Chapter Summaries

After Jia Sifang won the Tide Rising Mistsea Ring, Yuan Ming discovered that Wu Yuezhi had secretly met with him to discuss a dangerous plan involving the Wuyue Cult and Xi Ying. Yuan Ming chose not to question Xi Ying yet and prepared to give Yan Sijing a portion of his Pure Yang Flame.

• Jia Sifang won the Tide Rising Mistsea Ring after the other Nascent Soul Cultivators declined to challenge his bid.
• Yuan Ming noticed Wu Yuezhi leave the auction, but could not find him when he searched Fusang City with his Spiritual Sense.
• Yuan Ming possessed Wu Yuezhi and learned that Wu Yuezhi was meeting Jia Sifang on behalf of Ni Mu, who planned to begin preparations after the Immortal Fruit Gathering started.
• Wu Yuezhi warned Jia Sifang that Xi Ying might be involved, and Jia Sifang learned that she came from the Xi Family of Xiankong Mountain.
• Yuan Ming decided not to question Xi Ying and extracted part of the Pure Yang Flame to give Yan Sijing.

Yuan Ming and Xi Ying searched for Yan Sijing after she vanished, eventually finding her injured and imprisoned beneath the Snake Person clan’s ship. Venerable White Scale had abducted her to obtain the Ice Bud Yin Fire, and Queen Mingkong appeared to know about the search as Xi Ying considered their next move.

• Yuan Ming learned that Yan Sijing had disappeared after leaving to discuss an alchemy commission, but his searches and Xi Ying’s tracking arts found no trace of her.
• Yuan Ming and Xi Ying decided to search Fusang Island quietly, with Xi Ying taking Miao Xian as a faith anchor while Yuan Ming followed through the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron.
• Yuan Ming suspected Venerable White Scale because he collected true fires and had shown interest in their group, and Xi Ying led him to the ships moored beyond the island.
• Yuan Ming found Yan Sijing injured and unconscious beneath the Snake Person clan’s ship, while Venerable White Scale refined a fourth true fire in his six-aperture Dragon Tiger Azure Profound Furnace.
• Queen Mingkong revealed that she knew about Yan Sijing and warned Venerable White Scale that he might have provoked a formidable opponent, prompting him to order stronger guards.
• Yuan Ming told Xi Ying that Queen Mingkong might have noticed her search, and Xi Ying recognized that the Merfolk queen’s Water Mirror Scrying Technique could have been watching her.

Xi Ying infiltrated the Snake People’s ship and rescued Yan Sijing while Yuan Ming supported her from the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron. Xi Ying escaped after Yuan Ming delayed Venerable White Scale, leaving the Snake People warned against abducting human cultivators.

• Xi Ying and Yuan Ming agreed to rescue Yan Sijing, and Yuan Ming gave Xi Ying the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron and Asura Blood Devouring Diagram for support.
• Xi Ying used the Void Transformation Art to slip past the Snake People’s guards and reach Yan Sijing’s prison beneath their ship.
• Xi Ying trapped Green Pupil and two other guards in an illusion, then used Green Pupil’s token and the Golden Dragon Shears to free Yan Sijing.
• Yuan Ming healed Yan Sijing inside the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron as Xi Ying fled and used the Cold Moon Ice Flame to freeze Venerable White Scale’s attack.
• Xi Ying escaped after illusions distracted Venerable White Scale, and the red-eyed guard died as a warning against further abductions.

Xiying rescued Yan Sijing from Venerable White Scale, who suspected the intruder was connected to the Wuyue Cult and chose not to pursue them. Back in Fusang City, Yuan Ming examined Green Pupil’s storage pouch and discovered the Gou Mang Spiritual Art, which could temper and greatly improve spiritual roots.

• Venerable White Scale learned that the intruder called himself White Bone Scholar, questioned Queen Mingkong, and agreed not to pursue the rescue.
• Venerable White Scale identified Hongxing’s death as the result of a soul attack and ordered Green Pupil to gather intelligence about the Wuyue Cult.
• Xiying returned to Fusang City with Yan Sijing, and Yuan Ming warned Yan Siyun to keep her sister indoors during the Immortal Fruit Gathering.
• Xiying gave Yuan Ming the two Storage Pouches taken from Green Pupil and another Snake Person.
• Yuan Ming opened a sealed jade box from Green Pupil’s pouch and discovered the Gou Mang Spiritual Art, which could elevate spiritual roots to the level of a Heavenly Spirit Root.

