Chapter Summaries

Twelve Divine Sea Realm division heads divided up the new Bing Province Guards, but Elder Yu discovered Lu Yiye was missing from the roster and sought to claim him for Heaven's Gate Pass. She learned Lu Ye was imprisoned after offending Qian Wudang and Fan Xiangyi, then began contacting her connections to get him released.

• Twelve division heads selected new guards from a list of cultivators who had reported to Vast Sky City.
• Elder Yu objected that the list omitted Lu Yiye of the Crimson Blood Sect and demanded to know whether he had reported in.
• The Recruitment Division representative confirmed that Lu Yiye had reported several days earlier but had not reached the Recruitment Division because Qian Wudang had sent him to the Penal Prison.
• Elder Yu learned Lu Ye had been sentenced to three lashes and ten days' confinement, with five days already served, and ordered that he be released to register.
• The young man stopped the representative from intervening in the Penal Prison, so Elder Yu sent a message through her Battlefield Mark to arrange Lu Ye's release.

Lu Ye was released from the Penal Prison early and sent to register as a Bing Province Guard, while Fan Xiangyi arranged for someone to prevent the old woman from taking him away. At the Recruitment Division, Lu Ye’s past Battle Merit stunned the cultivators on duty, and he estimated that he had earned several hundred thousand points.

• Fan Xiangyi told Qian Wudang to release Lu Ye, saying someone would stop the old woman from taking him away.
• The Penal Prison released Lu Ye after five days and ordered him to report to the Recruitment Division.
• Lu Ye met Leshan of the Righteous Qi Sect, who warned him that his early release and urgent registration seemed unusual.
• Leshan explained that the Battle Merit Disk would determine Lu Ye’s Military Rank as a Bing Province Guard.
• The Battle Merit Disk’s light shifted to a brilliant yellow, astonishing the Recruitment Division cultivators, and Lu Ye estimated that he had earned several hundred thousand Battle Merit points.

Lu Ye’s accumulated Battle Merit earned him the unusually high initial rank of Lieutenant Guard, so Leshan sent him to the Personnel Affairs Division to receive his Guard Token. After Lu Ye left, Old Man Shi and a woman discussed the political maneuvering around his assignment and doubted that a plan to send him to Heaven’s Gate Pass would proceed easily.

• Leshan explained the nine military ranks and told Lu Ye that his Battle Merit qualified him for a rank beyond the Recruitment Division’s authority to assign.
• Old Man Shi arrived and brought Lu Ye to the Personnel Affairs Division, where a woman confirmed his Battle Merit and issued him a Guard Token.
• Old Man Shi told Lu Ye to remain in Vast Sky City until someone notified him where he would be assigned.
• After Lu Ye left, the woman worried that the Crimson Blood Sect was still being targeted and mentioned the possibility of Lu Ye being sent to Heaven’s Gate Pass.
• Old Man Shi said Qian Wudang and Fan Xiangyi’s connections to the Crimson Blood Sect meant the plan to take Lu Ye to Heaven’s Gate Pass might be thwarted.

Nian Yuexian intercepted Lu Ye’s assignment to Heaven’s Gate Pass and drove off the old woman who wanted to take him there. Lu Ye registered with the Bing Province Guard as a Lieutenant Guard, while Nian Yuexian kept his assignment list.

• The old woman tried to claim Lu Ye’s registration Jade Slip for Heaven’s Gate Pass, but Nian Yuexian appeared and seized it.
• Nian Yuexian refused to hand over the Jade Slip, and the old woman left after their confrontation escalated.
• Nian Yuexian attacked the old woman, injured her, and watched her flee as the main hall collapsed.
• The Law Enforcement Division patrol withdrew without investigating, and Nian Yuexian disappeared with Lu Ye’s assignment list.
• Lu Ye checked his Battlefield Mark and learned his Military Rank was Lieutenant Guard.
• Lu Ye poured Spiritual Power into his Guard Token, making it glow bright yellow.

