Chapter Summaries

Chen Lin attended the True Realm Convention auction, bought half of Xiao Shan’s Rosy Divine Soil, and considered his plans to advance his laws and investigate Nian Kong’s mirror image. The Wuji Bow sold for 450 drops of crystal essence, and the next item—a rare Golden-Eyed Meng Beast egg with a trace of life—was put up for bidding.

• Ye Feiling opened the auction and presented the Wuji Bow, whose bidding quickly rose beyond 200 drops of crystal essence.
• Chen Lin teased Xiao Shan about the bow, then bought half of his Rosy Divine Soil for 200 drops of crystal essence.
• A female cultivator at early semi-void won the Wuji Bow for 450 drops of crystal essence.
• Chen Lin reflected on karma and decided he needed to visit White Cloud Pasture to pursue Mirror Image Fusion and his other laws.
• Ye Feiling introduced an egg of the extinct Golden-Eyed Meng Beast, said to possess destiny force, and opened bidding at 50 drops of crystal essence.

Chen Lin watched Hua Ruyu appear at the auction, claim a destiny treasure for her companion, and leave him unsure whether she had sensed his presence. He discussed Xiao Shan’s approaching thirty-thousand-year tribulation before both turned their attention to the next auction item.

• Chen Lin decided not to bid on the True Realm Ancient Beast egg because it offered him little benefit and could expose his identity as a Destiny Practitioner.
• Hua Ruyu appeared at the auction, announced that her companion cultivated the Destiny Law, and claimed the egg, paying three hundred drops of crystal essence.
• Chen Lin wondered whether Hua Ruyu had detected him through their contract and why she had not acknowledged him.
• Xiao Shan complained that Chen Lin had gained the favor of a True-Realm powerhouse, and Chen Lin teased him about meeting the Netherworld Ghost Mother.
• Xiao Shan revealed that his thirty-thousand-year tribulation was approaching and chose to seek a treasure to help him reach the Void Realm.
• Chen Lin and Xiao Shan ended their conversation and watched as the next treasure came up for auction.

Chen Lin won the Yuming Incense for two thousand drops of Crystal Essence, hoping it would help him ascend to the Void Realm. After offering a trove of lesser treasures to settle the price, he still owed sixteen hundred drops when an unknown voice spoke from outside the settlement room.

• Chen Lin learned that Yuming Incense could greatly improve his chances of ascending to the Void Realm and decided to bid for it.
• As the bidding passed a thousand drops of Crystal Essence, Chen Lin offered two thousand and won the incense.
• Chen Lin asked the auction staff about exchanging Nightmare Coins and learned that Golden Nightmare Coins were worth three hundred drops of Crystal Essence each.
• At the settlement room, Chen Lin offered precious tools, herbs, Nightmare Coins, spiritual entities, Primal Worms, and other items toward the payment.
• The white-bearded old man valued Chen Lin’s offerings at only four hundred drops, leaving sixteen hundred still owed, when a voice outside offered to pay.

Xiao Qingmo recruited Chen Lin, who was disguised as Lin Xi, to join her vanguard team and gave him a Communication Jade Talisman. After she exposed Master Yuan’s attempt to buy Golden Nightmare Coins cheaply, he covered the cost of the Yuming Incense and handed it to Chen Lin.

• Xiao Qingmo entered the settlement room and offered to pay for the Yuming Incense and give Lin Xi another Void-Ascension Treasure if he joined her team.
• Xiao Qingmo explained that she was recruiting vanguards for the Cage Formation’s imminent transition and warned that the mission was a matter of life and death.
• Chen Lin asked for time to decide and mentioned Master Yuan’s offer of three hundred crystal essence per Golden Nightmare Coin.
• Xiao Qingmo gave Chen Lin a Communication Jade Talisman, then confronted Master Yuan over his low offer and told him to pay for the Yuming Incense.
• Master Yuan suppressed his anger and handed Chen Lin the box containing the Yuming Incense.

