Chapter Summaries

After the Xue Family gained backing from the Myriad Laws Sect, Ning Zhongyuan began preparing the Ning Clan to migrate south and send members to the Huayu Sect. He persuaded Ning Fa to join, then explained why the clan planned to keep Ning Shaohong at home while sending Ning Huarong and other promising juniors.

• Ning Zhongyuan learned that Xue Zongqi had become True Person Yuxuan's personal disciple, prompting the Ning Clan to abandon its plans and prepare to migrate south.
• Ning Zhongyuan told Ning Fa that the clan intended to send members to join the Huayu Sect and asked whether Ning Fa was willing to go.
• Ning Fa readily agreed and promised to help the Ning Clan if it faced difficulties.
• Ning Zhongyuan said the clan would send five promising juniors, including Ning Huarong, but not Ning Shaohong.
• Ning Zhongyuan explained that Ning Shaohong had the best chance of reaching Golden Core and that the clan wanted to devote its resources to her cultivation.

Ning Fa prepared to join the Huayu Sect, arranging for Meng Ruoqi to wait nearby and for Yun Ying and Yun Jian to manage his planned shop. As the Ning Clan's group departed for the sect, Wei Shiqin worked to secure a transfer to a nearby marketplace so she could continue working with Ning Fa.

• Ning Fa told Meng Ruoqi he was joining the Huayu Sect and promised to arrange a place for her to stay until she could enter the sect.
• Ning Fa asked Yun Ying and Yun Jian to oversee his planned shop near the Huayu Sect for two years, and Yun Ying agreed while requesting that he refine pills for her.
• Wei Shiqin asked her elder sister to persuade their father to transfer her to Tongbao Pavilion's branch in White Feather Marketplace so she could stay close to Ning Fa and retain his Soul Quenching Pills.
• The Ning Clan gathered to see off Ning Fa and the other four members traveling to the Huayu Sect; Ning Fa exchanged emotional farewells with Ning Shaohong and his clansmen before departing by spirit boat.

The Ning Clan members arrived at Huayu Sect and met Ning Jing'an, who led them to the Heart Questioning Hall for the required admission test. A sickly young cultivator began testing Ning Huarong with a Bronze Mirror.

• The five Ning Clan members reached Huayu Sect’s outer sect after traveling over ten thousand li.
• Ning Jing'an greeted the group impatiently and warned them that they had to pass the Heart Questioning test without compromising him.
• Ning Jing'an led the group to the Heart Questioning Hall, where they met a pale young cultivator addressed as Senior Brother Yu.
• Senior Brother Yu used a Bronze Mirror to envelop Ning Huarong in green light and begin her test.

Ning Fa and the other Ning Clan members passed Huayu Sect’s heart-questioning test and swore oaths to become disciples. After Ning Huarong went to the inner sect, Ning Fa’s aptitude was measured as a mid-grade Incomplete Lightning Spiritual Root, and the newcomers were assigned to outer sect academies.

• Ning Huarong revealed her ambition to become a Nascent Soul Cultivator during the heart-questioning test, and Ning Fa used the Moon God Art to conceal his true intentions.
• Ning Fa and the other three Ning Family Members passed the test, while the young cultivator explained that only Ning Huarong could enter the inner sect directly and warned the others to sever their family ties.
• Ning Fa and the others swore their oaths before the sculpture of True Lord Huayu, after which Ning Jing'an took Ning Huarong to Floating Cloud Hall on Cloud Show Peak.
• The young cultivator tested the four newcomers’ spiritual roots, and Ning Fa suppressed the Five Elements Thunder Rune Pattern so his aptitude registered as a 5.3-inch mid-grade Incomplete Lightning Spiritual Root.
• The young cultivator gave the Ning Clan members identity tokens and assigned them to Yunlan Academy and Lingxi Academy, where two outer sect disciples led them away to register and settle in.

Ning Fa and Ning Yangcai arrived at Yunlan Academy, where Gao Tong explained the outer academies, sect missions, and the importance of Contribution Points. As Ning Fa reached Yunlan Peak, a powerful square-faced man unexpectedly attacked him with a Fire Snake, and the two men ended their exchange on guard.

