Chapter Summaries

Lu Nan emerged from seclusion at the Artifact Refining Sect after reaching the Foundation Establishment Eighth Layer, then finished refining pills for Wu Wan. He left with Ye Hanyan for the Sword Sect, where she ordered him to stay until he reached Golden Core because the Soul Refining Sect was acting suspiciously.

• Lu Nan reached the Foundation Establishment Eighth Layer after spending eight thousand High-grade Spirit Stones and more than half a month in seclusion.
• Wu Wan gave Lu Nan pill orders and their payment, and he agreed to refine the pills despite their approaching deadline.
• Lu Nan finished the alchemy session, handed Wu Wan the pills and her twenty percent share, and told her he was returning to the Sword Sect.
• Ye Hanyan questioned Lu Nan about his progress and learned that Liu Qilan had entered seclusion to prepare for a breakthrough into Spirit Transformation.
• Ye Hanyan took Lu Nan back to the Sword Sect and told him not to leave until he reached Golden Core, citing the Soul Refining Sect's unusual activity.

Lu Nan agreed to help Ye Bei compete in the Ye Clan Competition and received Ye Hanyan’s permission to leave the sect. As they flew toward the venue, a black mist followed them, and Ye Bei’s bronze mirror revealed it was emanating from Lu Nan.

• Ye Bei reminded Lu Nan of his promise to help him compete, and Lu Nan agreed to meet him for the competition.
• Lu Nan cultivated with the Spirit Stones he had gained and advanced to the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment.
• Lu Nan asked Ye Hanyan for permission to leave the sect, and she granted it after learning he was going to the Ye Clan Competition with Ye Bei.
• Ye Hanyan questioned a clan elder about the competition venue’s safety, then left him to arrange the preparations.
• Lu Nan and Ye Bei set out alone for the Eastern Vein, since independent arrivals could contend for first place.
• Lu Nan sensed something following them, and Ye Bei’s bronze mirror revealed black mist emanating from Lu Nan.

Lu Nan and Ye Bei entered the clan competition after Ye Bei used a Dust Washing Talisman to remove a demonic mark from Lu Nan. Lu Nan killed a black python and confronted a Golden Core Twin-headed Rending Tiger, whose attack stopped against an invisible wall.

• Ye Bei showed Lu Nan that a Half-Moon Mirror revealed a demonic mark and gave him a fourth-grade Dust Washing Talisman to remove it.
• Lu Nan and Ye Bei reached the competition grounds, where Ye Hu mocked them and pressured Lu Nan to join him before the elders announced the seven-day beast hunt and its rules.
• Ye Bei explained his conflict with Ye Hu as they entered the forest, and Lu Nan instantly killed a black python that ambushed them.
• Lu Nan chose to hunt Golden Core beasts, and Ye Bei led him to a third-layer Golden Core Twin-headed Rending Tiger.
• The Twin-headed Rending Tiger charged Lu Nan, but an invisible wall blocked its claw.

Lu Nan effortlessly killed several Golden Core demon beasts, then killed Ye Hu and his group when they tried to draw a Black Horned Ox onto him and Ye Bei. Ye Cheng arrived to avenge Ye Hu, but Lu Nan escaped with Ye Bei, and Ye Cheng was warned that Ye Bei could not be touched.

• Lu Nan killed the Twin-headed Rending Tiger and the Ground-footed Sheep with ease, while Ye Bei collected their corpses and Golden Cores.
• Lu Nan sensed Ye Hu's group near the Black Horned Ox's territory, and Ye Bei suggested they change targets to avoid trouble.
• The Black Horned Ox chased Ye Hu and his injured group toward Lu Nan and Ye Bei, so Lu Nan killed them all with a breeze, including the ox.
• Ye Cheng appeared and attacked Lu Nan, but Lu Nan dodged the strike, grabbed Ye Bei, and escaped underground.
• Two figures confronted Ye Cheng and warned him that Ye Bei could not be touched; Ye Cheng then claimed he did not know whether Ye Bei had acted.

