Chapter Summaries

Song Yan agreed to help Xia Bo Paili travel from Wushang Prefecture to the Western Desert, where Paili hoped to find his missing sister, Ku Qian. After Song Yan used his Jun Mountain Disciple Token to avoid the teleportation fee, they reached the Bright Sect branch in Lingwu Commandery and set off toward Shanzhou.

• Xia Bo Paili explained that he lacked Spirit Stones and asked Song Yan to help him reach the Bright Sect’s branch in Lingwu Commandery, where they could teleport onward to Shanzhou.
• Paili told Song Yan that he had spent years searching Great Tang for his younger sister, Xiabo Paiti, known in the Central Plains as Ku Qian, who had disappeared during a riot near Chang'an.
• Song Yan and Paili registered at Wushang’s Immortal Court, and Song Yan used Chen Linyuan’s Jun Mountain Disciple Token to waive their teleportation fee.
• They teleported to Lingwu Commandery, where Bright Sect followers welcomed Paili and thanked Song Yan for helping him.
• Song Yan declined the branch’s invitation to stay, and he and Paili departed by the Bright Sect’s teleportation formation amid farewells and blessings.

Song Yan and Xia Bo Paili left Shanzhou with a caravan bound for Western Xia, planning to travel along the Wind-Sand Ancient Road toward Luohou Abyss. On the way, Yu Pei described the vast heaps of discarded spiritual objects surrounding the abyss and began explaining their value to mortals.

• Xia Bo Paili found a caravan leaving Shanzhou and arranged for Song Yan and their group to accompany it as guards.
• Xia Bo Paili explained that flying across the Western Desert was perilous because of Black Sand Storms, demonic birds, mirages, and quicksand zones.
• Song Yan and Xia Bo Paili met caravan leader Taluoma, then set out with the caravan on a Sand Elephant.
• Yu Pei introduced himself to Song Yan and said he had visited Luohou Abyss years earlier with a caravan carrying discarded objects from immortals.
• Yu Pei said Great Tang, Wusun, and Western Xia disposed of unwanted spiritual objects outside Luohou Abyss, where they formed vast heaps, and began to explain how mortals could use them.

Song Yan arrived in the lawless Abandoned City on his way to Luohou Abyss and saw how scavengers and traders survived under the rule of competing factions. After Lian Shichen warned him about a swindling stallholder, Song Yan took an interest in the boy, who then encountered the Rogue Cultivator Association extorting the pill shop that supplied his grandfather’s medicine.

• Yu Pei told Song Yan about the Abandoned City, a settlement built from discarded items near Luohou Abyss, and Song Yan parted from Yu Pei and Xia Bo Paili before traveling south.
• Song Yan reached the Abandoned City and encountered Lian Shichen, a young scavenger who lived with his grandfather and struggled to afford the old man's medicine and local tributes.
• Lian Shichen warned Song Yan that a stallholder was trying to cheat him, then fled before the stallholder could retaliate.
• Song Yan recognized that Lian Shichen seemed more trustworthy than the other locals he had met and watched him disappear into the city.
• Lian Shichen went to Elder Sun's pill shop and found Xu Quan and two Rogue Cultivator Association members demanding increased payments from the shopkeeper.

Lian Shichen killed Xu Quan with a Thunder Talisman while trying to avenge Old Man Sun, then raced home to save his grandfather. There, Zhao Kui uncovered a jade key tied to the Immortal Tomb's Spirit Abyss, but Song Yan appeared before Zhao Kui could kill Lian Shichen.

• Xu Quan's men beat Old Man Sun to death, and Lian Shichen offered spirit stones to take the old man's body.
• Lian Shichen detonated a Thunder Talisman against Xu Quan and his men, killing one and gravely wounding the others before fleeing home.
• Zhao Kui and his subordinates searched Lian Shichen's hiding place and found a jade key concealed in a hollow stone brick.
• The Rogue Cultivator Association captured Lian Shichen, and Zhao Kui questioned him about the jade key as his grandfather lay gravely injured.
• Lian Shichen revealed that the key was required for Foundation Establishment cultivators to enter the Spirit Abyss, and Zhao Kui attacked him.
• Song Yan appeared, blocked Zhao Kui's attack, and fed a Spirit Pill to Lian Shichen's grandfather.