• Gao Tong escorted Ning Fa and Ning Yangcai toward Yunlan Academy and explained how the outer academies, sect missions, and Contribution Points worked.
• Ning Fa learned that Contribution Points could be earned through missions and cultivation professions, while Yangcai worried about being demoted to a Servant Disciple.
• Gao Tong reassured Yangcai about his aptitude and told Ning Fa that his strength would make him sought after for difficult missions.
• Gao Tong brought Ning Fa and Ning Yangcai to Yunlan Peak, where Outer Disciples accepted and settled sect missions.
• A square-faced man descended from a Crimson Bird and fired a Fire Snake at Ning Fa, who countered it with a Silver Lightning Ball before demanding an explanation.

Ning Fa and Ning Yangcai toured the General Affairs Hall, where Gao Tong explained the sect missions available to Outer Sect disciples. Steward Liu issued them Storage Bags containing the sect rules and regulations, leaving them to learn the rules before settling into Yunlan Academy.

• Senior Brother Pang tested Ning Fa’s strength and invited him to hunt Black Scorpions, but Ning Fa declined until he had familiarized himself with the sect.
• Gao Tong told Ning Fa and Ning Yangcai that Senior Brother Pang was among Yunlan Academy’s strongest disciples and a leading candidate for the Inner Sect.
• Gao Tong led Ning Fa and Ning Yangcai to the General Affairs Hall and explained how Outer Sect disciples selected missions and earned Contribution Points.
• Gao Tong tried to accept a popular medicine garden caretaker mission, but other disciples claimed all the openings before he could register.
• Steward Liu inspected Ning Fa and Ning Yangcai’s identity tokens, criticized their admission, then gave each of them a Storage Bag with a Jade Slip of sect rules.

Ning Fa and Ning Yangcai settled into Yunlan Academy as new outer sect disciples and learned the requirements for advancing to the inner sect. Ning Fa then reunited with Ling Yue and her companions, who were surprised to discover he had joined the Huayu Sect too.

• A refined cultivator explained the new disciples’ benefits and told Ning Fa he needed eight thousand Contribution Points to advance, while Ning Yangcai needed four thousand.
• Gao Tong escorted Ning Fa and Ning Yangcai to their residences on Yunlu Peak and explained how to use them.
• Ning Fa told Ning Yangcai to call him Senior Brother now that they had joined the Huayu Sect.
• Ling Yue, Kou Zhun, Li Tieniu, and Zuo Guanglin returned from a mission after a Snow Spirit Fox escaped and damaged their borrowed Demon Binding Rope.
• Ning Fa greeted Ling Yue and her companions, and Kou Zhun joked that he had followed Ling Yue to the sect.
• Zuo Guanglin asked whether Ning Fa had joined the sect, and Ning Fa confirmed that he was now an outer sect disciple.

Ning Fa met Ling Yue and the others at Cloud Fragrance Residence in Cloud Valley Marketplace, where he learned about the Contribution Point requirements for entering the inner sect. He offered to refine pills for his new acquaintances, leaving them eager to befriend him and rely on his alchemy.

• Ning Fa invited Ling Yue, Zuo Guanglin, Kou Zhun, and Li Tieniu to Cloud Fragrance Residence after explaining that he had joined the Huayu Sect as an outer sect disciple.
• Ning Fa traveled with them to Cloud Valley Marketplace, where he planned to check on Meng Ruoqi and the Yun siblings and establish a shop.
• Ning Fa learned that entering the inner sect required reaching at least the seventh level of Qi Condensation, being under thirty, and gathering Contribution Points based on Spiritual Root quality.
• Zuo Guanglin asked Ning Fa to refine Yellow Dragon Pills, and Ning Fa offered to refine one batch for each of them free of charge and give them priority for future pill refining.
• Kou Zhun asked about Cloud Heart Pills, and Ling Yue appeared to want Ning Fa's help as the group grew warmer toward him.

Ning Fa learned about the Huayu Sect’s Southern Reach expansion and the mysterious Black Spirit Church obstructing it. He suspected the church might be connected to the Black Spirit Relic he possessed.

