Chapter Summaries

Nie Yun and Mu Xia arrived at Butterfly Wing Mountain Villa, where Nie Yun’s strength astonished the disciples and earned him an invitation to meet the Villa Master. The chapter ended with Mu Jie realizing he had mistakenly tried to recruit the powerful Nie Yun as his subordinate.

• Nie Yun forced Mu Qiaoxian to his knees with one move, then left with Mu Yan and Mu Xia for Butterfly Wing Mountain Villa.
• Mu Yan settled Nie Yun and Mu Xia in a garden and went to report their arrival to the Villa Master.
• Mu Jie offered to protect Nie Yun and Mu Xia during the Sacred Spirit Disciple Tournament and gave them two spirit weapons, while his followers demanded their treasures.
• Mu Yan returned, revealed that Nie Yun had made Mu Qiaoxian kneel, and scolded Mu Jie for speaking rudely to the Villa Master's Distinguished Guest.
• Nie Yun and Mu Xia followed Mu Yan to meet the Villa Master as Mu Jie and the other youths struggled to believe Nie Yun's strength.
• A runner reported that Nie Yun had also made Mu Qiaoxian, Mu Long, Mu Shang, and others kneel at Auspicious Cloud Tower, leaving Mu Jie shaken over his earlier attempt to recruit him.

Nie Yun and Mu Xia met the Butterfly Wing Mountain Villa Master, who secretly plotted to sacrifice tournament disciples and transfer their potential to Mu Jie. Nie Yun learned the tournament’s rules and resolved to find Lingxi Spring Water and leave without getting involved.

• Mu Yan introduced Nie Yun and Mu Xia to the Villa Master, who tested Mu Xia’s story about her father before assigning them rooms at Lixuan Pavilion.
• After Nie Yun and Mu Xia left, the Villa Master and a hidden elder discussed how they planned to transfer disciples’ potential to Mu Jie and ordered them watched.
• Nie Yun secretly observed their conversation with his Heavenly Eye and decided to avoid entanglement after obtaining Lingxi Spring Water.
• Mu Yan explained that the Sacred Spirit Disciple Tournament was held every ten years, with the winning villa gaining control of Lingxi Spring for the next decade.
• Nie Yun realized Misty Mountain Villa had targeted strong outer disciples like him to prevent them from challenging its control of Lingxi Spring.

Nie Yun planned to infiltrate Lingxi Heavenly Palace to steal Lingxi Spring Water before the Sacred Spirit Disciple Tournament, then discovered that Mu Shang and his companions had complained to the Misty Mountain Villa Master. The Villa Master tried to remove Nie Yun’s restriction from the three men, but the seal struck back and forced him to his knees.

• Mu Yan explained that the Sacred Spirit Disciple Tournament often involved the Lingxi Spring Trial, where participants had to connect with Lingxi Spring and achieve a meeting of minds.
• Nie Yun told Mu Xia he would investigate Lingxi Heavenly Palace and try to steal Lingxi Spring Water before the tournament, while Mu Xia began cultivating.
• Nie Yun spotted a concealed watcher in the courtyard, knocked him unconscious with his soul force, and left for the mountain gate of Lingxi Heavenly Palace.
• Nie Yun examined the ancient seals at the gate and overheard Mu Shang, Mu Qiaoxian, and another man explain their defeat to the Misty Mountain Villa Master.
• Chang Sen failed to break Nie Yun’s restriction on the three men and was injured by its backlash.
• The Misty Mountain Villa Master used the Seal Stripping Technique to remove the restriction, but the seal rebounded and left him kneeling as well.

Nie Yun secretly intensified the restriction on Mu Qi and his companions, but hid when the City Lord and the other Villa Masters arrived and freed them. The Villa Masters then agreed to hold a Death Trial for the Sacred Spirit Disciple Tournament, with five Empowerment Jade Tokens protecting their favored disciples.

