Chapter Summaries

Fang Yu joined Yellow Maple Valley’s delegation for the Blood-Colored Forbidden Land and met the Moon-Covering Sect’s Rainbow Robed Fairy, whose charm arts failed to affect him. Li Huayuan interrupted her advances, and she insisted that Fang Yu was interested in the sect’s dual cultivation arts.

• Fang Yu greeted Li Huayuan and joined the disciples traveling to the forbidden land on Li Huayuan’s Silver-Armored Horned Python.
• Yellow Maple Valley arrived at the meeting mountain early and waited for the other sects to gather before entering the forbidden land.
• The Clear Void Sect arrived first the next morning, and Fuyunzi, Li Huayuan, and Qiong Old Monster made a wager.
• Rainbow Robed Fairy approached Fang Yu and tried to charm him, but he resisted with the Origin Spirit Art and used the clear state of mind to temper his mental strength.
• Li Huayuan interrupted Rainbow Robed Fairy when she offered to match Fang Yu with a Moon-Covering Sect disciple, and she claimed Fang Yu was interested in their dual cultivation arts.

At the gathering between Yellow Maple Valley, the Moon-Covering Sect, and Clear Void Sect, Fang Yu accepted Rainbow Robed Fairy’s offer to choose a Dao companion and singled out the white-clad disciple Nangong Wan. The chapter ended with Rainbow Robed Fairy trying to stop him and Nangong Wan angrily suspecting that Fang Yu had recognized her hidden identity.

• Li Huayuan passed Rainbow Robed Fairy’s offer to Fang Yu, who asked whether her promise was genuine.
• After Rainbow Robed Fairy confirmed the offer, Fang Yu pointed to the young white-clad disciple Nangong Wan.
• Rainbow Robed Fairy objected that Nangong Wan was too young and had a special constitution, while Li Huayuan and Fuyunzi challenged her explanation.
• Fang Yu declared that he would wait until Nangong Wan formed her Golden Core and promised to treat her sincerely.
• Nangong Wan blushed in anger and suspected Fang Yu had seen through her identity as a Core Formation cultivator disguised as a Qi Refinement disciple.

Fang Yu tried to keep Nangong Wan from entering the Blood-Colored Forbidden Land, but the other sects arrived before he could persuade her. At the forbidden land, he finally drew her aside to speak, leaving her convinced he wanted dual cultivation.

• Fang Yu abandoned his attempt to persuade Rainbow Robed Fairy after Spirit Beast Mountain and Giant Sword Sect arrived, then watched the sects gather.
• Zhong Lingdao warned Fang Yu that Moon-Covering Sect disciples might use seductive arts, and Fang Yu claimed he had only approached Nangong Wan to test her suspicions.
• The seven sects’ Core Formation cultivators completed their discussion and led their disciples to the barren slopes before the Blood-Colored Forbidden Land.
• Fang Yu slipped among the Moon-Covering Sect disciples and insisted on speaking with Nangong Wan, despite the steward’s efforts to stop him.
• Nangong Wan agreed to follow Fang Yu to a secluded spot and rejected what she assumed was his offer of dual cultivation.

Fang Yu warned Nangong Wan not to enter the Blood-Colored Forbidden Land without revealing his full reason. She chose to trust the warning, stayed behind as the seven sects’ disciples entered, and was questioned by Rainbow Robed Fairy.

• Nangong Wan confronted Fang Yu after he exposed her identity, and he warned her that she should avoid the Blood-Colored Forbidden Land.
• Fang Yu returned to Yellow Maple Valley as seven Core Formation cultivators attacked the Wind-Blade Formation with their magic treasures.
• After hours of fighting, the seven cultivators opened a passage and urged the disciples of the seven sects to enter.
• Nangong Wan decided that her life mattered more than the forbidden land’s treasures and stayed behind.
• After the disciples entered and the passage vanished, Rainbow Robed Fairy asked Nangong Wan why she had not gone in.

