Chapter Summaries

A mysterious array froze Lu Feng and the others over the lake, while its power spread outward and resisted every attempt to reach them. Elsewhere, Yue Long rescued Li Taiyuan and Cang Lan from a failing array, then used Jade Shards to stabilize Cang Lan’s shattered Soul Core.

• Tang Yuan tested the lake with a pebble and a rope-bound staff, discovering that the array power slowed objects and could freeze them beyond the shore.
• Flying Catkins True Person struck the rope and found that even her Heaven Soul Realm-level palm force could not free a strand of hair trapped by the array power.
• The balance in the Stone Altar array broke after another array was destroyed, injuring Yue Long, Li Taiyuan, and Cang Lan as the altar’s pulling force intensified.
• Yue Long used High-Grade Source Stones to replace the spiritual energy being drained from Li Taiyuan and helped him escape the array.
• Yue Long ordered Cang Lan to release his remaining spiritual energy, then pulled him from the altar with Yue Yan’s help.
• Yue Long implanted twenty-four Jade Shards in Cang Lan’s major acupoints and connected them with spiritual energy, stabilizing his shattered Soul Core.

Yue Yan confronted Yue Long about the dangerous formation experiment, and Yue Long revealed that he had turned Cang Lan into a vessel for his Earthly Fiend Yin Soldiers. When the Stone Altar drew in the jade talisman and produced a towering Black Pillar, Yue Long approached it while the others watched.

• Yue Yan questioned Yue Long about knowingly holding on to the formation's force, and Yue Long admitted he had risked the others to study it.
• Yue Long explained that he had implanted twenty-four jade nails in Cang Lan using the Earthly Fiend Yin Soldiers secret art, intending to use Cang Lan's Moon Yin power.
• Yue Long tried to open the passage for Xia Yiyun, but the jade talisman flew into the pit at the Stone Altar's center.
• Gray-black smoke rose from the pit and wove itself into a massive Black Pillar that plugged the opening.
• Cang Lan offered to test the Black Pillar, but Yue Long told him to rest and approached it himself.

Yue Long met Si Ma Tian Hua inside the Black Pillar and learned about the Si Ma Clan’s Thirty-Six Heavens Execution Grand Array and the jade talisman needed to unlock its legacy. Meanwhile, Lu Feng recognized that the array trapping his group was the same grand array and realized they were in mortal danger.

• Yue Long impersonated a descendant of Jing An Daoist, earning Si Ma Tian Hua’s trust and an offer to inherit the Si Ma Clan’s legacy.
• Si Ma Tian Hua named the Thirty-Six Heavens Execution Grand Array and explained that two jade talismans were required to open the sealed legacy.
• Yue Long revealed that he possessed a damaged diagram of the array, and Si Ma Tian Hua told him to retrieve the other jade talisman from Qingyuan Lake.
• Si Ma Tian Hua recounted how betrayal within the clan led him and Jing An Daoist to seal the Si Ma Clan away inside the array.
• Lu Feng saw a Black Pillar inside the coffin and recognized the Mother-Child Linked Heart Pillars and the Thirty-Six Heavens Execution Grand Array trapping his group.

Tang Yuan and Qian Xin prepared to risk entering the Gravity Array to find a way to free Lu Feng, but the black pillar’s awakening suddenly released the trapped group and brought Yue Long’s faction through a gateway. Yue Yan then threatened Xia Yiyun and ordered Lu Feng to seize a jade talisman from Si Ma Ye, leaving Lu Feng facing a choice under threat.

• Tang Yuan volunteered to enter the array, and Qian Xin insisted on going first while Su Qing'er offered to help save Lu Feng.
• Tang Yuan pulled Qian Xin back when the coffin rose, revealing a black pillar whose awakening weakened the array and restored Lu Feng and the others’ movement.
• A black ring opened above the pillar, and Yue Yan, Li Taiyuan, Yue Long, Cang Lan, and Xia Yiyun emerged through it.
• Yue Long mocked Tang Yuan for sacrificing himself to protect Lu Feng, while Xia Yiyun revealed Yue Long had promised to release her and had threatened her life to protect Lu Feng.
• Yue Long sensed the jade talisman near Si Ma Ye and Mu Rong Yu, prompting Wu Yin to demand it as Qian Meng defended Si Ma Ye.
• Yue Yan seized Xia Yiyun by the throat and threatened to kill her unless Lu Feng took the jade talisman from Si Ma Ye and brought it to him.

