Chapter Summaries

Li Qing learned that Moonlit Ridge was a perilous forbidden land linked to Moon Chasing Palace and attended the Moon Chasing Grand Gathering. When the palace’s Saintess appeared, he recognized her as someone he knew.

• Venerable Xuan Gu told Li Qing that Moonlit Ridge was an ancient burial pit filled with sinister Great Yin power, where even Core Formation cultivators could die, though it held valuable treasures.
• Li Qing and Venerable Xuan Gu arrived at the gathering and saw three ancient Moon Crown Trees, which True Lord Yue Xuan said were only a little over five thousand years old.
• True Lord Yue Xuan began the Moon Chasing Grand Gathering as Moon Chasing Palace disciples brought forth the Moon Stone and welcomed the Saintess.
• The Saintess flew out from the main hall, and Li Qing recognized her.

Li Qing recognized the Moon Chasing Palace holy maiden as Liu Hanyue, now known as Yue Han, at the start of the Moon Chasing Grand Gathering. As the gathering began drawing spiritual objects from Moonlit Ridge, cultivators fought over the first arrival, a damaged ancient Jade Pendant claimed by True Person Mu Long.

• Li Qing recognized the holy maiden as Liu Hanyue, and Shen Ningbing asked him whether he knew her.
• Gui Fan questioned Yue Han about her romantic prospects and boasted that he would kill True Person Zhiyang, but True Lord Yue Xuan stopped him and a Taiyi Sect elder from fighting.
• True Lord Yue Xuan activated the Moon Stone, sending a Moonlight Essence Pillar to draw spiritual objects from Moonlit Ridge.
• The first spiritual object arrived, and Gui Fan and other cultivators competed to seize it.
• True Person Mu Long obtained the object, a damaged Jade Pendant engraved with a strange demonic beast, and a cultivator offered Spirit Medicine Seeds for it.

Li Qing seized a rusted bronze blade fragment from the moonlight after True Person Zhiyang’s Pure Yang power triggered a violent backlash that injured him. The gathering’s attention shifted to Zhiyang as Gui Fan watched for a chance to kill him.

• True Person Mu Long kept the jade pendant he had seized, while two more spirit items appeared in the moonlight.
• Gui Fan clashed with the Taiyi Sect cultivator who obstructed him, and Li Qing used the Nether Cold Fire to reach for the second spirit item.
• True Person Zhiyang’s Pure Yang power melted Li Qing’s Nether Cold Fire, but touching the moonlight caused a surge of Profound Yin Energy that injured Zhiyang.
• Li Qing used the Nether Cold Fire to retrieve a rusted bronze blade fragment, noticed his lifespan had fallen by two years, and concealed the fragment after showing it to the crowd.
• The Taiyi Sect cultivator surnamed Meng tried to take the injured Zhiyang away, while Gui Fan eyed him with intent to kill.

Li Qing realized that Moonlit Ridge’s spiritual treasures could consume lifespan, then watched four more treasures find owners. Moon Chasing Palace offered five cultivation-enhancing pills to buy back a Moon Crown Fruit pit, leaving True Person Baili to consider the exchange.

• Gui Fan ignored Meng Qing’s warning and watched the Pure Yang Physique until Meng Qing took True Person Zhiyang away.
• Li Qing recalled that claiming a treasure had cost him lifespan and connected the loss to Moonlit Ridge’s ominousness.
• True Person Fu Xuan claimed amber containing blood and bone fragments, dismissing fears that it was ominous.
• True Person Mu Long offered spirit pills for True Person Baili’s Moon Crown Fruit pit, but Moon Chasing Palace invoked its priority to repurchase it.
• A Moon Chasing Palace cultivator offered Baili five spirit pills for the pit, surpassing Mu Long’s offer.

At the Moon Chasing Grand Gathering, the Moon Chasing Palace traded valuable pills and spirit liquid for treasures while Li Qing helped ease pressure on Zhao Tianxiong. After Liu Hanyue completed her baptism, she reunited with Li Qing, leaving him curious about how she became the Holy Maiden and what happened to the Lingyun Sect members who fled with her.

