Chapter Summaries

Su Jiu and her companions found Liu Min, Huang Shan, and Yan'er in the tomb’s main hall, where Gu Ningyun confronted her Martial Uncle over her disappearance. Liu Min destroyed Huang Shan’s jade hairpin, and Su Jiu noticed Yan’er’s hostility toward the newcomers.

• The bronze doors opened, and Su Jiu and her four companions entered the main hall, where they found Liu Min, Huang Shan, and Yan'er.
• Huang Shan accused Liu Min of leading Gu Ningyun to them, while Gu Ningyun demanded that Liu Min return with her and offered her a chance to explain.
• Gu Ningyun showed Liu Min a blue-green hairpin, and Liu Min smashed it against the floor, declaring that she no longer valued Huang Shan’s gift.
• Yan'er reacted with resentment to the broken hairpin and hostility toward the newcomers, which Su Jiu noticed.

Gu Ningyun confronted Liu Min over her demonic cultivation and learned that she had sacrificed villagers to advance her ambitions. Liu Min blamed her choices partly on Huang Shan, whose frantic denials left Gu Ningyun increasingly impatient.

• Liu Min admitted that she had knowingly practiced demonic techniques, and Feng Qi questioned her about her crimes.
• Gu Ningyun learned Liu Min had killed villagers over many years to feed a demonic beast puppet and create corpse puppets, then angrily demanded an explanation.
• Liu Min said the Heavenly Music Pavilion’s best methods were beyond cultivators like her and blamed Huang Shan for pushing her toward her decision.
• Huang Shan denied involvement and accused Liu Min of dragging him to the ancient tomb, while Su Jiu and Yun Huanling quietly joked about his behavior.
• Gu Ningyun listened to Huang Shan’s rant with growing impatience.

Liu Min explained that Huang Shan had won her trust to obtain a stolen cultivation method, then described how she discovered his unusually intimate relationship with his disciple, Yan'er. Her friends listened as she recounted the doubts that grew after Huang Shan dismissed her concerns.

• Gu Ningyun immobilized Huang Shan with a talisman and warned his disciple not to interrupt.
• Liu Min revealed that Huang Shan had sought the Soul-Suppressing Pearl for Yan'er, whose soul was supposedly unstable.
• Su Jiu questioned Liu Min about when Huang Shan had taken Yan'er as his disciple and noticed that Yan'er was pretending to be unconscious.
• Liu Min recounted how Huang Shan persuaded her to practice the stolen cultivation method and became her Dao Companion.
• Liu Min said she later found Huang Shan and Yan'er repeatedly embracing, but Huang Shan insisted he treated Yan'er like a daughter.
• Liu Min began asking her friends for advice after her unease about Huang Shan and Yan'er continued to grow.

Liu Min revealed how Huang Shan manipulated her and explained the corpse puppets and Yin-Devouring Butterflies needed to obtain the Soul-Suppressing Pearl. After Little Green confirmed Yan'er’s soul was stable and her health was good, Su Jiu and Feng Qi considered what to do with the three cultivators, leaving the punishment of Huang Shan and Liu Min undecided.

• Liu Min explained that Huang Shan had brought her to the tomb and that she had planned to help him obtain the Soul-Suppressing Pearl before ending their relationship.
• Liu Min described how corpse puppets supplied Yin-Devouring Butterflies with yin qi, which was needed to defeat the three Guardians and retrieve the Soul-Suppressing Pearl.
• Su Jiu questioned Yan’er's apparent weakness, and Little Green confirmed that Yan’er's soul was stable and that she was healthier than most people.
• Gu Ningyun asked to take her Martial Uncle back to the Heavenly Music Pavilion, while Feng Qi said Huang Shan and Liu Min were harder to deal with.
• Su Jiu noted that punishing the two Vast Righteousness Sect cultivators could worsen relations between their sects, and Feng Qi asked what she would do.

