"The Heaven Demons broke the seal?"
Fang Han snapped his head up. From the thick, rolling demonic clouds overhead, thousands of Heaven Demons dove down in a dark swarm—like locusts pouring from the sky. Each one let out a cold, unsettling hiss as they rushed toward the Forty-Nine Islands, ready to devour every living soul. Fang Han knew better than anyone how terrifying these creatures were: cunning, formless, masters of infiltration, capable of slipping into the human mind and hollowing it out from within. A single lapse in resistance, and even a skilled cultivator could become a walking corpse.
The Forty-Nine Islands were, after all, Fang Qingxue's hidden foundation—her secret base of power. He absolutely could not let these demons ruin it. If he saved the place now, it would be a major favor owed… something useful the next time he had to face her.
He made his decision instantly.
Fang Han thrust both hands outward. The Wood Emperor True Qi surged from his body and split into swirling masses of mist—faces that looked half-human, half-beast—rushing upward like lightning. Each face opened its mouth wide and bit into the sky.
In that single instant, hundreds of Heaven Demons were swallowed whole. The faces dissolved back into mist and shot into Fang Han's body, delivering every demon into the Yellow Springs Diagram, refining them instantly into Biluo Pills.
Hundreds of Biluo Pills, in one move.
Yellow Springs Gate produced only two kinds of human-grade pills: Blood Pills and Biluo Pills. Blood Pills were mid-grade, equivalent to Yu Hua Sect's Essence Pills. Biluo Pills, however, were upper-grade—on par with Longevity Golden Pills. Fang Han had already looted three gourds of ultimate-grade Nascent Soul Pills, but Biluo Pills were extremely useful for feeding his Shura.
Fang Han's single strike cleared a massive hole in the clouds, sunlight piercing through. The remaining Heaven Demons sensed danger and shrieked, flocking toward him in a frenzy.
"Amazing…"
The nearby male and female disciples stood frozen.
They had fought Heaven Demons before—one by one. Each possessed the strength of ten powerful warhorses, equivalent to a Shura. But far more frightening was their nature: a fluid mass of malice, endlessly splitting and merging, nearly impervious to flying swords.
Ordinary disciples who hadn't reached the Divine Ability Realm could only rely on sheer willpower to resist the demons' spiritual influence while constantly pouring intent into their swords. To kill a single demon required thousands of strikes.
It was grueling, dangerous—and nothing like what Fang Han was doing.
Dozens of disciples flew up from the island, relying on flight uniforms, wind charms, or their swords. All prepared for desperate battle—but stopped mid-air as Fang Han moved again.
"Perfect timing! I've been looking for more Heaven Demons to refine. And my qi control has improved drastically—but I've lacked real combat to test it. You demons came at just the right moment!"
Laughing, Fang Han unleashed the Eightfold Heavenly Dragon Roar. A deafening soundwave rippled out for miles, scattering the diving demons like leaves in a storm.
With a cold smile, he sent the Wood Emperor True Qi out again—this time splitting into even more human-beast faces that darted after the scattered demons.
His qi now changed freely—no longer limited to simple shapes like giant trees, blades, or nets. Days of nurturing the World Tree fragment had transformed his True Qi entirely: it became alive, fluid, mutable.
He borrowed the technique from the Celestial Lion Sect, though he couldn't mimic their lions directly—others would recognize it immediately.
The imitation lacked the terrifying power of true Celestial Lion Qi, but for Heaven Demons, it was more than enough.
Though Fang Han's raw strength remained at just over two thousand horse-power, the destructive efficiency of his True Qi had skyrocketed. If he fought his past self from a month ago, he could have crushed two of him at once.
"Hmph! This little face only has ten horses of power—half of mine—and it dares challenge me?"
A particularly strong Heaven Demon, possessing nearly twenty horses of force, swooped down. Its body ballooned into a massive warrior form and it slammed a demonic art toward the qi-face trying to swallow it.
But the face twisted, liquefied, slipped aside like a serpent, and in the same motion looped behind the demon—gulp—swallowed it whole, and flew back into Fang Han's body.
"Impossible! That qi is half my strength—how can it devour me…?"
The demon dissolved in disbelief.
