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

three days later.

The protective shield finally gave way.

The silvery-white light barrier was riddled with cracks under the continuous bombardment from Deacon Xu and the two Nascent Soul cultivators of the Heavenly Demon Sect. Like an ice surface being repeatedly pounded, it emitted a hum that could not bear the weight. Ye Shuanghua stood at the edge of the defensive barrier, holding her silvery-white inner sword in her hand. The ice crack patterns on the sword blade gleamed with a cold luster in the dim light.

Li Hanshan leaned against the bulkhead at the back of the cabin. After three days of recovery, his face was still pale, and the spiritual energy in his dantian had only recovered to less than 10%. But he could stand up now, although his legs were still a little weak. At least he was no longer like a tattered rag doll that had been drained of all its strength, as he had been three days ago.

"We're about to break the formation," Ye Shuanghua said without turning her head.

Before the words were even finished, the defensive shield shattered with a deafening roar.

Silvery-white fragments scattered like shattered glass, turning into countless points of light that dissipated into the air. Deacon Xu's black palm print pierced through the fragments, carrying intense demonic energy and killing intent. The two Nascent Soul cultivators from the Heavenly Demon Sect also attacked simultaneously; the sinister man's black blade and the bald giant's demonic hammer attacked from both sides, the three attacks forming a triangular formation that completely blocked Ye Shuanghua's escape routes.

Ye Shuanghua did not retreat.

She took a step forward, and the silver-white inner sword in her hand and the white outer sword at her waist were drawn simultaneously. The two swords crossed in her hands, and a cross-shaped sword light exploded out of thin air, like a silver-white lotus flower suddenly blooming in the center of the dark red array.

Where the sword light passed, Deacon Xu's black palm print was sliced ​​in two, the cut smooth as a mirror, like a piece of wax cut by a red-hot iron spade. The sinister man's black blade shattered into a cloud of black mist upon touching the edge of the sword light. The bald giant's demonic hammer split in two, fragments of the hammerhead grazing his cheek and leaving a shallow bloodstain on his face.

Deacon Xu's pupils constricted sharply: "Two swords?! When did you—"

Before he could finish speaking, Ye Shuanghua's second sword strike had already been unleashed.

This time, she tossed both swords into the air simultaneously, her hands forming hand seals. The two swords, like two silver dragons, intertwined and coiled in the air before slashing down at the walls of the dark red array. The sound of the swords tearing through the air was sharp and piercing, like a huge piece of silk being ripped apart.

Rumbling--

The entire dark red array trembled violently, and the runes flowing on the array walls emitted a piercing buzz. Then, a crack several meters long appeared at the point where the sword light struck. The runes at the edge of the crack flickered wildly, trying to repair the wound, but Ye Shuanghua's third sword had already arrived, tearing the crack even wider.

"Walk!"

Ye Shuanghua grabbed Li Hanshan's arm and lifted him from the ship's side. A white light exploded beneath her feet, enveloping the two of them as they shot out of the crack like an arrow into the depths of the endless sea.

A furious roar came from behind: "Chase her! Don't let her get away!"

Three streaks of black light pursued relentlessly, like three hounds that had caught the scent of blood, tearing through the remnants of the great formation and chasing after the direction Ye Shuanghua had fled. Ye Shuanghua's escape light was extremely fast; with the full speed of her fourth-level Nascent Soul spiritual power, she drew a straight white trail on the sea surface, cutting the seawater into two walls of waves several meters high.

But Deacon Xu and his two companions were fighting desperately. They knew that after Ye Shuanghua broke through the encirclement, she would definitely return to the Hehuan Sect to report the news. Once the news reached them, all three of them would face pursuit from the Hehuan Sect and would surely die. Therefore, they had to intercept her before she returned to the Hehuan Sect, no matter what.

The two sides engaged in a chase on the sea, one after the other.

Li Hanshan was being held in Ye Shuanghua's hand. The sea breeze was like a knife cutting his face. His spiritual power was already severely depleted, and now the high-speed wind made him feel cold all over, and even his divine sense became sluggish.

Ye Shuanghua flew swiftly with her head down.

Two days later, an extremely dense cloud of mist appeared on the sea ahead. The mist was grayish-white, like shredded cotton covering the entire surface of the sea. Any divine sense that probed into it was like sinking into the ocean; perception was instantly severed. Without hesitation, Ye Shuanghua plunged headlong into the mist.

Nothing could be seen in the fog; even direction was difficult to discern. Li Hanshan felt himself being violently thrown out by a great force, tumbling several times in the air before crashing heavily into the icy seawater. The salty, fishy seawater filled his mouth and nose, causing him to cough violently.

He struggled to the surface, wiped the water droplets from his face, and looked around.

Ye Shuanghua's escape light had already disappeared into the depths of the mist, even the white trail it left was swallowed up by the fog. In the distance behind, the auras of Deacon Xu and his two companions were rapidly approaching this misty area, their roars faintly audible, as if they were howling through a thick wall of water.

"She...abandoned me?" Li Hanshan was stunned for a moment, then realized what was happening.

Ye Shuanghua probably thought that carrying him would slow her down, so she threw him away.

But the place she threw it was actually pretty good.

Although Nascent Soul cultivators possess powerful divine sense, in this misty environment that isolates divine sense, it's difficult for them to be distracted while pursuing a Nascent Soul cultivator at the fourth level of Nascent Soul cultivation, and simultaneously searching for a Nascent Soul cultivator who has been abandoned. As long as he sinks into the water and conceals his aura, his pursuers will not notice him for a short time.

But this place was far from any land, the seawater was icy cold, his spiritual energy was depleted, and his condition was as bad as it could possibly be.

He gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, and sank into the water.

