Chapter Summaries

Xu Qingtong and Du Siwen encountered a powerful Nascent Soul-level Corpse Fiend and fought it with lightning, fire, and Xiao Qi's help. After the Corpse Fiend knocked Du Siwen unconscious, Xu Qingtong brought her into the Seven-Star Bracelet, and Xiao Qi struck the fiend with beams of seven-colored light.

• Xu Qingtong detected the Corpse Fiend approaching and revealed himself after it discovered him and demanded their bodies.
• The Corpse Fiend knocked away Du Siwen's halberd and caught Xu Qingtong's Fengyi Sword, but Xu Qingtong and Du Siwen attacked it with lightning and Nine Nether Earthfire.
• Du Siwen's Raging Thunder Finger injured the Corpse Fiend's Divine Soul, but its Sound Wave attack knocked her unconscious.
• Xu Qingtong slowed the Corpse Fiend, placed Du Siwen in the Seven-Star Bracelet, and summoned Xiao Qi to help fight.
• Xiao Qi clawed at the Corpse Fiend's chest and pecked at its heart before striking it with beams of seven-colored light.

Xu Qingtong and Xiao Qi sealed the Corpse Fiend, then Xu Qingtong studied the unusual Space Stone Zhu Yan had given him. After Du Siwen pointed out that it looked carved rather than natural, Xu Qingtong meditated for a day and a night and finally understood what made it different.

• Xu Qingtong and Xiao Qi immobilized the Corpse Infant with a Blood-Soul Restriction Talisman, sealed the Corpse Fiend, and gave it to Xiao Qi.
• Xu Qingtong checked the area for monsters while Du Siwen set out to practice against the remaining ghosts and Corpse Fiends.
• Xu Qingtong examined Zhu Yan's Space Stone and noticed its spatial energy fluctuations were unusually regular.
• Xizi brought Xu Qingtong a piece of longjie and searched underground for other useful items.
• Du Siwen returned from fighting and suggested the Space Stone had been carved, prompting Xu Qingtong to study it further.
• After meditating for a day and a night, Xu Qingtong understood how the Space Stone differed from ordinary ones.

Xu Qingtong examined ancient treasures recovered by Xizi, copied a fading map and a formation manual, and discovered the map showed the continent as it had been ten thousand years earlier. He then watched Du Siwen fight and gave her advice on improving her shamanic arts.

• Xu Qingtong recognized that the Space Stone contained a teleportation array formation but set it aside for later study.
• Xu Qingtong examined the recovered items, found that a Storage Ring still held a cauldron and several Jade Slips, and copied a rapidly fading ancient map and formation manual.
• Xu Qingtong identified the map as a depiction of the continent before the war between the Human Race and Witch Clan, when Black Witch Marsh was called Cloudstar Lake.
• Xu Qingtong located Du Siwen fighting a powerful Corpse Charm and watched her use shamanic arts.
• Xu Qingtong explained how Du Siwen could better guide the power of the Great Yin, and she realized what had been causing her casting to feel sluggish.

After leaving the Valley of the Dead, Xu Qingtong settled back on Cloudsky Peak, where he helped Du Siwen and his fellow disciples strengthen their cultivation while studying a mysterious seashell and the Mystic Subtlety Secret Art. Ten years later, the Witch Clan and Gloomwind Valley had recovered and grown stronger, while Xu Qingtong still could not use the teleportation treasure he had identified.

• Xizi returned with a patterned seashell, which Xu Qingtong recognized as an ancient Sea Tribe object but could not identify beyond its underwater use.
• Xu Qingtong and Du Siwen left the Valley of the Dead for Cloudsky Peak after Xizi found no more valuable remains, and Du Siwen began seclusion to consolidate her cultivation.
• Xu Qingtong gave Zhuang Shengren, Ding Jiayue, and Gong Chu Nine Yin Pills and explained how to break through to the Sorcerer Realm.
• Xu Qingtong studied the Space Stone and the Mystic Subtlety Secret Art during ten years of secluded cultivation, learning that the stone was a teleportation array treasure but not how to use it.
• Ten years later, Xu Qingtong's incarnation had cultivated five Star Souls, Du Siwen had reached the peak of the late Sorcerer Realm, and Gong Chu had advanced to the middle Sorcerer Realm.

