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

At noon, on the roof of the inn.

Li Hanshan sat cross-legged, facing the blazing sun overhead, and fully activated the secret technique taught to him by Luo Li.

The sunlight shone on him. For an ordinary person, it would only feel warm and cozy, but he could clearly sense that there was a trace of golden energy mixed in with the sunlight—that was the essence of the sun.

To open the pure Yang meridian, one must refine the essence of the sun and then use that essence to temper the meridian.

He channeled this essence of the sun into his body, and wherever it passed, his meridians seemed to be ignited, with the temperature rising accordingly. Fortunately, he possessed a pure Yang holy body, and his meridians were naturally able to withstand the scorching heat of this extreme Yang energy. If it were an ordinary cultivator, their meridians would have been completely destroyed long ago.

But the speed is just too slow.

During the entire midday hour, the essence of the sun he drew into his body only opened less than one percent of his meridians. At this rate, it would take at least a hundred days to fully open the pure yang meridians.

"Too slow."

Li Hanshan opened his eyes, his brows furrowed. He didn't have that much time.

We must speed things up.

When Luo Li was teaching the Dharma, she mentioned that if there were fire-attribute energy stones to assist in the refining of the essence of the sun, the refining speed could be greatly accelerated. The essence of the sun is essentially a kind of supreme yang fire, which is of the same origin as the fire-attribute energy stones. The two complement each other and achieve twice the result with half the effort.

However, he did not have any fire-attribute energy stones on him.

"It seems this is the only way for now."

Li Hanshan sighed, climbed off the roof, and returned to his room.

Liu Ruoxue was still tied to the corner of the bed. When she saw him come in, she coldly turned her head away. Li Hanshan ignored her, sat down at the table, and took out some dry rations to eat.

Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out outside the window.

Li Hanshan walked to the window and pushed it open a crack to look outside. He saw a large crowd gathered on the street, men, women, and children, all looking panicked and whispering among themselves. Several women were wiping away tears, and children were being held tightly by their parents. The entire street was shrouded in an atmosphere of unease.

Li Hanshan listened intently.

"Have you heard? Everyone in Liuhe County has been killed!"

"Good heavens, Liuhe County is only 300 li away from here!"

"What kind of demons and monsters are causing this trouble?"

"I heard from the refugees that it's haunted! Ghosts everywhere! Dark and menacing, they kill anyone they see, even stealing away souls!"

"What should we do? Should we run away too?"

Suddenly, someone in the crowd shouted, "Don't panic, everyone! Aren't we protected by immortals? The immortals of the Hehuan Sect will definitely come to our rescue!"

"Yes, yes, yes! The immortals of the Hehuan Sect possess great magical powers; they will surely be able to eliminate those demons and monsters!"

"Heavens above, please let the immortals come quickly..."

As Li Hanshan listened to these discussions, a complex smile involuntarily appeared on his lips.

Immortals of the Hehuan Sect?

In the hearts of these ordinary people, the Hehuan Sect is actually an immortal who can protect them?

However, upon further reflection, Li Hanshan felt relieved. The cruelty of the Hehuan Sect was always directed only at cultivators. For ordinary people, the Hehuan Sect did indeed provide protection.

Compared to the Yinming Sect, a true demon that readily slaughters entire cities, the Hehuan Sect can indeed be considered the "righteous path."

At least, the Hehuan Sect wouldn't kill all the mortals in an entire city.

Because ordinary people are the foundation.

Without mortals, where would new blood with spiritual roots come from? Without new blood, how would a sect continue its lineage?

The Yinming Sect is different. They don't care about sustainable development at all; they just want living souls, the more the better. In their eyes, tens of thousands of lives in a city are just tens of thousands of living souls, excellent materials for refining soul banners.

This is the difference between the Demonic Sect and a true demon.

Li Hanshan closed the window, a sense of urgency rising within him.

Liuhe County was also massacred.

This is the second county already.

The Yinming Sect's activities are expanding, and their killings are escalating. However, the first batch of teams sent by the Hehuan Sect has been scattered, Deacon Lu is seriously injured, and the fate of the others is unknown. They simply cannot organize an effective counterattack in the short term.

