Chapter Summaries

Yu Ci endured Lu Suhua’s attacks with his Three-Party Primordial Energy while they discussed why she had killed Lu Erniang. Just as Lu Suhua prepared to unleash her hidden power, Gui Yan appeared and used the Scripture of Past Solemnity to trigger a devastating pain in Lu Suhua.

• Lu Suhua killed Lu Erniang and repeatedly struck Yu Ci, but his Three-Party Primordial Energy stopped her sword attacks.
• Yu Ci questioned Lu Suhua about killing her former lover, and she explained why Lu Erniang’s suspicious behavior had convinced her to act.
• Lu Suhua secretly unlocked a vital gate to draw out her hidden power while probing Yu Ci about his altered Three-Party Primordial Energy.
• Gui Yan entered and spoke of her affinity for the Scripture of Past Solemnity, causing Lu Suhua intense pain tied to her soul and Dao foundation.

Bao Yun revealed that she had secretly cultivated a Heart Locking Tribulation within Lu Suhua during their intimate encounters, then stabbed her through the heart as the heavenly tribulation ravaged her. Bao Yun explained that revenge had brought her to the Yinan Troupe and left Lu Suhua helpless in her grasp.

• Lu Suhua recognized the woman beside her as Bao Yun, whose transformed appearance stirred her inner demons and weakened her resistance to the tribulation.
• Bao Yun took Rainbow Shadow Sword and drove it through Lu Suhua's heart, knowing her indestructible body would keep her conscious.
• Bao Yun explained that she had deliberately tormented Lu Suhua when she was most vulnerable and had gradually planted the Heart Locking Tribulation inside her.
• Bao Yun embraced Lu Suhua and said she had joined the Yinan Troupe to investigate Hua Niang and the others while seeking revenge for Wan Quan.
• Bao Yun told Lu Suhua they had plenty of time to talk and asked whether she would mind adding more people.

Yu Ci and Bao Yun revealed how Bao Yun had used Lu Erniang’s body to conceal her demonic nature and exploit the Great Tribulation, while Ghost Loathing suppressed Flower Lady. Given a chance to speak, Flower Lady asked Yu Ci whether he had planned the events from the start, hoping to buy time.

• Yu Ci interrupted Bao Yun, and Flower Lady realized Lu Erniang’s body had been refined and absorbed into Bao Yun’s demonic body.
• Bao Yun explained that she had possessed the dying Lu Erniang with a death demon and fused with her over seven or eight years.
• Flower Lady recognized that Bao Yun had used the Past Majestic Tribulation Scripture to develop powers tied to the Great Tribulation of Heaven and Earth.
• Ghost Loathing’s pressure weakened enough for Flower Lady to speak, and Yu Ci invited her to say what she wished.
• Flower Lady asked Yu Ci whether he had planned everything from the start, using the question to stall for time.

Yu Ci and Ghost Yan subdued Flower Lady and used his power to invade her memories, seeking the Black Heaven Cult’s hidden plans. Flower Lady’s defenses collapsed, revealing a black lotus at the core of her form and spirit.

• Flower Lady tried to stall while Yu Ci confronted her about the Black Heaven Cult and its schemes.
• Ghost Yan restrained Flower Lady as Yu Ci forced her to answer, revealing that he knew more about the cult than he had let on.
• Yu Ci and Ghost Yan shattered Flower Lady’s mental defenses, causing her memories and information about the cult to surface.
• Yu Ci searched Flower Lady’s memories for the cult’s deepest secrets but found the crucial information guarded at the core of her form and spirit.
• Yu Ci pressed into that final hidden region, and Flower Lady’s defenses collapsed, revealing a black lotus shedding its petals.

Lu Suhua survived Li Bocai’s attempt to throw her into the Flag Sword Heavenly Net and faced Bao Yun’s calamity fire without yielding. Yu Ci hinted to Bao Yun that the next part of their plan depended on understanding what made someone terrifying in a sword duel.

