Wang Hao raised his right hand.
“The seventh palm strike.”
The One-Eyed Daoist’s face turned deathly pale.
“I’ll be back!”
He immediately got back into position.
Wang Hao put away Bai Wusuan’s discarded white paper fan.
“Let’s go.”
“Where to?”
“The Fruit Division Banquet.”
The One-Eyed Daoist said,
“The Fruit Division Banquet doesn’t begin until tomorrow.”
Just then—
From the Second Peak,
a pillar of black light shot into the sky.
A breach suddenly tore open in the illusion array shrouding the Immortal Bandit Stronghold.
Three powerful auras of Celestial Immortals descended from beyond Black Mountain.
The Ascension Department had arrived.
At the First Peak,
Duan Tiantu strode out of his hall with a roar of laughter.
“Second Brother.”
“You’ve finally made your move!”
At the Third Peak,
Liu Hongyi struck the central seat in the Hall of Brotherhood with a single palm, sending it flying.
Beneath the dirt,
a rotten man’s head slowly opened its eyes.
“Hongyi.”
“It was Duan Tiantu who killed me.”
Liu Hongyi’s eyes instantly turned blood-red.
At the Fourth Peak,
the Fruit-Eating Worms inside Iron Buddha’s body were activated at once.
He threw back his head and roared.
All eighteen soul-sealing nails exploded free.
At the Seventh Peak,
the heart cradled in Tong Wuji’s arms suddenly spoke.
“They’ve started devouring one another.”
In that instant,
the entire Black Mountain Immortal Bandit Stronghold descended into complete chaos.
Six stronghold lords.
Three Celestial Immortals from the Ascension Department.
Several thousand immortal bandits.
All attacked at once.
Immortal light soared into the heavens.
The seven Black Mountains cracked and crumbled without cease.
Wang Hao stepped out of the Ancient Well That Imprisoned Heaven.
He looked at the battle raging across the sky.
“Fight.”
“For every one who dies,”
“that’s one less for me to deal with.”
The moment his words fell,
a massive black axe silently came to rest against his neck.
Duan Tiantu stood behind Wang Hao.
Dozens of faces across his chest wore strange, grotesque smiles.
“Wang Xiaobai.”
“Did you really think”
“this king couldn’t see that you were sowing discord?”
The black axe pressed against Wang Hao’s throat.
Before its blade had even truly fallen,
the stench of decay had already seeped into his skin.
Black lines of blood spread along Wang Hao’s neck.
Behind him stood Duan Tiantu,
drawing the power of all seven Black Mountains into his body.
His aura was no longer merely that of a ninth-level Celestial Immortal.
He was now infinitely close to becoming a Golden Immortal.
“Wang Xiaobai.”
“From the moment you entered the Hall of Brotherhood,”
“this king knew exactly what you intended to do.”
Wang Hao did not turn around.
“What did I intend to do?”
“Seize the stronghold.”
“Do you have proof?”
“This king needs no proof.”
“Then it’s only a guess.”
Duan Tiantu grinned.
An old man’s face on his chest spoke:
“You met Yin Jiuzhu.”
A woman’s face said:
“You also met Liu Hongyi.”
Then a child’s face laughed.
“You entered the Ancient Well That Imprisoned Heaven.”
Dozens of faces spoke in unison.
“You treated every one of them as a chess piece.”
“You deliberately stirred up internal strife.”
“You made Yin Jiuzhu open the mountain gate.”
“You made Liu Hongyi turn against this king.”
“You freed Bai Wusuan from the soul seed.”
“And then you waited for us to wound each other.”
“Only then would you make your move.”
“To become Black Mountain’s new chief.”
Wang Hao nodded.
“Not a bad analysis.”
“Unfortunately...”
Duan Tiantu said,
“You overlooked one thing.”
“What?”
“This king wants them dead too.”
Boom!
A scream suddenly rang out from the direction of the Hall of Brotherhood.
Yin Jiuzhu, the Second Stronghold Lord, was pierced through the chest by a black chain.
The three Celestial Immortals from the Ascension Department had only just entered Black Mountain’s illusion array,
when the surrounding peaks began to move at once.
The gap in the formation that had just opened snapped shut.
Yin Jiuzhu’s face turned pale.
“Duan Tiantu!”
“You knew all along?”
