Chapter Summaries

After escaping the valley, Zhou Yang reached the Stony Wasteland and began investigating the unfamiliar Land of Extreme West while concealing his family’s arrival and the teleportation array. He learned about a spirit mountain called the Sacred Mountain and flew west to verify what the local herdsmen had told him.

• Zhou Yang and Xu Song escaped the valley with the Zhou Family cultivators, and Xu Song regretted leaving before they could explore a corpse den again.
• Zhou Yang hid his family in a formation, concealed his cultivation, and searched the surrounding land for information.
• Zhou Yang found a spirit mountain beside a lake and learned from abducted herdsmen that the area was the Stony Wasteland and the mountain was called the Sacred Mountain.
• Zhou Yang suspected the Sacred Mountain was a sect branch and decided to investigate when its cultivators came to test newborns for spiritual roots.
• Zhou Yang returned the herdsmen to their tents and flew west to verify their account and search for a cultivator to question.

Zhou Yang learned the history and power balance of the Land of Extreme West by interrogating a cultivator from the Sacred Mountain, then considered how the Zhou family could establish itself there. Li Hong urged caution about joining the Anti-Light Alliance, and Zhou Yang asked him how the family could travel safely without revealing its origins.

• Zhou Yang and Xu Song secretly subdued the Sacred Mountain's Foundation Establishment cultivator, questioned him, and copied several jade slips before leaving the herdsmen's tribe.
• The Foundation Establishment cultivator woke with his memories erased, feared an ambush, and hurried to report to his sect while the other cultivators remembered nothing.
• Zhou Yang learned that Demon Fall Valley was the ruin of an immortal city destroyed in a battle involving the Great Bright Immortal Palace and the Anti-Light Alliance, and that the Stony Wasteland lay in Anti-Light Alliance territory.
• Zhou Yang told the Zhou family cultivators that joining the Anti-Light Alliance could help them establish a branch, but they would need a Spirit Mountain or war merits to secure a base.
• Li Hong warned that the alliance might use new small forces as expendable pawns and advised the Zhou family to operate as Rogue Cultivators until they understood the region.
• Zhou Yang praised Li Hong's judgment and asked how their group could cross the Stony Wasteland and Falling Cloud Mountain Range without exposing their origins.

Zhou Yang learned how the Anti-Light Alliance governed Yu Country’s sects and vassals, then brought the Zhou Lineage through the Falling Cloud Mountain Range. He chose Cang Yuan Immortal City as a place for the family to blend in, and left the cultivators outside the city to travel there discreetly.

• Zhou Yang learned that the Falling Cloud Sect and Dan Yun Sect controlled the Falling Cloud Mountain Range, while the Giant Spirit Sect survived as a vassal of the Falling Cloud Sect.
• Li Hong advised Zhou Yang to settle the Zhou Lineage in an immortal city and let its cultivators live as Rogue Cultivators while they learned about Yu Country.
• Zhou Yang led the Zhou Lineage through the mountain range into Yu Country and considered how the Anti-Light Alliance’s conscription system could offer both dangers and opportunities.
• Zhou Yang chose Cang Yuan Immortal City because rogue cultivators could enter freely without paying fees or registering their identities.
• Zhou Yang landed the Sky-faring Tower Ship several thousand li from the city and instructed the Zhou Lineage cultivators to travel there quietly and avoid conflicts.

Zhou Yang studied the Land of Extreme West and decided the Zhou Family should join the Anti-Light Alliance, but struggled to create a credible origin for a new family branch. Li Hong proposed a slow plan to establish the Zhou Family in Cang Yuan Immortal City and eventually make Zhou Yang its protector.

• Zhou Yang and Xiao Ying entered Cang Yuan Immortal City under his assumed identity as a Fifth Layer Purple Mansion cultivator and rented a courtyard.
• Zhou Yang studied maps and reference materials, learned about the stalemate between the Great Bright Immortal Palace and the Anti-Light Alliance, and favored joining the alliance.
• Zhou Yang distributed information to the Zhou Family members and summoned more than forty of them to discuss how to establish a family branch.
• When none of the Zhou Family Cultivators offered a plan, Zhou Yang asked Li Hong for advice.
• Li Hong proposed that Zhou Tongyue establish a public Zhou Family presence, build its membership through descendants, and later bring Zhou Yang in as its protector after years spent away from Yu Country.

