Chapter Summaries

The Azure Tide Sect rescued Su Jiu, while Wen Ruyi revealed the danger posed by the missing Sect Leader and his escaped demon soul. At the Heavenly Secret Sect, Sun Dongdong was executed on the Thunder-Summoning Platform, but Su Jiu remained unconscious as Chu Mojin urged Chu Luohen to guide her recovery.

• Yun Huanling learned that Chu Mojin had rescued Su Jiu and returned to the Heavenly Secret Sect with True Person Ning Shan.
• Wen Ruyi told Chu Mojin about the Sect Leader’s danger, while the demon soul was revealed to have stolen his body and fled.
• The Heavenly Secret Sect sentenced Sun Dongdong to the Thunder-Summoning Platform, where heavenly lightning scattered his soul.
• Chu Mojin sighed over the unresolved Sect Leader as Su Jiu remained unconscious months after her rescue.
• Chu Mojin urged Chu Luohen to press his palms to Su Jiu’s and guide the Jade Moisture, Ice Clarity within her, but Chu Luohen resisted.

Su Jiu awakened inside Flower Bud after it saved her failing soul, but she could not return to her body until Flower Bud received ice-element spiritual qi. When Chu Luohen and Su Jiu cultivated together, the resulting surge let her awaken and break through to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, while also loosening Chu Luohen’s bottleneck.

• Su Jiu spoke with Flower Bud in the void and learned it had sheltered her soul with ice soul power after she nearly dissipated.
• Flower Bud told Su Jiu that her martial uncle had brought her back to Ice Veil Peak and that ice spiritual qi or ice soul power could let it bloom and return her soul to her body.
• Flower Bud sensed rich ice-element spiritual qi during Su Jiu’s cultivation with someone and opened a gap, allowing Su Jiu to return to her physical body.
• Su Jiu absorbed the surging spiritual qi and smoothly advanced to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage as Flower Bud’s silver bud began to open.
• Chu Luohen left Su Jiu’s room in embarrassment, while Chu Mojin revealed that their cultivation had also loosened Chu Luohen’s ten-year bottleneck.
• Su Jiu opened her eyes, recognized her familiar surroundings, and felt grateful to be alive.

After awakening from a two-year coma, Su Jiu recovered and returned to life on Ice Veil Peak, where Chu Luohen planned to guide her for three more years. Outside the peak, she rejected Xia Meng’s plea for help, while Xia Meng’s resentment toward her remained.

• Su Jiu awakened at fifteen, tended the spirit herbs, and thanked Chu Mojin and Chu Luohen for saving her life.
• Chu Luohen told Chu Mojin he would enter seclusion for nascent soul formation in three years and planned to guide Su Jiu in formations until then.
• Su Jiu left Ice Veil Peak and drew curious looks from Outer Gate disciples, while Tong Qi explained that she seemed cold because she had not fully absorbed her spiritual energy.
• Xia Meng knelt before Su Jiu and begged her to help her enter the Inner Gate, claiming her roommates were stealing her resources.
• Su Jiu sensed Xia Meng’s malice, refused to manage her affairs, and walked away as Xia Meng seethed with resentment.

Su Jiu reported her discoveries to Ning Hai, gave him Concealment Stones for the sect’s planned mission, and delivered the Cold Pool Secret Key. She then visited Su Mianmian on Blazing Flame Peak, where a quarrel turned into a spar between the two.

• Su Jiu gave Ning Hai ninety Concealment Stones and asked him to reserve magic treasures made from them for Mian Mian and Jin Chen; Ning Hai gifted her a Jade Slip in return.
• Su Jiu told Ning Hai about Millet Village and handed over the Cold Pool Secret Key, while Xia Jue noticed her unusually calm reaction to the village’s massacre.
• Su Jiu went to Blazing Flame Peak, where Zhang Liang thanked her and a male cultivator blocked her path before Su Mianmian drove him away with her whip.
• Su Mianmian hugged Su Jiu and scolded her for acting recklessly, then challenged her to fight without realizing Su Jiu had advanced to Foundation Establishment Early Stage.
• Su Jiu suppressed her cultivation to the Ninth Qi Refining Layer and sparred with Su Mianmian as nearby disciples watched and worried.

