Chapter Summaries

Yu Ci examined the Cloud Tower Tree seed and sorted through his Sword Garden spoils, discovering the Jade God Cave Spirit Seal hidden in the Heavy Artifact Sect leader’s armor. After consulting Xingtian, he prepared to leave the Star Picking Tower, but He Qing returned to speak with him.

• Xingtian explained how to cultivate the Cloud Tower Tree seed and said it could take decades to sprout and centuries to mature.
• Yu Ci learned that the Rakshasa Sect woman had survived and been released by the Li Chen Sect.
• Yu Ci inspected the Heavy Artifact Sect leader’s armor, activated a hidden compartment, and found the Jade God Cave Spirit Seal inside.
• Yu Ci asked Xingtian about the seal, and Xingtian advised him to consult Old Mr. Zhu and have the Guardian Law Saint send him out.
• Xingtian told Yu Ci to wait until two people had left, and He Qing then returned to the window and urged him to cultivate diligently.

Yu Ci went to Lingxiao Pavilion and learned that the white jade Dharma Seal was the Shangqing Sect’s ancient Jade God Cave Spirit Seal, a powerful magical treasure tied to Yu Qing Xuan. Old Mr. Zhu gave him the seal and assigned him a year of study and refinement at Star Picking Tower.

• Yu Ci told He Qing he planned to visit Old Mr. Zhu about his cultivation and a sword embryo, then left with the Guardian Law Saint for the foot of the mountain.
• Yu Ci presented Old Mr. Zhu with the heavy armor and white jade Dharma Seal at Lingxiao Pavilion.
• Old Mr. Zhu identified Yu Qing Xuan as the seal’s previous possessor and explained how the Tai Xuan Demon Mother had taken the seal and Yu Qing Xuan from the Shangqing Sect.
• Old Mr. Zhu explained that the Jade God Cave Spirit Seal was an ancient magical treasure whose spiritual radiance had been sealed, and warned Yu Ci not to use it against enemies before refining it past the eighth heaven of a single cycle.
• Old Mr. Zhu gave Yu Ci the Dharma Seal, named him a transmitter of the Shangqing Sect’s teachings, and ordered him to study its predecessors’ traces and refine it alongside three other magical instruments during his year at Star Picking Tower.

Yu Ci chose the Ten Yin Manifesting Gauze as one of the artifacts he would refine and unexpectedly raised it to the seventh layer in about two hours, making him realize Old Mr. Zhu had underestimated his progress. Meanwhile, Sun Fu unleashed a Heavenly Demon Poison Lure over the Duanjie Mountain Range but was killed by a sword strike as he fled.

• Yu Ci selected the Dao Scripture Master Treasure Seal, the Gold-Green Palace Sash renamed the Immortal Binding Rope, and the Ten Yin Manifesting Gauze as the three artifacts to refine.
• Yu Ci used his Inner Void and True Dragon Form Qi to refine the Ten Yin Manifesting Gauze to its seventh layer in about two hours.
• Yu Ci realized he had failed to tell Old Mr. Zhu about his Life and Death Talisman, seed golden talisman, and innate divine ability, Analysis.
• Sun Fu dropped a Heavenly Demon Poison Lure into the Nine Heavens Gang Wind above the Duanjie Mountain Range, intending to bring calamity to the Shangqing Sect.
• A sword howl rang through the gang wind, and Sun Fu's head was severed as he tried to flee.

After Sun Fu planted the Heavenly Demon Poison Lure, Zhou Yu raised the alarm, and Li Chen Sect’s leaders decided to hold their position at Sword Garden while assigning Lude to guard Star Picking Tower. Yu Ci emerged from seclusion to investigate the invasion, but the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror suddenly burned and sent a strange ripple toward the distance.

• Zhou Yu killed Sun Fu, discovered the Heavenly Demon Poison Lure, and ordered Uncle-Master Dan to sound the alarm.
• Venerable Yu Xu and the remaining third-generation disciples discussed repeated demon invasions and agreed that Li Chen Sect would not retreat from Sword Garden.
• Su Jiren argued that Ancestor Fang should not be distracted from his cultivation, and Lude volunteered to go to Star Picking Tower.
• Yu Ci awoke from a month of seclusion, learned from the Guardian Law Saint that Outer Realm Heavenly Demons were invading again, and set out to inspect the battle.
• The Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror burned Yu Ci’s arm and trembled as it sent a strange ripple through the cloud mist.

