Chapter Summaries

After the group seized the Golden-Scale Fruits, Liu Yu warned that the Demon Race's Royal Court could soon discover their actions and pursue them. Mu Yunyan led them toward a hidden predecessor's cave abode between the third and fourth blockades, where they began searching for its entrance.

• Liu Yu estimated that demon cultivators might discover the traces at Redblood Marsh within three to fifteen days, leaving the group at risk of pursuit and interception.
• Mu Yunyan revealed that Drifting Snow Tower knew of a cave abode left by cultivators more than a hundred thousand years ago, and Liu Yu persuaded the group to seek shelter there.
• Mu Yunyan explained that the cave abode lay between the third and fourth demon blockades, and the group changed course to reach it.
• After traveling for two days and nights, Mu Yunyan identified a small grassland as the likely location and began digging beneath a strangely shaped boulder while Liu Yu guarded the area.

Liu Yu and the others opened the ancient Soaring Heaven Cave and Zhuo Mengzhen sealed its leaking spiritual energy with a new formation. They escaped inside as a powerful Heavenfrost Eagle and a Demon Cultivator approached, then explored the cave and settled in to rest.

• Liu Yu used his divine sense to watch for danger while Mu Yunyan unearthed and activated the Cave Abode Token.
• Mu Yunyan opened the cave entrance, and Zhuo Mengzhen set up a Heavenly Origin Spirit-Sealing Formation to stop spiritual energy from escaping.
• Liu Yu sensed a peak third-tier Heavenfrost Eagle nearby as Mu Yunyan detected an approaching Demon Cultivator, so all five entered the cave and sealed it behind them.
• The group explored Soaring Heaven Cave, found its rich spiritual energy and ancient inscriptions, and reinforced its damaged walls.
• Liu Yu set up the Three-Origin Illusion-Destruction Formation in his room and went to sleep after months of strain.

Liu Yu planned to use his five years in Soaring Heaven Cave to strengthen himself before the group continued its journey through demon-controlled territory. After transforming into his Astral True Form, he began consuming the Golden-Scale Fruit to advance his body-refining cultivation.

• After waking, Liu Yu checked that the Three-Origin Illusion-Destruction Formation remained undisturbed and decided to improve his cultivation while in hiding.
• Liu Yu chose the Golden-Scale Fruit to advance his body refining, avoiding the risky supreme and transcendent state except when deducing techniques.
• Cang Lou proposed that the group remain in Soaring Heaven Cave for five years, and Liu Yu, Mu Yunyan, Gao Jianhan, and Zhuo Mengzhen agreed.
• Liu Yu selected the tallest room, prepared himself, and activated the Astral True Form technique.
• Liu Yu grew to three zhang and six chi tall, opened the Jade Box, and began peeling the Golden-Scale Fruit.

Liu Yu used the Golden-Scale Fruit to break through to the Astral True Form’s third-tier middle stage, strengthening his body and golden core. After four years of safe seclusion in the Soaring Heaven Cave, he emerged and learned that his companions had also remained in seclusion and that the group was still secure.

• Liu Yu swallowed the Golden-Scale Fruit and refined its medicinal power to temper his body.
• After three days and two nights, Liu Yu broke through to the third-tier middle stage of body refining, and his golden core grew larger.
• Liu Yu tested his improved toughness by striking his palm with the Setting Sun Golden Rainbow Spear, which left only a faint mark.
• Liu Yu continued cultivating until he had stabilized his body cultivation, while the group spent four peaceful years hidden in the Soaring Heaven Cave.
• Liu Yu left his room and asked Zhuo Mengzhen about their companions; she told him they had also been in seclusion and the formation had never been opened.

Zhuo Mengzhen shared information with Liu Yu and, worried about her precarious position, offered him a night together; their dual cultivation eased his restless yang energy and greatly strengthened his cultivation. Liu Yu left to refine the spiritual power he had absorbed, while Zhuo Mengzhen remained injured and realized how formidable his body-refining cultivation was.

