Chapter Summaries

Ren Ye's team traveled to Gutan City to seek Ming Quan and Brother Hong's companions, while Brother Song Yi joined them as their guide. They learned that the group had scattered and a young man had recently left the inn, and Ren Ye stayed to wait for them before spotting a familiar acquaintance.

• Dragon Head and Ren Ye decided to leave the Fortune Tea House and travel to Gutan City without waiting for Brother Liu and the others.
• Apu brought the awakened Brother Song Yi to dinner, where the black dog ate from golden bowls and introduced himself to the other diners.
• Ren Ye's team used a Star Gate to reach Gutan City, and Brother Song Yi sensed that the Gutan Sect's Secret Realm had opened.
• At the Welcome Guests inn, the proprietor told Ren Ye that Ming Quan's group had split up and that their last remaining young man had left two days earlier.
• Ren Ye decided that the team would wait at the inn for Ming Quan's companions and for Yin Tiger and Xiao Shuai, then heard a familiar voice and turned to see an acquaintance enter.

Ren Ye and Tang Feng reunited with Gu Nian in Gutan City, where she told them about Xu Qingyan’s unusual lessons at Qinghe Academy and the magical brush that barred higher-rank visitors. Intrigued, Ren Ye decided to visit the academy, while outside the city someone learned that the Myriad Phenomena Sect had monopolized entry passes to the Gutan Sect’s Secret Realm.

• Ren Ye and Tang Feng greeted Gu Nian at an inn and caught up over tea.
• Gu Nian explained that her team had attended lessons at Qinghe Academy, where Xu Qingyan taught Supernatural Ability Users and offered personal guidance.
• Gu Nian described the Dragon Gate and its powerful brush, which had prevented nearly all Third Grade and higher visitors from reaching Xu Qingyan.
• Ren Ye said he wanted to visit Qinghe Academy after hearing about Xu Qingyan and the Dragon Gate.
• Outside Gutan City, a young man asked about entry passes to the Gutan Sect’s Secret Realm and was told the Myriad Phenomena Sect had monopolized them.

Ren Ye visited Qinghe Academy and watched Supernatural Ability Users fail the Dragon Gate test. Tang Feng entered the passage and endured its haoran qi without using his Mystical Ability, then stripped away his desires and fears as the test continued.

• Ren Ye stayed in Gutan City because Brother Hong's teammates had not returned, then went to Qinghe Academy with Ai Fei and Tang Feng.
• Ren Ye and his companions found a crowd betting on challengers at the academy's Dragon Gate, where a brush's haoran qi repeatedly blasted people from the passage.
• Tang Feng entered the Dragon Gate passage without channeling Star Source Power, and the brush's phantom struck his forehead.
• Tang Feng endured the haoran qi with his body as blood spilled from his mouth, while Ren Ye watched without intervening.
• Tang Feng confronted his terror by declaring that he feared no illusion and snapped his fingers seven times, stripping away his pride, jealousy, wrath, sloth, greed, gluttony, and lust.

Ren Ye entered Qinghe Academy’s Dragon Gate trial after Tang Feng and Ai Fei gained enlightenment beneath its brush. He passed the trial by lifting the brush with his Human Emperor Destiny, then met Mr. Xu in the Inner Courtyard, where Mr. Xu confronted him for touching it.

• Tang Feng and Ai Fei entered meditation beneath the Dragon Gate brush, and Ren Ye followed them into the corridor.
• Ren Ye gathered haoran qi and entered meditation in a single breath, surprising the onlookers.
• In the Mountain and River Pavilion, Ren Ye found he could not lift the brush until he manifested the Human Emperor and used Purple Fortune to raise it.
• Ren Ye hesitated to write with the brush, heard a faint voice, and returned to the corridor before passing through the Dragon Gate into the Inner Courtyard.
• Ren Ye met Mr. Xu, who asked why he had touched the brush, and Ren Ye protested that Mr. Xu had started by showing off.

Ren Ye visited Xu Qingyan seeking guidance, but Xu Qingyan demanded three hundred thousand Star Source for a lesson, which Ren Ye paid before rushing back to the Inn. Xu Qingyan and his wife privately discussed Ren Ye’s destiny and whether he was the person Xu Qingyan had been waiting for.

