Chapter Summaries

Lin Chang'an learned that Yun Yao was being used as fuel for the Mysterious Yin Demonic Sect's Mystic Yin Divine Fire and agreed to help her purify it. Instead of fleeing, they planned to raid the Li Fire Palace's stronghold in three months, leaving Lin Chang'an to prepare for the dangerous attack and test the Sword Servant's loyalty.

• Yun Yao explained that cultivators of the Gui Water Demonic Art would eventually be consumed to nourish the Mystic Yin Divine Fire, and Lin Chang'an found a wisp of the flame in her dantian.
• Lin Chang'an discovered that his mana could calm and temporarily purify Yun Yao's spirit flame, and Yun Yao resolved to refine it rather than flee at once.
• Yun Yao proposed attacking Li Fire Island while most of its defenders were away, and she showed Lin Chang'an detailed intelligence about the island's formations, remaining cultivators, and her escape talisman.
• Lin Chang'an and Yun Yao agreed to carry out the raid in three months, hoping to seize the Li Fire Palace's wealth and a Mystic Sky Withered Leaf.
• Yun Yao left Lin Chang'an on the way to Heavenly Spring Peak, and Lin Chang'an decided which of his abilities and companions to use while assigning Ling'er to handle low-level cultivators.

Lin Chang'an prepared new equipment for the Sword Servant and secretly left Five Dragon Island with Yun Yao to infiltrate Li Fire Island. After identifying the island’s defenses, they began a covert assault on the Li Fire Palace’s guards.

• Lin Chang'an told Mei Ning and Zhou Bingxuan to announce that he was entering seclusion, while rumors about his interest in youthful-looking female cultivators continued to spread.
• Lin Chang'an took the Sword Servant through his hidden Earth Fire Cave and let her choose newly forged defensive and offensive Spirit Artifacts.
• Lin Chang'an, Yun Yao, and the Sword Servant traveled in disguise to Li Fire Island and confirmed that its Island Protection Array was the Four Symbols Black Tortoise Formation.
• Yun Yao explained that the Li Fire Palace kept its cultivators’ families on Mystic Yin Island and used plundered and purchased cultivators to work its Spirit Stone Mine.
• Lin Chang'an and Yun Yao ambushed Foundation Establishment guards while the Sword Servant attacked Qi Refining cultivators under cover of invisibility.
• An elderly Foundation Establishment cultivator sensed the attack too late and died alongside the younger cultivator beside him, imagining himself back in his homeland.

Lin Chang'an, Yun Yao, and Sword Servant raided Li Fire Island, killed its defenders, and looted Li Fire Palace’s treasury while disguising the attack as revenge by the Divine Sword Sect. They found the Mystic Sky Withered Leaf and later sold surplus loot to Fatty Lei on Blue Wave Island, leaving with a deal for two hundred thousand Mid-grade Spirit Stones.

• Lin Chang'an used an illusion array to trap Li Fire Palace’s cultivators, posed as a Divine Sword Sect remnant, and fought their Core Formation elder while Sword Servant slaughtered the Foundation Establishment defenders.
• Yun Yao ambushed and killed the elder, and the group searched Li Fire Palace’s treasury and cave abodes, collecting valuables and finding the Mystic Sky Withered Leaf.
• Lin Chang'an copied ancient texts, dismantled the island’s arrays, and escaped with Yun Yao and Sword Servant to Blue Wave Island.
• Lin Chang'an and Yun Yao divided the spoils, gave Sword Servant a share, and visited Fatty Lei’s Black Market shop in disguise to sell surplus goods.
• Fatty Lei inspected their haul and agreed to buy it all for two hundred thousand Mid-grade Spirit Stones.

After the Li Fire Palace discovered its island had been looted, Lin Chang'an returned to Five Dragon Island and continued cultivating while secretly keeping in contact with Yun Yao. Ten years later, he had strengthened his body, spiritual root, and sword techniques as the Nether Soul Sect Secret Realm’s restrictions weakened and greater turmoil approached.

