"You can still regret this and live," Zhao Xuanyi declared, his voice booming like a temple bell. The six Sealing God Steles hovered around him, his purple-gold Eight Trigram robe billowing with spiritual might. "Hand over the spirit talisman, kneel to the Taiyi Sect and admit your mistake. Offer up the Netherworld Diagram, and I'll spare your life. Otherwise—even your Yuhua Sect's Master Feng Baiyu won't be able to save you."
Though his words promised mercy, everyone knew there was none. Handing over the talisman was possible—handing over the Netherworld Diagram was absolutely impossible.
"The disciples of the Taiyi Sect are never benevolent… If you ever encounter them, be careful."
"That's true. Each of their young elites hides terrifying depths. No wonder the Nine Great Immortal Sects can't compete with them."
"Fang Han is dead for sure… Perhaps I should strike now and seize the talisman myself. The ability to freely enter the Five Elements Land… the temptation is enormous. But these Taiyi prodigies, though weaker than me in cultivation, conceal themselves too deeply. If I lose, my reputation is ruined… Is the risk worth it?"
The Sword Maniac Elder of the Sun and Moon Sword Sect was secretly calculating.
His gaze shifted—and met the eyes of the other two sword elders from rival sects. In that instant, the three realized they were thinking the exact same thing.
Fang Han was doomed.
The remaining talisman—how were they supposed to fight the Taiyi Sect for it?
And what about the Netherworld Diagram on Fang Han?
Return it to the Yuhua Sect someday?
Or keep it?
And if they kept it—how would they divide it?
If the Taiyi Sect obtained the talisman… or worse, the Netherworld Diagram and the Blood Night King—if they refined the diagram to perfection, they could wipe out the Netherworld Demon Sect and seize its treasury, just like the legendary Taiyuan Immortal Mansion.
If that happened, the Nine Immortal Sects would truly bow their heads forever.
The three elders—Sword Maniac, Sky-Cleaving Feitian, and Danxiaozi—were caught in painful hesitation.
But while their minds tangled with fear and greed, Fang Han and Zhao Xuanyi were already clashing.
Fang Han's reply to Zhao's arrogance was a single word—roared like thunder:
"Kill!"
The Blood Night King flew from his hand, erupting into a bloody arc that tore toward the descending Sealing God Steles.
"Courting death!"
Zhao Xuanyi spat out six streams of condensed force. The six eyes on the steles opened, firing beams of light that locked the Blood Night King in place.
The demonic blade howled and struggled—but it could not move.
One stele, he could break.
But six, linked together, forming a mysterious sealing formation drawing power from an unknown void?
Even a Dao Artifact couldn't easily shatter that.
The Blood Night King was trapped instantly.
Fang Han didn't blink. A cruel smile twisted across his face—cold enough to chill the soul.
A colossal shadowed hand descended from the sky—his Shrouding Demon Hand—slamming directly onto the steles.
BOOM!
The formation faltered. The Blood Night King seized the opening, power erupting like a tsunami.
BLOOD RAIN SKYBURST!
In a storm of blood and steel, the six steles were blasted apart.
A Dao Artifact paired with the Shrouding Demon Hand—an ancient demonic hand infused with the Ghost Emperor's essence—was unstoppable. The steles were merely supreme-grade treasures. They couldn't withstand this combined assault.
"Shrouding Demon Hand!? The Ghost Emperor's magic! Why is it in his possession?!"
Three sword elders cried out in recognition. The Taiyi elites' expressions twisted in shock.
Zhao Xuanyi panicked, trying to recall the steles. He swept his sleeve, condensing his qi into a glowing shield of protection.
But Fang Han's hands had already changed shape.
A bow and arrow materialized—ancient, lethal.
Falling Star Bow. Piercing Star Arrow.
Treasures stolen from the legendary Sky-Extinguishing Thief.
No illusions.
No tricks.
Just pure, brutal, piercing power.
Fang Han poured his qi into the bow. Starlight spiraled into a vortex of collapsing constellations.
THRUM—
The arrow fired like a meteor tearing apart the world.
It punched through Zhao's qi shield instantly.
It shattered the purple-gold robe on his body into drifting fragments.
His protection was stripped away—leaving him exposed, vulnerable, terrified.
In desperation, Zhao spat out his Golden Core, using it as a last shield against death.
Had his qi shield and robe not softened the arrow, he would have already been dead and cold.
