Chapter Summaries

Ye Tian admitted to Hua Qi that he used deceit to pursue his master and senior sisters, while Blood Moon Cult welcomed a new disciple and Jiang Caiyan prepared to enter seclusion. Lin Heng and Mu Liuxi returned to Green Pavilion Sect, where Meng Yutong learned that they and her other disciples would be absent from the Inter-Sect Grand Competition.

• Ye Tian confessed to Hua Qi that he had treated Fairy Cloud Peak as his harem and would keep disguising his conduct to win the women's hearts, and Hua Qi returned to the jade pendant without asking about the Spirit Stones.
• Jiang Caiyan and Black Robe returned to Blood Moon Cult with the Soul Python's body, and the disciples began preparing to refine it.
• Black Robe introduced Jie, a former disciple of the Corpse Nurturing Sect, and Jiang Caiyan accepted him into Blood Moon Cult after hearing why he had defected.
• Jiang Caiyan told Black Robe to train Jie, manage Black Market transactions during her seclusion, and contact Lin Heng at Green Pavilion Sect about cooperation next month.
• Lin Heng and Mu Liuxi completed their final sect mission and returned to Green Pavilion Sect, where Meng Yutong learned of their arrival and Yun Yao said she was glad to have her junior brother back.
• Meng Yutong told Yun Yao to read Third Senior Sister's letter and complained that she and the others had found excuses not to return for the Inter-Sect Grand Competition.

Yun Yao and Meng Yutong discussed a warning from Qingqiu and Qingyun about unrest in Demon Valley and the Western Continent. At Fairy Cloud Peak, Mu Liuxi caught Yun Yao neglecting the Spirit Stone accounts and made Lin Heng help with the handover.

• Yun Yao read Qingqiu and Qingyun’s letter, which warned the Green Pavilion Sect about Demon Valley unrest, frontier trouble, and Prince Qi’s movements.
• Meng Yutong worried that Qingqiu and Qingyun might be drawn into worldly disputes and said she would address the others that night.
• Disciples on the Main Peak spread rumors that Li Feiyu had been sent to Sitting Dao Peak after a symbolic punishment, while Lin Heng and Mu Liuxi questioned the fairness of his treatment.
• Yun Yao summoned Mu Liuxi and Lin Heng to help resolve discrepancies in the Spirit Stone accounts for Azure Mist Peak.
• Mu Liuxi blamed Yun Yao for slacking off, withheld her monthly Spirit Stones as punishment, and put Lin Heng in charge of helping with the accounts.

Yun Yao, Mu Liuxi, and Lin Heng reviewed Fairy Cloud Peak’s finances and prepared for the Inter-Sect Grand Competition. After the meeting, Meng Yutong revealed that Lin Heng’s mother, Dugu Zixuan, led Ten Directions Hall and could shelter him if Fairy Cloud Peak became unsafe.

• Mu Liuxi scolded Yun Yao for neglecting the accounts, then Yun Yao and Lin Heng shared news about the sect and its income.
• Lin Heng and Mu Liuxi explained that reserved academy places and pill sales could bring in enough spirit stones to meet their goal.
• Meng Yutong announced that the Inter-Sect Grand Competition would begin in nine days and named Yun Yao, Mu Liuxi, and Ye Tian as the peak’s likely participants.
• Meng Yutong kept Lin Heng behind and told him that his mother, Dugu Zixuan, was the master of Ten Directions Hall in the Eastern Continent.
• Meng Yutong said she had contacted Dugu Zixuan and urged Lin Heng to take Yun Yao and the others to Ten Directions Hall if Fairy Cloud Peak or the Green Pavilion Sect became unsafe.

Meng Yutong told Lin Heng that his mother, Dugu Zixuan, might not have known he disappeared because she had entered seclusion after losing a custody dispute with Lin Zhique. With Green Pavilion Sect facing internal and external pressure, she said Ten Directions Hall would welcome Lin Heng and his group if they needed to leave; Lin Heng promised to protect Fairy Cloud Peak and offered to solve her troubles in exchange for marrying her, but she restrained and rebuked him.

