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

On the tenth day of the sect competition, the square was much more crowded. The news of Li Hanshan's three consecutive victories spread like wildfire among the peaks.

"Have you heard? That old man from the Northern Wilderness even defeated Zhou Heng!"

"Zhou Heng is the fastest among those at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, yet he was completely outmaneuvered and didn't gain an advantage at all."

"Could that old man have been hiding his true abilities all along?"

Whispers rose and fell among the crowd, while Li Hanshan stood calmly in the waiting area at the edge of the square.

Today he wore a clean blue inner sect robe, his long hair tied up, and he looked more composed than a few days ago. After regaining his youthful appearance, his angular face was particularly striking in the morning light, causing many disciples who were seeing his face for the first time to take a second look.

The results of the fourth round of draws were announced. Her opponent was a female cultivator named Zhao Qing, a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator who practiced water-based techniques. Zhao Qing's expression was not good when she leaped onto the arena; she had clearly heard about the results of the first three matches and knew that her chances of winning were slim. However, as an inner disciple, she maintained her composure, bowed to Li Hanshan with clasped hands, and then made the first move.

A deep blue water dragon surged from her palm, lunging at Li Hanshan like a writhing python. The dragon carried pure water-based spiritual energy, condensing fine water droplets in its wake. Li Hanshan dodged the direct impact, his pure Yang fire condensing into a fireball in his palm, striking the water dragon precisely in the neck. The water dragon emitted a muffled explosion, splashing water everywhere, its spiritual energy largely disrupted.

Zhao Qing took several steps back, gritted her teeth, and formed hand seals, causing the water dragon to reform. However, her spiritual energy was being depleted too quickly, and the power of each spell was weaker than the last. Li Hanshan gave her no chance to catch her breath, launching several fireballs in succession to block her movement, and finally slamming his palm into her protective water screen, knocking her off the stage.

"Li Hanshan wins." The referee's voice rang out, his tone more serious than in the previous days.

Four consecutive victories. The discussions in the square were even more heated than before, but some people began to whisper about another question—was the old man's cultivation really only at the third level of the Nascent Soul stage?

Chang Sheng stood beside the stone pillar, his gaze fixed menacingly on Li Hanshan as he stepped off the stage.

He looked at Wu Qingfeng beside him and said in a deep voice, "Senior Brother Wu, the fourth round is over, you can go now?"

"it is good."

Wu Qingfeng nodded.

He finally decided to take action himself.

Although both are at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, their strengths differ, especially since Wu Qingfeng has recently touched the threshold of the Deity Transformation stage.

This is the half-step into the Divine Transformation Realm!

His strength far surpasses that of an ordinary peak Nascent Soul cultivator.

"Junior brother, I'll make the arrangements right away."

Chang Sheng continued to operate behind the scenes.

then,

When the results of the fifth round of the draw were announced, a low gasp rippled through the square.

"Wu Qingfeng? He's up against that old man?"

"He was at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage many years ago, and now he's probably at the half-step Deity Transformation stage!"

"What's there to be afraid of? He's just a half-step Nascent Soul cultivator!"

"That old man should lose now, right? After all, there's a huge difference between the third level of the Nascent Soul stage and the half-step Deity Transformation stage."

"Shh, didn't you guys notice? That old man has never shown any real spiritual energy fluctuations. Who says he's definitely at the third level of the Nascent Soul stage?"

Some of the disciples speculated that Li Hanshan's strength was not just at the third level of the Nascent Soul stage.

"Late Nascent Soul stage... This kid's progress in strength is quite rapid."

In fact, Li Hanshan was not the only one who had secretly taken notice of him.

Among them are even some Void Refinement Elders.

After Li Hanshan broke through to the late Nascent Soul stage, even a Nascent Soul cultivator like Ye Shuanghua found it much more difficult to see through Li Hanshan's strength.

However, Elder Lianxu was still able to sense something of it.

However, even though Li Hanshan is from the sect leader's lineage, he is ultimately only a Nascent Soul cultivator. Elder Lianxu wouldn't bother to put too much effort into him, or even pay much attention to him.

It's just a Nascent Soul cultivator; I could kill it with a single finger.

At most, they noticed that if Li Hanshan's performance hadn't been so eye-catching, he wouldn't even have been worthy of their attention.

