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

Li Hanshan leaped into the water, swam to the sect leader, grabbed her arm, and pulled her out of the water.

The sect leader was ice-cold, limp as a boneless rag. Her veil was nowhere to be seen, her lips were slightly purple, and her breath was so faint as to be almost imperceptible.

"How could you be injured like this..."

He supported her waist with one hand and paddled with the other, using a great deal of effort to drag her back to shore.

On the beach, Ah Ling was walking over carrying a pitchfork. Seeing Li Hanshan carrying a soaking wet woman in his arms, she paused. "Another one? Do you know her?"

"Yes, we're traveling together." Li Hanshan panted as he placed the sect leader on the dry sand.

Her black dress, soaked by seawater, clung to her body, outlining her slightly thin figure.

Li Hanshan didn't look at her for long, but quickly checked her pulse—it was weak, but still relatively steady.

"Please take care of her for me and make sure no one disturbs her." He looked up at Ah Ling.

A-Ling nodded, didn't ask any more questions, and turned to tell A-Yan to boil water.

After settling the sect leader in, Li Hanshan prepared to first find out about the giant tortoise's sword.

He turned and walked toward the sea god temple in the center of the island.

Dark traces of the last beast tide still lingered on the stone steps of the Sea God Temple. Most of the divine generals were meditating and healing inside. Seeing him enter, Uncle Liu opened his eyes, a hint of doubt in his gaze: "Brother Li, what is it now?"

"I want to go inside the temple again," Li Hanshan said frankly. "This time, I want to go deeper inside."

Uncle Liu was silent for a moment, as if sensing something. After a few breaths, he nodded: "The Sea God has not objected. Go in, and walk to the end."

Li Hanshan walked through the main hall of the Sea God Temple and down the long, secluded stone corridor.

The light grew dimmer, the air became increasingly humid, and a faint smell of rust could be detected. At the end of the stone corridor, a half-closed stone door stood there.

He pushed open the stone door, and a bright and clear view suddenly appeared before him.

It was a huge underground cave, with a dome tens of feet high. The cave walls were inlaid with countless tiny luminous pearls, emitting a cold, eerie blue light. The four walls of the cave were made of rough stone, a unique texture formed by the long-term fusion of the giant tortoise's shell with soil, coral, and rock.

In the very center of the cave, a broken sword, entirely black, was stuck diagonally into the protruding tortoise shell.

Li Hanshan took a few steps closer, squatted down, and his gaze fell on the place where the broken sword met the tortoise shell.

The sword was about three feet long, with a smooth, flat cut and no signs of rust, as if it had been cut just yesterday.

The sword had no decorations on it, as plain as an ordinary iron bar.

But as soon as Li Hanshan's Nascent Soul level divine sense touched the broken sword, he felt an extremely sharp sword intent rushing towards him.

The sword intent was like a tangible blade, almost severing his consciousness.

He instinctively took a half step back, his heart filled with horror.

"Such powerful sword intent..."

Even the mere sword intent is so terrifying.

"How terrifyingly powerful must the owner of this sword be?"

Li Hanshan reached out and grasped the hilt of the broken sword.

It felt icy cold to the touch, like holding a piece of ancient ice.

He took a deep breath, and pure yang energy surged from his palm into the sword, trying to exert force upwards.

Not moving.

The sword was firmly embedded in the tortoise shell, as if it had taken root.

The sword intent instead rebounded along with his spiritual power, causing his tiger's mouth to go numb.

Unwilling to give up, he tried twice more, even using his Nascent Soul level divine sense to perceive the connection between the sword and the tortoise shell. He discovered that there seemed to be an invisible force operating on the contact surface between the sword and the tortoise shell, like a seal or some kind of ancient bloodline contract, firmly locking the man, the sword, and the armor together.

"no."

Li Hanshan loosened his grip, took two steps back, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

The quality of this sword far exceeded his expectations. Even if he were at his peak, let alone now that his spiritual power had only recovered to 30-40%, he might not be able to draw it.

The giant tortoise's consciousness transmitted a message again:

"I can't pull it out. I've waited a long time. You, perhaps, can."

Li Hanshan closed his eyes and responded with his divine sense: "My current condition is too poor. My spiritual power has only recovered to 30-40%, and my injuries still remain. I'll try again once I've fully recovered."

The giant tortoise's consciousness remained silent for a moment, then trembled slightly, as if nodding.

Immediately afterwards, Li Hanshan felt the ground beneath his feet begin to change in an extremely slow way—the giant tortoise was adjusting its direction, its massive, island-like body slowly turning in the sea.

Poseidon Island is moving.

In fact, it was the giant tortoise that was moving.

