Chapter Summaries

After subduing the Gray Mist and returning from Forget Dust Valley, Chen Luo took command of the Qionghua Sect while its Seven Patriarchs were away. He left the sect searching for the vanished inn and its dangerous tenants, and began using his new authority to prepare for trouble.

• Chen Luo used Old Fox's preserved memories to control the Gray Mist with the Silent Curse and convinced the Qionghua Sect members that he was himself.
• Chen Luo assigned Yu Jun Yao to gather materials from Forget Dust Valley but warned her not to touch the deepest area, where he planned to retrieve dragon blood.
• Chen Luo ordered elders to guard the sect's Spirit Fields and returned to the Qionghua Sect, where his strength earned him broad support and the title of Senior Disciple Brother.
• Chen Luo took control of the sect's authority and sent people to investigate the inn's former locations and the Upper Realm Passages, but they found no trace of the inn or Ning Chenye.

Chen Luo consolidated his control of Qionghua Sect, crushed attacks from tribulation cultivators, and discovered a Dragon Blood Stone whose inheritance he chose not to risk entering. Years later, his reputation and strength had grown across the Southern Sky Region, and he was cultivating in seclusion while Ning Chenye and the Shadow Eater Sect remained absent.

• Chen Luo took charge of Qionghua Sect’s affairs and used its abundant resources to strengthen the sect and resolve external threats.
• Chen Luo killed a large force of tribulation cultivators attacking Supreme Simplicity Peak, revealing that Qionghua Sect still had a Nascent Soul Cultivator and discouraging further attacks.
• Chen Luo used the Treasure Hunting Rat to find a Dragon Blood Stone in Forget Dust Valley and refined it, entering a vision of the Good and Evil Dragon Gate before deciding not to pursue its inheritance without a dragon’s memories.
• Over the following years, Chen Luo’s authority and reputation grew as he repeatedly defeated threats and guided Qionghua Sect’s disciples and elders.
• Chen Luo began cultivating in seclusion with abundant resources while Ning Chenye and the Shadow Eater Sect remained unseen.

Chen Luo learned that rogue cultivator Han Lin had killed Qionghua Sect disciples and vowed to challenge the sect in thirty years. Rather than wait or delegate, Chen Luo used Han Lin’s broken sword to curse him from afar, sensing his location as a fight unfolded in a mountain valley.

• Chen Luo reviewed Qionghua Sect affairs and ordered Dugu Jian to keep searching for the mysterious inn.
• A true disciple of Great Profound Peak told Chen Luo that Han Lin had killed an Inner Disciple and promised to avenge his dead brothers by visiting Qionghua Sect in thirty years.
• Chen Luo decided to deal with Han Lin immediately and asked for an object belonging to him.
• The true disciple gave Chen Luo Han Lin’s broken sword, and Chen Luo extracted Han Lin’s aura from it.
• Chen Luo summoned his curse divine ability and used a Demon Seed and a straw man to sense Han Lin in a mountain valley where several people were fighting.

Chen Luo killed Han Lin and his two companions through a curse, then discovered that someone was tracking him through a shadow hidden in a message from Ning Chenye. He decided to meet Ning Chenye at Samsara Valley and prepared weapons and talismans for the trip.

• Han Lin killed a wolf demon, but a curse from Chen Luo decapitated him and then killed You Xinlian and Zhao Feifei when they threatened the Qionghua Sect.
• Chen Luo destroyed the curse medium and sent a paper crane to retrieve Han Lin's head for examination.
• The paper crane returned damaged with a message from Ning Chenye saying that a friend had come to see Chen Luo at Samsara Valley.
• Chen Luo found a tracking shadow hidden in the crane's ashes and suspected the Shadow Eater Sect was involved.
• Chen Luo decided to meet Ning Chenye and began preparing a third-tier Dharma Sword, array flags, and emergency spirit talismans.

Chen Luo discovered that the injured Dugu Jian was a Shadow Puppet, then learned that a Shadow Eater Sect elder was searching for someone in the Lower Realm. At Samsara Valley, Ning Chenye confronted the puppet and revealed his demonic power.

