The moment the Second Prince and the Black Nether King arrived, their combined aura blasted the storm clouds over the lake apart. The pressure they radiated made the entire flock of Blackwater King Serpents recoil for a heartbeat.
Their eyes shone greedily.
So many serpents—each one powerful. Their hides, tendons, bones, and blood could all be forged into artifacts. And the Blood Dragon Crystal mountain… priceless beyond comprehension.
The Black Nether King burst into laughter.
"Didn't expect such a haul!"
He flicked his sleeve. A surge of inky light shot into the sky, spreading into an enormous net that crashed down over two serpents. Before the beasts could thrash free, he took out a cauldron-like treasure and tossed it upward. A cyclone erupted from within, sucking the two serpents straight into its maw like helpless minnows.
Inside the container, the massive serpents—each several dozen meters long—shrank like black eels, writhing and coiling in panic. They hadn't become smaller; the treasure simply contained an enormous pocket dimension crafted from Void Crystals.
Collecting these two shook the entire serpent clan into fury.
A suffocating scent of blood and brine filled the sky as more than a hundred Blackwater King Serpents opened their jaws at once. They spewed their true-water life essence, condensing it into True-Water Yin Talisman Sword Qi, forming an immense sword formation around the Black Nether King.
Thousands of water-forged blades roared forth, weaving a storm that tore open the clouds. The serpents' thunderous bellows echoed across heaven and earth.
"Beasts!"
The Black Nether King barked, eyes narrowing.
"You've learned the Primordial Heavenly Dragons' True-Water Yin Talisman Sword? You think that can hurt me? Netherdark Primordial Spirit—manifest!"
A towering shadow erupted from behind him—like a demon king emerging from the Black Abyss. Twenty-nine demonic abilities circled around its massive frame. A mountain-sized claw swept downward, detonating waves of demonic clouds as it smashed apart half the serpent sword formation with one strike.
True-water sword qi was formidable, but these weren't actual flying swords—only a divine ability. Against a Ninth-Layer master of Heaven-Earth Dharmic Aspect, they were fragile.
The serpents themselves were strong, but most were only at the second level of divine ability—few had even reached Yin-Yang. Not a single one had stepped into the Heaven-Man Realm.
Beasts always lagged behind humans in comprehension.
A monster stepping into Heaven-Man was far rarer than a human forming a Golden Core.
Still, Fang Han was evaluating the battlefield calmly.
This Black Nether King's Primordial Spirit is nowhere near the Ghost Emperor's Nine-Ghost Spirit. His strength is maybe half that. Strong, but not invincible. I could defeat him even without the Yellow Springs Diagram or the Blood Night King.
He had grown immensely since his battle with Meng Shaobai. Back then, he needed the Yellow Springs Diagram, the Blood Night King, the Ghost Serpent Sword, the Heart Sword, even the Purple Thunder Seed.
Now, he could overpower a Ninth-Layer expert with his true cultivation alone.
He was preparing to strike—kill the Black Nether King, subdue the serpents, seize the Blood Dragon Crystal Mountain—when Prince Yi whispered impatiently behind him:
"Fang Han… look at them! So many Blackwater King Serpents, each one worth tens of millions. All together—worth a Nirvana Pill. And the Blood Dragon Crystal mountain… unimaginable. There must be an ancient Heavenly Dragon treasure under the lake too. If someone else gets it first, we'll lose everything. With this fortune I could double my forces overnight!"
Fang Han nodded slightly.
Naturally he wanted it all as well.
But the timing had to be perfect.
Meanwhile, the serpents suddenly changed tactics. Hundreds of them intertwined, linking tails to necks, forming a glowing sigil in the clouds. Their combined mana surged into a phantom dragon, which lunged at the Black Nether King's Netherdark Spirit.
"Panlong Formation!"
The Second Prince didn't attack. He stood behind the Black Nether King, guarding him, observing coldly.
"This too is a Primordial Heavenly Dragon art. There must be treasure beneath that mountain."
The Second Prince had reached the seventh realm—Golden Core—and was known as True Prince, one of the empire's prodigies.
"These pests are troublesome."
The Black Nether King growled. "I'll need to use a treasure to finish this."
But before he could act—
A new power descended from the sky.
A force vast as heaven and earth tore through the clouds, slipping perfectly between the Black Nether King and the serpent formation. In one unstoppable sweep, it landed on the Blood Dragon Crystal mountain and wrenched upward.
The entire mountain shuddered, rising from the lakebed.
A mountain-lifting technique.
Though this Blood Dragon Crystal mountain wasn't as massive as the Heaven Crystal Mountain formed by the Human Emperor's Pen, it was comparable to Fang Han's Samsara Peak.
To pull something like this from the earth—
Only someone with terrifying force could manage.
Fang Han's heart tightened.
No one else could do this except—
"Hua Tiandu."
Sure enough, only someone who cultivated the Panwu Titan Divine Ability would be arrogant enough to rip out a mountain in front of everyone.
"Hua Tiandu! You dare steal our treasure?!"
True Prince exploded with fury. His Heaven Gate burst open and a Golden Core shot out—spinning, radiating fifteen divine abilities at once.
But another prince arrived almost simultaneously.
"Second Brother, don't hog everything."
Prince Feng—First Prince—arrived with a smile, unleashing his own Golden Core, forcing the Second Prince backward.
Meanwhile Hua Tiandu appeared atop the Blood Dragon Crystal mountain, utterly ignoring both the Blackwater Serpents and the Black Nether King. With brute force alone, he continued tearing the mountain free.
The world itself trembled.
The lake erupted into the sky.
Birds fled. Beasts scattered.
The lakebed cracked open. Water vaporized into clouds. Everything for hundreds of miles shook like the end of days.
This—
This was the true meaning of moving mountains and overturning seas.
Even Fang Han felt cold admiration.
Until I form my Golden Core and refine the Ghost Emperor's Nine-Ghost Spirit, I cannot reach this level of power.
And then—
At the bottom of the lake, revealed beneath the torn earth, lay an unimaginable sight:
A colossal skeleton, more than a thousand meters long—gleaming white, radiating pure yang essence and ancient might.
A Primordial Heavenly Dragon's corpse.
And in its jaws—
A jade scripture, glowing faintly.
Yan screamed in Fang Han's mind:
"Fang Han! Forget the mountain! Forget the serpents! Seize the Heavenly Dragon corpse! The bones of a true Heavenly Dragon are supreme yang treasures! If I refine them, I can rebuild my bridge of damnation, maybe even manifest the Wheel of Samsara itself! If Hua Tiandu gets it, he could break into the Longevity Realm!"
Fang Han's heartbeat thundered.
Hua Tiandu had noticed it too.
His face showed wild delight.
"An actual Primordial Heavenly Dragon corpse! The dragon seeds in the Taiyi Sect's pool are nothing compared to this! If I refine this body, my chances of reaching Longevity increase tenfold!"
Below the mountain, a cave shimmered—filled with countless flashes of multicolored treasure light.
A mountain of Blood Dragon Crystal.
A dragon corpse.
A treasure vault.
Even a Longevity expert would be tempted beyond reason.
And now—
everyone present was ready to kill for it.