Chapter Summaries

Li Qingyuan spent twenty-seven years forging the complete Earth Marsh Sword Array, greatly increasing his combat strength without advancing his cultivation stage. After testing the array, he began studying Wu Mengzi’s Great Dream Heart Sutra and discovered its profound Dream Butterfly Evasion Art.

• Li Qingyuan forged the Awakening of Insects Spring Thunder Sword as an Extreme Dao Magic Treasure, then continued crafting the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Flying Swords.
• Over two and a half years, Li Qingyuan completed all twenty-four Solar Terms Flying Swords and began forging the Four Seasons Flying Swords with help from Old Zhao, Ji Kun, and Little Flame.
• Li Qingyuan completed the Spring Birth, Summer Flourish, Autumn Wither, and Winter Destruction Swords over the following ten years, then unleashed the Earth Marsh Sword Array and nearly shattered his cave abode’s defenses.
• Li Qingyuan recalled the swords before the array could alert Zuoqiu Ling and the others, and judged that it had made him capable of killing a Peak Void Refining cultivator more easily.
• Li Qingyuan studied the Great Dream Heart Sutra Wu Mengzi had given him and was astonished by its first chapter, the Dream Butterfly Evasion Art.

Li Qingyuan cultivated Butterfly Transformation and comprehended Dream Butterfly Evasion by combining it with his Fortune Laws and Void Clarity and Selfless Intents. After mastering the evasion art, he emerged from seclusion to meet Xiao Baiyi, who was astonished by his technique.

• Li Qingyuan practiced Butterfly Transformation but initially managed only 128 butterflies before his dharma power collapsed.
• After using the Mysterious Feminine Space to comprehend the technique, Li Qingyuan spent three months learning to form 1,024 butterflies.
• Li Qingyuan spent more than half a year comparing Dream Butterfly Evasion with other evasion arts and realized that Void Clarity and Selfless Intent held its key.
• Xiao Baiyi called to Li Qingyuan beyond the sect, and Li Qingyuan used Dream Butterfly Evasion to arrive in a flash of moonlight and a swarm of butterflies.
• Xiao Baiyi was surprised that Li Qingyuan had mastered Dream Butterfly Evasion.

Li Qingyuan reunited with Xiao Baiyi, who had protected him from the Yang Clan, and the two discussed their mastery of Dream Butterfly Evasion before visiting Mo Ni. Mo Ni had passed the Body Tribulation, and Xiao Baiyi offered her and Li Qingyuan a chance to explore a Spirit Lord grotto-heaven that might contain medicines for the remaining tribulations.

• Xiao Baiyi told Li Qingyuan that the Yang Clan had promised not to trouble him again after Xiao Baiyi defeated Yang Lian by three parts.
• Li Qingyuan admitted it took him four years to transform into over a thousand butterflies and more than six years to initially comprehend Dream Butterfly Evasion, astonishing Xiao Baiyi with his speed.
• Xiao Baiyi and Li Qingyuan traveled to Mo Ni’s cave dwelling using Dream Butterfly Evasion, and Li Qingyuan explained how the technique could defend against spell attacks by turning the body illusory.
• Mo Ni revealed that she had passed the Body Tribulation, but the resources needed for the remaining tribulations had consumed most of her savings.
• Xiao Baiyi offered Mo Ni and Li Qingyuan an opportunity to explore a Spirit Lord grotto-heaven suspected to have been opened by an Elixir Master and to contain medicines for passing the Three Tribulations of Body Integration.

Li Qingyuan joined Xiao Baiyi and Mo Ni in preparing to explore the Elixir Master Grotto-heaven, then refined a large supply of First Revolution Golden Cores to strengthen himself and his allies. Xiao Baiyi summoned them after gathering enough companions for the expedition.

• Li Qingyuan and Mo Ni agreed to accompany Xiao Baiyi into the Elixir Master Grotto-heaven, and the three began preparing for the journey.
• Li Qingyuan obtained a treasure-medicine gathering task from Zuoqiu Ling and exchanged his contribution points for Nirvana Yin Yang Ganoderma and Nirvana Jade Marrow.
• Li Qingyuan studied the First Revolution Golden Core formula and, after three failed attempts, successfully refined his first batch.
• Li Qingyuan refined fifty-seven batches, producing 170 First Revolution Golden Cores for the upcoming expedition.
• Xiao Baiyi sent a message asking Li Qingyuan and Mo Ni to gather at his residence because he had assembled enough people for the grotto-heaven expedition.

