Chapter Summaries

Chen Shuangbai fought Zhao Buyan’s Yin ghosts and Jingxu’s Buddhist cultivators, then unleashed an illusion that turned the heavens’ snow and flowers into rivers of Sword Essence. Zhao Buyan’s attack struck only a sand-body, and Chen Shuangbai challenged him to try again.

• The Far-Reaching Luminous Sword Immortal broke through the Buddhist formation and killed Mingyu with his gold-and-jade ring.
• Jingxu and the surviving Buddhist cultivators withdrew as Yin ghosts surged from the blood-colored soul banner and attacked Chen Shuangbai.
• Chen Shuangbai’s Sword Essence cut Zhao Buyan in two, but a Yin ghost took Zhao Buyan’s form and continued fighting.
• Zhao Buyan and Jingxu prepared to wear Chen Shuangbai down with their soul banner and the power of the Lesser Lotus Pure Land.
• Chen Shuangbai activated an illusion that turned snow, tassels, and golden flowers into rivers of Sword Essence, damaging the soul banner and destroying Yin ghosts.
• Zhao Buyan pierced and burned Chen Shuangbai’s apparent body, but it crumbled into white sand as another Chen Shuangbai appeared nearby.

Chen Shuangbai trapped Jingxu and the Buddhist cultivators in a sword formation where illusion and reality shifted with a thought. Jingxu’s apparent sacrifice of his junior brothers and attempt to escape reset, leaving him unable to tell what was real.

• Zhao Buyan repeatedly stabbed illusory copies of Chen Shuangbai while the sword essence battered Jingxu’s formation.
• Jingxu lost his connection to the Lesser Lotus Pure Land, weakening the formation and terrifying his two junior brothers.
• Jingxu appeared to drain his junior brothers’ power and use a golden cicada to disperse the sword essence and escape.
• A plink sounded, and Jingxu returned to the earlier moment with both junior brothers alive and the formation still under attack.
• Jingxu realized he remained inside Chen Shuangbai’s illusion and could no longer distinguish reality from falsehood.

Chen Shuangbai sealed Jingxu, forced Zhao Buyan to flee, and captured an azure snake jade carving after the stone formation’s first transformation faded. He suspected Jingxu could be revived through Lotus Temple’s Lesser Lotus Pure Land and planned to hand him over to the alliance.

• Chen Shuangbai sealed the crystalline golden cicada that Jingxu had become inside an ancient bell with Sword Intent.
• Zhao Buyan sacrificed his three fellow disciples and used the Yin Yang Resentment Skull to escape Chen Shuangbai’s attacks, abandoning his damaged soul banner and Law Treasure.
• Chen Shuangbai suppressed the skull and soul banner, then concluded that Jingxu’s soul was anchored in Lotus Temple’s Lesser Lotus Pure Land.
• Chen Shuangbai descended into the stone formation and seized an azure snake jade carving as the formation’s first transformation faded.
• Changming wondered whether the True Net Cult’s members collected jade carvings, and Chen Shuangbai recalled that the Buddhist cultivators had been seeking an ancient Buddhist treasure.

Hong Qing fought Liu Rushi before Soaring Jade Palace, then clashed with True Person Jixuan as Liang Shuyan watched. Meanwhile, Chen Shuangbai broke through a stone formation and reached a platform with three mysterious treasures, where Changming began identifying them.

• Liu Rushi tried to escape by splitting into seven venomous insects, but Hong Qing slew them with his nine Mars Divine Edges; a white toad survived and fled.
• True Person Jixuan arrived at Soaring Jade Palace, and Hong Qing accused him of aiding demonic scoundrels before they began fighting.
• Chen Shuangbai used his Sword Intent to break through the stone formation and reveal a broad white jade platform.
• Chen Shuangbai found three spiritual lights above jade pillars and learned he could choose only one, but the treasures resisted examination by Divine Sense.
• Changming examined the three treasures and told Chen Shuangbai that he had discerned some of their mysteries.

Chen Shuangbai chose a stone lotus containing a dormant wood-element Sword Intent and learned the sword scripture Green Bamboo Keeps Its Joints and Nurtures Its Edge. He kept the treasure sealed for further study and left with Feiguang and Changming.

