Chapter Summaries

Lu Ye negotiated with the sealed Dragon Race senior Yang Qing for help against Yue Xin, who threatened to enslave the Nine Provinces. After Lu Ye refused Yang Qing’s demands and declared that the Nine Provinces would rather die than submit, Yang Qing recalled the defiant cultivators of the Pre-Nine Provinces Era.

• Yang Qing appeared as a Dragon Shadow and tested Lu Ye with a terrifying display of pressure, then praised his cultivation and talent.
• Lu Ye asked Yang Qing to emerge and help defeat Yue Xin, and Yang Qing demanded that the Nine Provinces Human Race serve him as master.
• Lu Ye refused Yang Qing’s demand, and Yang Qing instead demanded the lives of half the Nine Provinces cultivators; Lu Ye rejected that condition too.
• Yang Qing revealed that the seal would loosen enough for him to escape within a thousand years, and Lu Ye warned that Yue Xin could find and threaten him if the Nine Provinces fell.
• Lu Ye said the Nine Provinces would fight Yue Xin rather than submit and declared, “Give me liberty, or give me death!”
• Yang Qing was moved by Lu Ye’s resolve and remembered how the Pre-Nine Provinces cultivators had stayed behind to fight their enemies.

Dragon Shadow accepted Lu Ye’s appeal and broke free as Yang Qing, then carried Lu Ye across the starry sky back to Nine Provinces. Yang Qing entered Nine Provinces and asked Lu Ye where to go next.

• Dragon Shadow recalled how the Pre-Nine Provinces cultivators had sealed it away to keep it from joining their battle, and Lu Ye urged it to break free without demanding a Bloodline Great Oath.
• Dragon Shadow agreed to escape, and Little Nine caused a massive upheaval that shattered the central Spirit Peak and released Yang Qing.
• Yang Qing appeared before Lu Ye in human form, judged his talent, and took him into the starry sky toward Nine Provinces.
• Yang Qing glanced at the Blood Refining World before carrying Lu Ye through the clouds and into Nine Provinces.
• Yang Qing warned Nine Provinces’ world instinct that he would deal with it later, then asked Lu Ye where they should go; Lu Ye named Vast Sky City in Soldier Province.

Lu Ye brought Yang Qing to Vast Sky City, where the ancient Dragon Race member devoured the cultivators’ Lingyu and Lingjing before leaving to restore his strength. With Yue Xin expected to return and Yang Qing’s return uncertain, Lu Ye and the Nine Provinces cultivators prepared for the crisis and Lu Ye accelerated his cultivation.

• Lu Ye arrived with Yang Qing at the Hall of Harmony and Light in Vast Sky City, where the assembled cultivators recognized Yang Qing as a powerful Dragon Race member.
• Lu Ye introduced Yang Qing as one of their own, and Yang Qing demanded Lingyu and Lingjing instead of ordinary food.
• The Star Constellation Realm cultivators pooled their Lingyu and Lingjing, which Yang Qing swallowed in one gulp before asking for more.
• Yang Qing vanished to search for more resources and told the cultivators to play along with Yue Xin while he restored himself and returned to deal with him.
• Lu Ye reassured the gathered cultivators, learned from Little Nine that the Spirit Stream Battlefield was only temporarily unsettled, and began accelerating his cultivation toward Star Constellation.

After Yue Xin returned to the Nine Provinces, he ordered its cultivators to build a vast, mysterious Formation within three months. The cultivators began studying the Formation Map at Liyuan while trying to discover its purpose before the deadline.

• Lu Ye learned from Little Nine that Yue Xin had returned, and hundreds of cultivators gathered to meet him in Vast Sky City.
• Yue Xin gave Jian Guhong a complex Formation Map and ordered the Nine Provinces to set up the Formation within three months or face daily executions.
• Jian Guhong displayed the Formation Map, and Lu Ye and the others noticed its unfamiliar Spirit Patterns and signs of devouring.
• Feng Wujiang decided they would begin building the Formation while investigating its purpose and waiting to see whether Yang Qing would intervene.
• The cultivators chose Liyuan in Soldier Province as the site, summoned Formation experts, gathered supplies, and began planning the work.

