Recaps

Chen Yu prepared a gas mask and supplies for the Black Mist Marsh trial, then set out for Heavenly Chasm Peak. After rejecting Xiang Baiwei’s offer to team up and hearing a warning about a dangerous poison-path leader, he joined the gathered Inner Sect Disciples beside Elder Wu’s True Disciple.

• Chen Yu tested his gas mask, confirmed it protected him from poison for about two hours, and prepared weapons, food, water, and replacement filters.
• Cao Jun told Chen Yu that Shen Fei had consumed poison and fallen unconscious, and Chen Yu sent word that Shen Fei should stop eating poison.
• Lü Yanyan and the nine Junior Brothers of Nine-Bend Peak saw Chen Yu off as he headed to Heavenly Chasm Peak.
• Xiang Baiwei invited Chen Yu to join her group for the trial, but he refused and she warned him about two dangerous leaders, including a poison-path disciple known as a smiling tiger.
• Chen Yu reached the summit, found Elder Wu’s True Disciple among the assembled Inner Sect Disciples, and went to stand beside her.

Chen Yu appeared at Heavenly Chasm Peak as a leader for the Black Mist Marsh trial, surprising Xiang Baiwei and the White Lotus Sect disciples who had mistaken him for a fellow participant. Xiao Lei announced that the disciples must survive alone in the marsh for a week, while Xiang Baiwei began to realize Chen Yu’s position might reveal an even more troubling secret.

• Chen Yu joined Xiao Lei at the front of the gathered disciples while Xiang Baiwei and the White Lotus Sect discussed the dangers of the trial and considered killing him.
• Xiao Lei silenced the crowd and announced that the fifty-three disciples must survive alone in Black Mist Marsh for at least a week, with spirit essence as a reward for passing.
• Xiang Baiwei’s group realized the rule against forming teams overturned their plans and wondered why only Xiao Lei had appeared as a leader.
• Chen Yu explained that the disciples would receive Jade Pendants to call for help, though using one would mean failing the trial.
• Xiang Baiwei understood that Chen Yu was a leader, not a participant, and began to realize there was something more to his role.

Chen Yu joined Xiao Lei as a team leader for the Black Mist Marsh trial, where Xiao Lei privately ordered him to ignore distress signals. As the Flying Boat reached the marsh, Chen Yu suspected the trial concealed a purge of White Lotus Sect and Azure Void Society members and planned to warn Xiang Baiwei.

• Xiang Baiwei questioned how Chen Yu had become a team leader despite only recently entering the Inner Sect, while Chen Yu boarded the Flying Boat with Xiao Lei and the other disciples.
• Xiao Lei told Chen Yu to ignore disciples who crushed their Jade Pendants for help, and Chen Yu suspected the trial was meant to eliminate members of the White Lotus Sect and the Azure Void Society.
• Chen Yu decided to find a chance to warn Xiang Baiwei, then helped Xiao Lei distribute Communication Jade Pendants to the disciples.
• A female disciple vowed to lure Chen Yu with her pendant and kill him, but Xiang Baiwei tried to dissuade her and warned that Xiao Lei might answer the signal instead.
• The Flying Boat reached the Black Mist Marsh and landed in its dark fog; Xiao Lei announced that they had arrived at the center of the marsh.

Chen Yu began the Black Mist Marsh trial and devised a way to use snakes and their scents to lure Black Pythons, which could lead him to Miasma-Crossing Flowers. His first attempt startled a female disciple, and he moved on without finding a Black Python.

• Xiao Lei explained the trial rules, and Chen Yu warned the disciples about the marsh’s hazards, described detoxifying materials, and cautioned them to report any Black Python encounters.
• After the fifty-three disciples entered the marsh, Xiao Lei admitted that the Communication Jade Pendants could not record everything, while Chen Yu revealed he hoped to use Black Pythons to locate Miasma-Crossing Flowers.
• Chen Yu left the marsh to collect snakes, then returned and asked the Elder in Charge of Miscellaneous Affairs to fly the boat back to the marsh’s center.
• Chen Yu dosed a female snake with an aphrodisiac, wounded it, and tossed it away to attract a Black Python, but none appeared.
• Chen Yu tossed a male snake as well, accidentally startling a female disciple when it landed around her neck; he removed the snake and decided to try another area.

