Chapter Summaries

Lu Ye fought his way through the Bug Tide in the Dragon Seat, hunting the intelligent Canine Insects while struggling against the armor’s immense drain on his strength. After a Glutinous Insect swallowed him, he escaped by transforming into a Fire Phoenix and resumed attacking, easing the pressure on the pass.

• Lu Ye charged into the swarm and searched for Divine Sea Realm insects to reduce the threat to the pass.
• Lu Ye found the Canine Insects and fought off their coordinated assault, killing two before the others retreated.
• A Glutinous Insect swallowed Lu Ye, trapping him amid crushing pressure and corrosive power.
• Lu Ye formed a Fire Phoenix, burned through the Glutinous Insect’s abdomen, and flew back into the battle.
• The soldiers at the pass noticed the Bug Tide had weakened as Lu Ye slaughtered insects and tied down their forces.

Lu Ye weakened the Bug Tide at Startled Waves Lake Pass, then lured eight Canine Insects away as his Dragon Seat broke apart and the pass’s defenses nearly collapsed. Old Man Wan arrived with reinforcements and helped stabilize the breach, while Lu Ye’s whereabouts remained unknown.

• Yu Huang coordinated the defenses as Lu Ye fought inside the Bug Tide, killing many Insect Race and reducing its numbers.
• Lu Ye, exhausted and unable to eliminate the remaining Canine Insects, fought his way out of the swarm to draw them away from the pass.
• Lu Ye’s Dragon Seat fell apart, and he fled with the eight Canine Insects pursuing him as he replenished his strength.
• The Bug Tide overwhelmed a section of Startled Waves Lake Pass’s defensive line, and Yu Huang fought to hold the breach.
• Old Man Wan arrived and used powerful spell arts to repel the Insect Race, then ordered Yu Huang to reinforce the defensive line.
• Old Man Wan charged out to attack the Bug Tide while Yu Huang gathered the pass’s cultivators.

At Dark Moon Forest Pass, Li Taibai helped Lin Yue stabilize the defense against the Bug Tide, then slipped away to join Lu Ye. Working together, Lu Ye and his Clone ambushed the eight pursuing Canine Insects near the Earth Rift and killed three, leaving five still fighting.

• Lin Yue praised Li Taibai for helping her defeat two Big Bugs and promised to request credit for him.
• Li Taibai left Dark Moon Forest Pass under the pretense of killing more insects and hurried toward Lu Ye, while Lin Yue lost contact with him.
• The Clone concealed himself near the Earth Rift as Lu Ye led the eight Canine Insects past it and waited for his strength to recover.
• The Clone ambushed the Canine Insects from below with Sword Dragons, killing two and scattering the rest.
• Lu Ye used the opening to kill a third Canine Insect with the Crag Mountain Saber, then charged another as five remained.

Lu Ye and his Clone fought alongside Li Taibai to kill the Canine Insects, while Old Man Wan and Lin Yue arrived and chose to guard the battle rather than interfere. The two young cultivators continued to slay the Big Bugs with seamless coordination, leaving only three alive.

• Lu Ye and his Clone joined forces against five Canine Insects, their linked auras letting them hold their own.
• After the battles at the passes stabilized, Lin Yue and Old Man Wan separately hurried toward the Earth Rift to find Lu Yiye and Li Taibai.
• Old Man Wan and Lin Yue reached the battlefield, recognized the two young fighters, and agreed to stand by without disrupting their cooperation.
• Li Taibai killed a Canine Insect by sending his Flying Sword through its belly and mouthparts.
• Lu Yiye opened a fissure in another Canine Insect's carapace, and Li Taibai's sword strike split it apart through the wound.

Lu Ye and his Clone, Li Taibai, helped Old Man Wan and Lin Yue defeat the remaining Big Bugs, then returned to their respective passes. Old Man Wan appointed Lu Ye Pass Master of Startled Waves Lake Pass before leaving, and Qian Wudang questioned him about Liu Yuemei’s death while confirming his Law Enforcement Division ties.