Lu Ye and other Formation Cultivators and Ghost Cultivators began building the vast Grand Array in Liyuan under Wuchang's command. As Lu Ye worked with Ying Wuji, he reflected on how his rapid cultivation would eventually separate him from his friends and companions.

• Wuchang took charge of the Formation Cultivators and Ghost Cultivators as they gathered in Vast Sky City to study the Formation Map and prepare for the three-month deadline.
• After ten days of preparation, Wuchang led the cultivators to Liyuan, where the foundation for the Grand Array covered several hundred kilometers.
• Lu Ye began constructing his assigned section of the Formation Map and made slow progress until Ying Wuji and other assistants arrived.
• Ying Wuji was assigned to assist Lu Ye, and Lu Ye directed him to fetch supplies before more helpers joined their area.
• As Lu Ye answered Ying Wuji's questions during the work, he thought about how his rapid cultivation would eventually leave Amber, Yiyi, and his other companions behind.

Lu Ye watched Yang Qing battle Yue Xin through a mirror Little Nine created in the sky above Nine Provinces. Yang Qing killed Yue Xin, but Lu Ye worried that the victorious Dragon Race powerhouse might threaten Nine Provinces next.

• Lu Ye and the other cultivators continued building Yue Xin's Grand Array as its deadline approached.
• Wuchang announced that Yang Qing and Yue Xin had begun fighting beyond Nine Provinces Star, and the Star Constellation Realm cultivators rushed to watch.
• Little Nine formed a mirror from Spiritual Power so Lu Ye and the other cultivators could see the distant battle.
• The two fighters vanished from the mirror, and Little Nine's response led Lu Ye to conclude that Yang Qing had won.
• Yang Qing returned holding Yue Xin's severed head and tossed it to Jian Guhong before Little Nine's mirror disappeared.
• Nine Provinces' cultivators cheered Yue Xin's death, while Lu Ye worried that Yang Qing could become a new threat to their world.

After Yue Xin’s death, Yang Qing urged the Nine Provinces cultivators to finish the nearly completed Grand Array, calling it a grand gift. He revealed that it connected two realms, and Little Nine discovered it could use the Formation to devour the other realm’s foundation.

• Jian Guhong returned with Yue Xin’s head, destroyed it, and the Star Constellation Realm cultivators debated whether to finish the Grand Array before deciding to halt construction.
• Yang Qing privately told Lu Ye to complete the Formation, and Lu Ye relayed his message to the cultivators, who resumed construction.
• Less than ten days later, the Formation was complete, and Yang Qing appeared carrying a white rabbit that Lu Ye recognized as Little Nine.
• Yang Qing tossed Little Nine to Lu Ye, then activated the Grand Array and explained that it connected the Nine Provinces to another realm.
• Little Nine sensed the other realm through the Formation and told Lu Ye it could devour that realm’s foundation.

Lu Ye and the Nine Provinces cultivators learned that Yue Xin’s Formation could let Nine Provinces devour the foundation of another realm, though Little Nine could not act until it finished digesting the Blood Refining World and confirmed the other realm’s inhabitants. The cultivators decided to investigate, and Jian Guhong entered the passage while Lu Ye asked Little Nine about the cost of teleportation.

• Lu Ye realized Yue Xin had built a Formation to connect Nine Provinces with another realm and let Nine Provinces devour its foundation.
• Little Nine said it could not devour the unknown realm until it had finished absorbing the Blood Refining World, and it would not destroy a realm inhabited by humans.
• Yang Qing refused to explain the unknown realm further, took the white rabbit from Lu Ye, and vanished.
• Jian Guhong proposed exploring the other side, and the Nine Provinces cultivators agreed to investigate.
• Lu Ye asked Little Nine whether teleportation would drain Nine Provinces, and Little Nine said the Formation gathered Starry Sky Energy from its relay nodes.
• Jian Guhong entered the teleportation passage while the others waited.

