Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Lu Ren arrives at the Withering and Flourishing Alchemy Pavilion seeking an audience with Senior Withering and Flourishing.
• He is shocked when Su Jinghong, one of the pavilion’s disciples, looks exactly like Empress Fanyin—his former master, who sacrificed her divine soul to save him.
• Su Jinghong mistakes Lu Ren for an intruder and attacks. Though she is in the Dao-Proving Realm and he is only in the Dao-Integration Realm, Lu Ren withstands several strikes and briefly forces her back.
• Su Jinghong escalates to her Azure Longsword, overwhelming Lu Ren with the difference in their power. Nie Xiaochi intervenes before the fight can continue.
• Lu Ren explains that he mistook Su Jinghong for his deceased master. He shares that Empress Fanyin dreamed of seeing the mountains and rivers, but died saving him.
• Moved by Lu Ren’s grief, Su Jinghong lowers her guard, though she still refuses to let him see her master.
• Nie Xiaochi reminds Su Jinghong that Lu Ren saved her life and asks her simply to pass his request along. The chapter ends before Su Jinghong gives her answer.

Character developments

• Lu Ren demonstrates formidable strength but recognizes that a true Dao-Proving cultivator still surpasses him. His encounter with Su Jinghong also exposes his lingering grief and attachment to Empress Fanyin.
• Su Jinghong begins hostile and defensive, then softens after hearing Lu Ren’s story. She remains guarded and unwilling to grant him access.
• Nie Xiaochi acts as mediator, intervening to stop the fight and advocating for Lu Ren out of gratitude.

Significant themes

• Grief and remembrance: Lu Ren’s memories of his sacrificed master remain vivid.
• Resemblance and identity: Su Jinghong’s likeness to Empress Fanyin raises the possibility of a connection, but she has no memory of Lu Ren.
• Power and limits: Lu Ren can challenge a Dao-Proving cultivator, yet the encounter reveals the gap between his borrowed or comparable strength and true mastery.
• Compassion and obligation: Su Jinghong’s attitude shifts when she understands Lu Ren’s loss, while Nie Xiaochi’s gratitude motivates her plea.

Character interactions

• Lu Ren and Su Jinghong’s first interaction is a battle driven by misunderstanding and her suspicion of him.
• Nie Xiaochi stops their escalating duel and explains Lu Ren’s purpose.
• Lu Ren confides in Su Jinghong about his former master, prompting her to respond more gently.
• Nie Xiaochi appeals to Su Jinghong by reminding her that Lu Ren saved her, asking her to relay his request to their master.

Key plot points and events

• Lu Ren prepares to leave the Withering and Flourishing Alchemy Pavilion after learning that its master, Senior Kurong, is away and that he cannot obtain a pill.
• Su Jinghong blocks him, fearing he might reveal the master’s absence and expose the pavilion’s valuable stores. She threatens to kill him if he tries to leave.
• Nie Xiaochi urges Lu Ren to stay, pointing out that powerful Primordial Clans may be hunting him after news of his actions in the Ancient Medicine Garden spread. Lu Ren agrees to stay temporarily.
• Nie Xiaochi shows him the Discarded Pill Pool, where failed pills have accumulated medicinal power. She says she reached the Ultimate Dao Stage after soaking in it for ten years, but only pavilion members may use it, and the elders would not approve Lu Ren’s entry.
• Nie Xiaochi privately promises to help Lu Ren escape once Su Jinghong enters seclusion, since the master may be gone for ten to thirty years.
• Lu Ren begins cultivating in the Reincarnation Ancient Pagoda, using World Origin power to temper his Chaos Great Dao Power. After a year, he has made almost no progress and regrets that he cannot access the pool.
• The chapter ends when a violent tremor comes from outside.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Ren remains pragmatic: he accepts temporary shelter because the outside world is dangerous, but continues pursuing his cultivation goals. His disappointment grows when his year of training yields little.
• Su Jinghong is fiercely protective of the pavilion and distrustful of Lu Ren, treating him as a potential security threat despite his assurances.
• Nie Xiaochi acts as Lu Ren’s ally. She persuades him to stay for his safety, then reveals she never intended to keep him trapped and plans to help him leave.
• Lu Ren notices Su Jinghong’s resemblance to Empress Fanyin but dismisses the connection as coincidence.

Significant themes

• Trust versus security: Su Jinghong prioritizes the pavilion’s protection, while Nie Xiaochi trusts Lu Ren enough to help him.
• Cultivation and opportunity: Lu Ren’s slow progress emphasizes how difficult advancement is without rare resources or fortunate opportunities.
• Loyalty and gratitude: Nie Xiaochi’s willingness to aid Lu Ren stems from his having saved her.
• Unresolved danger: The threat of hostile clans and the sudden tremor set up further conflict.

Key plot points and events

• Nie Xiaochi hurries Lu Ren out of the Withering and Flourishing Alchemy Pavilion, explaining that a discarded pill in the Discarded Pill Pool is on the verge of becoming human.
• The pill is the Thunder Source Dao Ruins Elixir, a failed fifth-grade supreme-grade Dao pill that has spent years absorbing medicinal energy from the pool. It has gained sentience and grown alarmingly powerful.
• The pavilion’s four elders use the Heaven-Refining Divine Furnace Formation to contain it, while Su Jinghong stands ready to intervene. The pill’s lightning repeatedly batters the formation, which begins to crack.
• The elixir declares its hatred of cultivators and threatens to turn the alchemists into “Human Elixirs.” As it absorbs more energy, the elders warn it may reach Late Dao-Proving strength.
• With the pavilion master absent and the formation failing, Su Jinghong enters the formation and attacks. Her strongest sword strike is shattered by the pill’s lightning, leaving it unharmed.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Ren is surprised by the crisis and turns back to assess the pill, despite Nie Xiaochi’s urgent effort to get him to safety.
• Nie Xiaochi acts protectively, pulling Lu Ren away and explaining the danger.
• Su Jinghong takes responsibility for defending the pavilion, choosing to risk herself when delay could endanger everyone. Her confidence is shaken when her attack fails.
• The four elders work together to sustain the formation, but their combined efforts cannot keep pace with the pill’s growing power.
• The elixir reveals a bitter, hostile personality, viewing its existence as a pill—and its fate at the hands of cultivators—as an injustice.

