Chapter Summaries

Su Qianqian delivered Xia Yu'e’s high-grade Nanming Fire and a letter to Chen Mu, who promised to protect the Joyful Union Sect’s inheritance if it obeyed the martial world’s rules. After reading the letter, Chen Mu met a delegation from the Great Xuan Court, which invited him to transfer to Zhong Province.

• Su Qianqian gave Chen Mu the high-grade Nanming Fire on Xia Yu'e’s behalf, and Chen Mu agreed to protect the Joyful Union Sect’s inheritance provided it did not bring calamity upon the world.
• Su Qianqian delivered Xia Yu'e’s letter and left after Chen Mu assessed her cultivation and resisted her attempts to charm him.
• Chen Mu read the letter about Hua Nongying and Hua Nongyue in the Outer Sea, then learned that Qin Mengjun had summoned him because a Great Xuan Court delegation had arrived.
• Chen Mu considered the court’s wary, divided attitude toward him and went to meet the delegation at Tai Xuan Peak.
• Eunuch Wei Sheng invited Chen Mu to transfer to Zhong Province and choose a deputy post in one of the Three General Offices, explaining that the invitation came from Grand Secretary Han and several General Office Chiefs.

Chen Mu declined Han Kuo’s invitation to Zhong Province and learned that the Han King’s forces were tied to the Profound Mystery Pavilion and Blood Shadow Tower. Before leaving Jade Province, he helped Xu Hongyu break through into the Six Bowels Realm, and she asked him to try for a child before his dangerous departure.

• Chen Mu refused Han Kuo’s invitation because he did not yet know enough about Zhong Province and wanted to advance his martial realm before going there.
• Wei Sheng warned Chen Mu that the Han King was linked to the Profound Mystery Pavilion and Blood Shadow Tower, and that he should beware the Blood Shadow Tower Master.
• Chen Mu told Qi Zhiyuan that he would soon leave Jade Province and would not involve the Seven Mysteries Sect in the Eight Kings’ struggle.
• Chen Mu found Xu Hongyu attempting to break through the Six Bowels Realm and stayed to guard her when she struggled at the Triple Burner Pass.
• Chen Mu used the Yin Yang Wheel Rotation method to help Xu Hongyu awaken her Triple Burner and enter the Six Bowels Realm.
• Xu Hongyu told Chen Mu she wished to bear him a child, and Chen Mu agreed to try before leaving.

Chen Mu left the Seven Mysteries Sect and traveled through Jade Commandery to visit Yu Jiujiang before departing for the Outer Sea. On the way, he rescued Song Zhou’s runners by killing the bandit leader He Xuan with a single flicked leaf, then asked after Song Miao before disappearing into the forest.

• Chen Yue found Chen Mu’s bamboo house empty, and Xu Hongyu told her his return might take ten, twenty, or even thirty years.
• Chen Mu slipped away from the Seven Mysteries Sect and headed toward Jade Commandery to visit Yu Jiujiang before his journey to the Outer Sea.
• Chen Mu came upon Song Zhou and his runners fighting He Xuan’s bandits in the Wutong Mountain Range, where He Xuan had gained the upper hand.
• Chen Mu advised Song Zhou on the Severing River Saber, then killed He Xuan and severed the trees behind him with a withered leaf.
• Song Zhou recognized Chen Mu as his uncle and told him that Song Miao was happily married to the Yu Family and had two children.
• Chen Mu asked after Song Miao, then left without further conversation.

Chen Mu returned to Jade City unseen, visited his former home and family, and gave Yu Jiujiang Heaven and Earth Creation Dew to extend his life. Yu Jiujiang regained vitality and expected to live another four or five years, leaving Chen Mu to consider how the Dew’s life-preserving effects differed from demonic arts.

• Chen Mu tested whether an unseen presence was following him and reasoned that he feared no one beneath the Heaven-Human Level.
• Chen Mu passed unseen through Jade City, visited his old residence in Nine Stripes Ward, and caused the abandoned houses to collapse as he left.
• Chen Mu watched Chen Hong tell her grandchildren stories about him, then continued into the Inner City.
• Chen Mu met Yu Jiujiang in the Yu Family courtyard and gave him a drop of Heaven and Earth Creation Dew despite his initial reluctance.
• The Dew restored Yu Jiujiang’s vitality and was expected to extend his life by four or five years, while Chen Mu reflected on its resemblance to the Heavenly Demon Sect’s life-extending arts.

