Chapter Summaries

Lu Sheng stunned the Thousand Sun Sect with Crimson Jade Rank results and was escorted to a secret realm for a final screening to become a true disciple. Meanwhile, Wang Yunlong offered to help Cheng Ling pass the tests, and Fei Bailing discovered that Fei Qingqing had vanished.

• Lu Sheng shattered the Amber Stone with his sword strike, crossed the speed-test course in two breaths, and earned Crimson Jade Rank aptitude.
• The testers rushed to notify sect leaders, while Wang Yunlong told Cheng Ling he could teach her techniques to pass the assessment.
• An elder brought Lu Sheng to the sect headquarters and ordered him escorted to a secret realm for a final screening.
• At the Fei Family estate, Fei Qingqing promised Fei Bailing information about Inspector Xu if she played hide-and-seek.
• Fei Bailing turned around after agreeing to play and found Fei Qingqing had disappeared.

Fei Bailing searched the eerie Fei residence for her younger sister, Fei Qingqing, and encountered ghostly children before Qingqing vanished into the darkness. Meanwhile, Lu Sheng sensed an unusual aura, then traveled with Thousand Sun Sect Elder Zhang Shilong to Incense Burning Temple for the next selection test.

• Fei Bailing followed Fei Qingqing through the nearly deserted residence, where the younger girl repeatedly ran ahead during their game of hide-and-seek.
• Fei Bailing found a group of children repeating her question in fixed voices, then saw Fei Qingqing disappear as the children vanished and night fell.
• Fei Bailing searched the empty courtyards for Qingqing and decided to return to her residence to summon her father and ask what had happened.
• Lu Sheng sensed an unusual aura above the county city, bathed, and rested in the courtyard where he was staying after the first day's tests.
• Elder Zhang Shilong escorted Lu Sheng by carriage to Incense Burning Temple, explaining that the county branch sect both selected candidates and protected the city.

Lu Sheng and four other candidates entered Black Seal Temple’s secret realm to ring the Nether Bell and escape within six hours. After learning that they had to proceed independently, Lu Sheng broke through a courtyard wall and set off alone as blind monks began pursuing the candidates.

• Zhang Shilong introduced Lu Sheng to Yangming Army Captain Li Jinglong before leading him and the other candidates into the temple.
• The five candidates found themselves in a decayed, dusk-lit version of Black Seal Temple, where Song Du explained the Midnight Bell Striker and the need to ring the Nether Bell.
• Lu Sheng revealed his Crimson Jade evaluation, and a mission slip appeared, requiring each candidate to act alone and escape within six hours.
• Song Du and the other candidates left through an arched gate, while Lu Sheng shattered a courtyard wall with his blade and headed toward the marked destination.
• Blind, bloodied monks emerged from the main hall and split into groups to pursue the candidates.

Lu Sheng explored the outside world, defeated its inhabitants, and collected a pale-blue gemstone needed for his mission to ring the Nether Bell. An inspector tried to steer him away from a gemstone reserved for Song Du, but as black monks swarmed Lu Sheng, Song Du took it and escaped.

• Lu Sheng touched a sapphire in a plaza statue, summoned wolf-headed monsters, and killed them before extracting the cracked gemstone with help from the note’s white light.
• Lu Sheng tracked a figure into a building, where he killed three outsiders who attacked him and found several milky-white stones on their bodies.
• Lu Sheng followed the note toward the Nether Bell and reached a second statue with a blue gemstone in its forehead.
• An inspector urged Lu Sheng to leave the gemstone for another route, but Lu Sheng guessed it had been prepared for a test participant and refused to back down.
• Black monks attacked Lu Sheng, while the inspector used the fight as cover for Song Du to take the statue’s gemstone and flee.

Lu Sheng escaped the Black Monks, defeated the Inspector, and collected the three sapphires needed to ring the Nether Bell. Back in Autumn Moon County, he learned that Great Yin was still exploring the bleak world containing Black Seal Temple while its forces focused on the Devil Emperor.

• Lu Sheng burst out of the Black Monks’ embrace, discovered the sapphire was gone, and attacked the Inspector after suspecting he had lied.
• Lu Sheng battered the Inspector, then left when his paper slip lit up; the Inspector escaped as a powerful monster approached.
• Lu Sheng avoided the monster, took the sapphire from the second Nether Hammer, and tricked the three-headed wolfman guarding the third into giving him an opening to seize its sapphire.
• Lu Sheng threw all three sapphires at the Nether Bell, rang it, and vanished in a ring of light.
• An armored man told Lu Sheng his test results needed review and explained that Black Seal Temple was part of an outer world Great Yin was still exploring.
• The armored man said exploration had stalled because the Devil Emperor’s unusual movements had drawn the frontline forces’ attention, and urged Lu Sheng to find an Elder and report anything unusual on future visits.

