Chapter Summaries

Qu Jianlei asked the Ritual Artifact to devour the Forgotten Peninsula, while the Third Pavilion Lord sensed the Spring Examination Brush’s connection vanish without backlash. Red Leaf Ridge, the Book Pavilion, and Star Palace pursued experiments on Heavenly Demons, and the chapter ended as Transformation Master Wen Yu arrived to visit True Immortal Xue.

• Qu Jianlei asked the Ritual Artifact to devour the Forgotten Peninsula after learning it would be difficult to divine the consequences of destroying it.
• The Third Pavilion Lord noticed his bond with the Spring Examination Brush had disappeared and suspected Red Leaf Ridge was concealing heavenly secrets.
• Red Leaf Ridge, the Book Pavilion, and Star Palace launched Heavenly Demon experiments, including a multidimensional castration project led by Yuanyuan.
• The factions struggled to control Heavenly Demons because demonic deviation and Demonic Qi contamination threatened their researchers.
• Claire brought a Golden Core Realm Female Cultivator to help expel Demonic Qi, and Xing Tong and True Immortal Guan Fei recognized her as Po Jun.
• Wu Laoliu told True Immortal Xue that Transformation Master Wen Yu had come to visit.

Transformation Master Wen Yu tried to learn about Red Leaf Ridge’s gains and investigate its guarded grand array, but the team kept him at a distance. Two more Red Leaf Ridge cultivators passed Golden Core tribulations, and the chapter ended with Qi Ya refusing visitors access to the array over alleged hidden dangers.

• Xiang Xue had Qi Ya receive Wen Yu at the mountain gate and accept the sealed Heavenly Demon, where Wen Yu’s questions about Red Leaf Ridge’s Forgotten Peninsula gains were rebuffed.
• Wen Yu met Guan Fei, who praised Senior Jiao’s success taming Iron Wing Bees and shared that Red Leaf Ridge had gained other treasures but no Ritual Artifact.
• Guan Fei mentioned that someone at Red Leaf Ridge might be preparing to undergo tribulation, and Wen Yu decided to wait nearby to witness it.
• More than a month later, a Red Leaf Ridge cultivator passed a Golden Core tribulation, and Qi Ya turned away visitors because another person still needed to undergo tribulation.
• Korona passed her Golden Core tribulation, prompting outsiders to offer congratulations, but Qi Ya refused Beihai and a Bitter Sea elder access to the Encircle Devil Grand Array.

Qi Ya rejected Bitter Sea and Dao Palace's requests for deeper cooperation while asserting Red Leaf Ridge's standards and authority. Qu Jianlei returned the repaired Spring Examination Brush to the Third Pavilion Lord, whose puzzlement over the treasure's attachment to Qu Jianlei lingered as Korona joined the project after reaching the Golden Core Realm.

• Qi Ya refused Bitter Sea's request to exchange observers, explaining that the three-faction research partnership could not be expanded.
• Qi Ya rebuked Wen Yu for his condescending behavior and warned that Guan Fei could be withdrawn from the project.
• Qu Jianlei returned the fully repaired Spring Examination Brush to the Third Pavilion Lord and agreed to keep helping the research team.
• The Third Pavilion Lord sensed that the Spring Examination Brush seemed reluctant to see Qu Jianlei leave and spent days wondering what Qu had done to it.
• Yuanyuan brought Korona, newly advanced to the Golden Core Realm, into the project team, where a Star Palace cultivator asked why she had arrived before stabilizing her realm.

Korona revealed that the stalled project needed Poison-type Cultivation Methods, while Jing Yuexin continued encouraging the project teams. Near dawn, an apparent attack by Claire exposed a Heavenly Demon impersonator, and the cultivators mobilized to secure the array.

• Korona admitted that her Poison-type Cultivation Method could help the stalled project, and Jade Forest Matron recognized the connection to Yuan Fang's method.
• Jing Yuexin visited the Exile Project team to encourage them, then encountered Claire near the grand array before dawn.
• Jing Yuexin struck Claire with the Soul Suppressing Bell's Battle Song and a Light-based Talisman after Claire appeared to recognize Boss Jing.
• Jade Forest Matron restrained Claire, while True Immortal Guan Fei and the others hesitated over which woman was the Heavenly Demon.
• Paranoid struck the restrained Claire, and True Immortal San He sealed her inside a barrier as the real Claire and Tian Yin emerged.
• Claire ordered the cultivators back to their positions, and Duo Gan activated the Small Tripod as Red Leaf Ridge mobilized its combat forces.