Chen Lin confronted Master Yuan over the Yuming Incense and learned that Fairy Yaochi wanted him to join her Vanguard Team. She explained that the Cage Array detects and kills cultivators with energies tied to reality during its transitions, leaving Chen Lin to realize how much danger his abilities put him in.

• Chen Lin kept the Yuming Incense, rebuked Master Yuan, and left after invoking the Lin Lineage’s million-year inheritance.
• Chen Lin declined to sell White Dove any incense before completing his Ascension, but accepted her Transmission Bead.
• Chen Lin entered his fiefdom and met Fairy Yaochi, who asked him to join her Vanguard Team and confirmed she was a vanguard.
• Fairy Yaochi explained that vanguards are identified from birth and that the Cage Array targets cultivators whose energy bears reality’s characteristics during transitions.
• Chen Lin recognized that his innate law origin, otherworldly soul, inner star, and Death Gaze could all expose him to the Cage Array, then asked whether the Mysterious Domain was safe.

Fairy Yaochi explained why Chen Lin's Prison-Suppressing Envoy status could not shield him from surveillance and why heavenly tribulations threatened his life. With the Cage Array's transition possibly only a hundred years away, Chen Lin refused to join her Vanguard Squad for now and began gathering information while considering safer options.

• Fairy Yaochi told Chen Lin that true energy was rejected by the Inner World and that its tribulations made advancing to the Void Realm especially dangerous for him.
• Fairy Yaochi warned that the Cage Array could transition at any time and estimated it might happen in around a hundred years.
• Fairy Yaochi invited Chen Lin to join her Vanguard Squad, but he declined because he intended to stay with his sect and his fellow Prison-Suppressing Envoys.
• Chen Lin privately favored joining Xiao Qingmo's team under Lin Xi's identity rather than exposing himself through Fairy Yaochi's squad.
• After Fairy Yaochi left, Chen Lin ordered Long Han and Yang Wentai to gather information about the Vanguards.
• Leng Yue delivered Hongming Ancestor's Life Bag and Jade Slip to Chen Lin; he found the Ancient Beast's Giant Egg in the bag and then read the Jade Slip.

Hua Ruyu explained the Primordial Era, the Cage Array, and the danger threatening the Rainbow Realm, then warned Chen Lin to leave the Inner World before the array inspection. She gave him a token to locate the True King's Manor and, after asking for his help in return, made him lose consciousness.

• Hua Ruyu told Chen Lin that the Cage Array inspection was imminent and explained how the Purple Emperor had divided his eternal origin essence to strengthen the Grand Formation, establish the Crape Myrtle Palace, and seek reincarnation.
• Hua Ruyu warned Chen Lin that, as a Purple Emperor Descendant with a purple soul, he could be targeted by the Bizarre Object, and she described the dangers of the Outer World and its Void Monsters.
• Chen Lin asked whether the Bizarre Object was connected to the Luo Monsters, but Hua Ruyu said their origins were mysterious and revealed that she had captured the remaining Luo Monsters in the Tianxuan Realm.
• Hua Ruyu told Chen Lin that the True King's Manor might offer refuge and confirmed that the True King was her master, Hong Tingzhen; Chen Lin shared what he had learned from the Soul-Severing Tower journal.
• Hua Ruyu said Mingyue Shuanghua had likely favored Chen Lin because his purple soul could serve as a vessel for the Purple Emperor, then gave him a Jade Talisman that could locate the True King's Manor.
• Hua Ruyu said Chen Lin should avoid Hong Tingzhen if possible and asked him to help her, then used her power to make him lose consciousness.

Chen Lin considered Hua Ruyu’s revelations, his cultivation and the mysteries surrounding Niuniu’s treasures, then learned Hua Ruyu had left Myriad Forms City. He returned to the auction hoping to find a treasure that could accelerate his cultivation.

