Chapter Summaries

Chen Lin reunited with Dantai Yunjin, learned that Zhao Mengru had left to search for him, and asked for help finding the Ji Family to repair his damaged soul origin essence. He later visited the struggling Qingshan Sect, where its leaders debated sacrificing a widow and her daughter to secure protection, just as a visitor from the Tianyuan Continent arrived.

• Dantai Yunjin told Chen Lin that Zhao Mengru had waited three years before leaving to search for him, and that she had not returned since.
• Chen Lin told Dantai Yunjin about his damaged soul origin essence and asked about the Ji Family; she agreed to consult the city lord.
• Luan An told Chen Lin that Tianyuan Continent cultivators had founded the Qingshan Sect near the city, while Xiazhi and Xu Zihua visited him.
• Chen Lin inspected the Qingshan Sect and learned that its leaders were considering giving Chen Qiaoyun's daughter to the Chang Family in exchange for protection.
• A disciple reported that a Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Tianyuan Continent had come to meet the Qingshan Sect's sect master.

Chen Lin reunited with his elderly niece Chen Qiaoyun at the Qingshan Sect and discovered that the sect planned to offer her daughter as a concubine to win help from the Chang Family. He revealed his Golden Core strength and took Chen Qiaoyun, her husband, and their daughter away, agreeing to protect his newly found relatives.

• Chen Qiaoyun recognized Chen Lin as her long-lost second uncle after he identified her Chen Family lineage.
• Chen Lin insisted on taking Chen Qiaoyun away, then revealed his Golden Core-level pressure when the sect's elders tried to stop him.
• Chen Qiaoyun explained that the Qingshan Sect intended to offer her daughter to the Chang Family's ancestor and asked Chen Lin to take her family away.
• Chen Lin accepted Chen Qiaoyun's decision not to pursue the sect's actions and left with her, her husband, and their daughter.
• Chen Lin explained why he had never returned to the Chen Family and welcomed the three relatives to stay with him.

Chen Lin reunited with Chen Qiaoyun’s family, eliminated the resentful Qingshan Sect cultivator who had threatened them, and advanced to late Foundation Establishment. As he prepared to return to Tianyun Immortal City, a Golden Core cultivator and three Foundation Establishment cultivators surrounded him and demanded what he had obtained from Huang Dafu.

• Chen Lin learned that Chen Qiaoyun’s daughter, Chen Qingying, had a wood essence physique, and gave her, Chen Qiaoyun, and Zhang Dayuan pills to aid their cultivation.
• Chen Lin used puppets to capture and kill the White-Bearded Old Man, then interrogated his fragmented soul before destroying it.
• After waiting in Tianyun Immortal City for True Lord Yuming to return, Chen Lin cultivated for three months and reached the peak of the sixth layer of Foundation Establishment.
• Chen Lin underwent a lightning tribulation in the wilderness and successfully advanced to late Foundation Establishment.
• Three Foundation Establishment cultivators and a concealed Golden Core cultivator surrounded Chen Lin and demanded what he had obtained from Huang Dafu; Chen Lin released his nine formation puppets and readied his weapons.

Chen Lin killed Zhao Zhenqi and the Sky Eagle Sect cultivators who came after Huang Dafu, then learned the sect had sought a mysterious token Huang Dafu possessed. After stabilizing his cultivation, Chen Lin began searching for the Ji family to repair his soul origin essence and for news of Luo Qinglan and Mu Linglong; he learned nothing of Mu Linglong but found a lead about Luo Qinglan.

• Chen Lin used the Azure Flood Dragon Halberd and his puppets to kill Zhao Zhenqi and the three Sky Eagle Sect cultivators who had confronted him.
• A blue-robed man detected the aura of a pseudo spirit treasure at the battle site, then left to seek a way to evade his tribulation.
• Chen Lin returned to Tianyun Immortal City, where he learned the Sky Eagle Sect had disbanded after losing its leader and other high-level fighters.
• Chen Lin realized Huang Dafu's unexplained token might be the item Zhao Zhenqi had sought, but he could not decipher it.
• Chen Lin began investigating the secluded Ji lineage and searching for news of Mu Linglong and Luo Qinglan; he found no news of Mu Linglong but learned something about Luo Qinglan.

