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

The moment Ye Feiyan finished speaking, the surrounding cultivators erupted into a flurry of discussion. Some whispered amongst themselves, some nodded slightly, and others turned their gazes to Yin Yue, waiting to see how she would respond.

"What the Night Saintess said makes sense. What's wrong with just going into the cave? Unless there's some unspeakable secret."

"However, private cave dwellings are the territory allocated to each Holy Maiden by the sect, and according to sect rules, no one may trespass without permission. Holy Maiden Ye's actions today may have gone a bit too far."

"That's not how it works. Precisely because the restriction is connected to the blood array, we should investigate even more thoroughly. What if someone is doing something detrimental to the sect inside the cave?"

"Things detrimental to the sect? The Hidden Moon Saintess has been infiltrating the Immortal Alliance for so many years, don't you know how many merits she has accumulated?"

"Good deeds are good deeds, and mistakes are mistakes. What if?"

The murmurs continued unabated. Though the voices were hushed, they were clearly audible to everyone present.

Yin Yue stood at the entrance of the cave, her silver veil gleaming coldly in the morning light. Her calm eyes showed no emotion, as if the whispers behind her were just a passing breeze.

"You..." she began, her voice barely audible.

Ye Feiyan took a step forward, raising her voice slightly, interrupting her.

"Sister, don't be angry." Her tone became sweet again, but the sharpness beneath that sweetness was even clearer than before. "It's not that I want to oppose you. I'm just curious, why have you been staying in your cave since you returned from the Immortal Alliance? You've been lurking outside for so many years, making so many contributions, and now you're back in your cave, not even going to see the sect leader. Isn't that obviously suspicious?"

She paused, her gaze lingering for a moment on the half-shattered protective barrier at the cave entrance, the smile deepening at the corners of her lips. "If you have nothing to hide, elder sister, let me go in and take a look. If there's nothing inside, I'll apologize to you in public, whatever you say. But if you're afraid..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but the unspoken meaning was clear enough.

The discussions on the platform grew more intense. Some whispered, "It's definitely suspicious," while others exchanged silent glances. Still others turned their gaze to Elder Xu of the Enforcement Hall, who stood at the edge of the stone platform, seemingly waiting for his statement. Elder Xu remained standing with his hands behind his back, his expression cold and unyielding, revealing no particular inclination.

Yin Yue stood still, her lips pressed into a thin line beneath her silver veil. Her gaze fell on Ye Feiyan's face, and she remained silent for a moment.

Then she raised her hand and slapped him.

The palm print was so fast it seemed to grow out of thin air. Silvery-white spiritual energy condensed in the palm into an extremely thin arc of light, which landed precisely on Ye Feiyan's face.

The moment the spiritual energy touched her skin, the dark red protective aura shattered for a moment like a piece of wax being pierced by a red-hot iron rod. The palm print landed on her cheek with undiminished force, making a clear and crisp sound.

"Snapped!"

Ye Feiyan was knocked so hard that she staggered two steps to the side, her dark red hair falling over her shoulders, and a clear red handprint quickly appeared on her cheek.

She suddenly raised her head, her peach blossom eyes filled with fury, and the sweet smile on her lips finally vanished.

"You dare hit me?" Her voice was squeezed out from between her teeth, icy cold as if she wanted to devour someone.

Yin Yue stood before her, coldly saying, "So what if I hit you?"

Ye Feiyan's face turned from anger to ashen, and her dark red spiritual power surged around her, her mid-stage Void Refinement stage aura pressing down on Yin Yue head-on.

Yin Yue did not retreat. She took a step forward, her spiritual energy silently spreading out from her body like an open umbrella, steadily blocking Ye Feiyan's oppressive aura. Her steps were neither fast nor slow, each step landing precisely on the weakest point of Ye Feiyan's aura.

"Ye Feiyan, you are the younger sister, and I am the older sister." Her voice was filled with coldness. "It is only right for the older sister to teach you a lesson when the younger sister speaks disrespectfully to the older sister. If you are not satisfied, you can go to the sect leader for judgment. But before the sect leader's ruling, you are not allowed to set foot in this cave."

She paused, shifting her gaze from Ye Feiyan's face to the cultivators watching on the platform, her voice rising a few decibels: "If any of you wish to go in and take a look, feel free to try. My Hidden Moon Cave has never stopped outsiders."

A moment of silence fell over the platform. The chatter ceased abruptly. Some people instinctively took a half-step back, some averted their gaze from Yin Yue's face, and others muttered, "Never mind, never mind," before turning and walking towards the ridge.

