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

Li Hanshan stood above the deserted island, the sea breeze passing through the gap between them, causing the silence that had suddenly tightened due to the words "annihilate the Heavenly Demon Sect" to sway slightly.

He stared at the figure veiled in silver, and for a moment even thought he had misheard. A cultivator in the late stage of the Void Refinement realm stood on a deserted island in the endless sea and casually said to him—Let's destroy the Heavenly Demon Sect together.

He remained silent for two breaths, letting the words repeat in his mind twice to make sure he hadn't missed a single syllable, before speaking: "Your tone is far too arrogant. A mere Void Refinement cultivator thinks you can destroy the Heavenly Demon Sect? They have Dao Integration cultivators overseeing them. Even if I cooperate with you, we can't wipe them out at all."

The woman stood in the void, her silver-white veil fluttering slightly in the sea breeze, her voice clear and melodious: "The two of us alone are certainly not enough. But there is the Immortal Alliance."

"The Immortal Alliance does indeed have three Dao Integration experts. But the Demonic Sect also has three." Li Hanshan shook his head, as if stating an obvious fact. "Moreover, the Joyful Union Sect Master is already attempting to break through to the Dao Integration stage. If she succeeds, the Demonic Sect will have four. Even with me and the entire power of the Immortal Alliance, you, a late-stage Void Refinement cultivator, might not be able to secure a victory."

The woman tilted her head slightly, her calm eyes falling on his face. The moonlight cast a cold, silvery-white glow on the edges of her pupils. "The peak of the Void Refinement stage is ultimately not the Dao Integration stage. Breaking through that threshold is not so easy."

Li Hanshan didn't reply. A thought, however, surfaced in his mind—if I could break through to the Void Refinement stage, I might be able to forcibly help the sect leader break through to the Dao Integration stage. But this thought only flashed through his mind; he didn't show any unusual reaction on his face.

"So," he began, his tone calm and collected, steer the conversation back on track, "your plan is to use the power of the Immortal Alliance to destroy the Heavenly Demon Sect?"

"Of course." The woman answered crisply and decisively, without the slightest hesitation, as if this plan had been brewing in her mind for a long enough time that every detail had been repeatedly considered.

Li Hanshan looked at her, the sea breeze causing the edges of her silver-white robes to flutter slightly: "Why? You're from the Demonic Sect. A spy planted in the Immortal Alliance by the Demonic Sect, yet you turn around and destroy your own sect—there must be a reason, right?"

The woman stood in the void, silent for a moment before speaking: "If I told you that I was originally a member of the Demonic Sect, but after joining the Immortal Alliance, I realized that all members of the Demonic Sect deserved to die—especially the Heavenly Demonic Sect. So I decided to reform. Would you believe me?"

Li Hanshan looked at her, moonlight falling on the edges of her silver-white veil, like a layer of crushed, cold light spread across the folds of the fabric. He shook his head, his tone calm: "I don't believe it. Not only do I not believe this reason, but I also don't believe you. A demonic sect spy who could infiltrate the Immortal Alliance for so many years without being discovered, with a cultivation level at the late stage of the Void Refinement realm, whose true nature even Elder Gong couldn't see through—this kind of person tells me she wants to reform? Would you believe it if you were in her shoes?"

The woman seemed to have anticipated his words. She wasn't angry; she merely tilted her head slightly, her calm eyes carrying a composure born of knowing what had been said, like a chess piece placed in the center of a board, waiting for its opponent to decide whether to accept it or push it away. She spoke: "Then tell me, what will it take for you to cooperate with me?"

Li Hanshan's hands hung naturally at his sides as he felt the lingering demonic energy from the Thousand-Eyed Sea Demon Spider's remains sinking into the deep sea slowly dissipating, like the last trace of water left on the beach at low tide. He remained silent for a moment, letting the silence linger between them, before speaking: "How about you offer a pledge of loyalty?"

The woman's eyes flickered slightly, a subtle ripple passing through her calm gaze, like a pebble thrown into water creating delicate ripples: "What pledge of allegiance?"

