Fang Han was killing to his heart's content.
He plunged into the vast swarm of Heaven Demons, his Wood Emperor True Qi flowing with flawless ease, changing forms as naturally as breath. Compared to his earlier battles on the Heaven Demon Battlefield, this was an entirely different experience. Back then, he'd fought with three parts caution and seven parts desperation, relying heavily on the Seven Fiend Gourd to let the Seven-Wolf Demon Smoke wreak havoc.
But things were different now.
He had stepped into the Divine Ability Realm, fully condensed his True Qi—
Even a typical Heaven Demon King no longer frightened him.
The demons that had burst through this seal were countless, far more than the battlefield had ever held. The more Fang Han killed, the deeper his insight grew. His mind split again and again, his qi moving with instinctive precision—so fluid and alive that he faintly sensed the threshold of the Astral Qi Realm, the third layer of Divine Ability.
And this was no accidental breakthrough.
His qi had been refined through hardship, its impurities polished away. His foundation was firmer than ever. Once he pushed through to the Astral Qi Realm—once he forged Primordial Astral Qi—his power would surge.
So Fang Han fought on with wild, unrestrained exhilaration.
The killing made his qi flow smoother, faster, clearer. He didn't want to stop—because he knew that if he kept fighting, he would break through. These demons were simply too easy to harvest.
And the profit… the profit was outrageous.
Every Heaven Demon fed into the Yellow Springs Diagram became a Biluo Pill. Hundreds of them would sell instantly in the Wan Gui Market. And Fang Han could always claim he'd slain a few Yellow Springs Gate disciples to get them—no one would question a True Disciple of Yu Hua Sect.
Besides, the market was filled with demonic sect buyers anyway. Wan Gui Immortal Island tolerated them—it was business.
Half of Fang Han's trip into the Void Ruins had been for treasure.
The other half—was to hunt Heaven Demons.
Treasures were rare.
Heaven Demons were plentiful.
Just as he was reveling in the slaughter, a chilling spike of danger surged from deep within his heart.
The Water-Gu Demon King's remnant soul… is it really watching me?
The six envoys had mentioned it—a once-mighty Demon King of the Seventh Layer, who had condensed a Golden Core of divine ability. Even a fragment of such a being, even an injured remnant soul, was not something Fang Han could match.
He tightened his grip on his qi.
"But I can't retreat. If I back down now, the Forty-Nine Islands are doomed. And if the battle drags too long, my qi will run dry. That's when I die."
He scanned the demon swarm. Only shifting shadows—no sign of the king.
With his mind divided into a hundred parts, Fang Han moved efficiently, minimizing waste. He had fought for a long time yet felt only more energized. He had already plunged deep into the demon mass—far from the islands and the disciples of the Thunder Emperor's Domain.
But even with his efficiency, this many demons would drain him eventually.
"So be it. If you won't come out—"
Fang Han's eyes flashed.
"—I'll drag you out! Ten Shura Sword Puppets—come forth!"
His Wood Emperor True Qi surged. Ten enormous Shura burst from his body—each radiating sharp swordlight, each a refined weapon he had forged from battle to battle.
They opened their mouths—
and unleashed the Eightfold Heavenly Dragon Roar.
Under Fang Han's mental control, the Shura wielded all his martial skills. They lacked True Qi, but their bodies—enhanced with Six Yang Holy Water—were monstrous. Each possessed the strength of seventy or eighty horses, equivalent to a novice Divine Ability cultivator. They moved like flashes of cold lightning, slicing through the demon swarm.
The combined Dragon Roar shattered hundreds of Heaven Demons in a heartbeat.
Far above, on the throne in the Ninth Heaven, the blue-robed man—the one radiating no humanity—stood abruptly.
At his side hovered a demon made of shifting blue water, whispering frantically.
"Demon King, our ten thousand Heaven Demons have already taken heavy losses! This human is only a True Qi cultivator, but he splits his mind hundreds of ways and wields a strange, potent qi. We've only just escaped the seal, and you need these ten thousand demons for your reconstruction. If this goes on—our losses will be severe. And this human—he is a True Disciple of Yu Hua Sect, trained in their Heavenly Wood Art. Maybe… we should retreat?"
The man on the throne did not move.
When he finally spoke, his voice was ice.
"Back then, the Demon Marshal and the reincarnation of the Lightning Empress joined forces. With the Dao Artifact 'Immortal Lightning Talisman,' they crushed my Heavenly Demon Golden Core and sealed me away. My power has suffered greatly."
His expression did not change.
"This time, I intended to slaughter the Forty-Nine Islands and use their blood to restore myself. But fate placed this human before me."
A faint, predatory gleam appeared in the demon king's eyes.
"The power he cultivates… is ancient. From the Five Emperors Demon Canon—the Azure Emperor Wood Monarch Art. Yu Hua Sect's Heavenly Wood Art is merely its diluted descendant. Others may be blind, but I am not."
He rose.
"This human has secrets. I will take him myself. I will drag him back—and tear them from his soul."
There was no emotion in his voice—only inevitability.
The Water-Gu Demon King had once condensed a Heavenly Demon Golden Core. Seventh Layer Divine Ability—just a single step beneath the Longevity Realm. His kind were treated like crown princes even in the greatest sects.
Now, he was moving.
The moment his words ended, his body blurred—
and vanished.
A streak of dark lightning shot through the layers of Heaven Demons.
Without warning—
he descended straight toward Fang Han.
A suffocating killing aura enveloped Fang Han. His True Qi froze in place, refusing to obey him—some strands even beginning to twist toward demonic corruption.
The Demon King's voice seeped into his mind—cold, invasive, irresistible.
"Child who cultivates the Azure Emperor's art… tell me your secrets. Speak them. Now…"
Fang Han had just slain another thousand demons when the pressure struck. The Yellow Springs Diagram swallowed the corpses, refining them into pills even as he instinctively pulled his qi tight, every sense on alert.
He had deliberately plunged deep into the swarm, using himself as bait. The disciples and islands were far below—hidden from view. Every demon focused on him.
Then—
That aura descended.
A crushing wave of death, blotting out heaven and earth.
Fang Han felt as if the universe had locked around him.
"Water-Gu Demon King!" he roared. "A mighty demon who once condensed a Golden Core—attacking a junior with a sneak attack?! Have you no shame?!"
HOOOM.
The world warped.
Everything vanished except the man in blue—standing before him, hand extended.
Emotionless.
Cold.
Absolute.
The center of the world.
"As a Heaven Demon, I seek only to kill with one strike," the demon king murmured. "Shame… honor… sneak attacks… those are human games."
His demonic aura surged inward, tearing through Fang Han's True Qi and flooding into his body.
Fang Han's expression darkened.
"Fine—then take this!"
He activated the three Heavenly Lion Astral Markings on his body. They roared awake—bursting into form as three enormous celestial lions.
Each lion was stronger than Fang Han's own physical body.
Each possessed firmer Astral Qi.
Together—they were the equivalent of five Fang Hans hurling themselves at the Demon King.