Although his divine sense, at the Nascent Soul level, was weakened by the water mist, he could still barely perceive his surroundings within a radius of several feet. He swam in one direction, trying to get as far away as possible from the approaching powerful auras.

After an unknown amount of time, the scent of the pursuers behind them gradually faded away, and the area of ​​water mist returned to silence.

Li Hanshan surfaced from the water, panting heavily. He leaned against a nearby rock, soaking wet, his face ashen, and the light from his nascent soul in his dantian as faint as a candle flickering in the wind. He had lost too much of his pure yang energy to Ye Shuanghua and had been submerged in seawater for so long; his condition had plummeted to rock bottom.

"Xiao An..." he called softly.

A flash of black light appeared from the soul banner, and Xiao An's figure emerged. Her soul glowed with a ghostly blue light in the darkness. After her eyes swept over Li Hanshan's condition, her expression changed slightly: "Senior, she also took some of your soul."

Li Hanshan's heart sank. He then noticed that, in addition to the massive draining of his spiritual energy, a large portion of his sea of ​​consciousness was also empty—the uncontrolled suction force from when Ye Shuanghua broke through to the fourth level of the Nascent Soul realm not only emptied his pure Yang energy but also tore off a corner of his divine soul's essence. Although not much, it had already caused significant damage to his foundation.

"Take me to a safe place," he said weakly.

Without a word, Xiao An transformed into a streak of black light, enveloping his body and rapidly moving deeper into the mist. Her ghostly form moved through the water with ease, much faster than Li Hanshan could swim on his own, quickly passing through the dense mist and arriving at a relatively calm area of ​​the sea.

Not far ahead, a small, uninhabited island came into view.

The island was only a few miles in circumference, covered with sparse shrubs and scattered rocks. It had no spiritual energy, no demonic beasts, and not even birds would stop there. Xiao An placed Li Hanshan in a sheltered rocky depression on the island and set up several simple barriers of yin energy to conceal their presence.

"Senior, you're badly injured." Xiao An squatted down beside him, her eerie green eyes filled with worry. "Your spiritual energy is severely depleted, and your soul has also been damaged. If you don't recover normally, it will take at least several years."

Li Hanshan leaned against the rock wall, closed his eyes, and nodded. He didn't even have the strength to speak. The divine infant in his dantian was like a extinguished lamp, his meridians were empty, and the divine soul sword in his sea of ​​consciousness was also dim and lifeless. In this state, he couldn't even fly on his sword, let alone fight enemies.

Xiao An was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "Senior, I can use my own divine soul to heal you."

Li Hanshan opened his eyes: "What did you say?"

Xiao An looked at him calmly: "The Netherworld Record contains a method for dual cultivation of spirit and soul, which can transfer my soul power into your sea of ​​consciousness to repair the spiritual essence that was taken from you. Although it cannot directly restore your spiritual power, it can at least restore your spirit first. With a stronger spirit, the recovery of spiritual power will be much faster."

Li Hanshan opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but was interrupted by Xiao An: "Senior, there's no need to worry. If it weren't for your saving me and passing on your cultivation techniques, I would have been annihilated long ago. Now that you're in trouble, how can I stand idly by? Besides, dual cultivation of the soul and spirit is also beneficial to me. Your soul is of extremely high quality, and my soul power will be tempered during the dual cultivation process."

Li Hanshan looked into her earnest eyes, remained silent for a long time, and finally nodded: "Okay."

Xiao An sat cross-legged opposite him, extending her hand to touch his palm. Soul power surged from her palm, flowing gently yet firmly into his sea of ​​consciousness, like a spring stream seeping into a dried-up riverbed. Li Hanshan closed his eyes, letting that soul power guide his spirit, slowly circulating it according to the methods in the Netherworld Record.

At that moment, their souls quietly merged.

That wasn't the exchange of spiritual energy during physical cultivation, but a deeper touch that reached the very essence of the soul. Xiao An's soul power was like gentle hands, carefully gathering, smoothing, and repairing the fragments of his torn soul bit by bit. The damage that Ye Shuanghua had taken away slowly healed under the nourishment of the soul power, and the golden light in his sea of ​​consciousness shone brightly again.

Xiao An's soul underwent unexpected tempering during this dual cultivation. Li Hanshan's soul quality far exceeded her expectations. The golden divine power naturally seeped into her soul during the fusion process, making her Yin energy purer and more solid.

The two sat there on the sheltered rock face of the deserted island, cultivating their spirits day after day. There were no words, no disturbances, only the two streams of soul power flowing back and forth between them, like a clear spring rippling between two banks.

A month later, Li Hanshan's soul damage had mostly healed. The soul sword in his sea of ​​consciousness reformed, and although its light was not as dazzling as it had been at its peak, it was at least no longer dim.

Two months later, his soul was fully restored. His divine sense became sharp and powerful again, and his divine sense at the Nascent Soul level was like an invisible net, covering the entire deserted island and the sea surface within a radius of dozens of miles.

Three months later, with his soul fully recovered, his spiritual power also began to replenish itself. The surface of the divine infant in his dantian regained its golden luster, and pure yang energy flowed slowly through his meridians. Although it was still far from its peak, it was already able to circulate spiritual power and cast spells normally.

Xiao An withdrew her hand and exhaled a long breath. Her soul had become more solidified during the three months of dual cultivation, and her cultivation level had quietly improved, bringing her one step closer to the eighth level of the Nascent Soul stage.

"Senior, your soul has fully recovered." She stood up and smiled slightly at Li Hanshan. "Although your spiritual power is still a bit lacking, with your recovery speed, it shouldn't be long before you return to your peak."

Li Hanshan stretched his limbs and felt the spiritual energy flowing through his body again, finally feeling a little more at ease.