Recaps

Chu Tiankuang defeated Zhang Yifei in the third match, securing the Seventh Peak’s victory at the exchange gathering. He left the remaining Eighth Peak disciples with a mocking challenge to fight him together.

• Chu Tiankuang challenged Zhang Yifei and agreed to lose if he could not defeat him within five moves.
• Zhang Yifei attacked with the Sword Python Art, but Chu Tiankuang shattered his technique with a single powerful swing.
• Chu Tiankuang struck Zhang Yifei again after he had already been defeated, knocked him out of the arena, and left him seriously injured.
• Gao Yueyue protested, but Mo Buwu defended Chu Tiankuang and declared that the Seventh Peak had won the gathering.
• Chu Tiankuang challenged the remaining eight Eighth Peak disciples to come fight him together.

Chu Tiankuang challenged Eighth Peak to send eight disciples against him, and Gao Yueyue struggled to find anyone willing to fight. Chen Fan volunteered to take the stage and demanded half of the Dragon Saliva True Water if he won, then swiftly leaped onto the arena.

• Chu Tiankuang challenged eight Eighth Peak disciples at once and threatened to kill or cripple them, while Mo Buwu encouraged him.
• Gao Yueyue found that her disciples were too afraid to accept the challenge, but Chen Fan alone remained calm.
• Mo Buwu proposed that Eighth Peak concede if its chosen disciple survived five exchanges, and Chu Tiankuang mockingly lowered the condition to three.
• Chen Fan offered to fight Chu Tiankuang and demanded half of the Dragon Saliva True Water if he won.
• Gao Yueyue began to concede, but Chen Fan stepped forward and leaped onto the Martial Arts Arena.

Chen Fan faced Chu Tiankuang in the Martial Arts Arena and revealed powerful Sword Intent by stopping his giant sword with two fingers. As the crowd recognized Chen Fan’s strength, Chu Tiankuang’s sword spirit became afraid of him.

• Chen Fan entered the arena despite Gao Yueyue’s warning, and Chu Tiankuang challenged him to withstand three moves.
• Chu Tiankuang swung his giant sword at Chen Fan, who stood still as Gao Yueyue and Mo Buwu sensed his Sword Intent.
• Chen Fan caught the descending sword between two fingers, stunning the crowd and leaving Mo Buwu in disbelief.
• Chu Tiankuang’s spirit-bearing sword trembled and tried to escape, and Chu Tiankuang realized it feared Chen Fan.

Chen Fan defeated Chu Tiankuang by overpowering his greatsword with Sword Intent, securing Gao Yueyue’s promise of half the Dragon Saliva True Water and forcing Mo Buwu to honor his bet. After returning to the bamboo grove, Chen Fan sensed a familiar figure overhead and heard a voice say it had finally found him.

• Chen Fan told Chu Tiankuang he had lost, and Chu Tiankuang’s greatsword fled after Chen Fan released it.
• Chu Tiankuang conceded defeat, and Gao Yueyue promised Chen Fan half the Dragon Saliva True Water when Sixth Peak delivered it the next day.
• Gao Yueyue reminded Mo Buwu of his wager, and Mo Buwu accepted that Seventh Peak had lost.
• Chen Fan left the arena with Huang Cheng and Tang Xue, then denied being either the younger or elder brother of Chen Fan.
• Chen Fan sensed someone passing overhead in the bamboo grove and heard a familiar voice say it had finally found him.

Chen Fan returned to his hut and found the Yellow-toothed Old Man and Bald Bird fighting over a Jade Token. The old man tried to recruit Chen Fan to Sixth Peak to study artifact forging, then revealed that dismantling a damaged Spirit Treasure had uncovered a great secret and showed Chen Fan a small metal sphere.

• Chen Fan found the Yellow-toothed Old Man and Bald Bird wrestling in his hut over the old man's Jade Token.
• The Yellow-toothed Old Man reclaimed his Jade Token, then frightened Bald Bird away by pretending to rinse his mouth and threaten him with the water.
• The Yellow-toothed Old Man invited Chen Fan to Sixth Peak to study artifact forging, but Chen Fan demanded to know his real purpose.
• The Yellow-toothed Old Man said he had discovered a heaven-shaking secret while dismantling a damaged Spirit Treasure from a Shu Mountain sacrificial ceremony.
• The Yellow-toothed Old Man carefully showed Chen Fan a small sphere made of mysterious metal.