• Li Bocai used the Flag Sword Heavenly Net to displace Lu Suhua out of the array and hurl her from the Mountain-Moving Cloud Boat.
• Lu Suhua reappeared above the calamity fire and stood firm as the flames engulfed her, while Li Bocai watched from afar.
• Lu Suhua drew strength from her acceptance of imperfection and her family’s inherited heroic spirit, holding the Heaven and Earth Law Will at bay.
• Bao Yun sensed that the calamity fire was protecting Lu Suhua and worried that Yu Ci’s plan would fail.
• Yu Ci told Bao Yun that she did not know what kind of person was most terrifying in a sword duel, then gestured toward his chest.

Yu Ci and Bao Yun watched Lu Suhua withstand the tribulation and escape, while Yu Ci reflected on the principles behind life-and-death struggles. At the ruins, Li Bocai restrained the Five Guides and identified the fleeing figures as a possible source of clues, just as an old acquaintance of Lu Er appeared.

• Bao Yun questioned Yu Ci about whether his method could stop Lu Suhua, and Yu Ci said he had no answer before telling Bao Yun it was time to run.
• Lu Suhua walked steadily through the tribulation fire as Li Bocai praised the Dingyuan Hammer’s power.
• Lu Qinghua urged Li Bocai to pursue Lu Suhua, but Li Bocai refused and argued that they should investigate those around her instead.
• Li Bocai noticed a little girl fleeing the ruins and then split a figure with his Raised Eyebrow Sword, but the figure re-formed and escaped into the tribulation clouds.
• Li Bocai stopped Lu Qinghua from pursuing the escapee and used Sword Qi to gather several unconscious women for questioning.
• Li Bocai sensed that Lu Er’s old lover had arrived.

Lu Suhua escaped deeper into the tribulation clouds after Green Wave’s ice walls redirected her path, and Green Wave boarded the Mountain-Moving Cloud Boat to demand Jiu Yan’s whereabouts and an explanation from Li Bocai. Their exchange was interrupted when a Black Lotus appeared above the ruins and a hazy figure emerged.

• Green Wave raised towering ice walls that sealed Lu Suhua’s route, and Lu Suhua changed course as the walls collapsed.
• Lu Suhua exploited a sudden opening in the tribulation clouds and broke free of their restraint.
• Green Wave emerged from the clouds, boarded the Mountain-Moving Cloud Boat, and greeted Li Bocai and the sword cultivators.
• Green Wave asked Li Bocai to identify Jiu Yan, then demanded an explanation and compensation after he denied knowing where Jiu Yan was.
• A Black Lotus blossomed above the ruins, and a hazy figure appeared within it and recited a verse about life, death, illusion, and extinction.

Li Bocai and Green Wave confronted a lotus-born figure whose fragrant illusionary technique ensnared the cultivators aboard the Mountain-Moving Cloud Boat and the Gathering Immortals Bridge. They realized the black lotuses were illusions formed from stolen soul strength, and Li Bocai suspected he had provoked another dangerous figure.

• A mist-shrouded figure emerged from a black lotus, thwarting Li Bocai’s attempt to trap her in the sword formation.
• Green Wave and Li Bocai exchanged barbs and silently agreed to focus on the forces behind Lu Suhua.
• A strange fragrance soothed the cloud boat’s passengers and drew their thoughts and soul strength into an illusion.
• Green Wave’s freezing wind and snow exposed the fragrance’s apparent pathways, but Li Bocai’s sword strike hit only mist and shattered the illusory lotus.
• Li Bocai and Green Wave recognized that two black lotuses had formed from their captured soul strength and realized they had fallen for the fragrant illusionary technique.
• A far larger black lotus appeared among the vast lotus leaves, and Li Bocai wondered whether he had provoked another piece of trouble.

Yu Ci used the Great Tribulation of Heaven and Earth to deepen his grasp of its laws and reconnect with the Mountain-Moving Cloud Boat, where the Fragrant Illusionary Technique had left the cultivators confused. As Bao Yun warned that Lu Suhua was escaping, Yu Ci activated his Law of Life and Death ability, and a discarded armlet in the ruins shattered.

