Chapter Summaries

Qin Yi and Li Qingjun accepted Shen Yunzi’s invitation after helping him, and he read their fortunes as they asked about the world beyond the mountain. Shen Yunzi’s strange reading suggested Qin Yi’s Greedy Wolf fate had been transplanted and Li Qingjun’s imperial fate had been intercepted, leaving Qin Yi to wonder who had changed her destiny.

• Qin Yi postponed a decision about cooperating with Yu Fuzi, and Li Qingjun agreed that they could cooperate while staying cautious.
• Qin Yi and Li Qingjun entered Shen Yunzi’s mountain to ask him about the outside world and the Thousand Mountains Alliance.
• Shen Yunzi said Qin Yi’s fate resembled the Greedy Wolf constellation but seemed transplanted, obscuring his original destiny.
• Shen Yunzi told Li Qingjun that she had once possessed the fate of an emperor, but someone had intercepted it and she had since formed a new fortune by choosing to assist Qin Yi.
• Qin Yi wondered whether he or Li Wuxian had intercepted Li Qingjun’s former fate.

Qin Yi and Li Qingjun learned that nearly seven years had passed during their seclusion and questioned Shen Yunzi about the Land of Chaos and the Profound Yin Sect. Qin Yi left with a clearer picture of the threats around them and no confirmed strongest cultivator to fear in the region.

• Shen Yunzi recognized Qin Yi’s reputation and heard Li Qingjun introduce herself as Boyi Sanren.
• Shen Yunzi told Qin Yi that the Ghost Qi near Red Rock Land had vanished nearly seven years earlier, revealing how much time had passed.
• Qin Yi learned from Shen Yunzi that the Profound Yin Sect had been weak before and that Xuan Hao Zhenren’s rapid rise to Qianyuan likely carried serious flaws.
• Shen Yunzi explained that Xuan Hao had been plundering rogue cultivators and conscripting people, while the Thousand Mountains Alliance remained a formidable obstacle.
• Qin Yi asked about the Land of Chaos’s strongest cultivator and learned that it had no known Formless expert.

Xuan Hao Zhenren planned to conquer the Thousand Mountains Alliance, but found its territory sealed and settled for harassing Rogue Cultivators outside. On Cloud Wanderer Peak, Chess Watcher explained that the alliance would wait for opposition to gather and for his missing martial nephew—wanted by the Witch God Sect and hostile to Xuan Hao—to disrupt the situation.

• Xuan Hao Zhenren found the Thousand Mountains Alliance sealed behind a grand formation and began plundering resources and cauldrons elsewhere while keeping watch outside.
• Chess Watcher and a chess fanatic fought over how to play chess, while Tai Huang Jun and Cloud Wanderer traded barbs with them.
• Cloud Wanderer asked how the alliance would respond to Xuan Hao's attacks on Rogue Cultivators, and Chess Watcher said they should wait for others to oppose him.
• Chess Watcher explained that Rogue Cultivators would unite against Xuan Hao and that his missing martial nephew, who also held a grudge against Xuan Hao, might intervene.
• Chess Watcher said the alliance would leave the mountain when Xuan Hao was forced into a crisis.

Qin Yi and Li Qingjun met Yu Fuzi by the Profound Yin Sect’s secret exit to discuss how to disrupt the siege around Qianshan without entering the sect. Liusu proposed using Qin Yi’s Red Lotus Tribulation Fire to burn the Mountain Protection Array and force Xuan Hao to respond.

• Qin Yi played his flute beside the pool while Li Qingjun reflected on his temperament and the gap between their youthful dreams of immortality and reality.
• Yu Fuzi emerged from the pool, and he, Qin Yi, and Li Qingjun discussed their lost ideals and why Qin Yi wanted to stop the Rogue Cultivators from being wiped out.
• Yu Fuzi refused to take Qin Yi into the Profound Yin Sect, explaining that its defenses had tightened and that an outside attack by Myriad Images of the Universe would risk drawing dangerous attention.
• Liusu told Qin Yi that his Red Lotus Tribulation Fire could burn through a weak point in the Mountain Protection Array, forcing Xuan Hao to leave the sect or watch it burn.

Qin Yi enlisted Yu Fuzi to reveal weak points in the Profound Yin Sect’s Mountain Protection Array, then used his own Fire Dragon Array to set it ablaze. As Profound Yin’s cultivators rushed out to stop him, Li Qingjun confronted them alone while Qin Yi kept controlling the fire.