• The returning Li Fire Palace cultivators found Li Fire Island deserted and began investigating the looting, while Lin Chang'an, Yun Yao, and Sword Servant returned to Five Dragon Island.
• Lin Chang'an learned that Li Fire Palace had joined forces with the Male and Female Duo of Sha to search for Divine Sword Sect Remnants, then resolved to cultivate and reforge the stolen treasures once his artifact-refining skill improved.
• Lin Chang'an refined five Youth-Preserving Pills, gave one to Sword Servant and one to Yun Yao, and sold the remaining two to Mystic Sound Pavilion.
• Over ten years, Lin Chang'an reached Core Formation Early Stage cultivation level 60, advanced his Body Refining to Second-Order Late Stage, and raised his spiritual root to Earth-grade through Pure Demonic Qi.
• Lin Chang'an purified three Sun-Piercing Divine Swords with the Fusang Divine Tree, but worried that his Jade Bottles were nearly full of Demonic Qi and that leaks could cause disaster.
• As the Nether Soul Sect Secret Realm’s restrictions weakened and foreign Formation Masters arrived, Lin Chang'an accepted Azure Sea Palace’s invitation to study a formation for Third-Order High-Grade Yin Spirit Jade and considered revealing his Third-Order Mid-Grade Formation Master identity.

Lin Chang'an traveled to the market and met Hu Jin, who asked him to analyze a damaged formation restriction inside the Nether Soul Sect Secret Realm. After identifying its weaknesses and explaining how to break it, Lin Chang'an agreed to refine several Dharma artifacts, while keeping his own distance from the dangerous Secret Realm.

• Lin Chang'an left seclusion with Sword Servant and the Green-Horned Ox, displayed the Heavenly Yang Spirit Fire, and considered his strength and plans to learn about the Secret Realm formations.
• Lin Chang'an noticed the market was crowded with outside cultivators seeking opportunities in the Nether Soul Sect Secret Realm, while Sword Servant reported that squads had formed and supposed Secret Realm treasures were being sold.
• Hu Jin welcomed Lin Chang'an and explained that his Foundation Establishment squad had found a formation-restricted site inside the Secret Realm.
• Hu Jin and two other Azure Sea Palace Law Enforcement Hall cultivators showed Lin Chang'an an incomplete Array Disk and an Image Recording Bead documenting the restriction.
• Lin Chang'an identified the restriction as a weakened Illusion Formation, explained how the squad could exploit its weak points, and agreed to refine Dharma artifacts to break it.

Lin Chang'an learned that the Nether Soul Sect Secret Realm’s restrictions were weakening, then used his clones and formation expertise to trade for resources while refining bottles to seal demonic qi. At Mystic Sound Pavilion, Liu Ruyu suggested that Fairy Nishang become Dao companions with Lin Chang'an to keep him from leaving when his hundred-year term ended, and Fairy Nishang blushed.

• Lin Chang'an heard from Hu Jin that Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivators could enter the Nether Soul Sect Secret Realm and that the Sixth Elder might come, but learned the Nascent Soul Cultivators were focused on the First Secret Realm of the Monster Sea Abyss.
• Lin Chang'an secretly used his False Core clones to sell talismans and materials, then told shopkeeper Jian Ming to publicize his newly achieved Third-Order Mid-Grade formation skill in hopes of finding a Third-tier Formation Inheritance.
• Lin Chang'an returned to Heavenly Spring Peak and used his clones to refine three jade bottles, then sealed demonic qi from the Fusang Divine Tree inside them.
• Fairy Nishang told Liu Ruyu that Mystic Sound Pavilion could not fully support Lin Chang'an’s formation studies, and Liu Ruyu worried he would leave after his hundred-year term.
• Liu Ruyu suggested that Fairy Nishang and Lin Chang'an become Dao companions so they could support one another, and Fairy Nishang glared at her with burning earlobes.

Lin Chang'an rejected two Core Formation Cultivators who tried to recruit him to explore a dangerous Secret Realm, then considered a way to help Sword Servant overcome her Human-Monster Hybrid bloodline shackles. He continued cultivating, prepared for Phoenix Cry Bird's breakthrough, and completed the purification of his fourth Sun-Piercing Divine Sword.

