Chapter Summaries

Jiang Chen used his newly arrived simulation system to watch Liu Ruyan set fire to Sunset Glow Peak and uncover her plan to expose the Azure Mist Sect’s array eye. He began his first simulation by going to the Discipline Hall to report her, but the chapter ended before he could explain the danger.

• Jiang Chen discovered that his system could show a twelve-hour plot and let him simulate it three times before choosing an ending.
• Jiang Chen watched Liu Ruyan set fire to Sunset Glow Peak, search its spiritual veins, and send out the location of the Azure Mist Array’s life gate.
• Jiang Chen realized Liu Ruyan was a Demon Sect mole and weighed whether to flee or use the simulations to gain an advantage.
• Jiang Chen started his first simulation at the Discipline Hall, where he found the on-duty deacon, Han Yan.
• Jiang Chen tried to report the incident to Han Yan, but the chapter ended as he began speaking.

After the first simulation ended with Liu Ruyan captured and Jiang Chen trapped in the Discipline Hall, he changed tactics and offered to help her infiltrate the Azure Mist Sect. The second simulation ended with him refining Qi and leaving the sect to watch what happened from a nearby mountain.

• Jiang Chen helped Deacon Han and Zhong Fuzi capture Liu Ruyan, but the Discipline Hall also placed him under house arrest and questioned him about the fire.
• Liu Ruyan sent her soul to Jiang Chen and warned him that multiple Demon Sect spies were inside the Azure Mist Sect; after the first simulation ended, he decided to cooperate with her instead.
• Jiang Chen posed as a former Supreme Elder, revealed the life gate at Orchid Mound Peak, and convinced Liu Ruyan to give him a Dragonblood Qi-Refining Pill after he swallowed a Word-Spirit Pill.
• Jiang Chen returned to Stubborn Stone Peak, swallowed the pill, and refined Qi by daybreak.
• Jiang Chen left the Azure Mist Sect and watched from a barren mountain nearby before the second simulation ended.

Jiang Chen began his third Plot Simulation and persuaded Liu Ruyan to become his cultivation partner, hoping she could help him refine qi. After a night together and Liu Ruyan using her true method, he refined qi again, and the simulation ended with him choosing among three outcomes still ahead.

• Jiang Chen began the third Plot Simulation and met Liu Ruyan at Little Cricket Peak after predicting her plan.
• Jiang Chen proposed becoming Liu Ruyan’s cultivation partner, and she agreed to bring him to her cave dwelling.
• Jiang Chen spent the night cultivating with Liu Ruyan, but he had not refined qi by dawn.
• Jiang Chen revealed that he had lived two lives and claimed to come from beyond their realm, then spent the day with Liu Ruyan.
• Jiang Chen learned Liu Ruyan had Foundation Establishment cultivation and asked what she would do if their world were a script nearing its end.
• Liu Ruyan used her true method during their second night together, and Jiang Chen refined qi before the simulation ended.

After choosing the second ending, Jiang Chen woke on a nearby mountain with Qi Refining cultivation and watched a recording of the Butterfly Effect. He learned that Liu Ruyan was secretly the Thousand-Faced Fox, while the Heavenly Demon Sect planned to attack the Azure Mist Sect in three days.

• Jiang Chen rejected the ending that kept him bonded to Liu Ruyan and chose the second ending, which overwrote his path in reality for twelve double-hours.
• Jiang Chen woke on a barren mountain near the Azure Mist Sect with Qi Refining cultivation and checked his system panel.
• Jiang Chen opened the unwatched Butterfly Effect recording and watched Liu Ruyan report the formation core’s location to Tian Mingye.
• Tian Mingye ordered an attack on the Azure Mist Sect in three days and warned Liu Ruyan that the Thousand-Faced Fox had been spotted in Xiyang City.
• Liu Ruyan asked for more time to investigate the sect, then removed her face to reveal that she was the Thousand-Faced Fox.

Jiang Chen realized that Thousand-Faced Fox had replaced Liu Ruyan in the final part of his third simulation, leaving him uncertain whether their encounter had been genuine or a ploy. He returned to the Azure Mist Sect to enter the inner sect for a few days before the Heavenly Demon Sect acted, and was assigned to Tranquil Heart Peak, where Liu Ruyan lived.

