Chapter Summaries

After the Sacred Extremity Sect won the battle, Ancestor Gao told Yang Qingyun that Mu Xiangzi had died using a forbidden technique to destroy the enemy. Ancestor Gao gave Yang Qingyun Mu Xiangzi’s inheritance and led him into the battlefield space to meet the sect’s Void Realm Ancestors.

• Ancestor Gao announced that the Profound Spirit Sect’s treacherous faction had been wiped out and led Yang Qingyun toward the celestial rift.
• Ancestor Gao told Yang Qingyun that Mu Xiangzi had perished with many enemies after using a forbidden technique to protect the sect.
• Yang Qingyun mourned Mu Xiangzi and reflected on how his master’s guidance and teachings had shaped his cultivation.
• Ancestor Gao recounted Mu Xiangzi’s final battle and gave Yang Qingyun the spatial ring containing his belongings and a Reincarnation Sect inheritance.
• Yang Qingyun entered the battlefield space with Ancestor Gao and met the Void Realm Ancestors.

After the battle, the surviving Sect Ancestors praised Yang Qingyun for killing Sikong Chen and discussed whether the Sacred Extremity Sect should remain in the Southern Heaven Domain or flee from future enemies. They made no final decision on the sect’s long-term future, but agreed to attack the Profound Spirit Sect’s mountain gate at once.

• The injured Sect Ancestors gathered to recover, and Ancestor Gao brought Yang Qingyun before them.
• The Ancestors praised Yang Qingyun for killing Sikong Chen, while Yang Qingyun humbly said that luck and his opponent’s mistakes had helped him.
• The Ancestors debated whether the Sacred Extremity Sect should stay in the Southern Heaven Domain or leave before enemies from the Central Province returned.
• The Ancestors agreed to set out immediately and wipe out the Profound Spirit Sect’s mountain gate.

After the Sacred Extremity Sect’s Ancestors agreed to attack the defeated Profound Spirit Sect, Yang Qingyun joined the assault as a reward for his service and a chance to claim treasures. On the journey, he learned that the Sacred Extremity Sect descended from the Central Continent’s Reincarnation Sect and that his Great Zhou Heaven Yin Yang Technique was a simplified version of its lost Life and Death Reincarnation Scripture.

• The Sacred Extremity Sect’s Ancestors decided to seize the Profound Spirit Sect’s mountain gate after its Void Realm experts were wiped out.
• Confucian Mountain Duke, the Sword Venerable, Ancestor Gao, and Yang Qingyun set out to attack the Profound Spirit Sect.
• Ancestor Gao told Yang Qingyun that the mission would train him and allow him to choose some of the spoils.
• Yang Qingyun learned that survivors of the Reincarnation Sect had rebuilt their sect as the Sacred Extremity Sect about a thousand years earlier.
• Yang Qingyun learned that the Great Zhou Heaven Yin Yang Technique was a simplified version of the Reincarnation Sect’s Life and Death Reincarnation Scripture, whose full cultivation method remained beyond the sect’s reach.

Yang Qingyun considered whether he could comprehend the Way of Life and Death through the Life and Death Reincarnation Scripture and the Yin Yang Life and Death Mirror. He studied the damaged Sacred Artifact during the journey and seemed to gain some insight just as the group arrived at the Profound Spirit Sect.

• Yang Qingyun realized that the sect's legendary divine technique was the Life and Death Reincarnation Scripture, which his grandmaster had passed down but no one had mastered.
• Ancestor Gao and Confucian Mountain Duke warned Yang Qingyun not to waste time pursuing the scripture, but he privately believed his experience of dying might help him comprehend the Way of Life and Death.
• Yang Qingyun decided to keep cultivating the Great Zhou Heaven Yin Yang Technique for now while studying the Way of Life and Death in advance.
• Yang Qingyun examined the Yin Yang Life and Death Mirror, hoping to draw on its power and test his ability to comprehend the Life and Death Great Dao.
• After a day of studying the mirror during the journey, Yang Qingyun seemed to gain some insight as the group arrived at the Profound Spirit Sect.

