Chapter Summaries

Li Qiang uncovered a hidden three-dimensional passage map inside a black plaque, learned that Princess Lanqiu’s friend on Blackwater Island could lead them to Sea Soul Agate, and entered meditation before their voyage. After advancing toward the early Leaving the Body stage and saying goodbye to his friends, he boarded the Flying Hook Chain to cross the Sea of Wronged Souls.

• Li Qiang bought a black flame-shaped plaque, and the fire spirit removed its restriction to reveal a green, maple-leaf-shaped map of passages.
• Princess Lanqiu told Li Qiang that her friend on Blackwater Island knew about Sea Soul Agate, while Nashan embarrassed them by presenting her with a necklace.
• Li Qiang studied his auction-bought bow and arrows, then entered meditation and gained power from the fire spirit, advancing seemingly into the early Leaving the Body stage.
• Nanadun and Kankanqi said goodbye to Li Qiang, and Bala gave him a keepsake image of his family and asked him to tell them he was alive if he found them.
• After learning that he had meditated for over eight days and that the Wind of Fear had stopped, Li Qiang joined Princess Lanqiu’s party aboard the Flying Hook Chain and set out across the Sea of Wronged Souls.

Li Qiang and his companions crossed into the Sea of Wronged Souls aboard a flying hook-chain, where they encountered a monstrous Taimeng Beast and watched an arrow boat break apart. Li Qiang and Hong Qian went out to rescue the survivors, and as Li Qiang returned with people in tow, Hong Qian cried for help.

• Princess Lanqiu showed Li Qiang and his companions around the flying hook-chain, and Lukali led the vessel out to sea with Labadu overseeing its defenses.
• The flying hook-chain encountered a Taimeng Beast, escaped beneath the waves, and then outran the beast using its ring defense, leaving an arrow boat to be destroyed.
• Li Qiang insisted on rescuing the arrow boat's survivors, and he and Hong Qian flew through the storm to reach them.
• Hong Qian carried a survivor back while Li Qiang used a rope to haul around twenty people toward the flying hook-chain.
• Kubo and Zhao Hao helped bring survivors aboard, but Hong Qian suddenly cried for help, and Li Qiang sent out the Star-Absorbing Sword.

Li Qiang rescued survivors from the sea monsters, fought off the Taimeng Beast, and became separated from the Flying Hook Chain after a storm. After finding a new arrow boat and forcing his way aboard, he faced its crew’s spears.

• Li Qiang and Hong Qian rescued people from the water while Li Qiang killed sea monsters, then Li Qiang attacked the Taimeng Beast to draw it away from the Flying Hook Chain.
• Li Qiang wounded the Taimeng Beast with the Star-Absorbing Sword and Purple Flame Giant Palm, escaped its ice attack, and drove it away with the fire spirit’s Primordial Spirit.
• Li Qiang lost sight of the Flying Hook Chain in the storm, found an unconscious survivor on a plank, and learned the man had traveled with Old Man Kabaji before he died.
• Li Qiang flew alone across the sea until he found an arrow boat, but its crew mistook him for a monster and tried to flee.
• Li Qiang opened the arrow boat’s hatch and entered, where four crewmen pointed spears at him.

Li Qiang boarded Zegu’s arrow boat in the Sea of Wronged Souls, won over the crew with money, and learned about the route and its raiders. When raiders ambushed the boat at night, Zegu ordered the defenses lowered, while Li Qiang stood ready to watch what happened.

• Li Qiang disarmed four crewmen, paid Zegu for passage, and asked for clothes; Zegu accepted him aboard and found him a berth.
• Li Qiang paid the crew for information and learned that the voyage took over a hundred days and that the boat stopped at Black Islet Reef, where he hoped to meet Zhao Hao and the others.
• Zegu warned the crew about raiders near Pingliu Islet Reef, and Li Qiang gave him binoculars that helped the crew spot the raiders in the distance.
• Zegu steered around the reef and waited until dark before attempting to pass, but a raider trap caught the arrow boat and two others.
• Zegu ordered the defenses lowered and the boat to stop, while Li Qiang, having recovered his strength, stood up and prepared to watch the confrontation.

Li Qiang subdued the raiders who had seized Zegu’s arrow boat and learned that a strange man on Piled Bones Shoal had forced them to capture people. As the boats neared the shoal, eerie drums scattered the raiders’ boats and left Zegu’s arrow boat lost in fog, where Li Qiang began guiding it by a distant sound.

