Chapter Summaries

Chen Fei and Guo Linshan took Chi Defeng to the Drunken Red Pavilion to confront Bai Xinghui about draining his vitality as a furnace cauldron. Bai Xinghui denied the accusation, leaving them without an answer to Chi Defeng’s worsening condition.

• Chen Fei suspected that Chi Defeng had been used as a furnace cauldron after hearing about his declining strength and visits to the Drunken Red Pavilion.
• Guo Linshan examined Chi Defeng and warned that forcibly removing the secret technique could reduce his cultivation from the Bone Forging Realm to the Muscle Tempering Realm.
• Guo Linshan said Bai Xinghui could undo the technique, so he accompanied Chen Fei and Chi Defeng to the Drunken Red Pavilion.
• On the way, Chen Fei told Guo Linshan that he had completed the third layer of the Source Connection Technique and awakened the Great Strength trait.
• Bai Xinghui greeted Chi Defeng intimately, but he resisted his sudden desire and asked whether she had used him as a furnace cauldron.
• Bai Xinghui laughed and denied that she had used Chi Defeng as a furnace cauldron.

Chen Fei and Guo Linshan confronted Bai Xinghui about the secret art affecting Chi Defeng, but she refused to remove it and planned to keep exploiting him. Back at their lodging, Chen Fei considered using his Spiritual Power to help, and Guo Linshan located the secret art but could not undo it.

• Guo Linshan and Chen Fei asked Bai Xinghui to remove her secret art from Chi Defeng, but she refused and provoked Chi Defeng with the force of the art.
• Guo Linshan calmed Chi Defeng and concluded that Bai Xinghui intended to keep him as a source of money; Chi Defeng refused to submit to her.
• Guo Linshan explained that an Aperture Refining Realm expert could remove the secret art, and Chen Fei wondered whether his Spiritual Power control might suffice.
• At their lodging, Guo Linshan saw that Chen Fei had drained the Essence Gathering Bead while rapidly cultivating the Spirit Artifact Compendium and joked that he was a Reincarnation of a Great Power.
• Guo Linshan used his Spiritual Power to locate the secret art in Chi Defeng, but his control was not precise enough to remove it.

Chen Fei failed to remove the seed Bai Xinghui had planted in Chi Defeng, but Old Master Si sealed it temporarily. Back at the Yuan Chen Sword Sect, Chen Fei advanced his Source Connection Technique and perfected the Spirit Artifact Compendium, then hinted to Chi Defeng that he could help take revenge on Bai Xinghui.

• Chen Fei examined the seed in Chi Defeng but could not remove it, so Chi Defeng visited Old Master Si, who sealed it for three months and said he could later remove it at the cost of Chi Defeng's cultivation.
• Chen Fei returned to the Yuan Chen Sword Sect, mastered the third level of the Source Connection Technique, and learned its fourth level from Feng Xiupu, who also warned him about extending traits with Spiritual Power.
• Chen Fei cultivated intensely for three days and nights until he reached Great Perfection in the Spirit Artifact Compendium, then used the Essence Gathering Bead to absorb qi and increase his Internal Energy by more than five hundred.
• Chi Defeng visited Chen Fei the next morning, and Chen Fei asked whether he wanted revenge on Bai Xinghui.

Chen Fei used the Half-Spirit Artifact jade pendant to reverse the seed inside Chi Defeng, then sent him to Bai Xinghui so the seed would drain her instead. Chi Defeng returned from Drunken Red Pavilion revitalized, while Bai Xinghui was left exhausted and diminished.

• Chi Defeng agreed to return to Xianyun City with Chen Fei so Si Yuanhai could remove the seal in his body.
• Si Yuanhai removed Chi Defeng's seal, and Chen Fei used the jade pendant to reverse the seed inside him.
• Chen Fei told Chi Defeng to visit Bai Xinghui before the pendant's alteration wore off, and Chi Defeng rushed to Drunken Red Pavilion.
• Chi Defeng entered Bai Xinghui's room and the reversed seed drained her energy during their encounter.
• Chi Defeng left Drunken Red Pavilion revitalized, while Bai Xinghui lay exhausted on the bed.