Yu Ci killed a heavenly demon that had possessed Tang Fu, then repelled a second demon that nearly ambushed him. He Qing and Lu De arrived, and Lu De presented Yu Ci with the newly forged sword, leaving Yu Ci to inspect it.

• Yu Ci used the Star-Shooting Disk and talisman-sword art to kill a demon-possessed crane, then discovered that Tang Fu was possessed by a heavenly demon and trapped it with soul-attacking techniques.
• The wounded demon ambushed Yu Ci, but Yu Ci drove it out of his Inner Void and destroyed it with Heavenly Dragon True Intent.
• He Qing arrived and recognized Yu Ci’s Heavenly Dragon True Intent, while Lu De came looking for the demon.
• Lu De showed intense hostility toward He Qing, then checked on Yu Ci and warned him not to underestimate heavenly demons.
• Lu De gave Yu Ci the sword he had forged, and Yu Ci drew it partway from its sheath to inspect the blade.

Yu Ci named his newly forged sword the Seven Star Sword and began exploring a path to sword refinement based on his Life and Death Talisman. While searching his Inner Void, he sensed an unexpected visitor and recognized the figure as someone he knew.

• Lu De explained the Seven Star Sword's Starlight Stone abilities, and Yu Ci tested it by extinguishing two of its lights with a strike.
• He Qing told Lu De that her deductions were progressing and that she might soon break through the Longevity Pass.
• After Lu De and He Qing departed, Yu Ci used a blood sacrifice to connect the Seven Star Sword to his aura and tested his idea of reflecting his life-and-death intent into it.
• Yu Ci's attempt to confront a shifting enemy in his Inner Void overwhelmed his concentration, so he decided to focus on refining the sword first.
• Yu Ci sensed a presence in his Inner Void, and a gray mist became a human figure that he recognized as someone familiar.

Yu Ci subdued the weakened master of Sunken Sword Cave and rejected its offers, then began looking for a way to keep it from exploiting the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror. He found inspiration in a demon head stored in his ring and started refining it into a special-purpose artifact.

• Yu Ci recognized the master of Sunken Sword Cave as a remnant shadow trapped in the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror and used talismans to seal it.
• The master of Sunken Sword Cave offered Yu Ci the sword garden’s treasures and the loyalty of the Pan Huang Sect, but Yu Ci rejected both offers and reminded it of its role in Xuanhuang’s downfall.
• Yu Ci left the shadow sealed in the Inner Void and struggled to resume artifact refinement, worried that it could use the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror to grow stronger.
• Yu Ci searched his Storage Ring, found a demon head left from Sky Rift Gorge, and decided its limited potential made it suitable for a special-purpose artifact.
• Yu Ci began refining the demon head by channeling divine intent and vital energy into it.

Yu Ci sealed the master of Sunken Sword Cave inside a crude magic tool, then encountered a cultivation bottleneck on the Star Picking Tower. His attempt to study the Ten Yin Manifesting Gauze nearly overwhelmed him with heart demons, so he went to the Star Picking Main Tower seeking insight and heard someone discussing the method.

• Yu Ci repaired a demonic beast's skull and sealed the master of Sunken Sword Cave inside it as the artifact spirit of a magic tool he named Ghost Prison.
• After seven or eight months of refining artifacts on the Star Picking Tower, Yu Ci found that refining no longer increased his cultivation.
• Yu Ci practiced the Ten Yin Manifesting Gauze by releasing heart demon sha qi, but his emotions and desires nearly overwhelmed him until the True Return Purple Smoke Warm Jade and a fish-dragon pulled him back.
• Unable to settle his mind, Yu Ci went to the Star Picking Main Tower, where he heard a voice from the staircase explaining the perilous method.

Yu Ci met Ancestor Fang in the Star Picking Main Tower, where Fang recognized that Yu Ci had reached the threshold of Core Formation without learning an elixir art. He Qing offered to teach Yu Ci the art of Yin Yang Genesis to help him develop and verify his cultivation path, but said they first had to agree on a condition.