• Chen Lin wondered whether Hua Ruyu had been intimate with him, then sent Leng Yue to deliver his questions and request another meeting.
• While waiting, Chen Lin considered the Cage Array, his coming tribulation, Niuniu’s concealed bracelet and the other mysterious treasures she had left him.
• Leng Yue reported that Hua Ruyu had left Myriad Forms City, and Chen Lin told Leng Yue she could manage his businesses there for herself.
• Chen Lin returned to the auction, where Xiao Shan asked about buying Yuming Incense, but Chen Lin said he could not spare any.

Chen Lin learned about the dangers of the Outer Realms and the routes in and out of them while speaking with Xu Wuye. The chapter ended with Xu Wuye asking whether there had been news about the passage to the Outer Realm Battlefield in the Nightmare Realm.

• Chen Lin watched the gathering’s later auctions, sold treasures he no longer needed, and bought a drop of ancient god blood to temper his body.
• After the gathering ended, Chen Lin found little information about the vanguards and sensed Xu Wuye requesting entry to his Peerage Space.
• Xu Wuye told Chen Lin that she planned to visit the Outer Realms despite not being a vanguard, and he warned her about the danger of true energy.
• Xu Wuye explained that the Mysterious Domain held the Cage Array’s Array Core and that only the Crape Myrtle Palace’s Palace Master could authorize passage through its exit.
• Xu Wuye said vanguards escaped through gaps in the Cage Array during its transition, where most were killed, and asked whether Chen Lin had heard news about the Nightmare Realm passage.

Chen Lin and Xu Wuye discussed entering the Outer Realms, the dangers surrounding the Drifting Bottle Scenario, and the search for Princess Qinghua. After Xu Wuye left, Chen Lin began preparing his fiefdom and used the Power of the God Star to suppress the evil aura in ancient god blood.

• Chen Lin and Xu Wuye agreed they had no safe route to the Outer Realms, and Xu Wuye invited him to join her team, but he declined because he planned to travel under Lin Xi's identity.
• Xu Wuye warned Chen Lin that Marquis Jinguān had emerged from the Drifting Bottle Scenario while three True Realm cultivators had died inside, and she advised him to stay out of sight.
• Xu Wuye said her people had found Blue Butterfly, freed her from a Rank Seven Void Realm fiend, and were investigating three Primal Domain Rifts for Princess Qinghua's location.
• Chen Lin left the management of his fiefdom to Scholar and Wushuang and began preparing to refine the ancient god blood.
• Chen Lin found that his Soul-Destroying Finger could not clear the blood's demonic aura, but the Power of the God Star devoured the aura and strengthened the star slightly.

Chen Lin refined Ancient God Blood for ten years, reaching late Mahayana, then prepared for a possible departure from the Inner World as the Cage Array changed. He left Leng Yue with instructions and entered the Drift Bottle Scenario.

• Chen Lin used the God Star and the pale eyeball to overcome the resistance of the Ancient God Blood, then refined its energy into his body.
• Over ten years, Chen Lin’s cultivation rose to late Mahayana, while his spirit herbs survived only beneath the Spirit Gathering Great Array and Wushuang moved the prayer grass outside to test nightmare transformation.
• Chen Lin asked Leng Yue about Hua Ruyu and Myriad Forms City, learning that the city was peaceful on the surface while factions secretly prepared for the vanguards to break the array.
• Chen Lin told Leng Yue he planned to leave the Inner World when the Cage Array changed, asked her to have Princess Qinghua wait for him if she arrived, and instructed her to contact the Myriad Demon Heavens’ representative.
• Chen Lin asked Leng Yue to seek Fairy Yaochi’s help arranging a meeting with Liu Rumian’s master, then entered the Drift Bottle Scenario with the Level 4 Road Guide and the medium.

Chen Lin explored the sea around the island in the Drifting Bottle Scenario, where a dangerous Ash Ray struck while he used his Destiny River. He discovered a reverse scale on his Destiny Fish that warned him of danger, then resumed searching for bottles and spotted a ship approaching in the distance.

