Chapter Summaries

Li Xuancang agreed to marry Du Ruomei, and their families began preparing for the betrothal. Meanwhile, Ouyang De reached the Profound Heart Sect and revealed Li Xuancang’s rise to the Profound Connection Realm, leaving Elder Qingxuan stunned.

• Mother Li and Father Li approved of Du Ruomei, and Li Xuancang agreed to the marriage alliance with her.
• Li Xuancang took Du Ruomei around Sweet Spring Commandery, and the two grew more familiar before Du Tianfeng returned with her to the Du Family.
• Li Xuancang sent Bai Meng to escort the Du Family party out of Cool Prefecture and felt a wave of loss as they departed.
• Ouyang De arrived at the Profound Heart Sect and requested an audience with Elder Qingxuan on Li Xuancang’s behalf.
• Ouyang De introduced himself as Li Xuancang’s subordinate and disclosed that Li Xuancang was a Profound Connection Realm expert, shocking Qingxuan.

Li Ling'er faced mockery from Profound Heart Sect disciples over her poor cultivation and privileged treatment, but stood up to Zhao Ying with the truth that her brother provided her support. After Zhao Ying insulted her, Fang Qing comforted Li Ling'er and asked about her brother, but Li Ling'er kept his circumstances private.

• Ouyang De asked Elder Qingxuan to arrange a meeting with Li Ling'er so he could deliver her cultivation resources.
• Li Ling'er walked toward the dining hall and drew resentful looks from disciples who envied her residence and spirit stones.
• Zhao Ying and two outer sect disciples mocked Li Ling'er for her slow cultivation and suggested Elder Qingxuan favored her improperly.
• Li Ling'er replied that Elder Qingxuan cared for her because of her brother and that her brother gave her the spirit stones, then left Zhao Ying behind.
• Zhao Ying insulted Li Ling'er, and Fang Qing comforted her before asking who her brother was; Li Ling'er said she did not know much and kept his cultivation secret.

Elder Qingxuan summoned Li Ling'er and Zhang Cuier, where Ouyang De delivered Li Xuancang's resources and revealed his new status and Profound Connection Realm cultivation. Learning that Li Xuancang backed Li Ling'er, Elder Qingxuan offered to take her as his disciple, and she accepted.

• Wu Chuanfeng summoned Li Ling'er to Elder Qingxuan, while the disciples speculated about her influence and Zhao Ying feared she would complain.
• A disciple summoned Zhang Cuier to Elder Qingxuan's palace, where she and Li Ling'er met again after months apart.
• Ouyang De respectfully greeted Li Ling'er and delivered cultivation resources sent by Li Xuancang.
• Ouyang De revealed that Li Xuancang had become Sweet Spring Commandery's Commandery Defender and reached the Profound Connection Realm, shocking Zhang Cuier and everyone in the hall.
• Elder Qingxuan offered to take Li Ling'er as his disciple, and she accepted after Ouyang De encouraged her.

Elder Qingxuan accepted Li Ling'er as his disciple and lavishly provided for her because of her brother Li Xuancang's Profound Connection Realm cultivation. Li Ling'er settled into Dewdrop Courtyard as the sect's disciples changed their attitudes toward her, and she continued to grow stronger.

• Elder Qingxuan gave Li Ling'er high-grade Foundation-Nourishing Pills and assigned her Dewdrop Courtyard, while Ouyang De departed to report the news to Li Xuancang.
• Zhang Cuier feared Li Xuancang's reaction, and Li Ling'er told Fang Qing that Elder Qingxuan had accepted her as his disciple.
• Wu Chuanfeng and the other disciples helped Li Ling'er move into Dewdrop Courtyard, where she treated them to an expensive meal.
• News of Li Xuancang's cultivation spread through the Profound Heart Sect, and disciples and staff who had once ignored Li Ling'er eagerly sought her favor.
• Li Ling'er remained focused on cultivation and quickly reached the Bone Forging Realm with the help of her resources and Spirit-Gathering Formation.

