Chapter Summaries

[Heavenly Army Night-Cutting Goddess] obtained Li Huixi’s permission to deliver treasures to Zhang Yuan, who had already left the realm, and Li Huixi sent them safely through the broken Flesh Gate. Zhang Yuan awoke at a sect’s disciple-selection ceremony, concealed his aura, and was identified as having a top-grade five elements waste spiritual root.

• Li Huixi allowed [Heavenly Army Night-Cutting Goddess] to send Zhang Yuan the twelve pearls and [Bright Yang Chengsheng Armor], then passed the treasures through the broken Flesh Gate without damaging them.
• Li Huixi told [Heavenly Army Night-Cutting Goddess] to clear the yin qi from the Ya Kingdom, and she and Jiang Peilan left the Nether Bureau.
• Zhang Yuan awoke at a sect’s disciple-selection ceremony and used [Severing Past and Present, Leaving or Staying] to conceal his aura and karmic ties.
• Zhang Yuan approached Ding Xun and placed his hand on the Spirit-Testing Stone.
• The Spirit-Testing Stone revealed Zhang Yuan’s top-grade five elements waste spiritual root, and Ding Xun directed him to stand aside.

Key plot points and events

• Zhang Yuan joins the people waiting after his spiritual-root test, despite having a five-element Waste Spiritual Root. He uses his Celestial Person Dao Status to discover that heaven and earth have arranged for him to take part in the recruitment ceremony, apparently because they want him to join the sect and accomplish something.
• Of several thousand applicants, only about two hundred have spiritual roots. Zhang Yuan appears to be the sole person with a Waste Spiritual Root; he reasons that fragments of his root remained after the Eastern Bian Li Clan supposedly removed it.
• The recruiter, Ding Xun, announces that the remaining candidates must pass three trials to enter the Azure Nether Immortal Sect. Zhang Yuan’s calculations reveal that it is a major power, even stronger than the Nine Nether Sect.
• Ding Xun transports the candidates to the first trial using spatial movement. The candidates are impressed by his cultivation, while Zhang Yuan notes that the technique seems slow.
• The candidates discuss the sect’s trials and the upcoming master-selection ceremony. Deng Bai, a confident youth with a middle-grade Wood-Type Immortal Spiritual Root, says he hopes to become Fairy Xuan Su’s disciple. His boastful admirers suggest the position may already be his.
• Deng Bai notices Zhang Yuan standing apart and wonders why he is ignoring him.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Yuan remains calm and observant, quietly investigating his circumstances rather than joining the crowd’s excitement. His unusual spiritual-root result and apparent heavenly purpose set him apart from the other applicants.
• Ding Xun acts as the sect’s recruiter and guide, answering questions briefly before transporting the candidates.
• Deng Bai emerges as a charismatic, ambitious figure whose exceptional aptitude draws attention and admiration. He hopes to study under Fairy Xuan Su, but Zhang Yuan’s indifference unsettles him.
• Jiang Le’an, another candidate with an immortal spiritual root, is briefly identified as Deng Bai’s potential rival for Fairy Xuan Su’s favor.
• The other candidates look to Deng Bai for reassurance and flatter him, reinforcing his standing among them.

Significant themes

• Fate and cosmic purpose: Zhang Yuan’s presence appears to be orchestrated by the world itself.
• Aptitude and status: Spiritual-root rankings shape candidates’ expectations of their future and their place in the sect.
• Appearance versus reality: Zhang Yuan seems to be an unremarkable outcast, yet his deeper nature and circumstances suggest otherwise.
• Ambition and recognition: Deng Bai’s confidence and the crowd’s praise contrast with Zhang Yuan’s disinterest in social standing.

