Chapter Summaries

Lu Ye returned to the waterfall and followed Amber’s blood trail to a cave, where he found no sign of Amber or Yiyi. He confirmed Amber had survived the pursuit and prepared to continue searching the next day while cultivating overnight.

• Lu Ye released his horse and asked a Tier Three cultivator for directions to the top of the waterfall.
• Lu Ye retraced the route where he and Amber had been separated and found Amber’s blood leading toward the waterfall.
• Lu Ye followed the blood trail to a cave, killed a black panther, and found bones that did not belong to Amber.
• Lu Ye rested in the cave, opened his thirty-seventh Spiritual Aperture, and nurtured his Small Bell Spiritual Artifact.

After days of searching for Amber and Yiyi, Lu Ye heard Amber’s roar and followed it to a battle. He found Amber surrounded by five cultivators and restrained by a Beast Taming Ring, then overheard them discuss capturing the rare beast.

• Lu Ye searched for Amber and Yiyi for days while cultivating at night, but found no clues.
• Lu Ye heard Amber roar in the forest and hurried toward the sound, concealing his aura before approaching the battlefield.
• Lu Ye spotted Amber, disoriented and restrained by a Beast Taming Ring, surrounded by four men and one woman.
• A Tier Five young man ordered Senior Sister Yu to loosen the ring so Amber would not be strangled.
• The cultivators revealed that Amber had a bonded Accomplice Spirit and that they intended to capture it for its potential.

Lu Ye arrived as Amber was subdued by cultivators from Youyun Mountain and seized Senior Sister Yu to free it. After learning their affiliation, he killed her and trapped Senior Brother Zhou inside a falling bell, leaving the remaining cultivators facing him.

• Lu Ye learned that Senior Brother Zhou's group had tracked Amber and used the Beast Taming Ring to pin it down.
• Yiyi emerged to demand that the cultivators release Amber, then suddenly returned to Amber's body as the ring's glow faded.
• Lu Ye appeared behind Senior Sister Yu and held her at blade-point while the others reacted to his ambush.
• A Tier Three cultivator named Youyun Mountain, and Lu Ye recognized it as a Ninth-Rank Myriad Demon Ridge sect.
• Lu Ye stabbed Senior Sister Yu and kicked her toward Senior Brother Zhou as the latter charged at him.
• A large bell descended and sealed Senior Brother Zhou inside.

Lu Ye used the Small Bell Spiritual Artifact to trap Senior Brother Zhou and swiftly killed Youyun Mountain’s other three Tier Three cultivators. After Senior Brother Zhou broke free, his superior swordsmanship drove Lu Ye back and wounded him, leaving Lu Ye to risk a desperate Sharpness-enhanced strike.

• Lu Ye trapped Senior Brother Zhou with the Small Bell Spiritual Artifact, then killed two Tier Three cultivators with his saber.
• Amber and Yiyi held the third Tier Three cultivator long enough for Lu Ye to cut off his hand and kill him.
• Lu Ye retrieved the Spirit Bell and sent Yiyi and the injured Amber farther away before confronting Senior Brother Zhou.
• Senior Brother Zhou escaped the bell and used skilled swordsmanship to break Lu Ye’s attacks, drive him back, and wound him.
• Lu Ye realized he was losing the fight and charged a fierce strike with the Sharpness Spirit Pattern.

Lu Ye fought Senior Brother Zhou despite a sword wound through his chest, using his sharp saber and Defense Spirit Patterns to trade injuries with the stronger opponent. Senior Brother Zhou grew desperate as he failed to break through Lu Ye’s defenses and realized he might die before he could call for help.

• Lu Ye and Senior Brother Zhou exchanged severe wounds, and Senior Brother Zhou discovered that Lu Ye’s saber had cut through his body-protecting Spiritual Power.
• Senior Brother Zhou saw that Lu Ye had killed all his junior brothers and sisters while he was trapped inside the Spirit Bell.
• Lu Ye charged again and deliberately traded wounds, protecting his heart and throat with two Defense Spirit Patterns.
• Senior Brother Zhou used a Golden Body Talisman and attacked Lu Ye with another Spirit Talisman, but Lu Ye blocked it with the Spirit Bell and renewed his assault.
• As their battle continued, Senior Brother Zhou could neither break Lu Ye’s vital defenses nor send a message for help, and he began to fear he would die.

Lu Ye killed Senior Brother Zhou in a brutal fight, then collapsed from his injuries. Yiyi and Amber carried him toward Mount Ying to find Hua Ci, who received a message and turned back to help.

