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

Ye Shuanghua's divine sense exploded at that moment. She sensed the rapidly approaching purple-gold light and the pure yang energy that she knew all too well. Her face turned even paler in an instant, and the trajectory of her sword light deviated slightly. Yan Qingsong's halberd seized the opening and swept her back several feet with a single blow.

"Go!" Her voice, amplified by spiritual energy, pierced through the wind in the valley, carrying an urgent urgency. "They've kept me trapped for days, trying to lure you here! Go now!"

Li Hanshan did not stop. The purple-gold light, like a shooting star tearing through the twilight, passed through the last mountain ridge and rushed straight towards the center of the valley.

"Senior sister, I'm here."

His divine sense had already covered the entire battlefield—Ye Shuanghua was at her limit, her silver-white outfit stained with blood, the wound on her left arm still oozing blood, the light of the Jinghong Sword flickering, each swing accompanied by a tremor of exhaustion. Yan Qingsong and Huo Yuan, however, maintained a steady and powerful aura, clearly not having expended too much energy in this siege that had lasted for several days.

The moment Li Hanshan landed at the edge of the valley, Yan Qingsong's gaze locked onto his position like a needle drawn to a magnet. He twirled the iron-gray halberd halfway in his hand, its tip pointing diagonally at the ground, a confident, almost composed smile playing on his lips.

"Li Hanshan." His voice was neither loud nor soft, like the satisfied satisfaction of a hunter who has finally waited for his prey to step into the trap. "You've finally come. I thought you wouldn't dare to come."

Huo Yuan slowly stepped out from the side, the dark blue-green short staff rotating gently in his palm, the dark spirit pearl at its tip flickering with an almost living light. His gaze also fell on Li Hanshan, a restrained coldness playing on his lips: "Why do you think we've been wasting so much time with her? With Senior Brother Yan's cultivation, if we really wanted to kill her, we would have done so long ago. The reason we've been dragging this out is to let you arrive." He paused, "After all, if we only kill him, the purpose of this scheme would be greatly diminished."

Li Hanshan didn't turn around. His gaze was fixed on Ye Shuanghua, where he could see her hand holding the sword trembling slightly, the silvery light of the blade flickering at her fingertips like a candle in the wind. He spoke, his voice carrying a suppressed calmness: "Aren't you afraid of being seen?"

"Saw?" Yan Qingsong seemed to have heard a joke that amused him. His iron-gray halberd paused slightly on the ground, the tip striking the bluestone with a crisp metallic clang. "What does it matter if others see, as long as you're dead?"

Yan Qingsong took a step forward, his spiritual power surging violently around him, like a ignited furnace, heat pouring out from the cracks in its walls. The moment his aura fully opened at the seventh level of the Nascent Soul stage, the air in the entire valley seemed to freeze, even the sound of the wind was suppressed by the oppressive force. His gaze fell on Li Hanshan, his voice carrying a condescending certainty: "Li Hanshan, I admit you are indeed a genius. You defeated Zhao Shoudao at the third level of the Nascent Soul stage at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, and you even managed to emerge alive from the ruins after breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage. But genius is genius, and the gap in cultivation cannot be bridged by talent alone." He raised his halberd, its tip pointing towards Li Hanshan's throat, "I am at the seventh level of the Nascent Soul stage, you are at the first level. The gap between you and me is not a thin sheet of paper, but an ocean."

Li Hanshan stood at the edge of the valley, his pure Yang energy flowing slowly through his meridians. His pure Yang primordial spirit was like a well-calibrated lamp, its light stable and restrained. He looked up at the halberd tip pointing at him, then glanced at Huo Yuan standing to his side, before finally fixing his gaze on Yan Qingsong: "So?"

Yan Qingsong smiled, a smile carrying a suppressed composure: "Kneel down, and I can let you die a quick death. You won't have to suffer too much."

"How do you mean by 'satisfying'?" Li Hanshan asked, his voice steady, as if confirming something that had nothing to do with him.

"Of course, I'll personally send you on your way!"

A seductive, alluring voice drifted from the side of the valley. A dark red figure emerged slowly from the shadows, her slender frame like a willow branch. She wore an extremely thin crimson gauze dress, the hem adorned with fine gold thread that shimmered in the twilight. Her face was bewitching, like a meticulously sculpted jade statue, her eyes carrying a languid, seductive charm. As her red lips parted slightly, her voice was like melting honey: "I will let you die in ecstasy, guaranteeing you will be so happy that even your soul will not want to leave before you die."

Her spiritual energy fluctuations were restrained like water, yet carried an extremely subtle and oppressive aura, like a soft blade hidden in silk. That aura was clearly also at the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm, and even more refined than Yan Qingsong's, indicating she was a seasoned veteran who had immersed herself in this realm for many years. She walked to Yan Qingsong's side, her slender fingers gently resting on his shoulder, her gaze fixed on Li Hanshan. A smile played on her lips, like repeatedly applied rouge: "A late-stage Nascent Soul Pure Yang Saint Body—after absorbing it, my cultivation will at least rise another level. Good brother, I'll let you enjoy yourself properly before you die~"

Li Hanshan looked at her, then at Yan Qingsong. His gaze swept back and forth between the two of them before he spoke, his voice carrying a suppressed calm: "Just the two of you?"