Lu Feng rescued Xia Yiyun with Qu Kan’s help, and Qian Xin recognized a Batwing Dart that might reveal Zhao Yan’s whereabouts. The formation’s power returned, and Hu Wenbin attacked Lu Feng after Sima Yiyi accused him of killing Yao Yao; the chapter ended with everyone waiting to see what Hu Wenbin had done.

• Yue Yan sealed Xia Yiyun’s acupoints, but an emerald bead forced him to release her, allowing Lu Feng to catch her.
• Qu Kan arrived carrying Qu Jiaojiao and wounded Yue Yan with a hidden attack; Qian Xin recognized one of the weapons as Xiao Yan’s Batwing Dart.
• The formation’s pressure returned, and a black figure emerged from the Black Pillar and demanded to know why Lu Feng carried Yao Yao’s aura.
• Sima Yiyi appeared and urged Hu Wenbin to avenge Yao Yao by killing Lu Feng.
• Hu Wenbin pressed a finger to Lu Feng’s brow, then slowly withdrew it as everyone watched in tense silence.
• Si Ma Ye suspected Mu Rong Yu had stolen his Storage Ring, attacked him, and killed Ye Lingfei.

Hu Wenbin spared Lu Feng after learning that Sima Yao Yao had sealed herself away, then set a deadly trial for those seeking the Sima Clan inheritance. Si Ma Ye and Demon Eagle died in the trial, leaving Yue Long with the Storage Ring Demon Eagle threw to him.

• Hu Wenbin rejected Sima Yiyi’s accusations, destroyed her remnant soul, and learned that Lu Feng had been saved by Sima Yao Yao’s lingering aura and the truth revealed by the Universe Binding Spirit Hand.
• Si Ma Ye claimed his descent from the Sima Family, but Demon Eagle revealed himself inside Mu Rong Yu’s body and threatened Hu Wenbin with Si Ma Ye’s life.
• Hu Wenbin refused to be threatened, declared that anyone seeking the inheritance had to pass his trial, and killed Si Ma Ye when the black light pierced his head.
• Hu Wenbin gave Demon Eagle a choice between finding someone willing to die for him and dying himself; when Demon Eagle failed, the trial killed him and Mu Rong Yu’s body.
• Demon Eagle threw a Storage Ring toward Yue Long before the black light killed him, and Qian Meng realized he had sent it away out of spite toward the Qian Tian Sect.

Hu Wenbin’s trial forced people to choose whether they would die so someone else could live, killing those who failed and confining those who passed. Qian Xin, Xiao Yixue, Su Qing'er, and Xia Yiyun survived by accepting sacrifice, and Hu Wenbin’s black light finally reached Lu Feng.

• Hu Wenbin chose Feng Li for the trial, and she agreed to die so Sun Fu could live, but said she needed time for her unborn child; Hu Wenbin judged her answer a pass and confined her.
• Hu Wenbin killed Xiao Shu and the selected Sun Ring Manor disciples, leaving Sun Fu despairing and Lu Feng uncertain how the trial worked.
• Qian Xin chose to die for Lu Feng, explaining that he had given her everything; Hu Wenbin let her pass and remarked that Yao Yao’s judgment remained good.
• Xiao Yixue chose Qian Meng as the person she would die to save, and Hu Wenbin confined her after she passed.
• Su Qing'er and Xia Yiyun each chose to sacrifice themselves for Lu Feng, passed the trial, and were confined.
• Hu Wenbin sent the black light before Lu Feng, wondering whom he would choose to save.

Lu Feng bargained with Hu Wenbin to save the women who had chosen him, offering to free Sima Yao Yao from her seal in exchange for their release and the legacy. After Yue Long and his companions escaped toward the Stone Altar, Hu Wenbin discovered they might have freed a sealed enemy and left to stop them, while his remaining Soul Consciousness began offering inheritances to those still present.

• Lu Feng offered to use the Universe Binding Spirit Hand to free Sima Yao Yao, and Hu Wenbin agreed to release the others and grant the legacy if Lu Feng restored her remnant soul.
• Yue Long, Li Taiyuan, Yue Yan, and Cang Lan escaped through the black gateway; Yue Long tore off the arm Hu Wenbin had seized, and Tang Yuan retrieved its Storage Ring at Xia Yiyun's prompting.
• Hu Wenbin learned the fugitives had taken treasures used to suppress his old master, realized they possessed another jade talisman, and departed through a black fissure to stop the sealed figure from emerging.
• A weakened Soul Consciousness of Hu Wenbin remained and offered Xiao Yixue and the others a choice between inheritances requiring three to five years or more than ten years.
• Xiao Yixue chose the longer inheritance, while Qian Xin declined; Xia Yiyun also declined after Lu Feng approved her plan to travel with him, and Su Qing'er chose the three-year inheritance.

