Revealing himself now would be disastrous for Yan, but hidden within the Five-Prisons King Cauldron, he could manipulate the artifact without anyone noticing. A Heaven-Man realm expert and a mere Qi-Gale realm cultivator controlling the same weapon—those were two completely different worlds. Like handing the same warhorse to a master rider and a panicked novice: the difference was night and day.
A Heaven-Man realm expert understood formations on an instinctive level—every subtle shift, every change in airflow, every thread of qi. When that mastery merged with the cauldron's arrays, the amplification was terrifying.
And Yan was no ordinary Heaven-Man expert. He was born from the dragon-vein of the Yellow Springs, his essence stronger even than many true dragons. His cultivation had climbed to tens of thousands of units of mana—far above Fang Han. Realm for realm, he was simply monstrous.
Inside the cauldron, over two hundred thousand sky-demons roared—a brutal force waiting to be unleashed.
"Humph! Fang Han may have two demonic treasures, but his cultivation is too shallow. He can't draw out even half their power. If we cut his connection to the Blood-Sky Evisceration Blade and release our own refined treasures, he'll be begging for mercy."
"Exactly! If the six of us can't subdue one little Qi-Gale realm brat, we may as well hang ourselves."
"But didn't Hua Tiandu order us not to harm him?"
"Hua Tiandu says jump and we jump? Ever heard of 'kill first, explain later'? Once we seize Fang Han's treasures and cripple him, the matter is settled. What can Hua Tiandu do—kill us all?"
"Besides, that boy's qi is bizarre. It's wood-aspect, but not from our sect's Profound Skywood Scripture. Its purity is unnaturally high. If we extract his cultivation method, our own realms may break through again."
"Yes! Capture him alive, force his secrets out—he survived Senior Brother Xuan Yi's Black Sun Wind Disaster. There's no way that's normal."
In the span of a heartbeat, the six realmen merged their qi into one and linked their minds. Six wills connected; a single thought echoed instantly among them. They had made their decision the moment they attacked: cripple Fang Han and steal his foundation.
But before they could act, the Five-Prisons King Cauldron spun violently under Yan's control, releasing a chilling, predatory aura.
Huuuuuum… huuumm… huumm…
The sound wasn't an explosive boom—it was a thin, ghostly thread, whispering through space like demonic silk. It flickered into existence before the six realmen, devouring sound and light alike, an irresistible suction forming that locked the six of them in place.
Yan showed no hesitation. One after another, arrays of "Soul-Devouring Formation," "Spirit-Swallowing Net," "Dragon-Siphon Array," and more—over a dozen devouring formations—unfolded at once.
The suction grew so intense that even light bent toward the cauldron.
The six realmen's qi poured into it like rivers into the sea. Their bodies trembled, losing foothold as the pull dragged them forward.
"Not good!" Zhao Xuan-yi's expression twisted. "A hidden expert! At least Heaven-Man realm—and stronger than most of that level!"
But it was too late.
Yan had calculated everything precisely. He intended to capture all six in one strike. With them as hostages, he could threaten Zhao Xuan-yi and Song Wei-yi, and even Hua Tiandu would be forced to back down. This was the only way out of the chaos.
Fang Han and Yan had planned the moment perfectly.
"Wretched cur! How dare you!" Changchun Realman roared as death closed in. He had barely raised his qi when the cauldron slammed through their formation. Feeling doom descend, he erupted with fury, Daoist energy boiling around him—
—but he was already too late.
Fang Han would not give him even a breath to recover. The Blood-Sky Evisceration Blade whirled, slicing through Changchun's protective qi—not to kill him, but to break his defense—then split into dozens of blood-lights, cutting across the other five realmen.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Five impacts detonated. Protective qi shattered; robes tore apart. In an instant, the six of them were stripped of all defense.
A whirlwind of suction dragged them inside.
WHOOM!
Inside the cauldron, Long Xuan watched as six bodies tumbled in and crashed before a towering screen. Golden light blazed from the panel—row after row of formations activated, locking around the six like invisible mountains.
The cauldron's suppression arrays clamped down like iron jaws.
Still, these were Heaven-Man realm experts. Each possessed two to three times the mana of a normal cultivator at their level—more than twenty thousand units apiece. Six together totaled over one hundred and fifty thousand. Even trapped, they were far from helpless. Like wounded centipedes, they refused to die, roaring as they tried to unleash their final trump cards.
Six pills flew from their belt pouches—heading straight for their mouths.
Mad-Devil Life-Burning Pills.
Yan's eyes gleamed cold.
If they swallowed those pills, their strength would skyrocket at the cost of years of lifespan—more than enough to shatter the cauldron and kill Fang Han.
Yan shrieked, "Summon—the Prison-Suppressing Stele!"
BOOOOOM!
Light exploded from the screens surrounding the cauldron's interior. Beams of brilliance converged into a towering monolith—covered in dense, ancient devil-script, filled with primordial truths of the world's darkest Dao.
The stele slammed down.
And the six realmen froze mid-roar—locked in place like insects cast in amber.
"This is the Five-Prisons Cauldron's core suppression method—the Prison-Suppressing Stele!" Yan sneered. "Let's see you swallow pills now."
He flicked his hand. The six Life-Burning Pills flew into his palm, then into Fang Han's.
"Good pills," Fang Han murmured. "Rare, deadly, priceless. Even Taixuan Sect disciples only get one in a lifetime. After you've taken one, a second no longer works. Keep one for yourself at a desperate moment. The rest can be traded—each is worth a mountain of treasures."
He tossed one to Long Xuan and the demoness, then stored the remaining four.
Then Fang Han's voice thundered outward:
"Zhao Xuan-yi! Song Wei-yi! If you don't retreat this instant, the six realmen die! Hua Tiandu—if you don't stop right now—I'll erase their cultivation!"