Chapter Summaries

At the Dragon Lord's birthday banquet, Mo Yu invited Jiang Yang to visit her cave, then told Yun Zhen that the Sandalwood Locust Palace was about to descend. As the group prepared to go, Ying Huang teased Jiang Yang by claiming Fox Clan rules required him to take responsibility for touching her, then admitted she had gotten the idea from a storybook.

• Mo Yu recognized Jiang Yang from the birthday banquet and invited him to visit her Jianqi Pool, but Yun Zhen redirected the conversation to the Sandalwood Locust Palace.
• Mo Yu reported that the palace was nearing its descent, and Yun Zhen decided to go with Ying Huang and Jiang Yang, accepting responsibility for bringing him along.
• Jiang Yang waited in the Side Hall and refined the spirit vigor in his Qi Sea while Ying Huang and Yun Zhen bathed and changed.
• Ying Huang accused Jiang Yang of taking liberties with her, then claimed he had to take responsibility for her under a Fox Clan rule.
• Jiang Yang questioned the rule and guessed Ying Huang had read it in a storybook, which she confirmed.

Jiang Yang worried that entering the Grotto-Heaven through Yun Zhen would leave him indebted to her, but she explained that every Dao Lineage could compete for a chance to enter. As they headed out, Yun Zhen warned him that Mo Yu might be interested in reconnecting her Dao Path through Rain Xiang Mountain's Weak Water inheritance, and Jiang Yang agreed to be cautious.

• Yun Zhen arrived after bathing and changing, and told Jiang Yang and Ying Huang that True Person Mo Yu was waiting outside the Traveling Palace.
• Jiang Yang told Yun Zhen he planned to give up the chance to enter the Grotto-Heaven so he would not take advantage of her.
• Yun Zhen explained that no Dao Lineage was barred from entering Azure Corner Heaven, though informed Purple Mansion cultivators could gain an early advantage.
• Ying Huang suggested that Jiang Yang's master, Xuan Guang, might already know about the movements beneath Heavy Mountains because Cuiwei belonged to Rain Xiang Mountain.
• Yun Zhen said Mo Yu had helped her to gain more freedom in the demon court, but warned that Mo Yu might be seeking a new Dao Path through Rain Xiang Mountain's Weak Water inheritance.
• Jiang Yang thanked Yun Zhen and promised to remember her warning about Mo Yu.

Mo Yu brought Yun Zhen, Ying Huang, and Jiang Yang to watch the Purple Mansion cultivators draw Huai Tan Palace down from the Great Void. Five Xun Wood cultivators, including the long-missing Fang Xu, helped reveal the palace’s descent, leaving them beneath its looming shadow.

• Mo Yu took Yun Zhen, Ying Huang, and Jiang Yang through the Great Void to Heqibo, where Huai Tan Palace was poised to break free.
• Mo Yu explained that the cultivators would use five Xun Wood arts and destiny to locate the hidden realm’s gate.
• Four Foundation Establishment cultivators gathered on Lone Peak and discovered that they each cultivated a different Dao foundation in the Xun Wood lineage.
• Fang Xu arrived at Lone Peak, completing the gathering of five Xun Wood cultivators.
• True Person Yuanmei used his divination powers and the five cultivators’ shared substances to pull Huai Tan Palace out of the Great Void.
• The palace descended over Lone Peak, and the five cultivators looked up as its shadow darkened the land.

Feng Yi arrived to arrange Huai Tan Palace’s opening and agreed to let Yun Zhen bring Ying Huang inside with her. Xuan Guang appeared to take Jiang Yang away, explaining that Rain Xiang Mountain already had a claim to the Grotto-Heaven and warning him to distinguish personal kindness from factional interests.

