Chapter Summaries

Li Qing climbed the enormous mountain in the Spirit Devouring Realm, searching for the Heaven and Earth Spirit Fire, and discovered an old crone living inside its dormant volcano. She questioned him about the outside world and the Blood Moon path before telling him the Spirit Devouring Demonic Flame had gone out.

• Li Qing had Chong Jiu climb the mountain where the map indicated the Heaven and Earth Spirit Fire was hidden.
• Li Qing reached the volcano’s summit and told Lin Jing and Chong Jiu to wait while he searched inside.
• An old crone in the volcanic cave asked whether Li Qing came from the outside world, and he told her the Age of Dharma’s End continued there.
• Li Qing explained that the Blood Lotus Sect had developed a way to restrain the Blood Moon’s madness, and the old crone mocked Yue Qiusheng as an unqualified youngster.
• Li Qing said he had come for the Heaven and Earth Spirit Fire, and the old crone told him the Spirit Devouring Demonic Flame had already gone out.

Li Qing learned that the Spirit Devouring Demonic Flame powered the Spirit Devouring Realm, so taking it would cause the space to collapse. He considered risking it with the Black Furnace, then left after the dying old woman refused his offer to escape and revealed her despair over the Age of Dharma's End.

• Li Qing recognized the Spirit Devouring Demonic Flame and learned from the old woman that it could devour spiritual power.
• The old woman explained that taking the flame would destroy the Spirit Devouring Realm because it was connected to the world stone, and that teleportation could not safely bypass the collapse.
• Li Qing considered using the Black Furnace to take the flame, but worried that destroying the realm would prevent him from returning to the Eternal Night World.
• Li Qing offered to take the old woman outside so she could pursue the Red Moon path, but she refused and recounted how her Dao friends had died during the Age of Dharma's End.
• The old woman declined to give Li Qing her name, and Li Qing bowed farewell before leaving with Jing'er.

Li Qing returned from the Spirit Devouring Realm with Lin Jing and Chong Jiu, then brought them back to Giant Rock City after witnessing the terrifying growth of the Demonic Willow. He parted from Lin Jing at the city, leaving her to lead the Martial Alliance while he and Chong Jiu departed.

• Li Qing used nearly all his true essence to escape the Spirit Devouring Realm with Lin Jing and Chong Jiu, then set out for Giant Rock City.
• Lin Jing asked whether Li Qing was leaving again, and he promised to return and visit her often.
• Li Qing, Lin Jing, and Chong Jiu saw the enormous Demonic Willow, which terrified Chong Jiu; Li Qing warned the Martial Alliance to keep away from it.
• Chong Jiu approached Giant Rock City, triggering an alarm until the Martial Artists recognized Lin Jing and Li Qing and learned the beast was subdued.
• Li Qing said goodbye to Lin Jing, advised her to follow her own path, and departed with Chong Jiu as Lin Jing vowed to become stronger.

Li Qing left Miao Xi to expand the qi-and-blood martial path, returned to the Great Desolation Region to restore his mana, and brought Chong Jiu back to the Eternal Night World. He entered the Spirit Devouring Realm to seek the Spirit Devouring Demonic Flame, where he found a White-haired old woman sitting above solidified black magma.

• Li Qing said farewell to Miao Xi among the ruins of Baolian City and left for the broken mountain ridge outside the Spirit Devouring Realm.
• Li Qing returned to Nanyang Spirit Peak, replenished his mana with spiritual energy and spirit stones, and released Rice Bucket.
• Li Qing traveled back to the Eternal Night World, opened the Space Rift, and brought Chong Jiu through it.
• Li Qing returned to the volcano in the Spirit Devouring Realm, received no answer from the senior, and concluded that she had likely died.
• Li Qing descended into the volcano and found a White-haired old woman sitting cross-legged above solidified black magma.

