Chapter Summaries

Xia Wuji learned that Qin Zhiyin had vanished in Nightmare Marsh and resolved to investigate, despite Feng Yi’s warnings about its dangers. The next morning, Su Yingjun returned after passing the True Disciple Trial, only to realize that the reward Liu Yuan had come to present was for Xia Wuji.

• Feng Yi gave Xia Wuji an incomplete Mystic Sound Swordplay manual and explained that Qin Zhiyin disappeared in Nightmare Marsh, where he had found recent traces of her swordplay.
• Xia Wuji searched Qin Zhiyin’s cultivation chamber for clues but found nothing, then asked Wen Shanshan about Nightmare Marsh and learned of its deadly miasma and poisonous Demon Beasts.
• Wen Shanshan warned Xia Wuji not to visit Nightmare Marsh, and Xia Wuji assured her he would be careful.
• Su Yingjun returned to Shaking Light Peak and told Xia Wuji he had passed the True Disciple Trial, then accompanied him to see Lu Cheng.
• Liu Yuan announced that he had come to present a reward to Shaking Light Peak’s newly promoted True Disciple, Xia Wuji, and Su Yingjun realized he had mistaken the announcement for his own.

Xia Wuji became a True Disciple and learned that Qin Zhiyin might be alive in the Nightmare Marsh, where Huang Yao promised to take him during the coming safe period. After reaching the peak of the Core Formation Realm and mastering Spatial Sword Intent, Xia Wuji went to meet Huang Yao just as the elder was preparing to send for him.

• Liu Yuan announced Xia Wuji's Core Competition victory and gave him a year of High-grade Yuan Force Spring Eye access, Yuan Crystals, and pills, while Su Yingjun learned Xia Wuji had become the True Disciple.
• Xia Wuji visited Huang Yao, who explained the dangers and resources of the Nightmare Marsh and agreed to take him there during its upcoming safer period to search for Qin Zhiyin.
• Xia Wuji cultivated in the High-grade Yuan Force Spring Eye, reached the completion of the tenth layer of the Core Formation Realm, and moved into his new True Disciple residence with Wen Shanshan.
• Xia Wuji refined a Space Crystal, gained Spatial Sword Intent, and decided to save his fourth-grade peak Spirit Sword for after he advanced to the Return to One Realm.
• Xia Wuji went to find Huang Yao, who revealed he had been about to send someone to summon him for the trip to the Nightmare Marsh.

Xia Wuji prepared to join Azure Star Academy’s expedition to the Nightmare Marsh, crafting a killing formation and setting out with Huang Yao and the others. As the Cloud Ship entered the marsh, three enormous Demon Beasts burst from the mire and attacked.

• Xia Wuji borrowed formation materials from Huang Yao and crafted a set of Third-grade Low-tier Mysterious Light Seven Kill Formation flags.
• Wen Shanshan told Xia Wuji she wished she could join the expedition, and he reassured her before leaving with Pengfei the next day.
• Huang Yao warned Xia Wuji about the rival sects in the Nightmare Marsh, then led him to join Feng Yi and more than two hundred Azure Star Academy members aboard a Cloud Ship.
• After traveling for nearly four days, the group reached the Nightmare Marsh, where Feng Yi distributed Miasma Dispelling Pills before the Cloud Ship entered the edge of the marsh.
• Three enormous Demon Beasts erupted from the mire and pounced on the Azure Star Academy’s Cloud Ship.

The Great Ape Sect ambushed Azure Star Academy’s cloud ship in Nightmare Marsh, forcing Feng Yi and the others into battle. Xia Wuji and Pengfei fought off their attackers, but Lu Xiao arrived on a Raging Ape and challenged them.

• Three giant crocodiles and a Raging Ape attacked Azure Star Academy’s cloud ship, and Feng Yi fought Li Gang as both sides clashed.
• The cloud ship’s formation broke, and Great Ape Sect cultivators boarded while Huang Yao and Hu Wei became occupied fighting them.
• Su Yingjun killed a Demon Beast, then was swept away by the shockwaves from a nearby battle, leaving Xia Wuji to face attackers with Pengfei.
• Xia Wuji and Pengfei killed several Great Ape Sect disciples and their Demon Beasts, drawing the attention of a young Great Ape Sect man and his small monkey.
• The small monkey transformed into a nine-zhang Raging Ape, and Lu Xiao revealed himself before charging Xia Wuji and Pengfei.

