Chapter Summaries

Shi Lan killed the last pursuer and kept the Flying Star Sect members at the mine entrance while she led the Demon-Suppressing Army underground. She found a cavern filled with spirit crystals and gave her soldiers two hours to mine before they had to leave before sunrise.

• Shi Lan caught and killed the fleeing warrior, then returned to the mine entrance.
• Shi Lan ordered Cao Ping and the Flying Star Sect to wait outside while she led the Demon-Suppressing Army into the mine.
• Wang Ning explained that the soldiers had found Shi Lan through their Demon-Suppressing Tokens after their formation was scattered.
• Shi Lan followed the flow of spiritual energy through the mine and dug through a rubble blockage into a cavern of spirit crystals.
• Shi Lan gave Wang Ning and the others about two hours to collect spirit crystals before they left, and the soldiers began mining.

Shi Lan cultivated in a spirit crystal mine, reached the fifth level of the Xiantian Realm, and took a spirit marrow before Samsara drained the mine’s energy. After the Flying Star Sect discovered the mine was dead, Martial Uncle Lianyun learned that Shi Lan belonged to the Demon-Suppression Army and warned that even the Shengwu Immortal Sect could not afford to provoke it.

• Shi Lan used a Spirit-Gathering Array to cultivate and broke through to the fifth level of the Xiantian Realm.
• Wang Ning and the others excavated and packed spirit crystals while Shi Lan followed Samsara’s directions to uncover a spirit marrow.
• Shi Lan had Samsara extract the mine’s energy, then left with Wang Ning and the others carrying the remaining crystals.
• Cao Ping returned with three others, and Martial Uncle Lianyun identified the mine as dead.
• Cao Ping told Martial Uncle Lianyun that Shi Lan was a centurion in the Demon-Suppression Army, and Lianyun explained that the Imperial Court-backed army was beyond the Shengwu Immortal Sect’s power to challenge.

Three gray-robed men investigated the massacre at the spirit crystal mine, while one encountered a white-robed monk who burned the village’s corpses and condemned him. Shi Lan led Wang Ning and the Demon Suppression Army nearly ten thousand li away from the mine, escaping pursuit and improving her reputation.

• Cao Ping and the Flying Star Sect disciples left the mine as three gray-robed men arrived to inspect the bodies and tracks.
• One gray-robed man searched the surrounding mountains and found a white-robed monk praying over nearly a hundred corpses in a deserted village.
• The monk’s gaze forced the gray-robed man to relive his past killings, and he fled in terror.
• The white-robed monk burned the corpses without leaving ashes, poured liquor onto the ground, and judged the fleeing man to be bound for purgatory.
• Shi Lan led Wang Ning and the Demon Suppression Army along changing routes until they had traveled nearly ten thousand li from the mine without being followed.
• Shi Lan sealed the spirit crystals’ aura with formations and helped people along the way, improving her reputation and earning the group’s growing affection.

Shi Lan and the Demon-Suppression Army were ambushed by bandits in a mountain pass, but swiftly defeated them and took prisoners. They reached Purple Flame City, where the peaceful streets left Shi Lan and her companions disoriented as she searched for lodging.

• Shi Lan noticed the group had reached a narrow pass and tried to turn back, but bandits surrounded them with arrows and demanded two-thirds of their goods.
• After the bandit leader threatened Shi Lan, she ordered Wang Ning to spare a few high-ranking bandits and killed the rest with nine streaks of azure light.
• Wang Ning bound the surviving bandits, and Shi Lan questioned them before leading the group through the gorge toward the nearest city.
• Shi Lan and the Demon-Suppression Army arrived at Purple Flame City and found its busy, peaceful streets difficult to believe.
• Shi Lan hid her complicated feelings and began looking for a place for the group to stay.

Shi Lan met Lin Yusheng, a scholar in Purple Flame, who asked her to keep the Demon-Suppressing Army inconspicuous and leave soon. After settling the army at an inn, she learned the city’s people had little interest in the bandits she had captured and began looking for a map of Chengtian Domain.

• A group of men escorted Shi Lan and Wang Ning to meet Lin Yusheng at the City Lord’s residence.
• Lin Yusheng asked Shi Lan to have her soldiers remove their armor, avoid spreading news about the demon beasts, and leave Purple Flame as soon as possible.
• Shi Lan told Lin Yusheng the army would leave after handling a few matters, then departed without accepting his request to stay.
• Shi Lan settled the Demon-Suppressing Army at an inn and sent Wang Ning and others to ask the people of Purple Flame about the captured bandits.
• Shi Lan found that the bandits had been warned not to rob the city’s caravans, so showing them around increased her reputation by only a little.
• Shi Lan gave her soldiers half a day of rest and began searching for a map of Chengtian Domain.

