Chapter Summaries

Ye Jingcheng accepted Xu Xiuqing’s Talisman Treasure as a loan and returned to Chu-Ye Pavilion to focus on preparations for the second-tier secret realm. There, Chen Ya brought him a suspicious request to refine an upper-grade second-tier pill, and the chapter ended with Ye Jingcheng learning the meeting would take place in the Flat House District.

• Xu Xiuqing left the Talisman Treasure with Ye Jingcheng as a loan and departed after thanking him for the meal.
• Ye Jingcheng packed the remaining spirit dishes, paid for the meal, and went to Chu-Ye Pavilion.
• Ye Jingyu told Ye Jingcheng that Chen Ya had stayed behind, so he met her in the courtyard and sealed it with an array and the Jade Ring Rat.
• Chen Ya said a mysterious senior wanted Ye Jingcheng to custom-refine an upper-grade second-tier pill from three portions of spirit herbs and demanded a Heavenly Dao oath of secrecy.
• After Ye Jingcheng swore the oath, Chen Ya showed him a jade slip bearing the image of a Heavenly Corpse Token, which made him suspect a link to the Mad Corpse Twin Fiends or the Heavenly Corpse Sect.
• Ye Jingcheng asked where the meeting was arranged, and Chen Ya answered that it was in the Flat House District.

Ye Jingcheng negotiated with a corpse puppet who demanded a place in the Ye Family’s secret realm expedition in exchange for keeping the family’s secrets. After agreeing to Heavenly Dao oaths, Ye Jingcheng suspected the puppet was seeking an ancient spirit map and began studying the Bone-Transforming Pill formula.

• Ye Jingcheng met the hooded figure, who removed Chen Ya’s restriction and sent her away before presenting a Bone-Transforming Pill formula.
• The figure revealed himself as a corpse puppet and threatened to expose the Ye Family unless they brought him into the secret realm expedition.
• Ye Jingcheng agreed to the demand, and he and the corpse puppet exchanged Heavenly Dao oaths and arranged a time and token.
• Ye Jingcheng returned to the family courtyard and suspected the ancient spirit map he had forgotten might point to the secret realm.
• Ye Jingcheng studied the Bone-Transforming Pill formula and contacted Ye Xingliu to discuss the risks of bringing the corpse puppet into the expedition.

The Ye Family and Taiyi Sect prepared for a newly revealed secret realm while Ye Jingcheng refined Bone-Transforming Pills and helped his spirit beasts prepare for breakthroughs. Ye Jingteng emerged from seclusion at Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, congratulated Ye Jingcheng, and discussed joining the expedition and supplying more Jade Soul Pills.

• Miaofa True Person and Xuandao True Person agreed to recruit Three Yuan Daoist and two pseudo-Golden Core cultivators to suppress the demon kings and seek the secret realm's treasures.
• Xu Chunlin ordered Xu Hanqing and the Xu Family's Foundation Establishment cultivators to target Ye Jingcheng in the secret realm and encouraged Mo Hongwen to help eliminate him.
• Ye Xuecang told Ye Xingliu that the Ye Family belonged to the Beast Desolation Lineage, then ordered him to gather spirit stones, spirit beasts, and supplies for Ye Jingcheng.
• Ye Jingcheng successfully refined two Bone-Transforming Pills, fed the Three-Color Cloud Deer to support its impending breakthrough, and prepared a Spirit-Gathering Formation.
• Ye Jingteng visited Ye Jingcheng after breaking through to Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, agreed to support the Ye Family in the secret realm while watching the sect's interests, and asked Ye Jingcheng to make more Jade Soul Pills.

Ye Jingcheng hosted Ye Jingteng and Ye Xingyi, arranged to obtain rare spirit ores and pill ingredients, and advised Ye Xingyi about limiting Bloodrage Pills and continuing cultivation. After waiting for the family’s supplies, he witnessed the Jade-Scale Snake advance into a powerful mid-second-rank Jade-Scale Flood Dragon, which revealed that its tail could cut through a reinforced pillar in an instant.