Chen Fan learned that the mysterious sphere was an Artifact Heart, a device that could turn ordinary metal into a treasure, and considered how artifact crafting might help protect him. He declined Bai Jing True Person's invitation to Sixth Peak, while Bald Bird's explanation led him to suspect that materials for Artifact Hearts might be in the Heavenly Court Immortal Cave.

• Yellow-toothed Old Man showed Chen Fan a rune-covered sphere, and Bald Bird identified it as a damaged Artifact Heart that could empower ordinary metal.
• Chen Fan decided he would not go to Sixth Peak because he feared Su Ziyue might expose him and the Soul Devouring Banner might be discovered, but he offered to discuss artifact crafting with Yellow-toothed Old Man and Bald Bird.
• Bald Bird said Artifact Hearts were made using Seven-Star Stone formed beneath Seven-Star Grass over a hundred years old, and Yellow-toothed Old Man refused to crush his sphere to test the claim.
• Chen Fan recalled the old Seven-Star Grass and Tortoise-patterned Medicinal Stone in the Heavenly Court Immortal Cave and suspected Seven-Star Stone might be there too.
• Yellow-toothed Old Man left for Sixth Peak and told Chen Fan to contact him through Yueyue; before he departed, Chen Fan learned his name was Bai Jing True Person, hall master of Shu Mountain's Artifact Refining Hall.

Bald Bird told Chen Fan that Talisman Artifact Masters were rare and influential, then prepared to test Chen Fan's artifact-refining talent. Gao Yueyue gave Chen Fan half a bottle of Dragon Saliva True Water and answered his question about her rank before Bald Bird warned him not to waste the bottle's spirituality.

• Bald Bird explained the status of Talisman Artifact Masters and said he would test Chen Fan's talent in artifact refinement.
• Gao Yueyue visited Chen Fan and awarded him half a bottle of Dragon Saliva True Water for his contribution to the Immortal Arts Exchange Conference.
• Gao Yueyue offered to compensate Chen Fan for the other half, but Chen Fan declined and used his one chance to ask her rank among Sixth Peak's Foundation Establishment cultivators.
• Gao Yueyue revealed that she ranked eleventh and then left Chen Fan examining the jade bottle.
• Chen Fan opened the bottle's stopper, and Bald Bird appeared and urged him to preserve its spirituality.

Chen Fan and Bald Bird prepared a body-tempering bath in a medicine cauldron using spirit herbs, poisons, and Dragon Saliva True Water. The medicinal liquid began to boil around them, and Bald Bird warned Chen Fan that the worst pain was still to come.

• Bald Bird brought out spirit herbs and a medicine cauldron it had taken from the Alchemy Hall’s storehouse.
• Chen Fan lit the cauldron with Blazing Heaven True Qi while Bald Bird added precious herbs, including a several-hundred-year-old Golden Ginseng.
• Bald Bird added poisonous insects to balance the medicinal ingredients, then climbed into the cauldron and urged Chen Fan to join it.
• Chen Fan entered the scalding, poisonous bath and poured in the Dragon Saliva True Water, easing his pain as the liquid turned white.
• Bald Bird warned Chen Fan that the real agony was about to begin.

An old woman tracked Chen Fan after finding her disciple’s body, while Chen Fan endured Bald Bird’s punishing medicinal cauldron tempering on Shu Mountain’s Eighth Peak. The chapter ended with Chen Fan awakening in the sealed cauldron and discovering a shocking change in his dantian.

