Linglong Immortal Venerable's four-thousand-year birthday celebration—an event of unprecedented scale—had finally come to an end.
At this grand gathering, Fang Han had stolen the spotlight completely. He flaunted his wealth, defeated Wan Lianshan, Jiao Fei, the Demon Marshal, and Blood Dancing Sun—crushing the last with four palm strikes—and, most astonishing of all, survived the Wind–Fire Tribulation on the arena itself. Having crossed the greatest hurdle of the Divine Ability Realm, his future path was now clear: as long as he accumulated enough vitality, advancement would be smooth and unhindered.
From this moment on, Fang Han's name spread like wildfire.
Not only throughout the immortal and demonic factions of the Xuanhuang Great World, but even among nearby extraterrestrial star domains. Everyone now knew of a cultivator who had mastered ninety divine abilities—and still lived through the Wind–Fire Tribulation.
His strength was no longer in doubt. Below the Longevity Secret Realm, he was widely acknowledged as the strongest.
Some thrill-seekers even began hoping he would clash with Fan Qingying, the top-ranked candidate on the Longevity List, to determine who truly deserved first place.
Yet Fang Han himself felt no joy.
He had been expelled from Linglong Blessed Land by the Great Sumeru Divine Light and now stood above the open sea—alongside countless other guests. Among them were even ancient giants such as Daoist Long and Daoist Mu, as well as powerful rogue cultivators.
Linglong Blessed Land had vanished entirely into the depths of spacetime. Unless one had reached the third level of the Longevity Secret Realm and grasped spatial laws, it would be impossible to find it again.
As Fang Han hovered among the crowd above the sea, he immediately sensed countless hostile gazes sweeping over him.
Like a lamb surrounded by wolves.
"This is bad," Fang Han thought grimly. "Taiyi Sect has issued a Heavenly Dao Bounty on me—offering a mid-grade Dao artifact, an immortal pill, and one hundred billion pills. The moment we leave Linglong Blessed Land, they may strike."
He knew the truth well. Unless he fled straight into the Feathered Immortal Sect and never emerged, he was in grave danger.
The sea breeze rolled across the surface.
The sky was bright, the sun blazing—it was midsummer, cloudless and clear. But above the ocean, the air was packed with artifact light, dense as a city of people. Immortal guests of every stripe filled the sky—hidden experts, mysterious figures, Golden Core elites, and cultivators at the eighth, ninth, even tenth layer of the Divine Ability Realm.
In an instant, Fang Han became the center of attention.
No one dared act immediately—the lingering authority of Linglong Immortal Venerable still weighed heavily. Yet no one was willing to leave either. The bounty on Fang Han was simply too tempting, and with so many people present, it was the perfect chance to overwhelm him together.
A tense silence descended.
Several experts quietly joined forces, sealing off the surrounding space with layers of artifact light—not attacking, but ensuring Fang Han could not escape.
"Fang Han—this is bad. We have to go!" Yan's voice rang out urgently. Freed from suppressing the Sun and Moon Essence Wheels, he had regained his full strength and instantly sensed the danger. There were simply too many cultivators here—ancient giants included. Fighting would mean certain death.
Fang Han wasted no time.
With a piercing roar, his Undying Body shifted and transformed. Vast mana surged through his five seas of consciousness like a raging ocean storm. His golden core—containing ninety-three divine abilities—burst forth, blazing brighter than the sun as he shot straight upward, intent on tearing through the encirclement and escaping.
The shockwave alone sent weaker cultivators reeling. Some lost control of their artifacts and plunged into the sea below.
In the blink of an eye, Fang Han pierced into the Nine Heavens Gale Layer.
Barrier after barrier shattered before him. Artifacts broke apart. Abyssal demonic energy roared around him as the Bridge of Naihe spanned the void, opening a path through space itself.
His speed now approached three thousand times the speed of sound—nearly rivaling the Instant Slaughter Art once used by Feng Baiyu three thousand years ago. Only his Undying Body and golden core allowed him to endure such velocity without collapsing.
Even tenth-layer Divine Ability experts could only watch helplessly as he fled.
Having survived the Wind–Fire Tribulation, Fang Han was terrifying even without artifacts. And now, wielding the Yellow Springs Diagram—an upper-grade Dao artifact on par with the Indestructible Lightning Talisman, the Eye of the End of Law, the Great Chaos Thunder Sword, the Azure Sea Divine Pearl, and the War God Whip—he was even more formidable.
