Chapter Summaries

Lu Yang trapped Ouyang Haoze in the Blood-Washing Heavenly River Sword Formation and brought him close to defeat, but Ouyang Haoze destroyed his Heavenly Light Cuirass to escape. Outside the Marketplace, Ouyang Haoze prepared to sacrifice the Taixiao Mirror and challenge Lu Yang again.

• Ouyang Haoze used the Thousand-Mile Space-Shattering Divine Sound and the Taixiao Mirror to break through the Hundred-Skeleton Return-to-Truth Formation.
• Lu Yang revealed the Blood-Washing Heavenly River Sword Formation Map, trapping Ouyang Haoze and using the Heavenly Demon Blood-Dissolving Divine Light against him.
• Ouyang Haoze relied on the Heavenly Light Cuirass to withstand the blood-devouring force and charged at Lu Yang's Primordial Breath Ten Thousand Spirit Banner.
• Lu Yang summoned Liu Xin, whose Life-Killing Curse detonated and stopped Ouyang Haoze's attack.
• Ouyang Haoze self-destructed the Heavenly Light Cuirass, shattered Lu Yang's sword formation, and escaped after losing much of his vitality and blood.
• Ouyang Haoze poured his remaining dharma power into the Taixiao Mirror and vowed to sacrifice his Spiritual Treasures to defeat Lu Yang.

Lu Yang used the Mysterious Yin Form-Capturing Great Art and Nail-Head Life-Snatching to kill Ouyang Haoze, then took control of the Taixiao Mirror. The Divine Martial Sect discovered Ouyang Haoze’s death and traced his final vision to Lu Yang, who sensed that someone was investigating his Karma.

• Ouyang Haoze rejected Wu Zhichong’s warning and resolved to kill Lu Yang, even at the cost of the Taixiao Mirror.
• Lu Yang told Fairy Feixia and Lu Yuanchun that he intended to kill Ouyang Haoze, then used the Mysterious Female Yin Jade to locate Ouyang Haoze’s remnant aura.
• Lu Yang split Ouyang Haoze’s reflected figure with Nail-Head Life-Snatching, and Ouyang Haoze was cut in half as he tried to detonate the Taixiao Mirror.
• Lu Yang beckoned the Taixiao Mirror to him after Ouyang Haoze died, while the Divine Martial Sect’s Soul Lamp Hall discovered that Ouyang Haoze’s lamp had gone out.
• A middle-aged Daoist rekindled Ouyang Haoze’s Soul Lamp to see his final vision and recognized Lu Yang as the killer.
• Lu Yang sensed that an outside force was disturbing his Karma and wondered whether a Foundation Establishment True Person was plotting against him.

After killing Ouyang Haoze, Lu Yang uncovered the Divine Martial Sect’s plan to seize an ancient Witch Ghost Sect secret realm and gained control of the Taixiao Mirror. He returned to the marketplace, where his reputation grew as Skull Mountain braced for conflict between the sects.

• Lu Yang examined Ouyang Haoze’s Banner Spirit and learned that the Divine Martial Sect had attacked Skull Mountain to monopolize the Witch Ghost Secret Realm.
• Lu Yang decided to report the secret realm to the First Saint Sect for Contribution Points rather than pursue it himself.
• The Taixiao Mirror defected to Lu Yang, who used Ouyang Haoze’s Primordial Breath to bypass its restrictions and wield its power.
• Lu Yang opened Ouyang Haoze’s Storage Pouch, found a trove of valuables, and returned to the marketplace atop the Blood Garment Pavilion.
• As both sects sent forces to Skull Mountain, Lu Yang’s rise and victory became widely known, earning him the title Blood Garment Pavilion Master.

Ouyang Feng planned to lure Lu Yang out of the marketplace to reclaim the Taixiao Mirror, but learned that Lu Yang had never left despite the Witch Ghost Secret Realm’s opportunities. Zhao Xuhe, desperate to seek his fortune there, asked Fairy Feixia for help and was rejected because she was discussing the Dao with Lu Yang.

• Ouyang Feng questioned Wu Zhichong and Duanmu Yuan about Lu Yang’s habits and revealed that Master Yang Yezi would help reclaim the Taixiao Mirror.
• Wu Zhichong and Duanmu Yuan told Ouyang Feng that Lu Yang had never left the marketplace, even after the Demon Sect reinforcements arrived and the Witch Ghost Secret Realm became known.
• Lu Yang declined Fairy Feixia’s invitation to leave the marketplace, and the two agreed to discuss formations and talismans instead.
• Zhao Xuhe, newly advanced to the Qi Refining Seventh Layer, contacted Fairy Feixia and asked her to lend him resources for a final gamble in the secret realm.
• Fairy Feixia rejected Zhao Xuhe and told him not to contact her again because she was discussing the Dao with Junior Brother Lu; Zhao Xuhe roared in despair.