Chen Lin learned that Luo Qinglan and the rebuilt Qingyang Sect were thriving, but the possible remedies for his damaged soul origin essence remained out of reach. After arranging for his relatives to stay in Tianyun Immortal City, he traveled into the Barrens to seek the Ji lineage and was repeatedly attacked by a giant black eagle.

• Chen Lin learned from Cheng Chuji that Luo Qinglan had reached Golden Core mid stage and rebuilt the Qingyang Sect in Starry City, where Mu Xingchen had also formed his Golden Core.
• Dantai Yunjin told Chen Lin that the Ji lineage had left Xuanyin Immortal City and might be in the Overseas Islands or Myriad Souls Ridge, while the other possible soul-restoration methods were impractical or dangerous for him.
• Chen Lin arranged for Chen Qiaoyun, Chen Qingying, and Zhang Dayuan to remain in Tianyun Immortal City and promised to help them establish their foundations before he left.
• Chen Lin traveled through several Teleportation Formations to Rooster City, then entered the Barrens and headed toward Myriad Souls Ridge.
• A fast second-rank black eagle repeatedly attacked Chen Lin and evaded his counterattacks, leading him to suspect it was trying to lure him somewhere.

Chen Lin reached Myriad Souls Ridge in search of information but found its settlements closed to outsiders. At Xuanyin Immortal City's headquarters, he encountered Madam White Bone, now known as Shen Lingyu, and escaped after she tried to detain him, leaving her to take out her anger on a nearby cultivator.

• Chen Lin killed the Black Eagle that had been trying to lure him toward Myriad Souls Ridge, then continued on his way.
• After surveying Myriad Souls Ridge, Chen Lin entered its canyon and found that the settlements inside belonged to sects and lineages that refused to admit outsiders.
• Chen Lin learned that the largest settlement was Xuanyin Immortal City's headquarters and left to avoid attracting Gu Shengjin's attention.
• Madam White Bone recognized Chen Lin and revealed that she had become Shen Lingyu, an elder of Xuanyin Immortal City and a Golden Core cultivator.
• Shen Lingyu blocked Chen Lin's departure and offered to provide information about recent disappearances, but Chen Lin used Lightning Ray to escape.
• Shen Lingyu, furious at being deceived, seized a Foundation Establishment cultivator and said he would take Chen Lin's place in helping her cultivate.

Chen Lin searched the underground layers of Myriad Souls Ridge for the Ji Family, battling increasingly powerful yin souls as he descended. After a possessed woman’s companion framed him for her death and a powerful pursuer arrived, Chen Lin escaped into the fourth layer, where his Soul-Destroying Finger improved rapidly before a strange cry knocked him from the air.

• Chen Lin explored the first and second layers, questioned two Qi Condensation cultivators, and found no information about the Ji Family.
• Chen Lin reached the third layer, where he encountered a Grey-Robbed Cultivator fleeing from a woman possessed by a yin soul.
• Chen Lin destroyed the possessed woman with his red lotus and Soul-Destroying Finger, but the Grey-Robbed Cultivator accused him of killing Princess Hanhua and fled.
• Chen Lin sensed the arrival of a powerful pursuer and escaped into the fourth layer, concealing himself and searching for the Ji Family.
• Chen Lin fought Golden Core-level yin souls in the fourth layer, rapidly advancing his Soul-Destroying Finger, until a strange cry made him tumble to the ground.

Chen Lin survived a Nether Crow’s attack with the help of the cracked Wooden Hairpin, then met Ji Wuming and learned that the Ji Family had no easy cure for his damaged soul origin essence. As he prepared to leave Myriad Souls Ridge, a child claiming to belong to the Ji Family appeared and insisted that his family could heal him.

• A Nether Crow’s cries weakened Chen Lin and began pulling his soul into a vortex, but the Wooden Hairpin released white light that let him kill the bird.
• Chen Lin recovered in an Isolation Array and discovered that the Wooden Hairpin had cracked and was leaking yin qi.
• Ji Wuming identified himself as a member of the Ji Family and recognized Chen Lin as the disciple of Second Young Miss Yun, the Silver Fairy.
• Ji Wuming warned Chen Lin about the dangers of the fourth level and said that only a Netherworld treasure such as a nether river flower could likely repair his damaged soul origin essence.
• As Chen Lin headed toward a cave entrance, a little boy appeared, claimed to be from the Ji Family, and angrily declared that his family had plenty of ways to heal Chen Lin.

