I'll Just Hit One Less

Boom!

A heaven-shaking roar erupted in Wang Hao’s mind.

He seemed to see an indescribable palm reaching out from the end of time.

Within its palm,

the sun and moon fell,

the starry river collapsed,

an Immortal King bled,

and an Immortal Emperor was pinned beneath its five fingers.

That palm was not attacking any single living being.

It was imprisoning the entire world.

The First Palm: Sealing Form.

The Second Palm: Suppressing Bone.

The Third Palm: Locking Qi.

The Fourth Palm: Banning Soul.

The Fifth Palm: Suppressing Domain.

The Sixth Palm: Imprisoning Dao.

The Seventh Palm: Covering Heaven.

The Eighth Palm: Burying Earth.

The Ninth Palm: Imprisoning Heaven and Covering Earth.

The nine palms were not nine techniques.

They were nine layers of seals.

Each of the first eight palms would leave a Heaven-Imprisoning Seal within the target’s body.

When the ninth palm descended,

all the Heaven-Imprisoning Seals would erupt simultaneously.

They could suppress the target’s physical body, soul, immortal domain, Dao Fruit, and connection with the world itself, all within the palm.

Even if he had only grasped the barest surface of the technique,

its might was already far beyond what it had been before.

Wang Hao opened his eyes.

Information surfaced once again at the bottom of the well.

[Information obtained: A palm imprint left behind by an Immortal Emperor remains within the Heaven-Imprisoning Ancient Well.]

[Information obtained: The Black Mountain Stronghold Seal is a fragment peeled from the fingernail of the Immortal Emperor’s palm imprint.]

[Information obtained: The holder of the Black Mountain Token can use the Heaven-Imprisoning Ancient Well to invade the Black Mountain Stronghold Seal from the inside.]

[Information obtained: Duan Tiantu has already discovered that you entered the Heaven-Imprisoning Ancient Well.]

The instant the final piece of information appeared,

footsteps sounded behind him.

The Fifth Chieftain Bai Wusuan approached slowly, waving a folding fan.

The Sixth Chieftain, the One-Eyed Daoist, followed behind him.

The two Celestial Immortals blocked the exit at the same time.

A gentle smile still rested on Bai Wusuan’s face.

“Brother Wang.”

“Not sleeping at this hour?”

“What brings you here?”

Wang Hao replied,

“Taking a walk.”

“A walk that brought you to the Heaven-Imprisoning Ancient Well?”

“The stronghold is too large.”

“I got lost.”

Bai Wusuan looked at the Black Mountain Token in Wang Hao’s hand.

“Hand over the token.”

“Why?”

“Because you know too much.”

The vertical eye on the One-Eyed Daoist’s forehead opened.

A gray-white radiance enveloped the dry well.

The space around Wang Hao instantly froze.

Bai Wusuan closed his folding fan.

“Today, in the Gathering Hall, you deliberately provoked the seven chieftains.”

“First, you exposed the skin-shedding puppet.”

“Then you used the pursuers from the Ascension Bureau to sow distrust among us.”

“Duan Tiantu came looking for you.”

“Yin Jiuzhu came looking for you.”

“Liu Hongyi came looking for you.”

“And you went to all of them.”

“Brother Wang.”

“Who exactly are you trying to help?”

Wang Hao replied,

“Myself.”

The smile on Bai Wusuan’s face faded slightly.

“As expected.”

“You didn’t come here to join us.”

“You came to seize the stronghold.”

Wang Hao looked at the two men.

“You only realized that now?”

“A little late, don’t you think?”

The One-Eyed Daoist sneered.

“You may have defeated Iron Buddha.”

“But you can’t defeat the two of us.”

“That’s true.”

Wang Hao nodded.

“That’s why I never planned to fight the two of you.”

Bai Wusuan suddenly realized something.

He lowered his head sharply.

At some point, a wisp of colorless, odorless smoke had already enveloped the ancient well.

The Fragrance of Seven Emotions, Disorder of the Soul.

The suspicion in Bai Wusuan’s heart was instantly magnified.

He suddenly turned toward the One-Eyed Daoist.

“Old Six.”

“Why has the eye on your forehead been staring at my Dao Fruit this whole time?”

The One-Eyed Daoist’s expression darkened.

“I’m guarding against Wang Xiaobai.”

“Your eye is clearly looking at me!”

“Bai Wusuan, what do you mean by that?”

“Did Duan Tiantu send you to kill me?”

The vertical eye on the One-Eyed Daoist’s forehead suddenly fired a beam of gray light.

Bai Wusuan almost simultaneously opened his folding fan.

Hundreds of white paper figures flew out.

Each paper figure wielded a blade or sword as they swarmed toward the One-Eyed Daoist.

Boom!

The two Celestial Immortals struck at the same time in the narrow passage.

Their immortal domains collided.

The entire ancient well shook violently.

Wang Hao stood between them.

He took one step to the left.

The gray light skimmed past him.

He took one step to the right.

The paper figures flew past his face.

The silver-haired youth could not help asking,

“Master.”

“Why did they start fighting each other?”

“Because they never trusted each other in the first place.”

“Is that fragrance really so powerful?”

