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

The gray-black mountains swept past as Yin Lingyue's flying boat sped through the air. This area was the territory of the Yin Quan Sect, and even if disciples of the Yin Quan Sect spotted the flying boat, they dared not come forward rashly.

The Yinlingyue sect, though infamous for its malevolent influence, is known throughout the land.

Inside the flying boat, however, the scene was quite different. Yin Lingyue was leaning against the window, her face flushed, while behind her, Li Hanshan was working diligently.

The two hadn't seen each other for many years. Li Hanshan didn't stand on ceremony and immediately declared his ownership of Yin Lingyue with his actions.

As for Yin Lingyue, her cultivation progress had slowed down considerably in recent years due to not having cultivated with Li Hanshan. Therefore, she had no resistance to Li Hanshan and was even aroused when she saw him.

With Yin Lingyue by their side, the journey was long but not boring. Although the airship lacked artificial intelligence, it was still under Yin Lingyue's control, flying along a hidden route.

This route does not go all the way south, but rather eastward along the edge of the Yinquan Sect's territory. After reaching the eastern coast, it turns back south. This route is to avoid being tracked by the Hehuan Sect's elders.

Throughout the Central Continent, the forces of the three major demonic sects are intertwined, mainly concentrated in the central area to the north, while smaller demonic sects are scattered to the south. This arrangement is deliberate by the three major demonic sects. In the event of war with the Immortal Alliance, this area would serve as a buffer zone.

Of course, the three major demonic sects also have many strongholds in these areas, and even built many fortresses to ensure that when the Immortal Alliance attacks, they can keep the battlefield outside their own territory.

This detour will take much longer; even at the speed of the Yinling Moon Flying Boat, it will take at least two years to reach the Immortal Alliance.

This was perfect for Li Hanshan, which was why he brought Yin Lingyue along. Since he was going to travel anyway, he might as well use the time to improve his cultivation.

Yin Lingyue was unusually cooperative, no longer resisting whether Li Hanshan was cultivating or simply playing with her body. She benefited greatly, breaking through from the fourth level of the Nascent Soul stage to the fifth level in one fell swoop. Li Hanshan's cultivation was also advancing towards the fifth level of the Nascent Soul stage.

Eighteen months after their departure, Li Hanshan finally felt the long-standing barrier crumbling. He and Yin Lingyue were now intimately connected, their pure Yang energy surging through their meridians like a tidal wave. The spiritual energy circulation between them reached an unprecedented density—the Profound Yin True Breath and the pure Yang energy collided fiercely deep within his dantian, like a red-hot iron shovel piercing the thinnest part of an ice layer, shattering the barrier that had held them for two years. The golden light on the surface of the pure Yang primordial spirit in his dantian more than doubled in brightness at the moment of breakthrough, and his fifth-level Nascent Soul cultivation surged into his meridians like spring water breaking through the ice.

Yin Lingyue sensed his breakthrough and a flicker of shock crossed her dark purple eyes. She remained silent for a moment before speaking: "You went from the fourth to the fifth level of the Nascent Soul stage in just a year and a half—it would take an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator at least several decades to complete this journey." Her tone was calm, but her astonishment was palpable.

Li Hanshan stretched his limbs, sensing the spiritual energy within his body, which was now even more abundant than before, flowing smoothly. He said, "I've gained quite a bit in the secret realm. If I can't break through to the Void Refinement stage within a hundred years, then I'll have truly wasted those spiritual herbs."

Break through to the Void Refinement Realm within a century!

Yin Lingyue's eyes flashed with deep surprise. If someone else had said these words, it would have sounded arrogant, but coming from Li Hanshan, it made her feel that perhaps it really could work.

For the next six months, the flying boat continued south. Li Hanshan's divine sense also did not stop during these two years—every month after nightfall, he would sink into a dream. Luo Li would wait for him on the riverbank under the moonlight, helping him to temper and refine the foundation of his Void-level divine sense again and again, repeatedly polishing those rough edges to make it more stable and solid.