• Zuo Guanglin offered to introduce Ning Fa to Zhang Zhihu, but Ning Fa politely declined.
• Zuo Guanglin announced that Martial Aunt Chu, Fairy Bai Feng, would lecture at Dao Preaching Peak the next day.
• Ling Yue explained that Chu had risen from the Outer Academy to become a Seven Prodigy after helping purge the Black Spirit Church during the Southern Reach expansion.
• Ning Fa asked about the expansion and the Black Spirit Church, prompting Ling Yue and the others to explain that the church and other marsh forces were resisting the sects’ efforts to claim the Cloud Wasteland Great Marsh’s resources.

Feng Kun tried to extort Ling Yue’s Eighty-Year Nine Illusions Mushroom over his damaged Demon Binding Rope, while Cheng Yan staged an intervention to impress her. Ling Yue gave Feng Kun the mushroom and left with Ning Fa and the others, who later explained Cheng Yan’s powerful family status.

• Feng Kun confronted Kou Zhun over the damaged Demon Binding Rope and demanded Ling Yue’s Eighty-Year Nine Illusions Mushroom as compensation.
• Cheng Yan arrived, offered Feng Kun a Demon Binding Ring, and presented himself as resolving the dispute.
• Ling Yue gave Feng Kun the Nine Illusions Mushroom despite Kou Zhun’s warning that it was needed for Uncle-Master Hua’s mission.
• Ning Fa followed Ling Yue and the others from Cloud Fragrance Residence as they criticized Feng Kun’s scheme.
• Kou Zhun told Ning Fa that Cheng Yan was a direct descendant of the Cheng Family, one of the Huayu Sect’s four great families.

Ning Fa learned how the Family Faction and Disciple Faction competed for power within Huayu Sect, then met Meng Ruoqi and her companions to discuss opening a shop in Cloud Valley Marketplace. The next morning, he joined Ling Yue and the others on their way to Dao Preaching Peak, where a striking spirit vessel carrying female cultivators arrived.

• Ning Fa learned that the Family Faction and Disciple Faction held roughly equal strength within Huayu Sect, with the Disciple Faction having more middle- and late-stage Golden Core elders.
• Ning Fa sent a message from Cloud Valley Marketplace and went to the cave abode where Meng Ruoqi, Yun Ying, and Yun Jian were staying.
• Yun Jian told Ning Fa that available shops cost nearly ten thousand spirit stones or more and gave him a Jade Slip listing possible locations.
• Ning Fa asked Yun Jian to investigate shops and collect materials for Nine Revolutions Purple Yuan Powder, providing him with spirit stones.
• The next morning, Ning Fa accompanied Ling Yue and the others toward Dao Preaching Peak as a large crowd headed there to hear Martial Aunt Chu teach.
• A massive spirit vessel shaped like a spirit phoenix approached, carrying more than twenty female cultivators in matching moon-white gowns.

Ning Fa blocked a beautiful Mystic Moon Sect cultivator’s moonlit attacks, drawing attention from the female disciples aboard her flying boat. Ji Qingqing intervened, and Ning Fa learned that she was a powerful Huayu Sect Martial Aunt as the group continued toward Dao Preaching Peak.

• Ning Fa broke Zuo Guanglin and the others out of their infatuated daze, then blocked a golden-ringed girl’s moonlit attack with silver lightning.
• The girl sent dozens of moon-white ripples at Ning Fa, who pretended to struggle while preparing to use more of his strength.
• Ji Qingqing arrived and dispersed the moon phantoms with a black spirit flower, prompting the girl to leave.
• Ji Qingqing and the icy woman, Fellow Daoist Xia, discussed another spell battle and Xia’s planned match against Chu Bingyun.
• Ning Fa asked about Ji Qingqing and learned from Kou Zhun and Zuo Guanglin that she was a formidable direct descendant of the Ji Family, one of Huayu Sect’s Twin Beauties.
• As the group continued toward Dao Preaching Peak, Zuo Guanglin identified the women aboard the flying boat as disciples of the Mystic Moon Sect.

Ning Fa watched Fairy Bai Feng and Xia Ying of the Mystic Moon Sect fight to a draw after her lecture, then considered his next sect mission. On Falling Star Peak, Duanmu Ling and Feng Jue discussed the Primordial Spirit Secret Realm opening ahead of schedule and the unusual developments surrounding it.