The Profound Spirit Sect remained unaware of the latest news from the front when Confucian Mountain Duke, Ancestor Gao, Sword Venerable Elder, and Yang Qingyun appeared and attacked its mountain gate. The sect’s powerful protective formation withstood their assault, and the four resolved to wear it down.

• The Profound Spirit Sect’s peaceful atmosphere broke when a terrifying pressure darkened the sky and caused people to fear an enemy attack.
• The Profound Spirit Sect activated its mountain-protecting formation before Confucian Mountain Duke, Ancestor Gao, Sword Venerable Elder, and Yang Qingyun emerged from the void.
• Confucian Mountain Duke and the others admired the formation, then launched powerful attacks against it.
• The attacks devastated the land outside the formation but only made its light screen shake slightly.
• Confucian Mountain Duke and the others suspected a hidden Void Realm expert might be defending the sect, but decided to keep attacking until the formation broke.

Yang Qingyun and three other Void Realm experts attacked the Profound Spirit Sect’s mountain-guarding array, but the formation endured despite half a day of bombardment. The attackers recognized that breaking it quickly would require a powerful move they could not presently muster, while the defenders gained confidence that they could hold out until their Sect Ancestors returned.

• Yang Qingyun and the other three experts attacked the Profound Spirit Sect’s mountain-guarding array while its disciples rushed to maintain and repair it.
• Yang Qingyun reflected on the blood feud between the sects and felt no remorse about destroying the Profound Spirit Sect.
• After half a day of attacks failed to break the array, Confucian Mountain Duke identified an Array Master’s work sustaining it.
• Ancestor Gao and the old Sword Venerable warned that a prolonged assault could bring complications, but the four experts lacked the strength to shatter the formation quickly.
• The Profound Spirit Sect disciples cheered when the attackers stopped, believing they could hold out until their Sect Ancestors returned.

Yang Qingyun used his insight into life and death to activate the Yin Yang Life and Death Mirror against the Profound Spirit Sect’s protective formation. The mirror’s beam blasted a massive hole through the barrier, leaving the sect’s defenses broken.

• Yang Qingyun offered to try using the Yin Yang Life and Death Mirror, surprising the Sword Venerable Ancestor, Confucian Mountain Duke, and Ancestor Gao with his apparent understanding of its power.
• Yang Qingyun explained that his past death and rebirth, along with his cultivation technique, had given him some insight into the Dao of life and death.
• Yang Qingyun rose above the Profound Spirit Sect’s formation and merged his soul with the mirror as he recalled his death in his Previous Life and his rebirth.
• The Yin Yang Life and Death Mirror resonated with Yang Qingyun’s insight and gathered the power of the Dao.
• Yang Qingyun fired a beam from the mirror, blasting a massive hole through the Profound Spirit Sect’s mountain-protecting formation.

Yang Qingyun used the Yin Yang Life and Death Mirror to shatter the Profound Spirit Sect’s mountain-protecting formation, allowing the Sacred Extremity Sect’s three ancestors to overwhelm the sect. After joining them, he helped suppress the remaining resistance, leaving the Profound Spirit Sect’s destruction inevitable.

• Yang Qingyun shattered the Profound Spirit Sect’s mountain-protecting formation with a strike from the Yin Yang Life and Death Mirror.
• The three Sacred Extremity Sect ancestors descended on the mountain gate and sealed every escape route as the Profound Spirit Sect’s disciples fled or surrendered.
• Yang Qingyun reflected on the mirror’s immense power and its limitations, then put it away and joined the assault.
• Yang Qingyun killed Profound Spirit Sect diehards who tried to burn the sect’s treasures before they could destroy them.
• The four Void Realm combatants suppressed the remaining resistance, making the Profound Spirit Sect’s destruction inevitable.

