Chapter Summaries

Chen Lin rescued cultivators emerging from the Cangyun Secret Realm and unexpectedly reunited with Nanmen Lingyue. After explaining the threat facing their world, he learned that she knew of a place that might contain a passage to another realm.

• Chen Lin watched a secret realm open as yin nether entities and Nether Crows attacked the waiting cultivators and newcomers.
• Chen Lin killed the Nether Crows, rescued the cultivators, and learned from Xue Xian that this was the Cangyun Secret Realm’s first opening since the Great Tribulation.
• Nanmen Lingyue emerged from the secret realm, recognized Chen Lin, and learned that he had reached the Nascent Soul realm.
• Chen Lin told Nanmen Lingyue about the world’s coming destruction and the known escape option that required surrendering one’s soul origin essence.
• Nanmen Lingyue rejected becoming a servant and revealed that she knew a place where a passage to another realm might exist.

Chen Lin learned that the Cangyun Secret Realm's Demon-Suppressing Temple might contain a passage to another world, and realized it was tied to Nian Kong's sect and the Soul-Devouring Buddha. He returned to Huanling Lake and left urgently after Silver Fairy confirmed the Buddha was rumored to be a clone created by the Demon-Suppressing Temple's Arhat Realm monk.

• Nanmen Lingyue told Chen Lin that the forbidden Demon-Suppressing Temple in the Cangyun Secret Realm might hold a passage to the All-Demon Realm, but explorers had never returned.
• Nanmen Lingyue revealed that the temple stood atop Cangyun Mountain, leading Chen Lin to connect it to Nian Kong's sect; he decided not to explore it unless necessary.
• Nanmen Lingyue gave Chen Lin two Transmission Talismans and left, and Chen Lin set up a Teleportation Formation before returning to Huanling Lake.
• Silver Fairy told Chen Lin that a Buddhist monk who reached the Arhat Realm after the Gods-and-Devils War had vanished into the wilderness and might have been targeted by the Sealing Array.
• Silver Fairy said the monk was rumored to have created the Soul-Devouring Buddha, and Chen Lin hurried away after concluding the connection was real.

Chen Lin discovered a black karmic line attached to him, but the Karmic Ring Blade’s backlash prevented him from examining or cutting it. He and Silver Fairy entered the Nightmare Realm inn to investigate after dark, where they encountered an old innkeeper and chose to stay the night.

• Chen Lin used qi luck force to reveal a thick black line connected to him, but sensing it triggered a backlash that injured him.
• Chen Lin examined Nian Kong’s kashaya and two Buddhist prayer beads, finding that the beads no longer pulled him into the Nightmare Realm.
• Chen Lin decided not to risk using the Fortunate Art and prioritized escaping his current realm before the World-Destroying Great Tribulation.
• Chen Lin and Silver Fairy entered the inn courtyard before nightfall, where Silver Fairy struck at an invisible creature that their divine sense could not detect.
• Silver Fairy entered a lit room and met a gray-robed old innkeeper, who offered them a meal or a night’s lodging.
• Chen Lin stopped Silver Fairy from attacking and chose to stay, then repeated his answer after the innkeeper said only one superior room remained.

Chen Lin used Niuniu’s Princess Token to turn a dangerous encounter at Surplus Money Inn into a source of Nightmare Coins and a Level Two Road Guide. After returning to the Reality Realm, he prepared to explore Gambling Fortune Lake and tested whether the new guide would let him leave the woods.

• The innkeeper trapped Chen Lin and the Silver Fairy, but Chen Lin presented Niuniu’s Princess Token, prompting the man to reveal himself as Dark Guard Huang Xuan and kneel in respect.
• Huang Xuan sent the Silver Fairy back to the Reality Realm with her memories erased, then gave Chen Lin Nightmare Coins and a Level Two Road Guide in exchange for his Level One guide.
• Huang Xuan abruptly expelled Chen Lin from the inn, and Chen Lin kept the box of supplies while letting the Silver Fairy believe he had found them in another room.
• Chen Lin warned the Silver Fairy to avoid the inn scenario for a few days, then asked Qin Lingyu and Sun Caiyi to guard him before entering Gambling Fortune Lake.
• Chen Lin went to the woods’ edge opposite Gambling Fortune Lake and passed through an invisible barrier using the Level Two Road Guide.

