Wang Hao shoved him back into the sword.
Amid the distant ruins,
False Wang Hao slowly rose to his feet.
His head lolled to one side.
A bizarre smile spread across his face.
“Found you.”
“The new emperor.”
Rumble—
On both sides of the long street,
every immortal tower
opened its eyes at once.
At the far end of the street,
one immortal tower after another came alive.
Their walls heaved.
Their roof tiles opened and closed.
The colossal pillars supporting the palaces
pulled themselves up from the earth.
They were clearly enormous fingers covered in teeth.
Boom!
The first immortal tower lifted itself up,
like some gigantic beast that had lain prone for countless years.
Beneath the tower,
tens of thousands of human faces screamed in unison.
Their voices merged into a visible shockwave,
sweeping down the street.
“Cover your ears!”
Star-Fishing Heavenly Immortal shouted.
A fishing line stretched across heaven and earth,
cutting the soundwave in two.
Yet the sound did not vanish.
Instead, it traveled along the line and bored into his palm.
Star-Fishing Heavenly Immortal’s right hand suddenly swelled.
Beneath his skin,
a human face rapidly took shape.
The face was identical to his own.
It laughed madly beneath his skin.
“You fished all your life.”
“In the end, you hooked yourself.”
Star-Fishing Heavenly Immortal’s expression turned icy.
He clenched his fingers hard.
Bang!
The face in his palm was crushed outright.
Black blood seeped through his fingers.
He raised his hand and severed the fishing line.
But in that brief instant,
the corruption had already followed his immortal power into his body.
His entire right arm
began flailing out of control,
like a fish struggling in the water.
Withered-and-Blooming Heavenly Immortal stepped behind him.
Withered-and-Blooming Dao Fire descended,
burning half of Star-Fishing Heavenly Immortal’s arm to ash.
Star-Fishing Heavenly Immortal gave a muffled groan.
Veins bulged across his forehead,
yet he did not resist.
At the stump of his arm,
countless strands of flesh had only just begun to sprout
when they were completely incinerated by the Stainless Fire.
Withered-and-Blooming Heavenly Immortal said gravely,
“The things in this city
can use divine abilities to corrupt us in reverse.”
The immortals’ hearts sank.
They could not use immortal power lightly.
Even divine abilities could become a conduit for corruption.
They possessed the power to move mountains and fill seas,
yet at this moment, they were like a group carrying torches into an ocean of oil.
Every attack
might burn them alive first.
Wang Hao looked at the others.
“Contract the immortal formation.”
“Do not touch the buildings in the city.”
“Golden-armored immortal soldiers, clear the way.”
The Dongji Ascension Immortal Seal lit up.
More than ten thousand golden-armored immortal soldiers advanced at once.
Their immortal halberds thrust forward.
Pure white immortal radiance merged into a towering wave
and crashed into the awakened immortal towers.
Boom!
Dozens of immortal towers exploded on the spot.
Bone fragments and flesh rained through the air.
Yet before the fragments could hit the ground,
pairs of translucent wings sprouted from them.
They turned into countless tiny insects
and swept toward the group.
“So many?”
The silver-haired youth burst excitedly out of the Son of Heaven Sword.
Both his eyes gleamed.
“They’re all food!”
Wang Hao grabbed him by the back of the collar
and hauled him back.
“If you keep eating recklessly,
I’ll weld your mouth shut first.”
The silver-haired youth protested,
“But I can evolve.”
“These things can make you devolve, too.”
Wang Hao pointed at the Ascension Herald.
“Do you want to become like it?”
The silver-haired youth glanced at the other’s severed legs,
the hollow in its forehead,
and the nine flood dragons covered in human faces.
He immediately shook his head.
“On second thought, forget it.”
Countless insects crashed against the barrier formed by the Immortal Plague Isolation Talismans.
They crackled and popped.
The barrier shook violently.
The white mold spreading across its surface grew thicker and thicker.
Wang Hao raised the Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower.
“Open the eighth level.”
The tower gate opened.
Screech!
A phoenix cry
shook the entire Ascension Immortal City.
A colossal thunder phoenix, formed from violet lightning, burst forth.
Its wings spread wide.
Shrouding streets that stretched for thousands of li.
Thunderfire poured down like a waterfall from the heavens.
Swarms of flying insects were reduced to charred husks amid the lightning.
The awakened immortal towers were likewise engulfed in thunderfire.
Tens of thousands of eyes burst apart in succession.
The stench of burning flesh spread throughout the city.
The thunder phoenix circled once.
Its power rapidly drained away.
It dissolved into countless sparks of lightning.
Before the group,
an open stretch of ground briefly appeared.
Wang Hao did not waste any time.
“Go.”
The immortals hurried through the ruins.
More than ten thousand golden-armored immortal soldiers stood guard on both sides.
