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

The two henchmen immediately burst into laughter.

"Senior Brother Sun, this old man is probably tired of living."

"Look at his character, he'd be blown away by the wind, and he dares to meddle in other people's business?"

Sun Ze's gaze suddenly fell on the token at Li Hanshan's waist, and he laughed even more unrestrainedly: "So it's just a furnace cauldron? I thought it was some important person."

His face turned cold, and his eyes flashed with a fierce light: "A broken furnace that's been ridden by others dares to interfere in my affairs? Who do you think you are!"

Xu Lingxi then recognized Li Hanshan, and was both surprised and delighted: "Grandpa Li? What are you doing here—"

She was halfway through her sentence when she saw Sun Ze's fierce expression and panicked, "Grandpa Li, let's go! This has nothing to do with you..."

Li Hanshan's expression remained unchanged: "I'm determined to take charge today!"

Sun Ze's eyes turned cold: "Old man, you're asking for death!"

He made a hand seal, about to use magic to teach Li Hanshan a lesson.

"I am Hua Nongying's furnace, try touching me!"

But Li Hanshan's next words made Sun Ze freeze.

Flowers play with shadows.

This name is practically a mountain in the Hehuan Sect, especially among the outer disciples.

An inner sect prodigy, at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining, ruthless and vindictive. Last month, an outer sect disciple merely spoke ill of her behind her back, and the next day both his legs were broken, and he was thrown into the Demon Beast Forest to fend for himself.

To mess with her furnace? That's asking for trouble!

Sun Ze subconsciously took a step back, but immediately stopped—he couldn't afford to lose face in front of his followers.

"Don't try to scare me with Senior Sister Hua!" he said, forcing a smile. "You're just a furnace, something she'll drain dry when she's tired of you. Do you really think you're something special?"

Instead of getting angry, Li Hanshan laughed and took another step forward, almost touching Sun Ze's face.

"Then give it a try."

He tilted his head back, squinted his eyes, a mocking smile playing on his lips, and pointed to his own face: "Come on, hit me here."

Sun Ze was stunned.

Li Hanshan continued, "If you punch me, I'll go to Hua Nongying and complain that you bullied her. Guess what she'll do to you?"

Sun Ze's forehead was covered in cold sweat.

He had personally witnessed Hua Nongying's ruthlessness. Even if Li Hanshan was a furnace cauldron, he was still Hua Nongying's furnace cauldron. He really didn't dare to touch Li Hanshan!

Li Hanshan took another step forward, and Sun Ze subconsciously stepped back.

"You don't dare to hit me?" With a sneer, Li Hanshan raised his hand and slapped Sun Ze across the face: "If you won't hit me, I will."

"Snapped!"

This slap stunned Sun Ze. He never expected that Li Hanshan, a mere furnace cauldron, would actually lay a hand on him, an outer disciple!

"You're asking for death!" Sun Ze roared, his spiritual energy surging.

"Senior Brother Sun, don't be impulsive."

"Quick, grab him!"

"Senior Brother Sun, why are you arguing with a dying man? He's clearly trying to drag you down with him!"

Sun Ze's henchmen were terrified and quickly pulled him back, fearing he might attack Li Hanshan.

"I never expected this old man to have such guts!"

"A mere furnace cauldron dares to attack an outer disciple? How arrogant!"

"He won't live more than a few days if he falls into Sister Hua's hands. He's going to die anyway, so he might as well take someone down with him."

A crowd of onlookers gathered, marveling at the sight.

The Hehuan Sect's furnace cauldrons are harvested one after another like wheat, but those as arrogant as Li Hanshan are truly rare.

"Can't a furnace be arrogant?"

Li Hanshan listened to the discussions of the crowd and felt reassured. Since it was so easy to expose the vixen Hua Nongying, he would be arrogant today.

He pointed at Sun Ze and said sternly, "If you dare to make a move on her again, I'll beat you every time I see you. If you dare to fight back, I'll kill myself in front of you. My old life isn't worth much, but you can gamble on whether Senior Sister Hua will let you off the hook."

"Pfft~"

Many of the disciples watching were amused by Li Hanshan's words. Threatening someone with suicide was something only Li Hanshan did in the entire Hehuan Sect.

Folk remedies can cure serious illnesses.

This trick works surprisingly well here.

"Okay, okay!"

Sun Ze trembled with rage, but his spiritual energy subsided: "Old man, you can protect her for a while, but not forever. Once Senior Sister Hua drains you dry, see how I torture this little girl!"

