Chapter Summaries

Chen Fei rejected the Medical Hall master's suspicious contract and sent a shadow clone to scout the city gate before midnight. As the group gathered at the gate, Chen Fei realized something was wrong and fled with Chi Shuqing and Ren Zhongyang.

• Chen Fei refused to sign the Medical Hall master's contract after the master rejected his offer to draft a new one.
• Chen Fei sent an aura-less shadow clone to scout the city gate, which appeared ready to open at midnight.
• Chen Fei used copper coins to strengthen Chi Shuqing and Ren Zhongyang, then led them toward the gate before midnight.
• Chen Fei, Chi Shuqing, and Ren Zhongyang reached the gate, where Liao Hanqin, Wu Yongzhao, Jiang Ronghe, and an elder from the Big Dipper Tower also appeared.
• When the expected late-stage Aperture Refining Realm expert failed to appear, Chen Fei recalled the connection between ghost soldiers, midnight, and the city gate, then hurried away with Chi Shuqing and Ren Zhongyang.

Chen Fei realized the city gate might open amid the ghost soldiers’ midnight attack, so he hid his and his companions’ auras in the Medical Hall and waited in concealment with Chi Shuqing and Ren Zhongyang. As the ghost soldiers approached, the city’s deadly chill began making the three blend into their surroundings.

• Chen Fei left the city gate, and Wu Yongzhao, Liao Hanqin, and Guo Sansheng also withdrew without understanding the danger he had noticed.
• Yu Zhongxin watched the city gate with Jin Weiming and concealed their auras while they waited for midnight.
• Chen Fei brought Chi Shuqing and Ren Zhongyang to a corner near the Medical Hall, stored their auras in copper coins, and sent a shadow clone bearing their auras to the hall.
• Chen Fei explained that the ghost soldiers might attack anyone waiting at the city gate, and he planned to follow behind them when they appeared.
• At midnight, ominous footsteps and intensified yin-chilling power struck Chen Fei, Chi Shuqing, and Ren Zhongyang, but the chill also made the two companions blend into their surroundings.

Chen Fei used copper coins to hide himself, Chi Shuqing, and Ren Zhongyang as they followed the Yin soldiers through Ghost City, while other survivors tried to escape by transferring their auras. After Yu Zhongxin provoked the Yin soldiers at the gate, Chen Fei seized his chance to get out with his companions, but a terrifying Joint Aperture Realm aura descended on the secret realm.

• Chen Fei concealed Chi Shuqing and Ren Zhongyang with copper coins, then covered himself in Origin Power and followed the approaching Yin soldiers.
• Guo Sansheng was devoured after the Yin soldiers discovered him, while Liao Hanqin realized the danger lay in their footsteps and used his High-grade Spirit Sword to transfer his aura at the cost of Origin Power.
• Yu Zhongxin transferred his aura onto Jin Weiming and escaped, while Liao Hanqin and Wu Yongzhao later joined the procession behind the Yin soldiers.
• Chen Fei and his companions discovered that the city gate opened for the Yin soldiers' rotation, not for outsiders to enter or leave.
• Yu Zhongxin charged past the Yin soldiers toward the gate, drawing their attention as Chen Fei concealed his companions and rushed them through the opening.
• Chen Fei emerged onto Half-Bottle Mountain with Chi Shuqing and Ren Zhongyang, but Miwang City's gate trembled and a pillar of light rose as a Joint Aperture Realm aura descended.

Chen Fei escaped the collapsing secret realm with Ren Zhongyang and Chi Shuqing after forcing its exit open, then concealed his strength by making himself appear gravely injured. Outside, Tong Zhongqiu and Jian Jinsheng had arrived in response to the unfamiliar Joint Aperture Realm aura.

• Chen Fei carried Ren Zhongyang and Chi Shuqing away from Half-Bottle Mountain and told Feng Xiupu and Wei Yantao that a Ghost City had drawn them in and connected to other places.
• Chen Fei forced open the secret realm exit with a strike of the Qian Yuan Sword as the realm's laws began to fail.
• Chen Fei made his body appear severely injured and collapsed so the other sects would not suspect he had escaped the Ghost City unharmed.
• Feng Xiupu carried Chen Fei through the opened exit while Wei Yantao brought Ren Zhongyang and Chi Shuqing after him.
• Feng Xiupu emerged to find Tong Zhongqiu and Jian Jinsheng waiting outside the secret realm.

