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

After settling into their cave dwellings, the women each chose a stone chamber to begin decorating. Hua Nongying chose the one closest to the main vein of the spiritual vein and casually set up several restrictions; Liu Ruoxue chose a quiet corner and remained silent after entering; Yun Shuyue found the underground hot spring deep in the cave, soaked for half an hour, and came out with a much rosier complexion.

Xiao An didn't stay in the stone chamber, but instead chose a towering stone platform above the cave as her residence. She sat cross-legged in the center of the platform, a small black banner floating in front of her, the aura of 80,000 ghost soldiers rising and falling within the banner, like a sleeping black lake. Her gaze swept down, confirming that all the women were settled, and then she closed her eyes.

Li Hanshan walked around the cave, confirming that every restriction was functioning properly, before sitting down to rest on the stone steps outside Hua Nongying's chamber. At that moment, a figure emerged from the other side of the cave, walking briskly, carrying a familiar fragrance of medicinal herbs. Xu Lingxi sat down beside him, her hands resting on the edge of the stone steps, a hesitant expression on her face.

"Grandpa Li," she said, her voice a little softer than usual, "I...I'd like to ask you for a favor."

"What is it?"

Xu Lingxi looked down at her toes and remained silent for a while before whispering, "It's about Master. She's been stuck at the peak of the Golden Core stage for a long time and can't break through. I secretly watched her cultivate, and every time she tried to break through to the Nascent Soul stage, the flow of spiritual energy would clearly stagnate midway, as if something was blocking a key node in her meridians."

Li Hanshan raised an eyebrow: "You mean, you want me to heal her wounds?"

"Hmm." Xu Lingxi nodded, then shook her head. "It's not exactly healing... I secretly flipped through my master's notes, and she wrote that she suffered a serious injury when she was cultivating in her youth. Although it seemed to have healed, a hidden injury remained in her dantian. That hidden injury doesn't usually affect the flow of spiritual energy, but it will manifest when she breaks through a bottleneck, like an invisible lock that prevents her cultivation from advancing beyond the mid-Nascent Soul stage."

She raised her head, her clear eyes filled with seriousness: "Master has tried many methods, including pills, formations, and secluded cultivation, but she still can't break through that hidden injury. I... I've researched some ancient methods and discovered that pure yang energy has a miraculous effect on this kind of deep hidden injury. But to get pure yang energy directly to the core of the dantian, it must... it must be through physical contact."

As she spoke the last few words, Xu Lingxi's voice trailed off, her cheeks flushed red to her ears. She glanced quickly at Li Hanshan, then lowered her head again, twisting the hem of her clothes with her fingers, her voice barely audible: "So I... I want to ask Grandpa Li to help Master."

Seeing her expression, Li Hanshan understood. He was silent for a moment, then asked, "Does your master know you've come to tell me all this?"

Xu Lingxi shook her head: "I don't know. If she knew, she definitely wouldn't have made me beg you. You know her, she shoulders everything herself and never asks for help. That was true in the Hehuan Sect, and it was true on Seagod Island too." She paused, her voice lowering even more, "But Grandpa Li... Master has really been stuck for a long time. If this drags on any longer, I'm afraid she'll exhaust her last hope of breaking through."

Li Hanshan looked into her earnest eyes but didn't answer immediately. He understood Xu Lingxi's meaning—pure yang energy could heal hidden injuries, but to reach the core of the dantian, dual cultivation was necessary. Jiang Nianwei had cultivated for hundreds of years, possessing a cold and restrained nature, and never actively relied on any man; she certainly wouldn't easily make such a request.

"I understand." He finally nodded. "I'll see her tonight."

Xu Lingxi's eyes lit up for a moment, then she quickly looked away, as if afraid he would see the expression on her face. She whispered, "Thank you, Grandpa Li," then stood up and walked away quickly. Her back cast a slender shadow in the light of the luminous pearl, her steps a little faster than when she came, yet carrying a sense of relief and lightness.

As night fell, Li Hanshan traversed the cave and arrived at Jiang Nianwei's stone chamber. The stone door was ajar, a faint light filtering through the crack, obscuring the view inside. He stood before the door for a moment, then gently knocked twice. A clear, calm voice came from within: "Come in."

Li Hanshan pushed open the door and went inside. The light inside the stone chamber was much dimmer than outside, with only a candle on the stone table flickering gently, emitting a warm yellow glow. Jiang Nianwei sat on a futon beside the table, her light green dress shimmering softly in the candlelight. Her long hair was casually tied up with a wooden hairpin, with a few strands falling beside her ears. She didn't look at him; her gaze was fixed on an ancient scroll spread out on the table, as if she were studying it intently.

"Mr. Li, it's so late, is there something you need?" Her voice was calm, but there was a hint of tension that was barely perceptible.

