Chapter Summaries

Su Jiu left Bai Su’s world with Dao Lord Qing Ci, who used a formation to return them to the Vermilion Bird Palace. There, Su Jiu joined the fight against Jiao Yue and realized she would need to use innate origin qi against her.

• Su Jiu and Dao Lord Qing Ci returned to the bookstore, where its strange powers had disappeared, and Su Jiu asked him to help her leave.
• Dao Lord Qing Ci formed a five-element formation infused with spatial laws, then transported them away after saying goodbye to Su Jiu.
• Su Jiu awakened amid battle, recovered with a pill, and used the Frostbound Purple Ultimate Sword to block incoming attacks.
• Su Jiu joined Chu Luohen, the Buddha Child, and Yun Huanling as they fought Jiao Yue, whose condition had left her unaware of her surroundings.
• After examining Jiao Yue with her otherworldly eyes, Su Jiu infused her sword with pure innate origin qi.

Su Jiu used her newly awakened innate origin qi to defeat and restrain Jiao Yue, then tried to suppress the Demon Seed and reach the last remnant of Jiao Yue’s consciousness. Jiao Yue briefly recognized Su Jiu from within her sea of consciousness before the darkness swallowed her again.

• Su Jiu advanced her cultivation and surrounded herself and her Frostbound Purple Ultimate Sword with innate origin qi.
• Su Jiu lured Jiao Yue into her Ice Silk Net and bound her just as Jiao Yue’s spear neared her face.
• Su Jiu quieted Jiao Yue with innate origin qi and tried to seal the Demon Seed, while the others realized Jiao Yue was unlikely to survive.
• Su Jiu sent her divine sense into Jiao Yue’s sea of consciousness and found that the Demon Seed was consuming the last pure patch where Jiao Yue’s consciousness remained.
• Jiao Yue heard Su Jiu’s name and tried to resist, but the darkness swallowed her consciousness again.

Su Jiu met Jiao Yue’s fading consciousness in her sea of consciousness and learned that a mysterious Gray-Clothed Man had used Jiao Yue and Bai Su’s blood to destroy the Everlasting Flower. Jiao Yue warned Su Jiu to flee if she encountered him, then asked her to tell Jiao Chen to stop searching for her.

• Su Jiu appeared in Jiao Yue’s sea of consciousness and saw that Jiao Yue was close to dissipating.
• Jiao Yue revealed that she had accepted the demon seed because the Gray-Clothed Man held her brother Jiao Chen as leverage.
• Jiao Yue explained that the Gray-Clothed Man used her blood and Bai Su’s to destroy the Everlasting Flower, triggering the realms’ merger and devastating both worlds.
• Jiao Yue described the Gray-Clothed Man, and Su Jiu recognized him as the figure she had glimpsed near the Spiritflight Continent’s seashore.
• Jiao Yue warned Su Jiu to escape after killing her and asked her to look after Jiao Chen and tell him to stop searching for her.

Su Jiu and Chu Luohen trapped one Demon Seed taken from Jiao Yue, but Jiao Yue’s body rose again under the control of a second, more powerful Demon Seed. The survivors realized it had evolved beyond the reach of ordinary formations as Su Jiu’s battle with it intensified.

• Jiao Yue’s divine soul dissipated, and Su Jiu helped Chu Luohen’s Formation Disk draw the demonic qi from her into a trapped black sphere.
• Chu Luohen sealed the sphere in his hand, but Jiao Yue suddenly attacked Su Jiu when she approached her body.
• Su Jiu blocked Jiao Yue’s strike with the Frostbound Purple Ultimate Sword and fought her as she evaded the innate origin qi.
• The Buddha Child explained that another Demon Seed remained in Jiao Yue, and Yun Huanling and Chu Luohen concluded that it had evolved.
• As the battle escalated, the Ice Silk Net appeared before the watching disciples.

