Chapter Summaries

Xu Long reached Phoenix City and recognized its octagonal layout as a sealed Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram, then learned that newcomers could pay Spirit Stones or risk the city-gate trials to enter. As Ma Fang explained the rules from a chariot, Xu Long kept his identity hidden and watched Pavilion Master Xu's party approach a gate.

• Xu Long saw the golden light and towering walls of Phoenix City after the Mist Beast tide drove the cultivators toward it.
• Xu Long used his Heavenly Eye to analyze Phoenix City's eight gates and realized the city formed an incomplete, sealed Bagua Diagram.
• Ma Fang announced that newcomers could pay Spirit Stones for safe entry or attempt the gates, with rewards for passing five or six and danger for failing.
• Xu Long recognized Ma Fang on the city lord's manor chariot but hid in the crowd and avoided contact with him.
• Pavilion Master Xu's party reached a gate, where one of its members paid the gatekeeper and declared that nine members of the Rogue Cultivators Association were entering.

Xu Long entered Phoenix City through the Life Gate, only to find himself trapped in the shifting Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram. The gate unleashed a vast sword formation against him, and he met its attack with his own sword light.

• Xu Long decided against paying Spirit Stones or forcing his way through Phoenix City's defenses, and chose to enter the formation himself.
• Xu Long used his Heavenly Eye to study the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram and planned a route through its gates, but the formation shifted as he entered.
• Xu Long became separated from the other cultivators inside the diagram and realized he was trapped in one of its gates.
• Sword qi attacked Xu Long, and he shattered the first few streams with his fingertips before a much larger sword formation emerged.
• Xu Long summoned his sword light and spun it above his head, forming a sword net to intercept the incoming attack.

Xu Long broke through the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram’s sword formation and entered another gate, where he discovered that lethal arrows guarded the clouds ahead. After a cultivator died warning him to be careful, Xu Long continued onward, seeking to understand the formation’s mysterious energy and how to pass safely.

• Xu Long used his sword light and the Power of Oblivion to destroy the endless illusory sword qi in the first gate.
• Xu Long realized the formation preserved sword strikes’ Power of Laws and used it to generate seemingly endless attacks, then passed through the first gate.
• Xu Long entered a different barrier and heard a cultivator roar before the man was struck backward by hidden attacks.
• Xu Long saw that the dying cultivator had arrows embedded in his chest; the man warned him to be careful and died.
• Xu Long read the final image in the man’s eyes, identifying lethal arrows hidden among clouds beyond the gate, then burned the corpse and watched the arrows dissipate.
• Xu Long chose to proceed through the gates rather than seek a shortcut, while sensing the mysterious energy that he believed sustained the formation.

Xu Long probed the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram’s cloud barrier and discovered that its arrows and scattered clouds worked together to trap him. As a giant armor-piercing awl pierced his defenses, he sent his sword light to slice through the clouds with the power of oblivion.

• Xu Long rose through the barrier and passed a deceptive vapor curtain, which closed behind him and exposed him to churning clouds full of arrows.
• Xu Long sent sword light into the clouds, suppressing their momentum, but several arrows formed in the flattened mist and shot toward him.
• Xu Long advanced toward the clouds while raising successive curtain walls, as scattered clouds gathered behind him and slowed his movement.
• The clouds gathered countless arrows into a giant armor-piercing awl that broke through Xu Long’s defenses while he waited for his sword light.
• Xu Long used the power of oblivion to send his sword light slicing through the clouds as the awl continued to pierce the curtain walls.

Xu Long escaped the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram’s second gate by using his Milky Way Celestial Phenomenon and sensed that he might be able to draw on energy from Phoenix City’s City Heart. He entered the third gate, where a deadly river and iron-chain bridge blocked his way.

• Xu Long summoned his Milky Way Celestial Phenomenon to halt the armor-piercing cone briefly, escaped through the clouds, and used his sword light to strike back as the cone pursued him.
• Xu Long sensed energy within the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram and suspected he could use his phenomenon to draw a small amount of power from Phoenix City’s City Heart.
• Xu Long emerged in the third gate and found a vast, turbulent river crossed only by an old iron-chain bridge.
• Xu Long saw a person swept into a whirlpool and dragged beneath the river, then abandoned the idea of swimming across.

Xu Long crossed the dangerous iron-chain bridge over the surging river, using his sword light to suppress whirlpools and waves as the bridge shook beneath him. Near the river's center, he faced a gathering force from below and realized he could not wait for the torrent to strike again.