Song Yan killed Zhao Kui to take the jade tally and agreed to protect Lian Shichen and his grandfather in exchange for the boy’s knowledge of Luohou Abyss. He planned to remain in the Abandoned City for four months before entering the abyss, while asking Lian Shichen about rumors of demon cultivators from Between Mountains and Seas.

• Song Yan freed Lian Shichen and demanded Zhao Kui hand over the jade tally, but Zhao Kui fled toward the central tower.
• Void Aspect struck Zhao Kui down, and Song Yan killed him, took the jade tally, and sent the Rogue Cultivator Association’s remaining cultivators away to report what happened.
• Lian Shichen asked Song Yan to guide his cultivation so he could protect his grandfather, offering his knowledge of Luohou Abyss in exchange.
• Song Yan accepted the bargain, promising to keep Lian Shichen and his grandfather safe for four months while the Void-Aspect Dharma Body refined Qin Yang’s Golden Core.
• Lian Shichen explained that his parents had entered Luohou Abyss and that their friend Uncle Rui had escaped with their belongings before dying; Song Yan told him to pack so they could go to Connecting Cloud Cliff.
• Song Yan asked Lian Shichen whether he had heard rumors about demon cultivators from Between Mountains and Seas.

Song Yan brought Lian Shichen and his grandfather out of the Abandoned City and settled at Connecting Cloud Cliff, where he taught Lian Shichen and learned about the dangers and secrets of Luohou Abyss. After half a month of peaceful cultivation, a False Core Realm cultivator from the Rogue Cultivator Association arrived and demanded to know who Song Yan was.

• Song Yan took Lian Shichen and his grandfather from the Abandoned City to Connecting Cloud Cliff, cutting down cultivators who tried to stop his Spirit Boat.
• Song Yan established a cave abode and Spirit-Absorbing Sword Formation, then began teaching Lian Shichen the basics of cultivation.
• Lian Shichen explained Luohou Abyss's four surface regions, the dangerous Immortal Tomb Spirit Abyss, and how the C Position Jade Token granted passage into a corridor below.
• Song Yan contemplated his Slaughter Sword Intent while Lian Shichen cultivated, and no one from the Rogue Cultivator Association came for more than ten days.
• After half a month, a False Core Realm cultivator arrived at Connecting Cloud Cliff and demanded to know who Song Yan was.

Song Yan fought Duan Zhongxing using only his flying sword and Sword Qi, refining his swordsmanship before killing him when Duan fled. The Rogue Cultivator Association displayed Duan’s corpse at the Abandoned City’s central tower, and its two remaining False Core cultivators plotted to lure Song Yan into the Luohou Abyss so Senior Huo could deal with him.

• Song Yan ignored Duan Zhongxing’s threats and challenged him to take the ancient tally, then attacked with the Unmoored Boat and Sword Qi.
• Song Yan prolonged the fight to practice his basic swordsmanship, adapting to Duan Zhongxing’s techniques until he gained the upper hand.
• Duan Zhongxing used Essence Blood to distract Song Yan and fled toward the Abandoned City, but Song Yan pursued and beheaded him.
• Song Yan collected Duan Zhongxing’s Heaven and Earth Bag, returned his head to his body, and left the corpse for the Rogue Cultivator Association to identify and bury.
• The Association’s two remaining False Core cultivators found Duan Zhongxing’s corpse hanging from the central tower and decided to lure Song Yan into the Luohou Abyss, where Senior Huo could kill him.

Song Yan’s Void-Aspect Dharma Body completed its first refinement of the Golden Core, causing a brief heavenly phenomenon, and Song Yan then visited the Rogue Cultivator Association before entering Luohou Abyss. After Fang and Wen gave him a Baleful-Averting Ring and led him to an entrance, they revealed they expected Senior Huo to deal with him inside.

• Song Yan’s Void-Aspect Dharma Body completed its first Golden Core refinement, briefly darkening the sky above Connecting Cloud Cliff.
• Song Yan bid farewell to Lian Shichen and his grandfather, then went to the Rogue Cultivator Association’s Central Tower with the Void-Aspect Dharma Body, whom he introduced as his sword-bearing servant Dog Sheng.
• Elder Fang and Elder Wen welcomed Song Yan, gave him a Baleful-Averting Ring, and named him a Retainer Elder of the Rogue Cultivator Association.
• Fang and Wen led Song Yan and the Void-Aspect Dharma Body to a fissure through the Red Mountain Forest Sea Restriction, and the two entered Luohou Abyss.
• After Song Yan disappeared, Fang and Wen discussed how Senior Huo might deal with him and decided to wait for news.

