Chapter Summaries

Li Yu mastered Taiyi Starshine, used it to find lingering injuries that could hinder Foundation Establishment, and treated his blocked acupoints with the Purple Glow Art. After befriending Lu Dan and accepting porridge from Jin Ling, he offered to examine her spiritual roots and discovered scars on her hardworking palm.

• Li Yu mastered internal observation with Taiyi Starshine and found that some of his acupoints remained obstructed despite the Purple Glow Art healing his meridians.
• Li Yu treated his acupoints with the Purple Glow Art and met Lu Dan, a scholar of the Orthodox School who taught Jin Ling in exchange for meals.
• Jin Ling offered Li Yu porridge, and he asked how the village tested spiritual roots.
• Jin Ling agreed to let Li Yu examine her spiritual roots, and he noticed the scars on her palm before touching it with his finger.

Li Yu discovered that Jin Ling had an immortal bone that awakened and gave her a metal spirit root, but the awakening overwhelmed her. He drew the golden energy out to ease her condition, and Shi Sang arrived to find Jin Ling unconscious in his arms.

• Li Yu examined Jin Ling with Taiyi Starshine, found no spirit roots, and then accidentally illuminated her spine.
• Golden radiance surged through Jin Ling's body, awakening her immortal bones and causing her to faint.
• Li Yu used Yi Light Condensing Edge to draw the golden energy from Jin Ling and discovered that she had gained a metal spirit root.
• Li Yu wondered about Jin Guang's origins and reviewed legends of immortals and the Three Immortal Isles.
• Shi Sang found Jin Ling unconscious, and Li Yu told her that sensing spiritual energy for the first time could cause it.

Li Yu recognized Jin Ling’s Golden Luminary Spirit Body and explained how she could eventually join the Mount Lao Sword Sect, while helping her begin cultivation. Jin Ling failed to draw in the Great Sun Floating Heaven Purple Qi, and Old Master Lu arrived as her first lesson ended.

• Li Yu researched immortal aptitude and identified Jin Ling’s condition as a Golden Luminary Spirit Body suited to sword cultivation.
• Jin Ling brought Li Yu a bowl of rice, and he accepted it as tuition before explaining the Mystic Sects to her.
• Li Yu stopped Jin Ling from formally becoming his disciple and told her she could join the Mount Lao Sword Sect when she was older.
• Li Yu explained the danger of Jin Ling’s prematurely awakened spirit body and used Yi Light Condensing Edge to draw away the metal qi it attracted.
• Li Yu guided Jin Ling in sensing the Great Sun Floating Heaven Purple Qi, but she could not draw it into herself before becoming exhausted.
• Old Master Lu appeared and saw Jin Ling sitting cross-legged on the earthen mound.

Li Yu helped Jin Ling begin cultivating and learned she had developed spiritual sense after Old Master Lu taught her the Right Mind Formula. He investigated pearl harvesting and was weighing how to earn spirit stones when a message from the Great Evolution Academy arrived.

• Li Yu carried the exhausted Jin Ling home, where Shi Sang thanked him and offered him extra spirit stones and food.
• Li Yu returned to the seventh layer of Qi Refinement and took Jin Ling to practice the Purple Glow Art, where she drew in three wisps of purple qi.
• Jin Ling told Li Yu that Old Master Lu had taught her the Right Mind Formula, which had helped her develop spiritual sense.
• Li Yu learned that Ying Ruomu had gone out to sea and investigated pearl harvesting, but decided to wait until his Taiyi Starshine advanced before trying it himself.
• Li Yu opened a private message from the Great Evolution Academy's official account and stood up in excitement.

Li Yu arrived at the Great Evolution Academy through the Metaverse and completed enrollment in its adult education program. After choosing private lessons, he met Teacher Su Wen and began his studies at the Purple Origin Palace.

