Chapter Summaries

Huang Xiao convinced the Wood Demon General that he had come from the Martial World and inherited Kui Yong’s cultivation method there. The Wood Demon General accepted him as Kui Yong’s successor and asked what Kui Yong had left behind, leaving Huang Xiao to prepare an explanation for the Supreme Demon Core.

• Huang Xiao realized the Wood Demon General could not know what had happened in the Martial World and decided to reveal his origins.
• Huang Xiao said he had found Kui Yong’s cultivation method in the Martial World, where Kui Yong had survived for thousands of years after the great battle and altered his techniques.
• The Wood Demon General explained that Huang Xiao’s cultivation aura resembled Kui Yong’s perfected method and admitted he had been testing whether Huang Xiao would tell the truth.
• The Wood Demon General accepted Huang Xiao as Kui Yong’s successor and told him not to reveal his Martial World origins to Dongju.
• The Wood Demon General asked Huang Xiao about Kui Yong’s time in the Martial World, and Huang Xiao considered how to explain the Supreme Demon Core.

Huang Xiao told the Wood Demon General that the Supreme Demon Saber and Supreme Demon Core had vanished during the upheaval that brought him and Huo Lian to the Ancient World. The Wood Demon General accepted Huang Xiao as Kui Yong's successor and offered the Wood Demon Sect's support, while Huang Xiao asked him about his past with Kui Yong.

• Huang Xiao said Kui Yong had wished to return to the Ancient World, and the Wood Demon General asked whether Kui Yong had left anything behind.
• Huang Xiao claimed that the Supreme Demon Saber and Supreme Demon Core had been in his possession but disappeared when he and Huo Lian were swept into the Ancient World.
• The Wood Demon General considered Huang Xiao's explanation plausible after recalling that Ren Dongju had investigated Huang Xiao and Huo Lian's arrival.
• Huang Xiao suggested that the treasures and other supreme artifacts might have been swept into the Ancient World and said the mysterious expert who brought him there possessed much Spirit Land Cold Jade.
• The Wood Demon General promised to investigate and offered Huang Xiao the Wood Demon Sect's support as Kui Yong's successor.
• Huang Xiao asked the Wood Demon General about his past relationship with Kui Yong, and the Wood Demon General sighed and began to reflect.

Huang Xiao learned that the Wood Demon General planned to recommend him to the Demon God, making him even more determined to flee the Demon Domain. After returning to the Wild Ox Sect to retrieve its supreme treasures, he found every hidden cache empty.

• The Wood Demon General praised Huang Xiao, offered to recommend him to the Demon God, and warned him not to get involved in the rumored map of the Last Spirit Land.
• Huang Xiao told Ren Dongju he would leave the Wood Demon Sect and head back to the Wild Ox Sect, while inwardly resolving to escape the Demon Domain before the Demon God could expose him.
• Huang Xiao returned to the Wild Ox Sect, praised Lu Mu's progress in formation arts, and met with Mu Fucheng and the others.
• Huang Xiao searched the Patriarch's treasure caches for the supreme treasures and found them all gone.

Huang Xiao discovered that six Supreme Treasures and the core of Wild Ox Peak’s enormous spirit crystal had been stolen, while Dragon Fang remained. Fearing the thief might target him for the last treasure, he prepared to leave the Demon Domain, but Ren Dongju arrived just as he was giving departure instructions.

• Huang Xiao found Dragon Fang intact but discovered that six Supreme Treasures were missing, including the Supreme Ghost Stele he had taken to Eldest Senior Brother.
• Huang Xiao inspected the formations and found no clues, then noticed that the enormous spirit crystal sounded hollow when he tapped it.
• Huang Xiao saw that a fist-sized piece had been extracted from the spirit crystal’s center and suspected the thefts were connected.
• Huang Xiao wondered why Dragon Fang had not been taken and considered asking the Patriarch whether he had moved the treasures.
• Huang Xiao told Gao Tianhe that he planned to leave the Demon Domain and entrusted him with managing the Wild Ox Sect.
• A disciple announced Ren Dongju’s arrival, and Huang Xiao feared his situation had become dire.

