Chapter Summaries

Ancestor Lei Ming, Su Zimo, and the others left the arena after a pillar of white light appeared, while Yuan Ming handed the Black Key to Dugu Feng. At the immortal estate, Wu Yuezhi and the cultivators gathered there used the Heavenly Star Chessboard and a bronze mirror to pierce the estate’s barrier and enter.

• A pillar of white light appeared, and Ancestor Lei Ming and Su Zimo left the arena with their captives to investigate.
• Fairy Jinxi sided with Dugu Feng, and Yuan Ming gave him the Black Key before their group flew toward the light.
• At Soul Burial Abyss, Wu Yuezhi offered to combine the cultivators’ power with his Heavenly Star Chessboard to break the immortal estate’s restriction.
• Twenty-one Core Formation Stage cultivators joined Wu Yuezhi and his two sworn siblings on the chessboard to form the Heavenly Scorpion Star Formation.
• The blue-robed man used a bronze mirror to enlarge the formation’s black scorpion, which pierced the barrier, allowing the chessboard and its occupants to enter the immortal estate.

Yuan Ming and the other cultivators entered Asura Venerable’s black tower, where they learned of his past and the treasure guarded by three trials. The first trial began with twenty-five War Pig Stone Statues, and the Nascent Soul cultivators quickly destroyed several of them.

• The white pillar surrounding the tower vanished, and Yuan Ming sensed Wan Sihu’s resentment toward Dugu Feng and suspected Dugu Feng knew something about the tower.
• Yuan Ming read Asura Venerable’s stele, which explained that the tower held a perilous treasure and required visitors to pass three trials to obtain it.
• Fairy Jinxi explained that Yunhuang Continent was the world they inhabited, while Yuan Ming asked about the Overseas Immortal Mountains.
• Wan Sihu opened the tower gate and entered with Dugu Feng, followed by Ancestor Lei Ming, Su Zimo, Yuan Ming, and the others.
• Twenty-five War Pig Stone Statues emerged from five pillars and charged the group; the Nascent Soul cultivators fought back and destroyed about a third of them within a dozen breaths.

Yuan Ming helped the cultivators defeat the stone war pigs and reach the second floor, but a Withered Figure ambushed the group and began killing them. The chapter left Yuan Ming and Pi Xiu protected by Fairy Jinxi's Golden Shields as more victims were attacked.

• Silver War Pigs emerged from the stone pillars and tied down Wan Sihu and the other Nascent Soul Cultivators while the Core Formation Cultivators struggled against the azure war pigs.
• Yuan Ming discovered the azure war pigs were rune-covered stone puppets, then restrained and froze one with the Emerald Jade Ruler and White Ring.
• Yuan Ming helped Pi Xiu and the other Core Formation Cultivators subdue the remaining azure war pigs, while the Nascent Soul Cultivators defeated the Silver War Pigs.
• Wan Sihu and the others climbed the newly revealed stairs as the Core Formation Cultivators collected fragments, but Yuan Ming sensed danger and turned at Wen Zaifou's scream.
• A Withered Figure drained Wen Zaifou to a mummy and vanished; Fairy Jinxi sent Golden Shields to protect Yuan Ming and Pi Xiu, while two more Withered Figures killed a cultivator under Ancestor Lei Ming and a man from the Black Desert Rogue Alliance.

After the Withered Figures killed several Core Formation Cultivators, the survivors discovered how to detect the creatures and continued exploring the tower. On the second floor, Yuan Ming volunteered to enter the Asura Venerable’s trial, and the chapter ended as he stepped into its array.

• Wan Sihu detected spatial fluctuations and cut down three Withered Figures as they appeared, then explained how he had found them.
• Fairy Jinxi collected Wen Zaifou’s corpse, while the black-robed cultivator gathered the other fallen cultivators’ bodies and Ancestor Lei Ming took his subordinate’s belongings.
• The group reached the second floor, where the Asura Venerable’s statue described a trial based on fulfilling his unfinished wish.
• Su Zimo, Ancestor Lei Ming, and Wan Sihu pressed Dugu Feng to send someone into the trial, and Yuan Ming volunteered instead of Xi Ying.
• Wan Sihu gave Yuan Ming a Concentric Talisman, which Fairy Jinxi examined and confirmed was safe to use.
• Yuan Ming activated the talisman and entered the silver array before the statue.

