Chapter Summaries

Lu Ye and Nian Yuexian believed Su Yuqing had fought Chen Xuanhai over Nian Yuexian’s fate, unaware that the Great Sun Realm cultivators had staged the clash to persuade Lu Ye to help Square Inch Mountain. Haitang later told them that Lu Ye could take Nian Yuexian away if he filled a vacant place in the upcoming Black Abyss Martial Competition.

• Nian Yuexian questioned whether Su Yuqing had truly tried her best to persuade Chen Xuanhai.
• Su Yuqing and Chen Xuanhai’s Dao Bodies fought before Square Inch Mountain while Wu Qimo pretended to mediate, concealing their plan from Lu Ye and Nian Yuexian.
• Lu Ye and Nian Yuexian regretted doubting Su Yuqing and decided they should thank her.
• Haitang visited Lu Ye and Nian Yuexian and said Chen Xuanhai would let Lu Ye take Nian Yuexian away if he joined the Black Abyss Martial Competition to replace a cultivator unable to participate.

Haitang explained the Black Abyss Martial Competition, a contest held every fifty years in which the three divisions of Square Inch Mountain struggled over their realms’ foundations through Star Constellation Realm cultivators. Lu Ye learned that his division usually came last and was short on eligible participants, leaving him to consider the significance of the opportunity Su Yuqing had secured.

• Lu Ye asked Haitang about the Black Abyss Martial Competition, and she explained Square Inch Mountain’s division into three connected realms and their shared foundations.
• Haitang described how the three divisions’ past struggle over their foundations led them to establish the competition, which would next be held in a little over two months.
• Haitang explained that each division sent nine Star Constellation Realm cultivators, and that entrants could enter the Black Abyss only once in their lives.
• Lu Ye realized the Eastern Division had few eligible cultivators because it had produced only enough recent Star Constellation Realm cultivators to fill its roster.
• Haitang admitted that their division usually came last, though it had placed second once two hundred years earlier.

Lu Ye learned that he needed to dual cultivate with a Little People Race woman to enter the Black Abyss Martial Competition, and suspected Su Yuqing and Chen Xuanhai had maneuvered him toward choosing Haitang as a dao companion. He retreated to consider the decision while Nian Yuexian secretly arranged to meet Haitang.

• Lu Ye agreed to participate in the Black Abyss Martial Competition, but Haitang explained that he needed a Little People Race dao companion and dual cultivation to enter Black Abyss.
• Nian Yuexian suggested Su Yuqing had intended Lu Ye and Haitang to become dao companions, and Lu Ye worried about leaving Haitang behind when he returned to the Nine Provinces.
• Lu Ye and Nian Yuexian suspected Chen Xuanhai had used an unacceptable demand on Nian Yuexian to make Lu Ye's choice seem more appealing, while Su Yuqing had also been guiding events toward him.
• Lu Ye joked that he could choose a woman from Immortal Spirit Peak without commitment, flew toward the peak, then turned back and shut himself in his room to reconsider.
• Nian Yuexian contacted Haitang with her Sound Talisman and met her at the foot of Immortal Spirit Peak.

Nian Yuexian questioned Su Yuqing about Lu Ye’s proposed cultivation partnership and learned that Su Yuqing had chosen him because of his performance in the Cycle Tree’s Divine Sea Conflict. Lu Ye agreed to help with the Black Abyss Martial Competition but refused to choose a Dao Companion, then proposed cultivating with a widowed woman of the Little People Race instead.

• Nian Yuexian reassured Haitang that Lu Ye’s decision would not affect their friendship, then asked Su Yuqing whether Lu Ye would be free to leave Square Inch Mountain if he chose a partner there.
• Su Yuqing promised that Lu Ye and Haitang could leave if they wished, and revealed that she knew Lu Ye was Lu Yiye of the Nine Heavens Realm because of his feats in the Cycle Tree’s Divine Sea Conflict.
• Nian Yuexian predicted that Lu Ye would refuse the partnership, reasoning that he would not want to leave Haitang’s home or bind her to a life apart from her people.
• After Nian Yuexian left, Su Yuqing considered that Lu Ye’s conscience might thwart her plan, then summoned him when Haitang reported that he wished to see her.
• Lu Ye told Su Yuqing he would participate in the Black Abyss Martial Competition but could not choose a cultivation partner because he could neither stay with her nor take her away from Square Inch Mountain.
• Lu Ye proposed that Su Yuqing find him a suitable widowed woman of the Little People Race to cultivate with so he could gain the required aura, adding that he was strong and robust.

