Chapter Summaries

Crippled Granny explained how Jiang Caiyan’s mother, Yu Han'er, escaped the Azure Clan and revealed that she had created the forces and secret art Jiang Caiyan inherited. Jiang Caiyan learned the truth of her lineage and followed Crippled Granny into the Waning Moon Tower, reflecting on her mother’s fate.

• Jiang Caiyan challenged Crippled Granny’s claim that she was her granddaughter, and Crippled Granny explained that the Azure Clan had kept her from visiting her daughter for fear of exposing her.
• Crippled Granny recounted how Yu Han'er saved an outsider from Northern Pass, was exposed for bringing him into Forest City, and escaped with him by faking her death.
• Crippled Granny revealed that Yu Han'er had later been abandoned by the man and died without seeing him again, and Jiang Caiyan learned that her mother’s birth name was Yu Han'er.
• Crippled Granny led Jiang Caiyan through an inn to Waning Moon Tower and explained that Yu Han'er had established several forces as part of her escape plan.
• Crippled Granny told Jiang Caiyan that Yu Han'er created the Blood Wheel Art for her own physique, which explained why Jiang Caiyan could use its full power.
• Jiang Caiyan wondered whether Yu Han'er might have lived better if she had followed her own plans instead of trusting the man who abandoned her.

Crippled Granny gave Jiang Caiyan the Silver Moon Ring and revealed that the Blacklight Stone held the Azure Clan’s stolen bloodline physiques. Meanwhile, Lin Heng was approached in Red Lotus City by envoys of the Martial Path, who invited him to meet their hall master, a former disciple of the Poetry Immortal.

• Crippled Granny gave Jiang Caiyan the Silver Moon Ring, which let its holder command the factions Yu Han'er had built across the Northern Continent.
• Crippled Granny explained that the Blacklight Stone had drained the Ritual Pool and contained the physiques the Azure Clan had taken from its victims.
• Jiang Caiyan vowed to use her new power to destroy the Azure Clan, while Crippled Granny worried at the depth of her hatred.
• The Azure Clan learned that the Ritual Pool was destroyed and Jiang Caiyan and Crippled Granny had fled, then launched a search for them.
• Lin Heng had the Nine Heavens Sword reforged in Red Lotus City and argued with its Sword Spirit after returning to his inn.
• Two men in Dark Robes invited Lin Heng to meet their Martial Path hall master, revealing that the master had once been a disciple of the Poetry Immortal.

Lin Heng met Martial Man, Smoke Ghost, and Plowman of the Martial Dao, who said their late master Lin Ziqing had promoted both the Literary and Martial Paths. They revealed that the Literary Path artifacts were tied to a plan to civilize the Mandate and a coming great tribulation, then explained that their Martial Dao right faction wanted to protect the artifacts while a radical left faction sought to destroy them.

• Lin Heng followed two people to Azure Cloud Hall, where Martial Man, Smoke Ghost, and Plowman addressed him as Lord Lin and connected their late master to the Martial Dao.
• Martial Man said Lin Ziqing had promoted both the Literary Path and the Martial Dao, while Smoke Ghost and Plowman bickered over tobacco.
• Lin Heng asked why the Martial Dao had sought him out, and Martial Man said they wanted to help him collect Literary Path artifacts or prevent the Literary Path from obtaining them.
• Martial Man explained that Lin Ziqing's idea of civilizing referred to the Mandate and that the Literary Path artifacts were tied to a great tribulation of heaven and earth.
• After Lin Heng mentioned Silent Chess Immortal's warning, Martial Man described a radical Martial Dao left faction that wanted to destroy the artifacts and a right faction that sought to protect them.

Lin Heng discussed the Civil-Military Dao’s divided factions and the purpose behind Lin Ziqing’s plans with the Martial Man and his companions. He left them to investigate the Beauty Record rankings while remaining uncertain about his captured Dao companion and the Literary Path artifacts.

• Smoke Ghost explained that scum within the Literary Path had driven the Civil-Military Dao apart, and the Martial Man suggested Lin Ziqing had hidden the Literary Path’s essence in artifacts to prepare for a coming catastrophe.
• Lin Heng argued that the martial path’s left faction and the Literary Path’s deviants might both be undermining Lin Ziqing’s plans, though their goals differed.
• Lin Heng asked the group for help finding his captured Dao companion, but Plowman could not identify who had bought his seeds from the Azure Clan.
• The Martial Man and his companions admitted they knew little about the Literary Path artifacts or Northern Continent factions, so Lin Heng asked Smoke Ghost to investigate who created the Beauty Record rankings.
• The Martial Man showed Lin Heng around Azure Cloud Hall and asked his cultivation realm; Lin Heng answered that he was at Spirit Wandering.

