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

The chase, the pursuit that spans the northwest of Central Continent, has lasted for three whole months.

I don't know how many tens of thousands of miles it is.

From the mountain gate of the Hehuan Sect to the northwestern wilderness, and then to the edge of the endless sea, two streaks of light drew a long line interwoven with blood and blue between the clouds and the sea.

-

The first month is the month of the talisman.

"Little beast——!"

The voice of the Heavenly Demon Sect Master rolled in from across a thousand miles of clouds, booming like thunder:

"Are there enough talismans left to burn?! Hahahaha—I'd like to see how long you can last!"

"Once I catch you, I won't kill you yet. I'm going to tear your two beautiful women to shreds, inch by inch, right in front of you—guess whether they'll beg me first or curse you?!"

The language was foul and offensive, and it was unbearable to hear.

This is psychological warfare.

Li Hanshan remained expressionless, but a hint of coldness flashed in his eyes.

In the past month, he has produced six seventh-tier escape talismans. Each one was timed perfectly—not so badly that the opponent would lose track of him completely, yet always managing to create distance at the last second. His escape light would deliberately "sway" a few times, his breathing would intentionally "erratize" for a moment, and he even crushed a few spirit stones to let the dissipation of spiritual energy travel far and wide.

He was feeding the Dao-merging being behind him a carefully prepared bait.

The bait is called "Almost Gone".

The Heavenly Demon Sect Master is indeed taking the bait.

"Can't even hold onto spirit stones properly? Hahahaha—"

"You little beast, how many talismans do you have left? Three? Two?!"

Run! Keep running—!

-

During the first month, Ye Feiyan in her arms gradually calmed down from her initial trembling.

"His natal demonic weapon is a 'Soul-Devouring Banner,' beneath which lie millions of souls. When fully activated, it can corrupt a person's primordial spirit."

"He also knows a technique called 'Heavenly Demon Blood Escape,' which burns his life essence to travel a thousand miles in an instant—but after using it, his cultivation will be greatly damaged within three months. He probably used this to escape during the battle when his sect was destroyed."

"And..." she bit her lip, "His greatest strengths are patience and scheming. Anyone who can escape the clutches of the Sanhe Dao is no mere brute force. Master, don't assume he's lost his temper just because he chased so fiercely—half of what he said was genuine anger, and the other half was deliberately said for your benefit."

Li Hanshan raised an eyebrow and glanced at her sideways.

"Great," he laughed. "Now you can even see how to use psychological tactics; you've improved."

Ye Feiyan turned her face away, her ears turning slightly red.

After a long pause, she added softly, "Master...you must, you absolutely must live."

"If I die, won't you be buried with me?" Li Hanshan joked.

"no."

Ye Feiyan shook her head, her voice as soft as the wind:

"Before... I was afraid of being buried alive with someone. Not anymore."

Li Hanshan paused for a moment, then didn't reply. He simply tightened his grip on her arm and sped up his escape light by a third.

-

The second month is the month of the Endless Sea.

Beyond the desolate northwest frontier, the world suddenly seemed to vanish—a vast expanse of water, seemingly without end, stretched to the horizon. The sea breeze carried the unchanging salty stench and desolation of millennia past, and storms raged across the sea, occasionally whipping up waves hundreds of feet high.

The escape talisman has reached its limit.

Nineteen escape talismans were used; six were burned in the first month, and four more were added this month—two of which were burned during a near-fatal ambush. That day, the Heavenly Demon Sect Master completely tore off his cat-and-mouse disguise, burning his essence blood to unleash a half-form Heavenly Demon Blood Escape, covering a thousand miles in an instant, appearing like a ghost a thousand feet behind Li Hanshan, and nearly shattering his back with a Heavenly Demon Blood Palm.

At the critical moment, Li Hanshan slapped out a seventh-order sealing talisman.

Five sealing talismans—one of his trump cards. The silvery-white talisman light exploded, transforming into nine chains that tightly bound the blood-red palm for three breaths—

Three breaths is enough.

Another escape talisman ignited, and he rushed out of the killing trap with Ye Feiyan in his arms. However, he was still hit on the back by the palm wind, his clothes were torn to shreds, and his flesh was a bloody mess.

The one who blocked the second Soul-Locking Demonic Sound for him was Ye Feiyan.

