Chapter Summaries

After escaping the Valley of Certain Death, the Three Great Merchant Associations were ambushed by Wu Chou and Wang Qing, who used puppets to lure Jiang Yao away and leave Qin Yuyan exposed. Jiang Xuansu intervened and drove the attackers into retreat with a devastating technique.

• Wu Chou and Wang Qing sent puppet doubles after the Three Great Merchant Associations, drawing Jiang Yao and several Dao God martial artists away from Qin Yuyan's group.
• Lin Bai sensed an ambush as the group hurried toward their rendezvous with Yun Xun, and Wu Chou and Wang Qing revealed themselves and demanded the Other Shore Flower.
• Wu Chou and Wang Qing attacked Qin Yuyan's depleted group, wounded Elder Chen, and broke through the defenders as they tried to seize her.
• Jiang Xuansu appeared before Qin Yuyan and sent Wu Chou and Wang Qing flying with a single punch.
• Jiang Xuansu unleashed Three Imprints of Eastern Arrival: Purple Qi Comes East, forcing Wu Chou and Wang Qing to flee as her enormous purple handprint crashed into the forest.

Jiang Xuansu and the merchant associations defeated the Wu and Wang families’ forces, allowing Qin Yuyan’s group to escape the Asura Battlefield with the Other Shore Flower. Lin Bai and Jiang Xuansu returned to the Sword Hiding Hermitage, where they found it safe after their harrowing journey.

• Yun Xun recognized Jiang Xuansu’s Three Imprints of Eastern Arrival and brought reinforcements to Qin Yuyan and Lin Bai.
• Jiang Yao and the merchant associations’ experts joined the battle, killing nearly all the Wu and Wang family martial artists while Wu Chou and Wang Qing escaped.
• Lin Bai urged the group to leave, and Qin Yuyan led the survivors out of the Asura Battlefield with the Other Shore Flower.
• Half a month later, Qin Yuyan returned to Qilin Town and offered to arrange payment for the surviving martial artists’ commissions.
• Lin Bai and Jiang Xuansu returned to the unharmed Sword Hiding Hermitage, where Li Yumen and Zhou Xi welcomed them.

Lin Bai returned to the Sword Hiding Hermitage, advanced his cultivation, and received Qin Pavilion’s commission for the Asura Battlefield mission. As the Sword Hiding Hermitage remained threatened by Young Master Lu and the Heng Province Alliance, Qin Yuyan offered an idea to help Lin Bai grow stronger quickly.

• Lin Bai learned that Sun Yao had left the Sword Hiding Hermitage to go adventuring, and he ordered Zhou Xi to find out where she had gone.
• Jiang Xuansu and Li Yumen left the Sword Hiding Hermitage, while Lin Bai entered secluded cultivation and reached the peak of the First-Grade Dao Venerable realm, mastering the Asura Dharma Eyes.
• Qin Yuyan gave Lin Bai ten bottles of Purple Cloud Pills and five hundred thousand Devil Orbs as his commission for helping Qin Pavilion retrieve the Other Shore Flower.
• Qin Yuyan told Lin Bai that Jiang Xuansu had received five hundred thousand Devil Orbs and a Bodhi Pearl from Qin Pavilion.
• Lin Bai said he had no good solution to the threats against the Sword Hiding Hermitage, and Qin Yuyan said she had an idea to help him raise his cultivation quickly.

Qin Yuyan explained how the Eternal Devil Sect’s Twin Star Pavilion of Heaven and Earth offered tasks and rewards that disciples could use to obtain cultivation resources. After she left, Lin Bai returned to his secret chamber and began refining a Purple Cloud Pill to improve his cultivation.

• Lin Bai teased Qin Yuyan about her previous advice leading him into danger, then apologized and asked her to explain the cultivation grounds.
• Qin Yuyan explained that the Eternal Devil Sect’s resources came mainly from tribute and were distributed through sect tasks and rewards.
• Qin Yuyan described the Terrestrial Star Pavilion’s varied tasks and the Celestial Star Pavilion’s dangerous sect-issued missions, which offered generous rewards.
• Qin Yuyan explained that both pavilions used contribution points and allowed martial artists to trade treasures, and Lin Bai thanked her for the guidance.
• Qin Yuyan left the Sword Hiding Hermitage at dusk, and Lin Bai returned to his secret chamber to refine a Purple Cloud Pill.

