Chapter Summaries

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.

Lu Ye repeatedly cleared floors of the Hundred Formation Pagoda, using Soul Cleansing Water to recover between trials and triggering a series of resonances that astonished the gathered Formation Cultivators. By the eleventh resonance, the crowd suspected that Lu Ye was behind the unprecedented streak, unaware that Soul Cleansing Water was helping him endure the trials.

• The Luo-surnamed Formation Cultivator accepted that becoming a Formation Dao grandmaster was beyond his aptitude and decided to make one final attempt before advancing to True Lake.
• Lu Ye recovered from the thirty-fifth-floor trial with Soul Cleansing Water, built a Small Spirit Gathering Funnel, and prepared for the next floor.
• The Hundred Formation Pagoda resonated again, and Formation Cultivators began gathering to witness the repeated occurrences and benefit from their enlightenment.
• The Formation Cultivators noticed that resonances kept occurring at intervals matching the tower's floor trials, and they suspected an exceptionally talented challenger was triggering them.
• The Luo-surnamed cultivator recalled his master's story of Lu Yiye triggering thirty-three resonances at the Main Sect's pagoda and wondered whether Lu Yiye was challenging this tower.
• The crowd counted an eleventh resonance, while Lu Ye continued relying on Soul Cleansing Water to endure the tower's trials.

Lu Ye advanced to Cloud River Tier Six while using the Hundred Formation Pagoda’s trials to rapidly improve his Formation Dao. As the pagoda continued resonating, Xia Liang, Tan Sheng, Chu Yun, and Zhou Pei arrived in Hundred Formation City to hunt him down.

• Lu Ye broke through to Cloud River Tier Six after the Spirit Gathering Funnels filled his Spiritual Power, and his strength increased as the effects of his Heavenly Mechanism Reward emerged.
• Lu Ye learned from Yiyi that he had passed fifteen floors and calculated that the remaining trials would further strengthen his cultivation.
• Lu Ye resumed comprehending the pagoda’s gifts and prepared for the next trial when the surrounding Spiritual Energy vanished.
• Cultivators gathered outside the Hundred Formation Pagoda, where the cultivator surnamed Luo wondered whether Lu Ye was behind its repeated resonances.
• Xia Liang, Tan Sheng, Chu Yun, and Zhou Pei arrived at the Hundred Formation Pagoda after hearing that Lu Ye had appeared there.

Lu Ye pushed through the Hundred Formation Pagoda’s trials despite the overwhelming Formation Dao knowledge weighing on his soul. He reached the thirty-third and final floor, where the tower rewarded him with thirty-two Advanced Formation Flags.

• Xia Liang, Tan Sheng, Chu Yun, and Zhou Pei searched the crowd outside the Hundred Formation Pagoda for Lu Ye but found no trace of him.
• Xia Liang and Tan Sheng suspected Lu Ye was challenging the tower, so they waited near its entrance as the pagoda resonated again.
• Lu Ye struggled to absorb the tower’s increasingly immense bestowals, relying on Yiyi and Soul Cleansing Water to endure each trial.
• Yiyi told Lu Ye he had reached the thirty-third floor and that there was no next floor.
• Lu Ye touched the extra cluster of fluorescent light and discovered it contained thirty-two Advanced Formation Flags.

After leaving the Hundred Formation Pagoda with new formation knowledge and a breakthrough to Tier Six, Lu Ye was ambushed by Xia Liang and Tan Sheng at its only exit. Wounded by their pincer attack and then struck by Chu Yun and Zhou Pei’s Fire Dragons, he vanished through a layer of ripples, leaving his fate unclear.

• Lu Ye left the Hundred Formation Pagoda with sixty-four Formation Flags, a swollen Divine Soul, and a breakthrough from Tier Five to Tier Six.
• Lu Ye recognized Xia Liang and Tan Sheng among the crowd and remembered that a Myriad Demon Ridge cultivator he had attacked on the safe passage could have revealed his whereabouts.
• Xia Liang and Tan Sheng launched a close-range pincer attack, and Lu Ye used a Guard Spirit Pattern to survive Tan Sheng’s spear thrust and Xia Liang’s slash.
• Tan Sheng struck Lu Ye in the ribs with his spear shaft, and Lu Ye used the blow’s force to leap aside as Xia Liang pursued him.
• Lu Ye activated another Guard to blunt Xia Liang’s strike, but the saber pierced his flesh before Chu Yun and Zhou Pei hit him with two Fire Dragons.
• Engulfed in flames, Lu Ye crashed through a layer of ripples and disappeared before the watching crowd.

Lu Ye escaped into the perilous formations around the Hundred Formation Pagoda after Xia Liang, Tan Sheng, Chu Yun, and Zhou Pei attacked him, and the attackers learned he had survived. Myriad Demon Ridge cultivators began breaking the formations to hunt him, while a Vast Sky Alliance cultivator realized Lu Ye had passed all thirty-three floors of the pagoda.

• Xia Liang watched Lu Ye disappear into the perilous ground after their ambush, and Chu Yun and Zhou Pei confirmed that Lu Ye had not died.
• The crowd recognized Lu Ye as the cultivator blamed for poisoning two thousand Myriad Demon Ridge cultivators, and Xia Liang asked Myriad Demon Ridge Formation Cultivators to search the perilous ground.
• Myriad Demon Ridge cultivators began breaking formations to find Lu Ye, while Vast Sky Alliance cultivators stayed back to avoid a fight.
• The cultivator surnamed Luo realized Lu Ye had been inside the Hundred Formation Pagoda during its thirty-three recent resonances and inferred that Lu Ye had passed all thirty-three floors.
• Chu Yun and Zhou Pei again confirmed that Lu Ye was still alive, leaving Xia Liang and the others baffled.