Chapter Summaries

Zhang Tie infiltrated the Demon Slaying Sect’s Young Sect Master’s entourage while waiting for Jin Linglong to arrive at the Spirit Gold Jade Ore mine. Jin Linglong arrived with a white-robed elder, and the Young Sect Master revealed an imitation of the Mountain River Fan as they prepared to depart.

• Zhang Tie learned that Jin Linglong and the Demon Slaying Sect’s Young Sect Master were both heading to the Spirit Gold Jade Ore mine, so he impersonated the Young Sect Master and hid among his attendants.
• Jin Linglong arrived on a flying section of bamboo with a white-robed elder, and she apologized for her delayed arrival.
• The Young Sect Master welcomed Jin Linglong and proposed that she rest before they set out together.
• Jin Linglong urged the group to depart immediately, and the Young Sect Master summoned an imitation of the Mountain River Fan.

Zhang Tie and the others traveled in the Mountain River Fan replica to the mysterious Purple Spirit Abyss, where Jin Linglong described its legendary origin and sensed powerful auras below. The Young Sect Master forced Zhao Wudi to investigate the abyss, and a painful howl soon rose from its depths.

• The Young Sect Master, Jin Linglong, and the white-robed elder boarded the Mountain River Fan replica, which carried Zhang Tie and the others inside.
• Jin Linglong kept her distance from the Young Sect Master during their three-day journey to the Purple Spirit Abyss.
• Zhang Tie probed the abyss with his divine sense but could only reach about a hundred li before the purple mist stopped him.
• Jin Linglong recounted a legend that a sword strike from a battle between two immortals had formed the abyss and said she sensed powerful auras below.
• The Young Sect Master ordered Zhao Wudi to descend and investigate, threatening to kill him if he refused.
• Zhao Wudi activated his defenses and flew toward the abyss, then a painful howl rose from below.

Zhang Tie, disguised as Shi Bantian, descended into the abyss and encountered increasingly powerful monsters that were destroyed by his azure lightning. Unable to find a way through the purple mist, he chose to return, and a battered Shi Bantian shot out of the abyss before the watching crowd.

• After Zhao Wudi screamed and no further sounds came from below, the young sect master ordered Shi Bantian to investigate and threatened him into obeying.
• Zhang Tie, secretly wearing Shi Bantian's body, removed his seals and fell into the abyss protected by golden armor and azure lightning.
• Purple monsters attacked Zhang Tie, but the lightning burned them away as he sensed that they grew stronger deeper in the abyss.
• Zhang Tie landed amid countless monsters and thick purple mist, then decided to return rather than search alone for the Heaven-Piercing Spirit Treasure.
• A world-shaking boom sounded, and a battered Shi Bantian shot out of the abyss as the young sect master rushed to inspect him.

Shi Bantian recounted the monsters and purple mist he encountered at the bottom of the abyss, and the Young Sect Master decided the group should explore it despite the danger. The group prepared to descend again, with Senior Brother Qing leading the way and Shi Bantian guiding him.

• The scholar in green used spiritual power to awaken Shi Bantian, who panicked and screamed about monsters.
• Jin Linglong used a calming technique, and Shi Bantian later regained enough clarity to answer questions.
• Shi Bantian told the Young Sect Master that the abyss held bodiless monsters ranging from Qi Refining to Core Formation strength and was filled with dense purple mist at the bottom.
• Shi Bantian explained that an overwhelming force had hurled him out of the abyss, and the Young Sect Master decided the group could risk exploring it.
• Jin Linglong agreed that the imitation Mountain River Fan could help them escape, and the Young Sect Master ordered Senior Brother Qing and Shi Bantian to lead the way.
• Senior Brother Qing summoned a cyan seal that expanded above the group as he told everyone to stay close.

Jin Linglong and the others descended into the Purple Spirit Abyss beneath the azure seal, which protected them from its monsters. When a Nascent Soul-stage tentacled creature attacked, Jin Linglong proposed concealing their cultivation, and the creature eventually withdrew.

• Senior Brother Qing pulled Shi Bantian along and led the group into the Purple Spirit Abyss beneath the seal’s protection.
• The group saw monsters dissolve when they touched the seal’s azure light and righteous aura.
• Zhang Tie grew uneasy when their descent lasted far longer than his earlier solo fall.
• A Nascent Soul-stage monster disguised as vines attacked the seal, and the Young Sect Master accused Shi Bantian of deception.
• Jin Linglong suggested concealing their cultivation because the monsters might respond to their auras.
• The group concealed their cultivation, and the tentacled monster calmed down and left.