Chen Fei discovered that empowering the Essence Gathering Bead with his jade pendant greatly increased his cultivation gains, bringing a breakthrough within reach. While he was resting at the Drunken Immortal Tower, Shen Dingyan recognized him and attacked him for refusing to help in a fight days earlier.

• Chi Defeng told Chen Fei that he had resolved his trouble with Bai Xinghui, and Chen Fei warned him not to return to the Drunken Red Pavilion.
• On his way back to the sect, Chen Fei refused Shen Dingyan's request to help him defeat another martial artist and continued on his way.
• After five days of experiments, Chen Fei combined the jade pendant with the Essence Gathering Bead, increasing his daily Internal Energy gains enough to put a Marrow Refinement breakthrough within two months.
• Chi Defeng revealed that he planned to take Lan Yunzhi as a concubine, and Chen Fei joined him at a small banquet before spending the afternoon relaxing at the Drunken Immortal Tower.
• Shen Dingyan spotted Chen Fei at the tower, blamed him for letting his opponent escape, and slapped at him; Chen Fei leaned back and avoided the strike.

Chen Fei was accused by Shen Dingyan of aiding the Divine Flame Sect and fled when Shen tried to seize him. After Shen chased him down and attacked with Thunderous Sword Force, Chen used his jade pendant and Sword Six to pierce Shen’s chest, leaving the outcome uncertain.

• Shen Dingyan accused Chen Fei of helping a Divine Flame Sect disciple escape and ordered him to surrender as a suspected spy.
• Chen Fei fled from the Drunken Immortal Tower, but Shen Dingyan pursued him beyond the city and blocked his path.
• Shen Dingyan attacked Chen Fei with Thunderous Sword Force, and Chen defended himself with the Starry Night Sword Shield and Great Strength.
• As Shen Dingyan’s strikes began to overwhelm him, Chen’s jade pendant blinded and deafened Shen Dingyan.
• Chen Fei exploited the opening with Sword Six, knocked aside Shen Dingyan’s blade, and thrust his sword into Shen’s chest.

After killing Shen Dingyan, Chen Fei hid the body and claimed to Feng Xiupu and the Yuan Chen Sword Sect that Shen had beaten him and he had barely escaped. The Immortal Cloud Sword Sect suspected Chen Fei was involved in Shen's disappearance and demanded that he be handed over; a group then burst into Chen Fei's room accusing him of a crime.

• Chen Fei killed Shen Dingyan, took his Essence Gathering Bead, marked the site with the Divine Flame Sect's symbol, and disposed of the corpse.
• Chen Fei returned injured to Feng Xiupu and falsely reported that Shen had beaten him before he escaped.
• Feng Xiupu reported the incident to Wu Guangyin, who agreed to protest to the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect.
• Xu Yuanchun found signs of a fight outside Xianyun City and reported Shen Dingyan missing to Hong Yuanfeng, who ordered a search and an investigation into Chen Fei.
• After Shen remained missing, Hong Yuanfeng demanded that the Yuan Chen Sword Sect hand Chen Fei over for questioning.
• A group kicked open Chen Fei's door as he healed and accused him of having his crime exposed.

Chen Fei faced arrest by the Law Enforcement Hall after the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect accused him of being connected to its missing disciples. Wu Guangyin refused to let the sect hand Chen Fei over, and the group considered whether Chen Fei's Alchemist Alliance membership could help protect him.

• Zhou Hanzhong and the Law Enforcement Hall disciples broke into Chen Fei's residence to arrest him, but Guo Linshan intervened and refused to let them take Chen Fei to the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect.
• Feng Xiupu escorted Chen Fei to the Law Enforcement Hall, where he and Zhou Hanzhong waited while Guo Linshan sought Wu Guangyin.
• Wu Guangyin confronted Zhong Benyuan and rejected the order to send Chen Fei to the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect, then brought Chen Fei and the others away from the Law Enforcement Hall.
• Wu Guangyin warned that Hong Yuanfeng would continue pressuring the sect to surrender Chen Fei, but vowed to oppose the demand before the Sect Master or Grand Elder.
• Guo Linshan suggested using Chen Fei's status as an Eighth-grade Alchemist of the Alchemist Alliance, prompting Wu Guangyin to consider seeking the Alliance's help.