• Jiang Chen recalled Thousand-Faced Fox's infiltration of the Azure Mist Sect and discovered that their earlier cultivation sessions in the third simulation had been illusions, though the final one was real.
• Jiang Chen decided to return to the Azure Mist Sect, enter the inner sect, cultivate for nine days, and then flee before the Heavenly Demon Sect attacked.
• Jiang Chen asked Chen Ping to write a peak-transfer application, while Chen Ping privately suspected that Jiang Chen was merely showing off his breakthrough.
• Jiang Chen traveled overnight to the Internal Affairs Hall and explained that he did not want to delay cultivation by taking an assessment.
• The elderly steward assigned Jiang Chen to Tranquil Heart Peak, where Liu Ruyan had her residence.

Jiang Chen settled into life as a Tranquil Heart Peak disciple, studied spirit control and sword control, and reunited with Liu Ruyan while wondering why his simulator had not activated. The simulator announced a new main storyline just as Liu Ruyan asked whom Jiang Chen had meant by the sect’s hidden experts.

• Jiang Chen received his inner sect robes, sword, and Storage Ring, then moved into the Tranquil Heart Peak disciple quarters.
• Jiang Chen met Chen Gongxing, who gave him a jade slip on basic spirit control and sword-control methods after learning he had already endured years of bitter cultivation at Stubborn Stone Peak.
• Jiang Chen studied on his own, befriended fellow Stubborn Stone Peak disciple Wang Baolin, and learned sword control while struggling to condense his Wind Spirit Flick.
• Jiang Chen remembered that his simulator had been offline for five days when Liu Ruyan arrived and teased him about his mediocre spirit-control talent.
• Liu Ruyan asked whom Jiang Chen had meant when he said Azure Mist Sect hid dragons and crouching tigers, and the simulator announced the start of main storyline two, "Demi-Immortal's Book."

Jiang Chen watched a story unfold in the Azure Mist Sect’s Scripture Pavilion, where a demon and a devil sought a supposed Demi-Immortal’s Book. The old book attendant revealed that the real Form-Returning Book had caused their cultivation and bodies to regress, leaving them to suspect that their informant, Guiqi, was the attendant himself.

• Jiang Chen began the story simulation and discovered an old man searching the Scripture Pavilion basement for the Demi-Immortal’s Book.
• A Jiao Serpent and the old man fought over a wordless book until a young book attendant burned it and restored the shelves.
• The attendant revealed he was the first elder of Myriad Laws Peak, a Nascent Soul Peak cultivator who had created the Form-Returning Book.
• The attendant explained that the technique made demons and devils revert toward their original forms and let low-talent humans absorb demonic energy and Demonic Flame.
• The demon and devil realized their cultivation and bodies had regressed over the past six months and asked whether the attendant had been their Gray Castle informant, Guiqi.

Jiang Chen learned that Reverend Guiqi had used the Form-Returning Book to drain two demons, then began a simulation to obtain the book. After drawing Reverend Guiqi’s attention at the Scripture Pavilion, Jiang Chen was swept into a forest and confronted by him.

• Reverend Guiqi activated the Form-Returning Formation, drained the aged Old Devil and the great Jiao Serpent demon, and left the Scripture Pavilion baited for more prey.
• Jiang Chen returned to Tranquil Heart Peak, resolved to seek the Form-Returning Book, and planned three simulation attempts.
• Jiang Chen began the first simulation from his current location, made a deal with Liu Ruyan, and returned to the disciples’ quarters.
• After Wang Baolin warned Jiang Chen about attracting jealousy, Jiang Chen flew to Myriad Laws Peak once Reverend Guiqi had absorbed the demons.
• Jiang Chen chanted the Ode to Returning Home in the Scripture Pavilion to attract Reverend Guiqi, who swept him into a forest and demanded to know who he was.

Jiang Chen tried to obtain Reverend Guiqi’s Form-Returning Book, but the elder erased his memories and fled, so Jiang Chen restarted the simulation with Liu Ruyan’s help. The chapter ended with Jiang Chen asking Liu Ruyan to steal two secret manuals from the underground library, claiming they could make her immortal.

