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

That night was very long.

The dual cultivation lasted for a full nine days.

For nine days, the gauze curtains remained unlifted. The aura of the spirit-gathering array rose and fell, fell and rose again, and the moisture from the spiritual spring condensed into fine beads, dripping one by one along the edges of the jade bed for nine days and nights. The thousand-year-old spiritual plum tree outside the hall was left unattended; its petals fell to the ground, yet were held aloft by the spiritual energy, each petal suspended in mid-air, as if even the wind dared not disturb this cultivation.

During these nine days, the one who had the hardest time was actually Li Hanshan.

The combination of Yin and Yang is a match made in heaven, a divine union. He has already experienced what it feels like—to put it bluntly, it's something that can steal the soul of even immortals. It would be perfectly normal for anyone with a slightly weaker mind to fall into it, to become obsessed, and to only care about their own pleasure.

But Li Hanshan did not.

He stretched his soul like a fully drawn bow, suppressing every delicate sensation and tingling feeling under his Dao heart. The pure Yang energy that flowed in was first refined to its utmost purity within his own body, filtering out all the harsh impurities, before being slowly sent into the sect leader's body—he wasn't practicing dual cultivation; he was risking his life to pave the way for another person.

During those nine days, his meridians were repeatedly burned and suppressed, and his mind was so clear that it was almost painful, but he didn't even frown once.

The sect leader noticed.

Qi is interconnected, Yin and Yang are in harmony; she knows better than anyone what he is doing and what he is not doing.

There were a few moments when she almost told him to take a break, but the words caught in her throat. She simply closed her always cold eyes and opened up to him, inch by inch, the primordial yin that had accumulated within her for eighteen hundred years.

Pure Yang Sacred Body.

Throughout history, countless people have fought tooth and nail for this precious treasure. Countless people have even slaughtered each other for a mere wisp of pure yang energy.

And this scoundrel disciple gave her all of this precious treasure, leaving not a single piece for himself.

When transferring it to her, it must be filtered first, using one's own meridians to smooth out the dryness and heat, leaving the gentlest and cleanest parts—like someone holding a bowl of scalding soup, blowing on it to cool it down sip by sip before handing it to her.

The sect leader didn't know what to say. She had never owed anyone anything in her life. But this time, the debt she owed was one she feared she could never repay.

On the evening of the ninth day, she opened her eyes.

"Hanshan."

"Disciple is here."

"These past nine days," she said, her back to him, her voice devoid of emotion, "have been tough on you."

Li Hanshan was taken aback, then laughed and said, "Master, what are you saying?"

"My condition has reached its peak." Her voice still held a trace of softness, but her tone had turned cold again. "It's time for the second assault."

Li Hanshan looked down at her: "Okay."

He paused, then said, "Master, you're too tense. Relax—I'll be very gentle."

The sect leader's face flushed red.

"You... what nonsense are you spouting!" She was both embarrassed and annoyed, clenching her fist and punching him on the shoulder. "That's not what I'm nervous about!"

Which one is that?

The sect leader's expression darkened.

She remained silent for a few moments, then slowly said, "Hanshan, the attempt to break through to the Dao Integration Realm is not an unlimited number of times."

"Last time, during the Pure Yang Qi Transfer, your Qi was Qi, and my essence was essence; our energies did not intertwine. Even at the height of the impact, I was able to decisively withdraw and retreat back to shore—so that time, even though I lost, I only suffered a minor injury."

"But this time is different."

She looked at him and said, word by word, "Dual cultivation, the union of yin and yang, you within me, me within you. Once the impact begins, the two energies will intertwine, and separating them will no longer be up to me alone."

"If we lose this time—I will not be able to retreat."

"The backlash will follow the connected energy, burning through my Dao foundation, and it will also..." She paused, her voice lowering, "burn into your Dao foundation as well. Hanshan, it doesn't matter if I fail, but you won't even have a way out, do you understand?"

The hall fell silent.

Li Hanshan looked at her. This woman, who was usually as cold as ice and could kill even the Grand Elder of the Heavenly Demon Sect without batting an eye, was now hiding something in her eyes that wasn't fear of death.

She was afraid he would die with her.

"Master." He suddenly smiled.

What are you laughing at?

"Disciple is thinking," Li Hanshan said slowly, "Master, you are worried that the backlash will burn into my Dao foundation—but have you considered that I possess a Pure Yang Holy Body? The body with the most intense fire energy in the world. If the backlash truly comes, it's uncertain who will be burned to death first."

"you--"

"Besides," he said, his smile fading as he looked at her seriously, "Master, if I weren't confident, I wouldn't have brought you here."

"Just keep walking forward, crash into that door. If you can break it open, we, master and disciple, will achieve enlightenment together; if you can't—" he patted his chest, "then we'll lie together on this jade bed, and neither of us will complain about the other."

The sect leader stared at him blankly.

After a while, she suddenly chuckled softly.

That smile revealed a crack in the frost that had remained untouched for a thousand years at the corners of her eyes and brows. What shone through that crack was unfamiliar even to herself—like the tenderness that belonged to a young girl many, many years ago, before she became the sect leader and before she was overwhelmed by that heavy burden.

"Okay." She nodded. "Together."

She closed her eyes again, channeling her inner energy to its peak, her entire body's aura beginning to surge. Li Hanshan pressed his palms firmly against her back—no, at this point, it was more than just his palms. The two figures' auras intertwined within the gauze curtain, like two ropes twisted into one, slowly and heavily colliding in the same direction.

Outside the hall, Yan'er clutched her sword, huddled at the foot of the steps. She felt the ground beneath her feet begin to tremble slightly, as if something deep underground was turning over.

She looked up at the blindingly bright palace, her lips pressed into a thin line beneath her veil.