Arc 17Chapters 401–425
No recap yet.
No recap yet.
Xu Qingtong demonstrated his Time Law to Du Siwen, who then studied the Cosmic Heart Stone while they cultivated on Lakeside Island. After Du Siwen reached mid-stage Golden Core, they left for Red Rock Canyon to find Nangong, but trouble stopped them along the way.
Xu Qingtong and Du Siwen found the Secret Realm’s demon beasts still roaming after the Five Great Sects’ disciples disappeared, then fled a surge of beasts led by the Riftwind Beast. The Riftwind Beast caught up with them near Jadewater Lake, and Xu Qingtong told Du Siwen to hide in the Seven-Star Bracelet.
Xu Qingtong fled the Riftwind Beast, then tricked it into revealing how immortal essence had strengthened the demon beasts in the Secret Realm. He caught the beast with his time-law power and pierced its chest with the Fengyi Sword, but the wounded beast counterattacked as the chapter ended.
Xu Qingtong killed the Riftwind Beast, then chose to leave the Secret Realm with Du Siwen rather than search for the last Seventh-Tier Demon Beast. After they escaped the pursuing beasts and returned to the Primordial Beginning Hall, Sect Leader Kang sought to question Xu Qingtong.
Xu Qingtong told Kang Yi that broken seals had released immortal essence in the Secret Realm, rapidly strengthening its demon beasts, and proved that he and Du Siwen had killed the Riftwind Beast. After warning Kang Yi about two other seventh-tier beasts and more likely to emerge, Xu returned to the Guest Reception Tower with Du Siwen and Nangong Zhen while the Grand Elder left to attend to an urgent matter.
Xu Qingtong, Du Siwen, and Nangong Zhen discussed their experiences in the Secret Realm and learned that the Wuji Sect wanted them to return to hunt another seventh-tier demon beast. The Grand Elder arrived with payment for Xu Qingtong and Du Siwen after confirming they had killed the Riftwind Beast.
Xu Qingtong refused to risk another trip into the Black Tortoise Secret Realm for the Wuji Sect’s initial offer, and Kang Yi sought permission to offer a greater reward. Xu Qingtong still held out for better terms as the sect scheduled the next mission for two days later.
Xu Qingtong negotiated with Kang Yi for a month to study the Dao Comprehension Stele and pendants that would help him and Du Siwen find each other in the Secret Realm. After Nangong Zhen returned to the Academy, Xu Qingtong and Du Siwen joined the other sect disciples as the Secret Realm opened.
Xu Qingtong and Du Siwen traveled through the Black Tortoise Secret Realm toward Red Rock Canyon, where Xu Qingtong discovered a way to collect Geng Metal Qi with the Rushou Seal. They began refining the qi into their treasures, but Du Siwen decided not to continue because she lacked a metal spirit root.
Xu Qingtong and Du Siwen refined Geng Metal qi in a ravine, strengthening their treasures before continuing toward Red Rock Canyon. When Xu Qingtong sensed Dongfang Hui following them, Du Siwen confronted her, and their clash began with a powerful halberd strike against Dongfang Hui’s shield.
Xu Qingtong and Du Siwen reached Red Rock Canyon with Dongfang Hui following them, and they fought the demon beasts there without her help. Dongfang Hui realized Xu Qingtong had previously let her wound him and was left embarrassed after refusing his offer to join forces.
Xu Qingtong and Du Siwen entered Red Rock Canyon to investigate the Riftwind Beast’s former territory, where Xu Qingtong faced the fierce wind alone and began to comprehend how to move with it. He reached a new understanding of the wind’s movements, though the chapter left his discovery’s full extent unrevealed.
Xu Qingtong mastered moving with the fierce wind and discovered a Riftwind Beast’s lair containing an egg and three-thousand-year-old Transformation Grass. Meanwhile, Du Siwen pressed deeper into a scorching passage until a dark red shadow appeared before her.
Xu Qingtong rescued Du Siwen from a dangerous fire spirit and discovered it was the heaven-and-earth spirit fire called Nine Nether Earthfire. He decided Du Siwen should refine it and gave her a secret method to do so.
Du Siwen refined the Nine Nether Earthfire with Xu Qingtong’s help, while Xu Qingtong exhausted himself maintaining the restraints. Afterward, they decided to leave the canyon, and Xu Qingtong gave Du Siwen a Riftwind Beast egg to bond with.
Xu Qingtong and Du Siwen traveled to Cangwu Abyss in search of a seventh-tier demon beast. Xu Qingtong discovered a camouflaged Darknight Flying Tuo in the depths, but as he tried to escape, its suction slowed him and its scarlet tongue struck his back.
Xu Qingtong escaped a Darknight Flying Tuo’s attack with the Substitute Talisman Shen Haotian had given him, then hid with Du Siwen to recover and wait for help. On the fifth day, they spotted Mu Xue and a man from the Wuji Sect near Cangwu Abyss, and Xu Qingtong called out to him.
Xu Qingtong warned Yuwen Kui and Mu Xue about the powerful Darknight Flying Tuo in Cangwu Abyss, but Yuwen Kui went to face it alone. After the beast chased the injured Yuwen Kui and Mu Xue back toward Xu Qingtong and Du Siwen, both pursuers crushed their teleportation talismans to escape the Secret Realm.
Xu Qingtong, Du Siwen, and Xiao Qi fought the Darknight Flying Tuo after it swallowed Mu Xue, wounding the beast and blinding it. They surrounded it to prevent its retreat to Cangwu Abyss, and the battle continued as it attacked Xu Qingtong’s Rushou Seal while Du Siwen’s Nine Nether Earthfire entered its mouth.
Xu Qingtong and Du Siwen killed the Darknight Flying Tuo, collected its remains, and decided to keep gathering herbs in the Secret Realm. As they searched, Xizi uncovered a piece of bloodgold stone.
After spending four months in the Secret Realm, Xu Qingtong and Du Siwen returned to the Wuji Sect with valuable gains. Xu Qingtong secured a chance for them to use the Dao Comprehension Stele, but only if he returned to the Secret Realm and slew another seventh-tier demon beast.
Xu Qingtong earned permission to consult the Wuji Sect’s Dao Comprehension Stele after proving he had slain the Darknight Flying Tuo, then visited the sect’s Library Pavilion to investigate the stele’s origins. He revealed that the Wuji Sect’s founder came from the Immortal Realm and that the sect’s secrets included a powerful immortal artifact, leaving the Grand Elder puzzled over why Kang Yi had allowed Xu Qingtong to learn them.
Xu Qingtong discussed the Wuji Sect’s hidden reserves and the meaning of its Primordial Chaos Limitless Art with the Grand Elder, then studied the sect’s jade slips before being summoned to Grand Change Hall. There, he and Du Siwen entered a chamber to use the Dao Comprehension Stele, whose changed appearance seemed familiar to Xu Qingtong.
Xu Qingtong and Du Siwen contemplated the Dao Comprehension Stele, comparing their insights into the transformations between nothingness, spirit, qi, and form. After exhausting their Immortal Jade and ending their meditation, Xu Qingtong left the Grand Change Hall with Du Siwen, intending to visit Sect Leader Kang.
Xu Qingtong returned from the Grand Change Hall after gaining insights that impressed the Grand Elder and Du Siwen. Kang Yi then tried to recruit him into the Wuji Sect as Senior Xiao’s final disciple, but Xu Qingtong deferred the decision to his existing master and returned to the guest lodge under great pressure.