Key plot points and events

• Deng Bai dismisses Zhang Yuan as a spiritual-rootless nobody and focuses on winning the chance to become Fairy Xuan Su’s true disciple.
• Zhang Yuan, wary of the powerful Azure Nether Immortal Sect, plans to deliberately fail the recruitment trials and leave its territory.
• The first trial appears: pass through a bamboo grove. The grove grows before the applicants, and Zhang Yuan realizes it conceals a mind-confusing formation that disorients anyone who enters.
• To fail without looking suspicious, Zhang Yuan walks decisively in the opposite direction from the path the formation would guide him along. The other applicants enter the grove and are subtly redirected by the formation.
• At the sect’s main peak, Sect Master Wenzhen Zi and the elders watch the trial. They discuss Fairy Xuan Su’s unusual decision to take a true disciple: the intended candidate has a waste spiritual root but previously helped the sect, and Xuan Su knows this.
• Grand Supreme Elder Qin Jieyu arrives. Though she has lived over ten thousand years, she is a mortal with no cultivation; the others defer to her title and let her observe.
• The elders praise two applicants with immortal spiritual roots, Jiang Le’an and Deng Bai. A signal then announces that someone has passed the bamboo-grove trial almost immediately. The observers look for the successful applicant—but the projected scene shows no one there.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Yuan shows caution and ingenuity. He understands the formation quickly and uses its mechanics to pursue his goal of failing inconspicuously.
• Deng Bai is ambitious and dismissive of Zhang Yuan, convinced that his own spiritual root makes him a strong candidate.
• Wenzhen Zi tries to reassure Jiang Xinyi that the sect’s obligation to the candidate need not be regretted, while protecting the sect’s reputation for repaying favors.
• Jiang Xinyi (Fairy Xuan Su) remains aloof and unmoved by the candidate’s poor spiritual root; she confirms that she already knows.
• Qin Jieyu is treated with formal respect despite lacking cultivation, highlighting the importance of her exceptional seniority.

Significant themes

• Caution in the face of power: Zhang Yuan recognizes that being capable does not make him safe among unfamiliar, powerful factions.
• Appearances versus reality: The trial’s visible bamboo grove conceals a formation, while Zhang Yuan’s apparent participation masks his intention to fail.
• Merit, obligation, and status: The sect’s commitment to repaying kindness clashes with conventional judgments of talent, while titles and seniority command respect even without cultivation.
• Competition and ambition: Deng Bai and Jiang Le’an are singled out as promising candidates, setting up rivalry over the sect’s opportunities.

Key plot points and events

• Zhang Yuan exits the Unruly Heart Bamboo Grove in the wrong direction, reaching the foot of the mountain instead of the second trial. The Elders debate whether this counts as passing the first trial. Recognizing him as Jiang Xinyi’s intended true disciple, Sect Master Wenzhen Zi rules that it does.
• Zhang Yuan hopes the sect will declare him a failure so he can leave and hide. Instead, Wenzhen Zi teleports him to the second trial, where he arrives unnoticed just as the time limit is announced.
• Deng Bai is warmly encouraged by the receiving disciple, reinforcing his confidence that he may become Fairy Xuan Su’s disciple.
• The second trial requires candidates to take three steps toward a blood-veined boulder that radiates demonic pressure. Zhang Yuan recognizes it as a fragment of a Celestial Person’s scattered dao domain and realizes Fairy Xuan Su must be powerful enough to have slain its owner.
• Zhang Yuan plans to take one step, then pretend the pressure stops him. But someone behind him suddenly collides with him, sending him stumbling several steps forward—past the required distance.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Yuan remains cautious and intent on avoiding the sect, but his plans repeatedly fail because the sect’s leaders interpret events in his favor. He conceals his true ability and performs helplessness, only to be forced into passing the trial by an accidental shove.
• Wenzhen Zi recognizes Zhang Yuan and quietly ensures he advances, while Qin Jieyu and Jiang Xinyi dismiss his apparent success as favoritism.
• Deng Bai takes the receiving disciple’s praise as evidence that his prospects are strong, revealing his growing confidence and ambition.
• The Elders’ debate and the receiving disciple’s guidance show the sect’s officials managing the candidates, though Zhang Yuan privately judges their handling of the trials incompetent.

Significant themes

• Caution versus involuntary advancement: Zhang Yuan tries to avoid attention and retreat to safety, but others’ decisions keep pushing him forward.
• Appearance and hidden ability: He presents himself as a powerless candidate despite recognizing the trial’s true nature and concealing his cultivation.
• Favoritism and merit: The sect grants Zhang Yuan passage because of his connection to the Sect Master, while other candidates are assessed for talent and resolve.
• Power beneath appearances: The boulder’s true origin reveals the immense strength of Fairy Xuan Su and the danger behind what seems like a simple test.

