Chapter Summaries

Liu Jun went to Emerald Cloud Peak to pay Chen Yu his monthly contribution points, while Ren Shaohua arrived to summon Chen Yu to a serious sect mission. Ren Shaohua was left stunned by Liu Jun’s deferential behavior toward Chen Yu, and they continued toward Purple Bamboo Peak.

• Liu Jun left his room and headed to Emerald Cloud Peak, convincing himself that losing thirty monthly contribution points was a manageable cost of their three-year wagering contract.
• Ren Shaohua visited Chen Yu and urged him to inspect a dangerous new mission from the Heavenly Union Association on Purple Bamboo Peak.
• Chen Yu and Ren Shaohua encountered Liu Jun, who asked Chen Yu to speak with him privately.
• Liu Jun transferred thirty contribution points to Chen Yu and tried to speak, but Chen Yu told him to stop stuttering and talk less.
• Ren Shaohua watched Liu Jun defer to Chen Yu and followed Chen Yu toward Purple Bamboo Peak in bewilderment.

Chen Yu learned that he had been assigned to a dangerous expedition to the Netherdark Sea’s outer sea and researched the region’s risks. He left to prepare for the journey and warn Lü Yanyan.

• Ren Shaohua brought Chen Yu to the Heavenly Union Association’s mission board on Purple Bamboo Peak.
• Chen Yu saw that he and Lü Yanyan were among the Emerald Cloud Peak disciples assigned to the Netherdark Sea, while no Purple Bamboo Peak disciples were listed.
• Ren Shaohua warned Chen Yu about the mission’s dangers, advised him to stock up on supplies, and suggested they stay together.
• Chen Yu read that the outer sea was dangerous even for Qi Refining cultivators and could threaten their lives.
• Chen Yu decided to use his existing supplies, focus on reaching the ninth layer of Qi Refining, and tell Lü Yanyan about the mission before hurrying back to Emerald Cloud Peak.

Chen Yu warned Lü Yanyan about their dangerous upcoming trip to the Netherdark Sea, then spent two days cultivating the Evergreen Art and broke through to the ninth layer of Qi Refining. He concealed his true cultivation when someone came to his door.

• Chen Yu visited Lü Yanyan and told her about the Netherdark Sea mission, their departure the morning after tomorrow, and the plan to travel with a sixth-layer Qi Refining senior brother from the Heavenly Union Association.
• Lü Yanyan urged Chen Yu to avoid acting recklessly and to rely on the senior brother, unaware that Chen Yu had already reached the peak of the eighth layer.
• Chen Yu returned home, cultivated the Evergreen Art with Qi Refining Pills and a Heart-Calming Grass, and gained four experience points over two days.
• Chen Yu allocated the points and broke through to the ninth layer of Qi Refining.
• When someone knocked and called for him, Chen Yu used the Qi-Concealing Art to disguise his cultivation as the late fourth layer.

Chen Yu and Lü Yanyan were escorted to Jadewood Peak with the other Outer Sect disciples selected for the dangerous Netherdark Sea expedition. As a Flying Boat arrived, Elder Wu began briefing them on their mission.

• Senior Brother Yan escorted Chen Yu downhill, where Chen Yu met Lü Yanyan and reassured her about the expedition.
• The fifty selected Outer Sect disciples gathered with six Dao Sect elders at the summit of Jadewood Peak.
• Ren Shaohua told Chen Yu he had barely managed to buy emergency pills, then offered to protect Lü Yanyan while leaving Chen Yu out of his promise.
• A Flying Boat landed on Jadewood Peak, and Elder Wu rose aboard and ordered the disciples to be silent.
• Elder Wu announced that the disciples would represent the Dao Sect and explore the Netherdark Sea alongside disciples from the other three great sects.

The Dao Sect sent fifty Outer Sect disciples to explore the Netherdark Sea with disciples from the other three great sects, while Chen Yu suspected the generous rewards concealed a dangerous scheme. After the disciples formed teams aboard the flying boat, they reached the Netherdark Sea.

• Elder Wu announced the expedition, offering the disciples half the treasures they found and 100 Contribution Points each upon completing the mission.
• The Outer Sect elders revealed that the other three great sects might be plotting against the Dao Sect and that the disciples could be sacrificed to buy time for the injured sect master.
• Chen Yu traveled with Lü Yanyan and Ren Shaohua aboard the flying boat, keeping a low profile as Ren Shaohua attracted attention as the sole sixth-layer Qi Refining disciple.
• Elder Sun ordered the disciples to form groups of five, and Ren Shaohua's team chose Kong Rui and Wu Wenjie alongside Chen Yu and Lü Yanyan.
• The flying boat descended as the disciples spotted what they first called an enormous sea and then identified as a lake, signaling their arrival at the Netherdark Sea.

