Chapter Summaries

Yi Yang rescued Lu Qinglan and the other Heroes Ranking martial artists from pursuing Shaman Kingdom cavalry, then stood against their commander, Tong Bale. As the cavalry formed the Barbarian Blood Battle Formation, Yi Yang drew the Mysterious Abyss Saber and faced its attack.

• Yi Yang killed a Shaman Kingdom officer with a saber strike and recognized Lu Qinglan, Luo Kaishan, and Xie Yungui among the fleeing martial artists.
• Yi Yang leaped down from the city wall to shield the wounded group, while Xu Min brought the Pacification Guard out to support him.
• Tong Bale confronted Yi Yang as returning scout squads increased the cavalry force to nearly a hundred riders.
• The Great Yu martial artists panicked as the cavalry gathered its military force, and some prepared to flee while Lu Qinglan watched Yi Yang.
• Tong Bale demanded that Yi Yang stand aside, but Yi Yang drew the Mysterious Abyss Saber and challenged him to withstand his strikes.
• Tong Bale ordered the cavalry to attack, and they formed the Barbarian Blood Battle Formation beneath the phantom of a gigantic one-horned beast.

Yi Yang confronted the Shaman Kingdom cavalry outside Qinggang County and destroyed their battle formation, defeating its commander Tong Bale. After the surviving pursuers were killed, Yi Yang collected Tong Bale’s belongings and led the injured Great Yu martial artists into the city.

• The Shaman Kingdom cavalry formed a Barbarian Blood Battle Formation, while Luo Kaishan and Xie Yungui urged Yi Yang to retreat behind the city walls.
• Tong Bale transformed into a beastlike form and ordered his cavalry to attack, but Yi Yang charged the formation and cleaved its military might apart with one saber strike.
• Yi Yang withstood Tong Bale’s powerful attack, pierced his organs with the Calamity-Extinguishing Finger, and smashed him into a pit.
• The routed cavalry fled, but Yi Yang’s blade astrals and Xu Min’s archers killed the remaining pursuers.
• Lu Qinglan bowed to Yi Yang, who took Tong Bale’s storage pouch and short blade, killed him, and ordered the group to enter the city.

After rescuing Lu Qinglan’s squad, Yi Yang learned that the Qingzhou Army had been devastated by a Shaman Kingdom ambush near Tooth-Copper City. He concluded that Shang Yu, a Martial Grandmaster, was behind the attack and that a larger plot was unfolding.

• Yi Yang ordered Xu Min to take the badly injured martial artists to a medical clinic, then summoned Lu Qinglan to speak with him privately.
• Lu Qinglan recounted how two volleys of arrows destroyed the Qingzhou Army’s camp and severely wounded Chu Tiankuo and her grandfather, Lu Zui.
• She explained that the Shaman Kingdom cavalry attacked as the army fled, and that Tong Bale had pursued her squad to use her as bait for Lu Zui.
• Yi Yang deduced that the arrows’ power indicated a Martial Grandmaster and identified Shang Yu as the likely attacker in Tooth-Copper City.
• Yi Yang realized that Shang Yu’s plan reached beyond defeating the Qingzhou Army and drew him into a dangerous, larger scheme.

Zhang Feng confronted Yi Yang on the road to Crossing Peak Stronghold, suspecting him of killing Li Chengyan and intending to take him back to the Nine Rivers Sect. Yi Yang’s identity and cultivation were exposed, and Zhang Feng attacked him with a giant hand of condensed mist.

• Zhang Feng learned from Wei Xinyuan and Wang Guci that Yi Yang had intervened in Qinggang County, then suspected him because he had been near the Ten Thousand Demon Mountains when Li Chengyan disappeared.
• After waiting three days, Zhang Feng ambushed Yi Yang and the survivors returning from Tooth-Copper City on the mountain road.
• A warrior addressed Yi Yang as Lord Yi, allowing Zhang Feng to identify him; the other warriors distanced themselves, while Lu Qinglan considered stepping forward and obeyed Yi Yang’s signal to stay back.
• Zhang Feng accused Yi Yang of killing Li Chengyan and used his power to seal the road, while Yi Yang judged that escape was impossible and prepared to fight.
• Yi Yang revealed the Mysterious Abyss Saber and his Profound Connection Second Realm cultivation, and Zhang Feng attacked him with a giant hand formed from mist and True Qi.

