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

Deep within the ancestral land of the Yinming Sect, the battle was nearing its end.

Qin Muyue stood in mid-air, her purple dress stained with blood, her once languid and alluring face now filled with murderous intent. A deep, bone-revealing claw mark lay on her left arm, black energy swirling around the wound and relentlessly eroding her flesh. She had been injured by a Yin spirit at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm; its Yin energy had already invaded her meridians and could not be expelled in a short time.

At her feet lay the haphazard remains of dozens of Golden Core Yin Souls. These remains were slowly dissipating, transforming into primordial Yin energy and returning to this ghostly realm. Behind her, Wu Zhanlong's situation was even worse.

This newly promoted Golden Core cultivator from the Hehuan Sect now had his golden robe ripped, his hair disheveled, and a wound on his chest that almost pierced through him. His right arm hung limply at his side, the forearm and below missing, torn off by a claw of a late-stage Golden Core Yin Spirit. Black energy and golden spiritual power intertwined at the severed point, emitting a hissing, burning sound.

"Damn it," Qin Muyue gritted her teeth. If she hadn't been carrying a defensive magic item, she would have been killed by that wave of Golden Core Yin Spirits attacking her.

Wu Zhanlong did not answer. He was doing his best to expel the Yin energy that had invaded his body, his aged face full of gloom.

After a long silence, he finally spoke, his voice hoarse: "Holy Maiden, the losses this time are so severe. Upon returning, I must report to the Sect Master and hold those responsible for the cleanup accountable. They haven't been able to eliminate so many Golden Core Yin Souls for hundreds of years! What have they been doing?!"

Qin Muyue didn't reply. She stared at the bottomless hole in the center of the altar, a thoughtful look in her eyes. Those golden-core Yin spirits seemed to have been imprisoned deep underground by some force, and Xiao An accidentally triggered that imprisonment when manipulating the broken array, thus releasing them.

The power that imprisons these spirits is definitely not the work of the Yinming Sect. Rather, it seems more like a seal casually set up by some powerful being.

But none of that matters anymore. What matters is Li Hanshan.

"That old bastard!" Qin Muyue gritted her teeth, a genuine killing intent flashing in her beautiful eyes for the first time. "He'd rather flee into the Ghost Realm than grant this Holy Maiden's wish. Once I catch him, I'll extract his soul and refine it, making him wish he were dead!"

Wu Zhanlong's eyes flashed with even more murderous intent: "Holy Maiden, leave that old bastard to me. I'll personally dismember him!"

He stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence.

Because his divine sense detected it.

A dozen miles away, at the exit of the altar, a corpse lay quietly on the ground. He knew the face of that corpse all too well.

Wu Tianxiong.

"Xiong'er!!!"

Wu Zhanlong let out a heart-wrenching roar and transformed into a golden light, rushing towards the exit. Qin Muyue frowned and followed closely behind.

The distance of tens of miles was merely a blink of an eye for a Golden Core cultivator flying at full speed. Wu Zhanlong landed beside Wu Tianxiong's corpse, trembling as he looked at his son's unseeing face. Wu Tianxiong's eyes rolled back, his mouth gaped open, and even his soul seemed to have been extracted.

"Who—is—who—!!!"

Wu Zhanlong's roar was like thunder, echoing through the ruins.

Just then, Wu Tianxiong's body suddenly exploded!

A dark figure shot out from the corpses; it was Xiao An. Her hands were forming the most vicious hand seal in the Netherworld Record, and her soul power burned like black flames. She transformed into a black lightning bolt and slammed into Wu Zhanlong's arms.

Netherworld Soul-Shattering Claw!

This was Xiao An's strongest attack, gleaned from the Netherworld Record, after breaking through to the False Core stage. At the cost of her own soul power, she fused the Netherworld Spear with the Soul Searching Technique, transforming it into five jet-black claw-like beams that tore through Wu Zhanlong's already weakened protective aura and fiercely gripped his dantian!

"ah--!!!"