Chen Yu found a miasma-crossing flower by following a black python, then encountered Chen Hong, a White Lotus Sect disciple who attacked him and tried to self-detonate. He used the Spirit Essence Refinement Method to stop her, but refined her into a strange object he could not identify.

• Chen Yu lured a black python with Little Green, followed it to a miasma-crossing flower, and killed it before storing the flower.
• Chen Hong confronted Chen Yu, accused him of betraying the White Lotus Sect, and attacked him despite his denials.
• Chen Yu bound Chen Hong and tried to prove he was Elder Yun's chief disciple, but she rejected his claim and declared that he had to die regardless.
• When Chen Hong began to self-detonate, Chen Yu used the Spirit Essence Refinement Method to suppress and refine her.
• Chen Yu compared the resulting fingernail-sized object with ordinary spirit essence and was left baffled by what he had created.

After refining Chen Hong into an unusual water-attribute spirit essence, Chen Yu used it to cultivate a water spirit and gained experience points. He avoided the trial’s distress signals while searching the Black Mist Marsh for materials, until a figure appeared in the churning mist.

• Chen Yu wondered why the spirit essence he refined from Chen Hong was lake-blue and water-aligned, then absorbed it while cultivating the Water Spirit Mystical Method.
• Chen Yu gained experience points, converted them into cultivation, and formed a water spirit in his dantian, bringing his spirit seeds to fire, earth, metal, and water.
• Chen Yu considered the White Lotus Sect’s willingness to self-destruct and decided he was glad he had not joined it.
• Chen Yu ignored a nearby Jade Pendant distress signal, reasoning that Xiao Lei would handle it, and headed away to continue his trial.
• Chen Yu collected poisonous plants and creatures while searching for Black Pythons, ignoring further distress signals through the night.
• As Chen Yu prepared to use another white snake to lure a Black Python, a figure appeared in the churning black mist ahead.

Chen Yu encountered Xiang Baiwei in the Black Mist Marsh, collected a swarm of Ghost King Scorpions, and learned that Xiao Lei might target him. He decided to prepare for a possible attack by poisoning Elder Yun’s Detoxification Pills and identified their ingredients, including redbud flowers.

• Xiang Baiwei warned Chen Yu to flee from the approaching Ghost King Scorpions, but he burned and gathered the swarm for poison-making ingredients.
• Chen Yu told Xiang Baiwei that the trial might target her group and agreed to spare Chen Hong if they met, without revealing that he had already killed her.
• Xiang Baiwei warned Chen Yu that Xiao Lei had killed a disciple seeking help and might suspect him of belonging to an opposing group.
• After Xiang Baiwei left, Chen Yu considered Xiao Lei a potential threat and decided to prepare a fallback by poisoning his Detoxification Pills.
• Chen Yu examined a pill and identified bluewood fruit, miasma-clearing grass, silver spirit twigs, and redbud flowers as its ingredients.

Chen Yu returned to the Flying Boat, gave Xiao Lei a normal Detoxification Pill and a poisoned one, then witnessed her kill a disguised disciple from the Azure Void Society. After deducing how Xiao Lei exposed hidden cultivators and worrying she might be stronger than he had expected, he found his sack of captured snakes empty.

• Chen Yu turned a Detoxification Pill into a poison pill and used Xiao Lei’s jade pendant to return to the Flying Boat.
• Xiao Lei asked Chen Yu for another pill, and he gave her a bottle containing one normal Detoxification Pill and one poisoned one.
• Chen Yu hid nearby when a female disciple called for help, then watched Xiao Lei rescue her before discovering she was concealing her cultivation and killing her.
• The dying disciple declared that the Dao Sect must fall and the Jade Void Sect must triumph, leading Chen Yu to suspect she belonged to the Azure Void Society.
• Chen Yu considered Xiao Lei’s cultivation and how she detected concealed disciples, then found his snake sack open and empty.

Chen Yu discovered that a foundation-establishment Black Python had taken the snakes from his bag and followed it through the Black Mist Marsh, hoping to find a miasma-crossing flower. The serpent vanished, and Chen Yu realized he was lost in a strange swamp where the scenery remained unchanged.

