For someone to casually throw out forty billion spirit-dan just to buy four Nirvana Pills—this wasn't something even an ancient longevity tycoon could do. Truth be told, aside from someone like the First Prince of the Great Xuan Empire, a master of manipulation and hoarding wealth, no ordinary powerhouse could produce that much liquid fortune at once.
Most cultivators spend their dan as soon as they get it—buying rare treasures, strengthening their bodies and artifacts. Hoarding it like mountains of currency was almost unheard of.
If gifting high-grade artifacts earlier was merely Fang Han flexing and showing off, then producing forty billion dan now proved it wasn't bravado—he was genuinely, absurdly rich.
Forty billion dan… that sum could buy a genuine Immortal Pill.
Whispers rippled across the mountain peak:
"Dragon Daoist and Wood Daoist really had their faces slapped today… Why would Fang Han provoke two ancient giants? Is he not afraid of collecting enemies?"
"He's not that shallow. He's cunning. Those two clearly wanted to make a move against him—so he struck first, forcing everything into the open."
"That Wood Daoist is basically a living sacred tree. Fang Han's Green Emperor Wood Sovereign Art must be invaluable to him. No doubt he was after it."
"Now that Fang Han stirred the waters, if anything happens to him later, every finger will point straight at Dragon and Wood. Even the Feather Gate can retaliate openly."
"And don't forget—his strength is terrifying. He beat Blood Sun with ease, and he didn't even use Huangquan Diagram. If he summoned that… who knows how devastating it is."
"I heard the Huangquan Diagram is damaged and barely functional."
"That story is for tricking novices! If Feather Gate had a broken supreme dao-artifact, wouldn't they have fixed it long ago? And without a top-grade artifact, how could Fang Han have killed the Ghost Emperor before forming his golden core?"
"Also true…"
"If he reaches the ninth or tenth level of Divine Abilities, he might directly contend with a Longevity Realm cultivator."
"Today's far from over. After the birthday ceremony, those two old monsters will surely come knocking."
"Maybe… but Fang Han already has the power to face ancient giants head-on. Why should he look timid? In this world, every true giant was once someone who cut their way forward with sharp edges. This isn't the mortal bureaucracy—we're cultivators."
Among the spectators was a man in crystalline scholar's robes, holding a folding fan—an elegant but unfathomably deep presence. Around him stood several figures whose bodies blended faintly with the surrounding space, as if they could vanish into the void at any moment.
One man spoke:
"Master Shuijing, it seems you admire Fang Han quite a bit. Why not speak to Feng Baiyu and invite the boy to join your Crystal Sky Sect?"
Crystal Sky… one of the Ten Great Dao Sects. And this man—Shuijing Master—its sect lord.
Shuijing sighed softly.
"I truly admire him. If he joined my sect, I would spare no effort to raise him—teach him my own supreme arts, even name him my successor. With him as the next sect master, Crystal Sky could rival the Taiyi Gate within a thousand years."
Shock rippled among the giants around him. But no one doubted his judgment. Shuijing Master was famed for Innate Heavenly Fate Divination, able to glimpse past and future, life and death, fortune and calamity.
One giant smiled:
"If that is your intent, I can help you speak with Feng Baiyu. We have some old ties."
"That would be appreciated… but meaningless." Shuijing shook his head. "Even if I agree, even if Feng Baiyu agrees—there is one person in this world who won't."
The giant froze.
"You mean… the First Expert of the Xuanhuang World?"
"Yes," Shuijing murmured. "Linglong Immortal Venerable."
Right then, a tremor rolled across the summit of Mount Sumeru. A formless, overwhelming force swept out, and Shuijing instantly closed his fan, swallowing the rest of his words.
He bowed slightly toward the unseen presence.
"Linglong… I will not speak further."
The oppressive pressure dissipated.
One of the giants whispered in awe, "Her power truly surpasses us all. She is nearing true immortality. No wonder even the Supreme Emperor of Taihuang Heaven hesitates before acting against her."
A soft voice echoed through the void—Linglong Immortal Venerable herself:
"Six Paths Scion, thank you for coming to celebrate my birthday. Now, let us enjoy the spectacle. Many prodigies of both the righteous and demonic paths will soon display their talents."
Six Paths Scion bowed respectfully. Even among the ancient, he knew Linglong's power dwarfed theirs—capable of standing equal to the oldest monsters hidden since antiquity.
Just then, deep horns sounded again—wu wu wu…—and countless guests took their seats upon golden thrones suspended in midair, each one magnificent enough to make its occupant feel like a celestial sovereign.
At the summit's highest platform beneath the radiant canopy, Linglong Immortal Venerable finally arrived. From countless converging timelines, she took a single step forward. Entire dimensions trembled. Petals formed of compressed space bloomed endlessly across the sky—Heavenly Flowers Falling—and from the ground rose Golden Lotuses blossoming from the void itself.
As the heavenly petals drifted near Fang Han, he immediately sensed the dense spatial force within. Without hesitation, he unleashed his Great Devouring Art, drawing the petals into his body and fusing their essence into his Great Cutting Art.
That peerless magic required vast spatial energy to perfect. Without Void Crystals, he'd been unable to advance it. But now—Linglong's arrival alone flooded the world with spatial power.
Inside his ninety-ability golden core, a dark, twisting sigil writhed violently, refining itself. With each petal absorbed, the sigil split and reshaped into a strange three-inch-wide, nine-inch-long totem—half blade, half sword—with serrated edges and cracks of collapsing space flickering across it.
A faint thunder trembled within.
Spatial Thunder.
If it fully formed, the Great Cutting Art would reach perfection—capable of slicing even lower-grade dao-artifacts.
Fang Han exhaled slowly, satisfied.
But suddenly—
A wave of heat rose from his golden core.
Wind stirred within his mind.
His heart jolted.
"I've reached the pinnacle of the Golden Core Realm… and triggered the Wind-Fire Tribulation? Here? Now? Damn—this is the worst possible moment!"
A Golden Core's strength determined the ferocity of its tribulation. His was far too powerful—if he faced it now, he might be reduced to ash in an instant.
He immediately suppressed it with all his strength, even drawing a wisp of Abyssal Demon Qi from the Huangquan Diagram to stabilize his mind.
Just as he forced the tribulation down—
Countless voices of Linglong's disciples echoed across Mount Sumeru:
"We congratulate our Supreme Master!
May your glory endure for millennia,
your life span beyond eternity!
May the honored guests present their birthday offerings!"
The ceremony had begun.
And Fang Han sat there, tribulation simmering dangerously inside his core.
The catastrophe was approaching.