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

"A mere tribulation lightning bolt!"

As the tribulation lightning struck, the Ninth Elder shattered it with a single blow and continued to grab at Li Hanshan.

Although the tribulation lightning was powerful, it was ultimately only aimed at Li Hanshan, who was at the Nascent Soul stage. For him, who was at the third level of the Void Refinement stage, it was no problem at all.

"Block it!"

For Li Hanshan, this was undoubtedly a life-or-death moment. Without saying a word, he activated a defensive talisman given to him by Ye Shuanghua.

This talisman is a Golden Bell Talisman of the Refinement Void level.

The Golden Bell Talisman is actually a very simple talisman. Once activated, it will form a large golden bell around you, completely enveloping you and preventing others from attacking you.

Such a talisman wouldn't last long against a Void Refiner, but for Li Hanshan, it only needed to last a few breaths.

"Thump!"

The Ninth Elder's attack struck the Golden Bell Talisman, producing a loud bang and causing countless cracks to appear on its surface. Without pausing, he launched another attack.

In just a few breaths, he unleashed more than a dozen strikes, and the Golden Bell Talisman finally succumbed to the pressure and shattered with a crash.

But at that moment, the tribulation clouds in the sky churned violently, and an even more terrifying tribulation lightning bolt fell rapidly, striking straight at the Ninth Elder. This time, it wasn't aimed at Li Hanshan, but at the Ninth Elder.

Anyone who dares to interfere with the Heavenly Tribulation will inevitably be targeted by it.

"not good!"

The Ninth Elder's expression changed drastically. He hadn't expected the tribulation lightning to come so quickly.

His protective aura hummed under the impact of that force, cracking all over its surface. His third-level Void Refinement Realm spiritual power circulated frantically, attempting to resist the penetration of that power, but it crumbled instantly upon touching the edge of that Heavenly Dao power, like a mud ox sinking into the sea. A thin, silvery-white arc of lightning split from the purple-gold lightning, striking the Ninth Elder precisely in the chest.

The protective aura of a third-level Void Refinement cultivator shattered like paper before that thin, silvery-white arc of lightning. The Ninth Elder was sent flying backward by the lightning, like a block of iron struck by a giant hammer. He tumbled twice in the air before crashing heavily onto the bluestone ground dozens of feet away, creating a crater several feet deep. His robes were scorched black at the chest, and a trickle of black blood escaped from the corner of his mouth. He struggled to stand in the crater, but the aftershocks of the tribulation forced him to maintain a defensive posture.

The square was deathly silent.

Everyone stared blankly at the gray figure struggling to its feet from the pit, then looked up at the tribulation cloud above Li Hanshan's head, which was poised to unleash a second bolt of lightning. Their mouths were agape, but they couldn't utter a single syllable. The Ninth Elder, with his cultivation at the third level of the Void Refinement stage, was among the top five in the entire Joyful Union Sect. Yet, he had been blasted away by the aftershocks of a tribulation brought by a Nascent Soul cultivator, and was seriously injured.

The deathly silence in the square seemed to stretch a thousand times longer. Then, as if an invisible hand had torn open the silence suppressed by the heavenly might, murmurs began to emanate from the edges of the crowd and spread rapidly like wildfire ignited by the wind.

"The Ninth Elder, a cultivator at the third level of the Void Refinement stage... was blasted away by the aftershocks of the Heavenly Tribulation?" A core disciple lowered his voice, his gaze fixed on the gray figure struggling to rise from the pit, as if trying to confirm if he was seeing things. "That's a Void Refinement cultivator! Injured like this by a mere aftershock? What kind of Heavenly Tribulation did Senior Brother Li attract?"

"He must have interfered with the Heavenly Tribulation to be blasted away, right?" "But isn't the Heavenly Tribulation only for those at the Void Refinement stage? Li Hanshan is only at the first level of the Nascent Soul stage, isn't he?" Another female disciple chimed in, her voice trembling slightly, without her even realizing it. "How can a Nascent Soul cultivator have a Heavenly Tribulation? I've been a disciple for five hundred years and have never seen a Nascent Soul cultivator trigger a Heavenly Tribulation... Just who is he?"

The murmurs among the crowd grew louder and louder, like a beehive being disturbed.

An older inner disciple shook his head, but his gaze remained fixed on the purple-gold figure in the center of the plaza: "I haven't seen it either. But the heavenly tribulation has indeed descended, and the Ninth Elder has indeed been cleaved away—the facts are undeniable. This Li Hanshan must have cultivated some extraordinary path."