"Since you know I'm a cultivator from the Joyful Union Sect," Li Hanshan looked at her, "then this pledge of loyalty is naturally yourself. Give me your body, and I'll trust you."

A moment of silence fell over the air. The silver-white figure stood still, moonlight falling on her slightly tense shoulders, like frost clinging to the edges of bamboo leaves.

She could sense the nuance in his words—it wasn't a test, nor a flirtation, but rather a clear and unambiguous statement of conditions. She paused for a moment, then spoke in a voice several degrees colder than before, like an undercurrent surging beneath the surface of ice: "You're delusional."

"Then there's nothing to discuss." Li Hanshan spread his hands, his tone carrying a perfectly measured nonchalance, as if discussing a trivial matter unrelated to him. "Since you're unwilling to show sincerity, why should I risk cooperating with you? My current situation isn't exactly secure, but at least I can stay in the Array Hall. If I'm to do something that would mean certain death if exposed, there needs to be some tangible guarantee, right?"

He paused, his gaze lingering on the extremely fine silver pattern along the edge of her silver-white veil, as if trying to see through her entire being, including that disguise. "Besides," he said, "since you were able to find me, it means your connections within the Immortal Alliance far exceed my expectations. So let me ask you another question—why did you seek me out? You could have easily found a more reliable collaborator, one with higher cultivation and greater loyalty to the Immortal Alliance."

The woman looked at him, her silver veil gleaming coolly in the moonlight. She didn't answer immediately; her eyes lingered on his face for a long while, as if reassessing the young monk's perceptiveness. The moonlight cast a cool, silvery glow on her features, making her eyes appear exceptionally bright.

Before she could speak, Li Hanshan had already quickly pieced together the scattered clues in his mind. The identity of the Hehuan Sect spy, the authority of the Array Hall, Elder Gong's trust, the research direction of the ancient restrictions—each condition was like a carefully selected puzzle piece, perfectly piecing together a complete picture.

He spoke, his tone as firm as if carved by a knife: "Is there any need to guess? I'm just a Nascent Soul cultivator, not even a Void Refinement cultivator, and a spy at that. What could I possibly be worth the attention of someone like you, a late-stage Void Refinement cultivator? You've got your eye on Elder Gong, haven't you?"

The woman's brow twitched slightly, a movement so subtle that Li Hanshan, with his seventh-level Void Refinement Divine Sense, would have barely noticed it. That brief pause itself was an answer. But she neither denied it nor interrupted him; she simply stood there quietly, waiting for him to continue.

Li Hanshan continued, his speech a few beats faster than before, as if to lay all the fragments bare under the moonlight: "I guess your plan is to use me to influence Elder Gong and persuade him to set up strategic facilities like teleportation arrays within the Heavenly Demon Sect's territory, to facilitate the Immortal Alliance's army. This plan is extremely risky because teleportation arrays are not easy to set up; once discovered, all efforts will be wasted. Therefore, you need someone who can infiltrate the Heavenly Demon Sect without arousing suspicion, and who also understands array formations. And I—I am both a disciple of the Joyful Union Sect and a steward of the Array Formation Hall, perfectly meeting both conditions. That's why you came to me."

He stopped, and the sea breeze slipped through the gap between them, causing the hem of his robes to flutter slightly. Moonlight fell on the sea, turning the surging waves into a shimmering, silvery glow that meandered around him.

The woman stood in the void, her silver veil fluttering gently in the sea breeze. She remained silent for a long time, so long that the sound of the surging waves echoed between them several times, and so long that the auras of the low-level demonic beasts gathered on the distant sea surface due to the remains of the Thousand-Eyed Sea Demon Spider began to dissipate.

Then she spoke, her voice filled with undisguised appreciation, as if she were solemnly placing a meticulously crafted chess piece in the center of the chessboard.

"You are the smartest man I've ever met. Your words just now perfectly captured all my calculations, word for word."

Upon hearing the undisguised praise, Li Hanshan's lips twitched slightly, a barely perceptible curve. He didn't rush to respond, but quietly waited for her to reveal her next card.