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

Shortly after Xiao An's breakthrough, a deep, rumbling sound came from afar, like a giant beast turning over deep underground. The ground beneath his feet trembled slightly, followed by a second, then a third. The intervals between the tremors grew shorter and the intensity increased, even causing small pebbles on the cave ceiling to fall in a rustling sound. Li Hanshan abruptly stood up and strode out of the cave. He cast a far-seeing spell on himself, and looking into the distance, he saw a massive mountain slowly rising in the central area of ​​the secret realm.

The mountain peak, initially just a slight ridge on the horizon, rose and grew at a visible speed within a few dozen breaths, like a sleeping behemoth stretching its spine. Its surface was covered with lush green vegetation and ancient stone steps, and the outlines of a cluster of buildings were faintly visible, appearing and disappearing in the twilight and spiritual mist. The roofs of the buildings were covered with bluish-gray tiles, and fine spiritual runes remained at the eaves; even after countless years of erosion, these runes still shimmered with a faint light. A pale golden halo floated atop the peak, like a crown supported by clouds, its edges crisscrossed with intricate runes, radiating an ancient and chilling pressure.

The Yaoguang Ruins have been discovered.

Li Hanshan stood high above the cave, his gaze fixed on the rising mountain peak. His heart pounded in his chest, and his pure Yang primordial spirit trembled slightly, as if sensing something distant yet familiar. The outlines of the buildings gradually became clear in his consciousness. He could see the stone walls covered with vines and moss on the outer edge of the mountain, the fragments of stone pillars scattered halfway up the mountain, and a winding bluestone road leading upwards—every few dozen feet along both sides of the road stood a broken stone lamp, the embers of long-extinguished spiritual fire still remaining in its flame.

The ground trembled more and more violently, the air within the secret realm churning like a stirred pool. Then, a series of deep, dense roars erupted simultaneously from all directions, like a swarm of bees awakened from their nest. Tens of thousands of demonic beasts surged forth from the depths of the dense forest, the crevices of mountain streams, and the edges of swamps, carried by an invisible tide, charging wildly towards the rising mountain peak. The beasts on the ground trampled through the bushes and rocks in their path, while birds in the sky blotted out the sun, their piercing cries echoing as they swept overhead. The deafening roars, mixed with the explosive sounds of colliding spiritual energy and the scraping of claws against the rock, transformed the central area of ​​the secret realm into a boiling ocean of beasts.

All the demonic beasts were aiming in the same direction—the Ruins of Yaoguang. Like moths to a flame, they crashed into the pale golden halo surrounding the mountain peak. Claws, fangs, and demonic magic bombarded the surface of the barrier in turn, exploding into blinding flashes of light, yet they could not break through the seemingly thin barrier. One wave of demonic beasts was repelled or injured, and another immediately took its place, relentlessly charging forward, as if something behind the barrier was calling to them—perhaps the medicinal fragrance emanating from the ancient spiritual plants, or perhaps some more primal desire.

Li Hanshan's Nascent Soul level divine sense swept over the scale of the beast tide, roughly estimating that at least tens of thousands of demonic beasts were converging from all directions, including over a hundred Nascent Soul level or higher. Further afield, he could sense even more rapidly approaching demonic energy fluctuations, like lit fuses spreading towards the center.

Ye Shuanghua, Yin Lingyue, and Xiao An flew to his side one after another. The four of them stood on the protruding rock wall above the cave, gazing at the distant mountain peaks being battered by the beast tide. Ye Shuanghua spoke first, her silver-white outfit fluttering in the wind, her voice carrying a suppressed gravity: "It seems all the Nascent Soul cultivators will be gathering in that direction. The commotion from those demonic beasts is too great; even I can sense it." As she spoke, her gaze fell on the protective light barrier being repeatedly impacted by the beast tide, her brows furrowing almost imperceptibly. "Let's move closer to that side."

The four transformed into four streaks of light and flew towards the central mountain peak. The mountain peak was of unknown height; from a distance, it looked about the size of a tree, but upon closer inspection, it was found to be ridiculously tall.

At the speed of four people, it took them most of the day to get within ten thousand miles of the mountain peak.

The closer he got to the mountain peak, the higher the concentration of spiritual energy in the air became, even making the air feel more viscous. Li Hanshan could clearly sense that the restrictive runes surrounding the mountain peak were flashing in a slow and regular rhythm, like the beating of a heart. Each flash caused the pale golden light curtain to slightly contract and expand.

As they landed at the edge of a dense forest about a thousand miles from the mountain peak, their view suddenly opened up. Ahead lay a vast clearing that had been trampled flat by the beast horde, the ground littered with shattered rocks and broken trees, the air thick with the stench of blood and the lingering effects of demonic energy.

Through the gaps in the beast tide, Li Hanshan looked at the stone walls covered in vines on the outer edge of the mountain peak, his divine sense probing the surface of the restriction like invisible tentacles. The flow of those runes gave him a sudden shock, and he involuntarily murmured the ancient names of those runes in his mind: "Seal, Suppress, Gather, Defend..." The structure of each rune was exactly the same as the ancient formation that Luo Li had taught him in his dream, the soaring arc at the end of the strokes, the unique roundness at the turns, even the proportions of the spacing between the runes were exactly the same. He repeatedly compared the direction of those restriction runes in his mind, and finally confirmed a fact that made his breath catch slightly—the ancient formations that the girl had taught him did indeed come from the same lineage.

She was indeed not from this era, or perhaps she had some kind of connection with the Yaoguang Sect that he could not imagine, a connection that spanned a long period of time.

