Chapter Summaries

Chu Xingchen recognized Xu Linglong as a powerful Heavenly Demon and held back while waiting for the encirclement to form. As Xu Linglong’s power rose toward Mahayana, Yuyang Daozi arrived armed with an overwhelming array of treasures, and the confrontation continued.

• Chu Xingchen inspected Xu Linglong’s traits and suspected she was one of the Eight Great Heavenly Demons, potentially capable of reaching Tribulation Transcendence.
• Chu Xingchen chose not to summon Bai Xuanling and instead tried to keep Xu Linglong occupied until the reinforcements completed their formation.
• Xu Linglong used Eightfold Circulation to cross the space and slash at Chu Xingchen, but Myriad Forms blocked her attack and sent her flying.
• Xu Linglong recognized Chu Xingchen and questioned him about Li Xingtian, while her aura surged toward Mahayana cultivation.
• Yuyang Daozi entered the unstable Secret Realm carrying numerous Spirit Treasures and declared that Xu Linglong should beg for mercy.

Xu Linglong, Chu Xingchen, and Yuyang Daozi clashed as Chu and Yuyang combined their techniques against Xu Linglong’s strange black currents. Their attacks collapsed the space around them and devastated the mountain, but all three remained standing as layers of formations appeared, beginning a new stage of the fight.

• Xu Linglong attacked Chu Xingchen with Moon-Swapping Shadow-Shifting, while Yuyang Daozi struck at her with Nine Heavens Thunder.
• Xu Linglong resisted Yuyang Daozi’s lightning and tried to ensnare Chu Xingchen with an illusion, but Chu Xingchen caught her in an illusion of his own.
• Chu Xingchen unleashed The Highest Good Is Like Water as Yuyang Daozi used No Restrictions to strengthen his attack.
• Xu Linglong transformed her sword into a black bow and fired a strange black light to meet Chu Xingchen’s azure sword strike, collapsing the surrounding space and turning the mountain into a crater.
• Chu Xingchen and Xu Linglong traded taunts as countless formations formed around the three fighters.

Chu Xingchen and Yuyang Daozi led a grand formation and a coordinated sword assault against Xu Linglong, who endured their attacks before revealing a strange bow technique that wounded one of the cultivators. Chu Xingchen intervened to save the man and entered the battle himself while reinforcements were on their way.

• Xu Linglong discovered that the formation limited her divine sense and that Jiaxiang Town had been moved away before the siege.
• Chu Xingchen struck Xu Linglong with Myriad Forms, and the formation’s cultivators followed with a coordinated Sword Formation.
• Chu Xingchen asked Yuyang Daozi to summon reinforcements, and Yuyang Daozi activated a Jade Slip to call everyone he could.
• Xu Linglong advanced through the sword attacks, fired black arrows, and used a silent bowshot to wound a sword cultivator when his emotions clouded his judgment.
• Chu Xingchen blocked the wounded cultivator’s next attack, gave him a healing pill, and then charged Xu Linglong as Yuyang Daozi continued attacking.

Chu Xingchen’s allies joined the battle against Xu Linglong, steadily breaking through her defenses until she revealed that she had called for help too. The Star-Luo Grand Formation shattered, and a frail man emerged amid the black currents as Xu Linglong prepared to turn the fight around.

• Li Yingling reassured Chen Baiqing that Chu Xingchen could flee if he could not win, while Bai Xuanling arrived and explained that she had vouched for the Great Dao Sect’s passage through Haotian Sect territory.
• More than a dozen Great Dao Sect cultivators arrived, and their Disciplinary Elder joined the battle with a powerful formation.
• Chu Xingchen stopped holding back and struck Xu Linglong with Myriad Forms, while the surrounding fighters further damaged her black-current defenses.
• The Star-Luo Grand Formation suddenly shattered, and black currents surged from the ground around Xu Linglong.
• A frail man rose from the ground, and Xu Linglong taunted Chu Xingchen for thinking he was the only one who could call for help.

Xu Linglong and Baibo attacked Chu Xingchen, but he survived their assault with help from Yuyang Daozi and the Disciplinary Elder. Bai Xuanling intervened with overwhelming sword intent, and Chu Xingchen discovered that Bai Xuanling had reached the peak of Tribulation Transcendence.

• Xu Linglong ordered Baibo to kill Chu Xingchen and fired Heaven-Shattering while Baibo rushed at him.
• Yuyang Daozi shielded Chu Xingchen with several Divine Arts, and the Disciplinary Elder charged Baibo despite his black flames.
• Chu Xingchen met Baibo's punch with Surging Current... Myriad Seas, while Xu Linglong fired a hidden arrow toward him.
• Bai Xuanling cut off Xu Linglong's right hand, destroyed the surrounding formations with his sword intent, and intercepted the hidden arrow.
• Chu Xingchen survived the clash with Baibo and saw through the system that Bai Xuanling had reached Tribulation Transcendence Peak.