• Yu Ci unexpectedly encountered He Qing and learned that Ancestor Fang was visiting the tower.
• Ancestor Fang examined Yu Ci, noted his rapid progress and lack of a Core Formation technique, and urged him to keep advancing.
• He Qing showed Yu Ci the tower’s cultivation level and explained that it was most useful for helping cultivators break through barriers.
• Yu Ci realized that he needed an elixir art, but his Empirical Branch good deeds were too low to obtain one.
• He Qing offered to teach Yu Ci Yin Yang Genesis so he could deduce and verify his cultivation path.
• He Qing stopped Yu Ci from thanking her and said the instruction would require a condition.

Yu Ci bargained with He Qing to give Shan Gu some of his True Dragon Form Qi, and He Qing taught him Yin Yang Genesis. The deduction revealed a complex Core Formation path involving the Life and Death Talisman and all thirty-six talismans of the Heavens' Drifting Stars, whose phantom patterns then appeared in Yu Ci's inner void with several talismans shining differently.

• He Qing asked Yu Ci for a share of his True Dragon Form Qi to help Shan Gu overcome a weakness in her Dao foundation, and Yu Ci agreed.
• He Qing demonstrated Yin Yang Genesis, guiding Yu Ci through the technique as he learned to use Yin and Yang Qi to simulate and deduce possibilities.
• Yu Ci placed elements of his cultivation into the deduction, which revealed a pearl centered on his Life and Death Talisman and encircled by the thirty-six Heavens' Drifting Stars talismans.
• Yu Ci realized the pattern showed his Core Formation method, the Heavenary Barrier Natal Golden Talisman, and worried about the effort needed to cultivate all thirty-six talismans to Seed True Talisman status.
• The engraved pattern projected into Yu Ci's inner void, where several of its talisman-script fractals glowed more brightly than the others.

Yu Ci studied the stages of the Heavenly Barrier Natal Golden Talisman and prepared to let He Qing draw out some of his True Dragon Form Qi. After their midnight yin-yang ritual, he found his fish-dragon manifestation unchanged and sensed a seed of new life emerging in the eastern dawn.

• Yu Ci recognized that forming his golden core required him to cultivate the Nine Luminaries Six Talismans as Seed True Talismans, and He Qing cautioned him to verify the method through cultivation.
• Yu Ci agreed to let He Qing draw out his True Dragon Form Qi, and she arranged for him to study the Yin Yang Genesis art and wait until midnight.
• Old Mr. Zhu replied that the Heavenly Barrier Natal Golden Talisman had three stages, beginning with the Nine Luminaries and Primordial Stars talismans, and Yu Ci read the cultivation requirements.
• At midnight, He Qing released her Yang God and guided Yu Ci's Yin God through a transformation of yin-yang qi that left only a core of spiritual clarity.
• At dawn, Yu Ci found He Qing gone and his fish-dragon manifestation apparently unchanged, then sensed a seed take root and send out shoots in the eastern sky.

Yu Ci discovered that the Cloud Tower Tree had sprouted early and confirmed that it carried the spiritual imprints of seventeen sword immortals. As he weighed practicing the talismans needed for his Natal Golden Talisman against completing his promised ritual refinements, Xingtian urged him to focus on ritual refinement and consider how his future cultivation arts would fit together.

• Yu Ci rushed to his quarters in the Star Picking Sub Tower, where he found the Cloud Tower Tree seed had sprouted into a tiny sapling.
• Yu Ci entered the sapling’s nascent space and sensed all seventeen spiritual imprints that Qu Wujie had embedded for the trapped sword immortals.
• Yu Ci considered whether to practice three unfamiliar Nine Luminaries talismans or finish ritual-refining three Dharma treasures as promised to his senior.
• Xingtian attributed the sapling’s sudden growth to vitality from Yu Ci’s cultivation with He Qing and advised him to continue ritual refinement rather than rush toward Core Formation.
• Xingtian reminded Yu Ci to consider the compatibility of his pill formula, Void Stepping Art, and tribulation-crossing methods, prompting Yu Ci to reconsider his path toward the Natal Golden Talisman.

