Chapter Summaries

Yin Qingxue and Su Shi'er spoke with a Buddhist senior sealed within a stone lotus, who explained that the formation they sought to break was the ancient Two Forms Dust Array. Su Shi'er then asked about the Dark Evil Formation covering the outside world, seeking to learn its origin and how to destroy it.

• The senior in the stone lotus revealed that the surrounding evil formation was a powerful Level Five Formation and warned that breaking it prematurely would be dangerous.
• Yin Qingxue asked about a formation with the gates of life, death, illusion, and extinction, and the senior identified it as the six-gated Two Forms Dust Array.
• The senior said breaking the array at full power required Spirit Severing cultivation, or locating its core and forging a Ninth Grade Mother-Child Array Breaking Hammer for an Out of Body cultivator.
• Yin Qingxue thanked the senior and agreed to pursue the first two requirements, while the senior offered to help after emerging from seclusion.
• Su Shi'er asked about the world outside, and the senior recognized his question concerned the Dark Evil Formation covering heaven and earth.
• Su Shi'er asked the senior about the Dark Evil Formation's origin and how it could be destroyed.

Su Shi'er learned that the dark evil formation could be broken by using a Divine Weapon to mobilize Earth Qi, but only Muyun Prefecture’s Earth Qi could meet the necessary conditions. As he considered seeking a suitable treasure in the East Sea Archipelago, Yin Qingxue warned him that the region faced severe threats from undersea demonic beasts.

• The Buddhist Sect senior explained that the dark evil formation was nearly flawless and drew on the Nine Provinces’ Five Elements spiritual qi, making it difficult to break by force.
• The senior said breaking the formation required gathering Earth Qi and using a Divine Weapon, with a Seventh-grade Magic Treasure sufficient if aided by a formation.
• Su Shi'er realized the Thousand Year Strike would have been suitable, but it had been detonated in the battle against the Venerable Lord of Demon Shadow Palace.
• The Buddhist Sect senior revealed that the method could work only with Muyun Prefecture’s Earth Qi, which was easier to mobilize because the Cang Mountain Demon Sealing Seal had made its spiritual qi sparse.
• Su Shi'er concluded that he might need to seek a suitable Divine Weapon in the East Sea Archipelago, but Yin Qingxue warned him that undersea demonic beasts there posed a grave danger.

Su Shi'er learned that the Dark Evil Formation was allowing sea demonic beasts to grow stronger and discussed the difficulty of finding materials to break it. A Buddhist senior identified the Southern Bright Leaving Fire within Su Shi'er as a possible refining material, and Su Shi'er accepted that sacrificing his Second Nascent Soul might be necessary.

• Yin Qingxue explained that the Dark Evil Formation blocked sunlight and solar qi, letting sea demonic beasts grow stronger and leaving the East Sea Archipelago unable to help Muyun Prefecture.
• Su Shi'er asked Yin Qingxue about refining a Ninth-grade Mother-Child Array Breaking Hammer, and Yin Qingxue said the required materials were too rare to find in Muyun Prefecture.
• Su Shi'er considered using the Heaven and Earth Furnace to upgrade a top-tier Sixth-grade Magical Treasure into a Seventh-grade one, but kept the furnace secret.
• The Vague Figure revealed that the Southern Bright Leaving Fire within Su Shi'er's body could serve as a material for refining a Seventh-grade Magic Treasure.
• Su Shi'er concealed that removing the fire would destroy his Second Nascent Soul, while privately deciding he would accept that sacrifice to break the formation and pursue his other goals.

Su Shi'er discussed advancing the Southern Bright Leaving Fire with the Buddhist elder, who promised to separate it from his body without harming his Nascent Soul. Yin Qingxue suspected Su Shi'er had stolen the Sacred Spirit Cult's Hope Fire, but Su Shi'er deflected his probing and resolved to investigate Yin Qingxue after they escaped.

