Chapter Summaries

Chen Lin entered the Demon-Suppressing Temple, tested its strange rules, and explored the inner courtyard while seeking the abbot’s kashaya. After a bell rang from the rear courtyard, he was left facing a new mystery.

• Chen Lin used Liu Ruolan’s phrases to stop the long-nosed Old Monk, then discovered that backflipping let him enter the inner courtyard.
• Chen Lin questioned the kashaya-wearing bird, claimed to be Master Niankong’s disciple returning his ashes, and heard it call for Niankong before muttering that everyone was dead.
• Chen Lin found the Dharma Transmission Hall and Law Enforcement Hall locked, then entered the Mahavira Hall by backflipping.
• Chen Lin answered the Old Monk’s demand to kneel with a rebuke about being attached to appearances, and the monk vanished, leaving a dark golden prayer bead.
• Chen Lin picked up the bead and heard a deep bell ring from the rear courtyard.

Chen Lin reunited with Liu Ruolan in the Back Courtyard and learned that the Abbot’s Kashaya was needed to enter the demon-suppressing grounds. As Liu Ruolan explained True Lord Wanmeng’s theory of the Nightmare Realm, Chen Lin prepared to investigate the temple and search for the kashaya.

• Chen Lin found Liu Ruolan in the Back Courtyard and learned she had been unable to leave it or reach the front courtyard.
• Liu Ruolan explained that aggressive novice monks occupied the surrounding buildings and showed Chen Lin a sealed door whose inscription required the Abbot’s Kashaya for entry.
• Chen Lin learned that Nightmare Realm scenarios could disappear and told Liu Ruolan about the Wooden Chicken, the long-nosed Old Monk, and the large bird wearing a kashaya.
• Liu Ruolan suggested the bird’s red kashaya might be the Abbot’s, and Chen Lin asked her to explain the Nightmare Realm.
• Liu Ruolan shared True Lord Wanmeng’s theory that the Nightmare Realm formed independent miniature realms from images, dreams, and imagination, then imposed new rules on them.

Chen Lin risked answering the caged bird’s Zen questions in the Demon-Suppressing Temple and obtained its kashaya after the bird vanished. He returned to Liu Ruolan with the likely Abbot’s Kashaya, but chose to explore the Scripture Pavilion before leaving.

• Liu Ruolan explained that Nightmare Realm scenarios followed rules, and Chen Lin decided to try to obtain the bird’s kashaya.
• Chen Lin found that the bird’s cage was sealed and suspected he needed to answer its Zen questions to make it disappear.
• After crossing the courtyard gate and returning, Chen Lin faced the bird’s increasingly threatening questions and answered them with Buddhist sayings.
• The bird vanished after Chen Lin answered its second question, leaving the kashaya, which he stored with the cage.
• Chen Lin returned to Liu Ruolan and gave her the kashaya to identify, then asked her to explain the Scripture Pavilion’s rules.

Chen Lin received a limited-use Realm-Breaking Talisman and two safe Nightmare Realm node locations, then prepared to attempt his Golden Core breakthrough at the Wuding Sea. With Dantai Yunjin’s help, he began the tribulation, and the first bolt of lightning struck as those watching noticed its unusual strength.

• Liu Ruolan confirmed that the kashaya was the Abbot’s and gave Chen Lin the high-grade Realm-Breaking Talisman, warning him about its limits and revealing two safe Nightmare Realm nodes.
• Chen Lin chose the Wuding Sea node and asked Dantai Yunjin to guard him; she arranged for a formation grandmaster to build a defensive formation there.
• Chen Lin paid for the formation materials, entered the formation, swallowed a Six-Pattern Seven-Star Pill, and began cultivating to break through to the Golden Core Realm.
• Dantai Yunjin, the formation grandmaster, and Chen Qiaoyun’s family watched as tribulation clouds gathered over Chen Lin.
• The formation grandmaster remarked that Chen Lin’s tribulation was unusually powerful, and the first bolt of lightning crashed down.

Chen Lin completed his Golden Core tribulation, but a Heavenly Dao-targeted golden lightning strike and a fierce inner demon tribulation left him battered. The golden lightning fully manifested his lightning spiritual root, just before an unknown shadow appeared before him.

