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

Li Hanshan did not refuse and thanked him with clasped hands.

Uncle Liu glanced at him again, but didn't ask any more questions. He then turned and led the gods toward the Sea God Temple.

They were all wounded, some still bleeding, but their steps remained steady, as if these injuries were nothing to them.

A-Ling led A-Yan over and helped Li Hanshan carry the heavy piece of monster meat back to the thatched hut.

Ayan was incredibly excited, circling the piece of meat several times, her eyes sparkling: "This is the meat of a fourth-tier demon beast! I've only eaten it twice in my entire life! Sister, can we have a good meal today?"

A-Ling glared at him, but her tone towards Li Hanshan was much gentler than before: "You can use this for now. If it's not enough, I'll go talk to Uncle Liu."

Li Hanshan nodded his thanks and sat down cross-legged next to the piece of monster meat.

Instead of starting a fire to roast the food, he placed his hand on the piece of meat. The flesh and blood of the fourth-order sea beast contained extremely rich blood and qi, which was a great tonic for body cultivators. However, for a cultivator like him who mainly relied on spiritual power, the conversion efficiency of eating it directly was too low, and most of the essence would be wasted.

He needs to refine this meat into elixirs.

Unfortunately, the storage bag was lost in the storm, and the alchemy furnace and medicinal herbs were also gone. He thought for a moment and asked A-Ling, "What kind of containers do you have on this island that can be used to cook things? Preferably made of stone, thick and sturdy, so they can withstand fire."

A-Ling paused for a moment: "A stone pot? I do have a big one at home, which I usually use for stewing soup, but it's a bit thick and hard to move. What do you need it for?"

"I'm useful." Li Hanshan didn't explain further.

A-Ling didn't ask any further questions. She turned around and went back into the house. A moment later, she huffed and puffed as she carried out a stone pot that was half a person's height.

The stone pot was carved entirely from dark blue-green reef rocks, with walls about an inch thick. Its surface was shiny from being smoked and charred, clearly an old object that had been used for many years.

Li Hanshan then asked Ayan to bring some sea salt and water, and casually picked a few herbs that could be found everywhere on the island. Although those herbs did not have much spiritual power, they had the property of neutralizing the heat in the blood and qi, and were just enough to be used as auxiliary materials.

He cut the monster meat into small pieces and put them into the stone pot. He then condensed a wisp of pure yang fire in his palm and slowly heated the bottom of the stone pot.

He wasn't trying to refine elixirs, but rather something closer to a medicinal ointment.

Even without a furnace, the stone pot method of refining meat, though crude, can still extract the essence from the meat, remove impurities, and make the medicinal properties more refined, as long as the heat is properly controlled.

Pure Yang fire has the effect of purifying all things. When he used it to refine beast meat, the efficiency was several times higher than that of ordinary furnace fire.

Gumbling.

The water in the stone pot soon began to boil, and the meat chunks gradually softened in the boiling water. Dark red essence seeped out from the meat, turning the entire pot of water a thick, bloody color.

Under the continuous heating of the pure yang fire, the essence was constantly concentrated, and the fishy smell was gradually stripped away, replaced by a mellow and mild medicinal fragrance that permeated the air under the thatched hut. Just smelling it made one's blood and energy surge.

Ayan squatted by the stone pot, inhaling the aroma deeply, his mouth practically watering: "It smells so good... much better than the monster meat I've ever eaten before..."

Although Ah Ling didn't lose her composure like her younger brother, she couldn't help but sniff it a few more times.

Li Hanshan used his divine sense to control the heat, repeatedly purifying and concentrating the medicinal liquid in the stone pot until only a bowl of dark red, thick ointment remained.

He scooped up a spoonful and swallowed it. The ointment melted in his mouth, and the powerful energy of his blood and qi surged into his limbs and bones like a hot current, flowing endlessly along his meridians.

The hidden wounds deep within the flesh and blood healed rapidly under the nourishment of this power, the cracks in the meridians were repaired one by one, and the dried-up dantian began to gather weak spiritual energy again.

