Chapter Summaries

Nie Yun copied Elder Hao Yuan’s Nine Transformations of Netherflame into the Storage World and quickly mastered its first transformation. With his speed doubled, he raced toward Tiger Hill Slope, where he still had to reach within the assessment’s time limit.

• Elder Hao Yuan told Nie Yun he had only ten breaths to study a movement martial skill that could help him reach Tiger Hill Slope.
• Nie Yun copied the countless words forming the Nine Transformations of Netherflame into the Storage World before they vanished.
• Nie Yun studied the copied method and realized he could not master it fully in the short time remaining.
• Nie Yun cultivated the first transformation in the Storage World, using his pure Fire God Sect bloodline to master it quickly.
• Nie Yun’s true body activated the first transformation, doubled its speed, and charged toward Tiger Hill Slope.

Nie Yun reached Tiger Hill Slope and began Elder Hao Yuan’s second trial: reaching Mochou Cave within two incense sticks and retrieving the Myriad Scrolls Diagram. As he sprinted toward the cave, he relied on his clone to cultivate the Nine Transformations of Netherflame and help him become faster.

• Nie Yun arrived at Tiger Hill Slope within one incense stick after mastering the first transformation of the Nine Transformations of Netherflame.
• Elder Hao Yuan set a second trial requiring Nie Yun to reach Mochou Cave and obtain the Myriad Scrolls Diagram within two incense sticks, with failure or giving up resulting in erasure.
• Nie Yun set off immediately, while Elder Hao Yuan appeared and revealed that he had shortened the original four-incense-stick limit to test Nie Yun’s abilities.
• Nie Yun decided that his clone would cultivate the Nine Transformations of Netherflame in the Storage World so his true body could gain speed while running.

Nie Yun fused the Nine Transformations of Netherflame with his Wind Walker Dantian to accelerate his cultivation and race toward Mochou Cave. Elder Hao Yuan doubted he could pass the trial, but Nie Yun’s speed suddenly surged to five times its previous pace.

• Nie Yun’s clone studied the Nine Transformations of Netherflame while his true body raced toward Mochou Cave, but his cultivation progress remained too slow for the trial’s time limit.
• Nie Yun realized he could fuse the technique with a dantian and chose his Wind Walker Dantian to improve his speed.
• Nie Yun merged the technique with the Wind Walker Dantian, released its strengthened energy, and gained a sudden surge of insight.
• Elder Hao Yuan watched Nie Yun stop and assumed he had failed to break through, then was shocked when Nie Yun’s speed increased fivefold.

Nie Yun used Wind Movement energy to master the fifth transformation of Nine Transformations of Netherflame and reached Mochou Cave in search of the Myriad Scrolls Diagram. Inside, he realized the bats were illusions, but his attempt to flee at high speed ended with him crashing into a rock as the bats swarmed after him again.

• Elder Hao Yuan watched Nie Yun reach the fifth transformation of Nine Transformations of Netherflame in a few breaths and vanished after deciding he might carry the skill forward.
• Nie Yun used his fivefold speed to reach Mochou Cave and entered after finding no sign of the Myriad Scrolls Diagram outside.
• Nie Yun lit the dark cave and killed a swarm of bats with the Great Evolution Tianji Sword, but found no bodies or blood afterward.
• Nie Yun realized the bats were illusions and tried to speed past them with Nine Transformations of Netherflame.
• Nie Yun crashed into a massive rock, then watched the bats swarm toward him again.

Nie Yun escaped the bats and rock Formation in Mochou Cave by using his Earth Walker Talent to pass through the rocks instead of mastering agility. He reached a quiet, faintly lit area and spotted a book that might be the Myriad Scrolls Diagram.

• Nie Yun dodged the bats but repeatedly crashed into rocks, realizing that a Formation was making them appear in his path.
• Elder Hao Yuan watched Nie Yun struggle and explained that the rocks and bats were meant to train his control and agility with the Nine Transformations of Netherflame.
• Nie Yun used his Earth Walker Talent and the Stone-Piercing Technique to pass through the rocks and escape the bats.
• Nie Yun reached a quiet area lit by an oil lamp and saw a book that he wondered might be the Myriad Scrolls Diagram.

Nie Yun entered the Myriad Scrolls Diagram and watched the recorded history of Elder Hao Yuan, from becoming Daoist Fu Yu’s disciple to falling in love with Liu Meng. The chapter left Hao Yuan entering the deadly Soul Extinguishing Palace to earn permission to marry her.

