Nine Heavens Martial Emperor

"Do you want to live?" Lin Hao surveyed his spoils of war—the Martial Artists piled up like several small hills—and smiled brilliantly.

But in the eyes of the captives, it was the smile of a demon.

Unsurprisingly, no one answered Lin Hao’s question.

These were all people of status. On a normal day, they wouldn’t even deign to glance at a Martial Artist of Lin Hao’s cultivation level. Having been brought so low, they were all simmering with a rage that had nowhere to go.

Lin Hao wasn’t bothered in the slightest. He remained all smiles, but his actions were anything but ambiguous.

His right hand swelled to a massive size and pressed down on a pile of Martial Artists.

BOOM!

With that one palm strike, an entire pile of Martial Artists was killed instantly.

This time, it wasn’t just the onlookers; even the remaining captives, figures of Sect Leader status, were stunned.

Even though these were only their spiritual projections, Lin Hao’s methods were far too vicious.

"Junior, you are so ruthless and vicious! Do you truly believe you’re invincible in the Blood Coagulation Realm?!" one of the captives finally snapped, unable to hold back his fury.

"Fellow Daoists, you’ve all seen it! This man’s heart is wicked! We cannot let him live! We should combine our strength and eliminate him!" an old man among the captives shouted, trying to incite public outrage.

Lin Hao’s smiling gaze swept across the crowd, and no one dared to meet his eyes.

"I don’t even know any of you, yet you all wanted to take my life. If we’re talking about being ruthless and vicious, I am not even a ten-thousandth of what you are. Though I must say, I’m starting to like the sound of those words," Lin Hao said, turning back with a grin that revealed a set of pearly white teeth.

But that smile sent a chill down the captives’ spines.

This was the initial land. No one could challenge Lin Hao here. If he decided to go on a lawless rampage and torture them to death, all they could do was accept their fate.

And seeing how he had just wiped out a group of people without hesitation, no one believed for a second that he would show any mercy.

For a moment, no one dared to make a sound, terrified of provoking this menace.

"If you want to live, hand over your Spiritual Artifacts. Otherwise, I’ll just have to be ruthless and vicious one more time!" Lin Hao’s voice carried no anger, but no one thought he was joking.

"I... I don’t have a Spiritual Artifact, but I have this." After a brief silence, a man held out a trembling hand, clutching a tattered piece of goatskin scroll.

Lin Hao took it and glanced at it, a flicker of light flashing in his eyes before vanishing.

This piece of the scroll was ancient and incomplete, but Lin Hao recognized it at a glance. It was identical to the one he had obtained in the Tongming Sea.

"Go on, get out of here." Without another word, Lin Hao pulled the man out from the pile and tossed him aside.

With someone having taken the first step—and seeing that Lin Hao would even accept such junk—the others quickly pulled out their own items and scurried away.

Lin Hao didn’t stop them, letting them leave as they pleased.

Before long, only a few captives remained.

These were the Sect Leaders from major powers, or clan elders. They refused to bow their heads to Lin Hao.

But in truth, they were the ones Lin Hao was really after.

These were the real big fish, the ones who would yield a good catch.

"I like your backbone. You’re my kind of people." Lin Hao gave them a thumbs-up, then walked over to one of them and stomped down, crushing the man’s leg to pulp.

This was the very man who had just called him ruthless and vicious.

Lin Hao was one to repay kindness—a drop of water with a gushing spring. But he was also one to hold a grudge. For those who wanted his life, he would repay them a hundredfold.

"You..." The man’s entire body trembled.

He had tens of thousands of disciples under his banner. Even the most useless of his grand-disciples had reached the Elemental Realm. Yet here, in this initial land, he was being treated like this by some kid. The contrast was enough to make him cough up blood.

So, his trembling was mostly from rage, and only partly from pain.

"I will give you a Spiritual Artifact. Let me go," the man finally said, choosing to compromise.

If he had entered the Divinity Realm alone, he would have fought to the death. But he had descendants in the Second Layer and Third Layer that he needed to look after.

Besides, a Spiritual Artifact wasn’t so easily taken.

As his words fell, one of the onlookers stepped forward and handed Lin Hao a Spiritual Artifact.

Lin Hao accepted it without any courtesy, his eyes beginning to gleam.

"We don’t have anything..." Seeing the look in Lin Hao’s eyes, the rest of the onlookers waved their hands in panic.

Lin Hao feared nothing and no one, and they were terrified he would start shaking them down too.

"Kid, you’re welcome to be a guest in the Second Layer," the man with the broken leg said as he departed, his words lingering in the air.

"Hehe, I’ll be there. You’d better have your treasures ready for me," Lin Hao’s excited voice echoed through the initial land.

Countless people felt their lips twitch.

’This guy is a walking disaster, no matter where he goes.’

"What about you guys?" Lin Hao didn’t care what others thought. He turned back, his gaze fixed on the remaining few, especially the old man who had called his heart wicked.

They had seen the lesson from the man before them. Furthermore, the words of the man with the broken leg had served as a reminder: if they died here in the initial land, everything they had worked so hard to build in the Second, Third, and Fourth Layers might fall into someone else’s hands.

"We’ll give them to you." In the end, these last few men bowed their heads to Lin Hao.

The onlookers were petrified. Lin Hao was a true madman. He had actually succeeded in his extortion.

He beat up a crowd of people and ended up getting Spiritual Artifacts out of it. What a profitable business.

Some people’s eyes darted around, already considering following Lin Hao’s example and trying their hand at robbery.

Having gotten what he wanted, Lin Hao was satisfied and let them go.

"Little brother, I, Lord Ji, will be generous for once. That worn-out goatskin scroll of yours can cancel out the two hundred Divine Crystals you owe me." Lord Ji appeared out of nowhere, having popped up from god-knows-where.

