Chapter Summaries

Lin Bai and his companions entered the Poison God Family’s ancestral grounds, where Elder Li explained the family’s small and dwindling numbers and warned them about its Five Young Lords. Lin Bai learned that the woman who killed Xia Qiu had been brought back three days earlier, but Elder Li did not know what the family would do with her.

• Elder Li led Lin Bai and the others through the Poison God Family’s guest grounds and explained that the family had only nine thousand disciples because its own poisons and poisonous creatures killed many of them.
• Elder Li revealed that Xia Qiu had been one of the Six Young Lords and warned the visitors not to provoke Mo Qing, Bai Qing, Gou Chen, Li Wen, or San Le, who were now the Five Young Lords.
• Elder Li said Ninth Elder had captured the woman who killed Xia Qiu and brought her back to the family three days earlier.
• When Xu Li questioned whether a sixth-level Apex Realm expert counted among the Poison God Family’s higher-ups, Elder Li told him he greatly underestimated the family.

Lin Bai settled into the Poison God Family’s Guest Elder Residence, learned how to survive its poisonous environment, and studied a map marking the forbidden Ten Thousand Poisons Cave. He then learned that the woman captured by the Ninth Elder was imprisoned on the cave’s ninth level, where she would likely remain while the family negotiated with the Seventeenth Prince.

• Elder Li registered Lin Bai and the other martial artists, gave them Green Pills, a map, and a tome, and said the Seventeenth Prince’s banquet would likely happen within a month.
• Lin Bai found the Guest Elder Residence overrun with poisonous creatures and cleared them from a courtyard using his spiritual power.
• Lin Bai studied the tome and map, learned about the dangers of the Myriad Poisons Mountain Range, and noticed the Ten Thousand Poisons Cave was forbidden to guest elders.
• Lin Bai met Xu Li, who told him that the woman captured by the Ninth Elder was imprisoned on the ninth level of the Ten Thousand Poisons Cave while the Poison God Family negotiated with the Seventeenth Prince.

Lin Bai secretly entered the Ten Thousand Poisons Cave to scout a path toward rescuing Ye Suxin and returning her to East Continent. He reached the first level and searched for the entrance to the second.

• Lin Bai told Xu Li he was not interested in the Seventeenth Prince’s banquet, then returned to his courtyard and planned to scout the Ten Thousand Poisons Cave.
• After nightfall, Lin Bai disguised himself and traveled to No Regret Cliff, where he found the grotto entrance to the Ten Thousand Poisons Cave.
• Lin Bai protected himself with Three-Colored Divine Lightning and crossed a barrier into the cave’s first level, a world-within-a-world.
• Lin Bai searched for the passage to the second level and killed a flock of poisonous birds that attacked him.

Lin Bai crossed the levels of Ten Thousand Poisons Cave and reached Star-Slaying City on the eighth level, where he encountered Gou Chen. After learning that Lin Bai had entered the cave, Gou Chen set out to confront him.

• A Mountain Poison Beast reported to the old man that a first-level Apex Realm martial artist had entered Ten Thousand Poisons Cave, and the old man explained to Gou Chen that the Poison God Family faced a major decision over the Seventeenth Prince.
• Gou Chen volunteered to deal with the intruder, and the old man agreed that he could go.
• Lin Bai tested the teleportation array on the first level, then traveled through the cave’s levels until he reached the eighth level.
• Lin Bai explored the ancient Star-Slaying City, where Gou Chen approached and described its history and the Inviting Moon City on the ninth level.
• Lin Bai asked the white-robed youth who he was, and the youth identified himself as Gou Chen.

Lin Bai confronted Gou Chen in the Ten Thousand Poisons Cave, where Gou Chen trapped him with swarms of Flame Ants and attacked him with a fiery bird. Lin Bai was blasted into the ancient city, leaving his fate uncertain as Gou Chen approached through the flames.

• Gou Chen recognized Lin Bai as a newly arrived Guest Elder and declared that trespassing in the Ten Thousand Poisons Cave was a capital offense.
• Gou Chen unleashed tens of thousands of Flame Ants from beneath the street, and Lin Bai destroyed the attackers with Three-Colored Divine Lightning.
• Lin Bai realized the Flame Ants were sealing every escape route and carved a path through them with his sword.
• Gou Chen sent a huge fiery bird after Lin Bai as he attempted to break free.
• The bird’s flames struck Lin Bai and smashed him into the ancient city, destroying half of it, while Gou Chen entered the flames to confront him.

Lin Bai fought Gou Chen in the ancient city, surviving his Heavenly Might Poison Fire Finger and discovering that the Flame Bird was Gou Chen’s true-nature poison creature. Lin Bai wounded the Flame Bird and moved to kill Gou Chen, but a rust-covered embroidered sword suddenly blocked his strike.

