Recaps

Song Yan defeated Jiang Tang'er and seized control of the fight, but Ji Zhi intervened and forced him into a confrontation. Song Yan unleashed his Sword Domain and Avīci Prison, leaving Ji Zhi wounded and stunned as the battle escalated.

• Song Yan overwhelmed Jiang Tang'er, severed her connection to the Ancient Wheel, and demanded that she stop the Mechanism Puppet.
• Ji Zhi sensed the battle, arrived at the scene, and knocked Song Yan away from Jiang Tang'er with a gale of Spiritual Power.
• Jiang Tang'er spotted a girl secretly putting the Spirit-Guiding Ancient Wheel into a travel bag.
• Ji Zhi recognized Song Yan, who revealed his face and prepared to fight him with Flying Swords and a Supreme Sword-Nurturing Pill.
• Song Yan formed a Sword Domain and activated the Avīci Illustrated Scroll, then cut through Ji Zhi's body-protecting Spiritual Power and wounded his waist.

Ying Yu’s attempt to help Song Yan by damaging the Spirit-Guiding Ancient Wheel crippled Jiang Tang’er’s Golden Core Realm puppet, allowing Song Yan to kill Ji Zhi and Jiang Tang’er. After the battle, Song Yan thanked Ying Yu and asked the mysterious gray-robed Mechanism Puppet who had saved her for its name.

• Jiang Tang’er chased Ying Yu through the ruins to reclaim the Ancient Wheel, while Ying Yu tried to work out how to stop the Mechanism Puppet.
• Ying Yu smashed the Ancient Wheel against a stone pillar, disrupting the puppet and giving Song Yan’s Void-Aspect Dharma Body an opening to destroy it.
• Jiang Tang’er bound Ying Yu with spiritual threads, but a gray-robed Mechanism Puppet cut the threads and intervened.
• Song Yan appeared with Ji Zhi’s severed head, then killed Jiang Tang’er and had Yin-Sha Cold Flame burn both enemies’ remains.
• Song Yan explained that his sword techniques could now challenge Golden Core Early Stage cultivators and thanked Ying Yu for helping him stop Ji Zhi from escaping.
• The gray-robed puppet praised Song Yan’s swordsmanship and introduced itself as a nameless puppet, though the character Zhi was engraved on its forehead.

Song Yan and Ying Yu left the Spirit Abyss after Xiao Zhi rescued Ying Yu, while Xiao Fengjing and Deng Su uncovered clues elsewhere in the tomb. At the deepest gate, a scarred man emerged, sensed a Heavenly Mechanism Sect disciple, and decided not to disrupt the Immortal Tomb’s formation yet.

• Xiao Zhi rescued Ying Yu, introduced herself by the name Song Yan suggested, and eagerly asked him to spar before accepting his refusal.
• Song Yan gave Xiao Zhi a Jade Slip with a map of the Bing-Character Area and a marked location that might help her uncover her past, then left with Ying Yu and his void-aspect dharma body.
• Xiao Fengjing and a woman in green robes inspected Ji Zhi’s corpse, and Xiao Fengjing dissolved it before deciding to return to the Red Mountain Forest Sea.
• Deng Su found and burned a spirit-dispatching Treasure Talisman, which transformed into a tongbao coin, then departed after confirming his suspicions.
• A scarred man emerged from a crack in the enormous gate at the deepest reaches of the Spirit Abyss, sensed traces of Fire Trigram, and chose not to change the Immortal Tomb’s formation.

Song Yan returned from the abyss, sorted the treasures he had obtained, and examined Ji Zhi’s possessions. He discovered that Tongjun’s Pharmacopoeia identified two pills in Zhang Xingming’s bag as Wangxi Pills that could greatly improve the chances of Core Formation.

