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

In the dream, the river shimmered with fine, silvery-white light under the moonlight, like crushed stars scattered across the entire surface of the water.

Li Hanshan and Luo Li sat side by side on a blue stone on the riverbank. Between them lay a diagram of runes outlined with spiritual light, the lines as fine as hair, shimmering with a warm glow in the moonlight.

"Look here," Luo Li pointed her finger at the core node of the structural diagram, "The spiritual energy circulation of the Purple Thunder Talisman encountered a bottleneck after the sixth rank. It's not a problem with the rune itself, but rather that the material supporting the rune experiences a brief period of stagnation when spiritual energy is injected. I hadn't thought about this carefully before, but the 'Meridian Flowing Pattern' technique recorded in your ancient talisman scroll can solve this problem perfectly."

As she spoke, her fingertip traced a new line in the air. The arc was slightly longer than before, with a fine bend at the end, like the hem of a garment fluttering in the wind. "The fibers of the Purple Thunder Bamboo have natural lightning-conducting properties. If the runes are laid out along the grain of the bamboo, the efficiency of spiritual energy flow can be increased by at least 30%. In this way, the same amount of spiritual energy consumed will release a much more powerful lightning bolt."

Li Hanshan stared intently at the arc she had modified, and could feel that the flow of spiritual energy within it was indeed smoother.

His fingertips also traced the arc in the void, sensing the subtle differences in texture at the turns: "What about the teleportation array? The teleportation array rune structure of the Immortal Alliance is different from any array I have ever seen before, but in its core logic, it has some similarities with the spatial runes you taught me."

Luo Li tilted her head, her clear eyes gleaming thoughtfully in the moonlight: "The underlying logic of spatial runes is the same; it's just that different lineages express it differently. Although the teleportation array technique seems unfamiliar, as long as we work backward from the transformations of the basic runes, we should be able to find the corresponding patterns."

She redrawn a simplified diagram of the spatial runes in the void, marking out each node in the Immortal Alliance teleportation array that she hadn't fully deciphered. "Next time you enter the core immortal island, if you can carefully observe the base structure of that teleportation array within a safe range, you should be able to fill in this gap."

Li Hanshan memorized the structural diagram deep within his consciousness, and also absorbed her explanation of the material of the Purple Thunder Talisman. Just as he was about to say something more, the golden film at the edge of the dream began to ripple—like water ruffled by the wind, the ripples slowly spread from the edge to the center, indicating that this round of the dream was about to end.

Luo Li seemed to have noticed as well. She withdrew her fingertips, turned her head to look at him, and the moonlight cast a silvery halo on her eyelashes: "Grandpa, after you go in this time, you must pay close attention to that time formation. That level of power is not something an ordinary cultivator can set up. If you can understand even a fraction of its mysteries, it will be of great help to your future cultivation."

Li Hanshan nodded. He felt the boundaries of the dream rapidly shrinking, golden specks of light drifting slowly down the edge of his vision like dandelion seeds scattered by the wind. He closed his eyes and whispered before the last speck of light vanished, "I remember."

When he opened his eyes, the morning light was slowly seeping into the inner room through the gaps in the window paper. Shen Qingyue lay on her side beside him, her breathing long and steady, one hand still resting on his chest, her fingertips slightly warm from the circulation of spiritual energy throughout the night. He turned his head to look at her peaceful sleeping face, not waking her, but lying quietly for a moment, reviewing the rune structures he had discussed with Luo Li in his dream in his mind once more.

Time flies.

The day has finally arrived for the core fairy island to open.

Outside the gates of the Purple Thunder Pavilion at dawn, a silver-white teleportation vessel stood. The array patterns on its hull had been carefully examined, and the silver-white light flowed endlessly in the morning light. Shen Yun stood beside the vessel, her deep purple dress fluttering gently in the morning breeze. She held two silver-white jade talismans in her hands and was quietly exchanging sect affairs with several elders who had come to see her off.

Shen Qingyue stood beside Li Hanshan, a small storage bag slung over her shoulder, filled with cultivation supplies she had carefully prepared over the past month. Her hands hung naturally at her sides, her fingertips occasionally brushing lightly against the edge of Li Hanshan's hand, as if confirming his presence.

After giving her final instructions, Shen Yun turned to the two of them, handing one of the silver-white jade talismans to Shen Qingyue and the other to Li Hanshan: "These are your credentials for entering the core immortal island. Your spiritual power imprints have already been recorded on them. Keep them safe and don't lose them."

Li Hanshan took the jade talisman, its surface warm and slightly heavy to the touch. He could sense an extremely pure spatial mark within it, originating from the same aura as the tokens he had seen in the Hall of Merit. He stored it deep within his storage ring and followed Shen Yun onto the flying boat.

As the flying boat took off, the gate of Zilei Pavilion quickly shrank into a tiny dot covered by greenery in the field of vision.

After passing through layers of clouds and undergoing several transfers and teleportations, the third spatial fold ended, and the landscape beneath their feet was no longer the rolling hills they had encountered when they set off from the Purple Thunder Pavilion.

A vast expanse of sea stretched out at the horizon. The water was a deep, unusual blue, unlike any other sea, like crushed sapphire powder scattered across its surface. After the airship had been flying over this area for over half an hour, the outline of an island finally appeared ahead.

