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

That night, at the side hall of the main peak.

The night was as dark as ink, and the mountain wind swept through the barriers, only emitting a low whistling sound outside the palace.

Just as Li Hanshan brewed a pot of spiritual tea, the restrictions on the hall silently opened a crack. A figure in pure white stepped in, his black cloak replaced by a dark cloak for night travel, the hood pulled low—yet his aura, so intimately connected with the heavens and earth, was unmatched in the entire Hehuan Sect.

Although the Grand Elder was also a Dao-Merging expert, the other party's aura was completely different, and their posture and appearance were also different from the newcomer.

"Master?" Li Hanshan blinked, then stood up to greet him, grinning and lowering his voice, "It's so late, Master, what brings you here..."

"Shut up."

The sect leader glared at him, sat down at the jade table, took out a jade slip from his sleeve, and pushed it in front of him. The jade slip landed on the table with a very soft, crisp sound, as if the spiritual energy of the entire side hall had condensed for a moment.

"You can't stay away from the sect's protective formation forever."

Li Hanshan took the jade slip, scanned it with his divine sense, and raised his eyebrows slightly.

The jade slip was densely packed with the control techniques for the Hehuan Sect's protective array—opening, closing, changing the array, shifting, reversing… The direction of every array pattern, the location of every array eye, and the allocation of every bit of spiritual power were all meticulously detailed. These techniques were as complex as a star map; the slightest mistake would affect the very foundation of the entire sect.

The mountain-protecting formation is the lifeblood of the entire sect.

This thing has always been only authorized to be held by the sect leader and the Grand Elder of the Council of Elders. Now she has handed it over to him completely—a clean and straightforward handover, without holding back a single detail.

Li Hanshan held the jade slip, his fingertips able to feel a trace of cool spiritual energy remaining within it. He understood that this was more than just a jade slip; it represented her placing the fate of the Hehuan Sect on his shoulders.

"Master, you trust me that much?" Li Hanshan looked up at her. "What if your disciple one day harbors disloyal thoughts and runs away with the vital point of the great formation?"

"You won't," the sect leader answered without the slightest hesitation.

"What if?"

"Then I'll personally bring you back," the sect leader glanced at him, his tone as indifferent as if he were commenting on the quality of the tea, "break your legs, lock you in your cave, and force you to cultivate together for the rest of your life."

Li Hanshan: "..."

Is this another form of commitment?

"Alright, enough with the banter." The sect leader stood up, pulling his hood down again. "You must master the incantation for the grand formation these next few days. In my absence, this empty shell of a sect will be entrusted to you and the Fourth Elder."

She reached the palace entrance, paused, turned her back to him, and suddenly lowered her voice by half a notch:

"The Fourth Elder is... quite cunning. Be careful when working with her."

"If we could win them over—"

"This disciple understands," Li Hanshan replied with a smile. "If we can't win them over, we'll think of another way."

The sect leader gave a soft hum, and his figure flickered, disappearing into the night.

Li Hanshan stood there, looking down at the jade slip in his hand. After a long while, he gently exhaled and put it into his sleeve. The spiritual tea in the teapot was still warm, but the side hall was empty except for the night breeze.

-

The next day, just as dawn was breaking.

Outside the gates of the Hehuan Sect, war drums thundered and banners obscured the sky.

Enormous warships rose into the air from between the five peaks, lined up end to end, obscuring half the sky. Hundreds of thousands of troops broke into smaller units and set off in batches—disciples above the Golden Core stage boarded the ships, elders and deacons of the Nascent Soul and Divine Transformation stages led their respective units, and elders of the Void Refinement stage commanded the central army.

The sect leader, clad in black armor, stood at the bow of the main ship at the forefront. He turned and glanced back at the mountain gate, his gaze lingering for a moment in the direction of the main peak.

Before the main hall, Li Hanshan stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the figure in black in the distance. The mountain wind howled, and the smile on his face faded slightly; in the end, he remained silent.

Then, she flicked her sleeve.

"Set off."

Ten thousand boats set sail in unison, a vast and mighty procession heading west towards the Yinquan Sect.

-

Once the army left, the vast Hehuan Sect was instantly half empty.

Main peak, Elder's Hall.

Li Hanshan sat in the guest seat to the left of the main seat, sipping his tea casually, his gaze seemingly intentionally or unintentionally falling on the figure to his right.

Fourth Elder.

Today she wore a dark green palace dress, her hair styled in a high bun, her makeup exquisite. She looked to be around thirty years old, with gentle features and a composed demeanor befitting someone long accustomed to a high position. She held her teacup, sipping slowly and deliberately. In the half hour since the army set off, she had uttered fewer than ten sentences—every word was polite and impeccably chosen.

Refinement of Void Level 6.

