Chapter Summaries

Duan Rong entered the Gloomy Dark Forest with Fan Hongjiao and the others, learning about its dangerous plants and watching the group hunt small origin beasts. The party reached a glowing stream and hid in the trees to ambush beasts, where Fan Hongjiao teased Duan Rong and he asked about the plants floating in the water.

• Fan Hongjiao welcomed Duan Rong and led the group from the Clear Light Grass into the Gloomy Dark Forest after Wang Yue explained how the grass glowed and withered when picked.
• Duan Rong observed the others’ weapons and divine sense as they passed a beautiful, dangerous tree that caught and consumed a winged Crimson Scale Snake; Wang Yue collected two more snakes knocked down by Wu Shidao.
• Duan Rong mistook Gloomy Moon Mushrooms for a threat, and Wu Shidao checked the Fengshui Map and confirmed the group was following the right path.
• Fan Hongjiao led the group to a stream and took Duan Rong into a tree canopy to wait for origin beasts, while Wu Shidao, Wang Yue, and Lu Geng concealed themselves nearby.
• Fan Hongjiao teased Duan Rong as they hid, but he stayed focused on the stream and asked her what the glowing floating plants were; she told him they were Water White Grass.

Duan Rong and Fan Hongjiao’s group encountered deadly beasts while hiding in the Gloomy Dark Forest, then tried to ambush an Azure-Eyed Giant Lizard. A Two-Legged Mad Serpent burst from the stream, killed the lizard, and nearly crushed Wu Shidao before Fan Hongjiao and Wu Shidao fought it together.

• Wang Yue killed an immature Arrow Boar, drawing Fan Hongjiao’s rebuke for exposing the group’s hiding place.
• A Three-Headed Cyan Deer drank from the stream and nearly discovered the group before moving on.
• Fan Hongjiao moved Duan Rong to a safer tree, then led the group in an ambush on an Azure-Eyed Giant Lizard.
• A Two-Legged Mad Serpent burst from the stream, killed the giant lizard, and coiled around Wu Shidao.
• Fan Hongjiao attacked the serpent until it released Wu Shidao, who recovered and returned to help her fight it.

After Wu Shidao and Fan Hongjiao survived a battle with a Two-Legged Mad Serpent, their group collected the essence beasts’ remains and began returning to the peak. On the way, Fan Hongjiao saved a wounded Inner Sect Disciple from a Dhole Wolf after discovering that the wolf pack and several disciples had died in a brutal fight.

• Wu Shidao killed the Two-Legged Mad Serpent but suffered a severe back wound, while Fan Hongjiao exhausted herself in the battle.
• Duan Rong stood guard as Fan Hongjiao and Wu Shidao recovered, and another group of disciples briefly appeared before leaving with a Belly-Mouth Deer they had hunted.
• Wang Yue and Lu Geng drained the Two-Legged Mad Serpent and Azure-Eyed Giant Lizard, and Fan Hongjiao reserved the serpent’s Snake Gall for the injured Wu Shidao.
• After Wu Shidao recovered enough to travel, Fan Hongjiao led the group back through the forest with the beast corpses and blood bags.
• Fan Hongjiao spotted a wounded Inner Sect Disciple fleeing a Dhole Wolf and killed the wolf with her whip, then ordered the group to continue without helping him further.

Duan Rong's group climbed out of the underground fissure and returned to Cloud Floating Peak, where Fan Hongjiao took him to the personal disciples' Cultivation Secret Chamber. After Lu Geng unlocked a long-unused chamber for him, he began to explain how to preserve essence beast flesh.

• Duan Rong's group climbed the iron chains out of the fissure, and Wang Yue arrived an hour later exhausted from hauling the Two-Legged Mad Serpent's corpse.
• Fan Hongjiao led the group back to the pavilion and told Duan Rong she would take him to the Cultivation Secret Chamber.
• The group entered the hidden chambers, where Wang Yue divided the beast carcasses and Duan Rong received a claw, a tail, and a bag of blood.
• Lu Geng selected a key and opened a dusty Cultivation Secret Chamber for Duan Rong.
• Lu Geng explained that essence beast flesh lost its Heaven and Earth Essence Qi after death, then opened a narrow stone door by turning a Beast Head.