Nangong Wan and Rainbow Robed Fairy discussed why Nangong Wan could not enter the forbidden grounds and the risk that Qiong Old Monster would lose his wager. Their conversation turned to Fang Yu’s talent and a possible future between him and Nangong Wan, leaving her embarrassed and Rainbow Robed Fairy worried about facing Qiong Old Monster.

• Nangong Wan kept her reasons for withdrawing to herself, resented Fang Yu, and admitted that he had more or less recognized her identity.
• Rainbow Robed Fairy questioned how Fang Yu could see through Nangong Wan’s reincarnation art, and Nangong Wan speculated that his physique or spirit eyes were unusual.
• Nangong Wan and Rainbow Robed Fairy praised Fang Yu’s exceptional aptitude and discussed the prospect of Yellow Maple Valley gaining several thunder-attributed disciples.
• Rainbow Robed Fairy teased Nangong Wan about becoming Dao companions with Fang Yu, and Nangong Wan blushed and denied having such intentions.
• Nangong Wan reminded Rainbow Robed Fairy that Qiong Old Monster might lose his wager, and Rainbow Robed Fairy worried about his reaction before teasing Nangong Wan again.

Fang Yu sought a way to use Nangong Wan’s seduction arts to temper his spirit, but Li Huayuan summoned him and warned him about the Moon-Covering Sect’s techniques. Afterward, Fang Yu quietly moved closer to Nangong Wan while Li Huayuan reflected on the sects’ wager.

• Fang Yu considered using seduction arts to cultivate the Origin Spirit Art and focused on Nangong Wan as a possible source of help.
• The Rainbow Robed Fairy told Nangong Wan that Fang Yu was watching her, and Nangong Wan blushed faintly.
• Li Huayuan summoned Fang Yu and asked whether the Moon-Covering Sect disciple had bewitched him; Fang Yu denied it and offered no explanation for finding her strange.
• Fuyunzi questioned Li Huayuan about the Moon-Covering Sect’s unusually young disciples, and Li Huayuan reassured him while concealing what Fang Yu had said.
• Li Huayuan privately considered his confidence in Yellow Maple Valley’s disciples, while Fang Yu shifted closer to Nangong Wan.

Fang Yu waited safely outside the Blood-Colored Forbidden Land while Qiong Old Monster questioned why Nangong Wan had stayed out. Nangong Wan insisted her decision came from a spiritual warning, leaving Qiong Old Monster unconvinced.

• Nangong Wan sent Fang Yu to stand beside Li Huayuan, who welcomed him and kept him close.
• Qiong Old Monster learned Nangong Wan had not entered the forbidden land and worried that the Moon-Covering Sect disciples would fail to cooperate and complete their mission.
• After the Moon-Covering Sect stewards recounted what they had seen, Qiong Old Monster fixed Fang Yu with an angry gaze, and Li Huayuan stepped in to protect him.
• Li Huayuan warned Fang Yu to avoid leaving the sect for the next few years, and Fang Yu thanked him.
• Qiong Old Monster asked Nangong Wan why she had stayed out; she blamed a spiritual warning and said Fang Yu merely had some history with her.

Han Li and the other survivors emerged from the Blood-Colored Forbidden Land as the sect elders worried over the Moon-Covering Sect’s delayed disciples. After the passage closed, the sects compared their spirit-herb harvests, and Han Li was revealed to have gathered nineteen stalks.

• Disciples from several sects emerged injured, while no one from the Moon-Covering Sect appeared and Qiong Old Monster, Rainbow Robed Fairy, and Nangong Wan grew worried.
• Han Li emerged from the passage, joining four other surviving disciples from Yellow Maple Valley.
• Nearly twenty Moon-Covering Sect disciples came out together, easing their elders’ fears and stunning Li Huayuan and Fuyunzi.
• A little old man scrambled out just before the passage closed, which then shattered and vanished.
• The sects compared their spirit-herb harvests, and Han Li led the individual totals with nineteen stalks.

