Logically, the moment Fang Han returned to the Black Yellow Continent, he should have sought out Su Xiuyi to seize the Book of the Earth Emperor. But due to being delayed by the matters concerning Universal Immortal Venerable and Xuan Wugu, now that the Guizang Continent was destroyed, seeking Su Xiuyi was an imperative matter.
Although it was rumored that Su Xiuyi had advanced again, cultivating to the "World King Realm," compared to the current Fang Han, even with the Book of the Earth Emperor, as long as Fang Han calculated well, he could still slap him to death with a single palm without wasting any effort.
Not to mention, the Human Emperor Pen had also returned now. Cooperating with this mighty existence, even the Heaven Immortal Envoy was nothing to fear. Only waiting for the Immortal Dao Convention, they would smash into the Supreme One Sect and destroy this great enemy that had been eyeing him with hostility for a very long time.
"Fang Han, Senior Human Emperor Pen. You are going to find Su Xiuyi and seize the Book of the Earth Emperor?" A voice transmitted from the depths of Fang Han's Map of Yellow Springs. It was actually the Star Lord. Just during the battle with the Heaven Immortal Envoy's clone, he had hidden deep inside the Map of Yellow Springs and managed to preserve himself.
In a battle of this tier, even though this "Star Lord" was an expert at the seventh level of Longevity, the World King Realm, he would find it difficult to intervene and could only hide.
Thinking back to those years, standing high above and advising Fang Han. Yet now, just a few short years later, Fang Han was suppressing Void Immortals and had nearly destroyed a large-scale celestial sect. The Star Lord had a myriad of tastes and ten thousand states of mind in his heart. But at this time, he had no choice but to come out and speak.
"That's right, what's the matter? Does Fellow Daoist Star Lord have any suggestions?" Having just broken through the bottleneck and cultivated the Heavenly Cave laws, Fang Han was in a great mood. Casually, he channeled a stream of pure essence qi into the Star Lord's protective astral qi, "This is a strand of Origin Qi I retained after refining the Heaven Immortal clone earlier; it will be of great benefit to your world."
"Many thanks, Fellow Daoist Fang Han." Overjoyed, the Star Lord incorporated it into his own world. Instantly, the crystal wall system of his world became much more solid, and the vitality within grew several times stronger than before. He knew this saved him at least tens of thousands of years of bitter cultivation. "Su Xiuyi possesses the Book of the Earth Emperor, which is where the origin of the Black Yellow Great World lies. As long as he is within the Black Yellow Great World, he stands in an invincible position. Fellow Daoist Fang Han is probably very clear about this point."
"Oh? That is indeed true, but an invincible position merely means he cannot be found, it is not his own power." The Human Emperor Pen said: "No one is clearer about the capabilities of the Book of the Earth Emperor than I am. It is indeed refined from a portion of the origin of the Black Yellow Great World. As long as he holds it while in the Black Yellow Great World, even the most powerful cultivators, even immortals, cannot formulate calculations to deduce his existence. Moreover, if he hides, no one will be able to find him. Only the kind of peerless hero capable of entirely refining a Great World could completely destroy him."
"Hm, Senior Human Emperor Pen is correct. I have received a piece of information: the entire Yellow Springs Demonic Sect has completely vanished within the underground recently. And it's not just the Yellow Springs Demonic Sect that has vanished, but also many Demonic Path sects, such as the Red Dust Sect, the Ghost God Sect, the Heaven Severing Sect, and the Blood Shadow Sect. The Connate Sect's building is also empty. It is unknown where Ying Xiantian has gone; the exact entire sect has vanished completely. The same is true for the Monstrous Path."
The Star Lord said.
"What? Both the Monstrous and Demonic Paths have completely vanished? Hidden without a trace? Or have they already left the Black Yellow Great World?" Fang Han was startled in his heart; he truly had not thought of this point. The great tribulation was approaching, and the God Race's momentum was strong. The major sects all possessed Peerless Grade Dao artifacts, enabling them to flee at any time. Running away directly before the great tribulation arrived, taking all their disciples and followers with them, they could remain just as carefree, advancing or retreating freely.