Bai Xuanling fought Baibo and Xu Linglong, wielding her killing intent without surrendering to her inner demon. After unleashing a devastating final strike, she remained standing as Chu Xingchen approached, but admitted she was just old.

• Baibo revealed his true demonic form and tried to use Bai Xuanling's anger and inner demon against her.
• Bai Xuanling accepted her killing intent and attacked Baibo, overwhelming him with her swordsmanship.
• Xu Linglong urged Baibo to escape, and he and Bai Xuanling exchanged blows as the demons prepared to use Demon Flash.
• Bai Xuanling unleashed her Finality strike, blasting the surrounding area and causing Baibo and Xu Linglong to vanish.
• Chu Xingchen approached Bai Xuanling and told her he was not afraid after she had drawn her sword for him.
• Bai Xuanling reassured Chu Xingchen that she was fine, then said she was just old.

Chu Xingchen asked Bai Xuanling about her worsening condition, and she explained that flourishing killing intent and a severed path to ascension had led her to suppress her cultivation. He tried to recruit her as his disciple in hopes of helping her, but his demands angered her and she punched him into the stream.

• Chu Xingchen took Bai Xuanling away from Jiaxiang Town while Li Yingling and Chen Baiqing handled the remaining affairs.
• Chu Xingchen confronted Bai Xuanling about her killing intent and sudden rise to Tribulation Transcendence peak.
• Bai Xuanling explained that she had suppressed her cultivation because the world's path to ascension was severed and doing so eased the obstruction in her heart.
• Chu Xingchen suggested Bai Xuanling become his disciple, but the system gave no notification when she called him Master.
• Chu Xingchen asked Bai Xuanling to perform a disciple initiation ceremony, and she punched him into the stream and ordered him to call her Grandmaster.

Chu Xingchen and Bai Xuanling discussed where to go after the Heavenly Demons’ ambush, while Chu Xingchen took the demon woman’s severed arm for an unexplained purpose. Meanwhile, the wounded Xu Linglong and Baibo suspected a traitor had exposed their headquarters and set out to investigate a surviving branch in Dongsheng Shenzhou.

• Bai Xuanling told Chu Xingchen that the Heavenly Demons would need centuries to recover and warned him not to return to Ten Thousand Flowers Ridge because his disciples could be targeted.
• Chu Xingchen joked about receiving spirit stones, living on Heavenly Derivation Peak, and making Yan Yun his maid, and Bai Xuanling rebuffed him.
• Chu Xingchen packed away his disciples and left Yuyang Daozi behind to help clean up, taking the severed arm of the demon woman for a purpose he did not explain.
• Xu Linglong and Baibo struggled to regenerate from Bai Xuanling’s sword strike while Xu Linglong accused the Buddhist Sect of betraying their headquarters.
• Xu Linglong decided to investigate a surviving branch in Dongsheng Shenzhou, and Baibo agreed to go with her.

Chu Xingchen and his disciples arrived at the Heavenly Derivation Sect, where Sandong marveled at the sect and was promoted to Sect-Guardian Mascot. Yan Yun welcomed the group and arranged a separate peak for their longer stay, while Sandong asked whether it would have room for Spirit Plants and spirit trees.

• Sandong admired the Heavenly Derivation Sect’s scenery and spiritual energy as Chu Xingchen’s group traveled to the Main Peak.
• Cui Hao proposed promoting Sandong to Sect-Guardian Mascot, and Chu Xingchen approved the promotion and gave Sandong Essence of the Moon.
• Li Yingling asked about collecting her stipend, but Chu Xingchen told her she had to repay her debt first; he said Sandong would collect its Essence of the Moon from Cui Hao.
• Yan Yun welcomed Chu Xingchen’s group and explained that Sect Leader Lü was busy, so she would receive them.
• Yan Yun told Xie Lingyu that the Heavenly Derivation Sect had prepared a separate peak for their longer stay, and Sandong asked whether it had space for Spirit Plants and spirit trees.

Yan Yun escorted Chu Xingchen and his companions to a peak prepared for them, where Chu Xingchen decided to rename it A Loving Family. As everyone settled in, Sandong began asking about adding an open-roof room and digging a pond, leaving Yan Yun wary of her.

• Yan Yun explained that the Heavenly Derivation Sect would evaluate Sandong's requested spirit plants and showed the group the fortified peak prepared for them.
• Chu Xingchen received the jade slips needed to pass through the peak's formation, then learned that Sect Leader Lü had written the plaque Utmost Clarity.
• Chu Xingchen asked Yan Yun to have Sect Leader Lü replace the plaque with A Loving Family and rename the peak; Sandong and Xie Lingyu approved, so Yan Yun agreed to ask her master.
• Li Yingling and the others chose rooms, while Sandong asked Yan Yun about rooms with opening roofs and suggested that Chu Xingchen's second senior brother could dig a pond.