• Lin Bai survived the Flame Bird’s flames and Gou Chen’s attack, then struck Gou Chen with Sword Qi when he tried to remove Lin Bai’s mask.
• Gou Chen summoned the Flame Bird and turned the city’s flames black, sending a black dragon and the bird to attack Lin Bai.
• Lin Bai destroyed the black dragon and severed one of the Flame Bird’s wings with a strike using Ninth-Level Sword Intent.
• Lin Bai realized the Flame Bird was Gou Chen’s true-nature poison creature and prepared to kill the wounded Gou Chen.
• A rust-covered embroidered sword appeared and blocked Lin Bai’s strike just before it reached Gou Chen’s throat.

Lin Bai reached the teleportation array on the eighth level while avoiding Mo Qing, who had come to save Gou Chen. He revealed enough sword intent to sever Mo Qing’s Poison Dragon Vine and escaped to the ninth level, leaving Mo Qing determined to pursue him.

• Mo Qing appeared in time to block Lin Bai from killing Gou Chen, and Gou Chen warned him that Lin Bai’s swordsmanship rivaled Su Tingzong’s.
• Mo Qing attacked Lin Bai with a Poison Dragon Vine, which proved hard enough to shatter Lin Bai’s sword.
• Lin Bai avoided fighting Mo Qing because he considered him a friend and brother, while Gou Chen realized Lin Bai was trying to reach the teleportation array.
• Lin Bai formed a blade from his sword intent, severed the Poison Dragon Vine, and entered the teleportation array to the ninth level.
• Gou Chen prepared to alert his master, but Mo Qing told him to leave Lin Bai to him.

Lin Bai searched Inviting Moon City for Ye Suxin and discovered a hidden compound containing the remains of thousands of martial artists and a statue bearing a cryptic warning. As he examined the carved words, a young man approached him from behind.

• Mo Qing stopped Gou Chen from notifying his master and entered the ninth level alone.
• Lin Bai arrived in Inviting Moon City and searched the city, but found no martial artists or trace of Ye Suxin.
• Lin Bai spotted a concealed formation and used his Martial Soul Secret Method to reveal a hidden compound before it vanished again.
• Lin Bai entered the compound and found its grounds covered with the bones of thousands of martial artists.
• Lin Bai discovered a statue with scattered words carved on its back, including references to the Poison God Family, revenge, and hatred.
• A young man in blue carrying a painting tube approached Lin Bai from behind as Lin Bai apologized for severing his Poison Dragon Vine.

Lin Bai reunited with Mo Qing in the Ten Thousand Poisons Cave and explained why he had come to the Poison God Family to search for Ye Suxin. Mo Qing helped him search the ninth level and revealed that the meaning of the Poison God Family’s Third Generation Disciples remained a mystery, though Zhao Yue might know more.

• Lin Bai revealed his identity to Mo Qing, who apologized for being unable to contact him while he was in secluded cultivation.
• Lin Bai recounted his journey and explained that he had come to the Poison God Family to investigate Ye Suxin’s imprisonment and his fight with Gou Chen.
• Mo Qing released a Bewitching Butterfly to spread pollen across the ninth level and help locate Ye Suxin.
• Mo Qing told Lin Bai that he and other Poison God Family prodigies were Third Generation Disciples, a designation that had also applied to figures such as Zhao Yue in earlier eras.
• Mo Qing said the family elders claimed the title referred to talent rankings, but he suspected that explanation concealed the truth and suggested Zhao Yue might know more.

Mo Qing revealed that Zhao Yue was the Moon God Tribe’s heir and that the Poison God Family issued an unprecedented bounty after she fled. Unable to find Ye Suxin in the ninth level, Lin Bai decided to seek the Ninth Elder at the Seventeenth Prince’s banquet.

• Mo Qing told Lin Bai that Zhao Yue had been the Moon God Tribe’s young chieftain and the first heir, and that the Poison God Family had placed a massive bounty on her after she escaped.
• Mo Qing explained that he had discovered the ruined Lin family residence in Inviting Moon City and believed the bones there belonged to Zhao Yue’s family, though he did not know what had destroyed them or brought the cities into the Ten Thousand Poisons Cave.
• Mo Qing used his Bewitching Butterfly to search the ninth level but found no trace of Ye Suxin, so Lin Bai concluded she was likely imprisoned elsewhere.
• Mo Qing warned Lin Bai that reaching the reclusive Ninth Elder would be difficult and dangerous, but suggested the Seventeenth Prince’s banquet might give him a chance to meet him.
• Lin Bai agreed that attending the banquet was their best option for finding the Ninth Elder.

Lin Bai left the Ten Thousand Poisons Cave without finding Ye Suxin and learned that Mo Qing’s Poison Dragon Vine multiplied whenever it was severed. Back at the Guest Elder Residence, Lin Bai learned the Seventeenth Prince’s banquet would be held on the fifteenth day of the seventh month and realized how many Southern Continent experts might gather under the prince’s influence.

