Chapter Summaries

Ling Yi used the Tai Chi Four Symbols Blood Formation to suppress three Golden Core centipede great demons and urged the others to escape. Shen Qingyue stayed, used system rewards to reach Golden Core Third Layer and master Ice Sword Intent, then killed one demon as Mengli and Gao Lan returned.

• Ling Yi summoned the Tai Chi Four Symbols Blood Formation, suppressing the three centipede great demons but leaving himself unable to move.
• Menglan, Mengli, and Gao Lan prepared to flee, but Shen Qingyue stayed because Ling Yi's death would cost her the system.
• Ling Yi's favorability toward Shen Qingyue rose to 82, and she spent her check-ins to obtain advancement, teleportation, and Ice Sword Intent rewards.
• Shen Qingyue used a Major Realm Advancement Card to reach Golden Core Third Layer and an Ice Sword Intent Great Accomplishment Experience Card.
• Shen Qingyue pierced and killed one of the centipede great demons with the Azure Frost Sword.
• Mengli and Gao Lan returned and appeared beside Ling Yi.

Ling Yi absorbed the demons’ Qi and Blood, explained his unusual cultivation, and pressed Shen Qingyue, Gao Lan, and Mengli to share the rewards from their systems. After the women agreed, he began a frank discussion about the secrets and restrictions surrounding their systems.

• Gao Lan and Mengli returned after their favorability scores fell when they fled, and they saw Shen Qingyue kill the three great demons.
• Ling Yi refined the lesser demons’ Qi and Blood and explained that his cultivation art could absorb the essence of any living creature.
• Ling Yi sarcastically reminded Gao Lan and Mengli that they had left him in danger, and Gao Lan asked what benefits he wanted.
• Shen Qingyue handed Ling Yi half of her system rewards, while Gao Lan and Mengli promised to give him half of everything they gained.
• Ling Yi began asking the women to speak openly about their secrets and the restrictions that kept them from discussing them.

Zhuang Yuerong discovered that Ling Yi was not her heart demon and activated her Check-In System through him, joining the group of system bearers. The group agreed to keep their systems secret and work together, then Zhuang Yuerong said she had something to do.

• Zhuang Yuerong arrived and was shocked to find Gao Lan, Shen Qingyue, and Mengli had all reached the Golden Core Realm.
• Ling Yi explained that the women’s rapid cultivation came from their systems, and Zhuang Yuerong hugged him for ten breaths to activate hers.
• Zhuang Yuerong received the Check-In System and the Wood Domain ability from its newbie gift pack.
• Ling Yi asked the women to keep their systems secret, offered them a Breath Concealment Technique, and proposed that they trust one another while sharing rewards only if they chose.
• Mengli noted that the lesser centipede demons had been killed, and Zhuang Yuerong raised her hand when Ling Yi asked whether anyone had something to do.

Ling Yi and his companions remained trapped in Centipede Forest because a hidden grand formation blocked their escape and messages to the sect, while Meng Jiaoyue had returned to the sect to enter seclusion. After four hours of deduction, Ling Yi created the Tai Chi Blood Soul Seal, used it to control centipede demons, and continued studying how to refine his method.

• Meng Jiaoyue returned to the sect to enter seclusion after gaining insight from Ling Yi’s Tai Chi Blood Formation, leaving the trapped group unlikely to receive help soon.
• Ling Yi finished developing the Tai Chi Blood Soul Seal from the Beast Taming Art and used it to take control of a centipede demon.
• Gao Lan sent five more centipede demons to Ling Yi, who used the seal to control all of them.
• Ling Yi passed a Qi and Blood cultivation method to six centipede demon pets and sent them back to Mengli and Gao Lan.
• Ling Yi sat down to continue deducing how to adapt the seal to different Demonic Beasts.

Gao Lan and Mengli watched Ling Yi’s centipede demons absorb Qi and Blood while Zhuang Yuerong and Shen Qingyue worried about his ability to create cultivation techniques. At the Beast Taming Palace, Nangong Wuji ordered Yunshu to investigate the Centipede Forest, revealing that she was a spy at Tianquan Peak who regretted betraying the Ten Thousand Swords Sect.

