Chapter Summaries

Nie Yun returned to the battlefield after Fairy Biluo left and found that Old Immortal Nanhua had died, though looters who approached the corpse had been killed by its poison. Fairy Biluo secretly departed with conflicted feelings, while Nie Yun resolved to grow stronger before seeking her again.

• Fairy Biluo realized she had worsened the fight and left Nie Yun, telling him to find her at the Fire God Sect after he resolved the Fire Toxin.
• After leaving, Fairy Biluo secretly reappeared and admitted she did not know how to face Nie Yun or her disciple Bi'er.
• Nie Yun decided not to pursue Fairy Biluo until he was strong enough, then drove the Weaver Girl Shuttle back to the battlefield.
• Nie Yun found numerous recently dead people and feared Old Immortal Nanhua had survived, but discovered the old immortal's corpse among the ruins.
• Nie Yun realized the people had come to loot Old Immortal Nanhua's body and died from the poison lingering around it.

Nie Yun stored Old Immortal Nanhua’s corpse, rescued the gravely poisoned Yuan Jiu, and searched Nanhua’s possessions for a way to treat him. He found healing ingredients but could not safely use them, and the chapter ended when the innkeeper called on him.

• Nie Yun left Old Immortal Nanhua’s corpse behind and returned to the battlefield, where he found Elder Liu Xia’s puppet destroyed and Yuan Jiu unconscious and gravely injured.
• Nie Yun used Wood Life Qi to preserve Yuan Jiu’s life, stored him in the Storage World, and flew to Red River City.
• In his inn room, Nie Yun brought out Old Immortal Nanhua’s corpse and refined his Storage Ring, uncovering a vast hoard of treasures and medicines.
• Nie Yun realized the medicines were unsuitable for Yuan Jiu’s condition and considered seeking a Descendant of Shennong for help.
• The innkeeper knocked at Nie Yun’s quiet room, and Nie Yun removed the restrictions and invited him in.

Nie Yun investigated a group staying at Hengfeng Wine House, hoping they were Tantai Lingyue and her companions, but discovered they were strangers. Their conversation about a hated young woman with unusual swordsmanship possibly being an ascender gave him a new lead, so he arranged to watch them.

• The wine house owner told Nie Yun that ten wary guests had rented one room at Hengfeng Wine House, and Nie Yun went there to investigate.
• Nie Yun and the owner posed as staff delivering complimentary wine and found eight people inside, including a woman who was not Tantai Lingyue.
• After Nie Yun and the owner left, they overheard the guests discuss a young woman who threatened their place on Hongyun Mountain and might be an ascender.
• Nie Yun suspected the young woman could be Tantai Lingyue and ordered the owner to arrange a nearby room and notify him when the guests left.
• Nie Yun tried to listen through the wall but found that the guests had set up a soundproofing restriction.

Nie Yun used the Exquisite Bone Tempering Fluid to strengthen his bones, then consumed a Red River Spirit Fruit to temper his body. He advanced his physical body from peak King Realm to Perfected King Realm, though most of the fruit’s power remained undigested.

• Nie Yun swallowed the Exquisite Bone Tempering Fluid and guided its power through his bones as it tempered his bone marrow and replaced his blood.
• Nie Yun discovered that his bones had become several times denser and heavier, increasing the burden on his fleshly body.
• Nie Yun swallowed a Red River Spirit Fruit and sealed his acupoints to keep its powerful energy from escaping.
• Nie Yun endured the fruit’s destructive and regenerative tempering, then suppressed the undigested power within his body.
• Nie Yun’s physical body advanced from peak King Realm to Perfected King Realm, and he concluded that the dangerous trip to the Red River Gate had been worthwhile.

Nie Yun followed a group from Red River City to Hongyun Mountain, hoping their talk of newcomer Ascenders might lead him to Tantai Lingyue. He reached the hidden mountain stronghold and heard the group plan to confront the woman-led squad that had displaced them.

• Nie Yun considered using his jade talisman to enter Yan Huang Hall now that he had reached the Perfected King Realm.
• The tavern owner told Nie Yun that the group staying next door had checked out, so Nie Yun quietly followed them out of Red River City.
• Nie Yun learned that Captain Piaoluozi's squad had gone to buy a gift for Hongyun Mountain's old master's birthday and resented a newcomer squad led by a woman taking their favored position.
• The group led Nie Yun through a concealed valley to Hongyun Mountain's wooden stronghold, where he remained hidden.
• After returning with new weapons, one of Piaoluozi's men urged the captain to confront the newcomer squad.

