Chapter Summaries

As the Immortal Realm collapsed, Ning Chen escaped with Yin'er and a bronze boat after battling Ghost Slave, then reunited with Prince Yan outside the realm. Prince Yan warned Ning Chen against pursuing the dead’s revival at the expense of cultivation, and Ning Chen set off with Yin'er for Ink Star.

• Ayluo Zhen and the Ink Lord’s other disciples pursued treasures as Ning Chen and Yin'er fled the collapsing Immortal Realm.
• Ning Chen caught an azure streak of light and found it was a small bronze boat, then evaded Ghost Slave’s attacks and escaped the realm with Yin'er.
• Ning Chen used Heavenfall to destroy the Immortal Realm and followed Prince Yan’s sword intent through the starfield mist.
• Prince Yan gave Yin'er a sword aura and urged Ning Chen to focus on cultivation rather than rushing to find a way to revive the Ghost Maiden.
• Ning Chen asked Prince Yan to retrieve the Immortal Slaying Sword and tell Yin'er's mother she was safe, then watched him depart.
• Ning Chen told Yin'er they were returning to Ink Star.

After returning to Ink Mountain, Ning Chen was summoned to duel with Soaring Cloud, who revealed extraordinary swordsmanship and let Ning Chen defeat him. Soaring Cloud departed with White Rainbow and later died, leaving the sword for Ning Chen as his fellow disciples mourned.

• Ning Chen returned to Ink Mountain with Yin'er and continued teaching her the sword from its basic moves.
• Soaring Cloud asked Ning Chen to care for his medicinal herbs while he was away, then challenged him to a sword duel with White Rainbow.
• Ning Chen defeated Soaring Cloud, who left the duel wounded and told Ayluo Zhen that his fate could not wait; Ning Chen sensed the duel had been a farewell.
• Ten days later, a youth delivered White Rainbow to the Ink Lord, saying Soaring Cloud had left it for Ninth Peak.
• The youth brought White Rainbow to Ning Chen, and Ayluo Zhen, Qi Huan, and the others mourned Soaring Cloud as Qi Huan urged Ning Chen to keep the sword.

Ning Chen discovered a hidden chamber of spirit tablets on Third Peak and learned that several tablets belonged to former peak masters, including the mysterious Zi Chuan. After fighting Chaos in Ninth Peak’s Nether Forest, he witnessed the supposedly dead Marquis in Purple attack the Ink Lord.

• Ning Chen found a concealed stone chamber beneath Soaring Cloud’s medicinal field, where spirit tablets bore the names of former peak masters and Zi Chuan.
• Ayluo Zhen identified Lü Luo, Yue Zhu, Xiang Yuan, and Huayang as former masters of Fourth, Second, First, and Ninth Peak, and said Zi Chuan had seemed to be Seventh Peak’s master.
• Ning Chen confronted Chaos in the Nether Forest, then used the White Rainbow Sword and Taishi to sever Chaos’s arm.
• The Ink Lord moved to intervene, but Marquis in Purple appeared and attacked him on Message Peak.
• Marquis in Purple broke through the Ink Lord’s seven-colored defense with Purple Rainbow Piercing the Sun and pressed his assault.

Marquis in Purple fought the Ink Lord in a devastating battle, but an unknown rescuer carried him away after the Ink Lord nearly killed him. As Marquis in Purple received treatment in Ink City, Yin'er searched the forest for Ning Chen and froze when someone finally emerged.

• Marquis in Purple unleashed demonic power and forbidden techniques, but the Ink Lord defeated him and seized him by the throat on Seventh Peak.
• An unknown figure appeared through a dazzling wheel, blocked the Ink Lord's killing attack, and took Marquis in Purple away.
• In Ink City, the woman in green treated Marquis in Purple's injuries and used a Nine Marvelous Separation-Reunion Flower to regrow his severed left arm.
• Yin'er entered the forest alone to find Ning Chen, unaware of the battle elsewhere, while Chaos watched her from the depths.
• After footsteps sounded through the forest, Yin'er ran toward them, then stopped and froze when a figure emerged.

Ning Chen explored Chaos's Mustard Seed Space and discovered the remains of Huayang, a former lord of Ninth Peak who had died there a century earlier. When a man attacked Yin'er and destroyed Crimson Refinement, Ning Chen unleashed his demonic power and emerged to fight him as Chaos.