• Chen Luo learned that Dugu Jian had been found severely injured after investigating a strange inn in Samsara Valley, and he treated his wounds.
• Dugu Jian recounted how a scholar killed two Qionghua Sect disciples before a shadowy figure knocked him unconscious and left him hanging from a tree.
• Chen Luo identified the apparent Dugu Jian as a Shadow Puppet and warned Yu Jun Yao to keep others away from him.
• Chen Luo increased his preparations for a possible attack by the Shadow Eater Sect.
• At the closed inn in Samsara Valley, Ning Chenye confronted a shadow puppet wearing Han Lin’s face, which said it served Elder Luying of the Shadow Eater Sect.
• Ning Chenye recognized the visitors as beings from the Upper Realm and revealed the power of the demonic beast remnants he had absorbed.

Chen Luo developed new combat methods and forged Yin Thunderballs by combining artifact forging, restrictions, and Yin Lightning. After testing one on two Second Tier Demonic Beasts, he built up a large stock of the spheres and prepared to use them alongside his other weapons.

• Chen Luo assessed his combat options and settled on developing Spirit Technique, poison insects, and Yin Thunderballs.
• Using the Nine Spirals method recalled by Zhao Kaihe's brain, Chen Luo forged a Yin Thunderball that stored Yin Lightning.
• Chen Luo tested the sphere on two Second Tier Demonic Beasts, killing both with its explosion.
• Chen Luo spent the following days forging Yin Thunderballs, preparing formation flags, and preliminarily completing his Rare Insects and Soul Technique.
• Chen Luo gathered his weapons and mobilized Old Brother Changqing's brain.

Chen Luo tested the Immortal Emperor Changqing’s refinements, which greatly strengthened his soul needle and four rare poisonous insects, then traveled to Samsara Valley to investigate a site described by Dugu Jian. He found the valley empty but discovered drifting invisible flames that destroyed most of his spirit-talisman cranes.

• The Immortal Emperor Changqing refined Chen Luo’s Spirit Piercer and fed poisonous spiritual-power orbs to the swarm, leaving four rare insects with dark golden patterns and dangerous new abilities.
• Chen Luo tested the strengthened insects and Divine Soul Needle, then left his cultivation chamber after rewarding the disciples guarding it with pills.
• Chen Luo traveled to Samsara Valley while Elder Dugu discovered that a fourth-tier formation had trapped him in his recovery room.
• Chen Luo found no sign of Ning Chenye at the reported location and sent more than seventy Spirit Talisman Paper Cranes into the poisonous mist to search the valley.
• Invisible drifting flames ignited and destroyed most of the cranes, leaving Chen Luo puzzled about the hazard.

Chen Luo entered the moving heartfire region to track Ning Chenye and found a living tree that carried Ning Chenye’s aura. After the tree devoured a shadow creature, Chen Luo recognized that Ning Chenye had fused with the remains of an Upper Realm tree demon.

• Chen Luo learned that the invisible flames were heartfire and went down through the Poisonous Mist to investigate.
• Chen Luo used the perceptions of Ghost Cultivator and Demon Cultivator brains to detect heartfire, gu insects, and another emotion-charged danger zone.
• Chen Luo reached a clearing with a lone tree that took control of his talisman-paper cranes.
• A black shadow attacked Chen Luo, who struck it with his chessboard until the tree’s roots seized and devoured it.
• Chen Luo sensed Ning Chenye’s aura in the tree and realized that Yin Yang Demon Lord had fused with the remains of a tree demon.

Chen Luo fought Ning Chenye, whose revived Yin Yang Demon Lord powers let him attack with demonic vines and the Joy Character Art. Just as Chen Luo’s assault pushed Ning Chenye toward defeat, Ning Chenye summoned the Spring and Autumn Gu and declared that no one could kill him.