After returning to Yellow Maple Valley, Fang Yu studied formations and traveled to Golden Horse City to meet Xin Ruyin. He offered her a five-hundred-year Yellow Lotus Essence in exchange for refining formations and promised to seek a way to resolve her Dragon Roar Physique, leaving her to decide whether to trust him.

• Fang Yu heard Nie Ying reveal that Han Li had killed a peak Qi Refinement disciple and possessed a top-grade magic artifact and a talisman treasure.
• Fang Yu asked Nie Ying where to find formation texts, then visited the Heavenly Knowledge Pavilion and Sacred Peak Foothill Hall to study them.
• Fang Yu left Yellow Maple Valley for Yuanwu Kingdom, intending to meet Xin Ruyin in Golden Horse City.
• Fang Yu deceived Qi Yunxiao into bringing him to Xin Ruyin's home by claiming he was her master's old acquaintance.
• Fang Yu admitted his lie, offered Xin Ruyin a five-hundred-year Yellow Lotus Essence, and asked her to refine several sets of formations.
• Xin Ruyin questioned how Fang Yu knew about her and kept a talisman ready while Fang Yu promised to do everything he could to resolve her Dragon Roar Physique.

Fang Yu arranged for Xin Ruyin and Qi Yunxiao to provide him with protective and illusion formations, then returned to Fang Qingxue with another request. The chapter left Fang Qingxue asking what he wanted this time.

• Xin Ruyin declined Fang Yu’s offer to help with her Dragon Chant Physique, so Fang Yu asked her to make protective and illusion formations instead.
• Xin Ruyin agreed to provide a formation within three months, and explained to Qi Yunxiao that she could use one left by her master to meet the deadline.
• Fang Yu bought the required materials at Stardust Pavilion and delivered them to Xin Ruyin, saying he would collect the formation in three months.
• Fang Yu returned to Fang Qingxue’s courtyard, and she let him into her quiet room and asked what he wanted.

Fang Yu asked Fang Qingxue how to resolve Xin Ruyin’s Dragon Chant Physique, and she gave him an Ice Chi Spirit Pearl to help. He left with the pearl as Fang Qingxue prepared to enter seclusion, allowing interruptions only if Bai Haichan, the Nine-Aperture Golden Pill, and the Flood Dragon Subduing Yellow Springs Diagram were found.

• Fang Yu asked Fang Qingxue about ways to resolve the physique of a friend who did not want to join an immortal sect.
• Fang Qingxue explained three methods: entering the Mystical Ability Realm, using an item of utmost yin and cold, or taking the sect’s Yin-Yang Reversal Pill.
• Fang Yu offered to exchange Nine Yang Sacred Water for a suitable cold treasure, and Fang Qingxue gave him an Ice Chi Spirit Pearl that could resolve the physique after about ten years of wearing it.
• Fang Yu thanked Fang Qingxue and left her meditation chamber.
• Fang Qingxue told Fang Qiang not to let anyone disturb her seclusion unless they found Bai Haichan, the Nine-Aperture Golden Pill, and the Flood Dragon Subduing Yellow Springs Diagram.

Fang Yu acquired Xin Ruyin and Qi Yunxiao’s Mountain-Sea Illusion Formation and commissioned them to make an Inverted Five Elements Grand Formation in exchange for a thousand-year ice-attributed spiritual herb. He then tested the illusion formation in his cave dwelling to temper his body and spirit, and Fang Qingxue told him that forgetting pain was the key to reaching the Spirit Communion Realm.

