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

"good."

"Then—"

"bring it on."

The three words, neither too loud nor too soft, fell on the deathly silent square, yet they sounded like three thunderclaps, exploding in everyone's ears.

The thousands of disciples gasped in unison.

He agreed?!

Has he gone mad?!

"Han Shan!" Ye Shuanghua exclaimed in shock, ignoring the blood still wet on her lips, she grabbed his sleeve, her voice trembling uncontrollably, "No! No matter how badly injured he is, he was still a peak Void Refinement cultivator! You…"

"Even I couldn't withstand that palm strike, how could you possibly block it?!" Her voice trembled. "He came prepared to die to save his life! It's not worth risking your life against someone who doesn't value it—Sect Leader, please persuade him!"

The sect leader remained silent.

"Senior Sister." Li Hanshan turned around and smiled at her, a smile so calm and serene, as if the upcoming competition was nothing more than an ordinary contest. "Don't worry."

rest assured?

Ye Shuanghua opened her mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.

She recalled their first meeting years ago, when he was still that "old man" from the Northern Wilderness who needed her protection; she recalled the dusk when he triggered the Heavenly Tribulation and alarmed the entire sect—it was then that she vaguely guessed that this person's progress was frighteningly fast. But even speed has its limits.

Between refining the void and transforming into the spirit, there is an insurmountable chasm.

Even if the Grand Elder of the Heavenly Demon Sect had fallen in cultivation level and burned his origin, his foundation, forged from mountains of corpses and seas of blood, was something that could not be measured by the word "cultivation level".

Yan Qingsong chuckled softly in the crowd.

The laughter wasn't loud, but it couldn't hide the joy.

"He's courting death." He crossed his arms, his cold gaze fixed on Li Hanshan's retreating figure. "A Nascent Soul cultivator fighting a Void Refinement cultivator, and a former peak Void Refinement cultivator at that... Does he really think he's a savior?"

"Perfect." Huo Yuan clicked his tongue behind him. "Saves the elders the trouble."

Chen Jie's score, and the Ninth Elder's score, will both be settled today.

Yu Mengjia pursed her lips and remained silent, but a hint of worry flickered in her eyes. She looked at the figure in black robes in the arena, and a faint voice deep within her heart asked: What if? What if he really could win? But she immediately dismissed the thought—it was impossible; the gap in their cultivation levels couldn't be bridged by mere courage.

Zhao Shoudao stood at the front of the crowd, hands behind his back, silent. He knew better than anyone that the man was unfathomable—but precisely because of this, he hoped even more that the Grand Elder of the Heavenly Demon Sect's palm strike would shatter all unrealistic expectations.

Even the deepest and most unfathomable things have their limits.

It's impossible that he's already surpassed even the Void Refinement stage.

At the forefront of the elders, a hint of pleasure flashed in the eyes of the Ninth Elder.

He was just looking for a pretext to deal with this kid—and now, the remnants of the Heavenly Demon Sect have delivered themselves to his doorstep. He could use someone else to do the dirty work, cleanly and without a care in the matter, leaving the Elders' Council with no room for complaint.

"Since both the enemy and the parties involved have agreed—" the Second Elder spoke up.

This second-in-command of the council of elders wore a gray-white Taoist robe. His face was half gentle and jade-like, half cold and hard as iron. Even his voice was half male and half female, indistinguishable from a male, and sounded indescribably eerie to the ear.

"Then let's begin."

He raised his hand: "This is the mountain gate of my Hehuan Sect. A battle between cultivators at the Void Refinement stage would cause too much noise. Thirty li east of the plaza, there's a desolate mountain with no disciples' residences within several li. Let's go there."

As soon as he finished speaking, several beams of light shot into the sky.

Before leaving, the Third Elder frowned and added, "All outer disciples must retreat to a distance of ten miles and are not allowed to approach. The aftershocks of the Void Refinement battle could be deadly."

-

The barren mountain was covered with jagged rocks and not a blade of grass could grow.

Seven elders stood in a row around the perimeter, at a distance. The sect leader stood on a huge rock on the east side, hands behind his back, silent. Thousands of disciples were kept several miles away, only able to stand on tiptoe and crane their necks to look, the dark mass of people stretching all the way to the foot of the mountain.

Ye Shuanghua gripped the Jinghong Sword tightly, her expression tense.

On the outermost edge of the crowd, "Yan'er" kept her face very low.

She dared not look at the person in the arena, nor dared anyone see her expression at that moment. The nine-petaled yin-patterned flower on her abdomen bloomed deep within her soul, connected to his life—if he died, she would not even have the right to live.

How ridiculous. She, the Holy Maiden of the Heavenly Demon Sect, is now putting her life and death on the shoulders of the enemy who destroyed her sect.

She gritted her teeth, her nails digging into her palms.

...Master, please, please don't die.

The Grand Elder of the Heavenly Demon Sect walked step by step into the arena, with each step causing a trickle of black blood to seep from the piercing wound in his chest. He stopped, slowly raised his head, and stared intently at the person a hundred paces away with his blood-red eyes.

"Li Hanshan."

"In my life, I have killed countless people and wiped out countless families."

"The sect leader treated me like a brother, and tens of thousands of disciples called me 'Grand Elder'—all gone overnight because of you."

"Do you know what it felt like when I personally witnessed the Immortal Alliance army charging out and their warships crushing the main peak?"

