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

The twilight after the storm clouds dispersed was exceptionally clear.

The dark golden sky, like a bronze mirror that had been repeatedly polished, shattered the lingering moonlight and sunset glow into a warm, gentle light that spread across the sea. The low-level sea beasts that were receding had completely disappeared at the horizon, leaving only a few wrecked remains, stunned by the aftershocks of the lightning, floating on the surging waves, gleaming dimly in the moonlight.

Shen Yun stood on the stone platform in the center of the island. The aura emanating from her, at the Void Refinement level, was like a flattened surface of water, seemingly calm on the surface but containing a vast power capable of overturning an entire sea. She raised her hand, and dark purple spiritual energy condensed in her palm into a bolt of lightning as thick as an arm. This lightning was completely different from before her breakthrough—more solid, more refined, with fine golden patterns flowing around its edges, like the cold light of refined iron repeatedly tempered in fire.

She hurled the bolt of lightning at a remnant of the beast horde that had not yet completely receded from the sea. The lightning exploded the moment it touched the surface, transforming into a cross-shaped silver-purple electric net that rapidly spread in all directions, engulfing all the struggling sea beasts within a radius of several miles.

Wherever the electric fence passed, the sea monsters instantly stiffened, disintegrated, and turned into charred fragments, like blocks of wax thrown into boiling oil. The whole process took only a few breaths, and the entire sea returned to calm, even the waves seemed more docile than before.

Shen Qingyue stood at the edge of the tower, watching her mother's casually flicked lightning bolt sweep away the remaining beast tide. A look of shock, though she tried to suppress it, still betrayed her. She had cultivated for many years and witnessed her mother's power countless times, but she had never seen her achieve such a feat at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage. Among those sea beasts were many Nascent Soul and even Nascent Soul level beings, yet they were all annihilated by a single, casually flicked lightning bolt, without even a chance to struggle.

Standing in the shadows at the cave entrance, Li Hanshan mentally reviewed the power of that lightning bolt. The gap between the Void Refinement stage and the Nascent Soul stage was indeed as vast as an insurmountable chasm. The purity and speed of spiritual energy contained in Shen Yun's lightning bolt far surpassed any of her attacks before her breakthrough. If she encountered that Void Refinement demon beast again, she wouldn't need any external aids to kill it head-on. The lightning power released by the sixth-tier purple lightning talisman, under the stimulation of her own spiritual energy, would at least double in power.

Shen Yun withdrew her hand and turned to the disciples who were emerging from their hiding places. Her voice, neither loud nor soft, carried clearly throughout the entire island: "The beast tide has receded. Take stock of the casualties, tally the merits, and inform the main city of the defense zone that the situation has stabilized. The wounded should go to Elder Zhao at the eastern stone fortress for treatment."

The disciples responded and dispersed to their respective tasks. Shen Yun's gaze swept across the crowd, finally landing on Li Hanshan. She nodded slightly, signaling him to follow, and then turned and walked towards the now-peaceful cave.

Li Hanshan followed her into the cave. The formation was still intact, and silvery-white light flowed silently on the cave walls.

Shen Yun stopped at the edge of the stone surface, turned to look at him, and her almond-shaped eyes held an expression completely different from when she had faced the disciples—the lingering effects of her recent breakthrough, a complexity masked by calmness, and a decisiveness that seemed to have been carefully weighed. She remained silent for a moment before speaking, her voice a few decibels lower than when she had addressed the disciples: "Do you have that unfinished sixth-tier Purple Lightning Talisman with you?"

Li Hanshan took out a sixth-tier talisman paper from his storage ring, its surface shimmering with a dark purple luster. The fine, silvery-purple patterns on the paper glowed warmly in the array's dim light, the spiritual light at the edges remaining as stable as ever. He handed it to Shen Yun: "This is the first one I drew last time. The core node's reserved spiritual energy node still needs the final activation."

