Chapter Summaries

Lu Nan defeated Ye Hanyan in their trial by using Earth-Walking and a drug to catch her off guard, earning the Mortal Transformation Pill despite being wounded and punished. After recovering overnight, he swallowed the pill the next morning.

• Ye Hanyan destroyed Lu Nan’s formations with sword attacks and warned him that the one-hour trial was already halfway over.
• Lu Nan hid underground with Earth-Walking and waited until the drug he had used took effect on Ye Hanyan.
• Lu Nan emerged beside Ye Hanyan and declared victory while holding a piece of white cloth; she stopped her qi swords and awarded him the Mortal Transformation Pill.
• Ye Hanyan called Lu Nan’s methods despicable and confined him to Sect Master Peak until the Azure Desolate Secret Realm opened.
• Ye Hanyan returned to Sect Master Hall and became furious when she realized Lu Nan had drugged her with an aphrodisiac.
• After healing overnight, Lu Nan washed his face and hands, swallowed the Mortal Transformation Pill, and sat down to cultivate.

Lu Nan used a Mortal Transformation Pill and Earth Vein Qi to transform his Spiritual Root to high-grade, then learned about the world's talent ranks and regions from Ye Hanyan. He planned to improve his Alchemy and other skills before the Secret Realm opened, while Qingchuan arrived at the Sword Formation to bring him medicinal herbs.

• Lu Nan used two bottles of Earth Vein Qi to push his Spiritual Root's transformation from near completion to high-grade, though he narrowly missed supreme-grade.
• Lu Nan nearly broke through to Foundation Establishment while testing his cultivation, then returned to the Sword Formation and met Ye Hanyan.
• Ye Hanyan confirmed Lu Nan's Spiritual Root had reached high-grade and explained the talent ranks and the five regions of the Azure Realm, including the Central Continent.
• Lu Nan decided to improve his Alchemy, formations, Talismans, and Transformation Technique before the Secret Realm opened, then asked Ye Hanyan and Qingchuan for medicinal herbs.
• Qingchuan arrived outside the Sword Formation and praised Lu Nan's progress after Lu Nan claimed the formation was part of his training.

Lu Nan practiced Talisman inscription and Alchemy, then went to the Scripture Repository to find a Transformation Technique. He obtained the Ten Illusory Arts from Cang Ge, who deducted seven thousand of Lu Nan’s Contribution Points and returned the rest.

• Qingchuan gave Lu Nan a Storage Ring containing supplies and a Top-grade Spirit Brush before leaving him to cultivate.
• Lu Nan failed repeatedly to inscribe a Ten Thousand Mile Talisman, then refined Rejuvenation Pills and Spirit Replenishing Pills.
• Lu Nan’s attempt to refine a third-grade Blood Bursting Pill nearly caused a furnace explosion, but Ye Hanyan arrived and stopped it.
• Lu Nan went to the Scripture Repository, where Cang Ge recommended the Ten Illusory Arts and discovered Lu Nan had ten thousand Contribution Points.
• Cang Ge deducted seven thousand Contribution Points for the Azure Lotus Sword Canon and the Ten Illusory Arts, then returned Lu Nan’s token and sent him out.

Lu Nan mastered the Ten Illusory Arts, then demonstrated his sword techniques and progress to Ye Hanyan and Liu Qilan. He learned that the Azure Desolate Secret Realm entrance would appear in Soul Erosion Abyss, a dangerous place he would have to cross to enter.

• Lu Nan quickly mastered the Ten Illusory Arts and tested his ability to disguise himself.
• Ye Hanyan tested Lu Nan's sword skills, praised his progress, and told him to keep cultivating before the Secret Realm opened.
• Liu Qilan found Lu Nan at the sect, questioned why he had returned, and tested his array skills; he broke her illusion with a sword strike.
• Ye Hanyan revealed that the Azure Desolate Secret Realm entrance would appear in Soul Erosion Abyss, where Chimei could reach Golden Core Great Perfection.
• Liu Qilan explained the dangers of Soul Erosion Abyss, and Ye Hanyan said they would receive protective treasures to help them cross it.

Lu Nan joined the Azure Lotus Sword Sect’s expedition to the Azure Desolate Secret Realm, where he learned that the realm offered a chance at Heavenly Foundation Establishment and prepared for the journey. As the sect’s Flying Boat gathered with other vessels, Liu Qilan arrived and whisked him onto the Artifact-marked ship.

• Ye Hanyan brought Lu Nan to Sect Square, where Qingchuan assembled the disciples and warned them about the dangers and rules of the secret realm.
• Qingchuan discovered that Lu Nan’s Spiritual Root had become high-grade, and Lu Nan credited the Mortal Transformation Pill Ye Hanyan had given him.
• Lu Nan met Su Wan, Jing Ran, and Li Nianqiao, learned that the secret realm could offer Heavenly Foundation Establishment, and went to prepare his belongings and condition.
• Qingchuan summoned everyone to the deck, where Lu Nan saw Flying Boats gathering in the sky.
• Liu Qilan embraced Lu Nan, took his hand, and flew with him toward a Flying Boat bearing the character for Artifact.