Significant themes

• Creation and agency: The elixir resents being created for others to refine, raising the question of whether an artificial being can claim its own life.
• Unintended consequences: A failed pill’s long exposure to medicinal energy transforms it into a threat the pavilion cannot control.
• Duty and sacrifice: Su Jinghong risks herself to protect the pavilion when its master is absent, even knowing she may be outmatched.
• Escalating danger: The failing formation and the pill’s steady growth create a mounting crisis that ends on a cliffhanger.

• The Thunder Source Dao Ruins Elixir overwhelms Su Jinghong. Fueled by medicinal power from the discarded-pill pool, it grows stronger and attacks with lightning. Su Jinghong uses the Origin-Shattering Secret Codex, a technique that boosts her power by damaging her Great Dao Origin. Despite the elders’ warnings, she fights on to protect the Withering and Flourishing Alchemy Pavilion, but the elixir’s Thunder Giant knocks her back and leaves her badly injured.
• Lu Ren takes her place. He enters the formation, insisting he has a way to stop the elixir. Though skeptical, Su Jinghong withdraws after warning him to be careful; Nie Xiaochi supports her outside. Lu Ren attacks with Myriad Weapons Slaying the Dao, but the Thunder Giant repels his weapons and counters with explosive Thunder Pills.
• The fight turns against Lu Ren. The elixir continues absorbing medicinal power, while its attacks intensify. Lu Ren is wounded by the Thunder Pills and then struck by a massive Thunder Spear. His Battle Body cracks, and he realizes the elixir is already as powerful as an ordinary mid-stage Dao-Proving Realm cultivator—and still growing. Nie Xiaochi urges him to retreat as Su Jinghong watches anxiously.
  Character developments and interactions: Su Jinghong’s devotion to her sect drives her to risk permanently destroying her cultivation. Lu Ren shows resolve by stepping in despite being outmatched, but his confidence is tested as he suffers repeated blows. The elders, Nie Xiaochi, and Su Jinghong can only watch from outside the formation, unable to intervene without breaking it.
  Themes: Sacrifice and loyalty to one’s community; courage in the face of overwhelming danger; and the escalating threat of power that grows unchecked.

Key plot points

• Lu Ren refuses to retreat because Su Jinghong risked her Great Dao Origin to protect the Withering and Flourishing Alchemy Pavilion. He sends the Immortal-Smiting Iron to shield him from the sentient Thunder Source Dao Ruins Elixir.
• The iron withstands repeated lightning attacks, charging its Blade-Pinning Dao Formation. Meanwhile, the elixir destroys the Heaven-Refining Divine Furnace Formation, badly injuring the four elders and leaving the group exposed.
• The Immortal-Smiting Iron’s charged formation creates a saber that catches the elixir off guard and knocks it back. Lu Ren follows with One Thought, One Dream, temporarily reducing the lightning giant to a pill.
• When the elixir begins to awaken, Nie Xiaochi tries to attack but is blasted aside. Lu Ren then uses his Void Dao Source to swallow the pill and its lightning, hoping to refine it within himself.
• The elixir fights back from inside Lu Ren. He tries to suppress it with the Origin Power of his Chaos Great Dao World, but the pill’s lightning pierces the world phantom and ravages his body. His Battle Body cracks, his meridians are torn, and he collapses, bleeding golden blood.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Ren shows loyalty and resolve by risking his life for Su Jinghong and the pavilion. After his dream technique proves only temporary, he makes an even more desperate choice: devouring the elixir rather than letting it escape.
• The Immortal-Smiting Iron acts as Lu Ren’s steadfast protector, repeatedly intercepting attacks and turning the damage it absorbs into a counterattack.
• Su Jinghong recognizes the elixir’s sentience and the effect of Lu Ren’s soul attack. Though injured and unable to help, she warns Nie Xiaochi not to approach Lu Ren while the elixir is fighting inside him.
• Nie Xiaochi tries to intervene twice—first by attacking the elixir, then by moving toward Lu Ren—but is injured and held back by Su Jinghong.
• The four elders fight to maintain their formation, but its destruction leaves them too badly injured to act.

Significant themes

• Sacrifice and loyalty: Lu Ren’s decision to stay is driven by gratitude and concern for Su Jinghong.
• Courage against overwhelming power: The group’s tactics buy moments, but the elixir is far stronger than Lu Ren.
• Risk and ambition: Lu Ren’s attempt to swallow and refine a powerful Dao elixir may save the situation, but puts his life and body in immediate danger.
• Cooperation under pressure: The Iron, Lu Ren, Su Jinghong, Nie Xiaochi, and the elders each contribute, even as their efforts fail to fully contain the threat.