Nie Yun followed Piaoluozi to confront Yan Yaxin, hoping the ascender might be Tantai Lingyue, but realized she was not. As he prepared to leave, Yan Yaxin used the Moon-Pity Sword, giving Nie Yun new hope that she might know Tantai Lingyue.

• Piaoluozi led her subordinates to Yan Yaxin’s courtyard and challenged her to fight or move out.
• Nie Yun recognized that Yan Yaxin’s appearance and seductive manner were nothing like Tantai Lingyue’s.
• Piaoluozi used her new Mandarin Duck Sword to gain the upper hand against Yan Yaxin.
• Yan Yaxin turned the fight around with a sword technique that Nie Yun recognized as the Moon-Pity Sword he had created.
• Nie Yun became excited at the possibility that Yan Yaxin had met or knew Tantai Lingyue.

Yan Yaxin used the Moon-Pity Sword to hold off Piaoluozi until the Old Master stopped their fight. Afterward, Nie Yun secretly questioned Yan Yaxin under Bewitchment and learned that she was an ascender who had learned the sword move from the Old Master, but she did not know who had taught it to him.

• Yan Yaxin repeatedly used One Sword Breaks Dust to force Piaoluozi back, despite his anger at her reliance on the move.
• The Old Master arrived, reprimanded Yan Yaxin and Piaoluozi for fighting before his birthday banquet, and sent them away.
• Nie Yun followed Yan Yaxin to her courtyard, sealed it, and used his talents to place her under Bewitchment.
• Nie Yun questioned Yan Yaxin and learned that she was an ascender who had recently come to Hongyun Mountain and had learned the sword move from the Old Master.
• Yan Yaxin said she did not know who had taught the Old Master the move and explained that he had placed restrictions on the people under his control.

Nie Yun freed Yan Yaxin and the others from their restrictions, then followed a mysterious intruder to Zhu Hong’s courtyard. The intruder defeated Zhu Hong and seized the Brocade Buckle, claiming the Red River Spirit Blood was now his.

• Nie Yun removed the restrictions on Yan Yaxin and the others, hypnotized them so they would forget the encounter, and left to find Zhu Hong.
• Nie Yun followed a black shadow through the mountain’s Formations and watched him confront Zhu Hong in the courtyard.
• The black shadow demanded the Brocade Buckle, and Zhu Hong attacked him with his saber.
• The black shadow used a Judge's Brush to defeat Zhu Hong and seal his acupoints.
• The black shadow removed Zhu Hong’s Storage Ring Soul Imprint, retrieved the Brocade Buckle, and declared that the Red River Spirit Blood was his.

Nie Yun rescued Zhu Hong from a shadow seeking the real Brocade Buckle and questioned him about the Moonlit Swordplay Yan Yaxin had used. Zhu Hong began explaining how he learned it, leaving Nie Yun waiting for the truth about the person who taught him.

• The shadow discovered Zhu Hong's Brocade Buckle was fake and cut off one of his arms while demanding the real one.
• After searching Zhu Hong's memories and finding no other Brocade Buckle, the shadow moved to kill him.
• Nie Yun attacked with the Great Evolution Tianji Sword, forcing the shadow to flee and saving Zhu Hong.
• Nie Yun asked who had taught Zhu Hong the Moonlit Swordplay used by Yan Yaxin, and Zhu Hong admitted that someone he had saved a month earlier had taught it to him.
• Zhu Hong began recounting how he had gone to Dragon Arrival City to scout the area.

Nie Yun learned that Tantai Lingyue and her companions had likely gone to Red River Nine-Bend Bay in search of the Red River Spirit Blood. After crippling Zhu Hong for attacking them, Nie Yun left Hongyun Mountain and hurried after them.

• Zhu Hong told Nie Yun how he had seized the Brocade Buckle and obtained the Moon-Pity Sword from the group he had attacked.
• Nie Yun recognized that the group was likely Tantai Lingyue and her companions, and learned that the Red River Spirit Blood was said to lie at the end of Red River Nine-Bend Bay.
• Nie Yun crippled Zhu Hong's cultivation but spared his life, and Zhu Hong decided to leave his stronghold and retire.
• Nie Yun left Hongyun Mountain, hoping to catch up with Tantai Lingyue and the others.