Lu Yang studied talismanic arts, made several talismans, and then met Zhao Xuhe, who sought his help with a Foundation Establishment opportunity. Lu Yang refused to enter the Witch Ghost Secret Realm but became interested when Zhao Xuhe offered a Foundation Establishment secret technique as collateral for a loan.

• Lu Yang mastered four talisman techniques from Fairy Feixia and crafted talismans, planning to teach the banner spirits to make common ones in bulk.
• Yun Miaoqing told Lu Yang that Zhao Xuhe had come to see him, and Lu Yang welcomed him into the Blood Garment Pavilion.
• Zhao Xuhe revealed that he had clues about the Witch Ghost Secret Realm and its possible Foundation Establishment opportunity, but Lu Yang refused to pursue it.
• Zhao Xuhe offered a Foundation Establishment secret technique as collateral for borrowing thirty thousand contribution points, and Lu Yang became eager to hear more.

Lu Yang accepted Zhao Xuhe’s loan offer only after securing the original Heaven-Stealing Secret under a long-lasting restriction, intending not to help Zhao Xuhe with future trouble. A month later, Fairy Feixia warned him that the Three Rivers Society’s Second Senior Brother, a Qi Refining Great Perfection true disciple, had come to deliver a message about the Witch Ghost Secret Realm.

• Zhao Xuhe showed Lu Yang the Heaven-Stealing Secret, a sinister art that gradually replaced a Dao companion’s Qi Seed and stole the benefits of her cultivation.
• Zhao Xuhe offered Lu Yang the secret art as collateral for a thirty-thousand-Contribution-Point loan, but Lu Yang recognized that the three-month term was meant to bind him to Zhao Xuhe’s future troubles.
• Lu Yang agreed to lend the points only if Zhao Xuhe handed over the original Jade Slip with a restriction that would last eighty years, and Zhao Xuhe accepted.
• After Zhao Xuhe left, Lu Yang decided he would not rescue him from trouble and focused on arranging the Marketplace and studying its formation.
• A month later, Fairy Feixia told Lu Yang that the Three Rivers Society’s Second Senior Brother had personally sent a message, making Lu Yang wary because the society’s founder was a Foundation Establishment True Person.

Lu Yang refused to leave the Marketplace despite growing signs that a Foundation Establishment cultivator was drawing him into a tribulation. When Zhao Xuhe was pursued by Divine Martial Sect disciples and begged for help, Lu Yang let him die rather than risk being lured outside.

• Lu Yang rejected Second Senior Brother's request for assistance and spent the next three months studying formations and discussing the Dao with Fairy Feixia.
• Fairy Feixia told Lu Yang that Zhao Xuhe had been using his name to seize opportunities, but Lu Yang chose not to pursue him.
• Lu Yang recognized the efforts to draw him from the Marketplace as a tribulation and resolved to remain in his cave rather than take the bait.
• A month later, Zhao Xuhe fled Divine Martial Sect pursuers and trusted that Lu Yang would rescue him because of the Heaven-Stealing Secret restriction.
• Lu Yang approached from the Marketplace but turned away, and Zhao Xuhe died after his pursuers surrounded him.
• Divine Martial Sect Elder Ouyang Feng wondered why Lu Yang had not saved Zhao Xuhe, while Lu Yang decided to wait for the restriction to fade and claim the secret technique later.

Lu Yang resisted Fairy Feixia’s attempt to draw him into an emotional bond, then went into seclusion to avoid being manipulated by Karma. True Person Yinshan revealed his plan to use someone to open the Witch Ghost Secret Realm and decided to target a Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion disciple instead.

• Fairy Feixia left the Marketplace after Lu Yang declined to be her old friend, and Lu Yang realized his feelings for her had been artificially influenced.
• Lu Yang suspected a Foundation Establishment True Person was trying to draw him out and announced that he would enter seclusion.
• True Person Yinshan explained to Luo Wuya that he wanted someone else to open the Witch Ghost Secret Realm and bear its Karma for him.
• Yinshan described how a Golden Core True Lord’s sword qi remained inside the secret realm and proposed luring a Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion disciple to claim it.
• As Yinshan departed, Lu Yang felt an immense burden lift while he remained in seclusion.