• Chen Yu found his snake bag open and its snakes missing, then spotted the snakes beside an unusually powerful Black Python.
• The Black Python swallowed the female snakes and drained the male snakes before setting off, so Chen Yu pursued it to recover the chance of finding a miasma-crossing flower.
• The Black Python disappeared in a misty clearing, and Chen Yu could not find his way back to the boulder he had crossed.
• Chen Yu continued through the swamp, but after two hours of walking he saw that the scenery had barely changed and stopped in suspicion.

Chen Yu realized he was trapped in a formation in the Black Mist Marsh that made him return to his starting point, and his attempts to escape by marking his route and following a Ghost King Scorpion failed. He began following a Dung Beetle instead, and as the fourth day of the trial dawned, something appeared in the mist ahead.

• Chen Yu found the Filter Screen he had tied to a tree and realized he had returned to the same place, while his Communication Jade Pendant could not reach Senior Sister Xiao.
• Chen Yu marked his path with strips of cloth but found the markers leading back to his starting point, so he suspected a formation was affecting his senses.
• Chen Yu tried to escape by sending a flying sword ahead, but it too was affected by the formation.
• Chen Yu followed a Ghost King Scorpion, but it led him back to where he started; he then noticed the Dung Beetle had survived beneath a bottle lid and released it.
• Chen Yu decided the Dung Beetle might be unaffected by the formation and followed it through the marsh until the fourth day of the trial, when something appeared in the black mist.

Chen Yu escaped the Black Mist Marsh’s bewildering formation by following a Dung Beetle, then used a Nether Ruins Sect Token to enter a mysterious space. He arrived before a seated skeleton, a parchment, and a book, with endless darkness where the room’s walls should have been.

• Chen Yu found Lin Xi’s remains and read his account accusing Wei Yang of trapping him after they found profound sinking wood.
• Chen Yu realized Wei Yang’s Spirit-Restoring Pill could let him seize the body of someone who took its Child Pill, and connected the recipe to a book he had seen in the Immortal Ruins.
• Chen Yu followed the Dung Beetle past old corpses to the boundary between the marsh and a withered forest, where he found a Nether Ruins Sect inscription with a token-shaped recess.
• Chen Yu failed to contact Senior Sister Xiao and inserted the Nether Ruins Sect Token into the recess, triggering golden light that transported him away.
• Chen Yu appeared in a mysterious space facing a cross-legged skeleton, a parchment, and a book, surrounded by seemingly endless darkness.

Chen Yu discovered Yin Hong’s recorded message and Array Dao Manual inside the Star-Dipper Maze Formation, then dismantled the formation and escaped with its valuable materials. He found that a Foundation Establishment Black Python had been preying on trapped cultivators and pursued it to its lair.

• Yin Hong’s recorded spirit explained how Elder Qiu had saved him, taught him formations, and inspired his final wish to share his work with a Nether Ruins Sect elder.
• Chen Yu took Yin Hong’s annotated Array Dao Manual and the Star-Dipper Maze Formation diagram, though he could not deliver them to Elder Qiu because the sect had long since perished.
• The formation released Chen Yu, who used the diagram to navigate the maze, collected its materials and gathering spirit jade, and collapsed it.
• Chen Yu realized the maze had made him walk in circles and set out to find the two remaining miasma-crossing flowers.
• A Foundation Establishment Black Python appeared, and Chen Yu followed it to its lair, where he found human bones and scraps of Dao Sect robes.

Chen Yu killed a Foundation Establishment Black Python and found a second Miasma-Crossing Flower, then searched Black Mist Marsh for the remaining flowers he needed for Elder Yun’s assignment. On the trial’s final day, Senior Sister Xiao offered him a flower in exchange for helping her kill Xiang Baiwei.

• Chen Yu used poisons and flying swords to weaken and kill the Black Python, then took its corpse and picked a Miasma-Crossing Flower from its nest.
• Chen Yu searched Black Mist Marsh for another Black Python but found none, and killed a Gray-Blade Spider as the trial neared its end.
• Senior Sister Xiao contacted Chen Yu and said she had found a Miasma-Crossing Flower near a Black Python’s nest, learning that he still needed two.
• Chen Yu followed the Communication Jade Pendant’s direction and found Senior Sister Xiao standing with Xiang Baiwei.
• Senior Sister Xiao showed Chen Yu the flower and asked him to join her in killing Xiang Baiwei.

