Chapter Summaries

Xia Wantang and Lin Xi reunited a Short-tailed Crystal Rabbit with its parents and protected the family before heading back to White Sand City. Xia Wantang planned to part ways with Lin Xi and rush toward Yan Wen, who had left Asking Dao Valley to find her.

• Xia Wantang led Lin Xi to the Short-tailed Crystal Rabbit’s home and had him release it so its parents would come out.
• The rabbit’s parents emerged, and Lin Xi told Xia Wantang that his parents had died and he had been raised by friends and elders.
• Xia Wantang comforted Lin Xi by petting his head, gaining favorability and faith value.
• Xia Wantang protected the rabbit family with a defensive technique, then took Lin Xi back toward White Sand City on the Divine Wind Sail.
• Xia Wantang told Lin Xi he would be free tomorrow and prepared to leave, while the system revealed that Yan Wen had left Asking Dao Valley to look for her.

After parting with Lin Xi, Xia Wantang traveled to White Desert City to meet Yan Wen, while Yan Wen grew jealous after overhearing Lin Xi call her “Sister Tang.” Once she arrived, Xia Wantang harvested Ice Snow Jade and mature spiritual herbs before starting thirty card draws.

• Xia Wantang gave Lin Xi spiritual stones and supplies, and the two shared a farewell meal at White Sand Tower.
• Yan Wen contacted Xia Wantang about meeting in White Desert City, but Lin Xi interrupted her reply, and Yan Wen mistook him for a rival.
• After bidding farewell to Lin Xi, Xia Wantang returned to the Demonic Beast Desert and retrieved about thirty pieces of Ice Snow Jade.
• Xia Wantang traveled to White Desert City, harvested mature herbs and fruits in the Sky Embracing Map, and began thirty card draws.

Xia Wantang strengthened her monster bloodline, weapons, cultivation, and Sky-Patrolling Divine Mirror before learning Yan Wen had unexpectedly reached Baimo City. She went out to find him, and he spotted her as he entered the city.

• Xia Wantang absorbed the Swift Lightning Leopard monster bloodline and upgraded the Nether Ice Divine Wind Whip with the Thunder-Split Cloud Stone.
• Xia Wantang absorbed the Dark Fire Glazed Bead, raising her human cultivation to the peak of the Spirit Emperor realm, and fed monster cores to the Sky-Patrolling Divine Mirror until it reached immortal-grade tier 9.
• Xia Wantang learned from the system that the Sky-Patrolling Divine Mirror could deploy a domain even against stronger cultivators, at the cost of monster power or monster cores.
• The next day, Xia Wantang discovered that Yan Wen had already reached the gates of Baimo City and went downstairs to meet him.
• Xia Wantang dressed in a fiery-red silk long dress and headed out, while Yan Wen entered Baimo City and spotted her in the street.

Xia Wantang reunited with Yan Wen in White Desert City, gave him a Starry Sky Stone Hairpin, and learned he had come to investigate the Barren Orchid Ruins. She asked whether he was inviting her to go with him.

• Xia Wantang greeted Yan Wen and teased him about being jealous of her supposed biological brother.
• Xia Wantang gave Yan Wen the Starry Sky Stone Hairpin she had refined, and his affection for her increased as he put it on.
• Yan Wen explained that his master had sent him alone to the Barren Orchid Ruins to seek an opportunity connected to his inheritance.
• Xia Wantang asked Yan Wen whether he had mentioned the ruins because he wanted to invite her along.

Xia Wantang agreed to travel with Yan Wen to the Barren Orchid Ruins, and the two visited White Desert City’s Brocade Pavilion to shop for clothes before setting out. At the shop, they entered a VIP room and began choosing outfits for Yan Wen.

• Yan Wen invited Xia Wantang to accompany him to the Barren Orchid Ruins, and she accepted, hoping his good fortune might benefit her.
• Yan Wen suggested they first explore White Desert City and buy clothes, and Xia Wantang agreed to shop for West Desert Domain attire.
• Xia Wantang and Yan Wen went to Brocade Pavilion, where attendants ushered them into a VIP private room.
• A Tao showed them image stones displaying the shop’s clothing, and Xia Wantang praised several outfits that she thought would suit Yan Wen.
• A Tao offered to bring out the outfits for Yan Wen to try on.

Yan Wen bought twenty-five outfits for himself and five expensive dresses for Xia Wantang at the Brocade Pavilion, then changed into a silver-white robe while they waited for a tailor to alter one of her dresses. They went outside after hearing a commotion and found Yan Ming angrily insisting that a dress Xia Wantang had bought should go to Shangguan Yanran.