• Ning Chen crossed the poisonous-rain-filled Mustard Seed Space and found Huayang's blood-written pleas and remains in a valley.
• Ning Chen recognized Huayang from their shared True Sun Scripture resonance, buried his skull, and inferred that Huayang had fled there after a fight a century earlier.
• In the forest behind Ninth Peak, a man pursued Yin'er, struck her down, and attacked her with devouring power.
• Crimson Sword protected Yin'er and shattered while blocking the man's fatal strike, alerting Ning Chen that Crimson Refinement had been destroyed.
• Ning Chen broke out of the Mustard Seed Space and confronted the man, who revealed himself as Chaos.
• Ning Chen transformed into a hundred-zhang demonic body and crushed Chaos beneath his foot, burying most of its body underground.

Ning Chen defeated Chaos, forced it to serve Yin'er, and learned that a True Realm expert had sealed knowledge of Huayang’s killer. Meanwhile, Ink Lord received an invitation to Red Luan’s wedding, where the Red Luan Princess told the amnesiac Phoenix Body that she had chosen him for love, and his words left her wondering whether he remembered her.

• Ning Chen subdued Chaos, rescued Yin'er, and sealed one of Chaos’s souls inside her so she could command it.
• Ning Chen questioned Chaos about Huayang’s death, and Chaos said a True Realm expert’s law prevented it from revealing the killer.
• Ning Chen returned with Yin'er to the bamboo grove cottage, where she told him that Marquis in Purple had fought Ink Lord while Ning Chen was away.
• A woman arrived at Message Peak and invited Ink Lord to Red Luan’s wedding, which he agreed to attend.
• At the royal realm on Hongluan Star, the Red Luan Princess spoke with the amnesiac Phoenix Body and said love had led her to choose him.
• Phoenix Body murmured, “Love knows not where it begins, yet once begun, it deepens beyond all measure,” startling the Red Luan Princess.

As the Red Luan Princess’s wedding approached, Ning Chen traveled with Qi Huan and Yin'er to Blazing City to request fire essences and investigate the Fire Lord’s loyalty. Meanwhile, the woman in green sent Marquis in Purple to watch over the situation and warned him not to harm Ayluo Zhen.

• The Phoenix Body summoned a crystal coffin containing a woman in a scarlet wedding gown and was overcome by guilt and sorrow as he looked at her.
• The Ink Lord sent Qi Huan to deliver a wedding gift to the Red Luan Realm King and request ten fire essences, and Ning Chen joined him because he suspected the Prince Consort was an old acquaintance.
• Ning Chen collected Yin'er, and the three set out for the Fire Nation, where Qi Huan warned that the Fire Lord was a formidable opponent.
• Ning Chen suspected the request for ten fire essences was meant to test the Fire Lord’s loyalty, while Qi Huan said the Fire Lord would likely defeat him in a fight.
• In Ink City, the woman in green and her companion discussed the Ink Lord’s test of the Fire Lord and sent Marquis in Purple to the Fire Nation, ordering him not to harm anyone or kill Ayluo Zhen.

Qi Huan and Ning Chen confronted the Fire Lord to obtain ten fire essences, but their request sparked a battle in the Fire Nation Imperial Palace. As the Fire Lord unleashed the power of Blazing City, the Ink Lord intervened, while Mo Shao'ai prepared to leave Golden Radiance City with Red Luan.

• Qi Huan and Ning Chen asked the Fire Lord for ten fire essences, but he refused and ordered them to leave.
• Qi Huan fought the Fire Lord while Ning Chen held off the Thirteen Royal Guards with his sword.
• The Fire Lord drew on Blazing City's earthfire to advance his cultivation, and Ning Chen joined the duel but was wounded by the stronger opponent.
• The Fire Lord gathered power to strike again, but the Ink Lord appeared and stopped the battle.
• Mo Shao'ai announced that Xiaoyue Chang'an Restaurant would close temporarily, then called Red Luan to leave with him.

The Ink Sect attacked the Fire Nation, and Ning Chen watched the Ink Lord battle the Fire Lord before leaving to retrieve fire essence from the Fire Domain. There he encountered the Vermilion Bird, then returned to find the palace battle still raging; the Ink Lord sent Ning Chen and Qi Huan away as the royal palace collapsed behind them.

