Chapter Summaries

Su Jiu discovered that Chu Luohen had been hiding in plain sight as an Azure Tide Sect disciple during the formation contest. After the final eight advanced to a battle of formations, Chu Luohen was drawn into a confrontation with a hostile Heavenly Dawn Sect disciple.

• Su Jiu recognized Chu Luohen after he secretly told her, "It's me," and realized he had concealed his abilities by finishing his formation disk at the last moment.
• Eight contestants, including two Azure Tide Sect disciples, advanced to the formation battle.
• A burly Heavenly Dawn Sect disciple tried to ram Chu Luohen, but Chu Luohen dodged and sent him into the lot-drawing box.
• An Azure Tide Sect disciple defended Chu Luohen, and the judge warned the burly man to stop causing trouble.
• The burly man drew the same lot as the Azure Tide Sect disciple who had defended Chu Luohen, then taunted him about the match.
• Chu Luohen told Su Jiu to wait at a nearby teahouse, while she guessed that he intended to settle the matter himself.

Su Jiu and Lou Sheng watched Chu Luohen, disguised as an outer gate disciple, enter the Array Competition after the Azure Tide Sect’s contestant lost to a Heavenly Dawn Sect competitor. As Chu Luohen prepared to face the arrogant victor, Su Jiu suspected the Heavenly Dawn Sect had falsely accused her junior granduncle of theft.

• Lou Sheng recognized Su Jiu in the crowd, and she explained that Chu Luohen wore outer gate robes to avoid drawing attention and had likely joined the competition to hide from someone.
• Su Jiu asked Lou Sheng about a girl matching Jiang Xiaomeng’s description and realized that the Heavenly Dawn Sect had been searching for Chu Luohen after accusing him of theft.
• The Heavenly Dawn Sect competitor toyed with and defeated the Azure Tide Sect disciple, then insulted the sect and challenged Chu Luohen.
• Chu Luohen accepted the challenge, while Lou Sheng reassured the worried Azure Tide Sect disciples that Chu Luohen was capable of winning extra places for their sect.
• The Heavenly Dawn Sect competitor taunted Chu Luohen and demanded that he crawl between his legs to avoid a fight.

Chu Luohen dismantled a Heavenly Dawn Sect disciple’s formation and psychologically tormented him until he crushed his Formation Disk and conceded. After his next opponent surrendered quickly, Su Jiu reflected on Chu Luohen’s overwhelming control of the arena.

• The Heavenly Dawn Sect disciple trapped Chu Luohen in a large formation, but Chu Luohen calmly dodged every attack and began dismantling it.
• Chu Luohen damaged secondary formation eyes halfway, forcing the disciple to repair them repeatedly as he turned the formation against its controller.
• Su Jiu told Ye Wanqing that Chu Luohen was likely trying to make his opponent destroy his own formation.
• Unable to endure the humiliation, the disciple crushed his Formation Disk and conceded before Chu Luohen used his own.
• Chu Luohen’s next opponent quickly conceded without resentment, and Su Jiu explained that he had wisely recognized Chu Luohen’s superiority.

Su Jiu and Chu Luohen reunited with Qi Song and learned the Heavenly Dawn Sect had spread a false rumor to draw out people searching for Chu Luohen. After sending the Fang Family away to protect them, Su Jiu and Chu Luohen discussed how he had deduced she could explain their situation in this world.

• Su Jiu noticed Chong Mo and Ouyang Yanyu were absent as Lou Sheng introduced himself and his junior sister to Chu Luohen.
• Qi Song arrived with the Fang Family and revealed he had heard that Miss Jiang of the Heavenly Dawn Sect had caught the little thief.
• After the group returned to the inn, Su Jiu concluded the Heavenly Dawn Sect had used the rumor to test whether the searchers were allies and learn about Chu Luohen.
• Su Jiu told the Fang Family to say Qi Song had hired them if the Heavenly Dawn Sect questioned them, and Fang Cen agreed before the family left.
• Qi Song greeted Chu Luohen, who asked what was happening in this world; Su Jiu then praised him for correctly guessing how she had learned about it.

