Chapter Summaries

Yu Sui told Mei Chengyu that her mother had sent Ji Shuyan to kill her for the Breath Soil, and Mei Chengyu promised to keep her secret. He explained the upcoming Zhanlong Cave challenge and its dangers; after Yu Sui went upstairs, he connected the challenge’s route to the mysterious search for something in Hanging Moon Cave.

• Yu Sui examined Ji Shuyan’s talisman-transformed corpse and told Mei Chengyu she wanted to remember the people who tried to kill her.
• Mei Chengyu learned that Yu Sui possessed only half the Breath Soil, while the other half was with her mother, and promised not to reveal the secret.
• Yu Sui said Ji Shuyan had loved her mother and been ordered by her to kill Yu Sui; Mei Chengyu agreed that he deserved to die.
• Mei Chengyu stayed the night, shared apricots with Yu Sui, and described the Zhanlong Cave challenge and how she could survive its dangers.
• After Yu Sui went upstairs, Mei Chengyu recalled the dying old man and wondered what else lay in Hanging Moon Cave, where Gu Gan had also searched.

Yu Sui settled matters with Mei Chengyu and Wei Ren, then encouraged Li Jinshuang to attend the Military School as herself. After Li Jinshuang fought Tian Wen over a lecture-hall seat and revealed her identity, she accepted his challenge at the Xuanwu Platform.

• Yu Sui questioned Wei Ren about surviving members of his group, arranged for him to recover in the outer city, and asked him to keep working on separating the Xirang.
• Yu Sui told Xue Mushi she would return to the academy the next day, then spent the night hearing Mei Chengyu's advice about Zhanlong Cave and Nine Schools Techniques.
• Li Jinshuang chose a white dress and went to the Military School alone after Yu Sui encouraged her to accept herself and stand up to people who mistreated her.
• Leng Rouyin taught the crowded Military School lecture hall about the difference between Dead Formations and Live Formations, demonstrating how a master could change Black Wind City's terrain and puppets.
• After Tian Wen demanded compensation for losing his seat, Li Jinshuang punched him and knocked him away; Pang Rong then proposed a fight at the Xuanwu Platform.
• Li Jinshuang revealed her name and accepted Tian Wen's challenge, leaving the surrounding disciples surprised by her appearance.

Li Jinshuang fought Tian Wen at Xuanwu Platform, revealing the strength of her sword spirit and shocking Shu Chujun. Sheng Zui told Yu Sui that Gu Gan had kissed Xun Zhiya and urged her to give up on him, but learned that Yu Sui only regarded Gu Gan as an older brother.

• Xue Jiayue dragged Xue Mushi to Xuanwu Platform after hearing that Li Jinshuang was fighting Tian Wen in women's clothes, while Yu Sui watched through her Five-Element Light Core.
• Li Jinshuang overwhelmed Tian Wen with her swordsmanship, then summoned a powerful sword spirit that sent him crashing off the platform; Shu Chujun watched in disbelief as Xun Zhiya confirmed Li Jinshuang's identity.
• After Sheng Zui brought Yu Sui lunch, he told her that Gu Gan had kissed Xun Zhiya at Xiaoyao Pool and argued that Gu Gan would never choose her.
• Yu Sui clarified that she liked Gu Gan as an older brother and had no intention of marrying him, leaving Sheng Zui surprised and relieved.
• Yu Sui watched Sheng Zui leave and reflected on his relationship with Nangong Ming, realizing that Nangong Ming had always favored him.

Yu Sui learned how Chu Jin had tried to implicate the Zhongli Family in a Lan Poison attack, while Zhongli Que narrowly protected Zhongli Xu from a Golden Armored Army search. The chapter ended with Gu Gan asking Yu Sui to help him enter Hanging Moon Cave during the Zhanlong Cave challenge, but she left without replying.