• Ning Chenye transformed from a giant tree into his familiar form and clashed with Chen Luo, who had grown powerful enough to challenge him.
• Chen Luo tried to bargain for the Spring and Autumn Gu, then attacked Ning Chenye with a Soul Needle, but Ning Chenye blocked it and unleashed the Yin Yang Demon Seed.
• Ning Chenye used the Joy Character Art to disrupt Chen Luo’s mind and control the plants around them, but Chen Luo steadied himself and turned his sword formation against him.
• Chen Luo’s attack was joined by the presence of an old inn friend, whose Yin Lightning explosions devastated Ning Chenye’s vines and left him vulnerable to a body-seizure attempt.
• Ning Chenye recognized the familiar presence as Brother Hu, but Chen Luo continued attacking with sword qi, talismans, and Yin Thunderballs.
• Facing death, Ning Chenye summoned the Spring and Autumn Gu, whose enormous phantom emerged as he declared that no one could kill him.

Chen Luo and Ning Chenye fought fiercely, but neither could defeat the other, so they stopped and exchanged cultivation insights. Ning Chenye revealed that he was part of the mysterious inn and invited Chen Luo to help kill his wife; Chen Luo refused and departed for Qionghua Sect.

• Immortal Emperor Changqing warned Chen Luo that Ning Chenye possessed the Spring and Autumn Gu, which could reverse time and steal reincarnation.
• Chen Luo used the Life Borrowing Gu and Soul Parasite Gu to disrupt Ning Chenye, then struck him with the chessboard as the Past Inn appeared.
• After neither could quickly overcome the other, Chen Luo and Ning Chenye stopped fighting and exchanged knowledge about cultivation.
• Ning Chenye explained that he had eaten the inn's stairs, that its shopkeeper was his wife, and that he hoped to make the inn his main body after achieving Spirit Transformation.
• Ning Chenye offered Chen Luo part of the inn if he helped kill his wife, but Chen Luo declined and flew toward Qionghua Sect.

Chen Luo replenished his resources, refined a Shadow Puppet’s remains into pills and an upgraded Soul Banner, and continued preparing for Nascent Soul Formation. He set out for Golden Light Cave to investigate the Upper Realm Passage, then encountered four travelers sheltering in a ruined temple.

• Chen Luo analyzed his combat strengths and weaknesses, then used the Shadow Puppet’s remains and Fourth-tier Spiritual Materials to experiment with pill refinement and artifact forging.
• After half a month, Chen Luo produced five unknown soul-related pills and upgraded his Soul Banner to third-rank high-grade, while his chance of success in Nascent Soul Formation rose to fifty-five percent.
• Chen Luo decided to travel to Golden Light Cave, where the Dragon Tomb could block the Shadow Eater Sect’s tracking, and planned to investigate the nearby Upper Realm Passage.
• While resting in a ruined Land God Temple, Chen Luo was interrupted by four armed travelers fleeing through the mountains.
• The travelers entered the temple, greeted Chen Luo cautiously, and settled elsewhere when he ignored them.

Chen Luo encountered an invisible Frog-faced Being in the mountains and learned it was likely Mountain Master, the ruler whose rules Xing Family Village feared. When Qiao revealed a Dream Unraveling Flower, the being appeared again, though the others could not see it.

• Chen Luo sensed a presence approach the Land God Temple, saw a Frog-faced Being through the Flood Dragon's perspective, and blasted through a wall with his Sword Qi, but the creature vanished unharmed.
• Chen Luo set up a formation and demon-sensitive talismans, then questioned Qiao after he woke and found the huge trench and ruined wall.
• Qiao explained that Mountain Master had ruled the mountains for generations and punished people who broke its rules; he and the others had entered to find a Dream Unraveling Flower for Xing Mei's sick younger brother, Xing Song.
• Qiao showed Chen Luo the blue Dream Unraveling Flower, and the temple flames trembled as the Frog-faced Being appeared again.
• Chen Luo addressed the being as Mountain Master, but Xing Mei, Qiao, and the others saw nothing where he was looking.

Chen Luo learned from the Frog-faced Being that the Dragon Tomb’s opening had shifted the formation eye of Old Brother Changqing’s Emperor Tomb, then traveled directly to the abandoned Golden Light Cave. He reached its inner grounds and found a pillar of light carrying the aura of a true dragon.

