Chapter Summaries

Su Jiu and the Snow Sprite defeated the gray-clothed demon, but Silver Snow died protecting Su Jiu from the demon’s final strike. Chu Luohen and Chu Mojin arrived afterward, took Su Jiu and Silver Snow away, and estimated that Su Jiu would need years to recover, with possible lasting effects.

• Su Jiu revealed that she and the Snow Sprite had poisoned the gray-clothed demon with Spirit-Cleansing Pool Water and the purifying powers of two pearls, and the demon began to die.
• After her attunement ended, Su Jiu crawled to Silver Snow and shared a brief laugh with him before the demon’s dying attack struck.
• Silver Snow switched places with Su Jiu and took the attack, then watched the sunrise with her as his life faded away.
• Chu Luohen and Chu Mojin arrived after Su Jiu lost consciousness; Chu Luohen placed Silver Snow in an ice coffin while Chu Mojin examined Su Jiu and warned she might suffer lasting effects.
• Chu Mojin collected the demon’s corpse in a Demon-Sealing Jar, and he and Chu Luohen left Fox Mountain with Su Jiu and Silver Snow.

Ning Hai gathered the Azure Tide Sect’s senior leaders to discuss Xia Jue’s troubling, incomplete reports from the Demon-Subduing Land. After Chu Mojin revealed that Su Jiu had been badly injured by a demon, the sect leaders examined the demon’s corpse and considered whether demons had secretly returned to the Azure Realm; Xia Jue’s messages then raised the possibility of another force guiding people through the Demon-Subduing Land.

• Ning Hai waited to begin the meeting until Chu Mojin and the others from Ice Veil Peak arrived, while the Grand Elder argued with several senior leaders over the delay.
• Chu Mojin reported that Su Jiu was badly injured and unconscious, while Chu Luohen was unharmed and bringing her back to Ice Veil Peak.
• Chu Mojin used a formation to contain the demonic qi and revealed the demon’s corpse, confirming that Su Jiu had encountered a demon far stronger than a Spirit Transformation cultivator.
• Hong Ling, Long Aotian, and the other leaders recalled earlier demons encountered by Su Jiu and wondered whether demons had blended into the Azure Realm for thousands of years.
• Ning Hai played Xia Jue’s messages, which described fresh, orderly tracks of spirit and demonic cultivators in the Demon-Subduing Land that ended at a black river.
• Chu Mojin suggested that Xia Jue’s report pointed to an unknown force guiding people toward a mysterious destination.

Ning Hai used Xia Jue’s report from the Demon-Subduing Land to force the Grand Elder to prepare to go there, while the sect considered how to rescue the trapped Enforcement Hall disciples. With Su Jiu gravely injured and Chu Luohen staying to care for her, Chu Mojin agreed to accompany a Cloudmist Peak senior to the Demon-Subduing Land.

• Xia Jue’s message reported that the trail ended beneath a dead tree and warned that even small demonic beasts in the Demon-Subduing Land were dangerous.
• Ning Hai turned the Grand Elder’s mockery into a commitment to leave for the Demon-Subduing Land the next day and help Xia Jue.
• Feng Qi’s message explained that the group had been trapped near the dead tree for two weeks and that the Hall Master ordered the disciples to dig it up, but the crucial details were cut off.
• Chu Mojin and Chu Luohen refused to leave Su Jiu, who was gravely injured, and Chu Luohen explained that she needed care and ice spiritual qi available on Ice Veil Peak.
• Ning Hai agreed that the sect could not abandon the troubled Heavenly Secret Sect, whose defenses Cloudmist Peak seniors were supporting.
• Chu Mojin volunteered to accompany the available Cloudmist Peak senior to the Demon-Subduing Land while Chu Luohen stayed to care for Su Jiu.

After three years unconscious, Su Jiu woke from a dream in which Silver Snow’s lingering spirit said goodbye, but she remained gravely injured and unable to circulate qi. Chu Luohen told her that Chu Mojin had brought Silver Snow’s body back, and Su Mianmian and Jin Chen arrived to visit while Chu Luohen warned them not to touch her.