• An old woman searched Tianyun City for the Soul Devouring Banner and used the Six Paths Jade Disk to pursue the person who had killed her disciple.
• Chen Fan endured the cauldron’s violent medicinal effects, using the Burning Fire Chapter and Burning Wood Chapter to absorb the medicine and heal his injuries.
• After Bald Bird emerged from the cauldron, he added the Fire-Devouring Vine’s heart to the remaining medicine and sealed Chen Fan inside with the lid.
• Chen Fan lost consciousness, saw a terrifying true dragon, and unleashed his purple, yellow, and green True Qi to swallow it in three-colored flames.
• Chen Fan awakened after a thunderous eruption, sensed that his Divine Sense had grown stronger, and stared in shock at his dantian.

Chen Fan emerged from the medicinal cauldron with a flame and a green leaf in his dantian, and discovered that he had reached the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage. Bald Bird warned that the two treasures might drain his True Essence Power and compete for spiritual qi when he formed his Golden Core, while Chen Fan entered the Heavenly Court Realm thinking of the Artifact Heart.

• Chen Fan examined the flame and green leaf in his dantian, then learned Bald Bird had added the heart of a thousand-year-old Fire-Devouring Vine to the medicinal cauldron.
• Chen Fan stepped out of the cauldron and discovered his cultivation had advanced to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, while a white giant dragon and ancient runes briefly appeared in his body.
• Chen Fan told Bald Bird about the flame and leaf, and Bald Bird marveled that he had condensed them at such a low cultivation level.
• Bald Bird warned Chen Fan that the flame and leaf would consume his True Essence Power and might fight over spiritual qi during Golden Core formation, then suggested stealing herbs from Old Yellow Tooth.
• Chen Fan recalled Bai Jing True Person and the Artifact Heart, then entered the Heavenly Court Realm with his Divine Sense.

Chen Fan found a Seven-Star Stone beneath an ancient Seven-Star Grass in the Heavenly Court medicine field. He then went to Heavenly Court Hall to check for messages and encountered Yellow-toothed Old Man, who offered him a strange treasure in exchange for drawing talismans.

• Chen Fan returned to the medicine field, where Green-feathered Bird urged him to leave Lingxiao City and explore the world.
• Chen Fan dug beneath a Seven-Star Grass with his bare hands and uncovered a glowing Seven-Star Stone, which he kept from Green-feathered Bird.
• Chen Fan left the Immortal Cave and went to Heavenly Court Hall, where he noticed an unusual crowd that included Foundation Establishment cultivators and disciples of the Immortal Sect and the Ten Thousand Swords Sect.
• Yellow-toothed Old Man summoned Chen Fan to a corner and remarked on his conflicts with the Immortal Sect and the Ten Thousand Swords Sect.
• Yellow-toothed Old Man offered Chen Fan a piece of yellow hide in exchange for drawing several talismans.

Chen Fan examined the Yellow-toothed Old Man’s concealed human-skin mask and agreed to draw a Talisman for him in exchange. After learning the old man had apparently swindled someone to obtain the mask, Chen Fan went to the Heavenly Court Hall, where a woman in yellow appeared before him.

• The Yellow-toothed Old Man showed Chen Fan a human-skin mask inscribed with a Concealment Array, and Chen Fan tried it on to see how it changed his appearance.
• The old man asked Chen Fan to draw a complete Talisman from the rune on the Artifact Heart, and Chen Fan agreed to exchange one for the mask.
• The Yellow-toothed Old Man left Lingxiao City to search for Seven-Star Grass, while Chen Fan heard cultivators searching for him over a human-skin mask he had allegedly swindled from them.
• Chen Fan entered the crowd and drew attention from cultivators who recognized him, challenged him, or warned that a bounty had been issued for him.
• Chen Fan headed to the Heavenly Court Hall to look for a message from Qin Xian'er and the others, but a graceful woman in a yellow dress appeared before him.

Chen Fan confronted Su Ziyue, rejected her warning about Shushan, and searched the Heavenly Court Hall for a clue from Qin Xian'er but found none. Back in his cabin, he showed Bald Bird a Seven-Star Stone, and Bald Bird began demonstrating how to refine an Artifact Heart.

