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

Foundation building!

Hua Nongying has actually broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage!

The square erupted in chaos.

"How is that possible! Wasn't she seriously injured?"

"My God, Senior Sister Hua has also broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage!"

"Now, the inner sect has gained three more Foundation Establishment cultivators!"

Wu Tianxiong's face turned ashen, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Zhao Yuan's face turned even uglier, so gloomy it seemed to drip water.

Hua Nongying's breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment stage means that she will become a core disciple, with a status far above his, an outer sect steward.

Only Liu Ruoxue, standing in the distance, suddenly turned cold, a flash of killing intent appearing in her eyes.

Hua Nongying didn't notice her; she looked at Wu Tianxiong with a cold smile: "What? Senior Brother Wu, do you still want to make a move?"

"snort!"

Wu Tianxiong snorted coldly, stared at Li Hanshan, and threatened, "Old man, don't be so smug. Hua Nongying can protect you for a while, but not forever."

Zhao Yuan echoed, "Li Hanshan, so what if you're just a furnace cauldron? Without a thousand points, you still can't become an inner disciple."

"Exactly!" Sun Ze jumped in, "Just a broken furnace, and he really thinks he's something special? You think being an inner disciple is so easy?"

The square-faced man grumbled, "I don't think he even has a hundred points. It's a miracle he even made it out alive."

"That's right. A thousand points—even many inner disciples can't get that much. How could a mere cultivation furnace possibly achieve it?"

"I think he's just here to embarrass himself."

The other disciples around him chimed in, believing that Li Hanshan, a mere furnace cauldron, had no right to become an inner disciple!

Li Hanshan ignored the voices and walked straight towards Fu Jianfeng.

"Senior, this is my trial token."

He handed the trial token to Fu Jianfeng.

Fu Jianfeng accepted the trial token and probed it with his divine sense.

The next second, he raised an eyebrow slightly.

"One thousand and thirty-five points."

His voice wasn't loud, but it was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, creating ripples.

"What? Over a thousand points?"

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

"How could a mere furnace cauldron possibly get over a thousand points?"

The square erupted in chaos once again.

Sun Ze's face flushed red, and he shrieked, "Impossible! How could a mere furnace cauldron possibly get over a thousand points!"

Li Hanshan gave him a cold look: "Are you questioning Senior Fu's judgment?"

Sun Ze paused.

Fu Jianfeng is an inner sect deacon; questioning him is tantamount to courting death.

"This junior wouldn't dare..."

Sun Ze quickly lowered his head, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

Li Hanshan turned to Fu Jianfeng: "Senior, I've accumulated a thousand points. Does that mean I've passed the assessment?"

Fu Jianfeng nodded and said calmly, "Approved."

He took out a jade token from his sleeve and handed it to Li Hanshan: "From today onwards, you are an inner disciple of the Hehuan Sect. This is your identity token, keep it safe."

Li Hanshan accepted the jade pendant with a sense of certainty.

He finally became a formal disciple of the Hehuan Sect and even subdued Hua Nongying, which allowed him to establish a firm foothold in the sect.

Hua Nongying revealed a happy expression: "Congratulations, Hanlang."

"Damn it!"

Both Wu Tianxiong and Zhao Yuan were in extremely bad moods.

Sun Ze's face turned deathly pale. He had a deep grudge against Li Hanshan, and now that Li Hanshan had become an inner disciple, his future was going to be difficult.

Fu Jianfeng observed everyone's reactions and then said to Li Hanshan, "However, given your age, if you cannot break through to the Foundation Establishment stage within a year, you will be demoted to an outer disciple."

Upon hearing this, Li Hanshan's expression changed slightly, while Zhao Yuan, Wu Tianxiong, Sun Ze, and the others were overjoyed.

Zhao Yuan, in particular, almost burst out laughing, while Wu Tianxiong laughed even harder: "Old man, I want to see how you're going to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage within a year."

Sun Ze, feeling confident in his abilities, chimed in, "This time it must have been Hua Nongying who helped him, that's how he managed to accumulate a thousand points. But given his age and aptitude, let alone a year, even ten years...!"

Before he could finish speaking, a single glance from Hua Nongying made him tremble all over. He quickly hid behind Zhao Yuan, fearing that Hua Nongying would attack him.

"A year...should be no problem."

Li Hanshan wasn't too worried.

Hua Nongying has already reached the Foundation Establishment stage. With the miraculous power of the Yang Ce technique, breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage within a year should not be a problem.

......

After all the disciples returned, the entrance to the secret realm closed.

The assessment results were then announced.

Some are happy, some are sad.

Disciples who passed the test were overjoyed, while those who failed were dejected.

The worst off are those who were originally inner disciples but failed the assessment. They will be demoted to outer disciples, falling from grace.

"Senior Brother Wang, you didn't pass either?"

"Don't even mention it. Those demonic sect disciples in the secret realm were too ruthless. I almost lost my life."

"Sigh, being demoted to an outer disciple, how am I going to live from now on..."

Several disciples who had been demoted gathered together, sighing and lamenting.

At this moment, an extremely powerful aura came from the horizon.

The aura was vast and unfathomable, making everyone in the square feel suffocated.

An old man in a golden robe descended from the sky, surrounded by golden light.

Jindan period!

The disciples in the square all lowered their heads, not daring to look directly at him.

The golden-robed elder's gaze swept over the crowd, finally settling on the two inner sect female disciples who had failed the test.

"You two, come with me."

His voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable authority.

The two female disciples' expressions changed drastically, and they knelt down with a thud.

"Elder Jin, please spare us! Although we failed the assessment, we are still outer disciples..."