Lin Bai broke through to the Second-Grade Dao Venerable Realm but realized that relying on Purple Cloud Pills would make further advancement prohibitively expensive. While he and Zhou Xi entered secluded cultivation, an unidentified group slipped into the Sword Hiding Hermitage and headed into the Eighteenth Level of the Fire Domain.

• After consuming a hundred Purple Cloud Pills, Lin Bai reached the Second-Grade Dao Venerable Realm and worried that he would need at least five hundred pills to advance further.
• Lin Bai learned that Zhou Xi could not find Sun Yao and told him to keep searching, then gave him ten drops of Ten-Thousand Year Spirit Milk to help him break through to the Dao Venerable Realm.
• Lin Bai returned to secluded cultivation, and Zhou Xi prepared to do the same, leaving Liu Jiangxue to watch over the Sword Hiding Hermitage while she and Liu An'an waited for official disciple identities.
• Five days later, an unidentified group quietly entered the Sword Hiding Hermitage, evaded Lu Yuanshan and Liu Jiangxue, and traveled to the Eighteenth Level of the Fire Domain.
• The group used fire-warding treasures to enter the Fire Domain and flew toward its depths, noting that they would not have dared enter without the alliance's protection.

Lin Bai learned that the Fire Domain had erupted and rushed inside to find and stop the force driving the flames. He rescued a badly burned martial artist from the Heng Province Alliance, realizing the alliance was behind the eruption.

• Liu Jiangxue and Liu An'an saw the Fire Domain erupt and Gu Yuanshan warned Lin Bai that its flames could destroy the Sword Hiding Hermitage and threaten the Eternal Devil Sect.
• Lin Bai sent Liu Jiangxue and Gu Yuanshan to protect the others, then flew into the Fire Domain to find the awakened Flame Spirit.
• Inside the endless Fire Domain, Lin Bai sensed a force causing the flames to surge and flew toward its source.
• Lin Bai encountered a badly burned seventh-grade Dao Venerable and learned he was a martial artist from the Heng Province Alliance.
• Lin Bai realized the Heng Province Alliance was connected to the Fire Domain’s eruption.

Lin Bai learned that the Heng Province Alliance had sent martial artists to unseal the Flame Spirit and undermine his control of the Sword Hiding Hermitage. He confronted the Flame Spirit as it advanced toward the exit, leaving it wounded but still attacking.

• A burned Heng Province Alliance martial artist confessed that Vice-Alliance Leader Wu had ordered them to unseal the Flame Spirit and make Lin Bai seem unfit to manage the Sword Hiding Hermitage.
• Lin Bai sealed the martial artist's dantian and Dao Fruit in the passage, demanding that he testify against the alliance in exchange for his life.
• Lin Bai flew deeper into the fire region and encountered a hundred-foot-tall, bull-headed Flame Spirit whose flames rapidly drained spiritual power.
• The Flame Spirit attacked Lin Bai, who escaped its strike and watched it resume its march toward the fire region's exit.
• Lin Bai attacked the Flame Spirit with the Heaven and Earth Three Kill Sword Formation, breaking part of its earthen shell and drawing its furious counterattack.

Lin Bai discovered that the Flame Spirit was an undying Immortal that regenerated in the sea of fire and could not be killed by ordinary means. When it continued toward the exit after regenerating, Lin Bai sent his Azure Gourd toward it, hoping to contain it.

• Lin Bai realized the Flame Spirit could reform from the flames even after the Twenty-Four Sky Sword split it apart.
• Lin Bai lured the Flame Spirit deeper into the sea of fire, then used the Twenty-Four Sky Sword to shatter it and escape.
• Lin Bai watched from ten thousand miles away as the reborn Flame Spirit headed for the exit again.
• Lin Bai recalled that his Azure Gourd had contained the Burial River water and sent it above the Flame Spirit to try to capture it.

