Chapter Summaries

Fang Xiao killed Bai Ling and the others, collected their Gu worms and souls, and recruited the Sang brothers as informants before erasing traces of his aura and leaving. The brothers returned to Qingshi Village with the Gu Dao inheritance, while Fang Xiao headed off to search the captured souls.

• Fang Xiao disrupted Bai Ling's teleportation and killed her and the other three, then collected the fleeing Gu worms and extracted the souls of all five, including Tu Mang.
• The Sang brothers approached Fang Xiao, apologized for revealing his identity, and agreed to serve as his hidden informants.
• Fang Xiao accepted their Sound Transmission Gu, gave them the inheritances from the ruins, and carefully erased his aura from the battlefield and underground cave.
• Fang Xiao departed, intending to find a secluded place to search the captured souls.
• The Sang brothers returned to Qingshi Village, where Sang Wu urged Sang Mo to grow stronger and promised to focus on nurturing the village's younger generation.

After Luonan’s death, the Qingmiao Tribe’s four Spirit Fusion Ancestors mistook Fang Xiao for a Nascent Soul Cultivator and planned to hunt him down. Hidden in a mountain cave, Fang Xiao searched for a way to heal his arm and realized the fused powers within it could help him study how to combine different attributes.

• Rumors spread through the Qingmiao Tribe about Young Tribe Leader Luonan’s death, and the major families schemed over the vacant position.
• The four Spirit Fusion Ancestors discussed the failed investigation and concluded that a powerful Nascent Soul Cultivator had killed Luonan and his companions.
• Luo Tianshan proposed telling Tu Zhan the truth, while the ancestors hoped to capture the supposed cultivator and use his Nascent Soul to advance their Gu worms.
• Fang Xiao struggled to remove the fused ice, wind, and lightning powers embedded in his left arm and set aside the unusable Indestructible Body divine ability.
• Fang Xiao studied the fused powers and realized he could use them as a model for combining different attributes.

Fang Xiao replicated the Three Oddities Gu Technique’s attribute fusion, gaining a dangerous new method, then searched five captives’ souls and learned that he was stranded in the Land of Chaotic Gu, a remote region beyond the Five Domains and Four Seas. The chapter left him unable to find a way back because the teleportation array that brought him there was destroyed.

• Fang Xiao copied the fusion process using ice, wind, and lightning, creating an unstable spiritual-light technique that he could disperse before it exploded.
• Fang Xiao resolved the fused attributes in his arm and continued recovering from his injuries with Spirit Wine and medicinal pills.
• Fang Xiao searched the souls of five captives for three hours and learned about the Misty Sea, the Barren Gu Continent, and the Sea of Chaotic Beasts.
• Fang Xiao learned that the Land of Chaotic Gu had no Deity Transformation Stage beings and that the Gu God Palace was its only fifth-tier Spirit Vein site.
• Fang Xiao discovered that there was no known route back to the Five Domains and Four Seas and lamented that his teleportation array had been destroyed.

Fang Xiao learned that the Guiyi Gu Mother Worm was hidden in the Gu God Palace and planned to prepare for its opening by strengthening himself. After half a year, he adopted the identity of Hu Jian, a third-rank Gu Master, and settled into Yanming Village under cover of his predecessor’s reputation.

• Fang Xiao learned that Guiyi Gu could fuse altered attributes and that pure Golden Cores helped it evolve and enabled breakthroughs to Spirit Fusion.
• He decided to seek the Guiyi Gu Mother Worm in the Gu God Palace, which would open in less than twenty years, and resolved to build stable Nascent Soul-level strength before entering.
• Fang Xiao postponed secluded cultivation until he completed a new Gu Master disguise and sorted through the items left behind by his victims.
• Half a year later, Fang Xiao entered Yanming Village disguised as Hu Jian and dismissed the women who surrounded him at the pavilion.
• Fang Xiao recalled that Hu Jian was a false identity created by Tu Mang, whose harem in Yanming Village had been tolerated by the village’s five other third-rank Gu Masters.

