Chapter Summaries

Shi Chun learned that Zhen'er wanted to escape the Forbidden Ground and promised to help her, though he privately doubted he could or would fulfill that promise. After hearing that the Earthheart Tower controlled the realm and held powerful spirits, he asked Zhen'er to use the monsters it created to help them evade the growing crowd.

• Zhen'er told Shi Chun that Su and her companions had died in the Divine Fire Domain, and confirmed that Chen had been called the Fire God.
• Zhen'er explained that Situ Gu had warned her to hide from visitors, but she approached Shi Chun because she had taken human form; Shi Chun promised to take her out of the Forbidden Ground.
• Zhen'er revealed that the Earthheart Tower imprisoned powerful fire spirits and served as the core of a formation that restricted the Forbidden Ground.
• Zhen'er said destroying the formation would free unconfined spirits but kill those fused with it, while the imprisoned spirits could not leave their posts near the distant tower.
• As more sect members arrived to watch, Shi Chun asked Zhen'er to use the monsters created by the Earthheart Tower to help them escape the crowd.

Forgetting Passion Valley offered to partner with Shi Chun and Summer Path Mountain against the arriving Extreme Fire Sect, but Gu Liani rejected them and sent them away. Shi Chun explained that the offer could have given his group more leverage, then learned the women had gone to approach the Extreme Fire Sect instead.

• Jin Hao spotted the Extreme Fire Sect arriving in force, and Wu Shanshan realized they were likely targeting Shi Chun's ability to locate divine fire.
• Wu Shanshan, Lin Yuefang, and Jin Hao flew to Shi Chun and offered a partnership, proposing to share future divine fire in exchange for help against the Extreme Fire Sect.
• Gu Liani rejected Forgetting Passion Valley's offer and insulted the women, who left without securing a deal.
• Shi Chun tried to stop the women, then argued that their help could have let his group negotiate for protection and other advantages.
• Wu Jinliang observed that Forgetting Passion Valley had gone to approach the Extreme Fire Sect instead.

Wu Shanshan offered the Extreme Fire Sect an alliance, claiming she knew how to counter Shi Chun’s Earth Immortal-level Spirit-Venerable Treasure, but Yin Tianlu deferred a decision. After Black Tiger confirmed that Shi Chun’s group had found more varieties of divine fire, Yin Tianlu went to question Gu Liani’s group, where Black Tiger fixed his attention on Zhen’er.

• Wu Shanshan and her companions approached the Extreme Fire Sect after leaving Shi Chun’s group, while Yuan Yao suggested they leave and Shi Chun chose to stay.
• Yin Tianlu admitted Wu Shanshan’s party, and she proposed joining forces to obtain the secret art for finding divine fire, citing Shi Chun’s Spirit-Venerable Treasure and her knowledge of its weakness.
• Yin Tianlu declined to decide immediately, and Wu Shanshan returned to her companions after warning that Summer Path Mountain would not wait.
• Yin Tianlu revealed that the Extreme Fire Sect had its own way to find divine fire, and Black Tiger confirmed that Shi Chun’s group had traces of more varieties than they did.
• Yin Tianlu and Black Tiger went to meet Gu Liani’s group, and Black Tiger immediately focused on Zhen’er.

Shi Chun uncovered Black Tiger’s hidden importance to the Extreme Fire Sect and agreed to negotiate with Yin Tianlu on Summer Path Mountain’s behalf. He demanded that the Extreme Fire Sect prove its sincerity by turning against Forgetting Passion Valley, while blaming Wu Jinliang’s supposed interest in its leaders for wanting them captured alive.

• Shi Chun used his Right-Eye Ability to discover that Black Tiger was a tiger demon who had absorbed eight divine fires, while Yin Tianlu had absorbed only three.
• Shi Chun concluded that Black Tiger was the Extreme Fire Sect’s true key to finding divine fire, and Black Tiger’s signal confirmed that the sect had found many.
• Yin Tianlu offered to help Summer Path Mountain drive off the other sects in exchange for its secret art for finding divine fire.
• Shi Chun agreed to cooperate, then demanded that the Extreme Fire Sect choose Summer Path Mountain over Forgetting Passion Valley and keep its five leaders alive.
• Shi Chun claimed Wu Jinliang wanted the Forgetting Passion Valley leaders because he admired women with defects, and Wu Jinliang embraced the phrase “imperfect beauty.”

