Chapter Summaries

Chen Fei advanced his techniques and cultivation while the Yuan Chen Sword Sect learned that the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect might launch a campaign against the Divine Flame Sect. The sect prepared for a possible battle, but Feng Xiupu assured Chen Fei that he would remain behind to cultivate.

• Chen Fei simplified Escaping Heavens Travel and used Soaring Void Wander to rapidly gain insights into the technique.
• Over ten days, Chen Fei improved his techniques, refined eight furnaces of Spirit Snow Pills for the Pill Refiner Alliance, and swallowed five pills to boost his cultivation.
• Chen Fei attended a meeting with Qu Qingsheng and the sect elders, including the weakened Elder Zhou, whose attempt to break through to the Aperture Unification Realm had failed.
• Qu Qingsheng told the elders that the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect had found traces of the Divine Flame Sect and might call neighboring sects to help destroy it.
• Feng Xiupu explained that the Divine Flame Sect had repeatedly survived past campaigns and told Chen Fei that the sect master would keep him out of the coming battle.

Chen Fei continued cultivating and refining pills while the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect’s coalition fought the Divine Flame Sect at Taiyan Mountain. After an Immortal Cloud Sword Sect Aperture Unification Realm powerhouse intervened, the battle ended with the shocking news that the powerhouse had died.

• Chen Fei advanced to the second Aperture, improved his pill-refining skills, and continued nurturing the Qian Yuan Sword toward becoming a Spirit Sword.
• The Immortal Cloud Sword Sect gathered forces from nearby sects and pursued the Divine Flame Sect toward Taiyan Mountain, where the two sides became locked in a costly stalemate.
• The Immortal Cloud Sword Sect summoned more reinforcements as both sides suffered heavy casualties, including the deaths of six Aperture Refining Realm martial artists.
• An Aperture Unification Realm powerhouse from the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect flew to Taiyan Mountain, and a day later a huge explosion shook the mountain.
• Two days after the explosion, martial artists returned to their sects with news that the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect’s Aperture Unification Realm powerhouse had died.

The Yuan Chen Sword Sect learned how the Divine Flame Sect ambushed and killed Xin Zhiqing, leaving the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect weakened and its rivalry with the Divine Flame Sect on the brink of escalation. Wu Guangyin went to offer condolences while the Divine Flame Sect celebrated its chance to become the dominant power in Immortal Cloud City.

• Zhou Cunshan recounted how a Divine Flame Sect Aperture Unification Realm expert used a magical treasure to ambush and kill Xin Zhiqing at Taiyan Mountain.
• Qu Qingsheng sent Wu Guangyin to the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect and ordered the Yuan Chen Sword Sect’s disciples to stay close to home.
• Wu Guangyin arrived at the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect and waited with representatives from other sects in its grieving, angry reception hall.
• The Divine Flame Sect celebrated on Taiyan Mountain, believing it could eventually dominate Immortal Cloud City as Tong Zhongqiu neared the end of his lifespan.

Jian Jinsheng fought off Tong Zhongqiu’s attempt to avenge Xin Zhiqing, easing the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect’s immediate crisis while leaving its future uncertain. Chen Fei then found an unusually large Spirit Snow Pill contract at the Pill Refiner Alliance.

• Jian Jinsheng sensed a hidden threat in the cave, fled into the sky, and discovered Tong Zhongqiu waiting to ambush him.
• Tong Zhongqiu attacked Jian Jinsheng with a powerful ruler, but after a fierce battle he retreated when the fight turned against him.
• News of their inconclusive battle spread through Immortal Cloud City, calming fears in the short term while raising concerns about Tong Zhongqiu’s limited lifespan.
• The Yuan Chen Sword Sect lifted its travel ban after several quiet days, and Qin Jinglan told Chen Fei that Spirit Snow Pill refining work was available.
• Chen Fei examined the task list and saw that the Spirit Snow Pill contract called for no fewer than thirty furnaces.

Chen Fei accepted and completed a Spirit Snow Pill mission, profiting from the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect’s urgent effort to strengthen itself against the Divine Flame Sect. He used his new income to have the Panel sort out Suppress Dragon Elephant, discovered its Suppress Spirit portion was complete, and began saving to simplify it.

