Chapter Summaries

Wang Yu learned about High Person Qi Miao’s spell lecture and attended it with Wan Shan, where he saw two of the Four Symbols Sect’s True Disciples. The lecture had not yet begun when a commotion at the entrance left Wang Yu dumbfounded.

• Ximen Mei told Wang Yu that High Person Qi Miao would give a lecture for Inner Disciples in three days at the new teaching hall.
• Wang Yu arrived at the hall and met Wan Shan, who mentioned that Ximen Mei had an unusual background and that Wang Yu’s connection to her might benefit him.
• Wang Yu and Wan Shan found seats inside the hall and saw True Disciples Li Yan and Yun Caishang sitting near the platform.
• Yun Caishang noticed Wang Yu looking at her, then turned away after he gave an apologetic smile.
• More Inner Disciples arrived, and Wang Yu was dumbfounded when a commotion broke out at the hall entrance.

Wang Yu attended a spell lecture by High Person Qi Miao, who explained how layered spirit inscriptions formed higher-tier spells. Wang Yu activated overclocked synchronization mode to study the diagrams as Qi Miao demonstrated the principles behind second- and third-tier spells.

• Wang Yu saw Chen Tianxing arrive in a costly Vajra-Type Puppet and learned he was the Four Symbols Sect's highest-ranked true disciple.
• High Person Qi Miao began lecturing the gathered inner disciples on spells and his understanding of spirit inscriptions.
• Qi Miao explained that second-tier spells combined six entry-level spell diagrams into a double-layer spirit inscription diagram.
• Wang Yu activated overclocked synchronization mode and memorized Qi Miao's explanation and diagrams.
• Qi Miao demonstrated how six double-layer diagrams could combine into a triple-layer diagram for a third-tier spell.

High Person Seven Mysteries taught the Four Symbols Sect disciples about layered and composite spells, demonstrating their power and explaining how cultivators mastered and used them. Wang Yu gained a clearer understanding of spellcasting as the lecture continued.

• High Person Seven Mysteries layered the Illumination Art into the Light Flame Art, filling the hall with bright light.
• High Person Seven Mysteries cast the layered Fire Dragon Art, demonstrating its immense power to the astonished disciples, including Wang Yu.
• High Person Seven Mysteries explained composite spells and demonstrated the Water Gun Art, whose swift strike pierced a stone pillar.
• High Person Seven Mysteries compared layered and composite spells and explained how spell artifacts helped cultivators cast high-tier spells.
• High Person Seven Mysteries continued teaching spellcasting techniques, and Wang Yu listened with growing understanding and delight.

After High Person Seven Mysteries lectured on combining and stacking spells, Wang Yu bought several pills, including a high-grade Essence-Enhancing Pill. Kang Wuhen tried to make him hand it over, but Wang Yu refused and left after invoking the sect’s rule against harming fellow disciples.

• Wang Yu remembered High Person Seven Mysteries’ lecture and noticed Chen Tianxing and two other True Disciples speaking with him afterward.
• Wang Yu spent nearly all his merit points and four spirit stones to buy a high-grade Essence-Enhancing Pill, a Middle-Grade Essence-Enhancing Pill, and three bottles of Beast Marrow Pills.
• Kang Wuhen saw the pill tray and pursued Wang Yu on a flying boat, demanding to know whether he had bought the high-grade pill.
• Kang Wuhen offered Wang Yu spirit stones, pills, and a favor in exchange for it, but Wang Yu refused.
• Wang Yu warned Kang Wuhen that harming a fellow disciple violated sect rules and flew away; Kang Wuhen told him his name.

Wang Yu learned that the powerful Kang Wuhen was connected to Sect Master Kang, then accepted the Yin Household’s request to help it compete for a place on a spirit vein. The contest had not yet begun, and Wang Yu stayed with the household to prepare.

• Wang Yu used Taiyuan to extrapolate a small-scale composite wind-and-fire spell diagram, but learned that his stored information was still incomplete.
• After asking Zhou Chu about Kang Wuhen, Wang Yu learned of Kang Wuhen’s strength, bloodline, and connection to Sect Master Kang, then took a high-grade Essence-Enhancing Pill to cultivate.
• Wang Yu traveled to the Yin Household and heard that small lineages would compete for two places on the Mount Tai Sui spirit vein.
• Yin Linglong and the elders asked Wang Yu to compete on the Yin Household’s behalf, and he agreed to stay with them until the contest began.
• That evening, Wang Yu read the Yin Household’s manuals in his study when someone approached him and asked whether he would rest.