Plot and key events

• Lu Ren forcibly swallows the fully formed Thunder Source Dao Ruins Elixir to protect the Withering and Flourishing Alchemy Pavilion. Its power begins tearing apart his Battle Body.
• Elder Yao Zhen says Lu Ren has less than a ten percent chance of surviving. He is placed in the Discarded Pill Pool while the elders rebuild the Heaven-Refining Divine Furnace Formation to contain the pill’s power.
• Su Jinghong and Nie Xiaochi search the pavilion library for a way to save him. They find a method in the notes left by Su Jinghong’s master: her Medicine Spirit Dao Body can refine the elixir inside Lu Ren, but the procedure requires them to kiss while circulating the technique.
• As the pool becomes increasingly dangerous and the elders struggle to hold the formation, Su Jinghong plunges in despite her own injuries. She reaches the suffering Lu Ren, embraces him, activates her Dao Body, and kisses him to begin the treatment.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Ren is shown as self-sacrificing: though he could have left, he risks death to defend Su Jinghong and the pavilion.
• Su Jinghong moves from confusion and worry about Lu Ren’s motives to determined action. Despite her inexperience and embarrassment, she accepts the intimate remedy and risks further harm to save him.
• Nie Xiaochi feels responsible for bringing Lu Ren to the pavilion and is eager to help, while teasing Su Jinghong about the unusual treatment.
• Elder Yao Zhen gives a grim assessment, oversees the containment effort, and recognizes what Su Jinghong intends when she enters the pool.

Significant themes

• Sacrifice and gratitude: Lu Ren’s willingness to endanger himself inspires Su Jinghong to risk her own safety for him.
• Duty and responsibility: The characters feel accountable for protecting the pavilion and for one another.
• Trust and intimacy: Su Jinghong’s decision to use a deeply personal method marks a significant step in her relationship with Lu Ren.
• Power and peril: The elixir’s immense medicinal force offers potential strength but threatens to destroy its host.

Key plot points and events

• Lu Ren nearly dies when the Thunder Source Dao Ruins Elixir’s lightning threatens to tear apart his Battle Body. Su Jinghong uses her Medicine Spirit Dao Body to create a pill-furnace phantom around him, channeling her power through a kiss to suppress and refine the elixir.
• Over three days, Lu Ren works with Su Jinghong to refine the elixir. Its sentience is erased, though most of its potency remains inside him.
• Lu Ren uses that potency to temper his Chaos Great Dao Origin, drawing on the World Origin power of his Chaos Great Dao World. The elixir’s mixed energies suit his Chaos nature and expose hidden impurities in his Origin, allowing him to strengthen it further.
• Thirty years pass while Lu Ren cultivates in the Discarded Pill Pool. The wider Great Wilderness has searched for him without success.
• Chi Ming and Wan Huang, now both in the Dao-Proving Realm, arrive at the Withering and Flourishing Alchemy Valley with ten other Dao-Proving experts. They demand to confront Lu Ren over his having taken all the Dreamshade Flowers. Su Jinghong and Nie Xiaochi go to meet them.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Ren moves from near-fatal danger to a focused breakthrough opportunity, realizing his Chaos Great Dao Origin still has room to improve. He accepts Su Jinghong’s help and then commits himself to refining the elixir’s power.
• Su Jinghong demonstrates both the strength and limits of her Medicine Spirit Dao Body: she can refine the elixir through Lu Ren, but could not safely absorb it herself. Though embarrassed by their intimate method, she stays composed and puts his survival first.
• Nie Xiaochi remains concerned for Lu Ren during his long cultivation and stands with Su Jinghong when the valley is threatened.
• Chi Ming and Wan Huang have grown dramatically stronger over thirty years and now lead a force capable of challenging the alchemy pavilion. Their confrontation with Su Jinghong and Nie Xiaochi opens the chapter’s new conflict.

Significant themes

• Cooperation and trust: Su Jinghong’s unusual intervention saves Lu Ren, who responds by working in tandem with her.
• Cultivation through refinement: Lu Ren’s progress comes not just from absorbing power, but from uncovering and removing flaws in his foundation.
• Long-term consequences: Lu Ren’s earlier acquisition of the Dreamshade Flowers fuels the enemies’ pursuit, culminating in a direct assault on the valley.
• Power escalation: The thirty-year gap transforms Chi Ming and Wan Huang into Dao-Proving experts, raising the stakes around Lu Ren’s continued seclusion.

Key plot points and events

• Chi Ming and Wan Huang arrive at Withering and Flourishing Alchemy Valley, demanding that Lu Ren be handed over. Chi Ming threatens to search the valley himself.
• Su Jinghong attacks Chi Ming, but he overwhelms her with Crimson Heaven Dao-Melting, a powerful flame technique. She is badly hurt, and Nie Xiaochi helps her.
• Chi Ming reveals that the Pavilion Master has left—information the disciples had kept secret—making their defenses seem vulnerable.
• Elder Yao Zhen and seven other elders arrive and refuse to surrender Lu Ren. They activate the Divine Furnace Heavenly Fire Array, trapping Chi Ming, Wan Huang, and their Dao-Proving experts.
• The array withstands their attacks for the moment, though the elders struggle to maintain it and Su Jinghong doubts it will hold for long.
• While the confrontation distracts everyone, Gui Shaoyin sneaks into the valley. He plans to steal a pill from the pavilion.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Jinghong shows courage by confronting Chi Ming despite his greater strength. After being injured, she remains determined to defend the valley.
• Nie Xiaochi supports Su Jinghong and tries to deter Chi Ming by invoking the Pavilion Master, then insists Lu Ren is not there.
• Chi Ming is confident and ruthless, openly exploiting the Pavilion Master’s absence and pressing his demand for Lu Ren.
• Elder Yao Zhen and the elders unite to defend the valley, risking themselves to activate the array.
• Wan Huang joins the assault, using his nine wooden swords to damage the array, but the elders repair it.
• Gui Shaoyin takes advantage of the chaos, revealing a separate plan to steal a pill.

