Chapter Summaries

Luo Kai and Nan Yue discovered a Spirit Stone in a mine, but Xiang Yun of Medicine Valley claimed it and attacked the Star-Gazing Pavilion group. Just as Xiang Yun was about to kill them, Tang Yan intervened and challenged him.

• Luo Kai found a Spirit Stone, and he and Nan Yue prepared to conceal the mine with a formation.
• Xiang Yun arrived with Medicine Valley disciples, claimed the mine, and ordered the Star-Gazing Pavilion group to leave.
• Xiang Yun attacked Luo Kai, and Nan Yue led the Star-Gazing Pavilion disciples into battle.
• Luo Kai trapped Xiang Yun in a golden bell, but Xiang Yun shattered it and defeated Nan Yue, Luo Kai, and their companions.
• Tang Yan appeared between Xiang Yun and the fallen disciples, then attacked Xiang Yun with the Wuxie Sword.

Tang Yan killed Xiang Yun and the Medicine Valley disciples who threatened the Star-Gazing Pavilion, then sold Nan Yue mining pickaxes before leaving for the Five Elements Mine. There, he studied a mural depicting humanity’s oppression by five powerful races and stepped forward to write on the stone wall.

• Tang Yan used a bone-white flame and his Ink Sword to kill Xiang Yun, then cut down the remaining Medicine Valley disciples.
• Tang Yan gave Luo Kai a pill and told him to conceal the mine entrance with a formation, while Nan Yue ordered the Star-Gazing Pavilion to keep the battle secret.
• Tang Yan sold Nan Yue a batch of Mining Pickaxes for twenty percent of the spirit ore and flew away.
• Tang Yan reached the Five Elements Mine, where he examined a mural showing five powerful races preying on humans and marching toward their settlement.
• Tang Yan felt the mural’s pressure and resolved not to retreat, then raised his brush toward the smooth stone wall.

Tang Yan passed the Human Emperor’s trial, entered the Five Elements Mine, and discovered valuable ores containing different elemental qi. He left the other factions to decide whether to accept his costly mining terms, then arranged for the Artifact Pavilion and hundreds of others to enter and pay for access and tools.

• Tang Yan’s words opened the mine entrance, and the Human Emperor praised his benevolence and bravery while the five kings recognized his potential.
• Tang Yan passed through the barrier, mined gold and blue spirit ore, and learned the Five Elements Mine held ores of different attributes.
• Tang Yan offered entry for spirit herbs and half of the mined Spirit Stones, but the crowd initially refused.
• Tang Yan secretly told Gu Xingchen that Young Master Shen was safe and asked him to bring Artifact Pavilion members inside without mining tools.
• Gu Xingchen paid for eighty spots, prompting Feng Hanmo to demand entry for Light Dust Peak; Tang Yan ultimately admitted over three hundred people.
• Inside, Tang Yan persuaded the miners to buy Mining Pickaxes, and Gu Xingchen led the Artifact Pavilion in accepting the added cost.

Feng Chenye tried to enter the Heavenly Arms Mine Cave by writing his name on the wall, but a thunderbolt struck him down as the Human Emperor condemned his writing. Tang Yan reached a mine cave controlled by three sects and began selling his specially made mining pickaxes, ending with Zhu Zhao agreeing to buy them.

• Feng Chenye wrote “Feng Chenye was here!” on the Heavenly Arms Mine Cave wall, and a thunderbolt struck him, leaving him charred and twitching.
• The Dragon Lord and Four Kings recognized the Literary Sage’s aura in Feng Chenye, while the Human Emperor called his writing disgraceful and the kings laughed.
• Tang Yan arrived at a mine cave controlled by the Sword Sect, Fishless Tower, and Poison Sect, where entrants had to surrender thirty percent of their spirit ore.
• Tang Yan secretly made mining pickaxes coated with mìxuán iron and offered them to Zhu Zhao and the other two sect leaders’ disciples for ten seventh-tier spirit herbs each.
• The three threatened to take the pickaxes, but Tang Yan stood his ground; after bargaining, Zhu Zhao demanded three hundred pickaxes, and Tang Yan told them to pay first.