• After Chu Luohen left a meeting, the elders decided which seniors would accompany Chu Mojin to the Demon-Subduing Land, while Ning Hai worried about Xia Jue’s long absence.
• In a dream, Su Jiu found Silver Snow’s fading spirit, learned that he was already dead, and watched him say goodbye before she woke.
• Chu Luohen told Su Jiu she had been unconscious for three years and warned her that her body, primordial spirit, and meridians were badly damaged; when she tried to draw qi, she coughed up blood.
• Su Jiu told Chu Luohen that Silver Snow’s lingering primordial spirit had awakened her, and Chu Luohen revealed that Chu Mojin had brought Silver Snow’s body back in an Ice Coffin made from millennium mystic ice.
• Su Mianmian and Jin Chen arrived at Ice Veil Peak, but Chu Luohen stopped Su Mianmian from rushing to embrace Su Jiu and reminded them that touching her would worsen her injuries.

After waking from a three-year coma, Su Jiu learned how deeply Su Mianmian had worried about her and that the Medicine Gate Master had examined her three times. The Medicine Gate Master stood beside her bed, ready to begin treatment, while the bargain that brought him remained unknown.

• Su Mianmian tearfully told Su Jiu how distressed she was by her injuries, and Su Jiu comforted her.
• Jin Chen recounted how Su Mianmian had secretly gone to the Medicine Gate to seek help, where he and Su Mianmian were stopped by disciples until Chu Luohen intervened.
• Jin Chen told Su Jiu that Chu Luohen and the Medicine Gate Master had spoken privately and that the Master had examined her three times.
• Su Jiu asked about her condition and treatment, but Jin Chen could not provide further details.
• The Medicine Gate Master came to Su Jiu's bedside with a neutral expression.

The Medicine Gate Master explained that Su Jiu’s injuries had resisted healing because unusual demonic qi and overexertion had magnified her hidden damage. He had come to treat her with preparations Chu Luohen had been making, though he could not promise a full recovery.

• The Medicine Gate Master told Su Jiu that her meridians and dantian were badly damaged and that he could not guarantee she would fully recover.
• Su Jiu asked why her injuries had barely improved over three years, and the Medicine Gate Master directed her to ask Chu Luohen.
• The Medicine Gate Master explained that the otherworldly demon’s qi had worsened Su Jiu’s injuries after she overtaxed herself.
• Su Mianmian asked whether Su Jiu could be healed, and the Medicine Gate Master revealed that he and Chu Luohen had been preparing a treatment for a long time.
• The Medicine Gate Master continued discussing Su Jiu’s treatment with her.

After Bai Su died, Yao Yan traveled across the Nine Provinces Continent and reflected on the remnant soul that had merged with him during his secluded cultivation. The soul’s memories tied it to Su Jiu, Xia Jue, and the Enforcement Hall, and Yao Yan remained unable to remove it as he continued his travels.

• After Bai Su died, Yao Yan set out to see the Nine Provinces Continent and realized why demonic cultivators coveted its rich, flourishing lands.
• During secluded cultivation, a powerful wandering soul tried to possess Yao Yan, but Yao Yan fought back and reclaimed control of his body.
• After emerging from seclusion, Yao Yan heard the soul’s voice and discovered that its memories had become part of his own.
• Yao Yan learned from the memories that the soul had been a Dao cultivator who stole the Skyglaze Stone, betrayed his sect, and was connected to Su Jiu and Xia Jue.
• The soul’s unclear memories suggested that he died after escaping captivity, and Yao Yan grew wary of the Enforcement Hall.
• As Yao Yan traveled, the soul rarely spoke, but its negative emotions surfaced around places from its memories, especially those connected to Xia Jue and Su Jiu.

Yao Yan confronted Yi Feng Chen about their three-year search for clues to the remnant soul’s death, exposing how little he trusted Yi Feng Chen’s demands. Their bickering was interrupted when Yao Yan sensed blood and a strange demonic aura like the one from the Demon-Subduing Land, which recalled his childhood visit there.