Song Yan entered the Red Mountain Forest Sea and defeated Xianyin after she tried to capture him and force him to sing. After freeing her prisoners, he learned that a timid young girl was a butterfly demon who could see dreams, but she fled when he asked if she came from Between Mountains and Seas.

• Song Yan removed the Baleful-Averting Ring and walked through the forest, relying on his Sword Qi to keep the Sha Qi at bay.
• Song Yan found Xianyin forcing captured cultivators to sing and dance, and she attacked him when he sang poorly and refused to stay.
• Song Yan overcame Xianyin, took her Heaven and Earth Bag, and freed the cultivators whose Spiritual Power she had sealed.
• A young girl told Song Yan that Xianyin had been whipped by her mother for singing badly and that she could see other people's dreams.
• Song Yan recognized the girl as a demon and asked whether she came from Between Mountains and Seas, prompting her to reveal a butterfly wing and flee into the forest.

Song Yan learned about the Red Mountain Forest Sea from Liu Changhai and discovered that Spirit Abyss had already closed for the current cycle. After deciding to claim a cave abode by challenging its owner, Song Yan chose Liu Changhai’s enemy as his target, despite the man’s connection to a Red Mountain Association elder.

• The rescued cultivators left, while Liu Changhai stayed with Song Yan and offered to guide him through the Red Mountain Forest Sea.
• Liu Changhai explained the region’s factions, its isolated flow of time, and the Cloud Valley gathering, which would begin in several days.
• Song Yan realized Spirit Abyss had already closed and resolved to find a cave abode where he could stay and cultivate.
• Liu Changhai told Song Yan that cave abodes could be claimed through challenges and mentioned a Foundation Establishment Late Stage enemy backed by a False Core Realm relative in the Red Mountain Association.
• Song Yan decided that Liu Changhai’s enemy would make a suitable challenge target.

Song Yan challenged Ding Jun for the cave abode at Phoenix Creek Cliff and defeated him despite suppressing his cultivation to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage. He spared Ding Jun, claimed the cave abode and his belongings, and arrived to take possession as Red Mountain Association cultivators waited with the Jade Token.

• Song Yan confirmed his challenge to Ding Jun and agreed that Ding Jun could claim everything he owned if he lost.
• Song Yan and Liu Changhai watched a cultivator be brutally killed after yielding, then waited until Ding Jun's match was called.
• Song Yan entered the duel with his cultivation suppressed, dodged Ding Jun's flying blades, and defeated him with a sword strike and a follow-up blow.
• Song Yan spared Ding Jun, took his Heaven and Earth Bag, and warned that he would kill him if he showed no improvement before their next meeting.
• Song Yan asked Liu Changhai to lead him to the cave abode, where Red Mountain Association cultivators presented him with the Phoenix Creek Jade Token.

Song Yan entered the Nuo Realm, learned about Heaven-Stealing Sect activity, and asked Boqi to help find a stolen painting scroll. At Cloud Valley’s grand gathering, he learned about yin-sha stones and rare Spirit Abyss jade keys, bought nothing, and noticed a fortune-telling stall as he prepared to leave.

• Song Yan set up defensive formations in Ding Jun’s cave abode and spoke with Lanzhu and Boqi in the Nuo Realm.
• Song Yan asked Boqi to watch for a painting scroll stolen by a Heaven-Stealing Sect disciple, and Boqi agreed.
• Song Yan sorted through Duan Zhongxing’s and Ding Jun’s belongings, finding eight yin-sha stones and an ancient formations book with a missing tier-four formation.
• Song Yan attended the Cloud Valley gathering and learned that yin-sha stones served as valuable local currency and materials.
• Song Yan watched a cultivator sell Bing-Character and Wu-Character Ancient Tallies for a hundred thousand Spirit Stones, then bought nothing at the auction.
• Song Yan noticed a roadside stall bearing a banner that promised nine true divinations out of ten.

Song Yan met Deng Su, a diviner from the Heavenly Mechanism Sect, who asked him to help search the Spirit Abyss for a Nascent Soul traitor and explained the ancient connection between their sects. Deng Su warned Song Yan that using the Five Elements Spiritual Source to form a Golden Core without a divine ability seed could collapse his Dao Foundation, leaving Song Yan to realize how close he had come to disaster.