Yuan Ming discovered that the Gou Mang Spiritual Art could temper spiritual roots, though its demanding requirements meant he could not use it himself. Three days later, the Immortal Fruit Gathering began at Flowing Fire Lake, where the island representatives awaited the tournament draw.

• Yuan Ming read Green Pupil’s jade slip and learned that the Gou Mang Spiritual Art used a matching Yimu Spirit Plant to improve spiritual roots and aid cultivation breakthroughs.
• Yuan Ming realized Xi Ying might use the Five Elements Creation Tree with the art, and that his Heaven-Stealing Cauldron could let her nurture it without being confined in one place.
• Three days later, Yuan Ming and Xi Ying joined the crowds traveling from Fusang City to Flowing Fire Lake for the Immortal Fruit Gathering.
• Island Master Luo of Spiral Mountain Island insulted Bi Shui Rou and proposed that she join his island, so she asked Yuan Ming and Xi Ying to strike his competitors harder if they faced them.
• Xu Fu welcomed the gathered island representatives and displayed the tournament groupings and matchups on an azure water curtain.

Yuan Ming, Bi Shui Rou, and Xi Ying learned that Hongzhi Island had been grouped with the powerful Karma Fire Island, while Island Lord Luo and Island Lord Liu plotted to use a Silkworm Heart Gu against Bi Shui Rou. After the opening matches, Bi Shui Rou faced Island Lord Liu in the arena, and the two island lords prepared to carry out their schemes.

• Bi Shui Rou explained that the gathering’s grouping rules favored first-class islands and previous winners, leaving Hongzhi Island with little chance to advance against Karma Fire Island.
• Island Lord Luo and Island Lord Liu agreed that Liu would plant Luo’s Silkworm Heart Gu in Bi Shui Rou in exchange for Luo’s Beast Taming Art.
• Xu Fu began the tournament, and Cold Crystal Island defeated Pine Crane Island after its Ice Breaking Turtle overwhelmed the Red Flame Blood Crane.
• The early matches showed that first-class islands easily defeated second-class opponents, while several contests between second-class islands were closely fought.
• When Xu Fu announced Hongzhi Island versus Flowing Waves Island, Bi Shui Rou entered the arena, and Island Lord Liu chose to fight her personally.

Bi Shui Rou defeated Island Lord Liu by exploiting the illusion of her Spirit Moth, while Yuan Ming and Xi Ying watched another match featuring Wulu. After the first day of competition ended, Bi Shui Rou returned to Yuan Ming and Xi Ying, apparently pleased with the next day’s matchup list.

• Island Lord Liu attacked Bi Shui Rou with his Flowing Wave Tiger, but her Illusion Spirit Moth trapped him in a vision of his master's wife.
• Island Lord Liu broke free and attacked Bi Shui Rou from both sides, but her illusionary body vanished and her true body struck him down.
• Luo Wanshan discovered that the black vial Island Lord Liu returned was empty and asked whether the plan had worked; Island Lord Liu demanded his payment.
• Yuan Ming and Xi Ying stayed to watch Wulu defeat his opponent, then left the venue together.
• After the first day’s matches ended, Bi Shui Rou visited Yuan Ming and Xi Ying, and Xi Ying guessed that the next day’s matchup list had been released.

Xi Ying effortlessly defeated Spiral Mountain Island’s fighter, shocking the island leaders and raising concern about Hongzhi Island’s strength. Luo Wanshan and Island Lord Liu feared Yuan Ming might win the next match and make Hongzhi Island powerful enough to escape their control.

• Bi Shui Rou said she wanted Spiral Mountain Island’s fighters crippled, then felt a strange palpitation and hurried away.
• Xi Ying fought Spiral Mountain Island’s effeminate cultivator and killed him and his Blood-eyed Bat with one golden strike.
• Island leaders discussed Xi Ying’s strength, while Yan Xiang learned that Yuan Ming might fight for Hongzhi Island the next day.
• Xi Ying told Yuan Ming she had struck because the Spiral Mountain Island fighter had shown killing intent.
• Luo Wanshan told Island Lord Liu that he had planted a Silkworm Heart Gu in Bi Shui Rou, but Liu warned that Yuan Ming and Xi Ying might outgrow her control.