• Yao Yan remembered how he and Yi Feng Chen had traveled to the Nine Provinces Continent together, but had found no clues to Yi Feng Chen’s death in three years.
• Yao Yan told Yi Feng Chen he would not risk approaching the Enforcement Hall and accused him of caring more about his own investigation than Yao Yan’s safety.
• Yi Feng Chen demanded to know how they would investigate, and Yao Yan replied that they should leave it to fate.
• Yao Yan sensed blood and an unfamiliar demonic aura nearby, then concealed himself.
• Yao Yan recalled visiting the Demon-Subduing Land as a child, where its oppressive force caused him to faint and changed his outlook.

Yao Yan warned Yi Feng Chen to stop probing his thoughts as Su Qingqing and Yan fled a pursuer with the Soul-Suppressing Pearl. Su Qingqing stayed behind to delay the pursuer while urging Yan to take the pearl to Meng'er, but Yan refused to leave her.

• Yao Yan threatened Yi Feng Chen after sensing him pry into his thoughts, then turned his attention toward a nearby spot.
• Su Qingqing scattered her last packet of Purple Powder at the pursuer and used a forbidden technique to escape with Yan.
• Su Qingqing told Yan to carry the Soul-Suppressing Pearl to Meng'er while she stayed behind to hold off the pursuer's lackey.
• Su Qingqing and Yan argued over whether Su Qingqing's sacrifice was for Yan or for Meng'er, and Yan refused to go.
• Yan remembered that Meng'er had once said the two women shared virtues as well as flaws, including a willingness to die for those they cared about.

Yan and Su Qingqing fled a demonic beast that had been ordered to hunt them, while arguing over who should escape and deliver the Soul-Suppressing Pearl to Meng'er. As the beast caught up and Su Qingqing reached her limit, Yan hesitated to leave her behind.

• Yan and Su Qingqing hid from a demonic beast that had tracked them from the Demon-Subduing Land under its master's control.
• Yan offered Su Qingqing the Soul-Suppressing Pearl and urged her to take it to Meng'er, but Su Qingqing asked Yan to deliver her ribbon to Su Jiu of the Azure Tide Sect.
• Su Qingqing used an extending wooden staff to push the beast back and carry Yan away, then they fled its snapping mouthparts.
• The demonic beast caught up with the exhausted pair, and Su Qingqing told Yan to leave her behind.
• Yan wondered why she felt sad about Su Qingqing's fate and clenched her fist, intending to part ways with her.

Yao Yan saved Yan and Su Qingqing from a demonic beast, then recognized the aura of Su Qingqing’s ribbon and asked whether her elder sister was Su Jiu. The chapter ended with Su Qingqing asking if he knew her sister, as the consciousness inside Yao Yan began to stir.

• Yao Yan appeared just in time to save Yan and Su Qingqing from the demonic beast, cutting off its mouthparts.
• Yan told Su Qingqing that Yao Yan was the Young Sect Master of the Succubus Sect and a spirit transformation cultivator.
• Yao Yan defeated the demonic beast and cut it into countless pieces before it could escape.
• Su Qingqing thanked Yao Yan, who noticed the familiar aura on her hair ribbon.
• Su Qingqing said her elder sister had given her the ribbon, and Yao Yan asked whether her sister was Su Jiu.
• Yao Yan said he had met Su Jiu once, while the consciousness within his body began stirring restlessly.

Su Qingqing explained why she had left the Azure Tide Sect, while Yan told Yao Yan how she survived being raised as a cauldron furnace in the Night Demon Sect and eventually escaped. Her account ended with her fleeing to the Demon-Subduing Land after her past was exposed.

• Su Qingqing said she had stopped returning to the Azure Tide Sect so her choice to cultivate the uncanny path would not bring trouble on her second elder sister or the sect.
• Yao Yan questioned Su Qingqing about cultivating the uncanny path, and she tried to explain that she had effectively abandoned the sect.
• Yan recognized Yao Yan from the Hundred Flowers Banquet three hundred years earlier and revealed that he had once seen her younger sister beaten to death.
• Yan told Yao Yan that she had been raised as a cauldron furnace, feigned a grave illness to avoid being sold, and killed those who had abused her and murdered her sister.
• Yan said the Night Demon Sect uncovered her identity after she killed an elder's grandson, forcing her to flee to the Demon-Subduing Land.