• Fang Yu returned to Xin Ruyin’s bamboo house and received the Mountain-Sea Illusion Formation from Xin Ruyin and Qi Yunxiao.
• Xin Ruyin offered to refine an Inverted Five Elements Grand Formation, and Fang Yu promised a thousand-year ice-attributed spiritual herb in exchange.
• Fang Yu gave Xin Ruyin a five-hundred-year Yellow Lotus Essence as a deposit and asked her to record the materials needed for the formation.
• Fang Yu obtained the requested materials from Madam Lan at Stardust Pavilion and delivered them to Xin Ruyin before returning to his cave dwelling.
• Fang Yu entered the illusion formation and endured intense simulated flames while cultivating the Origin Spirit Art and absorbing the Foundation Establishment Pill’s medicinal power.
• Fang Qingxue told Fang Yu to forget pain rather than endure it, explaining that this state was necessary to reach the Spirit Communion Realm.

Fang Yu continued tempering his spirit in an illusion array but remained stuck just short of the Spirit Communication Realm. Nangong Wan arrived at his cave abode to clarify and repay the favor she believed she owed him, then sent him a sound-transmission talisman.

• Fang Yu trained in an icy illusion, strengthening his spirit, but still could not disperse the haze blocking his breakthrough to the Spirit Communication Realm.
• Fang Yu recalled Fang Qingxue's advice that stimulating his spirit could trigger a breakthrough, though the method risked his life if his qi and blood could not support it.
• Nangong Wan flew to Fang Yu's cave abode after learning about the Black Flood Dragon and deciding it might have been the danger he had warned her about.
• Nangong Wan sent a sound-transmission talisman through Fang Yu's stone door and waited outside, noticing something that made her call him cautious and thorough.

Fang Yu welcomed Nangong Wan into his cave abode, where she came to repay him for warning the sect about the dangers in the forbidden land. He asked her to help temper his spiritual sense with charm arts, and she listened after clarifying that he did not mean dual cultivation.

• Fang Yu greeted Nangong Wan and invited her into his remote, well-defended cave abode.
• Nangong Wan praised Fang Yu's spiritual tea and explained that she had learned his warning about the forbidden land was justified, so she owed him a favor.
• Nangong Wan offered to grant Fang Yu one reasonable request as repayment.
• Fang Yu asked Nangong Wan to help him cultivate, and she initially mistook his request for an invitation to dual cultivate.
• Fang Yu explained that he wanted her charm arts to help temper his spiritual sense and demonstrated his illusion formation to support his explanation.

Fang Yu tried to persuade Nangong Wan to help him cultivate seduction arts, while she grew wary of the arrays in his cave. After he praised her beauty, Nangong Wan warmed to him, accepted the title of Uncle Nangong, and agreed to help him once.

• Nangong Wan inspected Fang Yu's arrays and grew uneasy about the Forbidden Grand Array in his cave.
• Nangong Wan declined Fang Yu's request to help with seduction arts and offered to have Rainbow Robed Fairy assist instead.
• Fang Yu insisted that he trusted only Nangong Wan, and she offered to stand guard while Rainbow Robed Fairy helped him.
• Fang Yu admitted that he preferred Nangong Wan because Rainbow Robed Fairy was not as beautiful, making Nangong Wan blush and teasingly call him a smooth talker.
• Nangong Wan told Fang Yu to call her Uncle Nangong, and she agreed to help him cultivate once.

Fang Yu tried to persuade Nangong Wan to stay and help him break through, while she insisted on leaving after four or five months together. Nangong Wan agreed to stay another month if Fang Yu gave her five more pills.

• Fang Yu and Nangong Wan grew closer as he taught her martial arts and they treated each other as peers.
• Nangong Wan announced she was leaving after helping Fang Yu cultivate for four or five months, but he complained that she had not fulfilled their agreement.
• Nangong Wan said she had already stayed an extra month and had broken through to the middle Core Formation stage with Fang Yu's pill.
• Fang Yu pleaded for Nangong Wan to stay one more month, and she demanded ten pills in exchange.
• Fang Yu claimed he had no pills left, but Nangong Wan noticed his hesitation and bargained for five.