• Ye Jingcheng shared a meal with Ye Jingteng and asked him to obtain three spirit ores, which Ye Jingteng agreed to do.
• Ye Jingcheng told Ye Xingyi to limit sales of Bloodrage Pills and urged him to keep cultivating toward Foundation Establishment.
• Ye Jingteng delivered the spirit ores, and Ye Jingcheng asked him to seek herbs for second-rank Golden Scale Pills and Three-Color Pills.
• After waiting for the family’s remaining supplies, Ye Jingcheng sensed the Jade-Scale Snake gathering spiritual energy and set up formations around its room.
• The Jade-Scale Snake advanced into a mid-second-rank Jade-Scale Flood Dragon, ate five Azure Cloud Wolves, and shrank to a three-chi form.
• The Jade-Scale Flood Dragon demonstrated its speed by slicing through a reinforced pillar with its tail.

Ye Jingcheng tested the Jade-Scale Flood Dragon’s new abilities, prepared his courtyard and defensive techniques for the second-rank secret realm, and awaited the Ye Family’s arrival. Ye Xingliu arrived with more than thirty clansmen, bringing Ye Jingcheng closer to learning what had happened to the Stone Spirit.

• Ye Jingcheng watched the Jade-Scale Flood Dragon demonstrate its speed and corrosive white poisonous mist, then fed it spirit pills and an Azure Cloud Wolf corpse before returning it to its pouch.
• Ye Jingcheng discovered that someone had triggered his outer warning formation, then put away the Golden-Scaled Beast and prepared the Peachwood Demon and courtyard defenses for the secret realm.
• Ye Jingcheng tested the Mist Escape Technique and Profound Cold Ice Shield, finding that the former could make him as fast as a Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivator in mist or rain and the latter could rival a mid-grade second-rank shield.
• Three days later, Ye Xingliu arrived with Ye Jingyu and more than thirty Ye Family cultivators, and Ye Jingcheng eagerly awaited news about the Stone Spirit.

Ye Jingcheng prepared for the Desolation-Suppressing Secret Realm with Ye Xingliu and learned that a family map overlapped with a treasure map he had found. While alone in a secured room, he fed earth-phase spiritual power to the Stone Spirit until it developed a faint intelligence and revealed the entrance to its Grotto-Heaven.

• Ye Xingliu gave Ye Jingcheng the spirit ores gathered by the family and explained their secret-realm plans, including Ye Jingyu’s role in helping him enter Turtle Ancestor’s Grotto-Heaven.
• Ye Jingcheng showed Ye Xingliu that his map from the Mad Corpse Twin Fiends overlapped with the family’s map, and Ye Xingliu supplied him with secret-realm treasures and herbs for Bone-Transforming Pills.
• After Ye Xingliu and Ye Jingyu left, Ye Jingcheng secured the room, laid out the spirit ores, and discovered that the Stone Spirit absorbed spiritual energy through its python patterns when supplied with earth-phase power.
• Ye Jingcheng continued feeding the Stone Spirit for a day, and it drained the ores of their spiritual energy while its patterns grew and a trace of aura emerged.
• Ye Jingcheng formed a Blood Pact with the Stone Spirit, which showed only faint intelligence, and saw that its Treasure Book entry had gained valuable third-rank ores and a controllable Grotto-Heaven entrance.

Ye Jingcheng tested Stone Spirit’s new grotto-heaven and confirmed that Five Poison Bees could survive inside it for half a day. With a secret realm opening in seven or eight days, he inspected the Ye Family’s protective treasures and prepared to refine Bone-Transforming Pills.