• Qin Yi asked Yu Fuzi to identify nodes in the Profound Yin Sect’s Mountain Protection Array and concealed his and Li Qingjun’s cultivation with the Formless Realm technique.
• Yu Fuzi led Qin Yi to a weak point in the barrier, where Qin Yi set up a Fire Dragon Array using Array Flags he had taken from the Heavenly Being.
• Qin Yi’s fire dragon scorched the barrier and spread flames across the sect as the array’s retaliation battered his formation.
• Profound Yin’s cultivators emerged and attacked Qin Yi, while Yu Fuzi pretended to seek revenge for his Martial Grand-Uncle.
• Qin Yi asked Li Qingjun to protect him, and she drew a wide fissure with her spear and warned the approaching cultivators not to cross.

Li Qingjun held off the Profound Yin Sect with her spear while Qin Yi supported her and waited for Xuan Hao Zhenren to arrive. Xuan Hao’s divine soul fled Liusu’s ambush, but his true body fell into a chessboard trap laid by an aged voice.

• Li Qingjun shattered the Yin Yang Reversal Array and wounded a Huiyang elder with her spear and Soul-Destroying Sword.
• Qin Yi secretly strengthened Li Qingjun as she resumed fighting the two Huiyang elders, while Yu Fuzi began to retreat.
• Xuan Hao Zhenren sent his divine soul toward the sect, but Liusu’s enormous mouth frightened him into withdrawing.
• Xuan Hao hurried back to the Thousand Mountains Alliance, then fell into a vast chessboard that severed his divine sense from his Three Souls and Seven Souls.
• An aged voice revealed that it had waited seven days for Xuan Hao to trap himself in the chess game.

Qin Yi joined Chess Maniac Martial Uncle and the Thousand Mountains Alliance cultivators in attacking Xuan Hao, whose incomplete Qian Yuan cultivation left him vulnerable inside the chess formation. Meanwhile, Meng Qingying secretly entered the Profound Yin Sect but chose not to meet Qin Yi, instead asking Yu Fuzi to guide her through the sect master's hall formation.

• Chess Maniac Martial Uncle trapped Xuan Hao's separated divine soul in a chess formation while the Thousand Mountains Alliance cultivators surrounded him.
• Qin Yi left Li Qingjun to hold off the Profound Yin Sect disciples and attacked Xuan Hao inside the formation.
• Qin Yi realized Xuan Hao's Qian Yuan power was incomplete and used the World Cleansing Lotus to purify and weaken him.
• Qin Yi recognized that Xuan Hao had obtained Cheng Yuan's memories because he called him Qin Yi rather than Qi Wu.
• Meng Qingying secretly met Yu Fuzi near the Profound Yin Sect's main hall, saw Qin Yi and Li Qingjun's strength, and chose not to meet Qin Yi.
• Meng Qingying asked Yu Fuzi to lead her through the main hall's formation so she could enter.

Meng Qingying entered Xuan Hao Zhenren’s secret chamber to claim Monk Cheng Yuan’s Sarira and confronted the Buddha-consciousness within it. She overcame its attempt to purify her, took the Sarira, and broke through to Huiyang.

• Meng Qingying entered the sealed chamber despite Yu Fuzi’s warning about the Sarira’s powerful Buddhist Light.
• She recognized that Xuan Hao Zhenren had absorbed Cheng Yuan’s Demonic Nature but could not absorb his Buddha-nature, leaving him unstable and incomplete.
• Meng Qingying tried to take the Sarira but was blasted back, then learned that Cheng Yuan’s remaining consciousness still inhabited it.
• Cheng Yuan’s consciousness offered to lodge within Meng Qingying’s Star Dragon, then tried to purify her Demonic Nature with Buddhist Light.
• Meng Qingying used the E'Zhuo Jade Pendant and Star Dragon’s fortune to overpower and purify Cheng Yuan’s consciousness, taking the purple Sarira.
• The breakthrough strengthened Meng Qingying’s divine soul, and she attained Huiyang.

Meng Qingying subdued the Sarira but was left gravely injured, and Li Qingjun entered the Profound Yin Sect to protect her from the elders. Yu Fuzi turned on the Left Elder and refined his dying body into a puppet, leaving Li Qingjun and Meng Qingying alive inside the sect.