Significant themes

• Defending home and loyalty: The elders and disciples stand together against powerful intruders.
• Strength versus strategy: Though outmatched individually, the valley’s defenders use their array to resist the attackers.
• Secrecy and vulnerability: The revelation that the Pavilion Master is gone shifts the balance of power.
• Opportunism: Gui Shaoyin exploits the battle as cover for his own scheme.

Plot points and events

• Gui Shaoyin confronts the two guardian elders outside the Withering and Flourishing Alchemy Pavilion and demands the Soul-Evolution Pill, revealing that he knows it is inside the Withering and Flourishing Heaven-Refining Furnace.
• When the elders resist, Gui Shaoyin defeats and kills them with the Black Ancient Sword and his two Desolate Body clones. He then enters the pavilion.
• Meanwhile, Lu Ren completes thirty years of cultivation in the Discarded Pill Pool. After fully tempering his Chaos Great Dao Origin with medicinal power and World Origin, he breaks through to the Ultimate Dao Stage, gaining power far beyond his previous level.
• Hearing the valley shake, Lu Ren discovers the slain elders. One points toward the pavilion before dying, prompting Lu Ren to investigate.
• Inside the furnace’s independent golden space, Gui Shaoyin locates the silver-white Soul-Evolution Pill and tries to seize it. Lu Ren arrives and interrupts him with a sword strike.

Character developments and interactions

• Gui Shaoyin demonstrates overwhelming combat ability, dispatching both guardian elders quickly. He seeks the pill to win greater favor from the pavilion master and secure an Exquisite Dao Heart.
• Lu Ren reaches the Ultimate Dao Stage, marking a major leap in strength. He shifts from cultivation to confronting the intruder after finding the dying elder.
• Gui Shaoyin and Lu Ren meet face-to-face in the furnace. Gui Shaoyin is stunned that Lu Ren is genuinely in the pavilion—especially since Gui himself had spread that very rumor to distract its defenders while he stole the pill.

Significant themes

• Power gained through endurance and cultivation: Lu Ren’s long refinement culminates in a decisive breakthrough.
• Ambition and betrayal: Gui Shaoyin murders the pavilion’s guardians to obtain the pill and advance his standing.
• Irony and unintended consequences: Gui Shaoyin’s false rumor turns out to be true, bringing him into direct conflict with Lu Ren.

Plot points and events

• Gui Shaoyin infiltrates the Withering and Flourishing Alchemy Pavilion to steal a Soul-Evolution Pill, but Lu Ren confronts him, determined to protect the pavilion that helped him.
• Gui Shaoyin, now in the Dao-Proving Realm, dismisses Lu Ren’s challenge and attacks. Lu Ren’s Chaos-powered palm meets Gui’s ghostly strike head-on, revealing that Gui’s raw strength still surpasses his.
• Gui summons nine Desolate Bodies, but Lu Ren uses One Thought, One Dream to trap Gui and his bodies in a dream. The technique shatters the Desolate Bodies and lets Lu Ren’s sword damage Gui’s Battle Body and Great Dao Origin.
• Despite his injury, Gui retains a strength advantage in direct combat. Lu Ren then deploys the Six Paths Reincarnation Canon; the Eight-Armed Asura Dharma Body breaks through Gui’s defenses and batters him badly.
• With Gui near defeat and reluctant to abandon the pill, Lu Ren demands to know what the Measure Pavilion is. Gui boasts that it will eventually rule the Great Thousand World and offers Lu a chance to join. Lu rejects the implication, and the chapter ends as the Asura Dharma Body attacks again.

Character developments

• Lu Ren demonstrates major growth: although he cannot overpower Gui outright, he combines his dream technique, sword, and Six Paths Reincarnation Canon to turn the fight in his favor. He also shows loyalty to the alchemy pavilion and determination to uncover the Measure Pavilion’s secrets.
• Gui Shaoyin is revealed as a formidable but vulnerable Dao-Proving Realm expert. His confidence falters as Lu’s techniques exploit his comparatively weak soul, and his greed for the pill competes with his instinct to escape. He remains fiercely loyal to—or invested in—the Measure Pavilion.

Significant themes

• Power versus strategy: Gui’s higher cultivation gives him a physical edge, but Lu’s varied techniques and tactical use of Gui’s weakness prove decisive.
• Ambition and its cost: Gui’s pursuit of the pill and commitment to the Measure Pavilion leave him exposed to mortal danger.
• Loyalty and responsibility: Lu risks himself to defend those who helped him.
• A growing hidden threat: Gui’s claims about the Measure Pavilion suggest a broader conflict beyond this duel.

Character interactions

• Lu and Gui exchange taunts and threats rooted in their past rivalry: Gui blames Lu for ruining his plans, while Lu insists he can defeat him again.
• Their battle becomes a contest between Gui’s cultivation and Lu’s specialized techniques, especially when Lu targets Gui’s weakened soul.
• Lu attempts to interrogate Gui about the Measure Pavilion, but Gui responds with a boastful recruitment offer rather than useful details.