Su Jiu destroyed Su Mianmian’s Phoenix Egg after warning that the resentful divine beast could eventually escape its contract and endanger Mian Mian and the Azure Tide Sect. As the egg vanished, Flower Bud told Su Jiu that the book was about to shatter.

• Su Jiu sparred with Su Mianmian, guiding her through the fight until Mian Mian ran out of spiritual energy, while Hong Ling watched.
• Su Mianmian told Su Jiu that the Phoenix Egg had insulted and threatened her, and Su Jiu offered to find her a different spirit beast.
• Su Jiu explained to Hong Ling that the Phoenix could betray Mian Mian after reaching adulthood and undergoing nirvana, and Hong Ling ultimately allowed Su Jiu to act.
• Su Jiu killed the Phoenix Egg with the Purple Ultimate despite its pleas, and Mian Mian felt their divine-sense connection sever.
• Flower Bud told Su Jiu that the book was about to shatter.

Bai Su suffered another bout of chest pain and blamed Su Jiu for the life she had been forced into. At the Heavenly Devil Palace, Gong Hao learned that two demonic bases had been destroyed and heard reports on spies in the Azure Mist Continent’s sects, including a compromised true disciple in the Azure Tide Sect.

• Bai Su clutched her chest in pain while Gong Hao left her with maidservants who mocked her.
• Bai Su blamed Su Jiu for her lost opportunities and wondered what kind of existence Su Jiu was.
• Gong Hao learned that demonic forces held cities on only two continents and punished Demon Three for the Azure Mist base’s destruction.
• Gong Hao heard that disciples of the Azure Tide Sect had helped destroy the Vast Heaven base and asked about spies in the Azure Mist Continent’s eight great sects.
• The Azure Tide Sect spy reported that he had bribed one true disciple, though she had little authority and gathered few secrets.

Gong Hao learned why the Jade Sword Sect's infiltration plot failed, while Fang Xi was ordered to recover the Cold Pool Secret Key or give up her position as her master's Personal Disciple. At the Market, Su Jiu discovered that the General Store's owner had vanished after Sun Dong's execution and wondered whether she would ever see Xiang Li again.

• A Demonic Cultivator told Gong Hao that the Jade Sword Sect's Sect Leader had awakened after his Personal Disciple found a Great Restoration Pill, ending the infiltrators' plot and wiping them out.
• The Heavenly Dawn Sect's Sect Leader warned Fang Xi to recover the Cold Pool Secret Key before the Grand Tournament or relinquish her place as Personal Disciple.
• The Sect Leader reflected on her past treatment of Qi Yu and worried that the seven sects would hold her responsible if the key remained missing when the Cold Pool Secret Realm opened.
• Su Jiu visited the Market and found the General Store abandoned and covered in dust.
• The pill shop's owner told Su Jiu that the General Store's owner had disappeared after drinking heavily for a time, and Su Jiu suspected his departure followed Sun Dong's execution.
• Su Jiu wondered whether she would ever see Senior Brother Xiang Li again.

Su Jiu struggled to learn formation engraving from Chu Luohen, whose exacting method demanded precise control of divine sense. After a month of practice, her first usable formation disk broke under a Qi Refining cultivator’s touch, and her frustration with Chu Luohen’s criticism left their relationship strained.

• Su Jiu mastered several support talismans but discovered that engraving formations required a kind of divine sense control she had not needed before.
• Chu Luohen demonstrated his method for engraving a first-tier protective formation disk, and Su Jiu tried to imitate his precise coverage of the disk with her divine sense.
• After seven days, Su Jiu improved her control but struggled to guide her brush as spiritual energy pushed it off course.
• Chu Luohen criticized Su Jiu’s crooked, weak formation disks, and after a month she completed one that could barely form a protective shield.
• Chu Luohen showed that the shield shattered under a Qi Refining cultivator’s poke, prompting Su Jiu to accuse him of criticizing her without teaching; Chu Luohen briefly showed desolation before turning cold again.

