Chapter Summaries

Chen Lin investigated a Nightmare Realm village, confirmed that two elderly cultivators had found no danger, and entered the realm himself. The frog and Fat Tiger appeared after he left, and Chen Lin became trapped in void turbulence when the node sent him somewhere unexpected.

• Chen Lin sent an elderly woman and an elderly man into the node separately, and both reported finding only a harmless, dilapidated village.
• Chen Lin entered the village, inspected its walls, gate, willow tree, and dry well, and noticed that the well’s windlass had moved before he left through the node.
• After Chen Lin vanished, the frog appeared with Fat Tiger beside the well and argued with the puppet about whether it would attack Chen Lin.
• Chen Lin emerged into void turbulence instead of returning to the Spirit Boat, found the passage gone, and activated the Void-Breaking Shuttle as dangerous lights converged on him.

Chen Lin returned through the node and ambushed Frog, using Fat Tiger’s obedience to hold him in place. Frog escaped through the Dry Well after severing his leg, while Chen Lin destroyed Fat Tiger and began searching the wreckage.

• Chen Lin emerged from the node and attacked Frog, whose scepter and cloak helped him withstand the Bone Saber and Soul-Destroying Finger.
• Fat Tiger restrained Frog at Chen Lin’s command, allowing Chen Lin to wear down Frog while keeping his distance.
• Frog spat out his Inner Core and distorted the space, but Chen Lin resisted the effect and launched a powerful attack.
• Frog severed his trapped leg, fled into the Dry Well, and escaped before Chen Lin’s blow shattered Fat Tiger.
• Chen Lin recovered, inspected the empty well, and gathered Fat Tiger’s remains before suddenly noticing something on the ground.

Chen Lin watched Fat Tiger reassemble with an undying body and independent thought, then questioned him about Frog and the severed contract. Unsure whether Fat Tiger could be trusted, Chen Lin sent him and nine Foundation Establishment Puppets to pursue Frog while he stayed behind.

• Chen Lin used a Realm-Breaking Talisman on the hazy node and recorded a message for a Crow Puppet as Fat Tiger reassembled and called him Master.
• Fat Tiger explained that Frog had once controlled him, then formed a contract that unexpectedly revived him and granted him consciousness and an undying body.
• Fat Tiger said Frog had severed their contract but urged Chen Lin to pursue it before it recovered, claiming it was badly wounded and could still be tracked briefly through their remaining spirit-connecting power.
• Fat Tiger told Chen Lin that the node could no longer return him to the Reality Realm and that the remaining power would last only a quarter of an hour.
• Chen Lin gave Fat Tiger control of nine Foundation Establishment Late Stage Puppets and a Crow Puppet, promising him a beautiful female puppet if he succeeded.
• Fat Tiger accepted the puppets and led them into the Dry Well to hunt Frog.

Chen Lin learned that Fat Tiger and the nine puppets had destroyed the Frog, though Fat Tiger warned it might survive. While waiting for rescue, Chen Lin questioned Fat Tiger about the Frog’s travels and discovered a possible lead to a crystal-bearing otherworld.

• Chen Lin waited by the closed node until the Crow Puppet and a badly damaged Fat Tiger emerged, while the other nine puppets did not return.
• Fat Tiger said the puppets’ self-detonation had killed the Frog and handed Chen Lin its pitch-black Inner Core; a recording confirmed the puppets had exploded beside the Frog.
• Chen Lin decided to keep Fat Tiger and observe him, then searched the village and waited beneath the Large Willow Tree for help.
• Over two days, Chen Lin learned that the Frog had traveled between Nightmare Realm scenarios through wells and had visited otherworldly planes in search of something.
• Fat Tiger told Chen Lin about the Xuanjing Continent, the Jade Frog Kingdom, and crystal worms that strengthened the Frog’s spatial travel.
• Chen Lin asked Fat Tiger for details about the Nightmare Realm scenario and whether its nodes connected to the Southern Star Realm, the Northern Star Realm, or the Hongshan Continent.