• Zhuo Mengzhen shared what the Hehuan Sect knew about the Myriad Demon Grand Formation, and she and Liu Yu found common ground about how to proceed.
• Zhuo Mengzhen asked whether they could cross the Hengduan Mountain Range, and Liu Yu admitted he did not know but would do everything he could.
• Liu Yu’s gaze stirred Zhuo Mengzhen to consider offering her primordial yin, and she stopped him from leaving by inviting him to her room.
• Liu Yu accepted Zhuo Mengzhen’s invitation, and they practiced dual cultivation for seven or eight hours.
• Liu Yu left to refine the spiritual power he had absorbed, while Zhuo Mengzhen lay sore and injured and recognized the depth of his body-refining cultivation.

After dual cultivation with Zhuo Mengzhen, Liu Yu refined the primordial yin spiritual power she had given him and broke through to the Golden Core middle stage. He then tested the Setting Sun Golden Rainbow Spear, which pierced his fully powered protective shield and wounded his palm.

• Zhuo Mengzhen cultivated to assimilate the benefits of dual cultivation while wondering how Liu Yu had grown so powerful.
• Liu Yu returned to his room and refined the primordial yin spiritual power stored in his dantian, rapidly increasing his cultivation.
• After seven days, Liu Yu reached the peak of the Golden Core early stage and broke through to the Golden Core middle stage by circulating the eighth layer of the Azure Yang Art.
• Liu Yu stabilized his new realm and replenished his magic power discreetly, using pills to avoid alerting his companions to his breakthrough.
• Liu Yu tested the Setting Sun Golden Rainbow Spear against his fully powered azure shield, but the spear pierced through and injured his palm.

Liu Yu stabilized his Golden Core middle-stage cultivation, acquired Mu Yunyan’s Golden-Scale Fruit Tree, and planted it in the Immortal Mansion, where it rapidly matured. After testing the fruit’s diminished effects, he questioned why the Immortal Mansion could mature a third-tier supreme-grade spirit treasure for so little spiritual power.

• Liu Yu tested the increased power of his Setting Sun Golden Rainbow Spear, healed his palm, and spent months stabilizing his new cultivation stage.
• Liu Yu waited in the hall for a chance to meet Mu Yunyan, then negotiated to buy her Golden-Scale Fruit Tree for ten high-grade spirit stones and two bottles of Purple Origin Pills.
• Liu Yu brought the Golden-Scale Fruit Tree into the Immortal Mansion, planted it in the Red Spirit Field, and used spirit stones to accelerate its growth.
• Liu Yu practiced body refining and found that later Golden-Scale Fruits had weaker effects than the first, though they still helped his progress.
• Liu Yu realized the Immortal Mansion’s low maturation cost seemed disproportionately small compared with the value of the Golden-Scale Fruit.

Liu Yu considered whether the Immortal Mansion’s herb-ripening ability obeyed the balance of all things, then prepared to leave Soaring Heaven Cave with his companions after five years. As the group assembled, Cang Lou quietly weighed how to manage the party’s risks and rivalries, while Liu Yu’s alliance with Zhuo Mengzhen complicated his plans.

• Liu Yu reasoned that the Immortal Mansion supplied most of the spiritual power for ripening herbs, but that his time and spirit stones still counted as a price under the balance of all things.
• Liu Yu set aside his unanswered questions and nurtured his treasures, including the Golden Jade Ring, whose foreign magic power he had nearly washed away.
• Liu Yu emerged from seclusion and greeted Cang Lou, Mu Yunyan, Gao Jianhan, and Zhuo Mengzhen, whose changed cultivation and bearing revealed her intimacy with him.
• Cang Lou recalled that he had planned to send Liu Yu and Zhuo Mengzhen ahead as scouts, but Liu Yu’s increased strength and his alliance with Zhuo Mengzhen had undermined that plan.
• Cang Lou declared that the five-year period had passed and it was time to leave, while Liu Yu agreed that the demon cultivators’ vigilance had likely weakened and considered the advantage of Zhuo Mengzhen’s support.

