Chapter Summaries

Duan Shuyun awakened after Lin Heng helped detoxify her and confronted him for holding her close, while he pressed her to honor her promise to become his wife. She warned that their separate paths made a lasting partnership difficult, but Lin Heng presented the White Mystic Brush, a Literary Path artifact, leaving her stunned.

• Duan Shuyun regained her awareness and realized Lin Heng was still holding her after helping cure her Spring Poison.
• Lin Heng explained that he had sacrificed a hundred years of lifespan to save her from Xiao Xuan and bring her to Medicine King Valley.
• Lin Heng demanded that Duan Shuyun take responsibility for agreeing to be his wife, and showed her the written proof on his chest.
• Duan Shuyun said she could not remain by Lin Heng's side forever because she had her own Literary Path to pursue.
• Lin Heng offered to help her find the Literary Path artifacts, then revealed the White Mystic Brush and placed it in her hand.

Duan Shuyun discovered that Lin Heng had obtained the White Mystic Brush from Bai Yangzi, completing two of the three Literary Path artifacts she sought. After Lin Heng coaxed her into calling him “hubby,” she agreed to become his Dao companion, and they turned their attention to Medicine King Valley.

• Duan Shuyun recognized the character Bai on Lin Heng’s brush and realized Bai Yangzi had given him the White Mystic Brush.
• Lin Heng persuaded Duan Shuyun to dance for him and explained that “wife” and “hubby” were terms of address for Dao companions.
• Duan Shuyun asked how Lin Heng obtained the brush and whether Bai Yangzi was alive, and Lin Heng embellished his account of meeting the sage.
• Duan Shuyun accepted Lin Heng as her Dao companion, then worried about explaining the relationship to her Master and fellow disciples.
• Duan Shuyun decided to deal with their immediate plans and focus on Medicine King Valley.

Xiao Xuan and Xiao Xinhe attacked Lin Heng and Duan Shuyun after realizing they had been fooled by a hallucinogenic pill, but Chen Bingyi intervened to protect his sleeping wife. Duan Shuyun killed Xiao Xuan and pursued the fleeing Xiao Xinhe, while Lin Heng prepared to take Xiao Xuan’s Dao Eye.

• Xiao Xuan woke after his abnormal condition vanished, and Xiao Xinhe realized Lin Heng had tricked them with a hallucinogenic pill.
• Xiao Xuan and Xiao Xinhe broke through Lin Heng’s barrier and confronted Chen Bingyi, who defended the chamber because their noise might wake his wife.
• Lin Heng and Duan Shuyun emerged, and Xiao Xinhe accused Lin Heng of deceiving him and refusing to release the pair.
• Duan Shuyun appeared behind Xiao Xuan and killed him with a crushing attack before he could use his Dao Eye.
• Lin Heng asked Duan Shuyun for Xiao Xuan’s Dao Eye, and she sealed Xiao Xuan’s cultivation before chasing the fleeing Xiao Xinhe.

Lin Heng removed Xiao Xuan’s Dao Eye, killed him, and refined the eye’s origin. He saw the Dao Trajectory of time and discovered that the origin retained the original owner’s memories.

• Lin Heng used Water Force and Wood Force to remove Xiao Xuan’s Dao Eye without damaging it.
• Xiao Xuan screamed and threatened Lin Heng, who stomped on him and burned him to ashes with Green Lotus Dao Fire.
• Su Lian'er woke and learned from Chen Bingyi that Medicine King Valley had attacked Lin Heng and Yun Wife; Chen Bingyi played the qin for her as Lin Heng refined the eye.
• Lin Heng gathered the Dao Eye’s origin fragments and saw the Dao Trajectory, recognizing how time twisted, bent, and moved forward.
• Lin Heng found that the origin’s memories still included those of the Dao Eye’s original owner.

Lin Heng and the others confronted the Dead Sand Spirit, an ancient calamity sealed beneath Medicine King Valley, after Xiao Xinhe unleashed it. Their attacks could not destroy it, and Duan Shuyun discovered that even the White Mystic Brush could not trace its existence.