Key plot points and events

• Deng Bai deliberately shoves Zhang Yuan farther into the pressure zone, hoping the oppressive force will kill or cripple him. Instead, Zhang withstands it and becomes the first to pass the second trial.
• When a receiving disciple intervenes, Deng Bai performs remorse and apologizes. Zhang sees through the act, refuses to engage, and waits apart from him.
• The second trial eliminates more than fifty candidates; roughly 160–170 remain. The survivors are transported to the Azure Nether Immortal Sect’s main hall for the final, ceremonial disciple-acceptance trial.
• Using his ability to trace karma, Zhang discovers that the realm’s will of Heaven and Earth has arranged a dramatic “emotional tribulation” for Grand Elder Jiang Xinyi: she and Deng Bai are meant to fall for each other, while Zhang’s fabricated identity would make him an obstacle between them.
• Zhang rejects the realm’s plan. He intends to kill Deng Bai that night and escape, though he recognizes that powerful sect cultivators—especially Jiang Xinyi—could threaten him.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Yuan grows more openly defiant. Rather than endure Deng Bai’s provocation or follow the realm’s design, he trusts his own judgment and plans to act on his anger.
• Deng Bai is revealed as both malicious and manipulative: he tries to kill Zhang, then feigns innocence and remorse when confronted. His failed attack inadvertently helps Zhang pass the trial.
• Jiang Xinyi is introduced as an exceptionally powerful, talented Grand Elder who follows the ruthless dao. Unbeknownst to her, the realm’s will intends to make her and Deng Bai the leads in its planned tribulation.
• The receiving disciple tries to settle the incident diplomatically, asking Zhang to accept Deng Bai’s apology; Zhang refuses to play along.

Significant themes

• Resistance to fate and manipulation: Zhang refuses to be made a pawn in the realm’s plan.
• Hypocrisy and appearances: Deng Bai’s staged apology contrasts with his murderous intent.
• Power and autonomy: Zhang’s Celestial Person status makes him less vulnerable to the realm’s fortune and influence, although powerful cultivators remain a real danger.
• Satire of melodramatic tropes: Zhang views the arranged love-triangle plot as absurd, mocking the realm’s attempt to engineer an emotional tribulation.

Plot points and events

• Jiang Le’an becomes Sect Master Wenzhen Zi’s True Disciple, while the other gifted candidates are assigned to Elders. Only Zhang Yuan and Deng Bai remain without masters.
• Deng Bai turns down the Third Elder and asks Fairy Xuan Su, Jiang Xinyi, to take him. She accepts with a brief “Granted.”
• Jiang Xinyi then offers to take Zhang Yuan despite his “useless” spiritual root, citing a debt owed to his ancestors. Zhang Yuan refuses without explanation.
• Zhang Yuan says he has already chosen an Elder: Supreme Elder Qin Jieyu. Though Wenzhen Zi doubts the match, Qin agrees, and the sect master closes the ceremony.
• As Deng Bai passes Zhang Yuan, Zhang warns him to sleep with his eyes open. Deng Bai challenges him, then is suddenly overwhelmed by immense pressure and realizes Zhang is responsible.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Yuan remains calm and self-assured, refusing Jiang Xinyi’s offer and choosing Qin Jieyu for reasons of his own. His ability to hear the Elders’ private transmissions—and apparently exert overwhelming pressure—hints at formidable hidden power.
• Deng Bai appears confident after becoming Jiang Xinyi’s disciple, but his jealousy toward Zhang quickly emerges. Zhang’s warning turns his confidence into terror.
• Jiang Xinyi accepts both disciples but treats them differently: she gives Deng Bai a terse approval, while personally offering Zhang a choice. She does not press him when he refuses.
• Qin Jieyu, an apparently powerless, reclusive Supreme Elder, unexpectedly agrees to take Zhang as her disciple.
• Wenzhen Zi tries to manage the ceremony and protect the sect’s interests, but ultimately accepts the unusual arrangement.

Significant themes

• Hidden strength versus outward status: Zhang’s weak spiritual root and Qin Jieyu’s nominal authority obscure their true significance.
• Power and choice: Zhang refuses to defer to the sect’s leaders and selects his own path.
• Jealousy and intimidation: Deng Bai’s rivalry with Zhang begins openly, while Zhang’s final display reverses their apparent balance of power.

Key plot points and events

• Zhang Yuan’s display of overwhelming presence frightens Deng Bai, who calls on Jiang Xinyi for help. Jiang notices nothing unusual and leaves with him.
• Zhang Yuan tells Grand Supreme Elder Qin Jieyu that he already has a master. Qin, delighted to have gained a disciple after ten thousand years, insists she can be his second master.
• As they walk to Qin’s remote Soaring Immortal Peak, she explains that Zhang’s Waste Spiritual Root will make cultivation difficult, but she can provide resources to help him reach Foundation Establishment.
• Qin reveals that a past Chaos calamity shortened cultivators’ lifespans: Demon Realm Devil Lords, led by Hengyang Lu, stole the names and lifespans of the Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Golden Core realms. Zhang condemns the Devil Lords, concealing that he himself is a Celestial Person of the Demon Realm.
• Qin gives Zhang a bottle of Essence-Nourishing Pills as a reward and again asks him to call her “Master.”
• After reaching her small house at dusk, Zhang asks which peak Jiang Xinyi lives on, indicating he intends to seek her out.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Yuan remains courteous but firm about already having a master. He hides his true power and background while pretending to accept Qin’s instruction.
• Qin Jieyu is gentle, persistent, and eager to care for Zhang as her disciple, offering resources despite his poor spiritual aptitude. Her long life has made her a keeper of sect history.
• Deng Bai is visibly shaken by Zhang’s presence and relies on Jiang Xinyi for protection. Jiang, unaware of Zhang’s concealed status, takes him away.
• Zhang and Qin’s relationship begins with a comic mismatch: Qin sincerely treats him as a struggling novice, while he is vastly more powerful than she realizes.