• Xu Long recognized that the far bank marked the exit from the third gate and decided to cross by the iron-chain bridge.
• Xu Long hurried across the swaying chains and used his sword light to break apart whirlpools that threatened the bridge.
• Xu Long's sword light burst from beneath the water and shattered towering waves, allowing him to continue across.
• Xu Long approached the bridge's corroded center, where the river's force gathered and the chains began clattering violently.
• Xu Long braced himself against the torrent's crushing impact and realized the river was steadily building strength beneath him.

Xu Long crossed the great river by twisting its cables together and using his sword light to break the torrent’s assault, then reached the exit to Phoenix City. He lingered to draw energy from the City Heart, missed the exit when the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram shifted, and was sent into the fourth gate.

• Xu Long used Magic Power to twist the river cables into a single taut chain and raised them above the water.
• Xu Long used his sword light and the cables’ motion to withstand and break the great river’s waves, then crossed to solid ground.
• Xu Long saw the curtain of light that would let him leave the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram and enter Phoenix City without paying Spirit Stones.
• Xu Long used his Milky Way Celestial Phenomenon to draw energy from the City Heart, recovering the Magic Power he had spent.
• Xu Long’s attempt to absorb the energy made him miss the exit as the formation changed, sending him into the fourth gate.

Xu Long entered the fourth gate of the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram, where its gathered energy unleashed a powerful attack against him. He survived the giant hand and discovered that his opponent was a real totem being, leaving him to wonder whether the formation was connected to sealed primeval gods.

• Xu Long reflected that the City Heart's energy grew stronger deeper within the formation, while Deng Lifu monitored the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram and noticed an anomaly at the fourth gate.
• Xu Long explored the fourth gate's barrier, sensed its killing intent, and felt the formation gather vast energy around him.
• A giant hand descended and crushed Xu Long into the ground, but he used the Power of Oblivion to blunt the impact and sent his sword light to attack its owner.
• Xu Long's sword light struck the being hidden in the darkness, revealing a powerful totem resembling the phantom on Deng Shouchong's ritual banner.
• Xu Long recognized the being as a true totem and wondered whether the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram was connected to sealed primeval gods.

Xu Long battled the totem guardians inside the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram, using Spiritual Qi Bombardment and his sword light to destroy two of them. The final two separated to attack him and his sword, and the chapter ended as one totem prepared to strike Xu Long again while an overpowering gaze emerged from the dust.

• The wounded totem summoned three shadows, and the four totems trapped Xu Long's sword light in their joined palms.
• Xu Long drew energy from the City Heart through the Milky Way Celestial Phenomenon and unleashed Spiritual Qi Bombardment, blasting the totems apart and freeing his sword light.
• Xu Long's sword light destroyed one totem, and he endured the remaining three totems' combined assault behind his defensive curtain wall.
• The sword light beheaded another totem as it attacked Xu Long, leaving two guardians to face him.
• The remaining totems split up, with one pinning down Xu Long's sword light while the other crushed him into the ground; an overpowering gaze then emerged from the dust.

Xu Long annihilated the last totems in the fourth gate and absorbed the City Heart’s energy instead of leaving the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram. He entered the fifth gate, Scattering Beans to Create Soldiers, where an ancient army closed in and prepared to attack.

• Xu Long destroyed one totem with a powerful shell and killed the final totem with the sword light.
• Xu Long searched the fourth gate, absorbed the released energy, and chose not to take its exit.
• Xu Long sensed the fifth gate and entered a desolate wilderness beneath a crimson sky.
• Black beads fell from the sky and formed a vast army of ancient soldiers and bronze chariots around Xu Long.
• The soldiers parted within a hundred paces of Xu Long, and the front rank crouched as figures aimed something at him.

Xu Long and his Dharma body fought the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram’s manifested combat soldiers and bronze chariots, with Xu Long shattering an arrow assault and the Dharma body smashing a charging chariot. Surrounded by the advancing black tide while his partner held off more chariots, Xu Long unleashed his Milky Way Celestial Phenomenon and sword light, leaving the battle raging inside the barrier.

• Xu Long summoned his Milky Way Celestial Phenomenon and shattered the combat soldiers’ arrow formation with a single sword strike.
• Bronze chariots charged Xu Long, but he called forth an enormous Dharma body that halted one chariot and smashed it with the divine steeds.
• Xu Long and the Dharma body stood back to back as more chariots advanced and the black-clad combat soldiers closed in.
• Xu Long sealed his five senses and opened his Heavenly Eye to resist the totem’s murderous aura, then raised curtain walls against the soldiers’ combined attack.
• As the curtain walls buckled and the Dharma body held off the chariots, Xu Long sent his gathered sword light plunging into the black tide.