• Song Yan reached a departure platform with Little Butterfly and his Void-Aspect Dharma Body, where cultivators waited under the Dharma Body’s imposing Golden Core pressure.
• Xiao Fengjing, Deng Su, and Liu Changhai arrived at the platform, and Song Yan later led the gathered cultivators through the formations and back to the surface.
• Song Yan returned to his cave abode at Phoenix Creek Cliff and sorted his spoils, including a possible upper-grade spirit stone, cultivation methods, and Law Treasures.
• Song Yan examined Ji Zhi’s belongings and set aside a golden Spiritual Object, the Ji-Character Jade Slip, the Bronze Lamp, and three Jade Slips.
• Song Yan read Tongjun’s Pharmacopoeia and recognized the Wangxi Pills from Zhang Xingming’s bag as pills that could increase a Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivator’s chances of Core Formation by thirty percentage points.

Song Yan examined the treasures he had found beneath the Spirit Abyss, identified a rare spiritual source, and decided to remain in Luo Abyss to grow stronger while investigating why Zhang Xingming had targeted him. After the expedition ended, he summoned Deng Su and revealed that he had killed Ji Zhi and recovered the Heavenly Mechanism Sect’s ancient lamp, then asked Deng Su to offer Primordial Chaos Spiritual Objects in exchange.

• Song Yan read a Jade Slip about traditional Sword Cultivators, recognized his black-gold material as the rare spiritual source Jiafeng, and decided to wait until after the Cloud Valley gathering before refining it.
• Song Yan studied a map of White Jade Capital, chose to stay in Luo Abyss for several more years, and continued wondering why Zhang Xingming had attacked him.
• Half a month later, cultivators returned from the Spirit Abyss, and rumors spread that Ji Zhi had not come back.
• Song Yan invited Deng Su to Phoenix Creek Cliff, discussed the missing Ji Zhi and the ancient lamp, then revealed that he had killed Ji Zhi and recovered it.
• Song Yan offered to return the lamp to Deng Su and asked for Primordial Chaos Spiritual Objects to compensate for his losses.

Song Yan arranged to sell Deng Su the Primordial Chaos Sky Lantern for three hundred thousand Spirit Stones, then learned about the vanished Youluo Sect during a Nuo Realm meeting. At the Cloud Valley Gathering, he encountered Little Butterfly and noticed a large Azure Alliance presence that locals linked to a theft.

• Song Yan agreed to give Deng Su the lantern after receiving a hundred and fifty thousand Spirit Stones at the gathering, with the remaining payment to follow.
• At the Nuo Realm meeting, Song Yan asked about Puppet Mechanist sects and learned that the Youluo Sect had once specialized in mechanism and puppet techniques.
• Song Yan considered whether the Youluo Sect’s disappearance could make his jade slip valuable, while deciding to conceal his identity if he sold it.
• At the Cloud Valley Gathering, Song Yan found Little Butterfly selling assorted goods and learned she had earned around twenty or thirty thousand Spirit Stones.
• Song Yan saw increased Red Mountain Association patrols and many Azure Alliance cultivators, then heard that the Azure Alliance leader had ordered their attendance because something had been stolen.

Song Yan consigned two Law Treasures at Cloud Valley’s auction, bought Five-Virtues Treasure Flowers to test their primordial chaos, and earned a large sum when his treasures sold. After intervening to help a fleeing pickpocket escape pursuers, he revealed himself to be Song Yan and demanded that Wu Mengliu return what she had stolen from him.

• Song Yan sold his unwanted treasures for sixty-five thousand five hundred Spirit Stones and consigned two Law Treasures at the Cloud Valley auction.
• Song Yan bought two-hundred-year-old Five-Virtues Treasure Flowers and discovered that breaking their stems produced Spiritual Power that the Infinite Treasury transformed into Yin-Yang Qi.
• Song Yan’s Flying Sword sold for eighty-two thousand Spirit Stones and the Eight-Scenery Soul-Settling Mirror sold for twenty thousand, leaving him about ninety-seven thousand after deductions.
• Song Yan used his Golden Core presence to distract the Azure Alliance cultivators pursuing a fleeing woman, allowing her to escape into a secluded alley.
• Song Yan revealed his face to Wu Mengliu, seized her, and demanded that she return what she had stolen from him.

