Fang Han had expected Hua Tiandu to strike—but he hadn't expected this.
The moment Hua Tiandu unleashed his "Heaven-and-Earth Dharma Manifestation," the world itself seemed to freeze over. Even inside the Five-Prison King Cauldron, the pressure was suffocating. When that enormous spectral hand descended, divine echoes boomed directly into Fang Han's mind, slowing his thoughts as if they were sinking into a swamp.
"You dare attack him!"
Fang Qingxue reacted instantly. Thunderclouds roared above her head, and a titanic storm god materialized—nearly equal in size to Hua Tiandu's manifestation.
The Thunder Emperor stepped out of a sea of lightning, clad in crackling robes, crowned with the five-direction diadem. When his eyes opened, a million bolts of lightning flashed within.
Another dharma manifestation—yet not Qingxue's own. It was the embodiment sealed inside her Dao-artifact, the Undying Lightning Talisman: the Undying Thunder Emperor.
"Good—Undying Thunder Emperor."
Hua Tiandu's five-headed, nine-armed manifestation answered with a cold chorus of voices. Eight of its arms clashed with the Thunder Emperor, weapons of every kind whirling like the judgment of heaven. Only one arm remained focused—reaching into the Five-Prison King Cauldron.
The two colossal gods collided.
Space rippled.
Far in the distance, suspended palaces around the Taiyuan Immortal Mansion cracked and plummeted. Even the great main hall's surface trembled under the shockwaves.
But Fang Han had no attention to spare. Even with most of Hua Tiandu's power tied up battling Qingxue, the remaining fraction was overwhelming.
That giant spectral hand seized the cauldron—effortlessly tearing through layers of formation arrays. Tens of thousands of fiendish spirits inside the Ghost-Screen Banner exploded instantly. The cauldron shook. Arrays faltered.
Even Yan grew anxious.
"Five thousand fiends dead in a single breath! The arrays are collapsing! This is bad!"
Fang Han's treasured cauldron had always been his greatest defense—but in front of Hua Tiandu's manifestation, it was like paper. Only now did Fang Han understand how enormous the gap truly was.
"Damn it… one move too many! Should I just kill the six Realmen and damn the consequences!?"
Cornered, his killing intent surged. If Hua Tiandu wanted to force him, then fine—he'd go down dragging enemies with him.
Then everything broke.
With a deafening crack, the Town-Prison Monument shattered under Hua Tiandu's invading power.
In an instant, the six Realmen of the Taiyi Sect—Fu Shou, Lu Ming, Changchun, Kan Li, Dafang, and Kunyuan—regained their freedom.
A surge of force yanked them out of the cauldron—along with Long Xuan, who had been maintaining the arrays.
Fang Han hadn't even swung his blade yet.
"Daoist Xuan, Daoist Wei. The six Realmen of Taiyi—I've retrieved them. Long Xuan, you need not involve yourself in this mess. I'll send you out."
Hua Tiandu's voice boomed as he hurled the Realmen toward Zhao Xuanyi and Song Weiyi, while Long Xuan was cast away from the battlefield entirely.
But Hua Tiandu wasn't finished.
A razor-sharp surge of true qi streaked into the cauldron—so pure and refined that it crushed Fang Han's wooden-emperor qi like iron smashing straw.
And that was when Zhao Xuanyi and Song Weiyi struck.
"Excellent opportunity!"
The two Golden Core experts attacked from both sides.
The Black Sun Wind Disaster and the Great Sun Fire Disaster surged forward, enveloping the cauldron.
"Refine him! Refine the cauldron!"
A black hurricane shrieked.
A blazing inferno melted space itself.
Inside the cauldron, Fang Han felt his body begin to melt—as if he were a candle held above an inferno.
True refinement.
Their combined power left him powerless.
Yan's voice cracked.
"This is bad—this is truly bad! Two Golden Core elites attacking together—Fang Han, I can't stop this! Are we really going to die here?"
"No."
Fang Han's eyes turned ruthless.
"Not unless I tear a path through hell first."
He swallowed a Mad-Demon Life-Burning Pill.
An explosive force ripped through his meridians. His cultivation surged wildly—five thousand horses, eight thousand, ten thousand… twenty thousand… until finally it stabilized at nearly thirty thousand charging steeds of power.
Nearly five times his normal strength.
The power was intoxicating—wild, destructive, overwhelming.
With a roar, he drove his magic blade and the Five-Prison King Cauldron at full force, ripping open the wind-and-fire disaster that imprisoned him.
"Mad-Demon Pill… clever trick. But a pill does not bridge real cultivation."
Zhao Xuanyi and Song Weiyi sneered.
Above them, their golden cores ignited—two perfect suns radiating crushing spiritual force.
The pressure slammed down like a mountain range.
Yan's voice broke entirely.
"No! This gap… it's too big! We can't withstand two Golden Cores burning their essence! Fang Han—we're finished!"
Fang Han bared his teeth.
"If the only path out is death—
then I'll take the one path everyone fears."
He gathered every ounce of power and sent the cauldron streaking toward the ancient, forbidden structure ahead—
the main hall of the Taiyuan Immortal Mansion.
A place where no one had ever returned from.
"You fool!"
Zhao Xuanyi shouted.
"He's going into the Immortal Mansion!?"
Song Weiyi's face turned pale.
"Damn it!"
Even Fang Qingxue recoiled in shock.
And the cauldron shot into the forbidden hall—
a path of no return.