Chapter Summaries

Song Yan returned to Sword-Wiping Peak, where Lu Ziye and Nangong Ling invited him to their wedding banquet, while Qin Ying arranged for Qin Yang to attack the Nangong Aristocratic Clan during the celebration. The chapter left the wedding set to become the target of a planned assault as the Demon Ruins prepared to invade the Border Region.

• Song Yan visited the Wu Clan in Beiya Mountain City, found only Rong Xiaofeng there, and then returned to the Dongyuan Sect.
• Qin Xijun brought Lu Ziye and Nangong Ling to Song Yan’s cave abode, where Lu Ziye invited him and Xiao He to their wedding on the ninth of next month.
• Song Yan recognized Nangong Ling from their past meeting at Immortal-Descending Pass and learned that Senior Zhang Cheng was her grandfather.
• Qin Ying told Qin Feiyu that nine Nascent Soul True Lords from the four great traditions were coming from the Demon Ruins and urged the Qin Household to strike the Nangong Aristocratic Clan before they arrived.
• Qin Ying recruited Qin Yang to destroy the Nangong Aristocratic Clan during its wedding banquet, and Qin Yang agreed on the condition that Qin Ying owed him another favor.

Yu Yiming emerged from seclusion and joined eight other Nascent Soul cultivators in a mission to capture Chen Linyuan, while Daoist Shanhai explained Chen’s fate and the limits of his destiny. The chapter ended with Zhu Lifang and Zhu Pingfang receiving a secret order to travel to the Chu Kingdom and rendezvous with their master, Earth Thirty-Nine.

• Yu Yiming emerged from eighteen years of seclusion and learned that the other eight elders were waiting at Incantation Blood Cave.
• Yu Yiming declared his intention to kill Chen Linyuan, but Chen Tianze reminded him that the mission required Chen Linyuan’s remains to be delivered intact to the Yellow Springs Way.
• Yu Yiming and the eight other Nascent Soul cultivators set out for the Chu Kingdom to capture Chen Linyuan.
• Wen Changming asked Daoist Shanhai about Heavenly Will, and Shanhai explained that Chen Linyuan was a remnant of the old world who could not become master of the new age’s destiny.
• Zhu Lifang and Zhu Pingfang received a secret order from Earth Thirty-Nine to travel covertly to the Chu Kingdom and meet him.

Song Yan traveled with his companions to the Nangong Aristocratic Clan for Lu Ziye and Nangong Ling’s wedding feast, where they settled into their guest lodgings. That night, an apparent servant revealed himself as Shi Yunhao and confronted Song Yan in the courtyard.

• Song Yan and his companions traveled to Immortal-Descending Pass, where Qin Xijun shared Lu Ziye’s difficult childhood and welcomed him into a home.
• Lu Ziye and Nangong Ling greeted the group at the Nangong Aristocratic Clan, and Xiao Ju agreed to share Song Yan’s lodgings.
• Song Yan and Xiao Ju settled into the Mystic Crane Retreat, and Xiao Ju began cultivating in preparation for Foundation Establishment.
• Song Yan studied Observing Shanhai in his chamber, then heard a flute playing through the retreat’s soundproofing formation.
• Song Yan found the young servant playing the flute in the courtyard and recognized him as Shi Yunhao, who dropped his disguise and greeted him.

Song Yan learned from Shi Yunhao that the Qin Lineage planned to attack the Nangong Household during Lu Ziye and Nangong Ling's wedding, then tried to warn Zhang Cheng. As the wedding ceremony ended, Qin Feiyu led an overwhelming force to the Nangong grounds and demanded wedding wine.

• Shi Yunhao admitted killing Xuantong and told Song Yan that the Qin Lineage would attack the Nangong Household at the wedding banquet.
• Song Yan restored Xiao Ju's disrupted spiritual power and left Mystic Crane Courtyard to warn Zhang Cheng.
• Qin Ying asked Chen Linyuan to accept her as a disciple, and he sent a message declaring the Dongyuan Sect disbanded because Demon Ruins cultivators were coming.
• Lu Ziye and Nangong Ling completed their wedding bows before dark clouds and hostile cultivators appeared above the Nangong grounds.
• Qin Feiyu confronted Nangong Ming with at least six False Core Realm cultivators and demanded wedding wine for the Qin Lineage.