• Meng Qingying broke through by subduing the Sarira, but collapsed from her injuries as the Profound Yin Sect’s disciples and experts converged on the hall.
• Yu Fuzi opened a gap in the Mountain Protection Array and told Li Qingjun that Meng Qingying was in danger, so Li Qingjun entered the sect.
• The Left Elder demanded that Meng Qingying surrender the Sarira, then attacked her when she refused.
• Li Qingjun descended into the secret chamber and declared that Meng Qingying was her sister, protecting her from the Left Elder.
• Yu Fuzi redirected the Right Elder’s magical treasure against the Left Elder, then struck him from behind as Li Qingjun pierced his heart.
• Yu Fuzi refined the dying Left Elder into a puppet, and Li Qingjun withdrew her spear.

Meng Qingying shared warnings about the Witch God Sect and a distant Netherworld before leaving, while Li Qingjun pressed Yu Fuzi to finish dealing with Xuan Hao. Qin Yi and the Thousand Mountains Alliance drove Xuan Hao’s soul into the Profound Yin Sect’s Mountain Protection Array, and chess maniac revealed that he had attained Qian Yuan.

• Meng Qingying told Li Qingjun that the Witch God Sect had found a Blood Netherworld Plane with a Taotie altar and that a vast Netherworld might lead to the distant seas.
• Meng Qingying urged Yu Fuzi to acknowledge Qi Wu as his master if he killed Xuan Hao, then vanished after bidding Li Qingjun farewell.
• Li Qingjun told Yu Fuzi to see the conflict through and warned that the Mountain Protection Array should be able to stop Xuan Hao if he escaped.
• Qin Yi and the Thousand Mountains Alliance shattered Xuan Hao’s body, but his soul escaped the chess formation and fled toward the Profound Yin Sect.
• Xuan Hao crashed into the Mountain Protection Array, which absorbed and erased his soul as Yu Fuzi watched.
• Chess maniac announced that his chessboard was complete, and black-and-white light rose around him in a sign that he had attained Qian Yuan.

Qin Yi’s identity and overwhelming cultivation stunned the Thousand Mountains Alliance after he defeated Xuan Hao and rescued the oppressed Rogue Cultivators. Yu Fuzi placed the weakened Profound Yin Sect under Qin Yi’s control, while Qin Yi went to find Li Qingjun.

• The Thousand Mountains Alliance cultivators marveled at Chess Addict Qianyuan’s breakthrough and Qin Yi’s rapid rise to the second layer of Shining Sun.
• Qin Yi asked the Alliance members to keep his real name secret, and Tai Huang Jun teased Chess Addict about Qin Yi being his disciple.
• Cloud Wanderer agreed not to destroy the weakened Profound Yin Sect because Qin Yi had promised Yu Fuzi support.
• Yu Fuzi opened the sect’s array, pledged the Profound Yin Sect’s loyalty to Qin Yi, and told him Li Qingjun was reading the sect’s records.
• Qin Yi went inside to see Li Qingjun, while Yu Fuzi offered him the sect’s female cultivators and Qin Yi refused.
• News of Xuan Hao’s death and Qin Yi’s takeover of Profound Yin spread, and the name Qi Wu became famous across the region.

Qin Yi discussed Chess Fanatic’s strategy and learned that Chess Fanatic believed the coming upheaval in Great Qian would center on Qin Yi’s disciple, the young woman on the throne. The chapter ended with Li Qingjun realizing that Chess Fanatic meant Wu Xian.

• In the Profound Yin Sect’s guest hall, Qin Yi, Li Qingjun, Chess Fanatic, and Yu Fuzi discussed Qing Ying and the Profound Azure Jade Fire Fruit.
• Chess Fanatic showed Qin Yi how mastering an opponent’s choices through chess could make divination unnecessary, then shared Heavenly Mystery Child’s mysterious interpretation of Qin Yi’s name.
• Chess Fanatic told Qin Yi that the Witch God Sect’s pressure had eased and suggested Yu Fuzi’s methods could conceal Qin Yi if he returned to Divine Land.
• Chess Fanatic urged Qin Yi to watch Great Qian, warning that the Witch God Sect, the Taiyi Sect, and Qin Yi’s interests would converge around the young woman on the throne.
• Li Qingjun exclaimed that Chess Fanatic meant Wu Xian, and Chess Fanatic pointed out that she was currently beside Qin Yi.