• Chen Lin absorbed the first three tribulation strikes to temper his body, golden core, and Thunder Apricot Spirit illusory organ, while Master Luo and Dantai Yunjin watched.
• Chen Lin realized the ordinary tribulation lightning could not make the illusory organ into a real spiritual root, and used True Person Wanmeng’s Realm-Breaking Talisman to open a passage toward the Nightmare Realm.
• A golden tribulation strike gathered, and Chen Lin used Tribulation-Averting Treasures to delay it long enough to snatch a wisp of golden energy and dive toward the passage.
• An inner demon tribulation struck Chen Lin as he tried to escape, and the golden lightning caught him before he could fully enter the passage.
• Chen Lin endured the golden lightning and discovered it had destroyed his inner demons, then used the remaining energy to manifest his lightning spiritual root completely.
• As Chen Lin celebrated his survival and new spiritual root, an unknown shadow appeared in his field of vision.

After a traveling merchant took some of Chen Lin’s qi luck in exchange for a fair trade, Chen Lin recovered and prepared for life as a Golden Core cultivator, gathering treasure materials while searching for a suitable cultivation technique. He later hunted in the Wuding Sea, where a group of Foundation Establishment cultivators approached him.

• The Copper Coin Man claimed he had saved Chen Lin by guiding tribulation lightning to destroy his inner demon, then offered a trade; Chen Lin chose to let him take some of his newly gained qi luck.
• Chen Lin escaped the Nightmare Realm and, after three months of recovery and testing, found that his talent ability still guaranteed success only once in five attempts.
• Chen Lin tasked Chen Qiaoyun and her family with gathering materials for a Natal Flying Sword, a Xuanwu Shield, and Golden Core-stage pills, while continuing to seek a suitable Lightning Attribute Cultivation Technique.
• Dantai Yunjin told Chen Lin that Tianyun Immortal City's Cultivation Technique Hall had no suitable Lightning Attribute Cultivation Technique, and Chen Lin decided to keep searching before choosing another attribute.
• Chen Lin spent several months gathering demon souls and treasures in the Wuding Sea, then met a group of Foundation Establishment cultivators after killing a Fire-Patterned Octopus.
• Chen Lin introduced himself to the group as Lin Feiyu, a rogue cultivator from Myriad Forms Immortal City, and asked what they wanted.

Chen Lin hunted third-rank monster beasts in the gale thunderstorms until his Round Token began pointing toward the sea, then left when he could not find Island Number Nine. After meeting Jin Xingyun, he learned that the token was an invitation to the rare Hunyuan Assembly, a grand auction, and decided it could help him find what he needed.

• Chen Lin left Hua Wuhai and the Hundred Flowers Sect cultivators to hunt third-rank monsters, using the thunderstorms to practice the Lightning Escape Technique.
• Chen Lin discovered that Huang Dafu’s Round Token emitted a strange fluctuation and pointed out to sea, so he sealed it away and left his hunting base.
• Chen Lin searched for Island Number Nine but could not find it, leaving him without its Teleportation Formation and in a foul mood.
• Chen Lin encountered Jin Xingyun in the thunderstorms, and the two renewed their friendship as brothers.
• Jin Xingyun identified Chen Lin’s Round Token as a Hunyuan Token and explained that it granted entry to a hundred-yearly auction held in a special secret realm.

Chen Lin and Jin Xingyun entered the Hunyuan Secret Realm, where Chen Lin experienced its cleansing dao rhyme before exploring a market filled with cultivators of many races. The chapter left Chen Lin considering whether to trade precious spirit herbs for a Sea Shell Tribe girl's communication conches.

• Jin Xingyun told Chen Lin that the Demon Race attended the Hunyuan Assembly and that the races shared a common enemy in the Different Spirits.
• Chen Lin and Jin Xingyun reached the secret realm, entered with their Hunyuan Tokens, and contemplated the profound dao rhyme within.
• Jin Xingyun warned Chen Lin about the other races and the ban on high-altitude flying, then went toward the central buildings while Chen Lin explored the market.
• Chen Lin noticed a young woman with enormous shells on her back and learned she was selling Mandarin Duck Sound-Transmitting Conches from the Sea Shell Tribe.
• The shell girl asked for five thousand-year-old spirit herbs in exchange for the conches, and Chen Lin hesitated over the steep price.