Tang Yan disguised himself to trade the Moonshadow Sword for Ye Liangchen’s battered armor, then wounded Yan Xu and escaped after Medicine Valley recognized him as a wanted target. He returned toward Zhu Zhao’s mine just as Zhu Zhao set out to confront him over the defective pickaxes.

• Tang Yan disguised himself as Zhu Zhao and traded the Moonshadow Sword to Ye Liangchen for the battered armor at the trading point.
• When Yan Xu asked to inspect the sword, Tang Yan slashed his shoulder and vanished; Yan Xu identified him as Medicine Valley’s wanted target and ordered people to watch for clues.
• Yan Xu slapped Ye Liangchen, left him a seventh-tier pill as compensation, and departed with most of Medicine Valley’s people.
• Tang Yan returned to the mining area, where Zhu Zhao and his companions discovered the pickaxes were defective and Zhu Zhao stormed out to find him.
• Tang Yan concealed his aura and followed Zhu Zhao, amused that the pickaxes had been exposed.

Tang Yan entered the Void Spirit Ore mine after confronting a mural depicting humanity’s desperate struggle against foreign races, while Zhu Zhao obtained the Moonshadow Sword from the remnant soul of Moon Shadow. After Tang Yan mined a soul-nourishing ore, the Heaven-Earth Creation Cauldron urged him to release the Nurturing Nether Spirit Flame.

• Tang Yan evaded Zhu Zhao, who left the mining area empty-handed, then secretly arranged for him to discover the Moonshadow Sword and receive it from Moon Shadow.
• Tang Yan studied the Void Spirit Ore mine’s mural and, moved by the Human Clan’s struggle, wrote, “Long, long stretches the road ahead; above and below, I shall search without end!”
• Tang Yan’s inscription opened the mine gate, and the Human Emperor’s statue praised perseverance while the five foreign-race leaders agreed to offer treasures to whoever lured Tang Yan into a deadly trap.
• Tang Yan mined a transparent ore that strengthened his awareness, and the Heaven-Earth Creation Cauldron urged him to let the Nurturing Nether Spirit Flame out.

Tang Yan absorbed a mine’s soul abyss dew, reaching King Rank fifth grade and forming his soul into a lotus with a miniature version of himself at its center. At a Hidden Spirit Ore mine, Feng Chenye tried to open the stone door by writing on its mural and was struck by lightning, while the Human Emperor Stone Statue angrily condemned him from a mysterious hall.

• Tang Yan let Nurturing Nether drain the soul abyss dew mine and absorbed the Heaven-Earth Creation Cauldron’s purified soul power for two days.
• Tang Yan reached King Rank fifth grade and found that his soul had taken lotus form with a miniature version of himself at its center.
• Tang Yan left the depleted mine unseen and traveled to a Hidden Spirit Ore mine, where he studied a mural of the Human Emperor.
• Feng Chenye tried several inscriptions to open the mine door, then wrote, “This is my dad!” about the Human Emperor in the mural.
• Lightning struck Feng Chenye, and the Human Emperor Stone Statue threatened to kill him and restore the Literary Sage’s good name.
• Fengyun Clan members treated Feng Chenye, and one disciple explained that they had experience because Feng Chenye had already been struck by lightning at another mine.

Tang Yan opened the mine, attracted hundreds of cultivators by selling access and mining tools, and learned that the Human Emperor believed his words showed the potential for sainthood. After finding a bounty notice for his assumed identity, Zhu Zhao, Tang Yan offered to reveal its whereabouts and summoned Yan Xu and his men.

• Tang Yan opened the stone door with a line of writing, and Feng Chenye gained new insight into his literary Dao before agreeing to help Tang Yan stage an act.
• The Human Emperor appeared before the five kings and declared Tang Yan a promising future Half-Saint, while the kings challenged his confidence in the Human Clan’s future.
• Tang Yan mined Sea Spirit Stones, then used Feng Chenye as a shill to persuade more than four hundred people to pay herbs for mine access and buy pickaxes.
• Tang Yan headed toward the Heavenly Arms Mine, spotted a bounty notice depicting his Zhu Zhao identity, and told Zheng Mao from Medicine Valley that he knew where to find the fugitive.
• Zheng Mao offered Tang Yan ten eighth-grade pills and a favor from Medicine Valley if the identification proved correct, then sent up a signal flare.
• Yan Xu arrived with an aggressive group of men and asked whether they had found the scoundrel’s whereabouts.