The woman in the purple dress giggled, her laughter shaking her body. "What? Don't you think that's enough? One is at the seventh level of the Nascent Soul stage, another at the sixth level, plus your sister, who's at the late stage of the Nascent Soul stage. Dealing with an old man like you who just broke through to the Nascent Soul stage is more than enough. After you're drained dry by your sister, he can go and deal with that Ye Shuanghua who's almost unsteady on her feet. A perfect ending." As she spoke, dark purple spiritual energy slowly condensed at her fingertips, like a layer of crushed flower petals, carrying a soft light that seemed harmless but actually concealed deadly intent.

Li Hanshan did not answer. He raised his hand, gripping the flaming longsword, and pure Yang energy surged through his meridians like a lit fuse.

"Perfect." His voice was neither loud nor soft, yet it echoed clearly in the valley. "I also want to test just how powerful I am after reaching the Nascent Soul stage."

Before he finished speaking, his figure had already vanished from the spot. A burst of purplish-gold flames erupted beneath his feet, like a ignited comet, hurtling towards Yan Qingsong at a speed far exceeding that of any Nascent Soul cultivator. His flaming longsword traced a dark blue arc in the air, carrying the purer Yang energy he possessed after breaking through to the Divine Transformation stage, and slashed at Yan Qingsong's halberd held horizontally in front of him.

Yan Qingsong reacted with lightning speed. He flipped his halberd, condensing spiritual energy into a thick layer of armor on its surface to directly block the dark blue sword light. The moment the flaming sword collided with the halberd, a muffled, almost ear-piercing metallic roar exploded in the valley, the shockwave overturning countless rocks. Yan Qingsong's expression changed slightly—he sensed that the power contained within that sword light far exceeded the level of an ordinary first-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. The quality of that pure Yang energy was like refined gold that had been repeatedly tempered, leaving a deep burn mark on his iron-gray armor, like a red-hot iron rod piercing frozen soil, causing fine cracks to appear on the surface.

But he was at the seventh level of the Nascent Soul stage. The halberd paused only slightly before regaining its footing. A cold smile returned to Yan Qingsong's lips, and the second attack followed immediately. The halberd swept horizontally, carrying the immense spiritual power unique to the seventh level of the Nascent Soul stage, crashing towards Li Hanshan like a swung iron wall. Li Hanshan dodged to the side, his flaming longsword flipping, its light cutting into the side of the halberd at a tricky angle, dissipating most of the sweeping force. At the same time, he condensed pure Yang fire in his palm into a fist-sized fireball, blasting it towards Yan Qingsong's face. The fireball exploded in mid-air, transforming into countless tiny sparks, like a cluster of ignited stars, seeping into Yan Qingsong's protective spiritual light from all directions.

While the fireballs were attacking, flying swords also slashed in from the side.

Yan Qingsong snorted coldly, his iron-gray spiritual energy surging around him, scattering all the sparks and deflecting all the flying swords. But in that instant when he was distracted by the sparks and flying swords, Li Hanshan's Divine Soul Sword had already silently pierced through the gaps in his protective spiritual light, precisely stabbing into the edge of his sea of ​​consciousness. It was a golden sword shadow, as thin as a cicada's wing, yet carrying the pure soul power refined by the pure Yang primordial spirit, cutting into his divine soul's perception range at a speed far exceeding that of a physical attack. Yan Qingsong's sea of ​​consciousness trembled violently the moment the sword shadow pierced through, slowing his movements by half a beat, and a brief gap appeared in the halberd's defensive return.

Li Hanshan seized the opening. The blade of his flaming longsword precisely sliced ​​into that opening, the sword light carving a deep burn mark on Yan Qingsong's protective aura, like cutting through a layer of frozen wax with a red-hot blade. Yan Qingsong was forced back half a step by the sword light, his halberd swiftly swinging back in front of him, blocking the subsequent pursuit at a safe distance. But his breathing became slightly heavier, and the composure in his eyes finally cracked for the first time. Although the golden sword shadow had not caused him any substantial damage, it forced him to divert more attention to guard against that invisible attack from the level of the soul.

At this moment, several divine senses from different directions, like moths drawn by the aftermath of the battle, silently gathered above the valley shrouded by the formation, taking in the entire battle situation inside.

The battle in the valley continued. Yan Qingsong's attacks grew increasingly fierce, each strike heavier and more precise. But Li Hanshan's figure was like a leaf tumbling in a gale, always finding a tiny space to dodge just before the tip of his halberd touched him. The clanging of the flaming sword and halberd echoed in the twilight, dense as drumbeats, showing no sign of stopping.

"He actually managed to fight Yan Qingsong to a draw?"

The woman in purple looked surprised. Li Hanshan's fighting prowess had truly exceeded her expectations.

Having only reached the Nascent Soul stage a few months ago, he was already able to fight Yan Qingsong, a veteran late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, to a standstill! This strength is truly astonishing.

You must know, Yan Qingsong is no nobody; he is a genius cultivator from the Hehuan Sect! His combat strength is renowned.