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

The middle-aged man was the first to wake up. When he opened his eyes, the dark red light in his pupils had completely dissipated, replaced by a bewildered feeling of surviving a catastrophe. He looked down at his hands, then sensed the spiritual energy flowing back to normal in his dantian. He remained silent for a long time before raising his head and looking at the young figure in front of him dressed as an outer elder of the Purple Thunder Pavilion.

"Did you... save me?" His voice was hoarse, weak from the shock of the spiritual energy surge.

Li Hanshan nodded: "The demonic meridians in your veins have been completely removed. However, your foundation has been significantly damaged in this qi deviation. Rest well in the coming days and don't rush to break through to a higher realm."

The middle-aged man remained silent for a moment, then stood up and solemnly clasped his hands in a salute to Li Hanshan: "I am Duan Hong of the Biluo Sect. I will never forget your kindness today."

Although his movements were somewhat slow due to his weakness, he was courteous and his gaze was sincere.

The young female cultivator woke up shortly after Duan Hong. Her reaction was even more direct; the moment she regained consciousness, she grabbed Li Hanshan's sleeve, her voice trembling with a mixture of fear and relief: "Thank you so much for saving my life, fellow Daoist! My name is Liu Qing, a disciple of the Cloud Hidden Pavilion. If it weren't for your intervention, I'm afraid I would have—"

She didn't finish speaking, but her eyes were already slightly red.

Li Hanshan gently withdrew his sleeve, his tone calm: "Both of you need to recuperate. Damage to your foundation is no small matter. It's best not to attempt to break through any bottlenecks within the next three months."

Duan Hong and Liu Qing agreed and expressed their gratitude before returning to their caves with the help of their fellow disciples who had come to meet them.

The surrounding cultivators dispersed as soon as the situation calmed down, but their gazes lingered on Li Hanshan for a moment before leaving. Some whispered a few words to each other, while others simply glanced at him silently before turning and leaving.

Elder Gong descended from mid-air, the silvery-white spiritual light around him slowly receding. When he stood before Li Hanshan, the oppressive aura of a late-stage Void Refinement cultivator had subsided, but his gaze still measured the weight of the young man before him with the precision of two invisible rulers.

After a moment of silence, he spoke: "Come with me."

After saying that, he turned and walked towards the mountain range in the center of the island that was shrouded in spiritual mist.

Without hesitation, Li Hanshan followed in his footsteps. The two figures passed through the gradually closing cave enclosures and walked along a blue stone path shaded by spirit trees into the depths of the mountains. The spiritual mist along the way grew thicker and thicker, and the concentration of spiritual energy in the air continued to rise. Every step felt like approaching the center of a treasure trove that had been carefully preserved for thousands of years.

Elder Gong stopped in front of a stone door concealed by an array, raised his hand and cast a spell, and the stone door slid open silently, revealing a stone chamber behind it that was more spacious than an ordinary cave dwelling.

The interior was even simpler than Li Hanshan had imagined—the stone walls had no superfluous decorations, only a few carefully hung array diagrams, and several unfolded animal hide drawings and scattered talisman brushes lay on the table. The spirit spring pool was several times larger than the one in Cave No. 9, and the rising mist shimmered with a warm glow in the light of the luminous pearl.

Elder Gong sat down at the stone table and gestured for Li Hanshan to sit as well. He didn't speak immediately, but instead poured two cups of spiritual tea, pushed one of them in front of Li Hanshan, and then took a sip from his own cup.

As he set down his teacup, his gaze returned to Li Hanshan's face: "You just said in the square that the acceleration ratio of the time array has increased to five times. How did you know that?"

Li Hanshan picked up the teacup but didn't drink; he simply held the warm porcelain bowl. He could sense the seriousness in Elder Gong's tone when he asked the question, like a string stretched to its limit, ready to be released at any moment or tightened sharply when needed.

"This disciple has some rudimentary knowledge of formations," Li Hanshan began, carefully choosing his words. "While cultivating in my cave, I noticed a subtle discrepancy between the speed at which spiritual energy accumulates in my meridians and the perceived flow rate. This discrepancy wasn't initially obvious, but after several years of continuous observation, I gradually confirmed its existence. My calculated acceleration is approximately five times."

He didn't tell the whole truth. What truly confirmed this value for him was the time difference that Luo Li perceived in the dream, but this was something he obviously couldn't tell Elder Gong.

Elder Gong remained silent for a moment, his gaze falling on the steaming cup of spiritual tea: "You just said in the plaza that their qi deviation was related to the increased acceleration rate of the formation. How certain are you about this?"

Li Hanshan put down his teacup and sat up straight. "This disciple cannot be completely certain yet. But I have inquired about Lin Qingyin's symptoms—before entering the core immortal island, even if inner demons arose, she could clear them in time, and she basically wouldn't suffer from qi deviation. After entering this formation, however, they occurred one after another, and the severity of each attack increased. This disciple's judgment is: the increased acceleration ratio of the formation does indeed force those hidden dangers in the meridians that would normally take decades to gradually dissipate to be pushed to the critical point in a shorter time, and the rate of inner demon growth will also accelerate. If the acceleration ratio of this formation continues to increase, the number of cases of qi deviation will only increase."

Elder Gong's gaze lingered on his face for a few moments, as if he were weighing his words carefully.

A moment later, he stood up and walked to the carefully hung array diagram on the stone wall. He raised his hand and slowly moved it along one of the key array lines: "This array is called the Flowing Light Array, one of the most core foundations of the Immortal Alliance. Its base is located deep in the central mountain range of the island, and it is composed of twelve sets of array flags. Each set of flags contains an extremely complex runic structure, and the spiritual energy resonance between them is related to the operating efficiency of the entire array. Adjusting the angle or height of any one of the flags will affect the time flow of the entire Flowing Light Array."

