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

The storm churned on the dark sea, waves crashing against the rocks one after another, shattering into a sea of ​​salty mist.

Ye Feiyan lay prone atop the reef, breathing heavily. Deep, bone-revealing sword wounds still bled from her bare arms, and her bright red palace dress, torn into strips by the sword energy, clung wetly to her body. The demonic moon in her dantian was dimmed to almost nothing—the Blood Escape Talisman was gone, the Teleportation Talisman was gone, her spiritual power was less than a tenth of what it once was, and she could barely muster the strength to burn her life essence.

The oil has run out and the lamp is extinguished.

Her almond-shaped eyes darted around in her disheveled, wet hair, and suddenly, a ruthless glint flashed in them.

"I'll fight you to the death!"

She screamed, and the remaining essence of her blood ignited, transforming her into a blood arrow that charged forward instead of retreating, hurtling straight towards the gap between Xiao An and Li Hanshan—a gap that appeared to be the thinnest in a three-way attack. Before the blood arrow arrived, a sweet, cloying stench of blood pressed down, concealing dozens of fine, hair-like blood needles.

Li Hanshan stood still.

Because he knew he didn't need to do anything.

A silver-white sword light descended from the sky, silently slashing down—

The blood-stained arrow was severed in the middle.

Ye Feiyan screamed as she tumbled out of the bloody light, crashing heavily back onto the reef. She rolled twice, her body hanging precariously on the edge of the reef, below which lay the pitch-black, raging sea. Before the dozens of blood needles could even get close, they were shredded into a cloud of red mist by the sword light, which then fell into the sea.

"Cough...cough cough..."

She lay on the edge of the reef, coughing up blood, too weak to even lift her upper body.

Suddenly, she stopped coughing.

Her body, lying on the rocks, trembled slightly, the trembling gradually turning into suppressed sobs. She slowly propped herself up, tears mingling with blood and seawater streaming down her face. Her once stunningly beautiful face, which had been the most beautiful in the Demon Sect, now looked pitiful as she cried.

"Sister..." she choked out, her voice soft and sweet, "I was wrong."

Yin Yue stared at her coldly without saying a word.

"I was really wrong." Ye Feiyan crawled forward half a step, her posture so humble it was almost groveling. "I shouldn't have argued with you, I shouldn't have said those things in the Heavenly Demon Sect... But sister, you've been chasing me for months, isn't that enough? We were born of the same father. Father used us as resources, and the entire Heavenly Demon Sect as his training ground. We are each other's last remaining family in this world... Sister, spare my life, I'll serve you like a slave..."

She crawled on her knees, crying, her head bowed low, her long, disheveled hair obscuring her face.

Li Hanshan stood on the sea, watching silently. Just a few months ago at the Heavenly Demon Sect, this woman was incredibly arrogant; now, with a knife to her throat, she'd say anything—family, sisters, resources—and anything that might soften her. Tears flowed instantly, and lines came one after another—"Tea. Authentic tea." Unfortunately, Yin Yue was never one to be softened by a cup of tea.

"You're right," Yin Yue suddenly said.

Ye Feiyan paused in her sobbing, raised her face, and a glimmer of light suddenly appeared in her eyes.

"We are indeed born of the same father." Yin Yue's voice was clear and cold, revealing no emotion. "So I know everything: how many Blood Escape Talismans you have left, how many more times you can burn your essence blood, and which meridian your natal blood needle is hidden in. From the first time you put croton seeds in my tea when you were three years old, I knew what you were planning the moment your eyelids twitched."

The light on Ye Feiyan's face gradually faded away.

"You have no chance on this reef." Yin Yue looked down at her condescendingly. "If you want to live, obediently listen to me and let me plant the Heavenly Demon Seal on you, and then..."

Yin Yue pointed at Li Hanshan and said, "Become his female slave!"

"What?"

Ye Feiyan raised her head, tears still on her face, but she could no longer hold back her smile.

"A female slave?" Her voice suddenly rose, then she seemed startled by her own outburst, quickly lowering it and replacing it with a wry smile. "Sister, are you joking? I am, after all, a daughter of the Ye family, the Holy Maiden of the Heavenly Demon Sect..."

"The Heavenly Demon Sect is gone," Yin Yue said calmly.

Ye Feiyan choked.

"And—" Yin Yue looked down at her, her eyes devoid of any warmth, "Three months ago at the Heavenly Demon Sect, didn't you say you would turn him into your demon slave right in front of me?"

She paused, then said, word by word, "Now the roles are reversed; you become his slave. An eye for an eye, it's fair."

Ye Feiyan's face gradually paled.

"I'll give you ten breaths." Yin Yue raised a finger. "If you don't make a choice within ten breaths, I'll take it as you choosing death."

