Chapter Summaries

Ye Lin and the others entered secluded cultivation after securing Water Spring Crystals, while Xinyou took Luo Yao out into the Starry Sky. Years of battles among prodigies devastated the Third Region, and the chapter left Ye Lin and the others still cultivating as the slaughter finally subsided.

• Everyone entered the star, carved out cave abodes, and Bao Xiaotou concealed it with formations.
• Prodigies across the Starry Sky fought over Water Spring Crystals, throwing the Third Region’s fortune into turmoil and drawing ancient demons and evil cultivators out of hiding.
• Older-generation experts hid rather than interfere with fortune or tribulation aura as factions fell and prodigies died.
• After most Water Spring Crystals disappeared, the surviving prodigies stopped fighting and returned home to await the next secret realm in five hundred years.
• The slaughter reduced the number of prodigies by nearly thirty percent, while Ye Lin and the others continued cultivating and Xinyou took Luo Yao into the Starry Sky.

Five hundred years after their failure to obtain Water Spring Crystals, Xu Feng and his companions remained consumed by humiliation. As a new secret realm was about to appear, Xu Feng left the imperial capital with them to await its arrival in the Starry Sky.

• Five hundred years passed, and the prodigies who had gained nothing in the Water Spring Secret Realm remained unable to settle down and cultivate.
• Xu Feng declared that he would launch indiscriminate attacks in the next secret realm, while the two young men beside him promised to help him return with something.
• Xu Feng slammed his palm onto a table and ordered the group to head to the Starry Sky to await the secret realm.
• Xu Feng and his companions left the Heavenly Saint Imperial Dynasty and set out for the boundless Starry Sky.

After five hundred years of cultivation in the Water Spring Secret Realm, Ye Lin nearly reached the third level of the Golden Immortal Realm, while his companions also made breakthroughs. As they left their cave dwellings, Luo Yao approached from the heavens.

• Ye Lin emerged from cultivation after five hundred years, having nearly reached the third level of the Golden Immortal Realm.
• Bao Xiaotou reached the second level of the Golden Immortal Realm, Wang Tian was also at the second level, and Shangguan Wanyu advanced to the late stage of the Primordial Unity Mystic Immortal Realm.
• Li Xiaoyao told the excited group to calm down and hinted that he had reached the third level of the Golden Immortal Realm.
• Bao Xiaotou sensed someone approaching and removed the formation as Luo Yao laughed and charged toward them.

Ye Lin reunited with Luo Yao and brought the group to the Netherworld Ghost Realm, where a guardian explained that entrants would have to survive for three years without treasures. The gateway opened, but the gathered prodigies hesitated to enter.

• Xinyou returned Luo Yao to Ye Lin after spending several days exploring with her, and Luo Yao asked to go out again.
• Ye Lin led the group to find the secret realm, and they reached the convergence of three stars after three days.
• The guardian announced that the Netherworld Ghost Realm had no treasures, would remain open for three years, and would send entrants to different places.
• The guardian opened a massive gateway into the Netherworld Ghost Realm and invited the prodigies to enter.
• The prodigies looked at one another and hesitated, with none daring to enter first.

Ye Lin learned that the Netherworld Ghost Realm manifested entrants’ deepest fears, enemies, and buried evil, making it a dangerous trial that could also sever their inner demons. After the others behind him chose to enter, one of them stepped forward to go first.

• Prodigies debated entering the Netherworld Ghost Realm, and many went inside while others fled.
• Ye Lin asked a woman about the realm, and she explained its origin and the dangers awaiting anyone who entered.
• The woman said the realm confronted people with their fears, enemies, and past wrongs, but overcoming them could remove inner demons.
• Ye Lin asked his companions what they thought, and they all wanted to enter the realm.
• One companion volunteered to go first, confident that the dead enemies within could not defeat him.

Ye Lin entered the Netherworld Ghost Realm to investigate the demons within, after arranging for the guardian to protect Shangguan Wanyu and Luo Yao. He left them in the guardian’s care for three years and went inside alone.

• Li Xiaoyao entered the Netherworld Ghost Realm, followed by Bao Xiaotou and Wang Tian.
• Ye Lin told Shangguan Wanyu and Luo Yao to stay outside because the realm was dangerous, and Shangguan Wanyu agreed.
• Ye Lin asked the guardian to watch over Shangguan Wanyu and Luo Yao for three years and paid him six Water Spring Crystals.
• The guardian agreed to protect them for three years, warning that he would abandon them if Ye Lin did not return by then.
• Ye Lin said goodbye to Shangguan Wanyu and Luo Yao and entered the Netherworld Ghost Realm alone.

Ye Lin wandered through the barren Netherworld Ghost Realm until a being made of earth and magma appeared and accused him of causing its eternal torment. The chapter left Ye Lin facing the figure as it demanded his help.