• Ye Jingcheng furnished Stone Spirit’s grotto-heaven with Moonlight Stones, soil, a pond, and grass, then tested whether it could hold Five Poison Bees with its entrance closed.
• Ye Jingcheng replenished the Golden-Scaled Beast with Treasure Radiance and earth-element spiritual pills before meditating to recover his strength.
• Ye Jingcheng found the Five Poison Bees unharmed inside the grotto-heaven but decided to continue testing before placing the Three-Color Cloud Deer inside.
• Ye Jingcheng inspected the Ye Family’s Talisman Treasures, shield, escape talismans, thunder beads, and pill ingredients, noting that the Mystic Cold Seal and other treasures could protect him in the secret realm.
• Ye Jingcheng summoned the Crimson Flame Fox and began refining Bone-Transforming Pills.

Ye Jingcheng emerged from seclusion, learned that Ye Jingyu’s cultivation had raised suspicions, and prepared for the expedition to Crimson Cloud Peak. He then questioned Turtle Ancestor about the Stone Spirit Grotto-Heaven, leaving Turtle Ancestor fascinated by the stone.

• Ye Jingcheng inspected the Stone Spirit Grotto-Heaven and found that it could sustain life for extended periods if it absorbed enough spiritual energy and air.
• Ye Jingli warned Ye Jingcheng that Ye Jingyu’s spiritual energy had grown stronger and gave him a mirror to detect fluctuations; Ye Jingcheng then confronted the disguised Fellow Daoist Corpse and cautioned him to avoid attracting suspicion.
• Ye Jingcheng gave Ye Xingliu three Bone-Transforming Pills, learned that the expedition would depart in three days, and received invitations to a Foundation Establishment exchange gathering.
• Ye Xingliu warned Ye Jingcheng about Mo Hongwen and the Xu Family, then lent him Turtle Ancestor so he could ask about the Grotto-Heaven.
• Ye Jingcheng showed Turtle Ancestor the Stone Spirit, and Turtle Ancestor examined it with unusual eagerness.

Ye Jingcheng learned from the Turtle Ancestor how Grotto-Heavens worked and received a star-map visualization method to help expand his Stone Spirit’s realm. He prepared the Stone Spirit and Three-Color Cloud Deer, then went to a Foundation Establishment gathering to seek artifacts and assess potential disguises, where Chu Yanqing greeted him.

• The Turtle Ancestor explained that Grotto-Heavens needed life essence and gave Ye Jingcheng a star-map visualization method for expanding one.
• The Turtle Ancestor showed Ye Jingcheng its vast Grotto-Heaven and warned him to keep his newly born realm hidden.
• Ye Jingcheng gave the Stone Spirit Spirit-Transforming Pills and jade slips, then exchanged two Black Jade Toads with Ye Xingqun for an insect-control jade slip.
• Ye Jingcheng moved the Three-Color Cloud Deer into the Grotto-Heaven and resumed cultivating.
• Ye Jingcheng and Fellow Daoist Corpse attended the Foundation Establishment gathering, where Ye Jingcheng planned to seek artifacts and observe potential stand-ins.
• Chu Yanqing greeted Ye Jingcheng as he arrived at the Fragrant Tower.

Ye Jingcheng attended a Foundation Establishment gathering at Fragrant Tower with Ye Jingyu and the Chu Family cultivators, while observing the assembled families and sect cultivators. Yu Tianhe opened the gathering and announced an auction followed by an open trading session.

• Ye Jingcheng arrived with Ye Jingyu and met Chu Yanqing, Chu Yanxuan, Chu Yanhao, and Chu Xicheng before entering Fragrant Tower together.
• Ye Jingcheng sat near the back beside Chu Yanqing, noticed Mo Hongwen speaking with the Xu Family, and spotted Golden Jade Hall and his Eldest Brother farther toward the front.
• Yu Tianhe introduced himself as Miaofa True Person's seventh disciple and began presiding over the gathering.
• Yu Tianhe announced that the gathering would begin with an auction of magical artifacts from the Yongan Zhang Family, followed by trading among the Foundation Establishment cultivators.