After a Heavenly Demon disguised as Claire was captured, Jing Yuexin and the other cultivators investigated its identity and origin while screening the research team for Demonic Qi contamination. Qu Jianlei arrived and began a divination to trace the threat.

• True Immortal San He’s Array Plate contained the disguised Claire after the Heavenly Demon tried to self-destruct, and Jade Forest Matron confirmed it had been destroyed.
• Jing Yuexin halted Tian Yin and led an investigation that identified the intruder as a likely Illusionary Heavenly Devil, though its Demonic Qi was weaker than Nascent Soul Realm strength.
• The cultivators confirmed that the Illusionary Heavenly Devils and Nascent Soul Realm Heavenly Demons inside the grand array were still accounted for, leaving the intruder’s origin unresolved.
• A Golden Core Realm cultivator from Star Palace was found contaminated by Demonic Qi and confined for examination while the rest of the team completed inspections.
• Qu Jianlei arrived after making arrangements to guard against a suspected conspiracy, and then began a divination at Jing Yuexin’s request.

A mutated Heavenly Demon escaped the grand array and tried to control Jing Yuexin, prompting Qu Jianlei and the others to tighten security while investigating how it had advanced. Qu Jianlei suspected the threat might involve heavy karma or pressure from the Heavenly Demon World, and the chapter ended with True Immortal Qi Ya refusing Wen Yu’s request to meet with Qu Jianlei or Jing Yuexin.

• Qu Jianlei divined that the Heavenly Demon had escaped the grand array, then gathered the team to investigate the Kan and Li Positions and discuss the attack on Jing Yuexin.
• Jiang Hui took charge of investigating how a Golden Core Realm cultivator from Star Palace had become tainted by Demonic Qi, while the group agreed to strengthen screenings and use Secret Codes.
• Qu Jianlei told Jade Forest Matron and True Immortal San He that he could not investigate the Heavenly Demon's advancement further because the divination carried a bad feeling and heavy karma; he also admitted that Wen Yu was still at Yan Family Market.
• Paranoid suggested letting something happen to Wen Yu, but Qu Jianlei told him to wait and see how the situation developed.
• Art Academy and Bitter Sea representatives visited Red Leaf Ridge to ask about the attack, while Dao Palace sent no one; several days later, Wen Yu requested an audience, and True Immortal Qi Ya turned him away.

Red Leaf Ridge held a Golden Core Celebration for Korona and Keros, but the gathering was interrupted by an incident at the Encircle Devil Grand Array. As a new aura resembling the Out-of-Body Realm emerged, the guests saw the Soul Locking Banner and a Broken Blade Phantom expand above the array.

• Jia Shuiqing heard Wen Yu urge an investigation into the demonic corruption of a Star Palace Golden Core cultivator, but he had no evidence to offer.
• Jiang Hui dismissed Wen Yu’s warning as an attempt to shift blame, while the investigation remained unresolved and vigilance increased.
• After Keros emerged from seclusion, Red Leaf Ridge held a Golden Core Celebration for the Ke Family Siblings, attended by representatives of allied forces and other guests.
• At the celebration, Qu Jianlei’s Coercive Pressure and warning signaled an incident at the grand array, and Jade Forest True Immortal and other experienced cultivators rushed to respond.
• Jia Shuiqing and Qi Ya organized the remaining guests, while Jia Shuiqing kept Wen Yu from going to the array.
• A powerful aura rose near the array, and the Soul Locking Banner expanded as a massive Broken Blade Phantom appeared in the sky.

The Heavenly Demons inside the Encircle Devil Grand Array began rapidly advancing in cultivation, while the Soul Locking Banner struggled to suppress one near the Out-of-Body Realm. Jing Yuexin directed the forces to focus on that powerful demon, and the Broken Blade struck it back into the array.

• Claire called for High-Grade Spirit Stones as the Encircle Devil Grand Array’s consumption surged.
• True Immortal Xing Tong warned that every Heavenly Demon was advancing in realm, prompting Jade Forest Matron to order attacks on the other four Nascent Soul Realm demons.
• Qu Jianlei authorized Jing Yuexin to command Red Leaf Ridge’s fighters while he held back and deployed Battalion-Class Ships around the array.
• Jing Yuexin chose to focus on the strongest Heavenly Demon and told the Soul Locking Banner to coordinate with the attackers.
• True Immortal Xing Tong signaled the Soul Locking Banner to move aside, and the Broken Blade slashed the Pseudo Out of Body Heavenly Demon back into the array.

Qu Jianlei and his allies forced an Out-of-Body Heavenly Demon out of the grand formation, where Small Tripod began drawing it in. Just as the first wisp of Demonic Qi was about to be absorbed, a huge black tentacle emerged from a split in space and seized the demon.

