Recaps

San Zang destroyed the woman tainted by the spirit of the uncanny, but her corpse revived and attacked him before he killed it again. Ye Lin led the group away from the dangerous area, where they saw more figures converging, leaving them wary of how far the uncanny might spread.

• San Zang killed the gray-mist-shrouded woman, causing the mist around her to dissipate.
• The headless female corpse revived and attacked San Zang, who blasted it into a mist of blood and considered how it might be defeated.
• Ye Lin suspected nearby creatures were also tainted and led Gu Qingzhi, Wang Tian, and the others away.
• The group looked down from the sky and saw figures converging on the place they had left.
• Xu Feng feared the spirit of the uncanny might spread throughout the Star River Cosmos.

Ye Lin and his companions encountered a spirit of the bizarre after leaving the Divine Mystery Realm. He killed it and revealed that the Heavenly Dao awarded merit for slaying such spirits.

• Gu Qingzhi worried that the spirits of the bizarre could spread across the Star River Cosmos and kill most living beings.
• Ye Lin warned Zhang Wusheng and the others not to touch the spirits’ gray mist as an earth dragon spirit charged toward them.
• Ye Lin cut down the earth dragon with the Blooddrinking Sword of the Fallen Emperor and the Nine Heavens Profound Thunder Sword Art.
• Ye Lin told the group that the Heavenly Dao rewarded cultivators with merit for killing spirits of the bizarre.

After learning that killing strange spirits earned Heavenly Dao merit, Ye Lin sent the others to hunt while Gu Qingzhi insisted on following him. Ye Lin discovered her grim fate and a nearby opportunity to find Nine Saints Meteoric Iron, then headed there with Gu Qingzhi behind him.

• Ye Lin told the group that killing strange spirits earned Heavenly Dao merit, prompting Xu Feng, San Zang, Zhang Wusheng, Wang Xiaoyun, and Gu Qingzhi to set out and fight.
• Ye Lin sent Li Xiaoyao and the others away, while Shangguan Wanyu carried Luo Yao with her.
• Gu Qingzhi refused to leave Ye Lin and persuaded him to let her follow by mentioning her father’s power and her status as his only descendant.
• Ye Lin examined Gu Qingzhi’s panel and learned that she was fated to die in the Second Region and that Nine Saints Meteoric Iron lay nearby.
• Ye Lin followed the panel’s directions to find the Nine Saints Meteoric Iron, and Gu Qingzhi silently followed, suspecting he had seen her future.

San Zang searched a bamboo forest for the Spirit of Weirdness, then unleashed a devastating attack when it continued to hide. Three figures appeared and taunted him, leaving San Zang facing them amid the ruins.

• San Zang searched the mountain range for the Spirit of Weirdness while his divine sense covered the area.
• When a strange wind and sounds stirred the bamboo, San Zang used “Universe, suppress” to still the forest.
• San Zang struck the surrounding space, collapsing mountains and leaving the land across tens of thousands of star-li in ruins while he remained untouched.
• Three figures appeared and mocked San Zang’s reputation and the change in his expression.

San Zang was confronted by visions of Nuannuan and two boys, which stirred memories of his childhood as Xiao Tian. He struggled against the apparitions as the memories recalled his bond with the three children.

• Nuannuan and two boys appeared before San Zang and asked him to comfort them because they were cold.
• San Zang recognized the children as figures from his past and demanded that they stop pretending to be them.
• San Zang remembered Nuannuan asking whether he would marry her when they grew up, and he awkwardly replied that they were too young.
• San Zang recalled two boys saving him when he dangled from a cliff, then talking about flying and exploring its depths.

The chapter recounted how Xiao Tian was manipulated into killing his three childhood friends by a black-robed old man who promised to help him see his dead parents. The old man took him as a disciple and renamed him San Zang, leaving him haunted by the friends he had killed.