Xu Qingtong began his breakthrough to the Witch Wisdom Realm on Cloudsky Peak, using the Five Stars Enclosing the Moon method to draw heavenly lightning into his star sea. As the tribulation intensified, a faint crescent-shaped phantom appeared between his five stars, but the Great Yin Soul had not yet formed.

• Xu Qingtong told Du Siwen he was about to attempt a breakthrough and asked her to watch from a safe distance without intervening.
• Xu Qingtong went to the Witch Clan Territory and asked Shi Chengjun to stand guard during his heavenly tribulation.
• Shi Chengjun explained that Xu Qingtong needed to use heavenly lightning to temper his star sea and condense a Great Yin Soul.
• Xu Qingtong merged his original body and incarnation, took a Nine Yin Pill, and began drawing heavenly lightning into his body and star sea.
• Xu Qingtong guided lightning through his five stars for hours, enduring the pain and repairing his body as the tribulation clouds grew denser.
• A faint crescent-shaped phantom appeared between the five stars, and Xu Qingtong focused his divine sense on tempering it with heavenly lightning.

Xu Qingtong survived the heavenly tribulation and advanced to the Witch Wisdom Realm, then recovered and stabilized his cultivation with help from Shi Chengjun. He returned to the Witch Clan to request materials for Nine Yin Pills and copy the Spirit-Nourishing Pill recipe.

• Xu Qingtong endured three days of tribulation as he formed a Great Yin Soul and a phantom moon in his star sea, successfully entering the Witch Wisdom Realm.
• Shi Chengjun gave Xu Qingtong a Spirit-Nourishing Pill, and Xu Qingtong restored his damaged divine soul before stabilizing his new realm over half a month.
• Xu Qingtong celebrated his breakthrough with Du Siwen, then told her he would visit the Witch Clan's territory.
• Xu Qingtong asked Shi Chengjun for materials to refine Nine Yin Pills and learned that the Spirit-Nourishing Pill had been refined by the clan's late chief.
• Shi Chengjun gave Xu Qingtong the Spirit-Nourishing Pill recipe, and Xu Qingtong copied it onto a jade slip before returning the original.

Xu Qingtong refined five high-grade Transformation Pills and promised them to his spirit beasts, then studied the Spirit-Nourishing Pill Recipe and began gathering its ingredients. He sent Ding Jiayue to collect the listed supplies so he could make pills for strengthening divine souls.

• Xu Qingtong cultivated the Flesh Lingzhi in the Back Mountain and then secluded himself to refine pills.
• After a month of refining Nine Yin Pills, Xu Qingtong rehearsed the process for making Transformation Pills and produced five high-grade pills.
• Xu Qingtong teased Xiao Bai, then promised Transformation Pills to his spirit beasts when they reached the seventh tier.
• Xu Qingtong discovered that longjie from the Valley of the Dead was the main ingredient in the Spirit-Nourishing Pill Recipe and realized he had enough to make many pills.
• Xu Qingtong gave Ding Jiayue a jade slip and asked her to gather the ingredients for Spirit-Nourishing Pills.

Xu Qingtong refined high-grade Spirit-Nourishing Pills and tested one by tempering his divine soul in the Blood Pool. After his divine sense grew stronger, he explained the method to Du Siwen, who prepared to try it herself.

• Xu Qingtong gave Ding Jiayue Low-grade Nine Yin Pills to help her attempt a breakthrough and later received the ingredients he had asked her to gather.
• Xu Qingtong practiced refining Spirit-Nourishing Pills in his Niwang Palace until his simulated success rate reached one hundred percent.
• After two failed batches, Xu Qingtong refined several successful batches, including three batches of high-grade Spirit-Nourishing Pills.
• Xu Qingtong endured the Blood Pool corroding nearly half his divine soul, then took a Spirit-Nourishing Pill and recovered with his divine sense nearly ten percent stronger.
• Xu Qingtong told Du Siwen about his pills and explained how to temper her divine soul in the Blood Pool, and she decided to try it.

