Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Jiang Yang reunites with Zhou Yanwei, an old sect companion, who warmly welcomes him to his courtyard. Though Zhou has established his Dao Foundation and reached the middle stage, Jiang’s far greater progress leaves Zhou feeling both impressed and humbled.
• Over tea, Zhou praises Jiang’s remarkable sword strike, which has transformed the Autumn Woods beneath the Heavenly Pass. Sword cultivators—especially disciples of the Yi Sword Gate—have gathered there to study its effects.
• Jiang explains that the transformation is temporary rather than a permanent alteration of the landscape. He estimates it may last six months to a year, astonishing Zhou.
• Jiang credits Zhou with helping him begin his path in the Sword Dao. When Zhou asks about Fang Xu, Jiang says Fang has been taken in by the Luan-kind and may no longer recognize them.
• The two discuss cultivation and Dao lineages. Zhou demonstrates his unfamiliar qi, which Jiang identifies as one of the Twelve Qi. Zhou reveals that it is

True Qi—“Bestowing Longevity.”

Character developments

• Jiang Yang remains modest and considerate despite his growing strength. He is also cautious about others misreading his sword strike as a path they can simply imitate.
• Zhou Yanwei is proud of his own advancement but openly recognizes how far Jiang has surpassed him. His enthusiasm for swordsmanship shines through when discussing Jiang’s strike, while his refined hospitality reflects his aristocratic upbringing.
• Fang Xu is absent, but Jiang’s brief account suggests his life and identity have changed greatly under the Luan-kind’s influence.

Significant themes

• Respect beyond rank: Jiang continues to treat Zhou as his senior despite their difference in cultivation, preserving their old bond.
• Talent and imitation: Jiang’s sword achievement inspires others, but he believes genuine progress requires finding one’s own path rather than copying another’s.
• Transformation and impermanence: The woods’ altered seasons are wondrous but temporary, and Jiang tempers the rumors surrounding them.
• Friendship and shared history: Tea, reminiscence, and mutual gratitude reconnect the two after years apart.

Character interactions

Jiang and Zhou exchange compliments and defer to one another, turning a reunion into a warm, respectful conversation. Zhou admires Jiang’s swordsmanship; Jiang gives Zhou credit for guiding his early development. They also share concern and curiosity about Fang Xu, then shift to exchanging cultivation knowledge and comparing Dao lineages.

Plot and events

• Zhou Yanwei tells Jiang Yang that his cultivation lineage, True Qi, is one of the Dao Lineages inherited from the fallen Ancient Jin Kingdom.
• He recounts the Pingwu Zhou lineage’s history: once a prominent Immortal Race, it suffered heavy losses when Jin collapsed. To survive, it submitted first to Locust Image Palace, then to Rain Xiang Mountain after Great True Person Xiang Fan forced Locust Image Palace to retreat.
• The Zhou endured mockery for repeatedly changing patrons, but gradually regained their standing. Zhou insists that survival was necessary, and that those who once judged his family are mostly gone.
• Zhou explains True Qi’s qualities and unusual flexibility: its cultivators can switch to most other Eight Qi Dao Lineages when advancing to Purple Mansion. Even cultivators from other lineages may use a True Qi Divine Power to stabilize their cultivation. Its chief drawback is the difficulty of gathering it.
• He describes his own foundation as versatile and resilient, though not especially suited to spells, and notes that his family resources give him other means in combat.
• Zhou asks Jiang Yang to support him in the coming battles. Jiang gladly agrees to fight beside him.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhou’s initially calm, genial manner gives way briefly to bitterness and pride as he recalls his family’s compromised reputation. His sharp remark about former critics reveals that the old wound remains, despite his claim to have accepted it.
• Jiang listens attentively, recognizes the harsh choices the Zhou made to survive, and tries to reassure Zhou by honoring his ancestors’ loyalty. When he senses the topic is painful, he tactfully redirects the conversation to True Qi.
• Their exchange deepens their mutual respect: Zhou shares both his lineage’s history and the strengths and limitations of his foundation, while Jiang responds warmly to his request for help.

Significant themes

• Survival and loyalty: The Zhou’s shifts in allegiance are presented as pragmatic efforts to preserve their lineage, not simple betrayal.
• Inherited shame and resilience: Zhou bears his family’s stigma while taking pride in its recovery and endurance.
• Power and adaptability: True Qi’s ability to harmonize with other lineages reflects its flexibility, though that versatility comes at the cost of difficult cultivation.
• Trust and mutual support: The chapter closes on a pledge of companionship ahead of danger.

Plot and events

• Xianyu’s forces return to attack after a brief recovery. Jiang Yang walks out at the head of Rain Xiang Mountain’s younger cultivators; without anyone organizing it, the crowd follows him and parts to let him pass. His reputation from the last battle has made him their natural leader—and has badly shaken the enemy.
• Lu Ji sees Xianyu’s troops losing heart before the fighting even starts, so he orders an immediate charge. He assigns the Black Armor Man, Kui Shuyue, to hold Jiang Yang off.
• Jiang Yang enters the melee with his Spirit Oak, but opponents leave a wide space around him rather than face him. Kui Shuyue attacks from the air. Jiang Yang’s sword qi appears to kill him instantly, but Jiang recognizes that Kui has not truly fallen: his body can disperse and reform, and Jiang’s Punish the Unjust ability cannot affect him.
• Kui reforms, retrieves his spear, and attacks at close range, eager to test himself against a Sword Immortal. As the two confront each other, observing True Persons identify Kui’s cultivation as dual immortal foundations. They suspect he achieved it through consuming a cultivator of his own rank, leaving the two souls in violent conflict.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Yang has become an unquestioned standard-bearer for his peers. He remains composed under pressure, but Kui’s unusual Dao lineage makes him cautious and curious rather than complacent.
• The younger cultivators show their faith in Jiang Yang by following him in silence; the enemy’s fear of him is equally evident in their reluctance to approach.
• Lu Ji tries to bolster Xianyu’s morale and directs Kui toward Jiang Yang, privately hoping the dangerous, prideful fighter will keep him occupied.
• Kui Shuyue bristles at Lu Ji’s instructions and insists on acting as he pleases. His arrogance and appetite for a worthy opponent lead him to challenge Jiang directly.
• Tai Pei’er watches Jiang from within the crowd, smiling faintly.
• Dongmen Wan Jing defends the prestige of the Sword Dao, while Lin Xi Yu and the other True Persons examine Kui’s strange condition. Buhui offers the grisly explanation for Kui’s dual foundations.