Chen Mu faced an assassination by the Blood Shadow Tower Master outside the Yu Family Residence and repelled the attack, forcing the assassin to retreat. Yu Jiujiang witnessed Chen Mu’s strength firsthand and realized he had become a peerless expert.

• Yu Jiujiang wished Chen Mu well as Chen Mu left the courtyard after giving him Heaven and Earth Creation Dew.
• The Blood Shadow Tower Master launched a gray dagger at Chen Mu, but Chen Mu shattered it with his Qiankun Wheel Rotation.
• Chen Mu detected and suppressed the hidden Void Flying Needle, then confronted the Blood Shadow Tower Master when he appeared to reclaim it.
• Chen Mu struck the Blood Shadow Tower Master with the Heaven and Earth Wheel Seal, forcing him to retreat with the Void Flying Needle.
• Chen Mu reassured the shaken Yu Jiujiang and confirmed that the attacker was likely the Blood Shadow Tower Master.
• Yu Jiujiang recognized that Chen Mu had become a peerless expert after witnessing him survive the assassination unharmed.

The Blood Shadow Tower Master failed to assassinate Chen Mu, a result that shocked the powers across Cold North and revealed Chen Mu could contend with top Blood Exchange experts. After leaving Jade Commandery, Chen Mu reached the East Sea Coast and surveyed the dangerous Outer Sea and its island nations ruled by three great sects.

• The Blood Shadow Tower Master's killing intent shook Jade City, and the sects realized he had targeted Chen Mu at the Yu Family Residence.
• Yan Jingqing and Xue Huaikong arrived at the Yu Family Residence, where Yu Jiujiang confirmed that the visitors had left and Chen Mu was safe.
• News spread across Cold North that Chen Mu had repelled the Blood Shadow Tower Master's assassination, astonishing the world's powers.
• Chen Mu concealed his aura, traveled east beneath the earth, and arrived at the East Sea Coast.
• Chen Mu examined the Outer Sea's dangerous waters and learned that its many island nations were governed by Vast Sea Pavilion, Pure Sea Palace, and Listening Tide Cliff.

The Profound Mystery Pavilion Master Cheng Zu, Chu Changhua, and the Blood Shadow Tower Master discussed killing Chen Mu and learned that Chen Mu had survived an assassination attempt, possessed Heaven and Earth Creation Dew, and killed Prince Liang’s group and Liu Wanzheng. They resolved to draw Prince Liang into a joint attack and use the Profound Mystery Pavilion’s methods to locate Chen Mu, who had gone to the Outer Sea.

• Cheng Zu and Chu Changhua agreed that Chen Mu had to be killed before his strength grew further, while they waited for the Han King to decide whether to act.
• Chu Changhua revealed that Prince Liang’s group had vanished in the Ice Province Earth Abyss, and Cheng Zu considered using the mystery to bring Prince Liang into conflict with Chen Mu.
• The Blood Shadow Tower Master arrived and reported that Chen Mu had left the Seven Mysteries Sect, resisted his Void Flying Needle, and was nearly as strong as a Blood Exchange expert.
• The Blood Shadow Tower Master stated that Chen Mu had killed Prince Liang’s group and Liu Wanzheng and possessed multiple portions of Heaven and Earth Creation Dew.
• Cheng Zu concluded that Prince Liang would now join the fight and said he had means to locate Chen Mu in the Outer Sea.

Chen Mu met Yan Hong while traveling through the Outer Sea and learned that Listening Tide Cliff had invited Grandmasters to explore the Seeking Wood Cave Heaven. After discussing the conflict with the Spirit Race and the possibility that Great Xuan might itself be a Grotto-Heaven, Chen Mu agreed to travel with Yan Hong partway toward the Dragonwood Sea Domain.