Duan Tiantu’s voice echoed across the entire Black Mountain.
“Second Brother.”
“Without your Nine Yin Mountain-Splitting Art…”
“How could this king lure the Ascension Directorate people inside?”
The three Celestials of the Ascension Directorate attacked at once.
Immortal seals, immortal swords, and immortal domains slammed into Black Mountain.
Yet only great sheets of black rock fell away from the mountain’s surface.
Jet-black bone spikes erupted from the ground.
The three immortal domains were forcibly pierced through.
Countless Tribulation Immortals failed to evade in time and were skewered by the bone spikes of Black Mountain.
Their flesh and blood rapidly withered.
The essence of their Dao Fruits flowed along the spikes toward the First Peak.
Duan Tiantu’s aura continued to rise.
The black giant axe grew heavier and heavier.
“Wang Xiaobai.”
“You are not helping yourself.”
“You are helping this king.”
Wang Hao said,
“Then you should thank me.”
Duan Tiantu burst into laughter.
“This king will leave your head intact.”
“I’ll hang it over the mountain gate.”
“So everyone will know…”
“Earth Immortals…”
“Will always be nothing more than Earth Immortals.”
The giant axe came crashing down.
Crack!
Wang Hao’s head flew into the air.
Blood sprayed toward the heavens.
Yet there was no joy on Duan Tiantu’s face.
Because the severed head suddenly transformed into a black mountain stone in midair.
A Life-Swapping Black Talisman.
Wang Hao had exchanged his outward aura with a piece of Black Mountain rock in advance.
What Duan Tiantu had cleaved apart was merely a stone carrying Wang Hao’s aura.
The real Wang Hao had already appeared a hundred zhang away.
He touched his neck.
A streak of blood still remained on his skin.
“Too close.”
No faith-powered shield had appeared.
No imperial destiny had appeared.
Nor had the fortune of countless people blocked the axe for him.
After severing his destiny…
He truly had no one but himself left.
Wang Hao looked at the blood on his fingertips.
In that instant, the sensation of death had been especially vivid.
Duan Tiantu turned around.
“A Life-Swapping Black Talisman?”
“You actually managed to find such a thing?”
Wang Hao said,
“Good luck.”
“You think dodging one strike means you can stay alive?”
“No.”
Wang Hao answered calmly.
“So I prepared something else.”
He raised the Black Mountain token in his hand.
A faint palm print surfaced upon its face.
The Immortal Emperor’s palm imprint from the Ancient Well That Imprisons Heaven had already infiltrated the Black Mountain Stronghold Seal through the token.
At Duan Tiantu’s chest, a palm-sized shard of black bone suddenly trembled.
That was the Black Mountain Stronghold Seal.
For the first time, Duan Tiantu’s expression changed.
“You tampered with the stronghold seal?”
“Just borrowing it for a moment.”
“The Black Mountain Stronghold Seal has already acknowledged this king as its master!”
“It used to.”
Wang Hao clenched his five fingers.
“Now, perhaps not.”
Rumble!
All seven Black Mountains shook at once.
One-tenth of the power of Black Mountain, which had originally been flowing into Duan Tiantu, was forcibly cut off.
Only one-tenth.
Yet it caused Duan Tiantu’s aura, which was about to break into the Golden Immortal realm, to stall for an instant.
Wang Hao raised his hand.
The first palm descended.
Seal Form!
A pale golden palm imprint instantly entered Duan Tiantu’s body.
Duan Tiantu lowered his head and looked at his chest.
“An Immortal Emperor-level martial technique?”
“How can a mere Earth Immortal like you possess an Immortal Emperor-level martial technique?”
Wang Hao said,
“Found it.”
“Bullshit!”
“Why does no one ever believe that answer?”
Duan Tiantu crossed a hundred zhang in a single step.
The giant axe swept sideways.
The space before Wang Hao shattered inch by inch.
He sent out the second palm.
Suppress Bones!
His palm collided head-on with the giant axe.
Wang Hao’s entire right arm exploded instantly.
Blood and white bone scattered through the air.
Ninth-layer Celestial Immortal.
And the power of Black Mountain.
Even though the Heaven-Imprisoning Overturning-Earth Palm had advanced to the Immortal Emperor tier, it still could not bridge the absolute gap in cultivation.