• Li Yu uploaded a wisp of spiritual sense and traveled across the universe to the Great Evolution Academy’s Metaverse campus.
• Meng Wanzhu introduced herself as Li Yu’s student adviser, helped him learn to use his avatar, and explained the academy’s classes and procedures.
• Li Yu completed his enrollment and chose private lessons because he had many questions and lacked a foundation.
• Meng Wanzhu brought Li Yu to an empty classroom and summoned Teacher Su Wen, who prepared basic adult primary school materials for him.

Li Yu asked Su Wen how to enter the Whirling Illumination realm, and Su Wen examined his unusual cultivation path through the Taiyi True Explanation and Purple Glow Art. Su Wen outlined how Li Yu might eventually cultivate a second primordial spirit and pursue Mahayana, then asked what aspect he wanted to focus on as he began Whirling Illumination.

• Li Yu asked Su Wen for guidance on reaching Whirling Illumination, explaining that he practiced the Taiyi True Explanation alongside the Purple Glow Art.
• Su Wen examined the Taiyi Divine Chapter and learned that Li Yu's Five Lotus Sect possessed five Creation Divine Lotuses tied to the Heavenly Emperor's Palace at Kunlun.
• Su Wen suggested that the Creation Divine Lotuses might help Li Yu establish an immortal path foundation and eventually perfect the Taiyi Divine Chapter.
• Su Wen explained how a second primordial spirit and a prosthetic dao-body could let Li Yu cultivate anew and potentially reach Mahayana.
• Su Wen described his own Spirit Division and Thought Manifestation technique and asked Li Yu what he wanted to focus on in the future.

Li Yu learned from Su Wen that Taiyi Divine Illumination could help him avoid danger and form the basis of his Whirling Illumination cultivation. After an initial failure in an artificial body, Li Yu successfully advanced on his second attempt, though the practice consumed star coins.

• Li Yu told Su Wen he wanted to focus on magical combat, but Su Wen recommended Taiyi Divine Illumination as a way to perceive and avoid danger.
• Su Wen explained how Taiyi Starshine could form a divine seed in Li Yu’s heart and establish the foundation for Whirling Illumination.
• Li Yu learned that Patriarch Jiang Taiyi had died before reaching Spirit Transformation, and Su Wen lamented the loss and asked to meet him.
• Su Wen took Li Yu to a room of artificial bodies so he could simulate the cultivation process, warning that each attempt would cost star coins.
• Li Yu’s first attempt failed and destroyed an artificial body, but after reviewing Su Wen’s instructions, he succeeded on his second attempt.

After reaching Whirling Illumination, Li Yu found that his spells had become more powerful and efficient, then mastered a simplified shield protecting his vital areas. As he prepared to visit the harbor, a sect summons-blue appeared over Hao City.

• Li Yu used divine sense to enter Whirling Illumination and discovered that his spells replenished themselves and required less effort.
• Li Yu tested his enhanced spells, used Taiyi Starshine to find a spiritual herb, and considered gathering pearls to earn Star Coins.
• Li Yu learned Su Wen had simplified Qi-Yi Primordial Shield into Su-Yi Primordial Shield, which could protect vital areas before the thirteenth level of Qi Refinement.
• Li Yu formed the shield over his heart, found it consumed thirty percent of his Taiyi true essence, and dismissed it after incorporating it into his framework.
• As Li Yu prepared to visit the harbor, a Blue Lotus appeared over Hao City and released a sect summons-blue.

Li Yu attended a Five Lotus Sect summons and learned that six disciples had died while gathering pearls at sea, with five linked to Ying Ruomu's ship. Yuan Hao ordered the Branch to investigate and conscripted its disciples for a search at sea, leaving Li Yu preparing for a dangerous mission.

• Li Yu hurried to the Five Lotus Sect's service hall, where Yuan Hao silenced the gathered disciples and recorded who had attended.
• Yuan Hao explained that six disciples' Soul Lamps had gone out and that their mission records suggested they had sailed beyond the sect's Pearl-Gathering Grounds.
• A youth identified two of the dead as the Wang Brothers, who had gone to sea with Ying Ruomu, and other disciples linked three more victims to the same voyage.
• Yuan Hao learned that the remaining dead disciple had missed the summons and ordered Jiang Shan to check the absent disciples' registered addresses.
• Yuan Hao declared that the deaths had to be avenged and ordered the Branch disciples to prepare for an uncompensated search at sea; Li Yu worried about the danger but trusted his improved strength.