Yan recalled how she escaped into the Demon-Subduing Land, met Meng'er and the Nightmare Demon, and later joined Su Qingqing in searching for a Soul-Suppressing Pearl to save Meng'er. After they learned the pearl was in the Windforest Star River, Yan and Su Qingqing made a plan to get inside by approaching a cultivator surnamed Huang and stealing a fruit that concealed demonic qi.

• Yan fled the Night Demon Sect into the Demon-Subduing Land, where demonized plants poisoned her before Meng'er found and cared for her.
• Yan spent years living with Meng'er and the Nightmare Demon, then learned Meng'er suffered from separation-soul disorder and might die if she tried to transcend tribulation.
• Yan left the Demon-Subduing Land to search for a Soul-Suppressing Pearl, and Su Qingqing later joined her on the quest.
• Yan and Su Qingqing found definite information that the pearl was in the Windforest Star River, but they lacked the strength to enter unnoticed.
• Yan and Su Qingqing planned to approach a male cultivator surnamed Huang, with Yan handling him while Su Qingqing stole a fruit that concealed demonic qi for two hundred years.

Su Qingqing and Yan recounted how they had stolen a golden box from hooded demonic cultivators, then learned the Soul-Suppressing Pearl had passed into their hands. After Yao Yan warned them to leave, they tried to flee but were caught by the Enforcement Hall, whose members recognized Su Qingqing.

• Su Qingqing and Yan learned that a demonic cultivator faction possessed the Soul-Suppressing Pearl and watched the faction conduct a ritual in the Demon-Subduing Land.
• When a hooded figure carried a golden box toward the formation, Yan stole it while Su Qingqing attacked the figure, who died after only two exchanges.
• Su Qingqing and Yan left without realizing that the black cloak had transformed into the demonic beast that later pursued them.
• Yao Yan accepted their story as repayment for a favor, then warned them to leave because trouble was approaching.
• Su Qingqing and Yan tried to flee, but a magic net caught them and Da Lu and Xiao Lu recognized Su Qingqing as a member of the Su Family.

Su Qingqing and Yan were captured by Enforcement Hall disciples after they encountered them beside the remains of a demonic beast from the Demon-Subduing Land. Back at the Azure Tide Sect, the women were separated and detained, and Su Qingqing faced questioning about her association with a demonic cultivator.

• Da Lu questioned Su Qingqing about Yan and the remains, and Su Qingqing said the remains belonged to a demonic beast from the Demon-Subduing Land.
• Da Lu ordered the Enforcement Hall disciples to take Su Qingqing and Yan away, while Yan taunted Su Qingqing about her sister and tried to learn what the Hall would do with them.
• Yan tried to charm the escorting disciples into revealing information, but they ignored her and escorted the women into Azure Tide Sect territory.
• The Enforcement Hall separated and detained Yan and Su Qingqing after they returned to the sect.
• An interrogator asked Su Qingqing to explain her alleged collusion with a demonic cultivator.

Su Qingqing confessed her connection to Yan and challenged the Enforcement Hall’s judgment of Demonic Cultivators, then asked to see Su Jiu and learned that something about her sister had changed. Yan endured harsh interrogation and nearly succumbed to a female cultivator’s mind-influencing voice before an arriving disciple interrupted.

• Su Qingqing admitted her involvement with Yan, the Demon-Subduing Land, and the Nightmare Demon, but argued that neither she nor Yan had done wrong merely by associating with a Demonic Cultivator.
• Su Qingqing asked to see Su Jiu, and the Judge said he needed to seek instructions; the Enforcement Hall Disciples’ strange reactions left her wondering whether something had happened to her sister.
• An escorting Enforcement Hall Disciple refused to explain Su Jiu’s situation and told Su Qingqing to find out for herself.
• Yan suffered under interrogation after resisting and trying to use her Enchantment Technique, and she asked how the interrogator knew when she was lying.
• A petite female cultivator used her voice to weaken Yan’s resistance until a door opened and jolted Yan back to awareness.
• The female cultivator turned toward the arriving Enforcement Hall Disciple, complained that he had interrupted her at a critical moment, and asked what had happened.

