Chapter Summaries

Chu Zhiyuan, Lan Mingxuan, and Wu Xun ambushed a hidden Demon Race group, but the survivors wounded Lan Mingxuan and Wu Xun with a deadly poison before Chu Zhiyuan rescued them. After treating them, Chu Zhiyuan learned that entry to Tongling Pavilion required meeting a particular condition.

• Chu Zhiyuan detected sixteen concealed Demon Race experts and arranged for Lan Mingxuan and Wu Xun to draw their attention while he attacked from the shadows.
• Chu Zhiyuan used the Heavenly Dragon Divine Palm to kill the Demon Race Venerable and several others by shattering their demon crystals.
• The remaining Demon Race experts unleashed Mutual Destruction, and two wounded Lan Mingxuan and Wu Xun with poisonous red light.
• Chu Zhiyuan drove off the attackers, gave Lan Mingxuan and Wu Xun Crimson Pills, and assured them he would not reveal the Candle Nether Mirror's malfunction.
• Wu Xun said Chu Zhiyuan would need to meet a particular condition to gain anything in Tongling Pavilion, and Lan Mingxuan agreed.

Chu Zhiyuan learned that Fengtian Palace’s hidden condition concerned ancient bloodlines and entered its Cave Heaven with Lan Mingxuan and Wu Xun. He reached Tongling Pavilion, where a gate of light appeared, ready for him to enter.

• Chu Zhiyuan told Lan Mingxuan and Wu Xun that he wanted to prevent the Demon Race and Devil Race from ravaging the world, and they revealed that the condition concerned ancient bloodlines.
• Lan Mingxuan and Wu Xun led Chu Zhiyuan into Fengtian Palace’s Cave Heaven and explained that the Candle Nether Mirror could not operate because its Spiritual Qi had run dry.
• Chu Zhiyuan learned that Tongling Pavilion had once been the Demon Subduing Pagoda and that entry required killing enough demons and devils.
• Lan Mingxuan and Wu Xun activated a white-jade panel, and a gate of light appeared for Chu Zhiyuan to enter Tongling Pavilion.

Chu Zhiyuan entered Tongling Pavilion and found a strange grassland filled with unfamiliar animals and hidden dangers. He reached a hill where an ancient sword was embedded in a giant iron boulder, and discovered that the boulder caused the hill’s abnormal forces.

• Chu Zhiyuan passed through the light gate, leaving Lan Mingxuan and Wu Xun injured beneath a giant boulder as they discussed his chances in Tongling Pavilion.
• Chu Zhiyuan surveyed the grassland with Super Sensation and spotted an unusual sword embedded in a giant iron boulder on a distant hill.
• Chu Zhiyuan sensed danger in the grass and sky, then flew above the grassland as savage beasts leaped at him.
• Chu Zhiyuan’s passage stirred the beasts into attacking one another, but he continued to the hill without slowing.
• Chu Zhiyuan found three forces blocking his approach to the hill and traced the hill’s abnormality to the giant boulder holding the ancient sword.

Chu Zhiyuan failed to break the mountain’s resistance, which drew its strength from the earth, and left in search of other treasures. At another mountain, he encountered a pavilion whose soul-bewildering power nearly ensnared him before his main body awakened him.

• Chu Zhiyuan examined the massive stone and learned that it borrowed the earth’s power to sustain the resistance around the mountain, which his Heavenly Dragon Divine Palm could not overcome.
• A leopard-like Mysterious Beast attacked Chu Zhiyuan, who killed it and absorbed its demon crystal, then killed two more beasts that pounced on him.
• After absorbing more demon crystals, Chu Zhiyuan concluded he could not quickly strengthen his Heavenly Dragon Incantation or Heavenly Dragon Divine Palm enough to break the mountain’s defense, so he abandoned the strange sword and stone.
• Chu Zhiyuan reached another mountain and approached a mist-shrouded pavilion, whose soul-bewildering power made him walk toward it.
• Eight silver fox-like creatures attacked Chu Zhiyuan, who killed them and absorbed their demon crystals before realizing the pavilion had nearly ensnared him; his main body had awakened him in time.

Chu Zhiyuan fought through hordes of bewitched beasts and discovered how to collect the Heavenly Illusion Pavilion using the Spiritual Abyss Body Cleansing Record. He absorbed the pavilion into his Yongquan point and projected five pavilions across the surrounding area.