After leaving Soaring Heaven Cave, Liu Yu and the others traveled cautiously for three years to the Black Dragon Mountain Range, a deadly demon stronghold they needed to cross. As demon cultivators passed nearby, the group hid in the forest and faced the grim odds of getting through.

• Liu Yu and the other four left Soaring Heaven Cave after Mu Yunyan opened the passage, then resealed the hillside and returned the dark cyan token to its hiding place.
• The five flew northwest under the Azure Soul Gauze, moving slowly and relying on Liu Yu’s expanded divine sense to watch for danger.
• Three years later, Liu Yu’s group emerged from a forest and saw the vast Black Dragon Mountain Range, ruled by the powerful Black Flood Dragon King.
• Liu Yu sensed demon cultivators nearby and warned the others to retreat into the forest, where they hid behind an ancient tree.
• Old Daoist Cang Lou said that only nine cultivators in the Alliance’s history had crossed the Black Dragon Mountain Range, and none from their sect had succeeded.

Liu Yu rallied his companions as they prepared to cross the Black Dragon Mountain Range during a brief shutdown of the Myriad Demon Grand Formation. The group regained its resolve, but Zhuo Mengzhen was assigned the dangerous task of scouting ahead, and Liu Yu chose not to defend her.

• Liu Yu encouraged Mu Yunyan, Gao Jianhan, Zhuo Mengzhen, and Cang Lou by reminding them that the Alliance’s plan built on information left by earlier cultivators.
• Mu Yunyan, Gao Jianhan, Zhuo Mengzhen, and Cang Lou recovered their fighting spirit as Liu Yu explained that the formation would shut down for an hour on the Black Flood Dragon King’s birthday.
• Liu Yu and his companions considered how the Alliance might disable the formation and wondered whether the other teams had reached the mountain range.
• After Cang Lou noticed Demon Cultivators nearby, he said Zhuo Mengzhen should scout ahead during their operation.
• Zhuo Mengzhen looked to Liu Yu for support, but he stayed silent, accepting that she was the weakest and most expendable member of the team.

Liu Yu and his companions waited near the Black Dragon Mountain Range for the Myriad Demon Grand Formation to pause, witnessing the Black Flood Dragon King’s overwhelming power and celebrating demon cultivators. When the pause arrived, Zhuo Mengzhen flew ahead to scout the crossing, leaving the others concealed and waiting to see whether their plan could proceed.

• Liu Yu and the others hid near the Black Dragon Mountain Range as demon cultivators gathered for the Black Flood Dragon King’s birthday.
• The Black Flood Dragon King roared, released immense spirit pressure, and appeared as a majestic flood dragon before disappearing among the mountains.
• Flocks of birds and groups of demon beasts offered congratulations to the Black Flood Dragon King, and Liu Yu reflected on the demon race’s civilization.
• When the Myriad Demon Grand Formation was expected to pause, Cang Lou asked Zhuo Mengzhen to scout ahead, and she reluctantly agreed.
• Zhuo Mengzhen flew toward the Thirteenth Line of Blockade while Liu Yu and the others concealed their auras and waited to learn whether she would be detected.

Zhuo Mengzhen confirmed that the Myriad Demon Grand Formation had been disabled, allowing Liu Yu and the others to enter. The five crossed inside without triggering the formation, but Liu Yu still sensed an unexplained danger.

• Liu Yu and the others watched as Zhuo Mengzhen hesitated before touching the Myriad Demon Grand Formation, then confirmed it was inactive when nothing happened.
• Zhuo Mengzhen signaled that the barrier was safe, and Liu Yu led the group toward it while hiding them with a Divine Sense Wall.
• The five entered the formation during the one-hour window, avoiding sweeps of demon sense along the way.
• Inside, Liu Yu found that demonic energy weakened spells and felt a persistent sense of danger despite the formation remaining unresponsive.

Liu Yu and his companions crossed the Myriad Demon Grand Formation while another team's blunder drew demon cultivators toward them. As they raced for the far edge, a golden streak saw through their concealment and discovered the five.

