Chapter Summaries

Chen Luo used the Earth Vein Profound Spirit Formation to begin restoring color to the Grotto-heaven Gourd and planned an exit for Fang Jing and Qi Fei. After the rain ended, he led them to the imperial palace’s deepest formation node and summoned the Artifact Spirit Doll.

• Chen Luo examined the Void Stone and the contract linking the Shadow Eater Sect, the Millennium Ancient Kingdom, and Qionghua, while Old Brother Changqing explained that the Heavenly Tribulation bound such agreements.
• Chen Luo reunited with Fang Jing and Qi Fei, praised their work, and promised to take them out of the Grotto-heaven Gourd.
• Chen Luo activated the Earth Vein Profound Spirit Formation, connected Heart-Questioning Town and the Capital City, and used rain to wash away some of the Ink’s color-stealing effects.
• After three days of rain, Chen Luo explained that the Shadow Eater Sect’s black cloud and his white cloud would continue to struggle over the Grotto-heaven Gourd.
• Chen Luo discussed mortals’ fear of the rain with Fang Jing and Qi Fei, then led them to the imperial palace’s deepest node and summoned the Artifact Spirit Doll.

Chen Luo returned to the Qionghua Sect with Fang Jing and Qi Fei, who had survived more than three hundred years trapped in the Grotto-heaven Gourd. After learning about the Upper Realm and the flawed Soul Transformation Path from Gu He, Chen Luo revealed that he had captured three Nascent Souls, leaving Gu He astonished at his nephew’s strength and rapid cultivation.

• Chen Luo led Fang Jing and Qi Fei out of the Grotto-heaven Gourd and safely back to the Qionghua Sect.
• Ancestor Tai Yuan welcomed Fang Jing and Qi Fei, then appointed them Demon Sealing Elders because they had formed Blood Pills.
• Chen Luo showed Gu He the contract between Ancestor Tai Ling and the Shadow Eater Sect, and Gu He explained the Upper Realm’s connected worlds and its incomplete Soul Transformation Path.
• Gu He told Chen Luo that the Inner Demon Ancestor had descended to the Southern Sky Region hoping to trigger a Soul Transformation Heavenly Tribulation.
• Chen Luo produced three Nascent Souls he had collected, and Gu He examined him in disbelief before confirming that his Core Formation Completion cultivation was genuine.
• Gu He gave Chen Luo the Spirit Pool exotic beast’s head he had requested after confirming Chen Luo had not cultivated an evil art.

Chen Luo absorbed the Exotic Beast’s powerful brainwaves while the Seven Patriarchs of Qionghua prepared their Soul Transformation plan and addressed the Shadow Eater Sect’s suspected involvement. Gu He summoned Chen Luo and Yu Jun Yao, revealed that he would soon leave the mountain, and urged Chen Luo to guard his Dao heart.

• Chen Luo absorbed the Exotic Beast’s aura, then returned to his cave abode to digest it.
• The Seven Patriarchs of Qionghua completed preparations for the Seven Star Lightning Attraction Formation and discussed the missing Centipede Spirit and Supreme Spirit Ancestor’s Shadow Eater Sect contract.
• Elder Luying learned that the Southern Sky Region connection had been severed and ordered a disciple to monitor it and enlist Lower Realm Natives to investigate.
• Gu He summoned Chen Luo and Yu Jun Yao, told them he would be away for a long time, and offered them places in the reopened Sword Cleansing Pool.
• Chen Luo declined his place and revealed that his physical body had reached the fourth order, shocking Yu Jun Yao.
• Gu He let Chen Luo keep the Exotic Beast’s head and advised him to guard his original intention on the Immortal Path.

Chen Luo received a Blood Infant Pill and a mission from Gu He to investigate a damaged grotto-heaven while dealing with Core Formation Realm enemies near Golden Light Cave. At Lingxin Temple, Tang Wenyu arrived to investigate a three-year crisis of livestock deaths and began asking the Temple Priest for details.