The Qin Lineage attacked the Nangong Aristocratic Clan during the wedding banquet, but the clan’s Great River Mausoleum Formation held against their assault until Qin Feiyu’s Black Sun Gourd prepared its ninth and strongest strike. Zhang Cheng revealed his hidden power by stopping the attack with one finger, leaving the gathered cultivators stunned.

• Nangong Jin activated the Great River Mausoleum Formation as Qin Feiyu ordered the Qin Lineage to attack.
• Qin Feiyu used the Black Sun Gourd to launch increasingly powerful attacks against the formation while Nangong cultivators reinforced it.
• The eighth ray battered the formation, injuring its defenders and leaving the guests fearing its imminent collapse.
• Qin Xijun sheltered the newlyweds and Zhang Cheng as Nangong Ling urged her grandfather to stay safe.
• Zhang Cheng stepped outside the formation, and the ninth ray disintegrated before his fingertip.

Zhang Cheng and Qin Yang fought as Golden Core cultivators while the Qin Lineage attacked the Nangong Household’s formation. Shen Yu struck at Nangong Jin, but Song Yan appeared behind him as the chapter ended with his sword technique poised to fire.

• Zhang Cheng revealed his Golden Core cultivation, and Qin Yang emerged from the clouds as the Qin Lineage’s ancestor.
• Qin Yang and Zhang Cheng clashed above the Nangong Clan Lands while Qin Feiyu led the Qin Lineage in a fierce assault on the formation.
• Xu Heng and Chen Cheng attacked Nangong Ming and the formation defenders as Shen Yu targeted Nangong Jin.
• Shen Yu pierced Nangong Jin with his Mystic Yin Reversal Bone, but the formation remained intact.
• Song Yan appeared behind Shen Yu and prepared to strike with his Six Void Heaven-Falling Sword Finger.

Song Yan used the Shaochong Sword to grievously wound Shen Yu, then revealed that he recognized the Xuanyuan Sect elder and killed him with the Unmoored Boat after destroying his defenses. Qin Xijun held Chen Cheng back as the battle continued, and the chapter ended with the Qin Lineage’s allies shaken by Shen Yu’s death.

• Song Yan struck Shen Yu with the Shaochong Sword, severing his meridians and gravely wounding the False Core Realm cultivator.
• Qin Xijun intercepted Chen Cheng’s attack on Song Yan and fought him while Qin Feiyu denounced her for opposing the Qin Lineage.
• Song Yan replenished his sword Qi with a Sword-Nurturing Pill, formed a Nine Flying Swords formation, and identified Shen Yu as a Xuanyuan Sect elder.
• Song Yan’s Swallow Sun and Moon sword formation shattered Shen Yu’s Cold Mountain Seal, and Shen Yu begged to be allowed to leave.
• Song Yan’s sword intent let Shen Yu’s attacks pass through harmlessly, and the Unmoored Boat killed Shen Yu as he fled.
• Xu Heng and Chen Cheng watched Shen Yu’s corpse fall and began to panic.

Song Yan used Chen Linyuan's Golden Core Sword Talisman to aid Zhang Cheng as the Qin Lineage broke the Great River Mausoleum Formation and invaded the Nangong lands. Qin Yang targeted Song Yan, but the sword talisman wounded him and Zhang Cheng's sword formation struck him as well.

• Song Yan saw Zhang Cheng losing ground to Qin Yang and secretly began activating Chen Linyuan's Golden Core Sword Talisman.
• Qin Feiyu used a Mysterious Thunder Pellet while a False Core cultivator unleashed the Quicksand Grand Rite, breaking the Great River Mausoleum Formation.
• Qin Yu ordered the Qin Lineage's forces to charge into the Nangong lands, and the invading cultivators began a bloody battle against the Nangong clan and its allies.
• Qin Yang recognized Song Yan as a High Antiquity Sword Cultivator and prepared his feather garment law treasure while targeting him.
• Song Yan's Golden Core Sword Talisman pierced Qin Yang's defense and wounded him, allowing Zhang Cheng's nine-sword formation to strike Qin Yang in the chest as Qin Yang's attack still descended toward Song Yan.

Qin Yang’s attack left Song Yan shattered and seemingly dying, but Song Yan swallowed pills, spirit plants, and a mysterious withered branch in a desperate attempt to survive before losing consciousness. As the Nangong Aristocratic Clan’s defenses collapsed and its elders were killed, Qin Feiyu and other cultivators raced toward Song Yan’s body to seize his belongings.

