Chapter Summaries

Sikong Sheng used the Primordial Magnetism Battle Body to overpower Ye Chen, who could not summon his Profound True Essence and was forced to reveal the Lesser Bloodfiend Disintegration Art. Their amplified killing moves collided, leaving the battle unresolved as the storm raged around them.

• Sikong Sheng activated the Primordial Magnetism Battle Body and drove Ye Chen back with his amplified speed and power.
• Ye Chen tried to draw on his Profound True Essence but found it unresponsive, then took Sikong Sheng's attack and landed on a distant mountain with a torn sleeve.
• Ye Chen used the Lesser Bloodfiend Disintegration Art, raising his battle power by more than fifty percent, and clashed with Sikong Sheng's Primordial Magnetism Battle Body.
• Ye Chen unleashed the Star Scar Sword's killing move, and Sikong Sheng answered with Heavens Collapse and Earth Splits.
• Ye Chen's Sword Qi and Sikong Sheng's Fist Force collided and held against each other as lightning struck across the battlefield.

Ye Chen defeated Sikong Sheng with Azure Lotus Skyfall, but Golden Radiance Daoist attacked him over his use of the Lesser Bloodfiend Disintegration Art and threatened to destroy the Flowing Cloud Sect. As Ye Chen tried to summon his Profound True Essence, Xu Jing took Golden Radiance Daoist’s next attack and collapsed with both arms crippled.

• Ye Chen used Azure Lotus Skyfall and Azure Lotus Convergence to overcome Sikong Sheng’s defenses and send him flying.
• Golden Radiance Daoist caught the injured Sikong Sheng, while Ye Chen recovered some Dragon Vein Qi after releasing the Lesser Bloodfiend Disintegration Art.
• Golden Radiance Daoist accused Ye Chen of cultivating the Lesser Bloodfiend Disintegration Art and attacked him when Ye Chen refused to submit.
• Xian Yunzi, Thunderclap Hermit, and Ye Chen joined forces against Golden Radiance Daoist, but his finger beam shattered their defenses and wounded them.
• Golden Radiance Daoist demanded the manual and ordered the three to sever their limbs, threatening to wipe out the Flowing Cloud Sect; Ye Chen stepped forward and tried to summon his Profound True Essence.
• Golden Radiance Daoist struck again, but Xu Jing took the blow and fell with bloodied, limp arms.

Ye Chen unleashed his Blood Burst Art and advanced his swordsmanship under Golden Radiance Daoist’s assault, but even his powerful counterattack could not defeat the vastly stronger enemy. As Golden Radiance Daoist prepared to destroy the united Flowing Cloud Sect, a mysterious gigantic hand descended from the sky.

• Golden Radiance Daoist shattered Xu Jing’s arms and sent her flying, prompting Ye Chen to attack with Blood Burst Art and Azure Lotus Skyfall.
• Ye Chen broke through to the Tenth Layer of Azure Lotus Swordplay and used Azure Lotus Convergence, forcing Golden Radiance Daoist back but leaving himself gravely injured.
• Xian Yunzi and Thunderclap Hermit attacked Golden Radiance Daoist, but he destroyed their techniques and threatened to wipe out the Flowing Cloud Sect.
• Xian Yunzi urged Thunderclap Hermit to save Ye Chen and the sect’s survivors, but Ye Chen returned, refused to flee, and pushed his Sword Intent to eighty percent.
• The Flowing Cloud Sect members gathered to face Golden Radiance Daoist, who began burning his True Essence and prepared Golden Radiance Sun-Sundering.
• A soft sigh sounded, and a gigantic hand descended from the heavens, covering the sky as Golden Radiance Daoist prepared to attack.

A mysterious expert stopped Golden Radiance Daoist from destroying Flowing Cloud Sect, but spared him so Ye Chen could avenge himself. After the expert departed, Ye Chen collapsed from his injuries, his bond with the sect reaffirmed.

• The Heaven-Covering Hand captured Golden Radiance Daoist, ordered him to leave Heavenly Wind Kingdom, and warned Suspended Mountain not to attack again.
• The expert released Golden Radiance Daoist, who fled with the Radiant Thunder Beast after promising to stay away.
• The Heaven-Covering Hand restored Xian Yunzi's True Essence and prevented his Jade-and-Stone-Perish Secret Technique from killing him.
• The expert told Ye Chen that Golden Radiance Daoist's life was his to take, then warned him about the cost of the Lesser Bloodfiend Disintegration Art.
• The expert refused to heal Xu Jing, saying her ordeal and Flowing Cloud Sect's hardship could help them grow stronger, and then departed.
• Ye Chen thought of Flowing Cloud Sect as his second home and collapsed from exhaustion and injury.