• Chu Zhiyuan advanced toward the pavilion while Spiritual Power from his main body steadied his mind against its soul-bewitching force.
• Flocks of strange birds, fierce tigers, black panthers, and other Demon Beasts surrounded and attacked Chu Zhiyuan as he climbed.
• Chu Zhiyuan used the Pure Heart Art to weaken the beasts’ madness, then fought through them with the Heavenly Dragon Divine Palm and absorbed their demon crystals.
• At the summit, Chu Zhiyuan found that the pavilion was an illusion and used the first form of the Spiritual Abyss Body Cleansing Record to sense the real pavilion beyond a cliff.
• Chu Zhiyuan recognized the real pavilion’s plaque as reading “Heavenly Illusion” and drew the pavilion into his left Yongquan point.
• Chu Zhiyuan projected five Heavenly Illusion Pavilions onto nearby mountain peaks, covering an area within fifteen kilometers.

Chu Zhiyuan comprehended the Heavenly Illusion Pavilion and advanced the Immeasurable Light Sutra to the Third Turn, but realized that far more time had passed than he thought. He used the pavilion to inspect the Ancient Sword and discovered that it bore the divine script for “Swift,” leaving him eager to subdue it.

• Chu Zhiyuan studied the Heavenly Illusion Pavilion and entered the Third Turn of the Immeasurable Light Sutra through his newfound enlightenment.
• He suspected that the golden pagodas in the bodies of people from the Lesser Beyond the Heavens were projections of a spiritual treasure, then noticed that vegetation had withered across the area.
• Chu Zhiyuan realized that he might have spent months comprehending the pavilion and hurried back to verify how much time had passed.
• He cast twenty Heavenly Illusion Pavilion projections before stopping, wary of the growing godlike sensation and the possibility that the treasure could deceive him.
• Chu Zhiyuan used a pavilion projection to examine the Ancient Sword and saw a giant sword phantom bearing the divine-script character “Swift.”
• He longed to subdue the damaged, dormant Ancient Sword and merge it into himself.

Chu Zhiyuan studied the giant stone’s barrier until he learned to use the Spiritual Abyss Body Cleansing Record to pass through it and absorb the Ancient Sword into his right yongquan. He then discovered that he could not store other spiritual objects anywhere besides his feet.

• Chu Zhiyuan failed to break the barrier with Demon Beasts and more than two hundred Great Brightness Fist strikes.
• Chu Zhiyuan spent a day and night sensing the earth’s power and found the connection between the giant stone and the ground.
• Chu Zhiyuan used the Spiritual Abyss Body Cleansing Record to enter the mountain and reach the giant stone.
• Chu Zhiyuan stepped onto the Ancient Sword, which transformed into golden light and entered his right yongquan as the giant stone crumbled into powder.
• Chu Zhiyuan tried to absorb a long saber on a distant mountain and discovered that he could not store spiritual objects anywhere other than his feet.

Chu Zhiyuan restored the power of Heavenly Illusion Pavilion and the Swift Light Sword with Spiritual Abyss Power, learning their abilities. He found a Mysterious Pearl that fused illusion and reality, but it repeatedly returned to its hiding place and resisted his attempts to claim it.

• Chu Zhiyuan let Spiritual Abyss Power flood into his feet, awakening the divine script in Heavenly Illusion Pavilion and the Swift Light Sword.
• Chu Zhiyuan learned that Heavenly Illusion Pavilion could trap even a Venerable in an illusion and that the Swift Light Sword could pierce space, though both consumed immense Spiritual Qi.
• Chu Zhiyuan found a hidden Mysterious Pearl in a stone crevice after using the Swift Light Sword to reveal it.
• Chu Zhiyuan discovered that the Mysterious Pearl became tangible against the sword’s hilt but vanished whenever he carried it away from the crevice.
• Chu Zhiyuan tried to draw Spiritual Abyss Power into the Mysterious Pearl, but it did not respond or enter his yongquan.

Chu Zhiyuan discovered that his avatar could transfer the Heavenly Concealment Pearl across worlds through the connection between their bodies, then learned what the pearl could do. After half a year in Tongling Pavilion, he was unexpectedly expelled before he could claim another spiritual treasure.