Yuan Ming entered the world created by Asura Venerable to relive the Chaotian Sect’s final days and learn whether he could prevent its destruction. After suspecting the Sect Founding Ceremony would be attacked, he persuaded his master Shen Lingyun to investigate the sect’s disciples.

• Asura Venerable sent Yuan Ming into a constructed past where his cultivation and abilities were restricted to the Foundation Establishment Early Stage.
• Yuan Ming learned that he was playing Asura Venerable as a personal disciple of Shen Lingyun at the Chaotian Sect shortly before its destruction.
• Shen Peng offered Yuan Ming reception assignments for the Sect Founding Ceremony, but Yuan Ming declined and considered whether the visiting sects might be involved in the coming disaster.
• Yuan Ming told Shen Lingyun that he had dreamed the ceremony would be attacked and that the sect would suffer heavy casualties.
• Shen Lingyun gave Yuan Ming his token and ordered him to review the disciples’ recent travel records for suspicious activity.

At the Asura Venerable’s trial, Xiying entered the illusion after Yuan Ming’s talisman burned out, and the Nascent Soul cultivators followed once Dugu Feng confirmed she was alive. Meanwhile, Yuan Ming investigated records at the Deacon Hall and learned that someone with Shen Lingyun’s token had come before him, leaving him wondering what they had discovered.

• Xiying volunteered to enter the trial, then vanished after hearing Asura Venerable recount his regret over his cultivation partner’s death.
• Dugu Feng said Xiying was still alive and entered the formation with a Core Formation cultivator; the other Nascent Soul cultivators followed with their own companions.
• Yan Sijing entered the trial after Ancestor Lei Ming called her over and prayed for protection for herself and Yuan Ming.
• Yuan Ming visited the Deacon Hall to investigate records, and Li Can gave him a Black Jade Key while asking him to remind Lingxing Peak to prepare an event for the Sect Founding Ceremony.
• At the storeroom, a green-robed cultivator saw Shen Lingyun’s token and muttered that someone had come with it before; Yuan Ming asked what he meant by “again.”

Yuan Ming’s first reenactment ended after Shen Lingyun killed him, triggering a crisis across the Chaotian Sect, but he retained the intelligence and began a second attempt. He arranged to receive Changchun Temple and recognized its leader, Liu Zhanshang, as the Jin Emperor.

• Yuan Ming confronted Shen Lingyun with evidence about Ge Chen and the use of Shen Lingyun’s token, so Shen Lingyun stabbed him with a Silver Spear.
• Yuan Ming activated an Anomaly Imprint Pearl, exposing Shen Lingyun’s actions and prompting him to summon the Venerable and activate Lingxing Peak’s formation; other peaks followed, beginning chaos in the Chaotian Sect.
• Yuan Ming woke after the first reenactment failed and used what he had learned to request the Changchun Temple reception assignment from Shen Peng.
• Yuan Ming prepared for Changchun Temple’s arrival and guided its cultivators after Wanqiu Ze departed with Bi Changyou.
• Yuan Ming recognized the Changchun Temple leader Liu Zhanshang as the Jin Emperor and agreed to lead the party toward Tianxia Peak’s Thousand Year Immortal Radiance.

Yuan Ming convinced Wanqiu Ze that Shen Lingyun had stolen Changchun Temple’s Nine Yuan Art and arranged for witnesses to catch Shen Lingyun attacking him. When Shen Lingyun’s ambush failed, Yuan Ming wounded himself and made it appear that his master had harmed him, as phantoms replayed the attack above Lingxing Peak.

• Yuan Ming secretly showed Liu Zhanshang the Nine Yuan Art and persuaded him to summon Wanqiu Ze.
• Wanqiu Ze threatened Yuan Ming, but Yuan Ming accused Shen Lingyun of infiltrating Chaotian Sect and laid out a plan to expose him.
• Wanqiu Ze agreed to help Yuan Ming and invited him to join Changchun Temple afterward.
• Yuan Ming visited Shen Lingyun, obtained his token, and returned with Jade Slips after searching the Deacon Hall.
• Shen Lingyun attacked Yuan Ming, but a flash of golden light repelled the blow as Bi Changyou arrived with Wanqiu Ze.
• Yuan Ming stabbed his own shoulder and cried that Shen Lingyun had harmed him, while phantoms replayed the attack without showing the golden light.

Yuan Ming’s attempt to expose Shen Lingyun triggered a coup within Chaotian Sect, as Kang Nascent Soul and his allies launched a rebellion. After escaping into the forest, Yuan Ming realized Shen Lingyun was a soul cultivator and was caught in an illusion.