Lu Yang inspected the Banner Spirits’ talisman production and ordered them to work without rest, while Yun Miaoqing received a message from her sister Yun Miaozhen. Yun Miaozhen decided to go to the Demon Sect Marketplace and kill Lu Yang, believing he had beguiled Yun Miaoqing.

• Lu Yang entered the Ten Thousand Spirit Banner and found its Banner Spirits resting after producing hundreds of talismans.
• Liu Xin explained that overwork would exhaust the Banner Spirits’ spiritual wisdom, but Lu Yang ordered them to keep working and threatened to replace them.
• Yun Miaoqing received communication from her sister Yun Miaozhen, who told her to leave the Blood Garment Pavilion and return from her tribulation.
• Yun Miaoqing defended Lu Yang and urged Yun Miaozhen to persuade him to join the righteous path instead of killing him.
• Yun Miaozhen concluded that Yun Miaoqing had been beguiled and set out for the Demon Sect Marketplace to kill Lu Yang.

Yun Miaozhen revealed that she had arranged for Yun Miaoqing to suffer ten years in the Demon Sect as a tribulation, then attacked Lu Yang when her sister refused to return with her. Yun Miaozhen’s Heavenly Escape Sword pierced Lu Yang’s formations, leaving the marketplace empty except for the sword.

• Lu Yang recognized Yun Miaozhen of Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion and handed over Yun Miaoqing, explaining that she had remained untouched in his care.
• Yun Miaozhen explained that she had arranged Yun Miaoqing’s ten-year ordeal in the Demon Sect to help her overcome a great tribulation, and accused Lu Yang of ruining her cultivation.
• Yun Miaoqing rejected Yun Miaozhen after learning the truth, but Yun Miaozhen knocked her unconscious and tossed her aside.
• Yun Miaozhen demanded compensation from Lu Yang and attacked him after he refused, while he retreated into Blood Garment Pavilion and activated its formations.
• Yun Zhiqiu arrived outside the marketplace as Luo Wuya and Ouyang Feng recognized Yun Miaozhen’s Heavenly Escape Sword.
• Yun Miaozhen’s sword passed through both formations, and when its light faded, Lu Yang and the others were gone, leaving only the Glazed Dharma Sword in the sky.

Lu Yang was trapped inside the Heavenly Escape Sword’s Grotto-Heaven, where Yun Miaozhen attacked him with the Taiyi Golden Brilliance Dao Scripture. Though she restrained his weapons and held the advantage, Lu Yang countered with a vast supply of talismans produced by his Banner Spirits.

• Luo Wuya and Ouyang Feng watched Lu Yang and Yun Miaozhen disappear, expecting Yun Miaozhen to kill him inside the Heavenly Escape Sword.
• Yun Miaozhen entered the Grotto-Heaven and attacked Lu Yang with the golden Radiance of the Taiyi Golden Brilliance Dao Scripture.
• Lu Yang blocked Yun Miaozhen’s golden Radiance with his Heavenly Demon Blood-Dissolving Divine Light and restrained her Sword Pellet with the Taixiao Mirror.
• Yun Miaozhen combined her silver and jade Radiance into a Sword Light and struck at Lu Yang.
• Lu Yang used Ninth Grade talismans to block her attack, then revealed dozens and hundreds more produced by the Banner Spirits.
• Lu Yang unleashed the mass of talismans, filling the Grotto-Heaven with interwoven Sword Qi and lightning and shocking Yun Miaozhen.

Lu Yang used a horde of talismans and his Mysterious Yin Form-Capturing Great Art to battle Yun Miaozhen, who unleashed Taiyi Golden Brilliance and sacrificed her sister Yun Miaoqing to escape his attack. Though Yun Miaozhen believed she had erased Lu Yang, his talent saved him; he subdued her, obtained part of her Dao Scripture, and killed her.

• Lu Yang overwhelmed Yun Miaozhen with nearly five hundred talismans, tore her protective garment, and provoked a flaw in her Dao Heart.
• Lu Yang used Mysterious Yin Form-Capturing to wound Yun Miaozhen, but she activated Taiyi Golden Brilliance and diverted the attack onto her unconscious twin sister, Yun Miaoqing.
• Yun Miaozhen unleashed Taiyi Golden Brilliance, erasing Lu Yang and his talismans from the battlefield, but the technique shattered her cultivation.
• Lu Yang reappeared unharmed thanks to his A Bit Capable talent, seized the Taixiao Mirror, and froze Yun Miaozhen in place.
• Lu Yang forced Yun Miaozhen to reveal one-third of the Taiyi Golden Brilliance Dao Scripture, then destroyed her with the Taixiao Mirror.