• The Ink Lord and the Fire Lord clashed in the royal hall while Ning Chen watched and considered how Xuan Luo's strength might threaten him.
• The Marquis in Purple arrived and fought Ayluo Zhen outside the hall as Qi Huan held off the Fire Nation's guards.
• The Ink Lord sent Ning Chen to the Fire Domain, where Ning Chen collected ten fire essences and encountered the Vermilion Bird beneath the earthfire.
• Ning Chen returned to Blazing City, but the Ink Lord ordered him and Qi Huan to leave and focus on their task.
• Ning Chen and Qi Huan departed, and the imperial palace collapsed amid an eruption of seven-colored light.

The Red Luan Princess and Yao Ji discovered that Bai Yujing was recovering fragments of his memories and remained devoted to someone from his past, so they planned to use the Heart-Bewitching Art on him again. After Ning Chen arrived at the Royal Territory, he slipped away at night and attacked a bewitching figure near Bai Yujing.

• Yao Ji questioned the Red Luan Princess about Bai Yujing’s fading feelings and ordered her to bring him to Misty Rain Pavilion.
• Yao Ji tested Bai Yujing, sensed his memories returning and his suspicion of the Royal Territory, and told the Red Luan Princess to use the Heart-Bewitching Art again.
• Ning Chen, Qi Huan, and Yin'er arrived at the Red Luan Royal Territory, where Ning Chen learned that the Princess controlled access to the Prince Consort.
• Ning Chen told Qi Huan that Bai Yujing was an old friend, then secretly left the guest courtyard after nightfall.
• A bewitching figure appeared behind Bai Yujing near Liufeng Palace, and Ning Chen revealed himself and slashed at her with his sword.

Ning Chen’s Demonic Body fought the Phoenix Body and Red Luan Princess before the Red Luan Realm King intervened. Mo Shao'ai arrived to stop the conflict, and Ning Chen left with the badly injured Qi Huan while the wedding preparations continued.

• Ning Chen’s Demonic Body battled the Phoenix Body and Red Luan Princess, wielding twin swords and unleashing the Sword of Nirvana.
• The Red Luan Realm King appeared and attacked Ning Chen, but Qi Huan arrived and took a grave injury while protecting him.
• Ning Chen carried Qi Huan away from the Realm King’s next attack, and Qi Huan pleaded that his junior brother had caused a misunderstanding.
• Mo Shao'ai entered the battle and separated the fighters with his silver string, then exchanged words with the Red Luan Realm King and Yao Ji.
• Mo Shao'ai invited Ning Chen to talk later and warned the Phoenix Body to consider how he would repay Red Luan’s sword wound.
• Ning Chen left with Qi Huan, while the Phoenix Body returned to the hall with the Red Luan Princess.

Ning Chen and Yin'er discussed the Phoenix Body, their plans to prevent his marriage to the Red Luan Princess, and Ning Chen’s struggle to keep his demonic nature in check. Meanwhile, Mo Shao'ai prepared to meet Ning Chen and spoke to a mysterious presence inside a wooden box about the demon’s faltering grip on rationality.

• Ning Chen healed Qi Huan, then told Yin'er that he had fought to protect the Phoenix Body from the Red Luan Princess.
• Ning Chen said the Moonlit Tower Master’s arrival might offer a way forward and planned to negotiate with him, while Yin'er worried that Ning Chen might be forced to reveal his identity.
• Ning Chen explained to Yin'er that demons were inherently cold and feared he might eventually tire of restraining his nature; Yin'er begged him not to abandon her.
• Mo Shao'ai instructed Red Luan to prepare Heartless Ephemeral Dream for an honored guest the next day.
• Mo Shao'ai addressed a mysterious presence in a wooden box and wondered how much longer Ning Chen could maintain his false mask of rationality.

Ning Chen met with Mo Shao'ai, who revealed the Red Luan Royal Territory’s cruel master-and-shadow succession and his own history with it. Mo Shao'ai proposed helping Ning Chen confront the Red Luan Princess’s territory, and Ning Chen was left to consider their cooperation.