Shi Lan bought a map of the Chengtian Domain and learned how factions were ranked while avoiding the advances of Master Zhao. She returned to the inn to study the map and local information, better understanding the factions around Purple Flame City.

• Shi Lan bought the largest available map and booklets about the Chengtian Domain, then noticed Flying Star Sect among the factions marked on it.
• Master Zhao approached Shi Lan with a jade pendant, but she rejected his advances and left after his guards let her pass.
• The shopkeeper warned Shi Lan that Master Zhao had taken twenty-seven concubines, and Shi Lan paid for the booklets before leaving.
• Two of Master Zhao's guards returned to ask about Shi Lan, then followed her back toward the inn.
• Shi Lan studied the map and booklets and learned that faction grades depended on their martial artists' strength, with weaker factions often paying tribute for protection.

Shi Lan studied records that explained the Lingyang Realm’s martial realms and the history of its ancient races. The account ended amid the Primordial God War, as the demon and devil races fell into turmoil just when the Ancient Gods were poised to defeat the Demigods.

• Shi Lan learned the requirements and powers of the Earthly Baleful and Heavenly Astral realms, along with the ranks of several major powers.
• Shi Lan read that the Ancient Gods once ruled the Lingyang Realm and treated humans, demons, and devils as vassals or livestock.
• Mixed-blooded Ancient Gods formed the Demigod Race and began the Primordial God War against the pure-blooded Ancient Gods.
• The human, demon, and devil races joined the war after the Demigods threatened to eradicate them, and humanity’s first emperor, Ancient's End, emerged as a powerful leader.
• The three races helped the pure-blooded Ancient Gods gain ground, but the demon and devil races fell into turmoil before the Demigods were defeated.

Shi Lan read a chronicle tracing the Lingyang Realm’s wars and dynasties, then set aside its incomplete history to focus on her cultivation. At dawn, she finished meditating and was interrupted by a knock at the door.

• The Demigod Race turned the demons and devils against the pure-blooded Ancient Gods, but humanity’s rapid growth and alliance with the Ancient Gods helped end the Primordial God War.
• The Emperor of the Forgotten Ancients began the Blood Cleansing, killing his Ancient God wife and their mixed-blood son before waging war against the other races.
• After the Ancient Gods escaped their seals and weakened humanity, demons and devils gained territory, beginning the Middle Era; later, the Heavenly Martial Emperor restored humanity’s Imperial Court and reclaimed land.
• Shi Lan finished reading the chronicle, regretted how little it revealed about the Primordial and Ancient Eras, and resumed cultivating with the spirit marrow.
• At dawn, Shi Lan emerged from cultivation and exhaled a stream of qi through the window; someone knocked at her door.

Shi Lan rejected Zhao Jinheng’s advances and warned him off with her halberd. Afterward, the Young City Lord took an interest in her, while Zhao Jinheng tried to dissuade him.

• Wang Ning told Shi Lan that Zhao Jinheng had come to see her, and she went downstairs to confront him.
• Zhao Jinheng presented gifts, including a map and records about the Chengtian Domain, but Shi Lan refused them and questioned how he knew her surname.
• When Zhao Jinheng tried to stop Shi Lan from leaving, she held her halberd to his neck and gave him a final warning.
• After Shi Lan went upstairs, the Young City Lord told Zhao Jinheng that he liked her and intended to pursue her.
• Zhao Jinheng warned the Young City Lord that Shi Lan was difficult to deal with, while defending his own twenty-seven marriages as genuine love.

Shi Lan prepared to leave Purple Flame City while Lin Fan told his grandfather he had fallen for her. Lin Yusheng warned Lin Fan that their paths were incompatible, and Lin Fan left without giving up his feelings.

• Zhao Jinheng dismissed his interest in Shi Lan and returned to the City Lord's Manor with his guards.
• Shi Lan ordered Wang Ning to restock supplies, then led her group out of Purple Flame City.
• Lin Fan told Lin Yusheng that he had fallen for Shi Lan, but Lin Yusheng urged him to give her up because of her talent and Demon Suppression Army ties.
• Lin Fan refused to abandon his feelings without a reason, then left after Lin Yusheng warned that he and Shi Lan were not equals.
• Lin Yusheng's son entered the courtyard, and Lin Yusheng departed for the academy by soaring into the sky.