Su Jiu used her newly strengthened Innate Origin Qi to purify Jiao Yue’s body and destroy the demon seed, then cleared the remaining demonic qi. After the group discovered Dao Lord Qing Ci had vanished, Yun Huanling revealed that the Qing Ci in ancient records differed greatly from the one they knew.

• Su Jiu trapped the demon seed inhabiting Jiao Yue and used her Innate Origin Qi to purify Jiao Yue’s body and destroy it.
• Su Jiu tested her power on the remaining demonic qi and eliminated it completely.
• Su Jiu placed Jiao Yue’s body in a coffin, intending to return it to Jiao Chen if she met him.
• Su Jiu noticed Dao Lord Qing Ci was missing and recalled that he had said goodbye before she returned from the other world.
• Yun Huanling told Su Jiu that an ancient record described Dao Lord Qing Ci differently in personality, speech, and conduct.

Yun Huanling revealed that the Heavenly Secret Sect’s historical annals recorded Dao Lord Qing Ci as having died ten thousand years ago, deepening the mystery surrounding him. Su Jiu sent the weaker Enforcement Hall disciples back, then led Chu Luohen, Yun Huanling, and the Buddha Child toward the third level, entering a strange white world.

• Yun Huanling told Su Jiu and the others that the historical annals said Dao Lord Qing Ci had died in the great war ten thousand years ago, but the Enforcement Hall disciples insisted he was real and had recently been sent by Ning Hai.
• Su Jiu considered the conflicting accounts and, after Chu Luohen advised her not to let the mystery distract her, set it aside for the moment.
• Su Jiu sent the Enforcement Hall disciples back with the Formation Disk, deciding they were too weak to continue deeper into the Demon-Subduing Land.
• Su Jiu refused to free the Vermilion Bird while demonic qi was eroding its mind, and Chu Luohen said they should first eliminate the source of that qi on the third level.
• The Vermilion Bird opened its eyes, revealing dense blackness, after Su Jiu and the others turned away.
• Su Jiu opened the door to the third level and entered its pure white world, followed by Chu Luohen, Yun Huanling, and the Buddha Child.

Su Jiu was separated from her companions and found herself inside the conscious spirit source, where she learned that the Gray-Clothed Man had corrupted it and the Vermilion Bird. The spirit source believed Su Jiu could defeat him and revealed that the Vermilion Bird’s corruption began with a bargain rooted in hatred after the great war ten thousand years ago.

• Su Jiu realized the white world contained balanced elemental spiritual qi, spatial laws, and scattered demonic qi.
• The spirit source told Su Jiu that her companions had gone to the actual third level while she had entered its interior alone.
• Su Jiu learned that the Gray-Clothed Man had contaminated the spirit source and sought to destroy the Vermilion Bird or turn it into a weapon.
• The spirit source judged that Su Jiu could defeat the Gray-Clothed Man because she was an exceptional existence beyond the Azure Realm’s laws.
• Su Jiu connected the Vermilion Bird’s corruption to the great war ten thousand years earlier and understood that hatred had driven it to make a bargain.

Su Jiu emerged from the Spirit Source’s white world and found the Gray-Clothed Man fighting Little Green, Chu Luohen, and their allies while corrupting the Spirit Source with demonic qi. As the Gray-Clothed Man turned his attention toward her, Su Jiu blocked an ambush and left him recognizing something about her defense.

• The Spirit Source warned Su Jiu that the lines between demons and cultivators could blur, then asked her to help it and the Vermilion Bird before the white world expelled her.
• Su Jiu returned to the illusion realm and saw the Gray-Clothed Man fighting Little Green while Chu Luohen and two others supported them.
• Su Jiu realized the Gray-Clothed Man had mixed demonic qi into the Spirit Source, trapping its consciousness while leaving it partly lucid.
• The Gray-Clothed Man noticed Su Jiu and watched her with malice, while she recognized that his presence felt strangely familiar.
• A demonic attack ambushed Su Jiu, but she raised two Ice Walls in succession and the second stopped the spell; the Gray-Clothed Man furrowed his brow, then seemed to understand something.