• Lu Ye battered Senior Brother Zhou until his sword broke, then drove his saber into him and confirmed his victory.
• Lu Ye collapsed, and Yiyi and Amber helped him take Healing Pills and bandaged his wounds.
• Lu Ye told Yiyi to take him to Mount Ying to find Hua Ci, then passed out on Amber's back.
• Yiyi used the Ten-Part Map to guide Amber toward Mount Ying while supporting Lu Ye.
• Hua Ci received a message, left her carriage, and told Kong Niu to turn back with her.

Hua Ci treated Lu Ye and Amber after Yiyi brought them to Mount Ying, while Lu Ye recovered enough to wake and begin further treatment. The chapter left Lu Ye bandaged and at Hua Ci’s mercy as she teased him during the procedure.

• Hua Ci examined Lu Ye’s severe injuries and began treating him after ordering Ruan Lingyu to boil water and Yiyi to help.
• Hua Ci treated Amber as well, then Lu Ye woke a day later and Yiyi helped him sit up.
• Hua Ci fed Lu Ye medicinal broth, charging him one Spiritual Pill per spoonful.
• Hua Ci began another treatment and asked why Yiyi called him Lu Ye when he had introduced himself as One Leaf.
• Lu Ye explained that Lu was his surname and One Leaf was his courtesy name, and Hua Ci deliberately made his treatment more painful.

While recovering at Mount Ying, Lu Ye continued cultivating and reached forty-six apertures, leaving him one short of advancing to Spirit Stream Tier Four. Yiyi and Amber resolved to grow stronger and stay by Lu Ye’s side as he prepared to continue his journey.

• Lu Ye recovered from his wounds while Hua Ci treated him, and he practiced his blade beneath the moon.
• Yiyi told Amber they needed to become stronger, then asked Lu Ye for Spiritual Pills to feed the tiger; he gave her several bottles.
• Lu Ye opened his forty-sixth aperture and realized he needed one more to advance to Spirit Stream Tier Four, though his supply of Spiritual Pills was nearly depleted.
• Yiyi asked Lu Ye whether they would stay at Mount Ying, then chose to keep traveling with him after he said she could decide.

Lu Ye sold his Primordial Magnetic Ore and other spoils, then discovered that Dong Shuye was alive and hiding in Liusu Marketplace. Dong Shuye had betrayed the Nine Stars Sect after Wang Yang crippled him and the sect’s camp was destroyed.

• Lu Ye sold his Primordial Magnetic Ore and most of the Storage Bags at the Heaven's Mystery Merchant Guild, exchanging nearly all his earnings for Spiritual Pills.
• Lu Ye heard a familiar voice in a tavern, went upstairs to check, and recognized Dong Shuye, the cultivator who had once hunted him.
• Lu Ye realized Dong Shuye’s presence put him in danger and decided to leave the area as soon as possible.
• Dong Shuye recalled returning to find the Nine Stars Sect’s camp burning and being ambushed by Wang Yang, who shattered three of his Spiritual Apertures.
• Dong Shuye hid to recover, then used his accumulated Merit to erase the Nine Stars Sect’s brand from his Battlefield Mark and betray the sect.

Lu Ye prepared to leave the Rogue Wanderer Society and travel toward Crimson Blood Sect’s camp, while Dong Shuye fled Nine Stars Sect’s pursuit. After departing with Yiyi and Amber, Lu Ye learned Hua Ci had quietly supplied medicine for his journey, and Yiyi chose to take his surname.

• Dong Shuye, branded a traitor and weakened after his Merit was spent, planned to escape Nine Stars Sect’s camp and seek a new faction.
• Lu Ye told Yiyi and Amber they would leave the next day, then thanked Hua Ci for saving his life twice.
• Hua Ci left before Lu Ye departed, but Yiyi revealed that Hua Ci had given her medicine and bandages for him.
• Lu Ye rode away with Yiyi and Amber, while Ruan Lingyu tearfully waved goodbye from the ruined mountain gate.
• Lu Ye asked Yiyi about her surname, and she happily adopted his, announcing that her name was Lu Yiyi.

Lu Ye advanced to Spirit Stream Tier Four using the Crimson Lotus Soaring Art and tested his increased strength. He reviewed what remained before reaching Tier Five, checked his Merit, and settled into cultivation to measure his new progress.