• The Myriad Scrolls Diagram opened and drew Nie Yun into its recorded history, where he watched Hao Yuan become Daoist Fu Yu’s second disciple after enduring five days outside the mountain gate.
• Hao Yuan trained in the Fire God Sect until Daoist Fu Yu sent him down the mountain to temper himself.
• During a mission, Hao Yuan met Liu Meng, and the two fell in love.
• Daoist Fu Yu opposed their marriage and ordered Hao Yuan to survive the Soul Extinguishing Palace trial to earn the right to marry Liu Meng.
• Hao Yuan entrusted Liu Meng to his senior brother and entered the Soul Extinguishing Palace, disappearing without a trace.

Elder Hao Yuan emerged from Soul Extinguishing Palace only to learn that Daoist Fu Yu had died and Liu Meng had fallen into a coma. After his senior brother betrayed him and left him for dead, Hao Yuan escaped captivity and returned to find his brother abusing Liu Meng.

• Elder Hao Yuan returned from Soul Extinguishing Palace at the Perfected King Realm and discovered Daoist Fu Yu's gravestone.
• Elder Hao Yuan learned that Liu Meng had swallowed poison after believing he was dead and would likely never awaken.
• Elder Hao Yuan's senior brother promised a cure in the ruins of a Descendant of Shennong, then stabbed Hao Yuan and had Core Disciples throw him into a deadly area.
• Elder Hao Yuan survived after ten years, but the sect's elders sided with his senior brother, shackled him, and exiled him to forced labor.
• Elder Hao Yuan escaped, returned to see Liu Meng, and caught his senior brother violating her while she lay unconscious.

Elder Hao Yuan learned the truth about Liu Meng’s abuse and Master’s death, but she took her own life before he could save her. After sealing her soul fragment and escaping the Fire God Sect, Nie Yun returned to the Myriad Scrolls Diagram and found Luo Hao, Cui Yao, Zhao Ran, and the others taking the same trial.

• Liu Meng told Elder Hao Yuan that his senior brother had raped and imprisoned her, killed Master, and kept her unconscious despite having the antidote; then she shattered her own heart meridians.
• Elder Hao Yuan gathered Liu Meng’s fading soul fragment, sealed it within the Immortal in Painting, and fled the Fire God Sect’s siege before returning secretly to Fire God Mountain and dispersing his cultivation.
• Nie Yun awoke before the Myriad Scrolls Diagram, understood why the Fire God Sect had concealed Elder Hao Yuan’s history, and prepared to take the diagram.
• Cui Yao, Luo Hao, Zhao Ran, and the others appeared behind Nie Yun, surprising him by surviving their own trial.
• Luo Hao explained that their mission also involved the Myriad Scrolls Diagram, and that the person who could approach it most closely would have the greatest chance of obtaining the inheritance.

Nie Yun’s companions ambushed him to seize the Myriad Scrolls Diagram, but he survived by using an energy clone. Elder Hao Yuan sealed the attackers and gave Nie Yun control over their fate, leaving Luo Hao, Zhao Ran, and the others begging for their lives.

• Nie Yun learned that Luo Hao, Zhao Ran, and the others had passed the trial easily and watched them approach the Myriad Scrolls Diagram.
• Luo Hao and Zhao Ran ambushed Nie Yun, but they destroyed only his energy body while his true body had hidden nearby.
• Nie Yun confronted the group, and Luo Hao admitted they wanted to kill him and claim the treasures controlled by the Myriad Scrolls Diagram.
• Nie Yun attacked Zhao Ran, but Elder Hao Yuan sealed the group’s power and allowed Nie Yun to decide whether they lived or died.
• Luo Hao, Zhao Ran, and the others begged Nie Yun for mercy, offering loyalty and warning that the sect might investigate their deaths.

Nie Yun passed Elder Hao Yuan’s third trial and was accepted as his disciple, earning the chance to inherit Hao Yuan’s martial skills. Hao Yuan began explaining his past and asked Nie Yun to agree to an unspecified condition.

• Nie Yun killed the five figures who had attacked him, and their bodies vanished as the illusion ended.
• Elder Hao Yuan appeared before Nie Yun and revealed that the encounter had been the third trial, testing how he handled betrayal.
• Hao Yuan explained that the earlier trials had tested Nie Yun’s talent and compassion, and declared him his disciple.
• Hao Yuan offered to teach Nie Yun the Nine Transformations of Netherflame and the Netherflame Movement Technique, which together could help an early Emperor Realm cultivator escape a Peak Emperor Realm expert.
• Hao Yuan said he wanted Nie Yun to agree to a condition concerning the Fire God Sect, but had not yet revealed what it was.

Elder Hao Yuan asked Nie Yun to clear his and Meng'er’s names and return his dharma body to the Fire God Sect’s ancestral hall, and Nie Yun agreed. Hao Yuan taught him the Netherflame Movement Technique, which Nie Yun quickly learned but could only perform up to its second transformation with his current physique.

