Chapter Summaries

Xu Chunniang won the damaged Puppet Technique inheritance Jade Slip at the auction and completed the purchase immediately. She left through a side entrance with the Jade Slip, noticing that the auction mask’s effects were fading and finding no one apparently following her.

• A bidder in the corner outbid Third Young Master of the City Lord's Mansion for the Blood Jade Coral Branch, despite his attempt to invoke his status.
• Third Young Master ordered an attendant to watch the auction hall and identify the bidder who had defied him.
• Jin Ya revealed that the auction's Puppet Technique inheritance was an incomplete Jade Slip containing only about one-third of the original record.
• Xu Chunniang outbid the others with a bid of eighty thousand spirit stones and won the Jade Slip.
• Xu Chunniang completed the transaction, left through a side entrance, and found no sign that anyone was following her.

Xu Chunniang entered the Puppet Jade Slip’s Inheritance Space and discovered that completing each puppet beast was the key to progressing through the inheritance. Meanwhile, her fellow disciples went to Wind Cry Mountain without her, suffered injuries in a fight over a three-colored deer, and headed back to Primordial Chaos City.

• Xu Chunniang entered the Inheritance Space, dismantled a weak puppet beast, and studied its Runes and central mechanism.
• Xu Chunniang realized she could not leave the Inheritance Space, rebuilt the puppet beast, and watched it disappear before a larger puppet beast approached.
• Huo Chunyan, Zhuge Yun, and Zhang Yu waited for Xu Chunniang at Auspicious Cloud Inn, but Zhuge Yun led the group to Wind Cry Mountain without her.
• Zhuge Yun and the other disciples found traces of an Essence Devouring Beast but fought other cultivators over a three-colored deer and failed to capture it.
• Zhuge Yun used a high-grade life-saving treasure to help the injured group escape, and the four disciples left Wind Cry Mountain.

Xu Chunniang completed the first-level Foundation Establishment puppet trial in the Inheritance Space and returned to her body, mastering enough Puppet Technique to repair her damaged puppets. She learned that only ten days had passed and that the next Wind Cry Mountain expedition was four days away, then began dismantling a puppet for repairs.

• Zhuge Yun rebuked Zhang Yu, Huo Chunyan, and Zhao Hangsan for relying on Xu Chunniang, then gave them five days to recover from their injuries.
• Xu Chunniang continued studying puppet-making in the Inheritance Space after failing to escape, gradually mastering its Runes, materials, and mechanisms.
• Xu Chunniang assembled and commanded a first-level Foundation Establishment puppet, triggering the Inheritance Space to collapse and allowing her Primordial Spirit to return to her body.
• Xu Chunniang found that the inheritance Jade Slip had shattered and realized she had missed the messages sent while she was inside the space.
• Xu Chunniang learned that ten days had passed and the next Wind Cry Mountain trip was four days away, then began taking apart one of her three damaged Foundation Establishment puppets for repair.

Zhuge Yun and his companions found Shangguan Xue fighting other cultivators over an Essence Devouring Beast and intervened. After Shangguan Xue’s group suffered heavy losses, she left Wind Cry Mountain with the wounded, accompanied by Zhuge Yun, while Huo Chunyan complained about his sudden attentiveness.

• Huo Chunyan and Zhuge Yun detected signs of an Essence Devouring Beast and a nearby battle, then approached to investigate.
• Zhuge Yun recognized Shangguan Xue and rushed to help her fight the opposing cultivators, followed by Huo Chunyan and Zhao Hangsan.
• When an enemy cultivator began self-destructing, Shangguan Xue used a technique to switch places with the dying Essence Devouring Beast, which took the blast and was destroyed.
• Shangguan Xue revealed her identity, thanked Zhuge Yun’s group, and decided to leave the mountain with her injured disciple after distributing pills.
• Zhuge Yun insisted on accompanying Shangguan Xue, and Huo Chunyan complained to Xu Chunniang that he had abandoned his task and treated Shangguan Xue differently from them.

After the group returned to Primordial Chaos City, Zhuge Yun escorted Shangguan Xue to the City Lord’s Mansion and arranged for everyone to meet again in ten days. Xu Chunniang remained puzzled by Zhuge Yun’s changed behavior, while Zhang Yu approached her with something to say.

• Huo Chunyan openly called Zhuge Yun a peacock spreading his tail, and he turned back to give her a dangerous look.
• The group left Wind Cry Mountain safely and returned to Primordial Chaos City, where Zhuge Yun offered to escort Shangguan Xue.
• Shangguan Xue accepted Zhuge Yun’s escort to the City Lord’s Mansion, and he learned that she lived there.
• Zhuge Yun arranged for the group to return to Wind Cry Mountain in ten days to hunt Essence Devouring Beasts, then dismissed them coldly.
• Huo Chunyan complained about Zhuge Yun’s attention to Shangguan Xue, and Xu Chunniang admitted his behavior seemed strange.
• Huo Chunyan compared Xu Chunniang to Shangguan Xue, then spotted Zhang Yu waiting nervously for Xu Chunniang.

