Chapter Summaries

Su Jiu realized she was trapped in a real-image illusion realm and used Flow-Redirecting Formations to turn the Cloudborn Beasts’ flames against them. After one beast vanished, the others tried a coordinated attack, but Su Jiu revealed she could still use her formations and restrained the charging beast with silver light.

• Su Jiu suspected the dark cavern held the key to escaping the illusion realm while conserving her spiritual qi against three Cloudborn Beasts.
• Su Jiu used a Flow-Redirecting Formation to send the beasts’ flames into an injured Cloudborn Beast, which vanished, confirming that the realm was a real-image illusion.
• Su Jiu explained how her formations intercepted fire spiritual qi and redirected it, then used three Formation Disks to keep the Cloudborn Beasts at bay.
• The Cloudborn Beasts retreated beyond the formations’ range, then attacked together with a charge, black feathers, and flames.
• Su Jiu revealed that she could use the formations again and restrained the charging Cloudborn Beast with streaks of silver light.

Su Jiu defeated the two remaining Cloudborn Beasts by luring them into her Ice Silk Net, then headed toward the cavern after realizing the beasts were not the key to breaking the illusion realm. She stumbled when she landed at its entrance.

• Su Jiu redirected the Cloudborn Beasts’ attacks, causing them to kill one of their companions.
• The two remaining Cloudborn Beasts unleashed their hidden potential, growing larger and faster as they attacked Su Jiu.
• Su Jiu used diversion formations to gain distance, then stopped and activated the Ice Silk Net.
• The Ice Silk Net trapped and dismembered both Cloudborn Beasts, after which the magma receded.
• Su Jiu decided the Cloudborn Beasts could not break the illusion realm and flew toward the cavern, where she stumbled on landing.

Su Jiu recovered from her battle in the Stone Grotto and headed deeper into the Cavern, while Chu Luohen, Yun Huanling, and Dao Lord Qing Ci discovered she was missing from the Palace. Dao Lord Qing Ci revealed that Su Jiu had entered a real-image illusion realm for a reason unrelated to the Palace’s laws, leaving Chu Luohen alarmed.

• Su Jiu used a Great Restoration Pill and two Ice Souls to recover before exploring the Stone Grotto for a way out of the illusion realm.
• In the Palace, Yun Huanling noticed that Su Jiu was missing while the Enforcement Hall disciples lay unconscious.
• Chu Luohen identified the unconscious disciples’ experience as a false-image illusion realm, and Yun Huanling inferred that Su Jiu had entered a real-image illusion realm.
• Yun Huanling accused Chu Luohen of taking Su Jiu’s innate origin qi and questioned his motives, while Chu Luohen challenged Yun Huanling’s concealed identity.
• Chu Luohen promised that he would not hurt Su Jiu, and Dao Lord Qing Ci clarified that her real-image illusion realm was unrelated to the Palace’s laws.

Chu Luohen, Dao Lord Qing Ci, and Yun Huanling suspected an outside force had separated Su Jiu and the Spirit Vein Spirit from the group. As they searched the Palace for a way to reach Su Jiu, Dao Lord Qing Ci hinted that Chu Luohen was being suppressed by the laws of this world, then avoided explaining further.

• Dao Lord Qing Ci pointed out that both Su Jiu and the Spirit Vein Spirit had disappeared, suggesting an external force had interfered with the Palace.
• Chu Luohen suspected Su Jiu had entered a real-image illusion realm through a doorway hidden in the darkness and urged the group to search for clues.
• Chu Luohen placed a defensive formation over the unconscious Enforcement Hall Disciples and proposed checking the second level.
• Yun Huanling felt they had missed something in the flames on the wall, and Dao Lord Qing Ci suggested his instincts were connected to his incomplete awakening.
• Dao Lord Qing Ci hinted that Chu Luohen was being suppressed because he did not belong to this world, provoking Chu Luohen before Qing Ci dismissed the remark as a joke.

Yun Huanling watched the moving flames on the wall until they formed the image of a Vermilion Bird, while Chu Luohen and Dao Lord Qing Ci remained unable to explain what was happening. The chapter left them facing the clearly revealed bird, with Su Jiu still missing and the mystery of the wall unresolved.

• Yun Huanling felt warmth in the wall and noticed that its flames seemed to move, while Chu Luohen felt only cold stone.
• Yun Huanling questioned Dao Lord Qing Ci about what he had sensed, but Qing Ci gave an ambiguous answer and hinted that Yun Huanling might be restricted.
• After an hour, the flames began converging, and Yun Huanling glimpsed the outline of a phoenix.
• Chu Luohen identified the image as a Vermilion Bird, recognizing the sacred flame depicted on the wall.
• Chu Luohen reflected on his inability to find Su Jiu and suspected Dao Lord Qing Ci knew more about him and Yun Huanling than he let on.
• Yun Huanling watched the image sharpen until he clearly recognized the Vermilion Bird.