Liu Qilan prepared Lu Nan and Wu Wan for the Azure Desolate Secret Realm, warning them about rivals and giving them second-grade arrays. After entering the abyss, they were surrounded by black shadows and fought their way free, then continued deeper into the Secret Realm.

• Liu Qilan gave Lu Nan and Wu Wan second-grade Array Plates, warned them to split up and watch for formidable rivals, and named those they should be wary of.
• Jiang Qing encouraged Lu Nan before the cultivators set out for the black gate and gathered at the edge of the abyss.
• Su Wan, Jing Ran, and Li Nianqiao greeted Lu Nan, while he recognized Cang Ziqian as a rival on Liu Qilan's list.
• Lu Nan and Wu Wan jumped into the abyss, where Lu Nan killed a black shadow and discovered a desolate land filled with ruins and corpses.
• A swarm of black shadows attacked Lu Nan and Wu Wan, who fought through the encirclement and escaped after Wu Wan urged them to break through.

Lu Nan and Wu Wan encountered a powerful blood-red Chimei in the Soul Erosion Abyss, then were surrounded by Chimei including several as strong as Golden Core cultivators. Lu Nan used Through the Profound to speak with their leader, who agreed to let Wu Wan leave if Lu Nan came to meet her master, provided he could watch Wu Wan enter the secret realm.

• Wu Wan discovered her guide Array Plate was not responding, but she and Lu Nan fled when a towering blood-red ghost shadow appeared and summoned a tide of Chimei after them.
• After escaping, Wu Wan's Array Plate began working, and Lu Nan found his own guide marker; soon, countless Chimei surrounded them, including several with Golden Core-level auras.
• Lu Nan activated Through the Profound and saw the Chimei as human-like figures, then asked their red-clad leader whether they could talk.
• The red-clad woman said Lu Nan and Wu Wan could not leave without her master's permission, but offered to let Wu Wan go if Lu Nan came with them.
• Lu Nan insisted that Wu Wan be escorted into the secret realm and that he witness her entering, and the red-clad woman agreed to his terms.

Lu Nan and Wu Wan reached the Azure Desolate entrance under the woman in red’s escort, but Lu Nan slipped into the gateway after Wu Wan to evade the Chimei. Inside the Secret Realm, he disguised himself and set off alone, while the woman in red’s master ordered her to find him and bring him back within three months.

• The woman in red told Lu Nan that eight beings in the Righteous-Demonic Battlefield were as powerful as her master and escorted him and Wu Wan to the Azure Desolate entrance.
• At the entrance, Wu Wan entered first, and Lu Nan burrowed through the earth and slipped into the gateway before the Chimei could stop him.
• Lu Nan found himself in a vast desert, could not locate Wu Wan, and used the Ten Illusory Arts to disguise himself before heading off.
• The woman in red reported her failure to her master, who praised her, strengthened her with five beads made from Killing Intent, and ordered her to find Lu Nan within three months and treat him courteously.

Lu Nan crossed the desert and golden stone forest, collecting earth- and gold-attribute beads as he hunted beasts and suspected each region had a limit of ninety-nine. He reached a vast water realm, gathered ninety-nine water beads, and found a whirlpool that might lead onward.

• The woman in red entered the secret realm and hurried toward the Crimson Mountain Range, as did Cang Ziqian, Wu Wan, Lu Nan, and the other entrants.
• Lu Nan left the desert, entered a golden stone forest, and found that killing its beasts yielded gold-attribute beads.
• Lu Nan tested his theory that each elemental region had a limit of ninety-nine beads and confirmed that no more gold beads dropped after he reached the limit.
• Lu Nan entered a vast water realm, used Water-Treading to walk across the surface, and slaughtered the beasts that attacked him.
• Lu Nan collected ninety-nine blue water beads and discovered a whirlpool, which he wondered might be the way out.

Lu Nan escaped the endless waters through a vortex and fought his way through a forest of deadly vines, collecting wood-green beads. He reached a blazing mountain for the next trial and continued climbing after collecting ninety-seven crimson beads, two short of his goal.

• After discovering that a spirit sword he had planted returned to the same vortex, Lu Nan jumped through it and arrived in a forest.
• Lu Nan used wind and sword intent to destroy the attacking vines and their giant-tree bodies, collecting forty-three wood-green beads as he cleared the forest.
• At the forest’s edge, Lu Nan stepped onto a heavenly road, was stripped by intense heat, and used Fire Seater before putting on new clothes.
• Lu Nan realized he stood beneath a flame-shaped mountain and flew toward its summit, where he attacked the lizard-like beasts gathering around him.
• After an unknown time fighting beasts, Lu Nan collected several crimson beads and counted ninety-seven before continuing toward the summit.