Yan realized that Su Qingqing had betrayed them, while Su Jiu continued recovering from her injuries and struggling with guilt over the deaths of those close to her. Several days later, Yang Guo and the Lu brothers arrived at Ice Veil Peak, and Yang Guo hesitated after seeing Su Jiu's condition.

• Yan overheard that the people interrogating her had obtained the answers they wanted, and concluded that Su Qingqing had betrayed them for Su Jiu.
• The Medicine Gate Master told Su Jiu that she needed at least six more months before she could use her arts freely, and Chu Luohen said she would remain under his watch for a year.
• Su Jiu recalled Wenren Qingtang's prediction that everyone close to her would die and feared she had caused the deaths of Yun Huanling, the Painting Spirit, and Silver Snow.
• A figure watched Su Jiu suffering by her window, then vanished before she could see anyone there.
• The Lu brothers and Yang Guo visited Su Jiu at Ice Veil Peak, and Yang Guo asked about her illness while Chu Luohen watched them.

Yang Guo relayed Su Qingqing’s plight to Su Jiu, who defied Chu Luohen’s attempt to keep her on Ice Veil Peak and went to the Enforcement Hall dungeon. There, Su Qingqing challenged Yan’s resentment and urged her to think of Meng’er, then suggested they seek outside help.

• Yang Guo told Su Jiu that the Enforcement Hall had investigated Yan and planned to cripple her cultivation and release her, and Su Jiu agreed to accompany Yang Guo to see Su Qingqing.
• Chu Luohen forbade Su Jiu from leaving Ice Veil Peak, but Su Jiu threatened to fight him and walked past him toward the Enforcement Hall.
• In the dungeon, Yan taunted Su Qingqing for revealing her secrets, and Su Qingqing explained that the Enforcement Hall would have uncovered them anyway.
• Su Qingqing accused Yan of selfishly wasting time that Meng’er did not have, and Yan reconsidered her decision to guard the secrets of the Demon-Subduing Land.
• When Yan asked if they could escape, Su Qingqing said they could not leave on their own but could ask someone else for help.

Su Jiu visited Su Qingqing in the Enforcement Hall prison and questioned her about cultivating the uncanny path and leaving her sect. Su Qingqing concealed her reasons, while Yan revealed she had recognized Su Jiu by the aura on Su Qingqing’s wrist ribbon.

• Su Jiu entered the prison and reunited with Su Qingqing, who noticed that her sister was injured.
• Su Jiu asked why Su Qingqing had chosen the uncanny path and left the sect for so long, but Su Qingqing insisted the path suited her and withheld some details.
• Su Jiu accepted that the uncanny path was not inherently evil and urged Su Qingqing to think carefully before acting.
• Su Jiu greeted Yan and learned that Yan had suspected her identity because Su Qingqing’s wrist ribbon carried the same aura as Su Jiu.
• Su Qingqing reacted with embarrassed anger to Yan’s revelation.

Su Jiu learned that Su Qingqing wanted her to take the Soul-Suppressing Pearl to the Demon-Subduing Land to save Meng'er, a young woman whose soul was failing. Realizing that Meng'er was the infant once abducted by the Nightmare Demon, Su Jiu told Su Qingqing and Yan the demon’s history, leaving them stunned.

• Su Jiu stopped Su Qingqing and Yan from arguing and demanded to know why they had summoned her.
• Yan hesitated to entrust Su Jiu with the Soul-Suppressing Pearl, but Su Jiu rebuked her for making demands while asking for help.
• Su Qingqing asked Su Jiu to deliver the Soul-Suppressing Pearl to Meng'er in the Demon-Subduing Land, where a Nightmare Demon had protected her since childhood.
• Su Jiu recognized Meng'er and the Nightmare Demon as the missing pair from Great March Mountain and realized Meng'er was the abducted infant, now grown.
• Su Jiu told Su Qingqing and Yan the story of the Nightmare Demon and Meng'er, and both were stunned.