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

On the third day after the disaster, Li Hanshan sat cross-legged in the quiet room of the flying boat, performing his routine internal meditation.

Deep within his sea of ​​consciousness, the Pure Yang Primordial Spirit was as clear as crystal, and the purple-gold Void Divine Seed floated silently. Everything about it was far superior to what it had been before the tribulation. In a corner not far from the Primordial Spirit, a ball of dark blue light curled up into a small bundle, breathing in and out with an extremely long and steady rhythm.

Xiao An is still asleep.

Since that day when their souls merged, she had been sleeping soundly in his sea of ​​consciousness, and no matter how he called her, he couldn't wake her. Li Hanshan carefully probed her with his divine sense and discovered that her soul body had been condensing on its own in her sleep—her originally translucent soul body had now solidified to the point that it was almost indistinguishable from flesh and blood. Her dark blue soul power flowed slowly around her like a warm, moist membrane, and with each breath, it was a little deeper than the last.

Li Hanshan couldn't help but laugh.

This fusion of souls brought him immense gains, and Xiao An... that little girl will likely share in the benefits as well. Once she awakens, with her soul body refined to this level, coupled with the mysteries of the Netherworld Record, she will most likely take a giant leap forward.

Let her sleep.

He withdrew his consciousness, got up, and disembarked.

-

For the next few days, Li Hanshan did nothing else but dedicate himself to the arduous task of alchemy.

The alchemy room was located next to the stone house in the center of the island, and the blue stone alchemy furnace was the one brought out from the Yao Guang ruins. He couldn't bear to use the three-thousand-year-old spiritual herbs, so he only took some thousand-year-old herbs with mild medicinal properties, lit the furnace, and began to refine the pills.

What was given to Uncle Liu and the divine generals were Body Refining Pills, made with the essence blood of demonic beasts. Each batch contained nine pills, each one plump and full.

What was given to Ayan and the young and strong on the island was Peiyuan Dan, which strengthens the foundation and nourishes the vital energy.

What was given to the islanders were healing pills, poison-repelling pills, and cold-dispelling pills... one batch after another, almost using up all the demon beast blood and spiritual herbs that had accumulated on the island over the past few years.

Tens of thousands of people lined up on the island.

When the first batch of Body Refining Pills was produced, the rich aroma of the medicine wafted across half the island, causing an uproar throughout Seagod Island. Uncle Liu held the still-warm pill in his hands; this man, who had shattered the skull of a fifth-tier sea beast with a single punch, trembled like a leaf in the autumn wind.

"No, no..." He kept repeating these three words, "Such precious things, and you're giving them to us to eat..."

"What's so precious about it?" Li Hanshan slapped the pills into his hand, laughing and scolding, "When I broke through, the whole island protected me, even taking the lightning for me. Consider these few batches of pills a token of my gratitude."

Uncle Liu held the pills, and this towering man's eyes reddened.

A-Ling stood at the back of the crowd, looking at the figure surrounded by everyone, her lips slightly curved, but she did not step forward.

She just watched.

-

On the fifth day of the alchemy process, an uninvited guest barged in.

"Ee! Ee-ee! Ee-ee-ee—!"

The little beast tumbled and crawled into the alchemy room, grabbed Li Hanshan's leg, and began to jump around. It kept gesturing with its two front paws, sometimes pointing south, sometimes curling itself into a ball, and then suddenly opening its nine "claws" while hissing angrily from its throat.

Li Hanshan chuckled, "Slow down, one at a time."

The little beast chirped and babbled for a long time, gesturing as it went, and finally managed to explain itself.

To the south, in the deeper waters, lives a nine-headed serpent.

That beast, with its mid-stage Void Refinement cultivation, had taken over a large area of ​​the sea, including a secret underwater realm where the little beast had been collecting spiritual herbs over the years. The little beast fought it several times, but its opponent was thick-skinned and of a higher cultivation level, so it didn't gain any advantage and almost had a tuft of its golden fur bitten off.

"A nine-headed serpent..." Li Hanshan stroked his chin.

He suddenly remembered the three-headed giant serpent that attacked Seagod Island years ago. Ah Yan had said that these multi-headed serpents and pythons were a large family in the depths of the Endless Sea, sharing the same bloodline. That three-headed serpent had already reached the Nascent Soul stage back then, so this nine-headed one was probably the true ancestor of this clan.