Wang Hao was sent flying.
He smashed through half a mountain peak.
Duan Tiantu followed close behind.
The colossal axe came down once more.
“No power of wishes.”
“No Imperial Dao.”
“What do you have to fight this king with?”
Wang Hao crawled out of the rubble.
The stainless kindling fire burned along his right arm.
Flesh and blood rapidly regenerated.
“Your life.”
Third palm!
Qi Lock!
The palm imprint ignored the colossal axe and struck Duan Tiantu in the abdomen.
The three Heaven-Imprisoning Seals trembled at once.
The immortal power within Duan Tiantu’s body briefly stalled.
But after only half a breath—
he forcibly broke free.
The colossal axe struck Wang Hao’s shoulder.
Half his immortal body was nearly cleaved apart.
Wang Hao was hurled away once again.
Blood poured continuously from his mouth.
The silver-haired youth shot out from the New Son of Heaven Sword.
“You dare strike my master?!”
The silver greatsword slashed toward the back of Duan Tiantu’s head.
Duan Tiantu did not even turn around.
He threw a backhanded punch.
The silver-haired youth and sword were sent flying thousands of zhang away.
He crashed into the mountainside, leaving behind a human-shaped crater.
He staggered to his feet.
Most of the power he had gained by devouring the Soul-Detaining Army had already been sealed away by the stainless kindling fire.
Now, he could only wield the combat strength of the seventh martial realm.
The Black-Robed Artifact Spirit manifested soon after.
His body was almost transparent.
His repeated use of the Nine Heaven-Opening Swords had already exhausted a tremendous amount of the sword’s origin essence.
Yet he still gripped the pitch-black longsword.
With one slash, he struck at Duan Tiantu’s chest.
First Sword of Heaven-Opening!
The sword light sliced through two faces on Duan Tiantu’s body.
Duan Tiantu snorted coldly.
The power of Black Mountain erupted.
The Black-Robed Artifact Spirit’s body instantly shattered.
He turned into a wisp of black smoke and retreated into the New Son of Heaven Sword.
The silver-haired youth charged forward again.
“Did you kill the other me?”
The Black-Robed Artifact Spirit’s weak voice sounded.
“I’m not dead.”
“Then can you still fight?”
“No.”
“Then die for a bit.”
“Why?”
“I’m really angry.”
“You were stupid to begin with.”
The silver-haired youth roared.
His aura unexpectedly rose another level.
The New Son of Heaven Sword transformed into a streak of silver light and wrapped around Duan Tiantu’s left arm.
Duan Tiantu seized the blade.
Countless faces in his palm opened their mouths and bit down.
The New Son of Heaven Sword let out a piercing cry.
Wang Hao’s fourth palm had already descended.
Soul Ban!
All four Heaven-Imprisoning Seals lit up at the same time.
The human faces on Duan Tiantu’s chest froze as one.
Their howls came to an abrupt halt.
Wang Hao saw it clearly.
Duan Tiantu was not one person.
Every face on his body represented an immortal who had been devoured.
And the Fruit-Eating Worms within the Dao Fruits of the seven chieftains linked them all to Duan Tiantu.
Duan Tiantu appeared to be devouring everyone.
But in truth—
he had refined himself into a monster stitched together from countless Dao Fruits.
That had brought him close to the Golden Immortal realm.
It had also given him countless weaknesses.
Wang Hao retreated.
Avoiding the colossal axe.
“Changsheng!”
He shouted loudly.
The Black Mountain mine tunnels exploded all at once.
Gu Changfeng, Su Hongxiu, Mo Xuan, the Taixuan Heavenly Immortal, the Withered-and-Blooming Heavenly Immortal, and eighty-four immortals who had been lying in wait for a long time all charged out together.
The expressions of the several thousand Tribulation Immortals changed drastically.
“It’s an ambush!”
“People from the Eighth Peak have broken in!”
“They aren’t from the Eighth Peak!”
“Who cares which peak they’re from? Run first!”
The Longevity Earth Immortal held a sword in one hand.
In the other, he held a register.
“Tribulation Immortal Stronghold: one mountain gate destroyed!”
“Half of the Hall of Brotherhood destroyed!”
“Seventeen mine tunnels destroyed!”
“Put it all on the tab!”
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.”
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
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.