• Mo Qing explained that Lin Bai’s attack had not harmed him because his Poison Dragon Vine multiplied when severed, and he had suppressed its growth after recognizing Lin Bai.
• Lin Bai and Mo Qing left No Regret Cliff; Mo Qing returned to explain matters to Gou Chen, while Lin Bai went back to the Guest Elder Residence.
• Lin Bai found no trace of Ye Suxin in the Ten Thousand Poisons Cave and decided to wait for the banquet to seek the Ninth Elder.
• Xu Li told Lin Bai that he had learned the Seventeenth Prince’s banquet would take place on the fifteenth day of the seventh month.
• Xu Li said more than a hundred Apex Realm guest elders had already arrived and predicted that over a thousand would gather; Lin Bai calculated how the Seventeenth Prince could gain control over most of Southern Continent’s experts.

Lin Bai learned that the Seventeenth Prince's banquet would be held at Cloudpeak Mountain on July 15, and he set out with Xu Li to attend. Along the way, Lin Bai remained focused on finding Ye Suxin and wondered about Xu Li's interest in the gathered experts.

• Lin Bai watched Apex Realm experts gather at the Poison God Family and noticed Xu Li visiting many of them.
• Lin Bai studied the Soul Refining Banner and managed to command around a hundred Silver Souls, but could not communicate with its Gold Soul.
• A poisonous snake delivered Elder Li's message that the banquet would begin in five days at Cloudpeak Mountain and that Apex Realm guest elders could attend.
• After cultivating for five days, Lin Bai left for the banquet and encountered Xu Li, who offered to travel with him.
• Lin Bai told Xu Li he was not interested in pledging allegiance to the Seventeenth Prince, and Xu Li said he was in no hurry because talent would draw attention on its own.

Lin Bai and Xu Li attended a banquet at Cloudpeak Mountain, where they learned about the guests’ seating arrangements and the powerful figures expected to attend. They reached the summit and wondered which martial artist from the Southern Continent’s Ancestral Temple had been invited as an honored guest.

• Lin Bai and Xu Li arrived at Cloudpeak Mountain and saw that Mo Wenshen’s sword strike had flattened its summit.
• Xu Li identified Mo Wenshen as the likely swordsman and described him as a powerful former member of the Peach Mountain Eighteen Immortals.
• San Le welcomed Lin Bai and Xu Li at the summit and explained that Serpent-Marked, Python-Marked, and Dragon-Marked Tables were reserved for different guests.
• Xu Li suggested that the Poison God Family’s honored guest was likely from the Southern Continent’s Ancestral Temple and wondered whether it was the Unseeing Celestial Sovereign or the Undeaf Celestial Sovereign.
• Lin Bai asked Xu Li what a Celestial Sovereign was.

Xu Li explained the Eternal Tablet and the two mysterious Celestial Sovereigns said to guard it in the Ancestral Temple. As the Poison God Family’s banquet gathered the Southern Continent’s strongest factions, Yu Ru and the Seventeenth Prince arrived.

• Xu Li told Lin Bai that the Eternal Tablet had resisted attempts by powerful factions, including the Central Sacred Nation, and that two Quasi-Dao Realm Celestial Sovereigns were believed to guard it.
• Lin Bai and Xu Li sat at Serpent-Marked Tables and cautiously sampled the Poison God Family’s food and wine.
• Xu Li pointed out that Su Yongfei and the Sword Pavilion Tribe envoys had to sit among ordinary martial artists, while Yan Long of the Earth Emperor Tribe appeared untroubled.
• Lin Bai and Xu Li discussed how the gathering of the Ancestral Temple, Poison God Family, Earth Emperor Tribe, and Sword Pavilion Tribe could foreshadow upheaval across the world.
• Yu Ru, the Poison God Family’s patriarch, arrived with the Seventeenth Prince and dozens of powerful figures.

At the Poison God Family’s banquet on Cloudpeak Mountain, Shangguan Cun arrived as the Ancestral Temple’s representative and openly traded insults with the Seventeenth Prince and Mo Wenshen. The chapter ended with Shangguan Cun accusing Mo Wenshen of selling out his master for glory and shamelessly becoming the Central Sacred Nation’s dog.

• Yu Ru and the Seventeenth Prince took their seats and discussed the absent representatives of the Ancestral Temple in the Southern Province.
• Shangguan Cun arrived late, and Lin Bai recognized him from the True Monarch of Myriad Treasures’s birthday celebration.
• The Seventeenth Prince and Shangguan Cun exchanged pointed remarks about each other’s status and expectations.
• Mo Wenshen challenged Shangguan Cun over his disrespect toward the Seventeenth Prince and the Central Sacred Nation.
• Shangguan Cun mocked Mo Wenshen for selling out his master and becoming a dog of the Central Sacred Nation.