Chen Lin attended a bloodline-clan trading convention after trading for rare materials and learned the sound transmission conches he bought were nearly impossible for him to use. The convention revealed that Golden Light Island and Red Moon Island had reconciled, while warnings about an approaching great tribulation pushed Chen Lin to prioritize his cultivation preparations.

• Chen Lin traded three thousand-year-old spirit herbs for a pair of Mandarin Duck Sound-Transmission Conches, then exchanged Foundation Establishment Pills with Jin Xingyun for a piece of golden crow stone.
• Jin Xingyun invited Chen Lin to a bloodline-clan trading convention, and Chen Lin learned the conches only worked for two people who had never loved or been intimate with anyone else.
• Jin Xingyun explained that the Sea Shell Tribe's royal family could take human form at Foundation Establishment, and warned Chen Lin not to cause trouble over the conches.
• Chen Lin spotted Gu Shengjin at the convention and disguised his face and aura, while Jin Xingyun reassured him from the platform.
• Lord Qing announced that Golden Light Island and Red Moon Island had reconciled and warned the clans to unite against the approaching great tribulation.
• Chen Lin resolved to stop pursuing perfection and focus on choosing his main cultivation technique, refining his Natal Flying Sword, and completing the Xuanwu Shield.

At the Exchange Meeting, Chen Lin obtained Soul-Attracting Incense and another needed treasure, but lost a bottle of pills in exchange for information about a Lightning Attribute Cultivation Technique ruin he could not reach. After hearing that a great tribulation was approaching, he asked Jin Xingyun whether powerful beings would intervene.

• Chen Lin traded a Pill Bottle for Soul-Attracting Incense and arranged for Fellow Daoist Helian to contact him about buying more.
• Chen Lin acquired another treasure he needed for extracting a soul's origin essence, then offered Duyuan Pills for a Lightning Attribute Cultivation Technique or information about one.
• Lord Qing enforced the Exchange Meeting's rules, and Chen Lin traded the pills to the Blue-Robed Man for information about the Lei Family ruin in the Wuding Sea.
• Chen Lin learned that a Thunderstorm Vortex barred access to the ruin and discovered its distant location in the far south of the Wuding Sea.
• Jin Xingyun told Chen Lin that the great tribulation would likely show signs within a few decades, and Chen Lin asked whether powerful beings would intervene.

Chen Lin questioned Jin Xingyun about the different spirits before gambling on three mysterious Spirit Beast Eggs at a market. While searching for a place to wait for the auction, he unexpectedly reunited with Zhao Zhengyuan, who revealed how he had survived the blast that killed Yu Yuehai.

• Jin Xingyun told Chen Lin that the different spirits were constrained by the realm’s world will, and that many cultivators secretly became their lackeys through god-communion.
• Chen Lin bought three mysterious Spirit Beast Eggs after deciding to test his qi luck, then continued browsing the market before heading toward the nearby mountains to meditate.
• Chen Lin recognized Zhao Zhengyuan among three Foundation Establishment cultivators and reunited with him after disguising his face and cultivation.
• Chen Lin and Zhao Zhengyuan shared food and wine while catching up, and Zhao explained that he, Ye Jingyun, and the Han Family head survived the explosion that killed Yu Yuehai.

Chen Lin attended the Hunyuan Assembly auction, traded for a Xianji Stone and other treasures, and met Shen Daoling after the event. Their conversation revealed that Luo Qinglan had become one of Starry City's most prominent figures.

• Chen Lin parted from Zhao Zhengyuan and attended the Hunyuan Assembly auction, where he traded for one Xianji Stone and acquired several other treasures.
• Chen Lin obtained the final treasure needed to refine his soul-tempering fuel, but found no lightning attribute cultivation technique.
• After the auction, Shen Daoling approached Chen Lin to exchange information about the Nightmare Realm, but Chen Lin judged Shen's knowledge to be shallow.
• Chen Lin asked Shen Daoling about notable figures in Starry City, and Shen named He Jiuxiao and Luo Qinglan as its two most gifted figures.