Key plot points and events

• Inside the Withering and Flourishing Heaven-Refining Furnace, Gui Shaoyin’s fight with Lu Ren turns against him. After his sword is knocked away, he uses the life-risking Ten Thousand Daos Return-to-Void Canon to break Lu Ren’s Eight-Armed Asura Dharma Body, then flees before Lu Ren can counter. Lu Ren leaves the furnace as well.
• Outside, Chi Ming and Wan Ling break the Divine Furnace Heavenly Fire Array, injuring Yao Zhen and the other elders. Chi Ming insists he only wants Lu Ren and threatens to force his way in.
• Su Jinghong swallows more than a thousand fourth-tier Dao pills and uses a powerful technique derived from her Medicine Spirit Dao Body. Her green pill furnace clashes with Chi Ming’s fire wheel, injuring him—but the feat consumes all her pills, leaving her unable to repeat it.
• Chi Ming attacks again. Just before his fire wheel hits Su Jinghong, a huge piece of World-Pacifying Black Tortoise Iron intercepts and destroys it.
• Lu Ren emerges from the valley. His appearance shocks Chi Ming and Wan Huang, while Nie Xiaochi fears that even if Lu Ren has advanced to the Ultimate Dao Stage, he may still be outmatched.

Character developments and interactions

• Gui Shaoyin recognizes that he cannot win and sacrifices his Dao Power to escape, choosing survival over continuing the fight.
• Lu Ren defeats Gui Shaoyin’s immediate threat and then returns to the conflict outside, where his enemies are waiting.
• Su Jinghong demonstrates unexpected strength and resolve, defending Lu Ren and the alchemists despite the personal cost. Her clash with Chi Ming reveals that she can wound a powerful opponent, but only through a resource-intensive technique.
• Chi Ming remains determined to capture Lu Ren. He dismisses the alchemists’ resistance, but Su Jinghong’s attack surprises and injures him.
• Nie Xiaochi and the elders rally around Su Jinghong, anxious as Chi Ming’s attacks threaten her.

Significant themes

• The cost of power: Gui Shaoyin’s secret art damages his Dao Power, while Su Jinghong’s technique consumes all her pills.
• Courage and loyalty: Su Jinghong and the elders risk themselves to protect Lu Ren and their home.
• Escalating danger and uncertainty: Lu Ren’s return brings hope, but his ability to face Chi Ming and Wan Huang remains in doubt.

Plot points and events

• Lu Ren confronts Chi Ming and Wan Huang, revealing that Gui Shaoyin used their assault on the Withering and Flourishing Alchemy Pavilion to sneak inside and steal pills. Lu Ren says he drove Gui Shaoyin away, a claim that shocks them.
• Wan Huang attacks with his Nine Exotic Wood Swords. Lu Ren initially blocks them, but their force breaks his sword and drives him back.
• Wan Huang invokes Myriad Spirits Sword Mound, a powerful inherited Primordial Divine Ability. Its hundreds of sword-bearing trees form a deadly formation that traps Lu Ren and overwhelms his defenses.
• Realizing he cannot win through ordinary means—and that his dream technique is unavailable or too risky—Lu Ren uses the Ten Thousand Daos Return-to-Void Canon. The technique transforms his Dao Power and greatly amplifies his strength.
• Lu Ren breaks out of the sword tomb, counters Wan Huang’s Nine Dragons attack by swallowing it with the Void Dao Abyss, and seizes the Nine Exotic Wood Swords.
• Recognizing the canon, Wan Huang and the Myriad Spirits elders fear Lu Ren’s power. Chi Ming orders the group’s twelve fighters to attack together.

Character developments

• Lu Ren shifts from defensive struggle to decisive offense, revealing a powerful technique that allows him to overcome Wan Huang’s superior pressure. He remains wary and tactical, aware that his earlier method of defeating Gui Shaoyin cannot easily be repeated.
• Wan Huang begins confident that Lu Ren is no match for him, but becomes furious and alarmed when his strongest attacks are neutralized and his treasured swords are captured.
• Chi Ming initially dismisses Lu Ren because of his cultivation level, then recognizes the threat and resolves to have the group attack as one.
• Nie Xiaochi and Su Jinghong show concern as Lu Ren appears trapped and outmatched.

Significant themes

• Hidden strength and underestimated opponents: Lu Ren’s apparent disadvantage conceals a technique capable of radically changing the battle.
• Power and its costs or limits: The Return-to-Void Canon boosts Lu Ren’s strength, but his need to use it reflects the difficulty of confronting a Desolate Ranking expert head-on.
• Tactics versus brute force: Lu Ren considers the risks of relying on surprise and chooses a more direct, decisive counter.
• Collective threat: Even after Lu Ren turns the battle around, his enemies’ numbers make the conflict far from over.

Character interactions

• Lu Ren taunts Chi Ming and Wan Huang with the revelation that Gui Shaoyin used them as cover, then claims responsibility for driving him off.
• Wan Huang repeatedly attacks Lu Ren, first with the Nine Exotic Wood Swords and then with Myriad Spirits Sword Mound.
• Nie Xiaochi and Su Jinghong watch anxiously as Lu Ren’s defenses fail.
• After Lu Ren overwhelms Wan Huang’s signature weapons, an elder identifies his technique, prompting Wan Huang and Chi Ming to call for a united attack.

