Chapter Summaries

Lin Xuan killed the Nascent Soul of the Red-Haired Elder and learned that the Demon Race had allied with the Sea Race against humanity. After collecting the attackers’ treasures, he reassured Shangguan Muyu and entrusted the loot to the women of Hundred Herb Sect.

• Lin Xuan restrained the Red-Haired Elder’s Nascent Soul, searched its soul, and burned it to ashes.
• Lin Xuan learned that the Demon Race had joined the Sea Race and that the jellyfish faction had destroyed most of Sky Feather Sect.
• Lin Xuan considered whether the Chaotic Sea Region could stay neutral as the war spread, then gathered the scattered Storage Bags.
• Shangguan Muyu thanked Lin Xuan for saving them, and he told her he understood their situation.
• Lin Xuan gave several hundred Storage Bags to the three women and told them to sort through the treasures.

After fifty years in seclusion, Lin Xuan sent word for the Hundred Herb Sect to remove the island’s restrictions, leading Shangguan Muyu and her daughters to suspect he was breaking through to the late stage of Lihe. The sky darkened with a tremendous crash outside Hundred Flower Valley, just as the breakthrough seemed to begin.

• After Lin Xuan left, Shangguan Muyu organized repairs to the sect’s damaged restrictions and the sorting of the seized treasures.
• Three months later, the Shangguan Sisters received Lin Xuan’s Sound Transmission Talisman asking them to have their mother remove all the island’s restrictions.
• Shangguan Yan sent instructions to Shangguan Muyu, who ordered the Hundred Herb Sect disciples to take down the formations across Black Wind Island.
• Shangguan Muyu joined the Shangguan Sisters outside Hundred Flower Valley and asked whether Lin Xuan was preparing to break through.
• A thunderous crash rang out, the bright sky turned gloomy, and the women sensed a sudden change as Lin Xuan’s breakthrough approached.

As Lin Xuan prepared to break through his bottleneck, Shangguan Muyu led Shangguan Yan and Shangguan Ling away from Hundred Flower Valley so they would not interfere. They watched from a distance as a fierce storm and surging Yuan Qi gathered around the valley, leaving Lin Xuan’s breakthrough in progress.

• Shangguan Muyu explained that Lin Xuan might draw a False Heavenly Tribulation and said they should leave after he ordered the restrictions shut down.
• Shangguan Yan and Shangguan Ling urged their mother to reactivate the restrictions, then apologized for challenging her judgment.
• Shangguan Muyu reassured her daughters and led them several thousand zhang from Hundred Flower Valley to watch from afar.
• Shangguan Muyu said she doubted Lin Xuan would lose control of his spiritual power, but Yuan Qi began surging toward the valley as lightning, rain, and hail swept over the area.
• Multicolored points of light gathered around the three women, each containing a startling amount of spiritual Qi.

Lin Xuan’s attempt to break through the late stage of the Lihe Realm triggered an unexpectedly vast gathering of Five Elements vital energy, forcing his main Nascent Soul, Second Nascent Soul, and Demon Core to absorb it and advance together. He succeeded by dawn, leaving him with power comparable to an ordinary early-stage Dongxuan cultivator and confidence to fight one.

• Shangguan Muyu and her daughters watched Lin Xuan gather vital energy of every attribute and wondered whether he was advancing to the Dongxuan Realm.
• The accumulated vital energy surged into Hundred Flower Valley, slowly weathering the surrounding mountain and canyon into sand.
• Lin Xuan’s main Nascent Soul became unable to contain the vital energy and medicinal power, so his Second Nascent Soul and Demon Core absorbed the excess.
• Lin Xuan risked qi deviation but successfully advanced his Dual Infant One Core to the late stage after a night of harmonization.
• Lin Xuan awoke at dawn with power comparable to an ordinary early-stage Dongxuan cultivator and the confidence to fight a Dongxuan expert.

After advancing to the late stage, Lin Xuan reunited with Yan'er, Ling'er, and Shangguan Muyu and celebrated with the Hundred Herb Sect. The next day, Shangguan Muyu led him to inspect the treasures taken from the Black Wind Bandits, and Lin Xuan was astonished by the vast hoard.

• Lin Xuan emerged from his breakthrough and found Yan'er, Ling'er, and Shangguan Muyu waiting for him amid the destruction around Hundred Flower Valley.
• Lin Xuan returned to the Hundred Herb Sect, celebrated his advancement with its disciples, and offered them cultivation advice while thinking of his absent loved ones.
• The next day, Shangguan Muyu told Lin Xuan that the Storage Bags taken from the enemies he had slain had been inventoried and invited him to choose what he wanted.
• Shangguan Muyu led Lin Xuan to the Black Wind Bandits' former treasure vault and opened its guarded door with a Command Token.
• Lin Xuan entered the vault and saw enormous piles of materials, spirit herbs, bottles, jars, and immortal pills.

