"It's so strange, Fang Han," Yan muttered. "You caused such a huge commotion, yet Meng Shaobai still swallowed it down. Especially when you called him a half-man, half-monster freak—under normal circumstances, he'd have cut you down on the spot. At the very least, he'd have started a fight to the death, consequences be damned."
Meng Shaobai's sudden restraint was completely out of character.
"It's not that strange." Fang Han spoke calmly, seeing through the situation with crystalline clarity. "He's using every breath to refine the Kunpeng essence and merge it into his own Heaven-and-Earth Avatar. Once he succeeds, he'll step into the Ninth Layer of Divine Ability. He knows I'm provoking him, but he has to endure. The more I insult him, the more pent-up rage he accumulates. When it reaches its peak, it'll explode—and he'll unleash all that killing intent on me."
Fang Han's lips curved slightly. "One month. That's all he needs to complete his Heaven-and-Earth Avatar. I'm genuinely curious how powerful he'll be once he fuses with the Kunpeng's life source."
"Of course," he added, "by the time he gets there, I don't know what stage I'll have reached either. Enough talk—let's help Princess Hongyi and Crane Fairy break into the Divine Ability realm first."
What came next was painstaking work.
Fang Han merged the blood-rain condensed from the Demon God's severed hand with his own Azure Emperor Wood-Essence True Qi, refining them into threads of pure vitality. He guided this power into Princess Hongyi and Crane Fairy, igniting the transformation within their bodies.
With the massive influx of refined energy, both woman and bird finally stepped across the threshold into the Divine Ability realm.
Hongyi's breakthrough was smooth.
Crane Fairy's, however, triggered a dramatic metamorphosis—white feathers vibrating with radiant light, her entire body rippling with spiritual force as if on the verge of vaporizing. Power burst from her in waves. Though not as terrifying as the earlier evolution of the Blackwater King Serpent, it wasn't far off.
When powerful beasts enter the Divine Ability realm, their raw force nearly always eclipses that of humans.
Now that Crane Fairy had crossed the threshold, only one trial remained: she needed to withstand heavenly thunder alone. If she survived, her feathers would fall away, and she would take human form. But this test was exceedingly dangerous—one no one could help her with.
Meanwhile, Nebula Child had already absorbed the demon god's remnant essence. Paired with Fang Han's guidance in deciphering the twenty star-based abilities of the Star-Destroying Thieves, he experienced a sudden jolt of enlightenment when they reached the final technique—The Infinite Tome of Stars.
In a single breath, his qi split and recombined, and he advanced to the Fourth Layer, the Yin-Yang Realm.
This ability—The Infinite Tome of Stars—was a vast and mysterious art that drew upon the power of myriad stars to create a limitless celestial scripture. Even the Starry Sky Sect didn't possess anything like it. No one knew where the Star-Destroying Thieves had learned it.
Nebula Child frowned, thinking hard. "The Infinite Tome of Stars… could it be from the legendary Palace of Limitless Stars? If cultivated to its peak, you can refine real stars—pull them into your scripture…"
"The Palace of Limitless Stars?" Fang Han raised a brow. "Another sect beyond the Ten Immortal Gates?"
"It's not a sect from our world at all," Nebula Child explained, scratching his head. "It's a colossal power deep in the distant cosmos. Even the Taiyi Sect might not match it. My dad mentioned it once. I've also found fragments of its history buried in the ancient archives of our Starry Sky Sect."
Yan nodded gravely. "People say the Xuanhuang World is ruled by the Ten Immortal Gates, Seven Demon Lineages, Five Monster Clans, and the underground fiends… but that's only the surface. Countless ancient experts hide in dimensional fractures, places where even the Yellow Springs Emperor refused to tread. And beyond this world, the starry void conceals unfathomable forces. Think about the mysterious man we met in the Primordial Immortal Mansion… the Demon Lord sealed in the Five Elements… the one whose hand turned into the Five Elemental Spirit Roots… and all those extraterritorial demons. This world is dangerous beyond imagination."
