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

Is this the Land of Laws?

Li Hanshan's first reaction was—

Barren.

It's too barren.

Calling it the sea is inaccurate. What is the sea? It's boundless and endless, encompassing all rivers. But here, as far as the eye can see, there's nothing. Not "nothing" in the sense of darkness, but rather, even "nothingness" itself is so thin it's almost nonexistent. Like a seabed that's been drained a thousand times, leaving only cracked silt and the occasional glimmer of light seeping through the fissures.

"You felt it?"

The sect leader's thoughts echoed, tinged with bitterness: "This is the Sea of ​​Laws."

"Over the past tens of thousands of years in the Central Continent, there have been at least eight hundred to a thousand people attempting to reach the peak of the Void Refinement stage of the Dao Integration realm. Yet, very few have truly succeeded. Why? Because this sea is drying up year by year. It's not that the laws don't exist, but they are too scattered and too sparse—like scattering a handful of salt across the entire ocean. You could try to scoop it up grain by grain, day and night, and still not find a single one."

"Understanding is important, but opportunity is even more crucial. A foolish person enters here and leaves empty-handed; a person with bad luck will also leave empty-handed."

"That's why breaking through to the Dao Integration stage is so difficult."

"In ancient times, the laws of this sea were like mist and waves. Entering this sea was like diving into a vast ocean of spiritual liquid; one could easily amass a fortune. While achieving Dao attainment was difficult then, it was far less perilous than the near-death experience it presents today. Over ten thousand years, the sea has been nearly dried up—too many have tried to drain it, and too few have nurtured it."

Ultimately, it's the world that's getting old.

Li Hanshan silently gazed at this barren chaos, when suddenly something came to mind.

On the night he broke through to the Void Refinement Realm, his consciousness transcended the world and fell into the void.

Even in the void, the origin is not lacking.

There, the primordial power was vast and boundless, fragments of laws were everywhere. Had he not retreated in time, his primordial spirit would have been torn apart by the immense power of the void. At the time, he didn't understand, thinking only that the void was a forbidden zone for cultivators. Now, comparing the two—

A thought slowly surfaced.

"Master," he thought slightly, "I have something to say, but I don't know if I should."

"explain."

"This sea...it wasn't like this before, was it?"

The sect leader was silent for a moment: "How did you know?"

"Just a guess," Li Hanshan said. "When I broke through to the Void Refinement stage, my soul fell into the void. In the void, the power of origin is vast and boundless. Logically speaking, the void is outside the world, and the Sea of ​​Laws is inside the world. They correspond to each other and originate from the same source—there's so much in the void, it shouldn't be so barren here."

"Unless—the world itself—becomes nothingness."

His thoughts settled: "I've read in ancient texts that in ancient times, extraterrestrial demons attacked this world many times. Each time, they tore a large chunk of flesh from it. The war lasted for hundreds of thousands of years… Master, do you think it might be because of this?"

"The world has suffered too many wounds, causing the primordial land to become increasingly depleted year by year. Therefore, the further into the future, the more difficult it becomes to break through to the Dao Integration stage—not because later generations are inferior to their predecessors, but because this world can no longer support so many Dao Integration cultivators."

The Sea of ​​Laws remained quiet for a long time.

The sect leader was not unaware of the extraterrestrial demons; they were recorded in many ancient texts. However, those whose cultivation level was insufficient would find them too distant.

After all, the sect leader isn't even at the Dao Integration stage yet.

"...Your idea is exactly the same as the deductions of several ancient powerful figures," the sect leader said slowly. "Hanshan, it's a real pity that you, with your level of understanding, didn't try to seize that wisp of law."

"The rules of robbery are up to our master," Li Hanshan said with a smile. "This disciple will be responsible for watching the way home for our master."

"Glib-tongued." The sect leader snorted lightly.

But the wisp of thought that was drawing his mind unconsciously tightened a little more.

-

In this land governed by laws, time stands still.

Two thoughts drifted in the chaos for a day, two days, three days... The sect leader's soul remained taut, like a cast net filtering through this barren sea inch by inch. Li Hanshan quietly followed behind her, "watching" over the boundless chaos behind her.

Drifting is not a pleasant experience.

There is no concept of time here, no anchor point of space. If you stay here for too long, your soul will begin to drift and feel empty, giving rise to the illusion that "Is I no longer exist?" If your will is even slightly weak, you will sink all the way down with that illusion, sinking to a place from which you can never return. In ancient times, countless people who were trying to break through to the peak of the Void Refinement stage of Dao Integration failed to obtain the laws and instead lost themselves here.

Therefore, the sect leader would "touch" Li Hanshan's will every now and then.

Not for any other reason than to confirm that he is still alive.

And each time, that thought would respond steadily to her, like a lighthouse at sea, unwavering and undying.

Day Three – According to the external calculation method –

The sect leader's mind suddenly trembled.

"Gotcha!"

A wisp of light condensed and took shape in the palm of her soul.

That was a power of law. Extremely fine and faint, like a speck of morning dew clinging to a spider's silk, yet it possessed its own spirit, struggling and writhing desperately in her palm, trying to escape back into that chaos.

"Go back quickly!" The sect leader dared not delay. With a thought, he guided Li Hanshan's divine sense and retreated swiftly along the way they had come.

The moment he returned, Li Hanshan's senses reconnected with his physical body. Inside the Jade Balance Palace, the sounds of the spiritual spring and the low hum of the spirit-gathering array surged back together.

Yan'er, who was guarding the front hall, was the first to notice the commotion—the oppressive feeling that had been lingering deep within the palace for days suddenly changed. Just as she was about to get up, an invisible force of restriction gently swept over her, firmly pressing her back down onto the steps.

"Stay put, don't come in," Li Hanshan's voice came calmly.

Yan'er pouted and obediently sat back down.

Deep within the Jade Balance Palace, in the palm of the sect leader's hand—no, between her outstretched palms—a wisp of silvery-white light was surging wildly, causing the spiritual energy of the entire palace to vibrate.

"This is the power of the laws..." Li Hanshan held his breath.

"You can look, but don't touch it." The sect leader gritted his teeth, maintaining the restraint. "This thing is extremely difficult to preserve once captured. It doesn't belong to the physical body, nor to the soul; it belongs to heaven and earth themselves—it must be integrated into one's own body within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, otherwise it will immediately escape and return to heaven and earth, and no one can stop it."

"And as for integrating it into oneself..." Her voice held a hint of solemnity, "It can take anywhere from a few days to several months. The entry of the law into the body is like molten iron being poured into the meridians—the most extreme pain in the world. During this time, one cannot stop, for stopping will render all previous efforts futile; one cannot make a mistake, for even the slightest error will result in the law's backlash, leading to the annihilation of one's soul."

"I shall now begin."

She raised her head and looked at Li Hanshan: "The Dao Gate is still open, and your divine sense can remain in the Land of Laws to continue its comprehension—but you now know the dangers within. I'm giving you one chance—retreat, or not?"

Li Hanshan shook his head.

"We will not withdraw."

"you--"

"Master, as I said, I'd like to comprehend the laws even more." He grinned mischievously, "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; if you miss it, where will you find another one?"

The sect leader looked at him.

She knew, of course, that comprehending the laws was one thing—but more importantly, once her soul began to merge with the laws, she would have no time to care about what lay behind her. He stayed in the land of laws to guard that door for her; he stayed by her side to bear half the brunt of the backlash from the laws for her.

That bastard.

Even at this point, he was still thinking about taking a knife for her.

"...Whatever you want." She turned her head away, her voice very soft. "Be careful."