Su Jiu explained the Origin Dust Continent and its separation from the Azure Realm, while she, Chu Luohen, and Qi Song discussed their plans and the curse on Su Jiu. They left the conversation with Su Jiu intending to advance her cultivation and Chu Luohen prepared to kill the Heavenly Dawn Sect cultivators if they pursued him again.

• Su Jiu explained that the Origin Dust Continent had once been part of the Azure Realm and that its cultivators had given up trying to reconnect the worlds through the Hongsheng Heavenly Road.
• Su Jiu told Qi Song she planned to enter the overall competition, and she questioned Chu Luohen about the Heavenly Dawn Sect's pursuit of him.
• Qi Song noticed the Scarless inscription on Chu Luohen's sword hilt, revealing how the sect had learned the sword's name.
• Su Jiu said she intended to advance to the Spirit Severing Stage, while Chu Luohen chose to let his own cultivation progress naturally.
• Qi Song planned to study the Curse-Dispelling Technique, and Su Jiu and Qi Song explained the curse to Chu Luohen, who asked whether its caster could be traced and killed.
• Chu Luohen warned that he would kill the Heavenly Dawn Sect cultivators if they continued to pursue him.

Chong Mo brought Ouyang Yanyu to the Treasure Pavilion, where he entered the restricted third level alone. There, he told the man waiting inside that he wanted to abandon their plan involving Ye Wanqing, though the man questioned whether they could defeat Ye Changtian and the Azure Tide Sect without her.

• Chong Mo bought Spirit-Replenishing Pills and invited Ouyang Yanyu to join him at the Treasure Pavilion.
• Chong Mo used his Jade Token to enter the third level, while Ouyang Yanyu stayed behind on the second level.
• After the door closed, the clerk dropped his friendly manner and challenged Chong Mo for bringing Ouyang Yanyu.
• Chong Mo said he loved Ouyang Yanyu and had had enough of Ye Wanqing, rejecting the idea of using her in their contract.
• Chong Mo proposed that he and the man attack Ye Changtian and the Azure Tide Sect together, but the man asked whether Chong Mo had developed feelings for Ye Wanqing.

Chong Mo learned that another Azure Realm might exist and discussed a supposed outsider carrying powerful treasures with his uncle. Meanwhile, Su Jiu, Chu Luohen, and Qi Song explored the market, where Qi Song exposed a vendor’s falsely advertised pills.

• Chong Mo’s uncle threatened to harm Ye Wanqing, Ouyang Yanyu, and Lou Sheng if Chong Mo’s contract went wrong, then asked about outsiders brought to the Azure Tide Sect.
• Chong Mo told his uncle that Ye Changtian had described their world as a continent split from the true Azure Realm beyond the Hongsheng Heavenly Road.
• Chong Mo’s uncle revealed that someone carrying valuable magic treasures had escaped from his group and suspected the treasures came from another Azure Realm.
• Su Jiu, Chu Luohen, and Qi Song went to the market and saw cultivators searching for Chu Luohen under his old appearance.
• Qi Song examined a vendor’s Spirit-Replenishing Pills, identified them as low-grade pills with excessive pill poison, and was driven away with Su Jiu and Chu Luohen.

Qi Song investigated the unusual pills sold in Peaceful City, while Su Jiu brought him and Chu Luohen to the Treasure Pavilion, where she suspected the disguised shop assistant and Chong Mo shared a secret connection. They entered the pavilion and began examining its unusual displays, while Chu Luohen hinted that the Azure Tide Sect might face trouble.