• Meng Yutong explained that Dugu Zixuan had entered seclusion after Lin Zhique took Lin Heng away, and that Ten Directions Hall had cut contact with Green Pavilion Sect.
• Meng Yutong recounted how Lin Zhique and Dugu Zixuan became Dao companions, how the Dugu Clan opposed their relationship, and how Lin Zhique fled with their newborn son before losing him.
• Meng Yutong told Lin Heng that Dugu Feng would send for him if he wanted to return to Ten Directions Hall, as she prepared a fallback plan amid Green Pavilion Sect's troubles.
• Lin Heng assured Meng Yutong that Fairy Cloud Peak would survive until Lin Zhique left seclusion, then offered to resolve her troubles if she agreed to become his wife.
• Meng Yutong immobilized Lin Heng, mocked his proposal, and warned him to act honestly before releasing him.

Lin Heng decided to seek opportunities in the Western Wasteland, and Yun Yao warned him about its dangers before growing closer to him and accepting Spirit Stones. Two days later, Ye Tian returned to Fairy Cloud Peak and found both Lin Heng and Yun Yao absent, prompting Mu Liuxi to suspect they shared a secret.

• Lin Heng told Meng Yutong he planned to go to the Western Wasteland and asked whether her promised fungus tonic soup reward still stood, causing her to throw him out of the hall.
• Yun Yao caught Lin Heng outside and brought him to his lodging, where she warned him against going to the Sea of Death.
• Lin Heng teased and kissed Yun Yao, then agreed to give her two thousand Spirit Stones after she said she had no money left.
• Yun Yao offered to reward Lin Heng, and he realized she had walked out of the shadows and might become Second Senior Sister's rival.
• Ye Tian returned to Fairy Cloud Peak, met Meng Yutong, and then found only Mu Liuxi at the Disciple Palace.
• Mu Liuxi noticed that Lin Heng and Yun Yao always seemed to disappear or appear together and resolved to test them when they returned.

After Yun Yao left, Du Yan visited Lin Heng to ask for advice about Ye Tian’s suspicious goods. With fewer than seven days until the Inter-Sect Grand Competition and fewer than ten days before his Spirit Stone deadline, Lin Heng began plotting how to use Ye Tian’s need for money against him.

• Yun Yao left Lin Heng after reminding him to keep their relationship secret from Senior Sister and Master.
• Du Yan told Lin Heng that Ye Tian had tricked him into buying a fake emerald ice crystal for 700 Spirit Stones.
• Du Yan said Ye Tian had returned with pills, antiques, jade, and two Sixth-Grade Artifacts to sell, and asked whether the items might be flawed.
• Lin Heng pointed out that Ye Tian’s urgent need for Spirit Stones gave Du Yan leverage to push down the price.
• Lin Heng paused to devise a plan, then raised his head as an idea came to him.

Lin Heng advised Du Yan to use a consignment auction with prearranged shills to reduce the risk of selling Ye Tian’s items, while Yun Yao monitored construction at the Immortal Academy and hid her relationship with Lin Heng from Mu Liuxi. The chapter ended with Lin Heng sneezing and wondering who was talking about him.

• Lin Heng explained how Du Yan could auction Ye Tian’s items on consignment and use shills to keep the winning prices low.
• Du Yan accepted Lin Heng’s plan and left, while Lin Heng enjoyed plotting against Ye Tian.
• Yun Yao inspected the Immortal Academy construction and reviewed plans for its academy, lecture hall, and secret realm.
• Mu Liuxi confronted Yun Yao about having a Dao companion, and Yun Yao denied that it was Ye Tian while concealing that it was Lin Heng.
• Mu Liuxi told Yun Yao to keep her mind steady for the approaching Inter-Sect Competition, and Lin Heng sneezed while wondering who was speaking about him.

Ye Tian agreed to consign his artifacts to an auction run by the Treasure Pavilion, unaware that Du Yan planned to rig the bidding among wealthy disciples. Back at Fairy Cloud Peak, Ye Tian found Yun Yao and Mu Liuxi treating him with unexpected distance.