Wei Xingshan ordered the Alchemist Alliance to protect its alchemist from Hong Yuanfeng’s accusation, while Chen Fei recovered and advanced his Source Connection Technique. The Yuan Chen Sword Sect decided to send Chen Fei to the Wind Ghost Realm within ten days to avoid further conflict with the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect.

• Wei Xingshan learned that Hong Yuanfeng accused Chen Fei of killing a disciple and ordered the Alliance to demand that the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect find the real murderer.
• Chen Fei completed the fourth level of the Source Connection Technique, which accelerated his recovery and slightly lowered the experience needed to break through to Marrow Refinement Realm.
• Zhou Hanzhong tried to use a spirit-tree branch to identify Chen Fei’s Essence Gathering Bead, but Feng Xiupu claimed he had given Chen Fei the bead, and Zhou left without proving otherwise.
• Chen Fei told Feng Xiupu he had completed the fourth level, and Feng Xiupu taught him the fifth level of the Source Connection Technique.
• Wu Guangyin told Chen Fei that the sect would send him to the Wind Ghost Realm within ten days, both to fill a shortage there and to ease tensions with the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect.

Chen Fei learned that he had been assigned to the dangerous Wind Ghost Realm, and Feng Xiupu and Guo Linshan helped him prepare for the trip. After using fifty thousand taels to simplify Dragon Subduing Elephant, Chen Fei discovered it required immersing his whole body in boiling water and thought of trying a hot spring.

• Feng Xiupu explained that the Wind Ghost Realm was a dangerous ghost-filled treasure trove and gave Chen Fei the Thorn Sword manual.
• Guo Linshan offered to accompany Chen Fei to the Wind Ghost Realm, but Feng Xiupu said the sect would not allow him to go.
• Chen Fei borrowed fifty thousand taels from Feng Xiupu, while Guo Linshan promised to introduce him to a suitable team.
• Chen Fei used the money to lure thieves to an empty courtyard, where they were overcome by poison.
• After recovering from his injuries, Chen Fei spent fifty thousand taels to simplify Dragon Subduing Elephant and learned that its requirement was immersing his entire body in boiling water.
• Chen Fei realized a hot spring in Xianyun City might satisfy the boiling-water requirement.

Chen Fei cultivated the Body Suppression portion of the Dragon Subduing Elephant in a hot spring for eight days, greatly improving his strength, senses, and control over his body without reaching the Marrow Refinement Realm. He returned to the sect, where Guo Linshan assigned him to Ge Hongjie's team for the next day's expedition to the Wind Ghost Realm.

• Chen Fei discovered that soaking in a hot spring let him cultivate the Dragon Subduing Elephant, which was only the Body Suppression portion of a three-stage technique.
• Chen Fei chose to spend his primordial energy cultivating the Dragon Subduing Elephant rather than trying to advance his realm, and trained in the hot spring for eight days.
• Chen Fei's appearance changed, his physical power and senses improved, and he gained enough bodily control to use Sword Five routinely and Sword Six with less injury.
• Chen Fei returned to the sect after buying a more powerful bow and met Feng Xiupu and Guo Linshan, who told him that a team had agreed to take him in.
• Guo Linshan introduced Chen Fei to Ge Hongjie at the Training Ground, where more than a hundred disciples had gathered to depart for the Wind Ghost Realm.

Chen Fei joined Ge Hongjie’s team for the mission in the Wind Ghost Realm and won the others’ respect by demonstrating his archery and movement skills. The group entered the Ghost City and began searching its quiet courtyards for anomalies and treasures.

• Mu Langtao and Senior Brother Zhao objected to Chen Fei joining because he was only in the Bone Forging Realm, but Ge Hongjie kept his promise to take him along.
• Chen Fei shot a distant bird with his bow and retrieved it swiftly, impressing Ge Hongjie, Zhang Fangqiong, and Mu Langtao.
• Zhang Fangqiong recognized Chen Fei as the disciple who had lured an anomaly away during a herb-gathering mission, and Ge Hongjie welcomed him as a valuable teammate.
• The team reached the Wind Ghost Realm, entered the enormous Ghost City, and heard Elder Sun suppress an anomalous howl before charging into the city.
• Ge Hongjie led Chen Fei, Zhang Fangqiong, and Mu Langtao into a courtyard, where they searched but found neither anomalies nor treasures.

