Recaps

Lu Ye discovered that Immortal Yuan City still had powerful survivors and secretly helped them defeat a swarm of Insect Race creatures. The chapter ended with the Immortal Yuan Guards eyeing Lu Ye’s remaining Insect Race squad in confusion and suspicion.

• Lu Ye found a recent battlefield and inferred that Immortal Yuan City survivors had drawn the Insect Race away from the corpses.
• Lu Ye located a building protected by a red lantern, where surviving people were likely sheltering.
• A fat figure Lu Ye recognized burst out of the building and, with more than a dozen Immortal Yuan Guards, attacked the surrounding Insect Race creatures.
• Lu Ye sent six of his Insect Race creatures to aid the Immortal Yuan Guards from within the swarm while keeping the spider and himself concealed.
• The fat figure noticed Lu Ye, and Lu Ye suspected that the man was a Divine Sea Realm cultivator.
• Lu Ye’s squad and the Immortal Yuan Guards killed the remaining Insect Race creatures, leaving the guards wary of Lu Ye’s surviving creatures.

Lu Ye reunited with the Butcher, one of the special Spirit Bodies he had met during his previous visit to Immortal Yuan City, after entering the city with the Rest Fruit Core and commanding the Insect Race. The Butcher explained that his former cultivation had been part of a game and directed Lu Ye to ask the City Lord why he had been brought back.

• After the Insect Race battle, the Butcher recognized Lu Ye and invited him inside to talk.
• The Immortal Yuan Guards wondered how Lu Ye had entered the city and realized he had commanded the Insect Race to attack its own.
• Lu Ye told the Butcher he had entered using the Rest Fruit Core, then introduced himself as a disciple of the Crimson Blood Sect.
• The Butcher warned Lu Ye not to call Xi Wanying the Yingying Monster and said her cultivation was higher than his.
• The Butcher explained that the special Spirit Bodies had adjusted their displayed cultivation during the previous Secret Realm opening, but told Lu Ye to ask the City Lord why he had returned.

Lu Ye joined Butcher and the Immortal Yuan Guards in clearing the Insect Race from Immortal Yuan City, then gave them the Soul Cleansing Water he had taken from the Soul Pool to restore their fading strength. As the Guards weakened again with no more water to spare, Lu Ye wondered why they seemed unafraid of death.

• Lu Ye learned that Butcher would lead his squad toward the outskirts before returning to the City Lord's Mansion, and he offered to help clear the Insect Race.
• Butcher led the Immortal Yuan Guards through the city, using protected buildings as strongholds while Lu Ye's Insect Race squad helped them fight and earn Battle Merit.
• Lu Ye asked Butcher about the Guards' dwindling strength and learned that Soul Mist in the Soul Pool could not ordinarily be taken away as Soul Cleansing Water.
• Lu Ye gave Butcher a jade bottle of Soul Cleansing Water, and Butcher shared it among the weakened Immortal Yuan Guards, restoring their strength.
• The Guards resumed their campaign and gradually weakened again after repeated battles, while Lu Ye wondered why they showed no fear of death.

Lu Ye joined Butcher’s Immortal Yuan Guard squad as they fought through the Insect Race, learning that the Guards had battled for thousands of years and accepted death as familiar. When a wounded Divine Sea Realm mantis ambushed them, Lu Ye rushed in to help, and the squad fought desperately toward a nearby Stronghold.

• Yu Qing teased Lu Ye, then explained that the Immortal Yuan Guards were used to death and warned him to protect himself rather than risk saving them.
• Butcher led the squad back into battle, where they steadily cleared weaker Insect Race creatures farther from the City Lord’s Mansion.
• A wounded Divine Sea Realm mantis suddenly killed two Immortal Yuan Guards and attacked Yu Qing, forcing Butcher to fight it while the squad tried to escape.
• Lu Ye broke concealment and charged into the battle, then joined the Guards as they fought toward the nearby Stronghold with his Insect Race squads covering their retreat.
• More than half the Guards fell during the retreat, and Liu Datong turned back to hold off the pursuing Insect Race while the others got Lu Ye inside.