• Chen Mu killed a Tier Six fish demon with a single strike, and Yan Hong introduced herself and asked to travel with him toward Dragonwood Island.
• Yan Hong explained that Listening Tide Cliff invited Grandmasters to seek Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid in the Seeking Wood Cave Heaven, where the Spirit Race's powerful Old Ancestor made entry dangerous.
• Chen Mu learned that Listening Tide Cliff and the Spirit Race had fought for over a thousand years, creating a blood feud that prevented them from trading peacefully.
• Chen Mu asked whether Great Xuan might itself be a Grotto-Heaven, and Yan Hong said she would fight to protect their world if it faced invasion.
• Chen Mu told Yan Hong he would likely attend the invitation after handling nearby matters, and the two agreed to travel together partway.

Chen Mu and Yan Hong reached the Dragonwood Sea Domain, where Chen Mu learned about the coming Seeking Wood Cave Heaven and realized its Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid could temper his Martial Body. Yan Hong prepared to handle the expedition without Prince Yan, while Chen Mu set his sights on obtaining the spirit liquid.

• Chen Mu and Yan Hong traveled through the Outer Sea, discussing Great Xuan's history and why its rulers had chosen not to govern the Outer Sea directly.
• They reached the Dragonwood Sea Domain and saw a Golden Sea Ship belonging to Listening Tide Cliff before parting ways.
• Yan Hong reunited with several Grandmasters, learned Prince Yan would not join the Seeking Wood Cave Heaven expedition, and ordered her group to prepare cautiously.
• Yan Hong considered inviting Chen Mu to join the expedition, while Chen Mu continued on alone and reflected on the value of Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid for advancing his Qian Kun Martial Body.

He Liancheng confronted Hua Nongyue and Hua Nongying at Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion, demanding that they surrender a disciple believed to be the missing daughter of the Yu Family. When the sisters refused to abandon one of their own, He Liancheng attacked them, and the fight continued with their Yin Yang Wheel Rotation clashing against his supreme arts.

• He Liancheng demanded that Hua Nongyue and Hua Nongying hand over a disciple who might be the missing Yu Family girl from sixteen years earlier.
• He Liancheng explained that an old acquaintance had recognized the girl at Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion and that her age and history matched the lost child.
• Hua Nongyue refused to surrender the disciple, declaring that everyone who entered the Joyful Union Sect became family.
• He Liancheng froze the courtyard and attacked Hua Nongyue and Hua Nongying with Heavenly Cold True Force.
• Hua Nongyue and Hua Nongying joined their powers with Yin Yang Wheel Rotation and dissolved his first attack.
• He Liancheng used Seven Steps Shadowing and Ice Lotus Palm Print, while the sisters defended themselves with their Yin-Yang technique.

Hua Nongyue and Hua Nongying struggled against He Liancheng until an unseen Grandmaster secretly replenished their Yin-Yang power, allowing them to defeat him. The sisters realized their mysterious benefactor was likely Chen Mu, who summoned them to Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion, Room Four.

• Hua Nongyue and Hua Nongying fought He Liancheng while the Joyful Union Sect protectors and his retainers faced off around them.
• The sisters prepared to burn their blood essence when an unseen force disrupted He Liancheng’s attack and restored their depleted Yin-Yang power.
• Hua Nongyue and Hua Nongying joined hands and struck He Liancheng with a powerful Yin-Yang diagram, sending him crashing through a flower pavilion.
• He Liancheng’s retainers rushed to find him as the Joyful Union Sect disciples cheered and the other attackers scattered.
• Hua Nongyue and Hua Nongying suspected Chen Mu had aided them, and a familiar voice told them to meet at Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion, Room Four.

Chen Mu met Hua Nongyue and Hua Nongying at Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion and questioned them about the Ocean Stabilizing Pearl, Dragonwood Island, and the Seeking Wood Cave Heaven. After learning the cave heaven would open in about ten days, he became interested in the sisters’ unusual Yin-Yang secret technique and its connection to their shared intentions and memories.

• Hua Nongyue and Hua Nongying thanked Chen Mu for saving them, and he praised their combined martial technique and potential.
• Hua Nongyue told Chen Mu that Dragonwood Island’s master was a powerful figure in Listening Tide Cliff and that the Seeking Wood Cave Heaven housed the Spirit Race and its formidable Old Ancestor.
• Hua Nongyue and Hua Nongying explained that the cave heaven would open in about ten days and that it rejected Blood Exchange Realm experts, leaving Chen Mu unsure whether it would reject him.
• Chen Mu asked about the sisters’ Yin-Yang Unification secret technique, and Hua Nongyue and Hua Nongying revealed that their intentions could become one and that they could sometimes see each other’s memories.

