Chapter Summaries

Tang Yan’s concealed alliance with the Mo Lineage turned Reach the Summit’s battle against Mingyou Valley into an overwhelming advantage. Ming Ze tried to flee, but Tang Yan blocked his retreat and fought to hold him until reinforcements could arrive.

• Mo Lianshan revealed himself, accused Mingyou Valley of causing the Yin-Yang Spring disaster, and led seven Mo Lineage Xiantian experts into the battle.
• Shen Shan stopped Feng Chenye from joining the fight, explaining that Reach the Summit had gained the advantage and could use the battle to temper its fighters.
• Feng Chenye improvised a boastful poem about Tang Yan, drawing mockery from his companions and irritation from Shen Shan.
• Tang Yan and two Mo Lineage elders killed Ming Lihai, then moved to support the other fighters as Reach the Summit overwhelmed Mingyou Valley.
• Ming Ze ordered his people to flee and escaped Mo Lianshan, but Tang Yan blocked his path and attacked with Flame Burst Palm, Second Form, empowered by the Heaven-Earth Creation Flame.

Tang Yan and Mo Lianshan defeated Ming Ze and destroyed Mingyou Valley. Afterward, Tang Yan spared the children who chose candy but killed those who chose weapons, declaring that his sword did not slay the old or the young, but his saber could.

• Tang Yan and Mo Lianshan trapped Ming Ze between them, forcing him to use a secret art to double his strength.
• Tang Yan withstood Ming Ze’s powerful saber strike, then joined Mo Lianshan in defeating and killing him.
• Reach the Summit’s forces slaughtered Mingyou Valley’s remaining fighters and gathered the spoils and children in the square.
• Tang Yan had the children choose between weapons and candy; sixteen chose weapons, while seventy-six chose candy.
• Tang Yan spared the children who chose candy and killed the sixteen who chose weapons with a saber.

After destroying Mingyou Valley, Tang Yan defended his slaughter of its young descendants and secretly ordered the Mo Lineage to track down the three he spared. He then proposed dividing the spoils with the Mo Lineage, but negotiations turned hostile when Mo Lianshan rejected Reach the Summit’s share.

• Tang Yan justified killing Mingyou Valley’s remaining descendants, then killed seventy-three youths who had chosen candy and released three others with silver.
• Tang Yan secretly told Mo Lianshan to have experts watch the three survivors and eliminate any relatives they might seek refuge with.
• Su Kuo watched from an Illusionary Shadow Eagle and worried that Tang Yan’s influence would harm his daughter’s character, despite the battle helping her improve.
• Tang Yan proposed that Reach the Summit take Mingyou Valley’s grounds and share thirty percent of its wealth with the Gao Family, while the Mo Lineage received seventy percent.
• Mo Lianshan rejected the proposed resource split, arguing that the Mo Lineage’s contribution and Mingyou Valley’s Dao Comprehension Cliff justified giving Reach the Summit no wealth.
• Tang Yan warned that the Mo Lineage would not receive even seventy percent if it reneged on their agreement, and demanded to know whether it would accept his division.

Tang Yan gained the support of the Artifact Pavilion, Fengyun Clan, Star-Gazing Pavilion, and Su Family after Mo Lianshan challenged his share of Mingyou Valley’s spoils. After the Mo Lineage accepted an eighty-twenty division, Tang Yan rewarded his allies and helped Su Ruyan approach a breakthrough to King Rank.

• Shen Shan arrived and argued that Tang Yan deserved seventy percent of Mingyou Valley’s territory and resources.
• Feng Chenye and Qu Changxing arrived with powerful allies, declared their support for Tang Yan, and Qu invited him to visit the Star-Gazing Pavilion.
• Tang Yan greeted Shen Shan, Feng Chenye, Su Kuo, and Qu Changxing, then agreed to visit the Star-Gazing Pavilion within a month.
• Mo Lianshan withdrew the Mo Lineage after agreeing that Reach the Summit would take eighty percent of the resources and his own faction would take twenty percent.
• Tang Yan gave Shen He a Yin Dragon Command and taught Su Ruyan about Sword-Drawing Slash, prompting her aura to fluctuate as she neared King Rank.

