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

Above the clouds, the wind howled like a knife.

Hundreds of miles behind, the crimson rainbow tore through the sky, carving a dark ravine tens of miles wide in the sea of ​​clouds—the power of the Dao Integration Realm even left a trail of destruction in its wake.

Li Hanshan, however, did not flee westward.

To the west lies the Yinquan Sect, the front line, the direction where the sect leader and hundreds of thousands of troops are located. Any normal person would instinctively run that way at this moment—there lies the path to Dao Integration, reinforcements, and a chance to survive.

At the first fork in the road, he turned northwest without hesitation.

"Master?" Ye Feiyan, nestled in his arms, opened her eyes and couldn't help but speak, "The Yinquan Sect... isn't in this direction."

"I know," Li Hanshan said succinctly.

"Then you should—"

"I'm not going."

Ye Feiyan froze. She opened her mouth, but ultimately didn't dare ask again. She simply tightened her grip on his neck—if they didn't go to the front lines, they were heading straight into the wilderness. And there were no reinforcements in the wilderness.

She dared not think about it.

Li Hanshan, however, had thought it through very clearly, more clearly than ever before.

There are two reasons why I didn't go to the Yinquan Sect.

First, he cannot appear on that battlefield. Although his identity as an outer elder of the Purple Thunder Pavilion, a member of the Immortal Alliance, has long been cleared, there are still quite a few people in the Immortal Alliance who know his background. With three Dao Integration Realm experts stationed at the front lines, if he plunges in headfirst, regardless of whether he can bring the Heavenly Demon Sect Master with him, he will be putting himself in a very difficult position—if the Immortal Alliance accuses him of "colluding with the demons," he will be unable to defend himself.

Even more deadly is that as soon as he shows his face on the battlefield, the Heavenly Demon Sect Master will immediately chase after him. At that time, the three Dao Integration Alliance members, the allied forces, and the Grand Elder who is currently attempting to break through to the third level of Dao Integration... will all be entangled in a chaotic mess, and the three-month balance of power will collapse on the spot. The Joyful Union Sect's army will be attacked from both sides. It's not about seeking survival; it's about dragging the entire sect down with them.

As for the second point—

A slow smile curved the corners of Li Hanshan's lips.

Secondly, he had no intention of "escaping" at all.

-

Deep within his sea of ​​consciousness, in a corner of his storage space, lay rows of jade boxes. These were his family's possessions, brought from the ruins of Yao Guang, the things his daughter had left him to save his life—

Seventy-two seventh-tier attack talismans.

Forty-one seventh-tier defensive talismans.

Nineteen seventh-tier escape talismans.

Five seventh-tier sealing talismans.

Seventh rank—that's a rank that only those at the Dao Integration Realm can activate. A seventh-rank attack talisman, when fully activated, possesses power approaching that of a Dao Integration Realm strike. And he had a total of seventy-two of them.

Li Hanshan took a jade box, his fingertips gently tracing the lid. Suddenly, the image of the yellow-clad figure from the Yaoguang Ruins flashed before his eyes. When the girl handed him the key to the treasure vault, she said casually, "Take this, for self-defense. If you need more... earn it yourself later."

At the time, he simply thought it was New Year's money left by elders for younger generations.

Now it seems that this was not New Year's money at all; it was clearly a sword capable of slaying a Dao-level cultivator, handed to him personally.

Girl, the things you left behind will come in very handy today.

Li Hanshan wants to kill someone.

He wasn't going to kill some random cat or dog—he was going to kill the desperate, yet terrifyingly powerful, Dao-merging demon behind him.

To refine emptiness, one must kill those who have attained the Dao.

If this idea were to be spoken aloud, the entire Central Continent would laugh at him for being delusional. But Li Hanshan had been pondering this for a very long time, so long that even before the Heavenly Demon Sect Master had appeared, this thought had already rolled through his mind a thousand times.

This is a huge win no matter how you look at it.

Seventh-tier spirit talismans are indeed precious, and each one used reduces the remaining supply. But what would be the reward for killing a Dao Integration Realm expert?

A Dao-Merging Grandmaster always carries his wealth with him. The Heavenly Demon Sect Master, who ruled the sect for over a thousand years and was the leader of the demonic path, though his sect's treasury was destroyed by the Immortal Alliance, surely possessed some valuable treasures in his personal storage. He even had a concealment treasure of the level of the Formless Heavenly Demon Robe; his entire fortune was far greater than imagined. Kill him, and all those things would belong to the Li family.

What's even more valuable is something else—a bad reputation.

In this Central Continent, there have never been few who covet his position. The remnants of the Elder Council grind their teeth in the shadows, the Punishment Hall of the Immortal Alliance has their eyes on his head, and countless rogue cultivators in the Demonic Path are envious of his "helping others ascend." If he were to kill a Dao Integration Realm cultivator today while still in the Void Refinement stage, what kind of effect would that news have?