• Yu Sui received Zhongli Que’s account of Chu Jin’s influence over Zhongli Xu and the Lan Poison attack that disrupted Madam Sun’s birthday banquet.
• Zhongli Que used her precognitive vision to summon Qinglong soldiers and tried to keep Gu Jun from searching the room where Zhongli Xu and Chu Jin were staying.
• Gu Jun returned the Snow Flying Mouse to Zhongli Que and withdrew his soldiers from the Inner Courtyard.
• Zou Yexi attacked Chu Jin to test her strength, but Chu Jin evaded his killing blow and pinned his shadow with Silver Needles.
• Mister Zhou warned Chu Jin about the Zhongli Family and Nangong Sui, while Chu Jin declared that she wanted a higher position and would not accept interference.
• Gu Gan asked Yu Sui to decipher a Secret Text so they could enter Hanging Moon Cave, but Yu Sui put away her Listening Wind Ruler and left without answering.

Yu Sui tried to find help entering Zhanlong Cave, then joined Li Jinshuang and Xue Mushi in Asura Hell, where Divine Mechanism · Heavenly Eye let her perceive the formation’s Five Elements Qi. The group escaped after Yu Sui encountered a fire-born version of herself, and she left wondering whether her power had revealed Heavenly Eye’s true ability.

• Yu Sui visited Sheng Zui at the Mohist School but learned he planned to help Mu Mengbai in Zhanlong Cave, so she decided to seek another way to obtain a Heavenly Secrets Technique.
• Yu Sui met Li Jinshuang and Xue Mushi at the Yin-Yang and Five Elements Field, and they entered Asura Hell despite someone secretly following Li Jinshuang.
• Li Jinshuang summoned her sword spirit, and Yu Sui used Divine Mechanism · Heavenly Eye with Soul Control Triple to anticipate the sword techniques of the stronger Evil Ghosts.
• Li Jinshuang’s sword spirit warned her that Yu Sui was dangerous, while the group was driven to a riverbank facing Black Armored Cavalry and a fire-born version of Yu Sui.
• The fire-born Yu Sui offered her power, and Yu Sui ordered Xue Mushi to escape as they disrupted the formation and fled Asura Hell.
• At dawn, Yu Sui wondered if she had witnessed Heavenly Eye’s power, and Xue Mushi accused her of hiding her true strength before she decided to ask her Master for answers.

Yu Sui studied the Ghost Dao School’s Life Talismans and curse formulas while preparing for the Zhanlong Cave challenge, then entered the trial as its dragon-shaped entrances opened. At the Dragon Tail, Yan Xiaochuan approached her, and the chapter ended with his intentions clear.

• Yu Sui asked Sage Chang Gen about Life Talismans and her Mystic Technique, then learned that her power might be influencing the Star Map’s formations.
• Yu Sui sparred with Mei Chengyu to practice countering Life Talismans and learned the Gan Ding curse, which she mastered just before Zhanlong Cave opened.
• The Zhanlong Cave challenge began, and disciples entered through the dragon’s belly, Dragon Claw, and Dragon Tail entrances.
• Mei Chengyu asked Su Tong to watch over Yu Sui, and Su Tong waited at the Dragon Tail entrance for her.
• Yu Sui arrived at the Dragon Tail, where Yan Xiaochuan approached her after dismissing objections to targeting lower-ranked disciples.

Yan Xiaochuan joined Su Tong and Yu Sui for Yu Sui’s first day in Zhanlong Cave, and the three avoided trouble while traveling toward a transfer point. At night, they camped by a river as Mei Chengyu’s group opened a teleportation route elsewhere in the cave and spotted Gu Gan, Xun Zhiya, and Li Jinshuang passing nearby.

• Yan Xiaochuan offered to accompany Yu Sui, but Su Tong intervened and explained that Mei Chengyu had asked her to protect Yu Sui for fifteen days.
• Su Tong and Yan Xiaochuan took Yu Sui into Zhanlong Cave, explained the Mechanism Exquisite Heart and the entrance’s transfer trick, and warned her about the cave’s illusions.
• Su Tong refused to let five other disciples join them, then led Yu Sui and Yan Xiaochuan away after sensing the group seemed malicious.
• Yan Xiaochuan used his named stone, Little Flower, to seek the School of Names’ Mountain Stone Opens the Road transfer point, and the three stopped to camp when night made travel dangerous.
• Around the campfire, Yu Sui said Gu Gan was only her childhood companion, while Yan Xiaochuan insisted Gu Gan must have feelings for her.
• Mei Chengyu, Zhongli Shan, and Xing Chun opened a teleportation point, learned that Gu Gan, Xun Zhiya, and Li Jinshuang were nearby, and chose not to confront them.

