Chapter Summaries

Li Xiaoya trained with the Four Friends of the Wang, learned to cast spells through the Fire Dragon Sword, and greatly improved his magical combat skills. After several days, he bid them farewell and flew back to Heavenly Capital Peak, more cautious about revealing his powerful treasure.

• Li Xiaoya failed to cast a Fireball Technique through the Fire Dragon Sword until Wang Xuanyu explained that he needed to unite his mind with the weapon through practice.
• Wang Ding defeated Wang Xuanyu in a lengthy spar, and Li Xiaoya later lost to Wang Feiyu after learning from their combat.
• Li Xiaoya and the Four Friends of the Wang exchanged cultivation advice and shared White Gold Pills while training together over several days.
• Li Xiaoya mastered casting spells through the Fire Dragon Sword, nearly doubling his spells' power and casting speed.
• Li Xiaoya improved in sparring against the Four Friends of the Wang, then said farewell and flew toward Heavenly Capital Peak.
• Li Xiaoya resolved to conceal the Fire Dragon Sword unless necessary after reflecting on how even a valuable treasure could provoke greed.

Li Xiaoya was barred from registering for the Spiritlight Lake selection tournament and went to ask Heavenly Venerable Daoling why. His master revealed that the sect’s tournament-exempt place had been assigned to him, but Li Xiaoya still wanted to compete.

• Li Xiaoya recalled his limited progress at the Star Plucking Platform and focused on cultivation as the selection tournament approached.
• A registration disciple told Li Xiaoya that the Heavenly Capital Peak master had forbidden him from entering and advised him to ask his master.
• Li Xiaoya visited Heavenly Venerable Daoling and stubbornly demanded an explanation for being denied registration.
• Heavenly Venerable Daoling praised Li Xiaoya’s progress and revealed that he had arranged for Li Xiaoya to receive the sect’s place exempt from the tournament.
• Heavenly Venerable Daoling explained that Li Xiaoya needed Spiritlight Lake more than the other candidates, but Li Xiaoya still asked to enter the tournament.

Li Xiaoya asked to enter a competition, but Heavenly Venerable Daoling instead began training him in magical combat and divine abilities. He brought Li Xiaoya to a hidden valley and introduced him to his sixth senior brother, Zhang Facai, after Zhang emerged from the Heavenly Gang Illusory Demon Formation.

• Li Xiaoya asked to enter a competition to hone his combat skills, but Heavenly Venerable Daoling said he would begin training him in life-and-death combat instead.
• Heavenly Venerable Daoling led Li Xiaoya through a passage into a secluded valley and said he would stay there for the month.
• Heavenly Venerable Daoling took Li Xiaoya into a palace and showed him the Heavenly Gang Illusory Demon Formation, warning him to shield himself from its demonic energy.
• The thirty-six pillars of the formation moved aside, revealing a man who knelt before Heavenly Venerable Daoling.
• Heavenly Venerable Daoling introduced the man as Li Xiaoya’s sixth senior brother, Zhang Facai, and praised his progress in the Azure Wind Art.

Heavenly Venerable Daoling assigned Zhang Facai to teach Li Xiaoya practical combat using the Heavenly Gang Illusory Demon Formation. Zhang activated its basic illusion setting before Li Xiaoya was ready, transporting him to an unfamiliar place.

• Heavenly Venerable Daoling put Zhang Facai in charge of Li Xiaoya’s combat training and told him to use the formation’s basic setting.
• Zhang Facai told Li Xiaoya that he had become Daoling’s disciple after eating a Purple Qi Immortal Fruit and had reached the middle golden core stage with a wind immortal root.
• Zhang Facai hurried Li Xiaoya into the center of the hall and began activating the Heavenly Gang Illusory Demon Formation.
• As the pillars spun faster, Li Xiaoya activated his Protective Barrier and found himself in an unfamiliar but somewhat familiar place.

Li Xiaoya was trapped in the Heavenly Gang Illusory Demon Formation and knocked unconscious by a fifth-tier demon beast. He awoke to learn Zhang Facai’s mistake had nearly killed him and reduced his cultivation by two levels, then fainted again in anger.

• Li Xiaoya found himself in unfamiliar woods and sensed a demon beast with an aura he believed belonged to a Golden Core Stage creature.
• The beast attacked Li Xiaoya, shattered his defenses, and sent him crashing through several trees before he passed out.
• Li Xiaoya woke in the hall to Zhang Facai, who admitted he had forgotten Li Xiaoya was inside the Heavenly Gang Illusory Demon Formation.
• Zhang Facai explained that Li Xiaoya’s injuries were to his consciousness, but the attack had left him unable to move and lowered his cultivation by two levels.
• Li Xiaoya became furious at Zhang Facai’s confession and fainted again.