Chen Mu tested Hua Nongying and Hua Nongyue’s Yin-Yang Unification, triggering a dangerous backlash from their Bewitching Skills. He stabilized their inner breaths and helped them cultivate, leaving the sisters stronger and better prepared to challenge the Mysterious Pass.

• Chen Mu examined Hua Nongying and discovered that her soul and mind were linked with Hua Nongyue’s, then tested their Yin-Yang Unification secret art with Hua Nongying.
• Chen Mu’s Grand Yang power ignited the sisters’ Bewitching Skills, sending their inner breaths into dangerous disorder as they knowingly entrusted their lives to him.
• Chen Mu drew Hua Nongyue to him and used his command of Yin and Yang to regulate both sisters’ inner breaths and heal them in Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion’s Room Four.
• After a day and night, Chen Mu said their cultivation had advanced and that they could now contend with a Grandmaster if they fought together.
• Hua Nongyue and Hua Nongying thanked Chen Mu for improving their cultivation, and Hua Nongying asked whether he was satisfied with how they had served him.

Chen Mu deepened his cultivation insights while helping Hua Nongying and Hua Nongyue refine their Yin-Yang power, and the sisters pledged their loyalty to him. After leaving them better prepared to break through the Mysterious Pass, he departed for Dragonwood Island, while the sisters worried about the dangers of his journey to Seeking Wood Cave Heaven.

• Hua Nongying and Hua Nongyue told Chen Mu how their birth and abandonment had shaped their lives, and Hua Nongying said they would put his commands above Joyful Union's.
• Chen Mu tested whether the sisters would oppose Joyful Union for him, then reassured them that he would not make such a demand or force them to die.
• Chen Mu guided the sisters' cultivation with complete Qiankun Power, bringing Hua Nongying's physical cultivation nearly level with Hua Nongyue's.
• Chen Mu said the sisters had a strong chance of breaking through the Mysterious Pass and urged them to cultivate toward the Marrow Washing Realm.
• Chen Mu left for Dragonwood Island, and Hua Nongyue warned that his journey to Seeking Wood Cave Heaven would bring great dangers along with its opportunity.

On Dragonwood Island, Yan Hong assembled a team for the dangerous exploration of Seeking Wood Cave Heaven, recruiting Liu Qingyan and later welcoming Chen Mu. After revealing that she was Princess Yongning, Ji Hong brought Chen Mu into her group and showed him a map of the cave heaven.

• Yan Zhengyang introduced Liu Qingyan to Yan Hong, and Liu Qingyan joined the team in exchange for a hoped-for three jin of Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid.
• Superior Zonggang and Hong Shida arrived and appeared set to explore Seeking Wood Cave Heaven together, prompting Yan Hong to weigh their strength as both help and potential rivals.
• Chen Mu arrived on Dragonwood Island, and Yan Hong invited him to join her team.
• Yan Hong revealed that her real name was Ji Hong and that she was Princess Yongning; Chen Mu accepted her invitation.
• Yan Hong introduced Chen Mu to the team’s Grandmasters and gave him a map of Seeking Wood Cave Heaven.

Chen Mu studied the map of Seeking Wood Cave Heaven and prepared to gather Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid before attempting to break into its guarded tree-heart core. As Grandmasters assembled on Dragonwood Island, Liu Qingyan suspected Chen Mu’s identity, and the Dragonwood Island Master welcomed the gathering with Seeking Wood Spirit Tea.

• Yan Hong explained that the Tree Heart Forbidden Ground was protected by the Spirit Race Old Ancestor and a powerful ancestral formation, so the group planned to target safer resource nodes first.
• Chen Mu considered tempering his Qian Kun Martial Body before challenging the tree-heart defenses and judged Yan Hong’s group useful for confronting the Spirit Race Old Ancestor.
• Yan Hong gave Chen Mu a Seventy-Two Earth Fiend Array Flag, explaining that the flags could combine the group’s strength to resist a powerful enemy.
• Liu Qingyan became mostly certain that Chen Mu was the Grandmaster she knew as Mu Chen, but concealed her suspicions and watched him quietly.
• The Dragonwood Island Master welcomed the assembled Grandmasters, and Listening Tide Cliff disciples served them Seeking Wood Spirit Tea.
• The Dragonwood Island Master noted the presence of Great Xuan Court figures among the gathering and reflected that the expedition could provide spirit liquid for his younger descendants.