“The fragrance merely helped them become a little more honest.”

At the instant the two immortal domains collided,

Wang Hao raised his hand.

The First Palm of the Immortal Emperor-level Heaven-Imprisoning Earth-Covering Palm descended.

There was no earth-shattering explosion.

Only a faint palm imprint silently settled onto the back of the One-Eyed Daoist.

The One-Eyed Daoist’s body stiffened.

Bai Wusuan seized the opportunity.

His folding fan transformed into a paper blade and instantly pierced through the One-Eyed Daoist’s chest.

The One-Eyed Daoist roared.

“Bai Wusuan!”

“You really do want to kill me!”

The vertical eye erupted.

Half of Bai Wusuan’s immortal body was pierced through by the gray light.

Wang Hao’s Second Palm descended.

The palm imprint entered Bai Wusuan’s body.

The Third Palm.

The Fourth Palm.

The immortal power within both men simultaneously froze.

Only then did they finally react.

“Wang Xiaobai!”

The two of them turned around at the same time.

Wang Hao had already attached the Life-Exchange Black Talisman to the ancient well.

The black talisman ignited.

The One-Eyed Daoist’s injuries were instantly exchanged with the cracks on the well’s surface.

Hundreds of cracks suddenly spread across his immortal body.

Meanwhile, the ancient well was restored to perfection.

Bai Wusuan’s aura, however, was exchanged into the One-Eyed Daoist’s body.

Their souls and Dao Fruits fell into momentary chaos.

Wang Hao’s Fifth Palm descended.

Their immortal domains were forced back into their bodies.

The Sixth Palm followed close behind.

Imprisoning Dao!

The two Dao Fruits stopped spinning at the same time.

For the first time, fear appeared in the One-Eyed Daoist’s eyes.

“Stop!”

“I can help you deal with Duan Tiantu!”

Wang Hao did not continue striking.

“What about you?”

He looked at Bai Wusuan.

Half of Bai Wusuan’s body had been shattered.

Yet a bitter smile still lingered at the corner of his mouth.

“There’s a soul seed belonging to Duan Tiantu inside my Dao Fruit.”

“Even if I help you,”

“he can still kill me at any time.”

Wang Hao walked up to him.

“I can remove it.”

Bai Wusuan’s pupils contracted sharply.

“You can?”

“But it will hurt.”

Bai Wusuan looked at Wang Hao.

“Why are you helping me?”

“I… I don’t like other people touching my subordinates.”

“When did I become your subordinate?”

“From the moment you agreed.”

“I haven’t agreed yet.”

“Then agree now.”

Bai Wusuan remained silent for a long while.

Then he slowly lowered his head.

“All right.”

Wang Hao placed a palm against the location of his Dao Fruit.

The Immaculate Kindling Flame began to burn.

A black, insect-like shadow was forcibly torn from the Dao Fruit.

Bai Wusuan let out a shrill scream.

He dropped to one knee.

The shadow struggled frantically.

In the end, it was burned to ash by the Immaculate Kindling Flame.

At almost the same moment,

on the First Peak,

Duan Tiantu suddenly opened his eyes.

The dozens of faces sewn across his chest all turned toward the Heaven-Imprisoning Ancient Well.

“It’s severed.”

“Old Fifth’s soul seed.”

“Someone severed it.”

Within the Heaven-Imprisoning Ancient Well,

Bai Wusuan gasped for breath.

For the first time, genuine relief appeared in his eyes.

He was just about to speak

when a deep heartbeat came from the depths of Black Mountain.

Thump!

Bai Wusuan’s body suddenly stiffened.

He lowered his head and looked at his chest.

A black hand emerged from within his body.

It was not the soul seed left behind by Duan Tiantu.

It was the Fruit-Eating Insect.

The Fruit-Eating Insect had already grown together with his Dao Fruit.

Wang Hao’s expression changed slightly.

“Immaculate Kindling Flame!”

Flames instantly covered Bai Wusuan.

But the Fruit-Eating Insect did not retreat.

It frenziedly devoured the origin of his Dao Fruit.

Bai Wusuan’s immortal body withered at a visible rate.

He raised his head.

A bitter smile still tugged at the corners of his mouth.

“Brother Wang.”

“You’re too late.”

Wang Hao thrust his five fingers into Bai Wusuan’s chest,

trying to seize the Fruit-Eating Insect.

But Bai Wusuan grabbed his hand.

“Don’t save me.”

“Duan Tiantu already knows.”

“Tonight, it isn’t him who will die.”

“That means we all die.”

The moment the words fell,

Bai Wusuan’s Dao Fruit shattered completely.

His immortal body turned into a pile of white paper.

The Immaculate Sacred Flame burned,

yet it failed to bring him back.

Wang Hao stood where he was.

For a long time, he said nothing.

He had severed the Imperial Mandate.

He no longer bore the burden of ten billion living beings.

But that did not mean

he had grown used to watching those around him die.

The One-Eyed Daoist quietly began to retreat.

Wang Hao suddenly looked up.

“Where are you going?”

The One-Eyed Daoist’s body stiffened.

“I’m going to inform the other chieftains.”

“Come back.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m in a bad mood right now.”

“What does that have to do with me?”