"This is bad—we're trapped. Hatred Heaven God-Emperor has swallowed us into his divine domain."
Hidden within the Yellow Springs Diagram, Fang Han peered out through its entrance. All he could see was an endless expanse of hazy void. Chaotic energy churned everywhere, writhing like living flesh. Each pulsation sent a crushing force crashing down on the diagram, grinding it relentlessly.
It felt as though they had been swallowed into a grotesque stomach—one intent on digesting the Yellow Springs Diagram itself.
The entrance shook violently as the surging chaos slammed against it. Boom, boom, boom—the layers of restriction seals began to crack apart one by one.
If the entrance failed, the chaotic energy outside would flood in. The Great Chaos Thunder Sword and Fan Qingying, suppressed within the diagram, would break free. In that chaos, Fang Han and the others would inevitably fall prey to Hatred Heaven God-Emperor.
"This is worse than I thought," Yan Shuiyi said grimly, opening her eyes as her injuries healed by more than half. "Hatred Heaven God-Emperor must have shaken off the Human Emperor's Brush and is fleeing. He's probably heading back to the Fang Isles. With the formation built from the Taotie fangs and his divine domain combined, he can refine us completely."
Her gaze fixed on the writhing chaos outside.
A voice heavy with endless hatred echoed into the diagram.
"Hahaha… As expected of Taiyi Sect's number-one True Disciple—the reincarnation of the Water God Primordial Spirit. You guessed my intentions perfectly. You schemed against me, but you miscalculated by one move. The Human Emperor's Brush was suppressing an ancient primordial terror. During our clash, that being used the chaos to loosen its shackles. Now the brush is tied down, and I escaped. Though I'm reduced to a single head, you're still no match for me. My divine domain remains intact. I'll melt you down completely. Just wait until I reach the Fang Isles and activate the grand formation—I'll refine every last one of you!"
The chaotic energy outside thickened rapidly. Cracking sounds echoed from all directions as space itself seemed on the verge of being torn apart by the immense, writhing pressure.
"What do we do?" Fang Han and Yan Shuiyi exchanged a look. The situation was dire.
Both summoned their Natal Golden Cores and Primordial Spirits, pouring all their strength into stabilizing the entrance.
But as the chaos grew denser and the pressure mounted, even they began to falter. Within the Yellow Springs Diagram, the suppressed Great Chaos Thunder Sword and Fan Qingying started to stir again.
"At this rate, we'll be refined sooner or later," Yan Shuiyi said. "Hatred Heaven God-Emperor is terrifying. Fang Han—you're full of tricks. Do you have any last resort?"
"At this point, there's no reason to hide anything," Fang Han replied calmly. "I'll give you my remaining two Divine Ability Fruits—True God Seeds. Use them to forge half an Undying Body. In return, give me the remaining five Supreme Jade Liquid Grand Restoration Pills. I'll try to break through to the Ninth Layer of the Divine Ability Realm—the Heaven-and-Earth Dharma Form. That's our only chance."
"…Fine. It's the only way."
Yan Shuiyi immediately tossed out the last five pills. Fang Han, without hesitation, infused the two Divine Ability Fruits into her body. Both of them sat cross-legged at the entrance, circulating their cultivation techniques at full speed while deploying every divine ability they had to reinforce the diagram's power.
Yan let out a thunderous roar. His thousand-zhang-long body coiled around the Bridge of Helplessness, the Gate of Abi blazing behind him as he stood at the very front, resisting wave after wave of compressed chaos.
"Trying to break through?" Hatred Heaven God-Emperor sneered. "Delusional. It seems I'll have to activate the One Breath Refining Immortals Grand Formation and melt you all down."
High within the Nine Heavens' astral winds, a massive purple-gold head—several mu in size—shot through the void. A hideous scar marred its surface, left behind by the Human Emperor's Brush. Hatred Heaven God-Emperor could no longer use Grand Teleportation; he relied on ordinary escape techniques now.
Even so, his speed still rivaled Fang Han at full flight—proof of a God-Emperor's terror.
"One Breath Refining Immortals… Void God Realm… Origin World of the God Race. Supreme layer of all heavens—grant me your boundless power!"
Hatred Heaven God-Emperor halted abruptly. All three faces twisted into feral expressions as a single horn burst from his skull, piercing the void. The mysterious Void God Realm was forcibly torn open, and torrents of divine power poured down into his consciousness.