After Lu Sheng’s test, the Song Family apologized for the examiner’s interference and compensated him with a Purple Ying Pearl. Lu Sheng considered how to advance beyond his current bottleneck and concluded that earning Devil Gold to acquire a Divine Weapon Shard and develop a new bloodline might be his best path.

• Lu Sheng told Zhang Shilong that an examiner had interfered with his test, and Zhang Shilong warned him that the Song Family was powerful and advised him not to provoke them.
• The injured examiner reported that Lu Sheng had nearly stolen the young master’s gemstone, but the silver-robed man ordered him to endure the matter and avoid confronting Lu Sheng again.
• The silver-robed man sent Song Lingbo to apologize to Lu Sheng and explore the possibility of cooperation with him.
• Song Lingbo visited Lu Sheng, offered compensation, and received his assurance that he was open to working with the Song Family.
• Lu Sheng opened the compensation box and found a Purple Ying Pearl, a valuable form of currency exchangeable for Devil Gold.
• While bathing, Lu Sheng assessed his cultivation bottleneck and considered using Devil Gold to buy a Divine Weapon Shard and obtain a stronger bloodline.

Lu Sheng entered the Secret Realm and used the Modifier to raise the Chunyang Spirit Stabilization Art from the Third Layer to the Sixth Layer, absorbing essence qi on an enormous scale. His cultivation disturbed Su Ningfei, who had been absorbing essence qi in a hidden cave beneath the lake, and she rose to confront the unseen source.

• Lu Sheng learned that he, Song Du, and Ma Sangjiu had passed the test and were to enter the Secret Realm for a final examination.
• Zhang Shilong and two elders sent Lu Sheng, Song Du, and Ma Sangjiu through the Ten Thousand Horses Copper Array into the Secret Realm.
• Song Du and Ma Sangjiu left Lu Sheng alone after advising him to remain in the Secret Realm and make use of the secluded seniors there.
• Lu Sheng found a lake and used the Modifier to raise the Chunyang Spirit Stabilization Art to the Fourth, Fifth, and then Sixth Layer.
• Su Ningfei sensed Lu Sheng’s escalating absorption of essence qi, and when it tore away her pillar of essence qi, she rose from her cave with gray-black roots beneath her skirt.

Lu Sheng encountered Su Ningfei, a powerful expert who had been searching for someone interfering with her essence qi absorption. After Su Ningfei accidentally froze him and tried to compensate him with Purple Moon Essence Qi, she discovered that Lu Sheng could absorb it, suggesting he might possess the rare Baleful Moon Body.

• Su Ningfei emerged from underground and destroyed the surrounding area while searching for the hidden person who had amplified her essence qi pillar.
• Su Ningfei questioned Lu Sheng about his origins, then unleashed her spiritual sense and froze him along with the surrounding area.
• After stopping the cold, Su Ningfei gave Lu Sheng Purple Moon Essence Qi to heal his frostbite, but was stunned when he absorbed it.
• Lu Sheng introduced himself, and Su Ningfei tested him with another strand of Purple Moon Essence Qi, which his powerful vitality quickly absorbed.

Lu Sheng received Su Ningfei’s personal cultivation art and a purple token, then returned from the Secret Realm to find the Thousand Sun Sect treating his teacher as a grave danger. Sect Master Chen began explaining the legendary recluse Lu Sheng had encountered as the sect sealed off the hall.

• Su Ningfei gave Lu Sheng her personal purple token, taught him her foundational cultivation art, and told him to visit monthly for instruction.
• Lu Sheng returned to the hall, where Zhang Shilong and the guards could not identify the token he had received.
• Song Du recognized the description of Lu Sheng’s teacher and panicked when Lu Sheng mentioned the black clouds that appeared when she acted.
• The sect sounded an emergency alarm, quarantined the area, and sent armored figures and a Double Horn Dragon to secure it.
• Sect Master Chen told Lu Sheng that his teacher was the legendary person who had joined Thousand Sun Sect by accident.

Lu Sheng learned that his new teacher, Qian Du, was the feared Eternal Sleep Demon Lord, a plague-bearing figure who had once devastated Great Yin. After the sect inspected and sealed Lu Sheng against the insects he carried, he left to rest and prepare to study the true martial arts she had taught him.

• Chen Jingzhi and Zhang Shilong told Lu Sheng that Qian Du had destroyed Purple Shattered City and spread deadly plagues across Great Yin.
• Chen Jingzhi explained that the Lords of War had once weakened and sealed Qian Du, and that Kong Heng later brought her into Thousand Sun Sect after reaching an agreement with her.
• Chen Jingzhi revealed poisonous insects around Lu Sheng and arranged for him and the others to undergo isolation, inspection, and purification.
• The inspection found that Lu Sheng carried few insects and posed no danger after a slight sealing, so Chen Jingzhi and the other sect master let him go.
• Lu Sheng declined a carriage, evaded the watchers following him around Autumn Moon County, and bought medicine and introductory books on talisman crafting.

