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

The next few days were relatively calm, with a steady stream of Nascent Soul cultivators arriving. By the end, there were already dozens of Nascent Soul cultivators present.

The moment the window of opportunity arrived, the pale golden barrier surrounding the entire Yaoguang Ruins churned violently, like a lake tossed with a boulder. The runes, which had been flashing regularly, suddenly increased their flashing frequency, from once every incense stick's time to several times, then to once every few dozen breaths, and finally transformed into a continuous stream of light that flowed ceaselessly across the surface of the barrier.

Everyone on the ridge could clearly feel the vibrations coming from the ground beneath their feet, pulsating in sync with the flickering of the runes, like a giant beast that had been sleeping for ten thousand years about to open its eyes.

Chu Zi'an leaped from the rocky platform first, his grey-blue robes fluttering in the wind. His voice, amplified by spiritual energy, echoed throughout the mountain ridge: "The rift has appeared! Everyone, follow me and break through the demonic beast blockade! Do not linger!"

Before he finished speaking, his figure had already transformed into a streak of gray-blue light and rushed towards the rapidly expanding crack on the surface of the barrier.

Yan Qingsong followed closely behind, his iron-gray spiritual energy condensing into a thick layer of armor around him, like a mobile fortress. Huo Yuan, holding the dark blue short staff, followed half a step to his side. Yu Mengjia, Zhao Shoudao, and Xuan Yinzi spread out, maintaining a distance that allowed them to support each other without hindering their movement.

The female cultivator from the Heavenly Demon Sect, dressed in a dark red outfit, charged ahead on the left flank, while the Yin Spring Sect's team flanked from the right. Dozens of streaks of light rose from the ridge almost simultaneously, like a meteor shower being ignited, pouring towards the rising mountain.

Li Hanshan and Ye Shuanghua flew side by side in the middle to rear of the group. His divine sense spread out like an invisible net, instantly taking in the entirety of the beast tide—tens of thousands of demonic beasts were layered upon each other in front of the expanding rift, like springs compressed to their limit, ready to burst out at any moment.

In the center of the beast tide, slightly behind, the dark golden Void Refinement Beast slowly raised its head, like an iceberg rising from the deep sea. The low-level demon beasts around it surged and retreated to both sides as it passed by, as if the tide was being parted by an invisible hand.

The two sides collided head-on several miles in front of the rift.

Chu Zian struck first, a gray-blue palm print descending from the sky, simultaneously swatting away dozens of Nascent Soul stage demonic beasts charging at the forefront, like fallen leaves swept away by a broom. The female cultivator from the Heavenly Demon Sect flipped her wrist, and a dark red longsword materialized in her palm. Blood-red patterns flowed across the blade, and with a single slash, she cleaved a gap hundreds of feet long through the demonic beast horde blocking her path. The cut was as smooth as a mirror, and demonic blood gushed out like a dark waterfall.

The peak Nascent Soul cultivator of Yinquan Sect released a silver corpse. The silver corpse was extremely powerful, and its body already had some golden light, making it a half-step golden corpse.

This half-step golden corpse, like an iron-gray battering ram, charged head-on into the center of the beast tide with the most savage manner. Each impact sent dozens of demonic beasts flying, tumbling through the air and crashing into the distant beast horde, stirring up chaos.

Li Hanshan did not rush to attack. His pure Yang primordial spirit had detected an extremely subtle pattern during the battle—although the demonic beasts were numerous, they formed a natural formation in front of the rift, as if guided by an invisible hand, each occupying a specific position, sealing the entrance to the rift tightly. Hidden within their chaos was a primal order, like a pack of domesticated hunting dogs acting collectively.

Just then, a deafening roar came from behind the beast tide. The dark golden Void Refinement Beast finally moved, its massive body like a moving mountain, each step it took creating spiderweb-like cracks in the ground. Its speed far exceeded expectations given its size, traversing dozens of miles in just a few breaths. Its giant claw, covered in dark golden scales, carrying enough power to smash a mountain into dust, slammed down towards Chu Zian, who was charging at the forefront.

Chu Zian's expression changed drastically. He crossed his arms in front of him, and gray-blue spiritual energy condensed into a thick shield. The moment the giant claw slammed into the shield, a dark golden shockwave exploded. Chu Zian was thrown backward hundreds of feet, the ground beneath his feet plowing two deep furrows. His robes tore, revealing the bluish-purple marks on his skin.

The female cultivator from the Heavenly Demon Sect reacted with lightning speed. Her dark red longsword drew a near-perfect arc in the air, like tearing a bloody gash in the night, precisely slashing towards the giant beast's right foreleg joint. The moment the blade collided with the scales, a burst of dazzling sparks erupted, leaving a shallow white mark on the scales, but failing to completely pierce them. Her brows furrowed, and she muttered a curse under her breath.