Lin Bai used the Azure Gourd to capture the Flame Spirit and learned that a Heng Province Alliance disciple had released it. Li Mojun ordered an investigation and warned Lin Bai that the Alliance would target him as he moved against it, but Lin Bai said they were already irreconcilable.

• Lin Bai summoned the Azure Gourd and sucked the Flame Spirit into it, ending the danger to the Sword Hiding Hermitage.
• Li Mojun arrived and learned from Lin Bai that a Heng Province Alliance martial artist had broken the Flame Spirit's seal.
• The captured disciple confessed that Vice-Alliance Leader Wu had sent him, and Li Mojun ordered the elders to take him to the Punishment Hall alive.
• Li Mojun told Lin Bai that the Heng Province Alliance would retaliate against him once Li Mojun acted against it.
• Lin Bai said he had nothing to fear because the Heng Province Alliance would not leave him alone even if he did not strike first.

Lin Bai restored order at Sword Hiding Hermitage, gave Zhou Xi and Liu Jiangxue entry tokens for the inner sect, and studied the Azure Gourd without uncovering its full power. Summoned to Eternal Palace, he learned that Heng Province Alliance denied responsibility for releasing the Flame Spirit, and he recognized that they were sacrificing a pawn.

• Lin Bai ordered Zhou Xi and Liu Jiangxue to restore the southern mountains and monitor the fire domain, then gave Liu Jiangxue jade tokens so the sisters could register as inner disciples.
• Lin Bai examined the Azure Gourd for several days but discovered only how to use it to contain rivers and flames.
• An elder summoned Lin Bai to Eternal Palace, where Sect Master Li Mojun had assembled the elders and Heng Province Alliance experts over the fire domain incident.
• Li Mojun asked Lin Bai for his opinion, and Lin Bai urged him not to spare those who deserved to die.
• Heng Province Alliance denied ordering the culprit to release the Flame Spirit, and Lin Bai recognized that they were sacrificing a pawn to protect their leaders.

Lin Bai confronted Vice-Alliance Leader Wu after Wu denied that the Heng Province Alliance had ordered the attack in the Fire Domain. Lin Bai turned Wu’s accusation that he had colluded with the kneeling martial artist into grounds to execute the man and accept his confession as proof.

• Vice-Alliance Leader Wu claimed the Heng Province Alliance had not ordered the attack and suggested Lin Bai had staged it to frame the alliance.
• Lin Bai mocked Wu and asked the kneeling martial artist whether the Heng Province Alliance’s higher-ups had ordered him to release the Flame Spirit’s seal.
• Li Mojun revealed that the martial artist had confessed in the Punishment Hall and that an Image Recording Pearl and written confession existed.
• Lin Bai demanded that the martial artist be executed and his soul refined, arguing that his willingness to kill the supposed accomplice proved they had no connection.
• Li Mojun agreed that the confession could be trusted and ordered two elders to take the martial artist to the Punishment Hall for execution.

Zhu Yuan exposed Vice-Alliance Leader Wu’s schemes against Lin Bai and the Sword Hiding Hermitage before Sect Master Li Mojun. Li Mojun accepted Zhu Yuan’s testimony, leaving Wu unable to clear himself.

• Vice-Alliance Leader Wu stayed silent as Zhu Yuan begged him to plead for his life, so Zhu Yuan returned to the hall and agreed to reveal the truth in exchange for a swift death.
• Zhu Yuan identified himself as a trusted confidant of Vice-Alliance Leader Wu and testified that Wu had ordered him and eight others to release the Flame Spirit in the Sword Hiding Hermitage’s fire region.
• Zhu Yuan described Wu’s attempts to seize the Sword Hiding Hermitage’s treasures and his orders to hunt down Zhou Xi and Sun Yao in Shan Province.
• Zhu Yuan recounted Wu’s efforts to pressure Lin Bai through the Lian Province Alliance and listed further crimes by Wu and the Heng Province Alliance.
• Li Mojun accepted Zhu Yuan’s testimony, while Vice-Alliance Leader Wu grew pale and trembled with fury.

Zhu Yuan accused Vice-Alliance Leader Wu and the Heng Province Alliance of framing him and Lin Bai, prompting Lin Bai to demand their deaths and denounce the sect leadership for shielding them. Li Mojun rejected Lin Bai’s demand and called for further investigation, leaving their confrontation unresolved.