Li Xuancang joined the Blackbird Merchant Association to hunt the Demonic Beasts in Sunset Glow Canyon, then learned that a rumored ancient cave abode was drawing cultivators and gangs to the area. Intrigued by the powerful expert’s possible legacy, he decided not to miss the opportunity.

• Dong Linghui invited Li Xuancang to hunt the canyon’s Demonic Beasts, and Li Xuancang negotiated for seventy percent of the profits.
• Li Xuancang and the Blackbird Merchant Association entered Sunset Glow Canyon and found over a hundred Demonic Beasts, including five in the Astral Qi Realm.
• Li Xuancang subdued the Demonic Beasts with ease, left the Blackbird Merchant Association to handle them, and asked them to investigate the crowds gathering nearby.
• The Blackbird Merchant Association reported that a rumor of an ancient cave abode in the canyon had drawn Rogue Cultivators and gangs in search of its treasures and legacy.
• Li Xuancang became intrigued by the cave abode and decided to pursue the powerful expert’s legacy for his subordinates or the Imperial Court.

Thousands of cultivators gathered at Sunset Glow Canyon to claim a cave dwelling, and the Profound Purity Sect and Profound Sword Sect arrived to contest it. News of the discovery spread across Great Yan, drawing the Imperial Court, the Profound Heart Sect, the Prison Tiger Bureau, and Grassland tribes toward Sweet Spring Commandery as the cave remained sealed.

• Ouyang Meng led Blacksteel Camp to Sunset Glow Canyon as thousands gathered around the cave dwelling's restriction.
• Elder Sun of the Profound Purity Sect arrived and proposed that his sect lead the effort to break the restriction and divide the resources by contribution.
• Liu Feiyan led the Profound Sword Sect to the canyon, and she and Sun He faced off as the crowd watched.
• News reached the Profound Heart Sect, prompting a party to set out for Sweet Spring Commandery.
• The Imperial Court ordered Li Xuancang to seize the cave dwelling, while the Prison Tiger Bureau and Grassland tribes dispatched their own forces.
• Major powers converged on Sweet Spring Commandery, while the cave dwelling's gate remained sealed.

The Grassland People, Demon Race, Barbarians, and Evil Cultivators turned on the Profound Sword Sect after Liu Feiyan urged the gathered factions to attack the Grassland People. Zhao Wuji and the Profound Heart Sect joined the fight to protect the besieged sect, but the other factions still held back.

• Liu Feiyan called on the gathered factions to eliminate the Grassland People, but the Profound Purity Sect and other groups refused to take sides.
• Man Xuan urged the Grassland People, Demon Race, Barbarians, and Evil Cultivators to strike the Profound Sword Sect, while the remaining factions stepped aside.
• Man Xuan attacked Liu Feiyan, and a giant winged python struck her from behind, leaving her gravely wounded.
• The hostile factions surrounded the Profound Sword Sect disciples as Dugu Sha, Ghost Hand Venerable, and the Barbarians sought to capture Liu Feiyan alive.
• Zhao Wuji and the Profound Heart Sect intervened to fight beside the Profound Sword Sect, and Zhao Wuji demanded that the other factions stop standing by.

Li Xuancang arrived at Sunset Glow Canyon and rescued Liu Feiyan and the Profound Heart Sect from the attacking factions, killing the Bronze-Armored Corpse and Dugu Sha. Three Profound Connection Realm experts then emerged to confront him, leaving the other factions waiting to see whether they could escape.

• The four major factions overwhelmed the Profound Heart Sect and Profound Sword Sect, with Man Xuan gravely wounding Zhao Wuji and Dugu Sha capturing Liu Feiyan.
• The Blacksteel Camp arrived, and Li Xuancang charged into the battlefield, driving the attackers into panic.
• Li Xuancang struck Ghost Hand Venerable and destroyed the Bronze-Armored Corpse, then killed Dugu Sha after catching up to him.
• Li Xuancang ordered his forces to seal off the battlefield and prevent anyone from escaping.
• Meng Chi and two other Profound Connection Realm experts appeared and challenged Li Xuancang, while the other factions considered fleeing if he lost.