• Ye Tian admitted that his artifacts had dubious origins, and Du Yan offered to auction them through the Treasure Pavilion for an 8% commission.
• Ye Tian accepted Du Yan's offer, hoping the auction would earn enough spirit stones to meet his goal.
• Du Yan summoned wealthy disciples and arranged for them to keep bids on the two Sixth-Grade Artifacts below five thousand spirit stones.
• Ye Tian returned to Fairy Cloud Peak and found Yun Yao and Mu Liuxi chatting together.
• Yun Yao and Mu Liuxi left Ye Tian to watch the back mountain, and he wondered why they had grown so distant.

Duan Shuyun met Gong Panzi in North City and learned that the Literary Path’s history had been severed and that Lin Ziqing’s artifacts might reopen its path. Meanwhile, Yun Yao secretly visited Lin Heng, and they scrambled to hide her when Mu Liuxi approached his hut.

• Gong Panzi told Duan Shuyun that the Immortal Realm’s history had been erased, and that Lin Ziqing had helped cut off the Literary Path by creating three artifacts.
• Gong Panzi urged Duan Shuyun to seek Lin Ziqing’s artifacts in the Western Wasteland, and she left North City with an ink box.
• Yun Yao asked Lin Heng how to keep Mu Liuxi from discovering their relationship, and they worried about the consequences if she found out.
• Lin Heng and Yun Yao heard Mu Liuxi approaching, so he hid Yun Yao beneath the curtains, wrapped in a pink quilt.

Mu Liuxi visited Lin Heng, kissed him, and discussed announcing their relationship to Master after the Inter-Sect Grand Competition. Xiao Yao, hidden nearby, witnessed their intimacy and realized Mu Liuxi had secretly started a relationship with Lin Heng.

• Mu Liuxi arrived at Lin Heng's room while Xiao Yao hid nearby and listened.
• Lin Heng kissed Mu Liuxi, and she kissed him back, leaving Xiao Yao shocked.
• Mu Liuxi asked about Lin Heng's trip to the Western Wasteland and agreed to meet him for tea before he left.
• Mu Liuxi said she wanted to announce her relationship with Lin Heng to Master after the Inter-Sect Grand Competition.
• Mu Liuxi told Lin Heng to complete the two-million Spirit Stone task and apologize to Master, while Xiao Yao realized Mu Liuxi had found a way to pursue Lin Heng herself.

After learning that Mu Liuxi planned to reveal her relationship with Lin Heng, Yun Yao confronted him and demanded to know how their romance had developed. Though Lin Heng soothed her anger, Yun Yao remained determined to be the first to make their relationship public, leaving him caught between both Senior Sisters.

• Yun Yao realized Mu Liuxi had been preparing to confess her feelings for Lin Heng and worried that she would be left behind as his hidden dao companion.
• After Mu Liuxi left, Yun Yao blocked Lin Heng from leaving and demanded to know how far his relationship with Mu Liuxi had gone.
• Lin Heng recounted how his help to the Mu Family and Mu Liuxi had gradually earned her affection, while denying that he had used improper methods.
• Yun Yao recalled that she had once said she could accept Lin Heng being loved by other Senior Sisters, but insisted he must give her status first and treat both women equally.
• After Lin Heng kissed her cheek and promised not to neglect her, Yun Yao remained privately determined to be the first to make their relationship public.

Yun Yao rejected Lin Heng’s attempt to continue their intimacy, and Lin Heng prepared for his meeting with Second Senior Sister. At the Treasure Pavilion auction, Ye Tian watched his pills sell for far less than expected and discovered Lin Heng had bought one, before remembering Lin Heng’s task to earn Two Million Spirit Stones.

• Yun Yao forced Lin Heng to release her and left, while he decided to conserve his strength for Second Senior Sister the next day.
• Ye Tian arrived at Du Yan’s Treasure Pavilion auction, where his Third Grade soul-nourishing pill sold for 1,100 Spirit Stones.
• Lin Heng bought a Third Grade Illusion Pill for 800 Spirit Stones, and Ye Tian recognized him as the buyer.
• Ye Tian advised Lin Heng to stabilize his cultivation, while Lin Heng mocked Ye Tian’s assumptions inwardly and praised the auction’s low prices aloud.
• Ye Tian watched a Fourth Grade pill sell for 2,000 Spirit Stones and remembered that Lin Heng still had to earn Two Million Spirit Stones.

