“You’ll only be looting a pile of ashes!”
Wang Hao looked toward the elderly Ministry of Revenue official.
“He refuses to cooperate.”
The old official nodded.
Then he produced a new account book.
“Heavenly Lord of the Scales,”
“for refusing to cooperate with the court’s asset recovery efforts,”
“an additional late-payment fee of one hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones”
“will be charged for every breath you continue to resist.”
Heavenly Lord of the Scales froze.
Then he roared furiously,
“I’ve already been suppressed by you people!”
“Where am I supposed to get the money to pay you back?”
The old official replied,
“If you have no money,
you may repay the debt through labor.”
“Based on Great Xia’s minimum wage,”
“you will need to serve Great Xia for four million seven hundred and twenty thousand years.”
Heavenly Lord of the Scales’ soul trembled violently.
“Bullshit!”
“Why should I work for you?”
Wang Hao said,
“Because you owe money.”
“I refuse to acknowledge the debt!”
“Refusing to acknowledge the debt”
“will add another charge to your offense.”
Wang Hao raised his right hand.
Inside the gate to the first level of the pagoda,
blue-white lightning suddenly blazed.
Heavenly Lord of the Scales’ voice immediately changed.
“Wait!”
“What are you trying to do?”
Wang Hao said,
“Interrogation.”
“This is torture and forced confession!”
“Wrong.”
Wang Hao replied calmly,
“This is helping a debtor remember his assets.”
Boom!
A bolt of lightning struck the black-and-gold sphere.
Heavenly Lord of the Scales’ soul
let out a shrill, miserable scream.
A second bolt followed close behind.
Then a third.
A fourth.
In less than ten breaths,
a black-and-gold scale-weight mark
appeared on the surface of Heavenly Lord of the Scales’ soul.
Wang Hao reached out and grabbed it.
The scale-weight mark
was forcibly torn away.
Heavenly Lord of the Scales roared,
“Wang Hao!”
“I’ll definitely kill you one day!”
Wang Hao handed the control seal to the old Ministry of Revenue official.
“Make a note of it.”
“One prohibited arcane seal stripped from a prisoner.”
“Transferred into the national treasury.”
Heavenly Lord of the Scales’ soul stiffened.
“That belongs to me!”
The old official quickly began writing.
“Resisting confiscation.”
“An additional fine of three hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones.”
Heavenly Lord of the Scales fell completely silent.
He suddenly felt
that being struck by lightning actually wasn’t all that painful.
At least lightning didn’t charge interest.
Within the Ten Thousand Furnaces Realm,
a crimson figure
slowly rose above the largest furnace.
It was a red-haired old man standing a hundred zhang tall.
His upper body was bare.
His skin looked like red-hot refined iron.
Behind him,
eight enormous furnaces, each resembling a sun,
hovered in the air.
The might of a mid-stage Martial God
swept across the entire world.
“Heavenly Lord of the Scales!”
“How did you end up in Great Xia’s hands?”
Heavenly Lord of the Scales immediately shouted.
“Marquis of Ten Thousand Furnaces!”
“Detonate the branch treasury!”
“Destroy everything!”
“Leave nothing for Wang Hao!”
A murderous glint surged in Marquis of Ten Thousand Furnaces’ eyes.
His hand instantly reached for the control seal before him.
But before he could press it,
the old official from the Ministry of Revenue
had already stamped Heavenly Lord of the Scales’ control seal
onto the alliance’s master ledger.
“The Wusheng Merchant Alliance’s First Branch Treasury
has ceased operations by law
due to the chief treasurer’s participation in rebellion.
“All formation authority
is hereby transferred
to the Great Xia Ministry of Revenue.”
Buzz!
The black-gold curtain of light
covering the Ten Thousand Furnaces Realm
suddenly began to tremble.
The Wusheng Merchant Alliance insignia
on the curtain of light
started going dark layer by layer.
Marquis of Ten Thousand Furnaces’ expression changed drastically.
He frantically activated his control seal.
“Detonate!”
“Detonate it for me!”
Deep beneath the ground,
the furnaces roared one after another.
The sacrificial markings beneath the feet
of all eight hundred and seventy thousand fire slaves
lit up at the same time.
Despair appeared on every fire slave’s face.
This was not the first time they had been put through such a thing.
Whenever the Merchant Alliance encountered a powerful enemy,
it would threaten its opponent with their lives.
Some people stopped.
Some did not.
But no matter what choice the enemy made,
they had no choice of their own.
A girl only seven or eight years old
was shackled to the wall of a furnace.
She did not cry.
She merely closed her eyes
and waited for the familiar pain to arrive.
But in the next instant,
all the sacrificial markings
went dark at the same time.
Crack!
The slave seal around the girl’s ankle
split open.
Immediately afterward,
the chains covering the entire Ten Thousand Furnaces Realm
lost their radiance all at once.
Wang Hao’s voice
rang down from the heavens.
“The formations of the First Branch Treasury
now belong to Great Xia.
“Without approval from the Ministry of Revenue,
who gave you permission to blow up Great Xia’s assets?”
Marquis of Ten Thousand Furnaces’ pupils contracted sharply.
“Impossible!”
“The self-destruct formation recognizes only the Merchant Alliance’s highest authority!”
The old official from the Ministry of Revenue said,
“The master ledger is in Great Xia.
“The First Deputy Alliance Leader is in Great Xia.
“The control seal is also in Great Xia.
“According to the records,
Great Xia is now the highest authority
over the First Branch Treasury.”
Marquis of Ten Thousand Furnaces’ face twisted.
“Bandits!”
Wang Hao said,
“Slandering the imperial court.
“Prepare the Godslayer cannons.”
All three hundred and forty-one warships
adjusted their gun ports at the same time.
A dense array of Godslayer cannons
locked onto the eight furnaces behind Marquis of Ten Thousand Furnaces.
Marquis of Ten Thousand Furnaces was startled at first.
Then he sneered.
“You dare fire?”
“Beneath those eight furnaces
are all the slaves and workshops you want!”
“The moment your cannons fire,
they will all die!”
A-Li looked toward Wang Hao.
Wang Hao said,
“Who said we were firing at the furnaces?”
Marquis of Ten Thousand Furnaces froze.
The next moment,
the gun ports of all three hundred and forty-one warships
shifted inward by half an inch.
Every cannon
locked onto Marquis of Ten Thousand Furnaces himself.
The old official from the Ministry of Revenue shouted a warning,
“Watch your aim!”
“Don’t hit the furnaces behind him!”
“Those eight furnaces
are worth at least three eighth-realm materials!”
A-Li took a deep breath.
“All warships—
concentrated volley.”
Boom!
Three hundred and forty-one beams of Godslayer cannonfire
struck at once.
The eight Martial God furnaces behind Marquis of Ten Thousand Furnaces
suddenly moved to shield him.
Rumble!
The first furnace exploded.
The second was covered in cracks.
Marquis of Ten Thousand Furnaces roared.
A colossal Martial God avatar
rose from the earth.
It was a crimson giant
formed from countless furnace flames.
Within the giant’s chest
were tens of thousands of phantom fire slaves.
“Refining All Spirits into the Realm!”
“Burn for me!”
Crimson flames
erupted from within the Martial God avatar.
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