Chen Yu and his group entered the Netherdark Sea to chart an unknown island during a seven-day mission. As they set out, Chen Yu recognized the Evergreen Sect’s bracelets from a prior attack and prepared to be wary of its disciples.

• Elder Sun warned the disciples about the Netherdark Sea, gave them maps, and ordered each group to chart an unknown island within seven days.
• Chen Yu noticed that Evergreen Sect disciples wore bracelets matching those of the attackers who had targeted new Dao Sect members.
• Ren Shaohua led Chen Yu, Lü Yanyan, Kong Rui, and Wu Wenjie onto a boat, with Wu Wenjie steering.
• A frightening cry sounded from the mist, and Ren Shaohua identified it as the call of an eel spirit beast.
• Lü Yanyan reminded Chen Yu to rely on Ren Shaohua and avoid playing the hero if danger arose.
• Ren Shaohua directed Wu Wenjie toward an uncharted island so the group could begin its exploration.

Chen Yu’s group explored an uncharted island, where Wu Wenjie swiftly killed a Venomous Green Snake and Chen Yu secretly took its corpse. Meanwhile, Evergreen Sect disciples destroyed their boat and followed their trail, planning to ambush and kill them with poisonous mist.

• Wu Wenjie led Ren Shaohua, Chen Yu, Lü Yanyan, and Kong Rui ashore and guided them into the island’s black, misty forest.
• Wu Wenjie killed a Venomous Green Snake before it could bite Ren Shaohua, who then told the group to search for a nearby Azure Flower.
• Lü Yanyan found an Azure Flower, and Chen Yu secretly stored the dead snake in his storage ring as the group continued inland.
• Evergreen Sect disciples arrived, destroyed the Dao Sect group’s boat, and followed their footprints into the forest.
• The Evergreen Sect leader urged his companions to kill the Dao Sect disciples for reduced work time and revealed that he had brought poisonous mist.

Chen Yu and the others found a hillside covered in valuable Heart-Calming Grass, despite warnings that a powerful poisonous creature might guard it. Ren Shaohua and Wu Wenjie agreed to lure the creature away while Chen Yu, Lü Yanyan, and Kong Rui gathered the herbs.

• Ren Shaohua noticed that the poisonous insects had vanished and warned the group that a dangerous creature might be nearby.
• Kong Rui spotted an entire hillside of Heart-Calming Grass, which Ren Shaohua estimated was worth at least ten thousand Contribution Points.
• Wu Wenjie urged the group to retreat, but Ren Shaohua and Kong Rui wanted to risk collecting the herbs.
• Chen Yu proposed that Ren Shaohua and Wu Wenjie lure the guardian away while the others picked the herbs.
• Lü Yanyan supported Chen Yu's plan, and Ren Shaohua and Wu Wenjie agreed to try it.

Chen Yu and the others harvested heart-calming grass while Ren Shaohua and Wu Wenjie distracted a Tamarin Dove, and Chen Yu secretly collected the better herbs and its eggs. After the group escaped and stopped to rest, five Evergreen Sect disciples prepared to attack them with a smoke-filled object.

• Ren Shaohua and Wu Wenjie lured the Tamarin Dove away while Chen Yu, Lü Yanyan, and Kong Rui gathered heart-calming grass.
• Chen Yu secretly stored the mid-grade and high-grade heart-calming grass and took two eggs from the Tamarin Dove's nest.
• Ren Shaohua called for a retreat, and the group fled after the Tamarin Dove before stopping to rest and divide their harvest.
• Five Evergreen Sect disciples watched the resting group, covered their faces with black masks, and released white smoke toward them.

Chen Yu and his fellow Dao Sect disciples were ambushed by Evergreen Sect disciples using a poisonous fragrance and centipede poison saliva. As the attackers moved in, Wu Wenjie prepared to fight but discovered Ren Shaohua had passed out.

• Chen Yu sensed five hidden figures nearby, then he and the group inhaled a strange fragrance that caused Ren Shaohua's meridians to erupt in pain.
• Wu Wenjie identified the ambush and centipede poison saliva, which prevented the group from mobilizing their spiritual power, while Chen Yu remained unaffected by his true cultivation.
• An arrow killed Kong Rui as she tried to flee, and Lü Yanyan split the Azure Flower between Wu Wenjie and Ren Shaohua.
• Five Evergreen Sect disciples emerged, claimed credit for killing Kong Rui, and decided to kill the men while keeping Lü Yanyan alive.
• Wu Wenjie tried to stall the attackers and called for Ren Shaohua to join him, but Ren had already passed out.

Chen Yu waited for the Tamarin Dove and tricked it into attacking the Evergreen Sect disciples by making them appear to have stolen its eggs. The bird killed all five enemies and left with its remaining egg, while Wu Wenjie and Lü Yanyan were left stunned by Chen Yu’s plan.

