I'll make you the furnace and the cauldron, so you can refine Yin and Yang and prove the Great

Inside the cave, the warm, soft glow of the luminous pearl cast the shadows of the three figures long and short on the stone wall. Li Hanshan sat down beside the stone couch, his pure yang energy slowly circulating through his meridians for a small cycle, completely dispelling the lingering fatigue from the secret realm. When he opened his eyes, Ye Shuanghua was standing beside the stone table, holding a newly unfolded jade slip in her hand, her brows slightly furrowed, and the corners of her mouth tightened into a thin line.

Zhang Qingxuan leaned against the low table on the other side of the stone bed, arms crossed, looking at Ye Shuanghua's appearance, her tone carrying a restrained gentleness: "What, the reward was also deducted?" Ye Shuanghua didn't speak, but simply turned the jade slip over, her fingertips lightly tracing the lines of text, and then handed it to Li Hanshan. Li Hanshan took the jade slip, his gaze sweeping over the lines of text, his brows furrowing slightly.

The reward for first place in the Nascent Soul group should have included three Rank 6 pills, 20,000 high-grade spirit stones, and the qualification to cultivate in the core area of ​​the Dragon Spine Spirit Vein for three months. However, the actual contents listed on the jade slip were reduced by more than half—the Rank 6 pills were reduced to one, and the spirit stones were reduced from 20,000 to 5,000. The reward here is high-grade spirit stones, and the exchange ratio between high-grade, mid-grade, and low-grade spirit stones is 100. This means that one high-grade spirit stone can be exchanged for 10,000 low-grade spirit stones.

This is equivalent to losing 150 million low-grade spirit stones.

The qualification to cultivate in the core area of ​​the Dragon Spine Spirit Vein was replaced with "Cultivation is permitted in the outer area of ​​the spirit vein for one month, with the time and location arranged by the Internal Affairs Hall." A line of inconspicuous small print followed: "Considering that the Nascent Soul group tied for first place in this century-long competition, resource allocation will be adjusted accordingly based on the principle of sharing."

Ye Shuanghua finally spoke, her voice cold yet tinged with suppressed anger: "The elders decided on the tie for first place themselves; there was no mention beforehand that the reward would be halved. They're deliberately using a loophole in the rules to annoy people."

Zhang Qingxuan walked over, glanced at the jade slip, and sighed, "The Ninth Elder's move was indeed underhanded. He used the 'sharing principle' to suppress rewards, which seemed reasonable on the surface, but in reality, he was cutting off a large chunk of the Nascent Soul group's resources. This was specifically targeting our junior brother; Yu Mengjia will likely receive compensation privately."

Li Hanshan closed the jade slip and placed it on the table, not dwelling on the matter further. He asked the more crucial question: "When will the Myriad Spirits Secret Realm open? What are the specific rules?"

Ye Shuanghua took a deep breath, pushed the rolled-up jade slip to the corner of the table, and took out another jade slip of a higher grade from her sleeve, handing it to him: "We'll depart in a month. First, we'll gather at the teleportation array deep within the Ten Thousand Spirits Mountains. Each of the three major demonic sects can send twenty people; for the smaller demonic sects, the number of people allowed per sect decreases accordingly. This year, only the three of you at the Nascent Soul peak stage will be able to secure a spot."

She paused for a moment, then added, "However, the Myriad Spirits Secret Realm itself has a natural suppression of cultivation levels. Even if someone at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage enters, they can only maintain the cultivation level of the peak of the Core Formation stage. But a Nascent Soul stage cultivator can forcibly break through the cultivation suppression for a period of time."

Li Hanshan nodded, about to ask Ye Shuanghua about the spots in the Nascent Soul group, when he noticed her expression darken slightly. She whispered, "I didn't make it into the top ten in the Nascent Soul group. I lost the final semi-final to Lin Luochen, a disciple of the Ninth Elder—he's at the sixth level of the Nascent Soul stage and had been in seclusion for thirty years. Although I've broken through to the fourth level, I'm still a bit behind him." She paused, her tone carrying a suppressed calm, "However, I later used my master's token to try and secure a spot. Although the elders were reluctant, they had to give the sect leader some face, so I managed to get one. That's why I can enter the Myriad Spirits Secret Realm."

Just as Li Hanshan was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Ye Shuanghua continued, "But you need to be prepared. Everyone's landing point in the Myriad Spirits Secret Realm will be randomly scattered. The teleportation array will drop everyone into different areas of the secret realm, which may be far apart, making it difficult to reunite in a short time. Moreover, there will be more Nascent Soul cultivators in the secret realm than you think. This time, a total of twenty sects are participating, with more than two hundred people in total, of which at least half are Nascent Soul cultivators."