Jin Linglong led the group through the Purple Spirit Abyss to a ruined circular city, where deadly metallic energy killed nearly everyone except four survivors. Zhang Tie’s golden body exposed his strength, and when the Young Sect Master challenged his identity, Zhang Tie claimed he was Shi Bantian, a Nascent Soul guard secretly assigned by the Sect Master.

• Jin Linglong guided the group across the bottom of the Purple Spirit Abyss for months as the purple mist thinned and the monsters disappeared.
• The group emerged among ancient ruins and reached a well-preserved circular city surrounding a weathered statue.
• Jin Linglong, the white-robed old man, the Young Sect Master, and the others entered the city, with Zhang Tie last.
• Metallic energy tore Zhang Tie’s clothes and killed everyone else who entered, while his golden skin protected him.
• The Young Sect Master accused Zhang Tie of not being Shi Bantian, and Zhang Tie claimed he was a hidden Nascent Soul guard sent by the Sect Master.

The Young Sect Master questioned Shi Bantian’s identity, but Jin Linglong calmed the dispute and led the group toward the statue through the violent metal-element aura. At the statue, Jin Linglong discovered that a Spirit Stone vanished into its chest, suggesting she had found the entrance.

• The Young Sect Master demanded proof from Shi Bantian and asked him to hand over his soul blood, but Shi Bantian refused and said he answered only to the Sect Master.
• Jin Linglong urged the Young Sect Master not to provoke Shi Bantian, and he apologized before the group agreed to advance together.
• The Young Sect Master placed Senior Brother Qing, Shi Bantian, and Elder Bai at the front to resist the metal-element aura as they approached the statue.
• Elder Bai and Senior Brother Qing were injured by the aura, but the group eventually reached the statue and found a place where the aura disappeared.
• Jin Linglong threw a Mid-grade Spirit Stone at the statue’s chest, watched it vanish, and concluded that the spot was the entrance they sought.

Jin Linglong led the group through a passage into a forest, where Zhang Tie sensed they were being watched. Silver beetles and attacking vines trapped the party, and the Young Sect Master survived a fatal strike by using a Life-Replacing Talisman; Jin Linglong identified the insects as Gold-Devouring Insects.

• Jin Linglong and Elder Bai entered the passage, followed by the Young Sect Master, Senior Brother Qing, and Zhang Tie.
• Jin Linglong sensed their surroundings and led the group through the vast forest while Zhang Tie secretly concealed his cultivation and aura.
• After the group traveled about a hundred li, Zhang Tie discovered countless silver beetles closing in from every direction.
• The Young Sect Master and Senior Brother Qing flew upward, but the trees sent vines after them; one vine pierced the Young Sect Master's heart.
• The Young Sect Master's body turned into a blood-colored talisman, and he reappeared unharmed while Senior Brother Qing suffered a serious leg wound.
• Jin Linglong said the insects were likely rare Gold-Devouring Insects.

Zhang Tie escaped the Gold-Devouring Insects and found a colossal withered tree whose runes he could not understand. When he stepped toward it, his lifespan began draining rapidly, forcing him to retreat.

• Jin Linglong explained the Gold-Devouring Insects’ strength and proposed that the group split up and flee toward the Heaven-Piercing Spirit Treasure.
• The young sect master and Senior Brother Qing broke through the swarm together, while Jin Linglong and Old Bai escaped in another direction beneath a red umbrella.
• Zhang Tie used his Taotie phantom to hold off the insects and spread his divine sense toward the indicated direction.
• Zhang Tie shifted to a colossal withered tree and sensed immense vitality within it, along with several mysterious runes on its bark.
• Zhang Tie stepped toward the tree, felt a surge of dread, and discovered that he had lost at least twenty years of his lifespan.

Zhang Tie discovered that Jin Linglong was draining life from strange trees with a black tower, and he secretly followed her and Elder Bai. The pair reached a golden giant tree and approached it under the tower’s green aura.

• Zhang Tie realized the withered tree had taken twenty years from his lifespan and retreated beyond its reach.
• Zhang Tie found Jin Linglong and Elder Bai at a lush giant tree radiating death, where Jin Linglong used a black tower to absorb its green aura.
• Jin Linglong and Elder Bai traveled to the withered tree, and Jin Linglong used the tower to draw green aura from it as Zhang Tie watched from afar.
• Zhang Tie followed the pair to a dazzling golden giant tree, where Jin Linglong wrapped herself and Elder Bai in green aura and led them toward it.