• Nie Yun used his soul force to pin Mu Qi and the others to their knees, then sensed powerful arrivals and concealed himself.
• The City Lord and the other Villa Masters mocked Mu Qi before the City Lord dispelled the restriction.
• Mu Qi concealed that a Supreme's lingering restriction had defeated him and redirected the gathering to the tournament.
• The Villa Masters argued over Misty Mountain Villa's long control of Lingxi Spring, and the Butterfly Wing Mountain Villa Master proposed a Death Trial.
• The City Lord offered five Empowerment Jade Tokens to protect the favored disciples, and Mu Qi reluctantly agreed after the others approved the plan.

Nie Yun uncovered Butterfly Wing Mountain Villa’s plot to sacrifice outer disciples in the tournament and learned that Mu Jie was meant to kill him. He killed Mu Yan, hypnotized Mu Jie, and disguised him as Mu Yun to take his place in the Sacred Spirit Disciple Tournament.

• Nie Yun overheard that Butterfly Wing Mountain Villa’s Death Trial was designed to kill weaker disciples and benefit its favored disciples.
• Nie Yun discovered Mu Jie and Mu Yan plotting to kill him with poison, then learned that the Villa Master planned to mark him so Lingxi Heavenly Palace’s formations would attack him.
• Nie Yun entered the courtyard and sealed it with his Soul Force, preventing anyone outside from noticing what happened.
• Mu Yan attacked Nie Yun, but Nie Yun seized him and killed him despite Mu Jie’s threats.
• Nie Yun used Blood Pupil Talent to hypnotize Mu Jie and ordered him to participate in the tournament as Mu Yun.
• Nie Yun used Disguise Qi to make Mu Jie look and feel exactly like him.

Nie Yun impersonated Mu Jie to obtain the Villa Master's entry token and map, then used a hypnotized Mu Jie to take the mark meant for Mu Yun. After hiding Mu Xia and confirming that a witness's memories had been altered, Nie Yun searched Butterfly Wing Mountain Villa and discovered a sealed chamber beneath the Villa Master's room.

• Nie Yun disguised himself as Mu Jie, and the Villa Master gave him a Lingxi Heavenly Palace token and a secret map while ordering him to kill Mu Yun during the Death Trial.
• Nie Yun returned to Lixuan Pavilion, made Mu Jie impersonate Mu Yun, and let the Villa Master plant his mark on Mu Jie instead.
• Nie Yun erased a witness's memories of the night's events, then sent Mu Xia to the Purple Splendor Cave Mansion for safety.
• Nie Yun used his Heavenly Eye Talent to search the villa for treasures and spotted a sealed underground chamber beneath the Villa Master's room.

Nie Yun failed to enter Butterfly Wing Mountain Villa’s sealed treasure vault, so he devised a plan to steal from Misty Mountain Villa by using a disguised Ancient Demon Saint Corpse. After learning that Mu Xiang was the strongest Misty Mountain Villa disciple in the Sacred Spirit Disciple Tournament, the duplicate reached his courtyard and found him with a woman.

• Nie Yun dug an underground passage to Butterfly Wing Mountain Villa’s treasure vault but found its sealed stone chamber protected by an alarm formation.
• Nie Yun decided to target Misty Mountain Villa instead and sent a disguised Ancient Demon Saint Corpse toward its residence.
• The duplicate questioned a patrol guard with Blood Pupil Talent, learned that Mu Xiang lived in Xuan Yu Garden, and erased the guard’s memories.
• The duplicate arrived at Mu Xiang’s courtyard and saw him lying with a woman.

Nie Yun’s avatar killed Mu Xiang and his lover to lure Mu Qi away, letting Nie Yun steal the Lingxi Spring Water from Muxiao Mountain Villa with the help of a jade token. After Nie Yun returned to Butterfly Wing Mountain Villa, Mu Qi mistook him for Mu Ding and attacked, leaving the two Villa Masters locked in battle.

• Nie Yun’s avatar killed Mu Xiang and the slender-waisted woman, then drew Mu Qi into a chase toward Butterfly Wing Mountain Villa.
• Nie Yun entered Muxiao Mountain Villa’s secret chamber but could not lift the Lingxi Spring Water gourd, even after disguising himself as Mu Qi.
• Nie Yun brought out the jade token from the Villa Master of Butterfly Wing Mountain Villa, used its matching aura to lift the gourd, and stored it in the Purple Splendor Cave Mansion.
• Nie Yun returned to Butterfly Wing Mountain Villa and recalled his avatar while Mu Qi pursued it into Ancient City.
• Mu Qi accused Mu Ding of killing his grandson and attacked him, and the two Villa Masters clashed at the peak of the Primordial Saint Realm.