Lin Heng connected the Martial Dao and the Azure Emperor Spirit Devouring Art to the lost Fourth Epoch, then recruited Martial Man and his companions to move against the Literary Path. The group planned to investigate the Beauty Record and enter the Immortal Wheel Secret Realm, while Martial Man agreed to impersonate Lin Heng’s hostile senior brother, Tang Shuaisong.

• Martial Man explained that spirit roaming was a Martial Dao realm, prompting Lin Heng to connect the Martial Dao system with the Azure Emperor Spirit Devouring Art and suspect Lin Ziqing and the Azure Emperor were the same person.
• Lin Heng shared his theory that the Martial Dao and Spirit Wheel systems originated in the Fourth Epoch, and Martial Man admitted the idea about their late teacher seemed plausible.
• Martial Man agreed that his group would follow Lin Heng and help eliminate the Literary Path, while Smoke Ghost took responsibility for investigating the Beauty Record ranking.
• Martial Man revealed that Azure Cloud Hall had a Secret Key for the Immortal Wheel Secret Realm and offered to accompany Lin Heng inside.
• Lin Heng persuaded Martial Man to conceal his identity by using the name of his hostile senior brother, and Martial Man chose to go by Tang Shuaisong.

Jiang Caiyan met Gu Yun, Dao Lord of Waning Moon Divination, and learned how Honored Lord Yu had helped Gu Yun build the power. Gu Yun agreed to help Jiang Caiyan target the Azure Clan in the Immortal Wheel Secret Realm, but Crippled Granny warned that Gu Yun’s loyalty was only an act.

• Gu Yun welcomed Jiang Caiyan as the honored lord because Crippled Granny had arranged for her to inherit the Silver Moon Ring.
• Gu Yun recounted how Honored Lord Yu saved her cultivation and helped her establish Waning Moon Divination.
• Gu Yun explained that other Northern Continent leaders also owed Honored Lord Yu, then offered to eliminate them if Jiang Caiyan wanted.
• Jiang Caiyan asked Gu Yun to help ensure the Azure Clan’s two groups did not return from the Immortal Wheel Secret Realm, and Gu Yun agreed despite warning of the risks.
• Crippled Granny told Jiang Caiyan that Gu Yun was not truly loyal and was only more afraid of death than the others.

Jiang Caiyan learned that she could use her mother's Waning Moon Forbidden Curse as leverage, while Lin Heng joined Broad Communication Manor's expedition to the Immortal Wheel Secret Realm. At Cang Mountain, Jiang Caiyan spotted Lin Heng and wondered if it was really him.

• Crippled Granny told Jiang Caiyan that her mother had placed the Waning Moon Forbidden Curse on her followers and that Jiang Caiyan could undo it with her blood essence.
• Jiang Caiyan accepted Crippled Granny's offer to teach her how to activate the curse and planned to use the Immortal Wheel Secret Realm to target Azure Clan members.
• Lin Heng was summoned to Broad Communication Studio, where Broad Communication Manor offered 100,000 Spirit Stones to each recruit and required them to sell any treasures they found to the manor.
• Lin Heng and the others traveled to Cang Mountain, where Martial Man followed and hundreds of people had gathered near the secret realm entrance.
• Jiang Caiyan spotted Lin Heng wandering near the mountainside with Xiao Lan and wondered whether it was him.

Jiang Caiyan and Gu Yun arrived at the Immortal Wheel Secret Realm, where Cloud Wander Sect and Blood Moon Valley’s leaders debated whether Jiang could trigger the Forbidden Curse placed on them by Revered Lord Yu. Jiang spotted Lin Heng but hesitated to acknowledge him, while Broad Communication Studio’s master prepared the gathered treasure seekers for the realm’s opening.

