Chapter Summaries

Chen Lin learned that he was likely a pawn connected to the Cage World's seal and discussed Hong Tingzhen, Bei Wumeng, and Luo Qinglan with Nanmen Lingyue. Nanmen Lingyue insisted they honor their public claim of being companions, and Chen Lin agreed to a genuine relationship with her.

• Chen Lin accepted that he was probably a key left by Dream Pursuer and resolved to keep playing his part until he was powerful enough to seek freedom.
• Nanmen Lingyue explained that Bei Wumeng was Hong Tingzhen's disciple and that the Ming Family Ancestor was Hong Tingzhen's child.
• Nanmen Lingyue told Chen Lin that her present personality had devoured her past-life memories and asked him to keep it secret.
• Nanmen Lingyue warned that Luo Qinglan's past-life memories might take precedence over her current self, leaving Chen Lin worried about their relationship.
• Nanmen Lingyue said her lineage expected a Dual Cultivation Ceremony before the Soul-Severing Tower opened, and Chen Lin agreed to become her true companion.

Chen Lin held a simple Dual Cultivation Ceremony with Nanmen Lingyue, then prepared to enter the Netherworld to obtain River of Forgetfulness Water while refusing to rely on the Nanmen Lineage. Grass warned him about the danger and urged him to wait, but Chen Lin said he had to grow stronger quickly and ended by revealing a seven-colored seed.

• Chen Lin established a Kaiyuan Sect branch in Sanding City's Outer City and held a three-day Dual Cultivation Ceremony with Nanmen Lingyue, testing her sincerity as they began their life together.
• After Nanmen Lingyue returned to the Nanmen Lineage, Chen Lin hired Chu Qingli under three contracts to help him travel to the Netherworld for River of Forgetfulness Water.
• Chu Qingli warned Chen Lin that the Nanmen Lineage's Nether Communication talent and knowledge were vital, but Chen Lin insisted he had other ways to enter the Netherworld and asked her to find an experienced rogue cultivator.
• Chen Lin checked on Scholar in his fiefdom, and Grass questioned his decision to avoid the Nanmen Lineage; Chen Lin explained that relying on them triggered a faint sense of danger through his talent.
• Grass suspected Nanmen Lingyue and urged Chen Lin to postpone the Netherworld journey, but Chen Lin said he needed to improve his strength quickly to avoid being discarded as a chess piece.
• Chen Lin told Grass that he still had a chance to survive and revealed a seed shimmering with seven-colored radiance.

Chen Lin planted and protected a Resurrection Tree that could revive him once, then trained in the Soul Hive before the Soul-Severing Tower opened. Nanmen Lingyue prepared an expedition to the Netherworld but decided to act alone when the Nanmen elders balked at helping Chen Lin.

• Chen Lin planted the Resurrection Tree on his mountain, nourished it with the Spring of Life, and enclosed it in a defensive formation that he and Grass could enter.
• Chen Lin told Grass the tree could resurrect him once, though it would require extensive nourishment and might come with serious drawbacks.
• Chen Lin entered the Soul Hive and endured five cycles of samsara, but stopped before mastering his samsara law to avoid weakening his soul before the Soul-Severing Tower opened.
• Nanmen Lingyue told the Nanmen elders she would lead an expedition to the Netherworld, but they questioned her motives and warned that River of Forgetfulness Water was guarded by a Netherworld Emperor.
• Nanmen Lingyue rejected the elders' objections and said she would act alone, while Chen Lin returned from the Soul Hive and recorded what he had learned for later investigation.

Chen Lin learned that the Wenxuan Pavilion Shopkeeper had left a scandalous account of his deeds in Myriad Clans City, then summoned the Black Pig Monster to learn about Golden and Colored Nightmare Coins. He entered the arena with the Golden Pig Monster to begin defending it, as black smoke arrived overhead.

• Bai Ze told Chen Lin that the Wenxuan Pavilion Shopkeeper had revealed and embellished details about Chen Lin’s past in Myriad Clans City.
• Chen Lin traveled to Myriad Clans City, found Wenxuan Pavilion replaced by the Nine Flavors Bookstore, and bought two copies of Myriad Clans City Memoirs.
• Chen Lin summoned the Black Pig Monster, who explained that Golden Nightmare Coins could help him overcome restrictions and that Colored Nightmare Coins could grant him real power in the Outer Realms.
• The Black Pig Monster told Chen Lin that Betrayers had stripped the colored scenarios from the Nightmare Realm, but he knew no further details.
• Chen Lin fed a Golden Nightmare Coin into the Piggy Bank, transforming the Black Pig Monster into the Golden Pig Monster, and they flew onto the arena as black smoke approached.

