Chapter Summaries

Lin Yun escorted the Wu Family to safety, then went to Yue Capital to collect five-metal materials gathered by his merchant associations. He left the associations in their leaders’ hands and departed after learning of possible Black Fiend Sect activity in the city.

• Lin Yun warned Wu Ping that Spirit Controlling Sect cultivators were searching for him and showed him two disciples’ identity tokens, prompting Wu Ping to flee with the Wu Family.
• After escorting the Wu Family toward the Fengdu Kingdom for nearly two months, Lin Yun sensed demonic aura above Yue Capital and entered the city.
• Lin Yun presented his gold-plaque token at the merchant associations’ Guild Hall and summoned Dong Qiang, Ma Er, and Hua Yun.
• Dong Qiang reported that the associations had gathered gold, silver, copper, iron, and tin, while Hua Yun described a mysterious immortal master and unexplained disappearances in Yue Capital.
• Lin Yun collected the stored materials, told the three leaders they could keep the associations, and vanished after granting them a lifetime of wealth and honor.

Lin Yun went to Yue Kingdom’s Imperial Palace to settle his debt with the Black Fiend Sect, where he joined Han Li and the Yellow Maple Valley disciples in defeating the Four Great Blood Attendants. Afterward, Han Li told Lin Yun that Nangong Wan had been asking about him, leaving Lin Yun wondering what she wanted.

• Lin Yun decided to confront the Black Fiend Sect at the Imperial Palace after learning it was capturing unaffiliated cultivators for Blood Sacrifices.
• Lin Yun arrived at the palace during a battle between Han Li and six other Yellow Maple Valley disciples and the Four Great Blood Attendants.
• Lin Yun protected Xue Hong, restrained the Ice Demon, and destroyed all four Blood Attendants with the Great Five-Element Extinction Divine Light.
• Lin Yun collected the four Blood-Congealed Five-Element Pills and realized they contained five elements yin fiend qi.
• Han Li told Lin Yun that Nangong Wan had asked him about Lin Yun, and Lin Yun wondered whether she meant to take revenge.

Lin Yun exposed and killed the Yue Emperor’s blue-robed avatar, then watched Yellow Maple Valley’s disciples fight the Black Fiend Sect leader. After the Yue Emperor’s desperate explosion badly injured the group, Lin Yun killed him and left the surviving disciples alive.

• Lin Yun warned Han Li that the Yue Emperor was the Black Fiend Sect leader, and Han Li quietly alerted Chen Qiaoqian and the others.
• The blue-robed man ambushed Lin Yun, but Lin Yun blocked the attack and killed him with the Clearvoid Invisible Sword, destroying his soul and revealing him as the Yue Emperor’s avatar.
• The Yue Emperor attacked Liu Jing, but Han Li’s warning let Liu Jing raise a defense; the others then attacked the Yue Emperor while Lin Yun watched.
• Liu Jing unleashed a True Treasure firebird, and the Yue Emperor detonated an incomplete magic treasure to counter it, badly injuring Liu Jing and the other disciples.
• The wounded Yue Emperor attacked Lin Yun with Blood Spirit Drills, but Lin Yun’s Supreme Goodness Pearl blocked them before his sword killed the Yue Emperor.

After the Emperor of Yue’s defeat, Lin Yun examined the spoils and extracted Five Elements Yin Fiend from the Blood-Congealing Five-Element Pills to test a path toward Core Formation. Han Li informed him that the decisive battle was set for two months later, and the two prepared to leave the war effort and meet again near the Ancient Teleportation Formation.

• Lin Yun healed Liu Jing, then searched the Emperor of Yue’s belongings with Han Li and gave him the Soul-Gathering Bowl, Blood Spirit Drill, and a warning about heterodox cultivation arts.
• Lin Yun found the Heavenly Void Fragment Map and kept it, while Han Li learned that another of his senior brothers had died in the Black Fiend Sect’s secret chamber.
• Lin Yun spent two days extracting Five Elements Yin Fiend from the pills, hoping to refine it with Qianyang Five Elements Stellar Qi and discover his own path to Core Formation.
• Han Li visited Lin Yun and reported that the decisive battle between the Seven Sects and the Six Demonic Path Sects would take place in two months; both agreed it was time to decide what to do.
• Lin Yun said he would not return to Yellow Maple Valley or the Golden Drum Plain Camp, and gave Han Li a Voice-and-Image Transmission Talisman so they could meet near the Ancient Teleportation Formation.
• Lin Yun gave Han Li the remaining Blood-Congealing Five-Element Pills, and Han Li left to settle his old affairs.

Lin Yun traveled to the Yuanwu Kingdom to bring Xin Ruoyin back and gather five-metal materials before the war between the Seven Sects and the Six Demonic Path Sects began. After collecting supplies and finding that Qi Yunxiao had become a respected artifact refiner, Lin Yun, Xin Ruoyin, and Xiao Mei set off for the Ancient Teleportation Formation.