Chen Lin learned that a Nightmare Realm scenario held nodes leading to the Jingguang Realm and Tianfang Continent, then escaped the damaged node with Yuguang Yan’s help. Back in Tianfeng City, he took in two elderly cultivators as contracted servants and withheld his discovery of the Jingguang Realm node from Yuguang Yan.

• Fat Tiger told Chen Lin that Frog had found nodes leading to the Jingguang Realm and the Southern Star Realm’s Tianfang Continent, though he remembered few other useful locations.
• Grass rescued Chen Lin through the damaged node, and Yuguang Yan stabilized the passage with her talent ability.
• Chen Lin returned to Tianfeng City and accepted Cheng Suzhen and He Daqiang as contracted servants, giving each a Foundation Establishment Pill.
• Yuguang Yan asked Chen Lin what had happened in the scenario, and he described Frog’s attack without revealing Fat Tiger or the Jingguang Realm node.
• Yuguang Yan left to report the newly discovered danger to her clan leader, while Chen Lin decided to reveal the Jingguang Realm node later.

Chen Lin restored his dharmic manifestation while preparing for future battles, then met Yuguang Yan and the Crystal Clan’s Great Elder to discuss the Dry Well frog. He hinted that he had information about Crystal Worms, provoking a sudden display of the Great Elder’s pressure.

• Chen Lin discovered Fat Tiger had sworn allegiance to Grass, then gave him the beautiful puppet Meiniang and held a wedding ceremony for them.
• Chen Lin entered secluded cultivation, recondensed his dharmic manifestation, and searched for stronger spells and treasures to use with it.
• Months later, Manager He reported that Yuguang Yan and Great Elder Yu Gongyuan had come to visit Chen Lin.
• Chen Lin described his encounter with the frog in the Dry Well, and Yu Gongyuan warned him that the node was near collapse before giving him a Crystal Clan Headquarters pass token.
• Chen Lin asked whether Crystal Worms belonged to the Crystal Clan, and Yu Gongyuan reacted with a sharp gaze and terrifying pressure.

Chen Lin traded the Jingguang Realm node’s location to the Crystal Clan for space spirit crystals, lightning materials, and a route to the Tianfang Continent. After receiving the payment, he examined the lightning-struck wood and decided to use it to refine a new Flying Sword despite its low quality.

• The Crystal Clan’s Great Elder questioned Chen Lin about Crystal Worms, and Chen Lin revealed that a Jingguang Realm node lay within a Nightmare Realm scenario on the Tianfang Continent.
• Chen Lin negotiated a deal for three pieces of space spirit crystal, materials for a Spirit Treasure-grade Lightning Attribute Flying Sword, and passage to the Tianfang Continent; the Great Elder said the Crystal Clan could not provide a route to the Hongshan Continent.
• After signing a spirit pact, Chen Lin gave the Great Elder the node’s exact location and agreed not to sell the information for a hundred years, while the clan promised additional payment if the realm held clues to its homeland.
• Yuguang Yan delivered the payment the next day and told Chen Lin that her group had found nothing at the village and that its node was close to collapsing.
• Chen Lin examined the lightning-struck wood, judged its spiritual charm weak, and decided to use it for a Flying Sword because suitable Lightning Attribute materials were scarce.

Chen Lin sought Spirit Treasure-grade restrictions to reforge his natal flying sword, but learned that lightning-attribute restrictions were nearly impossible to find. After forging with the restrictions he obtained, he discovered that the lightning-struck wood could not be inscribed with them.

• Chen Lin visited the Daqian Trading Firm and asked Tang Zhengshan to trade for spirit restrictions suited to a Spirit Treasure-grade flying sword.
• Tang Zhengshan consulted Tang Xuanli, who confirmed that lightning-attribute spirit restrictions were unavailable to the Tang Family and likely scarce across the Xuanyue Continent.
• Chen Lin traded five defensive restrictions from the Xuanwu Shield for a complete set of nine flying-sword restrictions.
• Tang Zhengshan told Chen Lin that the Thunder God Clan on the Hongshan Continent might possess lightning-attribute inheritances.
• Chen Lin returned to his residence, entered seclusion, and later discovered that the lightning-struck wood could not be inscribed with spirit restrictions.