Xu Qingtong compared an ancient map with the present Great Marsh Sea and concluded that the Sea Tribe’s vanished city might lie beneath the sea. He set out to investigate Great Marsh City and reached the place marked on the map, where he stared in bewilderment.

• Du Siwen cultivated in the Blood-Transforming Pool, endured the pain, and increased her divine sense by nearly five percent.
• Xu Qingtong spent a month refining Spirit-Nourishing Pills, then studied an ancient map and discovered that Red Moon Island had once been Wangzhou City and that Great Marsh City had stood nearby.
• Xu Qingtong theorized that the Witch Clan had sunk the Sea Tribe’s main city during an ancient war and decided to search for its ruins.
• Xu Qingtong gave Du Siwen pills and insights into the five stars, then left after urging her to keep cultivating.
• Xu Qingtong spoke privately with Shi Chengjun, flew to the Great Marsh Sea, and reached the map’s location for Great Marsh City, where he stared in bewilderment.

Xu Qingtong searched the submerged ruins of Great Marsh City and found three Teleportation Arrays, then went to Red Moon Island to study teleportation formations. After learning their principles, he dismantled the damaged array and began rebuilding it from his notes.

• Xu Qingtong discovered that Great Marsh City had sunk beneath the sea and searched its ruins, finding three Teleportation Arrays but nothing else of value.
• Xu Qingtong returned to Red Moon Island with Xiao Bai and explained that he would not break open the Heavenly Chasm because the Profound Yin Church could threaten Qing and Bing Provinces.
• Xu Qingtong spent a year studying the Mystic Subtlety Secret Art and learned how teleportation formations opened and stabilized spatial passages.
• Xu Qingtong dismantled Red Moon Island's damaged Teleportation Array over the course of a month and recorded the structure of its components.
• Xu Qingtong reforged the damaged components and began reconstructing the Teleportation Array from his notes.

After returning from Red Moon Island, Xu Qingtong learned that Gloomwind Valley needed help opening Mist Valley for its trial. He built Teleportation Arrays inside and outside the valley, leaving a way to travel between them once he refined a Teleportation Token.

• Xu Qingtong returned to Cloudsky Peak, met with Du Siwen, Zhuang Shengren, Ding Jiayue, and Gong Chu, and heard that Gloomwind Valley’s Sect Leader wanted him to help open Mist Valley.
• Xu Qingtong asked Ding Jiayue to prepare materials and secluded himself for half a month to refine components for small Teleportation Arrays.
• Xu Qingtong and Xiao Bai went to Mist Valley, where Xiao Bai tore open the entrance formation and let them enter.
• Xu Qingtong refined Anchor Points and built a Teleportation Array inside Mist Valley, then left with Xiao Bai.
• Xu Qingtong built another Teleportation Array outside the valley and immediately refined a Teleportation Token.

Xu Qingtong completed a Teleportation Array in Mist Valley and gave Gloomwind Valley a hundred Teleportation Tokens, allowing its disciples to enter and leave the valley freely. Later, he discovered that the Space Stone could hold anchor-point information, and using Red Moon Island’s coordinates caused him to vanish from his cave abode.

• Xu Qingtong tested the Mist Valley Teleportation Array, confirmed that no fourth-tier demon beasts lived there, and refined over a hundred Teleportation Tokens.
• Xu Qingtong gave Fang Tianqi a hundred Teleportation Tokens and explained that the array would let the sect hold the Mist Valley Trial without a Golden Core cultivator intervening.
• Fang Tianqi and Guo Tianyu accompanied Xu Qingtong to Mist Valley, where Guo Tianyu tested the array and confirmed that he could travel in and out with a Teleportation Token.
• Xu Qingtong returned to Cloudsky Peak and, after studying the Space Stone, successfully imprinted Red Moon Island’s anchor-point information into it.
• Xu Qingtong infused the Space Stone with magic power, and a flash of white light made him vanish from his cave abode.