• True Person Baili accepted five Core Formation-advancing spirit pills from the Moon Chasing Palace for the Moon Crown Fruit pit.
• Zhao Tianxiong agreed to trade his Ghost Eye Snail to the Moon Chasing Palace for half a portion of Purple Mansion Spirit Liquid, and Li Qing spoke up to defuse the other cultivators' displeasure.
• Li Qing, Shen Ningbing, and Gui Fan obtained spirit treasures from the moonlight river, while an elderly cultivator found a porcelain bottle of ancient pills and declined to open it.
• Liu Hanyue completed her baptism, which strengthened her spiritual sense and physique, and the moonlight river flowed into her as the Moon Stone sank back into the earth.
• Liu Hanyue recognized Li Qing and greeted him, and the two discussed how far each had advanced since their earlier meeting.
• Li Qing wondered how Liu Hanyue had become the Holy Maiden and what had happened to the Lingyun Sect members who fled with her.

At Moon Chasing Palace’s banquet, Li Qing learned that the Giant Spirit Boat survivors had been scattered far away and gained Liu Hanyue’s promise to help search for the remaining Lingyun Sect members. The banquet was interrupted when True Lord Tai Xuan and the Rakshasa Demon Lord released colliding auras, raising the prospect of a fight.

• Li Qing praised the Ghost Eye Snail and spoke with Liu Hanyue about rebuilding the Lingyun Sect.
• Liu Hanyue told Li Qing that the Giant Spirit Boat had traveled southeast and that she had escaped after a Third-tier Crimson Fire Fox attacked the group.
• Li Qing said he planned to investigate Shangqing Sect and later search for the Lingyun Sect survivors before making any move against it.
• Liu Hanyue agreed to use Moon Chasing Palace’s strength to search for survivors and gave Li Qing a crescent jade pendant so he could contact her.
• True Lord Tai Xuan and the Rakshasa Demon Lord released colliding auras, and the banquet guests turned toward them.

Li Qing and Shen Ningbing went to witness True Lord Tai Xuan and Rakshasa Demon Lord’s confrontation, which Palace Mistress Yue Xuan stopped with Moon Chasing Palace’s protective formation. The two departed after agreeing to settle matters in three days, leaving the cultivators anticipating the decisive duel between the Pure Yang Physique and Ghost Sword Sect’s young master.

• Liu Hanyue left to notify her Palace Mistress while Li Qing and Shen Ningbing discussed their hopes of rebuilding Lingyun Sect and finding their former fellow disciples.
• Li Qing and Shen Ningbing headed toward the disturbance after he concluded that the leaders would not fight on Moon Chasing Palace’s grounds.
• True Lord Tai Xuan confronted Rakshasa Demon Lord over his interest in the Pure Yang Physique’s injuries, and the two released their powerful auras.
• Palace Mistress Yue Xuan activated Moon Chasing Palace’s Moon-Shocking formation and ordered True Lord Tai Xuan and Rakshasa Demon Lord to stop.
• Rakshasa Demon Lord and True Lord Tai Xuan withdrew, while the gathered cultivators looked forward to the decisive battle in three days.

Li Qing lent Gui Fan more Nether Cold Fire in exchange for three Essence Augmentation Pills before Gui Fan faced True Person Zhiyang in the decisive battle. Under Moon Chasing Palace’s Astonishing Moon Formation, the duel began with Zhiyang launching a dragon of Pure Yang power at Gui Fan.

• Gui Fan visited Li Qing to borrow Nether Cold Fire for his battle against True Person Zhiyang, and Li Qing traded the fire for three Essence Augmentation Pills.
• Li Qing filled Gui Fan’s purple-gold gourd with Nether Cold Fire and wondered whether Gui Fan had made enough preparations for the fight.
• Three days later, Moon Chasing Palace activated the Astonishing Moon Formation, sealing off the battlefield and suppressing the area.
• Gui Fan and True Person Zhiyang confronted each other before the gathered cultivators, while Palace Mistress Yue Xuan promised that no outsider would interfere.
• True Person Zhiyang opened the battle with a Five-clawed Golden Dragon made of Pure Yang power, and Gui Fan drew his greatsword and called out the Demon Slaying Strike.

True Person Zhiyang defeated Gui Fan’s incarnation and countered his Thousand-Year Yin Corpse with Pure Yang power. As Zhiyang prepared to finish the fight with his golden saber, Gui Fan detonated the corpse.