Lu Ye entered the Grand Array after Jian Guhong discovered it rejected cultivators in the Star Constellation Realm. He reached the realm on the other side, confirmed he could return, and emerged into an ancient well amid deserted ruins.

• Jian Guhong tried twice to enter the Grand Array's vortex but was bounced back, and he concluded that the Formation blocked those in the Star Constellation Realm.
• Feng Wujiang offered to investigate, but Jian Guhong urged caution as the group feared he might not return.
• Lu Ye had Little Nine conceal him and entered the vortex, realizing that the Formation's true purpose was to devour the other realm's foundation.
• Lu Ye emerged deep underground, recognized the Primordial Magnetic Field, and confirmed that the Formation could send him back to Nine Provinces.
• Lu Ye rose through a passage and surfaced from a dry ancient well, where he found a vast stretch of long-abandoned ruins with no living creatures nearby.

Lu Ye explored a ruined realm overrun by powerful Corpse Race creatures and suspected it was Peerless Continent or its main body. He returned safely to Liyuan and reported that the Corpse Race ran rampant there and showed no signs of life.

• Lu Ye found a Human Race corpse in the ruins, which suddenly attacked him before he cut it down.
• Lu Ye drew countless zombies and rotting corpses from the ruins, then flew through the region to investigate the spreading Corpse Race.
• Lu Ye concluded that the realm might be Peerless Continent's main body and that living beings had likely vanished from the area.
• Lu Ye evaded the pursuing Corpse Race, returned through the underground Formation, and arrived back in Liyuan.
• Lu Ye told Jian Guhong and the other Star Constellation Realm cultivators that the realm might be Peerless Continent and was overrun by the Corpse Race.

Lu Ye and the Star Constellation Realm cultivators decided to make the Corpse Race-filled realm believed to be the original Peerless Continent a source of Battle Merit for Nine Provinces cultivators. They began preparations to establish a Stronghold there, with Lu Ye and Feng Wujiang chosen for the first expedition.

• Lu Ye explained his findings in the suspected Peerless Continent, where he had found no living creatures and encountered only the Corpse Race.
• Pang Zhen and Long Bai proposed sending True Lake Realm and some Divine Sea Realm cultivators to fight the Corpse Race and earn Battle Merit, easing tensions within the Nine Provinces.
• Lu Ye agreed that Heavenly Mechanism could support the plan by sending Heaven's Mystery Pillars to the Peerless Continent.
• Jian Guhong confirmed that no one objected, and the cultivators agreed to establish a Stronghold near the passage exit to protect it and support travel between the realms.
• Lu Ye and Feng Wujiang were selected to join the first group traveling to the Peerless Continent.

Lu Ye led Nine Provinces cultivators through the teleportation passage to Peerless Continent, where they began studying the Corpse Race and establishing a stronghold. As the expedition drew more cultivators, Star Constellation Realm cultivators searched for the continent and for Yang Qing, whom only Lu Ye might be able to reach.

• Lu Ye, Feng Wujiang, and the formation cultivators traveled through the painful teleportation passage to the ruins on Peerless Continent.
• The Divine Sea Realm cultivators captured Corpse Race members for study, and Feng Wujiang asked Lu Ye to prepare Jade Slips explaining their traits and dangers.
• Nine Provinces cultivators cleared the ruins and began building their first stronghold while news of the expedition spread.
• Sects barred Cloud River Realm cultivators from entering Liyuan, while Little Nine resumed the Heaven-sent Spiritual Radiance and more Divine Sea Tier Nine cultivators advanced to the Star Constellation Realm.
• Most Star Constellation Realm cultivators left to search the starry sky, while Jian Guhong and a few others stayed to seek Yang Qing and concluded that Lu Ye might be able to find him.

