Chapter Summaries

Liu Yu completed his first Astral True Form session, practiced Meteor Fist, and arranged for a sturdier cultivation room while Rosycloud Mountain’s affairs settled into place. A month later, he received a box that could store stellar power and granted Wu Chang’s request to bring his son to cultivate on the mountain, leaving Liu Yu reflecting on the passing years.

• Liu Yu finished tempering his body with Coldstar Liquid, then practiced Meteor Fist hard enough to damage the cultivation room and tear his clothes.
• Liu Yu resumed Qi Refining and Divine Preservation cultivation, kept a low profile, and left Jiang Qiushui to organize Rosycloud Mountain’s affairs.
• Liu Yu closed the Jade Pill Hall and had a sturdier obsidian cultivation room built while ordering his subordinates to continue searching for a way to store stellar power.
• One month later, Wu Chang presented Liu Yu with a black box that could absorb starlight and store stellar power for two days.
• Wu Chang asked Liu Yu to let his twelve-year-old son cultivate on Rosycloud Mountain, and Liu Yu agreed after noticing Wu Chang’s age and declining vitality.

Liu Yu used the Immortal Mansion to fill a black box with pure stellar power, named it the Star-Absorbing Box, and discovered that the silver origin could produce lunar yin power. After recovering from the mental exhaustion caused by wielding the Mansion’s authority, he advanced his Astral True Form and Meteor Fist while Jiang Qiushui and Ji Ruyan opened two Jade Pill Hall branches on Rosycloud Mountain.

• Liu Yu entered the Immortal Mansion with the black box, filled it with pure stellar power, and named it the Star-Absorbing Box.
• Liu Yu used the Mansion’s authority to make the silver origin produce wisps of lunar yin power, then dispersed them because his fragile primordial spirit could not withstand them.
• Liu Yu returned to his body, slept for a day and a night to recover from mental exhaustion, and resumed cultivation.
• Liu Yu cultivated the Astral True Form with Coldstar Liquid and pure stellar power, lighting two stars in a month and bringing a third halfway to completion.
• Liu Yu advanced his Meteor Fist and, together with the Flash Spirit Art, became capable of handling Qi Refining Cultivators through his physical strength alone.
• Jiang Qiushui and Ji Ruyan put Rosycloud Mountain’s affairs in order and opened two second-tier-pills branches of Jade Pill Hall, one managed by each woman.

Liu Yu allowed Wu Chang’s son, Wu Cheng'en, to cultivate on Rosycloud Mountain, then continued his cautious cultivation as twenty-four years passed and the Jade Pill Hall prospered. After learning that the Golden Core Condensation Pill ingredients were complete and Li Buyu had entered seclusion, Liu Yu traveled west to seek the secret realm containing the three-origin fruit, arriving at West Sand Market Ward with its opening a year away.

• Wu Chang brought Wu Cheng'en to meet Liu Yu, who gave the boy a middle-grade magical artifact and permission to establish a cave abode on Rosycloud Mountain.
• Liu Yu cultivated the Astral True Form, practiced combat techniques, and maintained his daily training in body cultivation, qi refining, and spirit refinement.
• Jiang Qiushui reported that the final herb for the Golden Core Condensation Pill had been obtained, while Li Buyu and several others began attempting to break through to the Golden Core realm.
• Twenty-four years passed as Liu Yu cultivated peacefully and Ji Ruyan managed the Jade Pill Hall.
• Liu Yu traveled to the western region in pursuit of the secret realm containing the three-origin fruit and arrived at West Sand Market Ward, where the secret realm was due to open in a year.

Liu Yu traveled alone to the Western Sands to investigate the secret realm that held the three-origin fruit, confident in his strength and careful to conceal his identity. Near the West Sand Market Ward, four evil cultivators ambushed him, and he recognized their leader, Madam Rouge, as the chapter ended with the confrontation poised to turn violent.

• Liu Yu replenished his magic power in the desert and reflected on how his cultivation across qi refining, spirit refinement, and body cultivation had made him exceptionally powerful.
• Liu Yu boarded the Wind-Evasion Boat, changed his appearance, suppressed his cultivation, and traveled toward the West Sand Market Ward posing as a Foundation Establishment body cultivator.
• Four Foundation Establishment cultivators surrounded Liu Yu's boat at night and forced him to land in the desert.
• The four cultivators demanded Liu Yu's Storage Bag, while their leader, Madam Rouge, tried to bewitch him.
• Liu Yu rejected the demand and recognized the group as notorious Western Sands bandits led by Madam Rouge.