• Broken Blade held open a passage in the formation while warships fired Laser Beams and Xing Tong loosened the Soul Locking Banner’s blockade to manage the pressure.
• Qu Jianlei ordered Broken Blade to widen the passage, forcing the quasi-Out-of-Body Heavenly Demon out despite its attempts to escape back inside.
• Xiao Hu directed several warships to attack the exposed demon, while Small Tripod expanded and began pulling its shadowy body toward its mouth.
• After Broken Blade’s breach closed, Small Tripod drew the demon closer until a thick black tentacle burst from a split in space and grabbed at the Demonic Qi.

Qu Jianlei and Red Leaf Ridge’s magical treasures fought an Out-of-Body Heavenly Demon tentacle that attacked the encirclement array. The Small Tripod and the Dao Stele’s aura weakened the tentacle, but its main body escaped through space.

• A huge black tentacle attacked the Out-of-Body Devil Qi Cluster, while the Cloud Crown and Small Tripod coordinated to absorb the cluster and engage the tentacle.
• The Small Tripod clashed with the tentacle as the Broken Blade shielded the Encircle Devil Grand Array from the impact.
• The tentacle began retreating, but Qu Jianlei briefly projected the Dao Stele’s aura, causing it to stiffen and begin collapsing.
• The Small Tripod’s spatial tornado swept up the severed tentacle and struck at the closing spatial gap, but it could not reopen the passage.
• The tentacle’s main body escaped, leaving the cultivators to recognize that Red Leaf Ridge had driven it off but failed to pursue and kill it.

After the black tentacles vanished, the Heavenly Demons lost their cultivation boost, allowing the cultivators to subdue them and restore order at Red Leaf Ridge. Qu Jianlei later met Transformation Master Wen Yu, who suggested that humans may have interfered in the attack.

• Paranoid and Jiang Hui noticed that their attacks had become more effective after the tentacles disappeared, and the cultivators defeated the weakened Heavenly Demons.
• Jing Yuexin urged the cultivators to preserve some Heavenly Demons for research, while Qu Jianlei told Jade Forest Matron that he needed more time to investigate.
• The celebration continued, and Transformation Master Wen Yu stayed at Red Leaf Ridge, waiting for Qu Jianlei to emerge from seclusion.
• Qu Jianlei summoned Wen Yu and activated a Nascent Soul-level Defense Array before asking why he had stayed.
• Wen Yu said that he believed Qu Jianlei had verified that human interference may have been involved in the attack.

Qu Jianlei confronted Wen Yu about his hidden motives for sending Red Leaf Ridge to Forgotten Peninsula, and Wen Yu revealed his suspicions that someone was pursuing an illicit path to the Out-of-Body Realm and may have manipulated the Heavenly Demon mutation. He left Qu Jianlei with a warning that Star Palace might be involved, citing its Immortal Remains of a Great Venerable.

• Qu Jianlei pressed Wen Yu to explain why he had encouraged Red Leaf Ridge to explore Forgotten Peninsula.
• Wen Yu admitted he suspected someone was using an evil path to reach the Out-of-Body Realm and might have manipulated the Heavenly Demon mutation.
• Wen Yu explained that his martial uncle had died investigating the matter and his master had vanished, so he had avoided involving the Dao Palace and other major powers.
• Qu Jianlei asked Wen Yu to reveal what he was still withholding, but Wen Yu warned that speaking of an Immortal Venerable could bring danger to them both.
• Wen Yu said someone in Cangwu was responsible and suggested that people in the upper realm might know.
• Wen Yu told Qu Jianlei that Star Palace possessed the Immortal Remains of a Great Venerable and could grant its disciples opportunities at random.

Qu Jianlei questioned Transformation Master Wen Yu about Forgotten Peninsula, the Out-of-Body Star Tapir, and the Heavenly Demon calamity, while revealing that Red Leaf Ridge had lost a True Immortal. Wen Yu suspected Forgotten Peninsula was the calamity’s source and asked about the powerful aura Qu Jianlei had displayed, believing it might restrain the mastermind.

• Wen Yu explained why he considered the Out-of-Body Star Tapir and Forgotten Peninsula suspicious, and Qu Jianlei told him Red Leaf Ridge had lost a True Immortal during the second expedition.
• Qu Jianlei warned Wen Yu that Forgotten Peninsula was closely connected to the Heavenly Demon mutation and said he had once considered making Wen Yu disappear.
• Wen Yu revealed that his Master had vanished nine hundred years earlier, that the Dao Palace’s Life Tablet had shattered seven hundred years ago, and that a diviner he hired had disappeared the next day.
• Qu Jianlei recorded Wen Yu’s statements on an Image Recording Stone and warned him that his treatment would depend on how he conducted himself.
• Wen Yu asked about the powerful aura Qu Jianlei had displayed and suggested that the treasure behind it might restrain the mastermind of the calamity.