• Red Luan welcomed Ning Chen and Yin'er to Moonlit Wine House, where Mo Shao'ai sent Yin'er downstairs and spoke with Ning Chen privately.
• Ning Chen deduced that Mo Shao'ai had once belonged to the Red Luan Royal Territory and had known the Red Luan Realm King and Consort Yao Ji for many years.
• Mo Shao'ai explained that each generation’s successors included a master and a shadow, with the master expected to devour the shadow; he confirmed that Red Luan was the current shadow.
• Ning Chen said he was searching for a way to bring the dead back to life, and Mo Shao'ai said he would trade for Ning Chen’s sword, Peerless Under Heaven, if he ever obtained a way to help.
• Mo Shao'ai asked Ning Chen to help seek justice for Red Luan, offering him a chance to settle matters with the Red Luan Royal Territory without its interference.

As the Red Luan Princess’s wedding approached, the Golden Radiance Emperor, the Heaven Speaker, the Ink Lord, and the Moonlit Tower Master arrived in the Royal Territory. At the welcoming banquet, the Moonlit Tower Master demanded repayment for Red Luan’s sword wound and threatened the Red Luan Realm King and the Princess when they resisted.

• Red Luan returned to the Moonlit Tower Master after seeing off the honored guest, while the wedding preparations continued in the Royal Territory.
• The Golden Radiance Emperor, the Heaven Speaker, and the Ink Lord arrived in succession, followed by the Moonlit Tower Master and the veiled woman at his side.
• The Red Luan Realm King confronted the Moonlit Tower Master as they passed on the divine bridge, but Mo Shao'ai continued toward the banquet.
• At the banquet, the Red Luan Princess and the Phoenix Body offered wine to the honored guests, but the Moonlit Tower Master refused his cup until someone answered for Red Luan’s sword wound.
• The Moonlit Tower Master demanded that one of them accept a sword strike in repayment and threatened to kill the Red Luan Realm King and the Princess if they refused.

At the Banquet of Infinity, the Moonlit Tower Master forced the Red Luan Royal Territory to settle old and new grievances through a duel between Red Luan's husband, the Phoenix Body, and the Ninth Son of Ink Sect, Ning Chen. The battle was set for three days later at Sun-Moon Lake, leaving the Royal Territory's dignity in the hands of the two juniors.

• The Moonlit Tower Master challenged the Red Luan Royal Territory and demanded justice for Red Luan.
• Consort Yao Ji proposed that the juniors settle their grudges, and the Moonlit Tower Master named the Phoenix Body and Ning Chen as the combatants.
• The Red Luan Realm King chose the Red Luan Princess to fight, but Yao Ji declared that the Phoenix Body would take her place.
• The Moonlit Tower Master and Yao Ji agreed to hold the battle at Sun-Moon Lake in three days.
• Red Luan left with the Moonlit Tower Master, while Ning Chen departed holding Yin'er's hand and exchanged an emotionless glance with his other body.

At Sun-Moon Lake, Ning Chen’s demon incarnation and Phoenix Body fought a merciless sword battle before the realm’s strongest spectators. Meanwhile, Prince Yan and A’man retrieved and sealed the Immortal Slaying Sword, then set out for the Ancient Land of Western Buddhism to learn what had happened to Qing Ling.

• The demon incarnation arrived at Sun-Moon Lake and began a fierce battle against the Phoenix Body as the Red Luan Princess, Yin’er, and powerful spectators watched.
• The two fighters unleashed sword techniques, heavenly and phoenix fire, and extreme speed, until their final clash shattered the formations and left both bleeding.
• At Wanxing Pass, A’man met Prince Yan beside the Immortal Slaying Restriction Zone and agreed to accompany him inside.
• Prince Yan withstood the forbidden zone’s sword qi and pulled the broken Immortal Slaying Sword free.
• A’man placed the Immortal Slaying Sword in her sword rack, sealing it with the other four swords and ending the forbidden zone’s slaughtering aura.
• Prince Yan told A’man that Ning Chen had found no way to revive the dead, then led her toward the Ancient Land of Western Buddhism to learn more about Qing Ling.

Ning Chen’s demon body and the Phoenix Body fought a devastating sword duel at Sun-Moon Lake until outside forces intervened. Elsewhere, Prince Yan learned that Qing Ling was being reforged by Buddhist fire and vowed to return if she did not awaken.