Significant themes

• Hidden identity and dramatic irony: Zhang condemns the Demon Realm’s evil while secretly belonging to it.
• Mentorship and loyalty: Qin seeks to claim Zhang as her disciple, but he is reluctant to accept a second master.
• The legacy of catastrophe: The stolen lifespans show how an ancient calamity still shapes the realm’s cultivation system.
• Power beneath appearances: Qin’s frailty and Zhang’s apparent low status obscure their real circumstances and capabilities.

Key plot points and events

• Qin Jieyu tells Zhang Yuan that Floating Splendor Peak’s women are especially wicked and deceptive, warning him not to be fooled by them. Zhang finds the warning strange but agrees.
• As a reward, Qin gives Zhang a rusted Spell Sword and offers him bedding. Once she has fallen asleep, he leaves and uses his abilities to locate Deng Bai.
• Zhang finds Deng Bai alone on Floating Splendor Peak, shivering as he cultivates. Deng resents Zhang and vows to defeat him after reaching the first Qi Refinement layer.
• Zhang confronts Deng, injures his pointing finger, and silences him. Deng mistakes Zhang for a Demon Cultivator and offers to help him in exchange for his life, even offering Jiang Xinyi.
• Zhang rejects the offer and erases Deng’s body and soul without anyone noticing—not even Jiang Xinyi nearby.
• Pleased by how easily he handled the situation, Zhang reassesses his strength and concludes that he is nearly invincible except against the realm’s most powerful practitioners.
• He then uses his abilities to locate his separated companions. Xiao Yuanjun has reached Mid-Stage Celestial Person and appears safe; Zhang is more concerned for Li Zhongshuang, who is weaker and has been struck by Curse-Killing.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Jieyu shows a protective, possessive concern for Zhang, though her warning about Floating Splendor Peak’s women—especially implied suspicion toward Jiang Xinyi—seems unusually pointed. She also gives Zhang a sword.
• Zhang Yuan remains wary of Qin’s motives but accepts her hospitality. His encounter with Deng reveals his overwhelming power and ruthless willingness to kill threats without hesitation.
• Deng Bai shifts from jealousy and bravado to terror and desperate bargaining, but his assumptions about Zhang’s motives are wrong.
• Jiang Xinyi remains unaware of the confrontation, demonstrating that Zhang’s concealment ability can evade her detection.
• Zhang’s concern for Li Zhongshuang underscores his sense of responsibility toward his allies; he trusts Xiao Yuanjun to protect herself.

Significant themes

• Deception and mistrust: Qin’s warning, Deng’s mistaken interpretation of Zhang, and the gap between appearances and reality all highlight uncertainty about others’ motives.
• Power and vulnerability: Zhang’s strength contrasts with Deng’s helplessness and shapes their brief encounter into a one-sided execution.
• Protection and responsibility: Zhang’s attention turns from his own safety to finding Li Zhongshuang, while Qin frames her advice and gift as care for her disciple.

After Deng Bai’s death triggered the Azure Nether Immortal Sect’s protective formation, Zhang Yuan avoided forcing his way out and received the powerful artifact treasures sent by the Eastern Ya Cui Clan’s True Lord. The next morning he left Flying Immortal Peak to find Li Zhongshuang, while Jiang Xinyi arrived to tell Qin Jieyu that her disciple was dead.

• Zhang Yuan discovered that Li Zhongshuang had reached the celestial realm and was nearby, but the sect’s protective formation blocked his exit, so he returned to Flying Immortal Peak.
• The Eastern Ya Cui Clan’s True Lord sent Zhang Yuan the [Bright Yang Chengsheng Armor] and [Primordial Form-Converging], a Life-Bound Flying Sword that could transform into a spear or twelve mystic pearls.
• Zhang Yuan slept through the night, then told Qin Jieyu he wanted to visit a town outside the sect.
• Qin Jieyu warned Zhang Yuan against speaking to strangers, especially unfamiliar women, and watched as he left the mountain.
• Jiang Xinyi arrived and told Qin Jieyu, “My disciple is dead.”