Li Qing found the Spirit Devouring Demonic Flame’s Origin Fire Seed beneath the solidified magma and began refining it, despite learning that it was bound to the Spirit Devouring Realm’s realm stone. When the seed vanished into his control, the realm began collapsing, and Li Qing tried to escape in the Black Furnace.

• Li Qing found the nameless old woman dead and paid his respects before searching the solidified magma for the Spirit Devouring Demonic Flame’s Origin Fire Seed.
• Li Qing spent several days breaking through the obsidian and uncovered a black, arm-length flood dragon that was the extinguished Origin Fire Seed.
• Li Qing realized the seed was bound to the Spirit Devouring Realm and that refining it would destroy the realm stone and collapse the secret realm.
• Li Qing began refining the seed with his true essence and spiritual sense, but the process met almost no resistance.
• The Origin Fire Seed vanished, the Spirit Devouring Realm began tearing apart with spatial cracks, and Li Qing entered the Black Furnace to use Two Realms Travel.

Li Qing escaped the destruction of the Spirit Devouring Realm with the Black Furnace, which survived the spatial turbulence but fractured his hand. Back in his cave, he examined the furnace and subdued Spirit Devouring Demonic Flame, then faced the problem of awakening its extinguished Origin Fire Seed.

• The Spirit Devouring Realm collapsed and vanished, while the Black Furnace endured the spatial turbulence that struck it.
• Li Qing returned to his cave dwelling with the Black Furnace, but the force of the turbulence fractured the bones in his hand.
• Li Qing found a dent on the furnace and counted eleven lit Golden Fire Seals among its thirty-six grooves, wondering about its origin and the remaining seals.
• Li Qing examined Spirit Devouring Demonic Flame in his dantian and restrained Nether Cold Fire from provoking it.
• Li Qing realized Spirit Devouring Demonic Flame's Origin Fire Seed had not revived and decided to search ancient texts for a way to awaken it.

Li Qing searched ancient records for a way to awaken the Spirit Devouring Demonic Flame, then made plans to earn resources and strengthen his magic power while the Immortal Dao War continued. A month later, Wang Chan arrived at Nanyang Spirit Peak after hearing that Li Qing had news of the Third-tier Red Crystal.

• Li Qing rejected the idea of fusing Heaven and Earth Spirit Fires and found no reliable records about awakening the Spirit Devouring Demonic Flame.
• With the war raging, Li Qing decided to avoid fighting, take artifact-refining work, and send Zhang Da a message about contacting Wang Chan and publicizing his services.
• Li Qing began cultivating the Origin Tempering Technique to increase his magic power without advancing his realm.
• Zhang Da replied that Wang Chan and her servant would arrive within a month, and he would discreetly spread the news about Li Qing's artifact-refining business.
• After a month of cultivation, Wang Chan and her companion approached Nanyang Spirit Peak, and Wang Chan called out that she had come on business.

Li Qing gave Wang Chan a Third-tier Red Crystal and forged prosthetic limbs for Zhang Da, assigning him to gather records, monitor the war, and search for rare spirit herbs. After months of cultivation, Li Qing received his first tool-refining order since forming his core.

• Li Qing gave Wang Chan a Third-tier Red Crystal, settling their debt and sending her and Uncle Fu away satisfied.
• Li Qing forged three Magic Tool prosthetic limbs for Zhang Da and promised to seek Yin-Yang Spirit Liquid for him when the time was right.
• Li Qing tasked Zhang Da with collecting records about Heaven and Earth Spirit Fire, watching the righteous and demonic factions, and searching for rare spirit herbs.
• Li Qing focused on cultivation while the factions fought, and several months later he received his first tool-refining order since forming his core.

Zhao Tianxiong visited Li Qing to ask him to protect his newly Foundation-Established son, who had been sent to fight for Ghost Sword Sect. Li Qing declined to intervene in the sect’s affairs but agreed to consider refining a protective artifact, and the chapter ended as he examined the Golden Jade Armor blueprint.