Xiao Baiyi brought Mo Ni and Li Qingyuan to the Blood Demon Forbidden Zone in Tianfeng Domain to join Fairy Yun Die and six other Spirit Lords in exploring an Elixir Master Grotto-heaven. Yun Die revealed that it belonged to her great-grandfather, the famed Yun Yan the Elixir Master, and offered the group its treasures and copies of his Alchemy Path Inheritance in exchange for help recovering his remains.

• Xiao Baiyi used his cultivation to carry Mo Ni and Li Qingyuan to Tianfeng Domain, where Li Qingyuan instinctively positioned himself in a safe spot.
• Fairy Yun Die greeted Xiao Baiyi and introduced the other six Spirit Lords who had gathered for the expedition.
• Yun Die explained that the grotto-heaven belonged to her great-grandfather, Yun Yan the Elixir Master, who had reportedly died during the Five Elements Great Heavenly Tribulation.
• Yun Die said Yun Yan had been betrayed and that three generations of her family had searched for his grotto-heaven and remains.
• Yun Die asked the seven Spirit Lords for help and offered them the grotto-heaven's resources and treasures, plus copies of Yun Yan's Alchemy Path Inheritance.

Yun Die led Xiao Baiyi, Mo Ni, Li Qingyuan, and the other Spirit Lords through the Blood Demon Forbidden Area toward her great-grandfather’s grotto-heaven, explaining the Blood Demon Sect’s history as swarms of Blood-devouring Bats attacked. Mo Ni killed a Void Refining bat demon and pressed deeper with Li Qingyuan while Ji Kun eagerly anticipated the demon infants and bats.

• The Spirit Lords agreed to seek Yun Die’s great-grandfather’s Alchemy Path Inheritance and followed her into the Blood Demon Forbidden Area.
• Yun Die explained that the Blood Demon Sect had once been a powerful Mahayana sect and that her clan had spent three generations gathering information about the area.
• Thousands of Blood-devouring Bats attacked, and Void Refining Dao Lords cleared the way as the group pushed through increasingly powerful swarms.
• Mo Ni and Li Qingyuan fought several times, drawing attention to Mo Ni’s strength while Li Qingyuan concealed much of his own.
• A Void Refining blood bat demon warned the group to stop at the Blood Demon Sect’s forbidden ground, but Mo Ni killed it with her Butterfly Transformation Technique and Cold Moon Sword Light.
• Mo Ni ordered Li Qingyuan to follow her onward as more Void Refining bat demons and tens of thousands of bats approached, while Ji Kun eagerly claimed the demon infants and bats for himself.

Li Qingyuan and Ji Kun slaughtered the Blood-devouring Bats, but a Blood Bat Demon Emperor appeared and attacked Mo Ni. The Body Integration cultivators engaged the emperor while Shen began forming a seal to trap it.

• Li Qingyuan and Ji Kun joined forces to kill several Void Refining Blood-devouring Bats, and Ji Kun devoured their demonic infants to strengthen its cultivation.
• Mo Ni gave Ji Kun a Late Void Refining Stage demonic infant, then asked to ride it for two days.
• Xiao Baiyi intercepted a crimson sneak attack from the Blood Bat Demon Emperor and protected Mo Ni, Li Qingyuan, and Ji Kun.
• The Blood Bat Demon Emperor demanded that the cultivators leave the Blood Demon Sect's forbidden ground, while Fairy Yun Die explained the constraints imposed by the Immortal Alliance Convention.
• Seven Body Integration Spirit Lords attacked the emperor to restrain it, and Shen began deploying a formation as Xiao Baiyi blocked the emperor's escape.

Li Qingyuan and Mo Ni hunted the retreating Blood-devouring Bats while the Body Integration Spirit Lords fought the Blood Bat Demon Emperor. After Ji Kun swallowed several demon infants and fell into another cocooned slumber, an enraged voice drew everyone's attention.

• Xiao Baiyi, the Sturdy Man, Fairy Yun Die, and four other Body Integration Spirit Lords trapped the Blood Bat Demon Emperor in a devastating battle.
• Mo Ni caught a fleeing Peak Void Refining Stage Blood-devouring Bat and killed it with one strike of her Long River Sword Qi, then gave its demon infant to Ji Kun.
• Li Qingyuan used his Thunder Fire Golden Body and Six-Colored Heavenly Tribulation to defeat another Peak Void Refining Stage Blood-devouring Bat, while Ji Kun swallowed its demon infant.
• Mo Ni praised Li Qingyuan and gave Ji Kun the demon infant she had captured; Ji Kun swallowed it along with many others, became stuffed, and cocooned itself to sleep.
• An unwilling roar from the Blood Bat Demon Emperor drew Li Qingyuan, Mo Ni, and the other Void Refining Dao Lords' attention.