Fang Yu broke through to the ninth level of physical cultivation, the Spirit Communion realm, while training with Nangong Wan, and she prepared to leave after repaying her debt. Before they could part, attackers began assaulting the restrictions around Fang Yu’s cave dwelling.

• Fang Yu reached the Spirit Communion realm and gained heightened perception, clearer thoughts, and the ability to discern Nangong Wan’s surface-level information.
• Fang Yu grabbed Nangong Wan’s hand during their sparring, then apologized and credited her help for his breakthrough.
• Nangong Wan said they no longer owed each other anything and announced that she was leaving, while allowing Fang Yu to visit her later at the Moon-Covering Sect.
• Fang Yu and Nangong Wan sensed an attack on the cave dwelling’s restrictions and went outside to investigate.
• Nangong Wan prepared to kill the attackers, but Fang Yu stopped her and said his formation should hold while they dealt with the situation.

Fang Yu and Nangong Wan dealt with the spirit possessing “Brother Lin” as reinforcements from the Thousand Bamboo Sect demanded that he be handed over. Just as Nangong Wan prepared to confront them, a Core Formation cultivator arrived, leaving her and Fang Yu scrambling to explain why they were together.

• Nangong Wan captured “Brother Lin’s” spirit, and he offered the Great Development Art in exchange for his life.
• “Brother Lin” claimed the art helped cultivators break through bottlenecks, but Nangong Wan questioned him and then destroyed his spirit.
• Thousand Bamboo Sect reinforcements arrived on a bamboo raft and demanded that Fang Yu surrender the fugitive.
• Nangong Wan said she would deal with the reinforcements, but a Core Formation cultivator’s arrival sent the sect members fleeing and startled her and Fang Yu.
• Nangong Wan told Fang Yu to claim she had followed the sect members to his cave and reminded him to address her as Senior Nangong.

Lei Wanhe arrived in time to kill the Thousand Bamboo Sect cultivators threatening Fang Yu, then questioned Fang Yu about Nangong Wan and Senior Brother Lin's death. He ultimately revealed that he had come to ask whether Fang Yu would dual-cultivate with Martial Aunt Hong Fu's disciple.

• Lei Wanhe killed Yellow Dragon and the other Thousand Bamboo Sect cultivators with his lightning attack, then reunited with Fang Yu.
• Nangong Wan told Lei Wanhe that she had visited Fang Yu's cave abode and left to return to her sect.
• Fang Yu led Lei Wanhe into the Inverted Five Elements Formation, which Lei Wanhe praised as difficult to break through.
• Lei Wanhe examined Senior Brother Lin's corpse and identified Gu poison from the Gu Poison Sect of the Far Western Lands as the cause of death.
• Fang Yu refused to reveal why Nangong Wan had come, citing a heart demon oath, and Lei Wanhe accepted his explanation.
• Lei Wanhe asked whether Fang Yu would dual-cultivate with Martial Aunt Hong Fu's disciple, who needed a partner because of her cultivation technique.

Fang Yu learned that Hong Fu had proposed Dong Xuan'er as a possible Dao companion, but he politely declined because they barely knew each other. After Lei Wanhe left, Fang Yu examined his spoils from the Thousand Bamboo Sect and found the Great Development Technique and the Puppet True Explanation, giving him a path to improve his puppet craft.

• Lei Wanhe told Fang Yu that Hong Fu had proposed Dong Xuan'er because of Fang Yu's cultivation, aptitude, conduct, and appearance.
• Fang Yu asked about his fellow disciples and learned that Nie Ying had established her foundation while the Murong brothers were preparing to do so.
• Fang Yu politely declined to become Dao companions with Dong Xuan'er, and Lei Wanhe accepted his answer before leaving.
• Fang Yu collected the intact puppets and Storage Bags left behind by Lei Wanhe and searched Senior Brother Lin's corpse for its Storage Bag.
• Fang Yu found the Great Development Technique and the Puppet True Explanation on a jade slip, then sorted the spoils, including two Foundation Establishment puppets and numerous other items.