Chapter Summaries

True Lord Qingyang agreed to help the Central Lands cultivators draw out the Blood Demons by attacking the Mysterious Yin Gate, despite fearing the risks and the visitors’ possible interest in Lingnan’s greatest treasure. The Azure Cloud Sect mobilized for war, and Lin Chen wondered whether the Heavenly Secret prophecy had arranged the timing of his future breakthrough.

• True Lord Qingyang decided to lead the Azure Cloud Sect and its allies in a counterattack against the Mysterious Yin Gate after weighing the danger and the sect’s need for outside help.
• True Lord Qingyang told True Ancestor Changqing, True Person Jian Xuan, and True Person Zhen Tian that the Central Lands cultivators needed their attack to lure out the Blood Demons, and the three agreed to follow his decision.
• True Ancestor Changqing raised the danger that the Central Lands cultivators might covet the Land of Fallen Spirit Transmutation, but True Lord Qingyang said they could only hope the visitors would respect the sect’s inheritance.
• True Lord Qingyang ordered the Azure Cloud Sect to enter a state of war, and the sect recalled and assembled its disciples.
• Lin Chen received Xu Mengyun’s message, suspected the Central Lands cultivators had prompted the mobilization, and considered whether to advance to the Golden Core realm early despite the Heavenly Secret prophecy.

Lin Chen weighed whether to risk breaking through to Golden Core and joined the Azure Cloud Sect’s war-planning meeting, where he studied the survivors and considered a new cultivation technique. Zhang Hao learned how difficult reaching Nascent Soul would be, but resolved to pursue the rare resources and pills needed for advancement.

• Lin Chen examined the Yin Yang Five Elements Auspicious Cloud Ganoderma and decided to delay his Golden Core breakthrough until a better opportunity arose.
• Lin Chen left his cave mansion and arrived at Azure Cloud Mountain for the Azure Cloud Sect’s tactical meeting.
• Lin Chen noted the casualties from the previous battle and wondered whether his healing methods had accelerated Zhang Mengyao’s cultivation.
• Zhang Hao asked Tree Elder about reaching Nascent Soul and learned that even a collection of rare treasures would give him only about a fifty percent chance.
• Zhang Hao resolved to gather the resources for advancement and reflected that he had already collected ingredients for a Golden Core Pill.
• True Lord Qingyang began the meeting after everyone had arrived.

True Lord Qingyang announced that the Azure Cloud Sect would counterattack the Mysterious Yin Gate, despite the sect’s losses and the elders’ objections. After Lin Chen revealed the Central Lands’ involvement and challenged a plan that could cause needless deaths, he argued for a swift blitzkrieg to prevent the demonic cultivators and Blood Demon faction from recovering.

• True Lord Qingyang announced an immediate counteroffensive against the Mysterious Yin Gate, but Zhang Zhiming, Zhuang Yuanzhang, and other elders opposed starting another war so soon.
• True Lord Qingyang argued that the demonic cultivators had suffered even heavier losses and would recover faster, while Lin Chen suggested that the Central Lands had ordered the counteroffensive.
• After True Lord Qingyang’s nod confirmed Lin Chen’s suspicion, the elders accepted that the war should proceed and discussed how to attack the Mysterious Yin Gate’s remaining territory.
• Zhang Zhiming proposed gathering the sect’s forces for a decisive campaign, and the head of the Family Faction advocated using the Azure Cloud Flying Boat to surround and gradually weaken the enemy.
• Lin Chen rejected the plan, accusing the Family Faction of using the war to eliminate rivals and rogue cultivators, and warned that their deaths could strengthen the Blood Demon faction.
• True Lord Qingyang abandoned the gradual encirclement plan after Lin Chen’s warning, and Lin Chen urged the sect to launch a blitzkrieg before the Mysterious Yin Gate or Blood Demon could recover.

Lin Chen proposed a blitzkrieg against the Mysterious Yin Gate, using open preparations to conceal a surprise assault. True Lord Qingyang approved the plan, and the cultivators agreed to follow his command.