Chen Fei joined Ge Hongjie, Zhang Fangqiong, and Mu Langtao in searching an anomaly realm for a node, hoping to gain origin energy. Their first find turned out to be a False Node, but Chen Fei’s arrows helped the group kill the Anomaly Shadow that emerged, and an Anomaly Bead appeared.

• Mu Langtao and Zhang Fangqiong explained that the group was searching for nodes that could release origin energy or produce Anomaly Beads.
• After hours of searching, Zhang Fangqiong sensed a node beside a well and Ge Hongjie warned that breaking it could reveal either a True Node or a dangerous False Node.
• Ge Hongjie told Chen Fei to stand back while Zhang Fangqiong struck the node with her sword.
• The False Node’s spiritual impact struck the group, and an Anomaly Shadow appeared as Ge Hongjie and Zhang Fangqiong attacked it.
• Chen Fei repeatedly hit the Anomaly Shadow with specially made arrows, allowing Ge Hongjie to sever its head and the others to destroy its body.
• Ge Hongjie found an Anomaly Bead where the Anomaly Shadow vanished.

Chen Fei’s skill with archery and alchemy impressed Ge Hongjie, Zhang Fangqiong, and Mu Langtao during their expedition into the anomaly realm and a campfire pill-refining session. He successfully used an Anomaly Bead to make five Floating Pills, and Mu Langtao realized the alchemist who had taught him had misled him.

• Chen Fei suppressed an anomaly with his archery, helping Ge Hongjie defeat it and collect its Anomaly Bead.
• After searching for another hour without finding a node, Chen Fei and the others returned to camp and discussed using Anomaly Beads in alchemy.
• Chen Fei revealed that he was an Eighth-grade Alchemist, so Ge Hongjie gave him the Anomaly Bead to refine into Floating Pills.
• Chen Fei made five glowing Floating Pills over the campfire, astonishing Mu Langtao with his unconventional method.
• Ge Hongjie proposed giving Chen two pills and one to each of the others, and Mu Langtao swallowed his pill to begin cultivating.

Chen Fei used the Suspended Spirit Liquid and his jade pendant to locate a node in the Wind Ghost Realm, then broke it with an arrow. The node released a powerful surge of vital energy that restored the group before the realm repaired itself.

• Chen Fei and the others cultivated with Floating Pills, and Ge Hongjie said the pills had eased his worries about his injuries.
• The next morning, Chen Fei persuaded Ge Hongjie to give him thirty percent of the Suspended Spirit Liquid so he could search for nodes.
• Chen Fei used the jade pendant to sense strands of energy and located a node in a nearby courtyard.
• Chen Fei shot an arrow into the node, releasing a surge of vital energy that improved the group's cultivation, injuries, and Spiritual Power.
• Mu Langtao spotted something beneath the broken node.

Chen Fei led Ge Hongjie, Zhang Fangqiong, and Mu Langtao through the Anomaly Realm, finding True Nodes that flooded them with primordial energy and False Nodes whose anomalies they quickly killed. They returned to camp after three hours, having absorbed as much energy as they could and gained one Anomaly Bead.

• Ge Hongjie collected a Node Fragment from the first True Node, earning the group the prospect of five thousand Contribution Value from the sect.
• Chen Fei located a False Node, and the group destroyed the Anomaly Shadow that emerged and collected an Anomaly Bead.
• Ge Hongjie gave Chen Fei the remaining Suspended Spirit Liquid, and Chen Fei led the group onward using the jade pendant.
• Chen Fei found another True Node, and all four absorbed a large amount of primordial energy, advancing their cultivation and restoring Chen Fei's Spiritual Power.
• Over the next three hours, Chen Fei found two more True Nodes and two False Nodes; the group absorbed more primordial energy, killed the anomalies, and obtained one Anomaly Bead before returning to camp.

