Chapter Summaries

Divine Emperor Heaven reflected on his centuries-long hunt for Black Rock Sage and resolved to claim the complete Black Mountain Blade Seed once his half was fully mastered. Meanwhile, three Half-Step Ancestors searched near the ruins of Obsidian Mountain for traces of the person spying on the Forbidden Zone.

• Divine Emperor Heaven recalled that he and Black Rock Sage each held half of the Black Mountain Blade Seed, and that Black Rock Sage had escaped him through reincarnation after their confrontation.
• Divine Emperor Heaven explained that he had hunted Black Rock Sage through three thousand lifetimes, weakening the other half’s spiritual essence but deepening its hatred of him.
• Divine Emperor Heaven decided that once he mastered his own half of the blade seed, he could forcefully take Black Rock Sage’s half despite its resistance.
• The Black-robed Elder, the Red-robed Man, and the Golden-robed Man left the Forbidden Zone and headed to the site closest to Obsidian Mountain to search for traces of the mysterious observer.

Li Yun woke after five hundred years in hiding and discovered that Myriad Wonders Aura had quietly strengthened his cultivation to twelve times Peak Sage Constant. When rumors reached him that the Heavenly Scripture of Myriad Wonders had changed hands and was now held by a Heavenly Constant Sage, he set out to investigate the book’s apparent conflict with his own.

• Li Yun awoke from his slumber, found the Half-Step Ancestors had not located him, and discovered his cultivation had risen to twelve times Peak Sage Constant.
• Li Yun realized that Myriad Wonders Aura had continued to convert into Sage Constant Power while he slept, though his current rate of cultivation was slower than he wanted.
• Li Yun suppressed his aura and returned to a city in the southeast of the Primordial Land to pursue the Illusory World Book.
• Li Yun overheard city residents discussing how the Heavenly Scripture of Myriad Wonders had changed hands three times and was now held by a Heavenly Constant Sage.
• Li Yun wondered how another Heavenly Scripture of Myriad Wonders could exist when he believed the Three Wonder Books inside him had formed the true one, and decided to investigate.

Disguised as a Heavenly Constant Sage, Li Yun learned that the Heavenly Scripture of Myriad Wonders had appeared and sparked a deadly scramble among powerful Sages. Suspecting the scripture was bait aimed at him, he realized the chaos might give him a chance to pursue the Illusory World Book.

• Li Yun secretly entered the city in disguise and heard that He Yun had found the Heavenly Scripture of Myriad Wonders in a Secret Realm before a succession of pursuers killed one another for it.
• Li Yun learned that Wanli Shenkong had taken the scripture and disappeared, while powerful factions and Sage Constant experts joined the search.
• Xun Wu and other Sages discussed how ordinary Sages had no chance of claiming the scripture, and Li Yun listened while weighing the situation.
• Li Yun suspected that someone had produced a false scripture to lure out its real owner and trap him, possibly because a Half-Step Ancestor had sensed him peering into the Forbidden Zone.
• Li Yun considered using the scramble for the scripture as cover to seek the Illusory World Book.

Li Yun, posing as Sage Gu Tian, steered the gathering toward the Illusory World Book and considered Great Luo Heaven’s offer to join a faction. Great Luo Heaven warned that major conflicts would erupt and urged the Rogue Cultivators to join the Miluo Holy Court, promising resources and access to its Illusory World Book pages.

• Li Yun redirected discussion from the Heavenly Scripture of Myriad Wonders to the Illusory World Book and claimed he had no pages or medicines to trade.
• Great Luo Heaven questioned Li Yun about his past, and Li Yun said he was a Rogue Cultivator who was now considering joining a faction.
• Great Luo Heaven warned that the Primordial Land’s balance would change and that Rogue Cultivators would struggle when conflicts broke out.
• Great Luo Heaven said his warning came from the Secluded Holy City, which backed the Miluo Holy Court.
• Great Luo Heaven invited the Rogue Cultivators to join the Miluo Holy Court, offering each one a Heavenly Constant Grade Eternal Divine Medicine and access to a Secret Realm containing the Illusory World Book.