Xu Qingtong discovered a hidden entrance to the Demon Realm in the Thousand-Cloud Mountain Range and planned to use it to reach Central Province and rebuild a Teleportation Array. After telling Du Siwen goodbye and leaving his sect in her care, he prepared to break through the barrier with a World-Breaking Fruit.

• Xu Qingtong used the Space Stone to teleport to Red Moon Island, then studied a map and suspected its Gray Marks indicated entrances to the Demon Realm.
• Xu Qingtong traveled to the marked location in the Thousand-Cloud Mountain Range, where Xiao Bai found a cave emitting demonic qi and spatial fluctuations.
• Xu Qingtong discovered an invisible barrier resembling the Demon Realm Entrance in Central Province and decided to consult Du Siwen before acting.
• Xu Qingtong told Du Siwen he planned to cross into the Demon Realm and reach Central Province; she asked to accompany him, but he refused and left her in charge of Gloomwind Valley and Cloudsky Peak.
• Xu Qingtong returned to the entrance, prepared a shelter, and threw a World-Breaking Fruit at the barrier.

Xu Qingtong reached the Demon Realm near Banga Fort and sought a route to Hanshui City that avoided powerful enemies. After learning that the Sea of Death drove travelers to madness, he investigated a nearby Fire Clan branch and found a possible link between its bloodline and the sea’s lethal aura.

• Xu Qingtong used the World-Breaking Fruit to break through the barrier and arrived in the Demon Realm near Banga Fort.
• Xu Qingtong refined and buried an Anchor Point, then flew southeast toward a tribal settlement.
• Xu Qingtong questioned the Fire Clan chief, who warned that the Sea of Death caused people to lose their reason and kill themselves.
• The Fire Clan chief said that Duo Jie had crossed the Sea of Death and that his pure bloodline might have helped him resist its aura.
• Xu Qingtong offered the chief ten thousand demon crystals to examine his essence blood, then studied it and returned it with a trace of understanding.

Xu Qingtong entered the Sea of Death to comprehend metal spiritual power and, after nearly two years, perfected his five golden cores and reached the pseudo-nascent soul stage. On his way to Hanshui City, he reunited with Guan Ke at Swallow Dock and learned that something had happened to Yin Sheng.

• Xu Qingtong secretly left the Fire Clan settlement and entered the Sea of Death, where he discovered that metal-attribute spiritual qi caused its murderous aura.
• Xu Qingtong resisted the qi's influence with the Pure-Heart Snow Lotus and spent nearly two years absorbing and comprehending metal spiritual power.
• Xu Qingtong finally comprehended metal spiritual power, perfected all five golden cores, and entered the pseudo-nascent soul stage.
• Xu Qingtong concealed his original body in the Seven-Star Bracelet, flew past Djibouti City, and detoured through the Stro Tribe toward Hanshui City.
• At Swallow Dock, Xu Qingtong recognized his former assistant Guan Ke, who told him that he and Yin Sheng had been assigned to guard the dock.
• When Xu Qingtong asked what had happened to Yin Sheng, Guan Ke grew emotional and could not answer.

Xu Qingtong learned that Feng Butong had murdered Yin Sheng and threatened Guan Ke, so he confronted the commander at Hanshui City. He defeated Feng Butong and shattered his demonic core, leaving him without cultivation.

• Guan Ke told Xu Qingtong that Feng Butong had killed Yin Sheng and threatened him for seeking justice.
• Xu Qingtong told Guan Ke to stay safe and flew to Hanshui City to confront Feng Butong.
• Feng Butong pretended not to recognize Xu Qingtong and ordered his soldiers to seize him, then admitted he had killed Yin Sheng without evidence.
• Xu Qingtong fought Feng Butong's Wind Blade and demonic wolf phantom with his own techniques.
• Xu Qingtong used the Turtle-Speed Technique to immobilize Feng Butong, then summoned four Dark Spirits to shatter his demonic core and destroy his cultivation.