• Ye Lin entered the Netherworld Ghost Realm and found a desolate landscape of cracked ground, volcanoes, and black mist.
• After wandering for three days without finding anything unusual, Ye Lin questioned whether the realm held anything special.
• The ground churned with magma, forming a figure that clawed at its earth-like skin and groaned in pain.
• The figure recognized Ye Lin, claimed he had caused its death and eternal imprisonment, and demanded that he free it.

Ye Lin fought a dead figure that tried to seize his body, then resisted its soul-piercing attempts to provoke him. As he prepared to destroy the place, a cool sensation spread through him and quelled his violent aura.

• Ye Lin cut the figure in two with Sword Qi, but it fused itself back together and charged at him.
• Ye Lin struck again and shattered the figure, while its voice continued to reach into his soul and demand his body.
• Ye Lin steadied his Dao Heart against the voice’s attempts to beguile and blame him.
• Ye Lin grew angry, summoned the Blooddrinking Sword of the Fallen Emperor, and prepared to destroy the place.
• The voice begged Ye Lin not to destroy the place, and a cool sensation suddenly spread through his body, making his violent aura vanish.

Ye Lin recognized that the voice was a heart demon trapped in his inner world and resisted its attempt to make him destroy that world. He remained seated as the demon attacked with lava and earth, then revealed that the figure facing it was an illusion while his true body stayed safely seated.

• Ye Lin realized his avatar had warned him before he could fall for the heart demon’s trick and damage his inner world.
• Ye Lin sat cross-legged and ignored the heart demon’s pleas to attack, surrender his body, and let it escape.
• The heart demon sent lava and rolling earth toward Ye Lin while urging him to stay still and give up his body.
• The lava and earth halted before Ye Lin, who revealed that the standing figure was not his true body.

Ye Lin formed a mind-body inside his mindscape to confront Zhang Liang, the first person he had killed, who hoped to seize Ye Lin’s body. Ye Lin revealed that Zhang Liang could not control the mindscape while its owner was present and began trapping him with the landscape’s power.

• Ye Lin condensed a mind-body so he could fight Zhang Liang without damaging his mindscape.
• Zhang Liang attacked Ye Lin with black qi and falling lava, intending to destroy his mind-body and take over his body.
• Ye Lin’s mindscape stopped Zhang Liang’s attack, and Zhang Liang’s control over the world began to fade.
• Ye Lin mocked Zhang Liang and used the lava and ground to turn the mindscape against him.
• Zhang Liang protested that he had mastered eighty percent of the mindscape’s power.

Ye Lin defeated Zhang Liang, an old enemy who had seized most of his spiritual power, and returned to his body. The Netherworld Ghost Realm then shifted to a sea of flowers, where a mysterious woman invited him to admire the scenery.

• Ye Lin waved away Zhang Liang's cries and destroyed him in the magma of his spiritual world.
• Ye Lin realized that enemies he had killed could linger as inner demons and that Zhang Liang had taken control of eighty percent of his spiritual power.
• After resolving the threat, Ye Lin returned to his body as the world around him changed into a sea of flowers.
• A beautiful woman in a purple dress appeared and told Ye Lin that she had built the world.
• The woman urged Ye Lin to stay and admire the scenery with her, while Ye Lin wondered who she was.

Ye Lin endured the Netherworld Ghost Realm’s mindscapes by holding firm to his Dao heart and killing everything that obstructed him. After three years, he cleared away the troubles within himself and prepared to leave the secret realm, where a crowd waited outside.

• Ye Lin rejected the woman’s appeal to rest and used his mind-body to slay her without hesitation.
• Ye Lin passed through successive mindscapes without wavering, while other heavenly geniuses became trapped or tormented by the demons they released.
• Ye Lin spent three years in the secret realm, slaughtering his way through the trials until he had dealt with everything within himself.
• Ye Lin felt free of his inner troubles and believed that inner demons could no longer form within him.
• Ye Lin chose to leave the Netherworld Ghost Realm as a crowd gathered outside to watch.

Ye Lin emerged unharmed from the Netherworld Ghost Realm as its first survivor, surprising the gathered prodigies who could not recognize him. He thanked the elderly guardian for protecting him over the past three years.

• The elderly guardian explained that the four secret realms tested participants and that only those who passed could enter the Second Region.
• The gathered prodigies saw the Netherworld Ghost Realm vortex shake and realized someone was about to emerge.
• Ye Lin stepped out of the vortex in a blood-red robe and crimson mask, becoming the first person to return unharmed.
• The prodigies speculated that Ye Lin came from a remote region because none of them recognized him.
• Ye Lin approached the old man, thanked him for his protection over the past three years, and received the old man's praise.

Ye Lin emerged first from the Netherworld Ghost Realm and waited outside with Shangguan Wanyu for the others. Inside, Wang Tian faced Zhao Li, the brother he had killed, who demanded that Wang Tian either kill him again to leave or stay with him forever.