Ren Dongju took Huang Xiao from the Wild Ox Sect to the Demon God Sect so the Wood Demon General could recommend him to the Demon God. Fearing the Demon God would discover his identity and his role in Kui Yong’s death, Huang Xiao resolved to save himself by sharing what he knew about the Longevity Daoist without revealing the whereabouts of Xuan Yuanjun or Senior Ji.

• Ren Dongju told Huang Xiao that they were going to the Demon God Sect for the Wood Demon General to recommend him to the Demon God.
• Huang Xiao left Dragon Fang hidden and traveled with Ren Dongju, confirming that the Wood Demon General intended to recommend him rather than punish him.
• Huang Xiao worried that the Demon God would recognize him and learn he had killed Kui Yong.
• Huang Xiao considered revealing secrets about the Longevity Daoist and mentioning Senior Ji to persuade the Demon God to spare him.
• Huang Xiao decided not to reveal Xuan Yuanjun’s or Senior Ji’s whereabouts.

Huang Xiao traveled with Ren Dongju and the Wood Demon General toward the Demon God Sect, where he was told to act arrogantly when facing disciples recommended by the other sects. On the road, the Wood Demon General sensed an ambush and confronted a powerful stranger emerging from the forest.

• Huang Xiao and Ren Dongju discussed the Demon God’s strength and continued toward the Wood Demon General, who was waiting in a nearby city.
• At an inn near the Demon God Sect, Ren Dongju asked whether the other four sects would recommend disciples, and the Wood Demon General told Huang Xiao to assert himself despite being younger and weaker.
• The three learned that the other sects had arrived several days earlier, then set out for the Demon God Sect the next morning.
• Thirty li from the inn, the Wood Demon General stopped the group after sensing someone concealed in the forest.
• A stranger emerged and charged at the three, and the Wood Demon General moved to meet him while Ren Dongju realized the newcomer was an expert.

The Wood Demon General fought a masked stranger near the Demon God Sect, but the stranger used the encounter to seize Huang Xiao. The Wood Demon General returned alone, leaving Huang Xiao's fate unknown.

• The masked stranger exchanged a powerful palm strike with the Wood Demon General and claimed he had come to test the Five Great Demon Sects' strength.
• The Wood Demon General attacked while Huang Xiao and Ren Dongju moved closer to watch, but the stranger evaded him with an uncanny movement technique.
• The Wood Demon General landed a punch that sent the stranger flying toward Ren Dongju and Huang Xiao.
• The stranger dodged Ren Dongju's palm attacks, avoided injuring him, and carried Huang Xiao away as the Wood Demon General gave chase.
• The Wood Demon General returned alone, and Ren Dongju feared his master had been unable to catch the stranger.

Senior Ji abducted Huang Xiao and questioned him about the Last Spirit Land and the remnant root of the Heavenly Immortal Fruit. Huang Xiao could not identify the Spirit Land’s location, and Senior Ji remained wary of the maps circulating in the Jianghu.

• The Wood Demon General left for the Demon God Sect while Ren Dongju worried that Huang Xiao might not survive his abduction.
• After traveling for three shichen, Senior Ji revealed his identity to Huang Xiao and explained that he had taken him to ask questions.
• Huang Xiao told Senior Ji that he believed he had entered the Last Spirit Land and described finding a remnant root filled with vitality.
• Senior Ji identified the remnant root as belonging to the Heavenly Immortal Fruit and asked Huang Xiao where the Spirit Land was.
• Huang Xiao said he did not know its location, and Senior Ji rejected the circulating maps as a dangerous conspiracy possibly connected to the Longevity Daoist.
• Huang Xiao said he would soon have to hand the Cold Jade Key to the Slaughter Evil Lord, and Senior Ji told him the choice was his.

Huang Xiao told Senior Ji that his mother, Senior Ji of the Ji Residence, had recently escaped and was now at the Ji Residence. Senior Ji struggled with the news but admitted he did not blame her, leaving Huang Xiao hoping the two could reconcile.