• Chen Shuangbai chose the spiritual light associated with withering and flourishing, and the stone formation transported him back between the dark pillars with a stone lotus in hand.
• Chen Shuangbai found that the lotus stirred the ancient bell imprisoning Jingxu, then suppressed the bell’s reaction with his Sword Intent.
• Changming and Feiguang helped Chen Shuangbai identify a foreign strand of Sword Intent concealed inside the lotus.
• Chen Shuangbai’s Sword Intent awakened the wood-element Sword Intent, which revealed the sword scripture Green Bamboo Keeps Its Joints and Nurtures Its Edge to the Great Yin Dao Fruit.
• Chen Shuangbai decided to keep the lotus sealed rather than risk the Buddhist Alliance summoning it away, then departed with Feiguang and Changming.

Chen Shuangbai rescued Qin Ziwei from a pursuing demon and heard about a True Net Cult Daoist sealed beneath an ancient stele. After Qin Ziwei escaped the grotto-heaven, more demons attacked Chen Shuangbai, who swiftly slew them.

• Chen Shuangbai and Feiguang raced toward their next destination while Chen Shuangbai avoided a battle between the Arrayed Mystery Sect and the Heavenly Star Mystic Sect.
• Qin Ziwei, fleeing as a soul after losing his body, asked Chen Shuangbai for help, and Chen Shuangbai killed the demon pursuing him with a sword strike.
• Qin Ziwei told Chen Shuangbai that a demonic will had taken control of his body after he found a stone statue of a black-robed True Net Cult Daoist beneath a stele.
• Qin Ziwei used a talisman to leave the grotto-heaven and warned Chen Shuangbai that the Daoist was likely no longer human.
• Changming and Feiguang warned Chen Shuangbai about the demons' ancient methods, and Chen Shuangbai killed seven or eight demons that emerged from the clouds.

A mysterious black-robed Daoist defeated Liu Rushi, bound her soul with a black cord, and forced her to serve him before heading toward the grotto-heaven’s forbidden core. At South Splendor Mountain, True Lord Xuantong stabilized Qin Ziwei’s surviving soul and asked who had attacked him.

• The black-robed Daoist trampled Liu Rushi after she was wounded and nearly killed by Hong Qing, then bound her soul with a cord made from a fiend and healed her injuries.
• Liu Rushi submitted to the Daoist, summoned two Celebrated Origin Sect Golden Cores, and watched as his fiends killed them and consumed their bodies and souls.
• When Liu Rushi suggested that the Daoist leave through an opening, the cord tortured her, and he warned her not to give him advice again.
• The black-robed Daoist traveled toward the grotto-heaven’s cloudborne palace at its core, while Liu Rushi followed as his slave.
• At South Splendor Mountain, True Lord Xuantong stabilized Qin Ziwei’s surviving soul and asked who had reduced him to that state as True Lord Qingyu watched.

Qin Ziwei reported that a True Net Cult successor had forced him to flee, while also exposing Lotus Temple and Parting Hate Gate's infiltration of Pengyu Heaven. True Lord Baishi trapped Youluo in a divine fire cage as Hong Qing and Liang Shuyan recovered a ritual secret method in Soaring Jade Palace.

• Qin Ziwei told the True Lords that a black-robed Daoist who commanded a demon had driven him to escape as a soul, and he relayed Chen Shuangbai's warning about Lotus Temple and Parting Hate Gate.
• True Lord Qingyu challenged Youluo, and True Lord Baishi confined Youluo in a divine fire cage until the successors returned and their accounts could be compared.
• True Lord Baishi reassured True Lord Mingxia that Hong Qing and Shuyan would be safe, while True Lord Xuanwu privately worried that Lotus Temple's exposure might implicate the Arrayed Mystery Sect.
• Liang Shuyan treated Hong Qing after his battle with Jixuan, and they discussed how Hong Qing's victory had forced Jixuan to escape after sacrificing a Law Treasure.
• Hong Qing and Liang Shuyan found the ritual secret method they sought, then decided to collect the surviving ancient texts after seeing Qin Ziwei escape Pengyu Heaven.