Chess Addict left the Profound Yin Sect after helping Qin Yi and Yu Fuzi, warning Qin Yi to watch events from outside the game. Qin Yi gathered equipment for his journey to Divine Lands and learned from Li Qingjun how to deal with Yu Fuzi as a subordinate.

• Chess Addict gave Qin Yi another pair of Discarded Pieces, discussed the Immortal Palace’s safety, and departed while urging him to observe rather than enter the game.
• Qin Yi found Yu Fuzi showing Li Qingjun the Profound Yin Sect’s treasure vault, where Li Qingjun chose a powerful flying sword.
• Yu Fuzi gave Qin Yi a compass-like Celestial Secret Confusion Method that could distort calculations around him.
• Qin Yi offered Yu Fuzi spirit stones as payment, but Li Qingjun explained that accepting and giving gifts would reassure him as a subordinate.
• Li Qingjun said there was no Land of Chaos or immortals, and that everywhere was the Mortal World.

Qin Yi and Li Qingjun considered how to bring Yu Fuzi and the Profound Yin Sect under Qin Yi’s control, while Qin Yi examined an ancient jade slip and found records that could help him study Taotie. The chapter ended with Qin Yi agreeing to stay for a day or two so Yu Fuzi could secure control of the sect.

• Li Qingjun advised Qin Yi that Yu Fuzi would remain loyal if serving Qin Yi benefited him more than betrayal, and offered to help him manage the relationship.
• Qin Yi toured the Profound Yin Sect’s treasury, where Yu Fuzi showed him an ancient jade slip from Pu Xiang Zhenren.
• Qin Yi found that the jade slip contained an ancient cultivation inheritance and its former owner’s records, including information about Taotie but nothing about Liusu’s past.
• Liusu praised the records as valuable, and Qin Yi told her he cared especially about matters concerning her.
• Yu Fuzi asked Qin Yi and Li Qingjun to stay for a day or two so he could use Qin Yi’s influence to take complete control of the Profound Yin Sect, and Qin Yi agreed.

Qin Yi and Li Qingjun considered how to support the weakened Profound Yin Sect without taking control from Yu Fuzi, and discussed opening trade channels between the Land of Chaos and other sects. Their walk turned to how cultivation had consumed their lives, and Li Qingjun said she wanted to go to Great Qian to check on Wu Xian.

• Qin Yi and Li Qingjun walked through the Profound Yin Sect and saw how its purge and fear of Qin Yi had left it nearly deserted.
• Li Qingjun explained that the sect still had thousands of disciples and could recover if Yu Fuzi redistributed resources and cultivated its promising members.
• Qin Yi and Li Qingjun agreed that connections with Cheng Cheng, the Penglai Sword Pavilion, and the Ten Thousand Dao Immortal Palace could establish useful trade channels.
• Li Qingjun advised Qin Yi to let Yu Fuzi manage the sect himself, while their presence deterred threats and kept Yu Fuzi aligned with them.
• Qin Yi and Li Qingjun reflected that cultivation had made their lives feel like work, and Li Qingjun said she wanted to visit Great Qian and see how Wu Xian was faring.

After leaving the Profound Yin Sect, Qin Yi visited the Demon City to arrange exchanges and report that the sect was secure, but found Ye Ling instead of Cheng Cheng. Ye Ling gave him evidence from a Witch God Sect envoy and told him Humble Origins was in Dragon Abyss City, where Qin Yi planned to reunite with Li Qingjun in ten days.

• Qin Yi and Li Qingjun said farewell to Yu Fuzi after he secured control of the Profound Yin Sect, and Yu Fuzi thanked Qin Yi for treating the sect with generosity.
• Qin Yi and Li Qingjun agreed to meet in ten days at Hidden Dragon Temple in Dragon Abyss City, then parted so Li Qingjun could return to Penglai Sword Pavilion and Qin Yi could visit the Demon City.
• Qin Yi found Ye Ling handling affairs while Cheng Cheng was in seclusion, and learned that Ye Ling had reached Myriad Forms.
• Ye Ling complained that Qin Yi had not visited for years, then declined to accompany him because she could not leave while Cheng Cheng was in seclusion.
• Ye Ling told Qin Yi that a Witch God Sect envoy had been killed by the Demon City's humans and gave him the envoy's identity token and cultivation arts.
• Ye Ling told Qin Yi that Humble Origins was in Dragon Abyss City and could provide manpower.

