Chapter Summaries

At Ying Zheng’s banquet, Song Yan appraised treasures until the First Emperor executed True Person Xuanguang and exposed the cultivators’ disguises. Dugu Hao attacked Song Yan with the help of Jing Ke’s phantom, and the two began a sword duel that revealed Dugu Hao’s ties to the Sword Sect and Shi Yunhao.

• Ying Zheng asked Song Yan to appraise the treasures presented by Left Daoist and Daoist Jingchen, and Song Yan praised both offerings.
• Ying Zheng dismissed True Person Xuanguang’s Blood-Red Jade Ruler, and the Bronze General Terracotta Warriors dragged him outside and beheaded him.
• Ying Zheng stripped away the cultivators’ disguises, revealing Dugu Hao’s resemblance to Shi Yunhao and restoring Wu Mengliu’s original appearance.
• Dugu Hao attacked Song Yan with an ink sword formed from the Mountains and Rivers Painting, but Song Yan blocked it with the Unmoored Boat.
• Jing Ke’s phantom appeared, claimed Ying Zheng’s imperial might depended on the Broken Jade, and urged Dugu Hao to kill Song Yan and shatter it.
• Song Yan and Dugu Hao fought with Sword in the Clouds and Soaring Cloud Intent; Dugu Hao revealed the Void-Viewing Sword Eye, and Song Yan recognized his connection to Shi Yunhao.

Song Yan fought Shi Yunhao in Xianyang Palace as their illusory duel began causing real injuries, while Ying Zheng confronted Jing Ke about his failed assassination. After Shi Yunhao escaped and Ying Zheng expelled the guests, he gave Song Yan the ancient sword Tai'e and sent him from the Imperial Mausoleum with a mysterious object and a request to explore the Dark Sea in his stead.

• Song Yan and Shi Yunhao clashed within Song Yan’s Flowers in the Mirror, Moon in the Water domain, and both discovered that injuries from the illusion could appear on their real bodies.
• Ying Zheng taunted Jing Ke over his failed assassination, and Jing Ke’s resolve collapsed until his phantom dissipated.
• Shi Yunhao escaped through a water-element formation, and Ying Zheng declared the contest over before expelling the guests from the Imperial Mausoleum.
• Ying Zheng allowed Song Yan to keep the treasures he had taken and gifted him the ancient sword Tai'e.
• Ying Zheng sent Song Yan from the mausoleum with a mysterious object in his Water Jade Ring and asked him to discover what lay at the end of the Dark Sea if he reached the mortal world’s highest point.

Gu Qingqing escaped her pursuer in the Qin Emperor's Mausoleum, while Song Yan reported what happened inside and arranged to meet Wu Mengliu later. After the mausoleum's visitors returned to Qingxu Plateau, Green Sparrow Daoist reached the First Emperor's coffin, and Shi Yunhao returned to the Evil Sword Sect and heard news from Chivalrous Heroes Island.

• Gu Qingqing hid from her pursuer, then reunited with Sheng Yun and Fang Cunsheng after an unknown attacker killed him.
• Sheng Yun sensed major disturbances in the Imperial Mausoleum's restrictions, so the three left and learned that something had happened at the Mound.
• The surviving cultivators returned to Qingxu Plateau, where Song Yan privately told Elder Wu Guan about events inside the mausoleum, including Jiang Ding.
• Wu Mengliu arranged to visit Song Yan on Jun Mountain in a month, and Song Yan joined Yang Hongru's group for the journey back.
• Green Sparrow Daoist entered a side hall behind Xianyang Palace and approached the First Emperor's Yellow Intestine Outer Coffin.
• Shi Yunhao returned to the Evil Sword Sect, where Mo Cailing told him there was interesting news from Chivalrous Heroes Island.

On the Cloud-Piercing Dragon Chariot, Song Yan identified Gu Qingqing’s mirror as an Ancient Treasure she could try refining and recognized the mysterious killer’s weapon as a Wu Hook. Song Yan then discovered that a fragment left by Ying Zheng completed his Sea Chart and revealed Penglai Immortal Island.

• Gu Qingqing, Sheng Yun, and Fang Cunsheng visited Song Yan to ask about the mirror, and Song Yan said it was likely an Ancient Treasure usable even by a Qi Refining cultivator.
• Song Yan examined a Recording Pearl showing the dead cultivator who had hunted Gu Qingqing and identified the unusual wound as the work of a Wu Hook.
• Song Yan read about Ancient Sword Tai'e, considered why refining it had not opened a Sword Dao Illusion Realm, and returned it to his Sword Case.
• Song Yan found a circular map fragment Ying Zheng had left in his Water Jade Ring and fitted it into the incomplete Sea Chart.
• Song Yan recognized the completed chart’s design as Penglai Immortal Island, one of the three immortal mountains in Guixu.

