"Fang Han… you're not actually thinking of scheming against Dragon Daoist and Wood Daoist, are you?" Qiu Xiyu stared at him, eyes darting as she felt the sudden chill in her heart. She sensed countless plots turning behind his silence — calculating, ruthless, unknowable. Immediately she warned, "Those two are ancient titans who've reigned for ages. They rule Dragon–Wood Star, command a sect with hundreds of thousands of disciples, and wield influence far beyond loose cultivators. They're not on par with the Ten Great Immortal Sects, but nowhere near weak. And Wood Daoist especially — he was born from a primordial saola tree. A natural beast, innately powerful. After becoming a demon and stepping into the Longevity Realm, he grew even more terrifying. He's on the verge of completing the Undying Body. Once perfected, he will be nearly impossible to kill."
"Is that so? Thank you for the reminder, Elder. But I have my own ways of dealing with them." Fang Han's smile was cold, unhurried. "I know exactly how frightening Longevity experts are. I've no desire to offend them without reason. But since they've already decided to target me, I won't pretend to be meek. Their advantage is not absolute anymore — they can't just raise a hand and squash me. Even ants struggle before they die. Why shouldn't I?"
"True," Qiu Xiyu admitted. "Your power now… you've forged your Golden Core and are close to crossing the Wind–Fire Tribulation. Once you survive it, form your Heaven–Earth Dharma Body, reverse your fate, and step into the tenth level of the Divine Ability Realm — then you'll truly be able to contend with those ancient Longevity giants."
She continued, "But right now? Your realm is still too low. Your mental ocean and essence aren't enough to fully drive your Golden Core. Against a true powerhouse, you'll run dry. Take your four palms against Blood Wuyang — yes, the power was immense. But how many times can you sustain that? Seven? Eight? If he had survived those blows, you would've exhausted your essence and been left helpless."
"I can strike ten times," Fang Han said honestly. "Blood Wuyang could never withstand that."
"Ten…" Qiu Xiyu nodded slightly. "Enough to crush him. But an ancient titan? That's a different story."
With a turn of her wrist, she absorbed the entire Ten-Thousand Ripple Immortal Sword Array — tens of thousands of flying swords and the grand diagram — straight into her body. Fang Han's brows rose sharply. Inside her, the array didn't remain intact; the swords seemed to melt into her flesh and merge with her very essence.
Her Heaven–Earth Dharma Body… had vanished.
Her flesh and her Dharma Body were one.
"After stepping into the Longevity Realm, the second stage — the Undying Body — requires the fusion of your flesh, your primordial spirit, and your Dharma Body into a single whole," Qiu Xiyu explained calmly. "Then you must comprehend the true essence of immortality. Once you do, even if your body is shattered into ashes, you can regrow entirely. I am right at the threshold — the brink between the Ten-Thousand-Year Realm and the Undying Body. I've fused flesh and Dharma Body, but I still lack the final insight. Your Forget-Emotion Water and this sword formation have aided me greatly."
She glanced at him, almost amused.
"Only by attaining the Undying Body can one be truly safe. A Longevity expert of the first stage — the Ten-Thousand-Year Realm — is mighty, but not unkillable. The Undying Body, though… killing one of those is nearly impossible."
She continued teaching him, unreserved:
"On the Longevity Candidate List, the top three — Fan Qingying, Yan Shuiyi, and Hua Tiandu — each harbor grand ambitions. They are holding back, gathering strength, waiting for the moment they reach their absolute peak before breaking into the Longevity Realm. Why? Because at the instant one steps into the Longevity Realm, there is a fleeting chance to touch the Gate of the Immortal World — to draw in its essence and receive a sliver of its grand Dao laws."
Fang Han listened silently, absorbing every word.
"If your foundation is deep enough," Qiu Xiyu said, "you will receive more of those insights. And that will determine your future potential. But that opportunity comes only once. Miss it, and it never returns."
She gave him a pointed look.
"Entering each stage of the Longevity Realm is harder than cultivating the entire ten layers of Divine Ability. A thousand times harder."
"I understand." Fang Han nodded slowly. It matched what he had once heard — back when he trained with that mysterious figure in the Taiyuan Immortal Mansion for eighteen years. Back then his realm had been too low to understand. Now everything fell into place.
"If I gather enough strength," he thought, "reach Divine Ability level ten, refine my foundation to its utmost, and then consume the Seven-Life Profound Gate Pill… could I break into the Longevity Realm and instantly achieve the Undying Body?"
Qiu Xiyu suddenly sent a discreet thread of divine sense into his mind, clearly avoiding letting Yan hear it.
"You are close, but not close enough. Your enemy Hua Tiandu is planning exactly that path. He has acquired a Life-Creation Pill and intends to consume it at the moment of his breakthrough, merging with the spirit of his upper-grade Dao Artifact — the Great Wilderness Furnace. Our sect master, Linglong Celestial Venerable, has already deduced that achieving the Undying Body at the moment of breakthrough requires one thing: an upper-grade Dao Artifact. Fuse its material form and spirit into your flesh and primordial spirit simultaneously. That is the shortcut."
She gave him a long, heavy look.
"I don't even have such an artifact. But you… you have the Yellow Springs Diagram. A supreme-grade Dao Artifact. If you merge it into your body at the moment of breakthrough, achieving the Undying Body will be easy. However—"
Her voice grew solemn.
"Linglong Celestial Venerable has calculated another thing. One day, the Yellow Springs Diagram may become your obstacle."
"An obstacle?" Fang Han frowned. She was clearly hiding something from Yan. And she was clearly hiding something from him as well.
But Fang Han trusted neither of them.
He believed in no one but himself.
Qiu Xiyu's brief loss of composure earlier — when she saw that green thread and muttered "Myriad-Tribulation Sentimental Thread" — proved she harbored her own secrets.
Whatever her intentions, he would simply play along.
"Enough talk." Qiu Xiyu stood up. "You've never fought a Longevity Realm titan before, have you? Dragon Daoist and Wood Daoist are on the same tier as myself. Since they plan to trouble you once this birthday celebration ends, you should experience what it feels like. Attack me with everything you have."
She wanted to measure his current limits.
"Perfect," Fang Han thought. "This is exactly what I need."
"Very well." He rose and cupped his hands respectfully. "I will strike."
A shockwave burst from his body — ten thousand internal vibrations in an instant — and he vanished. In a fraction of a blink, he reappeared at Qiu Xiyu's left flank and unleashed a punch containing the strength of one hundred million charging warhorses.
A blow that could crack the sea and shatter mountains.
Ninety divine abilities surged behind it, forming a blazing corona of gold, bright enough to tear through the palace roof.
But—
Boom.
The unstoppable force struck a soft, deceptively gentle palm.
Qiu Xiyu caught the blow like she was catching falling silk.
Fang Han's essence thundered into her body — only to dissolve like a river falling into an endless ocean, powerful but incapable of stirring its depths.
"Good!" Fang Han roared.
His body split into shadows, then solidified into nine real bodies stepping through the air in perfect unison. Each figure drove forward a blow of absolute destruction, aimed at the nine vital apertures of Qiu Xiyu's body.
Nine mountains of force. Nine dragons of power.
Each punch carried a faint hint of claws, scales, horns — dragon manifestations forming within pure force.
One Dragon Force.
One Dragon Force equaled one hundred million stampeding steeds.
He could unleash ten such punches in total.
One had already been spent.
Now the remaining nine descended together — a storm of dragon force meant to crush even an Undying Body.
Fang Han wasn't holding back.
He wanted to see — just how terrifying were the ancient titans of the Longevity Realm?