She risked using the bloodline secret technique of the Holy Maiden of the Heavenly Demon Sect, using herself as bait to disrupt the tracking demonic thought that was entangled in his soul—the secret technique backfired, and she vomited blood on the spot and was unconscious for a day and a night.

When she woke up, she found herself lying in Li Hanshan's arms. As he flew, he crushed pieces of top-grade spirit stones and channeled them into her meridians. His chin was covered in unshaven stubble.

"Master..." her voice was hoarse.

"Shut up." Li Hanshan didn't lower his head. "Save your energy, focus on healing your injuries."

She obediently shut her mouth, buried her face in his chest, and suddenly felt that the blood and fire along the way were much more solid than the years of luxury in the Heavenly Demon Sect.

-

At the end of the second month, the Heavenly Demon Sect Master behind him had changed.

He stopped laughing.

The vile and abusive language he used to attack his mind diminished day by day, replaced by an almost manic silence. He was like a mad dog that had been lured by the smell of blood for three months, his eyes fixed only on the blue streak of light ahead—chasing it by day, by night, in storms, and in thunderstorms.

Li Hanshan could see clearly that the old wounds left by the demon in the void had been torn open again by the three months of relentless pursuit. Several times, the speed of the blood-red rainbow showed a barely perceptible stagnation—a sign that the demonic energy within his body was not circulating smoothly.

Even the strongest foundation in Dao cannot withstand such endurance.

Of course, Li Hanshan himself wasn't having an easy time either. He only had nine escape talismans left, and he couldn't bear to use them lightly anymore; he practiced the Fire Shadow Step day and night, and the meridians in his legs were burning painfully; a small mountain was burned away by top-grade spirit stones. Several times, when he was being chased so hard, he could only plunge into the eye of a storm at sea, using the power of heaven and earth to conceal his tracks, and several times he narrowly escaped being struck by that bloody palm.

As he fled, he was mentally calculating.

The time is almost up.

Grand Elder Nie Hongyuan's attempt to break through to the third level of the Dao Integration Realm will take at least three months—and now, that three-month period is fast approaching. This battle must be concluded as soon as possible; regardless of victory or defeat, he has no time to waste.

In the third month, Li Hanshan began to consciously adjust his direction.

No longer fleeing in a straight line as if for their lives, but gradually and imperceptibly veering off in a certain direction. The Heavenly Demon Sect Master, blinded by greed, was completely unaware—in his eyes, the prey was merely running in circles in a panic.

Finally, dusk fell on this day.

Li Hanshan coughed up another mouthful of blood. This was no acting—the Heavenly Demon Sect Master had gone all out, unleashing three consecutive Heavenly Demon Blood Palms. Although they were all blocked by the seventh-tier defensive talisman, the residual force from the shattered talisman shield still displaced his internal organs.

He didn't care at all.

Because his gaze had already pierced through the boundless clouds, fixing fixedly on the point where the endless sea met the horizon—

The clouds have reached their end.

Further ahead lay an endless, dark blue sea. The sea breeze rushed towards us, carrying with it the same salty, desolate scent that had remained unchanged for millennia.

The endless sea.

In the middle of the endless sea, a white line stretches across east and west, extending for thousands of miles.

Closer, closer.

That wasn't some white line at all—it was a colossal, bottomless rift that had torn open the entire ocean. The sea walls on either side of the rift were sheer and straight, and billions of tons of seawater surged and roared at its mouth, yet could never fill it. And above that rift, billions of snow-white sword energies soared into the sky, intertwining, howling, and colliding, condensing into a vast, sky-covering torrent of sword energy stretching for thousands of miles!

Sword energy forms an insurmountable barrier.

An ancient powerful being cleaved the sea with a single sword strike, and the sword energy has lingered for thousands of years.

Li Hanshan hovered at the edge of the sea of ​​clouds, gazing at the endless white torrent that stretched from the sky to the earth. His blood-stained lips slowly curled into a smile.

We've arrived at the right location.

The time was approaching—he calculated that in five days, it would be the night of the full moon.

He reached into his sleeve and pulled out one of the nine remaining escape talismans, then slowly turned around—

A thousand miles behind, a crimson rainbow tore through the twilight and roared in.

The betting game is about to begin.