• Elder Hao Yuan asked Nie Yun to restore his reputation, clear his master’s and Meng'er’s names, and return his dharma body to the Fire God Sect’s ancestral hall, and Nie Yun agreed.
• Elder Hao Yuan gave Nie Yun the Netherflame Movement Technique and explained that it required a powerful physique to withstand its rapid changes of direction.
• Nie Yun quickly learned the technique and performed its first and second transformations, but the strain caused cracks in his skin and made him stop.
• Elder Hao Yuan said he had mastered only the seventh transformation despite reaching the Perfected Emperor Realm, and that the ninth required a Heaven and Earth Undying True Body.

Elder Hao Yuan passed the Nine Transformations of Netherflame and the Netherflame Movement Technique to Nie Yun, explaining the risks of cultivating them and revealing how the Immortal in Painting had made him its Artifact Spirit. Before sending Nie Yun and the others out, he pointed him toward the Red Leaf Spirit Fruit as a chance to strengthen his body.

• Elder Hao Yuan warned Nie Yun to explore the Netherflame techniques himself if he reached the seventh transformation, since the final stages were only his deductions.
• Elder Hao Yuan explained that he had become the Artifact Spirit of the Immortal in Painting after his soul fused with the scroll, and said he would soon send Nie Yun and his companions out.
• Elder Hao Yuan told Nie Yun that Luo Hao and two other visitors had passed his test and received opportunities in the Painted World.
• Elder Hao Yuan offered Nie Yun a chance to obtain the Red Leaf Spirit Fruit, which could strengthen his body enough to support the Netherflame Movement Technique.
• Nie Yun agreed to seek the Red Leaf Spirit Fruit in the Red River Domain, where he was already headed.

After refining the Myriad Scrolls Diagram, Nie Yun escaped the Painted World with his companions and gained control of the Immortal in Painting. He left for the Red River Domain, but first visited Fairy Biluo, who gave him a powerful sword called Star Sword.

• Elder Hao Yuan sent Nie Yun back to the ancient ship after entrusting him with refining the Myriad Scrolls Diagram and promising to give him a dharma body afterward.
• Nie Yun reunited with Luo Hao, Cui Yao, and the others, then took the Immortal in Painting into his body after they left the cave.
• Nie Yun and the others returned to the surface, where Luo Hao, Zhao Ran, and the rest went their separate ways.
• Nie Yun flew toward Fire God City and learned from Miss Bi'er that Fairy Biluo had returned and wanted to see him.
• Nie Yun visited Fairy Biluo, said he was leaving, and accepted the extraterrestrial-stone sword she gave him, which he named Star Sword.

Fairy Biluo gave Nie Yun the Star Sword and Weaver Girl Shuttle, explaining that she had little time left because of the fire toxin and asking him to protect Bi'er after her death. Nie Yun left for Fire God City and prepared to search the Red River Domain for Tantai Lingyue and the others.

• Fairy Biluo gave Nie Yun the Star Sword and the Weaver Girl Shuttle, which he accepted after hearing her reasons.
• Fairy Biluo asked Nie Yun to look after Bi'er if she died, and Nie Yun promised to protect his friend.
• Nie Yun flew the Weaver Girl Shuttle to Fire God City and learned that Yuan Jiu had nearly recovered his strength.
• Wei Buxin told Nie Yun that Tantai Lingyue and the others were in the Red River Domain, though their exact location remained unknown.
• Nie Yun asked Wei Buxin to obtain a detailed military map of the Red River Domain so he could search for them himself.

Nie Yun traveled toward Red River City with Yuan Jiu and learned that Nie Tong had reached the Perfected King Realm and mastered all three techniques of the Great Evolution Tianji Sword. He tried to teach Nie Tong the Nine Transformations of Netherflame and its movement technique, but Nie Tong’s Fire God Qi was too impure for him to cultivate them.

• Nie Yun obtained a detailed military map from Wei Buxin and warned that he would pay nothing if he found the people they sought first.
• Nie Yun and Yuan Jiu set off toward Red River City aboard the Weaver Girl Shuttle.
• Nie Tong told Nie Yun he had reached the Perfected King Realm and mastered all three techniques of the Great Evolution Tianji Sword.
• Nie Tong sparred with Nie Yun, who blocked his attacks with his fingers and explained that his familiarity with the sword art gave him an advantage.
• Nie Yun shared the Nine Transformations of Netherflame and the Netherflame Movement Technique, but Nie Tong could not cultivate them because his Fire God Qi lacked sufficient purity.