Chen Lin discovered that the thunder pattern on his lightning-struck wooden sword rejected every restriction he inscribed, then used the Thunder God Mark to connect with it. The pattern entered his body and formed a Natal Flying Sword bond, but the mark immediately flooded his mind with information.

• Chen Lin found that spirit and treasure restrictions inscribed on the lightning-struck wooden sword were dispersed by its dark-gold thunder pattern.
• Chen Lin investigated the pattern through experiments and texts, but learned that the Crystal Clan's plane had collapsed and offered no way to study it further.
• Chen Lin used golden thunder stones to activate the Thunder God Mark and directed its energy toward the sword.
• The Thunder God Mark brought Chen Lin a vision of a Sky-Piercing Giant gathering thunder and pointing at the sword.
• The thunder pattern carried the sword into Chen Lin's body and formed a Natal Flying Sword bond, then the mark sent a flood of information into his mind.

Chen Lin lost the Thunder God Mark but preserved its inheritance and named his new natal flying sword the Thunder God Sword. After discovering that its thunder pattern resisted animation, he tested the sword and found that a fully charged strike could kill an early spirit transformation monster beast.

• Chen Lin recorded the cultivation technique released when the Thunder God Mark collapsed, then examined his new flying sword and erased the Thunder Sword’s natal brand.
• Chen Lin named the new sword the Thunder God Sword and began animating it, but its thunder pattern destroyed the origin essence force in the origin soul liquid.
• Chen Lin tested the Thunder God Sword on a third-rank Silver-Horned Tiger and killed it with a lightning strike that carbonized its body and destroyed its divine soul.
• Chen Lin spent three months testing the sword and learned that its thunder pattern released all stored power at once and took a month to fill completely.
• Chen Lin determined that a fully charged Thunder God Sword could kill an early spirit transformation monster beast in a single blow.

Chen Lin learned that the Crystal Clan planned to travel to the Tianfang Continent in three years and prepared to join them, hoping to reach the Hongshan Continent and find Luo Qinglan. Before leaving, he informed Murong Qing of his purpose, received a Jade Pendant to seek help in Tongtian City, and was offered a painting she had recovered from the Good Fortune Ruins.

• Yuguang Yan told Chen Lin that the Crystal Clan chief had confirmed the Jingguang Realm node, found no route to the Hongshan Continent, and sent him the remaining two hundred spirit crystals.
• Yuguang Yan explained that the Crystal Clan would depart for the Tianfang Continent in three years using Ancient Teleportation Formations, and that she would accompany the group.
• Chen Lin told Yuguang Yan he would prepare for the journey, then went to the Moon Reflection Palace to inform Murong Qing of his departure.
• Chen Lin revealed that Luo Qinglan was on the Hongshan Continent and that he needed to find her; Murong Qing gave him a Jade Pendant to seek help from Murong Feng in Tongtian City.
• Murong Qing told Chen Lin the Palace Master was away, then offered him a portrait of a woman from the Good Fortune Ruins as repayment for his help.

Chen Lin prepared for his journey, collected his repaired soul-protecting jade pendant, and met the Taoist who had warned him during his tribulation. The Taoist identified Chen Lin’s nightmare realm jade talisman as a danger that would eventually draw in anyone exposed to its aura, leaving Chen Lin demanding an explanation.

• Chen Lin gathered supplies and high-grade treasures, then collected his repaired jade pendant from Tang Zhengshan in exchange for a Nine Star Return Pill.
• Chen Lin asked Manager Fu about several requested items, but the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion had found none of them.
• A young Taoist recognized Chen Lin as a Buddhist body-tempering cultivator and confirmed that he had warned Chen Lin during his Golden Body Tribulation.
• The old Taoist showed Manager Fu a jade talisman identical to Chen Lin’s nightmare realm item, and Chen Lin revealed that he had bought his talisman from the same shop.
• The old Taoist suppressed the nightmare aura, examined Chen Lin’s talisman, and warned that anyone who had contacted its aura would eventually be drawn into its nightmare realm scenario.
• Chen Lin asked the old Taoist to explain the danger in more detail.

