"Hmph! Fang Han really climbed the heavens in a single step. To think he's now so highly placed in Yuhua Sect—wielding authority and divine might like a storm. Killing him won't be easy."
"What are you afraid of? We're in the Divine Ability Realm now. Once the Mountain–River Tournament ends, we'll enter the ranks of true disciples. Our status will be equal to his—at least on paper. He won't be able to touch us. All we need is an opportunity to get rid of him."
"Hahaha, who would've thought that becoming disciples of Master Illusory Truth would give us such fortune? Each of us received a Seven-fold Fire God Pill—washed our meridians, reforged our bones. And he taught us boundless arts… enough to push us into the Divine Ability Realm in just one year. A miracle we'd never have dared dream of!"
"Exactly. Who would've imagined that we—once mere house stewards—would become cultivators of divine power? If we returned to the Great Li Dynasty now, the emperor himself might greet us at the gates!"
"Of course! We're basically immortals now—possessors of divine ability!"
"But… will becoming disciples of Master Illusory Truth conflict with entering Yuhua Sect as true disciples?"
"No. Illusory Truth already greased the wheels with Hua Tiandu. We're legitimate Yuhua disciples. The master said that as long as we report every major movement within the sect to him, he'll keep supplying us with pills and artifacts. With his support, we'll flourish here. Becoming immortals later on won't be a problem at all."
"Hmph. And Fang Han still thinks he can help Princess Hongyi obtain the Yin–Yang Longevity Pill? That pill belongs to us. We'll start by targeting Hongyi during the tournament."
In a shadowed corner, three figures sat together, conversing silently through spiritual speech. They were Fang Man, Fang Rui, and Fang Lie—once the Fang family's lowly house stewards, whose cultivation had barely reached the third or fourth level of the Mortal Body Realm. Now, each of them contained terrifying power, though carefully concealed. Even seasoned experts would miss it.
Every so often, their gazes slid toward Fang Han—full of venom and malice, like snakes waiting to strike.
"Three fools who don't know death when it's right in front of them," Fang Han thought coldly. He didn't even bother looking their way, but he could feel their hatred as clearly as a torch in the dark. "Take favors from the gods and suddenly think they're powerful… They won't live long."
He understood the truth better than anyone: those three had definitely fallen under the control of the God Race.
No other force—not even Fang Han with all his resources—could take three talentless nobodies and push them into the Divine Ability Realm in a single year.
He didn't care about the three themselves.
He cared about the godspawn standing behind them.
Anyone with the power to elevate useless mortals so quickly was far above him in cultivation.
"If only I could find that godspawn…"
Fang Han's eyes flashed with calculating hunger.
His World Tree was the natural nemesis of the gods. God-race corpses, once refined by the tree, produced divine power more potent than Yuan-Infant Pills. He had broken through the fifth level of Divine Ability—Human Immortal Realm—in the Taiyuan Immortal Mansion precisely because the World Tree had absorbed a god's corpse and released its purified divine essence.
If he could kill another godspawn…
The Nebula Baby might break through to the fifth level as well.
A staggering opportunity lay right before him—
The God Race themselves.
Their corpses were far more precious than heavenly demons. No one else—not even Longevity Realm experts—could refine divine power. But Fang Han could. Because the World Tree filtered it perfectly.
The gods had once chopped down the World Tree in ancient times for this very reason.
And now the tree, though young, produced 36,000 Yuan-Infant Pills per day. But he needed to pay a million pills to each of the Sword Sect elders, another million to Qingxue, maintain his own cultivation, and continuously feed the Kunpeng Egg with immortal energy.
His resources were bleeding dry.
He needed new income.
In an instant, hundreds of schemes bloomed in his mind. Since cultivating the Panwu Titan Art, his mind had grown sharper and far more devious.
Dong—!
The final toll of the grand bell faded into the air.
The Mountain–River Tournament had officially begun.
Pill clouds and treasure light burst atop the reward platform beneath the Mountain–River Rankings—so radiant even Fang Han had to squint.
"Looks like Yuhua Sect really opened its treasury this year… Over a hundred treasure-grade artifacts, and five Yin–Yang Longevity Pills."
Even Fang Han, accustomed to absurd wealth, felt impressed. The thousands of disciples in attendance gasped outright.
Treasure artifacts, spirit tools, top-grade and mid-grade talismans—tens of thousands of items.
Fang Han, for the first time, truly felt the scale of a super-sect's foundation.
The first-place reward stunned even the true disciples—
A complete set of twenty-four golden spears, arranged in an intricate formation diagram.
"The Great Annihilation Spear-King Formation," an elder announced. "Twenty-four high-grade treasure spears plus a formation diagram. Gained a thousand years ago by Elder Sky-Punishment from an ancient ruin. Kept in the sect treasury until today. Its power rivals a top-grade treasure."
Even the true disciples watching from above felt their hearts stir.
The Great Annihilation Spear-King Formation was at least equal to elite weapon sets wielded by Divine Ability experts.
"Now, I declare the Mountain–River Tournament… BEGIN!"
Boom—!
All the arenas—thousands of them—ignited simultaneously as tens of thousands of inner disciples unleashed their techniques.
But far from the thunderous crowds, outside Yuhua Sect's mountain range, a hidden snowy peak held a very different audience.
Several black-clad figures sat cross-legged in the snow. Their bodies were so still, their presence so faint, they seemed like boulders—yet their voices were sharp as blades.
"Illusory Truth," one of them said to a tall, cold man, "you wasted enormous power forcing those three worthless mortals into the Divine Ability Realm… Is it truly worth it?"
Illusory Truth replied calmly, "Illusory Spirit, this came from above. Our race has gathered eighty billion warriors. We will seize the Xuanhuang World in a single strike—destroy the immortals and demons, wipe out every race. Once we take this realm, the central node of the universe, we gain a foothold to conquer deeper and richer worlds."
Then his tone sharpened.
"And the key obstacle to our invasion is Yuhua Sect. So I placed those three pawns within it—armed them with treasures, raised their cultivation, and set them to work. Their job is simple: gather intelligence. And stir chaos."
Another black-clad godspawn sneered. "Good. Divide them from the inside. If Yuhua Sect fractures, the world falls swiftly."
"I've already learned," Illusory Truth continued, "that Yuhua's most talented true disciples are at odds with each other. Many openings for us."
"But relying solely on those three trash pawns seems… flimsy."
"Relax." Illusory Truth smiled faintly. "Those three are nothing. The true weapon—the real Heaven-Shaking Pawn—has already been placed inside Yuhua Sect. When that piece moves, the sect will crumble."
"Such power? Who is this pawn? Yuhua's foundation runs deep—their hidden Taishang Elders are preparing for the Ancient Celestial Tribulation. Difficult as it is, they found the reincarnation of the Ancient Lightning Empress. If she helps the elders endure the Celestial God-Thunder, Yuhua might surpass the Taiyi Sect overnight."
"I don't know who the pawn is," Illusory Truth admitted. "The higher council placed it. We aren't qualified to know. But in the final hour, that piece will aid us."
"So the upper ranks have already infiltrated all major immortal sects?"
"Of course. Taiyi Sect has pawns. Of the Ten Great Immortal Sects, only Linglong Blessed Land remains untouched."
"Well then… all we need to do is watch. Let's see if those three idiots manage to seize any rewards in this tournament…"