Ye Feiyan stood rooted to the spot, the slap mark on her cheek having faded considerably, but the silence born of public humiliation was more palpable than any other expression. "Fine! Fine! I'll remember this slap! See you in the Elder Hall!"

Ye Feiyan said "good" three times. Then she transformed into a red light, swirling in the morning light like a poppy flower scattered by the wind, and quickly disappeared into the horizon.

She's gone!

Yin Yue stood in front of the cave entrance, watching the dark red figure disappear into the distance before turning her gaze away.

She turned around, passed through the mostly shattered barrier of light, and entered the passage.

Inside the stone chamber, Li Hanshan remained seated by the stone platform, his expression as calm as ever.

After glancing at Li Hanshan, Yin Yue cast a series of spells with both hands to restore the restriction. Then, she walked to the stone platform and sat down opposite him.

After a moment of silence, she tightened the edge of her silver veil again, and when she spoke, her voice returned to its clear and steady tone: "It's a bit troublesome."

Li Hanshan looked at her: "What do you mean? Have you found a way to cover your tracks?"

She paused, her gaze falling on the twelve array devices already embedded in the stone chamber floor. Her voice was a few decibels lower than before: "I can't think of a solution for now. Activating the teleportation array's concealment relies on me attracting attention from the outside, but if Ye Feiyan makes a scene in the Elder Hall first, once the elders turn their attention to this mountain, no amount of concealment will be of any use."

Li Hanshan leaned against the stone wall, a faint smile playing on his lips. The smile was subtle, yet it carried a mischievous glint in his eyes, like someone holding the answer to a riddle looking at a companion still deep in thought.

"What do we do then?" he asked, his tone carrying just the right amount of worry. "Haven't we just wasted all our efforts? We've spent so long setting up the teleportation array, finally managed to embed all the array devices, and even locked the passageway, and now Ye Feiyan's meddling has ruined it all?"

Yin Yue remained silent for a moment. She picked up the cup of spirit tea, which had already gone cold, and took another sip. When she put it down, the bottom of the cup made a very soft clinking sound on the stone surface.

"Hmm." She nodded, her voice a few decibels lower than before. "I can't think of a solution for now. Ye Feiyan won't let this go easily. She was slapped in front of so many people today. Knowing her personality, she'll definitely go to the Elder Hall to get help as soon as she gets back. If the Elder Hall insists on getting involved, the entire mountain will be turned upside down. The teleportation array won't be able to hide it at all."

She paused for a moment, her gaze falling on the twelve array artifacts embedded in the stone chamber floor. The surfaces of those artifacts gleamed with a faint silver-white luster in the cool light of the luminous pearl, quiet and steady, like twelve stars lurking deep within the dark rocks.

Looking at her expression, Li Hanshan's tone became even more relaxed than before: "What if I have a way?"

Yin Yue paused. She looked up, her eyes showing surprise. She stared at Li Hanshan for a moment, as if trying to ascertain how serious he was when he said those words.

"What's your idea?" she asked.

Li Hanshan stood up from the stone platform, walked to the edge of the twelve array artifacts in the center of the stone chamber, squatted down, and touched the surface of one of the array artifacts with his fingertip. The array artifact lit up with a very faint silver-white light the moment his fingertip touched it. The light slowly traveled around the pattern of the array artifact and then quietly settled down.

He didn't rush to answer, but simply maintained the posture of squatting at the edge of the array, his gaze fixed on the patterns that were slowly losing their light.

"You go first," he said, his tone carrying a perfectly measured bargaining edge, "How will you thank me?"

"What kind of thanks do you want?" There was a hint of helplessness in her voice.

Li Hanshan stood up, brushed the fine stone dust off his hands, and turned to look at her. His eyes held a long-suppressed interest, like an arrow that had finally found its target, not in a hurry to be released, but quietly resting on the bowstring.

"Then give me one more time. No, just one more day." He spoke casually, as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world, and then added, "Outside of those two days."

A faint blush rose to the tips of Yin Yue's ears in that instant. The blush spread down from the tips of her ears, disappearing into the edge of her silver-white collar, only to be cut off by the edge of her veil.

She looked away, her gaze falling on the several jade slips containing cultivation techniques that had been read countless times in the corner of the stone chamber. Her voice was even softer than before: "Why is that all you can think of?"

Li Hanshan took a step forward and stopped in front of her, his gaze falling on the slightly reddened earlobe at the edge of her veil: "Don't worry, I will only enjoy this once a day, I will not take any supplements."