• Qi Song bought several bottles of pills and suspected the world's spiritual qi caused their unusual properties.
• Su Jiu led Qi Song and Chu Luohen to the Treasure Pavilion, where Chong Mo and Ouyang Yanyu entered through a guarded side door.
• Su Jiu suspected the Nascent Soul Realm shop assistant was connected to the pavilion's owner and noted Chong Mo's familiarity with him.
• Chu Luohen asked whether Su Jiu would help if something happened to the Azure Tide Sect, then said he had overheard something at the Heavenly Dawn Sect.
• After waiting in line, Su Jiu, Qi Song, and Chu Luohen entered the Treasure Pavilion and noticed customers hurried past the first floor's central displays.

Su Jiu recognized the Treasure Pavilion’s guardian as a Gold-Eating Beast and watched it attack Zhang San after he tried to steal a Jade Token. The attendant confiscated Zhang San’s Storage Bag and offered to spare his hand if someone from the Zhang Family paid for the stolen Magic Treasures.

• Su Jiu identified the tethered guardian as a Gold-Eating Beast, and Qi Song recognized it as a spirit beast that devoured treasures, ores, and metals.
• Zhang San, a collateral-branch disciple rejected by the Zhang Family, entered the Treasure Pavilion and decided to steal a Jade Token.
• The Gold-Eating Beast broke free, knocked Zhang San down, and pinned him beneath its paw.
• A shop attendant took Zhang San’s Storage Bag, erased his divine sense imprint, and found the Jade Token and a blue water droplet among his possessions.
• Zhang San claimed the items belonged to the Zhang Family, and the attendant offered to spare his hand if the family paid for the two Magic Treasures.

Su Jiu explored the Treasure Pavilion’s second level, bought a low-grade Spirit Artifact, and discovered that it traded durability for exceptional spiritual-power capacity. On her way out, she sensed demonic qi on Chong Mo and wondered what had happened on the third level, leaving the mystery unresolved.

• A Zhang Family disciple denied giving Zhang San a Magic Treasure, so the shop assistant cut off both of Zhang San’s hands for denying his theft and had him thrown out.
• Su Jiu, Qi Song, and Chu Luohen left the first level and found higher-quality Magic Treasures on the second, where Su Jiu bought a low-grade Spirit Artifact for fifty thousand spirit stones.
• Su Jiu greeted Ouyang Yanyu, then noticed demonic qi drifting from the staircase to the third level as she and her companions headed down.
• Chu Luohen told Su Jiu that Chong Mo had come out of the third level with a changed aura, and Su Jiu said she had sensed the demonic qi before they descended.
• Back at the inn, Su Jiu tested the Spirit Artifact and found that it stored more spiritual power than others of its rank but was unusually fragile.
• Su Jiu wondered why cultivators in this world pushed pills and Magic Treasures toward extreme concentrations of spiritual power.

Qi Song discovered that the abundant spiritual qi in the space made pill refining and other auxiliary crafts far easier, while modified pill formulas depended on that abundance and could fail under ordinary conditions. Su Jiu tested her talisman-making in the space and began drawing talismans by hand, becoming absorbed in the work as a faint whirlpool formed above her head.

• Qi Song refined a full cauldron of twenty-one superior-grade Spirit Nurturing Pills and concluded that the space's spiritual qi made pill refining unusually easy.
• Qi Song explained that abundant spiritual qi enabled cultivators to use altered pill formulas and that artifact crafting likely benefited from the same effect.
• Su Jiu tested a rune in the space and found its effect was much stronger than usual.
• Su Jiu decided she could bring completed talismans and pre-inscribed formations into the arena despite suppressing her Innate Arts.
• Su Jiu began drawing talismans slowly by hand, became fully absorbed in the process, and a faint whirlpool formed above her head.

After a sleepless night drawing talismans, Su Jiu prepared for the Dao Arts competition and learned its unusual lot-matching rules. She found her opponent, a Golden Core cultivator who could not read auras, and brought him to the arena as other matches began.

• Su Jiu finished drawing and organizing a large number of talismans, and Chu Luohen told her not to use the Frostbound Purple Ultimate Sword in her match.
• Su Jiu drew a blank lot slip for the Dao Arts competition, and an elderly man explained that contestants had to identify opponents by matching the auras on their slips.
• Su Jiu followed the aura on her slip and found her opponent, who was unable to use the Aura-Reading Art.
• Su Jiu led her grateful opponent toward the arena, where Zhang Bingchun was waiting in line ahead of them.