Chen Lin tested the Severing Affection Saber and Death Gaze in the arena, then left after the Pig Monster ran out of energy. He found Fairy Yaochi outside a bookstore, where she revealed that Bei Wumeng had warned her and Liu Rumian to stay away from him.

• Chen Lin used the Severing Affection Saber and Death Gaze to kill a Void Realm challenger, then learned from the Pig Monster that Nightmare Coins came in three, five, and seven colors.
• The Pig Monster killed another challenger before its energy ran out, and Chen Lin left the arena and found that Liu Rumian had not visited the Giant Stele.
• Chen Lin went to the Nine Flavors Bookstore to buy the final volume of the Myriad Clans City Memoirs and met Fairy Yaochi outside.
• Fairy Yaochi accused Chen Lin of being a rake, and he explained that the brothel rumors came from a shopkeeper after he was summoned by the Conscription Order.
• Fairy Yaochi told Chen Lin that Bei Wumeng had warned her and Liu Rumian not to pursue him, leaving Chen Lin stunned.

Chen Lin confronted Fairy Yaochi over her threat to expose a book that could damage his reputation, then returned to discuss Bai Ze’s request to join the White Jade Terrace. Bai Ze identified Xu Wuye’s talisman as a Time Transmission Talisman, and Chen Lin tried to activate it.

• Fairy Yaochi threatened to publicize the book unless Chen Lin helped clear her name, but Chen Lin told her to do as she pleased.
• Chen Lin returned to his residence and told Bai Ze he could not guarantee Xu Wuye would admit her to the White Jade Terrace.
• Bai Ze said she would abandon their cooperation if Chen Lin could not help her join the White Jade Terrace or provide a treasure that would let her break through to the Void Realm.
• Chen Lin showed Bai Ze the Transmission Talisman Xu Wuye had given him, and Bai Ze identified it as a Time Transmission Talisman from the White Jade Terrace.
• Chen Lin took back the talisman and tried activating it.

Chen Lin secured Bai Ze’s help for his Netherworld journey and failed to recruit additional companions, until the shopkeeper introduced an unusual nine-year-old boy. The chapter left Chen Lin asking about the child’s remarkable sensitivity to souls.

• Chen Lin used his God Star’s inner force to contact Xu Wuye, who agreed to receive Bai Ze at the Holy Temple in the Myriad Demon Heavens.
• Bai Ze signed Chen Lin’s three contracts, and she and Chu Qingli discussed the Netherworld journey with him before leaving.
• Chen Lin inspected his Grand Arena spoils but found nothing useful for his immediate needs.
• The Zhaoxian Pavilion shopkeeper told Chen Lin that all previously selected candidates had refused to join his journey to the Seven Nether Realms.
• The shopkeeper introduced a nine-year-old boy who could not cultivate but had an exceptional sensitivity to souls, and Chen Lin asked what made it remarkable.

Chen Lin considered hiring Zhou Jing, a mortal with a wide-ranging ability to sense soul creatures' malice, for the journey into the Netherworld. Zhou Jing asked to become Chen Lin's disciple, and Nanmen Lingyue joined Chen Lin's expedition after her clan removed her from its leadership.

• The shopkeeper told Chen Lin how Granny Zhou and several factions that took in Zhou Jing had disappeared, and asked Chen Lin to provide the boy a home after the journey.
• Chen Lin found that Zhou Jing had strong luck rather than an aura of misfortune and learned his ability could sense soul creatures within thirty li.
• Zhou Jing first refused to be hired, then asked to become Chen Lin's disciple because he feared being abandoned after the task; Chen Lin agreed to take him for examinations.
• Chen Lin brought Zhou Jing to the Kaiyuan Sect's branch and asked the Nanmen Clan disciples to summon Nanmen Lingyue.
• Nanmen Lingyue arrived and said her clan had stripped her of her Netherworld expedition leadership, so she would accompany Chen Lin to retrieve the river of forgetfulness water.