After escaping the Ghost City, Chen Fei learned that it connected to the Endless Sea and that a Joint Aperture Realm cultivator had brought his Lineage to Xianyun City to flee danger there. Chen Fei refined the Ghost City’s Origin Power in seclusion, raising his Spiritual Power to control forty-nine acupoints, and later perfected two techniques.

• Feng Xiupu told Tong Zhongqiu that the secret realm’s changes involved a Ghost City and an unfamiliar Joint Aperture Realm cultivator.
• Three days later, the Yu Family’s Joint Aperture Realm expert and his Lineage established a mountain gate near Xianyun City, shifting the balance between its major sects.
• Feng Xiupu told Chen Fei that the Ghost City connected to the Endless Sea, but the Yu Family had sealed both ends to keep its enemies from following.
• Chen Fei returned to his residence, accepted Sinking Water Pavilion’s gift for saving Chi Shuqing, and entered seclusion while Ren Zhongyang recovered from his severe injuries.
• Chen Fei refined the Origin Power in his Sea of Consciousness, raising his Spiritual Power to the level of controlling forty-nine acupoints.
• A month later, Chen Fei reached Perfection in the Spirit Slaughter Technique and Great Perfection in the Heavy Origin Sword.

Chen Fei advanced his techniques and cultivation while preparing for the uncertainty surrounding the Yu Family’s arrival. After Chi Shuqing visited with an unusual healing method, she recovered from her injuries and Chen Fei opened ten acupoints in one night, reaching the verge of the peak of the Early Stage Aperture Refining Realm.

• Chen Fei tested his Great Perfection Heavy Origin Sword and resolved to open more acupoints before breaking through to the Mid-stage Aperture Refining Realm.
• Chen Fei continued cultivating, increasing his rate of opening acupoints as his Spiritual Power grew.
• Five days later, Chi Shuqing arrived at Chen Fei’s courtyard and offered a method to help them both recover faster.
• Chi Shuqing and Chen Fei spent the day using her healing method, and she left the next morning fully recovered.
• Chen Fei opened ten acupoints in one night, bringing his total to thirty-three and nearing the peak of the Early Stage Aperture Refining Realm.

After gaining ten Acupoints through Chi Shuqing’s healing method, Chen Fei headed to the Alchemist Alliance while the Yu Family weighed the rival sects’ advances and planned its eventual return to the Endless Sea. Tong Zhongqiu received no answer from the Yu Family, and Xianyun City’s residents discussed the powerful Mountain Sea Realm cultivators said to exist in the Endless Sea.

• Chen Fei reflected on how his and Chi Shuqing’s cultivation had advanced, concealed his unusual aura with the Spirit Slaughter Technique, and set off for the Alchemist Alliance.
• Yu Zhanrong told Yu Shoucheng that the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect had sent Purple Cloud Tea and invited him to exchange cultivation insights.
• Yu Shoucheng judged that Jian Jinsheng would grow stronger, kept the Yu Family neutral between the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect and Divine Flame Sect, and ordered his people to prepare to return to the Endless Sea within five years.
• Tong Zhongqiu learned that the Yu Family had claimed its ancestor was in seclusion and sighed over its lack of a reply.
• People in Xianyun City discussed the Endless Sea and rumors of its Mountain Sea Realm cultivators.

Chen Fei visited Jin Hai Pavilion to find a way to awaken Baka and bought a pill formula for Spirit Awakening Liquid after confirming it helped the tree core. At the Alchemist Alliance, he learned that alchemy commissions had sharply declined and began considering new ways to earn primordial stones.

• Chen Fei entered Jin Hai Pavilion and asked the shopkeeper how to awaken the Spiritual Wisdom in Baka's tree core.
• The shopkeeper identified Baka's self-sealing and offered Spirit Awakening Liquid, which made the tree core's spirituality more active.
• Chen Fei paid ten primordial stones for the Spirit Awakening Liquid formula and browsed Jin Hai Pavilion's spirit artifacts before leaving.
• Qin Jinglan showed Chen Fei that Alchemist Alliance commissions had fallen by nearly sixty percent, and Chen Fei suspected the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect had shifted work to the Yu Family.
• Chen Fei accepted a task for three batches of Spirit Snow Pills and considered other ways to earn primordial stones as alchemy commissions dwindled.