Li Xiaoya recovered after Zhang Facai’s formation mistake cost him two cultivation levels, and Zhang Facai tried to persuade him not to tell their master. Li Xiaoya agreed in exchange for restored cultivation, pills, and treasures, then backed off from asking for spirit stones when Zhang Facai balked.

• Li Xiaoya woke as Zhang Facai sprayed green mist on him and discovered he could move again, though his cultivation had fallen from the ninth level to the seventh.
• Zhang Facai repeatedly tried to speak with Li Xiaoya until Li Xiaoya finally let him explain that he wanted him to hide the formation mistake from their master.
• Li Xiaoya hinted that his reduced cultivation could expose the mistake, so Zhang Facai promised to restore it within ten days and offered him pills and artifacts.
• Li Xiaoya agreed to keep quiet in exchange for the promised items and permission to choose Zhang Facai’s unwanted treasures.
• Li Xiaoya joked that he also needed spirit stones, but withdrew the request when Zhang Facai hesitated.

Li Xiaoya followed Zhang Facai through his maze-like cave abode to see the treasures he wanted to show him. They reached a glowing golden door, leaving Li Xiaoya staring at it in astonishment.

• Zhang Facai revealed that he had over three million Mid-grade Spirit Stones and took Li Xiaoya to his cave abode.
• Zhang Facai showed off the plants and fish he cared for in the valley before leading Li Xiaoya inside.
• Zhang Facai warned Li Xiaoya about the cave’s formations and traps, then guided him through its maze of passages and hidden restrictions.
• Zhang Facai said he had designed the cave abode and led Li Xiaoya through a temporary opening in a stone wall.
• Zhang Facai brought Li Xiaoya before a huge, faintly glowing golden door sculpted with a Five-Clawed Dragon.

Zhang Facai showed Li Xiaoya his hidden cavern and claimed its Spirit Stones were dangerous to touch, then led him to a sparse treasure room to choose a Dharma Artifact. Li Xiaoya doubted Zhang Facai’s honesty as he began presenting the few items on display.

• Li Xiaoya mistook Zhang Facai’s Dragonhead Ingot for a gold door, and Zhang Facai revealed it was a Magic Treasure forged from gold essence.
• Zhang Facai unlocked the Dragonhead Ingot and exposed a chamber filled with heaps of Mid-grade Spirit Stones.
• Zhang Facai warned Li Xiaoya not to touch the Spirit Stones, claiming they were poisonous and restricted.
• Zhang Facai led Li Xiaoya downstairs to a small room containing only seven or eight items.
• Li Xiaoya accused Zhang Facai of deceiving him, but Zhang Facai swore the room was his treasure room and introduced a Green Spirit Sword.

Li Xiaoya argued with Zhang Facai over the poor-quality Dharma Artifacts he offered and tried to get Spirit Stones instead. Zhang Facai refused but offered to teach him formations, and Li Xiaoya agreed to try.

• Zhang Facai showed Li Xiaoya a collection of mostly low- and mid-grade Dharma Artifacts, but Li Xiaoya dismissed them as junk.
• Zhang Facai admitted he had traded his unused artifacts for Spirit Stones, and Li Xiaoya accused him of trying to pass off the unsellable leftovers.
• Li Xiaoya threatened to leave unless Zhang Facai gave him Spirit Stones to buy Spiritual Artifacts, but Zhang Facai refused.
• Zhang Facai offered to teach Li Xiaoya formations and explained that he had earned most of his Spirit Stones by selling Formation Flags.
• Li Xiaoya doubted Zhang Facai’s assurances but agreed to try learning a formation.

Zhang Facai taught Li Xiaoya the basics of formations and showed him the Formation Flags used to create an Illusion Formation. He began demonstrating how to lay it out, leaving Li Xiaoya thinking the process was simple.

• Zhang Facai showed Li Xiaoya an ancient book written in Ancient Clerical Script and explained that only a few people in the Heavenly Dao Sect could read it.
• Zhang Facai gave Li Xiaoya a clear lesson on formations, their uses, categories, and the role of spirit stones.
• Li Xiaoya asked about the Five-Element Magic Formation, and Zhang Facai explained that cultivators used it to subdue spiritual qi and break through restrictions and other formations.
• Zhang Facai explained how Illusion Formations used five-element spiritual qi and handed Li Xiaoya five Formation Flags.
• Zhang Facai took back the flags and showed Li Xiaoya how to plant them according to the book’s diagram to activate the Illusion Formation.

Zhang Facai taught Li Xiaoya how to set up and control a low-level Illusion Formation, and Li Xiaoya discovered his strong divine sense could detect even a concealed formation. After successfully setting up a formation himself, Li Xiaoya objected when Zhang Facai suggested they were even after teaching him just one.