Chen Yu helped Xiao Lei pursue the injured Xiang Baiwei while concealing his true intentions, and the encounter ended with Xiao Lei testing him before a distress signal drew her away. Chen Yu was left behind as Xiao Lei went to investigate.

• Xiao Lei asked Chen Yu to help kill Xiang Baiwei, and Chen Yu agreed to block her escape while pretending to be a newly advanced seventh-layer Qi Refining disciple.
• Xiao Lei attacked Xiang Baiwei, who repeatedly dodged using a strange skill that seemed to pull her aside, while Chen Yu watched for an opportunity to intervene.
• Chen Yu scattered Fire-Poison Powder, but Xiang Baiwei escaped as Xiao Lei and Chen Yu inhaled some of it and took Detoxification Pills.
• Xiao Lei told Chen Yu that Xiang Baiwei belonged to the White Lotus Sect and gave him a miasma-crossing flower; she also urged him to complete Elder Yun's task before the trial ended.
• As Chen Yu prepared to leave, Xiao Lei suddenly thrust a short stab toward his eye, then stopped short and examined him before a disciple's distress signal interrupted her.
• Xiao Lei dismissed Chen Yu and went toward the distress signal.

After surviving Xiao Lei’s test, Chen Yu heard Xiang Baiwei’s proposal to join forces and kill Xiao Lei. He agreed on the condition that Elder Wang take part in the plan and guarantee Chen Yu’s safety afterward, then accepted Xiang Baiwei’s message for the elder.

• Chen Yu explained that he had spared Xiang Baiwei because her martial skill could help him kill Xiao Lei if he could not prove his innocence.
• Xiang Baiwei invited Chen Yu to help kill Xiao Lei and said the White Lotus Sect had provided her with a life-saving item.
• Xiang Baiwei said Elder Wang would vouch for her and a select few White Lotus Sect members, while the rest might be sacrificed.
• Chen Yu agreed to cooperate if Elder Wang included him among those he vouched for and participated in the incident.
• Chen Yu offered to carry Xiang Baiwei’s written message to Elder Wang on the Flying Boat, and she handed him the note.

Chen Yu returned to the Flying Boat and learned from Elder Wang that Xiao Lei had killed the rescued disciples. When Xiao Lei came back, Chen Yu bribed Elder Wang to cover his escape and plunged into the black mist.

• Chen Yu used the Communication Jade Pendant to ask Xiao Lei for directions to the Flying Boat, and she guided him once.
• Chen Yu reached the Flying Boat and found it empty, then gave Elder Wang the coded note from Xiang Baiwei.
• Elder Wang burned the note and told Chen Yu that Xiao Lei had killed the rescued disciples.
• Chen Yu realized Xiao Lei was likely to attack him too and tried to persuade Elder Wang to help him catch more snakes.
• As Xiao Lei returned with bloodied Short Stabs, Chen Yu offered Elder Wang a Detoxification Pill, then leaped away into the black mist.

Chen Yu prepared a Star-Dipper Maze Formation and numerous poison traps to kill Xiao Lei, then Xiang Baiwei lured Xiao Lei to their location. As Xiang Baiwei and Xiao Lei began confronting each other, Xiao Lei revealed that Xiang Baiwei knew little about the origins of the Dao Sect’s spirit-refining methods and called Chen Yu out of hiding.

• Chen Yu found Xiang Baiwei recovering, then set up a Star-Dipper Maze Formation and concealed poison traps around them.
• Chen Yu warned Xiang Baiwei through the trapped area and explained how to fight Xiao Lei; Xiang Baiwei crushed the Jade Pendant to send a distress signal.
• Xiao Lei arrived and confronted Xiang Baiwei, who defended the White Lotus Sect and accused the Dao Sect of refining disciples into spiritual resources.
• Xiao Lei claimed Xiang Baiwei did not know where the Dao Sect’s refining methods came from, then told Chen Yu to come out of hiding.