• Gu He gave Chen Luo a Blood Infant Pill and assigned him to deal with the Centipede Spirit's Core Formation Realm underlings near Golden Light Cave while secretly seeking materials in a damaged grotto-heaven.
• Chen Luo studied the Spirit Pool Exotic Beast's memories for useful physical combat techniques, while members of the Shadow Eater Sect sent a planted agent to investigate the Grotto-heaven Gourd.
• Half a month later, Tang Wenyu summoned Chen Luo to Lingxin Temple, and Chen Luo traveled there with spirit talismans he had prepared during seclusion.
• At Lingxin Temple, the Temple Priest Duan Chen told his disciple that livestock had been dying for three years and asked after the Immortal Cultivator Mr. Weng.
• Tang Wenyu introduced himself as Mr. Weng's friend, offered to resolve Lingxin Temple's problem, and asked Duan Chen to explain what had happened.

After a landslide trapped the Zhang Family brothers in a mountain valley, they encountered two mysterious inns and entered the Future Inn when they could no longer escape. Inside, the ordinary-looking inn’s warmth eased their exhaustion, and they began to suspect it might be a powerful master’s cultivation grounds.

• Zhang Qisen and Zhang Qiyao discovered that Peng Laoshi had sold them the location of a fake tomb and resolved to settle the score with him.
• A landslide swept the brothers into a valley, where Zhang Qisen used their treasured spirit talisman to save them from being buried.
• While searching for a way out, the brothers heard people drinking and found a lantern-lit Past Inn, but they turned away from it.
• The brothers encountered the Future Inn on their return and, too exhausted to flee, entered through its rain-defying doorway.
• Inside, the inn’s warmth restored the brothers, and they guessed that the place might belong to a great master.

The Zhang brothers entered a sinister inn where they were killed and endlessly replaced by new versions of themselves. Meanwhile, Tang Wenyu searched a misty valley for a hidden Spirit Field, found an inn there, and attacked the scholar Ning Chenye after his scouting Puppets were destroyed.

• The Zhang brothers learned that the inn accepted repeating lives as payment, were carried to the back kitchen, and were killed by the old man with the bone knife.
• Two new versions of the Zhang brothers entered the inn in the rain and repeated their opening question.
• Tang Wenyu searched the mountains for the Spirit Field and sent three Puppets to scout, but one was destroyed in a seemingly ordinary valley.
• Tang Wenyu entered the misty valley with his remaining Puppets, discovered an inn that repelled his Divine Sense, and wondered when the Grand Void Peak disciple would arrive with the other half of the key.
• Ning Chenye ran up to Tang Wenyu and introduced himself as a scholar traveling to the capital, just as Tang Wenyu's two remaining Puppets exploded.
• Tang Wenyu suspected Ning Chenye and slashed at him with his Dharma Sword.

Ning Chenye killed Tang Wenyu after Tang disrupted his reincarnation, while Chen Luo discovered that Lingxin Temple lay within This Life Inn and fled as the Seven Patriarchs of Qionghua began their Spirit Transformation tribulation. The chapter ended with powerful demons and cultivators converging on Golden Light Cave to seize the tribulation’s opportunity.

• Ning Chenye transformed into a demonic beast, crushed Tang Wenyu, and swallowed his Crimson Core after Tang interrupted his reincarnation.
• Chen Luo found Lingxin Temple abandoned and received a warning from Grand Void Ancestor Gu He to collect spiritual materials and leave.
• Chen Luo read the dead temple priest’s memories, learned that Tang Wenyu had visited and that Mr. Weng was expected, then recognized the site as This Life Inn and prepared to leave.
• Seven Supreme Sword Qi erupted near Golden Light Cave as the Seven Patriarchs of Qionghua began their Spirit Transformation attempt, and Chen Luo fled in the opposite direction.
• The Former National Preceptor, the Thousand-Eyed Centipede Spirit, the Master of the Ghost Temple, and other Nascent Soul cultivators attacked the Seven Patriarchs’ formation to claim the Soul Transformation opportunity.
• Grand Profound Ancestor activated the Seven Star Lightning Attraction Formation, and the two Centipede Spirits struck the sword formation, devastating Golden Light Cave’s mountain peak.

Chen Luo fled from Ning Chenye across the Sea Realm, leading him to a gigantic sleeping whale. The whale struck Ning Chenye with its tail, sending him flying as Chen Luo escaped.

• Chen Luo left the Golden Light Cave region while Ning Chenye pursued him, and the battle at Golden Light Cave grew chaotic as a seal broke and Upper Realm aura descended.
• Elder Luying learned that the Shadow Eater Sect’s Grotto-heaven Gourd had been compromised and earth-vein energy stolen, so he set out to descend to the lower realm and find the thief.
• After three days of pursuit, Chen Luo steered Ning Chenye toward the enormous whale he had heard about from Elder Si Chen.
• Chen Luo landed on the sleeping whale’s back and waited until Ning Chenye attacked him.
• The whale swung its tail into Ning Chenye, shattering his bones and sending him flying away in a trail of blood.

