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

Inside the main hall, the cold light of the pearl swayed gently.

Leng Yue was pinned down by Li Hanshan, and for the first time, true rage appeared in her silver-gray eyes. Her spiritual power was firmly suppressed in her dantian by the Immortal-grade Golden Elixir, and she couldn't mobilize even a trace of it. But her body was still struggling violently, her hands pressing tightly against Li Hanshan's chest, her nails digging into his flesh.

"You dare!" Her voice was no longer calm, but carried a chilling killing intent. "If you dare to take advantage of me, I will make you wish you were dead!"

Li Hanshan remained unmoved. He gripped Leng Yue's wrists with one hand, pressing her arms above her head, while his other hand formed a hand seal to reinforce the restrictions within her body. Leng Yue groaned, feeling the spiritual energy in her dantian become even more stagnant, and a wave of weakness washed over her limbs.

"Since I joined the Joyful Union Sect, every demoness who tried to take advantage of me has ended up being taken by me," Li Hanshan said calmly. "You are no exception."

Leng Yue gritted her teeth, the killing intent in her eyes almost tangible. She stopped speaking, instead concentrating all her divine sense in an attempt to break through the restriction in her dantian. The spatial power of a third-level Golden Core surged wildly within her body, each impact causing her meridians to ache faintly, but the restriction remained unmoved. Li Hanshan's Immortal-grade Golden Core far exceeded her expectations; the restriction he had laid was like an iron cage, her spatial power crashing into it like a mud ox sinking into the sea, not even causing a ripple.

Leng Yue tried several times, beads of sweat forming on her forehead, her breathing becoming rapid. She finally realized that the old man she regarded as her furnace was far stronger than her. She had no chance of winning in a direct confrontation.

"Let me go." Her voice returned to calm, but the calm was no longer as indifferent as before; instead, it carried a hint of restrained forbearance. "Let's talk."

Li Hanshan looked down at her, without letting go.

"You are already a Golden Core cultivator, and so am I. Let us become Daoist partners, benefiting each other." Leng Yue stared into his eyes, her tone neither humble nor arrogant. "I can swear an oath against my inner demons, never to betray you. From now on, let us join hands and dominate the Joyful Union Sect."

"A vow against inner demons?" Li Hanshan said calmly. "Hua Nongying also made a vow against inner demons with me, but she broke it after breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage. Do you think I would believe that?"

Leng Yue's eyes flickered slightly: "My oath is different from hers. An oath condensed from the power of space is impossible to break unless one breaks through to the Nascent Soul stage. If you don't believe me, I'll show you right now." As she spoke, she bit the tip of her tongue, a drop of blood floating on her lips, and was about to swear an oath.

Li Hanshan raised his hand and sealed her mouth.

"No need." His voice remained calm. "You have no room for negotiation."

As soon as she finished speaking, the Yang Ce cultivation technique was activated at full power. The pure Yang energy within the Immortal-grade Golden Core surged into Leng Yue's body like a burst dam, colliding violently with her spiritual power. Leng Yue trembled violently, and for the first time, pain appeared on her jade-carved face. She could clearly feel her Golden Core essence being drawn away bit by bit, flowing into Li Hanshan's body along the point where the two were connected. The feeling was as if someone was using a dull knife to carve out her dantian piece by piece, each cut causing her unbearable pain.

"You—" she gritted her teeth, forcing the words out, "What do you want from me to let me go?"

Li Hanshan did not answer. He closed his eyes and pushed the Yang Book to its limit.

The golden core essence surging from Leng Yue's body was astonishingly pure, each strand refining his immortal-grade golden core, making the purple-gold patterns on the surface of the core even more dazzling.

As Leng Yue felt the deepening yin lines on her lower abdomen, the anger in her eyes was gradually replaced by fear.

"What is this?" she finally couldn't help but ask, her voice trembling slightly.

Li Hanshan remained silent. He focused on activating the Yang Ce cultivation technique, refining all the golden core essence he had absorbed from Leng Yue's body.

The immortal-grade golden core in his dantian visibly increased in size, and the surface of the golden core shimmered with light, showing a faint tendency to advance towards the peak of the third level of the golden core.

For more than ten days in a row, only the cold light of the pearl and Li Hanshan's pure yang energy circulated in the main hall.

Leng Yue's struggles gradually weakened. It wasn't that she gave up resisting, but rather that her power was being continuously drained. An unknown amount of her Golden Core essence was being extracted, and the foundation of her third-level Golden Core was beginning to loosen, even showing a tendency to slip down to the second level.