After completing the ancient Sea Chart, Song Yan decided to travel to the Eastern Sea and visited the Mohist School to discuss reforging an Ancient Sword with Master Xu. He returned to Jun Mountain and learned that his eldest senior brother, Xu Xiuran, had gone to the Eastern Sea centuries earlier in search of Penglai.

• Song Yan refined the Sea Chart, revealing the Five Realms of Guixu and Yang Valley, and decided to consider setting out for the Eastern Sea soon.
• Song Yan visited the Mohist School, learned that Ruan Zhi was away, and spoke with Xu Xiaoxiong about her cousin Jiang Gudong, who had returned safely from the Imperial Mausoleum.
• Song Yan showed Master Xu twelve statues of thunder-charged fushi stone and asked him to use them to reforge the Ancient Sword, accepting that the work could take decades.
• Song Yan returned to Jun Mountain and told Yangsu Divine Lord that he planned to travel to the Eastern Sea.
• Yangsu Divine Lord told Song Yan that his eldest senior brother, Xu Xiuran, had left for the Eastern Sea four or five hundred years earlier to seek Penglai and had not returned.

Jiang Cold Mountain learned that Jiang Ding’s cultivation could be restored by using the Flower-Shifting Art to take another person’s immortal foundation. Meanwhile, Chang'an received orders to leave the Central Region for a long-term posting in the Eastern Sea, said goodbye to Gu Qingqing, and departed after Fang Cunsheng asked whether she had saved Gu Qingqing in the Imperial Mausoleum.

• Jiang Cold Mountain rebuked Jiang Ding for provoking Song Yan and the Tang Sect, then learned from Daoist Wu that the Flower-Shifting Art could restore Jiang Ding’s cultivation by grafting on another person’s foundation.
• Earth-Character Thirty-Nine ordered Chang'an, Zhu Pingfang, and Zhu Lifang to join the government’s contingent heading to Chivalrous Heroes Island for a long-term posting.
• Chang'an gave Gu Qingqing information about treasure mirrors, told her she was leaving the Central Region, and revealed that her real name was Chang'an.
• Chang'an sensed someone following Gu Qingqing, prepared to defend her, and discovered the follower was Fang Cunsheng.
• Fang Cunsheng asked whether Chang'an had saved Gu Qingqing in the Imperial Mausoleum, and Chang'an denied him an answer before leaving.

Song Yan consulted Chen Linyuan about Tai'e, his sword training, and Mirror Flower Shadow, learning that Tai'e could keep producing Sword Intent spiritual potential and that his Divine Ability had dangerous limits. After Chen Linyuan realized Song Yan had lived in other realms and warned him about Mirage, Song Yan reflected on Shi Yunhao and a mysterious name before Xiao Ju announced a visitor.

• Song Yan summoned Chen Linyuan and learned that Tai'e could continuously produce Sword Intent spiritual potential inside the Infinite Treasury, allowing him to keep comprehending Sword Dao Illusion Realms.
• Chen Linyuan advised Song Yan to focus on honing his Sword Intent and analyzed Mirror Flower Shadow, explaining which opponents could resist or overcome it.
• Song Yan described his encounters with Mirage, and Chen Linyuan inferred that Song Yan had lived in other realms and warned that Mirage could manipulate his Divine Ability and take it for himself.
• After returning to his cave abode, Song Yan considered whether Shi Yunhao was connected to a senior who had left the name Dugu at Mountain Retreat.
• Xiao Ju told Song Yan that someone had arrived at the mountain entrance requesting an audience, and Song Yan suspected Wu Mengliu had come.

Song Yan traded diagrams of the Three Swords of the Celestial Lodge for Wu Mengliu’s teleportation talisman and used it to return to the Imperial Mausoleum’s Mound. After reaching an ancient teleportation array, he found that it did not respond, leaving his route to the Eastern Sea uncertain.

• Wu Mengliu showed Xiao Ju the markings on the Three Swords of the Celestial Lodge, and Song Yan exchanged a copy of the completed diagrams for a talisman that could teleport three people into the Imperial Mausoleum’s Mound.
• Song Yan departed with Xiao He and used the talisman to teleport back into the Mound, then retraced his earlier route through the Western Tomb Passage.
• Wang Ke gave Lu Qingyan the first half of the Lingzhen Seal, and Lu Qingyan explained that the other half was in the Eastern Sea, where Shen Juan had gone with Immortal Qin’s expedition.
• Song Yan found the ancient teleportation array in the underground stone chamber and discovered that it did not activate when he supplied it with spiritual power.