Su Jiu faced a boastful male cultivator in the arena and swiftly gained the upper hand after he attacked without warning. She left her sword poised over his heart, while Ye Wanqing recognized Jiang Xiaomeng’s attempt to manipulate the tournament pairings.

• Zhang Bingchun warned the male cultivator that he lacked the Aura-Reading Art and Bone-Viewing Technique, then defeated his own opponent.
• Su Jiu spotted Ye Wanqing in line and told her that Jiang Xiaomeng, not the Heavenly Dawn Sect disciple beside her, was her opponent.
• Ye Wanqing realized Jiang Xiaomeng had tried to redirect her match and chose not to expose the scheme.
• The male cultivator boasted about his expensive sword and attacked Su Jiu before their duel had formally begun.
• Su Jiu evaded his strike, disappeared behind him, and placed her sword tip over his heart.

Su Jiu effortlessly defeated her opponent in the Array Duel, drawing attention to the Azure Tide Sect’s talented contestants. After learning that Zhang Bingchun would be her next opponent, she left to check on Junior Granduncle and Qi Song, while Jiang Xiaomeng was approached by a Heavenly Dawn Sect disciple.

• Su Jiu overwhelmed her opponent with a swift sword strike, and he conceded before leaving in shame.
• Spectators discussed the Azure Tide Sect’s formidable contestants, and Zhang Bingchun suspected they were the people he had met at the Treasure Pavilion.
• Jiang Xiaomeng taunted Ye Wanqing about Lou Sheng, Chong Mo, and the Azure Tide Sect’s Eldest Senior Brother, prompting Ye Wanqing to decide to seek him out.
• Su Jiu discovered that Zhang Bingchun was her next opponent, exchanged greetings with him, and learned that extra arenas might allow two rounds to finish that day.
• Su Jiu left to check on Junior Granduncle and Qi Song, while a Heavenly Dawn Sect disciple hurried over to Jiang Xiaomeng.

Ye Wanqing disqualified Jiang Xiaomeng and entered the arena with a Heavenly Dawn Sect disciple. Su Jiu encountered Xiao Fan selling talismans and curses in Peaceful City, where a stranger asked him for a curse to drain a stronger opponent’s spiritual power.

• Ye Wanqing overheard that the Fang Family were searching for Jiang Xiaomeng’s future husband on someone else’s behalf, and she suspected he was Su Jiu’s companion.
• Ye Wanqing shoved Jiang Xiaomeng into the light circle, causing both of their position tokens to disappear and disqualifying them from the competition.
• Jiang Xiaomeng accused Ye Wanqing of framing her, but Ye Wanqing defended her actions and entered the arena with the Heavenly Dawn Sect disciple.
• Su Jiu found Xiao Fan selling talismans and curses while looking for her Junior Granduncle, and learned that the Curse Spirit Sect had sent its members across Peaceful City to earn money.
• A stranger asked Xiao Fan for a talisman or curse that could strip a higher-ranked opponent of spiritual power for at least fifteen minutes, and Xiao Fan’s smile lost its mirth.

Xiao Fan confronted a cultivator trying to buy a Spirit-Dampening Curse during the Grand Tournament, then watched Su Jiu’s companion dominate an array duel. Su Jiu revealed that she and her companions came from another world and explained the Azure Realm’s history to Xiao Fan, who wondered how their Heavenly Dao treated curse practitioners.