Chen Fei considered using the Spirit Slaughter Technique to turn bizarre creatures into spiritual essence, then refined Spirit Awakening Liquid after visiting Chi Defeng and reflecting on his desire to reach the highest realms of martial cultivation. He finished ten portions and prepared to test their effects on the tree heart.

• Chen Fei considered hunting bizarre creatures near Pingyin County and Desolate Mountain Ancient Village to obtain spiritual essence.
• Chen Fei completed his alchemy assignment, exchanged for the eighth level of the Thousand Silk Art, and bought ingredients for Spirit Awakening Liquid.
• Chen Fei visited Chi Defeng, spent the evening drinking and talking with him, and resolved to keep pursuing higher martial realms and everlasting life.
• Chen Fei returned to his room and refined his first portion of Spirit Awakening Liquid, immediately reaching Proficient proficiency.
• Chen Fei refined nine more portions of Spirit Awakening Liquid and planned to use all ten on the tree heart.

Chen Fei settled into cultivation in Xianyun City, using Spirit Awakening Liquid to rouse the tree core while advancing his techniques and opening more acupoints. After reaching thirty-six acupoints, he clearly sensed their resonance, bringing him to the threshold of linking them for a breakthrough.

• Chen Fei found that Spirit Awakening Liquid stirred a faint consciousness within the tree core, then refined more of the liquid and decided to apply one portion each day.
• Chen Fei helped entertain Chi Defeng’s child while Lan Yunzhi watched, and he continued cultivating as he checked the Alchemist Alliance for pill-refining tasks.
• Chen Fei opened an acupoint each month, reaching thirty-five, while the Yu Family grew more active beyond Xianyun City and the conflict between the two sects remained quiet.
• Chen Fei advanced the Thousand Silk Art to its seventh layer and Dragon Subduing Elephant Spirit Suppression to the Proficient Realm, gaining water-like Spiritual Power defenses and the ability to regrow severed limbs and repair internal organs.
• Chen Fei opened his thirty-sixth acupoint and clearly sensed the resonance linking all thirty-six.

Chen Fei broke through to the Mid-stage Aperture Refining Realm, opening five acupoints in one go and concealing his new cultivation level with the Spirit Slaughter Technique. He continued adapting to his heightened abilities while awaiting a chance to help Feng Xiupu receive an old friend who would join the Yuan Chen Sword Sect as a Guest Official.

• Chen Fei linked all thirty-six acupoints, broke through to the Mid-stage Aperture Refining Realm, and used the surge of World Vital Energy to open and fill five more acupoints, reaching forty-one.
• Chen Fei used the Spirit Slaughter Technique to conceal his new realm, then spent several days stabilizing his cultivation and testing his increased combat strength.
• Guo Linshan visited Chen Fei and invited him to join Feng Xiupu in receiving Feng Xiupu's old friend when the Twin Flying Spirit sensed the man's arrival.
• Chen Fei continued cultivating and discovered that his united acupoints absorbed vital energy automatically, while his unusual ability allowed him to transform that energy into Origin Force continuously.

Chen Fei and Feng Xiupu met Feng Xiupu’s old friend Geng Yanlin, who arrived injured with his wife and son. As the group headed for the Yuan Chen Sword Sect, the Mid-stage Aperture Refining Realm pursuer Qiu Yuanzeng caught up, and Chen Fei offered to hold him off.

• Chen Fei sensed Geng Yanlin and his family approaching the Windstone before Feng Xiupu did, and Feng Xiupu hurried to greet his injured old friend.
• Feng Xiupu introduced Chen Fei as his youngest disciple, astonishing Geng Yanlin, his wife, and Geng Yunfei with Chen Fei’s youth and cultivation.
• Feng Xiupu’s group set off for the Yuan Chen Sword Sect, but Chen Fei sensed a fierce aura pursuing them from behind.
• Geng Yanlin identified the pursuer as the Mid-stage Aperture Refining Realm man who had injured him and urged Feng Xiupu to take his family to safety.
• Qiu Yuanzeng appeared and declared that nobody would leave, and Chen Fei calmly offered to hold him off.

