Chapter Summaries

Su Jiu defeated Lai Laoliu in their final dice match by breaking his Treasure Artifact dice apart, then paid him six thousand spirit stones for their replacement. After accepting the loss, Lai Laoliu asked what information she and her companions wanted.

• Lai Laoliu entered a state of unity between heaven and man and rolled three sixes, challenging Su Jiu to match his ultimate move.
• Su Jiu refused to display the same state, shook the dice casually, and revealed that she had split all three dice in half.
• The crowd realized Su Jiu had broken Lai Laoliu's Treasure Artifact dice, while the Snow Sprite accused her of being devious.
• Lai Laoliu accepted his loss, and Su Jiu paid him six thousand spirit stones for the broken dice.
• Lai Laoliu asked whether Su Jiu and her companions were looking for someone or something, and Su Jiu said they wanted information.

Ding Fen’s disciples praised him as a future sect master while he gloated over Chong Mo’s beating, revealing his ambition to displace Sect Master Jiang. Meanwhile, Su Jiu questioned Lai Laoliu about the Chong Household’s destruction and followed him through the City That Never Sleeps to Spring Willow Pavilion.

• Ding Fen’s drunken disciples celebrated Chong Mo’s beating and insulted him for competing with Ding Fen.
• The disciples toasted Ding Fen as their future sect master, and Ding Fen privately resolved to remove Chong Mo and Sect Master Jiang from his path.
• Su Jiu asked Lai Laoliu what he knew about the Chong Household’s destruction two hundred years earlier.
• Lai Laoliu wondered who Su Jiu and her companions were, but could not recall where he had first heard the rumor about True Lord Pinglan.
• Lai Laoliu led Su Jiu through the city, and she spotted Spring Willow Pavilion, where an outside force suddenly smashed through a private-room door.

Su Jiu and her companions witnessed Sect Master Jiang punishing Heavenly Dawn Sect disciples at a pleasure house, and realized the incident stemmed from Ye Wanqing’s escape. They left expecting the coming Hongsheng Heavenly Road journey to expose the deadly exploitation between Jiang and Ding Fen.

• Su Jiu, Chu Luohen, and Qi Song saw several men thrown from a second-floor room, and Chu Luohen shielded Su Jiu’s eyes when one man’s trousers nearly fell down.
• Qi Song examined a badly injured man and said his shattered meridians could only be saved by a tier-eight Ronghua Pill.
• Su Jiu recognized the injured men as Heavenly Dawn Sect disciples and connected their punishment to the escape of Ye Wanqing.
• Su Jiu and Chu Luohen concluded that Sect Master Jiang had targeted Ding Fen after Chong Mo was injured, while keeping Ding Fen for his strength and usefulness on the Hongsheng Heavenly Road.
• Su Jiu told her companions to leave and considered how Jiang and Ding Fen might use the Hongsheng Heavenly Road to turn against each other.

Su Jiu and her companions followed Lai Laoliu through a formation into a strange shop at the end of a hidden alley in the City That Never Sleeps. They paid the shop’s entrance fee, and Su Jiu was ready to ask her questions.

• Lai Laoliu warned Su Jiu, Chu Luohen, and Qi Song to stay close and remain silent as they entered a formation triggered by the rouge fragrance.
• Su Jiu recognized the formation and followed Lai Laoliu through it rather than breaking it by force.
• Lai Laoliu led them to a shabby house guarded by green lanterns, where a sickly old man and a dark-eyed young woman received them.
• Lai Laoliu explained the shop’s rules, and Su Jiu gave the woman five thousand spirit stones.
• The woman asked Su Jiu what she wanted to know.

Su Jiu learned that the Chong Household’s treasure was half of the Chaotic Life-Birthing Art and that it was somewhere on the Hongsheng Heavenly Road. The information broker revealed that he was the Curse Spirit Sect’s first Sect Master, a former Void Refinement cultivator who had foreseen Su Jiu’s role in reuniting the Dustless Continent with the Azure Realm and warned that the reunion would bring a new calamity.

• Su Jiu paid to learn that the Chong Household had left behind half of the Chaotic Life-Birthing Art and that the missing half was somewhere on the Hongsheng Heavenly Road.
• Su Jiu learned that the Heavenly Dawn Sect had repeatedly bought information there, but True Lord Pinglan had never visited.
• The old man warned Su Jiu that joining the continents would bring turmoil and a new calamity, and urged her to warn the people of the world.
• The old man revealed that he had lived for over ten thousand years, was a Void Refinement cultivator and Grand Curse Master, and had little lifespan left because of backlash.
• The old man told Su Jiu that he had helped split the Dustless Continent from the Azure Realm and had foreseen its return through her, while the Curse Spirit Sect inherited the resulting punishment like a curse.

