Chapter Summaries

Zhang Chao and Li Cheng rescued Xu Xiuran from debt collectors, only to learn he planned to gamble again, while Song Yan met Nine-Square Hall owner Dugu Pu and accepted an escort commission tied to information about a Phoenix sighting. The commission was expected to begin in about six months, leaving Song Yan time to return from his exploration of the mysterious island.

• Zhang Chao and Li Cheng bought seafood at the northern wharf and discussed their new lives as paid cultivators.
• Zhang Chao and Li Cheng stopped two enforcers from beating Xu Xiuran, who explained that he owed Spirit Stones to Nine-Square Hall.
• Xu Xiuran burned his IOU and announced that he would gamble again, while Zhang Chao and Li Cheng left, warning each other not to imitate him.
• Song Yan met Dugu Pu at Nine-Square Hall and asked about the Phoenix Feather information included in the commission deposit.
• Dugu Pu described a gambler's sighting of a blazing divine bird near the Yu Abyss and promised to share the location after the commission.
• Song Yan accepted the escort commission, which Dugu Pu expected to begin in about six months.

Song Yan tested the foul-smelling Demon-Avoidance Pills before joining three Nascent Soul cultivators and four Golden Core cultivators on a voyage toward an Immortal Island in the Ruin Sea. At the island’s outer barrier, Junhe Fairy gave Song Yan a Divine Sense technique, and he mastered its basic form in two hours, enabling the group to plan a coordinated attempt to break the restriction.

• Song Yan confirmed that Xiao He found his substitute-ingredient Demon-Avoidance Pills revolting, then packed them for the journey to Peach Blossom Island.
• Jade Flute True Lord led the group east aboard the concealed Peach Blossom Spirit Boat, and they avoided a gathering of sea yao after detecting a fourth-tier great yao nearby.
• The group reached the mist-shrouded outer perimeter of the Immortal Island, where Song Yan sensed that the image of Fanghu was rippling on his sea chart.
• At the island’s highest point, the group found an ancient Qimen Restriction barring access to the vast island, and Junhe Fairy gave Song Yan a Divine Sense Secret Method to study.
• Song Yan formed his Divine Sense into a human figure and countered Junhe Fairy’s attack after only two hours of practice, prompting Jade Flute True Lord to propose that the group weaken the restriction from within and without.

Song Yan and the other cultivators broke the restriction around Fanghu by defeating a phantom Qilin, then crossed the Mist Sea’s floating bridge to reach the island. Separated from the others by an illusion, Song Yan followed the Sea Chart’s trail, while an undersea search began for the missing Princess Lingsi.

• Shen Xu and Han Changsheng identified the restriction’s weak points, and the cultivators used formation flags to weaken it.
• Song Yan, Jade Flute True Lord, Junhe Fairy, and Zhanchuan fought the phantom Qilin in the restriction’s illusion and destroyed it, opening a floating bridge into the Mist Sea.
• Jade Flute True Lord warned the Golden Core cultivators to search the island carefully, and Song Yan crossed the bridge with the others before they reached Fanghu.
• Song Yan followed golden spiritual essence drifting from the Sea Chart, but discovered that the companions he saw were mirages and continued alone with Xiao He.
• Old Turtle Lord learned that Princess Lingsi had been missing for three months, and Yin Yu worried that she might have entered the Mist Sea.

Song Yan found Fanghu's ancient stele, whose radiance transformed the Sea Chart and drew the attention of a hostile spirit from the ruined Penglai Daoist Sect. After defeating it and searching the battlefield ruins, he was about to leave when he heard a woman's cries for help.

• Song Yan followed the Sea Chart's golden mist to a jade platform in the middle of a lake and confirmed that the ancient stele marked Fanghu.
• The stele's inscriptions and light flowed into the Sea Chart, making its depiction of Fanghu clearer and revealing the same ancient text.
• A spirit accused Song Yan of betraying his fellow disciples for Xiao He and attacked him, but Song Yan destroyed it with Mirror Flower Shadow.
• Song Yan found the spirit's remains near a ruined palace, identified its connection to the Penglai Daoist Sect, and buried the skeleton after taking its Heaven and Earth Bag.
• Song Yan searched the ruins for treasures, found evidence of an ancient battle between human and Demon Race cultivators, and heard a woman calling for help as he prepared to leave.

Lingsi, a princess of the Sea Kingdom, was attacked by a ghost on Fanghu Immortal Continent and rescued by Song Yan. After meeting him and Xiao He, she considered trusting them with a request in exchange for something left behind by a voice that had guided her.