• Xiao Tian longed to fly so he could see his parents, then remembered happier days with his three friends in their village.
• After the village was destroyed, a black-robed old man offered to teach Xiao Tian cultivation and promised he might bring his parents back to life.
• The old man ordered Xiao Tian to kill his three friends as proof that he could reject emotion and become a disciple.
• Xiao Tian took the dagger and killed his friends, then dropped it in horror as he saw their bodies and blood on his hands.
• The old man took Xiao Tian away, named him San Zang, and declared he would become the new God of Slaughter.
• San Zang's dead friends' pleas and accusations echoed in his memory.

San Zang faced sinister spirits disguised as three people from his past, including a girl who called him Big Brother Xiao Tian. He saw through their attempt to unsettle his Dao heart, destroyed them, and then left.

• San Zang embraced the girl and promised he had not forgotten her wish to become his wife.
• Two boys asked San Zang to teach them cultivation so they could keep their childhood promise to become immortals together.
• San Zang declared that the three were not the people he had known and that their illusions could not shake his Dao heart.
• San Zang suppressed the three sinister spirits and destroyed them with a single palm.
• San Zang stood silently for a long time, sighed, and disappeared.

Ye Lin found and claimed the Nine Saints Meteoric Iron, then destroyed a strange spirit that had taken the form of his long-ago sworn brother Jian Unrivaled. As a bell rang across the plain, a temple and an old monk appeared in the distance.

• Ye Lin followed the panel's directions to a mountain and shattered it, revealing the Nine Saints Meteoric Iron, which he claimed while Shangguan Wanyu watched in shock.
• A strange spirit resembling Jian Unrivaled called Ye Lin its little brother, but Ye Lin killed it with Heaven-Shaking Sword Qi.
• Ye Lin reflected that strange spirits could obtain memories by devouring people and wondered whether the secret realm held acquaintances from his distant past.
• Gu Qingzhi admired Ye Lin's decisiveness, and the sound of a bell announced a distant temple where an old monk was striking a great bell.

Ye Lin and Gu Qingzhi investigated a temple that had appeared unexpectedly and met its abbot, Fu Kong. Ye Lin questioned which time and space the temple occupied, while Fu Kong calmly replied that he did not know.

• Gu Qingzhi noticed the temple had appeared where none had been before and looked to Ye Lin for guidance.
• Ye Lin led Gu Qingzhi into the temple, where two novice monks asked whether they sought affinity or aid.
• Ye Lin asked about seeking affinity and aid while surveying the temple's dilapidated grounds.
• Fu Kong, the old man who had rung the bell, dismissed the novices and offered to receive Ye Lin and Gu Qingzhi.
• Ye Lin asked which time and space Profound Void Temple existed in, and Fu Kong said he could no longer remember.

Ye Lin confronted Fu Kong at Profound Void Temple, accusing the aberrant spirit of killing beings and wearing their skin. Fu Kong summoned a Buddha manifestation and displayed powerful Buddhist true intent, but the chapter ended with him demanding that Ye Lin leave.

• Ye Lin mocked the aberrant spirit for studying temples and questioned whether the Buddha would accept him.
• Fu Kong claimed that Profound Void Temple had never harmed anyone and told Ye Lin to leave if he had come to cause trouble.
• Ye Lin pointed out the resentment surrounding Fu Kong and attacked him with Sword Qi.
• Fu Kong blocked the attack with a golden Buddha manifestation and filled the temple with Buddhist true intent.
• Fu Kong insisted he had spoken truthfully and demanded that Ye Lin and Gu Qingzhi leave the temple.

Ye Lin challenged Fu Kong by threatening the formation beneath Profound Void Temple, and the two fought as the temple's monks joined in. Ye Lin's sword strike cracked Fu Kong's golden barrier, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Ye Lin cracked the ground and revealed purple-black resentment beneath Profound Void Temple, provoking Fu Kong.
• Fu Kong attacked Ye Lin with the Dragon-Slaying Art and Prajna Heaven-Subduing Palm, but Ye Lin shattered the golden palm imprints with the Nine Heavens Profound Thunder Sword Art.
• Fu Kong's monks rushed to aid him, but a young lady struck them away with her zither.
• Ye Lin attacked Fu Kong with the Blooddrinking Sword of the Fallen Emperor, and Fu Kong raised a golden barrier to block him.
• Ye Lin used Thunder Convergence to crack Fu Kong's golden barrier.