• The avatar called to Chu Zhiyuan’s main body, and Chu Zhiyuan used Faith Power to reconnect with it and synchronize their memories.
• Chu Zhiyuan used the Spiritual Abyss Body Cleansing Record to open a path through his left Yongquan acupoint and transfer the golden tower to his avatar.
• The avatar placed the Mysterious Pearl beneath his foot, absorbed it into his Yongquan acupoint, and learned it was the Heavenly Concealment Pearl, which concealed form, aura, and fate.
• Chu Zhiyuan learned that he had spent half a year in Tongling Pavilion, that Li Miaotan had returned to the imperial capital, and that Demon Race and Devil Race forces were gathering nearby.
• As Chu Zhiyuan prepared to claim another spiritual treasure before leaving, an invisible force pushed him out of Tongling Pavilion.

After spending half a year in Tongling Pavilion, Chu Zhiyuan emerged with the Swift Light Sword and a one-turn cultivation increase. He learned that repairing the Candle Nether Mirror had cost nine Venerables their cultivation, then left before Fengtian Palace could ask him for help.

• Chu Zhiyuan showed Lan Mingxuan and Wu Xun the Swift Light Sword he had obtained in Tongling Pavilion.
• Lan Mingxuan explained that Tongling Pavilion had expelled Chu Zhiyuan after he reached his limit, and Wu Xun said he had spent half a year inside.
• Chu Zhiyuan learned that the Candle Nether Mirror had been repaired by pouring the cultivation of nine high-realm Venerables into it.
• Chu Zhiyuan advised Lan Mingxuan and Wu Xun to avoid using the mirror and offered to help patrol against the Demon Race and Devil Race, but they said his position as an outsider made that difficult.
• Lan Mingxuan asked Chu Zhiyuan to keep the sacrifice secret, and Chu Zhiyuan hurriedly departed when the two hinted that they might seek his help.

Chu Zhiyuan returned from Tongling Pavilion with the Swift Light Sword, which doubled his speed, and secured permission to enter the pavilion once more. After reuniting with Li Miaotan and hearing how she had taken Moon Ganoderma Grass on the Outer Realm Battlefield, he set out with her to deal with her pursuers, joined by Li Cunhou.

• Chu Zhiyuan learned that the Swift Light Sword had doubled his speed, then persuaded Lan Mingxuan and Wu Xun to let him return to Tongling Pavilion once more.
• Chu Zhiyuan returned to the Prince Consort's Mansion and reunited with Li Miaotan, who told him about taking Moon Ganoderma Grass and escaping the Demon Race and Devil Race.
• Chu Zhiyuan decided to hunt down the pursuers Li Miaotan had led back, and she agreed to go with him.
• Li Cunhou met Chu Zhiyuan and Li Miaotan outside the mansion and joined their expedition after Chu Zhiyuan agreed.

Chu Zhiyuan, Li Miaotan, and Li Cunhou discussed the rumor that drinking Li Miaotan’s blood could grant power from her Phoenix Bloodline, which had drawn Demon Race and Devil Race hunters to the capital. At the south gate, they found hundreds of enemies waiting in the woods, and Li Miaotan challenged them to attack.

• Li Cunhou celebrated Chu Zhiyuan’s spiritual treasure and warned him that activating it would drain all his power.
• Li Cunhou told Chu Zhiyuan that Imperial Court officials blamed Li Miaotan for the demons’ and devils’ incursion, while a rumor claimed her blood could grant Phoenix Bloodline power.
• Li Miaotan said she would return to the Outer Realm Battlefield in two days, and Chu Zhiyuan suspected the Yuan Zhen Dynasty might have spread the rumor.
• Chu Zhiyuan sensed more than four hundred Demon Race experts and over a hundred Devil Race experts waiting near the south gate.
• Li Cunhou tried to draw the enemies together by shouting that Li Miaotan was there, but they ignored him, so Li Miaotan challenged them herself.

Chu Zhiyuan waited for the Demon Race and Devil Race experts to surround him, then used the Swift Light Sword to kill them in a single lightning-fast attack. He left Li Cunhou and the others stunned by the weapon’s power, though he judged it somewhat lacking against Venerable-level experts.