• Chen Lin searched the island and surrounding sea, but found no danger or Drifting Bottles nearby.
• Chen Lin flew farther out and found two Drifting Bottles; while predicting one, he sensed pain and dodged an Ash Ray.
• Chen Lin examined his Destiny Fish and discovered a reverse scale on the back of its neck that warned him of danger in the Destiny River.
• Chen Lin tested his theory and concluded that the Ash Ray had been connected to the Drifting Bottle, then returned to the sea to continue his mission.
• Chen Lin spotted a distant point of light that grew into the outline of a ship.

Chen Lin encountered a White-Bearded Old Man aboard a glowing ship who had sealed the Scenario and questioned him about Drifting Bottles and a letter. After the old man gave him a bottle containing Baby Face, Chen Lin answered one question correctly, received a gift, and returned to the Reality Realm.

• Chen Lin found that his Peerage Token could not connect to the Fiefdom as the White-Bearded Old Man's ship approached.
• Chen Lin misdirected the old man about the Drifting Bottles, then used the Silence Technique to avoid answering his questions under the old man's influence.
• The old man forbade bottle collecting for a hundred years and gave Chen Lin a Drifting Bottle.
• Chen Lin opened the bottle and encountered Baby Face, who asked the same three-question quiz as before.
• Chen Lin guessed that Baby Face was eighteen, won a gift, and watched the ship disappear into the distance.
• Chen Lin returned directly to the Reality Realm instead of going back to the Fiefdom.

Chen Lin tested the Mermaid Sword and found that it had little power beyond piercing targets, then prepared for his next move. He chose to visit the Chessboard Scenario first and took Grass with him, but learned that Lord Xila could not help him enter the Outer Realm Battlefield.

• Chen Lin tested the Mermaid Sword with soul power and discovered that it could pierce targets but had no notable destructive effect.
• Chen Lin weighed visiting White Cloud Pasture against entering the Chessboard Scenario and decided to seek a Destiny Treasure and check on Liu Rumian first.
• Chen Lin brought Grass along for the journey to the Outer Realms and arranged for Chen Tao to look after the Rainbow Cottage, though Chen Tao chose to stay.
• Chen Lin asked Lord Xila about entering the Outer Realm Battlefield, but Lord Xila explained that only an official assessment or conscription could grant entry.

Chen Lin prepared for the Vanguard Team and the coming Cage Array transition, then went to Myriad Forms Palace to meet Fairy Yaochi and True Lord Wuming. He entered the meeting room and found Marquis Jinguān waiting there as well.

• Chen Lin learned that Ming Fu and Ji Shenjiu were the known Soul-Severing Continent members of the Vanguard Team, while Nanmen Lingyue planned to seek the Seven-Star Shining Sun Cultivation Technique within a hundred years.
• Chen Lin told Long Han to notify him if Anna or Yang Zishi came to the sect and gave him Jin Zhentian's token as a source of help.
• Fairy Yaochi brought Chen Lin to Myriad Forms Palace, where she said True Lord Wuming wanted to see him before they traveled to the Six Mysteries Sect.
• Chen Lin entered the room to meet True Lord Wuming and discovered Marquis Jinguān seated beside him.

Chen Lin met Marquis Guānqūn and agreed to help calculate a weak node in the Cage Array’s transition, then traveled with Fairy Yaochi to the Six Mysteries Sect. He persuaded Yue Tongtian to let him take Liu Rumian’s body to his fiefdom to attempt a rescue, and Yue Tongtian led them onward.

• Marquis Guānqūn asked Chen Lin, a practitioner of the destiny law, to join a future calculation of the Cage Array’s weakest node, and Chen Lin agreed to wait in Myriad Forms City.
• Chen Lin told Marquis Guānqūn he could only sense a vague danger around Drifting Bottles, then left with Fairy Yaochi for the Six Mysteries Sect.
• Xiao Buyi welcomed Chen Lin and Fairy Yaochi and escorted them to Yue Tongtian’s residence.
• Chen Lin asked Yue Tongtian to take Liu Rumian’s body to his fiefdom so he could enter the Chessboard Scenario with a Level 4 Road Guide and try to rescue her.
• Yue Tongtian agreed that Chen Lin could attempt the rescue but insisted they enter his fiefdom from the Six Mysteries Sect, then led them farther inside.