Mei Chengyu, Zhongli Shan, and Xing Chun fought their way through an ambush at a Zhanlong Cave teleportation point, while Yu Sui, Su Tong, and Yan Xiaochuan pursued another route toward Dragon Claw. Princess Shangyang and Wen Yanghui attacked them at a river crossing, and the current swept the injured Su Tong and Yu Sui toward a mysterious underwater Communication Array Mountain as Yan Xiaochuan tried to reach them.

• Xing Chun used Swallowing Shadow to help Mei Chengyu and Zhongli Shan ambush and defeat the disciples guarding the teleportation point.
• Yu Sui woke and continued through Dragon Tail with Su Tong and Yan Xiaochuan, despite repeated mishaps and Su Tong's warnings of danger ahead.
• Su Tong led Yu Sui and Yan Xiaochuan across a star-lit river toward a teleportation point, but Princess Shangyang and Wen Yanghui confronted them.
• Wen Yanghui's attacks and Princess Shangyang's Ice Serpent forced Yu Sui and Su Tong off the star path and into the river; Su Tong was injured and lost consciousness.
• Yan Xiaochuan found Yu Sui and Su Tong underwater, but his attempt to rescue them failed when the current swept them toward the Communication Array Mountain.

After golden lightning and the river separated Yu Sui, Su Tong, and Yan Xiaochuan from the others, Yu Sui treated Su Tong in a cave and then returned underwater to investigate the Number Mountain Cluster. She found that the cluster appeared to operate independently inside Zhanlong Cave, but had not yet discovered what information it was receiving.

• Yu Sui and Yan Xiaochuan reached a dry cave with the unconscious, badly injured Su Tong, and Yu Sui treated Su Tong’s lightning wounds while Yan Xiaochuan kept watch.
• Yan Xiaochuan told Yu Sui about Wen Yanghui’s strained relationship with Mei Chengyu and worried that Senior Brother Sheng would blame him for the lightning injuries.
• Yu Sui refused Yan Xiaochuan’s offer to search the river for her and returned underwater alone, following the Five Elements Light Core she had left as a marker.
• Yu Sui found the Number Mountain Cluster and observed that its Character Incantations were active despite the restrictions on using the Listening Wind Ruler inside Zhanlong Cave.

Yu Sui infiltrated Zhanlong Cave’s Number Mountains, learned to alter the cave’s mechanisms and terrain, and used those changes to help Su Tong and Yan Xiaochuan fight Wen Yanghui. The chapter ended with Wen Yanghui swept away by the river and eliminated from the challenge.

• Yu Sui entered the underwater Communication Array, used her Divine Mechanism · Heavenly Eye to map Zhanlong Cave, and changed the Number Mountains so disciples could be detected without triggering their Mechanism Exquisite Hearts.
• Yu Sui lifted the river’s restriction on the Bagua Life Technique, found a nearby teleportation point, and returned to Yan Xiaochuan and the injured Su Tong.
• Su Tong explained the Mystic Technique Divine Mechanism · Heart's Blessing to Yu Sui, while Yan Xiaochuan reported that Princess Shangyang and her entourage were near the teleportation point guarded by Wen Yanghui.
• Yu Sui, Su Tong, and Yan Xiaochuan planned to lure Wen Yanghui into the river; Su Tong set up a trigram formation as Yan Xiaochuan confronted him at the Mountain Pass.
• Yu Sui altered the Number Mountains to disable Wen Yanghui’s golden lightning and intensify the river, then helped Yan Xiaochuan knock him into the water.
• The surging river swept Wen Yanghui away and shattered his Mechanism Exquisite Heart, expelling him from Zhanlong Cave.