• Lin Heng learned that Xiao Xuan had taken the other Dao Eye from a fifteen-year-old youth, then followed Chen Bingyi toward an explosion in the distance.
• Xiao Xinhe revealed that the Dead Sand Spirit was sealed beneath Medicine King Valley and triggered its release, causing the secret realm to tremble and decay.
• The Dead Sand Spirit emerged, devoured Xiao Xinhe, and began attacking Lin Heng, Duan Shuyun, and Chen Bingyi.
• Lin Heng, Duan Shuyun, and Chen Bingyi attacked the Dead Sand Spirit, but it re-formed after being shattered and continued targeting Lin Heng.
• Duan Shuyun used the White Mystic Brush to trap the Dead Sand Spirit, but she could not find any trace of its origin and was forced to retreat.

Lin Heng sent the Jade Origin Vine to fight the Dead Sand Spirit, hoping its wood-element power could restrain the creature. The Vine trapped it briefly, but the Dead Sand Spirit’s deathly qi began suppressing its Revival Force, leaving the battle in trouble.

• Chen Bingyi urged Lin Heng and Duan Shuyun to leave before the Dead Sand Spirit slaughtered the people of the Western Wasteland.
• Lin Heng reasoned that the Jade Origin Vine could use its wood-element power to counter the Dead Sand Spirit and told it to fight.
• The Jade Origin Vine emerged from Lin Heng’s heart, grew into its towering true form, and charged the Dead Sand Spirit.
• The Dead Sand Spirit initially fled from the Vine, then escaped its vines by scattering its body through the gaps.
• The Dead Sand Spirit counterattacked with deathly qi, which suppressed the Jade Origin Vine’s Wood Force and began turning the fight against it.

Lin Heng used Time to reverse the Dead Sand Spirit’s brief rise to power, giving Duan Shuyun, Chen Bingyi, and the Jade Origin Vine a chance to destroy it. After the spirit was swallowed by the vine, Lin Heng collapsed, and Xiao Xinhe fled.

• Lin Heng and the others fought the Dead Sand Spirit, which grew stronger after draining two old men and overwhelmed their defenses.
• Lin Heng sacrificed another fifty years of lifespan to reverse time for twenty minutes, weakening the Dead Sand Spirit to its state just after breaking free of the seal.
• Duan Shuyun, Chen Bingyi, and the Jade Origin Vine attacked the weakened spirit until the vine swallowed it into its source.
• Lin Heng collapsed into Duan Shuyun’s arms after the victory and warned them that Xiao Xinhe was escaping.
• Chen Bingyi left Lin Heng in Duan Shuyun’s care and pursued Xiao Xinhe.

Lin Heng and Duan Shuyun dealt with Medicine King Valley’s Xiao Xinhe, then revealed their real identities and discovered that they were fellow disciples of Green Pavilion Sect. The chapter ended with Lin Heng telling Duan Shuyun that he and Yun Yao were also dao companions and accusing Ye Tian of plotting against them.

• Chen Bingyi restrained Xiao Xinhe, and Lin Heng let Little Blue eat him while Duan Shuyun silenced his screams.
• Duan Shuyun gave Lin Heng a Literary Mulberry Fruit and discussed her plans to return to Green Pavilion Sect, while Lin Heng confessed that his name was Lin Heng and that he was not imperial kin.
• Duan Shuyun revealed that she was Duan Shuyun, whose master was Meng Yutong, and Lin Heng realized she was his Eldest Senior Sister.
• Lin Heng admitted that he was the seventh disciple of Fairy Cloud Peak, and Duan Shuyun demanded to know about his other dao companions.
• Lin Heng told Duan Shuyun that he and Yun Yao were dao companions and explained how they had become close.
• Duan Shuyun questioned Lin Heng’s claim that Ye Tian had drugged Yun Yao, and Lin Heng insisted that Ye Tian had plotted against them.

Lin Heng revealed his relationships with Xiao Yao and Mu Liuxi to Duan Shuyun, who was angered but returned to care for him. As Lin Heng refined the Dead Sand Spirit, it revealed that it came from the future to find a variable threatening the arrival of the Sixth Epoch.