Chen Shuangbai explored a restricted palace and sent Feiguang to destroy its three jade guardians, which had sealed Golden Core-level demon souls. After Chen Shuangbai found the gold-leaf page, it tried to flee the hall, but he pinned it in midair with Great Yin Illusory Radiance as something continued to call to it.

• Changming secretly gathered treasures from a jade dais, but Feiguang made him hand them over into a Storage Bag.
• Chen Shuangbai examined a gold-leaf page atop a jade pillar and found that his Law Power vanished near the three jade sculptures guarding it.
• Feiguang fought the eagle, python, and tiger sculptures, then transformed into his true form and shattered them with frost and snow.
• Chen Shuangbai discovered that the jade crystals contained Golden Core-level demon souls and gave them to Feiguang to consume.
• The gold-leaf page turned into golden light and fled, but Chen Shuangbai pinned it in midair with a precious mirror and Great Yin Illusory Radiance.

Chen Shuangbai captured a mysterious golden page before a disturbance in the grotto-heaven brought Hong Qing and the injured Liang Shuyan to him. With their guiding talismans disabled and a black-robed Daoist suspected of controlling devils and sealing the grotto-heaven, Chen Shuangbai and Hong Qing joined forces to face the threat.

• Chen Shuangbai suppressed the struggling golden page and stored it before setting out with Feiguang and Changming.
• The grotto-heaven shook as spiritual light erupted from its central palace, and Hong Qing and Liang Shuyan arrived after fighting a group of devils that cost Liang Shuyan her left arm.
• Chen Shuangbai told Hong Qing about Qin Ziwei's warning, while Hong Qing revealed that Liu Rushi and other outsiders had entered the grotto-heaven.
• Liang Shuyan, Hong Qing, and Chen Shuangbai discovered that their guiding talismans no longer worked and feared someone inside had trapped them.
• Hong Qing proposed an alliance against the black-robed Daoist, and Chen Shuangbai agreed while Liang Shuyan stayed close to Hong Qing for protection.

True Person Jixuan escaped Hong Qing but was attacked by strange demons while traveling through the clouds. After destroying them with his Profound Edge Transformation, he encountered Hong Qing, Chen Shuangbai, and Liang Shuyan, and learned they had watched his battle from the sidelines.

• Jixuan reflected on his defeat by Hong Qing and regretted that he had not comprehended the sixth transformation of the Nine Transformations of the Profound Heaven.
• Demons attacked Jixuan’s purple lightning carriage, resisted his first strikes, and wounded him through his defenses.
• Jixuan used Profound Origin Transformation and fled in his carriage, then unleashed Profound Edge Transformation to destroy the demons.
• Jixuan took pills to recover after the fight and encountered Chen Shuangbai, Hong Qing, and Liang Shuyan in the clouds.
• Jixuan accused Hong Qing of planning to kill him, while Chen Shuangbai revealed that they had watched his fight and praised his life-saving tricks.

Chen Shuangbai forced Jixuan to submit and join the group as they investigated the black-robed Daoist and the grotto-heaven’s central palaces. The grotto-heaven then shook with a surge of spiritual radiance, revealing demons climbing through the formations of the True Net Cult’s sacred ground.

• Jixuan fired a golden-red arrow at Chen Shuangbai’s Sword Intent, but the golden-white bird pierced the attack and perched its feathers against Jixuan’s neck, forcing him to stand down.
• Chen Shuangbai questioned Jixuan about the Buddhist cultivators sealed inside the ancient bell, and Jixuan admitted that his sect’s True Lords had planned to bring them in.
• After Hong Qing explained the situation, Jixuan agreed to join forces, and Liang Shuyan gave him a Heaven-Restoring Pill to heal his injuries.
• Hong Qing retrieved his Great White Flying Spirit Blade from Jixuan’s chest wound, and Jixuan recovered enough to invite the others onto his carriage.
• Hong Qing identified the central palaces as the True Net Cult’s sacred ground and warned that entering them was dangerous, but the grotto-heaven shook as spiritual radiance surged and demons climbed through the formations.