Whenever an immortal tower revived,
they immediately shattered it with their immortal halberds.
Yet,
the deeper they went into the city,
the stranger the surroundings became.
The street began to narrow.
The buildings on either side grew ever taller.
Countless immortal halls pressed against one another,
like a row of teeth slowly closing together.
There was no sky overhead.
Only a layer of dark-red flesh.
Countless blood vessels crisscrossed its surface.
The light of the golden sun shone through the flesh,
casting the entire city in a rotten yellow hue.
The Gaunt Earth Immortal suddenly stopped.
“I…”
“I think I hear someone calling me.”
The Longevity Earth Immortal’s expression changed.
“Don’t listen.”
“The intelligence already warned us.”
“Do not trust the versions of yourselves in this city.”
But the light in the Gaunt Earth Immortal’s eyes gradually faded.
On the right side of the street,
a tightly shut wooden door slowly opened.
Beyond it lay a humble little courtyard.
A jujube tree stood in the yard.
Beneath it,
an elderly woman with white hair was mending clothes.
The Gaunt Earth Immortal’s body trembled violently.
“Mother?”
This was not a sight from the Immortal Realm.
It was his hometown,
where he had lived before he had ever embarked upon the path of martial cultivation.
The old woman looked up.
A kindly smile spread across her face.
“Gousheng.”
“You’re back?”
The expressions of several Earth Immortals nearby turned strange.
The Gaunt Earth Immortal had lived for more than ninety thousand years.
Who could have imagined
that his name was actually Gousheng?
The silver-haired youth nearly burst out laughing.
Wang Hao shot him a glare.
He immediately covered his mouth.
The Gaunt Earth Immortal’s eyes reddened.
He took a step toward the wooden door.
The Longevity Earth Immortal grabbed him.
“Wake up!”
“That isn’t your mother!”
The Gaunt Earth Immortal suddenly flew into a rage.
“Let go of me!”
“My mother is waiting for me!”
Boom!
The power of a third-level Earth Immortal erupted.
The Longevity Earth Immortal was forced back several steps.
The Gaunt Earth Immortal rushed into the courtyard.
The old woman set down her mending.
She opened her arms.
“Gousheng.”
“Mother has finally waited for you.”
The Gaunt Earth Immortal knelt before her,
like a child who had been away from home for far too long.
The old woman cradled his head in both hands.
The smile on her face grew wider and wider.
Her mouth split all the way to her ears.
“Mother is so hungry.”
Rip!
The old woman’s abdomen suddenly split open.
Countless pale arms shot out,
piercing the Gaunt Earth Immortal’s body in an instant.
The Gaunt Earth Immortal abruptly came to his senses.
But it was already too late.
His immortal body rapidly withered.
Immortal blood.
Immortal power.
Memories.
All of them flowed through those pale arms and into the old woman’s body.
“Save…”
“Save me!”
Wang Hao stepped forward.
The new Son of Heaven Sword came crashing down.
“Heaven-Opening Nine Swords.”
“Fourth Sword!”
“Soul-Slaying!”
The sword light passed through the wooden door.
The entire courtyard was split in two.
The old woman let out a piercing shriek.
A gigantic maw covered in white fur burst from within her body.
The maw bit down on the Gaunt Earth Immortal,
trying to retreat into the darkness.
Imperial Dao chains flew from Wang Hao’s palm.
They wrapped around the Gaunt Earth Immortal’s waist.
“Come back!”
Wang Hao pulled with all his strength.
The pale arms snapped one after another.
The Gaunt Earth Immortal was forcibly dragged out of the courtyard.
He landed on the long street.
His physical body was reduced to nothing more than a thin layer of skin.
All five viscera and six bowels had vanished.
Within the hollow cavity of his chest,
a pure white eyeball had grown.
The eyeball turned,
fixing its gaze on the surrounding immortals.
“I’m back.”
“I’ve finally returned.”
The Gaunt Earth Immortal’s lips did not move.
Yet his voice came from his chest cavity.
The Longevity Earth Immortal was just about to step forward
when Wang Hao raised a hand to stop him.
“Don’t touch him.”
The eyeball in his chest rapidly swelled.
Blood vessels pierced into the Gaunt Earth Immortal’s limbs.
His bones crackled in a rapid succession of sharp snaps.
Crack.
Crack.
His back split open,
revealing two rows of ghastly white teeth.
His arms bent backward,
and his fingers turned into ten writhing tongues.
Yet his once-aged face
became young once more.
The Gaunt Earth Immortal lowered his head to look at his body.
Ecstasy appeared on his face.
“Younger.”
“This old man is young again!”
“This is the blessing bestowed upon me by the Immortal Realm!”
“This is immortality!”
The Longevity Earth Immortal roared in fury:
“That is not a blessing!”
“You’ve already been eaten by it!”
The Gaunt Earth Immortal raised his head.