Xu Long destroyed two contingents of soldiers in the fifth gate, then missed the exit as the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram transferred him to the sixth gate. He arrived in a more complete world of mountains and rivers, while the formation’s energy continued to strengthen his Magic Power.

• Xu Long used the Milky Way Celestial Phenomenon and sword light to break through the first contingent of soldiers, while his Dharma Body held back the bronze chariots.
• The bronze chariots shattered the Dharma Body, and Xu Long unleashed Spiritual Qi Bombardment to scatter the encircling soldiers before cutting them down with sword light.
• After defeating both contingents, Xu Long absorbed energy from the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram and hesitated over whether to take the exit that appeared before him.
• Xu Long missed the exit as the formation shifted and transferred him into the sixth gate, where energy from the City Heart poured into his body and opened his sealed meridians.
• Xu Long arrived in the sixth gate and saw a world of rolling mountains, flowing rivers, colored clouds, and clear qi.

Xu Long entered the sixth gate and found himself amid mountains that began closing in on him, forcing him to flee along a dangerous river. After cutting through falling ranges with his sword light, he was swept back into the current and continued downstream, suspecting the barrier’s terrain and river were strangely controlled.

• Xu Long entered the sixth gate and found a landscape of steep mountains and a winding river.
• The mountain ranges began tilting toward him, filling the barrier with Geng Metal Qi and forcing him to escape downstream along the river.
• The current swept Xu Long toward a sharp bend, where a falling mountain range blocked his path and threatened to crush him.
• Xu Long halted himself with the Milky Way and sent sword light through the rushing water to open a path past the mountains.
• When more ranges fell at the bend, Xu Long poured his Magic Power into the sword light and severed them, escaping beneath the falling peaks.
• Xu Long was swept into the river again and sensed that its speed and direction changed strangely despite the level ground.

Xu Long battled the sixth gate of the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram, where a surging river and falling mountain ranges trapped him in a maze of sharp bends. After cutting through one barrier, he tried to force a new route, but the mountains blocked it again, leaving him to charge ahead with his Dharma Body.

• Xu Long realized the barrier’s mountains had shifted into nine groups of sword-like peaks that forced the river through dangerous bends.
• Xu Long used his sword light to sever the mountain weapons above a bend, allowing the river to pass through more smoothly.
• Xu Long saw the mountains repeatedly close off new routes and decided to lead the river straight through the obstacles instead of following its bends.
• Xu Long’s sword light opened a brief passage, but the mountain weapons fell into place again and blocked the river.
• Xu Long summoned his Dharma Body, which charged toward the mountain weapons to force open a passage as the barrier shook.

Xu Long broke through the Sixth Gate of the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram by forcing a path through its river and giant weapons, then drew on the Milky Way Celestial Phenomenon to push against his sealed realm. As the Seventh Gate began to open, he sensed its danger and faced a choice between proceeding and stabilizing his imminent breakthrough.

• Xu Long used his Dharma Body and sword light to smash through the giant swords and halberds, guiding the river past their bends toward the horizon.
• After the Dharma Body shattered, Xu Long used Spiritual Qi Bombardment and the command “Seal!” to restrain a falling weapon long enough to pass beneath it and reach the end of the river.
• The Milky Way Celestial Phenomenon replenished Xu Long’s Magic Power, and the energy began forcing open the blockage in his realm.
• Xu Long shouted “By decree!” and broke through the long-sealed pass as his Magic Power surged through newly opened channels.
• A curtain of light appeared at the Sixth Gate’s exit as the formation shifted toward the Seventh Gate, and Xu Long sensed danger while his breakthrough remained unsettled.

Xu Long stabilized his breakthrough inside the Seventh Gate’s barrier and reached the Middle Mahayana Stage, then escaped into Phoenix City just before the exit vanished. He entered the city proper and disappeared into the crowd as people from the City Lord’s Manor approached, while Deng Shouchong reported to Deng Lifu.

• Xu Long calmed his chaotic Magic Power and broke through to the Middle Mahayana Stage, expanding his Milky Way Celestial Phenomenon.
• As darkness swallowed the barrier’s exit, Xu Long severed his celestial phenomenon’s connection to the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram and escaped into the barbican.
• Xu Long followed other cultivators through the barbican and entered Phoenix City, seeing its rivers, jade pavilions, and City Lord’s Manor.
• Xu Long sensed unusual auras, including people from the City Lord’s Manor, and vanished into the crowd.
• Deng Shouchong sat beside Deng Lifu in the City Lord’s Manor and began recounting the arrangements he had made after leaving the city.

