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

The sea breeze, carrying the lingering effects of demonic power and the stench of blood, howled past, whipping up and scattering the rubble from the tower. The silver-purple light barrier of the defensive array shattered completely, and tiny fragments of lightning scattered like broken glass, reflecting a final, brilliant, cold light on the sea surface.

The moment Shen Yun's lips touched Li Hanshan's, her pupils dilated suddenly at that incredibly close distance. A surge of emotions she had never experienced before welled up in those almond-shaped eyes—surprise, panic, and a tingling, electric-like sensation she couldn't quite discern.

Her body froze for a moment, her bare back taut in his arms. She could feel the warmth of his palm burning through the shredded fabric torn by demonic power onto her lower back. The scorched skin trembled involuntarily at his touch.

She could feel the contours of his chest and smell the scent emanating from him, a mixture of pure yang energy and a light sweat. His lips were warmer than she had imagined, carrying a burning sensation that made it almost impossible for her to think, like strong liquor going down her throat.

Her mind went blank. All reason—the dignity a sect leader should have, the dignity of a mother, and the lingering warmth of the Purple Lightning Talisman she had just held in her hand—was turned upside down by a power she had never experienced before during that brief moment of contact.

But that suffocating silence lasted for less than three breaths.

The massive, mountain-like body of the Void Refining Beast twitched violently in mid-air. Although three of its three pairs of scarlet eyes had completely extinguished, the remaining two pairs continued to flicker intensely, like two charcoal embers that had been doused with water spewing out their last sparks as they smoldered.

Its body was slowly disintegrating from the crack in its neck pierced by the lightning bolt to both sides, but its dying struggle still carried enough power to crush a Nascent Soul cultivator, like a collapsing mountain tilting towards the island.

Shen Yun suddenly broke free from Li Hanshan's embrace, landing barefoot on the broken rocks at the edge of the tower. Instinctively, she tried to use her spiritual power to create distance, but found that her magic robe had been completely shattered by the impact of the demonic light pillar, leaving her completely naked.

Her cheeks flushed bright red in that instant.

She abruptly turned her head, avoiding his gaze, her voice tinged with a panic and shame she couldn't quite suppress: "Kill it before you speak!"

As she spoke, she crushed a spare low-level talisman from her sleeve. The spiritual light transformed into a thin, barely covering vital areas, silver film that adhered to her body, like a veil fluttering in the wind, enveloping her in a flowing shimmer. However, the film's concealing effect was extremely limited; in the twilight, it clung translucently to her skin, only accentuating her slender curves even more clearly.

After saying that, Shen Yun suddenly attacked, but she had already been severely injured by the attack from the Void Refining Beast. Even with her full strength, it was still no use. In just a moment, she was sent flying by the Void Refining Beast again.

Li Hanshan knew he couldn't wait any longer.

The monster's body had already disintegrated more than halfway, but the remaining force of its struggle was still as heavy as a mountain that was slowly collapsing. Even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. A Void Refinement level cultivator is still a Void Refinement level cultivator. Even if it only has one breath left, it can still drag a bunch of Nascent Soul cultivators down with it.

Li Hanshan flipped his wrist, completely removing the invisible barrier that suppressed his cultivation. Pure Yang spiritual power surged from the depths of his dantian like a flood bursting its banks, surging endlessly through his meridians, releasing the pressure of the fifth level of the Nascent Soul realm without reservation—that pressure was like a golden volcano whose seal had been broken, carrying the warm yet heavy texture unique to the Pure Yang primordial spirit, compressing the surrounding air to produce a subtle hum.

He raised his hand, and the pure yang fire of purple-gold condensed into a flaming longsword in his palm. Fine golden patterns flowed along the blade, and a layer of silver-gray sharp light silently spread along the edge of the sword, like a ray of light illuminating the twilight. His figure suddenly burst forth from the edge of the tower, transforming into a purple-gold streak of light that shot straight towards the disintegrating remains of the demonic beast.

Shen Yun stood up from the ground, her gaze fixed on the soaring purple-gold light. She still clutched the half-shattered fragment of the low-grade spirit talisman in her hand, her fingertips trembling slightly. The panic and shame on her face seemed to have been doused with ice water, rapidly cooling down, replaced by a surging, overwhelming sense of shock that she hadn't had time to process.

