Chapter Summaries

Feng Chenzi manipulated Ma Weiqi into becoming his disciple and began teaching him a cultivation method while concealing his own plans. In the sealed chamber, Li Xiaoya and Zhang Hong tried to escape and turned their attention to the furnace.

• Feng Chenzi made Ma Weiqi promise not to ask about his origins, accept him as master, and eventually find a way to free him.
• Ma Weiqi pretended to promise to rescue Feng Chenzi while hiding that he had already trapped Li Xiaoya in the sealed chamber.
• Feng Chenzi asked about Li Xiaoya and began teaching Ma Weiqi his cultivation method, intending to use him for a plan he had devised.
• Li Xiaoya and Zhang Hong awkwardly avoided speaking to each other before Li Xiaoya stood up and insisted they find a way out.
• Li Xiaoya and Zhang Hong inspected the sealed chamber and decided to open the furnace in its center.

Li Xiaoya and Zhang Hong tried and failed to open the scorching, impossibly heavy Cauldron, and Zhang Hong's Whip could not damage it. Li Xiaoya noticed a secret while watching her strikes and reached for the lid, believing he had found a way to open it.

• Li Xiaoya burned his hand on the Cauldron's handle, and Zhang Hong treated it with Burn Treatment Medicine.
• Li Xiaoya strengthened his arm and tried to lift the lid, but the Cauldron would not move.
• Zhang Hong repeatedly struck the lid with her Whip, but it remained unmarked.
• Li Xiaoya spotted that the Cauldron's legs were connected to the floor and said Zhang Hong's strikes had revealed a secret.
• Li Xiaoya reached for the lid's handle, preparing to use what he had discovered.

Li Xiaoya and Zhang Hong opened a sealed cauldron and discovered two elixirs that possessed intelligence and immense spiritual power. Li Xiaoya recognized them as Spirit-Forming Elixirs, and both realized they had found a rare treasure.

• Li Xiaoya realized the cauldron lid had to be twisted and used his strength to turn it open.
• The lid flew off as red light erupted from the cauldron, knocking Li Xiaoya away.
• A black elixir and a white elixir emerged and began flying around the chamber.
• Li Xiaoya tried to catch the elixirs, but the black one struck him and knocked him to the ground.
• Li Xiaoya identified the elixirs as Spirit-Forming Elixirs, and Zhang Hong recognized their extraordinary value.

Li Xiaoya and Zhang Hong caught two elusive pills and identified them as Yin-Yang Spirit-Gathering Pills, which could greatly improve their chances of reaching the Golden Core Stage. After Li Xiaoya explained their benefits, he insisted that he needed both pills, shocking Zhang Hong.

• Li Xiaoya and Zhang Hong chased the two pills around the sealed chamber and caught them with a coordinated plan.
• Zhang Hong produced two storage bottles, and Li Xiaoya sealed the white and black pills inside them.
• Li Xiaoya identified the pills as Yin-Yang Spirit-Gathering Pills and explained that each could increase a cultivator’s chances of forming a golden core by thirty percent.
• Zhang Hong offered Li Xiaoya the bottle containing the black pill, but he said he needed both pills.

Li Xiaoya tried to persuade Zhang Hong to give him the paired elixirs, but his explanation about her relationship with Ma Weiqi upset her. After she calmed down, Zhang Hong insisted on knowing who he planned to use the elixirs with.

• Zhang Hong mistook Li Xiaoya’s request for an attempt to kill her and take her treasures, then guarded herself with a barrier and whip.
• Li Xiaoya showed Zhang Hong the book’s note that the elixirs required a virgin man and woman to harmonize yin and yang through dual cultivation.
• Li Xiaoya suggested Zhang Hong could not use the elixirs because of Ma Weiqi, and Zhang Hong burst into tears.
• Li Xiaoya tried to console Zhang Hong and offered to compensate her with elixirs, spirit stones, and Spiritual Artifacts.
• Zhang Hong asked who Li Xiaoya planned to use the elixirs with, and Li Xiaoya could not give her an answer.
• Zhang Hong repeated her question and waited for Li Xiaoya to tell her who he would use the elixirs with.

Li Xiaoya and Zhang Hong discovered that the chamber’s cauldron was releasing pure fire spirit energy that could help them cultivate while they searched for a way out. As Li Xiaoya prepared to begin seclusion, Zhang Hong did something that left him bewildered.