• Purple Mansion cultivators prepared their juniors and mystic artifacts while Yuanmei predicted Huai Tan Palace would open within hours.
• Feng Yi arrived and called for Yun Zhen, who asked him to let Ying Huang and Jiang Yang enter with her; Feng Yi agreed.
• Xuan Guang appeared, refused Feng Yi’s offer to arrange passage for the others, and called Jiang Yang to his side.
• Xuan Guang told Jiang Yang that Rain Xiang Mountain already had a share in the Grotto-Heaven and that he should not mistake factional maneuvering for personal favor.
• Jiang Yang reconsidered Yun Zhen’s kindness and realized he needed to distinguish individuals from the interests of the factions behind them.

Xuan Guang explained how the Sect discovered Fang Xu’s connection to Azure Corner Heaven and why the Luan-kind had a claim to it. He brought Jiang Yang to Heqibo, where the group prepared to enter Huai Tan Palace as part of it fell toward Lone Peak.

• Xuan Guang told Jiang Yang that Fang Xu had been drawn into a Secret Realm connected to a grotto-heaven, and that Xuan Di had secretly examined his memories.
• Xuan Guang explained that the Luan-kind had taken Fang Xu and made him the most important of the Five Keys, while Fang Xu’s mind had been shattered and his imagined fellow disciples had never existed.
• Jiang Yang recalled his past dealings with Fang Xu, including buying Spell Weapons from him, and asked whether the other supposed explorers had become keys.
• Xuan Guang took Jiang Yang through a rift to Heqibo, where they met Xuan Di, Zhi Yu, Chu Qingjian, Zhang Yunbai, and Yu Xiuyuan.
• Zhi Yu reported that part of the Palace Pavilion had fallen and said the disciples could enter once it landed on Lone Peak, but Xuan Guang said there was no need to wait.

Xuan Guang healed Yu Xiuyuan and prepared Jiang Yang and the others to enter Huai Tan Palace. As the palace opened, Xuan Guang sent his disciples upward on a magically grown vine before it descended.

• Xuan Guang diagnosed Yu Xiuyuan’s severe injuries and healed him with a willow twig and Yi Wood Divine Powers.
• Xuan Guang warned Yu Xiuyuan to avoid Geng Metal and Wu Earth for three months, then sent him with Zhi Yu back to Cuiwei.
• Xuan Di told Xuan Guang that the time had come, and they brought their disciples to Cloudtop as Huai Tan Palace opened.
• Five Foundation Establishment cultivators vanished from the summit, and Xuan Guang gave Jiang Yang and Chu Qingjian Spring-Blossom Peach Talismans while Xuan Di equipped Zhang Yunbai.
• Xuan Guang grew a vine into the clouds, and Jiang Yang, Chu Qingjian, and Zhang Yunbai rode it upward toward Huai Tan Palace.

Xuan Guang and Feng Yi entered Huai Tan Palace as the Purple Mansion cultivators watched and sent their disciples inside. Feng Yi revealed to Mo Yu that the palace concealed a sealed entrance to a grotto-heaven, and that he planned to use conflict within the palace to help open it.

• Xuan Guang rode vines to Huai Tan Palace ahead of the Luan-kind, and a cultivator identified him as the Emerald-Bearing Sword Immortal.
• Feng Yi entered the palace in a blaze of separation fire without objecting to Xuan Guang's advance, while onlookers argued over the Luan-kind's power.
• Huai Tan Palace settled atop Lone Peak, and the Purple Mansion cultivators sent their disciples inside to compete for its treasures.
• Feng Yi watched the Great Void as Mo Yu asked whether he sought the grotto-heaven, and he confirmed that Huai Tan Palace contained an entrance to it.
• Feng Yi told Mo Yu that True Lord Qingya had sealed the entrance and that the factions' fighting inside the palace would help open the grotto-heaven.

Jiang Yang entered the ancient secret realm and broke into a palace hall guarded by a spirit array, where he claimed two ancient mystic artifacts and uncovered a rare xun wood Purple Mansion Spirit Treasure. As other cultivators arrived, he concealed his most valuable find and prepared to leave.

