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

Ye Feiyan didn't stop. She made a series of hand seals, and the second and third beams of light arrived one after another. Each beam of light landed precisely on the cracks left by the previous beam, tearing them open, deepening them, and penetrating them.

The entire cave's protective barrier teetered on the brink of collapse under this series of impacts, resembling a glazed tower that had been repeatedly struck, with most of its base shattered and only a few fragments remaining hanging on the top layer.

Li Hanshan silently calculated the time in his mind. Each of Ye Feiyan's attacks required several breaths to gather spiritual power, and the interval between two attacks was his window of opportunity.

As long as the array's core is activated during that brief interval, spiritual energy will flow from the palm into the array device, travel a full circle along the closed loop, and establish a coordinate lock between the two array cores. The entire process takes less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

He placed his palm back on the ground at the edge of the array eye, and pure yang energy silently seeped from his palm into the base of the first array artifact.

The spiritual energy slowly advanced along the calibrated closed loop, passing through the second, third, and fourth array artifacts. As the spiritual energy passed through, each array artifact lit up with a very faint silver-white light. The light flickered on the dark blue ground, almost imperceptible during the gaps in Ye Feiyan's attacks.

He silently counted the number of array artifacts in his mind, while simultaneously diverting a wisp of his divine sense to continuously lock onto the barrier light membrane outside the cave entrance that was being attacked.

The fifth, sixth, and seventh array artifacts. Each time spiritual energy passed through one of these artifacts, it left a faint activation mark inside. These marks, linked end-to-end in the closed loop, resembled twelve stars strung together, slowly weaving into a complete spatial coordinate network. The eighth, ninth, and tenth array artifacts.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth beams of light from Ye Feiyan arrived one after another, each one making the cracks on the surface of the barrier light membrane denser and deeper, and the frequency of fragments flying off increased.

When the spiritual energy advanced to the eleventh array artifact, Li Hanshan sensed that the restrictive light membrane surrounding the entire cave had finally reached its final limit.

The moment the activation mark of the eleventh array device lit up in the loop, he didn't hesitate and poured all his spiritual power into the base of the twelfth array device. The instant the spiritual power surged into the twelfth array device, the entire spiritual power loop of the teleportation array finally completed a full closed loop.

The twelve array artifacts lit up simultaneously, and silvery-white light surged from the surface of each artifact, weaving into a dense net of light on the stone chamber floor. The net of light contracted sharply the instant it closed, converging all the light into an extremely thin silvery-white beam that silently rose from the center of the array's core.

The beam of light hovered in mid-air, neither rising further nor expanding outwards. Li Hanshan used his divine sense to perceive the spatial fluctuations contained within the hovering beam of light, confirming that the passage had been stably established and the coordinates at both ends had been locked.

The teleportation array connection is complete. The entire activation process took only three-quarters of an incense stick's time, precisely timed between Ye Feiyan's two attacks.

Outside the cave, the moment Ye Feiyan's seventh beam of light struck the barrier's protective membrane, the entire mountain trembled violently. The barrier finally succumbed to the relentless onslaught, shattering rapidly from its center outwards. The silvery-white fragments, like glass scattered by the wind, traced countless fine lines in the morning light.

The residual spiritual energy surged in from the cave entrance, creating tiny sparks on the stone wall.

But at the same time, the tremor traveled along the spiritual energy loop of the cave's restrictions into the Heavenly Demon Blood Array. The Heavenly Demon Blood Array flashed brightly for a moment, and a rapid ripple spread across the entire dark red dome.

The ripples spread outwards from the mountain peak, covering an area of ​​dozens of miles. The cultivators watching from the outer edge of the platform all looked up at the dark red sky above.

Some people whispered among themselves, some sensed the spiritual energy frequency of the ripple, and some simply frowned slightly.

"Why is the blood array moving?" A middle-aged cultivator in a dark gray robe asked in a low voice, his tone tinged with doubt. He was at the early stage of the Void Refinement realm and was standing on a ridge on the outer edge of the platform, looking at the dark red dome that was slowly returning to calm.

"The vibration transmitted when the restriction was broken." A female cultivator in a dark gray robe chimed in, her gaze fixed on the direction of Hidden Moon's cave. "The restriction on Hidden Moon Saintess's cave is connected to the blood array. When Ye Feiyan attacked the restriction, the force traveled through the spiritual energy path into the array, so the blood array naturally reacted. It's nothing serious."

"But that direction..." The middle-aged cultivator narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze lingering for a moment on the outline of the mountain peak. "How could the location of the Hidden Moon Saintess's cave be connected to the blood array?"

The female cultivator shook her head, her tone calm: "I don't know. The Holy Maiden's cave dwelling has never been open to the public. However, since the blood array only trembled once and then recovered, it means it wasn't anything major. If there were really something unusual, the blood array's defense mechanism would have been automatically triggered long ago, and it wouldn't have been as simple as just a ripple."