Chen Lin brought Liu Rumian’s body into the Chessboard Scenario, hoping to rescue her by finding the danger affecting her projection. After winning two chess games, he faced Liu Rumian as his next opponent.

• Chen Lin examined Liu Rumian and learned from Yue Tongtian that life force and the Spring of Life could not heal her while the Nightmare Realm’s influence remained.
• Chen Lin carried Liu Rumian’s body into his fiefdom and confirmed that a projection could not merge with a body inside the Nightmare Realm.
• Chen Lin entered the Chessboard Scenario with Liu Rumian’s body and won his first game against a motionless opponent.
• Chen Lin won a second game against a Bearded Man, using his Star Ring and Golden Battle Armor to resist the intensified battlefield illusion.
• Chen Lin began a third game and discovered that Liu Rumian was sitting opposite him.

Chen Lin played Liu Rumian in a deadly chess game, suppressing the chessboard’s artifact spirit with Death Gaze and forcing a draw to avoid either of them losing. When he left his seat, the pieces combined into a black-and-white medium chess piece, which he picked up, while Liu Rumian remained motionless.

• Chen Lin realized Liu Rumian had become a player and struggled to decide whether to win or lose their game.
• Liu Rumian delayed her move to weaken the attacks against Chen Lin, but the delay drove her toward nightmare mutation.
• Chen Lin used Death Gaze to frighten the chessboard’s artifact spirit and collapse its battlefield illusion.
• Chen Lin and Liu Rumian played to a draw, but the chessboard and Liu Rumian remained frozen and unresponsive.
• Chen Lin placed a hundred Golden Nightmare Coins in Liu Rumian’s sleeve, then left his seat; the pieces fused into a black-and-white medium chess piece, which he picked up.

Chen Lin saved Liu Rumian from the chess trial’s penalty with one hundred Golden Nightmare Coins, then learned that a second, more difficult trial awaited beyond the barrier. He decided to play another game despite the risks, still hoping to reach the Destiny Treasure.

• Liu Rumian recovered after consuming Chen Lin’s one hundred Golden Nightmare Coins and joked that she could repay him by becoming his companion, but Chen Lin refused.
• Liu Rumian explained that she had passed three chess games but failed the second trial, where an enchanted endgame obscured the pieces and cost her the Black and White Chess Piece medium.
• Liu Rumian revealed that she had also taken the Six Mysteries Sect’s only Gold Level 3 Road Guide and its stored Golden Nightmare Coins, leaving her with three coins.
• Chen Lin told Liu Rumian that the Cage Array’s transition was less than a hundred years away and gave up expecting repayment for the coins.
• Liu Rumian offered to travel with Chen Lin to the Outer Realms, but he rejected her offer and chose to play another chess game to continue the trial.

Chen Lin rescued Liu Rumian’s physical body from the Nightmare Realm, learned that Yue Tongtian was her father, and returned to the Chessboard Scenario. After winning the second game and crossing the first barrier, he prepared to face the next trial, where drawing on Golden-Eyed Meng’s Giant Egg caused a faint line of destiny to emerge.

• Chen Lin brought Liu Rumian’s physical body to his fiefdom, but she could not merge with it there.
• Chen Lin returned Liu Rumian’s body to Yue Tongtian, and Liu Rumian woke and called him “Father.”
• After Death Gaze recovered, Chen Lin entered the Chessboard Scenario, won the next game without using it, and crossed the barrier as it became passable to his Road Guide.
• Chen Lin reached the pavilion containing the second trial’s chessboard and confirmed that a Level 4 Road Guide could not pass the barrier beyond it.
• Chen Lin used Golden-Eyed Meng’s Giant Egg to draw out its destiny origin essence, causing a faint line of destiny to appear.