• Lin Heng told Duan Shuyun that Ye Tian had targeted Xiao Yao and Mu Liuxi, and Duan Shuyun slapped him after learning how many of her Junior Sisters were involved with him.
• Duan Shuyun returned after leaving and gave Lin Heng a Blood Dragon Pill to refine with the Literary Mulberry Fruit.
• Chen Bingyi comforted Su Lian'er and played the zither with her, sending Revival Force through the ruins.
• Lin Heng used his Dao Eye to perceive traces of the Dao, then began refining the Dead Sand Spirit with Jade Origin Vine's help.
• The Dead Sand Spirit said it came from the future near the opening of the Sixth Epoch and had been sent to find a variable that could prevent the epochal transition.
• Lin Heng refined the Dead Sand Spirit's Earth Force and wondered how schemes from the past and future had shaped the present.

During the Inter-Sect Grand Competition, Meng Yutong learned that someone might target her and her disciples, while Shadow Scout narrowly escaped a trap set for her. Meng Yutong met Mu Li, who revealed that a Refining Void Pill had helped five Spirit Transformation Peak cultivators survive their tribulations and enter the Return to Void Realm.

• Xu Xiaobai ordered his attendants to arrange a dangerous opponent for Ye Tian, but held back from retaliating further unless Ye Tian insulted him again.
• Mu Li tried to recruit Yun Yao to Joyful Union Sect and warned her that someone wanted to harm Meng Yutong, but Yun Yao refused and returned to her Master.
• Meng Yutong spotted young men from Sitting Dao Peak watching her group and noted that Ye Tian had left the Arena, then decided to meet Mu Li that night.
• Shadow Scout reported that Clear Moon Long Song and Sitting Dao Peak had lured her into a trap, and Meng Yutong told her to watch Ye Tian while she confronted Sitting Dao Peak.
• Meng Yutong met Mu Li, who told her that news from Heavenly Secret Sect described five Spirit Transformation Peak cultivators entering the Return to Void Realm after taking a Refining Void Pill.

Mu Li warned Meng Yutong that the Heavenly Secret Sect might target her as an ingredient for Refining Void Pills, but Meng Yutong insisted she already knew and could protect herself. Meanwhile, Qiu revealed to Ye Tian that Clear Moon Long Song planned to cooperate with him against Meng Yutong, leaving him stunned by the scope of their plot.

• Mu Li told Meng Yutong that five Return to Void True Lords had advanced on the Heavenly Action Continent and that a missing Formation grandmaster might be connected to the Refining Void Pill.
• Mu Li warned Meng Yutong that the Heavenly Secret Sect's branch was preparing medicine from people and might target her, but Meng Yutong claimed she had already sensed the danger and dismissed the warning.
• Meng Yutong cautioned Mu Li not to get dragged into her affairs before leaving, and Mu Li wondered whether Meng Yutong was concerned about her.
• Qiu met Ye Tian in a remote house, threatened him, and explained that the Ye Family had intervened to keep him alive, so she would spare him for now.
• Qiu offered Ye Tian cooperation with Clear Moon Long Song and revealed that their plans targeted Meng Yutong for the raw materials needed to refine pills, including a Return to Void True Lord sacrifice.

Qiu tried to recruit Ye Tian into a plot to capture Meng Yutong, promising him a Refining Void Pill and control of Fairy Cloud Peak, while exploiting his resentment toward Lin Heng. Hua Qi freed Ye Tian from Qiu’s bewitching art, but he continued to justify his desire to take Meng Yutong for himself; meanwhile, Lin Heng found a lotus leaf left by the Medical Ancestor.

• Qiu told Ye Tian that Clear Moon Long Song needed Refining Void Pills and planned to use Meng Yutong’s body, divine infant, and soul for their purposes with Zhao Yue.
• Qiu offered Ye Tian a Refining Void Pill, Zhao Yue’s desired prize, and puppet control arts if he helped capture Meng Yutong, but Ye Tian refused at first.
• Qiu claimed Meng Yutong meant to expel Ye Tian to make way for Lin Heng, stirring Ye Tian’s resentment, and gave him three days to decide.
• Hua Qi emerged from Ye Tian’s jade pendant and dispelled the bewitching art Qiu had used, but Ye Tian insisted he would decide for himself.
• Ye Tian privately resolved that he might take Meng Yutong for himself rather than let Zhao Yue get her, while Lin Heng found a lotus leaf left by the Medical Ancestor in Medicine King Valley.