Xia Wuji fought Lu Xiao and exposed the Great Ape Sect disciple’s Half-Human Half-Beast transformation. Xia Wuji killed Lu Xiao with one sword, leaving the Great Ape Sect powerhouses enraged and the battle between the sects escalating.

• Pengfei battled Lu Xiao’s Raging Ape while Xia Wuji knocked away Lu Xiao’s Beast Taming Ring and disrupted its attacks.
• Lu Xiao attacked Xia Wuji with the Demon Beast Silver Snake, but Xia Wuji burned it to ash and wounded Lu Xiao with wind-fire sword qi.
• Lu Xiao swallowed a pill and transformed into a Half-Human Half-Ape, raising his strength to the level of a Cave Heaven Realm First Layer martial artist.
• Powerhouses from both sides rushed toward Lu Xiao, but their forces restrained one another as Lu Xiao charged Xia Wuji.
• Xia Wuji used Five Elements Tribulation to split Lu Xiao’s transformed body in two and kill him, provoking the Great Ape Sect powerhouses.

Xia Wuji helped Azure Star Academy repel the Great Ape Sect’s ambush at Nightmare Marsh, then discovered that a hidden formation was feeding the souls of the dead to a Soul Devouring Heavenly Gu. He resolved to find the formation’s nodes, which might help him reach Qin Zhiyin and oppose the Gu.

• Xia Wuji and Pengfei killed the Raging Ape, and Pengfei swallowed its Demonic Core.
• Huang Yao activated a Third-grade Peak formation that devastated the Great Ape Sect’s forces, allowing Li Gang and the survivors to retreat.
• Feng Yi and the academy’s elders examined the human-beast hybrid’s corpse and worried that the Great Ape Sect might have created more of them.
• Xia Wuji used the Spiritual Eye Technique and saw that a mysterious force consumed the souls of the dead.
• Xia Wuji concluded that a sophisticated formation was channeling those souls to a Soul Devouring Heavenly Gu and considered using its nodes to find Qin Zhiyin and fight the Gu.

Xia Wuji refused to leave Nightmare Marsh after killing Lu Xiao, choosing to stay and protect his sword path while Azure Star Academy regrouped at its base. Meanwhile, Liao Yong’s Mad Sword Sect ambushed the wounded Azure Star Academy reinforcements, then learned Xia Wuji was still in the marsh and set out to join the Great Ape Sect.

• Feng Yi and Huang Yao urged Xia Wuji to return to Azure Star Academy, but he insisted on remaining in Nightmare Marsh and agreed to stay beside Huang Yao.
• Feng Yi sent an elder back to request reinforcements, then led the remaining group to Azure Star Academy’s base, where Wang Xiang reported the miasma would reach its lowest point in about two days.
• Xia Wuji began cultivating at the base while continuing to search for the formation core connected to the Soul Devouring Heavenly Gu.
• Liao Yong and the Mad Sword Sect ambushed the wounded Azure Star Academy group returning for treatment and reinforcements, and Liao Yong killed their elder.
• A Mad Sword Sect member revealed that Xia Wuji was in Nightmare Marsh, prompting Liao Yong to abandon his plan and head to join the Great Ape Sect.

Xia Wuji was kept at the Azure Star Academy’s base and assigned to refine pills, but he improved the Miasma Dispelling Pill while preparing to slip out. When Wang Xiang ordered him to lead a mission outside, Xia Wuji accepted the mission scroll.

• The Azure Star Academy allied with Blazing Flame Valley after learning that the Great Ape Sect and Mad Sword Sect had joined forces.
• Huang Yao and Lin Feng warned Xia Wuji to stay at the base, where he was assigned to support the expedition by refining pills.
• Xia Wuji refined ten improved Miasma Dispelling Pills that lasted seven days and had at least twice the potency of the Academy’s pills.
• Lin Feng warned Xia Wuji that Wang Xiang was trying to send him on a mission and urged him to refuse.
• Wang Xiang ordered Xia Wuji to lead a team on an outside mission, and Xia Wuji stepped forward and accepted the mission scroll.

Xia Wuji led Zeng Yu and Xiao Ruoqi toward a trapped allied squad, but Mad Sword Sect and Great Ape Sect disciples ambushed them on the way. After Xia Wuji and Pengfei turned the ambush into a counterattack, Xia Wuji captured a badly wounded Cave Heaven Realm enemy to question him.