• Jiang Yang landed in the secret realm, separated from his senior sister, and rushed to claim a nearby palace before other cultivators arrived.
• Jiang Yang used his mystic pupils to identify the spirit array’s weak points and broke through its shield with three sword strikes.
• Jiang Yang took a jade ruler and a xun wood Round Fan from the hall’s jade platforms and gathered several other valuable objects.
• Jiang Yang searched the hall again, spotted a hidden compartment beneath the throne’s Meditation Cushion, and found a Jade Box containing a xun wood Purple Mansion Spirit Treasure.
• Jiang Yang shut the box to suppress the treasure’s manifestations and concealed it before the arriving cultivators could notice.

Jiang Yang claimed a Spirit Treasure and fought Su Han and Gong Chudan when they demanded his valuables. As a Purple Mansion cultivator’s power began pulling them away, Jiang Yang revealed a golden eye and ordered them to freeze.

• Jiang Yang put away the Jade Box and left the hall as Su Han and Gong Chudan arrived.
• Gong Chudan attacked Jiang Yang with her Palace Lantern, and Jiang Yang severed her hand with his sword while wounding her with Sword Essence.
• Su Han and Gong Chudan fought together but struggled to withstand Jiang Yang’s sword light, and Gong Chudan’s wound would not heal.
• Jiang Yang used Silencing the Cold Cicada as Gong Chudan cried for her master, prompting a Purple Mansion cultivator’s power to begin extracting the pair from the Secret Realm.
• Gong Chudan taunted Jiang Yang as she was lifted away, and Jiang Yang revealed a golden Double Pupils eye and said, “Freeze!”

Jiang Yang killed Gong Chudan after using his mystic pupils to break True Person Yungong’s divine power, then traveled deeper into Huai Tan Palace. He found a Purple Mansion spirit thunder on the Mystic Platform at Heart-of-the-Lake Island, where six cultivators were fighting over it.

• Jiang Yang used his mystic pupils to unravel the force lifting Gong Chudan and dragged her down.
• Jiang Yang killed Gong Chudan, took her Storage Bag and palace lantern, and left the Palace Pavilion.
• True Person Yungong discussed his failed divine power with another Purple Mansion cultivator and decided to question the disciple who escaped.
• Jiang Yang flew deeper into Huai Tan Palace and reached Heart-of-the-Lake Island, where he spotted Purple Mansion spirit thunder on the Mystic Platform.
• A golden-armored cultivator battled several opponents near the Mystic Platform, and someone cried out, “Senior sister!”

Jiang Yang joined Chu Qingjian in the struggle for the Purple Mansion spirit thunder, ambushing one of her opponents and helping drive off the others. After the crimson-robed Yan Heng also defeated his rivals, he greeted Jiang Yang, leaving the remaining cultivators facing off over the prize.

• The crimson-robed young man used a powerful fire talisman against two opponents, then fought them with a Bright Lamp as they refused to withdraw.
• Chu Qingjian's two opponents teamed up against her, using kan water and cold qi to challenge her Pivot Thunder.
• Jiang Yang secretly approached the battlefield and stabbed the kan water cultivator with Touching Green Moss.
• Chu Qingjian followed with a thunder attack, weakening the kan water cultivator until the white-robed cold-qi cultivator fled.
• The crimson-robed young man used his Separation Fire Palace Lantern to drive off his two opponents.
• The crimson-robed young man turned to Chu Qingjian and Jiang Yang, recognized Jiang Yang, and introduced himself as Yan Heng.

Jiang Yang and Chu Qingjian secured Yan Heng’s claim to the Purple Mansion spirit thunder after he yielded it and delivered Yun Zhen’s invitation to meet beneath the spirit locust in the Central Palace. As Chu Qingjian slowly worked to free the thunder, Jiang Yang revealed he had another bolt that could help her.