• Lu Ye and his Clone pursued the two fleeing Big Bugs alongside Old Man Wan and Lin Yue, and together they killed both.
• Lu Ye and Li Taibai exchanged polite introductions, then returned with Old Man Wan and Lin Yue to their respective passes.
• After the Insect Race was exterminated at Startled Waves Lake Pass, Old Man Wan ordered Lu Ye to take command as Pass Master and departed on a new assignment.
• Lu Ye ordered Yu Huang to send the fallen soldiers’ bodies to Vast Sky City so their sects and families could retrieve them.
• Qian Wudang scolded Lu Ye for leaving Vast Sky City and asked whether he and Li Taibai had killed Liu Yuemei; Lu Ye denied knowing Li Taibai before that day and denied involvement.

Lu Ye learned he would remain in charge of Startled Waves Lake Pass, while worrying that Qian Wudang might suspect him of killing Liu Yuemei. Yu Huajin rushed to the pass to avenge Liu Yuemei, but Zhao Cheng stopped her and revealed Lu Ye's importance before Nian Yuexian ambushed her.

• Lu Ye considered the advantages of staying at Startled Waves Lake Pass and worried that others might connect him to Liu Yuemei's death.
• Yu Huajin left Heaven's Gate Pass, determined to kill Lu Yiye and Li Taibai in revenge for her family's losses.
• Zhao Cheng intercepted Yu Huajin and warned her that Lu Yiye could not be touched.
• Zhao Cheng revealed that Lu Yiye had refined the Shared Breath, Connected Branches Formation Plates and Explosive Fire Spirit Stones, making him vital to the war effort.
• Nian Yuexian stabbed Yu Huajin from behind, and Zhao Cheng pleaded with her to show mercy.

Nian Yuexian stopped Yu Huajin from targeting Lu Yiye by injuring and warning her, while Tang Yifeng’s protection kept Lu Ye unaware of the danger. At Startled Waves Lake Pass, Lu Ye delegated routine work and ordered a much larger supply request, leaving his subordinates worried the Quartermaster Division would reject it.

• Nian Yuexian stabbed Yu Huajin, warned her to stay away from Lu Yiye, and left after Zhao Cheng caught the injured cultivator.
• Zhao Cheng found Yu Huajin had fainted rather than died and took her to seek medical treatment, while Nian Yuexian reported to Tang Yifeng that she had talked her back.
• Tang Yifeng reflected on the suspicions surrounding Liu Yuemei’s death and the protection he had arranged for Lu Ye.
• Lu Ye told Yu Huang and the other cultivators to handle routine pass affairs as before and only bring him matters requiring his attention.
• Lu Ye ordered the pass’s supply request increased fivefold, and Yu Huang’s subordinates worried the Quartermaster Division would refuse it.

Lu Ye linked his main body and Clone with Teleportation Spirit Arrays, then began comprehending the final form of the Overlord Saber Technique. At Startled Waves Lake Pass, Fu Yao arrived with supplies and a Divine Sea Realm escort, asking to see Pass Master Lu.

• Lu Ye and his Clone established matching Teleportation Spirit Arrays, confirmed they could connect across a thousand li, and used them to travel between the passes.
• Lu Ye left materials for his Clone at Dark Moon Forest Pass, returned to Startled Waves Lake Pass, and studied the Overlord Saber Technique inheritance.
• Lu Ye comprehended the blazing saber light of the technique’s third form, Myriad Stars and Arc Moon being the first two forms he had learned.
• Yu Huang saw Fu Yao arrive at Startled Waves Lake Pass with Lord Liu, a Divine Sea Tier Five cultivator assigned to escort the Quartermaster Division’s supplies.
• Yu Huang told Lu Ye that the Quartermaster Division envoy had arrived, and Lu Ye opened his door expecting news of another battle.

Lu Ye received the Quartermaster Division’s supply delivery at Startled Waves Lake Pass and learned that Wan had dubbed him and Li Taibai the Bingzhou Twin Heroes. The Division approved the pass’s entire extensive request and promised priority for future allocations, leaving Yu Huang baffled about Lu Ye’s connection to Chao Ye.

