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

As the flying boat rose from the Northern Wilderness branch sect, the night had not yet completely faded. The morning light drew a pale golden slit across the horizon, casting a thin layer of warmth over the outlines of the five mountain peaks. Second Elder Wu Xinyue leaned against a soft couch in the cabin, her red robes still stained with a few undried bloodstains, but the spiritual energy within her meridians had already begun to circulate again under the nurturing influence of Li Hanshan's pure Yang energy.

"You old man, your cultivation has progressed far too quickly." She leaned back on the couch, her voice weak but still carrying that lazy, teasing tone. "I've been here for many years and I'm still only at the mid-Nascent Soul stage. You, on the other hand, are already at the ninth level of the Nascent Soul stage."

Although Wu Xinyue's tone was calm, she could not hide the shock in her heart.

Li Hanshan's strength has increased far too quickly. In just a few years, he has left her far behind.

What moved her the most was that Li Hanshan actually came back to take her to Zhongzhou.

This side of Li Hanshan gave Wu Xinyue a strange feeling; perhaps he was someone she could entrust her life to.

Not far away, Yin Lingyue stood with her hands behind her back, her long hair blowing wildly in the sea breeze, her dark purple eyes gazing at the receding coastline, seemingly uninterested in the conversation between the two people behind her.

After sailing for several days, Li Hanshan changed direction, heading southeast towards the Northern Wilderness. The terrain beneath his feet gradually transformed from lush green forests to a gray-black wasteland, and the faint, chilling aura in the air grew stronger, like a coldness seeping from the depths of the earth. Wu Xinyue sat up straight on the soft couch, her gaze falling through the porthole onto the approaching gray-black land, her brows furrowing slightly: "This is... the Netherworld's Ancient Land?"

"Yes." Li Hanshan nodded. "Xiao An has some things to take care of here."

The sealing array of the Yinming Ancient Land still stands between heaven and earth, and the dark golden light curtain appears and disappears in the black mist, covering an area of ​​thousands of miles.

Inside the light barrier, countless ghostly spirits roamed in the darkness, densely packed like a black tide. Several exceptionally large Golden Core level ghostly spirits crashed into the light barrier as they approached the edge of the array wall, emitting piercing screams, and were then bounced back into the depths of the black mist.

The flying boat landed outside the formation. Li Hanshan took out the Soul Banner and waved it gently. Xiao An's figure emerged from it and landed in front of the two. Her soul was more solid than when she left the Endless Sea, and the Yin energy surrounding her was as deep as water. The pressure of her early Nascent Soul stage made the surrounding air stagnate slightly.

"Senior" Xiao An's gaze fell on the land shrouded in dark golden light. His eerie green eyes held a long-suppressed expectation. "The Yin energy concentration in the Yin Netherworld is extremely high, and the number of Yin spirits is enormous. If I can refine them all, it will be enough to support me in building a hundred thousand Yin soldiers."

"One hundred thousand ghost soldiers?" Li Hanshan asked.

"Hmm." Xiao An nodded. "There is a secret technique in the Netherworld Records that can refine a large number of low-level Yin Souls into 'Nether Soldiers,' using the Soul Banner as a container and the Yin Veins as a source of nourishment. Once 100,000 Nether Soldiers are formed, they can even face a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator head-on. Moreover, Nether Soldiers are not afraid of death; as long as the Soul Banner is not destroyed, they can be reborn continuously."

When Wu Xinyue heard the words "100,000 ghost soldiers", her face was full of shock. After sensing Xiao An's aura, her heart was filled with even more turmoil.

Xiao An... is actually a Nascent Soul cultivator!

Li Hanshan actually possesses a Yin spirit at the Nascent Soul stage!

Meanwhile, a genuine emotion flickered across Yin Lingyue's usually indifferent face. This emotion wasn't due to Xiao An's strength, but rather because Xiao An was actually planning to create 100,000 Nether Soldiers, which would be enough to contend with a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

What an enormous undertaking!

Without a word, Li Hanshan raised his hand and unleashed a burst of spiritual energy, tearing a gap in the dark golden light barrier. The group passed through the gap and stepped into the black mist. Dense Yin energy surged in from all directions, enveloping them like a chilling tide. Countless low-level Yin spirits sensed the presence of living beings, poking out their eerie green ghostly eyes from the black mist and emitting shrill screams.

Xiao An took a step forward, unleashing the full power of the Netherworld Record Technique. A ghostly blue light emanated from the surface of her soul, sweeping across the entire black mist like invisible ripples. The low-level Yin spirits, upon touching the blue light, seemed to be paused, freezing in place, their ghostly green eyes filled with bewilderment.

"Disperse." Xiao An uttered a single word.