Key plot points and events

• Lu Ren uses the Great Dao Sect’s Ten Thousand Daos Return-to-Void Canon to overwhelm Wan Huang. The technique greatly boosts his power, but leaves him dangerously weakened after he exhausts his Dao Power.
• Knowing this weakness, ten Early Dao-Proving experts from the Myriad Spirits and Crimson Nether clans attack together. Lu Ren tells Su Jinghong to protect him once the fight is over, then meets the attackers head-on.
• Lu Ren wounds one expert at the Great Dao Origin and severely injures another, using the Nine Exotic Wood Swords, his Void Instant-Kill Sword, and the Void Afterimage technique to evade and counter their attacks.
• Wan Huang and the others try to trap and wear Lu Ren down. Lu Ren escapes their vine array and returns to Su Jinghong and the others, while the enemy leaders vow to attack him all at once.
• The ten experts unleash a combined barrage. Lu Ren answers with Ten Thousand Daos Return-to-Void Palm, a vast, vortex-centered strike. The chapter ends as his palm collides with their attack.

Character developments

• Lu Ren displays overwhelming skill and tactical speed, but his reliance on the canon carries a serious cost: he expects to be vulnerable after using it.
• Wan Huang shifts from confidence to alarm and fury as Lu Ren defeats and outmaneuvers the experts. He remains determined to kill Lu Ren.
• Chi Ming recognizes Lu Ren’s power but believes the group can still restrain him through coordinated attacks.
• Su Jinghong is ready to intervene and is entrusted with protecting Lu Ren after the battle.

Significant themes

• Power and its price: Lu Ren’s extraordinary strength is temporary and will leave him weakened.
• Unity versus individual prowess: The clans rely on overwhelming numbers and coordination, while Lu Ren repeatedly breaks their formations.
• Courage under pressure: Despite being surrounded by top-tier opponents, Lu Ren continues to meet their attacks directly.

Character interactions

• Lu Ren warns Su Jinghong about his coming weakness and asks her to guard him.
• The enemy experts coordinate their attacks, with Wan Huang urging them to exhaust Lu Ren and Chi Ming acknowledging the danger he poses.
• Lu Ren’s repeated counters frustrate and alarm his opponents, escalating their effort into a united final assault.

Key plot points and events

• Lu Ren’s Ten Thousand Daos Return-to-Void Palm dismantles the combined attack of Chi Ming, Wan Huang, and their allies, turning their power into fuel for an even stronger strike. It breaks through their defensive treasures and gravely wounds all ten Early Dao-Proving Realm fighters.
• The technique nearly exhausts Lu Ren, leaving his Great Dao Origin shattered and his aura weak. Chi Ming and Wan Huang retreat with their forces rather than risk another fight.
• As Nie Xiaochi helps Lu Ren back toward the Withering and Flourishing Alchemy Pavilion, a black-robed expert appears. His overwhelming pressure immobilizes everyone present; Yao Zhen identifies him as a Great Perfection Dao-Proving Realm cultivator.
• Lu Ren uses the little power he has left to attack, but the stranger easily shatters the palm strike, injures Lu Ren, and captures him. Nie Xiaochi’s attempt to intervene also fails.
• The stranger heads deeper into the valley, but its plants and treasures suddenly revive amid a medicinal fragrance. Alarmed, he tries to flee with Lu Ren—only for a woman’s voice to summon a scarlet-gold Pill Furnace that crashes down toward him.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Ren demonstrates extraordinary strength and resolve, defeating a far larger group, but the cost leaves him vulnerable to a vastly stronger enemy.
• Chi Ming and Wan Huang shift from aggression to retreat after their forces are decisively beaten.
• Nie Xiaochi tries to protect Lu Ren, showing concern and courage, but is overwhelmed by the black-robed man’s pressure.
• The black-robed stranger reveals that he specifically sought Lu Ren for his Void of Destiny Battle Body. His capture attempt is interrupted by the valley’s mysterious defender.

Significant themes

• Power and its price: Lu Ren’s spectacular technique consumes nearly all his strength, showing that overwhelming power can leave its user exposed.
• Strength has limits: Lu Ren’s victory over many formidable opponents is followed by his helplessness before a Great Perfection expert.
• Loyalty and protection: Nie Xiaochi risks herself to help Lu Ren despite the danger.
• Nature’s hidden power: The valley’s sudden renewal suggests that its medicinal life—and the woman defending it—may be more powerful than the intruder expected.

• Key events: The Withering and Flourishing Pavilion Master returns during the attack and kills the black-robed intruder with a flaming pill furnace, capturing his fleeing Divine Soul. After hearing Lu Ren’s account of Gui Shaoyin’s attempted theft of the Soul-Evolution Pill, she suspects Measure Pavilion is behind the assault. She gives Lu Ren a healing pill. He recovers in a month, but waits a year before she summons him.
• The pill request: Because Lu Ren protected the Soul-Evolution Pill, the Pavilion Master offers to grant him a favor. He asks for a Soul-Burying Heaven-Deceiving Pill on someone else’s behalf. She refuses, explaining that refining it could bring heavenly punishment. Lu Ren then passes her a jade slip from his mysterious patron, Dao Wujun. After reading it, she reacts with shock and says Lu Ren was sent by “the Master.”
• Character developments: Lu Ren remains cautious about revealing Dao Wujun’s identity, but follows through by delivering the message. The Pavilion Master’s immense strength and authority are revealed, as is her concern that Measure Pavilion threatens her organization. Lu Ren’s cultivation, damaged by his earlier technique, is restored with her pill.
• Interactions and themes: The Pavilion Master shows gratitude to Lu Ren while maintaining firm limits on dangerous requests. Nie Xiaochi supports Lu Ren during his recovery and brings him to meet her master. The chapter emphasizes hidden alliances and escalating political danger, the risks of defying heavenly law, and the vast differences in power even among practitioners at the same cultivation level.