Su Jiu learned that her Sealing Curse was cast by a Void Refinement Stage cultivator and would consume her innate gift unless it was broken within forty years. The First Sect Master could not dispel it, leaving Su Jiu and her companions with little hope and no clear way to reach the hidden culprit.

• The First Sect Master explained that nine cultivators had torn the Azure Realm apart, including two powerful figures whose cultivation he did not know.
• The Old Master recognized Su Jiu's Sealing Curse and said its caster was likely his equal in cultivation, a Void Refinement Stage cultivator.
• He revealed that the unusual curse devoured Su Jiu's innate gift and could not be broken by advancing her cultivation; she had forty years left to save herself.
• The Old Master refused to attempt the Curse-Dispelling Technique because his failing body could not finish it without risking Su Jiu's life.
• The Old Master warned that if the curse remained unbroken for forty years, Su Jiu's innate gift would be completely destroyed.

Su Jiu resolved to defy the hidden enemy and grow strong enough to confront him, while Qi Song received the elderly senior’s Curse Arts inheritance. A month and a half later, the continent’s sects were forming factions, and the Azure Tide Sect prepared its disciples for the Hongsheng Heavenly Road as Ye Wanqing and Ouyang Yanyu reunited.

• Su Jiu declared that she would use her remaining forty years to reach the Spirit Transformation Stage and expose the man who had interfered with her fate.
• The elderly senior gave Qi Song his Curse Arts inheritance, then revealed his worsening condition after Su Jiu and her companions left with Lai Laoliu.
• Qi Song remarked that the inheritance also showed the elderly senior’s deep knowledge of Puppet Arts, and Su Jiu suspected she had understood something.
• Over the next month and a half, sects and clans formed factions against the Heavenly Dawn Sect, unaware that it had allied with the Rogue Cultivator Alliance.
• Lou Sheng assigned duties to Azure Tide Sect disciples preparing to enter the Hongsheng Heavenly Road, while Ye Wanqing and Ouyang Yanyu continued rebuilding their friendship.

Su Jiu watched the factions gather at the entrance to the Hongsheng Heavenly Road, noting suspicious figures among the Heavenly Dawn Sect and the hostility between rival groups. The Rogue Cultivator Alliance’s senior members arrived and joined the Heavenly Dawn Sect, leaving the smaller factions alarmed as the road’s opening drew near.

• Su Jiu saw Ding Fen leading the Heavenly Dawn Sect and noticed that Chong Mo had recovered enough to attend despite his Thunder Whip punishment.
• Su Jiu and Chu Luohen watched a concealed Nascent Soul Realm Heavenly Dawn Sect disciple whose probing glances made them suspicious.
• Su Jiu recognized familiar participants from several clans and sects, while Qi Song was disappointed that the person he hoped to see from Medicine King Valley was absent.
• The Rogue Cultivator Alliance’s senior members arrived despite the agreement that they would not enter the Hongsheng Heavenly Road, prompting accusations of unfairness.
• The Rogue Cultivator Alliance’s senior members joined the Heavenly Dawn Sect, and the smaller factions realized the two powerful groups were working together.

A golden whirlpool appeared beneath the cliff where the Hongsheng Heavenly Road was expected to open, and Su Jiu recognized it as the road’s entrance. She and several others entered, while the remaining sects debated whether to follow or wait.

• A tremor shook the cliff, and a golden whirlpool formed among the clouds, displaying spatial power.
• Su Jiu declared the whirlpool was the Hongsheng Heavenly Road and flew into it with Chu Luohen, Qi Song, Ye Wanqing, and Ouyang Yanyu following.
• Lou Sheng invited the Azure Tide Sect disciples to choose whether to follow, then entered with two unfamiliar cultivators.
• Medicine King Valley’s elders and sect master followed Su Jiu, while the Fang Family split over whether to enter.
• The Rogue Cultivator Alliance and Heavenly Dawn Sect chose to wait a day, and Zhang Bingchun suspected Su Jiu had recognized something the others had missed.

As the golden vortex faded, the cultivators argued over whether it led to the Hongsheng Heavenly Road and whether to risk entering. The entrance admitted people without Command Tokens, drew a growing crowd over seven days, and finally vanished into clouds and mist.

