Chapter Summaries

Wang Yu studied Patriarch Ren’s notes and learned that resilient meridians and abundant cultivation resources might help him begin practicing the Crimson Sun Great Art. Several days later, he underwent marrow washing with azure sun bright flame while two Setting Sun Sect cultivators maintained the Azure Sun Lamp.

• Wang Yu read Patriarch Ren’s notes and learned that resilient, thick meridians were crucial to safely cultivating the Crimson Sun Great Art.
• Wang Yu examined other Foundation Establishment Cultivators’ notes and noticed that those who had succeeded in beginning the art had used abundant resources.
• Wang Yu decided to prepare more resources and considered using high-grade fire spirit stones during his meridian cleansing.
• Several days later, Wang Yu sat in a medicinal pool underground as azure flames from the ancient lamp descended into his body.
• Two red-robed cultivators maintained the lamp, and the gray-haired man remarked that Wang Yu showed no outward reaction despite the pain.

Wang Yu continued cultivating the Crimson Sun Great Art in the Pure Flame Chamber, using high-grade fire spirit stones despite the risks and expense. After repeated practice, he began condensing an eighth drop of red liquid, and a hazy white ring appeared behind him.

• The gray-haired man and Yu Yin watched Wang Yu endure marrow washing and discussed his chances of mastering the Crimson Sun Great Art.
• Yu Yin warned that mastering the art’s later stages was even more difficult, while the gray-haired man recalled regretting his own failure.
• A month later, Wang Yu practiced in a Pure Flame Chamber, drawing red mist into a white glow before it collapsed.
• Wang Yu swallowed a medicinal pill, ate the chamber’s roast meat and red rice, and practiced the Four Beasts Art to recover his strength.
• Wang Yu resumed cultivation with a high-grade crimson spirit stone and gradually condensed an eighth drop of red liquid in his dantian.
• A hazy white ring of light began to form behind Wang Yu.

Wang Yu struggled to form a yang ring while cultivating the Crimson Sun Great Art, but his divine sense and practice through Taiyuan's login interface helped him make steady progress. Two and a half years later, he achieved initiation into the art, then abruptly left the Setting Sun Sect, quieting the uproar his success had caused.

• Wang Yu failed to form a yang ring and reflected on the difficult process and the backlash caused by unsuccessful attempts.
• Wang Yu used his powerful divine sense and repeated practice in Taiyuan's login interface to master forming the ring's spirit inscription symbols.
• Wang Yu continued cultivating in the Pure Flame Chamber and became seventy to eighty percent confident that he would succeed.
• Two and a half years later, Wang Yu formed a yang ring and achieved initiation into the Crimson Sun Great Art, shocking the Setting Sun Sect.
• Wang Yu departed the Setting Sun Sect without warning, and the sect's leadership guided the resulting unrest back to calm.

Three years later, Wang Yu posed as Prefect Jiang and helped Thousand Bamboo Sect disciples repel a Black Soul Sect Daoist who tried to seize control of Jing Province. Afterward, the Blood Enchantress ambushed him, recognized that he was a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, and crushed a Blood-Colored Talisman.

• A sickly Black Soul Sect Daoist threatened Prefect Jiang and used a duplicate to demand his submission.
• Prefect Jiang summoned Fang Jian and Fei Yidao, who exposed themselves as Thousand Bamboo Sect disciples and fought the Daoist.
• The Daoist escaped with Wind Escape Technique, and Fang Jian and Fei Yidao pursued him on a bamboo boat.
• The Blood Enchantress attacked Prefect Jiang from behind with a blood-red short sword, but he caught and broke it.
• The Blood Enchantress revealed herself, and Prefect Jiang transformed into Wang Yu, a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.
• The Blood Enchantress recognized Wang Yu's cultivation and crushed a Blood-Colored Talisman.

Wang Yu killed the Blood Enchantress with a soul-silver throwing knife and solar true flame, then rushed to rescue the two Thousand Bamboo Sect disciples trapped in black mist. Elsewhere, a chained bronze coffin stirred briefly, while several women and a newborn resembling the Blood Enchantress reacted to her death.

