A sudden force swept in from above, an overwhelming pull that tore at the air itself. Fang Han felt his body lurch upward, an almost irresistible urge to be ripped from the ground. No matter how he tried to anchor himself, the suction only grew stronger. It was as if his weight had vanished—his strength draining, his body left defenseless, waiting to be claimed.
"Hmph!"
Fang Han let out a cold snort.
"I'm no longer the helpless novice I once was. I'm a Heaven Human cultivator now, with twenty-eight divine abilities—my power is already comparable to Golden Core experts. You think a mere gesture is enough to subdue me? You might be powerful, Tianchan Empress, but I've had far too many fortunes to be toyed with like that!"
He roared, unleashing the names of all twenty-eight divine arts he had mastered, each a blazing brand across the fabric of reality.
The instant the final technique left his lips, twenty-eight great arrays burst into existence around his body. The surrounding space erupted—wind, fire, lightning, ice, the essences of metal, wood, earth, water, celestial light, dragon, tiger, phoenix… countless manifestations surged outwards, each array spinning with world-shaking force.
A vortex of black wind howled—Black Sun Wind Calamity.
A blazing sphere of radiant fire burned beside it—Great Sun Fire Calamity.
A silver river of starlight coiled around him—Galaxy Stream, drawing power from the heavens themselves.
Within one array, thunder detonated like cannon fire, orbs of lightning bursting with enough force to shatter flying swords or reduce an unprepared cultivator to ashes. This was the fearsome Taiyi Thunder Break, a Daoist art forged from the sky's lightning and refined into compressed spheres of divine thunder.
Nearby, a yellowish soul-head spun wildly—Earth Element True Soul—spitting out avalanches of sand heavy enough to crush mountains.
All twenty-eight divine arts inherited from the Fire Cloud Fairy erupted together. Fang Han held nothing back; against Tianchan Empress's grasp, restraint was pointless. Though he had his own techniques—Wood Emperor Art, Fire Emperor Qi, even the Great Cutting Technique—he didn't risk wasting concentration on them. His foundation was still shallow; eighteen years in the Taiyuan Immortal Mansion wasn't nearly enough time to refine every ability to mastery.
Among the swirling techniques, one array stood out—a massive board of intersecting lines.
A chessboard.
But this was no ordinary board: ninety-nine lines crisscrossed like an impossibly vast Go grid. Black and white pieces glittered across it, arranged in patterns of battle—armies clashing, formations locking into place, defenses interwoven like iron walls. Some pieces twisted like serpents and dragons, hidden murder in their shapes.
This was Exquisite Grand Luo Heaven.
The moment it appeared, Tianchan Empress's power—her capturing force—was drawn into the board. Her energy condensed into chess pieces, swallowed into the swirling patterns, where the pieces clashed, dissolved, and ultimately neutralized her attack entirely.
"Impressive… Exquisite Grand Luo Heaven! The divine art created by that prodigy Linglong three thousand years ago, meant to surpass the entirety of Taiyi Sect. A technique said to neutralize all attacks and stand eternally undefeated. Remarkable. Truly remarkable."
Tianchan Empress's voice rippled with genuine astonishment.
This was the true secret art of the Exquisite Blessed Land, embodying the meaning of "Grand Luo"—a state beyond time and space, eternal and unbound.
Fang Han seized the moment to raise his voice:
"Tianchan Empress! The Yellow Springs Diagram is indeed in my hands, but I'm not someone you can crush at will. Nor is my Yuhua Sect something for others to trample over. You want the Diagram? Don't end up empty-handed and covered in trouble instead. I've been acknowledged by the Yellow Springs Emperor—I'm his successor, destined to unify the Yellow Springs Demon Sect and return it to the righteous path!"
His tone sharpened.
"You're adorable—like a little silkworm baby—I'd rather not fight you. So let's trade instead: I'll give you some Yellow Springs Sacred Water, and you give me a few treasures. Use the water to win over the elders of the Demon Sect. Everybody wins."
Even as he spoke, his power surged—linked to Jialan, Long Xuan, and Fang Qingxue. Thunder roared through his meridians as their energies merged.
"This is the Mixed Primordial Unity Array," Jialan warned. "Joined together, we can channel Junior Sister's Dao Artifact—the Undying Lightning Talisman. If we unite our strength, even a Longevity Realm master will struggle to trap us."
But Tianchan Empress did not respond.
Her body flickered.
Behind her, the vast silk web expanded instantly—threads filling the space like a world of silver lines.
At the same moment, the three ancient giants—Demon God, Nine Yin, and Nine Yang—finally recovered, pushing back against Feng Baiyu's tri-spirit assault.
"Together—we'll use the Nine Heavens Spatial Shift Formation! We'll force Feng Baiyu into the Taiyuan Immortal Mansion!"
Tianchan Empress opened her mouth—and spat out a beam of blinding light.