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

"Come on up."

After exiting the formation, Zhou Zheng summoned a flying boat. Everyone flew onto it, including Li Hanshan.

Three days later, the flying boat stopped outside a large city. The plaque above the city gate was inscribed with the two large characters "Qingyun" in vigorous strokes, carrying a sense of weight that had been repeatedly drawn, as if the city itself was trying to engrave its name into the memory of all those who passed by.

The city gate of Qingyun City was carved from a single piece of dark blue-green boulder, standing about three zhang tall. Its surface was covered with defensive array patterns, originating from the same source as the Nanling Mountains but more intricate, gleaming with a warm silver light in the twilight. A long queue formed before the gate, including cultivators riding spirit beasts, merchants in animal-drawn carts, and herb gatherers carrying baskets. Two disciples dressed in the standard Immortal Alliance uniform stood on either side of the gate, checking the tokens and identities of those entering. Occasionally one or two were stopped and questioned, but most passed through smoothly.

When Zhou Zheng led Li Hanshan to the disciple on duty, the disciple recognized Zhou Zheng's face, nodded slightly in greeting, and lingered for a moment when his gaze swept over Li Hanshan: "Senior Brother Zhou, who is this?"

"This is Junior Sister Shen Qingyue's guest." Zhou Zheng took out the Guest Elder Token from his sleeve and handed it over. "His name is Li Hanshan. He came from Seagod Island and entered the Immortal Alliance for refuge with this Guest Elder Token. I'll take him to see Shen Qingyue."

The disciple on duty took the token, carefully checked it, and then took out a silver-white disc to scan Li Hanshan's body. After confirming that the spiritual energy fluctuation mark was correct, he returned the token and stepped aside to make way: "Senior Sister Shen is in the Hall of Affairs in the west of the city. She has been reassigned to the Hall of External Affairs as a steward. Senior Brother Zhou can just take him there."

After passing through the city gate, Li Hanshan was suddenly greeted by a vast open space. The interior of Qingyun City was even more prosperous than he had imagined. Shops lined both sides of the street, displaying all sorts of banners and signs. Spirit medicine shops, magic weapon shops, and talisman workshops stretched along the main street, each with a few customers gathered at its door. Pedestrians thronged the area, most dressed in robes that were completely different from those of the Central Continent Demon Sect—simple in color, finely woven, and embroidered with tiny Immortal Alliance emblems at the hems.

As Li Hanshan followed Zhou Zheng through the main street, he saw a group of young people gathered around a notice board at a street corner. Some were peering out on tiptoe, while others were whispering amongst themselves. His divine sense silently probed the area—the notice board displayed a job posting, announcing that a medicinal garden in the southern suburbs of Qingyun City was recruiting apprentices with excellent benefits. Next to the notice board, at the alleyway entrance, an old man in an old robe was squatting on the ground, a dirty cloth spread out in front of him, on which lay a few ordinary-looking spiritual fruits.

At the end of the row of shops, a hearse bearing the small flag of the Immortal Alliance was parked in front of a pharmacy. A middle-aged man in a deacon's uniform was bending down to take several baskets of medicinal herbs from the cart. Li Hanshan even saw a school specifically for recruiting those with spiritual roots—several neatly dressed children stood on the stone steps in front of the school, reciting basic cultivation incantations with a middle-aged female cultivator. The children ranged in age from five or six to twelve or thirteen, and their eyes shone with a light that had been carefully nurtured. Those with excellent spiritual root aptitude would stay to receive further training, while those with slightly weaker aptitude would at least learn some basic methods for strengthening the body.

Zhou Zheng walked ahead, unaware that Li Hanshan had slowed his pace. His direction was clear; he headed straight for the more orderly area in the west of the city, passing through several alleys shaded by spirit trees, a teahouse filled with the aroma of tea, and a shop with a sign that read "Immortal Alliance Pharmacy." Finally, he stopped in front of a two-story building made of bluestone, the plaque above the door reading "External Affairs Hall - Qingyun Branch."