• Chen Fan told Su Ziyue that Shushan could not protect her, ignored her taunts, and sealed off his Divine Sense from her transmissions.
• Chen Fan searched the Heavenly Court Hall for a message from Qin Xian'er but found only a bounty seeking high-age Seven-Star Grass.
• Chen Fan decided to remain in Lingxiao City for the time being so he could stay in contact with Qin Xian'er and Chen Jingjing.
• Chen Fan retrieved his human-skin mask and Seven-Star Stone from the Heavenly Court Immortal Cave and placed them in his Storage Ring.
• Bald Bird saw the Seven-Star Stone, heard that Chen Fan wanted to refine an Artifact Heart to prepare for Golden Core Realm enemies, and cut off a piece to demonstrate the process.

Bald Bird demonstrated how to refine an Artifact Heart from Seven-Star Stone, stopping before the final rune-inscribing step because his Divine Soul was too weak. Chen Fan examined the semi-finished Artifact Heart just as someone crashed through his door.

• Bald Bird brought out the Black Sturgeon Artifact Furnace and began refining Seven-Star Stone and a block of black iron in a bronze furnace.
• Bald Bird melted and combined the materials, then shaped the liquid into an orb and inscribed it with preliminary runes using Pure Fire Essence.
• Bald Bird explained that completing the Artifact Heart required more Divine Soul power to inscribe its final runes, and Chen Fan took the semi-finished orb.
• A figure crashed through Chen Fan's wooden door and fell sprawled across it.

The Yellow-toothed Old Man traded a Three-Colored Flower for a chance to study Bald Bird’s Artifact Heart and declared himself Bald Bird’s disciple. After Huang Cheng warned Chen Fan that Shu Mountain cultivators were searching for stolen spiritual herbs, Bald Bird and the Yellow-toothed Old Man revealed they had each stolen half, and Bald Bird agreed to take the old man as his disciple in exchange for the herbs.

• The Yellow-toothed Old Man asked to examine Bald Bird’s Artifact Heart and offered him a Three-Colored Flower in exchange.
• Bald Bird ate the flower, and the Yellow-toothed Old Man immediately called himself Bald Bird’s disciple to learn the Artifact Heart technique.
• Huang Cheng told Chen Fan that Foundation Establishment cultivators were searching the cabins for the thief who had stolen the Sixth Heaven Alchemy Hall’s spiritual herbs.
• After Huang Cheng left, Bald Bird accused the Yellow-toothed Old Man of stealing the other half of the herbs, and the old man offered to give them up for instruction.
• Bald Bird declared that he would take the Yellow-toothed Old Man as his disciple.

Changming searched Chen Fan’s cabin and the neighboring disciples’ homes for the stolen spirit herbs, but found nothing. After Bald Bird returned, Chen Fan agreed to accompany the Yellow-toothed Old Man to the Sixth Peak, where he planned to reclaim the Six Paths Jade Disk.

• Changming accused the Yellow-toothed Old Man of involvement in the Alchemy Hall’s missing spirit herbs, but the old man denied it.
• Changming searched Chen Fan’s cabin and the cabins of Huang Cheng and Tang Xue, finding no evidence of the theft.
• Bald Bird returned after eating spirit herbs, and Chen Fan agreed to travel with the Yellow-toothed Old Man to the Sixth Peak.
• Chen Fan left Huang Cheng and Tang Xue a message to seek Gao Yueyue’s help and move somewhere safer.
• Chen Fan, the Yellow-toothed Old Man, and Bald Bird passed through the formations and began climbing the Sixth Peak.

Chen Fan arrived at Shushan Sixth Peak and joined its neglected Artifact Refining Hall, where Bald Bird agreed to stay with him. The next day, Yellow-toothed Old Man sought instruction in the Artifact Heart, but Bald Bird told him to demonstrate his skill with talismans first.

• Chen Fan saw Sixth Peak’s grand halls and learned that the Law Enforcement Hall, Alchemy Hall, Talisman Hall, and Immortal Sword Hall each occupied a different area.
• Bald Bird was appalled to find the Artifact Refining Hall run-down and learned from Yellow-toothed Old Man that it had only three disciples.
• Yellow-toothed Old Man introduced Chen Fan to two disciples and had them prepare a room for him.
• Chen Fan and Bald Bird settled into the Artifact Refining Hall, and Bald Bird gave Chen Fan a bronze artifact furnace.
• Yellow-toothed Old Man gave Chen Fan a Jade Token that permitted travel among the lower peaks and sword flight within Shushan.
• When Yellow-toothed Old Man asked Bald Bird to teach him the Artifact Heart, Bald Bird demanded that he first show his skill in talismans.