• Deng Su identified Song Yan as a Sword Sect successor who possessed a jade key, then persuaded him to speak privately in a pavilion.
• Deng Su revealed that he was hunting a Nascent Soul cultivator who had betrayed his clan and sect, and asked Song Yan to help him enter the Spirit Abyss.
• Deng Su explained that the Sword Sect and the Heavenly Mechanism Sect descended from two disciples of the ancient Pure Yang Palace, including Zheng Tianqi and Ancestor Li.
• Song Yan asked what he would gain from cooperating, and Deng Su offered to use divination to help locate treasures in the Spirit Abyss.
• Deng Su warned that the Five Elements Spiritual Source could not serve as the foundation for Core Condensation without a divine ability seed, and Song Yan realized that consuming a withered branch had nearly ruined his Dao Foundation.

Song Yan agreed to enter the Spirit Abyss with Deng Su, then began fighting challengers at Morning Dawn Cave to hone his sword Dao. Six years later, he remained undefeated, had amassed a fortune in spirit stones, and still had not condensed his slaughter sword intent.

• Song Yan asked Deng Su to spar, but Deng Su refused and suggested Song Yan seek challengers at a fighting platform instead.
• A little butterfly demon recognized Song Yan at Morning Dawn Cave as he defeated challengers while suppressing his cultivation, then fled when he noticed her.
• Song Yan fought on the platform for six years, winning every match and growing his reputation across Luohou Abyss as the prize bag swelled to over seventy thousand low-grade spirit stones' worth.
• Song Yan made progress in his sword Dao but still could not grasp the final insight needed to condense his slaughter sword intent.
• Song Yan's Void-Aspect Dharma Body completed its nine refinements and mastered a golden core, gaining strength just below the Golden Core early stage.
• Song Yan killed the cultivators who ambushed him for the prize money, and Deng Su became wary of how much Song Yan seemed to enjoy those fights.

Song Yan defeated and killed Huang Zongyan and Ding Jun after Huang challenged him on the Great Stone Platform. A Golden Core cultivator appeared and offered Song Yan a choice: join the Red Mountain Association or die.

• Song Yan continued cultivating and sparred with Liu Changhai while Deng Su tracked the Spirit Stones he had won.
• Huang Zongyan challenged Song Yan to claim the accumulated Spirit Stones, and Song Yan suppressed his cultivation to Foundation Establishment Middle Stage before accepting.
• Huang Zongyan attacked with Yin-Sha Cold Flame, but Song Yan revealed that the apparent killing blow had struck an illusion and then killed Huang with a sword strike.
• Song Yan reminded Ding Jun of his earlier warning, pursued him with Sword Qi, and killed him as he fled.
• A red-robed Golden Core cultivator appeared above Morning Dawn Cave and ordered Song Yan to join the Red Mountain Association if he wanted to live.

Song Yan refused Huo Jun and Ji Zhi’s demand to join the Red Mountain Association, while Xiao Fengjing and the Void-Aspect Dharma Body tried to protect him. Ji Zhi activated an ancient Bronze Lamp that transported Song Yan away, leaving the Golden Core cultivators facing off.

• Ji Zhi pressured Song Yan to join the Red Mountain Association, but Xiao Fengjing arrived and called out Huo Jun, revealing that three Golden Core cultivators had gathered above Morning Dawn Cave.
• The Void-Aspect Dharma Body revealed Golden Core cultivation, and Song Yan put away the Unmoored Boat as the standoff escalated.
• Song Yan refused Ji Zhi’s final demand to join the Red Mountain Association, and Ji Zhi brought out an ancient Bronze Lamp that locked onto him.
• Xiao Fengjing cast Cloud Cauldron Drifting Mist to protect Song Yan, while the Void-Aspect Dharma Body attacked Ji Zhi and Huo Jun blocked the assault with a jade disc.
• Ji Zhi activated the Bronze Lamp’s True Law Void Realm, which transported Song Yan away despite Xiao Fengjing’s protection.
• Ji Zhi told Xiao Fengjing that the lamp could have trapped him too if Ji Zhi had refined it longer.

