Chapter Summaries

Xu Yan and the Mountain-Bearing Demon Tortoise slaughtered the Crimson Sun Sect after the tortoise turned on its own disciples. Xu Yan killed Fang Shan and every remaining sect member, leaving the Crimson Sun Sect destroyed.

• The Mountain-Bearing Demon Tortoise appeared, then began devouring Crimson Sun Sect disciples and revealed his resentment toward Danyangzi.
• Fang Shan rallied the sect’s cultivators to attack Xu Yan and the tortoise, but Xu Yan shattered their assault and killed dozens with his crimson sword.
• Xu Yan killed Fang Shan by breaking his black seal with the Demon Finger, then slaughtered the sect’s Foundation Establishment cultivators.
• Xu Yan hunted down the remaining Crimson Sun Sect disciples while the Nine Instruments Starlight Demon-Slaying Formation prevented their escape.
• The Mountain-Bearing Demon Tortoise devoured hundreds of cultivators as Xu Yan killed every last member of the Crimson Sun Sect.

Xu Yan and the Mountain-Bearing Demon Tortoise divided the Crimson Sun Sect’s remaining treasures after its destruction, then Xu Yan collected the sect’s formation and prepared to leave before news spread. The tortoise departed with a threat, while Xu Yan flew away and spotted a massive Spirit Ark approaching.

• Xu Yan collected the Crimson Sun Sect cultivators’ corpses and drove off the Mountain-Bearing Demon Tortoise with the Great Sun Golden Blade Talisman.
• Xu Yan and the Mountain-Bearing Demon Tortoise agreed to divide the sect’s Spirit Treasures seventy-thirty and split the remaining goods from the Treasure Pavilion.
• Xu Yan collected the sect’s valuables and spent ten days refining Li Changfeng’s Formation Banner before taking down the Nine-Ritual Starlight Demon-Slaying Grand Formation.
• The Mountain-Bearing Demon Tortoise flew away after threatening Xu Yan, who then left the Crimson Sun Sect to avoid the coming fallout.
• A terrifying Spirit Ark appeared in the sky ahead of Xu Yan as he flew away.

Xu Yan was intercepted by Shang Fang and two Half-Step Golden Core elders from Spirit Beast Mountain, who sought his demonic cultivation inheritance and planned to search his soul. Just as Xu Yan provoked one elder into attacking, the Mountain-Bearing Demon Tortoise warned them of his strength, prompting the elders to prepare a combined strike.

• Xu Yan spotted an azure Spirit Ark pursuing him and stopped when he could not outrun it.
• Shang Fang told the elders that Xu Yan might have obtained an Ancient Demon Race inheritance from the Ancient Demon Abyss.
• The earless elder demanded Xu Yan's Storage Ring and threatened to search his soul, while Xu Yan tried to provoke him into attacking alone.
• The Mountain-Bearing Demon Tortoise warned the elders that Xu Yan could kill Half-Step Golden Core cultivators.
• The two elders abandoned their separate attacks and began merging their powers for a combined strike.

Xu Yan killed Shang Fang and fought the two old men with their Yin-Yang Wheel. After he destroyed their combined technique and killed them, a Golden Core cultivator arrived, while the Mountain-Bearing Demon Tortoise fled.

• Xu Yan abandoned his plan to target the two old men and declared that he would kill Shang Fang.
• The two old men attacked Xu Yan with their Yin-Yang Wheel, but his Soul-Annihilating Demon Needle killed Shang Fang on the spirit ark.
• Xu Yan clashed his Annihilation Demon Finger against the Yin-Yang Wheel and used more of Xuan Wuchang's essence blood to shatter it.
• The two old men warned Xu Yan that their Golden Core patriarch was on the way, but Xu Yan killed them.
• A streak of golden light arrived, and the Mountain-Bearing Demon Tortoise fled.

Xu Yan fled from Floating Cloud Adept, using Xuan Wuchang’s essence blood to power his escape while the Golden Core cultivator pursued him. As Floating Cloud Adept closed in, Xu Yan decided to drain Xuan Wuchang completely, and blood-colored runes began enveloping him inside the Spirit Beast Bag.