The Dragonwood Island Master led nearly two hundred Grandmasters across the sea toward the Return to Ruins Sea, where they would enter Seeking Wood Cave Heaven during its brief opening. Chen Mu crossed the water with Taiyin Force, drawing attention, and the group arrived at the ruins as the Island Master announced their destination.

• The Dragonwood Island Master explained the conditions for entering Seeking Wood Cave Heaven and told the gathered Grandmasters that joining the expedition was their choice.
• The Grandmasters followed the Dragonwood Island Master toward the shore, where nearly thirty Grandmasters from Listening Tide Cliff joined them.
• The Dragonwood Island Master and the Grandmasters crossed the raging sea using their own martial techniques, and Yan Hong recognized that Chen Mu wielded Taiyin Force.
• Liu Qingyan considered whether Hua Nongying and Hua Nongyue had become Chen Mu's women and whether she should withdraw, but she stayed with the group.
• The procession reached the ruined waters of the Return to Ruins Sea, and the Dragonwood Island Master announced that they had arrived.

Dragonwood Island Master opened a passage into Seeking Wood Cave Heaven and noticed that Chen Mu possessed strength beyond an ordinary Marrow Cleansing Grandmaster. As the newcomers arrived, the Spirit Race Ancestor prepared to confront them while leaving the tree core to a newly advanced kinsman.

• Dragonwood Island Master found a weak spatial node, opened a passage, and warned the Grandmasters to return within three months.
• Chen Mu entered Seeking Wood Cave Heaven with Yan Hong's group, and Dragonwood Island Master suspected he was the peerless Qiankun Grandmaster from Great Xuan.
• Dragonwood Island Master reported Chen Mu's arrival to Senior Brother Wuchen, who told him not to interfere in Great Xuan's affairs.
• Dragonwood Island Master considered that Chen Mu might help the Grandmasters kill the Spirit Race Ancestor and take control of Seeking Wood Cave Heaven.
• The Spirit Race Ancestor sensed the intruders, entrusted the tree core to a young Spirit Race member who had reached the same realm, and prepared to fight.

Listening Tide Cliff and the other Grandmasters entered Seeking Wood Cave Heaven and split into groups to search for Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid. Chen Mu followed Yan Hong’s party underground, where they attacked a Spirit Race settlement and learned that a larger settlement lay ahead.

• Listening Tide Cliff’s Grandmasters waited for the others to enter Seeking Wood Cave Heaven, then Elder Pu Hai invited anyone who wished to travel with them to join their group.
• Yan Hong led her party away from Listening Tide Cliff, and Chen Mu followed as they traveled into the cave heaven’s underground roots.
• Yan Hong’s group approached a Spirit Race settlement, where a warning exposed them and the Grandmasters killed the fleeing Spirit People.
• Chen Mu examined the Spirit Race bodies while Yan Zhengyang interrogated a survivor, then learned that a larger settlement lay beyond four more settlements.
• Yan Hong’s group decided to head toward the larger settlement to seek information about Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid and root nodes.

Chen Mu seized Earth Spirit Fruits from an upper-class Spirit Race envoy and rejoined Yan Hong’s group after they obtained Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid from a Seeking Wood root. The Grandmasters prepared to split up and search for more liquid, while Chen Mu assessed how much he needed to perfect his Qian Kun Martial Body.

• A Spirit Race envoy collected twenty Earth Spirit Fruits from an underground settlement and warned its residents that Extraterrestrial Demons might soon descend.
• Chen Mu captured the envoy in the caves, took the Earth Spirit Fruits, and killed him after he refused to reveal where to find Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid.
• Chen Mu returned to find Yan Hong and the Grandmasters had destroyed the settlement and extracted their first portion of Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid from a thick Seeking Wood root.
• At a Grandmaster’s suggestion, Yan Hong agreed to let the group split up and search separately before regrouping in two days.
• Chen Mu received a portion of the liquid, swallowed a drop to test it, and estimated that about ten jin would perfect his Qian Kun Martial Body, with Earth Spirit Fruits reducing the amount needed.