• Zhao Tianxiong visited Hundred Refinements Peak and asked Li Qing for help because his son had been mobilized for Ghost Sword Sect’s war against Taiyi Sect.
• Li Qing refused to interfere in Ghost Sword Sect’s internal affairs, so Zhao Tianxiong asked him to refine a protective Top-grade Magic Tool for his son.
• Zhao Tianxiong handed Li Qing a blueprint for the Golden Jade Armor, which Li Qing recognized as a magic treasure design.
• Zhao Tianxiong explained that he wanted Li Qing to imitate the Golden Jade Armor as a Top-grade Magic Tool that a Foundation Establishment cultivator could use.
• Li Qing spread out the bamboo scroll to examine the blueprint.

Li Qing studied the Zhao Family’s Golden Jade Armor blueprint and said he could shorten the time needed to adapt it if he obtained the rare materials to make a complete armor. Zhao Tianxiong revealed that his family had Warm Sun Jade Marrow but no Golden Silkworm Silk, then hinted that he knew where golden silkworms could be found.

• Li Qing examined the Golden Jade Armor blueprint and estimated that adapting it into a top-grade magic tool would take at least half a year without a test refinement.
• Zhao Tianxiong explained that his son would soon contend for Taiyi Sect’s spirit gold mine and asked Li Qing to work faster.
• Li Qing said that refining a complete Golden Jade Armor would help him understand its mysteries and speed up the work.
• Zhao Tianxiong disclosed that the Zhao Family had a portion of Warm Sun Jade Marrow but had lost its Golden Silkworm Silk after offering it to an Ancient Hua Immortal Dynasty prince for protection.
• Zhao Tianxiong told Li Qing that he might know where they could find golden silkworms.

Li Qing agreed to help Zhao Tianxiong search for a hidden land where Golden Silkworms had been seen, in exchange for Golden Silkworm Silk and a promise to aid the Zhao Family once if he judged a future crisis manageable. Before departing, Li Qing reviewed intelligence about the southern Great Desolation Region and its rival sects and scattered powers.

• Zhao Tianxiong told Li Qing that an ancestor had discovered a hidden land in the southern Great Desolation Region where Golden Silkworms had appeared.
• Zhao Tianxiong asked for enough Golden Silkworm Silk to refine a Golden Jade Armor and for Li Qing to aid the Zhao Family once in a crisis he deemed manageable.
• Li Qing accepted the terms but said he would not help if the Zhao Family brought an overwhelming calamity upon itself.
• Li Qing asked for two days to prepare before traveling with Zhao Tianxiong to the hidden land.
• After Zhao Tianxiong left, Li Qing studied intelligence describing the Yin Puppet Sect, the Blood Spirit Sect, a Core Formation family, Dayan, and True Person Mu Long in the region.

Li Qing and Zhao Tianxiong traveled into the Southern Wasteland Region, where Zhao explained how Devil Dao formations had drained spiritual qi from the surrounding lands to concentrate it at spirit veins. They interrupted a cultivator threatening a mortal city after its people failed to provide him with a hundred virgin boys and girls.

• Li Qing and Zhao Tianxiong traveled for six days toward the Southern Region in an Escape Light Boat and at Li Qing’s flying speed.
• Zhao Tianxiong explained that the Southern Region’s Spirit Gathering Formations sealed spiritual qi inside spirit veins, leaving the rest of the land barren.
• Li Qing and Zhao Tianxiong heard a cultivator accuse a mortal city of letting someone seize the hundred boys and girls he had demanded.
• The muscular cultivator threatened to sacrifice the city and began preparing to search the city lord’s soul.
• Li Qing and Zhao Tianxiong descended into the city, and Li Qing’s aura froze the cultivator in place.

Li Qing killed Wulong for abducting mortals, erased the Old City Lord’s memories of him, and continued southwest with Zhao Tianxiong toward the secret land. A cloaked cultivator who had abducted the hundred children emerged after they left and lamented that Wulong’s death had made recovering a scroll of wondrous art harder.