Tang Yan led Yan Xu to Zhu Zhao, whom Yan Xu identified as the cloaked attacker and possessor of the Moonshadow Sword. Yan Xu’s Medicine Valley forces attacked the Sword Sect, leaving Zhu Zhao gravely wounded and in their hands.

• Tang Yan claimed he knew the culprit’s whereabouts and led Yan Xu and the Medicine Valley disciples to Zhu Zhao’s mine in exchange for pills.
• Yan Xu asked to see Zhu Zhao’s sword, then named the Moonshadow Sword; Zhu Zhao’s reaction and sword technique convinced Yan Xu that he was the cloaked attacker.
• Yan Xu challenged Zhu Zhao, and the clash drew Sword Sect disciples and other miners to the scene.
• After Zhu Zhao revealed the Moonshadow Sword, Yan Xu paid Tang Yan and ordered uninvolved parties to leave before launching an attack on the Sword Sect.
• Yan Xu overwhelmed Zhu Zhao, wounded him severely, and ordered his disciples to tie him up for questioning.

Tang Yan rescued Zhu Zhao, found a golden dragon inheritance in the mine, and passed it to Zi Yun, where it entered her body. After three days of mining, Tang Yan demanded the agreed seventy percent of the ore, but a faction leader challenged him over his share.

• Tang Yan used a mysterious force to teleport Zhu Zhao away, and Yan Xu issued a secret-realm-wide warrant for him.
• Tang Yan found and sealed a miniature golden dragon near the Heavenly Soldier Mining Area, then gave it to Zi Yun, where it entered her body on its own.
• The Dragon Lord recognized the golden dragon as his inheritance and praised Zi Yun, while the Ancestral God planned to keep Tang Yan in the secret realm.
• Tang Yan and Zi Yun mined for three days, then Tang Yan told everyone they could leave after handing over seventy percent of their spirit ore.
• A faction led by a handsome young man offered only two thousand pieces of ore, and Tang Yan demanded the agreed amount before the young man accused him of being greedy.

Tang Yan forced the factions in several mines to surrender their spirit ore, then reunited with Reach the Summit and warned them to keep the mines secret. Meanwhile, the Ancestral God sent four inheritance rings into the Secret Realm, intending to exploit the Human Clan's greed and draw Tang Yan into deadly conflict.

• Tang Yan killed the handsome young man and four charging disciples, then made the remaining miners pay the agreed share and an extra penalty for joining the uproar.
• Tang Yan exposed his identity to Reach the Summit, warned them to conceal their mine ownership, and left to handle another matter.
• Tang Yan claimed ore from three more mines and gave Feng Chenye three lines of poetry before rejoining Reach the Summit.
• The Ancestral God released four inheritance rings into the Secret Realm and explained that he meant to spark a struggle that would distract the Human Clan and endanger Tang Yan.

Tang Yan intercepted the Ancestral God's legacy, absorbed its power, and gained a new secret art before encountering a sinister blood river in the Secret Realm. As Trial participants entered the river to test their hearts, the Blood God revealed that it was a trap intended to kill Tang Yan.

• Tang Yan captured the four rings containing part of the Ancestral God's legacy, absorbed its Dao Resonance, and advanced to seventh-grade King Rank while learning the Spirit-Seizing Art.
• The Blood God sent a blood-colored orb into the Secret Realm, creating a blood river and drawing Tang Yan and other Trial participants toward it.
• Tang Yan recognized the river's baleful aura and the Otherworld Flower, while participants who tried crossing the river faced inner demons and gained insight according to how far they advanced.
• Zi Yun led her group into the blood river, but she failed after only a few steps.
• The Blood God explained that the river concealed a deathtrap for Tang Yan, and the Dragon Lord withdrew from the dispute after Zi Yun's failure.

Lin Dongxue faced a heart test and then risked her life to save Tang Yan from a tentacle in the blood river. After unleashing a powerful sword strike, she was gravely injured and confessed her long-held feelings as Tang Yan rushed to her side.