After the Immortal Yuan Guards sacrificed themselves to get Lu Ye to safety, the Butcher returned from his battle and entrusted him with the Bone-Removing Blade before vanishing. Lu Ye continued the Butcher Squad’s mission alone, purging the Insect Race across Immortal Yuan City as his strength dwindled.

• Yu Qing hurled Lu Ye into the sheltered building, then disappeared amid the Insect Race tide as the remaining Immortal Yuan Guards fell covering his escape.
• The Butcher fought his way back to the building, gave Lu Ye the Bone-Removing Blade, and vanished after succumbing to his wounds.
• Lu Ye mourned the fallen guards, recovered, and led five surviving controlled Insect Race creatures in an attack that cleared nearby enemies.
• Lu Ye continued the purge from stronghold to stronghold, drawing in and killing Insect Race creatures while resting between battles.
• Lu Ye reached the city’s edge, saw thick fog beyond it, and turned aside to keep purging the city as his body grew semi-transparent and exhausted.

Lu Ye fought on the verge of collapse to finish the Butcher Squad’s mission, unaware that the supposedly dead squad members had returned and were watching him. After Butcher carried him to the Soul Cleansing Pool, Lu Ye recovered and began gathering its Soul Mist.

• Lu Ye and the last members of his Insect Race squad fought until they were killed, while he continued battling alone to honor the Immortal Yuan Guards’ sacrifice.
• The returned Butcher, Liu Datong, Yu Qing, and other Immortal Yuan Guards watched Lu Ye, then Butcher rushed in to catch him as he collapsed.
• Butcher told Lu Ye that the mission was complete, and Lu Ye lost consciousness before Butcher carried him to the City Lord’s Mansion.
• Lu Ye woke in the Soul Cleansing Pool and found that his Divine Soul Power had fully recovered and grown stronger.
• Lu Ye recognized the Soul Mist and formed a Spirit Gathering Funnel to collect it.

The City Lord and Butcher discussed Lu Ye’s status as one of the chosen and the dwindling Soul Pool that protected Immortal Yuan City and the Nine Provinces. When Lu Ye woke and began collecting Soul Water on a massive scale, they decided to make him pay Battle Merit for it.

• An Immortal Yuan Guard reported that the Insect Race had been nearly wiped out and Immortal Yuan City had won the battle.
• The City Lord told Butcher that Lu Ye had gathered all Four Symbols, wielded powerful Spiritual Patterns, and was likely one of several chosen candidates.
• The City Lord warned that growing insect numbers and the weakening Soul Pool could eventually doom Immortal Yuan City and the Nine Provinces.
• The City Lord noticed that Lu Ye had awakened and was using an enormous funnel to collect Soul Water.
• Butcher proposed charging Lu Ye Battle Merit for the Soul Water, and the City Lord agreed, estimating that Lu Ye had earned at least several tens of thousands.

Ji Yuan asked Heaven's Mystery to let Lu Ye exchange Battle Merit for Soul Cleansing Water, and Heaven's Mystery granted the request, confirming Lu Ye was chosen. Lu Ye discovered that each drop cost one thousand Battle Merit and kept collecting until Ji Yuan realized he had gathered more than two hundred drops.

• Ji Yuan petitioned Heaven's Mystery to authorize Lu Ye to trade Battle Merit for Soul Cleansing Water, and Heaven's Mystery responded.
• Lu Ye collected Soul Cleansing Water with a much larger Spirit Gathering Funnel than before, while his Battle Merit rapidly declined.
• Lu Ye worked out that each collected drop cost exactly one thousand Battle Merit and decided the water was worth more than the cultivation resources he had planned to buy.
• Ji Yuan asked Butcher how much Battle Merit Lu Ye had, then revealed Lu Ye had already collected more than two hundred drops of Soul Cleansing Water.

Lu Ye emerged from the Soul Pool after spending nearly all his Battle Merit on more than three hundred drops of Soul Water, then reunited with the resurrected Butcher and spoke with Ji Yuan. Ji Yuan agreed to answer Lu Ye’s questions about Immortal Yuan City, but began by asking what Lu Ye thought a Secret Realm was.