"The Palace of Limitless Stars," he continued, "may be just another giant lurking in the dark. Any sect capable of creating a technique like The Infinite Tome of Stars is terrifying beyond words. Star-force is the most profound and volatile power in the universe. Each star emits its own unique energy—combine them recklessly, and they will explode. Even the Yellow Springs Emperor possessed several star-based divine abilities, but he never taught them to disciples. Too dangerous."
Fang Han smiled. "Then when Meng Shaobai reaches the Ninth Layer in a month, I'll need to reorganize every divine ability I've cultivated so far. I'll need absolute certainty for that battle. His confidence isn't baseless—he must have hidden trump cards."
"Once you master the Five Emperors Demon-God Techniques, you'll be unbeatable," Yan said proudly.
"Six-Eyed God-Sealing Stele."
Fang Han didn't respond. Instead, he summoned Zhao Xuanyi's most powerful treasure: the Six-Eyed God-Sealing Stele. Ever since Zhao Xuanyi's death, the six stone tablets had fallen silent, yet Fang Han could sense their terrifying power. He was eager to study them.
Each stele was etched with countless runes. At its center, a single eye stared outward, emanating unfathomable mystery.
Fang Han infused his energy into it—but to his surprise, the stele violently rejected him. He frowned and flipped his hand, retrieving Zhao Xuanyi's golden core.
Twenty-seven divine abilities flickered within the Dan—most were from Taiyi Sect: Black Sun Wind Disaster, Great Sun Fire Disaster, and so on. But buried deep in the core was a different ability entirely.
A golden decree.
A glowing script.
A divine writ—forming the backbone of the golden core itself.
"Not made from the Five Elements?" Fang Han inhaled sharply.
In the cultivation world, whether one refined a natal talisman or a golden core, the foundation was always the Five-Element Divine Qi. Even the Five Emperors Demon-God Techniques didn't break this rule.
But Zhao Xuanyi's core was built from something else entirely.
A completely different system.
"What kind of art is this? The God-Sealing Art?"
Fang Han's interest sharpened. The deeper he observed, the more the art revealed itself:
The God-Sealing Scripture.
A technique that drew six indescribable energies from the void, channeling them into the six internal organs. They intertwined and condensed into six currents of God-Sealing Qi, forming a God-Sealing Array with unpredictable power.
The universe contained countless types of qi—beyond the Five Elements, beyond sun and moon, beyond starlight. Practicing divine abilities was nothing more than selecting, refining, and integrating the right energies.
The God-Sealing Scripture selected six extremely rare types.
"Five Elements temper the five organs… and the God-Sealing Art fortifies the six internal organs?" Fang Han ran his tongue across his teeth.
The realization opened a new door—a deeper level of cultivation, a path edging closer to the realm of longevity.
Yan exhaled in awe. "I've heard of the God-Sealing Art but never understood it. I never imagined its core wasn't the Five Elements at all, but the refining of the six organs into God-Sealing Qi. If you could absorb that golden core, your own talisman foundation would leap forward. But your mind-sea can't hold another core—you'd explode."
Fang Han's eyes gleamed. "Then I'll cultivate it from scratch."
Closing his eyes, he entered the visualization of the God-Sealing Art, imagining the depths of the universe, countless dimensions, and six strands of primal essence drifting toward him.
His spiritual will was terrifyingly strong—his natal talisman unmatched. In just moments, he felt space tremble, and six faint, mysterious currents of energy slipped into his six internal organs.
Only immortal qi could not be drawn without stepping into the Longevity Realm. But other qi? If one's spirit was strong enough, they could be seized.
As the God-Sealing energies fused into his organs, they began to intertwine with the Five-Element energies of his five viscera.
Something was changing.
Something new was beginning.
The path forward opened wider.