He's just one step away from the late stage of the Void Refinement Realm.

The hall was spacious, with wisps of incense smoke rising from the incense burner. Occasionally, the fleeting light of patrolling disciples would flash past the window. The Fourth Elder appeared to be sipping tea, but her peripheral vision had already subtly observed Li Hanshan several times. This newly appointed elder sat with a relaxed posture and a casual smile, but when his gaze fell upon someone, it inexplicably reminded her of the sect leader—the same certainty, the same unfathomable depth.

Li Hanshan put down his teacup and suddenly spoke:

"Fourth Elder."

"Elder Li," the Fourth Elder put down his teacup, looking at him with a smile, "what are the defense arrangements?"

"Defense matters aren't urgent," Li Hanshan said with a smile. "I'd like to discuss a...personal matter with the Fourth Elder."

"Oh?"

"How long has the Fourth Elder been stuck at the sixth level of the Void Refinement stage?"

The Fourth Elder's eyelashes trembled almost imperceptibly.

"...More than two hundred years." She answered calmly, but her fingers holding the teacup tightened slightly. "Why does Elder Li ask this?"

She showed no outward expression, but her heart sank suddenly. For over two hundred years, she had tried elixirs, ventured into secret realms, changed her cultivation techniques, and drained countless furnaces, yet that bottleneck remained as impenetrable as an iron wall.

"From the sixth level of Void Refinement to the late stage, it's just one step away." Li Hanshan leaned forward slightly, looking directly into her eyes, and said, word by word, "Fourth Elder, if you want to break through to the late stage of Void Refinement—I can help you."

The hall fell silent.

The Fourth Elder's hand, holding the teacup, froze in mid-air.

She had considered countless possibilities for working with this newly appointed Elder Li—subtle hints, attempts to win him over, tests, checks and balances—but not this one. How could someone say something like that to his face on their first meeting? The bottleneck for Void Refinement cultivators was an insurmountable chasm that countless great cultivators in the Central Continent had struggled to overcome for centuries, and he just blurted out, "I can help you"?

"Elder Li is too kind." She slowly set down her teacup, her smile unwavering, but a hint of scrutiny appeared in her eyes. "How can a bottleneck be resolved by entrusting it to someone else?"

"What others cannot do, I can."

"On what grounds?"

"Because I possess the Pure Yang Holy Body." Li Hanshan leaned back in his chair, his tone as casual as if he were discussing the weather. "Because I helped my sect leader break through to the Dao Integration stage—is that reason enough?"

The Fourth Elder's pupils suddenly contracted.

The sect leader had been stuck at the peak of the Void Refinement stage for hundreds of years; this was an old story known throughout the sect. Yet, after just one trip to the secret realm with him, he broke through to the Dao Integration stage—the most unpleasant rumor circulating in the Elder Hall these days is that the sect leader used some kind of evil cultivation technique to extract the boy's pure Yang essence… But now it seems like the opposite is true?!

"Elder Li," she narrowed her eyes, "what do you want?"

"Smart." Li Hanshan clapped his hands and laughed. "Talking to smart people is so effortless."

"What I want is very simple." He stood up, walked to the center of the hall with his hands behind his back, and surveyed the empty Elder Hall. His voice was not loud, but every word was clear:

"Fourth Elder knows better than I what the Elders' Council is like now. The First Elder is all-powerful, the Third and Ninth Elders are constantly scheming, and the Sixth Elder has become a joke—and what about you, Fourth Elder? Caught in the middle, you don't get involved with either side, you don't offend either, you seem to be getting along with everyone, but in reality... nobody treats you as one of their own."

"This time, Nie Hongyuan kept you here; does he truly value you?"

"Or... casually toss down a chess piece to keep an eye on me, and then send it to its doom?"

The Fourth Elder's expression changed little by little.

"I need one," Li Hanshan turned around, smiling at her, "one of our own."

The hall was deathly silent.

After a long silence, the Fourth Elder slowly stood up, her dark green palace dress gleaming softly in the candlelight. She looked at Li Hanshan, then suddenly smiled, a smile brimming with captivating charm:

"Elder Li, the more I listen to you, the more confused I become. What do you mean by 'our own people'...?"

She moved with light, graceful steps toward the palace gate, her voice soft and alluring:

"I am old and cannot be frightened. I will pretend I did not hear what you said today—"

A hand gently rested on her wrist.

The force wasn't strong, but the pure yang energy emanating from that hand flowed into her wrist like a hot spring. Wherever it passed, the bottleneck in her meridians, which had been as solid as an iron wall for over two hundred years, loosened very slightly.

The Fourth Elder's steps froze on the spot.

"Fourth Elder," Li Hanshan's voice sounded behind her, still smiling, "What's the rush?"

"Li's 'private affairs' haven't been fully explained yet."