At a gathering in the Tai Sui Mountain Range, several lineages discussed the contest for spirit-vein lands and the powerful cultivators they had recruited. Yin Linglong and Wang Yu met Household Head Yu, who revealed his lineage had been devastated by a demonic True Disciple, and Wang Yu noticed Yu Xiaoming had made little progress in cultivation.

• Elder Bi and Household Head Xin discussed why their households needed the contest’s spirit-vein lands and compared the cultivators they had recruited.
• Household Head Xin’s mysterious female ally challenged Lay Buddhist Qing Ge, who dismissed her tricks and expressed confidence in his strength.
• Yin Linglong, Wang Yu, and two elders arrived by Iron Boat and were greeted by Household Head Yu.
• Household Head Yu told Yin Linglong that a demonic True Disciple of the Joyful Bliss Palace had killed his ancestor and caused more than half his lineage to perish.
• Wang Yu recognized Yu Xiaoming, sensed he was still at the sixth layer of Qi Refining, and then looked toward the other man behind Household Head Yu.

Wang Yu arrived with Yin Linglong at the spirit vein competition and learned about the formidable rivals representing the Yu, Mi, and Bi Households. As the gathered competitors awaited the contest, a Foundation Establishment cultivator appeared above the martial arena.

• The Yu Household head recognized Wang Yu as an Inner Disciple and artifact-refining apprentice, and Wang Yu explained that he had joined the competition to broaden his horizons.
• The Yu Household head introduced Gu Lian of the Setting Sun Sect as the Yu Household’s representative and described the Mi Household’s eleven-inscription Jade Wave Saber and the Bi Household’s guest retainer, High Person Azure Halberd.
• Yu Xiaoming asked Wang Yu about his cultivation, and Wang Yu confirmed that he had reached the sixth layer of Qi Refining.
• More flying boats arrived at the stone platforms, and after an hour a scholar-robed man rose above the arena and revealed the powerful aura of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Liu Ming began the contest for the spirit-vein residential slots, and Wang Yu drew number thirty-six while Gu Lian drew thirteen. The first match revealed a formidable gray-haired fighter, and the next bout began as numbers three and four entered the field.

• Liu Ming explained the single-elimination rules and began the drawing, with Yin Linglong and the Yu Household head drawing for their lineages.
• Wang Yu drew number thirty-six, while Yin Linglong reported that sixty-four lineages were participating; Gu Lian revealed that he had drawn number thirteen.
• Liu Ming started the contest, and the gray-haired old man defeated the young man with the water bowl in a single strike from his disguised whip.
• Wang Yu identified the old man's weapon after using Overclocking, while Gu Lian told the Yu Household head that he could defeat the fighter and would give the contest his all.
• Liu Ming called numbers three and four, and a silver-robed man with a shield and talismans faced a barefoot man carrying a battered bronze mirror.

Gu Lian faced Li Tianqi in the martial arena, where her wind-and-fire attack engulfed the arena. Wang Yu watched as Gu Lian appeared to withstand the powerful assault, leaving the outcome of their match unresolved.

• A jewel-bedecked man conceded after Number Four pinned him against the arena barrier with a powerful beam from a Bronze Mirror.
• Wang Yu explained that the Bronze Mirror used the Golden Light Technique to break defensive spells, and said he would prevent its wielder from using it against him.
• The scholar called Numbers Thirteen and Fourteen, sending Gu Lian to face Li Tianqi of the Four Symbols Sect.
• Li Tianqi released a winged snake and used her Crimson Feather Fan to unleash flames, while Gu Lian walked calmly through the fire.
• Li Tianqi and her winged snake combined wind and fire into a massive firestorm, and Wang Yu observed that Gu Lian seemed to have withstood it.

Gu Lian defeated Li Tianqi with a Flame Veil that absorbed the fire cloud and revealed a Twelve Spirit Inscription Spell, while Shi Jian overwhelmed his opponent with three staff strikes. Wang Yu then entered the arena to face High Person Azure Halberd, who expected to defeat him easily.

• Gu Lian absorbed Li Tianqi's fire cloud into his barrier, formed a powerful crimson orb, and won after Li Tianqi conceded.
• The crowd recognized Gu Lian's Twelve Spirit Inscription Spell, and Wang Yu wondered why Gu Lian's Flame Veil differed from his own.
• Shi Jian defeated a burly opponent with three blows from his staff, impressing the gathered lineages and drawing Wang Yu's interest in the Ape Roar Four Forms.
• Wang Yu was called to fight and flew into the arena, where High Person Azure Halberd dismissed him as an easy opponent because he was only at Middle Qi Refining.