• Wanqiu Ze defended the gravely wounded Yuan Ming, while Bi Changyou confronted Shen Lingyun over the Core Formation mana on Yuan Ming’s wounds.
• Shen Lingyun tried to activate a formation, but it failed; a fellow peak master attacked Bi Changyou as other Chaotian Sect cultivators rebelled and four peaks were sealed by formations.
• A Grey-robed Old Man appeared beside Shen Lingyun and identified him as his disciple, while two Nascent Soul cultivators arrived from the main peak.
• The Grey-robed Old Man, the Daoist-robed elder, the Xingxi Female Cultivator, Lei Kuang, and a Beimíng Rogue Alliance cultivator entered battle as Five Thunder Sect disciples and Rogue Cultivators attacked Chaotian Sect.
• Yuan Ming escaped into the forest, used Wanqiu Ze’s pills to recover, and concluded that he had underestimated the sect’s traitors and delayed too long.
• Shen Lingyun’s illusion trapped Yuan Ming among blood-red trees and copies of Shen Lingyun, leading Yuan Ming to realize Shen Lingyun was a soul cultivator.

Yuan Ming devised a way to expose a spy by tracing the token used to access Chaotian Sect’s intelligence storehouse. He captured Tao Wenlong, whose reaction suggested ties to the Beimíng Rogue Alliance, but the other traitors remained a threat.

• Yuan Ming reviewed the peaks implicated in Chaotian Sect’s destruction and realized he needed to uncover the traitors before outside forces arrived.
• Yuan Ming obtained Shen Lingyun’s token by claiming Lingxing Peak needed to excuse itself from the upcoming ceremony.
• Yuan Ming questioned the former intelligence-storehouse guard, sketched the person who had used the token, and asked Shen Peng to help find him.
• Yuan Ming identified the spy as Tao Wenlong and arranged to confront him with Punishment Hall deacons.
• Tao Wenlong tried to escape with a talisman, but Yuan Ming’s prepared formation bound him.
• Yuan Ming bluffed that Tao Wenlong might serve the Five Thunder Sect or Beimíng Rogue Alliance; Tao Wenlong’s reaction suggested the latter.

Yuan Ming exposed a spy and several strange formations, prompting Di Tao to alert the sect’s Nascent Soul patriarchs. After the crisis meeting, Yuan Ming realized that a supposedly erased report about a demon beast might reveal the Grey-robed Old Man’s connection to soul cultivation, and hurried to report his deduction.

• Gu Zhiping interrogated the impostor Tao Wenlong and learned that he was a Beimíng Rogue Alliance agent who had tried to destroy a report about a dead cultivator seemingly revived by an insect.
• Yuan Ming and Gu Zhiping learned that Junior Brother Cui had gone missing, while Shen Peng reported finding matching formations on five peaks.
• Yuan Ming showed Di Tao evidence of the spy, a sinister old man, and the formations, and Di Tao shackled Yuan Ming before rushing to inform the sect’s patriarchs.
• The patriarchs summoned the peak masters, and Yuan Ming was released after the meeting, but he realized he remained trapped in the Illusion Array.
• Yuan Ming connected the erased demon-beast report to Shen Lingyun’s soul cultivation and the Grey-robed Old Man, then rushed to ask Gu Zhiping to contact Di Tao.

Yuan Ming reported his discoveries about Shen Lingyun to Chaotian Sect’s Nascent Soul ancestors, revealing a connection to the soul cultivator Six Desires Venerable. After the ancestors located a traitor tied to the old case, Yuan Ming was suddenly confronted with a vision of the past and an accusation over the deaths of nearly a hundred thousand people.

• Yuan Ming asked Di Tao to take him to the ancestors and presented his suspicions about Shen Lingyun and the sect’s controlled traitors to Ancestor Lu.
• Yuan Ming gave Ancestor Lu a Jade Slip containing part of the Heart Cleansing Art, prompting Lu to summon the Red-robed Girl and send Di Tao away.
• The Red-robed Girl confirmed that the traitors’ souls had been tampered with, and Ancestor Lu ordered her to deal with them.
• Ancestor Lu explained that Six Desires Venerable used Soul Devouring Leeches to control people and evade capture, and the Red-robed Girl returned with the location of the traitor.
• Ancestor Lu set out to confront his former junior brother, but the hall suddenly changed around Yuan Ming, who saw an old man accuse the junior brother of causing nearly a hundred thousand deaths across three cities.