Fairy Yun Die led the group into her great-grandfather’s hidden grotto-heaven, where they crossed a powerful killing formation and discovered an illusion of the Nine-Colored Great Heavenly Tribulation. She claimed her great-grandfather’s inheritance lay beyond it and sent two Peak Void Refining cultivators ahead while the Spirit Lords hesitated.

• Shen Lin trapped the bloodthirsty bat in a seventh-rank formation, then Fairy Yun Die led the group to the Blood Demon Cave’s entrance.
• The cultivators entered a vast Small World and triggered a powerful restrictive killing formation, which the Body Integration Spirit Lords crossed using their defenses and abilities.
• Xiao Baiyi protected Mo Ni and Li Qingyuan as they crossed the formation, while Mo Ni reflected on the vast gap between Void Refining cultivators and Spirit Lords.
• The group saw a seemingly world-spanning Nine-Colored Great Heavenly Tribulation, but Xiao Baiyi, Shen Lin, and the Skeletal Bewitching Woman recognized it as an illusion.
• Fairy Yun Die said her great-grandfather had passed two lightning tribulations before being ambushed during his third, then urged her two Peak Void Refining servants to fulfill their promise and proceed.

Li Qingyuan and the others entered three regions of Nine-Colored Heavenly Tribulation illusions, which shattered several cultivators’ Dao Hearts and threatened their future advancement. Li Qingyuan entered the azure thunder and recognized the trials as Yun Yan’s recorded experiences, then stepped into the lightning because its power was illusory.

• Two Peak Void Refining cultivators entered the golden tribulation, but emerged with shattered Dao Hearts and injured Primordial Spirits after Fairy Yun Die suppressed their heart demons.
• A Black Fox woman also succumbed to the golden illusion, while Hu Meier believed Hu Chong had passed after he remained inside for hours.
• Fairy Yun Die directed the group to split among the golden, azure, and yellow thunder regions, and Li Qingyuan entered the azure region with Mo Ni.
• Shen Lin followed Li Qingyuan into the azure thunder, while other venerable spirits and Void Refining Dao Lords entered the three regions.
• Li Qingyuan realized the illusion reproduced Yun Yan’s sensations of undergoing three heavenly tribulations, but that the lightning’s power itself was unreal, and he stepped forward to face it.

Li Qingyuan passed through the heavenly lightning illusion and explored the grotto-heaven, harvesting rare spirit plants as he headed toward its core. He spotted a spirit plant in the form of a child wearing a ganoderma cap and learned it was a Six Yang Divine Ganoderma, then raced after it.

• Li Qingyuan crossed the Nine Layers of Heavenly Thunder illusion with ease and joined Fairy Yun Die and Shen Lin; Mo Ni arrived shortly afterward.
• Fairy Yun Die, Shen Lin, and Mo Ni departed separately to seek opportunities, with Mo Ni following Fairy Yun Die while Li Qingyuan continued alone.
• Li Qingyuan collected and duplicated numerous Fifth-tier and Sixth-tier Spirit Plants, including the Purple Spirit Ganoderma required for his sect mission.
• Li Qingyuan spotted a childlike spirit plant wearing a ganoderma cap, and Old Zhao identified it as a Six Yang Divine Ganoderma.
• Li Qingyuan decided the Six Yang Divine Ganoderma could help transform his Green Wood Heavenly Sun Sword and pursued it at peak Void Refining Stage speed.

Li Qingyuan agreed to help Shen Lin capture the Spirit Mushroom Doll, though he distrusted the powerful Body Integration cultivator and used the Thunder Fire Glazed Lamp to retaliate against Shen Lin’s spying. Shen Lin maintained the appearance of cooperation and prepared to lure the doll into their formation.

• After losing track of the Spirit Mushroom Doll, Li Qingyuan tried to contact his senior siblings, but Shen Lin destroyed his Sound Transmission Jade Talisman and blocked his escape.
• Shen Lin trapped Li Qingyuan in his domain, then backed down when Li Qingyuan threatened to summon Haoran Dao Venerable’s avatar.
• Shen Lin proposed they capture the doll together, offering Li Qingyuan its mushroom cap while keeping the doll for himself; Li Qingyuan agreed to strengthen a Sky Binding Formation with Thunder Fire Power.
• Li Qingyuan used Earth Evasion to place formation flags underground while Shen Lin secretly tracked him with his Primordial Spirit.
• Li Qingyuan summoned the Thunder Fire Glazed Lamp, wounding Shen Lin’s Primordial Spirit with its backlash, then continued infusing the formation flags with Thunder Fire Power.
• Shen Lin concealed his anger, praised Li Qingyuan, and told him to set the formation once the flags were ready, claiming he had a way to lure out the Spirit Mushroom Doll.

