Chapter Summaries

Li Yun forced Wang Dong to guide him through the Heavenly Mandate Cult’s Underground Palace, hoping to explore the lair without being discovered. After Wang Dong reacted with awe to Li Yun’s claimed identity as a Lingyun Pavilion disciple, two groups approached from opposite directions and trapped them in a passage.

• Li Yun persuaded Wang Dong to take him into the Underground Palace and warned that Zhang Ruohan would reveal Wang Dong’s betrayal if he failed to return within a day.
• Li Yun and Wang Dong entered the Underground Palace while Zhang Ruohan stayed behind to watch Li Ya.
• Wang Dong asked about Li Yun’s background, and Li Yun claimed to be Bi Yusheng, a disciple of Lingyun Pavilion of the Celestial Martial Sect.
• Wang Dong expressed awe at Li Yun’s claimed status and lamented the gap between their martial prospects as he led Li Yun through the Underground Palace.
• Li Yun and Wang Dong heard footsteps and conversations from both ends of a passage and realized two groups had blocked their way.

Li Yun killed four Heavenly Mandate Cultists, hid and dissolved their bodies with Wang Dong’s help, then discovered a Primordial Array diagram in the secret chamber. He began learning the array, but its upgrades cost far more Cognition Points than expected.

• Li Yun ambushed and killed four Heavenly Mandate Cultists, then ordered Wang Dong to help hide their bodies in a nearby secret chamber.
• Li Yun dissolved the four bodies with Corpse Dissolving Powder, and Wang Dong worried that Li Yun would kill him too.
• Li Yun explained that Wang Dong had already betrayed the Heavenly Mandate Cult and would be safe if he cooperated.
• Li Yun discovered a Primordial Array diagram on the chamber wall and loaded it through the System Panel.
• Li Yun spent thirty thousand Cognition Points to reach the Primordial Array’s Entry Realm, then spent three million more to reach Initial Accomplishment.

Li Yun mastered four basic formations and discovered that combining them transformed his True Qi. He tested the result on Wang Dong, whose chest burned as a Four Symbols Array pattern appeared on it.

• Li Yun raised the Primordial Array to the Proficient Realm, then asked Wang Dong to guide him to other chambers with array diagrams.
• Li Yun mastered the Two Forms Array, learning that it could combine with the Primordial Array to create more powerful formations.
• Li Yun also raised the Three Talents Array and Four Symbols Array to the Proficient Realm, spending nearly three billion Cognition Points in total.
• Li Yun felt that his True Qi had changed and shot a four-colored finger at Wang Dong.
• Wang Dong failed to dodge, collapsed in pain, and found a Four Symbols Array pattern on his chest.

Li Yun created four True Qi Realm martial skills from the Underground Palace’s arrays and used the Four Symbols Finger to seal Wang Dong’s True Qi. He left Wang Dong with no choice but to serve as his agent in the Heavenly Mandate Cult, dangling the prospect of advancement into the Innate Realm.

• Li Yun’s Four Symbols Finger sealed Wang Dong’s True Qi, and the system awarded Li Yun one billion Cognition Points for creating it.
• Li Yun created the Primordial World-Shaking Fist, Two Forms Yin Yang Palm, and Three Talents Immortal Steps, earning further Cognition Points from the system.
• Wang Dong could not break the Four Symbols Finger’s seal, and Li Yun warned that forcibly removing it would drain Wang Dong’s Life Origin.
• Li Yun explained that he had sealed Wang Dong so he could use him as an agent in the Heavenly Mandate Cult after leaving the Underground Palace.
• Wang Dong accepted that he had no choice, and Li Yun offered to help him advance into the Innate Realm, adding that Li Ya might want the same opportunity.

Li Yun returned from the Underground Palace with Wang Dong, forced Wang Dong and Li Ya to work together as informants, then consumed the Sky Tiger Thorn Fruit and advanced to the seventh layer of True Qi. He and Zhang Ruohan emerged from the pool into a barren valley, where they encountered Lian Si and her martial artists.

