"What's that?"
"What's going on? Why did the sky suddenly go dark?"
"Could it be demons attacking the Yuhua Sect?"
"Impossible. We're one of the Ten Immortal Sects—what demon would dare attack us? And even if they did, they'd strike the weaker outer peaks first. This is Tiandu Peak, protected by the Nine Palace Golden Pagodas. No evil can invade!"
"Something's wrong—someone's trying to seize the Nine Palace Golden Pagodas hanging above Tiandu Peak! Who could be so reckless? So audacious! Quick—go get Senior Brother Wanluo and Senior Brother Lingxiao!"
Tiandu Peak was home to many cultivators closely aligned with Hua Tiandu, all taking advantage of the dense spiritual energy concentrated there.
Among them were True Disciples of the Divine Ability Realm, inner disciples at the Body Forging Realm, outer disciples—and even powerful slaves Hua Tiandu had personally subdued.
Just as Fang Han had once subdued the Black Nether King, Hua Tiandu had spent centuries traveling the world, conquering formidable experts and forcing them into absolute loyalty. These servants had originally been sealed within the Great Desolation Furnace, but while Hua Tiandu was in seclusion, several of the strongest were released to guard Tiandu Peak and oversee its operations.
The moment Fang Han leapt into the sky and forcefully began seizing the Nine Palace Golden Pagodas, the experts on Tiandu Peak shot upward in alarm, believing a demonic invasion was underway.
But when they reached the air, they saw Fang Han standing in the distant heavens—robes fluttering, like an ancient god descended from myth. His gaze looked down coldly. Immense mana gathered and condensed into a colossal hand with nine fingers, each radiating terrifying suction, locking onto one of the nine golden pagodas.
Each of the Nine Palace Golden Pagodas had been refined repeatedly by Hua Tiandu and fused with the earth veins of Tiandu Peak itself. To forcibly tear them away should have been impossible—unless one possessed the power to uproot continents.
Fang Han didn't care.
At his current level, tearing mountains from the earth and ripping open the land was effortless.
After forming his Heaven-and-Earth Dharma Form and condensing the thousand-armed, thousand-eyed Buddha–Demon Primordial Spirit, his power had reached a level bordering on the absurd. As long as one had not achieved an Undying Body, even an ancient titan could do nothing to him.
And within his Primordial Spirit, there was more—nurtured inside it was a sword.
A supreme Dao Artifact.
The Great Chaos Thunder Sword.
The Nine Palace Golden Pagodas, though supreme treasures, were little more than ordinary flying swords in Fang Han's eyes now.
If all nine were Dao Artifacts linked into a single grand formation, collecting them would be troublesome. But as they were?
Child's play.
The nine pagodas began to tremble violently in his grasp. Below, the earth veins boiled in fury—but it was futile. Had Fang Han not feared that detonating the veins would trigger volcanic eruptions and turn hundreds of miles into a sea of fire, devastating the Yuhua Sect's territory, he could have taken the pagodas in an instant.
He could even have cleaved Tiandu Peak in half with a single slash of the Great Chaos Thunder Sword.
Instead, he calmly severed the connection between the pagodas and the earth veins—while simultaneously suppressing the surging ground below.
"Fang Han! You walking catastrophe! You dare come back?" a furious voice roared. "You caused a disaster at Linglong Blessed Land and brought calamity upon the Yuhua Sect! The Taiyi Sect's master has issued a Heavenly Dao Kill Order against you. Elder Ruyi is already convening the council of elders to pass judgment on you! And instead of hiding, you return and act this arrogantly?!"
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two streaks of golden light shot from distant peaks and slammed onto Tiandu Peak. When they saw Fang Han ripping at the golden pagodas and suppressing the earth veins, their faces drained of color.
They were Wanluo and Lingxiao—two Golden Core experts, so-called "minor titans of the ages."
Wanluo had once been defeated by Fang Han. Since then, he had trained relentlessly, received guidance from Elder Ruyi, and gained extensive support from Hua Tiandu. Though still at the seventh level of the Divine Ability Realm, his Golden Core now housed several additional divine abilities.
It was Wanluo who had just shouted about punishing Fang Han.
"Fang Han, this is blatant provocation!" Lingxiao shouted. "You're violating sect law and acting on personal vendettas! Do you really want the elders to suppress you? You dare destroy the mountain of a True Disciple?!"
Lingxiao twisted his hands, and hundreds of flying swords burst forth, each glowing emerald green—his painstakingly refined Azure King Divine Wood Swords.
Wanluo, meanwhile, hurled out the Gate of Rebirth. A massive, ever-shifting portal opened, swallowing and exhaling space itself as it descended toward Fang Han. At the same time, both men landed atop Tiandu Peak, releasing their Golden Cores and desperately trying to stabilize the Nine Palace Golden Pagodas.
"Fireflies daring to rival the sun," Fang Han said coldly.
He clenched his hand.
All of Lingxiao's flying swords were seized at once. With a casual squeeze—crack!—they shattered into pure energy, instantly devoured by Fang Han's Great Devouring Art.
Then Fang Han opened his mouth and inhaled. Before the Gate of Rebirth, the Gate of Abi appeared—demonic energy roiling, endless and abyssal—dragging the Gate of Rebirth straight inside. It vanished without a trace.
"You two obsess over magic treasures and neglect your own innate divine abilities," Fang Han said indifferently. "Consider this a lesson. Now get lost. My business with Hua Tiandu is none of your concern."