At the Seventeenth Prince’s banquet, the Seventeenth Prince asked Southern Province’s martial artists to submit to his leadership, while the Poison God Family was pressed to declare its position. Shangguan Cun said a great calamity was coming to Southern Province and that the Poison God Family’s choice would make no difference.

• Shangguan Cun provoked Mo Wenshen, but Yu Ru warned the Seventeenth Prince’s party not to antagonize the Ancestral Temple of Southern Province, and Mo Wenshen sat down.
• The Seventeenth Prince asked the martial artists of Southern Province to follow him and protect the region, while Lin Bai recognized his hidden political aims.
• Most of the Apex Realm martial artists stayed silent, and Su Yongfei pressed the Poison God Family to state its position.
• The Seventeenth Prince demanded an answer from Yu Ru, while Lin Bai noticed Xu Li was especially tense about the family’s decision.
• Yu Ru asked Shangguan Cun for the Ancestral Temple’s view, and Shangguan Cun said the decision did not matter because a great calamity threatened Southern Province.

At the Poison God Family's decision banquet, Shangguan Cun warned that an unknown catastrophe would devastate Southern Province, but Yu Ru still agreed to ally with the Seventeenth Prince. After the martial artists pledged their support, Lin Bai followed the Ninth Elder away from Cloudpeak Mountain and demanded to know where Ye Suxin was.

• Shangguan Cun warned that an imminent catastrophe would shatter Southern Province and claim anyone who entered it, including the Seventeenth Prince's troops.
• Yu Ru accepted the Seventeenth Prince's request for the Poison God Family's support, and the gathered Apex Realm martial artists pledged to follow him.
• The Ninth Elder left the banquet after speaking with the Seventeenth Prince, and Lin Bai noticed him departing.
• Lin Bai said goodbye to Xu Li, pursued the Ninth Elder on his flying sword, and asked where his fiancée, Ye Suxin, was.

Lin Bai confronted the Ninth Elder about Ye Suxin, who claimed she had been eaten by poisonous creatures in the Ten Thousand Poisons Cave. Lin Bai refused to believe him and attacked when the Ninth Elder tried to leave, drawing the attention of everyone on Cloudtop Peak.

• Lin Bai stopped the Ninth Elder and demanded to know where Ye Suxin was.
• The Ninth Elder said Ye Suxin had disappeared from the cave, showed Lin Bai her bloodstained clothing, and claimed a Poison King had killed her.
• Lin Bai rejected the Ninth Elder’s account and demanded that the Poison God Family find and hand over Ye Suxin.
• The Ninth Elder turned to leave, so Lin Bai attacked him with his wooden sword.
• The Ninth Elder broke Lin Bai’s sword strike with his Apex Realm cultivation, and the clash drew the attention of the martial artists on Cloudtop Peak.

Lin Bai demanded that the Poison God Family produce Ye Suxin, rejecting their claim that she had died in the Ten Thousand Poisons Cave. After they refused, he left with a one-month deadline to return and flatten the family if they could not show him Ye Suxin.

• The Seventeenth Prince, Yu Ru, and other martial artists gathered after sensing the Ninth Elder clashing with Lin Bai.
• The Ninth Elder told Yu Ru that Lin Bai was Ye Suxin’s fiancé and claimed she had died in the Ten Thousand Poisons Cave.
• Yu Ru offered compensation and urged Lin Bai to let the matter go, but Lin Bai demanded to see Ye Suxin alive or see her corpse.
• Yu Ru ordered Lin Bai driven out, and Lin Bai announced he would return in one month if the Poison God Family had not handed over Ye Suxin.
• Lin Bai threatened to flatten the Poison God Family, while its members dismissed his warning and Shangguan Cun feared a calamity had begun.

Lin Bai left the Myriad Poisons Mountain Range and gave the Poison God Family one month to find Ye Suxin, but discovered they were ignoring his demand. As the family’s disciples began carrying out their plans for the Seventeenth Prince, Lin Bai appeared before a group of them with his wooden sword.

• Lin Bai threatened to split open the Myriad Poisons Mountain Range and gave the Poison God Family one month to find Ye Suxin.
• Lin Bai tried to make the Gold Soul obey him, and the Gold Soul roared when he threatened to destroy the Soul Refining Banner.
• The Seventeenth Prince and Mo Wenshen left the Poison God Family, and the guest elders departed to prepare for the Seventeenth Prince’s undertaking.
• The shop assistant told Lin Bai that the Poison God Family was not searching for Ye Suxin and that Mo Qing had disappeared.
• Lin Bai vowed to make the Poison God Family take his demand seriously and vanished from the Fated Inn after dusk.
• A group of Poison God Family disciples leaving the mountain came upon Lin Bai, who stood before them in white robes with a wooden sword.