Lu Ye reported to Azure Flame Mountain Pass and discovered that only its Pass Master, Nian Yuexian, was there. After settling in, he began cultivating while awaiting further orders.

• Lu Ye received orders to report to Azure Flame Mountain Pass and set out from Vast Sky City the next morning.
• Lu Ye found the pass deserted and entered it cautiously, where Nian Yuexian saw through his concealment and took his Guard Token.
• Nian Yuexian registered Lu Ye as a Pass Stationed Captain Guard and told him that only the two of them were at Azure Flame Mountain Pass.
• Lu Ye learned Nian Yuexian’s name, found a place to stay, and built a three-story Bamboo Lodge on a nearby Spirit Peak.
• Lu Ye received no reply when he contacted Nian Yuexian for tasks, so he began cultivating with Golden Spirit Signs alongside Yiyi.

Nian Yuexian secretly witnessed Lu Ye’s extraordinary cultivation method and discovered Yiyi, then left without being noticed. Lu Ye used the remaining Golden Spirit Sign to condense his spiritual power, stabilized his breakthrough into True Lake Tier One, and resumed cultivating with Yiyi and Amber.

• Nian Yuexian slipped into the Bamboo Lodge, observed Lu Ye and Yiyi cultivating, and realized how unusual they were before quietly leaving.
• Seven days later, Lu Ye’s spiritual power surged as he neared the True Lake Realm, and he circulated the Great Sun Glazed Art to condense it.
• Lu Ye continued condensing spiritual power while his Spirit Gathering Funnel absorbed more, eventually completing his first turn and stabilizing at True Lake Tier One.
• Lu Ye recognized the immense increase in his strength and told Yiyi he had reached True Lake.
• Yiyi resolved to keep up with Lu Ye, and she and Lu Ye returned to cultivation while the Golden Spirit Sign remained active.

After finishing his cultivation, Lu Ye discovered that Nian Yuexian wanted a place to stay and began completing her Guard Token missions for Battle Merit. The chapter ended with Nian Yuexian eating the food Lu Ye had prepared for her.

• Nian Yuexian appeared inside Lu Ye's Bamboo Lodge without him noticing, then vanished after praising his Formation Dao and the lodge.
• Lu Ye asked Nian Yuexian for a mission, and she assigned him to find her a place to stay.
• Lu Ye offered her his Bamboo Lodge, earning 2,000 Battle Merit, then built another lodge on a nearby Spirit Peak.
• Nian Yuexian assigned Lu Ye a mission to catch game and prepare food, so he cooked a meal beneath her lodge.
• Yiyi welcomed Nian Yuexian and Lu Ye served her the roasted meat, which she ate without comment.

Lu Ye objected to Nian Yuexian assigning him trivial chores, but she ordered him to fetch Blood Red Trout for soup. He returned to the Crimson Blood Sect under a tight deadline and learned from Shui Yuan that Nian Yuexian was a powerful Rogue Cultivator, leaving him wondering why she was tormenting him.

• Lu Ye overturned his meal and asked Nian Yuexian for proper duties instead of food-related errands.
• Nian Yuexian ordered Lu Ye to bring her Blood Red Trout soup within five days, then kept Yiyi and Amber with her as Lu Ye departed.
• Lu Ye raced to the Crimson Blood Sect and caught Blood Red Trout from Moon Lake after reaching Ao Mountain.
• Lu Ye greeted Shui Yuan and Pang Huanyin, who congratulated him on reaching the True Lake Realm.
• Shui Yuan told Lu Ye that Nian Yuexian was a Rogue Cultivator and that she should call her Senior Sister.
• Lu Ye asked why Nian Yuexian was tormenting him, and Shui Yuan had not yet answered.

Lu Ye learned that Nian Yuexian’s demands came from an old connection to the Crimson Blood Sect, then returned to find Yiyi appointed as Cangyan Mountain Pass’s attendant. He accepted a patrol assignment from Nian Yuexian and gained a new post, though he remained uneasy about the Battle Merit he had earned through her earlier errands.

