The Ruyi Vajra Ring, the crushing force of four Golden Cores, and the roaring might of the Floating Starlight Sword Array all pressed down on the Black Nether King until he could barely breathe.
Again? Do I really have to mutilate myself again—use the Demon Self-Sacrifice Art?
The Black Nether King cursed in his heart. Why was his luck so terrible? First, Hua Tiandu hacked off his arm. Then Fang Han completely subdued him and turned him into a servant. Now he'd just arrived at the Star Gate, only to be bullied by yet another group of so-called righteous experts.
In a thousand years, he had never felt this humiliated.
"Black Nether King, you fiend—your sins are finally catching up with you!"
Second Senior Brother Zang Wei was practically gleeful. His Ruyi Vajra Ring had locked down the dark primordial spirit, and the 9,999-sword starlight array tore through the skies around him, draining the demon king's strength with every cycle.
"I've already turned over a new leaf! I serve Fang Han! I'm one of the righteous now—and I'm guarding him!" the Black Nether King roared. His demonic arts churned, his vast shadowy Dharma Form rotating furiously.
"Shut your mouth, fiend!"
Yu Tianhua had nearly finished subduing the Blood Heaven King trapped within the demonic blade. Though he couldn't destroy the blade's spirit, he'd locked it in place.
A peak Ninth-Layer cultivator wielding a Dao Artifact—of course he could restrain the cursed blade, even if it wasn't easy.
Now that he had a hand free, Yu Tianhua opened his mouth and spat out his own refined flying sword. It streaked toward the mountainside—straight toward the Black Nether King's physical body.
"Fiend, you've committed countless atrocities. Even if Fang Han claims you've reformed, you can't escape death. I'll destroy your body first. Let's see how you survive that!"
He was going for a killing blow. If he destroyed the demon king's body, then even if the Black Nether King could possess another, he would lose his innate harmony of spirit and flesh—making future advancement toward the Longevity Realm practically impossible.
He was also secretly shocked that this ancient demon had submitted to Fang Han. How in the world had Fang Han pulled that off?
But since Fang Han was in seclusion, killing one of his demonic "arms" would hardly be unforgivable.
"MY BODY!"
The Black Nether King's expression changed drastically. A lost arm could be regrown. But losing his entire body? That was torment beyond measure.
He immediately siphoned off a portion of his shadowy primordial spirit, shaping it into demonic qi to intercept the incoming sword.
"This old demon is impossible to finish off!"
Seventh Senior Brother Wu Zixu's killing intent flared. He drove his Golden Core madly, firing blasts at the shadowy spirit. His very Core ignited, its life-flame burning fiercely—he was sacrificing his own energy just to suppress the demon.
All six senior disciples of the Star Gate swarmed the Black Nether King.
Two possessed Dharma Forms and Dao Artifacts.
Two were at the Eighth Layer, masters of the Wind-Fire Tribulation.
Two were Seventh-Layer peak Golden Core experts.
Together, their pressure was comparable to Hua Tiandu. The assault was suffocating.
But the Black Nether King was a thousand-year demonic powerhouse. He didn't die easily. He clung on, battered but unbroken.
"Hmph."
At that moment, the inscrutable First Senior Brother—Xing Mie Xie—rose from meditation. Ranked in the top ten of the Longevity Candidate List, even above Yujizi, he sensed something and prepared to intervene.
But the instant he got to his feet—
An enormous talisman erupted from atop the mountain.
Starlight spun around it like a galaxy.
At its center hung a Five-Emperor Canopy.
Black lines sliced through space.
A bloody maw opened out of thin air.
Ghosts, infant wraiths, and spectral shadows howled within its borders.
The talisman was the size of a door. Its emergence shook the entire Star Gate. The mountains trembled. The very space here seemed unable to withstand its power.
There was no way to describe it.
It was as if an ancient celestial immortal had hurled a decree from the heavens—
Or an archaic god-king had dropped a fragment of cosmic scripture—
Or the essence of heaven and earth had condensed into a single rune.
Power—pure, mixed, celestial, demonic, primordial—merged into a single overwhelming force. No mortal could stand before it.
It contained ninety divine abilities—the full power of the Ghost Emperor, condensed into this single supreme talisman.
