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

Inside the cave, the luminous pearl emitted a soft glow.

Li Hanshan sat cross-legged on the stone bed, and the golden light on the surface of the divine infant had become dazzling again.

The resources in the Heavenly Demon Sect Master's storage bag were far more abundant than he had imagined. There were dozens of bottles of pills of grade five or higher, a small mountain of high-grade spirit stones, and several fragments of cultivation manuals from the Central Continent.

Hua Nongying lay on her side beside him, her head resting on his lap, her eyes closed, her breathing long and even. Her hand was still clutching the hem of his clothes, as if confirming that he was still there in her half-dreaming, half-awake state. Yun Shuyue sat on a futon not far away, flipping through a jade slip containing cultivation techniques that she had taken from the Heavenly Demon Sect. Occasionally, she would look up at them, her eyes filled with a gentle smile.

Just then, a communication talisman flew in from outside the cave and hovered in front of Hua Nongying. She opened her eyes, lazily took the talisman, and probed it with her divine sense. Her expression was first taken aback, and then a complex smile appeared on her face.

"Hanlang, an old friend has come to visit." Hua Nongying sat up, straightened her clothes, and winked at Li Hanshan. "Don't come out yet, I'll go greet her. She probably wants to see more than just me."

Li Hanshan raised an eyebrow slightly: "Who?"

"Guess." Hua Nongying smiled mysteriously, already rising and walking towards the cave entrance. The stone door closed behind her, leaving only Li Hanshan and Yun Shuyue inside. Yun Shuyue put down the jade slip, glanced at Li Hanshan, and whispered, "Is it that Holy Maiden of the Heavenly Demon Sect?"

Li Hanshan had a vague idea of ​​who the visitor was, but he didn't expect her to come to him on her own initiative.

On the stone platform outside the cave, Hua Nongying leaned against the stone wall, a long-handled pipe she hadn't smoked in a long time between her fingers, lazily exhaling a puff of smoke. Liu Hanyan stood opposite her, still wearing that black dress, her face cold and beautiful, her posture straight. Although her spiritual power was sealed, she still maintained an unyielding arrogance.

"Long time no see, Nongying." Liu Hanyan spoke first, her voice a few decibels lower than before, her eyes carrying a calmness born of trials and tribulations.

Hua Nongying put away his pipe, looked her up and down a few times, and a cryptic smile appeared on his lips: "It really has been a long time. I didn't expect you to have become a saintess."

Liu Hanyan sighed, "Stop teasing me. The Heavenly Demon Sect is destroyed, what's the point of this Holy Maiden?"

Hua Nongying nodded: "That's true. Tell me, what do you need me for? For the sake of our old friendship, please help me. I will definitely help you."

Liu Hanyan said, "Throughout the Hehuan Sect, you're the only person I know. Although we had different stances back in the secret realm, we at least interacted a few times. You're a smart person; you know what to say and what not to say. That's why I came to find you."

Hua Nongying paused for a moment, then dropped his nonchalant expression and looked at her seriously: "What do you want to say? Do you want me to plead for you? Or do you want me to let you go?"

Liu Hanyan shook her head: "I have nowhere else to go."

Her voice was soft, yet it carried a composure that subtly moved even Hua Nongying. Liu Hanyan raised her head, her gaze passing over Hua Nongying's shoulder to the distant mountain silhouettes in the twilight, and slowly said, "The Heavenly Demon Sect is gone. The sect leader is dead, the elders are dead, and the sect has been seized. Those fellow disciples who were absorbed into the Joyful Union Sect, some have pledged allegiance to the new master, and some have become cultivation vessels. As a Holy Maiden, remaining in the Joyful Union Sect would only make me a piece of fat meat that everyone wants to gnaw on."

She withdrew her gaze and looked directly into Hua Nongying's eyes: "I came to find you to ask you to help me make a connection. I need to see Li Hanshan."

Hua Nongying raised an eyebrow: "Why would I see him?"

"He rose from a hundred-year-old mortal to where he is today, and everyone who followed him met a good end." Liu Hanyan's voice carried a resolute certainty. "I met him in the secret realm, escaped with him in the Netherworld, and witnessed his carnage on the Blood Fiend Sect battlefield. I know him better than those in the Joyful Union Sect who have only heard of his name. He never mistreats his own people and never shows mercy to his enemies."

She paused, her voice lowering slightly: "So, I want to go with him."

Hua Nongying stared at her for a while, then suddenly laughed. The smile lacked its initial mischievousness, instead carrying a hint of genuine appreciation: "You're quite frank. Fine, I'll take you to see him. But let me make this clear first: he has quite a few women around him now. If you're harboring any thoughts of possessing him exclusively, you'd better give up now."