Liu Yu ambushed Madam Rouge’s group and killed their fat male companion with his Astral True Form and Meteor Fist. After defending against the survivors’ attacks, he prepared to use his full strength, but sensed something near West Sand Market Ward and held back as both sides faced off.

• Liu Yu used the Flash Spirit Art to close in on the fat cultivator and struck him with the Meteor Fist, overpowering his black bone sword.
• Liu Yu battered through the fat cultivator’s attacks and killed him with a punch to the head.
• Liu Yu deflected two magical artifacts and blocked Madam Rouge’s white spirit flames with a silver barrier.
• Madam Rouge and her two remaining companions hesitated and exchanged voice transmissions, considering retreat after seeing Liu Yu’s strength.
• Liu Yu decided to reveal his full strength and capture an opponent for Soul Searching, but sensed something near West Sand Market Ward and paused.
• Liu Yu and the three survivors maintained their distance in an uneasy standoff as the battlefield sand settled.

Liu Yu watched Madam Rouge escape and met Tang Tianbao after Tang and his companions defeated her two subordinates. He earned Tang’s trust and agreed to travel with him and his companions to the West Sand Market Ward.

• Madam Rouge fled when Tang Tianbao and his companions arrived, while Liu Yu stayed behind to avoid revealing his strength.
• Tang Tianbao and his companions killed Madam Rouge’s two slower subordinates, then returned to meet Liu Yu.
• Liu Yu introduced himself as Hong Hao, praised Tang Tianbao, and gave him a bottle of Essence-Nourishing Pills in thanks.
• Tang Tianbao introduced Uncle Yang and Zhou Ziwen, then invited Liu Yu to travel with them to the West Sand Market Ward.
• Liu Yu accepted, burned the dead cultivator’s corpse, claimed his storage bag, and set off with the three cultivators while keeping his distance.

Liu Yu entered the West Sand Market Ward with Tang Tianbao, collected bounties with him, and learned about the Western Sands over a meal. Their lively conversation ended abruptly when a song about war and national sorrow enraged Tang Tianbao.

• Liu Yu and Tang Tianbao passed through the West Sand Market Ward and went to its Bounty Office.
• Tang Tianbao presented proof of several slain Foundation Establishment evil cultivators and collected nearly four thousand spirit stones in bounties.
• After Zhou Ziwen and Uncle Yang departed, Tang Tianbao invited Liu Yu to dine at the Delicacy Pavilion and discuss the Western Sands.
• Tang Tianbao probed Liu Yu's background, and Liu Yu revealed that he had some experience in pill refining.
• Tang Tianbao arranged singing and dancing, but he slammed his cup down and shouted when a performer sang about war and the country's troubles.

Liu Yu joined Tang Tianbao’s Bright Light Society while investigating Tang’s possible connection to the Sacred Fire Cult. As he left a gathering of Western Sands cultivators, a mysterious bell tolled seven times across the West Sand Market Ward.

• Tang Tianbao reacted sharply to a mournful song, then resumed dining with Liu Yu and shared information about the Western Sand Land.
• Liu Yu suspected Tang Tianbao might have ties to the Sacred Fire Cult and decided to stay close to his group while waiting for the secret realm to open.
• Zhou Ziwen brought Liu Yu to meet about thirty local foundation establishment cultivators, where Tang Tianbao introduced him as a body cultivator and second-tier alchemist.
• Liu Yu traded Essence-Nourishing Pills for a body-refining item and learned the cultivators belonged to Tang Tianbao’s Bright Light Society.
• Tang Tianbao invited Liu Yu to join the society, and Liu Yu accepted before leaving with Feng for a drink.
• Seven solemn bell tolls rang across the West Sand Market Ward, bringing its bustle to a sudden halt.

Liu Yu watched the Divine Sand Sect prepare to publicly execute Shi Renjie, a Golden Core cultivator and remnant of the Sacred Fire Cult. Before his execution, Shi Renjie revealed that the cult’s secret realm would open next year, then gave his final words for the sake of light.