Li Xuancang overwhelmed three Profound Connection Realm powerhouses who attacked him together, forcing Murong Chong and Meng Chi to flee. He pursued the fleeing Mountain-Splitting Lord, while the stunned onlookers were left behind.

• Li Xuancang charged the three powerhouses and repelled Murong Chong, Mountain-Splitting Lord, and Meng Chi in a single exchange.
• Murong Chong unleashed a massive blade attack, but Li Xuancang shattered it and injured him.
• Murong Chong fled, and Meng Chi followed, abandoning Mountain-Splitting Lord as the surrounding factions fled too.
• Mountain-Splitting Lord transformed into a winged tiger and escaped into the clouds, but Li Xuancang chased after him.

Li Xuancang chased Mountain-Splitting Lord to his mountain lair and overpowered him in a brutal fight. After Li Xuancang tore out Mountain-Splitting Lord’s heart, the dying demon began swelling and released his demon essence in a final attempt to take them both to the Yellow Springs.

• Mountain-Splitting Lord burned his vital blood to speed toward his mountain range, but Li Xuancang caught up and forced him to stop fleeing.
• Mountain-Splitting Lord transformed into his half-human, half-demon form and attacked Li Xuancang with a full-strength pounce.
• Li Xuancang broke Mountain-Splitting Lord’s arms, pried open his jaws, and tore them apart, causing the demon essence in his mouth to explode.
• Li Xuancang punched through Mountain-Splitting Lord’s chest and ripped out his still-beating heart.
• Mountain-Splitting Lord began swelling and released his demon essence to make them perish together, while Li Xuancang threw away the heart and shielded himself with Blood Qi Force.

Li Xuancang survived Mountain-Splitting Lord’s attempt to take him down with him, but returned to the gorge badly wounded and ordered the gathered factions to leave. He let the Profound Heart Sect stay, while the Blacksteel Camp blocked the exits and the factions still refusing to leave faced a standoff.

• Li Xuancang escaped the explosion, retrieved Mountain-Splitting Lord’s still-beating heart, and resolved not to underestimate other Profound Connection Realm experts again.
• Li Xuancang returned to the gorge and gave everyone a quarter of an hour to leave the cave estate, claiming it belonged to Great Yan.
• Liu Feiyan thanked Li Xuancang for saving her, then led the injured Profound Sword Sect disciples away.
• Li Xuancang allowed Zhao Wuji and the Profound Heart Sect to remain and compete for the inheritance.
• Li Xuancang ordered the Blacksteel Camp to seal the gorge’s entrances and exits, prompting most factions to leave while the Profound Purity Sect, Spirit Sword Sect, and some Rogue Cultivators stayed.

Li Xuancang slaughtered those who refused to leave, broke the barrier around the cave abode, and entered with the Profound Heart Sect and Blacksteel Camp. Inside, tainted spiritual energy and absolute darkness trapped the group as an unseen attacker began striking them.

• Li Xuancang killed Sun He and the remaining holdouts who had ignored his warning to leave.
• Li Xuancang broke the barrier by repeatedly punching it, then opened the bronze gates and entered the cave abode with the others.
• Those who had fled returned and forced their way inside, drawn by the inheritance and the powerful spiritual energy.
• Li Xuancang sensed danger in the spiritual energy and warned everyone not to inhale it, but the cave abode shook and plunged them into darkness.
• Cultivators began coughing and burning from the tainted energy, while unseen attacks triggered screams; Zhao Wuji told everyone not to strike blindly.

Li Xuancang’s group escaped the darkness and entered an underground palace, where they discovered an Evil Cultivator being reborn from a blood-colored vortex. Zhao Wuji realized the cave dwelling had been a trap, and the survivors faced the prospect of dying when the rebirth was complete.