The tide of spirits, like dust scattered by the wind, parted to the sides, clearing a passage leading directly to the depths of the Yinming Ancestral Land. Xiao An took the lead, walking steadily into the depths of the passage, each step carrying the composure unique to a Nascent Soul cultivator. Li Hanshan followed behind her with Wu Xinyue. The three of them passed through layers of black mist and arrived at the dilapidated altar in the Yinming Ancestral Land.

The altar still stands in the center of the ruins, its twelve bronze pillars leaning precariously into the scorched earth, half of them broken, thick black liquid seeping from their fractures. From the cracks beneath the altar, wisps of malevolent energy still seep out, deeper and denser than before.

Xiao An sat cross-legged in the center of the altar, his hands forming a mudra. The eerie blue light emanating from his soul grew brighter and brighter, like the moon rising from the deep sea, illuminating the entire ruins in a deep blue glow. The wandering spirits around the ancestral land were drawn towards the altar as if by an invisible force. At first, there were only a dozen or so, then hundreds, then thousands, and finally they transformed into a vast, overwhelming black torrent, surging towards Xiao An.

"Using the netherworld as the catalyst, and the soul banner as the furnace, the array of ghostly soldiers begins."

Xiao An's voice echoed through the ruins. The yin spirits that surged around her soul were like iron ore thrown into a furnace, rapidly melting, compressing, and reshaping, turning into dark runes the size of fingernails. These runes flew from her palms and disappeared into the huge soul banner that was slowly rising below the altar.

A jet-black soul banner rose from the ground, its surface several meters high, covered with fine, dark blue runes, like a piece of black iron that had been repeatedly forged. One by one, the refined Yin Soul runes were embedded into the banner, making its light brighter and its aura more profound.

Standing outside the altar, Li Hanshan spread out his Nascent Soul level divine sense, sensing the changes in the flow of Yin energy throughout the entire Netherworld. He could clearly feel that the Yin veins deep underground were being forcibly extracted, condensed, and compressed by Xiao An using the Netherworld Record technique, and injected into the Soul Banner.

The concentration of Yin energy in the entire ancient land was decreasing at a visible rate, while the refined ghost soldier runes were accumulating more and more in the soul banner, like a reservoir with the water level constantly rising.

"She's going to forge the entire Netherworld into her weapon." Yin Lingyue leaned against the broken stone pillar, gazing at the figure in the center of the altar whose eerie blue light was growing brighter and brighter, her heart filled with apprehension.

Li Hanshan remained silent, his gaze fixed on the Soul Banner. He could sense that the banner's grade was rising at an astonishing rate. From a low-grade magic weapon, it progressed to mid-grade, then to high-grade, and even faintly touched the threshold of a spiritual weapon. With each inlaid ghost soldier rune, the banner solidified further, and the oppressive aura it emitted deepened.

Ten days, twenty days, a month. The tide of ghosts around the altar gradually thinned out, and the low-level ghosts that once roamed the old site in dense swarms were almost completely wiped out. The ghostly blue runes on the surface of the soul banner now covered the entire banner, emanating an aura like a dormant volcano—silent yet containing a terrifying energy that made one's heart tremble.

Xiao An finally opened her eyes and exhaled a long breath of murky blue air. Her soul was much more solid than it had been a month ago, and her aura was much calmer. She stood up, raised her hand and gently stroked the surface of the soul banner. The moment her fingertips touched the runes, the soul banner emitted a low hum, as if responding to her touch.

"Senior, the Nether Soldiers are complete." Her voice was calm, yet carried an undisguised pride. "Although it's not quite 100,000 yet, we already have 80,000 Nether Soldiers. I'll complete the remaining 20,000 after my cultivation level stabilizes."

She raised her hand, and the soul banner rapidly shrank, transforming into a small, palm-sized, jet-black banner that landed in her palm. Fine, dark blue runes flowed across the banner's surface, gleaming with a cold, eerie light in the dim light.

Li Hanshan walked up to her, sensed the power contained in the soul banner, and nodded.

He collected the soul banner along with the last few wisps of Yin energy from the crack in the altar, then turned and walked towards the outer edge of the old site.

As the group departed the Netherworld, darkness had already fallen. The dark golden sealing light curtain slowly closed behind them, once again enveloping the desolate wasteland. Li Hanshan stood at the bow of the flying boat, gazing at the rising moon ahead, pondering the journey ahead.

On this trip, Xiao An broke through to the Nascent Soul stage and obtained 80,000 Nether Soldiers. Next, all he needs to do is get Yin Lingyue's flower to bloom with at least six petals, and then he'll be complete. Afterwards, he can return to Seagod Island, pick up the women, settle them in, and reunite with Huan Sect before the sect competition—the timing should be just right.

The airship rose again and sped off toward the endless sea.