• The Buddhist elder said the Hope Fire could raise Su Shi'er's Southern Bright Leaving Fire enough to forge a seventh-grade offensive Magical Treasure, and promised to extract it without harming his Nascent Soul.
• Yin Qingxue connected Su Shi'er to the past theft of the Sacred Spirit Cult's Hope Fire, but Su Shi'er denied being the thief and claimed his fire had absorbed other heavenly flames.
• Su Shi'er named Hou Sihai, Shen Miaoyin, and himself as other people who possessed the Southern Bright Leaving Fire, then noticed Yin Qingxue react to Hou Sihai's name.
• Su Shi'er suspected Yin Qingxue knew about Shen Miaoyin's disappearance and decided to capture him for answers once they left, but avoid a confrontation for now.
• Su Shi'er asked the Buddhist elder how he could separate the Southern Bright Leaving Fire from his body while preserving his Nascent Soul, and the elder raised an arm.

Su Shi'er questioned a Buddhist figure about using the Sandalwood Buddhist Beads to protect his Nascent Soul and learned that they would grant him Buddhist power while imposing an undisclosed responsibility. He accepted the beads for safekeeping but left without asking about Heavenly Capital, leaving that question for another time.

• The Vague Figure offered Su Shi'er the Sandalwood Buddhist Beads as a substitute for the Southern Bright Leaving Fire, explaining that they would protect his Nascent Soul and grant him Buddhist power.
• Su Shi'er asked what responsibility the beads entailed, but the Vague Figure refused to explain and urged him to keep them as a safeguard.
• Su Shi'er tried to return the beads, but his True Yuan could not move them; after questioning why he had been chosen, he accepted them.
• The Vague Figure invited Su Shi'er to ask another question, but Su Shi'er decided not to ask about Heavenly Capital in front of Yin Qingxue.
• Su Shi'er thanked the Vague Figure and departed, and the figure dissolved into smoke as the Buddhist light around the stone lotus vanished.

Su Shi'er and Yin Qingxue left the underground cavern to reach the Hope Fire atop the Sacred Spirit Cult's mountain. Su Shi'er prepared to use his Nascent Soul to collect it while Yin Qingxue watched closely, and the chapter ended as the heat set Su Shi'er's empty body ablaze.

• Su Shi'er left the blood sea and headed for the mountain, but Yin Qingxue insisted on accompanying him.
• Yin Qingxue explained that he wanted to help the trapped Buddhist Sect senior and earn his future assistance.
• Su Shi'er and Yin Qingxue reached the mountaintop, where the Hope Fire burned on the Wutong Tree.
• Su Shi'er decided to use his Nascent Soul to absorb the Hope Fire and flee before Yin Qingxue could discover his identity.
• As Su Shi'er approached the Hope Fire, its heat ignited his empty fleshly body.

Su Shi'er’s body was destroyed when his Second Nascent Soul escaped toward the apparent Hope Fire, which exploded and revealed itself as an illusion. Trapped by Yin Qingxue, Su Shi'er sensed a faint pull from beneath the earth and found the Hope Fire’s true location.

• Su Shi'er’s Nascent Soul escaped his burning body and rushed toward the Hope Fire as Yin Qingxue recognized him and attacked.
• The Hope Fire illusion exploded, and Su Shi'er maneuvered Yin Qingxue’s sword light into the blast to survive.
• Yin Qingxue identified Su Shi'er as the disguised Han Yu and sealed the Nascent Soul inside a barrier of sword qi.
• Su Shi'er stalled Yin Qingxue while searching for the real Hope Fire, then used the Southern Bright Leaving Fire to sense a pull from underground.

Su Shi'er tried to use the Hope Fire and Southern Bright Leaving Fire to persuade Yin Qingxue to delay their fight, but Yin attacked his Second Nascent Soul and sought to force Su Shi'er's true body to face him. Su Shi'er escaped underground toward the Hope Fire as Yin unleashed a devastating sword strike that began tearing apart the Sacred Spirit Cult's mountain.

• Su Shi'er denied Yin Qingxue's suspicions about Han Yu and urged him to leave so they could address the Dark Evil Formation and the Buddhist Sect senior's wishes.
• Yin Qingxue attacked Su Shi'er's Second Nascent Soul, intending to seize both fires and make Su Shi'er's true body come fight him.
• Su Shi'er released a whirlwind infused with the Southern Bright Leaving Fire, deflected the incoming sword qi, and plunged underground.
• Yin Qingxue summoned his flying sword with Cold Moon Twelve Odes · Moon Reflecting Cold Pine and combined it with his other sword qi into a massive strike.
• Yin Qingxue's sword light shattered the Sacred Spirit Cult's mountain formations and sent cultivators, mortals, and forest creatures fleeing.