"Pure Yang Holy Body, top-grade spiritual energy purity, able to condense a nascent soul at the Nascent Soul stage, and now he's attracted a heavenly tribulation at the Deity Transformation stage..." Another disciple counted in a low voice, his voice getting lower with each word, until it was almost a soliloquy. "How many years has he been in the sect? At most a few decades, how did he get to this point?"

The Fifth Elder stood at the edge of the plaza, a genuine shock flashing in her usually calm eyes. Her voice, amplified by spiritual energy, resonated clearly throughout the plaza: "Everyone retreat! Disciples below the Nascent Soul stage must immediately evacuate the plaza, at least ten miles away! This is no ordinary tribulation; the power of Heaven has locked onto this area. Those remaining within its range will be affected!"

Chu Zi'an was the first to react, his figure flashing backward, landing atop a stone pillar at the edge of the plaza. His gaze fell upon the second bolt of lightning forming above Li Hanshan's head, and for the first time, an uncontrollable shock appeared in his usually composed eyes. A Nascent Soul cultivator had triggered a Heavenly Tribulation, and the power of that tribulation was so great that even the Ninth Elder, a third-level Void Refinement cultivator, had been blasted away—this was completely beyond his understanding of cultivation common sense.

Supported by his two disciples, Yan Qingsong retreated, his pale face filled with disbelief. He stared intently at Li Hanshan's figure shrouded in purple-gold lightning, his lips twitching a few times before he managed to squeeze out a sentence through gritted teeth: "Heavenly tribulation... He really is undergoing tribulation... How could a cultivator in the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm possibly experience a heavenly tribulation..." His voice grew softer and softer, the last few words almost swallowed by the wind.

Huo Yuan was forced backward, his legs throbbing with excruciating pain from the severed wounds, but he couldn't care less about that now. His gaze was also fixed on Li Hanshan, a shock far more intense than the physical pain churning within him—a Nascent Soul cultivator capable of triggering a Heavenly Tribulation, a Tribulation Transcender who even made a Void Refinement Elder retreat—what kind of monster was this? He suddenly recalled the sensation of his legs being severed by the Crimson Sun Sword in the secret realm, the terror of being locked in place by the power of heaven and earth the moment that crimson-gold sword light struck, and a fine layer of cold sweat broke out on his back. If this person hadn't died under the Heavenly Tribulation, how far would he have grown?

The Ninth Elder rose from the pit, his gray robes stained with dust and blood, the scorch mark on his chest from the silvery-white electric arc still emitting wisps of smoke. He gazed at the purple-gold lightning bolt forming above Li Hanshan's head, then looked down at the aftershocks of the lightning that had already invaded his meridians. For the first time, he felt a profound sense of disorientation, a complete upheaval of his understanding. He had cultivated for over two thousand years, experienced countless battles, and faced opponents far surpassing his own cultivation, yet never before had he so clearly felt an irresistible suppression from the very level of the rules. The power of Heaven was intervening, and he was merely a bystander caught in the crossfire.

"The Heavenly Tribulation has arrived. The one undergoing the tribulation must confront the power of the Heavenly Dao head-on." The Fifth Elder's voice came from the edge of the plaza, clearly echoing throughout the entire area. "This is a contest between the Heavenly Dao and the individual. Any interference from others will not only be useless but will also backfire. If you wish to observe, please stay a hundred miles away. If you linger here, the Heavenly Tribulation will consider it interference and include it in its attack range. The Ninth Elder's experience just now serves as a warning."

The Seventh Elder leaned against her suspended flying sword, her dark purple dress gleaming coldly in the light and shadow cast by the tribulation clouds. She gazed at Li Hanshan from afar, her eyes holding a hint of amusement after being weighed in. A mere early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator capable of attracting a heavenly tribulation, who had caused the Ninth Elder such a significant loss—this kid's value likely far exceeded the mere realm of a Dao artifact. The Sixth Elder, meanwhile, retreated to the distant rooftop, standing with his hands behind his back, his expression still calm, only his slightly narrowed eyes betraying his reassessment of the situation.

Ye Shuanghua was helped back to the edge of the plaza by Zhang Qingxuan. The bloodstains on her silver-white outfit were particularly glaring in the twilight, and the wound on her left arm had reopened due to her forceful attack, bleeding profusely. But her gaze was fixed on the figure shrouded in purple-gold lightning in the center of the plaza, a barely suppressed smile playing on her lips, a smile she herself was unaware of.