Li Hanshan walked up to her and placed his hand on the back of her hand, which was resting on her knee. Jiang Nianwei's fingers stiffened slightly, but she didn't pull them away. She looked up, her clear, cold eyes shining brightly in the candlelight, carrying a complex scrutiny—she clearly knew why he had come, but deliberately didn't say it.

"Lingxi came looking for you?" she asked.

"Yes." Li Hanshan didn't deny it. "She's worried about you."

Jiang Nianwei looked away and remained silent for a long while. The candlelight on the table flickered, casting her profile on the stone wall, lengthening and shortening. Her voice lowered, carrying a rare frankness: "That hidden injury does exist. I've tried many methods, but none of them can be overcome." She paused, "I originally thought this was how my life would be. Peak Golden Core isn't too bad in the Joyful Union Sect; it's better than those disciples who are used as furnaces." As she spoke, a hint of self-deprecation appeared in her tone, "But that girl Lingxi... she's always thinking of me."

Li Hanshan didn't rush to say anything, but simply looked at her quietly. The candlelight reflected on her profile, casting a hint of warmth on the cold, icy expression between her brows. He waited a while before speaking, "I can help you."

Jiang Nianwei's gaze returned to his face. The two looked at each other for a moment, then she suddenly chuckled softly, a chuckle so faint it was almost inaudible, yet it carried a sense of relief. "Lingxi has already told you, what else can I say?" She lowered her head, closed the ancient scroll on the table and placed it aside, then stood up.

She gently blew out the candle. The stone chamber was plunged into darkness, with only the light from the luminous pearl in the distant cave seeping in through the cracks in the stone door, casting a thin band of light on the ground.

Jiang Nianwei stood motionless in the darkness. Li Hanshan stood up and took a step forward, hearing her slightly heavier breathing. He reached out, following the direction of her breathing, his fingertips touching a warm, slightly damp piece of fabric—she had clearly soaked in the hot spring and changed into clean clothes, carrying a refreshing herbal scent.

"Turn around." His voice was very low.

A very soft rustling sound of fabric came from the darkness. Jiang Nianwei turned her back, bracing her hands on the edge of the stone table, her back slightly tense. She bit her lip, neither speaking nor resisting.

Li Hanshan moved closer to her from behind, his hands covering her waist. Through the thin fabric, he could feel the warmth of her body and her slight trembling. He leaned down to her ear, his pure yang energy brushing against her earlobe like a warm breeze. "Relax," his voice was deep and steady. "Your hidden injury is deep in your dantian; it needs deeper contact to heal."

Jiang Nianwei's body trembled slightly in the darkness, but she did not retreat.

Li Hanshan didn't rush to circulate the Yang Scripture technique. Instead, he first used pure Yang energy to slowly travel along her meridians, sensing the precise location of the hidden injury. At the edge of her dantian, near the nascent soul, there was indeed an extremely fine crack, like an ice pattern on porcelain. Normally inconspicuous, it would widen when spiritual energy struggled against a bottleneck, causing the flow of spiritual energy to become sluggish. He condensed his pure Yang energy into an extremely fine strand and slowly let it seep into the edge of the crack, like warm water moistening dry, cracked soil.

Jiang Nianwei let out a very low groan, a sound that mingled with pain and pleasure. She could feel the pure yang energy seeping into the hidden wound that had plagued her for nearly a hundred years, softening, smoothing, and repairing it layer by layer. Her spiritual power began to flow again the moment the crack healed, like a long-blocked river channel finally being cleared, with clear springs flowing through it.

"Don't stop." Her voice was low and hoarse, with an urgency she herself didn't realize.

Li Hanshan didn't stop. Pure Yang energy continued to flow in, smoothing out and repairing the small, old injuries in her dantian. Jiang Nianwei's body trembled slightly in front of him, even her breathing became erratic. She could feel the bottleneck that had troubled her for many years loosening, like the first crack appearing on the surface of a frozen lake.

After an unknown amount of time, a very slight vibration came from within her body. The golden core in her dantian shattered, transforming into a nascent soul—she had finally broken through.

The moment Li Hanshan sensed the bottleneck shattering, he slowed the flow of pure Yang energy, allowing her to adapt to the spiritual energy circulation after the breakthrough. Jiang Nian's eyes were slightly closed, her forehead resting on the edge of the stone table, her chest rising and falling slightly. Her light green dress was already mostly soaked with sweat, clinging tightly to her body.

She didn't get up immediately, but remained silent in the darkness for a long time. Then she moved, turned around, and groped in the darkness to grasp his hand, her fingertips trembling slightly. She didn't thank him, nor did she explain, but simply held it, as if trying to catch the lingering warmth that had healed the crack in their skin, preventing it from shattering into thin air.

Li Hanshan did not pull his hand away, letting her hold it. The darkness in the stone chamber was slightly warmed by the lingering spiritual energy, illuminating a damp cuff on the edge of the stone table.