• Chen Yu noticed that Ren Shaohua’s meridians had been badly damaged, while Ren passed out from the pain.
• Lü Yanyan and Wu Wenjie fought the Evergreen Sect disciples, but Chen Yu refused to flee because he expected help to arrive.
• A Tamarin Dove flew in, and Chen Yu used his Finger of God to place two eggs behind the Evergreen Sect disciples and accuse them of abducting its son.
• One disciple crushed an egg while stepping back, enraging the Tamarin Dove, which killed all five Evergreen Sect disciples in seconds.
• The Tamarin Dove took its remaining egg and thanked Chen Yu, while Wu Wenjie recognized his ingenuity and Lü Yanyan stared in shock.

Chen Yu’s plan to use an enraged Velvet Dove against the Evergreen Sect disciples saved Wu Wenjie and Lü Yanyan, though Kong Rui died in the attack. After explaining the incident away as luck, the survivors tried to wake Ren Shaohua, and Chen Yu reluctantly joined Lü Yanyan in slapping him.

• Chen Yu revealed that he had taken two Velvet Dove eggs and used them to direct the bird toward the Evergreen Sect disciples, who were killed when it attacked.
• The Velvet Dove also attacked Chen Yu’s group, but Chen Yu frightened it away with a trace of his cultivation; Kong Rui died from an arrow during the chaos.
• Lü Yanyan and Wu Wenjie asked Chen Yu what had happened, and he claimed the bird had followed the trail of its stolen eggs.
• Wu Wenjie tried slapping the unconscious Ren Shaohua awake, then Lü Yanyan took over and enthusiastically slapped him.
• When Lü Yanyan asked Chen Yu to help, he protested that he could not beat a fellow disciple, then agreed.

Ren Shaohua woke after the Evergreen Sect ambush to learn that Kong Rui had died and Chen Yu had helped save the team. After seeing red-robed disciples destroy a ship, the group agreed to Chen Yu’s plan to shadow other sects and take the information they gathered.

• Ren Shaohua woke alone with severe facial pain, then reunited with Chen Yu, Lü Yanyan, and Wu Wenjie, who told him Kong Rui had been killed and the Velvet Doves had killed the Evergreen Sect attackers.
• Chen Yu claimed the Evergreen Sect disciples had beaten Ren Shaohua while he was unconscious, and Ren vowed to make them pay.
• The four headed back toward their ship, and Chen Yu proposed hiding while other sects explored so they could seize their findings.
• Five red-robed disciples arrived by ship, and two of them destroyed another ship with their weapons.
• After witnessing the destruction, Wu Wenjie, Lü Yanyan, and Ren Shaohua agreed to Chen Yu’s plan.

Chen Yu deduced that the Evergreen Sect had attacked the Dao Sect and that the Jade Void Sect might also be involved, so he urged his companions to stay cautious and avoid seeking treasures. As the group agreed to follow the Jade Void Disciples for information, a boat arrived at the shore with a black-robed man beside it.

• Ren Shaohua complained about the Jade Void Disciples, while Lü Yanyan challenged him to confront them.
• Chen Yu reasoned that the other sects had destroyed the Dao Sect's boat deliberately and that the attackers during the New Disciple Initiation belonged to the Evergreen Sect.
• Ren Shaohua tried to alert Elder Sun, but Chen Yu stopped him, saying the elders likely already knew.
• Chen Yu warned that the Jade Void Sect might be targeting the Dao Sect and proposed waiting for the Jade Void Disciples' information before leaving.
• Ren Shaohua suggested following the Jade Void Disciples, and Chen Yu agreed.
• A boat sped to shore, where a black-robed man appeared beside it.

Chen Yu cultivated with Heart-Calming Grass while the Jade Void Sect and Soul Sect disciples explored the island, suffering deaths and injuries as they went. On the fifth day, Chen Yu and Ren Shaohua followed the group through an abandoned stone gate, and a powerful force pulled Ren Shaohua inside.

• A Soul Sect disciple released five disciples from a black banner and warned that failure would make them nourishment for it.
• Wu Wenjie and Ren Shaohua followed the Jade Void and Soul Sect disciples, while Chen Yu and Lü Yanyan stayed behind with the Heart-Calming Grass.
• Chen Yu cultivated for days with the grass, building experience until the Evergreen Art reached its cultivation limit.
• The exploring disciples encountered a Velvet Dove and a crocodile, and several of them died while the survivors fled.
• After Wu Wenjie was injured by a venomous insect, Chen Yu and Ren Shaohua followed the exploring group to an abandoned stone gate.
• As the disciples entered the gate, a powerful suction dragged Ren Shaohua inside.