• Jiang Chen approached Reverend Guiqi under the false name Cao Mengde and offered news of the Heavenly Demon Sect’s impending attack in exchange for the Form-Returning Technique.
• Reverend Guiqi tried to erase Jiang Chen’s memories while transmitting the technique, but Jiang Chen used his system to recover his awareness and confront him.
• Reverend Guiqi promised to fetch the original Form-Returning Book, then fled the Azure Mist Sect and hid in a remote forest.
• Jiang Chen reviewed the failed simulation and began another, asking Liu Ruyan for resources and telling her Reverend Guiqi was hidden in the underground library.
• Liu Ruyan agreed to investigate, and Jiang Chen asked her to steal two secret manuals, claiming they were Demi-Immortal’s Books that could make her immortal.

Jiang Chen obtained the Demi-Immortal Method through Liu Ruyan, then used spirit stones and pills to reach the second layer of Qi Refining. After the simulation ended, he reviewed the footage to learn how Liu Ruyan persuaded Reverend Guiqi to hand over the manuals.

• Liu Ruyan retrieved two manuals containing the Return-Form Method and gave one to Jiang Chen while keeping the other.
• Jiang Chen explained that the Demi-Immortal Method would benefit ordinary mortals, then returned to his quarters to cultivate.
• Liu Ruyan concluded that the method was not the opportunity she sought and decided to wait for the Heavenly Demon Sect's attack.
• Jiang Chen wore the Spirit-Guarding Armor and used spirit stones and pills to cultivate through the night, reaching the second layer of Qi Refining.
• Jiang Chen reviewed the simulation footage and was dumbfounded by how Liu Ruyan had made Reverend Guiqi accept her transaction.

In the replayed footage, Liu Ruyan revealed herself to Reverend Guiqi and urged him to ambush Tian Mingye, while Jiang Chen used a new simulation to test whether the Demi-Immortal Method suited him. After balancing spiritual, demonic, and devilish energy, he woke stronger and advanced to the Third Layer of Qi Refining.

• Liu Ruyan entered Reverend Guiqi’s underground library, took two manuals, and told him Tian Mingye would attack Azure Mist Sect in five days, offering him a chance to ambush her.
• Jiang Chen began a third simulation and told Liu Ruyan he believed she was the opportunity he had divined, but she denied being a demoness and left after warning him not to expect her trust.
• Jiang Chen asked Liu Ruyan for demonic and devilish aura, and she tossed him a Demonic Obstacle Pellet and a Demonblood Pill.
• Jiang Chen practiced the Return-Form Method, which made his body feel heavy, pulled at his soul, and gradually reduced his Five-Element talent.
• Jiang Chen swallowed both pills and a Spirit-Healing Pill, balancing the three energies until a vortex formed and knocked him unconscious.
• Jiang Chen woke unharmed at dawn with stronger muscles and clear meridians, and the system showed he had reached Qi Refining, Third Layer.

After the third Plot Simulation, Jiang Chen used his new cultivation and balanced spiritual powers to master Basic Spirit Control while learning that Reverend Guiqi and Tian Mingye were preparing for trouble at the Azure Mist Sect. He left the sect before the planned raid, but a silver-fox-like woman waited on a hill beyond its protective array.

• Jiang Chen chose the third ending, returned to reality at Qi Refining, Third Layer, and discovered recordings of Reverend Guiqi's traps and Liu Ruyan's warning to Tian Mingye.
• Jiang Chen practiced Five-Element Spirit Control in a bamboo grove, combining spiritual power with demonic energy to develop powerful finger techniques.
• After three days, Jiang Chen mastered the Spirit-Infused Sword Art and saw his Basic Spirit Control reach Skilled Mastery on the system panel.
• On the eighth night, Jiang Chen packed his things and decided to leave the Azure Mist Sect rather than get involved in the coming conflict.
• Jiang Chen slipped out in the direction opposite Reverend Guiqi's hiding place, where a silver-fox-like woman asked why he was not staying to watch the show.

Jiang Chen was ambushed by a Demon Sect spy who had discovered his connection to Liu Ruyan, and he fought back using his armor and ability to devour demonic energy. He killed the attacker and called for the hidden person he suspected had guided the spy, but received no answer.

