Chapter Summaries

Qin He followed Long Qingyun’s advice and spent ten days in seclusion, strengthening his Lin Yan disguise while recovering from the Boundary Prison. He then visited Fang Qishan to learn about changes in the Divine Court, but left warned not to investigate the secret crossing of a hundred thousand sky demons.

• Long Qingyun told Qin He to lie low, speak little, and avoid drawing Li Wuming’s attention while posing as Lin Yan.
• Qin He spent ten days in seclusion purifying his fire aura, recovering from his injuries, and reviewing clues about the Longevity Church and Fire God Hall.
• Qin He brought gifts to Fang Qishan and asked him to explain the Divine Court’s recent changes.
• Fang Qishan described shifts among the High Gods, a new God Lord decree, and changes within the Realm Patrol Bureau, including Li Wuming’s rise to captain.
• When Qin He asked about the hundred thousand sky demons crossing between realms, Fang Qishan called it a top Divine Court secret and warned him not to investigate.
• Qin He thanked Fang Qishan, promised to stay silent about the matter, and left with new information to consider.

Qin He investigated the Divine Court’s concealment of the Sky Demon Interrealm Crossing and discovered that Heavenly Secrets Concealment erased details from even low-ranking cultivators’ memories. He and Long Qingyun were left seeking overlooked traces to uncover what lay behind the sealed spatial node.

• Qin He returned from Fang Qishan and concluded that the Divine Court had used Heavenly Secrets Concealment to suppress information about the crossing.
• Qin He relayed Fang Qishan’s words to Long Qingyun, who recalled that the Divine Court had rarely imposed such a complete concealment before.
• Long Qingyun advised Qin He to search for overlooked traces among participants and remnants of Sky Demon aura.
• Qin He spent nearly half a month mingling with Realm Patrol Bureau cultivators and listening for clues without asking directly about the crossing.
• Qin He sensed Heavenly Secrets Concealment erasing cultivators’ memories whenever they tried to discuss the Sky Demons, leaving him and Long Qingyun troubled by the secret behind the spatial node.

Qin He and Long Qingyun sought a way around the Heavenly Secrets Veiling Art to investigate the Sky Demon Interrealm Crossing through records rather than witnesses. They settled on approaching Zhou Yan of the Treasury Supervision Office, and planned to use the upcoming distribution of supplies as an opportunity to sound him out.

• Qin He told Long Qingyun that heavenly secrets had erased witnesses' memories, so direct inquiries could not reveal what happened.
• Long Qingyun proposed searching patrol files, deployment orders, and supply records for evidence of the Sky Demon Interrealm Crossing.
• Qin He considered investigating the Divine War Department, but Long Qingyun warned that its deployment orders were inaccessible and advised starting with the Realm Patrol Bureau.
• Long Qingyun identified Zhou Yan as the best opening because the treasury official archived key patrol and allocation records and was known to accept discreet gifts.
• Qin He weighed the rare treasures in his possession and agreed to approach Zhou Yan cautiously during the treasury's distribution of supplies in three days.

Qin He posed as Lin Yan and approached Zhou Yan at the Treasury Supervision Office to seek information, while Li Wuming ordered him watched. Just as Qin He was about to offer Zhou Yan a gift, Lord Ling arrived, leaving the encounter interrupted.

• Qin He concealed his aura and refined his imitation of Lin Yan before approaching Zhou Yan.
• Li Wuming ordered his men to monitor Lin Yan’s movements and report every detail.
• Three days later, Qin He joined the line at the Treasury Supervision Office and waited until the other cultivators had collected their supplies.
• Qin He thanked Zhou Yan for keeping his pay and prepared to offer him a millennium fire lotus core.
• Lord Ling entered the office, and Qin He and Zhou Yan immediately bowed to him.

Qin He lost his chance to get information from Zhou Yan when Ling Tianfan arrived, then waited under surveillance until he received orders to investigate a strange flame at Flamewind Valley. He set out as part of a team, while Long Qingyun wondered whether the flame was one of the nine great demonic fires.

• Ling Tianfan arrived at the Treasury Supervision Office, collected the Realm Patrol Northern Frontier Volume, and left Qin He's attempt to approach Zhou Yan thwarted.
• Qin He signed for his supplies and left, while Zhou Yan grew distant and Long Qingyun lamented that they had lost their chance to ask him for help.
• Qin He returned to his residence, reinforced its restrictions, and spent seven days cultivating and watching the people Li Wuming had sent to observe him.
• A Realm Patrol Bureau cultivator delivered Ling Tianfan's order for Qin He to investigate traces of a strange flame at Flamewind Valley on the Eastern Domain border.
• Qin He learned he would join a team for the mission, and Long Qingyun wondered whether the flame was one of the nine great demonic fires.