• Xu Yan fled as Floating Cloud Adept arrived, leaving the three Storage Rings behind.
• Floating Cloud Adept injured the Mountain-Bearing Demon Tortoise and captured him in a Spirit Beast Bag.
• Xu Yan used Bloodfiend Shadow-Escaping Steps and drained more of Xuan Wuchang’s essence blood to widen the gap.
• Floating Cloud Adept struck Xu Yan with a giant hand of spiritual energy, but Xu Yan survived and continued fleeing.
• Floating Cloud Adept used Blood Lure to speed up and collected the three corpses and their Storage Rings.
• Xu Yan decided to extract all of Xuan Wuchang’s essence blood, and bloody runes appeared across Xuan Wuchang’s body.

Xu Yan used blood-burning techniques, a divine-sense attack, and the Great Sun Golden Blade Talisman to escape Floating Cloud Adept’s pursuit. Floating Cloud Adept was wounded and lost Xu Yan’s trail, then discovered that Shang Fang’s Spirit-Communicating Gu Silkworm was already dead.

• Xuan Wuchang died as the blood threads drained his vitality, and Xu Yan fled using the Bloodfiend Shadow-Escaping Steps.
• Floating Cloud Adept pursued Xu Yan by transforming into a blood-winged roc with the Blood Roc True Form.
• Xu Yan struck Floating Cloud Adept with the Soul-Annihilating Demon Needle and Annihilation Demon Finger, interrupting his flight but failing to defeat him.
• Xu Yan unleashed the Great Sun Golden Blade Talisman and fled while its golden blades wounded Floating Cloud Adept.
• Floating Cloud Adept searched for Xu Yan without success, found Shang Fang’s corpse, and saw that the Spirit-Communicating Gu Silkworm had long been dead.

After escaping Floating Cloud Adept at great cost, Xu Yan fled to the Netherworld Domain to evade pursuit and temper his unstable cultivation. He arrived at its chaotic boundary, where an unseen speaker challenged him with a boast about devouring powerful cultivators.

• Xu Yan suffered a serious injury from the Great Sun Golden Blade Talisman, spent thirty years of his lifespan escaping Floating Cloud Adept, and fled toward the Netherworld Domain.
• Xu Yan feared Spirit Beast Mountain might learn how Shang Fang had tracked him and decided the Netherworld Domain could shield him from pursuit.
• Xu Yan recalled that the domain was filled with harmful chaotic aura, dangerous factions, and a perilous road that was the only way out.
• Xu Yan flew for more than twenty days and reached the Netherworld Domain, where chaotic aura blocked his divine sense and ancient inscriptions warned of danger.
• An aged voice challenged Xu Yan to drink a cup after boasting that it feasted on Heavenly Demons, swallowed Golden Core cultivators, and brewed Nascent Souls into wine.

Xu Yan entered the Netherworld Domain, broke an illusion set by Kunwu, and forced two rogue cultivators to explain the region. After they led him to their hidden cave abodes, he killed them and entered one to recover from his injuries.

• Kunwu posed as the gatekeeper of the Netherworld Domain and demanded thirty percent of Xu Yan's Spirit Treasures, but Xu Yan shattered the illusion with his divine sense.
• Wang Lang and Liu Qing tried to flee after learning the illusion had failed, but Xu Yan appeared before them and subdued them with his divine sense.
• Liu Qing identified Kunwu as a rogue cultivator skilled in Illusion Formations, while Wang Lang told Xu Yan about an auction hall a thousand li away.
• Wang Lang and Liu Qing offered Xu Yan their Storage Rings, and Xu Yan took their Spirit Treasures before ordering them to lead him to their cave abodes.
• Xu Yan inspected the hidden cave abodes, killed Wang Lang and Liu Qing with his Flying Sword, stored their corpses, and entered one cave to recover.

Xu Yan struggled to cultivate in the Netherworld Domain’s thin spiritual energy and prepared to grow stronger while he remained trapped there. A mysterious token transformed into the Blood Gu Token, and Xu Yan sealed it temporarily while resolving to learn more before its seal broke.