• Yan Wen agreed to buy the clothes A Tao had recommended, and he and Xia Wantang tried on their selections.
• Yan Wen purchased all twenty-five outfits he tried, while Xia Wantang bought five top-tier dresses; the pair then waited for a tailor to adjust one dress.
• Xia Wantang teased Yan Wen about paying for everything, and he replied that he wanted to buy the things she liked.
• Yan Wen and Xia Wantang left the private parlor after hearing A Tao arguing with Yan Ming.
• Yan Ming demanded that the dress Shangguan Yanran wanted be given to her, though Xia Wantang had already bought it.

Yan Ming and Shangguan Yanran tried to claim the Crimson Purple Bright Cloud Brocade Long Skirt that Yan Wen had bought for Xia Wantang. After Xia Wantang and Yan Wen confronted them, Yan Ming became captivated by Xia Wantang and offered to buy her the skirt as an apology.

• Yan Ming insisted that the Brocade Pavilion sell Shangguan Yanran the skirt and stop stocking the same style, despite the store manager explaining that it had already been altered for another customer.
• Yan Wen and Xia Wantang stepped forward, saying that Yan Wen had bought the skirt for Xia Wantang and that the first-come, first-served principle should be respected.
• Shangguan Yanran and Yan Ming were struck by Xia Wantang's beauty, while Shangguan Yanran realized the skirt suited Xia Wantang better.
• Yan Wen moved in front of Xia Wantang when he noticed Yan Ming staring at her and told him to conduct himself with dignity.
• Yan Ming asked Yan Wen to name a price and give up the skirt, then told Xia Wantang he wanted to buy it for her as an apology.

Xia Wantang and Yan Wen clashed with Yan Ming and Shangguan Yanran over a dress, then left Brocade Pavilion after Xia Wantang secretly placed a Misfortune Formation on Yan Ming. The next day, they encountered the Yan and Shangguan Family contingents at the entrance to the Barren Orchid Ruins, where Yan Ming approached Xia Wantang.

• Yan Ming tried to appease Shangguan Yanran by offering to order her a smoke-pink dress after favoring Xia Wantang’s dress, but Yan Wen and Xia Wantang rejected his overtures.
• Yan Ming threatened Xia Wantang and Yan Wen by boasting of the Yan Family’s power, but Shangguan Yanran and the attendants coaxed him into the VIP room.
• A Tao and the store manager warned Xia Wantang and Yan Wen to leave White Desert City, but Xia Wantang thanked them and departed with Yan Wen.
• Yan Wen noticed Xia Wantang’s hand movements, and she admitted she had cast a Misfortune Formation on Yan Ming; Yan Wen then decided not to punish him himself for now.
• The next day, Xia Wantang and Yan Wen encountered the Yan and Shangguan Family groups at the Barren Orchid Ruins, and Yan Ming walked toward Xia Wantang.

Xia Wantang and Yan Wen encountered Yan Ming and members of the Yan and Shangguan families before a joint trial, as the younger generation’s rivalries and alliances came into view. Yan Xi introduced himself and sought to befriend the two outsiders, leaving their potential ties to the families open.

• Yan Ming greeted Xia Wantang and Yan Wen and introduced himself as the Yan Family’s second young master, trying to befriend them.
• Shangguan Yanran joined Yan Ming, then Shangguan Qingyin belittled her as a collateral branch member.
• Shangguan Qingsue rebuked Qingyin, while Shangguan Zhaolin protested that he had not taken sides.
• Yan Ming threatened to report Qingyin’s treatment of Yanran to the Shangguan Family head, and Yan Shuo mocked him for telling on her.
• Yan Xi apologized for the awkward scene, introduced himself to Xia Wantang and Yan Wen, and tried to establish a friendly connection.

Xia Wantang and Yan Wen met members of the Yan and Shangguan families, introduced themselves, and agreed to travel with their group toward the Barren Orchid Ruins. After reaching the ruins' entrance, Shangguan Yanran asked why the two had come there.

• Xia Wantang introduced herself and Yan Wen, and Yan Wen confirmed that he was the Holy Son of the Asking Dao Valley and had recently reached the early Spirit Channeling Realm.
• Yan Wen said that Xia Wantang was stronger than him, impressing the group and leaving Yan Ming jealous of Yan Wen.
• Yan Xi invited Xia Wantang and Yan Wen to travel with the Yan and Shangguan families, and they agreed to join for the first stretch.
• The group reached the Barren Orchid Ruins, where Shangguan Qingxue explained that its outer and middle areas had been stripped of treasures and its core was dangerous.
• Shangguan Yanran asked Xia Wantang why she and Yan Wen had come to the ruins.