Lu Ye refused Su Yuqing’s proposal to gain the Little People Race’s aura, deciding instead to accept the rules keeping Nian Yuexian in Square Inch Mountain for now. He and Nian Yuexian began gathering starry-sky knowledge from the Abyss of Information Pavilion, though Su Yuqing barred him from its fifth floor.

• Su Yuqing explained that Lu Ye would need to cultivate with a pure-bodied woman performing a Little People Race Secret Technique to enter the Black Abyss, but Lu Ye declined and said he would follow Square Inch Mountain’s rules.
• Lu Ye told Nian Yuexian he suspected the dispute over her release was staged to secure his help in the Black Abyss Martial Competition, and she accepted his explanation.
• Lu Ye proposed investigating Square Inch Mountain’s records of the starry sky, and Haitang guided him and Nian Yuexian to the Abyss of Information Pavilion.
• Haitang explained the pavilion’s five floors and relayed Su Yuqing’s restriction that Lu Ye could not access the fifth floor without the Little People Race’s aura.
• Lu Ye and Nian Yuexian divided the pavilion’s records between them, and Lu Ye went to copy the information on the upper floors.

Lu Ye refused Su Yuqing’s repeated attempts to pair him with Haitang, insisting he could not act against his conscience. Su Yuqing finally agreed not to force the match, but still asked him to help with the Black Abyss Martial Competition and revealed a mysterious bead.

• Lu Ye studied and copied the Starry Sky Spectacle records in the Abyss of Information Pavilion, while Chen Xuanhai and Wu Qimo asked Su Yuqing about the competition plans.
• Over two months, Lu Ye and Nian Yuexian copied every Jade Slip in the pavilion and began exchanging their copies so they could absorb all its information.
• Su Yuqing summoned Lu Ye and again urged him to marry Haitang, threatening to use force when he refused.
• Lu Ye stood firm under Su Yuqing’s overwhelming pressure, arguing that forcing Haitang into an unfair arrangement would be wrong.
• Su Yuqing accepted that Lu Ye would not marry Haitang, but said she still needed his assistance in the Black Abyss Martial Competition and showed him a crystal-clear bead.

Lu Ye agreed to represent the Eastern Division in the Black Abyss Martial Competition after Su Yuqing gave him a bead that would let him enter, despite warning that he alone could truly die there. He swallowed the bead, began refining it while studying the rules, and the story left him preparing for the competition as news spread that he and Haitang had become Dao Companions.

• Su Yuqing gave Lu Ye a mysterious bead and explained that he had to keep its existence secret and pretend to be Dao Companions with Haitang to enter the Black Abyss.
• Su Yuqing warned Lu Ye that, unlike the Little People Race competitors, he would have no immortal body and could die in the competition, but Lu Ye still agreed to participate.
• Lu Ye swallowed the bead, accepted the competition rules, and settled into a secret chamber to refine it for five days while studying the rules.
• Lu Ye learned that the competition emphasized cooperation among nine-person teams and that the Eastern Division was weaker than the Southern and Western Divisions.
• Lu Ye messaged Nian Yuexian that he would compete and would explain the complicated circumstances later.
• Immortal Spirit Peak announced that Lu Ye and Haitang had become husband and wife, and Nian Yuexian suspected the announcement concealed a more complicated situation.

Lu Ye refined Su Yuqing’s bead with the Talent Tree, causing it to crack and release a miniature clone and a vast reserve of her sealed cultivation into his body. Su Yuqing rushed to his chamber and found him overwhelmed by the energy, while she realized she had lost thirty percent of her cultivation.