Qin He accepted Ling Tianfan’s assignment to investigate a Strange Flame in the dangerous Flamewind Valley, seeing it as a chance to pursue fire treasures and escape Li Wuming’s surveillance. After consulting Long Qingyun about the valley’s dangers and Ling Tianfan’s possible motives, Qin He traveled to the Eastern Domain’s border to meet his companions.

• A messenger told Qin He that Ling Tianfan had assigned him to investigate a Strange Flame in Flamewind Valley but left the decision to him, and Qin He agreed to go.
• Qin He learned that the bureau would reward him generously if he found a Strange Flame and was told to meet three other cultivators by the border Teleportation Array the next morning.
• Qin He asked Long Qingyun about Flamewind Valley, and Long Qingyun described its dense fire power, corrosive baleful energy, and potential treasures.
• Qin He and Long Qingyun considered whether Ling Tianfan wanted to test him, but agreed that the mission could help them escape surveillance and find clues about Sky Demon Interrealm Crossing.
• At dawn, Qin He arrived at the Eastern Domain border Teleportation Array, where three cultivators were already waiting.

Qin He joined Zhao Yan, Li Lie, and Su Qinghan on a mission to investigate the Starfall Flame, the Natal True Fire of the ancient Star-Devouring Sky Toad. As the Teleportation Array activated, the four prepared to enter Flamewind Valley, where violent earth veins and dense killing intent threatened even powerful cultivators.

• Qin He met Zhao Yan, Li Lie, and Su Qinghan beside the Teleportation Array, and Zhao Yan introduced the team for the mission to Flamewind Valley.
• Qin He learned that their target was the legendary Starfall Flame, which Zhao Yan identified as the Star-Devouring Sky Toad's Natal True Fire.
• Li Lie and Su Qinghan described Starfall Flame's rare nature and destructive power, while Qin He recognized it as one of the Nine Great Demonic Fires.
• Zhao Yan explained that Flamewind Valley's earth veins made it dangerous for Saint Tier experts to enter and said the four fire cultivators could use its Fire Origin Power for protection.
• Zhao Yan activated the Teleportation Array, and Qin He sensed Flamewind Valley's dense fire aura and killing intent approaching through it.

Qin He and his companions arrived in Flamewind Valley in the Eastern Domain, where they learned the Starfall Flame lay somewhere in its dangerous central region. Guided by Zhao Yan’s detection mirror, they began a two-day journey toward it as Qin He sensed a terrifying power beneath the valley.

• Qin He, Su Qinghan, Li Lie, and Zhao Yan crossed the Cross-Region Teleportation Array and arrived in Flamewind Valley.
• Su Qinghan warned that the valley’s baleful energy and laws made it dangerous, while Qin He found his divine sense limited to a hundred zhang.
• Zhao Yan revealed a jade talisman carrying a dying patrol envoy’s warning that the Starfall Flame was in Flamewind Valley and to beware the earth-vein baleful energy.
• Zhao Yan used the Fire God Hall’s Parting Fire Mirror to point toward the Strange Flame’s general location.
• The four set out toward the valley’s central region, and Qin He sensed an unfathomable power beneath the earth veins.

Zhao Yan, Qin He, Su Qinghan, and Li Lie fought an Infernal Stone Bear in Flamewind Valley and divided the treasures left by its defeat. They continued onward, wary that stronger beasts awaited in the valley’s core area.

• Su Qinghan sensed a powerful living presence as the ground trembled, and an Infernal Stone Bear burst from the black stone.
• The Infernal Stone Bear’s attacks overwhelmed Zhao Yan’s barrier, shattered Li Lie’s flame blade, and burned away Su Qinghan’s bindings.
• Qin He used pale blue flames to burn the beast’s source killing intent and slow its movements, giving Zhao Yan the chance to pierce its brow with his fire-law sword.
• The Infernal Stone Bear crumbled, leaving two source crystals and two Fire Spirit Pearls, which Zhao Yan distributed according to the group’s needs.
• Qin He recognized the Fire Spirit Pearl as useful for nurturing his lotus flame, while Zhao Yan warned that stronger creatures likely inhabited the core area.

Qin He and the Realm Patrol Bureau cultivators fought six powerful fire beasts in Flamewind Valley, driving back two and killing four while collecting their treasures. After Li Lie revealed that the Fire God Hall had been summoned away on short notice, Qin He grew suspicious that something significant was happening behind the search for the starfall flame.