• Li Qiang endured the raiders’ blows, disarmed them, and forced one to explain that a strange man on Piled Bones Shoal had compelled them to capture a hundred people.
• Li Qiang made the raiders swallow bitter pills and ordered them to act as though nothing had happened, then returned their spine guns and forbade them from mistreating the crew or merchants.
• Zegu continued following the jiaomeng boats as the wind rose, and the group heard increasingly loud drumbeats near Piled Bones Shoal before the sounds stopped and the cabin fell into panic.
• Gentle drumbeats calmed everyone, but the jiaomeng boats disappeared, and Zegu realized the arrow boat had lost its way in the fog.
• Li Qiang ordered Zegu to stop and wait; when a strange sound came from the distance, Li Qiang directed the arrow boat first right, then left.

Li Qiang guided Zegu and the others through a dangerous fog and reef formation to a mysterious white mountain, where they reached a stone platform after their arrow boat was nearly destroyed. The group went ashore, finding the raiders’ jiaomeng boat empty and the mountain’s purpose still unknown.

• Li Qiang detected a huge sea monster beneath the fog, and its movements dragged the arrow boat underwater until Li Qiang used his power to help it surface.
• After the boat’s defenses and hull were badly damaged, Li Qiang flew above the fog, spotted a white mountain, and guided the boat toward it.
• Li Qiang recognized the reefs as part of a formation and told Zegu not to interfere as a current carried the boat safely through the shifting passage.
• The boat passed around a sheer cliff on a rapid current and reached a stone platform beside the empty jiaomeng boat.
• Li Qiang agreed to explore the platform, and Zegu led the crew, merchants, and raiders ashore.

Li Qiang and the arrow-boat passengers were teleported from Piled Bones Shoal to Heavenly Melody City, where the cultivators tested their ability to withstand music. Li Qiang helped Zegu pass the second test, but the group remained under the city’s control, and an unexpected visitor recognized Li Qiang at the end.

• Li Qiang identified the glowing pillars as a teleportation formation, and he and the passengers were transported to a white, plant-filled place near the sea.
• A group of powerful cultivators led by Lan Xin welcomed the travelers to Heavenly Melody City and escorted them inside after warning them to avoid Silver Grass Slope.
• Wen Qiuli told the arrivals that the city needed manpower for a task and distributed protective jade talismans for a musical endurance test.
• Nearly half the group failed the first round of pounding notes, and most of the remaining travelers survived a second, shrill musical attack with Li Qiang secretly shielding Zegu.
• Wen Qiuli sent the survivors onward to a final test at Sparse Sound Hall, gave them hanging tokens, and arranged for them to receive Ice Hunger Fruit.
• Someone approached Li Qiang and recognized him, leaving him astonished and delighted.

Li Qiang reunited with Old Man Kabaji in Heavenly Melody City and was drawn into a test that revealed the city’s experts could not easily overcome the power protecting him. After freeing himself from the Coiling Silk String, he spoke in a language no one in the city understood, leaving the city lord stunned.

• Li Qiang promised to help Old Man Kabaji return home, then joined Zegu and the other silver-tagged people for a test at Sparse Sound Hall.
• The Heavenly Melody Grand Formation’s sonic attacks left Zegu unconscious, but Li Qiang remained inside as the Supreme Radiance Shuttle countered the city lord’s amplified music.
• The city lord intensified the formation’s assault with freezing mist and the Coiling Silk String, and Li Qiang let the strands bind him so he could leave the formation.
• After the city lord teleported him into Sparse Sound Hall, Li Qiang mocked her and claimed he could free himself from the Coiling Silk String.
• Li Qiang revealed Brilliant Swift Heavenly Fire, prompting the city lord to retrieve the Coiling Silk String, then spoke in his native language and stunned everyone.

Li Qiang learned that Heavenly Melody City was sealed and that reaching a secret chamber beneath the city might be the only way out. He agreed to descend into the ice eye, then joined the city lord and the others to inspect a Harmonizing Sound Fork needed to open the chamber.

• The city lord told Li Qiang that Heavenly Melody City’s people could not leave and explained that a secret chamber beneath the city held a way to break the seal.
• Li Qiang volunteered to descend into the ice eye, and the city lord realized his Brilliant Swift Heavenly Fire might protect him from the Ice Spirit Essences.
• Elder Geng Feng challenged Li Qiang to a greeting, but Li Qiang’s fire spirit burned Geng Feng’s arms and forced him to yield.
• Geng Feng agreed to accompany Li Qiang into the ice eye, where he knew the underground conditions and could help undo restrictions.
• Piao Yuan warned that the Harmonizing Sound Fork had to match the ancestor’s Empty Sound Fork, and Li Qiang offered to help refine it before the group went to see Granduncle-Master Tianhong.