• Lin Dongxue rejected Shen Shan’s proposal that she marry Xiang Yun, affirming her faith in Tang Yan, and passed the test of the heart.
• A tentacle seized Tang Yan in the blood river and sealed his Dantian, while Lin Dongxue fought to hold him back and cut him free.
• The tentacle revealed itself as an attack involving Chu Third Elder, whose appearance brought back Lin Dongxue’s memories of his past ambush against her.
• Tang Yan tried to reach Lin Dongxue with an iron chain and used Spirit-Seizing Art, but a mysterious force stopped the chain.
• Lin Dongxue severed the tentacle with her Dao Resonance sword strike, then suffered a devastating blow and confessed her feelings to Tang Yan before telling him to live on.

Lin Dongxue comprehended the Sentimental Dao, crossed the Blood River, and obtained the Otherworld Flower while Tang Yan absorbed the tentacle’s Spirit Power. As Tang Yan searched for his companions, Reach the Summit found the wounded Zhu Zhao, leaving him cornered by his old enemy.

• Lin Dongxue awakened from the Blood River illusion, comprehended the Sentimental Dao, severed the tentacle, and claimed the Otherworld Flower.
• Yan Xu announced Medicine Valley’s bounty for Zhu Zhao, and Tang Yan left to search for Reach the Summit while the Five Kings and the Human Emperor worried about his power.
• Tang Yan reached ninth grade of King Rank after cultivating and found the Reach the Summit group in a secluded mountain forest on the third day.
• Zi Yun explained that the group was searching for Zhu Zhao, and Lin Dongxue exposed him when his coughing revealed his hiding place inside a boulder.
• Zhu Zhao recalled how he had been hiding from pursuers and accidentally revealed himself after hearing Zi Yun call him a rat in disguise.

Tang Yan spared the injured Zhu Zhao and gave him pills and a sword, earning the Sword Sect disciple’s gratitude while explaining his strategic reasons to the group. Meanwhile, the Gu God sent a Soul-Thought Gu into the Secret Realm to tempt and transform Tang Yan, despite the risks to the Gu Race.

• Tang Yan refused Zi Yun’s suggestion to capture Zhu Zhao and instead gave him healing and cultivation pills and a sword before leaving with Reach the Summit.
• Zhu Zhao used Tang Yan’s pills to recover from his injuries and restore his Dantian, then vowed to repay Tang Yan’s favor.
• Tang Yan explained that saving Zhu Zhao could earn the Sword Sect’s favor and help Reach the Summit’s future rivalry with Medicine Valley.
• Lin Dongxue said the Otherworld Flower had clarified her Dao, multiplied her sword’s destructive power, and raised her cultivation to the fifth grade of Xiantian; Zi Yun concealed what she had seen in the Blood River illusion.
• The Gu God revealed the plan to hide a Soul-Thought Gu among opportunities in the Secret Realm and use it to influence Tang Yan, while the Human Emperor warned that failure could ruin the Gu Race.
• The Gu God condensed his power into green starlight and sent it flying from the Mysterious Hall toward the Secret Realm.

Tang Yan absorbed a green mote that granted him the Soul-Thought Gu Art, but the Heaven-Earth Creation Cauldron destroyed a hidden gu that would have enslaved him. As the Secret Realm neared its close, he studied Dao-Contemplation Cliff’s mural, unaware whether he could unlock its opportunity.

• Tang Yan and Reach the Summit entered the valley, where participants caught green motes that gave them cultivation insights.
• Tang Yan absorbed a mote, and the Heaven-Earth Creation Cauldron forced out and destroyed a hidden insect-shaped gu before the mote granted him the Soul-Thought Gu Art.
• Tang Yan realized the hidden gu might have enslaved him and wondered whether other Reach the Summit members had been affected.
• The Secret Realm shook, and Tang Yan’s group reached Dao-Contemplation Cliff, where a mural marked the realm’s approaching closure.
• Tang Yan recognized the Human Emperor and other figures in the mural, then stood before it to investigate its apparent opportunity.
• A voice behind Tang Yan greeted him as a good brother.