• Zhang Hao recognized Lin Chen's blitzkrieg tactic from their earlier battle against the Corpse Tide.
• Lin Chen explained that the attack would rely on concealed elite forces, an information advantage, and careful timing.
• Lin Chen argued that True Lord Qingyang and reinforcements from the Central Lands could prevent the enemy from ambushing or surrounding them.
• Lin Chen urged the sect to prioritize eliminating the Demonic Cultivators over controlling rogue cultivators.
• True Lord Qingyang approved Lin Chen's plan, and the cultivators bowed and agreed to obey.

As the Azure Cloud Sect prepared to march against the Mysterious Yin Gate, clan leaders arrived at Azure Cloud Mountain expecting to exploit the war for their own gain. True Lord Qingyang revealed that the assembled elites would instead launch a surprise attack that very night.

• The Azure Cloud Sect mobilized its forces and announced that its army would set out in three days to punish the demonic cultivators and unite Lingnan.
• A clan Patriarch arrived on Azure Cloud Mountain and plotted with other families to exploit gaps in the Tail Wind Path’s management and profit from the coming war.
• The Patriarch met Patriarch Wu, and the two planned to support one another, avoid the front lines, and seize treasures from Mysterious Yin Gate territory.
• The Patriarchs discovered that nearly a thousand elite cultivators, including Azure Cloud Sect elders and True Ancestor Changqing, had gathered at the mountain.
• True Lord Qingyang appeared above the assembly and ordered everyone present to launch a ten-thousand-li surprise march against the Mysterious Yin Gate at midnight.

True Lord Qingyang ordered the Azure Cloud Sect cultivators to launch a midnight raid on the Mysterious Yin Gate, forcing the reluctant faction leaders to obey. Lin Chen and the others departed on flying boats, unaware that someone had secretly followed them.

• True Lord Qingyang dismissed objections to the raid by unleashing his Nascent Soul pressure and ordering everyone to gather at midnight.
• True Lord Qingyang summoned tower ships and compelled the cultivators to board.
• Zhang Zhiming and Xu Mengyun stayed behind with True Person Zhen Tian to defend the sect while Lin Chen led Zhang Mengyao, Zhang Hao, and others toward the Mysterious Yin Gate.
• Xu Mengyun watched the flying boats disappear into the night as Zhang Zhiming assured her they would win.
• An unidentified figure quietly followed the departing flying boats.

Lin Chen and the Azure Cloud Sect fleet crossed more than ten thousand miles in secret to reach the Mysterious Yin Gate's territory and prepare a surprise attack. As dawn broke, Lin Chen activated a measure he had planted on a Mysterious Yin Gate True Disciple, while the fleet neared the enemy lair.

• Lin Chen and True Ancestor Changqing discussed the raid's timing and the plan to conceal the fleet's departure from the sect.
• The nine flying boats crossed the thunderclouds over the Giant Pit and entered Mysterious Yin Gate territory under True Lord Qingyang's Dao Domain.
• The fleet evaded watchful eyeball sentries and a barrier of human heads by using Earth Escape to travel underground.
• Lin Chen returned to his cabin and activated a measure he had previously placed on a Mysterious Yin Gate True Disciple.
• The flying boats surfaced near the Mysterious Yin Gate lair after traveling more than ten thousand miles, as dawn began to break.

Old Demon Taiyin learned that the Azure Cloud Sect planned to invade and suspected it had help from the Central Lands. He chose to use a war to draw in the Blood Demons and create a chance to escape Lingnan, while Lin Chen’s hidden influence began taking over the remaining Demonic Cultivator True Disciple.

• Old Demon Taiyin learned that the Azure Cloud Sect would launch an invasion the next day and suspected it had contacted visitors from the Central Lands.
• Old Demon Taiyin ordered the Mysterious Yin Gate to prepare for war after learning the Blood Demon faction had refused contact.
• Old Demon Taiyin planned to sacrifice the territory’s mortals and cultivators to draw the Blood Demons into battle, hoping the Central Lands would lift the formation sealing Lingnan once the Blood Demons were destroyed.
• Old Demon Taiyin and Demon Cultivator Fei Jiang plotted to plant self-detonation methods in people and spirit veins, then undermine the Azure Cloud Sect if they escaped.
• Lin Chen’s hidden influence continued to take over the remaining Demonic Cultivator True Disciple’s divine soul, though Old Demon Taiyin failed to notice.