Wang Yu fought High Person Azure Halberd in the arena and defeated him with his speed, defensive techniques, and Sonic Boom Fist. High Person Azure Halberd crashed to the ground unconscious as the spectators watched in silence.

• High Person Azure Halberd attacked Wang Yu with golden halberd strikes, and Wang Yu deflected them before charging in with his saber.
• High Person Azure Halberd broke Wang Yu’s saber and nearly struck him, but Wang Yu used a force from his eyes to divert the blow and then transformed into a larger, golden-mist-wreathed form.
• High Person Azure Halberd split his weapon into two short halberds and pursued Wang Yu, who evaded him with the Wolf-Running Form.
• High Person Azure Halberd’s mental technique disrupted Wang Yu’s afterimages, but Wang Yu landed safely and charged back in.
• Wang Yu seized High Person Azure Halberd’s halberds, then unleashed the Sonic Boom Fist, shattering his golden armor and sending him flying unconscious.
• High Person Azure Halberd’s jade pendant shattered, his halberds flew from his hands, and the spectators fell silent.

Wang Yu defeated High Person Azure Halberd and drew the attention of the other Lineages, while Gu Lian praised his potential. A new match began between a gray-robed saber wielder and a Heavenly Craft Sect puppet master, ending with the gray-robed man revealing the Jade Wave Saber.

• Wang Yu defeated High Person Azure Halberd, and the gathered Lineages discussed his strength as he returned to the Yin Household.
• Gu Lian congratulated Wang Yu and said he could reach great perfection in Qi Refining, startling the Yu Household head and Yu Xiaoming.
• A gray-robed man faced a horse-faced old man and two black-robed figures in the next match.
• The black robes tore away to reveal two Puppet Armored Soldiers from the Heavenly Craft Sect, which attacked the gray-robed man.
• The gray-robed man revealed the Jade Wave Saber, and the horse-faced old man tried to recall his puppets too late.

The gray-robed man defeated the horse-faced elder with the Jade Wave Saber, while Wang Yu and Yin Linglong watched the matches. In the final bout, a qi-refining-perfection elder took the arena alone, then sensed a hidden opponent just as the fight began.

• The gray-robed man shredded the horse-faced elder’s armored puppets with the Jade Wave Saber, and the elder surrendered.
• The gray-robed man turned his attention toward Wang Yu’s platform, while Yin Linglong worried about the saber’s power and Wang Yu reassured her.
• The remaining matches passed with little effort, and Liu Ming announced the final match between numbers sixty-three and sixty-four.
• An elderly cultivator with qi refining perfection entered the arena, but his opponent did not appear, prompting the crowd to wonder if the Xin Household had forfeited.
• When Liu Ming declared the match started, the old man raised earthen walls and swept the arena with wind before a slender figure appeared above him and darted downward.

A concealed woman defeated a qi-refining-perfection elder with the Shadow Secret Art and Spirit-Disrupting Poison, ending the first round of matches. The second round began the next morning, where the Golden Light Mirror user quickly forced his opponent to concede.

• The woman used the Shadow Secret Art to wound the old man, then incapacitated him with Spirit-Disrupting Poison and won his concession.
• Wang Yu watched the woman disappear and wondered whether Overclocking could detect her at closer range.
• Liu Ming ended the day's matches and announced that the second round would begin at sunrise the next morning.
• Wang Yu, Yin Linglong, and the two Yin Household elders rested in caves near the Martial Arts Arena.
• The next morning, the shabbily dressed man used the Golden Light Mirror to overwhelm the gray-haired swordsman, who conceded.

Gu Lian defeated Shi Jian by enduring his three staff strikes with a Flame Veil and burning him with a counterattack. Wang Yu then challenged the gray-robed fighter from the Mi Household to test his Jade Wave Saber against Wang Yu’s own Flame Veil, leaving the spectators astonished that Wang Yu could cast the rare spell.

• Gu Lian blocked Shi Jian’s three staff strikes with a crimson barrier, then struck back with flames that forced Shi Jian to yield.
• Gu Lian extinguished the flames after the scholar declared him the winner, and the Fang Household’s people carried the unconscious Shi Jian away.
• After several uneventful matches, Wang Yu entered the arena to face the gray-robed man carrying the Jade Wave Saber.
• Wang Yu proposed that he remain still and withstand the saber’s full-power strike with a defensive spell, promising to concede if it broke through.
• The gray-robed man accepted, and Wang Yu cast Flame Veil, shocking the spectators who recognized it as a rare twelve-spirit-inscription spell.

