Chapter Summaries

Chen Lin attended a gathering where powerful factions came to negotiate the division of the All-Direction Trading Firm’s wealth, and he watched Xin Shangxiu and Madam Miaoyin arrive amid signs of old enmity. The gathering was abruptly disrupted when black mist and a terrifying aura filled the hall.

• Chen Lin learned from Zhang Zhenqian about the powerful cultivators attending and why Yan Jiujiang’s group planned to surrender the trading firm’s interests in exchange for protection.
• Xin Shangxiu arrived with Ba Yeyu, Duanmu Jue, Xin Yueling, and two other Void Refinement cultivators, prompting the crowd to greet her.
• Madam Miaoyin arrived with Ye Hongdao and received an even warmer welcome, while Xin Shangxiu taunted Ye Hongdao and exposed tension between them.
• Lu Xiaoyi told Chen Lin that Xin Shangxiu and Ye Hongdao were rumored to have been lovers before he became involved with Madam Miaoyin.
• A terrifying aura emerged and black mist engulfed the hall, so Chen Lin leapt into the air and activated the Soul Armor Art as green vines appeared around him.

Liren Chou attacked the cultivators trapped in the hall, killing several with arrows that pierced their treasures and pursued them. Chen Lin discovered that his lightning and Cyan Vine Shield could counter the arrows, then struck Liren Chou with the Soul-Destroying Finger, weakening him.

• Liren Chou appeared in the hall, and Madam Miaoyin urged everyone to attack him together.
• Liren Chou unleashed pursuing black arrows that pierced spirit treasures and killed several cultivators.
• Chen Lin realized the All-Direction Trading Firm had vanished, leaving the gathered cultivators trapped with Liren Chou.
• Liren Chou singled out Chen Lin, but Chen Lin destroyed the arrows with Innate Lightning Rays and the Cyan Vine Shield.
• Chen Lin used the shield and lightning to save Lu Xiaoyi and the others, then struck Liren Chou with the Soul-Destroying Finger, weakening him.

Chen Lin and the other cultivators destroyed Liren Chou’s manifested body, though Madam Miaoyin warned that the ancient Resurrectionist could recover. After the survivors divided the dead cultivators’ possessions, School Head Xiao challenged the distribution and demanded the treasures be shared according to cultivation level.

• Chen Lin’s Soul-Destroying Finger weakened Liren Chou, allowing Xin Shangxiu, Madam Miaoyin, Ye Hongdao, and the others to destroy his body and eliminate the scattered black mist.
• Madam Miaoyin said Liren Chou could not truly be killed, but his origin essence had been damaged and might take a long time to recover.
• Madam Miaoyin gave Chen Lin eight storage bags and two spirit-transforming grade treasures, then divided the remaining spoils among herself, Xin Shangxiu, and Ye Hongdao.
• School Head Xiao objected to the distribution and proposed that the storage bags be revealed and divided according to cultivation level.
• Ba Yeyu and Duanmu Jue declined to intervene, while the other Dao Rhyme Cultivators considered the proposal.

Madam Miaoyin killed the All-Direction Trading Firm’s elder and ordered its assets divided among the dead cultivators’ families and the assembled powers. Chen Lin returned to his Nightmare Realm node with his companions, settled them on Taiqing Mountain, and began counting the treasures he had seized.

• Madam Miaoyin killed the late Void Refinement elder, then ordered School Head Xiao’s belongings and sect assets used to compensate the victims’ families.
• Madam Miaoyin declared the All-Direction Trading Firm’s remaining properties up for grabs, and Xin Shangxiu invited Chen Lin to join discussions about reincarnated mighty figures and Western Continent resources.
• Chen Lin declined the invitation and sent Lu Xiaoyi to represent him before leaving Bamian City for his underground node chamber.
• Chen Lin brought Qin Lingyu and the others into the node, warned them about the Nightmare Realm’s dangers, and gave them Bone Shards to resist nightmare qi.
• Chen Lin’s companions explored Taiqing Mountain and chose sites for their immortal caves while he spent three days checking the Storage Bags and found a vast trove of treasures and rare spirit herbs.