Song Yan's Teleportation Formation unexpectedly began to glow as Zhou Jue's story unfolded on Floating Jade Island, where pirates from the Sea Wasteland Society threatened the villages. After carrying his fainted grandmother toward safety, Zhou Jue spotted a mysterious cultivator in the mountains and decided to flee to the island's Forbidden Ground.

• Song Yan prepared to teleport back to the Chu Kingdom, but the Teleportation Formation suddenly lit up.
• Zhou Jue used his Mechanism Puppet to chop wood at Repentance Cliff, then spotted a Ghost Face Ship approaching and warned the islanders of pirates.
• Zhou Jue hurried to Otter Mountain Village, where his grandmother Fan Dai fainted after embracing him; village leaders gathered to plan for the attack.
• The village leaders confirmed the Sea Wasteland Society's assault and ordered people to hide in the mountains while cultivators prepared to fight.
• While carrying Fan Dai through the forest, Zhou Jue saw an unfamiliar cultivator searching nearby and decided to head for Floating Jade Island's Forbidden Ground.

Zhou Jue and Fan Dai were captured by Qu Zhao, who forced them into Floating Jade Island’s forbidden ground in search of immortal treasures. Fan Dai’s Moon Priest Method summoned Song Yesheng through the ancient formation, and after Qu Zhao beheaded him, Song Yesheng spoke from behind him.

• Qu Zhao subdued Zhou Jue and Fan Dai, broke through the forbidden ground’s formation, and brought them into the cavern.
• Qu Zhao searched the cavern and demanded that Fan Dai reveal the immortal treasures rumored to have been passed down by the first Moon Priest.
• Qu Zhao seized Zhou Jue to threaten Fan Dai, who offered to demonstrate the Moon Priest Method in exchange for her grandson’s release.
• Fan Dai invoked the Moon Priest Method, and a figure descended from the moonlight through the ancient formation.
• The newcomer identified himself as Song Yesheng, but Qu Zhao cut off his head with a flying blade.
• Song Yesheng’s voice sounded behind Qu Zhao, asking why he had attacked him.

Song Yan arrived on Floating Jade Island in the Eastern Sea, learned about its regions and the Sea Raiders attacking it, and discovered that Qu Zhao’s forces were led by Qu Zhuang. After Song Yan revealed Qu Zhao’s death and destroyed the raiders’ ship, the battle turned in Floating Jade Island’s favor, and Song Yan began studying a map of nearby islands.

• Song Yan used an illusion to question Qu Zhao, then learned from Fan Dai and Zhou Jue that he had arrived on Floating Jade Island in the Star Dark Sea and how the ancient teleportation formation had worked.
• Fan Dai told Song Yan that Sea Raiders from the Sea Wasteland Society were attacking the island, and that Qu Shan’s contingent was led by his son Qu Zhao; Song Yan sent his Void-Aspect Dharma Body outside to scout.
• Song Yan and Fan Dai reached the coast, where Qu Zhuang struck the island’s defensive formation and threatened to break through; Qu Zhuang recognized Qu Zhao’s Heaven and Earth Bag and demanded to know what had happened to him.
• Song Yan told Qu Zhuang that he had killed Qu Zhao, then sent his Void-Aspect Dharma Body crashing down onto the ghost-faced sea ship, destroying it and severely injuring many Sea Raiders.
• Floating Jade Island’s cultivators counterattacked while Song Yan ordered Xiao He to capture Qu Zhuang alive, then accepted a Jade Slip map from Zhou Yang and began studying the nearby islands.

Song Yan and Xiao He defeated Qu Zhuang, sealed his Golden Core, and captured him before driving off the pirates attacking Floating Jade Island. After interrogating Qu Zhuang and learning about the Sea Wasteland Society and a route to Chivalrous Heroes Island, Song Yan decided to acquire a seagoing ship before traveling there.

• Xiao He restrained Qu Zhuang with snake shadows while Song Yan's Dharma Body struck him and sealed his Golden Core.
• The pirates fled when Song Yan returned carrying Qu Zhuang, and Xiao He dragged them beneath the sea with her snake shadows.
• Song Yan warned the people of Floating Jade Island to leave before Qu Shan sought revenge, then took Qu Zhuang to the cavern.
• Song Yan questioned Qu Zhuang with Mirror Flower Shadow and learned about the Sea Wasteland Society, Qu Shan's base at Whirlpool Cave, and Chivalrous Heroes Island.
• Song Yan decided to travel to Chivalrous Heroes Island and found two ship-type law artifacts and more than six hundred thousand Spirit Stones in Qu Zhuang's Heaven and Earth Bag.