Shi Chun rejected cooperation with the Extreme Fire Sect and led Summer Path Mountain into the Forbidden Ground before the sect could act against them. After Black Tiger concluded that the woman beside Shi Chun was likely an ancient divine fire spirit, Yin Tianlu decided to join forces with Forgetting Passion Valley and ordered his group to pursue Shi Chun.

• Shi Chun told Gu Liani, Yuan Yao, Pang Hou, and Wu Jinliang that the Extreme Fire Sect would attack once it confirmed his divine-fire secret art was real.
• Black Tiger told Yin Tianlu and Wu Xiao that the woman beside Shi Chun was likely divine fire transformed into human form and might be connected to vanished heavenly immortal experts.
• Yin Tianlu decided that the Extreme Fire Sect should join forces with Forgetting Passion Valley because Summer Path Mountain had absorbed far more divine fire.
• Shi Chun led Summer Path Mountain into the Forbidden Ground, leaving the Extreme Fire Sect confused after their talks remained unsettled.
• Wu Shanshan asked Yin Tianlu what had happened, and he ordered the Extreme Fire Sect to pursue Summer Path Mountain.

Shi Chun recognized that the Extreme Fire Sect and Forgetting Passion Valley planned to attack, so he cursed at Summer Path Mountain and fled into a sinkhole with Bright Mountain Sect. After Gu Liani realized he had been right and followed, Yin Tianlu promised the other sects divine fire for helping pursue them, drawing a host of groups into the abyss.

• The sects followed the Extreme Fire Sect deeper into the Forbidden Ground as Shi Chun's group flew ahead under Zhen'er's directions.
• Gu Liani stopped the Wind Scales beside a dangerous sinkhole, giving the Extreme Fire Sect time to catch up and join forces with Forgetting Passion Valley.
• Shi Chun cursed Summer Path Mountain, then leaped into the sinkhole with Zhen'er; Wu Jinliang and Tong Mingshan's group followed him.
• Gu Liani recognized the Extreme Fire Sect's hostile intent, ordered Summer Path Mountain into the sinkhole, and led her disciples after Shi Chun.
• Yin Tianlu pursued and promised the gathered sects one divine fire each for their help, prompting them to charge into the abyss with Xu Anchang's Four Cauldron Sect group among them.

The sect parties pursued Shi Chun through a dangerous underground passage, where their Wind Scales awakened Fire Bats whose corrosive fluid brought the pursuit to disaster. Shi Chun’s group had quietly avoided disturbing the creatures, but the Fire Bats were now closing in on them too.

• The sect parties followed the Summer Path Mountain group into the underground passage and encountered stone obstacles and blue-lit cracks.
• Gu Liani and Yuan Yao realized that red-eyed Fire Bats were waking along the passage and pursuing the group.
• Yuan Yao reasoned that Shi Chun’s party had stopped using Wind Scales, and Yin Tianlu’s party charged through the Fire Bats after them.
• The Fire Bats’ corrosive blue fluid ate through the Wind Scales, sending their riders crashing down amid a chaotic attack.
• The sect members fled as the Fire Bats continued their pursuit, while Shi Chun’s group learned the creatures’ habits and quietly traveled without lights or Wind Scales.
• Shi Chun’s group heard the pursuing swarm and saw it rushing toward them after the other parties led the Fire Bats to their position.

Shi Chun's group escaped the Fire Bats, while the Forgetting Passion Valley and Extreme Fire Sect parties pursued them after suffering heavy losses. Mulan Qingqing and Xiang Lan'er both broke through to the grand completion realm, just as the True-Named Lotus Lamps began falling from the sky.

• Shi Chun and the others fled through the underground passages on their Wind Scales, escaped the Fire Bats, and reached a mountaintop where they found the Bright Mountain Sect group unharmed.
• Wu Shanshan used the Demon Eye to track Shi Chun's party, while Xu Anchang and You Mu followed her after emerging from underground.
• Yin Tianlu led the Extreme Fire Sect out through the earth, counted only about forty survivors, and ordered them to search for the Fire Bats' exit.
• Gu Liani asked Shi Chun where they were, and he said Zhen'er knew their location.
• Mulan Qingqing broke through to the grand completion realm, and Xiang Lan'er soon did the same.
• Xiang Lan'er and Feng Chi saw the True-Named Lotus Lamps fall into disarray and hurried outside to look.

