Chapter Summaries

Minglan revealed a strange power while speaking of the Divine Lord, then vanished through Great Illusory Translocation as the swallowed Yang God transformed into a demon. Yu Ci and the others retreated, but He Qing’s restraint failed, and the unleashed gray mist swept across the sky.

• Minglan approached Crimson Yin, recited a passage about the human heart as a supreme sacrificial offering, and pointed out that the snake shadow had begun to convulse after swallowing a True Person’s Yang God.
• The snake shadow expelled gray vapor that gathered into a vast mist vortex, while Xie Yan, Xie Liang, Yu Zhou, and He Qing prepared to contain it.
• Minglan, Crimson Yin’s body, and the surrounding air rippled and disappeared as Minglan used Great Illusory Translocation.
• Xie Yan recognized the danger as an inner demon charging with Baleful Intent, identified He Qing’s method as Tai Xuan Jie Xing Suo, and led Yu Ci and the others into retreat.
• He Qing’s light band briefly restrained the swelling gray mist, but the restriction collapsed as the transformed Yang God cursed Yu Qing Xuan and the mist spread across ten li.

Yu Ci and the others fought through the Heart Demon Sha Qi while discussing the connection between Yu Qing Xuan, the Tai Xuan Demon Mother, and the calamity at Sky Rift Valley. After the group defeated the Yin Demons, Xie Yan taught Yu Ci a sword-intent technique and told him to practise on the remaining threats.

• Xie Yan cut a path through the gray mist, while Immortal He's fish dragon protected He Qing and Yu Ci guided his own injured fish dragon toward them.
• Xie Yan stopped the group to kill a formed An Yin Demon and questioned why He Qing had come; Yu Zhou explained that she had been sent to investigate the Juebi City deaths.
• Yu Zhou and Xie Liang identified clues linking the True Person's Yang God, the Tai Xuan Jie Xing Suo, and Yu Qing Xuan's unfinished seal, then connected the Sky Rift Valley calamity to the Rakshasa Ghost King and Tai Xuan Demon Mother.
• Yu Zhou explained Ruizhu Palace's history and the power of the Tai Xuan Demon Mother and her disciple Yu Qing Xuan as Yin Demons approached.
• The group killed the Yin Demons, and Xie Yan explained how sword intent could dispel evil delusions before giving Yu Ci a mnemonic and telling him to practise.

Yu Ci learned to use the Half-Mountain Mirage sword intent to destroy yin demons and discovered a growing desire to sharpen his sword further. As the Li Chen Sect elders considered the consequences of the events in Juebi City, Baoguang arrived with news that Yu Ci was going to be punished.

• Yu Ci used Xie Yan's formula and the Half-Mountain Mirage sword intent to repel waves of yin demons, earning Daoist Yu Zhou's praise.
• Yu Ci wondered whether his sword could become sharper as he walked through the maple grove near Zhixin Temple.
• Yu Ci considered He Qing's investigation and how Xie Yan, Xie Liang, and Yu Zhou's support might affect the mountain gate's decision about him.
• Baoguang ran up to Yu Ci and announced that he was going to be punished.

Yu Ci reflected on the obligations of joining the Li Chen Sect and practiced his sword while waiting to learn his punishment. He Qing arrived and questioned him about his swordsmanship, then noticed that his fish-dragon was missing its “True Form Qi.”

• Baoguang told Yu Ci that Yu Zhou had spoken privately with He Qing and that Yu Ci's punishment did not seem serious, but he avoided discussing the tension between them.
• Yu Ci considered the constraints of sect life, then practiced with the Pure Yang Talisman Sword and reflected on how his swordsmanship had improved.
• A giant fish-dragon descended over the maple grove as He Qing approached Yu Ci.
• He Qing asked Yu Ci how he used the sword, and he explained that he wanted to erase the gap between himself and powerful enemies.
• He Qing looked at Yu Ci's fish-dragon and asked where its “True Form Qi” was.

He Qing explained that Yu Ci had absorbed and transformed the fish dragon’s True Dragon Form Qi within his Inner Void, and she taught him a method to dissolve foreign qi. She urged him to make good use of his opportunities, then confronted him over the deaths in Juebi City, and Yu Ci acknowledged his fault.

• He Qing explained the nature and value of True Dragon Form Qi and confirmed that Yu Ci had absorbed it into his Inner Void.
• He Qing’s fish dragon sensed the True Dragon Form Qi on Yu Ci and tried to approach him, but He Qing drove it away.
• Yu Ci recounted how the fish dragon’s core had entered his Inner Void and lost control of it, and He Qing inferred that he had opened the inner and outer voids.
• He Qing taught Yu Ci the Void Assimilation Method and advised him to ask Junior Brother Xie about the cultivation benefits.
• He Qing warned Yu Ci not to squander his opportunities and then asked whether he accepted responsibility for the deaths caused by his handling of the defense in Juebi City; Yu Ci acknowledged his fault.

