Chapter Summaries

Zhou Yang escaped the ambush at the underground auction and discovered that the wounded Bayan Er was pursuing him. Realizing Bayan Er had lost much of his strength in the battle, Zhou Yang turned to fight him, leaving their confrontation unresolved.

• Zhou Yang rushed out of the valley, endured the Great Bright Immortal Palace cultivators' attacks, and escaped with the Rainbow Light Golden Escape.
• Zhou Yang examined Master Jia the First's map and suspected the auction organizers had lured the Great Bright Immortal Palace to the remote site, then headed back toward Haoyang Immortal City.
• Bayan Er pursued Zhou Yang, who stopped to prepare the Blood Escape Technique and recognized his pursuer as the injured cultivator from the valley.
• Zhou Yang learned Bayan Er had fled after Master Jia the First and the other organizers counterattacked the Great Bright Immortal Palace cultivators.
• Zhou Yang blocked Bayan Er's golden saber with a Nine Palaces Sword Formation and inferred that Bayan Er had lost most of his artifacts and much of his strength.

Zhou Yang and Xu Song joined forces to kill Bayan Er after Zhou Yang withstood his blood-essence-powered blade and Xu Song’s White Bone Clone wounded him. Zhou Yang concealed the ghostly traces, returned to Haoyang Immortal City, and went to Qingyuan Pavilion.

• Bayan Er used his Blade Sacrifice Technique to strengthen his crescent blade, but Zhou Yang punched it away with his bare fist.
• Xu Song emerged from the Spirit Nourishing Token and attacked Bayan Er with the White Bone Clone, breaking through his defenses and setting him ablaze.
• Bayan Er damaged the White Bone Clone with his Natal Artifact, while Zhou Yang healed his injured arm with a Heaven Returning Life Saving Talisman.
• Zhou Yang and Xu Song overwhelmed Bayan Er, and the Heart-Devouring Demonic Wolf devoured his Primordial Spirit.
• Zhou Yang took Bayan Er’s head, refined the corpse and lingering traces, then left the battlefield before another Golden Core Cultivator arrived.
• Three days later, Zhou Yang returned to Haoyang Immortal City and went to Qingyuan Pavilion.

After killing Bayan Er, Zhou Yang met Zhao Hao and traded the Golden Core cultivator’s head for a Tier 5 Low-grade offensive talisman and Violet Heart Jade Marrow. Zhao Hao claimed the alliance reward and returned with the jade marrow, while Zhou Yang accepted that his growing reputation could prompt others to investigate him.

• Zhou Yang inventoried Bayan Er’s meager belongings and regretted the risks and resources he had spent killing him.
• Zhou Yang met Zhao Hao and offered Bayan Er’s head in exchange for Violet Heart Jade Marrow and a Tier 5 Low-grade offensive talisman.
• Zhao Hao recognized Bayan Er as an elder of the Golden Saber Hall and agreed to the transaction, giving Zhou Yang the Weak Water Corroding Immortal Talisman.
• Zhao Hao presented Bayan Er’s head to He Bin at the Anti-Light Alliance office and claimed the reward.
• Zhao Hao returned to Qingyun Pavilion and handed Zhou Yang the Violet Heart Jade Marrow.

Zhou Yang gave Zhou Guangxiang the Violet Heart Jade Marrow, and she successfully opened her Violet Palace after half a year in seclusion. More than two years later, Jin Qu warned Zhou Yang that the Anti-Light Alliance was preparing to fight the Great Bright Immortal Palace again.

• Zhou Yang gave Zhou Guangxiang the Violet Heart Jade Marrow and explained that he had killed Bayan Er to obtain it, so she attempted to open her Violet Palace in his Haoyang Immortal City cave dwelling.
• After half a year, Zhou Guangxiang succeeded, regained her youthful appearance, and received Tier 4 Artifacts from Zhou Yang before spending more than two years cultivating in seclusion.
• Zhou Yang and Xiao Ying attended Haoyang Immortal City's auction, where Zhou Yang bought cultivation pills and rare alchemy herbs for Xiao Ying.
• Jin Qu visited Zhou Yang after the auction and warned him that war between the Anti-Light Alliance and the Great Bright Immortal Palace would likely begin within ten years.
• Jin Qu said the Alliance's leaders wanted to revive its fighting spirit, while the Haoyang Sect and Lihuo Sect supported war for their own reasons.

