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

The light barrier of the great formation is getting thinner and thinner.

The area on the east side, eroded by the demonic clouds, was already showing faint cracks, spreading rapidly along the light barrier like a spider web. Where the cracks crawled, the light barrier emitted a faint, creaking sound, like glass about to shatter. Inside the spirit stone vault, mountains of spirit stones were dimming at a visible rate, turning into dust batch after batch—the great formation was burning its reserves, barely holding on.

The Heavenly Demon Sect Master's attacks never stopped. With each strike, the five peaks trembled, and the cries of the lower-level disciples faintly echoed from the mountains, like fine needles piercing everyone's hearts.

"Wait until I break through this formation—"

From within the demonic clouds, that chilling voice resounded, each word like a knife:

"The entire Hehuan Sect, from top to bottom, will be wiped out, not even a chicken or a dog!"

On the city wall, everyone's face was extremely grim.

Li Hanshan stared intently at the demonic figure outside the formation, his mind racing.

A request for help? The message was blocked by the Blood Curtain, and the sect leader was tens of thousands of miles away on the front line, so distant water could not quench the immediate fire.

Hold out to the death? The formation is already damaged and won't last until tonight. When the formation breaks, none of the disciples at the mountain gate or the women in the cave will escape.

Escape? How can hundreds of thousands of people escape?

There is only one way.

Li Hanshan slowly exhaled, his gaze gradually settling.

The Heavenly Demon Sect Master came for him. His boundless hatred was directed at him in every word—he was the one who "destroyed" the sect, the one who "kidnapped" his daughter, and the one who "ruined" the lineage. This demon had been hiding for months, barely clinging to life, and had gone to great lengths to infiltrate the Joyful Union Sect, all for the sake of taking his head.

As soon as he leaves—

The Heavenly Demon Sect Master will surely abandon his sect and pursue him.

"Fourth Elder." Li Hanshan turned around, his voice not loud, but frighteningly steady.

"This servant is here."

"The sect is yours." Li Hanshan took out a token and placed it in her hand—it was the sect leader's token, still warm from his palm. "Use this token to open the backup spirit stone vault and stabilize the great formation with all your might. Organize the disciples of each peak to retreat into the depths of the main peak, and activate all the self-protection restrictions of each hall. After I lure him away, you immediately begin repairing the eastern array eye."

The Fourth Elder accepted the token with both hands and was about to bow and accept the order when Li Hanshan's voice rang out again.

This time, it was very bland and very cold.

"I have a few more words to say beforehand."

The Fourth Elder felt a chill and raised his head.

"After I'm gone, you will be the pillar of this mountain gate." Li Hanshan looked down at her, speaking each word carefully, "The great formation is in your hands, the people are in your hands. During my absence—protect them, protect the disciples, protect this mountain gate. No one, under any pretext, is allowed to set foot on the main peak."

If when I return, one person will be missing—

He paused, his gaze falling on her lower abdomen, a slight smile playing on his lips, but the smile didn't reach his eyes:

"Think carefully about what to do with that three-lobed yin mark inside your body."

The Fourth Elder shuddered and instinctively pressed her lower abdomen. The silver pattern lay there quietly, its three petals slightly cool—yet she clearly felt the coolness creeping up her neck along her meridians.

"I...understand." She lowered her head deeply, her voice tight. "My life belongs to my master. Unless I die, not a single hair on the main peak will be spared."

"Very good." The coldness on Li Hanshan's face melted instantly, and he patted her shoulder with a smile. "Don't be so nervous. Guard the position well, and when I return, I've already thought of the path to the peak of the Void Refinement realm for you."

One hits, one pulls; one cold, one warm.

The Fourth Elder paused, then looked up again. The fear in her phoenix eyes had vanished, replaced by a ruthless determination: "This servant obeys!"

"He came for me," Li Hanshan said calmly to the crowd. "Once I leave, he will naturally leave as well."

"no!"

Hua Nongying was the first to explode, grabbing his arm tightly, her eyes red-rimmed, "Han Lang, that's a Dao Integration Realm cultivator! A fifth-level Void Refinement Realm cultivator facing a Dao Integration Realm cultivator, you—"

"So we can't let him stay here." Li Hanshan raised his hand and ruffled her hair, his tone suddenly softening. "Don't worry, your man may not have many other skills, but his ability to run away is unparalleled."

"Don't you know the Hokage Step? He can't catch me."

Hua Nongying bit her lip hard, her makeup ruined, but she couldn't utter a single word in rebuttal—because she knew this was her only way out.

"I'll go with you!" Ye Shuanghua stepped forward, her Jinghong Sword already drawn, its light reflecting on her pale face. "One more person means one more chance—"

"You stay." Li Hanshan pressed down on her sword, looked at her, and said, slowly and deliberately, "Senior Sister, I'm entrusting this family business to you. There are so many people in Shuanghua Cave Heaven; someone has to protect them. You protect them for me—that's helping me."