• Zhang Facai planted five formation flags and activated an Illusion Formation, then showed Li Xiaoya how adjusting the flags concealed it.
• Li Xiaoya sensed the concealed formation with his divine sense, and Zhang Facai realized that his junior brother's divine sense was unusually strong.
• Zhang Facai explained how formation positions depended on the terrain and taught Li Xiaoya to control the formation with a command flag and incantations.
• Li Xiaoya practiced the Illusion Formation's variations and successfully set up and activated one himself.
• Zhang Facai said they were even, but Li Xiaoya protested that he had only been taught one formation.

Li Xiaoya tricked Zhang Facai into giving him a valuable ancient formation book and two hundred thousand Spirit Stones. He then asked to learn Ancient Clerical Script, and Zhang Facai gave him a Jade Slip containing a guide.

• Li Xiaoya exposed Zhang Facai’s low estimate of the Formation Flags and demanded his formation book instead.
• Zhang Facai handed over the book, and Li Xiaoya seized it and threatened to sell it after learning how valuable it was.
• Zhang Facai offered two hundred thousand Spirit Stones for the book, and Li Xiaoya accepted the payment.
• Li Xiaoya kept the book and asked Zhang Facai to teach him Ancient Clerical Script.
• Zhang Facai used the Copying Spell to transfer his Ancient Clerical Script guide into a Jade Slip and gave it to Li Xiaoya.

Li Xiaoya obtained formation techniques from Zhang Facai, then endured ten days of brutal combat training in the Heavenly Gang Illusory Demon Formation while Zhang Facai helped restore his cultivation each night. His abilities and combat awareness improved, but the chapter left him still suffering through the punishing training regimen.

• Li Xiaoya accepted a Jade Slip from Zhang Facai without checking it, then persuaded him to copy several simple formations into another slip.
• Li Xiaoya asked Zhang Facai for his Dharma Artifacts, so Zhang Facai hurried him to the entrance and sealed it with the Dragonhead Ingot.
• Zhang Facai put Li Xiaoya through ten days of daytime training in the Heavenly Gang Illusory Demon Formation, where he fought beasts and cultivators using varied abilities.
• Zhang Facai explained that the formation used sealed primordial spirits and beast souls to simulate opponents, and that Heavenly Venerable Daoling had built it privately.
• Li Xiaoya improved his Cross Flame Blade, combat awareness, and use of other abilities under Zhang Facai's guidance.
• Zhang Facai restored Li Xiaoya's cultivation at night through a process so painful that it repeatedly brought him back from the brink of death.

After Zhang Facai force-fed Li Xiaoya elixirs and drove his cultivation in an agonizing effort to restore his realm, Li Xiaoya fought through the Heavenly Gang Illusory Demon Formation and defeated its hidden enemies. He began to suspect Zhang Facai had deliberately caused the accident that weakened him, but Zhang Facai denied remembering it.

• Zhang Facai forced Li Xiaoya to take excessive Third-Tier Elixirs and circulated his cultivation method to restore his realm over ten days.
• Li Xiaoya evaded an ambush in the ruined buildings, used his Fire Spirit Thread to kill one attacker, and defeated another with his Cross Flame Blade.
• Li Xiaoya completed the formation trial and returned to Zhang Facai, who praised him for defeating thirteen Third-Tier Demon Beasts and thirteen Great Perfection Realm cultivators in under an hour.
• Li Xiaoya noticed his magic power had become purer and his state of mind steadier, then asked Zhang Facai whether he had caused the earlier accident on purpose.
• Zhang Facai claimed he did not remember the accident and lamented that he had already compensated Li Xiaoya for his mistake.

Li Xiaoya learned that the Sect Selection had already ended, but Zhang Facai refused to let him leave his training and forced him back into the Heavenly Gang Illusory Demon Formation. After days of grueling practice, Li Xiaoya defeated a third-tier demon beast and survived its dying attack with the Vacuum Ring’s Protective Barrier.

• Li Xiaoya asked Zhang Facai when he could leave and learned that the Sect Selection tournament had finished the day before.
• Li Xiaoya tried to go see Heavenly Venerable Daoling, but Zhang Facai caught him and sent him back into the Heavenly Gang Illusory Demon Formation.
• Zhang Facai put Li Xiaoya through daily fights against Core Condensation Stage cultivators and demon beasts, then force-fed him pills to restore his cultivation at night.
• Li Xiaoya used the Fire Dragon Sword to wound a massive Ox-Headed, Tiger-Bodied Beast and struck its neck at close range.
• The demon beast’s dying blow shattered Li Xiaoya’s fiery-red barrier and sent him through four trees, but the Vacuum Ring’s Protective Barrier kept him unharmed.
• The Ox-Headed, Tiger-Bodied Beast collapsed and died after its attack, while Li Xiaoya’s training taught him how to focus the Vacuum Ring’s defense against a third-tier demon beast.