Chen Yu overheard Xiao Lei suggest that the White Lotus Sect might be connected to the methods for refining spirit essence and spirit embryo essence, leaving him questioning the sect’s true nature. After Xiao Lei exposed his hiding place, Chen Yu and Xiang Baiwei fought her together, and the chapter ended with Chen Yu using Xiang Baiwei as a shield who could dodge Xiao Lei’s attacks.

• Chen Yu reconsidered his respect for the White Lotus Sect after overhearing Xiao Lei’s question about the origins of the essence-refining methods.
• Xiao Lei discovered Chen Yu hiding nearby and blasted a hole through the boulder that concealed him.
• Chen Yu and Xiang Baiwei teamed up against Xiao Lei, with Xiang Baiwei dodging attacks while Chen Yu harassed her.
• Chen Yu revealed that he had reached the first layer of Foundation Establishment and attacked Xiao Lei with a flying sword, shocking both women.
• When Xiao Lei charged at Chen Yu, he placed Xiang Baiwei in front of himself and called her his shield.

Chen Yu used Xiang Baiwei’s evasive secret treasure and the five elements’ countering relationships to fight Xiao Lei, who revealed that she recognized his True Essence Profound Canon. As Xiao Lei pressed toward him, Chen Yu held Xiang Baiwei in front of himself and finally launched a surprise attack with the Nine Springs Sword.

• Chen Yu had Xiang Baiwei block Xiao Lei’s close-range attacks while he studied their strengths and controlled his flying sword.
• Xiao Lei used fire-attribute true qi to engulf Xiang Baiwei, and Chen Yu countered the flames with his water-attribute technique.
• Xiao Lei switched to earth-attribute true qi, knocked Chen Yu’s water-infused sword away, and recognized his True Essence Profound Canon.
• Xiao Lei abandoned Xiang Baiwei and advanced on Chen Yu with protective Gang Qi, prompting him to pull Xiang Baiwei in front of himself and retreat between two boulders.
• After ten minutes of attacking, Chen Yu judged Xiao Lei’s defenses weakened and sent a hidden arrow at her chest to create an opening.
• Chen Yu seized the opening and stabbed at Xiao Lei with the Nine Springs Sword.

Chen Yu, Xiang Baiwei, and Elder Wang fought Xiao Lei, who survived the Mystic Gang Sword Talisman and broke through to the third layer of Foundation Establishment. They discovered that Xiao Lei’s body had been taken over by Elder Jin, and Chen Yu tried to lure her into the Star-Dipper Maze Formation.

• Chen Yu and Xiang Baiwei wounded and cornered Xiao Lei with flying swords, arrows, vines, and the Mystic Gang Sword Talisman as Elder Wang joined them.
• Xiao Lei emerged alive from the dust, having reached the third layer of Foundation Establishment, and attacked the group.
• Xiao Lei revealed that Elder Wang was Wang Gui and claimed she had once been Elder Jin, exposing that Elder Jin had taken over Xiao Lei’s body.
• Chen Yu blocked Xiao Lei’s attempt to kill Elder Wang with a silver needle, then fought her as she attacked with Short Stabs.
• Chen Yu retreated toward the Star-Dipper Maze Formation, intending to lure Xiao Lei into its traps.

Chen Yu lured Elder Jin into the Star-Dipper Maze Formation and used its traps and poisons to overcome her before killing her. He learned that she wanted the spirit embryo essence of Foundation Establishment disciples who cultivated the True Essence Profound Canon, then heard a frightened voice behind him as he prepared to collect the formation materials.

• Xiao Lei struck Chen Yu into the Star-Dipper Maze Formation, and Xiang Baiwei stopped Elder Wang from entering after warning that Elder Jin would die there.
• Elder Jin chased Chen Yu through the maze, where she encountered traps, poison, and attacks while losing her way and control of her true qi.
• Chen Yu severed Elder Jin's arms and tortured her until she answered that nothing was wrong with the True Essence Profound Canon.
• Elder Jin explained that she sought the spirit embryo essence of Foundation Establishment disciples who practiced the manual and had previously encountered another such disciple, whom Chen Yu suspected was Senior Zhang Jiuge.
• Chen Yu killed Elder Jin, placed her corpse in his Storage Ring, and prepared to retrieve the formation materials before hearing a terrified voice behind him.