Chen Fan began practicing artifact refining with Seven-Star Stones, struggling to control the furnace’s heat and burning through his initial supply. After collecting more stones in the Heavenly Court Realm and noticing his connection to it growing stronger, he entered Heavenly Court Hall to buy storage pouches and spotted a new line of familiar writing.

• Bald Bird persuaded Yellow-toothed Old Man to study Talismans and left with him to provide guidance.
• Chen Fan recalled Shu Mountain’s upper peaks and reaffirmed his plans to reclaim the Six Paths Jade Disk and retrieve the Wuya Sword.
• Chen Fan tried refining Seven-Star Stones but repeatedly burned them to ash while learning to regulate the furnace’s flames.
• Chen Fan entered the Heavenly Court Realm, noticed it was becoming easier to reach, and found Green-feathered Bird hiding as a jade pendant after eating a Seven-Star Stone.
• Chen Fan harvested Seven-Star Stones and went to Heavenly Court Hall to buy storage pouches, where he noticed a new line of familiar characters.

Chen Fan investigated Qin Xian’er's message about Bitter Sea Cliff while struggling to refine Seven-Star Stone. He learned that the Bitter Sea Cliff Secret Realm would open in seven days and began asking his fellow disciples what it was.

• Chen Fan saw a message announcing that immortals would gather at Bitter Sea Cliff, then returned to his Immortal Cave without asking outsiders about it.
• Chen Fan brought six chunks of Seven-Star Stone to the Earth Cultivation World and spent the day trying to refine them, but his Divine Soul faltered and the final piece burned to ashes.
• Chen Fan overheard Yellow-toothed Old Man’s disciples say their master had begun studying Talismans ahead of the Bitter Sea Cliff Secret Realm in seven days.
• Chen Fan approached the disciples and asked them to explain the secret realm, and the woman said it offered great fortune to Foundation Establishment and Golden Core cultivators.

Chen Fan learned about the dangers and treasures of the Bitter Sea Cliff Secret Realm and decided to go there when it opened in seven days. Green-feathered Bird agreed to accompany him, revealing that death in the Heavenly Court Realm was permanent for its natives.

• Zhang Lu and Misty told Chen Fan that the Bitter Sea Cliff Secret Realm opened every twenty years, suppressed most cultivators to Foundation Establishment Early Stage, and might contain powerful Monster Beasts.
• Chen Fan learned that Zhang Lu and Misty were disciples of the Yellow-toothed Old Man and that their Senior Martial Sister Lin Miaoyi was preparing to break through to the Golden Core Realm.
• Chen Fan returned to his room, entered the Heavenly Court Realm, and questioned Green-feathered Bird about the secret realm.
• Green-feathered Bird warned Chen Fan that the secret realm might harbor Golden Core Realm Monster Beasts and that reaching it would take at least three days by Teleportation Arrays.
• Chen Fan resolved to travel to the secret realm, and Green-feathered Bird agreed to accompany him before explaining that natives truly died there.

Chen Fan spent three days strengthening his Heavenly Court body before setting out for the Bitter Sea Cliff Secret Realm. He arrived in a great city on the way, sold Talismans to replenish his Spirit Stones, and continued toward the gathering of cultivators while the Green-feathered Bird warned him of the dangers ahead.

• Chen Fan decided to cultivate in seclusion for three days before traveling to the Bitter Sea Cliff Secret Realm, then returned his Divine Sense to his true body.
• Chen Fan told Bald Bird that he had nearly refined a small Seven-Star Stone and would postpone working on the Artifact Heart while he entered the Heavenly Court Realm.
• Bald Bird said he would teach Old Yellow Tooth to make Talismans, though Old Yellow Tooth had barely learned to hold a cinnabar brush.
• Chen Fan spent three days cultivating in the Heavenly Court, consolidating his Qi Refining Ninth Layer and strengthening his True Qi.
• Chen Fan traveled through two Teleportation Arrays to a great city, sold several Talismans to obtain Spirit Stones, and saw cultivators heading toward Bitter Sea Cliff.
• The Green-feathered Bird warned Chen Fan that the secret realm would bring a fierce battle and told him not to let anyone strike the jade pendant.