Xu Qingtong crippled Feng Butong and returned to Hanshui City, where Lu Gui'nian appointed him to oversee the demonized garden balsam harvest. Xu Qingtong traded spells from Lian Shaocheng's hidden retreat for seeds, a Demonic Treasure, and demon crystals, then set off for Yalai Town.

• Xu Qingtong shattered Feng Butong's demonic core and destroyed his cultivation after Lu Gui'nian told him not to kill the man.
• Xu Qingtong visited Lu Gui'nian, explained how he escaped through the Demon Realm, and learned that the demonized garden balsam fruit would ripen in a little over seven months.
• Lu Gui'nian gave Xu Qingtong a Token appointing him Fruit Collection Supervisor and directing him to wait in Yalai Town for the harvest.
• Xu Qingtong showed Lu Gui'nian spells he had found in Lian Shaocheng's secluded retreat, and they bargained for this year's demonized garden balsam seeds, a Soul-Devouring Whip, and five hundred high-grade demon crystals.
• Xu Qingtong bought materials in Hanshui City and flew toward Yalai Town.

Xu Qingtong arrived in Yalai Town as its new collection supervisor and settled into the old Garrison Manor. After Garrison Commander Qin Baichuan sent men to arrest him, Xu Qingtong froze their leader and summoned Qin to face him.

• Xu Qingtong showed Magistrate Zhou Zhiren City Lord Lu’s Token and took charge of overseeing the collection of Demonized Garden Balsam fruit.
• Zhou Zhiren learned that Feng Butong’s cultivation had been crippled and ordered his people not to provoke Xu Qingtong.
• Xu Qingtong returned to his old courtyard, cleaned it, and began cultivating with the Demon Transformation Great Method.
• Qin Baichuan grew angry at being expected to visit Xu Qingtong and ordered Yang Xiashui and several soldiers to arrest him.
• Xu Qingtong froze Yang Xiashui and sent the soldiers away with a demand that Qin Baichuan come see him.
• Qin Baichuan arrived at Xu Qingtong’s courtyard and shouted for the person who had hurt his subordinate.

Xu Qingtong defeated Qin Baichuan, took his flying knives, and learned that Zhou Zhiren had arranged the confrontation. He then summoned Zhou Zhiren and accused him of repeatedly scheming against him, leaving Zhou at swordpoint.

• Xu Qingtong used the Turtle-Speed Technique and Raging Thunder Finger to defeat Qin Baichuan, who surrendered and gave up his eight flying knives.
• Xu Qingtong questioned Qin Baichuan about Zhou Zhiren’s role and sent him back to tell Zhou to come over.
• Qin Baichuan told Zhou Zhiren that Xu Qingtong had summoned him, and Zhou hurried to Xu Qingtong’s courtyard.
• Xu Qingtong struck Zhou Zhiren with lightning and held an Ink-Colored Long Saber at his neck.
• Xu Qingtong accused Zhou Zhiren of provoking Qin Baichuan and questioned how Feng Butong had learned about Yin Sheng.

Xu Qingtong subdued Zhou Zhiren, advanced to mid-stage Demon Marshal, and refined a powerful saber set while waiting for the demonized garden balsam to ripen. When magic beasts began gathering at the plantation, he went to oversee the harvest and watched for danger.

• Xu Qingtong forced Zhou Zhiren to surrender his soul blood, then warned him to manage the demonized garden balsam properly.
• Xu Qingtong cultivated with demon crystals and earth milk for half a year, advancing from early-stage to mid-stage Demon Marshal.
• Xu Qingtong refined Qin Baichuan's Seven Sons Linked-Ring Saber and practiced Lian Shaocheng's spells.
• As the demonized garden balsam neared ripeness and magic beasts appeared, Xu Qingtong chose to oversee the plantation himself.
• Xu Qingtong reached the plantation, learned that a sixth-tier magic beast had attacked there in the past, and meditated while monitoring the surroundings.
• At night, magic beasts began stirring near the plantation, and Xu Qingtong opened his eyes from meditation.