Lin Xuan sorted through the Sky Feather Sect’s vast hoard, taking rare materials and treasures while leaving most of the wealth for Shangguan Muyu’s Hundred Herb Sect. After learning that the sect was running short of medicinal pills and had lost access to its nearest marketplace, he agreed to buy supplies for them on his planned trip to Nine Immortals City.

• Lin Xuan recalled that the Sky Feather Sect’s surviving elites had carried away their sect’s accumulated wealth when they fled, and he began selecting useful treasures from the hoard.
• Lin Xuan took several hundred top-grade Spirit Stones, Fire Cloud Iron, Hundred Flame Stone, and other items, while leaving lower-grade Spirit Stones and most of the remaining treasure for Hundred Herb Sect.
• Lin Xuan offered the rest of the hoard to Shangguan Muyu, who urged him to take more before accepting his generosity with gratitude.
• Lin Xuan asked whether Hundred Herb Sect had enough medicinal pills, and Shangguan Muyu explained that supplies were dwindling and Suixin Island’s marketplace had been destroyed.
• Lin Xuan agreed to buy medicinal pills and other cultivation supplies for Hundred Herb Sect during his planned trip to Nine Immortals City.

Lin Xuan left Black Wind Island to retrieve Venerable Black Wind’s hidden treasure, while the East Sea Cultivation World’s conflict drove more refugees into the Chaotic Sea Region. After searching for two days, he found the treasure’s location among seven reefs arranged like the Big Dipper.

• Lin Xuan packed treasures to sell in Nine Immortals City and left Shangguan Muyu to protect herself and Hundred Herb Sect.
• Lin Xuan traveled southwest and encountered signs of Human Race, Demon Race, and Sea Race forces moving through the Chaotic Sea Region.
• Lin Xuan reached the desolate sea region from Venerable Black Wind’s memories and searched for the buried treasure.
• After two days, Lin Xuan found seven reefs arranged in the Big Dipper pattern and dove beneath the sea near Dubhe.

Lin Xuan found Venerable Black Wind’s sunken ship and discovered a treasure-filled formation built around an empty coffin. He dismantled the formation and collected its treasures, leaving the reason for the coffin and the formation’s Yin-energy absorption unexplained.

• Lin Xuan used a Water-Avoiding Bead to descend to the seabed and locate the sunken ship where Venerable Black Wind had hidden his treasure.
• Lin Xuan entered the ship under the protection of his Nine Heavens Spirit Shield and found a Ghost Face on the iron door to the innermost cabin.
• Lin Xuan split the door with his sword and found a formation made from precious treasures surrounding an enormous, empty coffin.
• Lin Xuan recognized that the formation absorbed underground Yin energy but chose not to investigate its purpose.
• Lin Xuan destroyed the formation without harming its treasures and packed them into his Instantaneous Bag.

Lin Xuan escaped after looting Venerable Black Wind's treasure site, unaware that its owner had tracked his life signature and was pursuing him. On the way to Nine Immortals City, Lin Xuan discovered a vast battle and learned that Cloud Crane Sect survivors were fleeing to the Chaotic Sea Region after their headquarters fell to the Sea Race and Demon Race.

• Lin Xuan fled the underwater ruins after destroying the formation and taking its treasures, wary that its owner might return.
• A furious middle-aged man found the wreckage, used corpse qi to locate Lin Xuan's life signature, and set off in pursuit.
• While traveling toward Nine Immortals City, Lin Xuan noticed a large battle and secretly approached to investigate.
• Lin Xuan captured an early Transformation-stage Demon Race member and searched his soul amid the fighting.
• Lin Xuan learned that allied Sea Race and Demon Race forces had occupied Cloud Crane Sect's headquarters, forcing five thousand surviving disciples to retreat to the Chaotic Sea Region.

Lin Xuan disguised himself as a Demon Race member and lured the pursuing Corpse Demon toward a battle between the Demon Race and Cloud Crane Sect. The Corpse Demon arrived, accused the demons of harboring the treasure thief, and ordered the human cultivators to leave.

• Lin Xuan sensed a Dongxuan Realm pursuer tracking him and expelled the tracking aura from his body.
• Lin Xuan chose to divert the pursuer toward the nearby battle, using a secret art to disguise himself as a Transformation Realm Demon Race member before joining the fighting.
• The approaching Corpse Demon reached the battlefield, where both sides stopped fighting after sensing his powerful aura.
• The Corpse Demon identified the thief as a Demon Race member, dismissed the human cultivators as unrelated, and ordered them to leave.