• Yu Huang persuaded Lu Ye to meet the Quartermaster Division representatives and warned that they had likely approved only a fraction of the pass’s supply request.
• Liu praised Lu Ye and explained that Wan had named him and Li Taibai the Bingzhou Twin Heroes after hearing about their battle against the Big Bugs.
• Fu Yao presented the approved supply lists, and Lu Ye checked them and signed for receipt without complaint.
• Fu Yao said Chao Ye had ordered the Quartermaster Division to prioritize any future requests from Startled Waves Lake Pass.
• After Fu Yao and Liu departed, Yu Huang questioned Lu Ye about his relationship with Chao Ye, and Lu Ye said they had never met.

Lu Ye proposed that Startled Waves Lake Pass and Dark Moon Forest Pass cooperate to contain the Bug Disaster by sealing the Earth Rift between them. He offered to address Lin Yue’s concerns by building a Teleportation Spirit Array, but the chapter ended before she responded.

• Lu Ye ordered compensation for the families of soldiers killed in battle and spent three months cultivating, reaching Tier Three of the Divine Sea Realm.
• Lu Ye decided to contain the Bug Disaster in the region around his two passes before seeking helpers for the Blood Refining World.
• Lu Ye openly entered Dark Moon Forest Pass and met with Lin Yue and his Clone, Li Taibai.
• Lu Ye proposed that both passes deploy troops around the Earth Rift to contain the Insect Race at its source.
• Lin Yue raised concerns about factional friction, splitting their forces, and the danger of a Big Bug emerging at the Rift.
• Lu Ye proposed building a Teleportation Spirit Array between Dark Moon Forest Pass and the Earth Rift so troops could reinforce one another quickly.

Lu Ye began stationing Startled Waves Lake Pass troops at the Earth Rift and built Teleportation Spirit Arrays and defensive formations to contain the Insect Race. Lin Yue inspected his preparations, agreed to bring Dark Moon Forest Pass to join him, and asked how his soldiers had learned to form battle formations.

• Lu Ye proposed that Startled Waves Lake Pass and Dark Moon Forest Pass cooperate to defend the Earth Rift, and Lin Yue decided to wait and see whether he would act.
• Lu Ye gathered the 313 cultivators at Startled Waves Lake Pass, drew lots to leave fifty behind, and led the rest toward the Earth Rift.
• At the Earth Rift, Lu Ye's soldiers formed battle formations to fight the Insect Race while he established a Teleportation Spirit Array and set up defenses.
• Lin Yue arrived, watched Lu Ye's preparations, and helped his soldiers fend off the insects.
• Lin Yue agreed to bring Dark Moon Forest Pass to join the defense, then asked Lu Ye whether his soldiers had received outside help to form battle formations.

Lu Ye helped Lin Yue stabilize the Earth Rift defenses by supplying Shared Breath, Connected Branches Formation Plates and building a Teleportation Spirit Array between the two passes. After a month of stability, he descended into the Earth Rift to investigate the Insect Path and search for the Insect Nest, reaching it with his strength already suppressed by the Primordial Magnetic Field.

• Lu Ye gave Lin Yue a hundred Shared Breath, Connected Branches Formation Plates to support the cooperation between their camps.
• Lin Yue brought more than two hundred Myriad Demon Ridge Cultivators to the Earth Rift, where the combined forces stabilized the defenses against the Insect Race.
• Lu Ye traveled to Dark Moon Forest Pass and set up a Teleportation Spirit Array connecting it to the Earth Rift.
• After a month, Lu Ye told Lin Yue he planned to explore the Earth Rift, and she agreed to oversee the defenses while he was gone.
• Lu Ye leaped into the Earth Rift and fought off Insect Race creatures as he descended, while the Primordial Magnetic Field increasingly suppressed his cultivation.
• At three thousand zhang underground, Lu Ye found the Insect Path but paused before entering it to ensure he had the means to protect himself.