True Lord Baishi divined that the strange Daoist had caused the grotto-heaven’s upheaval and promised to summon the trapped successors out, while Old Monster Hentian rescued True Lord Youluo. Inside the grotto-heaven, Hong Qing and Jixuan carried Chen Shuangbai through violent waves of spiritual light toward True Luo Hall, where a soul banner was spawning demons.

• True Lord Baishi used his star chart to divine the crisis and gathered True Lord Xuantong, True Lord Qingyu, True Lord Xuanwu, and True Lord Youluo for a discussion.
• True Lord Youluo’s third eye opened, and Old Monster Hentian’s power pulled him away from True Lord Baishi’s divine fire shroud, leaving behind the golden token.
• True Lord Baishi said the strange Daoist had most likely caused the upheaval and proposed using the golden tokens in a ritual to force open the grotto-heaven entrance and summon the successors out.
• Hong Qing used Saturn Divine Light and a Mercury Treasure Pearl to stabilize Jixuan’s carriage as they crossed the raging spiritual light waves with Chen Shuangbai aboard.
• Chen Shuangbai asked Hong Qing about the Heavenly Star Mystic Sect’s Moon Luminary cultivation, then saw a soul banner near True Luo Hall staining the spiritual light purple-black and spawning demons.

Jixuan’s group broke into the Devil Palace, where Chen Shuangbai used Sword Intent against Liu Rushi and Zhao Buyan. Though his attacks seemed to kill them, the pair returned unharmed, and Liu Rushi unleashed a flood of poisonous demonic light as the confrontation continued.

• Jixuan drove the carriage through the palace gates, and the group entered the outer hall as demons gathered overhead.
• The black-robed Daoist ordered Liu Rushi and Zhao Buyan to kill the intruders, and the two went out to confront them.
• Chen Shuangbai’s golden-white Sword Intent cut Liu Rushi and Zhao Buyan in two, but they soon reappeared without injuries.
• Chen Shuangbai struck Liu Rushi again with [Foot-Long Silk], freezing her and her single-horned green snake.
• Brilliant poisonous light surged from the inner hall, filling the area with writhing snake shadows and corroding jade.

Chen Shuangbai defeated Liu Rushi’s death-substitution trick and nearly killed her, but the black-robed Daoist emerged from her soul and intervened. The Daoist killed Liu Rushi, then clashed with Chen Shuangbai, who realized even his opponent’s avatar was formidable.

• Jixuan warned Hong Qing, Chen Shuangbai, and the others that Liu Rushi and Zhao Buyan were using a death-substitution technique granted by the black-robed Daoist.
• Chen Shuangbai used the [Jade Palace Bright Abyss True Pupils] and the [Heavenly River Line-Dangling Ao-Fishing Pavilion] to restrain Liu Rushi and pierce her with [Foot-Long Silk].
• A black-gold hand emerged from Liu Rushi’s soul and blocked Chen Shuangbai’s sword, collapsing the outer hall in the clash.
• Liu Rushi and Zhao Buyan welcomed their master as the black-robed Daoist emerged from Liu Rushi’s soul.
• The black-robed Daoist turned Liu Rushi into a black pellet and gave it to Zhao Buyan as a reward for her failure.
• Chen Shuangbai attacked the black-robed Daoist, who countered with black-gold lightning and left Chen Shuangbai’s arm numb.

Xuanchengzi, the sixth-generation heir of the True Net Cult, revealed his Nascent Soul-level power and attacked Chen Shuangbai, Hong Qing, and Jixuan. As the grotto-heaven began to shake from an outside force, Xuanchengzi’s avatar possessed Zhao Buyan and ordered him to kill them.

• Xuanchengzi appeared before Chen Shuangbai and overwhelmed everyone with his Nascent Soul pressure, while Liang Shuyan was devoured by demons.
• Xuanchengzi identified himself as the sixth-generation heir of the True Net Cult and unleashed three black-gold lightning palms against Chen Shuangbai, Hong Qing, and Jixuan.
• Chen Shuangbai, Hong Qing, and Jixuan used their Nascent Soul-level lifesaving treasures, but Xuanchengzi’s demons continued to overwhelm them and Jixuan lost his right arm.
• The grotto-heaven shook as an outside force tried to break in, and Xuanchengzi’s avatar left the battle to possess Zhao Buyan.
• Xuanchengzi ordered Zhao Buyan to kill Chen Shuangbai and the others.