• Bao Yun watched the Black Lotus coexist with the heavenly tribulation, then grew frustrated as Yu Ci continued gesturing instead of pursuing Lu Suhua.
• Yu Ci gathered fragments of heavenly and earthly laws and reasoned that the tribulation made fundamental laws easier to grasp.
• Yu Ci used a thread of law to perceive the Mountain-Moving Cloud Boat and saw that the Fragrant Illusionary Technique had left its cultivators confused.
• Yu Ci merged the thread, drawn from the cultivators’ life force and will, back into their intertwined minds and energies.
• Bao Yun warned that Lu Suhua was about to escape, but Yu Ci activated his innate divine ability through the Law of Life and Death.
• A black armlet beneath rubble in the ruins hopped and shattered, releasing dark clouds and mist that quickly vanished.

Yu Ci used the death demon divine ability to disrupt the illusionary technique and threaten the cultivators aboard the Mountain-Moving Cloud Boat, giving Li Bocai an opening to attack the six-petaled black lotus. Li Bocai found the lotus’s core empty and began to withdraw, but his vision suddenly went dark.

• Bao Yun revealed that the arm bracelet was Yu Ci’s first death demon, and Yu Ci used it to spread the death demon divine ability through the cultivators’ consciousnesses.
• Yu Ci stirred the tribulation clouds beneath the Mountain-Moving Cloud Boat, terrifying its tens of thousands of passengers and nourishing the hidden death demons.
• The disturbance shattered the illusionary technique’s hold over the six-petaled black lotus, allowing Li Bocai and Green Wave to attack.
• Li Bocai’s Sword Qi and Green Wave’s divine ability struck the lotus, weakening its power and exposing an empty core.
• Li Bocai began to withdraw his sword intent, then his field of vision suddenly darkened.

Li Bocai and Green Wave pursued the hidden figure into the Black Lotus’s empty core, where a radiant boundary realm appeared and a sixteen-foot golden body emerged. The figure was recognized as Flower Lady, leaving Li Bocai to face the unexpected revelation.

• Li Bocai and Green Wave used the shadow’s movements to identify and attack the hidden opponent with wind, snow, and sword energy.
• A streak of rainbow light escaped into the Black Lotus’s central zone, and a dazzling radiance split the darkness and engulfed the area.
• The radiance transformed the surroundings into a boundary realm that confused most cultivators, while Li Bocai and Green Wave remained unaffected.
• A sixteen-foot golden figure emerged from the light, and Li Bocai recognized signs of a Buddhist manifestation.
• Li Bocai communicated with the figure through thoughts and observed its appearance as Lu Qinghua exclaimed that it was Flower Lady.

Li Bocai identified Flower Lady as the Dream Weaver Celestial while she destroyed Yu Ci’s death demon. Yu Ci’s pursuit of Lu Suhua was interrupted when Flower Lady appeared before him, and she tried to negotiate with Bao Yun and Gu Yan as the chase continued.

• Li Bocai recalled Flower Lady’s verse and named her the Dream Weaver Celestial.
• Flower Lady drew the remnant of Yu Ci’s death demon into her fingertips, and Yu Ci and Bao Yun hurried toward Lu Suhua.
• Flower Lady’s life-and-death connection allowed her to sense Yu Ci as she revived by absorbing the baleful qi from thousands of dead wild creatures.
• Yu Ci summoned Gu Yan and told him to hold Flower Lady back while he continued pursuing Lu Suhua.
• Flower Lady urged Bao Yun and Gu Yan to negotiate a division of their goals and asked Gu Yan to develop his divine ability further.

Flower Lady analyzed the limits of Gui Yan’s divine arts and challenged Yu Ci’s understanding of deduction and tribulation transcendence while discussing Lu Suhua. Before Yu Ci could respond to her, the ground shook and Xiao Wu sprang out, crying that it was hot.