• Shui Yuan told Lu Ye that Nian Yuexian was making things difficult for him in revenge for how someone from the Crimson Blood Sect had once treated her, but she bore him no ill will.
• Lu Ye returned to Cangyan Mountain Pass and learned that Nian Yuexian had given Yiyi a Guard Token and appointed her Attendant of the pass, supposedly below one person and above ten thousand.
• Nian Yuexian joined Lu Ye, Yiyi, and Amber for fish soup, and Lu Ye asked her to stop issuing him trivial tasks through his Guard Token.
• Nian Yuexian offered Lu Ye three tasks: assassinate her Divine Sea Realm rival Wanzhang Gang, repair the pass’s defenses, or patrol the area; Lu Ye chose the patrol.
• Nian Yuexian made Lu Ye the Cangyan Mountain Pass Patrol Captain Guard, while Amber escaped her attention and Lu Ye noted that his Battle Merit had reached 59,870.

Lu Ye patrolled beyond Cangyan Mountain Pass and discovered a volcanic crater in Myriad Demon Ridge territory, where he hoped to gather Fire Attribute energy for his Talent Tree. After he leaped into the crater, Nian Yuexian left to visit Lone Mountain City and confront Wanzhang Gang.

• Lu Ye set out with Amber and concealed Yiyi to patrol the defensive line around Cangyan Mountain Pass.
• As Lu Ye traveled deeper, he noticed rising heat and a pungent smell, then used the Ten-Part Map to confirm a volcanic crater lay in Myriad Demon Ridge territory.
• Lu Ye recalled Amber and Yiyi, approached the crater alone, and jumped into its boiling lava to absorb its abundant Fire Attribute energy.
• Nian Yuexian, who had secretly followed Lu Ye, watched him enter the crater and decided not to intervene.
• Nian Yuexian headed for Lone Mountain City to visit Wanzhang Gang, whom she had harassed with past incursions.

Lu Ye used the volcanic crater’s heat to awaken a new Spirit Pattern through the Talent Tree, though it was not the Void Spirit Pattern he had hoped for. He then concealed himself when a Myriad Demon Ridge patrol arrived and recognized its leader as an old acquaintance who might now be stationed opposite him at Lone Mountain Pass.

• Lu Ye descended into the crater, protected himself with the Talent Tree, and fed it scorching power while cultivating.
• Lu Ye extended the Talent Tree’s roots into the lava, accelerating its devouring until a new Spirit Pattern awakened.
• Lu Ye learned that the new Spirit Pattern was not the Void Spirit Pattern, then steadied himself by recalling his master’s advice and noticed another set of leaves beginning to ignite.
• Lu Ye sensed a group approaching, concealed his aura, and overheard them identify their leader as Lord Ying, a newly appointed Province Guard officer.
• Lu Ye recognized Lord Ying as the cultivator who had cursed during the Nine Provinces Squad’s desperate battle in Heavenly Saint Hall and wondered whether he was stationed at Lone Mountain Pass.

Lu Ye hid his identity from Ying Wuji in the Volcanic Crater, while Ying Wuji mistook him for the dangerous Lu Yiye and struggled to decide whether to flee. After Lu Ye proved he belonged to Myriad Demon Ridge, Ying Wuji began explaining his grudge against Lu Yiye, unaware he was speaking to him.

• Lu Ye recalled how he and Ying Wuji had fought together on the Peerless Continent and concealed his saber and face before Ying Wuji arrived.
• Ying Wuji spotted the masked man in the crater, recognized Lu Ye’s build, and feared he had found Lu Yiye.
• Lu Ye altered his voice and claimed to be a Myriad Demon Ridge cultivator, but Ying Wuji remained suspicious.
• Lu Ye showed Ying Wuji his red Myriad Demon Ridge Battlefield Mark, convincing him of his camp affiliation.
• Ying Wuji complained that Lu Yiye was a powerful, petty killer, and Lu Ye asked where he had offended him.