• Ye Lin asked Shangguan Wanyu whether Bao Xiaotou and the others had emerged, and she told him he was the first out.
• Ye Lin waited by the Netherworld Ghost Realm entrance, confident the others would not get lost inside.
• Zhao Li urged Wang Tian to stay with him in the white space, but Wang Tian insisted he wanted to leave and boasted of becoming a second-tier Dao Pill Master.
• Zhao Li confronted Wang Tian over killing him and said Wang Tian had to kill him again to escape or remain there with him.
• Wang Tian retreated with the Nine Provinces Cauldron as Zhao Li advanced, and he shouted that he did not want to make another mistake.

Wang Tian faced a manifestation of Zhao Li in the Netherworld Ghost Realm and overcame its attempt to exploit his guilt. After leaving the realm, he found Ye Lin and said he had seen someone he never expected to see.

• Zhao Li taunted Wang Tian over his death and urged him to kill him, claiming Wang Tian was not ruthless enough.
• Wang Tian struck Zhao Li with the Nine Provinces Cauldron, and Zhao Li praised him before dissolving into points of light.
• Wang Tian rejected Zhao Li's final words, and the illusion shattered, leaving him in the true Netherworld Ghost Realm with his inner demons cut away.
• Wang Tian left the Netherworld Ghost Realm and found Ye Lin, who asked if he was all right.
• Wang Tian told Ye Lin he was fine and that he had seen someone he never expected to see.

Bao Xiaotou reunited with the woman who had once saved him and learned she had knowingly sacrificed herself so he could pursue immortality. He begged her to stay with him and give up his cultivation path, but the chapter ended before she answered.

• Bao Xiaotou sat with a beautiful woman in white as they watched the sunset she had prepared for him.
• The woman recalled how she had saved Bao Xiaotou when he was a starving child being chased by Old Man Liu.
• Bao Xiaotou thanked her for giving him hope and a path in life, then asked why Destiny had made him kill her.
• The woman explained that she had drunk the poisoned wine so Bao Xiaotou could follow an immortal master and pursue his childhood dream of becoming immortal.
• Bao Xiaotou wept, embraced her, and pleaded to abandon cultivation so they could live together in peace.

Bao Xiaotou said goodbye to Lan'er in the Netherworld Ghost Realm and left determined to become strong enough to revive her. Outside the realm, the other prodigies continued to emerge, though some never returned.

• Lan'er comforted Bao Xiaotou and urged him to let go of the past, become independent, and continue on his path.
• Lan'er faded into nothingness after telling Bao Xiaotou to remember her words and forget her.
• Bao Xiaotou vowed to reach Transcendence and keep growing stronger until he could revive Lan'er, then left the Netherworld Ghost Realm.
• Ye Lin, Wang Tian, and the other prodigies emerged from the Netherworld Ghost Realm, while a few remained there forever.

Li Xiaoyao faced the mocking figures in the Netherworld Ghost Realm and calmly confronted them with their own deaths. After making them vanish, he found the realm had become an empty, pitch-black void, showing that he had resolved his inner fears, and left believing he might be the first to succeed.

• A group of seven dead figures mocked Li Xiaoyao and called him a monster and the Sect Master's dog.
• Li Xiaoyao answered that they were dead and existed only in his mind, then taunted them for being unable to fight back.
• Li Xiaoyao snapped his fingers, making the figures vanish into smoke.
• The Netherworld Ghost Realm turned into a pitch-black, empty void as Li Xiaoyao resolved his inner issues.
• Li Xiaoyao left alone, saying the test had been easy and wondering if he was the first to finish.

Ye Lin and the others left the Netherworld Ghost Realm and resumed cultivating, while Xu Feng also escaped after confronting memories of his mother. Five hundred years passed, and Ye Lin awakened one year before the next secret realm opened after reaching the third layer of the Golden Immortal Realm.

• Ye Lin gathered the group and led them out of the Netherworld Ghost Realm after everyone had emerged.
• Ye Lin and the others returned to their secluded cultivation, while Xu Feng left the Netherworld Ghost Realm and reflected on seeing his late mother there.
• Most heavenly geniuses avoided entering the Netherworld Ghost Realm, and the expedition passed without major conflicts.
• Five hundred years passed as Ye Lin cultivated and tracked the time until the next secret realm opening.
• Ye Lin awakened one year before the five-hundred-year deadline because he had reached the third layer of the Golden Immortal Realm.

Ye Lin used the Water Spring Crystals to reach the third level of the Golden Immortal Realm and sharpened his understanding of the Destruction Sword Dao Law. When he heard intruders threatening an old man and a young girl near his cave dwelling, he went to test his new strength.

• Ye Lin exhausted his Water Spring Crystals and advanced to the third level of the Golden Immortal Realm.
• Ye Lin reflected on the great era’s blessings and the dangers that came with its luck, then summoned Sword Qi shaped by the Destruction Sword Dao Law.
• Ye Lin found his companions still in secluded cultivation, with one year remaining before the five-hundred-year deadline.
• Ye Lin heard a burly man threaten an old man and a young girl as his followers tried to locate and break a hidden array.
• Ye Lin vanished from his cave dwelling to confront the intruders and test his strength.