At the Taiyi cultivators’ gathering, Zhang Xian'an presented the Yongan Zhang Family’s magic artifacts, and Ye Jingcheng bought the Evergreen Sword after borrowing spirit stones from Ye Jingyu. The event ended with Yu Tianhe acquiring the Heaven-Shaking Bell at its capped price.

• Zhang Xian'an demonstrated the Yongan Zhang Family’s Spirit Shadow Brush and Spirit-Binding Whip, which other cultivators bought through bidding.
• Ye Jingcheng passed on several artifacts before bidding on the Evergreen Sword, then borrowed ten thousand spirit stones from Ye Jingyu to secure it for fifty thousand.
• Zhang Xian'an handed Ye Jingcheng the Evergreen Sword, and Ye Jingcheng praised its sharpness and ease of use.
• Chu Yanqing bought an Ice Crystal Flying Dagger, while Ye Jingcheng’s eldest brother bought a Mysterious Frost Spear.
• Yu Tianhe won the final centerpiece, the Heaven-Shaking Bell, at its capped price of one hundred thousand spirit stones.

At the trade fair before entering the second-rank secret realm, Ye Jingcheng exchanged for Amber Crystals that could help mutate his Five Poison Bees and offered pill-patterned spirit pills to build his reputation. After the gathering, Mo Hongwen threatened him and secretly marked him with medicinal powder, while Ye Jingcheng noticed the Xu Family and encountered a chilling veiled woman.

• Yu Tianhe traded a Heaven Yellow Pill, Purple Cloud Crystal, and Green Lotus Vermilion Fruit for defensive treasures, and other cultivators followed with their own exchanges.
• An old man traded two clusters of Amber Crystals to Ye Jingcheng for three life-extending spirit peaches, prompting Ye Jingcheng to plan to use them on his Five Poison Bees.
• Chu Yanqing and the Chu Family traded several defensive artifacts, while Ye Jingcheng offered Jade Soul Pills and Jade Wound Pills in exchange for defensive artifacts, lightning pearls, or escape talismans.
• Ye Jingcheng rejected Chu Yanqing's invitation to enter the secret realm together, saying his clan uncle would accompany him.
• Mo Hongwen threatened Ye Jingcheng and sprinkled medicinal powder on him, but Ye Jingcheng noticed the act and suspected the Xu Family had left a mark on him.
• A veiled woman with icy eyes startled Ye Jingcheng as the Xu Family passed, and Ye Jingteng later joked with him about their trades before the group dispersed.

Ye Jingcheng joined the Ye Family’s expedition to the Taihang Mountain Range aboard Taiyi Sect’s spirit vessel and studied the powerful cultivators who might oppose them. The group reached Jade Dragon Valley, where the expansion was set to begin the next day, while the Three-Color Cloud Deer completed its breakthrough inside the Stone Spirit Grotto-Heaven.

• Ye Jingcheng joined the Ye Family and Chu Family as they gathered with other clans and cultivators for Taiyi Sect’s expedition, and Ye Xingliu gave him an updated jade slip about powerful Foundation Establishment cultivators.
• Mingyuan, Master Tianzhen, and Taihao Master brought Taiyi Sect’s enormous spirit vessel, and the gathered cultivators boarded it for the journey to the Taihang Mountain Range.
• Ye Jingcheng studied the jade slip aboard the vessel, sensed the Three-Color Cloud Deer’s breakthrough, and learned from Ye Jingli and Ye Jingyong that Chu Yanqing might be a core figure of the Chu Family.
• The spirit vessel reached Jade Dragon Valley, where Ye Haicheng and other Purple Palace cultivators welcomed the expedition; Mingyuan announced that the expansion would begin the next day.
• Ye Jingcheng consulted Ye Xingliu, who told him to keep using the Bone-Hiding Ring, and later confirmed that the Three-Color Cloud Deer had successfully broken through, though he could not yet retrieve it.