• Lin Chang'an refused the two cultivators' Secret Realm proposal after telling them he would invite other powerful allies, and explained to Sword Servant why he avoided such temptations.
• Lin Chang'an examined Sword Servant's impure mana and proposed using Demonic Qi, controlled by his Mystic Heaven Mana, to stimulate and fuse her bloodlines.
• Lin Chang'an reviewed his improved cultivation speed and estimated that he could reach Core Formation Mid-Stage shortly after age two hundred.
• Phoenix Cry Bird asked Lin Chang'an for a Third-tier Demon Core, accepted Spirit Stones instead, and returned to its nest to prepare for its breakthrough.
• Lin Chang'an completed purification of his fourth Sun-Piercing Divine Sword and tested how his Life-Bound Dharma Treasures strengthened his defenses against fire and metal attacks.

At a Core Formation Cultivators' Trading Fair, Lin Chang'an traded his Heavenly Fire Great Array for a rare Spirit Eye Jade byproduct containing Clear Spirit Qi, which could aid his cultivation. After learning that Old Devil Profound Yin had arrived and Nascent Soul Cultivators were preparing for the weakening Nether Soul Sect Secret Realm, Lin Chang'an returned to his cave residence to focus on cultivation.

• Lin Chang'an loosened the trading requirements for his Heavenly Fire Great Array and sought rare items that could improve his cultivation.
• An elderly Core Formation cultivator offered Lin Chang'an a Spirit Eye Jade byproduct, three Quasi-Tier 3 Puppets, and a Tier 2 Puppet Inheritance in exchange for the array.
• Lin Chang'an completed the trade and discovered that the jade contained a trace of Clear Spirit Qi that would benefit his cultivation and the Sword Servant.
• Fairy Nishang asked Lin Chang'an how long it would take to refine another Heavenly Fire Great Array for Mystic Sound Pavilion.
• Yun Yao informed Lin Chang'an that Old Devil Profound Yin of the Mysterious Yin Demonic Sect had arrived, and Fairy Nishang shared news of an alliance among Nascent Soul Cultivators.
• Lin Chang'an took the Sword Servant and rode the Green-Horned Ox back to his cave residence to cultivate more steadily.

Lin Chang'an learned that Nascent Soul cultivators were maneuvering around the Nether Soul Sect Secret Realm, so he helped Yun Yao analyze its restrictions while preparing to strengthen himself and Sword Servant. Azure Sea Palace’s leaders revealed that the Secret Realm was bait for rival powers, with a Shapeshifting Yin Spirit Beast King waiting inside.

• Lin Chang'an examined the puppets and Tier 2 Puppet Inheritance he had acquired, then assigned the puppets to Sword Servant and continued cultivating as his Phoenix Cry Bird advanced to the Third-Order Mid-Stage.
• Old Devil Profound Yin fought the Sixth Elder of Azure Sea Palace, then returned to secluded cultivation after meeting with other Nascent Soul cultivators, drawing more cultivators toward the Secret Realm.
• Yun Yao brought Lin Chang'an intelligence about the Secret Realm and its restrictions, and he advised her on breaking them before she secretly departed.
• Lin Chang'an resolved to improve his cultivation and Sword Servant's strength as the danger surrounding the Secret Realm grew.
• The Great Elder learned that the Second Palace Mistress had set a trap for the Nether Soul Sect, leaving a Shapeshifting Yin Spirit Beast King in the Secret Realm for the rival Nascent Soul powers.

With Nascent Soul Cultivators absent from the Nether Soul Sect Secret Realm expedition, Lin Chang'an considered the gains from his Spirit Jade and accepted an escort mission to Sea Abyss City. He brought the Sword Servant and his Spirit Pets to the Heaven-Reaching Fog Sea to hunt Yin Spirit Beast Kings and temper the Sword Servant.

• Lin Chang'an found that the Clear Spirit Qi jade had improved his cultivation and reasoned that his Ancient Cultivation Method amplified its effects when he cultivated with the Sword Servant.
• The Sword Servant reported that Xu Lingfeng had been severely injured in a clash with Demonic Path cultivators inside the Secret Realm, and Fairy Nishang asked Lin Chang'an to escort Mystic Sound Pavilion's Merchant Ship to Sea Abyss City.
• Lin Chang'an agreed to the escort mission and asked Alchemist Wen to join, then planned to hunt Yin Spirit Beast Kings for Demon Cores and gather Core Formation materials for the Sword Servant.
• Lin Chang'an brought the Sword Servant and two Spirit Pets to the Heaven-Reaching Fog Sea, where they sealed an island of Yin Spirits within the Blood Sha Red Sun Array.
• The Phoenix Cry Bird attacked one Third-Order Mid-Stage Yin Spirit Beast King while the Sword Servant faced the lesser Yin Spirits, and Lin Chang'an engaged two Third-Order Early Stage Beast Kings with his Sun-Piercing Divine Swords.

