"Five-Element Spirit Root? You mean the one Meng Shaobai acquired?"
Wu Li trembled from head to toe.
"Yes. That one," Black-Iron True Lord said. "How else could Junior Brother Meng reach the peak of the Unity Stage at only twelve years old? They call him the Little Immortal for a reason. He left for the Wild Lands last year, vowing not to return until he formed his Golden Core. I expect he'll be back soon—and when he is, our sect will gain another Golden Core expert. I once traded a chunk of Black-Iron Gold Crystal for his favor, and from him I learned where the Spirit Root lies."
"Where is it?" Wu Li asked urgently.
"In the Savage God Temple," Black-Iron True Lord whispered.
The words sent a chill through the chamber. Every disciple sucked in a sharp breath.
"That place is death itself!" someone muttered.
Black-Iron True Lord laughed. "Danger is irrelevant. We'll sell this information to Fang Han—he won't be able to resist it. If he hopes to catch up with Hua Tiandu within ten years, he must obtain the Spirit Root. The Savage God Temple is full of treasures anyway. I've long wanted to explore it but never dared. This time, however, Fang Han can take the vanguard. We enjoy the profits without the risk."
"Brilliant! Truly brilliant," a disciple said. "We gain his pills and techniques, and let him clear the path for us. Two birds with one stone."
"Naturally," Black-Iron True Lord smirked. "He's strong, but still young. And under the pressure of the ten-year wager? This is the perfect time to reap advantage."
He stroked his beard and stood. "Brothers, join me. We depart for Reincarnation Peak."
Half a month had passed on Reincarnation Peak. Fang Han's ability to refine Yuan Infant Pills had spread like wildfire through the sect, igniting near frenzy.
But Fang Han remained unmoved.
While Garan, Long Xuan, and Fang Qingxue assisted him in refining the Demon God's Hand, he quietly trained the Five Emperor Great Demon Divine Arts.
Right now, refining pills wasn't his true priority.
What mattered most was mastering all five elemental branches.
Only then could he ascend fully into the Unity Stage.
But the Five Emperor arts were each supreme-level divine abilities—difficult beyond measure.
At present, he had only perfected the Wood Emperor art—and only with the help of the World Tree. Even with the Vermillion Bird Banner he'd taken from Fire Cloud Fairy, his Fire Emperor art still fell short. As for Earth, Water, and Metal… they were far from complete.
Each one required decades just to reach maturity.
At this rate, breaking through the Unity Stage would take centuries.
"Once the storm caused by these Yuan Infant Pills spreads far enough," Fang Han thought, "I'll need to travel the world and hunt down five-element treasures. Only heaven-grade materials forged from pure elemental essence can accelerate the cycle."
"Blackwater King Serpent…"
He summoned the Yellow Springs Diagram. Two long fangs—jet black and sinister—flew into his hands. The serpent's flesh had long been refined into blood-pills during his eighteen years of imprisonment. Only the hide and fangs remained.
He struck the fangs with several sealing arrays, then exhaled sharply. Twin fires erupted from his mouth. One blaze shaped itself into a Vermillion Bird, the other into a Phoenix.
"Vermillion Bird Dance! Phoenix Cry!"
Garan watched, impressed. These were high-tier fire techniques—Fire Cloud Fairy's own divine arts, stolen from her Golden Core. Fang Han wielded them with frightening power.
As a Heaven-Human adept could forge spirit tools, Fang Han was using these flames to refine two new flying swords. He reached out and pulled Princess Hongyi's Sound-Kill Demon Blade from her waist. The weapon dissolved instantly, merging into the blazing essence.
Moments later, the fangs reformed into two black swords—etched with flame patterns and avian runes.
"Crane Fairy, Hongyi—these are now low-grade treasure swords. Their power surpasses the Sound-Kill Blade. They can even transform into armor."
He handed them over.
"These blades… shall be called Dragon-Quill Swords."
A transformed Blackwater King Serpent was priceless. Under Vermillion Bird and Phoenix fire, its fangs reached the level of true treasures—deadlier even than Ye Nantian's Eight-Wilderness Divine Sword.