Jiang Zhongtian arrived in time to stop Zhang Feng from killing Yi Yang and forced the Nine Rivers Sect elder to back down. After revealing the army’s disastrous ambush and questioning Zhang Feng over a possible leak, Jiang Zhongtian led Yi Yang and the Heaven Patrol Office martial artists back to Crossing Peak Stronghold.

• Jiang Zhongtian pierced Zhang Feng’s blue qi hand with his silver spear and shielded Yi Yang from the attack.
• Jiang Zhongtian demanded evidence for Zhang Feng’s accusations and used his Heavy Mountain divine power to force Zhang Feng toward his knees.
• Jiang Zhongtian revealed that the army had suffered a devastating Shaman Kingdom ambush, Elder Chu was unconscious, and Lu Zui was missing.
• Jiang Zhongtian suggested Zhang Feng’s visit to Elder Chu’s camp and his attack on Yi Yang made the Nine Rivers Sect look as if it had leaked military intelligence.
• Jiang Zhongtian led Yi Yang, Luo Kaishan, Xie Yungui, and the other Heaven Patrol Office martial artists toward Crossing Peak Stronghold, while Zhang Feng left with Wei Xinyuan and Wang Guci.

After learning that a Lu Family Grandmaster had sacrificed Lu Zui and thousands of Qingzhou Army soldiers for family interests, Yi Yang resolved to become powerful enough to avoid being used as a pawn. He began studying the divine art Nine Heavens Thunderclap Seal, which could improve his chances in an upcoming secret-realm expedition.

• Yi Yang recalled Jiang Zhongtian explaining that the Lu Family Grandmaster had deliberately let Shang Yu rout the army to eliminate Lu Zui and Lu Qinglan, then saved Chu Tiankuo while abandoning the others.
• Jiang Zhongtian told Yi Yang that the Grandmaster would face no consequences because the powerful factions valued his status above the lives of ordinary soldiers and Lu Zui.
• Yi Yang concluded that he needed enough strength to protect himself, Yuexin, and his own people from becoming pawns of stronger factions.
• Yi Yang took out the Nine Heavens Thunderclap Seal, a divine art Jiang Zhongtian had given him as payment and as a deposit for their planned secret-realm expedition.
• Yi Yang studied the art's instructions and began forming its intricate hand seals, relying on his physique, healing ability, and Heavenly Mandate panel to master it.

Yi Yang mastered the beginner stage of the Awakening of Insects Style and used his Golden Giant Ape to break the chaotic influence of three Spiritblood True God Statues, extracting their divine thought origins. He began purifying the three drops to advance his divine sense, expecting to reach Illusion-Breaking perfection within ten days.

• Yi Yang forced open six hidden meridians in his arms and formed the Awakening of Insects Seal, summoning a thunderclap over Crossing Peak Stronghold.
• Yi Yang opened three boxes containing Spiritblood True God Statues and used the Golden Giant Ape to shatter the illusions assaulting his consciousness.
• Yi Yang extracted three small drops of divine thought origin from the statues and discarded the broken remains.
• Yi Yang stopped purifying the larger drop from Qinggang County and ordered the Golden Giant Ape to refine the three new drops.
• Yi Yang estimated that he would purify and absorb the three drops within ten days, bringing his divine sense to Illusion-Breaking perfection.

Yi Yang cultivated the Nine Heavens Thunderclap Seal and sought the Golden Sun Snake Heart Fruit to support his bone tempering. He learned that a wary martial artist had brought the fruit to the Black Market, while Jiang Zhongtian had left to lead a new army toward Tooth-Copper City.

• Yi Yang emerged from five days of cultivation with a more solid lightning seal and found that his appearance still looked middle-aged.
• Xu Min reported that he had gathered the five hundred-year-old yang-aspect ingredients but could not find the Golden Sun Snake Heart Fruit in the city's medicine shops.
• Xu Min told Yi Yang that a wrapped martial artist had offered the fruit for a specific high-grade pill and a hundred spirit crystals before disappearing into the South District Black Market.
• Yi Yang ordered Xu Min to identify the martial artist and locate him without raising suspicion, saying he would negotiate for the fruit himself.
• Xu Min reported rumors that Jiang Zhongtian had left the stronghold to lead five thousand troops across the Ten Thousand Demon Mountains toward Tooth-Copper City, while Yi Yang knew Jiang had volunteered for the battle.