• Gu Yun introduced Jiang Caiyan, the holder of the Silver Moon Ring, to Tian Sheng and Wang Qiang, who reacted with surprise and uncertainty about her identity.
• After Jiang and Gu Yun left, Tian Sheng warned Wang Qiang that Jiang might be able to activate the Forbidden Curse on them, and they decided to question Gu Yun before making any plans against her.
• Jiang and Gu Yun joined the Waning Moon Divination group, and Gu Yun noted that Broad Communication Manor’s Dao Lord was absent while its recruited cultivators had arrived.
• Jiang spotted Lin Heng nearby and wondered whether she should acknowledge him, then decided to enter the secret realm before making further plans.
• Lin Heng waited with Broad Communication Studio’s group as its master addressed the treasure seekers, and the Immortal Wheel Secret Realm’s entrance began to appear in a dazzling light.

Lin Heng entered the Immortal Wheel Secret Realm with the Martial Man, learned that the area held the remains of an ancient battlefield and possibly four lost Holy Artifacts, and agreed to speak with Waning Moon Divination. He hoped to use the meeting to find clues about the Azure Clan, while Gu Yun and Jiang Caiyan waited nearby.

• Lin Heng and the Martial Man arrived in the forested Outer Mountains, where the Martial Man explained the secret realm's location and the unstable Dao-marked space.
• The Martial Man said four Holy Artifacts had been lost after the battle near Immortal Cloud Ancient City and asked Lin Heng to help search for them.
• Xiao Lan reported buried bones, a strong smell of blood, and nearby mountain caves as Lin Heng sensed someone approaching.
• A representative of Waning Moon Divination invited Lin Heng and the Martial Man to discuss an alliance, but the Martial Man initially refused.
• Lin Heng persuaded the Martial Man to meet Waning Moon Divination so he could ask about the Azure Clan, and Gu Yun noticed the two approaching.

Lin Heng joined Gu Yun’s proposed alliance to search for the Azure Clan, then met the disguised Jiang Caiyan, who pretended to be seeking her captured brother. After hearing that the Azure Clan’s prisoners were sent to deadly Forest City, Lin Heng vowed to keep searching for the woman he believed had been captured, while Jiang Caiyan secretly decided to tease him further.

• Gu Yun offered Lin Heng a map of the Secret Realm and an alliance between Waning Moon Divination and Broad Communication Manor, and Lin Heng said he represented only himself.
• Lin Heng recognized a familiar figure in the disguised Jiang Caiyan but failed to identify her, and she teased him as a stranger.
• Lin Heng asked Gu Yun for help locating the Azure Clan, and Jiang Caiyan claimed that she was searching for her captured younger brother.
• Gu Yun explained that the Azure Clan sent captives to Forest City, where survival was unlikely, and Jiang Caiyan asked Lin Heng whether he would keep searching if the person he sought was dead.
• Lin Heng insisted he would not believe she had died and vowed to make those responsible pay, moving Jiang Caiyan as she secretly planned to keep teasing him.

Lin Heng recognized that Waning Moon Divination had given him the map for a hidden purpose, then used it to defuse Broad Communication Manor’s accusations. Master Li accepted the map and promised Lin Heng an additional reward as Lin Heng and Martial Man prepared to go their own way.

• Martial Man questioned why Waning Moon Divination had given Lin Heng the secret realm map, and Lin Heng guessed it was meant to draw Broad Communication Manor’s attention to the marked caves.
• Master Li and several Broad Communication Manor members confronted Lin Heng and accused him of betraying them by meeting Waning Moon Divination’s Dao Lord.
• Lin Heng argued that Master Li had no authority to decide whether the factions could form an alliance and said the negotiations belonged to their Dao Lords.
• Lin Heng revealed that Waning Moon Divination had given him a map and showed it to the Broad Communication Manor group.
• Master Li apologized, promised Lin Heng an additional reward, and let him and Martial Man leave to search elsewhere.

Lin Heng and his companions crossed Dongting Lake while Waning Moon Divination and Broad Communication Manor raced toward the mountain caves. Jiang Caiyan learned that Gu Yun had deliberately tampered with the map to send Broad Communication Manor into danger, and worried that Lin Heng might be caught in it.

• Lin Heng explained to Martial Man that Waning Moon Divination had likely given Broad Communication Manor the map as part of a scheme, then Xiao Lan knocked giant spiritual lychees from a tree for them to eat.
• Lin Heng told Martial Man they would use courtesy first and force if needed, and Xiao Lan resented Martial Man for calling her a silly snake while eating her fruit.
• Waning Moon Divination and Broad Communication Manor crossed Dongting Lake ahead of Lin Heng, who followed with Martial Man and Xiao Lan and carefully observed the area.
• Gu Yun warned Jiang Caiyan about the Demon Venerable's former fall site and described the dangers near Gateway Forest as their group headed north.
• Jiang Caiyan explained that she had invented a captured younger brother to make use of Lin Heng, while Gu Yun revealed that she had tampered with the map to lead Broad Communication Manor into dangerous caves.
• Jiang Caiyan worried Lin Heng might enter one of the dangerous caves, and Gu Yun left to meet representatives from Cloud Wander Sect and Blood Moon Valley.