Chen Fan visited the Spirit Treasure Pavilion to repair his damaged Black Silk Treasure Armor and sold the Six Yang Mirror to pay for it. After collecting the repaired armor and remaining Spirit Stones, he was shown a mysterious sword sheath.

• The Green-feathered Bird directed Chen Fan to the Spirit Treasure Pavilion to repair his Black Silk Treasure Armor.
• Chen Fan showed the middle-aged shopkeeper the armor, and the man agreed to repair it for five hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones within four hours.
• Chen Fan sold the Six Yang Mirror to the shopkeeper for one thousand five hundred Spirit Stones and left both Spirit Tools with him.
• Chen Fan waited in the rear hall, and the shopkeeper returned on time with the repaired armor and one thousand Spirit Stones.
• The shopkeeper asked whether Chen Fan was going to the Bitter Sea Cliff Secret Realm, then offered him a mysterious black sword sheath.

Chen Fan considered buying a Spirit Tool sword sheath but lacked the Spirit Stones, then confronted Immortal Sect disciples who threatened him over his Black Silk Treasure Armor. He left for the Teleportation Array, astonishing them by flying on his sword despite being at Qi Refining Ninth Layer.

• Chen Fan examined a Spirit Tool sword sheath, but decided he could not afford it without giving up his Black Silk Treasure Armor.
• Senior Brother Hai and other Immortal Sect disciples entered the shop, and Hai bought the sheath for two Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.
• Hai tried to buy Chen Fan's Black Silk Treasure Armor and threatened him with death in the Bitter Sea Cliff Secret Realm, but Chen Fan refused and left.
• Chen Fan flew toward the Teleportation Array on his sword, leaving the Immortal Sect disciples shocked at his ability to fly at Qi Refining Ninth Layer.

Chen Fan reached Bitter Sea Cliff and waited among the packed crowd for the secret realm to open, where he saw several renowned young geniuses arrive. The chapter ended as a group of lavishly dressed disciples emerged from a gigantic gourd after forcibly teleporting through the sky’s restrictions.

• Chen Fan joined the long queue at the Ancient City’s Teleportation Array, traveled to the wilderness, and recognized Bitter Sea Cliff ahead.
• Chen Fan struggled through the crowd and watched Liu Xun, Wang Yan, and three other Ten Thousand Swords Sect geniuses fly toward the secret realm entrance.
• Xiao Munan arrived with six Shu Mountain disciples, and Chen Fan recognized Gao Yueyue among them.
• Chen Fan sensed Xiao Munan’s formidable strength as the crowd cheered for the top-ranked Heavenly Soldier Ranking genius.
• The void twisted and burst after Xiao Munan’s group departed, and disciples in lavish robes appeared atop a gigantic gourd.

Chen Fan reached the entrance to the Bitter Sea Cliff Secret Realm, where Mu Yunshui warned him that the Immortal Sect and Ten Thousand Swords Sect were hunting him. As both sects offered rewards for his capture, a cultivator recognized Chen Fan in the crowd.

• Mu Yunshui arrived with Immortal Sect disciples, and Chen Fan exchanged hostile voice transmissions with her.
• Chen Fan searched the crowd for Qin Xian'er, Chen Jingjing, and another woman, but could not find them.
• An elder explained that the secret realm required a stable Qi Refining Seventh Layer foundation and that those who died inside would lose their gains and have to wait twenty years to enter again.
• Wang Yan announced that the Immortal Sect and Ten Thousand Swords Sect were hunting Chen Fan and offered rewards for information or his capture.
• A Shu Mountain disciple recognized Chen Fan near the secret realm's entrance and cried out that he had been found.