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

As dusk crept up from the edge of the ridge, Li Hanshan placed the dark gold tray on the stone bench.

The twelve array artifacts were neatly arranged on the tray, their silver-white runes gleaming with a fine, cold light in the last rays of sunlight, like twelve tamed stars quietly settling in dark brocade.

He reached out and touched the nearest array device. When his fingertip touched the edge of the base, he could feel a very subtle spiritual energy feedback.

The miniature reinforced circuits that the girl embedded in each array artifact were indeed useful. The flow path of spiritual energy had an extra fine bend compared to when he deduced it in the dream, just like digging a flood diversion channel next to the original river channel, dispersing the peak of the spiritual pressure impact over a wider cross section.

nice one.

He inwardly praised her, and was about to ask the girl about the fee when his gaze stopped when it fell on the doorway of the stone house. The door was still ajar, and the girl was already asleep, slumped on the low table covered with ore fragments inside. Her ponytail was half-loose, hanging over her shoulder, and the cuffs of her work clothes were stained with charcoal black and metal powder. She was still clutching the palm-sized forging hammer in her hand. Her breathing was long and steady, clearly exhausted from three months of high-intensity forging.

Li Hanshan swallowed the words that were about to come out, tiptoed back a few steps, and sat down on the stone bench. He took out the dark silver communication stone and crushed it. A silvery-white light rose from the shattered spirit stone, transforming into an extremely fine thread that shot towards the northwest in the twilight.

He waited for three days. During the day, he meditated and regulated his breathing on the stone platform outside the stone house, circulating pure yang energy through his meridians in one great cycle after another. The spiritual power accumulated from continuous dual cultivation became more solid through repeated tempering.

At night, she would lean against the stone wall and close her eyes to rest. Occasionally, she could hear the faint sound of a girl turning over and pressing down on metal fragments inside the stone house. Otherwise, it was completely quiet.

On the morning of the third day, a silver-white streak of light swept in from the direction of the valley entrance. When Yin Yue landed on the open ground in front of the stone house, her silver-white veil fluttered gently in the morning breeze. Her calm eyes swept over the dark gold tray on the stone bench and paused for a moment.

"Finished refining?" she asked.

"It's finished refining." Li Hanshan pointed to the stone house. "They're still sleeping."

Yin Yue didn't knock on the door. Instead, she sat down at the stone table, took out a pot of spiritual tea from her sleeve, poured two cups, and offered one to Li Hanshan. The two sat quietly drinking tea until a muffled groan came from inside the stone house, as if someone had been turned over and hit a metal shard. Then came dragging footsteps from inside the threshold, and the door was pushed open a crack from the inside.

The girl rubbed her eyes as she came out, her hair disheveled and plastered to her cheeks. The scorch marks on her work clothes were more numerous than they had been three days ago. She paused, pausing for a moment when she saw Yin Yue sitting at the stone table, then her gaze fell on Li Hanshan, and she yawned widely: "You haven't left yet?"

"I'm waiting for you to wake up." Li Hanshan put down his teacup. "How much should I pay you for the craftsmanship of the array?"

The girl tilted her head and thought for a moment, then rubbed her fingers on her apron twice: "Let's calculate it by the day, three months. You provided the materials yourself, I only provide the labor, so the amount is—" She held up three fingers and waved them in the air.

"Thirty thousand high-grade spirit stones?" Li Hanshan asked.

The girl glared at him, her almond-shaped eyes filled with a look of disdain that seemed to say, "You're treating me like a beggar." "What would I do with high-grade spirit stones? Give me top-grade spirit stones, three thousand will do."

Alright, three thousand top-grade spirit stones.

This is a considerable amount, equivalent to thirty million high-grade spirit stones.

The most awkward thing is that Li Hanshan doesn't have many top-grade spirit stones at all.

Yin Yue saw through Li Hanshan's intentions and took out a brocade bag from her sleeve, placing it on the stone table. When the bag was opened, it revealed a neatly stacked pile of top-grade spirit stones, each one gleaming with a warm, silvery-white luster.