Li Yu prepared for a possible battle at sea while the Five Lotus Sect investigated the deaths of six disciples in waters claimed by the Mount Lao Sword Sect. Back in Turtle Dove Village, he questioned Lu Dan about the Right Mind Formula and the Orthodox School, and Lu Dan offered to teach him.

• Li Yu bought three Yi Xiao Thunder Talismans and Essence Recovery Pills, then asked around Haо City about the other factions' reactions to the deaths.
• Sun Yuanji and Zhang Mingxia learned that the missing disciples had disappeared in Mount Lao Sword Sect waters, and Sun Yuanji suspected others would blame him because he had sought Ying Ruomu's supreme-grade Spirit Pearl.
• Yuan Hao requisitioned ships to search the waters, but Li Yu and the other disciples in Haо City were told to return home and await instructions.
• Li Yu returned to Turtle Dove Village, where he found Jin Ling cultivating and helped her draw in and expel baleful metal qi.
• Li Yu asked Lu Dan whether the Right Mind Formula conflicted with other cultivation methods, and Lu Dan said it did not and offered to teach it to him.

Li Yu learned about the Orthodox School’s cultivation of virtue and heard Lu Dan offer him a chance to join through the mystery of the Mountain Sea chart. Lu Dan’s knowledge left Li Yu suspecting he was an Immortal Zhou agent investigating the Heavenly Change Sect’s rebellion.

• Lu Dan explained that the Orthodox School’s Dao was protecting humanity through virtue, and Li Yu questioned how that related to Heaven, gods, and Immortal Zhou’s rule.
• Lu Dan invited Li Yu to join the Orthodox School and study its ancient texts, but Li Yu wondered whether Lu Dan could truly arrange his entry.
• Lu Dan said the opportunity was tied to Kun Lun and revealed that the Mountain Sea chart had vanished after Immortal Zhou destroyed Great Xuan.
• Lu Dan said the chart was the origin of humanity’s Dao and that Immortal Zhou would reward anyone who provided a useful clue to its whereabouts.
• After Lu Dan left, Li Yu suspected he was a covert agent of the Immortal Zhou Orthodox School monitoring the Heavenly Change Sect’s rebellion.

Li Yu joined a Five Lotus Sect expedition into the Mount Lao Sword Sect’s Thunderclap Domain to search for missing disciples. As the search began, Ying Ruomu reunited with a white-robed man, who then attacked Luo Guan at a formation node.

• Li Yu left Jin Ling in Hao City and joined the expedition alongside Five Lotus Sect disciples and three Mount Lao Sword Sect disciples, including Luo Guan, Xu Wei, and Qin Jian.
• Yuan Hao reported that six disciples had died and four had boarded Ying Ruomu’s ship, including two from the Rizhao Hao Clan, then ordered the group to find them.
• After half a month at sea, the expedition entered the Thunderclap Domain, where Jiang Shan gave the disciples one month to search before Li Yu descended beneath the sea.
• Ying Ruomu received a talisman at Flowing Wave Mountain and told the white-robed young man that the sect members and Mount Lao Sword Sect disciples had arrived.
• Luo Guan reached a formation node and encountered the white-robed young man, who drew his bronze sword and slashed Luo Guan, breaking his wooden hairpin sword and wounding his chest.

Li Yu faced Ying Ruomu while Qin Jian and Xu Wei fought Ying Feiyun, and used Taiyi Starshine to assess the enemies' strength. Ying Ruomu trapped Li Yu in a contracting net of azure vines, leaving him with no room to evade.