Significant themes

• Reputation and leadership: Jiang’s past deeds have turned him into a leader without formal appointment.
• Fear and morale: His presence affects both armies before combat begins, showing that psychological power can shape a battle.
• The cost of power: Kui’s dual foundations appear to depend on consuming another cultivator, a brutal method that leaves his mind and soul in turmoil.
• Righteousness and evil: Jiang’s abilities distinguish between different kinds of foes, but Kui’s unusual nature falls outside their expected limits.

Key plot points and events

• The observers judge Kui Shuyue’s method of forcing a second Immortal Foundation into himself as crude but effective. They understand its cost: although it may greatly strengthen him for now, the competing foundations will eventually prevent further advancement and permanently cut off his pursuit of divine powers.
• Tai Pei’er fights two Foundation Establishment opponents while keeping watch over the larger battle and protecting her allies. She notices that the Xianyu side has sent only one of the two princes she remembers from her previous life.
• Tai senses calamity qi gathering in the clouds and realizes that an event she remembers is beginning again.
• Jiang Yang and Kui Shuyue resume their duel. Jiang Yang marvels that Kui can withstand his sword qi, while Kui recognizes that Jiang’s offense is overwhelming and that his “Fullness Body” is what has kept him alive.
• Both commit to finishing the fight at once. Kui throws his spear and unleashes Yang-Nine Calamity-Blight Mistlight, an ancient calamity art that blinds Jiang’s senses and traps his spirit sense. Jiang appears helpless before the spear’s killing thrust.
• The chapter ends with Kui discovering the cost of Jiang’s sword intent: a bleak wind steadily drains his vitality, cultivation, and lifespan, even as he tries to evade it with his transformed body.

Character developments and interactions

• Kui Shuyue shifts from arrogance to wary respect for Jiang’s swordsmanship, then gambles on a lethal counterattack. He begins to grasp that Jiang’s sword intent threatens more than his body.
• Jiang Yang stops testing Kui and commits fully to a decisive strike, but is caught by the mistlight’s sensory suppression.
• Tai Pei’er remains composed and tactical, balancing her duel with awareness of the broader battlefield. Her memories of a previous life shape how she interprets events.
• The True Persons and other observers discuss the duel and Kui’s transformation, treating its long-term cost as the price of a temporary advantage.

Significant themes

• Power versus the Dao: Kui’s added strength comes at the cost of his future cultivation and access to divine powers.
• Mutual peril and escalation: Both combatants launch decisive attacks simultaneously, making the outcome uncertain.
• Fate and recurrence: Tai’s recognition that events are repeating gives the battle an ominous sense of inevitability.
• The hidden cost of power: Kui’s technique may suppress Jiang’s senses, but Jiang’s sword intent is already consuming Kui’s life force.

Plot points and events

• Kui Shuyue uses a secret talisman supplied by his royal elder brother to shield himself from Jiang Yang’s persistent sword intent. He then throws his Calamity-Binding Black Spear into the Calamity Veil, convinced he has killed Jiang Yang.
• The sword intent continues, revealing that Jiang Yang survived. When Kui Shuyue summons the spear back, it returns in Jiang Yang’s hand. Jiang Yang emerges from the mist and effortlessly breaks through Kui Shuyue’s layered defenses, leaving him gravely wounded and disrupting his cultivation.
• Facing death, Kui Shuyue activates his hidden Immortal Foundation technique, Fate-Reversing Embryo. It reverses his body’s energies, rapidly heals his wounds, and temporarily raises his strength beyond Foundation Establishment Peak—though not all the way to Purple Mansion.
• Jiang Yang recognizes that the power-up is temporary and costly. He seals the black spear, keeps his second sword intent concealed, and attacks.
• Kui Shuyue meets him with a blood-vitality-enhanced charge, but the apparent clash is a feint: he uses the technique to re-form his body at a distance and prepare an escape rather than fight to the death.

Character developments

• Kui Shuyue shifts from triumphant confidence to shock and desperation, then reveals his hidden technique and tactical cunning. Despite his fierce appearance, he recognizes Jiang Yang’s superiority and prioritizes survival.
• Jiang Yang remains composed and observant. He quickly assesses the limits and cost of Kui Shuyue’s transformation, while instinctively choosing not to reveal his full sword power.

Character interactions

• Kui Shuyue’s attack and Jiang Yang’s return turn their duel into the focus of the battlefield; nearby cultivators pause to watch.
• Jiang Yang’s effortless counter overwhelms Kui Shuyue, prompting the latter to gamble on his secret technique.
• Their brief empowered clash ends with Kui Shuyue evading a direct contest, as he senses Jiang Yang may still be holding back.

Significant themes

• False victory and reversal: Kui Shuyue believes he has won, only to discover Jiang Yang survived and returned stronger.
• Power and its price: Fate-Reversing Embryo grants a dramatic surge, but consumes blood vitality, true essence, and lifespan.
• Concealed strength and strategy: Both fighters withhold information—Jiang Yang hides a second sword intent, while Kui Shuyue uses his transformation to deceive and escape rather than openly duel.