"He took my Seven Fiend Gourd back then. Today I take his Nine Palace Golden Pagodas. If he defeats me, he can reclaim them himself. If he can't—he'll lose his life. Who cares about a set of Pure Yang treasures then? Get out!"
He roared the final word.
Wanluo and Lingxiao felt their chests explode as if struck by a sledgehammer. Blood sprayed from their mouths as they were hurled from the sky, the light of their Golden Cores dimming violently.
Fang Han sneered, flicked his sleeve—and a hurricane-like force blasted the two Golden Core experts straight onto the Yuhua Sect's Heavenly Punishment Platform.
Then Fang Han grabbed again.
The nine golden pagodas were completely torn free from Tiandu Peak and flew into his sleeve.
The moment the Nine Palace Golden Pagodas were removed, Tiandu Peak itself collapsed downward—nearly a third of the mountain sinking into the earth, leaving it visibly lower than the surrounding peaks.
Fang Han had forced the mountain into the ground with sheer divine power.
Crack! Crash!
Countless palaces and halls atop the peak were destroyed. The once-majestic, imperial mountain painstakingly built by Hua Tiandu was reduced to ruins, as if it had been looted and burned by marauding armies.
"Hua Tiandu is in seclusion, fully focused on breaking into the Longevity Secret Realm! He's about to become an ancient titan—he has no time for you!" Wanluo screamed hysterically from the Heavenly Punishment Platform. "Elder Ruyi will punish you! He will punish you! Fang Han—just wait!"
Boom!
Fang Han landed on the Heavenly Punishment Platform and looked down at Wanluo and Lingxiao as if they were dead dogs.
His voice was icy, his smile cruel.
"Ruyi? Ruyi dares to punish me?" Fang Han laughed softly. "I'll show him what it means to wish for death without being able to die."
"Who am I? Fang Han—the number one True Disciple of the Yuhua Sect. The man destined to command an immortal sect and stand as the supreme authority of Yuhua!"
"Ruyi will obey my arrangements—or he'll be a traitor to the sect."
"What?!" Wanluo shouted in disbelief. "Elder Ruyi is an ancient titan! How can you be this insane? You've lost your mind!"
Even Lingxiao began to tremble.
But Fang Han was perfectly clear-headed.
Ruyi had not achieved the second level of the Longevity Secret Realm—an Undying Body.
Fang Han now possessed the Great Chaos Thunder Sword, the Eightfold Pagoda, and the Yellow Springs Diagram. On top of that, Wood Daoist had recovered eighty percent of his strength—another ancient titan.
That was more than enough to defeat Ruyi.
Enough to kill him.
Ruyi might possess Dao Artifacts—but certainly not a supreme Dao Artifact.
At his peak, Wood Daoist had been slightly weaker than Ruyi, but both were ancient titans. One-on-one, neither would fear the other. Even now, if Wood Daoist fought Ruyi directly, the battle could last days and nights before a victor emerged.
"Ruyi!" Fang Han's voice thundered across the sect. "You convene the elders to punish me—who gave you the nerve? Who gave you the nerve?!"
"Call Hua Tiandu out! You master and disciple—come out together! To the Heavenly Punishment Platform!"
Fang Han had planned this from the moment he returned to the Yuhua Sect.
He intended to shake the heavens—now, before hesitation could breed disaster.
Standing atop the Heavenly Punishment Platform, he drew in a vast breath of energy and suddenly roared.
The sky within hundreds of miles shattered. Clouds were torn apart by the sound waves, which formed raging tempests that uprooted forests. Even the Yuhua Heavenly Palace trembled violently, as if shaken by an earthquake.
Just moments earlier, deep within the Yuhua Heavenly Palace, a massive council chamber was packed with hundreds of elders.
Golden Core experts. Wind-and-Fire masters. Powerhouses of the ninth and tenth levels of the Divine Ability Realm.
Ancient titans.
Every one of them was a pillar of the Yuhua Sect.
The Transmission Elder. The Medicine King Elder. The Sword Tomb Elder. Even the Heavenly Punishment Elder—an ancient titan—was present.
And among them, besides Ruyi, the Heavenly Punishment Elder, and Jiang Rourou, there were several unfamiliar faces.
Ancient titans.
Figures who had secluded themselves for thousands of years.
"Brother Ruyi," one of them said coldly, "I've been in closed-door cultivation for a thousand years, standing at the threshold of comprehending the Undying Body. And you called me out… just to punish a Divine Ability Realm disciple?"
"Brother Daoling, be patient," Ruyi replied with a thin smile. "This Fang Han is no ordinary disciple. He threatens the very survival of the Yuhua Sect."
"You are not merely an elder—you hold the rank of Vice Sect Master. With Sect Master Feng Baiyu in seclusion comprehending the mysteries of the Heavenly Emperor Mirror, I summoned you to preside over this matter."
"Fang Han has drawn a worldwide kill order personally issued by Hun Tian Daoist. Experts across the world hunt him. Even outside our sect, powerful figures are watching us closely. Our disciples are being tracked wherever they go—some outer disciples have already been captured and soul-searched by demonic cultivators, leaving no trace behind."
Ruyi's eyes gleamed darkly.
"Tell me—how could this not be serious?"
"That is why," he concluded, "I convened the council and summoned you Vice Sect Masters."
"To exercise our authority."
"And completely suppress Fang Han."