Zhou Yang and the Zhou cultivators put Li Hong’s plan into action, establishing a concealed Zhou Lineage branch in Cang Yuan Immortal City before Zhou Yang traveled toward Jinyang Country with Xiao Ying and Zhou Guangxiang. Their journey brought them to Yunlong Market, where they learned of an upcoming Flood Dragon Slaying Assembly.

• Zhou Yang and the Zhou cultivators finalized Li Hong’s plan, assigning Zhou Tongyue to establish the Lineage, Zhou Fuyun to pose as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and Li Hong to join the family by marriage.
• Zhou Yang arranged disguises, rewards, and a false history for the Zhou cultivators, who spent more than two years preparing to enter Cang Yuan Immortal City.
• Zhou Tongyue passed the guard assessment, became a minor commander, and obtained an estate with a Tier 2 Mid-grade Spirit Vein for the Zhou Lineage.
• After Zhou Tongyue secured the branch’s foothold, Zhou Yang left Yu Country with Xiao Ying and Zhou Guangxiang and traveled through Dayun Country toward Jinyang Country.
• Zhou Yang visited Yunlong Market beside the Dragon River, where Wang Wei told him that the market was about to hold the Flood Dragon Slaying Assembly.

Zhou Yang learned about Yunlong Market’s Flood Dragon Slaying Assembly and considered joining a team to obtain dragon blood for his Azure Dragon Body Refining Art. He went to the gathering site, where Zhao Hao began testing Purple Mansion Stage applicants, and Wang Wei stepped forward to face him.

• Zhou Yang learned that a fifth-rank flood dragon had caused a devastating flood and that Yunlong Market was offering generous rewards for its slaying.
• Zhou Yang decided to investigate the assembly, left Xiao Ying and Zhou Guangxiang to explore the market, and went to the gathering site.
• Zhou Yang learned that Li Yuan and Di Long had filled their teams, while Zhao Hao still had two openings and was recruiting Purple Mansion Stage cultivators.
• Zhao Hao announced that applicants had to withstand three moves beneath his sword, and Wang Wei volunteered to be tested.

Zhou Yang joined Zhao Hao’s recruitment challenge to assemble a team for slaying a fifth-tier Flood Dragon, and passed by withstanding Zhao Hao’s three attacks. The display left Wang Wei realizing that Zhou Yang’s true strength surpassed his own.

• Wang Wei challenged Zhao Hao, but begged for mercy during the third attack and was told he might receive a spot if positions remained.
• After Zhao Hao offered a High-grade Spirit Stone to attract challengers, Zhou Yang took the stage while concealing his cultivation.
• Zhao Hao recognized Zhou Yang’s concealed Violet Palace Stage 7 cultivation and invited him to attack with his sword formation.
• Zhou Yang’s Twelve Yuan Chen Sword Formation struck at Zhao Hao, who countered the first two attacks and launched a massive sword for the third.
• Zhou Yang blocked the final attack with his defensive artifact, golden divine lightning, and two Sword Qi, passing the test without serious injury.
• Wang Wei watched in disbelief and concluded that Zhou Yang’s true strength was greater than his own.

Zhou Yang joined Zhao Hao and Wang Wei for the Flood Dragon Slaying Assembly, negotiated for the chance to buy Dragon Blood if the hunt failed, and reassured Xiao Ying before setting out. Zhao Hao brought the group to the Dragon River to search for the flood dragon's concealed lair.

• Zhao Hao registered Zhou Yang and Wang Wei for the assembly, then revealed he was an elder of the Qingyuan Sword Sect and questioned Zhou Yang about his sword formation art.
• Zhao Hao proposed taking the dragon core and Dragon Soul, with Zhou Yang and Wang Wei each receiving one-tenth of the remaining corpse if they stopped the flood dragon from escaping.
• Zhou Yang asked to buy any Dragon Blood Zhao Hao obtained if the hunt failed, and Zhao Hao agreed before the three planned their search.
• Zhou Yang told Xiao Ying and Zhou Guangxiang about the hunt; Xiao Ying worried, but Zhou Yang reassured her and prepared for departure.
• Zhao Hao flew Zhou Yang and Wang Wei upstream along the Dragon River and explained that they first had to locate the flood dragon's hidden lair.

