Chapter Summaries

Li Qing brought an unconscious Chi Man out of the Cold Wind Secret Realm and reported that he had captured an ancient demon alive. He then returned to the cavern to rescue the trapped elders and began searching for the Nether Cold Fire, following a direction where demonic qi was unusually thin.

• Li Qing carried the unconscious Chi Man out of the secret realm and told the Lingyun Sect leaders that he had captured an ancient demon alive.
• Li Qing explained that the other elders were still rescuing their trapped companions, then requested permission to return to the cavern and help them.
• Sect Master Xu Yun and the two Ancestors praised Li Qing’s righteousness, and they granted his request to go back down.
• Li Qing reentered the Cold Wind Secret Realm and found it ravaged by demonic qi, with its spirit herbs withered.
• Li Qing reversed the Crimson Blazing Heaven Art to sense the Nether Cold Fire and headed toward an area where the demonic qi was thinner.

Li Qing found the Nether Cold Fire in an abyss and began trying to subdue its Origin Fire Seed after Elder Xu died attempting the same. As Li Qing endured the fire’s attacks on his body and soul, people outside the secret realm noticed the cold growing worse.

• Li Qing followed his Crimson Blazing Heaven Art’s sensing to an abyss where the Nether Cold Fire burned.
• Li Qing recognized Elder Xu’s voice, then discovered that Elder Xu had died after trying to suppress and capture the fire.
• Li Qing descended into the abyss, used thousand-year Sky Star Grass to protect his soul, and endured the Nether Cold Fire’s attacks.
• Li Qing used the Crimson Blazing Heaven Art’s crimson true essence to approach the Origin Fire Seed, then took Soul Protection Pills and reached for it.
• The Origin Fire Seed engulfed Li Qing, who circulated the Crimson Blazing Heaven Art and relied on his body and soul protections while resisting the fire.
• Outside the secret realm, Chu Lingyi and the others felt the cold intensify and worried about those still inside.

The Sky Swallowing Ancestor learned that the Chi Demon Tribe had three Core Formation devils and a likely Nascent Soul ancient ancestor, then ordered a final rescue attempt that turned into a desperate escape. Shen Ningbing fled the grotto-heaven but was swept away from the exit when the Ancient Chi Demon Ancestor attacked through the formation’s breach.

• Shen Ningbing used her golden saber talisman to kill several ancient demons, but warned the besieged Lingyun Sect Elders that the talisman was nearly spent.
• The Sky Swallowing Ancestor extracted Chi Man’s memories, learned about the powerful demons and the ancient ancestor, then sent the sixth group of Elders to rescue the trapped cultivators or help them flee.
• Elder Wen and the rescuers opened a breach in the demon encirclement, but the Ancient Chi Demon Ancestor awakened and struck the trapped Elders with a demon-qi palm, killing many as Shen Ningbing escaped.
• The Ancient Chi Demon Ancestor attacked the Extreme Ice Demon Sealing Formation and forced demon qi through its breach, while the Sky Swallowing Ancestor drove the attack back.
• Shen Ningbing turned away from the secret-realm exit as the demon qi swept toward it, but the Sky Swallowing Ancestor’s counterattack sent her flying farther into the secret realm.

Li Qing rescued Shen Ningbing from the Cold Wind Secret Realm just before its passage closed, using her Ice Burst Talisman to alert the two Core Formation Ancestors. After they escaped, the Sky Swallowing Ancestor noticed that Li Qing's aura had changed from absorbing an extremely yin object.

• Shen Ningbing landed deep in the secret realm and realized the passage was closing, while the Frost Jade Ice Butterfly refused to carry her out.
• Li Qing appeared in a badly burned form and flew with Shen Ningbing toward the exit on the Spear of Wind, still struggling to suppress the Nether Cold Fire within him.
• Shen Ningbing gave Li Qing her master's Ice Burst Talisman, which he activated to attract the attention of the ancestors outside.
• Ancestor Bingyun and the Sky Swallowing Ancestor reopened the passage after the talisman's icy blast showed Shen Ningbing was alive.
• Li Qing and Shen Ningbing escaped, and the Sky Swallowing Ancestor noticed the strange aura caused by the extremely yin object Li Qing had absorbed.