After recovering from the battle with Golden Radiance Daoist, Ye Chen reunited with friends and used a three-thousand-year Blood Yang Flower to restore his Blood and Qi. He assessed his growing strength, visited Xian Yunzi and Thunderclap Hermit, and returned to Surging Cloud Peak to resume secluded cultivation.

• Ye Chen woke after seven days unconscious and welcomed Zhang Haoran and Wu Zongming, accepting Zhang Haoran's formal apology for their past grievances.
• Luo Hanshan, Zhu Mei, and Xu Jing visited Ye Chen, who gave Xu Jing Blood Yang Flowers and realized her shattered arm bones would take years to heal without rare treasures.
• Ye Chen escorted Xu Jing home, then swallowed a petal from the three-thousand-year Blood Yang Flower and spent three days refining its medicinal power.
• Ye Chen assessed his improved cultivation and Sword Intent, concluding he could kill a peak early Star Extremity Realm martial artist and contend with an ordinary Mid Star Extremity Realm martial artist.
• Ye Chen visited Xian Yunzi and Thunderclap Hermit, told them he planned to cultivate further, informed Xu Jing and the others, and entered the cultivation chamber at Surging Cloud Peak.

Ye Chen cultivated in seclusion and advanced the Azure Lotus Swordplay to its eleventh level while the Flowing Cloud Sect reorganized and grew stronger. The chapter ended with Xian Yunzi setting out to investigate strange demonic beasts in the Silent Mountain Range as Ye Chen remained in seclusion.

• Ye Chen recovered from his injuries and entered seclusion while Luo Xinglie reorganized the Flowing Cloud Sect, giving the disciples who had fled another chance and barring the fleeing elders from returning.
• Luo Xinglie appointed Luo Hanshan and Zhu Mei as Inner Sect Elders, and Xu Jing continued training leg techniques and Lightness Skill despite her crippled arms.
• During Ye Chen's two-month seclusion, the sect held its ranking tournament, gained new Core Disciples, and saw three disciples enter the Primal Origin Realm.
• Ye Chen completed the eleventh level of the Azure Lotus Swordplay, tested its sharp Sword Qi, and resumed cultivating to advance his cultivation level.
• Four months later, bloodied Outer Sect Disciples reported that unfamiliar demonic beasts had attacked them in the Silent Mountain Range and killed nine people, prompting Luo Xinglie to forbid trips there.
• Xian Yunzi decided to investigate the Silent Mountain Range while Thunderclap Hermit stayed behind to guard the Flowing Cloud Sect and Ye Chen's seclusion.

The Flowing Cloud Sect investigated a mysterious black aura in the Silent Mountain Range as increasingly violent demon beasts attacked nearby settlements. When a Level 7 Sky Demon Python threatened a city, Xian Yunzi and Thunderclap Hermit confronted it while Ye Chen emerged from six months of seclusion, stronger but still short of his next breakthrough.

• The Grand Elder barred the sect from entering the Silent Mountain Range, and Xian Yunzi went to investigate before reporting that black aura covered much of the range.
• Xian Yunzi and Thunderclap Hermit searched for the aura's source, then the Flowing Cloud Sect organized a coalition to protect nearby villages and towns from demon-beast attacks.
• A Level 7 Sky Demon Python emerged from the range and attacked near a city, so Xian Yunzi fought it and lured it toward the Flowing Cloud Sect.
• Xian Yunzi evaded the python's black flames until Thunderclap Hermit arrived to help him battle it.
• Ye Chen ended his six-month seclusion, judged that he could now face Mid Star Extremity Realm experts, and left his cultivation chamber.

Ye Chen arrived as Xian Yunzi and Thunderclap Hermit fought the Sky Demon Python, then revealed he had begun refining True Essence. He used Bloodfiend Disintegration and Azure Lotus Convergence to send the beast crashing into a mountain, and pressed his attack.