Yun Huanling, Chu Luohen, and the Buddha Child uncovered evidence that an ancient demon might be awakening in the Azure Realm as the Vermilion Bird suffered under foreign demonic qi. Chu Luohen sensed a weakness in the Palace’s laws and began investigating the Vermilion Bird mural.

• Yun Huanling saw demonic qi merging with the Vermilion Bird in the mural, and Dao Lord Qing Ci suggested the image reflected the sacred beast’s real experience.
• Yun Huanling and Chu Luohen reasoned that a powerful demon, possibly one left from ten thousand years ago, had entered the Demon-Subduing Land, though Chu Luohen ruled out the Four-Aspect Demon.
• The Buddha Child revealed that demons had been sealed across the Azure Realm for ten thousand years and that demonic beasts had attacked Zen Sound Temple’s disciples.
• The Buddha Child explained that the Azure Realm’s missing innate origin qi had mostly been spent sealing the Rift Passage, while the ancient Mighty Experts had died sealing the remaining demons.
• The Vermilion Bird appeared on the wall and cried out, allowing Chu Luohen to sense the Palace’s energy again; he injected spiritual qi into the mural at the Vermilion Bird’s Third Tail Feather.

Su Jiu discovered a glass orb that projected scenes of Chu Luohen, Yun Huanling, and Dao Lord Qing Ci searching for her, revealing their hostility and raising questions about Yun Huanling’s identity and her connection to her Martial Uncle. After the projection vanished, the orb showed her another image: the red world of fire and magma.

• Su Jiu reached the end of the cavern and found a five-colored glass orb floating over a platform.
• The orb projected Chu Luohen, Yun Huanling, and Dao Lord Qing Ci searching for Su Jiu, but she could not contact them through the image.
• Su Jiu watched Chu Luohen and Yun Huanling clash over her identity and their shared origin, while Dao Lord Qing Ci observed from the sidelines.
• The Buddha Child appeared, and the Light Screen trembled when the Vermilion Bird cried, exposing a possible weakness in the projection.
• Chu Luohen and the others entered a different real-image illusion realm through a node, and Dao Lord Qing Ci seemed to glance toward Su Jiu before the Light Screen disappeared.
• The glass orb produced a new image of the crimson world of flames and magma.

Chu Luohen led Yun Huanling, Dao Lord Qing Ci, and the Buddha Child through the blazing illusion realm after sending the other disciples back. They found the Vermilion Bird Essence, which carried the exit, and prepared to fight it.

• The disciples discovered the entrance had vanished, and Yun Huanling explained that they would need to find another exit.
• Chu Luohen followed a clue through the flames, then sent the struggling Enforcement Hall disciples back to avoid putting them in danger.
• Chu Luohen, Yun Huanling, Dao Lord Qing Ci, and the Buddha Child continued ahead and encountered a Vermilion Bird Essence emerging from the magma.
• The Buddha Child warned that the Essence might be tainted by demonic qi and hostile to intruders, while Chu Luohen sensed the exit was on it.
• Chu Luohen said the realm's creator had deliberately placed the exit on the Vermilion Bird Essence, leaving them no choice but to fight.

Yun Huanling, Chu Luohen, and the Buddha Child faced a corrupted Vermilion Bird essence in the magma realm while Su Jiu watched through a glass sphere. A second projection revealed the badly injured Little Green facing another Vermilion Bird essence, leaving Su Jiu to wonder what had happened in its realm.

• Yun Huanling suggested attacking the Vermilion Bird essence, but the Buddha Child warned that it was awake and protected.
• The Vermilion Bird essence attacked the group with fire, and Chu Luohen pulled Yun Huanling out of the way of a sudden burst.
• The Buddha Child pointed out the Vermilion Bird's dark-red eyes, and Yun Huanling realized it had been corrupted by demonic qi.
• The Vermilion Bird essence raised magma chains and continued attacking Chu Luohen and the others as Su Jiu watched through the glass sphere.
• Su Jiu saw Little Green wounded in a sea of fire, then watched a palm-sized Vermilion Bird essence form from the flames beside it.

Su Jiu realized the Vermilion Birds were clones and saw her companions nearing defeat in two separate illusion realms. Refusing to choose which group to save, she attacked the glass sphere controlling the trap, and her sword pressed against its defensive barrier.

• Su Jiu realized the little Vermilion Birds were clones, while Little Green was also a clone and struggled against three opponents.
• Chu Luohen, Yun Huanling, and the Buddha Child sustained injuries as their battle worsened, while Little Green grew exhausted in the sea of fire.
• Teleportation arrays appeared beside both screens, and Su Jiu understood that the person behind the trap expected her to choose which group of companions to save.
• Su Jiu summoned the Frostbound Purple Ultimate Sword and declared that she would not follow the hidden enemy's wishes.
• Su Jiu struck the glass sphere, then poured all her innate origin qi into Purple Ultimate as its edge pressed against the sphere's barrier.