"I originally intended to take a few Void Refinement cultivators from the Immortal Alliance with me when I died."

"But they don't deserve it."

"Only you deserve it."

His voice was calm, eerily calm, like the silence before a volcanic eruption.

"I will kill you, not for reason, not for the sake of accounts."

"Just so their souls can close their eyes."

"I know you've had some extraordinary experiences, and that gives you some confidence."

"But I have lived for three thousand years."

"Three thousand years ago, your great-great ...

"Kid, your cultivation level doesn't really mean anything—the ability to kill is something you hone by risking your life."

Li Hanshan stood still, listened, and simply nodded.

"Are you done talking?"

"Now that you've said your piece, let's get started," he said. "Oh, and before we begin, let me give you a piece of advice—"

He looked up and smiled.

"You shouldn't have come."

The next moment, the aura that he had been keeping under control suddenly burst forth!

Refining the void!

That was genuine, refined, and profound Void Refinement Qi!

Centered on him, an invisible ripple swept outwards, causing rocks to fall from the barren mountain and stirring up the spiritual mist within a radius of several miles!

Dead silence.

Several miles away, thousands of disciples fell silent.

The wind stopped. The birdsong ceased. Even breathing felt like something was blocking it, stuck in the throat. In that instant, the entire desolate mountain, for miles around, fell into a near-vacuum, absolute silence.

"Nascent Soul...Isn't he a Nascent Soul cultivator?" a disciple stammered.

"Nascent Soul stage?" An old deacon beside him gave a wry smile, a smile tinged with almost absurd bewilderment. "The aura of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator can stir up the spiritual mist like this?"

"When he left the sect, he had only recently reached the Nascent Soul stage..."

"It's only been a few years?! A few years?!"

The crowd erupted in chaos. The buzzing discussions spread from the foot of the mountain all the way to the mountainside, one wave higher than the next, like boiling water that could not be suppressed.

Yan Qingsong's cold smile froze on his lips.

"How is this possible..." he murmured, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints, "How many years has it been?!"

All told, how many years has it been since he left the sect?!

The journey from Golden Elixir to Spirit Transformation is already astonishing; from Spirit Transformation to Void Refinement—

Yu Mengjia's expression changed drastically. Her earlier vague worry had now turned into utter shock. She stared at the figure in the arena, her lips moving, but she couldn't utter a single word—she suddenly realized that she seemed to have lost even the right to judge him. Huo Yuan's mouth was open, but he couldn't utter a single word.

Zhao Shoudao touched the old wound on his chest, as if it was starting to hurt again.

He had long known that the man was unfathomable—but precisely because of this, he hoped even more that the Grand Elder of the Heavenly Demon Sect's palm strike would shatter all his unrealistic hopes. However, at this moment, the Void Refinement aura that suddenly dispersed was like a slap in the face, shattering all his wishful thinking.

Ye Shuanghua was stunned at first, then her clear, cold eyes suddenly burst with uncontrollable joy—it was the Void Refinement Realm! Li Hanshan had actually broken through to the Void Refinement Realm!

Her eyes suddenly felt hot.

This person who came all the way from the Northern Wilderness to the main sect, this person she had waited and longed for—had finally arrived at the place she needed to look up to.

On the elders' side, the second elder's half-male, half-female face lost its smile for the first time.

He squinted, staring intently at the figure in the arena, a sense of dread surging in his eyes. Years ago, when this young man triggered the heavenly tribulation, he had only thought of him as a lucky junior—now it seemed that everyone had misjudged him back then.

The Fifth Elder stood with her arms crossed, her red lips slightly parted, and murmured, "Such rapid progress..."

The Sixth Elder and the Seventh Elder exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of unease in each other's eyes.

If another Void Refinement cultivator were to join the sect leader's lineage... the centuries-old structure of the Elders' Council would likely change.

The smugness on the Ninth Elder's face shattered inch by inch.

He stared at the figure in the arena, his fingertips slightly cold. Just moments ago, he had been plotting to use someone else to do his dirty work, but now that thought felt like a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head—a mere Nascent Soul cultivator, and such a young one at that, was not someone he could simply deal with as he pleased.

Now he can only pray that the Grand Elder of the Heavenly Demon Sect can kill Li Hanshan!

On the boulder, the sect leader's eyes suddenly lit up.

For the first time, a genuine glimmer of light appeared in his eyes, which had always been lowered and calm. It shone like a star in the dark night.

Meanwhile, the expression on the face of the Grand Elder of the Heavenly Demon Sect also changed.

It changed in an instant.

Then, he grinned, revealing a ferocious smile.

"Refining the void?"

"Okay, okay, okay."

"I've killed people for three thousand years, but I haven't killed many geniuses at the Void Refinement stage yet."

"Today, I will offer your life as a sacrifice to the tens of thousands of souls lost by my Heavenly Demon Sect!"

"Even if you've reached the Void Refinement stage—so what?!"

Before he finished speaking, he moved.

The mangled body moved like lightning, carrying overwhelming demonic energy, and launched a fierce attack!

With one step, all the rocks beneath his feet turned to dust.

The second step was that demonic energy surged between heaven and earth, turning half the sky black.

The third step—the man was already ten feet in front of Li Hanshan, his five fingers formed into claws, and the demonic patterns on his palms lit up inch by inch, like the gates of the Netherworld opening with a roar!