Qu Jianlei and the Third Pavilion Lord discussed the strange black tentacle and the possibility that the Heavenly Demon crisis was deliberately engineered. The Third Pavilion Lord pledged the Book Pavilion’s support, but Qu Jianlei raised the possibility that the culprit belonged to the Book Pavilion’s own faction.

• Wen Yu reassured Qu Jianlei that Red Leaf Ridge could handle a potential conflict, then suggested Bitter Sea and the Book Pavilion might possess Ritual Artifacts.
• The Third Pavilion Lord asked Qu Jianlei whether the artifact that ruined the Spring Examination Brush was connected to Luck, and Qu Jianlei confirmed it was.
• The Third Pavilion Lord reasoned that the black tentacle might not have been a Heavenly Demon because the Luck artifact should not strongly restrain one from outside Cangwu.
• Qu Jianlei and the Third Pavilion Lord considered whether the current Heavenly Demon calamity had been engineered, and the Third Pavilion Lord offered the Book Pavilion’s full cooperation.
• Qu Jianlei suggested that the culprit might be an Out-of-Body Great Venerable from the Book Pavilion’s faction, leaving the Third Pavilion Lord stunned and asking whether Wen Yu had said so or Qu Jianlei had divined it.

Qu Jianlei learned more about the Heavenly Demon breach, the destroyed Bitter Sea Ritual Artifact, and dangerous methods for reaching the Out-of-Body Realm. As Red Leaf Ridge kept assisting with demonic disasters, its Expulsion Project Group developed a stable method and sought approval to test it in real conditions.

• Qu Jianlei told True Immortal San He that the breach involved fluctuating Luck and that a Star Palace Golden Core cultivator had unknowingly given a Heavenly Demon coordinates, while concealed secrets prevented further investigation.
• True Immortal San He explained that Bitter Sea had destroyed its Ritual Artifact decades earlier while trying to imitate it, and described the risks of relying on origins or heretical methods to reach the Out-of-Body Realm.
• After Duo Gan reported unusual Heavenly Demons near High Mountain City, Qu Jianlei told him to handle the request and let others believe Red Leaf Ridge remained undaunted, then considered traveling through Central Province incognito.
• Over the next half year, Red Leaf Ridge stayed peaceful while its team helped resolve demonic disasters elsewhere, and the Expulsion Project Group developed a stable expulsion method and applied to test it in real conditions.
• Jiang Hui asked Jing Yuexin whether they should consult Ridge Lord Qu before approving the test.

Qu Jianlei led Red Leaf Ridge’s trial of a method for exiling Heavenly Demons in Central Province, choosing a site near the Forgotten Peninsula to test whether the demons could be sent there. After exiling one Devil Qi Cluster and disrupting another, he was approached by a Dao Palace representative who said they had arrived too late.

• Qu Jianlei decided to hold the exile trial in Central Province, and Red Leaf Ridge sent him, Duo Gan, and Jia Shuiqing with separate groups.
• Qu Jianlei brought San Shi, Duan Bowen, Rhine, and Zi Jiuxian to a courtyard near the Forgotten Peninsula and revealed that he wanted to test whether exiled Heavenly Demons could reach it.
• Qu Jianlei’s group cleared a path to a Devil Qi Cluster and spent four days exiling it, removing all fully formed Heavenly Demons, including one suspected of being at the Nascent Soul Realm.
• Qu Jianlei and the two Nascent Souls began work on a second Devil Qi Cluster, but fierce attacks forced them to activate a half-complete array that left nearly half the demons behind.
• San Shi and Duan Bowen fought the remaining demons as a Warship arrived, and its visitor told Qu Jianlei that Dao Palace had arrived too late.

Qu Jianlei tested whether teleportation worked inside the Forgotten Peninsula and secretly planned to send Heavenly Demons there to uncover what lay behind the restrictions. He left with Transformation Master Wen Yu, determined to find Yi He despite the risks and the rules binding the Cangwu Realm.

