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

Just as the blood-red giant hand was about to strike, a silver-white sword light flashed across the room.

The sword light arrived too quickly and too brightly, as if someone had thrown a sliver of moonlight into the crimson sky. Many disciples in the plaza didn't even have time to see the figure clearly; they only saw the silver-white sword energy tearing through the sky, carrying an unwavering resolve.

Ye Shuanghua had turned around unnoticed, unleashing the full power of her Jinghong Sword, her entire being, along with the sword light, blocking Li Hanshan's path. She didn't hesitate, nor did she have time to consider the consequences—her body acted before her mind, her sword before her heart.

"Zheng—!!"

Sword and palm collided, the silvery sword light lasted only a moment before shattering inch by inch. The shattered sword energy scattered like frost and snow, and before it even hit the ground, it was evaporated into nothingness by the blood-red aura.

"puff!"

Ye Shuanghua spat out a mouthful of blood and was sent flying backward. The power of the blood palm only slowed down by a third, and it still crushed down on her and the person behind her.

"You can't stop it."

The Grand Elder's voice was as cold as iron.

The blood palm had already reached ten feet above Ye Shuanghua's head.

A hair's breadth away—

"stop."

Two words: not high-profile, not loud, just plain and ordinary.

But the moment those two words fell, the air in the entire square suddenly froze. The wind stopped, dust hung in mid-air, and even the disciples' trembling breaths seemed to be held down by an invisible hand. The blood-red giant palm stopped three zhang above Ye Shuanghua's head, as if it had hit an invisible wall, and no matter how wildly the demonic patterns on the palm swirled, it could not fall even an inch.

Immediately afterwards, a ripple-like wave spread out from the void, and the blood palm vanished silently like a bubble.

A figure appeared before Ye Shuanghua without anyone noticing.

He stood with his hands behind his back, wearing a black cloak. He didn't emit any aura, but just by standing there, the critically injured and dying Grand Elder of the Heavenly Demon Sect staggered back three steps, his expression changing drastically.

"The... Sect Leader?!"

In the square, the kneeling disciples lowered their heads even further, their voices trembling.

The leader of the Hehuan Sect.

At the peak of the Void Refinement stage, one is only one step away from achieving Dao Integration.

The sect leader didn't turn around, but simply asked, "Shuanghua, are you badly injured?"

Ye Shuanghua knelt on one knee, supporting herself with the Jinghong Sword, wiped the blood from her lips, and shook her head: "This disciple is unharmed."

"Hmm." The sect leader responded, then looked up at the Grand Elder of the Heavenly Demon Sect, his voice still calm, "Your Excellency."

"This is the mountain gate of my Hehuan Sect. You dare to publicly shout and threaten to kill my disciples in front of my sect's mountain gate—"

"Does this mean I don't exist?"

As the last few words fell, an invisible pressure slowly spread out, and the ground of the entire square silently sank three inches.

The elder's Adam's apple bobbed.

Living under someone else's roof, he was like a man living under a low eave. In his current crippled state, he didn't even have the right to fight against a sect leader at the peak of the Void Refinement stage. Although he was once at the peak of the Void Refinement stage, that was in the past.

But before he could even speak—

"The sect leader is quite imposing."

An aged voice echoed from mid-air. Immediately afterward, one, two, three... several streaks of light descended from the five peaks in succession, each one more profound than the last. As the streaks landed, the dust they stirred up had not yet dissipated when the oppressive aura belonging to the Refinement Void Elder pressed down like a tidal wave.

The Second Elder has arrived.

The Third Elder has arrived.

Fourth Elder, Sixth Elder, Seventh Elder... In just over ten breaths, all but one member of the Elder Council arrived, landing around the square and subtly forming an encirclement.

The only one who didn't come was Elder Nie Hongyuan—the head of the Elder Council who had reached the Dao realm—who remained seated at the back mountain and did not appear.

Even so, the scene was already terrifying enough.

Seven Void Refinement Elders joined forces to oversee the event.

The disciples in the square didn't dare to breathe.

The Second Elder stepped forward, his gaze lingering on the Sect Leader for a moment before settling on Li Hanshan. His aged voice was calm and unhurried:

"Sect Leader, please calm down."

"We have not come here to stand up for the Heavenly Demon Sect."

"What this young man said just now was indeed well said. Destroying the Heavenly Demon Sect would be beneficial to both ourselves and our sect—I agree on that point."

"But—" he abruptly changed the subject, his voice turning sharp, "He secretly allied with the Immortal Alliance, concealing it from the sect and the elders' council, and arbitrarily set up an array, leading tens of thousands of troops into the Demon Realm—this puts my Hehuan Sect in danger as well! The Immortal Alliance army is currently attacking the Yinquan Sect. Once the Yinquan Sect is destroyed, how can my Hehuan Sect possibly withstand the Immortal Alliance army?"

"Moreover, today, he can lead the Immortal Alliance to the Extinction Demon Sect."

"Tomorrow, who can guarantee that he won't lead the Immortal Alliance's army into the gates of my Joyful Union Sect for some other reason?!"

"This precedent must not be set!"

"This crime cannot be forgiven!"

As soon as he finished speaking, several elders around him chimed in in agreement:

"The Second Elder is absolutely right!"

"Colluding with foreign enemies, whether successful or not, is a serious crime!"

"Sect Leader, the sect's rules, established over tens of thousands of years, cannot be abolished because of one person!"

