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

Inside the stone pavilion, the leaves of the purple bamboo rustled in the afternoon breeze. Shen Yun's words fell into the air like a fallen leaf thrown into a deep pool, slowly sinking below the surface, yet stirring up silent ripples the moment they touched the bottom.

Li Hanshan sat opposite her, holding a cup of spirit tea that had gone mostly cold. He looked into Shen Yun's almond-shaped eyes, which were earnest and almost pleading, and at her face, which was slightly tired from the days of fighting and running around. The thoughts that he had repeatedly weighed in his mind on the Hall of Merit and the flying ship finally found a suitable outlet.

He didn't answer the marriage proposal immediately, but remained silent for a moment before speaking: "Sect Master, why are you so insistent that I marry Qingyue?"

Shen Yun was slightly taken aback.

She clearly hadn't expected him to ask that question. She opened her mouth, intending to give a safe, habitual answer, but stopped the moment she met his gaze. She could sense that he wasn't making excuses or testing her, but rather seriously asking a question she herself might not have carefully considered.

"Because—" she paused, "your talent in the art of talismans is one in a hundred years, and the Purple Thunder Pavilion needs someone like you. Qingyue also has feelings for you, and if you were the son-in-law of the Purple Thunder Pavilion, your future inheritance of the sect would be perfectly legitimate. Besides…"

She lowered her voice slightly as she said this, "I'm at ease knowing you're helping her improve her cultivation."

After listening, Li Hanshan put down his teacup and his gaze fell on the purple bamboo leaf swaying in the breeze. He could sense that when she said those words, she was indeed considering the future of the Purple Thunder Pavilion and Shen Qingyue's cultivation, but she hadn't considered her own feelings at all.

He remained silent for a few moments, then turned his gaze back to her face: "Sect Leader, if you want me to stay in the Purple Thunder Pavilion, why don't you marry me?"

These words were like a boulder thrown into a deep pool, crashing into the gentle, warm silence between the two people, bathed in the afternoon sunlight.

Shen Yun's almond-shaped eyes widened suddenly. Her lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but she found that all her words were frozen at this moment. She froze on the stone bench, like a purple bamboo struck by a sudden bolt of lightning.

"You...what did you say?" Her voice trembled as she tried to remain calm, "You want me to marry you? Didn't you just say that our relationship..."

"I said that relationship should continue because it's good for you and good for me," Li Hanshan interrupted her, his gaze steady. "You're a Void Refinement cultivator. I can help you stabilize your realm and also help you avoid detours when you break through to the mid-stage of Void Refinement. This is also of great benefit to me."

He paused for a moment, "Qingyue is indeed a very good girl, but you and I both know who is truly tied down behind this marriage. You've tied me to the Purple Thunder Pavilion, but excluded yourself."

Shen Yun's breathing quickened slightly. She could feel that every word he said precisely hit the corners she had been trying to avoid when he proposed marriage, like tea stains revealed in the gaps between cups and saucers after the tablecloth was lifted.

She looked down at her fingertips, remaining silent for a long time. The wind in the stone pavilion blew through the gaps in the purple bamboo leaves, gently brushing against the tassels of her hairpin before dissipating. Finally, she raised her head, shook it, and spoke with a resolute tone that, despite repeated weighing of options, remained unyielding: "No."

Her gaze returned to his face, the wavering he had felt earlier suppressed in that brief silence: "You must marry Qingyue. You are the inheritor of the Talisman Dao of the Purple Thunder Pavilion. Only by marrying into the family as its son-in-law will the other elders and disciples truly accept you. If you marry me, it will only plunge the entire Purple Thunder Pavilion into controversy. I'll forget about my reputation, but what about Qingyue? How will she establish herself in the sect in the future?"

Looking at her resolute expression, Li Hanshan felt helpless.

He could sense that she was genuinely considering Zi Lei Ge and Shen Qingyue when she said those words. That decisiveness after weighing the pros and cons was an instinct she had honed over many years as the sect leader.