Lu Nan helped Ye Bei resume the competition and kill forty-eight Golden Core demonic beasts, but the Soul Refining Sect ambushed the competition area and forced them to flee. After learning that the medicinal herbs he needed were held by the Soul Refining Sect, Lu Nan left Ye Bei and headed off alone.

• Ye Bei contacted his grandfather, who approved continuing the competition and asked Lu Nan to support him.
• Three elders confronted Ye Cheng, who vowed to kill Lu Nan despite being told Ye Hu had brought his death upon himself.
• Lu Nan and Ye Bei hunted Golden Core demonic beasts until they had collected forty-eight heads.
• Lu Nan sensed an intruder, and Ye Bei learned that the Soul Refining Sect had trapped the Ye Clan elders and ordered them to retreat.
• Fu Ye told Lu Nan that the three medicinal herbs he sought were inside the Soul Refining Sect, so Lu Nan parted ways with Ye Bei and disappeared.

Lu Nan chose to infiltrate the Soul Refining Sect rather than impersonate one of its disciples, while Ye Hanyan arrived at the Ye Clan grounds and confronted the sect’s forces. After reaching the Soul Refining Sect’s territory in disguise, Lu Nan was invited to join as a rogue cultivator.

• Lu Nan left the competition grounds and headed for the Soul Refining Sect to find a safer way to obtain medicinal herbs.
• Ye Hanyan stopped the Soul Refining Sect’s retreat, shattered its sword lights, and let Lian Hunyu withdraw with his disciples.
• Ye Hanyan learned that Lu Nan had left and ordered Ye Cheng and the Ye Family not to harm her disciple again.
• Lu Nan disguised his appearance and cultivation, then entered a village near the Soul Refining Sect’s territory.
• Three Soul Refining Immortal Sect disciples invited Lu Nan to join, explaining that he would need to reach Qi Condensation Layer Three within a year to become a Formal Disciple.

Lu Nan was brought to the Soul Refining Sect and assigned by Elder Zhang to master the Corpse Refining Art and refine a living corpse within ten days. After improving the art and transforming a Spiked Lion, Lu Nan faced the final step of the refinement, which appeared to have failed.

• Three men led Lu Nan toward the Soul Refining Sect, but Elder Zhang suddenly took him to Corpse Peak.
• Zhang Lin left Lu Nan outside a dark cave with a Jade Slip and ordered him to refine a living corpse within ten days or report to the Servant Hall.
• Lu Nan studied the Corpse Refining Art, entered the cave, and chose a Spiked Lion as his refinement subject.
• Lu Nan used his comprehension to improve the Corpse Refining Art and inscribed its patterns across the Spiked Lion.
• Lu Nan activated the patterns and transformed the Spiked Lion into an armored, ferocious creature, then attempted the final step and wondered if he had failed.

Lu Nan joined Corpse Peak after impressing Elder Zhang with his refined Spiked Lion, but his High-grade Fire and Wood Spiritual Roots sparked a struggle among powerful sect elders to claim him. The chapter ended with an unidentified newcomer sweeping Lu Nan away as Dan Mo moved to stop him and Zhang Lin called for help.

• Lu Nan cultivated the Corpse Refining Art while waiting for Elder Zhang, then had the Spiked Lion attack Zhang Lin when he arrived.
• Zhang Lin accepted Lu Nan as a Corpse Peak disciple, gave him the Corpse Refining Art, and made him swallow a Corpse Pill.
• Zhang Lin tested Lu Nan's aptitude and discovered his High-grade Fire and Wood Spiritual Roots.
• Dan Mo arrived, revealed he was a Nascent Soul Late Stage Elder of Blood Peak, and tried to recruit Lu Nan as his disciple.
• Another figure appeared, dispersed Dan Mo's aura, and swept Lu Nan away; Dan Mo pursued while Zhang Lin called for help.

Lu Nan was caught between Dan Mo and Old Man Chong as they competed to recruit him, but Wu Bai arrived, took him as a disciple, and gave him an antidote to the Corpse Pill. After Wu Bai sent him to register for Inner Disciple benefits, Lu Nan encountered sect bullies and presented Wu Bai’s token at the Disciple Hall, where the clerk recognized its significance.