Ye Shuanghua was stunned.

She looked at him and suddenly understood the weight of those words—it wasn't that he didn't need help; he had entrusted her with something far more important than his own life.

He opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word. The veins on the back of his hand, which was gripping the sword, bulged out.

"Master..." Xu Lingxi said in a sob, tears streaming down her face.

Li Hanshan raised his hand to wipe her face, then smiled at Zhang Qingxuan, Leng Yue, Qin Muyue, and Jiang Nianwei, looking at them one by one, and finally said only four words:

"Wait for me to come back."

Tears welled up in all the women's eyes at once. No one stopped them—they just stared at him intently, wanting to etch this moment into their very bones.

-

Finally, his gaze fell on Ye Feiyan.

"Scarlet Smoke."

Ye Feiyan trembled slightly and took a step forward.

"Come with me." Li Hanshan held out his hand. "You're familiar with his demonic arts, which will come in handy on the way. Besides—" he smirked, "that insult you just gave him will stay with him for life. Even if that old bastard kills me today, he won't let you go the next time. Staying here will only put you in danger."

Ye Feiyan pursed her lips.

She understood this principle the moment she uttered the words. The moment the words "rebellious daughter" left her lips, the last vestige of blood ties between her and that old devil were extinguished—if he won, she, the "rebellious daughter," would only suffer the fate of having her soul extracted and refined; if he lost…

She lowered her eyes, and the last lingering thought in her heart about the word "father," which had remained for many years, silently dissipated.

It dissipated, and it didn't hurt at all.

When she looked up again, the former Holy Maiden of the Heavenly Demon Sect had only a resigned, defiant clarity in her eyes. She placed her hand in Li Hanshan's palm, clenched it tightly, and nodded emphatically:

"What's done is done; what's the big debt?"

"Feiyan will go with her master."

"To be together in life and death."

Li Hanshan raised an eyebrow, amused by her remark, "The more debts you have, the less you worry."

-

A moment later, on the west side of the great formation.

On the east side, the Heavenly Demon Sect Master's attacks continued to pour forth, their roar like thunder, drawing everyone's attention to that side. Deep within the clouds on the west side, the Fourth Elder bit his fingertip, casting a spell. The runes formed from his blood entered the array's core—the light barrier silently cracked open, narrow enough for only one person to pass sideways. The light patterns at the edge trembled uneasily, as if they might be shaken shut again by the roar from the east at any moment.

"Walk!!"

Without further hesitation, Li Hanshan grabbed Ye Feiyan's waist and unleashed the full power of his Naruto Step!

A streak of azure light shot out like an arrow from a bow through the narrow gap! A fierce wind rushed to her ears, and mist swirled in her face. Ye Feiyan felt as if her internal organs were in her throat. She clung tightly to his neck, not daring to open her eyes.

In the blink of an eye, dozens of miles had been covered.

The streak of light drew a long trail through the vast sea of ​​clouds.

The next instant, Li Hanshan let out a long, resounding roar that carried for hundreds of miles:

"The Heavenly Demon Sect Master—!!"

"You want to take my head?"

Come and chase me!!

With this shout, he used all his spiritual power. The sea of ​​clouds was shaken apart by the sound wave, and where the sound wave rolled, even the demonic clouds churned. Li Hanshan hovered in mid-air, his robes fluttering, gazing at the distant, sky-covering black clouds—the gamble of life and death had begun.

Within the demonic clouds, the giant palm that the Heavenly Demon Sect Master unleashed suddenly froze.

He turned abruptly, saw the receding light on the horizon, was first taken aback, then laughed in fury:

"You little beast, are you trying to lure us away from our base?"

"A mere fifth-level Void Refinement cultivator dares to play tricks on me—"

The demonic clouds that had been attacking the formation suddenly receded.

The weight of his sect versus his enemy's head was irrelevant. Besides—his beloved daughter, who had called him an "old beast," was inside that elusive light. As for this broken formation… he could kill him, then return and break it later.

"Today, in heaven and on earth, where do you think you're going to run?"

boom--

A cloud of demonic clouds rose from the ground, transforming into a blood-red rainbow that stretched across the sky, chasing after the azure light!

The pressure on the great formation suddenly eased.

On the city wall, everyone collapsed to the ground, several younger disciples weeping bitterly. The Fourth Elder gripped the sect leader's token tightly, her nails digging into her palms. Tears welled in her eyes, but she forced them back, and with a hoarse voice, gave the order:

"Repair the key points! Rescue the wounded! No one is allowed to panic—our master has entrusted us with the survival of this home, so we will protect it for him!!"

Ye Shuanghua stood atop the highest point of the city tower, watching the two streaks of light disappear into the depths of the clouds one after the other on the horizon. Her hand gripping the sword tightened little by little, her knuckles turning white.

Pursuit and escape.

At the fifth level of the Void Refinement stage, he faced a Dao Integration Demon Lord.

No one knows if they will ever return.