Yuan Ming witnessed how the Kang-surnamed cultivator’s betrayal led to the destruction of the Chaotian Sect and learned from Asura Venerable that the Illusion Array was built from the souls and memories of real people. Asura Venerable explained the Dream of All Beings’ purpose and the extraordinary resources needed to sustain it.

• The Kang-surnamed cultivator told Lu Fangzhou and the Lu-surnamed cultivator that an outsider from beyond Yunhuang had given him an unfinished spirit treasure, then was rescued from Lu Fangzhou by a mysterious voice.
• Yuan Ming saw the Kang-surnamed cultivator stand with Lei Kuang as the Chaotian Sect burned, while their allies prepared to plunder its resources and searched for the Asura Blood Devouring Diagram.
• The young man accompanying Shen Lingyun transformed into Asura Venerable, who told Yuan Ming that he was a remnant soul guarding the Illusion Array.
• Asura Venerable explained that the Dream of All Beings housed real souls in dream worlds and required a miraculous rune, vast soul power, and souls’ memories to complete its visions.

Yuan Ming challenged Asura Venerable’s belief in the Dream of All Beings, prompting him to recognize that he had been deceiving himself. After learning Xi Ying had passed her trial and asked that Yuan Ming be spared, Yuan Ming received a soul-cultivation art and a talisman granting partial control of the residence.

• Asura Venerable explained that he had sacrificed countless souls to create the Dream of All Beings and argued that its inhabitants preferred their beautiful dreams to reality.
• Yuan Ming rejected the dream, and his question about why Asura Venerable’s main soul remained outside it made Asura Venerable admit he had been deceiving himself.
• Asura Venerable revealed that Xi Ying had passed her trial and given up her reward to ask that Yuan Ming be sent out safely if he failed.
• Yuan Ming asked Asura Venerable to restore Xi Ying’s reward, but Asura Venerable instead let Yuan Ming choose a reward and granted him the Soul Splitting Core Merging Art.
• Asura Venerable warned Yuan Ming that the art was dangerous, then gave him a spirit talisman that could replace the Black Key and provide partial control of the residence.

Asura Venerable told Yuan Ming about true Spirit Treasures and the dangers he faced during three journeys to the Overseas World. He gave Yuan Ming records of those journeys and demonic energy for his spirit beasts, then opened a glowing bamboo door.

• Asura Venerable explained that the Cold Moon Ring and Hundred Ghosts Night March Scroll were imitation Spirit Treasures, and that the Asura Blood Devouring Diagram was a genuine one on the next level.
• Asura Venerable recounted three failed overseas explorations, describing lethal sea fog, a poisonous giant beast, and a battle with a mountain-sized tree demon before a sea turtle saved him.
• Yuan Ming offered to write a travel journal about Asura Venerable’s explorations, and Asura Venerable gave him a Jade Slip containing his records.
• Asura Venerable sent demonic energy into Flower Branch and King Kong, helping Flower Branch break through Level Three and strengthening King Kong.
• After Yuan Ming explained that the spirit beasts had absorbed demonic energy in Snake King Valley, Asura Venerable advised him to investigate the place and opened a glowing bamboo door.

Yuan Ming and the others reached the passage to the black tower’s third floor, but Su Zimo sprang a Ten Thousand Mile Yellow Sand Array to trap them and seize the treasures. As the cultivators struggled to break the formation, Yuan Ming suspected Dugu Feng knew more about the treasure than he let on.

• Yuan Ming and the others returned to the second floor of the black tower, where a passage to the third floor opened.
• Wu Yuezhi and his companions arrived at Yindu City, released the Core Formation Stage cultivators from the Heavenly Star Chessboard, and headed for the City Lord’s Mansion.
• Su Zimo activated the Ten Thousand Mile Yellow Sand Array, grabbed the blond, blue-eyed young man, and fled into the sand clouds as Wan Sihu attacked.
• Wan Sihu’s Twin Swords Unite pursuit was halted by the array, and Yuan Ming recognized the blond young man as a body cultivator.
• Dugu Feng identified the array and suggested Su Zimo had strengthened it with his Heavenly Sand Gourd, prompting Ancestor Lei Ming to ask whether he knew how to break it.

Wan Sihu and the other cultivators forced their way into the Ten Thousand Mile Yellow Sand Array, but its power surged and scattered them. Yuan Ming used the chaos to hide inside the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron, where he discovered that Dugu Feng's Heavenly Sand Gourd was burning its Origin Power to strengthen the array.