Ye Lin shattered Fu Kong’s barrier and exposed his monstrous nature, then overcame the Eighteen Arhats Grand Formation with ease. He advanced on Fu Kong, convinced that Fu Kong had stolen the Buddhist Dao’s true meaning and could not wield its full power.

• Ye Lin broke Fu Kong’s golden barrier, sent him flying, and slashed him, revealing gray mist beneath his fading Buddhist light.
• Fu Kong activated the Eighteen Arhats Grand Formation inside Profound Void Temple and sent its eighteen golden monks against Ye Lin.
• Ye Lin drove the Blooddrinking Sword of the Fallen Emperor into the ground, froze the Arhats, and blasted them into the distance.
• Ye Lin concluded that Fu Kong had stolen the Buddhist Dao’s true meaning by devouring its original master, then approached him with his sword.

Ye Lin and Gu Qingzhi defeated the bizarre beings at Profound Void Temple, but Fu Kong’s death unleashed the resentment beneath it. A golden Buddha suppressed the resentment and was left cracked and dim, while Ye Lin suspected bizarre spirits had invaded the Immortal World and taken over its native forces.

• Fu Kong failed to control the Eighteen Arhats Grand Formation, and Ye Lin killed him with Sword Qi.
• Gu Qingzhi killed the remaining monks as the formation’s failure caused Profound Void Temple to shake and crack.
• Ye Lin warned Gu Qingzhi to flee, and they escaped as the temple collapsed beneath surging resentment.
• A golden Buddha appeared among the ruins and suppressed and cleansed the resentment before becoming dim and cracked.
• Ye Lin concluded that bizarre spirits had likely invaded Profound Void Temple and contributed to the Immortal World’s destruction.

After the Profound Void Temple vanished, Ye Lin and Gu Qingzhi used an ancient map to locate themselves in a tiny corner of the Northern Wasteland. They set out east toward the Holy Tower to test whether other ancient factions had also been occupied by bizarre spirits.

• The Profound Void Temple disappeared, leaving Gu Qingzhi puzzled about why it had appeared at all.
• Ye Lin and Gu Qingzhi considered whether bizarre spirits had occupied other ancient factions of the Immortal World.
• Gu Qingzhi showed Ye Lin a map of the Immortal World, which she had taken out after hearing his reasoning.
• Ye Lin and Gu Qingzhi identified their location as a tiny corner of the Northern Wasteland by finding the Profound Void Temple on the map.
• Ye Lin proposed heading east to the Holy Tower to check for bizarre spirits and test his assumptions.

Ye Lin and Gu Qingzhi reached the Holy Tower to find out whether it contained strange spirits and could earn them Heavenly Dao merit. They confirmed the tower’s identity and began searching its ruined interior, with Gu Qingzhi preparing to draw out anything hidden inside.

• Ye Lin and Gu Qingzhi agreed to investigate the Holy Tower marked on their map, hoping to gain Heavenly Dao merit to upgrade the Blooddrinking Sword of the Fallen Emperor.
• After traveling through ruins scattered with corpses, they reached the towering, collapsed structure and recognized it as the Holy Tower.
• Ye Lin entered first with the Blooddrinking Sword of the Fallen Emperor in hand while Gu Qingzhi used her divine sense to watch for danger.
• Inside the tower, Ye Lin climbed the stairs to search room by room as Gu Qingzhi leaped into the air to lure out the strange spirit.

Gu Qingzhi realized the Profound Void Temple had lured prodigies into its ruins to kill them, while she and Ye Lin searched the Holy Tower. Ye Lin found a strange spirit who claimed to be the tower’s master and recognized that she feared him.