• Zhang Hong refused to hand Li Xiaoya the Yin-Yang Spirit-Gathering Pill until he brought the woman he wanted to practice dual cultivation with to her after they escaped.
• Li Xiaoya noticed the chamber’s fire-attributed spiritual qi growing denser, and he and Zhang Hong traced it to the cauldron.
• Li Xiaoya and Zhang Hong found streams of exceptionally pure fire spirit energy flowing through the cauldron’s three holes and admired its craftsmanship.
• Li Xiaoya told Zhang Hong he practiced the Divine Flame Art, while Zhang Hong said she practiced the Fire-Settling Art.
• Zhang Hong pressed Li Xiaoya about the woman he admired, and he described her as the most beautiful fairy in all heaven and earth.
• Li Xiaoya took out his Storage Pouches and proposed cultivating in the chamber while they looked for a way to escape, but Zhang Hong’s next move bewildered him.

Li Xiaoya and Zhang Hong put up a cloth partition to keep apart while cultivating, as Ma Weiqi sorted treasures from Ancient Demon Mountain. Feng Chenzi persuaded Ma Weiqi to keep the demonic treasures and taught him a secret method to refine them, hoping to advance his own plans.

• Zhang Hong set up a white-cloth wall and an Isolation Technique to separate herself from Li Xiaoya while they cultivated.
• Ma Weiqi finished sorting treasures from Ancient Demon Mountain and told Feng Chenzi that many contained demonic qi.
• Feng Chenzi urged Ma Weiqi to use the demonic treasures, claiming they could help him form a Golden Core within a few decades.
• Ma Weiqi agreed to learn Feng Chenzi's secret method for directly refining the spiritual and demonic qi in the treasures.

Sun Xing and Jin Zhan traveled to the Fire Dragon Palace, while Shao Shiqi brought Huang Hua, Dong Gu Nü, and Li Xiangxiang back to the Heavenly Dao Sect. The sect elders discussed Ma Weiqi’s betrayal and Li Xiaoya’s involvement, leaving Shao Shiqi to report the matter to Daoling.

• Sun Xing summoned a Unicorn Eagle Beast, and he and Jin Zhan rode it into the Ten Thousand Volcanoes toward the Fire Dragon Palace.
• Shao Shiqi brought Huang Hua, Dong Gu Nü, and Li Xiangxiang to Divine Path Mountain on his Jade Ruyi.
• After reporting to the sect, Huang Hua parted from Dong Gu Nü and Li Xiangxiang and returned to the Twin Peaks.
• The Heavenly Dao Sect elders discussed Ma Weiqi’s betrayal and the danger surrounding Li Xiaoya, the child destined to face the tribulation.
• One elder agreed to tell Ma Weiqi’s father about his son, while Shao Shiqi was asked to inform Daoling about Li Xiaoya.

After learning that Li Xiaoya had disappeared with the Southwestern Ancient City, Heavenly Venerable Daoling checked Li Xiaoya’s Lifebound Primordial Spirit Lamp and decided to go there himself. Fairy Qingxia noticed his departure and suspected Li Xiaoya had gotten into trouble, while her disciple continued preparing to break through to the eighth layer.

• Zhang Cai told Heavenly Venerable Daoling that Li Xiaoya had disappeared with the Southwestern Ancient City after Elder Shao Shiqi reported the incident.
• Heavenly Venerable Daoling examined Li Xiaoya’s Lifebound Primordial Spirit Lamp and found a tiny flame still burning.
• Heavenly Venerable Daoling decided to travel to the Southwestern Ancient City and ordered Zhang Cai to tend the garden and watch the cave abode.
• Zhang Cai asked Heavenly Venerable Daoling about his past visit to the Southwestern Ancient City with Martial Aunt Qingxia, and Daoling assigned him garden work for asking.
• Fairy Qingxia sensed Heavenly Venerable Daoling’s departure and suspected Li Xiaoya had gotten into trouble while her disciple discussed an expected breakthrough to the eighth layer.

Li Xiaoya continued cultivating in the sealed chamber, frustrated by his failed attempts to reach late condensed core, while Zhang Hong watched him through the curtain and brooded over the Yin-Yang Spirit-Gathering Pills. Elsewhere, Heavenly Venerable Daoling searched the ruins of the Southwestern Ancient City and activated a Black Metal Disc, causing stone steles to rise from the ground.

• Li Xiaoya meditated on the Spirit-Transforming Beast hide, lamented that he could not break through to late condensed core, and vowed to avenge Senior Brother Liu and Senior Sister Zhang Hong.
• Zhang Hong secretly watched Li Xiaoya through the nearly transparent curtain, then took out the Yin-Yang Spirit-Gathering Pills and sat in a sorrowful daze.
• Heavenly Venerable Daoling arrived at the ruins of the Southwestern Ancient City and passed through its restrictions into the empty basin.
• Heavenly Venerable Daoling used a Black Metal Disc to search the basin, chanted an incantation, and caused pillar-like stone steles to burst from the ground.