Fang Xiao settled into seclusion in Yanming Village under Tu Mang’s identity, concealed his cultivation, and prepared supplies to advance his strength. After Hu Xuan delivered rare materials, Fang Xiao began preparing to brew Xuan Yin Spirit Forging Wine.

• Fang Xiao used a Spirit Devouring Worm artifact to conceal his identity and cultivation while posing as Tu Mang in the Zhanman Tribe’s territory.
• Fang Xiao contacted the Sang brothers and learned that the Qingmiao Tribe was searching its lands for him, then decided to cultivate in seclusion and look for a way to leave.
• Fang Xiao tested insect pearls from storage Gu insects and found they could help his cultivation alongside Spirit Wine and his remaining pills.
• Hu Xuan delivered materials Fang Xiao had requested, and Fang Xiao paid him generously in Spirit Stones.
• Fang Xiao activated the pavilion’s warning Gu insects and revealed that the gathered materials were cold-attributed ingredients for brewing Xuan Yin Spirit Forging Wine.

Fang Xiao learned how Xuan Yin Spirit Forging Wine could temper his divine soul toward Utter Yin and help him develop pure Yang characteristics, easing his path toward Nascent Soul. After gathering the required materials, he brewed the wine, and the chapter ended as he broke open the frozen furnace cauldron.

• Fang Xiao considered how pure Yang divine-soul characteristics helped a cultivator withstand Nascent Soul tribulation and realized Xuan Yin Spirit Forging Wine offered another way to reach them.
• Fang Xiao planned to use the wine to advance his divine soul and strengthen his prospects of forging the Nascent Soul Dao Sword.
• Fang Xiao recalled that he had tasked Hu Xuan with gathering freshly harvested ingredients, and Hu Xuan had agreed readily.
• Fang Xiao processed the materials and began brewing the semi-fourth-tier Xuan Yin Spirit Forging Wine, carefully following its complicated recipe.
• Fang Xiao infused the wine with ice-aspected mana for more than ten days until the furnace cauldron froze over and spiritual script appeared.
• Fang Xiao stopped channeling mana, declared the wine finished, and punched the frozen furnace cauldron.

Fang Xiao completed a batch of Xuan Yin Spirit Forging Wine and traveled to a secluded cave to test its effect on his divine soul. After taking one drop, he watched the Xuan Yin spiritual mist enter his Soul Nurturing Gourd and prepared to experience its tempering.

• Fang Xiao used Lunar Divine Light to capture the escaping Xuan Yin Spirit Forging Wine and stored it in a jade gourd.
• Fang Xiao secretly left Yanming Village and made a concealed cave dwelling in a remote mountain range near the edge of the Zhanman Tribe's territory.
• Fang Xiao calmed his mind, took one drop of the wine, and watched it turn into Xuan Yin spiritual mist that entered his sea of consciousness.
• Fang Xiao observed the mist pass through the Soul Nurturing Gourd's restrictions and envelop his divine soul as he focused on the coming tempering.

Fang Xiao used Xuan Yin Spirit Forging Wine to strengthen his soul’s absorption of spiritual essence, while a powerful cultivator from the Zhanman Tribe confronted Elder Li at the Bai Miao Tribe stronghold. Elder Li refused to use the Heavenly Mystery Gu to locate the person who killed the cultivator’s great-grandson.

• Fang Xiao absorbed a drop of Xuan Yin Spirit Mist and noticed that the Ten Thousand Year Sword Soul began exhaling spiritual essence slightly faster.
• Fang Xiao drank a Jade Bowl of Xuan Yin Spirit Forging Wine, drew the escaping Xuan Yin Spirit Mist back in, and fell into a frozen state as his soul absorbed it.
• A burly cultivator surnamed Tu flew into the Bai Miao Tribe stronghold, where his killing intent overwhelmed the city patrol and frightened many residents.
• Elder Li appeared, and Tu withdrew his killing intent and greeted him as an old acquaintance.
• Tu asked Elder Li to use the Heavenly Mystery Gu to find the person who had killed his great-grandson, but Elder Li refused because using the Gu carried a heavy price.