Zhou Yang carried Yunlong Market’s Dragon Luring Pill along the Dragon River, drawing out bloodline beasts before Zhao Hao and Wang Wei joined Li Yuan’s ongoing fight against a trapped flood dragon. Li Yuan warned Zhao Hao to withdraw from Tianding Sect’s territory, but Zhao Hao stayed to watch for a chance to claim the prey.

• Zhao Hao gave Zhou Yang a Dragon Luring Pill and tasked him with flying upstream to lure out a flood dragon.
• The pill attracted waves of flood-dragon-bloodline beasts, and Zhao Hao helped drive off a Tier 4 High-grade Unicorn Lightning Eel that blocked Zhou Yang’s path.
• Zhou Yang, Zhao Hao, and Wang Wei heard a flood dragon roar and hurried toward the upstream battlefield.
• Li Yuan, backed by Tianding Sect disciples, had trapped and injured a newly advanced flood dragon in a Tier 4 High-grade Five Elements Dragon Trapping Formation.
• Li Yuan ordered Zhao Hao to withdraw, but Zhao Hao refused to be intimidated and kept watching the battle.

Zhou Yang agreed to help Zhao Hao disrupt Li Yuan’s attempt to kill a trapped black flood dragon in exchange for extra compensation and safe passage to Jinyang Country. Zhou Yang lured a Unicorn Lightning Eel to the battlefield, where the flood dragon’s command sent it charging at Li Yuan’s group.

• Wang Wei refused to risk offending Tianding Sect, while Zhou Yang demanded Wang Wei’s share, Zhao Hao’s favor, and a promise to leave Dayun Country with him.
• Zhou Yang sent Xiao Ying a message, and she took Zhou Guangxiang out of Yunlong Market toward Jinyang Country.
• Zhao Hao explained his plan to use the Unicorn Lightning Eel to disrupt Li Yuan’s battle and create a chance for the black flood dragon to escape.
• Zhou Yang used fragments of the Dragon Luring Pill to draw the Unicorn Lightning Eel to the battlefield.
• The black flood dragon roared and drove the Unicorn Lightning Eel into a berserk charge, forcing Li Yuan to redirect his black cone-shaped magical artifact toward it.

Li Yuan’s attempt to capture the Black Flood Dragon collapsed when Zhao Hao wounded it and Zhou Yang collected its blood. After Zhou Yang drove off the Tianding Sect cultivators and gathered enough Dragon Blood, he escaped while Li Yuan and Zhao Hao remained caught in the fight.

• The Black Flood Dragon broke out of Li Yuan’s formation, recovered its wounds in the rain, and flew into the clouds.
• Zhao Hao struck the dragon’s neck and badly wounded it, while Zhou Yang gathered its Dragon Blood with his Jade Bottle Artifact.
• Li Yuan rejected Zhao Hao’s offer to cooperate and attacked him, while Zhao Hao continued striking the dragon with his sword.
• Zhou Yang used talismans and artifacts to hold off five Tianding Sect cultivators as he collected the falling Dragon Blood.
• Zhou Yang struck one opponent with the God Annihilation Needle and another with Qianyang Divine Lightning, then endured the remaining attacks with his strengthened body.
• After gathering enough Dragon Blood, Zhou Yang escaped with Rainbow Light Golden Escape, and the Tianding Sect cultivators did not pursue him.

After the failed dragon hunt, Zhou Yang settled his dealings with Zhao Hao and traveled with Xiao Ying and Zhou Guangxiang to Haoyang Immortal City. He arranged access to private gatherings where he could seek Violet Heart Jade Marrow, then entered seclusion to cultivate the Azure Dragon Body Refining Art.

• Zhao Hao wounded the black dragon, took two of its claws, and drove it into the Dragon River before flying away from Li Yuan.
• Zhou Yang reunited with Zhao Hao, paid 55,000 low-grade spirit stones for the Dragon Blood he had collected, and exchanged Zhao Hao’s promised favor for a token granting access to private gatherings.
• Zhao Hao gave Zhou Yang a token and jade slip for Qingyuan Pavilion, then left him after they reached Jinyang Country.
• Zhou Yang reunited with Xiao Ying and Zhou Guangxiang, and they traveled for half a year to reach Haoyang Immortal City.
• Zhou Yang rented cave abodes for himself and Xiao Ying, then used Zhao Hao’s token to arrange access to private gatherings and searches for Violet Heart Jade Marrow.
• Zhou Yang returned to his cave abode and entered seclusion to cultivate the Azure Dragon Body Refining Art.