• Xu Yan discovered that restoring his magic power required nearly a thousand low-grade spirit stones and realized that spirit stones would be vital in the Netherworld Domain.
• Xu Yan recovered from burning his lifespan and essence blood, then decided to study the Purple Sun Sword Art and use a Sword-Comprehension Stone to improve his sword skills.
• A red token in Xu Yan’s storage ring suddenly radiated blood-red light and pierced through his cave abode toward the heavens.
• Xu Yan sealed the token, but saw that the seal would dissolve within five years and that the token’s runes had formed the words “Blood Gu.”
• Xu Yan suspected the Blood Gu Token originated in the Netherworld Domain and returned it to his storage ring while planning to seek information about it.

Xu Yan comprehended sword intent, entered the first sword cultivator realm, and fully understood the Purple Sun Sword Art’s third move. After setting out to hunt Kunwu, he was ambushed by a strange monster that could evade divine sense, deepening his curiosity about the Netherworld Domain.

• Xu Yan cultivated for two years, reaching the late Foundation Establishment stage and mastering the first two moves of the Purple Sun Sword Art.
• Xu Yan studied the Sword-Comprehension Stone and, inspired by a white-haired sword cultivator’s insights, comprehended sword intent and entered the first sword cultivator realm.
• Xu Yan replenished his magic power and left his cave abode to hunt Kunwu and learn more about the Netherworld Domain.
• A black figure ambushed Xu Yan as he flew out, but his Blood Shadow Spirit Sword wounded it and cut off one of its limbs before it escaped into the ground.
• Xu Yan examined the severed limb, found that his divine sense could detect it, and stored it away without discovering how the monster had evaded detection.

Xu Yan entered Gray Mist Valley to investigate the Netherworld Domain and learned from Niu Ben about the outer region’s factions and the valley’s ores. He discovered that Cave-Mystery Iron Essence had once been found there and resolved to pursue the promising vein.

• Xu Yan traveled deeper into the Netherworld Domain and entered Gray Mist Valley after seeing many cultivators go inside without fighting.
• Xu Yan found Niu Ben digging in the valley and threatened him into answering questions.
• Niu Ben explained that Gray Mist Valley was an unclaimed ore-producing area once controlled by the White Demon Gang.
• Niu Ben told Xu Yan that the outer region was dominated by the Spirit Net Hall, the Jade Immortal Alliance, and the Martial Extremity Temple, with smaller factions scattered around them.
• Niu Ben described the valley’s ores and said a cultivator had once found over a hundred jin of Cave-Mystery Iron Essence ore.
• Xu Yan concluded that a vein of Cave-Mystery Iron Essence must exist in the valley and felt encouraged by the discovery.

Xu Yan searched the Netherworld Domain for third-tier Cave-Mystery Iron Essence and secretly followed a Blood Spirit Gate disciple who was hunting his senior brother. When the sinister young man began devouring the middle-aged cultivator, Xu Yan revealed himself and startled him with his powerful divine sense.

• Xu Yan traveled deeper into the Netherworld Domain, where the dense, chilling mist limited his divine sense and concealed the valley ahead.
• Xu Yan hid as a bloodied foundation establishment perfection cultivator fled on a blood-colored lotus, severed his own hand, and used its blood to speed the artifact toward the exit.
• Xu Yan followed the fleeing cultivator and his pursuer, a sinister young man who attacked with a crimson jade flute and red threads from a Lifebound Blood Gu.
• The middle-aged cultivator recognized Zhao Wuchen and accused him of betraying his master; Zhao Wuchen revealed that he had colluded with Old Devil Kunwu and claimed their master was trapped in an illusion.
• The middle-aged cultivator fell from his lotus, and Zhao Wuchen bound him and began draining his vital essence to feed the Blood Gu.
• Zhao Wuchen sensed Xu Yan emerging from the mist and sprang up in alarm, realizing Xu Yan's divine sense far surpassed his own.