Lin Heng and Duan Shuyun left the ruined Medicine King Valley with the Medical Ancestor’s legacy, while Duan Shuyun secretly planned to tell her master about their relationship. As they flew toward Swallow Cloud City, a Dynasty force intercepted them at the edge of the Western Wasteland.

• Lin Heng and Duan Shuyun examined the Medical Ancestor’s legacy and decided to take it to the Little Healer Immortal in Swallow Cloud City.
• Duan Shuyun teased Lin Heng about his other romantic partners, then resolved to warn her master that she had a dao companion.
• Lin Heng and Duan Shuyun left Medicine King Valley, while Chen Bingyi and his wife departed separately to seek medicine in Swallow Cloud City.
• Mad Qiao Daoist vowed revenge on Lin Heng and Duan Shuyun, but a Spirit Transformation cultivator leading a Dynasty force killed him with a divine sense attack.
• The Dynasty force learned that Medicine King Valley had collapsed and that two Yi Pavilion members had escaped, then turned back.
• At the edge of the Western Wasteland, Dynasty officials intercepted Lin Heng and Duan Shuyun and forced them to land.

Lin Heng and Duan Shuyun were caught in a Dynasty blockade meant to contain Demon Beasts and Yi Pavilion agents, then learned about Prince Qi’s control of the Garrison Command and the Dynasty’s political turmoil. After Duan Shuyun explained the situation and shared her Literary Path aspirations, Lin Heng teased her until she realized his suggestive intentions.

• A Garrison Command cultivator told Duan Shuyun and Lin Heng that the Dynasty had sealed the Western Wasteland’s borders because Demon Beasts had surged from the corridor and Yi Pavilion agents were suspected of causing trouble.
• Duan Shuyun and Lin Heng were escorted to a barracks guarded by Prince Qi’s men, where Duan Shuyun explained Prince Qi’s influence and the roles of the Dynasty’s Three Bureaus.
• Duan Shuyun told Lin Heng that the Female Emperor’s struggle with the Imperial Strategy Bureau had limited her ability to deal with Yi Pavilion, and said Prince Qi’s arrival meant the trouble might soon be contained.
• Duan Shuyun spoke about her admiration for the Literary Path and her hopes for understanding history, while Lin Heng flirted with her.
• Duan Shuyun pushed Lin Heng away when his teasing turned suggestive, then warned him to mean proper glowing when he tried to explain himself.

Prince Qi Jiang Yan investigated the disaster at Medicine King Valley and learned how the Dynasty’s diversion to the Western Wasteland exposed a conspiracy between Yi Pavilion and Demon Valley. After hearing that intercepted travelers included Green Pavilion Sect disciples and a Nascent Soul cultivator, Cloud Fairy went to meet them, surprised to find fellow sect members in the unfamiliar region.

• Duan Shuyun wondered what effects the Earth Element Body would bring and stopped herself from dwelling on it.
• Prince Qi Jiang Yan heard that Valley Master Xiao and sixty-three others from Medicine King Valley had died in a collapsed secret realm and ordered an investigation.
• A woman reported that she had delivered an explanatory letter and that her elder sister was pursuing two fugitives from Yi Pavilion.
• Jiang Yan explained that Yi Pavilion and Demon Valley had planned to use the Western Wasteland Corridor to invade the Heavenly Profound Continent while Zhenyuan Hall was distracted.
• A Pacification Office messenger reported that border guards had intercepted Green Pavilion Sect disciples, including a Nascent Soul cultivator.
• Cloud Fairy recognized the sect name and went to the northern barracks to meet the travelers.

Lin Heng showed Saint Ye his progress and offered to make him a puppet body, while Duan Shuyun reunited with Leng Qingyun and Leng Qingqiu in the barracks. Lin Heng mistakenly embraced Leng Qingyun from behind and was slapped away before Duan Shuyun explained that he was their junior brother.