Liu Hanyan gave a faint, smirking smile: "I've seen far more tricks up my sleeve at the Heavenly Demon Sect than you can imagine. To monopolize? That's the most foolish thought."

Hua Nongying stopped talking and turned to push open the stone door of the cave, letting Liu Hanyan in.

Li Hanshan had already sat up straight, his gaze falling on Liu Hanyan as she entered. He nodded slightly: "Hanyan, sit down."

Liu Hanyan paused for a moment. The way he addressed her made her feel dazed for a second. The last time he called her that was in the dark and gloomy ghost realm of the Underworld. Back then, he carried her away from the pursuit of the Golden Core Yin Spirit, and she was lying on his back when she heard that address.

She sat down on the futon opposite the stone couch, her back straight, her hands resting on her knees. Hua Nongying walked over and sat down next to Li Hanshan, relighting her pipe, adopting the posture of someone listening to a play.

"You've come to say goodbye?" Li Hanshan asked bluntly. With the Heavenly Demon Sect destroyed, it was only natural for the Holy Maiden to want to leave the Joyful Union Sect.

Liu Hanyan shook her head: "I have nowhere to go."

Her gaze was fixed on Li Hanshan, her tone calm yet solemn: "The Heavenly Demon Sect was destroyed, and I don't blame you. The law of the jungle prevails in the Northern Wilderness. I asked Nongying to act as a go-between because I wanted to tell you in person—I want to stay."

Li Hanshan looked at her: "Stay in the Hehuan Sect? You can do that now."

Liu Hanyan shook her head: "It's not about staying at the Hehuan Sect. It's about staying by your side."

The air in the cave was still for a moment. Hua Nongying stopped exhaling smoke, and Yun Shuyue also stopped flipping through the jade slip.

Li Hanshan didn't answer immediately. Looking into Liu Hanyan's clear, cold eyes, he could tell she wasn't speaking out of anger, nor was she plotting anything. She had lived in the Heavenly Demon Sect for over twenty years, witnessing its rise and fall, experiencing the dramatic highs and lows of plummeting from the heights to the depths. This experience had given her eyes a greater serenity than before, and had also allowed her to see many things more clearly.

"Why me?" he asked.

Liu Hanyan was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "When we first met in the secret realm, you were just an old man in the Qi Refining stage. You used your divine sense to bewitch me. At that time, I thought you were a cunning old man, not worth paying attention to. Later, in the Yinming Land, you were being chased by two Golden Core cultivators, yet you still carried me on your back to escape. At that time, I thought that although you were ruthless, you still had some humanity. Then, on the battlefield of the Blood Fiend Sect, you killed more than a dozen Golden Core Yin Souls by yourself. At that time, I thought you were a hidden master."

She paused, her voice lowering slightly: "Up until now, you've destroyed the Heavenly Demon Sect, killed the Nascent Soul Demon Lord, and become the strongest Nascent Soul cultivator in the Northern Wilderness. I've watched you come this far step by step, every single one of it crystal clear. In the entire Northern Wilderness, I only trust you."

Li Hanshan looked into her eyes without saying a word. Hua Nongying smoked a cigarette to the side, the rising smoke obscuring her expression.

Liu Hanyan added, "I'm not here to beg you to take me in out of consideration for our past relationship. I'm making a deal. I'll stay here as your Daoist partner, cultivating for you and doing your bidding. When I break through to the Nascent Soul stage and you go to the Central Continent, take me with you."

After she finished speaking, she stopped and waited quietly for his reply.

Li Hanshan remained silent for a moment before slowly speaking, "I swear on my Dao heart that I will not force you to do anything you do not wish to do. If you stay, you are one of my people. You will receive all the resources, cultivation techniques, and conditions you desire. As for going to the Central Continent—we will discuss that after you break through to the Nascent Soul stage."

The power of the oath descended from the sky and entered between their brows. Liu Hanyan sensed that the power of the oath had taken effect, and the last trace of tension in her eyes finally relaxed.

She stood up and bowed to Li Hanshan: "Thank you. I'll go back to my lodgings to settle in now. Please let me know if you need anything."

Li Hanshan's lips curled up slightly: "I've got it."

The stone gate closed.

Hua Nongying put down her pipe, leaned into Li Hanshan's arms, and said with a hint of teasing, "Hanlang, you certainly know how to pick up bargains. The Heavenly Demon Sect was destroyed, but their Holy Maiden offered herself up to you. Do you know how many Golden Core cultivators from the Heavenly Demon Sect wanted to take advantage of her? In the end, she didn't like any of them, but she set her sights on you, this old man."

Li Hanshan reached out and ruffled her hair: "She's a smart woman. If she doesn't come with me, a bunch of people will be watching her. If she comes with me, at least she still has hope of going to Zhongzhou."