Chen Lin learned that the Concentric Jade Talisman might unpredictably drag anyone exposed to its aura into the Nightmare Realm, but he concealed his contact and handed it to the Old Taoist in exchange for a Chongxu Pill. After the Daoists disappeared without confronting him, Chen Lin remained unsure whether the danger was real and sent people to find them, but they could not locate either Daoist.

• The Old Taoist warned Chen Lin that nightmare-transformed Concentric Jade Talismans could drag exposed cultivators into the Nightmare Realm, where they died and mutated.
• Manager Fu said the talisman had stayed sealed in his shop, and Chen Lin falsely claimed that no one else had been exposed before the Old Taoist offered him a Chongxu Pill for the talisman.
• The young Daoist exposed Chen Lin's lie, but the Old Taoist took the talisman and left without attacking him.
• Chen Lin returned home, cut off contact, and waited several days, but the Old Taoist did not come to see him.
• Chen Lin sent Fatty Han and the others to search for the two Daoists, but they had vanished.

Chen Lin learned that the old Taoist had entered the Nightmare Realm to find Yuxuzi and agreed to look for him if Chen Lin was pulled into the realm. After preparing for the predicted pull, Chen Lin and Grass were transported into an elegant room.

• The young Taoist told Chen Lin that his master had entered the Nightmare Realm to find Yuxuzi and might still be trapped there.
• The young Taoist explained that Chen Lin would be pulled into the Nightmare Realm in three days and gave him his master's Concentric Jade Talisman to help locate him.
• Chen Lin and the young Taoist signed a spirit pact, and Chen Lin confirmed the old Taoist's body was in a Nightmare Realm projection state inside a jade coffin.
• Chen Lin let the young Taoist stay and learned he knew nothing about how the old Taoist had traveled between continents.
• Chen Lin prepared a secret chamber and brought Grass with him, but after three days passed, they were pulled into an elegant room.

Chen Lin attended a lecture in a Nightmare Realm scenario, paid the required fee, and discovered that he had transformed into a Pig-Headed Monster. After testing which items he could use as a projection, he found that his Thunder God Sword could manifest and prepared to contact the Old Taoist Priest for answers about the unusual Nightmare Transformation.

• Chen Lin listened as the White-Robed Taoist explained that understanding a spell deeply could let even a Fireball Spell wield the power of a Dao art.
• After the lecture, Chen Lin paid twelve Nightmare Coins and left the room, realizing that the elderly cultivators had likely died because they had not paid the required fee.
• A female Pig-Headed Monster called Chen Lin black-faced, and he discovered that he had become a Pig-Headed Monster himself.
• Chen Lin checked his belongings, found that his ruby defense treasure and Thunder God Sword could manifest, and concluded that the sword's thunder patterns had reached the Immortal level.
• Chen Lin decided to use the Old Taoist Priest's natal Jade Talisman to seek answers about why a projection could remain in the Nightmare Realm while its physical body underwent Nightmare Transformation.

Chen Lin fought two pig-headed disciples of the Five Directions Temple, then was sentenced by Yuxuzi to three days of confinement. Trapped in a cell where he could not be expelled, he sensed the Old Taoist's Jade Talisman and hurried to obey an order for a dao heart inquisition.

• Chen Lin struck senior sister and junior sister Yunliu with Soul-Destroying Fingers after they challenged him, realizing his silver and golden soul power had made him much stronger.
• Yuxuzi appeared, revived the two disciples, and Chen Lin recognized him as the Dao Integration expert the Old Taoist had sought.
• When senior sister insisted on honoring their wager, Chen Lin asked for her flying sword, but Yuxuzi sentenced him to three days of confinement.
• Yuxuzi sent Chen Lin to a freezing stone cell, where the Jade Talisman began emitting fluctuations and Chen Lin realized he could not be expelled.
• A man's voice ordered the prisoners to sit for a dao heart inquisition, and Chen Lin returned to his meditation cushion.