Chen Fei and his companions refined Anomaly Beads into increasingly potent Floating Pills while exploring the anomaly realm and absorbing vital energy. After Mu Langtao advanced to the Organ Refinement Realm, Chen Fei broke through to the Marrow Refinement Realm and found his movement and sword techniques less restricted.

• Ge Hongjie bought a pill furnace, and Chen Fei refined two Anomaly Beads into five stronger Floating Pills that the group divided and consumed.
• The group explored the anomaly realm, breaking nodes and collecting a Node Fragment and three Anomaly Beads as they absorbed vital energy.
• Mu Langtao used a Floating Pill to break through to the Organ Refinement Realm, while Chen Fei refined pills with up to three Anomaly Beads as the furnace neared its limit.
• After three days of Qi Infusion Body Technique, Ge Hongjie and Zhang Fangqiong recovered from their previous failed breakthrough attempts, and Chen Fei prepared to advance.
• Chen Fei broke through to the Marrow Refinement Realm, demonstrated his improved Soul Chasing Steps, and found that his Starry Night Sword and Thorn Sword were no longer limited by his cultivation.

Chen Fei’s group entered Ghost City to search for real nodes, but a strange black blot triggered an attack that turned Zhang Fangqiong and Mu Langtao against Ge Hongjie. The chapter ended as Mu Langtao exploded over Ge Hongjie, leaving the cause and outcome of the attack unclear.

• Chen Fei assessed how much stronger the Dragon Subduing Elephant had made him and planned to advance his cultivation after returning to the sect.
• Zhao Jingyuan returned to Ge Hongjie’s group to propose cooperation on Lu Haiyan’s behalf, but Ge Hongjie rejected him after Zhao noticed Mu Langtao had reached the Organ Refinement Realm.
• Ge Hongjie’s group discussed the risk of Lu Haiyan’s group interfering, then entered the aberrant realm the next morning after Lu Haiyan backed down from confronting them.
• Chen Fei detected a real node in a courtyard while searching Ghost City, but a black blot suddenly rushed toward the group and covered the courtyard.
• Ge Hongjie warned everyone not to light a Red Candle and told them to gather close, but Zhang Fangqiong attacked him and Mu Langtao exploded over him.

Ge Hongjie, Zhang Fangqiong, and their companions fought through a double-layered illusion before Chen Fei helped them escape it. They forced an anomaly out of Lu Haiyan and destroyed it, while Lu Haiyan collapsed with severe injuries.

• Ge Hongjie broke through an illusion of starvation, then realized Mu Langtao had stabbed him in another illusion.
• Zhang Fangqiong resisted illusions involving Chen Fei and remained unsure whether the Chen Fei who approached her afterward was real.
• Chen Fei used his jade pendant and Tranquil Source Art to break through layered illusions, then used Awakening Incense to help Mu Langtao, Ge Hongjie, and Zhang Fangqiong recover.
• The group found Lu Haiyan and his companions trapped in the anomaly's illusions, with nearly all of them badly injured.
• Ge Hongjie used Awakening Incense to draw the anomaly out of Lu Haiyan, and arrows and sword strikes destroyed its shadow.

After the Anomaly Shadow’s defeat, Chen Fei and his companions were seized by Fang Qinghong, an overwhelmingly powerful cultivator who forced Chen Fei to search for three Bronze Beads in exchange for their lives. Chen Fei set out to find the first bead and began looking for a way to evade Fang Qinghong’s watch and remove the energy planted in his mind.

• Ge Hongjie refused Lu Haiyan and Zhao Jingyuan’s plea for an escort, but Chen Fei noticed the Dark Curtain had not vanished after the Anomaly Shadow’s death.
• Fang Qinghong transported the six survivors to an unfamiliar place, injured and restrained them, then ordered Chen Fei to find three Bronze Beads, promising to release two people for each bead.
• Fang Qinghong planted energy in Chen Fei’s mind and threatened to kill someone if Chen Fei failed to return with the first bead within an hour.
• Chen Fei returned to the courtyard and followed the bead’s location while wondering whether Fang Qinghong could still watch him from afar.
• Chen Fei reasoned that Fang Qinghong might be unable to leave his place and considered inspecting the sealed Anomaly Realm, but first needed to deal with the energy in his mind.