• Six centipede demons exposed their Demon Cores and absorbed Qi and Blood from the corpses, which Gao Lan and Mengli recognized as a refining method Ling Yi had likely taught them.
• Zhuang Yuerong and Shen Qingyue discussed the danger of Ling Yi creating cultivation techniques, while Zhuang Yuerong worried she would miss her check-in opportunities.
• Nangong Wuji reported the Centipede Forest’s exposure to the voice in the black statue and claimed he had activated the Demon Ancestor Grand Formation.
• Nangong Wuji secretly revealed his opposition to his father’s thousand-year plan, then ordered Yunshu to investigate the disturbance in the Centipede Forest.
• Yunshu, a ninth direct disciple of Tianquan Peak and a Beast Taming Palace spy, asked her system whether it could lift her curse because she did not want to betray the Ten Thousand Swords Sect.

Yunshu, a spy for the Beast Taming Palace and the fifth system owner in the Ten Thousand Swords Sect, learned that the Fishing System might remove the curse controlling her and went to Centipede Forest to find Ling Yi. She entered the activated formation and followed the trail of corpses and her butterfly demons toward him, while Ling Yi’s companions discussed their latest rewards.

• Yunshu revealed that Nangong Wuji had cursed her and sent her to spy on the Ten Thousand Swords Sect, and she hoped the Fishing System could free her.
• Yunshu suspected that Mengli, Gao Lan, Shen Qingyue, and Zhuang Yuerong also had systems tied to Ling Yi, and she worried that his return would bring trouble.
• Yunshu accepted a demon-slaying mission in the opposite direction from Centipede Forest, then secretly detoured toward it after leaving the sect.
• Yunshu entered the Ancestral Demon Grand Formation despite knowing that no one could leave, and sent her butterfly demons ahead as she followed the centipede corpses.
• Mengli shared jade slips, Spirit-Nurturing Pills, and three questionable Spirit Treasures with Gao Lan, Shen Qingyue, and the other women while Ling Yi studied the Tai Chi Blood Soul Seal.

Mengli shared sinister Spirit Treasures and duplicate cultivation techniques with the women, who negotiated trades for spirit spring and cultivation rewards. When Ling Yi awoke from studying the Tai Chi Soul Sealing Seal, he said he wanted to examine the Ten Thousand Souls Banner and Investiture of the Gods Scroll.

• Gao Lan wanted to trade a ten-year Cultivation Card for Mengli’s Bloodthirst Sword, but Mengli chose to wait until Ling Yi woke up before deciding how to distribute it.
• Mengli offered duplicate technique jade slips, and Shen Qingyue and Zhuang Yuerong took Blood Poison Technique slips while offering rewards in return.
• Zhuang Yuerong traded bottles of spirit spring to Gao Lan for a ten-year Cultivation Card and to Mengli for an Experience Card, while concealing that she possessed a spirit spring source and Wood Spirit Liquid.
• Shen Qingyue said she wanted to discuss the Investiture of the Gods Scroll after Ling Yi woke up, seeing it as a way to create an army of cultivators under her control.
• Ling Yi opened his eyes after deducing the Tai Chi Soul Sealing Seal and said he wanted to study the Ten Thousand Souls Banner and Investiture of the Gods Scroll, but had no use for the Bloodthirst Sword.

Ling Yi accepted cultivation resources from Mengli, Gao Lan, and Zhuang Yuerong, then began studying formations to find a way out of the grand formation. Zhuang Yuerong worried about being bound to Ling Yi by her system, and the group was joined by Yunshu, a personal disciple from Tianquan Peak.

• Mengli gave Ling Yi cultivation techniques, Spirit Treasures, and an experience card, while Gao Lan traded for the Bloodthirst Sword and gave Ling Yi a cultivation card.
• Zhuang Yuerong gave Ling Yi spirit spring water, raising his favorability toward her, and worried that her system would keep her bound to him.
• Ling Yi checked his six centipede demons, then rode one while he devoted himself to studying the formation.
• Gao Lan killed a butterfly demon, and the group realized it had been controlled by someone nearby.
• Yunshu arrived and greeted the group, prompting Zhuang Yuerong and Gao Lan to speculate about which disciples from the remaining peaks might join them.

Ling Yi learned that Murong Xi and Murong Yao were powerful twin cultivators whose rare Spiritual Roots made them difficult for the sect to let leave. Yunshu asked Ling Yi for help, and his Fishing System gave her control of the Ancestral Demon Blood Curse, leaving her ready to use it against Nangong Wuji.

