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

The Heavenly Demon Sect Master glanced at the silvery-white pillar of light, then at the teetering Hidden Moon before it.

He didn't waste any more words.

He raised his right hand and made a loose grasping motion towards the pillar of light.

"boom--!"

A large, dark golden hand descended from the sky, its five fingers closing in, intending to crush the pillar of light along with the twelve array artifacts in one swift motion.

"boom!!"

A burst of silver light erupted.

A silvery-white, scale-like light barrier rose out of thin air, as thin as a cicada's wing, but it suddenly lit up the moment the dark golden giant hand landed, swallowing the force of that grip. The light barrier dented violently, reaching its limit, and then slowly bounced back, like a piece of moonlight bent by a gale but never breaking.

Yin Yue knelt on one knee in the center of the light screen, her hands forming a hand seal. The Moon-Escape Scale at her fingertips had shattered into dust, but the dust remained condensed and flowed around her, forming a silver halo.

That was her last resort.

At that moment, she crushed it with her own hands.

She raised her head, looked at her father, and slowly curled her blood-stained lips into a smile.

"Father," she said, "you can't stop me."

The Heavenly Demon Sect Master slightly lifted his eyelids.

He didn't speak. The second slap answered her.

Then came the third palm strike, and the fourth palm strike.

With each strike, the scale-like light barrier dimmed, Yin Yue's body trembled violently, and more blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. By the seventh strike, the light barrier was covered with fine cracks, like a mirror that could shatter completely at any moment. And thin lines of blood seeped from Yin Yue's seven orifices.

"Sister." Ye Feiyan stood at a distance, covering her lips, laughing heartily, "Don't try to hold on, you can't stop it. That's the Dao Integration Realm. Your little tricks are no match for Father, they're like paper."

"I never intended to stop him."

Yin Yue didn't turn around. Her voice was hoarse, but steady, so steady that every word seemed to be driven into the ground like a nail.

"I don't need to block it."

"I only need to hold out for thirty breaths—that will be enough."

The Heavenly Demon Sect Master's hand stopped in mid-air.

He gazed at the cracked yet stubbornly holding-up light screen, at his daughter behind it, blood streaming from her seven orifices, her back ramrod straight. A faint, complex emotion, perhaps imperceptible even to himself, flickered in his eyes. Then, that emotion was completely swallowed by a profound indifference.

It would indeed be difficult for him to break the teleportation array within thirty breaths, because the Moon-Escape Scale, which came from the Silver Bell, was enough to hold back the Dao Integration Realm for some time.

But he never liked giving others the time they wanted.

"Very well, very well." He slowly withdrew his hand. "You think you can stop my hand? Then I'll show you—whether you can stop the heavens."

The Heavenly Demon Sect Master did not look at Yin Yue again.

He raised his right hand and gently bent one finger towards the void.

"Buzz—"

The dark red dome that had shrouded the Heavenly Demon Sect for thousands of years and covered an area of ​​tens of thousands of miles came alive in that instant. Countless blood-red array patterns emerged, moved, and recombined from the depths of the dome, like billions of blood-red rivers changing course at the same moment. The trajectory of the Heavenly Demon Blood Array, which had been operating for tens of thousands of years, was forcibly reversed, and a vast and majestic suppressive force, like the might of heaven, crashed down from the heavens, pressing down entirely on that silver-white pillar of light.

The beam of light trembled violently.

The forming spatial passage trembled violently, and the silvery-white light at the edge of the passage dimmed and contracted at a visible speed, like a giant dragon being strangled.

"You think I don't know about the Immortal Alliance's teleportation array?"

The Heavenly Demon Sect Master withdrew his hand, his gaze sweeping lightly over the pillar of light that had been suppressed and was now teetering on the brink of collapse. His tone was as calm as if he were stating something completely ordinary.

"For thousands of years, the Immortal Alliance has sent countless spies to the Heavenly Demon Sect, both openly and secretly, all plotting against the array. My Heavenly Demon Blood Array has been modified and reinforced year after year, all to prevent this. By locking the power of space within the Blood Array, not only teleportation arrays, but even a fly's spatial escape technique will not be able to escape under my nose."