• Ren Ye questioned Xu Qingyan about the Mountains and Rivers Brush and asked him for instruction.
• Xu Qingyan demanded three hundred thousand Star Source for a lesson, and Ren Ye paid, agreeing to return in three days.
• After Ren Ye left, Xu Qingyan’s wife said she had sensed that Ren Ye was blessed with destiny, and they discussed whether to charge him more later.
• Xu Qingyan’s wife asked whether Ren Ye was the person Xu Qingyan had been waiting for, and Xu Qingyan smiled without answering.
• Ren Ye learned from Dragon Head that Brother Hong’s teammate had returned to the Inn and hurried back with Tang Feng and Ai Fei, while Old Wu protested that Ren Ye had promised them spicy hot pot.

Ren Ye learned that Ming Quan and his teammates were trapped in the Gutan Sect Secret Realm, whose strange rules allowed the Myriad Phenomena Sect to monopolize entry passes. After Brother Dog recommended entering for its rewards, Ren Ye decided the team would seek the sect and negotiate for Route Passes.

• Ren Ye told Ning Bo that Brother Hong had died and promised to deliver Hong’s Gold Digger treasure chest to Ming Quan.
• Ning Bo explained that Ming Quan and five others had entered the Gutan Sect Secret Realm, where casualties were heavy and the Myriad Phenomena Sect controlled the newly appearing Route Passes.
• Ning Bo reported rumors that Myriad Phenomena Sect members could leave the Secret Realm, while ordinary entrants could not.
• Ren Ye told his team he wanted to enter the Secret Realm to find Ming Quan and help his teammates, and the others agreed to go.
• Brother Dog sensed generous Dao Comprehension Source rewards and a special Key inside the Secret Realm, then urged the group to enter.
• Ren Ye decided the team would first seek out the Myriad Phenomena Sect and negotiate for Route Passes.

Ren Ye and his companions went to the Myriad Phenomena Sect seeking Route Passes to find their missing friends in the Gutan Sect’s secret realm. Director Liu agreed to sell them six passes, but Ren Ye discovered him changing out of his formal robes in the privy, and powerful figures rushed toward them as the chapter ended.

• Ren Ye’s group reached the Myriad Phenomena Sect and asked the guest reception disciple for Route Passes, but he mocked them and raised his price from one million to two million Star Source per pass.
• Dragon Head threatened the guest reception disciple and repelled a Daoist boy’s attack with a golden thread, prompting Director Liu to summon the group into the Main Hall.
• Director Liu warned Ren Ye that the sect was determined to claim an object inside the secret realm, then offered passes for two hundred thousand Star Source each after Ning Bo said he sought his missing friend Ming Quan.
• Ning Bo paid 1.2 million Star Source for six Route Passes, and Director Liu left to fetch them while Ren Ye followed him toward the privy.
• Ren Ye found Director Liu naked and changing into an ordinary Craneless Daoist Robe, while a priest elsewhere recognized another man claiming to be Director Liu and called for his sword.
• Director Liu tried to usher Ren Ye out of the privy, but Ren Ye confronted him as powerful auras and pounding footsteps approached.

Ren Ye and his companions exposed a fake Myriad Phenomena Sect director and fought their way out before pursuing him through Gutan City. They identified the disguised swindler as a beggar in an alley, where Tang Feng began interrogating him with a bizarre question.

• Ren Ye discovered the fake director changing clothes in a latrine, and the man admitted he had swindled Ren Ye while urging him to escape with the stolen Route Passes.
• Sanhe Taoist Priest and Myriad Phenomena Sect disciples attacked the fake director and Ren Ye, while the fake director broke through the sect's Grand Formation and fled.
• Dragon Head, Apu, and Tang Feng helped Ren Ye fend off the sect's attackers, and the group escaped using Ground-Shrinking Talismans.
• Ren Ye and his companions tracked the fake director to a filthy alley, where a beggar pointed them in the wrong direction.
• Ghost Child recognized the beggar's yin-object aura as belonging to the fake director, and Ren Ye signaled the others to stop him.
• Tang Feng confronted the disguised swindler and slapped him, demanding to know how many hairs the man in white trousers had.