That consciousness was his divine domain—the churning chaos imprisoning Fang Han and the others.
As the Void God Realm's power descended, the chaos within his mind grew denser still, surging in mountain-like waves. The sounds of earth, water, fire, and wind recombining echoed ominously.
Inside the Yellow Springs Diagram, Fang Han swallowed the remaining five Supreme Jade Liquid Grand Restoration Pills in one breath. Instantly, his vitality exploded.
His nine seas of consciousness roared like oceans. Immense, mercury-heavy streams of power surged and rotated, forming nine colossal vortices.
Nine seas.
Nine vortices.
Sparkling starlight burst forth from each vortex, endlessly replenishing itself. The nine seas transformed into nine spiraling galaxies, as if Fang Han's mind now contained nine starfields.
Above them all hovered his Natal Golden Core, containing ninety-three divine abilities—suspended like the Heavenly Dao itself.
Starlight flowed continuously into the core. It grew ever more radiant. From within it, the thousand-armed, thousand-eyed demon-god chanted in deep Sanskrit tones, accompanied by the wailing of countless demons. The breakthrough was imminent—the Golden Core was on the verge of shattering into a Heaven-and-Earth Dharma Form.
Altogether, Fang Han had consumed nine Supreme Jade Liquid Grand Restoration Pills—Yan Shuiyi's entire accumulated fortune over countless years. Each pill granted a thousand years of lifespan and was refined in Taiyi Sect's Eternal Divine Furnace—peerless treasures beyond measure.
By all logic, even with Fang Han's enormous requirements, he should have already broken through.
He felt it clearly—his energy surging, pouring into the Golden Core, ready to burst.
But at that very moment—
Boom!
The chaotic energy outside suddenly evolved into earth, water, fire, and wind, infused with the power of creation itself. It slammed into the Yellow Springs Diagram, shaking it violently.
Yan bore the brunt of the impact. He let out a furious howl as the Bridge of Helplessness trembled. The Gate of Abi slammed shut, its formations seemingly knocked offline.
"Fang Han! This is the One Breath Refining Immortals Grand Formation—the God Race's supreme art! Ancient God Kings used it to refine chaos itself—even immortals can be melted down! Hurry! Form your Heaven-and-Earth Dharma Form! I can't hold much longer!" Yan roared, straining with everything he had.
"You think a Heaven-and-Earth Dharma Form will save you?" Hatred Heaven God-Emperor sneered. "Your Golden Core may be monstrous—ninety-three divine abilities, fusing immortal, demonic, and Buddhist paths—but even so, you cannot stand against me. And breaking through isn't so easy."
Then his gaze locked onto Yan Shuiyi.
"…You! You dare attempt to force your way into the Longevity Realm? To become an Eternal Giant? How laughable—and how bold! Worthy of Taiyi Sect's greatest disciple, reincarnation of the ancient Water God. I curse you! I curse you to sink into an endless sea of suffering!"
Blue radiance surged from Yan Shuiyi's body. Within it, a gate slowly took shape—a gate leading to something ancient, mysterious, the origin point of all worlds.
Behind it—
The Immortal Realm.
The very realm the God Race sought to surpass.
Having consumed four Divine Ability Fruits and awakened her Water God Primordial Spirit through the power of the Forgetfulness Water, Yan Shuiyi drew upon memories from antiquity. She forced open the Immortal Gate, attempting to communicate with the Immortal Realm itself—to step directly into the Longevity Realm.
She had reached the peak of the Tenth Layer of the Divine Ability Realm centuries ago. All this time, she had been accumulating. Now, everything was finally in place.
Hatred Heaven God-Emperor could not allow this.
If she succeeded—if she became an Eternal Giant—the consequences would be unimaginable. The gap between the Longevity Realm and the Divine Ability Realm was heaven and earth itself. At the very least, the Azure Sea Divine Pearl would unleash terrifying power.
Worse still, with her foundation, she might immediately fuse that artifact and form an Undying Body.
Against that—what chance would a severed head have?
In that instant, Hatred Heaven God-Emperor activated a supreme Dao technique, one that burned his very essence.
"I curse you—your cultivation shall never advance!"
"I curse you—eternal damnation without end!"
"I curse you—inner demons from the abyss, burning away all your power!"
"Cause and effect of heaven and earth! Karma's endless cycle! Sinister yin force! Three Thousand Grand Daos—
The Great Curse Technique!"