Yang Qingyun searched the Profound Spirit Sect’s treasury, judged its greatest treasures already spent, and took several items that could aid advancement to the Void Realm. When a Void Realm formation master appeared outside, Ancestor Gao and the others realized he might have come from the Central Province.

• Yang Qingyun subdued the Profound Spirit Sect disciples in the treasury and inspected its stores of spiritual treasures.
• Yang Qingyun decided not to take the central region’s heavenly treasures, expecting the Sacred Extremity Sect to support his cultivation, and found the secret chambers for the greatest treasures empty.
• Yang Qingyun took several spiritual items that could increase the chances of advancing to the Void Realm.
• Yang Qingyun sensed a Void Realm power fluctuation outside the treasury and rushed out, suspecting the Profound Spirit Sect had a hidden survivor.
• Ancestor Gao attacked a figure protected by the mountain-protecting formation, while Confucian Mountain Duke identified him as an Array Master.
• Sword Venerable Ancestor and the others concluded that the Array Master might have come from the Central Province and be connected to their enemies.

Ji Kai, a half-step Void Realm Array Master hired by Central Continent outsiders, was caught in the attack on the Profound Spirit Sect and surrendered to Yang Qingyun and the others. They spared him, intending to question him for information about the enemies.

• Ji Kai recalled accepting the outsiders’ offer to help investigate a forbidden place and search for a fallen powerhouse’s weapon in exchange for spirit stones and an Ascension Breaking Pill.
• After the outsiders abandoned their original mission and became involved with the Profound Spirit Sect, Ji Kai stayed at the sect to study arrays and improve his cultivation.
• When the Profound Spirit Sect came under attack, Ji Kai used its foundations and his own formations to hold off the assault while attempting to escape with a teleportation array.
• Yang Qingyun appeared and charged the Yin Yang Life and Death Mirror, so Ji Kai surrendered and explained that he was only a guest staying at the sect.
• Ancestor Gao and the others broke through Ji Kai’s formation but spared him, recognizing that his knowledge of the Central Continent enemies could be valuable.

After Ji Kai surrendered, the three Sect Ancestors took control of the Profound Spirit Sect while Yang Qingyun entered seclusion in its Spiritual Liquid Pool to cultivate. The Ancestors learned that a mysterious blade fragment had led Central Continent enemies to the Sacred Extremity Sect, and they discovered the fragment came from a massive black blade lost in the chaotic void.

• After Ji Kai surrendered, Yang Qingyun declined the Sect Ancestors’ administrative tasks and entered the Spiritual Liquid Pool to cultivate.
• Yang Qingyun felt his late Grandmaster Realm bottleneck loosen and reflected that he had changed the fate that had once doomed the Sacred Extremity Sect.
• The three Sect Ancestors suppressed rebellions and took control of the Profound Spirit Sect and its affiliated forces.
• Ji Kaikou revealed that Central Continent disciples had come searching for a fragment of a shattered weapon, leading them to discover the Sacred Extremity Sect and join forces with the Profound Spirit Sect.
• The three Sect Ancestors learned that the fragment came from a massive black blade carried by a supreme powerhouse who had died battling through the Nine Heavens.

The Sacred Extremity Sect’s leaders assessed how long they had before the Central Province learned of the sect, while Yang Qingyun broke through to the peak Grandmaster Realm during closed-door cultivation. He stabilized his cultivation and left the Spiritual Liquid Pool after reinforcements arrived.

