The Hehuan Sect cultivates alchemy; my senior sister helps me refine alchemy throughout the world.

Shen Yifei's scalp was numb from the heat. He covered his head and looked at the golden essence shining in front of him. He was both angry and amused.

"If not 'Big Sister,' then what should we call you? 'Little Sister'? 'Grandma'? 'Ancestor'? I'm telling you, Mengli, you don't actually think a stone can understand human speech, do you?"

"Master, don't underestimate it. This golden essence was personally refined by Wan Shuo and has been by his side for countless millennia. It already possesses sentience. Of course, it won't be happy if you call it 'Big Sister.' What if you try calling it... um... 'Baby'?"

"Baby...?" Shen Yifei's lips twitched. "If I call a rock 'baby,' what do I look like?"

"It's like coaxing a wife," Liu Mengli chuckled.

Shen Yifei initially wanted to scold Liu Mengli, but upon further reflection, he realized that she actually made some sense.

Women sometimes care a lot about how men address them; if they're called the wrong way, they might go crazy.

This golden essence is also a spiritual object of heaven and earth. What if... what if it really has intelligence and can understand how I address it?

Women dislike being called old, and being called "big sister" might just annoy her.

"Okay, I'll give it a try."

Shen Yifei cleared his throat again, adjusted his demeanor, and adopted a tender, affectionate expression. Facing Jin Jing, he said softly, "My darling, I am Shen Yifei, the sect master of the Tianyan Sect, and the successor of the Five Elements Demon God Wan Shuo. Today, I have come to invite you to come home with me, so that we can share happiness together in the future..."

Before he could finish speaking, Jin Jing trembled violently, and a beam of golden light shot out, grazing Shen Yifei's forehead before blasting a crater the size of a washbasin into the stone wall behind him with a loud "bang".

Shen Yifei had no time to react and could only watch helplessly as the golden light flew past his forehead.

Liu Mengli was also taken aback, not expecting that Jin Jing would be so unyielding, but she quickly understood what was going on.

"Master! Your 'baby' calling me that sounds so fake! Even a stone could tell!"

"I think it's full of sincerity, how can I tell it's fake?" Shen Yifei said, unconvinced.

"The tone you used to use to coax that fairy-like girl named Zhaoyue was a million miles off!"

"That's a living, breathing person; this is just a stone. How can you compare them?"

Ye Ling stood to the side, listening to the two of them bickering, and finally couldn't help but speak up: "You two can argue all you want, but can you at least get down to business first? If this Golden Essence were really that easy to obtain, Huo Xin would have taken it long ago. Why would she need to stay here waiting for us?"

"Honey, how are we supposed to get this thing?" Shen Yifei looked at the golden essence, then glanced at the bubbling lava beneath his feet. "It won't let us touch it, and it even hits us when it's unhappy!"

Ye Ling stared at the golden essence for a while, then turned her head and said, "Try using the power of the Five Elements Demon God and see how it reacts."

Shen Yifei did as instructed, raising his right hand and guiding the wisp of red energy from his dantian to his palm, gently sending it towards the direction of the golden essence.

The golden light of the golden essence flashed, and the wisp of red aura seemed to be sucked in by something, drifting forward half a foot, but then it seemed to hit an invisible wall and dissipated.

Shen Yifei said helplessly, "It... seems to react a little, but not enough. It's like it wants to recognize me, but it's afraid to."

"Because it sensed your power, but it's incomplete," Ye Ling said in a deep voice. "The power of the five elements within you is incomplete. The essence of metal is formed from the most yang and strongest metal energy among the five elements. It requires power that is of the same origin and can be fully controlled before it will recognize you as its master. Your power is still lacking."

"What should we do then?" Shen Yifei frowned. "We can't expect me to cultivate here for hundreds of years, can we?"

Ye Ling was silent for a moment, then said, "Let us merge."

Shen Yifei was taken aback: "Now? Here? This place isn't appropriate, is it?"

Ye Ling glared at him and said, word by word, "I'm talking about the merging of divine consciousness, just like when we dealt with the Soul Devourer, where we became one, and the two forces of the Five Elements merged into one. After our powers are completely united, we will then use our combined power to resonate with the Golden Essence."

When Ye Ling mentioned the need for spiritual connection, Liu Mengli wisely hid inside the cauldron.

"Master, Sister Ye Ling, please focus on your integration. I'll keep watch and make sure no one disturbs you. If things get really serious, don't be afraid to raise your voices; just pretend I'm not here!"

She crawled into the cauldron, and then Shen Yifei heard her calling from inside, "Xinghe... Xinghe... you brat, where did you run off to..."

Hearing Liu Mengli call Xinghe, Shen Yifei felt that he hadn't heard her voice in a long time, and wondered what this girl was up to again.

Seeing that Ye Ling was ready, Shen Yifei calmed his mind, slowly extended his divine sense, and gently touched Ye Ling's divine sense together.

Shen Yifei's sea of ​​consciousness and Ye Ling's sea of ​​consciousness have merged many times, but each time, the feeling is like the first time.

"Stop dawdling, use all your strength, I can take it." Ye Ling is always direct and straightforward in whatever she does.

Shen Yifei's lips curled up slightly. He knew Ye Ling's personality very well. "Wife, when we're together, I always use my full strength. Even when I use my full strength, I'm still no match for you."

Although Shen Yifei said he was no match for his opponent, his spiritual sense did not waver in the slightest.

The two souls merged instantly upon contact, like two rivers flowing into the same deep pool, becoming one with each other in an instant.

The five elements of their powers merged wildly at this moment.

Ye Ling's spirit never showed him any courtesy. It rushed in and rampaged through the cage like a tigress that had been locked up for a long time tearing at the cage door.

Shen Yifei's mind was shaken by her collision, but his body was also aroused by her wildness.

He simply let go of all defenses, allowing her consciousness to penetrate deep into his mind and cause turmoil within his consciousness.

Both of them knew that to achieve resonance with the essence of metal, the power of the five elements had to be completely unified. There could be no reservations, no impurities whatsoever.

At the bottom of Crimson Flame Valley, the sound of the churning lava river grew increasingly rapid.

The only sound at the bottom of the valley was the crackling of lava bursting.

Suddenly, flames erupted from the lava river!

The golden essence seemed to be awakened by something, and it trembled violently. At the same moment, all the flames of the entire lava river converged on it!

"It's done!" Liu Mengli clapped her hands and shouted from inside the cauldron, "Master! Sister Ye Ling! It sensed you!"

Shen Yifei discovered that his consciousness was being drawn by something, drifting towards the direction of the golden essence.

It was a very strange feeling, like an invisible thread reaching out from the Golden Essence, hooking his soul, and gently tugging at it.

He simply followed that pulling force and extended his divine sense over it.

The golden essence burst forth with a dazzling golden light, like a small sun rising in the cave.

Then Shen Yifei felt a blur before his eyes, followed by a clear, somewhat childish girl's voice ringing in his mind:

"You actually dared to come!"

Shen Yifei was startled.

"Who? Who's speaking?"

"Your ancestors!" The voice was childish yet brimming with an arrogant disdain for the world. "Wan Shuo waited tens of thousands of years to finally find a coward like you?"

"You...you are Jin Jing?"

"You're the one with the golden essence! I have a name, Jinbao!"