• A cultivator accused Xiao Fan of overcharging for a Spirit-Dampening Curse, and Xiao Fan exposed his intention to use it in the Grand Tournament.
• The cultivator left, and Su Jiu asked Xiao Fan whether the curse talisman existed; Xiao Fan explained that the Curse Spirit Sect had stopped drawing such talismans because of their karmic consequences.
• Xiao Fan and Su Jiu watched a male cultivator from Azure Tide Sect control an array duel, and Su Jiu said he was one of the people she sought.
• Su Jiu told Xiao Fan through voice transmission that she and her companions were visitors from beyond the heavens and not from this world.
• Su Jiu explained the Hongsheng Heavenly Road and the Azure Realm’s history, while Xiao Fan asked whether her world’s Heavenly Dao restricted curse practitioners as harshly.

Chu Luohen finished his Array Duel, but the Heavenly Dawn Sect and the Fang Family both failed to recognize him as the person they were searching for. Li Ran invited Su Jiu and Chu Luohen to Medicine King Valley, while Qi Song agreed to go there to learn about pill refining.

• Chu Luohen left the arena, and the Heavenly Dawn Sect and Fang Family compared him with their portraits but dismissed him as the wrong person.
• A junior disciple noticed that the Fang Family portrait's open-eyed depiction resembled Chu Luohen, but his friend persuaded him to stay silent.
• Fang Cen told Fang Xing to avoid provoking Su Jiu's companions, and the siblings greeted Qi Song before leaving him to talk with Su Jiu and Chu Luohen.
• Qi Song introduced Li Ran, a Medicine King Valley disciple, who invited Su Jiu and Chu Luohen to visit the valley.
• Qi Song explained that he had agreed to learn about Medicine King Valley's pill-refining methods, and Su Jiu chose not to stop him.

Su Jiu confronted Li Ran over his attempt to pressure her into visiting Medicine King Valley and exposed his secret cooperation with Chong Mo. She agreed to go only if Li Ran provided Ice-Cage Flower and Absolute Tears, leaving him to consult his master about her demands.

• Su Jiu accused Li Ran of using the Azure Tide Sect and Qi Song to pressure her into accepting his invitation.
• Su Jiu asked Li Ran about Chong Mo, and Li Ran admitted she had uncovered their cooperation.
• Su Jiu demanded Ice-Cage Flower and Absolute Tears in exchange for going to Medicine King Valley, but Li Ran claimed he could not provide them.
• Li Ran warned Su Jiu that she and her companions could face danger and that the Azure Tide Sect might become a target, but Su Jiu said she had already considered those risks.
• Su Jiu left with Chu Luohen and Qi Song, while Li Ran sent a Message Talisman to consult his master about her demands.

After Li Ran’s invitation raised suspicions, Su Jiu reassured Qi Song and went with Chu Luohen to the arena for her next match. There, she watched contestants exploit opponents who lacked the Aura-Reading Art, while Zhang Bingchun noted that such tricks had been common all morning.

• Qi Song asked Su Jiu whether he had done anything wrong, and she told him Li Ran was not a bad person but stood on a different side.
• Su Jiu told Chu Luohen that she planned to wait, then sent Qi Song back to the inn and went to the arena with Chu Luohen.
• Su Jiu found Zhang Bingchun at the arena, where he was waiting with a young tagalong and several matches were already underway.
• Su Jiu saw contestants who knew the Aura-Reading Art secretly steering opponents who lacked it into unfavorable pairings.
• Zhang Bingchun told Su Jiu that incidents like the contestants' scheme had already been common that morning.

Su Jiu defeated Zhang Bingchun in the arena and revealed that she had reached nascent soul realm great perfection. Elsewhere, Lan Fang Ziyi found Yun Huanling still consumed by studying the stars at the Distant Lookout Platform three years after the upheaval.

• Su Jiu quickly seized control of her match against Zhang Bingchun, whose attacks and perception could not keep up with her speed.
• After roughly half a quarter-hour, Su Jiu kicked Zhang Bingchun off the platform while controlling her strength so he was unharmed.
• Zhang Bingchun asked Su Jiu about her cultivation, and she told him she was at nascent soul realm great perfection before leaving.
• Lan Fang Ziyi entered the Distant Lookout Platform and suggested to Yun Huanling that the upheaval three years earlier might have been an accident.