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

"Faster!" Li Hanshan shouted, and pure Yang fire exploded beneath his feet. The purple-gold escape light suddenly accelerated, enveloping the sect leader, Qin Muyue, Leng Yue, and Chu Mengyao. His Nascent Soul level divine sense had already detected the disturbance behind them—although the Nascent Soul cultivators from the Heavenly Demon Sect were being held back by Deacon Xu, it was clear that the Heavenly Demon Sect had sent more than just two. On the distant sea, a dozen Nascent Soul level auras, like a group of sharks smelling blood, were rapidly pursuing them in the direction they had fled.

"They've caught up." The sect leader's voice came from beside her, heavy and calm. She glanced back, a cold glint flashing in her eyes behind the black veil.

Li Hanshan also sensed it. More than a dozen Nascent Soul auras were rapidly approaching, some of them exceptionally powerful, clearly indicating they were at the mid- or even late-stage Nascent Soul realm. The Heavenly Demon Sect had obviously been prepared; Deacon Xu had fallen into an ambush, and they were all within the scope of the hunt.

"Fly forward, don't look back." Li Hanshan pushed his speed to the limit, and the purple-gold escape light drew a long trail of flame on the blue-green sea.

The dozen or so black streaks of light behind them relentlessly pursued, the distance between them gradually closing. The auras of those Nascent Soul cultivators from the Heavenly Demon Sect grew clearer and closer, like a pack of hunting dogs chasing wounded prey. Their streaks of light cleaved the sea, creating long, deep trenches, waves surging and splashing, producing a deafening roar.

The sect leader suddenly spoke up: "They're just trying to stall us. They'll deal with Deacon Xu after those two Nascent Soul cultivators have settled things."

Li Hanshan understood this as well. It was uncertain how long Deacon Xu could hold out against two opponents. Once those two Nascent Soul cultivators were free, they would have no chance of escape. They had to shake off their pursuers before then, or at least get everyone else out of there.

He abruptly stopped, his purple-gold escape light drawing a sharp arc in the void.

"Hanyan!" he called out without turning his head.

Han Yan flew up from behind, her long black dress fluttering in the sea breeze, her cold and beautiful eyes filled with solemnity.

"Take them away." Li Hanshan looked into her eyes and said, enunciating each word clearly, "Fly southeast at full speed, don't stop. Once you find the people from the main sect, you'll be safe."

Han Yan opened her mouth, seemingly wanting to say something, but was silenced by a glance from Li Hanshan. She paused for a moment, then nodded sharply, turned and grabbed Qin Muyue's arm, her other hand reaching for Leng Yue's shoulder. The sect leader glanced at Li Hanshan, a complex emotion flashing in his deep eyes. His lips moved, but he ultimately uttered only three words: "Don't die."

"He won't die."

Li Hanshan turned around, and the pure Yang fire surged violently around him. The purplish-gold flames, like an erupting volcano, enveloped his entire body, transforming into a giant flaming sword lying across the sea. He looked at the rapidly approaching black light ahead, and the long-forged divine soul sword in his sea of ​​consciousness trembled slightly, like a sleeping beast smelling blood.

There were twelve people who came.

Leading the group was a gaunt middle-aged man with the highest cultivation level, at the late Nascent Soul stage. Behind him were two mid-Nascent Soul cultivators and nine Heavenly Demon Sect cultivators ranging from early to mid-Nascent Soul stages. Twelve black streaks of light dispersed in mid-air, forming a semi-circular encirclement that converged on Li Hanshan.

"Just you alone?" The gaunt man glanced at the several streaks of light that had already disappeared behind Li Hanshan, a cold smile appearing on his lips. "You're quite loyal. Too bad, loyal people usually die the fastest."

Without a word, he raised his hand and unleashed a black spell. The other Heavenly Demon Sect cultivators also attacked simultaneously, twelve black spells pouring down on Li Hanshan like a torrential rain, turning the sky within a hundred feet in diameter black.

Li Hanshan did not back down.

Pure Yang fire surged around him, its purplish-gold light piercing the darkness like a rising sun breaking through the swirling black magic. He formed hand seals, and a fireball several times larger than usual condensed in his palm, which he then hurled at the black torrent. The fireball collided with the black magic in mid-air, exploding into a blinding light and tearing a gap in the inky blackness. Li Hanshan flashed through the gap, his pure Yang fire coalescing into a longsword, which he slashed at the nearest early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

The cultivator hastily conjured a black shield to defend himself, but a single sword strike cleaved the shield, leaving it riddled with cracks, and sent him flying backward. Li Hanshan did not pursue, as attacks from other cultivators were already upon him. He trod on fiery clouds, his figure weaving left and right amidst the swirling spells, each dodge precisely avoiding the attacks, occasionally seizing an opening to counterattack with a sword strike, forcing the Heavenly Demon Sect cultivators to divert their attention to defense.