Key plot points and events

• Lu Ren reveals that Dao Wujun’s remnant soul survives, sealed inside the Great Dao Hundred-Refinements Tower.
• The Withering and Flourishing Pavilion Master explains that Wujun once guided her, founded the Great Dao Sect, and transformed the peoples of the Great Dao River. She later learned of his death.
• Wujun had asked her to refine a Soul-Burying Heaven-Deceiving Pill to revive him, but the recipe requires Nine-Turn Soul Source Grass. She used her only stalk to make a Soul-Evolution Pill, which can help a cultivator reach the Six-Leaf Realm.
• The mysterious Measure Pavilion tried and failed to refine its own Soul-Evolution Pill, suggesting it may still possess the rare grass. The Pavilion Master is willing to trade her pill for it.
• Lu Ren says he may know how to locate the Measure Pavilion. The Pavilion Master doubts him, since even powerful factions have failed to find its hidden headquarters.
• Lu Ren also reminds her that he has only a little over forty years before he must return to honor his Fated Covenant with Cang Xuanming, making time a concern.

Character developments and interactions

• The Pavilion Master reveals her deep loyalty and affection for Dao Wujun, and her determination to revive him—even at the cost of giving up a valuable pill.
• Lu Ren shifts from learning about Wujun’s past to actively offering help, claiming he can find the Measure Pavilion. He remains focused on his own looming obligation as well.
• The two discuss the Measure Pavilion’s secrecy and possible motives. The Pavilion Master shares what she learned from a captured protector, while Lu Ren connects the group to other unusual events, including Gui Shaoyin’s departure from the Great Dao Sect and rapid mastery of a powerful canon.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and sacrifice: The Pavilion Master’s devotion to her former mentor drives her willingness to surrender a rare treasure.
• Legacy and revival: Wujun’s teachings reshaped an entire region, and his surviving remnant soul offers a chance to restore him.
• Secrecy and hidden motives: The Measure Pavilion’s anonymity and unexplained influence create growing suspicion.
• Urgency and uncertainty: The rare ingredient and Lu Ren’s approaching deadline make the search difficult, while his proposed method offers a fragile possibility.

Summary

Lu Ren leaves the Withering and Flourishing Pavilion Master’s quarters after she agrees to protect him. She warns him to keep her master and their relationship secret. Nie Xiaochi confirms that Lu Ren’s earlier help earned him the Pavilion Master’s support, and tells him that powerful factions across the Great Wilderness are condemning him. Lu Ren returns to his lodging and cultivates while waiting for the badly injured Gui Shaoyin to sleep, hoping to enter his dream using the perfected Hidden Dream, Traceless technique.
A month later, the Myriad Spirits and Crimson Flame Heaven-Melding Clan arrive at the valley in force, demanding Lu Ren. The Pavilion Master refuses to surrender him, reminding them that they previously tried to force their way into her territory and declaring Lu Ren an honored guest under her protection. She threatens to burn anyone who tries to seize him in her formidable Red-Gold Dao-Burning Furnace, a Great Dao supreme treasure. The two clans withdraw, but the Pavilion Master suspects they will return.
Another month passes before a much larger coalition—over a thousand people, including experts from the Great Wilderness’s major clans—surrounds the pavilion. Violet Sun Dao Venerable calls for Lu Ren to come out, apparently invoking an old grievance over the Dreamshade Flower. Lu Ren suspects the flower is only a pretext and that the factions’ real aim is to eliminate him, possibly after the Myriad Spirits spread information about him. Nie Xiaochi urges him not to go outside. Su Jinghong arrives with the Pavilion Master’s order to escort Lu Ren away until the crisis passes—but an unseen voice interrupts, and Su Jinghong and Nie Xiaochi react with alarm.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Ren accepts the Pavilion Master’s protection, remains cautious about his enemies, and continues pursuing his plan involving Gui Shaoyin’s dreams.
• The Pavilion Master shows fierce loyalty and formidable authority, openly risking conflict with two major clans to defend Lu Ren.
• Nie Xiaochi expresses gratitude and concern for Lu Ren, warning him about the growing threat.
• Su Jinghong acts on the Pavilion Master’s orders to help Lu Ren escape, but the attempt is interrupted.
• The opposing clans and coalition escalate from direct demands to a mass show of force, suggesting their hostility is becoming more coordinated.

Significant themes

The chapter emphasizes loyalty and protection, as the Pavilion Master stands by Lu Ren despite the political cost; escalating power struggles, as more factions gather against him; and secrecy and hidden motives, reflected in Lu Ren’s concealed soul technique, the Pavilion Master’s private ties, and the apparent pretext of the Dreamshade Flower.

Plot points and events

• Young Master Snake Spirit, a Dao-Proving Realm expert of the Formless Heavenly Serpent Clan, reveals that he has infiltrated the alchemy pavilion and orders Lu Ren to come with him.
• Lu Ren refuses and fights him. He parries Snake Spirit’s elusive serpent-style swordsmanship, eventually recognizing its underlying Grand Dao True Intent and turning the advantage.
• Snake Spirit uses the clan’s soul-attacking divine ability, Heavenly Serpent Soul Devour, but it has no effect on Lu Ren. He then tries Formless Heaven-Evasion; Lu Ren counters with Dream Entry, briefly trapping him in a dream and landing a blow.
• Lu Ren unleashes Myriad Weapons Slaying the Dao and seals Snake Spirit inside a Void Forbidden Domain. The barrage overwhelms him, and Lu Ren captures him.
• Su Jinghong urges Lu Ren not to leave, warning that the Great Wilderness factions want him dead because his talent threatens his Fated Covenant with Cang Xuanming. Lu Ren insists on walking out openly with Snake Spirit so the pavilion will not be blamed.
• Outside the valley, hostile factions wait for Lu Ren. Snake Crow Ancestor believes Snake Spirit has already captured him and will soon emerge.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Ren displays confidence and adaptability, using his Chaos Dao Contemplation, strong soul, and varied abilities to overcome a more experienced opponent. He chooses to face the danger outside rather than let the pavilion suffer for protecting him.
• Young Master Snake Spirit begins as a cocky hunter, sure his swordsmanship and clan techniques will prevail. His confidence gives way to shock as Lu Ren counters each attack and defeats him.
• Su Jinghong is alarmed for Lu Ren and offers to help him escape, but he refuses her offer to protect the pavilion.
• Snake Crow Ancestor assumes his clan’s plan has succeeded, unaware that Snake Spirit has been captured.