• Zhao Yan, Li Lie, Su Qinghan, and Qin He defeated a swarm of Crimson Flame Flying Centipedes with Qin He's pale blue flames helping suppress them.
• The group fought a Molten Python, Mistglow Fire Fox, Scorchwind Mantis, Rockfire Giant Tortoise, and Starfire Ant Swarm, driving back two and slaying four.
• Qin He's precise flames repeatedly suppressed the fire beasts, earning the other three cultivators' respect and making the group friendlier toward him.
• After the group slew the Rockfire Giant Tortoise, Li Lie said the Fire God Hall's cultivators had been called away on short notice.
• Qin He recalled that the Fire God Hall were specialists in strange flames and suspected that their summons concealed a serious matter.
• Zhao Yan and Su Qinghan suggested the starfall flame had drawn the fire beasts to Flamewind Valley and intensified the valley's killing intent.

Zhao Yan, Su Qinghan, Li Lie, and Qin He reached a strange crystalline region in Flamewind Valley and discovered that the Starfall Flame was hidden beneath it. The flame transformed the Crystal World into a sea of crimson flowing fire and attacked them, piercing their defenses.

• The group found a Crystal World where the crystals absorbed fire, and Zhao Yan warned everyone not to split up when the Parting Fire Mirror showed the Starfall Flame nearby.
• Qin He sensed the Starfall Flame's pure fire-element law concealed beneath the crystals.
• Silvery starlight spread across the Crystal World, leading Su Qinghan to identify it as the Starfall Flame, but Zhao Yan warned that its calm appearance might be a trap.
• The starlight turned crimson and heated the region, while the crystals melted into solidified flame and the Starfall Flame surrounded the group.
• Zhao Yan raised a wall of fire and Su Qinghan formed a fire net, but the flowing flames seeped through their defenses as Li Lie tried to protect himself.

Qin He and the others fought the conscious Starfall Flame in the Crystal World, discovering its stellar core but finding its power too great to overcome. They fled through a gap Qin He made, with the flame pursuing them relentlessly.

• Zhao Yan, Li Lie, and Su Qinghan struggled against the Starfall Flame as Qin He coordinated their defense and searched for a way to counter it.
• Su Qinghan sensed that the Starfall Flame’s essence lay in a crimson stellar core above them.
• The Starfall Flame noticed they had found its core and unleashed a fiercer attack, injuring Li Lie and Su Qinghan and cracking Zhao Yan’s law shield.
• Qin He used the Lotus Flame and source-birth law to tear open a gap in the flames and ordered the others to retreat.
• Zhao Yan, Li Lie, and Su Qinghan escaped through the gap while Qin He brought up the rear, pursued by the Starfall Flame.

After escaping the intelligent starfall flame, the injured team sheltered in an abandoned fire cultivator’s cave and decided to report the threat to the Fire God Hall. Qin He suspected the flame was being controlled and secretly planned to return alone to investigate and subdue it.

• Su Qinghan, Li Lie, Zhao Yan, and Qin He escaped the starfall flame, but the battle left Su Qinghan, Li Lie, and Zhao Yan badly injured.
• Su Qinghan led the team to an abandoned cave dwelling, where he repaired its Fire-Gathering Formation while Li Lie recovered and Zhao Yan set a warning formation.
• Zhao Yan, Li Lie, and Su Qinghan discussed how the starfall flame might have gained intelligence but could not reach a conclusion.
• Zhao Yan proposed returning to the Divine Court and reporting the flame to the Fire God Hall once Su Qinghan and Li Lie recovered, and the others agreed.
• Qin He sensed signs that an outside force might be controlling the starfall flame and decided to leave a clone behind while his true body returned to investigate and subdue it.

Qin He left the cave dwelling to investigate a Saint Tier Golden Flame Three-Headed Lion and killed it with his life-and-death law. After collecting its treasures, he sent a double back to the cave while he headed toward the Crystal World.

• Qin He left the cave dwelling to scout the roar while Zhao Yan, Li Lie, and Su Qinghan stayed behind to guard it.
• Qin He found the Golden Flame Three-Headed Lion and revealed his source-birth law as he faced the Saint Tier beast.
• Qin He pierced the lion's flame shield with his life-and-death law and killed it before it could fight back.
• Qin He refined the lion's corpse and collected three origin-law crystals and its beast core.
• Qin He sent a double toward the abandoned cave dwelling, then concealed himself and raced toward the Crystal World.

Qin He discovered that starfall flame was hidden inside a Void Rift and controlled by a powerful figure, who had also preserved the bodies of the slain Realm Patrol Bureau envoys. After his decoy clone was destroyed, Qin He considered how to draw the flame out before entering the rift.

• Qin He searched the Crystal World and used Gold-Black Law to uncover traces of a hidden spatial disturbance.
• Qin He created a late other shore realm clone and used it to provoke a response near the Crystal World.
• A Void Rift opened, revealing flowing flame and a saint-tier probing force that pursued the clone.
• Qin He saw the Realm Patrol Bureau envoys' corpses inside the rift, each marked by starfall flame and a strange black rune.
• The rift's controller destroyed Qin He's clone and began searching toward his hiding place.
• Qin He weighed the danger of entering the rift and decided to lure the flowing flame out first.

