Chapter Summaries

Lü Yinlin questioned Duan Rong about his many artistic conceptions and his unusual Empty Clarity Realm, then accepted his account of how Gu Daoling’s calligraphy had affected his cultivation. The next morning, Duan Rong set out with Lü Qingzhu to enter the Gloomy Dark Forest through an abandoned fissure.

• Lü Yinlin confronted Duan Rong about the many artistic conceptions beneath his saber radiance, and Duan Rong attributed his experiences to the Empty Clarity Realm.
• Duan Rong told Lü Yinlin how Gu Daoling’s calligraphy had influenced his Qi Cyclone formation, and Lü Yinlin examined the scroll and advised him to study it.
• Lü Yinlin considered Duan Rong and Gu Daoling as possible future Nascent Soul cultivators and worried about the Taiyi Sect’s survival.
• Duan Rong offered Lü Qingzhu a Rhodiola Fruit and urged her to act on their plan involving the Mystic Ice Turtle.
• Lü Qingzhu led Duan Rong to an abandoned fissure with three iron chains, and they jumped into the entrance to the Gloomy Dark Forest.

Duan Rong absorbed the Mystic Ice Turtle's tortoiseshell, reached the thirteenth level of the Garbha Sutra, and arranged for Fan Hongjiao to help him rescue Xiao Yu. As Xiao Yu left the Pagoda Forest at dawn, she spotted a shadow rushing toward her.

• Duan Rong and Lü Qingzhu escaped the Mystic Ice Turtle's lair with its tortoiseshell, and Duan Rong headed to Cloud Floating Peak to cultivate.
• Duan Rong crushed the tortoiseshell, absorbed its Ice Mist, completed the thirteenth level of the Garbha Sutra, and Devoured a batch of Artifact Spirits.
• Duan Rong asked Fan Hongjiao to help him rescue Xiao Yu, and she agreed after he explained his plan and offered her two bottles of marrow ash.
• Xiao Yu left her Pagoda Body after the morning bell, thinking of Duan Rong and the hopeless distance between them.
• Xiao Yu saw a black shadow dart through the Dense Forest toward her and wondered whether it was Duan Rong.

Duan Rong broke Xiao Yu out of the Pagoda Forest, defeating Zhao Yifu with a powerful midair saber slash before carrying her toward a mountain peak. Fan Hongjiao held off the four guards, but they pursued Duan Rong after she let them pass.

• Zhao Yifu detected Duan Rong approaching the forbidden Dense Forest and confronted him at its edge.
• Duan Rong tricked Zhao Yifu into leaving a gap, dashed through the forest, and slashed him aside with mature saber Intent as he escaped with Xiao Yu.
• Duan Rong reassured Xiao Yu that he would take her home, while Zhao Yifu called three guards to pursue them.
• Fan Hongjiao appeared and kicked Zhao Yifu away, then used her whip to hold all four guards back while Duan Rong carried Xiao Yu toward the mountain peak.
• Fan Hongjiao pretended to believe the guards and pointed them toward Duan Rong, who had already reached the peak; the four men resumed their pursuit.

Duan Rong used Shen Mizhi as a decoy to help Xiao Yu escape, then let the Pagoda Forest guards capture him and escorted himself to the Judgment and Rectification Department. Zhao Yifu realized too late that they had taken the wrong woman back, leaving the old guard alarmed that Duan Rong had maneuvered them into trouble.

• Duan Rong ordered Xi Men Kan Kan to take Xiao Yu away, then carried a sleeping-powder-dosed Shen Mizhi toward Cloud Floating Peak as a decoy.
• Three Pagoda Forest guards cornered Duan Rong, recovered Shen Mizhi, and took Duan Rong to the Judgment and Rectification Department after he surrendered.
• Zhao Yifu returned Shen Mizhi to the Pagoda Forest, where an instructor identified her and revealed that the abducted disciple had been Xiao Yu.
• Duan Rong admitted to Yang Yi that he had abducted a disciple and asked to stay in prison, then allowed the Guards to chain him.
• Zhao Yifu rushed back to the Judgment and Rectification Department and whispered the mistake to the old guard, who realized they had played into Duan Rong's hands.

Duan Rong refused to hand Xiao Yu over after being arrested, while Yang Sixuan struggled to decide how to punish him without offending the Old Ancestor. Zhu He sent Fan Hongjiao to tell Duan Rong to stay put, and Chu Qiushan resolved to consult the Old Ancestor before acting.