Duan Rong learned about the Black Jade Pool, Black Jade Boxes, and the dangers of the Gloomy Dark Forest from Lu Geng. After arranging for an old Cultivation Secret Chamber to be cleaned without discarding its contents, Duan Rong entered it at night and used Read Artifact Spirit on an old whisk.

• Lu Geng showed Duan Rong the Black Jade Pool and explained how Black Jade Boxes preserved essence beast flesh and blood for recovery.
• Duan Rong put a claw, a tail, and a blood pouch into the Black Jade Pool, then Lu Geng showed him a compendium, an outdated map, and the key to the Gloomy Dark Forest.
• Lu Geng warned Duan Rong not to enter the Gloomy Dark Forest alone and reflected on the pressure of his precarious position among the disciples.
• Duan Rong asked attendants to clean an unused Cultivation Secret Chamber while keeping its old objects, then ate and slept.
• Duan Rong returned to the chamber at night, noticed an attendant had delivered food to Lady Fan, and found the cleaned room waiting for him.
• Duan Rong picked up an old whisk and thought, Read Artifact Spirit!

Duan Rong devoured the Immovable Wisdom King statue’s Artifact Spirit, then cultivated relentlessly on Origin Beast flesh and bone marrow fluid until he nearly reached the first level of the Essence Qi Realm and exhausted his supplies. He decided to enter the Gloomy Dark Forest himself and borrowed Wu Shidao’s Fengshui Map to prepare.

• Duan Rong discovered that the Immovable Wisdom King statue contained incomplete methods for levels thirteen through fifteen of the Garbha Sutra, then devoured its Artifact Spirit.
• Duan Rong began refining frozen Origin Beast flesh in his Cultivation Secret Chamber and used Zhu He’s high-grade Origin Beast bone marrow fluid to eliminate Qi dissipation.
• Duan Rong cultivated day and night for a month, worrying Fan Hongjiao and Wu Shidao, while Lu Geng and Wang Yue noticed his extreme routine.
• Duan Rong found the Black Jade Pool empty and realized his rapid cultivation had used up the Origin Beast flesh far sooner than expected.
• Duan Rong decided to gather Origin Beast flesh in the Gloomy Dark Forest and asked Wu Shidao to borrow his Fengshui Map.

Duan Rong studied Wu Shidao’s map of the vast Gloomy Dark Forest and found a lead on the Black Fire Lotus seeds he needed, but judged the beasts guarding them too dangerous for now. He devoured the Artifact Spirits of two statues in vacant Cultivation Secret Chambers and prepared to enter the forest, while the last statue remained in Fan Hongjiao’s chamber.

• Duan Rong questioned Wu Shidao about the Immovable Wisdom King statues and learned that one was in Fan Hongjiao’s Cultivation Secret Chamber and two were in vacant chambers.
• Duan Rong compared Wu Shidao’s Fengshui Map with his ancient map, discovered the Gloomy Dark Forest’s immense scale, and copied its annotations, including the Black Fire Lotus location and its dangerous Fire Toads and Fire Weasels.
• Duan Rong studied the maps and Exotic Beast Compendium for several days, then asked Lu Geng for the keys to the two vacant Cultivation Secret Chambers.
• Duan Rong confirmed that the first vacant chamber held the Vajra Yaksha Wisdom King statue and devoured its Artifact Spirit, causing dust to fall from the statue.
• Duan Rong entered the other vacant chamber and devoured its statue’s Artifact Spirit, then noted that the last statue was in Fan Hongjiao’s chamber.
• Duan Rong rested overnight and woke refreshed, with the two new Artifact Spirits absorbed, before preparing to descend into the Gloomy Dark Forest.

Duan Rong entered the Gloomy Dark Forest alone, where his Divine Sense, Firefly Bewitchment, and Intent Saber Light helped him hunt an Eye-Tail Ni and return safely. The old man guarding the passage noticed Duan Rong’s rapid cultivation progress and was left questioning what he had seen.

• Duan Rong descended through the dark stairs and underground fissure into the Gloomy Dark Forest alone.
• Duan Rong avoided a group of Inner Sect Disciples fighting an Arrow Boar and used Firefly Bewitchment to immobilize an Eye-Tail Ni before killing it with his saber.
• Duan Rong carried the Eye-Tail Ni back toward the landing point, hid from several arriving Inner Sect Disciples, and climbed out of the fissure.
• The old man recognized the Eye-Tail Ni on Duan Rong’s sack and sensed that Duan Rong was near breaking through the first level of the Essence Qi Realm.
• The old man doubted his earlier judgment and wondered how Duan Rong had cultivated so quickly in only a month.