The girl reached out and weighed the brocade pouch in her hand. A satisfied smile finally appeared on her face. She put the bag of spirit stones into her bosom and waved to Yin Yue: "Sister Yin Yue, next time you have something good, remember to come to me first. Don't always make me do this kind of urgent work."

After saying that, he crawled back into the stone house and closed the door again. Soon, the sound of snoring came from inside the stone house as he fell asleep again.

Yin Yue stood up, nodded slightly towards the stone house, and then turned to Li Hanshan: "Let's go."

After the two left the side gate of the Heavenly Mystery Sect, Yin Yue summoned the silver-white flying boat. The boat took off and sped southeast, the mountains and cities below receding rapidly beneath the clouds. Li Hanshan stood at the ship's side, taking each of the twelve array artifacts from the tray and inspecting them one by one. Only after confirming that the rune circuits of each artifact were intact did he put the tray into his storage ring.

Yin Yue stood at the bow of the ship, her silver-white veil fluttering in the wind: "The array artifact is ready. How's your deduction going? Can you set up the teleportation array?"

"Yes." Li Hanshan held the array artifact in his palm, channeling his spiritual power into it. The silver-white runes on the surface of the artifact glowed with a warm, cold light under the stimulation of the spiritual power, like a star lit up in the twilight. "The setup plan has been completed to the final stage. As long as we find a suitable location, there shouldn't be any major problems."

The teleportation array needs to be set up at two ends: one end is at the Immortal Alliance and the other end is at the Heavenly Demon Sect.

Yin Yue nodded, her tone lighter than before: "Then we can proceed."

Li Hanshan carefully put away the array device, his gaze falling on the calm eyes behind her silver veil: "Before we proceed, is there anything else you want to give me?"

Yin Yue paused slightly. The bow of the flying boat swayed gently in the sea breeze. She turned half of her face to the side, the edge of her silver-white veil brushing against her ear in the wind. Behind the thin veil, a very faint blush could be seen spreading upwards from her neck.

"You remember it clearly." Her voice was a few decibels lower than before, with its usual coldness, but the last syllable rose slightly.

"What kind of talk is that?" Li Hanshan leaned against the ship's railing, his tone frank. "Of course I remember the preconditions for cooperation clearly. You promised to fulfill your promise of three days of sincerity after you've mastered the teleportation array. Now the array equipment has arrived, and the array's deduction has been completed. All that's left is to find a place to set up the array. The 'action' you're referring to can't be the array setting itself, can it?"

Yin Yue didn't reply. After the flying boat had traveled a long distance through the clouds, she finally spoke, her voice regaining its clear and crisp quality: "Before we take action, there's one more thing to do."

"What is it?"

"Find the spies from the Joyful Union Sect within the Immortal Alliance." She turned around, her calm eyes flashing with seriousness. "Regarding your matter with Zhao Yuan, the Immortal Alliance's Enforcement Hall is still investigating, but progress is very slow. Elder Zhou has been investigating for months and has only found a minor figure on the periphery; they haven't even touched the real lead. If we act rashly now and set up the teleportation array, the Demon Sect might get wind of the Immortal Alliance's army's movement beforehand. The Joyful Union Sect's spies are even more deeply hidden than those of the Heavenly Demon Sect. If we don't dig them out, they will disrupt the entire game."

Li Hanshan was silent for a moment: "Do you have any leads?"

"There are some." Yin Yue walked up to him, her silver-white robes brushing against the edge of the ship's railing. "Zhao Yuan is just a pawn pushed to the sidelines; the person truly in contact with him is very well hidden. Last time, they used Zhao Yuan to report you, hoping to use the Enforcement Hall to get rid of you. Since they failed, they will likely have follow-up actions. Your recent activities within the Immortal Alliance have attracted their attention."

Li Hanshan understood what she meant: "You're going to use me as bait?"