• Liu Yu led Zhuo Mengzhen, Mu Yunyan, Cang Lou, and Gao Jianhan through the formation, avoiding trouble as they headed north.
• A nearby team's battle exposed human cultivators and prompted demon cultivators across the region to converge on the disturbance.
• Liu Yu ordered the group to speed up and break through before the demon cultivators could surround them.
• The five raced through gaps between approaching enemies, but another clash behind them triggered a wider response from the demon cultivators.
• A golden streak turned toward Liu Yu's group and saw through the Divine Sense Wall and Azure Soul Gauze, exposing their location.

Liu Yu fled through the Myriad Demon Grand Formation after the demon cultivators discovered his group, using the Blackwind Wings to outpace most pursuers. When two demon cultivators blocked his path, he killed both in a head-on attack and continued into the pursuit.

• A demon cultivator's roar summoned allies, so Liu Yu told the group to split up and break out; Zhuo Mengzhen followed him as they fled in different directions.
• Liu Yu used the Blackwind Wings to increase his speed, while a Fiery-Eyed Golden Ape and a purple flame bird kept pursuing him.
• Liu Yu decided to wait for a chance to kill the two faster pursuers, then charged through lesser attacks as demon cultivators tried to intercept him.
• Liu Yu activated his Astral True Form and threw the Setting Sun Golden Rainbow Spear, killing a demon bird with one strike.
• Liu Yu followed with Meteor Fist, killing an azure giant wolf and emerging covered in demon blood.

Liu Yu fled through the Myriad Demon Grand Formation while pursued by the Fiery-Eyed Golden Ape and the Purple Bird Demon, then turned to fight when the Purple Bird Demon closed in. He killed the Purple Bird Demon with a coordinated assault and faced the enraged Fiery-Eyed Golden Ape as the pursuit continued.

• Liu Yu’s killing of Azure Wolf and another demon cultivator made several pursuers hesitate, though the Fiery-Eyed Golden Ape and Purple Bird Demon kept chasing him.
• Liu Yu rejected using the Ruined Sword, fearing its power would attract transformed demon cultivators, and prepared to strike when an opportunity arose.
• The Purple Bird Demon attacked Liu Yu with Corrosive Purple Mist, which his Azure Yang Demonic Flame burned away.
• Liu Yu weakened the Purple Bird Demon with Wither and stunned it with Spirit-Shocking Thorn, then pierced its dantian with the Setting Sun Golden Rainbow Spear.
• Liu Yu burned the dying Purple Bird Demon with the Azure Yang Demonic Flame while fending off the Fiery-Eyed Golden Ape’s attacks.

Liu Yu killed the Purple Bird Demon and fought off the Fiery-Eyed Golden Ape, then used Wither to weaken the demon cultivators blocking his escape. He broke through their pursuit and reached the far edge of the Myriad Demon Grand Formation.

• Liu Yu stored the Purple Bird Demon's skeleton and met the Fiery-Eyed Golden Ape's charge with the Setting Sun Golden Rainbow Spear.
• Liu Yu pierced the Fiery-Eyed Golden Ape's fist and blocked its Life-bound Divine Ability, then left it behind as the demon cultivators approached.
• The Fiery-Eyed Golden Ape told the pursuing group that it had been ambushed, while several demons recognized Liu Yu's Blackwind Wings and warned that he was no ordinary foe.
• Seven or eight demon cultivators bombarded Liu Yu with spells as others closed in, and Liu Yu recognized a black aura in his body as a curse or hex.
• Liu Yu unleashed Wither on the demon cultivators ahead and behind him, weakening them and creating an opening to speed away.
• Liu Yu charged through the weakened demons, who retreated rather than confront him, and reached the far end of the Myriad Demon Grand Formation.

Liu Yu fought his way through the weakened Myriad Demon Grand Formation and rescued Zhuo Mengzhen as she was about to be overwhelmed. They crossed the Gray-Black Barrier and escaped the formation, leaving Liu Yu reflecting on the ordeal as though a lifetime had passed.