• Li Xuancang illuminated the darkness with his Blood Qi Force, revealing bat-like attackers, while his group searched for an exit.
• A deadly spirit-pattern formation slaughtered many later arrivals and dragged their corpses toward a black vortex.
• Tao Tianyang and the Prison Tiger Bureau arrived outside and began setting up the Nine Heavens Demon-Subduing Formation, accepting that it would trap anyone still inside.
• Li Xuancang’s group reached the underground palace, where they counted more than a hundred Blacksteel Camp deaths and found five Profound Heart Sect disciples missing.
• A pale man emerged from the blood-colored vortex as his overwhelming aura injured the cultivators; Zhao Wuji recognized that the dead were sacrifices for the Evil Cultivator’s rebirth.

Li Xuancang battled the newly revived Blood Sea Old Devil in the underground palace, where the ancient Evil Cultivator sought to claim Li Xuancang’s powerful body. Li Xuancang’s strength surprised Blood Sea Old Devil, but the fight continued with neither side defeated.

• Li Xuancang struck the vortex repeatedly, but Blood Sea Old Devil completed his rebirth and blasted Li Xuancang backward with his evil aura, killing over a hundred Blacksteel Camp soldiers.
• Blood Sea Old Devil emerged from the shrinking vortex and identified Li Xuancang as valuable prey, while Zhao Wuji recognized him as the legendary Blood Sea Old Devil.
• Li Xuancang charged Blood Sea Old Devil and forced him back with a punch that dimmed the black rune in his palm.
• Blood Sea Old Devil dodged Li Xuancang’s next punch and attacked from behind, but Li Xuancang deflected the claw with his elbow, leaving his armor torn and his flesh unharmed.
• Li Xuancang dismissed Blood Sea Old Devil’s questions and launched a storm of punches at him.

Li Xuancang fought Blood Sea Old Devil, whose superior combat skill and corrosive attacks steadily wore him down despite his formidable body and healing. Blood Sea Old Devil praised Li Xuancang’s strength and revealed that his soul had repelled three attempts to attack it.

• Li Xuancang’s punches failed to break through Blood Sea Old Devil’s shield, and Blood Sea Old Devil wounded him with Bone-Eroding Spirit Light.
• Li Xuancang caught and broke Blood Sea Old Devil’s black spear, but Blood Sea Old Devil struck him through a stone wall and injured him further.
• Blood Sea Old Devil criticized Li Xuancang’s crude fighting, prompting Li Xuancang to add feints and variations to his attacks.
• Blood Sea Old Devil continued landing corrosive attacks while Li Xuancang fought for hours, leaving him covered in wounds and nearing his body’s limit.
• Blood Sea Old Devil told Li Xuancang that his soul had rebounded three soul attacks and studied him with fervent admiration.

Blood Sea Old Devil offered Li Xuancang discipleship, but Li Xuancang refused to yield and prepared to fight. The Prison Tiger Bureau’s Demon-Subduing Force struck the underground palace, letting Li Xuancang and the other captives escape as Blood Sea Old Devil was wounded.

• Blood Sea Old Devil offered to take Li Xuancang as his disciple and promised to help him reach greater strength, but Li Xuancang rejected him and challenged him to fight.
• Blood Sea Old Devil summoned countless resentful souls to attack Li Xuancang, but violent tremors broke through the underground palace ceiling.
• Golden Demon-Subduing Force poured into the palace, destroying the creatures and Evil Cultivators and weakening Blood Sea Old Devil.
• Blood Sea Old Devil recognized the Prison Tiger Bureau’s power and was struck by a golden pillar of light, leaving him badly wounded.
• Li Xuancang urged the others to flee, and the group escaped to the entrance, where Prison Tiger Bureau members were surprised to see several thousand survivors.

