"These are Metalbane Needle Wasps—lifeforms born from pure Geng Metal qi. They're terrifying. Their tail-spines can fire metal-piercing needles that cut straight through Daoist defensive qi. Even spirit-grade treasures can't block them. One wasp, if it strikes without warning, can kill a Divine Ability cultivator who isn't protected by an artifact. Don't let those needles touch your flesh—once they burrow in, they'll pierce the brain and destroy your abilities instantly!"
Yan's voice cracked like a whip the moment the golden cloud appeared—an ocean of shimmering metallic hornets rushing toward them.
Fang Han didn't need the warning. The Five-Element Land was proving to be more nightmarish by the minute. A self-detonating Demon King, the Teng Snake, a flock of ten thousand Fire Ravens—each encounter deadlier than the last. Even with artifact protection, even with his increasing power, Fang Han knew a misstep meant death.
Worse yet, he lacked a true defensive treasure.
Blood Sky was a blade—a monstrous one—but it had no defensive power. The Yellow Springs Diagram and the Gate of Hell were devastating against demons, ghosts, and spirits, but against pure physical force—flying swords, divine blasts—they weren't invincible.
Fortunately, they had the Sun-Moon Five-Star Bracelet.
At the critical moment, Baby Xingyun thrust out his hands. A swirling sphere of astral light sprang to life and enveloped the entire group from head to toe.
Just in time.
The golden cloud of wasps accelerated—faster than most flying swords, nearly twice the speed of sound. Before a heartbeat had passed, they were overhead.
And then—
PSSSSHHHT!
A rain of golden needles erupted from the wasps' tails.
Hundreds of thousands of them.
The needles struck the starlight shield with crackling impacts, shaking it violently. Some even pierced the first layer of the barrier—only to be shredded by the dense star-force within, crushed into pure metal essence.
"Ah! If the bracelet were any weaker, we'd be dead!" Baby Xingyun's face turned pale. His robes were magical, but nowhere near enough to withstand a storm like this. Even if the first volley didn't kill them, the second or third certainly would.
Fang Han felt a cold sweat touch his spine. If the star-shield shattered, he had nothing capable of stopping those metal darts. These weren't man-made magic needles—they were a natural disaster, the kind no mortal or ordinary cultivator could hope to survive.
He responded instantly.
"White Emperor—Metal Sovereign Slash!"
His breath turned into a beam of platinum radiance. A blade of white-gold light snapped into existence and swept through the air like a dragon, devouring the shattered metal essence and growing sharper by the second.
Then it struck.
Thousands of wasps erupted into metal dust as the blade carved through them, their essence flowing straight into Fang Han's Metal Emperor qi, strengthening it further.
But the swarm wasn't done.
A larger cluster of wasps suddenly converged in midair—interlocking, merging—
And formed a massive golden sword.
With a shriek of metal, it hacked downward.
The force was immense—it actually stopped Fang Han's Metal Sovereign Slash for a moment.
"Well I'll be damned… they can combine their bodies to mimic divine weapons." Fang Han was momentarily stunned. Then his mind blazed with new calculations.
He unleashed fire.
Two mighty fire techniques burst out—Vermilion Bird Dance and Phoenix Cry—turning the sky into a sea of flame.
Fire overcomes Metal.
Or so he thought.
But the wasps flew through the inferno completely unharmed, weaving in and out of the flames as if mocking him. Only two fires worked on them—the Crimson Emperor Fire Qi and the blazing solar fury of the Great Sun Fire Disaster.
"Unbelievable… If I could tame these things, they'd be unstoppable." Fang Han's heart trembled at the thought. But these wasps were living creatures, not treasures. To subdue them, he'd need soul-binding devil techniques—and even that wasn't guaranteed.
Even Golden Core fire arts couldn't melt them. In an imperial auction, a single wasp would fetch a fortune.
But today, they'd all become fuel.
"Then turn into metal essence—and strengthen my blade!"
His left hand swept out.
Heaven-Shrouding Devil Hand and the Metal Sovereign Slash struck together.
The giant wasp-sword snapped apart, crushed into sparkling metal dust, then absorbed into Fang Han's growing white-gold aura.
Battle erupted in full force.
Fang Han became a living storm—divine blade arcs flashing, the devil hand crushing swarms by the thousands. The Five-Star Bracelet shield held strong, and Blood Sky's demonic energy howled in satisfaction as wasp after wasp fell.
Wave after wave fell before him.
Their condensed Geng Metal essence flooded into the Metal Emperor qi until it shone like a miniature sun. A thousand wasps were stronger than a mineral vein. Tens of thousands poured into his technique.
The blade grew sharper.
Faster.
More ruthless.
Until finally—
At a mere thought, the white-gold sword-light blinked across the sky and sliced a wasp in half before its wings could twitch.
A true instant-kill.
Time blurred.
One hour.
Two.
Three.
Fang Han spent his strength repeatedly, drained his reserves dry—only for the World Tree to flood him with fresh immortal energy, restoring his power again and again.
Finally—
Silence.
The rain of golden needles ceased.
The cloud of wasps vanished.
Only drifting motes of metal essence remained.
He looked up.
The heavens were empty.
The swarm was gone—
slaughtered to the last wasp.
The White Emperor Metal Sovereign Slash had doubled in strength, its single ray of sword-light now rivaling a top-grade flying sword like the Ghost-Serpent Blade or the Blood-Soul Destroyer.
Fang Han dropped from the skies.
"Let's get to the ground and rest. Conceal your qi." He used Sea Mirage Qi to suppress his aura, but kept every defense active—no one who'd survived this long in the Five-Element Land would dare relax.
He barely touched the ground when—
BOOM!
Jets of water burst from the earth, swirling together into monstrous fish with jagged fangs and vicious eyes.
Some spat water arrows.
Others launched dense water bombs that exploded against the starlight barrier.
"Again?! These are Water-Surge Fish, born from pure Kui Water essence… We'll have to kill them all," Yan sighed bitterly.
Fang Han didn't waste breath.
He simply unleashed power—
Black Emperor Water Fist, devil arts, the Heaven-Shrouding Hand sweeping through the crazed swarm.
Compared to the metal wasps, these fish were easier prey…
except for the water bombs, which hammered the protective barrier relentlessly.
The fight dragged on.
The Blood Night King blade dimmed with fatigue.
The Five-Star Bracelet's glow flickered.
Even the artifacts were growing tired.
Fang Han fed them power, forcing strength back into them, while the World Tree poured rivers of immortal qi through his soul, converting it into endless divine energy.
Had it not been for the World Tree, he would have collapsed long ago.
Half a day passed.
He had no energy left to refine even a single Nascent Soul Pill—every drop of immortal qi was spent in battle.
"Terrifying… Even a Golden Core master would've dried up long ago. He's fought for hours without pause and still hasn't run out!" Xingchan whispered, stunned to the core.
Finally—
CRACK.
The last enormous water-whale exploded in Fang Han's devil grip, dissolving into pure essence.
The Kui Water qi surged into the Black Emperor Water Fist—
And the divine technique began
to evolve.