• Li Yun returned to the stone chamber with Wang Dong and told Zhang Ruohan that he had found nothing important in the vast Underground Palace.
• Li Yun woke Li Ya, tortured him with the Four Symbols Finger until he submitted, and ordered him and Wang Dong to report on the Heavenly Mandate Cult in turns.
• Li Yun swallowed the Sky Tiger Thorn Fruit and used All Things Return to Origin to advance from the third layer to the seventh layer of True Qi.
• Li Yun reflected that the quality of True Qi mattered as much as cultivation speed and resolved to improve his True Qi further after the turmoil at Green Peak Mountain.
• Li Yun and Zhang Ruohan emerged from the pool into a barren valley and encountered Lian Si and seven or eight martial artists.

Lian Si recognized Li Yun and led an attack on him and Zhang Ruohan, but Li Yun quickly defeated her and slaughtered her subordinates. Zhang Ruohan stopped Lian Si from escaping, and the chapter ended with her demanding to know who had sent the attackers.

• Lian Si recognized Li Yun and ordered her subordinates to attack while she struck at Zhang Ruohan.
• Li Yun unleashed Two Forms Yin Yang Palm, shattered Lian Si's sword attack, and killed her seven or eight subordinates.
• Lian Si tried to flee, but Zhang Ruohan blocked the Valley exit as Li Yun struck her from behind with his four-colored finger attack.
• Li Yun's Hunyuan True Qi overwhelmed Lian Si's Innate True Qi and activated the Four Symbols Array Diagram on her back.
• Zhang Ruohan held her sword to Lian Si's throat and demanded to know who had sent her, but Lian Si threatened them with Princess Miaoxiang's revenge.

Li Yun forced Lian Si to reveal that Young Master Yu'an had ordered the attack and that Bixuan might be connected to the Meng Po Society, then learned Xiao Qing had been captured. He and Zhang Ruohan tracked her to a group of Tinnu Sect disciples, where Zhang Ruohan recognized Huang Liying.

• Li Yun tortured Lian Si until she said she had followed Young Master Yu'an's orders and mentioned Bixuan before dying.
• Li Yun and Zhang Ruohan suspected Bixuan was tied to the Meng Po Society and decided to investigate Young Master Yu'an after returning to Ziyun Commandery.
• Heipi alerted Li Yun that Xiao Qing had been captured, and Li Yun rushed off with Zhang Ruohan following and leaving markers for help.
• Zhang Ye boasted that he had caught Xiao Qing in a net using Dragon-Trapping Incense and planned to make the spirit serpent his own.
• Li Yun and Zhang Ruohan followed Heipi to the forest and confronted the Tinnu Sect disciples, where Zhang Ruohan recognized Huang Liying.

Zhang Ruohan defeated Huang Liying in a sword fight, but Huang Liying tried to attack her with silver powder afterward, and Li Yun intervened and killed her. Tinnu Sect disciples surrounded Li Yun and Zhang Ruohan, demanding an explanation for Huang Liying’s death.

• Huang Liying challenged Zhang Ruohan to their arranged duel and attacked before Zhang Ruohan could explain why she had come.
• Zhang Ruohan used her Sorrowful Wind Swordplay to defeat Huang Liying and hold her sword at Huang Liying’s throat.
• Huang Liying accused Zhang Ruohan of scheming, then threw silver powder at her in a sneak attack.
• Li Yun pulled Zhang Ruohan aside and struck Huang Liying with his Four Symbols Finger, killing her.
• Tinnu Sect disciples surrounded Li Yun and Zhang Ruohan, and Zhang Ruohan said Huang Liying had attacked first and tried to poison her.

Zhang Ruohan, Li Yun, and Heipi fought the Tinnu Sect disciples after Zhang Ye refused to release Xiao Qing and demanded Li Yun’s death. Heipi transformed into a blood-lit Black Tiger and struck Zhang Ye, leaving his fate unclear.

• Zhang Ye demanded that Li Yun kill himself and ordered the Tinnu Sect disciples to seize Li Yun and Zhang Ruohan, while refusing to release Xiao Qing.
• Heipi killed a Tinnu Sect disciple, and Zhang Ruohan weakened the attackers with her Sorrowful Wind Swordplay as Li Yun killed five more with his Battle Technique.
• Zhang Ye realized Li Yun might be a Lingyun Pavilion prodigy and tried to escape with Xiao Qing in the mesh bag.
• Heipi attacked Zhang Ye, who wounded it with his Cross Slaying Sword, but Heipi transformed into a blood-lit Black Tiger and tore at him with a claw.