• Yang Sixuan questioned Duan Rong about the abduction, and Duan Rong claimed Shen Mizhi and Fan Hongjiao had only been drawn into the affair as part of his plan.
• Duan Rong persuaded Yang Yi to seek Shen Mizhi's release, and Yang Yi agreed to take her statement once she woke.
• Yang Sixuan met Chu Qiushan and Zhu He, but Zhu He refused to make Duan Rong surrender Xiao Yu or accept a severe punishment.
• Fan Hongjiao visited Duan Rong and relayed Zhu He's instruction to stay put, leaving Yang Yi angry that Cloud Floating Peak supported Duan Rong's refusal.
• Chu Qiushan paced in his Thatched Hut and decided to consult the Old Ancestor before deciding how to handle Duan Rong.

Xiao Yu worried that Duan Rong would be punished for rescuing her and left Xi Men Kan Kan to seek help from Duan Rong’s senior sister and master. Zhu He ordered Fan Hongjiao to hide Xiao Yu in the Cultivation Secret Chamber until Duan Rong’s case was resolved.

• Xi Men Kan Kan left Xiao Yu at Shang Xiangyu's Stone Chamber to find news about Duan Rong, who had been locked in the Judgment and Rectification Department's dungeon.
• After learning that Zhu He and Fan Hongjiao were trying to help Duan Rong, Xiao Yu ate and tricked Xi Men Kan Kan into leaving to pick fruit.
• Xiao Yu went to Cloud Floating Peak and knelt before Fan Hongjiao, begging her to save Duan Rong and offering to return to the Pagoda Forest or give her life.
• Zhu He arrived, ordered Fan Hongjiao to hide Xiao Yu in the Cultivation Secret Chamber, and warned that he would punish Fan Hongjiao if Xiao Yu escaped again.
• When Xiao Yu resisted, Fan Hongjiao knocked her unconscious and carried her toward the Cultivation Secret Chamber.

Xi Men Kan Kan and Shen Mizhi suspected the Judgment and Rectification Department was watching them as they searched for Xiao Yu, while Duan Rong’s punishment was set at three strikes from the God Slaying Whip followed by the Life and Death Pass in Myriad Phenomena Cave. Zhu He pleaded with Lü Yinlin to spare his disciple, but Lü Yinlin explained that the cave could reconcile Duan Rong’s many chaotic states of mind and ordered Zhu He to proceed with the punishment.

• Xi Men Kan Kan met Shen Mizhi outside the dungeon and told her that Xiao Yu had disappeared, while Yang Yi sent a man to follow them.
• Shen Mizhi guessed Xiao Yu had gone to Cloud Floating Peak to help Duan Rong, and she and Xi Men Kan Kan decided to wander so their watchers would not discover Shang Xiangyu’s mountain top.
• Wu Shidao delivered the Judgment and Rectification Department’s order to Zhu He, who learned that Duan Rong would face the God Slaying Whip and Myriad Phenomena Cave.
• Zhu He asked Chu Qiushan to delay Duan Rong’s execution by two days, then forced his way into the Deep Valley after the old farmer refused to take him to Lü Yinlin.
• Lü Yinlin told Zhu He that Myriad Phenomena Cave was suited to reconciling Duan Rong’s more than a hundred chaotic states of mind, and ordered him to carry out the punishment.

Zhu He visited Duan Rong in the dungeon and explained that the Old Ancestor had arranged for him to endure three strikes of the God Slaying Whip before entering the Myriad Phenomena Cave to reconcile his many intents. Zhu He then asked Xiao Qiwu to watch over Duan Rong, but Xiao Qiwu's evening was interrupted by a visit from Jing Chou, who brought an envelope he claimed would change Xiao Qiwu's mind.

• Lü Qingzhu learned that Duan Rong had broken Xiao Yu out of the Pagoda Forest and angrily condemned him to Zhu He.
• Zhu He told Duan Rong that his more than one hundred mixed intents could obstruct his future cultivation and that he would face three strikes of the God Slaying Whip before entering the Myriad Phenomena Cave.
• Zhu He visited Xiao Qiwu and asked him to go easy on Duan Rong and monitor his condition in the cave.
• Xiao Qiwu agreed to watch over Duan Rong, then refused to meet Jing Chou until the page presented an envelope that Jing Chou said would persuade him.