• Senior Ji asked Huang Xiao about the Last Spirit Land and requested the Bronze Key, planning to gather all eight keys and expose Longevity Daoist’s schemes.
• Huang Xiao realized Senior Ji intended to disrupt Longevity Daoist’s plans and told him that Senior Ji of the Ji Residence was still alive.
• Senior Ji doubted the news because he had visited her ruined residence in the Immortal Spirit Domain and found no trace of her.
• Huang Xiao explained that she had only recently escaped and was now at the Ji Residence.
• Senior Ji admitted that his mother had been a victim of Longevity Daoist and that he did not blame her, while Huang Xiao urged him to let go of the past.

Huang Xiao and Senior Ji returned to the Wild Ox Sect to retrieve the Bronze Key while avoiding the Demon God Sect and the Wood Demon Sect. After Senior Ji gave Huang Xiao a Phantom Aura Pearl and failed to find clues about the missing treasures, Huang Xiao showed him an enormous spirit crystal with its core missing.

• Senior Ji gave Huang Xiao a Phantom Aura Pearl to conceal his aura, then traveled with him to the Wild Ox Sect.
• Huang Xiao and Senior Ji entered the Wild Ox Sect without alerting anyone, and Senior Ji remarked that the outer formations seemed vaguely familiar.
• Huang Xiao retrieved the Bronze Key and told Senior Ji that six supreme treasures had vanished from the sect without leaving traces.
• Senior Ji searched the area for two hours but found no useful clues, and suspected an extraordinary old fellow had taken the treasures.
• Huang Xiao showed Senior Ji an enormous spirit crystal whose core had also disappeared without damaging the crystal.

Huang Xiao learned that the missing core of the spirit crystal was likely spirit crystal marrow and discussed the stolen Supreme Treasures and cross-realm travel with Senior Ji. They suspected the Longevity Daoist had stolen the treasures and marrow to build a grand formation, but could not explain why he had not gone to the Martial World himself.

• Senior Ji identified the missing spirit crystal core as likely spirit crystal marrow, an extraordinary treasure Huang Xiao had failed to recognize.
• Senior Ji told Huang Xiao that the Seven Treasures had been damaged by crossing realms and later repaired with Origin Flame by the Longevity Daoist.
• Senior Ji explained that cross-realm travel could be achieved without all Seven Treasures, though using substitutes required far greater power and cost.
• Huang Xiao asked whether the Longevity Daoist had stolen the Supreme Treasures, and Senior Ji agreed that the treasures and spirit crystal marrow could serve his plans for a Cross-Realm Grand Formation.
• Huang Xiao and Senior Ji wondered why the Longevity Daoist had not simply gone to the Martial World to obtain the Supreme Treasures himself.

Huang Xiao and Senior Ji fled the Wild Ox Sect after suspecting Longevity Daoist had planted monitoring measures in its formations, and discussed how to protect the remaining supreme treasures. When a Jianghu crowd chased an emerald blade of grass, Senior Ji seized it and ordered Huang Xiao to flee with him.

• Senior Ji suspected Longevity Daoist had secretly altered the formations to monitor Huang Xiao, so they left the Wild Ox Sect with Dragon Fang.
• After running for an hour, Senior Ji decided they might have been overly cautious and explained that Longevity Daoist could only sense a supreme treasure from within about one li if its aura was sealed.
• Huang Xiao resolved to keep the Supreme Ghost Stele hidden so Longevity Daoist could not gather all seven treasures.
• Huang Xiao asked Senior Ji to accompany him out to sea, but Senior Ji said he needed time alone.
• A crowd of Jianghu fighters charged toward them while chasing an emerald blade of grass, and Senior Ji snatched it before telling Huang Xiao to flee.

Huang Xiao and Senior Ji discussed the sentient ten-thousand-year-old poria cocos and their plans concerning the Bronze Key and the Last Spirit Land. Senior Ji explained the Spirit Lands’ hidden purpose, while Huang Xiao revealed that the Slaughter Evil Lord needed Spirit Land Cold Jade.