The half-step golden corpse attacked from another direction simultaneously, its iron-gray fist carrying a mountain-like spiritual power, slamming heavily into the giant beast's left ribs, only causing it to sway slightly. But the instant it gained was enough—Chu Zian regained his footing, and the female cultivator from the Heavenly Demon Sect adjusted her angle again. Three auras of peak Nascent Soul cultivators locked onto the Void Refining giant beast from three directions at the same moment, like three crossbows drawn taut simultaneously, their arrows leaving the bowstring at the same instant.

Three beams of light—gray-blue, dark red, and iron-gray—like enormous spears, precisely pierced the behemoth's neck, right foreleg, and left rib. Under the combined force of the three attacks, the dark golden scales finally cracked, and dark red blood seeped from the fissure, radiating scorching demonic energy in the air. The behemoth let out an even more ferocious roar, the sound wave carrying a visible shockwave that spread in all directions, blasting away some of the lower-level demonic beasts that were trying to breach the crack. However, its movements were also briefly halted by the combined force of the three attacks, revealing a gap several meters wide in front of the previously impenetrable beast horde.

It's now!

Li Hanshan's pure Yang fire surged around him, and his figure transformed into a streak of purple-gold light, piercing through the gap. Ye Shuanghua followed closely behind, her silver-white sword light covering his retreat, forcing back several demonic beasts attempting to pounce from the flanks. More and more Nascent Soul cultivators seized the opportunity to rush into the rift, like a group of ignited arrows simultaneously striking the same bullseye.

Chu Zian, the female cultivator from the Heavenly Demon Sect, and the three peak Nascent Soul cultivators from the Yin Spring Sect retreated simultaneously. Taking advantage of the brief moment when the giant beast was suppressed, they flashed through the gap. Their gray-blue figures, dark red escape light, and iron-gray stream of light disappeared into the golden cracks on the surface of the restriction almost at the same instant.

The moment Li Hanshan passed through the rift, his vision suddenly went dark. The warm amber light that had filled the twilight was replaced by a hazy, gray mist, like a tangled veil shrouding his entire field of vision. This mist was unlike any other spiritual mist—it floated in mid-air like crushed stone dust, carrying a suffocating heaviness. When one's divine sense probed into it, it was like touching sticky mud, and the range of perception was compressed to less than one-tenth of its usual size.

He landed and steadied himself, his gaze sweeping over his surroundings. Beneath his feet lay broken bluestone paving, dark moss growing in the cracks. On either side stood mostly collapsed stone walls and pillars, the pillars bearing faint, indistinct carvings. An extremely ancient aura permeated the air, a mixture of decaying wood and the dust of weathered minerals, as if a space sealed for millennia had finally been reopened. He could faintly sense the sounds of colliding spiritual energy and the muffled thuds of exploding spells in the distance. In this ancient sect's training ground, dozens of battles were unfolding simultaneously in different corners—the Nascent Soul cultivators who had rushed in with them had already begun to kill each other for spiritual herbs and cultivation techniques.

Ye Shuanghua's voice came from the right, carrying a suppressed urgency: "Don't waste time here. Although the spiritual herbs in the trial grounds are precious, the real treasures are deeper inside."

As she spoke, her gaze pierced through the hazy mist, pointing to a blurry outline in the distance. "That's the Trial Tower. It's said that the Yao Guang Sect's cultivation techniques and core spiritual herbs are all contained within it. If you can pass through, you can enter the deeper parts of the ruins, where the true ancient relics reside."

Li Hanshan looked in the direction she pointed. The silhouette appeared exceptionally tall in the mist; even through the churning gray fog, its silhouette piercing the clouds was clearly visible, like a gigantic stone pillar suspended between heaven and earth by an invisible thread. Its shape resembled a square tower with its edges shaved off, each level tapering evenly towards the top, becoming as thin as a needle piercing the clouds at the very top. The surface of the tower was covered with fine runes, which shimmered with a faint silvery-white light within the gray fog.

The two did not linger in the training grounds, transforming into two streaks of light and flying towards the tower. Along the way, they sensed several intense battles raging, and also saw several corpses lying among the ruins—some were killed by their own kind who had ambushed them from behind while fighting for spiritual herbs, and others were still warm from the effects of triggering restrictions.

Ye Shuanghua kept her eyes straight ahead, the Jinghong Sword always held horizontally at her side, repelling several approaching auras. Li Hanshan's pure Yang primordial spirit was like a lamp traveling through the gray fog, providing him with sufficient early warning to avoid those dangerous areas.

The two landed about several miles in front of the Trial Tower. Up close, the tower was even more awe-inspiring than it appeared from afar—the gate to the ground floor was about ten zhang high, carved from a single piece of unknown bluish-black stone, its surface seamless, as if directly sculpted from a single rock. Two stone sculptures stood on either side of the gate, resembling qilin but with three eyes, their postures identical to the ancient stone statues Li Hanshan had seen in the Northern Wilderness Secret Realm. Scattered on the ground before the gate were several ancient skeletons, their clothing long since weathered away, leaving only dark bones and a few broken fragments of magical artifacts, tinged a dark brown by the gray mist.