By the time the Joyful Union Sect truly takes this seriously and sends Golden Core elders to annihilate them, the Yinming Sect will likely have vanished without a trace. Before that, many more cities will suffer, and many more mortals will perish.

Even the city where he is currently hiding may not be safe.

"We must open up the pure Yang meridian as soon as possible."

Li Hanshan confirmed this again.

Opening the Pure Yang Meridian is not only to enhance combat power, but also to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage afterward, so that one will have enough strength to deal with crises.

But the problem has returned to square one—he doesn't have a fire-attribute energy stone.

Li Hanshan paced back and forth in the room, his gaze inadvertently sweeping over Liu Ruoxue on the bed, before suddenly stopping.

Storage bag.

Liu Ruoxue's storage bag.

This woman possesses an exceptional ice-elemental spiritual root; even she herself cannot bear the chill emanating from her body. Hua Nongying once said that Liu Ruoxue often uses external objects to neutralize the chill within her body; perhaps she possesses a fire-attribute energy stone.

Li Hanshan strode to the bedside and, under Liu Ruoxue's icy gaze, took the storage bag from her waist.

"You dare!" Liu Ruoxue's phoenix eyebrows shot up.

Li Hanshan ignored her and went straight to search inside. Before long, he found a jade box. When he opened it, he found six fist-sized crimson crystals inside.

Fire Crystal!

Moreover, it is a top-grade fire crystal of excellent quality!

"As expected, there is."

Li Hanshan was overjoyed and, ignoring Liu Ruoxue's murderous glare, took the fire crystal directly.

"This works well."

Over the next few days, with the help of the fire crystal, Li Hanshan refined the essence of the sun more than ten times faster. He used the essence of the sun to continuously temper his meridians.

On the first day, he tempered about one-fifth of his meridians.

The second day was even faster. With the experience from the previous day, his mastery of the secret technique was more refined, and his utilization rate of the fire crystal energy was also higher. By the end of the day, he had tempered two-fifths of his meridians.

On the third day, three-fifths of the way through.

The fourth day, four-fifths of the way through.

Noon on the fifth day.

Li Hanshan sat cross-legged on the roof, the fire crystal in his hand now on its fourth form. He had absorbed the energy of the first three, transforming them into part of his pure Yang meridians. At this moment, over 90% of his meridians had turned golden, with only a few crucial ones remaining to be tempered.

These meridians connect the dantian and the heart meridian, and are the core of the pure yang meridian. Once the tempering is completed, the entire pure yang meridian will be fully formed.

He took a deep breath, drawing all the energy from the fire crystal into his body, where it merged with the most concentrated essence of the midday sun, transforming into a powerful golden torrent that rushed towards the last few meridians.

boom!

A muffled thud came from inside the body.

Those meridians were tempered and connected under the impact of the golden torrent!

In an instant, Li Hanshan felt all the meridians in his body light up. A golden main line started from his dantian, ran through his limbs and bones, and connected all the meridians together. Pure yang energy surged endlessly in this main line, like a golden dragon, emitting a deep roar.

The Pure Yang Meridian is complete!

He suddenly opened his eyes, a flash of golden light passing through them. He raised his hand, and with a thought, a fireball condensed at his fingertips.

This fireball was completely different from the previous ones. The previous fireballs were crimson red and about the size of a fist, but the fireball that was condensed this time was a pale gold color, twice the size of the previous ones, and the temperature it emitted was terrifyingly high, even scorching and distorting the surrounding air.

"Is this the power of the Pure Yang Meridian...?"

Li Hanshan retrieved the fireball and did not release it, so as not to cause too much of a commotion.

He nodded in satisfaction, climbed down from the roof, and returned to the house.

The Pure Yang Meridian is now complete; the next step is Foundation Building.

His gaze involuntarily fell upon Liu Ruoxue.

"What are you going to do?"

A sense of foreboding rose in Liu Ruoxue's heart.

"I'm sorry, senior sister, I need to borrow your body for a while."

Li Hanshan said in a deep voice.

If he wants to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage, he will probably have no choice but to rely on Liu Ruoxue. Given the current situation, he doesn't have time to consider that much.