• The Blood Enchantress escaped the study with a Blood Escape Talisman, but Wang Yu struck her down with a soul-silver throwing knife and burned her to ash with solar true flame.
• Before she died, the Blood Enchantress remembered her past, cursed Wang Yu, and mentioned soul silver and the day the heavens break.
• Wang Yu confirmed that soul silver could restrain Spirit Souls, then followed a flashing Azure Talisman toward the fleeing azure bamboo boat.
• A bronze coffin stirred in a dark, isolated space, but golden bells rang and forced its deathly aura back inside.
• Several women resembling the Blood Enchantress and a newborn girl reacted to something in the sky, while a black-clad girl in the Heaven-Connecting Demon Sect continued sleeping.
• Wang Yu found the two Thousand Bamboo Sect disciples trapped in black mist as the sickly-faced Daoist attacked them with a Bone Banner.

Wang Yu defeated Fallen Moon Daoist and exposed Cheng Qianjun, a Black Soul Sect cultivator who escaped after attacking him. A month later, the Heavenly Net Demon Venerable emerged from seclusion and threatened to invade two prefectures, prompting Wang Yu to return to Heaven-Pillar Mountain, where he received an urgent summons.

• Wang Yu destroyed the black mist, captured Fallen Moon Daoist, and sent him away with two Thousand Bamboo Sect disciples for interrogation.
• Wang Yu discovered Cheng Qianjun hiding near the Bone Banner and identified himself as a member of the Four Symbols Sect.
• Cheng Qianjun trapped Wang Yu with mist chains and shifting sand, then escaped on a skeletal bird after mentioning Zhu Wuyan.
• Wang Yu broke free and returned toward Jing Province City, remembering Cheng Qianjun's name.
• A month later, the Heavenly Net Demon Venerable demanded that the Wu Kingdom surrender Great Ming Prefecture and Celestial River Prefecture, and the Four Sects ordered their disciples to return.
• Wang Yu returned to Heaven-Pillar Mountain and received a Communication Talisman summoning him to a junior brother's cave abode.

Wang Yu visited Uncle Li, who revealed a secret experiment involving Little White’s essence blood and a Demon Snake. The chapter left Wang Yu shocked after Uncle Li demonstrated the python’s condition with a lightning trap.

• Wang Yu arrived at Uncle Li’s Cave Abode and learned that Uncle Li’s lifespan was nearly exhausted.
• Uncle Li sealed the Cave Abode and used a second-tier Restrictive Seal Talisman before proposing a private deal to Wang Yu.
• Uncle Li showed Wang Yu a giant white python descended from a Demon Snake infused with Little White’s essence blood.
• Uncle Li explained that the python and its twelve predecessors had each reached late Qi Refining in just a year and a half.
• Uncle Li activated the lightning talisman on the cage, and Wang Yu sensed something astonishing about the python.

Wang Yu learned that Little White’s essence blood gave Demon Snakes a talent that rapidly advanced their cultivation at the cost of their lifespan, and that Little White might possess the same ability. Senior Brother Li offered Wang Yu half of his Origin-Returning Art in exchange for two-thirds of Little White’s essence blood.

• Senior Brother Li explained that Demon Snakes injected with Little White’s essence blood advanced rapidly but burned through their lifespans.
• Wang Yu released Little White, whose cold breath frosted the ground and whose aura showed he had reached great perfection of Qi Refining.
• Senior Brother Li examined Little White and concluded that his innate ability remained dormant, despite his unusual growth and apparent lack of declining lifespan.
• Senior Brother Li gave Wang Yu a Jade Slip containing half of the Origin-Returning Art, which could awaken the ability and let its user borrow a contracted Spirit Beast’s dharma power.
• Wang Yu asked what Senior Brother Li wanted in exchange, and Senior Brother Li demanded two-thirds of Little White’s essence blood.

