"The Human Emperor's Brush truly lives up to its name. Three hundred Grand Dao Laws unleashed in a single stroke. If I were Hatred Heaven God-Emperor, even with half an Undying Body, I'd already be finished—body collapsing, head shattered, Golden Core destroyed, the Eightfold Pagoda pulverized, even the entrance to the Yellow Springs Diagram obliterated. There would be no chance of survival at all."
As Fang Han resisted Hatred Heaven God-Emperor's colossal grasp and the suppression of the Hatred Heaven Compass, his divine sense slipped through the Yellow Springs Diagram, observing the battlefield outside. He "saw" the Human Emperor's Brush hurl three hundred Grand Dao Laws in one breath, condensing them into a vast torrent that flooded heaven and earth, leaving Hatred Heaven God-Emperor nowhere to flee and nowhere to hide.
Among those three hundred Dao Laws were some Fang Han had cultivated himself, others he recognized by name—but many more were completely unfamiliar. None of the supreme-ranked Daos were present: no Great Reincarnation, no Great Wish, no Great Yin-Yang, no Great Calamity, no Great Five Elements. And yet, when three hundred Dao Laws fused into a single current, Fang Han felt the boundless, ancient might of the Human Emperor's Brush. Though now only a supreme Dao Artifact, it had once been an Immortal Artifact—a divine brush of the Heavenly Dao itself, used to inscribe the laws of existence.
Whoever wielded it could command the Dao.
That torrent of three hundred laws sealed Hatred Heaven God-Emperor's fate. It was as if an unseen force of destiny had locked onto his soul; aside from meeting the attack head-on, no other possibility remained.
"Human Emperor's Brush—then I'll stake everything against you!"
Cracks spread across Hatred Heaven God-Emperor's purple-gold shell, as though a terrifying divine force were burning from within. The nine-fingered hand reaching for the Yellow Springs Diagram recoiled, as did the Hatred Heaven Compass.
"Dominating heaven and earth! God-Emperor rends the skies! Divine realm collapses—Rend the Heavens!"
Purple-gold flames erupted from his body, surging upward. Layer upon layer of earth melted into nothingness, erased by the blaze. The flames shot up ten thousand zhang, threatening to pierce the surface. This battle was taking place a hundred thousand zhang underground, yet Hatred Heaven God-Emperor's fire seemed ready to melt the crust itself and burst into the skies.
He braced himself on three legs, three arms whipping and stretching. In less than a thousandth of an instant, he formed countless bizarre hand seals. In an even shorter fraction of time, his three faces spat out three syllables—sounds no one could decipher, as if they were the primordial voices spoken at the birth of the God Race itself.
Even Fang Han, who had mastered the Eight Dragon Sounds and understood the profundity of tonal laws, could not comprehend or reproduce those syllables.
"Rend!"
Hatred Heaven God-Emperor surged out of the purple-gold flames, arms flailing as he unleashed an ancient divine art. The arcs traced by his movements leapt and twisted, composing a symphony of utter destruction and death.
"Seal the entrance to the Yellow Springs Diagram—now! If the aftermath gets inside, everything will be overturned. Even the Great Chaos Thunder Sword won't be able to suppress it!"
The diagram's will spread through space like lightning. The Gate of Abi and the Bridge of Helplessness materialized at the entrance. Fang Han moved instantly, planting himself there. He raised his Natal Golden Core and mobilized half of his Undying Body.
He had just consumed four Supreme Jade Liquid Grand Restoration Pills, pushing his lifespan to its absolute limit—nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine years. His vitality was overflowing, his condition at its peak. His Golden Core trembled on the verge of shattering and transforming into a Heaven-and-Earth Dharma Form.
He used his own body to block the entrance.
Yan Shuiyi flew over as well. The two of them stood upon the Bridge of Helplessness, drawing talismans at breakneck speed, sealing the gateway with everything they had.
The moment their defenses locked into place, Hatred Heaven God-Emperor and the Human Emperor's Brush collided.
Three hundred Dao Laws slammed head-on against purple-gold divine fire, like a comet crashing into the sun and moon. A shockwave beyond imagination exploded outward.
In an instant, all light vanished.
The world lost its color.
At that moment, Fang Han's mouth, eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind all lost their function. His perception of reality collapsed completely, as though he had been thrown back into primordial chaos before heaven and earth were born. He could not sense Yan Shuiyi, could not sense the Eightfold Pagoda, could not sense the Yellow Springs Diagram.
He could not even sense his own Golden Core.
Or his own body.
He could no longer feel that he existed at all. Time itself seemed to freeze.
"Fang Han—watch out!"