Nie Yun traveled to Nine-Bend Bay, where he learned that five Brocade Buckles could open the Red River Secret Valley and lead seekers to the Red River Spirit Blood. He joined a group of cultivators and reached the end of Nine-Bend Bay, where the secret valley was said to be located.

• Nie Yun disguised himself and followed a crowd of young cultivators seeking the Red River Spirit Blood.
• Nie Yun learned from Meng Jiang that the Spirit Blood chose one person by fortune and could not be seized, and that five Brocade Buckles opened the Red River Secret Valley.
• Meng Jiang explained that four Brocade Buckles had appeared and the fifth had reportedly surfaced, prompting seekers to gather at Nine-Bend Bay.
• Nie Yun agreed to travel with Meng Jiang and the other cultivators, who introduced themselves and formed a larger group as more people joined.
• Nie Yun and the group traveled to the end of Nine-Bend Bay, reaching their destination.

Nie Yun joined the crowds at Red River Nine-Bend Bay as the Brocade Buckles opened the Red River Secret Valley, which proved to be a Domain World. He entered the gateway and found a chamber filled with mysterious sculptures, but had not yet discovered their meaning.

• Nie Yun left Meng Jiang and the others to search the crowded lakeshore for Tantai Lingyue.
• The final Brocade Buckle flew into the Spirit Valley Stele, activating the Formation and draining the lake into a whirlpool.
• A gateway appeared in the exposed red valley, and Nie Yun recognized the world beyond it as a Domain World created by a powerful expert.
• Nie Yun entered the gateway after the stone gate stripped away his Weaver Girl Shuttle.
• Nie Yun examined a strange sculpture of a seated woman, found no meaning in it, and headed toward the people gathered farther ahead.

Nie Yun failed to understand the stone statues or find Tantai Lingyue and the others before the statues vanished and a new trial began. After hearing that another person had broken through two cultivation levels by studying the statues, he went to look for the crowd around him, hoping to discover a clue.

• Nie Yun arrived among the nine hundred and ninety-nine statues of women and listened briefly to others speculate about their meaning.
• Nie Yun searched the crowd for Tantai Lingyue, Chaos King, and the others but found no one he recognized.
• A voice announced that someone had solved the statues’ mystery, and the women’s statues vanished, replaced by nine hundred and ninety-nine statues of powerful men on a grassland.
• Nie Yun tried studying the male statues from different angles and copying their poses, but he found no pattern or meaning.
• Meng Jiang told Nie Yun that a person had advanced from Early King Realm to Late King Realm after studying the statues.
• Nie Yun asked where the person had broken through, and Meng Jiang pointed toward a large crowd gathered around him.

Nie Yun and Meng Jiang watched Young Master Hong Xiang threaten a cultivator who had advanced from the Early King Realm to the Late King Realm, hoping to learn how he gained insight from the stone sculptures. As Hong Xiang subdued the man, Nie Yun sensed a power that might belong to the Chaos King.

• Nie Yun and Meng Jiang pushed through the crowd and found a newly advanced Late King Realm expert surrounded by people offering rewards for his insight into the stone sculptures.
• Young Master Hong Xiang demanded the expert's method and threatened to search his soul when the man said his breakthrough came from accumulated cultivation.
• The expert offered to reveal his secret in exchange for a Perfected King Realm divine weapon, turning the crowd's attention into a bidding contest.
• Hong Xiang attacked the expert, but several onlookers blocked him to protect the man and preserve their chance to learn from him.
• After another cultivator was reported to have advanced, Hong Xiang seized and suppressed the first expert, promising to share the information with everyone.
• Nie Yun sensed the power churning inside the suppressed expert and wondered if it belonged to the Chaos King.

Nie Yun faced Young Master Hong Xiang while concealing his suspicions about the captive Late King Realm cultivator, whom he believed was a Chaos King. By posing as a secret disciple of the Red River Gate’s sect master, Nie Yun persuaded Hong Xiang to hand over the captive and seal them away, then evaded the captive’s sudden attacks and addressed him as a Chaos King.

• Nie Yun assessed his disadvantage against Young Master Hong Xiang and stepped forward to stop him from harming the Late King Realm cultivator.
• Nie Yun showed Hong Xiang an Elder token and pure Red River spiritual energy, leading Hong Xiang to suspect he was a secret disciple of the sect master.
• Nie Yun claimed the captive could reveal how to comprehend the stone sculpture, and Hong Xiang handed him over and sealed off the area.
• The captive lunged at Nie Yun with a dagger, but Nie Yun caught it between his fingers.
• The captive followed with a punch toward Nie Yun’s heart, but Nie Yun caved in his breastbone to evade the blow and called him a Chaos King.