Yu Ci chose a year of guard duty at the Mountain-Moving Cloud Boat docks instead of quarrying stone, while Monk Yi Xin revived a body and received a visit from Bichao of the Xuan Yin Sect. Later, Yu Ci hunted an Eagle Ape with a companion, and the arrival of the Guiding Cloud Shuttle interrupted them.

• He Qing punished Yu Ci by assigning him a year of labor, and Yu Ci chose to guard the Mountain-Moving Cloud Boat docks.
• Monk Yi Xin used black-flame spirit snakes to awaken a body with vertical pupils in an underground chamber.
• Yi Xin reflected on Lu Mingyue's death before returning to Jingshui Altar, where he welcomed Bichao of the Xuan Yin Sect.
• Yu Ci killed an Eagle Ape with one sword while a middle-aged companion watched and praised his skill.
• The Guiding Cloud Shuttle arrived, startling Yu Ci and his companion.

Yu Ci watched a Guiding Cloud Shuttle arrive at the Mountain-Moving Cloud Boat pier while Elder Zhu rebuked him for hunting and risking his recently healed soul. The chapter ended as the Round Light Technique revealed a crimson cloud descending toward the docking formation.

• Yu Ci and Zhao Xiqiao returned to the pier with Eagle Ape's corpse as the Mountain-Moving Cloud Boat docked overhead.
• Zhao Xiqiao brought Yu Ci before Elder Zhu, who scolded Yu Ci for hunting and accumulating Killing Intent while recovering from a grievous soul injury.
• Yu Ci joined Zhao Xiqiao and Zhou Hu in the docking chamber to watch the arriving Guiding Cloud Shuttle.
• Zhou Hu used the Round Light Technique to show the isolated valley, and Zhao Xiqiao pointed out a crimson cloud descending from the sky.

Yu Ci watched passengers arrive aboard the Guiding Cloud Shuttle and carried out his patrol duties at the hidden mountain outpost. After noticing that the quiet female cultivator and two other passengers had stayed behind, he returned to his room and began practicing the Void Assimilation Method.

• Yu Ci learned how the mooring array used magnetic fire to move the Guiding Cloud Shuttle between the mountain and the Mountain-Moving Cloud Boat.
• Yu Ci accompanied Zhao Xiqiao to the docking area, where they inspected passengers disembarking from the shuttle.
• Yu Ci noticed a red-clad female cultivator traveling with the dark-faced Daoist Lake and Sea Wanderer, as well as a quiet female cultivator who kept her face lowered.
• Zhou Hu went outside to check the forest and told Yu Ci to remain at the corridor exit while passengers left the mountain.
• Zhao Xiqiao told Yu Ci that Lake and Sea Wanderer and Chu Yan had registered as Rogue Cultivators and planned to stay outside as a base for hunting demons.
• Yu Ci returned to his room and began practicing the Void Assimilation Method.

Yu Ci used the Void Assimilation Method to deepen his understanding of the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror and secretly implanted its divine intent starlight in the Lake and Sea Wanderer to monitor him. As Yu Ci prepared to investigate the pair’s plans, Zhao Xiqiao announced that Master Bicha of the Xuan Yin Sect had arrived.

• Yu Ci cultivated with the True Return Purple Smoke Warm Jade and the True Dragon Form Qi, refining his Inner Void through the Void Assimilation Method.
• Yu Ci used the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror’s divine intent starlight to sense that Chu Yan’s cultivation was higher than the Lake and Sea Wanderer’s and that she was concealing her strength from him.
• Yu Ci guided the starlight into the Lake and Sea Wanderer’s brain palace and altered it to cling to his soul, extending its ability to transmit information.
• Yu Ci chose not to implant starlight in Chu Yan, wary of her hidden strength and the possibility of exposing himself.
• Zhao Xiqiao told Yu Ci that Master Bicha of the Xuan Yin Sect had come as a guest.

Yu Ci received a visit from Crimson Yin, the new master of the Xuan Yin Sect, who invited him to a banquet and gave him a censer for his injured divine soul. After she departed, Yu Ci used the fish-dragon to spy on her carriage and discovered she was speaking to someone inside.

• Yu Ci met Crimson Yin at the Da Tongxing hall, where she said her sect did not blame the former Crimson Yin for attacking him.
• Crimson Yin invited Yu Ci to a banquet at Tianyi Tower, but he declined because he had duties in Juebi City.
• Crimson Yin gave Yu Ci a Boshan censer and Benzoin Incense, then invited him to visit Youqiu Palace.
• Yu Ci heard distant demonic beasts roaring as Crimson Yin left in her carriage with the Incense Slave.
• Yu Ci used the fish-dragon to listen in on Crimson Yin's carriage and heard her ask someone, “After all these days, do you know the difference between you and me?”