• Lin Yun reached Xin Ruoyin's mountain and learned that she had completed the plans and gathered materials needed to repair the Ancient Teleportation Formation.
• Lin Yun resolved to leave with Xin Ruoyin in three days, while privately considering ways to pursue their feelings without violating his cultivation methods.
• Lin Yun collected five-metal materials in nearby cities and learned that Qi Yunxiao had become an artifact refiner and a disciple of the Divine Weapon Sect.
• Xin Ruoyin left her mountain formation in place, and she and Xiao Mei finished packing for the journey.
• Lin Yun gave Xin Ruoyin the Taiyi Five-Smoke Gauze and concealed their auras with the Clearvoid Invisible Sword as the three flew toward the spirit stone mine.

Lin Yun brought Xin Ruoyin and Xiao Mei to the spirit stone mine, where Xin Ruoyin began repairing the Ancient Teleportation Formation. He withdrew to a nearby mountain cave to test his own Core Formation method, comparing the mortal world’s resource-driven cultivation with the cultivation principles of Zu Mountain.

• Lin Yun used Formless Sword Escape to take Xin Ruoyin and Xiao Mei into the cavern beneath the spirit stone mine, where they found the Ancient Teleportation Formation.
• Xin Ruoyin inspected the formation and said she could repair its damaged corner, though the work would take at least seven days.
• Lin Yun gave Xin Ruoyin an array token and communication talismans, then left her and Xiao Mei to work while he waited nearby for Han Li.
• Lin Yun carved a temporary cave abode in the mountains and prepared to refine qianyang five elements stellar qi and five elements yin fiend into a Primordial Qi External Elixir.
• Lin Yun considered the limitations of the mortal world’s Core Formation methods and contrasted them with Zu Mountain’s cultivation of essence, qi, and spirit toward primordial qi.

Lin Yun devised and began testing an external pill method that combined techniques from both worlds, while Xin Ruoyin repaired the Teleportation Array. Han Li arrived with a companion and joined Xin Ruoyin, leaving Lin Yun to finish his experiment before rejoining them.

• Lin Yun planned to form a Golden Core by combining refined origin qi, the Heavenly Treasury Divine Talisman, and the Nine-Turn Return-to-Elixir Method, and decided to test his approach with an external pill first.
• Lin Yun refined Qianyang five elements stellar qi and five elements yin fiend in his profound aperture, shaping them into a five elements origin pill with the Six Heavenly Talismans.
• Lin Yun contacted Xin Ruoyin, who reported that she and Xiao Mei expected to finish repairing the Teleportation Array within three days.
• Han Li told Lin Yun that cultivators from the Ghost Spirit Sect and Joyful Union Sect had occupied the Spirit Stone Mine and asked to bring a companion; Lin Yun directed him to the Teleportation Array and sent a map.
• Xiao Mei met Han Li and his companion at the underground cavern, and Han Li found Xin Ruoyin working on the Teleportation Array.

Lin Yun completed Core Formation by refining the Five-Element Essence Core, which strengthened his true essence and let him invoke the Great Five-Element Extinction Divine Light almost instantly. As he prepared to test his new cultivation, two Core Formation cultivators from the Joyful Union Sect and Ghost Spirit Sect approached his cave abode.

• Lin Yun absorbed the surrounding spiritual qi and merged the Qian Heaven yang qi and yin fiend qi into the Five-Element Essence Core, causing a huge vortex that drew the attention of nearby Demonic Path cultivators.
• Two Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Joyful Union Sect and Ghost Spirit Sect sensed the disturbance but returned to their Spirit Stone Mine rather than investigate.
• Lin Yun completed the Five-Element Essence Core and imprinted it with his spiritual sense, then drew it into his profound aperture.
• Lin Yun found that the core purified his true essence and allowed him to summon the Great Five-Element Extinction Divine Light almost instantly, though its high cost made it a trump card.
• Lin Yun sensed two approaching Core Formation Stage auras, one from the Joyful Union Sect and one from the Ghost Spirit Sect.

Nangong Wan fought off the Li brothers while fleeing the Demonic Path pursuers, using a feint to grievously wound one brother and escape. Wang Chan and Tian Buque realized she was likely exhausted and led the pursuit after her.

• Nangong Wan lured the Li brothers into a fight over a remote lake, hoping to create a chance to escape.
• The Li brothers used their joint technique and ghostly soul attacks, but Nangong Wan’s cultivated soul resisted them.
• Nangong Wan feigned being dazed, then wounded the younger Li brother with the Vermilion Bird Ring and repelled the elder with her sword.
• The injured Nangong Wan fled west after her magical power was nearly exhausted, while the elder Li carried his unconscious brother away.
• Tian Buque deduced that Nangong Wan had exhausted her strength and pursued her, and Wang Chan ordered the others to follow.

Lin Yun rescued the exhausted Nangong Wan from her pursuers and killed the Ghost Spirit Sect elder surnamed Li with his newly acquired Core Formation strength. As Lin Yun tried to escape with Nangong Wan, an unknown cultivator appeared and stopped them.

• Nangong Wan fled from Tian Buque and the elder surnamed Li, then flew toward the site of Lin Yun's recent core formation.
• Lin Yun sensed the approaching cultivators, recognized Nangong Wan, and rushed out to meet her.
• Lin Yun caught Nangong Wan as she faltered, gave her pills to recover, and confronted the elder surnamed Li.
• Lin Yun's Clearvoid Invisible Sword severed the elder's arm, then killed him with a second strike as Wang Chan and the others fled.
• Lin Yun prepared to leave with Nangong Wan, but an effeminate voice addressed them and halted their escape.