Jin Linglong and Elder Bai escaped through the golden giant tree, while Zhang Tie discovered that teleportation could not bypass the tree’s defenses. Zhang Tie used Witch's Domain to replace Senior Brother Qing and reach the tree, then knocked out the Young Sect Master after they arrived inside a palace.

• Jin Linglong and Elder Bai endured the golden lightning with help from the little tower’s green aura, touched the golden giant tree, and vanished.
• Senior Brother Qing sent a toad-like demonic beast toward the tree with a teleportation talisman, but golden lightning destroyed it.
• The Young Sect Master used a black jade pendant to shield himself and Senior Brother Qing from the lightning as they approached the tree.
• Zhang Tie used Witch's Domain to transform into Senior Brother Qing, touched the tree, and vanished; the Young Sect Master also reached it and disappeared.
• Zhang Tie awoke inside a palace beside the dazed Young Sect Master and tapped his brow, rendering him unconscious.

Zhang Tie incapacitated the Young Sect Master, hid him in the Mountain River Cave Heaven Diagram, and disguised himself as him to search for Jin Linglong and another person. He entered a Five Elements Formation and found himself in a ring-shaped space where Elder Bai stood beside a mysterious fruit-bearing vine, but Jin Linglong was missing.

• Zhang Tie soul-searched the Young Sect Master, leaving his consciousness severely damaged.
• Zhang Tie hid the Young Sect Master in the Mountain River Cave Heaven Diagram and transformed his appearance to impersonate him.
• Zhang Tie hurried deeper into the palace, where he found a Five Elements Formation that suppressed his divine sense.
• Zhang Tie entered the formation and was transported into a ring-shaped space filled with dense five-element spiritual qi.
• Zhang Tie found Elder Bai beside an azure vine bearing five-colored fruits, but Jin Linglong was nowhere in sight.

Zhang Tie investigated Elder Bai’s motionless body, devoured and refined him, and learned that Jin Linglong had gone to explore a secret realm. Elder Bai’s memories revealed that the cyan vine was the Profound Heaven Immortal Vine, and that his attempt to claim it had triggered its violent resistance.

• Zhang Tie searched for Jin Linglong but found no sign of her, then cautiously examined the motionless Elder Bai.
• Zhang Tie summoned a Taotie phantom to swallow Elder Bai and began refining him.
• Zhang Tie gained little spiritual power from Elder Bai but searched his memories and learned that Jin Linglong had already left alone for a mysterious secret realm.
• Zhang Tie learned that the cyan vine was the Profound Heaven Immortal Vine, whose Five Elements Profound Heaven Fruit could nurture a powerful treasure once it matured.
• Elder Bai’s memories revealed that he had tried to make the vine recognize him as its master before the fruit matured, but the vine had violently resisted.

Zhang Tie seized the chance to subdue the Profound Heaven Immortal Vine and completed its spiritual mastery ritual. Just as he was about to finish, an ape puppet beast appeared and launched a thunder bead at the vine.

• Zhang Tie arrived while Elder Bai and the Profound Heaven Immortal Vine were locked in battle.
• Zhang Tie built a tier-4 lower-grade Four Symbols Defensive Great Array around the area.
• Zhang Tie forced his essential blood into the Profound Heaven Immortal Vine and began branding it with spiritual seals until it recognized him as its master.
• An ape puppet beast appeared beside the vine and spat a blue thunder bead toward it.

Zhang Tie subdued the Profound Heaven Immortal Vine but learned it would take ten to twenty years to mature, so he sent his Nascent Soul clone to pursue Jin Linglong. The clone found nine mysterious stone doors, chose the fifth by rolling an ice die, and entered as the door began to close.

• Zhang Tie used his Nascent Soul and Taotie phantom to swallow the thunder pearl and shatter the puppet beast, then claimed the Profound Heaven Immortal Vine.
• Zhang Tie decided to remain behind and wait for the vine to mature while his Nascent Soul clone searched for Jin Linglong.
• Zhang Tie's clone took a storage bracelet and followed Jin Linglong's route to a secret underground chamber containing nine carved stone doors.
• Zhang Tie's clone examined the doors but found no clue to which one Jin Linglong had entered, so it made an ice die numbered one through nine.
• The die landed on five, and Zhang Tie's clone opened the fifth stone door and slipped inside.

Zhang Tie found a spirit pool and a Suanni statue in a cavern, then fought the creature inside it with the Hundred Thousand Souls Banner. When he summoned a Taotie phantom to devour the statue, Suanni begged him to spare its life.