• Yan Heng yielded the spirit thunder to Jiang Yang and Chu Qingjian, then relayed that Yun Zhen and the others were waiting beneath the Void Star Spirit Locust Tree in the Central Palace.
• Jiang Yang explained Yan Heng’s background and Yun Zhen’s identity to Chu Qingjian as they descended toward the Mystic Platform.
• Chu Qingjian began unraveling the shield around the Purple Mansion execution thunder while Jiang Yang stood guard.
• Chu Qingjian said a second bolt of execution thunder could help draw out the trapped thunder and speed the process.
• Jiang Yang produced a bronze box and revealed that it contained Foundation establishment spirit thunder called Thunderbolt and Lightning.

Jiang Yang gave Chu Qingjian a Thunder Pearl, helping her break through the Mystic Shield and safely secure its Purple Mansion spirit thunder. Afterward, he examined the dead Kan Water cultivator’s belongings and reflected on how Weak Water had constrained the Kan Water path.

• Jiang Yang gave Chu Qingjian the Thunder Pearl, and she refined it to help dissolve the Mystic Shield.
• Jiang Yang gathered the Kan Water cultivator’s remains and took his Storage Bag, Azure Banner, and Silt Source Gate token.
• Jiang Yang recognized the cultivator’s Silt Source Gate affiliation and considered how Weak Water had displaced Kan Water.
• Chu Qingjian carefully transferred the Purple Mansion spirit thunder into a Wooden Box and sealed it with three Talismans.
• Chu Qingjian praised the Mystic Platform but realized they could not move it, then Jiang Yang told her to keep the Thunder Pearl.

Jiang Yang and Chu Qingjian traveled to the Void Star Spirit Locust Tree at the heart of Huai Tan Palace, where they reunited with Yun Zhen and Ying Huang. Yun Zhen explained that the ancient tree was a Purple Mansion spirit root and that its blossoms and fruits were treasures.

• Jiang Yang and Chu Qingjian agreed to travel together toward the spirit locust after leaving Heart-of-the-Lake Island.
• The two flew past weaker cultivators hiding among the palace ruins and reached the enormous tree in a valley.
• The tree’s twig-chill whistling wind drained Jiang Yang and Chu Qingjian until Yun Zhen called them below the treetops, where the wind dispersed.
• Jiang Yang reunited with Yun Zhen and Ying Huang and introduced Chu Qingjian, who exchanged courteous but tense greetings with them.
• Yun Zhen revealed that the Void Star Spirit Locust Tree was the greatest opportunity in Huai Tan Palace, describing its Mystic Star Locust Blossoms and Mystic Void Spirit Locust Fruits as treasures.

Yun Zhen revealed the Void-Star Spirit Locust’s treasures and began shaking its spirit blossoms and pods, while the Luan-kind prepared to transplant the tree. Jiang Yang and Chu Qingjian raced to collect the scattered treasures as other cultivators converged.

• Yun Zhen explained that the Void-Star Spirit Locust produced twelve spirit blossoms and three spirit treasure pods, and Jiang Yang recognized its connection to an old spirit seed he possessed.
• Yun Zhen told Jiang Yang she had invited him to gain an early advantage and said her household planned to transplant the tree.
• Yun Zhen tapped the trunk three times with the Golden Striker, scattering twelve blossoms and releasing three pods.
• Ying Huang urged them to act, and Jiang Yang and Chu Qingjian split up to pursue the falling treasures.

Jiang Yang collected several Pagoda Flowers and claimed a Purple Mansion Spirit Seed after Han Gui yielded it to him. As cultivators fought over the remaining treasures and Yun Zhen began moving the Immortal Tree, Jiang Yang headed toward Chu Qingjian, who was attacked after securing another Spirit Seed.

• Jiang Yang gathered Pagoda Flowers and spotted a Purple Mansion Spirit Seed in the clouds.
• Han Gui recognized Jiang Yang, yielded the Spirit Seed to him, and departed to seek another treasure.
• Jiang Yang identified the treasure as a Transmission Seed, stored it, and saw cultivators battling over the remaining Spirit Treasures as the Immortal Tree began to rise.
• Jiang Yang flew to Chu Qingjian after spotting her among the fighting cultivators.
• Chu Qingjian seized a Spirit Seed, but a crimson attacker tried to sever her arm, prompting her to counterattack with golden thunder.