Winter Melon and the Pig Demon endured Wukong’s relentless efforts to force them into action, despite knowing little about their situation. After Wukong beat Winter Melon into a tree, she admitted there was something to discuss, and he summoned the Pig Demon to join her.

• Winter Melon reflected on being stranded in Dongsheng Shenzhou and described how Wukong repeatedly beat and healed her and the Pig Demon while demanding they make plans.
• Wukong asked Winter Melon what they intended to do, but she insisted the Pig Demon was in charge and said they could follow Wukong’s ideas.
• Wukong explained that his task was to help them discover what to do, not to command them, and Winter Melon angrily challenged him.
• Wukong struck Winter Melon with Golden Light and embedded her in a tree, then accused her of wasting the opportunity given to her.
• Winter Melon promised to discuss a plan with the Pig Demon, so Wukong pulled her from the tree and called the Pig Demon over.

Wukong tried to force Winter Melon and Pig Mask to reveal information about their demonic network, but Xu Linglong arrived and killed Pig Mask despite Wukong’s orders to keep both demons alive. With his mission compromised, Xu Linglong asked Wukong to tell her what it was.

• Wukong questioned Winter Melon about the demons’ plans, then beat her and Pig Mask when she gave evasive answers.
• Xu Linglong arrived, and Winter Melon and Pig Mask knelt before her as their Heavenly Demon.
• Xu Linglong attacked Pig Mask with her black blade, but Wukong deflected the strike with his golden melon hammer.
• Xu Linglong spoke with Wukong, then suddenly cut off Pig Mask’s head while Wukong was answering her.
• Xu Linglong told Wukong that his mission had failed and asked him to reveal it.

Wukong faced Xu Linglong’s suspicion while posing as a Buddhist agent sent to investigate the destruction of Dongsheng Shenzhou. Xu Linglong accepted his identity and assigned Winter Melon to assist him, but Wukong revealed afterward that he could speak the Demon Language and began planning how to uncover the traitor.

• Wukong told Xu Linglong that he had been sent to protect the survivors and find the insider behind Dongsheng Shenzhou’s destruction, while Winter Melon confirmed they had learned nothing.
• Xu Linglong and Winter Melon questioned whether Wukong was truly one of their kind, but he refused to demonstrate his identity and claimed the Exalted One’s restriction prevented him.
• Xu Linglong demanded that Wukong kneel; he explained that he could not while wearing his Buddhist guise, and then gave her a vague account of the Buddhist Sect’s troubles.
• Xu Linglong accepted Wukong’s identity and ordered Winter Melon to serve as his deputy in investigating Dongsheng Shenzhou.
• After Xu Linglong left, Wukong spoke to Winter Melon in the Demon Language, then told her to burn Pig Mask’s body without leaving a trace.

Xu Linglong and Baibo weighed what the Buddhist Child’s actions meant for their investigation and feared their plan might have to begin early. At the Heavenly Derivation Sect, Green Snake broke through to Golden Core, received the Hidden Dragon Sword, and revealed that his name was Yun Li.

• Xu Linglong explained that the Buddhist Child’s behavior could indicate either a problem within the Buddhist Sect or that he belonged to their side, and outlined how they would judge who pursued them.
• Xu Linglong and Baibo considered whether their operations had left a trail or Chu Xingchen had a way to identify them, while fearing they might have to bring their plan forward.
• Chu Xingchen discussed Cui Hao and Green Snake’s impending breakthroughs with Chen Baiqing and worried that Cui Hao would not have a suitable signature weapon.
• The system announced that Green Snake had broken through to Golden Core and delivered the Hidden Dragon Sword to System Space.
• Green Snake emerged from seclusion as a young man, congratulated Chu Xingchen, and revealed that his name was Yun Li.

Li Yingling and Li Xingtian stopped their sparring to check on a breakthrough, where they found Yun Li had reached Golden Core and waited with Chu Xingchen for Cui Hao. Cui Hao emerged after Yun Li, but refused to believe the transformed snake had surpassed him, leaving him stunned when everyone confirmed it was true.

• Li Yingling and Li Xingtian paused their sparring after sensing a breakthrough near the seclusion quarters.
• Li Yingling discovered Yun Li had taken human form at the Golden Core stage and learned his new name.
• Li Yingling, Li Xingtian, Chu Xingchen, and the others waited together while Cui Hao continued his breakthrough.
• Cui Hao emerged with a Golden Core and boasted that the breakthrough had been easy.
• Yun Li revealed himself as Green Snake, but Cui Hao dismissed the truth and insisted Master was trying to fool him.
• Chu Xingchen gave Li Yingling permission to take revenge on Cui Hao, who finally asked if they were telling the truth.

