Even with Fang Han's demon blade Blood Sky and the Emerald Blood Water Sword—two weapons cultivating dual yin and yang—raising either one to the level of a mid-grade Dao artifact would demand unimaginable resources. Vast amounts of essence, rare opportunities, heavenly materials—no one could predict how much it would take.
Hua Tiandu's Panwu Divine Sword was a mid-grade Dao artifact.
Its power could slice mountains in half, split the earth open, and even the Black Nether King's millennium-tempered "Gloom Primordial Spirit" couldn't withstand its edge.
And now, the Sun and Moon Spirit Wheels—two mid-grade Dao artifacts designed as a pair—combined their power and outshone even Panwu's sword. They couldn't compare to top-grade treasures like the Indestructible Thunder Talisman or the Ocean God Pearl, divine relics of the Thunder Emperor and Water God. But when facing an ordinary cultivator's Golden Core, the Wheels could shred it instantly—unintimidated even by an exploding Core.
Even the Golden Core "little giants" of the Taiyi Sect would struggle to hold against them.
"His Golden Core contains ninety divine abilities. Impossible… he must be Fang Han of Yuhuamen! Fang Han, you've long known who we are. The disappearances of Phantom-True God-Lord and Illusory-Spirit God-Lord—those were your doing! Now that we've uncovered the truth, you will never know peace again. Sabotage the plans of my clan? You must have a death wish!"
Da Xia and Da He God-Kings poured their strength into the Sun and Moon Wheels, forcibly resisting the crushing descent of Fang Han's Golden Core. At the same time, their divine sense erupted like a storm, lashing toward him.
These two were far stronger than the "little giants" of the Taiyi Sect—true powerhouses who could rank within the top fifty of the Longevity Candidate lists. Such figures were giants wherever they walked in the Profound Yellow World. Sharp-minded as they were ruthless, they instantly recognized Fang Han's identity.
Their divine sense, sharp as a forest of blades, slashed through the sky and into Fang Han's five spiritual seas—needle-sharp, stabbing at his soul. His mana scattered. Pain lanced his skull. His vision darkened. His circulation nearly broke.
"Mindstorm!"
Fang Han trembled. He recognized it immediately—the God Clan's signature soul-killing technique. More insidious than demonic arts, it attacked the mind directly. A single strike could drive a Heaven-Human expert insane.
Normally Fang Han's defenses were impervious. But with his Golden Core outside his body, the five seas of consciousness lacked their anchor. His mind was exposed—vulnerable. The Mindstorm slipped in like a dagger, nearly overturning him in the gutter.
He had never imagined the God Clan wielded two mid-grade Dao artifacts—working in perfect harmony to block even his Golden Core.
In an instant, the Core's radiance dimmed. Fang Han staggered.
"He's struck! His soul's pierced—he can't circulate mana! Kill him!"
Da He and Da Xia God-Kings' eyes gleamed. Stronger waves of Mindstorm burst forth. The very air tore with crackling sound as the next assault struck.
"Golden Core, return!"
Fang Han's Golden Core vanished from the sky, plunging back into his body. Its sudden disappearance caused a violent collapse of surrounding qi.
The shockwave sent the seven God-Kings reeling, struggling to regain balance.
Fang Han had mastered his Core to a frightening degree—first releasing it to exert unbearable pressure, then retracting it to destabilize heaven and earth itself.
"Not good!"
The two God-Kings felt the emptiness beneath their Sun and Moon Wheels—their blades struck nothing. Their expressions twisted. They hastily recalled their artifacts for defense and shouted to the others.
But it was already too late.
Fang Han had been waiting for this exact instant.
In a fraction of a breath, he blurred—Golden Core roaring inside him—burning every thread of mana to fuel speed and impact. His body split into seven phantoms, each unleashing the force of a hundred million rampaging warhorses, punching toward each God-King simultaneously.
A hundred million warhorses!
This was the strength of a Longevity-Realm ancient giant.
For this moment, all seven God-Kings were struck by the full might of a Longevity-Realm powerhouse.
"Longevity Realm! The strength of a true dragon!"