• True Person Zhiyang immobilized Gui Fan with golden light, and the Golden Dragon smashed apart what appeared to be his true body.
• Gui Fan reappeared and revealed that Zhiyang had destroyed only one of his incarnations.
• Gui Fan summoned a Thousand-Year Yin Corpse, but Zhiyang damaged it with his Pure Yang essence blood and a palm strike.
• Gui Fan sent the battered corpse after Zhiyang again, and Zhiyang drew his golden saber to destroy it.
• The Thousand-Year Yin Corpse exploded just as Zhiyang prepared to strike.

True Person Zhiyang and Gui Fan exchanged powerful attacks, with Zhiyang enduring a corpse explosion and countering Gui Fan’s weapons with his Golden Sun Saber and a Taiqing Demon Suppressing Talisman. As Gui Fan kept evading the talisman’s seal, Li Qing suspected that his cautious fighting concealed another scheme.

• Gui Fan detonated a Thousand-Year Yin Corpse, but True Person Zhiyang purified the corpse qi that penetrated his body and charged back at him.
• True Person Zhiyang’s Golden Sun Saber clashed with Gui Fan’s Demon Origin Sword, damaging the sword and forcing Gui Fan to take the fight more seriously.
• Gui Fan released Nether Cold Fire from a purple-gold gourd, and Zhiyang retreated while protecting himself with Pure Yang Energy.
• True Person Zhiyang activated a Taiqing Demon Suppressing Talisman, dispersing the Nether Cold Fire and sending a clear-light seal after Gui Fan.
• As Gui Fan evaded the seal and Zhiyang mocked him, Li Qing recognized that Gui Fan’s timid behavior was unlike his usual fighting style and suspected a hidden plan.

The Demonic Path launched a coordinated assault on the Taiyi Sect while True Lord Tai Xuan was away, forcing the sect elders to activate the Taiyan Demon Subduing Formation. The battle left Wen Xia’s Nascent Soul breakthrough ruined, and the chapter ended as the attackers unleashed their strongest weapons against the formation.

• Gui Li, Zhu Jiuyin, and the Demonic Path forces surrounded the Taiyi Sect and attacked while True Lord Tai Xuan was away.
• The Taiyi Sect elders activated the Taiyan Demon Subduing Formation, cutting off the spiritual energy Wen Xia needed for her Nascent Soul breakthrough and causing her cultivation to collapse.
• Gui Li’s sword strikes and the Demonic Path’s Forbidden Breaking Talismans pressured the elders, who chose to maintain their defense rather than counterattack.
• Gui Li brought out the Four Symbols Suppressing Heaven Cauldron, while Zhu Jiuyin summoned two sentient ten-thousand-year-old yin corpses.
• The Blood Cloud Hall descended as the two yin corpses and Gui Li’s cauldron attacked the formation, leaving the Taiyi Sect elders facing imminent disaster.

The demonic sects shattered the Taiyi Sect’s formation and destroyed its mountain gate, leaving the sect’s survivors at their mercy. As Zhu Jiuyin and Gui Li searched the ruins, a discovery beneath the mountain prompted someone to cry out that Old Ghost Tai Xuan was there.

• Gui Li used the Four Symbols Suppressing Heaven Cauldron to break the Taiyan Demon Subduing Formation and destroy the Taiyi Sect’s mountain gate.
• The assault killed many Taiyi Sect disciples and elders, while demonic forces captured or killed the survivors and gathered corpses and blood.
• Zhu Jiuyin and Gui Li searched the ruined sect for its treasures as the demonic forces dealt with the aftermath.
• A cry from beneath the mountain identified Old Ghost Tai Xuan, and Gui Li hurried toward the sound with the cauldron ready.

Gui Fan evaded True Person Zhiyang until True Lord Tai Xuan learned that his Dao Body had been destroyed and ordered the duel to end. The Rakshasa Demon Lord then escaped with Gui Fan and revealed that the Taiyi Sect’s mountain gate had been breached, leaving True Lord Tai Xuan enraged.

