"The Blood-Soul Extinguishing Sword may be a Dao-weapon, but it's only low-grade. Rare, yes—any Dao-weapon can multiply its owner's power severalfold. Still, with Ling Gongzi's strength, defeating the Demon Marshal is impossible. I'll stay back and watch."
Blood demons surged wildly, turning hundreds of miles of ocean into a crimson nightmare. Fang Han didn't intervene. He simply circulated a thread of mana, letting the Great Devouring Technique draw in every blood demon that lunged toward him. Each one was swallowed, refined into pure blood energy, and fed into the Eightfold Pagoda, empowering the entity once known as the Blood Night King.
But that entity had changed entirely—it had become a crimson Buddha. Its original demonic blade, Bloodfirmament, had merged fully with the Blood Dragon Crystal Mountain. The "Blood Night King" was no longer accurate.
It was now the Bloodlight Buddha of Deliverance.
With Fang Han's current mastery of the Great Devouring Technique, swallowing a few scattered blood demons meant nothing. If he wanted, he could swallow Ling Gongzi himself, sword and all, without effort.
But he chose patience.
The duel was attracting attention.
Many powerful cultivators were flying toward the battlefield. Golden Core masters, Heaven and Earth Dharma Phase experts, even several Divine Ability Tenth Realm overlords who had defied fate itself. Fang Han also sensed the probing divine thoughts of ancient titans—Longevity experts watching from spatial fissures. A Dao-weapon appearing was enough to shake half the ocean.
Everyone had come for the same thing: to celebrate Linglong Immortal Venerable's birthday.
Her reputation was awe-inspiring. Three thousand years ago, she carved her place atop heaven and earth, founded her sect, slaughtered countless foes, and shook entire worlds. Even the greatest powers had to respect her.
Aside from the absent Taiyi Sect, cultivators from every faction—immortal, demonic, rogue, even representatives of Nine Tripod Pavilion, Six Paths Alliance, and Heavenly Dao Tower—had come.
So of course they watched the Demon Marshal trading blows with Ling Gongzi. Some even hoped to seize the spotlight. Fang Han quietly absorbed a bit of blood energy, then drifted several hundred miles away, blending into a patch of harmless white cloud.
"Dao-weapon or not," Mo Shuai said coldly, "I'll shatter it."
Crimson sword-light flooded the world. The air thickened with shrieks of countless trapped souls. Ling Gongzi's sword-spirit—an enormous bloodfiend—expanded and devoured everything in its path.
But Mo Shuai stood unshaken. His eyes flashed with destructive brilliance. He raised a hand.
Space collapsed.
Dozens of miles of ocean buckled inward. The crimson barrage shattered instantly.
Great Collapse Technique.
One of Mo Shuai's signature divine abilities—on par with Fang Han's Great Devouring and Great Cutting Arts, except Mo Shuai had perfected it over many years.
The bloodfiend reformed almost instantly, its body boiling with blood-mist, its limbs etched with writhing faces. When it opened its mouth, columns of blood-colored thunder poured out—each orb infused with the death-cry of billions of living beings.
One bolt. Ten bolts. A thousand. Ten thousand.
One hundred and twenty thousand blood-thunder spheres in a single breath.
"Blood-Transmuting God Thunder?" Mo Shuai's expression sharpened.
A white phantom tore free from his body, taking form as a towering bone demon—the Innate Bone Divine Soul. Three hundred and sixty bone segments gleamed upon its frame, each carved with ancient demonic sigils. It stepped upon a lotus of bone and released a tide of pale divine light.
The bone demon suppressed the bloodfiend instantly.
Several Golden Core masters watching from afar gasped.
"His true soul is the Innate Bone God? That's thirty-eight divine abilities! Nearly forty! A monster among demon cultivators!"
Fang Han, concealed in a distant cloudbank, couldn't help but be impressed. Mo Shuai's true soul contained more divine abilities than even the Ghost Emperor—and nine of them were supreme abilities.
A terrifying foundation.
His demonic aura blanketed the ocean, crushing Ling Gongzi and his entourage until they trembled and choked.
One Golden Core master whispered, "I heard Linglong Immortal Venerable will let young talents duel during the celebration. Her disciples will choose partners from among them, and the strongest will receive her personal reward—an ultimate divine ability."
Another shook his head. "So what? Ultimate divine abilities take centuries, sometimes a millennium, to master."
"You don't understand," a third said. "For Linglong Immortal Venerable, years are enough to master one. When she 'teaches' an ability, she doesn't hand over a method—she imprints the fully-cultivated divine ability straight into your mind. Instant mastery."
"What?! Even our sect masters can't do that!"
"That's why she alone can stand against the entire Taiyi Sect."
"I've heard the abilities she prepared: Zurma Ancient God Qi, Great Deliverance Zen Light, and Sumeru Mountain King Fist. Each one can shatter seas and move mountains. Equivalent to what a Fate-Defying cultivator would create."
The Golden Core masters buzzed with excitement.
Fang Han listened quietly, heart stirring.
Great Deliverance Zen Light.
Of the three, that one was crucial for refining the Five Elements Earth Spirit Talisman. If he tried cultivating it the normal way, he might need centuries… if he succeeded at all.
Was Linglong Immortal Venerable preparing it for him?
With his current power, dominating the younger generation wouldn't be difficult at all.
A roar exploded across the ocean.
The fight had reached its end.
Mo Shuai's Innate Bone Soul tore through the bloodfiend, seized Ling Gongzi's sword, and unleashed roaring white flames. The bone lotus expanded, isolating Ling Gongzi and his followers, flames coiling to refine them all directly.
"Senior brother! Help me!" Ling Gongzi shrieked, drenched in sweat.
One of his "followers" finally stepped forward.
With a single stride, his entire presence transformed.
His head lifted, revealing a strikingly handsome face. A hundred thousand blood-lotuses bloomed from his body—each lotus with nine petals, each petal bearing a small blood infant chanting eerie demonic scripture. Their combined aura forced even the Innate Bone Soul to retreat several steps.
Fang Han shot to his feet.
This man's power—
He wasn't weaker than the Star-Extinguishing Fiend of the Starry Sky Sect.
The young man stepped forward, shedding his disguise. Blood-flames rose around him, reshaping his clothing into a crimson battle robe.
"Mo Shuai," he said calmly, "you've pushed things too far. I didn't want to intervene, but it seems I must."
"You came to win Linglong Immortal Venerable's three divine abilities. So did I. And those three abilities… already belong to me."
Mo Shuai's expression chilled. "Bloodfiend Sect. First true disciple. Ranked sixth on the Longevity Candidate List—Blood Dance Yang."
Blood Dance Yang smiled. "Exactly. The top three won't show up—Fan Qingying, Yan Shuiyi, Hua Tiandu. Without them, who among the younger generation can oppose me? I didn't expect you to form an Innate Bone Soul, though. Looks like you've obtained a Dao-weapon yourself."
Then he added, almost casually:
"But there's one more person you should worry about.
Have you heard of Fang Han of the Feather Gate?"
Mo Shuai's gaze shifted.
A faint smile touched his lips.
"Oh, I've heard."