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

The news of the Red Phoenix Sect offering a holy maiden spread like wildfire, reaching over a dozen affiliated sects under the Hehuan Sect overnight.

In the days that followed, the area in front of the main peak became lively.

Every few days, a minor member of the clan would come to visit—

Purple Smoke Valley sent a pair of twin sisters, both with water-elemental roots, who could brew spirit wine, and the aroma of the wine filled the air as soon as they entered; Golden Scale Island sent a girl from a fishing family, who was naturally fond of water and had two small tiger teeth when she smiled; Hundred Crafts Pavilion sent a female craftswoman with extremely skillful hands who could forge low-level magic artifacts; and there was something even more outrageous - a certain sect directly brought its own sect leader, who had been widowed for three hundred years, saying that she "admired Elder Li's demeanor".

Li Hanshan: "..."

The Hehuan Sect itself was also in turmoil.

Rumors from the mountain gate are most likely to bewitch people, and the story of "Elder Li helping people ascend to immortality" became more and more outlandish as it spread. The female disciples of the inner sect couldn't sit still: today one came to "ask for teachings on cultivation techniques," tomorrow another came to "present a Taoist robe sewn by hand," and the day after tomorrow another came to "report on defenses"—reporting to the side hall, then suddenly changing the subject to the couch.

Li Hanshan accepted everything... no, he didn't accept everything.

He's very picky.

Those with mediocre talent were not to be seen—they were to be sent back safely and given a bottle of elixir as a gesture of goodwill; those with wicked intentions were not to be seen—those whose eyes clearly read "opportunism" were swept away with a single glance.

The most important rule: anything not done voluntarily must be returned.

Once, a certain sect sent over a "sickly beauty," weeping profusely. Li Hanshan glanced at her a few more times and then inquired about the truth—it turned out that the sect leader had forcibly coerced her, hoping to climb the social ladder by associating with the Joyful Union Sect. He immediately sent her back, casually slicing off half of the sect's mountain gate with a single sword strike, leaving only one sentence:

"I accept people, not goods."

The demonic path of Zhongzhou took notice.

Some familiar old deacons worried for him: "He doesn't even want the furnace offered to him. What if he offends someone?"

Li Hanshan simply smiled upon hearing this.

Offending people? In this Central Continent, is he afraid of offending people, or are people afraid of offending him?

-

Of course, he couldn't do all the screening work himself.

The Fourth Elder volunteered to take on this task.

This late-stage Void Refinement cultivator sat in the Elder Hall during the day, reviewing lists, verifying backgrounds, and assessing character—his methods were even stricter than those of the Deacon Hall. Ten times more names were crossed out than circled on the submitted lists.

Only occasionally, as she was circling, her pen would pause on the paper, and then, expressionless, she would draw a very large, very black X next to a certain name.

Li Hanshan happened to see it and tried to suppress his laughter until his stomach hurt.

"Fourth Elder, this girl from Golden Scale Island is quite capable and has a decent temperament, why did you paint her?"

"Fickle and promiscuous." The Fourth Elder didn't even look up.

"They have a water-loving spiritual root."

"...fickle and promiscuous."

"Alright, alright, I'll draw it then."

Meanwhile, inside the Frostflower Cave, Hua Nongying heard about this and laughed so hard she couldn't stand up straight. She then pinched his soft waist.

"You little rascal, you've really become a piece of Tang Sanzang's flesh now; everyone wants a bite out of you."

"Then which demon are you?" Li Hanshan grinned.

"I am the demon who ate you." Hua Nongying's eyes were alluring.

-

A woman, as graceful as flowing water, was brought into the mountain gate, and pure Yin energy, as flowing as flowing water, surged into Li Hanshan's body.

His body was of different qualities: warm and smooth, clear and pure, or enduring and abundant. His constitution was complex yet rich. For ordinary cultivators, absorbing the mixed primordial yin would be a path to death, but his pure yang holy body was like a furnace, accepting all who came, refining them all, and nourishing himself in return.

His cultivation level rose steadily and terrifyingly.

The bottleneck of the fourth level of Void Refinement had loosened two months ago, but he deliberately suppressed it—the harder he suppressed it, the harder it broke.

That night, in the Elders' Hall.

As the Yin-Yang cycle reached its deepest point, the Fourth Elder suddenly noticed that the aura of the person beside him had changed.

boom--

A powerful aura, like that of a sleeping beast awakening, surged forth from Li Hanshan's body! The roof tiles hummed, the candlelight on all sides dimmed, and the protective barriers of the entire hall flickered wildly, on the verge of collapsing—

Without a second thought, the Fourth Elder waved her hand, and her late-stage Void Refinement spiritual power surged forth, completely enveloping the entire hall, along with the surrounding air.

Inside the hall, Li Hanshan sat cross-legged with his eyes closed.

A pure, purplish-gold flame emanated from every pore of his body, condensing into a blurry flame dharma image behind him; within his sea of ​​consciousness, his pure yang primordial spirit shone brightly, and strands of silvery-white law patterns, following the lingering resonance of the Yin-Yang cycle, silently coiled around his meridians—

Fifth level of Void Refinement.

It happened naturally, and was accomplished in one fell swoop.

Half an hour later, his aura completely subsided. Li Hanshan slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath.

"Congratulations, Master." The Fourth Elder knelt beside him, straightening his clothes, his eyes shining. "Fifth level of Void Refinement... In the past thousand years of the Central Continent, no one has ever cultivated so quickly."

"Good luck, good luck." Li Hanshan smiled and shook her hand.

In truth, he knew perfectly well that this was no luck at all. First came the sect leader's Dao-Merging Profound Yin, then came the four elders' Thousand-Year Yuan Yin, and now there was a continuous stream of furnace physiques being delivered to his door—this kind of cultivation resource was something that probably no one else in history had ever enjoyed.

Of course, I can't say that out loud. Saying it would be too obnoxious.