Lu Ye used the alias Niu Meng while cultivating in a magma crater, where Ying Wuji and a Myriad Demon Ridge team gathered Core Fire. As the Talent Tree absorbed the flames, Lu Ye gained the Moon Return Spirit Pattern and continued seeking further gains.

• Lu Ye introduced himself to Ying Wuji as Niu Meng, a Rogue Cultivator from East Hill Plain Pass, and Ying Wuji explained that his team had come to collect Earth Fire.
• Ying Wuji led Cloud River Realm cultivators to gather Core Fire while Lu Ye watched their method and heard them complain that Core Fire was being bought up from Heaven's Mystery Vault.
• Lu Ye absorbed Flame Fire with the Talent Tree, endured a sudden pain in his soul, and discovered he had gained the Moon Return Spirit Pattern.
• Lu Ye recognized Moon Return as a useful Spirit Pattern that could reflect attacks, then continued feeding Flame Fire to the Talent Tree for more gains.
• After several leaves yielded Spirit Pattern construction techniques, many leaves lit up together, signaling that the Talent Tree was producing another complex Spirit Pattern.

As Lu Ye absorbed Flame Fire power, the Talent Tree’s roots transformed while its leaves stopped lighting. The depleted volcanic crater revealed an ancient stone platform that began devouring fiery power after a cultivator accidentally activated it.

• Lu Ye noticed the Talent Tree’s roots growing sturdier and glowing red, and suspected it was undergoing a transformation.
• Ying Wuji’s squad continued gathering Earth Fire as the crater cooled, while Lu Ye considered whether to take their Core Fire to advance the Talent Tree.
• A huge stone platform rose from the magma, and Lu Ye and Ying Wuji concluded its emergence was linked to the loss of Flame Fire power.
• A cultivator activated the platform by channeling Spiritual Power, causing its patterns and more than forty flower shapes to light up as it devoured the surrounding fiery power.

Ying Wuji and the cultivators discovered that an ancient Stone Platform measured aptitude, and Lu Ye’s sixty-four-leaf result unexpectedly opened a hidden entrance. The group faced the unknown passage and considered exploring what lay beneath.

• Ying Wuji and Lu Ye realized that the Stone Platform’s flower shadows matched cultivators’ aptitude ratings.
• The cultivators tested the platform, and Ying Wuji revealed his sixty-two-leaf aptitude.
• Ying Wuji told the group about Lu Yiye’s supposedly one-leaf talent, prompting Lu Ye to test himself.
• Lu Ye activated all sixty-four flower shadows, and the Stone Platform opened a hidden entrance as it absorbed the surrounding Flame Fire power.
• Ying Wuji looked to Lu Ye for a decision, and Lu Ye nodded his agreement to proceed.

Ying Wuji and Lu Ye explored an underground karst cave and discovered an ancient city surrounded by flowing magma and a rich deposit of Fire Spirit Stones. While Ying Wuji organized the mining, Lu Ye investigated the city and found a stool carved from a Fire Spirit Stone.

• Ying Wuji led half of his Cloud River Realm cultivators down the stone passage while Lu Ye brought up the rear.
• The group found an enormous underground city beside rivers of magma, with carvings along the passage depicting worshippers kneeling before the blazing sun.
• Ying Wuji and Lu Ye discovered numerous Fire Spirit Stones embedded in the cavern ceiling, and Ying Wuji ordered the cultivators to mine them and hand them over for safekeeping.
• Lu Ye entered the ruined city to check for danger and found a rough stool carved from a Fire Spirit Stone, which he stored away.

Lu Ye discovered that the underground city’s Fire Spirit Stone disks were powerful explosive weapons and that lava-filled trenches formed an ancient Eight Extremes Demon Sealing Array. As the array destabilized and the entrance was swallowed by lava, Ying Wuji fled toward Lu Ye with Fire Humanoids in pursuit.