Yin Qingxue’s sword strike exposed the Sacred Spirit Cult’s underground altar, and the Saintess trapped him within the Blood Sea Alchemy Furnace Soul Refining Formation. As the cult prepared to refine everyone within a hundred li, Mu Yingluo secretly sheltered Su Shi’er’s Second Nascent Soul beside a damaged formation.

• Yin Qingxue’s sword strike cleaved through the peak and revealed the formation seal, altar, six Nascent Soul cultivators, and thirty-six Pill Furnaces beneath it.
• Yin Qingxue failed to find Su Shi’er’s Second Nascent Soul and fled when he saw the Sacred Spirit Cult’s core figures.
• The Sacred Spirit Cult Saintess activated the Blood Sea Alchemy Furnace Soul Refining Formation, enclosing an area within a hundred li and repelling those who touched its boundary.
• Yin Qingxue recognized the formation and accused the Sacred Spirit Cult of planning to sacrifice everyone within its range.
• The five cultivators on the altar powered the formation while the furnace operators remained cut off from the outside world by illusions.
• Mu Yingluo watched the confrontation through a damaged formation eye while hiding Su Shi’er’s Second Nascent Soul in her arms.

Mu Yingluo secretly rescued Su Shi'er's fragile Second Nascent Soul inside the Sacred Spirit Cult's formation while Yin Qingxue was trapped by the cult's Saintess. Yin Qingxue broke free of the blood cocoon with the help of his azure battle armor, leaving the Saintess to question his identity.

• Su Shi'er slipped through cracks in the formation but lost consciousness before he could find the Hope Fire, and Mu Yingluo secretly sheltered his Second Nascent Soul.
• Mu Yingluo stabilized Su Shi'er's injuries with her True Yuan and concealed him in her bosom while he instinctively clung to her breast.
• Yin Qingxue accused the Sacred Spirit Cult Saintess of sacrificing cultivators and shifting the blame onto the Evil Spirit Ghost Cultivators of the Sinful Path.
• The Sacred Spirit Cult Saintess bound Yin Qingxue in a blood cocoon and planned to use him as a sacrifice to make up for the cult's losses.
• Yin Qingxue shattered the blood cocoon, and his azure battle armor repelled the blood threads as the Saintess demanded to know who he was.

Yin Qingxue fought the Sacred Spirit Cult Saintess inside the Blood Sea Alchemy Furnace Soul Refining Formation as it slaughtered nearly every living being within a hundred li. Underground, Mu Yingluo witnessed the deaths and began to fall into Qi Deviation, but the Sandalwood Buddhist Beads around Su Shi'er's Second Nascent Soul released Buddha Essence into her heart.

• Yin Qingxue broke free of the blood orb with his Cold Moon Twelve Odes - Pine Shadow Slash and sent a sword dragon toward the formation's boundary.
• The Sacred Spirit Cult Saintess used the Bodhisattva Seal - Solemn Guiding Voyage to seize the sword dragon and attack Yin Qingxue, then battled him in the air.
• The formation drained the lives of nearly all cultivators and mortals within a hundred li, turning them into blood and bones as the resulting blood mist strengthened the Sacred Spirit Cult Saintess.
• Mu Yingluo watched the slaughter through a flaw in the array eye and condemned herself for standing by, causing black qi from emerging inner demons to consume her reason.
• Sandalwood Buddhist Beads around Su Shi'er's unconscious Second Nascent Soul glowed and sent pure Buddha Essence into Su Shi'er's Nascent Soul and Mu Yingluo's heart.

Mu Yingluo recovered from an emerging inner demon, and Su Shi'er awakened while hidden in her robes. Together they traced the Sacred Spirit Cult’s Hope Fire to the earth fire beneath the pill furnaces, though they still needed to find a way to leave the formation.

• Buddha Essence in Su Shi'er's Nascent Soul dispelled Mu Yingluo's inner demon and restored her clarity.
• Su Shi'er woke and told Mu Yingluo that the Heavenly Capital pursuer would likely withstand the Sacred Spirit Cult Saintess.
• Su Shi'er began searching underground for the Sacred Spirit Cult’s remaining Hope Fire while Mu Yingluo helped him investigate.
• Mu Yingluo reasoned that the Hope Fire might be hidden near the pill furnaces, where earth fire burned.
• Su Shi'er realized the Sacred Spirit Cult had divided the Hope Fire and concealed it beneath the pill furnaces’ earth fire.