Tu Zhan tried to persuade Li Zhaoxing to use the Heavenly Mystery Gu to locate someone, but learned it was dormant after Yan Tiandong’s divination. Li Zhaoxing revealed that Yan Tiandong was preparing to break through to the Spirit God Realm, and Tu Zhan learned what that realm entailed.

• Tu Zhan offered Li Zhaoxing a molt from a Fifth Order Heavenly Mystery Gu in exchange for calculating a person's whereabouts and promised to take him to the Gu God Palace.
• Li Zhaoxing said the Heavenly Mystery Gu was dormant for eight years after he had used it for Yan Tiandong, so Tu Zhan would have to wait.
• Tu Zhan learned that Yan Tiandong had asked whether a Transformed Demon Beast would attempt to reach the Spirit Transformation Realm in the Gu God Palace, and the answer was yes.
• Li Zhaoxing revealed that Yan Tiandong was preparing to break through to the Spirit God Realm, shocking Tu Zhan.
• The chapter explained the three possible paths to the Spirit God Realm, each of which involved entrusting the divine soul to a Gu worm.

Tu Zhan and Luo Tianshan made plans to target Fang Xiao for his Nascent Soul, while Fang Xiao spent nine years cultivating in seclusion. After exhausting his Xuan Yin Spirit Forging Wine, he ended his seclusion just short of completing his Utter Yin Divine Soul.

• Tu Zhan agreed to pursue the Nascent Soul Cultivator despite the danger surrounding the Gu God Palace and left White Miao Stronghold.
• A hidden observer reported Tu Zhan's movements, and Luo Tianshan ordered Hong Yi and Ma Yuan to watch him while the clan searched for Fang Xiao.
• Bai Fusheng left Luo Tianshan's private chamber to carry out the orders to find Fang Xiao and obtain his Nascent Soul.
• Fang Xiao continued cultivating for nine years, twice returning to Yanming Village for supplies, but found no records about lands beyond the Land of Chaotic Gu.
• Fang Xiao ended his seclusion when his Xuan Yin Spirit Forging Wine ran out, having come close to completing his Utter Yin Divine Soul.

Fang Xiao used Essence Blood Wine to break through his physical-body bottleneck after deciding to wait for his Divine Soul’s Yin transformation to complete. He successfully advanced his physical body to the Nascent Soul level, while his other breakthroughs remained pending.

• Fang Xiao decided to break through his physical body first because his Divine Soul’s Yin transformation was nearly complete but the Xuan Yin Spirit Forging Wine had run out.
• Fang Xiao prepared to use the Essence Blood Wine he had brewed from demon materials to strengthen his body and overcome its bottleneck.
• Fang Xiao cultivated under the moonlight, combining Lunar Moon Essence and Primordial Yang Qi as he attacked the barrier before him with his will.
• A gray current formed from black and white qi and shattered the barrier, allowing Fang Xiao to reach the final gap in his breakthrough.
• Fang Xiao drank several gulps of Essence Blood Wine and crossed the gap, remolding his physical body and reaching the Nascent Soul level.

After breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm in Body Refining, Fang Xiao tested his strengthened abilities and headed to Yanming Village to collect materials. There, Tu Zhan waited for him, having learned from Li Zhaoxing’s divination that Yanming Village was Fang Xiao’s destination.