Li Qing endured the Nether Cold Fire’s backlash while refining its Origin Fire Seed, and the Sky Swallowing Ancestor secretly taught him a fragment of the Withered Wood Meets Spring Art. After Li Qing appeared lifeless, his charred outer layer began to fall away, revealing new skin and regrowing hair.

• The Sky Swallowing Ancestor sensed the Nether Cold Fire inside Li Qing but respected his privacy, then identified the spirit fire to Sect Master Xu Yun, Ancestor Bingyun, and Shen Ningbing.
• The Sky Swallowing Ancestor and the others realized Li Qing had endured the fire’s backlash while escorting Shen Ningbing out of the secret realm.
• Li Qing returned to the Giant Spirit Boat, swallowed his last thousand-year Sky Star Grass, and continued refining the Origin Fire Seed as his body and soul suffered.
• The Sky Swallowing Ancestor sent Li Qing a fragment of the Withered Wood Meets Spring Art to help him endure the refining process.
• After the Giant Spirit Boat returned to the Lingyun Sect, Shen Ningbing and Fatty Wu watched Li Qing, who appeared lifeless and charred.
• Li Qing’s charred skin cracked and fell away, revealing tender new skin as his hair and eyebrows began to grow back.

After refining the Nether Cold Fire, Li Qing discovered that it greatly enhanced his cultivation, while news of a powerful ancient demon in the Demon Cave Celestial Realm kept the sect’s danger unresolved. Months later, the sect summoned him to collect the reward for capturing the demon, just as he had reached the bottleneck of the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.

• Li Qing showed Wu Chong and Shen Ningbing that he had refined the Nether Cold Fire, and thanked the Sky Swallowing Ancestor for the fragmentary Withered Wood Meets Spring Art that had saved him.
• Wu Chong told Li Qing that the Sky Swallowing Ancestor had left to seek help against a powerful ancient demon in the Demon Cave Celestial Realm.
• Li Qing returned to his cave abode and found that the Nether Cold Fire purified spiritual energy, dramatically increasing his cultivation speed through the Crimson Blazing Heaven Art.
• Several months later, a disciple told Li Qing that the sect’s reward for capturing the ancient demon was ready, and Li Qing set off to collect it after giving the disciple spirit stones.

Li Qing received lavish rewards from Lingyun Sect for capturing an ancient devil and learned that a Nascent Soul Realm ancestor might be in the Demon Cave Celestial Realm. He used four bottles of Purple Sun Pills to break through to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage and planned to visit the Sect Treasury after consolidating his cultivation.

• Sect Master Xu Yun gave Li Qing five bottles of Purple Sun Pills, spirit stones, Contribution Points, and the chance to choose an inheritance and a treasure, explaining that the captured ancient devil had provided the sect with valuable information.
• Sect Master Xu Yun told Li Qing that Martial Uncle Sky Swallowing had confirmed a Nascent Soul Realm ancestor was likely inside the Demon Cave Celestial Realm.
• Li Qing returned to his cave abode and used the Purple Sun Pills and Nether Cold Fire to work at his Foundation Establishment bottleneck.
• After nearly three months and consuming four bottles of pills, Li Qing gathered spiritual energy and broke through to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.
• Li Qing decided to stabilize his new realm before visiting the Sect Treasury.

Li Qing searched the Lingyun Sect treasury and chose five strange flame-shaped pieces of gold that resembled markings on his Black Furnace. He discovered the pieces fit perfectly into five indentations, but the furnace showed no other change, leaving him unsure what the discovery meant.

• Li Qing entered the Sect Treasury and searched its ancient objects and depleted spirit materials for something worth choosing.
• Li Qing found five unusually hard, flame-shaped pieces of gold and recognized them as resembling indentations inside his Black Furnace.
• Li Qing chose the five pieces as one treasure, and the treasury elder let him take them.
• Li Qing placed the five pieces into matching indentations in the Black Furnace, causing five of its thirty-six markings to glow like flames.
• Li Qing found no further change in the Black Furnace, put it away, and took out the Spear of Wind and a small fluorescent-green bottle.

Li Qing began nurturing the Spear of Wind with a demon spirit, hoping to create an artifact spirit that could help him survive the coming war. At Tianhe Sect, repeated challenges from Shangqing Sect drove the elders to consider abandoning the sect and preserving a small group of disciples.