He was about to say something more when Shen Yun stood up, walked to him, and gently pressed her hand against his. Her palm was warm, slightly damp from their earlier conversation.

"I understand what you mean." Her voice was a few decibels lower than before, and her gaze unconsciously avoided his eyes, falling on the fine lines on the edge of the stone table. "I also know that this exchange is indeed unfair to you. If it were someone else, they would probably have been dissatisfied long ago."

She paused, her voice lower, "But... I can promise you. Even if you marry Qingyue, as long as you treat her well, I can help you stabilize your cultivation once a month. That way, you won't suffer any losses."

As she spoke the last few words, her voice shifted from the steady tone of a sect leader to a soft, slightly trembling tone. She avoided his gaze, as if the words, once spoken, would transform into something she dared not look directly at.

Looking at her like that, the helplessness that had been building up in Li Hanshan's heart from being repeatedly pushed back into marriage finally eased. He felt the temperature of her hand on the back of his hand slowly rising, like the edge of a bamboo leaf warmed by the afternoon sun.

"You just said every month?" he asked to confirm.

Shen Yun's ears were already bright red. She abruptly withdrew her hand, took a half step back, and looked away, her voice carrying a bluff that even she could hear: "Every month... I'll help you stabilize your cultivation level once. Just once. No more than that."

"Alright." Li Hanshan nodded, his tone finally returning to ease. "Then I agree. However—after Qingyue and I get married, you must keep your promise."

Shen Yun didn't answer. She simply stood with her back to him for a few breaths, then took a deep breath, turned around, and her gaze had regained its sect leader-like composure. Only the lingering blush at the base of her ears betrayed that she wasn't as calm as she appeared: "You wait here. I'll go talk to Qingyue."

Without waiting for his response, she quickly walked out of the stone pavilion, her deep purple robes brushing against the ground and creating a soft rustling sound.

Li Hanshan sat in the stone pavilion, watching her figure disappear at the end of the stone steps hidden by purple bamboo. Then he picked up the cup of spiritual tea that had gone completely cold and drank it all in one gulp. He leaned against the stone pillar, closed his eyes, and listened to the rustling sound of the wind passing through the purple bamboo leaves.

About an hour later, dusk began to spread along the edge of the purple bamboo forest.

Shen Yun's figure reappeared at the end of the stone steps. When she came back, her pace was a little slower than when she left, but the composure that had been carefully considered had returned to her face.

She stopped at the entrance of the stone pavilion, her gaze falling on him, and spoke in a steady voice: "She agreed."

Li Hanshan opened his eyes, about to say something, when Shen Yun interrupted him first, her tone carrying an unyielding decisiveness: "Do it tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Li Hanshan sat up slightly. "So soon?"

"The longer the night lasts, the more things can go wrong." Shen Yun walked into the stone pavilion and sat down on the stone bench opposite him, her gaze serious. "Once Qingyue's marriage gets out, there will always be some rumors. Let's hold the ceremony before the news spreads. Once everything settles down, others will have no choice but to accept the facts."

Li Hanshan didn't quite believe her when she said that; he thought Shen Yun was afraid that Li Hanshan would change his mind.

As she spoke, she took out two neatly folded robes from her sleeve and placed them on the stone table. One was a deep red wedding dress, made of the finest silkworm silk, with dark red patterns that shimmered with a warm luster in the twilight; the other was a light blue long dress, simple yet dignified in style, with fine silver embroidery along the edges.

"I've already prepared the wedding attire." Her tone was calm, as if she were talking about something that had been planned long ago. "Tomorrow at Chenshi (7-9 AM), in my main room. There will be no outsiders, just the three of us. After the wedding ceremony, you will be husband and wife."

She paused, her gaze falling on his face, her voice lowering slightly, "Since you've promised me, don't go back on your word."

Li Hanshan picked up the deep red wedding robe, feeling the spiritual energy within the fabric slowly flowing through his fingertips. He folded it neatly and stored it in his storage ring, nodding slightly to Shen Yun: "I won't go back on my word."