Zhou Zheng didn't go in, but simply pointed to the doorway towards Li Hanshan: "Shen Qingyue is inside. You can go in and find her. I still have patrol duties to hand in, so I won't accompany you in." After saying that, he turned and left, his figure in a blue robe quickly disappearing into the crisscrossing figures at the street corner.

When Li Hanshan pushed open the door to the External Affairs Hall, the interior appeared much more spacious than the outside. Several rows of long tables were neatly arranged in the hall, with scrolls and jade slips spread out on them. Several cultivators dressed in steward's robes were busy at their respective tables. Behind the innermost table sat a woman in a light blue dress, who was looking down at a thick manual. Her long hair was loosely tied up with a jade hairpin, with a few strands falling beside her ears. Her posture was focused and composed.

She sensed someone enter, looked up, and paused for a moment after her gaze fell on Li Hanshan's face. Then, she asked uncertainly, "Senior Li?"

Although Li Hanshan looked younger than he did twenty years ago, she still recognized him.

"Fellow Daoist Shen, it's been a long time," Li Hanshan said.

"How did you become so young?" Shen Qingyue couldn't help but look Li Hanshan up and down. Then, seemingly realizing that the question was a bit presumptuous, she changed the subject: "You actually came! I thought no one would ever come to me with that guest elder token in their lifetime."

Standing at the doorway, Li Hanshan sensed the fluctuations of spiritual energy flowing around her and was slightly surprised: "You've broken through to the Nascent Soul stage?"

Shen Qingyue followed his gaze and looked down at herself, as if she had just remembered her cultivation level. A slight smile appeared on her lips: "Thanks to you, after rescuing those fellow disciples last time, the Immortal Alliance gave me quite a few rewards. A few top-quality pills plus a period of seclusion, and I broke through."

As she spoke, she looked at Li Hanshan and asked, "Senior, how have you been these past years?"

Li Hanshan sighed and said, "I came to the Immortal Alliance this time because I really couldn't stay any longer—after the earthquake a while ago, there have been more and more cultivators from the Demonic Sect active in the Central Continent. The area I'm in was originally quite peaceful, but now it's become less and less safe. If I stay any longer, I'm afraid I'll be targeted sooner or later."

Upon hearing this, Shen Qingyue's expression hardened slightly. She turned and walked to the table, picking up the rolled-up handbook that had fallen onto it and putting it away. "You've come at the right time. The Immortal Alliance is indeed preparing for some major moves recently."

She turned to look at him, her watery eyes flashing with a sharpness completely different from twenty years ago: "The recent tremors that shook the heavens and earth were the birth of a new Dao Integration cultivator in our Immortal Alliance!"

"A Dao Integration cultivator?" Li Hanshan feigned surprise. He already knew, but as a rogue cultivator, he was unaware that the shaking of heaven and earth signified the birth of a Dao Integration cultivator.

Otherwise, it wouldn't make sense.

Shen Qingyue nodded: "Yes, Dao Integration cultivators! The number of Dao Integration cultivators in the Immortal Alliance is now on par with the Holy Alliance. The major sects are preparing for a northward counterattack, which presents a golden opportunity for us to make our mark."

Li Hanshan narrowed his eyes slightly, but his face subtly revealed a cautious hint of anticipation: "A counterattack to the north? Is the Immortal Alliance truly going to launch a preemptive strike?"

Shen Qingyue nodded, walked to the window, and pushed it open halfway. The twilight in the distance bathed the rooftops of Qingyun City in a warm golden hue. "We've long wanted to wipe out the Demonic Sect and restore peace to the world, but we lacked high-level combat power before. Now that we have Dao Integration cultivators to fill that gap, the balance of high-level combat power is no longer tilted."

She turned around, her gaze sincere. "Senior Li, since you've survived in the Demon Sect's territory for so many years, your understanding of the Central Continent is far deeper than most of ours. If you're willing to stay, with your experience and cultivation, you'll definitely be of great use."