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

The salty sea breeze brushed against my cheeks, carrying dampness.

When Li Hanshan opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a rough palm leaf canopy overhead.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled shadows on my face.

His body was heavy, his limbs felt like they were filled with lead, and the divine infant in his dantian was quietly dormant, its golden light dimmed a bit more than usual.

He tried to move, but found that every part of his body ached. His throat was so dry it felt like it had been rubbed with sandpaper, making even swallowing difficult.

"He was injured so badly."

Li Hanshan's heart sank.

After the airship was torn apart by the storm, Li Hanshan was separated from the sect leader and others. He did not last long in the storm before falling into a coma.

He never expected that there would be such a terrifying storm in the Endless Sea, one that even a Nascent Soul cultivator couldn't withstand.

No wonder,

Only those who have attained the Divine Transformation stage can cross the endless sea.

"Sister! He's awake!"

A clear, youthful voice came from the side. Then came hurried footsteps; someone was running towards them.

Li Hanshan turned his head with difficulty and saw a boy of about fourteen or fifteen years old squatting beside him. The boy's thin face was full of curiosity, his eyes were bright and clear, and his skin was a healthy bronze color from the sea breeze. The boy was wearing a coarse linen short shirt with a straw rope tied around his waist, which looked quite simple.

"What's your name?" The boy leaned closer, as if examining some rare object. "Where did you come from? My sister said you were washed ashore by the waves. I thought you were dead. She said you were still breathing and told me to keep an eye on you—"

"Ayan, don't scare them."

A woman's voice came from the side, carrying a certain composure.

Li Hanshan looked in the direction of the sound and saw a young woman, probably in her early twenties, squatting by a bonfire not far away, holding a skewer of grilled fish in her hand. She was wearing a faded coarse cloth dress, her long hair was casually tied up with a wooden hairpin, and a few strands of hair hung down by her ears.

Her gaze swept over Li Hanshan with a scrutinizing look, but not a wary one.

"It's good that you're awake." She walked over and handed him the grilled fish. "Eat something first. You were unconscious for two days, so we could only feed you water. Without food in your stomach, your body can't take it."

Li Hanshan struggled to sit up, aggravating the injury in his chest, and let out a muffled groan.

He looked down at himself—his robes were tattered beyond recognition, torn in every way, revealing scabbed wounds underneath. The robes, originally given to him by the sect leader, were now no different from a rag.

Fortunately, the woman must have helped him change his clothes. He was now wearing a slightly oversized coarse linen shirt, which, although ill-fitting, was better than being naked.

He took the grilled fish and thanked him in a hoarse voice.

The grilled fish smelled delicious. Although there weren't many seasonings, he ate it with great relish after being hungry for so long.

The boy squatted down beside him, resting his chin on his hands as he watched him eat, his bright black eyes full of curiosity.

"Are you from outside?" the boy couldn't help but ask again. "How big is the sea outside? Is it bigger than the sea in front of our village?"

"Ayan." The woman glared at him, and the boy shrank back, but still looked at Li Hanshan with pleading eyes.

After finishing the grilled fish, Li Hanshan felt his strength returning and finally asked, "Excuse me, young lady, where is this place?"

The woman sat down on a rock beside him, her hands clasped on her knees, and said calmly, "This is Poseidon Island. My name is A-Ling, and this is my younger brother, A-Yan. How did you fall into the sea? The storm that day was huge; I've never seen such big waves before."

"Poseidon Island?" Li Hanshan raised an eyebrow and scanned his surroundings. It was indeed an island; he could hear the waves crashing against the rocks and see dense coconut groves and low thatched roofs in the distance.

The island appears to be inhabited by a considerable number of people, at least tens of thousands, according to a rough estimate.

He suppressed his doubts and didn't rush to ask further questions. Instead, he said, "My name is Li Hanshan. A ship encountered a storm, capsized, and I was washed ashore here." He made up a plausible reason without revealing that he was a cultivator, since he didn't know the extent of the dangers here.

The older sister nodded, not asking any further questions. Ayan, however, became even more curious: "A boat? Is it one of those really, really big boats? How many people can it hold? The big boats in our village can only hold a dozen or so people at most."

"It's huge," Li Hanshan smiled. "It can hold several hundred people."

Ayan's eyes widened instantly, and his mouth gaped open. He turned to look at his older sister and whispered, "Sister, can people outside really build ships that big?"