Song Yan recovered the painting Wu Mengliu had stolen years earlier, took a Black Jade Tally as compensation, and let her go with Sword Qi restrictions on her hands. After the Cloud Valley Gathering, he reclaimed most of the Spirit Stones owed by Deng Su, invested two hundred thousand Spirit Stones in the Infinite Treasury, and spent three months strengthening his Sword Qi.

• Wu Mengliu tried to escape Song Yan, but his Void-Aspect Dharma Body and Sword Qi stopped her and sealed her hands.
• Song Yan retrieved the undamaged painting from Wu Mengliu’s Heaven and Earth Bag, then found her hidden treasure cache and took its Black Jade Tally as compensation.
• Song Yan left Wu Mengliu with Sword Qi restrictions and a Baleful-Averting Ring, and she decided to return to her sect and cultivate in seclusion.
• After the Cloud Valley Gathering, Deng Su paid Song Yan 180,000 Spirit Stones and received the Primordial Chaos Sky Lantern, leaving 120,000 still owed.
• Song Yan’s wealth rose to 390,000 Spirit Stones, and he placed 200,000 into the Infinite Treasury to generate Sword Qi.
• After cultivating for three months, Song Yan found his Sword Qi more solid and estimated that he had a strong chance of reaching Core Formation within a hundred years of entering the Dao.

Song Yan endured months of agony to refine Jiafeng as his second Spiritual Source, then spent years cultivating before returning to the Spirit Abyss and preparing for Core Formation. The chapter ended with Xiao He living in Between Mountains and Seas, making clay figures of Song Yan and hoping to become strong enough to protect him.

• Song Yan studied records about Spiritual Source treasures, then spent eight months incorporating Jiafeng, enduring seven months of Geng Metal Qi destroying and healing his body before successfully refining it.
• Song Yan discovered that Jiafeng strengthened his Sword Qi, physical strength, and Spiritual Power, then resumed secluded cultivation with the Void-Aspect Dharma Body handling his errands.
• Eight years passed, during which Deng Su returned sixty thousand Spirit Stones and left to report to his sect, while Song Yan later entered the Spirit Abyss with Little Butterfly and Liu Changhai but found few clues about the lost Immortal Dynasty.
• Liu Changhai sold a treasure from the Spirit Abyss, announced that he was leaving Luohou Abyss, and said goodbye to Song Yan and Little Butterfly.
• Song Yan discussed Xiao He with Little Butterfly, then returned to his cave abode and considered his plans for another Spirit Abyss trip and eventual Core Formation.
• In Between Mountains and Seas, Xiao He made several clay figures of Song Yan and told Feng Xiao that she planned to cultivate until she could return and protect him.

Deng Su returned to Luohou Abyss, repaid Song Yan, and offered him Dragonbone Jade in exchange for help entering the Spirit Abyss. Song Yan began what he intended to be his final treasure hunt, while Deng Su searched the Ji-Character Area for traces of the clan traitor.

• Deng Su returned to Phoenix Creek Cliff, repaid Song Yan more than sixty thousand Spirit Stones, and gave him Dragonbone Jade as payment for using the jade keys.
• Song Yan learned that the Spirit Abyss would open the following month and decided this would be his last expedition before selling his keys and preparing for Core Formation.
• After the Yin Qi receded, Song Yan, Deng Su, Little Butterfly, and Ying Yu entered the Spirit Abyss and checked the residence where Song Yan had found Ruan Tongchen's letter.
• Song Yan found the letter missing and detected that a locked underground door had apparently been opened from the other side, but Xiao Zhi was nowhere in the residence.
• The group reached the Ji-Character Area, where Deng Su separated from Song Yan to search for the clan traitor; his tracking attempt failed, and he entered a nearby white jade pavilion.

Song Yan was caught in a battle between Xiao Fengjing, Huo Jun, and True Person Qingyu after his Golden Core power drew their attention. He ambushed Huo Jun with his Sword Domain and badly wounded him, but Huo Jun survived with a lifesaving treasure as the fight continued.