After becoming a True Disciple, Lu Sheng cultivated the Great Sun Bright Light Skill and studied the city’s formations. An ambush by the Inspector and hired assassins ended with Lu Sheng killing them, while Bai Luying of the Spirit Binding Sect appeared and left after introducing herself.

• Lu Sheng received improved treatment as a True Disciple and began cultivating the Great Sun Bright Light Skill under Elder Zhang Shilong’s guidance.
• While examining the formations around the county city, Lu Sheng’s carriage was stopped by a man lying in the road, and the driver Old An went silent after getting out.
• The Inspector confronted Lu Sheng with hired fighters and ordered them to kill him.
• Lu Sheng shattered the attackers’ weapons, killed the woman and the guandao-wielding man, and then killed the Inspector.
• Bai Luying of the Spirit Binding Sect revealed herself, said they would meet again, and left as Lu Sheng gathered his belongings to return and cultivate.

Wang and Old Zhao discussed the sects’ recent violence and the search for a strange aura in Autumn Moon County City. Lu Sheng entered the Great Sun Bright Light Skill, received a mission from Yang Xu, and began using the Modifier to raise his cultivation.

• Wang confronted Old Zhao about a sect assassination in a busy district, and Old Zhao promised to reason with the Three Sects.
• Wang and Old Zhao discussed their unsuccessful search for the strange aura and agreed to continue investigating through their respective contacts.
• Lu Sheng cultivated until he entered the Great Sun Bright Light Skill and discovered that its Crimson Gold True Qi produced intense heat.
• Yang Xu visited Lu Sheng, delivered a pursuit and extermination mission booklet from the Upper Sect, and left to join his companions.
• Lu Sheng resolved to advance his cultivation carefully and used the Modifier to raise the Great Sun Bright Light Skill to its first level.

Fei Bailing was haunted by visions and strange events at the Fei Family estate, while Yin Yang Office inspector Sima Xiu entered the estate alone to investigate her plea for help. Lu Sheng sensed that the estate was polluting the vital essence around him and ordered the nearby residents cleared out.

• Fei Bailing became increasingly terrified as her family acted strangely and visions of Qingqing and silent, rigid figures plagued her.
• Sima Xiu learned that Fei Bailing's blood letter had vanished and that everyone he had asked for help had forgotten the investigation.
• Sima Xiu entered the Fei Family estate alone, resolved not to repeat the hesitation that had cost him his elder sister.
• Lu Sheng detected impurities in the vital essence coming from the Fei Family estate and ordered everyone within two hundred meters to be driven away.

Lu Sheng investigated the abandoned Fei Estate and found signs of a mysterious illness and supernatural activity. Fei Bailing fled her room and collided with Inspector Sima Xiu, while Lu Sheng ended the chapter facing a vanishing child.

• Lu Sheng learned from a former gatekeeper that the Fei Family had disappeared, then broke into the estate and found its courtyard deserted and covered in dust.
• Lu Sheng saw a white-robed figure vanish without leaving footprints and continued deeper into the estate.
• Fei Bailing woke on a dusty floor, found small footprints beside her, and ran from the courtyard before colliding with Inspector Sima Xiu.
• Lu Sheng found a woman's booklet describing the Fei Family's illness and its desperate search for a cure.
• Lu Sheng found children's wishes in a garden and saw a smiling, blue-faced boy appear and vanish when he blinked.

Lu Sheng investigated the strange, mist-shrouded Fei Estate while Sima Xiu tried to escape with Fei Bailing, whose behavior and surroundings grew increasingly uncanny. Fei Bailing was cornered by shadowy children until a powerful stranger smashed through the wall to intervene.

• Lu Sheng saw that the Fei Estate was hidden beneath gray mist and headed through a garden exit to investigate.
• Sima Xiu brought Fei Bailing to a bedroom, where they avoided a strange man and discussed her family and the estate's exits.
• A little girl in white advanced through the darkening corridors as Sima Xiu carried Fei Bailing toward a Secret Passage.
• After entering the passage, Fei Bailing was led back into the garden by someone she mistook for Sima Xiu and was surrounded by shadowy children.
• A muscular, blood-patterned stranger burst through the side wall with a smoking sword and appeared beside Fei Bailing.

Lu Sheng rescued Fei Bailing from the anomalies in the Fei Estate and led her toward the source of the strange essence. In Fei Shende’s study, he found a damaged journal and discovered the books there concerned ocean voyages.