Nie Yun stole the treasures and Lingxi Spring Water from Butterfly Wing Mountain Villa, then discovered that the spring water was losing its power inside the gourds. He disguised himself as Mu Yan and returned to seek the special black stones that could preserve it, arriving as the City Lord concluded that someone had manipulated Mu Ding and Mu Qi into fighting.

• Nie Yun broke into Butterfly Wing Mountain Villa’s vault, took its large gourd and other treasures, and escaped while Mu Ding and Mu Qi fought.
• Nie Yun hid in the Purple Splendor Cave Mansion and found that the Lingxi Spring Water in both gourds was gradually losing its aura.
• Mu Xia recalled that Lingxi Spring Water needed special storage, and Nie Yun suspected the black stones lining the secret chambers were preventing it from dispersing.
• Nie Yun disguised himself as Mu Yan and headed back to Butterfly Wing Mountain Villa to look for black stones after the battle had ended.
• The City Lord told Mu Ding and Mu Qi that someone had impersonated Mu Ding, provoked the conflict, and stolen the vault treasures, while the other Villa Masters denied involvement.

Nie Yun distracted the Villa Masters and the City Lord long enough to seize the stone basement and study the Lingxi Spring Water, but they soon confronted him over the thefts and his suspicious soul power. He claimed a powerful master had left a protective Soul Imprint in him and briefly unleashed its pressure to convince them.

• Nie Yun pretended to report that a mysterious figure had robbed Muxiao Mountain Villa, drawing Mu Ding, Mu Qi, the other Villa Masters, and the City Lord away.
• Nie Yun pulled the stone basement into the Purple Splendor Cave Mansion, sealed its broken chamber, and studied the Lingxi Spring Water with Mu Qing and Mu Xia, but they could not determine how to communicate with it.
• Nie Yun sensed the group returning to his courtyard and decided to face them rather than flee.
• Mu Ding accused Nie Yun of robbing his treasure vault, while the City Lord questioned how a Supreme could possess such powerful Soul Force.
• Nie Yun claimed his master had left a protective Soul Imprint in him and triggered the Nameless Art to produce a vast pressure that persuaded the group to believe him.

Nie Yun convinced the City Lord and the villa masters that Mu Yan had stolen their treasures, then joined them at a banquet where Mu Ding discussed the thief’s powerful accomplice and the Sacred Spirit Disciple Tournament. Mu Ding urged Nie Yun to avoid the tournament, and Nie Yun suspected he feared the power of his supposed master.

• Nie Yun used the aura of his supposed master to make the City Lord and villa masters apologize, then blamed Mu Yan for the thefts.
• Mu Ding and the others found the emptied stone chamber and a tunnel from Mu Yan’s residence to the treasure vault, and concluded Mu Yan was the thief.
• Mu Ding promised to hunt down Mu Yan and invited Nie Yun and the other leaders to a banquet; Nie Yun accepted so he could ask about communicating with Lingxi Spring Water.
• At the banquet, Mu Ding argued that Mu Yan must have had a powerful accomplice who had misled Mu Qi.
• Mu Ding said Nie Yun should not enter the dangerous Sacred Spirit Disciple Tournament, and Nie Yun suspected he feared Nie Yun’s hidden strength.

Nie Yun used the threat of his powerful master to bargain with the Ancient City’s leaders for Lingxi Spring Water, agreeing to skip the tournament in exchange for five hundred drops. He learned that the water accelerates cultivation by overdrawing users’ vitality and lifespan, leaving the Ancient City’s leaders to explain why its prodigies die young.