• Ning Fa and the other disciples attended Fairy Bai Feng's lecture at Dao Preaching Peak, where Xia Ying challenged her to a duel.
• Fairy Bai Feng and Xia Ying fought with ice-based abilities and agreed to call their match a draw.
• Ning Fa sensed Little Ice's excitement during the battle and began considering which sect mission to take next.
• Feng Jue gave Duanmu Ling a Star Soul Grass and warned that the Mystic Moon Sect had learned the Primordial Spirit Secret Realm would open early.
• Duanmu Ling said the other major sects would likely learn of the secret realm and send capable personnel, and Feng Jue asked whether it had other abnormalities.

Duanmu Ling learned that weakened restrictions had exposed the Hidden Spirit Land and other sites in the Primordial Spirit Secret Realm, then arranged for Pan Jiao and Little Thunder to enter together. Meanwhile, Ning Fa received an invitation from the Disciple Faction and chose his first sect mission, leaving the story with him and his companions preparing for separate assignments.

• Duanmu Ling and Feng Jue discussed the newly exposed Hidden Spirit Land and the fierce competition expected in the Primordial Spirit Secret Realm.
• Duanmu Ling decided that Little Thunder should accompany Pan Jiao into the secret realm and asked Feng Jue to have Pan Jiao meet her in half a month.
• Dai Tao delivered Ning Fa an invitation from Uncle-Master Liang to attend a gathering at Tail Ling Peak, and Zuo Guanglin explained the Disciple Faction's interest in promising disciples.
• Ling Yue told Ning Fa that she had previously declined Uncle-Master Liang's invitation, while Ning Fa said he still had to consider attending.
• Ning Fa accepted a mission to herd Jiaoyun Horses at Star Lake Mountain, while Ling Yue and the others took a mission to capture Three-Patterned Spirit Frogs at Haoyan Lake.

Ning Fa completed a herding task with help from Little Ice and attended a gathering at Tail Ling Peak, where he encountered Ning Daozhen again. The gathering ended with the arrival of a highly respected inner disciple whose lightning spiritual power seemed familiar to Ning Fa.

• Ning Fa and Ning Yangcai accepted a Jiaoyun Horse herding task at Star Lake Mountain, but Ning Yangcai was injured while Little Ice's aura made the horses docile for Ning Fa.
• Ning Fa completed other required sect tasks and went to Uncle-Master Liang's gathering at Tail Ling Peak.
• Ning Fa entered the gathering, greeted the assembled cultivators, and recognized Ning Daozhen, who also attended as a Huayu Sect outer disciple.
• Uncle-Master Liang praised Ning Fa's exchange with Yun Miaomiao, and Ning Fa downplayed his performance before the guests toasted him.
• Cao Xian introduced himself and questioned Ning Fa until an esteemed inner disciple called Nephew-Disciple Jing arrived.
• Ning Fa sensed familiar lightning-attribute spiritual power from Jing and suspected that he had a Lightning Spiritual Root.

At a sect gathering, Ning Fa learned that others pitied his Incomplete Lightning Spiritual Root, while Ning Daozhen privately recognized his hidden potential. The arrival of the celebrated Zhang Zhilong raised the gathering to a fever pitch, and Zhang Zhihu mocked the absent Bai Yeming.

• Cao Xian explained that Jing Dongji was a highly regarded inner sect disciple with a Lightning Spiritual Root, and the gathering learned Ning Fa had only an Incomplete Lightning Spiritual Root.
• Uncle-Master Liang cited Fairy Bai Feng as an example of someone who overcame an Incomplete Spiritual Root, while Ning Daozhen privately judged Ning Fa's potential to be extraordinary.
• More influential inner sect disciples arrived, and Uncle-Master Liang welcomed Zhang Zhilong, a Heavenly Lightning Spiritual Root cultivator with the Molten Gold Physique.
• Ning Fa recognized Zhang Zhilong's younger brother Zhang Zhihu among his entourage as the gathering's atmosphere reached its height.
• Zhang Zhilong asked whether Bai Yeming had come, and Zhang Zhihu sneered that Bai Yeming had stayed away out of fear.

At a Huayu Sect banquet, Ning Fa learned about the Disciple Faction’s rising influence and the exceptional disciples and elders associated with it. Uncle-Master Liang revealed that the Primordial Spirit Secret Realm would open early and draw several sects into a dangerous contest, leaving the Qi Condensation disciples apprehensive about the likely casualties.