• Liu Yu joined the crowd at the execution plaza and learned that the condemned prisoner was Golden Core cultivator Shi Renjie, while True Person Yellow Sand oversaw the proceedings.
• Liu Yu noticed the Bright Light Society members reacting strangely to Shi Renjie, and Tang Tianbao and Uncle Yang tried to calm the visibly distressed Zhou Ziwen.
• True Person Yellow Sand offered to spare Shi Renjie if he revealed information about the Sacred Fire Cult and its secret realm, but Shi Renjie initially refused.
• Shi Renjie announced that the Holy Fire Secret Realm lay somewhere in the Western Sand Land and would open on the second day of the second month next year, stirring the crowd into an uproar.
• True Person Yellow Sand silenced the plaza, declared Shi Renjie’s crimes, and asked for his last words; Shi Renjie recited his vow and ended with “for the sake of light.”

Liu Yu watched Shi Renjie’s execution, then joined an ambush on Divine Sand Sect cultivators escorting Shi Renjie’s remains back to the sect. The attack left Jiang Lesheng and five other survivors surrounded, and Jiang Lesheng recognized Tang Tianbao among their assailants.

• True Person Yellow Sand had Shi Renjie beheaded, extracted his golden core, and sealed it in a jade vial.
• Liu Yu observed Tang Tianbao, Uncle Yang, and Zhou Ziwen’s reactions, then returned to the inn and continued cultivating while waiting for events to unfold.
• Seven days later, Jiang Lesheng led six Divine Sand Sect cultivators west from the market ward with Shi Renjie’s remains and spiritual items.
• Nine attackers burst from beneath the desert sand and ambushed the Divine Sand Sect group after Jiang Lesheng’s party lowered its guard.
• Liu Yu killed one Divine Sand Sect cultivator with a punch, while the surviving sect cultivators regrouped under attack.
• Jiang Lesheng recognized Tang Tianbao among the attackers.

Liu Yu fought the Divine Sand Sect cultivators to prove his strength and earn the Sacred Fire Cult remnants’ trust before their secret realm opened. He killed a yellow-browed cultivator, while Jiang Lesheng and the rest of his group scattered to flee.

• Jiang Lesheng recognized Tang Tianbao’s group as Sacred Fire Cult remnants and prepared to escape rather than fight them head-on.
• Tang Tianbao and Zhou Ziwen led the ambush, and Liu Yu joined the attack to demonstrate his value and improve his chances of entering the secret realm.
• Jiang Lesheng ordered his companions to scatter as the Divine Sand Sect group fell behind in the fight.
• Liu Yu used Dark Moon and his Astral True Form to batter the yellow-browed cultivator’s protective shield and withstand the man’s counterattacks.
• After the shield broke, Liu Yu evaded the cultivator’s trump cards, knocked him out of the air, and killed him with a series of punches.
• Liu Yu took the cultivator’s Storage Bag and burned the remains, as the ambush drew to a close.

Liu Yu helped Tang Tianbao's group kill Divine Sand Sect cultivators, then used rumors and his own investigation to assess the growing hunt for the Sacred Fire Cult's secret realm. Nine months later, he had joined the cult as a Guest Elder and witnessed Tang Tianbao and Zhou Ziwen clash over how to punish a subordinate whose failure had cost the cult many lives.

• Liu Yu watched Zhou Ziwen kill their captive, then noted Zhou Ziwen's growing estrangement from Tang Tianbao and considered the cult leaders as targets for his backup plan.
• The group returned to West Sand Market Ward, where Liu Yu heard widespread rumors about the Holy Fire Secret Realm and discovered that nearly all the supposed leads were fabricated.
• Nine months later, Liu Yu had become a Sacred Fire Cult Guest Elder after demonstrating his alchemy skills and claiming he owed Tang Tianbao a debt of gratitude.
• A bald Foundation Establishment cultivator confessed that his negligence had led to the deaths of fifty Qi Refining disciples and a Foundation Establishment elder.
• Zhou Ziwen demanded the bald cultivator die under the Cult Rules, but Tang Tianbao argued that he should be spared to repay his failure through meritorious service.
• Tang Tianbao overruled Zhou Ziwen's objection, and Zhou Ziwen left in anger.