For inner disciples, owning such weapons meant genuine wealth.
"Is Fang Han present? Black-Iron True Lord of Black-Iron Peak has come with several fellow brothers to pay a visit!"
A strong, resonant voice echoed outside.
"Black-Iron True Lord?" Fang Han frowned.
"He's a Unity Stage expert," Garan said with a laugh. "Older than me in seniority, though weaker in cultivation. A candidate for Golden Core. Seems your pills have stirred him."
"I'll go meet them."
Outside Reincarnation Peak, five imposing figures stood atop drifting clouds. Fang Han immediately sensed the strongest one—the man in black iron robes. His presence surpassed even the Seven-Leaf Demon Lord by a margin.
The other four disciples were Heaven-Human experts as well—breathing rhythmically, forming faint celestial patterns around them.
"That one in black is Black-Iron," Garan whispered into Fang Han's mind. "The dark-gold one is Wu Li—gifted, proud, troublesome…"
Fang Han stepped forward. "We are fellow disciples—no need for formality. Please, descend and join me in the pill chamber."
They exchanged glances, then landed. Entering the chamber, they paused upon seeing Garan and Fang Qingxue. But with their seniority above Garan's—though without forming Golden Cores—they merely nodded and sat.
Garan, Qingxue, Ye Piaoling, Luo Shui, Sha Qingmei, and Long Xuan continued floating around the Five-Prison King Cauldron, blasting seals into the Demon God's Hand. The demonic qi rolled like dragons—making even the true disciples unsettled.
"You've come for the Yuan Infant Pills, I assume," Fang Han said calmly.
These past days, many inner and outer disciples had been lured by his bait, but no true disciple had appeared—until now. And five at once.
If he could win them over completely, his influence within the sect would explode.
A hundred true disciples. Twenty or so at the Heaven-Human or Unity Stage. If he could recruit them all… Hua Tiandu's authority would crumble.
He could even accuse Hua Tiandu of colluding with Taiyi Sect—perhaps expel him entirely.
But subduing these five would be difficult. They might just as easily try to manipulate him.
"We're not here for your pills," Black-Iron True Lord said smoothly. "We're here for your cultivation."
"Oh?" Fang Han smiled. "How so?"
"You cultivate the legendary Five Emperor Great Demon Divine Arts," Black-Iron said confidently. "Supreme five-element divine abilities that require absurd amounts of elemental essence. You've only mastered one branch, haven't you?"
"Just the Wood Emperor art," Fang Han said mildly.
"Then the rest will take three to five hundred years," Black-Iron said, sharing a look with the others. "And what of your wager with Senior Brother Hua Tiandu?"
"Black-Iron True Lord," Fang Han said with a sharp grin, "I'm not fond of beating around the bush. Let's speak plainly."
"Oh?" Black-Iron raised a brow. Wu Li, however, bristled instantly. Fang Han hadn't called any of them 'Senior Brother' even once. To someone of Wu Li's talent and pride, this was unacceptable.
Wu Li sneered. "Have you heard of the Five-Element Spirit Root?"
Fang Han's eyes sharpened.
He had indeed heard of it—a legendary treasure containing pure, endless elemental essence. A dream of divine-ability experts. Whoever fused with it could master any five-element technique instantly, skipping centuries of painful cultivation.
Such treasures were rarer than Dao artifacts—and cursed with bloody history.
"You have one?" Fang Han asked.
"Of course not," Black-Iron True Lord said. "But we know where one lies. If you think it worthwhile… offer us Yuan Infant Pills, Forget-Love Water, and the cultivation method for your Five Emperor arts. In exchange, we'll lead you there."
"Oh?" Fang Han's smile didn't change.
"So you agree?" Wu Li said, exchanging a triumphant glance with the others.
Fang Han's eyes suddenly went cold.
"What a fine scheme," he said softly. "Empty words… to trick me out of pills, sacred water, and supreme divine arts. Do you take me for a fool?"
His voice snapped like lightning.
"You have some nerve," he said, gaze like a blade. "To try your tricks on me."