Li Qiang met Granduncle-Master Tianhong and discovered they shared a homeland, then revealed his connection to Fu Shan and the Chongxuan Sect. After Tianhong explained the Harmonizing Sound Fork and the Mysterious Domain Secret Chamber, Li Qiang began studying its sound sequences and listened as Tianhong played them.

• Lan Hainü brought Li Qiang and the others to meet Granduncle-Master Tianhong, who tested Li Qiang with a sound technique, but Li Qiang resisted and criticized Tianhong's artifact refining.
• Li Qiang learned Tianhong came from Jiujiang Commandery and named places from their homeland, prompting Tianhong to weep until Li Qiang and Lan Hainü stopped the sorrowful sound.
• Li Qiang identified himself as a disciple of the Chongxuan Sect and showed Tianhong the Soul-Releasing Dragon Ring, confirming that Fu Shan had brought him from their homeland.
• Tianhong explained the Mysterious Domain Secret Chamber and showed Li Qiang the Harmonizing Sound Fork; Li Qiang studied its sound-sequence methods and agreed to try refining it.
• Tianhong played the first sound sequence on the Whistling Arrow, then began the second, whose vibrations startled Li Qiang.

Li Qiang accidentally destroyed the Harmonizing Sound Fork while trying to refine it, but his Empty Sound Fork let Tianhong plan another descent into the Ice Eye, and Heavenly Melody City gave Li Qiang sea soul agate for his friend. As Li Qiang reunited with Zegu and Old Man Kabaji and promised Zegu a new arrow boat, two visitors arrived seeking his help to enter the Ice Eye.

• Li Qiang resisted the third melody with the Supreme Radiance Shuttle, then tried to refine the Harmonizing Sound Fork and accidentally reduced it to ashes.
• Li Qiang produced the Empty Sound Fork, which Tianhong recognized as his master's treasure, and gave it to him; Tianhong planned to descend into the Ice Eye with Li Qiang and Geng Feng.
• Li Qiang asked about sea soul agate for his friend, and the city lord gave him ten bottles of its essence and two bottles of Cold Marrow Scales spirit pills.
• Tianhong told Li Qiang to rest while Heavenly Melody City prepared to lift its restriction and explore the Ice Eye; Li Qiang then gave Tianhong two bottles of liquor from home.
• Li Qiang reunited with Zegu and Old Man Kabaji, assured them they could return to the Western Continent, and promised Zegu a new arrow boat.
• Two visitors arrived, and one asked Li Qiang to help her sister enter the Ice Eye.

Li Qiang joined Tianhong and Geng Feng in descending into Heavenly Melody City's ice eye, while Huang Yan secretly followed them and was allowed to stay close under Li Qiang’s protection. As they reached the ice cavern’s depths, Huang Yan’s exclamation disturbed the ice crystals and triggered a Mystic Cold Qi Tide that began closing in on them.

• Li Qiang welcomed Lan Xin and Huang Yan, then accidentally used a musical technique that enchanted the two women before they left to tell him the city lord would arrive.
• A silver-clad warrior summoned Li Qiang to the Hall of Taboos, where Tianhong opened the Forbidden Stone and Li Qiang descended into the ice eye with Tianhong and Geng Feng.
• Huang Yan jumped into the opening just before the Forbidden Stone sealed, and the city lord and Lan Xin were left waiting anxiously above.
• Tianhong scolded Huang Yan for following them, but Li Qiang agreed to protect her, and the group ate Three Yang Fruit before descending through the cold mist.
• Geng Feng fought an Ice Spirit Essence phantom, which Tianhong destroyed, and the group continued toward the frozen vortex surrounding the ice eye.
• Huang Yan exclaimed at the sight of the ice crystals, stirring up a Mystic Cold Qi Tide that began gathering around the group.

Li Qiang, Tianhong, Geng Feng, and Huang Yan crossed the sealed ice eye into the Azure Blue Pool, where they fought Mystic Ice Insects, encountered a powerful Mystic Ice Dragon, and collected Mystic Ice Essence. They reached the bottom and found the corpses of fallen warriors, leaving Huang Yan in tears.

