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

Deep within the Myriad Spirits Secret Realm, in the ruins of Yaoguang, inside the Yuheng Palace.

Unlike the noisy battles of the Grand Elder and the Yinquan Sect Master, this place was quiet to the point of being sacred.

The moment the sect leader pushed open the door, his aura completely subsided.

Her eyes were closed, and there was no longer any fluctuation of spiritual energy around her. She was as quiet as a jade sculpture. Only Li Hanshan could sense that her soul had left her body and sank into a supreme place that he had never been to before, through the open door of the Dao.

She is trying to grasp the laws of nature.

That was the most perilous journey on the path to enlightenment. The soul departs from the body, existing alone between the laws and chaos; a single misstep can lead to the annihilation of the soul.

Even more dangerous was the fact that her physical body was currently completely unguarded. Outside the portal, three Immortal Alliance cultivators were breaking through the barrier; everyone in the world knew that there was a gatekeeper within the Myriad Spirits Secret Realm. If someone were to break in at this moment, killing her would be as easy as turning one's hand.

Li Hanshan did not disturb her.

He knew that she dared to risk her life at this critical juncture because she trusted the person behind her.

He gently embraced her, their bodies intertwined, maintaining the connection between them—her only anchor, her only way home.

Just then, a thought gently landed on his soul.

It was the sect leader's voice, distant and faint, as if through a layer of water:

"Hanshan, my divine soul has entered the Land of Laws."

"The next step, capturing the laws, is extremely dangerous, and I cannot protect you—logically, you should withdraw now and sever all ties with that door."

"But—" she paused, "I want to take you inside."

"The opportunity for the Dao Gate to open is limited to one or two times in a lifetime. The Land of Laws is the most fundamental place in this world, normally sealed off by the Heavenly Dao, so even with unparalleled talent, you can't touch it. Now, my gate is still open, and your soul is connected to my energy—I can take your divine sense with me."

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Even just 'looking' at it from inside will be of immense benefit to your future breakthrough to the Dao Integration Realm."

"I ask you—do you dare to come?"

Li Hanshan opened his eyes.

He looked at the quiet, almost fragile body before him, and sensed a deep, hidden hope in the wisp of thought she was conveying—she didn't want to walk through that door alone.

"Master," he replied telepathically, his voice steady, "Lead the way."

"Just focus on capturing the laws. As for understanding them—"

"I will do it myself."

The sect leader's thoughts fell silent for a moment.

When it came again, that wisp of thought gently "tethered" his mind, like one hand grasping another.

"Then stay close."

"In this land of laws, the winds are high and the waves are rough—if we get separated, I won't have the strength to come back for you."

Li Hanshan let her lead him, his mind sinking into a deep thought.

In the instant after falling through the door, he took one last "look" at Yuheng Palace—the figure of Yan'er holding her sword and guarding the palace gate, the halo of the spirit-gathering array, and his own body sitting cross-legged like a bell.

Then, the light went out.

He fell into the sea of ​​laws.

The moment his mind sank into the body, Li Hanshan lost all perception of his physical body.

There is no up or down, no left or right, no light or darkness.

He "saw" the sect leader—or rather, he "saw" the sect leader's soul. The two thoughts were tightly intertwined, suspended in an indescribable place.

Is this the Land of Laws?