• Liu Yu killed the yellow bull and one-horned white horse blocking his route with his Wither Divine Ability and golden spear lotuses.
• Liu Yu spotted Zhuo Mengzhen fleeing the demons with a fourth-tier talisman, but a Lightning Sparrow interrupted her escape and left her surrounded.
• Liu Yu turned back, broke through the demons’ attacks, and carried the injured Zhuo Mengzhen toward the barrier.
• Liu Yu used Wither and Spirit-Shocking Thorn to weaken and disrupt the pursuing demons while fighting his way forward.
• Liu Yu and Zhuo Mengzhen passed through the Gray-Black Barrier and escaped the Myriad Demon Grand Formation.

Liu Yu escaped the Myriad Demon Grand Formation with Zhuo Mengzhen, using Wither to slow the Demon Cultivators pursuing them. They hid in a temporary cave abode several thousand li away and waited for signs that their separated companions had also escaped.

• Liu Yu repeatedly used Wither from a great distance to weaken the Demon Cultivators while flying away from the formation.
• Liu Yu confirmed he had shaken off his pursuers, then carried the injured Zhuo Mengzhen until she could fly and conceal them with the Azure Soul Gauze.
• Liu Yu and Zhuo Mengzhen traveled roughly six or seven thousand li from the formation and took shelter in a temporary cave beneath a lake.
• Liu Yu recovered from his injuries and explained that they would wait six hours for the Spirit-Communicating Jade to detect Mu Yunyan, Gao Jianhan, or Cang Lou before moving on.

Liu Yu waited for his scattered teammates, then prepared to leave when Gao Jianhan arrived badly wounded and the agreed three hours expired. Mu Yunyan reached them with demon cultivators pursuing her and an old monk in tow, and Liu Yu used the danger she brought to the group as leverage to seek the Phantom Dream Heart Sutra.

• Liu Yu and Zhuo Mengzhen waited in the temporary cave abode while recovering and monitoring the Spirit-Communicating Jade for their missing teammates.
• Gao Jianhan reached the cave with his left arm severed, and Liu Yu told him to stabilize his injuries before they continued their journey.
• When three hours passed without word from the others, Liu Yu decided to leave, but the jade lit up and he led Zhuo Mengzhen and Gao Jianhan toward the approaching teammate.
• The group met Mu Yunyan, who was fleeing with an old monk in hemp robes while three demon cultivators pursued them.
• Mu Yunyan explained that the old monk had followed her and drawn the pursuers toward the group, leaving Zhuo Mengzhen and Gao Jianhan angry and wary.
• Liu Yu privately offered to help Mu Yunyan regain the others’ trust if she let him read the Phantom Dream Heart Sutra.

Liu Yu pressured Mu Yunyan into agreeing to teach him the Phantom Dream Heart Sutra, then led his companions in attacking the pursuers. He killed the Purple Poison Lizard and turned toward the other battles, which were still underway.

• Liu Yu rejected Mu Yunyan’s pleas for another condition and threatened to leave unless she agreed to teach him the Phantom Dream Heart Sutra.
• Mu Yunyan accepted Liu Yu’s condition as she approached Liu Yu, Zhuo Mengzhen, and Gao Jianhan, while True Person Ku Xin and three demon cultivators drew near.
• Liu Yu and his companions attacked Ku Xin, and the Purple Poison Lizard swallowed and killed the monk before the fight against the demons began.
• Liu Yu confronted the Purple Poison Lizard alone while Zhuo Mengzhen and Gao Jianhan fought the white fox and Mu Yunyan fought the black butterfly.
• Liu Yu used his Blazing Sun Magic Power to pass through the lizard’s poisonous cloud, weakened it with Wither, and killed it with a barrage of spear thrusts.
• Liu Yu burned the Purple Poison Lizard’s corpse, collected its demon core and Ku Xin’s storage ring, and looked toward the other two battles.