Significant themes

• Knowledge and adaptability overcome power: Lu Ren’s ability to understand an opponent’s techniques matters as much as raw strength.
• Hidden strength and reversed expectations: The supposed captive defeats his captor, while the waiting factions misunderstand what has happened.
• Responsibility and sacrifice: Lu Ren accepts danger rather than endanger the pavilion that sheltered him.

Plot and key events

• Snake Crow Ancestor reveals that Young Master Snake Spirit infiltrated the Withering and Flourishing Alchemy Pavilion to capture Lu Ren, while Snake Crow Ancestor kept the pavilion master occupied.
• Before their plan can unfold, Lu Ren emerges carrying Snake Spirit, having already defeated and captured him. He returns to confront the assembled clans rather than fleeing with Su Jinghong.
• Lu Ren declares that efforts to kill him only show how much the powerful fear his potential. He vows to kill Cang Xuanming when their Fated Covenant comes due.
• Several clans boast of the rare resources they have given Cang Xuanming to prepare him for that fight. Lu Ren challenges them to face him over the Dreamshade Flower, but none initially dares.
• Ancestors from the Myriad Spirits, Crimson Flame Heaven-Melding Clan, and Formless Heavenly Serpent Clan step forward to attack. Pavilion Master Withering and Flourishing shields Lu Ren, repels their divine abilities, and counters with her fiery techniques and the Red-Gold Dao-Burning Furnace. The chapter ends as the ancestors summon their Grand Dao treasures to meet her attack.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Ren displays confidence and fearlessness, having overcome Snake Spirit and openly challenged the factions backing Cang Xuanming. His confrontation turns a covert assassination attempt into an open showdown.
• Young Master Snake Spirit is reduced from a feared Dao-Proving prodigy to a humiliated captive, undermining the clans’ confidence in their plan.
• Pavilion Master Withering and Flourishing moves from concern about being outnumbered to decisive defense of Lu Ren, demonstrating formidable power against multiple ancestors at once.
• Snake Crow Ancestor is exposed as the distraction behind Snake Spirit’s infiltration and reacts angrily when his scheme fails.
• The assembled clans reveal their investment in Cang Xuanming and their anxiety about Lu Ren. Their threats escalate into a direct clash when Lu Ren refuses to back down.

Significant themes

• Fear of rising talent: The powerful factions’ attempt to eliminate Lu Ren suggests that his growing strength threatens the future they have planned around Cang Xuanming.
• Power and confidence: Lu Ren’s actions challenge the assumption that rank, bloodline, or accumulated resources guarantee victory.
• Loyalty and protection: The pavilion master risks confronting several powerful clans to protect Lu Ren.
• Escalating rivalry: The dispute over the Dreamshade Flower and the coming Fated Covenant shifts from political maneuvering toward open conflict.

Key plot points and events

• A battle erupts near the Withering and Flourishing Alchemy Valley as several powerful treasures collide. The Pavilion Master urges Lu Ren to escape, while Snake Crow Ancestor and the other factions try to prevent him from getting away.
• Instead of fleeing, Lu Ren calmly approaches his pursuers and disappears in a flash of seven-colored light, leaving no trace of spatial energy. Unable to explain his escape, the hostile factions withdraw, and the valley returns to peace.
• The Pavilion Master realizes Lu Ren likely came out deliberately: his public disappearance gives the factions no reason to keep accusing the pavilion of hiding him.
• Elsewhere, Gui Shaoyin—injured and resentful that Lu Ren cost him the Soul-Evolution Pill and a chance to become the Great Dao Sect’s Daoist—appears to dream that Lu Ren has infiltrated the Measure Pavilion and killed him.
• Gui Shaoyin wakes, relieved that the encounter seemed unreal, but Lu Ren then emerges from the chamber’s shadows and says he will kill him in reality as well.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Ren displays extraordinary composure and mysterious abilities. He refuses to be controlled by his pursuers, then appears to have deliberately engineered his public escape. His sudden presence in Gui Shaoyin’s supposedly secure chamber suggests he can reach places others consider inaccessible.
• The Pavilion Master shifts from alarm to admiration, recognizing that Lu Ren’s actions also protect the pavilion from further pressure.
• Gui Shaoyin is revealed as deeply consumed by resentment and fear. His anger over Lu Ren’s past interference has become a nightmare—and his terror intensifies when Lu Ren appears for real.
• Snake Crow Ancestor and the other factions fail to capture Lu Ren and disperse once he vanishes.

Significant themes

• Power and the unknowable: Lu Ren’s disappearance defies the experts’ understanding of spatial techniques.
• Fear becoming reality: Gui Shaoyin’s nightmare reflects how thoroughly Lu Ren has become his psychological tormentor.
• Strategic appearances: Lu Ren’s public escape serves a larger purpose by ending the factions’ pretext for harassing the pavilion.