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

Over the next few days, Li Hanshan practiced the Nine Revolutions Golden Body Technique during the day and engaged in dual cultivation with the sect leader at night.

The two recovered much faster than expected. The hidden injuries on the surface of the sect leader's nascent soul were completely healed under the repeated nourishment of Li Hanshan's pure Yang energy, and even his aura was more harmonious than before the injury. Li Hanshan's physical body also underwent a complete transformation in just a few days—his first stage of cultivation was completely stable, his muscle lines were as firm and smooth as if cast in molten iron, and a faint golden luster was faintly visible between his tendons and bones. His aura was also much more stable and profound than it had been half a month ago.

That morning, Li Hanshan stretched his limbs by the sea, feeling the new life force flowing smoothly through his meridians. He clenched his fist, his knuckles making a slight cracking sound, and threw a punch, a low, whistling sound echoing through the air.

"That's about it." Li Hanshan withdrew his fist and turned to walk towards the Sea God Temple in the center of the island.

The giant tortoise had waited for half a month; it was time to try to pull out the sword.

Passing through the stone corridors of the Temple of Poseidon, we arrived once again at that enormous underground cave. The broken sword, entirely black, was still stuck diagonally on the protruding tortoise shell, the patterns on its blade gleaming faintly in the cold, blue light.

Li Hanshan walked to the broken sword, squatted down, took a deep breath, and reached out to grasp the hilt with both hands.

The touch was still icy cold, and the sword intent pierced his meridians like needles through his palm, causing him to frown slightly.

But he didn't let go. He activated his Pure Yang Meridian at full power, and the Divine Infant in his Dantian burst out with dazzling golden light. Spiritual power surged into his arms like a flood breaking through a dam, and he exerted force on the broken sword—lifting it upwards!

Not moving.

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

The sword intent surged upwards along with his spiritual power, like an invisible sharp cone piercing his sea of ​​consciousness, carrying an extremely domineering repulsive force, trying to forcefully repel his divine sense.

Li Hanshan grunted, his body swaying slightly, but he gritted his teeth and refused to let go. He condensed his Nascent Soul level divine sense into a sharp cone and pierced it towards the gap where the broken sword met the tortoise shell, trying to find a way to loosen the sword. The moment his divine sense entered the gap, his expression changed drastically—an astonishing suction force surged from the broken sword, like a greedy beast, biting into his spiritual power and beginning to frantically drain it.

"Not good!" Li Hanshan suddenly released his grip, his body retreating several feet. He looked down at his palm and saw several hair-thin cracks on his palm, as if they had been cut by invisible sharp blades. Only after circulating pure Yang energy did the cracks slowly heal.

He stood in the center of the cave, staring at the broken sword, his brow furrowed. The suction force just now was terrifying; in just a few breaths, nearly ten percent of his spiritual energy had been drained away. This was even with his pure Yang spiritual energy of extremely high quality; if it had been ordinary spiritual energy, it would probably have been drained even faster.

He calmed down and carefully sensed the area, discovering that there was an extremely thin, invisible membrane at the junction of the sword hilt and the tortoise shell, like some kind of restriction placed on the broken sword itself.

This restriction seems to have a unique characteristic—any spiritual energy that touches it will be absorbed, and the absorption speed increases with the level of cultivation.

When he poured all his spiritual energy into it just now, the membrane reacted exceptionally violently, almost as if it was "tasting" the quality of his spiritual energy.

"This path is blocked." Li Hanshan withdrew his divine sense, having already made his judgment. The owner of this broken sword was far stronger than him at his current level, and the remaining restrictions on the sword were not something he could forcibly break. Pulling out this sword would probably not be so simple.

He emerged from the cave and went to the seashore, immersing his consciousness in the ocean depths to gently touch the giant tortoise's mind: "The sword is bound by a restriction that absorbs spiritual energy. In my current state, I cannot draw it."

The giant tortoise remained silent for a moment, a low ripple emanating from its vast consciousness, sounding like doubt or disappointment.

"However," Li Hanshan continued through his divine sense, "I have a guess—the restriction on that sword seems to only react to spiritual energy. If I were to use pure physical strength to pull it off, I might be able to avoid the restriction's absorption. I recently obtained a body-refining technique; if I could advance it by one or two more levels, perhaps I could shake that sword with pure blood and qi."

The giant tortoise's consciousness trembled slightly, as if it were pondering.

A moment later, it slowly turned around, its massive, island-like body carving a trail in the seawater as it swam westward once more.

Over the next three days, the giant tortoise carried Seagod Island for over a thousand miles, discovering three more islands containing spiritual herbs. On one of these islands, there was even a spiritual fruit that was entirely crimson and radiated heat. Li Hanshan immediately recognized it as the Crimson Sun Fruit, which had miraculous effects on tempering one's blood and qi. He unceremoniously picked all of them, and then discovered a fissure in the earth's veins within a cave on the island, from which he chipped off several crystals rich in spiritual energy.

