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

The following morning, at the main hall of the Hehuan Sect.

As the elders from each peak arrived, the atmosphere in the hall became much more somber than usual. The Fifth Elder sat on the left, near the front, holding a cup of spiritual tea, her expression calm and composed. The Ninth Elder sat opposite her, his gray robes impeccably tailored, his gaze fixed on the hall's entrance. His face showed no obvious emotional fluctuation, but the fingers gripping the armrest tightened slightly.

Chu Zian, Yan Qingsong, Huo Yuan, and the others stood at the edge of the main hall, each occupying a position towards the back, their gazes occasionally meeting and then shifting away. Ye Shuanghua and Zhang Qingxuan stood slightly behind the sect leader. Ye Shuanghua's left arm was wrapped in fine, silvery-white bandages, presumably from some kind of healing elixir. Although her complexion was still somewhat pale, her spirits were noticeably better than yesterday.

When Li Hanshan stepped into the main hall, almost everyone's gaze fell upon him at the same instant. He wore a dark blue robe, a new garment that the sect leader had sent overnight, woven from a rare spirit silkworm silk. It felt weightless against his skin, with spiritual energy flowing automatically across its surface. He had regained his youthful appearance, his sharply defined features particularly clear in the daylight.

The sect leader sat regally on the main seat, her white dress billowing like a cloud, her long hair tied back with a silver hairpin, revealing a face that appeared exceptionally dignified in the glow of the luminous pearl. Her gaze swept over the assembled guests, her voice neither loud nor soft, yet clearly reaching everyone's ears: "I have summoned you all here today for one matter. I have decided to accept him as my personal disciple. From this day forward, he will be my last disciple."

These words caused a slight commotion in the hall. Several elders exchanged glances; the Fifth Elder's hand, holding his teacup, paused slightly before returning to normal. The Ninth Elder's gaze, like an invisible blade, lingered on Li Hanshan for a moment before moving away. His lips tightened slightly, but he remained silent. Standing at the edge of the hall, Chu Zi'an kept his eyes lowered, his expression calm and unreadable.

The sect leader stood up, her white dress shimmering softly in the morning light. She walked to Li Hanshan, a milky-white light emanating from her palm, which condensed into a white jade token about half the size of her hand. Two ancient seal characters were engraved on the token: "Holding the reins." She handed the token to him, her voice carrying a restrained solemnity: "This is the token of a direct disciple of the sect leader's lineage. The holder of this token can freely travel across all peaks of the Joyful Union Sect without being hindered by any restrictions. If anyone uses their status to pressure you or their power to bully you, show this token. If they still disobey, come find me."

Li Hanshan accepted the white jade token, its surface warm and smooth to the touch. A thin, milky-white spiritual light flowed around its core, like a sliver of frozen moonlight. He solemnly tucked it into his robes and bowed respectfully to the sect leader, saying, "Disciple Li Hanshan greets Master."

The sect leader nodded slightly, her gaze lingering on him for a moment before turning to the crowd in the hall. Her voice remained neither loud nor soft, yet it carried a sharpness she had never shown before: "From this day forward, Li Hanshan's affairs are my affairs. I do not wish to hear of anyone making things difficult for him for any reason. If anyone feels I am biased, they are welcome to speak to my face."

The silence in the hall lasted for several breaths. The Fifth Elder was the first to stand up, bowing slightly to the Sect Leader: "Congratulations, Sect Leader, on taking on such a fine disciple. Junior Nephew Li possesses outstanding talent and is indeed worthy of cultivation." After she finished speaking, she sat down again, picked up her teacup, took a sip, and remained composed. The other elders also rose one after another, offering a few polite words of congratulations.

The Grand Elder was not among them. As a Dao Integration Realm cultivator, the Grand Elder had not been in the Hehuan Sect for the past few years, and would only return if there was an emergency.

The Ninth Elder was the last to stand up. He looked at Li Hanshan, remained silent for a moment, then his lips moved, and he only said three words: "Congratulations."

The Ninth Elder's "Congratulations" fell into the hall like a withered leaf into a deep pool, sinking without even a ripple. His gaze shifted from Li Hanshan back to the table in front of him, as if those three words had exhausted all his emotional capacity. The hall was quiet for a moment. The air, which had been stagnant due to the pressure exerted by the three elders, was now slowly beginning to flow again, like fine cracks appearing on a frozen river under the warm spring sun.

The sect leader didn't look at the Ninth Elder again. She turned around, facing the open main gate of the hall. Morning light streamed in from the stone steps outside, bathing her white dress in a warm, golden-white hue. Her voice echoed from the hall's entrance, amplified by spiritual energy, transforming into an invisible ripple that swept across the stone steps, the plaza, and through the spiritual mist and restrictions of the main peak, spreading like a pebble thrown into a deep pool, reaching every corner of the entire Joyful Union Sect.