After escaping Ning Chenye, Chen Luo rested aboard the Water Mansion's Dragon Bone Treasure Ship and examined the mysterious Root Tendril. A Bewitching Sound attack then incapacitated many passengers, while a fish-scaled woman confronted Pang Chengmei over her dead mother, Empress Yu Hai.

• Chen Luo escaped Ning Chenye after a large whale's twitch sent the pursuer flying, then headed toward the Diving Zone.
• Lady Hong returned to the Water Mansion with Ao Ye, and former attackers became her partners in guarding it.
• Chen Luo boarded the Dragon Bone Treasure Ship to recover, studied the Root Tendril, and continued cultivating toward the Nascent Soul Realm.
• A masked flutist and a veiled zither player appeared on a fishing boat, and their Bewitching Sound left several passengers unconscious.
• Chen Luo sensed fish-scaled Demon Race members aboard the ship and found a woman torturing the restrained Pang Chengmei over his betrayal and her mother's death.
• Pang Chengmei reacted in terror when the woman revealed that her mother, Empress Yu Hai, was dead.

Chen Luo encountered Yu Qian'er taking revenge on Pang Chengmei, then revealed himself as Black Horn King and learned she was his daughter. After killing Pang Chengmei and uncovering Elder Wuyun's role in Empress Yu Hai's death, Chen Luo promised to visit the Sea Clan and returned to studying the Bewitching Sound divine ability.

• Yu Qian'er tortured Pang Chengmei for deceiving her and causing her mother Empress Yu Hai's death until Uncle Lian arrived.
• Chen Luo came downstairs, accepted a Sea Clan divine ability manual from the Carp Monster, and revealed Black Horn King's aura.
• The Carp Monster identified Chen Luo as Black Horn King and urged Yu Qian'er to call him Dad, while Pang Chengmei pleaded for help.
• Pang Chengmei explained how he had stolen Empress Yu Hai's Inner Core, and Chen Luo killed him and searched his memories.
• Chen Luo discovered that Elder Wuyun had arranged the scheme, gave the Carp Monster evidence to investigate, and promised Yu Qian'er he would visit the Sea Clan.
• Chen Luo returned to his chamber, cleared the Bewitching Sound's lingering effects from the ship, and studied the Sea Clan manual.

Chen Luo arrived at Water Mansion Island and found Huang Ying, Lady Hong, Mu Xiao Yu, and the others facing a threat from three Water Demons. When the demons attacked, Chen Luo appeared and used his Nascent Soul-level control of vital qi to seize them.

• Yu Qian'er rejected the claims against Elder Wuyun but resolved to obtain the Dragon Pearl and regain control of her fate.
• Chen Luo left the Dragon Bone Treasure Ship at Water Mansion Island and concealed himself as he entered the Water Mansion.
• Huang Ying, Lady Hong, Mu Xiao Yu, and the others discussed the threat posed by the Sea Realm’s Water Demons and the troubles facing the Qionghua Sect.
• Old Ancestor Sea Serpent and two other Water Demons attacked the group, intending to kill them and divide their resources.
• Chen Luo appeared, froze the surrounding vital qi, and dragged the three Water Demons toward him with seawater tendrils.

Chen Luo captured three sea monsters and learned that the Dragon Tomb had emerged and was consuming parts of the Southern Sky Region. As the Shadow Eater Sect prepared to enter the Lower Realm and Ning Chenye fled while healing, Chen Luo suspected the Dragon Tomb’s arrival was part of the Seven Patriarchs’ plan.

• Chen Luo used his power to subdue the Sea Snake, the Hippocampus Demon, and the Large Crab, sealed their cultivation, and brought them into the Water Mansion.
• Elder Luying learned that cross-realm passages and contact with the Shadow Eater Sect’s agents had failed, then activated an unstable teleportation formation to descend to the Lower Realm.
• Ning Chenye woke badly injured, swallowed a pill containing the Spring and Autumn Gu to heal, and fled from the woman searching for him.
• Huang Ying, Ding Xiaoxia, Lady Hong, and Ao Ye told Chen Luo how the Dragon Tomb had engulfed Golden Light Cave and begun eroding nearby regions, while Blood Knife had been caught inside.
• Chen Luo connected the Dragon Tomb to Black Robe’s account of a route to the Upper Realm and suspected its appearance was part of the Seven Patriarchs’ plan.