• Song Yan noticed three Golden Core cultivators approaching and recognized Xiao Fengjing, Huo Jun, and True Person Qingyu among them.
• Huo Jun persuaded True Person Qingyu to help kill Song Yan and Xiao Fengjing in exchange for their Heaven and Earth Bags.
• Xiao Fengjing joined Song Yan and asked him and the Void-Aspect Dharma Body to hold off Huo Jun while he fought True Person Qingyu.
• Huo Jun attacked the Void-Aspect Dharma Body with his golden hammer while True Person Qingyu pressed Xiao Fengjing with the Azure Feather Seal.
• Song Yan unleashed Sole Laughter and formed his Sword Domain, using scarlet Sword Qi to pierce Huo Jun's defenses and inflict severe wounds.
• Huo Jun detonated his Mysterious Water Life-Nurturing Pendant to stabilize his injuries, while Song Yan and the Void-Aspect Dharma Body continued attacking his protective treasures.

Xiao Fengjing awakened the Five Spirits Pact and overwhelmed True Person Qingyu, while Huo Jun trapped Song Yan and prepared a deadly Thunder Method. As Song Yan’s defenses faltered, Deng Su used Nine Words, Five Seals—Divine Silence to extinguish Huo Jun’s lightning and briefly halt his Spiritual Power.

• Xiao Fengjing completed the Five Spirits Pact, drew on the Five Elements of heaven and earth, and unleashed a barrage of spells that battered True Person Qingyu.
• Huo Jun used a giant hammer and the Mysterious Abyss Sinking-Water Barrier Spirit Talisman to pin the Void-Aspect Dharma Body and trap Song Yan in a heavy-water prison.
• Deng Su joined the battle with the Mountain Trigram formation, making it harder for Huo Jun to move within Song Yan’s Traveling Heavenly Dao Sword Domain.
• As Song Yan’s protection weakened, Huo Jun bound the Dharma Body and gathered the Shocking Thunder Firmament to strike him.
• Song Yan dispersed the Traveling Heavenly Dao Sword Domain so his three Flying Swords could free the Dharma Body from Huo Jun’s binding threads.
• Deng Su shattered his Tongbao and Bronze Puppet, then used Divine Silence to make Huo Jun’s gathered lightning vanish and briefly freeze his Spiritual Power.

Song Yan struggled to escape Huo Jun’s water prison after Deng Su’s Divine Silence disrupted the battle, but Deng Ruikai’s Nascent Soul attack killed the Golden Core fighters and the Spirit Abyss’s Yin Qi surged back. Song Yan finally broke free, yet exhaustion left him collapsing as the Yin Qi overtook him, and an indistinct figure arrived beside him.

• Deng Su used Divine Silence against the Golden Core cultivators, while Ying Yu carried him away from the battlefield.
• Deng Ruikai sensed the technique and unleashed scarlet flowing fire, killing Huo Jun, True Person Qingyu, and the other Golden Core cultivators as Song Yan severed his Dharma Body from his Golden Core.
• Song Yan thanked Deng Su, but gray-black Yin Qi swept through the Ji-Character Area, killing cultivators and forcing everyone to flee.
• Deng Su and Ying Yu tried to help Song Yan escape the water prison, then fled after their efforts failed; Deng Su left him a fourth-tier Flowing Yin Spirit-Controlling Talisman.
• Song Yan used the Purple Qi Void-Union True Art and Heavenly Dao in Motion to break the prison, but collapsed from exhaustion as the Yin Qi reached him.
• Song Yan lost consciousness after sensing someone land beside him and hearing a faint, indistinct voice.

Song Yan recovered in Xiao Zhi’s underground refuge after she rescued him from the Spirit Abyss and treated his injuries. Xiao Zhi discovered that her name was Ruan Zhi and believed she was Ruan Tongchen’s daughter, while Song Yan knew she was a Mechanism Puppet.