• Zhu Yuan, convinced Vice-Alliance Leader Wu had abandoned him, accused Wu and the Heng Province Alliance of wrongdoing.
• Vice-Alliance Leader Wu denied the accusations and invoked the martial artists of Heng Province to pressure Li Mojun into leniency.
• Lin Bai challenged Wu’s appeal to Heng Province’s influence and warned that the province might seek to replace the Eternal Devil Sect.
• Lin Bai demanded that Wu and the Heng Province Alliance be punished with death, but Li Mojun and the elders favored an investigation.
• Lin Bai accused Li Mojun and the Second Elder of shielding Wu and insulted Li Mojun’s judgment, enraging the Sect Master.

Lin Bai pressured Li Mojun to punish Vice-Alliance Leader Wu, but Li Mojun imprisoned Wu rather than risk conflict with the Heng Province Alliance and ordered Zhu Yuan executed. After Zhu Yuan died, Lin Bai withdrew to fish, where Qin Yuyan and Jiang Xuansu arrived to discuss the matter with him.

• Lin Bai apologized for speaking harshly and left Li Mojun to decide Vice-Alliance Leader Wu's fate.
• Li Mojun imprisoned Vice-Alliance Leader Wu at Contemplation Cliff for ten years and ordered Zhu Yuan to be given a quick death.
• Zhu Yuan mocked Li Mojun for fearing the Eight Great Noble Families of Heng Province, then severed his heart meridian and died.
• Lin Bai returned to Sword Hiding Hermitage and spent two days fishing beside Moon Gazing Pond.
• Qin Yuyan and Jiang Xuansu arrived to meet Lin Bai, who sent Zhou Xi away so they could talk.

Lin Bai explained to Jiang Xuansu and Qin Yuyan why he had pushed the Sect Master to kill Vice-Alliance Leader Wu: he believed the Heng Province Alliance and the Eight Great Noble Families were preparing to strike once Murong Chuan emerged from seclusion. He urged them to warn their superiors and investigate the families’ intentions, leaving the next move to the Eternal Devil Sect.

• Jiang Xuansu and Qin Yuyan challenged Lin Bai for forcing the Sect Master to confront Vice-Alliance Leader Wu in the Eternal Palace.
• Qin Yuyan confirmed that Vice-Alliance Leader Wu had been sentenced to ten years at the Contemplation Cliff, and Lin Bai predicted he would be released within half a year.
• Lin Bai warned that Murong Chuan would soon emerge from seclusion and that the Heng Province Alliance and Eight Great Noble Families were waiting for his return.
• Lin Bai argued that sparing Vice-Alliance Leader Wu had shown weakness and could embolden the Eight Great Noble Families to attack the Eternal Devil Sect.
• Lin Bai asked Jiang Xuansu and Qin Yuyan to relay his warning and investigate Murong Chuan’s emergence and the families’ hidden preparations.

Murong Chuan emerged from eleven years of seclusion without breaking through to the Great Purity Dao Fruit and learned of the Heng Province Alliance’s recent clashes with the Sword Hiding Hermitage. The Eternal Devil Sect’s leaders discussed a plan to test the Alliance’s limits in the Eternal Trial, while Jiang Xuansu warned that the Eight Great Noble Families of Heng Province might soon make a major move.

• Murong Chuan emerged from Butterfly Spring and learned that Lin Bai and Qing Luo had dealt serious blows to the Heng Province Alliance.
• Murong Chuan returned to the Alliance, punished members who had violated the sect’s iron laws, and sent them to the Punishment Hall.
• Li Mojun told the Ancestor that Murong Chuan had emerged from seclusion, and the Ancestor urged him to suppress the Heng Province martial artists before they were ready.
• Li Mojun proposed opening the Eternal Trial in two months and arranging for Heng Province Alliance participants to be assassinated there.
• Jiang Xuansu told Li Mojun that Qing Luo held no grudge but expected the Eight Great Noble Families of Heng Province to make a major move after Murong Chuan’s return.