Li Yun eagerly joined the Miluo Holy Court after learning it possessed 308 pages of the Illusory World Book, and most of the other recruited Rogue Cultivator Sages followed. Great Luo Heaven led them toward the Secret Realm, unaware that Li Yun was chiefly interested in gaining access to the book.

• Great Luo Heaven offered the Rogue Cultivator Sages a chance to study the Miluo Holy Court's 308 pages of the Illusory World Book in exchange for joining and submitting their insights.
• Li Yun immediately agreed to join, and all but two of the Rogue Cultivator Sages accepted the offer.
• Great Luo Heaven brought the new recruits to the Miluo Holy Court and reported their arrival to Sage Yuluo, who ordered him to send them into the Secret Realm.
• Great Luo Heaven led Li Yun and the others toward the Secret Realm, telling them formalities could wait while they studied the Illusory World Book.
• Li Yun stayed silent, pleased that he was about to gain access to the Illusory World Book.

Li Yun entered the Miluo Holy Court’s Secret Realm and discovered that its recruitment test used Rogue Cultivators as sacrifices to study the Illusory World Blade. He seized the 308 pages of the Illusory World Book while the guards outside remained unaware.

• Great Luo Heaven led Li Yun and the Rogue Cultivators into the guarded Secret Realm, where he revealed that their chance to join the Holy Court depended on gaining insight into the Illusory World Book.
• The guards praised Great Luo Heaven for recruiting more people to study the Illusory World Blade, and he flattered them before leaving.
• Inside the Secret Realm, the Rogue Cultivators saw the immense blade-shadow and feared they could not comprehend its Sage Constant Sage Art.
• Li Yun recognized that the Miluo Holy Court was using outsiders as sacrifices to study the dangerous blade and decided to take the Book’s pages.
• Li Yun sent the Rogue Cultivators into the illusory expanse, then pulled the 308 pages of the Illusory World Book from the blade and took them.
• The Sage Constant experts outside continued chatting with Great Luo Heaven, unaware that Li Yun had taken the pages.

Sage Yuluo learned that the Illusory World Book and the Illusory World Blade had vanished from the Secret Realm, where seven Rogue Cultivator Sages had been trapped in illusions. The Sages identified the missing eighth cultivator, Sage Gu Tian, as the likely thief.

• The guarding Sage Constants discussed the Rogue Cultivators’ three months of silence and speculated that they were mastering the Illusory World Blade.
• Sage Yuluo announced that the Heavenly Scripture of Myriad Wonders had fallen into Sage Huang Yu’s hands, and the guards revealed they had not checked the Secret Realm.
• Sage Yuluo and the other Sage Constants entered the Secret Realm and found it deserted, with the Illusory World Blade and all three hundred and eight pages of the Illusory World Book missing.
• Sage Yuluo noticed that one of the eight Rogue Cultivators Great Luo Heaven had brought was missing, then woke and subdued the seven who remained.
• The seven Rogue Cultivator Sages identified Sage Gu Tian as the missing person and the likely thief.

After Li Yun stole 308 pages of the Illusory World Book from the Miluo Holy Court, the furious court exposed his theft to the Primordial Land. Rumors spread that he planned to collect all Four Great Wonder Books, and powerful figures began turning their attention toward him.

• Yuluo the Sage and the Miluo Holy Court’s experts realized that Gu Tian the Sage was Li Yun, who had used the same trick to steal pages of the Illusory World Book before.
• Yuluo informed the Miluo Holy Lord that Li Yun had infiltrated the court and stolen 308 pages, prompting the lord to curse Yuluo and demand action.
• Two days later, the Miluo Holy Court let news of the theft spread throughout the Primordial Land.
• People speculated that Li Yun already possessed the Eternal Scripture, the World-Shocking Book, and part of the Illusory World Book, and intended to collect all Four Great Wonder Books.
• Observers suspected the Miluo Holy Court had exposed the theft to turn other experts against Li Yun, and predicted he would not remain free unless he became a Half-Step Ancestor.