Chen Lin accepted Zhou Jing as his disciple after Nanmen Lingyue confirmed there was no sign of reincarnation, then gave her one of two powerful suits of armor from the Outer Realm Battlefield. He warned her about the dangers beyond their world and asked what she knew about the Soul-Severing Tower and a matching Little Tower in the Ocean Floor Ruins.

• Nanmen Lingyue examined Zhou Jing and found no trace of reincarnation, after which Chen Lin accepted him as his disciple and said he would take him into the Soul-Severing Tower.
• Chen Lin gave Nanmen Lingyue a suit of armor from the Outer Realm Battlefield, and the two tested its defenses together.
• Chen Lin described the Devourer and Evil Vine and suggested the Cage might protect the Inner World from the dangers of the Outer Realms.
• Nanmen Lingyue explained that the Three Great Lineages had thoroughly explored the Soul-Severing Tower and now used it only as the Netherworld Entrance.
• Chen Lin asked Nanmen Lingyue whether she knew the identity of the Little Tower he had seen in the Ocean Floor Ruins.

Chen Lin learned the Soul-Severing Tower's history and entered it with Nanmen Lingyue and their companions, pressing onward to the fifth layer. After they fought off wandering souls, an arriving cultivator called out to Chen Lin as an old acquaintance.

• Nanmen Lingyue explained that the Tower Spirit had driven the Soulless Sect from power and attacked anyone bearing its inheritance aura, while favoring the Three Great Lineages.
• After more than ten days, the Soul-Severing Tower opened; Fu Xiaoge gave Chen Lin information about the Netherworld Journey, and Qing Zhe lent him a treasure that released origin divine light once.
• Chen Lin entered the tower with Nanmen Lingyue, Chu Qingli, and Bai Ze, and they passed through the first four layers toward the seventh.
• On the fifth layer, Chen Lin tested his inner star force and innate power against the dense yin nether qi, then destroyed a wandering soul with one Soul-Destroying Finger.
• Chu Qingli and Bai Ze warned Chen Lin that using a Domain Suppression Envoy's methods might attract powerful ghostly creatures, but Nanmen Lingyue said his identity could make them wary.
• As the group prepared to move toward the next layer, several cultivators approached, and one greeted Chen Lin with delighted familiarity.

Chen Lin reunited with Yang Qianxing in the Soul-Severing Tower, then helped Nanmen Lingyue open a passage to the Seven Nether Realms. After Chen Lin exposed and struck Gu Qingxuan with his Death Gaze, the white-haired elder sent some of his people to pursue Chen Lin and Nanmen Lingyue into the Seven Nether Realms.

• Chen Lin happily reunited with Yang Qianxing, who said he had found a way to the Floating Realm but hurried away with his companions.
• Chen Lin and his companions reached the Seventh Layer, where Nanmen Lingyue opened a passage to the Netherworld.
• After Zhou Jing signaled him to a hidden threat, Chen Lin brought Nanmen Lingyue through the passage with him and swept the rocks behind them with his Death Gaze.
• Gu Qingxuan emerged from hiding, told the white-haired elder that Chen Lin’s attack had filled him with deadly intent, and used life spring water to keep himself alive.
• The white-haired elder ordered a companion to take Gu Qingxuan to the Ancestor and led the rest of the group toward the Seven Nether Realms.

Chen Lin and his companions landed beside the River of Forgetfulness and prepared to travel toward the Netherworld’s Central Area. When Zhou Jing sensed immense malicious intent, a Ferryman arrived and trapped them, leaving Chen Lin to summon the Pig Monster to attack.

• Chen Lin, Chu Qingli, Bai Ze, Nanmen Lingyue, and Zhou Jing landed on the River of Forgetfulness, where Nanmen Lingyue explained the river and its reincarnation flowers.
• Chu Qingli identified the direction of the Central Area, and the group donned armor and checked their defenses and available escape routes.
• Chen Lin confirmed that he could still sense his fiefdom, found that his other mediums would not work, and prepared a Golden Nightmare Coin in the Piggy Bank.
• Zhou Jing sensed terrible malicious thoughts, so Chen Lin dropped the Golden Nightmare Coin into the Piggy Bank and a Ferryman appeared in a small boat.
• Nanmen Lingyue told Chen Lin to flee to his fiefdom, but Chen Lin broke the Ferryman’s suppression and sent the enormous Pig Monster to attack him with its Five-Tooth Rake.

