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

Li Hanshan flew along the coastline for a good day.

In the past few days, he has encountered many small towns, most of which are inhabited by ordinary people, but Li Hanshan can also sense the presence of cultivators from time to time.

The aura of those cultivators was exactly the same as that of the demonic sect cultivators from the Heavenly Demon Sect and Blood Fiend Sect he had seen in the Northern Wilderness, except that their cultivation methods were more mixed and their auras were quite chaotic.

In the first city, he disguised himself as a passing rogue cultivator and sat for a while at a roadside tea stall. The old man running the stall was at the Qi Refining stage. He poured him a bowl of murky spiritual tea and accepted three low-grade spirit stones. Li Hanshan tentatively asked if there were any major sects nearby, but the old man just shook his head, saying that he was just a small rogue cultivator and knew nothing about such things.

The second city was slightly larger, and contained even more cultivators. Li Hanshan used his divine sense to listen to the casual conversations of some cultivators. He had never heard of any of the sects they mentioned—Blood Shadow Sect, Black Fiend Valley, Netherworld Pavilion—they were clearly demonic sects. When someone mentioned the words "Joyful Union Sect," he pricked up his ears, but only heard the person casually say, "They occupy the best spiritual veins," before changing the subject.

Li Hanshan found the other party in the middle of the night, but after asking some questions, he did not get any useful information.

These people are weak and mostly rogue cultivators. In a place like Zhongzhou, they can't even get into the Hehuan Sect.

The third city remained the same.

Li Hanshan stood on the earthen slope outside the city, gazing at the faint, ethereal light on the distant horizon, his brows slightly furrowed. Back in the Northern Wilderness, when the Joyful Union Sect, the Heavenly Demon Sect, the Blood Fiend Sect, and the Yinming Sect divided the world into four factions, he already felt that the power of the demonic path was considerable.

But when he arrived in Zhongzhou, he discovered that the demonic path here was practically all-powerful. Along the way from the coast, most of the cultivators he encountered practiced demonic arts. Occasionally, he would meet a few with pure auras, but they would hurry through the streets with their heads down, not daring to linger.

He recalled Luo Li's words. She said the Yao Guang Sect was a major righteous sect in the Central Continent, with countless powerful figures within. But judging from the current situation, had the righteous path been relegated to a corner?

Li Hanshan shook his head, suppressing these thoughts for the time being. The most urgent matter was finding the location of the Hehuan Sect's main sect leader. If the sect leader and the others had landed safely, they would likely be heading in that direction.

He didn't linger, ascending on his sword and unleashing his full Nascent Soul level divine sense, spreading out like an invisible net towards the inland. The spiritual energy in the Central Continent was far richer than in the Northern Wilderness, allowing his divine sense to traverse it exceptionally smoothly, covering a much wider area than in the Northern Wilderness. He flew northward, passing several more cities along the way, each larger than the last, with increasingly stronger auras of the cultivators within.

A dozen days later, he arrived in a truly large city.

The city sat on a plain between two mountain ranges. Its walls, about ten zhang high, were constructed of massive stones with a dark purple sheen, their surfaces covered with densely packed defensive array patterns. A long queue stretched before the city gates; some rode spirit beasts, some flew on swords, and others drove beast-drawn chariots. Various colored lights intertwined above the gates, forming a flowing curtain of light. A huge black banner fluttered on the city wall, embroidered with a strange rune in silver thread. The aura emanating from it made Li Hanshan feel a sense of oppression even from a distance.

Above the city gate hangs a huge plaque with three ancient characters: "Netherworld City".

The City of the Underworld. Li Hanshan silently repeated the name in his mind. Instead of rushing into the city, he landed on a secluded hillside outside the city. He sat cross-legged on a blue stone and probed the city with his divine sense.

Although there are many cultivators in the Central Continent, those who have reached the Nascent Soul stage are not everywhere; they are still considered extremely powerful experts.