Azure Cloud Sect's forces gathered for a counterattack while Old Demon Taiyin plotted to exploit their greed. True Lord Qingyang launched a surprise assault on Mysterious Yin Gate, beginning the battle that would decide Lingnan's future.

• Old Demon Taiyin's Ghost Shadow avatar listened to the cultivators at Azure Cloud Mountain and considered using their greed to undermine Azure Cloud Sect.
• As the gathered cultivators waited past noon for their leaders, True Lord Qingyang appeared and burned away Taiyin's avatar.
• Old Demon Taiyin realized Mysterious Yin Gate was under attack as True Lord Qingyang's flames illuminated its mountain stronghold.
• True Lord Qingyang's strike shattered Mysterious Yin Gate's unprepared protective formation, and Azure Cloud Sect's cultivators descended into the sect.
• Zhang Mengyao attacked the Demonic Cultivators, Zhang Hao flew toward their medicinal garden, and Lin Chen vanished as the final battle began.

The assault on the Mysterious Yin Gate descended into a chaotic melee as cultivators from both sides fought over its treasures, while Zhang Mengyao questioned the meaning of righteousness. Zhang Hao broke into the sect’s herb gardens to harvest rare spiritual plants, as Lin Tianhang and Lin Tianhao waited for their plan to unfold and a pink mist began spreading among the fallen.

• The Azure Cloud Sect’s attackers and the Mysterious Yin Gate’s defenders began slaughtering one another and fighting over resources, including members of the same side.
• Zhang Mengyao tried to stop her allies from turning on each other, but their violence shook her faith in eliminating demons and defending the Dao.
• Zhang Hao headed for the Mysterious Yin Gate’s Spiritual Herb Garden, joined the assault on its formation, and harvested rare spirit plants before spotting a hidden entrance to a higher-grade garden.
• Lin Tianhang mocked the righteous cultivators’ conduct while Lin Tianhao said he had no expectations of human nature; Lin Tianhao told Lin Tianhang to wait as their plan proceeded.
• Cultivators in obscure corners of the mountain gate began collapsing with drowsiness, and a faint pink mist spread from their bodies.

True Lord Qingyang attacked the Mysterious Yin Gate’s leaders, but Old Demon Taiyin and Demon Cultivator Fei Jiang escaped by sacrificing their Golden Cores and detonating the sect’s spirit vein. They fled with most of the sect’s treasures, only to be stopped by an unknown voice calling after them.

• True Lord Qingyang trapped Old Demon Taiyin in his fire Dao domain and seemingly killed him with an overwhelming blast.
• Demon Cultivator Fei Jiang detonated the Mysterious Yin Gate’s third-grade spirit vein, unleashing a black sun that devastated the main peak and disrupted the battle.
• The remaining Demonic Cultivator True Disciple escaped the blast with Five Ghosts Moving and led several Foundation Establishment Demonic Cultivators into a secret passage.
• Old Demon Taiyin and Demon Cultivator Fei Jiang revealed that they had survived by transferring their divine souls into Foundation Establishment bodies after detonating their Golden Cores.
• The remaining Demonic Cultivator True Disciple confirmed that he had emptied the sect treasury, and Old Demon Taiyin ordered the group to flee with the Mysterious Yin Gate’s treasures.
• A clear voice called, “Fellow Daoist, please stay!” as Old Demon Taiyin’s group began to leave.

Lin Chen hunted down Old Demon Taiyin and the remaining Mysterious Yin Gate cultivators, ending their escape attempt despite Taiyin’s desperate resistance. With the demonic cultivators eliminated and the prophecy’s conditions fulfilled, Lin Chen prepared to advance to Golden Core.

• Old Demon Taiyin, Demon Cultivator Fei Jiang, and the remaining Demonic Cultivator True Disciple attacked Lin Chen, but Taiyin fled and left the others behind as bait.
• The remaining Demonic Cultivator True Disciple ambushed Fei Jiang, and Lin Chen killed the wounded Fei Jiang with white flame.
• Lin Chen used his Blood Ant avatars to corner Old Demon Taiyin at the passage’s exit, ignoring Taiyin’s offers and forcing him to fight.
• Old Demon Taiyin fought six of Lin Chen’s avatars to the death and wounded Lin Chen’s true body through their soul connection before being defeated.
• Lin Chen swallowed a healing pill and prepared to advance to Golden Core after eliminating the Mysterious Yin Gate demonic cultivators.