The Corpse Demon trapped the Demon Race after blaming them for the destruction of his Heavenly Corpse Yin-Gathering Array, while the Cloud Crane Sect fled. Facing a Dongxuan Realm opponent, the Demon Race leaders turned their low-rank clansmen into cannon fodder as the Corpse Demon unleashed a ghostly attack.

• The Cloud Crane Sect elder led his disciples and grand-disciples away, and the Demon Race tried to retreat as well.
• The Corpse Demon blocked the Demon Race with corpse qi and accused them of destroying his Heavenly Corpse Yin-Gathering Array.
• Two late Lihe Realm Demon Race leaders, a Divine Eagle and a rhinoceros, confronted the Corpse Demon, who transformed into his ten-thousand-year Zombie form.
• The Divine Eagle, rhinoceros, and a Sea Ape used the Bloodlust Technique to drive the low-rank demon beasts into a frenzy and open an escape path.
• The Corpse Demon dismissed their tactic and summoned a massive ghost face that filled the sky with black mist and monstrous roars.

The Corpse Demon trapped the Demon Race forces and slaughtered most of them while Lin Xuan hid among the survivors. As the remaining demons attacked, Lin Xuan revealed his true identity and late Lihe Realm power, drawing the Corpse Demon's recognition.

• The Corpse Demon used endlessly regenerating Refined Corpses to hold off the demonic beasts and enclosed the battlefield in a corpse-qi barrier.
• The Corpse Demon unleashed thousands of claw attacks, killing several hundred Transformation Realm Demon Race members who tried to defend themselves.
• The long-eared, green-eyed Demon Race cultivator urged the surviving clansmen to fight, and he transformed into a black-feathered eagle to attack the Corpse Demon.
• Lin Xuan joined the battle with spells and the Nine Heavens Bright Moon Ring while the Corpse Demon focused on the Lihe Realm demons.
• Lin Xuan dropped his disguise and revealed his late Lihe Realm aura, and the Corpse Demon recognized him as the one who had stolen his Dharma Treasure.

Lin Xuan used Hundred Dragon Fangs to annihilate the Demon Race and trap the Corpse Demon in a devastating attack. The Corpse Demon survived the first wave by raising seventeen or eighteen barriers, but the dragons had nearly exhausted their power breaking through them.

• Lin Xuan unleashed more than a thousand Ice Flood Dragons and Fire Dragons while the Demon Race and Corpse Demon were locked in battle.
• The dragons tore apart the dozen remaining Demon Race members before they could defend themselves.
• The Corpse Demon summoned bone armor and combined green Ghost Fire with gray-white corpse fire, but the dragons overwhelmed his flames.
• The Corpse Demon severed his left arm and used its blood mist and corpse qi to create seventeen or eighteen barriers.
• Lin Xuan replenished the dragons with the Nine Heavens Bright Moon Ring, and they broke through the barriers until their power was nearly spent.

Lin Xuan faced the Corpse Demon after admitting he had stolen the demon’s treasure, and both prepared for another clash. The Corpse Demon’s attacks met Lin Xuan’s Blood Fire Ants and Nine Heavens Bright Moon Ring, leaving the fight unresolved.

• The Corpse Demon confronted Lin Xuan over the stolen treasure, and Lin Xuan openly admitted taking it and challenged him to fight.
• The Corpse Demon regenerated his sacrificed arm and armor while Lin Xuan drank Spirit Wine to replenish his magic power.
• The Corpse Demon unleashed Ghost Face, thousands of Copper Armored Refined Corpses, and a bolt-shaped treasure at Lin Xuan.
• Lin Xuan released the Ten Thousand Soul Tower, whose Blood Fire Ants overwhelmed the Refined Corpses and began attacking Ghost Face.
• Lin Xuan used the Nine Heavens Bright Moon Ring to block the Corpse Demon’s bolt-shaped treasure.

Lin Xuan battled the Corpse Demon, using his treasures and Heaven-Reaching Spirit Treasure to shatter the enemy’s bone mountain and wound him. The fight ended with Lin Xuan’s claw piercing the Corpse Demon’s dantian qi sea and pulling something from inside.

• Lin Xuan dodged the Corpse Demon’s bone mountain and unleashed the Lesser Luo Heaven Dharma Image to attack with eighteen Ancient Treasures.
• Lin Xuan used a Broken Sword to crack the bone mountain, then sent the Phantom Spirit Heaven Fire to destroy it.
• The Corpse Demon vanished, but Lin Xuan found him with his silver pupils and struck him with a Long Spear.
• Lin Xuan charged the wounded Corpse Demon, endured his punch as the Green Flame Qilin Armor shattered, and pierced his dantian qi sea with his transformed claw.