Chu Qingjian fought off cultivators pursuing the Spirit Seed, then faced the monks Jing Chen and Jing Wu when they demanded it from her. As the monks overwhelmed her, Jiang Yang arrived and severed one statue’s head with his sword.

• A cultivator revealed that Chu Qingjian had the Spirit Seed, drawing five pursuers who tried to surround her.
• Chu Qingjian used Heavenly Balance Strategy and her Golden Mace to escape, while Jiang Yang stirred up confusion among the pursuers to help her.
• After Chu Qingjian shook off the pursuing cultivators, Jing Chen and Jing Wu appeared and demanded the Spirit Seed.
• Chu Qingjian attacked the monks, but they transformed into six-armed golden statues and drove her back until she was injured and nearly trapped.
• Jiang Yang broke free from his own fight, joined Chu Qingjian, and severed one golden statue’s head with his sword.

Feng Yi pulled the Void-Star Spirit Locust from Huai Tan Palace, exposing a grotto-heaven protected by a True Lord’s seal. As cultivators fled its dangerous entrance, Jiang Yang struck Monk Jing Chen, and the monks prepared to escape when the immortal tree rose from Return Valley.

• Feng Yi used his divine powers to extract the spirit locust from Huai Tan Palace, while Mo Yu watched and discussed the palace’s inevitable collapse.
• The exposed site revealed a grotto-heaven entrance, and two Purple Mansion cultivators were afflicted by a powerful transformation when they tried to enter.
• Feng Yi explained that a True Lord’s seal had protected the grotto-heaven, and Mo Yu realized why he had remained confident.
• Jiang Yang struck Monk Jing Chen, severing his head and damaging his golden body, so Jing Wu took him into his Pure Land and joined their bodies.
• Jing Chen urged Jing Wu to subdue Jiang Yang, but Jing Wu called for them to flee as a giant tree rose from Return Valley.

Jiang Yang and Chu Qingjian survived the battle at Sandalwood Palace, and Chu Qingjian gave him the Void-Star Spirit Locust Fruit. Bai Tang awakened and told Jiang Yang she sensed a Grotto-Heaven, prompting him to return to the central Return Valley while Chu Qingjian stayed behind to recover.

• Jing Wu struck Chu Qingjian from behind, then used the lightning's force to escape with Jing Chen.
• Chu Qingjian gave Jiang Yang the Void-Star Spirit Locust Fruit, leaving him with two of the three Spirit Seeds.
• Jiang Yang revealed that Bai Tang had awakened and warned him of a Grotto-Heaven's aura as the Purple Mansion Spirit Root flew away.
• Jiang Yang cleared debris from a side hall, helped Chu Qingjian sit, and gave her an elixir for her injuries.
• Jiang Yang asked Chu Qingjian to accompany him to the central Return Valley, but she declined, and he left alone.

Jiang Yang found the hidden entrance to Azure Corner Heaven in Return Valley, but Bai Tang warned him that a deadly calamity guarded it. The Ten Thousand Ravines, Pine Winds Painting then opened the way into the grotto-heaven, leaving Jiang Yang ready to enter.

• Jiang Yang used his mystic pupils to reveal the hidden entrance to Azure Corner Heaven in Return Valley.
• Bai Tang remembered that the entrance was covered by the Dark Calamity of Xuan Xun Harmony and stopped Jiang Yang from approaching it.
• Bai Tang told Jiang Yang that they could summon the local Earth Deity for help and asked him to retrieve his Spirit Summoning and Command spellbook.
• The Ten Thousand Ravines, Pine Winds Painting flew from Jiang Yang's sleeve and settled against the entrance, undoing its seal.
• Bai Tang told Jiang Yang that the painting had become the entrance and that he could enter the grotto-heaven.