After Su Jiu argued with Chu Luohen, she doubted her talent and decided to leave Ice Veil Peak to seek missions. Chu Mojin explained that her progress was exceptional and that Chu Luohen had withheld his own methods to avoid limiting her, and Su Jiu apologized before following Chu Luohen back to study formations.

• Su Jiu regretted her words to Chu Luohen, blamed herself for lacking talent, and left the Formation Disks behind.
• Chu Mojin told Chu Luohen that Su Jiu had nearly cried after he left, while Chu Luohen remained angry and silent.
• Su Jiu headed for the gates of Ice Veil Peak to look for missions, but Chu Mojin stopped her and asked why she was leaving.
• Chu Mojin explained that mastering formation basics in a month showed exceptional talent and that Chu Luohen had avoided teaching his own methods so she could develop her skills independently.
• Chu Luohen appeared and told Su Jiu that a finished formation was not necessarily ready to use, then walked ahead.
• Su Jiu followed Chu Luohen and apologized to him.

Su Jiu completed her third tier formations under Chu Luohen’s guidance before joining the sect’s once-a-decade recruitment assignment. She and Su Mianmian traveled to Peace City, while Su Jiu remained uneasy about Liu Xing’er’s intentions toward Jin Chen.

• Chu Luohen told Su Jiu that her formations could trap a golden core cultivator only briefly, but long enough for her to escape.
• Su Jiu and Su Mianmian chose the Peace City assignment, while Jin Chen chose to travel with his senior brother.
• Liu Xing’er challenged Jin Chen for taking a Capital City slot, and Jin Chen dismissed her claim to it.
• Su Jiu warned Jin Chen to avoid going alone and to carry extra magic treasures and formation disks after Liu Xing’er left with a strange smile.
• Su Jiu prepared supplies for her family, and she, Su Mianmian, and two inner gate disciples arrived in Peace City.

Su Jiu and Su Mianmian watched the Azure Tide Sect's recruitment in Peace City, where Bai Ran's poor temperament brought her into conflict with them. Hidden Demonic Cultivators watched the proceedings and identified a cheerful girl as a promising candidate.

• A masked woman received a message about Jin Chen heading to Capital City and Su Jiu and Su Mianmian going to Peace City, then killed a passing woodcutter.
• Su Jiu and Su Mianmian arrived in Peace City with two companions and observed the Four Great Households' candidates undergo spirit-root testing.
• Bai Ran tested with metal and wood spirit roots, but protested when the recording disciple rated her aptitude below Su Mianmian's.
• Su Mianmian taunted Bai Ran about her cultivation, and Su Jiu ordered the disciples to move the recruitment along and send Bai Ran off the platform.
• Several masked Demonic Cultivators watched the testing and judged Bai Ran a likely demonic cultivator before one pointed out a cheerful girl as another promising prospect.

Fang Xi discovered that Qi Yu had lived and died in Millet Village, then questioned the villagers about two cultivators who had escaped with the Cold Pool Secret Key. She left for the Heavenly Secret Sect to pursue the pair, with only two years remaining to complete her search.

• Fang Xi killed a disciple who had failed to search Millet Village properly and intimidated the others.
• Fang Xi learned from a villager that Qi Yu had died in a thatched cottage and that her bones had been discarded in a grove.
• Fang Xi questioned the villager and learned that Qi Yu had helped a man and a woman escape after a devil possessed Xu Hui and killed the villager's family.
• Fang Xi identified the pair by their ability to fly and by the man's ink-black Compass and the woman's silver-glinting sword.
• Fang Xi ordered the group to head to the Heavenly Secret Sect to continue her search.

Su Jiu and Su Mianmian welcomed the new Su Family disciples aboard the Flying Boat, then encountered a strange boy who called Su Jiu a villain and claimed to be the protagonist. Su Mianmian ordered him sent back, while Su Jiu watched him leave with Bai Su in mind.