Li Qingyuan secretly altered Shen Lin’s Sky Binding Formation while preparing to trap the Spirit Mushroom Doll, and Zhao Guangzheng helped him plan an escape. Shen Lin lured the doll into the formation with precious Dragon Saliva Incense, and the chapter ended as Li Qingyuan was called on to act while thunder-fire threads closed around it.

• Li Qingyuan placed thirty-eight formation flags and secretly changed their Restriction Runes on Zhao Guangzheng’s advice, giving himself a way through the barrier and adding a hidden advantage.
• Shen Lin insisted that Li Qingyuan remain in the formation to help capture the Spirit Mushroom Doll, and Li Qingyuan warned that he could call on Haoran Dao Venerable for protection.
• Shen Lin lit a bowl of Dragon Saliva Incense, while Li Qingyuan hid underground and recovered his power by refining Golden Cores.
• After several days, the Spirit Mushroom Doll followed the incense into the formation and leapt toward the bowl.
• Shen Lin activated the Sky Binding Formation, trapping the doll as it tried to flee, and called for Li Qingyuan to act while thunder-fire threads descended over it.

Li Qingyuan helped Shen Lin capture the Six Yang Divine Ganoderma, but Shen Lin immediately tried to kill him and revealed that assassination organizations had placed a bounty on him. Li Qingyuan survived and called on the Crystal Immortal Coffin’s power to destroy Shen Lin, leaving the Ganoderma secured and one use of its aid remaining.

• Shen Lin struck the Spirit Mushroom Doll with a powerful attack, forcing it back into its Six Yang Divine Ganoderma form.
• Shen Lin used the Sky Binding Formation to trap the Ganoderma and told Li Qingyuan to cut off its cap as agreed.
• Li Qingyuan turned his thunder-fire blade against Shen Lin’s incoming attack, and his Butterfly Seal blocked four strikes before shattering.
• Li Qingyuan survived with a second Butterfly Seal and a Mahayana Clone jade slip, while Shen Lin revealed the bounty on Li Qingyuan and threatened his senior sister and senior brother.
• Li Qingyuan refused Shen Lin’s offer to share the Ganoderma and asked the Crystal Immortal Coffin to kill him.
• The Crystal Immortal Coffin froze the area and annihilated Shen Lin, then warned Li Qingyuan it would act below Mahayana only once more.

Li Qingyuan defeated Spirit Lord Shen Lin, collected his treasures, and continued toward the core region, where he found Xiao Baiyi and Yun Die battling four Spirit Lords over rare elixirs. The group paused before an enormous Elixir Pagoda whose ancient fire demanded that anyone seeking its inheritance undergo a trial.

• Li Qingyuan thanked the Immortal Coffin Female Corpse for sparing him, then collected Shen Lin’s magic treasure, resources, formations, Six Yang Divine Ganoderma, and formation notes.
• Li Qingyuan wondered where Xiao Baiyi and Yun Die had gone, then encountered their battle against four Spirit Lords near the core region.
• Yun Die’s opponents accused her of keeping three exceptionally valuable elixirs; Xiao Baiyi negotiated for her to hand over one and warned the others against escalating the fight.
• The six Spirit Lords ended their battle and approached the Elixir Pagoda, whose Vermilion Bird-shaped Divine Fire announced a trial for those seeking its inheritance.
• Old Zhao recognized the pagoda as a Half-step Mahayana treasure containing a seed of Southern Bright Illusory Fire and urged Li Qingyuan to take it.

Li Qingyuan entered Yun Yan the Elixir Master's Treasure Pagoda and encountered a memory trial that taught him how to refine Nirvana Elixirs. After passing the lesson, he gained improved pill-refining knowledge and a new gate appeared before him.

• The cultivators rushed into the Illusory Fire Refining Heaven Pagoda after Yun Die revealed its identity and the power of its Southern Bright Illusory Fire Seed.
• Xiao Baiyi led Mo Ni and Li Qingyuan into the pagoda, warning them to stay close because of Yun Yan's dangerous posthumous arrangements.
• Li Qingyuan entered an independent space filled with memory bubbles and was transported into a scene of Yun Yan teaching pill refinement.
• Yun Yan selected Li Qingyuan to refine a Nirvana Elixir, then praised his result and instructed him on improving his technique.
• The illusion shattered, leaving Li Qingyuan with improved pill-refining skills, and a voice summoned those able to refine Nirvana Elixirs through a newly formed Crimson Flame Gate.