"Such is the situation. Even the underground Demon Race has vanished." The Star Lord said: "The atmosphere of the great tribulation has already spread throughout the entire Black Yellow Great World. Even some sects in our Immortal Path are already restless and eager for action. To speak the truth, before our Myriad Stars Sect came this time, we had already held several meetings regarding whether or not to leave the Black Yellow Great World. But ultimately, we stayed. Firstly, because if the Myriad Stars Sect leaves the Black Yellow Great World, the Limitless Star Palace will come to hunt us down. Secondly, after every God Race's great tribulation, as long as one can survive, they will obtain an immense destined opportunity. Cultivators who protect the entire Great World and fight desperately will receive the augmentation of a surge of destiny emanating from the unseen workings of the entire Great World. Their cultivation will proceed smoothly, advancing by leaps and bounds, and they will even obtain many treasures left behind by ancient immortals. Our Myriad Stars Sect has resolutely decided to stay, to gain the acknowledgment of the Great World's origin, and to find opportunity amidst danger."
"Hm? There is such a saying?"
Fang Han was momentarily stunned. To gain the acknowledgment of the Black Yellow Great World's destiny.
The concept of destiny was illusory and ethereal; who could master destiny? Not even immortals could explain it clearly.
"Fang Han, it is indeed so. The origin of the Black Yellow Great World truly grants an augmentation of destiny to the cultivators who protect the Great World during every great tribulation, allowing everything they do to go smoothly. Do not underestimate destiny. Life, fate, timing, destiny—these four things can only be peeked into by immortals who have cultivated to an extremely high realm." The Human Emperor Pen said.
"Has Su Xiuyi gone into hiding? Even better. With our current strength, we shall go open the Yellow Springs Treasury and accept the assets left behind by Yellow Springs Great Emperor." At this moment, Fang Han was poised high above the sea. Glancing around, space began to jump. In the next moment, he appeared over land. The entire landmass was a gigantic desert; he had astonishingly arrived above the Hanhai Desert.
This Hanhai Desert was the place Fang Han had come to when he was still in the Physical Body Realm. Meeting the sand bandit Prince Xie Yue, through a fortuitous coincidence, he had snatched the Heavenly Chicken Extreme Yang Rope. Borrowing the pure Yang power within it, he had awakened Yan. From then on, things spiraled out of control, and he stepped onto the cultivation path of killing gods if he encountered gods, and killing Buddhas if he encountered Buddhas.
At this time, this Hanhai Desert was a barren wasteland. Originally, there had still been some nations, such as the Blue Moon Nation, the Loulan Nation, and the Yin Mountain Nation. But they had all entirely vanished without a trace. One after another, the desert civilizations seemed as if they had never existed; they had been collected away by someone utilizing massive magical power.
Thinking about the Island Master of Ten Thousand Returns Immortal Island, who with a mere raise of his hand captured the various maritime nations along with over a billion people and cast them into the abyss as sacrifices, one could understand just how terrifying high-level Longevity Secret Realm cultivators were.
Now, the nations on the Hanhai Desert had clearly been collected away by cultivators at the World King Realm.
A deep earthen rift appeared in the center of the desert, looking as if it had been cleaved open by an ancient cultivator using a blade or sword. Within the rift lay a bottomless abyss.
Inside the earthen fissure was the underground world.
Fang Han closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, seeming to sigh over the years of the past, vividly remembered. Since beginning cultivation, everything trivial and lightweight remained only as memories. The horse-rearing youth of the past was the celestial sect Headmaster of today. In the long river of time, was he ultimately just a small wave, or a heaven-surging tide?
In a single instant, a myriad of twists and turns ran through Fang Han's heart, and he felt the weight of two words: "The Mortal Red Dust."
"Let's go!"
This wave of emotion lasted only ten or so breaths. Pulling himself together, with a spatial shift, Fang Han arrived deep underground. He only saw rolling underground mountain ranges stretching everywhere, but it was incomparably dead and silent. Logically speaking, the underground should be teeming with endless demonic beasts, as well as many Underground Demon-men, Yakshas, Flying Yakshas, Asuras, Great Asuras, and a multitude of demons, magical beasts, and monsters.