Lu Ye visited Yang Qing to learn whether the Dragon Race powerhouse intended to threaten the Nine Provinces. Yang Qing promised not to harm it while he recovered, then accepted Lu Ye’s offer of help, leaving Lu Ye worried about what he had agreed to.

• Lu Ye returned from Peerless Continent to meet Yang Qing on an unnamed Spirit Peak in Heaven Continent.
• Lu Ye served Yang Qing tea and tried to persuade him to reveal his attitude toward the Nine Provinces.
• Yang Qing demonstrated the Dragon Race’s time-based Innate Divine Ability, slowing Lu Ye’s perception until he could not evade him.
• Lu Ye asked whether Yang Qing would destroy or protect the Nine Provinces, and Yang Qing said he would do neither while recovering and would leave when ready.
• Lu Ye offered help with Yang Qing’s recovery, and Yang Qing accepted, prompting Lu Ye to ask what he could do.

Lu Ye broke through to Divine Sea Tier Eight at Yang Qing’s request, then learned that the tree where Yang Qing recuperated was a Cycle Tree Clone left by the Human Emperor Sect. Yang Qing began opening a passage to the Cycle Tree’s main body, where they intended to seize something, though he did not yet reveal what.

• Yang Qing gave Lu Ye ten days to reach Divine Sea Tier Eight, and Lu Ye broke through in five days before spending the rest of the time consolidating his cultivation.
• Yang Qing explained that the place where he recuperated had once been the foundation of the Human Emperor Sect, the strongest sect of the Pre-Nine Provinces Era.
• Lu Ye recalled receiving the Sword Artifact Sect’s inheritance, and Yang Qing told him he had an obligation to pass it on.
• Yang Qing revealed that the tree was a Cycle Tree Clone that completed a cycle every hundred years and could open a passage to the main body as it withered.
• Yang Qing activated the Cycle Tree Clone, causing its leaves to yellow and fall as they gathered into a glow, while Lu Ye asked Little Nine about the Cycle Tree.

Yang Qing and Lu Ye traveled through the Cycle Tree, but the tree sent Lu Ye to the troubled Tree Realm to help while Yang Qing arrived alone. After discovering that the Cycle Tree had tacitly allowed him to vent his anger, Yang Qing beat up a group of guests and announced that he was robbing them.

• Yang Qing warned Lu Ye to claim he came from the Nine Heavens World, then brought him toward the Cycle Tree's Spiritual Radiance Mass.
• The Cycle Tree sent Lu Ye to assist with problems in the Tree Realm, leaving Yang Qing to arrive alone and demand an explanation.
• The Cycle Tree explained that it had invited many helpers, and Yang Qing accepted that Lu Ye had been chosen to help.
• Yang Qing entered a corridor and confronted a group of guests after one of them cursed at him.
• Yang Qing beat the group black and blue, then declared that the robbery was beginning.

Lu Ye arrived at a Tree Realm within the Cycle Tree and met Yu Yaorao, who explained why they had been sent there and what their task involved. As a radiant figure appeared to greet them, they waited to learn which race needed their help.

• Lu Ye arrived in a lush Tree Realm and found Yu Yaorao there instead of Yang Qing.
• Yu Yaorao introduced herself and explained that the Cycle Tree sheltered many races across countless Tree Realms.
• Yu Yaorao told Lu Ye that the Cycle Tree had sent them to resolve trouble in this realm as an assessment for the upcoming Divine Sea Conflict.
• Lu Ye and Yu Yaorao concluded that the realm was not inhabited by humans and waited for its residents to find them.
• A radiant figure emerged from the trees, thanked Lu Ye and Yu Yaorao for coming, and bowed to them.

Lu Ye and Yu Yaorao met someone claiming to be Patriarch Mu Shanshan of the Wood Spirit Race, who asked them to destroy an Insect Nest in the tree realm. Yu Yaorao suspected he was an impostor and cut him apart, then identified him as a member of the rare Fairy Race.