As Mysterious Yin Gate fell, True Lord Qingyang discovered that the slaughter had fed a hidden Blood Demon force beneath the mountains. The surviving cultivators watched a vast sea of blood and a Blood Lotus emerge from the abyss, where the Asura Clone reappeared.

• True Lord Qingyang recovered from his wounds and worried that the Blood Demon cultivators had not been lured out by the assault on Mysterious Yin Gate.
• True Lord Qingyang sensed blood and divine souls flowing toward the mountains and ordered every cultivator to flee.
• The Mysterious Yin Gate mountain range collapsed into an abyss, and a terrifying suction force dragged in more than ninety percent of the cultivators.
• True Lord Qingyang protected the few survivors with his Dao Domain as the surroundings turned blood-red and a strange sound made one cultivator bleed.
• A thousand-li sea of blood formed in the abyss, and a Blood Lotus appeared as the Asura Clone reappeared within the destroyed Mysterious Yin Gate.

True Lord Qingyang and the Azure Cloud Sect cultivators faced the Blood Demon’s newly intelligent Asura Clone as it unleashed a curse modeled on Old Demon Taiyin’s sorcery. As the curse overwhelmed them, Qingyang called for help, and a mysterious Central Lands cultivator arrived and summoned a sword.

• True Lord Qingyang told True Ancestor Changqing and the others to leave before the Asura Clone attacked.
• The Blood Lotus bloomed to reveal a blood-drenched figure resembling Old Demon Taiyin, who surrounded Qingyang’s group with eerie blood handprints.
• The handprints summoned the vengeful souls of the dead cultivators and unleashed the Soul-Seizing Nether-Piercing curse, which began turning victims into Lost Souls.
• True Lord Qingyang recognized that the Asura Clone had learned to imitate Old Demon Taiyin’s sorcery, and the curse began corrupting his memories and body.
• As the curse threatened to overwhelm everyone, True Lord Qingyang called for the Central Lands cultivator to intervene.
• A Sword Mark appeared on the surrounding blood souls and dispersed them, then the Central Lands cultivator appeared and summoned a sword.

Gu Jiancheng attacked and nearly slew the Asura Clone, but the Heavenly Demon trapped the battlefield in a dreamscape that began spreading across Lingnan. Meanwhile, Lin Chen prepared to break through to the Golden Core stage and began forming his core.

• Gu Jiancheng struck down the fleeing Asura Clone with a mass of sword phantoms, then used the Soul Chasing Life Taking Sword to try to destroy it completely.
• The Heavenly Demon appeared and used Floating Life Dream to swallow Gu Jiancheng, the Asura Clone, True Lord Qingyang, and others inside a seven-colored dream bubble.
• The dream bubble spread rapidly, threatening to engulf all of Lingnan.
• In a secret room underground, Lin Chen stored the seized bags and rings, then prepared the Yin Yang Five Elements Auspicious Cloud Ganoderma for his breakthrough.
• Lin Chen drew in the room’s vast spiritual energy, recited a Daoist verse, and began forming his Golden Core.

Lin Chen began his breakthrough to the Golden Core Realm by drawing on spiritual energy and forming a Spiritual Energy Embryo. As his Golden Core started its transformation, he used the Yin Yang Five Elements Auspicious Cloud Ganoderma to prepare to awaken his spiritual roots and condense a Yin Yang Five Elements Spiritual Body.

• Lin Chen explained that a Golden Core was a Spiritual Energy Embryo containing a cultivator’s Essence, Qi, and Spirit, and that he would refine it using higher-level spiritual energy.
• Lin Chen gathered spiritual energy until a spirit pellet formed above a pool of liquid spiritual energy in his dantian.
• Lin Chen summoned thousands of Mid-grade Spirit Stones, then fed a High-grade Spirit Stone’s spiritual energy into the pellet to trigger an Energy Level Leap.
• The pellet began transforming into a Golden Core, drawing nearby water-, fire-, and earth-attributed spiritual energy toward it.
• Lin Chen crushed the Yin Yang Five Elements Auspicious Cloud Ganoderma, sending its seven-colored radiance into the Golden Core as he prepared to awaken his spiritual roots.