Chen Shuangbai fought Zhao Buyan after Zhao transformed into a powerful demon, while Hong Qing and Jixuan escaped the battle. Chen Shuangbai overwhelmed Zhao and left him with only his head, declaring that killing him a second time was easy.

• Zhao Buyan transformed into a demon and used a horde of demons to pin Hong Qing and Jixuan down.
• Chen Shuangbai clashed with Zhao Buyan and froze away half of his demonic body with a sword strike.
• Hong Qing and Jixuan broke free and fled as Chen Shuangbai pursued Zhao Buyan.
• Chen Shuangbai shattered Zhao Buyan's Law Sword and cut through his demonic attacks with the Zhengguang Jielin Jade Pool Flying Immortal Sword.
• Chen Shuangbai destroyed Zhao Buyan's demonic body, leaving his head impaled on [Foot-Long Silk], and told him he could kill him a second time.

Chen Shuangbai escaped [Pengyu Heaven] with Feiguang and was rescued by the Nascent Soul True Lords, while Xuanchengzi continued recovering inside the grotto-heaven. Jixuan was rescued in critical condition, and True Lord Xuanwu demanded that True Lord Baishi answer for his injuries.

• Xuanchengzi absorbed demons through the soul banner as five Nascent Soul True Lords suppressed his recovery, and he lamented being unable to reach the true hub.
• After killing Zhao Buyan, Chen Shuangbai took a fourth-tier spiritual resource and rode Feiguang toward the rift above the soul banner.
• Chen Shuangbai saw Xuanchengzi in the mystic pool, then True Lord Qingyu pulled him through the rift and out of [Pengyu Heaven].
• True Lord Qingyu examined Chen Shuangbai, and True Lord Baishi and True Lord Xuanwu rescued Hong Qing and the gravely injured Jixuan.
• True Lord Xuanwu demanded an explanation from True Lord Baishi for Jixuan's condition, but a Heavenly Star Mystic Sect True Lord challenged him instead.

True Lord Baishi used the Great Star Constellation Seizing Hand to attack Xuanchengzi and drag him out of [Pengyu Heaven]. As Baishi gained the upper hand, Xuanchengzi detonated the grotto-heaven, leaving its fate and the cultivators inside in peril.

• True Lord Xuanwu left with the unconscious Jixuan after True Lord Baishi confronted him.
• Chen Shuangbai told True Lord Qingyu that Xuanchengzi was refining [Pengyu Heaven]'s source, and the four True Lords agreed to stop him.
• True Lord Baishi used the Great Star Constellation Seizing Hand to seize Xuanchengzi's soul banner and body through the spatial rift.
• As the grotto-heaven shook and South Splendor Mountain began collapsing, True Lord Qingyu and the other True Lords carried the disciples into the sky.
• Xuanchengzi resisted being pulled out, then caused [Pengyu Heaven] to detonate as flying devils streamed into his body.

Chen Shuangbai returned to the Jade Spring Sect with fourth-tier spiritual resources taken from his enemies and obtained a sect treasure pill to support his planned breakthrough to Nascent Soul. True Person Mei warned that demonic Nascent Soul cultivators could track his progress and told him to cultivate in seclusion out at sea.

• True Person Mei learned from Chen Shuangbai that Xuanchengzi had detonated half of Pengyu Heaven, killing hundreds of disciples and leaving both sides battered.
• Chen Shuangbai revealed three fourth-tier spiritual resources taken from fallen enemies, then added the purple treasure light he had obtained by killing Zhao Buyan.
• True Person Mei, Yi Chongyue, and Shi Yubai identified the four treasures and agreed to trade or reserve the resources for the alliance and future battles.
• Chen Shuangbai asked for a treasure pill to help him break through to Nascent Soul, and Yi Chongyue gave him the sect's Golden Dew Jade Liquid Pill.
• True Person Mei warned Chen Shuangbai that demonic Nascent Soul cultivators could discern his cultivation progress and advised him to enter seclusion out at sea.