He turned around, his gaze returning to Li Hanshan: "You just said you have some research on formations. This elder would like to know, to what extent exactly do you mean by 'some research'?"

Li Hanshan didn't rush to answer. He could sense that when Elder Gong asked the question, the string that had been stretched to a certain degree was trembling slightly, like a door that hadn't been fully opened yet, waiting for him to give it enough weight to decide whether to push it open completely.

"This disciple does indeed have some insights into runes and formations," he said earnestly. "I can basically draw and analyze the structures of runes below the sixth rank independently. I also have a certain understanding of the underlying logic of formations. If I could access the basic structure of the Flowing Light Formation, perhaps I could more accurately determine the reason for the increased acceleration ratio and better deal with the problem of qi deviation."

His gaze calmly met Elder Gong's piercing eyes, neither flinching nor eager to seize the opportunity. He simply placed the proposal on the table, like a chess piece pushed to the center of a board, waiting for the other party to decide whether to accept it or push it away.

Elder Gong's gaze lingered on his face for a long time. He could sense the seriousness veiled by caution in the young man's tone when he said "made contact with the array base structure."

"The location of the Flowing Light Array's base is one of the Immortal Alliance's top secrets. No one except the presiding elder and the Alliance Leader himself is allowed to approach the array's core," Elder Gong stated. "Your methods of rescuing people just now were indeed unexpected, but that doesn't mean you're qualified to access the array's base."

Li Hanshan nodded without arguing, "This disciple understands."

Elder Gong sat down again at the stone table, picked up the cup of spiritual tea, which had mostly gone cold, took another sip, and put it down, his voice a few decibels lower than before: "However, you just said that qi deviation is related to the increased acceleration ratio of the formation, and I will remember this assessment. If similar cases occur again in the near future, I will reconsider your suggestion."

Li Hanshan said nothing more, stood up, clasped his hands in a respectful bow to Elder Gong, and said, "Thank you, Elder Gong. This disciple takes his leave."

As he turned and walked out of the stone chamber, the stone door behind him closed silently after he passed through the frame. Dusk had completely fallen, and the spiritual mist surged endlessly on both sides of the bluestone path. In the distance, the lights of the various cave dwellings flickered in the night mist, like stars scattered among the mountains.

He walked back to Cave No. 9 along the same path he had come from. As he passed through the pale golden barrier at the entrance, Shen Yun and Lin Qingyin were sitting side by side on the stone platform by the Spirit Spring Pool, waiting for him.

Shen Yun spoke first: "What did Elder Gong say to you?"

Li Hanshan sat down on the stone bench opposite the two and briefly explained Elder Gong's proposal and conditions. After listening, Lin Qingyin's clear eyes gleamed with thoughtful consideration: "Elder Gong's willingness to observe for a while longer shows that he has taken your judgment to heart. These things can't be rushed; we must wait patiently, and an opportunity will eventually arise."

Li Hanshan nodded and said nothing more. He could feel their concerned gazes, but he didn't say anything more, and simply got up and walked towards the quiet room.

A few days later, Li Hanshan sat cross-legged in his quiet room, closed his eyes, and sank his consciousness into the depths of his sea of ​​consciousness. That familiar pulling force, like a thread soaked in moonlight, slowly emerged from the depths of his consciousness, leading his soul through layers of darkness to the familiar riverbank. Moonlight spilled onto the water, dyeing the entire river a silvery white. Luo Li sat on a blue stone, and upon seeing him, she slightly turned her head: "Grandpa, what's been going on with you lately? I sense you seem rather heavy-hearted."

Li Hanshan sat down beside her and recounted the events surrounding the Flowing Light Array—the acceleration ratio increasing from three to five times, the series of cases of qi deviation, and Elder Gong's hesitation. After listening, Luo Li's clear eyes gleamed thoughtfully in the moonlight: "If the increase in the array's acceleration ratio is simply a natural fluctuation caused by increased spiritual energy consumption of the array flags themselves, then it's just a matter of adjusting the flag angles. But if the array itself has undergone some kind of change—"

She didn't finish, but both of them thought of the same possibility. Li Hanshan picked up the conversation: "That means the formation itself is undergoing some kind of uncontrollable evolution. Elder Gong probably had this concern as well, as he didn't dare let me easily access the formation's base."

Luo Li leaned against the bluestone, the moonlight casting a silvery halo on her slightly drooping eyelashes: "If the formation itself truly has a problem, then we can't wait. Another case of qi deviation appearing on your end might be the best opportunity."

Two years later, late one night, Li Hanshan and Shen Qingyue were drawing a sixth-order purple lightning talisman in a quiet room when they suddenly sensed a familiar, chaotic fluctuation of spiritual energy coming from afar. The intensity of that fluctuation was similar to when Duan Hong had suffered a qi deviation, but its location was much farther, about two cave dwellings away from Cave Dwelling No. 9.

As he put down his talisman brush and stepped out of the cave, he saw Elder Gong standing at the entrance, the silvery-white spiritual light enveloping the entire cave like a drawn curtain.

Sensing Li Hanshan's presence, he turned around, his gaze falling on Li Hanshan's face. His voice held a solemn tone, as if confirming a fact: "Another person has gone mad. Your previous assessment was correct—the increased acceleration of this formation has indeed spurred the growth of inner demons."

He paused for a moment, then stepped aside to clear the way from the cave entrance: "Come with me." His figure walked through the night mist toward the central mountain range of the island, his steps more decisive than two years ago, without stopping or hesitating.

Li Hanshan didn't ask any more questions and followed behind him. The two figures were quickly swallowed up at the boundary between the spiritual mist and the night.