Murong Chuan visited Lin Bai at the Sword Hiding Hermitage to mend relations between the Heng Province Alliance and Lin Bai, but Lin Bai carefully rejected his political overtures. The chapter ended with Murong Chuan presenting a gift to Lin Bai.

• Lin Bai predicted Murong Chuan's visit and calmly received him and Old Mei at Moon Gazing Pond.
• Murong Chuan praised the Sword Hiding Hermitage and apologized for the Heng Province Alliance's past conduct, while Lin Bai feigned ignorance of any conflict.
• Murong Chuan proposed becoming sworn brothers, but Lin Bai declined, explaining that his clashes with the Heng Province Alliance would harm Murong Chuan's standing.
• Murong Chuan invited Lin Bai to join forces with him, but Lin Bai said he preferred to fish and live quietly at the Sword Hiding Hermitage.
• Murong Chuan offered Lin Bai a gift to congratulate him and apologize for the Heng Province Alliance's decisions.

Murong Chuan gave Lin Bai a jade token for the Eternal Trial and explained the secret realm’s dangers, while Lin Bai suspected the gift might be a trap. After discovering that Jiang Xuansu had been watching their meeting, Murong Chuan ordered that Lin Bai be killed if an opportunity arose in the trial.

• Murong Chuan explained that the Eternal Trial was a dangerous secret realm where entrants’ cultivation was suppressed and handed Lin Bai a jade token to enter.
• Lin Bai wondered whether Murong Chuan had given him the token to create a chance to kill him in the secret realm.
• Murong Chuan told Mei Qing to avoid further entanglement with Sword Hiding Hermitage and admitted he feared a direct fight with Lin Bai would cost the Heng Province Alliance dearly.
• Murong Chuan sensed someone had watched them and returned with Mei Qing to identify the watcher as Holy Daughter Jiang Xuansu.
• Murong Chuan inferred that Lin Bai was connected to the Church Leader and ordered Mei Qing to kill Lin Bai if the chance arose during the Eternal Trial.

Murong Chuan decided Lin Bai was a threat and planned to kill him during the Eternal Trial. Jiang Xuansu confronted Lin Bai over his apparent willingness to reconcile with Murong Chuan, but Lin Bai argued that the Eternal Devil Sect should strike the Heng Province Alliance now, before its chance passed.

• Murong Chuan concluded that Lin Bai had become favored by the sect master and resolved to eliminate him in the Eternal Trial.
• After Murong Chuan left, Zhou Xi told Lin Bai that Jiang Xuansu had arrived, and Lin Bai allowed her to enter.
• Jiang Xuansu dismissed Murong Chuan's jade token as worthless to the Heng Province Alliance, while Lin Bai explained that it was valuable to him because he needed resources.
• Lin Bai told Jiang Xuansu that he was angry with the sect's leaders for allowing the Heng Province Alliance to grow and said he would not follow them into ruin.
• Jiang Xuansu warned that defeating the alliance could exhaust the Eternal Devil Sect, but Lin Bai argued that the Crimson Moon Divine Sect was no immediate threat and that the sect should seize its current chance to act.

Lin Bai argued that the Eternal Devil Sect had to strike the Heng Province Alliance before it was ready, and he bet Jiang Xuansu that the alliance would not retaliate after the Eternal Trial. He left convinced Jiang Xuansu would lose and furious at Sect Master Li Mojun for abandoning him and the sect’s chance to act.

• Lin Bai told Jiang Xuansu that Murong Chuan would restrain the Eight Great Noble Families of Heng Province until they were ready to fight the Eternal Devil Sect.
• Lin Bai and Jiang Xuansu bet on whether the families would send troops against the sect within three months after the Eternal Trial; the loser would do three things for the winner without refusing.
• Lin Bai offered one hundred drops of Ten-Thousand Year Spirit Milk, but Jiang Xuansu made him accept the same three-task wager she had proposed.
• After Jiang Xuansu left, Lin Bai reflected on Li Mojun’s retreat at the Eternal Palace, which had left him exposed and filled him with anger.
• Lin Bai blamed the Eternal Devil Sect’s leaders for repeatedly choosing stability and allowing the Heng Province Alliance to grow powerful.