Li Xuancang, Shen Chongyuan, and Prison Tiger Bureau fighters joined forces against the Blood River Old Devil as the Demon-Suppression Formation threatened everyone trapped inside. The formation’s final strike engulfed the devil after Li Xuancang stopped his escape.

• Tao Tianyang refused to release Li Xuancang and the others, explaining that opening the barrier would undo the seal on the Blood Sea Old Devil.
• Shen Chongyuan joined Li Xuancang, and Tao Tianyang entered the formation with two Profound Connection Realm experts to attack the Blood River Old Devil.
• Li Xuancang and Shen Chongyuan joined the Prison Tiger Bureau fighters in a five-on-one assault, wounding the Blood River Old Devil.
• Tao Tianyang and the other two bound the Blood River Old Devil with Demon-Subduing chains and prepared the formation’s final strike.
• The Blood River Old Devil broke free and tried to flee, but Li Xuancang punched him back into the Demon-Subduing light, which engulfed him.

After the Demon-Suppression Light destroyed the underground palace, Li Xuancang returned to Sweet Spring Commandery and learned that Li Ling'er was safe with the Profound Heart Sect. A month later, the Imperial Court ordered Shen Chongyuan to take the Cool Prefecture Army to fight Prince Fu’s rebellion, threatening the power he had built in Cool Prefecture.

• Li Xuancang shielded thousands from the Demon-Suppression Light, then returned to the commandery city with Mountain-Splitting Lord’s heart sealed in a spirit-jade box.
• Ouyang De reported that Li Ling'er had become Elder Qingxuan’s disciple, and Li Xuancang resolved to punish Zhang Cuier for betraying his trust.
• Dong Linghui delivered the requested pills and more than ten million taels from the sale of Demonic Beasts, and Li Xuancang distributed the pills to Ouyang De and the others.
• Liu Jin delivered an imperial edict ordering Shen Chongyuan to lead the Cool Prefecture Army to the front within twenty days to suppress Zhu Huan’s rebellion.
• Shen Chongyuan accepted the edict despite fearing that leaving Cool Prefecture would let Li Xuancang take control of his territory.

Shen Chongyuan led the Cool Prefecture Army toward Cloud Prefecture under the Imperial Court’s orders, while Li Xuancang recognized that the Court might eventually turn against him too. The Grassland People chose to invade Great Li instead of Cool Prefecture, and Li Xuancang worried that the Imperial Court’s war against Prince Fu was going badly.

• Shen Chongyuan reluctantly ordered the Cool Prefecture Army to march for Cloud Prefecture after realizing he could not defy the Imperial Court.
• Li Xuancang reflected that the Court could discard him once he was no longer useful, and resolved that strength was the surest protection against its schemes.
• The people of Cool Prefecture mostly celebrated the army’s departure, while the Grassland People decided to invade Great Li rather than challenge Li Xuancang.
• After more than a month passed without a grassland attack, Li Xuancang noted his growing strength and worried about the Imperial Court’s worsening war against Prince Fu.

On the battlefield in Spirit Yang Prefecture, the Imperial Court's army struggled against Cloud Prefecture's relentless assault and the Evil Cultivators' corpse-controlling arts. After a costly day of fighting, Zhu Xuanye's forces withdrew to their defensive line and called for reinforcements.

• Evil Cultivators used drumbeats to raise fallen soldiers as corpses, and Zhu Xuanye ordered Shen Chongyuan to lead the Cool Prefecture Army against the enemy's left flank.
• The Cool Prefecture Army collapsed in battle because many of its soldiers were inexperienced civilians, and Zhu Xuanye sent Du Tianhao's troops to support them.
• Yang Yuntian and Zhu Xuanye fought a fierce duel in the sky while the armies and cultivators clashed across the battlefield.
• Evil Cultivators used the battlefield's blood, corpses, and wandering souls to advance their arts as fighting continued until nightfall.
• After the Cloud Prefecture Army withdrew, Zhu Xuanye's wounded forces returned to their defenses and urged him to request reinforcements.