Yu Sui, Yan Xiaochuan, and Su Tong defeated Wen Yanghui and advanced from the Dragon Tail to the Dragon Claw, while Mei Chengyu’s group prepared to fight Pang Rong and Sheng Zui before Gu Gan’s group arrived. After Yu Sui took Su Tong to rest, she encountered Xue Mushi in the river and saw a way to persuade her companions to take a shortcut.

• Wen Yanghui was eliminated at the Dragon Tail after Yu Sui’s Mechanism Array and Su Tong’s divination formation left him vulnerable to the river.
• Yu Sui, Yan Xiaochuan, and Su Tong activated a teleportation formation and traveled from the Dragon Tail to the Dragon Claw.
• Mei Chengyu, Xing Chun, and Zhongli Shan reached the Ninth Section and began fighting Pang Rong, Sheng Zui, and Mu Mengbai.
• Gu Gan, Qian Ying, Xun Zhiya, and Li Jinshuang arrived at the crowded teleportation point, drawing the fighters’ attention toward them.
• Yu Sui took Su Tong to rest, then went to gather firewood while Yan Xiaochuan kept watch.
• Yu Sui calmed the river and rescued Xue Mushi, realizing that his Daoist divination abilities might help her persuade Yan Xiaochuan and Su Tong to take a shortcut.

Yu Sui recruited Xue Mushi to divine safe teleportation routes so they could reach Dragon Head Ye Pool and claim the Heavenly Secrets Technique. At Shallow Water Beach, the factions clashed, Li Jinshuang’s Sword Spirit ran wild after Mei Chengyu used Heart in Sight on her, and Gu Gan’s Break Law left Mei Chengyu’s sealed memories surging back.

• Yu Sui told Xue Mushi to divine the teleportation points she identified, and he agreed to help her reach Dragon Head Ye Pool.
• Sheng Zui and Mei Chengyu attacked Gu Gan at Shallow Water Beach as the other disciples joined the battle.
• Li Jinshuang summoned her immense four-headed Sword Spirit to protect Xun Zhiya, startling everyone present.
• Gu Gan used Four Directions Star Guard to counter Xing Chun’s array, but Mei Chengyu disrupted his attack and used Heart in Sight on Li Jinshuang.
• Li Jinshuang’s uncontrolled Sword Spirit swept across the beach while Mei Chengyu drove Gu Gan into the cave.
• Gu Gan used Break Law to dispel Mei Chengyu’s Golden Thunder, and Mei Chengyu suddenly recalled fragments of a past life.

Mei Chengyu's group became trapped behind Qian Ying's Five Xuan Poison after Qian Ying was eliminated, while Yu Sui's group advanced to Dragon Belly Eighth Section and found Sound of Water Crossing. Yu Sui and Xue Mushi vanished into a formation, prompting Yan Xiaochuan to call for help, just as Zhongli Que foresaw Yu Sui being tortured to death.

• Gu Gan revealed his Mysterious Technique. Celestial Official, and Mei Chengyu realized its power was disturbing the seal on his memories.
• Qian Ying used Five Xuan Poison to cover her group, but Zhongli Shan killed her with the Military School's Summon and Fix technique; Gu Gan and his companions escaped while the others were trapped behind the poison.
• Yu Sui led Su Tong, Yan Xiaochuan, and Xue Mushi through teleportation formations to Dragon Belly Eighth Section, where Yan Xiaochuan found the melting Sound of Water Crossing conch.
• Yu Sui disappeared into a formation by the shore, and Xue Mushi vanished when he swam toward the same spot; Yan Xiaochuan used the conch to call Shi Yuezhen for help.
• Shi Yuezhen, Mei Chengyu, Zhongli Shan, and Sheng Zui hurried toward Yu Sui's location after hearing Yan Xiaochuan's message.
• Zhongli Que awakened from a vision of Yu Sui being tortured to death and reached for the Listening Wind Ruler.

Su Tong and her companions waited outside the Dragon Fish Military Formation while Mei Chengyu went to rescue Yu Sui and Xue Mushi inside. Yu Sui and Xue Mushi encountered a World Destroyer’s consciousness, and news spread that the World Destroyer had appeared in the Dan Kingdom as a nineteen-year-old boy.