The group entered the Barren Orchid Ruins and set out south as the landscape shifted into night. Yan Ming stepped into a patch of quicksand and disappeared as it began to spread.

• Yan Wen refused to tell Shangguan Yanran more about his sect mission, while Shangguan Qingxue and Shangguan Qingyin mocked and scolded her.
• Yan Ming tried to comfort Shangguan Yanran by promising to speak up for her later, and she pretended to be grateful.
• Xia Wantang and the others entered the Barren Orchid Ruins, where Yan Xi warned them about quicksand and sandstorms.
• Yan Shuo checked the navigation artifact and led the group south as the wind rose and darkness fell over the ruins.
• Yan Ming stepped into quicksand and vanished as the ground collapsed, prompting Yan Xi to shout for everyone to scatter.

Yan Ming and Shangguan Yanran were swallowed by quicksand, prompting the group to search for them. After Yan Ming sent word that they had reached a cavern with a subterranean river, everyone decided to descend and investigate.

• Yan Ming and Shangguan Yanran sank into quicksand, and Shangguan Qingxue regretted failing to save Yanran.
• Xia Wantang examined the damp sand and suspected an underground space with a subterranean river.
• Yan Shuo sent a communication talisman underground, and Yan Ming replied that he and Yanran were mildly injured in a complex cavern.
• Shangguan Qingxue, Xia Wantang, Yan Wen, Yan Xi, and the others agreed to go underground.

Xia Wantang and the others descended through the quicksand pit and followed an underground tunnel to find Yan Ming and Shangguan Yanran. They discovered Yan Ming had been badly hurt when a stone pillar fell near the underground river, and the group gathered to learn what happened.

• Xia Wantang secretly protected the group with an Isolation Formation before they jumped into the quicksand pit.
• The group landed in a stone chamber and followed the only tunnel, while Xia Wantang reassured them that it led to a larger space.
• Yan Wen praised Xia Wantang as the most outstanding, most learned, most intelligent cultivator he had met, and Xia Wantang redirected everyone toward the widening path.
• The group reached an underground cavern and found Yan Ming injured and Shangguan Yanran unharmed.
• Shangguan Yanran explained that a stone pillar had fallen on Yan Ming when they approached the underground river in search of treasures.

After the group survived the quicksand and falling stalactite, Shangguan Yanran softened toward Shangguan Qingyin and reconsidered marrying Yan Ming, who had protected her. Xia Wantang and Yan Wen suspected the underground river led to a heritage, and they concluded they should follow it upstream.

• Yan Ming explained that a falling stone pillar had crushed his shoulder while he protected Shangguan Yanran, and the group learned that a healing pill had improved his condition.
• Shangguan Qingyin awkwardly checked on Shangguan Yanran and apologized for her past behavior, while Shangguan Qingxue encouraged the sisters to get along.
• Shangguan Yanran helped Yan Ming stand and decided to observe him further because he had protected her during the danger.
• Yan Ming told Yan Xi and the others that abnormal spiritual power near the underground river had preceded the stalactite's fall.
• Xia Wantang asked Yan Wen for his thoughts, and his master's divination connected the heritage to water and the river's upstream reaches.
• Xia Wantang reasoned that the river flowed upstream to the left and suggested the group proceed that way to find the heritage.

Xia Wantang broke a concealed formation beside the underground river and discovered a powerful treasure buried beneath it, which she secretly marked for later investigation. The group continued downstream to search for another exit, while Xia Wantang and Yan Wen planned to return to the river once they were alone.

• Xia Wantang approached the underground river, dodged falling stalactites, and destroyed the formation eye to break the concealed formation.
• Yan Ming, Shangguan Yanran, and the others praised Xia Wantang’s skill, while Yan Ming regretted having spoken rudely to her and Yan Wen.
• Xia Wantang sensed a special treasure buried beneath the river and marked its location with a positioning formation, intending to investigate it later.
• Xia Wantang struck the river with an Ice Blade, drawing out a low-grade fish-shaped demonic beast and reassuring the others that nothing special was below.
• Yan Xi and Shangguan Qingxue decided to continue downstream, and Xia Wantang and Yan Wen planned to return to the river after separating from the two family groups.