• Lu Ye discovered that his Battle Merit had dwindled to 836 points, put away his Water Pouch of more than three hundred drops of Soul Water, and left the Soul Pool.
• Lu Ye reunited with Butcher, who explained that Spirit Bodies could return after temporary dormancy while the Soul Pool remained intact, and said Liu Datong and Yu Qing were alive too.
• Butcher returned his Bone-Removing Blade to him, told him to ask Ji Yuan about anything he wanted to know, and advised him not to remain in Immortal Yuan City too long.
• Ji Yuan confronted Lu Ye about taking so much Soul Water, but accepted that Lu Ye had exchanged Battle Merit for it and learned that Lu Ye had earned over three hundred thousand Battle Merit.
• Lu Ye explained that he was actually at Cloud River Tier Five and had displayed the strength of the True Lake Realm because his Divine Soul exceeded his physical cultivation.
• When Lu Ye asked what Immortal Yuan City was and how he had reached it through the fused Rest Fruit Core, Ji Yuan asked him what he thought a Secret Realm was.

Ji Yuan explained that Immortal Yuan City was an ancient Nine Provinces city transformed into a barrier against a dangerous leak, and that its cultivators became Spirit Bodies bound to the Soul Pool to defend it from the Insect Race. The chapter ended with Lu Ye asking why they had never counterattacked the Insect Nest.

• Lu Ye described the Myriad Beast Domain and asked Ji Yuan what kind of Secret Realm Immortal Yuan City was.
• Ji Yuan explained that Immortal Yuan City had once been a powerful city in the Nine Provinces and now served as a wedge blocking a leak.
• Ji Yuan told Lu Ye that the city’s cultivators had abandoned their physical bodies and left their soul imprints in the Soul Pool so they could return after death.
• Lu Ye said that endless wars and undying life must be difficult to endure, and Ji Yuan agreed that the city’s cultivators were bound to Immortal Yuan City and awakened only to fight the Insect Race.
• Lu Ye noticed the gap in the sky had vanished and asked Ji Yuan why the city’s defenders had never attacked the Insect Nest.

Ji Yuan explained that Immortal Yuan City opened as a Secret Realm to ease its Spirit Bodies’ negative emotions with living cultivators’ vitality, while the Rest Fruit Core’s Mirage Realm also helped relieve that burden. Lu Ye connected the fused Rest Fruit Cores to his unusual return to the city, and Ji Yuan left the deeper mechanism unexplained.

• Ji Yuan told Lu Ye that the Spirit Bodies could not enter the Insect Nests beyond the breach, so the Air Lock Grand Array kept enemies and cultivators from flying too high.
• Ji Yuan explained that the endless cycles had burdened the Spirit Bodies with negative emotions, and that living cultivators’ presence helped disperse them when Immortal Yuan City opened as a Secret Realm.
• Lu Ye realized that the dungeon’s vitality-draining array sent captured cultivators’ vitality to the Soul Pool, while the Immortal Yuan Guards generally captured rather than killed them.
• Lu Ye recalled that Ji Yuan had forbidden him from using the Rest Fruit Core in the city, and Ji Yuan revealed that creatures killed in its Mirage Realm were condensations of the Spirit Bodies’ negative emotions.
• Ji Yuan said that the fused Rest Fruit Cores had enabled Lu Ye to return to Immortal Yuan City, but he declined to explain the underlying mechanism.

After the Insect Race siege ended, Lu Ye learned that he had been accepted into Butcher's squad and was sent out of Immortal Yuan City by Ji Yuan. He returned to his body in a severe state of soul-and-body discord, with Yiyi and Amber anxiously watching over him.

• The Immortal Yuan Guards returned from the siege and entered the Soul Pool, while Lu Ye saw Liu Sanbao, the scholar, the Fortune-telling Blind Man, and Xi Wanying among them.
• Butcher praised Lu Ye and revealed that he had been assigned to his squad, a status Ji Yuan confirmed as the City Lord.
• Lu Ye asked how he could learn when the next Insect Race siege would occur, and Ji Yuan said there was no predictable schedule, though Lu Ye might sense an attack as a member of the Butcher Squad.
• Ji Yuan sent Lu Ye out of Immortal Yuan City and warned that his soul could become incompatible with his body, advising him to use Soul Water after returning.
• Lu Ye regained his memories of Yiyi and realized that his soul and body felt badly disconnected as Yiyi called to him and Amber anxiously paced nearby.