• Nie Yun persuaded the five Villa Masters and the City Lord that his master would come demanding spring water if he could not bring back enough, so they offered him three hundred drops to keep him out of the Death Trial.
• Nie Yun bargained the offer up to five hundred drops and agreed to leave the Ancient City with Mu Xia after receiving the water instead of entering the Sacred Spirit Disciple Tournament.
• During the banquet, Nie Yun asked why Lingxi Spring Water was so scarce and learned that it helped Ancient City youths reach Supreme strength at an unusually young age.
• The City Lord revealed that Lingxi Spring Water accelerated users’ metabolism fivefold and consumed their lifespans, so even Heaven-Seizing Creation Realm experts in the Ancient City rarely lived past a hundred.
• A Villa Master explained that the city’s people continued using the spring water because without its effects they would lack the strength and status to avoid exile.

Nie Yun learned that Lingxi Spring Water required compatibility and that Ancient City’s people rarely ventured outside to preserve their descendants’ access to it. After Nie Yun left, the City Lord and the Villa Masters planned to poison the 500 drops they had promised him and track him to his master.

• The City Lord explained that compatibility with Lingxi Spring Water grew through cultivation, while outsiders could not use it and residents lost their ability to communicate with it after spending too long away.
• Nie Yun ended his questions, attended the rest of the banquet, and flew back to Lixuan Pavilion after Villa Master Mu Lian dismissed him.
• After Nie Yun left, the City Lord warned the Villa Masters not to provoke him or his master, whose power they feared.
• The City Lord proposed mixing Demon Nether Saliva into the promised 500 drops of Lingxi Spring Water and using his tracking talent to follow Nie Yun.
• The City Lord promised a greater share of the recovered treasures to whoever contributed more spring water, and the Villa Masters departed to prepare it.

Nie Yun discovered that his Beast Taming Dantian could communicate with Lingxi Spring, which told him he had at least sixty percent compatibility and could improve further by entering Lingxi Heavenly Palace. The chapter ended with Mu Qing and Mu Xia stunned when Nie Yun revealed his compatibility already exceeded Ancient City’s best by about eleven points.

• Nie Yun realized he needed to increase his compatibility with Lingxi Spring Water to avoid the poison and protect himself from Lixuan Pavilion’s schemes.
• Nie Yun failed to learn anything from the spring water using his Heavenly Eye and Tracking Master Talent, and his Soaring Water Qi caused a gourd to strike him.
• Nie Yun noticed his Beast Taming Dantian turning and used Beast Taming Qi to contact Lingxi Spring’s consciousness.
• Lingxi Spring told Nie Yun that he had at least sixty percent compatibility and needed to enter Lingxi Heavenly Palace to increase it further.
• Nie Yun lifted the gourd effortlessly, then told Mu Qing and Mu Xia that his compatibility was about eleven points higher than Ancient City’s best.

Nie Yun discovered he had 60 points of compatibility with Lingxi Spring Water and tried to use it to preserve his brother Nie Tong's corpse. After the spring water harmed Mu Xia but was absorbed by Nie Tong and strengthened his body, Nie Yun poured in the rest, leaving the corpse on the verge of awakening.

• Nie Yun showed Mu Qing and Mu Xia that he had 60 points of compatibility with Lingxi Spring Water.
• Mu Qing warned Nie Yun that his compatibility might not let him use the spring water on others, so Mu Xia volunteered for a test.
• Nie Yun sent a tiny portion of Lingxi Spring Water into Mu Xia, who spat blood before he pulled it back out.
• Mu Qing suggested that Nie Tong's Spirit Rhinoceros Body Refining Technique might let him benefit from the spring water as if it were poison.
• Nie Yun sent a small portion into Nie Tong, and the corpse absorbed it and showed signs of recovering vitality.
• Nie Yun poured both gourds of Lingxi Spring Water into Nie Tong, whose body grew crystalline and whose muscles strengthened with a series of cracks.

Nie Yun secretly secured the five hundred drops of Lingxi Spring Water, then tricked the City Lord’s tracking method and returned to Ancient City disguised as Mu Jie. With the Sacred Spirit Disciple Tournament moved up, Mu Lian began giving him instructions before it started.

• Nie Yun used a fake jade token attributed to his master to take the five hundred drops of Lingxi Spring Water, concealing his true compatibility from the City Lord and the Villa Masters.
• Nie Yun left Ancient City with Mu Xia, transferred the Tracking Qi onto the puppet Mu Jie, and sent the puppet flying away as a decoy.
• Nie Yun stored Mu Xia in the Purple Splendor Cave Mansion, disguised himself as Mu Jie, and returned to Butterfly Wing Mountain Villa.
• A middle-aged man told Nie Yun that the Sacred Spirit Disciple Tournament had been moved forward and brought him to Mu Lian.
• Mu Lian warned Nie Yun that the tournament was about to begin and said he had several things to explain.