The middle-aged cultivator remained silent for a moment, then turned his gaze away from the dark red dome and back to the platform.

He didn't press the matter further, but kept the question to himself and continued to observe the conflict unfolding on the platform.

Similar sounds could be heard from several other ridges. Some people were discussing the frequency of the blood array's fluctuations in hushed tones, some were taking out jade slips to record the shape of the ripples, and some were simply frowning before looking away.

No one connected the tremor to the teleportation array, because the Heavenly Demon Blood Array covered such a wide area that any breach of any restriction would produce a similar response.

Such tremors are not uncommon within the Heavenly Demon Sect. They occur several times a year, mostly when disciples lose control of their spiritual energy while cultivating in their caves, or when restrictions break down on their own due to years of neglect. No one would think that "someone has set up an array in a place where they shouldn't be."

The ripple subsided completely after a few breaths. The Heavenly Demon Blood Array resumed its original steady and regular operating rhythm, like a huge fortress that had been repeatedly reinforced for thousands of years, completely shrouding the entire territory of the Heavenly Demon Sect under a dark red dome.

At the entrance to the cave, the aftershocks of the shattered protective barrier had not yet completely dissipated. Ye Feiyan stood directly in front of the passage, her dark red outfit fluttering in the morning light. Her gaze pierced through the deep passage, landing on the location of the twelve array artifacts on the stone chamber floor.

However, the light on the surface of the array had completely faded after the teleportation array was connected, leaving only a very faint silver-white luster adhering to the dark blue ground. From the entrance of the passage, it was almost indistinguishable from the lingering traces of ordinary restriction patterns.

"Little brother, I'm coming in." Ye Feiyan's soft voice echoed in the passage for a moment. She took a step forward, and dark red spiritual power re-condensed in her palm, shattering all the remaining fragments of the restriction at the entrance of the passage.

"stop."

The voice came from the outer edge of the platform, clear and cold. The moment the voice fell, the demonic energy above the entire mountain peak seemed to freeze for a moment, and the cultivators watching on the platform turned their heads in unison, their gazes converging on the direction from which the voice came.

Ye Feiyan abruptly stopped. The dark red spiritual energy in her palm dimmed slightly for a moment, her peach blossom eyes narrowed slightly, and her gaze fell on the direction of the spirit wood forest at the edge of the platform.

The next second, Yin Yue didn't descend from the sky, but landed directly in front of Ye Feiyan. Her silver-white figure, like a barrier growing from the void, precisely cut into the gap between Ye Feiyan and the cave entrance.

Her silver-white robe was stained with a few very faint traces of dust, and the tips of her hair still carried a trace of the biting wind from the high altitude, clearly indicating that she had rushed back from a great distance. The moment she landed, a faint ripple of silver-white spiritual energy rose from beneath her feet, causing the dark red spiritual energy that was gathering in Ye Feiyan's palm to shake violently.

Ye Feiyan took a half step back, her peach blossom eyes surging with a suppressed coldness.

Her gaze lingered on Yin Yue's face for a moment, then shifted to the remnants of the protective barrier she had shattered, before finally settling back on Yin Yue: "Sister, you've returned just in time. I was merely helping you inspect your cave. Your barrier is connected to the Heavenly Demon Blood Array; such an arrangement is rare in the Heavenly Demon Sect. I'd like to see what exactly you've hidden in your cave."

Yin Yue stood before her, her silver veil billowing against her chin in the demonic wind, and an unprecedented chill surging within her calm eyes.

She didn't answer Ye Feiyan's question, but simply turned her head slightly and glanced towards the inside of the cave entrance. That gaze was extremely short and light, like a silent blade lightly slicing through the air, but Li Hanshan captured the information conveyed in that gaze with his divine sense.

Do not move.

He sat by the stone platform, maintaining his pure Yang energy under the cover of the Demon Slave Seal, without making any unnecessary movements. He knew the meaning behind that gaze.

The teleportation array has been successfully connected, and the passage has been stably established, but it is not yet officially open. For now, we only need to maintain the status quo and wait for Yin Yue to force Ye Feiyan back from outside.

Ye Feiyan took a step forward, her voice even colder than before: "Is sister feeling guilty? The barrier is broken, and you won't even let your younger sister in to take a look?"

Yin Yue turned around, her silver veil gleaming coldly in the morning light. Her gaze fell on Ye Feiyan's face. She remained silent for a moment before speaking, her tone still sharp, but now carrying a chilling, unyielding edge: "Ye Feiyan, if you want to enter my cave, you must have a reason. The sect rules are there; forcibly breaking in without the master's permission is tantamount to provocation. Are you sure you want to continue?"

Ye Feiyan let out a cold laugh. The laugh sounded particularly clear in the morning light.

She tilted her head slightly, her gaze sweeping over the cultivators watching on the platform. Her voice rose a few decibels, loud enough for everyone to hear clearly: "You all saw it, right? She didn't even dare let me into her cave. You should know better than I what kind of shady things are hidden inside."