Duan Rong devoured the final Vajra-throwing Wisdom King statue in Fan Hongjiao’s chamber, then resumed cultivating after an embarrassing encounter drove her away. Over the next five or six months, he cultivated and visited the Gloomy Dark Forest on his own, while Cloud Floating Peak remained quiet and Zhu He gave him no missions.

• Duan Rong hid the Wei Mu Ni corpse in the Black Jade Pool before accompanying an attendant to deliver Fan Hongjiao’s meal.
• Duan Rong avoided Fan Hongjiao’s advances when his body odor repelled her, then devoured the Artifact Spirit of the Vajra-throwing Wisdom King statue and gained the Garbha Sutra’s thirteenth through fifteenth levels.
• Duan Rong bathed, ate, and rested before returning to his Cultivation Secret Chamber, where he swallowed the eyeball inside a Tanghulu and refined the Wei Mu Ni corpse.
• Duan Rong went to the Gloomy Dark Forest once a month over the next five or six months, while Fan Hongjiao and the others stopped taking him there.
• Zhu He remained mostly absent from Cloud Floating Peak and assigned Duan Rong no missions during his first half year there.

After six months of bitter cultivation, Duan Rong revealed that he had reached the third level of the Essence Qi Realm, astonishing Zhu He and the other disciples. Zhu He rewarded him with two bottles of Origin Beast marrow ash, and Duan Rong insisted they be shared before Zhu He charged Fan Hongjiao with looking after him.

• Fan Hongjiao summoned Duan Rong from his cultivation chamber to meet Zhu He in the Council Hall.
• Fan Hongjiao and Wu Shidao reported that they had made no breakthroughs, while Lu Geng remained at the fourth level of the Essence Qi Realm and Wang Yue had recently reached the third.
• Duan Rong revealed that he had reached the third level of the Essence Qi Realm in six months, stunning everyone in the hall.
• Duan Rong told Zhu He that he practiced the Wandering Dragon Clear Chant Saber, which Zhu He recognized as the saber art once used by Gu Daoling to comprehend artistic conception.
• Zhu He awarded Duan Rong two bottles of Origin Beast marrow ash, but Duan Rong knelt and asked him to divide them equally among the disciples.
• Zhu He refused Duan Rong's request and ordered Fan Hongjiao to take good care of him, and Fan Hongjiao accepted.

Duan Rong’s rapid progress prompted Fan Hongjiao to increase his share of hunting resources, and Zhu He secretly passed him the first two layers of the Garbha Sutra. The chapter ended with Duan Rong joining Fan Hongjiao and the others to prepare for another expedition into the Gloomy Dark Forest.

• Fan Hongjiao gave Duan Rong the primordial beast marrow Zhu He had left for him, and the disciples learned he had been hunting primordial beasts alone each month to support his cultivation.
• Fan Hongjiao decided Duan Rong would receive the same share of hunting spoils as Wu Shidao and ordered the group to prepare for a trip into the Gloomy Dark Forest.
• Zhu He visited Duan Rong privately, examined his saber with memories of Gu Daoling in mind, and passed down the first two layers of the secret Garbha Sutra.
• Fan Hongjiao arrived at Duan Rong’s room and hurried him to the Council Hall, where the group was preparing for the expedition.

Fan Hongjiao and Wu Shidao led Duan Rong, Lu Geng, and Wang Yue to hunt Crimson Fire Elephants in the Gloomy Dark Forest, while the younger men secretly killed the five calves. Duan Rong then encountered Lü Qingzhu, who attacked him as she had once promised, and he formed Blade Light with his saber as her sword neared his throat.

• Wu Shidao proposed hunting two adult Crimson Fire Elephants and their five calves, and Fan Hongjiao agreed to lead the group to their cave.
• Fan Hongjiao and Wu Shidao ambushed the adult elephants, but their powerful fire forced the fight into a fierce battle as the five calves fled into the forest.
• Lu Geng, Wang Yue, and Duan Rong followed the calves and killed all five while Fan Hongjiao and Wu Shidao kept the adults occupied.
• Lü Qingzhu appeared in the forest and attacked Duan Rong with her sword, revealing her fourth-layer Essence Qi Realm cultivation.
• Duan Rong recognized Lü Qingzhu and drew his Frost Pattern Phosphorous Crystal Saber, forming Blade Light as her Sword Light closed in on his throat.