• Chen Xuanhai and Wu Qimo praised Su Yuqing for giving Lu Ye the bead, while she privately worried about the sacrifice it required.
• Lu Ye discovered that the bead contained Su Yuqing’s aura and used the Talent Tree to refine it faster so he could enter the Black Abyss.
• Two days later, the bead cracked, revealed a tiny naked clone of Su Yuqing, and released an immense surge of energy into Lu Ye.
• Su Yuqing sensed the bead breaking, sealed off the secret chamber, and rushed inside to find Lu Ye bleeding as he struggled to refine the energy.
• Su Yuqing realized the bead had sealed thirty percent of her cultivation, while Lu Ye remained unable to move or speak under the energy overwhelming his body.

Lu Ye survived the crisis caused by refining Su Yuqing’s sealed cultivation, though the two of them were left with an awkward secret. He joined Haitang and Su Yuqing on their way to the Black Abyss Martial Competition, where he set his sights on second place.

• Su Yuqing used a peculiar method to guide the energy out of Lu Ye and reclaim her cultivation, then left him to recover after two days.
• Lu Ye realized that the bead held part of Su Yuqing’s cultivation and that the events had made rumors of him and Haitang becoming Dao Companions more awkward.
• Haitang summoned Lu Ye to meet their master, and she explained that the Dao Companion rumor was meant to conceal why he could enter the Black Abyss.
• Su Yuqing told Lu Ye to address her as Peak Master and took him and Haitang toward the Black Abyss as it was about to open.
• When Su Yuqing asked about his goal for the martial competition, Lu Ye declared that he would aim for second place.

Su Yuqing brought Lu Ye and Haitang to the Black Abyss Martial Competition, where Lu Ye’s boosted cultivation exposed her sacrifice to Chen Xuanhai and Wu Qimo. As the Great Sun Realm cultivators watched the competition begin, they discovered that the Southern and Western Divisions had sent unusually powerful teams.

• Su Yuqing told Lu Ye he and Haitang would remain in her division for a hundred years unless he took second place, then led them to Black Abyss.
• Chen Xuanhai and Wu Qimo noticed Lu Ye’s improved cultivation and Su Yuqing’s diminished aura, and inferred that she had used a dual-cultivation Secret Technique with him.
• The Star Constellation cultivators entered Black Abyss, and the three divisions’ Great Sun Realm cultivators gathered to observe the competition.
• The Great Sun Realm cultivators saw the Southern Division had one Star Constellation Realm Late Stage cultivator and two Middle Stage cultivators, while the Western Division had one Late Stage and at least three Middle Stage cultivators.

Lu Ye and the Eastern Division’s team entered Black Abyss to compete for Spirit Orbs, which would determine each division’s share of its foundations. When the first orb appeared closer to the opposing divisions, Haitang led the team toward it and turned to Lu Ye for guidance as battle broke out ahead.

• The Southern and Western Divisions argued over each other’s strength while the Eastern Division’s Chen Xuanhai bristled at being drawn into their dispute.
• A Spirit Orb appeared in a region closer to the Southern Division, whose members set off first to claim it.
• Lu Ye and the other eight Eastern Division cultivators arrived at their camp inside Black Abyss, where Lu Ye recognized Han Molong and realized they were present as projections.
• Haitang led the team toward the first Spirit Orb and warned Lu Ye that the Little People Race relied on Spirit Talismans in battle.
• Han Molong noted that the orb was closer to the other divisions, and the team heard fighting ahead as Haitang looked to Lu Ye for advice.

Lu Ye and Haitang led the weaker Eastern Division into the Black Abyss Martial Competition’s struggle over a Spirit Orb, first joining forces with the Western Division before their alliance broke down. When a second Spirit Orb appeared near the Eastern Division’s camp, they seized the chance to withdraw, leaving the Southern and Western Divisions arguing over which one should pursue.

• Haitang led the Eastern Division to the battlefield, where Lu Ye saw the Southern and Western Divisions fighting over a Spirit Orb with stronger lineups than theirs.
• Haitang brought the Eastern Division into the battle alongside the Western Division, pushing the Spirit Orb back toward the center of Black Abyss.
• The Eastern and Western Divisions began competing over the Spirit Orb, and Haitang refused the Western cultivator’s attempt to persuade her to hold back.
• After a second Spirit Orb appeared closer to the Eastern Division’s camp, Haitang led her group to pursue it, with Lu Ye taking the lead and speeding up their formation.
• The Southern and Western Divisions argued over who should pursue the Eastern Division, and neither broke away from the original fight.