Lu Nan collected the last fiery red bead and reached the mountaintop, where he found a broken red stairway and fought its guardian. After defeating the horned bull and a giant scorpion, he saw the stairway extend, suggesting more monsters stood between him and escape.

• Lu Nan gathered his ninety-ninth fiery red bead and climbed to the summit, where he found a three-step broken stairway.
• Lu Nan touched the first step, triggering red mist that revealed a ninth-layer Foundation Establishment minotaur.
• The minotaur transformed into a horned bull and used its black horns to pin Lu Nan in place, but Lu Nan countered with Mountain Bearer and smashed it into the ground.
• Lu Nan severed the bull's hooves and finished it with his spirit swords, after which its body became red mist and flew to the stairway.
• The stairway grew six more steps as the mist became an earth-yellow giant scorpion; Lu Nan turned it into a suckling pig and killed it, then collapsed from exhaustion.

Lu Nan defeated the creatures guarding the stairway, escaped through its shrinking vortex, and reached the area near the Crimson Mountain Range. There, he discovered five injured disciples from the Crimson Lotus Sword Sect who sensed someone following them, and he reacted with interest when they identified themselves.

• Lu Nan defeated a golden ape, a poisonous You Lan snake, and a giant tree while climbing the stairway, then crossed through the shrinking vortex.
• Lu Nan emerged in an unfamiliar area, spotted the Crimson Mountain Range, and flew toward it.
• Lu Nan overheard five injured Qi Condensation cultivators discussing the wood and water domains and their plan to meet their fellow disciples at the mountain range.
• Lu Nan secretly followed the five until they sensed his presence and demanded that he reveal himself.
• The group's leader announced that they were Outer Disciples of the Crimson Lotus Sword Sect, and Lu Nan's eyes lit up.

Lu Nan found Su Wan among a group of women and learned that Jing Ran and Li Nianqiao had died, while Su Wan had lost an arm. After Lu Nan mistakenly severed the arms of Su Wan’s allies, Su Wan explained who had helped her, and he promised to heal them.

• Lu Nan recognized Su Wan in a group led by Zhu Huai Lei and rushed over to ask what had happened to her.
• Su Wan warned Lu Nan to leave, but he trapped the women with his Wind Borrower divine ability and demanded to know where Jing Ran and Li Nianqiao were.
• Su Wan explained that Jing Ran and Li Nianqiao had died after Zhu Huai Lei’s group abandoned them to a venomous snake, and that the women had cut off Su Wan’s arm and imprisoned her.
• Believing the women were Su Wan’s enemies, Lu Nan severed their arms, then learned from Su Wan that Lian Feng and the others had helped protect her.
• Lu Nan sealed the women’s wounds, gave them Spirit Replenishing Pills, and promised to find Muscle-Regenerating Pills to restore their arms.

After Lu Nan vanished, Lian Feng and the injured women were cornered by Hong Tian and his Red Demon Cult followers. Hong Tian forced Lian Feng forward and ordered her and Su Wan to undress, leaving the women in danger.

• Lu Nan suddenly disappeared, and the women feared he had abandoned them.
• Hong Tian of the Red Demon Cult approached Lian Feng's group, then pretended to leave with his followers.
• Hong Tian's group returned and surrounded the injured women, threatening them while Lian Feng tried to protect her junior sisters.
• Lian Feng stepped forward to spare the others, and Su Wan helped her despite her missing both arms.
• Hong Tian ordered Lian Feng to undress and then demanded that Su Wan undress her and herself.

Lu Nan returned in time to rescue Su Wan and the Miaoyin Workshop women from Hong Tian and his men, then treated their injuries and interrogated the captured attackers. The chapter ended with Lu Nan realizing Hong Tian had been unable to speak because his jaw was dislocated, and setting it back into place.

• Lian Feng refused to let Hong Tian strip Su Wan, so Hong Tian tore Su Wan's dress until Lu Nan appeared and struck him away.
• Lu Nan restrained the attackers, gave pills to the injured women, and treated Lian Feng after she collapsed.
• Su Wan and the other women recovered their severed arms with Muscle-Regenerating Pills and thanked Lu Nan for saving them.
• After hearing what Hong Tian and his men had done, Lu Nan repeatedly beat Hong Tian and brought him back to the group.
• Lian Feng pointed out that Hong Tian seemed to want to speak, and Lu Nan discovered his jaw was dislocated before setting it back in place.