• Dugu Feng proposed that the cultivators enter the Ten Thousand Mile Yellow Sand Array and attack one point together, and Wan Sihu agreed to lead the way.
• Wan Sihu, Ancestor Lei Ming, Fairy Jinxi, Dugu Feng, and the Core Formation cultivators advanced through the array until its clouds thickened and began crushing their magical barrier.
• Wan Sihu used Unity of Man and Sword to cut through the clouds, while Ancestor Lei Ming transformed into a Thunder Dragon and followed him.
• The barrier collapsed and hurled Yuan Ming into the yellow clouds; Fairy Jinxi failed to find him, while Dugu Feng and Fairy Jinxi escaped with their companions.
• Yuan Ming revealed that he had deliberately used the collapse to escape into the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron, then used Yan Sijing's faith to survey the tower's second level.
• Yuan Ming spotted the Heavenly Sand Gourd pouring sand into the array and realized that it was burning its Origin Power to increase the array's strength.

The Red Clad Woman revealed that the blood-colored screen was the Asura Blood Devouring Diagram and set a trial for the cultivators seeking it. Yuan Ming disrupted her illusion before she could trap the group, but the Red Clad Woman retaliated by piercing Pi Xiu’s chest and tearing out his heart.

• The Red Clad Woman killed Su Zimo and the golden-haired young man, then absorbed their mummified corpses into the Asura Blood Devouring Diagram.
• The Red Clad Woman identified herself as a tower spirit and explained that seekers had to pass through the Blood Soul Domain and then endure a Heart-Questioning trial.
• Ancestor Lei Ming and Fairy Jinxi agreed to join forces to pursue the spirit treasure, while Wan Sihu, Dugu Feng, and the others held back after witnessing the deaths.
• The Red Clad Woman filled the floor with bloodlight and Yin Wind, luring the cultivators into an illusion as the hidden net waited above them.
• Yuan Ming used Ten Directions Soul Wave through Yan Sijing to awaken the group, angering the Red Clad Woman.
• The Red Clad Woman thrust a vanished hand through Pi Xiu’s chest and pulled out his still-beating heart.

The Red Clad Woman killed Pi Xiu and fought off the cultivators as they accused her of using an illusion to lure them toward the Asura Blood Devouring Diagram. After the four Nascent Soul Realm cultivators attacked together, she summoned Mummified Corpse skeletons, leaving Yan Sijing in danger as Yuan Ming prepared to intervene.

• The Red Clad Woman pierced Pi Xiu's body and nearly struck Yan Sijing, but Yuan Ming used the Thunder God's Hammer to save her.
• Fairy Jinxi's Golden Scroll became a giant bird, but the Red Clad Woman's invisible web trapped it; Pi Xiu died after the Red Clad Woman took his heart.
• Wan Sihu, Ancestor Lei Ming, and Dugu Feng suspected that the Red Clad Woman had used an illusion, then agreed with Fairy Jinxi to attack her together.
• The Red Clad Woman blocked their four treasures with a blood-red sea of flames and summoned Mummified Corpse skeletons from the Asura Blood Devouring Diagram.
• The skeletons attacked Yan Sijing and the others; as Yan Sijing struggled to defend herself, Yuan Ming decided he could not let her die.

Yuan Ming tried to seize the Asura Blood Devouring Diagram while the cultivators and its guardians fought, but the spirit treasure escaped after Wan Sihu broke its binding formation. The survivors then confronted Dugu Feng over the Black Key and the possibility that he had a hidden companion.

• Yan Sijing used two lightning pearls with Yuan Ming's aid to destroy the skeletons, while Ancestor Lei Ming suspected someone was secretly helping them.
• The Blood Skeleton trapped Ancestor Lei Ming and Dugu Feng in a blood formation, leaving the Red Clad Woman to gain the advantage against Wan Sihu and Fairy Jinxi.
• Yuan Ming sent blood light into the Asura Blood Devouring Diagram and tried to refine its runes, but the Red Clad Woman and Blood Skeleton disrupted him, and the diagram's Artifact Spirit severed the talisman's connection.
• Wan Sihu and the others tried to seize the diagram, but Wan Sihu's golden swords broke the formation binding it to the ground, allowing it to escape through a wall.
• Wan Sihu accused Dugu Feng of planning to use the Black Key to pursue the diagram with a hidden soul cultivator, and Dugu Feng denied having a companion.