Chen Lin traded a Nether Crow corpse to Ji Wuyu for a Nascent Soul Pill formula that might repair his damaged soul origin essence. After successfully refining and testing the pill on Duan Hongyan for six months, Chen Lin concluded its effects were close to what he needed and left for another immortal city.

• Chen Lin examined the Nascent Soul Pill formula Ji Wuyu gave him and traded it for the Nether Crow corpse.
• After Chen Lin left, Ji Wuming explained that the Ji Family was leaving the Barrens because a great tribulation was approaching.
• Chen Lin gathered ingredients in Huayu City and successfully refined a Nascent Soul Pill.
• Chen Lin recruited Duan Hongyan to test the pill under a Soul Contract and observed him for six months.
• Chen Lin ended the experiment, gave Duan Hongyan the promised Double-Patterned Seven-Star Pill, and departed through a Teleportation Formation.

Chen Lin restored his soul origin essence with Nascent Soul Pills, then settled in Wanmeng Immortal City to investigate the Nightmare Realm and rumors of an approaching great tribulation. As he prepared to advance to Golden Core and gathered rare ingredients, a shopkeeper told him that Hanhai Immortal Palace was about to open again.

• Chen Lin spent three years refining and taking ten Nascent Soul Pills, restoring his soul origin essence while advancing close to the great perfection of Foundation Establishment.
• Chen Lin remained unable to find Mu Linglong or Zhao Mengru, then focused on cultivation, tribulation preparations, and preparing to reach Golden Core.
• Chen Lin settled in Wanmeng Immortal City to seek Nightmare Realm information and investigate major powers' unusual stockpiling of supplies.
• A powerful clan's direct descendant told Chen Lin that secretive families suspected a devastating great tribulation would arise within the next hundred years.
• Chen Lin bought fire essence from Baozhen Pavilion, completing his set of five elements materials for refining a Six-Pattern Seven-Star Pill.
• The shopkeeper asked Chen Lin whether he had heard that Hanhai Immortal Palace was about to open again.

Chen Lin decided to enter the Hanhai Immortal Palace secret realm to seek the yin- and yang-attribute materials needed for his pill. While waiting at the ruins, he encountered Alan, who recognized his wooden hairpin, explained that her sister’s soul was inside it, and gave him soul-nourishing liquid before vanishing.

• Chen Lin decided to explore the Hanhai Immortal Palace secret realm in search of rare yin- and yang-attribute materials.
• Chen Lin watched the secret realm’s projection appear above the ruins and turned away a cultivator who tried to buy his key.
• Chen Lin discovered Alan on a distant hillside, but she stopped him from leaving and recognized him as Silver Fairy’s disciple.
• Alan identified the wooden hairpin Chen Lin had obtained and learned that it had cracked while saving his life.
• Alan returned the hairpin, told Chen Lin that her sister’s soul was inside it, and gave him soul-nourishing liquid before disappearing.

Chen Lin entered the Hanhai Immortal Palace Secret Realm and found it transformed into a dark, monster-infested place. After surviving an attack and discovering a rare Scarlet Flame Golden Lotus, he joined a group near the pool as the Golden Core Cultivators began discussing how to divide the treasure.

• Chen Lin entered the secret realm as its key glowed and found the supposedly immortal palace realm dark and oppressive.
• A monster ambushed Chen Lin and other cultivators, but Chen Lin killed it with his Golden Body Transformation and escaped with its corpse.
• Chen Lin confirmed his location using a map, recovered a durable patterned Bone Shard from the monster, and continued cautiously toward his destination.
• Chen Lin spotted a pool of spiritual herbs, including a mature Scarlet Flame Golden Lotus, and joined the Foundation Establishment Cultivators watching it.
• An old man addressed the Golden Core Cultivators at the pool and urged them to agree on how to divide the lotus before monsters arrived.

Chen Lin watched as the blue-robed late Golden Core Cultivator forced others to approach the lotus pool, whose hidden danger eventually revealed a colossal beast. Amid the chaos, an unknown figure snatched the Golden Lotus Seed and vanished, while the monster emerged after the cultivators fled.