After the attack on Mingyou Valley, Tang Yan distributed the spoils and learned about the upcoming Heavenly Selection Secret Realm. He then set out with Zhu Jingkong to search for the Nurturing Nether Spirit Flame in Profound Azure Ravine.

• Tang Yan gave Zi Yun a Purple Gold Dragon Pearl and offered Feng Chenye advice and a line of poetry to help him win Zi Yun’s favor.
• Tang Yan awarded the Gao Family fifteen percent of the supplies left by Mingyou Valley.
• Su Kuo and the others explained the Heavenly Selection Secret Realm and offered to secure entry spots for Reach the Summit.
• Tang Yan toured the valley, admired the Dao Comprehension Cliff, and sent Zi Yun to tell Fang Xuan to visit Heaven-Covering Valley.
• Tang Yan thanked Zhu Jingkong for guarding him and left with him to search for Nurturing Nether using a Compass in Profound Azure Ravine.

Tang Yan and Zhu Jingkong reached Profound Azure Ravine to search for the Nurturing Nether Spirit Flame. Tang Yan used a thunder formation to clear the strange mist, and the two entered a gorge where living vines attacked them.

• Tang Yan practiced the Five Elements Tyrant Body Art during the journey, consuming resources while making only slight progress.
• Tang Yan and Zhu Jingkong arrived at Profound Azure Ravine, disguised themselves, and followed the Spirit Flame Compass through thick mist.
• Zhu Jingkong failed to disperse the mist, but Tang Yan used the Divine Thunder Demon-Slaying Formation to make it vanish.
• The Spirit Flame Compass pointed northwest, leading Tang Yan and Zhu Jingkong into a narrow, dim gorge.
• Vines grabbed Tang Yan's ankles; he severed them with the Moonshadow Sword, and Zhu Jingkong destroyed two more vines with talismans.

Tang Yan and Zhu Jingkong fought their way through a gorge of concealed, poisonous vines, which Tang Yan collected for their medicinal value. Beyond the gorge, Tang Yan recognized and broke free of a spring-born illusion, then followed the compass with Zhu Jingkong to a cave high on a cliff.

• Tang Yan used his Heart of Taiji to detect the hidden vines, gave Zhu Jingkong an Antidote Pill, and began pulling out and collecting the vines as they advanced.
• After the vines retreated into the rock walls, Tang Yan insisted that he and Zhu Jingkong keep clearing them for three days until they reached the gorge's exit.
• Tang Yan dispersed the mist with the Divine Thunder Demon-Slaying Formation, and he and Zhu Jingkong followed the Spirit Flame Compass upstream.
• Tang Yan believed he found several eighth-tier spirit herbs, but noticed the Heaven-Earth Creation Cauldron had not reacted and realized the spring had trapped them in an illusion.
• Tang Yan discovered that he and Zhu Jingkong were buried headfirst in the stream, shouted to wake Zhu Jingkong, and promised to help the Spirit Shaman Clan after subduing Nurturing Nether.
• Tang Yan and Zhu Jingkong followed the compass to a cave high above them in a cliff, where spring water flowed out.

Tang Yan and Zhu Jingkong fought their way through a swarm of mutated Nether Mountain Rats guarding Nurturing Nether. After breaking the rats’ formation and defeating them, they stood before the still-flickering Spirit Flame.

• Tang Yan and Zhu Jingkong entered the cave and found Nurturing Nether guarded by countless sixth-tier Nether Mountain Rats.
• Tang Yan discovered that the rats could be killed with a precise strike between their brows while Zhu Jingkong defended them with a Spiritual Qi shield.
• Tang Yan and Zhu Jingkong killed the attacking rats until the survivors formed a disorienting Illusion Formation that weakened their defenses.
• Tang Yan used Comrades in Arms to destroy the formation eye and break the Illusion Formation.
• Tang Yan and Zhu Jingkong spent twelve hours clearing the remaining rats, leaving them surrounded by corpses with Nurturing Nether still ahead.

Tang Yan subdued Nurturing Nether after it nearly overwhelmed Zhu Jingkong, then used the flame and the Heaven-Earth Creation Cauldron to strengthen his soul and break through to King Rank. He offered to guard Zhu Jingkong as the chief attempted to advance to Lord Rank.