Lin Chen attempted to form a Yin-Yang Five Elements Golden Core and awaken his dormant spirit roots during his transformation into a Spiritual Energy Creature. Just as he realized the awakening had failed, a mysterious dream power swept him away, leaving his Golden Core behind.

• Lin Chen sacrificed life essence blood and part of his embryonic Golden Core to inscribe seven interlocking Spirit Gathering Arrays.
• The arrays stabilized the seven attributes and formed the Yin-Yang Five Elements Golden Core Lin Chen sought.
• Lin Chen swallowed the Golden Core and transformed into a Spiritual Energy Creature as his memories transferred into a newly formed infant within the core.
• Lin Chen discovered that his spirit roots still showed only three colors, so his attempt to awaken them appeared to have failed.
• A vast power of dreams sent Lin Chen into a dream, and his body vanished, leaving only his Golden Core carrying his consciousness and memories.

The Heavenly Demon's dream trapped the Lingnan cultivators as Asura's main body began to descend through the Blood Sea. Just as Asura's emergence seemed unstoppable, the Sun Moon Immortal Palace's Moon Palace appeared and froze the sea of blood.

• Gu Jiancheng began sinking toward the Lost Layer of the dream, but a transparent bubble brought him together with True Lord Qingyang and the other cultivators in the Mysterious Yin Gate's territory.
• An illusory Blood Lotus released End Tribulation Qi, and Gu Jiancheng's sword strike was swallowed by a sea of blood that spawned countless Blood Demon Clones.
• The Blood Demons chanted, inflicting the Five Decays of Heaven and Man on the cultivators and killing nearly all the Foundation Establishment Cultivators, including Zhang Mengyao.
• Gu Jiancheng realized the Heavenly Demon had used the dream to help Asura's main body escape the seals, while the Boundless Blood Sea dragged the cultivators under and Asura began to take form.
• A heavenly moon rose from the Blood Sea, carrying the Moon Laurel and Ice Jade Palace, and its power froze the sea into an icy ocean.

Celestial Maiden Yue Ling arrived to rescue Gu Jiancheng and others from the Blood Sea, then faced Asura’s renewed assault. Her Taiyin Ice Soul Freezes Ancient Divine Light collided with Asura’s Slaughter Immortal Forbidden, leaving the outcome unknown.

• Celestial Maiden Yue Ling used moonlight to pierce the Demonic Cloud, purify the Blood Sea, and rescue Gu Jiancheng and several others.
• Gu Jiancheng apologized for forcing Celestial Maiden Yue Ling to divert her power from restraining the Drought Demon, but she said stopping Asura’s main body from descending mattered more.
• Celestial Maiden Yue Ling explained that the Heavenly Demon Clone’s attack had let the Alliance Leader trace its main body and deal it a severe blow.
• Asura counterattacked with a Blood Lotus that gathered killing intent into the Slaughter Immortal Forbidden.
• Celestial Maiden Yue Ling summoned the Taiyin Ice Soul Freezes Ancient Divine Light, and it collided with Asura’s crimson beam, plunging heaven and earth into darkness.

Gu Jiancheng called on Elder Jian to destroy the Asura Clone, and the dying sword master spent his life unleashing a sword strike that shook the world. As Lin Tianhang absorbed the pure life force left behind, Lin Chen sensed his predicted opportunity and tried to summon his body back.

• Celestial Maiden Yue Ling told Gu Jiancheng that only Elder Jian could erase the Asura's essence, and offered to seal the blood sea if he would not call for him.
• Gu Jiancheng chose to summon Elder Jian, who awakened in the Taiyi Immortal Sword Sect and prepared one final strike with the Ancient Sword Pool's swords.
• Elder Jian burned his origin to send a world-spanning sword strike into the Boundless Blood Sea, annihilating the Asura Clone and damaging the Asura Main Body and Demon Mountain.
• Grandmaster Taixuan reinforced the sword strike with the Heaven-Covering Heaven and Earth Great Formation, while Lin Tianhao diverted some of its power through his Heavenly Demon Incarnations.
• Lin Tianhang used the Blood Demon Method to absorb the pure life force left behind, and Lin Chen used a seized secret technique to summon his body back.