• Dan Mo and Old Man Chong argued over recruiting Lu Nan until Wu Bai arrived, claimed him as his disciple, and took him away.
• Wu Bai introduced himself as Corpse Peak’s Third Elder, offered to teach Lu Nan the Sword Dao, and gave him the Corpse Pill antidote and his waist token.
• Lu Nan swallowed the antidote, learned that Wu Bai’s lineage cultivated the Sword Dao, and set out to complete his Inner Disciple registration.
• Four senior brothers cornered Lu Nan and demanded seventy percent of his monthly resources in exchange for guiding him to the Disciple Hall, and he pretended to agree.
• At the Disciple Hall, the Old Man recognized Wu Bai’s token as the Corpse Serving Elder Token and hurried to register Lu Nan.

Lu Nan received his Inner Disciple token and monthly resources, then returned to Corpse Peak, where Wu Bai tested his judgment and passed on a cultivation scripture. Wu Bai also offered to teach him Alchemy, leaving Lu Nan ready to begin his training.

• Old Man Wang explained the disciple ranks and their benefits after registering Lu Nan and giving him a token.
• The effeminate youth and his companions realized Lu Nan was an Inner Disciple, apologized, and offered him their possessions; Lu Nan forgave them.
• The effeminate youth, later called Senior Brother Yin, returned with his companions and decided they would wait at Corpse Peak to follow Lu Nan.
• Wu Bai asked Lu Nan why he had spared the group, then warned him that strength reigned supreme in the Soul Refining Sect.
• Wu Bai gave Lu Nan a Storage Ring and the first part of the Curse Sword Scripture, then offered to teach him Alchemy.

After becoming Wu Bai’s disciple, Lu Nan explored Corpse Peak and looked for a place to establish a cave dwelling. He learned why Hanliu Ravine was off-limits and heard about Wu Bai’s reputation before Yin Ning explained his reasons for robbing disciples.

• Wu Bai gave Lu Nan a jade slip warning him about Corpse Peak’s forbidden grounds and a ring containing cultivation supplies.
• Lu Nan surveyed Corpse Peak and chose a cliffside location for a future cave dwelling, deciding to postpone building it.
• Yin Ning caught up with Lu Nan and offered to follow him, claiming he could gather information about the sect and its disciples.
• Lu Nan learned that Corpse Son had claimed Hanliu Ravine and might have reached the Nascent Soul realm before turning thirty.
• Yin Ning described Wu Bai as a Nascent Soul Late Stage sword cultivator famed for slaying a Spirit Transformation True Lord, then explained that he and his companions robbed people to obtain cultivation resources.

Lu Nan accepted Yin Ning and his companions as followers, had them build a house and courtyard at Corpse Peak, and arranged for them to register as disciples. After they returned, Yin Ning told him that the Corpse Secret Realm would soon open, prompting Lu Nan to ask about its corpses and treasures.

• Lu Nan agreed to take in Yin Ning and learned that Yin Ning, Wang Hu, Zhang Er, and Liu Kai practiced at the fourth to seventh layers of Qi Condensation.
• Lu Nan led the group to Corpse Peak's eastern cliff and told them to build him a dwelling, then accepted Yin Ning's suggestion to construct a small courtyard and paid them four Low-grade Spirit Stones.
• While Yin Ning and the others built the house and courtyard, Lu Nan studied the Curse Sword Scripture inside an isolation array.
• Lu Nan approved the finished house and gave Yin Ning his identity plaque so the group could register at the Disciple Hall as Corpse Peak disciples.
• Yin Ning told Lu Nan that the Corpse Secret Realm would soon open and explained that disciples sought corpses and treasures there; Lu Nan asked whether corpses were its main attraction.

Lu Nan learned about the Soul Refining Sect and the Corpse Secret Realm, then prepared to enter it while concealing how rapidly he could raise his cultivation. After seeing Lu Nan advance from the fifth to the sixth layer of Qi Condensation without instability, Wu Bai watched him with growing astonishment.