Ren Ye and his companions forced Daoist Chu to surrender six Route Passes and thirty talismans, then learned that the Myriad Phenomena Sect was hunting them. Ren Ye planned to enter the Gutan Sect Secret Realm the next day and went out alone to outwit the sect, while Lord Man identified an unknown variable in Gutan City.

• Tang Feng and the others cornered Daoist Chu, who dropped his disguise and threatened to fight them.
• Ren Ye pressured Daoist Chu into handing over six Route Passes and thirty Ghost Formation Talismans, and gave him a brochure to disguise the trade as a purchase.
• Daoist Chu left Gutan City, while Ren Ye's group learned that the Myriad Phenomena Sect was hunting them and planned to enter the secret realm the following day.
• Ren Ye left the inn alone that night to deal with the Myriad Phenomena Sect, while Apu made concealed weapons and Ai Fei examined the Nether Mountain Ghost Child.
• Lord Man heard that events in Gutan City were going smoothly but warned that one variable remained, then learned that Xiao Yu would return that night.

Ren Ye and his companions entered the Gutan Sect Star Gate to rescue the captured sect members, only to discover a faction-war mission and encounter hostile Taoists. Meanwhile, a Gutan Sect priest reported their arrival to a handsome senior brother.

• Ren Ye told Ning Bo to stay behind to deliver news if the rescue party failed and to meet two of Ren Ye’s arriving friends.
• Ren Ye, Dragon Head, Ai Fei, Tang Feng, Apu, and Brother Dog reached the Mist Barrier, used disguises, and entered the Gutan Sect Star Gate with their Route Passes.
• The Star Gate assigned them to the Order Faction’s rescue mission and explained its squad rankings, commander and communicator roles, and victory conditions.
• Ren Ye suspected the Star Gate favored powerful organizations by letting communicators carry Route Passes out to recruit reinforcements.
• A group of more than thirty Third Grade Supernatural Ability Users in dark blue robes surrounded Ren Ye’s party, accusing them of stealing Route Passes.
• A Gutan Sect priest reported the five newcomers to a handsome senior brother, who went to investigate.

Ren Ye and his companions were detained by Myriad Phenomena Sect Taoists in the Gutan Sect Secret Realm, where they learned that the sect believed their Route Passes had been stolen. Zhang Linghuo decided the newcomers should be killed to reclaim the passes, while several figures teleported into Gutan City and headed toward Tannan.

• Ren Ye and his four companions were surrounded at the forest entrance and escorted into an underground chamber by Myriad Phenomena Sect Taoists.
• Ren Ye found that his Route Pass was bound to him inside the Secret Realm and could no longer be stored in his Consciousness Space.
• Ren Ye met Yang Kaizhi and learned that both groups had bought their passes from the same deceptive Taoist at a market.
• Zhang Linghuo learned that nineteen Route Passes had gone missing and suspected the newcomers were spies planted by the Chaos Faction.
• Zhang Linghuo ordered the Taoists to kill the nine detained newcomers and reclaim their Route Passes.
• Several figures teleported into Gutan City, made inquiries, and headed toward Tannan.

Ren Ye intervened when Zhang Linghuo tried to have Brother Chun imprisoned and executed, then claimed he had powerful backing as the Myriad Phenomena Sect prepared to fight. Outside the sect, six New Year's Watchers arrived to visit its Director.

• Brother Chun explained that he and Ren Ye’s group had bought their Route Passes and offered to prove their loyalty, but Zhang Linghuo ordered him taken away for interrogation.
• When Brother Chun resisted, Zhang Linghuo’s Taoists bound him with Binding Spirit Ropes and struck at him with his fly-whisk; Ren Ye cut the ropes and stood between them.
• Ren Ye challenged Zhang Linghuo’s tyrannical actions and said he had powerful backing, prompting Zhang Linghuo to order the sect’s disciples and Super Grade elders to form up.
• Outside the Myriad Phenomena Sect, six middle-aged men in black robes identified themselves as the Migration Land’s New Year’s Watchers, and a Taoist acolyte hurried to notify the Director.