• Wang Xiang sent Xia Wuji, Zeng Yu, and Xiao Ruoqi to escort Zeng Yu to break the formation trapping an allied squad, assuring Lin Feng he would accept responsibility if anything happened.
• Zeng Yu told Xia Wuji that he and Wang Xiang held no grudge over the injuries to Zhou Zhijie and Ding Yin, and Xia Wuji focused the group on their mission.
• Near their destination, Xia Wuji sensed an ambush by Mad Sword Sect and Great Ape Sect disciples and blocked the incoming sword qi with Zeng Yu and Xiao Ruoqi.
• Zeng Yu's talismans helped Xia Wuji confront a Cave Heaven Realm attacker, while Pengfei killed the man with a swift strike and revealed his growth into a Third-grade Low-tier Demon Beast.
• Xia Wuji, Pengfei, Zeng Yu, and Xiao Ruoqi defeated the ambushers, killing seven people and three Demon Beasts, and Xia Wuji began questioning the wounded Cave Heaven Realm disciple.

Xia Wuji learned that the enemy had trapped Azure Star Academy and Blazing Flame Valley disciples to seize the Spirit Guiding Fruit, then led Zeng Yu and Xiao Ruoqi toward the formation. He launched a surprise attack on its guards, killing the Great Ape Sect’s Cave Heaven Realm Triple Layer disciple with the Instant Void Swordplay as the battle began.

• Xia Wuji forced a Mad Sword Sect disciple to reveal the formation’s defenses, the trapped disciples’ dwindling numbers, and the Spirit Guiding Fruit’s location and imminent maturity.
• Xia Wuji killed the informant, and Xiao Ruoqi collected his spoils to hold until the mission ended.
• Zeng Yu proposed returning for reinforcements, but Xia Wuji insisted they proceed, and he guided the group past the enemy’s traps.
• At the formation, Xia Wuji told Zeng Yu and Xiao Ruoqi to stay hidden, then rushed the guards and killed several Demon Beasts with a sword strike.
• Pengfei killed the Third-grade Low-tier Demon Beast, while Xia Wuji attacked a Great Ape Sect disciple weakened by the beasts’ deaths.
• The Great Ape Sect disciple repelled Xia Wuji’s sword qi, but Xia Wuji pierced his head from behind with the Instant Void Swordplay.

Xia Wuji defeated the Mad Sword Sect and Great Ape Sect attackers, helped Blazing Flame Valley break the formation and rescue the trapped disciples, then learned that Qiu Biao’s group had taken the spoils and was heading for the Spirit Guiding Fruit. He sent the others back to base and went alone to investigate the miasma-filled area and search for the formation core used to raise the Soul Devouring Heavenly Gu.

• Xia Wuji and Pengfei fought the attackers, killing several enemies before Pengfei was seriously injured and Xia Wuji slew the fleeing Mad Sword Sect True Disciple.
• Zeng Yu and Xiao Ruoqi began breaking the formation as Blazing Flame Valley reinforcements led by Qiu Biao arrived.
• Xia Wuji interfered with the formation’s cores, allowing Qiu Biao to burn through its barrier and free the trapped disciples, including Zhang Liang.
• Xiao Ruoqi reported that Blazing Flame Valley had taken the spoils, and Zhang Liang accused Qiu Biao of heading for the Spirit Guiding Fruit.
• Xia Wuji gave the Miasma Dispelling Pills to the others and went alone to investigate the Spirit Guiding Fruit area and seek the Soul Devouring Heavenly Gu’s formation core.

Xia Wuji found a hidden formation core tied to the Witch God and the Soul Devouring Heavenly Gu, then waited for Blazing Flame Valley to clear the poisonous beasts around the Spirit Guiding Fruit. He snatched the ripe fruit from under Qiu Biao’s nose, and Qiu Biao threatened to kill him unless he handed it over.

• Xia Wuji swallowed a Miasma Dispelling Pill, entered the thick miasma alone, and discovered a hidden altar and Formation Flag marked with the words “Witch God.”
• Xia Wuji restored the illusion concealing the formation core and continued toward the Spirit Guiding Fruit, deciding to tamper with the formation after he had picked the fruit and advanced his cultivation.
• Xia Wuji found Qiu Biao, Cao Meng, and the Blazing Flame Valley disciples fighting poisonous Demon Beasts near the Spirit Guiding Fruit.
• Qiu Biao and Cao Meng killed a Third-grade Mid-tier poisonous toad just as the Spirit Guiding Fruit ripened.
• Xia Wuji darted in and plucked the Spirit Guiding Fruit while the Blazing Flame Valley disciples watched in shock.
• Qiu Biao demanded that Xia Wuji hand over the fruit and threatened to kill him.

