Driven by the explosive force of the Mad-Demon Pill, the Five-Prison King Cauldron roared forward like a meteor, smashing straight toward the Taiyuan Immortal Mansion.
No one expected Fang Han to be this ruthless.
To be captured by the Taiyi Sect meant there was still a sliver of life.
But entering the Taiyuan Immortal Mansion?
That was choosing death.
The colossal mansion pulsed with waves of shimmering light, as if it sensed the cauldron's approach. Its ancient seals awakened instinctively, ripples spreading like shockwaves across the air.
The sound that followed was like mountains collapsing and oceans roaring—yet also like millions of warhorses charging across the heavens. Even Zhao Xuanyi and Song Weiyi, mighty Golden Core experts, felt their hearts clench.
"Heaven-and-Earth Dharma Manifestation!
Panwu Divine Might—break for me!"
Hua Tiandu stepped forth once more.
His five-headed, nine-armed manifestation unfurled its arms, each giant hand stretching dozens of miles, tearing through layers of suppressed energy as it lunged toward Fang Han.
He wasn't trying to kill him—no.
As a core disciple, Fang Han's death was Hua Tiandu's responsibility.
He was trying to drag Fang Han out before the cauldron breached the mansion.
But his display of power only poked the sleeping beast.
Boom.
Boom.
BOOM.
The Taiyuan Immortal Mansion erupted.
Blinding rays shot out—beams of ancient, divine radiance.
The moment they touched Hua Tiandu's manifestation, its nine giant hands began to crumble.
The rays coiled back like living serpents and wrapped around Hua Tiandu himself with murderous intent—as if punishing his affront against celestial authority.
"Taiyuan Radiance… impressive!
Panwu Ninefold Shift!"
A flash of danger stabbed through Hua Tiandu's heart.
His massive manifestation twisted and shrank through nine rapid transformations.
The rays shrank with him, refusing to let go.
Soon, the two forces condensed into fist-sized spheres of violent light.
"Five-Element Extreme Transformation—Heaven-Earth Primordial Art!"
In that desperate instant, Hua Tiandu unleashed another shift.
Five different lights blasted from his body, swelling hundreds of times in an instant.
The explosion of power shattered the encircling radiance like brittle glass.
From far away, the Demon Commander watched and felt a cold tremor.
"What terrifying skill… He pierced the Taiyuan Radiance. Hua Tiandu stands at least three centuries beyond me."
The mansion was layered in ancient seals left behind by the Taiyuan Immortal Sovereign, a near-immortal of the Longevity Realm's tenth tier.
Even Golden Core masters could not withstand its Radiance—yet Hua Tiandu had torn through it.
And the Demon Commander knew an opportunity when he saw one.
"Hua Tiandu, I'll take my leave.
Next time we meet, it'll be a real fight!"
His body turned into a streak of pale lightning—the White Bone Escape Technique.
A Golden Core devil's instant-flight.
Hua Tiandu was too busy suppressing the Radiance's backlash to stop him.
Meanwhile, the Five-Prison King Cauldron had been fully swallowed by the Taiyuan Radiance and vanished completely—like a stone dropped into the sea.
"Into the Immortal Mansion… he's finished."
Immortal Realman sighed in relief—and regret.
"Such a pity. His blade, Blood-Soaked Firmament, and the Five-Prison King Cauldron… If we'd acquired those treasures, our cultivation would multiply tenfold."
Others murmured the same.
"He's dead, but he wasn't killed by us. That's clean enough. A threat eliminated before the Gathering of Immortals—otherwise he'd overshadow us completely."
"Dead and perfect!"
The six Realmen whispered mentally. After being humiliated by Fang Han earlier, watching his "death" felt like their dignity returning—if only a little.
But Fang Qingxue did not share their mood.
"Hua Tiandu! You forced Fang Han into the Immortal Mansion! I'll report this to Elder Tianxing and the Chief! Fang Han was a once-in-three-centuries genius with a destiny tied to the great Dao—how will you answer for this!?"