Wang Yu negotiated with Uncle Li over Little White’s essence blood, accepting a deal for one-fifth in exchange for the Origin-Returning Art, spirit beasts’ remains, and fifty thousand spirit stones. After Wang Yu left, Uncle Li fed a white python to a gigantic beast emerging from a formation and revealed power far beyond his apparent cultivation stage.

• Wang Yu rejected Uncle Li’s request for two-thirds of Little White’s essence blood, arguing that the loss could damage Little White’s foundation and lifespan.
• Wang Yu and Uncle Li bargained over the essence blood and spirit beast remains, finally agreeing on one-fifth of Little White’s blood for the Origin-Returning Art, spirit bones, and fifty thousand spirit stones.
• Uncle Li gave Wang Yu the Jade Slip containing the art as a deposit, and Wang Yu agreed to collect Little White’s essence blood in batches within a month.
• Wang Yu left Uncle Li’s Cave Abode uneasy after his overclocking-enhanced instincts sensed a hidden danger near the secret chamber.
• Uncle Li returned to the underground chamber, summoned a gigantic white python-like beast that swallowed the caged white python, and displayed cultivation at the Foundation Establishment late stage.

Wang Yu studied the restrictions of the Origin-Returning Art and decided he would not risk using it to force Little White’s cultivation. He then examined a second-tier Bone Blade before entering the Mist Sea, where he took up a Bone Banner and awakened dozens of giant skeletons.

• Wang Yu studied the Origin-Returning Art and learned it required a contracted second-tier spirit beast, synchronized auras, and three spell patterns, with a risk of failure and backlash.
• Wang Yu decided against activating Little White’s latent ability because Little White had already reached the great perfection of Qi Refining and was preparing to advance to the second tier.
• Wang Yu displayed a wind-and-fire Bone Blade he had crafted from a second-tier demon beast’s leg bone several years earlier.
• Wang Yu entered the Mist Sea and found black miasma flowing from piles of bones into a Bone Banner on a White Bone Altar.
• Wang Yu summoned the Bone Banner, brushed its face, and caused the bone piles to collapse as dozens of giant white skeletons rose.

Wang Yu cultivated his second-tier middle-grade White Bone Yin Demon Banner in the Login Hall, using spirit bones to generate yin energy and strengthen the artifact. He discovered that, unlike his Windfire Bone Blade, the banner could not be condensed through the Login Hall’s usual method, leaving its special nature unexplained.

• Wang Yu summoned armored Giant Skeletons into the White Bone Yin Demon Banner, which held twenty-five inscriptions and had reached second-tier middle grade.
• He reflected on producing yin energy from spirit bones, his artifact-refining progress, his financial troubles, and his hesitation to reveal his second-tier crafting skills during the demonic invasion.
• Wang Yu used the banner to absorb the yin mist, then activated formations to convert more of the bone piles into yin energy.
• He wondered how far the banner could advance in the Login Hall and attempted to condense it alongside the Windfire Bone Blade.
• The Windfire Bone Blade fully formed, but the White Bone Yin Demon Banner remained blurry before collapsing and disappearing.

Wang Yu realized that yin-energy-infused artifacts could not be copied in the Login Hall and considered the White Bone Yin Demon Banner’s potential. He used Taiyuan’s single temporary deduction authorization to seek an auxiliary secret art for the Crimson Sun Great Art, reaching a 54% chance of a perfect deduction.

• Wang Yu found that his White Bone Yin Demon Banner and other yin-energy-infused artifacts could not be copied in the Login Hall, though he could create the Windfire Bone Blade.
• Wang Yu reviewed how the White Bone Yin Demon Banner could nurture Yin Ghosts, Yin Bone Demons, and potentially even stronger creatures, and reaffirmed his intention to cultivate it.
• Wang Yu entered the Origin-Returning Art into Taiyuan and activated the system’s one temporary use of the Deduction Function.
• Wang Yu tried several times to deduce an improved Crimson Sun Great Art, but Taiyuan lacked sufficient information for a complete cultivation formula.
• Wang Yu requested an auxiliary secret art focused on easing the Crimson Sun Great Art’s bottlenecks, and Taiyuan reported a 54% probability of perfect deduction.