"Today, I accept Li Hanshan as my personal disciple. From this day forward, the sect leader's lineage gains this new member. Whoever carries this token may traverse the peaks as if walking on flat ground; those who are bullied will be punished by me personally. Anyone who is dissatisfied should come to me in person."

The voice, neither loud nor soft, precisely reached the ears of every disciple of the Joyful Union Sect. The outer disciples in the Qi Refining stage, who had just straightened up from the herb field, nearly dropped their spirit hoes upon hearing the voice; the inner disciples in the Foundation Establishment stage were gathered outside the alchemy room awaiting task assignments, their eyes filled with barely suppressed astonishment; the core disciples in the Golden Core and Nascent Soul stages emerged from their respective caves, standing on the stone steps, under the eaves, and at the edge of the plaza, their gazes unanimously turning towards the main hall on the main peak, where layers of spiritual mist surged endlessly in the morning light, as if even the mountain range itself was conveying this message.

The news spread like wildfire, starting from the main peak and sweeping across the entire Hehuan Sect at a speed far exceeding the reach of divine sense.

On Crimson Fire Peak, several disciples who were tempering magical artifacts stopped hammering. A male cultivator with a full beard wiped the sweat from his brow and turned to his companion: "Did you hear that? The sect leader has taken on a personal disciple—it's that old man from the Northern Wilderness?"

His tone carried a bewildered bewilderment, as if he had been crushed. "How many years has he been in the sect? He fought his way up from the Nascent Soul stage, defeated Wang Hao and Luo Lie, went to the Myriad Spirits Secret Realm, and came back to become the sect leader's personal disciple?"

Although Li Hanshan was a disciple before, that was when Ye Shuanghua accepted him as a disciple on behalf of her master. Now, the sect leader is accepting him personally, which makes a big difference.

"The key question is, did the Elders' Council agree?" the tall, thin man beside him whispered. "Didn't you see the scene in the square that day? The Ninth Elder was blasted away by the heavenly tribulation he summoned right in front of the entire sect. That was a slap in the face to the Elders' Council. It's already a miracle they didn't seek revenge, let alone object to the Sect Leader accepting a disciple?"

"Can you even object?" The bearded man shook his head. "Don't you think about it? How many Nascent Soul cultivators in the entire Central Continent have you ever heard of who can attract a Heavenly Tribulation? The sect leader isn't stupid. If he doesn't take such a promising talent under his wing, does he expect other sects to poach him?"

"It's a pity the Grand Elder isn't here, otherwise he might have had a showdown with the Sect Leader."

On Wenzang Peak, a group of core disciples were gathered in twos and threes on the stone steps outside the Scripture Pavilion. A pretty female cultivator held a jade slip in her hand, but her gaze had already drifted towards the main peak: "The sect leader's lineage hasn't made much progress in recent years. Even if Senior Sister Ye Shuanghua is strong, she can only hold it up by herself. Now there's another Senior Brother Li... Do you think the Elders' Council might loosen their grip a bit?"

"Release?" A male cultivator beside him scoffed. "What are you thinking? The power that the Elders' Council has accumulated over hundreds of years cannot be shaken by simply accepting a personal disciple. However—at least the sect leader's lineage will see some improvement. Senior Sister Ye and the others have been holding on for too many years. Now that they have a junior brother who can attract heavenly tribulations, the other neutral disciples will at least take a second look."

On Jade Peak, several female disciples who had been weeding in the spirit fields huddled in a circle, their work long since stopped. The youngest looked up, her eyes still filled with lingering shock: "Senior Brother Li... is he the one who was struck by the heavenly tribulation in the plaza? He actually got accepted as a personal disciple by the sect leader... So, can we go to the Southern Peak more often? Maybe we'll run into him." She blushed as she finished speaking, and her senior sister tapped her forehead: "What are you thinking? He's the sect leader's personal disciple now, not someone you or I can just casually talk to."

"But Senior Sister Ye and Senior Sister Zhang also frequently come and go from the Southern Foothills..." she muttered softly, but was glared at by her senior sister and swallowed the rest of her words.

On the southern slope of the main peak, in the cluster of caves surrounded by purple bamboo forest, several figures had unknowingly appeared on the once deserted stone path. A few inner disciples pretended to be passing by, walking slowly up the stone steps, their gazes involuntarily drawn to the area shrouded in spiritual mist—once the most peripheral corner of the sect leader's lineage, now the focus of the entire Joyful Union Sect's attention. A young disciple in a blue outer sect uniform squatted at the edge of the steps, pretending to tie his shoelaces, but his ears were pricked up, trying to catch any whispers coming from the depths of the bamboo forest.