Su Shi'er and Mu Yingluo discovered that the array core lay beneath the altar and set out to seize the Hope Fire and break the formation. As Su Shi'er destroyed the first array seal, the elderly cultivator guarding the altar transformed into a demon cultivator.

• Su Shi'er explained that the altar concealed the array core and that breaking it could disrupt the evil formation.
• Mu Yingluo realized she had unknowingly helped the Sacred Spirit Cult’s scheme, but Su Shi'er used Buddha Essence to calm her and she vowed to protect him.
• Su Shi'er's Nascent Soul swallowed the earthfire containing the Hope Fire and shattered the isolation array beneath the Pill Furnace.
• Mu Yingluo restrained the two Golden Pill cultivators as Su Shi'er's Nascent Soul rushed toward another Pill Furnace and array.
• The elderly woman atop the altar awakened, descended, and transformed into a bewitching demon cultivator when her demonic nature surfaced.

Su Shi'er destroyed the Pill Furnaces sustaining the blood-colored array while Mu Yingluo fought Feng Heyu. The Sacred Spirit Cult Saintess tried to descend and stop him, but Yin Qingxue blocked her with a battle of his own, leaving their clash unresolved.

• Feng Heyu attacked Su Shi'er, but Mu Yingluo stepped in to fight her with her flying-fish sword.
• Su Shi'er absorbed the Hope Fire from the Pill Furnaces and destroyed them, weakening the blood-colored array.
• The Sacred Spirit Cult Saintess noticed the array core was under attack and rushed to intervene, but Yin Qingxue blocked her way.
• The Saintess unleashed Bodhisattva Seal: Guiding Passage, and Yin Qingxue countered with Twelve Moon Pledges: Night Shadow Illusion Dance, creating a hundred afterimages that evaded her attack.
• The afterimages formed different sword formulas as the Saintess realized they were not the real Yin Qingxue.

Yin Qingxue exhausted himself fighting the Sacred Spirit Cult Saintess, but the destruction of the formation’s Pill Furnaces forced her to abandon her attack. Su Shi'er obtained the Hope Fire and escaped the underground chamber with Mu Yingluo, only for the Saintess to intercept them as they reached the surface.

• Yin Qingxue’s sword technique broke the Sacred Spirit Cult Saintess’s defense, but he ran out of True Yuan before he could finish her off.
• The Saintess launched a holy attack at Yin Qingxue, then redirected it when the blood-red formation curtain began to collapse.
• Su Shi'er absorbed the Hope Fire from all thirty-six Pill Furnaces, causing the evil formation to begin collapsing.
• Su Shi'er chose not to disturb the four cultivators sealed in meditation and called Mu Yingluo to leave with him.
• Mu Yingluo withdrew from her fight with Feng Heyu and joined Su Shi'er as they flew out of the underground chamber.
• The Saintess’s Startling Rainbow struck Su Shi'er and Mu Yingluo after Mu Yingluo weakened it, and a furious white figure arrived as its light faded.

Su Shi'er and Mu Yingluo faced the Sacred Spirit Cult Saintess and Feng Heyu, but Su Shi'er trusted that they still had a chance. Yin Qingxue broke the Blood Sea Alchemy Furnace Soul Refining Formation from afar, forcing their enemies to abandon the fight and rush to repair it.

• The Sacred Spirit Cult Saintess and Feng Heyu joined forces to attack Su Shi'er's nascent soul and Mu Yingluo.
• Su Shi'er noticed Yin Qingxue escaping the formation and told Mu Yingluo they might still have a chance.
• Yin Qingxue sent a blade of sword qi back toward the blood-colored curtain after escaping through a fissure.
• The sword qi shattered the curtain and broke the Blood Sea Alchemy Furnace Soul Refining Formation.
• The Sacred Spirit Cult Saintess and Feng Heyu rushed underground to repair the formation, leaving Su Shi'er and Mu Yingluo behind.

Su Shi'er and Mu Yingluo fled after surviving a battle, but they encountered Ning Yuanqi and a water-blue-robed cultivator who unleashed a hurricane to gather the scattered blood mist. Mu Yingluo recognized the cultivator as her elder brother, who then attacked her and left her gravely wounded.