Lu Yang emerged from the Marketplace alive after killing Yun Miaozhen, provoking Yun Zhiqiu and drawing the attention of Ming Chan. Rejecting Ming Chan’s offer to kill him and arrange his reincarnation, Lu Yang restored his strength and attacked.

• Ming Chan arrived at Skull Mountain and greeted Yun Zhiqiu, while Ouyang Feng and Luo Wuya watched the tense standoff.
• Lu Yang emerged from the Marketplace holding the Heavenly Escape Sword, shocking Yun Zhiqiu, Ouyang Feng, and Luo Wuya.
• Yun Zhiqiu demanded Yun Miaozhen’s true spirit, and Lu Yang claimed he had ravished and killed her.
• Lu Yang realized a Foundation Establishment True Person had forced him and Yun Miaozhen into a deadly confrontation to seize the opportunity for Foundation Establishment.
• Ming Chan offered to kill Lu Yang and take him as a disciple in his next life, but Lu Yang refused and used a Returning Wind and Fire Talisman to restore his aura before attacking.

Fairy Feixia reached Qi Refining Completion, then learned that Lu Yang was fighting Yun Zhiqiu, Ouyang Feng, and Ming Chan at Skull Mountain Market. With True Person Yinshan secretly aiding him, Lu Yang broke through to Qi Refining Completion and turned the battle around, leaving his attackers panicked and fleeing.

• Fairy Feixia refined Seven-Colored Pure Light Qi to Qi Refining Completion and reconsidered the value of her connection with Lu Yang.
• Fairy Feixia sensed a spiritual tide and discovered Yun Zhiqiu, Ouyang Feng, and Ming Chan besieging Lu Yang at Skull Mountain Market.
• Lu Yang began breaking through during the battle, while his opponents mocked his attempt and True Person Yinshan secretly intervened.
• Lu Yang broke through to the Qi Refining Ninth Layer, then the Tenth Layer, reaching Qi Refining Completion with the Flying Fish Transformation.
• Yun Zhiqiu and the others realized a Foundation Establishment True Person had influenced events, and Ming Chan fled first.

Lu Yang’s breakthrough drew out the Witch Ghost Secret Realm, which True Person Yinshan seized for its Heavenly Corpse Sha. Lu Yang survived the secret realm’s Golden Core Sword Qi, while True Person Yinshan killed Ouyang Feng and departed with Lu Yang and Luo Wuya.

• Ming Chan sensed certain death near Skull Mountain and died after True Person Yinshan’s influence caused him to suffer a cultivation deviation.
• True Person Yinshan appeared outside Skull Mountain Market as Lu Yang realized the Witch Ghost Secret Realm had emerged in response to his breakthrough.
• True Person Yinshan drew the secret realm toward himself, but its Golden Core Sword Qi targeted Lu Yang and then dispersed after his Nine Transformations Dragon Art and True Dragon Sha withstood its test.
• True Person Yinshan captured the secret realm and praised its Heavenly Corpse Sha, while Lu Yang and Luo Wuya congratulated him.
• True Person Yinshan declared the Divine Martial Sect’s Fortune had run dry, and Ouyang Feng exploded before True Person Yinshan departed with Lu Yang and Luo Wuya.

Lu Yang glimpsed the Sacred Sect’s ambush on the Divine Martial Sect and learned that his actions helped True Person Yinshan seize the Witch Ghost Secret Realm. Warned that his Fortune would bring him thirty years of danger, Lu Yang refused a rare Foundation Establishment treasure and asked for one that could improve his comprehension.

• Lu Yang experienced a vision of Foundation Establishment cultivators battling, then realized True Person Yinshan had used Skull Mountain as bait to lure out the Divine Martial Sect’s cultivators.
• True Person Chongguang revealed that the Sacred Sect had secured the Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion’s cooperation and declared its intention to destroy the Divine Martial Sect.
• The Divine Martial Sect’s cultivators tried to flee, but Lu Yang’s senses were cut off before he could see the battle’s outcome.
• After Lu Yang awoke on Skull Mountain, True Person Yinshan warned him that his Fortune would be terrible for thirty years and advised him not to cultivate or leave home.
• True Person Yinshan offered Lu Yang an Ascension Order that could raise his chances of Foundation Establishment, but Lu Yang declined it and requested a treasure that could improve his comprehension.