Lu Ye and the Eastern Division delivered their first Spirit Orb to camp, where Haitang and the others protected it with a Formation. As the first round ended and the group prepared for the next, Lu Ye introduced the Shared Breath, Connected Branches Formation Plate to help them fight together.

• Han Molong cleared meteorites while Lu Ye and the other Eastern Division cultivators pushed their Spirit Orb toward camp.
• A third Spirit Orb appeared, and the Southern and Western Divisions each claimed one while the Eastern Division continued its transport.
• Lu Ye and the others delivered their Spirit Orb, and Haitang led the Little People Race cultivators in setting up a barrier Grand Array.
• Lu Ye sensed that the other two divisions were transporting their Spirit Orbs and brought out the Shared Breath, Connected Branches Formation Plate for the Eastern Division to learn.
• Haitang endorsed Lu Ye's proposal, and Han Molong and Haitang compared the Formation Plate with the Little People Race's Array Talismans.

Lu Ye used the Eastern Division’s weakness and the rivalry between the Southern and Western Divisions to secure the second Spirit Orb. The Eastern Division brought it safely back to camp, while the other two divisions continued fighting.

• Haitang split the Eastern Division into three teams and gave Lu Ye, Han Molong, and herself Formation Plates to coordinate their groups.
• Lu Ye’s team watched the Southern and Western Divisions clash, then raced with the others when a new Spirit Orb appeared.
• Lu Ye declared that the Eastern Division wanted the Spirit Orb, then offered support at the next one to any division that helped them claim it.
• The Southern Division accepted Lu Ye’s proposal, reigniting its fight with the Western Division while the Eastern teams moved ahead.
• Haitang’s team began transporting the Spirit Orb, and Lu Ye explained how the two rival divisions’ distrust gave the Eastern Division leverage.
• Han Molong’s team joined them, and the Eastern Division safely delivered the second Spirit Orb to its camp.

The Eastern Division secured its second Spirit Orb, then Lu Ye persuaded the others to keep pressing their advantage by intercepting Western Division cultivators returning to the battlefield. The ambush delayed the Western Division and left a wounded middle-stage cultivator trapped, while Lu Ye’s strength astonished his teammates.

• The Sunlights and Eastern Division cultivators were surprised when the Eastern Division obtained its second Spirit Orb with little resistance.
• Haitang rallied the Eastern Division to seek a third Spirit Orb, and Lu Ye proposed delaying the Western Division instead of joining its fight with the Southern Division.
• Lu Ye led the group to intercept Western Division cultivators returning from their camp, and Han Molong’s squad held the first one back.
• Haitang’s squad joined the ambush against a Star Constellation Realm Middle Stage cultivator, whom Lu Ye wounded with a single saber strike.
• Huang Li and Xu Xinghe realized Lu Ye was far stronger than they had expected as Haitang’s squad kept the wounded cultivator from escaping.

Lu Ye trapped three Western Division cultivators with his Blood Dao Secret Art, then led the Eastern Division toward the newly born sixth Spirit Orb. The unexpected appearance of an additional light point puzzled the observers in the Mysterious Fog Space as the Western Division's remaining six also raced for the orb.

• A third Western Division cultivator arrived and was intercepted by Lu Ye, Huang Li, and Xu Xinghe, leaving three Western cultivators trapped and the Southern Division with an advantage.
• The Southern Division's Late Stage cultivator recognized the Eastern Division's help, while the Western Division's Late Stage cultivator angrily cursed the Eastern Division.
• After the sixth Spirit Orb appeared, Lu Ye drew Haitang's and Han Molong's teams closer and unleashed a vast Blood Sea that trapped the three Western Division cultivators.
• Lu Ye led the Eastern Division's nine toward the sixth Spirit Orb, while Haitang recognized his technique as a powerful Blood Dao Secret Art.
• The Sunlight Realm observers saw a twenty-eighth light point appear and suspected Lu Ye had used an Incarnation Talisman, but Su Yuqing could not explain it.
• The Western Division's remaining six abandoned their fight with the Southern Division and rushed toward the sixth Spirit Orb to challenge the Eastern Division.