• Li Qing decided to risk the Spear of Wind and inserted a compatible Wind Attribute demon spirit into it.
• Li Qing began nurturing the demon spirit with the secret art and planned to continue for more than ten days.
• Shangqing Sect ancestors repeatedly challenged Tianhe Sect, retreating whenever its grand formation revived.
• Sect Master Qingxuan and Ancestor Wanshan discussed Shangqing Sect's siege and Tianhe Sect's dwindling prospects.
• True Person Kong Ming urged the sect to fight back, while another elder proposed preserving a small group of promising disciples.
• Ancestor Wanshan ordered them to take action.

Li Qing successfully nurtured an artifact spirit in the Spear of Wind and named it Qingfeng, then learned that Tianhe Sect had fallen to Shangqing Sect. The story shifted back eight days to Tianhe Sect’s doomed last stand, as Sect Master Qingxuan sent Suxin and other survivors away to preserve the sect’s future.

• Li Qing discovered that the Spear of Wind had gained an artifact spirit, named it Qingfeng, and tested its ability to obey simple commands.
• Li Qing received a spirit message saying Shangqing Sect had breached Tianhe Sect’s formation and destroyed the sect.
• Sect Master Qingxuan told Tianhe Sect’s disciples to fight Shangqing Sect while he and the ancestors held off its strongest cultivators.
• Qingxuan urged Suxin to flee to Lingyun Sect because she carried a Water Spirit Pearl Fragment and could preserve hope of rebuilding Tianhe Sect.
• Tianhe Sect unleashed the Grand Formation’s exterminating strike and charged into battle against Shangqing Sect’s cultivators and guardian Mountain-Bearing Tortoise.
• True Person Linglong searched for Tianhe Sect’s promising disciples while Liu Huai’an, Elder Jiuxiao, Liu Hanyue, and Shi Nantian prepared to escort Suxin away.

Sect Master Xu Yun assigned Li Qing and his companions to find and shelter the surviving members of the destroyed Tianhe Sect, including whoever carried the Water Spirit Pearl Fragment. Li Qing led the group toward Mu Kingdom by a route through Liang Kingdom, and they set off aboard his modified Serpent-headed Spirit Boat.

• Sect Master Xu Yun told Li Qing, Wu Chong, Lu Fan, and Shen Ningbing that the Tianhe Sect had fallen and ordered them to secretly find its surviving members.
• Sect Master Xu Yun appointed Li Qing to lead the mission and gave him a purple Jade Pendant to summon help in an emergency.
• Li Qing told the group to prepare supplies, then chose a route through Liang Kingdom to avoid the Shangqing Sect's expected defenses near the Tianhe Sect.
• Lu Fan explained that he had no cave dwelling or supplies to prepare, while Shen Ningbing and Wu Chong arrived ready to depart.
• Li Qing brought Rice Bucket and launched the group aboard his modified Serpent-headed Spirit Boat as Wu Chong and Lu Fan ate roasted lamb legs.

Suxin led the surviving Tianhe Sect elders through Shangqing Sect territory toward Mu Kingdom, but Ling Ying spotted them and began a brutal pursuit. With their escape route blocked and pursuers closing in, the remnants kept fleeing as Ling Ying prepared to uncover who carried the Water Spirit Pearl Fragment.

• Suxin led the Tianhe Sect survivors through a route she had once copied from a Qi Refining thief, hoping to reach Lingyun Sect in Mu Kingdom.
• Liu Hanyue recognized a Sky-Rending Eagle as the mount of Shangqing Sect elder Ling Ying, and Suxin ordered everyone to flee southwest.
• Ling Ying and Liu Hongyuan caught up with the survivors, while Zhong Ya’s Golden Warship blocked their path and killed two elders; the Sky-Rending Eagle killed another.
• Liu Hongyuan taunted Liu Hanyue about her family’s destruction, and Liu Huai'an attacked him with a Frost Arrow Rain talisman before Jiuxiao urged him to keep fleeing.
• Ling Ying suspected one of the survivors carried the Water Spirit Pearl Fragment and called for Senior Yanxi to act as the chase neared Mu Kingdom’s border.