"Outer sect disciple?"

The golden-robed elder sneered, "In my eyes, you are nothing more than two promising spiritual herbs."

With a wave of his hand, two beams of golden light shot out, binding the two female disciples tightly.

"No!"

"Help! Someone please save us!"

The two female disciples struggled desperately, but to no avail. They looked at Fu Jianfeng, Zhao Yuan, and even the many disciples in the square, hoping someone would speak up for them.

But no one dared to speak.

Everyone kept their heads down, pretending not to see.

Even Fu Jianfeng, an inner sect deacon at the late Foundation Establishment stage, acted this way. As for Zhao Yuan, he kept his eyes down, not daring to even breathe loudly, let alone speak.

The golden-robed elder, accompanied by two female disciples, soared into the sky and disappeared into the heavens.

Before leaving, he glanced back at Hua Nongying, a hint of regret flashing in his eyes: "What a pity!"

Hua Nongying's face turned pale, and her body trembled slightly.

Once the golden-robed elder had walked away, a murmur of discussion erupted in the square.

"Good heavens! The elder actually took them away!"

"Those two senior sisters are so pitiful, they probably won't survive..."

"Pitiful? What's pitiful about it? That's just how the sect rules are. If you exhaust your potential, you'll end up as fertilizer."

Li Hanshan frowned as he looked in the direction the Golden Core Elder had left.

"Aren't they still outer disciples? How dare this elder do this?"

Hua Nongying smiled wryly: "Why wouldn't I dare?"

She sighed: "Outer disciples, inner disciples, core disciples, they may sound like there are different levels, but in the eyes of Golden Core elders, they are all just spiritual herbs that can be picked at any time."

She paused, her voice tinged with bitterness: "Now you understand why I risked my life to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage, right? If I hadn't broken through this time, I'm afraid..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but her meaning was clear.

If she hadn't broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage and had become an outer disciple, she would have been one of the people the Golden Core elder took away.

The look the other person gave her before leaving contained so much information.

Li Hanshan fell silent.

He originally thought he had understood the cruelty of the Hehuan Sect, but now he discovered that the real Hehuan Sect was even more cruel than he had imagined.

This sect is nothing but a cannibalistic den of demons.

"Old man, don't get cocky."

Wu Tianxiong walked up to Li Hanshan and said coldly, "Just a mere inner disciple, I'll have plenty of opportunities to deal with you. We'll see."

Li Hanshan raised his head: "Is that so? I'll be waiting."

"snort!"

Wu Tianxiong snorted coldly and turned to leave.

The other disciples gradually dispersed from the square.

"Hanlang, let's go too."

Hua Nongying took Li Hanshan's hand and prepared to leave.

The two had only taken a few steps when a familiar voice sounded from behind them.

"Grandpa Li!"

Xu Lingxi came running over, her little face full of joy: "You're alive! That's great! I thought..."

As she spoke, her eyes reddened.

Li Hanshan smiled and said, "Silly child, Grandpa Li said you would come back alive."

Xu Lingxi nodded, then looked at Hua Nongying and warned, "Senior Sister Hua, Grandpa Li is now an inner disciple. You are not allowed to use his essence anymore!"

Hua Nongying looked at Li Hanshan with deep affection: "Little sister, your Grandpa Li is now my lover. How could I bear to take his essence?"

Xu Lingxi scoffed, "I don't believe you, you vixen!"

She looked at Li Hanshan again: "Grandpa Li, wait for me. I will definitely surpass her in the future and rescue you!"

Looking at her serious expression, Li Hanshan couldn't help but find it amusing. This girl seemed to think that Hua Nongying had somehow gotten under his control, but little did she know that the truth was quite the opposite.

There were too many people around, so he didn't explain, only saying, "Lingxi, don't worry, I'm fine."

Hua Nongying raised an eyebrow and said provocatively, "Alright, I'll be waiting!"

Xu Lingxi glared at her, then turned and ran away.

"Hua Nongying, you're lucky to be alive."

A cold voice suddenly rang out.

Li Hanshan and Hua Nongying turned around at the same time.

Liu Ruoxue walked over at some point, her beautiful face expressionless, as if she were wearing an ice sculpture mask.

Facing her mortal enemy who had nearly killed her, Hua Nongying smiled and said, "Junior Sister Liu, you're still alive, how could I possibly die?"

Liu Ruoxue glanced at Li Hanshan and said, "How could you bring yourself to eat an old man like that?"

Hua Nongying pressed her body tightly against Li Hanshan, her smile growing even brighter: "What, are you jealous? My Hanlang has endless potential, unlike some people who are so cold and aloof, their manhood would probably be frozen into an icicle by you."

A cold glint flashed in Liu Ruoxue's eyes, and the surrounding temperature dropped several degrees.

"Hua Nongying, do you think that just because you've broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage, you can be on equal footing with me?"

She said coldly, "The advantages of a top-grade ice spirit root are beyond your imagination. You were lucky this time in the secret realm, but you won't be so lucky next time."

Hua Nongying's smile remained unchanged: "Is that so? Then I'll have to look forward to Junior Sister Liu's methods."

Liu Ruoxue stopped looking at her and turned to leave.

Hua Nongying's smile froze, and a murderous glint flashed in her eyes.

"That bitch..."

She bit her lip and looked at Li Hanshan: "Hanlang, did you see that? How arrogant this bitch is."

Li Hanshan said calmly, "I saw it."

Hua Nongying leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Hanlang, don't worry, when I find the opportunity, I will definitely help you turn her into your slave girl. Then, let's see if she can still be so cold."