Chen Yu returned to the Dao Sect after the trial, where only seventeen of fifty-three disciples had survived and Elder Jin’s death remained concealed. Elder Wang accused villains before Elder Wu, whose calm response left Chen Yu uncertain about what the elders already knew.

• Chen Yu rescued a poisoned disciple and watched the trial end, tallying the survivors and reflecting on his gains and losses.
• The Flying Boat returned to the Dao Sect, where Chen Yu saw Elder Wu waiting on Heavenly Chasm Peak.
• Elder Wang rushed to Elder Wu and demanded that he report the villains’ attack to the Sect Master.
• Elder Wu dismissed the disciples and took Elder Wang away without explaining his composed reaction.
• Xiang Baiwei called to Chen Yu as he left, but he pretended not to hear her.

Chen Yu returned from the trial, delivered the miasma-crossing flowers to Elder Yun, and questioned why the elders seemed unsurprised by Xiao Lei’s death. In the Immortal Ruins, he stripped Xiao Lei’s corpse and found a Soul Refining Art that cultivated divine sense.

• Lü Yanyan welcomed Chen Yu back and invited him to eat, while he kept the trial’s dangers to himself.
• Chen Yu met Shen Fei, who mistook Chen Yu’s advice about taking a Detoxification Pill as proof their poison resistance was similar, then decided to enter seclusion and study poison-making.
• Chen Yu gave Elder Yun three miasma-crossing flowers and confirmed that Xiao Lei had died, but Elder Yun showed little reaction.
• Chen Yu ate dinner with Lü Yanyan, then entered the Immortal Ruins and collected the refreshed treasures from the Poison Hall.
• Chen Yu stripped Xiao Lei’s corpse, watched it reattach its arms and vanish, and found her Storage Ring nearly empty except for a Soul Refining Art manual.
• Chen Yu read the manual and discovered it was a secret art for cultivating divine sense.

Elder Wang reported to Dao Sect elders that the Evergreen Sect and Jade Void Sect had ambushed the trial, while the elders questioned his account and discussed the return of the Forbidden Stele. In the Immortal Ruins, Chen Yu searched Elder Jin’s Storage Ring and found a wood-attribute cultivation manual and a water escape technique.

• Wang Gui told Elders Wu, Yun, and Zhou that the Evergreen Sect and Jade Void Sect had attacked the trial and presented items he had found at the scene.
• Elder Yun questioned Wang Gui’s claim, and Elder Zhou asked how he had been injured; Wang Gui said he had triggered a trap.
• Wang Gui described Chen Yu’s activities, including catching snakes and searching the area, and confirmed Chen Yu had been aboard the Flying Boat during the attack.
• The elders had Wang Gui sketch six disciples, planned to question seventeen disciples, and learned from Elder Wu that Gao Xuan and the others had found the Forbidden Stele.
• Chen Yu found the Water Escape Technique and the middle-tier Profound Grade Yi Wood Heart Sutra in Elder Jin’s Storage Ring.

Chen Yu used the system to rapidly master the Soul Refining Art by creating a mental image of his surroundings, gaining divine sense that reached beyond the Immortal Ruins. He tested its range and then began studying the Yi Wood Heart Sutra to prepare for advancing to the second layer of Foundation Establishment.

• Chen Yu found the Soul Refining Art, Water Escape Technique, and Yi Wood Heart Sutra in Elder Jin's Storage Ring, then learned the Soul Refining Art normally required ten years of daily meditation.
• Chen Yu used intense light and visual afterimages to construct his surroundings in his mind, and the system rapidly advanced his Soul Refining Art progress.
• Chen Yu completed the Soul Refining Art and gained divine sense, which let him perceive the Immortal Ruins in detail but could not probe inside the coffin.
• Chen Yu tested his divine sense outside the Immortal Ruins and found it covered a radius of roughly sixty or seventy meters.
• Chen Yu read the Yi Wood Heart Sutra and decided to use high-quality spirit herbs from the Pill Hall to cultivate toward the second layer of Foundation Establishment.