Li Yun and Zhang Ruohan wiped out the Tinnu Sect disciples who had attacked them, then waited for Celestial Martial Sect reinforcements. After Li Yun revealed that the Heavenly Mandate Cult had occupied a mysterious Underground Palace beneath Green Peak Mountain, the shocked elders decided to notify the Sect Master.

• Heipi killed Zhang Ye and attacked the remaining Tinnu Sect disciples while Li Yun and Zhang Ruohan joined in, killing all fifteen.
• Zhang Ruohan explained that Dragon-Trapping Incense had made Xiao Qing fall asleep, and Li Yun stored Xiao Qing and the exhausted Heipi in the Heavenly Origin Ring.
• Li Yun and Zhang Ruohan cleared away traces of the battle, left the area, and waited for the Celestial Martial Sect.
• Zhang Ruohan told the arriving Inner Sect Disciples that she and Li Yun had clues to report, but withheld details until the elders arrived.
• Li Yun privately told Gu Xiaoxian and Gong Yunque that the Heavenly Mandate Cult came from the Cracked Heaven Dynasty and that Pei Tianming had used the Nine-Leaf Immortal Ganoderma as bait to conceal the Underground Palace.
• Gu Xiaoxian and Gong Yunque reacted with shock and decided to notify the Sect Master immediately.

Gong Yunque and Gu Xiaoxian sent the Celestial Martial Sect’s disciples to hunt the Meng Po Society, using the search as cover while they investigated the Underground Palace. Chen Jiuxu joined Li Yun and learned of his rapid cultivation and the Heavenly Mandate Cult’s possible ties to the Cracked Heaven Imperial Dynasty, then recognized Li Yun’s White Emperor City Token as a connection to one of that dynasty’s most powerful families.

• Gong Yunque ordered the Inner Sect Disciples to form teams and hunt the Meng Po Society, while she and Gu Xiaoxian kept the Underground Palace matter secret.
• Chen Jiuxu hurried to Green Peak Mountain and was shocked to discover that Li Yun had reached the True Qi Seventh Level with First Grade True Qi.
• Chen Jiuxu pressed Li Yun for details about the Heavenly Mandate Cult and warned that the Cracked Heaven Imperial Dynasty’s powers could destroy the Celestial Martial Sect.
• Li Yun recounted his encounters with the Meng Po Society, the Old Daoist, and the Old Demon Hag, then showed Chen Jiuxu the White Emperor City Token.
• Chen Jiuxu recognized the token as a gift from the Bai Family, rulers of the third-ranked White Emperor City, and told Li Yun it could serve as a powerful protective connection.

Chen Jiuxu withdrew the Celestial Martial Sect from Green Peak Mountain rather than risk provoking the Heavenly Mandate Cult, while Li Yun returned to cultivation and strengthened the Black Tiger Battle Tactic. When Gu Xiaoxian urged him to report to Lingyun Pavilion, Li Yun decided to delay, reasoning that the Sect Master was not in a hurry.

• Chen Jiuxu rejected raiding the Heavenly Mandate Cult's home, ordered everyone to leave Green Peak Mountain, and vowed to question the Meng Po Society about its hunt for Lingyun Pavilion disciples.
• Li Yun returned to the Celestial Martial Sect, reunited with Zhang Chu, and fused four martial skills into the Black Tiger Battle Tactic, raising its completion rate to 60%.
• Li Yun learned that a Fire Treasury Bird had taken the Nine-Leaf Immortal Ganoderma and then disappeared, leaving the competing Martial Artists empty-handed.
• Gu Xiaoxian visited Li Yun and urged him to report to Lingyun Pavilion, warning him not to defy the Sect Master's decision.
• Li Yun said he planned to wait before reporting to Lingyun Pavilion because he expected the Sect Master would act if it were truly urgent.