"The Trial Tower has nine levels." Ye Shuanghua's voice came from the side, more serious than before, like the light of a luminous pearl falling on a jade slip that had been prepared beforehand. "Each level will simulate an opponent corresponding to the cultivator's cultivation level and spiritual aura. The cultivation level and number of opponents will increase with each level. It is said that after clearing all nine levels, one can enter the core area of ​​the ruins." She paused for a moment, "But so far, no one has been able to clear all nine levels."

Li Hanshan stood before the massive, dark blue-green gate, his gaze fixed on the silver runes encircling the tower. The runes followed the same pattern as those on the ruins of the Yao Guang Sect he had seen in the Northern Wilderness, the strokes ending with a unique, soaring arc. He asked no further questions, raising his hand to press against the surface of the gate. The instant pure Yang energy surged from his palm into the gate, a fine silver ripple spread across the dark blue-green stone surface, a sliver of silvery-white light appeared at the crack, and then the gate silently slid open to both sides.

The space behind the door was completely different from what he had imagined—there was no spacious hall, no staircase leading upwards, only an endless silver-white void, as if the entire interior of the tower was filled with solidified mist.

The silvery-white light extended from the crack in the door, forming a straight path beneath Li Hanshan's feet, stretching towards an undetermined direction in the void. He glanced back at Ye Shuanghua, only to find a thin curtain of light appearing at the edge of the silvery-white passage, separating the two into their own spaces.

Ye Shuanghua's voice came from the other side of the light screen, carrying a suppressed calm: "The Trial Tower will conduct trials individually for each person. I'm in another passage; you just need to walk your own path. Remember, the key to passing the level is not defeating all opponents, but finding the pattern."

Li Hanshan nodded and stepped onto the silvery-white path. The light beneath his feet was as solid as a tangible substance, each step creating a fine ripple that spread outwards. After walking about a hundred steps forward, a ripple suddenly appeared in the silvery-white void ahead, like water being stirred. A figure materialized from the void, its face, form, and even the spiritual energy flowing around it—all identical to his own.

The figure opposite slowly raised his hand, and the purplish-gold pure yang fire condensed into a flaming longsword in his palm. The aura, the pressure, and even the subtle rhythm of the flames were exactly the same as Li Hanshan's current state.

Without hesitation, Li Hanshan also condensed pure Yang fire in his palm, transforming it into a flaming longsword that slashed towards the figure. Two purple-gold sword lights collided in the silvery-white void, exploding into a dazzling shower of sparks. He sensed that his opponent's power was indeed exactly the same as his own—spiritual energy, fire quality, attack speed, even his habitual sideways stance was identical. This battle was like looking into a mirror that reflected all his strength and habits, making every sword strike feel like it was hitting his own chest, consuming double the power in the backlash and counteracting the attack.

But Li Hanshan had learned far too much in his dream. He had dealt with countless different combat styles, and his experience far surpassed that of ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators. The mirror image inside the tower could only replicate the techniques he was currently displaying, but it could not replicate the depth of experience he had accumulated in actual combat.

He feinted past the mirror image's defenses, then turned and pierced its chest with his sword. The mirror image shattered like broken glass, turning into countless silvery-white specks that slowly drifted away in the void.

Li Hanshan stood still, catching his breath. Just as he was about to continue forward, ripples appeared in the void ahead—this time even denser than before. Two figures materialized simultaneously, their faces identical to his, but their auras were more composed than before. The angles and force of their attacks precisely replicated the techniques he had used in the previous battle. His dodging habits and the rhythm of his swordplay were completely recorded and projected back onto the new mirror images.

He suppressed the surging thoughts in his heart and met the two mirror images with minimal movement. The three figures intersected, collided, and separated in the void, the silvery-white light engulfing the aftershocks of the battle in the endless space. The battle lasted longer than he had expected. When he finally shattered the two mirror images simultaneously, he had consumed about 20% of his spiritual power, but he also noticed a pattern in the process—these mirror images did indeed replicate the techniques he had displayed in previous battles, and the number of them increased with the number of layers, but each time they would only replicate the moves he had already used in the previous round.

He stood still, his pure Yang energy flowing smoothly through his meridians, gathering the spiritual power he had just expended. Ye Shuanghua had said the key to clearing the level was finding the pattern. He mentally reviewed the details of the two previous battles, then began to move again. If he used only one method in each round, the mirror image would remain at that level and unable to evolve. But if he continuously revealed new trump cards, the mirror images would grow stronger and more numerous, until they exceeded his limits. Therefore, the real key to clearing the level wasn't defeating the mirror images, but deciding which trump card to reveal on which level—rhythm was more important than strength.

He condensed the pure Yang fire back into a sword shape in his palm and stepped into the next layer of void. Ripples surged ahead, and four figures simultaneously materialized. He looked at the faces solidifying, held the flaming longsword horizontally in front of him, and a suppressed smile appeared on his lips—it was time; he needed a precise test to verify the hypothesis that was taking shape in his mind.