• Lu Sheng destroyed the childlike shadows and pale arms that threatened Fei Bailing, earning God-Entrusting Power and persuading her to accompany him.
• Lu Sheng and Fei Bailing encountered Zhao Uncle sewn into a wall, and Lu Sheng cut him down as a corpse puppet.
• Lu Sheng led Fei Bailing to her father’s study, where a portrait posing as Fei Shende tried to draw her in before Lu Sheng crushed and burned it.
• Lu Sheng found a journal with a hastily written note about a failed attempt, then noticed the study’s books were all about ocean voyages.

Lu Sheng searched the Fei estate for the source of its corruption, encountering multiple versions of Fei Bailing and Fei Qingqing before finding a mirror that opened onto the World of Pain. As Fei Bailing and Sima Xiu attacked him with daggers carrying Pain Contamination, Lu Sheng regenerated his injured hand and studied the weapons.

• Lu Sheng questioned Fei Bailing about her father’s collection and learned that the Fei family had secretly studied an ancient artifact.
• Two identical Fei Qingqings urged Fei Bailing to stay or flee; Lu Sheng dismissed them, fought them, and knocked Fei Bailing unconscious.
• Lu Sheng carried Fei Bailing through the estate and found Inspector Sima Xiu nailed to the edge of a pond, then encountered another Fei Bailing.
• Lu Sheng entered the Collection Room and found a round mirror showing a cavernous pond that released gray mist, which he recognized as a Gate of Pain connected to the World of Pain.
• Fei Bailing and Sima Xiu attacked Lu Sheng with transparent-tipped daggers; Pain Contamination pierced his hand, but he severed it and quickly grew a replacement.

Lu Sheng destroyed the Gate of Pain in the Fei Family estate and reported it to the Thousand Sun Sect. As he left with Sect Master Chen Jingzhi, he learned that the Upper Sect had issued an order to transfer him to Mo Ling Prefecture.

• Lu Sheng restrained the contaminated people in the collection room, broke the mirror that housed the Gate of Pain, and absorbed a large amount of God-Entrusting Power.
• Lu Sheng summoned the Thousand Sun Sect and told its arriving members that he had found a Gate of Pain; Fei Bailing survived his attack and began recovering.
• Chen Jingzhi and three Blood Sun members arrived, examined the scene, and questioned Lu Sheng about how he had discovered the Gate of Pain.
• Chen Jingzhi took Lu Sheng away on a flying scroll and warned him about Blood Sun and the dangers of entering the Upper Sect.
• Chen Jingzhi told Lu Sheng that the Mo Ling Prefecture Thousand Sun Sect had issued a transfer order, which he could follow after selecting his supplementary cultivation art.

Lu Sheng learned about the True Spirit Pagoda and grew more comfortable revealing his strength within the Thousand Sun Sect. After arriving at the Autumn Moon County Branch, he went to the Library Pavilion to seek cultivation techniques and met Yun Wanfei, who offered to help him find loyal servants.

• Chen Jingzhi explained that the True Spirit Pagoda slowed time for cultivators whose bodies could withstand its rotation, and said Lu Sheng might leave for a prefecture-level Upper Sect within two months.
• Chen Jingzhi reassured Lu Sheng that the Thousand Sun Sect welcomed people from other worlds and encouraged him to show his abilities openly under Lady Qian Du's backing.
• Chen Jingzhi brought Lu Sheng to the Autumn Moon County Branch, then left for a council meeting after receiving a reply from the Spirit Binding Sect.
• Lu Sheng crossed the sect square and entered the Library Pavilion to look for true cultivation techniques.
• Yun Wanfei introduced herself to Lu Sheng and offered to find him servants and slaves with suitable aptitudes.
• Lu Sheng asked Yun Wanfei to show him people whose absolute loyalty could be guaranteed, and she agreed.

Lu Sheng selected the Fusion Core Earth Heart Art as his supplementary true formula and went with Yun Wanfei to the Yun Family’s secret chamber to inspect goods. The chapter ended as two naked human slaves knelt before them, presenting their backs.

• A shadowy figure and a slender companion discovered that the mirror node in the Fei Estate collection room had been destroyed, and decided to seek another node.
• Lu Sheng chose the Fusion Core Earth Heart Art despite Yun Wanfei warning him that it was mediocre and costly to cultivate.
• Lu Sheng received the art’s inheritance imprint and agreed to visit Yun Wanfei’s goods with her.
• Yun Wanfei explained the opportunities for earning Devil Gold as a prefecture-level true disciple in Mo Ling Prefecture.
• Yun Wanfei brought Lu Sheng to a hidden Yun Family chamber, where Human-Faced Bees served them tea and two beautiful human slaves knelt before them.