Wang Yu reconsidered how to use his last Deduction Permission and reviewed the Crimson Sun Great Art’s formulas and cultivation requirements. He left with a plan to earn contribution points and a future problem to solve: finding a reliable supply of Ice Separation Pills or ice marrow.

• Wang Yu decided against deducing a secret art at a fifty-four percent chance of perfect success and exited the Login Interface.
• Wang Yu chose to pursue contribution points by revealing his skill as a second-tier artifact refiner so he could access the Vermilion Bird Art’s formula.
• Wang Yu reread the Crimson Sun Great Art formulas from a jade slip that could only be read three times and confirmed his rapid progress through its early layers.
• Wang Yu learned that the Crimson Sun Great Art required Ice Separation Pills from the fourth layer onward, while the Four Symbols Sect’s costly ice marrow was often unavailable.
• Wang Yu recalled that he had exchanged for several large bottles of Ice Separation Pills and resolved to learn how to refine them or find a substitute before they ran out.

Wang Yu trained his Mystic Armor in a specially built, gravity-enhancing room, using silver sand and hammer blows to temper his body. He ended the session badly wounded and immersed himself in a medicinal pool to recover.

• Wang Yu finished studying the Jade Slip, which burned to powder, and considered seeking a substitute for the Setting Sun Sect’s Ice Separation Pill.
• Wang Yu activated the formation around his metal training room, increasing its weight and making movement more difficult.
• Wang Yu summoned silver sand and four White Bone Fiends, then practiced the Four Beasts Art as the sand and hammers battered his body.
• After an hour, Wang Yu entered a separate pool after adding a dark green medicinal pill, and his face twisted in pain when he left Overclocking Mode.

Wang Yu broke through to the third layer of the Crimson Sun Great Art while cultivating in a lava cavern, then was summoned to Heaven Toad Palace. There, Heaven Toad Ancestor and Silver Cloud Ancestor assigned him and two other disciples to a secret mission against the Demonic Path, leaving Cai Shang in charge of leading them to the rendezvous.

• Wang Yu absorbed fire spiritual energy in the lava cavern and broke through to the third layer of the Crimson Sun Great Art, damaging his pseudo-second-tier Lotus Platform.
• Heaven Toad Ancestor summoned Wang Yu to Heaven Toad Palace after Wang Yu had asked for the Vermilion Bird Art's cultivation instructions.
• Silver Cloud Ancestor announced that the four sects would assemble an elite Foundation Establishment force to strike demonic sects occupying Tongzhou.
• Silver Cloud Ancestor named Wang Yu, Cai Shang, and Xuan as the Four Symbols Sect's candidates for the secret mission and gave Cai Shang a Jade Slip marking their rendezvous.
• Heaven Toad Ancestor promised each candidate one reasonable request in advance as a reward for taking part.

Wang Yu obtained permission to study the Vermilion Bird Art as a reference for his Crimson Sun Great Art and prepared to depart on a mission with Yun Caishang and Senior Brother Xuan. He began learning the new art and entered it into the silver Login Hall.

• Yun Caishang requested a Clear-Song Bird demon core, Senior Brother Xuan requested Yang Earth Pills, and Wang Yu asked for the Vermilion Bird Art.
• Silver Cloud Ancestor gave Wang Yu an authorization token to exchange for the Vermilion Bird Art, and the three disciples agreed to set out on their mission in three days.
• The group discussed Zhu Wuyan's growing power and the possibility of a Demonic Path invasion of both Great Ming Prefecture and Celestial River Prefecture.
• Wang Yu obtained the Vermilion Bird Art, visited Uncle Li to retrieve Little White, and received middle grade spirit stones and half a crystalline skeleton.
• Wang Yu studied the Vermilion Bird Art in his cave abode and later entered its cultivation formula into the silver Login Hall.