• Li Miaotan’s voice drew the Demon Race and Devil Race experts around Chu Zhiyuan and his companions.
• Li Cunhou urged the group to summon help, but Chu Zhiyuan told them to wait for more enemies and explained that the Swift Light Sword drew power from killing intent.
• After the enemies learned Chu Zhiyuan was Li Miaotan’s Imperial Son-in-Law, they directed killing intent at him, and he summoned the Swift Light Sword.
• Chu Zhiyuan swept through the surrounding enemies three times as a streak of golden light, killing them, including more than a dozen Venerable-level experts.
• Li Cunhou, Li Miaotan, Fu Zheng, and Li Yuzhen watched in amazement as Chu Zhiyuan assessed the Swift Light Sword’s performance.

Chu Zhiyuan used the Swift Light Sword to slaughter hundreds of Demon Race and Devil Race members, though the effort left him exhausted. News reached the imperial family, and the princes arrived to praise him as Li Cunhou went to seek a reward.

• Chu Zhiyuan refused to search the corpses himself and returned to the city with Li Miaotan and Li Cunhou, leaving Fu Zheng and Li Yuzhen to search them.
• Li Yuzhen found a jade bottle identical to one belonging to a spirit guard, suggesting that the guard had fallen, while city guards arrived and learned that Chu Zhiyuan and Li Miaotan had killed the Demon Race members.
• Back at Chu Zhiyuan's courtyard, Li Cunhou praised his feat, and Chu Zhiyuan said he could use the treasure only once before needing to rest until the next day.
• Li Cunhou agreed to ask the emperor for a reward, and the First Prince, Li Cunren, and Second Prince, Li Cunyi, arrived with news that the imperial court had heard of Chu Zhiyuan's victory.
• Li Miaotan warned that commoners might still resent Chu Zhiyuan, while Li Cunren believed the slaughter would earn their gratitude.

Chu Zhiyuan and Li Miaotan discussed the rumors targeting her and the dangers of returning to the Outer Realm Battlefield, while Chu Zhiyuan examined the Swift Light Sword’s power. Li Miaotan later reported that the Emperor had granted Chu Zhiyuan permission to enter the battlefield, but she would first go into seclusion.

• Li Cunyi and Li Cunren urged Li Miaotan to remain in the Phoenix Dynasty despite rumors and threats, and Chu Zhiyuan suggested asking Fengtian Palace to use spirit treasures to investigate the rumor’s source.
• Chu Zhiyuan reviewed how the Swift Light Sword consumed Spiritual Abyss Power, pierced enemies, and seemed to grow stronger after slaughtering many foes.
• Chu Zhiyuan trained with the Swift Light Sword atop the first peak of the Spiritual Abyss and wondered whether the treasure cultivated through killing.
• Li Miaotan returned from meeting the Emperor and said he had refused further rewards for Chu Zhiyuan but granted him permission to enter the Outer Realm Battlefield.
• Li Miaotan told Chu Zhiyuan she would enter seclusion for up to a year before going to the Outer Realm Battlefield, and he approved.

Li Miaotan prepared to enter Divine Flame Valley to strengthen her Phoenix Bloodline while Chu Zhiyuan learned that Yuanzhen's Fifth Prince Cheng Yunzheng had spread the rumor targeting her. After discussing Yuanzhen's marriage alliance and Chu Zhiyuan's planned retaliation, the couple traveled to Divine Flame Valley and parted at its dangerous, flame-scorched mountains.

• Li Miaotan told Chu Zhiyuan she planned to cultivate in Divine Flame Valley to raise her bloodline purity, and he agreed to let her go while warning her to be careful.
• Li Cunren reported that Yuanzhen's Fifth Prince Cheng Yunzheng had spread the rumor about Li Miaotan and that Yuanzhen's delegation would arrive to arrange a marriage between its Thirteenth Princess and the Third Prince.
• Chu Zhiyuan said he wanted to retaliate against Cheng Yunzheng before the delegation reached the imperial city, but agreed to seek the Emperor's approval first.
• Li Miaotan and Chu Zhiyuan left the imperial city with Fu Zheng, Li Yuzhen, and two Attendants, then reached the barren peaks of Divine Flame Valley after three days.
• Chu Zhiyuan stopped at the dangerous range, and he and Li Miaotan parted after she urged him not to act against Cheng Yunzheng without the Emperor's permission.