Heavenly Venerable Daoling used the Black Spirit Disk to contact the Black Qilin and learned that Li Xiaoya was trapped in the forbidden ground. The Black Qilin agreed to try to rescue him in exchange for Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Liquid, while Daoling wondered whether the Southwestern Ancient City was in the Upper Realm.

• Heavenly Venerable Daoling activated the Black Spirit Disk and opened a communication screen with the Black Qilin.
• The Black Qilin learned that Daoling had no news of the person he was searching for and rebuked him for using the disk.
• Daoling asked about his disciple, and the Black Qilin recognized Li Xiaoya as someone trapped in the forbidden ground.
• Daoling explained that some people had escaped through a Teleportation Formation, but Li Xiaoya remained trapped in a sealed chamber.
• The Black Qilin agreed to do his best to rescue Li Xiaoya in exchange for a portion of Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Liquid.
• After the Black Qilin's image vanished, Heavenly Venerable Daoling wondered whether the Southwestern Ancient City was in the Upper Realm, retrieved the disk, and left.

Elder Sun Xing returned to the Fire Dragon Palace with Jin Zhan and learned that his younger brother had reported his failure in the Southwestern Ancient City. The younger Sun Xing secretly detained a subordinate and began considering how to recruit Jin Zhan, while elder Sun Xing seethed over his brother’s actions.

• Elder Sun Xing arrived at the Fire Dragon Palace with Jin Zhan and heard from a subordinate that something had happened in the palace.
• Younger Sun Xing confronted his elder brother about the cultivators lost in the Southwestern Ancient City and revealed that he had reported the failure.
• Younger Sun Xing forced a subordinate to escort him to his cave abode, then handed the man to a scarred giant for interrogation.
• Younger Sun Xing suspected Jin Zhan was the legendary Blood Bone Sword and decided to investigate and try to win him over.
• Elder Sun Xing arranged for Jin Zhan to stay at the VIP Guest House, then punched a hole through a pillar in anger at his brother.

Li Xiaoya woke from a dream of his mother and spoke with Zhang Hong about his past, his lost Necklace, and her partnership with Ma Weiqi. Their argument ended with Zhang Hong breaking down over Liu Hang’s death and her fear of suffering the same fate.

• Li Xiaoya woke from a dream of his mother and struggled with longing for the family whose faces he had forgotten.
• Zhang Hong asked Li Xiaoya about his disappearance in Spiritlight Lake, and he recounted a selective version of what happened there.
• Li Xiaoya explained that his parents had left him the powerful Necklace, then asked Zhang Hong why she had agreed to become Ma Weiqi’s Dual Cultivation Partner.
• Li Xiaoya criticized Zhang Hong’s choice and reminded her that Liu Hang had loved her, prompting her to say she had no protection or powerful Master and felt she had no choice.
• Zhang Hong sobbed that Liu Hang’s death had broken her heart and that she feared meeting the same end, while saying she could not return every cultivator’s feelings.

Li Xiaoya and Zhang Hong fought playfully in the sealed chamber until they noticed black liquid leaking from the metal wall. They suspected their fire spells could expose a weakness in the self-restoring wall and tried attacking it together.

• Zhang Hong attacked Li Xiaoya with her whip and fire techniques, but he evaded her strikes throughout the chamber.
• Zhang Hong summoned a red handkerchief that launched golden swords, then gave up when Li Xiaoya avoided her attacks.
• Zhang Hong dragged the Spirit-Transforming Beast's hide aside, and Li Xiaoya noticed traces of black liquid in the corner.
• Li Xiaoya deduced that the liquid might let the metal wall restore itself and that Zhang Hong's fire spells had forced some of it out.
• Li Xiaoya and Zhang Hong joined forces and unleashed scarlet flames at the metal wall.

Li Xiaoya and Zhang Hong heated the metal wall until it changed, then Li Xiaoya’s punch left a mark that did not immediately heal. After Zhang Hong treated his injured hand, the wall began restoring itself again, leaving them without a lasting way through.

• Li Xiaoya and Zhang Hong combined their Flames to heat the metal wall for an hour, until pale vapor rose and its surface began to lose its black color.
• Li Xiaoya stopped heating and punched the warmed spot, injuring his fist but leaving a shallow mark that initially remained in the wall.
• Zhang Hong treated Li Xiaoya’s mangled hand with elixirs as he explained that the wall had reflected his force back at him.
• Li Xiaoya and Zhang Hong noticed the scorched patch and fist mark slowly returning to their original state, and they exchanged speechless looks.