Song Yan examined the Mountain-Backed Tide-Gazing Technique and learned more about Floating Jade Island’s history, then spoke with Zhou Jue about his homemade puppet and its cultivation manual. He left the island for Chivalrous Heroes Island, planning to investigate Whirlpool Cave first.

• Song Yan studied the incomplete Mountain-Backed Tide-Gazing Technique, decided to keep its Jade Slip, and read legends about the Penglai Daoist Sect and Floating Jade Island.
• The heads of Floating Jade Island’s villages told Song Yan they would stay behind while the younger generation fled the Sea Wasteland Society; they also described the books left by the island’s legendary Immortal.
• Song Yan overheard Fan Dai call him a child and, moved by her words, summoned Zhou Jue to ask about his puppet.
• Zhou Jue explained that he had built the wooden puppet using old island texts and a rudimentary manual, which Song Yan recognized as resembling the Great Youluo Puppet Mastery Scripture.
• Song Yan left Otter Mountain Village without promising to shelter its people and departed for Chivalrous Heroes Island, intending to visit Whirlpool Cave.

Three years after reaching Chivalrous Heroes Island, Song Yan had established Worry-Relief Pavilion and advanced to the middle stage of the Golden Core Realm. A veiled woman sought the Young Pavilion Master at Xinling Tavern, while Song Yan left his cave abode for the market after learning sea raiders were troubling the Jiang Household’s docks.

• A woman in green used a Xinling Jade Leaf to ask Madam Hongxiao about the Worry-Relief Pavilion’s Pavilion Master and Young Pavilion Master, and Madam Hongxiao offered to reveal the latter’s location.
• Two cultivators in Xinling Tavern discussed targeting the woman and rumors that the hidden sect Penglai had struck the Sea Wasteland Society three years earlier.
• Fan Dai visited Song Yan’s cave abode at White Deer Green Cliff, tended her spiritual field, and asked whether Xiao He was safe from sea raiders.
• Song Yan recalled reaching the middle stage of the Golden Core Realm and how Fan Dai and Zhou Jue had joined Worry-Relief Pavilion after arriving on Chivalrous Heroes Island.
• Song Yan left Xiao He a Sound Transmission Talisman and flew toward Canghai Market as a streak of Black-and-White Sword Light.

At the Worry-Relief Pavilion, Song Yan heard two requests for help: Shen Xu wanted an ally to investigate his sect’s lost treasures at Peach Blossom Island’s upcoming Barter Fair, while Yang Zhiyi sought the truth about a robbery involving her sect’s treasure ships. Song Yan deferred Shen Xu’s request for a decision and refused Yang Zhiyi’s, wary that the investigation could lead back to him.

• Song Yan met Shen Xu, who offered thirty upper-grade spirit stones for help investigating his sect’s missing treasures at Peach Blossom Island’s Barter Fair.
• Song Yan said he would consult the pavilion master and give Shen Xu an answer in two days; Shen Xu revealed his name before leaving.
• Yang Zhiyi of the Luo River Goddess Palace asked the Worry-Relief Pavilion to identify the mysterious sect that had joined the Sea Wasteland Society in robbing treasure ships three years earlier.
• Yang Zhiyi said the Whirlpool Cave branch involved in the robbery had been wiped out soon after returning, and her sect suspected its mysterious partner was responsible.
• Fearing the investigation could expose his role in destroying the Whirlpool Cave branch, Song Yan refused Yang Zhiyi’s request and had Zhou Jue escort her out.

After Xiao He discovered and recruited the octopus demon brothers Zhang Chao and Li Cheng, Song Yan gave them work at the Worryfree Pavilion. He then arranged for them to take him to Peach Blossom Island next month.

• Yang Zhiyi left the Worryfree Pavilion and traveled toward the Jiang Household Ferry to return to Peach Blossom Island.
• Zhang Chao and Li Cheng captured two sea raiders, but Xiao He found them and defeated them when they tried to attack her.
• Xiao He revealed that she was a demon and recruited Zhang Chao and Li Cheng to follow her to the Worryfree Pavilion.
• Song Yan hired the brothers to collect Spirit Stones and serve as bodyguards, gave them robes to conceal their Demon Qi, and told them to take him to Peach Blossom Island on the eighth of next month.