Liu Yu infiltrated Tang Tianbao’s team and entered the Holy Fire Secret Realm through a hidden passage and teleportation formation. As the group arrived inside, a Golden Core elder pursued them through the entrance, while white-robed cultivators prepared a separate formation to reach the realm.

• Liu Yu traveled with Tang Tianbao, Zhou Ziwen, Uncle Yang, and three core cult members from Great Wind Immortal City toward the secret realm.
• Tang Tianbao used the Sacred Fire Token to reveal a concealed stairway beneath the desert sand, and the seven descended into the passage.
• The group crossed a curtain of light and reached a chamber containing a teleportation formation; Tang Tianbao activated it and led everyone into the secret realm.
• A white-browed Golden Core elder used a third-tier formation to break through the hidden entrance and followed the group down the stairs.
• A white-robed female cultivator told her senior brother that the Heaven-Observing Instrument had helped them locate a secret-realm fissure, and they worked to complete a teleportation formation.

Liu Yu and the Sacred Fire Cult’s group entered an underground secret realm, where failing formations caused guardian puppets to attack before the Sacred Fire Token could identify them. After Tang Tianbao restored the token’s protection, the group set off to explore, while two groups of black-robed cultivators appeared in the square and faced the awakened puppets.

• Liu Yu recovered from teleportation and found himself underground among dormant puppets as Tang Tianbao discovered the Sacred Fire Token could not immediately verify their identities.
• The puppets awakened and attacked, so Tang Tianbao asked the others to protect him while he worked on the token.
• Liu Yu destroyed an ape-shaped puppet with Meteor Fist as the group fought off the growing swarm.
• The Sacred Fire Token activated a concealed formation, stopped the puppets’ attacks, and let Tang Tianbao lead the group northwest.
• Hou Qiaoyun suggested taking the guardian puppets, but Tang Tianbao rebuked her and explained that the token only protected them from attacks.
• After the seven cultivators left, two groups of ten black-robed cultivators appeared in succession, awakening the puppets and starting a battle.

Liu Yu and the Sacred Fire Cult’s followers crossed the ruined Secret Realm as Tang Tianbao explained its layers and led them to Greenwood Tower. Tang Tianbao risked approaching the tower’s golden-core-level serpent puppet, and the Sacred Fire Token successfully calmed it, allowing him to enter.

• Tang Tianbao explained that the Secret Realm had three layers, with resources guarded by formations and puppets, while Liu Yu considered attacking him for the Sacred Fire Token but decided to wait.
• The group reached Greenwood Tower, where Tang Tianbao said it had been built to preserve pills and announced that he would enter despite the danger.
• Uncle Yang and the other followers urged Tang Tianbao to let them take the risk, but he insisted that his duty as Holy Son required him to go.
• Tang Tianbao approached the serpent puppet, which awakened and threatened to attack as Liu Yu and the others retreated to safety.
• The Sacred Fire Token sent red light into the puppet, causing it to settle back into dormancy, and Tang Tianbao entered Greenwood Tower.

Tang Tianbao led the Sacred Fire Cult group to gather resources in the Secret Realm, but outsiders broke in and raised fears of a leak. He restored the group’s trust and proposed letting the guardian puppets wear down the intruders while the cult collected resources, leaving Liu Yu wary as they continued on.

• Tang Tianbao returned from the Greenwood Tower and told Liu Yu and the others that everything had gone smoothly, though he privately worried about the dwindling resources.
• Liu Yu and the group heard fighting near the entrance plaza and realized outsiders had entered the Secret Realm, prompting suspicions that someone had leaked its location.
• Tang Tianbao affirmed his trust in each core member and suggested that the information might have leaked after a captive cult member was tortured or Soul Searched.
• Tang Tianbao advised them to let the guardian puppets fight the intruders while they collected resources, and revealed that another entrance and a Teleportation Formation could help them escape.
• The seven resumed gathering resources, while Liu Yu anticipated trouble and an unseen person showed a sinister glint.

Tang Tianbao and the Sacred Fire Cult group attacked the Heavenly Demon Sect cultivators after the puppet horde weakened them. The browless cultivator escaped, while the others were killed, and the group remained poised to continue into the secret realm.