Lu Ye tested ways to resist the Primordial Magnetic Field and used Soul Control to ride a Sacred Beetle deeper into the Insect Path. After a Canine Insect exposed him and he fought off the surrounding Insect Race, he discovered that Insect Blood also weakened the field’s suppression.

• Lu Ye summoned the Dragon Seat and confirmed its armor completely blocked the Primordial Magnetic Field, then put it away and fought off the Insect Race drawn by its aura.
• Lu Ye tested the Talent Tree’s power and found that it only partially resisted the Primordial Magnetic Field.
• Lu Ye broke through a Sacred Beetle’s instinctive soul defense, controlled it, and hid beneath its wings to travel deeper into the Insect Path.
• A Canine Insect detected Lu Ye’s scent, exposing him; Lu Ye summoned the Dragon Seat and killed it and the surrounding Insect Race creatures.
• Lu Ye covered himself in the Canine Insect’s blood and hid again, then noticed the blood had reduced the Primordial Magnetic Field’s suppression.

Lu Ye traveled deep into the Insect Path and discovered a gateway leading to a vast realm filled with Insect Race creatures. He suspected the realm was the source of the Bug Disaster, but he had not yet learned who or what had caused it.

• Lu Ye checked on Clone Li Taibai, who had taken over the Earth Rift from Lin Yue and was helping cultivators from both sides defend it together.
• As the Insect Path suppressed Lu Ye’s strength, he spotted a luminous gateway at its deepest point and saw Insect Race creatures emerge from it.
• Lu Ye rode the Sacred Beetle through the gateway and found that his Spiritual Power was restored in a world without the Primordial Magnetic Field.
• Lu Ye confirmed he could still sense his Clone and use his Battlefield Mark, then flew higher to survey the countless Insect Race creatures below.
• Lu Ye recognized the realm as a Great Insect Mystic Realm and wondered whether the Nine Provinces Heavenly Mechanism controlled the Bug Disaster as it controlled Bug Tides in the Spirit Stream Battlefield.

Lu Ye explored the Great Insect Mystic Realm and discovered its Insect Nests, powerful insects, and nine portals corresponding to the nine Continents of Nine Provinces. He escaped back to the surface with information that could help Nine Provinces confront the Bug Disaster, though the Primordial Magnetic Field remained an obstacle to an invasion.

• Lu Ye rode the Sacred Beetle along the realm’s edge and found numerous Insect Nests where insects emerged and preyed on one another.
• Lu Ye and the Sacred Beetle escaped a powerful insect, and he continued avoiding the realm’s dangerous center.
• Lu Ye discovered nine portals, each leading to one of the nine great Continents of Nine Provinces.
• Lu Ye returned to his original portal after surveying the realm and concluded that Nine Provinces’ cultivators would need to unite to overcome the Bug Disaster.
• Lu Ye traveled through an Insect Path for more than ten days, burned the Sacred Beetle, and fought his way out to the surface.

Lu Ye returned to Vast Sky City and showed the Sect Master evidence from the Great Insect Mystic Realm, which he had reached by controlling an Insect Race creature and hiding on its back. The Sect Master realized Lu Ye had uncovered the source of the Bug Disaster, though his method was too special for others to imitate.

• Lu Ye emerged from an Earth Rift in Soldier Province, traveled to Vast Sky City, and waited at the Sect Master's residence.
• Lu Ye told the Sect Master that the pass was secure and that he had ventured into an Earth Rift despite the Sect Master's warning against such risks.
• Lu Ye gave the Sect Master several Image Retention Stones showing insect swarms, Insect Nests, and glowing gateways.
• Lu Ye explained that he had reached the Great Insect Mystic Realm by controlling a Divine Sea Realm Insect Race creature, concealing himself with Spirit Patterns, and covering his body with Insect Blood.
• The Sect Master recognized that Lu Ye had found the source of the Bug Disaster and that other cultivators could not readily reproduce his method.

Lu Ye reported that the Earth Rifts led to a vast Great Insect Mystic Realm, and the Sect Master concealed his role to protect him. At the Council of Elders, Pang Zhen revealed the discoveries, but the Nine Provinces still lacked a way to enter the realm or block the Primordial Magnetic Field.