• Confucian Mountain Duke, the Sword Venerable Ancestor, and Ancestor Gao concluded that the Sacred Extremity Sect might have roughly ten years before the Central Province investigated, and agreed to discuss the sect’s future with the other experts.
• Ancestor Gao suspected that Yang Qingyun’s mysterious fragments came from the blade sought by the Central Province and considered telling him about the blade’s main portion in a forbidden area.
• Yang Qingyun’s battle experience and cultivation in the Spiritual Liquid Pool stirred his bottleneck, and he carefully refined his foundation for half a month.
• Yang Qingyun advanced to the peak Grandmaster Realm, one step from the Void Realm, and reflected on the challenges posed by the Central Province’s enemies.
• After several more days, reinforcements arrived, and Yang Qingyun left the Spiritual Liquid Pool once his cultivation had stabilized somewhat.

After returning from Profound Spirit Mountain, Yang Qingyun learned more about the black blade fragment and gathered advice on advancing to the Void Realm. The Sacred Extremity Sect’s ancestors debated whether to flee the Central Continent’s enemies or remain and fight, and Yang Qingyun proposed dividing the sect into two groups.

• Ancestor Gao told Yang Qingyun that the black blade fragment was likely tied to the Central Continent’s search for a shattered weapon, and Yang Qingyun considered investigating its forbidden area once he reached the Void Realm.
• Yang Qingyun sought advancement advice from Ancestor Gao, Confucian Mountain Duke, and Sword Venerable Ancestor.
• Yang Qingyun returned to the sect with the three ancestors and Ji Kai, while privately planning to strengthen himself and eventually use Entering the Great Thousand Dreams.
• The ancestors summoned the sect’s other Void Realm experts and debated whether the Sacred Extremity Sect should relocate or remain in the Southern Heaven Domain to resist its enemies.
• Confucian Mountain Duke asked Yang Qingyun for his opinion, and Yang Qingyun proposed splitting the sect between those who stayed to guard the mountain gate and those who sought a way out.

After the Sacred Extremity Sect began preparing secretly to relocate, Yang Qingyun entered seclusion in Mu Xiangzi’s grotto-heaven to pursue the Void Realm. Two years later, the sect’s preparations had advanced, but Yang Qingyun still had not broken through and set out to examine his cultivation for the cause.

• The Sect Ancestors agreed to split up, with some searching for a future refuge while others guarded the sect and gathered relocation supplies.
• Yang Qingyun inherited the Grotto-heaven Secret Realm atop Iron Bone Mountain and entered seclusion to try to reach the Void Realm.
• While Yang Qingyun cultivated, Murong Lanying, Lin Fan, and other young disciples rose to prominence, and Lin Fan vowed to surpass Yang Qingyun and Xie Qingtian.
• Xie Qingtian accompanied the Void Realm Ancestors to Eastern Province to find a hidden temporary refuge for the Sacred Extremity Sect.
• After two years, Yang Qingyun opened his eyes without reaching the Void Realm, suppressed his impatience, and began reviewing his cultivation for the problem.

After two years of seclusion, Yang Qingyun realized his unusually profound foundation had made reaching the Void Realm far more difficult, and he searched for a way to gain the insights he needed. He left seclusion resolved to grow stronger before the Sacred Extremity Sect’s enemies arrived, while recognizing that greater powers might still view him as insignificant.

• Yang Qingyun realized his profound foundation had greatly increased the difficulty of advancing to the Void Realm, leaving him no easy shortcut.
• Yang Qingyun considered seeking life-and-death battles to gain insight, then decided to look for opponents among the local forces the Sacred Extremity Sect might confront while preparing its fallback route.
• Yang Qingyun ended his two-year seclusion and saw the confident, unsuspecting disciples at the Sacred Extremity Sect’s mountain gate.
• Yang Qingyun resolved to reach the peak of the Martial Path and take control of his own destiny.
• Yang Qingyun flew toward the main peak and reflected that beings far above him might regard him as little more than an ant.

Yang Qingyun asked Ancestor Gao to let him fight powerful enemies at the sect’s fallback site so he could speed up his cultivation and prepare for the coming upheaval. Ancestor Gao warned him about the danger but ultimately agreed, urging him to flee if anything went wrong.