The giant tortoise's target is the west.

Li Hanshan quickly walked out of the underground cave and returned to the beach.

A-Ling was guarding the sect leader when he saw him come out. She looked up and asked, "The island seems to be moving again. Are you going out?"

"Yes, the Sea God wants to take me to find some things." Li Hanshan glanced at the still unconscious sect leader. "She won't wake up for now. If she does, tell her to wait for me and not wander off."

Aling nodded without asking any further questions.

Poseidon Island slowly sailed westward, carried by a giant tortoise.

The sea parted in front of the island, forming two slowly churning white waves. The islanders were already used to this occasional "migration," and continued with their work as if the wind had simply picked up.

Li Hanshan stood on the rocks on the west side of the island, gazing at the sea ahead.

The giant tortoise's senses were more acute than he had imagined; it seemed to know the location of every spiritual herb growing within a thousand miles. An hour later, a small island came into view.

The island was small, only a few miles in circumference, but it was covered with lush vegetation and the air was filled with a rich medicinal fragrance.

However, there are quite a few monsters on the island.

As soon as the giant tortoise arrived, a large number of demonic birds rushed over.

The giant tortoise opened its massive maw and inhaled deeply, wiping out all the demon islands.

"We can move now."

Li Hanshan leaped onto the small island, his divine sense sweeping across the entire island. He was overjoyed—the island was covered with all sorts of spiritual herbs, including Jade Marrow Grass for repairing meridians, Crimson Scale Vine for replenishing qi and blood, and Mind-Concentrating Flower for tempering the soul. Although their grades weren't particularly high, their variety and age were excellent.

He rolled up his sleeves and began picking. The giant tortoise floated quietly on the surface of the sea, its massive, island-like body rising and falling gently in the deep water, occasionally creating a splash, as if reminding him of the time.

And so, Poseidon Island carried Li Hanshan, traveling through this sea area.

Every so often, the giant tortoise would stop near a small island.

Some islands are covered with spiritual herbs, some have fresh water, and some even have spiritual energy crystals seeping from cracks in the earth's veins.

Like a tireless worker ant, Li Hanshan gathered up everything usable and brought it back to Poseidon Island.

In three days, he collected enough medicinal herbs and materials to refine several batches of pills.

Under the thatched shed, next to the stone pot, there were piles of various spiritual herbs, animal bones, and crystals. Ayan squatted beside him, staring intently, and occasionally helped him to neatly tie up the sorted herbs.

On the fourth day, Li Hanshan set up a stone pot and began refining elixirs.

Without a furnace, he could only use a stone pot as a furnace, fueled by pure yang fire. He added the spiritual herbs and demonic beast essence blood into the pot one by one according to the ancient alchemy method, using his divine sense to precisely control the timing of the fire and the fusion of the medicinal power. The high temperature of the pure yang fire heated the stone pot until it was red-hot, and the medicinal liquid inside boiled and bubbled, emitting a rich medicinal aroma.

The first batch failed. The essence of the spiritual herbs in the medicinal liquid clashed with the beast blood, exploding into a pot of black slag just before the pill could be condensed.

The second batch barely formed a paste, its efficacy greatly reduced, but at least it wasn't ruined. Li Hanshan carefully stored the pot of paste away for future use.

The third batch began to show promise. He adjusted the heat and the order in which the herbs were added, and the essence of the spiritual herbs and the beast blood finally reached a balance, slowly fusing in the stone pot into a thick ointment that shone with a golden luster.

By the seventh day, he was able to consistently produce ointments of good quality.

Li Hanshan sat cross-legged under the thatched hut, scooped up a spoonful of golden ointment, and swallowed it. A surge of energy spread through his abdomen, like a warm current flowing into a dried-up riverbed, slowly coursing along his meridians.

The hidden wounds were healing, the spiritual power was recovering, and the golden light on the surface of the divine infant in the dantian was once again shining brightly.

Half a month passed quietly in this cycle of gathering herbs, refining elixirs, and recovering.

The giant tortoise carried Poseidon Island, leading him through the sea like a silent guide, directing him to every small island that held a precious herb.

Li Hanshan could feel himself gradually returning to his peak.

"Although the Endless Sea is extremely dangerous, it contains so many wonderful things."

Li Hanshan realized that compared to the Northern Wilderness, the Endless Sea contained endless treasures.

However, it's very difficult to find ordinary cultivators here.

For a giant tortoise, a monster that has lived in the endless sea for tens of thousands of years, finding spiritual herbs and medicines is incredibly easy.

The most wonderful thing is,

Because the giant tortoise is extremely powerful, these spiritual herbs and medicines that it usually looks down on are treasures to Li Hanshan.