Chen Lin secured his family’s safety, learned that powerful beings were awakening across many planes, and prepared to leave on a dangerous journey. When Zhang Zhenqian and Lu Xiaoyi invited him to explore a Golden Palace beneath the Soul-Severing Sea, he refused, warning that Awakeners might be there.

• Chen Lin left Chen Ling'er and the others on Taiqing Mountain under Hua Ruyu’s protection, then bought them Level 3 Road Guides and taught them how to use them.
• At Yucai Sect, Xue Honglan reported that Awakeners and reincarnated divine beings had appeared across multiple planes; Chen Lin connected the news to the enormous sword he had seen when advancing to Void Refinement.
• Chen Lin gave Xue Honglan a Chongxu Pill and learned that the Divine Will Sect planned to relocate near Yucai Sect because its leader, Yue Tianyi, was his sworn brother.
• Zhang Zhenqian and Lu Xiaoyi told Chen Lin that a Golden Palace had been found beneath the Soul-Severing Sea and invited him to explore it with the Five Friends of Tiancang.
• Chen Lin declined to join the expedition, saying Awakeners might appear and he could not safely fight all of them.

After leaving the Divine Will Sect, Chen Lin traveled in disguise as Ye Fan to search for treasured texts, but a robbery attempt led him to uncover the identity of the woman behind it. He recognized her as the Black Mountain Old Devil and restrained her for a Soul Search.

• Lu Xiaoyi and Zhang Zhenqian left after failing to persuade Chen Lin to help them.
• A month later, Chen Lin informed Xue Honglan and quietly left the Divine Will Sect.
• Disguised as a bearded man named Ye Fan, Chen Lin visited several places and bought treasured texts from a shopkeeper.
• Two Nascent Soul Cultivators ambushed Chen Lin with a Spirit Treasure hammer, but he subdued them, killed the black-robed man, and searched the thin man's soul.
• Chen Lin confronted Dong Yunqiu, recognized her as the Black Mountain Old Devil, and bound her with green vines to search her soul.

Chen Lin captured Dong Yunqiu and learned that she and her master, the Spirit Demon Ancestor, came from the Spirit Demon Realm and practiced spirit-demon dual cultivation. He bound her with a soul pact and let her return to the Spirit Demon Ancestor, leaving her under his control for future use.

• Chen Lin found that Dong Yunqiu's protected soul could not be searched, so he used an illusion spell to question her.
• Dong Yunqiu revealed that Immortal Baiyun was the fourth-layer Dao Rhyme Spirit Demon Ancestor, who had come from the Spirit Demon Realm and was hiding beneath the Soul-Severing Sea.
• Dong Yunqiu explained spirit-demon dual cultivation and confessed that she had impersonated the Black-Hearted Old Devil to rob people.
• Chen Lin had Dong Yunqiu copy the portions of her cultivation technique she knew, then accepted her offer to remain near the Spirit Demon Ancestor and help him later.
• Chen Lin sealed Dong Yunqiu into a soul pact, warned her to obey him, burned the other two corpses, and left; Dong Yunqiu departed afterward in frustration.

After reaching the Eastern Continent, Chen Lin investigated Yin Jiuling’s Dark Yin Sect and learned that Yin Jiuling had reportedly died. Years later, while searching texts for information that could help him use the Clone Fruit safely, Chen Lin found an illustration of a race like Kannie’s.

• Chen Lin crossed the Soul-Severing Sea and arrived on the Xuanhuang Continent, where Yin Jiuling had founded the Dark Yin Sect.
• Chen Lin learned that Yin Jiuling’s soul lamp had gone out and the sect had activated its formation to protect itself from enemies.
• Chen Lin questioned a Dark Yin Sect disciple and confirmed the sect had no connection to Xuanyin Great King, then left.
• Over the next two years, Chen Lin kept in contact with Lu Xiaoyi, Xue Honglan, and Liu Shengyuan while the Tiancang Realm remained peaceful.
• Chen Lin bought and studied the Alien Illustrated Handbook, finding an illustration of a woman from the same race as Kannie.