Jin Qu asked Zhou Yang to join the Qingyuan Sword Sect as a hired cultivator in the coming war, offering battlefield merit that could buy rare treasures such as a Jade Liquid Golden Elixir. Zhou Yang refused, and Xiao Ying urged him to weigh the dangers against his responsibilities to her and the Zhou Lineage.

• Zhou Yang suspected the Anti-Light Alliance planned a major war to redirect internal conflicts and asked Jin Qu whether the news affected him.
• Jin Qu asked Zhou Yang to fight for the Qingyuan Sword Sect because its Late Purple Mansion Stage cultivators did not want to go to war.
• Xiao Ying rejected Jin Qu's request on Zhou Yang's behalf, and Zhou Yang agreed that he wanted to focus on cultivation.
• Jin Qu argued that battlefield merit could let Zhou Yang obtain a Jade Liquid Golden Elixir, but Zhou Yang refused because the war could expose him to Golden Core Stage assassins and scrutiny.
• After Jin Qu left, Zhou Yang assured Xiao Ying that he would not risk his life for small gains, though he admitted he would accept a sufficiently valuable and survivable opportunity.
• Xiao Ying said she would continue supporting Zhou Yang and asked him to consider her and the Zhou Lineage whenever he took risks.

Zhou Yang prepared the Zhou Family for the coming war, then spent years cultivating as the conflict between the Great Bright Immortal Palace and the Anti-Light Alliance dragged on. After reaching Violet Palace Layer 8, he rented a powerful Fire Element cultivation room and began preparing to break through to Layer 9.

• Zhou Yang sent Zhou Guangxiang to protect the Zhou Family in Cang Yuan Immortal City and gave her equipment and treasures for Zhou Tongyue in case he was conscripted.
• Zhou Guangxiang promised to protect the family without exposing its connection to Zhou Yang, then left for Cang Yuan Immortal City.
• Seven years later, the Great Bright Immortal Palace and the Anti-Light Alliance went to war, and Zhou Tongyue and other Zhou Family cultivators were sent to the battlefield.
• During his tenth year of secluded cultivation, Zhou Yang reached Violet Palace Layer 8 and decided to pursue Layer 9.
• Zhou Yang rented a room in the Extreme Yang Cave, where he planned to use cultivation pills, a suspected Purple Sun Vermillion Fruit, and Cloud Mist Immortal Tea to advance.

After twelve years of seclusion, Zhou Yang reached the Ninth Layer Purple Mansion Stage, surviving the hidden poison in a Purple Sun Vermillion Fruit. Xiao Ying told him about the escalating war and Zhou Guangxiang’s plan to secure Cang Yuan Immortal City through marriage, leaving Zhou Yang suspicious that Li Hong had devised the scheme.

• Zhou Yang completed twelve years of cultivation and broke through to the Ninth Layer Purple Mansion Stage, nearly dying from Extreme Yang Fire Poison in the Purple Sun Vermillion Fruit.
• Zhou Yang stabilized his cultivation, reclaimed his remaining rent, and visited Xiao Ying, who had reached Violet Palace Stage 6 and become a Tier 4 Mid-grade alchemist.
• Xiao Ying told Zhou Yang that Jin Qu had repeatedly sought him out, apparently hoping to send him to the increasingly deadly war.
• Xiao Ying explained that Zhou Guangxiang had asked Li Hong to report that Cang Yuan Rogue Cultivator’s descendant was pursuing her, and proposed accepting his courtship to help the Zhou Lineage eventually take over Cang Yuan Immortal City.
• Zhou Yang said that Li Hong, rather than Zhou Guangxiang, had likely conceived the plan and persuaded her to pursue it.

Zhou Yang rejected the idea of using Zhou Guangxiang’s marriage to secure ties with the Cang Yuan Rogue Cultivator’s descendant and decided to remain in Haoyang Immortal City to prepare for Core Formation. After learning about the war from Jin Qu, he returned to study battle reports and Core Formation experiences.

• Zhou Yang told Xiao Ying that he would not approve Zhou Guangxiang’s marriage unless her suitor proved his sincerity over many years, and said he planned to remain in Haoyang Immortal City for a breakthrough attempt.
• Zhou Yang visited Qingyuan Pavilion, where Jin Qu learned that Zhou Yang was under three hundred and had reached the Ninth Layer Purple Mansion Stage.
• Jin Qu gave Zhou Yang a detailed Qingyuan Sword Sect battle report, and Zhou Yang asked about renting a cave residence for Core Formation.
• Zhou Yang studied the battle report, resolved to repay Jin Qu’s past help if he could, and then read Xu Song’s Core Formation experiences.