Xu Yan interrogated Zhao Wuchen and the middle-aged cultivator about the Blood Spirit Gate, then killed them and continued searching the Netherworld Domain. He found and mined enough Cave-Mystery Iron Essence ore for his Five Elements Dao-Evolving Sword, but still needed three more Spirit Treasures to refine its Sword Blank.

• Xu Yan took both cultivators’ Storage Rings, questioned them separately about the Blood Spirit Gate, and learned that it originated from the Blood Spirit Sacred Hall in the Inner Region.
• Zhao Wuchen and the middle-aged cultivator knew nothing about the Blood Gu Token, so Xu Yan killed them after learning the Blood Spirit Gate’s location and Kunwu’s plans for its valley.
• Xu Yan burned the dead middle-aged cultivator’s Lifebound Blood Gu and continued deeper into the Netherworld Domain to search for Cave-Mystery Iron Essence.
• Xu Yan found a piece of Qingxuan Iron Ore, followed it to a nearby deposit, and mined more than five hundred jin of Cave-Mystery Iron Essence ore.
• Xu Yan concluded that the ore would suffice for his Five Elements Dao-Evolving Sword, but he still needed southern Li dao flame, nine heavens mystic soil, and pure-consciousness true water.

Xu Yan killed Wang Cheng after Wang Cheng tried to claim Niu Ben, then took Niu Ben away to learn about Spirit Refiners. Niu Ben explained that Spirit Refiners were tied to a wondrous place called the Nine-Vortex Ancient Land, leaving Xu Yan with the first details about its enormous vortices.

• Xu Yan found Niu Ben at the valley entrance, where a purple-robed cultivator threatened him to learn about a Spirit Refiner's legacy.
• Wang Cheng appeared, severed the purple-robed cultivator's demonic hand, and drove him away.
• Xu Yan used his sword intent to kill Wang Cheng, collected his essence blood, and took Wang Cheng's Storage Ring.
• Xu Yan carried Niu Ben away and demanded an explanation of Spirit Refiners, offering to spare his life if satisfied.
• Niu Ben said Spirit Refiners were unique to the Netherworld Domain and connected to the Nine-Vortex Ancient Land, whose nine vortices linked the domain to rifts in the void.

Xu Yan learned that Spirit Refiners could cleanse corrupted treasures from the Nine-Vortex Ancient Land and became interested in the inheritance Niu Ben carried. After Niu Ben swore an oath and handed over its Soul Blood, Xu Yan spared him and left to study the inheritance before it faded.

• Niu Ben explained the origins of the Nine-Vortex Ancient Land, the role of Spirit Refiners, and how three factions controlled its outskirts while rogue cultivators formed groups called Immortal Bandits.
• Xu Yan considered using the Mysterious Green Pearl to cleanse corrupted Spirit Treasures and asked Niu Ben about the Spirit Refiner inheritance.
• Niu Ben revealed that the inheritance was contained in a drop of Soul Blood and swore a Heavenly Dao Oath that he possessed no other precious inheritances or Spirit Treasures.
• Xu Yan took the Soul Blood, secretly attached a strand of divine sense to Niu Ben, and decided to spare him.
• Xu Yan departed to find a secluded place to study the inheritance before the Soul Blood faded.

Xu Yan studied the Spirit Refiner inheritance, learned to form a Spirit-Devouring Thread, and traveled to Blood Maple Valley seeking Kunwu and the Thousand Illusions Sect inheritance. There, he heard Kunwu reveal that Zhao Changzhen possessed a Spirit-Communicating Blood Gu that was about to hatch.

• Xu Yan hid in a cave abode and carefully studied the Spirit Refiner inheritance, learning how Spirit Refiners removed contaminating auras from Spirit Treasures.
• Xu Yan learned that Spirit Refiners condensed Spirit-Devouring Threads and began cultivating the technique.
• After three months, Xu Yan formed a transparent Spirit-Devouring Thread and replenished his magic power.
• Xu Yan flew to Blood Maple Valley, hoping to find the winner of the struggle between Kunwu and Zhao Changzhen and learn about Kunwu's Thousand Illusions Sect inheritance.
• Xu Yan arrived as the red light around Blood Maple Valley began to fade and heard Kunwu threaten Zhao Changzhen, then reveal that Zhao Changzhen carried a nearly hatched Spirit-Communicating Blood Gu.