• Yin Ning explained the Nine Peaks of Soul Refining and the rules of the Corpse Secret Realm, and Lu Nan suspected Yin Ning wanted him to enter it.
• Lu Nan used Wu Bai's Spirit Stones to advance to the second layer of Qi Condensation, then asked Wu Bai for more and requested permission to enter the Corpse Secret Realm.
• Wu Bai tested Lu Nan's Curse Sword Scripture and praised his progress, rewarding him with five hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones.
• Lu Nan secretly adjusted his aura to the fifth layer of Qi Condensation, shocking Yin Ning and the others before returning to Wu Bai for more Spirit Stones.
• Wu Bai secretly watched Lu Nan cultivate and saw his aura rise smoothly from the fifth to the sixth layer of Qi Condensation.

Lu Nan concealed his astonishing cultivation progress while Wu Bai warned him of the dangers of attracting attention and supplied Potential Exhausting Pills for his subordinates. On the day the Corpse Secret Realm opened, Wu Bai brought Lu Nan to the gathering and introduced him to the Fourth Elder.

• Wu Bai summoned Lu Nan, urged him to keep his rapid cultivation secret, and gave him High-grade Spirit Stones to cultivate in Yi Yuan.
• After Lu Nan reached Qi Condensation Perfection, Wu Bai advised him to skip the Corpse Secret Realm, but agreed to let him go when Lu Nan insisted and gave him Potential Exhausting Pills for his subordinates.
• Lu Nan offered the pills to Yin Ning and the other three, who accepted them despite knowing they would be trapped at Foundation Establishment Perfection and swore to serve him.
• A month later, Lu Nan prepared to form his core and set out for the Corpse Secret Realm with Yin Ning and the other three waiting nearby.
• Wu Bai brought Lu Nan to the gathering for the realm's opening, where he introduced him to the Fourth Elder as his disciple.

At the Secret Realm entrance, Mo Shang challenged Wu Bai to wager a high-grade spirit sword and Blood Dissolving Grass on whose disciple would gain the most. Wu Bai accepted after Lu Nan showed confidence, and demanded a personal match with Mo Shang if he won.

• Lu Nan greeted the assembled elders, and Mo Shang mocked Wu Bai for bringing a Qi Condensation Perfection disciple into the Secret Realm.
• Mo Shang proposed a wager and sealed a disciple’s cultivation at Qi Condensation Perfection, offering a high-grade spirit sword and Blood Dissolving Grass as stakes.
• Wu Bai refused the wager at first, but Mo Shang provoked him by taunting him about his Falling Snow and past.
• The Peak Lord arrived, opened the Secret Realm, and announced that it would close after seven days.
• Lu Nan urged Wu Bai to accept the wager because he recognized Mo Shang’s sword as an Earth Fiend Spirit Sword, and Wu Bai agreed after Lu Nan pledged confidence.
• Wu Bai asked for a match with Mo Shang if his side won, making Mo Shang suspect Lu Nan might have a hidden trump card.

Lu Nan and Yin Ning entered the secret realm after Mo Shang abandoned the challenge, then were separated by random teleportation. Yin Ning found a buried corpse whose soul tried to take over his body, but the attempt failed, leaving Yin Ning alive and exultant over the opportunity he had gained.

• Mo Shang led his disciples away, and Wu Bai sent Lu Nan into the secret realm with a token, followed by Yin Ning and the other three.
• Lu Nan arrived in a gloomy world, defeated several Qi Condensation-stage rotting corpses, and flew off to search for Yin Ning and the others.
• Yin Ning split up from his companions and descended into an abyss, where he found a cave and dug up a stone coffin containing a young man.
• Yin Ning took a ring from the corpse, and a black light entered his body as the corpse's soul tried to seize control.
• The aged soul briefly controlled Yin Ning, then cried out about the Soul Refining Sect and a woman before falling silent.
• Yin Ning regained consciousness and laughed with delight, believing he had received an extraordinary opportunity.