• After waiting a day without seeing the expected Hongsheng Heavenly Road, Zhang Bingchun and the other cultivators realized the golden vortex was shrinking.
• Fang Xing and Fang Cen entered the vortex, while many cautious cultivators withdrew; Zhang Bingchun let his group choose whether to follow.
• Ding Fen pressured a hesitant Heavenly Dawn Sect disciple into entering the vortex, then went in with the Rogue Cultivator Alliance elders.
• A junior disciple entered without a Command Token, and news spread across the Dustless Continent, prompting more people to enter.
• The golden vortex drew its largest influx on the fifth day, dwindled on the sixth, and disappeared by the seventh.

Su Jiu arrived on the Hongsheng Heavenly Road in midair and was attacked by a Fire Banner Bird, which she subdued with an Ice Wall and the Snow Sprite’s cold breath. After learning it had attacked because she startled it, Su Jiu thawed and released the bird, which fled once it understood she was stronger.

• Su Jiu appeared above a pool on the Hongsheng Heavenly Road and steadied herself with her Flying Sword.
• A Fire Banner Bird attacked Su Jiu, and she flattened it against an Ice Wall.
• The Snow Sprite froze the Fire Banner Bird, and Su Jiu caught it before it fell into the pool.
• Su Jiu thawed the bird and explained that it had attacked because she frightened it, then warned it to leave.
• The Fire Banner Bird understood Su Jiu, escaped, and chirped at her before flying out of sight.

Su Jiu followed the Fire Banner Bird toward a region dense with fire spiritual qi, hoping to find treasure. There, the Wind Spirit identified rare spirit plants growing untouched, and the group came upon a pitch-black cave.

• Su Jiu realized no one else had landed in the forest with her and headed northwest, following the Fire Banner Bird’s flight path toward its nest.
• Su Jiu explained that frightened Fire Banner Birds returned to nests in places rich in fire spiritual qi, which might contain treasures.
• The Snow Sprite reluctantly agreed to endure the fire-rich area rather than retreat to Su Jiu’s sea of consciousness.
• The Wind Spirit identified Phoenix Tail Grass, Fire Emperor Flower, and Thousand-Feather Kite growing abundantly beside the path.
• Su Jiu questioned how the Wind Spirit knew the plants, and the Snow Sprite explained that the Wind Spirit had an innate inheritance.
• Su Jiu reached a pitch-black cave while the spirits were still talking.

Su Jiu explored the Fire Banner Birds' Cave and discovered a recently erected Spirit Transformation barrier sealing their nest. Although the Snow Sprite urged her to attack the birds, Su Jiu chose to leave, unaware that the two seventh-tier Fire Banner Birds inside had overheard them.

• Su Jiu entered the Cave with the Snow Sprite and Little Green, enduring its intense fire spiritual qi.
• Little Green revealed that the strange grit on the cavern floor was Fire Banner Bird excrement.
• Su Jiu tested the barrier and learned from the Snow Sprite that it was a recently erected Spirit Transformation barrier, likely protecting the birds' nest.
• The Snow Sprite urged Su Jiu to break in and exterminate the Fire Banner Birds, but Su Jiu refused to slaughter them for their treasure.
• Su Jiu and the Snow Sprite left, while the two seventh-tier Fire Banner Birds behind the barrier listened to their conversation.

Su Jiu left the Fire Banner Birds’ cavern after sparing the flock and continued searching the area, while the birds discussed their fears that the Hongsheng Heavenly Road might soon reconnect. Two seventh-tier Fire Banner Birds later appeared above Su Jiu, apparently calling their flock back to its nest.

• The Fire Banner Birds realized Su Jiu had spared their youngest son, and the couple scolded him for provoking her.
• The male Fire Banner Bird urged his wife to gather their flock because cultivators had begun appearing again, while she feared something might happen to the Hongsheng Heavenly Road.
• The couple recalled that they had been trapped on the road for ten thousand years and hoped the two worlds would reunite.
• Su Jiu traveled onward and collected fire-aspected spirit plants as the Snow Sprite lamented that she had passed up a chance to take Fire Banner Bird feathers and fire crystals.
• Two seventh-tier Fire Banner Birds circled above Su Jiu, and Little Pearl and the Wind Spirit identified them as birds calling their people back.

Su Jiu met two seventh-tier Fire Banner Birds after their flocks returned to the Cave, and they rewarded her for sparing a young bird. She accepted their gifts and left with a feather that could summon their help within the Hongsheng Heavenly Road.

• The two seventh-tier Fire Banner Birds appeared before Su Jiu and offered her a feather cloak and fire crystals.
• Su Jiu accepted their gifts and gave the female bird a bottle of Jade Fragrance Pills in return.
• The male bird questioned how Su Jiu could sense their demon aura, and Su Jiu let him assume it came from her innate talent.
• The female bird gave Su Jiu a half-gold, half-red feather that could summon them within the Hongsheng Heavenly Road.
• Su Jiu left and discovered that two of her fire crystals were supreme-grade, which she considered giving to Mian Mian.