Qin He entered the Void Rift and confronted the Bone Sage Monarch, whose true body was far stronger than the incarnation Qin He had defeated in Everbright Commandery. After learning how the Longevity Church’s Clone Technique had helped it survive the Divine Court’s pursuit, Qin He faced the monarch’s Bone-Burial Longevity Art as its power began approaching the Imperial Dao Realm.

• Qin He lured some of the flowing flame out of the Void Rift, then slipped inside and found the Bone Sage Monarch’s enormous skeletal true body.
• The Bone Sage Monarch recognized Qin He as the person who had destroyed his incarnation and Yin-Nourishing Formation in Everbright Commandery, then trapped him with flowing flame and attacked with bone blades.
• Qin He ordered Long Qingyun to interrogate Wan Yuangu, who revealed that Longevity Church leaders used independently acting clones while keeping their true bodies hidden and safe.
• Qin He and the Bone Sage Monarch exchanged blows with their laws, and Qin He was wounded while neither gained a decisive advantage.
• The Bone Sage Monarch began using the Bone-Burial Longevity Art, raising his power toward the Imperial Dao Realm as Qin He prepared to fight with all his strength.

Qin He fought the Bone Sage Monarch in the Void Rift, unveiling overwhelming true demonic qi and lotus flame before combining them with his Merit Golden Body. His new domain restrained the Bone Sage Monarch’s attempt to stake his life, leaving the Monarch’s body and origin melting away.

• The Bone Sage Monarch pushed his Bone-Burial Longevity Art to its limit and attacked Qin He with a massive bone-fire blade.
• Qin He revealed his enormous demonic body and used true demonic qi and lotus flame to suppress the Bone Sage Monarch’s starfall flame and yin-evil law.
• The two exchanged devastating blows that shattered the Void Rift, wounding both Qin He and the Bone Sage Monarch.
• The Bone Sage Monarch drew on his own blood paste and the flowing flame to strengthen his attack and stake his life.
• Qin He manifested his Merit Golden Body and fused its golden light with his demonic power, creating a domain of destruction and rebirth.
• Qin He’s domain restrained the Bone Sage Monarch and began melting his skeleton and devouring his origin, leaving him horrified and despairing.

Qin He fought the Bone Sage Monarch’s half-step Imperial Dao avatar for nearly an hour, finally erasing it with his laws, lotus flame, and merit golden light. Exhausted afterward, Qin He realized the Bone Sage Monarch’s true body might already have reached the Imperial Dao Realm.

• Qin He repeatedly shattered the Bone Sage Monarch, but the monarch restored his body by drawing on the yin-evil forces linked to the earth Dao law.
• Qin He merged lotus flame and true demonic qi into a law saber and unleashed a torrent that broke the Bone Sage Monarch’s shield and tore apart his skeleton.
• Qin He trapped the monarch’s gathering bone fragments in a shrinking cage of lotus flame and ground away their yin-evil law.
• After nearly another half hour, Qin He burned away the last bone fragment, and the Bone Sage Monarch vowed revenge before his essence vanished.
• Qin He staggered from the battle and suspected the defeated avatar’s true body had reached the Imperial Dao Realm.

After defeating the Bone Sage Monarch, Qin He absorbed the unmastered starfall flame into his lotus flame and investigated six corpses left in the Void Rift. He purified the corpses and began burning them with his lotus flame.

• Qin He recovered from the battle and guided the starfall flame into his lotus flame, strengthening its life-and-death law with astral fire.
• Qin He examined six corpses and found that the Bone Sage Monarch had drained their essence as nourishment.
• Qin He discovered that a Saint King-level corpse had been inscribed with runes and astral fire laws, possibly to serve as an avatar or a vessel for the starfall flame.
• Qin He used his source-birth law to purify all six corpses, removing their sinister energy and refining runes.
• Qin He summoned his lotus flame and enveloped the purified corpses.

Qin He obtained four treasures from the corpses in the Void Rift and learned the Ultimate Dao Art One Qi Transforms Three Pure Ones after witnessing Xuan Qingzi’s Shadow Play. He escaped as the Void Rift collapsed and headed back toward the abandoned cave abode, where Zhao Yan and the others were waiting.

• Qin He collected a defensive talisman, the Evil Bone Blade, an Ancient God Pill, and essence of primordial yellow from the corpses.
• Qin He watched Xuan Qingzi’s Shadow Play, which showed how the Daoist had fought the patriarch of the Longevity Church before dying from his injuries.
• Qin He received and mastered One Qi Transforms Three Pure Ones, creating three late other shore realm clones linked to his mind.
• Qin He stored the treasures, merged the clones into himself, and fled as the Void Rift collapsed.
• Qin He looked toward the abandoned cave abode and then headed back to Zhao Yan and the other two.