After Hu Wenbin vanished, Lu Feng explained that the secret realm was a prison built by the Si Ma Clan to suppress a Half Saint-level demonic cultivator, then reunited with Qu Kan and learned about his life in the Ghost Domain. The group struggled to decipher the lake’s water pillars as an exit, but Lu Feng noticed a clue from above.

• Hu Wenbin warned Lu Feng to kill four survivors if they appeared, then disappeared as the lake’s pillars settled and the central pillar vanished.
• Lu Feng explained that the Si Ma Clan had sacrificed itself to imprison Hu Wenbin’s master, a Half Saint-level demonic cultivator, and that the jade talisman may have been meant for a future descendant to finish the task.
• Lu Feng reunited with Qu Kan, accepted his token, and learned that Qu Kan had killed a woman carrying a concealed weapon like the one used by Lu Feng’s missing disciple.
• Qu Kan explained that he had followed Qu Jiaojiao to protect her after seeing Yan Nanqiu with another woman, while Qu Jiaojiao reacted to learning of his quiet protection.
• The group’s attempt to sense the water pillars injured several people, and Wu Yin concluded that their formations might form a passage out of the realm.
• Lu Feng noticed the lake had exactly three hundred and sixty pillars, asked Qian Meng to carry him above them, and Qian Meng froze at what she saw from the air.

Lu Feng realized the water pillars concealed the Thirty-Six Heavens Execution Grand Array, but their fractured patterns seemed impossible to decipher. When the space began contracting and trapping everyone, he used the forbidden One Leaf Duckweed Formation to sense the lake’s patterns, risking his strength and life.

• Qian Meng and Lu Feng identified that the lake’s water pillars concealed thirty-six groups of array patterns, but Lu Feng found their markings too chaotic to piece together by ordinary sensing.
• Qian Meng and Wu Yin discovered that the space was steadily contracting and would crush everyone if they could not escape soon.
• Lu Feng suspected the water pillars contained the Primordial Imprisoning Heaven Pattern and searched for a way to break the deadlock.
• Sun Fu begged Lu Feng to save them, revealing that Feng Li was pregnant, and Lu Feng decided to use the One Leaf Duckweed Formation.
• Lu Feng formed the forbidden array with his body, pouring his spiritual energy into the lake as Wu Yin warned that he might lose his strength or his life.

Lu Feng struggled to reconstruct the Primordial Imprisoning Heaven Pattern from the revealed fragments while, at the Stone Altar, Yue Yan and the others accidentally helped a demonic old man recover and were marked by his power. Yue Yan then claimed he had learned how to conceal the marks, leaving the group with a possible way to avoid punishment from the Saint Sect.

• Flying Catkins True Person explained that Lu Feng had used the Duckweed Formation to draw the restrictions out of the lake’s water pillars, beginning the true trial.
• Lu Feng sensed the patterns across all three hundred and sixty pillars but found them too chaotic to assemble into the complete Primordial Imprisoning Heaven Pattern.
• Yue Yan, Yue Long, Li Taiyuan, and Cang Lan poured spiritual energy into the Black Pillar, stabilizing the demonic old man inside and helping him recover from his injuries.
• The old man split his soul shadow into four streams of sinister energy and sent them into the four men, leaving each with a black mark on his forehead.
• Yue Long regretted leading them into danger, while Yue Yan revealed that he had learned a way to conceal the marks and began helping the others.

Yue Yan convinced Yue Long, Li Taiyuan, and Cang Lan to cultivate the Nine Revolutions Evil Prison Sutra using their demonic marks, while secretly following the Demon Venerable’s plan. After they left, Lu Feng was jolted from his formation comprehension, then realized the formation runes were moving and resumed sustaining the Duckweed Formation as he tested a way through it.

• Yue Yan told Yue Long, Li Taiyuan, and Cang Lan that they were already demonic cultivators and taught them the Nine Revolutions Evil Prison Sutra.
• Yue Yan warned Yue Long that they had to reach the sixth revolution within three years, while hiding that the deadline came from the Demon Venerable in his soul sea.
• Yue Long and the others left the Stone Altar area, and strange tremors shook the secret realm and nearly collapsed the Duckweed Formation.
• The collapse disrupted Lu Feng’s spiritual energy and left him dazed, prompting Qian Xin and the others to fear that he had gone mad or suffered Qi Deviation.
• Lu Feng realized that the formation runes were moving, unleashed the Absolute Spirit Domineering Force, and restored the Duckweed Formation before it vanished.
• Lu Feng leaped across the water pillars, linking the runes as his spiritual energy recovered by drawing directly on the surrounding Heaven and Earth energy.