Su Jiu exposed Yan'er as the true mastermind behind the scheme to obtain the Soul-Suppressing Pearl and decided she should be killed. Yan'er dropped her disguise and revealed that she had endured over a hundred years of disgust for the pearl, leaving Huang Shan and Liu Min stunned.

• Su Jiu concluded that Huang Shan was only a scapegoat and ordered Yan'er to stand up.
• Yan'er tried to win over Yun Huanling with a pitiful look, but he hid behind Su Jiu and called her frightening.
• Yan'er dropped her facade, insulted Yun Huanling, and clashed with Su Jiu.
• Gu Ningyun asked who Yan'er was and why she had schemed against Huang Shan and wanted the Soul-Suppressing Pearl.
• Yan'er declared that Huang Shan was not worthy of being her master and said she had endured over a hundred years of disgust for the pearl.

Yan'er revealed that she had been manipulating Liu Min and Huang Shan for over a century, then exposed herself as a powerful demonic cultivator when Huang Shan attacked her. Su Jiu recognized traces of the Nightmare Demon in Yan'er's qi and secretly marked her, while Huang Shan began showing signs of demonic infection.

• Yan'er admitted she had caused trouble for amusement and had been helping Liu Min see Huang Shan's true nature, leaving Liu Min to realize she and Huang Shan had both been played.
• Huang Shan attacked Yan'er as soon as the talisman's power faded, but Yan'er unleashed demonic qi and effortlessly evaded him.
• Liu Min told Gu Ningyun and Feng Qi that Yan'er had never fought in the past hundred years and had occasionally leaked demonic qi.
• Su Jiu recognized a familiar presence in Yan'er's impure demonic qi as traces of the Nightmare Demon, and Feng Qi recorded the new lead.
• Su Jiu secretly placed a tracking talisman on Yan'er, while black qi began staining Huang Shan's eyes and threatened to turn him into Yan'er's ally.

Su Jiu interrupted Yan'er and learned she might know where Qingqing was, while Yan'er revealed her betrayal of Huang Shan and escaped as a Nightmare Demon. Afterward, Su Jiu pressed Liu Min to explain what she knew about Hong Ming.

• Su Jiu immobilized Huang Shan and confronted Yan'er, who guessed Su Jiu's identity and hinted that she knew where Qingqing was.
• Yan'er mocked Huang Shan for trusting her, then revealed she had deceived him and the women he had used.
• Su Jiu and the others surrounded Yan'er, but she transformed into black miasma and escaped using a Nightmare Demon's power.
• Su Jiu explained how Nightmare Demons and their contracted clones could transport people, then questioned Liu Min about Hong Ming.
• Liu Min claimed she knew little about Hong Ming, and Su Jiu challenged her by recalling how she had belittled him in a village.

Su Jiu questioned Liu Min about the mysterious gentleman, but Liu Min knew little, leaving the group with no clear lead on the curse threatening Su Jiu. They set out to retrieve the Soul-Suppressing Pearl, while Liu Min pleaded with Gu Ningyun to release her in exchange for helping them.

• Liu Min admitted that she and the others had acted brazenly because Hong Ming was dead, but she could not explain who the gentleman or the organization was.
• Yun Huanling realized Su Jiu had less than thirty-five years to break the curse, and Su Jiu urged the group to obtain the Soul-Suppressing Pearl.
• Su Jiu decided to let Yan'er go because she might know where the Nightmare Demon and Qingqing were, and she placed a tracking mark on her.
• At the second stone chamber, Liu Min explained that three powerful mechanical puppets guarded the pearl and that she could use her Yin-Devouring Butterfly to retrieve it.
• Liu Min offered to help in exchange for her release, and Gu Ningyun hesitated as Liu Min pleaded to escape the punishment awaiting her at the Heavenly Music Pavilion.

Gu Ningyun agreed to release Liu Min if she took pills that would keep her in check, and Liu Min agreed to consider the choice. Su Jiu and the others fought the puppets guarding the Soul-Suppressing Pearl, while Su Jiu looked for a way to disable one by finding its Power Core.