Ye Shuanghua seemed to sense his unusual behavior, took a half-step closer, and lowered her voice, asking, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." Li Hanshan withdrew his divine sense, suppressing the surging emotions in his heart. "I was looking at the direction of those restrictive runes, trying to find any weak points that I could enter in advance."

Ye Shuanghua shook her head, her gaze falling on the flickering golden light screen: "It's not the right time yet. The fluctuations of those restrictions are contracting. According to the records left by the cultivators, a crack will only appear at the entrance when the interval between the fluctuations shortens to less than twelve hours. We still have at least five or six days of buffer time."

She paused for a moment, "And even if the window of opportunity arrives, we can only enter the outer trial area. The main halls and scripture pavilions deep within the ruins are said to be shrouded in a higher level of seal, which even cultivators at the Void Refinement stage cannot approach. After entering the trial area, we will have to go through several tests before we can obtain the qualification to harvest spiritual plants in the spiritual herb garden."

Yin Lingyue's voice came from the side, her dark purple eyes fixed on a certain spot in the horde of beasts: "Something's not right."

Li Hanshan followed her gaze. In the center, slightly behind the beast tide, a colossal beast covered in dark golden scales was slowly advancing. This beast was several times larger than the other demonic beasts; each step it took caused the ground to tremble slightly. The lower-level demonic beasts, as if pushed aside by an invisible force field, scattered to the sides, leaving a clearing several thousand feet in diameter. Its aura was deep and unfathomable, like magma gushing from the deepest part of the earth, carrying a soul-shaking sense of oppression.

A demonic beast in the Void Refinement stage.

Even from a thousand miles away, the oppressive aura caused Li Hanshan's pure Yang primordial spirit to tense up slightly for a moment, as if he were facing an invisible iron wall, and even his breathing unconsciously slowed down.

Ye Shuanghua's expression suddenly changed. Her voice carried a rare loss of composure: "A Void Refinement stage demonic beast? Every hundred years, Void Refinement cultivators enter this secret realm to eliminate high-level demonic beasts. Logically, it's impossible for a Void Refinement stage being to remain! Could it be…" She paused, a hint of solemnity flashing in her eyes, "that this demonic beast broke through within the last hundred years?"

Yin Lingyue's gaze also fell on the dark golden behemoth, her voice hoarse yet resolute: "That's the only way. While the suppression of the Myriad Spirits Secret Realm can limit the cultivation of outside cultivators, it doesn't have the same binding effect on native demonic beasts. It broke through to the Void Refinement stage within a hundred years, and this round of cleansing hasn't even begun yet."

She paused, a serious look creeping into her eyes after careful consideration. "A Void Refinement stage demon beast is not something a Nascent Soul stage cultivator can handle. Even if all of us combined, we couldn't withstand a direct attack from it. If it's guarding the entrance during the window of opportunity, then we can forget about getting in."

Just then, a voice rang out from above the beast tide, its clear sound, amplified by spiritual energy, resounding for hundreds of miles around: "All Nascent Soul cultivators, immediately assemble at the northwest ridge! Discuss strategies to deal with the beast tide!"

The voice carried a deep and majestic quality, like a bronze bell echoing through the mountains, clearly belonging to a cultivator at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage.

"I, Zong Zhan, swear by my inner demons that I will not attack you during the negotiations!"

To dispel the concerns of others, the voice immediately made a vow against inner demons.

Li Hanshan turned to look at Ye Shuanghua: "Are you going?"

Ye Shuanghua was silent for a moment, then nodded: "Go. The threat of the Void Refinement Beast has exceeded the scope of individual handling; we must unite the power of other Nascent Soul cultivators to deal with it."

Li Hanshan asked, "Aren't you worried that the Nascent Soul cultivators of the Joyful Union Sect will come after us?"

Ye Shuanghua said, "With more people, they won't dare to deal with us openly. Don't forget, our master is the sect leader. The sect leader can break through to the Dao Integration Realm at any time, so sometimes we have to be assertive."

Since she's said that, what is Li Hanshan afraid of?

"Besides, even if they try to take action, I have a backup plan, so there's nothing to worry about."

To further reassure Li Hanshan, Ye Shuanghua continued.

Li Hanshan gave up completely. Ye Shuanghua was indeed the sect leader's disciple. Even though the sect leader's lineage was suppressed by the elders, the sect leader was still the sect leader. He was a peak Void Refinement expert who could break through to Dao Integration at any time.

She still has quite a few trump cards and tricks up her sleeve.

Ye Shuanghua paused for a moment, her gaze sweeping over Yin Lingyue. "She can go back to the Yinquan Sect. Your people should also return to their respective groups first. Otherwise, in this gathering of various forces, being unclear about one's identity could easily make one a target of criticism."

Li Hanshan turned to Yin Lingyue: "Go back to the Yinquan Sect's team first. I'll contact you if anything happens." Yin Lingyue was silent for a moment, then nodded: "Be careful." She didn't say anything more, turned around and transformed into a streak of gray-black light, disappearing into the dense forest at the edge of the beast tide in a few breaths.

Li Hanshan then turned to Xiao An: "You should also hide for now. I'll call you when I need you." Xiao An responded, and the light on the surface of his soul body subsided, turning into a barely perceptible dark blue line that merged into the soul banner at his waist, as if he had been sucked into an invisible vortex.

After doing all this, Li Hanshan followed Ye Shuanghua and flew towards the direction from which the voice came. Two streaks of light swept past the heads of the low-level demonic beasts frantically attacking the barrier at the edge of the beast tide, and landed on a protruding mountain ridge on the northwest side.