Da He God-King roared, divine light exploding around him as he threw a desperate punch to meet Fang Han's strike. His body warped—horns sprouting, skin hardening like armor—as he transformed into a pure God Clan warrior.
But Fang Han's attack was too overwhelming.
Seven flashes.
Seven impacts.
Each one equal to a Longevity giant's full blow.
Seven fists collided with seven Fang Han phantoms.
BOOM.
The sky went dark. Sea and clouds collapsed. The world seemed to split apart. Qi shattered into fragments.
The seven phantoms vanished.
And the seven God-Kings' bodies cracked—like porcelain smashing under pressure—fractured from limb to spine. Blood spurted out, instantly swallowed by the Yellow Springs Diagram.
They had failed to block even a single punch.
Not even one.
They weren't dead—yet. Their vitality was immense—but they were on the edge.
"My mana… is gone."
The seven phantoms merged back into Fang Han's true form. His face was pale as paper, as if he'd suffered a grave illness. He wavered in the air, nearly dropping straight into the sea.
His five spiritual seas were empty—completely drained. The crystal-like liquid mana within them had evaporated entirely, consumed to drive the Golden Core and his physical body for that insane assault.
For the first time in his life, Fang Han had burned every drop of his mana.
Even with the World Tree, he had exhausted himself completely.
"I have to recover immediately… if a single Golden Core expert appears now, I'll be slaughtered."
He sucked in a deep breath. Faint threads of Immortal Realm energy gathered through the World Tree and trickled into his spiritual seas.
A long time passed before even a wisp of mana reappeared—thin as mist, barely enough for flight, far from enough to cast a divine ability.
He dove into the Yellow Springs Diagram. The Eightfold Pagoda shrank behind him and followed inside. The Diagram sank beneath the sea.
Prince Yi had been watching from afar. His voice trembled.
"This… breaking the formation in an instant… killing them like that… His power felt like my royal father's. Seven consecutive strikes—each with the strength of a hundred million warhorses… That's the might of a Longevity giant!"
Even a first-stage Longevity expert couldn't unleash such force seven times in succession.
Longevity experts possessed the power of "hundreds of millions," but that didn't mean they could strike at full power repeatedly—just like a martial artist with a thousand-pound punch couldn't throw such a punch every time.
Without the World Tree continuously drawing Immortal energy, Fang Han would have collapsed after a single blow.
Deep beneath the sea, Fang Han meditated for three days and nights before his mana returned fully.
"Seven consecutive bursts of that power… nearly killed me. If I can find more fragments of the World Tree, I could unleash that force a hundred times… a thousand times! Hua Tiandu would be crushed instantly—no artifacts needed."
Inside the Yellow Springs Diagram, he opened his eyes. His five spiritual seas brimmed once more with crystal-liquid mana. The Golden Core floated quietly, nourished and growing.
Golden Core was explosive power.
Mana was endurance.
The greater the mana, the longer the battle.
The stronger the Core, the deadlier the burst.
"Fang Han—your mana must nourish the Eightfold Pagoda. All three million six hundred thousand Sky Demons and three hundred sixty Demon Kings need constant energy. Many are evolving already. With steady nourishment, they'll generate endless wish-power to temper the Pagoda. In a few months, I'll finally subdue the Emerald Blood Water Sword and evolve the Pagoda into a mid-grade Dao artifact."
Blood Night King's voice echoed in his mind.
"What? I still have to feed them? I barely have enough Immortal energy to sustain myself—now I have to support millions of demons?"
Fang Han almost choked. But there was no alternative. Once he took the demons in, he had to feed them. The Five Prison King Cauldron had required enormous resources to support only two hundred thousand demons. Now he had 3.6 million—plus Demon Kings. The cost would be astronomical.
Even Star-Annihilation Evil, the First Disciple of the Constellation Gate, had spent his entire fortune feeding five million demons.
"So broke…! Completely broke! I need to check on those seven imprisoned God-Kings—they must be loaded with pills and treasures."
Fang Han's figure flickered as he moved to a hidden space within the Yellow Springs Diagram.