Chen Lin and his companions survived an encounter with the Ferryman of the River of Forgetfulness after Chen Lin’s purple soul power made the Ferryman recognize him as a Purple Emperor Descendant. Though the group remained uncertain about the title, Chen Lin divined a safe path ahead and led them onward to seek River of Forgetfulness water.

• The Ferryman immobilized Chen Lin and his companions, but Chen Lin’s purple soul power broke the restraints while the Piggy Bank transformed into a monster and attacked.
• Chen Lin, the Piggy Bank, Nanmen Lingyue, Chu Qingli, and Bai Ze launched their strongest attacks, but the Ferryman recognized Chen Lin as a Purple Emperor Descendant and vanished into the river.
• Chen Lin and the others discussed the Ferryman’s power and learned from Nanmen Lingyue that he was one with the River of Forgetfulness and the only Ferryman in the Netherworld.
• Nanmen Lingyue thanked Zhou Jing for warning them and promised to seek help with his inability to cultivate, while Chen Lin recovered and considered what the Purple Emperor Descendant title meant.
• Chen Lin divined the remainder of their journey and saw an unbroken destiny line, then led the group onward despite doubting the prediction.

Chen Lin entered the valley where the River of Forgetfulness was said to be and met a Hazy Figure who held its spring opening. The figure gave him a cryptic warning and sent a drop of spring water into his brow before he was expelled from the valley.

• Chu Qingli led Chen Lin and the others to a valley in the Central Area, which she believed contained the River of Forgetfulness.
• Bai Ze scouted the valley and returned saying a figure inside would meet Chen Lin alone and held the River of Forgetfulness in a spring opening.
• Chen Lin prepared the Pig Monster as a safeguard, left the others outside, and entered the valley alone.
• The Hazy Figure warned Chen Lin not to open the Cage until he obtained the Imperial Decree.
• The Hazy Figure sent a drop of spring water into Chen Lin's brow, then Chen Lin found himself outside the valley.

After obtaining the River of Forgetfulness water, Chen Lin’s soul-body barrier dissolved and he advanced to the Void Refinement realm. Unable to find the River again, he joined Nanmen Lingyue in searching a Demon-Suppressing Temple for a Seven-Color Relic, which vanished after they left.

• Chen Lin emerged from the vanished valley with the River of Forgetfulness water, and the barrier between his body and soul disappeared as he entered the Void Refinement realm without tribulation.
• Chen Lin and his companions failed to find the River of Forgetfulness, so they decided to wait for the Soul-Severing Tower’s opening period to end and leave through a revealed node.
• Nanmen Lingyue led the group to a mountain temple, explaining that she needed a Seven-Color Relic to sever her connection to her previous life’s consciousness.
• Chen Lin summoned the Pig Monster, who brought the group to the Demon-Suppressing Temple and smashed its gates open.
• The Pig Monster broke the Buddha statue and retrieved the Seven-Color Relic; Chen Lin cleansed it before Nanmen Lingyue stored it in a Purple-Gold Gourd.
• Chen Lin, Nanmen Lingyue, and the Pig Monster withdrew from the temple, which vanished as soon as they stepped outside.

Chen Lin and his companions traveled to a lake to seek the Undying Soul Lotus, but a powerful presence in the water made them abandon the attempt. A mysterious woman briefly immobilized Chen Lin, left him a lotus petal with the cryptic message “Thirty-six,” and later emerged from the lake to question whether he was a Purple Emperor Descendant.

• Nanmen Lingyue showed Chen Lin a map marking the Undying Soul Lotus, and he agreed to visit the lake with the Pig Monster’s help.
• Chen Lin saw the enormous lotus, but Zhou Jing sensed malicious intent in the lake, and the Pig Monster warned that its hidden presence overwhelmed him.
• As the Pig Monster carried the group away, a hazy woman appeared, suppressed everyone, and vanished after calling Chen Lin “interesting.”
• A petal appeared on Chen Lin’s shoulder, and the woman sent him the message “Thirty-six”; Chen Lin stored the petal in a Jade Box.
• Chen Lin decided the group should stop seeking treasures and wait safely for the Soul-Severing Tower to close.
• After Chen Lin and the others left, a naked woman emerged from the lake and wondered aloud whether Chen Lin was a Purple Emperor Descendant.