Lin Heng and Ye Tian attended an auction while Lin Heng sought help meeting his spirit-stone task. Mu Liuxi bought Lin Heng a sixth-grade short sword, then told him a letter had arrived for him at the Disciple Palace.

• Lin Heng asked Ye Tian to help him gather spirit stones, but Ye Tian mockingly suggested he use the Immortal Academy Hall to earn the money.
• Mu Liuxi arrived at the Treasure Pavilion and sat between Lin Heng and Ye Tian.
• Mu Liuxi bid on a sixth-grade short sword and said she wanted to give it to Lin Heng before his journey to the Western Wasteland.
• Mu Liuxi won the sword for 4,800 spirit stones and handed it to Lin Heng, while Ye Tian left after the unexpectedly low auction price made him suspicious.
• Mu Liuxi told Lin Heng that a disciple had delivered a letter for him and that she had left it in the Disciple Palace.

Ye Tian was forced to continue his loss-making auction after Du Yan warned him he would bear the blame for stopping it. At Fragrant Cloud Hall, Meng Yutong spoke with Ling Fei about her disciples, the threat against her, and Ten Directions Hall’s concern over Lin Heng.

• Du Yan told Ye Tian that the auction’s low prices reflected the poor turnout and warned that the Treasure Pavilion would blame him if he canceled it.
• Ye Tian continued the auction despite his anger over Mu Liuxi giving Lin Heng the bargain she had bought.
• Meng Yutong hosted Ling Fei at Fragrant Cloud Hall and explained that the strange tea was Origin Grass Leaf brought by her Second Senior.
• Ling Fei warned Meng Yutong to be careful before her trip south because hostile elders wanted to capture and refine her.
• Meng Yutong thanked Ling Fei for mediating with Ten Directions Hall, and Ling Fei described Dugu Feng’s reaction to learning his nephew Lin Heng had been missing for twenty years.

Meng Yutong decided to give Ye Tian one final chance while keeping Lin Heng on Fairy Cloud Peak, and Mu Liuxi invited Lin Heng to discuss dual cultivation. The chapter ended with the two drawing closer in Mu Liuxi’s room.

• The Shadow Scout told Meng Yutong that Ye Tian had borrowed spirit stones from Azure Mist Peak, and Meng Yutong decided not to expel him yet because Fairy Cloud Peak needed him for the Inter-Sect Grand Competition.
• The Shadow Scout defended Lin Heng, citing his loyalty and the benefits he had brought Fairy Cloud Peak, and Meng Yutong agreed to keep him.
• Lin Heng went to Mu Liuxi’s courtyard and waited outside the barrier while she cultivated and thought about their relationship and dual cultivation.
• Mu Liuxi let Lin Heng into her room and asked whether the romantic accounts of dual cultivation were true.
• Lin Heng reassured Mu Liuxi and suggested they try it, and they grew intimate.

Lin Heng and Mu Liuxi spent the night together, then discussed his other potential romantic interests and Mu Liuxi’s feelings about them. As they parted, Mu Liuxi warned him to be careful away from the sect, while privately worrying that other Senior Sisters might also fall for him.

• Lin Heng and Mu Liuxi shared an intimate night, and he used his Wood Element Body to prolong their time together.
• Mu Liuxi warned Lin Heng not to pursue other women and named Lady Zhao from Swallow Cloud City and a woman in a black dress as the two she knew about.
• Lin Heng joked about taking all his Senior Sisters as partners and privately saved a piece of bedsheet in his System Space.
• Lin Heng asked whether Mu Liuxi would accept it if other Senior Sisters fell for him, and she said they were family and would not truly fight.
• Mu Liuxi told Lin Heng that Xiao Yao already had someone in her heart, then wondered whether her Fifth Sister might be drawn to his lively personality.