Sect leaders debated the sudden deaths inside the Divine Fire Domain while Young Master Nan wondered whether Shi Chun was involved. In the Darkness-Free Forbidden Ground, Li Hongjiu led the Treasure-Evolving Sect party to a crowd of survivors, leaving his disciples worried about his new enthusiasm.

• Duan Xiangmei waited anxiously as Life Lamps fell, and the sect leaders learned that 1,337 people from 115 sects had died.
• Gu Yanduo and Su Qiao urged the sect leaders to send inspectors into the Divine Fire Domain, but Luo Yan recommended waiting and watching.
• Young Master Nan heard that the sect leaders had discussed the casualties and hoped Shi Chun was behind the unusual events.
• Xiang Lan'er and Feng Chi watched the steady Bright Mountain Sect lamps, and Feng Chi urged Xiang Lan'er to stabilize her newly advanced cultivation.
• Li Hongjiu led the Treasure-Evolving Sect group to nearly a thousand exhausted survivors in the Darkness-Free Forbidden Ground and demanded to know what had happened.
• Guang Haoyou and the Treasure-Evolving Sect disciples worried that their newly ambitious Martial Uncle Li Hongjiu had rushed there for reasons beyond claiming Shi Chun's secret art.

Li Hongjiu led the Treasure-Evolving Sect disciples toward the Heavenly Pit to find Shi Chun's group, despite their efforts to keep him from acting recklessly. After he broke away from their Wind Scales to approach the fire bats, he landed on a nearby mountaintop as the swarm spotted the group and surged toward them.

• Li Hongjiu agreed to investigate with the Treasure-Evolving Sect disciples, and Guang Haoyou insisted they stay together.
• Li Hongjiu mocked the Extreme Fire Sect and led his group toward the Heavenly Pit on Wind Scales.
• The group found the fire bats swarming around the Heavenly Pit, and Guang Haoyou warned Li Hongjiu about their dangerous corrosive liquid.
• Li Hongjiu slipped out of the Wind Scales and flew toward the bats, prompting Guang Haoyou to order the disciples to bring him back.
• Li Hongjiu landed on a mountaintop as the bats spotted the pursuing group, and the disciples urgently called for him to return to the Wind Scales.

Li Hongjiu used his Borrowed Realm technique to destroy the Fire Bats and move a mountain into the Heavenly Pit, blocking their lair. The Treasure-Evolving Sect disciples watched in awe, while Li Hongjiu realized they had followed him despite his warnings.

• Guang Haoyou ordered the Treasure-Evolving Sect disciples to seize Li Hongjiu, but his whirlwind made them recoil.
• Li Hongjiu swallowed the charging Fire Bats in a tornado, then crushed them into bursts of blue liquid.
• Guang Haoyou and the other disciples recognized Li Hongjiu’s legendary strength and reconsidered their view of him.
• Li Hongjiu sent a tornado over a nearby mountain, pulverized it, and carried it toward the Heavenly Pit.
• Li Hongjiu drove the mountain into the Heavenly Pit to block the Fire Bats’ lair, then watched the disciples fly toward him.

Li Hongjiu led the Treasure-Evolving Sect disciples through the forbidden ground after revealing his strength, while Yin Tianlu’s Extreme Fire Sect agreed to cooperate with the Forgetting Passion Valley to pursue Shi Chun’s group. Near the safety line, Shi Chun kept deceiving Zhen’er and planned to take her Treasure Garment and Treasure Boots before leaving her behind.

• Li Hongjiu reluctantly agreed to let the Treasure-Evolving Sect disciples accompany him as they searched the forbidden ground for Shi Chun’s group.
• Jin Hao met an Extreme Fire Sect search party, said the Forgetting Passion Valley knew where Shi Chun had gone, and demanded an agreement on dividing the spoils.
• Yin Tianlu swore a poison oath promising cooperation and equal shares, then followed Jin Hao toward Shi Chun’s group.
• Shi Chun’s group rested near Summer Path Mountain’s safety line, where Zhen’er refused to go farther because she sensed a boundary she could not cross.
• Shi Chun continued pretending to care for Zhen’er while secretly planning to take her Treasure Garment and Treasure Boots before abandoning her.