She gazed at the purplish-gold flames surrounding him—flames of a quality unlike any she had ever seen from a Nascent Soul cultivator, possessing a purity as if refined a thousand times over, like a blazing sun sinking into deep water yet still unable to be extinguished. She sensed the level of cultivation he was releasing, clearly at the mid-Nascent Soul stage, yet she could also feel that his potential was far greater than that.

Her lips moved, her voice dry and hoarse: "Nascent Soul... fifth level? He was clearly in the mid-stage of the Core Formation realm..."

She didn't finish her sentence. Li Hanshan's figure collided head-on with the massive, mangled body of the demonic beast. His purplish-gold flaming longsword drew a near-perfect arc in the air, precisely slicing into the crack in the beast's neck, which had already been mostly pierced by the lightning pillar. Pure Yang fire, like burning tinder, spread wildly inward along the crack, severing, burning, and extinguishing the remaining demonic energy within the beast's body one by one. The demonic beast let out a short, muffled hiss, and the last two pairs of its three pairs of scarlet eyes went out simultaneously in that instant.

But just before its life force was completely extinguished, its body suddenly expanded outwards, and a grayish-white mist burst forth from its core, gushing out from the gaps in its shattered scales. This mist carried an aura completely different from ordinary demonic energy, like a mixture of crushed honey and musk, and rapidly spread towards Li Hanshan and Shen Yun. The mist spread much faster than expected, and in the blink of an eye, it had already swept over the tower, over the pile of rubble, and over the still-present look of astonishment between the two.

The grayish-white mist had a sweet, almost sticky feel, like melted honey being shattered by the wind and scattered into the air; every breath carried a warm sensation that made one's head feel heavy.

As Li Hanshan landed back on the edge of the tower, he sensed the strange aura contained within the mist—it clung to his skin, seeping into his meridians through his pores, carrying a slow and irresistible penetrating force, like spring rain soaking the soil, after it had been flattened.

He could feel his heart pounding uncontrollably, and even his breathing became hotter than before. Shen Yun stood there, her hair disheveled, her face flushed from the fierce battle, and the silver light that barely covered her body glistened slightly in the mist.

She also sensed the strangeness and frowned slightly, trying to use her spiritual power to expel it from her body, but found that the aura had already seeped into the depths of her meridians like sticky honey.

Her breathing quickened, and her gaze involuntarily drifted to him. She could hear her heartbeat growing louder and louder, like a bronze bell being repeatedly struck, echoing with an undeniable muffled thud in her chest.

Her reason was being slowly eroded by a rising, scorching heat, like ice being washed by spring water—the surface seemingly intact, but beneath it riddled with fine cracks. Her lips moved, as if she wanted to say something, but only a low, barely audible breath escaped her lips.

"It released... an aphrodisiac mist." Shen Yun was horrified.

This monster actually managed to pull one last move before it died.

"Damn it!"

Li Hanshan knew that this was the Void Refining Beast's last attack before it died. Despite the effects of the aphrodisiac mist, he suddenly unleashed the Crimson Sun Sword and ended the Void Refining Beast's life with a single strike.

Immediately afterwards, Li Hanshan quickly sat down, and the pure yang energy accelerated its flow in his meridians, trying to force out the seeping mist. However, he found that the energy was entangled with the spiritual power like silt stirred into the bottom of a river, and could not be separated in a short time.

"If we can't drive you away, then we'll burn you!"

Li Hanshan had another way. He activated the pure yang fire, which burned fiercely within his body, burning away the mist.

However, this aphrodisiac mist came from a Void Refinement level demon beast. Even though it was pure Yang fire, it burned very slowly. Fortunately, it did have an effect after all, but it was short-lived.

Li Hanshan suddenly felt a hot body embrace him, and then, warm, soft lips kissed him all the way from his neck to his face.

When Li Hanshan opened his eyes, he saw Shen Yun with a dazed look in her eyes, kissing him frantically, her hands groping wildly over his body.

"Oh no!"

Li Hanshan exclaimed that things were in trouble.

Shen Yun had clearly lost control under the influence of the aphrodisiac mist!