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

In the courtyard, nestled among green bamboo, the glow of a luminous pearl filtered through the gauze curtains, bathing the entire room in a warm, gentle light. Zhang Qingxuan sat down on the edge of the couch, casually untying the sash of her outer robe, as if performing a mundane task. She looked up, her gentle, watery eyes landing on Li Hanshan, a faint smile playing on her lips: "Come and sit."

Li Hanshan sat down beside her. Zhang Qingxuan's hand gently stroked his cheek, her fingertips warm to the touch, slowly sliding down to the edge of his shirt. She leaned closer, a sweet, delicate fragrance mingling with a scent that was neither quite nor quite orchid wafting towards him. "Just relax, I'll guide you," she said in a low, gentle voice, as if soothing a nervous child.

The dual cultivation process was smoother than before. Zhang Qingxuan's extreme Yin energy flowed like a warm stream, gently entering Li Hanshan's meridians from where the two were joined, then ascending along the pure Yang meridians and directly into his sea of ​​consciousness. The instant that extreme Yin energy came into contact with the slowly rotating Double Yang Primordial Embryo in his sea of ​​consciousness, the golden patterns on the surface of the embryo suddenly lit up, as if a flame had been lit and ignited, bursting forth with an even brighter light.

Li Hanshan closed his eyes, guiding the extremely Yin energy to slowly swirl and permeate around the primordial embryo. Each cycle made the primordial embryo more solid, the surface patterns becoming clearer and denser, like jade being repeatedly sculpted, each line becoming more precise through tempering. The feeling was like a red-hot pebble being thrown into a frigid winter pool; the instant ice and fire came into contact, tiny bubbles rose, and every breath carried the high temperature of tempering.

Zhang Qingxuan sensed the golden dot of light rapidly forming in his sea of ​​consciousness, and a genuine surprise flashed in her eyes. Her aura trembled slightly the instant Li Hanshan broke through to the next stage of his nascent soul, then she lowered her head and leaned on his shoulder, her long hair falling down to obscure most of her expression. Her voice was low, carrying an unprecedented seriousness: "What is that?"

"The Primordial Embryo of Chongyang." Li Hanshan's voice carried the lingering resonance of a breakthrough.

Zhang Qingxuan raised her head, a rare solemnity appearing in her watery eyes: "Chongyang Yuan Tai? You actually condensed a Yuan Tai at the Nascent Soul stage..."

Clearly, she had also heard of Chongyang Yuantai.

"Where did you get your martial arts technique?" Zhang Qingxuan asked in surprise.

Hearing about it is one thing, but the Chongyang Yuan Tai is just a legend, and the technique has long been lost, yet Li Hanshan actually possesses it.

"We found it by sheer luck in some ruins." Li Hanshan naturally wouldn't reveal the maid's story.

Zhang Qingxuan didn't pursue the matter too much, but her tone became serious. "This secret technique must never be easily revealed to others. If the elders find out that you have a nascent soul in the Nascent Soul stage, they'll probably target you. Think about it, what does a pure Yang holy body with a nascent soul in the Nascent Soul stage mean to those female cultivators stuck at their bottlenecks?"

Li Hanshan's heart tightened: "What does Senior Sister Zhang mean...?"

"What I mean is, this is even more astonishing than the value of your Pure Yang Sacred Body." Zhang Qingxuan looked directly at him. "Although Pure Yang Sacred Bodies are rare, in a continent as vast as Central Continent, one or two will appear every few hundred years. But I've never even heard of a cultivator who has condensed a nascent embryo at the Nascent Soul stage. If those elders knew, they would definitely swarm around like sharks smelling blood."

Li Hanshan remained silent for a moment, completely concealing his nascent energy and returning to stillness. "I'll remember that."

Zhang Qingxuan finally breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back into his arms, her fingers lightly tracing the fabric of his chest: "Also, you should learn more about the Elders' Council. Each of the nine elders has their own sphere of influence. Usually, one elder is in charge and the other is in charge. Currently, the Ninth Elder is in charge, and the Fifth Elder is in charge. She is quite gentle."

Li Hanshan nodded. He did have a good impression of the Fifth Elder. It was the Fifth Elder who helped him out of a predicament last time.

Zhang Qingxuan paused, her voice lowering even further: "But the people you really need to be careful of are the Third Elder and the Seventh Elder. Both of them are women, and both use the method of 'absorbing the essence of others' to increase their cultivation. If you fall into their hands, you probably won't even have bones left. There's also the Second Elder—he's a hermaphrodite, indiscriminate in his relationships with men and women, and he's equally dangerous."

Second Elder?

When Li Hanshan heard the words "hermaphrodite," he frowned slightly: "They can even harvest men?"

"Of course he can." Zhang Qingxuan's tone carried a hint of disgust. "The Second Elder's cultivation technique can simultaneously contain both Yin and Yang spiritual energies. Regardless of gender, anyone he takes a liking to will be summoned under the guise of 'guiding cultivation.' After being taken advantage of, a decline in cultivation is the least of one's worries; there are even precedents of the foundation being completely destroyed. So if you encounter him in the sect, avoid him if possible."

Li Hanshan memorized those names. His gaze fell on Zhang Qingxuan's face, slightly flushed from practicing her internal energy, and he gently stroked her hair: "Senior Sister, with your extremely Yin constitution, it must have been tough carrying this burden alone all these years, right?"

Zhang Qingxuan paused slightly, then turned her head away, her tone carrying a forced lighthearted laugh: "What, are you worried about me?"

Li Hanshan didn't answer, but lowered his head and kissed her lips. Zhang Qingxuan's body stiffened slightly, then relaxed, and she raised her arms to wrap her arms around his neck.

The green bamboo rustled in the night breeze, and the gauze curtains swayed gently. The glow of the luminous pearl swirled around the two of them, blending the delicate sounds into a warm, gentle light.