• Zhuang Yuerong and the others identified Murong Xi and Murong Yao as formidable candidates, and Yunshu revealed their suspected Soul and Space Spiritual Roots.
• The group concluded the twins would be difficult to recruit because the sect would protect its valuable cultivators from rival factions.
• Yunshu approached Ling Yi and asked for his help, then took his hand when the system prompted her.
• Ling Yi's Fishing System activated and gave Yunshu the Curse Body, which let her master and control the Ancestral Demon Blood Curse.
• Yunshu thanked Ling Yi and asked whether she could now use the curse on Nangong Wuji.

Yunshu controlled the Ancestral Demon Blood Curse and tested her Binding Fishing System, which could fish through a portal linked to the heavens and Myriad Worlds. She gave Ling Yi the first reward, raising his favorability toward her to 55 and significantly improving her future fishing rewards.

• Yunshu learned she needed Nascent Soul Realm cultivation to curse Nangong Wuji and followed the system's advice to control, but not remove, the Ancestral Demon Blood Curse.
• Yunshu revealed her Binding Fishing System to the others and summoned a crude fishing rod that opened a black hole in the air.
• Yunshu explained that fishing rewards depended partly on Ling Yi's favorability toward her, and she cast her line after asking what he liked best.
• Yunshu fished up a jade slip containing the Divine Treatise on Artifact Refining, while Gao Lan tossed a centipede demon's corpse into the black hole before it closed.
• Yunshu gave the jade slip to Ling Yi, raising his favorability toward her by 50 points to 55 and increasing her fishing rewards.

Gao Lan learned that Ling Yi’s favorability toward her had fallen, then raised it again by giving him a cultivation card; Shen Qingyue explained that her high favorability came from being the first to offer him half her earnings. As the group settled into cultivation and monster hunting, the Cloud Firmament Sect reported a sealed formation at Ten Thousand Demons Valley and a possible Demon King at Demon Bat Cave.

• Gao Lan challenged Ling Yi over her low favorability, lost five points, and used a ten-year cultivation card to restore them.
• Shen Qingyue revealed that Ling Yi’s favorability toward her was 82 because she had offered him half her earnings first and had kept their deal honestly.
• Ling Yi returned to studying formations, Gao Lan and Mengli went to farm monsters, and Yunshu, Shen Qingyue, and Zhuang Yuerong cultivated.
• At the Cloud Firmament Sect, Grand Elder told Sect Master Situ Yun that a formation trapped people inside Ten Thousand Demons Valley and that the sixth elder had been missing there for three days.
• The Grand Elder also reported twelve inner disciples lost at Demon Bat Cave and signs that a Demon King had appeared.

Situ Yun learned of strange threats across the region and suspected the Beast Taming Palace planned to unify the Hundred Thousand Mountains. After Ling Yi and the women escaped Centipede Forest, he warned them that its formation accelerated demonic growth and might be one of many, then set out to report it to the sect.

• Situ Yun learned that a Vast Righteousness Sect Spirit Stone mine had lost all its Spiritual Qi and heard reports of black light descending over it.
• Situ Yun discussed rumors that the Beast Taming Palace was raising great demon puppets and explained that its palace master, Nangong Wuji, came from the powerful Savage Region beyond the Hundred Thousand Mountains.
• Situ Yun ordered the grand elder to bring the sect's personal and core disciples to the Ten Thousand Swords Sect's competition in three months.
• Ling Yi and Shen Qingyue and the other four women emerged from Centipede Forest after killing its demons and breaking the Ancestral Demon Grand Formation.
• Ling Yi explained that the formation accelerated demonic advancement and warned that similar formations across other Lands of Trials could endanger the sects and schools.
• Ling Yi left to return to the sect, and the five women flew toward the Ten Thousand Swords Sect to report what they had found.

After emerging from seclusion, Meng Jiaoyue learned how much Mengli had advanced and heard her account of surviving Centipede Forest with her companions. Meng Jiaoyue suspected Ling Yi’s Blood Refining method involved Ancient Runes, while Mengli kept their chosen explanation secret; the chapter revealed that the group’s true strength far exceeded their apparent realms.