Duan Rong and Lü Qingzhu fought in the Dense Forest, where Fan Hongjiao intervened before either could be seriously hurt. Both privately struggled with lingering feelings from their past, while Zhu He learned that Duan Rong had comprehended Saber Intent and grew concerned that Lü Qingzhu wanted him dead.

• Duan Rong used Saber Light to block Lü Qingzhu's attack, and they fought until Fan Hongjiao restrained Lü Qingzhu's sword and Duan Rong withdrew.
• Lü Qingzhu left the fight in tears, questioning why she could not bring herself to kill Duan Rong despite insisting that she hated him.
• Duan Rong returned to Cloud Floating Peak, destroyed the bloodstained handkerchief he had kept for six years, and admitted that he still had old feelings for Lü Qingzhu.
• Wu Shidao reported Duan Rong's Saber Intent to Zhu He, who celebrated his talent before learning that Lü Qingzhu had tried to kill him.
• Zhu He grew wary of the conflict because the sect's Old Ancestor deeply favored Lü Qingzhu.

Zhu He investigated why Lü Qingzhu wanted Duan Rong dead, learned that their feud began in Xiangu County, and heard Duan Rong recount what happened. Unable to mediate without worsening Lü Qingzhu’s hatred, Zhu He gave Duan Rong a Dew-Drinking Cicada that could protect him from danger three times, leaving him to refine it in the secret chamber.

• Zhu He ordered Wu Shidao to search the Internal History Department’s archives for the history between Lü Qingzhu and Duan Rong.
• Wu Shidao found that Lü Qingzhu and Duan Rong had crossed paths in Xiangu County while she was a Sect Envoy and he was a Registered Disciple.
• Zhu He secretly entered Duan Rong’s cultivation chamber, saw how skillfully he refined Essence Qi, and asked about his feud with Lü Qingzhu.
• Duan Rong told Zhu He what had happened, and Zhu He realized that trying to mediate would only make Lü Qingzhu hate Duan Rong more.
• Zhu He gave Duan Rong a Dew-Drinking Cicada, explained its connection to Seed Characters and Law Dew, and said it could protect him three times once bonded to his life essence.
• Duan Rong accepted the cicada and agreed to remain in the secret chamber for ten days to refine it with his essence blood.

Duan Rong refined Zhu He's Dew-Drinking Cicada and suspected it was meant to protect him from a powerful enemy. He tried to visit Xiao Yu in the Pagoda Forest but was turned away, then learned she was unlikely to escape and reunited with Liu Shushan.

• Duan Rong spent ten days refining the Dew-Drinking Cicada and wondered whether Zhu He expected a Cave Illumination Realm expert to threaten him.
• Duan Rong went to Iron Peak Mountain to see Xiao Yu, but a guard enforced the Pagoda Forest's rule and another expert hurled him away when he tried to enter.
• Duan Rong watched the Pagoda Forest assembly from a nearby mountain, then visited Instructor Yao Che at the Teaching Camp.
• Yao Che told Duan Rong that Xiao Yu had not reached True Qi Realm Third Level and was unlikely to attain Perfection and leave the Pagoda Forest.
• Duan Rong ran into Liu Shushan, who had recently left the Pagoda Forest, and invited him to go for a drink after they informed Yao Che.

Duan Rong learned that Xiao Yu feared she would die in the Pagoda Forest, and he resolved to rescue her after gaining enough strength and support. After breaking through to the Essence Qi Realm Fourth Level, he considered harvesting the ripe Black Fire Lotus seeds to strengthen himself further.

• Liu Shushan told Duan Rong that Xiao Yu wanted him to forget her and take care of Little Seven, prompting Duan Rong to vow to rescue her.
• Duan Rong planned to reach the Qi Cyclone Realm, learn about the Pagoda Forest's defenses through the Internal History Department, and earn Zhu He's protection by rendering merit.
• Duan Rong discovered that Liu Shushan had become Ge Rusong's personal disciple, but Liu refused to meet because they now served different masters.
• Duan Rong spent more than two months cultivating and successfully broke through to the Essence Qi Realm Fourth Level.
• Duan Rong checked his map and found that the Black Fire Lotus seeds had ripened, so he considered harvesting them to increase his strength and improve his chances of saving Xiao Yu.