Chen Fei uncovered Qiu Yuanzeng’s hidden formation and stayed behind to protect the others as they escaped. He trapped the Mid-stage Aperture Refining Realm Rogue Cultivator in an eighty-one-pearl sword formation and entered it to face him.

• Qiu Yuanzeng threatened to kill everyone unless Geng Yanlin surrendered, while Feng Xiupu trusted Chen Fei to hold him off.
• Chen Fei cut through the concealed formation before it could fully activate and ordered Feng Xiupu and the others to flee.
• Chen Fei blocked Qiu Yuanzeng’s attack as Geng Yanlin escaped with his wife, then challenged Qiu Yuanzeng.
• Chen Fei’s Heavy Origin Sword formation trapped Qiu Yuanzeng, and its eighty-one sword pearls repelled his attempt to break free.
• Chen Fei entered the formation with the Qian Yuan Sword as the sound of Dragon Elephant Roar made Qiu Yuanzeng see him as a Primordial Beast.

Chen Fei defeated Qiu Yuanzeng and learned that Qiu’s friend possessed the complete Great Thunderous Sword technique. After Qiu revealed that it could cultivate eighty-five acupoints, Chen Fei kept him alive to lead him to the friend, but first crippled his cultivation.

• Chen Fei shattered Qiu Yuanzeng’s blood-light defense and struck him down with a second sword attack.
• Qiu Yuanzeng unleashed the Blood Source Technique’s Eight Sufferings of Life, but Chen Fei’s God-Slaying sword light destroyed the attack.
• Chen Fei stopped his sword when Qiu Yuanzeng claimed to know where the Great Thunderous Sword was.
• Qiu Yuanzeng said his close friend had obtained the complete Great Thunderous Sword, which could cultivate eighty-five acupoints.
• Chen Fei ordered Qiu Yuanzeng to seal his cultivation, then pierced fifteen of his acupoints and reduced him to the Early Stage Aperture Refining Realm.

Chen Fei crippled Qiu Yuanzeng’s cultivation and left him trapped before returning to the Yuan Chen Sword Sect with Geng Yanlin, who became a Guest Official. Chen Fei then told Qu Qingsheng he would leave the sect for up to a month, while Qiu Yuanzeng remained confined and resentful.

• Chen Fei shattered fifteen of Qiu Yuanzeng’s acupoints, warned him against another betrayal, and confined him with the Dragon Elephant Array.
• Chen Fei returned to Feng Xiupu and the others, and Geng Yanlin questioned how he had escaped Qiu Yuanzeng.
• Chen Fei demonstrated his Heaven Escaping Movement and said Qiu Yuanzeng had given up chasing him.
• Feng Xiupu brought Geng Yanlin to meet Qu Qingsheng, who welcomed him as a Guest Official of the Yuan Chen Sword Sect.
• Chen Fei told Qu Qingsheng he would leave the sect for ten days to a month and said his cultivation of the Yuan Chen Sword Canon had gone smoothly.
• Qiu Yuanzeng tried to stand after Chen Fei left, but the array’s force pushed him back down.

Qiu Yuanzeng used the Blood Source Technique to seize control of the Dragon Elephant Array, but the Rat Demon kept him from escaping until Chen Fei returned and captured him. While taking Qiu Yuanzeng toward Shangwu City, Chen Fei encountered Hong Yuanfeng in Xingfen City, where the old enemy considered killing him.

• Qiu Yuanzeng fed his blood into the Dragon Elephant Array and took control of it, but the Rat Demon blocked his escape.
• Chen Fei returned, severed Qiu Yuanzeng's right arm, and learned that Qiu Yuanzeng's friend stayed in Shangwu City.
• Chen Fei carried Qiu Yuanzeng to Xingfen City, where they spent the night as the rebellion continued to threaten the region.
• Chen Fei sensed a powerful Aperture Refining Realm aura and recognized Hong Yuanfeng of the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect.
• Hong Yuanfeng recognized Chen Fei and suspected he had killed Shen Dingyan, then considered taking the opportunity to kill him.