Wang Yu defended against the gray-robed man's strongest saber attack and won, then advanced through the opening matches of the third round. After a beautiful middle-aged woman conceded rather than face him, the chapter left Wang Yu leaving the arena after she invited him to visit her household and hinted at her unmarried daughters.

• The gray-robed man unleashed the Jade Wave Saber against Wang Yu's Flame Veil, but the barrier endured, and he conceded.
• Gu Lian recognized Wang Yu's spell as the unmodified Primordial Flame Veil and praised his talent through a voice transmission.
• The second round ended after the final fighter conceded because his opponent was absent, and Liu Ming announced the third round.
• A burly fighter defeated the raggedly dressed man with paired axes and a Mirror-Surface Talisman, while Gu Lian won his match against an opponent whose spells could not break his Flame Veil.
• The beautiful middle-aged woman conceded to Wang Yu, explaining that his fire cultivation and Body Tempering countered her techniques, then invited him to visit the Xu Household and mentioned her two unmarried daughters.

Wang Yu watched the final matches of the Lineage competition, where the Xin Household’s slender contestant defeated a zither-wielding opponent with her Black Sash artifact. After Gu Lian secured one Spirit Vein slot, Wang Yu faced the slender woman and activated overclocked synchronization as he prepared to counter her Shadow Escape Technique.

• Yin Linglong warned Wang Yu to keep his distance from Madam Xu, and he denied that anything had happened between them.
• The brocade-robed young man used his Wooden Zither to reveal the slender woman and disrupt her Shadow Escape Technique, but she reassembled her Black Sash and forced him to concede.
• Liu Ming began the later rounds, and Wang Yu and the slender woman emerged as the likely rivals for the remaining Spirit Vein slot.
• Gu Lian’s burly opponent conceded, securing a Spirit Vein slot for the Yu Household.
• Wang Yu entered the arena against the slender woman and activated overclocked synchronization.

Wang Yu fought a slender woman who used concealment, illusions, and magical artifacts to attack him in the Martial Arts Arena. After destroying her Black Sash, he cornered her with pursuing Willow-Leaf Flying Knives and a sudden punch.

• Wang Yu detected two concealed figures, exposed the slender woman with fireballs, and struck through her illusions with his Bone Saber.
• The woman attacked Wang Yu from behind with her Soul-Chasing Spike, but his Might Warrior body withstood the blow and he drove her back with a palm strike.
• Wang Yu destroyed the woman's Black Sash with claw shadows, then broke free of its binding in a pillar of fire and burned it away.
• Wang Yu sent three Willow-Leaf Flying Knives after the fleeing woman, then blocked her path and punched at her.

Wang Yu defeated the slender Thousand Bamboo Sect disciple and secured a Spirit Vein allotment for the Yu Household, while the Yin Household also received one. After the contest, Gu Lian and Li Tianqi arrived, and Li Tianqi revealed that Gu Lian had once been a top True Disciple of the Setting Sun Sect.

• Wang Yu struck through the slender woman's black shield, then used three iron-essence throwing knives to force her surrender.
• The slender woman questioned Wang Yu's secret art and complained about her damaged magical artifact, while Wang Yu offered to repair her shield.
• Liu Ming announced that the Yu Household and Yin Household had won the Spirit Vein allotments and gave each a token.
• Wang Yu told Yin Linglong to arrange the move and said he would cultivate in seclusion until he reached late Qi refining, asking her to collect books about Immortal Cultivators.
• Gu Lian and Li Tianqi came to speak with Wang Yu and Yin Linglong, and Li Tianqi identified Gu Lian as a former top ten True Disciple of the Setting Sun Sect with an essence fire physique.

Li Tianqi invited Wang Yu to join her team for the Four Sects Assembly and explained its likely format and valuable prizes. Wang Yu agreed to consider the invitation and asked whether True Disciples could compete.

• Gu Lian and Li Tianqi discussed their reasons for entering the spirit vein contest with Wang Yu.
• Li Tianqi took Wang Yu aside and invited him to join her team for the Four Sects Assembly in two years.
• Wang Yu asked about the assembly’s rewards, and Li Tianqi described the Blood Spirit Pill and other prizes from the previous assembly.
• Li Tianqi explained that disciples were already forming teams and asked Wang Yu to give her team priority.
• Wang Yu said he would consider the invitation and asked whether True Disciples could participate.