• Tianhong, Li Qiang, and Geng Feng linked their flying swords and used Tianhong's Empty Sound Fork to break through the Mystic Cold Qi Tide, but the ice-eye entrance sealed behind them.
• Tianhong warned the group about the Azure Blue Pool's dangers, and Li Qiang used the Fire Essence to warm Huang Yan as they descended.
• Tianhong and Geng Feng fought the Mystic Ice Insects and Ice Spirit Essences while Li Qiang used heavenly fire to extract Mystic Ice Essence into a hot-water flask.
• A Mystic Ice Dragon appeared, and Tianhong warned everyone not to attack it; after it vanished, Geng Feng gave Huang Yan a box containing two Mystic Ice Insects.
• The group reached the bottom of the pool and found scattered remains and several armored corpses, making Huang Yan cry.

Li Qiang, Tianhong, and Geng Feng crossed the Ice Eye, fought off Ice Spirit Essences with Li Qiang’s Heavenly Fire, and entered the Mysterious Domain Secret Chamber inside the Mystic Suppression Pagoda. They were greeted by a mysterious old man who claimed he had broken through, leaving Tianhong trembling.

• Tianhong led Li Qiang, Geng Feng, and Huang Yan into a hidden garden, where they gathered rare plants and profound jade boxes.
• Li Qiang touched a white pearl on an ice pillar, teleported into a sealed room, and took a warm, black-purple cushion before returning to the garden.
• Tianhong told Huang Yan to wait in the garden, and she agreed after Li Qiang promised to find or make her a flying sword.
• Li Qiang used Heavenly Fire to destroy several Ice Spirit Essences, then helped Tianhong and Geng Feng break through the Mystic Qi into the Mysterious Domain Secret Chamber.
• The three entered the lowest level of the Mystic Suppression Pagoda, where a mysterious old man announced that he had broken through and Tianhong began to tremble.

Li Qiang, Tianhong, and Geng Feng became trapped on the pagoda’s first floor with a powerful loose immortal sealed above them, and they struggled to escape while taunting him and collecting the room’s Law Treasures. The man tricked them into pressing down the silver cauldron, freeing himself as he flew into the room.

• Tianhong found his master’s Jade Pupil Slip, but the trio failed to open the exit door and learned that the man above could not come downstairs either.
• Li Qiang stopped Geng Feng from following the man’s instructions to open the silver cauldron, and the trio realized the man was trying to trick them.
• Li Qiang used the Supreme Radiance Shuttle to break the Heaven-Descending Restriction protecting a water-blue flying sword, and the trio collected all six Law Treasures.
• The trio tried and failed to break the door’s restriction, while the man upstairs grew increasingly desperate and offered them rewards to release him.
• The man’s efforts shook the pagoda and made the silver cauldron turn, so Li Qiang and the others tried to hold it still.
• Geng Feng pressed down on the silver cauldron, opening a hole in the ceiling and allowing the loose immortal to descend into the room.

Li Qiang and his companions fought Qi Junsha, a powerful Loose Immortal, but Li Qiang agreed to become his disciple to protect his friends and secure his help. After Qi Junsha released them from the Mystic Suppression Pagoda, they headed toward the Wild Plains, and Huang Yan followed Li Qiang’s cue to ask Qi Junsha for a gift.

• Qi Junsha appeared in the bottom chamber and easily defeated the attacks of Li Qiang, Geng Feng, and Tianhong, though Li Qiang’s layered strike sent them both flying.
• Qi Junsha restrained Geng Feng and Tianhong and declared that Li Qiang would be his founding disciple, so Li Qiang negotiated their release, his friends’ safety, and Qi Junsha’s company before accepting him as Master.
• Qi Junsha gave Li Qiang the Heavenly Silk Purple Gold Xun, released Geng Feng and Tianhong, and explained how to open the gate of the Mystic Suppression Pagoda.
• Qi Junsha used a Law Treasure to break through the Mystic Qi, but Li Qiang stopped him so Tianhong and Geng Feng could retrieve Huang Yan, and Qi Junsha captured eight Ice Spirit Essences in a plum vase.
• Tianhong and Geng Feng returned with Huang Yan, and Li Qiang gave her a little flying sword before hinting that she should ask Qi Junsha for a better gift.

Li Qiang and his companions returned to Heavenly Melody City with Qi Junsha, who broke the city’s restrictions and gave Mystic Pearls to Huang Yan and the other disciples. As the city prepared to send its disciples into the wider world, Li Qiang arranged for Old Man Kabaji and Zegu to leave safely, then heard someone call for him from outside.