Li Qingyuan and four other alchemists entered the Pill Dao Inheritance trial, where they answered questions about cultivation and alchemy. After Li Qingyuan argued that the highest Pill Dao refined pills, humans, and Heaven, a vast will in the Illusory Fire Refining Heaven Pagoda praised his insight.

• Li Qingyuan, Xiao Baiyi, Fairy Yun Die, Hu Meier, and the Sturdy Man's servant answered what cultivation meant, and Fairy Yun Die and Li Qingyuan were transported to a deeper trial space.
• The Sturdy Man's servant, Xiao Baiyi, and Hu Meier refined pills of Sixth Tier Low Grade or above to pass the first trial.
• The five reunited and were asked whether cultivation and alchemy were the same Great Dao.
• The Sturdy Man's servant claimed that alchemy and cultivation were identical and was expelled, while Fairy Yun Die, Hu Meier, Xiao Baiyi, and Li Qingyuan passed with different answers.
• Li Qingyuan described cultivation as a form of Pill Dao, declaring that at its pinnacle one refined pills, humans, and Heaven, prompting a vast will to praise him.

Yun Yan the Elixir Master revealed how he became a Mahayana Primordial Spirit and exposed Yun Die as a descendant of the pair who betrayed him. After killing Yun Die, he invited Li Qingyuan to inherit his Pill Dao legacy.

• Li Qingyuan and Yun Yan the Elixir Master agreed that pill refinement and other crafts could each be forms of cultivation, and Yun Yan recognized Li Qingyuan as a kindred Daoist.
• Yun Yan identified Yun Die as his great-granddaughter and granted her a drop of blood that revealed the truth of his betrayal and transformation into a Mahayana Primordial Spirit.
• Yun Yan accused Yun Die of belonging to the Zhao Family and attacked her with the Southern Bright Illusory Fire; Xiao Baiyi and Hu Meier refused to intervene.
• Yun Yan killed Yun Die, while Xiao Baiyi observed that Yun Yan's Mahayana Primordial Spirit was incomplete and weakened each time it used its power.
• Yun Yan praised Li Qingyuan's cultivation and Pill Dao attainments, then asked him to inherit his legacy and pursue the Ninth Tier Quasi-Immortal Pill and Tenth Tier Immortal Pill.

Yun Yan the Elixir Master offered Li Qingyuan his eighth-tier Pill Dao Inheritance in exchange for three conditions, including protecting the Yun Clan and helping it rise again. After Xiao Baiyi and Hu Meier erased their memories of the pagoda, Yun Yan sent them away and refined the remaining witnesses; Xiao Baiyi’s Dream Butterfly restored his memories as he waited to learn the third condition.

• Yun Yan offered Li Qingyuan his Pill Dao Inheritance and asked him to satisfy three conditions.
• Yun Yan asked Li Qingyuan to protect any surviving Yun Clan bloodline, help worthy descendants restore the clan, and secretly pass them a copy of the inheritance.
• Yun Yan offered to kill the cultivators remaining in the pagoda, but Li Qingyuan identified Xiao Baiyi and Hu Meier as allies and warned that killing everyone would bring trouble.
• Xiao Baiyi and Hu Meier erased their memories of the pagoda and were teleported away, while Yun Yan refined the remaining cultivators and erased their memories.
• Xiao Baiyi's Dream Butterfly restored his copied memories, and he decided to return to the sect and cultivate toward the Integrated Body Late Stage.

Yun Yan the Elixir Master asked Li Qingyuan to fulfill three conditions in exchange for his Pill Dao inheritance, including helping him pursue rebirth through an immortal pill. After they swore their oaths, Yun Yan entered Li Qingyuan’s Mud Pill Palace and discovered that Li Qingyuan’s space could suppress him, so he agreed to teach Li Qingyuan’s External Incarnation.

• Yun Yan the Elixir Master explained that his weakened Primordial Spirit could not kill an Integrated Body Peak Stage cultivator and joked that he might seize Li Qingyuan’s body.
• Yun Yan revealed his plan to teach Li Qingyuan alchemy and eventually fuse his Primordial Spirit with a ninth-rank immortal pill to gain a new body.
• Li Qingyuan and Yun Yan swore to fulfill their respective promises and completed the exchange of oaths.
• Yun Yan and the Illusory Fire Refining Heaven Pagoda entered Li Qingyuan’s Mud Pill Palace, where the space suppressed Yun Yan until Li Qingyuan lifted its pressure.
• Li Qingyuan explained that his External Incarnation shared his knowledge, and Yun Yan agreed to teach it Alchemy Skill.