Her voice trembled with fury.
"Hmph. He fell to demonic influence and threw himself to his death. I tried to save him—too late. You saw it."
Hua Tiandu's tone was icy calm.
"The Demon Commander has escaped.
Zhao Xuanyi, Song Weiyi… what say you?"
"We continue the hunt," Zhao Xuanyi replied.
"Let no disciple of the Yuhua Sect interfere. The consequences will be theirs."
"I never interfered," Fang Qingxue answered frostily.
"But you forced my Fang clan's prodigy into death. I won't argue today.
At the Gathering of Immortals three years from now… Taiyi Sect will learn that karma never sleeps."
The two Golden Core experts snorted and departed.
Hua Tiandu vanished a heartbeat later.
Fang Qingxue turned into a streak of thunder and shot away.
Only scattered disciples from minor sects remained, whispering.
"A pity… another peerless talent falls."
"He killed the Seven-Leaf Demon Lord and captured six Taiyi Realmen… nearly equal to a Golden Core expert. Yuhua Sect will grieve."
"And Hua Tiandu clearly used Taiyi Sect to eliminate him. That man's heart is… terrifying."
"Well, not our problem. Let's get out of here."
One by one, the disciples left.
Silence reclaimed the deserted dimension surrounding the Taiyuan Immortal Mansion—an eternal tomb waiting for its next victim.
But Fang Han wasn't dead.
Inside the Radiance, the Five-Prison King Cauldron creaked and groaned under terrifying pressure. Cracks spread over its surface.
"Even this cauldron… might shatter!?"
Fang Han felt his scalp go numb.
"This is no ordinary divine light. It's the Taiyuan Radiance—born from the Dao of a near-immortal. Even the Yellow Springs Emperor feared it," Yan growled.
"This time… we truly die."
But at that moment, a thunderous impact shook the Radiance.
Its pressure weakened—significantly.
"Good! Hua Tiandu must have triggered another wave of the seals. His cultivation is far above mine—he's pulling the Radiance's attention.
This is our chance!"
Yan didn't hesitate.
The Yellow Springs Diagram tore free from Fang Han's body, unfolding into a billowing cloud of dark mist.
It wrapped the cauldron entirely.
The Taiyuan Radiance smashed into the mist—and failed to pierce it.
"This Radiance can destroy anything… but the Yellow Springs Diagram is a Dao-tier artifact. It won't break that easily!
Now—charge!"
Encased in the Diagram, the cauldron surged forward.
The Radiance crashed against the mist like waves against an ancient cliff, weakening with every impact.
"Forget-Love Water… extraordinary…"
Fang Han watched as the Radiance dimmed wherever the pale mist touched it.
"Push!" he shouted.
The cauldron roared ahead.
Then—
A thunderous crack.
The world lurched.
The pressure vanished.
They burst into an enormous hall.
It was vast.
Grand.
Labyrinthine.
Ancient pillars rose like stone giants. Gate after gate stretched into darkness. Everything spoke of a forgotten civilization.
But it was silent.
Desolate.
And filled with…
Bones.
Piles of wind-worn skeletons.
Some faintly glowing with the remnants of treasures they once carried.
Fang Han stepped out of the cauldron—and crushed an entire row of bones to powder beneath his feet.
He froze.
"How…? Anyone who reached this place would have a body like iron. Even after death, their bones should last centuries!"
"Fang Han…" Yan's voice trembled.
"In the Taiyuan Immortal Mansion… time flows differently."
"One year outside…
is three hundred and sixty years inside."
Fang Han felt his blood run cold.
"You mean…
if I stay here three hundred and sixty years…
only a year will pass outside?"
Yan's answer came like a hammer blow:
"Yes.
And those bones?
They are the remains of cultivators who entered centuries—millennia—ago.
Inside this hall… tens of thousands of years have already passed."
Fang Han's heart thundered.
This place…
was a prison of time.