Wang Yu used his final deduction permission to have Taiyuan develop a secret art that would make breaking through cultivation bottlenecks easier, then traveled with Yun Caishang and Senior Brother Xuan to Lan Yue Mountain. The group descended into a misty valley and heard signs of a battle ahead.

• Wang Yu ordered Taiyuan to deduce an auxiliary secret art for the Crimson Sun Great Art, and Taiyuan began a process expected to take more than a month.
• Three days later, Wang Yu traveled aboard a jade boat with Yun Caishang and Senior Brother Xuan, who learned that their destination was Lan Yue Mountain in Fengyuan Province.
• Yun Caishang said the group had to reach a precise location in the Lan Yue Mountain range within half a month.
• Several groups arrived at a mist-shrouded valley in Lan Yue Mountain before Wang Yu, Yun Caishang, and Senior Brother Xuan reached it by jade boat.
• Wang Yu and his companions descended into the valley, where a tiger's roar and the sounds of battle came from ahead.

Wang Yu and his companions arrived at a mountain valley, where Yuantong and Princess Tianhe had been testing their sects’ puppet techniques. The gathered cultivators recognized one another and discussed the mission, while Wang Yu sensed that Yuantong had changed.

• Yuantong used the Demon-Subduing Golden Sutra to disperse his golden python puppet, and Princess Tianhe recalled the Thousand Bamboo Sect’s azure tiger puppet into a bead.
• Wang Yu recognized Yuantong and Princess Tianhe, then introduced himself and Xuan Tianwu to the Thousand Bamboo Sect cultivators Zhuo Fan and Luo Yiming.
• Yuantong explained that his sutra was a Supplementary Volume and said Senior Brother Yuanhui and Martial Uncle Zhiming were resting in a nearby cave.
• Yun Caishang remarked on the strength of Yuantong’s puppet, while Wang Yu wondered why the monk seemed fundamentally different from before.
• Princess Tianhe blushed when Wang Yu noticed her looking at him, and Luo Yiming’s expression darkened.
• Xuan Tianwu asked Zhuo Fan whether the Setting Sun Sect’s cultivators had arrived.

Wang Yu and the other cultivators waited for the Setting Sun Sect to arrive while they speculated about their secret mission. That night, Wang Yu met Princess Tianhe, who revealed her real name as Wu Jiao and asked what he thought about the Demonic Path’s invasion of the Two Prefectures.

• Zhuo Fan, Yun Caishang, and the others discussed their mission and concluded they would learn more when the Setting Sun Sect arrived.
• Princess Tianhe secretly asked Wang Yu to meet her at the valley entrance during the third watch.
• Wang Yu settled into a cave and studied the Flame Blade spell pattern recorded in a silver Beast Claw.
• Princess Tianhe met Wang Yu in a grove, caught up with him, and told him her real name was Wu Jiao.
• Princess Tianhe asked Wang Yu what he thought about the Demonic Path’s invasion of the Two Prefectures.

Princess Tianhe revealed that the Demonic Path invasion was a coordinated probe backed by three Nascent Soul cultivators, while Wu Kingdom’s strongest sects had compelled the local sects to fight. She also hinted that sects and clans were secretly preparing ways to preserve themselves, leaving Wang Yu to consider the danger and his own sect’s plans.

• Princess Tianhe told Wang Yu that Heavenly Confucian had been badly injured after trying to stop the Heavenly Net Demon Venerable’s breakthrough in the Yu Kingdom.
• Princess Tianhe explained that Wu Kingdom had only one Nascent Soul cultivator ready to act, while the Yu Kingdom’s Demonic Path had three and had coordinated its invasion of the Two Prefectures.
• Princess Tianhe said the Vast Righteous Sect and Profound Truth Sect had forbidden sects from abandoning their grounds, but would grant new territory to those that fought before retreating.
• Princess Tianhe revealed that the Four Sects had secretly allied with the Celestial River Prefecture’s Three Sects to support one another during the invasion.
• Princess Tianhe noted that prominent disciples from both their sects had been absent for years on secret missions, hinting that major sects and clans were making preparations to preserve themselves.