Luo Wanshan and Island Lord Liu used the Silkworm Heart Gu to control Bi Shui Rou and make her poison Yuan Ming, then tried to kill him when they feared the poison might not be enough. Yuan Ming and Xi Ying had anticipated the plot, and their trap left Island Lord Liu dead while Luo Wanshan remained caught in the illusion.

• Island Lord Liu gave Luo Wanshan Sufeng Powder, and they planned to use the Silkworm Heart Gu to make Bi Shui Rou poison Yuan Ming before the match.
• Luo Wanshan used the Insect Drum to subdue Bi Shui Rou, then controlled her into carrying the powder to Yuan Ming's room.
• Yuan Ming and Xi Ying revealed they had been waiting for Luo Wanshan and Island Lord Liu, with Bi Shui Rou asleep nearby.
• Luo Wanshan and Island Lord Liu tried to flee through Yuan Ming's illusion, but Yuan Ming's Ghostly Entities devoured the Evil Ghosts they had summoned.
• Island Lord Liu raised a silver shield against Yuan Ming's giant sword strike, but the Sword Qi pierced it and killed him.

Yuan Ming forced Luo Wanshan to remove the Silkworm Heart Gu from Bi Shui Rou and hand over the Golden Sunflower Beast Taming Art. Bi Shui Rou spared Luo Wanshan in exchange for his help annexing Flowing Waves Island and bound him with the Cinnabar Mole, while a crow possessing Island Lord Liu’s corpse revealed Yuan Ming’s soul-cultivator abilities.

• Yuan Ming made Luo Wanshan remove the Silkworm Heart Gu from Bi Shui Rou, who awoke and learned how Luo Wanshan and Island Lord Liu had plotted against her.
• Bi Shui Rou demanded compensation, and Luo Wanshan surrendered Spiral Mountain Island’s resources and the incomplete Golden Sunflower Beast Taming Art.
• Bi Shui Rou ordered Luo Wanshan to help her annex Flowing Waves Island and made him swallow the Cinnabar Mole, which she promised to remove after thirty-six months of antidotes.
• As Luo Wanshan left, a crow possessed Island Lord Liu’s corpse, startling Luo Wanshan into realizing Yuan Ming was a soul cultivator.

Yuan Ming arranged for Bi Shui Rou to secure Flowing Waves Island and then mastered Spirit Fusion with his spirit beasts, greatly boosting his power. At the selection tournament, Hongzhi Island’s final match began against Karma Fire Island, which unexpectedly sent its powerful disciple Cui Yu.

• Yuan Ming told Bi Shui Rou to have the controlled Island Lord Liu transfer authority to the deputy island lord, with Luo Wanshan helping carry out the plan.
• Yuan Ming practiced Spirit Fusion with Thunder Rain and used their combined power to test enhanced lightning attacks and flight.
• Yuan Ming fused with Flower Branch and the Three-Eyed Crow, raising his mana to roughly the Late Core Formation Stage.
• The third selection round concluded with the first-class islands winning their matches, leaving Hongzhi Island to face Karma Fire Island.
• Yuan Ming entered the arena for Hongzhi Island, and Karma Fire Island’s late-arriving contestant was revealed as Cui Yu, a Core Formation Peak cultivator whom Yan Xiang had recalled from seclusion.

Yuan Ming and Thunder Rain defeated Cui Yu and his Crimson Horned Fire Dragon, securing Hongzhi Island’s victory over Karma Fire Island. Hongzhi Island became the first second-rate island to defeat a first-rate island at the Immortal Fruit Convention, and the sixteen successful teams were announced for the next round.

• Cui Yu summoned his powerful Crimson Horned Fire Dragon, but Yuan Ming called out Thunder Rain to face it.
• Thunder Rain used its speed to keep Cui Yu occupied while Yuan Ming gathered power with the Rain Prayer Technique.
• Cui Yu trapped Yuan Ming in a flaming net and sent the Crimson Horned Fire Dragon to attack, but Yuan Ming escaped with lightning and appeared atop Thunder Rain.
• Yuan Ming empowered Thunder Rain with his mana and the Thunder God's Hammer, triggering its lightning-control ability and blasting through Cui Yu’s defenses.
• Thunder Rain’s strike left Cui Yu and his fire dragon badly injured but alive, and Xu Fu declared Hongzhi Island the winner.
• Xu Fu announced the sixteen islands advancing to the next round, and Yuan Ming noticed Wulu among Blood Swallow Island’s team.