Su Jiu and her allies fought the Gray-Clothed Man, who focused his attacks on her while she searched for a way to seize the polluted Spirit Source. The Gray-Clothed Man revealed that the Spirit Source itself had produced a second ribbon of demonic qi, and Little Green explained that a tainted Spirit Source could become a Demon Source.

• Su Jiu realized the Gray-Clothed Man was a demon, while Chu Luohen, Yun Huanling, and the Buddha Child noticed that he evaded them rather than trying to kill them.
• Little Green told Su Jiu that nearby formations could interfere with the Gray-Clothed Man's arts and urged her to seize the Spirit Source with innate origin qi.
• After Su Jiu joined the fight, the Gray-Clothed Man focused on her and wielded a black ribbon of demonic qi as the Spirit Source's miasma gathered around his hand.
• A second black ribbon nearly struck Su Jiu from behind, and the Gray-Clothed Man said it had formed spontaneously from the Spirit Source.
• Little Green explained that a Spirit Source could be tainted by demonic qi and transformed into a Demon Source.

Su Jiu and her companions fought the Gray-Clothed Man, who let Su Jiu take the demonic-qi-tainted spirit source before revealing that the Palace was shaking and filling with demonic qi. As the Gray-Clothed Man dispersed and the Buddha Child pursued him, Little Green stayed behind to restore the spirit source and warned Su Jiu to conserve her strength.

• Su Jiu suspected the Gray-Clothed Man was stalling, and Little Green activated a formation that let Su Jiu snatch the spirit source from him.
• The illusion realm collapsed, revealing the Fourth Level of the Tower Pavilion, while violent tremors and demonic qi spread through the Palace from below.
• The Gray-Clothed Man revealed that he had prepared a dangerous disturbance, then dispersed into demonic qi and fled as a thin strand.
• The Buddha Child pursued the fleeing demonic qi, while Little Green asked Su Jiu and the others to go after him and stayed behind.
• Su Jiu gave Little Green the tainted spirit source, but he refused her help and cautioned her to save her innate origin qi for protection.

Su Jiu and her companions left the Sacred Spirit Palace after learning Little Green intended to replace the weakened Vermilion Bird and restore the Spirit Source. They caught up with the Buddha Child, who had trapped the Gray-Clothed Man’s aura inside his golden lotus.

• Su Jiu realized Little Green planned to take the Vermilion Bird’s place, and Little Green admitted she had seen through him.
• Su Jiu, Chu Luohen, and Yun Huanling withdrew from the shaking Sacred Spirit Palace, leaving Little Green behind to face the Vermilion Bird.
• Su Jiu followed the Gray-Clothed Man’s aura out of the Palace while Chu Luohen silently studied Little Green.
• Little Pearl woke after the group left the Palace and asked Su Jiu where Little Green was.
• Su Jiu and her companions caught up with the Buddha Child, who showed them the Gray-Clothed Man trapped inside his golden lotus.

Su Jiu learned that the Azure Dragon Sacred Spirit’s clone, Little Green, was destined to sacrifice itself to purify the Vermilion Bird, and that the Wind Spirit was also missing because of the Gray-Clothed Man. The Buddha Child silenced the trapped wisp, leaving Su Jiu shaken and uncertain whether there was still time to intervene.

• The Buddha Child trapped the Gray-Clothed Man’s wisp of consciousness inside his golden lotus Life-Bound Treasure, and Su Jiu asked who he was.
• The wisp revealed that he had interfered with the Wind Spirit and mocked Su Jiu’s offer to release him in exchange for its return.
• The wisp told Su Jiu that Little Green, the Azure Dragon Sacred Spirit’s clone, was meant to become nourishment for the Vermilion Bird’s rebirth and would disappear after purifying it.
• Su Jiu reeled at the revelation, while Chu Luohen urged her not to trust the wisp and offered to return to the Sacred Spirit Palace.
• The Buddha Child recited a spell that made the wisp dissipate inside the golden lotus as it laughed.