• Qin Yang struck Song Yan before he could activate his defenses, leaving him gravely wounded as Xiao Ju, Li Yi, Zhang Cheng, and Shi Yunhao watched from the battlefield.
• Xiao Ju’s grief and hatred stirred a strange power within her Sword Mansion while Li Yi and Zhang Cheng were unable to break away and help Song Yan.
• Song Yan blindly swallowed pills and spirit plants from his Heaven and Earth Bag, then drank nectar and swallowed a withered branch before his consciousness faded into darkness.
• Nangong Jin urged Nangong Ming to flee, but Chen Cheng killed Nangong Jin and Qin Feiyu’s black blades reduced Uncle Lie to bloody pulp.
• As the Nangong Aristocratic Clan’s resistance faltered, Qin Feiyu, Fellow Daoist Huang, and other cultivators broke away and charged toward Song Yan’s apparently lifeless body to claim his belongings.

Qin Xijun unleashed the deadly Divine Phoenix Nirvana Flame to protect Song Yan’s corpse and fought Qin Feiyu’s forces alone. As Chen Cheng tried to steal Song Yan’s treasures, Song Yan suddenly revived as a demonic figure, killed Chen Cheng, and appeared behind the yellow-robed cultivator.

• Qin Xijun activated the Divine Phoenix Nirvana Flame, declared she had left the Qin Household, and attacked the formation assembled by Qin Feiyu’s forces.
• Qin Xijun shattered the combined attack formation and faced twelve False Core cultivators while the wider battle remained at a stalemate.
• Chen Cheng sneaked to Song Yan’s corpse and reached for the Heaven and Earth Bag and Sword Case despite sensing ominous Demonic Qi.
• Song Yan rose as a blackened demonic figure, seized Chen Cheng, crushed his heart, and took the bead from his Dantian.
• Song Yan turned toward the yellow-robed cultivator, vanished from his sight, and placed an icy hand on his head.

Song Yan’s demonic figure and Qin Xijun slaughtered the Qin Lineage’s False Core cultivators, including Qin Feiyu, while consuming their cores. With the Qin Household’s forces collapsing, the shadow pointed toward Qin Yang and asked Qin Xijun to help kill him.

• Song Yan’s demonic figure killed the Yellow-Robed Daoist, consumed his False Core, and asked Qin Xijun to help him kill the others and collect their cores.
• Qin Feiyu accused Song Yan of being a Demon Ruins spy and urged the gathered cultivators to unite, but no one answered his call.
• The demonic figure killed a Qin Household cultivator with the Li Hei Heavy Ruler as Qin Xijun burned another elder to ash.
• The Qin Household cultivators fled or were cut down, and Qin Xijun and the demonic figure killed Qin Feiyu and consumed his False Core.
• Li Yi brought Xu Heng’s corpse to the demonic figure, who extracted and ate the False Core as the surviving Nangong cultivators rallied.
• The demonic figure pointed at Qin Yang and asked Qin Xijun to help him kill him.

Zhang Cheng, Qin Xijun, and Song Yan fought Qin Yang above the ruined Nangong Clan Lands, while Song Yan recovered from a Golden Core blow and unleashed repeated sword fingers. Zhang Cheng prepared to give his life to keep Qin Yang from escaping, and the battle remained unresolved.

• Zhang Cheng burned his vitality and Spiritual Power to pin down Qin Yang, while Qin Xijun and Song Yan's asura void aspect joined the fight.
• Qin Yang empowered his Blood-Colored Long Halberd with vital essence blood and drove back the attackers, while the surviving Nangong clan members tended the wounded below.
• Li Yi decided not to detain the surviving guests, and Ju Luyi asked whether Song Yan and the others would win.
• Song Yan regained awareness and realized his body's endless vitality and Spiritual Power had repaired him, then used the asura void aspect to harass Qin Yang.
• Song Yan temporarily took control and fired more than twenty Shaochong Swords at Qin Yang while Zhang Cheng and Qin Xijun kept him occupied.
• Zhang Cheng renewed the radiance of his Nine Flying Swords and vowed to burn together with Qin Yang, even if his soul scattered.