• Yu Ci sent Bao Yun and Xiao Wu to keep track of Lu Suhua while Flower Lady examined Gui Yan’s performance against the Flag Sword Heavenly Net.
• Flower Lady explained that Gui Yan’s source-of-form-and-spirit arts required buffering and argued that he lacked a true understanding of deduction and tribulation transcendence.
• Gui Yan deflected Flower Lady’s challenge by suggesting she wanted a share of the spoils from Lu Suhua, then provoked her to fight.
• Flower Lady turned to address Yu Ci, but a violent shaking interrupted her as Xiao Wu leaped from the ground and shouted that it was hot.

Yu Ci agreed to cooperate with Flower Lady against the Demonic Sect and scouted the battlefield near Lu Suhua. He discovered that the Demonic Sect's Black Robe had emerged from the molten strata, while Flower Lady warned that Suhua was in trouble.

• Yu Ci sensed the molten lava beneath the earth and recognized the Molten Core Prison Technique as the source of the heat.
• Flower Lady proposed that she and Yu Ci unite against the Demonic Sect, and Yu Ci agreed while privately planning to deal with her later.
• Yu Ci led the group toward the earthquake's center and stopped at the edge of the Demonic Sect's ambush circle.
• Yu Ci used divine intent starlight and the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror to spy through a Demonic Sect cultivator and identify the emerging Black Robe.
• Flower Lady said Lu Suhua's situation was not good, and Yu Ci asked how she could see.

Flower Lady used deduction from physical traces to assess Lu Suhua’s battle against the Demonic Sect, impressing Yu Ci with her ability and explaining its limits. Yu Ci then brought their discussion back to why he wanted to take Lu Suhua.

• Yu Ci asked how Flower Lady had seen through the battle despite the Absolute Heart Circle array, and she explained how she inferred events from the damaged mountain and altered earth.
• Flower Lady deduced that Lu Suhua was weakening, that her opponent wielding the Molten Core Prison Technique could overpower her while she was injured, and that several accomplices were supporting the attack.
• Yu Ci realized Flower Lady’s powers of deduction were far greater than he had expected and considered how useful they could be to his Black Forest system.
• Flower Lady said her method could not fully calculate the human heart, whose emotions gave the world its color.
• Yu Ci asked what Flower Lady thought of the Demonic Sect’s actions, and she asked why he wanted to take Lu Suhua.

Yu Ci questioned Flower Lady about Lu Suhua’s value and learned that the Black Heaven Cult intended to make her the future Buddha Mother Bodhisattva. Flower Lady argued that the demonic path wanted Lu Suhua for the Twelve Heavens of Jade Firmament's Profound Passage, then challenged Yu Ci’s assumptions about flawed cultivation methods and supreme scriptures.

• Yu Ci asked why the Bodhisattva had chosen Lu Suhua, and Flower Lady explained that she was to inherit the Three Realms Scripture and might become the future Buddha Mother Bodhisattva.
• Flower Lady said different factions valued Lu Suhua for different reasons, while Yu Ci heard Black Robe demand that Lu Suhua reveal the Twelve Heavens of Jade Firmament's Profound Passage and the Donghua Jade Book True Explanation.
• Flower Lady inferred that the demonic path sought the Twelve Heavens of Jade Firmament's Profound Passage because its successive versions showed that its tribulation-surpassing methods were complete and effective.
• Yu Ci objected that the method had flaws and could not reach the Earth Immortal realm, but Flower Lady questioned what made a scripture flawed and compared it with other supreme classics.
• Flower Lady asked whether cultivators began with the major sect scriptures, then brought up the Li Ceng Sect’s Profound Subtlety of the Heavenly Mansion Penetrating True Ninefold Scripture.

Flower Lady explained to Yu Ci how secret methods of crossing tribulations must be revised as Heaven and Earth’s laws change, and why deduction techniques are rare and valuable. She offered her sect’s Unambiguous Wonderful Explanation and another gift, but the mountain shook before she could reveal it.