Xie Lingyu worried that Bai Xuanling was pushing herself too far, but Bai conceded their Go game and left without changing her plans. Qinghe invited Xie Lingyu to celebrate Cui Hao and the snake’s successful breakthrough, while Bai later apologized to Lü Xuan, who accepted her apology.

• Xie Lingyu told Bai Xuanling she knew about her dangerous work and did not want to lose her, but Bai warned that Chu Xingchen might also go too far.
• Bai Xuanling conceded their Go game, and Xie Lingyu told her she had inherited her stubbornness from her master and wished to hear her call her Lingyu again.
• Qinghe told Xie Lingyu that Cui Hao and the snake had broken through and invited her to the celebration feast.
• Bai Xuanling arrived at Heavenly Derivation Peak, where Yan Yun warned her that Lü Xuan was angry.
• Bai Xuanling apologized to Lü Xuan, who sighed and accepted that he had become Sect Leader.

Lü Xuan resealed Bai Xuanling’s cultivation despite her anger, then Chu Xingchen confronted him to learn how she was doing. The chapter ended with Chu Xingchen flipping a coin and challenging Lü Xuan to let fate decide whether he would answer.

• Lü Xuan scolded Bai Xuanling for breaking her seal and warned that resealing her would be more painful as her killing intent threatened her Divine Sense.
• Lü Xuan, Yan Yun, and two Tribulation Transcendence Grand Elders used a Dream-Shattering Spirit Barrier Talisman to seal Bai Xuanling’s cultivation again.
• The Grand Elders teased Lü Xuan about rumors that Bai Xuanling fed him Perfect Tonic Pills, and Lü Xuan hurried away while insisting they were false.
• Chu Xingchen met Lü Xuan in the main hall and asked how Bai Xuanling was doing, knowing she had begun sealing her cultivation.
• Chu Xingchen proposed a coin toss to decide whether Lü Xuan would tell him, then flipped the coin while silently declaring himself heaven’s will.

Lü Xuan showed Chu Xingchen an illusion of the Heavenly Derivation Sect’s past and explained how Bai Xuanling’s losses drove her to embrace hatred and become a powerful but changed person. He left Chu Xingchen with the truth that her strength had come at the price of losing herself.

• Chu Xingchen held the silver coin while Lü Xuan told him that Bai Xuanling’s present nature was a choice she had made when she was still at Mahayana.
• Lü Xuan used an illusion to show Chu Xingchen the Heavenly Derivation Sect’s ruins and recount the conflicts surrounding the struggle for spirit veins.
• Lü Xuan explained that demons had infiltrated sects, and one betrayal had brought the Heavenly Derivation Sect close to destruction.
• Lü Xuan revealed that Bai Xuanling’s younger sister, master, friends, and peers died in the battle, leaving her to turn her grief and hatred into a blade against demons and their allies.
• Lü Xuan showed two aspects of Bai Xuanling merging and explained that she embraced wrath to ascend to Tribulation Transcendence, gaining strength but losing the ability to be herself.

Lü Xuan told Chu Xingchen that Bai Xuanling’s killing intent was bound to her cultivation and that the Heavenly Derivation Sect had found no reliable solution. As Chu Xingchen considered helping her, Winter Melon admitted that his leads implicated powerful people and sects, and that investigating them might mean death.

• Lü Xuan explained that suppressing Bai Xuanling’s cultivation could curb her killing intent, but sealing it was the only desperate measure the sect had found.
• Lü Xuan offered Chu Xingchen access to materials and information about Bai Xuanling, then left to handle urgent sect affairs.
• Chu Xingchen invited Yan Yun to a gathering at A Loving Family Peak, but she did not answer before he left.
• Wukong challenged Winter Melon about his aimless-looking investigations and asked whether he had any leads.
• Winter Melon said the surviving people involved included Cui Hao, Chu Xingchen, Yuyang Daozi, the Heavenly Derivation Sect, and the Profound Clarity Heavenly Sect, and warned that investigating them could get them killed.

Chu Xingchen and the others gathered at A Loving Family Peak for a new game hosted by Li Yingling, and Yan Yun and Xie Lingyu joined the players. As the game was about to begin, Chu Xingchen watched Heavenly Derivation Peak instead of the game.

• Qinghe followed Li Yingling to Ning Qianqian's food stall, where Ning Qianqian handed her a meat skewer.
• Chu Xingchen welcomed Yan Yun and persuaded her to join the game with Xie Lingyu.
• Li Yingling called Yan Yun and Xie Lingyu over to take places in the game.
• Qinghe declared that she and Xie Lingyu would team up against Yan Yun.
• Chu Xingchen pulled Li Xingtian close and watched Heavenly Derivation Peak as the game began.