Chen Luo returned to the Qionghua Sect to gather Nascent Soul Formation inheritances, but found the sect weakened and its disciples under attack. He took on the investigation of Fox Immortal Shrine and recognized its incense as carrying the same aura as Ning Chenye.

• Chen Luo decided he needed a broad collection of Nascent Soul Formation inheritances to choose the cultivation path best suited to him.
• After recovering from his battle with Ning Chenye, Chen Luo left the Sea Realm and traveled to the Qionghua Sect.
• Chen Luo learned that Qionghua disciples had been killed and the sect was facing raids and resource seizures while its patriarchs were absent.
• Chen Luo asked Yu Jun Yao to use the sect’s strength to gather Nascent Soul inheritances, then volunteered to investigate Fox Immortal Shrine.
• At Fox Immortal Shrine, Chen Luo examined the incense ash and recognized its aura as the same one he had sensed on Ning Chenye.

Chen Luo investigated the Fox Immortal Shrine, where an Old Fox used the lives of devoted animals to manifest and left behind Immortal Ge’s Sutra of Crossing Tribulation. After the scripture transformed the Sea of Suffering Scripture into a first-class Immortal Art, the Old Fox visited Chen Luo and denied killing the Qionghua Sect disciples, leaving Chen Luo to challenge the reliability of the Yin Souls’ testimony.

• Chen Luo and the Sword Washing Elder encountered the Old Fox at the Fox Immortal Shrine, but the fox vanished after Chen Luo broke his guilt-inducing influence.
• Chen Luo identified the dead animals as victims of Burning Lifespan Wish Incense, and the Sword Washing Elder shattered the smiling shrine statue to reveal the Sutra of Crossing Tribulation.
• Chen Luo suspected the Old Fox was borrowing fortune from the living Immortal Ge, restored the statue with the scripture hidden inside, and returned to the sect stronghold.
• Chen Luo copied the Sutra of Crossing Tribulation beside the Sea of Suffering Scripture, causing the painting to form the first-class Immortal Art Calamity-Crossing Evasion.
• The Old Fox found Chen Luo through his connection to the scripture, claimed his victims had willingly traded their lives to evade tribulations, and Chen Luo challenged his denial of responsibility for the Qionghua Sect deaths.

Chen Luo rejected safer paths to Nascent Soul Formation as he studied thousands of possible methods, while rogue cultivators raided Qionghua Sect’s spirit fields. The battle was interrupted by a deadly mist, and the Sword Washing Elder recognized Old Fox’s voice within it.

• Chen Luo learned that the Master of the Ghost Temple had gone to the Dragon Tomb, then struck Old Fox with a chessboard before Old Fox escaped in a false body.
• Chen Luo and Old Brother Changqing assessed three routes to Nascent Soul Formation, with Chen Luo’s preferred path carrying only a thirty percent success rate.
• Three Core Formation rogue cultivators led a raid on Qionghua Sect’s Forget Dust Valley to seize spirit materials.
• The Sword Washing Elder arrived to help the Guardian Elder fight the three raiders, and the battle spread across the valley.
• Mist and rain engulfed the spirit fields, the three raiders’ auras vanished, and one was heard screaming before being eaten.
• The Sword Washing Elder recognized Old Fox’s familiar voice in the mist as it spoke of using fishing nets to catch more victims.

Sword Washing Elder and the Guardian Elder were trapped in Forget Dust Valley by a mist that formed a shrinking net, while Chen Luo learned of the danger and prepared a formation. The elders remained hidden in a cave as a demon hunted the trapped cultivators, and they still could not locate the Old Fox.

• Sword Washing Elder and the Guardian Elder discovered that the mist trapped them inside Forget Dust Valley, and they hid in a cave after learning it blocked escape.
• Chen Luo noticed Sword Washing Elder had not returned and learned that Elder Lu was trapped in Forget Dust Valley after a disciple reported a giant toad-like demon in the mist.
• Chen Luo sent the disciple to report the demon to the sect and began refining formation flags to prepare for the danger.
• The Guardian Elder counted two dead Core Formation tribulation cultivators and warned that the mist was steadily shrinking around the survivors.
• Sword Washing Elder could no longer sense the Old Fox when the Guardian Elder asked about him.