Chen Lin confirmed that the Clone Fruit was safe, then welcomed Grass's awakening and learned she had spent her strength saving Luo Qinglan and the others. After an awkward night together, he set out with Grass for the Yinguang Continent, where new developments awaited at the underwater palace.

• Chen Lin read that the Wood God Race and its Natal Spirit Fruits matched Kannie's account, reassuring him that he could safely use the Clone Fruit.
• Grass awakened with her memories intact and a purer Sword Body, and Chen Lin celebrated with her.
• Grass explained that she had exhausted her origin essence to reopen a collapsing Space Rift so Luo Qinglan and the others could escape after their plane shattered.
• Grass offered to attend Chen Lin in bed, and he accepted; the next morning, he acted as though nothing had happened and told her to prepare to leave.
• Months later, Chen Lin and Grass arrived at the silver land of the Yinguang Continent, where Chen Lin planned to search for information before returning to the Yucai Sect.
• Chen Lin recalled that Xue Honglan had asked whether he would join Madam Miaoyin's Cultivator Alliance and reported that the underwater palace had risen from the seabed and begun hovering in the sky.

Chen Lin searched Yinguang City for resources and clues before a mysterious Awakener named Jinyao arrived to negotiate with Wu Xingma. Jinyao revealed that the Immortal Palace might offer a way out of the realm and warned that an imprisoned evil demon could escape, leaving Chen Lin intent on learning more.

• Chen Lin and Grass explored Yinguang City, but Chen Lin found little mithril or high-grade resources and no clues about the stone tablet pattern or giant sword image.
• Chen Lin saw a Wuzhen Tower and remembered Fairy Alan and Yun Xiumian, wondering whether Yun Xiumian had escaped the Xuanyin Great King's Yellow Springs Scroll.
• Chen Lin decided to return to the Western Continent after considering asking Madam Miaoyin about the stone tablet pattern.
• Jinyao flew over Yinguang City on a Golden Great Bird and demanded to know whether Wu Xingma had made up his mind.
• Jinyao urged Wu Xingma to explore the Immortal Palace for a way out of the realm and warned that an imprisoned evil demon might break free.
• Wu Xingma agreed to discuss mithril essence with Jinyao, who descended into Yinguang Hall.

Chen Lin returned to Zhiwu County Town and learned that Taiqing Mountain was safe and protected by a Nightmare Realm Array Disk. Xiong Ziqi told him that the repulsive force had sharply increased after a thousand years and asked him to contact Princess Gege Yun for help escaping.

• Chen Lin returned to the underground node with Grass, confirmed nothing had changed, and later found his residence and shop completed.
• Hua Ruyu reassured Chen Lin that Taiqing Mountain was safe and explained that Chen Ling'er had installed a Nightmare Realm Array Disk powered by one Nightmare Coin per month.
• Chen Lin met Xiong Ziqi at the County Office and introduced Grass as his maid.
• Xiong Ziqi explained that the repulsive force had intensified a year earlier and might force him and Jin Zhenshan out of the Nightmare Realm within a hundred years.
• Xiong Ziqi asked Chen Lin to contact Princess Gege Yun or a Guardian to help them escape.

Chen Lin considered Xiong Ziqi’s request to seek Princess Gege Yun’s help and returned to Taiqing Mountain, where he reunited with his family. He then brought Grass back to the Reality Realm and headed for the Immortal Palace above the Soul-Severing Sea, where a stranger invited him to travel together.

• Chen Lin told Xiong Ziqi he would keep his request in mind but warned that Gege Yun might not return, while Xiong Ziqi said he would keep searching for her and asked Chen Lin’s people to meet him if he came to Taiqing Mountain.
• Chen Lin told Hua Ruyu he suspected the mission clue lay in the Dilapidated Courtyard, where Li Fuyao was hiding, though he had no evidence.
• Chen Lin, Hua Ruyu, and Grass reached Taiqing Mountain, where Chen Ling'er welcomed Chen Lin and greeted the newly awakened Grass.
• Chen Lin celebrated with his companions, then took Grass back to the Reality Realm and set out for the Immortal Palace above the Soul-Severing Sea.
• A middle-aged man approached Chen Lin and asked whether he and his companions were going to the Immortal Palace and wanted to travel together.