Key plot points

• Kui Shuyue reveals that his apparent willingness to meet Jiang Yang’s attack was a bluff meant to create an escape opening. His Fate-Reversing Embryo lets him recover from grievous injuries, but it burns through his blood essence, true essence, and lifespan.
• Kui Shuyue uses stored blood energy to sustain the ability and flees toward his powerful royal brother. Jiang Yang sees through the apparent defeat, spots the escaping trace of blood energy, and locks onto it with his mystic eyes.
• Once his sword intent returns, Jiang Yang uses Silencing the Cold Cicada, a concealed killing technique. Kui Shuyue senses disaster approaching, but his pleas for rescue come too late: even after his brother, Kui Bo’an, pulls him into the Great Void, the sword intent follows and kills him.
• The chapter then shifts to Gray Pool in Xianyu Kingdom. A gray-robed cultivator, Guanzhi, experiences an ominous manifestation of disaster and Tribulation Qi. Two supernatural figures—the black-and-white Impermanence Envoys—appear and announce that the appointed hour has arrived. Guanzhi greets them formally.

Character developments and interactions

• Kui Shuyue goes from blustering confidence to desperate flight. His survival technique buys time but cannot save him from Jiang Yang’s pursuit.
• Jiang Yang demonstrates perceptiveness and restraint: he recognizes the enemy’s weakness, tracks his escape, and chooses a precise, concealed strike rather than a direct chase.
• Kui Bo’an responds to his brother’s cry by rescuing him from the battlefield, but cannot prevent the killing blow. His calm reaction afterward leaves his feelings unclear.
• Guanzhi remains composed amid the supernatural disturbance and welcomes the envoys, suggesting he expected—or at least understands—their arrival.

Significant themes

• Power comes at a price: Kui Shuyue’s near-immortality consumes the very resources that sustain his life.
• Fate and unavoidable consequences: The sword strike pursues Kui Shuyue even into the Great Void, reinforcing the chapter’s imagery of calamity and inescapable tribulation.
• Appearances and perception: Kui Shuyue’s attack is a facade, while Jiang Yang’s ability to see through it determines the outcome.
• Death and appointment: The Impermanence Envoys’ arrival frames death and disaster as forces that arrive at their appointed time.

Key plot points and events

• Kui Guanzhi, ruler of Xianyu and master of the Calamity Qi Dao Lineage, is urged by two Underworld Constables to abandon the possibility of an intercalary Surplus position and attempt Dao attainment.
• He understands that powerful figures have long arranged for him to make this attempt, expecting him to die while pursuing the Calamity Qi position. He nevertheless sees the attempt as a way to gain leverage and enter their sphere of power.
• When Kui asks what will happen to Xianyu if he fails, the Constables promise to preserve one branch of his bloodline. Kui privately weighs which descendants might survive, while outwardly presenting himself as concerned.
• As the Constables summon him to proceed, events elsewhere shift: after a sword strike devastates three palaces, the gathered True Persons discuss the battle.
• The battlefield falls silent under spreading tribulation clouds. The True Persons realize Kui Guanzhi is attempting Dao attainment and gather in the Great Void to watch.
• Lu Xinghuai identifies Kui’s path as the ancient demonic Dao of “Heavenly Calamity Qi of Scarcity,” which proves itself through misfortune rather than warding calamity away.

Character developments and interactions

• Kui Guanzhi is revealed as wary, calculating, and unwilling to accept his fate passively. Though he recognizes the scheme against him, he intends to turn the attempt to his advantage. His concern for his family is largely strategic, and he privately shows little attachment to most of his descendants.
• The Underworld Constables use polite praise and assurances to steer Kui toward the dangerous attempt, while making clear that Xianyu itself is not their priority.
• Zhuang Beiwang and Dongmen Wan Jing trade teasing remarks about the fearsome sword strike; Lin Xi Yu suppresses a laugh. Lin Xiuyi, meanwhile, is relieved that the opposing True Person did not interfere and give them grounds for complaint.
• Lu Xinghuai takes an eager, informative role among the True Persons, explaining the obscure Calamity Qi tradition. The others gather as curious witnesses, hoping to learn from a rare Dao-attainment attempt.

Significant themes

• Manipulation and power: Great figures shape Kui’s fate while disguising pressure as courtesy; even his apparent choices occur within a carefully arranged scheme.
• Ambition versus survival: Kui sees a perilous attempt not only as a gamble against death, but as a chance to secure bargaining power.
• Family and political calculation: Bloodline preservation is treated as a concession, while the fate of Xianyu’s wider population is disregarded.
• Misfortune as a path to Dao: Calamity Qi is defined by enduring and proving the Dao through calamity, rather than seeking blessings or dispelling disaster.
• Knowledge gained by witnessing: The assembled True Persons treat another’s life-threatening attainment as a rare opportunity to observe and deepen their own understanding.

Key plot points and events

• Two Nether Bureau Impermanence officials assess Kui Guanzhi’s attempt to prove his Dao. They believe he may be able to refine some golden nature, but consider his odds of attaining the Dao extremely low: Tribulation Qi is incomplete and cannot fully command or answer calamities.
• True Persons gather to witness the attempt, including cultivators from several kingdoms and Dao lineages. A mysterious high cultivator from a Grotto-Heaven arrives, stirring speculation that Kui may have a real chance.
• Lu Xinghuai privately dismisses the hopeful interpretation, expecting the gathering to witness Kui’s death.
• As the sky darkens and crows circle, the battlefield below falls into confusion. The calamity’s oppressive presence breaks morale; troops begin retreating, and Jiang Yang senses that his opponent, the Black Armor Young General, has fallen. Tai Pei’er, who had anticipated the change, moves toward Jiang Yang.
• With his lifespan nearly spent and his preparation incomplete, Kui Guanzhi proceeds anyway. His body transforms: arcane markings appear, black feathers emerge, and his divine power reaches its limit. He invokes “Heavenly Calamity Descent” as an invisible staircase forms beneath him.