Tang Yan and Feng Chenye discovered that the mural at Dao-Contemplation Cliff hid a battlefield of the Nine Sages, which Tang Yan revealed by declaring his resolve to uphold their legacy. In the Mysterious Hall, the Human Emperor celebrated the opening, while the Nine-Tailed Fox warned that Tang Yan was afflicted with the Soul-Thought Gu.

• Feng Chenye told Tang Yan that a bloodied figure holding up a rock had frightened him in the Secret Realm, and Tang Yan suspected the figure was the injured Zhu Zhao.
• Feng Chenye identified the mural’s figures as the Human Clan’s Nine Sages and recounted how they and the Eighteen Venerables had fought to protect humanity.
• Inspired by the sages’ legacy, Tang Yan felt a growing sense of responsibility as Feng Chenye vowed to follow in their footsteps.
• A phantom of the Literary Sage appeared and asked Feng Chenye how one became a sage, but Feng Chenye pointed to Tang Yan instead of answering.
• Tang Yan declared that he would uphold the sages’ aspirations, causing the mural to blaze and the cliff face to open onto a battlefield filled with the Nine Sages’ battle traces.
• In the Mysterious Hall, the Human Emperor celebrated the opened door, while the Nine-Tailed Fox noted that Tang Yan had the Soul-Thought Gu.

At Dao-Contemplation Cliff, Feng Chenye composed a poem honoring the Sages and advanced from heaven tier to king rank, while Tang Yan discovered that a Sage must hold all living beings and the world in his heart. Tang Yan then swung the Wuxie Sword, but the crowd mocked him when the strike showed no visible effect.

• Gu Xingchen and several other cultivators gained insights from the Sages' attack marks, while Zi Yun struggled against her fear.
• After three days of contemplation, Feng Chenye recited a poem expressing his resolve to fight for the Human Clan, and Literary energy raised his cultivation from heaven tier to king rank.
• Nan Yue doubted Tang Yan's abilities and thought about the blue-robed scholar who had saved her near the mine.
• Tang Yan realized that a Sage had to keep all living beings and the world in his heart, then swung the Wuxie Sword at the foreign races on the battlefield.
• When Tang Yan's sword strike produced no visible effect, the crowd laughed and mocked him.

Tang Yan named his sword strike All Living Beings, and Nan Yue realized that he was the scholar in blue who had helped her group. After the Secret Realm closed, Zhu Zhao escaped and Medicine Valley discovered Xiang Yun was missing; Nan Yue thanked Tang Yan and invited him to choose a bride from the Star-Gazing Pavilion.

• Tang Yan named his sword strike All Living Beings after sensing the will of the Human Clan within it.
• Nan Yue recognized Tang Yan as the scholar in blue, while Luo Kai mistakenly criticized his display.
• The Secret Realm closed, and the participants emerged at Heaven-Covering Valley to collect their flying mounts.
• Zhu Zhao revealed himself, accused Medicine Valley of attacking the Sword Sect, and escaped before Yan Xu could stop him.
• Yan Xu discovered Xiang Yun was missing and offered rewards for Zhu Zhao's capture, while Feng Chenye complained that Zhu Zhao had scared him in disguise.
• Nan Yue paid Tang Yan for their transaction and invited him to visit the Star-Gazing Pavilion to choose a bride.

Tang Yan left the secret realm with major gains and set plans for Reach the Summit’s growth. In Yi City, Du Shu visited the struggling Yang Pill Sect and offered to buy its pills in bulk, beginning a proposed partnership.

• Nan Yue and the other visitors said goodbye to Tang Yan, and Shen He accepted ores and a weapon-forging order from him.
• Tang Yan reviewed Reach the Summit’s gains, including new divine abilities, mine resources, and a stronger soul, then began cultivating the Five Elements Tyrant Body Art.
• In Yi City, Tian Zhicheng worried that Reach the Summit’s pill shop and Good Fortune Machine had crippled the Yang Pill Sect’s business.
• Du Shu visited Tian Zhicheng, dismissed his assumptions about a takeover, and offered to purchase the Yang Pill Sect’s pills in large quantities on a long-term basis.