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

Jiang Nianwei was already awake when the morning light filtered through the cracks in the stone chamber. She lay on her side on the edge of the stone bed, her light green dress bunched up at her waist, revealing a section of her fair shoulder. She didn't get up immediately, but lay quietly, her gaze fixed on the fine crack in the ceiling of the stone chamber, illuminated by the luminous pearl, as if counting the direction of the lines.

Li Hanshan woke up a few moments earlier than her and was leaning against the other side of the stone bed, regulating his breathing. After his pure Yang energy had slowly circulated through his meridians, and sensing that the breathing beside him had become steady and even, he opened his eyes and turned to look at her: "How are you feeling?"

Jiang Nianwei sat up, her movements more agile than before. She tucked her stray hair behind her ear and lowered her head to sense the state of her dantian. Her cultivation at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm was like a fresh spring, clear and abundant. The hidden injury that had troubled her for nearly a hundred years had completely disappeared, leaving not a trace. She remained silent for a while before speaking softly, "It's alright." Only two words, but the end of her voice carried a slight tremor of relief that she herself was unaware of.

She stood up, walked to the stone table, and reopened the ancient scroll that had been closed the night before. Her fingertips slowly traced the yellowed animal hide edge, as if confirming something. Li Hanshan put on his outer robe and walked to her side, his gaze also falling on the ancient scroll, which contained a fragment of an ancient formula for a Qi-nourishing elixir.

"I've studied this formula for many years, but I've always been missing a few key ingredients and the proper timing and method of preparation." Jiang Nianwei's tone returned to its usual coolness, but with a warm undertone, like a spring stream. "After my breakthrough last night, I vaguely understood a key point. Your understanding of ancient alchemy is deeper than mine. If you have time, I'd like to invite you to study it together."

Li Hanshan did not refuse. He sat down opposite the stone table, turned to the section on the ancient scroll containing the pill formula, and carefully examined it. The ancient formula for the Qi-Nourishing Pill was indeed incomplete; the core fusion steps and the control of the heat were missing. However, after years of cultivating together with Luo Li in dreams, his understanding of ancient alchemy was now far superior to what it had been before. Those seemingly broken links quickly connected in his mind into a complete clue.

"This description of 'alternating between civil and military fire' is incorrect." He pointed to a line of characters on the ancient scroll that had been repeatedly scribbled over. "The core of refining the ancient Peiyuan Pill is not alternating between civil and military fire, but rather using civil fire as the base and divine sense as the guide, allowing the medicinal power to fuse on its own at low temperatures."

Jiang Nianwei listened intently for a while, her eyes gradually brightening. She stood up, took out several medicinal herbs and the blue stone alchemy furnace she had brought from Seagod Island from her storage bag, and placed them back on the stone platform in the center of the stone chamber. "Let's try it." Her tone carried an unusual urgency, as if a long-standing mystery had finally found its beginning.

For the next few days, the two practically lived in this stone chamber. The smoke from the alchemy furnace rose incessantly day and night, filling the entire cave with the fragrance of medicine. Hua Nongying peeked in as she passed by and, seeing the two huddled around the furnace debating the subtle adjustments to the heat, wisely refrained from disturbing them. Xu Lingxi brought in spiritual tea several times, carefully placing it on the edge of the stone table each time before quickly retreating and standing outside the door for a while before leaving.

The first batch failed. The medicinal liquid exploded just before the pill condensed, turning the furnace red-hot. Jiang Nianwei remained calm, cleaned up the residue, and added the medicinal materials again. The second batch barely produced a pill, but the quality was rough, with most of the medicinal power dissipated. The third batch began to show improvement. Based on their experience from the failure, the two repeatedly adjusted the heat and the frequency of spiritual energy injection, finally refining a Qi-Nourishing Pill that was warm and smooth, with pale golden patterns flowing on its surface.

Jiang Nianwei held the pill in her palm, sensing the steady fluctuations of its medicinal power, a faint smile appearing on her lips. She handed the pill to Li Hanshan: "Try it, see if you can improve it."

Li Hanshan took the pill and swallowed it. The warm medicinal power dissolved in his stomach, flowing slowly along his meridians. After a moment, he opened his eyes: "The medicinal power is very stable, but the integration speed is a bit slow. If the timing of adding that dragon bone grass could be advanced by three breaths, the quality of the pill should be able to improve to another level."

After listening, Jiang Nianwei's eyes flashed with a thoughtful look, and then she nodded: "Okay, modify it for the next batch."

The two refined several more batches, adjusting minute details with each batch based on the previous one. Ultimately, the success rate of the pills stabilized at over 70%, and the quality reached the superior grade. By the time Jiang Nianwei put the last few Qi-Nourishing Pills into a jade bottle, it was already dark outside. She stood up, stretched her shoulders and neck, which had become slightly stiff from sitting for so long, glanced at Li Hanshan cleaning the furnace, and without saying a word of thanks, simply placed the roundest Qi-Nourishing Pill into a separate small jade bottle and handed it to him.

Li Hanshan took the jade bottle and put it away, but then took her hand in his. Jiang Nianwei blushed slightly and did not resist, letting Li Hanshan pull her into his arms.

Another night of spring sunshine.

A few days later, Li Hanshan bid farewell to the women in the cave, gave Xiao An a few more instructions, and then summoned his flying sword to head towards the Hehuan Sect. The purple-gold light pierced through layers of clouds and mist, drawing a long, thin arc in the morning light.