Li Miaotan entered the Golden Flames at the valley, where the flames strengthened her Phoenix Bloodline without harming her. Chu Zhiyuan confirmed that others could not survive there, then left while Li Miaotan continued to absorb their power.

• Li Yuzhen stayed behind with a Flying Dagger as a signal, while Chu Zhiyuan watched Li Miaotan approach the mountain valley.
• Li Miaotan stepped into the Golden Flames, and her phoenix phantom grew solid as the flames enveloped her.
• Li Yuzhen tried to rush after Li Miaotan, but Chu Zhiyuan restrained her and sensed that Li Miaotan remained alive.
• Chu Zhiyuan sharpened his Super Sensation and saw Li Miaotan resting unharmed inside the flames as her vitality and Phoenix Bloodline grew stronger.
• Chu Zhiyuan sent a Flying Dagger toward the valley, and the Golden Flames annihilated it before he led the others away.

On the journey back, Chu Zhiyuan learned that Fu Zheng had lost control of the local Thousand Mechanisms Tower to a newly powerful rival, and he decided to confront the situation himself. Lan Mingxuan and Wu Xun warned him that the Fifth Prince of Yuanzhen possessed a formidable defensive spiritual treasure, leaving Chu Zhiyuan determined to investigate before acting.

• Chu Zhiyuan questioned Fu Zheng about the Thousand Mechanisms Tower and learned that a fortunate rival had surpassed her in cultivation and prestige.
• Chu Zhiyuan told Fu Zheng to invite the rival to meet him and warned her not to rush her cultivation.
• Lan Mingxuan and Wu Xun visited Chu Zhiyuan with news that the Fifth Prince of Yuanzhen might possess a powerful defensive spiritual treasure.
• Li Cunren urged Chu Zhiyuan to delay confronting the Fifth Prince, and Chu Zhiyuan agreed to investigate the treasure before deciding what to do.
• Chu Zhiyuan asked whether Fu Zheng could enter Tongling Pavilion, but Lan Mingxuan and Wu Xun said her Jade Scenery Dynasty origins barred her entry.

Chu Zhiyuan agreed to search the Outer Realm Battlefield for Li Cunren’s missing pageboy, then waited in vain for Zhou Yifan at Jiming Mountain. Suspecting Zhou Yifan had deliberately made a fool of him, Chu Zhiyuan sent Fu Zheng to question him, and Zhou Yifan claimed he had simply forgotten their meeting.

• Li Cunren gave Chu Zhiyuan his missing pageboy’s Heart-Connecting Bead, and Chu Zhiyuan sensed a faint resonance suggesting the person was not completely dead.
• Chu Zhiyuan and Fu Zheng waited at Jiming Mountain for Zhou Yifan, while Chu Zhiyuan considered using the Heavenly Concealment Pearl to investigate Cheng Yunzheng’s spiritual treasure.
• When Zhou Yifan failed to appear, Chu Zhiyuan told Fu Zheng to investigate his foundations and question him without laying a hand on him.
• Fu Zheng went to Zhou Yifan’s residence and accused him of making a fool of her, and Zhou Yifan said he had forgotten their meeting.

Fu Zheng confronted Zhou Yifan over his disrespect toward Chu Zhiyuan, while Zhou pretended to seek a meeting and secretly prepared to evade retaliation. After consulting Mr. Feng and Mr. Zhu, Zhou agreed to leave the city, unaware that Chu Zhiyuan was watching him.

• Fu Zheng accused Zhou Yifan of having backing and asked whether Thousand Mechanisms Tower had submitted to Tingyu Terrace, but Zhou denied it and mocked the idea that the Imperial Court needed its help.
• Zhou Yifan offered to apologize to Chu Zhiyuan, but Fu Zheng said he had already wasted his chance and left.
• Zhou Yifan asked how Chu Zhiyuan planned to suppress him, then returned to his residence and met Mr. Feng and Mr. Zhu.
• Zhou Yifan explained that Fu Zheng belonged to Bamboo Sect and that Chu Zhiyuan had raised the sect's influence in Jade Scenery.
• Mr. Feng and Mr. Zhu warned Zhou Yifan to avoid Chu Zhiyuan and suggested luring him outside the city for an ambush, so Zhou agreed to leave at once.
• Chu Zhiyuan watched Zhou Yifan and smiled.