• Gu Qingzhi understood that the Profound Void Temple had used its appearance as bait to draw prodigies to their deaths.
• Gu Qingzhi concealed her aura and acted as bait, while Ye Lin searched the tower’s rooms.
• Gu Qingzhi reached the top floor without finding any strange spirits or other signs of life.
• Ye Lin found a strange spirit in a room and questioned whether the place was truly the Holy Tower.
• The strange spirit demanded that Ye Lin leave, and he noticed her apprehension.

Ye Lin sealed the Holy Tower after finding an aberrant spirit, intending to exterminate the creatures for Heavenly Dao merit. The spirit summoned countless aberrations to confront Ye Lin and Gu Qingzhi, who welcomed the opportunity to kill them.

• Ye Lin explained that aberrant spirits could assimilate cultivators and that they could feel fear of stronger opponents.
• Ye Lin sealed the Holy Tower beneath a blood-red barrier to trap the aberrations inside.
• Ye Lin told the aberrant spirit to reveal the others, hoping to earn Heavenly Dao merit by killing them.
• Gu Qingzhi joined Ye Lin and examined the aberrant spirit.
• The aberrant spirit threatened Ye Lin and Gu Qingzhi, then summoned countless aberrations around them.
• Ye Lin and Gu Qingzhi felt delighted at the sight of so many targets.

Ye Lin and Gu Qingzhi attacked the aberrant spirits in the woman’s territory. Ye Lin drove the woman outside with his sword and fist, then struck her with lightning and summoned the Nine Luminaries Across the Sky to suppress her.

• The woman ordered the aberrant spirits to kill Ye Lin and Gu Qingzhi.
• Ye Lin charged the woman while Gu Qingzhi sent the approaching spirits flying with a zither-like sound.
• The woman shattered Ye Lin’s Sword Qi with sound waves and attacked him with tentacles, but Ye Lin cut through them and stabbed her with the Blooddrinking Sword of the Fallen Emperor.
• Ye Lin blocked the woman’s palm, punched her through a wall, and pursued her outside.
• Ye Lin unleashed Thunder Break, engulfing the woman in lightning, then summoned the Nine Luminaries Across the Sky to suppress her.

Ye Lin and Gu Qingzhi began hunting down the strange spirits in the secret realm, while a group of older Golden Immortal experts arrived outside and claimed the realm for themselves. They killed a prodigy who challenged their authority.

• Ye Lin vaporized a strange spirit with the Great Sun after Gu Qingzhi dealt with the creatures inside a nearby building.
• Ye Lin told Gu Qingzhi to move with him so they could hunt the remaining strange spirits, and she agreed.
• More than a dozen older experts, each at least at the sixth level of the Golden Immortal Realm, appeared outside the secret realm and ordered the prodigies to leave.
• An old man claimed the experts needed to clear the realm of a great terror and asked whether anyone objected.
• One expert killed a prodigy who proposed joining forces to deal with the danger, piercing his brow and crushing his Primordial Spirit.

Older powerhouses seized control of the Primordial Immortal World secret realm, driving away the prodigies who had hoped to explore it. Inside, Ye Lin and the others continued exploring, unaware of the takeover outside.

• An elder declared that the secret realm belonged to his group and threatened to kill anyone who entered without permission.
• More than a dozen figures entered the secret realm while the nearby prodigies held back.
• A prodigy explained that the major factions were testing whether the Heavenly Dao would allow them to monopolize the realm, then left.
• The other prodigies, unable to challenge the powerhouses, left one after another.
• Ye Lin and the others continued exploring inside the secret realm without knowing what had happened outside.

Ye Lin and Gu Qingzhi found the Blood God Cave, but it collapsed before they could explore it, apparently after the strange spirits fled. Sixth-level Golden Immortals then seized the secret realm and ordered everyone to leave within half an hour, leaving Ye Lin to wonder what the older generation powerhouses intended.

