Instantly obliterating a Xuanwu—one equal to a Golden Core powerhouse—finally made Fang Han understand just how terrifying his newly forged life-bound talisman truly was.
There was no doubt about its strength. Beyond the fifty divine abilities woven within it, its core—the Five Emperor Great Demon Divine Ability—had consumed and fused the essence of countless elemental beasts: a White Tiger, a Water Ape, a Vermilion Bird, a Serpent King, and now a Xuanwu.
Each of these beasts, in the mortal world, was equivalent to a Golden Core master. The Serpent King, in particular, rivaled an expert who had survived the eighth tribulation—Wind and Fire Calamity.
If a Longevity-realm elder captured even one of these beasts and brought it to auction, it would easily sell for a billion spirit pills—equal value to a Dao Artifact.
Pricier than the Great Brahma Lightship, pricier than the legendary elemental stones like Fire Lightning Sand, Nine Heavens Soil Crystals, or the Taibai Metal Star Stones.
Even if one piled up mountains of those five-element treasures and nourished them for a thousand years, they still might not produce a single one of these divine beasts.
Only after devouring so many did Fang Han's Five Emperor Great Demon Divine Ability finally reach perfection. The result was downright monstrous.
Of course, seeing how much essence it required, Fang Han was secretly chilled. This truly was the pinnacle of demonic cultivation. But now that it was perfected, its power made every drop of sweat, blood, and terror feel worth it.
"There's just one flaw… my Great Cutting Technique still hasn't reached perfection. If it had, the talisman's killing power would increase even further."
Within his fifty-five divine abilities, the weakest link was the Cutting Technique—because Fang Han had cultivated that one himself. Mastering such a profound art wasn't something one could do overnight.
But he wasn't worried. Once he found time to refine it to completion, the talisman's destructive power would rise again.
"Your talisman is too terrifying," Yan said, trembling with excitement. "If you push further—if it transforms into a Golden Core… just how powerful would it become?"
"Reaching the seventh realm—forming a true Golden Core—isn't something done in a day or two," Fang Han replied. "First things first—let's find the talisman that old Daoist mentioned. The one that lets us freely enter and leave the Five Elements Realm."
With a roar of wind, he shot forward.
Maybe it was the murderous aura radiating from him, or perhaps the life-bound talisman hovering above his head releasing its overwhelming pressure—but after killing the Xuanwu, not a single powerful beast dared appear. All the intelligent creatures hid. The stronger ones turned their attention to the giant portal that the Taiyi Sect and the three great sword sects had carved open in the sky.
Compared to Fang Han, that feat was on an entirely different level—only Longevity experts could forcibly split a passage through time and space.
Boom—boom—boom—boom—
Explosions ripped across the heavens as one demon king after another burst apart, their blood and essence dragged screaming into a massive apocalyptic storm cloud.
These demon kings weren't self-detonating—they were being forcibly shredded by the overwhelming power of the Day of Doom spell.
"Senior Brother Xuanyi! Why are there so many demon kings?! And all these five-element beasts! I've never seen anything like this…"
Even veteran Taiyi cultivators went pale.
Demon clouds churned endlessly. Hundreds, thousands of demon kings surged toward the spatial gate—fire ravens, golden wasp queens, serpent fiends, wood giants, water spirits—all hurling themselves at the portal like a living tide.
Several sixth-realm Heaven-Man experts panicked and released their life-bound talismans, linking them together for defense.
They had fallen straight into a nest of monsters.
But even their combined talismans—most with only six divine abilities, some with merely the basic five-element arts—were nothing compared to Fang Han's.
Still, for a cultivator in the sixth realm, even a five-ability talisman was extremely strong. Far more potent and refined than anything from the lower realms.
"What rich elemental essence!"
"This place is incredible! If not for the twelve Golden Core seniors maintaining the Day of Doom, we'd all be dead!"
"Absorb the essence! Hurry—I'm about to break through! Into the Unity Realm!"
Five-element beasts kept dying under the apocalyptic storm. The six Taiyi masters—Fortune, Longevity, Providence, Kun Yuan, Changchun, and Da Fang—absorbed the rolling tides of essence, strengthening their divine abilities.
Suddenly—
Boom!
All six of them trembled as their energy surged. Their divine abilities converged, forming new talismans that burst from their foreheads—each containing ten divine abilities.
Five basic elemental ones, and five auxiliary ones.
Ten-ability talismans—powerful, cohesive, and deadly.
"Hahaha! We've advanced! Sixth realm—Unity Realm! The Way of All Laws as One!"
They linked their talismans with the others, forming a massive defensive shell inside the Day of Doom.
"Everyone—send out your talismans! Once we find an opening, we'll break through and slay these beasts!"
One by one, every sixth-realm Taiyi disciple released their talisman, reinforcing the barrier until it resembled a colossal fortress.
"Another six have advanced… Taiyi truly lives up to its name."
The three sword sects watched in envy and shock.
"We should break away from the Day of Doom and form our own sword arrays," one said. "These demon kings may be weak by high standards, but in such numbers—they're treasure troves! Countless pills could be refined!"
"Taiyi's heritage is terrifying. And these aren't even their strongest disciples. The eighth-realm elders came, but none of the ninth or tenth-realm monsters bothered."
"Those ones must be close to entering the Longevity Realm. They wouldn't come."
"But still—twelve Golden Cores working together… their power rivals a Longevity elder! And the Unity Realm cultivators too…"
"Taiyi has twelve Golden Cores, twenty-plus Unity Realm experts, and over two hundred Heaven-Man experts. Compared to them, our sects are children playing with sticks."
"We need to strengthen ourselves or the upcoming Immortal Dao Conference will crush us."
"Form arrays! Hunt the beasts! And stay close to Taiyi's barrier—if anything goes wrong, we retreat into it."
The speaker was an imposing elder of the Sun-Moon Sword Sect—
the Sword Maniac, a ninth-realm titan.
Yet even he couldn't face the Day of Doom.
Instantly, all three sword sects agreed. Sword formations unfolded, creating draconic blades that swept across the battlefield, carving through demon kings and beasts alike.
Even self-destructing demon kings couldn't breach the combined sword arrays.
"Hmph. Those sword sect elders aren't fools," a Taiyi disciple muttered. "We treat them like vanguards, and they treat us like a shield."
The speaker was Wang Tianyi, a prodigy in the eighth realm—Wind and Fire Tribulation. His Golden Core floated behind him like a blazing miniature sun.
It held twenty-seven divine abilities—a sign of absolute dominance.
"Let them do as they wish," said Song Wei. "These minor beasts aren't worth much anyway. The real prizes are the true five-element divine beasts—Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, Xuanwu, the Serpent King. Each one we obtain will massively boost our strength."
Suddenly—a streak of light shot out from the spatial tunnel, turning into a message talisman.
Wang Tianyi grabbed it, and the will of Taiyi's sect master surged into the minds of the twelve Golden Cores.
"The elders have calculated it—the center of the Five Elements Realm holds a mountain. On it lies a talisman. Remove it, and you will be able to freely enter and exit the realm. It is the key to controlling it. Retrieve it at any cost."
"To freely control the Five Elements Realm?!"
"Move! Now!"
At once, all Taiyi disciples rallied and surged forward like a tidal wave.