• Qi Junsha gave Huang Yan a Mystic Pearl, made more for Li Qiang to distribute, and led the group upward through the restrictions.
• Lan Hainü and the others rushed to Silver Grass Slope after the ground shook, where Qi Junsha emerged and shattered the city’s defenses before Li Qiang stopped him from attacking the warriors.
• Lan Hainü learned Qi Junsha was Li Qiang’s master, and Li Qiang gave Mystic Pearls to her and the female disciples while Geng Feng and Tianhong discussed leaving Heavenly Melody City to explore the world.
• Qi Junsha broke the restrictions trapping the city, then accepted Lan Hainü’s invitation to stay while Li Qiang went back to Jinyun Hall.
• Li Qiang gave Old Man Kabaji a merchant guild card to buy Zegu a new Arrow Boat and asked Zegu to help Kabaji, then someone called to speak with Li Qiang.

Li Qiang, Geng Feng, and Qi Junsha traveled to Black Islet Reef to look for Li Qiang’s friends, but found the dock in chaos over a mistaken claim that Qi Junsha was a woman. Qi Junsha restrained the armed crowd after they attacked, and Li Qiang offered an idea for dealing with them.

• Li Qiang said goodbye to Old Man Kabaji and Zegu, while Geng Feng arranged for Heavenly Melody City disciples to escort them home.
• Li Qiang and Geng Feng agreed to travel together, and Qi Junsha joined them after hearing about the great duel on Bada Star.
• Tianhong gave Li Qiang a blue crystal token and said he would look for him on Bada Star, while Huang Yan gave Li Qiang and his sisters’ sewn clothes.
• Qi Junsha took Li Qiang and Geng Feng to Black Islet Reef, where they searched the dock but did not find Li Qiang’s friends.
• Master Hei and his men accused Qi Junsha of being a woman and tried to seize him as an offering to the Sea God.
• Qi Junsha trapped Li Qiang and Geng Feng in a ring of light, destroyed the attackers’ spine guns, and immobilized the crowd after they fired at him; Li Qiang then said he had an idea for handling them.

Li Qiang and his companions reached Black Islet Reef, where they encountered local thugs and Kudu, who warned them that something major had happened in the Wild Plains. After learning that two flying hook-chain ships had recently docked, Li Qiang wondered whether his friends had passed through and hinted at a plan to find them.

• Li Qiang stopped Qi Junsha from killing the Black Islet Reef thugs, broke the burly man's arm, and drove the group away after they threatened him.
• Li Qiang, Qi Junsha, and Geng Feng entered an eatery, where Geng Feng frightened an assistant and the owner tried to make them leave.
• Li Qiang recognized Kudu as someone who resembled Kong Hou, and Kudu warned him that cultivators were rushing toward the Wild Plains after a major event.
• Geng Feng explained that the Wild Plains had once been an important Buddha Sect site and was now a dangerous place where cultivators' strength was restricted.
• Li Qiang used money to win the owner's cooperation and learned that two flying hook-chain ships had docked and departed a few days earlier.
• Li Qiang worried that his friends might be at sea and began forming a plan to find them.

Li Qiang reunited with Hong Qian, Zhao Hao, and Divine Envoy Kaben after Qi Junsha and Geng Feng helped defeat the cultivators pursuing them. He learned that Princess Lanqiu and the others were trapped in a conflict over Sea Soul Agate on Blackwater Island, and agreed to help Kaben support Heavenly Halberd Peak before Qi Junsha began questioning a captive.

• The crowd blamed a woman for a disturbance at Black Islet Reef, but Li Qiang, Qi Junsha, and Geng Feng spotted a distant fight and flew to investigate.
• Li Qiang found Hong Qian and injured Zhao Hao defending themselves alongside Divine Envoy Kaben and Wu Chen against seven cultivators; Li Qiang and Geng Feng attacked while Qi Junsha captured the remaining foes.
• Li Qiang gave Hong Qian and Zhao Hao spirit pills, and Qi Junsha raised their power by one level as Wu Chen explained that attackers demanding Sea Soul Agate had injured his master on Blackwater Island.
• Wu Chen and Geng Feng began questioning captured cultivators while Li Qiang thanked Kaben, who asked him to escort Princess Lanqiu home and aid Heavenly Halberd Peak in the Wild Plains.
• Li Qiang agreed to support Heavenly Halberd Peak, and Qi Junsha took over questioning one of the captives.