Key plot points and events

• After Deng Bai’s death, Jiang Xinyi confronts Qin Jieyu and demands Zhang Yuan as her new disciple, saying he had originally come to the sect for her.
• Qin refuses. The dispute nearly becomes a fight, though Jiang and Qin are both powerful protectors of the Azure Nether Immortal Sect: Jiang openly serves as its foremost expert, while Qin can wield its ancient Immortal Artifact.
• Sect Master Wenzhen Zi arrives and tries to mediate. Jiang says she needs a disciple for her Emotional Tribulation and is indifferent to who killed Deng Bai. Qin reveals Zhang Yuan already has a master outside the sect and is her second master. Jiang considers this and leaves.
• Wenzhen Zi departs to investigate Deng Bai’s death, warning that a Human Immortal of the Ancient Immortal Dao may have infiltrated the sect.
• Meanwhile, Zhang Yuan travels in disguise to East Prosperity Town to visit Li Zhongshuang, who has achieved Celestial Person Attainment and now runs a small teahouse.
• Zhang warns Li that her Curse-Killing remains unresolved and urges her to forge a Dao Domain soon, especially with the coming chaos calamity. Li agrees and offers him a place to stay.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Xinyi remains emotionally detached, treating the need for a replacement disciple as practical necessity. She backs down only after learning Zhang already has two masters.
• Qin Jieyu firmly protects Zhang as her disciple and reveals the hidden power behind her seemingly mortal appearance.
• Wenzhen Zi acts as a mediator, balancing the elders’ dispute with the urgent investigation into Deng Bai’s death.
• Zhang Yuan and Li Zhongshuang meet as peers after Li’s successful ascension. Li affectionately calls him “my lord,” and nearly switches to the even more intimate “Zhang Lang”; Zhang accepts the first title with some awkwardness. His concern for her safety is evident.

Significant themes

• Power concealed beneath appearances: Qin seems mortal but is the sect’s secret trump card; Li’s quiet life in a teahouse follows her attainment of a higher realm.
• Mentorship and attachment: Zhang is sought after as a disciple, while Li’s assigned closeness to him begins to shape their relationship.
• Ongoing danger and preparation: Deng Bai’s death, the possible infiltrator, Li’s curse, and the approaching calamity establish several looming threats.

Plot and key events

• Zhang Yuan tells Li Zhongshuang that he entered the Azure Nether Immortal Sect and plans to stay there for now. He hopes the sect can help him find a way to counter the Karmic Curse-Killing Art and learn more about the Mountain-Sea Profound Yellow Realm.
• He refuses to seek help from powerful Golden Core True Lords unless absolutely necessary, fearing the heavy karmic debts—or loss of freedom—that asking them might entail.
• Li worries that Zhang Yuan is risking himself by helping her, since the realm regards them as demonic cultivators. He insists he will not abandon her, partly praising her beauty; she accepts his plan. He urges her to avoid going out so her identity remains concealed.
• Returning to Flying Immortal Peak, Zhang Yuan finds Qin Jieyu and Jiang Xinyi beside a new wooden house built for him. Jiang explains that, as Qin’s disciple, Zhang outranks the elders and should be addressed as her junior martial uncle. Reluctantly, he accepts the awkward form of address.
• Qin questions Zhang about his trip down the mountain, then warns him not to speak with women or visit the teahouse again. She gives him her Supreme Elder command token so he can visit the Scripture Pavilion and choose a cultivation technique.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Yuan remains determined to protect Li Zhongshuang while pursuing a solution to his curse independently. He is wary of Qin Jieyu’s apparent knowledge of his movements and tries to conceal his conversation with Li.
• Li Zhongshuang shows concern for Zhang’s safety and guilt about the danger he faces, but ultimately trusts his judgment.
• Qin Jieyu acts protective and controlling, extending her warnings about women to Zhang’s activities outside the sect.
• Jiang Xinyi is formal and unwavering about sect seniority, though her insistence on calling Zhang her martial uncle leaves him baffled.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and protection: Zhang’s sense of obligation keeps him committed to helping Li despite the risks.
• Power, debt, and autonomy: He avoids relying on powerful patrons because their help could impose serious karmic costs or restrict his freedom.
• Secrecy and suspicion: Li must conceal her identity, while Zhang grows uneasy about how closely Qin may be monitoring him.
• Hierarchy and control: Sect status dictates even personal forms of address, and Qin’s protectiveness shades into control over Zhang’s movements and relationships.