Shen Yun took the talisman. As she held it, she could sense the carefully controlled flow of spiritual energy at her fingertips. She laid it flat on the stone surface and took out a pure silver talisman brush from her sleeve. A wisp of refined, Void Refinement level lightning energy, now even more refined after her breakthrough, condensed at the tip of the brush and hovered three inches above the core node of the talisman.

"Once a sixth-tier Purple Lightning Talisman is formed, it requires a Void Refinement cultivator to infuse it with spiritual power to activate it," she began, her voice carrying the earnestness unique to teaching. "The success rate of this process is less than 30%. Even a slight deviation in the rhythm of infusing spiritual power will cause the entire talisman's structure to completely collapse due to the conflict between internal and external spiritual power. Even if I draw the talisman myself and infuse it with spiritual power myself, the probability of failure is still over 50%."

As she spoke, the tip of her pen slowly fell, and the wisp of lightning power at the Void Refinement level seeped into the core node of the talisman paper like a tamed silver snake.

Li Hanshan's Void Refinement level divine sense was like a finely crafted net, tightly locking onto the trajectory of the flowing spiritual energy, and able to perceive every subtle change within the talisman. The rhythm of the spiritual energy infusion was completely different from her previous description—it flowed along those intricate patterns almost without any obstruction, as if those rune structures were originally designed as a channel for this Void Refinement lightning power.

Shen Yun's pen paused for a moment at the edge of the talisman paper, then she withdrew it, her gaze falling on the talisman paper that was slowly receding its spiritual light. She remained silent for several breaths. The silver-purple light on the surface of the sixth-order Purple Thunder Talisman was flowing steadily, and the spiritual energy fluctuations at the core node were perfectly integrated with the overall spiritual energy circulation of the talisman paper, without any trace of dissipation or conflict.

She looked up at Li Hanshan, her almond-shaped eyes filled with a look of disbelief that lingered even after repeated confirmation: "It's been successfully activated."

She turned the talisman over and over twice, her fingertips tracing the fine lines one by one, as if confirming something.

"The success rate of infusing spiritual power into a sixth-tier Purple Thunder Talisman after its completion is less than 30%, according to data recorded by the Purple Thunder Pavilion over hundreds of years. But the talisman you drew—the spiritual power encountered almost no resistance when entering the talisman paper, and the precision of the rune structure has reached the point where it perfectly integrates the Void Refining Thunder Power with your own spiritual power circulation. Even my direct disciple, Shen Qingyue, could not draw such a precision."

Shen Yun lifted her gaze from the talisman paper and refocused it on Li Hanshan, her eyes filled with a solemnity born from a reassessment: "The quality of the talisman you drew far exceeds my initial assessment. With this level of precision, if I were to infuse it with spiritual power, the success rate would increase to at least 90%. If you can consistently draw sixth-tier Purple Thunder Talismans of this quality, the Purple Thunder Pavilion's talismanic heritage will reach unprecedented heights within a century."

Li Hanshan sensed the seriousness in her words and didn't rush to reply. He could tell that she was indeed evaluating his value from the perspective of a talismanic inheritor, and her analysis of the quality of the talismans matched her judgment of the talisman paper she had drawn.

Shen Yun placed the activated sixth-tier purple lightning talisman on the stone surface, then stood up, her gaze falling on his face. The light from the luminous pearl in the cave cast a warm glow behind her, softly illuminating the few strands of hair that fell slightly. Her voice was a few decibels lower than before, but carried a certainty born of careful consideration: "Do you remember what I mentioned in the workshop last time? Betrothing Qingyue to you."

She paused, her gaze unwavering. "I retract my previous statement. That proposal still stands. With your talent and potential in the Dao of Talismans, the Purple Thunder Pavilion needs someone like you. I can see that Qingyue has feelings for you. If you're willing, I will formally entrust her life to you. After marriage, you will be the son-in-law of the Purple Thunder Pavilion, you will be in charge of allocating the sect's resources, and you will inherit the Dao of Talismans."

Her words caused a look of surprise to appear on Li Hanshan's face.

This... no way?

Shen Yun and he already had that kind of relationship, and now she actually wants to marry her daughter to him?