Li Chen Sect hosted allied sects as Hua Xifeng prepared to break through, and Zhou Yu joined the reception after arriving late. Yu Ci emerged from the Star Picking Tower and encountered Xia Boyang, who accused him of causing Crimson Yin to break her word.

• Li Hong welcomed visitors from the Pure Void Virtue Sect and the Siming Sect while Li You and Zhang Yan avoided the formalities.
• Hong Qianqiu told Li You and Zhang Yan that Li Hong wanted them to help maintain appearances before Zhou Yu arrived.
• Zhou Yu arrived and joined the group as Li Hong showed the visitors Feiyun Gorge and the Star Picking Tower.
• Wang Zihuai and the others spotted Yu Ci and Xia Boyang fighting near Sky Pillar Mountain.
• Xia Boyang confronted Yu Ci and asked whether he had caused Crimson Yin to betray her word.

Yu Ci was drawn into a series of fights after Xia Boyang confronted him over Crimson Yin, and he wounded Xia Shuqi before the elders intervened. The confrontation ended with Xia Boyang storming away, while Yu Zhou invited Yu Ci to take a stroll.

• Yu Ci angered Xia Boyang by asking whether Crimson Yin was still alive, and they exchanged blows until Zhao Fu intervened.
• Xia Boyang called Xia Shuqi to fight Yu Ci, who endured his curses and sorcery fire before striking him with the Seven Star Sword.
• A Walking Void cultivator surnamed Su intervened against Yu Ci, but Yu Zhou arrived and dissolved the attack.
• Xia Shuqi admitted defeat, while Yu Ci concluded that Xia Boyang's confrontation was likely a probe related to the Sword Garden's shares.
• Xia Boyang left the Li Chen Sect in anger, and Yu Zhou asked Yu Ci to accompany him for a stroll.

Yu Zhou took Yu Ci along the Path of Heart Inquiry, where a song and the rising dawn transformed the old Daoist into a vigorous young man. Yu Zhou then flew toward the Star Picking Tower, leaving Yu Ci to discover the sword Passing Water on the Star-Gathering Platform.

• Yu Zhou tested Yu Ci's familiarity with the sect and warned him that Xia Boyang was calculating and tied to the Thousand Peaks Sect and Flying Soul City faction.
• Yu Zhou brought Yu Ci to the Path of Heart Inquiry and shared stories about his youthful days before inviting him to climb it together.
• As they climbed through the night, Yu Zhou taught Yu Ci to hear a tune in the wind and sang verses that made Yu Ci ponder the starry sky.
• Yu Ci saw Yu Zhou's beard darken and his aged appearance turn youthful as Hua Xifeng broke through and ascended into the sky.
• At dawn, Yu Zhou sang about the long road and the Three Mountains, then flew toward the Star Picking Tower while Yu Ci failed to catch him.
• Yu Ci reached the Star-Gathering Platform and found the sheathed sword Passing Water thrust into the ground.

Yu Ci struggled to understand Yu Zhou’s disappearance, then learned that the sect officially described it as Rainbow Transformation. After He Qing’s tribulation breakthrough, Yu Ci sought answers about her past with Yu Zhou, and Uncle-Master Lu arrived to explain.

• Yu Ci waited anxiously for Yu Zhou on the Star Gathering Platform, where the star array injured him, until He Qing arrived and told him to leave.
• He Qing underwent her tribulation and advanced to the Longevity True Man realm, while Ancestor Fang sent Yu Ci away from the platform.
• The sect announced that Yu Zhou had left his sword and undergone Rainbow Transformation, leaving Yu Ci and Baoguang grieving and confused.
• Yu Ci got Baoguang drunk and used a soul-befuddling spell to question him about Yu Zhou and He Qing’s relationship.
• Uncle-Master Lu kicked open the door and offered to explain the truth to Yu Ci.

Lu De explained Yu Zhou’s death and the Empirical Branch’s cultivation crisis, revealing that Grand Uncle-Master Fang devised the Great Evolution Yin Yang method to guide its practitioners. Yu Ci recognized it as Yin Yang Genesis and abruptly realized its connection to dual cultivation, while a female cultivator recalled her old wish to survive.