Chen Fei left Xingfen City with Qiu Yuanzeng and found Shangwu City surrounded by the Cliff Mountain Army. After nightfall, Chen Fei used the Spirit Slaughter Technique and Flying Ling Shuttle to conceal their auras and speed toward the besieged city.

• Hong Yuanfeng abandoned his plan to kill Chen Fei in Xingfen City and left after withdrawing his killing intent.
• Chen Fei trained the Giant Spirit Sword and considered how recovering more of the Yuan Chen Sword Canon could strengthen the sect.
• Chen Fei and Qiu Yuanzeng reached Shangwu City and discovered that the Cliff Mountain Army had encircled it.
• Qiu Yuanzeng explained that the Cliff Mountain Army had risen from the rebellious Cliff Mountain Sect, and Chen Fei decided to enter the city after dark.
• Chen Fei concealed both their auras with the Spirit Slaughter Technique, activated the Flying Ling Shuttle, and sped toward Shangwu City with Qiu Yuanzeng.

Chen Fei followed Qiu Yuanzeng to Zhao Manor, where Qiu Yuanzeng escaped through a trap and began possessing his former friend beneath the city. Chen Fei tracked him down before the possession could finish and sensed the Great Thunderous Sword’s aura from the body in the blood trough.

• Chen Fei carried Qiu Yuanzeng into Shangwu City and reached Zhao Manor, where he found signs that Qiu Yuanzeng’s friend had recently used the study.
• Qiu Yuanzeng triggered a hidden mechanism and escaped through a passage as poison needles, a sealing formation, and an alarm trapped Chen Fei’s shadow clone.
• Chen Fei used his true body, the Rat Demon, and the Gathering Wind Technique to locate Qiu Yuanzeng’s hidden chamber beneath the city.
• Qiu Yuanzeng began using Blood Spirit Possession to take over the body of the friend he had ambushed and preserved in a blood trough.
• Chen Fei tore through the chamber’s Iron Essence wall and arrived before Qiu Yuanzeng could finish possessing the body.
• Chen Fei approached the blood trough and sensed the aura of the Great Thunderous Sword from the figure within.

Chen Fei found the complete acupoint-opening sequence for the Great Thunderous Sword in Qiu Yuanzeng’s secret chamber and learned that the inheritance came from Sword Return Tower. After killing Qiu Yuanzeng and collecting the chamber’s treasures, Chen Fei left to investigate the sect and its connection to the sword.

• Chen Fei inspected Qiu Yuanzeng’s secret chamber and found three cultivation-method jade slips, including one that recorded the Great Thunderous Sword’s complete acupoint-opening sequence.
• Chen Fei learned that Qiu Yuanzeng’s Blood Source Technique was powerful but gradually twisted its cultivators’ temperament and consciousness.
• When Qiu Yuanzeng refused to reveal where he had obtained the Great Thunderous Sword, Chen Fei severed his remaining arm and exposed his plan to transfer his Spiritual Wisdom into the blood trough.
• Qiu Yuanzeng revealed that the Great Thunderous Sword came from Sword Return Tower, and Chen Fei killed him, destroying the person in the blood trough as well.
• Chen Fei gathered the secret chamber’s valuables and left to investigate Sword Return Tower and how it had obtained the Great Thunderous Sword inheritance.

Chen Fei escaped Shangwu City and confronted three Cliff Mountain Army cultivators, recovering his Half-Spirit Artifact after quietly injuring Xu Yanxin with his Spiritual Power. He traveled to Qin Hai City to gather information about Sword Return Tower, then appeared at the Ruan Family, whose members recognized him from more than two years earlier.

• Chen Fei escaped Shangwu City despite the tightened patrols and returned to the hill where he had begun.
• Liang Zhongpu, Xu Yanxin, and Liang Ruolan confronted Chen Fei and held his Half-Spirit Artifact, but Liang Zhongpu returned it after sensing Chen Fei's pressure.
• After Chen Fei left, Xu Yanxin realized Chen Fei had injured his Spiritual Power with a glance.
• Chen Fei headed to Qin Hai City to seek information about Sword Return Tower and buy a map, then entered the city over its wall.
• The next morning, Chen Fei visited the Ruan Family, and a guard recognized him from more than two years earlier, prompting the family to gather in the main hall.