Suxin and the remaining Tianhe Sect cultivators fled Shangqing Sect’s pursuit, but their escape was threatened when Yan Xi revealed himself as the traitor Shi Nantian. Just as Yan Xi’s divine ability was about to kill Suxin, blazing-white flames appeared and melted the attack.

• Shi Nantian attacked Suxin and revealed that he was Yan Xi, a Shangqing Sect elder who had been impersonating him.
• Suxin used the Water Spirit Pearl Fragment to repel the pursuers, injuring Liu Hongyuan and damaging Zhong Ya’s Golden Warship, allowing Tianhe Sect’s remnants to escape.
• Yan Xi and Ling Ying resumed the pursuit, believing Suxin could not use the fragment’s power again.
• As Suxin ran out of strength, Yan Xi unleashed Nine Strikes of Profound Gold, leaving her with nowhere to flee.
• Blazing-white flames appeared before Suxin and melted Yan Xi’s golden Sword Qi, while an unfamiliar voice remarked that they were old acquaintances.

Li Qing arrived with allies as the three factions confronted one another over the Shangqing Sect’s role in breaking the sealing formation and causing deaths in the demon cave. When fighting began, Li Qing faced Yan Xi, who had possessed Shi Nantian, and pressed him for answers.

• Li Qing, Wu Chong, and Shen Ningbing arrived as Jiuxiao, Liu Hanyue, and Suxin recognized Li Qing.
• Ling Ying refused Li Qing’s request to take the Shangqing Sect elders back, while Lü Feiyu and Zhong Ya renewed their hostility toward Li Qing.
• Li Qing accused the Shangqing Sect of breaking the Forbidden Speech Snow Mountain sealing formation and causing the deaths of Lingyun Sect elders, prompting Ling Ying to attack.
• Shen Ningbing blocked Ling Ying’s wind blades as Li Qing organized the exhausted Tianhe Sect cultivators and charged Yan Xi, who had taken Shi Nantian’s body.
• Li Qing fought Yan Xi with his spears, identified when Yan Xi had possessed Shi Nantian, and trapped him with the Sky Net Banner.

Li Qing fought Yan Xi, while the other battles shifted in favor of the Shangqing Sect’s allies. After Liu Hanyue killed Liu Hongyuan, Ling Ying withdrew as a powerful aura rose in the distant north.

• Li Qing smashed Yan Xi’s head, but Yan Xi returned using a Death Substitution Puppet and resumed their fight.
• Shen Ningbing fought Ling Ying as Liu Hongyuan and the Tianhe Sect members battled the Shangqing Sect elders.
• Wu Chong used the Taotie Divine Art to suppress the Cultivation Noble Family heads aboard the damaged Golden Warship, then joined Lu Fan in attacking the Tianhe Sect’s side.
• Liu Hanyue killed Liu Hongyuan with a sword strike, though the battle left her near exhaustion.
• Ling Ying crushed a jade tablet and prepared to withdraw as a powerful aura rose in the distant north.

True Person Linglong arrived as Tianhe Sect’s survivors faced defeat, but True Person Ziqing intervened and drew her into battle. With the fight moved away, the survivors regrouped with Li Qing and prepared to return to Lingyun Sect, while Suxin mourned Tianhe Sect’s destruction.

• True Person Linglong arrived and moved to attack the remaining Tianhe Sect elders, but True Person Ziqing shielded them and challenged her instead.
• True Person Ziqing and True Person Linglong fought in the sky, then moved their battle away from the sect elders below.
• Ling Ying led Shangqing Sect’s elders north to retreat, and Li Qing stopped Fatty Wu from pursuing them.
• Li Qing gathered Liu Huai'an, Jiuxiao, Liu Hanyue, and the others to return to Lingyun Sect, and Jiuxiao acknowledged his past mistake in severing ties with Li Qing.
• Li Qing found Suxin sitting alone in the snowy forest, where she told him that Tianhe Sect was gone.

Li Qing brought Suxin and the surviving Tianhe Sect elders to the Lingyun Sect, where Sect Master Xu Yun agreed to shelter them after confirming the Water Spirit Pearl Fragment was fused with Suxin. True Person Ziqing returned injured from his battle with True Person Linglong, though he revealed he had exaggerated his wounds to avoid fighting again, and Li Qing took the refugees to settle in vacant cave abodes.