Li Yun explained to Gu Xiaoxian that he wanted to delay joining Lingyun Pavilion until he became an Inner Sect Disciple, then asked for techniques to condense True Qi. He revealed that he had deciphered and mastered Absolute Fate Reverse Origin, leaving Gu Xiaoxian astonished by his abilities.

• Gu Xiaoxian warned Li Yun that he was too weak to challenge Lingyun Pavilion's disciples, but Li Yun clarified that he only wanted to avoid gossip about joining as an Outer Sect Disciple.
• Li Yun said he would wait until he achieved the Acquired to Innate Reversal and became an Inner Sect Disciple before reporting to Lingyun Pavilion.
• Gu Xiaoxian realized Li Yun might reach the Acquired to Innate Reversal quickly because of his First Grade True Qi.
• After Gu Xiaoxian pressed him to explain why he had come, Li Yun asked for as many techniques for condensing True Qi as possible.
• Li Yun returned the book concealing Absolute Fate Reverse Origin and told Gu Xiaoxian that he had deciphered and successfully cultivated the dangerous method.
• Gu Xiaoxian realized Li Yun had used Super First Grade Internal Force in his fight with Wang Yuechun and marveled that he had deciphered a method even the Sect Master could not understand.

Li Yun showed Gu Xiaoxian the Absolute Fate Reverse Origin and his new Divine Martial Skill, asking for more True Qi Cultivation Techniques in return. Gu brought him to the Martial Arts Hall so Chen Bairong could examine the new method, leaving Li Yun inside as he gained Cognition Points by watching martial artists train.

• Li Yun gave Gu Xiaoxian the Absolute Fate Reverse Origin and Divine Martial Skill, explaining that his awakened Spirit Root and Innate Divine Ability helped him overcome the former’s Life Origin cost.
• Gu Xiaoxian judged the Divine Martial Skill promising but untested and agreed to have the Martial Arts Hall examine it before it could be distributed to disciples.
• Gu Xiaoxian and Li Yun headed to the Martial Arts Hall, where Li Yun gained Cognition Points from its powerful plaque and the martial artists practicing in the courtyard.
• Sect Elder Chen Bairong came out, greeted Gu Xiaoxian, recognized Li Yun, and looked at him with sudden interest.

Li Yun presented his Divine Martial Skill to Chen Bairong, who praised it as a groundbreaking continuation of the Eighteen Divine Martial Stances. Chen Bairong then invited Li Yun to join the Martial Arts Hall as Deputy Hall Master, leaving Li Yun stunned.

• Li Yun met Chen Bairong, whose warm welcome clashed with Gu Xiaoxian's description of him as rigid.
• Chen Bairong and Gu Xiaoxian traded insults, and Chen exposed Gu's past visits to Wulin Town.
• Gu Xiaoxian gave Chen the Divine Martial Skill papers and asked him to assess the technique for the Outer Sect.
• Chen studied the skill for half an hour and concluded that Li Yun had created a seamless technique that perfectly matched the Eighteen Divine Martial Stances.
• Chen praised Li Yun's work as a new inheritance for the Celestial Martial Sect and invited him to become Martial Arts Hall Deputy Hall Master.

Li Yun accepted the post of Deputy Hall Master of the Martial Arts Hall after Chen Jiuxu promised to prioritize his cultivation and provide resources. Chen Jiuxu revealed that his cooperation agreement with the Heavenly Mandate Cult depended on Li Yun’s mastery of the Reverse Fate Art, leaving Li Yun to realize he had become a bargaining chip in a larger plan.

• Chen Bairong proposed making Li Yun Deputy Hall Master, and Chen Jiuxu backed the suggestion despite Li Yun’s objections.
• Chen Jiuxu threatened to withhold good news unless Li Yun accepted, and Li Yun agreed on the condition that the role would not restrict his cultivation.
• Chen Jiuxu promised the Martial Arts Hall would help secure resources for Li Yun’s cultivation.
• Chen Jiuxu told Li Yun that he had met Pei Tianming and the Heavenly Mandate Cult Leader, who had reached the second realm of the Nine Heavens Reaching Realms.
• Chen Jiuxu revealed that the Celestial Martial Sect and the Heavenly Mandate Cult had agreed to cooperate, with Li Yun as the central figure because he alone had fully cultivated the Reverse Fate Art.
• Li Yun realized the Heavenly Mandate Cult had been seeking someone like him and resolved to grow stronger and benefit from the arrangement.