She paused, then took out a folded piece of animal skin paper from her sleeve, unfolded it, and laid it on the stone table. A simple map was drawn on the paper, marking the locations of several spiritual herb producing areas, with a few lines of annotations written beside it in extremely fine strokes. "This time, I need to find several spiritual herbs to refine my sword heart. This is crucial for my future growth, and the sooner the better. If I miss this Myriad Spirits Secret Realm, the next opportunity will be at least a hundred years away."

She raised her eyes to look at Li Hanshan, her tone carrying a restrained seriousness, "If you encounter these spiritual herbs in the secret realm, please keep an eye out for them for me. Don't go out of your way to find them; just pick them up as you go. Bring back as many as you can. If you're lucky enough to gather more than three, my chances of condensing my sword heart will increase to over 60%."

Li Hanshan looked at the marked locations and names on the paper and memorized them one by one. Next to it was a line of even smaller text. He subconsciously leaned closer to see it and found that it was marked by Ye Shuanghua: "This area is rich in spiritual energy, but there are hordes of demonic beasts. Those below the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm should not enter."

Ye Shuanghua continued, "Also, you need to be careful of Chen Jie and Zhao Shoudao. Your performance this time was so outstanding. The Elders' Council might try to get rid of you inside. There are no sect rules in the Myriad Spirits Secret Realm; killing and robbing are commonplace. The sect won't pursue those who die there; they'll just treat it as an accident."

Li Hanshan raised an eyebrow: "Chen Jie can get in too? Isn't he only at the first level of the Nascent Soul stage?"

Ye Shuanghua nodded: "The Elders' Council has too many ways to squeeze people in. The Elders' Council has basically filled all the spots; it's already very difficult for the Sect Leader's lineage to get even one. Chen Jie and Zhao Shoudao will both be in, so you need to be extra careful of them."

Li Hanshan remained silent for a moment, absorbing all the information into his mind. He raised his head, looking at Ye Shuanghua, his tone carrying a suppressed seriousness: "Don't worry, Senior Sister, I can handle it." As he spoke, his gaze lingered on Ye Shuanghua's face for a moment before shifting to Zhang Qingxuan, a faint smile appearing on his lips. "However—before entering the secret realm, shouldn't Senior Sister give me a little reward? After all, I got first place in the Nascent Soul group this time, and even snatched four flags from a sixth-level Nascent Soul demon beast."

Ye Shuanghua paused slightly, a hint of unexpected tenderness flashing in her usually cool eyes, before she looked away. Zhang Qingxuan chuckled softly beside her, her voice gentle as water: "What he said makes sense. You got first place, the senior sisters have to show their appreciation."

Ye Shuanghua hesitated for a moment, but Zhang Qingxuan had already stood up from the low table, walked to the stone couch, and sat down, patting the spot next to her. Her movements were relaxed and casual, as if she were inviting a familiar old friend to sit down. "It's rare for Junior Brother to ask for a reward, so as his senior sister, I naturally can't refuse. Junior Sister Ye, don't just stand there, come and sit down." She turned her head to look at Ye Shuanghua, her gaze carrying a gentle mischief.

Ye Shuanghua hesitated for a moment, but ultimately did not refuse. She sat down beside Zhang Qingxuan, her back still straight, but the taut lines had softened slightly in the glow of the luminous pearl. Zhang Qingxuan first put her arm around her shoulder, then used her other hand to pull Li Hanshan's wrist and gently place his hand on Ye Shuanghua's knee. Ye Shuanghua's body tensed slightly, but she did not pull away.

Zhang Qingxuan casually extinguished a few candles in the cave, leaving the light soft and ambiguous, like moonlight filtered through a gauze curtain. The shadows of the three people on the stone bed overlapped and then separated. Ye Shuanghua, who had been sitting stiffly at first, leaned slightly against Zhang Qingxuan's shoulder. When Zhang Qingxuan's fingers ran through her loose hair, Ye Shuanghua let out an extremely low sigh, as if she had unloaded something she had carried for a long time.

Li Hanshan wrapped his arms around Ye Shuanghua's waist from behind, feeling her back tighten slightly for a moment before slowly relaxing. Her fingers gripped his sleeve, the pressure light, yet with a sense of certainty. Zhang Qingxuan leaned in from the side, placing a very light kiss on his cheek before pulling away, her watery eyes gleaming with a gentle light in the twilight and candlelight.

The luminous pearl in the cave shone exceptionally bright that day. A tidal wave of sound seeped through the stone walls into the bamboo grove, only to be broken up by the night wind into a barely audible rustling sound, blending with the swaying bamboo leaves. The night was long, so long that by the time the candles were lit again, a hazy gray had already settled outside the window. Morning light seeped in through the cracks in the stone door, casting a thin golden band on the ground, stretching the three figures into three intertwined dark outlines spread across the stone floor.