• Gu Ningyun offered to let Liu Min go if she took pills to protect her friends and ordinary people, and Liu Min asked for time to think.
• Su Jiu opened the chamber containing the Soul-Suppressing Pearl and dodged an attack from one of its three puppets.
• Feng Qi and Yun Chao engaged two puppets while Gu Ningyun confined Liu Min and played her pipa to strengthen the fighters.
• Su Jiu fought the remaining puppet and realized that cutting off its limbs would not stop it while its Power Core remained intact.

Su Jiu and the others defeated the corpse puppets by striking their weak points simultaneously, then discovered a Soul-Suppressing Pearl above a coffin that held a powerful soul. Su Jiu chose not to risk taking the pearl, but a Yin-Devouring Butterfly suddenly appeared.

• Su Jiu destroyed her puppet and found that the puppets’ weak points were their left ears and right eyes.
• Su Jiu realized the puppets grew stronger when another was destroyed because their yin qi transferred to the survivors, so she and Yun Chao coordinated with Feng Qi to bring down the remaining puppets at the same time.
• The escaping yin qi drifted into a Soul-Suppressing Pearl above a coffin, and Gu Ningyun warned that a vengeful soul might be trapped inside.
• Su Jiu concluded that the soul was not the source of the tomb’s yin qi and decided the group should leave the pearl alone.
• A Yin-Devouring Butterfly suddenly appeared.

Su Jiu and her companions fought Liu Min and her Corpse Puppets while Yun Huanling protected the Soul-Suppressing Pearl from the Yin-Devouring Butterflies. Su Jiu realized the Corpse Puppets were strengthened by the tomb and suspected they had been refined from living people.

• Liu Min escaped Gu Ningyun's prison, summoned Corpse Puppets, and tried to kill her, but Su Jiu pulled Gu Ningyun out of danger.
• Liu Min played her purplish-black flute to direct the Yin-Devouring Butterflies toward the Soul-Suppressing Pearl, while Yun Huanling shielded it with a Formation Disk.
• Su Jiu, Feng Qi, Yun Chao, and Gu Ningyun fought the Corpse Puppets as Liu Min explained that she had no intention of returning to the Heavenly Music Pavilion.
• Su Jiu and her companions killed several Corpse Puppets, but new ones joined the battle, and the dead puppets became nourishment for the Yin-Devouring Butterflies.
• Su Jiu froze and beheaded Corpse Puppets, realized the tomb and butterflies strengthened them, and suspected they had been made from living people.

Liu Min retreated after warning Gu Ningyun that they would become enemies, but Yun Huanling failed to hold back the Yin-Devouring Butterflies, freeing the Soul-Suppressing Pearl and releasing yin qi. As the coffin shook open, a skeletal old man emerged and began racing toward the group.

• Liu Min left the chamber, and Su Jiu defeated the remaining Corpse Puppets before helping Gu Ningyun and the others.
• Yun Huanling ran out of spiritual qi, allowing the Yin-Devouring Butterflies to break through the formation and swarm the Soul-Suppressing Pearl.
• Su Jiu ordered Yun Huanling to retrieve the pearl, but its removal released yin qi and strengthened the Corpse Puppets.
• The group defeated the Corpse Puppets and dispersed the butterflies, then recovered as the coffin shook and its lid began to move.
• The coffin lid flew off, and a skeletal old man climbed out, croaked that he was hungry, and accelerated into a rapid four-limbed run.

Su Jiu and the others fought a powerful mummy after it escaped its chamber, while Yun Huanling was wounded by corpse poison and briefly acted strangely around Su Jiu. The mummy broke free of Su Jiu’s formation, and the group began testing its seven apertures for a weakness as their battle continued.

