Xingmie Xie had chosen the most dishonorable path—drawing on the vast stellar power stored within the Starry Sect's inner paradise. His mana surged wildly, his astral soul swelling to an unimaginable size. For a split second, Fang Han felt as if he were once again facing Hua Tiandu.
When that colossal star-forged war spear came crashing down, even Fang Han's life-seal—now containing ninety distinct divine arts—shuddered. The pressure was crushing. His divine arts nearly stalled; his spine creaked; his breath caught in his throat.
So this is what it feels like…
He knew Xingmie Xie was cheating—weaponizing the very heavens and the sect's home-ground advantage—but he could hardly complain. With a silent sigh, all ninety divine arts compressed within him, and Fang Han threw a single punch straight into the spear's glimmering tip.
The collision detonated like mountains collapsing into the sea. Several peaks below exploded outright under the backlash. Even the six elite disciples watching from a thousand miles away were forced to retreat.
The clash had already alarmed countless Starry Sect disciples. Many flew up to watch from afar, but none dared approach the battlefield now.
The impact twisted Fang Han's bones and set his blood surging chaotically. Some of the weaker divine arts inside his life-seal sputtered, momentarily cut off from their qi supply. Yet despite all that, the seal held—unyielding, uncracked.
"How is this possible?" Xingmie Xie felt his heart seize. Even with the full strength of the sect's inner cosmos surging through him, even with celestial force augmenting every strike, Fang Han had taken the blow without even a grunt.
It was terrifying. And humiliating.
He knew very well that using the sect's paradise like this was already toeing the line of shame. And even that wasn't enough to suppress Fang Han?
"Doesn't matter. Dishonorable or not—victory comes first! Heavenly might, power of stars—through me! Move!"
He thrust his spear skyward. Instantly, rivers of star-light—each thousands of meters long—streamed toward him from every direction. The stellar tide wrapped around his body like glowing serpents, feeding him endless power.
Within the Starry Sect's domain, he was effectively invincible. His mana swelled like a world tree that would never wither.
A luxury only possible on home ground.
Just like masters of the Feather Gate grew terrifyingly strong within the Feathered Celestial Palace or atop their own peak.
"Die!"
The spear stabbed again—faster and fiercer. Like a phoenix stabbing downward, the tip circled Fang Han and smashed into his life-seal, launching him dozens of miles back.
Inside this pocket world, Fang Han could no longer rely on his usual speed—this domain actively rejected him. The terrain itself was fighting alongside Xingmie Xie.
Taking advantage, Xingmie Xie unleashed a barrage—hundreds of consecutive stabs, every one landing cleanly. Fang Han could only defend, unable to counterstrike, tossed like a lone ship in a storm, ready to capsize at any moment.
"The heavens here reject him. He can't win like this."
"Well… dishonorable is dishonorable," Elder Moving Star sighed deep in the sect's inner sanctum. Elder Star Punishment, another eternal titan, sighed as well. If Xingmie Xie won under these conditions, it wouldn't exactly be a proud victory.
"Even with all that help from the paradise, he still can't finish Fang Han in one strike… ridiculous," Wu Zixu murmured, tense.
"But Senior Brother hasn't used his final technique. If he unleashes it, five million demon-souls will be annihilated at once. The explosion alone could crush Fang Han," Hua Wumei replied.
"It's still a spar. If Fang Han gets actually injured, how do we explain that to the Feather Gate?" Second Brother Cang Wei frowned. "And Fang Han hasn't used the Yellow Springs Diagram yet."
"Probably because it's broken trash," Yu Tianhua sneered.
"Xingmie Xie! You think drawing on the stars alone is enough to beat me? Too naïve. Life-seal—transform into Void Core!"
Within the raging stellar tide, Fang Han suddenly erupted. His life-seal compressed again, forming a massive, translucent golden core, the size of a human head. Within it swirled demons, immortals, fire, waves, thunder, dragons, tigers, blazing suns, whirling winds, blood-babies, magic-infants… both immortal and demonic arts intertwined. Deep shadows—a devouring abyss and razor-thin cutting lines—represented his Great Devouring and Great Cutting divine arts.
And among them…
twenty star-based divine arts blazed to life.
Those twenty arts began tugging on the very stellar power of the Starry Sect's paradise.
Crack! Boom!
Thunder roared. War horns blared. Drums pounded like a battlefield shaken awake.
The celestial force pressing down shattered and dispersed. Even Xingmie Xie's astral soul recoiled, and cracks appeared along the length of his war spear.
"A Void Core… half a step from true Golden Core!"
Xingmie Xie's face drained of color. If Fang Han truly formed a Golden Core, he would have no chance. Even now, this half-formed core was monstrous. Fortunately, maintaining such a state consumed terrifying amounts of energy. Fang Han shouldn't be able to hold it long.
Gritting his teeth, he summoned even more star force. The inner heaven trembled—space split—and torrents of starlight condensed into a mountain of stars that plummeted toward Fang Han's Void Core.
A celestial mountain, meant to crush him back into his original form.
One decisive blow.
The force was overwhelming—limitless, divine.
Fang Han only laughed.
A cruel smile spread across his face, as if everything was proceeding exactly as he intended.
He opened his mouth—
—and unleashed a torrent of pure, radiant immortal qi. It surged forth like a dragon, shimmering with the mysteries of the Immortal Realm.
"This much immortal qi?!"
Not only Xingmie Xie, but the six elite disciples, and even the two ancient elders watching from the void were shocked.
Star Punishment Elder's long eyebrows quivered.
"This… this amount rivals our own!"
Moving Star Elder's voice grew grave.
"He must possess some treasure capable of drawing in immortal qi. Perhaps a shard of an ancient immortal artifact… or the Yellow Springs Diagram hides more secrets than we thought. With that artifact, it's like having a personal long-life puppet constantly refining immortal qi for him."
If anyone else had carried the World Tree, the elders would have sensed it immediately—but Fang Han concealed everything through the Azure Emperor Wood Emperor Art. Even long-life realm experts couldn't see through him without forcibly probing his body.
"But why is he burning so much immortal qi now? Is he… trying to form a true Golden Core?" Star Punishment Elder suddenly stiffened. "Impossible! Ninety divine arts—forming a core requires an astronomical amount of energy. He doesn't have enough!"
Yet Fang Han continued releasing immortal qi—everything he'd hoarded over these days. Even a divine-ability fruit from the World Tree detonated into pure essence and merged with the Void Core.
From the Yellow Springs Diagram surged the refined blood of over a thousand Asura, white-furred corpse demons, and great fiendish Asura he had slaughtered underground. All of it poured into the Void Core.
The translucent core brightened—becoming a scorching miniature sun.
The stellar mountain collapsed instantly, melted and absorbed by Fang Han's twenty star-divine arts.
"He—he can swallow the star-power of our entire paradise?! His star techniques… they counter ours!" Star Punishment Elder shot to his feet.
"This technique…" Moving Star Elder's manifested projection trembled. "This kind of stellar art is…"
He tried to pierce the growing radiance of Fang Han's core, but unless he forcibly intervened—and publicly bullied a junior—he could not see through it. And doing so would disgrace the sect and sabotage the alliance with the Feather Gate.
Fang Han, meanwhile, had activated a hidden trump:
the power of the "Limitless Tome of Stars."
The same omnipotent stellar scripture the Star Lord himself had mastered—and passed on to Fang Han.
And Fang Han had been waiting for this very moment to unleash it.