Xia Wuji fought off Blazing Flame Valley after its disciples tried to seize the Spirit Guiding Fruit, using a soul-targeting formation and fire-control art to defeat them. He gathered their remaining soul origins as extra bait for the Soul Devouring Heavenly Gu.

• Xia Wuji refused to surrender the Spirit Guiding Fruit, and Qiu Biao charged him with flaming hammers.
• Xia Wuji activated a Soul Slaying Formation, which disrupted the Blazing Flame Valley disciples and sent Pengfei flying at Qiu Biao.
• Qiu Biao and the others took Soul Solidifying Pills and tried to break the formation, but Xia Wuji used the Sky Burning Art to turn their flames into a giant palm that killed most of them.
• The formation erased the intelligence of the dead disciples' souls, while Cao Meng was struck down and Qiu Biao begged Xia Wuji for mercy.
• Xia Wuji killed Qiu Biao with the Bewitching Heart Flying Sword and gathered the Blazing Flame Valley disciples' soul origins to use against the Soul Devouring Heavenly Gu.

Xia Wuji marked soul origins with the Soul Burning Contract, broke through to the Return to One Realm, and secretly altered the altar formation core. As he prepared to investigate another core, Chu Huairen arrived, intent on killing him.

• Xia Wuji used the Soul Slaying Formation to imprint Soul Burning Contracts on several soul origins, then collected his belongings and returned to the altar formation core.
• Xia Wuji ate the Spirit Guiding Fruit and cultivated for an hour, breaking through from the Core Formation Realm to the Return to One Realm.
• Chu Huairen learned Xia Wuji's location from an instructor, killed the instructor to conceal his plans, and hurried to find Xia Wuji.
• Xia Wuji examined the altar formation core, modified it to hide a detonatable power, and gained some control over the surrounding miasma.
• Xia Wuji sensed the formation network feeding soul origins to an injured, sleeping Soul Devouring Heavenly Gu, then concealed the altar core and prepared to leave.
• Chu Huairen blasted through the miasma and appeared before Xia Wuji, and the two spotted each other.

Xia Wuji used the altar’s formation and his sword techniques to kill Chu Huairen, the Great Chu Dynasty’s foundation, then claimed his soul and Storage Ring. He discovered a Spirit Annihilation Pearl among Chu Huairen’s treasures, gaining a powerful new trump card.

• Chu Huairen found Xia Wuji alone and attacked him, but Xia Wuji used the altar’s formation to control the miasma and send him flying.
• Xia Wuji combined the Nightmare Marsh miasma with his Bewitching Heart Flying Sword and Mystic Sound Swordplay, wounding Chu Huairen and corroding his soul.
• Xia Wuji used Spatial Sword Intent to guide the Bewitching Heart Flying Sword through Chu Huairen’s defenses and pierce his head, killing him.
• Chu Huairen begged Xia Wuji to spare the Great Chu Dynasty, but Xia Wuji refused, extracted his soul, erased its intelligence, and sent it into the altar’s formation core.
• Xia Wuji took Chu Huairen’s Storage Ring and found a Spirit Annihilation Pearl powerful enough to threaten even a perfected Cave Heaven Realm cultivator.

Xia Wuji took control of the outer region’s altar formation cores while fighting the Great Ape Sect and Mad Sword Sect. After escaping their approaching reinforcements, he faced powerful pursuers and chose not to fight them head-on.

• Xia Wuji gained control of ten of Nightmare Marsh’s twelve outer formation cores and placed Soul Burning Contracts on some sect disciples he had killed.
• Xia Wuji ambushed a group from the Great Ape Sect and Mad Sword Sect, killing both leaders and their remaining fighters with Pengfei’s help.
• A Great Ape Sect disciple escaped the Soul Slaying Formation and released a signal, so Xia Wuji left before the sect’s reinforcements arrived.
• Xia Wuji took control of the eleventh formation core and hurried toward the final one, avoiding a risky stand near the Great Ape Sect’s base.
• Xia Wuji emerged to find Great Ape Sect and Mad Sword Sect forces approaching, including an old man from each sect and a hawk Demon Beast whose auras rivaled Chu Huairen’s.