• The Phoenix Body and Ning Chen’s demon body traded powerful sword techniques, and the Phoenix Body briefly seized the advantage with the Heavenly Dragon Quake.
• Ning Chen used White Rainbow to restrain the Phoenix Body’s speed, regained control with Taishi, and drove her into a perilous disadvantage.
• The Red Luan Princess rushed toward the battlefield, but the Moonlit Tower Master blocked her as the Red Luan Realm King attacked; the Tower Master intercepted him.
• Prince Yan and A'man passed through the ruined site of the Daoist-demon war and traveled to Mount Xiyao to question the Xiyao Master about the past.
• The Xiyao Master revealed that Qing Ling’s body was being reforged with Buddhist fire and might take ten to a hundred years to awaken.
• Prince Yan departed, warning that he would return if Qing Ling did not awaken, and the Buddhist fire weakened.

The Moonlit Tower Master, Mo Shao'ai, fought the Red Luan Realm King and Yao Ji while the Phoenix Body was trapped in the demon’s heavenly fire. After the Red Luan ancestors intervened and then withdrew, the Phoenix Body broke through to Great Perfection and unleashed Nirvana against the demon’s Two Principles Sword Array, leaving the battle’s outcome unresolved.

• The Moonlit Tower Master blocked the Red Luan Princess from reaching the phoenix and battled the Red Luan Realm King, shattering Crimson Firmament.
• Yao Ji joined the Red Luan Realm King against Mo Shao'ai, but he summoned Yellow Springs and overpowered them.
• The Red Luan Sixth Ancestor and Seventh Ancestor appeared, but the Third Ancestor stopped their attack and invited Mo Shao'ai into the depths of the Royal Territory.
• The Phoenix Body absorbed the heavenly fire, broke through the Yellow Springs Restriction, severed the Love Tribulation, and reached the Great Perfection Realm.
• The Phoenix Body unleashed the Sword of Nirvana, and the demon countered with the Two Principles Sword Array as the fighters retreated from the spreading sword might.

After the two bodies reunited, the Phoenix Body explained how he had used the Red Luan Princess’s Heart-Bewitching Art to overcome the Love Tribulation and revealed that the Grand Void Divine Realm held the Jade Pond Divine Water. The bodies planned to enter the realm while the Red Luan royal family was distracted by the wedding, while Yin'er stayed at Moonlit Tower.

• The Phoenix Body and the demon body ended their sword contest in a draw, and the Phoenix Body later survived his lightning tribulation and reached Great Perfection.
• At Misty Rain Pavilion, Yao Ji warned the Red Luan Princess to watch for changes in the Heart-Bewitching Art and not mistake its influence for genuine affection.
• The Phoenix Body told the demon body that he had sealed his memories before succumbing to the Heart-Bewitching Art, using it to pass the Love Tribulation and learn that the Jade Pond Divine Water lay in the Grand Void Divine Realm.
• The Phoenix Body and the demon body agreed to seek the realm’s entrance inside the Red Luan Royal Territory while the Realm King and princess were occupied with the wedding.
• The demon body left the Phoenix Body with the Red Luan Princess, while Yin'er went to Moonlit Tower, where the Moonlit Tower Master offered her a free room.

On the eve of his wedding to the Red Luan Princess, Ning Chen entered the Grand Void Divine Realm to find the Jade Pond Divine Water. After rescuing flood victims and learning of an immortal spring in the Extreme North, he fought his way past a silver-armored guardian and found an emerald pool.

• Ning Chen waited for the Red Luan ancestors to appear before the wedding, while the Phoenix entered the Grand Void Divine Realm.
• Ning Chen entered the Divine Realm and searched for the Jade Pond Divine Water among its oppressed people.
• Ning Chen rescued a woman and her infant from a flood, then carved a vast ravine to divert the waters and save the people.
• The woman told Ning Chen of an immortal spring in the Extreme North, and he revealed that the beings worshipped in the heavenly palace were mortals who called themselves gods.
• Ning Chen reached a snowy mountain, broke through an illusion, and defeated a silver-armored man who tried to stop him.
• Ning Chen continued onward and found an emerald pool that appeared to be the Jade Pond Water.