Lin Fan’s attempt to activate his giant puppet failed, and the puppet later broke free and smashed through his underground chamber. Meanwhile, Shi Lan executed the bandit chieftain, completed her reputation mission, and unlocked an intermediate draw.

• Lin Fan installed a spirit crystal in his giant puppet, but it fell over after barely lifting a leg.
• After Lin Fan left, the puppet rose on its own, crushed devices in the chamber, and battered a wall until cracks spread.
• Lin Fan learned that Shi Lan and her companions had left the inn, then hurried back after being told the ground near his room had caved in.
• Shi Lan traveled through nearby cities with Wang Ning and the others, gaining support from people resentful of the canyon bandits.
• Shi Lan executed the bandit chieftain before a crowd, and her reputation score rose to forty-five.
• Shi Lan completed her reputation mission, earned two beginner draws and an intermediate draw, and opened the expanded draw interface.

Shi Lan used her rewards to draw a Divine Cloud Bow and a Heavenly Spirit Talisman, then advanced to the sixth level of the Xiantian Realm. The next day, she led Wang Ning and the others toward the Demon Domain, where they fought demon beasts before hearing a new group of flood horses approach through the falling snow.

• Shi Lan left town without accepting its mayor's gold and silver, then arranged for Wang Ning's group to take turns resting and guarding their horses.
• Shi Lan drew the Divine Cloud Bow and Heavenly Spirit Talisman, finding the bow suitable for combat and the talisman a powerful one-use safeguard.
• Shi Lan cultivated and broke through to the sixth level of the Xiantian Realm, then continued studying the first strike of the Burning Heaven Three Halberd in the system's virtual space.
• Shi Lan and Wang Ning's group encountered several hundred demon beasts, and Shi Lan used the Divine Cloud Bow to kill several before letting the others finish the fight.
• Shi Lan's group collected the scattered spirit crystals as snow began to fall, then heard the sound of approaching flood horses.

Shi Lan and Wang Ning’s group met Wu Lingkong’s women’s battalion and traveled with them through a blizzard. While sheltering in a cave, Shi Lan learned why many soldiers came from the Central Heaven Domain, and Wu Lingkong revealed that her training period was ending.

• Wu Lingkong introduced herself as a soldier from the garrison under Heavenly Dao Peak, and Shi Lan agreed to travel with her battalion.
• Shi Lan and Wu Lingkong led the groups to shelter in a mountain cave as a blizzard intensified, where Wang Ning and the others made fires and warmed water.
• Wu Lingkong shared roasted meat with Shi Lan, and they discussed their homes and the regions they came from.
• Wu Lingkong explained that many ordinary soldiers from the Central Heaven Domain joined the Demon-Suppressing Army for a better future and said her training period was ending that year.
• Wu Lingkong asked when Shi Lan had joined the army, and Shi Lan said she had encountered many demons in her several months of service.

Shi Lan and Wu Lingkong found valuable spiritual materials in a snowy mountain ravine, including a hot spring with a Red Cloud Lotus. They entered the spring to relax, and Shi Lan felt a sudden pang as she confronted how much her life had changed.

• Wu Lingkong asked Shi Lan about her age and martial arts cultivation, and Shi Lan said she would turn twenty in two months.
• Shi Lan and Wu Lingkong patrolled the mountain during the blizzard and discovered a Flame Spirit Mushroom beside a crack in the snow.
• They descended into the ravine, gathering Flame Spirit Mushrooms and other fire-attributed spiritual materials along the way.
• At the ravine’s bottom, Wu Lingkong found a Red Cloud Lotus growing in a hot spring and checked the water for danger.
• Wu Lingkong undressed and entered the spring, then Shi Lan joined her and felt something inside her heart shatter before the warm water comforted her.

Shi Lan and Wu Lingkong harvested the Scarlet Radiance Lotus and other spirit materials, then emerged from the fissure to find Snowstorm Kites circling overhead. As Wu Lingkong warned that the flying beasts would be difficult to fight in the blizzard, Shi Lan said she had a way to deal with them.