After absorbing 308 pages of the [Illusory World Book], Li Yun’s cultivation rose dramatically, but rumors and a growing hunt for the Four Great Wonder Books made him a target. He infiltrated the Cloudslayer Association under a false identity and continued cultivating in secret as five years passed.

• Li Yun absorbed the 308 pages of the [Illusory World Book], raising the [Heavenly Scripture of Myriad Wonders] to page 108 and his strength to fifteen times that of a Peak Sage Constant.
• After returning to the Primordial Land, Li Yun learned that the struggle for the [Heavenly Scripture of Myriad Wonders] continued and that Sages were discussing how to seize his other books.
• Li Yun discovered a gathering of Sages, led by Mid Sage Constant experts, exchanging information while searching for him.
• Li Yun decided against attacking the gathering and instead disguised himself as an early Heavenly Constant Sage to avoid drawing attention from Sages and Half-Step Ancestors.
• Li Yun joined the Cloudslayer Association, whose leader Kanji secretly served Sage Yuluo of the Miluo Holy Court, and pretended to help hunt himself.
• Li Yun continued cultivating Myriad Wonders Aura in secret while searching for himself with the association, and five years passed.

Li Yun hit a cultivation limit after five years and weighed risking a trip to the Ancestral City for another Illusory World Book. Two Half-Step Ancestors appeared while searching for the person who had spied on the Forbidden Zone, and Li Yun concealed his identity by posing as a weak Cloudslayer Association cultivator.

• Li Yun reached twenty times the cultivation of a Peak Sage Constant but found he could no longer absorb Myriad Wonders Aura.
• Cang Jiulong announced that the Four Great Wonder Books belonged together and invited everyone to study them in the Ancestral City, intensifying the search for Li Yun.
• Li Yun heard two figures say they had searched the Primordial Land for the person who spied on the Forbidden Zone and suspected that person might have entered it.
• Two Half-Step Ancestors appeared before Li Yun, who collapsed to feign weakness until their oppressive presence faded.
• Li Yun introduced himself as Rogue Cultivator Hua Tiandu of the Cloudslayer Association and treated the Half-Step Ancestors as Sage Constants.

Li Yun disguised himself as a Heavenly Constant Sage and deceived two Half-Step Ancestors, but they identified him after noticing how thoroughly he had erased his traces. The Red-robed Man planned to warn Jin Tiantong that Li Yun would likely sneak into Ancestral City.

• Li Yun posed as a member of the Cloudslayer Association and told the Black-robed Elder and Red-robed Man that he had found no clues about himself.
• After the two Half-Step Ancestors left, Li Yun estimated their strength, erased every trace of his stay, and departed.
• The Black-robed Elder and Red-robed Man returned, noticed Li Yun had erased his traces, and realized he had been Li Yun.
• The Red-robed Man reasoned that Li Yun might return to the Cloudslayer Association or sneak into Ancestral City to pursue the Four Great Wonder Books.
• The Red-robed Man proposed informing Jin Tiantong, who was watching over Ancestral City, so he could catch Li Yun.

Li Yun entered Ancestral City under a new identity, hoping to find Illusory World Books that could help him break through his cultivation limit. He learned of the Illusory World Tower and was offered a costly way inside, where he might find someone willing to sell him a chance to study a book.

• Li Yun abandoned his Cloudslayer Association identity, hid within another small faction as an Origin Constant Sage, and decided to infiltrate Ancestral City for more Illusory World Books.
• Li Yun suspected a Half-Step Ancestor might be behind the rumors about the Heavenly Scripture of Myriad Wonders and could be lying in wait near Ancestral City.
• Huang Yuan approached Li Yun and offered to explain why visitors carrying Illusory World Books should go to the Illusory World Tower.
• Li Yun gave Huang Yuan an Ordinary Constant Divine Medicine for information and learned that the tower offered free stays and was guarded by Peak Sage Constant experts.
• Huang Yuan offered to arrange Li Yun's entry and help him find a book owner willing to sell a chance to study it, in exchange for a Sage Constant Divine Medicine.