"The effect is much better." Li Hanshan was slightly pleased. The pot of ointment was enough to heal many of his injuries.

Just then, his divine sense suddenly detected an extremely faint yet vast and profound fluctuation. The fluctuation came from the depths of the island, ancient and deep, without any killing intent or oppression, only a pure... curiosity.

The giant tortoise awoke. Or rather, it had never truly slept.

Its immense divine consciousness, like an invisible mountain, slowly hovered above Li Hanshan's sea of ​​consciousness, scrutinizing and probing, as if examining a small thing that surprised it.

Although that divine consciousness was so vast it was suffocating, it contained no threat whatsoever. Instead, it carried a gentle quality, like an elder who had been asleep for ten thousand years being awakened and glancing at the birds flying outside the window with great interest.

Li Hanshan sensed the meaning contained within that divine sense—the giant tortoise was inviting him.

He put down the stone spoon, stood up, and said to Aling and Ayan, "I'm going out for a walk. I'll be back in a bit."

A-Ling glanced at him but didn't ask any further questions. A-Yan wanted to follow, but his older sister grabbed him by the back of his collar.

Li Hanshan walked out of the thatched hut and came to a protruding reef by the sea.

His divine sense probed into the ground once more, and this time the giant tortoise's divine sense took the initiative to meet it. The moment the two divine senses gently touched, a large amount of information flooded into Li Hanshan's mind.

Those were fragments of the giant tortoise's memories, and a sigh that spanned countless years.

"Is this how it grows?"

These fragments were discontinuous and incomplete, but from these messages, Li Hanshan could still see the giant tortoise's growth.

It was originally just a small turtle in the endless sea. By chance, it ate a spiritual object and began its cultivation journey. It then took tens of thousands of years to grow to its current level.

"Good heavens, what's this?"

Sudden.

In its memory, Li Hanshan witnessed an extremely terrifying scene.

Above the Endless Sea, where the wind and clouds had been churning just moments before, the storm was suddenly torn apart, and two extremely terrifying figures appeared in the sky.

The gale-force winds and storms of the Endless Sea, which could severely injure even a Nascent Soul cultivator, were insignificant in their presence. The mere release of their auras was enough to tear apart the storms and cause them to vanish without a trace.

These two people... are fighting!

Even this terrifyingly powerful giant tortoise trembled in fear during such a battle, hiding deep in the ocean and no longer daring to peek out.

But it was incredibly unlucky.

"Whoosh!"

Sudden.

A broken sword fell from the sky, parting the seawater and piercing its tortoise shell with perfect accuracy.

Its shell, harder than steel, was easily pierced.

"No wonder it has so many people on its back... Is it hoping that someone will grow up and help it pull out the sword?"

Li Hanshan suddenly understood.

The giant tortoise being pierced by a sword must have happened a thousand years ago.

Even back then, its strength was terrifying.

For thousands of years, the giant tortoise has continuously sheltered humans, hoping that someone will grow up and remove the sword for it.

Unfortunately, to this day, no one has been able to pull the sword off its back.

Although this sword is broken, it is extremely extraordinary.

Even after being severed, it can easily part the seawater thousands of meters deep and then pierce the back of the giant turtle.

Ordinary cultivators wouldn't even be able to pull it out.

Now, the giant tortoise has clearly placed its hopes on Li Hanshan.

"Let's go take a look first."

After Li Hanshan used his divine sense to tell the giant tortoise that he could give it a try, he decided to go and check out the sword first.

His communication with the giant tortoise was peculiar; it wasn't through language, but rather through straightforward expressions of meaning.

After withdrawing his divine sense, Li Hanshan was preparing to set off.

Suddenly.

He realized something was wrong.

Something is floating in the sea.

That appears to be a person.

"Hmm? It's the sect leader?"

Li Hanshan was startled.

The person who drifted in from the sea was actually the sect leader of the Hehuan Sect.

She was unconscious, floating in the seawater, propelled by the waves toward Poseidon Island.