• The blue-robed man killed cultivators who resisted his orders and sent others to harvest the lotuses, but each one who approached the pool was pulled underwater.
• Huo Yudong tried to destroy the spiritual herbs and escape, but the pool dragged him, the blue-robed man's attacks, and the man himself toward its depths until he sacrificed an arm to break free.
• The blue-robed man turned the pool red, and the Golden Core Cultivators' attacks let the gray-robed old man pull out the herbs before the ground collapsed and revealed the pool as a colossal beast's mouth.
• The gray-robed old man seized the lotuses, then scattered the lotus seeds to escape as the cultivators grabbed seeds and fled.
• The blue-robed man reached for the Golden Lotus Seed, but a Lightning Ray appeared, took it, and vanished with its thief.
• The blue-robed man fled as the beast's jaws closed and the mountain-sized monster rose from the ground.

Chen Lin escaped the man in blue, secured the Golden Lotus Seed, and discovered that some tentacle monsters’ bone shards fit together in a revealing pattern. After reaching his destination, he rescued Liu Ruolan from a powerful monster and learned that an even more dangerous creature had emerged in the Secret Realm.

• Chen Lin fought off a stronger group of tentacle monsters with the Azure Flood Dragon Halberd, collected their breastbones, and hid underground to examine the Golden Lotus Seed.
• Chen Lin judged that the seed could support a Six-Pattern Seven-Star Pill, then found that two monster bone shards fit together and their patterns connected.
• Chen Lin resumed his search for yin-attribute treasures, killed more monsters, and reached a towering armored creature that had captured two cultivators.
• Chen Lin used exploding Foundation Establishment Puppets to distract the creature, killed it with the Azure Flood Dragon Halberd, and recovered a bone shard and Storage Bags from its remains.
• Chen Lin made Liu Ruolan swear an Inner Demon Oath and learned she was an accepted disciple of True Lord Wanmeng.
• Liu Ruolan warned Chen Lin that a powerful devouring monster had appeared, so he hurried toward his destination.

Chen Lin risked his last Foundation Establishment Puppet to search Falling Spirit Valley and discovered a hidden garden of spiritual herbs. After the puppet returned with a Storage Bag, the blue-robed man found Chen Lin and struck him through the chest with Black Glimmer.

• Chen Lin sent puppet pairs into Falling Spirit Valley’s turbulent energy, losing more than ten Foundation Establishment Puppets while searching for a yin-aligned spiritual herb.
• At the ruined Ancient Imperial Palace, the blue-robed man killed a passing Foundation Establishment Cultivator and left, then an enormous Spherical Monster arrived and swallowed cultivators who failed to escape.
• Chen Lin sent his final Foundation Establishment Puppet into the valley and saw it reach a spring surrounded by spiritual herbs before their connection broke.
• After waiting half a day, Chen Lin sensed the puppet returning, and it handed him a Storage Bag before the blue-robed man confronted him.
• Chen Lin fled with the Lightning Escape Technique, but the blue-robed man’s Black Glimmer pierced his defenses and left a bloody hole in his chest.

Chen Lin used Xiaohong’s mushroom to defeat the man in cyan, then escaped the Secret Realm and returned to his Immortal Cave with a trove of spiritual herbs and treasures. He began examining his gains, including the Golden Lotus Seed, a strange flower, and the man’s equipment.

• Chen Lin fought the man in cyan with the Azure Flood Dragon Halberd and a Talisman Treasure, then ate Xiaohong’s mushroom and overwhelmed him with a giant Flood Dragon attack.
• Chen Lin gathered the man in cyan’s belongings, destroyed his body, and fled before his strength collapsed; the Spherical Monster later swallowed two cultivators hiding nearby.
• Chen Lin hid underground until the Secret Realm expelled him, then used an Escape Talisman to flee and returned to his rented Immortal Cave.
• Chen Lin set aside the Golden Lotus Seed and stored a strange black-and-white flower, then celebrated the hundreds of yin- and yang-attribute spiritual herbs he had gathered.
• Chen Lin identified the Silver Flying Sword as the man’s natal treasure, recognized the Black Turtle Shell as a partially completed Pseudo Spirit Treasure, and found that he could not use the Black Dagger without its Treasure Control Art.

Chen Lin discovered that the blue-robed man’s turtle shell was an unfinished Spirit Treasure called the Xuanwu Shield, and he studied its refining and soul-animating methods. After recovering from his injuries, he sought out the Yunding Trading Company to investigate Liu Ruolan and find a way into the Nightmare Realm before his coming Golden Core tribulation.