Su Jiu headed toward the Sacred Spirit Palace while Chu Luohen and the others went to find Senior Brother. Elsewhere, a woman in a hidden courtyard discussed preparations to open the Heaven-Connecting Tower, while Ning Fan continued searching the Demon-Subduing Land for flaws in its formations.

• Su Jiu left Chu Luohen, Yun Huanling, and the Buddha Child to find Senior Brother and promised to meet them after bringing Little Green out.
• Yun Huanling questioned Chu Luohen about when he would tell A Jiu the truth, and Chu Luohen challenged him to do the same.
• A blind woman in a secluded courtyard revealed that she had been injured by the monk and confirmed that her formations were ready for the Heaven-Connecting Tower to be opened.
• The cloaked man asked whether the woman’s ally would keep his promise, and she said he would because she mattered more to him than the Azure Realm.
• Ning Fan’s assistant complained that the Nightmare Demon’s map was incomplete and their search was ineffective, but Ning Fan asked him to compare the formations they had investigated.

Ning Fan discovered that the demonic qi in the Demon-Subduing Land was growing denser and suspected someone had interfered with something there. He told his deputy that the twenty-one damaged altars and formations had not been abandoned, leaving the deputy questioning how they could all be repaired.

• Ning Fan gave his agitated deputy a Clear-Mind Pill and instructed the Shadow Pavilion disciples to meditate and settle their minds.
• Ning Fan used a disc to measure the demonic qi and confirmed that it had grown denser as they traveled through the Demon-Subduing Land.
• Ning Fan and his deputy considered whether someone had tampered with something in the land, causing the change in demonic qi.
• Ning Fan told his deputy that the twenty-one damaged altars and formations were not abandoned because they could still be repaired.
• The deputy questioned how anyone could repair formations scattered so far apart or assemble enough formation arts artists to do so.

Ning Fan and the Shadow Pavilion disciples tried to understand the Grand Formation before figures closed in around them. Meanwhile, Little Green confronted the Vermilion Bird, who blamed the Sacred Spirits and the Heavenly Dao for sacrificing her people, and revealed that Su Jiu had shattered the Phoenix Egg; the Vermilion Bird doubted his claim.

• Ning Fan began to explain how the formations might be repaired simultaneously, but the disciples woke before he could finish, and they agreed to keep searching for the minor formations to determine the Grand Formation's structure.
• Numerous figures appeared in the Woods and surrounded the Shadow Pavilion disciples.
• The Vermilion Bird confronted Little Green, accusing the Sacred Spirits and the Heavenly Dao of sacrificing her and her people, and rejected his explanations for what had happened.
• The Vermilion Bird attacked with fire spiritual qi, and Little Green dodged, warning her that even as a clone he could fight her while she was injured.
• Little Green told the Vermilion Bird that Su Jiu had shattered the Phoenix Egg before it could hatch, but the Vermilion Bird mocked his claim that Su Jiu was capable of such a feat.

Little Green confronted the Vermilion Bird, who planned to leave the Sacred Spirit Palace and abandon the Azure Realm to its demons. Little Green defeated the Vermilion Bird’s first attack, but realized it had underestimated the Vermilion Bird’s strength and was only fighting a clone.

• Little Green recalled that Su Jiu had shattered a Phoenix Egg with one sword strike, while the Vermilion Bird guessed she was the girl with the Dark Pavilion petal and demanded to examine it.
• The Vermilion Bird said it would leave the Palace, the spirit vein, and the Demon-Subduing Land, even if demons and monsters destroyed the Azure Realm.
• Little Green blocked the Vermilion Bird, invoking the law and contract that forbade Sacred Spirits from leaving the Sacred Spirit Palace.
• The Vermilion Bird revealed that sacrificial blood from its collaborator had nourished it and granted it divinity, and Little Green suspected Jiao Yue was involved.
• The Vermilion Bird attacked Little Green with a demonic, flame-wreathed rope, but Little Green trapped and purified it with a barrier of wood spiritual energy.
• The Vermilion Bird said Little Green had only defeated its clone, leaving Little Green grim as it recognized the Vermilion Bird was stronger than expected.