Zhang Qingxuan stood beside her, her light blue dress fluttering in the raging winds of the tribulation clouds. She gazed at Li Hanshan's figure, at the second bolt of heavenly tribulation lightning forming overhead, and whispered, "Can he hold on?"

Ye Shuanghua remained silent for a moment, then a determined light flashed in her eyes, which were slightly dimmed from blood loss: "He can."

Shen Ruoxi stood on the stone steps further away, her black dress clinging to her body in the strong wind. Her fingers gripped her sleeves tightly, her knuckles turning white, but her gaze never left the figure in the center of the square. Qin Muyue, Leng Yue, and Chu Mengyao stood not far from her, each with the same complex expression on their faces—worry, tension, and a hidden expectation that they themselves dared not even admit.

A second bolt of purplish-gold lightning cleaved down from the tribulation clouds, thicker and more powerful than the first, carrying an even denser force of the Heavenly Dao. Like a blade of judgment extending from the void, it struck precisely at Li Hanshan's head. The disciples who had retreated to the edge of the plaza held their breath, their eyes fixed on the figure about to collide with the lightning. Li Hanshan stood in the center of the plaza, facing the descending purplish-gold lightning, and raised his head. A suppressed smile appeared on his lips, pure Yang energy surged through his meridians like a tide, and his pure Yang primordial spirit was released with a roar from the depths of his sea of ​​consciousness!

A purple-gold lightning bolt, carrying an aura of world-destroying destructive power, struck precisely at Li Hanshan's head. This time, he didn't use any magic to defend himself—pure yang fire condensed around him into a flowing armor of flames, and his pure yang primordial spirit suddenly erupted from the depths of his sea of ​​consciousness. Golden light, like a blazing sun, spread out behind him, meeting the torrent of heavenly power that was pouring down upon him!

The moment the lightning struck, the entire plaza trembled violently. The shockwave spread in all directions, forcing the disciples who had retreated to the edge of the plaza to take several more steps back. Debris was swept high into the air by the shockwave, then rained down on rooftops and the ground like a storm, producing a series of rapid, resounding impacts. The bluestone slab beneath Li Hanshan's feet shattered at its center the instant the lightning struck, cracks spreading rapidly in all directions like a spiderweb, covering the ground within a radius of several hundred feet.

But he did not fall.

The pure Yang fire burned fiercely within the lightning bolt, its purplish-gold flames colliding violently with the power of the Heavenly Dao, emitting a dense hissing sound. Fine, silvery-white arcs of electricity danced and weaved across the surface of his flame armor, attempting to tear through the defenses and seep into his body like living things, only to be repelled upon touching the golden light of his pure Yang primordial spirit. He felt the power of the Heavenly Dao seeping into his meridians along with the pure Yang fire, like countless tiny needles simultaneously piercing his bone marrow, bringing a burning and tempering pain. Each penetration of the arcs tempered the walls of his meridians, making them even more resilient, like iron bars repeatedly forged and folded, becoming increasingly dense.

"Not enough! Again!" He looked up at the rapidly churning storm clouds, his voice neither loud nor soft, yet it clearly pierced through the thunder and wind, reaching the ears of every spectator in the square.

The voice carried a defiant tone—not a hysterical roar, but a confident, almost composed calm, as if bargaining with the very heavens. The disciples who had been whispering at the edge of the plaza fell silent, their gazes fixed on the figure burning amidst the lightning. A third bolt of lightning was rapidly forming within the tribulation clouds, thicker than the first two, its edges surging with denser arcs of silvery-white electricity, like a thoroughly enraged thunder dragon gathering its full power for a final, devastating strike.

"He's...provoking the Heavenly Tribulation?" A core disciple lowered his voice, his tone filled with utter shock. "Has he gone mad? That's the power of the Heavenly Dao!"

Another disciple shook his head, his gaze never leaving the figure in the center of the square: "No... he's not provoking, he's..." He paused, as if unable to find the right words to describe the gesture, "...he's enjoying himself."

Among the crowd, the female cultivators of the Hehuan Sect now looked at each other with completely different expressions. Previously, when they looked at Li Hanshan, most were scrutinizing, calculating, or coveting the Dao artifact. But now, as that purplish-gold figure stood tall despite the continuous bombardment of lightning, the pure Yang fire burning around him like an inextinguishable sun, many of their gazes held something they themselves might not even be aware of. There was astonishment, curiosity, and an instinctive attraction to a power that transcended their cultivation level.