Li Yun spent half a month in the Martial Arts Hall studying and fusing True Qi martial arts in pursuit of Super First Grade True Qi, while Chen Bairong worried the effort might harm him. Li Yun revealed that he had recorded his findings on more than a hundred Sound Recording Stones, leaving Chen Bairong fearing the expensive recordings would be useless.

• Li Yun studied and fused 167 True Qi martial arts during his first half month in the Martial Arts Hall.
• Chen Bairong grew concerned that Li Yun’s attempts to create Super First Grade True Qi could lead to qi deviation, so he went to check on him.
• Chen Bairong found Li Yun relaxed and apparently comfortable in the Martial Arts Hall.
• Li Yun showed Chen Bairong a box containing more than a hundred green Sound Recording Stones.
• Li Yun said he had thoroughly studied the borrowed martial arts and recorded them on the stones for the Martial Arts Hall to review.
• Chen Bairong privately lamented the stones’ cost and resolved to restrict Li Yun’s access to them.

Chen Bairong discovered that Li Yun had used Sound Recording Stones to preserve restored and perfected True Qi Cultivation Techniques, realizing he had underestimated Li Yun and wrongly scolded him. He decided to apologize and retrieved a treasured Nine Luo Green Heart Fruit as a gift.

• Chen Bairong brought the chest of used Sound Recording Stones to Shen Yuming and scolded him for giving Li Yun so many.
• Shen Yuming reminded Chen Bairong that he had ordered the resource manager to satisfy Li Yun's requests.
• Shen Yuming activated several Sound Recording Stones, revealing Li Yun's insights into incomplete techniques, including restored manuals and techniques cultivated to Great Success or Perfection.
• Chen Bairong admitted he had underestimated Li Yun and ordered that the Martial Arts Hall provide him with whatever resources he requested.
• Chen Bairong headed to apologize to Li Yun, then returned home to retrieve the Nine Luo Green Heart Fruit as a gift.

Li Yun cultivated Super First Grade True Qi and advanced rapidly with the Nine Luo Green Heart Fruit Chen Bairong gave him. As spring approached, Gu Xiaoxian invited him to Pingding Mountain for the Four Great Sects’ annual Spring Welcome Tea Party.

• Li Yun completed his frenzied True Qi fusion and lamented that cultivating further had slowed without another Sky Tiger Thorn Fruit.
• Chen Bairong returned to apologize for misjudging Li Yun’s use of the Sound Recording Stones and gave him a Nine Luo Green Heart Fruit.
• Li Yun accepted Chen Bairong’s gift, and the two shared food, wine, and discussions about martial arts until they became friends.
• Li Yun used the fruit to reach Fourteenth Layer True Qi and focused on preparing for Acquired to Innate Reversal.
• Gu Xiaoxian arrived and told Li Yun to pack for the Spring Welcome Tea Party at Pingding Mountain, prompting Li Yun to accuse him of wanting him to bully the other sects’ disciples.

Li Yun accompanied Gu Xiaoxian and the Celestial Martial Sect disciples to the Pingding Mountain Spring Welcome Tea Party, where factions competed for Yuchun Tea. After reflecting on how easily he had become overconfident, he recognized Cao Wantong and Princess Mingguang, Xu Yourong, among a newly arrived group.

• Li Yun climbed Pingding Mountain with Gu Xiaoxian and several Rank Jia Outer Sect Disciples, including the powerful Gao Xingchen.
• At the mountaintop, Li Yun learned that twenty-nine factions had gathered for the tea party and realized many smaller factions had little chance of winning Yuchun Tea.
• Li Yun reflected on the harsh competition for resources and how his system had saved him from being crushed despite his former poor aptitude.
• Li Yun noticed a grand entourage arriving and recognized Cao Wantong and Princess Mingguang, Xu Yourong.