Character developments and interactions

• The Impermanence officials show both expertise and conflicted concern: they understand the flaws in Kui’s path, yet acknowledge that circumstances have left him little choice.
• Lu Xinghuai remains skeptical despite the crowd’s excitement. Lin Xi Yu and Lin Xiuyi watch eagerly, while other True Persons debate Kui’s prospects.
• Jiang Yang stays alert rather than panicking, thanks to Tai Pei’er’s warning. She shifts from watching the celestial signs to moving toward him as the crisis begins.
• Kui’s transformation marks his commitment to a desperate final attempt: he accepts the risk and prepares to climb the formed staircase.

Significant themes

• Desperation and choice: Kui acts despite insufficient preparation because time and life are running out.
• The limits of inherited power: Tribulation Qi’s damaged, incomplete nature constrains even a determined cultivator.
• Spectacle versus certainty: The crowd interprets the Grotto-Heaven cultivator’s arrival as a hopeful sign, while experienced observers remain doubtful.
• Calamity’s reach: The darkened sky affects not only Kui’s ritual but also morale and events across the battlefield.

Key plot points and events

• At Weiqu Mountain, an immense supernatural storm tears apart the ice and threatens the people below. Black-robed priests kneel before the Gray Pool, while powerful observers gather in the Great Void to witness Kui Guanzhi’s attempt to attain the Dao.
• Lin Xi Yu realizes that decades of warfare between Zheng and Chu may have been deliberately used to build the calamity needed to strengthen Kui Guanzhi’s manifestation. She and Lin Xiuyi suspect the Zheng royal house knowingly helped, but decide not to investigate further.
• Kui Guanzhi withstands the strain of his ancient Calamity Dao lineage and raises a series of divine powers. He reveals “Calamity Guilt Sight,” a rare Eye Divine Power, followed by “All Enveloped in Gloom.”
• Observers debate his choice of the latter power. One explains that the more traditional “Like a Year of Calamity” is no longer suited to the current heavenly conditions, so Kui Guanzhi must adapt his cultivation rather than follow the old path.
• The four divine powers already formed are exhausting him. He believes he lacks enough strength to raise the final one and will have nothing left to attain the Dao and claim golden nature.
• Rather than give up, Kui Guanzhi uses a desperate final method: he strikes and shatters his own Six-Yang Skull, apparently destroying the Rising Sun Prefecture to generate the Tribulation Qi he needs.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Xi Yu and Lin Xiuyi move from observing the spectacle to recognizing the political conspiracy behind it. Their exchanged glance confirms their shared suspicions, though both remain cautious.
• Kui Guanzhi shifts from controlled endurance to fierce resolve. Aware that his unconventional path has left him depleted, he chooses self-destruction as a last means of continuing.
• The Underworld Constable and his black-robed companion discuss Kui Guanzhi’s cultivation. The Constable questions his choice, while his companion defends it as a necessary adaptation to the present conditions.
• Other observers, including an old Daoist, recognize the risks: Kui Guanzhi may have chosen a viable route, but it could leave him too exhausted to complete his ascent.

Significant themes

• Sacrifice and desperation: Kui Guanzhi is willing to destroy himself to overcome an impossible barrier.
• Adaptation versus tradition: Attaining the Dao requires changing methods when the old, orthodox path no longer fits the age.
• Hidden political schemes: War and mass suffering may have been engineered to support one cultivator’s pursuit of power.
• The cost of ambition: The pursuit of the Dao consumes strength, risks identity, and may demand suffering on a vast scale.

Key plot points and events

• Kui Guanzhi uses his calamity-based Dao’s rare Fate-Reversing Embryo to destroy his own body and turn himself into Tribulation Qi, hoping to forge golden nature and attain the Dao.
• All five of his divine powers emerge and burn as fuel for the process. A single drop of golden nature forms, briefly restoring his body, but he cannot produce another before his powers and body are consumed.
• Accepting that he has failed, Kui Guanzhi releases the golden nature and vanishes into ash, ending with a regretful, unfinished verse.
• Two Underworld Constables seize the golden nature. They confirm he did not become a demon and leave to report their findings.
• With Kui Guanzhi gone, the suppressed dark clouds break apart. Tribulation Qi ash spreads across Xianyu and becomes Cloud-Velvet Black Feathers; the divine powers fall.
• In the Great Void, a new disturbance opens a fissure. A figure invokes the Heavenly Directorate and summons a Spirit God, whose force opens a view of a Mountain Range and a Mysterious Temple.

Character developments

• Kui Guanzhi is revealed as willing to sacrifice himself completely for his Dao. Despite briefly succeeding in producing golden nature, he dies before completing the transformation, meeting failure with resignation and a touch of humor.
• The Purple Mansion cultivators shift from mockery and disbelief to wary respect, recognizing the danger and significance of Kui Guanzhi’s method.
• The Underworld Constables act as observers and collectors, showing that Kui Guanzhi’s fate—and the golden nature he produced—has wider institutional importance.

Significant themes

• Sacrifice and ambition: Kui Guanzhi’s pursuit of transcendence demands the destruction of his own body and ultimately costs him his life.
• The limits of power: Even extraordinary divine powers and a momentary success cannot guarantee attainment; time and resources run out.
• Fate, calamity, and impermanence: The calamity that empowers Kui Guanzhi also consumes him, while his death reshapes the world around him.
• Legacy and unfinished work: His incomplete verse and failed attainment leave a record for others to interpret.