• Gui Fan continued avoiding True Person Zhiyang, while spectators criticized his retreat and True Person Zhiyang prepared to stop pursuing him.
• True Lord Tai Xuan sensed that his Dao Body had been destroyed and accused the Rakshasa Demon Lord, who denied responsibility and challenged him to ask Palace Mistress Yue Xuan about the formation.
• True Lord Tai Xuan ordered Palace Mistress Yue Xuan to lift the seal and told True Person Zhiyang and Gu Haoran to end the battle and return.
• True Lord Tai Xuan attacked the Rakshasa Demon Lord with the Primordial Origin Sacred Art, but the Rakshasa Demon Lord vanished after leaving a pool of blood behind.
• The Rakshasa Demon Lord captured Gui Fan and escaped with him, saying he would use him as a hostage to claim the Blood Spirit Sect’s share of the gains from breaching the Taiyi Sect’s mountain gate.
• The Rakshasa Demon Lord’s revelation shocked the gathered cultivators, and True Lord Tai Xuan roared in fury as Li Qing realized what had happened.

After the Devil Dao destroyed Taiyi Sect, the Great Desolation Region’s righteous factions collapsed or fled, leaving the region under Devil Dao control. True Lord Tai Xuan never retaliated, while Wang Chan read the news and quietly resolved herself to something unknown.

• True Lord Tai Xuan left Moon Chasing Palace with Gu Haoran after learning Taiyi Sect had been raided, and Li Qing chose to remain at Moon Chasing Palace for ten days rather than risk returning to Nanyang Spirit Peak.
• Gui Li learned that a weak Core Formation woman had escaped Taiyi Sect and ordered a bounty placed on her, while the Devil Dao factions withdrew to guard against True Lord Tai Xuan.
• Reports of Taiyi Sect’s destruction spread through the Great Desolation Region, revealing how the Devil Dao had used the battle at Moon Chasing Palace to conceal its attack.
• The Free and Unfettered Sect secretly abandoned its mountain gate and left the Great Desolation Region, while True Lord Tai Xuan’s expected revenge never came.
• The Devil Dao took control of the Great Desolation Region, and Wang Chan read the news and wondered whether the righteous path was also nearing destruction.

Li Qing learned that Wen Xia had been severely injured and her cultivation had fallen, creating an opportunity to rebuild Lingyun Sect and confront Shangqing Sect. He and Shen Ningbing began preparing to return to the Qingling Region, while Liu Hanyue agreed to help him obtain Forbidden Breaking Talismans.

• A goateed old Daoist divined that the Great Desolation Region faced a chaotic future and urged his disciple Qiu Zhen to leave.
• Li Qing reviewed reports and discovered that Wen Xia was wanted by the Ghost Sword Sect, with her cultivation reduced to Early Core Formation after suspected severe injuries.
• Li Qing told Shen Ningbing that Wen Xia's weakened state gave them an opportunity to rebuild Lingyun Sect, but they first needed to prepare Forbidden Breaking Talismans in the Great Desolation Region.
• Li Qing asked Liu Hanyue for more than ten Third-tier Forbidden Breaking Talismans and one Fourth-tier talisman, and she agreed to trade him five Third-tier talismans.
• Liu Hanyue said she had people searching for other Lingyun Sect members and asked Li Qing to notify her when he decided to act.

Li Qing and Shen Ningbing visited a hidden secret market, where Daoist Jinbao offered a way to obtain seven Forbidden Breaking Talismans in exchange for help repairing his damaged Golden Light Dart. Jinbao led them to True Person Fu Xuan, who agreed to receive them after sensing their Core Formation auras.

• Li Qing and Shen Ningbing entered a concealed secret market using a token Zhang Da had provided.
• Daoist Jinbao offered to help Li Qing obtain seven Forbidden Breaking Talismans if Li Qing and Shen Ningbing lent their Core Formation Fire to repair his Golden Light Dart.
• Jinbao revealed that True Person Fu Xuan owed him a favor because Jinbao had sent him a suitable disciple.
• Jinbao led Li Qing and Shen Ningbing to Fu Xuan's cave abode in a city built across two mountains.
• Fu Xuan initially objected to Jinbao's request, then sensed Li Qing and Shen Ningbing's auras and invited them inside.