Gu Yun heard Tian Sheng and Wang Qiang’s plan to take Jiang Caiyan’s essence blood and use the Azure Clan to remove their forbidden curse, but she warned Jiang Caiyan about the scheme. The next morning, Master Li and the others confronted Lin Heng, accusing him of sending them into deadly caves with a false map.

• Tian Sheng and Wang Qiang urged Gu Yun to help control Jiang Caiyan so they could take her essence blood and seek the Azure Clan’s help removing the forbidden curse.
• Gu Yun said she would consider the plan after they left the Immortal Wheel Secret Realm, then told Jiang Caiyan what the two men intended.
• Jiang Caiyan remained unafraid and resolved to show no mercy to the factions if they tried to harm her.
• Master Li and the injured members of Broad Communication Manor accused Lin Heng of setting a trap with the cave map after hidden insects and a remnant formation nearly killed them.
• Lin Heng denied responsibility, saying the dangerous mountain caves were part of the Immortal Wheel Secret Realm, while Master Li insisted the map had lured them into danger.

Lin Heng let Martial Man confront Broad Communication Manor’s cultivators, and Martial Man crushed their attacks and dismantled a Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivator. After letting Master Li and the others leave, Lin Heng headed north to investigate a strange arrangement in the Immortal Wheel Secret Realm.

• Martial Man stepped forward and challenged Broad Communication Manor’s cultivators, prompting a black-clad Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivator to attack him.
• Martial Man shattered the cultivator’s beast-claw and golden-pillar attacks with his fists, astonishing Lin Heng and the others.
• Martial Man tore off the cultivator’s arms, crushed most of his fleeing divine infant, and fed its remaining half to Xiao Lan.
• Master Li tried to use divine sense against Martial Man, but Martial Man deflected it; Lin Heng then ordered Master Li and the others to leave.
• Lin Heng said he wanted to investigate the secret realm’s layout and predicted that a huge thunder-pool pit lay north of Dongting Lake.

Lin Heng returned to Dongting Lake after realizing the Immortal Wheel Secret Realm had reversed yin and yang and inverted the five elements. Beneath the lake, he discovered a hidden cavern built by the Martial Emperor and entered a sealed chamber full of Dao-bearing fruits and Xi soil.

• Lin Heng inferred that the giant pit to the north was formed during the Martial Emperor’s tribulation and realized the realm’s yin-yang and five-element layout was reversed.
• The Waning Moon Divination group delivered Cloud’s message identifying two groups of Azure Clan members by their feathered caps and tiger-patterned clothes.
• Lin Heng returned to Dongting Lake with Martial Man and Xiao Lan, found a crack that swallowed them into a vast underground cavern, and recognized it as a tomb-like site.
• Lin Heng found a stele recording the Martial Emperor’s insights from his breakthrough and pushed open a stone door that closed behind him.
• Inside the sealed chamber, Lin Heng discovered rows of strange plants bearing fruits containing Great Dao laws and identified the soil as Xi soil.

Lin Heng remained trapped in the Immortal Wheel Secret Realm as Demon Beasts poured through a widening passage, while Yun Yao and the others learned that Green Pavilion Sect could be destroyed if the Sect Leader did not leave seclusion soon. The chapter ended with them considering whether to tell Senior Zixuan that Lin Heng was still alive.

• Lin Heng discovered vast fields of Dao Fruits growing in supreme-grade Xi Soil and considered planting seeds from the Guangming Ancient Tower.
• Demon Beasts repeatedly entered the Immortal Wheel Secret Realm as its entrance tunnel collapsed, forcing cultivators to retreat behind Dongting Lake while Martial Man and Xiao Lan hunted them.
• Lin Heng remained absorbed in the Dao Fruits, unaware that nearly two months had passed.
• Yun Yao misunderstood Leng Qingyun's search for her bamboo sheng, then First Senior Sister summoned everyone to the Disciple Palace.
• First Senior Sister revealed that Senior Zixuan had threatened to raze the seven peaks unless the Sect Leader left seclusion within two months.
• The sisters considered telling Senior Zixuan that Lin Heng was alive so he would not return to find his home destroyed.