Nie Yun entered Lingxi Heavenly Palace for the Sacred Spirit Disciple Tournament and discovered that the palace’s formations transferred the potential of the slain to their killers. After following Mu Lian’s map through the dangerous trial, he approached a group of allied disciples who turned their attention toward him.

• Mu Lian warned Nie Yun to follow the map, trust no one inside the palace, and make the spring eye happy, then entered Lingxi Heavenly Palace ahead of him.
• Nie Yun joined the gathered contestants, spotted Mu Shang among them, and waited until the tournament began.
• Nie Yun entered the palace’s formation space and saw that killing contestants caused their potential to flow partly to their killers and mostly deeper into the space.
• A young man offered to team up with Nie Yun, then tried to stab him; Nie Yun killed him and felt the transferred potential stir his cultivation.
• Nie Yun memorized Mu Lian’s map and followed its safe route until a group of allied disciples noticed him and stared at him with hostile intent.

Nie Yun followed Lingxi Spring’s directions to Lingxi Heavenly Palace, where he used his Heavenly Eye Talent and Blood Pupil Talent to overcome deadly arrays and illusions. He found Mu Shang and other competitors fighting over a vault full of spirit-level medicinal pills, and the sight stirred his greed.

• Nie Yun used attackers to test a killing array, then realized their potential auras escaped because he had not killed them himself.
• Nie Yun communicated with Lingxi Spring, resisted its bewitching voice, and followed its map through the palace’s restrictions.
• Nie Yun reached Lingxi Heavenly Palace and passed an illusion of golden-armored soldiers by seeing through their disguise with his Heavenly Eye Talent.
• Nie Yun nearly succumbed to the palace murals’ illusion before using the Nine Nether Cold Pearl and Blood Pupil Qi to guard himself.
• Nie Yun found Mu Shang and other young competitors fighting in a hall, then saw that they were battling over a vault filled with spirit-level medicinal pills.

Nie Yun saw through an illusion of Spirit Level pills and discovered that Void Spirit Stones powered it. After defeating the four young men guarding the hall and taking the stones, he followed the revealed passage to Lingxi Spring, where its ancient intelligence recognized him as a Beast Tamer.

• Nie Yun used his Heavenly Eye to expose the Spirit Level pills as an illusion sustained by nine Void Spirit Stones.
• Mu Shang attacked Nie Yun, who shattered his arm with one punch; Nie Yun then defeated the three others when they joined forces against him.
• Nie Yun found the array’s flaw, took the Void Spirit Stones, and dispelled the illusion, revealing a dark passage.
• After preparing his sword and the Ancient Demon Saint Corpse, Nie Yun followed the passage to a spring eye containing a single droplet of Lingxi Spring Water.
• The intelligent spring eye told Nie Yun that it had spoken to him through Beast Taming Qi and identified him as a Beast Tamer.

Nie Yun exposed Lingxi Spring’s plan to possess him, subdued its will, and broke through to Supreme Peak before taking the spring eye with him. Outside Lingxi Heavenly Palace, Mu Jie emerged from the trial, and the palace suddenly collapsed.

• Nie Yun pretended to drink the spring water but stored it away, then used Beast Taming Qi, the Nine Nether Cold Pearl, and Blood Pupil Light to resist Lingxi Spring’s attempt to possess him.
• Nie Yun broke through to Supreme Peak and suppressed Lingxi Spring’s will until it sacrificed its soul and became his servant.
• Nie Yun learned that Daoist Lu Tian had once bound Lingxi Spring to serve his descendants, then stored the spring eye in the Purple Splendor Cave Mansion and hurried to leave.
• Mu Qi expected his grandson Mu Shang to win the trial, while Mu Lian argued that Mu Jie would take first place.
• Mu Jie emerged from Lingxi Heavenly Palace, and the palace collapsed as Mu Lian’s celebration was cut short.