After hunting Yin Spirit Beast Kings in the Heaven-Reaching Fog Sea, Lin Chang'an returned to Five Dragon Island and traveled with Mystic Sound Pavilion to Sea Abyss City. He entered Treasure Radiance Pavilion with Sword Servant to seek thousand-year spirit herbs and began browsing its luxurious interior.

• Lin Chang'an killed a Third-Order Mid-Stage Yin Spirit Beast King with his Sun-Piercing Divine Swords, while the Green-Horned Ox and Phoenix Cry Bird helped clear the island and Sword Servant fought the other Yin Spirits.
• Lin Chang'an recorded his routes and island findings on a sea chart during the return journey, then arrived back at Five Dragon Island with his companions.
• At Mystic Sound Pavilion, Fairy Nishang saw off Lin Chang'an and Alchemist Wen as they departed aboard a Spirit Ship for Sea Abyss City.
• After reaching Sea Abyss City, Lin Chang'an left Mystic Sound Pavilion's procurement work to its Foundation Establishment Cultivators and entered the city with Sword Servant.
• Lin Chang'an led Sword Servant into Treasure Radiance Pavilion, where two Foundation Establishment maidservants greeted them and he asked them to show the pair around.

Lin Chang'an explored Treasure Radiance Pavilion with Alchemist Wen and Sword Servant, bought several cultivation resources and the Ice Marrow Jade Liquid Wine Recipe, and learned that formation inheritances were tightly controlled. Second Palace Mistress Xingyue observed the group and discovered that Sword Servant possessed a spirit object containing Clear Spirit Qi, while she and her elder sister remained trapped by their bloodline shackles.

• Lin Chang'an toured Treasure Radiance Pavilion and learned about its extensive resources and trade in Cultivation Cauldrons.
• Second Palace Mistress Xingyue reviewed Lin Chang'an's information, judged his strength, and ordered the shopkeeper to offer him the Ice Marrow Jade Liquid Wine Recipe.
• Lin Chang'an failed to find a formation inheritance on the seventh floor, then bought three Spirit Fruits and Spirit Grasses along with the Wine Recipe.
• Second Palace Mistress Xingyue met Lin Chang'an, inspected Sword Servant, and left after showing interest in the Human-Monster Hybrid girl.
• Xingyue recognized Clear Spirit Qi on Sword Servant and discussed with her elder sister how their bloodline shackles had stalled their advancement.

After Lin Chang'an returned from Sea Abyss City, a Shapeshifting Yin Spirit Beast King broke free in the Nether Soul Sect Secret Realm, turning the island into a Ghost Domain and killing many cultivators. Lin Chang'an feared for Yun Yao after learning of the disaster, while Xuanyin Old Monster vowed to settle the score with Azure Sea Palace.

• Lin Chang'an left Sea Abyss City with cultivation resources, pill and artifact formulas, a rare Spirit Pen, and a recipe for brewing cultivation-enhancing spirit wine.
• A Shapeshifting Yin Spirit Beast King broke the Secret Realm's Restriction, and its soul attack killed possessed Nascent Soul cultivators and many Core Formation cultivators as Yin Spirits poured out.
• The Sixth Elder of Azure Sea Palace revealed that the Beast King was bound to the island's Yin Vein and recalled how the Second Palace Mistress had helped bring about the Nether Soul Sect's destruction.
• Azure Sea Palace publicly blamed the Demonic Path Nascent Soul cultivators for causing the disaster, while they suspected the Palace had secretly interfered.
• Lin Chang'an returned to find the Five Dragon Island Sea Region transformed into a Ghost Domain, failed to reach Yun Yao, and heard from Hu Jin that thousands of cultivators had died.
• Xuanyin Old Monster accused Azure Sea Palace of conspiring against the others and vowed to settle the debt when the Secret Realm opened again.

After the Secret Realm became a Ghost Domain, Lin Chang'an chose to cultivate in seclusion while the Ghost Disaster spread and Azure Sea Palace prepared to turn Yin Spirits into cultivation resources. Sixth Elder learned of Lin Chang'an’s formation talent and sent True Person Tan to recruit him, interrupting Lin Chang'an just as he prepared to pursue a breakthrough.