"Good. These Heaven Demons are fierce, but my True Qi is purer and my control is sharper. Half their strength is enough to crush them. This battle is teaching me more by the moment."
Fang Han's consciousness flowed into each strand of qi.
In a strange, transcendent state, his mind split into hundreds of pieces—each directing one of the faces, each operating independently, each perfectly controlled.
Every demon possessed at least ten horses of force. But Fang Han only needed five or six to defeat and devour them. With over two thousand horses of True Qi in reserve, he effortlessly split off more than three hundred portions.
He still kept several hundred horses in reserve for sudden danger.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
In a handful of breaths, over a thousand Heaven Demons fell, swallowed, and refined into pills. In mere moments, Fang Han went from having none to having over a thousand Biluo Pills—worth a fortune even in the massive Wan Gui Market.
But more importantly, the battle sharpened his True Qi control to an unprecedented level.
"Hahaha! Fang Han, you monster of a genius—you actually split your mind into three hundred parts! Even elite True Qi-stage experts can barely split into one hundred!"
Yan's voice echoed from within the Yellow Springs Diagram, cheering and overwhelmed.
"This is the fruit of my recent training," Fang Han replied quietly—even as every fragment of his mind stayed locked onto combat.
"You're still talking to me while doing all this? What kind of mind do you have?!"
Yan was stunned speechless.
Fang Han merely grinned—every group of qi-faces moved with terrifying precision, ripping through the demon horde. Yan was nearly overwhelmed absorbing and refining all the incoming demon essence.
When a cultivator reached the fourth stage of Body Refinement—Rigid and Soft—they could already multitask slightly. The deeper the cultivation, the more thoughts one could divide. The more thoughts— the greater the potential.
Fang Han was proving that principle with terrifying clarity.
Just then—
At the center of the Forty-Nine Islands, six streaks of lightning rose into the sky—weak in power, but unmistakably emanating from Divine Ability Realm experts. Three men and three women emerged: the six envoys of the Thunder Emperor's Domain.
"Incredible! As expected of a disciple of Yuhua Sect! This level of qi control… this is true multi-mind technique! We can only split our minds thirty-six ways! And look at his True Qi—so dense! Three to five times the norm! Even Taiyi Sect geniuses don't have this much True Qi at his stage! He has over two thousand horses!"
One envoy shouted in disbelief.
"We nearly failed to contain the seal. If Fang Han hadn't arrived, the Forty-Nine Islands would have been slaughtered. When Lady Qingxue emerges from seclusion, she'd never forgive us."
A female envoy exhaled in relief.
"Don't relax yet. The remnant soul of the Water-Gu Heaven Demon King escaped! That demon king forged a Demon Core—equivalent to Divine Ability Seventh Layer! Though it was heavily wounded by the Demon Commander and Lady Qingxue, its soul survived. Even a shred of it is fatal! Even Fang Han may not withstand it!"
Another envoy's face turned pale.
"We go! Assist Fang Han! Use our Minor Thunder Spirit Technique—clear the demons and guard against sneak attacks!"
The six surged forward, surrounded by crackling lightning.
Their own power was weak—first layer Divine Ability—but each carried a talismanic treasure that could emit lethal lightning. Though the bolts were only finger-thin, each flash killed a Heaven Demon instantly.
Their range was limited to five thousand steps, but within that radius, they were deadly.
"Stay alert—protect the disciples! I can still hold the front!" Fang Han shouted as he saw them arrive.
Unless a disciple's body was refined to the level of spiritual awakening, they were helpless against demonic spiritual corruption. Even a Tenth Layer cultivator would fall .
"We are the Six Thunder Envoys—Spring Thunder, Summer Thunder, Autumn Thunder, Winter Thunder, Sun Thunder, Moon Thunder! The Water-Gu Demon King's remnant soul is loose—be extremely careful!"
One envoy roared a warning.
"A demon king with a Demon Core… Divine Ability Seventh Layer, Golden Core threshold… I'm no match for that!"
Fang Han's heart clenched. He snapped his gaze upward—toward the deepest part of the descending demon swarm—
—into the churning clouds of the Ninth Heaven.
There, sitting upon a throne of storm-winds, was a man in blue robes.
He looked down at Fang Han with eyes devoid of any trace of humanity.