After spending the night with Lin Heng, Mu Liuxi worried that Yun Yao might also become entangled with him, while Lin Heng considered the threat posed by Ye Tian and an approaching calamity. Lin Heng left the Green Pavilion Sect for the Western Wasteland after Black Robe delivered the Little Demoness’s message that she would not join next month’s sect mission.

• Mu Liuxi left Lin Heng with a warning look, and he reflected on Ye Tian and the calamity that might have prompted the Jade Origin Vine to appear.
• Meng Yutong established another Spirit-Gathering Grand Formation as Mu Liuxi and Yun Yao met at the Disciple Palace; Yun Yao regretted missing her chance with Lin Heng and planned to act before Mu Liuxi next spring.
• Lin Heng left the Green Pavilion Sect and met Black Robe, who relayed that the Little Demoness would be busy with Blood Moon Cult affairs and would not join next month’s sect mission.
• Lin Heng decided the Little Demoness must care about their missions and said he would visit her if he could before setting off for the Western Wasteland.
• As the woman in white traveled toward the Western Wasteland, she suddenly felt a tug in her heart.

Lin Heng reached Valley City on the edge of the Western Wasteland and learned that Red Cloud Mountain’s dangerous mines might be connected to the Golden Scale. As he set out to investigate, Duan Shuyun confronted Yi Pavilion members who had ambushed her.

• Lin Heng arrived in Valley City and persuaded the Inspection Bureau to let him enter as an immortal cultivator.
• Patrol Officer Fang told Lin Heng that local convoys mined raw ore at Red Cloud Mountain, where eruptions could set people ablaze.
• Lin Heng learned that several immortal cultivators had recently arrived in Valley City, including a woman three days earlier, and decided to head for Red Cloud Mountain.
• Duan Shuyun confronted Yi Pavilion members north of the Western Wasteland and accused them of ambushing her and running a brothel.

Duan Shuyun confronted Bai Yi and fought him in a clash between the Literary Path and the Chess Path, but neither could defeat the other. After she left, Bai Yi and his men discussed Yi Pavilion’s troubles before he turned his attention to Red Cloud Mountain and the player outside the Heaven-Earth Chessboard.

• Bai Yi slapped two Yi Pavilion men for provoking Duan Shuyun and insisted the Flower Pavilion no longer engaged in forced buying and selling.
• Duan Shuyun attacked Bai Yi with her Literary Path brush techniques, and he defended himself with his chessboard Lifebound Artifact.
• Duan Shuyun and Bai Yi unleashed their respective paths in a fierce exchange, then stopped when neither could overcome the other.
• Bai Yi warned Duan Shuyun to be cautious around Yi Pavilion, and she left after coldly rejecting his words.
• Bai Yi explained that he had used a trump card to protect his men, who discussed Yi Pavilion’s conflict with the Dynasty and its role in the Western Wasteland.
• Bai Yi looked toward Red Cloud Mountain and wondered who the player mentioned by the Chess Saint was.

Lin Heng reached Red Cloud Mountain, where the Green Lotus Dao Fire sensed powerful fire essence in the magma and urged him to descend. After Lin Heng began refining the fire power, the Jade Origin Vine detected a strange mental pressure and lost contact with him; meanwhile, Mu Liuxi entered Meng Yutong’s cabin and noticed the scent of her tea.

• The Jade Origin Vine told Lin Heng that a living earth-attribute spiritual object was nearby and suggested he look for it to cultivate the Earth Element Body.
• Lin Heng reached Red Cloud Mountain, pretended to be a Black Market buyer to question the miners, and then flew to the summit.
• The Green Lotus Dao Fire sensed potent fire essence inside the magma and urged Lin Heng to jump in, so Lin Heng warned it against disobedience before descending into the molten rock.
• The Jade Origin Vine sensed a mental pressure and its communication with Lin Heng weakened, prompting him to stop exploring and have the Green Lotus Dao Fire help him cultivate the Fire Element Body.
• Meng Yutong worried about Lin Heng’s safety and considered keeping him close; Mu Liuxi entered her cabin and recognized the scent of the tea in her cup.