Character interactions

• The cultivators in the Great Void watch Kui Guanzhi’s attempt, debating whether his self-destruction is a viable method and cautioning one another against disrespect.
• Kui Guanzhi’s final address to his absent “Master” conveys a personal relationship and his desire to report that he forged golden nature.
• The two Underworld Constables confer after claiming the golden nature, then depart to report back.
• At the close, an unnamed figure commands the Heavenly Directorate’s divine officers, whose Spirit God helps force open the fissure.

Key events

• After the ruler of Xianyu falls while pursuing the Dao, the lingering phenomenon exposes a hidden realm in the Great Void. The gathered Purple Mansion cultivators recognize it as likely a grotto-heaven.
• Lu Xinghuai, Prince Jing of Zheng, uses a guardian Spirit God and the Heavenly Ministry’s supreme treasure, the Myriad Forms Boundary Map, to widen and stabilize the entrance. He draws out abundant Fortune-and-Virtue qi in the form of golden-orange wildcats, then sends it into the opening. The map also absorbs and dispels the Tribulation Qi from the ruler’s death.
• As the gateway opens, rays of light spill into the mortal world. Lin Xi Yu catches a few, but she and Lin Xiuyi prioritize entering the realm. When someone gives the signal, many cultivators rush inside, including the old Daoist.
• On a battlefield below, the oppressive aftermath lifts and black feathers rain from the sky. The cultivators discover they are high-quality Spirit Treasures formed from Tribulation Qi and scramble to claim them.
• Jiang Yang watches the events above with his mystic pupils. He realizes the ruler has died and recognizes the newly opened realm as Southern Peak Abbey, as Tai Pei’er had predicted. The brilliant light injures his left eye and temporarily blurs his vision. Tai Pei’er then reaches him.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Xinghuai reveals that he came prepared under imperial orders. He acts decisively to open the realm, disregarding the treasures falling around him as he focuses on the gateway.
• Lin Xi Yu and Lin Xiuyi share their recognition of the opportunity and agree to enter together. Lin Xi Yu shows good judgment by taking only a few falling lights before turning to the greater prize.
• Jiang Yang demonstrates careful observation and growing confidence in his own deductions, confirming that Tai Pei’er’s prediction was accurate despite being unable to perceive the full event with his Spirit Sense.
• Tai Pei’er’s earlier knowledge is validated when the realm appears; she seeks Jiang Yang out immediately afterward.
• The gathered cultivators shift from astonishment to competition: some marvel at the Fortune-and-Virtue qi, while the battlefield fighters abandon caution to seize the falling Spirit Treasures.

Significant themes

• Opportunity and urgency: The opening of a rare realm prompts cultivators to act quickly, each weighing immediate rewards against a potentially greater chance.
• Fate, foresight, and confirmation: Jiang Yang’s observations and Tai Pei’er’s prediction converge as Southern Peak Abbey appears.
• Power and preparation: Lu Xinghuai’s imperial backing and Spirit Treasure allow him to shape a moment that others can only react to.
• Greed amid upheaval: Even after a ruler’s death and a world-shaking event, cultivators rapidly turn to competing for material gains.

Key plot points and events

• After witnessing a world-shaking Transformation, Jiang Yang and Tai Pei’er meet amid the chaos. They agree that the Great True Person who attempted a breakthrough was deliberately doomed to fail.
• Tai Pei’er urges Jiang Yang to accompany her into the mountains, but he hesitates: the newly opened secret realm lies in the Great Void and is crowded with Purple Mansion True Persons, far beyond their ability to confront safely.
• Jiang Yang reveals that his mystic eye lets him see the realm’s location. Tai Pei’er explains that her Taiyin secret art, the Cloud-Climbing Moon-Chasing Method, can briefly carry her through the Great Void. With Jiang Yang guiding her, she believes they can reach the entrance.
• They travel cautiously through Xianyu’s unsettled heartland while its forces are distracted by the Great True Person’s death and the ensuing disorder.
• Jiang Yang warns that the risk is too great, but Tai Pei’er clarifies that she is not seeking the coveted golden nature. Her target is a Tao Spring, a separate opportunity that could benefit them both.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Yang is more cautious than before. His experience with powerful cultivators makes him wary of entering a realm where a single encounter could kill them. He nevertheless shares his discovery with Tai Pei’er and considers her proposal.
• Tai Pei’er reveals how thoroughly she has prepared for this chance, cultivating her lineage and gathering resources. She is confident now that Jiang Yang can locate the entrance. Though she originally intended to befriend and use him, her feelings have grown into genuine affection, and she invites him to share the opportunity despite the danger.
• Their partnership rests on complementary abilities: Jiang Yang can see the hidden entrance, while Tai Pei’er can enter the Great Void. Their conversation balances her enthusiasm with his concern for survival.

Significant themes

• Ambition versus caution: The promise of opportunity tempts the pair, but Jiang Yang stresses that survival must come first.
• Preparation and complementary strengths: Tai Pei’er’s long planning and Jiang Yang’s unusual vision make a difficult undertaking possible.
• Power and vulnerability: Even skilled Foundation Establishment cultivators are helpless beside Purple Mansion True Persons, underscoring the gap between levels of cultivation.
• Changing motives and affection: Tai Pei’er’s relationship with Jiang Yang shifts from calculated alliance toward sincere attachment.