• Gu Gan decided to wait for Ji Meng and the others before going to look for Nangong Sui, while Mei Chengyu, Zhongli Shan, and Shi Yuezhen hurried toward Su Tong and Yan Xiaochuan.
• Su Tong explained that Yu Sui and Xue Mushi were likely trapped in an underwater Military Formation, and Zhongli Shan arrived as Mei Chengyu headed into the sea to retrieve Yu Sui.
• Yu Sui and Xue Mushi evaded the Dragon Fish Military Formation Puppets and hid in a Fish Scale Stone Cave, where they discussed how to escape and how to conceal Xue Mushi’s divinations.
• After Zhongli Que warned Yu Sui not to enter the cave, a Black Paper Boat brought Military Formation Puppets to their hiding place, and Yu Sui and Xue Mushi fled deeper inside.
• Yu Sui and Xue Mushi sensed an echo from the same cluster of flames, and a voice asked who would die this time as Xue Mushi was struck by the puppets.
• Taiyi’s Sages learned that the World Destroyer had appeared as a nineteen-year-old boy in the Dan Kingdom, while Mei Chengyu entered Dragon Fish after seeing lightning and fire at the cave entrance.

Yu Sui and Xue Mushi endured a World Destroyer’s Death Empathy as a youth in the Dan Kingdom was tortured and driven to unleash the Black Flame, destroying the city and killing its people. Mei Chengyu protected Yu Sui in the Zhanlong Cave and comforted her as she recovered from the shared pain.

• Yu Sui and Xue Mushi felt the youth’s pain from Lingering Death by a Thousand Cuts while they fought the Military Formation Puppets in the cave.
• The Irritable Man urged the youth to reveal his location and warned him not to trust the Old Man’s plan to separate him from the alien flame.
• The youth succumbed to despair and released the Black Flame; the Dan Kingdom’s city, countryside, and tens of thousands of people were destroyed before the flame vanished with him.
• Mei Chengyu carried Yu Sui through the cave, fought off the puppets with Ghost Dao School techniques, and destroyed the Black Paper Boat at the entrance.
• Yu Sui collapsed and cried from the pain, and Mei Chengyu used Medical School Nine Streams Technique to ease it and promised to make Wen Yanghui suffer the same lightning and fire.

Mei Chengyu carried the injured Yu Sui through the cave and cleared the Military Formation Puppets, then turned back after she claimed Xue Mushi was still inside. Xue Mushi endured Death Empathy and uncovered a clue about Yu Sui’s strange fire before meeting them and finding Mei Chengyu far more trusting than he expected.

• Mei Chengyu comforted Yu Sui, promised to save her in the future, and carried her on his back when another Black Ship released Military Formation Puppets.
• Mei Chengyu used the Frost White Python to freeze the puppets and destroyed their Dead Formation symbols, clearing the cave.
• Yu Sui told Mei Chengyu that Xue Mushi was still in the cave and fabricated a story about his divinations, so Mei Chengyu turned back to find him.
• Xue Mushi suffered Death Empathy over Yu Xian’s death, while the Yin-Yang School Saintess felt her curse mark react from far away.
• Xue Mushi realized Nangong Sui’s strange fire had appeared eighteen years earlier and wondered how she had lived with it since birth.
• Xue Mushi met Mei Chengyu carrying Yu Sui and saw that Yu Sui acted sweetly toward him despite her cool gaze.

Mei Chengyu disrupted the Dragon Fish Military Formation and returned to shore with Yu Sui, where Shi Yuezhen removed Yu Sui’s lightning mark. Sheng Zui tried to take Yu Sui with him, but she chose to keep traveling with Xue Mushi and Su Tong, leaving Sheng Zui tempted to join Mei Chengyu’s group and abandon Pang Rong.