But the difference in numbers is too great.

The attack from the twelve Nascent Soul cultivators was like an impenetrable net, constantly compressing his space. Black spells rained down one after another, forcing him to focus on defense, and his Pure Yang Fire was being consumed much faster than expected.

The gaunt man hovered outside the battle circle, arms crossed, watching coldly. He watched Li Hanshan struggle against the onslaught, his sneer deepening. He slowly raised his right hand, fingers slightly spread, and a black beam of light, several times thicker than the others, condensed in his palm, like a fully charged crossbow bolt, aiming at a gap in Li Hanshan's defense.

Right now.

Li Hanshan forced back the two cultivators in front of him with a single sword strike, and the Divine Soul Sword in his sea of ​​consciousness was finally unsheathed. A golden sword shadow, like a silent bolt of lightning, shot from between his brows, precisely piercing the withered man's sea of ​​consciousness. The withered man was preparing to unleash the long-accumulated black beam of light when the Divine Soul Sword pierced his sea of ​​consciousness, as if a red-hot iron rod had been plunged into his brain. His body stiffened abruptly, and the black beam of light in his hand lost control, exploding in his palm and turning his own right arm into a bloody mess.

He let out a short, muffled groan, his body jerking backward, his eyes filled with disbelief.

It was this one moment of weakness that caused the opening.

Li Hanshan ignited the last vestige of spiritual power within his Pure Yang Meridian. A surge of purplish-gold flames erupted around him, and a massive flaming sword swept out, forcing the cultivators surrounding him back several feet. He seized the opening, transforming into a streak of purplish-gold light, bursting through the gap in the encirclement and flying at full speed towards the southeast.

"Chase him! Don't let him get away!"

A gaunt man's roar came from behind, filled with undisguised anger and pain. Blood was still flowing from his right arm, but the spell in his left hand had already reformed and was being unleashed in the direction Li Hanshan was fleeing. But Li Hanshan was too fast; the spell grazed his back, creating a water column tens of feet high on the sea, but it didn't harm him in the slightest.

Li Hanshan flew away at full speed for a day and a night.

For the first few hours, the pursuers were close behind, but as his spiritual power gradually recovered, his purple-gold escape light grew faster and faster, and the Heavenly Demon Sect cultivators were finally left behind. When he looked back again, there was no trace of the black escape light on the sea surface, only surging waves and the occasional seabird flying by.

He gradually slowed down, panting heavily.

The battle had been incredibly taxing. The combined attack of twelve Nascent Soul cultivators, along with the final, full-force release of the Divine Soul Sword, had nearly depleted his spiritual energy, leaving his sea of ​​consciousness completely empty. He took out several Rejuvenation Pills and swallowed them. A warm current flowed slowly through his meridians, and his parched dantian began to gather a faint amount of spiritual energy again.

"I'm lost." He looked up and around, realizing he had long since strayed from the southeast and had no idea where he had flown off to. There were no landmarks on the sea; he couldn't see any land, ships, or even birds.

He could only continue flying in one direction. Fortunately, that sea area was approaching the coastal region of Tianyuan Continent. After flying for more than ten days, a long, grayish-brown outline finally appeared on the sea, and the outline of the coastline became clearer and clearer. He saw a thin layer of white mist floating above the coastline, like a thin veil covering the entire land.

The moment Li Hanshan passed through the thin mist, he froze.

A dense, almost tangible spiritual energy rushed towards him, each breath feeling like drinking spiritual tea. This energy seeped into his pores, flowing automatically along his meridians, nourishing his dantian and nascent soul without requiring any conscious effort. He stood there, taking a deep breath, feeling every inch of his body leap with joy.

"This is the Tianyuan Continent..." he murmured to himself, his voice filled with barely suppressed amazement.

The spiritual energy here is more than ten times denser than that of the main peak of the Hehuan Sect where he used to live.

If the spiritual energy of the Northern Wilderness was a small stream, then the spiritual energy of the Tianyuan Continent was a rushing river; they were on completely different levels. He finally understood why cultivators in the Central Continent cultivated much faster than those in the Northern Wilderness—in such an environment, even people of average talent could cultivate faster than the geniuses of the Northern Wilderness.