Jing Chou offered Xiao Qiwu the Yang Fish and Ge Rusong’s unfinished advancement method in exchange for killing Duan Rong, tempting the stalled cultivator with the prospect of reaching the late stage of the Cave Illumination Realm. Xiao Qiwu began weighing the assassination while questioning why Lü Yinlin had arranged such a severe punishment for Duan Rong, leaving the danger of the Myriad Phenomena Cave unresolved.

• Xiao Qiwu examined the Yang Fish Jing Chou brought and rejected his request to kill Duan Rong, but reconsidered after Jing Chou revealed Ge Rusong’s advancement method based on the Yin Yang Fish.
• Jing Chou admitted he did not know where the Yin Fish was, promised it would be delivered if Duan Rong died, and said he would hang himself two days later to protect Xiao Qiwu from exposure.
• Jing Chou explained that Duan Rong’s growing talent and impending punishment created an opportunity, and that he had chosen Xiao Qiwu because he oversaw the punishment and was desperate to advance.
• After Jing Chou left, Xiao Qiwu considered using his control of the God Slaying Whip to weaken Duan Rong before the Life and Death Pass.
• Xiao Qiwu recalled Zhu He’s warning that something unusual might happen to Duan Rong in Myriad Phenomena Cave and questioned Lü Yinlin’s reasons for both guiding and punishing him.

Xiao Qiwu investigated Jing Chou’s suicide and wrestled with how to kill Duan Rong without exposing himself. After Chu Wushang delivered Lü Yinlin’s order for all three lashes to land solidly, Xiao Qiwu resolved to proceed with a plan that would leave no trace of his involvement before the execution.

• Xiao Qiwu entered Jing Chou’s room and confirmed that Jing Chou had hanged himself on the night before Duan Rong’s execution.
• Xiao Qiwu weighed ways to kill Duan Rong while avoiding suspicion from Zhu He and Lü Yinlin.
• Xiao Qiwu retrieved the God Slaying Whip from Myriad Phenomena Cave and studied its weakened power and damaged rune seals.
• Chu Wushang arrived at Immeasurable Cliff and relayed Lü Yinlin’s command that all three lashes against Duan Rong must land solidly.
• Xiao Qiwu returned to his cave abode, considered Lü Yinlin’s motives, and devised a rough plan to kill Duan Rong without leaving evidence.

Duan Rong was publicly punished with three strikes of the God Slaying Whip at Immeasurable Cliff, where the whip assaulted his soul. He was left unconscious after the third strike, while Zhu He feared Xiao Qiwu had not held back.

• Yang Sixuan escorted Duan Rong from the dungeon to Immeasurable Cliff for a punishment announced to the sect.
• Xiao Qiwu demanded that Duan Rong surrender his Dew-Drinking Cicada, and Duan Rong handed it to Zhu He for safekeeping.
• Chu Qiushan announced that Duan Rong would receive three strikes of the God Slaying Whip before confinement in Myriad Phenomena Cave.
• Xiao Qiwu struck Duan Rong twice with the God Slaying Whip, causing him intense soul-piercing pain as Zhu He grew alarmed.
• Xiao Qiwu delivered the third strike despite Zhu He's protest, and Duan Rong cursed before fainting.
• Zhu He rushed to Duan Rong and secretly placed a pill in his mouth.

Duan Rong survived Xiao Qiwu’s three lashes of the God Slaying Whip and was taken into Myriad Phenomena Cave, where Xiao Qiwu secretly left him in dangerous intent currents to die. Zhu He suspected Xiao Qiwu’s intentions, but after hearing that the Old Ancestor had ordered all three lashes to land solidly, he apologized and left Duan Rong under Xiao Qiwu’s care.

• Lü Qingzhu worried over Duan Rong after the crowd feared Xiao Qiwu’s three lashes had killed him.
• Zhu He checked Duan Rong, argued with Xiao Qiwu and Chu Qiushan, and watched Xiao Qiwu carry Duan Rong into Myriad Phenomena Cave.
• Xiao Qiwu realized Lü Yinlin intended Duan Rong to temper an Intent Origin in the cave, then threw him into dangerous intent currents and left him there.
• Zhu He went to Chu Wushang and learned that the Old Ancestor had ordered each lash to land solidly, making him question his suspicion of Xiao Qiwu.
• Shen Mizhi said she would collect Duan Rong’s body if he died, while Xi Men Kan Kan mourned that Duan Rong still owed him an erotic painting.
• Zhu He returned to Xiao Qiwu, apologized for suspecting him, and asked him to care for Duan Rong in Myriad Phenomena Cave.