• Lu Ye told the Sect Master that the Great Insect Mystic Realm had nine gateways corresponding to the Nine Provinces and no Primordial Magnetic Field.
• The Sect Master agreed to take credit for Lu Ye’s discoveries and told him to return to Startled Waves Lake Pass while he convened the Council of Elders.
• Pang Zhen distributed the Image Retention Stones at the Council of Elders and explained that the Insect Paths led to gateways into the Great Insect Mystic Realm.
• The gathered leaders learned that the realm contained countless Insects and giant insects, but lacked the Primordial Magnetic Field that suppressed cultivators in the Earth Rifts.
• Pang Zhen said they could not yet transport forces into the realm and urged Chao Ye’s Quartermaster Division to find a way to block the Primordial Magnetic Field, warning that the Bug Disaster threatened mortal food supplies.

After the Nine Provinces’ leaders agreed to share their discovery about the Great Insect Mystic Realm with Myriad Demon Ridge, Qian Wudang warned the Sect Master that Lu Ye’s recent success might attract desperate enemies. Back at Startled Waves Lake Pass, Lu Ye found a mysterious Image Retention Stone showing that someone else had entered the realm, leaving him to wonder who sent it and why.

• Pang Zhen’s council agreed to send copies of the Great Insect Mystic Realm images to Myriad Demon City, and the meeting ended quickly.
• Qian Wudang told the Sect Master that Lu Ye had visited Vast Sky City and warned him to guard against people driven to desperation who might target Lu Ye.
• Lu Ye returned to Startled Waves Lake Pass, where Yu Huang reported that the pass was quiet and that other frontline passes were adopting Lu Ye’s defensive approach.
• Lu Ye found a locked Storage Bag hanging from his door and opened it to discover an Image Retention Stone.
• Lu Ye viewed the stone and realized its different ground-level perspective showed that someone besides him had infiltrated the Great Insect Mystic Realm.

Lu Ye received a series of Image Retention Stones depicting the Great Insect Mystic Realm, but realized their sender did not know he had already investigated it. At Dark Moon Forest Pass, Li Taibai learned that Yu Huajin planned to defect to Myriad Demon Ridge by killing Lu Yiye, while Myriad Demon Ridge had instead ordered them to warn him.

• Lu Ye received eight Image Retention Stones over four months, which together showed more of the Great Insect Mystic Realm, and suspected their sender lacked high-level information.
• Lin Yue summoned Li Taibai to Dark Moon Forest Pass and showed him intelligence identifying Yu Huajin as a Divine Sea Tier Nine cultivator planning to defect to Myriad Demon Ridge.
• Li Taibai learned that Yu Huajin intended to use Lu Yiye's head as her token of allegiance and lure him to Dark Moon Forest Pass with Lin Yue's cooperation.
• Lin Yue revealed that Myriad Demon City had ordered them to warn Lu Yiye rather than help Yu Huajin, since her plan concealed the importance of Lu Yiye's Formation Plates and stemmed from personal grudges.
• Lin Yue explained that Yu Huajin likely wanted to kill Li Taibai as well because he had killed her grandson Tan Shu.

Li Taibai and Lu Ye coordinated with Myriad Demon Ridge to deal with Yu Huajin, who had defected in order to kill them. Yu Huajin arrived at Dark Moon Forest Pass in weakened condition, and the group prepared to confront her.

• Lin Yue explained that Myriad Demon Ridge wanted Lu Ye warned and proposed using Shared Breath, Connected Branches Formation Plates to secure his cooperation against Yu Huajin.
• Li Taibai traveled to Startled Waves Lake Pass, where Lu Ye received a secret warning about someone plotting to harm him and recognized that a visitor had left it.
• Li Taibai told Lin Yue that Lu Ye would provide two thousand Formation Plates and would work with him to kill Yu Huajin, with Lin Yue supporting them.
• Half a month later, Yu Huajin arrived at Dark Moon Forest Pass, and Lin Yue warned Li Taibai that her vitality and cultivation had declined and that she seemed prepared to die.