• Qu Jianlei and the others cleared two Devil Qi Clusters, then reported their test data and arranged to capture local Heavenly Demons for further experiments.
• After several Heavenly Demons remained impossible to locate, Qu Jianlei suggested that restrictions near the Forgotten Peninsula were obscuring them, and Wen Yu agreed to accompany him inside.
• Qu Jianlei and Wen Yu entered the Forgotten Peninsula alone, where Qu Jianlei tested his Teleportation Array Disc and confirmed that a clone could teleport in and back out.
• Qu Jianlei told Wen Yu he would secretly teleport Heavenly Demons into the Peninsula and insisted that Wen Yu keep the method quiet.
• Qu Jianlei revealed that he had no other choice because the Cangwu Realm's rules and restrictions had left him no legitimate way to find the missing Yi He.

Qu Jianlei exiled Heavenly Demons and discovered that one had appeared in the Forgotten Peninsula, prompting him, Wen Yu, and the Third Pavilion Lord to investigate. They trapped the Golden Core Realm demon, but it began using Earth Escape despite the peninsula’s restrictions, leaving the group facing an unexpected danger.

• Qu Jianlei examined the captured Heavenly Demons, then exiled two Golden Core Realm ones and told the Third Pavilion Lord he planned to send more into the Forgotten Peninsula if they ended up there naturally.
• The Third Pavilion Lord agreed to join the effort, and Qu Jianlei’s next calculation revealed that an exiled Heavenly Demon had arrived in the Forgotten Peninsula.
• Qu Jianlei, Wen Yu, the Third Pavilion Lord, and Dao Palace cultivators traveled to the peninsula and found the Golden Core Realm Heavenly Demon, whose aura matched the exiled demon.
• Wen Yu ordered five Golden Core Realm cultivators to trap the demon with the Five Qi Capturing Art while Qu Jianlei and the others waited to see what it would do.
• The demon’s Demonic Qi began sinking into the ground, and the group realized it was using Earth Escape despite the peninsula’s restrictions; Qu Jianlei told Wen Yu to loosen the formation.

Qu Jianlei and the other factions discovered that Heavenly Demons vanished inside the Forgotten Peninsula, raising fears about where their Demonic Qi went and whether the Restricted Area could become unstable. While the factions debated and awaited the Upper Realm’s response, Qu Jianlei continued gathering Heavenly Demons to test the peninsula’s limits, despite warnings that this could provoke disaster.

• Qu Jianlei confirmed that a released Golden Core Realm Heavenly Demon had dissipated completely inside the Forgotten Peninsula rather than escaping underground, prompting the factions to report the danger and debate what to do.
• The Five Great Factions tested the phenomenon, argued over whether the peninsula could safely absorb Demonic Qi, and agreed to seal it temporarily, but Qu Jianlei insisted Red Leaf Ridge would continue its research.
• Qu Jianlei offered refuge to cultivators who had accumulated karmic enmity by slaying Heavenly Demons, giving those burdened by the demons a possible path to protection.
• After Red Leaf Ridge gathered Heavenly Demons for more than a week, Zhu Dan questioned Qu Jianlei, who said he planned to collect them for three months to test the Forgotten Peninsula’s limit.
• Zhu Dan and the Discipline Guardian warned that the tests might damage the peninsula and provoke the Upper Realm, but Qu Jianlei remained unconcerned and suggested that a disaster might hasten the Upper Realm’s response.

Qu Jianlei and the Five Great Factions tested how Heavenly Demons dissipated in the Forgotten Peninsula, provoking signs of a powerful Great Venerable and a karmic backlash that sent more Demonic Qi into the world. After the factions traced a sudden outbreak near High Mountain City to the Peninsula, Qu Jianlei said he would return there despite warnings.

• Qu Jianlei persuaded the Five Great Factions to join Red Leaf Ridge in observing Heavenly Demons inside the Forgotten Peninsula, and more than twenty Nascent Soul cultivators entered the restricted area.
• Qu Jianlei released Golden Core and Nascent Soul Heavenly Demons; the Heaven Monitoring Instrument’s Sub-mirror and other artifacts reacted strangely, and True Immortal Zhu Dan calculated the presence of a Great Venerable.
• Qu Jianlei judged that karma was acting upon the outside world, and Discipline Guardian urged the group to leave the Peninsula and investigate the Thirty-Six Cities.
• Jade Forest Matron reported a sudden Demonic Qi eruption near High Mountain City, and Qu Jianlei arranged for the assembled cultivators to teleport there.
• Discipline Guardian and True Immortal Zhu Dan identified the eruption as karma from the Forgotten Peninsula, and Qu Jianlei explained that the Peninsula’s retaliation had increased the total Demonic Qi.
• Discipline Guardian warned against further tests, but Qu Jianlei said he would still return to the Forgotten Peninsula.