Yu Ci tracked the disturbance that had drawn Bi Chao and Incense Slave away from the carriage, then set out to investigate signs of demons and ferocious beasts near the Mountain-Moving Cloud Boat dock. After following their trail west, he sensed danger as a yin wind rose in the dark forest.

• Yu Ci used Fish-Dragon to watch Bi Chao and Incense Slave investigate the distant disturbance, but Bi Chao continued west while Incense Slave returned to the carriage and left without her.
• Yu Ci told Yan Hao that demons or ferocious beasts might be active near the dock and said he would investigate.
• Yu Ci examined the battle site and used Fish-Dragon to trace the routes taken by injured ferocious beasts and demons.
• Yu Ci chose the western route Bi Chao had followed and advanced beyond Fish-Dragon’s scouting range.
• Yu Ci drew the Pure Yang Talisman Sword when a yin wind suddenly rose in the dark forest.

Yu Ci killed a severely wounded demon by combining the Half-Mountain Mirage sword intent with his own fierce sword style, then recovered its Blood Treasure. Following a distant roar with the fish-dragon, he sensed an injured woman meditating nearby and wondered if he recognized her.

• Yu Ci used sword intent to break the demon's soul attack, dodged its claws, and countercharged to kill it with his Pure Yang Talisman Sword.
• Yu Ci reflected on how Xie Yan's method of breaking evil delusions had helped him reshape the Half-Mountain Mirage sword intent into a style of his own.
• Yu Ci examined the demon's severe injuries, extracted its Blood Treasure, and considered what kind of expert could have wounded it.
• Yu Ci heard a distant roar and sent the fish-dragon toward it to investigate.
• Yu Ci sensed an injured woman meditating nearby and wondered whether she was the person he had thought of.

Yu Ci investigated the signs of fighting near the dock, while Bicha searched the jungle with a moonlight spell before flying east. At the dock, Elder Zhu traded Yu Ci a Breath-Light Evasion Technique for the Earth Soul Demon’s blood treasure, just as a warning arrived that a beast tide was bearing down on them.

• Yu Ci saw Bicha use a vast moonlight search spell, noticed the fragile female cultivator had vanished, and fled before Bicha flew east past him.
• Yu Ci reported signs of numerous demons and monsters near the dock, and Zhao Xiqiao identified the blood treasure as coming from an Earth Soul Demon.
• Elder Zhu took an interest in the blood treasure and offered Yu Ci a Breath-Light Evasion Technique in exchange.
• A mechanism rang, and a caller warned that a beast tide was approaching the dock and demanded help.

A sudden beast tide drove fiends into the mountain dock, where Yu Ci and the cultivators fought to survive. Yu Ci killed two fiends with swift sword strikes, and he ordered everyone to shelter together in the warehouse for the night.

• A massive beast tide swept across the mountains, and Zhou Hu warned that the resulting chaos could last for days.
• Fiends broke into the mountain, so Elder Zhu, Zhou Hu, and Zhao Xiqiao joined Yan Hao and the refugee cultivators in the warehouse.
• An Earth Soul Demon attacked from the rock, and the cultivators drew it into the warehouse while Yu Ci was missing.
• The Earth Soul Demon lunged again, but Yu Ci appeared and killed it with a sword strike.
• Feng Chao credited Yu Ci with killing two fiends, and Yu Ci told the cultivators to clean up the corpse and stay together in the warehouse overnight.

Yu Ci helped secure the warehouse after killing two demons, then accepted Soul Soothing Pills from Zhao Xiqiao. Elder Zhu gave him the Breath-Light Evasion Technique and offered him something ten times better, leaving Yu Ci to wonder what the old man had in mind.

• Yu Ci learned that Feng Chao and the other newcomers had arrived during the first wave of demon hunters, and Feng Chao revealed he had seen Yu Ci defeat Zhao Ziyue in Juebi City.
• Yu Ci and the others repaired traps and defenses, while Yu Ci patrolled the mountain through the night and reflected on his thwarted plans to enter Sky Rift Valley.
• Zhao Xiqiao asked whether the sects would learn of the disturbance and gave Yu Ci a hundred Soul Soothing Pills as payment for the two Blood Treasures.
• Elder Zhu returned the Breath-Light Evasion Technique to Yu Ci and explained how it could conceal his aura and build Killing Intent for a sudden strike.
• Elder Zhu said he had something ten times better than the Breath-Light Evasion Technique and asked Yu Ci whether he wanted it.

Yu Ci refused Elder Zhu’s offer to trade a Mirage Jade Slip for the secret behind his recovering divine soul, and Elder Zhu warned him about the danger of heart demons. After practicing the Breath-Light Evasion Technique, Yu Ci unexpectedly passed through a rock wall and reached the Absolute Valley docking array, where he killed two savage beasts threatening it.

