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

After speaking those words, the woman remained silent. She stood above the deserted island, her silver veil fluttering gently in the sea breeze. Moonlight fell upon her slightly lowered eyelashes, like a layer of shattered, cold light spread across the edges of her delicate lashes. Her silence was like silk soaked in the sea breeze, long and serene.

Li Hanshan waited a moment, and seeing that she didn't intend to continue, he broke the silence: "And then?"

The woman turned her head, her gaze falling on the churning tribulation clouds in the distance. Xiao An's third tribulation lightning bolt was gathering power within the clouds, eerie blue arcs of electricity leaping and weaving along the cloud edges, illuminating the entire sea as a flowing, dark painting. She watched the arcs flicker for a while before speaking, "Let me think about it."

Think about it?

Li Hanshan thought she was going to refuse him outright.

He turned around and looked in the direction where Xiao An was undergoing her tribulation. The dark blue figure was moving and traversing beneath the tribulation clouds. With each bolt of lightning, she would use the techniques of the Netherworld Record to absorb as much of it as possible into her soul, tempering the density of her soul with the power of the heavenly tribulation while enduring the impact.

He could sense that Xiao An's soul was becoming more solid in a slow but irreversible way. The fine imperfections left from the rapid breakthrough were being worn away layer by layer by the continuous erosion of the heavenly tribulation power.

He spared a portion of his attention to Xiao An's progress in her tribulation, but the rest remained fixed on that silver-white figure.

Countless questions churned in his mind—who exactly was she? A spy from the Demonic Sect planted within the Immortal Alliance, possessing the cultivation of a late-stage Void Refinement cultivator, whose true nature was unfathomable even to the higher-ups of the Immortal Alliance. Why would someone who had infiltrated the Immortal Alliance for countless years turn around and destroy the Heavenly Demonic Sect?

Is she aiming to destroy the entire Heavenly Demon Sect, or just one individual within it? Did her family die at the hands of the Heavenly Demon Sect? Did she herself suffer any irreparable harm within the Heavenly Demon Sect? Or has she truly and completely sided with the Immortal Alliance, transforming all the evil deeds she witnessed within the Demon Sect over the years into some grander shift in allegiance?

Li Hanshan went through these speculations in his mind one by one, but found no sufficient evidence to support any of them. The woman's silence was like the surface of the sea bathed in moonlight, calm and still on the surface, but with undercurrents surging beneath, and he could not judge the direction of those undercurrents.

Just then, the tribulation clouds in the sky began to churn rapidly. When Xiao An's seventh tribulation lightning struck, the eerie blue lightning momentarily engulfed her. When she reappeared from the lightning, the light on the surface of her soul was twice as bright as before the tribulation. She sat cross-legged in the void, her hands forming a hand seal, and activated the Netherworld Record Technique at full power, drawing all the remaining power of the tribulation lightning into the depths of her soul.

The eighth and ninth lightning bolts followed in quick succession. As the last dark blue lightning bolt completely dissipated at the horizon, the tribulation clouds peeled away layer by layer like ashes scattered by the wind, revealing the moonlit night sky behind them. Xiao An's figure slowly descended from mid-air, landing beside Li Hanshan. The dark blue light on the surface of her soul body had mostly subsided, and her early-stage Void Refinement aura was calm and restrained. Her aura was more composed than one level compared to before her tribulation.

Li Hanshan sensed her condition and confirmed that although she had expended a considerable amount of energy, her foundation was now stable. He nodded slightly and turned to the woman: "Have you made up your mind?"

The woman stood still, her silver veil fluttering gently in the night breeze. Her gaze swept back and forth between Li Hanshan and Xiao An, lingering for a moment on the Void Refinement level soul power surrounding Xiao An, which had just survived its tribulation, before returning to Li Hanshan. After a moment, she spoke, her agreement somewhat unexpectedly to Li Hanshan: "I agree."

Li Hanshan's heart skipped a beat. He hadn't expected her to actually agree. When he had originally made that request, it was more of a test—to see how determined she really was, but she had only been silent for a moment before calmly agreeing.