• Zhu Jingkong tried to restrain Nurturing Nether, but its violent soul power trapped him until Tang Yan severed their connection and saved him.
• Tang Yan endured Nurturing Nether’s soul-power attacks for twenty-four hours while the Heaven-Earth Creation Cauldron collected and refined the power.
• Tang Yan used the Fire Control Art and the Heaven-Earth Creation Flame to subdue the weakened Nurturing Nether.
• Nurturing Nether and the cauldron tempered Tang Yan’s soul, breaking his Xiantian Ninth Grade barrier and advancing him to King Rank.
• Zhu Jingkong gave Tang Yan seventy percent of the Nether Mountain Rat Beast Cores, and Tang Yan offered to guard him as he attempted to advance to Lord Rank.

Tang Yan helped Zhu Jingkong break through to Lord Rank, but Medicine Valley confronted them over the Nurturing Nether Spirit Flame. Zhu Jingkong revealed his identity and fought Wei Jianqing’s forces while entrusting Tang Yan with the Spirit Shaman Clan’s future.

• Tang Yan used Nurturing Nether to help Zhu Jingkong reach Lord Rank, where Zhu Jingkong’s natal divinity formed as the Divine Phoenix Brush.
• Zhu Jingkong asked Tang Yan for pills for the Spirit Shaman Clan, and they left the cave to find Wei Jianqing and sixteen Medicine Valley King Rank experts waiting outside.
• Wei Jianqing demanded the Nurturing Nether Spirit Flame, and Zhu Jingkong warned Tang Yan that surrender would not keep Medicine Valley from killing them.
• Zhu Jingkong asked Tang Yan to swear to protect the Spirit Shaman Clan and resolve its cultivation problems, then revealed his true appearance and identity to Wei Jianqing.
• When Wei Jianqing began counting, two Medicine Valley fighters died suddenly, and Zhu Jingkong blocked the group’s attacks with talismans while sending his authority token to Tang Yan.

Tang Yan escaped while Zhu Jingkong used deceptive puppet techniques to hold off Wei Jianqing and the Medicine Valley experts. Meanwhile, Fang Xuan, Yu Juechen, and Yang Jiayi arrived at Heaven-Covering Valley and met its Seventh Elder to discuss their visit.

• Tang Yan fled as Zhu Jingkong blocked the pursuers, taking an attack to give him time to escape.
• Zhu Jingkong used puppets and switched between his true body and a double to mislead Wei Jianqing and kill several Medicine Valley experts.
• Tang Yan donned the Heaven Concealing Garment, concealed his aura with the Heart of Taiji, and turned back toward the battle.
• Fang Xuan, Yang Jiayi, and Yu Juechen arrived at Heaven-Covering Valley and crossed its mountain paths, where their cultivation powers no longer worked.
• Fang Xuan introduced himself and his companions to Huang Xian, the Seventh Elder, who asked why they had come.

Fang Xuan tried to trade treasures for Heavenly Selection Secret Realm slots, but Huang Xian extorted a huge debt and crippled Yang Jiayi and Yu Juechen, leaving Fang Xuan to promise payment. Meanwhile, Tang Yan witnessed Zhu Jingkong’s puppet technique devastate Medicine Valley’s King Ranks as Zhu Jingkong threatened Wei Jianqing.

• Fang Xuan offered starcloud sand and green-tailed tiger bones to Huang Xian in exchange for entry slots, but Huang Xian reduced the offer to one slot and seized the goods.
• Yang Jiayi and Yu Juechen challenged Huang Xian, who attacked them; Fang Xuan intervened, but Huang Xian ordered the three captured and threatened to kill them.
• Fang Xuan promised ten times the original goods on credit, and Huang Xian severed Yang Jiayi’s and Yu Juechen’s wrist and ankle tendons before demanding payment within half a month.
• Tang Yan entered the battlefield at Profound Azure Ravine and saw two Zhu Jingkongs fighting Medicine Valley’s forces.
• Zhu Jingkong’s figures evaded Wei Jianqing’s attack while three more King Rank martial artists fell, and Zhu Jingkong vowed to kill Wei Jianqing after finishing them.

Tang Yan rescued Zhu Jingkong from Wei Jianqing after Zhu sacrificed himself to kill Medicine Valley’s King Rank martial artists. As they escaped, Zhu pledged the Spirit Shaman Clan’s eternal loyalty to Tang Yan.