Chen Lin endured the Dao Heart Inquisition and met the Old Taoist Priest, who asked him to use his Jade Talisman to awaken Yuxuzi and learn how to leave the Scenario. After three days of confinement, Chen Lin emerged into a lavish hall, where a voice announced that the groom and bride could perform their wedding bows.

• Chen Lin resisted the dense nightmare qi and inner demons during the Dao Heart Inquisition, then found the Old Taoist Priest in the opposite cell.
• The Old Taoist Priest asked Chen Lin to take Yuxuzi's Jade Talisman and try to awaken his master after leaving confinement.
• Chen Lin learned that the Old Taoist Priest had searched the Scenario extensively, but all the cultivators he sent in had died and mutated into Pig-Headed Monsters.
• Chen Lin spent the rest of his three-day confinement considering the Old Taoist Priest's advice and decided to activate the Jade Talisman before Yuxuzi.
• Chen Lin left the confinement cell and appeared in a lavish hall, where a voice announced that the groom and bride could perform their wedding bows.

Chen Lin was sent to Black Demon Peak after Yuxuzi rejected his explanation and destroyed the Old Taoist’s phantom. Facing a sentence to become a meal for Lord Demon God, Chen Lin resisted but was subdued by a powerful gray-robed Old Taoist.

• Chen Lin refused to become Senior Sister Xuanling’s companion, angering the Yunxu Peak disciples until Yuxuzi arrived.
• Chen Lin activated the Old Taoist’s Jade Talisman, but Yuxuzi destroyed the phantom and sentenced Chen Lin to fill Yunxu Peak’s slot at Black Demon Peak.
• At Black Demon Peak, Chen Lin learned he would be offered to Lord Demon God unless he found an approved replacement or paid one thousand Nightmare Coins.
• When Chen Lin could not pay, he used Soul-Destroying Finger to knock down two pig-headed monsters, prompting the white-robed leader to summon help.
• The gray-robed Old Taoist deflected Chen Lin’s attacks, immobilized him with a talisman, and ordered him sent away for Lord Demon God’s meal.

Chen Lin was brought to Flowery Pig as an offering, but Flowery Pig recognized Niuniu’s Straw Talisman and spared him. Before sending Chen Lin away, Flowery Pig gave him a Rank Six Sword Immortal painting, Nightmare Coins, and two Level One Road Guides.

• Two Pig-Headed Monsters carried Chen Lin to Flowery Pig, who prepared to consume his soul as a Three-Part Soul Feast.
• Flowery Pig recognized Niuniu’s Straw Talisman, freed Chen Lin, and asked about Niuniu’s condition.
• Chen Lin told Flowery Pig that Niuniu was alive but in poor condition, and Flowery Pig warned him to conceal the Talisman from her enemies.
• Flowery Pig gave Chen Lin a Sword Immortal painting that could be activated three times and agreed to provide Nightmare Coins and two Level One Road Guides.
• Chen Lin summoned Grass and Fat Tiger, and Flowery Pig gave them the Road Guides before sending all three away.

After escaping the Jade Talisman Scenario, Chen Lin examined the rewards he had brought back and refused to risk returning to save the Old Taoist. He later sought Zhang Tianyue’s help to appraise the Chongxu Pill, and Zhang’s examination revealed something unexpected.

• Chen Lin discovered that he had brought back two Road Guides, more than a hundred and fifty Nightmare Coins, a Sword Immortal Painting, and a pink flying sword that could still draw him toward the Pig-Headed Monster Scenario.
• Chen Lin told the young Taoist that he could not return to rescue the Old Taoist, then spread word that he had survived the Jade Talisman Scenario and prepared to travel to the Tianfang Continent.
• After confirming the Chongxu Pill was real and not toxic, Chen Lin took it to the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion for Zhang Tianyue to appraise.
• Zhang Tianyue explained that the Daoist Sect had fragmented and declined, then paused in surprise while examining the pill.