"So, you want me to stand up for you?" Li Hanshan looked down at it.

"Ee!" The little beast nodded vigorously, then looked up expectantly, its dark eyes filled with "You have to help me."

Li Hanshan smiled.

To be honest, even if the little beast didn't come to him for help, he wouldn't be able to sit still.

Having just broken through to the Void Refinement stage, he was eager to test his newfound abilities: Void Divine Seed, Pure Yang True Flame, a body forged by heavenly tribulation, and a reborn primordial spirit.

"Alright." He picked up the small animal by the scruff of its neck and placed it on his shoulder. "We're leaving tomorrow. Perfect, I'll use it to test the knife."

-

The following day, the silver-white flying boat took off from Poseidon Island and headed south.

Yin Yue stood at the bow of the ship, her long, silvery-white hair fluttering in the sea breeze. Her cultivation had not yet recovered, so she didn't need to come along, but she simply said, "I'll go keep an eye on things," and boarded the ship.

As for Ye Feiyan—when Li Hanshan pulled her out of the hold, this former Holy Maiden of the Heavenly Demon Sect tried to put on airs, but he sealed her acupoints in a few moves and carried her onto the ship like a chicken.

"I feel at ease with you by my side," Li Hanshan said with a smile.

Ye Feiyan sneered inwardly.

Good riddance. In the depths of the Endless Sea, a nine-headed giant serpent at the mid-stage of the Void Refinement realm—it would be best if that beast devoured this wretched man whole, without even spitting out the bones.

Xiao An is still asleep in the sea of ​​consciousness, and this trip can be considered as "bringing" him along.

Guided by the small beast, the flying boat headed south. The color of the seawater changed from inky black to dark purple, and then from dark purple to a deep, almost solidified blue. The creatures in the sea grew increasingly ferocious; occasionally, enormous shadows swam close to the hull, the weakest of which were at least at the Nascent Soul stage. Further on, the sea surface was dotted with the skeletons of colossal beasts, as large as mountains, their deaths occurring countless millennia ago.

On the third day at dusk, nine "mountain peaks" appeared in front of them.

wrong.

Those weren't mountains. Those were nine heads.

Nine serpent heads, each as large as a mountain peak, slowly rose from the churning seawater, their eighteen dark yellow vertical pupils locking onto the flying boat in mid-air. The ferocious aura of a fifth-level Void Refinement cultivator, like nine towering mountains, crashed down.

Li Hanshan flexed his wrists and turned to look at the women on the boat.

"You all stay here and don't come out."

After saying that, he stepped off the ship's side, his dark figure descending into the air and heading straight for the nine-headed serpent.

Ye Feiyan leaned against the ship's railing, watching his solitary figure heading towards the nine "peaks," and finally couldn't help but let out a cold laugh:

"Fifth level of Void Refinement, extraordinary bloodline - a demon beast that can cultivate to the Void Refinement level must have an excellent bloodline. In the demon race, such an existence is equivalent to a peerless genius in the human race."

"He's someone who just broke through to the Void Refinement stage, and he actually wants a one-on-one fight?"

"Just you wait." She crossed her arms, a smug, cold smile playing on her lips. "Wait to be torn to shreds."

Before the words were finished—

On the sea, Li Hanshan casually threw a punch.

There was no sword light, no magic, and not even much spiritual energy fluctuation. It was just a simple punch that landed on the jaw of the snake head in the very center.

"Bang!!!"

A muffled thud, like a heavenly drum being shattered.

The nine-headed serpent, a fifth-level Void Refinement cultivator as large as a mountain, was suddenly flung up by this punch. Its massive body was lifted off the sea surface, and all nine heads rolled over together, crashing into the sea like a collapsing mountain or a collapsing sky, sending sprays of water thousands of feet into the air.

The airship was pushed backward by the shockwave and slid a hundred feet.

Ye Feiyan's cold smile froze.

On the sea, Li Hanshan stood on the crest of a towering wave, slowly withdrew his fist, stretched his wrist, and then threw his head back and let out a hearty laugh.

"good!"

"That's tough!"

"Again!!"

Before his laughter subsided, the pure yang flames of purple-gold erupted around him, and he transformed into a streak of purple-gold light, chasing after the overturned behemoth as he plunged into the sea.

The beating has officially begun.