• Mu Yingluo praised Su Shi'er for staying calm and distracting their pursuers, and Su Shi'er urged her to leave Sacred Spirit Cult territory quickly.
• Su Shi'er recognized Ning Yuanqi and the water-blue-robed cultivator from the ice cavern beneath Demon Dragon Pool, whom he had believed dead.
• The water-blue-robed cultivator revealed half-step Out of Body cultivation and drew the blood mist into a massive hurricane with two black dragons.
• Mu Yingluo recognized the water-blue-robed cultivator as her elder brother, and he turned his attention toward her and Su Shi'er.
• The cultivator’s invisible pressure immobilized Su Shi'er and struck Mu Yingluo, causing her to bleed from her seven orifices as her aura and Nascent Soul Yuan rapidly weakened.

Su Shi'er used the Sandalwood Buddhist Beads to survive the pale blue figure’s attack and fled with the wounded Mu Yingluo, while Ning Yuanqi pursued them. After the Sacred Spirit Cult’s formation compressed the blood mist into a Pill Furnace, the pale blue figure supplied Earth Qi to complete the final step toward condensing the Blood Origin Bead.

• The Sandalwood Buddhist Beads protected Su Shi'er's Nascent Soul from the pale blue figure's crushing pressure, allowing him to flee with Mu Yingluo.
• The pale blue figure told Ning Yuanqi that the beads could restore the formation's depleted blood energy, and Ning Yuanqi chased after Su Shi'er and Mu Yingluo.
• After three days and nights, the pale blue figure withdrew his power, and the blood mist compressed into a blood-red Pill Furnace.
• The Sacred Spirit Cult Saintess and Feng Heyu reported that the damaged formation could not be fully repaired and that the Blood Origin Bead was still short of completion.
• The pale blue figure gathered Earth Qi into a mass and pressed it into the Pill Furnace, which began shaking more violently.

The Sacred Spirit Cult refined two Blood Origin Beads, fewer than Feng Heyu expected, and the Venerable One proposed waiting for Yin and yang to converge before striking the weakened Demon Sealing Great Formation. The Saintess planned to blame the deaths on the Evil Spirit Ghost Cultivators but remained wary of Su Shi'er and the Yun Ge Sect, suspecting his attempt to seize the Hope Fire concealed a deeper purpose.

• The blood-red Pill Furnace dissolved and left two Blood Origin Beads, disappointing the Sacred Spirit Cult Saintess and Feng Heyu.
• The Venerable One explained that the damaged formation could not yield more beads and said they might break the Demon Sealing Great Formation when Yin and yang converged.
• The Sacred Spirit Cult Saintess proposed blaming the deaths on the Evil Spirit Ghost Cultivators and relying on the cult's protective light to keep people dependent on it.
• The Saintess warned Feng Heyu not to underestimate Su Shi'er and the Yun Ge Sect, pointing out that Su Shi'er had risked entering the formation's core to seize the Hope Fire.
• Feng Heyu questioned Su Shi'er's intentions, while the Saintess looked toward the diminished peak with a profound gaze.

The Sacred Spirit Cult Saintess and Feng Heyu warned a middle-aged Venerable One that an ancient Buddhist Sect expert might threaten their plans to break the Demon Sealing Great Formation. After learning about Su Shi'er and his suspected treasure, the Venerable One revealed a Mu Family token and identified the East Sea Archipelago's mysterious inner islands as the family's domain.

• The Sacred Spirit Cult Saintess suggested that an ancient Buddhist Sect expert may have created the prophecy in the Hope Fire and survived the blood-sea formation.
• The Saintess warned Feng Heyu that the expert could break the Dark Descendant Asura Formation before cultivators from other provinces arrived to restore the Demon Sealing Great Formation.
• The middle-aged Venerable One asked about Su Shi'er, and the Saintess and Feng Heyu recounted his history and strength.
• The Venerable One speculated that Su Shi'er possessed an extraordinary treasure and said Ning Yuanqi was pursuing his wounded Nascent Soul.
• The Venerable One revealed a token bearing the name Mu Yuanji and identified it as belonging to the Mu Family of the East Sea Archipelago.
• The Saintess explained that the Mu Family likely controlled the mysterious inner islands beyond the Thirteen Docks of the East Sea.