• Chen Luo impersonated Old Fox while speaking with the Frog-faced Being, which warned that the Dragon Tomb was dangerous and that those drawn inside could not leave.
• The Frog-faced Being explained that the Dragon Tomb’s opening meant the Emperor Tomb’s formation eye had shifted, then departed as its mist and rain dispersed.
• Chen Luo told Man named Qiao and the others to leave the mountain, then flew toward the Dragon Tomb’s core and Golden Light Cave.
• Dragon Tomb pressure forced Chen Luo to descend and continue on foot; he found Golden Light Cave deserted and entered its dusty grounds.
• Chen Luo discovered a huge opening in the cave dwelling’s roof, where a pillar of light shone down with the aura of a true dragon, exciting the Flood Dragon and Black Horn King.

Chen Luo entered the Dragon Tomb and crossed a tribulation-scarred wasteland, where he found the Thousand-Eyed Centipede dead and read its lingering memories. At the end of the chapter, he encountered a deer-faced man sitting beside a downward-facing Coiling Dragon Pillar.

• Chen Luo tested the light pillar with Talisman Figures, entered the separate space, and found no valuables in the cave.
• Chen Luo entered the Dragon Tomb, concealed himself from lingering Heavenly Tribulation, and searched the charred canyon for survivors and clues.
• Chen Luo found the Thousand-Eyed Centipede's corpse, read its memories of betrayal and revenge, and stored its body in his Storage Bag.
• Chen Luo discovered a stele naming Immortal Emperor Changqing and tried to find a way to reach the true dragons atop the Coiling Dragon Pillars, but Dragon Might sealed his spiritual power.
• Chen Luo heard tapping at the far end of the platform and saw a strange deer-faced man holding a skull beside a downward-facing Coiling Dragon Pillar.

Chen Luo fought an Upper Realm Nascent Soul Deer Demon whose Poison Arts and defensive techniques overwhelmed him, but he answered with a barrage of talismans and Yin Thunderballs. The Deer Demon survived the explosion and began regenerating as Chen Luo reached the Coiling Dragon Pillar and contacted his damaged brainwaves.

• Han Lin watched Mu Xiao Yu leave Qionghua Sect and plotted to turn its disciples into Shadow Puppets to attack Chen Luo.
• The Deer Demon attacked Chen Luo with a bone staff and Poison Arts, while Chen Luo countered with his chessboard and Yin Lightning.
• Chen Luo realized the Deer Demon’s body redirected force through an Upper Realm technique and struggled to withstand the staff’s blows.
• Chen Luo unleashed his Soul Banner, Yin Thunderballs, and talismans, triggering a massive explosion that blasted both fighters away.
• After Old Brother Changqing warned him that the Deer Demon was not dead, Chen Luo reached the Coiling Dragon Pillar and contacted the Demon’s brainwaves as it regenerated from the flames.

Chen Luo escaped the deer demon in the Dragon Tomb and used a Teleportation Formation to enter the Changqing Emperor's Tomb. He arrived in a vast wasteland with no way back and realized he was trapped.

• Chen Luo escaped the deer demon by burning lifespan and leaving the Coiling Dragon Pillar platform, which the demon could not cross.
• Chen Luo killed a Poison Scorpion, reflected on the Upper Realm cultivator's fighting methods, and sent his External Brains' findings to Old Brother Changqing.
• Chen Luo reached the Dragon Tomb's Teleportation Formation and activated it to enter the Changqing Emperor's Tomb.
• At the Qionghua Sect, abducted disciples and a missing Core Formation elder returned, claiming they had been trapped in a secret realm.
• Chen Luo arrived in the Star Great Tomb on a black wasteland, found a corpse that crumbled to dust, and discovered there was no Teleportation Formation to return through.

Chen Luo reached Old Brother Changqing’s tomb, used Changqing’s aura to pass its puppet guards, and began cultivating beside a Three-legged Cauldron that could boost his chance of reaching the Nascent Soul Realm. Elsewhere in the tomb, the Seven Patriarchs of Qionghua remained trapped after ten years of searching for a way out.