After five years of seclusion, Zhou Yang completed the second layer of the Azure Dragon Body Refining Art and learned why he had missed a cultivator exchange meeting. He left to seek another chance to find Violet Heart Jade Marrow for Zhou Guangxiang, and Jin Qu offered him a possible invitation to Old Ancestor Qin’s birthday celebration.

• Zhou Yang endured five years of painful cultivation, consumed ten jin of Dragon Blood, and advanced the Azure Dragon Body Refining Art to its second layer, gaining powerful dragon-scale armor and access to the Azure Dragon Combat Skill.
• Zhou Yang summoned Zhou Guangxiang and learned that Golden Core Stage Cultivators had secretly gathered in Haoyang Immortal City, while she remained anxious about finding Violet Heart Jade Marrow before turning two hundred.
• Zhou Yang promised Zhou Guangxiang he would obtain Violet Heart Jade Marrow, first by watching for it at the Grand Auction and, as a last resort, by taking an Anti-Light Alliance assassination mission.
• Zhou Yang visited Jin Qu at Qingyuan Pavilion, who explained that the earlier exchange meeting had been restricted to Golden Core Stage Cultivators within the Anti-Light Alliance.
• Jin Qu offered to obtain Zhou Yang an invitation to Old Ancestor Qin’s nine-hundredth birthday celebration at Wanhua Mountain, where a high-level cultivator exchange meeting would be held.

Zhou Yang attended Qin Mingde’s birthday celebration at Wanhua Mountain to learn how the Qin Family had endured and grown into a powerful millennial family. After witnessing the Qin Family’s wealth and influence, he left the mountain path determined to pursue similar greatness for the Zhou Family.

• Zhou Yang prepared a piece of Tier 5 demonic beast hide as a gift and traveled with Jin Qu to Wanhua Mountain for Qin Mingde’s birthday celebration.
• Zhou Yang and Jin Qu admired Wanhua Mountain and learned that its guardian beast, the Golden Light Blazing Tiger, had advanced to Tier 5 with the Qin Family’s support.
• Zhou Yang and Jin Qu presented their gifts at the mountain entrance and climbed toward the celebration grounds.
• Zhou Yang heard Haoyang Sect Golden Core cultivators announce lavish gifts for Qin Mingde and realized how far the Qin Family’s influence exceeded his expectations.
• Zhou Yang straightened his back and strode toward the mountainside, inspired to make the Zhou Family as powerful as the Qin Family.

At Qin Mingde’s nine-hundredth birthday celebration, Zhou Yang witnessed the Qin Family’s vast influence and made new connections among the gathered cultivators. The celebration took an unexpected turn when Guo Jinhong, a powerful Nascent Soul cultivator, arrived, and the Haoyang Sect members prepared to welcome him.

• Qin Mingde confirmed with Qin Zhiyu that Ancestor would personally attend his birthday celebration, then sent Qin Zhiyu to help receive guests.
• Zhou Yang saw the Qin Family’s many cultivators and met influential guests as Jin Qu introduced them, while Zhou Yang revealed that he was a Tier 4 High-grade Artifact Forger.
• A Five-Colored Smoke Luo Carriage appeared above Wanhua Mountain, bringing immortal music and drawing the guests’ attention.
• Wu Xian identified the carriage as Guo Jinhong’s personal traveling artifact, shocking the gathered cultivators with the arrival of the Haoyang Sect’s renowned Nascent Soul ancestor.
• A Haoyang Sect Golden Core elder called on the sect’s cultivators to fly up and welcome Guo Jinhong.

Guo Jinhong arrived at Qin Mingde’s birthday celebration and bestowed Jade Liquid Golden Elixir on the Qin Lineage, displaying his favor for them before departing. Qin Mingde used the gift and Guo Jinhong’s visit to reinforce the lineage’s standing among the gathered cultivators.

• Luo Zhenying, the Haoyang Sect disciples, and the Qin Lineage cultivators welcomed Guo Jinhong as his five-colored carriage arrived at Wanhua Mountain.
• Guo Jinhong kept the gathered cultivators waiting while he enjoyed fruit with Qin Zhiyun, then told her to present his birthday gift to her grandfather.
• Qin Zhiyun gave Qin Mingde a portion of Jade Liquid Golden Elixir on Guo Jinhong’s behalf, astonishing Zhou Yang and the other Purple Mansion Stage Cultivators.
• Qin Mingde thanked Guo Jinhong, who praised the Qin Lineage’s loyalty before departing with Qin Zhiyun.
• Wu Xian remarked that Guo Jinhong’s favor would keep the Qin Lineage secure, and Qin Mingde welcomed the birthday guests to celebrate.