• Lingsi visited her quiet island refuge, but a flash of light awakened a hateful ghost from a skeleton, and she fled as it pursued her.
• Song Yan followed Lingsi’s cries for help and destroyed the ghost with his flying sword; Xiao He returned Lingsi’s veil after it blew away.
• Lingsi introduced herself as a princess of the Sea Kingdom and told Song Yan and Xiao He that she belonged to the Diren Tribe and that the Sea Kingdom lay in the Yu Abyss.
• Song Yan realized that bringing the Sea Chart to the island may have awakened its dormant ghosts, then warned Lingsi that the place was no longer safe.
• As Song Yan and Xiao He headed deeper into the mountains, Lingsi heard the guiding voice say Song Yan meant her no harm and suggest she seek their help in exchange for what it had left behind.

At Flowing Wave Mountain, Mirage revealed that the Sword Pellet he had given to a human cultivator had grown stronger and debated whether to seek out its owner, Song Yan, and take it back. Meanwhile, Song Yan agreed to help Lingsi reach a tomb on Great Snow Mountain, where she hoped to recover a predecessor’s remains and treasures.

• Mirage told Kui that the Sword Pellet he had once given away now carried a stronger trace of his Illusory-Reality Divine Ability, and Kui urged him to find and devour its owner.
• Mirage decided that he would pursue Song Yan despite his concern that Song Yan had inherited Zhong Min’s legacy.
• Song Yan noticed Lingsi following him and sent Xiao He to ask what she wanted.
• Lingsi asked Song Yan to take her to a senior’s tomb on Great Snow Mountain, offering dragon scales, cultivation methods, and a Dragon Pearl as payment.
• Song Yan agreed to guide Lingsi to the tomb, and she pointed out a quicker route down the mountain.

Song Yan and his companions climbed the Great Snow Mountain, where Zhan Chuan True Lord tried to probe Lingsi’s origins and encountered a terrifying presence in her sea of consciousness. Zhan Chuan suddenly collapsed, leaving everyone wondering who had attacked him.

• Song Yan learned from Lingsi that her deceased senior, Ao Gui, had died nearly four thousand years earlier, and Xiao He explained that only one branch of the True Dragon race remained.
• Lingsi revealed that Between Mountains and Seas was the Demon Race’s last pure land, though Xiao He did not know it was in the Northern Dark Sea.
• At the Great Snow Mountain, Song Yan’s group met Jade Flute True Lord, Zhan Chuan True Lord, and Junhe Fairy, who warned that they had failed to break through the mountain’s inner restrictions.
• Zhan Chuan questioned Lingsi’s identity and sent his Divine Sense into her sea of consciousness, where he saw an enormous creature with crimson eyes that destroyed his avatar.
• Song Yan prepared to fight Zhan Chuan, but Zhan Chuan suddenly bled from his eyes and ears, lost consciousness, and left everyone unsure who had caused it.

Song Yan, Xiao He, and Lingsi entered the Glacial Earth Vein and reached Ao Gui’s tomb, where Ao Gui thanked Song Yan for protecting Lingsi and offered him a token of gratitude. She left him a dragon-shaped jade pendant and told him her father had once cultivated the Sword Dao at the Returning Cloud Ruins in the Western Dark Sea.

• Jade Flute took the gravely injured Zhanchuan away, while Junhe Fairy left and Song Yan, Xiao He, and Lingsi continued toward the tomb.
• Lingsi showed Song Yan how to open the second restriction, and the three entered the Glacial Earth Vein.
• Song Yan collected rare spirit fruits and used his Kunwu Remnant Flame to protect Xiao He and Lingsi from the deadly cold as they crossed Cloudfall.
• The three reached Ao Gui’s burial chamber, where Ao Gui appeared and thanked Song Yan for helping Lingsi.
• Ao Gui offered her Dragon Pearl, dragon scales, and a Demon Race cultivation method, then gave Song Yan a dragon-shaped jade pendant and directed him to the Returning Cloud Ruins.

Song Yan and his companions fled the Mist Sea after Mirage sensed him and ordered Yin Chuan to capture him alive. The Sea Kingdom’s forces confirmed Lingsi was safe and withdrew, but Yin Chuan continued pursuing Song Yan toward the Dark Sea.