After uttering a harsh remark, Sun Ze and his followers slunk away.

Running away is not an option, but fighting is also out of the question. Staying would only bring shame upon ourselves. Besides, with the crowd growing larger, what if we attract that vixen Hua Nongying?

Seeing that there was no more interesting show to watch, the others gradually dispersed.

Xu Lingxi looked at Li Hanshan, her eyes red-rimmed: "Grandpa Li, thank you. I never thought you would be captured and brought here too. I thought I would never see anyone from the village again in this lifetime."

Li Hanshan sighed.

"Girl..." Li Hanshan instinctively wanted to call out "Girl," but he stopped himself from saying it.

He had already given the nickname "little girl" to Luo Li, making it her exclusive nickname.

"Lingxi, what are you doing here?"

"Grandpa Li, I am now a candidate disciple of the Hehuan Sect. As long as I break through to the Qi Refining stage within 49 days, I can become an outer disciple..."

In a corner of the market, Xu Lingxi slowly recounted what had happened.

Her situation was much better than Li Hanshan's. Li Hanshan was a furnace cauldron, while Xu Lingxi was chosen by the Hehuan Sect and forced to join the sect as a candidate disciple.

The candidate disciple is of a much higher status than the furnace cauldron, but she must break through the Qi Refining stage within 49 days, otherwise she will be demoted to a furnace cauldron, and her fate will not be much better than that of other furnace cauldrons.

After listening, Li Hanshan asked with concern, "Are you confident?"

Xu Lingxi's expression darkened, but a hint of shyness appeared on her pretty face: "Grandpa Li, I heard them say that if I want to succeed within 49 days, I probably have to rent a furnace. I... I don't want to do that, so I haven't made much progress."

What? Rent a furnace cauldron? You can rent a furnace cauldron?

After asking in detail, Li Hanshan understood. In the Hehuan Sect, not every demoness was as ruthless as Hua Nongying; the furnace cauldron wouldn't survive more than three days with her.

Many outer sect female demons, due to limited resources, will treat a good furnace as a long-term blood bag when they encounter one, emphasizing a slow and steady approach rather than draining it dry all at once.

Some of these enchantresses rent out their furnaces to people who can't afford them, earning spirit stones and connections in return.

How many spirit stones do you have?

"When we entered the sect, the sect gave us ten coins at once, saying that this was our money for selling ourselves. If we couldn't break through to the Qi Refining stage, we would be sold to the sect as a furnace."

"And there's money for selling yourself?" Li Hanshan rolled his eyes. Why could others become candidate disciples and receive money for selling themselves, while he was caught and auctioned off on the black market without even a chance?

Because he's old!

He suddenly remembered Sun Ze's words and a crucial question came to mind: "Do you have ten days left?"

Xu Lingxi's expression darkened: "Hmm!"

Li Hanshan then asked, "So what stage have you reached in your cultivation? Have you opened your meridians yet?"

Xu Lingxi looked dejected: "Not yet, Grandpa Li, am I too stupid?"

Li Hanshan shook his head: "It's not your problem."

In his view, it really wasn't Xu Lingxi's problem. The cultivation method provided to her by the Hehuan Sect wasn't for proper practice at all; instead, it required her to find a furnace to replenish her energy.

If Xu Lingxi doesn't rent a furnace, she might not be able to open her meridians even after another month of cultivation.

"Lingxi, take me to where you live, I can help you."

After learning the whole story, Li Hanshan decided to help Xu Lingxi. After all, they were old acquaintances from the same village, and the girl's family was kind, having even helped Li Hanshan before.

If he were to watch Xu Lingxi become a furnace while he still had the power, he would never forgive himself in the future.

In the words of cultivators, that would corrupt one's Dao heart.

"Um!"

Xu Lingxi nodded gratefully, but then, as if remembering something, a blush quietly rose on her cheeks. Fortunately, it was already dark, so it wasn't too noticeable.

She led Li Hanshan to her residence, which was one of the houses in a long row. The treatment she received was far inferior to that of Hua Nongying, a top talent in the inner sect.

The soundproofing in these rooms was clearly poor. Night had fallen, and various lewd sounds emanated from each room, making it easy to imagine what was happening inside.

It seems that quite a few disciples are considering renting the furnace cauldron.

When she entered the room, Xu Lingxi's face was already flushed red to the roots of her neck. She quickly closed the door, and her voice finally quieted down a bit.

"Grandpa Li, do you need me to take off all my clothes?"

Xu Lingxi glanced at Li Hanshan secretly, then asked timidly.