After failing his first attempt at Core Formation, Zhou Yang returned to Xiao Ying’s cave dwelling and considered leaving Haoyang Immortal City. Golden Core cultivator Zhao Hao then asked him to fight in a dangerous death match, but Zhou Yang refused before hearing Zhao’s promised compensation.

• Zhou Yang failed to complete Core Condensation after a little over a year in seclusion, then spent nearly two years recovering from the damage to his dantian.
• Zhou Yang returned the Tier 5 Cave Dwelling and planned to leave Haoyang Immortal City with Xiao Ying to investigate Zhou Guangxiang’s situation and take Xu Song back to Demon Fall Valley.
• Zhao Hao visited Zhou Yang and described the death matches proposed to end the eighteen-year war between Great Bright Immortal Palace and the Anti-Light Alliance.
• Zhao Hao said Qingyuan Sword Sect needed a strong fighter and had recommended Zhou Yang, while Xiao Ying begged her husband not to accept the dangerous match.
• Zhou Yang refused Zhao Hao’s request, but Zhao urged him to hear the compensation offer before deciding.

Zhou Yang negotiated with Zhao Hao over the rewards and dangers of representing the Qingyuan Sword Sect in a deathmatch, then prepared by refining a defensive Fifth-tier Artifact. The chapter left him ready for battle while Zhao Hao returned with improved terms after negotiating with the other Sect Families.

• Zhao Hao offered Zhou Yang talisman treasures and a Jade Liquid Golden Elixir for three consecutive deathmatch victories, but Zhou Yang demanded greater compensation because of the risks.
• Zhao Hao explained the deathmatch rules, including limits on powerful treasures, and promised to seek additional contributions from the other Sect Families.
• Xiao Ying objected to Zhou Yang risking his life, but Zhou Yang explained why buying a Jade Liquid Golden Elixir would be dangerous and persuaded her to accept his decision.
• Zhou Yang examined his Fifth-tier Artifacts and chose to refine the Mysterious Tortoise Shield for defense.
• Zhou Yang spent half a year refining the shield while Zhao Hao negotiated with the Sect Families, then Zhao Hao returned with new terms.

Zhou Yang accepted Qingyuan Sword Sect’s offer to fight in the coming death matches in exchange for valuable treasures, including a Three Revolutions Pure Yuan Pill. After proving his strength and signing a contract, he waited at the front-line camp until the nineteen-year war paused and he was summoned to the final oath-taking assembly.

• Zhao Hao offered Zhou Yang a Three Revolutions Pure Yuan Pill and a Tier 5 Low-grade Artifact if he won three consecutive matches and secured a death-match victory, and Zhou Yang agreed.
• Zhou Yang left Xiao Ying his valuables for safekeeping and traveled with Zhao Hao to the Anti-Light Alliance’s front-line city, where they saw cultivators depart for battle.
• Sect Master Han Xiao questioned Zhou Yang’s claims, then tested him against a Purple Mansion cultivator, whom Zhou Yang defeated with his sword formation.
• Zhou Yang and Han Xiao signed a Netherworld Blood Contract, and Zhou Yang accepted several offensive treasures before waiting at the Qingyuan Sword Sect encampment.
• After nearly half a year, the nineteen-year war paused, and Zhou Yang followed Han Xiao and Zhao Hao to meet the Nascent Soul cultivators at the final oath-taking assembly.

Zhou Yang attended the Anti-Light Alliance’s oath-taking assembly and learned the rules and stakes of the death duels. He was assigned to the fourth match and began reviewing possible opponents as the first duel started.

• True Person Tianlei Lei Wanpeng addressed the assembled cultivators, urging them to win the war by defeating their opponents and claiming their resources.
• Zhou Yang and the other duelists traveled to the battlefield, where the leaders arranged fifteen best-of-five duels under strict rules and resource wagers.
• Zhao Hao told Zhou Yang that he was scheduled for the fourth match and examined intelligence on his five possible opponents with him.
• The first duelists passed inspections and entered the arena after the referees announced Gao Jianli of the Tai Xuan Sword Sect and Nie Feng of the Great Bright Immortal Palace as the opening combatants.