"Let me go..." her voice was hoarse. "You've taken from me for so many days, isn't that enough?"

Li Hanshan opened his eyes.

He didn't speak, but just looked down at Leng Yue.

The once cold and arrogant face, as if sculpted from jade, was now devoid of its former indifference and arrogance, replaced only by pallor and weakness. Those silver-gray eyes no longer held the detached indifference that once surveyed all living beings; instead, they held humiliation, resentment, and a hint of fear she desperately tried to conceal.

But she still didn't cry. Even after being pressed to the cold ground for more than ten days to replenish her strength, and even though her cultivation foundation was being eroded to the point of collapse, she didn't shed a single tear.

Li Hanshan withdrew his gaze, raised his hand and placed it on her lower abdomen, channeling a stream of pure Yang energy back into her body. Leng Yue trembled; the pure Yang energy did not continue to plunder her golden core's essence, but instead flowed slowly along her meridians, repairing her foundation, which had been riddled with holes. Her complexion visibly regained some color, and her crumbling cultivation in her dantian gradually stabilized.

Leng Yue was taken aback for a moment, a look of confusion flashing in her eyes. But she quickly understood.

This wasn't about letting her go; it was about keeping her alive to continue serving as a cultivation vessel. A cultivation vessel whose cultivation had declined was far less useful. He was nurturing her like a milk-producing cow.

Li Hanshan withdrew his hand after circulating his pure Yang energy throughout her body for one full cycle, then continued to replenish her energy. This time, he didn't frantically absorb her golden core essence, but instead incorporated his pure Yang energy and her spatial power into the same cycle. Yin and Yang complemented each other, and their spiritual energy flowed back and forth in the cycle. Although Li Hanshan still had the upper hand, at least Leng Yue could receive some feedback from it.

This continued for another ten days or so. The two of them worked almost day and night without rest, and the spiritual energy in the main hall was stirred up by this long dual cultivation, causing the talismans on the walls to flicker intermittently.

Finally, on the night of the twenty-third day, a silvery-white light suddenly shone from the shadow patterns on Leng Yue's abdomen. The third petal fully bloomed. An invisible force rose from the shadow patterns, transforming into an unseen chain that firmly strangled her life force.

Leng Yue trembled.

She sensed that power. It wasn't a restriction, nor a seal, but something a hundred times more terrifying than restrictions and seals.

Her life and death were now entirely in Li Hanshan's hands. He didn't need to perform hand seals or chant incantations, nor did he need to activate his spiritual power. With just a thought from him, her heart would stop beating, and her life would come to an abrupt end.

She closed her eyes.

After a long silence, Leng Yue opened her eyes. All the anger, killing intent, humiliation, and resentment in her eyes gradually subsided, leaving only a deathly stillness.

She knew that from this moment on, she had no right to resist. The oath of the inner demon could be broken, and the restrictions could be broken, but she could sense that this Yin mark was something she might not be able to break free of, even if she broke through to the Nascent Soul stage, unless Li Hanshan took the initiative to remove it.

This is also why Li Hanshan didn't want the oath of inner demons. From the very beginning, he had no intention of giving her any chance to bargain.

"From this day forward, your life or death is in my hands." Li Hanshan stood up, put on his robe, and looked down at her.

Leng Yue lay on the cold ground, her long, silvery-white hair disheveled beneath her. She stared at the dim runes on the ceiling of the hall, remaining silent for a long time before slowly sitting up and picking up her silvery-white dress from the ground to put it on.

After straightening her clothes, she looked up at Li Hanshan. His jade-carved face remained expressionless, but there was something inexplicable in his silver-gray eyes.

"You tell me, I'll do it." She didn't mention "conditions" or "negotiation" again. She seemed to have accepted the reality.

This woman is much calmer than Qin Muyue was back then.

Looking at her like this, Li Hanshan remained calm and composed. This woman had tried to drain him dry the moment she entered the secret realm. If it weren't for his immortal-grade golden elixir and the Yang Manual cultivation technique, he would already be a dried-up corpse.

To be merciful to her would be to be cruel to himself. He raised his hand and cast a spell, removing the restrictions in the hall. The runes on the walls slowly dimmed, and the translucent light barrier dissipated.

"It's time to explore the secret realm." He turned and walked deeper into the main hall.