"It’s a treasure?" Lin Hao’s eyes lit up as he asked.

This Lord Ji and his two companions were strange through and through; perhaps they knew the origin of the goatskin scroll.

"A treasure, my ass! I just saw that you couldn’t cough up the Divine Crystals," Lord Ji said hatefully, his expression looking anything but deceitful.

"What are Divine Crystals?" Lin Hao finally couldn’t help but ask.

He’d arrived in the Divinity Realm and somehow ended up six hundred Divine Crystals in debt without even knowing what they were.

"Divine Crystals are the currency of the Divinity Realm. How can you be so stupid!" Lord Ji said with utter disdain.

"Oh. In that case, I’ll give you a discount on these things. Let’s say one thousand Divine Crystals for the lot," Lin Hao said with a nod, gesturing with his chin toward the pile of loot he had just confiscated.

Lord Ji’s mouth twitched, and he rolled his eyes.

It was obvious Lin Hao didn’t care about any of that stuff. A pile of junk for a thousand Divine Crystals? Did he take him for a sucker?

Just as Lord Ji was about to speak, he nudged Lin Hao with his shoulder and shot a meaningful look in a certain direction.

Lin Hao looked over, and the corners of his mouth curved into a slight smile.

He saw a young man, not much older than himself, walking toward him.

Unlike the others who had come before, this youth showed his true face. He wore a white robe and carried a wooden sword.

"It’s him! He actually came back!"

Someone in the crowd gasped upon seeing the youth, clearly recognizing him.

"I never thought he would show up again."

"Kid, you’re in danger now," Lord Ji whispered to Lin Hao upon seeing the youth.

"You know him?" Lin Hao asked Lord Ji, though his eyes never left the approaching youth.

Lin Hao found the youth to be utterly terrifying.

He exuded no aura whatsoever, but to Lin Hao, he felt like a sword—a sword that could be drawn at any moment.

Even more frightening, Lin Hao found he couldn’t spot a single flaw in him.

"Of course I know him. A year ago, as soon as he arrived, he moved that great mountain on the left. He was just about to challenge Lin Wu’s record when he gave up because of Tu Shiba," Lord Ji said.

"Oh?" Lin Hao’s interest was piqued.

Lord Ji quickly explained, and soon Lin Hao understood what had happened.

"If I’m not mistaken, this youth is from the Celestial Sword Holy Land," Lord Ji added at the end.

A successor of a Holy Land!

That title alone was terrifying enough.

However, after a brief moment of surprise, Lin Hao’s lips curved into a wide, happy smile.

By now, the youth had stopped a short distance in front of him.

"Li Haoran. I ask for your guidance," the youth said upon arrival, introducing himself without a hint of the arrogance one might expect.

This young man had an extraordinary bearing.

"You want my life too?" Lin Hao asked with a smile.

Li Haoran shook his head. "I heard you withstood the Blood Slaughter Eighteen Blades from Tu Shiba. I came specifically to exchange a few pointers with you."

"And what if I don’t agree?"

Li Haoran froze, as if he never expected Lin Hao to say such a thing.

However, he hesitated for only a moment before replying, "If you don’t agree, I will kill you."

Hearing this, Lin Hao laughed, but surprisingly, he wasn’t angry.

’So this guy is a martial arts fanatic.’

"I accept your challenge, but this isn’t a suitable place for a spar," Lin Hao said, glancing around before walking toward a different area.

Li Haoran followed without any hesitation.

The crowd began to move as well, but then they all stopped.

Lin Hao’s combat power was terrifying, and Li Haoran had been able to fight Tu Shiba to a standstill and completely suppress him a year ago. It was best not to get too close to a battle between these two, lest they get caught in the shockwave.

Meanwhile, once they were far from the crowd, Lin Hao stopped.

"You’ll be at a great disadvantage fighting me in the Blood Coagulation Realm," Lin Hao said first, as he had a decent impression of the youth.

Li Haoran’s eyes flashed, and a monumental Sword Intent billowed from him.

Yet, Lin Hao remained unmoved. Instead, he asked, "How is your practice of the *Sword That Devours The Heavens* coming along?"

"Who are you?!" Before Li Haoran’s words even finished, the wooden sword in his hand was already at Lin Hao’s throat.

The strike was as fast as lightning.

A look of horror flashed in Li Haoran’s eyes and was gone. The *Sword That Devours The Heavens* was a secret, ultimate skill of the Celestial Sword Holy Land.

Although the latter half of the technique had been lost to time, it was still one of the Holy Land’s greatest treasures.

Given his status, he shouldn’t have been able to learn such an ultimate skill. But by a stroke of luck, he had come into contact with the *Sword That Devours The Heavens*.

In the end, he couldn’t resist the temptation and secretly learned it.

But that was a secret that no one else in the world should know.

Now, hearing Lin Hao say its name so casually, how could Li Haoran not be shocked?

In reality, Lin Hao had no idea that Li Haoran had learned the *Sword That Devours The Heavens*. He had simply assumed that since Li Haoran was a successor of the Celestial Sword Holy Land, he would naturally have learned its ultimate skill.

Seeing Li Haoran’s huge reaction, Lin Hao understood that his assumption had been slightly off.

After all, Lin Hao didn’t know much about the Celestial Sword Holy Land; his limited memories came from Chu Tiandu.

"Who doesn’t know that the Celestial Sword Holy Land possesses the Secret Skill, the *Sword That Devours The Heavens*? This is my first time meeting a successor from the Holy Land, so naturally, I was curious," Lin Hao said with a smile, pushing the wooden sword away.

Hearing Lin Hao’s explanation, Li Haoran visibly relaxed.