• Song Yan woke after five days unconscious in Xiao Zhi’s underground home, and she fed him spiritual porridge.
• Xiao Zhi explained that she had found Song Yan cold but alive, treated him, and returned his Heaven and Earth Bag so he could recover with pills.
• After several hours of restoring his spiritual power and slowing the spread of Yin-Sha Qi, Song Yan left the stone chamber and saw Xiao Zhi’s training ground and vast book repository.
• Song Yan thanked Xiao Zhi for saving him, and she told him she had found Ruan Tongchen’s letter and learned her name was Ruan Zhi.
• Ruan Zhi declared that she was Ruan Tongchen’s daughter, while Song Yan privately recognized that she was a Mechanism Puppet.

Song Yan recovered in Ruan Zhi’s underground refuge and used Deng Su’s talisman to venture back into the ruins, where he confirmed the exit restrictions had closed. As he and Ruan Zhi returned, Song Yan sensed an approaching presence and prepared for danger.

• Ruan Zhi explained how she had made the underground space her refuge and collected its books over many years.
• Song Yan studied Deng Su’s Flowing Yin Spirit-Controlling Talisman, learned how it resisted Yin-Sha Qi, and activated it.
• Song Yan and Ruan Zhi traveled to an ascent platform, where Song Yan found that the restriction repelled him and prevented him from leaving the Spirit Abyss.
• Ruan Zhi told Song Yan she had once tried to leave but could not pass through the restriction, prompting her to wonder about the outside world.
• On their return, Song Yan sensed something approaching among the collapsed halls, summoned the Unmoored Boat, and saw a grayish-white figure drifting toward them.

Song Yan and Ruan Zhi encountered a Yin Wandering Soul, and Song Yan destroyed it before returning to the hideout. While rebuilding his Dharma Body with diluted Yin-Sha Qi and searching Ruan Zhi’s books for a way to purge the corruption in his body, he discovered a medical jade slip whose author shared his grandfather’s Daoist name.

• A Yin Wandering Soul attacked Song Yan, who closed his eyes and destroyed it with Tide-Severing while Ruan Zhi’s talisman lost much of its stored Sun Spirit.
• Ruan Zhi showed Song Yan more than twenty Heaven and Earth Bags entrusted to her by cultivators who had died beneath the abyss, and let him use their contents.
• Song Yan cultivated, read through Ruan Zhi’s collection, and found that diluted Yin-Sha Qi could help him reshape his destroyed Void-Aspect Dharma Body.
• Song Yan searched for places with suitable Yin Qi and noted that jade slips mentioning it also referred to Gaochang City in Western Province and Yuzhou Mountain City.
• Song Yan found a jade slip called Essentials of the Hundred Herbs that described expelling Yin Qi from the body and was written by Miaoying, the Daoist name his grandfather had used.

Song Yan learned that true Thunder Spirit could purge the Yin-Sha Qi in his body and discovered that the Medicine Garden beneath the abyss might contain both lightning and the ingredients he needed. After finding that Ruan Zhi possessed a key ring containing many Jade Keys, he planned to visit the garden later and began advising her to change her saber technique.

• Song Yan studied the Thunder-Hanging Pill formula, searched Ruan Zhi’s collected Heaven and Earth Bags for its ingredients, and found several supporting medicines but no thunder-patterned ying flower grass leaves.
• Ruan Zhi showed Song Yan a detailed map of the World Beneath the Abyss and told him the Medicine Garden sometimes echoed with thunder when the Restrictions closed.
• Song Yan realized the Medicine Garden’s lightning might help purge his Yin-Sha Qi, and Ruan Zhi offered to guide him there with her keys.
• Song Yan postponed the trip and spent the following days reconstructing his Dharma Body and cultivating while sparring with Ruan Zhi.
• After noticing that Ruan Zhi’s saber technique did not suit her nimble build, Song Yan suggested that she change her approach to cultivation.