Chen Lin entered the Fragrance Scented Beauty Selection and learned he had to fish up a plant by its scent or pay a steep penalty. He used Fortunate Art just before time ran out and pulled a glowing blade of grass onto the platform.

• Chen Lin left the woods and approached a valley filled with rare flowers and plants.
• The Gaudily Dressed Woman explained that each attempt cost ten Nightmare Coins and failure would trap him unless he paid one hundred coins.
• Chen Lin paid for an attempt, climbed to a fishing platform, and discovered he had to select a plant by its fragrance before the hourglass emptied.
• Unable to identify the scent sources, Chen Lin cast Fortunate Art on himself and fished toward a faint fragrance.
• Chen Lin hauled a lustrous blade of grass onto the platform as the hourglass ran out.

Chen Lin fished a girl named Grass from the Flower Fairy’s valley and learned she was a flower slave bound to him, then caught a Treasure Chest at Gambling Fortune Lake. He returned to the Reality Realm with both Grass and the chest, and turned his attention to opening it.

• Chen Lin touched a blade of grass and watched it transform into a girl who called herself his master-bound servant; he named her Grass and decided to take her along.
• Grass told Chen Lin she could follow him wherever he went and would die if he did, while he considered how useful her immunity to nightmare qi might be.
• Chen Lin caught a golden Treasure Chest at Gambling Fortune Lake and paid the Golden Toad its fishing fee.
• The Golden Toad explained that the Flower Fairy’s fishing game turned caught people into loyal flower slaves, whose abilities varied greatly, and warned Chen Lin to be careful.
• Chen Lin returned to the Reality Realm with Grass and the Treasure Chest, gave her clothes, and looked toward the chest.

After escaping the Nightmare Realm with Grass, Chen Lin took her away from his family to wait out the Fortunate Art’s backlash and investigated her unusual abilities. The backlash had yet to strike after half a month, while Grass remained unable to cultivate despite possessing a heavenly spiritual root.

• Chen Lin opened the Treasure Chest and found one hundred Nightmare Coins, then warned Sun Caiyi, Qin Lingyu, and Chen Ling'er that the Fortunate Art’s backlash was approaching and left with Grass.
• Chen Lin and Grass teleported to an underground space near the Cangyun Secret Realm, then flew to a mountaintop where Chen Lin built a shelter and set up formations.
• Chen Lin learned that Grass had once been a blade of grass, could release sword qi through a Grass Sword Technique, and possessed a strange energy he suspected was innate Sword Will.
• Chen Lin gave Grass a cultivation method while he studied the Immortal Sword Technique, and they waited safely for half a month as no misfortune occurred.
• Chen Lin found that Grass had an obscure single heavenly spiritual root, but she had made no progress cultivating, so he took out a pill to help her try again.

Chen Lin watched for the danger he expected from the Fortunate Art’s backlash while helping Grass develop her sword qi and learn the Immortal Sword Technique. Just as he wondered whether the backlash had passed without consequence, Xuanyin Patriarch appeared and declared that Chen Lin would die that day.

• Chen Lin discovered that Grass could not cultivate with ordinary energy, then learned she could fly on sword qi and began helping her practice.
• Grass mastered sword qi flight and used the Immortal Sword Technique paintings to awaken a powerful sword aura, but she collapsed from overexertion.
• Chen Lin realized the paintings’ technique used sword will and gave them to Grass, who resolved to grow strong enough to protect him.
• As the Fortunate Art’s backlash period neared its end without incident, Chen Lin stood watch on the mountain and wondered whether the Line of Destiny had spared him.
• Xuanyin Patriarch appeared from a scroll and told Chen Lin that he would die that day.

Chen Lin and Silver Fairy faced Xuanyin Patriarch and two Prison Guards, who revealed themselves as the so-called Otherworldly Spirits. As Chen Lin was overwhelmed, Silver Fairy unleashed Domain Power and told him to run, leaving their fight unresolved.