• Ye Lin and Gu Qingzhi located the Blood God Cave using Gu Qingzhi's map.
• The Blood God Cave and the surrounding mountain range collapsed before Ye Lin and Gu Qingzhi could enter.
• Ye Lin and Gu Qingzhi concluded that the strange spirits had fled and that their plan to make money was no longer viable.
• Several streaks of light crossed the sky, and their terrifying pressure devastated the surrounding terrain.
• Sixth-level Golden Immortals announced that they had taken over the secret realm and threatened to kill anyone who remained after half an hour.

Gu Qingzhi and Ye Lin discussed why powerful older factions were moving to seize the secret realm and how they were manipulating the great age despite the Heavenly Dao’s efforts to strengthen the younger generation. The chapter ended with Ye Lin suggesting that Gu Qingzhi’s own faction might be part of the chain of forces behind the crisis.

• Gu Qingzhi said the powerful older factions had sent the newcomers as a vanguard to claim the secret realm.
• Ye Lin reasoned that the factions had delayed acting to avoid defying the Heavenly Dao, which had bestowed the secret realm for prodigies.
• Ye Lin explained that the Heavenly Dao had promoted the great age to restore its depleted origin through cultivators’ deaths and nurture future Dao Fruits and Great Luo Transcendences.
• Ye Lin said older powerhouses were manipulating the great age, leaving the Heavenly Dao unable to intervene directly as younger cultivators struggled to grow.
• Gu Qingzhi condemned the attempt to claim the secret realm, and Ye Lin suggested that her faction might also be part of the chain.

Ye Lin and Gu Qingzhi stayed in the secret realm as countless Rogue Cultivators fled, while they and their companions prepared to confront the people behind the warning. The chapter ended with an elderly man demanding to know why they had not left, and the group answered that the Heavenly Dao had bestowed the secret realm.

• Gu Qingzhi feared that powerful people were manipulating the Heavenly Dao, and she vowed to stay and see what they were planning.
• Countless Rogue Cultivators fled the secret realm, while some heirs of powerful figures chose to wait.
• Ye Lin and his companions gathered after half an hour, and San Zang said his master had ordered him to kill their enemies if possible.
• Xu Feng said his Imperial Father had disavowed involvement and offered him authority to summon the Heavenly Saint Imperial Dynasty's experts.
• Zhang Wusheng dismissed the people behind the warning as mere mouthpieces for old fossils.
• An elderly man demanded to know why Ye Lin and the others had not left, and they replied that they had the right to explore a secret realm bestowed by the Heavenly Dao.

Gu Qingzhi and the others drove off three sixth-layer Golden Immortals by revealing their powerful connections. With little left to gain from the secret realm, Zhang Wusheng and the group decided to leave and return to cultivation.

• Zhang Wusheng and the others revealed their powerful family and master connections, causing the three men to fall silent.
• Gu Qingzhi warned the three men not to interfere with the secret realm or let others use them as pawns.
• The three men chose to leave rather than risk a confrontation with the group.
• Zhang Wusheng proposed leaving the secret realm because the group had found little of value.
• Xu Feng, Ye Lin, and the others agreed to leave, and Ye Lin planned to cultivate until he reached the fifth layer of the Golden Immortal Realm.

After the secret realm closed, Ye Lin accepted Gu Qingzhi’s offer to introduce him to a first-rank Immortal Artifact Refiner in the Music Sect. He parted from Li Xiaoyao and the others and followed Gu Qingzhi through a portal into the sect’s territory.

• Wang Xiaoyun, Xu Feng, and the other young prodigies left the secret realm, while Gu Qingzhi stayed behind to speak with Ye Lin.
• Gu Qingzhi offered to arrange a free artifact-refining service for Ye Lin, and he accepted because he needed to upgrade the Blooddrinking Sword of the Fallen Emperor.
• Li Xiaoyao and the others declined Ye Lin’s invitation and said they would enter seclusion until the teleportation array opened in five hundred years.
• Ye Lin sent Xinyou with Li Xiaoyao’s group to protect them, and they departed into the Starry Sky.
• Gu Qingzhi opened a portal with a golden jade token, and Ye Lin followed her into the Music Sect’s territory.