• Chen Lin read the Bamboo Slips and learned that the Xuanwu Shield needed eighteen more treasure restrictions and a soul-animating process to become a Spirit Treasure.
• Chen Lin rejected using living cultivators’ souls for the Myriad Souls Animating Technique and decided he could instead gather demon souls, fiend souls, or yin souls.
• Chen Lin checked the blue-robed man’s Soul Bottles, found only unconscious spiritual bodies, and packed them away with the other treasures.
• Chen Lin learned that the Golden Lotus Seed was a key ingredient for soul-tempering fuel, then entered secluded cultivation to heal and hone his cultivation.
• Three months later, Chen Lin recovered and headed north to find a way into the Nightmare Realm so he could evade the tribulation expected during his Golden Core breakthrough.
• Chen Lin located the Yunding Trading Company, made inquiries about Liu Ruolan, and entered the establishment.

Chen Lin learned from Liu Ruolan that the Demon-Suppressing Temple and a place called Cangyun Mountain existed in the Nightmare Realm, but he found no clear way to enter it in his true body or use it to evade his tribulation. After deciding to prepare for his breakthrough, he refined a Six-Pattern Seven-Star Pill, then received word that True Lord Wanmeng had emerged from seclusion and wanted to see him.

• Chen Lin asked Liu Ruolan about the Demon-Suppressing Temple, and she said she had encountered it in the Nightmare Realm.
• Liu Ruolan explained that entering the Nightmare Realm in one's true body was extremely difficult and gave Chen Lin a Xianji Stone in exchange for Foundation Establishment Pills.
• Chen Lin learned that True Lord Wanmeng's Nightmare Realm temple scenario involved the Demon-Suppressing Temple on Cangyun Mountain, but he could not determine how it related to Master Niankong.
• Chen Lin concluded that he would need another way to face his golden core tribulation and decided he could return to the Northern Immortal Cultivation World if necessary.
• Chen Lin successfully refined a Six-Pattern Seven-Star Pill after several attempts.
• Liu Ruolan informed Chen Lin that True Lord Wanmeng had emerged from seclusion and asked him to come over.

Chen Lin met True Lord Wanmeng, who offered him a treasure that would let him enter the Nightmare Realm physically in exchange for retrieving the abbot’s Kashaya from the Demon-Suppressing Temple. After Liu Ruolan briefed him on the dangerous scenario, they set out for the City Lord Manor to begin their expedition.

• True Lord Wanmeng asked Chen Lin about Guardian Hut Village, offered to take him as a personal disciple, and accepted his refusal because he already served Silver Fairy.
• True Lord Wanmeng explained that intelligent Nightmare Realm natives bearing the title Guardian were immensely powerful and warned Chen Lin not to mistake the Scarecrow Girl’s kindness for innocent playfulness.
• True Lord Wanmeng offered Chen Lin a treasure for entering the Nightmare Realm physically if he retrieved the abbot’s Kashaya from the Demon-Suppressing Temple.
• Liu Ruolan told Chen Lin that the Xingyun Continent was dangerous, sparsely inhabited, and the source of Xianji Stones that shielded against nightmare realm aura.
• Liu Ruolan explained the Demon-Suppressing Temple’s rules to Chen Lin over several days, and they departed for the City Lord Manor once she had finished preparing.

Chen Lin entered the Demon-Suppressing Temple scenario as a consciousness projection, but Liu Ruolan was nowhere to be found. After a wooden chicken demanded his Road Guide and he discovered he could not enter the Inner Courtyard, Chen Lin explored outside the temple and returned to seek another way in.

• Chen Lin and Liu Ruolan struck the wooden fish together in a sealed Cultivation Chamber, sending their consciousnesses into the Demon-Suppressing Temple scenario.
• Chen Lin appeased the long-nosed Old Monk with a Buddhist saying, then realized Liu Ruolan had arrived elsewhere in the scenario.
• A wooden chicken recognized Chen Lin as an outsider and demanded his Road Guide, but Chen Lin refused and left it behind.
• Chen Lin repeatedly tried and failed to enter the Inner Courtyard, where he needed to find the abbot's kashaya.
• Chen Lin opened the temple gate, found only dim Nightmare Qi outside, and confirmed that the Road Guide functioned in the scenario.
• Chen Lin returned to the Demon-Suppressing Temple gate and stepped back inside, determined to find a way into the Inner Courtyard.