Zhou Yang attended the Qin Family patriarch’s birthday celebration on Wanhua Mountain and joined the Treasure Exchange Conference that followed. He traded for cultivation pills and materials for refining his sword, then left as the gathering ended.

• The Qin Family hosted an extravagant birthday banquet, and Qin Mingde gave a Dao lecture before announcing a Treasure Exchange Conference.
• Qin Mingde offered valuable treasures, and Zhou Yang exchanged a Tier 4 High-grade flying sword for five Purple Qi Spirit Nourishing Pills.
• Zhou Yang traded a Fifth-tier Spiritual Medicine from Xu Song’s cave dwelling for Tier 4 High-grade cultivation pills.
• Zhou Yang exchanged artifacts and spirit talismans he had refined for materials, then traded Leaving Fire Essence Gold and artifacts for Taiyi Essence Gold and other sword-refining materials.
• After the conference ended nearly two days later, Zhou Yang and other cultivators with little connection to the Qin Family left Wanhua Mountain.

After returning from Wanhua Mountain, Zhou Yang forged a full set of eighteen Great Evolution Divine Light Swords and later accepted Jin Qu’s invitation to attend a secret underground auction. He arrived at a hidden valley with other masked cultivators and waited for the auction organizers to explain the arrangements.

• Zhou Yang returned to Haoyang Immortal City, visited Xiao Ying, and spent half a month touring the city with her.
• Zhou Yang forged six Great Evolution Divine Light Swords, completing a set of eighteen, then began cultivating with spirit pills.
• Jin Qu warned Zhou Yang that the underground auction would be held outside the city because its goods might have questionable origins, but Zhou Yang accepted a token to attend.
• Zhou Yang left the city three days later, disguised himself, paid thirty Mid-grade Spirit Stones, and boarded an Earth-Tunneling Mountain-Piercing Beast bound for the auction.
• The black-cloaked guide transported Zhou Yang and eight other cultivators to a cloud-shrouded valley where dozens of high-level cultivators had gathered around a stone platform.

Zhou Yang attended an underground auction hosted by three masked Golden Core cultivators, where stolen sect treasures and a sleeping female cultivator were offered for sale. As the auction presented the Ice Beauty as a Dual Cultivation Cauldron, Zhou Yang recalled the cruel practice behind such offerings and fell silent.

• Master Jia the First explained the auction rules and opened bidding with the Seven Fiends Poison Fire cultivation method.
• A Golden Core cultivator identified the method as likely taken from the deceased Seven Fiends Sect elder Luo Bing, and Master Jia the First warned everyone against disrupting the auction.
• Bidders purchased the Seven Fiends Poison Fire method for one hundred and seventy thousand low-grade spirit stones, while Zhou Yang avoided bidding on it and other risky treasures.
• Master Jia the First presented a sleeping Ice Beauty in an ice coffin as a top-grade Dual Cultivation Cauldron who practiced the Great Yin Cold Moon Art.
• Zhou Yang considered how Dual Cultivation Cauldrons were raised for destructive harvesting and fell silent as he looked at the Ice Beauty.

Zhou Yang bought a suspected Purple Sun Vermillion Fruit at an underground auction, then discovered the auction organizers had vanished when the Great Bright Immortal Palace attacked. The valley erupted into chaos, leaving him caught in a dangerous ambush.

• Bidding for the Ice Beauty, a captured true disciple of the Great Bright Immortal Palace, ended at seven hundred and seventy thousand low-grade spirit stones.
• After a suspicious dispute over the fruit’s identity, Zhou Yang outbid the remaining bidders and paid three hundred and eighty thousand low-grade spirit stones for the suspected Purple Sun Vermillion Fruit.
• Master Jia the First distributed jade maps and instructed buyers to leave the valley according to how much they had spent.
• As Zhou Yang prepared to depart, an explosion shook the valley, and cultivators outside shouted that the Great Bright Immortal Palace had attacked.
• Zhou Yang looked toward Master Jia the First and found that he and the other two organizers had disappeared.