Chen Yu and the others were pulled into an underground chamber with eight gates, where a Soul Sect disciple manipulated the rival groups into sending people through them. After revealing his plan to claim the Ruins Sect’s hidden opportunity, he turned to find a sword hovering before him.

• Chen Yu and Ren Shaohua were dragged through the stone gate into an underground chamber with eight mysterious gates.
• Jade Void Sect disciples considered killing Chen Yu and Ren Shaohua for a debt-interest waiver, but Soul Sect disciples stopped them and ordered Ren Shaohua to investigate a gate.
• Ren Shaohua entered a gate and did not return, so the groups took turns sending Jade Void and Soul Sect disciples through the remaining gates.
• A Soul Sect disciple told his companion that the chamber resembled the Ruins Sect’s Eight-Pivot Formation and that the main gate would open after eight people entered the auxiliary gates.
• The Soul Sect disciple revealed he had engineered the departures to control the coming opportunity, then turned toward Chen Yu and saw a sharp sword hovering in midair.

Chen Yu forced a Soul Sect disciple through the final door, then entered the chamber that opened and found a Foundation Establishment art, an exceptional-grade Foundation Establishment Pill, and a Cultivation Chamber. Using its dense elemental spiritual power, he brought all five elemental arts to perfected Qi Refining and reached the ninth layer of Qi Refining.

• Chen Yu threatened the Soul Sect disciple with a hovering Spirit Sword and made him enter the final door.
• After the door closed, Chen Yu opened the newly revealed main door and entered a stone chamber containing the Origin-Returning Foundation Establishment Art, an exceptional-grade Foundation Establishment Pill, and a Cultivation Chamber.
• Chen Yu activated the Cultivation Chamber and rapidly cultivated the Flame-Transforming Art, Earth-Warding Art, Heavenly Blade Art, and Vast Sea Art to their limits.
• Chen Yu checked his panel and saw that he was at the ninth layer of Qi Refining, with 96 available experience points.

Chen Yu used the Origin-Returning Foundation Establishment Art in the Nether Ruins Sect’s cultivation chamber to begin breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm. After draining the chamber and his prepared spiritual treasures, he reached the threshold of a breakthrough but remained at 99.99 experience points.

• Chen Yu realized he was one experience point short of advancing and studied the Origin-Returning Foundation Establishment Art.
• Chen Yu activated the cultivation chamber with ordinary spiritual power, filling it with spiritual energy of multiple attributes, and arranged his spiritual treasures for the breakthrough.
• Chen Yu followed the art’s circulation routes and condensed the first strand of Foundation Establishment true qi.
• Chen Yu rapidly absorbed the chamber’s spiritual energy, then drained his spiritual treasures after the chamber’s energy ran out.
• Chen Yu touched a barrier as his level remained at Ninth Layer of Qi Refining, with 99.99 experience points.

Chen Yu broke through to Foundation Establishment, refined the Jade Pendant, and left the cultivation chamber in the Netherdark Sea. He rejoined Wu Wenjie and learned that Ren had survived and returned to camp injured.

• Chen Yu swallowed the Supreme Foundation Establishment Pill and broke through to the First Layer of Foundation Establishment.
• Chen Yu confirmed his old cultivation techniques still worked, refined the Jade Pendant with Foundation Establishment True Qi, and disguised his cultivation as Fourth Layer of Qi Refining.
• Chen Yu emerged from the stone door into the forest, where Wu Wenjie found him and said that he and Lü had worried about his late return.
• Wu Wenjie told Chen Yu that Ren had returned covered in blood, while the Jade Void Sect and Soul Sect disciples remained missing.
• Chen Yu and Wu Wenjie returned to shore, where Chen Yu saw Ren sitting cross-legged and tending to his injuries.

Sect Master Chu summoned the Dao Sect elders as rumors about his injuries and the sect’s troubles persisted. After a strange fluctuation appeared on Little Bamboo Peak, he investigated the Mass Burial Grounds, sealed off the peak, and announced he would enter seclusion again.

• Sect Master Chu met with the Dao Sect elders, while Elder Du suspected he was hiding a grave injury and appearing to stabilize the sect.
• A strange fluctuation came from Little Bamboo Peak, and Elder Song wondered whether the Immortal Ruins had reappeared.
• Sect Master Chu brought Elder Wu and Elder Yun to the Mass Burial Grounds, where they found only drifting white mist.
• Sect Master Chu unleashed violent energy across the site but could not sense the source of the fluctuation.
• Sect Master Chu sealed off Little Bamboo Peak, restricted access to its rear slopes, and said he would enter seclusion the next day.
• Elder Yun and Elder Wu remarked that Sect Master Chu’s strength had improved, and treated the Immortal Ruins as less important than another matter.