Shi Chun helped Zhen'er change into women's clothes, then discovered that the treasure boots she had given him were the legendary Cloud-Treading Boots. After learning that Zhen'er could enter the Earthheart Tower with the guards' permission, Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang saw a chance to retrieve its treasures, and Zhen'er agreed to go back with them.

• Shi Chun helped Zhen'er put on women's clothes, stopped her when she suggested having a baby, and kept the Treasure Garment and Treasure Boots she had been wearing.
• Shi Chun tested the boots and learned to walk through the air with them, identifying them as the legendary Cloud-Treading Boots.
• Wu Jinliang teased Shi Chun about taking Zhen'er's clothes, and Zhen'er revealed that the Earthheart Tower contained more durable garments.
• Zhen'er explained that the tower's guards had let her inside before and that they could not leave the tower or enter its inner chambers.
• Wu Jinliang suggested that Zhen'er ask to enter again for women's clothes, and Zhen'er cheerfully agreed to take Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang with her.

Shi Chun rejected Zhen'er’s idea that he propose to the First Lord of the Earthheart Tower, while Wu Shanshan and the Extreme Fire Sect quietly tracked and began surrounding his group. Xu Anchang and You Mu discovered the approaching force, and You Mu set out to warn Shi Chun’s companions.

• Zhen'er explained that Shi Chun could ask the First Lord for her hand in marriage to enter the Earthheart Tower, but Shi Chun decided the proposal would likely get him killed and put off the plan.
• Shi Chun checked the area with his right-eye ability before the group rested, unaware that Wu Shanshan had located them from a distant hill using her Demon Eye.
• Wu Shanshan spotted Xu Anchang and You Mu hiding nearby and waited for Lin Yuefang, Jin Hao, and the Extreme Fire Sect’s remaining force to arrive.
• Yin Tianlu proposed surrounding Shi Chun’s group while waiting for reinforcements, and Wu Shanshan agreed after swearing the same Poison Oath as him.
• Xu Anchang sent You Mu to circle around and warn Shi Chun’s group after they recognized the Extreme Fire Sect’s deployment.
• Wu Shanshan guided the Extreme Fire Sect through gaps in Summer Path Mountain’s hidden sentries as they spread out to encircle the resting group.

Shi Chun spotted an encirclement closing around the group and led the Bright Mountain Sect disciples out before Summer Path Mountain’s forces could react. After escaping, he realized the pursuers could still track them and urged everyone to fly farther away, while Gu Liani remained with her group and grew wary.

• Shi Chun used his right-eye ability to detect an approaching encirclement and urged Gu Liani’s group to flee, but Gu Liani refused to abandon the hidden sentries.
• Shi Chun left with Zhen'er and the Bright Mountain Sect group, and Wu Jinliang and Chu Jingtang helped lead everyone away through the terrain.
• The Bright Mountain Sect group slipped beyond the Extreme Fire Sect’s incomplete encirclement, while Gu Liani’s group stayed behind.
• Shi Chun told Wu Jinliang that something was wrong, then ordered everyone to activate their Wind Scales and fly away as quickly as possible.
• Yuan Yao warned Gu Liani to trust Shi Chun’s judgment, and Gu Liani became more vigilant after realizing he had left without explaining himself.

The Extreme Fire Sect surrounded Gu Liani and the Summer Path Mountain group after Shi Chun and the Bright Mountain Sect escaped, leaving Yin Tianlu and Wu Shanshan trying to locate them. As more sect forces arrived, Xu Anchang and You Mu were caught between the gathering factions.

• Gu Liani ordered Summer Path Mountain to depart, but the Extreme Fire Sect surrounded them before they could escape.
• Gu Liani realized Shi Chun had correctly predicted the attack, while Yin Tianlu discovered that Shi Chun's group was missing.
• Wu Shanshan used her Demon Eye to follow the faint energy traces left by Shi Chun and left with Black Tiger and a team to pursue them.
• Yin Tianlu claimed the Extreme Fire Sect had come to settle accounts with the Bright Mountain Sect, while Gu Liani and Yuan Yao challenged his excuse for surrounding them.
• Xu Anchang and You Mu arrived carrying magical treasures, and Yin Tianlu questioned them after Wu Shanshan departed.
• The Heavenforging Sect forces and Gong Shixi's Thousand Rocks Sect forces arrived, alarming Gu Liani, Xu Anchang, and You Mu.

