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

The three attacks arrived almost simultaneously.

Elder Chang's black blade, imbued with a dense, bone-corroding demonic aura, aimed straight for Li Hanshan's back.

Elder Zhao's demonic claw, accompanied by a piercing shriek that seemed to tear through space, swept in from the left. The First Elder's bluish-gray palm print came head-on, carrying the culmination of his life's spiritual power, its momentum as immense as a collapsing mountain.

Li Hanshan did not back down.

The pure Yang fire surged violently around him, the purplish-gold flames erupting like a volcano, engulfing his entire body. The flames, carrying the faint afterglow of the power of the Heavenly Dao, collided fiercely with the three mid-stage Nascent Soul forces.

With a deafening roar, the ground of the plaza cracked open in a spiderweb pattern, sending shards of stone flying and dust billowing into the sky. Li Hanshan's body suddenly sank downwards, his feet sinking several inches into the ground, yet he remained firmly standing in the center. The two attacks from behind were completely blocked by the fire shield, while the bluish-gray palm print in front of him was caught by him with one hand. Pure Yang fire eroded upwards along the palm print, scorching the spiritual energy with a hissing sound.

The elder's expression suddenly changed. He had used eighty percent of his strength in that palm strike, yet Li Hanshan caught it with one hand.

The old man's palm was like a branding iron, and pure yang fire was pouring back along his palm print, scorching the spiritual energy in his meridians. He abruptly withdrew his hand, took several steps back, and the scorch marks on his palm were glaringly obvious.

Elder Chang's pupils contracted slightly. His black blade did indeed tear through the fire shield on Li Hanshan's back, leaving a cut on his robe, but the backlash from the pure yang fire also scorched the demonic energy on his blade.

Elder Zhao's demonic claws were mostly blocked by the fire shield, and the sharp claw tips left three shallow bloody marks on Li Hanshan's shoulder, nothing more.

Elder Chang quickly grasped the key point – three mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivators besieging one early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator should have been an overwhelming victory.

However, the old man's pure yang fire was of such high quality that each contact with the three's spiritual energy caused noticeable burning and depletion. Although the three had a numerical advantage, each attack came at an extra cost.

"Hold him back! Deplete his spiritual power!" Elder Chang shouted, his figure flashing out once more. His black blade transformed into a shower of blade shadows, pouring down on Li Hanshan like a torrential rain. Elder Zhao's demonic claws also flanked from the side, forming a pincer attack with the Grand Elder's palm print.

Although Li Hanshan was fighting three opponents alone and still managed to handle the situation calmly, the rate at which his spiritual energy was being consumed had indeed accelerated.

Each of his sword strikes required him to contend with attacks from three sides; even the highest quality of pure yang fire couldn't withstand such a war of attrition.

Elder Chang clearly saw this as well, and his attacks became increasingly fierce, with black blade shadows pouring out as if they were free, forcing Li Hanshan to be distracted in his defense.

Elder Zhao's demonic claws were equally ferocious, each claw accompanied by a shriek that tore through the air. Combined with the Grand Elder's head-on charge, the three of them formed a tight net, enveloping Li Hanshan layer by layer.

"His spiritual power is almost depleted!" the Grand Elder shouted, his voice brimming with barely suppressed excitement. "Give it your all!"

The three intensified their attacks simultaneously. Elder Chang's black blade suddenly doubled in size, fine blood-red patterns appearing on its surface—a secret technique he activated with his own blood essence, several times more powerful than before. Elder Zhao's demonic claws also ignited, their tips glowing with a dark red light, each claw carrying a searing pain that burned the soul. The First Elder went all out, a golden talisman exploding in his palm, transforming into a golden sword light that hurtled directly towards Li Hanshan.

The three strongest attacks arrived simultaneously.

Li Hanshan was compressed into a cramped space, his pure Yang fire armor humming under the strain, its surface riddled with cracks. He parried Elder Chang's blade shadows, Elder Zhao's giant claws, and the Great Elder's sword light in succession, each step he took backward causing the ground beneath his feet to shatter even deeper.

Just as he was about to be cornered, a red beam of light suddenly shot out from the ruins on the side of the square.

The streaking light was extremely sharp, carrying an explosive, fiery aura, and slammed into Elder Zhao's side. Caught off guard, Elder Zhao was forced back several steps, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, and the giant demonic claw instantly dissipated. He turned his head sharply and saw the red figure stagger to the ground, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, his face as pale as paper, yet still standing ramrod straight—it was none other than the Second Elder, who should have been seriously injured.

"Second Elder?!" the First Elder exclaimed, "What are you doing—"

"Why aren't you completely dead?" The Second Elder wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, a weary sneer in her beautiful eyes. "You're not dead yet, how can I, this elder, die first?"

After saying this, she coughed up blood, and her breath weakened again. Clearly, that attack was the last bit of strength she could muster. After forcibly breaking through Elder Zhao's demonic energy defense, she even began to sway slightly as she stood.

But this brief interruption was enough.

Taking advantage of the opportunity presented by Elder Zhao being forced back and the opening of the three-person encirclement, Li Hanshan unleashed his Nascent Soul-level divine sense, like a massive hammer, slamming it down on the Grand Elder in front of him.

The Grand Elder was doing his best to maintain the operation of the golden sword light when his sea of ​​consciousness was suddenly crushed by the divine sense of the Nascent Soul level, as if he had been hit by an iron hammer. His whole body stiffened for a moment, and the light of the golden sword light suddenly dimmed by more than half.

It was in that very moment.

Li Hanshan's figure disappeared from the spot.

A streak of purplish-gold flame, like a shooting star streaking across the dark night, appeared instantly before the Grand Elder. A longsword formed from pure Yang fire swept cleanly through the void, its sword intent so sharp it tore the air itself apart. The Grand Elder's golden sword light shattered like paper under this strike. A second sword followed immediately, aimed straight for the Grand Elder's chest.

The Grand Elder's expression changed drastically. In his haste, he tried to activate his spiritual armor to defend himself, but the blade of pure Yang fire had already pierced through the cracked blue spiritual armor, precisely striking his heart and exiting from his back. The pure Yang fire exploded within his body, burning away the remaining spiritual energy in his meridians and turning his internal organs into charred lumps.

The elder looked down at the smoking hole in his chest, the smugness on his lips still frozen, but the light in his eyes had vanished. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but only managed a short, labored breath before collapsing to the ground like a withered tree trunk.

The purplish-gold flames danced a few times on his corpse before slowly dying out.

The Grand Elder died on the spot.