• Chen Fei accepted a seven-furnace Spirit Snow Pill mission and refined seven furnaces, producing six pills for himself.
• Chen Fei accepted another Spirit Snow Pill mission and planned to return to the Pill Refiner Alliance the next day.
• Chen Fei returned to the sect, sold pills, and had the Panel sort out Suppress Dragon Elephant.
• Chen Fei learned that Suppress Spirit was complete but Suppress Soul had only a partial method, and the Panel quoted one million five hundred thousand taels to simplify Suppress Spirit.
• Chen Fei stored a Primordial Stone in the Panel and confirmed that it could still store Silver Taels as well.
• Chen Fei resolved to save money for simplification and began cultivating Suppress Dragon Elephant Suppress Spirit.

Chen Fei cultivated Suppress Dragon Elephant, earned Primordial Stones by refining Spirit Snow Pills, and simplified Suppress Dragon Elephant Suppress Spirit into Suppress Dragon Elephant Suppress Body. After the Qian Yuan Sword became a Spirit Sword, Wu Hongwen of the Divine Flame Sect arrived at Yuan Chen Sword Sect to pay a visit.

• Chen Fei cultivated Suppress Dragon Elephant through the night and decided to stay in Immortal Cloud City with Chi Defeng while working at the Pill Refiner Alliance.
• Chen Fei refined Spirit Snow Pills for fifteen days, sold some for Primordial Stones, and accumulated fifty Primordial Stones.
• Chen Fei used the Primordial Stones to simplify Suppress Dragon Elephant Suppress Spirit into Suppress Dragon Elephant Suppress Body.
• Ten days later, the Qian Yuan Sword consumed the Heaven Stone Gold and advanced into a Spirit Sword.
• Wu Hongwen of the Divine Flame Sect arrived at Yuan Chen Sword Sect and announced he had come to pay a visit.

The Divine Flame Sect sought an alliance with the Yuan Chen Sword Sect and revealed that its rise was connected to the Heart Strange Realm. The Yuan Chen Sword Sect leaned toward the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect, while the Divine Flame Sect began recruiting Rogue Cultivators with offers of powerful techniques.

• Wu Hongwen proposed that the Yuan Chen Sword Sect ally with the Divine Flame Sect against the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect and warned that the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect would reclaim resources to create an Aperture Unification Realm cultivator.
• Wu Hongwen raised the Heart Strange Realm as a secret behind the Divine Flame Sect's growth and offered to share more if the Yuan Chen Sword Sect joined the alliance.
• Chen Fei discussed the Heart Strange Realm with Feng Xiupu, who said the sect would likely remain on the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect's side.
• Wu Guangyin reported the Divine Flame Sect's alliance pitch to the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect, and news of the lobbying spread through Immortal Cloud City.
• The Divine Flame Sect began recruiting Rogue Cultivators by offering half of the Deity Sealing Art, which opened eighty-three Apertures, with the full technique available for meritorious service.

The Immortal Cloud Sword Sect and Divine Flame Sect escalated their struggle for support, while Chen Fei focused on pill refining and cultivation. After opening his third Aperture, Chen Fei was ambushed by three Aperture Refining Realm cultivators led by Dong Xiuzhi, who intended to kill him to pressure the Yuan Chen Sword Sect.

• The Immortal Cloud Sword Sect made the Abandon Spirit Art available to Rogue Cultivators and improved their treatment, while both rival sects offered bounties for killing the other's Aperture Refining Realm cultivators.
• Chen Fei continued refining pills and cultivating until Escaping Heavens Travel reached Proficient Level.
• The Divine Flame Sect decided to have Rogue Cultivators attack smaller sects that supported the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect.
• Chen Fei opened his third Aperture in less than two months and set out for Immortal Cloud City to collect a custom sword sheath for the Qian Yuan Sword.
• Three Aperture Refining Realm cultivators surrounded Chen Fei outside the city, and Dong Xiuzhi said they planned to kill him to force the Yuan Chen Sword Sect to choose sides.

Chen Fei was ambushed by Dong Xiuzhi, Zheng Guangfei, and Shi Zhengwu, who intended to kill him for the Divine Flame Sect’s alliance plans. He revealed the strength of his sword formation and Suppress Dragon Elephant Suppress Body, sent Zheng Guangfei flying, then escaped rather than fight all three.