Xia Wuji escaped the Mad Sword Sect and Great Ape Sect elders with a Spirit Annihilation Pearl, then discovered their joint base near the twelfth formation eye. After learning why the base was there and who commanded it, he set a trap to draw its defenders away so he could enter the miasma.

• Xia Wuji hid the Spirit Annihilation Pearl among talismans and detonated it, severely injuring the pursuing elders and their Demon Beast before fleeing.
• Xia Wuji used the Dust Washing Art to erase his tracks and found a joint Mad Sword Sect and Great Ape Sect base surrounding the twelfth formation eye.
• Xia Wuji ambushed a patrol with the Soul Slaying Formation, killed its Demon Beasts, and forced a Great Ape Sect disciple to reveal the base's purpose and leaders.
• The disciple told Xia Wuji that Hall Master Li and Liao Yong had entered Nightmare Marsh, while Sun Qian and Li Ge commanded the base and had ordered three signal arrows released if Xia Wuji appeared.
• Xia Wuji killed the disciple, released the three signal arrows, and fled toward the joint base from another direction to lure its defenders away.

Xia Wuji raided the Great Ape Sect and Mad Sword Sect joint base, then used the dense miasma to seize control of the twelfth altar formation core. As Sun Qian and Li Ge attacked him, he drew miasma from the other eleven cores to strengthen his defense.

• Sun Qian and Li Ge found the corpses near the signal arrows and planned to lure Xia Wuji into a trap, believing he was still nearby.
• Xia Wuji attacked the joint base while its defenses were weak, killed several disciples, then escaped into the dense miasma on Pengfei.
• The disciples launched a mass of signal arrows, prompting Sun Qian and Li Ge to return and pursue Xia Wuji into the miasma.
• Xia Wuji took control of the twelfth altar formation core and sensed Sun Qian and Li Ge approaching.
• Li Ge attacked Xia Wuji with sword energy, but Xia Wuji gathered the miasma into a counterstrike; Sun Qian then charged in wearing spiritual battle armor.
• Xia Wuji drew miasma from the other eleven altar formation cores, sending eleven rivers of it surging toward him.

Xia Wuji unleashed the altar’s miasma, killed the two elders and devastated the joint forces of Great Ape Sect and Mad Sword Sect. After recovering, he set out for the depths of the Nightmare Marsh to find Qin Zhiyin; meanwhile, Azure Star Academy learned that he had single-handedly destroyed the enemy stronghold.

• Sun Qian attacked Xia Wuji, but the Witch God formation flag released miasma that overwhelmed Sun Qian and left him mindless.
• Li Ge fled, but Xia Wuji sent poisonous-miasma swords after him and killed him, then branded both elders’ remnant soul origins with the Soul Burning Contract.
• Xia Wuji spread the miasma across the stronghold, where it swallowed the forces and Demon Beasts of Great Ape Sect and Mad Sword Sect; he then pursued survivors with Pengfei and killed those nearby.
• Xia Wuji suppressed and branded the remaining soul origins, recovered his mental energy, and set off with Pengfei for the depths of the Nightmare Marsh to find Qin Zhiyin.
• At Azure Star Academy, Su Yingjun told Huang Yao and the others that Xia Wuji had single-handedly wiped out the joint stronghold.

Xia Wuji entered the depths of the Nightmare Marsh and refined pills that could repel its miasma. He found Feng Yi under attack by Liao Yong and Li Gang, and the chapter ended with the pursuers surrounding Xia Wuji, Feng Yi, and Pengfei.

• Huang Yao and the others investigated the ruined joint stronghold of the Great Ape Sect and the Mad Sword Sect but could not learn where Xia Wuji had gone.
• Xia Wuji refined pills that kept the miasma at bay and set out to find Peak Master Feng Yi, hoping to learn more about Qin Zhiyin.
• Xia Wuji heard Feng Yi fighting Liao Yong and Li Gang, then rushed over as Feng Yi was overwhelmed by their attacks and the Raging Ape.
• Pengfei rescued the gravely wounded Feng Yi and carried him away, while Feng Yi briefly struck Liao Yong back with a sweep of sword light.
• Xia Wuji saw that eggs of the Soul Devouring Heavenly Gu had hatched in Feng Yi's wound, as Liao Yong and Li Gang caught up and threatened them.