Under Yan Shuiyi's stunned gaze, the distant void split open as if torn by an invisible hand. From within stepped a beautiful young man—except the elegance in the brows and the effortless charm in the smile made it unmistakably clear: this was a woman in disguise.
Dressed in embroidered silk, she was refined and striking, a presence that felt free and unbound—someone who could stroll across the heavens, flick her fingers, and shift worlds. The moment she emerged, she looked directly at Fang Han and offered him a faint, knowing smile.
"That's the Linglong Immortal Venerable?"
Fang Han could hardly believe his eyes. The legendary master who shook the heavens, who even the mighty Taiyi Sect could not subdue, who created her own sect and stood undefeated… was this youthful, cross-dressed beauty?
This was far from the aloof, untouchable immortal he had imagined—someone seated above nine layers of clouds, looking down upon creation.
But the moment she shattered the Celestial Rune and broke the Ripple of Ten Thousand Immortals Sword Array with a casual gesture, Fang Han had to accept the truth—no one but Linglong could wield such power so effortlessly.
"Don't be afraid!" Yan Shuiyi snapped back to herself instantly. "This is only a projection of her power. Her true body is deep in the outer starfields, visiting the Zorma Sect. She can't return. Breaking the Celestial Rune cost her greatly. We don't need to fear her."
She had clearly been warned before coming here. After her brief shock, she steadied her breath and unleashed her calamity spirit—the Heavenly Disaster Yuan Spirit.
A sea of disaster clouds roared forth, filled with the sound of erupting volcanoes and shifting tectonic plates. The force was enough to wound experts in the Longevity Secret Realm. It was Taiyi Sect's supreme art—requiring twelve Golden Core masters to cast together. Even countless self-detonating demon kings could not shake it.
"Fan Qingying" moved as well, her sword flicking out Great Chaos Thunder, while the Mind-Lightning True Law erupted over her head. A halo of divine light spun behind her and morphed into a ghostly celestial avatar that wrapped around Fang Han to prevent his escape.
She had held back earlier.
Her true strength—still above Fang Han's—was now fully revealed, forcing him to consider using everything he had to break free.
"Yan Shuiyi, you're only a fragment of the Water God's essence. Even if you were the true Primordial Water God, you'd barely reach the seventh or eighth level of Longevity. You are not my match. I am merely a fragment as well… yet still more than you can contend with."
The juvenile figure of Linglong Immortal Venerable didn't dodge. Space around her shimmered, birthing fissures filled with howling temporal storms. The calamity clouds struck—but every blast slipped harmlessly past, unable to touch her.
She stood there like a divine statue—immovable across eons, eternal and untarnished.
"Linglong Great Luo Heaven."
Yan Shuiyi trembled as she activated her Canghai Divine Pearl. The Ripple of Ten Thousand Immortals Sword Array pressed down while the divine pearl spewed countless streams of water, turning heaven and earth into an ocean.
"We are both disciples of Taiyi Sect! I refuse to believe a mere projection can withstand my full power combined with the Divine Pearl!"
"Even the Grand Primordial Heaven cannot suppress me. And you dare shine your little lantern in front of the sun?"
Linglong's projection didn't move—space rearranged itself around her, a colossal board of interlocking cosmic lines. All water attacks slipped into spatial seams and vanished.
She walked forward.
Every step shattered all opposition.
"Water God Descends!"
Facing imminent danger, Yan Shuiyi bit her tongue, blood spraying onto the divine pearl. It expanded tenfold. Water qi surged from all of creation—even the Water Emperor Qi within Fang Han's body rioted, threatening to burst free.
That single mouthful of blood cost her sixty years of lifespan—an extreme, nearly suicidal technique she would never use against Fang Han… but Linglong Immortal Venerable was another matter entirely.
A vast airborne ocean formed, and from its depths rose a towering Primordial Water God—blue-scaled, serpent-tailed, hair like cascading water, wielding an ancient spade-shovel. A hundred meters tall, it cracked the clouds with its presence.
The true form of the Primordial Water God.
The pressure intensified tenfold. Fang Han had to circulate the Five Emperors Demon Arts at full force just to keep his Water Emperor Qi contained.
"What is Great Luo? Mastery of all space and time—eternal freedom.
What is Golden Immortal? Indestructible essence, unshaken by all calamities."
The water god roared, the ocean boiled, thunderous waves battering the heavens.
But Linglong Immortal Venerable's projection didn't even blink.
She walked through the torrent untouched, as though she existed in another layer of reality entirely.
Wherever she stepped, the waters parted. Space condensed beneath her feet. The world shrank before her. Time and space bent to her will.
A single point of light appeared above her—
A primordial origin.
Within it, a massive gate shimmered into view.
A gate that led to the Immortal Realm.
With a low hum, the gate stirred—
and an avalanche of immortal energy poured down.
It struck the water god squarely on the head—
and obliterated it instantly.
Sixty years of lifespan, countless water-essence…
Destroyed in one breath.
Yan Shuiyi's face drained. She fled immediately.
Too late.
Linglong pointed, and another enormous spatial chessboard formed around Yan Shuiyi, cutting her with the force of slicing time itself.
Blood sprayed from her lips.
"Scatter."
Another gesture—and the Canghai Divine Pearl was trapped and torn apart by spatial lines, its inner sea raging as its spirit was damaged.
"Fan Qingying" panicked. She abandoned Fang Han and thrust her sword, unleashing more Chaos Thunder than she had earlier—enough to shake the Great Luo chessboard.
"Chaos Thunder? You've mastered only the first layer. You can't dissolve space. Allow me to teach you what real chaos looks like."
Linglong pointed again.
Ten thousand Chaos Thunder Orbs erupted from the void, blasting into Fan Qingying.
Her entire body reeled as her sword tried desperately to shield her—but the thunder smashed through, hurling her away as blood ran from her blind eyes.
"Linglong Great Luo—Eternal Suppression."
One gesture.
Yan Shuiyi was slammed beneath the Nine Heavens Gale.
The Divine Pearl fell into Linglong's hand.
The Ripple of Ten Thousand Immortals Sword Array shattered into flying swords. Even the Dao-Artifact Bixue Softwater Sword was knocked loose, reverting into the form of a terrified green-clad woman.
"Perfect opportunity!"
Fang Han burst free, summoning the Eightfold Pagoda. A blood-colored Buddha giant reached out and seized the sword spirit, suppressing it instantly.
"Mad Demon Longevity Burn!"
Yan Shuiyi swallowed a forbidden pill. Her power erupted. The shattered pearl expanded one last time before blowing apart, becoming countless water runes that she sucked back into her body.
"Heaven and Earth Water Escape!"
She fled without hesitation.
Linglong struck—shattering the void around her—but Yan Shuiyi turned into blood-mist and tore through space at hundreds of times her normal speed.
Fan Qingying fled even faster.
Within moments, their killing aura vanished, swallowed by the roaring gale winds. Only the ruined sword array remained—tens of thousands of blades spinning chaotically.
The array tried to flee as well, but Linglong's hand descended. The Great Luo chessboard enveloped everything. In a single rotation, the entire sword array and its countless blades were absorbed into a painting—refined instantly.
Fang Han bowed deeply.
"Linglong Immortal Venerable—may your blessings be eternal, your lifespan as vast as the heavens, unending through the ages!"
"No need for ceremony," she replied lightly. "This is not my true body. My real form is billions of light-years away, visiting the Zorma Sect. I sensed you were in danger, so I plucked a single strand of hair, infused it with a thousand years of cultivation, and sent it across time and space."
Her figure flickered, becoming faint.
The projection dissolved—
leaving behind a single, shimmering strand of green hair.