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

Two streaks of light tore through the sky one after the other, and the sea receded rapidly beneath their feet.

The demon fled extremely fast. Even though the giant tortoise's attack had reduced its Yin energy by nearly half, the foundation of a Nascent Soul cultivator was still terrifying.

His figure was like a wisp of black smoke, appearing and disappearing at the junction of clouds and water, each flash creating a distance of tens of miles.

Li Hanshan activated his divine infant with all his might, and the purple-gold escape light left a long trail of flame behind him, but he was still unable to close the distance to within the effective attack range.

The sect leader followed closely beside him, her black dress billowing in the wind, her aura at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage restored to its zenith.

However, the continuous high-speed flight consumed a great deal of spiritual energy, and her breathing became more rapid than usual, but her gaze remained fixed on the fleeing black shadow in front of her, without shifting even slightly.

"He was badly injured."

The sect leader's voice carried on the wind, tinged with certainty, "That attack at least eroded thirty percent of his cultivation. He's only managing to escape with his remaining strength. He won't last much longer."

Li Hanshan nodded and used all his divine sense at the Nascent Soul level to probe forward.

That divine sense was like an invisible net, spread across the sea for hundreds of miles, penetrating the clouds, penetrating the water mist, and even penetrating the water layer several feet deep below the surface.

Although the demon's aura was elusive, it remained within his perception range, like a lamp flickering in the dark. He could feel the aura weakening little by little, and the trajectory of its flight began to deviate slightly, clearly indicating that its spiritual energy could not keep up with the rate of consumption.

"If we chase him for another two days, he will surely be exhausted," Li Hanshan said.

The sect leader didn't respond, but her escape speed increased even more.

Dark spiritual energy surged around her, cutting the oncoming gale into fine streams, like a black blade cleaving the barrier between the sea and the sky.

The demon ahead seemed to sense the pursuers accelerating behind him, letting out a hoarse, cold laugh. The sound was torn to shreds by the wind, yet still managed to reach their ears fragment by fragment: "You're courting death... Do you really think I can't escape?"

He suddenly shook the tattered Ten Thousand Souls Banner in his hand, and three black lights shot out from the banner, transforming into three burly Yin spirits that pounced on Li Hanshan and the sect leader.

These three Yin spirits possessed a fierce aura, all at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm, clearly one of his trump cards. They bared their fangs and claws, their sharp claws enveloped in intense Yin energy, causing even the air to ripple with gray-black energy wherever they passed.

The sect leader snorted coldly and unleashed a black palm print, causing the leading Yin spirit to tremble violently. But just as she regained her footing, the other two Yin spirits circled around to her side, their sharp claws aimed straight for her ribs.

Li Hanshan was prepared. Pure Yang fire condensed in his palm into a purple-gold flame sword, its blade burning with an extremely hot golden light. With a sweeping motion, he forced back the two Yin spirits that were rushing towards him from the side.

The pure yang fire has an extremely strong restraining effect on yin spirits. Where the sword blade grazed the two yin spirits, their souls were as if branded by red-hot iron, emitting a hissing and scorching sound, and large patches of their edges cracked and dissipated.

"roll!"

With a flick of his wrist, Li Hanshan's flaming longsword traced a complete arc in the air, encircling all three Yin spirits.

The temperature of the pure yang fire suddenly soared, and the three yin spirits in the early stage of the nascent soul stage let out a short shriek. Their soul bodies cracked one after another, and finally exploded like shattered glass, turning into black fragments all over the sky. They were blown away by the sea breeze and disappeared without a trace.

The sect leader glanced at him, a hint of approval in his eyes: "Your flames are becoming increasingly refined."

Li Hanshan sheathed his flaming sword without replying.

His attention remained fixed on the approaching dark figure ahead. The demon's spiritual energy was indeed at its limit; after releasing the three Nascent Soul Yin Souls, his speed had slowed further. The distance between them had decreased from three hundred li to two hundred li, and then from two hundred li to one hundred li.

The demon seemed to sense the pursuers rapidly closing in, a ruthless glint appearing on his withered face. He suddenly bit his tongue, spitting out a mouthful of blood, and rapidly formed hand seals in front of his chest.

The essence blood transformed into a twisted crimson rune in the air. The rune spun violently and then exploded with a "bang," turning into a thick crimson mist that enveloped the sea surface for dozens of miles around.

A pungent, sweet, and pungent stench permeated the blood-red mist, as if the coffin lids of thousands of rotting corpses had been simultaneously ripped open.

The mist seemed to have the effect of disrupting divine sense. When Li Hanshan's Nascent Soul level divine sense probed into it, it was as if he had sunk into a viscous swamp, and his perception range was reduced by seventy or eighty percent. The mist continued to surge and expand, as if it were alive, rapidly spreading along the sea surface, trying to envelop the two of them.

"It's the Blood Fiend Blinding Technique," the sect leader's voice came through the mist, tinged with solemnity. "It uses essence blood as a conduit, specifically designed to suppress divine sense probing. Moreover, the mist itself is corrosive; one cannot remain within it for too long."