No one explicitly stated what happened, but the change was undeniable. Within a single day, the aura of the sect leader's lineage visibly rose—not in terms of cultivation level, but in terms of the shift in public sentiment. Those disciples who had previously avoided the southern slopes began to show more interest in staying; even those who had remained neutral towards the sect leader's lineage were secretly plotting when to send a formal invitation.

Ye Shuanghua stood on the stone platform outside her cave dwelling on the southern slope, her silver-white attire fluttering slightly in the mountain breeze. She gazed at the scattered figures lingering on the stone steps, a faint smile playing on her lips. Zhang Qingxuan emerged from the cave, holding a freshly brewed cup of spiritual tea. Following Ye Shuanghua's gaze, she glanced at the scene and murmured, "It's been so many years; this is the first time the southern slope has been this lively."

Ye Shuanghua remained silent, simply withdrawing her gaze and turning to enter the cave. The stone door slammed shut behind her with a deep, resonant sound, shutting out the clamor warmed by the morning light. But that budding, long-dormant energy, finally waiting its chance to sprout, was already quietly taking root in every corner of the Hehuan Sect, like a seed falling into the soil.

The sect leader soon announced another matter—he would personally lead Li Hanshan to the core spiritual vein area of ​​the Hehuan Sect for a month of cultivation, and no disciple was allowed to disturb him.

After the news spread, the disciples of each peak discussed it extensively, and they were filled with envy for Li Hanshan.

In any case, the fact that the sect leader publicly accepted him as a disciple already declared a fact—from now on, Li Hanshan was no longer a helpless, marginal disciple of the sect leader's lineage, but one of the top few in the Hehuan Sect.

At the northern foot of the main peak, in the Ninth Elder's cave dwelling. After the stone door closed, silence fell within the cave. The Ninth Elder sat on a stone couch, his grey robe appearing particularly cold and hard in the glow of the luminous pearl. Yan Qingsong stood before him, his empty right sleeve hanging at his side, his lips pressed into a thin line. Huo Yuan sat on a stone bench a little further away, his trouser legs, below the knees, carefully rolled up, his face as pale as paper.

"Uncle-Master, the Sect Leader publicly accepted him as a disciple today and took him to the core spiritual vein area to cultivate for a month." Yan Qingsong finally spoke, his voice filled with suppressed hatred. "Uncle-Master, is this all? He cut off my right arm, severed Junior Brother Huo's legs, and even killed Chen Jie in the secret realm—you said before that you would find an opportunity to cripple him after he entered the secret realm. Now he not only came back alive, but has also become the Sect Leader's personal disciple."

The Ninth Elder leaned against the stone couch, a cup of spiritual tea in his hand, but he didn't drink it, his fingers lightly tracing the rim. He was silent for a moment before speaking, his voice carrying a suppressed coldness: "What's the rush? The very act of her emerging from seclusion has already consumed some of her energy in her attempt to break through to the Dao Integration Realm. If she fails in this attempt—"

He didn't finish his sentence, but Yan Qingsong already understood the implied meaning. The success rate of a sect leader attempting to break through to the Dao Integration Realm was already low. If he was distracted and exhausted because of Li Hanshan, the chances of failure would only increase. Once the sect leader failed to break through, the Hehuan Sect would completely belong to the Elders' Council, and they would have plenty of opportunities to deal with Li Hanshan.

Huo Yuan leaned back in his chair, his voice weak but carrying a certainty that had been repeatedly confirmed: "My master also said that the sect leader's seclusion this time was much shorter than expected. Normally, breaking through to the Dao Integration stage takes at least several decades, or even hundreds of years, but she only secluded herself for less than ten years before emerging. Such an interruption during the breakthrough process is not a good thing."

The Ninth Elder finally put down his teacup, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his lips: "Therefore, there's no need to rush. Whether she takes Li Hanshan as her disciple or takes him to the core spiritual vein area for cultivation, it's all about building a foundation for the sect leader's lineage. But as long as she fails to break through to the Dao Integration stage, that foundation will be like a tower built on sand, easily blown away by the wind. At that time, Li Hanshan will have lost his greatest backer. What waves can a mere early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator stir up?"

He had something else to say, but at that time, even the sect leader himself would be in jeopardy.

Yan Qingsong's lips finally twitched slightly. Although the hatred still lingered in his eyes, at least he had a direction to wait for. He nodded and stopped talking, only casting his gaze on the faint outline of the main peak in the twilight outside the cave. His right arm still throbbed with pain from the severed wound.