• Lu Ye switched to the Crimson Lotus Soaring Art and completed the circulation needed to advance to Spirit Stream Tier Four.
• Lu Ye tested his increased spiritual power by coating his saber in a red glow and practicing a slash.
• Lu Ye studied the apertures required for Tier Five and realized he needed to open sixteen more.
• Lu Ye checked his Battlefield Imprint and confirmed he had 174 Merit after killing five Youyun Mountain cultivators.
• Lu Ye practiced his saber, washed, and began cultivating to assess his new cultivation efficiency.

Lu Ye studied the Fire Phoenix spell from the Crimson Lotus Soaring Art while traveling, and Yiyi began gathering medicinal herbs to help pay for Amber’s food. The chapter left Lu Ye experimenting with spellcraft on his own as Yiyi set out to find better herbs.

• Lu Ye found that opening an aperture at Spirit Stream Tier Four required about eighteen Spiritual Pills and continued traveling with Amber and Yiyi.
• Yiyi revealed that she had been gathering medicinal herbs after learning about them from Hua Ci and Lingyu, and Lu Ye sold her first haul for four Spirit Stones.
• Yiyi felt discouraged by the low price, then resolved to gather better herbs and left to search for more.
• Lu Ye studied the Fire Phoenix spell and recognized similarities between casting spells and constructing Spiritual Patterns.
• Drawing on his knowledge of the three Spiritual Patterns from the Talent Tree, Lu Ye realized that Fire Phoenix did not seem too difficult to cast.

Lu Ye failed to create a convincing Fire Phoenix with his spell art before continuing his journey toward the Crimson Blood Sect’s camp. He entered Hundred Peaks Mountain as the three local factions gathered for the Dragon Spring Gathering, where Green Feather Mountain had challenged the arrangement that let its two rivals exhaust the spring’s power.

• Lu Ye manifested a bird that Yiyi and Amber treated as a quail, and he reluctantly dispersed it before returning to saber practice.
• Ten days later, Lu Ye rode Amber into Hundred Peaks Mountain, planning to cross the region without meeting local cultivators.
• The three factions—Green Feather Mountain, the Tai Luo Sect, and the Qin Clan—gathered for their triennial Dragon Spring Gathering.
• The Dragon Spring’s power could temper cultivators’ bodies, but the Tai Luo Sect and Qin Clan had repeatedly used it up, prompting Green Feather Mountain to challenge the arrangement.

The chapter explained the Dragon Spring Gathering’s rules and showed how Tai Luo Sect’s concealed Tier Five disciples had turned the contest against Green Feather Mountain. Tang Wu learned the reason for Green Feather Mountain’s early losses as the factions continued competing for control of the peaks.

• Thirty years earlier, after repeated battles with outside allies caused heavy casualties, Tai Luo Sect, the Qin Clan, and Green Feather Mountain signed a Contract limiting their forces and setting the Gathering’s rules.
• The chapter described how the hundred peaks determined the factions’ Dragon Spring shares, and how Green Feather Mountain’s holdings had fallen from forty peaks to thirty-five while Tai Luo Sect had taken forty.
• Tang Wu, Han Zheyue, and Qin Wanli oversaw the Gathering, and Han Zheyue taunted Tang Wu while Qin Wanli watched her flirtatiously.
• After receiving a report, Tang Wu accused Han Zheyue of concealing Tai Luo Sect’s strength and learned that the sect had sent talented disciples to friendly factions to train before bringing them back.
• Tai Luo Sect’s returning disciples included many Tier Five cultivators, breaking Green Feather Mountain’s former advantage and causing its defeats.

Tang Wu and Han Zheyue bet on which faction a lone Rogue Cultivator belonged to as Lu Ye entered the Tai Luo Sect’s territory. After reaching a peak, Lu Ye walked into an ambush and was attacked when he gave the wrong response to the cultivators’ code.

• Green Feather Mountain reclaimed two peaks, putting the Tai Luo Sect at a disadvantage in their clashes.
• A white point representing a Spirit Stream Fourth Layer Rogue Cultivator appeared in Tai Luo Sect territory, and Han Zheyue and Qin Wanli debated his allegiance.
• Tang Wu bet two hundred Merit that the Rogue Cultivator belonged to the Vast Sky Alliance, and Han Zheyue accepted.
• Lu Ye sensed he was being watched, recalled Yiyi, and continued toward a nearby peak on Amber.
• An ambusher called out “Lightning flash,” and Lu Ye answered “Thunder Roar” before dodging arrows and facing a youth who attacked him with a longsword.

Lu Ye defeated the Tai Luo Sect cultivators guarding the mountain peak after they attacked him over a mistaken response to their code phrase. He confirmed they belonged to the Myriad Demon Ridge camp, then wondered what had just happened.