Xia Wantang’s group was trapped in a sealed stone chamber, where rising river water threatened to drown them. She translated the ancient inscription and explained that the stone door would open once the chamber filled, leaving everyone to decide how to survive until then.

• Yan Xi privately considered using Yan Ming’s injury to weaken his chances of inheriting the Yan Family, while Xia Wantang noticed his hostility and chose to wait before intervening.
• The group entered a stone chamber, and an iron gate slammed shut behind them as they examined the sealed door and its unreadable inscriptions.
• Xia Wantang used the system to translate the inscription, learning that the stone door would open when the chamber was filled with water.
• River water began pouring into the chamber, and Xia Wantang told the group they would have to survive until the room filled and the door opened.
• Shangguan Qingxue asked Xia Wantang how they could prevent the flooding from causing casualties.

Xia Wantang helped the group survive the rising water in the Barren Orchid Ruins and secretly noticed Yan Xi had replaced Yan Ming’s Breath-Holding Pill. After the stone door opened, Yan Ming survived thanks to Xia Wantang, and the group began to question why the pill had failed him.

• Xia Wantang explained how the Spirit Channeling Realm cultivators could protect themselves and arranged for everyone else to take Breath-Holding Pills supplied by Yan Xi and Shangguan Qingxue.
• Xia Wantang saw Yan Xi secretly replace Yan Ming’s Breath-Holding Pill with ordinary medicine, and she told Yan Wen she would intervene if Yan Xi meant to kill him.
• As the chamber flooded, Yan Ming’s wound hurt and he eventually lost consciousness and sank beneath the water.
• Xia Wantang used spiritual energy and wind spiritual energy to keep Yan Ming safe and breathing until the stone door broke open and the water drained away.
• Shangguan Yanran helped Yan Ming recover, and he described his suffocation and pain before Shangguan Qingyin asked why the Breath-Holding Pill had not protected him.

Yan Ming survived a dangerous incident, thanked Xia Wantang, and paid her eighty million spiritual stones while apologizing to Yan Wen. The group discovered the stone chamber opened onto the desert in the middle layer of the Barren Orchid Ruins, made camp, and Shangguan Yanran began a personal conversation with Xia Wantang and Yan Wen.

• Yan Xi claimed a medicinal pill had accidentally mixed into the bottle, while Yan Ming suspected his older brother had deliberately tricked him.
• Yan Ming thanked Xia Wantang for saving him, offered her fifty million spiritual stones, and handed her a pouch containing around eighty million; he also apologized to Yan Wen for the previous day.
• Shangguan Qingxue led everyone through the stone door, where they found a passage to the desert and realized the chamber held no treasure.
• Yan Xi and Shangguan Qingxue concluded the group had reached the middle layer of the Barren Orchid Ruins by taking a shortcut, then everyone camped among the ruins.
• Xia Wantang told Yan Wen they should separate from the group the next day and explore again, and Shangguan Yanran came over to apologize to them.

Shangguan Yanran resolved to improve through her own strength, while Xia Wantang and Yan Wen parted from the families and returned to investigate a hidden passage. They found a rune-covered chamber whose markings seemed to consume consciousness.

• Shangguan Yanran told Xia Wantang she wanted to grow strong without relying on Yan Ming, and Xia Wantang encouraged her.
• Xia Wantang and Yan Wen spent the night cultivating together, then said farewell to Shangguan Qingxue's group and departed.
• After confirming the group had gone, Xia Wantang and Yan Wen returned to the stone room and broke through a concealed wall.
• Xia Wantang and Yan Wen followed the illuminated passage to a hexagonal chamber filled with complex runes.
• Xia Wantang noticed the runes seemed to draw in consciousness and make her increasingly uneasy.

Xia Wantang and Yan Wen activated an ancient teleportation array in the Barren Orchid Ruins and were transported to a strange realm of floating islands above a black abyss. They began investigating their surroundings after arriving safely together.

• Yan Wen recognized the runes as a Six-Pointed Eight Trigrams teleportation array that required six different attributes of spiritual power.
• Xia Wantang supplied earth, wood, wind, and ice spiritual power, while Yan Wen provided light and fire.
• The six strands of spiritual power merged in the array, teleporting Xia Wantang and Yan Wen from the stone chamber.
• Xia Wantang and Yan Wen arrived on a floating island beneath a dark purple sky, surrounded by ruined islands and a seemingly bottomless abyss.
• Yan Wen apologized for grabbing Xia Wantang's arm during the teleportation, and they began examining the eerie floating islands.