• Lin Heng demonstrated his Dao Eye and minor-completion Five Elements Body to Saint Ye, who warned him that the other eye's owner might come looking for him.
• Lin Heng offered to study Medicine King Valley's method for making a puppet body for Saint Ye, but Saint Ye refused to be used as a test subject.
• Leng Qingyun entered Duan Shuyun's barracks and joyfully reunited with her senior sister.
• Leng Qingyun brought Leng Qingqiu to see Duan Shuyun, and the sisters happily greeted their long-absent senior sister.
• Lin Heng mistook Leng Qingyun for someone else, embraced her from behind, and was slapped away before Duan Shuyun explained that he was their junior brother.

Duan Shuyun reunited with Leng Qingqiu and Leng Qingyun and introduced Lin Heng as their new junior brother. As the twins learned about his strange inner thoughts, they explained that their investigation in the Western Wasteland had uncovered Demon Beasts and people from Yi Pavilion.

• Duan Shuyun introduced Lin Heng to Leng Qingqiu and Leng Qingyun as their seventh junior brother.
• Leng Qingqiu heard Lin Heng’s unspoken thoughts and realized that she alone could hear them.
• Duan Shuyun recounted her encounter with Mad Qiao Daoist but concealed that she and Lin Heng had relied on Dual Cultivation to survive.
• Leng Qingqiu told Duan Shuyun that the imperial clan had sent them to investigate the Phenomenon Heavenly Tribulation and that they had found Demon Beasts entering through the Western Wasteland Corridor.
• Leng Qingqiu said that a young man from Yi Pavilion had used a chessboard to open a gap in their encirclement.

Duan Shuyun told Leng Qingqiu that Lin Heng had caused the Phenomenon Heavenly Tribulation and urged her to keep it secret. Leng Qingqiu asked for Lin Heng to stay and help watch over Leng Qingyun, while Lin Heng and Leng Qingyun wandered outside and she asked what he meant when he called her his wife.

• Duan Shuyun recalled fighting a chess-dao practitioner, and Lin Heng realized their battle had caused the energy storm that swept him away.
• Leng Qingqiu privately asked Duan Shuyun about the Phenomenon Heavenly Tribulation, and Duan revealed that Lin Heng had caused it during his Golden Core tribulation.
• Leng Qingqiu promised to keep Lin Heng's role secret and asked for him to stay to help keep an eye on Leng Qingyun.
• Duan Shuyun said she would not stop Lin Heng from staying, and Leng Qingqiu explained that Leng Qingyun's musical pursuits had been worrying her.
• Lin Heng walked around with Leng Qingyun, who asked what he had meant by calling her his wife while holding her.

Lin Heng tried to cover up calling Leng Qingyun “wife” before interrupting Luo Feng’s attempt to get close to her with an offer to buy her a dress. Leng Qingyun explained her love of dance and expensive outfits, leaving Lin Heng wondering how she spent six thousand Spirit Stones a month.

• Lin Heng claimed that “wife” came from a poem and meant someone like a mother, while Leng Qingyun secretly recognized his excuse as dishonest.
• Luo Feng told Leng Qingyun that Rainbow Atelier would make her a Tideglow Dress and suggested she repay him by letting him watch her dance.
• Lin Heng offered six thousand Spirit Stones for the dress and pulled Leng Qingyun away before she could answer Luo Feng.
• Leng Qingyun explained that she loved classical dances and their outfits, and that Leng Qingqiu had once restricted her spending after she secretly performed at an arts tower.
• Lin Heng learned Leng Qingyun spent six thousand Spirit Stones monthly and asked how she could need so many clothes.

Lin Heng discussed Leng Qingyun’s idea of earning spirit stones through her artistic hobbies and advised her to consider other people’s perspectives. Their playful exchange grew flirtatious before Eldest Senior Sister called out to stop Leng Qingyun from bullying him.

• Lin Heng realized custom clothing could be a lucrative business and considered new ways to make money.
• Leng Qingyun asked Lin Heng whether she was pretty and sought his approval for earning money through literature, dance, qin, and ink.
• Lin Heng urged Leng Qingyun to imagine how a Dao companion might feel about her dancing for Commander Luo, and explained that her sister’s restrictions came from care.
• Lin Heng patted Leng Qingyun’s head, and she teased him by asking whether he had a purpose after paying three thousand spirit stones for her.
• Leng Qingyun offered to dance for Lin Heng, but Eldest Senior Sister called from behind and told her not to bully Junior Brother.