• Zhang Tie emerged into a cavern and recognized the statue on the pool's central island as likely Suanni.
• Zhang Tie realized the pool held liquefied spiritual energy and suspected a precious treasure lay at its bottom.
• Suanni spoke from the statue and attacked Zhang Tie with a crimson bolt of lightning.
• Zhang Tie used the Hundred Thousand Souls Banner to engulf the statue in black mist, but its material blocked the souls.
• Zhang Tie summoned a Taotie phantom to devour the statue, and Suanni pleaded for its life in exchange for answering his questions.

Zhang Tie learned how the secret realm worked and took two jade talismans, realizing Jin Linglong planned to use random teleportation to return to the true Spirit World. After the Taotie swallowed the statue, Zhang Tie refined it and uncovered that it had concealed crucial information.

• The statue told Zhang Tie it was a Two-headed Fiery Sun Leopard with Suanni bloodline, sealed there to test visitors and grant successful testers access to a secret realm for a year.
• The statue gave Zhang Tie a jade talisman and explained that crushing it would randomly teleport him out, while trying to enter the realm a second time would result in death.
• Zhang Tie realized Jin Linglong intended to use the random teleportation to return to the true Spirit World, though the route could send her into the dangerous shattered void near the Lesser Demon Realm.
• Zhang Tie demanded and received a second jade talisman, then turned to leave.
• The Taotie phantom swallowed the statue, and Zhang Tie refined it for over an hour despite its pleas and curses.
• Zhang Tie learned from the statue's memories that it had told the truth about most things but had deliberately concealed crucial information.

Zhang Tie learned that escaping the lower realm required winning seven challenges and obtaining a special teleportation talisman, then waited twelve years for the Profound Heaven Immortal Vine to bear its fruit. The Five-Colored Fruit entered his dantian, where it swallowed his natal flying sword.

• Zhang Tie learned that cultivators had to win at least seven challenges to earn a teleportation talisman that would let them safely leave the secret realm.
• Zhang Tie's Nascent Soul clone returned with a storage bracelet, and Zhang Tie learned what had happened and grew wary of Jin Linglong's hidden schemes.
• Zhang Tie waited twelve years for the Profound Heaven Immortal Vine to mature, watching as its five fruits fused into a Five-Colored Fruit.
• The Five-Colored Fruit flew into Zhang Tie's dantian, and the Profound Heaven Immortal Vine withered into dust.
• Zhang Tie cried out when the Five-Colored Fruit swallowed his natal flying sword.

Zhang Tie’s Five-Colored Fruit swallowed his natal flying sword and fused their bond, then began demanding food. After Zhang Tie fed it all his ten-thousand-year spiritual herbs and the Lightning Flood Dragon’s remains, it remained hungry, leaving him unsure what it would take to nurture the Heaven-Piercing Spirit Treasure.

• Zhang Tie failed to stop the Five-Colored Fruit from swallowing his natal flying sword, and their connections later merged.
• The Five-Colored Fruit sent Zhang Tie a message of hunger and swallowed a ten-thousand-year spiritual herb he offered it.
• Zhang Tie spent more than half a month feeding the Five-Colored Fruit until his supply of ten-thousand-year spiritual herbs ran out.
• Zhang Tie offered the Five-Colored Fruit the Lightning Flood Dragon’s remains, which it swallowed.
• Zhang Tie spent half a year feeding it all the remains, but the Five-Colored Fruit still transmitted a strong sense of hunger.

Zhang Tie fed the Five-Colored Fruit a dragon horn and fangs, then poured in countless Mid-grade Spirit Stones to complete its transformation into a Heaven-Piercing Spirit Treasure. As factions across the Spirit Realm sensed the treasure’s impending birth, a streak of golden light shot from the fruit toward Zhang Tie.

• Zhang Tie sacrificed the dragon horn and fangs he had saved for forging a weapon to help the Five-Colored Fruit grow.
• After absorbing the materials, the Five-Colored Fruit emerged and drew in five-element spiritual energy, but it signaled that the surrounding energy was insufficient.
• Zhang Tie supplied countless Mid-grade Spirit Stones, which shattered and released spiritual energy into the fruit.
• The ancient stone stele before the Demon Gate Sect’s main hall trembled, and the Demon Venerable recognized that another Heaven-Piercing Spirit Treasure was about to be born.
• Factions across the Spirit Realm sensed the coming treasure, and a dazzling golden streak shot from the shattered Five-Colored Fruit toward Zhang Tie.