Chen Lin joined Yuan Kaijiang's group on the way to the Golden Palace, then privately examined Gu Jianfang's offer of information in exchange for an Ending Hostility Pill. As Chen Lin questioned Gu Jianfang inside his spirit boat, Yuan Kaijiang approached the cabin and Grass attacked him.

• Chen Lin and Grass accepted Yuan Kaijiang's invitation to travel with his group, which grew to ten Spirit Transformation cultivators on the way to the Golden Palace.
• The group stopped near the palace's golden barrier, where powerful cultivators were attacking it, and Chen Lin watched from his spirit boat.
• Gu Jianfang asked Chen Lin for help ascending to Spirit Transformation and offered a supreme treasure; Chen Lin showed her an Ending Hostility Pill in return.
• Gu Jianfang gave Chen Lin a jade slip containing information he considered important, and he asked her to enter the cabin so he could question her before completing the trade.
• Gu Yuanjing suggested that Chen Lin and Gu Jianfang were misbehaving in private, and Yuan Kaijiang went to the cabin despite Grass's warning.
• Grass unleashed a streak of sword light at Yuan Kaijiang.

Chen Lin and Xiaocao joined Madam Miaoyin’s Cultivator Alliance after Xiaocao defeated Yuan Kaijiang and Chen Lin drove off his followers. Chen Lin planned to use his new position to enter the Immortal Palace and investigate a map Gu Jianfang had given him.

• Xiaocao severed Yuan Kaijiang’s arm and shattered his primordial spirit domain with a single strike, but stopped when Chen Lin told her to let him go.
• Chen Lin drove Yuan Kaijiang and the other cultivators away, then killed Gu Yuanjing as he tried to flee.
• Madam Miaoyin invited Chen Lin and Xiaocao to join the Cultivator Alliance, and they accepted and received Identity Tokens as elders.
• Gu Jianfang declined to accompany Chen Lin, saying she intended to attempt a breakthrough to spirit transformation, and teleported away.
• Chen Lin considered Gu Jianfang’s map to the Immortal Palace’s Spiritual Herb Garden and noticed Xin Yueling, Xin Shangxiu, Zhang Zhenqian, and Lu Xiaoyi in the hall.

Chen Lin and Grass joined Madam Miaoyin’s group to attack the Immortal Palace’s barrier, where Chen Lin discovered how Dao Rhyme eased the pressure and recognized Zhenyangzi among the Awakeners. Madam Miaoyin explained that the enormous treasure they were assembling was a top-grade Spirit-Condensing Grade spirit treasure capable of unleashing an attack comparable to a True Spirit Tier treasure.

• Madam Miaoyin selected Chen Lin, Grass, Xin Shangxiu, Ye Hongdao, and other Void Refinement cultivators to approach the Immortal Palace’s barrier.
• Chen Lin used the Blade of Destiny’s Dao Rhyme to overcome the oppressive energy, then withdrew it to conceal his mastery of a Dao Art; he also noticed Grass could move through the pressure with little difficulty.
• Chen Lin spotted Zhenyangzi among Jinyao’s group of Awakeners and realized the Daoist was the reincarnation of a mighty being.
• Madam Miaoyin summoned Chen Lin and Grass to a huge floating object and urged them to help activate it.
• Madam Miaoyin told Chen Lin that the object was a Tiangong Sect top-grade Spirit-Condensing Grade spirit treasure that could release an attack on the level of a True Spirit Tier treasure.

Chen Lin and four cultivators used the Heaven-Opening Bow to attack the Immortal Palace’s barrier, while Chen Lin considered the dangers and possible treasures inside. After repeated strikes, the barrier cracked and collapsed.

• Chen Lin learned that the Heaven-Opening Bow required five different types of energy, and he, Grass, and three other cultivators powered it.
• The Heaven-Opening Bow formed a Five-Colored Arrow and struck the barrier, briefly leaving a black spot before the barrier recovered.
• Madam Miaoyin gave Chen Lin and the others recovery pills, and Chen Lin took Grass aside to rest while later groups continued firing.
• A subsequent arrow made the barrier shake violently, sending out energy that killed nearby lower-level cultivators.
• Chen Lin watched another Five-Colored Arrow strike the weakened barrier, which cracked apart and collapsed.