Su Jiu found Fang Xing being tormented by a fifth-tier Gale Demon Beast and killed it just before it could finish him. After saving Fang Xing, she considered how to harvest the beast’s blood, while the spirits refused to help.

• Su Jiu detected a gravely wounded cultivator and discovered that Fang Xing was being pursued by a fifth-tier Gale Demon Beast.
• The Gale Demon Beast knocked Fang Xing down and prepared to kill him, but Su Jiu pierced its weak points with two Ice Spikes and killed it.
• Fang Xing realized Su Jiu had saved him, took pills, and began meditating inside a defensive Formation Disk she provided.
• Su Jiu inspected the Gale Demon Beast’s corpse and asked the spirits to collect its blood, but they all refused or redirected her to someone else.
• Little Green suggested Purple Ultimate and the Wind Spirit, and Little Pearl asked Su Jiu to shut the spirits out before voicing her thoughts next time.

Su Jiu collected the fifth-tier Gale Monster’s core and blood, then invited Fang Xing to travel with her. Their conversation revealed that the Hongsheng Heavenly Road’s time and space laws had become severely distorted, leaving Su Jiu worried the realm might separate permanently from the Azure Realms.

• Wind Spirit collected the Gale Monster’s blood while Snow Sprite demanded that Purple Ultimate appear and fight, but Su Jiu silenced Snow Sprite.
• Su Jiu took the Gale Monster’s core and three bottles of purified blood, and Fang Xing woke to see the corpse fall.
• Su Jiu asked Fang Xing to travel with her, and he accepted after explaining that he had encountered a fifth-tier Demon Beast for the first time.
• Fang Xing told Su Jiu that he had entered the Secret Realm that day, while she realized she had experienced ten days there and that time and space were distorted.
• Fang Xing said time had once flowed at the same rate in the Hongsheng Heavenly Road and the Azure Realm, and Su Jiu feared the realm might split away permanently.

Su Jiu understood that the worlds faced ruin if their bond snapped, while Ding Fen entered the Secret Realm and confronted two Zhang Family disciples. The chapter ended as the outmatched pair fought him in a desperate bid to survive.

• Su Jiu realized that the worlds would be abandoned if the bond between them broke and the Heaven-Connecting Path closed.
• Ding Fen ordered his Junior Disciple to gather medicinal plants and noticed they held more spiritual qi than those from his previous visit.
• Ding Fen and his Junior Disciple hid when two Zhang Family disciples approached, but the newcomers’ remarks about the Heavenly Dawn Sect prompted Ding Fen to reveal himself.
• The Zhang Family disciples summoned their Life-Bound Treasures and attacked Ding Fen, who dodged their Sword Qi as they continued fighting despite their poor odds.

Ding Fen overwhelmed two Zhang Family disciples before Zhang Bingchun intervened and drove him off. Afterward, Zhang Bingchun warned his disciples about Ding Fen, who then confronted a Heavenly Dawn Sect disciple that had been secretly watching.

• Ding Fen mocked two Zhang Family disciples and defeated their talisman defenses with a Water Dragon.
• Zhang Bingchun scattered the Water Dragon and confronted Ding Fen, who chose to leave rather than fight him.
• The disciples celebrated Ding Fen's departure, but Zhang Bingchun revealed he had been injured and explained that Ding Fen was stronger than him.
• Zhang Bingchun warned that Ding Fen had other targets, including the Azure Tide Sect, and would be especially busy on the Hongsheng Heavenly Road.
• Ding Fen detected a concealed Heavenly Dawn Sect Foundation Establishment disciple and accused him of watching from the sidelines.
• Ding Fen told the disciple to stop trying to use clever little tricks.

Ouyang Yanyu fought a Heavenly Dawn Sect disciple who tried to capture her, then used a feint to escape and draw his pursuit toward a familiar presence she had sensed nearby. The disciple grew furious and continued chasing her through the jungle.

• A Heavenly Dawn Sect disciple attacked Ouyang Yanyu, hoping to claim the reward for capturing her, but she defended herself against his hidden weapons.
• When their fight reached a stalemate, the disciple summoned the Evergreen Sword and boasted about its price while Ouyang Yanyu sensed danger nearby.
• Ouyang Yanyu fled from the disciple's attacks, suspecting that the familiar presence she sensed was in danger and considering using him as bait.
• Ouyang Yanyu feinted with her pink ribbon, slipped past the disciple, and sent his sword qi crashing into the woodland.
• Enraged by Ouyang Yanyu's mockery, the disciple pursued her with the intention of killing her.