Ren Ye was immobilized by Myriad Phenomena Sect Daoists and attacked with a vengeful ghost, but Ai Fei sent Nether Mountain Ghost Child Xu to swallow it. Meanwhile, Vice Minister Wen confronted Director Liu over the six New Year's Watchers disciples and warned that mistreatment would bring the five Fifth Grade men with him into the secret realm.

• Six Fourth Grade Daoists joined forces to immobilize Ren Ye, and Zhang Linghuo summoned a vengeful ghost to possess and interrogate him.
• Ai Fei sent Nether Mountain Ghost Child Xu into Ren Ye, where Xu swallowed the vengeful ghost and defied Zhang Linghuo.
• Vice Minister Wen told Director Liu that the six New Year's Watchers disciples had no involvement in the Route Pass affair or any plot with Chaos.
• Wen warned that the disciples must not be treated unfairly and said his group would enter the secret realm if the misunderstanding worsened.
• The five black-robed men released their Star Source Power, and Director Liu realized they were all Fifth Grade experts.

Vice Minister Wen’s backing forced the Myriad Phenomena Sect to rein in Zhang Linghuo, and Ren Ye turned the confrontation into a chance to demand compensation. As Wang Changfeng prepared to divine at the Seven-Star Altar, more players entered the Gutan Sect’s Secret Realm.

• Vice Minister Wen confronted Director Liu at the Myriad Phenomena Sect, then Director Liu ordered a messenger to warn Zhang Linghuo not to harm the New Year's Watchers.
• Zhang Linghuo’s talisman injured Divine Baby while Ren Ye and his companions were immobilized, but Wang Changfeng arrived and ordered Zhang to withdraw his power.
• Ren Ye had Divine Baby howl at Zhang Linghuo, slapped him down, then pretended to be gravely injured to pressure the sect for compensation.
• Wang Changfeng explained that Ren Ye was the Gatekeeper’s disciple and ordered Zhang Linghuo to apologize with a gift; Zhang sent Ren Ye three Soul-Nourishing Pills.
• Brother Chun and his companions pledged to follow Ren Ye, who learned Daoist Chu still had several Route Passes on Seven Peaks Mountain.
• Wang Changfeng began preparing to divine at the Seven-Star Altar as three more players entered the Gutan Sect’s Secret Realm.

Ren Ye and his companions learned that the Myriad Phenomena Sect’s daily altar blessing had produced a powerful weapon, but it was still insufficient to attack the Gutan Sect. The next morning, Wang Changfeng revealed that the defending side’s hidden victory condition was capturing fifty-one attackers and warned Ren Ye that rescuing Ming Quan’s team would require following orders.

• Tang Feng and Apu learned that Wang Changfeng’s Seven-Star Altar ritual could grant the attacking side useful items, but the day’s blessing was a Super Grade Thunderclap Bow and three arrows.
• Wang Changfeng called off the attack because the blessing could not break through the Gutan Sect’s Three-Route Grand Formation, and Ren Ye’s group returned to rest.
• The next morning, Ren Ye asked Wang Changfeng whether he had seen Ming Quan’s six-person team, and Wang Changfeng said he did not know them.
• Wang Changfeng revealed that the defending side won by capturing fifty-one attackers and said Ming Quan’s team was more likely captured than killed.
• Wang Changfeng advised Ren Ye to obey orders and avoid causing trouble if he wanted to rescue the missing team.

Ren Ye and his companions joined the Celestial Fire Squad and prepared for Gutan Village’s daytime treasure hunt, where explorers had to work alone under strange rules. After Zhang Linghuo distributed incomplete maps, Ren Ye and Tang Feng recognized their layout, while the Chaos Faction also gathered to enter the village.

• Wang Changfeng told Ren Ye that the Myriad Phenomena Sect needed to work with him to complete the secret realm mission and rescue their captured friends, and explained that twenty-one people were being held captive.
• Wang Changfeng assigned Ren Ye and his four companions to Zhang Linghuo’s Celestial Fire Squad, which ranked first among the three squads in merit points.
• Ren Ye and his friends returned to the hall and chatted with Brother Chun and newly arrived independent supernatural ability users while waiting for the treasure hunt.
• Zhang Linghuo distributed incomplete maps of Gutan Village and warned everyone to study them before entering.
• Ren Ye and Tang Feng recognized the map’s layout, and the Chaos Faction assembled inside the Gutan Sect to enter the village.