Xu Chunniang brushed off Zhang Yu’s gift and revealed that her true romantic interest was the legendary Sima Yu, whom she aimed to surpass. She finished a formation diagram, then tried and failed to access the bloodline-locked Jade Slip she had received from Zhou Tong.

• Zhang Yu offered Xu Chunniang three Grade Two Mid-grade talismans, but she refused them, telling him to keep them for himself.
• Huo Chunyan teased Zhang Yu about his feelings for Xu Chunniang, then visited Xu and told her that Zhang seemed to like her.
• Xu Chunniang said Sima Yu, the patriarch who had ascended two thousand years earlier, was her goal and pursuit, and she intended to catch up to and surpass him.
• After Huo Chunyan left, Xu Chunniang completed a formation diagram and tried to study the ancient Jade Slip she had received from Zhou Tong.
• Xu Chunniang found that the Jade Slip’s powerful barrier formations required Zhou family bloodline access, so she put it away rather than risk destroying its contents.

Xu Chunniang restored six Qi Condensation Realm puppets and used a new formation to trap Little Orange and Little White after catching them stealing spirit wine. She left the spirit beasts and puppets to reclaim land for spirit fields while she reflected on how Little Orange’s taunts had pushed her to experiment with formations.

• Xu Chunniang set aside her frustration with the Jade Slip’s restriction and repaired six battered Qi Condensation Realm puppets over five days.
• Xu Chunniang brought the puppets into the Walnut World and stopped Little Orange from striking them.
• Xu Chunniang tricked Little Orange into an unstable formation that sealed spiritual energy, then reminded her that she had mocked Xu Chunniang’s formation skills.
• Little Orange accused Xu Chunniang of playing dirty, and Xu Chunniang said she was collecting interest for the spirit wine Little Orange and Little White had stolen.
• Xu Chunniang caught Little White and confined both spirit beasts with the puppets, ordering them to reclaim land and make spirit fields.
• Little Orange dug reluctantly while Little White worked eagerly, and Xu Chunniang reflected that Little Orange’s taunts had inspired her to create a new formation.

Xu Chunniang broke through to the Foundation Establishment fourth layer after cultivating without pills, then learned Zhuge Yun had angered the City Lord's Mansion. She and her fellow disciples went there to find out what had happened, where an old woman dismissed their fears about Primordial True Person.

• Xu Chunniang considered refining her formation and had Little Orange search for its weak points, but it found none.
• Xu Chunniang used a Spirit Gathering Formation to break through to the Foundation Establishment fourth layer and spent several days stabilizing her cultivation.
• Xu Chunniang calculated that she had only one hundred and forty thousand spirit stones left before a transmission talisman summoned her outside.
• Huo Chunyan told Xu Chunniang that Zhuge Yun had caused trouble at the City Lord's Mansion, apparently over Shangguan Xue and Primordial True Person's disciple.
• Xu Chunniang, Huo Chunyan, Zhang Yu, and Zhao Hangsan went to the City Lord's Mansion, where an old woman said they would learn what Zhuge Yun had done.

Zhuge Yun accepted Xie Changyuan’s challenge for Shangguan Xue, but Xie defeated him and demanded that he swear a Dao Heart oath to give her up. Zhuge Yun awoke badly injured and looked to Shangguan Xue as Xie pressed him to fulfill the wager.

• Xie Changyuan challenged Zhuge Yun to a duel, with the loser required to swear a Dao Heart oath to give up Shangguan Xue.
• Zhuge Yun accepted despite Shangguan Xue’s concern, and both men entered the arena.
• Xie Changyuan used four chains to trap Zhuge Yun, restrain his sword hand, and destroy his Iron Seal Fan.
• Xie Changyuan pierced Zhuge Yun with a chain, leaving him severely injured, while Shangguan Xue rushed to treat him.
• After Zhuge Yun regained consciousness, Xie Changyuan demanded the oath, and Zhuge Yun stared at Shangguan Xue without answering.

After Zhuge Yun swore to give up Shangguan Xue and was carried from the City Lord's Mansion, a hidden cultivator planted a demon soul inside Xu Chunniang. She used heavenly fire to cripple it but stopped short of destroying it, returning to the Auspicious Cloud Inn while seeking to understand why she had been targeted.