"However," the woman continued, her voice lower than before, "you must swear an oath before you agree."

Li Hanshan raised an eyebrow: "What oath?"

"A Heavenly Oath. Sweared in blood." Her gaze fell upon Li Hanshan, her calm eyes holding an unwavering resolve. "During this cooperation, you must not reveal my identity to anyone, you must not expose me to the Immortal Alliance's scrutiny in any way, and you must not use this cooperation to obtain information beyond the agreed scope. If you break this oath—"

She didn't finish speaking, but Li Hanshan already understood her meaning. The binding force of oaths made by the Heavenly Dao in the cultivation world far exceeds that of ordinary oaths made by inner demons. Oaths made with blood are the highest level of alliances. Once violated, they will trigger a backlash from the Heavenly Dao. At best, one's cultivation will regress and one's foundation will be damaged; at worst, a heavenly tribulation will descend and one's soul will be scattered.

Li Hanshan remained silent for a moment. He quickly weighed the pros and cons in his mind—cooperating with this woman was extremely risky, and once exposed, it would implicate the entire Array Hall and Purple Thunder Pavilion.

But her promise was equally tempting. A cultivator at the late stage of the Void Refinement realm willing to cultivate with him would be a tremendous boost to Li Hanshan's cultivation. Moreover, she possessed a wealth of intelligence about the Demonic Sect's plans within the Immortal Alliance. If he could obtain even a portion of it, his maneuvering space between the Demonic Sect and the Immortal Alliance would greatly increase.

"Okay." He raised his right hand, and a golden light condensed at his fingertips, drawing a small wound in his palm. Crimson blood seeped from the wound, gleaming dark red in the moonlight.

He swore an oath, using blood as a pledge: "I, Li Hanshan, swear by the Heavenly Dao that during this cooperation, I will never reveal this woman's identity, nor expose her to the Immortal Alliance's scrutiny in any way, nor use this cooperation to obtain information beyond the agreed scope. If I violate this oath, may I be struck down by heaven and earth, my soul scattered to the winds."

The drop of blood evaporated into a wisp of golden mist in his palm, merging, condensing, and dissipating with an extremely fine wisp of Heavenly Dao power descending from the sky. He could feel that the power of the oath had left an invisible mark deep within his sea of ​​consciousness, like a flattened thread, quietly lurking at the edge of his soul.

The woman watched him complete the blood oath of the Heavenly Dao and nodded slightly. She also made the same oath, and the blood bead evaporated into a wisp of silvery-white mist in her palm, merging with the power of the Heavenly Dao and sinking into the depths of her sea of ​​consciousness.

The oath was fulfilled, and the two invisible marks touched in the void and then separated, like two seals placed in the same box, each confirming the other's mark.

"Now we can discuss terms." The woman lowered her hand, the edge of her silver veil fluttering slightly in the night breeze. "I agree to your terms, but I have three rules. First, you must not overuse my essence. Only once, and once it's over, we're even. Second, you cannot use those evil methods of the Joyous Union Sect on me. Although I come from the Demonic Sect, I have never given myself to any man in hundreds of years. If you take this opportunity to place any restrictions or marks on me, I will not let you off easily."

She paused, a serious glint appearing in her calm eyes: "Third—"

"Wait," Li Hanshan interrupted her, his tone carrying a calm bargaining tone, "One time isn't enough. You need to stay with me for at least three days. If you really want to destroy the Heavenly Demon Sect, you'll have to show enough sincerity."

The woman's gaze lingered on his face for several moments. Moonlight fell on the edge of her silver veil, like a layer of crushed, cold light spread across the folds of the fabric. She could sense the seriousness in his tone when he said "three days"—not a probing attempt to push his luck, but rather that he had already accepted that number as a given condition at the negotiating table.

She paused for a moment, then said, "Three days. No more than three days."

Li Hanshan's heart skipped a beat again. Three days—she actually agreed. A cultivator at the late stage of the Void Refinement realm, who had been lurking in the Immortal Alliance for countless years and had never given herself to any man, was now willing to offer her body for three days for a cooperation.

Just how deep was her hatred for the Heavenly Demon Sect?