• Lu Ye summoned Yiyi and Amber to help search the city for Fire Spirit Stones while avoiding Ying Wuji’s group.
• Lu Ye repaired a damaged pattern on a Fire Spirit Stone disk and realized it was an Explosion Spirit Pattern that made the disk a dangerous weapon.
• Lu Ye and Yiyi searched the city for nearly half a day, collecting Fire Spirit Stones and finding more explosive disks.
• Lu Ye noticed Spiritual Power surging where Ying Wuji’s group was and headed toward Yiyi and Amber.
• The city’s lava-filled trenches erupted, and Lu Ye recognized their layout as an ancient Eight Extremes Demon Sealing Array that was beginning to fail.
• Ying Wuji and several companions retreated toward Lu Ye as Fire Humanoids pursued them, while lava blocked the entrance.

Lu Ye and Ying Wuji fought through a city overrun by Fire Spirit Race after the Eight Extremes Demon Sealing Array failed. Lu Ye revealed his identity and led Ying Wuji toward the entrance, where a powerful Fire Spirit Race struck with a giant palm that swallowed them both.

• Lu Ye recognized the pursuers as the Fire Spirit Race and joined Ying Wuji's group as they tried to escape the ruined city.
• Fire Spirit Race emerged from the magma, surrounded the cultivators, and killed many of them as Lu Ye and Ying Wuji fought to open a path.
• Ying Wuji was nearly killed, but Lu Ye blocked the incoming attacks with his saber and revealed himself, leaving Ying Wuji stunned to learn that Niu Meng was Lu Ye.
• Lu Ye and Ying Wuji cut their way toward the entrance, with Ying Wuji guarding their rear as Lu Ye fought through the Fire Spirit Race.
• A powerful Fire Spirit Race formed a giant palm from magma and slammed it toward them; Lu Ye charged at it with his saber wreathed in flames, and the palm swallowed both men.

Lu Ye and Ying Wuji escaped the underground eruption as the sealed Fire Spirit Race poured out and pursued them. Lu Ye headed with Ying Wuji toward Lone Mountain Pass, where the defenders prepared to face the approaching horde.

• Lu Ye and Ying Wuji fought through the Stone Staircase Tunnel and fled the Volcanic Crater as a Divine Sea Realm Fire Spirit Race member unleashed a magma torrent behind them.
• The Fire Spirit Race emerged from the crater and pursued Lu Ye and Ying Wuji, who flew toward Lone Mountain Pass rather than bringing the horde to Cangyan Mountain Pass.
• Ying Wuji swore a Heavenly Mechanism Oath not to reveal Lu Ye’s secrets, then handed over the Fire Spirit Stones he had gathered after Lu Ye demanded them.
• Lu Ye told Ying Wuji to warn Lone Mountain Pass to prepare for battle, and Ying Wuji said he had already sent word.
• Lu Ye and Ying Wuji reached Lone Mountain Pass after two hours of flight, and the defenders saw the vast torrent of pursuing Fire Spirit Race members.

Lu Ye and Ying Wuji reached Lone Mountain Pass as the Fire Spirit Race army attacked, and the city’s defenses slaughtered the advancing ranks. The Fire Spirit Race then revealed a Divine Sea Realm leader and used the Five Elements Spirit Race Secret Technique United as One, strengthening the entire army.

• Wanzhang Gang ordered Lone Mountain Pass to prepare for battle while he and Tan Yaoniang watched the Fire Spirit Race approach.
• Lu Ye and Ying Wuji landed on the city wall, where Ying Wuji’s fear eased and he kept Lu Ye’s identity secret under a Heaven’s Mystery Oath.
• Lone Mountain Pass activated its Formations and core artifacts, unleashing successive attacks that inflicted heavy casualties on the Fire Spirit Race.
• A Divine Sea Realm Fire Spirit Race member emerged, and the army gathered around him as their auras linked and grew stronger.
• Wanzhang Gang recognized the Secret Technique United as One and realized the Five Elements Spirit Race had empowered its entire army.