• Zhuge Yun swore upon his Dao Heart to give up Shangguan Xue, then collapsed from his injuries as Xie Changyuan ordered him removed from the mansion.
• Xu Chunniang sensed danger at the gates, but a black mist slipped into her Primordial Spirit as she left the City Lord's Mansion.
• A black-robed Golden Core cultivator confirmed that the demon soul had been planted in Xu Chunniang, though her powerful Primordial Spirit might resist its erosion.
• Zhao Hangsan and the others decided to take the unconscious Zhuge Yun to the Auspicious Cloud Inn to recover.
• Xu Chunniang used heavenly fire to burn away much of the demon soul, then stopped when it begged for its life and considered why the City Lord's Mansion had targeted her.

Xu Chunniang learned that the demonic soul inside her had been sent to devour her Primordial Spirit and replace her, and suspected the City Lord’s Mansion was behind a larger plot. After interrogating it, she kept her survival secret and went to Zhuge Yun’s room, where Zhao Hangsan answered the door.

• Xu Chunniang threatened the demonic soul with Heavenly Fire until it admitted that its master had sent it to devour her Primordial Spirit and take her place.
• The demonic soul explained that replacing Xu Chunniang and absorbing her memories would take months or years, and that it could not contact its master from so far away.
• Xu Chunniang suspected that the City Lord’s Mansion was involved and wondered whether Shangguan Xue had already been replaced by a demonic soul.
• Xu Chunniang decided not to report the matter immediately because the City Lord’s Mansion might be watching her, and continued questioning the demonic soul instead.
• After dark, Xu Chunniang went to Zhuge Yun’s room, where Zhao Hangsan opened the door and was surprised to see her.

Xu Chunniang confronted the injured Zhuge Yun about his obsession with Shangguan Xue and his failure to complete their commission. After she left, Zhuge Yun secretly contacted the Blood Soul Great Formation and learned that his sect elders wanted him to find a Realm Breaking Talisman in the Heavenly Origin Secret Realm.

• Zhao Hangsan told Xu Chunniang that Zhuge Yun’s injuries had stabilized but that he needed time to recover.
• Xu Chunniang provoked Zhuge Yun about Shangguan Xue and questioned why he had acted irrationally on Wind Cry Mountain; Zhuge Yun promised to recover and complete the commission soon.
• After Xu Chunniang left, Zhuge Yun used his blood to activate a formation and contact the Blood Soul Great Formation at the Carefree Sect’s Main Peak.
• Two Golden Core cultivators received Zhuge Yun’s message and decided not to alert anyone, since they needed to obtain a Realm Breaking Talisman when the Heavenly Origin Secret Realm opened.
• Zhuge Yun planned to delay the Wind Cry Mountain hunt for months, while Xu Chunniang chose to wait rather than leave him behind and risk arousing suspicion.

After Zhuge Yun continued pretending to suffer from a damaged Dao Heart, Xu Chunniang and her companions learned that the Heavenly Origin Secret Realm would soon open and decided to enter it. Zhuge Yun was left behind at the inn, unaware of their plan.

• Xu Chunniang visited Zhuge Yun after three months and urged him to travel to Wind Cry Mountain, while he agreed and claimed he had no will to live.
• Xu Chunniang told Huo Chunyan that Zhuge Yun's Dao Heart seemed badly damaged, and Huo Chunyan shared news that the Heavenly Origin Secret Realm would open soon.
• Huo Chunyan explained that Foundation Establishment cultivators could enter the secret realm with a key purchased from the City Lord's Mansion.
• Xu Chunniang suspected Shangguan Xue might have learned about the opening from Xie Changyuan and considered finding a chance to question her.
• Xu Chunniang and Huo Chunyan invited Zhang Yu and Zhao Hangsan to join them, and both agreed to explore the secret realm without telling Zhuge Yun.

Zhuge Yun warned his junior brothers and sisters that the Heavenly Origin Secret Realm was far more dangerous than they had been led to believe, and they agreed not to enter. He secretly drugged them and left for the secret realm, but Xu Chunniang woke early, escaped his array, and set out after him in disguise.

• Zhuge Yun told Huo Chunyan, Zhao Hangsan, Zhang Yu, and Xu Chunniang that the Heavenly Origin Secret Realm had a low survival rate and could contain Golden Core cultivators.
• Xu Chunniang persuaded the others to give up entering the secret realm, and Zhuge Yun was relieved when he learned they had agreed.
• On the day the realm opened, Zhuge Yun drugged his junior brothers and sisters with Three-Day Intoxication and trapped them in a sword array before leaving for the secret realm.
• Xu Chunniang woke before the drug took effect, recognized Zhuge Yun’s deception, escaped the array, disguised herself, and hurried toward the secret realm.

Xu Chunniang escaped the Azure Winged Eagle after learning that the token she had taken might grant access to Heavenly Dao Palace. She reached the palace with three suspected Heavenly Dao Tokens in her possession.

