A sword-wielding fairy lunged at Fang Han from the swirling sword array, her strike carrying the weight of a fifth-realm Divine Ability expert—someone who had condensed the Five-Element essence and refined her power into a full formation.
Fang Han flicked his finger.
The woman exploded into dust.
A Divine Ability fifth-realm master, killed in a heartbeat. He had long reached the point where such feats required no effort.
But the moment she died, her sword trembled—
And every sword in the array trembled with it.
Fang Han instantly sensed it: the destructive force he had unleashed had been dispersed evenly among all the blades. Each sword absorbed only a sliver of that annihilation… and thus survived.
With a soft whistle, the slain fairy's sword vanished into the array diagram.
"Sword Unity Technique!"
Before Fang Han could pursue, the clouds around him parted—
Thousands of sword-fairies manifested simultaneously, each holding a sword identical to the first, unleashing sword qi that fell like icy rain, like a world-ending hailstorm.
A forest of blades rose around him.
Mountains of swords.
Seas of swords.
A world built entirely of steel and killing intent.
The sheer volume of flying swords exceeded even Meng Shaobai's Lifeless Killing Dao, even Prince Yi's Invisible Sword Array. Then again, Yan Shuiyi was not their equal—she surpassed them effortlessly. She was Taiyi Sect's foremost true disciple, a reincarnated Water Spirit God. If she fought Meng Shaobai or Prince Yi, she could crush them in a single move.
Once she stepped into the Longevity Realm, she would become Taiyi Sect's Deputy Sect Master.
That was the rule for true disciples.
Yuhuamen's rules were the same.
No wonder Hua Tiandu sought that path with such hunger.
Sword mountains.
Sword seas.
Sword tides.
Sword forests.
No words could fully describe the spectacle crushing down on Fang Han.
For a moment, it felt as if he faced legendary arrays capable of shaking gods and immortals—the Dustless Sword Array, the Sun-Moon Sword Array, the Heaven-Piercing Sword Array.
He acted instantly.
His Golden Core rose above his head.
The Five-Emperor Canopy unfurled—repelling all evil, severing all spells.
Black voids spun into existence around him as he activated Great Devouring Technique, trying to swallow the flying swords and refine them with his White Emperor Goldslash and Black Emperor Waterfist.
These swords were forged from cold iron and refined water-essence—metal begets water, water tempers metal. If he devoured all of them, his dual emperor arts would evolve once again.
And if he could devour the Canghai Divine Pearl itself?
That would rival absorbing the World Tree's essence.
Sword seas cascaded into the devouring vortex—
And for a heartbeat, Fang Han felt joy.
He began refining—
But the entire sword formation shifted.
Heaven reversed.
Earth inverted.
Space twisted.
All swallowed swords shuddered violently, received some mysterious blessing—then tore free of the vortex and shot back into the array, reforming the attack.
Thousands of flying swords and countless sword-fairies slammed into the Five-Emperor Canopy, making it spin wildly as sparks burst through the air.
"The array's center… the Canghai Divine Pearl is suppressing everything. That's why I can't devour the swords."
His eyes flashed. In the heart of the formation, inside the Divine Pearl, he saw Yan Shuiyi—spinning, weaving one complex seal after another.
And hidden deeper still—
A clear, silent figure darted like a ghost.
Brahma Qingying.
She suddenly darted forth—
A single sword aimed at the Five-Emperor Canopy.
CRACK!
Great Chaos Lightning erupted along the blade.
The Five-Emperor Canopy stopped turning—
And a crack appeared on its surface.
"What?!"
For the first time, Fang Han was horrified.
Nothing had ever cracked the Five-Emperor Canopy—not demons, not ancient gods, not even artifact-level foes. It was forged from the will of the Five Emperor Demon Gods—a force that commanded all evil.
Yet one sword from Brahma Qingying damaged it.
Even if it didn't break—this was terrifying.
"Eight-Part Pagoda!"
Pressed to the limit, Fang Han summoned his newly forged treasure.
A tower descended—eight tiers, eight powers, Five-Element glyphs spinning across its surface.
It slammed down onto Brahma Qingying.
BOOM!
Though not a Dao artifact, the Eight-Part Pagoda struck with unbelievable force. It crushed the translucent figure, forcing her true form to appear.
A young woman in plain azure garments.
A halo of clean light behind her.
A face pure beyond worldly stain.
But her eyes—
Empty. Blind.
Her mouth—silent.
Her ears—deaf.
Pure, untouched beauty.
Sealed from sight, speech, and sound.
Born with no access to the world's colors, voices, or warmth.
Fang Han felt her loneliness—vast and still as a dead sea.
A woman abandoned by heaven.
No wonder her title was Sky-Forsaking Thief.
And yet—blind, mute, deaf—she had climbed to the brink of the Longevity Realm.
Her will was unimaginable.
Fang Han felt a chill. Even alone, she might defeat him in a one-on-one duel.
Pinned for only an instant, Brahma Qingying raised her sword—
And stabbed upward.
Chaos lightning erupted.
The Eight-Part Pagoda spun wildly—shaking, cracking—and was blasted away. Brahma Qingying shifted forms, sword tip aimed at Fang Han's vital meridians.
One pierce—and even with his monstrous physique, he would explode.
Her blade was no weaker than Hua Tiandu's Panwu Divine Sword. The Great Chaos Lightning was born from that blade itself. It could even crack the Five-Emperor Canopy.
"These two lunatics—do they really want me dead?! I can't handle both at once. Do I have to use the Five-Element Talisman and escape to the Five-Element World?"
Fang Han threw ten thousand punches, clashing with Brahma Qingying's sword to stall the killing edge.
But Yan Shuiyi sensed the shift in his intent.
She burned a talisman.
A vast power descended.
Space thickened.
The sword array sealed shut.
Fang Han felt the connection to the Five-Element World sever instantly.
"This is a Universe Seal—crafted by the Supreme Emperor of Taihuang Heaven. It will block your Five-Element Talisman for half an hour. You cannot escape. Don't think the Ancient Demon Lord will save you. You're merely one of his pawns. Hand over the Golden Cores of our Taiyi Sect disciples, and I will spare you!"
Her words offered mercy—
But her actions grew even more ruthless.
She flicked her finger.
A green sword streaked into the array.
The Bixue Softwater Sword—a lower Dao artifact—merged into the formation.
The sword array exploded in power.
Fang Han's last hope of escape vanished. The Five-Element Talisman was sealed. He had underestimated how deeply Taihuang Heaven's Supreme Emperor had planned for him.
To such beings, even Longevity giants were ants.
Only beings like Linglong Immortal Venerable or the Yellow Springs Emperor were worthy of consideration.
Even Wind Whitefeather, the Star Lord, or Taihuang Heaven themselves might not be valued.
Brahma Qingying attacked again.
Chaos lightning compressed into thousands of orbs that detonated against Fang Han's Golden Core. The Five-Emperor Canopy dimmed.
Two titans pressed him from both sides.
Even Fang Han could only hunker down—Golden Core condensed to its limit, the Yellow Springs Diagram, Magic Blood Skyblade, Eight-Part Pagoda, and other treasures flaring around him. He could only endure and hope to survive half an hour.
Rank one and rank two of the Longevity Candidate List were trying to kill him.
Surviving was already a miracle.
Together, these two—with their Dao artifacts—could even slay a first-realm Longevity giant. If Old Elder Tianxing fell into their formation, he would barely escape with his life.
That Fang Han remained unbroken was already a feat.
But their assault grew stronger.
Faster.
More merciless.
And Fang Han's Golden Core light…
grew dimmer and dimmer.