• Xuanyin Patriarch and two Prison Guards confronted Chen Lin, and Silver Fairy arrived to help him.
• Silver Fairy revealed that the Otherworldly Spirits were Prison Guards, and Xuanyin Patriarch admitted they had disguised themselves as spirits for thousands of years.
• Xuanyin Patriarch unleashed endless Yin Souls from the Yellow Springs Scroll while the two Prison Guards attacked Chen Lin and Silver Fairy.
• Chen Lin fought the Yin Souls and blocked the Black Umbrella until he was badly wounded and exhausted his Primordial Spirit Power and Soul Power.
• Silver Fairy used Blood-Weeping Shatters Heaven and Earth to unleash Domain Power, slowing the Yin Souls and all three enemies.
• Xuanyin Patriarch recognized Silver Fairy as Yun Kongchang, and Silver Fairy told Chen Lin to run because she could not hold on for long.

Chen Lin fled the Xuanyin Patriarch after Grass helped him escape the Yellow Springs Scroll, but the pursuit continued as he tried to reach a nightmare realm node. When the stars suddenly flickered into a seven-star alignment, Chen Lin recognized the omen and faced a new danger.

• Chen Lin attacked the Prison Guards with the Xuanwu Shield, then fled with Grass as the Xuanyin Patriarch trapped him inside the Yellow Springs Scroll.
• The Othershore Flowers clouded Chen Lin’s mind and drew him toward Mengpo Soup, but Grass knocked the bowl away and saved him from drinking it.
• Unable to break out with the Cold Moon Saber, Chen Lin watched Grass sacrifice her vitality to summon sword qi that opened a rift in the scroll.
• Chen Lin escaped through the rift with Grass, and the Xuanyin Patriarch pursued him after discovering the Yellow Springs Scroll was damaged.
• Chen Lin fled toward the nightmare realm node, grieving over Grass’s condition, then noticed the stars forming a seven-star alignment.

Chen Lin escaped a deadly starlight ray when Niuniu’s Straw Big Hand seized it and destroyed one of the Seven Stars, then returned to Huanling Lake with Silver Fairy and Grass. Grass survived thanks to a Light Orb Niuniu left inside her, but Niuniu was dragged away by mysterious chains, and Chen Lin remained unsure of her fate.

• The Seven Stars Alignment appeared early, and its lone starlight ray targeted Chen Lin while Xuanyin Patriarch and the Prison Guards fled in fear.
• Chen Lin summoned Niuniu, whose Straw Big Hand caught the ray and hurled it into a star, destroying it before colored chains pulled her hand back into the void.
• Before disappearing, Niuniu sent a Light Orb into Grass, who awakened; Chen Lin told Silver Fairy what had happened and concealed the chains from her.
• Chen Lin and Silver Fairy returned to Huanling Lake, where Chen Lin damaged the Teleportation Formation and checked that Grass was out of danger.
• Chen Lin learned that Grass could absorb Niuniu’s Light Orb and carry her aura, but worried about Niuniu’s condition and the chains that had imprisoned her.

Chen Lin learned that the Nightmare Realm Inn scenario had vanished, then brought Chen Bao and Grass into the Island Scenario to test their access to its barriers. He cautiously began investigating the sea with a Crow Puppet, leaving the outcome unresolved.

• Silver Fairy told Chen Lin that the Nightmare Realm Inn scenario and its Silver Immortal City node could no longer be reached, and Chen Lin suspected the beings connected to Niuniu had concealed it.
• Chen Lin entered the Island Scenario with Chen Bao and Grass, where Chen Bao crashed into an invisible barrier while trying to reach the ship.
• Chen Lin found that Grass could cross the barrier with him, unlike Chen Bao, and reasoned that the Nightmare Realm recognized her as his servant.
• Chen Lin reached the sea, tested its barrier cautiously, and extended half his body through it before taking the Crow Puppet from his Storage Bag.

Chen Lin explored the sea around the island with Crow Puppets, but two vanished in the same stretch of water, leaving a possible danger unresolved. The Silver Fairy then showed him a map of four alleged space nodes sent by the Xuanyin Patriarch as an apology, while the group discussed Frog’s disappearance and rumors that Chen Lin was Qiu Daoli’s reincarnation.