There were no Nascent Soul cultivators in this city, so they were completely unaware of Li Hanshan's investigation.

The cultivators in the city are mostly at the Foundation Establishment stage, with some at the Golden Core stage, and even some at the Nascent Soul stage. Overall, they are far more advanced than those in the Northern Wilderness.

He identified a cultivator who had just left the city. The man's cultivation level appeared to be only at the early Golden Core stage. He was dressed simply, with an inconspicuous token hanging from his waist, suggesting he was a wandering cultivator who frequently roamed the city. Li Hanshan condensed his divine sense into a thin thread, silently wrapping it around the edge of the man's sea of ​​consciousness.

Just as the man was about to fly away on his sword, he suddenly felt a weight on his head, as if someone had gently patted the back of his head. He stopped and looked around blankly, seeing nothing. Just as he was about to continue walking, a voice rang out in his mind.

"I'll ask, you answer. Keep it quiet."

The man's face turned deathly pale, his steps froze on the spot, and he didn't dare to breathe. Although his cultivation level was not high, he knew that anyone who could silently invade his sea of ​​consciousness was at least a Nascent Soul level being. He opened his mouth and said in an extremely soft voice, "S-Senior, please speak."

"Where is the head sect leader of the Hehuan Sect located?"

The man was taken aback, seemingly not expecting the question. He hesitated for a moment, then said in a low voice, "The Hehuan Sect is located in the Wanling Mountains, occupying one of the five major spiritual veins, the Dragon Spine Spiritual Vein. From Youming City, head southeast, passing through Black Wind Plains and Crimson Flame Valley, then cross the Tianduan Mountains, and you'll arrive."

"How far?"

"At the speed of a Golden Core cultivator, it would take about five months to fly at full speed. A Nascent Soul senior would be much faster, but it would still take more than a month."

Li Hanshan silently made a calculation for a moment, then asked, "Is the Hehuan Sect the only sect in the Wanling Mountain Range?"

The man shook his head: "The Ten Thousand Spirits Mountain Range spans tens of thousands of miles and contains dozens of sects, large and small. However, the Dragon Spine Spirit Vein is occupied by the Joyful Union Sect, which is the best one. The other sects can only get scraps and survive by guarding their own secondary spirit veins."

Li Hanshan nodded, then asked, "What about the righteous path? Are there still righteous immortal sects in the Central Continent?"

The man hesitated for a moment, then lowered his voice even further: "Yes, but they're all in the south. The Immortal Alliance occupies several spiritual veins in the southern border, and their strength is said to be considerable. But compared to the Demonic Path, they're still far inferior. Their territory has been shrinking over the years, and I've heard that several small sects have already been wiped out." His voice trembled slightly as he said this, "Senior, I... I'm just a rogue cultivator, I haven't participated in anything, please don't make things difficult for me..."

Li Hanshan didn't ask any more questions, and his divine sense silently withdrew. The man felt his head lighten, and the oppressive feeling vanished instantly. He was stunned for a moment, then suddenly accelerated and flew away on his sword, not daring to look back.

Li Hanshan stood up, gazing at the outline of the mountain range shrouded in twilight to the southeast, his eyes narrowing slightly. The Dragon Spine Spirit Vein, the Myriad Spirits Mountain Range, the main sect of the Hehuan Sect. He could vaguely sense an extremely dense fluctuation of spiritual energy emanating from that direction, clearly discernible despite the distance.

He did not linger in the Netherworld City, but summoned his flying sword and flew southeast.

After leaving the Netherworld City, the terrain gradually became more complex. He flew over a barren, black wasteland, the earth beneath his feet cracked, wisps of black gas seeping from the fissures, and even the air carried a faint smell of sulfur. After flying for several more days, a continuous, fiery red mountain range appeared ahead, with lava flowing through its valleys and waves of heat rolling in—this was the Crimson Flame Valley that the man had mentioned.