Duan Rong found the Black Fire Lotus pool and hid to study the Fire Toad and Fire Weasel, but Lü Qingzhu arrived to harvest the seeds and killed the Fire Toad. When the Fire Weasel nearly killed Lü Qingzhu, Duan Rong leaped from his hiding place to intervene, leaving her fate unresolved.

• Duan Rong discovered the Black Fire Lotus pool and concealed himself in a hollow tree to observe its guardian beasts.
• Lü Qingzhu arrived seeking Black Fire Lotus seeds and used Illusory Bewitchment to immobilize the Fire Toad before killing it with her sword.
• The Fire Weasel emerged from its cave and attacked Lü Qingzhu, whose sword strikes failed to match its speed.
• Lü Qingzhu nearly killed the Fire Weasel, but it released anesthetic gas that weakened her and left her vulnerable to its claws.
• Duan Rong leaped from the hollow tree as the Fire Weasel's claws neared Lü Qingzhu's throat, and she fainted after recognizing him.

Duan Rong saved Lü Qingzhu from a Fire Weasel, but their confrontation over their six-year-old grievance turned into a brief, intimate clash of minds before a powerful Suan Yu Beast attacked. They took shelter in the Fire Weasel’s cave, where Duan Rong treated Lü Qingzhu’s wound, while the beast remained outside.

• Duan Rong used Firefly Bewitchment to freeze the Fire Weasel and killed it before it could fatally wound Lü Qingzhu.
• After Lü Qingzhu recovered, she accused Duan Rong of hiding in the tree and attacked him, explaining that she wanted to kill him to clear her Dao Heart.
• Duan Rong and Lü Qingzhu fought until their minds entered a tranquil state of mutual understanding, weakening Lü Qingzhu’s solitary artistic conception.
• A Suan Yu Beast swooped down at Duan Rong, and Lü Qingzhu took the blow to her shoulder while saving him.
• Duan Rong carried Lü Qingzhu into the Fire Weasel’s cave, treated her wound, and identified their attacker as a Suan Yu Beast that was devouring the corpses outside.

Duan Rong and Lü Qingzhu escaped the Suan Yu Beast at the Black Fire Pool, but parted without resolving why Lü Qingzhu had saved him. Lü Qingzhu returned to her secluded valley, where Lü Yinlin helped her advance her cultivation and learned she had gathered Black Fire Lotus seeds herself because she did not want to see her father.

• Duan Rong searched the Fire Weasel's cave for another exit, found none, and learned that Lü Qingzhu could use Illusory Bewitchment again after six hours of recovery.
• When the Suan Yu Beast disappeared, Duan Rong risked drawing it out while Lü Qingzhu watched, but it did not return.
• Lü Qingzhu took a Black Fire Lotus seedpod and left; when Duan Rong asked why she had saved him if she intended to kill him, she gave no answer and hurried into the Dense Forest.
• Lü Qingzhu climbed a chain out of the Gloomy Dark Forest and returned to her hidden valley, where she consumed the seeds and entered cultivation in the third cave.
• Lü Yinlin imparted strands of light to Lü Qingzhu, and she later told him she had gone to gather the seeds herself because she did not want to seek help from her father, Lü Zhongtang.

Duan Rong used a Black Fire Lotus seed to reach the twelfth level of the Garbha Sutra, then visited the weapon cave to devour more artifact spirits. After Fan Hongjiao interrupted his bath to summon him, he went with her to the Council Hall, where Master was waiting.

• Duan Rong swallowed a Black Fire Lotus seed and endured the strain of cultivating with four divine statues before forming a twelfth celestial body in his consciousness sea.
• Duan Rong woke the next day and realized his improved Mental Strength Level could let him grasp deeper artistic conceptions by devouring artifact spirits.
• Duan Rong obtained an authorization slip and spent three hours in the weapon cave selecting unfamiliar weapons and devouring their artifact spirits.
• Duan Rong returned to Cloud Floating Peak, bathed, and was caught bare-chested when Fan Hongjiao entered his room without knocking.
• Fan Hongjiao remembered that Master was waiting in the Council Hall, and she and Duan Rong left together after he dressed.