• Ao Gui gave Xiao He the Thunder-Ming Marsh-Traveling Method and left her the Dragon Pearl, while Song Yan received a Heart-Guarding Scale.
• The Dragon Pearl stirred Song Yan’s Flowers in the Mirror, Moon in the Water Sword Intent, revealing Mirage’s gaze; Song Yan broke the vision and hurried everyone away.
• Mirage ordered Yin Chuan to bring Song Yan to him alive, then sent word to the Sea Kingdom that Lingsi was near the Great Ao Cave Abode.
• Lingsi warned Song Yan that Great Yao were approaching, gave him her perception-blocking veil, and plunged into the sea while Song Yan and Xiao He fled toward the ring island.
• Song Yan warned the gathered cultivators that two Fourth Tier Great Yao were approaching, and the group scattered in their Spirit Boats after leaving the Mist Sea.
• One Great Yao turned back after learning Lingsi was safe, but Yin Chuan kept pursuing Song Yan, who fled toward the Dark Sea using Wandering the Great Void.

Song Yan and Xiao He fled across the Ruin Sea while Yin Chuan pursued them, and Song Yan discovered that the demon could regenerate from devastating injuries. After escaping Yin Chuan’s search on a deserted island, Song Yan and Xiao He left the area in the opposite direction.

• Xiao He hindered Yin Chuan’s pursuit with poisonous snake shadows while Song Yan used Wandering the Great Void to flee.
• Song Yan struck Yin Chuan with Mirror Flower Shadow, but Yin Chuan’s sword wound rapidly healed and he continued the chase.
• Song Yan ambushed Yin Chuan on a deserted island with the Shaoshang Sword, which pierced through his body, but Yin Chuan survived and regenerated.
• Song Yan escaped the island using Mirror Flower Shadow to leave an illusory double behind, while Yin Chuan pursued the decoy.
• Song Yan and Xiao He emerged from hiding, then Song Yan carried Xiao He away in his sleeve and fled in the opposite direction.

Song Yan and Xiao He escaped Yin Chuan and found a secluded island hidden behind a vast natural mirage. A recording left by Shi Zixing revealed that a divine tree had been planted there, and Song Yan recognized Shi Zixing as the White-Robed Daoist from the Sword Dao Illusion Realm.

• Yin Chuan realized the fleeing Song Yan was an illusion, abandoned the chase, and headed toward Ao Palace to seek Princess Lingsi.
• Song Yan and Xiao He traveled west, hoping to find a deserted island where Song Yan could recover and avoid Yin Chuan.
• Song Yan sensed the Kunwu Remnant Flame and Eye of the Ruinous Sea responding to something nearby, then passed through fragmented Restrictions and an enormous natural mirage.
• Song Yan and Xiao He reached a secluded island, found an empty cave abode, and activated a Recording Pearl left by its former master, Shi Zixing.
• Shi Zixing's recording explained that he had planted a Yin-Yang divine tree on the island nearly four thousand years earlier, and Xiao He urged Song Yan to find it.
• Song Yan recognized Shi Zixing's voice and manner as those of the White-Robed Daoist who had guided Senior Nie Chao in the Sword Dao Illusion Realm.

Song Yan found the struggling Flowing Continent Wood and settled in its cave, while Lingsi concealed his identity from Yin Chuan, who was searching for him on the Mirage Lord’s orders. Four months later, Dugu Hao discussed Song Yan’s disappearance and his plans with Qu Yi, and Song Yan sought Chen Linyuan’s advice about facing the danger Mirage posed.

• Song Yan and Xiao He found the Divine Tree, which Song Yan identified as Flowing Continent Wood, and he judged it needed at least two or three hundred more years to mature.
• Song Yan set up defensive formations in Shi Zixing’s cave abode and decided to stay on the island for a while.
• Yin Chuan showed Lingsi a phantom of Song Yan and asked whether she had seen him; Lingsi denied it and learned that the Mirage Lord wanted him captured alive.
• Four months later, Dugu Pu told Dugu Hao that Song Yan had disappeared after leaving with cultivators, while Qu Yi dismissed the speculation and prepared to pursue Yue Ting.
• Dugu Hao said they would follow their original plan and privately reflected that he had followed Song Yan from the Central Region to the Eastern Sea under another name.
• Song Yan asked Chen Linyuan what to do about Mirage, and Chen urged him to face danger rather than hide, warning that a Sword Cultivator could not afford to lose his spirit.

Song Yan and Xiao He left Shi Zixing's cave abode and drifted across the Ruin Sea, where they encountered a massive ship belonging to the Luchuan Association. After boarding, Song Yan learned its leader was Yue Ting and decided to stay out of the association's business until they reached the Rain Moor Archipelago.