Yin Ning used Cen Tou’s secret art to remove the flaw in his cultivation and advance to Golden Core, then learned Cen Tou’s history and left the cave. He reunited with Wang Hu and the others, invoked Zhao Qi’s backing to settle their dispute, and asked whether anyone had seen his lord.

• Yin Ning absorbed Cen Tou’s black mist, resolved his cultivation flaw, and reached Golden Core.
• Yin Ning learned that Cen Tou had been a Nascent Soul Perfection Demonic Path cultivator who lured cultivators to seize a suitable body.
• Yin Ning recognized the square seal as the source of his recurring dreams and left the secret realm cave to search for Zhao Qi.
• Yin Ning found Wang Hu and the other two bruised after a group had taken their Bloodthirsty Grass and demanded their possessions.
• Yin Ning identified himself as Zhao Qi’s servant, and the opposing Golden Core cultivator apologized and offered Healing Pills.
• Yin Ning accepted the pills and asked the Golden Core cultivator whether he had seen Zhao Qi.

Lu Nan stole a Golden Core corpse puppet from a group of cultivators and learned that Wang Cong, the Wang Family Ancestor who had hunted him, was nearby. After hiding the puppet, Lu Nan returned to settle his score with Wang Cong.

• Yin Ning led Wang Hu and the others away from the Golden Core cultivators and followed the sound of fighting while Lu Nan headed toward the commotion from the west.
• Wang Ze proposed a contest over the Golden Core corpse puppet, then withdrew and offered to buy it from whoever won.
• Lu Nan reunited with Yin Ning and learned that the blood-robed Wang Cong was a wanted Golden Core cultivator and former ancestor of a cultivation family.
• Lu Nan told Yin Ning and the others to search for resources without him, and they reluctantly flew off.
• Lu Nan tunneled beneath the battlefield, seized the Golden Core corpse puppet, suppressed it with talismans, and stored it in his Ring.
• Lu Nan returned to the battlefield intending to confront Wang Cong as the crowd accused the Corpse Peak disciples of stealing the puppet.

Wang Ze failed to identify who stole the Golden Core corpse puppet, and Lu Nan secretly killed Wang Cong before discovering evidence that Blood Peak’s Lian Hunyu had masterminded the Blood Pill scheme. Following a faint ripple, Lu Nan found a hidden passage leading to a chamber of stone figurines and a huge stone coffin.

• Wang Ze returned to the Corpse Peak disciples, demanded the stolen corpse puppet, and left when no one could identify the thief.
• Lu Nan followed Wang Cong to an isolated place, bound him with a breeze, and killed him for his role in Living Human Alchemy.
• Lu Nan took Wang Cong’s Golden Core and Storage Ring, then destroyed the body and crushed the tainted Golden Core.
• Lu Nan found Wang Cong’s diary and learned that Lian Hunyu, the Blood Peak Peak Lord, had provided the Blood Pill and was the true mastermind.
• Lu Nan sensed a faint ripple, entered a concealed passage through a mountain face, and reached a chamber filled with stone figurines surrounding a giant stone coffin.

Lu Nan broke open a stone coffin and found a beautiful female corpse with lingering Nascent Soul aura, then stored her and the crystal coffin in his Ring. A Blood Peak Blood Son appeared and demanded what Lu Nan had found, but Lu Nan concealed the corpse and presented a Golden Core peak corpse puppet instead.

• Lu Nan evaded stone figurines that attacked and regenerated, then reached the stone coffin on the platform above them.
• Lu Nan shattered the stone coffin and discovered a young woman in a crystal coffin whose corpse still carried Nascent Soul aura.
• Lu Nan stored the female corpse and crystal coffin in his Ring, causing the stone platform and figurines to crumble into dust.
• A white-robed young man appeared and identified himself as Blood Peak's Blood Son, demanding Lu Nan hand over his discovery.
• Lu Nan invoked his master Wu Bai's name, then pretended to trade a low-grade spirit sword for a green corpse puppet he claimed to have found in the stone coffin.
• Blood Son identified the green figure as a Golden Core peak corpse puppet that had been suppressed by Talismans.