• Chen Fei tried to persuade the three Divine Flame Sect cultivators to avoid fighting, but Dong Xiuzhi, Zheng Guangfei, and Shi Zhengwu closed in to kill him.
• Chen Fei unleashed the Heavy Yuan Sword Formation, whose twenty sword beads and Sword Threads surprised the three with his rapid mastery of the technique.
• Chen Fei used the formation’s shifting gravity to hinder Dong Xiuzhi and targeted Zheng Guangfei, striking him with Suppress Dragon Elephant Suppress Body and Suppress Spirit.
• Zheng Guangfei was knocked through trees and embedded in the ground, shocking Dong Xiuzhi and Shi Zhengwu with Chen Fei’s strength.
• Chen Fei judged Dong Xiuzhi too dangerous to face alongside the others, activated Escaping Heavens Travel, and fled.

Chen Fei escaped an ambush by Divine Flame Sect allies and reported it to Qu Qingsheng, while the Yuan Chen Sword Sect accepted that it could not retaliate without risking its survival. He continued cultivating and refining pills, reaching five Apertures and Great Perfection in the Spirit Snow Pill Recipe, then considered adjusting his pill yield to complete an alchemy task more efficiently.

• Chen Fei used Escaping Heavens Travel to escape Dong Xiuzhi, Shi Zhengwu, and Zheng Guangfei after injuring Zheng Guangfei with a sword strike.
• Chen Fei reported the ambush to Qu Qingsheng, who warned him to stay in the Sect, while the elders concluded that retaliation against the Divine Flame Sect was too dangerous.
• Chen Fei warned Feng Xiupu to be careful, and Feng Xiupu urged him to keep working hard after seeing how advanced Chen Fei had become in Escaping Heavens Travel.
• Over the next two months, Chen Fei opened two more Apertures, exchanged for the Thousand Thread Art, and raised the Spirit Snow Pill Recipe to Great Perfection.
• Chen Fei accepted a task to refine two furnaces of Spirit Snow Pills and considered changing the yield to five pills per furnace while preserving their medicinal effect.

Chen Fei refined Spirit Snow Pills in batches of five and three, testing how compressing each batch affected their quality and medicinal power. After confirming that pills with Pill Patterns strengthened his body, he prepared to try refining only two per batch and considered how his Mind Power would need to keep pace as he opened more Apertures.

• Chen Fei used his Grand Perfected Spirit Snow Pill Proficiency to refine five pills in one batch, and confirmed they met the mission requirements.
• Chen Fei handed in three pills and kept two, then received a mission to refine four batches of Spirit Snow Pills.
• Chen Fei refined two batches of five pills, then compressed a third batch into three pills bearing one Pill Pattern each.
• Chen Fei swallowed one patterned pill and found it had more than sixty percent more medicinal power than an ordinary pill while visibly strengthening his body.
• Chen Fei decided to attempt a two-pill batch and reflected that his Mind Power would eventually need to keep pace with the Apertures he opened.

Chen Fei failed to refine two Spirit Snow Pills in one furnace, then continued cultivating and advanced rapidly in Aperture Refining and his techniques. After reaching thirteen Apertures, he accepted a sect mission at Mo Yang Mountain Villa as news spread that someone in the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect planned to break through to the Aperture Unification Realm.

• Chen Fei tried to compress a Spirit Snow Pill batch into two pills, but his pill furnace and ingredients could not withstand the medicinal clashes, so he stopped and recovered three pills.
• The Divine Flame Sect expanded its control by absorbing small sects, while the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect gave up outer regions and concentrated on defending key areas.
• Chen Fei simplified the Luo'e Pill Recipe into the Spirit Snow Pill, stopped refining Flying Mausoleum Pills, and increased his Apertures from five to seven in a month and then to eleven by the third month.
• Chen Fei perfected the third layer of the Thousand Thread Art, integrated the Thousand Source Heart Locking Incantation into it, and raised the Heavy Yuan Sword to Perfection, doubling its sword beads to forty.
• After Chen Fei reached thirteen Apertures, he accepted a sect mission at Mo Yang Mountain Villa, fifty li outside Immortal Cloud City.
• News spread that someone in the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect intended to attempt a breakthrough to the Aperture Unification Realm.