Chen Lin traded for an item that could open a Nightmare Realm scenario and devised a plan to recruit desperate cultivators to explore it for rewards. After leaving Starry City, he recognized that Zhao Zhengyuan had been possessed and killed him, suspecting the culprit was Yu Yuehai.

• Shen Daoling told Chen Lin about Luo Qinglan, the Divine Phoenix Heavenly Maiden, and the powerful He Jiuxiao, who pursued her.
• Shen Daoling offered Chen Lin access to a Nightmare Realm scenario in exchange for a share of any treasures, then revealed it projected the ruins of the lightning-inheritance Lei Family.
• Chen Lin bargained for the entry item and decided he could recruit cultivators with pills to explore Nightmare Realm scenarios on his behalf.
• After the secret realm's opening period ended, Chen Lin contacted Zhao Zhengyuan and met him beneath a thunderstorm, where Zhao attempted to stab him.
• Chen Lin used azure light to kill Zhao, burned the corpse, and escaped, concluding that Zhao had been possessed and likely by Yu Yuehai.

Chen Lin discovered an unusual Soul Refining Pill formula while inspecting Yu Yuehai’s belongings, then began testing his Nightmare Realm exploration plan with ten desperate rogue cultivators. He sent Longbrow into the Nightmare Realm first and left puppets to watch over him.

• Chen Lin found Yu Yuehai’s Qi Luck Pill Refining Technique and learned that the Yin-Yang Twin Birth Pill balanced yin and yang attributes.
• Chen Lin discovered an incomplete Soul Refining Pill formula describing silver and golden soul stages, but its ingredients were unknown or missing substitutes.
• Chen Lin returned to Tianyun Immortal City, established a cave abode outside the city, and recruited ten late-stage or great-circle Qi Condensation rogue cultivators for Nightmare Realm tests.
• Chen Lin offered each recruit a Foundation Establishment Pill for returning alive and signed them to contracts, then placed them in separate chambers protected by formations.
• Chen Lin selected Longbrow, explained the Nightmare Realm and its precautions, and gave him the lightning-struck wood from Shen Daoling.
• Longbrow fell asleep after accepting the wood’s aura, and Chen Lin had the Foundation Establishment Puppet and a Crow Puppet monitor the sealed chamber.

Chen Lin tested the Nightmare Realm with old cultivators and learned that a Foundation Establishment cultivator could escape after killing a spiritual body in ancient ruins. He prepared to leave the Southern Immortal Cultivation World, sending Chen Qiaoyun and her family north while heading to Wanmeng Immortal City himself.

• Chen Lin sent six old cultivators into the Nightmare Realm, and all of them died without returning.
• He offered the remaining four a choice between freedom and Foundation Establishment in exchange for exploring the realm; they accepted, but one died during the breakthrough and two died inside.
• The thin old cultivator returned from the Nightmare Realm and reported finding extensive ruins filled with spiritual bodies that could shoot lightning arcs.
• Chen Lin soul-searched the survivor, confirmed his account, erased some memories, and let him leave with pills as compensation.
• Chen Lin ordered Chen Qiaoyun and her family to travel to the Northern Immortal Cultivation World, then bid farewell to Dantai Yunjin and set out for Wanmeng Immortal City.

Chen Lin made one final attempt to explore the Nightmare Realm’s God of Thunder Tribe scenario before returning to the Northern Immortal Cultivation World. Liu Ruolan’s twin sisters emerged with the tribe’s Inheritance Bead, leaving Chen Lin poised to learn what they had found.

• Chen Lin learned that the Nightmare Realm scenario was the God of Thunder Tribe, not the Lei Family ruins, and that its inscriptions came from another plane.
• Chen Lin asked Liu Ruolan to find two nearly lifespan-exhausted Foundation Establishment cultivators for one final exploration, and she chose her twin sisters.
• Chen Lin gave Liu Ruolan portraits and an Ultra-long Distance Transmission Talisman, then heard about spatial vortices and a map formed from Bone Shards linked to a Hanhai Ancient Country treasure.
• Chen Lin and Liu Ruolan sent the twins into the Nightmare Realm and waited while discussing his plans to return north and the Bone Shards.
• The twins returned and announced that they had obtained the God of Thunder Tribe's Inheritance Bead.