Lu Ye recovered after his prolonged Soul Ejection in Immortal Yuan City, but the experience left his Divine Soul dangerously stronger than his physical body. He realized that he needed to raise his cultivation quickly to prevent the imbalance from becoming a serious threat.

• Yiyi helped Lu Ye regain awareness, and he used Soul Water to ease the strain between his Divine Soul and body.
• Lu Ye told Yiyi about the Insect Race invasion, the sacrifice of Liu Datong, Yu Qing, and the others, and the secrets of Immortal Yuan City.
• Lu Ye rested at the Heaven's Mystery Merchant Guild and gave Yiyi several bottles of Soul Water before his Divine Soul repeatedly left his body without warning.
• After several days of taking Soul Water, Lu Ye's body and Divine Soul stabilized, and he confirmed that his Divine Soul had grown stronger from the Soul Pool.
• Lu Ye realized his Divine Soul exceeded his cultivation by nearly a major realm, threatening to overwhelm his body, and decided he needed to raise his cultivation quickly.

Lu Ye prepared to challenge the Cloud River Battlefield’s Hundred Formation Pagoda, buying a large supply of Formation Flags now that he had enough Soul Water to sustain his Mind Power. Outside the Heaven’s Mystery Merchant Guild, Myriad Demon Ridge cultivators continued to watch for him, convinced he was hiding inside and seeking revenge for the Mine Cave massacre.

• Lu Ye recalled how clearing thirty-three floors of the Heavenly Evolution Sect’s Hundred Formation Pagoda had greatly advanced his Formation Dao and decided to challenge the Cloud River Battlefield’s section.
• After obtaining abundant Soul Water in Immortal Yuan City, Lu Ye judged that he had everything needed to endure the pagoda’s Mind Power trials and hoped its rich spiritual energy would raise his cultivation.
• Lu Ye entered the Heaven’s Mystery Vault through the Heaven’s Mystery Hall and purchased a large quantity of Formation Flags.
• Myriad Demon Ridge cultivators packed a nearby teahouse to watch the Heaven’s Mystery Merchant Guild, suspecting Lu Ye was hiding there after poisoning two thousand people in the Mine Cave.
• Chu Yun and Zhou Pei remained at the teahouse, while Xia Liang and Tan Sheng joined the watchers, still shaken by the aftermath of the Mine Cave massacre.

Lu Ye left Heaven's Mystery Merchant Guild and drew more than three hundred Myriad Demon Ridge Cultivators into pursuit, relying on his speed and reserves to evade them. As the Tier Nine cultivators closed in, he abruptly dived beneath them and sped back the way he came.

• Lu Ye removed his mask outside Heaven's Mystery Merchant Guild, confirmed his identity, and flew away as the watching Myriad Demon Ridge Cultivators gave chase.
• More than three hundred pursuers followed Lu Ye, but his spirit boat and Windwalk Spirit Pattern kept him ahead of most of them.
• Lu Ye replenished his Spiritual Power with Spiritual Pills and judged that he might be able to outrun even the Tier Nine cultivators.
• After the Tier Nine cultivators drew within striking range, Lu Ye plunged downward, slipped beneath them, and sped back toward where he had come from.

Lu Ye turned back to attack the Myriad Demon Ridge cultivators pursuing him, then fled using his Flying Wing and Windwalk Spirit Patterns as Tier Nine cultivators chased him. The pursuers used Secret Techniques to close the distance, and Lu Ye searched the Ten-Part Map for a place to hide if he could not escape.

• Lu Ye unfolded his fiery red wings, flew through the Tier Eight cultivators, and killed several before turning to attack the lower-ranked Myriad Demon Ridge pursuers.
• Lu Ye cut down more cultivators in a second pass, then fled as the Tier Eight and Tier Nine pursuers caught up.
• A Tier Nine cultivator identified Lu Ye's wings as a Flying Wing Thorn Tattoo and predicted he could sustain them for only half an hour, but Lu Ye continued flying with help from his Talent Tree and Spiritual Pills.
• When Lu Ye remained ahead after half an hour, the Tier Nine cultivators activated speed-boosting Secret Techniques and began closing the gap.
• Lu Ye maintained Windwalk and Flying Wing, drew on his Spirit Storage Ring, and checked the Ten-Part Map for nearby terrain where he could hide.

