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

The Hall of Elders of the Hehuan Sect.

The Grand Elder opened his eyes again, just as he had closed them.

Then, his brow furrowed in an extremely slow arc. What was hidden in that arc was deeper than shock, heavier than fear—like an old man who had lived for a thousand years suddenly seeing something he had never seen before, yet had always vaguely feared he would see.

"Oh."

He stared at the horizon for a long time, then let out a soft, ambiguous snort through gritted teeth: "It's quite lively."

Three.

"Including her, there are three people simultaneously attempting to break through to the Dao Integration stage."

The elders in the hall all changed color.

"Three?!" the Third Elder exclaimed in disbelief. "Who else?"

"That old Yin Spring in the Southern Frontier..." the Grand Elder said slowly, "that old monster is still alive. And that Xue Qianzhong from the Blood Fiend Sect in the Western Regions—that old bastard who was defeated decades ago—has also come out to join the fun."

Xue Qianzhong of the Blood Fiend Sect was once a half-step Dao Integration cultivator. Decades ago, because Xue Qianzhong failed to break through to the Dao Integration realm, the Blood Fiend Sect's power was dealt a blow. As a result, the Blood Fiend Sect in the Northern Wilderness was destroyed by the combined forces of the Joyful Union Sect and the Heavenly Demon Sect.

The Ninth Elder's expression shifted repeatedly, finally managing to squeeze out, "They've gone mad...they've all gone mad..."

"He's not crazy."

The Fifth Elder suddenly spoke. He gazed at the sky, his tone extremely complex: "The workings of Heaven have changed. Three people simultaneously attacking, the laws clashing, the workings of Heaven in disarray—such a scene might not occur once in five thousand years."

"The timing of this attack is opportune."

"The sect leader...chose the best time."

"The best time?" The Ninth Elder scoffed. "When did Fifth Senior Brother learn to speak auspicious words?"

"Ninth Elder." The Fifth Elder turned his head, looking at him directly for the first time. "We've been hoping for her defeat here, but if she really does lose, what will we be hoping for?"

The Ninth Elder opened his mouth, but no words came out.

It's a sword from the Immortal Alliance.

For a moment, no one spoke in the hall. The candlelight flickered, illuminating seven faces with different expressions, and silence washed over them like a tide.

-

On the other side, within the Immortal Alliance army.

"Three?!" Jiang Daoxuan abruptly stood up. "Where did these three come from?!"

"The old monster of the Yinquan Sect, the old bastard of the Blood Fiend Sect." Su Qingyun's brows furrowed unusually. "One sealed himself in the Cold Pool for a thousand years, the other secluded himself in the Blood Pool for decades... and both chose this time to emerge."

"The celestial order is in disarray, yet the laws are clear," he said slowly. "These old monsters are all incredibly cunning. None of them want to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. They may not know each other's plans, but with the shift in the celestial order, no one can hide anything from the other."

"Then we..."

"This is a huge problem." Su Qingyun narrowed her eyes. "The three of them are surging together, their celestial secrets are intertwined, creating complete chaos. Before, we could barely pinpoint the crucial moment of the Hehuan Sect member, but now—the three energies are mixed together, and no one can distinguish which is which."

"In other words, our tactic of remote interception is no longer needed."

Jiang Daoxuan's face turned ashen: "If we can't use long-range interception, then we'll just have to storm their doorstep!!"

"Let's wait and see." Su Qingyun sat back in her chair, her tone devoid of emotion. "The secret is clear, but the threshold remains the same. If even one out of three succeeds, it will be a miracle."

Before the tent, Yin Yue gazed at the completely chaotic heavenly secrets, her fingertips icy cold.

The three of them simultaneously attempted to reach the Dao Integration Realm.

And the young man who was keeping her up at night was right in the eye of the storm.

She suddenly remembered Yinling's words, "What if she really succeeds?" At the time, it was just a hypothesis, a joke that even she herself shook her head at. But now, that hypothesis was becoming less absurd at a visible speed.

-

Inside the Jade Balance Palace.

The sect leader's tightly closed eyes suddenly opened a crack.

"……Um?"

She sensed it.

In the darkness, the two energies rising from afar, both heading towards the threshold of the Dao—one from the south, one from the west; one yin, one malevolent—echoed her own energy, like three strings simultaneously strung on the gate of the Heavenly Dao. The three energies intertwined, surged, and resonated with each other, forcefully stirring a sliver of clarity into the originally chaotic and unclear Heavenly Dao.

"Incredibly, there are actually people who are charging in with me..."

A flicker of surprise crossed her eyes, then slowly faded, transforming into something extremely bright and almost scorching.

The three of them simultaneously attempted to reach the Dao Integration Realm.

A change unprecedented in a millennium.

And she sat right at the center of this upheaval. The solitary and arduous climb that had once belonged only to her now suddenly had two complete strangers as companions. At this moment, the combined energy of the three of them was opening up that sky. The gates of Heaven had never been so wide open.

Outside the palace gates, Yan'er clutched her sword, gazing up at the brightly lit palace, her legs trembling. She didn't know what was happening inside, but she could sense that the spiritual energy of the entire mountain was kneeling before the palace, as if paying homage.

She suddenly realized that what her "master" was doing at that moment might completely rewrite the fate of the entire Central Continent.

But she couldn't even escape.

His life or death became her life or death from that moment on.

Yan'er bit her lip, slowly squatted down, and curled herself into a ball. Beneath the veil, the face that was once full of schadenfreude was now just a blank, pale expression.