With the decision made to head for the Wild God Temple and seek the Five-Element Spirit Roots, Fang Han didn't rush. Each day he stayed quietly on Reincarnation Peak, honing the Five Emperor Great Demon Arts again and again—especially the Yellow Emperor's Earth Dao, now the weakest of the five and in need of slow, steady nourishment from the earth's essence to restore elemental balance.
Aside from his own cultivation, he spent his days guiding Princess Hongyi and the Crane Fairy. Neither had reached the Divine Ability realm, but under Fang Han's instruction their progress was remarkable. Even Long Xuan and the Witch benefited from his insights. Several female true disciples—Ye Piaoling, Luo Shui, Sha Qingmei—also received his guidance, and even Jialan gained much from him.
Despite Jialan being a Golden Core expert whose realm surpassed his, her understanding of cultivation was inferior. Fang Han's explanations cut straight to the heart of any issue: a single sentence could unravel puzzles she had struggled with for years.
Half of Fang Han's deep comprehension came from Yan, the dragon. The other half came from the fifteen long years he had spent discussing cultivation with the mysterious figure inside the Taiyuan Immortal Mansion. That mysterious existence possessed a level of insight that seemed to pierce the very origin of the world. Under such tutelage, Fang Han's understanding of the cultivation path now rivaled that of any great power—he no longer needed a teacher and could even teach others.
He also advised the inner and outer disciples who came to Reincarnation Peak asking for pills, and even a few true disciples.
Thus more than a month passed. Fang Han stabilized the cyclical balance of the five elements in his body and achieved a small milestone. He refined vast quantities of Nascent Soul Pills. But the main reason he had yet to depart for the Wild God Temple was his immersion in the peerless art: the Titanforce Divine Ability of Panwu.
After winning his wager with Wan Luo, he'd taken that jade tome, memorized every word, and studied it carefully. Only then did he realize just how vast the Titanforce Divine Ability was. It contained over a thousand methods for tempering the body alone, detailed explanations of the body's acupuncture nodes, and their correspondences to the stars in the heavens.
There were rituals, meditative prayers, ways to sense hidden dimensions with one's intent, absorbing their primordial energy to cleanse the body and awaken potential.
A human body is a profound mystery. Mortal and immortal martial traditions had countless ways to strengthen oneself, but even the foundational portion of Panwu's art held over a thousand bodily and spiritual disciplines. It eclipsed everything Fang Han had ever encountered.
Just the basic physical cultivation would take years—ten, even.
And after that came instructions on circulating energy, expanding the mind-sea, attuning oneself to the myriad worlds, forging the sacred embryo… an ocean of knowledge. Every section unlocked a new perspective on cultivation, a brand-new heaven for Fang Han.
So this… is another way to cultivate.
One method described borrowing the faith of countless mortals to expand the mind-sea and forge a second spiritual core. Another used the murderous aura of the battlefield—its life-and-death frenzy—to strike open hidden apertures in the mind.
So many techniques—some unheard of, unimaginable. Together they formed a divine ability truly worthy of "peerless across eternity." Fang Han hadn't even begun practicing it, yet reading alone left him enlightened.
No wonder Hua Tiandu, inheriting Panwu Immortal Venerable's lineage, is terrifying. If he enters the Longevity Secret Realm, his progress would be unstoppable.
After memorizing all the methods, Fang Han left the jade tome on Reincarnation Peak for Jialan and the others to study.
Qingxue, however, had returned to Purple Lightning Peak to continue her secluded cultivation, apparently aiming for the Golden Core realm.
Fang Han didn't concern himself with that. When autumn winds rose and the mountains turned crimson with falling leaves, he finally left Reincarnation Peak and headed toward the Xuan Empire—the strongest nation in the world.
It was late autumn, winter approaching. He planned to be gone for two months—just long enough to acquire the Five-Element Spirit Roots and return before the Mountain-River Ranking Competition. He was curious to see if any new prodigies would emerge, perhaps even break into the Divine Ability realm.
He had been scattering pills everywhere—top-tier human-grade Nascent Soul Pills. With such resources, even the top ten on the ranking board might well step into a new realm.
A faint line flashed across the sky and vanished into the clouds. Fang Han didn't bring the Five-Prison King Cauldron this time. It was too large to carry around, better left atop Reincarnation Peak to suppress the earth veins and help the Witch refine pills. She had already reached the True Qi realm and was close to the Astral Qi realm—more than qualified to watch over the mountain.
As he traveled, Fang Han drifted leisurely through the clouds, no longer forced to rush like before. This time he wanted to enjoy the journey, savor the scenery of the mortal world. When he'd traveled with Long Xuan, his weak cultivation made flight exhausting. Now, with the Blood-Sky Magic Blade, he could cover a thousand miles in a breath—like lightning, like a ghost—leaving plenty of time to observe the world.
Soon he arrived above the Longyuan River and drifted downward, spotting the Fang Family estates in Longyuan Province. Longyuan City was still bustling. The Governor's Mansion had grown larger—clearly the Fang family's influence had increased in the Da Li Dynasty.
But Fang Han had no desire to land. He felt little attachment to the Fang clan.
He was just about to depart when a flicker crossed his heart. He dropped toward the sandy banks of the river and swept aside a patch of tall reeds, revealing a deep pit.
But the pit was empty.
What? Where is Senior Bai Haichan's body? Fang Han's expression tightened. He had buried Bai Haichan here himself. The corpse was gone.
Bai Haichan had given him the Yellow Springs Diagram and the Nine-Aperture Golden Core—foundations of everything he had achieved. Fang Han had promised to resurrect him one day, but now even the body was missing.
Could it have been taken by… Qingxue? But why would she take Bai Haichan's corpse? It doesn't make sense. No matter. I'll retrieve the Five-Element Spirit Roots first—this can wait.
Unable to do anything now, Fang Han sighed, rose into the sky, and headed toward the border of the Da Li Dynasty.
Beyond the border lay a vast steppe ruled by the nomadic Great Virtue Dynasty, forever at war with Da Li for land, people, and resources.
Past that prairie kingdom and dozens of mid-sized nations lay the greatest empire of all—the Great Xuan Empire.
Just as he was about to cross the grasslands, he saw columns of smoke rising ahead. Blood-red mist, wails of resentment, the clashing aura of countless soldiers—it all surged into the heavens.
A battle?
Looking downward through the clouds, he saw armies clashing across hundreds of miles of frontier. The Great Virtue Dynasty's cavalry and infantry were storming a Da Li fortress.
Waves of soldiers surged like ants. Arrows flew like locusts. Men fell by the thousands. More rose to take their place. Every moment, countless lives were extinguished.
Among them were martial masters with formidable bodies, realm seven and eight—commanders whose qi surged violently as they charged.
Even Fang Han felt a tremor. The spirit of soldiers fighting to the death burned bright—tens of thousands of souls connected by the same will. Even ghosts avoided such places.
Yan's voice suddenly echoed:
"Fang Han, the Titanforce Divine Ability contains a method to absorb the will of war—the souls, the slaughter-qi—to strike open hidden apertures in your mind and form the second mind-sea. With a battle this large… why not try it?"
"Yes… that method does exist."
Fang Han's heart stirred. He prepared to draw in the battlefield aura and the collective killing intent of the masses to open the "Second Mind-Sea."
But before activating the technique, he used the Mirage Sea Art to alter his appearance, turning into a plain-faced, black-clad figure neither righteous nor evil.
Absorbing battlefield souls was a demonic method. Fang Han had no intention of letting anyone see his true face.
After all… the Titanforce Divine Ability was a cultivation that straddled both demon and immortal paths.