Song Yan and Ruan Zhi traveled to the Wu-Character Area to search for medicinal plants after Song Yan reconstructed his Void-Aspect Dharma Body. They found no Thunder-Pattern Ying Flowergrass in the fields or terraces, while a purple-robed mechanism puppet watched them from the mountains and wondered how Song Yan had entered alive.

• Song Yan advised Ruan Zhi to try sword techniques, taught her the basics of the Sword Dao, and guided her for more than a month.
• Song Yan completed the reconstruction of his Void-Aspect Dharma Body and decided to leave for the Wu-Character Area with Ruan Zhi, whose Jade Key was needed to enter.
• Song Yan and Ruan Zhi flew northeast, enduring repeated attacks from Yin Wandering Souls, and reached the Wu-Character Area after two days and a night.
• Song Yan and Ruan Zhi entered the vast, overgrown medicinal region, where they found the Yin Qi unusually thin and the thunder quiet.
• Song Yan and Ruan Zhi searched the wilderness and terraces for Thunder-Pattern Ying Flowergrass and possible substitutes but found none, then headed toward the hills and valleys.
• A purple-robed mechanism puppet observed Song Yan and Ruan Zhi through an eye of gathered Thunder Spirits and questioned why a Foundation Establishment cultivator was alive in the area.

Song Yan found Thunder-Pattern Ying Flowergrass, refined Upper-Grade Thunder-Hanging Pills, and used them to purge most of the Yin-Sha Qi from his body. As he planned to investigate the source of the thunderclouds, a Purple-Robed Puppet watched him and considered whether he posed a threat.

• Ruan Zhi led Song Yan to a secluded valley where he broke the Restriction and harvested enough Thunder-Pattern Ying Flowergrass to refine pills.
• A thunderstorm struck the valley, and lightning hit the tree Ruan Zhi was clinging to; Song Yan brought her back to safety after she fainted from fright.
• Song Yan refined Thunder-Hanging Pills with his Sword Furnace, eventually producing Upper-Grade Pills after more than a month of attempts.
• Song Yan took the pills over several cultivation sessions and purged most of the Yin-Sha Qi from his body, then made more pills and planned to investigate the thunderclouds' source.
• The Purple-Robed Puppet observed Song Yan and Ruan Zhi, judged Song Yan to be a dangerous Corpse Puppet, and resolved to intervene if they disturbed forbidden spirit medicine.

Song Yan and Ruan Zhi traveled east to investigate the thunderclouds, and Song Yan used the lightning to purge the Yin-Sha Qi from his body. After clearing the last trace on the mountainside, he was struck again while unable to move, and a purple-robed puppet descended from the storm to confront Void Aspect.

• Ruan Zhi told Song Yan she wished to leave the World Beneath the Abyss, explore the martial world, and find her parents, then promised to accompany him east toward the thunderclouds.
• Song Yan tested the lightning at the foothills, discovered it could cleanse his Yin-Sha Qi, and found that his Wood-Element Spiritual Source absorbed residual Thunder Spirit.
• Song Yan repeatedly endured lightning strikes and climbed the mountain over the course of a month as the Yin-Sha Qi in his body gradually diminished.
• On the mountainside, Song Yan used a powerful bolt to eradicate the last trace of Yin-Sha Qi, but another strike knocked him down before he could move.
• A lightning palm attacked Void Aspect, and a purple-robed puppet descended from the storm above the summit.

Song Yan and Ruan Zhi encountered a purple-robed puppet guarding Void Thunder Mountain, and Song Yan defeated it after recovering from its lightning strike. He held the dismembered puppet at swordpoint and demanded to know who it was.

• The purple-robed puppet attacked Song Yan and his Void-Aspect Dharma Body with lightning, leaving Song Yan temporarily paralyzed.
• Ruan Zhi carried Song Yan down the mountainside while the Void-Aspect Dharma Body fought the puppet and wounded its arm with dark-gold Sword Qi.
• Song Yan recovered beyond the mountain's foot, then returned to confront the purple-robed puppet with the Unmoored Boat and his sword techniques.
• The purple-robed puppet's lightning attacks struck Song Yan's illusions, while Song Yan's Sword Domain bypassed its lightning mantle and severed its limbs and head.
• Song Yan drew the puppet's scattered pieces before him and gave it one chance to answer who it was.

