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

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

As the light of the teleportation array illuminated the entrance to the secret realm, Li Hanshan emerged from the light with steady steps.

His robes were stained with dust and dried blood, and his face was slightly paler than when he entered the secret realm, but his eyes were exceptionally bright, like refined iron that had been tempered.

His storage ring was already stuffed full of spirit stones, high-grade, mid-grade, and low-grade, piled high. He had put the corpse of the Nascent Soul giant lizard intact into a specially made storage bag. Although most of its scales were broken, the demon core in its head was still intact, emitting an extremely dense demonic aura.

Several people were already standing outside the teleportation array. Two deacons from the External Affairs Hall were registering entry and exit records, while a few passing disciples watched the commotion from afar. Wu Qingfeng, Chang Sheng, and the others were leaning against a withered tree several dozen feet away, arms crossed, their gazes casually scrutinizing the direction of the teleportation array.

Seeing him walk out alive, Chen Jie and the others frowned almost imperceptibly, but quickly regained their indifferent expressions.

Li Hanshan noticed their gazes but ignored them, heading straight for the registration desk to return the token. Just then, a silver-white beam of light descended from the sky, landing a few feet outside the teleportation array. Ye Shuanghua appeared in the light, her gaze sweeping over Li Hanshan, only relaxing slightly after confirming he was unharmed.

"Are you out?" she asked.

"Hmm." Li Hanshan nodded, about to say something, when Wu Qingfeng finally spoke, his voice not loud, but with a feigned casual contempt: "Oh, you actually came out alive? What good stuff could a Grade B secret realm have? I bet you didn't even absorb enough spiritual energy."

Li Hanshan didn't answer, only glanced at him. His gaze was as calm as if he were looking at someone completely unrelated to him. Then he turned to Ye Shuanghua, patted his storage ring, and said in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough for everyone around to hear: "Senior Sister, this harvest was quite good. We unearthed a spiritual vein and even killed a Nascent Soul demon beast along the way."

As he spoke, his spiritual energy surged into his storage bag, releasing the dark gray giant lizard corpse.

The massive body slammed into the ground outside the teleportation array with a dull thud, sending debris flying and dark red blood seeping into the ground. Several deacons from the External Affairs Hall stared wide-eyed, gasping in astonishment.

The disciples who had been watching the spectacle from a distance also took a few steps closer, whispering about the giant lizard's rank, their expressions changing from curiosity to shock.

Chang Sheng Wu Qingfeng's expression changed drastically, and Chen Jie, who was leaning against the withered tree, unconsciously straightened up. His gaze fell on the corpse of the Nascent Soul beast, and then on Li Hanshan's face, as if trying to find some flaw in his calm expression.

The existence of a Nascent Soul-level demon beast within a Class B secret realm is itself shrouded in mystery.

With the spiritual energy concentration and resource reserves of a Grade B secret realm, it simply cannot support a Nascent Soul level being. Who would believe that this wasn't deliberately placed there? But the problem is, if he were to question it now, it would be tantamount to admitting that he knew about it.

So he could only remain silent. His gaze slowly shifted from the corpse, the cold curve of his lips crumbling little by little, replaced by a gloomy look that he tried so hard to suppress but which still betrayed his true feelings in the corners of his eyes.

Ye Shuanghua shifted her gaze from the giant lizard's corpse to Li Hanshan's face. She saw a calm expression on Li Hanshan's face, his breathing steady, standing there like an elderly neighbor who had just finished a round of Tai Chi, without a trace of extra sharpness about him. Yet the corpse of the early-stage Nascent Soul demon beast lay sprawled at his feet, a clear reminder that the battles he had experienced in the past month were far more dangerous than he appeared.

She took a few steps forward, her gaze lingering for a moment on the fatal wound on the beast's neck before she looked away, her tone filled with restrained concern: "You're not hurt?"

Although her tone was calm, Li Hanshan noticed that her fingers unconsciously clenched her sleeve as she spoke.

"Just a minor injury, almost fully healed." Li Hanshan brushed the dust off his robes and carefully put his storage bag away. He turned to the few still-stunned deacons of the External Affairs Hall, his tone polite yet carrying an air of undeniable composure: "I slew this Nascent Soul demon beast in the secret realm. According to the rules, it belongs to me, right? Do I need to register it?"

"No, no need..." A steward hurriedly waved his hand, his voice even stuttering, "Junior brother can handle it himself."

Several disciples watching exchanged bewildered glances. One of them whispered, "A Nascent Soul demon beast... How could there be a Nascent Soul demon beast in a Grade B secret realm?" "That old man actually managed to kill a Nascent Soul demon beast? Although it was only at the initial stage, he was only at the seventh level of the Nascent Soul realm!" "He actually killed a Nascent Soul demon beast, isn't that even more powerful than Wang Hao?" "He already defeated Wang Hao..." The discussions broke into fragments in the morning breeze, carried away in all directions by their respective flight paths.

Li Hanshan did not stay any longer.

He nodded to Ye Shuanghua, and the two left the entrance to the secret realm together, flying along the Qing Shi Mountain Path towards the southern foothills.

The morning light cast interlaced shadows between the two, and the leaves of the spiritual herbs on both sides of the mountain path still had undried dewdrops hanging on them, reflecting tiny glimmers of light in the sunlight.

After flying for a while, Li Hanshan finally spoke, his voice low: "That Nascent Soul stage demon beast was hiding deep within the spiritual vein; it was clearly let in on purpose. A Grade B secret realm shouldn't have a being of that level. If I hadn't had a trump card, I'm afraid I would have been in grave danger this time."

Ye Shuanghua glanced at him sideways, remained silent for a moment, and then said in a low voice, "The Elders' Council is getting more and more involved."

Those who can perform such tampering in a secret realm must at least have the authority of an elder.

Li Hanshan didn't continue the topic. He patted the storage bag, his tone becoming more relaxed again: "But it's good, the demon core and scales of this Nascent Soul beast are still there. We can exchange them for a lot of good things. Plus the spiritual vein we dug up, this trip to the secret realm has yielded far more than expected."

Ye Shuanghua's lips twitched slightly, as if she wanted to laugh but held it back. In the end, she simply said softly, "You're quite the schemer."