Duan Rong survived six lashes from the God Slaying Whip as Black Soul Threads and Azure Light Threads rebuilt his shattered soul. He awakened in Myriad Phenomena Cave with a Pristine Glass Body, while Xiao Qiwu left intending to whip him again the following night.

• Black Soul Threads from Zhu He's Soul Silk Grass pill and Azure Light Threads from the Tree Spirit Light Sea began stitching Duan Rong's shattered soul back together.
• Xiao Qiwu secretly entered Myriad Phenomena Cave, took the God Slaying Whip, and struck the unconscious Duan Rong three more times.
• Xiao Qiwu threatened to continue whipping Duan Rong until his soul scattered, then left with the God Slaying Whip.
• The Black Soul Threads faded as the Azure Light Threads continued rebuilding Duan Rong's soul, and Duan Rong awakened and began circulating the thirteenth layer of the Garbha Sutra.
• Duan Rong absorbed the Azure Light Threads and discovered that his healed soul had become a Pristine Glass Body, with a light film formed from the concepts he had devoured.

Duan Rong discovered that Xiao Qiwu was using the Myriad Phenomena Cave and nightly lashes to kill him without revealing his intent. After surviving the cave’s soul attacks by running to its edge and recovering there, Duan Rong continued searching for a way to exploit the array’s rules and escape his predicament.

• Duan Rong realized Xiao Qiwu had taken his Dew-Drinking Cicada and was secretly trying to make his soul fade inside the Myriad Phenomena Cave.
• Duan Rong triggered three Ghost Eye Light Spots with a half-step and learned that movement drew soul attacks while remaining still kept them at bay.
• Facing Xiao Qiwu’s nightly lashes and having no time to study the cave for months, Duan Rong ran wildly through it and endured waves of weapon-shaped attacks on his soul.
• Duan Rong reached the cave’s edge, where the Ghost Eye attacks stopped, and used the Garbha Sutra and Azure Light Threads to heal his damaged soul.
• Duan Rong felt along the cave’s edge and continued investigating its rules in search of a chance to turn the tables.

Duan Rong discovered that the Ghost Eye Light Spots in Myriad Phenomena Cave both tempered his soul and could resonate with the many artistic conceptions within it. He realized that as his Pristine Glass Body grew stronger, he could form soul connections with lone Ghost Eye Light Spots and might eventually control much of the cave.

• Duan Rong mapped Myriad Phenomena Cave's edges, then tested three short routes through the Ghost Eye Light Spots and found their attacks barely damaged his Pristine Glass Body.
• Duan Rong discovered that one lone Ghost Eye Light Spot did not attack him and formed a faint soul connection with him, though it could only attack within its own region.
• Duan Rong revisited lone Ghost Eye Light Spot regions along the second and first routes and formed soul connections with their Ghost Eye Light Spots as well.
• Duan Rong concluded that repeated tempering had strengthened his soul-origin past a threshold, causing lone Ghost Eye Light Spots to stop attacking and resonate with his artistic conceptions.
• Duan Rong realized his more than one hundred miscellaneous artistic conceptions could let him form connections with many Ghost Eye Light Spots and potentially control Myriad Phenomena Cave to a degree.

Duan Rong endured repeated refinement in Myriad Phenomena Cave until his Pristine Glass Body transformed, letting him connect with every Ghost Eye Light Spot and perceive the cave’s array. He opened the cave’s exit, discovered the God Slaying Whip’s discarded components could be devoured, and meanwhile Xiao Qiwu went to check whether Duan Rong had died.

• Duan Rong repeatedly ran through Myriad Phenomena Cave, repairing and strengthening his Pristine Glass Body until areas with three Ghost Eye Light Spots stopped attacking him.
• Duan Rong established soul connections with every Ghost Eye Light Spot, learned the cave’s operating laws, and moved the lights between areas without altering its underlying rules.
• Duan Rong manipulated the cave’s illusory exit, emerged into a small space that was still inside another talisman array, and found the God Slaying Whip at a shrine.
• Duan Rong read the God Slaying Whip’s artifact information, then discovered its worn, replaced components could be devoured.
• Xiao Qiwu finished studying Ge Rusong’s method for forming Yin Yang Cave of Darkness and went to check whether Duan Rong was dead.