Li Hanshan slowed down his flight above Crimson Flame Valley, and pure yang energy formed a thin golden shield around his body, isolating him from the scorching heat.

Just as he was about to speed through the area, a violent surge of spiritual energy suddenly came from the heatwave ahead.

Several bursts of magical light exploded deep within the valley, accompanied by short shouts of battle and the crisp clang of metal clashing. Li Hanshan's divine sense probed the area and saw, several miles ahead, four cultivators dressed in gray robes fiercely attacking a woman in white. The woman appeared to be in her early twenties, with a beautiful face, wielding a white longsword whose blade shimmered with a pale blue light, clearly of exceptional quality. However, her cultivation was only at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm, while the four gray-robed cultivators included two at the mid-stage and two at the early stage of the Golden Core realm. Outnumbered four to one, she was struggling to defend herself, her white dress torn in several places, and a gash in her left sleeve revealing traces of blood.

One of the gray-robed cultivators held a fist-sized gray bead in his hand, emanating an extremely cold aura. Each activation of the bead caused a thin layer of frost to rise from the ground. Li Hanshan's gaze fell on the gray-robed cultivators' robes; a dark rune, shaped like an inverted dry well, was embroidered at the hem of their robes. He suddenly recalled some information he had previously gathered: in Zhongzhou, there was a heretical sect skilled in manipulating corpses and bones, called the Yinquan Sect.

The woman was forced against a rock wall, with nowhere to retreat. Gritting her teeth, she held her sword horizontally in front of her. The gray-robed cultivator at the head chuckled, "Little lady, you can't escape now. Surrender obediently."

The woman spat and said coldly, "Your Yinquan Sect kidnapped my Immortal Alliance disciples and turned them into corpse puppets. I will rather die than let you succeed."

"Stubborn to the end." The gray-robed cultivator sneered, and the gray bead in his hand lit up again, sending a chilling aura toward the woman's face.

At that moment, Li Hanshan's divine sense caught the key to her words—the Immortal Alliance. The Righteous Path Alliance.

If Luo Li's Yao Guang Sect were in Zhongzhou, it would certainly be within the Immortal Alliance.

He stopped watching. A purple-gold streak of light suddenly descended from the valley floor, and a fist-sized fireball silently slammed into the gray-robed cultivator at the side. He was focused on the white-clad woman and hadn't expected the sneak attack. The fireball struck him precisely in the back, the pure yang fire instantly burning through his protective aura, charring his clothes and flesh black. He screamed in agony as he was blasted away, crashing heavily against the rock wall and sliding to the ground, motionless.

The remaining three gray-robed cultivators were shocked. One of them turned around and saw an old man with white hair and beard standing not far behind them, surrounded by purple-gold flames, slowly retracting the action of flicking his finger.

"A Nascent Soul cultivator!" a gray-robed cultivator exclaimed. "It's a Nascent Soul cultivator! Retreat!"

The three reacted quickly, transforming into three streaks of gray light and scattering in different directions before they could finish speaking. Li Hanshan raised his hand and fired two more fireballs, accurately catching up with two of them. One had his head blown off, and the other had his left leg blown off as he fell from the sky. The last one ran the fastest, using the complex rock walls of the valley as cover, disappearing into the depths of the heatwave in a few flashes.

Li Hanshan did not pursue, but landed in front of the woman in white.

The woman leaned against the rock wall, her white longsword hanging limply in her hand. Her face was pale, and blood still seeped from the wound on her left arm, but her eyes were wary and bright as she carefully scrutinized Li Hanshan, as if trying to determine his origins. After a moment, she seemed to confirm something, and the wariness in her eyes eased slightly. She bowed to Li Hanshan, clasping her sword in gratitude: "Thank you for saving my life, senior. I am Shen Qingyue, a disciple of the Southern Frontier Immortal Alliance."

Li Hanshan looked at her and nodded: "What are you doing here? Are those people from the Yinquan Sect?"