"Ghost Serpent Sword!"
Fang Han didn't pause. The deadly blade streaked forward like a hungry spirit, descending toward Zhao's skull with merciless precision.
This was the Ghost Emperor's own sword—three thousand years of demonic essence refined into a single murderous edge.
Zhao Xuanyi had no strength left to defend.
His core shook from the collision with the Piercing Star Arrow.
His mind was reeling.
Death loomed.
"Am I really going to die? No! I cultivated for centuries! A prodigy even among the Taiyi Sect! Worshipped! Admired! I can't die here! I won't die!"
But his unwillingness changed nothing.
"HOW DARE YOU! You dare kill a Golden Core disciple of the Taiyi Sect?! Even Feng Baiyu cannot save you!"
A shout tore through the battlefield.
Elder Song Weiyi finally made his move—breaking the rules of single combat without hesitation.
He spat out a white miniature sword of pure consciousness—his Mind Sword—intercepting the Ghost Serpent Sword.
The Ghost Serpent was slippery and vicious—but the Mind Sword wrapped around it like silk, locking it in place.
"A Mind Sword?!"
The sword elders gasped. Only true sword prodigies, those who condensed their intent into the marrow of their bones, could refine such a weapon.
Song Weiyi wasn't finished.
Purple lights shot from his sleeve—grape-like clusters of thunderous energy.
Purple Lightning Orbs—Taiyi's infamous one-use divine thunder capable of shattering even treasures.
But just as they flew toward Fang Han—
The Netherworld Diagram unfolded.
A black gate opened.
And swallowed the lightning whole.
"Die!"
Song Weiyi's expression contorted. This had all been bait. The lightning was only to force out the Netherworld Diagram.
His Golden Core shot toward Fang Han like a burning comet—the killing blow.
Mind Sword to save Zhao,
Lightning to bait Fang Han,
Golden Core to finish him.
Three moves executed within a blink—ruthless, calculated, flawless.
A true young sovereign of the Taiyi Sect.
"You forced me."
Fang Han's roar cracked the air.
A golden sigil burst from the crown of his head—his Life Talisman, forged from fifty-five divine powers, anchored by the Five Emperors Great Demon Arts.
Light erupted. Celestial drums thundered. Conch horns blared. Countless miniature golden warriors danced along the talisman's surface.
Song Weiyi's core slammed into the talisman—
CRACK.
The core fractured.
Song Weiyi spit blood.
"Return! Return to me!" he screamed.
Too late.
The talisman outraced the Golden Core—wrapped around both Song Weiyi and Zhao Xuanyi—
CRUNCH.
Blood exploded in the air.
Their bodies were shredded instantly.
Their minds eradicated.
Their existence erased.
Not even ashes remained.
Only two lonely Golden Cores drifted in the sky, spinning helplessly—masterless.
Silence blanketed the world.
Fang Han swept his hand, claiming both cores.
The Mind Sword.
The six Sealing God Steles.
All devoured by the Netherworld Diagram.
Their pouches of treasures?
Crushed into dust by his Life Talisman's lightning.
Their wealth—absorbed.
Even the spatial essence inside their storage bags strengthened Fang Han's Great Severing Art.
If he could acquire mountains of void crystals, he could perfect it—perhaps in days.
Rumors said the Taiyi Sect had discovered a star composed entirely of void crystal…
The thought flickered through Fang Han's mind.
But outwardly, everyone saw only the impossible:
Two Taiyi young giants—killed in mere breaths.
Golden Core experts—unable to self-detonate.
A Life Talisman of fifty-five divine powers.
A talent that shattered all common sense.
Finally, someone broke the silence.
Rainfall chants, celestial horns, divine drums… he has the foundation of a future immortal!"
The Sword Maniac Elder practically screamed.
"A peerless genius! Greater than Hua Tiandu!"
The other two sword elders—Feitian and Danxiaozi—echoed in awe and envy.
Fang Han faced the Taiyi elites coldly.
"You broke your word. Two against one. And you thought I would show mercy? Let me tell you this—the Ghost Emperor tried to seize my Netherworld Diagram and I slew him, took his nine ghost souls, his Shrouding Demon Hand, his Ghost Serpent Sword. The Sky-Extinguishing Thief and the Moon-Piercing Thief are dead by my hand. Even the Execution Thief fled."
His voice was calm. Almost conversational.
And infinitely more terrifying than the slaughter itself.