"Sister..." Ye Feiyan's lips trembled, and tears welled up again. She crawled half a step on her knees, raising her pitiful face, her voice as soft as if it would dissipate in a breeze, "I beg you... I'll give you anything. I know everything—where the Heavenly Demon Sect's secret vault is, where Father's cultivation techniques are hidden... I can swear a great oath to the Demonic Heart, to withdraw from the demonic path from this day forward, and never appear before you again... Please don't humiliate me like this..."

Yin Yue didn't even lift her eyelids.

"Three breaths."

Ye Feiyan's crying sound was stuck in her throat.

She slowly turned her head to look at Li Hanshan standing on the sea, her peach blossom eyes brimming with tears, carrying a last glimmer of hope: "Little brother..."

Li Hanshan raised an eyebrow.

"Look, what an awful term like 'female slave'," Ye Feiyan sniffed, trying to make her voice soft and sweet. "It's such a waste for a Void Refinement cultivator like me to serve tea and water... How about this, I'll be your Daoist partner, okay? We can cultivate together, yin and yang in harmony, and I can give you far more than she could..."

As she spoke, she glanced meaningfully at Yin Yue.

The wind on the sea suddenly turned a bit colder.

"no."

Yin Yue's voice came from the side, clear and cold, decisive and firm.

"A Daoist partner?" She lowered her gaze to Ye Feiyan, a faint, almost mocking glint flashing in her eyes. "You're not worthy."

Ye Feiyan: "..."

Li Hanshan touched his nose and wisely refrained from replying.

"Ten breaths have passed." Yin Yue raised her hand, a wisp of black energy slowly gathering at her fingertips. "It seems you've chosen death—"

"I promise!"

Ye Feiyan screamed. She knelt on the reef, her chest heaving violently, her nails digging deep into her palms, drops of blood seeping into the cracks in the rocks.

"...I agree." She lowered her head, her voice barely a whisper. "Go ahead and implant the mark."

Yin Yue walked over on the waves and stopped in front of her.

"Release your spirit," she said calmly. "Don't try anything funny."

"How could I dare?" Ye Feiyan forced a smile that was more like a grimace, then slowly closed her eyes, tears still clinging to her eyelashes.

Yin Yue raised her hand, and the wisp of black energy at her fingertips condensed into a dark rune as thin as a hair, which she slowly pressed towards her brow.

The moment the black mist was about to touch but hadn't yet—

Ye Feiyan's tightly closed eyes snapped open! Her right hand, hanging by her side, was like a knife, and a wisp of blood-red light that had been gathering at her fingertip for a long time burst forth, piercing straight for Yin Yue's heart! The two were only three feet apart, and this strike was fast, ruthless, and vicious, clearly putting all the remaining demonic energy into this one finger.

She had calculated it perfectly. When the seal was planted, Yin Yue's soul would connect with her sea of ​​consciousness, precisely at the moment when the other was most relaxed—

But she overlooked one thing.

Yin Yue never believed her.

A soft "ding" sounded, like a needle pricking gold and jade.

The finger that contained all of Ye Feiyan's demonic energy was gently pinched between two slender white fingers three inches from Yin Yue's heart, making it impossible to advance any further.

"After all that effort, this is all you've got?" Yin Yue looked at her, her tone as calm as if she were commenting on a substandard product. "You really did choose death."

As soon as she finished speaking, she gently flipped her wrist, which was holding that finger, over—

Click.

Her wrist bone snapped with a crack. Immediately afterward, Yin Yue's other hand moved with lightning speed, striking her brow, heart, and dantian repeatedly. Each strike released a wisp of silvery-white spiritual energy, scattering and sealing away her remaining demonic energy. Ye Feiyan groaned, her entire body collapsing limply onto the rocks like a boneless puppet, too weak to even lift a finger.

"Now, we can peacefully cultivate the seal."

Yin Yue raised her hand again, and the dark rune condensed once more. This time, it pressed into her brow without any resistance.

Icy.

That was Ye Feiyan's only sensation. A chilling spiritual energy seeped into her sea of ​​consciousness from between her brows, like a dark, cold snake, coiling itself deep within her soul, its head and tail intertwined, condensing into a pitch-black mark. She could clearly feel that the other end of that mark was tied to a wisp of Yin Yue's divine will—as long as the other party had a single thought, her soul would begin to disintegrate from the depths of her sea of ​​consciousness, without even a chance to possess another body.

After completing the seal, Yin Yue withdrew her hand and stood up.

She turned to look at Li Hanshan. The sea breeze ruffled her long, silvery-white hair, and her clear, cool voice pierced through the misty sea air, reaching his ears:

"alright."

"She's yours now."

Li Hanshan: "..."

He glanced at Ye Feiyan, who was sprawled on the reef, then at Yin Yue, and couldn't help but touch his nose. Three months ago at the Heavenly Demon Sect, his remark, "Anyway, we're all going to be demon slaves, so it doesn't matter where we are," was originally just something he said in jest.

Who would have thought it would actually come true?

However, the tables have turned, and Ye Feiyan has truly become a demon slave!