Dugu Zixuan's disciples decided they might tell her the truth about Lin Heng, while Lin Heng emerged from his underground retreat after two months and discovered a powerful Holy Artifact. As Jiang Caiyan began her Nascent Soul Tribulation over Dongting Lake, Lin Heng remained in the secret realm, unable to approach the artifact.

• Duan Shuyun, Yun Yao, Mu Liuxi, and Leng Qingqiu agreed to tell Dugu Zixuan that Lin Heng was alive when the moment was right.
• Jiang Caiyan began her Nascent Soul Tribulation amid the Demon Beast tide over Dongting Lake, and Martial Man carried the sleeping Xiao Lan away from the danger.
• Lin Heng realized nearly two months had passed, gathered around four hundred Dao Fruits and Xi Soil into his System Space, and filled the Heaven and Earth Cauldron with soil.
• Lin Heng followed Martial Man and Xiao Lan's tracks to another stone chamber and found a massive saber identified as a lost Holy Artifact.
• The Holy Artifact's pressure blasted Lin Heng back when he tried to approach it.

Lin Heng obtained a Holy Artifact by using the Bone Sword to overcome its rejection, while Jiang Caiyan survived her Heavenly Tribulation and reached the Nascent Soul Realm. Lin Heng emerged from the lake, recognized Jiang Caiyan despite her disguise, and carried her off as she denied her identity.

• Lin Heng found that the Holy Artifact rejected him, but the Bone Sword weakened its resistance and let him approach it.
• Lin Heng worried that his path through the Immortal Wheel Secret Realm might have been arranged by Lin Ziqing.
• Jiang Caiyan endured the Heavenly Tribulation, formed her demonic infant, and reached the Nascent Soul Realm as the Zang Clan plotted to seize her and the lost bloodline.
• Lin Heng emerged from the overheated lake and mistook Jiang Caiyan for the disguised Cloud before recognizing her by her aura.
• Jiang Caiyan denied being Jiang Caiyan, but Lin Heng carried her away and removed her Concealing Mask, declaring himself her Dao companion.

Jiang Caiyan pretended not to remember Lin Heng while concealing her reasons for keeping their relationship secret, and Lin Heng tried to present himself as her gentlemanly Dao companion. When the Azure Clan attacked, Lin Heng decided to confront them on Jiang Caiyan’s behalf.

• Jiang Caiyan claimed a bloodline baptism had blurred her memories and insisted she remembered having a younger brother.
• Lin Heng told Jiang Caiyan that she had no younger brother, while Jiang Caiyan questioned his claims and called his behavior unworthy of a gentleman.
• Jiang Caiyan privately decided to keep playing dumb so the Waning Moon Divination, Broad Communication Manor, and Cloud Wander Sect would not target Lin Heng and her plans.
• Lin Heng took out a hairpin as proof of their relationship, noticed its memories included his past mistreatment of Jiang Caiyan, and put it away while promising to show her other proof later.
• The Azure Clan shot arrows at Jiang Caiyan, but the Martial Man destroyed them with a punch.
• Lin Heng told the Martial Man to accompany him and confront the Azure Clan, despite Jiang Caiyan warning that they meant to capture her.

Lin Heng and Martial Man confronted the Azure Clan after learning they were hunting Jiang Caiyan, and Lin Heng demanded that they stop and apologize. When the Azure Clan refused, Martial Man attacked and swiftly defeated High Priest Zang Cong, leaving him in danger.

• Jiang Caiyan told Gu Yun that Lin Heng had mistaken her for an old acquaintance and suggested using him and Martial Man against the Azure Clan.
• Lin Heng brought Martial Man before the Azure Clan, whose High Priest Zang Cong apologized for an arrow shot by one of his juniors.
• Lin Heng warned Zang Cong to stop hunting Jiang Caiyan and make amends or see Forest City become a grave.
• Several Azure Clan members insulted Lin Heng and revealed they wanted to capture Jiang Caiyan and refine her for food, so Lin Heng told Martial Man that giving them a chance had been useless.
• Zang Cong attacked Lin Heng, but Martial Man shattered his Green Wood Spell and knocked him to the ground before moving to finish him.