Meeting Xingyun Baobao was pure chance.
Finding that the child carried the Sun and Moon Five-Star Bracelet—that was destiny. Within that bracelet flowed refined, pure yang starlight, a celestial force capable of reshaping bones, renewing flesh, and cleansing the marrow—a miraculous energy that could completely remold a human body.
Though Fang Han had no intention of seizing the bracelet by deceit, borrowing it for cultivation was another matter. His body was now filled with surging starlight, the energy merging faintly with the Yama Golden Body, pushing his physical power to its very edge. It was the perfect opportunity to break through—one that might never come again.
"That little Xingyun Baobao may be my lucky star," Fang Han mused. "Perhaps my ascension to the Divine Realm depends on him."
The castle of the demoness was eerily still.
Heaven Crane Fairy had fallen asleep after taking a pill. Xingyun Baobao lay curled up on a soft wolfskin mat, fast asleep, round and tender like a newborn cub. There was not a trace of guile in the boy—pure, content, untroubled by the world. Fang Han couldn't help but envy that innocence.
But once a man learns, he cannot unlearn. Wisdom brings worry; no one can return to the heart of a child.
Princess Hongyi, too, had gone to her chamber to cultivate. With elixirs, talismans, and cleansing charms, they had no need to eat, drink, or toil. That was the privilege of Yuhua disciples—time unbroken by the mundane.
Now the Sun and Moon Five-Star Bracelet gleamed on Fang Han's wrist.
"Infinite Pure Yang… Heaven and Earth's Essence, roam the dark void, disperse all evil, and guard eternal peace…"
As he chanted, radiant starlight streamed from the bracelet into the Yellow Springs Diagram, where Yan, the dragon spirit, devoured it greedily to restore his power.
He could not consume the artifact itself, but the yang essence was enough to strengthen his form. The bracelet contained vast cosmic energy—decades of refinement by ten grand elders of the Starry Sky Sect. Each droplet of that power was priceless.
Ordinary starlight was impure and deadly if absorbed directly. But this—tempered through the Nine Yang Divine Water—was pure, without a trace of shadow.
With the bracelet's seals relaxed by the trusting Xingyun Baobao, Fang Han could now channel its energy—though not use it as a weapon.
Yan roared within the diagram, his serpentine form glowing silver as he inhaled star essence and exhaled it upon the ten sleeping Asuras, their bodies shimmering with divine light. The pure energy nurtured their strength, sharpened their instincts, and would sustain them for days without elixir.
Fang Han ignored Yan's cultivation. The stronger Yan grew, the closer Fang Han came to surpassing his greatest rival—Hua Tiandu.
That man loomed before him like a mountain, a shadow on his destiny. To tear down that mountain was his only path forward. Hua Tiandu might see him as an ant—but even an ant, given time, could become a dragon.
"The Yama Golden Body marked the limit of the Mortal Realm. Now with this astral baptism, I'll ascend beyond the flesh!"
Before him stood a black cauldron—the demoness's alchemy furnace. It was a divine-grade vessel, perfect for his purpose.
Fang Han stripped bare, slipped on the Sun and Moon Bracelet, and plunged into the cauldron filled with Forgetful Water from the Yellow Springs. Beneath, not earthly fire nor solar flame, but burning law crystals—three chunks of pure Magic Crystals igniting with divine power.
This was 法火, Lawfire—true spiritual flame born of pure mana.
Burning magic crystals for fuel was unthinkable extravagance. Even the heirs of great sects would scold such waste. But Fang Han had hundreds of crystals now. For a Divine breakthrough, he would spend them all without hesitation.
The moment he entered the cauldron, searing pain engulfed him. The crystal flames were fiercer than any earthly fire, and the Forgetful Water amplified every sensation—his nerves screamed, his consciousness nearly shattered.
It was agony beyond childbirth, a torment multiplied tenfold.
"Aaaaaah!"
His golden skin blistered and cracked under the flames, yet the bracelet's light poured into him, repairing flesh as fast as it burned. The star essence fused with his body, the agony slowly transforming into clarity.
The Sun and Moon Five-Star Bracelet was now like a living elixir—feeding him endless pure yang energy, sustaining his life, reforging every cell of his being.
"To burn one's body with Lawfire and force the transformation… ruthless," Yan whispered from within the diagram. "But such ruthlessness befits one who walks the path of the Demon Emperor."
The dragon watched silently, unwilling to interfere. Fang Han's will was now as sharp as divine steel—intervention would only weaken the forging.
Without the bracelet, this process would take years. With it, there was hope of success in a single stroke.
Then, deep within the cauldron, Fang Han began to chant—each syllable ancient and resonant, echoing through the castle like a dirge from the underworld:
"Yama King of the Netherworld!
The Wheel of Rebirth!
The Gates of the Dead!
Life and Death, Eternal and Unmoved!
Boundless Earth, Silent and Secret!
Treasure of Stillness, Mystery of All Souls!
Divine Power! Divine Power! Divine Power!"
Each word vibrated with celestial rhythm—sometimes roaring like thunder, sometimes deep as the abyss.
At last, all sound condensed into two words—Divine Power—and Fang Han roared them thrice, his voice shaking the castle walls.