The Eastern Division fought the Western Division to keep the Spirit Orb, and Lu Ye’s overwhelming strength turned a desperate battle in their favor. After fifty breaths, five Western Division cultivators were dead, but the surviving Late Stage cultivator escaped and the Eastern Division had lost one of its own.

• Haitang and Lu Ye agreed that the Eastern Division had to fight the six pursuing Western Division cultivators rather than surrender the Spirit Orb.
• Haitang’s team engaged the Western Division’s Late Stage cultivator while Lu Ye and Han Molong’s teams intercepted the two Middle Stage cultivators.
• Lu Ye killed one Middle Stage cultivator almost immediately, then pursued and killed two Early Stage cultivators despite one using a Golden Body Talisman.
• Lu Ye and his companions helped Han Molong’s team kill the remaining Middle Stage cultivator, leaving only the Late Stage cultivator alive.
• The Late Stage cultivator escaped after Haitang failed to hold him, while one member of Haitang’s team died and the Eastern Division regrouped with eight people.

Lu Ye helped the Eastern Division defeat the Western Division’s attack and deliver its third Spirit Orb to their main camp. With the Eastern Division positioned to secure at least second place, Haitang weighed whether to defend their gains or press onward.

• Ye Chaoqun asked Lu Ye his name, then withdrew after the Western Division lost five cultivators and could no longer stop the Eastern Division.
• The Sunlight cultivators watched the battle and Old Second Zhu inferred that Lu Ye had trapped three Western Division cultivators in advance to shape the fight over the Spirit Orbs.
• The Eastern Division placed its third Spirit Orb at the main camp, and the gathered cultivators celebrated their unexpected success.
• Haitang and her wounded squadmate chose rebirth to recover from their injuries, while Haitang asked Lu Ye whether they should defend their gains or keep attacking.
• Lu Ye urged the Eastern Division to restore its Spiritual Power, and Huang Li and Xu Xinghe apologized for falling behind his pace in battle.

Haitang chose to pursue a fourth Spirit Orb after Lu Ye’s strength gave the Eastern Division a chance to compete for first place. Ye Chaoqun then sought a Western-Southern alliance against the Eastern Division, and Duan Xiuchen began considering it after learning how many orbs the East had claimed.

• Haitang decided that the Eastern Division would try to seize the fourth Spirit Orb, and its members agreed.
• Ye Chaoqun met Duan Xiuchen and proposed that the Western and Southern Divisions ally against the Eastern Division.
• Duan Xiuchen initially rejected the proposal, citing the Southern Division’s existing alliance with the East.
• Ye Chaoqun revealed that the Eastern Division had wiped out the Western Division’s six fighters, including a Middle Stage cultivator slain by Lu Ye.
• Duan Xiuchen questioned Ye Chaoqun about Lu Ye, and learned the outside helper had Early Stage cultivation but Late Stage strength.
• Ye Chaoqun argued that the East’s three orbs threatened the other divisions’ standings, then suggested they take the orbs back.

Lu Ye led the Eastern Division toward the seventh Spirit Orb, but recognized that the Southern and Western Divisions might be staging a fight to lure them out. When he joined the battle, both divisions revealed their alliance and attacked the Eastern Division.

• Lu Ye and Haitang discussed the risk that the Southern and Western Divisions would join forces against the Eastern Division.
• The seventh Spirit Orb appeared near the Eastern Division’s camp, but Lu Ye concealed his team nearby instead of immediately claiming it.
• Ye Chaoqun’s Western Division began transporting the orb, and the Southern Division attacked them while Lu Ye watched from hiding.
• Lu Ye suspected the fierce battle was a ruse and led his team toward the battlefield after the two sides had lost four cultivators each.
• Duan Xiuchen and Ye Chaoqun turned on Lu Ye, while the Southern and Western Division cultivators intercepted Haitang and Han Molong’s teams.