Ren Ye entered the mist-shrouded Gutan Village, where the rules made travelers nearly blind and exposed their auras to hidden hunters. After finding Granny Wang’s tailor shop and agreeing to try on a robe, he was trapped as it shrank around him, while Zhang Linghuo arrived elsewhere in the village.

• Ding Hun persuaded Cao Yufei to have Dark Fire Squad ambush a Supernatural Ability User carrying a blue robe at Three Origin Medical Hall.
• Ren Ye and his teammates entered the village, and Zhang Linghuo warned them that teleportation scattered them and that they should avoid unnecessary fights.
• The Star Gate revealed that resentment miasma limited sight and perception while amplifying the auras of Supernatural Ability Users.
• Ren Ye used the map to locate Yin's Pawnshop and then entered Granny Wang's tailor shop, where she asked him to try on a blue robe made for her grandson.
• The robe began crushing Ren Ye as it shrank, and Granny Wang revealed that she had gone blind after weaving it and threatened to make a human-skin robe from him.
• Zhang Linghuo stood alone in the mist and vowed to make Ren Ye return the three Soul-Nourishing Pills.

Ren Ye escaped Granny Wang’s shrinking robe and convinced her to commission him to find her grandson, beginning an S-Rank mission. Meanwhile, a shifty-eyed middle-aged man laid a powder trap on a road into the upper-right exploration zone, as Ding Hun approached the same area.

• Ren Ye summoned the Night Walker from his consciousness space, and the silver hand and Night Walker tore the shrinking robe apart so he could escape.
• Ren Ye returned to Granny Wang’s shop, then persuaded her to let him bring her grandson back to try on the robe.
• Ren Ye received an S-Rank mission to find Granny Wang’s grandson and set out for the Three Origin Medical Hall.
• A shifty-eyed middle-aged man spread colorless powder across a road into the upper-right exploration zone and waited on a rooftop for travelers.
• Ding Hun entered from the outskirts and headed alone toward the upper-right exploration zone.

Ren Ye learned that Daoist Chu had entered the secret realm for reasons beyond profit and followed the trail of his yin object through Gutan Village. Meanwhile, Daoist Chu ambushed a Darkfire Squad woman, but after briefly leaving the room, he returned to find her gone.

• Ren Ye discovered that task items could not be stored in his consciousness space, then learned from Divine Baby that Daoist Chu’s yin object had left a trace nearby and in the Bunker.
• Daoist Chu examined tracking powder made from ground bones and followed a set of small footprints to a house where he suspected a woman was hiding.
• Daoist Chu used his White Jade Staff to knock out the Darkfire Squad woman and searched her for treasures.
• Daoist Chu sensed a yin presence, found a Ghost Child statue in a downstairs shrine, and tied it to his bag after discovering he could not store it.
• Daoist Chu returned upstairs and found that the unconscious woman had vanished.

Ren Ye stole a woman and two mission treasures, then arranged for Daoist Chu to secretly support him at the Three Origin Medical Hall. There, Zhang Linghuo encountered the Defending Side’s Ding Hun, who effortlessly caught and shattered his sword.

• Divine Baby confronted Daoist Chu with Ren Ye’s ultimatum, and Daoist Chu agreed to cooperate and handed over three sleep-inducing pills.
• Ren Ye took two talismans from the unconscious woman, hid her in a cabinet, and told Daoist Chu to follow him to the Three Origin Medical Hall and protect him.
• Zhang Linghuo arrived at the Three Origin Medical Hall with a bamboo basket of poisonous creatures and entered the corridor where the Gutan Sect disciples were recovering.
• Zhang Linghuo recognized Ding Hun as a Defending Side Supernatural Ability User and attacked him with his Third-Grade Dharma Treasure sword.
• Ding Hun caught Zhang Linghuo’s blade between two fingers and broke it into more than a dozen pieces.