Su Jiu broke the formation protecting the glass orb and passed out after destroying it, while the collapsing real-image spaces freed Chu Luohen, Little Green, and the others. Yun Huanling realized Chu Luohen could share Su Jiu’s innate gifts and pressed him to locate her.

• Su Jiu exhausted her spiritual qi and innate origin qi to break the formation, then shattered the glass orb and lost consciousness; its fragments dissolved into her body.
• The magma vanished from Chu Luohen’s real-image space, weakening the Vermilion Bird Essence until Chu Luohen and the others defeated it.
• Little Green defeated the Little Vermilion Birds and emerged from his real-image space into the Palace.
• Yun Huanling and the others discovered that the Vermilion Bird Essence had disappeared from the wall, and Little Green joined them.
• Chu Luohen recovered quickly and urged the group toward the Second Level, prompting Yun Huanling to infer that he could share Su Jiu’s innate gifts.
• Yun Huanling told Chu Luohen to use that connection to sense Su Jiu’s location.

Chu Luohen led Yun Huanling and the Enforcement Hall Disciples through a hidden passage to the sealed main hall of the Vermilion Bird Sacred Hall, where eerie eyes appeared on the door. Dao Lord Qing Ci volunteered to open it and attacked the eyes, leaving the group to see what would happen next.

• Chu Luohen smashed a wall and revealed a passageway, and Little Green explained that the group had reached the Palace's second level.
• Chu Luohen led the group to a golden door that Little Green identified as the main hall of the Vermilion Bird Sacred Hall.
• Chu Luohen burned his palm trying to touch the sealed door, while Little Green admitted it could not open it without crippling itself.
• A pair of red eyes appeared among the door's totems, and Chu Luohen identified them as part of a demonic-affinity Magic Treasure that could see through people.
• Dao Lord Qing Ci stepped forward, melted Chu Luohen's ice barrier, and pierced the eerie eyes with a streak of golden light.

Dao Lord Qing Ci opened the Vermilion Bird Sacred Hall, revealing the imprisoned Vermilion Bird and the source of the corruption. Yun Huanling and Chu Luohen found Su Jiu advancing nearby, while Yun Huanling reflected on her origins and the weakened laws of the Heavenly Dao.

• Dao Lord Qing Ci unraveled the totem on the great doors, which opened to reveal the Vermilion Bird pinned to the wall and trapped above a blood pool.
• The Azure Dragon Sacred Spirit reacted in anguish to the Vermilion Bird's torment, and Little Green flew to its side and called for it to wake.
• Yun Huanling and Chu Luohen found Su Jiu inside a faint blue halo, and Chu Luohen stopped Yun Huanling from disturbing her advancement.
• Dao Lord Qing Ci explained that the world's established order no longer held, and Yun Huanling considered how the Heavenly Dao's conflict had weakened its laws.
• Yun Huanling recalled that ordinary human cultivators could not produce innate origin qi and realized Su Jiu's advancement benefited from her not belonging to the Azure Realm.

Chu Luohen and Little Green investigated the strange blood pool beneath the sealed Vermilion Bird and suspected the spirit source had been tampered with. As Little Green went to the Third Level, Jiao Yue appeared under someone else's control, and Chu Luohen recognized that her blood might be mixed into the pool.

• Yun Huanling considered Su Jiu's unusual presence in the world and the weakening suppression of the Heavenly Dao.
• Chu Luohen noticed the nails in the Vermilion Bird and the mixed blood and demonic qi in the pool, while he and Little Green hesitated to remove them.
• Little Green concluded that someone had reached the spirit source and gone further, then left for the Third Level and told Chu Luohen to watch over Su Jiu.
• Chu Luohen and Yun Huanling noticed that the pool's blood seemed to have decreased, and Yun Huanling ruled out the Eight Gates and Hidden Armor Art as the cause.
• Jiao Yue emerged from behind the blood pool with vacant, black eyes, and Chu Luohen suspected her blood was the pool's unidentified second source.

Jiao Yue, controlled by a high-rank demon seed, attacked Yun Huanling and Chu Luohen’s group, and Yun Huanling hoped she could still be saved because she reacted to Su Jiu’s name. Dao Lord Qing Ci restrained the Enforcement Hall disciples from joining the fight, warning that they would only endanger themselves and disrupt the others while Su Jiu remained unconscious.