• Yu Ci recalled Li Hong and discussed the Nine Degrees Scripture and secret methods of crossing tribulations with Flower Lady.
• Flower Lady explained that Dao foundations guide cultivation and that the laws of Heaven and Earth change across great tribulations.
• Yu Ci realized that sects must use deduction techniques to adjust their cultivation methods to changing laws.
• Flower Lady described rare deduction techniques and discussed the Demonic Sect’s methods, the Twelve Heavens of Jade Firmament’s Profound Passage, and Donghua Mountain’s Primordial Jade Book True Explanation.
• Flower Lady offered Yu Ci her sect’s Unambiguous Wonderful Explanation and an additional gift, and the mountain peak shook.

Yu Ci negotiated with Flower Lady while the Demonic Sect’s Absolute Heart Circle attacked Lu Suhua, then launched an assault after agreeing that he would control the terms of any trade. The battle escalated as Black Robe exploited Lu Suhua’s injuries and triggered her suppressed tribulation, leaving her poised to strike back.

• The Demonic Sect’s Absolute Heart Circle attacked Lu Suhua, but Yu Ci and his companions stayed hidden and evaded its lightning strikes.
• Yu Ci challenged Flower Lady’s offer and listened as she urged him to consider compromise, warning him about the enemies his actions had made.
• After the Demonic Sect discovered them, Yu Ci charged through its Soul Severing Yin Thunders and declared that he would choose the terms of any trade.
• Gui Yan tried to infiltrate the enemy formation but was exposed by a bell and forced to retreat under concentrated attacks.
• Yu Ci’s side attacked as Black Robe used magma and heart-eroding demonic fire against Lu Suhua, whose injuries flared and whose suppressed tribulation began to erupt.
• Lu Suhua met Bao Yun’s gaze and shouted, “Perish!”

Lu Suhua used the true mantra of “annihilation” to sever Bao Yun’s connections to the world and drag her toward destruction, then turned the attack on Black Robe. Yu Ci intervened to save Bao Yun, but Lu Suhua had baited him into range and struck him with the Annihilation Yuan Hammer, leaving the Three-Party Primordial Energy convulsing.

• Lu Suhua’s “annihilation” severed Bao Yun’s connections to heaven, the tribulation, and Yu Ci, while preserving their Heart Locking Tribulation to pull Bao Yun toward her.
• Lu Suhua blasted through the sea of heavenly fire and lunged at Black Robe with the Annihilation Yuan Hammer, forcing him to dodge.
• As Bao Yun’s connections and consciousness faded, the hammer’s force met resistance, and her connections were restored around Yu Ci’s presence.
• Yu Ci charged in to save Bao Yun, but realized Lu Suhua had tricked him when she turned and sealed him within striking range.
• Lu Suhua struck Yu Ci with the Annihilation Yuan Hammer, disintegrating the foundational laws around him and making the Three-Party Primordial Energy convulse.

Yu Ci survived Lu Suhua’s Annihilation Yuan Hammer within the Three-Party Primordial Energy, whose tangled laws withstood the attack. Lu Suhua failed to restore herself as the world’s laws reasserted themselves and scattered her completely, leaving the watching cultivators stunned.

• Yu Ci recognized that Lu Suhua’s Annihilation Yuan Hammer collapsed the foundational laws around her and threatened to destroy her along with her enemies.
• The hammer’s destruction spread through the surrounding world, disrupting cultivators’ auras and stirring the Great Tribulation of Heaven and Earth.
• The shifting energies opened a small gap in Yu Ci’s Three-Party Primordial Energy, while its tangled laws kept the hammer from harming him.
• Yu Ci realized Lu Suhua might be unable to reshape her body and spirit after the attack.
• Lu Suhua disappeared as the laws of heaven and earth surged back into the hollow region, and the witnessing cultivators stood dumbstruck.