• Ying Ruomu asked Ying Feiyun to let him settle his grudge with Li Yu, while Ying Feiyun attacked Qin Jian and Xu Wei with the Golden Light Sword.
• Li Yu activated Taiyi Starshine and sensed the strengths of Ying Feiyun, Ying Ruomu, Qin Jian, Xu Wei, and the dying Luo Guan.
• Ying Ruomu revealed that he had reached the Qi Refinement Tenth Layer and explained how his lineage's support helped him break through the bottleneck.
• Li Yu used Taiyi Starshine to determine that Qin Jian was also at the tenth layer, Xu Wei was at the ninth, and Ying Feiyun was above the tenth.
• Ying Ruomu attacked Li Yu with azure vines from the Azure Lotus, then formed the vines into a tightening net that trapped him.

Li Yu fought Ying Ruomu, overcoming his Spirit Artifact defenses and spiritual sense attack. After Ying Ruomu exhausted himself and weakened his defenses, Li Yu killed him with an invisible sword formed from his breath.

• Ying Ruomu trapped Li Yu with vines and attacked him with a wooden spike, but Li Yu blocked it with the Su Yi Essence Shield and countered with a Yi Xiao Thunder Talisman.
• Li Yu swept the lightning through the vines, freeing himself and exhausting one petal of Ying Ruomu's Pure Heart Lotus.
• Ying Ruomu used his heart's blood to launch a spiritual sense attack, but Li Yu's stronger spiritual sense drove it back and forced Ying Ruomu to sever the connection.
• Li Yu struck Ying Ruomu with another Yi Xiao Thunder Talisman, forcing him to spend his remaining heart's blood to defend himself and leaving him badly weakened.
• Li Yu used the Wandering Yi Void Step to reach Ying Ruomu and killed him with an invisible sword of breath.

Li Yu killed Ying Ruomu and faced Ying Feiyun, whose hidden strength reached the twelfth layer of Qi Refinement. Qin Jian explained that the Tianyi Sect’s Emperor Tianyi Diagram could reveal a path to the thirteenth layer, while the group faced the prospect of fleeing for their lives.

• Li Yu took the Pure Heart Lotus and Ying Ruomu’s storage pouch after killing him.
• Ying Feiyun attacked Li Yu with his Golden Light Sword, but Qin Jian and Xu Wei intercepted the strike before Li Yu dispersed the waves it caused.
• Qin Jian warned Li Yu that Ying Feiyun practiced the Golden Light Sword Thunder Art, then discovered Ying Feiyun had reached the twelfth layer of Qi Refinement.
• Ying Feiyun revealed his plan to frame Luo Guan and explained that his clan sought the Emperor Tianyi Diagram and its secrets about reaching the thirteenth layer.
• Qin Jian explained that the Tianyi Sect had offered to show the diagram at Kunlun to the ten great sects that joined its uprising, then suggested the three of them flee if they could not win.

Li Yu, Qin Jian, and Xu Wei fought Ying Feiyun after he attacked them, with Li Yu’s foresight and defenses keeping him alive while Qin Jian was badly wounded. The group identified limits to Ying Feiyun’s Sword Escape and began planning how to exploit them, focusing on Xu Wei’s formidable sword.

• Ying Feiyun attacked Li Yu with the Golden Light Sword, but Li Yu blocked the strike and evaded it with Wandering Yi Void Step.
• Ying Feiyun overwhelmed Qin Jian with a lightning-fast strike, and Li Yu stopped Xu Wei from rushing into danger before she caught the injured Qin Jian.
• Li Yu deduced that the thunder in Ying Feiyun’s Golden Light Sword Thunder Art was a straight-line Sword Escape, then survived another charge by using his shield and evading.
• Li Yu, Qin Jian, and Xu Wei took Essence Recovery Pills while Ying Feiyun paused to recover his true essence.
• Qin Jian told Li Yu that Ying Feiyun’s Sword Escape could not turn and could not be used twice in quick succession, and asked about Li Yu’s plan involving Xu Wei’s sword.

Li Yu and his allies tried to stop Ying Feiyun while Xu Wei awakened the Lesser Clarity Sword, but Ying Feiyun’s protective artifact and speed kept him alive. After Xu Wei lost an arm and Li Yu was wounded by the sword’s chill, Ying Feiyun prepared another charge as Li Yu readied his defenses and formless sword edge.