After what felt like countless ages—or perhaps only a single heartbeat—Yan Shuiyi's divine thought tore through the void. Fang Han jolted awake, only to see his lower body disintegrating into ash. If not for the protection of his Golden Core above his head, he would have been obliterated entirely, never to awaken again.
Yan Shuiyi stood beside him, her clothes completely shredded, revealing pale skin. Her face was deathly white as she spat out a mouthful of blood. Fang Han even saw her Calamity Primordial Spirit shattered into multiple divine abilities within her consciousness. Her injuries were far worse than his.
They had blocked the shockwave at the entrance—and paid the price.
"Restore!"
With half an Undying Body, Fang Han fared better. At a thought, the scattered essence reassembled, reconstructing his body.
Yan Shuiyi wiped the blood from her lips, opened her eyes, and began circulating her own power to stabilize herself.
"Fang Han! You dared to use the Human Emperor's Brush to try to kill me! My body has been annihilated and sealed by that brush—only my head remains, unable to regenerate! I'll devour you. I'll devour all of you!"
A thunderous roar followed.
A colossal purple-gold head, several mu in size, appeared at the entrance of the Yellow Springs Diagram. Three faces twisted with rage—it was Hatred Heaven God-Emperor's severed head.
His three arms and three legs were gone.
Far in the distance, the Human Emperor's Brush had resumed its ancient-mountain form. Within its crystalline body, Hatred Heaven God-Emperor's headless torso was frozen like an insect trapped in amber.
At the severed neck, deep wounds gushed streams of purple-gold blood. The power of the Human Emperor's Brush had cleaved him so completely that even an Undying Body could not regenerate.
Its terror was unmistakable.
Yet severing the head and sealing the body had drained the brush considerably. It was no longer an Immortal Artifact, and it lacked a true wielder.
So when Hatred Heaven God-Emperor's head lunged toward the Yellow Springs Diagram, the Human Emperor's Brush could not pursue in time.
Hatred Heaven God-Emperor's hatred for Fang Han had reached an absolute extreme. Without Fang Han's schemes, he would never have suffered such losses. His twelve great God Kings—all slain by Fang Han. And now, lured into this place, he had encountered the Human Emperor's Brush and been utterly defeated, reduced to a single head.
Nine-tenths of his power—gone.
His hatred burned beyond words.
Taking advantage of the moment while the brush was sealing his body, he unleashed his innate divine domain, intending to swallow the Yellow Springs Diagram whole and flee.
"Courting death!"
Fang Han reacted instantly, hurling masses of Abi demonic energy infused with the aura of the World Tree, trying to suppress the God-Emperor's head.
"Domain of the Gods—cover heaven and earth!"
Hatred Heaven God-Emperor opened his mouth wide and swallowed Fang Han together with the entire Yellow Springs Diagram in one gulp. Purple divine fire erupted from his head as he shot upward, melting soil and unbreakable basalt alike, forcing his way out from the depths.
"Trying to escape?"
The Human Emperor's Brush roared, its body shrinking violently as its power condensed. With a single stroke, space itself split open. A deep裂 appeared across Hatred Heaven God-Emperor's head, nearly cleaving it apart.
"Ah! Aaaah!"
A shrill scream echoed as his vitality was ravaged once more.
"A mere God-Emperor thinks he can flee before me?" The brush's divine will swept across all directions.
But at that very moment, the sound of chains being dragged rang out from an endless sea of infernal fire. Deep within the flames, something unimaginably ferocious struggled against its bonds, pushing to break free.
Hiss—hiss—hiss—
Countless pale chains shot out from the molten inferno, wrapping tightly around the Human Emperor's Brush, preventing it from striking again.
"Heaven favors me! I will not perish! There's another ancient power sealed here!" Hatred Heaven God-Emperor's lone head howled in triumph. "When I return, I'll refine Fang Han and the others, seize their treasures, devour the spirit of the Yellow Springs Diagram, restore my strength—and then rally my race to subdue you completely, Human Emperor's Brush!"
With reckless desperation, he surged upward, bursting through the surface and vanishing.
"Damn it!" The Human Emperor's Brush roared in fury, expanding again and shredding the chains that bound it. "Fang Han carries a sapling of the World Tree. He bears the destiny of the Xuanhuang Great World. If the God Race captures him, the consequences will be catastrophic."
But from the depths of the infernal fire, a cold, echoing voice replied, "It's useless, Human Emperor's Brush. While you fought the God-Emperor, I refined half my shackles. From this day on, you can no longer suppress me. Before long, I will break free completely."
An endless torrent of pale chains erupted once more from the sea of fire, entangling the Human Emperor's Brush as the two ancient forces clashed again.