• The mummy attacked Su Jiu and the others, wounding Yun Huanling with corpse poison before Su Jiu trapped it in a formation.
• Su Jiu gave Yun Huanling a pill and ordered him to stay out of the fight, while he helped by laying formation disks along the mummy’s path.
• Su Jiu discovered that the mummy had enough strength to damage a sixth-tier formation disk and estimated its cultivation at the Spirit Transformation Stage.
• After the formation crumbled, Su Jiu directed the group to test the mummy’s seven apertures while Gu Ningyun supported the fighters with her pipa.
• Su Jiu, Feng Qi, and Yun Chao attacked the mummy’s eyes, but its toughness let it smash through Su Jiu’s ice spikes, and Yun Chao only managed to cut off one ear.

Su Jiu and the others tested the mummy’s defenses and suspected its sea of consciousness was its weakness. Su Jiu cracked its skull with the Frostbound Purple Ultimate Sword, but the mummy remained active and focused on her.

• Feng Qi struck at the mummy’s head, but its skull resisted his sword qi, and Su Jiu rescued him from its sinister wind.
• Feng Qi told Su Jiu that the mummy’s skull might protect a vulnerable sea of consciousness, and Su Jiu ordered Yun Chao to follow his suggestion.
• Su Jiu abandoned her experimental attacks and struck the mummy’s skull with the Frostbound Purple Ultimate Sword.
• The mummy’s skull developed a deep crack, while Gu Ningyun, Yun Huanling, Feng Qi, and Yun Chao reacted with surprise.

Su Jiu defeated the mummy with the Frostbound Purple Ultimate Sword, freeing the soul remnant of the Vast Righteousness Sect’s First Sect Master. He considered entering Feng Qi’s contracted Yin Soul Jade and, after learning which sects the group belonged to, revealed his old connection to the Azure Tide Sect.

• Su Jiu strengthened her Frostbound Purple Ultimate Sword with Spirit-Cleansing Pool Water and struck down the mummy, while Yun Huanling’s Sixth-Rank Formation stopped its counterattack.
• The mummy’s destruction released a damaged soul remnant, who introduced himself as the Vast Righteousness Sect’s First Sect Master and explained that he had been left to protect his sect.
• The soul remnant said he had awakened after thirty thousand years but had remained aware of events outside the tomb, including the Heaven-Connecting Tower’s disappearance ten thousand years earlier.
• When the soul remnant asked to leave the tomb, Feng Qi offered his contracted Yin Soul Jade, and the soul remnant weighed the risks of entering it.
• The group named their sects, and the soul remnant recognized the Azure Tide Sect before recalling that the Vast Righteousness Sect had once been the foremost sect on the Nine Provinces Continent.

Lu Mingyang explained how a heretical Mahayana cultivator used his remnant soul and a descendant of the Divine Race in a scheme to steal fortune, and he asked to return to the Vast Righteousness Sect to prevent a calamity. Feng Qi took Lu Mingyang with him, while the group learned about the ancient path to ascension and the Nine Provinces Continent’s former abundance of spiritual qi.

• Lu Mingyang told Su Jiu and the others that he had founded the Vast Righteousness Sect after being influenced by the Azure Tide Sect.
• Lu Mingyang explained that a heretical cultivator had tricked a Sect Master into building the tomb, stolen the Soul-Sheltering Lamp, and used Lu Mingyang to blind the Heavenly Dao while stealing fortune.
• Lu Mingyang revealed that another cultivator, possibly descended from the Divine Race, had been imprisoned in a side chamber before him, and that the heretical cultivator had reached Mahayana.
• Lu Mingyang said he wanted to reach the Vast Righteousness Sect to avert a coming calamity, and he recognized Yun Chao as a descendant of his friend from the Heavenly Secret Sect.
• After Feng Qi revealed his identity, Lu Mingyang chose him to take the remnant soul away.
• Lu Mingyang described the Heaven-Connecting Tower, Heart-Refining Trial, tribulation lightning, and Heavenly Ladder required for ascension, and Su Jiu inferred that spiritual qi had been richer thirty thousand years earlier.