Deng Su recognized Ji Zhi’s Primordial Chaos Sky Lantern and feared Song Yan would be killed by the identical phantom it created inside the Heaven-Sealed Land. While the others withdrew, Song Yan faced his powerful double and saw it form a Sword Domain using the Heavenly Dao in Motion.

• Deng Su used the Five Emperors Coin to take the bag of Spirit Stones and fled to seek a Bing-Character Jade Key.
• Xiao Fengjing left after the black-robed Void-Aspect Dharma Body silently withdrew, and Huo Jun and Ji Zhi then departed as well.
• Song Yan landed on a Starstone inside the Heaven-Sealed Land and was attacked by a phantom identical to himself.
• Song Yan fought the phantom and realized its attacks were simulated with Golden Core Spiritual Power, making it slightly stronger than him.
• The phantom unleashed three overlapping Sword Formations, fused them into a Sword Domain, and revealed a move Song Yan recognized as Heavenly Dao in Motion.

Trapped in the Heaven-Sealed Land, Song Yan endured an endless sequence of deadly battles against phantoms of himself until the struggle awakened his slaughter sword intent and completed his understanding of myriad manifestations sword intent. He chose to keep honing his Sword Dao there, facing the next phantom with his new technique, Avīci Prison.

• Song Yan used Mirror Flower Shadow to interrupt the first phantom’s Heavenly Dao in Motion and cut off its head, but no exit appeared and another phantom formed almost immediately.
• Song Yan fought the second and third phantoms, conserving Sword Qi and using the Wood-Element Spiritual Source, Sword-Nurturing Pills, and Spirit-Absorbing Sword Formation to recover between battles.
• As the phantoms continued appearing every fifteen breaths, Song Yan learned to anticipate their attacks and entered a focused state amid the repeated battles.
• Song Yan experienced visions of an Immortal Dynasty battlefield and Avīci Hell, then unleashed Heavenly Dao in Motion to slaughter the evil ghosts and merge the insights into his Sword Dao Lotus.
• Song Yan’s Slaughter Sword Intent solidified, and he realized that his myriad manifestations sword intent enabled him to comprehend additional sword intents and enter the first realm of the Sword Dao.
• Song Yan decided to keep honing his Sword Dao in the Heaven-Sealed Land and faced the next phantom with his new slaughter sword intent, Avīci Prison.

Song Yan returned from the heaven-sealed land and awakened in a stream valley, where Little Butterfly had hidden in his hands while fleeing three cultivators. After Song Yan instantly killed one pursuer, he recognized Little Butterfly as she trembled on his fingertip.

• Liu Changhai and Deng Su discussed Song Yan’s likely death and wondered whether his remains could be found, while Void Aspect left the cave abode.
• A wounded Little Butterfly fled three Foundation Establishment cultivators who pursued her over an Ancient Tally Jade Key.
• Little Butterfly hid in the hands of a seemingly dead cultivator at the end of a stream valley, and Song Yan began to stir as the pursuers searched nearby.
• The monk-robed cultivator attacked Song Yan, who killed him instantly with a withered branch and unleashed Sword Qi.
• Song Yan held Little Butterfly on his fingertip and spoke to her, and she recognized him as Benefactor Song.

Song Yan rescued Ying Yu from three cultivators, learned that Spirit Abyss would open soon, and recovered from the restrictions left by his imprisonment. He bought Ying Yu’s Ancient Tally Jade Key and prepared to enter Spirit Abyss, where Deng Su warned that Red Mountain Association cultivators might arrive first.

• Song Yan killed the cultivator surnamed Xu and the cultivator surnamed Hu, then took Hu’s Mysterious Thunder Pearl.
• Ying Yu gave her name, denied that she came from Between Mountains and Seas, and offered to sell Song Yan her Ji-character Ancient Tally Jade Key.
• Ying Yu told Song Yan that about three years had passed since his imprisonment and that Spirit Abyss had not opened yet; Song Yan explained that he had perfected Avīci Prison and freed himself from his remaining restrictions.
• Deng Su and Liu Changhai arrived with Song Yan’s Void-Aspect Dharma Body, and Song Yan reclaimed his Spirit Stones from Deng Su.
• Song Yan offered Ying Yu over eighty thousand Spirit Stones for the key, but she gave it to him and asked to accompany him into Spirit Abyss.
• Deng Su warned Song Yan that Golden Core Realm cultivators from the Red Mountain Association might enter Spirit Abyss before Foundation Establishment cultivators.