The sects gathered under Yin Tianlu’s lead to confront Gu Liani’s Summer Path Mountain group, while Gong Shixi tried to stay out of the conflict. As the encirclement tightened, Gu Liani and Yuan Yao prepared to betray Shi Chun if that was the only way to protect their disciples.

• Gong Shixi and his companions hid at the rear of the arriving sects, while Zuo Zisheng’s Heavenforging Sect joined the march toward Shi Chun’s group.
• Yan Ketao told Zuo Zisheng that Xu Anchang and You Mu of the Four Cauldron Sect were Shi Chun’s accomplices.
• Yin Tianlu urged the gathered sects to act, and nearly a thousand people surrounded Summer Path Mountain’s forces.
• Gong Shixi led the Thousand Rocks Sect behind a hillside to avoid participating, while Xu Anchang kept watch on them.
• Gu Liani’s disciples formed a defensive ring, and Yuan Yao suggested they might have to sell out Shi Chun if the situation became hopeless.

Gu Liani and Summer Path Mountain agreed to cooperate with the Heavenforging Sect as the rival sects maneuvered over Shi Chun and the secret art. Just as the two groups prepared to leave, the Treasure-Evolving Sect arrived and Li Hongjiu demanded that Gu Liani hand Shi Chun over.

• Gu Liani challenged the encircling sects, while Yin Tianlu withdrew the Extreme Fire Sect and Zuo Zisheng brought Xu Anchang and You Mu under the Heavenforging Sect's control.
• Zuo Zisheng offered to ally with Summer Path Mountain, and Gu Liani accepted so their groups could leave safely and discuss the secret art later.
• Zuo Zisheng led the allied groups away, taking Xu Anchang and You Mu with them as the other sects watched resentfully.
• The Treasure-Evolving Sect arrived, and Li Hongjiu first mistook Gu Liani's identity before ordering her to hand over Shi Chun.

Li Hongjiu confronted Gu Liani and learned that Summer Path Mountain had supposedly killed Shi Chun, then negotiated over the secret art and divine fire. He offered to protect Gu Liani’s group from the other sects in exchange for a share of the flames, and left the Heavenforging Sect facing his warning to stand aside.

• Li Hongjiu called out to Gu Liani, and Zuo Zisheng cautioned her against provoking him because of the legendary strength he was said to possess.
• After Guang Haoyou explained who Zuo Zisheng and Gu Liani were, Li Hongjiu asked Gu Liani where Shi Chun was.
• Gu Liani claimed she had killed Shi Chun, while Yuan Yao pointed to Yin Tianlu as a witness; Yin Tianlu refused to confirm anything.
• Guang Haoyou suggested that Summer Path Mountain had the secret art, and Gu Liani admitted it when Li Hongjiu asked.
• Li Hongjiu asked Gu Liani for a copy of the secret art, then offered to help her find divine fire in exchange for one flame per Treasure-Evolving Sect disciple.
• When Gu Liani questioned whether the other sects would accept his offer, Li Hongjiu warned the Heavenforging Sect to leave Summer Path Mountain alone.

Li Hongjiu, Zuo Zisheng, and Gu Liani formed an uneasy alliance between the Treasure-Evolving Sect, the Heavenforging Sect, and Summer Path Mountain, while Yin Tianlu led the Extreme Fire Sect away and drew several sects into pursuit. Wu Shanshan’s party tracked Shi Chun’s group to a strange, storm-wracked region and wondered whether they had come there deliberately.

• Li Hongjiu learned that Gu Liani was allied with Zuo Zisheng and proposed that the Treasure-Evolving Sect join them, asking for one flower for each of his Nephew-Disciples.
• Zuo Zisheng moved the three sects away from the watching crowd to discuss their alliance, and the Heavenforging Sect took Xu Anchang and You Mu with them.
• Yin Tianlu vowed to raise the Extreme Fire Sect to the top of the Artifact Refining World, then refused to join Mi Liangmeng, Yan Chunlai, and Du Da as they departed.
• Yin Tianlu led the Extreme Fire Sect in search of Wu Shanshan’s group, while Mi Liangmeng, Yan Chunlai, Du Da, and other sects followed them.
• Wu Shanshan’s party gathered in a region of howling winds and lightning, and Black Tiger questioned whether Shi Chun’s group had deliberately headed there.