The woman in the purple dress mingled at the back of the crowd, her crimson gauze skirt billowing like a butterfly in the dark purple light of the tribulation clouds. Her dark purple eyes were fixed on the figure in the center of the square, who was enduring the third bolt of lightning. Just moments ago, she had spoken flippantly to Li Hanshan in the secret realm, saying, "Sister will let you die in bliss." But now, looking at his straight back and composed posture under the heavenly tribulation, she found those words childish and laughable. Her fingertips unconsciously tightened around the fabric of her sleeves, her red lips parted slightly, and she didn't even realize that her breathing was synchronized with the frequency of the lightning strikes.

"Pure Yang Fire... Heavenly Dao Body Tempering..." she murmured softly, a hint of interest in her eyes that she herself couldn't fully comprehend. "This old man..."

Ye Shuanghua leaned against a stone pillar, the bloodstains on her silver-white outfit mostly dried, but her gaze never left Li Hanshan. She could clearly sense his current state—the power of the Heavenly Dao was surging into his meridians like a torrent, each meridian being tempered and becoming wider and stronger, his pure Yang primordial spirit frantically absorbing the fragments of laws contained within the Heavenly Tribulation. Although he was enduring a tremendous impact, he was also transforming at an unprecedented speed in this tempering process.

Zhang Qingxuan stood beside her, her light blue dress clinging to her body in the strong wind. She whispered, "The Heavenly Dao tempers the body; his foundation will be more stable than ever before."

"That's right," Ye Shuanghua said, her voice weak but filled with envy, "If only we had such a heavenly tribulation."

Shen Ruoxi stood further away, her black dress fluttering in the wind, her gaze fixed on the figure in the center of the plaza, enveloped in lightning. Her deep eyes were filled with complex emotions. At this moment, Li Hanshan's figure amidst the raging lightning was completely different from the centenarian imprisoned in an iron cage on the auction stage of the Northern Wilderness Hehuan Sect in her memory. He had risen from being a mere furnace to his current position, standing beneath the heavenly tribulation, defying the very heavens, in just a few decades. She, on the other hand, had been trapped in the Northern Wilderness for centuries, only to finally cross that insurmountable chasm with his appearance.

Qin Muyue, Leng Yue, and Chu Mengyao stood behind her, also gazing at the figure in the center of the square. Qin Muyue gripped her pipe tightly, her knuckles turning white, yet a slight smile played on her lips. Leng Yue's silver-gray eyes reflected the purple-gold lightning, and her lips also held a barely perceptible curve.

On the other side of the crowd, Yu Mengjia had arrived unnoticed. Her pale blue dress shimmered with a warm, cool light amidst the shadows of the calamity clouds. Her gaze fell upon the figure in the center of the plaza, directly colliding with the fourth bolt of lightning, and upon the pure yang flames surrounding him, as radiant as the sun. She leaned against the edge of the stone steps, a jade pendant of emerald green gently turning between her fingers.

"The Dao artifact recognized him as its master, the Heavenly Tribulation descended upon him, and his Pure Yang Primordial Spirit had already taken shape in the early stages of his Nascent Soul realm..." Her voice was very low, almost audible only to herself. A complex emotion, which she tried desperately to suppress yet still betrayed, surged in her watery eyes. "When I first met him, he was just an old man in the Nascent Soul stage. How long has it been..."

The fourth bolt of lightning struck. Li Hanshan's pure Yang fire was slightly suppressed by the impact of that lightning, its golden light flickering uncertainly, but his posture remained upright. Each bolt of lightning cost him—his skin was scorched with fine char marks, his meridians throbbed with tearing pain, and even fine cracks appeared on the surface of his pure Yang primordial spirit. But he could feel that each impact made his foundation more solid, like an iron block being repeatedly forged, becoming denser with each fold. The bottleneck of the second level of the Nascent Soul stage was loosening at a visible speed.

As the fifth bolt of lightning struck, his cultivation finally broke through to the second level of the Nascent Soul stage. The light on the surface of his Pure Yang Primordial Spirit in his dantian suddenly doubled, and his total spiritual power surged. However, the lightning followed one after another, giving him no chance to catch his breath. The sixth, seventh, and eighth bolts—each bolt was thicker and heavier than the last, engulfing him entirely in a golden sea of ​​lightning. His Pure Yang Fire, which had initially burned fiercely, was compressed into a thin film of light clinging to his skin, flickering like a candle in the wind.