Li Qing and Shen Ningbing reunited with Chu Lingyi at True Person Fu Xuan’s cave, where she was his unruly new disciple. Li Qing sought Fu Xuan’s Third-tier Forbidden Breaking Talismans and invited him to help rebuild Lingyun Sect, but Fu Xuan explained why he had always avoided joining factions.

• Li Qing and Shen Ningbing heard Chu Lingyi arguing with True Person Fu Xuan about studying basic runes as Daoist Jinbao led them into the cave.
• Chu Lingyi recognized Li Qing and Shen Ningbing, cried with relief, and asked about the Lingyun Sect disciples who had left with them.
• Li Qing calmed Fu Xuan and explained that he had come seeking Third-tier Forbidden Breaking Talismans, then revealed that he and Chu Lingyi belonged to the fallen Lingyun Sect.
• Fu Xuan offered seven Forbidden Breaking Talismans for free if Chu Lingyi stayed in the Great Desolation Region to study under him.
• Li Qing invited Fu Xuan to join their effort to attack the Shangqing Sect and rebuild Lingyun Sect, offering him the position of Supreme Ancestor.
• Fu Xuan said he had refused offers from other factions because he wanted to devote himself to the Talisman Dao and avoid worldly disputes.

Li Qing and Shen Ningbing persuaded True Person Fu Xuan to join the Lingyun Sect, with Chu Lingyi's defiance helping change his mind. The chapter ended with Chu Lingyi formally accepting Fu Xuan as her master and the group celebrating.

• Chu Lingyi urged Li Qing and Shen Ningbing to leave after Fu Xuan refused to help, prompting him to stop them.
• Li Qing defended Chu Lingyi's right to refuse Fu Xuan and confronted him as tensions rose.
• Fu Xuan agreed to join the Lingyun Sect, help destroy the Shangqing Sect once, and then avoid sect affairs to study talismans.
• Li Qing proposed that Chu Lingyi complete the master-disciple ceremony, and she knelt before Fu Xuan and called him Master.
• Daoist Jinbao offered spiritual wine to celebrate, and Chu Lingyi drunkenly boasted about her talent and plans to create an Ascension Talisman.

Li Qing learned how Chu Lingyi had crossed into the Great Desolation Region and considered whether their missing fellow disciples were stranded in the Nether Realm. He then examined Daoist Jinbao’s damaged Golden Light Dart and discovered that it contained an Artifact Spirit.

• Chu Lingyi told Li Qing and Shen Ningbing that she had activated an Ancient Grand Teleportation Formation and crossed into the Great Desolation Region with the protection of a Great Teleportation Token.
• Chu Lingyi explained that Daoist Jinbao had rescued her after the teleportation left her unconscious, and she had repaid him by inscribing talismans.
• Li Qing wondered whether their missing Lingyun Sect fellow disciples had been lost in the Nether Realm, but Daoist Jinbao could offer only scattered information about it.
• Li Qing asked Daoist Jinbao to show him the magic treasure he wanted repaired, and Daoist Jinbao produced his cracked Golden Light Dart.
• Li Qing sensed that the Golden Light Dart contained a damaged Artifact Spirit and explained that such a spirit could let even a low-level cultivator command the treasure.

Li Qing repaired the Golden Light Dart's body with essence refined from Stone Gold Mother, but found restoring its Artifact Spirit beyond his current ability. While replacing its damaged Dao patterns with patterns of his own design, he discovered the Artifact Spirit was trying to guide him, but chose to continue his experiment.

• Li Qing and Daoist Jinbao concluded that the Golden Light Dart's body could be repaired, but its severely damaged Artifact Spirit would be much harder to restore.
• Daoist Jinbao bought Stone Gold Mother, and Li Qing began refining it in True Person Fu Xuan's cave abode using the Nether Cold Fire and Spirit Devouring Demonic Flame.
• After several days, Li Qing extracted a small amount of golden essence and used it to repair the Golden Light Dart's body.
• Li Qing began imprinting his own Dao patterns on the dart, and its damaged Artifact Spirit released spiritual sense fluctuations that seemed to show him how to restore the original patterns.
• Li Qing ignored the Artifact Spirit's guidance and continued his experiment, while a weak golden monkey glared at him from inside the dart.