• Song Yan left the cave abode with Xiao He and headed west on a bamboo raft toward Chivalrous Heroes Island.
• After more than half a month at sea, Song Yan spotted a colossal ship emerging from the mist near their resting place.
• Yue Ting allowed Song Yan and Xiao He aboard and introduced himself as the leader of the Luchuan Association, while Lian Yutong and Duan Langyou also gave their names.
• Song Yan introduced himself as Sheng Nian, a Rogue Cultivator from the Eastern Sea, and learned that the Luchuan Association were sea raiders planning a major operation.
• Song Yan observed that the Luchuan Association included many Demon Race members and decided he and Xiao He would remain in their room until they could disembark near the Rain Moor Archipelago.

Yue Ting ordered the Luchuan Association to seize Nine-Square Hall’s treasure ship, then led an ambush against it in the strait. Qu Yi revealed himself aboard the ship and clashed with Yue Ting, while Song Yan sensed their sword fight from his cabin.

• Yue Ting learned that Nine-Square Hall’s ship had departed early after its escort, the young pavilion master of Worry-Relief Pavilion, vanished, and ordered the Luchuan Association to intercept it.
• Yue Ting told Lian Yutong to keep Young Master Sheng in his cabin if fighting broke out; Lian Yutong warned Song Yan to stay in his room, and he returned inside.
• The Luchuan Association trapped Nine-Square Hall’s treasure ship with a Sea-Locking Wave-Calming Formation and attacked it, while Yue Ting offered to spare anyone who surrendered.
• A Sword Qi attack from the treasure ship nearly killed three Luchuan Association Golden Core cultivators, but Yue Ting stopped it with lightning.
• Qu Yi emerged from the ship and confronted Yue Ting, then attacked him with his sword; the two exchanged a clash of sword light that sent the surrounding cultivators fleeing.
• Song Yan sensed the immense sword aftershocks from his cabin and wondered whether they were Sword Intent.

Song Yan watched Yue Ting defeat Qu Yi, only for Qu Yi to summon Dugu Yin’s six Dharma bodies and trap the Luchuan Association’s ship. As the incarnations overwhelmed the defenders, two flying swords from Song Yan’s room cut down the Animal Path Body, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Lian Yutong told Song Yan to stay indoors while the Luchuan Association attacked a Nine-Square Hall treasure ship, and Song Yan watched Yue Ting and Qu Yi duel as Nascent Soul sword cultivators.
• Yue Ting defeated Qu Yi, but Qu Yi summoned Dugu Yin’s six Dharma bodies with a Black-and-Red Ancient Sword, forcing Yue Ting to fight his former master while the other incarnations attacked the ship.
• The Hungry Ghost Path Body devoured and blasted through the ship’s Great Mirage Tower defenses, while the other incarnations engaged the Luchuan Association’s Golden Core cultivators.
• The Animal Path Body captured Lian Yutong and Duan Langyou and threatened them to distract Yue Ting, but two flying swords from Song Yan’s room severed its tentacles and destroyed most of its body.

Song Yan and Xiao He helped the Luchuan Association fight Dugu Yin’s Six Paths incarnations while Yue Ting battled the Heavenly Dao body. Yue Ting reached the Three Realms of Sword Dao and defeated his former master’s incarnation, but Qu Yi escaped with the enchanted sword as Void Aspect absorbed the Asura body and grew into an eight-armed form.

• Song Yan blocked the Asura body’s attack with his Desire Realm Heaven Asura Dharma Body and sent the Luchuan Association cultivators to fight the Human Path avatar.
• Song Yan revealed Xiao He’s third-tier great yao power, then defeated the Ghost Dao boy with Heavenly Dao in Motion and drew him into the Void Realm to question him.
• Yue Ting advanced to the Three Realms of Sword Dao and destroyed Dugu Yin’s Heavenly Dao body with Awakening of Insects.
• The enchanted sword recalled the Ghost Dao boy and the other Six Paths incarnations, while Void Aspect absorbed the Asura body and grew five more arms.
• Qu Yi awakened and fled with the enchanted sword as Yue Ting chose not to pursue him.

Song Yan celebrated the victory with Yue Ting and learned that the attackers were backed by the Evil Sword Sect, Yue Ting’s former sect. Yue Ting revealed Dugu Yin’s cruelty and history, while Song Yan connected him to Dugu Hao and left the banquet aware that Dugu Yin had likely noticed him.