Qin Yi turned the airship toward a battle at Anling and found the Nanming Lihuo Army besieging the city under Xie Yuan. After witnessing the old general capture the defeated king, Qin Yi gave him a restorative pill and reflected on Li Wuxian’s rise as a ruler who was shaping the struggle between Qian and Li.

• Qin Yi and Liusu discussed how Qing Cha and Ye Ling had grown and changed, then Qin Yi noticed beacon smoke to the west and steered toward it.
• Qin Yi saw the Nanming Lihuo Army break through Anling’s defenses and enter the palace, where its soldiers found the king preparing a pile of firewood.
• Xie Yuan ordered his guards to drag the Dragon-Robed king from the hall and send him to the prisoner cart, then told his son he wanted to live long enough to see Qian become Li.
• Qin Yi sent down a pill to strengthen Xie Yuan, who swallowed it and said he only wanted enough strength to witness the coming upheaval.
• Qin Yi considered Li Wuxian’s long-planned campaign and realized that he had become a player in the political struggle rather than an observer.

Li Wuxian’s Nanli Army captured King Anling’s capital and brought the southwestern power under Da Qian, shocking the other powers. Qin Yi flew toward Dragon Abyss City, seeing signs of recovery across the realm and sensing the immense dragon guarding Li Wuxian’s growing rule.

• The Nanli Army crossed the mountains, captured King Anling’s capital, and took King Anling alive while his main forces remained at Tian Yong Pass.
• King Anling’s troops and the southwestern separatist forces surrendered, allowing Li Wuxian to take the region and shock the other powers.
• Qin Yi left the southwest and flew north toward Dragon Abyss City as Xie Yuan stayed to stabilize the newly conquered lands.
• Qin Yi saw that Da Qian’s countryside had recovered from years of war and recognized that Li Wuxian’s control of two-thirds of the realm made unification difficult to stop.
• Qin Yi sensed an enormous dragon coiling over Dragon Abyss City and guarding the mountains and rivers.

Li Qingjun returned to Penglai Sword Pavilion at the second level of Visceral Reversion, and Yu Dongliu agreed to search for A Xing’s reincarnated body and bring her back to the sect. Li Duanxuan warned that Taiyi Sect might intervene in the struggle over the throne, leaving Li Qingjun fiercely determined to protect Li Wuxian.

• Li Qingjun astonished the Penglai Sword Pavilion disciples and elders by arriving at the second level of Visceral Reversion before the age of thirty.
• Li Qingjun told Yu Dongliu that Martial Uncle had restored her soul power and given her the Eye of Truth, and Yu Dongliu ordered Sword Seeking Hall to find A Xing’s reincarnated body.
• Li Duanxuan praised Li Qingjun’s cultivation and revealed that he had received a thread of National Luck power, suggesting another of his descendants would become Emperor.
• Li Duanxuan warned Li Qingjun that Taiyi Sect would likely become deeply involved in the mortal struggle over the throne.
• Li Qingjun vowed that she would not let immortals bully Li Wuxian, and Li Duanxuan reacted with a complicated expression.

Li Qingjun learned from Li Duanxuan that Li Wuxian and the Witch God Sect had drawn the Taiyi Sect into an escalating conflict, leaving their own allies uncertain of where to stand. Li Duanxuan agreed to help cautiously, while Li Qingjun recognized why Qin Yi had been urged to watch the confusing game rather than join it.

• Li Duanxuan agreed to accompany Li Qingjun but insisted he would act independently.
• Li Duanxuan explained that the Taiyi Sect had entered Da Qian’s struggle for dominance to recover from losing its promising disciples, then escalated its involvement after the Witch God Sect helped Li Wuxian defeat its forces.
• Li Duanxuan told Li Qingjun that Penglai Sword Pavilion and Ten Thousand Dao Immortal Palace had stayed out of the conflict, making friend and foe difficult to distinguish.
• Li Duanxuan warned Li Qingjun to act carefully and conceal any involvement if they killed Taiyi Sect cultivators.
• Li Qingjun realized why the Senior Chess Fanatic had advised Qin Yi to watch more and do less, and she argued with Li Duanxuan about whether Li Wuxian’s cleverness came from her past life.