• Fang Xiao stabilized his breakthrough, found that he could draw limited healing and size-shifting powers from the Snake King's Demon Core, and decided to return to the Cultivation World for the next layer of his technique.
• Fang Xiao set out for Yanming Village to collect the remaining materials Hu Xuan had gathered.
• A year earlier, Tu Zhan had asked Li Zhaoxing to locate the Nascent Soul Cultivator he sought, and Li Zhaoxing divined Yanming Village.
• Tu Zhan investigated Yanming Village, discovered Hu Jian’s identity as one Tu Mang had left behind, and waited at Fang Xiao’s pavilion.
• After hearing Fang Xiao tell Hu Xuan to prepare materials, Tu Zhan decided to keep waiting for Fang Xiao to return.

Fang Xiao was forced into a fight with Tu Zhan, who had tracked him to Yanming Village over the death of a tribal junior. Their battle was interrupted by three Qingmiao Tribe cultivators, who targeted Fang Xiao while Bai Fusheng confronted Tu Zhan.

• Tu Zhan confronted Fang Xiao at the pavilion and pursued him into the mountains after Fang Xiao fled.
• Tu Zhan attacked Fang Xiao with his fighting intent, and the two exchanged more than a hundred blows as Fang Xiao's wounds healed rapidly.
• Poison and a sudden gravity force interrupted the battle, and Bai Fusheng, Hong Yi, and Ma Yuan appeared.
• Tu Zhan refused to surrender Fang Xiao, while Bai Fusheng revealed that poison was hindering Tu Zhan's Fighting Gu.
• Bai Fusheng moved to hold off Tu Zhan as Hong Yi and Ma Yuan turned to capture Fang Xiao and preserve his Nascent Soul.

Fang Xiao feigned weakness to lure Hong Yi and Ma Yuan away from Tu Zhan and Bai Fusheng, then ambushed them with a concealed sword radiance. He left Hong Yi wounded but discovered that Hong Yi could liquefy and regenerate his body while corroding the sword radiance.

• Fang Xiao assessed the poison and gravity effects, then pretended to flee so Hong Yi and Ma Yuan would pursue him.
• Bai Fusheng used the Sky Refining Gu to deflect Tu Zhan's attacks and keep him occupied.
• Hong Yi and Ma Yuan followed Fang Xiao across several mountain peaks, believing he was exhausting himself under their Gu insects' effects.
• Fang Xiao stopped feigning weakness and attacked the pursuers with a concealed sword radiance that Ma Yuan sensed and dodged.
• Hong Yi intercepted the sword radiance, which pierced through his body, but he regenerated as viscous liquid enveloped and corroded the blade.

Fang Xiao revealed a Dharma Manifestation that shattered Ma Yuan’s earth-and-stone attack, then killed Ma Yuan and Hong Yi. He sealed their divine souls for a later Soul Search and left without joining the battle between Tu Zhan and Bai Fusheng.

• Ma Yuan used the Heavy Earth Gu to launch mountains and rocks at Fang Xiao, intending to capture him alive.
• Fang Xiao formed a five-colored Dharma Manifestation that ground the incoming earth and stone to nothingness.
• Fang Xiao killed Hong Yi with sword attacks that also struck the Gu worms linked to his consciousness.
• Fang Xiao’s Dharma Manifestation enveloped and ground Ma Yuan’s body into nothingness.
• Fang Xiao preserved and sealed both men’s divine souls, intending to search their memories after reaching late Core Formation.
• Fang Xiao erased his traces and left, avoiding the battle between Tu Zhan and Bai Fusheng.

Fang Xiao escaped the Zhanman Tribe after Tu Zhan lost his trail and reached the Chi Miao Tribe’s main city stronghold to search for materials for Xuan Yin Spirit Forging Wine. There, a Gu Master named Wang Wu offered to guide him.

• Tu Zhan sensed Fang Xiao’s sword intent fading, while Bai Fusheng refused to believe Fang Xiao had defeated Hong Yi and the other Gu Master until he found their remains.
• Tu Zhan lost Fang Xiao’s trail and attacked Bai Fusheng, blaming him and the Qingmiao Tribe for ruining his plans.
• Fang Xiao left his empty cave dwelling and traveled toward the Chi Miao Tribe, seeking a safer place to settle and the materials he needed.
• More than ten days later, Fang Xiao entered the Chi Miao Tribe’s main city stronghold in disguise to look for the materials.
• Wang Wu approached Fang Xiao and offered to guide him around the city for two Spirit Stones a day.