Chen Fei went to Mo Yang Mountain Villa to investigate missing Green Yang Grass and Blood Snakes, where he met Fang Zhehua of the Long Rainbow Sect and heard about a mysterious thief. The investigation had narrowed the suspect to a rogue cultivator, but the thief’s identity and whereabouts remained unknown.

• Chen Fei considered how the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect’s announced breakthrough attempt might affect pill-refining missions before arriving at Mo Yang Mountain Villa.
• Qian Jianlong welcomed Chen Fei and Fang Zhehua, who tested Chen Fei with an aggressive gaze before hearing about the thefts.
• Qian Jianlong explained that Green Yang Grass and Blood Snakes had gone missing, and that someone had secretly drained the snakes’ blood.
• Fang Zhehua suspected someone from inside the villa had helped the thief, but Qian Jianlong said their investigation of the residents had found nothing.
• Qian Jianlong described guards spotting a black shadow stealing a Blood Snake, and he and Fang Zhehua concluded the thief was likely a rogue cultivator below the Aperture Refining Realm.
• Chen Fei examined the dead Blood Snake and sensed no trace of Primordial Qi in its remaining Aura.

Chen Fei and Fang Zhehua searched for the Black Shadow that had infiltrated Mo Yang Mountain Villa, but the faint aura left behind offered few clues. Chen Fei strengthened the aura with refined Mind Power and gained a sense of its direction, while Fang Zhehua found a cave with a similar trace; the Black Line pointed elsewhere.

• Chen Fei and Fang Zhehua examined the place where the Black Shadow had been detected, then split up to search for clues.
• Chen Fei followed the faint aura through the surrounding wilderness but found no signs of the intruder.
• Chen Fei used the Thousand Thread Art to feed Mind Power into the Black Line while stripping away his own aura, strengthening it until it indicated a distant direction.
• Chen Fei returned to Mo Yang Mountain Villa, where Fang Zhehua reported finding a cave with traces similar to the intruder's aura.
• Chen Fei saw that the Black Line pointed somewhere other than the cave Fang Zhehua had found.

Chen Fei and Fang Zhehua captured the thief at Mo Yang Mountain Villa, but the Black Line’s reaction led Chen Fei to suspect that the real theft involved insiders, including Qian Jianlong and Fang Zhehua. To test his theory, Chen Fei left a false body in his room and secretly returned to the cave.

• Fang Zhehua and Chen Fei agreed to search the cave, with Fang Zhehua taking most of any valuables they found.
• Fang Zhehua caught a thief in the cave, and Qian Jianlong’s guards confirmed the captive was the Black Shadow who had appeared at the villa.
• While waiting overnight at Mo Yang Mountain Villa, Chen Fei noticed the Black Line trembling, signaling that its owner was inside the villa despite the security measures.
• Chen Fei concluded that Qian Jianlong and Fang Zhehua might be involved in stealing the villa’s guarded supplies and that the captured thief could be a scapegoat.
• Chen Fei left a false body in his room, slipped out of the villa, and headed back to the cave to look for evidence.

Chen Fei uncovered Fang Zhehua’s deception at Mo Yang Mountain Villa and escaped an assassination attempt, only to be cornered by Fang Zhehua and Yu Xiaolin. He trapped them in his Heavy Yuan Sword Formation and noticed Sha Yingsi watching from outside it.

• Chen Fei examined the cave and realized the traces there did not match Fang Zhehua’s account, deciding he could no longer remain at Mo Yang Mountain Villa.
• Fang Zhehua, Sha Yingsi, and Qian Jianlong debated killing Chen Fei and ultimately agreed to eliminate him before he could report their plans.
• Sha Yingsi attacked Chen Fei’s room with a huge crossbow bolt, but discovered he had struck a false body while Chen Fei had already fled.
• Fang Zhehua pretended to be fleeing the villa and tried to lure Chen Fei into joining him, then revealed his betrayal as Yu Xiaolin blocked Chen Fei’s escape.
• Fang Zhehua and Yu Xiaolin attacked Chen Fei together, but he trapped them in his Heavy Yuan Sword Formation and bound them with Sword Threads.
• Chen Fei drew the Qian Yuan Sword and spotted Sha Yingsi outside the formation.