Yuan Ming recovered some soul power, made Yu Meiren spirit incense, and supported Xu Che’s migration of Mingyue Cult believers. After Fusang Island changed the competition rules to require the top sixteen to explore a dangerous secret realm, Yuan Ming resolved to go for the Crimson Mulberry Immortal Fruit and asked about the Three Immortal Islands.

• Yuan Ming made three sticks of Yu Meiren spirit incense from the newly delivered materials.
• Yuan Ming sent Xu Che resources for the Mingyue Cult’s migration and instructed him to bring the cultivator believers to the Eastern Sea once they were settled.
• Bi Shui Rou gave Yuan Ming a Jade Slip stating that the top sixteen must enter a secret realm, where their gains would determine their rankings, or forfeit the Crimson Mulberry Immortal Fruit.
• Yuan Ming cautioned Bi Shui Rou against seeking further fame for Hongzhi Island and concluded that he had to enter the secret realm to obtain the fruit.
• Yuan Ming asked Bi Shui Rou about the Three Immortal Islands, and she described their legend and the Void Return opportunities they supposedly held.

Yuan Ming learned that the secret realm trial carried grave risks, and Yan Siyun’s divination showed he faced a great calamity with only a faint chance of survival. He still chose to enter for the Five Elements Nascent Soul Condensing Pill, while Xi Ying agreed to accompany him and offered him a divination technique to study.

• Bi Shui Rou explained that Fusang Island and the islands of Golden Ao, Kongling, and Dihua had opened the secret realm to the top sixteen Immortal Fruit Gathering participants after their own Core Formation cultivators suffered heavy losses inside.
• Yuan Ming agreed to participate, and Yan Siyun arrived to warn him privately against entering the secret realm.
• Yan Siyun revealed that her divination predicted a great calamity for Yuan Ming, then suffered a backlash that Yuan Ming helped calm.
• Yan Siyun told Yuan Ming that she planned to cultivate toward Core Formation after her sister mastered the Pure Yang Flame and Hundred Pills Workshop stabilized.
• Yuan Ming and Xi Ying decided to enter the secret realm together, and Xi Ying explained that divination required a rare aptitude before giving Yuan Ming a Jade Slip containing a secret divination technique.

Yuan Ming agreed to join Fusang Island’s secret realm competition and gathered with the other selected cultivators at the Vacuum Hall before their departure. As he assessed his powerful fellow participants, Huanlingzi tried to plant an illusion in his soul, leaving Yuan Ming wary of him.

• Yuan Ming struggled to comprehend the Art of Heavenly Derivation, then agreed to participate in the secret realm competition and went to prepare star-attributed artifacts and talismans.
• The top sixteen competitors gathered at the Vacuum Hall, where Yuan Ming learned its ancient origins and spoke with Wulu, who was disguised as a cultivator from Blood Swallow Island.
• Yuan Ming warned Wulu that the secret realm journey might be dangerous and observed Fairy Jinyun, the Fusang Island Lord’s formidable disciple.
• Yuan Ming identified Daoist Qianbao, Huanlingzi, and Tusheng among the strongest participants, and Huanlingzi secretly attacked Yuan Ming with an illusion.
• Wulu warned Yuan Ming that Huanlingzi planted illusion seeds in people’s souls, and Yuan Ming resolved to be wary of him.

Yuan Ming entered Vacuum Hall with the other competitors and used his Split Soul and the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron to investigate the Ancient Teleportation Array. As the array began operating to send them into the secret realm, he discovered Jia Sifang in disguise but agreed to leave him to Xi Ying.

• Long Chong and Qiong Yun approached Yuan Ming and Wulu, assured Yuan Ming they held no grudge over Cui Yu's defeat, and made their acquaintance.
• A Fusang Island cultivator led the seventeen competitors through Vacuum Hall's passages, where Yuan Ming sensed their spiritual power was restricted and noticed energy flowing deeper inside.
• Yuan Ming sent his Split Soul into the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron, used wish power to investigate Vacuum Hall, and discovered the Ancient Teleportation Array drew Spatial Power from above into eight stone pillars.
• Yuan Ming spotted Jia Sifang disguised as a Fusang Island Nascent Soul cultivator and told Xi Ying, who instructed him to focus on the secret realm competition.
• Xu Fu urged the competitors to enter the unstable, modified teleportation array, and the seventeen began walking toward it.