Gao Jianli won the first deathmatch for the Anti-Light Alliance by killing Nie Feng with the Tai Xuan Sword Sect’s Instant Void Slash. After the Great Bright Immortal Palace won the next two deathmatches, Zhou Yang entered the fourth match against Tuoba Yunshuang of the Ice Chen Sect.

• Gao Jianli and Nie Feng fought with their Tier 5 artifacts, and Gao Jianli used defensive treasures to withstand Nie Feng’s attacks while preparing a secret technique.
• Gao Jianli unleashed Instant Void Slash and killed Nie Feng, giving the Anti-Light Alliance the first deathmatch victory.
• The Great Bright Immortal Palace swept the second deathmatch three to zero and narrowly won the third deathmatch three to two, killing several Ninth Layer Purple Mansion Stage cultivators.
• Zhou Yang heard that he needed three consecutive victories and felt the pressure of the coming matches.
• Zhou Yang entered the arena for the fourth deathmatch against Tuoba Yunshuang of the Ice Chen Sect.

Zhou Yang defeated Tuoba Yunshuang in the first battle of the fourth death match, but the Great Bright Immortal Palace immediately sent Gu Zhen against him without allowing him time to recover. Gu Zhen used a Harmony Light Dust Talisman to conceal himself and struck Zhou Yang with powerful fire and lightning attacks, leaving Zhou Yang engulfed in flames.

• Zhou Yang killed Tuoba Yunshuang after countering her ice treasures with his sword formation and Qianyang Heavenly Sword.
• The Great Bright Immortal Palace referee immediately declared Zhou Yang's next match against Gu Zhen, a near-death old cultivator.
• Gu Zhen used a Harmony Light Dust Talisman to vanish, but Zhou Yang spread poisonous weak-water mist in an effort to reveal him.
• Zhou Yang detected and destroyed a crystal butterfly decoy, just before Gu Zhen's platinum-white flames and lightning shattered the Mysterious Tortoise Shield's barrier.
• The platinum-white flames caught Zhou Yang and engulfed his body as the watching Anti-Light Alliance cultivators lost hope.

Zhou Yang defeated Gu Zhen with his Qianyang True Fire and Fifth-tier Lightning Talisman, then rapidly killed Tian Guang with a secret divine-sense attack and Han Xiao’s sword. He won three consecutive battles and remained on the battlefield, while Zhao Hao celebrated his victory.

• Zhou Yang survived the Lightning Talisman’s blast, used his Qianyang True Fire to withstand the Bright Holy Flame, and drew attention from Anti-Light Alliance leaders who ordered an investigation into his origins.
• Zhou Yang defended against Gu Zhen’s attacks with the Mysterious Tortoise Shield while recovering his injuries and mana, prompting Gu Zhen to begin a lifespan-burning secret art.
• Zhou Yang activated his Fifth-tier Lightning Talisman before Gu Zhen could complete the secret art, freezing him and winning the second battle.
• Tian Guang attacked Zhou Yang with artifacts and Tier 4 Talismans, but Zhou Yang struck him with the God Annihilation Needle and killed him with Han Xiao’s small green sword.
• The referee declared Zhou Yang the winner of the third battle, and Zhao Hao shouted in excitement as Zhou Yang achieved three consecutive victories.

After Zhou Yang won three consecutive deathmatches, he healed from his wounds while cultivators on both sides reassessed him and Han Xiao tried to recruit him. Han Xiao warned him about the dangers of refusing powerful sects, and Zhou Yang learned he might wait ten or twenty years for a Jade Liquid Golden Elixir, while Han Xiao promised to help him obtain a Three Revolutions Pure Yuan Pill.

• Zhou Yang returned from his third deathmatch victory, collected his opponents’ belongings, and began healing while Han Xiao and Zhao Hao kept other Golden Core cultivators from approaching him.
• After a little over three hours, Zhou Yang recovered and changed into a clean robe as the deathmatches continued.
• Han Xiao told Zhou Yang about a former treasure body cultivator who was killed after rejecting recruitment by the Golden Body Battle Gate, warning that powerful sects could act with impunity.
• Zhou Yang kept his plans to himself as Han Xiao assumed he wanted to join a top sect and stopped trying to recruit him.
• Zhou Yang asked when he would receive the Jade Liquid Golden Elixir and Three Revolutions Pure Yuan Pill, and Han Xiao said the elixir could take ten or twenty years while he would help secure the pill after the war.