Key events

• Jiang Yang and Tai Pei’er discuss the Clear-Heaven Spring, a legendary spring in Southern Peak Abbey said to help cultivators seek divine powers and raise their cultivation. Tai explains that she learned of it by chance, but keeps the details to herself.
• Tai Pei’er knows that the spring later fell into the mortal world with a fragment of the secret realm. In her previous life, she missed the opportunity; those who reached the water first reportedly gained great benefits. Since both she and Jiang Yang are near the peak of Foundation Establishment, she hopes they can use it to attain divine powers together.
• As they travel toward the abbey, Xianyu Kingdom is in chaos after the disappearance of its sovereign, Kui Guanzhi. Black feathers rain from the sky, the people mourn, and a few cultivators try to restore the kingdom’s spirit arrays.
• The pair head to Quwei Mountain, Kui Guanzhi’s secluded retreat. Tai has planned for either outcome: use the summit to enter the Great Void and reach Southern Peak Abbey, or search the sovereign’s retreat for valuable treasures.
• At the summit, they avoid a pool tainted by dangerous Tribulation Qi. A shower of light then falls from the Great Void: each catches a low-grade longevity-qi spirit treasure—a jade-bamboo segment for Jiang Yang and an apricot fruit for Tai.
• Rather than collect more minor treasures, Tai begins preparing to connect with the Great Void and asks Jiang Yang to guard her. Jiang raises his gaze toward it despite the pain in his left eye.

Character developments and interactions

• Tai Pei’er is revealed as someone who has planned carefully and carries knowledge from her previous life. She is eager to share the chance to reach divine powers with Jiang Yang, though she cannot bring herself to voice her wish that they live freely together for a hundred years.
• Jiang Yang takes her spring plan seriously, respects her privacy about how she learned of it, and agrees to protect her as she makes the attempt.
• Their closeness is shown through shared ambition and trust: they travel together, exchange a glance before identifying their treasures, and proceed as a team.

Significant themes

• Opportunity and regret: Tai’s earlier failure to notice the spring contrasts with her present determination to seize the chance.
• Ambition, fate, and preparation: The pair weigh a rare path to divine powers against the fallback prospect of plundering a vanished ruler’s retreat.
• Loss and political uncertainty: Xianyu’s mourning and disorder suggest how fragile a kingdom’s standing is without its sovereign.
• Unspoken affection: Tai’s hope for a long, free life with Jiang Yang remains largely unspoken, adding tenderness to their shared quest.

Key plot points

• After the Great Void’s violent disturbance, Jiang Yang uses his Mystic Pupil to confirm that a white gateway remains nearby. Though still sore from his injuries, he guides Tai Pei’er as she prepares a way to enter the Void.
• Tai Pei’er creates two talismans that seal her Moon-Riding Method, allowing each user to remain in the Great Void for roughly fifteen minutes. Jiang Yang’s guidance makes that brief window seem sufficient.
• They chant the method together and swallow the moonlight released by the talismans. Lifted skyward, they pass through the clouds and enter the Great Void.
• Elsewhere, Purple Mansion cultivators emerge through the gateway into a lush Grotto-Heaven. They are captivated by an ownerless portion of golden nature on a lofty platform.
• One cultivator rushes to seize it, prompting the others to charge after them. The visitors abandon restraint, throwing the Grotto-Heaven into chaos.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Yang demonstrates the value of his Mystic Pupil: it lets him perceive and navigate the Great Void despite his injuries. He remains composed and practical.
• Tai Pei’er shows her expertise in Dao arts by crafting the talismans, though the effort visibly exhausts her. She takes Jiang Yang’s hand, claiming she fears they might be separated in the darkness; the gesture suggests growing closeness, and he follows her lead.
• The Purple Mansion cultivators, including Lin Xi Yu, are overwhelmed by the promise of unclaimed golden nature. Their greed quickly overcomes their composure, and they turn on one another’s opportunity to claim it.

Significant themes

• Treasure and greed: The golden nature transforms a serene, otherworldly sanctuary into a scene of competition and disorder.
• Cooperation and trust: Jiang Yang and Tai Pei’er rely on each other to cross a dangerous, disorienting realm.
• The limits of power and knowledge: Jiang Yang’s exceptional vision helps him perceive the Void, while Tai Pei’er’s method offers only a temporary, constrained passage.

Key plot points

• The crowd recognizes the treasure on the raised platform as Heavenly Proclamation Longevity Qi Myriad Transformations, an apparently unique remnant of an ancient Dao lineage. Because it may offer a path toward the lost art of Heaven and Earth Myriad Transformations, the Purple Mansion cultivators immediately fight to claim it.
• The mystic shield protects the treasure from their attacks. More than twenty powerful cultivators crowd the hill, wrecking the surrounding grounds in the struggle.
• Lin Xi Yu and her junior brother Lin Xiuyi initially move with Lu Xinghuai’s group, but Lin Xi Yu reins them in. Both recognize that competing directly for the treasure could be suicidal.
• A monk from Manifest Dharma Temple manifests a massive golden Dharma Body to block the others while Old Ghost Lu and the Xianyu Kingdom’s witchcraft survivors attack the shield. The assembled cultivators overwhelm the monk, who is injured and forced to retreat.
• When the shield withstands another heavy blow, the competitors stop attacking and take up positions instead. The four principal groups—the Zheng Kingdom, Chu Kingdom, Xianyu remnants and monks, and a loose band of rogue cultivators—settle into a tense standoff.
• Lu Xinghuai asks the Zheng-aligned cultivators and potential allies to support the Heavenly Ministry Tradition’s long-laid plan to obtain the treasure. His allies agree or offer qualified support, while Lin Xi Yu avoids committing herself.
• Everyone recognizes that whoever makes the first move may be attacked by all the others. Lin Xiuyi points out that a fifth faction is present: the lone observer above them. The chapter ends with Dongmen Wan Jing identifying him as a former “man of the heavens” who descended into the mortal world.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Xi Yu shows caution and responsibility, restraining herself and Lin Xiuyi despite the treasure’s appeal. She politely resists Lu Xinghuai’s attempt to secure her support, citing her sect’s lack of instructions and her group’s limited strength.
• Lin Xiuyi remains quiet until he notices the overlooked observer, demonstrating attentiveness and a willingness to challenge the group’s assumptions.
• Lu Xinghuai reveals the Heavenly Ministry Tradition’s ambitions and tries to build a coalition, presenting himself as generous while carefully managing the risks.
• Dongmen Wan Jing understands the significance of Lu Xinghuai’s maneuver but does not openly take sides.
• Old Ghost Lu and the monk briefly cooperate in the rush toward the shield, exposing the monks’ alliance with Lu Boyan’s side. The monk’s attempt to stall the other cultivators fails.
• The rival cultivators shift from open combat to wary, watchful positioning once they realize the treasure is still secure.