• Thunderclap Hermit wounded the Sky Demon Python with Heavenly Thunder Strike, but the beast retaliated with black flames that forced him and Xian Yunzi to flee.
• Ye Chen blocked the flames with Azure Lotus Skyfall and learned how the two elders had encountered the beast.
• Ye Chen told Xian Yunzi and Thunderclap Hermit that he had reached the first stage of refining True Essence.
• The Sky Demon Python attacked Ye Chen with black light and a Demon Dragon current, but Ye Chen split the beam and pierced the current with Azure Lotus Convergence.
• Ye Chen sent the Sky Demon Python crashing into a mountain and followed up with his strongest killing move.

Ye Chen and the two elders drove the Sky Demon Python back into the Silent Mountain Range, then Ye Chen began returning every three days to fight it while helping Flowing Cloud Sect cultivators advance in the Grand Dark Art. After two months, the python still recovered quickly, leaving Ye Chen to suspect that something was aiding it and that their conflict would continue.

• Ye Chen joined Xian Yunzi and Thunderclap Hermit in wounding the Sky Demon Python until it retreated into the Silent Mountain Range.
• Ye Chen returned to the Flowing Cloud Sect and offered to guide its Grand Dark Art cultivators, then instructed Elder Wu, the Inner Sect Elders, and Jing Jue.
• Ye Chen gave Xu Jing three petals from a three-thousand-year Blood Yang Flower and medicinal liquid to support her cultivation.
• After three days, Ye Chen found the Sky Demon Python underground and attacked it with the Lesser Bloodfiend Disintegration Art and True Essence.
• For two months, Ye Chen fought the Sky Demon Python every three days, but its rapid recovery kept it from being defeated.

After refining his Half-step True Essence, Ye Chen fought the Sky Demon Python and the Ghost-faced Demonic Ox in the Silent Mountain Range. He discovered the source of the region’s black aura—a heartbeat-pulsing black flower—and the enraged Sky Demon Python unleashed a deadly attack as Ye Chen moved to take it.

• Ye Chen completed the first refinement of his True Essence and went to the Silent Mountain Range to test his improved strength against the Sky Demon Python.
• Ye Chen found the Sky Demon Python in its cave alongside the Ghost-faced Demonic Ox, then wounded the Python and killed the Ox with his sword techniques.
• The Sky Demon Python struck Ye Chen into the ground, where he sensed that the black aura came from something deeper underground rather than from the Python itself.
• Ye Chen discovered a mature black flower pulsing like a heartbeat and decided to pick it.
• The Sky Demon Python caught up and unleashed black flames shaped like a Demon Dragon at Ye Chen.

Ye Chen took the Sky Demon Flower from the Sky Demon Python, then fought the enraged beast when it threatened a nearby city. After the python self-destructed, Ye Chen reunited with the Golden Light Sect disciples he had met years earlier.

• Ye Chen stole the Sky Demon Flower and escaped the cavern, prompting the Sky Demon Python to pursue him with its remaining black flames.
• The Sky Demon Python turned toward a nearby city to threaten its people, so Ye Chen resolved to stop it before it could slaughter them.
• Liu Tao, Wang Haichuan, Yao Qing, Yang Wen, and Yang Wu recognized Ye Chen as he battled the python outside the city.
• Ye Chen wounded the Sky Demon Python and drove it into the ground until it self-destructed.
• Yao Qing called out to Ye Chen after the battle, and Ye Chen greeted his old acquaintances and confirmed that he remembered them.

Ye Chen learned that the black flower was a Sky Demon Flower and used its petals to help Xu Jing heal her shattered arm. After cultivating for half a year, he prepared to break through the thirteenth layer of the Azure Lotus Swordplay, and a fierce aura of sharpness erupted from Surging Cloud Peak.

• Ye Chen reunited with Liu Tao and four others, then gave them five bottles of cultivation pills.
• Thunderclap Hermit identified the black flower as a possible Sky Demon Flower and explained its healing power and dangers.
• Ye Chen gave petals to Xian Yunzi and Thunderclap Hermit, then used three more to help Xu Jing's shattered bones begin healing.
• Ye Chen absorbed a Sky Demon Flower petal to strengthen his body and remove the aftereffects of the Blood Burst Art, then focused on cultivating the Azure Lotus Swordplay.
• The beast tide near the Flowing Cloud Sect abruptly ended, and half a year later a sharp aura spread from Surging Cloud Peak.

