Chapter Summaries

Song Yan discovered that the Infinite Treasury could convert spirit stones into two-pole Qi, strengthening his Sword Qi and sword-intent comprehension, then prepared for the Spirit Abyss by selling pills and scavenging. More than a year later, Huo Jun, Ji Zhi, and Xiao Fengjing waited at the Immortal Tomb, puzzled that Song Yan had not appeared.

• Song Yan entered seclusion and absorbed black-and-white radiance from the Infinite Treasury, improving his Sword Qi and deepening his understanding of myriad manifestations sword intent.
• He tested spirit stones inside the Infinite Treasury and confirmed that they produced a small amount of two-pole Qi, though the cost left him worried about his resources.
• Song Yan decided to earn spirit stones before entering the Spirit Abyss and had the Void-Aspect Dharma Body sell Baleful-Avoidance Pills and cultivation pills at Morning Dawn Cave.
• Song Yan resumed scavenging river channels and observed that Little Butterfly was exceptionally skilled at finding treasures.
• More than a year later, Huo Jun, Ji Zhi, and Xiao Fengjing waited beside the Immortal Tomb, wondering why Song Yan had not arrived.

Song Yan and his companions entered the Spirit Abyss as its Sha Qi receded, then the Abyss’s restrictions scattered them to separate locations. Song Yan landed on a tower and looked up at the vast structures around him.

• Xiao Fengjing spoke with Huo Jun and Ji Zhi about the dangers of the Spirit Abyss and their previous encounter over an ancient treasure.
• Golden Core cultivators entered the Abyss, and about a month later Song Yan’s group prepared to follow them.
• Deng Su explained the Abyss’s Yin Qi and gave out tongbao coins to help the group reunite; Song Yan gave his coin to Ying Yu.
• Song Yan, Deng Su, Liu Changhai, Ying Yu, and the Void-Aspect Dharma Body descended into the Abyss and saw its buildings, walkways, and cave abodes.
• The Abyss’s restriction separated Song Yan from the others, and he landed on a tower.

Song Yan and his companions crossed the Spirit Abyss outskirts and used his Bing-Character Jade Key to enter the city, where they soon went their separate ways. Song Yan traveled toward the Ji-Character Area with Little Butterfly and found a letter that hinted at the story behind the unfinished puppets.

• Song Yan encountered a living dead cultivator and destroyed an ancient Mechanism Puppet, taking the spirit stones from its body.
• Song Yan reunited with the Void-Aspect Dharma Body and Little Butterfly, then joined Deng Su and Liu Changhai at a bronze gate in the city wall.
• Song Yan used the Bing-Character Jade Key to open the gate, and all five entered the city before parting ways inside.
• Song Yan and Little Butterfly traveled toward the Ji-Character Area, scavenging buildings along the way.
• Song Yan watched a Mechanism Puppet defeat a living dead cultivator, then destroyed the puppet and took its Heaven and Earth Bag and spirit stones.
• Song Yan searched a pavilion filled with unfinished puppets and found a letter from a father to his daughter, Xiao Zhi.

Song Yan and Ying Yu discovered an underground workshop containing the Great Youluo Puppet Mastery Scripture, then entered the Ji-Character Area past a Golden Core Realm puppet. Meanwhile, Ji Zhi broke through a formation in the Eastern Jade Tower and began searching its hall.

• Song Yan found a hidden chamber beneath a floor tile and invited Ying Yu to explore it with him.
• They discovered a workshop filled with Mechanism Puppets, and Song Yan copied and examined the jade book titled the Great Youluo Puppet Mastery Scripture.
• Song Yan learned that the scripture taught the Dao of Puppet Mechanists but lacked the Formless Art he had hoped to find, while Ying Yu took several small puppets.
• After finding no key to a sealed passage, Song Yan and Ying Yu left the residence and continued toward the Ji-Character Area.
• Song Yan used the Ji-Character Jade Slip to pass the Golden Core Realm puppet and enter the area with Ying Yu and his companions.
• Ji Zhi broke the formation at the Eastern Jade Tower, told his disciple Jiang Tang'er to be cautious, and entered the hall to investigate.

Song Yan explored the Ji-Character Area while Jiang Tang'er used a Golden Core Realm Mechanism Puppet to ambush Foundation Establishment cultivators and target him. Song Yan survived her attacks with an illusion and the Void-Aspect Dharma Body, then located Jiang Tang'er.

• Song Yan gave Ying Yu Baleful-Avoidance Pills and explored a ruined building, leaving the Void-Aspect Dharma Body to break open three Restrictions around Law Treasures.
• Jiang Tang'er watched Song Yan while recalling how she had murdered her husband to obtain the ancient wheel and activate a Golden Core Realm Mechanism Puppet.
• After ten days, Jiang Tang'er ordered the puppet to attack Song Yan as he left a pavilion, but he evaded the first strike with an illusion.
• Jiang Tang'er sent two more attacks at Song Yan, but the Void-Aspect Dharma Body blocked them with its enormous hands.
• Song Yan looked through the flames at Jiang Tang'er and declared that he had found her.

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.