• Jiang Chen recognized the woman on the branch as a likely Demon Sect spy and prepared for an attack as he left.
• The spy attacked with demonic energy, but Jiang Chen absorbed it, took the attacker’s flying sword, and escaped the first binding Sword Qi.
• Jiang Chen evaded the spy’s sword and palm attacks, using his Hedgehog Armor and Abyss to withstand and devour the Demonic Flame.
• The spy pinned Jiang Chen with Qi Refining Ninth Layer spiritual pressure and stabbed at his unprotected neck, but Jiang Chen stopped the blade and killed him with a Flicked Spirit Pellet.
• Jiang Chen took the spy’s Storage Ring, buried the body, and called out to the hidden person he believed had helped the spy find him.

After questioning Jiang Chen about his cultivation of the Demi-Immortal's Book, Liu Ruyan let him leave the Azure Mist Sect and watched him depart with renewed hope that he was her long-awaited fated opportunity. Jiang Chen reached Xiyang City, found lodging at Spirit Spring Inn, and surprised its former Azure Mist Sect disciple owner by revealing Chen Gongxing was still at Foundation Establishment Peak.

• Liu Ruyan asked Jiang Chen how he had cultivated the Demi-Immortal's Book without suffering soul damage, and Jiang Chen claimed he could deduce its details.
• Liu Ruyan invited Jiang Chen to stay, but he refused and left the Azure Mist Sect; she concealed his Burial Ground with an illusion restriction and hoped he was not one of Liyue's people.
• Jiang Chen flew to Xiyang City and counted the supplies and valuables he had taken from the suspected Heavenly Demon Sect spy.
• Jiang Chen arrived at Xiyang City at dawn, marveled at its bustling immortal-city life, and chose to stay at Spirit Spring Inn rather than an ordinary inn.
• The innkeeper recognized Jiang Chen's Azure Mist Sect robes and asked about Chen Gongxing; Jiang Chen said Chen was a steward at Foundation Establishment Peak, shocking the old man.

Jiang Chen learned more about Chen Gongxing’s unusual cultivation and spent three days stabilizing his own cultivation at an inn. He noticed a trace of demonic aura on the innkeeper’s daughter-in-law but chose not to investigate, then received a new main storyline.

• Jiang Chen concluded that Chen Gongxing might have concealed his cultivation while pursuing Myriad Phenomena Resonance, and the old innkeeper explained that the method had been unsuitable for Chen’s exceptional talent.
• Jiang Chen rented a cultivation room and used spirit stones and Spirit-Nurturing Pills to stabilize his cultivation.
• While bathing in the room’s hot spring, Jiang Chen sensed a faint, snake-like demonic aura from the innkeeper’s daughter-in-law, who brought him wine and pastries.
• Jiang Chen decided not to meddle in the woman’s affairs and checked that the refreshments were safe before tasting the wine.
• Jiang Chen received Main Storyline Three, “Witch Splits the Mountain,” and was asked whether he wanted to watch and participate in the simulation.

Tian Mingye attacked the Azure Mist Sect at noon to rescue Qu Yang, broke through its formation, and defeated its defenders before splitting Myriad Laws Peak. She found no trace of the Demi-Immortal’s Book, while Reverend Guiqi emerged and challenged her over Qu Yang’s death.

• Jiang Chen watched Tian Mingye arrive at the Azure Mist Sect with a young devil girl and demand the release of Qu Yang.
• Sect Master Luo Qingzhou refused to open the sealed formation and warned Tian Mingye that a Daqian Dynasty prison warden was coming.
• Tian Mingye pierced the formation with the Violet Star Demon Sword, slipped inside, and defeated Luo Qingzhou and the sect’s defenders, killing two elders.
• Tian Mingye flew to Myriad Laws Peak and split the mountain and Reverend Guiqi’s underground library with her sword.
• Tian Mingye searched the scattered books but found no trace of the Demi-Immortal’s Book, and Reverend Guiqi appeared to defend his killing of demons.