Significant themes

• Temptation versus survival: The treasure’s promise of lost longevity and transformative power draws everyone in, but greed could prove fatal.
• Power and fragile alliances: Shared desire creates temporary cooperation, yet every faction distrusts the others and fears being targeted.
• Strategic restraint: With the treasure protected, patience and positioning become more valuable than reckless attacks.
• Hidden players and uncertain balance: The unexpected fifth faction suggests that the apparent four-way standoff may be even more complicated than it first seemed.

Plot points and events

• Wei Qixin, a Daoist from the Xuanzhu Wei Clan of Pure Yang Heaven, arrives. His lineage is associated with innate life-gate true fire, essential to verifying longevity qi, suggesting he has come to pursue the golden nature.
• Lin Xi Yu and Lin Xiuyi recognize how dangerous the gathering has become. They resolve to prioritize survival and look for a chance to escape rather than risk competing for the prize.
• Lu Boyan proposes retrieving the golden nature and letting everyone study it together. The others reject his offer, and a Monk’s similar promise to safeguard it at Manifest Dharma Temple is met with fierce distrust.
• While the cultivators argue, Wei Qixin abruptly attacks the platform with his Divine Candle Harmonizing Seal. The mystic shield breaks, and the assembled power-wielders immediately fight to claim the golden nature.
• In the ensuing chaos, the golden nature releases a sweep of seven-colored light. Several cultivators, including Lin Xi Yu, feel its effects; multiple True Persons discover that it has added twelve years to their lifespans.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Xi Yu shows clear judgment and concern for her junior brother, warning Lin Xiuyi to avoid reckless action. He agrees and shares her view that escape is preferable.
• Wei Qixin’s sudden attack reveals that he is willing to act decisively and disregard the gathered cultivators to seize the golden nature.
• Lu Boyan and the Monk try to present cooperation as a solution, but Yi Zhe, other cultivators, and Dongmen Wan Jing expose the deep distrust between rival groups—especially toward the temple.
• The rogue cultivators are more receptive to the Monk’s proposal, seeing it as a possible way to gain access to the prize.

Significant themes

• Power and peril: Even accomplished Purple Mansion cultivators are vulnerable amid conflicts involving greater forces and competing Dao Lineages.
• Distrust and rivalry: Claims of sharing or safeguarding the golden nature cannot overcome factional suspicion and past betrayals.
• Longevity’s appeal: The golden nature proves to have an immediate life-extending effect, intensifying the stakes of the struggle.
• Prudence amid ambition: Lin Xi Yu and Lin Xiuyi recognize that survival may matter more than pursuing a coveted treasure.

Key events

• The golden nature initially grants several Purple Mansion True Persons twelve years of restored lifespan, stirring intense envy among those who miss out.
• Lu Boyan and Monk Yi Kong coordinate a theft. Yi Kong draws the crowd’s attacks with a feigned grab, while Lu uses his Fixed-Space Hexagram divine power to take the golden nature.
• The golden nature suddenly releases another wave of seven-colored light. This time it shortens the recipients’ lives by twelve years, reversing the earlier gain.
• Lu Xinghuai recognizes the danger and keeps his companions back. He explains that the golden nature links fortune and calamity: it restores lost bodily lifespan but can also take genuine spirit lifespan. It cannot grant immortality, and the unlucky cultivators have suffered the loss without receiving the earlier benefit.
• Now weakened and clutching the object everyone wants, Lu Boyan faces a furious crowd and Yi Zhe’s relentless attacks. Above them, Wei Qixin watches, confident that no one can escape the Grotto-Heaven.
• A shrill cry interrupts Wei’s words as a black shadow streaks toward Lu Boyan’s hand and the golden nature.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Boyan moves from calculating opportunist to desperate holder of the prize: the lifespan loss leaves him frail, while every cultivator around him becomes a threat.
• Yi Kong knowingly serves as a decoy, helping Lu steal the golden nature, though his escape leaves him battered.
• Yi Zhe shifts from feigned focus on the golden nature to open fury at Lu’s theft, then presses his attack.
• Lu Xinghuai shows insight and restraint, correctly anticipating the danger and stopping his companions from approaching.
• Wei Qixin remains detached and self-assured until the sudden attacker disrupts his control of the scene.

Significant themes

• Fortune and calamity are intertwined: a blessing can turn into a curse, and apparent gains may carry hidden costs.
• Greed fuels conflict: the desire for longevity drives deception, theft, and violence.
• Mortality and limits: even powerful cultivators cannot escape aging or turn a temporary restoration into immortality.
• Control can be fragile: Wei Qixin’s confidence is abruptly challenged by an unexpected threat.

Plot points

• Jiang Yang and Tai Pei’er use their imperfect Moon-Chasing Art and Jiang Yang’s mystic pupils to enter the Great Void and pass through a gateway into the Southern Peak Grotto-Heaven.
• They are overwhelmed at first by the realm’s abundant spirit vigor, then adapt and survey its luminous islands, cloud seas, and ancient mountains.
• Tai Pei’er explains that she needs to locate the Spirit Spring before she can identify the route she remembers from her previous life. She also knows that twenty Purple Mansion cultivators have arrived, making it important to avoid the central region.
• Finding no nearby cultivators, the pair fly low and cautiously east. After about two hours, they reach the grotto-heaven’s boundary without finding the spring or any signs of habitation.
• They conclude they may have landed in a remote area. With time limited and the Purple Mansion cultivators likely focused on the golden nature, Jiang Yang proposes exploring the conspicuous floating islands; Tai Pei’er agrees.