Lu Feng restored the Primordial Imprisoning Heaven Pattern by commanding the spiritual qi within it, opening an exit from the secret realm just before the spatial barrier reached the lake. After returning to Azure Lake, he fled pursuing forces with Tang Yuan and Xia Yiyun, then chose to detour to the Love Tomb before heading to Vine Abyss Forest, but first prepared to face their pursuers.

• Lu Feng used his Heaven and Earth Profound Qi and the Duckweed Formation to reverse the flow of spiritual qi, reconstruct the Primordial Imprisoning Heaven Pattern, and open the secret realm’s exit.
• Lu Feng, Tang Yuan, and the others escaped through the passage and returned to Azure Lake, where Lu Feng spotted Yue Yan, Li Taiyuan, Yue Long, and Cang Lan alive.
• The Heavenly Thunder Sword Sect’s leader arrived with other forces and called Lu Feng the Azure Mountain Thief, prompting Lu Feng to flee with Tang Yuan and Xia Yiyun as the groups pursued them.
• Qian Meng kept Qian Xin from calling out to Lu Feng, while Wu Yin and the others from Profound Mist Mountain did not intervene; Flying Catkins True Person quietly left their ranks.
• In a stone forest, Lu Feng agreed with Tang Yuan and Xia Yiyun to detour to the Love Tomb before going to Vine Abyss Forest, then looked toward the clouds and said they first had to deal with their pursuers.

Lu Feng used the Heavenfall Sword Array to drive off the Heavenly Thunder Sword Sect and other pursuers, then planned to strengthen himself before searching the Ghost Domain for Zhao Yan. Meanwhile, Jun Zi Shuo emerged from seclusion with a chilling aura, ordered the hunt for Qiu Rongrong, and attacked the captured Wang Wu Bai.

• Lu Feng launched a Heavenfall Sword Array of mixed-quality longswords, scattering the Heavenly Thunder Sword Sect and the other factions while he, Xia Yiyun, and Tang Yuan escaped the stone forest.
• Lu Feng explained that the array had consumed hundreds of thousands of soul coins and resolved to improve his strength and learn more about Old Hu before searching for Zhao Yan in the Ghost Domain.
• Jun Zi Shuo emerged from seclusion, questioned Vanishing Shadow about Wang Wu Bai and Qiu Rongrong, and ordered the Shadow Guards to keep searching for her, including at the Elegant Pavilion.
• Jun Zi Shuo took a saber and stabbed Wang Wu Bai through the lower abdomen, leaving Vanishing Shadow baffled by the contrast between Jun Zi Shuo's fearsome aura and his apparent weakness.

Jun Zi Shuo used the Evil Origin Fiend Heart Repentance to torment Wang Wu Bai and vowed to kill Qin Tianliang after he recovered. Meanwhile, Jun Ziya plotted to test Jun Zi Shuo and capture Qiu Rongrong, but postponed her plan against the Azure Mountain Sect Master after learning he had survived the Thirty-Six Heavens Execution Grand Array.

• Jun Zi Shuo revealed that he cultivated Evil Arts, then used the Evil Spirit Skeletons to invade Wang Wu Bai's soul, devour his Soul Power, and trap him in recurring memories of his past failures and crimes.
• Jun Zi Shuo ordered Vanishing Shadow to put Wang Wu Bai back in the Living Creature Pouch and said he would kill Qin Tianliang once Qin Tianliang had recovered at the Qin Family Ancestral Mountain.
• Jun Ziya ordered Flame Sparrow and Yue Yan to spread word of Jun Zi Shuo's new abilities so Jun Zi Qian and clan elders might test him, and demanded that Qiu Rongrong be found and captured.
• Flame Sparrow reported that a Black List formation master had agreed to help Jun Ziya set up the Four Directions Thunder Array and that Lu Feng's arrival on the Black List could serve her plans.
• Jun Ziya learned that the Azure Mountain Sect Master had survived the Thirty-Six Heavens Execution Grand Array and ordered the plan postponed because his whereabouts had drawn too much attention.

Lu Feng arrived at the Love Tomb seeking Yun Feng, but instead encountered the powerful Jin Guan Chang Hen, whose hostility toward him appeared connected to Jiang Ruoyun. After Jiang Ruoyun sent Lu Feng a letter arranging a meeting, Jin Guan Chang Hen revealed that she was his younger sister and that he hoped she would willingly return to their clan.