Yuan Ming and the others survived a dangerous teleportation to the Outer Sea, where they met Elder Lu and endured the region’s violent conditions on the way to a secret-realm entrance. During a rest, Yuan Ming discovered that his Silver Token could now create a stronger, independent silver barrier at will.

• Xu Fu activated the teleportation array, but Yuan Ming's Silver Token drained its Spatial Power and caused the journey to become perilous until Xu Fu stabilized it with silver crystal spheres.
• Yuan Ming and the others arrived at Two Realms Island, where Elder Lu Changfeng, a Nascent Soul Middle Stage cultivator, led them toward the secret realm.
• The group crossed the storm-ravaged Outer Sea, fought a pack of third-level demon beasts, and reached a lush island after more than half a day.
• While recovering, Yuan Ming used the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron to test his Silver Token and found it could form a stronger silver barrier that isolated the space within it.

Yuan Ming and Xi Ying discussed the Silver Token’s dangerous absorption of spatial power before Yuan Ming joined the others at a submerged city of the vanished Wan Qu Tribe. At the sealed secret-realm entrance, Elder Lu warned the group that two great dangers awaited them inside.

• Yuan Ming tested his strengthened silver barrier, and Xi Ying explained that his Silver Token had absorbed spatial power and should be kept away from teleportation arrays.
• Yuan Ming placed the Silver Token inside the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron, then followed Elder Lu and the others to a lake where three Nascent Soul cultivators joined them.
• Yuan Ming used the Void Transformation Art to withstand the lake’s pressure, and he realized Elder Lu used the Golden Sunflower Beast Taming Art to borrow a jellyfish spirit beast’s ability.
• Elder Lu led the group to a vast underwater city, where Xi Ying identified the ruins as belonging to the vanished Wan Qu Tribe and described its star-powered flying vessels.
• Elder Lu opened the palace doors to reveal a sealed Gate of Light and Shadow, then announced that he needed to explain the two great dangers inside the secret realm.

Yuan Ming and the other cultivators entered the Three Immortal Islands secret realm, where the group quickly scattered to search for treasures. As Yuan Ming prepared to go alone, Long Chong asked him to travel together with him and Qiong Yun.

• Elder Lu warned the cultivators about Star Rain and Starry Sky Beasts, distributed Heavenly Star Cover Talismans, and opened the Gate of Light and Shadow so the seventeen entrants could enter the secret realm for thirty days.
• A burly man on a blue flying boat learned that the Three Immortal Islands had emerged and led his companions northwest to search for them.
• Yuan Ming and the others arrived in a strange realm of floating lands beneath enormous stars, where Huanlingzi proposed that they cooperate before exploring.
• Daoist Qianbao, Fairy Jinyun, and Tusheng left, and the rest of the cultivators soon scattered; Huanlingzi departed alone after declaring his confidence.
• Wulu left Yuan Ming, Long Chong, and Qiong Yun, and Yuan Ming prepared to depart before Long Chong urged the three to travel together.

Yuan Ming joined Long Chong and Qiong Yun in the Immortal Fruit Gathering contest after Long Chong recognized him by Liu Tianming’s Blood Dragon Jade Pendant. Following Qiong Yun’s treasure-seeking compass, they crossed a dangerous void and reached Purple Grass Continent, where Yuan Ming warned of hidden demonic beasts as they entered a forest.

• Long Chong explained that he recognized Yuan Ming through the Blood Dragon Jade Pendant Liu Tianming had given him, and Yuan Ming agreed to travel with Long Chong and Qiong Yun.
• Qiong Yun used her Blackwood Compass to guide the group toward a treasure on Purple Grass Continent, but a powerful suction force nearly dragged them into the abyss as they crossed between continents.
• Yuan Ming, Long Chong, and Qiong Yun used their magic treasures to resist the suction and reached the continent, where Yuan Ming identified the purple plants as poisonous.
• Long Chong tested the plants with raw meat, and the group collected samples of the poisonous grasses and flowers before continuing southeast.
• The compass led the group to a Mulberry Tree Forest, where Yuan Ming noticed demonic beasts hiding in the canopy just as grayish-white heads emerged among the leaves.