Li Xiaoya and Zhang Hong struggled to escape the sealed city by heating and striking the self-restoring metal wall, but their efforts failed and they realized they might need to advance their cultivation. Meanwhile, the Black Qilin chose not to enter the dangerous area and left a rope-and-staff route that could help them escape.

• Li Xiaoya concluded that they needed to heat a wider section of the wall for longer, but said he would need the Fire Dragon Sword and more strength to break through.
• The Black Qilin hesitated at the passage, decided not to enter, and anchored a purple staff with a black rope and bell near the golden light before leaving.
• Li Xiaoya and Zhang Hong tried several methods over the next few days, but the metal wall continued to restore itself.
• Zhang Hong and Li Xiaoya exhausted their magic power trying to retrieve the Fire Dragon Sword from a small hole in the wall, which began closing again.
• Li Xiaoya and Zhang Hong concluded that they might need to reach late condensed core, though both recognized that advancing would be difficult.

Li Xiaoya and Zhang Hong recovered their Magic Power and exchanged Cultivation Insights in the sealed chamber. Later, Zhang Hong approached Li Xiaoya while he slept and initiated Dual Cultivation, leaving the two together in the chamber.

• Zhang Hong and Li Xiaoya swallowed elixirs and meditated to restore their Magic Power.
• Zhang Hong watched Li Xiaoya meditate and briefly lost herself in thought before he startled her by calling her name.
• Li Xiaoya and Zhang Hong compared their Cultivation Insights, including notes from Senior Brother Liu Hang.
• Zhang Hong approached the sleeping Li Xiaoya wearing only a light undershemmis and asked him to engage in Dual Cultivation.
• Li Xiaoya and Zhang Hong began Dual Cultivation in the sealed chamber.

Li Xiaoya awoke beside Zhang Hong after they had slept together, and she confessed that she loved him while he struggled with guilt and confusion. He discovered that his cultivation had advanced to the seventh layer after Zhang Hong used an elixir, and their argument ended with them embracing again.

• Li Xiaoya awoke with Zhang Hong beside him, and she kissed him after he realized she had been awake.
• Zhang Hong asked whether Li Xiaoya blamed her or liked her, and he struggled to answer while thinking of Liu Qingshan and another woman.
• Zhang Hong reminded Li Xiaoya that he had promised Liu Qingshan to take care of her, then told him that she liked him.
• Li Xiaoya discovered that his cultivation had reached the seventh layer and accused Zhang Hong of using the elixir for her own goal.
• Zhang Hong angrily challenged Li Xiaoya's accusation, and they resumed their intimacy.

Li Xiaoya and Zhang Hong began practicing a dual cultivation method after she explained its formula to him. As the Yin-Yang Spirit-Gathering Pill took effect, their energies joined and drew them into a strange state of shared sensations.

• Li Xiaoya asked Zhang Hong when she had given him the Yin-Yang Spirit-Gathering Pill, and she revealed that she had passed it to him during a kiss.
• Zhang Hong explained the dual cultivation method to Li Xiaoya and taught him how to circulate their energy.
• Li Xiaoya and Zhang Hong circulated their magic power together, forming a circuit as red fire spirit energy flowed toward them.
• The pill stirred powerful energies in both of their dantians, but Li Xiaoya regained control and restored their circulation.
• A fiery barrier formed around the pair as they floated into the air, their bodies surrounded by circling black and white light.
• Li Xiaoya and Zhang Hong felt as though they had become one and could sense each other's emotions and sensations.

Li Xiaoya and Zhang Hong emerged from a prolonged period of cultivation and intimacy to discover that more than five years had passed and their cultivation had advanced. Li Xiaoya began explaining the Yin-Yang Spirit-Gathering Pills’ role, but left his suspicion unfinished.

• Li Xiaoya and Zhang Hong descended after their magic power merged, then were intimate in the sealed chamber.
• Li Xiaoya realized they had spent over five years in the chamber, and Zhang Hong reacted with embarrassment and anger.
• Zhang Hong accidentally struck Li Xiaoya with newly powerful flames, then discovered she had reached the peak of the ninth level of late condensed core.
• Li Xiaoya found his Storage Pouch and checked his cultivation, discovering he had reached only the peak of the eighth level.
• Li Xiaoya attributed their gains to the spiritual qi absorbed by the sentient Yin-Yang Spirit-Gathering Pills, then trailed off while voicing a suspicion.