• Senior Ji found a sentient poria cocos, and Huang Xiao suspected it came from the Last Spirit Land because its awareness seemed unusually weak for its age.
• Senior Ji decided to protect the poria cocos and warned Huang Xiao not to go to sea while the Longevity Daoist and Demon God Sect were searching for him.
• Senior Ji planned to investigate the map fragments and consider how to use his Bronze Key to locate the Last Spirit Land.
• Senior Ji explained that activating all eight Bronze Keys together might reveal the Last Spirit Land, while a formation expert could use one key to open its corresponding Spirit Land independently.
• Senior Ji said the Spirit Lands’ repeated openings benefited the old bastard behind their design, despite people valuing the Spirit Land Cold Jade they received.
• Huang Xiao said the Slaughter Evil Lord needed Spirit Land Cold Jade, and Senior Ji reacted with a furrowed brow.

Huang Xiao and Senior Ji traveled toward the Slaughter Domain while discussing Spirit Land formations and the surge of ancient exotic plants appearing across the Ancient World. Huang Xiao suspected the plants had come from the Last Spirit Land and wondered whether their departure could disrupt the Grand Formation.

• Huang Xiao told Senior Ji that Senior Immortal Alchemist could help open a Spirit Land, and Senior Ji proposed asking him to find a way to damage the formations before the Grand Formation was activated.
• Huang Xiao and Senior Ji agreed to head for the Holy City of the Slaughter Domain, where Huang Xiao wondered whether Senior Zuo Qiu Shu was still waiting.
• At a wine shop, Huang Xiao and Senior Ji heard reports that rare plants over ten thousand years old had appeared across the Ancient World and brought miraculous benefits to those who encountered them.
• Senior Ji accepted Huang Xiao's inference that the plants had come from the Last Spirit Land, and Huang Xiao worried that people would hunt them down.
• Huang Xiao asked whether the plants' departure had emptied the Last Spirit Land and might count as damage to the Grand Formation.

Huang Xiao, Senior Ji, and Senior Immortal Alchemist agreed to use the last Bronze Key to enter the Spirit Land and investigate its formation. They reached the inner Dangerous Area, where Senior Immortal Alchemist began collecting its abundant Spirit Land Cold Jade.

• Huang Xiao kept the secrets about Eldest Senior Brother and the Soaring Immortal Fruit to himself and hoped his capture would be reported.
• Huang Xiao introduced Senior Ji to Senior Immortal Alchemist and revealed that he had the last Bronze Key after obtaining two keys in the Ancient World.
• Senior Immortal Alchemist agreed to help examine the Spirit Land formation in exchange for all the Spirit Land Cold Jade they found.
• The next day, Senior Immortal Alchemist used the Bronze Key to take Huang Xiao and Senior Ji deep inside the Spirit Land, away from its outskirts.
• Huang Xiao found at least a hundred pieces of Spirit Land Cold Jade, and Senior Immortal Alchemist swept them up despite Senior Ji's warning to focus on the formation.

Ao Yuan entered the Spirit Land after its formation suddenly became easier to access, while the Immortal Alchemist, Huang Xiao, and Senior Ji reached its Core Area and found seven Supreme Treasures embedded in the ground. Huang Xiao realized that the Supreme Ghost Stele might also have fallen into the Longevity Daoist’s possession.

• Ao Yuan noticed the Spirit Land’s Spiritual Energy change and entered its formation with the Bronze Key after warning Ao Zhen and the other four to wait outside.
• Other powers detected disturbances in their Spirit Lands, then turned their attention back to map fragments and newly appeared exotic flowers and plants.
• The Immortal Alchemist filled five sacks with Spirit Land Cold Jade and led Huang Xiao and Senior Ji toward the Core Area.
• The three reached a smooth stone expanse covered in golden threads that formed the core of the Spirit Land’s Mystical Grand Formation.
• Huang Xiao spotted seven objects embedded in a circle around a brilliant crystal and recognized them as the Seven Treasures, including treasures he had lost.
• Huang Xiao worried that the Supreme Ghost Stele in Eldest Senior Brother’s hands might also have fallen into the Longevity Daoist’s possession.