But Li Hanshan soon discovered a problem—he didn't have a pill-refining furnace. Although the stone pot could be used to refine medicinal pastes, the potions were far less potent than real pills. If he had a pill-refining furnace, he could increase the efficacy of the medicine several times over, and his cultivation progress would be much faster.

He communicated with the giant tortoise again: "I need a pill-refining furnace. I have a decent one in the Northern Wilderness; if I could go back and retrieve it, my pill-refining efficiency would increase several times over."

The giant tortoise remained silent for a long time, so long that Li Hanshan thought it hadn't heard him. But finally, a deep and slow voice conveyed its message, like ripples rising from the deep sea: "Head north. I'll see you off."

Li Hanshan was overjoyed. The giant tortoise, carrying Seagod Island, turned northeast, seemingly slowly, but in reality, its speed was astonishing. The giant tortoise propelled itself beneath the surface, its massive body cutting through layers of water, propelling it towards the Northern Wilderness at a speed far exceeding that of any flying ship. The sea breeze whistled past their ears, and the waves surged and crashed before the island.

"It's getting dark." The sect leader appeared behind him at some point, her black veil re-tied, obscuring her exquisite face, but her voice still carried a gentle tone. "Are we still practicing tonight?"

Li Hanshan was taken aback for a moment, and was about to answer when his Nascent Soul level divine sense suddenly detected an extremely dangerous aura rapidly approaching from the northwest. The aura was chilling and bone-piercing, carrying an extremely strong Yin energy, even stronger than when they fought at the Endless Sea—the demon's injuries were healing faster than expected.

"That demon." Li Hanshan's voice suddenly turned deep, and pure yang energy circulated around his body as he instantly entered battle mode.

The sect leader remained silent, simply facing that direction, as dark spiritual energy surged and gathered around her. Her nascent soul had fully recovered, and the oppressive aura of a peak nascent soul cultivator had once again become as solid as a mountain.

On the distant sea, a thick black fog rolled in, like a moving ink line stretching between the sea and sky, darkening even the waves in its wake. A figure appeared and disappeared within the fog, a hoarse laugh piercing the wind and waves, reaching the two men clearly: "Youngsters! I've finally found you! Today, I'll settle my scores!"

The demon's figure burst forth from the black mist, the Myriad Soul Banner in his hand surging with black light. His injuries had clearly healed considerably, and his aura had returned to the peak of the Nascent Soul stage. He pounced towards Seagod Island at incredible speed, his Yin energy condensing into a hundred-foot-long giant claw that aimed straight for the thatched huts on the island.

The sect leader snorted coldly and struck out with his palm. The black palm print collided with the giant Yin Sha claw, exploding into a blinding black light above the island. The shockwave uprooted several coconut trees on the shore, and a huge crater was created in the sea.

The demon retreated only a few feet before lunging forward again.

Just as the sect leader was about to make another move, Seagod Island suddenly moved. No, it was the giant tortoise beneath Seagod Island that moved. The entire island sank sharply, and then a huge tortoise head broke through the water, even more solemn than during the previous beast tide. Its millstone-sized eyes held an ancient majesty and a hint of impatience, as if it had been repeatedly disturbed by a mosquito.

The demon's movements froze abruptly. His gaze met the giant tortoise's eyes for a moment, and fear finally surfaced on his withered face. He abruptly retreated, but the giant tortoise had already opened its mouth. A low, almost inaudible cry surged from the giant tortoise's throat, not a howl, not a roar, but a release of pure, extreme power—an invisible sound wave, like a transparent giant wall, enveloped in seawater and malevolent energy, slammed heavily into the demon.

The demon was struck as if by a mountain, flying backward. Nearly half of his Yin energy was cleaved away by the blow. He spat out a mouthful of black blood, his aura suddenly weakening, but he dared not linger for a moment. Using the force of the impact, he transformed into a black shadow and fled wildly into the distance.

The giant tortoise did not pursue, as if it had exhausted its patience in dealing with ants with that one bite. It slowly sank back into the water, leaving only a huge whirlpool on the surface of the sea gradually subsiding.

This sudden turn of events slightly startled the sect leader.

She was unaware that the island was on the back of a giant tortoise.

Moreover, this giant tortoise is so powerful that even a Nascent Soul demon was severely injured.

Although surprised, the sect leader reacted extremely quickly.

"Chase!"

She rushed straight over.

Now is the best opportunity to kill the Nascent Soul Demon Lord.

Li Hanshan and the sect leader moved at the same time.

Two streaks of light, one after the other, sped off in the direction the demon had fled. Sword light and black light tore through the sky, the sea receded rapidly beneath their feet, and the disheveled figure in the distance drew ever closer.