• Meng Jiaoyue emerged from half a month of seclusion having advanced to the Middle Nascent Soul Stage, then discovered Mengli had reached the Foundation Establishment Seventh Layer.
• Mengli told Meng Jiaoyue a cover story about meeting Shen Qingyue, Gao Lan, Zhuang Yuerong, and Yunshu in Centipede Forest, where they survived a demon-filled array and gained new abilities.
• Mengli demonstrated Ling Yi’s Blood Refining method on a crocodile demon, and Meng Jiaoyue found that it produced pure energy that improved cultivation without side effects.
• Meng Jiaoyue suspected the rune Mengli used was an Ancient Rune, and explained that Ancient Runes were said to represent the Dao.
• Mengli recalled that Yunshu had proposed the Ancient Runes Emergence Plan to explain their changes and conceal the truth about Ling Yi’s techniques.
• The chapter revealed that Mengli’s true cultivation had reached Spirit Leaving the Body Realm Great Perfection, while she and her companions had slain nearly a hundred thousand demons in half a month.

Meng Jiaoyue suspected Ling Yi and his companions were reincarnated ancient powerhouses and ordered the sect to protect Ling Yi until the sect competition. Before her restrictions took effect, sect disciples surrounded Ling Yi’s courtyard, and one challenged him to a fight.

• Mengli told Meng Jiaoyue how the group had subdued the Demon Kings, and Meng Jiaoyue grew more suspicious of Ling Yi’s mysterious connections and abilities.
• Meng Jiaoyue ordered Mengli to stay in seclusion and arranged to conceal her sudden improvement in cultivation.
• Meng Jiaoyue barred non-menial disciples from the menial disciple area and canceled missions to the Centipede Forest until after the sect competition.
• A crowd of inner, personal, and core disciples gathered outside Ling Yi’s courtyard, curious about his ties to Mengli, Shen Qingyue, Gao Lan, Zhuang Yuerong, and Yunshu.
• A tall, thin disciple stepped forward and struck at Ling Yi without waiting for his response.

Gao Lan protected Ling Yi from Kaiyang Peak disciples, while Murong Xi and Murong Yao rejected their systems’ final offer and lost them. After the crowd dispersed, Gao Lan told Ling Yi she had been ordered to cultivate in seclusion until the sect competition, though she was reluctant to stop grinding monsters.

• Gao Lan struck down the horse-faced disciple who attacked Ling Yi, then forced Zheng Chong to his knees and shattered his kneecaps.
• Gao Lan warned the crowd not to trouble Ling Yi again, as Murong Xi and Murong Yao watched and discussed the systems tempting them to bind him.
• Murong Xi and Murong Yao refused their systems’ final requests, and both systems unbound themselves after insulting the sisters and calling Ling Yi a Big Shot.
• Murong Xi and Murong Yao dismissed the systems’ warnings and agreed to kill Ling Yi that night to eliminate what they believed was a Karma Heart Demon.
• Gao Lan sent Zheng Chong flying and drove the remaining disciples away from Ling Yi’s courtyard.
• Gao Lan told Ling Yi that her master had ordered her to cultivate in seclusion until the sect competition, and she complained that she would miss grinding monsters.

Meng Jiaoyue discussed Ling Yi with the peak masters and ordered the sect to investigate suspicious Formations in nearby demon territories. She barred the peak masters from approaching Ling Yi privately until after the sect competition and sent disciples to scout for signs of danger.

• Ling Yi warned Gao Lan to report any danger while grinding monsters, and explained that the Team-Up Card let members share locations and communicate through Formations.
• The sect announced new rules, while news of Gao Lan defending Ling Yi spread and made his name more prominent.
• Meng Jiaoyue asked the six peak masters for their views on Ling Yi; Gu Haoran advised against antagonizing or overprotecting him, while Liu Rushuang urged them to seize him.
• Meng Jiaoyue revealed her Nascent Soul Sixth Layer cultivation and forbade the peak masters from approaching Ling Yi privately before the sect competition.
• Meng Jiaoyue ordered each peak to send a hundred outer disciples, led by inner disciples, to scout demon territories after receiving reports of dangerous Formations near the Cloud Firmament Sect and the Vast Righteousness Sect.

Ling Yi studied the Spiritual Refinement method and considered using its runes to refine his dantian, while three hired disciples came to kill him. Yunshu cursed the assassins to death, then discovered Murong Xi and Murong Yao had come to confront what they believed was their inner demon.