• Chu Luohen recognized Jiao Yue as the merfolk princess Su Jiu had mentioned and warned Yun Huanling that she could still wield her Life-Bound Treasure.
• Yun Huanling called out Su Jiu’s name, briefly making Jiao Yue hesitate before she resumed attacking even more fiercely.
• Chu Luohen and the others joined the fight, but Jiao Yue swept them away with a single spear attack and badly injured some of them.
• Dao Lord Qing Ci stopped the Enforcement Hall disciples from charging in and explained that their interference could leave the fighters with only a twenty or thirty percent chance of winning.
• The Enforcement Hall disciples reconsidered after Dao Lord Qing Ci reminded them that Su Jiu would grieve if they were killed or crippled.

Yun Huanling, Chu Luohen, and the Buddha Child fought Jiao Yue, but Yun Huanling hesitated to kill her because he feared Su Jiu would grieve. While Su Jiu remained unconscious, she dreamed of a modern world and teleported toward a cry for help at a school after recognizing someone familiar.

• Yun Huanling warned Chu Luohen and the Buddha Child that Jiao Yue might transform and urged them to find a way to subdue her quickly.
• Chu Luohen rejected Yun Huanling's capture plan and resolved to kill Jiao Yue, while Yun Huanling remained conflicted about what Su Jiu would want.
• As Su Jiu's body recovered and her innate origin qi increased, she dreamed of an unfamiliar modern world with little spiritual qi.
• Su Jiu saw novels like the ones Su Mianmian had described in a bookstore, then wandered to a middle school.
• Su Jiu heard someone pleading for help, teleported to the scene, and saw four unfamiliar people and one familiar face.

Su Jiu witnessed Bai Su’s traumatic childhood and learned how its abuse shaped her life before Bai Su eventually transmigrated to the Azure Realm. After the scene returned to the present, Bai Su saw Su Jiu in her world and brought her inside to change clothes and learn about modern life.

• Su Jiu watched the girls bully young Bai Su and realized she could not affect events in Bai Su’s past.
• Bai Su’s parents dismissed the bullying, and she exposed the incident to her younger brother’s school so her parents would transfer him instead.
• Bai Su studied hard, left her family, and later struggled with relationships before overworking herself and transmigrating to the Azure Realm.
• Bai Su awoke at her desk from a dream about her past and saw Su Jiu standing in front of her.
• Bai Su took Su Jiu inside, helped her change out of her ancient-style clothes, and explained modern customs and events.

Su Jiu and Bai Su discussed why Su Jiu had appeared in Bai Su’s world and whether Bai Su would return to cultivation. Su Jiu revealed that the figure before Bai Su was only a strand of her consciousness, leaving Bai Su wondering whether Su Jiu still had her cultivation.

• Bai Su asked why Su Jiu had come, and Su Jiu said she suspected her arrival was connected to reaching the Void Refinement Stage.
• Bai Su was struck by Su Jiu’s appearance in ordinary clothes and advised her to wear a mask outside.
• Su Jiu asked what Bai Su planned to do, and Bai Su explained that she had chosen mortal life over cultivation and immortality.
• Bai Su asked how Su Jiu would return to her own world, and Su Jiu said she might need to wait until she understood what she had come to do.
• Bai Su wondered whether Su Jiu was in soul form, and Su Jiu explained that she was a strand of consciousness, prompting Bai Su to ask whether she retained her cultivation.

Bai Su brought Su Jiu to her company, where Su Jiu observed how workplace tensions resembled sect politics. In Bai Su’s office, Su Jiu noticed suspicious details about a masked cleaner and the cart he was leaving behind.

• Su Jiu agreed to follow the laws of the modern world and avoid using her arts in public as she accompanied Bai Su to work.
• Bai Su altered a mask for Su Jiu, and a little girl saw Su Jiu and told her mother she had seen a fairy.
• Bai Su obtained Su Jiu a temporary company pass and led her through the office as coworkers whispered about their visitor.
• Bai Su and Su Jiu compared workplace politics to the factional struggles of the Heavenly Dawn Sect and the Mystic Dharma Immortal Sect.
• Su Jiu warned Bai Su that the masked cleaner’s racing heartbeat, clear bucket water, and paper beneath his cart seemed suspicious.

Su Jiu stopped a knife-wielding attacker at Bai Su’s company without revealing her Arts, then left to explore the city and seek answers about her arrival in this world. A stranger noticed her beauty and called someone, describing her as a stunning non-celebrity.

• The attacker charged at Su Jiu with a dagger, and she knocked him unconscious with a book before security and police arrived.
• Bai Su told the police the attack was self-defense, then asked Su Jiu whether she understood why her family ties had been thin in the Azure Realm.
• Su Jiu left the company and tried to contact the Spirit connected to her consciousness, but the Sacred Spirit Palace’s suppression kept it from replying.
• Su Jiu explored the city, crossed an intersection, and caught a man staring at her eyes before she disappeared into the crowd.
• The man called someone and began describing Su Jiu as a beautiful non-celebrity, but the other man interrupted to ask whether only her eyes were beautiful.