A sharp pop rang out.
A torrent of white light erupted from the lips of the little girl with red ribbons and braided hair—"Lady Silkworm"—pouring out like endless silk threads. In mere seconds, the entire independent pocket-space of the Primordial Immortal Mansion was wrapped into a colossal cocoon, a chrysalis spanning miles.
Everyone—friend and foe alike—was swallowed inside.
All space was sealed.
Even though Fang Han, Fang Qingxue, Jia Lan, Long Xuan, and the other female disciples pumped their power wildly into the Imperishable Lightning Talisman, bolts of divine thunder crashing again and again against the cocoon walls, none of it broke through. They couldn't escape.
After all—Lady Silkworm wasn't human. She was a primordial demon-silkworm who had cultivated through countless tribulations and bathed in millennia of immortal fortune. Her natal silks were woven from the essence of heaven and earth, soaked in celestial energies. Fire could not burn them; blades could not cut them. Compared to her threads, the famed treasure "Heaven-Cock Solar Whip" was child's play.
The Imperishable Lightning Talisman and the Yellow Springs Diagram could sever the silks…
—but only if wielded by someone with real power.
Fang Han and Fang Qingxue simply weren't enough.
Even Jia Lan felt her heart drop. "This is bad…"
But Lady Silkworm didn't attack them.
Not yet.
Instead, her remaining silks wove themselves into swirling formations—one after another—filling the cocooned world with arrays dense enough to choke the air.
"Nine Heavens Shift!"
"Move Mountains, Fill Seas!"
"Star-Turning!"
"Past and Future!"
Nine Yin, Nine Yang, and the Demon God XIng Wuchen roared in unison. Countless arrays and rune-seeds gushed from their mouths like exploding galaxies. Even the phantom shadows of their golden cores flickered into existence, each radiating terrifying destructive force.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Wind Baiyu's three True Vacuum Primordial Spirits—the axe-wielding man, the woman carrying the five-colored stone, and the faceless black-and-white winged sphere—all snapped back into his body at once.
Four immortals of the Longevity Realm, acting in complete unity.
Their combined assault even forced Wind Baiyu—the exalted Sect Master of Yuhua Gate—into retreat.
"You dare court death!" Wind Baiyu's white robes flared open, his brows rising sharply. But the four giants didn't give him a chance. They spat streams of their own blood—lifeblood essence, each drop representing sixty years of cultivation.
The world dimmed.
Sun and moon trembled.
A viscous white radiance wrapped Wind Baiyu like a freezing cocoon. With a single twist—
he was dragged into the depths of the Primordial Immortal Mansion.
The impossible happened:
Wind Baiyu—Master of Yuhua Gate, a peerless immortal—was forcibly trapped.
The disciples of Yuhua Gate broke apart in panic.
"Our Master… just like that?!"
"How—how is that possible?!"
"With four Longevity Realm giants together… we're doomed!"
Even Fang Qingxue's composure cracked; despair seeped into her aura like spreading frost.
Longevity Realm experts were beings who shaped the laws of heaven and earth. Killing one—or imprisoning one—was nearly impossible. Even multiple Dao-artifacts combined couldn't guarantee victory.
Wind Baiyu was an era-defining powerhouse, the pillar of Yuhua Gate.
Yet now he was gone.
In the Immortal Mansion, the four giants held absolute advantage. They only needed to deal with Fang Han's group, and two Dao artifacts would become theirs.
Lady Silkworm, Nine Yin, Nine Yang, and Xing Wuchen exchanged triumphant looks.
"Fang Han," Xing Wuchen said calmly, "hand over the Yellow Springs Diagram. I will spare your life and make you my disciple. I'll guide you to condense a Daoist Golden Core."
Lady Silkworm chimed in sweetly, smiling like a child with a lollipop.
"Join my Silkworm Sect. We have many beautiful female disciples. I guarantee you'll never lack comfort."
The four clearly weren't united—only temporarily cooperating. Each wanted the Yellow Springs Diagram for themselves.
Fang Han smiled lightly. "There are four of you. If I'm to hand over the Diagram… shouldn't I choose who's strongest? Why don't you all fight it out? Whoever wins, I'll join them."
Nine Yang burst into laughter. "This brat is trying to make us fight! Do you think we're senile?"
"No more nonsense."
He raised his hand. "Kill this group first. Sort the spoils later."
"Agreed." Lady Silkworm nodded like an innocent child—yet she was the deadliest among them.
"Fang Han," Xing Wuchen said, "I gave you a chance. Sadly, you failed to grasp it."
His vast black palm swept down like a collapsing night sky.
"Kill!"
Fang Han struck first.
With everything he had.
The Blood-Sky Demon Blade roared, unleashed with all his remaining power, its crimson light screaming through the air toward Xing Wuchen's hand.
"Petty tricks," Xing Wuchen sneered.
His fingers shifted—thousands of hand-seals in a heartbeat—breaking apart the blade's killing aura and seizing the weapon directly.
He took Fang Han's supreme blade as easily as picking up a stick.
"A fine treasure." He began refining it instantly.
But then—
A cold voice split the air.
"You dare steal a weapon of my Yuhua Gate? Truly impatient for death. You think you sealed me with that little trick? If a mere illusion could trap me, how would I be worthy of leading a sect? Of commanding the immortals?"
Swords cried.
Space tore.
A spear of swordlight punctured the silk cocoon as if it were paper.
A white-clad youth appeared, long sword in hand—
Wind Baiyu himself.
He lifted his sword—
and it vanished.
A heartbeat later—
slash!
Blood sprayed.
Xing Wuchen's wrist hit the ground.
"That technique—Instant Kill Swordplay!"
Lady Silkworm reeled. "You—Wind Baiyu! Then the one we trapped…"
"A mirror-image," Wind Baiyu answered calmly.
With a wave of his hand, a bronze mirror surfaced, glowing faintly with draconic and phoenix motifs.
"The Celestial Sovereign Mirror. None of you knew it was in my possession."
His voice chilled.
"But explanations are pointless now. You four… leave something behind before you go."
Four beams of swordlight flared—teleporting through space—
appearing directly beside the four giants.
Wind Baiyu's Instant Kill Swordplay had been unleashed.