Chen Lin used Nanmen Lingyue’s ability on Yun Xiumian’s Wooden Hairpin, but stopped when the Guillotine Emblem on his wrist reacted. He suspected his defector soul mirror image might be near Yun Xiumian in the Blood Handkerchief Scenario and told Nanmen Lingyue about mirror images, warning her to keep the matter secret.

• Chen Lin recalled Yun Xiumian and his old acquaintances while examining her Wooden Hairpin.
• Nanmen Lingyue used her Talent Ability on the hairpin and sensed that Yun Xiumian was somewhere unusual.
• Chen Lin stopped her when the Guillotine Emblem on his wrist changed, then wondered whether his soul mirror image was near Yun Xiumian.
• Chen Lin considered that the mirror image might be powerful, perhaps even the Xuanyin Great King, and decided he would need to plan before visiting the Blood Handkerchief Scenario.
• Chen Lin explained Yun Xiumian’s circumstances and mirror image projections to Nanmen Lingyue, warning her not to discuss them with others.

After the major factions’ experts died in the Netherworld, Chen Lin learned that Gu Qingxuan had returned unconscious and that the Gu Family suspected him of causing it. He denied responsibility, then entered a verified Nightmare Realm scenario with Chu Qingli to help her address a hidden problem with her body.

• Chen Lin returned from the Soul-Severing Tower and learned that the experts who entered the Netherworld had perished, including the Gu Family Patriarch and several of the lineage’s Void Realm experts.
• Gu Tianling visited Chen Lin, apologized for Gu Qingxuan’s wrongdoing, and offered the Gu Family’s Sanding City properties in exchange for Chen Lin sparing his nephew.
• Chen Lin denied seeing or harming Gu Qingxuan and refused to promise his life would be spared, so Gu Tianling left without an agreement.
• Chen Lin sent a messenger to inform Nanmen Lingyue about Gu Tianling’s visit.
• After veteran cultivators verified Chu Qingli’s Nightmare Realm scenario, Chen Lin agreed to enter it with her, and she used a strangely shaped hat as the medium.
• Chen Lin entered his fiefdom and used it as a transit point to cross into the Nightmare Realm in his physical body.

Chen Lin entered a Nightmare Realm scenario with Chu Qingli to complete a departure mission and obtain her requested treasure from the Prefecture Office. There he discovered that the scenario was the Three-Jade Immortal Kingdom and that his True Peerage status earned him special treatment, while the notice for a thief named Yu Jiuer gave him reason to investigate further.

• Chen Lin and Chu Qingli went to the Prefecture Office, where Chen Lin took a notice requiring him to buy Fragrant Seeking Grass to gain resident status.
• Chen Lin noticed a bounty for Yu Jiuer whose name and appearance resembled his former disciple, but he set it aside to help Chu Qingli obtain the Eight-Clawed Purple Poison Bug.
• After Chen Lin presented the herb and notice, a Dog-Headed Advisor recognized his Peerage Token and identified the place as Changqing Prefecture in the Three-Jade Immortal Kingdom.
• The Dog-Headed Advisor saw the True Peerage emblem on Chen Lin's token, bowed to him, and ordered the guards to escort him to the main hall.
• Chen Lin insisted they handle his task first, and the Dog-Headed Advisor gave him a Resident Credential while explaining that his status already let him move freely through the prefecture.

Chen Lin visited the Golden-Haired Prefect to redeem a poisonous insect and learned that the bandit chief Luo Qinglan resembled his companion. After confirming the bandit was likely Luo Qinglan’s mirror image, he considered how to arrange a confrontation and teach Luo Qinglan the Mirror Image Fusion Method despite its contract restriction.

• Chen Lin paid the Golden-Haired Prefect one thousand merit for an Eight-Clawed Purple Poison Bug to give to Chu Qingli.
• The Golden-Haired Prefect described the chaos caused by bandit chief Luo Qinglan and gave Chen Lin her portrait, which showed a bird with a humanlike form resembling Luo Qinglan.
• Chen Lin gave Chu Qingli the poison bug, then contacted Xu Wuye and learned that Luo Qinglan was still undergoing a baptism at the White Jade Terrace.
• Chen Lin concluded that the bandit chief was likely Luo Qinglan’s mirror image and realized he needed to find a way around the contract preventing him from passing on the Mirror Image Fusion Method.