Deng Shouchong reported the failed Blackwater City expedition, and the City Lord’s divination could not determine whether Mo Yu had survived as an anomaly of heaven and earth. When a cultivator passed through six gates of Phoenix City’s formation, the City Lord sent Deng Shouchong to meet him, while Yuan Changhe sensed the same barrier disturbance and ruined a pill furnace.

• Deng Shouchong told the City Lord that Mo Yu had vanished in the Mist Beast tide and that Yuan Changwu and Chen Yuping had not obtained Blackwater City’s energy core.
• The City Lord said his divination could not reveal whether Mo Yu had survived, calling him a formless anomaly between heaven and earth.
• A cultivator passed through six gates of Phoenix City’s Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram, and the City Lord gave Deng Shouchong a jade token to bring the cultivator to him.
• Yuan Changwu told Yuan Changhe that he had failed to obtain the energy core and Human Python’s Inner Core, which he needed for his breakthrough.
• Yuan Changhe sensed the city-gate barrier disturbance, became distracted, and ruined the pills in his furnace.

Yuan Changhe, Chen Yuping, and the other leaders of Phoenix City’s three factions learned that a cultivator had passed through six gates of the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram and sent representatives to recruit him. At the barbican, Pavilion Master Xu won goodwill for the Rogue Cultivators Association by welcoming all the newcomers, but the powerful cultivator had not yet revealed himself.

• Yuan Changhe gave Yuan Changwu his Pill Cauldron Sect jade token and ordered him to bring a cultivator who had passed through six gates to the sect.
• Pavilion Master Xu delivered the Rogue Cultivators Association’s Spirit Stones to Chen Yuping and reported that Old Pavilion Master Huang had died and his spirit vein had been abandoned; Chen Yuping ordered him to keep the matter secret.
• After sensing that a cultivator who passed through the Sixth Gate had entered Phoenix City, Chen Yuping sent Pavilion Master Xu to invite that cultivator to the Rogue Cultivators Association.
• Deng Shouchong arrived at the barbican on behalf of the City Lord’s Manor, and representatives of the Pill Cauldron Sect and Rogue Cultivators Association followed to recruit the six-gate cultivator.
• Pavilion Master Xu welcomed all the arriving cultivators before relaying Chen Yuping’s invitation, earning the Rogue Cultivators Association goodwill while the other factions hurried to broaden their own offers.
• None of the three factions’ representatives identified or recruited the powerful cultivator, who remained among the newcomers.

Phoenix City buzzed over the mysterious cultivator who passed six city gate barriers while Deng Shouchong investigated a missing bronze chariot and reports of Mist Beast tides. Xu Long entered the Pill Cauldron Sect’s South Division as Old Pavilion Master Huang arrived there unexpectedly.

• The three factions failed to meet the cultivator who passed six barriers, and stories about the feat spread through Phoenix City.
• Deng Shouchong asked Ma Fang whether he had seen Mo Yu, then learned that a bronze chariot sent to drive off a Mist Beast tide had not returned.
• Deng Shouchong ordered Ma Fang and his companions to search for the missing team and chariot and watch for Mist Beast tides.
• Xu Long traveled through Phoenix City and headed for the Pill Cauldron Sect’s South Division.
• Old Pavilion Master Huang entered the Pill Cauldron Sect’s grounds to visit Second Master Yuan Changwu, surprising the sect’s cultivators.

Old Pavilion Master Huang brought a mysterious treasure to the Pill Cauldron Sect and used it to secure a private audience with Yuan Changwu. After seeing the treasure, Yuan Changwu heard Huang’s demand for rare pills and ten portions of great medicine, leaving him torn between anger and his desire for what the box contained.

• Old Pavilion Master Huang forced his way into the Pill Cauldron Sect and demanded to speak with Yuan Changwu about a trade.
• Yuan Changwu inspected Huang’s brocade box, reacted with shock and delight, and invited him inside to negotiate.
• Yuan Changwu led Huang to the sect’s mountaintop temple, where they paid respects before meeting in a side hall.
• Old Pavilion Master Huang demanded several powerful pills and ten portions of great medicine in exchange for the treasure.
• Yuan Changwu objected that the terms were excessive, considered killing Huang, then hesitated because he urgently wanted the treasure.