WHOOSH—WHOOSH—
The pressure swept outward. Stronger than the winds of the Ninth Heaven. A hundred times stronger. A thousand times stronger.
Wu Zixu, Hua Wumei, Yu Tianhua, Zang Wei—all were shoved backward, bodies shaking uncontrollably. No amount of cultivation or will could keep them rooted in place.
CRACK—CRACK—
The Ancient Cloud Whisk that held down the demonic blade—
The Ruyi Vajra Ring binding the shadowy primordial spirit—
Both were flung aside instantly.
The Blood Heaven King and the Black Nether King simultaneously felt the weight lift from their bodies.
Then the talisman pulsed—
And a dome of force descended, an enormous egg-shaped barrier, sealing a hundred miles of terrain and trapping all seven top disciples inside it.
Their faces shifted immediately.
"Fang Han! So you really did it! You refined all nine Ghost Emperor souls!"
Xing Mie Xie's eyes locked on the talisman, his voice low.
"To hold that much power in your sea of consciousness… terrifying."
Because this was Fang Han's life-talisman.
He had finally refined the Ghost Emperor's nine primordial spirits and erased its consciousness.
—One moment earlier—
When the seven disciples approached, Fang Han had already sensed it.
I knew the Star Gate would send someone after my momentum. That's why I used the Eightfold Pagoda to suppress the Ghost Emperor first. Otherwise, letting them crush the Blood Heaven King and Black Nether King under my nose would've been disgraceful.
He'd unleashed a mental strike, wiping out the Ghost Emperor's final thoughts.
Then he poured all accumulated immortal essence into his life-talisman.
Moments later, it was complete—
A talisman containing ninety divine abilities, unmatched in ancient times.
The moment it flew into the sky, everything shook.
He saved the demon kings, forced back the seven elites.
In the past, with only fifty-six divine abilities, he could've escaped—but nowhere near this level of dominance.
The Star Gate elites were no joke. Especially Xing Mie Xie. Fang Han could tell—he wasn't as strong as Hua Tiandu, but he completely surpassed the Ghost Emperor and was perhaps even stronger than the elders of the Feather Gate.
Fang Han's gaze swept over them, sharp as blades.
"Gentlemen, I am a guest of the Star Gate. Yet while I was cultivating, you attempted to destroy my Dao Artifact and kill my attendants. Is this how you treat your guests?"
"Fang Han," Yu Tianhua replied coolly, "as a guest, you should follow the rules of your host. Our internal affairs are not yours to meddle in."
"Oh?" Fang Han flicked a finger along the edge of the demonic blade, its ultra-sharp edge unable to pierce his skin. The seven disciples exchanged glances—his physical body was that unbreakable?
Xing Mie Xie stepped forward.
"We all know what this is about. The fight for our sect master's position is not something outsiders should interfere with. Cloud-Baby may be young, but dragging him into your feud with the Taiyi Sect is reckless. Having him refine a Taiyi disciple's Golden Core? That's a direct act of theft. Taiyi will never forgive it. When they move against him, how will you protect him?"
Fang Han smiled lightly.
"The Taiyi Sect has abandoned all righteous principles. Those who lose the Way will lose support. They will decline sooner or later. I'm helping Cloud-Baby build real strength—the only thing that matters on the path of cultivation. You all know this better than I do."
He continued, calm and confident.
"With his current foundation, Cloud-Baby can already stand against a Golden Core expert. Soon he will condense his own Core. In a few hundred years, when he reaches the Longevity Realm—who will dare to trouble him then?"
Xing Mie Xie stared into the sky-dome barrier, weighing Fang Han's strength.
"Fang Han—your life-talisman contains ninety divine abilities. Your power already surpasses mine. But your foundation is still not yet at Golden Core. In pure cultivation realm, you're still behind me. I am… intrigued."
His aura rose.
"So I propose a duel. If you defeat me, I will withdraw from the race for sect master and become an elder. But if I win, you will never again interfere in Star Gate affairs—and you will lend me your Five Elements talisman and the Forgetful Waters from the Yellow Springs Diagram."
Fang Han narrowed his eyes.
"I've seen your name on the Longevity Candidate List. Ranked seventh—Xing Mie Xie."
If Xing Mie Xie retired to become an elder, he would lose eligibility for the position of sect master.
Which meant only one thing—
This duel would change the entire future of the Star Gate.