Lin Xuan defeated the Corpse Demon, captured its body, and traveled to Nine Immortals City. He arrived intending to learn how the conflict among the human, demon, and sea races had affected the Chaotic Sea Region before deciding what to do next.

• Lin Xuan withstood the Corpse Demon's punch and crushed its Corpse Infant, killing the demon's source of control.
• Lin Xuan sealed the Corpse Demon's empty body in a Spirit Ghost Bag and collected the surviving Storage Bags from the sea.
• Lin Xuan left the battlefield and traveled without incident for half a month.
• Lin Xuan reached Nine Immortals City, the headquarters of the Nine Immortals Palace, and recalled his previous visit.
• Lin Xuan headed into the city to investigate the situation in the Chaotic Sea Region and the wider conflict.

Lin Xuan gathered news in Nine Immortals City and learned that the Human Race was losing ground against the united Sea Race and Demon Race, while Holy City had sent people to seek Nine Immortals Palace’s aid. He anticipated that the Chaotic Sea Region would be drawn into the conflict and went to the marketplace to sell treasures and obtain materials for Hundred Herb Sect.

• Lin Xuan visited a crowded wine house and secretly listened to nearby cultivators discuss the worsening war and the destruction of human sects and clans.
• Lin Xuan overheard Brother Ma tell Fellow Daoist Niu that Holy City had sent people to Nine Immortals Palace to seek help.
• Lin Xuan considered how the Sea Race and Demon Race might respond, concluded that the Chaotic Sea Region would not stay safe, and decided to prepare.
• Lin Xuan left the wine house to find cultivation materials for Hundred Herb Sect, as he had promised Shangguan Muyu.
• Lin Xuan headed to the marketplace’s largest pawnshop to sell the treasures and materials he had collected.

Lin Xuan pawned several valuables, then intervened when a pawnshop attendant tried to cheat a struggling young cultivator. He bought the young man's unidentified material for more than the asking price to help pay for his poisoned sister's treatment, and examined the item as he left.

• Lin Xuan exchanged several Storage Bags of valuables for Spirit Stones at the pawnshop.
• Lin Xuan overheard an attendant offering a young cultivator only one thousand low-grade Spirit Stones for an unidentified material.
• The young cultivator refused the offer, and Lin Xuan rebuked the attendant when he threatened that other shops would pay even less.
• Lin Xuan bought the material for fifteen mid-grade Spirit Stones after the young man explained he needed money to treat his poisoned younger sister.
• Lin Xuan told the young man to keep the extra money and then examined the material.

Lin Xuan discovered that the stone he had found was Nine Suns True Iron, but Venerable Unscrupulous stole it and refused to return it. Lin Xuan revealed his true cultivation and pursued the lion demon after their first clash, and the chapter ended as Venerable Unscrupulous launched a Dharma Treasure at him.

• Lin Xuan recognized the stone as Nine Suns True Iron, but Venerable Unscrupulous snatched it from his hand and offered him a mere fifty mid-grade Spirit Stones.
• Venerable Unscrupulous denied taking the treasure and claimed it belonged to him, while Lin Xuan declined to involve the witnesses in the dispute.
• Lin Xuan revealed his late-stage Lihe cultivation and attacked, but Venerable Unscrupulous detected his Nine Heavens Micro-Steps and met his strike with a powerful punch.
• Venerable Unscrupulous fled with the Nine Suns True Iron, and Lin Xuan pursued him out of the Marketplace.
• Unable to escape, Venerable Unscrupulous summoned a Dharma Treasure and sent it at Lin Xuan, who tried to dodge with Nine Heavens Micro-Steps.

Lin Xuan was trapped by Venerable Unscrupulous’s spatial Immortal-Binding Rope and endured a powerful axe strike with only a nonfatal wound. As Venerable Unscrupulous attacked again, Lin Xuan summoned the Five Elements origin energy and began trying to destroy the rope.

• Venerable Unscrupulous bound Lin Xuan with the Immortal-Binding Rope, interrupting his Nine Heavens Micro-Steps.
• Venerable Unscrupulous summoned a double-bladed battle-axe and struck Lin Xuan at the waist.
• Lin Xuan blocked the axe with his body, suffering only a long, shallow cut.
• Venerable Unscrupulous recognized Lin Xuan as a dangerous enemy and stabbed toward his neck with a blood-fed dagger.
• Lin Xuan gathered Demon Qi and Five Elements origin energy as he tried to break the Immortal-Binding Rope.