Ye Chen advanced to the thirteenth level of the Azure Lotus Swordplay and neared completion of his second refinement of True Essence, while learning that Sikong Sheng had entered the Star Extremity Realm. Blazing Inferno Wanderer and Golden Spear Wanderer arrived at the Flowing Cloud Sect, where their hostile visit left the sect elders on guard.

• Xian Yunzi and Thunderclap Hermit recognized that Ye Chen was close to the Star Extremity Realm and predicted he might surpass Sikong Sheng's record.
• Ye Chen emerged from seclusion with the Azure Lotus Swordplay at its thirteenth level and demonstrated the destructive power of his pseudo-True Essence.
• Xian Yunzi told Ye Chen that Sikong Sheng had entered the Star Extremity Realm and that the Five Wanderers were helping guard the Purple Sun Sect.
• Ye Chen practiced Cloud Intent, judged that he needed experience and accumulation to advance further, and decided not to rush his progress.
• Blazing Inferno Wanderer and Golden Spear Wanderer arrived at the Flowing Cloud Sect and demanded to see Xian Yunzi, insulting Luo Xinglie and provoking the elders.
• Xian Yunzi confronted the visitors, and Golden Spear Wanderer leered at Zhu Mei and Xu Jing before Blazing Inferno Wanderer agreed to enter the Main Peak Hall.

Blazing Inferno Wanderer urged the Flowing Cloud Sect to join an operation against Corpse-Ghoul Taoist, while Golden Spear Wanderer insulted the sect and claimed he would take Xu Jing as his wife or concubine. Ye Chen confronted the two men as they were leaving and declared that he would kill Golden Spear Wanderer.

• Blazing Inferno Wanderer told Xian Yunzi that the Purple Sun Sect had found Corpse-Ghoul Taoist's lair and proposed gathering the Star Extremity Realm experts to destroy Corpse Ghost Mountain.
• Xian Yunzi agreed to discuss the operation with the other sects at Emerald Beauty Peak in three days and named himself and Thunderclap Hermit as the Flowing Cloud Sect's participants.
• Golden Spear Wanderer demanded that Xu Jing become his wife or concubine, and Xian Yunzi angrily rejected him.
• Blazing Inferno Wanderer and Golden Spear Wanderer left the hall, but Ye Chen stopped them and rebuked their arrogance.
• Golden Spear Wanderer threatened Ye Chen, who told Xian Yunzi that he would kill him.

Ye Chen fought Golden Spear Wanderer after the latter threatened him and the Flowing Cloud Sect. He killed Golden Spear Wanderer in three moves, leaving Blazing Inferno Wanderer and the sect’s witnesses stunned.

• Golden Spear Wanderer threatened to kill Ye Chen and take a woman away, while Blazing Inferno Wanderer dismissed Ye Chen’s challenge.
• Ye Chen blocked Golden Spear Wanderer’s opening thrust and led the fight into the sky to spare the Flowing Cloud Sect’s main peak.
• Ye Chen’s first sword strike shattered Golden Spear Wanderer’s spear lights and sent him flying.
• Golden Spear Wanderer ignited his True Essence and attacked with Golden Snake Break, but Ye Chen restrained the strike with Azure Lotus Skyfall.
• Ye Chen pierced Golden Spear Wanderer’s chest with Azure Lotus Convergence and declared that he had killed him in three moves.
• The people below stared in shock, while Ye Chen kept his true strength concealed.

Ye Chen killed Golden Spear Wanderer and discussed the coming encirclement of Corpse-Ghoul Taoist with Xian Yunzi and Thunderclap Hermit. He revealed he could enter the Star Extremity Realm at will, while Blazing Inferno Wanderer left plotting revenge against the Flowing Cloud Sect and Ye Family.

• Ye Chen killed Golden Spear Wanderer in three moves and forced Blazing Inferno Wanderer and the Purple Sun Sect members to leave the Flowing Cloud Sect.
• Xian Yunzi invited Ye Chen to Leisurely Cloud Peak, where he and Thunderclap Hermit discussed how to respond to the threat involving Corpse-Ghoul Taoist.
• Ye Chen argued that Xian Yunzi and Thunderclap Hermit should guard the Flowing Cloud Sect while he joined the encirclement, and revealed that he could enter the Star Extremity Realm at any time.
• Blazing Inferno Wanderer vowed to kill the Flowing Cloud Sect's Star Extremity Realm experts, Ye Chen, and the Ye Family, then killed an elder who tried to counsel restraint.