Key plot points and events

• Zhang Yuan goes to the Azure Nether Immortal Sect’s Main Peak on Qin Jieyu’s orders, carrying her Identity Token. He suspects she has been secretly monitoring him and worries she may have heard his conversation with Li Zhongshuang.
• At the Scripture Repository, he avoids talking with Jiang Le’an, a newly appointed disciple, for fear that Qin Jieyu will question him about it. Her token gives him access to every floor.
• On the fifth floor, Zhang Yuan senses a karmic connection and finds a fragment of the Primordial Unity One Qi Body-Refining Treasure Scripture—a method associated with Clear Void True Person, Chen Xinqiao’s previous incarnation. He wonders whether Clear Void True Person belonged to the Azure Nether Immortal Sect.
• On the sixth floor, he studies a map of the Mountain-Sea Black-Yellow Realm and learns that it is mostly ocean, with powers based on islands. The Azure Nether Immortal Sect controls a prosperous eastern region; the west is comparatively lawless. He also senses that his master is moving rapidly through the Northern Sea.
• Zhang Yuan reads a full account of the realm’s cultivation system. He learns that the Spirit Transformation Realm was erased from the Dao lineage by the Lords, leaving Nascent Soul cultivators unable to advance normally. The Purple Mansion Realm was later created as a makeshift replacement. Above it are Mahayana and Tribulation Transcendence, followed by the ranks of Immortal Lord and Great Immortal Lord.

Character developments

• Zhang Yuan becomes more cautious and anxious about Qin Jieyu’s unexplained surveillance, while continuing to investigate the world and its history. His unusual karmic perception and Celestial Person status help him uncover hidden connections and recognize that the cultivation lineage is damaged.
• Jiang Le’an is newly entrusted with Scripture Repository duties after becoming Wenzhen Zi’s disciple, though his role here is brief.
• Qin Jieyu remains offstage but looms over Zhang Yuan’s actions; he believes she can watch him without being detected.

Significant themes

• Surveillance and constrained freedom: Zhang Yuan’s fear of being watched shapes even ordinary conversations and choices.
• Fate and karmic connections: His discovery of a text linked to Clear Void True Person suggests that past lives or hidden relationships may connect people and places.
• Broken inheritance and political power: The Lords’ destruction of the Spirit Transformation Realm has disrupted cultivation itself, forcing later generations to patch the system with a substitute realm.
• Knowledge and hierarchy: Access to the Repository’s deeper floors reflects the sect’s strict control over information.

Character interactions

• Zhang Yuan’s brief exchange with Jiang Le’an is formal and guarded; he deliberately avoids further conversation to protect both himself and Jiang from Qin Jieyu’s scrutiny.
• Though Qin Jieyu does not appear in person, Zhang Yuan’s imagined interaction with her—anticipating her questions and monitoring—dominates his behavior.
• Zhang Yuan also reflects on his absent master, wondering what she is doing as he senses her traveling through the Northern Sea.

Zhang Yuan chose the Taiyi True Qi Art as an introductory cultivation technique and returned to Flying Immortal Peak, where Qin Jieyu served him a nourishing chicken soup. After hearing about True Person Qingxu’s rise through body cultivation, Zhang Yuan agreed to try that path, and Qin Jieyu offered to prepare him a medicinal bath.

• Zhang Yuan reasoned that the Mountain-Sea Profound Yellow Realm had survived chaos calamities thanks to cultivators who could contend with True Lords, then chose the Taiyi True Qi Art for his poor aptitude.
• Zhang Yuan returned to Flying Immortal Peak after dark and found Qin Jieyu waiting with chicken soup enriched with nourishing medicinal ingredients.
• Qin Jieyu praised Zhang Yuan for choosing the Taiyi True Qi Art and told him that True Person Qingxu had reached Golden Core in a year despite having a waste spiritual root.
• Qin Jieyu explained that True Person Qingxu had devised a powerful body-refining technique but vanished during a chaos calamity, leaving only an incomplete fragment behind.
• Zhang Yuan agreed to try body cultivation, and Qin Jieyu said she would prepare a medicinal bath for him the next day.

Zhang Yuan struggled to cultivate with his Waste Spiritual Root but used his celestial person status to gather spiritual energy and reached the Outer Dao Qi Refining First Layer. He gave up on pursuing the Beyond-the-World Qi Refining Path and turned to refining his two Pre-Heaven Supreme Treasure banners.