• Yu Yaorao explained the Five Elements Spirit Race and recognized the enormous figure as a Wood Spirit.
• Patriarch Mu Shanshan asked Lu Ye and Yu Yaorao to destroy an Insect Nest threatening the Wood Spirit Race.
• When Lu Ye asked about their reward, Mu Shanshan offered them Wood Spirit Core Crystals, prompting Yu Yaorao to suspect his identity.
• Yu Yaorao restrained Mu Shanshan after explaining that genuine Wood Spirits would never give away their Core Crystals.
• Mu Shanshan insisted he was the Wood Spirit Patriarch, but Yu Yaorao called him a Fairy and tightened her threads until his body was sliced apart.

Lu Ye and Yu Yaorao discovered that the Wood Spirits were fairies hiding their true forms, and learned that the Fairy Race’s realm had been invaded by the Insect Race. The fairies asked the humans to destroy the Insect Nest, while Yu Yaorao insisted they provide their Blessing Words, an innate ability that could strengthen cultivators.

• Yu Yaorao exposed the apparent corpse of Mu Shanshan as a disguise, and over a hundred fairies revealed themselves, with Golden Flash among them.
• The fairies formed a pyramid, toppled over, and bickered noisily before Golden Flash apologized to Lu Ye and Yu Yaorao for the deception.
• Golden Flash explained that the Insect Race had invaded the Fairy Tree Realm and built a Big Bug Nest, and said the humans would have to destroy it while the fairies cheered them on.
• Yu Yaorao refused to help unless the fairies offered their Blessing Words, prompting the fairies to huddle and discuss the demand.
• Yu Yaorao told Lu Ye that each fairy could grant a blessing that increased a cultivator’s strength by at least twenty percent, and Lu Ye looked at the fairies with interest.

Golden Flash chose Huang Tongtong and Lu Yingying by lottery to accompany Yu Yaorao and Lu Ye, who tested the fairies’ Blessing Words before departing. Huang Tongtong strengthened Yu Yaorao, but Lu Yingying’s blessing appeared to have no effect on Lu Ye’s saber, leaving Yu Yaorao to suspect that he had given a false name.

• Golden Flash used a lottery to select Huang Tongtong and Lu Yingying as the two fairies who would aid Yu Yaorao and Lu Ye.
• Yu Yaorao and Lu Ye reassured the frightened fairies, warned them to follow orders, and learned that Huang Tongtong strengthened bodies while Lu Yingying strengthened weapons.
• Yu Yaorao introduced herself and Lu Ye by their names and realms, and the fairies gave their names.
• Huang Tongtong blessed Yu Yaorao, who felt her spiritual power and thoughts grow clearer.
• Lu Yingying blessed Lu Ye, but his Crag Mountain Saber showed no visible change, prompting Yu Yaorao to wonder whether he had given a false name.

Lu Ye discovered that the name Lu Yiye allowed Lu Yingying’s Blessing Words to empower his saber, then joined Yu Yaorao in slaughtering the Insect Race across the Fairy Tree Realm. As Lu Yingying renewed the blessing during their advance, Lu Ye began considering whether he could recreate its power as a Spirit Pattern.

• Yu Yaorao and Lu Yingying found that Lu Yingying’s Blessing Words worked on Lu Ye’s saber when she used the widely recognized name Lu Yiye.
• Lu Ye and Yu Yaorao left the fairies’ hidden refuge and confronted the Insect Race outside.
• Lu Ye charged into the Insect Race, while Yu Yaorao protected their flanks and Lu Yingying clung to Lu Ye in fear.
• Yu Yaorao observed Lu Ye’s fighting and concluded that his strength rivaled or exceeded that of a Divine Sea Tier Nine cultivator.
• Lu Yingying repeatedly blessed Lu Ye’s saber as the pair cleared a path through the Insect Race, and Lu Ye studied the blessing with the aim of creating a comparable Spirit Pattern.