• Chen Lin sent Foundation Establishment Crow Puppets to survey the waters, but repeated searches found nothing until two puppets disappeared in the same direction.
• Chen Lin returned to the Silver Fairy and learned that the Xuanyin Patriarch had sent a map marking four space nodes as an apology for his ambush.
• The Silver Fairy warned that the Xuanyin Patriarch’s gesture and the map’s locations could not be trusted, and Chen Lin said they should delay exploring them.
• True Lord Anmu reported that Frog had disappeared again from the node at Ten Thousand Caves Mountain.
• True Lord Huanling asked whether the destroyed star had affected the Sealing Array, and Chen Lin denied causing its collapse or being Qiu Daoli’s reincarnation.

Chen Lin explored the Barrens node with Chen Bao and Grass, then discovered an unexplained pool in territory accessible with his Level Two Road Guide. After a Crow Puppet vanished there, he sent Grass to inspect it cautiously.

• Silver Fairy revealed that she had advanced to the Nascent Soul Late Stage and that Yun Family's Ancestor, Yun Kongchang, was still alive.
• Chen Lin healed himself and Grass, then traveled with Chen Bao and Grass toward the Barrens node while discovering that Grass's sword qi could kill powerful ghostly creatures.
• Chen Lin confirmed the node remained intact, entered with Chen Bao and Grass, and explored the barren areas beyond it with a Crow Puppet.
• A Crow Puppet found a seemingly ordinary pool near the limit of the Level Two Road Guide's range, but vanished when Chen Lin sent it to investigate more closely.
• After searching the accessible area and finding no other anomalies, Chen Lin agreed to let Grass scout the pool from a distance.

Chen Lin investigated the pool, used the White Jade Palm to cleanse the Image-Recording Bead, and learned that a Water Arrow had destroyed the Crow Puppet. After sending Chen Bao to search for nodes, he encountered the injured Nanmen Lingyue, who had fled into the Nightmare Realm; she explained that she had been heading to the Cangyun Secret Realm, leaving Chen Lin puzzled because its entrance should have closed.

• Grass found the nightmare-transformed Image-Recording Bead near the pool, and Chen Lin used the White Jade Palm to remove its nightmare aura and activate it.
• The recording showed a Water Arrow shooting from the pool and destroying the Crow Puppet, so Chen Lin told Grass to avoid the pool and search for nodes with Chen Bao.
• Chen Lin returned to the node and sent Chen Bao to join Grass, then saw someone open the node and enter.
• Nanmen Lingyue arrived wounded and collapsed; Chen Lin gave her a Xianji Stone and Healing Pills, then she awoke and thanked him.
• Nanmen Lingyue said a powerful ghostly creature had pursued her while she traveled toward the Cangyun Secret Realm, and she had used talismans to enter the Nightmare Realm node and seek help.
• Chen Lin questioned whether the Cangyun Secret Realm's entrance had really remained open.

Chen Lin learned that cultivators were searching for the Cangyun Secret Realm’s node and discovered that the Palace-Attired Female Ghost had attacked Nanmen Lingyue’s group. After driving the ghost away and sending Nanmen Lingyue out, Chen Lin learned Chen Bao had found another space node and pursued the ghost.

• Nanmen Lingyue told Chen Lin that the closed secret realm’s node could still be detected and that cultivators were seeking the Demon-Suppressing Temple and its possible passage to the Ancient Demon Realm.
• Nanmen Lingyue described an eight-bearer palanquin ghost that had nearly killed her, and Chen Lin recognized it as the Palace-Attired Female Ghost he had fought twice before.
• When the Palace-Attired Female Ghost emerged through the node, Chen Lin and Grass attacked, blocked her retreat, and forced her to flee; Chen Lin then told Nanmen Lingyue to leave the Nightmare Realm.
• Chen Lin disposed of the palanquin bearers and learned from Chen Bao that he had found a space node beside a pool, though reaching it required a Level Two Road Guide.
• Chen Lin ordered Grass to guard the node, then rode Chen Bao after the fleeing Palace-Attired Female Ghost.