Zhang Cheng, Qin Xijun, and Song Yan defeated Qin Yang, but the battle left Zhang Cheng and Qin Xijun near death and Song Yan badly weakened. As Dongyuan Sect members received an order to disband, Song Yan and Li Yi headed back to investigate while Zhang Cheng asked Nangong Xuanlang to inherit his mantle and protect the Nangong clan.

• Zhang Cheng, Qin Xijun, and Void Aspect wore down Qin Yang, and Zhang Cheng’s Mountain-Quelling sword pierced and severed him.
• Void Aspect destroyed Qin Yang’s fleeing Demonic Thought and tried to consume his Golden Core, but it dissolved into Spiritual Qi; he gave Qin Yang’s Heaven and Earth Bag to Zhang Cheng.
• Song Yan, Qin Xijun, and Zhang Cheng descended to the Nangong clan, where Song Yan reunited with Li Yi and the survivors began tending to the aftermath.
• Dongyuan Sect cultivators received Communication Talismans ordering the sect’s disbandment, so Song Yan and Li Yi flew back to investigate while Qin Xijun stayed to help the Nangong clan.
• Qin Xijun told Zhang Cheng that her cultivation would disappear within a month, and Zhang Cheng said he would soon die before asking Nangong Xuanlang to inherit his mantle and protect the clan.

Nangong Xuanlang accepted Zhang Cheng’s empowerment to form a Golden Core and protect the Nangong clan, while panic spread at Dongyuan Sect after its master ordered it disbanded. Qin Ying tried to poison Chen Linyuan during her initiation, but he exposed her plan, drank the poison, and said he would keep her with him until it took effect.

• Zhang Cheng offered to use the Empowerment Method to raise Nangong Xuanlang to the early Golden Core Realm, warning that he would never advance further.
• Nangong Xuanlang agreed to the empowerment, kneeling before Zhang Cheng and calling it good fortune if it helped protect the clan.
• Dongyuan Sect cultivators gathered outside the forbidden grounds and pleaded with the sect master to rescind his disbandment decree, while Lin Qing fled toward the foothills.
• Qin Ying completed her disciple rites to Chen Linyuan and secretly expected the Feather Sound Poison she had put in his tea to incapacitate him.
• Chen Linyuan confronted Qin Ying, immobilized her, took the poison from her Heaven and Earth Bag, and learned it would take about a day to act.
• Chen Linyuan swallowed the poison and told Qin Ying he would put her out and keep her beside him for a day.

Nine Nascent Soul cultivators from the Demon Ruins descended on the Dongyuan Sect and began attacking its protective formation. As disciples fled or faced the coming destruction, Zhang Guangyuan urged them to choose whether to escape or die defending their home.

• Chen Tianze and eight other Nascent Soul cultivators emerged from the teleportation formation at Hui Mountain, gathered the remaining Demon Ruins Cultivators, and flew toward the Dongyuan Sect.
• Their demonic presence spread across the Chu Kingdom, prompting sects to seal their mountains and many residents to flee; Song Yan and Li Yi reached the Dongyuan Sect as its formation was already active.
• The nine Demon Ruins cultivators surrounded the Dongyuan Sect, and Chen Tianze questioned Zhang Xingming about why its protective formation was still operating.
• Yu Yiming dismissed the formation as easy to break and urged the Nascent Soul cultivators to attack it together.
• As Dongyuan Sect disciples began fleeing, Zhang Guangyuan announced that the sect was likely doomed and told those who wanted to survive to leave before the formation fell.
• Chen Tianze struck the Mountain-Protecting Grand Formation with a Heaven-Shrouding Great Palm while Zhang Guangyuan declared he would stay and die defending the Dongyuan Sect.

The Demon Ruins cultivators shattered the Dongyuan Sect’s formation and invaded while its disciples chose whether to flee or stay. As Yu Yiming advanced on Chen Linyuan, Song Yan hid from a Golden Core cultivator who was hunting him, and observers from the Hidden Dragon Secret Bureau recorded the unfolding attack.

• Dongyuan Sect disciples urged the young and talented to escape, while others chose to stay and defend their home.
• The nine Nascent Soul cultivators’ combined attack broke the sect-protecting formation, and the Demon Ruins cultivators poured into the sect.
• Shi Yunhao recognized Song Yan among the disciples and wondered how he had survived his injuries.
• Mirage Senior told Lu Zhe that Chen Linyuan’s death was ordained and instructed him to look after any escaping disciples; he also revealed that the Sword Sect successor was inside the sect.
• Earth-Character Thirty-Nine instructed Zhu Pingfang to record the invasion for a secret report, and the formation’s collapse prompted Zhu Pingfang to begin writing.
• Song Yan sensed a Golden Core cultivator’s killing intent, concealed himself in the crowd, and Yu Yiming led the other eight Nascent Soul cultivators toward Chen Linyuan.