• Wulong confessed that he needed the boys and girls to refine a Nine Sons Demonic Child, and Li Qing killed him and burned his corpse.
• Li Qing took Wulong’s Storage Bag and erased the Old City Lord’s memories of their encounter, refusing his offer to build a shrine.
• Zhao Tianxiong said they should continue southwest toward the secret land, and Li Qing agreed.
• Li Qing told Zhao Tianxiong that the Old City Lord’s memories confirmed the children had truly been abducted by cultivators.
• A half-cloaked cultivator emerged from hiding and lamented Wulong’s death and the difficulty of reclaiming a scroll of wondrous art.

Li Qing and Zhao Tianxiong traveled to Great Flame Immortal City to buy passes for an Ancient Battlefield where a Zhao Family patriarch had found Golden Silkworms. As they explored the city, Li Qing discovered that the far-reaching Myriad Treasures Tower had a branch there.

• Zhao Tianxiong explained that his ancestor had found a Golden Silkworm nest in the Ancient Battlefield but could not take it, and that he sold Li Qing the information because no Zhao descendant had reached Core Formation.
• Zhao Tianxiong told Li Qing that the Blood Spirit Sect and Yin Puppet Sect charged spirit stones for entry to the Ancient Battlefield and sold passes in Great Flame Immortal City.
• Li Qing and Zhao Tianxiong entered Great Flame Immortal City, where Li Qing marveled at its dense spiritual qi, bustling streets, and many cultivation businesses.
• Li Qing asked Zhao Tianxiong to call him Fellow Daoist in the city so they would not draw attention to his identity and cultivation.
• Li Qing recognized the Myriad Treasures Tower in Great Flame Immortal City and concluded it likely shared its origin with the branches he had seen in the Qingling Region.

Li Qing and Zhao Tianxiong bought passes to the Ancient Battlefield and traveled to the sealed minor realm where ancient cultivators had fought the Outer Realm Devil Race. They entered through a stable Space Rift and found a scorched wasteland still choked with demonic qi.

• Zhao Tianxiong bought two Ancient Battlefield passes and explained the Ascension Platform after its bell rang in Great Flame Immortal City.
• Li Qing and Zhao Tianxiong left the city and headed south, where Zhao Tianxiong described the ancient battlefield’s sealed minor realm.
• The two presented their passes to the Blood Spirit Sect guards and entered the realm through a remarkably stable Space Rift.
• Li Qing and Zhao Tianxiong arrived in a barren, scorched landscape filled with lingering demonic qi and remnants of the ancient war.
• Li Qing quickly adjusted to the oppressive environment, while Zhao Tianxiong gasped for breath before recovering.

Li Qing and Zhao Tianxiong followed the Dragon Seeking Compass deep into the Ancient Battlefield to find the Golden Silkworms. Near a deep pit, Zhao Tianxiong played the Nether-Calling Bone Flute, drawing strange spiritual lights from the scorched earth and leaving Li Qing wondering whether they were fragments of the dead.

• Zhao Tianxiong used the Dragon Seeking Compass to point the way northwest, and Li Qing agreed to follow it toward the Golden Silkworm nest.
• Li Qing and Zhao Tianxiong traveled deep into the Ancient Battlefield, where Zhao Tianxiong described the strength and long lifespan gained by cultivators who accepted Devil Race inheritances.
• Zhao Tianxiong stopped over a deep pit when the compass needle began to move, though Li Qing could sense nothing unusual nearby.
• Zhao Tianxiong revealed the Nether-Calling Bone Flute and played it with his family's secret art to search for the Golden Silkworms.
• The flute's melody made the devilish qi tremble and drew tiny spiritual lights from the scorched earth, prompting Li Qing to wonder whether they were the remains of the dead.

Li Qing and Zhao Tianxiong awakened an ancient remnant soul while seeking the Golden Silkworms, but Li Qing recognized the danger and fled when he heard an ancient devil speaking from beneath the cave. The devil escaped its seal and pursued Li Qing to seize his body, only to be caught in Li Qing’s Nether Cold Fire.