He paused, then looked at Yin Yue.

"I never expected it would actually come in handy. And, it was used on my own daughter."

Yin Yue's expression changed completely at this moment.

It was a radical change that emanated from the very core of one's being, a complete loss of vitality.

She had planned for centuries, taking every step into account, including unforeseen circumstances such as Ye Feiyan's coercion, the Elders' Hall's inspection, and even the Grand Elder's intervention. She had a plan for all of these. But the one thing she couldn't have foreseen was that her good father had already modified the Heavenly Demon Blood Array into a ten-thousand-year-old cage specifically designed to counter spatial arrays.

Li Hanshan's heart sank inch by inch.

He could feel that the spiritual energy from the twelve array artifacts was rapidly depleting, and the newly opened passage was being squeezed from both ends by an irresistible force.

But inside the teleportation channel millions of miles away.

Silver Bell stood at the very front of the passage, leading the way, with Jiang Daoxuan and Su Qingyun close behind, and behind them, a steady stream of the Immortal Alliance army. Suddenly—

Without warning, the silvery-white light on the four walls of the passage contracted violently. The passage, which was originally several meters wide, collapsed and narrowed inward at a speed visible to the naked eye. Groans of unbearable strain came from the depths of the passage, as if the entire spatial tunnel was about to be crushed on the spot by an invisible force.

Yinling's expression suddenly changed.

"not good--"

The Heavenly Demon Sect, amidst a sky full of stone dust.

The Heavenly Demon Sect Master slowly walked towards Yin Yue, each step causing ripples in the void. He stopped three steps in front of her, looking at her pale face, his eyes filled not with anger, but with something colder than anger.

"Moon, I'm very disappointed in you."

"Sect Master, please calm your anger." The Second Elder stepped forward, cupped his hands, and looked deeply distressed. "The Holy Maiden was momentarily confused; perhaps... perhaps she was bewitched by that demonic slave of the Joyful Union Sect. According to sect rules, this matter must be thoroughly investigated, and the position of Holy Maiden is likely..."

"Investigate what thoroughly?" The Third Elder sneered. "The teleportation array is located right in the heart of the sect! The perpetrators have been caught red-handed! Colluding with the enemy and betraying the sect—the evidence is irrefutable. According to the law, their souls should be extracted and refined as a warning to others!"

"elder sister."

Ye Feiyan swayed gracefully forward, her bright red palace dress dazzlingly vibrant against the backdrop of the blood-red dome. She looked at Yin Yue, her eyes brimming with suppressed joy, yet her tone was as gentle as if she were advising a lost relative.

"I never imagined you were this kind of person, sister. The Heavenly Demon Sect has raised you for hundreds of years, and Father has treated you well, yet you actually colluded with outsiders to attack your own sect."

She paused, her gaze shifting to Li Hanshan not far away, her voice growing even sweeter:

"Young men, your plan—has failed."

Li Hanshan ignored her.

He straightened up, supporting himself on his knees, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and looked up to meet that unfathomable gaze.

The Heavenly Demon Sect Master was also watching him.

Those deep eyes lingered on him for a moment, a faint hint of surprise flashing across them before turning into a touch of interest.

"A mere Nascent Soul cultivator, yet possessing the divine sense of a late-stage Void Refinement cultivator." He spoke slowly, "That sword strike just now, was it a sword of divine soul? A Nascent Soul body, a Void Refinement sword... Good, very good. In countless millennia, the Central Continent has never seen a monster like you."

He stood with his hands behind his back, speaking as casually as if he were bestowing something upon someone.

"Now that this matter is settled, you will remain in the Heavenly Demon Sect. As for your status as a demon slave, I will give you a better one—from this day forward, you will be Fei Yan's demon slave."

"Thank you, Father!" Ye Feiyan replied happily, turning around with her peach blossom eyes curving into two crescent moons as she smiled sweetly at Li Hanshan. "Little brother, did you hear that? From now on, you're mine."

She licked her lips, her voice soft and cloying, like honey laced with poison:

"Don't worry, while I may not know how to be considerate, I do. From now on, I will definitely—treat you well, very well."