Nie Yun reunited with the Chaos King in the trials and learned that a jade talisman had transmitted power to him, allowing him to advance. As the group faced a Red River illusion, the Chaos King revealed that Tantai Lingyue was the source of the energy.

• Nie Yun recognized the disguised Chaos King and asked whether Tantai Lingyue and the others were with him.
• A voice announced that the stone-sculpture mystery had been solved, and the group entered a new trial featuring an illusory Red River.
• The Chaos King meditated and broke through to the Perfected King Realm while the other participants watched with envy.
• The Chaos King gave Nie Yun a jade talisman and explained that it had transmitted energy to him.
• The Chaos King told Nie Yun that Tantai Lingyue, now the Heavenly King, had transmitted the energy.

Nie Yun and the Chaos King searched for Tantai Lingyue when the Red River Phantom transformed into the Red River Spirit Blood. The blood chose a seemingly ordinary woman, and the Chaos King recognized her as King Ling Yue.

• The Chaos King told Nie Yun that Tantai Lingyue was nearby and offered to lead him to her.
• The Red River Phantom shrank into a golden droplet containing the Red River Spirit Blood, drawing the crowd’s attention.
• A Peak Emperor Realm man rushed for the blood and was melted by its power before he could reach it.
• The crowd recalled that the Spirit Blood would fly to someone it considered fated, rather than go to whoever was strongest.
• The Spirit Blood lifted a woman of Perfected King Realm strength into the air, and the Chaos King recognized her as King Ling Yue.

Tantai Lingyue absorbed the Red River Spirit Blood, revealing her true appearance and identity as the destined one. Di Xuan emerged from a vortex, invited Ling Yue to become her disciple, and accepted her after she agreed.

• Chaos King identified the disguised destined one as King Ling Yue, and Nie Yun realized she was Tantai Lingyue.
• The Red River Spirit Blood entered the woman's glabella, dispelling her disguise and revealing Tantai Lingyue's true face.
• Di Xuan emerged from a vortex and praised Tantai Lingyue as the disciple she had been seeking.
• Tantai Lingyue asked whether Di Xuan had left the Red River Spirit Blood and trials, then admitted she was an ascender.
• Di Xuan said she did not care that Tantai Lingyue was an ascender, and Tantai Lingyue knelt and accepted her as master.
• Di Xuan introduced herself as Divine Maiden Peak's Di Xuan.

Di Xuan took Tantai Lingyue as her disciple and gave her a Snow Dew Pill to save Nie Yun, only for Nie Yun to reveal that he was already cured and reunite with her. Di Xuan threatened Nie Yun to stay away from her, and Tantai Lingyue left him with a final message before vanishing with her master.

• Di Xuan introduced herself and took Tantai Lingyue as her disciple, giving her a Snow Dew Pill to cure the poison afflicting someone she wanted to save.
• Nie Yun revealed himself and told Tantai Lingyue that his poison had already been cured; the two embraced, and she entrusted the Chaos King to him before leaving with Di Xuan.
• Di Xuan crushed Nie Yun with her Emperor-level pressure and warned him that she would kill him if he sought Tantai Lingyue again.
• Nie Yun defied Di Xuan and insisted that no one could stop him from seeing his wife.
• As she vanished with Di Xuan, Tantai Lingyue told Nie Yun not to seek her until he had enough strength and revealed, “My name is Ling Yue!”

After Tantai Lingyue left, Nie Yun resolved to become strong enough to reunite with her and went to Yan Huang Hall to begin its second trial. He entered the trial prepared, with his strength and energy fully restored.

• Tantai Lingyue told Nie Yun her name before leaving, reminding him that she had remembered their past together, and he vowed to find her and claim her openly as his wife.
• Nie Yun acknowledged that he was too weak to confront Di Xuan, then took Chaos King and the remaining companions into his Storage World.
• Nie Yun crushed Stone Turtle's talisman and vanished, leaving the onlookers to speculate that an Emperor Realm expert backed him.
• Stone Turtle welcomed Nie Yun to Yan Huang Hall and warned that failing the second trial meant death.
• Nie Yun meditated until his Essence, Qi, and Spirit recovered, then opened the doorway and entered the second trial.