Little Green enlisted the Spirit Source to help him fight the demonic-qi-corrupted Vermilion Bird, and their battle reached a standstill as the Spirit Source was restored. Su Jiu and her companions returned to the strangely quiet Vermilion Bird Sacred Hall and went to the third level to find out what had happened.

• Vermilion Bird attacked Little Green, who struggled to defend himself against Vermilion Bird's overwhelming strength.
• Little Green asked the Spirit Source for help, and it expelled the darkness covering it and joined the fight against Vermilion Bird.
• Little Green told Vermilion Bird that it had abandoned the Spirit Source first, and the restored Spirit Source helped him bring the battle to a standstill.
• Su Jiu and her companions returned to the Vermilion Bird Sacred Hall, where they found the Blood Pool, demonic qi, and signs of the earlier battle gone.
• Su Jiu headed to the third level to check on Little Green and Vermilion Bird.

Su Jiu discovered that Little Green was sacrificing its life force to restore the Vermilion Bird inside a sphere formed by the spirit source. She learned the spirit source believed the sacrifice was necessary, but challenged its assumption that demonic qi alone had caused the Vermilion Bird to succumb to demonhood.

• Su Jiu saw Little Green and the Vermilion Bird enclosed in a sphere, with Little Green sending life force to the Vermilion Bird, and realized Little Green was sacrificing itself.
• Chu Luohen warned Su Jiu that the sphere was the spirit source and might have its own motives, while the restored Vermilion Bird's wounds suggested outside interference.
• Su Jiu touched the sphere and spoke with the spirit source, which explained that Little Green's azure wood breath was needed to restore the Vermilion Bird.
• Su Jiu questioned whether the Vermilion Bird's heart demon had existed before demonic qi amplified it, rather than demonic qi causing its fall on its own.

Su Jiu struggled to choose between sacrificing Little Green to save Vermilion Bird or risking disaster, until Yun Huanling made her unconscious. The Spirit Source then revealed that Su Jiu had a buried heart demon fueled by hatred, warning that she could become like Vermilion Bird.

• The Spirit Source told Su Jiu that Little Green could only temporarily purge Vermilion Bird's demonic qi and explained why it could not raise its shield again.
• Su Jiu refused to accept Little Green's fate, but the impossible choice brought back her memories of Silver Snow's death and left her overwhelmed.
• Yun Huanling stopped Su Jiu from making the choice and put her to sleep, saying he would decide in her place.
• The Spirit Source told Yun Huanling and Chu Luohen that it had deliberately tested Su Jiu to expose her heart demon.
• The Spirit Source warned that Su Jiu's hatred could turn her into another Vermilion Bird, and Yun Huanling and Chu Luohen recognized the danger.

Little Green used its remaining energy to drive the Vermilion Bird’s demonic qi out before fading, while Chu Luohen explained that Su Jiu’s heart demon would eventually dissipate. Trapped in her sea of consciousness, Su Jiu encountered Little Green’s spirit and recognized it as it came to see her.

• Yun Huanling chose to let Little Green fade rather than risk releasing it and destabilizing the Demon-Subduing Land’s seals.
• Little Green severed its connection to the Vermilion Bird, drove out its demonic qi, and told Yun Huanling it could not remove the Vermilion Bird’s heart demon.
• The spirit source explained that the Vermilion Bird’s heart demon would be contained within the Sacred Spirit Palace, and Chu Luohen said Su Jiu’s heart demon would dissipate in time.
• Little Green’s phantom kissed Su Jiu’s forehead and vanished into her, while Su Jiu remained unconscious and wandered through her sea of consciousness.
• Su Jiu found the fully bloomed Little Gift, collected a drop of dew from it, and received no answers when she asked it to help her wake.
• A green light orb appeared before Su Jiu and spoke, and she recognized it as Little Green.