His gaze gradually filled with venom.
“Nonsense.”
“You envy me.”
“You envy me for receiving the Immortal Realm’s recognition!”
He suddenly charged forward.
He was several times faster than before he was corrupted.
Ten tongues tore through space,
shooting straight for the Longevity Earth Immortal’s brow.
Wang Hao shifted sideways.
A palm descended.
“Heaven-Imprisoning, Earth-Overturning Palm.”
“First Palm!”
Bang!
The Gaunt Earth Immortal was slammed into the ground.
All the teeth on his back shattered.
But in the next instant,
the broken teeth transformed into countless white worms
and burrowed back into his body.
His aura did not weaken. Instead, it rose.
From the third level of the Earth Immortal Realm,
he instantly broke through to the fourth.
The Gaunt Earth Immortal threw back his head and laughed.
“Do you see?”
“I’m getting stronger!”
Wang Hao’s expression remained calm.
“Stronger?”
“You don’t even have your own body anymore.”
“The thing that devoured you is the one growing stronger.”
The Gaunt Earth Immortal roared.
His body tore apart completely.
Thousands of blood vessels extended from the eyeball in his chest,
connecting to the immortal towers around him.
The entire long street shook.
A force nearing the fifth level of the Earth Immortal Realm
erupted from within him.
The expressions of countless Earth Immortals changed.
All of them had known the Gaunt Earth Immortal.
Some had even associated with him for tens of thousands of years.
But now,
that old man who had once been timid,
cherished his life,
and always liked to hide at the very back of the crowd,
had become a part of the Immortal Realm.
“Kill me…”
A faint voice came from the Gaunt Earth Immortal’s brow.
That was his true voice.
“I don’t want…”
“To become like this…”
The eyeball in his chest spun violently.
The ten tongues lashed toward his own brow,
trying to erase the last trace of his consciousness.
The Longevity Earth Immortal’s eyes reddened.
He raised his hand,
but could not bring himself to strike.
Wang Hao had already stepped forward.
“You cannot do it.”
“I will.”
The River of Imperial Dao rose behind him.
The lights of ten thousand homes in Great Xia crossed the barrier between mortal and immortal,
transforming into faint specks of golden light.
The corrupted flesh covering the Gaunt Earth Immortal’s body
screamed the instant it came into contact with the power of faith.
“Second Palm!”
A golden palm imprint crashed down.
All ten tongues exploded at once.
“Third Palm!”
The Gaunt Earth Immortal’s legs shattered.
“Fourth Palm!”
The thousands of blood vessels connected to the immortal towers
were all severed by the shockwave.
“Fifth Palm!”
Cracks appeared across the eyeball in his chest.
For the first time,
clarity appeared on the Gaunt Earth Immortal’s face.
He looked at Wang Hao,
his expression complicated.
“Retired Emperor.”
“If this old man dies…”
“Will I be credited for it?”
Wang Hao said:
“No.”
The Gaunt Earth Immortal froze.
Wang Hao continued:
“You left formation without authorization.”
“Causing yourself to become corrupted.”
“And forcing everyone else to stop and save you.”
“Under Great Xia military law…”
“That counts as a serious breach of discipline.”
The Gaunt Earth Immortal’s mouth twitched.
“I’m about to die, old man.”
“Can’t you say something nicer?”
Wang Hao replied coolly,
“No.”
“I’m afraid that if I do…”
“You won’t be willing to die.”
The Gaunt Earth Immortal fell silent for a moment.
Then he suddenly laughed.
“Your Majesty really is…”
“Still as shameless as ever.”
Wang Hao raised his right hand.
The power of the first five palms completely merged into one.
“The sixth palm.”
“To send you on your way.”
A golden palm imprint descended.
There was no earth-shattering explosion.
Only a mass of pure Sacred Fire.
It enveloped the Gaunt Earth Immortal’s entire body.
The eye in his chest let out a shrill scream.
Countless strands of white fur burst from within him.
Trying to flee.
Yet the immaculate Sacred Fire burned them into ash, bit by bit.
At the very end,
the Gaunt Earth Immortal looked up.
As though he saw that humble little courtyard once more.
Saw the old woman beneath the tree, mending clothes.
He murmured softly,
“Mother.”
“Gousheng is home.”
The flames went out.
On the ground,
only a charred wooden plaque remained.
The words upon it were still visible:
“Registered.”
“Pending repatriation.”
The Longevity Earth Immortal bent down.
He picked up the wooden plaque
and silently hung it from his waist.
Wang Hao turned around.
“Keep moving.”
None of the immortals spoke.
The procession resumed.
Only this time,
no one looked to either side.
They stared straight ahead.
Yet no one noticed
that on the back of the neck of an uncorrupted Earth Immortal in the middle of the group,
an eye slowly opened.
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…
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.
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!
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.”