Chen Lin examined the Thunder God Heritage Bead, but its power destroyed the inner demon that formed from his disappointment and revealed the Heavenly Thunder Nine Turns Divine Art. After recovering, he learned Liu Ruolan’s twin sisters had both formed their cores, gave them congratulatory pills, and left Wanmeng Immortal City.

• Chen Lin used a Xianji Stone to safely examine the bead and saw a vision of a giant gathering thunder, but found no practical information in the scene.
• Chen Lin’s frustration sparked an inner demon that trapped him in fantasies of admiration, power, and triumph.
• The bead shattered and sent lightning into Chen Lin, destroying the inner demon and leaving a Thunder God Mark between his brows that revealed the first three turns of the Heavenly Thunder Nine Turns Divine Art.
• Chen Lin realized he would need to rebuild his cultivation around lightning mana and find suitable pills and materials, then spent three months recovering.
• Chen Lin learned Liu Ruolan’s twin sisters had both formed their cores, gave them pills as congratulations, and departed Wanmeng Immortal City.

Chen Lin collected yin souls at Myriad Souls Ridge to prepare to forge the Xuanwu Shield, then reunited with Yun Xiumian, who revealed her past and offered to lead him to a treasure on the fifth level. Despite the danger, Chen Lin agreed to go with her.

• Chen Lin captured yin souls on the third level before setting up a single-use Teleportation Formation as an escape route and hunting on the fourth level.
• After half a month of collecting powerful yin souls, Chen Lin decided to leave the fourth level, but Yun Xiumian emerged from the Wooden Hairpin.
• Yun Xiumian told Chen Lin that she had once lived at Myriad Souls Ridge before being refined into the Yellow Springs Scroll, and asked to stay with him.
• Yun Xiumian revealed that Alan had also come from the Netherworld and had been taken away by a Mysterious Person, while Chen Lin learned Alan was a soul body.
• Yun Xiumian told Chen Lin about a treasure on the fifth level that refined yin souls into origin soul liquid, and Chen Lin agreed to follow her there.

Chen Lin and Yun Xiumian descended beneath Myriad Souls Ridge and found a hidden store of origin soul liquid, which Chen Lin collected before they escaped. Afterward, Yun Xiumian explained why she could not manifest outside the underworld and what she would need to regain a true body, leaving Chen Lin resolved to help her reach the Great Dao.

• Yun Xiumian guided Chen Lin to a hidden entrance beneath a ruined temple and warned him about the dangers deeper underground.
• Chen Lin followed Yun Xiumian through a concealed barrier and discovered origin soul liquid in a trough beneath a toad statue.
• Chen Lin spent more than four hours collecting the liquid into four bottles, then left the chamber with Yun Xiumian.
• Chen Lin returned to the surface, retrieved the Teleportation Array Disk, and left Myriad Souls Ridge with Yun Xiumian hidden in her wooden hairpin.
• Yun Xiumian told Chen Lin that netherworld aura prevented her from manifesting outside and explained that an innate item could help her create a true body.
• Chen Lin promised Yun Xiumian that they would pursue immortality together and that he would help her rebuild her body.

After returning to the Northern Immortal Cultivation World, Chen Lin learned that the Great Tribulation was drawing closer and reunited with Silver Fairy in Silver Immortal City. Silver Fairy reassured him that Mu Linglong was alive but warned that his senior brother was in poor condition.

• Chen Lin returned to Xuanguan Immortal City, received compensation for the old teleportation formation failure, and learned from Tian Haifu that his family had reached Silver Immortal City.
• Tian Haifu told Chen Lin that spatial vortices and strange creatures had appeared, while cultivators and major powers prepared for the approaching Great Tribulation.
• Chen Lin traveled to Silver Immortal City, where Zhang Changjiu recognized him as a newly formed golden core cultivator.
• Chen Lin reunited with Silver Fairy and recounted his journey through the Southern Immortal Cultivation World; she advised him to maintain his connection with True Lord Wanmeng.
• Silver Fairy told Chen Lin that Mu Linglong's Soul Lamp was still burning, then warned him that his senior brother was in poor condition and might not last much longer.