Chen Fei defeated Sha Yingsi in five sword strikes and then turned his attack on Yu Xiaolin while the Heavy Yuan Sword Formation trapped Fang Zhehua. Yu Xiaolin’s fate remained unclear as Chen Fei thrust his sword at him, and Fang Zhehua continued to struggle against the tightening formation.

• Sha Yingsi arrived and found Chen Fei trapping Fang Zhehua and Yu Xiaolin in a powerful Heavy Yuan Sword Formation.
• Chen Fei overwhelmed Sha Yingsi with successive sword strikes, withstanding Sha Yingsi’s desperate Reverse Severing Spear before killing him.
• Fang Zhehua and Yu Xiaolin tried to break out by damaging their spears, but Chen Fei tightened the formation around Fang Zhehua and targeted Yu Xiaolin.
• Yu Xiaolin begged Chen Fei to spare him and threatened him with the Long Rainbow Sect, but Chen Fei answered with a sword thrust as Fang Zhehua remained trapped.

Chen Fei killed or outlasted the three men sent to ambush him, then reported the plot involving Mo Yang Mountain Villa to Qu Qingsheng. The Immortal Cloud Sword Sect seized the villa, rewarded Chen Fei, and used him as part of a counterplot that ended with Divine Flame Sect forces ambushing Immortal Cloud Sword Sect experts.

• Chen Fei killed Sha Yingsi, while Yu Xiaolin fled using Reverse Severing Spear and died from his shattered Apertures; Fang Zhehua self-destructed rather than be captured.
• Chen Fei returned to the Yuan Chen Sword Sect and told Qu Qingsheng what had happened, and Qu Qingsheng sent the news to the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect while concealing Chen Fei’s role.
• Guo Huaiyu captured Qian Jianlong and led Immortal Cloud Sword Sect disciples in taking control of everyone at Mo Yang Mountain Villa.
• Guo Huaiyu summoned Chen Fei, rewarded him with thirty Spirit Snow Pills and a Mind Forging Pill, and told him to stay at the villa.
• Chen Fei cultivated Escaping Heavens Travel for three days and reached Perfected Level, strengthening his false body.
• Several Immortal Cloud Sword Sect Aperture Refining Realm experts were surrounded and attacked by the Divine Flame Sect in a mountain hollow.

The Immortal Cloud Sword Sect turned the Long Rainbow Sect and Divine Flame Sect’s ambush into a counterattack, then rallied allied sects to strike the Long Rainbow Sect. Chen Fei joined the expedition, and Feng Xiupu learned how far Chen Fei had advanced in the Heavy Yuan Sword.

• Yu Cunzheng and Lu Zhenyuan led an attack on Tang Zhishi and six other Immortal Cloud Sword Sect disciples, but Tang Zhishi’s reinforcements surrounded the Divine Flame Sect and began a counterattack.
• Chen Fei left Mo Yang Mountain Villa after learning he could go, then returned to the Yuan Chen Sword Sect at great speed with his perfected Escaping Heavens Travel.
• Feng Xiupu told Chen Fei that the Long Rainbow Sect had betrayed the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect, whose counter-ambush had left more than ten Divine Flame Sect cultivators surrounded.
• Qu Qingsheng ordered the elders and allied sects to join the attack on the Long Rainbow Sect, and Feng Xiupu confirmed that Chen Fei would go with them.
• Feng Xiupu asked about Chen Fei’s Heavy Yuan Sword, and Chen Fei revealed that he had formed forty sword beads and refined them into Sword Threads.

The allied sects broke through the Long Rainbow Sect's defenses and began slaughtering its people. Chen Fei searched the sect for resources, claimed a damaged alchemy furnace, and left Bai Daoxiang injured after a brief fight.

• Guo Huaiyu, Qu Qingsheng, and the other sect leaders attacked the Long Rainbow Sect's formation, and the combined assault shattered it.
• More than forty Aperture Refining Realm cultivators stormed the mountain, overwhelming the Long Rainbow Sect's defenders as Chen Fei headed for its Treasure Pavilion.
• Chen Fei found medicinal herbs and a damaged alchemy furnace in the Treasure Pavilion, then fought off Bai Daoxiang with a single sword strike.
• Chen Fei carried the furnace to a secluded room and stored it in his Space Grid.