• Chen Luo followed Old Brother Changqing’s directions through the wilderness and reached a village guarded by puppets, where he recognized the Master of the Ghost Temple among two corpses.
• Chen Luo used Old Brother Changqing’s aura to make the puppet guards kneel, then collected the brains of the two dead intruders.
• Chen Luo found the Three-legged Cauldron, learned it could increase his chance of a Nascent Soul breakthrough, and failed to move it because it was a tomb-guarding spirit artifact.
• Chen Luo ordered the nearby puppets to clear the area and began absorbing the cauldron’s stored aura in cultivation seclusion.
• The Seven Patriarchs of Qionghua discussed their failed breakthrough and their decade-long search for an exit, and Grand Void Ancestor Gu He asked where the tomb owner had buried himself.

Chen Luo absorbed qi from the Three-legged Cauldron, formed his own complete five-element Spirit Root, and brought his cultivation close to a Nascent Soul breakthrough. After merging with the Gourd Lid, the Grotto-heaven Gourd revealed that a powerful Shadow Eater Sect elder was heading for the Qionghua Sect with Ning Chenye, due to arrive within three days.

• Chen Luo absorbed the Three-legged Cauldron's qi, awakened a Spirit Root through the Root Tendril from True Person Evergreen, and raised his three paths of cultivation to eighty percent.
• After several months, Chen Luo reached a ninety-nine percent chance of breaking through, stopped absorbing the cauldron's remaining qi, and left the village with the Puppets allowing him passage.
• Chen Luo discovered an artifact spirit in a house near the Teleportation Formation, and the Grotto-heaven Gourd recognized it as part of its own spirit.
• The artifact spirit absorbed the Gourd Lid and told Chen Luo that a Shadow Eater Sect elder had joined forces with Ning Chenye and was heading to the Qionghua Sect, with three days at most before they arrived.

Chen Luo prepared to seek resources at the Emperor Tomb while upheavals spread across the Southern Sky Region, and the Shadow Eater Sect attacked Qionghua Sect. True Person Wuwei rescued Mu Xiao Yu from her Shadow Puppet corruption, but the sect faced attackers both outside and within as a wolf demon confronted him.

• Chen Luo decided to seek brains at Old Brother Changqing's Emperor Tomb and ordered reports on the Shadow Eater Sect elder and any threats to Qionghua Sect.
• New forces appeared across the Southern Sky Region, while two unfamiliar figures arrived at Myriad Demon Mountain and discussed their mission and an old grudge against Qionghua Sect.
• Elder Luying and three black-qi figures attacked Qionghua Sect's protection array with a giant monster, awakening the sect and drawing its elders into battle.
• True Person Wuwei extracted the black qi from Mu Xiao Yu and told Ao Ye that she would survive.
• Qionghua Sect fought three new monsters outside as a corrupted elder and disciples rebelled within, and a white-clad wolf demon appeared before True Person Wuwei to propose that they not interfere with each other's actions.

Chen Luo entered the Emperor Tomb, collected Immortal Emperor Changqing’s brain, and broke through to Nascent Soul Early Stage before returning to the outside world. Meanwhile, the Qionghua Sect’s defenses faltered under the monsters’ assault, and its elders lit the Incense Signal to summon help from the Upper Realm.

• Chen Luo reached Immortal Emperor Changqing’s tomb chamber, used the Perfect Golden Core and Inner Demon Art to overcome its pressure, and collected Changqing’s brain.
• Chen Luo’s cultivation insights raised his Nascent Soul breakthrough success rate to ten out of ten, and he advanced to Nascent Soul Early Stage inside the tomb.
• The Artifact Spirit Gourd sensed Upper Realm cultivators, demons, and ghosts outside the Qionghua Sect, and Chen Luo returned to the Lower Realm without exploring further.
• As the monsters outside the Qionghua Sect multiplied and battered its weakening formation, Elder Hua Qing told Yu Jun Yao to light the Incense Signal for help.
• Yu Jun Yao and the other true disciples lit their peaks’ Incense Signals while the monsters’ attacks shook the Earth Vein and caused earthquakes across nearby mortal nations.
• The Shadow Eater Sect elder emerged from the shadows after concluding that the Qionghua Sect had no Nascent Soul Cultivators.