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

Within the ruins lies the Yuheng Palace.

Li Hanshan sat cross-legged behind the sect leader and slowly opened his eyes.

Through the restrictions that covered the ruins, he was fully aware of everything that happened outside—he could clearly see which array pattern each attack by the three Dao Integration cultivators landed on and how many ripples it stirred up.

After watching for a while, he even felt like laughing.

These three men, who were influential figures in the Central Plains, were now like three brutes smashing a safe with hammers, sweating profusely, yet the door didn't even have a scratch.

"The three Dao-Merging experts joined forces and bombarded the secret realm for five days, tearing open the barrier..." he murmured to himself, a slow smile playing on his lips. "What a pity."

"You dare to smash things belonging to the Yaoguang Sect?"

"I advise you to save your energy on the girl's door lock."

However, despite his laughter, he remained deeply concerned.

It's true that the three Dao Integration Realm experts can't get in. But if they really focus on bombarding her, the ancient formation might hold, but the sect leader inside might not be able to withstand the commotion—the Fusion Law is most vulnerable to disturbance, and what if she's distracted by the external shocks at the crucial moment of fusion…

Li Hanshan thought for a moment and then formed a hand seal.

hum-

The protective barriers surrounding Yuheng Palace subtly shifted, with layers upon layers of soundproofing, force-dissipating, and mind-stabilizing array patterns lighting up one after another, enveloping the entire rear hall in an airtight cocoon. Even if the heavens and earth were to collapse outside, what reached inside this cocoon would be nothing more than a wisp of breeze.

"Master, please focus on the fusion process."

He lowered his head, looking at the tense figure in front of him, writhing in pain, and reached out to gently cover her cold fingertips.

"Leave those three outside to me. They absolutely cannot break in—just think of it as someone giving you...something to cheer you on."

After he finished speaking, his divine sense sank once again, falling into the land of laws.

-

At this moment, the entire army of the Immortal Alliance had already landed on the ground.

Tens of thousands of cultivators and thousands of flying boats gathered on a vast plain spanning a thousand miles in circumference. Surrounding the plain were continuous mountains stretching for miles, forming a natural barrier that protected the entire plain in the center.

This terrain was personally selected by Elder Gong.

The surrounding mountains provide the best base for the formation; the thousands of miles of earth veins provide the most abundant spiritual energy. To choose this location, the army deliberately took a detour of several thousand miles—at the time, many cultivators complained, but now, thinking back, they felt a chill run down their spines.

"Listen up, all of you!" The old Array Master, his beard and hair bristling, swiftly drew lines in the air with his hands. A battle flag flew from his sleeve and landed on the mountain ridges surrounding the plain. "With the three lords on their long journeys and no Dao-Merging cultivators to oversee the army—from this day forward, this 'Thousand Mountains Locking Formation' is your destiny!"

A complete set of array artifacts flew out of the flying boat and embedded themselves into the array's core. These were a set of treasures that the Immortal Alliance had unearthed from an ancient ruin. There were forty-nine pieces in total, each a powerful artifact at the Void Refining level, capable of suppressing an entire region on its own. Yet, they were now buried together in the earth's veins.

A moment later, a light blue light curtain rose from the ground and covered the entire plain.

The moment the light screen rose, the mountains for thousands of miles trembled in unison, and the clouds and mist on the mountain peaks swirled backward—the power of the earth's veins was fully awakened and surged into the great formation along the array patterns.

"Elder Gong." Yin Yue stood beside him, her brows slightly furrowed. "Will the other party... come?"

"Yes." Elder Gong stared at the distant horizon, his voice deep. "The Dao Integration Realm of the Demonic Sect won't let this opportunity pass them by. I only hope—they don't arrive too quickly, and not...in too large numbers."

Yin Yue remained silent.

She raised her head, gazing in the direction of the Myriad Spirits Secret Realm, a knot in her heart that she could not untie.

Three peak-stage Void Refinement cultivators simultaneously attempting to break through to Dao Integration—such a situation has not occurred in tens of millions of years. And of these three, the one with the greatest confidence is hidden in a place she can least fathom.

Li Hanshan.

That name was like a thorn, embedded deeper and deeper in her heart. What role did he play in all of this? She simply couldn't believe it was unrelated.

Because Yinling had already told her through the conch shell that the one attempting to reach the Dao Integration Realm in the Myriad Spirits Secret Realm was the Sect Master of the Joyful Union Sect. And Li Hanshan was a member of the Joyful Union Sect.

She suddenly realized that she couldn't understand this person at all.

"Sister Yinyue," a female cultivator beside her whispered, "Do you think... the one inside will work?"

Yin Yue remained silent for a long time.

"Whether it succeeds or not is not our concern," she concluded. "What we should be concerned about is our own lives—with the three Dao-Merging experts gone, the lives of tens of thousands of people are tied to Elder Gong's formation."

"Keep your eyes peeled. In this battle, whoever chickens out first will be the first to die."

At that very moment—

The sky darkened.

A terrifying pressure from the Dao Integration Realm rolled in from the northeast, enveloping the entire plain. The figure of the Yinquan Sect Master hovered in the sky, his black robes fluttering, looking down at the great formation below, and suddenly laughed loudly.

"You brats from the Immortal Alliance! Where are your Dao-Merging Grandfathers?!"

"A mere broken formation dares to block the path to Dao Integration?!"

Before the laughter subsided, a gigantic black hand that blotted out the sky crashed down on the light screen!

Immediately afterwards, from another direction, an equally terrifying pressure rose up—the white-haired figure of the Grand Elder of the Hehuan Sect stepped through the air and punched the other side of the light screen.

The two great paths converge, and they arrive together.

Within the great formation, tens of thousands of people all paled.

Some young cultivators had never seen a Dao Integration Realm expert make a move in their entire lives; but today, two of them arrived at once.

Elder Gong stared intently at the two figures outside the light screen, his heart slowly sinking.

The worst-case scenario—came true.