Half a month later, the outline of the main peak of the Hehuan Sect appeared on the horizon. The light of the mountain-protecting array still flowed steadily, enveloping the five giant peaks. When Li Hanshan passed through the mountain gate, the disciples on duty were much more polite than last time, and even took the initiative to greet him when he took the token and registered.

He went straight to Ye Shuanghua's cave, and the stone door opened from the inside without him knocking. Ye Shuanghua stood inside, wearing a long silver-white dress, her long hair flowing freely, holding the unsheathed Jinghong sword in her hand, clearly having just emerged from her cultivation.

"You're back?" Her gaze swept over him. "You were gone for almost two years. I thought you were planning to spend the New Year away from home."

Li Hanshan entered the cave and sat down by the stone bed: "Some things happened, but the gains were considerable." He did not mention Yin Lingyue's matter, but only said that he had returned to the Northern Wilderness branch to bring back the Second Elder who had been trapped for many years, and also took care of some personal matters along the way.

Ye Shuanghua sat down opposite him, placing the Jinghong Sword horizontally on her lap. Her gaze lingered on him for a moment, her brow furrowing slightly: "Your aura is considerably stronger than when you left. What, have you broken through?"

"Peak of the Nascent Soul stage." Li Hanshan did not hide it.

Ye Shuanghua raised an eyebrow. She was silent for a moment, then a genuine surprise appeared on her face: "From the late Nascent Soul stage to the peak Nascent Soul stage, you took less than two years. It would take an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator at least several decades to break through to this level." She didn't press him on how he did it, but paused, "That's good. A peak Nascent Soul cultivator has a much better chance of participating in the Nascent Soul group of the Centennial Grand Competition."

Li Hanshan said, "Senior Sister, I would like to ask you to help me break through to the Nascent Soul stage."

Ye Shuanghua said, "No."

"don't want?"

Ye Shuanghua nodded, her tone becoming more serious: "For this centennial competition, you'd better stay in the Nascent Soul group. With your peak Nascent Soul cultivation, you have a very high chance of winning first place in the Nascent Soul group. But if you break through to the Deity Transformation group before the competition, you'll have to participate in the Deity Transformation group competition, which will be troublesome."

Why?

"There are two reasons," Ye Shuanghua said. "Most of the elders are in seclusion, and they don't care about the events of the ten-year competition at all. Although the Ninth Elder has noticed you, he won't personally deal with you. But once you break through to the Nascent Soul stage before the centennial competition, the situation will be completely different. The elders might all target you then."

She glanced at him, her tone softening slightly: "Besides, in this century-long competition, all the true experts in the Nascent Soul group will be showing up. Once those genius disciples who have been in seclusion for many years in the mid-to-late Nascent Soul stage emerge, even I'm not confident I can make it into the top ten. Even if you forcibly break through to the Nascent Soul stage now, you can only rank in the early Nascent Soul stage, and your chances of winning against those people are very small. It's better to stay in the Core Formation group, secure first place with your peak Core Formation cultivation, and get a spot to enter the Myriad Spirits Secret Realm first."

After listening, Li Hanshan nodded: "Senior Sister is right. Breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage isn't easy. Even if I wanted to, there wouldn't be enough time."

Ye Shuanghua's expression relaxed a little: "That's good."

She removed the Jinghong Sword from her lap, her movements more casual than before, as if she wanted to say something but didn't know where to begin. Sensing that momentary hesitation, Li Hanshan spoke first: "Senior Sister, how is things with the Sect Leader?"

Ye Shuanghua remained silent for a few moments: "Master is still in seclusion, trying to break through to the Dao Integration Realm. I'm afraid she won't come out of seclusion for this Centennial Tournament."

"Is achieving enlightenment... really that difficult?"

"Of course it's difficult." Ye Shuanghua's tone carried a rare sigh. "Some people have secluded themselves for thousands of years and still failed to cross that threshold. From Nascent Soul to Void Refinement, and then to Dao Integration, every step is an insurmountable chasm. Master has been stuck at the peak of Void Refinement for a long time, even longer than when I was stuck at the fourth level of Nascent Soul."

Li Hanshan remained silent. He had witnessed Shen Ruoxi, a peak Nascent Soul cultivator, struggling at her bottleneck in the Northern Wilderness, and he had also seen the Third Elder ambush and kill him in his quest to break through to the Golden Core stage. On the path of cultivation, the higher one climbs, the thicker the invisible barrier becomes, like a transparent iron wall—visible yet its edge forever out of reach. He asked softly, "If I can help..."

"Your cultivation level is still too low," Ye Shuanghua interrupted him. "If you want to be of any help to your master, you need at least Pure Yang Qi at the Refinement of Void level. You haven't even broken through to the Nascent Soul stage yet; you're far from that level."

She said this in a calm tone, without sarcasm, simply stating a fact.

But after she finished speaking, she glanced at Li Hanshan, a complex light flickering in her clear, cold eyes, as if she were thinking about something but held back from saying it. Ye Shuanghua shifted her gaze, stood up, and walked to the spirit spring pool deep within the cave. With her back to him, her voice carried a deliberately calm tone: "Come over tomorrow, and I'll help you consolidate your cultivation. You've just broken through to the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, and your foundation isn't quite stable yet."

Li Hanshan watched her retreating figure, a slight smile playing on his lips: "Then thank you very much, Senior Sister."