Lu Ye fled toward the Pi River as Myriad Demon Ridge cultivators closed in and reinforced the pursuit. A masked swordswoman intervened, helped him break through, and led him to a hidden entrance; Lu Ye hesitated until she swore by Heaven’s Mystery that she meant him no harm, then followed her inside.

• Lu Ye’s pursuers began to tire, but they summoned reinforcements and gradually surrounded the route toward the Pi River.
• More Myriad Demon Ridge cultivators arrived from multiple directions, leaving Lu Ye ready to dive into the river to escape.
• A masked woman wielding a sword attacked one group of pursuers, and Lu Ye urged her to flee with him.
• The woman caught up with Lu Ye and led him to a concealed entrance in a rock wall, but he initially refused to follow her inside.
• The woman swore by Heaven’s Mystery that she bore Lu Ye no ill will, and he apologized before following her through the entrance.

A masked woman rescued Lu Ye from Myriad Demon Ridge pursuers using a hidden Teleportation Array, then led him to a concealed Heaven's Mystery Pillar and ordered him to return to the Nine Provinces. Lu Ye refused, and the woman tried to force him, beginning a clash between them.

• The Mysterious Woman activated a Teleportation Array in the mountain, escaping with Lu Ye while Myriad Demon Ridge cultivators found the empty cavern and began searching within three hundred li.
• Lu Ye learned that the Teleportation Array had not been set up by him or the woman, and she refused to reveal her name, saying she was acting under orders.
• The Mysterious Woman led Lu Ye to a hidden Heaven's Mystery Pillar and urged him to return to the Nine Provinces for safety.
• Lu Ye refused to leave the Cloud River Battlefield, so the Mysterious Woman reached to seize him and threatened to knock him unconscious and take him back.
• Lu Ye instinctively struck with his saber, and the Mysterious Woman blocked it with her sword before they faced off.

The Mysterious Woman tried to force Lu Ye to return to the Nine Provinces, but her hidden power surged beyond the Cloud River Realm and she was expelled from the battlefield. Lu Ye stayed behind to recover, while the woman reported her failed mission and returned to her sect as its Sect Master.

• The Mysterious Woman overwhelmed Lu Ye in combat and demanded that he return to the Nine Provinces.
• Before Lu Ye could agree, the woman’s aura broke through the Cloud River Realm, and she vanished after warning him again to return.
• Lu Ye concluded that the masked woman belonged to a powerful, mysterious organization rather than the Heaven’s Mystery Merchant Guild, then sat down to recover his Spiritual Power.
• The Mysterious Woman reappeared in a sealed Heaven’s Mystery Hall in the Nine Provinces and reported that the mission had failed because Lu Ye had not returned.
• After being told to leave Lu Ye’s fate to his own fortune, the woman removed her mask and emerged as the Sect Master before her assembled followers.

Lu Ye recovered in a hidden stronghold, studied an ancient Teleportation Array, and used its long range to evade the Myriad Demon Ridge search. He then set out for the Hundred Formation Pagoda, leaving the chapter traveling safely toward his destination.

• Lu Ye realized the hidden Teleportation Arrays could span more than a thousand li, far beyond the arrays he could arrange himself, and inferred that the mysterious organization had powerful Formation Cultivators.
• Lu Ye studied the array and learned enough to increase the range of his own Teleportation Arrays by several dozen li, while Myriad Demon Ridge Cultivators searched the area without finding him.
• After recovering and waking Amber, Lu Ye broke through the cave’s rock barrier and flew toward the Hundred Formation Pagoda, keeping low and avoiding other cultivators.
• Lu Ye exchanged messages with Li Baxian, who reported that Return Heaven Valley remained safe under the Wolf Pack’s protection and Lu Ye’s warning against attacks.

Lu Ye traveled to Hundred Formation City to reach the Hundred Formation Pagoda, while Li Baxian warned him about its dangers and shared information. Lu Ye followed the traditional safe approach toward the pagoda, aware that countless old Formations surrounded it.