Li Yun tried to secure entry to the Illusory World Tower without revealing his supposed status, but the price Huang Yuan quoted rose when Sage Kunmao intervened. Li Yun agreed to pay four Heavenly Constant Divine Medicines and asked Kunmao to speak with him privately.

• Huang Yuan explained that entering the Illusory World Tower without an Illusory World Book required a Divine Medicine payment and a guarantor from Ancestral City.
• Li Yun offered one Heavenly Constant Divine Medicine, then agreed to pay two when Huang Yuan said that might secure an Origin Constant Sage as guarantor.
• Huang Yuan brought Li Yun to a residence and introduced him to the Origin Constant Sage Kunmao.
• Kunmao dismissed Huang Yuan and demanded four Heavenly Constant Divine Medicines instead of the agreed two.
• Li Yun produced four Heavenly Constant Divine Medicines and asked Kunmao to speak with him privately, prompting Kunmao to invite him inside.

Li Yun entered Ancestral City’s heavily guarded Illusory World Tower with Sage Kunmao, hiding his overwhelming strength and intent to obtain an Illusory World Book. Inside, Thunder Pool warned Kunmao that Li Yun might already be heading for the tower, unaware that the disguised Li Yun stood beside him.

• Huang Yuan watched Li Yun and Sage Kunmao emerge from a private meeting as friendly companions, then accepted two Ordinary Constant Divine Medicines from Kunmao and left.
• Li Yun and Sage Kunmao traveled to the Illusory World Tower, whose formidable seals Li Yun believed could not stop his strength.
• Sage Kunmao brought Li Yun into the tower’s front courtyard and said he would find someone willing to trade with him.
• Thunder Pool questioned Kunmao about Li Yun’s background and warned that orders required strict checks because Li Yun might be approaching the tower in disguise.
• Sage Kunmao froze when Thunder Pool described Li Yun as a likely threat, while Li Yun remained beside them under another identity.

Wan Shenfeng gathered the Sages who had vouched for newcomers and revealed that Ancestral City suspected Li Yun would infiltrate the Illusory World Tower. He ordered them to keep bringing people in so the city could lure Li Yun into a trap, promising that the man would not escape with any Illusory World Books.

• Thunder Pool told Sage Kunmao that someone had tracked down Li Yun, but Rain Dragon summoned Kunmao to meet Wan Shenfeng.
• Kunmao entered the Inner Courtyard hall and found Wan Shenfeng gathered with dozens of Origin Constant and Heavenly Constant Sages.
• Wan Shenfeng said Li Yun had left the Cloudslayer Association and might have disguised himself to enter Ancestral City and target the Illusory World Tower.
• Wan Shenfeng ordered the Sages to keep vouching for newcomers and draw in people interested in the tower so Li Yun would have a chance to infiltrate it.
• Kunmao worried that the people who vouched for Li Yun would be held responsible if books were stolen, and Wan Shenfeng promised to protect them and trap Li Yun if he entered.

Wan Shenfeng revealed that Ancestral City had collected nearly all the scattered pages of the Illusory World Book to lure Li Yun into the Illusory World Tower and gather the Four Great Wonder Books. Jin Tiantong recognized the Heavenly Scripture of Myriad Wonders as Zixiao’s trap and, still unsure why Zixiao wanted Li Yun, decided to capture him himself.

• Wan Shenfeng told the Rain Dragon Sage that Ancestral City had gathered more than 2,500 pages of the Illusory World Book from their holders.
• Wan Shenfeng explained that the holders had handed over their pages to avoid losing them to Li Yun without compensation, while hoping Ancestral City would trap Li Yun and assemble the Four Great Wonder Books.
• Jin Tiantong secretly watched Wan Shenfeng and the Rain Dragon Sage, then sneered at their hopes of learning the secrets of the Ancestral Realm.
• Jin Tiantong recalled that he had examined Cang Jiulong’s copy of the Heavenly Scripture of Myriad Wonders and recognized it as Zixiao’s bait, designed to enslave those who studied it.
• Jin Tiantong considered whether Li Yun was the target of Zixiao’s scheme and decided to capture Li Yun to find out.