After the Immortal Palace barrier vanished, Chen Lin entered the palace and chose a soul trial gate, only to find himself aboard a mysterious boat in a realm of black mist. The boat began to sail with him and many other cultivators aboard, leaving the trial’s nature unknown.

• The Heaven-Opening Bow’s breach caused the palace barrier to collapse, and cultivators rushed inside as Chen Lin sent a Crow Puppet ahead to scout.
• Lu Xiaoyi recognized Chen Lin as her Fifth Brother through her keen perception of souls, then separated from him; Chen Lin also spotted Dong Yunqiu racing into the palace with the Spirit Demon Ancestor and another disciple.
• Chen Lin and Grass entered the Spiritual Herb Garden route, then reached three trial gates and chose the black gate, which tested the soul.
• Chen Lin appeared on a black boat surrounded by soul-damaging mist, ordered Grass into his Space Bag, and watched other cultivators appear aboard.
• A strange voice declared that the boat had enough people, and it shuddered before setting sail.

Chen Lin rode a ship through corrosive black mist with cultivators who had all entered through a Black Light Gate, and he suspected the voyage was a soul-based trial. As more passengers were swept away, he took Zhao Mengru under his protection and the survivors focused on the Snake-Bodied Woman at the bow.

• Chen Lin learned that cultivators who entered through different Golden Gates had all boarded the ship by choosing a Black Light Gate, leading him to suspect they were undergoing a trial.
• Several cultivators, including a Spirit Transformation Cultivator and a Nascent Soul cultivator, were swept off the ship into the black mist as its corrosive effect on their souls intensified.
• Chen Lin discovered that Zhao Mengru was a Qi Condensation cultivator with unusually strong soul power, and he agreed to let her stay beside him.
• Zhao Mengru thanked Chen Lin aloud, drawing the passengers’ attention, while more cultivators—including a Void Refinement Cultivator—were swept away.
• After checking that Grass could endure the mist, Chen Lin and the other survivors focused on the Snake-Bodied Woman and considered striking first.

Chen Lin and the other survivors endured the deadly voyage through the black mist and reached a city inside the Immortal Palace. They discovered that the city suppressed most powers and stranded their Nightmare Realm connections, leaving them to face its dangers with limited abilities.

• A Spirit Transformation cultivator attacked the Snake-Bodied Woman, but his strike passed through her, and she killed him with a glance.
• As the ship sped through the black mist, the Spirit Demon Ancestor urged the survivors to attack together, but Chen Lin exposed his reluctance to lead the assault and no one attacked.
• The Snake-Bodied Woman announced their arrival, and the survivors received identity tokens before disembarking inside a magnificent city.
• Chen Lin discovered that the city suppressed his mana and prevented access to the Nightmare Realm, though his soul force and talent origin remained usable.
• More than twenty ships delivered around a hundred survivors to the city, and the gates closed after the ships stopped arriving.

Chen Lin received an unusually powerful Source Soul Infusion that broke his soul bottleneck and advanced him to the fourth rank. He entered the great hall and took the prominent first seat, where the other cultivators’ assigned seating revealed striking differences in their souls.

• Chen Lin realized the city had gathered cultivators who chose the Black Light Gate, then learned they would receive a Source Soul Infusion at the Ascension Platform.
• The infusion transformed Chen Lin’s three-colored soul and formed a gray-white orb, advancing him from the third-rank peak to the fourth rank.
• A Golden-Armored Guard validated Chen Lin’s token and directed him into the hall, where his token assigned him the first seat.
• Grass and Zhao Mengru entered and took their assigned seats after Chen Lin warned them not to approach him.
• Spirit Demon Ancestor received a seat near the back, while Dong Yunqiu received one in the front row, exposing their differing soul qualities.
• The remaining cultivators entered, and the hall doors slowly closed.