• Yu Sui introduced Xue Mushi to Mei Chengyu as her Senior Martial Brother, and the three set out to find the warship and challenge the City Defense General.
• Mei Chengyu used the Ghost Dao School’s Seven Consciousness Tower to drain and disrupt the formation’s Five Elements Qi, swallowing the warship in a black storm.
• While Mei Chengyu and Yu Sui were away, Shi Yuezhen removed Su Tong’s lightning mark, and Yan Xiaochuan praised Xue Mushi’s divination skills.
• Mei Chengyu returned to shore with Yu Sui, while Xue Mushi had to paddle after them; Sheng Zui arrived and learned that Wen Yanghui had struck Yu Sui with Golden Lightning.
• Sheng Zui tried to take Yu Sui away, but Yu Sui said she wanted to continue traveling with Xue Mushi and Su Tong, and Mei Chengyu suggested Sheng Zui leave Pang Rong to join their group.

Sheng Zui agreed to cooperate with Mei Chengyu’s group, and both groups regrouped near the Ninth Section’s Teleportation Formation. Gu Gan secretly returned to find Yu Sui, then left after seeing Mei Chengyu treat her, while Sheng Zui took over bandaging her hand.

• Sheng Zui agreed to join Mei Chengyu’s group, and they headed toward the Ninth Section’s Teleportation Formation.
• Gu Gan met up with Ji Meng, Huo Xiao, Xiang Feifei, Shu Chujun, Li Jinshuang, and Xun Zhiya, then left to check on Nangong Sui and wait near the Teleportation Formation.
• Gu Gan spotted Yu Sui with Sheng Zui’s group and grew angry when Mei Chengyu held her hand to treat her injuries.
• Yu Sui secretly used a Five Elements Light Core to discover Gu Gan hiding nearby, but Gu Gan slipped away without speaking to her.
• Sheng Zui told Pang Rong to split up, endured Pang Rong’s angry departure, and then took over bandaging Yu Sui’s hand from Mei Chengyu.

Yu Sui secretly caused a landslide during a battle at a Teleportation Formation, separating herself and Xue Mushi from the others as they fell into an abyss. She and Xue Mushi reached the river below, and Yu Sui confirmed that Mei Chengyu had survived the fall.

• Sheng Zui's group and Mei Chengyu's group agreed to travel together, while Yu Sui and Xue Mushi waited for a chance to speak privately.
• Gu Gan returned to his group and ordered them to head for the Dragon Belly Twelfth Section by the fifteenth, leaving Yu Sui to suspect they planned to retrieve the Futuo Tower.
• Xue Mushi declined to divine their route, saying he had not recovered from the effort of the previous night, so the group followed the route they already knew.
• At a Teleportation Formation, Mei Chengyu and Zhongli Shan joined a battle while the others supported them or stayed back.
• Yu Sui altered the Terrain Runes, splitting the ground and sending the fighters tumbling into an abyss; she carried Xue Mushi down through the clouds and lifted her restriction on Five Elements Qi so he could land.
• Yu Sui checked the map at the riverbank and saw that Mei Chengyu's red dot was still moving.

Yu Sui and Xue Mushi discussed their shared Strange Fire secret, the deaths of past World Destroyers, and the search for the Tianzi Text hidden in the Futuo Tower. Xue Mushi revealed that Strange Fire’s nightly torment responds to its bearer’s emotions, leaving Yu Sui to realize how close it had brought her to collapse.

• Yu Sui told Xue Mushi she knew Zhanlong Cave’s teleportation points and planned to find Mei Chengyu and the others after they talked.
• Yu Sui and Xue Mushi compared what they knew about Strange Fire and learned that Xue Mushi had inherited it five years earlier, after Gao Tianhao died at Taiyi.
• Xue Mushi recounted how Tu Miaoyi had helped him keep his Strange Fire secret and explained that Gao Tianhao had been exposed by Sage Chang Gen.
• Yu Sui told Xue Mushi that Gao Tianhao had mentioned the Tianzi Text, and Xue Mushi revealed that it was hidden in a Futuo Tower Fragment.
• Xue Mushi explained that the divine fire’s nightly scorching worsened when its bearer’s emotions resonated with it, and Yu Sui realized it had been pushing her toward destroying the world.