The ones dealing with Li Hanshan now are still the disciples of these Refinement Elders.

Wu Qingfeng slowly walked onto the arena, his steps steady. He was tall and slender, with a delicate, almost sinister face, and his aura was like a bottomless, icy pool, radiating an unsettling pressure. He stood in the center of the arena, his gaze falling on Li Hanshan, a slight smile playing on his lips: "Junior Brother Li, you fought well in the previous matches. However—this ends here."

Before he finished speaking, he raised his hand, and a black spell shot out like a venomous snake.

Li Hanshan dodged to the side, his pure Yang fire condensing into a fire shield in front of him, deflecting the spell. However, the moment the fire shield collided with the black spell, a layer of fine ripples appeared on its surface, and its spiritual energy was consumed faster than ever before.

"A bone-corroding wind." Wu Qingfeng's voice came from the other side of the arena, carrying a calm and confident tone. "My spiritual power has been tempered by Yin energy; ordinary fire-attribute spells will corrode it upon contact. Although your pure Yang fire is of high quality, your total spiritual power is ultimately limited and won't last long."

He attacked again, this time unleashing three black spells simultaneously, blocking Li Hanshan's retreat from three directions. Li Hanshan dodged one, his fire shield blocked the second, and the third grazed his shoulder, scorching the fabric of his sleeve.

Wu Qingfeng launched wave after wave of attacks, unleashing a torrential downpour of black magic.

His spiritual power was profound and enduring, and every spell he cast carried a chilling, corrosive force, forcing Li Hanshan to continuously expend his pure yang fire to resist. After several rounds, although Li Hanshan was still unharmed, it was clear to anyone with eyes that he was being suppressed—his range of movement was shrinking, and the frequency of his attacks was decreasing, while Wu Qingfeng was becoming more and more composed.

"The old man was finally subdued."

"Wu Qingfeng is indeed formidable; there's a real difference between a half-step Nascent Soul cultivator and a peak-stage Nascent Soul cultivator."

"If this continues, that old man won't last a hundred moves."

Chang Sheng leaned against the stone pillar, a satisfied smile finally returning to his lips. He turned to a disciple beside him and whispered with a chuckle, "See? The difference in cultivation level can't be bridged by the quality of those spells. No matter how good the old man is, he can only admit defeat when he encounters a true master."

On the arena, after casting another spell, Wu Qingfeng suddenly smiled and said, "Junior Brother Li, you've been hiding your cultivation level for long enough. Aren't you going to use your full strength?"

Li Hanshan did not answer. He could sense that Wu Qingfeng was indeed much stronger than his previous opponents; the quality of his spiritual power at the half-step Nascent Soul level far surpassed that of ordinary peak Nascent Soul cultivators.

If he continued to fight with his Nascent Soul Level 3 cultivation, he would soon be unable to hold on. He took a deep breath, and the Divine Infant in his dantian, which had already broken through to the Nascent Soul Level 7, suddenly began to operate. A spiritual energy fluctuation several times stronger than before was released from his body, like a boulder being thrown into a calm lake.

A surge of purple and gold spiritual light erupted around him, and the temperature of the pure Yang fire suddenly soared, even causing the array patterns on the arena's surface to ripple with the heat. Li Hanshan's gaze fell on Wu Qingfeng, and he said in a deep voice, "Senior Brother Wu is right, it's indeed time to go all out."

The plaza fell silent for a moment. Then, as if a pot had exploded, countless eyes turned to the figure in the center of the arena, surrounded by purple-gold flames.

"Late-stage Nascent Soul?! He's at the late-stage Nascent Soul realm!"

"Heavens! He's been hiding his true strength all along!"

"Seventh level of Nascent Soul! That's the late stage of Nascent Soul!"

"No wonder he won four matches in a row; he wasn't even in the early Nascent Soul stage!"

Chang Sheng's smile froze. He abruptly straightened up, his gaze fixed on the purplish-gold figure on the arena: "Seventh level of Nascent Soul...when did he break through?"

A flicker of surprise crossed Wu Qingfeng's eyes, but he quickly regained his composure, his smile deepening. "Seventh level of Nascent Soul? Not bad. However, in front of me, you're not enough."