Yu Yiming and eight other Nascent Soul cultivators confronted Chen Linyuan, but his remaining fortune protected him from their attacks until it ran out. While the Demon Ruins forces slaughtered Dongyuan Sect, Luo Xiaming fought to give the disciples time to escape.

• Yu Yiming freed Qin Ying, then killed her and confronted Chen Linyuan over the death of his master, Deadwood True Person.
• Chen Tianze used Qi Observation and saw that Chen Linyuan’s extraordinary fortune was fading, though it still shielded him from harm.
• Yu Yiming’s attacks disintegrated before reaching Chen Linyuan, who said the Demon Ruins cultivators could not touch him until Heavenly Will claimed him.
• Chen Tianze estimated that Chen Linyuan’s protection would last about one incense stick, while Yu Yiming threatened to destroy Dongyuan Sect during the wait.
• The Demon Ruins forces attacked Dongyuan Sect, and Luo Xiaming rejected a female cultivator’s offer to surrender and fought to protect the disciples.

Song Yan escaped the battlefield by entering Lin Qing’s World Within the Painting, then persuaded the guilt-stricken senior brother to help him risk a fight against the Golden Core Demon Ruins cultivator. Elsewhere, Zhou Mengdie saved Gu Qingqing and other disciples, but they could not find Xiang Zhaoling.

• Song Yan hid from the Golden Core cultivator until Lin Qing summoned him into the World Within the Painting.
• Song Yan confronted Lin Qing about suspecting Qin Ying was the Demon Ruins spy, and Lin Qing admitted he had ignored the clues.
• Song Yan urged Lin Qing to help slay the Golden Core cultivator, and Lin Qing agreed to fight rather than watch the Dongyuan Sect’s disciples die.
• Zhou Mengdie struck down a Devil Cultivator who was attacking Gu Qingqing and joined the surviving female disciples.
• Zhou Mengdie asked after Xiang Zhaoling, but no one had seen her, and the group feared she had died in battle.

Asanggu refused Xiang Zhaoling’s plea to intervene in the battle, obeying his father’s command to protect her and leave safely. At Spirit Source Marsh, Li Yi rescued Han Yuan from three Devil Cultivators and killed one of them with a halberd strike.

• Xiang Zhaoling begged Asanggu to save her friends, but he refused because his father had forbidden him from interfering.
• Three Foundation Establishment Realm Devil Cultivators surrounded Han Yuan and wore him down with shadow techniques and hairpin artifacts.
• Li Yi arrived in a lightning strike and drove the Devil Cultivators away from Han Yuan.
• Li Yi attacked the three cultivators with his halberd, scattering the mist-form Devil Cultivator and trapping the others with the force of his blows.
• Li Yi pierced the hairpin-controlling Devil Cultivator through the chest, destroying his Dantian Qi Sea and killing him.

Li Yi and Li Qingfeng faced increasingly powerful Demon Ruins Cultivators while Han Yuan was left exposed on the battlefield. Li Qingfeng summoned the Kitchen God’s power and set a False Core Realm woman ablaze, while Li Yi remained badly wounded by Xu Kai’s talismans.

• After Li Yi killed one Devil Cultivator, two survivors retreated, but Li Yi pursued them as a hidden Devil Cultivator attacked Han Yuan with a broken blade.
• Li Qingfeng deflected the hidden cultivator’s strike with a kitchen knife, seized him with a conjured hand, and stuffed him into a pot that refined his Demonic Qi and Spiritual Power.
• Two False Core Realm cultivators, Xu Kai and a scantily clad woman, confronted Li Yi and Li Qingfeng, while Han Yuan retreated and attracted the attention of nearby Devil Cultivators.
• Li Yi and Li Qingfeng attacked Xu Kai, but he used Talisman Treasures to repel Li Yi and shatter his armor with a Heavenly Thunder Talisman.
• The woman bound Li Qingfeng with pink threads, but he swallowed medicinal pills and invoked the Kitchen God, whose golden-red flames engulfed her.