Chen Luo trapped the Old Fox from the Fox Immortal Shrine and fought him with a fourth-tier formation, while Elder Lu struggled to escape a red-haired monster inside Forget Dust Valley. The Old Fox sought Dragon Blood and suspected Chen Luo had allies, but their battle was interrupted when Elder Lu fled the cave and called for help.

• Elder Lu and the Guardian Elder hid in a cave, but a Red-Haired Monster appeared behind them and attacked Elder Lu with Nascent Soul-level power.
• Chen Luo activated a fourth-tier formation around Forget Dust Valley, trapping the Old Fox from the Fox Immortal Shrine inside it.
• Chen Luo’s Five-Finger Mountain formation attack collided with the Old Fox’s mist-based formation, shaking the valley and revealing Chen Luo to Elder Lu.
• The Old Fox offered to leave the remaining spirit materials in exchange for Dragon Blood and questioned Chen Luo about his supposed allies.
• Elder Lu blasted out of the cave, vomiting blood, and rushed toward the edge of the mist while calling for Chen Luo to save him.

Chen Luo fought the Old Fox and the Thousand Faces monster in Forget Dust Valley, revealing powerful formations and demonic techniques as he endured their combined assault. He crushed the monster’s head and drove both foes underground, then used more than five hundred External Brains to read their next coordinated attack.

• Elder Lu fled the gray mist, but the Thousand Faces monster reached for him before Chen Luo crushed it beneath a mountain formed with the Earth Vein Profound Spirit Formation.
• The Old Fox armored the monster in gray mist, and it forced back Chen Luo’s Golden Armored Divine General before the two enemies shattered Chen Luo’s stone-dragon defenses and sent him and Elder Lu flying.
• Chen Luo emerged unharmed and used the Demonic Bone Formation Technique and Inner Demon power to confuse the Old Fox and the Thousand Faces monster.
• Chen Luo dodged their attacks, crushed the Thousand Faces monster’s head, and struck both it and the Old Fox into the earth.
• The Thousand Faces monster and the Old Fox launched a coordinated attack, but Chen Luo used more than five hundred External Brains to identify the threats and plan his defense.

Chen Luo defeated Old Fox and Thousand Faces at Forget Dust Valley, but Old Fox used a possession technique to invade Chen Luo’s consciousness. The Qionghua Sect reinforcements arrived as Old Fox chose the Inner Demon Ancestor as his possession target.

• Chen Luo struck Old Fox down with the chessboard, stomped Thousand Faces into the ground, and had the Golden Armored Divine General keep him subdued.
• Chen Luo mocked Old Fox’s strength and explained his Great Strength Sword Dao before preparing to collect his soul.
• Old Fox activated a Divine Path Sacrifice ritual and sent his Nascent Soul to possess Chen Luo, who let him enter his consciousness.
• Old Fox found many auras within Chen Luo and chose the Inner Demon Ancestor, believing it was the power he had sensed earlier.
• Yu Jun Yao and the Qionghua Sect reinforcements arrived at Forget Dust Valley, but Chen Luo’s Earth Vein Profound Spirit Formation blocked their approach.
• Old Fox’s Nascent Soul plunged into the Inner Demon Ancestor’s phantom.

Chen Luo defeated Old Fox inside his Consciousness Space, then captured Thousand Faces and collected Old Fox’s remains. After reading Old Fox’s brainwaves, Chen Luo detected an unexpected change in the newly formed phantom.

• Old Fox’s Soul Seizing Method fused him with Inner Demon Ancestor, but Chen Luo remained in the Consciousness Space and smashed Old Fox with the chessboard.
• Old Fox repeatedly tried to seize Chen Luo’s many phantoms, but each attempt failed and weakened his Nascent Soul.
• Chen Luo crushed Old Fox’s body again and absorbed his fading Nascent Soul, killing him as Old Fox lamented losing the Spirit Field and his chance to obtain Dragon Blood.
• Chen Luo awakened, sealed Thousand Faces with a jade talisman, stored it in the Beast Taming Bag, and put the Golden Armored Divine General in the Corpse Raising Bag.
• Chen Luo recognized the broken Wish Incense as Old Fox’s sacrificed corpse and read its damaged brainwaves.
• Old Fox’s phantom regained its liveliness after absorbing Gray Qi, and Chen Luo sensed the change within his Consciousness Space.