Wu Zhanlong let out an extremely piercing scream as the golden core in his dantian was directly struck by the claw, cracks appearing on its surface. Once a golden core cultivator's golden core is damaged, at best their cultivation level will drop, and at worst, they will die on the spot!

Wu Zhanlong, as expected of a Golden Core cultivator, was able to retaliate despite suffering such severe injuries. With his remaining left arm, he struck out with a palm, the violent power of his Golden Core transforming into a golden palm print that slammed into Xiao An's chest. Xiao An's soul was violently shaken by the impact, and he was sent flying backward, crashing into a pile of ruins.

But that one swipe of hers was enough.

Just as Wu Zhanlong was fully focused on dealing with Xiao An, an extremely powerful divine sense attack slammed into his sea of ​​consciousness.

Li Hanshan's spiritual attack technique is at the Golden Core level!

Normally, a Golden Core level consciousness sea would be far beyond Li Hanshan's reach. But at this moment, Wu Zhanlong was first besieged by dozens of Golden Core Yin spirits, his spiritual power was mostly depleted, he suffered multiple serious injuries, his right arm was severed, and his Golden Core was damaged by Xiao An's sneak attack—his consciousness sea defense was extremely fragile.

The sharp cone of divine sense pierced deeply, and Wu Zhanlong's consciousness went blank for a moment.

It was in that very instant.

Han Yan moved. She suddenly unleashed the Heavenly Demon Pearl in her hand, and the jet-black pearl exploded in mid-air, transforming into a terrifying demonic shadow. The demonic shadow was several meters tall, its demonic energy surging, and it slammed down towards Wu Zhanlong with a palm.

This palm strike was equivalent to a full-force attack from a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator.

boom!!!

Wu Zhanlong's body flew backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily to the ground and creating a crater several meters deep. He lay at the bottom of the crater, his bones broken into pieces, most of his golden core in his dantian shattered, barely breathing, on the verge of death.

From the explosion of Wu Tianxiong's corpse to Xiao An's sneak attack, then to Li Hanshan's spiritual attack, and finally to Han Yan's Heavenly Demon Pearl—this series of coordinated actions were interlocking, leaving Wu Zhanlong no chance to catch his breath.

"not good!"

Qin Muyue, who arrived shortly afterward, had a drastic change in expression.

She never expected that Li Hanshan would be so audacious as to set up an ambush at the exit.

The ambush was so ingeniously set up. First, Wu Tianxiong's corpse was used to attract Wu Zhanlong's attention. Then, when Wu Zhanlong was in shock, Xiao An, who was hiding in the corpse, launched a sneak attack.

Under normal circumstances, Xiao An might not be able to hide, and a sneak attack might not succeed.

But now, Wu Zhanlong and Qin Muyue have just gone through a fierce battle. They have almost exhausted their trump cards, are exhausted, and have been seriously injured, which is why Xiao An was able to succeed.

Because she was a step too slow, she was unable to provide timely assistance.

That's how Li Hanshan succeeded.

Seeing that Wu Zhanlong was on the verge of death, Qin Muyue quickly stopped and dared not go forward again.

If she were at her peak, she wouldn't be afraid of Li Hanshan at all, but now she's uncertain and worried about what other tricks Li Hanshan might have up his sleeve.

"Little beast!"

Li Hanshan does indeed have some trump cards up his sleeve.

The little beast rushed out from the side and attacked Qin Muyue.

At the same time, Xiao An also pounced on him.

"Swish swish~"

Li Hanshan unleashed his full power, employing the Flowing Light Sword Technique at full strength as he charged towards Qin Muyue.

The cold smoke then rushed towards Wu Zhanlong.

This was her deal with Li Hanshan: after dealing with Wu Zhanlong, she would receive all of Wu Zhanlong's spoils, and then she could leave.

Qin Muyue, she won't care.

With her current strength, even without the third-tier spirit talisman and the Heavenly Demon Pearl, she wouldn't be of much use in the battle.

Now, the main force in the battle has become Xiao An and Xiao Shou.

Li Hanshan only played a supporting role.