• Qin Jieyu brought Zhang Yuan a lamp and quilt, warned him to come to her if anything happened, and left him wondering whether she knew about his trip to kill Deng Bai.
• Zhang Yuan found only tiny remnants of his Immortal Spirit Root and struggled to gather and refine spiritual energy with his Waste Spiritual Root.
• Zhang Yuan used his celestial person status to draw spiritual energy into a vortex and refined his first wisp of spiritual power at midnight, entering the Outer Dao Qi Refining First Layer.
• Zhang Yuan judged that the Beyond-the-World Qi Refining Path would take too long and stopped cultivating it.
• Zhang Yuan sealed Lu Qingwu's whisk and put it in his Dao Domain, then prepared to refine the [Eastern Mystic-Yang Fusang Banner] and [Western Duguang Bridge-Sky Banner].

Zhang Yuan refined two Pre-Heaven Supreme Treasures and learned they belonged to a set of five banners whose combined power could surpass a Pre-Heaven Supreme Treasure. When he met with Xiao Yuanjun, she misunderstood his work with Qin Jieyu as taking a new master, then revealed that a Heaven-Cutting Immortal Sect Immortal Lord was hunting her.

• Zhang Yuan refined the Eastern and Western banners, gaining the Thunderbolt Charge and Sky-Splitting divine effects and sensing that another banner was nearby.
• Zhang Yuan followed Xiao Yuanjun's invitation into her Dao Domain, where she asked whether he admitted his wrongdoing.
• Zhang Yuan explained that Qin Jieyu had not become his master, and Xiao Yuanjun relaxed after misunderstanding that he had taken a new master.
• Xiao Yuanjun told Zhang Yuan that she was in the Northern Sea and being hunted by an Immortal Lord from the Heaven-Cutting Immortal Sect.
• Xiao Yuanjun described Immortal Lords as stronger than Celestial Person perfection but below True Lords, leaving Zhang Yuan unconcerned.

Plot points

• Xiao Yuanjun tells Zhang Yuan that she cannot use the Great Void to travel in this realm and will need two or three days to reach him. She intends to deal with the Azure Nether Immortal Sect once she arrives, but must first evade the pursuing Three-Eyes from the Heaven-Cutting Immortal Sect.
• Back at the wooden house, Zhang Yuan finds Qin Jieyu waiting for him and demanding to know where he went. He avoids answering by saying he has reached the first Qi Refinement layer and wants to train outside the sect.
• Qin Jieyu readily agrees, noting that new disciples are scheduled for an excursion in three days. Zhang Yuan plans to use it as cover to leave.
• For the next two days, Zhang Yuan studies at the Scripture Repository for a way to break the Karmic Curse-Killing Art. He learns that the Heaven-Cutting Immortal Sect once resolved the same curse during a chaos calamity.
• On the third day, Zhang secretly slips away to East Prosperity Town and tells Li Zhongshuang that they may need to visit the Heaven-Cutting Immortal Sect to resolve the curse. He plans to depart for training the next day.
• Zhang advises Li not to accompany him: she lacks a Dao Domain, her concealment ability is inadequate, and her distinctive appearance could draw attention. She confirms that she is pursuing the metal position known as golden tower sand, as instructed by the Li Clan’s “Little Ancestor.”

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Yuan remains cautious and strategic. Though Qin Jieyu’s care makes him feel guilty, he continues planning his escape and prioritizes learning about the curse and staying unnoticed.
• Xiao Yuanjun reassures Zhang that she acts carefully, despite his doubts, and promises to come to his aid after dealing with her pursuer.
• Qin Jieyu is intensely watchful and affectionate, fretting over Zhang’s safety and giving him nourishing medicinal baths. Her immediate approval of his training trip gives him an unexpected opportunity to leave.
• Li Zhongshuang remains focused on her own cultivation rather than the curse. She offers to accompany Zhang, but accepts his warning that traveling openly would put her at risk. Their conversation also clarifies her connection to the Li Clan’s True Lord, the “Little Ancestor.”

Significant themes

• Care and control: Qin Jieyu’s sincere concern is mixed with constant surveillance, leaving Zhang both uncomfortable and guilty.
• Caution and concealment: Zhang and Xiao Yuanjun navigate danger through secrecy, careful planning, and awareness of how their abilities or appearances might attract notice.
• Cultivation through knowledge and experience: Zhang studies the curse in texts while preparing to train beyond the sect, reflecting the balance between research and practical adventure.
• Long-distance loyalties: Xiao Yuanjun’s promise to help and Zhang’s concern for Li Zhongshuang show bonds that persist across dangerous places and rivalries.

Zhang Yuan joined the Azure Nether Immortal Sect’s training expedition to Jade Ravine Island, where he believed the Five-Direction Banner lay inside an ancient secret realm. He left the sect’s boat behind and reached the island ahead of the others as nearby factions awaited the High Sect’s arrival.