Song Yan questioned Purple Robe about Deng Ruikai’s experiments and the thunder source, then destroyed the puppet after uncovering his lies. At the summit, Song Yan and Ruan Zhi found the thunder source, but it rushed into Song Yan and left him convulsing with lightning.

• Purple Robe told Song Yan that Deng Ruikai had implanted souls into puppets and used Yin Qi to keep them from dissipating.
• Song Yan learned that Deng Ruikai was blind and that the short flute controlled thunder, but he exposed Purple Robe’s deception and destroyed the puppet.
• Song Yan and Ruan Zhi climbed to the mountain summit and discovered a hidden valley with a stone stand that drew lightning into the short flute.
• Song Yan identified the gathered thunder spirit as a spiritual source and approached it, intending to take it away for later refinement.
• Thunder Breath surged into Song Yan’s body, and he screamed as lightning filled his eyes and shot from his skin.

Song Yan survived refining the Thunder Breath, which cleared the baleful Yin Qi from his body and strengthened his movement and cultivation. After spending more than a year recovering, training, and studying Ruan Zhi’s books, he found an annotated map of the Immortal Tomb that appeared to depict a formation.

• The Thunder Breath rampaged through Song Yan before entering his Dantian, where it condensed into a Spiritual Source as Ruan Zhi guarded him.
• Ruan Zhi carried Song Yan back to their hiding place, and he slept for two days before waking with the baleful Yin Qi gone and his cultivation able to advance again.
• Song Yan discovered that the Thunder Breath made his movement techniques much faster and gradually tempered his Sword Qi.
• Song Yan trained, read Ruan Zhi’s books, and taught her Sword Dao methods while continuing to prepare for Core Formation and a possible rescue.
• Song Yan found an annotated Jade Fold map of the Immortal Tomb and suspected its markings showed a formation.

Song Yan discovered that the Immortal Tomb Spirit Abyss’s great formation had been designed to encompass a second city suspended above the ruins, the White Jade Capital. Unable to find a way out by studying the formation alone, he learned that Ruan Zhi had found the formation Jade Fold in a hidden archive and agreed to explore that area with her.

• Song Yan projected the formation Jade Fold and compared it with Ruan Zhi’s map, finding that the formation covered a vast empty space above the ancient city ruins.
• Song Yan placed a third map, obtained from a Red Mountain Association Golden Core cultivator, into that space and revealed the illusion of the White Jade Capital in the Heavens.
• Song Yan spent days studying the formation but found no way to break through its restrictions, and he suspected that a site associated with Deng Ruikai might connect its Yin and Yang principles.
• Ruan Zhi explained that she had found the formation Jade Fold in an archive beneath the A-Character Area after the restrictions allowed her to pass, and described another locked room she could not enter.
• Song Yan suspected that the Black Jade Tally might open the locked room, and he agreed to return to the hidden archive with Ruan Zhi.

Song Yan and Ruan Zhi entered the hidden library beneath Ruan Tongchen's Pavilion, where Song Yan fought off two Yin Wandering Souls and collected unprotected books and Jade Slips. They used Song Yan's black Jade Token to open a concealed room, revealing an enormous closed Bronze Gate.

• Song Yan disguised himself with a blindfold and a concealing gauze cloak before following Ruan Zhi through the hidden passage to the library.
• Two Yin Wandering Souls attacked as they entered, and Song Yan destroyed them with silent sword strikes.
• Song Yan and Ruan Zhi searched the nearby tables, and Song Yan took the unprotected books and Jade Slips for later study.
• Ruan Zhi led Song Yan to a smooth black wall with a keyhole, and Song Yan gave her a black Jade Token to try.
• The Jade Token opened the wall, revealing a room filled with bookshelves and Formation materials, with a massive closed Bronze Gate at the far end.