• Su Jiu and Su Mianmian gave the Su Family supplies and Message Talismans before the Flying Boat arrived.
• Su Jiu and Su Mianmian greeted the Su Family disciples aboard, including Su Qingqing, Su Qing, and Su Xi.
• A newcomer ignored warnings and approached Su Jiu, asking why she wore different clothes and accusing her of being privileged.
• The boy muttered that Su Jiu was an arrogant villain who would be defeated by him, the protagonist.
• Su Mianmian ordered the Inner Gate Disciple to send the boy back, and he bound and silenced him before escorting him away.
• Su Jiu watched the clear sky and thought the boy reminded her of Bai Su.

Su Jiu and Su Mianmian rushed back to the Azure Tide Sect after learning that Jin Chen had been badly injured by a demonic cultivator. A Medicine Gate disciple with Bone Sight discovered that Su Jiu’s blood could save Jin Chen, but his senior warned him to keep her secret from the sects.

• Su Jiu left the Su Family members with two inner disciples and hurried back to the sect with Su Mianmian.
• Su Jiu and Su Mianmian reached Golden Guard Peak, where two Medicine Gate disciples said they could not treat Jin Chen’s demonic qi.
• Jiang Qi used his Bone Sight to recognize Su Jiu’s innate ice-skin jade-bone physique and said her blood could save Jin Chen.
• Tang Wuchen silenced Jiang Qi and warned him that revealing Su Jiu’s secret could provoke the Azure Tide Sect and endanger them both.

Jin Chen returned from a visit home gravely injured by demonic qi, while Su Jiu found a way to help him without exposing her constitution. At the Heavenly Secret Sect, Fang Xi demanded the return of her sect’s missing treasure from Yun Huanling, then asked about the female cultivator who had traveled with him.

• Long Aotian rescued Jin Chen from a Confounding Trap Formation and brought him back to Golden Guard Peak, where Su Jiu examined him.
• The demonic cultivators regrouped, and the injured woman claimed Jin Chen would die within seven days from her demonic qi.
• Su Jiu prepared a drop of her blood to treat Jin Chen, but Chu Mojin stopped her and took the bottle, then ordered her to practice swordsmanship.
• Fang Xi brought a villager from Millet Village to the Heavenly Secret Sect and demanded that Yun Huanling return the treasure Qi Yu had stolen.
• Yun Huanling questioned what the missing treasure was, and Fang Xi turned to ask about the female cultivator who had traveled with him.

Yun Huanling denied knowing what Su Jiu had taken, while his master confined him to train for the next two years. As Su Jiu practiced Thousand-Mile Ice Seal, she achieved fusion with ice spiritual energy, stunning Chu Luohen and Chu Mojin.

• Yun Huanling told Fang Xi that Su Jiu was a rogue cultivator who had gone her separate way, and Fang Xi led the Heavenly Dawn Sect disciples away.
• Yun Huanling's master questioned him about what Su Jiu had taken, then ordered him to stay in the sect and practice for two years.
• Chu Luohen intercepted a Message Talisman for Su Jiu and set it aside so she would not be distracted from training.
• Su Jiu practiced Thousand-Mile Ice Seal and gradually expanded its range, but struggled to make its effects stronger.
• Su Jiu attuned herself to ice spiritual energy and achieved fusion, astonishing Chu Luohen and Chu Mojin.

Su Jiu developed her control over spiritual qi, chose to focus on the Ice Soul sword art, and began pursuing sword intent. After seven days of practice, she finally unleashed sword intent again, leaving Chu Mojin worried about the damage to Ice Veil Peak.

• Su Jiu formed spiritual qi into Purple Ultimate and a flower, and Chu Mojin explained the rare ability of fusion to her.
• Su Jiu decided to set aside the Water-Wisdom Sword Art and train in the Ice Soul sword art with Chu Luohen.
• Su Jiu's strike left sword intent in a crack in the Nine-Dragon White Jade Pillar, and Chu Luohen took her to the pine grove to test it.
• When Su Jiu could not unleash sword intent again, Chu Luohen told her not to doubt herself or force the breakthrough.
• Su Jiu practiced for seven days, then used the thought that she and her sword were one to unleash sword intent and topple a swath of snow cedars.