Without hesitation, Li Hanshan unleashed a layer of pure Yang fire, forming a purple-gold flame armor around his body that scorched away the approaching crimson mist. However, the mist was spreading too rapidly; although he could still barely move through it, his speed inevitably slowed. The demon seized the opportunity to accelerate, widening the distance between them once again.

"Xiao An," Li Hanshan whispered to himself.

A flash of black light appeared within the soul banner, and Xiao An's figure emerged from it. A deep blue soul power instantly shone around her, like a blue lamp piercing through the mist. She activated the Netherworld Record Technique at full power, and the crimson mist scattered as she approached, as if encountering a natural nemesis. Xiao An formed hand seals, and five Netherworld Chains shot out simultaneously, like invisible ropes piercing the depths of the mist, precisely locking onto the direction the demon was fleeing.

"Senior, over here!" Xiao An's voice rang in his mind, and his figure transformed into a blue light, breaking through the layers of blood mist and chasing after the demon.

Li Hanshan and the sect leader followed closely behind. With Xiao An clearing the way, the interference from the crimson mist was greatly reduced, and the pursuit speed picked up again. The demon clearly hadn't expected the opponent to have a Nascent Soul-level Yin Soul as an ally. In his haste, he glanced back, a flash of shock and anger in his eyes. He released two more Yin Souls to cover his retreat, but these two Yin Souls were only at the peak of the Golden Core stage, and were easily cleaved into pieces by a single pure Yang sword qi from Li Hanshan.

"Where did your ghost come from?" The sect leader glanced at him as she sped along, her tone tinged with surprise. She knew, of course, that Li Hanshan possessed a soul banner, but she had no idea that it contained a ghost at the Nascent Soul level. The oppressive force released by those five Netherworld Chains was clearly at the mid-Nascent Soul level, and the ghost's cultivation technique was extremely refined, completely different from the evil arts of the Yinming Sect.

"Master, we'll talk about that later." Li Hanshan didn't explain further, his gaze fixed on the dark figure ahead. "He's about to collapse."

Sure enough, after releasing two waves of ghostly spirits to cover his retreat, the demon's aura weakened further. His flight speed had dropped from 30% to 20%, and his figure swayed unsteadily in the twilight, as if he might fall from the sky at any moment. But he still didn't stop, fleeing with all his might towards the northwest.

At dawn on the third day, the demon suddenly changed direction, no longer fleeing in a straight line, but instead tracing an arc to the northwest. Li Hanshan frowned—the seawater in that direction appeared unusually turbid, like ink spreading in water. The concentration of spiritual energy in the air was also changing rapidly, fluctuating wildly, as if some chaotic spiritual energy field was interfering with normal operation.

"He's leading us somewhere," the sect leader said coldly. "This isn't the right way."

Li Hanshan also noticed it. Although the demon's escape route seemed chaotic, it always headed in the same direction. He wasn't running away aimlessly, but deliberately leading the two in circles, as if guiding them to a pre-set trap. The undercurrents beneath the sea became turbulent, and a large amount of dense demonic energy could be vaguely sensed moving in the depths, like countless eyes slowly opening in the darkness.

"Knowing it's a trap, would you still chase after it?" Li Hanshan asked.

The sect leader was silent for a moment, his gaze falling on the swaying black figure: "Chase him. He won't last much longer. Even if there are traps, he won't have time to set up too many. In a place like this, the only temporary advantages one can use are natural terrain—monster lairs, underwater spiritual veins, or some kind of natural barrier. But in his current state, even if he triggers those things, he might not be able to escape unscathed."

She paused, her voice deepening, "Moreover, if we let him escape back to the Northern Wilderness, the consequences will be dire."

Li Hanshan nodded, and the pure Yang energy within his divine infant surged once more, increasing the speed of his escape. Xiao Anfei led the way, the Netherworld Chains acting like probing tentacles, weaving through the murky seawater and chaotic spiritual energy, constantly relaying the demon's escape trajectory back to Li Hanshan.

On the evening of the fourth day, the seawater changed from deep blue to an almost dark purple hue. Scattered bone fragments and broken shells floated on the surface, emitting a faint stench of decay. The demon finally stopped before an open area of ​​sea. He hovered in mid-air, his body swaying violently, a sinister smile on his withered face, the black blood at the corner of his mouth still damp, and his ghostly green eyes filled with madness.

"We've arrived," he uttered hoarsely, his voice sounding as if he were squeezing the last bit of strength out of his throat.

At this moment, Li Hanshan's Nascent Soul level divine sense detected the anomalies in all directions. Beneath the sea surface, countless powerful auras of demonic beasts were rapidly rising, like a group of volcanoes that had been dormant for hundreds of years simultaneously awakening, erupting one after another from the deep sea. Each aura carried an extremely intense and violent intent of slaughter, their sheer number like an overturned beehive, densely packed and overwhelming.

"Not good—" The sect leader's expression changed drastically.

The sea exploded at that moment.