Su Jiu entered a Side Chamber to retrieve soft jade blue crystal for the Snow Sprite while her companions studied the mechanism to the Main Tomb Chamber. There, she and Little Pearl found a coffin sealed with a formation identical to the one that had once sealed Little Pearl, and the Snow Sprite asked Su Jiu to store the crystal until it could safely consume it.

• The Snow Sprite asked Su Jiu to enter another Side Chamber and retrieve soft jade blue crystal, explaining that the rare treasure would help increase its cultivation.
• Su Jiu asked Lu Mingyang about the other Side Chambers, then had her companions stay behind to study the Main Tomb Chamber mechanism while she went alone.
• Su Jiu entered the indicated Side Chamber and noticed that the Spiritual Qi patterns on its coffin formed a complex Sealing Formation.
• Little Pearl recognized the coffin’s formation as identical in pattern and effect to the one that had sealed it.
• The Snow Sprite broke a jar and found the soft jade blue crystal inside, then asked Su Jiu to store it because eating it would release its Spiritual Qi and cause a commotion.

Su Jiu obtained soft jade blue crystal in a Side Chamber and confronted the spirits for hiding that they could sense through the walls. Back in the Main Hall, she joined Yun Huanling and Yun Chao in examining the ornate bench believed to lead to the Main Tomb Chamber, where she noticed spiritual qi shimmering over its carved dragon and phoenix.

• Su Jiu learned that soft jade blue crystal could freeze the area around it if disturbed before its protective membrane formed, then put the crystal away for the Snow Sprite.
• Su Jiu questioned the Snow Sprite, Little Green, and Little Pearl about sensing through the Side Chamber walls, and silenced their ensuing argument.
• Yun Huanling congratulated Su Jiu on finding soft jade blue crystal and warned her to keep it secret and guard it carefully.
• Yun Chao and Lu Mingyang admitted they had no clear way to understand the ornate bench, which they believed was the entrance to the Main Tomb Chamber.
• Su Jiu examined the bench's carved dragon and phoenix and noticed spiritual qi shimmering over them.

Su Jiu and Yun Huanling discovered formations hidden in the dragon and phoenix carvings and began working to decipher them. Meanwhile, other sects gathered at the Secret Realm entrance, where Luo Cheng encountered Xia Jue leading the Azure Tide Sect’s Enforcement Hall.

• Su Jiu noticed that the dragon and phoenix carvings had shifted and sensed spatial laws and conflicting spiritual qi within them.
• Su Jiu helped Yun Huanling locate concealed formations in the dragon’s scales and phoenix’s feathers, and they agreed to decipher the unknown arts themselves.
• Feng Qi asked why Gu Ningyun was not pursuing Liu Min, and Gu Ningyun revealed that she had alerted the Heavenly Music Pavilion’s disciples just as Feng Qi had alerted the Enforcement Hall.
• Yun Chao meditated nearby while Su Jiu and Yun Huanling continued discussing the formations.
• Disciples from several sects gathered at the Secret Realm entrance, and Luo Cheng saw Xia Jue arrive leading the Enforcement Hall’s group.

Xia Jue intervened when Luo Cheng berated two Vast Righteousness Sect disciples for arguing over him, then received clues from the woods that revealed how Luo Cheng's sister had disappeared. The chapter ended with Luo Cheng realizing Xia Jue had pieced together what happened.

• Two Vast Righteousness Sect female cultivators argued over Xia Jue until Luo Cheng reprimanded them and threatened their place in the sect.
• Luo Cheng nearly named Su Jiu while insulting the women, but Xia Jue silently warned him not to involve her; Heavenly Music Pavilion disciples also objected when Luo Cheng mentioned Gu Ningyun and Rongyin.
• Luo Cheng ordered the women back into their group, and one of them abandoned her hopes of attracting Xia Jue's attention.
• An Enforcement Hall disciple brought Xia Jue a spent Sound-Imitating Talisman found in the woods, while another produced pastry crumbs wrapped in a silk handkerchief.
• Xia Jue identified the crumbs as Qiongyue Flower Pastries and deduced how the talisman and pastries had been used, alarming Luo Cheng.