• Tang Tianbao led the six others toward the plaza after they identified the intruders as Heavenly Demon Sect cultivators and agreed to attack.
• The seven watched as the puppet horde overwhelmed the eight remaining intruders, killing two more cultivators and forcing the browless leader to order a retreat.
• Tang Tianbao and his companions launched a surprise attack as the browless cultivator attempted to flee.
• The Sacred Fire Cult group killed the remaining intruders except the browless cultivator, who escaped using Shadow Escape and a special magical artifact.
• Liu Yu charged toward the plaza but arrived after the battle had ended.

Liu Yu and the Sacred Fire Cult group entered the Secret Realm’s second level, where Tang Tianbao explained how its sustainable resources and Spirit Herb Gardens preserved the cult’s legacy. As they headed for the Third-Tier High-Grade Spirit Herb Garden, Liu Yu considered how to obtain the three-origin fruit, and Tang Tianbao offered him the Foundation Establishment Pill formula.

• Liu Yu escaped the puppets’ attacks and regrouped with Tang Tianbao and the others, then accepted a share of the spoils from the dead Heavenly Demon Sect cultivators.
• Tang Tianbao decided the group should search for the second-level passage instead of pursuing the escaped Eyebrowless Male Cultivator, and led them to an entrance hidden in a room.
• The seven descended to the second level and found a vast, green landscape rich in spiritual energy, then followed Tang Tianbao toward their destination.
• Tang Tianbao explained that the founding patriarch had created the second level with spirit veins and renewable resources, and that the Spirit Herb Gardens were central to the Sacred Fire Cult’s legacy.
• Tang Tianbao revealed that their destination was the only Third-Tier High-Grade Spirit Herb Garden, which held rare herbs needed for Golden Core Condensation Pills; Liu Yu suspected it might contain the three-origin fruit and weighed his options.
• Tang Tianbao gave Liu Yu the Foundation Establishment Pill formula and said he trusted Liu Yu to refine pills for the cult.

Liu Yu and Tang Tianbao’s group discovered Heavenly One Sect cultivators attacking the Black Tiger Puppet on Sacred Flame Peak with a powerful talisman treasure, confirming that the Sacred Fire Cult’s secret realm had been exposed. They hid and agreed to attack once the talisman treasure ran out, while the four intruders continued their assault on the puppet.

• Liu Yu accepted Tang Tianbao’s pill formula and judged it likely genuine, then the seven resumed their journey.
• Tang Tianbao heard a battle near Sacred Flame Peak and rushed there with the group to protect the cult’s Spirit Herb Garden.
• Liu Yu saw four Foundation Establishment cultivators using a powerful golden saber talisman treasure to suppress the Black Tiger Puppet.
• Uncle Yang identified the intruders as Heavenly One Sect cultivators, and the group realized the secret realm’s location had likely leaked.
• Tang Tianbao regained his resolve, and the seven hid nearby and planned to attack the intruders after their talisman treasure’s power was exhausted.
• The scar-faced Heavenly One Sect cultivator and her three companions continued their coordinated assault, hoping to destroy the Black Tiger Puppet before the talisman treasure ran out.

Liu Yu and the others watched the Heavenly One Sect party destroy a powerful black tiger puppet with a one-use talisman treasure, then planned to ambush the exhausted cultivators. Liu Yu chose one of the remaining female cultivators as his target, joking that he was good at dealing with women.

• The Heavenly One Sect cultivators used coordinated spells to restrain the black tiger puppet while the scar-faced female cultivator attacked it with her true-treasure talisman.
• The talisman severed the puppet's forelegs and then overcame its powerful black beam, cleaving the puppet apart and destroying its core.
• The scar-faced female cultivator tried to retrieve the talisman, but it burned to ash after its final use; she began salvaging the puppet's valuable remains.
• Ten miles away, Tang Tianbao and the others discussed how to ambush the six Heavenly One Sect cultivators and assigned targets.
• Tang Tianbao paired Liu Yu with Purple Robe and let him choose between the two remaining Heavenly One Sect cultivators; Liu Yu selected the female cultivator and joked that he was good at dealing with women.