The disciples watching from the edge of the square held their breath. Someone whispered, "He can't hold on much longer... The eighth bolt of lightning has already made him unable to stand upright." Yan Qingsong stood in the crowd, forced to retreat dozens of steps by the aftershocks of the tribulation, but a long-suppressed cold smile appeared on his lips: "Strike him to death, strike him to death! The stronger the tribulation, the better, it would be best to turn him and that Dao artifact into ashes together!" Huo Yuan also gritted his teeth, his eyes surging with the expectation of revenge.

But Li Hanshan did not fall. He withstood the aftershocks of the eighth lightning bolt, his Pure Yang Primordial Spirit suddenly erupting from the depths of his consciousness. Golden light, like a blood-red sun breaking through dark clouds, repelled all the Heavenly Dao power that was eroding his defenses. Then he raised his head and spoke amidst the swirling lightning: "Nine Heavenly Tribulations, all for tempering my body. Heavenly Tribulations that only those at the Void Refinement stage can attract are being used to temper a Nascent Soul cultivator. Heaven has been quite kind to me." His voice was neither loud nor soft, but carried a certain certainty of surviving a calamity, clearly piercing through the thunder and reaching the ears of everyone present.

The gazes of the female cultivators at the edge of the plaza shifted completely at that moment. The purple-skirted enchantress leaned against the stone wall, an expression on her alluring face unlike anything she'd seen in her centuries of cultivation. Her lips moved slightly, her voice low, almost a soliloquy: "This old man… he's interesting. I really want to cultivate with him; it would definitely… be quite something."

In the secret realm, she wanted to drain Li Hanshan dry, but now, there was definitely no hope of draining him dry. If she didn't drain him dry, then a dual cultivation session would be fine too.

Thinking of this, her eyes became watery, almost overflowing.

The Ninth Elder stood at the edge of the ruins thousands of feet away, his gray robes covered in dust, his gaze dark as he stared at the figure in the center of the plaza rising from the sea of ​​lightning. The ninth bolt of lightning had already struck, the tribulation clouds were slowly dissipating, and the aftershocks of the heavenly tribulation were receding like a receding tide.

He straightened up, his gray spiritual energy reforming around him. This time, he held nothing back—the full pressure of a third-level Void Refinement cultivator erupted, like a volcano unleashed from its seal, crushing down on the purple-gold figure meditating in the center of the plaza. His voice, cold and icy, echoed in the twilight after the tribulation clouds had dispersed: "The tribulation is over. Now, it's time to get down to business."

As he spoke, he lunged at Li Hanshan again, reaching out to grab him.

At this very moment—

A milky white light silently surged from the direction of the back mountain.

The light initially appeared as a faint glimmer, like a candle flame flickering in the distance. Then, in the blink of an eye, it transformed into a vast, overwhelming white tide, washing over the stone steps, the mountain path, and the feet of the disciples holding their breath in the plaza, enveloping the entire area in a warm, moonlit glow. Wherever the white tide passed, the combined pressure of the three elders' Void Refinement cultivation level melted away layer by layer, like thin ice melting in the sunlight, ultimately being suppressed back into the depths of their respective dantian.

The Ninth Elder's gray hand abruptly stopped in mid-air the instant it touched the layer of white light, fine cracks appearing on its surface. His pupils contracted sharply as he tried to channel more spiritual energy to stabilize his hand, only to find that his spiritual energy was as stagnant as a frozen river under the suppression of the white light, making even maintaining the shape of the palm print extremely difficult. The Seventh Elder's languid smile froze on her face. She subconsciously retracted the flying sword she was leaning against, straightened her body, and her dark purple spiritual energy rapidly contracted around her, like a startled hedgehog retracting its quills. The Sixth Elder also took a half step back, the hem of his gray robe billowing backward under the push of the white tide, his hands behind his back tightening slightly.

"Ninth Elder, Sixth Elder, Seventh Elder," a voice came from the depths of the white light, neither loud nor soft, yet carrying a calm strength like that of an ancient well, "What are you doing?"

In the milky white light, a figure slowly walked from the direction of the back of the main peak. Her long white dress fluttered gently at the boundary where twilight and white light intertwined, like clouds blown by the wind. Her long hair was unbound, cascading over her shoulders, and her face appeared exceptionally soft in the milky white halo. Her steps were unhurried and light, each step creating a fine ripple of light on the ground, like ripples spreading across a lake bathed in moonlight.

The leader of the Hehuan Sect has emerged from seclusion.