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

The silence on the ridge lasted for several breaths. The distant roar of the beast tide served as background noise, making the silence all the more distinct. More than twenty gazes converged on Li Hanshan from all directions, filled with scrutiny, observation, curiosity, and a few undisguised sharpness.

Li Hanshan stood there, his pure Yang primordial spirit aura as calm as a flattened lake. He met Huo Yuan's gaze, his voice neither loud nor soft: "Yinquan Sect? Sorry, I don't know them. But that person seems to have colluded with you to attack me first, right?"

His gaze shifted to Yan Qingsong. "Chen Jie had prior contact with that Nascent Soul cultivator from the Yinquan Sect, but unfortunately, that person thought Chen Jie was easier to manipulate and switched sides at the last minute."

Yan Qingsong's brows furrowed sharply. His gaze lingered on Li Hanshan's face for a moment, as if searching for a flaw in that calm expression. But he found none. Every word Li Hanshan spoke was flawless—the Yinquan Sect cultivators had indeed participated in the battle and had indeed attacked Chen Jie at a crucial moment. As for the prior communication, Zhao Shoudao himself was a witness. If this matter were investigated thoroughly, the Elders' Council would also have been involved.

"Sharp-tongued." Yan Qingsong squeezed out four words through gritted teeth. He didn't speak again, but instead raised his hand, and a beam of iron-gray spiritual light shot out from his fingertips, carrying the heavy pressure unique to the seventh level of the Nascent Soul realm, pressing down on Li Hanshan's chest like an invisible iron wall. The force wasn't heavy, but it carried a probing meaning, trying to force him back half a step—in front of everyone, he needed a solid stance. No matter how watertight Li Hanshan's words were just now, as long as he could force the other party back half a step, he could label him as "guilty."

But the iron-gray spiritual light stopped three feet away from Li Hanshan. A wall of purplish-gold fire silently rose, like a scorching rift suddenly opening in the night, firmly blocking the spiritual light. Fine light patterns flowed across the surface of the fire wall, with a very faint golden hue at the edges—the unique soul power imprint of a pure Yang primordial spirit. The instant the fire wall made contact with the spiritual light, the iron-gray light shattered like waves crashing against rocks, producing a muffled sound before disintegrating into countless gray-white specks of light that drifted down in all directions.

The breathing sounds on the ridge paused noticeably for a moment.

Yan Qingsong's gaze narrowed sharply the moment it touched the wall of fire. He could sense the level of power contained within the flames, clearly exceeding the realm of a peak Nascent Soul cultivator—that steady and profound texture, that rhythm subtly resonating with the power of heaven and earth, could only be achieved by a Deity Transformation cultivator. His voice carried a fluctuation he himself might not even be aware of: "You've broken through to the Deity Transformation realm?"

These words, like a pebble thrown into still water, spread out in a fine ripple along the mountain ridge. The Nascent Soul cultivators who had been observing the scene showed various expressions in their eyes; some raised their eyebrows slightly, some exchanged meaningful glances, and others had a thoughtful smile on their lips.

Xuan Yinzi stood towards the rear of the Hehuan Sect's group, his silver-gray robe fluttering gently in the wind. The silver markings between his brows flickered briefly before dimming again. He watched the slowly receding purplish-gold flames surrounding Li Hanshan, then chuckled softly, a suppressed amusement in his voice: "Interesting. He actually broke through so quickly." His tone was relaxed, but the light deep within his pupils clearly held a scrutinizing quality—he had reassessed Li Hanshan's importance in his mind, arriving at a conclusion different from his previous expectations.

Yu Mengjia stood further back, her pale blue dress shimmering warmly in the spiritual mist. Her gaze lingered on Li Hanshan longer than Xuan Yinzi's, her fingertips unconsciously tracing the patterns on the edge of the emerald jade pendant at her waist. She sensed that the quality of the primordial spirit contained within that wall of fire far surpassed that of ordinary early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators; it possessed a purity that had been repeatedly refined, like a pebble washed by a stream for thousands of years, every sharp edge smoothed away, revealing an almost perfect roundness.

Cultivators from other sects were also observing. The leading female cultivator from the Heavenly Demon Sect, who had been standing with her hands behind her back on the other side of the rock platform, now turned her gaze towards Li Hanshan. She wore a dark red, close-fitting outfit, her long hair tied back with a silver hairpin, her face cold and beautiful, her brows sharpened by battle. Her gaze lingered for a moment on the still-present purple-gold flames surrounding him, a faint smile appearing at the corner of her lips, as if assessing something interesting.

Yan Qingsong's gaze lingered for a moment on the slowly dissipating purple-gold fire wall before returning to Li Hanshan's face. He didn't attack again, but the oppressive aura still lingered around him like compressed air. His voice carried a suppressed coldness: "Even if you've broken through to the Nascent Soul stage, it doesn't change the fact that you killed Chen Jie." He paused, "You just said Chen Jie colluded with the Yinquan Sect? Why would a Nascent Soul cultivator need to collude with an outer sect to deal with a Nascent Soul cultivator? Who would believe you if you said that?"