• Cao Xian told Ning Fa that Bai Yeming was a prodigy coveted by Huayu Sect elders and might become Zheng Xuanyan’s disciple.
• Ning Fa compared the Disciple Faction’s recruitment efforts with the Family Faction’s inaction and judged the Disciple Faction to have greater potential.
• Uncle-Master Liang announced that Mystic Moon Sect disciples had come to Huayu Sect to participate in the Primordial Spirit Secret Realm.
• Uncle-Master Liang revealed that changes would cause the secret realm to open within a year and expose hidden sites, prompting Mystic Moon Sect to send Yun Miaomiao.
• Uncle-Master Liang said Giant Sword Fortress and Golden Scale Valley would also compete and that Huayu Sect would select at least twice as many Qi Condensation disciples as before.
• The Qi Condensation disciples grew excited about the competition, then fell silent when someone warned that many participants might not return alive.

Ning Fa learned about the dangerous Primordial Spirit Secret Realm and weighed whether to join its early expedition. The sect announced lavish rewards and selection contests, prompting Ning Fa to meet Ling Yue and the others to discuss their chances.

• Cao Xian explained that the Primordial Spirit Secret Realm opened every fifty years, held rare ingredients for Foundation Establishment Pills, and was deadly enough that fewer than half of its entrants usually returned.
• Ning Fa considered joining the expedition if the sect offered Foundation Establishment Pills, while Cao Xian expected the unusually large gathering of five sects to make this year's casualties even worse.
• Uncle-Master Liang offered Ning Fa and several other outer sect disciples help with missions and resources, but Ning Fa worried that accepting would bind him to the Disciple Faction.
• The sect confirmed the secret realm would open early and announced that it would select 120 Qi Condensation Stage disciples, offering contribution points, Top-grade Magic Artifacts, and Foundation Establishment Pills as rewards.
• Ling Yue and the others returned early from their mission, and Ning Fa met them at Cloud Valley Marketplace to discuss the selection.

Ning Fa, Ling Yue, and Li Tieniu chose to participate in the secret realm selection, while Zuo Guanglin declined and Kou Zhun remained undecided. Ning Fa visited his newly opened Small Bamboo Pavilion and found Meng Ruoqi crafting unusual spirit talismans in a room upstairs.

• Ling Yue decided to enter the selection to gain Contribution Points and improve her prospects for Foundation Establishment and core formation.
• Ning Fa chose to participate for the rewards, while Zuo Guanglin refused, Kou Zhun postponed his decision, and Li Tieniu joined to pursue a chance at entering the inner sect.
• Ning Fa left the gathering to visit Small Bamboo Pavilion, which had opened in the marketplace and was attracting customers with its goods and pills.
• Ning Fa went upstairs and saw Meng Ruoqi using strands of spiritual power to construct colorful, lightning-shaped spirit talismans.

Meng Ruoqi created the Thunder Lock Array for Ning Fa, who promised to handle trouble from Huayu Sect disciples seeking the source of his pills. As Ning Fa headed to Cloud Valley Marketplace after receiving an urgent message, Zhang Zhihu and his fellow Inner Disciples had bound Yun Jian and Yun Ying and demanded to know where the pills came from.

• Meng Ruoqi showed Ning Fa her Thunder Lock Array, which he tested and praised as a powerful weapon for his planned trip to the Primordial Spirit Secret Realm.
• Meng Ruoqi told Ning Fa that Huayu Sect disciples had bought the shop’s high-grade pills and questioned Yun Jian about their source; Ning Fa promised to intervene if they returned.
• Yun Ying went to speak with Ning Fa at Small Bamboo Pavilion, heard him and Meng Ruoqi together, and quietly left.
• Yunlan Academy opened registration for its Primordial Spirit Secret Realm selection, and Ning Fa, Ling Yue, and Li Tieniu signed up.
• After receiving an urgent message while grazing horses, Ning Fa hurried to Cloud Valley Marketplace.
• Zhang Zhihu and four Huayu Sect Inner Disciples bound Yun Jian and Yun Ying; Zhang Zhihu offered Yun Jian a place at his side, then demanded to know where the shop’s pills came from.