As Taiyi Sect prepared Jade Dragon Valley to withstand the beast tide, the Ye Family and allied clans deployed their formations and spirit beasts. The Three-Eyed Demon King led the attack and fought Miaofa True Person, Xuandao True Person, and Three Yuan Daoist, while Xuandao suspected its late-stage breakthrough had left it injured.

• Ye Haicheng explained the threats posed by the Three-Eyed Demon King, the Earth Dragon Demon King, and the Cloud Lion Demon King as the cultivators watched Red Glow Ridge.
• Miaofa True Person activated Jade Dragon Valley’s formations and rallied Taiyi Sect to defend the valley as the beast tide approached.
• Wan Hongchang proposed an alliance, and the Ye, Chu, and Wan families prepared their formations and spirit beasts for battle.
• The Three-Eyed Demon King accused the humans of breaking the pass rules, then launched its beasts at Jade Dragon Valley when Miaofa questioned its story about a stolen child.
• Miaofa True Person, Three Yuan Daoist, and Xuandao True Person fought the Three-Eyed Demon King, and Xuandao observed that its injuries suggested its late Golden Core breakthrough had been abnormal.

Taiyi Sect and the great families battled a massive beast tide at Jade Dragon Valley while both sides held back their strongest methods. As the Three-Eyed Demon Rocs repeatedly attacked from above and Lion King Ridge joined the assault, Ye Jingcheng worried Taiyi Sect was testing the families’ strength for its own purposes.

• Three Origins True Person wounded the Three-Eyed Demon King, prompting the Three-Eyed Demon Rocs to launch repeated fiery dives against Taiyi Sect’s Purple Palace cultivators.
• The beast tide struck the mountain defenses as Red Rocs and Fire-Swallowing Sparrows bombarded cultivators with flames, while the eastern entrance remained lightly threatened.
• Ye Jingcheng directed the Golden-Scaled Beast to attack with Earth Spike techniques and prepared Adamantine Vine seeds to ensnare the diving Fire-Swallowing Sparrows.
• Ye Jingcheng spotted Flame Lions in the distance and suspected Lion King Ridge had joined the battle.
• Ye Jingcheng observed that Taiyi Sect and the great families were reserving their trump cards, and feared Taiyi Sect was assessing the families while they faced the Demon Kings’ beast tide.

Ye Jingcheng used the Adamantine Vine to trap and kill two Fire-Swallowing Sparrows, helping ease the pressure on South Peak while concealing the full extent of his strength. The Three-Eyed Demon King finally called for reinforcements, and enormous flame lions from Lion King Ridge appeared in the beast tide.

• Ye Jingcheng activated the Adamantine Vine, bound two Fire-Swallowing Sparrows, and crushed them with Falling Cloud Star Rock before finishing them with his artifacts.
• Ye Jingcheng collected the sparrow corpses and used the Evergreen Sword against Flame-Tailed Wolves while hiding his strength.
• Ye Xingliu and the Jade-Eyed Golden-Pupil Tiger and Mottled Cloud Tiger attacked Fire-Swallowing Sparrows, reducing the danger over South Peak.
• The Golden-Scaled Beast grew more ferocious as it fought and smashed Fire-Swallowing Sparrows with Falling Cloud Star Rock.
• The Three-Eyed Demon King faltered under three Golden Core True Persons, howled toward the Taihang Mountain Range, and summoned enormous flame lions from Lion King Ridge.

Demonic beasts from Lion King Ridge and Perching Dragon Valley overwhelmed the cultivators defending Jade Dragon Valley, forcing the Ye Family and other clans toward retreat. As the Cloud Lion Demon King attacked the Golden Core cultivators, two observers aboard a spirit vessel debated the Ye Family’s origins and whether Ye Jingcheng might be a suitable successor.