• Yang Qingyun decided to seek dangerous battles to strengthen himself and went to the principal peak to ask about the sect’s fallback preparations.
• Yang Qingyun told Ancestor Gao that his solid foundation made advancement slow and that he wanted a life-and-death fight to accelerate his progress.
• Ancestor Gao explained that Yang Qingyun could reach the Void Realm through steady accumulation and warned that risking his life was unnecessary.
• Yang Qingyun said he could not cultivate at ease while the sect faced calamity and insisted that he needed strength to protect himself before the upheaval.
• Ancestor Gao accepted Yang Qingyun’s request and told him to abandon the fight and flee if danger became too great.

Yang Qingyun explored Linjing, the Eastern Continent’s most prosperous city, and reflected on the wider Martial Path world. After hearing people debate his feat of killing a Void Realm expert, he left Linjing and continued toward the Western Mountain Land.

• Yang Qingyun observed the Five Elements Magnetic Sect’s mountain stronghold and realized how ordinary Void Realm experts were in Linjing.
• Yang Qingyun bought manuals about breaking through to the Void Realm and gathered news at local restaurants.
• Yang Qingyun heard people argue over his feat of killing a Void Realm expert and worried that his growing fame would bring trouble.
• Yang Qingyun left Linjing after three days and headed for the Western Mountain Land in Qilian Domain, ruled by the Seven Kill Sect.

Yang Qingyun traveled to the Western Mountain Land, where the Seven Kill Sect had ruled through massacre and oppression for two centuries. He arrived at the remote rendezvous and found Xie Qingtian waiting for him.

• Yang Qingyun reflected on how Blood Butcher built the Seven Kill Sect by plundering and annihilating weaker forces.
• Yang Qingyun recalled that the Seven Kill Sect's rule had left the Western Mountain Land isolated and its population reduced by more than half.
• Yang Qingyun decided he felt no guilt about taking action against the tyrannical Seven Kill Sect.
• After traveling at full speed for half a month, Yang Qingyun reached the Western Mountain Land.
• Yang Qingyun met Xie Qingtian, who had disappeared from the Southern Heaven Domain two years earlier.

Yang Qingyun reunited with Xie Qingtian in the Western Mountain Land, where the Sacred Extremity Sect had prepared to take control of the Seven Kill Sect by secretly eliminating its leaders. After meeting the Void Realm Ancestors overseeing the operation, Yang Qingyun prepared to face Blood Butcher as a test of his strength.

• Yang Qingyun greeted Xie Qingtian, who had grown more mature during two years of work in the Western Mountain Land.
• Xie Qingtian explained that the sect had gathered intelligence and planned to secretly kill Blood Butcher and the other Seven Kill Sect leaders.
• Xie Qingtian sensed Yang Qingyun's overwhelming aura and gave up on challenging him, resolving to surpass him later.
• Xie Qingtian led Yang Qingyun to the sect's temporary base, where he met Confucian Mountain Duke and Cao Yinglong.
• Yang Qingyun told Confucian Mountain Duke that he wanted to use Blood Butcher to test his strength against the Void Realm, and the operation began.

Yang Qingyun infiltrated the Seven Kill Sect's grand hall and confronted its Sect Master, Blood Butcher, after discovering the sect's crimes. With two Void Realm allies sealing the area, Yang Qingyun challenged Blood Butcher and began their battle.

• Blood Butcher felt uneasy in his grand hall and ordered someone to summon the three Hall Masters, but no one answered.
• Blood Butcher heard blood dripping, unleashed his magical power, and saw a young intruder block his attack with a Taiji disk.
• Yang Qingyun revealed the shadow's severed head and corpse, while Blood Butcher sensed two Void Realm fighters had sealed the area around him.
• Yang Qingyun declared that Blood Butcher had to defeat him to survive, then attacked with a powerful blade strike.
• Blood Butcher realized the others meant to use him as a whetstone, roared, and charged Yang Qingyun in a surge of blood-red power.