Chen Lin found evidence that the Palace-Attired Female Ghost had left the Nightmare Realm through a space node near a pool, but he postponed investigating it because he lacked a safe way to bring his family along. After months of waiting for the Cat-headed Monster, he received news of an eerie discovery in the Cangyun Secret Realm and decided to investigate.

• Chen Lin searched the Nightmare Realm for the Palace-Attired Female Ghost, then entered the Level Two Road Guide area with Grass when she remained missing.
• Chen Lin and Grass found the ghost's Red Silk Ribbon and signs of a struggle near the pool's space node, suggesting she had gone through it or clashed with the pool's occupant.
• Chen Lin returned to Huanling Lake, reunited with his wives and daughter, and planned how to test the node and bring his family through safely.
• Chen Lin waited more than three months for the Cat-headed Monster at Gambling Fortune Lake, but it never appeared, leaving him unable to risk exploring the pool's node.
• Nanmen Lingyue told Chen Lin that cultivators had uncovered a giant Buddha statue and an Inverted Nine-Layered Black Pagoda beneath Cangyun Mountain, and Chen Lin decided to investigate the Cangyun Secret Realm.

Chen Lin entered the Cangyun Secret Realm, where Qin Muya revealed a recurring anomaly in the Demon-Suppressing Temple’s Buddha statues. Chen Lin met Nanmen Lingyue and headed with her to investigate the temple and its inverted tower, which might be connected to his hidden dangers.

• Chen Lin entered the Cangyun Secret Realm and met Qin Muya, who claimed to be Qin Lingyu’s nephew and said he had survived there for years.
• Qin Muya told Chen Lin that some Buddha statues in the Demon-Suppressing Temple changed their hand seals briefly every three years on the fifteenth day of the eighth month.
• Chen Lin gave Qin Muya a pill and a Transmission Talisman, promising to notify him if he found a passage out of the realm.
• Nanmen Lingyue arrived and reacted jealously when Qin Muya called Chen Lin his uncle by marriage.
• Chen Lin asked Nanmen Lingyue about the Demon-Suppressing Temple, and she led him there.
• Chen Lin saw a colossal Buddha statue supporting an inverted Black Pagoda topped by a ruined Ancient Temple.

Chen Lin explored the Demon-Suppressing Temple and found that its buildings closely matched those in the Nightmare Realm, though key features differed. After sensing a strange fluctuation near the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda and reuniting with Sheng Zhenqing and Zhuo Baiyu, he left without joining the planned exploration.

• Chen Lin declined to enter the Black Pagoda with the other cultivators and went to inspect the temple buildings with Grass and Nanmen Lingyue.
• Chen Lin compared the temple with its Nightmare Realm counterpart, recorded the Buddha statues’ postures, and found that the rear door was ordinary rather than a Teleportation Gate.
• Near the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, Chen Lin sensed a fluctuation in his talent origin but could find nothing unusual in his line of destiny.
• Chen Lin reunited with Sheng Zhenqing and Zhuo Baiyu, then learned that Sheng Bingyun’s group had found only a dead insect hive in their Secret Realm.
• Sheng Zhenqing told Chen Lin that True Lord Wuying, Lord Xun Ji, and True Lord Bizhen planned to explore the pagoda, but Chen Lin departed without joining them.

Chen Lin returned to Huanling Lake, examined his increasingly clear line of causality, and entered Gambling Fortune Lake to fish for qi luck. There, he lost the preferential treatment granted by Niuniu’s Talisman, reunited with the Cat-headed Monster, and arranged to ask her for help reaching a dangerous scenario.

• Chen Lin failed to find a change in his destiny line, suspected the Cangyun Secret Realm had clarified his black line of causality, and decided to test whether it weakened outside this plane.
• Chen Lin entered Gambling Fortune Lake with Grass, paid Golden Toad a Nightmare Coin, and learned that without Niuniu’s Talisman he faced a ten-coin penalty if he caught nothing.
• Grass encountered the Cat-headed Monster, who confirmed Chen Lin could trade with her for a Qi Luck Treasure Chest and agreed to consider helping him reach someone at another scenario’s node.
• Chen Lin described the wilderness scenario and its unknown creature, promised to explore it before using the Cat-headed Monster’s token, and asked whether the Nightmare Realm contained multiple worlds.