"What was that just now? Why did I feel a sudden wave of dread?"
Inside the twisting space-time tunnel, Fang Han steadied himself. That strange panic that had seized his heart moments earlier had suddenly vanished. With his current cultivation, he could often sense unseen tides of fate—but this time, he simply had no way of knowing how close he had come to dying beneath a star-crushing hand.
Wind roared.
Light pierced the darkness.
The pitch-black tunnel split open ahead of them, and everyone shot out into blinding daylight—emerging above an endless forest. In the distance stood ancient barbaric temples, massive and silent, looming in the depths of primordial jungle.
They had reappeared at the very edge of the Wild Temple region.
"Finally… the Xuanhuang World!" Elder Sword-Mad exhaled. "It really worked." He turned sharply to Fang Han. "Friend Fang Han, tell me—can you take us back into the Five Elements Realm whenever needed?"
Fang Han blinked, then immediately focused his mind on the talisman.
A pulse of joy surged through him.
He could see it—the entire Five Elements Realm.
Through the talisman, the distant star appeared at the far end of a long tunnel. Mountains, chasms, demonic lands, regions filled with poisonous mists, barren deserts—all of it displayed in faint outlines, as if viewed from afar.
The Five Elements Realm lay unimaginably distant in the star-sea. No vision, no cultivation, no realm of power within the Xuanhuang World could perceive it directly. Even Longevity realm giants could not fly there in a lifetime without space-folding arts.
And only those who grasped true spatial principles—those beyond the early Longevity stages—could traverse such folds.
Fang Han could do it only because of this talisman, inscribed with the six-syllable mantra.
It wasn't a weapon. Not a barrier. It was a passage token—nothing more and nothing less than a one-way ship pass connecting the Five Elements Realm with the Wild Temple boundary.
But now…
it was his to use freely.
"Marvelous," Fang Han breathed.
With this talisman, he could watch the Five Elements Realm at any moment.
He could return whenever he wished.
It was his private garden now.
He faced the elders.
"Of course I can enter the Five Elements Realm," Fang Han said calmly. "Elders, you can return and report everything to your sect masters. In the future, if you need passage, come find me. We can negotiate anything."
His voice cooled.
"As for the Taiyi Sect—they rely on a celestial artifact to brute-force their way inside. Every breath they keep that tunnel open drains centuries of accumulated cultivation. It won't last long."
"Exactly," Fei Tian said. "Taiyi's gate consumes power equivalent to centuries of cultivation every heartbeat. It will collapse within days. Not a long-term solution. But you—Friend Fang Han—can enter freely. It seems the Five Elements Realm truly favors you."
Danxia frowned. "There is another method: the path inside the Wild Temple. But only if one doesn't fear the curse."
"It has closed," Fang Han replied. "After I received this talisman, the Wild Temple passage sealed permanently. If anyone wants to enter now, they'll have to force open a tunnel like Taiyi."
Sword-Mad clasped his hands solemnly.
"Then we will return to our sects. Fang Han, you killed two Golden Core disciples of Taiyi—though they were at fault, the consequences will shake both righteous and demonic worlds. You must protect yourself."
Ironically, with Fang Han's current power, Sword-Mad had no arrogance to spare.
Three realms above Fang Han in cultivation, yet he knew that if Fang Han used his lifebound talisman, he himself wouldn't last two exchanges.
"Thank you for the warning, Elder," Fang Han said. "But you should also be cautious. Taiyi may strike from the shadows on your way back and blame it on me."
"Hmph. Not here in the Xuanhuang World," Sword-Mad snorted. "We carry our sect's lifebound sword talismans. If attacked, the sect master would tear space apart to reach us."
"Good. Then I take my leave. Come to Reincarnation Peak in three months for your pills."
With that, Fang Han shot into the sky—vanishing instantly.
His movement technique was now beyond miraculous. The Five Emperor Demon Arts' elemental escape light was far superior to the speed granted by the Five-Prison King Cauldron he once relied upon.
Back then he moved so fast he couldn't stop without crashing—he'd even smashed several godfolk to death by accident.
Now he was faster, quieter, smoother—able to stop or accelerate at will, as effortlessly as breathing.
Even his lifebound talisman outclassed the old cauldron's defense.
The Five Emperor Demon Arts were notoriously difficult to cultivate—but once mastered, their power rivaled natural disasters.
Just recall the "Doomsday Calamity" the twelve Golden Core disciples unleashed in the Five Elements Realm.
Fang Han now wielded something that could match it alone.
"This boy… if he survives, he'll become a titan of the ages," Danxia murmured as Fang Han vanished. "How fortunate the Yuhua Sect is to have him."
"A lifebound talisman accompanied by celestial omens—the sound of conch and celestial drums," Sword-Mad said gravely. "This is a sign of immortality. If he were in our sect, we would shelter him with everything we have."
Fei Tian nodded. "You mean the Exquisite Immortal Sovereign? When she formed her Golden Core, she produced the same omens. Now her power is immeasurable. If she still belonged to Taiyi, the sect might have already unified the world."
They exchanged glances, then dispersed—speaking excitedly of the treasures they planned to buy with Fang Han's future wealth.
Inside Fang Han's bracelet-world, Nebula Baby stirred.
"Brother Fang Han, I should head back to the sect. After so long in the Five Elements Realm, my qi feels ready to erupt—I may be breaking into the Yin-Yang Realm soon!"
"Return?" Fang Han laughed. "No need. Come to Reincarnation Peak. I still have that demon god's severed hand to refine. Now that I've mastered the Five Emperor Demon Arts and opened the Gate of Abaddon, I can handle it. Once you reach the Heaven-Man Realm, I'll help you refine Song Weiyi's Golden Core. You'll gain twenty-seven divine abilities."
He had reasons beyond generosity.
Giving Nebula Baby a Golden Core to refine meant dragging the Stars Sect onto his ship.
If Taiyi sought vengeance, they'd all have to face it together.
Nebula Baby wrinkled his nose proudly. "That works for me. Let the stars see who they're dealing with next time."
They flew for only a few hours before the Yuhua Mountains appeared on the horizon.
But Fang Han suddenly stopped mid-air.
A strange scene unfolded ahead.
Massive waves of white cloud were flowing toward a single peak—being inhaled—then exhaled—then inhaled again. The mountain seemed to breathe like some colossal primordial beast slumbering among the ranges.
"What… is that?" Fang Han whispered.
Yan's voice sharpened.
"That is Kunpeng Breathwork—swallowing rivers and exhaling seas!"