Character development

• Tai Pei’er is both elated to enter a place she missed in her previous life and wary of the dangers ahead. Her past failure to pursue cultivation has given way to firm resolve: she wants to revive her clan and attain the strength to live freely with Jiang Yang.
• Jiang Yang approaches the grotto-heaven through observation and comparison with Azure Corner Heaven. He remains cautious, but adapts his plan when their initial search yields little.

Character interactions

• Tai Pei’er shares her uncertainty about the spring’s location and proposes exploring together; Jiang Yang agrees.
• She briefly realizes she is still holding Jiang Yang’s hand, releases it casually, and continues discussing their plan—hinting at her growing affection.
• Jiang Yang’s suggestion to investigate the islands follows their joint assessment of the empty landscape and the need to move quickly.

Significant themes

• Second chances and resolve: Tai Pei’er’s memories of her previous life drive her to pursue the goals she once neglected.
• Love and ambition: Her desire for a future with Jiang Yang is intertwined with her determination to gain power.
• Risk and caution: The pair must balance seizing an opportunity against the threat posed by stronger cultivators.
• Uncertainty in a vast world: Their arrival brings access to a wondrous realm, but little knowledge of its geography or dangers.

Key plot points and events

• Kui Guanzhi, having sacrificed his dharma body, cultivation, rising sun, memories, and nearly all his golden nature to escape the Underworld, uses the Fate-Reversing Embryo to transform into the Calamity Crow. A last trace of golden nature keeps his spirit intact, but he risks losing his mind and becoming a full demon.
• He believes the powerful figures who promised him help instead constrained him, and now hopes to reach a gateway forming in the Great Void before his remaining power fails.
• The Crow attacks Lu Boyan and tears off his right arm, then steals the golden nature Lu had nearly secured. Wei Qixin recognizes the creature as the Calamity Crow and concludes that the Nether Bureau deliberately allowed Kui Guanzhi to survive.
• Wei Qixin pursues the Crow, followed by Lu Xinghuai and other cultivators. Lin Xi Yu and Lin Xiuyi opt out, reasoning that the chase is dangerous and that they can investigate nearby Mystic Towers and Immortal Peaks instead.
• During the pursuit, Lu Boyan’s severed arm crawls back and reattaches itself. Wei Qixin catches up and summons a mountain-sized Dark Seal, then prepares to unleash Heaven-Enveloping Fire.

Character developments

• Kui Guanzhi / the Calamity Crow has been reduced to a desperate, barely human creature. His golden nature preserves a remnant of his identity, but his memories and humanity are fading.
• Wei Qixin shifts from confidence to anger when he realizes the Nether Bureau may have interfered with his mission and that the Crow has taken the golden nature.
• Lu Boyan suffers a severe injury and loses his prize, yet continues the pursuit despite his weakened condition.
• Lin Xi Yu and Lin Xiuyi show pragmatism: they avoid a risky contest among powerful cultivators and pursue their own opportunity for exploration.

Significant themes

• The cost of survival: Kui Guanzhi preserves his spirit only by surrendering nearly everything that made him human.
• Golden nature as power and identity: It is both a precious resource coveted by factions and the last anchor keeping Kui Guanzhi from complete demonic transformation.
• Political maneuvering and mistrust: Wei Qixin suspects the Nether Bureau has manipulated events behind the scenes.
• Risk versus opportunity: The pursuers chase the valuable prize, while the Lin siblings choose a safer path to seek other rewards.

Character interactions

• The Calamity Crow’s attack turns Lu Boyan’s near-victory into a loss, provoking a larger pursuit.
• Wei Qixin interprets the Crow’s appearance as evidence of the Nether Bureau’s scheming and leads the response.
• Lin Xi Yu persuades Lin Xiuyi to abandon the chase and investigate the grotto-heaven; he agrees.
• The chapter ends with Wei Qixin confronting the Crow, setting up a clash between his fire and the fugitive’s desperate escape.

Plot and events

Jiang Yang and Tai Pei’er reach a grotto-heaven of three floating Immortal Islands, linked by narrow bridges and filled with mist, gardens, and old buildings. A distant rumble shakes the realm. They suspect the Purple Mansion True Persons elsewhere have begun fighting over the “golden nature,” and hurry on.
On the eastern island, Tai Pei’er recognizes patterns on a pavilion that match her memories of Southern Peak Abbey, an ancient Dao lineage. They enter the empty Mystic Pavilion and find an altar with a statue and two apparently unremarkable objects: a wooden sword and a small gourd. Both prove to be Purple Mansion Spirit Artifacts. Jiang Yang judges the sword to be a Spell Sword rather than a Spirit Sword; Tai Pei’er claims it, while Jiang Yang takes the gourd. Before leaving, they respectfully bow to the statue.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Yang remains cautious and observant, studying the changing celestial signs and wondering why the grotto-heaven is deserted. His sword-cultivator’s expertise lets him identify the wooden sword’s likely function.
• Tai Pei’er is excited by the architecture and recognizes clues to the site’s identity. She eagerly chooses the Spell Sword, which suits her talent for seals and incantations.
• The pair coordinate smoothly: they share suspicions, inspect the treasures, and divide them without conflict. Their respectful departure suggests they feel some unease about taking artifacts from the altar.

Significant themes

• Ancient inheritances and disappearance: The abandoned temples raise questions about what happened to the former inhabitants and why their lineage vanished.
• Discovery and uncertainty: The beautiful, serene setting conceals both valuable artifacts and unanswered mysteries.
• Respect amid ambition: Though eager to claim useful treasures, the pair acknowledge the sacred setting and its statue before leaving.