Jiang Zhongtian left to attack Tooth-Copper City, hoping to defend Crossing Peak Stronghold’s authority and climb into the Hidden Dragon Ranking’s top hundred. Yi Yang realized the city was vulnerable in his absence and resolved to obtain the Golden Sun Snake Heart Fruit before Zhang Feng could act against him.

• Jiang Zhongtian’s motives for going to war were revealed: he sought a decisive victory to fend off rival powers and earn the resources needed to become a Martial Grandmaster.
• Yi Yang sent Xu Min to the South District Black Market in plain clothes and warned him not to pry into powerful people’s affairs.
• Yi Yang considered how Crossing Peak Stronghold’s prominent experts were incapacitated and feared that Zhang Feng might exploit Jiang Zhongtian’s departure to seize him.
• Yi Yang assessed his progress in Divine Bone Blood Refining and decided he had to get the Golden Sun Snake Heart Fruit.

Yi Yang visited Lu Qinglan in West City after learning that her servant had offered a Golden Sun Snake Heart Fruit for sale, hoping to buy it for his cultivation. Lu Qinglan gave him the fruit as repayment for saving her, and explained that her servant had found it while searching the Ten Thousand Demon Mountains for her missing grandfather; Yi Yang was stopped as he left.

• Yi Yang learned that the Golden Sun Snake Heart Fruit was in West City and went alone to find its owner.
• Yi Yang discovered that the seller was Lu Qinglan's old servant, Uncle Fu, and asked Lu Qinglan to name a price for the fruit.
• Lu Qinglan offered Yi Yang the fruit as thanks for saving her from Tong Bale's pursuers, but he asked why Uncle Fu had ventured into the Ten Thousand Demon Mountains.
• Lu Qinglan explained that she had sent Uncle Fu to search for her grandfather, who had disappeared into the mountains after being pursued by two Shaman Kingdom experts, and that Uncle Fu had found the fruit during the search.
• Yi Yang accepted the fruit, placed it in his Storage Ring, and started to leave, but Lu Qinglan called him back.

Yi Yang accepted Lu Qinglan’s offer of an incomplete Spirit Weapon armor in exchange for joining her search for her grandfather in the Ten Thousand Demon Mountains, agreeing to leave in five days. Meanwhile, Zhang Feng learned that Jiang Zhongtian had left Crossing Peak Stronghold and began preparing to seize Yi Yang.

• Lu Qinglan offered Yi Yang the Azure Cloud Flowing Light Armor if he accompanied her into the Ten Thousand Demon Mountains to find her missing grandfather.
• Yi Yang weighed the danger against the armor and his chance to strengthen himself, then agreed to meet Lu Qinglan in five days.
• Uncle Fu questioned whether Yi Yang could protect Lu Qinglan, but she explained why she trusted his abilities and connections.
• Wei Xinyuan told Zhang Feng that Jiang Zhongtian had left Crossing Peak Stronghold with the Heaven Patrol Office’s experts.
• Zhang Feng ordered his men to watch Yi Yang’s residence and planned to enter the city to kill him once his injuries healed.

Yi Yang spent five days in seclusion, reaching minor accomplishment in Iron Bone, perfecting his Illusion-Breaking divine sense, and advancing the Awakening of Insects Style. He left for West City to meet Lu Qinglan and enter the Ten Thousand Demon Mountains.

• Yi Yang brewed the five hundred-year herbs and Golden Sun Snake Heart Fruit into Bone-Tempering Soup, then spent three days refining his bones in the medicinal bath.
• Yi Yang reached minor accomplishment in Iron Bone, gaining enough physical strength to uproot a ten-thousand-jin rockery and contend with a Profound Connection Second Realm martial artist.
• Yi Yang purified and swallowed three drops of divine thought origin, expanding his divine sense to six hundred zhang and reaching Illusion-Breaking perfection.
• Yi Yang's three Heart Ape Mind Guarding Art offensive techniques advanced to minor accomplishment, and he estimated he had a seventy percent chance of defeating Zhang Feng while wearing the Azure Cloud Flowing Light Armor.
• Yi Yang advanced the Awakening of Insects Style to minor accomplishment, then left to meet Lu Qinglan in West City and venture into the Ten Thousand Demon Mountains.