• Li Baxian sent Lu Ye detailed information about the Hundred Formation Pagoda and cautioned him not to rush ahead because his cultivation was still low.
• Lu Ye reassured Li Baxian, then told Yiyi that he had chosen to leave Return Heaven Valley for the opportunities and benefits that came with fighting Myriad Demon Ridge.
• Several days later, Lu Ye arrived near Hundred Formation City and spotted the second section of the Hundred Formation Pagoda thirty li away.
• Lu Ye descended ten li outside the city and found the tangled-tree arch that marked the safe route to the pagoda.
• Lu Ye recognized that generations of Formation Cultivators had left dangerous Formations throughout the surrounding area, making it risky to approach from another direction.

Lu Ye traveled toward the Hundred Formation Pagoda, recognized by two Formation Cultivators who tried to ambush him. After killing one and driving the other into a hidden formation, he reached the peaceful gathering area around the Pagoda, where he remained wary of Myriad Demon Ridge’s pursuit.

• Lu Ye followed two Formation Cultivators along the safe passage and overheard them arguing about formations.
• Cultivator Qi and the Yu-surnamed Cultivator suspected Lu Ye was Lu Yiye and launched a sneak attack against him.
• Lu Ye killed Cultivator Qi and wounded the Yu-surnamed Cultivator, who was flung into a hidden formation.
• Lu Ye took Cultivator Qi’s storage bag and Spiritual Artifact, then witnessed an Explosion Spirit Array detonate when he moved the corpse outside the passage.
• Lu Ye reached the Hundred Formation Pagoda, where Formation Cultivators gathered peacefully and fighting was forbidden.

Lu Ye arrived at the Hundred Formation Pagoda and entered after explaining its dangerous trials and the benefits they offered Formation Cultivators. After the pagoda’s resonance granted nearby cultivators a brief opportunity for insight, Lu Ye began his own challenge and activated the first mechanism.

• The wounded Spell Cultivator surnamed Yu became lost in the Formations and sent a message revealing that Lu Ye had appeared at the Hundred Formation Pagoda.
• Lu Ye observed the pagoda and recalled its trials, their dangers, and the intense Formation Dao rewards awarded to successful challengers.
• The Hundred Formation Pagoda resonated, giving Formation Cultivators nearby a chance to comprehend the Formation Dao; Lu Ye gained only modest insight.
• Lu Ye entered the pagoda and found himself in a small, empty room with a protruding stone brick.
• Lu Ye pressed the stone brick into the wall to begin his challenge.

Lu Ye broke the first trial in the Cloud River Battlefield’s Hundred Formation Pagoda, dismantling hidden Killing Arrays before the Confinement Array and triggering another resonance outside. The reward greatly improved his Formation Dao attainments but battered his Divine Soul, and he recovered with Yiyi’s Soul Cleansing Water.

• Lu Ye used the Insight Spirit Pattern to identify the Confinement Array and its hidden Killing Arrays, then broke them before dismantling the main array.
• Lu Ye completed the trial in the time it took an incense stick to burn, triggering a new Hundred Formation Pagoda resonance that the Formation Cultivators outside sensed.
• Lu Ye accepted the Pagoda’s fluorescent reward, which poured Formation Dao knowledge into his mind and severely tormented his Divine Soul.
• Lu Ye released Amber and called for Soul Cleansing Water, and Yiyi gave it to him to ease the pain.
• Lu Ye recovered and decided to release Amber and Yiyi before accepting the reward next time.

Lu Ye passed the Hundred Formation Pagoda’s first level, using the pure spiritual energy to cultivate while absorbing the Formation Dao reward. He then completed the second level’s Spirit Gathering Array trial and began receiving its reward as Formation Cultivators outside speculated about who had triggered the pagoda’s resonances.

• Yiyi cultivated in the spiritual mist while Lu Ye used Small Spirit Gathering Funnels to absorb it and studied the first level’s Formation Dao reward.
• After roughly three hours, Lu Ye was teleported to the next level and learned that its trial required him to build a Spirit Gathering Array.
• Lu Ye formed a Spirit Gathering Grand Array in half an incense stick’s time and passed the second trial.
• Lu Ye released Amber, and Yiyi prepared the Soul Water before Lu Ye touched the second level’s reward and endured another flood of knowledge.
• Outside the pagoda, Formation Cultivators discussed the two resonances and wondered who had triggered them.