• Xu Wei began awakening the Lesser Clarity Sword with her blood while Li Yu and Qin Jian prepared to delay Ying Feiyun.
• Li Yu used Yi Light Condensing Edge to intercept Ying Feiyun, who destroyed his Golden Light Pendant but survived behind its barrier.
• Qin Jian sacrificed his strength to intercept Ying Feiyun, and Li Yu kicked Xu Wei out of his path, saving her from being cut in two but costing her right arm.
• Li Yu struck Ying Feiyun with a Yi Firmament Thunder Talisman, but the golden barrier absorbed the attack.
• Wounded by the Lesser Clarity Sword’s edge, Li Yu raised the Su Yi Essence Shield and gathered metal qi as Ying Feiyun prepared another sword escape.

Li Yu took up Xu Wei’s Lesser Clarity sword and used it to defeat Ying Feiyun, whose Golden Light Sword and Golden Light Shield were both cut apart. Afterward, Lesser Clarity transmitted the Taiqing Mystic Sect's Formless Sword Qi into Li Yu’s mind.

• Li Yu asked Xu Wei to let him borrow Lesser Clarity, then used Micro-Yi Qi Control to refine the sword and wield it.
• Xu Wei explained the three ways to give Lesser Clarity its edge, and Li Yu realized his Yi Light Condensing Edge had already sharpened it.
• Ying Feiyun charged Li Yu with Sword Escape, but Lesser Clarity broke his Golden Light Sword and sliced through his Golden Light Shield.
• Li Yu killed Ying Feiyun, took his storage pouch, and learned that Lesser Clarity had transmitted the Taiqing Mystic Sect's Formless Sword Qi to him.

Li Yu discovered that the Lesser Clarity Sword contained the Taiqing Mystic Sect's Formless Sword Qi and helped Xu Wei and Qin Jian search for Luo Guan. After Sun Yuanji recovered Luo Guan's corpse, he attacked Yuan Hao, revealing a clash between the Mount Lao Sword Sect and the Five Lotus Sect.

• Li Yu realized that sharpening the Lesser Clarity Sword had revealed the Taiqing Mystic Sect's Formless Sword Qi, then returned the sword to Xu Wei and searched the sea for Qin Jian.
• Li Yu found Qin Jian unconscious but could not locate Luo Guan, and Sun Yuanji soon arrived with Yuan Hao and recovered Luo Guan's corpse.
• Qin Jian told Sun Yuanji how Li Yu had helped them, and Sun Yuanji thanked Li Yu for his aid.
• Yuan Hao questioned Li Yu's talent and ties to Hanging Moon Peak, prompting Sun Yuanji to draw his sword and attack him.
• Sun Yuanji unleashed the Death Sword, while Yuan Hao countered by summoning a blooming white lotus across the sea.

Li Yu learned that Yuan Hao was suspected of plotting against the Mount Lao Sword Sect’s disciples, while Zhao Qian intervened and took charge of the investigation. On the return voyage, Li Yu sought guidance about the Taiqing Mystic Sect’s Formless Sword Qi and learned the legendary pinnacle of the Taiqing sword arts.

• Sun Yuanji attacked Yuan Hao, but Zhao Qian arrived and stopped their fight with his Yellow Sand.
• Zhao Qian questioned Li Yu, confiscated the Pure Heart Lotus as evidence, and gave him an ocher flying sword as a reward.
• Zhao Qian inspected Ying Feiyun’s and Ying Ruomu’s storage pouches, seized suspicious records, and sealed Yuan Hao’s cultivation pending an investigation.
• Li Yu, Qin Jian, and Xu Wei traveled back together aboard the spirit boat while Li Yu meditated on the Formless Sword Qi.
• Qin Jian explained that the Taiqing Sword Formation could be mastered by one person who united its opposing sword intents and commanded the Taiqing Divine Sword.