Fang Han had expected danger when he followed Fang Qingxue into the depths of the earth—but not this.
The scene before him was apocalyptic. Beneath a towering "Demon God Altar," legions of monsters swarmed—a host vast enough to erase kingdoms, to burn cities to ash. Thousands upon thousands of Yasha—and above them, the winged Flying Yasha—darkened the cavern sky. Even a cultivator in the Divine Power Realm would struggle to survive here, much less him.
He had nearly exhausted himself just fighting a dozen Yasha before. Without his ninth-stage Communion body, the razor edge of the Demon-Slaying Sword, and the invulnerability of his enchanted robe, he'd already be dead.
But now there were thousands.
Even one Flying Yasha would have been a nightmare to defeat without using a flying sword. Against this army, even with his strongest weapon, he'd be ripped to shreds in moments. He calculated grimly—if more than two hundred of those creatures swarmed him at once, he wouldn't even leave behind a corpse.
"Hide… or—" He hesitated, eyes fixed on the altar in the distance.
That altar dwarfed even the "Dragon Subduing Tower" of Longyuan City. Massive crimson stones stacked upon one another, and in their midst stood a colossal demon elephant idol—seven or eight men tall, its gaze sweeping across the subterranean plain with an aura that chilled the soul.
Beneath the idol stood several figures. Among them, cloaked in smoke, was the Sirius Adept, Wang Molin. Another figure—a woman, perhaps. But what drew Fang Han's attention most was the creature standing at their center: neither human nor demon.
It had the beautiful, almost too-perfect face of a young man—but below the waist, it was pure monster, a Flying Yasha's body with great wings spread wide. The contrast was grotesque—like a man wearing armor two sizes too large.
A human head. A demon's body.
Yasha were hideous by nature, but this one's human features only made the fusion more disturbing. Fang Han instantly recognized it from his sect's manuals—an Asura, a high-ranking demon among the earth fiends. Above Asura stood the Greater Asura, and above that, the Demon Emperor.
In demon hierarchy, Asura were like true disciples; Greater Asura like elders; Demon Emperors—their equivalent of sect masters.
Unlike the brutish Yasha, an Asura possessed human intelligence and frighteningly rapid cultivation. If one advanced to Greater Asura, its scales would fade, its form would become fully human, and its power would rival a Divine Power expert.
"All this matches what the World Compendium recorded," Fang Han thought grimly. "Could these be the ones Yuhua Sect intends to hunt? The Red Dust Prince is already dead by my hand, but the Sirius Adept is here… and that fox demoness from the Pure Fox clan… and now a demon commander, an Asura. I'm hopelessly outmatched."
He made his decision quickly. "Best to stay hidden—"
"No need," came Yan's cold voice in his mind. "The demon army has already spotted us."
Even as the words echoed, Fang Qingxue suddenly blazed with light. Purple lightning erupted around her, arcs of yin-yang thunder coiling like serpents. The air crackled with the roar of storm and flame.
The sheer force of it stunned the entire demon army. Even the figures atop the distant altar turned their gazes toward the radiant explosion.
A beam of light shot from the altar in response, bathing Fang Han's location in blinding clarity—every grain of dust visible.
He was exposed.
"Damn it, Qingxue! You may be boundless in power, but I'm no match for these things! This kind of training is suicide!"
Panic flared in Fang Han's chest—but outwardly, he remained utterly still. Sword upright before him, he stood like a meditating monk, his breath calm and silent, his spirit steady as a mountain.
As the demon tide surged toward him, he looked as tranquil as a sleeping child.
Far above, Fang Qingxue's eyes flickered—just slightly—and a faint smile ghosted across her lips. Not bad, she thought. To face death without flinching—that's the mark of a true cultivator.
"Good," her voice murmured in his mind, low and resonant. "The greater the danger, the sharper the spirit. Every master has walked this knife's edge between life and death. If you can survive this trial, your cultivation will leap beyond imagination."
Fang Han didn't move. He simply breathed—and waited.
Then, a mocking voice rang from the distant altar.
"Fang Qingxue! You dare come alone into the demon altar? Who gave you such courage? Do you truly think you can destroy the shrine of the Demon God by yourself?"
With a rumble, Wang Molin—the Sirius Adept—rose to his feet, shaking the sevenfold Fiend Gourd in his hand. A gale howled forth, wolf-smoke rolling like galloping herds, surging toward Fang Qingxue.
But the Sirius Adept was no longer the battered wreck she'd blasted into the river two days prior. His wounds were gone; his aura burned fierce as ever.
Fang Qingxue only sneered. "A mere altar? One day, I'll go straight to the Demon God Sect itself—and see for myself what power your so-called deity wields."
She raised her arm. The Yin-Thunder Blade flashed—a web of one hundred and eight arcs of violet lightning carved across the cavern. The incoming wolf-smoke shredded instantly. The storm of blades didn't stop—it lanced straight toward the altar itself.
The blast was cataclysmic. The altar shook. Lightning cleaved through the air, splitting Flying Yasha mid-flight, burning them to ash before they hit the ground.
The very creatures that terrified Yuhua Sect disciples were being bisected like straw under her strikes.
But while Qingxue's storm raged above, Fang Han was swallowed by chaos below.
Unable to touch the goddess in the sky, the horde turned on him instead—hundreds of Yasha, roaring and frothing for blood.
"Fang Han," Yan's voice echoed, sharp with excitement. "This danger is your chance! Every Yasha you kill, I can refine into Blood Essence through the Yellow Springs River. Their spirits will become pure blood pills, feeding your ten Flying Yasha and transforming them—into Asura!"
A cold thrill ran down Fang Han's spine. Transform Flying Yasha into Asura?
If that were true… he could walk sideways through the underworld.