Yi Yang agreed to help Lu Qinglan search the Ten Thousand Demon Mountains for her grandfather, setting strict conditions and preparing to slip out of Crossing Peak Stronghold with her. Three days later, Zhang Feng arrived to find Yi Yang’s residence empty and sought help from Chu Tiankuo to track him down.

• Yi Yang met Lu Qinglan and learned that her grandfather might be in one of three locations in the Ten Thousand Demon Mountains, while her family’s Life Tablet showed he was still alive.
• Yi Yang required Uncle Fu to remain in the city and Lu Qinglan to follow his orders; she agreed and gave Yi Yang the Azure Cloud Flowing Light Armor to wear.
• Yi Yang planned to evade Zhang Feng by concealing his and Lu Qinglan’s movements, and the two left through the courtyard’s back door that night.
• Three days later, Zhang Feng entered Crossing Peak Stronghold with Wei Xinyuan and Wang Guci and found Yi Yang’s courtyard abandoned.
• Zhang Feng decided to seek Chu Tiankuo’s help in locating Yi Yang.

Zhang Feng sought Chu Tiankuo’s help finding Yi Yang, and Chu Tiankuo learned that Yi Yang had left for the Ten Thousand Demon Mountains with Lu Qinglan. Chu Tiankuo manipulated Zhang Feng into pursuing them so he could seize the Lu family’s inheritance, but his lingering injuries from Shang Yu’s arrow left him fearing the journey ahead.

• Zhang Feng asked Chu Tiankuo to use Heavenly Heart Sect informants to locate Yi Yang, whom he accused of killing Li Chengyan.
• Chu Tiankuo secretly ordered his steward to investigate Yi Yang, then learned that Yi Yang and Lu Qinglan had left for the Ten Thousand Demon Mountains three nights earlier.
• Chu Tiankuo realized Lu Qinglan might possess the Lu family’s spirit-weapon armor and inheritance, and devised a plan to let Zhang Feng fight Yi Yang and Lu Zui before taking the spoils himself.
• Chu Tiankuo told Zhang Feng that Yi Yang had gone with Lu Qinglan to find Lu Zui, then gave Zhang Feng Black-Iron Crow Armor to persuade him to pursue Yi Yang and bring him back alive.
• Zhang Feng took Wei Xinyuan and Wang Guci and hurried out to enter the mountains, while Chu Tiankuo privately planned to follow after they had weakened their targets.
• Chu Tiankuo coughed up black blood and recognized that Shang Yu’s distant arrow had crippled thirty percent of his cultivation, leaving him worried his injuries would delay his own trip into the mountains.

Yi Yang killed a Flame-Mane Bear with a lightning-charged punch, then hurried with Lu Qinglan toward the distant battle where her grandfather might be. From a hidden vantage point, they found the devastated battlefield occupied by two bizarre figures, while Lu Zui was nowhere to be seen.

• Yi Yang killed the Flame-Mane Bear with a single punch and harvested its meat while Lu Qinglan watched in astonishment.
• Lu Qinglan pointed out the route to Blackwind Ravine and asked whether Yi Yang's lightning strike was a divine power; he said it came from a cultivation art.
• Yi Yang sensed three powerful beings fighting ahead, and Lu Qinglan decided they should investigate because her grandfather might be there.
• Yi Yang carried Lu Qinglan toward the battle using his movement and concealment arts, then hid with her in a tree near the ruined valley.
• Yi Yang and Lu Qinglan saw no sign of Lu Zui in the battlefield's central pit, where a paper-white figure and an enormous fat man stood.

Yi Yang and Lu Qinglan overheard two White Lotus Society agents planning to use Lu Zui as a vessel for the Tongueless Lotus Envoy, then followed their scent-tracking lead. Paper Lotus Child detected them and intercepted their escape, leaving Yi Yang to face the agents after smashing its paper body.