Li Yun negotiated with Black Tower to study seven pages of the Illusory World Book, with Sage Kunmao mediating and inspecting the exchange. After confirming the items appeared genuine, Kunmao left and realized the pages were fake.

• Sage Kunmao found Black Tower and brought Li Yun to negotiate a trade for his pages of the Illusory World Book.
• Li Yun offered seven Origin Constant Divine Medicines to study Black Tower’s seven pages for two months, with an additional Heavenly Constant Divine Medicine owed if he gained insight.
• Li Yun and Black Tower agreed to the terms and handed their items to Sage Kunmao for inspection.
• Sage Kunmao returned the items, approved the exchange, and left Black Tower’s residence.
• Outside, Sage Kunmao realized that Black Tower’s seven pages of the Illusory World Book were fake.

Sage Kunmao investigated the Illusory World Book pages after discovering that the Black Tower Sage’s collection was fake, and found that Fellow Daoist Lin’s pages were fake too. He left suspecting that every page in the Illusory World Tower was counterfeit and wondering where the real ones were.

• Sage Kunmao told the Thunder Pool Sage that Fellow Daoist He had made a deal to study the Black Tower Sage’s pages for two months, then continued wondering why those pages were fake.
• Sage Kunmao visited Fellow Daoist Lin to negotiate a deal for Fellow Daoist He to study Lin’s Illusory World Book pages.
• Sage Kunmao asked to inspect Lin’s pages and privately admitted that he had no way to tell whether they were genuine.
• Sage Kunmao offered Lin one Origin Constant Divine Medicine per page and an additional Heavenly Constant Divine Medicine if Fellow Daoist He gained anything from studying them.
• Sage Kunmao realized Lin’s pages were fake too and suspected there were no genuine pages in the Illusory World Tower.

Sage Kun Mao deduced that Ancestral City’s higher-ups had replaced the genuine Illusory World Book pages with fakes, and that Wan Shenfeng held the originals. He tried to reach Wan Shenfeng with a warning but was stopped at the courtyard boundary, where the Rain Dragon Sage intervened.

• Sage Kun Mao concluded that Ancestral City’s higher-ups had swapped the genuine Illusory World Book pages for fakes and that Wan Shenfeng likely held the originals.
• Sage Kun Mao decided to risk entering the Inner Courtyard to seize the pages and hurried to the boundary between the front and middle courtyards.
• Two Heavenly Constant Sages blocked Sage Kun Mao and refused to let him pass without orders from the Inner Courtyard.
• Sage Kun Mao claimed he suspected something was wrong with the man surnamed He whom he had vouched for, and insisted he had to warn Wan Shenfeng in person.
• The two guards threatened to suppress Sage Kun Mao, but the Rain Dragon Sage appeared and ordered them to stop.

Sage Kunmao reported to Wan Shenfeng and the Rain Dragon Sage that the Illusory World Book pages held by two sages were fakes. He left them to investigate whether someone had secretly replaced the pages.

• The Rain Dragon Sage brought Sage Kunmao past two Heavenly Constant Sages and demanded to hear his discovery before taking him to Wan Shenfeng.
• In Wan Shenfeng’s presence, Sage Kunmao explained that he had arranged an Illusory World Book trade for a Rogue Cultivator surnamed He.
• Sage Kunmao revealed that the seven pages held by the Black Tower Sage were fake, surprising Wan Shenfeng and the Rain Dragon Sage.
• Sage Kunmao said he had examined pages held by a second person and found those fake as well.
• Sage Kunmao warned that someone might have secretly replaced the pages and urged Wan Shenfeng to investigate.