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

Li Hanshan put away the Pure Yang Fire and turned to walk deeper into the cave.

The eighteen Immortal Alliance disciples, chained to the stone pillars, stared at him with wide eyes, their expressions a mixture of bewilderment, terror, and a faint glimmer of hope. Their faces were deathly pale, their lips purple, and a thin layer of gray mist swirled around them—the marks of being tainted by Yin energy for several days; any further delay would indeed damage their meridians and foundations.

Without saying much, he stepped forward, and pure yang fire condensed at his fingertips into golden threads as thin as hair, precisely severing the chains. The broken chains hissed, glowing slightly red from the scorching pure yang fire. Some of the rescued disciples collapsed to the ground, some struggled to their feet, and others opened their mouths as if to say something, but only managed a few hoarse gasps.

Shen Qingyue rushed over and, seeing that the rescued disciples were still alive, her eyes reddened slightly. She didn't lose her composure; instead, she quickly walked to the group, used her spiritual power to sense the condition of each person's meridians, and said in a weary but still clear voice, "Those who can walk, go first; those who can't, help each other." She turned to Li Hanshan and bowed solemnly, "Senior, I cannot thank you enough. The Immortal Alliance owes you a favor."

She took out a pale blue token from her bosom and presented it with both hands: "This is the Immortal Alliance's Guest Elder Token. The holder of this token can freely enter and leave the Immortal Alliance's territory, and each city branch will provide assistance to the best of its ability." She paused, then added sincerely, "Although the Immortal Alliance is not as powerful as the Demonic Path, it has cultivated its influence in the Southern Frontier for many years and has some foundation. If you encounter any difficulties in the future, Senior, you can come to the Immortal Alliance to find me."

Li Hanshan took the token; it was warm to the touch. Its surface was engraved with intricate runes, and at its core was a wisp of divine consciousness imprint, which should correspond to Shen Qingyue's identity. He carefully put the token away and nodded: "I'll remember."

Without any formalities, he glanced at the eighteen Immortal Alliance disciples who were helping each other to their feet, and said, "You should leave now. Before the Yinquan Sect reacts, get out of this area as soon as possible."

Shen Qingyue didn't linger. After bowing to Li Hanshan again in thanks, she led her disciples out of the cave. Her steps were steady and swift, her white longsword never sheathed, protecting the rear of the group and ensuring everyone kept up.

Eighteen figures disappeared one after another into the darkness at the entrance to the crevice, their footsteps fading into the distance, swallowed by the chilling aura of the cave. Li Hanshan stood there, watching them leave, only turning his gaze away when the last figure disappeared around the corner.

Just as he was about to turn around, a very faint fluctuation suddenly came from his sea of ​​consciousness. The fluctuation came from the depths of the soul banner, carrying a warm and familiar soul power aura—it was Xiao An. She had woken up.

Li Hanshan was overjoyed. He took out the Soul Banner and gently shook it. A black light shot out from the banner, landed in front of him, and slowly condensed into a slender figure. Xiao An's soul body was much more solid than before. His features were so clear that there was almost no trace of a Yin spirit. The Yin energy surrounding him was restrained like water, and the pressure he exuded was deep and vast, far exceeding the scope of the peak of the Golden Core stage.

"Senior," Xiao An's voice remained calm, yet carried an barely suppressed joy, "I'm awake."

Li Hanshan sensed her aura, his pupils contracting slightly. Seventh level of the Nascent Soul realm—her cultivation had already broken through to the seventh level of the Nascent Soul realm. This was already considered late-stage Nascent Soul. This speed was unbelievably fast.

"You…" Li Hanshan couldn't help but ask, "You've completely digested the primordial spirit of the Nascent Soul Demon?"

Xiao An shook her head: "I've only digested less than 30%. The rest still needs to be refined slowly. But even with just this 30%, I've already broken through to the seventh level of the Nascent Soul stage." Her tone carried a hint of unfinished business. Her gaze swept over the Yin Sha crystals gleaming with a ghostly green light on the cave walls, then over the remains of the corpse puppets left behind. A glint of light flashed in her eyes. "Senior, there's very strong Yin energy here. I can sense a Yin vein deep underground, and its concentration is quite high."

Li Hanshan followed her gaze to the ground deep within the cave. He could feel the yin energy seeping up from the cracks in the ground, though not as concentrated as in the Yin Netherworld of the Northern Wilderness, it was much purer. If Xiao An could absorb and refine it here, it would greatly benefit her digestion of her primordial spirit and the stabilization of her nascent soul foundation.

"You stay here and absorb it," he said. "I also need to process some spoils of war. Absorb them before you leave."

Xiao An nodded, without saying much. She sat cross-legged in the center of the cave, her hands forming a mudra, and activated the Netherworld Record Technique at full power. The Yin energy that had been lingering on the cave walls was drawn towards her as if by an invisible vortex, forming an increasingly thick gray mist around her. Nourished by this Yin energy, her aura slowly rose, though not by much, it was steady and continuous.

Li Hanshan stopped bothering her and turned to walk towards the corpses of the Yinquan Sect cultivators he had killed. He collected the storage bags of the three Nascent Soul cultivators one by one, probing them with his divine sense. There were quite a few spirit stones, several bottles of pills, and some low-grade Yin Sha magic artifacts, all of which he casually put into his ring. His movements only paused slightly when he opened the storage bag of the third Nascent Soul cultivator.

In the corner of his storage bag lay several gray-black jade slips. He took one out and probed it with his divine sense. Dense runes and characters unfolded in his mind. It was a complete manual on the crafting of corpse puppets, detailing how to use living people as materials, through the infiltration of Yin energy, the imprinting of runes, and the tempering with soul fire, to gradually transform a physical body into a bronze, silver, or even gold corpse. The language was obscure and cold, exuding a nauseating cruelty between the lines. Every step was based on the sacrifice of living people, leaving no room for compromise.

He put down the jade slip and picked up the second one.

This document records the method of setting up the "Gathering Yin Corpse Nurturing Array". It accelerates the refining efficiency of corpse puppets by extracting the yin energy of the earth veins. If a large array is operating at full capacity, it can produce hundreds of bronze-level combatants every year.

The third item is a secret technique for controlling corpses, which uses divine sense imprints to control corpse puppets, and can control up to a hundred at the same time.

Li Hanshan examined the jade slips one by one, remained silent for a moment, and then shook his head: "As expected of the demonic path. Compared to these, the Joyful Union Sect seems benevolent."

He recalled the million skeletons in the canyon of the Northern Wilderness Hehuan Sect; those who died from being drained of their life essence at least had the experience of being cultivators.

The Yinquan Sect's corpse-refining method, however, directly transforms living people into artifacts, trapping their souls within the corpse puppets from which they cannot escape. The cruelty of this method far surpasses that of the Hehuan Sect.