As the inter-sect Grand Tournament approached, Chu Luohen gave Su Jiu a hidden Storage Ring packed with supplies and warned her to be careful while he attempted a breakthrough to Nascent Soul. Meanwhile, Fang Xi suffered imprisonment at the Heavenly Dawn Sect, whose leader reluctantly agreed to provide the tournament venue and surrender her sect’s chance to compete for four slots.

• Chu Luohen gave Su Jiu an invisible Storage Ring filled with pills, treasures, spirit stones, and two fifth tier Formation Disks before attempting his Nascent Soul breakthrough.
• Su Jiu examined the supplies, took a liking to the Black Iron Dagger, and confidently promised the Azure Tide Sect would win first place.
• Fang Xi endured spiritual-energy lashes in the Heavenly Dawn Sect prison while secretly plotting revenge on Yun Huanling and the unnamed girl.
• The Heavenly Dawn Sect's sect leader rejected Ning Hai's demand to forfeit four competition slots, then agreed to provide only the venue and withdraw her other disciples after his threat.
• Jin Chen asked Long Aotian why the Azure Tide Sect could not deny the Heavenly Dawn Sect every slot, and Long Aotian explained the political risks and the Heavenly Dawn Sect's exploitation of Outer Gate Disciples.

Su Jiu and the Azure Tide Sect delegation arrived at the Heavenly Dawn Sect for the sect Grand Tournament, where they encountered other sect leaders and disciples. As they entered the sect, Su Jiu saw its grandeur and learned how its Outer Gate disciples were exploited, including former Azure Tide Sect disciples Lu Tianqi and Ran Chao.

• The Azure Tide Sect selected Su Jiu, Li Yaran, Tong Qi, Wei Yang, Shen Chang, and five peak Foundation Establishment disciples to compete in the tournament.
• At the Heavenly Dawn Sect gates, Sect Leader Ling stared at Su Jiu before awkwardly exchanging compliments with Ning Hai, until the valley master of Elysium Valley told them to move aside.
• Su Jiu laughed at the sect leaders’ awkward exchange, prompting the other disciples to laugh as well, and Sect Leader Ling threatened his disciples to win first place.
• Su Jiu entered the Heavenly Dawn Sect and reflected on its polished appearance despite its notorious dealings.
• Outer Gate disciples described the Azure Tide Sect’s better treatment of its disciples and revealed that Lu Tianqi and Ran Chao had been bullied after arriving at the Heavenly Dawn Sect.
• Lu Tianqi had reached the ninth Qi Refining layer, taken revenge on his former tormentors, and begun demanding pills from weaker disciples; others feared mentioning Bai Su around him.

Su Jiu encountered a resentful Lu Tianqi at the Grand Tournament and learned that the Heavenly Music Pavilion was assessing its rivals. She spotted a mysterious white figure near the pavilion’s quarters and suspected it was an artifact spirit whose master was nearby.

• Lu Tianqi saw Su Jiu among the Azure Tide Sect disciples and glared at her with deep resentment.
• Tong Qi warned Su Jiu that Lu Tianqi could still be dangerous, and she agreed she might act against him if the chance arose.
• A Heavenly Music Pavilion disciple reviewed the Azure Tide Sect’s competitors and recalled Xia Jue’s past tournament victories and the Heavenly Dawn Sect’s underhanded tactic.
• The pavilion’s disciples discussed Lin Yue’s distracted state before the tournament, and she insisted that she was fine.
• Su Jiu saw a white figure vanish outside the pavilion’s courtyard, while Tong Qi noticed a flash of silver in her eyes.
• Su Jiu concluded that the figure was likely an artifact spirit and that its master was probably in the Heavenly Music Pavilion’s neighboring courtyard.