After Li Xiaoya killed a third-tier demon beast with his Fire Dragon Sword, Zhang Facai brought him to meet Heavenly Venerable Daoling. The chapter ended as Zhang Facai praised Li Xiaoya’s hard work before their master.

• Zhang Facai offered Li Xiaoya three million spirit stones for the Fire Dragon Sword, but Li Xiaoya refused and explained how he had used it to kill the third-tier demon beast.
• Zhang Facai told Li Xiaoya that Heavenly Venerable Daoling wanted to see him after he defeated a third-tier demon beast, then led him to the master’s cave abode, A World Beyond.
• Li Xiaoya reflected on the demon beast fight and the substantial gains in cultivation, resilience, and combat ability he had made over several months.
• Li Xiaoya and Zhang Facai entered the cave abode, marveled at its dense spiritual qi and glowing plants, and greeted Heavenly Venerable Daoling.
• Zhang Facai thanked Heavenly Venerable Daoling for his guidance and praised Li Xiaoya’s hard work.

Li Xiaoya left Heavenly Venerable Daoling’s abode after being told to prepare for the Spiritlight Lake trip, then searched for Liu Xian'er and visited the Star Plucking Platform. There, after shopping and haggling for a dharma artifact, he spotted two familiar figures.

• Heavenly Venerable Daoling praised Li Xiaoya’s progress, told him to prepare for Spiritlight Lake, and had a puppet escort him out.
• Zhang Facai questioned why Li Xiaoya had received so many pills, and Heavenly Venerable Daoling explained that an artifact from Qi'er had helped his progress.
• Li Xiaoya learned that Liu Xian'er had left Rainbow Rosy Peak with her master and reflected on how he had grown into a sixteen-year-old.
• Li Xiaoya failed to find the Four Friends of the Wang at the Star Plucking Platform and discovered that his name had disappeared from the ranking.
• Li Xiaoya gathered crafting supplies and haggled over a Spiritfire Knife before noticing two familiar figures.

Li Xiaoya bought a Spiritfire Knife and met Wang Feiyu and Wang Ling, who told him how the selection tournament had gone for the Four Friends of the Wang. As he flew away, he reflected on their uncertain prospects and resolved to help them where he could.

• Li Xiaoya bought a Spiritfire Knife for four hundred and fifty Spirit Stones as a backup weapon.
• Li Xiaoya reunited with Wang Feiyu and Wang Ling and learned Wang Ding had qualified for training while Wang Xuanyu had transferred to Rainbow Rosy Peak.
• Li Xiaoya told Wang Feiyu and Wang Ling that his master had reserved the Heavenly Dao Sect's tournament place for him.
• Wang Feiyu said Dong Santong had won the selection tournament and had defeated him in his first match.
• Li Xiaoya gave Wang Feiyu and Wang Ling two bottles of third-rank pills, then flew away thinking about their cultivation prospects and his feelings for Xian'er.

Li Xiaoya visited Jade Bamboo Peak to see Dong Santong and Liu Xian'er, then challenged Dong Santong to a fight. Liu Xian'er tried to calm them as the group gathered on shore.

• Li Xiaoya went to Jade Bamboo Peak and called for Dong Santong.
• Buddha Xuanmen opened a passage through the mist, and Li Xiaoya crossed the lake to greet him and Fairy Qingxia.
• Li Xiaoya spotted Liu Xian'er and became flustered, while she turned away from him.
• Li Xiaoya and Dong Santong argued over who was senior and whose cultivation was stronger.
• Li Xiaoya and Dong Santong accepted each other's challenge and headed for shore as Buddha Xuanmen and Fairy Qingxia followed.
• Liu Xian'er joined them on shore and urged the two martial nephews to preserve harmony.

Li Xiaoya sparred with Dong Santong, whose speed and Light Spiritual Root made him a dangerous opponent. Li Xiaoya countered several attacks and detected Dong Santong’s ambushes, but the fight continued as he launched a Flame Blade at Dong Santong’s dazzling defenses.

• Dong Santong attacked Li Xiaoya with a ball of light, but Li Xiaoya blocked it with a fireball and sent them both flying back.
• Dong Santong pierced Li Xiaoya’s Flame Blade with a beam of light and grazed his shoulder, but Li Xiaoya drove him back with the Fire Ring Technique.
• Buddha Xuanmen and Fairy Qingxia discussed Li Xiaoya’s rapid improvement and Dong Santong’s rare Light Spiritual Root.
• Dong Santong conjured a hand of light and vanished, while Li Xiaoya bound the hand with a fire serpent and detected Dong Santong’s next attack.
• Dong Santong’s bright spinning light deflected Li Xiaoya’s flames, but Li Xiaoya moved behind him and launched a huge Flame Blade.