• Yue Ting toasted Song Yan and Xiao He, then offered Song Yan a deputy association leader position and rewards, which Song Yan declined in favor of asking questions.
• Yue Ting identified the attackers as people from Nine-Square Hall and revealed that the trading association was backed by the Evil Sword Sect.
• Yue Ting explained that he had defected after learning that Dugu Yin had murdered his parents and intended to make him embrace the sect’s brutal ways.
• Song Yan asked when Dugu Yin arrived in the Eastern Sea, and Yue Ting recalled that Dugu Yin had joined the Evil Sword Sect about four hundred years ago after the sect’s earlier devastation.
• Song Yan asked about Shi Yunhao and explained that he had met someone using the name Dugu Hao in the Central Region; Yue Ting knew no Shi Yunhao, and Song Yan later drank with the association.

Song Yan parted from the Luchuan Association at the Rain Moor Archipelago and used its hidden Teleportation Formation to return toward Chivalrous Heroes Island. Meanwhile, Yue Ting steered the Great Mirage Tower toward Floating Jade Island, and the Penglai Daoist Sect’s leaders decided to let Fang Yu and Xie Mian handle Penglai’s return to the world.

• Song Yan told Yue Ting that he had destroyed the Sea Wasteland Society’s Whirlpool Cave branch and offered to share the location of its hidden Teleportation Formation.
• Yezi explained that the Luchuan Association had found and repaired the ancient Great Mirage Tower, which had become its mobile headquarters.
• Song Yan thanked Lian Yutong and Duan Langyou for their devotion to Yue Ting, then departed with Xiao He after accepting Spirit Stones from the association.
• At the Rain Moor Archipelago, Song Yan considered entrusting the Sword Sect inheritance to Yue Ting someday, then entered the cave containing the Teleportation Formation.
• Yue Ting chose to take the Great Mirage Tower to Floating Jade Island to visit his mother’s home, while Shen Er assigned Fang Yu and Xie Mian responsibility for deciding how Penglai would emerge into the world.

Song Yan returned to Worry-Relief Pavilion, learned that Nine-Square Hall was watching the shop and that major religious and cultivation events were coming to the Eastern Sea. He gave Zhou Jue a technique before sending him home, where Zhou Jue discovered it was the Great Youluo Puppet Mastery Scripture.

• Song Yan returned to Worry-Relief Pavilion as a probing customer left, and Zhou Jue and Granny Fan Dai welcomed him back.
• Zhou Jue told Song Yan that Nine-Square Hall had repeatedly questioned the shop and increased its surveillance after Song Yan missed the agreed deadline.
• Zhou Jue reported that Master Shouzhuo had become abbot of Wondrous Enlightenment Chan Monastery and that an Unrestricted Dharma Assembly would be held on Mount Luojia.
• Zhou Jue explained that Chivalrous Heroes Island had invited cultivators to study writing attributed to Venerable Green Lotus at the Banished Immortal Ruins six years later.
• Song Yan gave Zhou Jue a Jade Slip and told him to rest; Zhou Jue read its title, Great Youluo Puppet Mastery Scripture.

Dugu Yin returned from seclusion, learned that Song Yan had interfered with the Evil Sword Sect’s plans, and met the puppet-bodied visitor Green Sparrow. As news of Chivalrous Heroes Island’s Seeking Immortals gathering spread, Ruan Zhi prepared to travel to the Eastern Sea, while Xiao Ju stayed behind to pursue Core Formation and entrusted her with a completed Law Treasure for Song Yan.

• Dugu Yin calmed Qu Yi’s injured Qi, dismissed his failure against Yue Ting, and said he would kill Song Yan himself if they met in the Eastern Sea.
• Dugu Hao identified Song Yan as the Sword Sect Inheritor and the Worry-Relief Pavilion’s Young Pavilion Master, then Dugu Yin introduced his disciples to Green Sparrow, whose body was a lifelike puppet.
• Chang'an reported Song Yan’s confirmed identity to Zhu Pingfang and Zhu Lifang, who discussed the approaching Seeking Immortals gathering and rumors that their master might come to the Eastern Sea.
• Wu Mengliu told Ruan Zhi that Qu Jiangzi had likely gone to the Eastern Sea and that the Gongsu Clan might seek him there; Ruan Zhi agreed to go and then set out for Jun Mountain.
• Ruan Zhi invited Xiao Ju to travel with her, but Xiao Ju declined to focus on Core Formation and gave Ruan Zhi a completed Law Treasure to deliver to Song Yan.
• Xiao Ju told Ruan Zhi that Fang Cunsheng had been selected to go to the Eastern Sea, while Jun Mountain’s leaders were still deciding who would lead its group.