• Xu Chunniang trapped the scar-faced female cultivator in fog and showed her the token, but fled when she sensed the Golden Core stage Azure Winged Eagle approaching.
• The Azure Winged Eagle killed the scar-faced female cultivator, while Xu Chunniang escaped by concealing her aura and making the eagle believe she was also at the Golden Core stage.
• Xu Chunniang studied two maps and suspected that her token was a Heavenly Dao Token granting entry to Heavenly Dao Palace.
• Xu Chunniang traveled toward Heavenly Dao Palace, killing cultivators who attacked her with her divine sense and flying sword.
• Xu Chunniang reached Heavenly Dao Palace with two additional suspected Heavenly Dao Tokens taken from her attackers.

Xu Chunniang entered the Heavenly Dao Palace and learned that its changing trials often began with temporary teams bound by oaths. She chose to join Chu Youtian’s group rather than the City Lord’s Mansion, while learning that later checkpoints could force teammates to fight one another.

• Xu Chunniang used her blood to activate the token and appeared inside the Heavenly Dao Palace among cultivators waiting on stone pillars.
• Chu Youtian and Granny Gong each invited Xu Chunniang to join their teams, with Granny Gong offering the City Lord’s Mansion’s protection.
• Xu Chunniang asked whether teamwork was mandatory and learned that entrants swore binding oaths, while the trial’s challenges changed each time.
• Xu Chunniang rejected Granny Gong’s invitation and joined Chu Youtian’s group, giving her surname as Yan.
• Chu Youtian told Xu Chunniang that some checkpoints made teammates slaughter one another, though they could cooperate until then or leave the palace early.

Xu Chunniang entered the Heavenly Dao Palace’s trial and found herself in a Spirit-Severing Land, where she had no spiritual energy or usable divine sense. After saving a clansman from a tiger, she went with the hunters to their village to ask the village chief to take her in.

• After the last participant arrived, the Heavenly Dao Palace began its trial and transported Xu Chunniang to a forested mountain range.
• Xu Chunniang discovered that the Spirit-Severing Land had stripped her of spiritual energy and divine sense, though her body-tempering strength remained.
• Xu Chunniang climbed a tree and watched a group of animal-hide-clad hunters fight a fierce tiger.
• Xu Chunniang blinded the tiger with stones, rescued a man beneath its paw, and killed the animal with a kick and several blows.
• Xu Chunniang declined to claim the tiger for herself and asked to split the prey in exchange for a chance to join the hunters’ village.
• The hunters brought Xu Chunniang to their village, and their leader went to fetch the village chief.

Xu Chunniang settled into the village, where she met two wary cultivators who secretly considered attacking her. After questioning Ah Da about the village, she learned its people held annual sacrifices at an ancestral land, but he refused to explain further.

• The village chief welcomed Xu Chunniang and gave her an empty thatched hut to stay in.
• Xu Chunniang overheard children mention another outsider, then met two unfamiliar cultivators who asked whether she could contact the outside world.
• After returning to their room, the male cultivator and Si Niang discussed why they had not attacked Xu Chunniang, citing Little Jin's wariness of her.
• Ah Da brought Xu Chunniang meat and grain, and told her that villagers traveled to an ancestral land for annual sacrifices before clamming up.

Xu Chunniang investigated the Sacrificial Ritual and learned that the villages offered a child to the Witch God each year. She suspected the ritual and its ancestral land held the key to leaving the Spirit-Severing Land, and planned to follow the villagers there next month.

• Xu Chunniang questioned village children about outsiders who had vanished, then gave them her bone blade to play with.
• Xu Chunniang asked the village chief about other villages and the Sacrificial Ritual, but he refused to reveal details.
• On her way home, Xu Chunniang overheard villagers grieving because ten-year-old Shuang'er had been chosen as an offering to the Witch God.
• Xu Chunniang concluded that the annual ritual might help her escape the Spirit-Severing Land and decided to investigate the ancestral land next month.

The village chief drugged the outsiders and led the villagers toward their ancestral grounds to conduct a sacrifice, but You Siniang and Tan Lang evaded the medicine and uncovered the scheme. As they secretly followed the group, they discovered that other people, including Xu Chunniang and Chu Youtian, were following too.

• The village chief told A'Da to guard the village while he led the clanspeople toward the ancestral grounds, believing the divine medicine had put the outsiders to sleep.
• A'Da sneaked into the couple's house, but Little Gold paralyzed him as You Siniang and Tan Lang revealed they had never been affected by the medicine.
• You Siniang questioned A'Da, but he activated a Bloodline Sacrifice and died, leaving the couple to suspect the village's scheme involved an ancient ritual.
• You Siniang and Tan Lang followed the village chief's group and learned from Little Gold that three other distinct scents were nearby.
• Xu Chunniang and Chu Youtian noticed that two people were following them and identified them as the evil cultivator couple.