• Crimson Flame Cloud Lions and other demonic beasts attacked the cultivators from above, below, and underground, breaching several families’ defenses.
• Ye Jingcheng and the Ye Family retreated toward the valley as Ye Xingliu ordered them to prepare for a full withdrawal.
• Two elderly Daoists watched the battle through a mirror and considered the lineages of the families, while Tianfu True Person showed particular interest in Ye Jingcheng.
• The Cloud Lion Demon King joined the battle and engulfed Three Origins True Person and Xuandao True Person in flames and gales.
• Ancient Fragrance True Person and Chengyun True Person attacked the Cloud Lion Demon King, but it broke through their techniques and worsened the defenders’ position.

Families and cultivators suffered heavy losses as the beast tide overwhelmed the mountain peaks, while Ye Jingcheng concealed his true strength despite wanting to protect the Ye Family. The survivors retreated into Jade Dragon Valley, where Master Tianzhen ordered them to keep resisting rather than flee.

• The Chu Family unleashed one-use artifacts, the Wan Family deployed its sword formation, and Ye Jingcheng recalled his Five Poison Bees as the fire suppressed them.
• Ye Jingli lost his Azure-Scaled Python to a Red Roc after Ye Jingcheng restrained him from charging into battle, and Ye Jingcheng rebuked him for risking his life.
• Ye Jingcheng kept his strength hidden, fought with the Evergreen Sword, and had the Jade Ring Rat collect materials while the families and Taiyi Sect disciples suffered mounting casualties.
• The northern peak's defensive line collapsed, prompting cultivators to retreat into the valley, and Ye Xingliu ordered the Ye Family to withdraw after losing members and spirit beasts.
• Master Tianzhen commanded the cultivators to continue resisting inside Jade Dragon Valley and forbade them from withdrawing.

Ye Jingcheng and the other cultivators fought to survive as Jade Dragon Valley became a fire-filled trap, with demonic beasts attacking from every direction. The Thousand Stars Return to One Grand Formation activated and began slaughtering the beasts, giving the battered families a chance to recover.

• Ye Xingliu ordered the Ye Family cultivators to form up and use spirit talismans as waves of flying beasts attacked.
• Ye Jingcheng, Ye Xingliu, and Ye Jingyu used their defensive treasures and spells, but the Ye Family lost three people and many spirit beasts.
• Flame-Tailed Wolves, Flame Pythons, and more demonic beasts sealed the valley entrances, leaving the cultivators desperate.
• Ye Jingcheng recognized the lights appearing on the stone walls and urged the cultivators to attack instead of continuing to defend.
• The Thousand Stars Return to One Grand Formation formed star blades that pierced the flying beasts, and Ye Jingcheng told his people to collect the remains they had attacked.

The cultivators turned the beast tide into a rout and drove off the Demon Kings, though they failed to kill them. Ye Jingcheng pursued Golden-Scaled Beasts and Armored Beasts for their demon cores while the sect’s True Persons suspected the Earth Dragon Demon King had orchestrated the unusually coordinated attack.

• The Thousand Stars Return to One Grand Formation wounded the Purple Palace demon beasts, allowing Ye Haicheng and the other cultivators to counterattack as the beasts fled.
• The Three Origins True Person tried to kill the Three-Eyed Demon King, but its black flames burned his Three Yuan Sword Embryo and forced him to abandon the pursuit.
• Jin Chengyun and Kong Guxiang blocked the Cloud Lion Demon King’s fireball, but it escaped, while the red-faced Daoist and Tianfu True Person watched from the treasure boat.
• The red-faced Daoist speculated that the Earth Dragon Demon King belonged to the Beast Desolation Lineage and had secretly directed the beast tide.
• Ye Jingcheng pursued Golden-Scaled Beasts and Armored Beasts for their demon cores, and his Golden-Scaled Beast eagerly joined the hunt after he sent it a divine sense fluctuation about the cores.
• Ye Jingcheng released seven or eight hundred Five Poison Bees, whose insect cloud swept toward the rugged mountains.