• Lu Ye overwhelmed the Tier Four youth with a barrage of saber strikes and killed him with a single slash.
• Lu Ye turned on the two Tier Three cultivators behind him and killed them despite their joint attack.
• Amber and Yiyi took down a Tier Two female archer while Lu Ye killed the other fleeing archer with a Fire Quail spell.
• Lu Ye surveyed the bodies and questioned why the cultivators had attacked him, then realized they were from the Myriad Demon Ridge camp.

Lu Ye killed five Tai Luo Sect cultivators, then rode Amber deeper into Hundred Peaks Mountain as the Tai Luo Sect mobilized to surround him. With enemies closing in from every direction, Lu Ye decided to fight his way out.

• Han Zheyue sent Tai Luo Sect cultivators after the white point after it killed five of her disciples and continued deeper into the mountain.
• Lu Ye gathered the spoils, rode Amber onward, and sent Yiyi ahead to scout while he recovered with a Spirit Nurturing Pill.
• Yiyi warned Lu Ye that cultivators were approaching from ahead, so he turned to retreat, then learned that more than a dozen were closing in from behind.
• Han Zheyue deployed cultivators from nearby peaks until more than thirty black points surrounded Lu Ye in every direction.
• Lu Ye realized he could not escape the encirclement, gripped his blade, and had Amber charge forward to break through.

Lu Ye and Amber fought through repeated Tai Luo Sect ambushes in Hundred Peaks Mountain, while Han Zheyue and Tang Wu watched the chase shift the balance of the Dragon Spring Gathering. The chapter left Lu Ye heading straight toward Green Feather Mountain territory, with both sects racing to reach him first.

• Lu Ye used his swiftly cast Fat Bird spell and blade to break a Tai Luo Sect ambush, and Amber killed a Tier Four attacker as they escaped.
• Lu Ye and Amber continued breaking through encirclements, leaving more than a dozen Tai Luo Sect cultivators dead in less than a day.
• Han Zheyue watched Lu Ye's movements on the Shadow Moon Plate and struggled to contain the losses and the Tai Luo Sect's setbacks against Green Feather Mountain.
• Tang Wu realized Lu Ye was heading toward Green Feather Mountain territory and sent a message to try to make contact with him.
• Han Zheyue spotted Tang Wu's move and sent messages ordering that Lu Ye be kept from entering Green Feather Mountain territory.

Lu Ye and Amber fought through a relentless pursuit by Tai Luo Sect cultivators, and Lu Ye chose to charge toward a fierce battle on a nearby mountain rather than keep fleeing. He left the chapter facing a Tier Five Weapon Cultivator who had injured himself to block their path.

• Lu Ye and Amber evaded Spirit Talismans, arrows, and pursuing Monster Beasts as Tai Luo Sect cultivators tried to corner them.
• Three Tier Five cultivators confronted Lu Ye, so he trapped their Spell Cultivator with the Small Bell Spiritual Artifact.
• Amber knocked down the Body Cultivator, while the Weapon Cultivator struck Lu Ye with a massive hammer and shattered his Defense Spirit Pattern.
• Yiyi grabbed Lu Ye's belt and saved him from falling off Amber after the hammer blow injured him.
• Lu Ye spotted a fierce battle on a nearby mountain and directed Amber toward it, choosing to charge at the Weapon Cultivator blocking the way.
• The Weapon Cultivator burst blood vessels in his arms as he charged Lu Ye, who raised a hand and fired a spell at him.

Lu Ye escaped Tai Luo Sect’s pursuit and joined Green Feather Mountain’s forces, learning that the fighting in Hundred Peaks Mountain was tied to the Dragon Spring Gathering. He arrived at a field hospital as Green Feather Mountain came under renewed attack, and Xie Jin remembered something as he prepared to leave.

• Lu Ye fought off his pursuers, killed a Tier Five cultivator, and escaped toward Green Feather Mountain as its reinforcements engaged Tai Luo Sect.
• Han Zheyue realized Tang Wu had lured Lu Ye toward Green Feather Mountain, while Qin Wanli marveled that Lu Ye had killed a cultivator above his tier.
• Xie Jin gave Lu Ye a Jade Slip explaining the Dragon Spring Gathering and why Tai Luo Sect had pursued him, then led him to Green Feather Mountain’s camp.
• Lu Ye reached a field hospital, where the wounded welcomed him for escaping the pursuit and heard that his injuries and Amber’s needed treatment.
• Xie Jin started to leave Lu Ye in a tent, then turned back and took out a Storage Bag.