Tian Mingye turned Reverend Guiqi’s formation against him and nearly killed him, but Chen Gongxing, a Liyue envoy at the Spirit Severing Realm, intervened and invited Reverend Guiqi to join Liyue. Tian Mingye then attacked Chen Gongxing with a fiery illusion, and the chapter ended with Chen realizing his sword had pierced Reverend Guiqi instead.

• Tian Mingye was trapped by Reverend Guiqi’s Return-Form Formation, which devoured her demonic energy and forced her into her original form.
• Tian Mingye gathered the demonic energy she had scattered around the formation, formed a giant, and seized Reverend Guiqi while he absorbed the purified energy.
• Tian Mingye crushed Reverend Guiqi’s skull and attacked his dantian, but Spirit Severing Realm pressure suddenly suppressed her demonic giant.
• Chen Gongxing appeared, rescued Reverend Guiqi, identified himself as a Liyue envoy, and invited him to join Liyue.
• Tian Mingye engulfed Chen Gongxing and Reverend Guiqi in scarlet Demonic Flame, but Chen’s sword pierced Reverend Guiqi’s dantian after the flames vanished, revealing that he had fallen for an illusion.

Jiang Chen watched Chen Gongxing cripple Liu Ruyan and take Reverend Guiqi’s head and spine before Tian Mingye forced the Azure Mist Sect to let her leave. Liu Ruyan vanished into the Abyss after addressing Jiang Chen, who then began the first simulation and had to choose an arrival location.

• Chen Gongxing saw through Liu Ruyan’s trick, struck her dantian, and took Reverend Guiqi’s head and spine for Liyue.
• Tian Mingye made Luo Qingzhou lower the mountain-protecting formation, then left after warning that she would reach the Spirit Severing Realm if necessary to kill Liyue’s agent and her other target.
• Luo Qingzhou ordered an investigation into Reverend Guiqi as the Azure Mist Sect tended its wounded and buried its dead.
• Liu Ruyan told Jiang Chen they would meet again if he was truly her destined opportunity, then crumbled away as her Storage Ring was pulled into the Abyss.
• Jiang Chen decided he could not back down from the main storyline, and the system began the first simulation by asking him to choose an arrival location.

Jiang Chen secretly absorbed Tian Mingye’s Heavenly Demon qi during the Azure Mist Sect’s ambush, then went to see the dying Liu Ruyan. After she vanished, he collected a fox-demon core, destroyed her cave dwelling, and ran into Wang Baolin.

• Jiang Chen used Liu Ruyan’s illusion ward to siphon Tian Mingye’s Heavenly Demon qi while Reverend Guiqi drained her power, storing some of it in the Demon Shrine.
• Jiang Chen went to Liu Ruyan’s cave dwelling and asked her about Liyue and Deacon Chen, whom she identified as a Spirit Severing Realm agent.
• Liu Ruyan vanished into dust and smoke after saying that Jiang Chen would find her if he was truly the chance she had awaited.
• Jiang Chen found a Foundation Establishment fox-demon core, searched the cave, took Liu Ruyan’s two rabbits, and brought the dwelling down to hide its evidence.
• Jiang Chen stepped outside and ran into Wang Baolin, who said he had been looking for him.

After leaving the Azure Mist Sect, Jiang Chen returned to Xiyang City and used a Demon Core to advance to the Qi Refining Sixth Layer through a plot simulation. He began a second simulation to test whether Chen Gongxing would discover his connection to the Demi-Immortal's Book, and ended up trying to stop Chen Gongxing from attacking Liu Ruyan.

• Jiang Chen told Wang Baolin that Liu Ruyan was dead, then left the Azure Mist Sect for Xiyang City.
• Jiang Chen reassured the Spirit Spring Inn's old innkeeper that Chen Gongxing had defeated Tian Mingye, then returned to his cultivation room.
• Jiang Chen swallowed the Thousand-Faced Fox's Demon Core and completed a simulation that raised him to the Qi Refining Sixth Layer.
• Jiang Chen began a second simulation to test whether Chen Gongxing would trace the other Demi-Immortal's Book to him.
• Jiang Chen interrupted Chen Gongxing as he prepared to attack Liu Ruyan and asked him to spare her, saying they wanted to have a child.