The island was much larger than Li Hanshan had anticipated. The core island was about a thousand miles in circumference. The outline of the island slowly rose from the horizon, like the back of a sleeping giant emerging from the water. The continuous mountain range and dense vegetation covered the entire field of vision, shimmering with varying shades of emerald green under the sunlight.

A flowing, pale golden light curtain enveloped the island, like a giant, intricately woven glass dome, covering the entire island and the surrounding sea area for several miles.

The flying boat slowed down outside the pale golden light barrier. A silver light, the same as the barrier's own, shone from the teleportation array on its hull. The barrier, as if parted by an invisible hand, automatically revealed a gap, allowing the flying boat to pass smoothly through. The instant he entered, Li Hanshan felt an overwhelming surge of spiritual energy, so dense it was almost tangible. Its purity was several times greater than any immortal island he had ever visited before, and every breath was as refreshingly sweet as drinking from a spiritual spring.

The flying boat landed on a man-made, leveled stone platform at the edge of the island. The platform was about a hundred feet square, paved with bluish-white jade, its surface engraved with intricate spirit-gathering array patterns. Several flying boats of various shapes were already moored around the platform, and disciples from various sects were disembarking one after another. Some were talking in hushed tones, while others were looking around at the scenery, most of them with a sense of awe similar to Li Hanshan's.

A middle-aged man dressed in the uniform robes of the Immortal Alliance stood at the entrance of the passage in front of the stone platform, holding an unfolded jade scroll in his hand, checking the identity and credentials of each person entering. A calm and composed aura of a mid-stage Void Refinement cultivator emanated from him, which, although well concealed, still caused the Nascent Soul disciples passing by to unconsciously slow their pace.

As Shen Yun led Li Hanshan and Shen Qingyue to the entrance of the passage, the middle-aged man looked up at her and nodded slightly: "Sect Leader Shen. It's been fifty years since you last visited the core immortal island. Did you bring two disciples this time?"

"Reporting to Elder Liu, one is an elder of our sect, and the other is my daughter." Shen Yun handed over the jade tokens of the three people.

Elder Liu took the jade talismans and checked them one by one. After confirming that the spiritual energy imprints were correct, he returned the jade talismans and stepped aside to make way for them: "Cave number nine has been arranged for you. Follow the main path to the third fork and turn left. It's at the end. The precautions for activating the formation are explained in the jade slip. You can refer to it yourself."

After thanking them, Shen Yun led the two through the passage and along a blue stone main path shaded by spirit trees towards the depths of the island.

Along the way, one can sense the fluctuations of array formations hidden in the dense forests and mountain walls. Each one carries the same origin as the Nanling defense line but with a more refined texture, like a repeatedly reinforced woven net covering every inch of the entire island.

Li Hanshan was observing, but he did not find any trace of the time array. This array could not possibly encompass the entire core immortal island; it only encompassed a part of the area.

Within these areas are numerous cave dwellings, where cultivators who enter cultivate.

Cave No. 9 is located on a slightly elevated slope in the middle of the island, and its entrance is sealed by a barrier that emanates a pale golden light.

After Shen Yun infused the barrier with spiritual power using the Elder's Token, the restriction silently dissipated, revealing an entrance just wide enough for two people to walk side by side. Once the three entered the cave, Li Hanshan realized that the interior space was far more spacious than the entrance had appeared. The cave ceiling was several meters high, and the rock walls were smooth as a mirror, clearly indicating careful renovation and spatial expansion.

Shen Yun took out a small, silver-white magic artifact from her storage ring, infused it with spiritual power, and drew a few lines in the air within the cave. The silver-white light condensed along the path she drew, forming three semi-transparent light curtains that evenly divided the originally unified cave space into three independent rooms. Each room led to a spiritual spring, and the spiritual energy rising from the spring condensed into fine water droplets at the edges of the light curtains, emitting a refreshing and invigorating fragrance.

"The middle room is for you and Qingyue to stay in," Shen Yun put away her magic weapon and pointed to the room on the left. "I'll stay here. The room on the right can be used as a meditation room. Use that room if you need to study cultivation techniques or make talismans alone."

Li Hanshan looked around the room he was in. The cave walls had been smoothed by Shen Yun using magical artifacts. A soft mat woven from spiritual herbs covered the floor. In the corner was a pool of spiritual spring water made of bluestone, with fine white mist rising from the water.

He put down the storage bag and sensed the concentration of spiritual energy in the cave, so dense it almost pushed the spiritual power in his meridians up a level. For a moment, he was somewhat dazed.

Shen Qingyue stood beside him, also looking at the partitioned room. She put down the storage bag on her shoulder, her gaze lingering on the spirit spring pool for a moment before turning to Li Hanshan, her voice filled with joy: "This place is much better than I imagined. The concentration of spiritual energy is more than ten times higher than in the Purple Thunder Pavilion. If I could cultivate in seclusion here, I should be able to break through to the late Nascent Soul stage."

Shen Yun had already walked towards the room on the left. She stopped at the edge of the light screen and said without turning her head, "Settle down first. The formation will officially open tomorrow, and there will be plenty of time to cultivate then. Get a good rest tonight and recover from the fatigue of traveling."

Her figure quickly disappeared behind the silvery-white light curtain, and her footsteps gradually faded into the depths of the cave, eventually becoming indistinct due to the sound of the spiritual spring water and the spiritual energy permeating the air.