• Tang Yan realized Zhu Jingkong was near death and had resolved to perish with Wei Jianqing and the Medicine Valley martial artists.
• Wei Jianqing identified the limits of Zhu Jingkong’s cloning technique and prepared to attack the five remaining Medicine Valley experts.
• Tang Yan ambushed Wei Jianqing with talismans and the Moonshadow Sword, wounding him and creating an opening for Zhu Jingkong to finish off the remaining experts.
• Tang Yan used his final Ninth Grade of King Rank talisman and the Stars-Shifting Array to escape with the exhausted Zhu Jingkong.
• Zhu Jingkong thanked Tang Yan for returning to save him and vowed that the Spirit Shaman Clan would remain his loyal ally for eternity.

Tang Yan offered the Spirit Shaman Clan refuge with Reach the Summit, and Zhu Jingkong prepared his people to relocate before Medicine Valley retaliated. Meanwhile, Fang Xuan hired Fishless Tower to obtain intelligence and supplies for his planned rescue of Yang Jiayi and Yu Juechen, then set off toward the Southern Wilderness.

• Tang Yan advised Zhu Jingkong to move the Spirit Shaman Clan to Reach the Summit, and Zhu Jingkong gratefully accepted his help.
• Fang Xuan went to Fishless Tower in Chaotian City and requested a faster flying beast, information about the Desolate Clan and Heaven-Covering Valley, and rare materials.
• Fang Xuan paid for an Overlord Thunder King Roc and the intelligence, leaving a deposit for the materials, then flew toward the Southern Wilderness.
• Tang Yan and Zhu Jingkong arrived at Black Crow Cliff, where Zhu Jingkong summoned the Spirit Shaman Clan to the altar.
• Zhu Jingkong introduced Tang Yan as the clan's ally, explained the soul-repair method and the conflict with Medicine Valley, and ordered everyone to prepare for relocation to Reach the Summit.

Tang Yan helped Zhu Jingkong evacuate the Spirit Shaman Clan and rigged Black Crow Cliff with explosives and talismans to punish Medicine Valley if they attacked the statue. Back at Reach the Summit, Fang Xuan proposed the Mountain-Moving Plan to rescue Jiayi and Juechen by hollowing out Heaven-Covering Valley.

• Zhu Jingkong assigned the Spirit Shaman Clan elders and groups separate routes for their secret four-month migration.
• Tang Yan created a hollow replacement Spirit Witch God Statue, filled it and hidden trenches with explosives and talismans, and set the trap to detonate if the statue was damaged.
• Zi Yun woke from another frightening dream in which a shadow told her she was not human, then continued cultivating despite her rapidly increasing strength.
• Fang Xuan returned to Reach the Summit and told its core members that Jiayi and Juechen were in trouble at Heaven-Covering Valley.
• Fang Xuan explained that saint-suppressing stone disabled Spirit Power in the valley and proposed hiring workers, renting Strength-Type Spirit Beasts, and using Mountain-Breaking Machinery to hollow it out.

Fang Xuan went alone to Heaven-Covering Valley to negotiate for places in the Heavenly Selection Secret Realm, leaving Reach the Summit a detailed attack plan and instructions in case he died. After Tang Yan returned and learned of Fang Xuan’s danger, he prepared to confront the Desolate Clan while entrusting Reach the Summit’s affairs to the others.

• Fang Xuan rejected Zi Yun and Su Ruyan’s offer to accompany him, gave Zi Yun a letter for Tang Yan, and flew toward Heaven-Covering Valley alone.
• Tang Yan returned two days later, read Fang Xuan’s letter, and realized Fang Xuan had prepared for his own death while trying to protect Reach the Summit.
• Tang Yan announced that he would go to Heaven-Covering Valley, but told Zi Yun and the others to stay behind because they would be at a disadvantage there.
• Tang Yan arranged for Zhu Jingkong and the Spirit Shaman Clan to settle secretly at Reach the Summit, and Zhu Jingkong offered eighty King Rank Martial Artists to carry out missions.
• Tang Yan departed north on the Flowing Cloud Roc to face the Desolate Clan.