• Lin Chang'an learned from Yun Yao that the Secret Realm had become a Ghost Domain and decided to stay in his cave abode while the border remained tense.
• Sword Servant reported that foreign cultivators were leaving Five Dragon Island, and Lin Chang'an anticipated that the major powers’ conflicts would resume as their income fell.
• Nearly a hundred Third-Order Yin Spirit Beast Kings led ghost creatures through nearby seas, while Sixth Elder planned to spread Ghost Taming techniques so cultivators would hunt the Yin Spirits themselves.
• True Person Tan presented Lin Chang'an’s formation credentials to Sixth Elder, who gave Tan Jade Slips and tasked him with guiding Lin Chang'an toward becoming a Third-Order High-Grade Formation Master.
• Lin Chang'an completed a Third-Order Mid-Grade Spirit Armor Talisman and received twelve bottles of medicinal pills from Alchemist Wen, then planned to cultivate for a breakthrough within ten years.
• True Person Tan arrived at Lin Chang'an’s cave abode and announced that Lin Chang'an had encountered a heaven-sent opportunity.

True Person Tan invited Lin Chang'an to join Azure Sea Palace’s expedition into the First Secret Realm of the Monster Sea Abyss as a formation master, dangling rare cultivation resources and a chance to find Nascent Soul opportunities. Lin Chang'an was tempted but remained wary, and decided to seek more information before answering.

• True Person Tan visited Lin Chang'an after his breakthrough in formations and proposed an opportunity that relied on Lin Chang'an’s formation skills.
• Lin Chang'an learned that Azure Sea Palace’s Sixth Elder wanted five Third-Order High-Grade Formation Masters to help explore a dangerous labyrinth in the First Secret Realm of the Monster Sea Abyss.
• True Person Tan offered Lin Chang'an formation inheritance, cultivation insights, access to Treasure Radiance Pavilion’s resources, and Nascent Soul insights, while explaining that Azure Sea Palace needed help deciphering a formation restriction.
• Lin Chang'an realized Azure Sea Palace might be treating Rogue Cultivator formation masters as expendable, despite the promised protection and prior precedents.
• After True Person Tan departed, Lin Chang'an weighed the potential Nascent Soul resources against the danger and decided to investigate the Secret Realm before making a choice, considering asking Yun Yao for information.

Lin Chang'an weighed the dangers and rewards of joining the Azure Sea Palace’s expedition to the First Secret Realm of the Monster Sea Abyss, then agreed to pursue the opportunity. After reuniting with Yun Yao and learning about her injuries and plans, he met Sixth Elder, who promised support if he mastered Third-Order High-Grade formations before the realm opened.

• Lin Chang'an learned that ghost-control and puppet-refinement methods had spread through the market and suspected the Azure Sea Palace was behind the changes.
• Lin Chang'an gathered intelligence about the First Secret Realm while waiting for Yun Yao to return.
• Yun Yao reunited with Lin Chang'an, revealed that a Fourth-Rank Shapeshifting Yin Spirit Beast King had injured her Divine Sense, and discussed the Secret Realm and her plan to oppose Old Devil Profound Yin.
• After considering the risks, Lin Chang'an decided to join the expedition and visit True Person Tan and Sixth Elder.
• True Person Tan introduced Lin Chang'an to Sixth Elder, who promised him Secret Realm intelligence and resources if he reached Third-Order High-Grade formation mastery, along with additional Magic Treasures for protection.

After ten years in seclusion, Lin Chang'an reached the Golden Core Middle Stage and planned how to strengthen himself for the Monster Sea Abyss Secret Realm. He emerged to find his income strained and learned that Lu Yushu's Spirit Ship had been trapped by a Ghost Disaster near the Ghost Domain.