Besides Luo Li, Li Hanshan also occasionally engaged in dual spiritual cultivation with Xiao An. Xiao An's progress was faster than Li Hanshan's; she had already broken through to the seventh level of the Nascent Soul stage, two minor realms higher than him. The domineering nature of the Netherworld Record technique, combined with the tempering of Li Hanshan's pure Yang primordial spirit, made her soul increasingly solid through continuous dual spiritual cultivation, like refined iron that had been repeatedly forged. Now, when she was hidden deep within his sea of ​​consciousness, even a Void Refinement cultivator's divine sense could hardly perceive her presence—like a drop of ink falling into dark water, blending into its surroundings.

Twenty-six months after their departure, the two finally arrived at their destination, the Nanling Mountains.

The scene was far more breathtaking than any description Li Hanshan had ever heard at the Hehuan Sect. A mountain range stretched to the horizon in the south, like the spine of a sleeping behemoth, its ridge shrouded in a flowing, pale silver light. This light extended from one end of the mountain range to the other, its end completely invisible. Countless runes flowed across the surface of the light, like a flaming river, ceaselessly flowing above the entire mountain range. The valleys between the peaks were covered by an even denser network of silver light, woven together like a spiderweb, sealing every gap so tightly that even birds could not pass through.

The fluctuations of the detection array spread from the surface of the silver runes, covering an area of ​​thousands of miles, like an invisible tide continuously washing over the entire mountain range. The density and precision of the array made Li Hanshan's heart skip a beat. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would have found it hard to believe that such a meticulous defense system existed in the Central Continent.

Yin Lingyue stood beside him, her face, disguised as an old woman, appearing particularly somber in the silver light. Her voice was extremely low: "I saw this formation from afar many years ago, and it wasn't this formidable then. The Immortal Alliance has probably reinforced it several times over the years; even a Void Refinement cultivator would find it extremely difficult to sneak past." As she spoke, her gaze swept over the flowing silver light, then turned to Li Hanshan, "Are you really going to go alone?"

Li Hanshan nodded and straightened up in the evening mountain breeze. "You stay here and wait for me. If I don't return in ten years, then you go back." As he spoke, he woke Xiao An, and the dark blue light silently merged into the depths of his soul, like a drop of ink falling into deep water. Then he took out the pale blue token that Shen Qingyue had given him.

The token gleamed with a warm glow in his palm. The moment he channeled spiritual energy into it, he sensed an extremely subtle aura, identical to the silver runes of the Southern Ridge Mountains, seeping from it. He held the token in his hand and stepped towards the silver light screen. Yin Lingyue watched his retreating figure, her brows slightly furrowed, but she never called out to him.

As Li Hanshan reached the edge of the formation, the silver light barrier automatically parted three inches in front of him. The runes' light seemed to be pushed aside by an invisible hand, revealing a gap just wide enough for one person to pass through sideways. After he passed through, the gap silently closed again, without even a trace of extra spiritual energy fluctuation. Yin Lingyue stood at the edge of the formation, watching the closing silver gap. A genuine shock flashed in her dark purple eyes, and she uttered two words softly: "It really does..."

After Li Hanshan passed through the crevice, the terrain beneath his feet immediately changed. The vegetation on the inner side of the formation was much denser than on the outer side, and the concentration of spiritual energy in the air was significantly higher, with each breath carrying the crisp scent of grass and trees. He could feel the silver runes still flowing endlessly above and to his sides, like a curtain being drawn back, enveloping him in the world within the inner side of the Nanling Mountains.

His pure Yang energy flowed smoothly through his meridians, and his spiritual power circulated without hindrance. When the detection arrays swept across his body, the light of the runes merely rippled slightly, like water rippling in the wind, before returning to calm without emitting any warning fluctuations. He had deliberately suppressed his cultivation to the early Nascent Soul stage, and his pure Yang spiritual power was judged as righteous spiritual power by the array runes, without triggering any markings—the Yang Book Technique, combined with the pure Yang spiritual power cultivated by the Pure Yang Sacred Body, was fundamentally different from the cold and heavy aura of demonic cultivators.

Li Hanshan walked along a mountain path covered with fallen leaves. A silver light curtain slowly closed behind him, completely isolating the vast sky beyond the Nanling Mountains from another world. He walked deep into the Nanling Mountains, stepping into the territory of the Immortal Alliance.