Tang Yan and Fang Xuan headed to Heaven-Covering Valley after the Desolate Clan crippled and imprisoned two members of Reach the Summit. Fang Xuan failed to ransom them, while Shen Shan sent Lin Dongxue and Wan Fei to catch up with Tang Yan and urge him to avoid acting rashly.

• Tang Yan traveled north toward Heaven-Covering Valley and cultivated the Five Elements Tyrant Body Art, bringing his sinews and bones close to perfection.
• A guard told Shen Shan that the Desolate Clan had hung Yang Jiayi and Yu Juechen at its mountain gate, and that Tang Yan and Fang Xuan were heading to the valley.
• Shen Shan agreed to send Lin Dongxue and Wan Fei after Tang Yan, and Lin Dongxue asked for blades and a Flowing Cloud Roc so she could fight beside him.
• Fang Xuan found Yang Jiayi and Yu Juechen injured and hanging at the gate, then went to Seventh Elder Huang Xian to ransom them.
• Huang Xian took Fang Xuan's supplies but demanded another hundred thousand jin of Starcloud Sand and ten thousand Green-Tailed Tiger Bones, refusing to release either prisoner.
• Huang Xian ordered his men to drag Fang Xuan out without letting him take either Yang Jiayi or Yu Juechen.

Fang Xuan tried to secure Yang Jiayi and Yu Juechen’s release from Heaven-Covering Valley, but the Desolate Clan refused to let them go without more payment. After Tang Yan arrived, he ordered everyone to force their way in.

• Fang Xuan left Heaven-Covering Valley after failing to give Yang Jiayi and Yu Juechen medicine, and decided to prepare for both a ransom and the Mountain-Moving Plan.
• Lin Dongxue and Shen Shan met Fang Xuan, learned the Desolate Clan had broken its promise, and accompanied him to Heaven-Covering Valley to seek the prisoners’ release.
• Huang Xian rejected Shen Shan’s offer of a Mystic Weapon and refused to release the men until Fang Xuan paid forty billion taels of silver.
• Shen Shan warned Fang Xuan that the Desolate Clan would likely demand more money later, then told him Tang Yan was on his way.
• Tang Yan arrived, heard what had happened to Yang Jiayi and Yu Juechen, and declared that they would force their way into Heaven-Covering Valley.

Tang Yan entered Heaven-Covering Valley without Spirit Power, killed its guards, rescued Yu Juechen and Yang Jiayi, and demanded an explanation from the Desolate Clan. Patriarch Huang Tianzong refused and ordered a volley of arrows to kill him.

• Shen Shan gave Tang Yan two sharp swords, and the group traveled to Heaven-Covering Valley, where Yu Juechen and Yang Jiayi hung wounded at the gate.
• Tang Yan told Lin Dongxue and Shen Shan to wait outside, then entered Heaven-Covering Valley alone and killed seven guards with one sword strike.
• Tang Yan cut down Yu Juechen and Yang Jiayi, gave each a Tendon and Meridian Renewal Pill, and left them with Fang Xuan.
• Tang Yan called for an explanation from Heaven-Covering Valley and confronted Huang Tianzong, recounting the Desolate Clan's mistreatment of Reach the Summit.
• Huang Tianzong rejected Tang Yan's demand, threatened Reach the Summit, and ordered hundreds of archers to fire at him.

Tang Yan attacked the Desolate Clan in Heaven-Covering Valley and slaughtered its warriors with his extraordinary defenses and swordsmanship. He demanded Huang Xian’s life, ninety percent of the clan’s assets, and the Desolate Clan’s obedience to Reach the Summit, then killed Huang Tianzong after the clan chief tried to accept the terms.

• Tang Yan charged through the Desolate Clan’s arrows and killed the archers and warriors who tried to stop him.
• Huang Tianzong sent the Golden-Armored Divine Soldiers against Tang Yan, but Tang Yan redirected their weapons and killed them with his sword.
• Huang Tianzong halted the fighting and offered to return the seized property and give Reach the Summit two hundred Heavenly Chosen Quotas.
• Tang Yan demanded Huang Xian’s life, ninety percent of the Desolate Clan’s assets, and the clan’s obedience to Reach the Summit, threatening to destroy the clan if Huang Tianzong refused.
• Huang Tianzong fought Tang Yan and was forced to accept the second option, but Tang Yan declared him disobedient and killed him.