• Lu De told Yu Ci that Yu Zhou was dead and described how Yu Zhou’s greatest joy had been spending time with his fellow disciples and dao companion, He Qing.
• Lu De explained that the Empirical Branch’s practical methods left its Tribulation Passage cultivators without a safe path forward, making Grand Uncle-Master Fang responsible for finding one.
• Lu De recounted how Fang Hui developed the Great Evolution Yin Yang method after witnessing an Earth Immortal battle at Sky Rift Valley.
• Yu Ci recognized the method as Yin Yang Genesis and reacted with alarm when Lu De said spiritual communion and dual cultivation could quickly gather the necessary Qi.
• Atop the Star Picking Tower, a female cultivator told Fang Hui that her wish from the Path of Heart Inquiry had come true, remembering her past determination to survive.

Yu Ci learned why Old Mr. Zhu had once sent him to the Hanzhang Dharma Assembly and received a bracelet containing the Heavenly Barrier Natal Golden Talisman method. After leaving Lingxiao Pavilion and heading south toward the Star Picking Tower, Yu Ci encountered Meng Wei.

• Yu Ci asked Meng Wei about a verse on the dangers of dual-practice alchemy, and Old Mr. Zhu explained its source and warned him against the technique.
• Old Mr. Zhu gave Yu Ci a nineteen-bead bracelet and confessed that he had planned for Yu Ci to draw out Shangqing Sect survivors at the Hanzhang Dharma Assembly, despite the danger.
• Old Mr. Zhu explained how time had shaped Yu Zhou and He Qing’s cultivation and urged Yu Ci to understand their choices.
• Old Mr. Zhu revealed that the bracelet’s added bead contained the Heavenly Barrier Natal Golden Talisman method and estimated Yu Ci could master it within thirty to fifty years.
• Yu Ci left Lingxiao Pavilion and headed south toward the Star Picking Tower, where Meng Wei caught up with him.

Yu Ci and Meng Wei climbed Sky Pillar Mountain’s Path of Heart Inquiry as Meng Wei recounted how her childhood challenge to Ancestor Fang’s conduct ended in tears and taught her the limits of precepts and laws. Yu Ci used her story to argue that disputes ultimately came down to strength, leaving Meng Wei silent as they continued their ascent.

• Yu Ci told Meng Wei they would climb Sky Pillar Mountain by the Path of Heart Inquiry, and she agreed to accompany him.
• As they climbed, Meng Wei recalled walking the path as an eight-year-old to confront Ancestor Fang about his Great Evolution Yin Yang cultivation with Aunt He.
• Meng Wei recounted how Ancestor Fang accepted her accusations but chose imprisonment, which still allowed him to continue cultivating, and she descended the mountain crying.
• Meng Wei explained that Master Su Jiren had taught her that laws could not compel those who feared nothing, while heavenly principles imposed other limits; Great Evolution Yin Yang harmed its practitioners even as it benefited the sect.
• Yu Ci said Meng Wei failed to sway Ancestor Fang because she relied on rules while he pursued results, and he argued that conflicts ultimately came down to strength.
• Yu Ci described how someone unwilling to fight could let others pass and then be struck by them, leaving Meng Wei silent as night deepened around them.

Yu Ci separated from Meng Wei on the Path of Heart Inquiry and continued toward the Star Picking Pavilion, determined to act on his convictions. The Guardian Law Saint showed him a recording of He Qing and Yu Zhou that revealed He Qing stabbing herself with the Flowing Water Sword.

• Yu Ci told Meng Wei that longevity meant encompassing everything he loved, hated, thought, and desired, and that firm convictions required the means to carry them out.
• Yu Ci used the sect’s rules and Meng Wei’s own convictions to persuade her to turn back, then warned that he would draw his sword if she tried to stop him.
• Meng Wei let Yu Ci continue alone and flew away, worried that he might cause trouble at the Star Picking Pavilion.
• Xingtian explained the conflict between sword cultivators and the western monks, while Yu Ci pressed him to follow through on an earlier request.
• The Guardian Law Saint formed a water mirror showing He Qing and Yu Zhou at the Gathering Star Platform, where Yu Zhou drove the Flowing Water Sword into the platform and He Qing later stabbed herself with it.
• Xingtian identified He Qing’s action as the He family’s Heart Splitting Sword Lock.