• Yi Yang and Lu Qinglan watched Paper Lotus Child and the fat man eat a slain pangolin Demon Beast and discuss their search for Lu Zui.
• Lu Qinglan learned that Lu Zui was alive and that the White Lotus Society intended to use his body to usher in the Tongueless Lotus Envoy.
• Yi Yang told Lu Qinglan to follow the agents so they could find Lu Zui, but Paper Lotus Child detected them through scraps of paper scattered around the forest.
• Yi Yang hurled Lu Qinglan away and told her to split up, but Paper Lotus Child assembled in her path and attacked her with paper scissors.
• Yi Yang rushed to Lu Qinglan's defense and smashed Paper Lotus Child's airborne body with a punch, as its mocking laughter echoed through the forest.

Yi Yang fought Paper Lotus Child and Brother Qian after shielding Lu Qinglan, discovering that Paper Lotus Child could escape a lethal strike with a paper substitute. The fight remained unresolved as Brother Qian attacked Yi Yang from behind.

• Yi Yang shattered Paper Lotus Child's Dharma Body, but the scattered paper reassembled while he sent Lu Qinglan to hide.
• Paper Lotus Child and Brother Qian attacked Yi Yang, and he deflected Paper Lotus Child's spear with two fingers and cut through his paper saber.
• Yi Yang split Paper Lotus Child's body with the Mysterious Abyss Saber, but the attack struck a paper substitute while the real Paper Lotus Child remained unharmed.
• Brother Qian circled behind Yi Yang and swung a massive fist at his back, leaving him with little room to evade.

Yi Yang wounded Qian Fatty, saw through the White Lotus demons’ apparent immortality, and was caught in Paper Lotus Child’s five-senses-sealing treasure. The chapter ended with Paper Lotus Child attacking from behind, unaware that Yi Yang’s perfected Divine Sense still revealed its movements.

• Yi Yang used his saber and Organ-Burning finger technique to wound Qian Fatty, but Qian Fatty healed by consuming the pangolin flesh and blood stored in his belly.
• Yi Yang used his Divine Sense to discover that Paper Lotus Child’s substitutions consumed its blood essence and that Qian Fatty healed by spending stored reserves.
• Paper Lotus Child lit a secret paper lotus lamp that sealed the five senses of Yi Yang and Lu Qinglan.
• Paper Lotus Child approached the motionless Yi Yang and raised its paper saber to strike his neck.
• Yi Yang’s perfected Divine Sense bypassed the lamp’s effects and revealed Paper Lotus Child’s attack.

Yi Yang overcame Paper Lotus Child’s sensory-sealing lamp, then used his thunder seal and saber to defeat the two White Lotus Society fiends. He killed Paper Lotus Child at the bottom of the pit, while Lu Qinglan watched in astonishment.

• Yi Yang used his perfected divine sense to see through the Paper Lotus Lamp and feigned helplessness as Paper Lotus Child and the fat man closed in.
• Yi Yang severed Paper Lotus Child’s lamp-holding arm, then ignited the fat man’s chaotic true qi with his divine-sense technique.
• Yi Yang formed the Awakening of Insects thunder seal and blasted through Paper Lotus Child’s paper doubles and the fat man’s shield, burning Paper Lotus Child and leaving the fat man stunned.
• Yi Yang killed the fat man with White Tiger Howls at the Moon as Lu Qinglan watched from behind the rock wall.
• Yi Yang went into the pit and beheaded the charred Paper Lotus Child before it could plead for its life.

Yi Yang defeated Paper Lotus Child and Fatty Qian, then used his Divine Sense to uncover the White Lotus Holy Maiden in Fatty Qian’s memories. He disguised Lu Qinglan as the Holy Maiden to question the dying captive, who revealed that they had delayed the Dragon Transformation Ritual.

• Yi Yang confirmed Paper Lotus Child was dead and found Fatty Qian barely alive, so he used Heart Prison, Body Incineration to search the captive’s mind.
• Yi Yang glimpsed Fatty Qian’s childhood hunger and then saw his terror of the White Lotus Holy Maiden, whose masked figure overwhelmed him with pressure.
• Yi Yang carved a white-lotus mask and had Lu Qinglan wear it, then briefly restored Fatty Qian’s awareness.
• Yi Yang coached Lu Qinglan to interrogate Fatty Qian as the Holy Maiden, and Fatty Qian confessed that their failure had delayed the Dragon Transformation Ritual.