After ten days of cultivation, Nie Yun arrived in Red River City and learned how its currency worked. He sought a way to exchange Fire God Coin for Red River Crystal and left the decision to the tavern owner, who offered to arrange a private exchange.

• Nie Yun gave Nie Tong Earth Vein Spirit Bamboo to strengthen his body, then cultivated alongside him for ten days.
• In Red River City’s Riverfront Tavern, Nie Yun asked the owner about the exchange rate for Fire God Coin and Red River Crystal.
• The owner explained that Haotian Tower exchanged official Red River Crystal at a rate of one crystal for two hundred Fire God Coin, with a daily limit of one thousand crystals.
• The owner told Nie Yun that the Underground Merchant Guild offered unlimited exchanges at a slightly better rate, but much of its privately mined currency lacked Red River Gate’s official mark.
• Nie Yun asked the owner to arrange an exchange of his Fire God Coin through the Underground Merchant Guild and said he would pay for the service.

Nie Yun exchanged a huge sum of Fire God Coins for Red River Crystals and explained his plans for finding Tantai Lingyue and pursuing the Red River Spirit Fruit. He planned to use the restaurant owner’s local connections to search for her and investigate whether the Red River Gate would soon recruit disciples.

• Nie Yun corrected the Red River Restaurant owner, asking him to exchange five hundred million Fire God Coins for two million Red River Crystals, and warned him not to run off with the money.
• Nie Tong asked how they would find Tantai Lingyue, and Nie Yun explained that the restaurant owner could use his connections to search for her.
• Nie Tong asked whether they would stay inside until the Sacred Bath Festival, and Nie Yun said he planned to visit the Red River Gate.
• Nie Yun considered infiltrating the Red River Gate to obtain the Red River Spirit Fruit and suggested they try joining if the sect began recruiting disciples.

Nie Yun and Nie Tong visited Gathering Arms Pavilion in Red River City to find a sword suited to Nie Tong’s Perfected King Realm cultivation. Nie Tong chose the longsword Rose, and Nie Yun asked to inspect it after hearing its price.

• The owner delivered the exchanged Red River Crystals, and Nie Yun wondered whether his Wood Life Dantian could imitate Red River Gate’s energy.
• Nie Yun took Nie Tong and Yuan Jiu out to look for Red River Gate disciples and stopped at Gathering Arms Pavilion to buy Nie Tong a sword.
• A shop assistant showed them three Perfected King Realm longswords imported from Divine Weapon City.
• Nie Tong chose the sword Rose, which the assistant priced at one hundred seventy thousand crystals.
• Nie Yun drew Rose from its scabbard, and it rang out as cold light flashed from its blade.

Nie Yun bought the Rose Longsword for Nie Tong despite Vice Pavilion Master Jin’s attempt to give it to Elder Liu Xia. After Yuan Jiu drove Jin back, Nie Yun left, unaware that Liu Xia had secretly marked him and intended to kill him.

• Nie Tong tested the Rose Longsword and asked Nie Yun to buy it, so Nie Yun offered 170,000 Red River Crystals.
• Elder Liu Xia demanded the sword, and Vice Pavilion Master Jin struck Miao Yi and tried to force Nie Yun to give it up.
• Nie Yun refused Jin’s threat, and Nie Tong refined the Rose Longsword.
• Jin attacked Nie Yun, but Yuan Jiu blocked his strike and forced him to retreat.
• Liu Xia invited Nie Yun for a drink, but Nie Yun refused and left.
• Liu Xia revealed that he had marked Nie Yun and planned to track him down and kill him.

After leaving the Gathering Arms Pavilion, Nie Yun led Nie Tong and Yuan Jiu to a ruined site to confront Vice Pavilion Master Jin, Elder Liu Xia, and Liu Xia’s disciple. The three battles began, and Nie Yun faced Jin while warning him that retreat was no longer an option.

• Nie Yun explained that he had marked Elder Liu Xia and expected him to come after them, then led his companions to a nearby ruin.
• Vice Pavilion Master Jin, Elder Liu Xia, and Liu Xia’s disciple caught up with Nie Yun, Nie Tong, and Yuan Jiu at the ruin.
• Nie Yun assigned Yuan Jiu to fight Elder Liu Xia and Nie Tong to fight the female disciple, while he took on Vice Pavilion Master Jin.
• Nie Tong pressed his attack despite the female disciple’s Emperor Realm Domain and deadly claws, alarming her with his disregard for injury.
• Yuan Jiu and Elder Liu Xia fought as Peak Emperor Realm opponents, while Nie Yun used his spatial power to match Jin in close combat.
• Nie Yun drew the Star Sword and warned Jin that he might be killed after coming to kill him.