• Yu Ci rejected Elder Zhu’s offer of a Mirage Jade Slip, explaining that his divine soul recovery came from private external objects he could not trade.
• Elder Zhu warned Yu Ci that heart demons could subtly mutate the divine soul and posed a particular danger to those who wielded Baleful Intent.
• After the beast tide passed, Yu Ci completed his daily training and began studying the Breath-Light Evasion Technique, struggling with its five-element evasion components.
• Yan Hao told Yu Ci that two savage beasts had broken into the Absolute Valley docking array and were damaging its talisman patterns.
• Yu Ci attempted to pass directly through the rock wall using the evasion technique, emerged in Absolute Valley, and found that he had killed both beasts.

Yu Ci studied how the Breath-Light Evasion Technique strengthened his sword and rejected Elder Zhu’s offer to trade access to the Mirage Jade Slip. Their discussion was interrupted by a thunderous attack that incapacitated Elder Zhu and several cultivators as a fiery, foul-smelling giant beast appeared atop the cliff.

• Yu Ci realized the Breath-Light Evasion Technique built internal pressure that increased his sword’s power, and he practiced its still posture while keeping watch over the valley.
• Elder Zhu tried to persuade Yu Ci to lend him a treasure in exchange for access to the Mirage Jade Slip, but Yu Ci refused.
• As darkness and thunder gathered, Elder Zhu stared at the clouds until an explosive thunderclap made him bleed from his face and collapse.
• Yu Ci carried Elder Zhu down the cliff and saw Yan Hao and several cultivators unconscious at the valley’s base.
• A giant beast appeared atop the cliff, roaring as fiery smoke spread around its body.

Yu Ci recognized the ghost beast as it attacked a Returning Pill fiend-demon near the mountain-belly refuge, while its roar incapacitated the cultivators inside. When the beast’s fiery head began seeping through the passage wall, Yu Ci gave Elder Zhu the Heart-Pulling Horn and launched himself through the rock to confront it.

• Yu Ci recognized the roaring creature as the ghost beast from Sky Rift Valley and helped Zhou Hu and Feng Chao carry the unconscious cultivators inside.
• Elder Zhu woke and explained that he had used Soul-Shifting to survive the roar, then demanded to know why Yu Ci had resisted its spiritual impact.
• The ghost beast hurled a Returning Pill fiend-demon toward the passage entrance, and the boulder sealed the refuge after the fiend-demon struck it.
• The ghost beast’s roar battered the cultivators inside, and its gray-white flames formed its head in a crack near the passageway.
• Yu Ci gave Elder Zhu the Heart-Pulling Horn, sent the Fish Dragon through a ventilation hole, and plunged through the rock toward the ghost beast as it unleashed a piercing howl.

Yu Ci wounded the ghost beast and escaped into the mountain, where its attacks disrupted his evasion techniques until he learned to use the Breath-Light Evasion Technique’s stationary stance to build power. After fleeing through the cliff and clashing with a giant bear, he ended up gripping the ghost beast’s fur as Elder Zhu began sending him urgent information.

• Yu Ci used the Breath-Light Evasion Technique to slip through the rock and stab the ghost beast’s vulnerable rear with the Pure Yang Talisman Sword.
• The ghost beast’s collision broke Yu Ci’s Earth Evasion Technique, trapping him in rock until he used the stationary stance to restore his escape and understand how it linked to the moving stances.
• After Elder Zhu warned that the ghost beast had lost all three Heart-Pulling Horns and might succumb to the Rakshasa Illusory Power, Yu Ci fled as the beast pursued him through the rock in its flame form.
• Yu Ci burst through the mountain and blinded a charging giant bear with a sword strike before the ghost beast’s flames burned the bear to charcoal.
• The ghost beast returned to its solid form and found Yu Ci clinging to its fur as Elder Zhu began transmitting important information to him.

Yu Ci clung to the wounded ghost beast as it fought off demons and carried him high into the sky. The beast stopped climbing in the Gang Wind Belt and flew unsteadily onward, leaving Yu Ci struggling against the deadly winds.

• Yu Ci exhausted himself using earth escape and was stranded on the ghost beast's back as it broke through the rock and surged upward.
• The ghost beast leaped into the air, and Yu Ci held on rather than use his Divine Movement Talisman to jump away when powerful demons attacked.
• The ghost beast fought a gray, spiked demon and several others, killing some and driving the rest off as they tried to surround it.
• Yu Ci noticed the ghost beast's many old wounds and recognized the festering injury on its shoulder as the one Ye Bin had inflicted.
• The ghost beast carried Yu Ci into the Gang Wind Belt, stopped climbing at around twenty li high, and flew unsteadily while the gang winds threatened to pierce Yu Ci's defenses.