Ye Shuanghua finally moved. Her silver-white figure stepped half a step forward from Li Hanshan's side, the scabbard of Jinghong Sword held horizontally before her, like a blade yet to be drawn, its sharpness already fully revealed. Her gaze, like two invisible swords, pierced Yan Qingsong, her voice cold yet carrying an undeniable force: "Senior Brother Yan, if you want to discuss right and wrong, you should first ask Zhao Shoudao—in the valley, who struck first? Chen Jie and Zhao Shoudao joined forces to attack Li Hanshan first, and he retaliated afterward. If this matter is thoroughly investigated, the Elders' Council may not be entirely innocent."

Her gaze shifted to Chu Zi'an, her tone still cold, "Senior Brother Chu, you are the leader of the Hehuan Sect this time. Your fellow disciples are being besieged in the secret realm; are you just going to stand by and watch?"

Chu Zi'an stood slightly forward of the center of the rock platform, his grey-blue robe shimmering faintly in the spiritual mist. He remained silent, as if waiting for the argument to cool down. Only when Ye Shuanghua's gaze fell upon him did he slowly speak, his voice neither loud nor soft: "I will lead this year's secret realm, and I will naturally follow the rules."

He paused, then turned his gaze to Yan Qingsong. "The matter of Chen Jie's murder will be decided by the elders after we get out. Right now, the ruins are about to open, and that Void Refinement Beast is our common threat. If we fight amongst ourselves here, none of us will be able to get in."

He showed no bias towards either side, his tone carrying a calculated sense of impartiality; he neither spoke for Yan Qingsong nor explicitly defended Li Hanshan. But his words themselves revealed his stance—at least before the window of opportunity opened, he would not allow internal conflicts within the Hehuan Sect to affect the exploration of the ruins.

The female cultivator from the Heavenly Demon Sect, dressed in a dark red outfit, suddenly spoke. Her voice, neither loud nor soft, clearly pierced through the lingering echoes of the argument on the mountain ridge. Her gaze swept across most of the rocky platform, landing on Li Hanshan. The faint smile on her lips deepened slightly: "Fellow Daoist, you've only just broken through to the Nascent Soul stage and already possess such combat power. Wouldn't staying in the Heavenly Demon Sect offer you a brighter future? Our Heavenly Demon Sect always speaks through strength. As long as you come, we'll provide you with whatever you desire: high-grade spirit stones, refining materials, and superior cultivation techniques for the Nascent Soul stage."

The air on the ridge was quiet for a moment. Several gazes swept back and forth between the female cultivator from the Heavenly Demon Sect and Li Hanshan. Someone whispered something, but the voices were too soft to hear clearly.

Chu Zi'an's brow twitched almost imperceptibly—he hadn't expected the Heavenly Demon Sect to openly poach him at this critical juncture. His gaze shifted to Li Hanshan, his tone carrying a suppressed seriousness: "Junior Brother Li, you are a disciple of the Joyful Union Sect, bound by its own rules. Take any recruitment offers from other sects with a grain of salt."

As he said this, his gaze lingered on Li Hanshan's face for a moment, as if to confirm whether the other would actually respond. Then he turned to Yan Qingsong, "Deal with the demonic beasts first. We'll discuss everything else outside."

Yan Qingsong's gaze swept back and forth between Chu Zian and Li Hanshan, the iron-gray spiritual energy around him slowly receding like the receding tide. He said nothing more, turned and walked back to the front of the Huan Sect's group. Huo Yuan followed behind him, the dark blue-green short staff in his hand sheathed in his sleeve, but his gaze lingered on Li Hanshan for a moment before moving away. Zhao Shoudao stood silently behind the two, his expression unreadable, only his hands, hanging at his sides, clenched slightly and then relaxed.

Ye Shuanghua sheathed the Jinghong Sword that had been held in front of her, her gaze sweeping over Chu Zi'an and then over Yan Qingsong. Confirming that the latter wouldn't make any further moves for the time being, she turned to Li Hanshan and lowered her voice: "Chu Zi'an is trying to avoid offending either side. Since he said we'd discuss it outside, at least he won't openly attack you in the secret realm."

Li Hanshan nodded, and the pure yang energy flowed smoothly through his meridians. The purple-gold wall of fire had completely dissipated into the air.

He could sense the shift in the weight of the gazes on the ridge—not because of Ye Shuanghua's appearance, nor because of Chu Zian's statement, but because of the Nascent Soul cultivation level he had displayed with that wall of fire. In the cultivation world, strength is always the most direct form of authority. From this moment on, in their eyes, he was no longer the Nascent Soul disciple who could be manipulated at will.