• Shi Lan helped Wu Lingkong break through the reef and retrieve the Scarlet Radiance Lotus's lotus root.
• Wu Lingkong divided the spirit materials and lotus between them, then shared the lotus stamens and petals with Shi Lan to aid her cultivation.
• Shi Lan quickly refined the lotus's spiritual energy and advanced her cultivation, while Wu Lingkong picked more spirit materials for the Demon-Suppressing soldiers.
• Shi Lan and Wu Lingkong gathered nearly all the medicinal materials and flew out of the fissure.
• Several Snowstorm Kites appeared overhead, and Wu Lingkong explained that the blizzard strengthened them and made fighting them in the air costly.
• Shi Lan told Wu Lingkong that she had a way to handle the Snowstorm Kites.

Shi Lan and Wu Lingkong chose to lead their group toward the Shengwu Immortal Sect rather than risk the nearby demonic beast packs. On the way, they encountered hundreds of beasts, and Wu Lingkong’s women’s battalion quickly defeated them, leaving a disagreement over who should claim the battle merits.

• Shi Lan used the Divine Cloud Bow to kill two Snowstorm Kites and drove the others away.
• Shi Lan and Wu Lingkong studied the map, agreed to travel southeast to the Shengwu Immortal Sect, and gained the group's approval.
• Shi Lan kept her magical White Crane Skirt under borrowed armor, and the group set out after the blizzard eased.
• Less than two days later, Wu Lingkong’s mounted women’s battalion crippled a pack of several hundred demonic beasts with hit-and-run bow attacks.
• Shi Lan declined to have Wang Ning and the others collect the battle merits, so Wu Lingkong ordered her subordinates to finish off the surviving beasts.

Shi Lan and her companions reached Rockhold City, where the Firecloud Escort Agency took notice of their arrival and secretly watched them. That night, an intruder crept toward Shi Lan’s tent, and she struck at it after sensing its presence.

• After monsters grew scarce and heavy snow slowed their travel, Shi Lan and her companions arrived at Rockhold City.
• A gate guard reported the armored newcomers to You Hong, who ordered a middle-aged man to watch them.
• Finding no inn with enough rooms, Shi Lan and her companions bought tents and camped, while Shi Lan kept the spirit crystals in her tent.
• Shi Lan cultivated with spirit crystals and Redcloud Lotus Root, nearing the seventh level of the Xiantian Realm as Wu Lingkong watched enviously.
• A black shadow crept toward Shi Lan’s tent, and Shi Lan sensed it and blasted a punch toward the intruder.

Shi Lan’s group was spied on by Xu Sheng, who was injured when she struck him. After Xu Sheng told You Hong about the group’s spirit crystals and a possible third-grade fire-type spiritual material, You Hong began plotting to seize the opportunity and followed them as they left the city.

• Shi Lan struck the spy with a powerful punch, and the injured Xu Sheng escaped into the darkness.
• Xu Sheng returned to You Hong and revealed that Shi Lan’s group carried tens of thousands of spirit crystals and possibly a third-grade fire-type spiritual material.
• You Hong questioned Xu Sheng about the group’s strength, gave him a healing pill, and sent trusted subordinates out with letters.
• Shi Lan’s group left the city at dawn while You Hong and several Xiantian Realm martial artists followed them and waited for replies.
• The group encountered a herd of three or four hundred beasts, which You Hong saw as a chance to assess their abilities.

You Hong recruited martial artists to ambush Shi Lan and the Demon-Suppressing Army, hoping to seize their spirit crystals and a third-grade spiritual material. After arranging the ambush, he spotted their group approaching.

• The Demon-Suppressing Army slaughtered most of the demon beasts, making You Hong wary of the force’s strength.
• You Hong received replies from his contacts and led his subordinates to a valley ahead of Shi Lan’s group.
• You Hong gathered allies and revealed that his targets carried spirit crystals and a third-grade spiritual material.
• Several people left the valley, while most agreed to join the ambush.
• You Hong began assigning positions, and the gathered fighters argued until he spotted Shi Lan’s group approaching.

Shi Lan and her companions were ambushed by You Hong’s group, but she killed several Xiantian Realm attackers with the Divine Cloud Bow before You Hong disarmed her. She then stopped the burly man’s hammer with her bare hands and killed him with one punch.

• The black-robed elder ordered his men to capture the women alive while You Hong and the burly man prepared to attack.
• Iron chains tripped the dragon horses, and Shi Lan and Wu Lingkong leapt into the air as the ambushers attacked.
• Shi Lan killed six Xiantian Realm martial artists with two volleys of arrows from the Divine Cloud Bow.
• You Hong intercepted Shi Lan’s next volley and knocked the Divine Cloud Bow from her grasp, sending her crashing to the ground.
• The burly man brought his iron hammer down on Shi Lan, but she caught it with both hands and killed him with a punch.