Huang Xiao, the Immortal Alchemist, and Senior Ji discovered that the Seven Treasures in the Spirit Land were imitations and concluded the Longevity Daoist had arranged them across the formations. They learned the Supreme Ghost Stele was with Huang Xiao’s Eldest Senior Brother and decided to guard the Wild Ox Sect while seeking another way to stop the Longevity Daoist.

• The Immortal Alchemist and Senior Ji identified the Seven Treasures as imitations and reasoned that the genuine set was likely required in the Last Spirit Land.
• Senior Ji concluded that the Longevity Daoist had stolen Huang Xiao’s six treasures and spirit crystal marrow, and Huang Xiao explained the theft to the Immortal Alchemist.
• Huang Xiao revealed that the Supreme Ghost Stele and Cold Jade Key were with his Eldest Senior Brother, so the Immortal Alchemist offered to watch the Wild Ox Sect.
• The Immortal Alchemist warned that the Longevity Daoist could substitute imitation treasures for the genuine Seven Treasures, and Senior Ji said they needed to understand the formations to stop him.

Huang Xiao, Senior Ji, and the Immortal Alchemist failed to find a way to secretly tamper with the Longevity Daoist’s Grand Formation during their brief visit to the Spirit Land. The Immortal Alchemist proposed laying their own formation outside it to disrupt or destroy it, though success remained uncertain.

• The Immortal Alchemist said that secretly altering the Grand Formation was nearly impossible and urged Huang Xiao to memorize its arrangements for Xuan Yuanjun and the others.
• Huang Xiao and Senior Ji spent five days memorizing the formation while the Immortal Alchemist studied it, but they were abruptly sent out of the Spirit Land before he could reach its core.
• The Immortal Alchemist admitted that comprehending the formation would likely take a very long time, though he had developed some preliminary ideas.
• The Immortal Alchemist proposed attacking the Longevity Daoist’s Grand Formation with a formation of their own, laid discreetly outside it.
• Senior Ji and Huang Xiao recognized that the plan offered them more control but agreed that their chances of affecting the vastly superior formation were slim.

Huang Xiao reunited with Qingfeng in West Mountain Town and learned that the Soaring Immortal Fruit and the others had escaped the Spirit Land, though some had been captured after becoming separated. Qingfeng asked Huang Xiao to help find them a safe hiding place, and Huang Xiao suggested the Desolate Domain.

• Huang Xiao reached West Mountain Town, bought a boat for his journey, and unexpectedly recognized Qingfeng when he arrived in town.
• Qingfeng explained that he had come to West Mountain Town after hearing rumors about Huang Xiao and remembering their plan to meet there every ten years.
• Qingfeng told Huang Xiao that he and the Soaring Immortal Fruit had brought the exotic flowers and plants out of the Spirit Land about a month earlier, but some had been separated and captured.
• Qingfeng said the Soaring Immortal Fruit was hiding with the others and handed Huang Xiao the Supreme Ghost Stele and the Cold Jade Key.
• Huang Xiao suggested that the group hide in the Desolate Domain, and Qingfeng questioned whether they could reach it safely and survive there without enough Spiritual Energy of Heaven and Earth.

Huang Xiao reassured Qingfeng that powerful seniors might help protect the Soaring Immortal Fruit and the Rare Flowers and Exotic Fruits. Qingfeng explained how to follow his secret signs through the Central Desert to find their hiding place, leaving Huang Xiao with a way to reach them.

• Huang Xiao told Qingfeng that the former Sect Master of the Creation Sect and Senior Immortal Alchemist might help them.
• Huang Xiao learned that the Soaring Immortal Fruit had taken in too much vitality and might transform into a Heavenly Immortal Fruit if it digested it.
• Qingfeng said he and the Soaring Immortal Fruit had a seventy-to-eighty-percent chance of staying undiscovered because he had set up concealed formations.
• Qingfeng explained that he had marked rocks every thirty li with fresh dents to guide Huang Xiao to their refuge from Red Sun Town.