• Zhao Tianxiong awakened a humanoid remnant soul by playing the Nether-Calling Bone Flute, and the spirit identified him as Zhao Shan’s descendant.
• The remnant soul revealed that the Golden Silkworms lay beyond a Spiritual Sense Imprint on a buried stone stele, and Li Qing excavated it and began attacking the imprint.
• Li Qing heard the cave’s occupant speak Ancient Demon Language, stopped attacking, and hurried away with Zhao Tianxiong.
• The remnant soul laughed that the imprint could no longer restrain it, and an ancient devil broke through the stele and pursued Li Qing.
• The ancient devil abandoned Zhao Tianxiong and charged at Li Qing to seize his body, but Li Qing engulfed himself in Nether Cold Fire and set the devil’s remnant soul ablaze.

Li Qing destroyed the ancient demon remnant soul with Nether Cold Fire and explored the Golden Silkworm cave with Zhao Tianxiong. They recovered uncontaminated Golden Silkworm Silk, and Li Qing found three viable Golden Silkworm Eggs before deciding to leave the dangerous Ancient Battlefield.

• Li Qing burned the weakened ancient demon remnant soul to ashes, and Zhao Tianxiong thanked him for saving the Zhao Family from a future catastrophe.
• Li Qing and Zhao Tianxiong entered the underground cave and found that most of the Golden Silkworm Silk had been ruined by demonic qi, but the deeper underground palace held uncontaminated silk.
• Li Qing gathered the Golden Silkworm Silk and gave Zhao Tianxiong enough to refine one piece of Golden Jade Armor.
• Li Qing broke through a hidden wall and found hundreds of Golden Silkworm Eggs, most of which had lost their vitality.
• Li Qing discovered that three eggs remained vigorous, replenished their vitality with true essence, and collected them.
• Li Qing and Zhao Tianxiong left the underground palace to depart the dangerous Ancient Battlefield.

After leaving the Ancient Battlefield with Zhao Tianxiong, Li Qing returned to his cave dwelling and refined the Golden Jade Armor from Golden Silkworm Silk and Warm Sun Jade Marrow. The newly completed magic treasure drew in spiritual energy as it entered the world.

• Li Qing and Zhao Tianxiong left the Ancient Battlefield, while an unseen pursuer abandoned his attempt to follow them near Great Flame Immortal City.
• Great Flame Immortal City activated its protective formation after an Outer Realm Cultivator attempted to enter the City Lord's Mansion and steal something.
• Zhao Tianxiong delivered Warm Sun Jade Marrow to Li Qing, who began refining the Golden Jade Armor.
• Li Qing wove Golden Silkworm Silk into a garment, fused in the Warm Sun Jade Marrow, tempered it with true essence, and etched Dao patterns into it.
• Li Qing finished refining the Golden Jade Armor, and a surge of spiritual energy gathered around the newly emerged magic treasure.

Li Qing completed an imitation-refinement of the Golden Jade Armor and received Moon Palace Brew from Zhao Tianxiong. The wine brought him a brief moment of enlightenment about the connection between spiritual patterns and Dao patterns, leaving him excited by the possibility of a new path in artifact refinement.

• Li Qing tested the Golden Jade Armor, found it could withstand a strike of true essence, and put it on beneath his robe.
• Li Qing studied the armor’s Dao patterns, spent seven days converting them into a new set of spiritual patterns, and finished an imitation-refined version three days later.
• Zhao Tianxiong praised Li Qing’s work and gave him a jar of Moon Palace Brew before leaving to deliver a magic tool to his son.
• Li Qing drank the wine and experienced a brief enlightenment in which spiritual patterns seemed to evolve toward Dao patterns.
• Li Qing wondered whether spiritual patterns and Dao patterns shared an underlying connection and laughed at the prospect of discovering a new artifact-refining path.