Song Yan arrived at Peach Blossom Island with Shen Xu and the other invited cultivators, then quickly passed the Peach Blossom Screen trial. He proceeded toward the banquet grounds while the remaining guests struggled through the formation, with Xu Xiaoyu emerging nearly an hour later.

• The invited cultivators waited at Peach Blossom Island until sunset, when Song Yan arrived on Zhang Chao and joined Shen Xu.
• The ferryman led the guests by pleasure boat to a peach grove, where a woman announced that they had to pass the Peach Blossom Screen to reach the banquet.
• Song Yan warned Shen Xu that he might fail the formation trial and refund half his fee, then entered the peach grove alone.
• Using his divine sense and Void-Viewing Sword Eye, Song Yan easily crossed the formation and met Yang Zhiyi, who explained her ties to Peach Blossom Island's Yang Family.
• Yang Zhiyi led Song Yan toward the banquet grounds while the other guests remained inside the formation, and Xu Xiaoyu emerged nearly an hour later.

At Peach Blossom Island’s banquet, Xu Xiaoyu and Shen Xu learned that Song Yesheng had swiftly escaped the maze formation, while three Nascent Soul cultivators resolved to recruit him for a journey to an Immortal Island. The banquet auction then revealed Penglai relics that unsettled Shen Xu, and Xiao He took a liking to an expensive Daoist garment.

• Xu Xiaoyu emerged from the maze, learned Song Yesheng had escaped it in less than a quarter of an hour, and found him waiting at the banquet.
• Shen Xu emerged under his alias Xie Xu and joined Song Yesheng after an attendant told him Song had waited for over an hour.
• Three Nascent Soul cultivators assessed Song Yesheng’s exceptional Divine Sense and decided he must accompany them to an Immortal Island.
• At the banquet, Xiao He transformed into a young girl and sat in Song Yesheng’s arms, while Shen Xu accepted an assigned companion.
• Peach Blossom Island began an auction with a Tide-Birth Pill Formula that alarmed Shen Xu because it was a secret Penglai Daoist Sect formula.
• Xiao He admired a female cultivator’s Law Treasure Daoist robes, but the thirty-thousand-Spirit-Stone starting bid exceeded her funds.

Song Yan won Xiao He an Immortal Skirt at the auction, then turned Xu Xiaoyu’s charm technique back on her and broke her cultivation method. Meanwhile, Shen Xu caught up with his junior brother and learned that Xie Lingxi had also fled her betrothal.

• Song Yan bid ninety thousand Spirit Stones and won the Immortal Skirt for Xiao He, who changed into it and admired her new outfit.
• After the auction ended, Xu Xiaoyu approached Song Yan and secretly used the Soft Dream Floating Fuxin Art on him.
• Song Yan trapped Xu Xiaoyu inside her own reverie and shattered it, causing severe backlash that broke her charm cultivation.
• Yang Zhiyi begged Song Yan to spare Xu Xiaoyu, and he released her from the backlash with a warning; Xu Xiaoyu left the banquet.
• Shen Xu intercepted his junior brother, who explained that Fang Huan had gone to Chivalrous Heroes Island and Xie Lingxi had fled after Shen Xu’s betrothal was arranged.

Shen Xu and Song Yan were summoned to Clear-Sound Pavilion, where three Nascent Soul cultivators invited them and other Golden Core cultivators to explore a hidden immortal island in the Ruin Sea. They agreed to join the expedition departing in half a month, while Nine-Square Hall's Gong Zhang learned of a concealed underwater cave suitable for storing the hall master's collection.

• Shen Xu received a Sound Transmission Talisman inviting him to Clear-Sound Pavilion and told his junior brother to leave without revealing his presence to anyone but their Master.
• Shen Xu reunited with Song Yan at Peach Blossom Source, and the two followed their invitations to Clear-Sound Pavilion.
• Jade Flute True Lord, Junhe Fairy, and Zhan Chuan True Lord explained that a hidden island in the Ruin Sea held a possible High Antiquity immortal legacy, and they needed Golden Core cultivators to help negotiate its formations and avoid attracting ancient deep-sea Yao.
• Song Yan, Shen Xu, Yang Zhiyi, Han Changsheng, and Tie Zhengming agreed to join the expedition, which was set to depart from Peach Blossom Island in half a month.
• After the younger cultivators left, the three True Lords discussed how to divide responsibility for them, and Junhe Fairy declined to take part in looking after the group.
• At Nine-Square Hall, a black-robed cultivator reported finding a concealed underwater cave, and Gong Zhang ordered him to inspect and prepare it as a possible storage site for the hall master's collection.