Blazing Inferno Wanderer and his allies gathered at Emerald Beauty Peak to plan an operation against Corpse-Ghoul Taoist while discussing Ye Chen as a growing threat. Ye Chen arrived in place of Xian Yunzi and Thunderclap Hermit, giving Blazing Inferno Wanderer and Mountain Guest an opportunity to advance their plan against him.

• Blazing Inferno Wanderer and Mountain Guest discussed Ye Chen’s strength and agreed that he should be killed before he entered the Star Extremity Realm.
• Pang Nie and Zhuang Qinghe arrived, and Blazing Inferno Wanderer told them Ye Chen had killed Golden Spear Wanderer and could contend with Mid Star Extremity Realm experts.
• Lin Shuihan arrived and revealed that he had comprehended seventy percent Blade Intent; Blazing Inferno Wanderer said Ye Chen had reached eighty percent Sword Intent.
• Xiao Hen and Long Yue arrived for the Southern Luo Sect, and Mountain Guest complained that the Flowing Cloud Sect’s representatives had not yet come.
• Ye Chen arrived in place of Xian Yunzi and Thunderclap Hermit, and Blazing Inferno Wanderer and Mountain Guest welcomed the chance to bring their plan against him forward.

Blazing Inferno Wanderer gathered the sect experts to attack the Corpse-Ghoul Taoist’s underground lair, while Ye Chen watched for betrayal among the group. After Long Yue inspected the lake with her Vortex Water Mirror, the party entered the underwater passage and emerged in a hidden underground body of water.

• Blazing Inferno Wanderer outlined the Corpse-Ghoul Taoist’s forces and said Azure Lake Master would join the attack; Ye Chen revealed that he had killed Golden Spear Wanderer.
• The group set out for Devil's Great Grassland and met Azure Lake Master along the way.
• Long Yue formed a Vortex Water Mirror to inspect beneath the lake, and Ye Chen noticed Azure Lake Master's interest in her.
• Blazing Inferno Wanderer led the experts into the lake after Long Yue found no danger, and Pang Nie killed an approaching underwater demonic beast.
• The group found the entrance to the Corpse-Ghoul Taoist's lair, entered the pitch-black passage, and surfaced in an underground body of water.

Ye Chen and the others found a tortured captive who had nearly been turned into a Silver-Armored Corpse, then were surrounded by a horde of Silver-Armored Corpses. As they fought, Blazing Inferno Wanderer and Azure Lake Master secretly discussed using the group as material for Gold-Armored Corpses.

• Xiao Hen and Long Yue revealed their Mid-Grade Treasures as the group entered the underground passages, and Azure Lake Master used a secret technique to locate sounds nearby.
• The group found a Primal Origin Realm man chained in a pool of black liquid, and Ye Chen killed him after determining he could not be saved.
• Azure Lake Master sensed that Silver-Armored Corpses had surrounded the group, and the others began fighting the horde.
• Ye Chen noticed that Blazing Inferno Wanderer, Mountain Guest, and Azure Lake Master seemed to be holding back while he and the others killed the Silver-Armored Corpses.
• Blazing Inferno Wanderer and Azure Lake Master secretly discussed waiting for Brother Withered Wood and turning the fighters into Gold-Armored Corpses.

Ye Chen and the other Star Extremity Realm experts were ambushed by Corpse-Ghoul Taoist and his allies, who aimed to kill everyone except the Southern Luo Sect members. As Blazing Inferno Wanderer, Mountain Guest, and two Nine Nether Sect Battle Envoys closed in on Ye Chen, he prepared to fight them.

• The group cleared most of the Silver-Armored Corpses before thousands of Bronze-Armored Corpses surrounded them and Corpse-Ghoul Taoist appeared.
• Corpse-Ghoul Taoist drove Xiao Hen and his wife into a distant battle while Gold-Armored Corpses and white-robed fighters engaged Pang Nie, Zhuang Qinghe, and Lin Shuihan.
• Ye Chen realized Blazing Inferno Wanderer, Mountain Guest, and Azure Lake Master had colluded with Corpse-Ghoul Taoist to isolate and kill the other experts.
• Blazing Inferno Wanderer and Mountain Guest confronted Ye Chen, and two peak Mid Star Extremity Realm Battle Envoys joined them.
• Blazing Inferno Wanderer threatened to turn Ye Chen into a Silver-Armored Corpse, but Ye Chen readied his Pseudo True Essence and challenged all four to fight.