Lu Nan killed Hong Tian despite learning he was the Crimson Demon Sect’s Demon Child, then forced Su Wan, Lian Feng, and the others to swallow pills to keep them from revealing his secrets. After reaching the Black River with his companions, he reunited with Wu Wan and began investigating the lethal obstacle, asking whether she had collected a blue bead.

• Lu Nan killed Hong Tian and the remaining Crimson Demon Sect disciples, then scattered their remains along with those of the Miaoyin Workshop disciples killed earlier.
• Lu Nan threatened the survivors with torture unless they swallowed pills, and Su Wan, Lian Feng, and the others complied.
• Lian Feng said she could match a third-level Foundation Establishment cultivator, and Lu Nan formed a theory about how strength related to the regions people had crossed.
• Lu Nan’s group traveled for several days and arrived at the pitch-black riverbed beneath the Crimson Mountain Range.
• Wu Wan explained that the Black River was deadly, blocked Divine Sense, and pulled anyone who tried to fly across into its waters.
• Lu Nan learned Wu Wan had passed through four scenes and showed her a crystalline blue bead, asking whether she had collected it.

Lu Nan discovered that the woman in red was Chimei and fled across the deadly black river, while she forced the crowd to attempt the crossing. The river killed countless people until a man’s yellow-brown bead produced a protective Light Membrane, revealing a possible way through.

• Wu Wan offered Lu Nan her blue beads, and Lu Nan met Cang Ziqian, whose invitation Su Wan and Lian Feng refused.
• Lu Nan sensed an Earth Fiend Spirit Sword on a woman in red and confirmed that she was Chimei, who was searching for him.
• After Chimei displayed Lu Nan’s portrait, Lu Nan took Wu Wan and Su Wan toward the black river, set Wu Wan down, and jumped into the river himself.
• Chimei captured Wu Wan and others, ordered the crowd to cross, and killed thousands who refused; the black river turned those who entered it into black soil.
• As the crowd despaired and began killing one another, Chimei killed the troublemakers and urged the survivors to continue crossing.
• A scarred man survived with a yellow-brown bead’s Light Membrane, and others with similar beads revealed their own protective barriers.

Travelers discovered that fused earth-yellow beads could protect one person crossing the Black River, and rival groups fought over them before entering the forest. Lu Nan and Su Wan followed a golden bead’s light to the forest’s edge, where they found a canyon filled with fierce crimson winds.

• The woman in red fused ninety-nine earth-yellow beads into one, forced a man to test it, and crossed the Black River after he reached the opposite bank safely.
• The woman in red robbed another group for beads, while people at the river attacked one another to seize enough beads to cross.
• Wu Wan crossed the river, and Lian Feng’s six fellow disciples used Muscle-Regenerating Pills to form Dao Foundations and urged her to pursue Heavenly Foundation Establishment.
• Lian Feng protected her group from approaching attackers, seized enough beads to cross, and headed into the forest to find Lu Nan and ask him for Muscle-Regenerating Pills.
• Lu Nan protected Su Wan from a vine in the forest, then followed a golden bead’s light to a canyon where crimson winds surged upward.

Lian Feng entered the Thorn Jungle, discovered its bloodthirsty plant demons, and escaped a tree demon by using a Golden Domain Bead. The beads became the key to surviving the forest, and the survivors gathered at its edge facing a scorching canyon and a towering wall of red wind.

• The woman in red used fused golden beads to locate a direction and sped into the forest.
• People entering the Thorn Jungle were caught by bloody vines and drained, while Lian Feng entered cautiously and was attacked by a tree demon.
• Lian Feng severed a vine around her ankle and fled as the tree demon pursued her through the jungle.
• Lian Feng fused her golden beads into a Golden Domain Bead, forcing the tree demon's branches to withdraw as she escaped toward the forest's depths.
• The beads' protective power became known, and people with beads pushed onward while demons slaughtered those without them.
• Lian Feng and other survivors reached the forest's edge, where she saw a canyon and a towering wall of red wind, then sat down to regulate her breathing.

Lu Nan and Su Wan crossed the gorge’s red wind wall, while Wu Wan and Lian Feng joined forces to make the same crossing. Their journey ended in danger when Lian Feng sensed that monsters had surrounded them inside the wall.

• Lu Nan used his divine art and Su Wan’s water beads to cross the wind wall and enter the jungle beyond the gorge.
• Wu Wan approached Lian Feng, explained the Five Elements layout and the hazards inside the wind wall, and proposed that they cooperate through the five dangerous places.
• Wu Wan and Lian Feng swore a Great Dao oath, gathered the fire and wood beads they needed, and prepared to cross the gorge.
• Wu Wan and Lian Feng entered the wind wall together, with Wu Wan maintaining a spiritual power barrier and Lian Feng guarding against monsters.
• Lian Feng repelled wind vortices and sensed that monsters had surrounded them.