Whoosh!
The Nine Heavens Gale howled as Fang Han broke free. Far below, hundreds of miles across the sea, artifact lights flickered—some were still chasing.
"You borrowed my four Nirvana Pills to survive the Wind–Fire Tribulation, and now you think you can just leave?" A voice thundered.
The gale twisted violently as an ancient giant forced his way through—Daoist Mu.
This ancient sophora tree demon was terrifyingly strong, matching Fang Han's speed with ease.
Such was the difference between the Longevity Secret Realm and the Divine Ability Realm—worlds apart.
Though Daoist Mu was only at the first level of longevity, the Ten Thousand Longevity Realm, the pressure he exuded was overwhelming—like the weight of all four seas crashing down.
Green qi filled the surroundings as he shook his body. Boundless wood-element astral energy surged forth, and entire forests of sophora trees sprouted within the gale layer.
Each tree was alive, its branches stretching thousands of feet, binding toward Fang Han like immortal-binding ropes.
"I can't get entangled," Fang Han decided instantly. "Not now."
With a thunderous roar, his body shrank. The Yellow Springs Diagram shook violently as he stood upon the Bridge of Naihe. Behind him, gates of Abi Hell burst open, spewing endless abyssal demonic energy.
The moment the demonic energy touched the sophora forests, they withered instantly, collapsing into black ash. Though formed from an ancient giant's astral energy, they were nothing before a treasure of the Yellow Springs Diagram's level.
The Bridge of Naihe pierced through space.
Fang Han vanished in a flash.
"Slippery brat—did you really think you could escape?"
Ahead of him, deep within the gale layer, another figure emerged—Daoist Long.
He exhaled sharply.
A breath fiercer than the Nine Heavens Gale itself exploded forth, each gust like countless flying blades, sealing Fang Han's path.
"Eightfold Pagoda! Sun and Moon Essence Wheels—kill!"
Fang Han struck without hesitation.
With a sweep of his sleeve, a pagoda blazing with boundless Buddhist light burst forth—the newly refined Eightfold Pagoda.
"Om Mani Padme Hum!"
"Om Mani Padme Hum!"
"Om Mani Padme Hum!"
The Six-Syllable True Mantra echoed across the void. Millions of heavenly demons, over a thousand Demon Kings, the Wheel-Turning Sacred King, and the artifact spirits of the Sun and Moon all chanted in unison, shaking the Five Elements Land Talisman.
Fang Han poured mana into the pagoda without restraint. The three artifact spirits swelled like overinflated balloons, their power skyrocketing.
"What is this artifact?!" Daoist Long recoiled instinctively.
The combined aura—millions chanting mantras, mysterious Buddhist power drawn from the void, three mid-grade Dao artifacts, millions of demons, tens of thousands of treasures—was overwhelming.
"Kill!"
The Wheel-Turning Sacred King's killing intent erupted.
Buzz!
The Eightfold Pagoda spun thousands of times faster, expanding until it rivaled the Blood Dragon Crystal Mountain itself. Inside, 3.6 million demons and over a thousand Demon Kings unleashed their artifacts simultaneously.
The Sun and Moon Essence Wheels merged into the torrent.
A cataclysmic force surged forth—so powerful it shook space and time themselves.
This was a flood of artifacts.
An unstoppable radiance.
Even daylight paled before it—boundless, supreme brilliance.
"Sun and Moon Essence Wheels—mid-grade Dao artifacts!" Daoist Long cried out in shock.
He hastily erected over a hundred layers of astral barriers—but they were obliterated instantly.
"Aro Blood Explosion Art!"
At the brink of destruction, Daoist Long revealed the terrifying decisiveness of an ancient giant. He spread his left hand and snapped his fingers—
Pop!
All five fingers exploded into blood mist, transforming into five identical bodies that charged forward one after another. Each detonated upon contact with the artifact torrent, filling heaven and earth with blood fog.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Five explosions rang out.
The artifact flood finally stalled.
Daoist Long himself had already fled thousands of miles away, barely evading Fang Han's crushing punch hidden within the torrent.
He had sacrificed five fingers to survive.
And unlike Fang Han, he did not possess an Undying Body.
Those fingers would never grow back.