• Ling Yi found that Spiritual Refinement Runes matched the Ancient Runes and considered fusing them into his Spirit Gang to refine his dantian.
• Three servant disciples hired to kill Ling Yi plotted outside his courtyard, hoping to receive Dream-Building Pills in exchange.
• Yunshu used her Power of Curses to kill the three men and dissolve their bodies.
• Yunshu spotted Murong Xi and Murong Yao approaching Ling Yi's courtyard.
• Yunshu learned that Murong Xi and Murong Yao had voluntarily unbound their systems and had come to eliminate their supposed inner demon.

Ling Yi and Yunshu discussed Nangong Wuji’s plan to activate the Ancestral Demon Grand Formations and unleash a calamity across the Hundred Thousand Mountains, then decided to leave during the sect competition. Ling Yi bound Murong Xi and Murong Yao with Tai Chi Blood Soul Seals so they would keep quiet, while Yunshu gave him a jade slip.

• Yunshu subdued Murong Xi and Murong Yao after they came to kill Ling Yi, and brought them into his room.
• Yunshu told Ling Yi that Nangong Wuji planned to activate the Ancestral Demon Grand Formations across all eighty Demonic Beast territories during the sect competition.
• Ling Yi reasoned that the formations would seal off the Hundred Thousand Mountains and might trigger a calamity across the region or beyond.
• Ling Yi and Yunshu chose to leave during the sect competition rather than risk intervening, and Ling Yi told Yunshu not to warn Shen Qingyue and the others yet.
• Ling Yi placed upgraded Tai Chi Blood Soul Seals on Murong Xi and Murong Yao, lifted Yunshu’s curse, and sent the twins away with their memories controlled.
• Yunshu agreed to gather materials for Ling Yi’s artifact crafting and gave him a jade slip she had found.

Ling Yi deduced the Spiritual Refinement method for alchemy and discussed the growing threat from Ancestral Demon Grand Formations with Yunshu and the others. After Yunshu left, Meng Jiaoyue appeared and offered to show Ling Yi where he could find Ashen Void Stone in exchange for the Dao of Tai Chi.

• Ling Yi deduced the Spiritual Refinement method of alchemy from the Divine Treatise on Alchemy.
• Yunshu, Gao Lan, Mengli, Shen Qingyue, and Zhuang Yuerong brought Ling Yi supplies, cards, and the Treasure-Gathering Basin, and Ling Yi proposed making Teleport Array Disks for the group.
• Yunshu and Mengli reported that the sect was investigating demon territories and that Mengli and Gao Lan had destroyed two Ancestral Demon Grand Formations.
• Ling Yi asked Yunshu to find ten thousand jin of Ashen Void Stone, and Yunshu explained how scarce the material was.
• Ling Yi sensed Meng Jiaoyue waiting outside, and she offered to reveal a source of Ashen Void Stone in exchange for the Dao of Tai Chi; Ling Yi agreed.

Meng Jiaoyue revealed the Ten Thousand Swords Secret Realm and arranged for Ling Yi to enter the sect competition under the alias Li Chen, while he traded her Tai Chi insights for the opportunity to pursue the Dao Comprehension Stone. As the competition approached, the women prepared to compete, but the four remaining Ancestral Demon Grand Formations and danger in the Hundred Thousand Mountains remained unresolved.

• Meng Jiaoyue explained that the sect competition’s top ten would qualify to enter the collapsing Ten Thousand Swords Secret Realm, whose Dao Comprehension Stone was the sect’s hidden source of cultivation techniques and spells.
• Meng Jiaoyue gave Ling Yi an inner disciple token bearing the name Li Chen, and Ling Yi offered her a jade slip containing his Tai Chi insights, usable three times.
• Ling Yi began a hundred-year Cultivation Card session to strengthen his soul, while Meng Jiaoyue studied the jade slip and reached Nascent Soul Ninth Level Great Perfection.
• Over the following months, the Ten Thousand Swords Sect activated its grand formation and barred disciples from leaving ahead of the sect competition.
• Shen Qingyue told Gao Lan, Mengli, Zhuang Yuerong, and Yunshu that they needed to place in the top ten; they discussed their strength and the seventy-six Ancestral Demon Grand Formations they had destroyed.
• Mengli said they had not found the remaining four formations, and Yunshu warned that the Biannan Region was the gap in the Hundred Thousand Mountains and greater trouble lay ahead.