After the Purple Mansion Stage matches, the Golden Core Stage death matches began, revealing the devastating power of Golden Core Self-Destruction. Zhou Yang recognized Li Cangyuan, who had entered the arena to repay an old debt, and reflected on the dangerous promise he had made to True Person Qingyang as Li faced a formidable opponent.

• The Great Bright Immortal Palace won six Purple Mansion Stage matches while the Anti-Light Alliance won four, but Zhou Yang noted that the Golden Core Stage matches would decide the war.
• Zhou Yang watched a Golden Core cultivator self-destruct and saw the immense damage it caused, while defeated fighters repeatedly used the technique to injure or kill their opponents.
• The referee announced a match between Li Cangyuan of the Anti-Light Alliance and Du Yunfeng of the Great Bright Immortal Palace, and Zhou Yang recognized Li as Cang Yuan Rogue Cultivator.
• Zhao Hao told Zhou Yang that Li Cangyuan had joined the match to repay a promise to a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator whose sect needed a fighter.
• Zhou Yang thought of his own promise to True Person Qingyang and watched anxiously as Li, facing a Seventh-layer Golden Core opponent, entered a perilous battle.

After the Golden Core duels devastated both sides, two Nascent Soul cultivators fought for ten days and perished together, bringing the nearly twenty-year war to an end. Zhou Yang received his promised rewards and returned to Haoyang Immortal City with the Qingyuan Sword Sect, where Zhao Hao offered him a favor that echoed an earlier broken promise.

• Li Cangyuan survived his opponent's Golden Core self-destruction but suffered grave injuries and lost both Tier 5 defensive artifacts.
• The Golden Core duels ended after seven days, with the Great Bright Immortal Palace losing thirteen cultivators and the Anti-Light Alliance losing eleven.
• Ling Zhengyang challenged Yu Xuanjin, and the two Nascent Soul cultivators fought for ten days before dying together.
• After the ceasefire took effect, Zhou Yang received the Three Revolutions Pure Yuan Pill and the Tier 5 Low-grade Artifact Bing Fire Lightning Bottle, while the Jade Liquid Golden Elixir remained due in twenty years.
• Zhou Yang traveled back to Jinyang Country with the Qingyuan Sword Sect and accepted Zhao Hao's offer of future assistance near Haoyang Immortal City.

Zhou Yang was summoned by Guo Jinhong and entered Worry-Free Valley with Wang Qian, one of the ancestor’s concubines. After Wang Qian staged a fall that left him holding her, she claimed no one else would learn of it, and Zhou Yang accused her of framing him.

• Overwhelmed by visitors seeking to recruit him, Zhou Yang and Xiao Ying decided to leave Haoyang Immortal City and head for Cang Yuan Immortal City.
• As Zhou Yang prepared to depart, a Haoyang Sect Golden Core cultivator summoned him to meet Ancestor Guo, so Zhou Yang entrusted his storage ring and Spirit Nourishing Token to Xiao Ying before going.
• At Worry-Free Valley, Wang Qian told Zhou Yang to stay close to her while they crossed Guo Jinhong’s formation, and he followed her through the mist.
• Wang Qian suddenly stumbled backward, and Zhou Yang instinctively caught her, accidentally placing his hands on her chest.
• Wang Qian said Guo Jinhong would not find out and insisted that only she and Zhou Yang knew; Zhou Yang then accused her of deliberately framing him.

Wang Qian revealed that she had framed Zhou Yang so he would choose her when Guo Jinhong offered him a concubine, hoping to escape Worry-Free Valley. Zhou Yang refused to trust her without a blood contract, then followed her into the valley and toward Guo Jinhong’s palace.

• Wang Qian explained that she had deliberately led Zhou Yang through the formation to make him take her away from Worry-Free Valley.
• Wang Qian told Zhou Yang that Guo Jinhong would reward him with a concubine and pleaded for him to choose her.
• Zhou Yang offered Wang Qian a Netherworld Blood Contract to ensure she would keep their encounter secret if her claim proved false, but she refused to sign it.
• Wang Qian led Zhou Yang into Worry-Free Valley, where he saw its abundant spirit medicines and spiritual energy.
• The valley’s concubines noticed Zhou Yang as Wang Qian escorted him toward Guo Jinhong’s crimson palace.