• Li Qing encouraged Suxin to recover her resolve and brought her to the Lingyun Sect, where the other surviving Tianhe Sect elders had also arrived.
• Sect Master Xu Yun agreed to shelter the Tianhe Sect survivors and confirmed the Water Spirit Pearl Fragment was fused with Suxin.
• Xu Yun praised Li Qing for helping the group escape and keeping the fragment from falling into the Shangqing Sect's hands.
• True Person Ziqing returned coughing blood and claimed his injuries would prevent him from fighting for years, but Xu Yun exposed that he had wasted Demonic Beast Essence Blood to fake his weakness.
• Xu Yun asked Li Qing to find homes for the Tianhe Sect elders, and Li Qing led them to choose vacant cave abodes.

As the Lingyun Sect prepared for threats from both the Shangqing Sect and the demon lair, Li Qing strengthened his body and cultivated in seclusion. The Chi Demon Tribe emerged from Forbidden Speech Snow Mountain, and Li Qing received a jade slip containing information about the ancient demons.

• Lingyun Sect’s elders debated striking the Shangqing Sect, but Xu Yun and Ancestor Bingyun urged caution until Martial Uncle Sky Swallowing returned.
• Li Qing advanced his body to the late second tier at the cost of ten years of lifespan, then cultivated with the Nether Cold Fire’s help.
• Two months later, demonic qi erupted from Forbidden Speech Snow Mountain and darkened the sky, prompting Xu Yun to recognize the start of the Chi Demon Tribe’s emergence.
• Ancestor Bingyun warned Shen Ningbing to prepare for the sect’s calamity and gave her a Void-Breaking Talisman for a moment of life and death.
• A disciple delivered Li Qing a jade slip compiled by the Sky Swallowing Ancestor, and Li Qing saw demonic qi spreading from the snow mountain.
• Li Qing read the jade slip and learned that the demons were the Chi Demon Tribe and that Ancient Demon Language was the Devil Race’s common language.

The Chi Demon Tribe shattered the Extreme Ice Demon Sealing Formation and escaped the Cold Wind Secret Realm, then flew toward a nearby Spatial Node at Lingyun Sect. Lingyun Sect mobilized to face the approaching demons, while its leaders suspected the tribe had come because of old enmity.

• The Ancient Chi Demon Ancestor broke the Extreme Ice Demon Sealing Formation and led the tribe in mourning their forebears, whose demonic bodies had sustained them.
• The Ancient Chi Demon Ancestor explained that reaching the Sacred Realm required Spirit Transformation cultivation, but said Spatial Nodes offered another way back.
• The Ancient Chi Demon Ancestor opened the passage out of the Cold Wind Secret Realm, found a nearby Spatial Node near Lingyun Sect, and led the tribe there.
• Li Qing and Lingyun Sect saw the demonic tide approaching, and Sect Master Xu Yun ordered the sect to activate its defenses and prepare for battle.
• True Person Bingyun and True Person Ziqing speculated that the demons had learned Lingyun Sect's founders had helped suppress their tribe; members of Tianhe Sect also gathered at the sect.

Lingyun Sect and the Tianhe Sect prepared to defend the mountain against the invading Chi Demon Tribe, but the demons’ Nascent Soul ancestor broke their protective formation. The Sky Swallowing Ancestor returned just in time to swallow the attack, though his Taotie body exploded, and the battle remained unresolved.

• Jiuxiao and the Tianhe Sect elders joined Xu Yun’s defense as Lingyun Sect prepared for war.
• Xu Yun activated the Nine Heavens Falling Cloud Formation, and Ancestor Bingyun wounded Chi Shang while repelling his attack.
• A second Core Formation demon appeared, then the Chi Demon Tribe’s Nascent Soul ancestor revealed that the Spatial Node to the Sacred Realm lay within the sect.
• Suxin gave Xu Yun the Water Spirit Pearl Fragment, and Ziqing used it against the ancestor’s black sphere, but the attack pierced and shattered the formation.
• Ziqing called for the Sky Swallowing Ancestor, who arrived as a Taotie and swallowed the sphere before exploding in the blast.
• The Sky Swallowing Ancestor declared that the Chi Demon Tribe would not leave alive.