"If this is not dealt with today, everyone will follow suit in the future. What kind of sect will this be?!"

A cacophony of voices, an immense pressure, all pressed down on the two people in the center of the arena.

At the edge of the crowd, the Fifth Elder stood quietly.

Her gaze lingered on Li Hanshan's face for a moment, then she sighed very softly, almost imperceptibly. Shen Ruoxi, her disciple from the Northern Wilderness, had been sending out greeting slips these past few days, eight out of ten of which subtly inquired about someone.

But in the end, she didn't say a word.

At a time like this, speaking up would be like putting yourself in the fire. The entire council of elders has come out, and even the sect leader has to avoid her. What gives her, a mere elder who has remained neutral for hundreds of years, the right to do so?

Ye Shuanghua struggled to her feet and looked at the group of Void Refinement Elders around her. Her heart sank little by little.

The elders were almost all present.

As a genius disciple of the sect leader's lineage, she understood better than anyone what this meant—today's events were no longer a question of whether Li Hanshan was in the right or not. What the elders' council wanted was never reason, but punishment, to suppress Li Hanshan, this sudden and uncontrollable variable from the sect leader's lineage, and bring him to the rule.

Ye Shuanghua sensed something was wrong.

At the outermost edge of the crowd, "Yan'er" lowered her head, and the corners of her lips under her veil almost couldn't help but curl up.

They started fighting.

It would be better if they fought.

With seven Void Refinement Elders in command and the Heavenly Demon Sect's Grand Elder demanding his life, Li Hanshan will suffer a severe beating even if he doesn't die today!

She was filled with joy, but she dared not reveal even a trace of it. She shrank herself to the lowest possible angle, even her breathing became extremely soft.

They dared not utter a sound.

She dared not let anyone recognize her.

Standing here is a Grand Elder of the Heavenly Demon Sect. That Grand Elder has watched her grow up from childhood.

If I get recognized... that would be so embarrassing.

Moreover, the nine-petaled yin mark on her abdomen could kill her silently with just a thought from the man before her.

She could only stand there, motionless, swallowing all her schadenfreude.

"Are you done talking?"

The sect leader finally spoke.

He glanced around, his gaze sweeping over the faces of the seven elders. His voice, though not loud, silenced the clamor of the room.

"Now that you've finished speaking, let me say a few words."

"Li Hanshan is a disciple of my Hehuan Sect and a member of my sect leader's lineage."

"His unauthorized association with the Immortal Alliance without reporting to the sect is his first offense. I will not protect him—according to the sect rules, the Elders' Hall should draft a plan for how to deal with him, and I will act accordingly."

"but--"

The sect leader's gaze suddenly turned cold:

"He did not betray his sect."

"Not only did he not betray the sect, but he also stood up for the sect, for everyone present, and for the two thousand three hundred disciples lying in the outer sect's cemetery—"

"The blood feud has been avenged."

"You keep talking about 'dealing with' and 'punishing' this person, and you even handed him over to a remnant of the Heavenly Demon Sect for punishment in front of outsiders—"

"If word gets out, what will the demonic sects of Central Continent think of my Joyful Union Sect?"

"How will the Immortal Alliance's army of 100,000 view my Joyful Union Sect?!"

Every word was spoken with resounding force.

The faces of the seven elders turned pale, then red.

At that moment, the Grand Elder let out a sinister laugh.

"Well done, what a fine leader of the Hehuan Sect."

"Since your esteemed clan says he is innocent, I will not force him to comply."

"Then—we'll follow the rules of the cultivation world."

He stepped forward, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Li Hanshan, uttering each word slowly and deliberately:

"I am the Grand Elder of the Heavenly Demon Sect, and today I demand a blood debt from Li Hanshan, a disciple of the Joyful Union Sect."

"One-on-one".

"Life and death are determined by fate!"

"If he dies—the blood debt will be settled, and I will turn around and leave, never to set foot on the territory of the Joyful Union Sect again!"

"Elders—" He abruptly turned to the Second Elder and the others, hissing, "Is my request reasonable?!"

The Second Elder's eyelids drooped slightly.

After a moment, he slowly spoke: "Although the Heavenly Demon Sect has been destroyed, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. Within the Central Continent, there are still several thousand remnants. Our sect now needs to unite all forces to fight against the Immortal Alliance, and it is not advisable to make too many enemies."

"Since the enemy must be settled according to the rules of the martial world—"

"Sect Leader," he raised his eyes, "in my opinion, it would be better to let this boy make his own decision."

"Yes, yes, the master himself spoke up, offering a one-on-one settlement. This is the best way out."

He brought this trouble upon himself, and he has to clean it up himself.

"Does the sect have to bear the burden for him for the rest of his life?"

The elders spoke one after another, exerting pressure like a tidal wave.

Ye Shuanghua cried out anxiously, "Sect Leader! He—"

"Shuanghua." The sect leader raised his hand, stopping her.

The sect leader's gaze returned to Li Hanshan, a barely perceptible question flashing in his unfathomable eyes—

Are you confident?

Under the gazes of everyone, some surprised, some fearful, and some gloating.

Under the oppressive force of the seven Void Refinement Elders.

Under the watchful gaze of the Grand Elder of the Heavenly Demon Sect, burning with blood feud.

Li Hanshan smiled.

He took a step forward, straightened his sleeves, bowed respectfully to the sect leader, and said loudly:

"it is good."

"Then—"

"bring it on."