Lu Yang secluded himself for thirty years to recover from injuries and bad Fortune, while waiting for a body-tempering cultivation method. When he emerged, he used the Taiwei Imperial Pardon Treasure Repository to learn all about Wang Song, who delivered Luo Wuya’s promised method, Saint Thief.

• Lu Yang returned to the sect badly injured, sealed his cave abode, and resolved to remain in seclusion until his Fortune recovered.
• Lu Yang asked Luo Wuya about a body-tempering method, and Luo Wuya promised to send one after a few years.
• Wang Song arrived with Luo Wuya’s promised method but found Lu Yang in seclusion, so he settled in a nearby cave abode to wait.
• Thirty years passed as Wang Song remained a Library Pavilion steward, stalled at Qi Refining Third Layer and nearing the end of his cave loan.
• Lu Yang emerged from seclusion unchanged by age and used the Taiwei Imperial Pardon Treasure Repository to learn Wang Song’s history and reason for waiting.
• Wang Song delivered Luo Wuya’s Jade Slip, and Lu Yang learned that the body-tempering method was called Saint Thief.

Lu Yang studied the Saint Thief and learned that the Sacred Sect had a Law Refining Secret Realm containing 140 million people who could serve as cultivation resources. After hearing how previous cultivators had failed, he entered the configurable realm to begin his own attempt, troubled by what Dao Lords might consider Sacred Sect cultivators to be.

• Lu Yang comprehended the Saint Thief and learned that it required creating a cultivation method for people whose Fortune would then nourish the cultivator.
• Lu Yang met Luo Wuya at Yin Shan, and Luo Wuya brought him to the Dao Lord-created Law Refining Secret Realm.
• Luo Wuya explained that the realm held 140 million people and that cultivators had failed the Saint Thief when its inhabitants exposed their deceptive methods.
• Luo Wuya gave Lu Yang a Jade Slip containing his experience and warned him to think carefully before cultivating the method.
• Lu Yang configured the secret realm and wondered whether Dao Lords regarded Sacred Sect cultivators as resources in the same way.

Lu Yang entered the Sacred Sect’s secret realm and created the Martial Dao, a body-tempering cultivation system designed to spread among its inhabitants and bring him Fortune. He then resumed cultivation, only to realize that the Hundred Lives Book’s Restart ability prevented him from completing the death-and-rebirth transformation required by the True Method of Yin-Transformation Corpse-Dissolution.

• Lu Yang entered the secret realm after thanking Luo Wuya, then used divination to spot its microscopic flaws and recognize it as a constructed world.
• Lu Yang used the Dao-Clarifying Jade Slip to devise a simple but powerful body-tempering cultivation system, with the safeguard that its practitioners could not fly.
• Lu Yang based the system on Taiyi Origin Essence Jade Brilliance, named it the Martial Dao, and sent four copies of its teachings toward different horizons.
• Lu Yang returned to his cave dwelling and considered how to combine the three divine abilities of the True Method of Yin-Transformation Corpse-Dissolution.
• Lu Yang realized that completing the method required him to die, but the Hundred Lives Book would immediately Restart him and prevent the transformation.

At eighty, Lu Yang refined the Saint Thief Golden Body to Minor Accomplishment and considered how to preserve his soul through bodily death, while searching for a Foundation Establishment True Person to study. Meanwhile, Yun Zhiqiu learned that the Cloud Clan’s sole Foundation Establishment ancestor was near death and preparing to reincarnate.

• Lu Yang used the Dao-Clarifying Jade Slip to devise a way to keep his soul intact after his body died, but realized he needed to observe a Foundation Establishment True Person’s soul.
• Lu Yang searched the Karmic Net and learned that four volumes of a heavenly book had become the origins of the current Martial Dao traditions.
• Lu Yang activated the Saint Thief and consumed a vast tide of Fortune to refine his body, reaching Minor Accomplishment of the Saint Thief Golden Body.
• Lu Yang tested his transformed body and found that its strength could rival Qi Refining Late Stage, then worried that further Saint Thief cultivation would bring Tribulation.
• Yun Zhiqiu received a letter and hurried to the Cloud Clan ancestral residence, where a young man told him the Clan’s Foundation Establishment Ancestor was near death and had lit the Seven-Star Lamp to reincarnate.