• Lin Chang'an broke through to the Golden Core Middle Stage, advanced his Body Refining, and reviewed the cultivation and formation inheritances he had received.
• Lin Chang'an planned to reach the Golden Core Late Stage and prepare restraining Dharma treasures before the Secret Realm opened, while ordering the Phoenix Cry Bird to reach Third-Rank Late Stage within fifty years.
• Lin Chang'an met with Sword Servant, praised her progress toward Core Formation, and heard her reports about the Five Dragon Island region, the Long Family, and their acquaintances.
• Lin Chang'an reviewed his finances and decided he needed to earn Spirit Stones, especially to buy more bottles for storing Demonic Qi and prepare for Sword Servant's Core Formation.
• Lu Yushu arrived after Lin Chang'an emerged from seclusion and reported that their Spirit Ship had been trapped on an island by a Ghost Disaster near the Ghost Domain.

Lin Chang'an joined Lu Yushu and Xu Lingfeng to rescue a merchant ship trapped in a Ghost Disaster, revealing that he had advanced to Core Formation Mid-Stage. The group reached the island, broke through its concealment array, and found the survivors besieged by Ghost Cultivators and Yin Spirits.

• Lu Yushu asked Lin Chang'an to help rescue a merchant ship caught in a Ghost Disaster, and Lin agreed to join the expedition.
• Lin Chang'an set out with the Green-Horned Ox and met Lu Yushu, Xu Lingfeng, and the gathered Foundation Establishment cultivators at Five Dragon Island docks.
• Xu Lingfeng recognized that Lin Chang'an had advanced to Core Formation Mid-Stage, and the group traveled toward the Ghost Domain.
• At the island, Lin Chang'an struck the concealing barrier, and the Green-Horned Ox shattered it with a charge.
• Lin Chang'an and Lu Yushu led the rescue force onto the island, where a Ghost Cultivator unleashed Yin Spirits and five Third-Order Yin Spirit Beast Kings against them.

Lin Chang'an helped Lu Yushu's party defeat the Yin Spirit Beast Kings on the island and secretly captured the fleeing ghost cultivator with his External Incarnations. After extracting the ghost cultivator's memories, he learned how the Nether Soul Sect was destroyed and resolved to seek its surviving disciple inheritances.

• Lin Chang'an warned the group about six Third-Order Early Stage Yin Spirits and a ghost cultivator waiting in ambush on the island.
• Lin Chang'an and the Green-Horned Ox killed two Yin Spirit Beast Kings while the ghost cultivator fled, and Lin Chang'an secretly sent his External Incarnations after him.
• Lin Chang'an's incarnations trapped the ghost cultivator with Soul-Stabilizing Talismans, overcame his soul restriction, and extracted his memories before he turned to ash.
• Lin Chang'an learned that a traitor had used a Sky-Azure Fruit to make a Fourth-Rank Late-Grade Shapeshifting Yin Spirit Beast King go berserk during the Nether Soul Sect's attempt to refine it.
• Lin Chang'an concluded that Azure Sea Palace had helped destroy the Nether Soul Sect and considered searching the island's Core Formation disciples' Cave Abodes for surviving inheritances.

Lin Chang'an bought a concealed technique for controlling Yin Spirit Beast Kings in Sea Abyss City while preparing to explore Nether Soul Sect Spirit Island. Back on Five Dragon Island, he learned that a Yin Spirit Fruit had been recovered and heard Hu Jin warn him about the dangers of an upcoming Secret Realm expedition, then tease him about marrying Formation Master Ning’s daughter.

• Lin Chang'an used his Azure Sea Palace status to inspect Treasure Radiance Pavilion’s ghost-control wares and bought a costly secret technique that joined a Yin-attributed Magic Treasure symbiotically with a Yin Spirit Beast King.
• After Lin Chang'an left Sea Abyss City, the Sixth Elder dismissed reports of his plans to seek opportunities on Nether Soul Sect Spirit Island as unremarkable.
• Lin Chang'an met Hu Jin at Five Dragon Island Market, where Hu Jin told him that an unknown False Core Cultivator had found a rooted Yin Spirit Fruit and traded it to Sea Palace for Core Formation resources.
• Lin Chang'an suspected the Yin Spirit Fruit discovery might be a lure, but acknowledged that a lucky cultivator could have found it and resolved to stay cautious.
• Hu Jin warned Lin Chang'an that the Secret Realm expedition’s return journey would be especially dangerous because cultivators would emerge with treasures and without Nascent Soul protection.
• Hu Jin suggested that Formation Master Ning wanted a capable disciple and son-in-law for his talented daughter, teasing Lin Chang'an while pointing out the benefits of joining a Quasi-Tier 4 Formation Master’s family.