But now, it was completely empty and desolate. Every single living being had vanished without a trace.
The first layer of the underground, the second layer, the third layer… As Fang Han ventured deeper layer by layer, he found no traces of any Demon Race at all, only some withered and decaying mines.
Finally, advancing deeper and deeper into the earth, the earth-煞 malice qi became thicker and thicker, with a black air current rippling everywhere. These air currents were earth-煞 malice qi, mixed with Nine Nethers Qi.
"Fang Han, deeper ahead lies the Land of the Nine Nethers, which contains countless alternate dimensions inhabited by powerful ghosts and deities. The fundamental root of the Yellow Springs Demonic Sect, the Wandering Soul Pass, is situated right in the middle of the Land of the Nine Nethers. If you can cultivate to the point of communicating with the origin of the Black Yellow Great World, and then cultivate the Great Summoning Spell, you will be able to summon powerful ghosts and deities to aid you commensurate with your realm."
All of a sudden, Yan spoke up, pointing toward the deeper underground, where layers upon layers of pitch-black air currents resembled a black water abyss.
"The Land of the Nine Nethers, ghosts and deities! The headquarters of the Yellow Springs Demonic Sect, the location of the Yellow Springs Treasury." Fang Han's eyes tightened, glittering brightly. Gazing past the black mist, he instantly looked throughout the Land of the Nine Nethers.
Deep underground, amidst the infinite black qi, it was broader than the ocean. It was unknown just how thick the black qi was. With Fang Han's eyesight, he actually could not see through it.
Although cultivators would often boast broadly, claiming, "With a pair of eyes, one can pierce the Azure Firmament above, and see through the Nine Nethers below." but now that he truly looked towards the Nine Nethers, he fundamentally could not see through them.
Fang Han only saw that deep within the ocean-like, rolling black qi, countless parallel spaces and alternate dimensions were densely arranged. Every alternate dimension was boundlessly vast, much larger than the worlds of World King Realm experts.
And within some of these alternate dimensions, Fang Han could sense the dormant presences of powerful auras. These auras seemed like ghosts, yet seemed like deities. They were exactly the most unique entities found in the Land of the Nine Nethers—the ghosts and deities!
The structure of the Black Yellow Great World was distinctly different from that of the Limitless Great World. Beyond the many layers of the underground world lay the Nine Nethers World, containing endless alternate dimensions and inhabited by powerful ghosts and deities. They were the remnant heroic souls of countless mighty living beings that had once perished in the Black Yellow Great World, entering the underground, gathering the grim malice qi of the Nine Nethers and various earth-煞 energies to condense into robust existences. Their wills merged into one with the origin of the Black Yellow Great World, effectively meaning they were existences nurtured deep within the entirety of the Great World itself.
When powerful living beings died, their remnant heroic souls were called "ghosts," but because their power was tremendous, they were also called "deities"—collectively referred to as ghosts and deities.
Some ghosts and deities were the dead heroic souls of ancient mighty figures, their strength even comparable to Void Immortals or True Immortals, and possibly even higher. However, to summon these existences was simply impossible; they cultivated in isolation deep within the Nine Nethers.
The headquarters of the Yellow Springs Demonic Sect was right within the Land of the Nine Nethers.
Fang Han had long known that the Yellow Springs Demonic Sect was not a Peerless Grade Dao artifact, which was why it could not be taken away. Moreover, the Yellow Springs Treasury was located in the Wandering Soul Pass right behind the Demonic Sect. The immense treasury was intricately connected with the countless spaces in the Land of the Nine Nethers and could not be moved no matter what. Descending this time, if he found Su Xiuyi, he would snatch the Book of the Earth Emperor and kill him. If Su Xiuyi wasn't there and had hidden away, then he would break through the restrictions of the Yellow Springs Treasury and enter it to obtain the treasures.
He had already acquired several keys to the Yellow Springs Treasury. Although the set was incomplete, he still possessed the master key, the Map of Yellow Springs. Relying on the power of the Human Emperor Pen, even if he had to dismantle it by force, he would break his way in.