From now on, any Dao Integration Realm expert who wants to harm him will have to think twice before making a move—think twice about how much stronger they are than the Heavenly Demon Sect Master.

Kill one demon to warn a hundred others.

This deal was incredibly profitable.

-

Of course, killing a Dao Integration Realm cultivator isn't that easy.

Li Hanshan understood perfectly. The difference in their cultivation levels was undeniable. The reason the Dao Integration Realm was so powerful was because monsters at that level possessed an overwhelming number of trump cards—physical bodies, escape techniques, secret treasures, primordial spirits, and life-saving supernatural abilities, one layer upon another. No matter how powerful a talisman was, it only counted if it hit a person. If the opponent was determined to escape, he, a mere Void Refinement cultivator, couldn't even catch up.

Therefore, the key to this game lies not in the talisman, but in people's hearts.

We must make the Heavenly Demon Sect Master deliver himself to our doorstep. We must strike at the moment when his guard is at its lowest, his killing intent is at its strongest, and he has nowhere left to retreat.

Let him pursue you.

The longer you pursue it, the better.

Chase him until he is certain he has cornered his prey, until his mind is filled with the thought that "just a little more effort will crush this ant," until he forgets the caution expected of someone who has achieved enlightenment—that is when it is time to strike.

Favorable timing, advantageous location, and harmonious relationships.

Popular support is about harmony among people; opportune timing is about favorable circumstances. As for location—

Li Hanshan's gaze turned to the northwest horizon, where at the end of the sea of ​​clouds, a faint white line stretched across the sky and earth.

An endless sea, a chasm of sword energy.

One of the most forbidden lands recorded in the Central Continent. Legend has it that in ancient times, a powerful sword cultivator cleaved the endless sea for thousands of miles with a single sword strike. Ten thousand years have passed, but the sword energy within that natural barrier remains, like a surging tide, and even has the rhythm of the tides—every full moon night, the tides are at their strongest, billions of tons of seawater surge back, and the sword energy soars into the sky for thousands of miles. Even those who have reached the Dao realm and entered the barrier would have three layers of skin scraped off by the sword energy.

Demonic energy crumbles upon it, and evil spirits shatter upon approach—there is no place in the world more suitable to restrain demonic arts than this.

They chose that place as the site of the decisive battle.

Borrowing the eternal sword energy, we will grind away the claws and teeth of those who have attained the Dao.

He had to get there before the next full moon night.

-

Behind him, the terrifying aura suddenly surged.

"Little beast——!!"

The Heavenly Demon Sect Master's roar rolled across hundreds of miles of clouds: "You think you can escape?!"

The speed of the crimson rainbow suddenly increased by another three points.

Li Hanshan scanned the area with his divine sense, his pupils shrinking slightly—the escape speed of a Dao Integration cultivator was ridiculously fast. In just a few words, the distance between the two had shrunk from three hundred li to less than two hundred li, and it was still decreasing at a visible speed.

A breath can cover tens of miles.

At this rate, he'll be caught up in less than half an incense stick's time.

"At the fifth level of the Void Refinement stage, comparing footwork to the Dao Integration stage..." Li Hanshan clicked his tongue, "That's definitely a bit bullying."

He pulled out a purple talisman from his storage ring. The talisman was covered with lightning patterns, and the seven talismans were layered on top of each other. Just one glance at it could cause a stinging pain to one's primordial spirit.

Seventh-tier Escape Talisman, Divine Speed ​​Purple Sky Talisman.

As he poured in spiritual energy, the talisman instantly ignited and transformed into a stream of light that disappeared into his legs!

boom--

The aura surrounding Li Hanshan suddenly surged, and the cyan flames stretched out a tail of light that was a hundred miles long. His speed increased more than three times in an instant, and in the blink of an eye, he had once again widened the distance to more than three hundred miles.

"Um?!"

Hundreds of miles away, the Heavenly Demon Sect Master's expression hardened.

"A seventh-tier escape talisman?!" He narrowed his eyes, a hint of surprise flashing in them, then sneered, "Good lad, you've got some serious resources."

"pity--"

"Talismans are ultimately external objects; once used, they're gone! I'd like to see how many you can carry!"

"I am a Dao-merging being, my spiritual power is inexhaustible, while how many of your talismans can you possibly burn?!"

The crimson rainbow accelerated once more, carrying raging demonic flames, relentlessly pursuing the azure streak of light.

One chased, one fled; one was green, one was red; two streaks of light stretched across the sky, hurtling toward the northwest horizon.

Li Hanshan did not turn around.

In the howling wind, Ye Feiyan buried her face in his shoulder. He held her with one arm and held a top-grade spirit stone in the other, his fingers slowly closing, pure spiritual energy flowing into his meridians through his palm. He only spared a wisp of his divine sense to "watch" the relentlessly pursuing blood rainbow behind him, the smile on his lips deepening little by little.

Go for it.

The closer you chase, the better.