• Lu Feng, Tang Yuan, and Xia Yiyun reached the Love Tomb and learned that Yun Feng and Red Scorpion had not returned from training.
• Lu Feng encountered Jin Guan Chang Hen, who stared at him with open hostility before leaving in Wang Chonghu’s carriage.
• The group noticed a Herding Cloud Sect disciple with Wang Chonghu and speculated that Jin Guan Chang Hen had restrained the sect from retaliating against Lu Feng.
• Lu Feng waited in town, restored his strength, practiced array patterns, and received a letter from Jiang Ruoyun inviting him to meet her the next day.
• Wang Chonghu told Jin Guan Chang Hen that Jiang Ruoyun planned to meet Lu Feng, and Jin Guan Chang Hen explained that she was his younger sister and that he wanted her to return to their clan willingly.
• Jin Guan Chang Hen said Jiang Ruoyun had called him “Brother” the previous day, though he believed she had done so only to ask him to conceal her aura again.

Lu Feng spent the day with Jiang Ruoyun at Suffering Love Temple and in the city, enjoying her music, prayers, and many gifts while noticing her unusual sadness. Jiang Ruoyun concealed the sorrow behind her cheerful behavior, and the chapter ended with Lu Feng accepting her explanation that she was making up for gifts she owed him.

• Lu Feng arrived at Suffering Love Temple and found Jiang Ruoyun playing the same zither piece she had played when they first met.
• Jiang Ruoyun asked Lu Feng to spend the day with her, and they prayed together; she silently wished for his safety and another life as her sorrow surfaced.
• Jiang Ruoyun led Lu Feng through the busy market and bought him many gifts, including five forehead bands.
• Lu Feng questioned why Jiang Ruoyun was giving him so many gifts, and she said she was making up for the gifts she owed him.

Jiang Ruoyun spent the day with Lu Feng, checking off small romantic outings from her notebook while hiding her sadness beneath a cheerful smile. As they rode toward the theater, she left Lu Feng with a tender reminder that she hoped he would miss her.

• Jiang Ruoyun took Lu Feng to a rouge shop, where she tested makeup on him and drew his eyebrows while the shopkeeper's wife mistook her melancholy for a troubled relationship and gave her a Love Tomb token.
• Jiang Ruoyun and Lu Feng waited in line for Purple Crispy Sugar Cake and fed pieces to each other in the street.
• At a bookshop, Jiang Ruoyun watched Lu Feng read and wistfully said she wanted a peaceful life with him forever.
• Jiang Ruoyun suggested they watch a play, then asked the coachman to drive slowly so they could enjoy the city together.
• On the carriage ride, Jiang Ruoyun asked whether Lu Feng would miss her scent on his clothes, and he promised he would never forget it.

Jiang Ruoyun ended her relationship with Lu Feng and left with Jin Guan Chang Hen, concealing her true feelings behind a harsh rejection. After Lu Feng was sent away in despair, Jiang Ruoyun told Jin Guan Chang Hen and Wang Chonghu that Lu Feng still mattered more to her than her own life.

• Lu Feng and Jiang Ruoyun watched an opera together, where Jiang Ruoyun began crying and spoke of fearing their happiness would end.
• Jiang Ruoyun thanked Lu Feng for spending the day with her and listed the things she had long wished to share with him.
• Jiang Ruoyun told Lu Feng they should part ways, claiming she had another beloved, just as Jin Guan Chang Hen and Wang Chonghu approached.
• Jin Guan Chang Hen struck Lu Feng away, and Jiang Ruoyun acted affectionately toward him while telling Lu Feng to stop making a mess of things.
• After leaving with Jin Guan Chang Hen, Jiang Ruoyun admitted to him and Wang Chonghu that Lu Feng was more important to her than her own life and warned them not to harm him.

Jiang Ruoyun severed her relationship with Lu Feng to protect him and pursue the strength she believed their future required, while keeping her reasons secret. After Lu Feng sought help understanding her sudden change, he discovered that their Mandarin Duck Union Array had been forcibly dissolved from one side.

• Jin Guan Chang Hen urged Jiang Ruoyun to trust the Blood Clan, but she refused to fully join either the Blood Clan or humanity.
• Jiang Ruoyun resolved to become stronger to protect Lu Feng, though she still longed to share a future with him.
• Lu Feng returned to the inn alone and despondent, then told Tang Yuan and Xia Yiyun that Jiang Ruoyun had abruptly rejected him and acted intimately with Jin Guan Chang Hen.
• Xia Yiyun suggested Jiang Ruoyun might be concealing an unavoidable hidden bitterness, while Lu Feng ruled out injury or danger.
• Lu Feng suffered a sudden pain in his soul sea and realized Jiang Ruoyun had forcibly dissolved their Mandarin Duck Union Array from one side.