Only being able to use thirty percent of my power—this is suffocating.
Fang Han fought with a frustration that bordered on rage. Although the core of his golden core was sealed by the Grand Wish Technique—allowing him, in theory, to draw on its full strength—any violent exertion risked cracking that seal. The instant it failed, the Wind-Fire Cataclysm would erupt without mercy.
If he could use the Yellow Springs Diagram, Wan Lianshan would already be dead.
But he couldn't.
The moment the diagram appeared, the Sun–Moon Essence Wheels would tear free and escape through space. The loss would be catastrophic.
Yet despite the suppression, Fang Han's eyes burned with savage ferocity. Anyone who met that gaze would feel a chill down their spine—it was the stare of something dragged straight out of hell, a lone wolf of the plains hunting with the intent to kill in a single bite.
"You've lost your edge, Fang Han," Wan Lianshan said coldly, maintaining his Sea God Avatar as he crushed down with divine pressure. "Your golden core has reached its peak, hasn't it? The Wind-Fire Cataclysm is coming. That's why you can't unleash your full strength."
He had seen through it.
Wan Lianshan was no fool. As a cultivator who had already crossed that threshold, he instantly understood Fang Han's predicament. Still, he did not lower his guard. Instead, he mocked him—provoking, destabilizing—while quietly gathering power for a decisive strike.
Even so, he knew subduing Fang Han wouldn't be easy.
Fang Han was slippery—too slippery. The Five Emperors Grand Devil Arts suppressed all Five-Element divine abilities, subtly restraining even the Sea God Avatar itself. Normally, Wan Lianshan's strength—equivalent to fifty or sixty million galloping horses—wouldn't be worth mentioning before Fang Han.
But now, with Fang Han limited to a fraction of his power, the tables had turned.
"Fang Han!" Wan Lianshan roared, his voice laced with the island's Raging Tide Sound, a sonic divine art meant to crush demonic wills. "You plunder divine abilities recklessly, your foundation unstable! Those ninety divine arts in your golden core—nearly all stolen, not cultivated! The greater the power, the greater the calamity!"
"You cannot survive the Wind-Fire Cataclysm. You will be reduced to ash."
"Step down now," he sneered. "Leave the arena. Otherwise, the calamity will ignite—and I won't even need to kill you. You'll burn yourself into dust."
Fang Han stopped evading.
Then he laughed.
"You think you understand heaven? Dao? Rules?" His body trembled—vibrating tens of thousands of times in an instant as his will erupted. "You? A mere tenth-stage Divine Ability cultivator?"
"Heaven selects the strong. The Dao devours the weak. I seize divine arts, crush forward, dominate all paths. You wouldn't understand even if I explained it."
Boom!
Golden radiance exploded above his head. Vast streams of auspicious light shot outward like heavenly ribbons, spanning the cardinal directions. Invisible horns blared. War drums thundered.
His golden core surged forth.
Fang Han finally released it.
He no longer cared whether doing so cracked the Grand Wish Technique or triggered the Wind-Fire Cataclysm. He would kill Wan Lianshan first—and face heaven afterward.
In that instant, realization dawned.
This calamity is unavoidable.
Perhaps this battle—this pressure—is exactly what I need.
With fear cast aside, Fang Han welcomed the coming trial.
Let the Wind-Fire Cataclysm come.
Let it show its fangs.
Bang!
The moment the golden core appeared, Wan Lianshan's Sea God Avatar shattered violently. Oceanic essence ran berserk as Fang Han blurred through space, reabsorbing the golden core in a flash.
"Damn it!" Wan Lianshan's heart lurched. "He can still unleash full power!"
His Dharma Aspect had been shattered—but that was survivable. Heaven-and-Earth Avatars could be recondensed at the cost of vitality.
In a single motion, Wan Lianshan retracted his dispersed essence, blue light flooding his body as he shot upward to counterattack.
Too slow.
A colossal fist tore through the void—like an ancient demon god striking down the heavens.
Boom!
The punch slammed into Wan Lianshan's chest. The Xuantian Returning Spirit Armor erupted with blinding white light—but it failed. Formation after formation collapsed. Runes exploded.
Fang Han forced his way through the chaos, his form towering, eyes sharp as an eagle's. A halo stretched behind him like a burning trail.
One fist struck forward.
The other hand expanded, fingers spread wide.
His golden core condensed into his palm.
He clawed downward—like a divine eagle seizing prey—aimed straight at Wan Lianshan's crown.
Crack the skull, and death was certain.
Fang Han had been pushed past restraint. This was a killing move—brutal, decisive, merciless. His killing intent surged so violently that ghostly wails seemed to echo through the sky.
Then—
Wan Lianshan smiled.
"You've fallen into my trap," he said softly. "Do you really think this is all I have?"
Above his head, a crystalline pearl rose—radiant, translucent. Within it flickered a reflection of Wan Lianshan himself.
A Sea Soul Pearl.
A second primordial spirit.
Another Dao Artifact.
This was the true reason Wan Lianshan ranked fourth on the Longevity Candidates List—he, like Yan Shuoyi, possessed a Second Primordial Spirit.
The Sea Soul Pearl intercepted Fang Han's claw.
Crack—crack!
It shattered under the demonic grip, but it delayed him—just long enough.
Wan Lianshan's eyes flashed. He spat out another treasure.
It resembled a divine shark, a blade, a flying dagger—and a warship all at once. Lightning burst from its hull.
Heaven-Shattering Divine Shark Vessel.
A mid-grade Dao Artifact.
Forged from billions of vicious shark souls, tempered by millennia of celestial and terrestrial killing energies—its power existed solely to annihilate protective qi and defensive treasures.
Boom!
Lightning split the sky.
The artifact struck Fang Han head-on.
This was no ordinary thunder—it was the condensed malice of countless shark souls, destruction incarnate. Each blast required the sacrifice of billions of souls—stronger than a golden core detonation.
The impact obliterated most of Fang Han's body.
Blood and flesh exploded outward.
"Success!" Wan Lianshan exulted. "He's finished!"
Gasps rang through the crowd.
"His body—destroyed!"
"He lost!"
"So this is the end…"
"His realm was too low. Being obliterated makes sense."
"Only reincarnation can save him now."
In the blink of an eye, Fang Han's body had been blown apart—leaving only his head suspended in the air.
Everyone believed it.
Fang Han was dead.