Duan Rong turned Xiao Qiwu’s ambush against him inside Myriad Phenomena Cave, using the Ghost Eye Light Spots and God Slaying Whip to overwhelm the Cave Illumination Realm cultivator. After confirming Xiao Qiwu was dead, Duan Rong collapsed from exhaustion and pain.

• Xiao Qiwu entered Myriad Phenomena Cave to verify that Duan Rong was dead, but a swarm of Ghost Eye Light Spots attacked him and Duan Rong seized the God Slaying Whip.
• Duan Rong revealed he had mastered the whip and struck Xiao Qiwu while coordinating attacks from more than a hundred Ghost Eye Light Spots.
• When Xiao Qiwu tried to rush him, Duan Rong directed thousands of Ghost Eye Light Spots at him, nearly scattering Xiao Qiwu’s soul.
• Duan Rong kept Xiao Qiwu trapped under repeated attacks, but Xiao Qiwu lunged forward and grabbed his legs before dying.
• Duan Rong stabbed Xiao Qiwu’s brow with a Willow Leaf Flying Knife, confirmed his death, and collapsed from exhaustion with his right arm cramping.

After killing Xiao Qiwu in Myriad Phenomena Cave, Duan Rong discovered that Xiao Qiwu had been lured into the plot by a Yin Yang Cave of Darkness manual and a Yang Fish, and he suspected powerful enemies were behind the attempt on his life. He concealed Xiao Qiwu’s death by destroying the corpse, hiding the God Slaying Whip, and returning to the cave, leaving the plotters unaware of what had happened.

• Duan Rong searched Xiao Qiwu’s body and found an Array Token, a Yang Fish, and a manual for forming the Yin Yang Cave of Darkness.
• Duan Rong inferred that someone had offered Xiao Qiwu the manual and Yang Fish in exchange for killing him, and he suspected Ge Rusong or Lü Zhongtang’s faction.
• Duan Rong decided to erase evidence of Xiao Qiwu’s death and keep his use of the God Slaying Whip secret.
• Duan Rong carried Xiao Qiwu’s corpse out of Myriad Phenomena Cave and ground it into bloody pulp beside a stream in a remote valley.
• Duan Rong hid the God Slaying Whip beneath dried eagle droppings in a mountain eagle’s cave, then returned to Myriad Phenomena Cave using the Array Token.

Duan Rong studied the Pristine Glass Body and began probing the cloud of intent within it while waiting in Myriad Phenomena Cave. Zhu He and Chu Wushang entered the cave with Chu Qiushan and Yang Sixuan, found Duan Rong unharmed, and learned that he had escaped after only three days.

• Duan Rong returned to Myriad Phenomena Cave and examined the Pristine Glass Body in his Luminous Consciousness Sea, suspecting the cloud at its brow held fused intents.
• Zhu He discovered Xiao Qiwu had been missing from Immeasurable Cliff for days and grew suspicious when the God Slaying Whip was also gone.
• Chu Wushang obtained the other Array Token from Lü Yinlin and joined Zhu He, Chu Qiushan, and Yang Sixuan in entering Myriad Phenomena Cave.
• The four found Duan Rong unharmed near the cave entrance, where he said he had escaped and waited for two days.
• Duan Rong told Yang Sixuan that Xiao Qiwu had not entered Myriad Phenomena Cave during his confinement.

After leaving Myriad Phenomena Cave, Duan Rong reunited with Xiao Yu on Cloud Floating Peak, while Yang Sixuan began investigating Xiao Qiwu’s disappearance and the missing God Slaying Whip. Duan Rong and his companions celebrated with a drinking contest, leaving Fan Hongjiao alone with a trace of jealousy.

• Chu Wushang gave Yang Sixuan the Array Token, and Yang Sixuan mobilized the Judgment and Rectification Department to surround Immeasurable Cliff and investigate Xiao Qiwu and the God Slaying Whip.
• Zhu He brought Duan Rong to Cloud Floating Peak, where Duan Rong learned that Xiao Yu had refused food while waiting for him.
• Duan Rong reunited with Xiao Yu in Fan Hongjiao’s Cultivation Secret Chamber, and Xiao Yu wept with relief in his arms.
• Duan Rong, Xiao Yu, Fan Hongjiao, Shen Mizhi, and Xi Men Kan Kan gathered for wine, and Fan Hongjiao and Xiao Yu competed in drinking.
• Xiao Yu feigned illness to help end the drinking contest, and Duan Rong took her to rest while Fan Hongjiao remained alone, feeling jealous of their affection.