Kunwu revealed himself as the ancient spirit-communicating blood gu and killed Zhao Changzhen, then tried to consume the gu he had extracted from him. Xu Yan ambushed Kunwu with his sword technique, but Kunwu devoured the gu to recover and escaped Blood Maple Valley as a streak of blood-red light.

• Kunwu dispelled the illusion and forced Zhao Changzhen to recognize him as the spirit-communicating blood gu that had belonged to the Blood Spirit Sacred Hall's Hall Master a thousand years earlier.
• Kunwu killed Zhao Changzhen and tore a spirit-communicating blood gu from his abdomen.
• Xu Yan struck Kunwu with Purple Sun Sword Art Third Form—Sword Qi Transforms into a Dragon, badly wounding him.
• Kunwu swallowed the spirit-communicating blood gu to restore his strength and charged at Xu Yan.
• Kunwu's body burst apart, and a streak of blood-red light fled out of Blood Maple Valley.

Xu Yan subdued the Spirit-Communicating Blood Gu that had controlled Old Devil Kunwu and found a forbidden secret art that could let him take its cultivation. He began cultivating the art and, eight months later, promised the frightened gu insect a great fortune when three years had passed.

• Xu Yan used a formation and his fists to defeat the fleeing gu insect, bound it, and secured Zhao Changzhen's Storage Ring.
• Xu Yan searched Zhao Changzhen's Storage Ring and found the Blood Gu Spirit-Nurturing Art, which could let him absorb a cultivator's cultivation through a Spirit-Communicating Blood Gu.
• Xu Yan decided the art could help him advance faster, memorized it, and began cultivating it using his essence blood.
• Over the following months, Xu Yan repeatedly knocked the gu insect unconscious whenever it woke and tried to speak.
• Eight months later, Xu Yan told the gu insect that he would grant it a great fortune when three years were up.

Xu Yan bound the blood-colored gu insect with a Slave Talisman and learned it was formed from the Blood Spirit Sacred Hall Hall Master's remnant soul and a spirit-communicating blood gu. After recovering Thousand Illusions Sect techniques from a Storage Ring and discarding a dangerous Blood Gu Token, he prepared the insect to parasitize another cultivator so he could harvest their magic power.

• Xu Yan branded the blood-colored gu insect with a Slave Talisman and questioned it about its origins.
• The gu insect revealed its connection to the Blood Spirit Sacred Hall Hall Master and removed its divine sense from the Storage Ring.
• Xu Yan found a Mirage Pearl and a Jade Slip containing Thousand Illusions Sect techniques and secret arts.
• The gu insect recognized Xu Yan's Blood Gu Token as evil, so he threw it away and fled Blood Maple Valley with the insect.
• After reaching a cave, Xu Yan used the Blood Gu Spirit-Nurturing Art on the insect and sealed it in a jade box for use on a future host.

Xu Yan reached the Ancient City near the Nine-Vortex Ancient Land and learned that joining an Immortal Bandit faction might be his best way to obtain high-tier Spirit Treasures. He followed a crowd outside the city, where the Blood Devil Immortal Bandits confronted Gu Xuanji and his escort, and Gu Xuanji ordered his Black-Scaled Cavalry to attack.

• Xu Yan observed the Ancient City for three days before entering and discovering that its Spirit Treasures were scarce and costly.
• Xu Yan learned that the three major powers restricted high-tier Spirit Treasures to their own Spirit Refiners, while Immortal Bandit factions also needed refiners.
• Xu Yan followed cultivators outside the city to watch the Blood Devil Immortal Bandits face off against Jade Immortal Alliance escorts led by Gu Xuanji.
• The Blood Devil Immortal Bandits demanded the escorts' storage rings, and Gu Xuanji ordered his five Black-Scaled Cavalry companions to charge.