• Qin Jieyu discovered Zhang Yuan had visited Li Zhongshuang at the teahouse and warned him against speaking to strange women during the expedition.
• Zhang Yuan gathered with the sect’s new and senior disciples, and Fifth Elder Huang Boyong announced their trip to the secret realm at Jade Ravine Island.
• After boarding the sect’s boat, Zhang Yuan used the Western Duguang Bridge-Sky Banner to escape and flew toward Jade Ravine Island ahead of the group.
• At Jade Ravine Island, representatives from nearby factions discussed the secret realm’s restriction and prepared to welcome an Azure Nether Immortal Sect elder.

Plot points and events

• Zhang Yuan arrives above Jade Ravine Island as local cultivators mistake his extraordinary flight speed for proof that he is an Elder from the Azure Nether Immortal Sect.
• Old Ghost Luo discovers that Zhang Yuan appears to have only first-layer Qi Refinement cultivation, yet cannot sense any magical power from him. Suspecting Zhang Yuan is a hidden Mahayana expert, he tries to win his favor by offering help—and even proposes his own talented disciple as a Dao companion for Zhang Yuan’s nonexistent disciple.
• Zhang Yuan refuses the offers and reveals his twelve [Primordial Form-Absorbing Mystic Pearls]. With one ability, he clears the sea to expose the island rising from beneath it.
• He then uses two more divine abilities to crush the island’s protective formation, overcome the island with his Celestial Person Dao Status, shrink it to palm size, and take it into his hand. The assembled cultivators are left speechless and realize their planned expedition is pointless.
• Just as Zhang Yuan enjoys the cultivators’ awe and reflects that this realm seems far less dangerous than the “Demon Realm,” a familiar voice calls from the north: “Zhang Yuan, run!”

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Yuan remains calm and self-assured, avoids entanglement with the Azure Nether Immortal Sect, and demonstrates overwhelming power. His confidence grows as he finds the Mountain-Sea Black-Yellow Realm more welcoming than his previous world.
• Old Ghost Luo is opportunistic and eager to secure his sect’s advantage. He quickly shifts from offering practical assistance to proposing a marriage alliance, then retreats when Zhang Yuan’s power becomes alarming.
• Chu Yan and the other cultivators move from respectful curiosity to astonishment and awe. They watch Old Ghost Luo’s conspicuous attempt to curry favor with disbelief.

Significant themes

• Power hidden beneath appearances: Zhang Yuan looks like a low-level cultivator, but his abilities defy everyone’s expectations.
• Political maneuvering and opportunism: The sect leaders compete to gain favor with a suspected powerhouse, even resorting to marriage proposals.
• Overwhelming strength versus ordinary methods: Zhang Yuan bypasses the planned expedition entirely by taking the island himself.
• A shift in perceived danger: Zhang Yuan’s relief that this realm is more peaceful than his last is sharply undercut by the sudden warning at the end.

Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun fled Immortal Lord Huizhao after Xiao Yuanjun stole Ding Fire from the Heaven-Cutting Immortal Sect. Xiao Yuanjun gave Zhang Yuan the flame to refine, but they prioritized escaping the pursuing Immortal Lord.

• Immortal Lord Huizhao pursued Xiao Yuanjun and attacked Zhang Yuan, who escaped with Xiao Yuanjun and Jade Ravine Island in the Golden Carriage.
• Old Demon Luo and Chu Yan decided to report the encounter to the High Sect's elder rather than involve themselves.
• Xiao Yuanjun explained that she had taken Ding Fire and other spiritual objects after defeating a Heaven-Cutting Immortal Sect disciple and a Purple Mansion elder.
• Xiao Yuanjun gave Zhang Yuan the Ding Fire she had seized for him, and Zhang Yuan urged her to help him evade Immortal Lord Huizhao first.

Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun escaped Immortal Lord Huizhao by hiding beneath the sea in the Golden Carriage, where Zhang Yuan refined the ding fire. After a month of Huizhao searching and feigning departure, Zhang Yuan decided to wait ten more days before leaving in case she returned.

• Immortal Lord Huizhao pursued Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun, suspecting they had come from the Demon Realm, but their illusory Golden Carriage vanished and they escaped to the seabed.
• Zhang Yuan praised Xiao Yuanjun’s plan to use a past-life body and an illusory carriage to distract Huizhao while they concealed themselves.
• Xiao Yuanjun settled down to sleep inside the carriage, and Zhang Yuan began refining the ding fire into [Great Grotto Yin-Scenery Immortal Domain].
• For a month, Zhang Yuan checked whether Huizhao had left as she repeatedly searched, pretended to depart, and doubled back to catch them.
• Huizhao finally vanished after concluding Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun were gone, but Zhang Yuan chose to wait another ten days before emerging.