Fang Xiao hired Wang Wu to guide him through Chi Miao City-fort as he searched for rare spirit materials, and learned about the city’s underground Earthwalker transport system. Riding it stirred memories of his previous life and led him to affirm that his Dao would preserve the people and matters he valued, even if they burdened his path.

• Fang Xiao hired Wang Wu and asked where he could find a complete selection of rare spirit materials.
• Wang Wu led Fang Xiao toward Qingyuan Zhai and explained that Earthwalkers carried passengers through underground passages across Chi Miao City-fort.
• Fang Xiao paid for two fares and boarded an Earthwalker with Wang Wu.
• As the Earthwalker carried them through the city, Fang Xiao remembered his previous life and reflected on its lingering regrets and bonds.
• Fang Xiao rejected the idea of letting go of everything and resolved to hold important people and matters close as part of his Dao.

Fang Xiao visited Qingyuan Zhai to buy rare materials but learned that its supply of Yin Hollow Snake blood had been bought out. The shopkeeper directed him to Lingyuan Pavilion, where live Yin Hollow Snakes might be sold, and Fang Xiao set out to look for one.

• Fang Xiao completed an enlightenment of the heart while traveling with Wang Wu through Chi Miao City-fort.
• Fang Xiao entered Qingyuan Zhai and gave the shopkeeper a list of rare materials to gather.
• The shopkeeper said Qingyuan Zhai could prepare most of the materials but had no Yin Hollow Snake blood because someone had bought its entire stock.
• The shopkeeper suggested Fang Xiao visit Lingyuan Pavilion, which sold demon beasts and might have live Yin Hollow Snakes.
• Fang Xiao left a deposit to reserve the other materials and told Wang Wu to lead him to Lingyuan Pavilion.

Fang Xiao visited Lingyuan Pavilion to buy Yin Hollow Snakes, which the pavilion used as feed, and Yun Yuan asked him to help guard a beast fight in two days. He left without agreeing, intending to steal the snakes if he found an opportunity, then went to watch the Beast Fighting Arena.

• Wang Wu explained that Lingyuan Pavilion's lively crowds had come to watch and bet on demon beast fights, not to buy beasts.
• Fang Xiao asked Yun Yuan whether Lingyuan Pavilion had Yin Hollow Snakes, and she confirmed they kept them as feed for other demon beasts.
• Yun Yuan asked Fang Xiao to help watch over Lingyuan Pavilion during a third-rank beast fight in two days, offering extra compensation.
• Fang Xiao declined to commit, left the pavilion, gave Wang Wu ten Spirit Stones, and decided he would try to steal Yin Hollow Snakes.
• Fang Xiao entered the Beast Fighting Arena and watched more than a dozen demon beasts fight in the pit.

Fang Xiao tracked demon beasts beneath Lingyuan Pavilion, hoping to find its Yin Hollow Snakes, but discovered powerful restrictions indicating a Nascent Soul Realm or stronger cultivator stood behind the business. He abandoned the theft and returned to speak with Yun Yuan, who confirmed she had begun preparing the snakes for their arrangement two days later.

• Fang Xiao secretly placed Spiritual Sense marks on three surviving demon beasts at the Beast Fighting Arena and followed them underground.
• Fang Xiao found third-rank and fourth-rank restrictions beneath Lingyuan Pavilion and inferred that a powerful cultivator supported the pavilion.
• Fang Xiao decided not to steal the Yin Hollow Snakes and returned to Lingyuan Pavilion to ask Yun Yuan about the situation.
• Yun Yuan led Fang Xiao to a private room, where she said she had sent someone to fetch the Yin Hollow Snakes and asked whether he had further requests.