Recaps

Li Yan arrived as Bai Rou underwent her Spirit Transformation Heavenly Tribulation and encouraged her from afar. Bai Rou survived with only light injuries, reached Spirit Transformation, and then asked Li Yan for news of Shuang Qingqing before stabilizing her realm.

• Li Zhaoyan and Ling Qingyun hurried to Bai Rou’s tribulation site, where Li Yan joined them and then flew closer to watch.
• Li Yan sent encouragement to Bai Rou, who spotted him and regained her resolve to face the Heavenly Tribulation.
• Bai Rou deployed ten puppets and endured the tribulation, reaching Spirit Transformation after suffering only light injuries.
• Bai Rou invited Li Yan to her cave abode and asked about Shuang Qingqing, delaying her realm stabilization to hear his news.
• Li Yan began organizing what he would tell Bai Rou so she could enter secluded cultivation sooner.

Li Yan told Bai Rou about Shuang Qingqing’s life and the Muliu Sect’s progress, easing her worries about both. Bai Rou planned to stabilize her realm while Li Yan stayed at the Wangliang Sect for a while longer.

• Li Yan told Bai Rou that Shuang Qingqing had reached the Void Refinement Realm, was living comfortably at a trading house, and planned to establish the Muliu Sect in the Immortal Spirit Realm.
• Bai Rou questioned Li Yan about Shuang Qingqing’s safety and learned that the Muliu Sect was thriving under Gu Jiuqi’s arrangements and the Wangliang Sect’s support.
• Bai Rou thanked Li Yan for easing her worries, and Li Yan asked her to stabilize her realm without delay.
• Bai Rou asked how long Li Yan would stay at the sect, and he said he would remain for a while but might later leave for missions or personal matters.

After Bai Rou survived her tribulation, she parted from Li Yan while planning to leave the Wangliang Sect and search for Shuang Qingqing. Months later, Li Yan learned that his master Wei Zhongran had returned and went to meet him, where he saw Wei Zhongran with a woman in the main hall.

• Bai Rou watched Li Yan leave and reflected that she might not see him again after emerging from seclusion.
• Bai Rou decided to leave the Wangliang Sect after reaching Spirit Transformation and search for Shuang Qingqing, while Li Yan chose not to reveal Shuang Qingqing’s whereabouts to Gu Jiuqi.
• Li Yan returned to cultivation as Bai Rou and the other disciples’ tribulations inspired their fellow cultivators to pursue their own breakthroughs.
• Miao Wangqing informed Li Yan that Wei Zhongran had returned with the cultivator team and that Li Yuyin was among them.
• Li Yan contacted Wei Zhongran, arranged to visit his cave abode, and arrived an hour later to find Wei Zhongran seated with a woman.

After returning from his mission, Li Yan met with Wei Zhongran and discussed Zhao Min and Gong Chenying’s plans to seek cultivation arts from the Tianli Clan, as well as Little Beast’s eligibility to learn the Qiongqi Purgatory Art. Li Yan then revealed that he had encountered Zuo Qiudan in the Main Dao Realm, leaving Wei Zhongran eager to hear what had happened to his old friend.

• Li Yan arrived at the hall, paid his respects to Wei Zhongran, and greeted Miao Wangqing, who soon left them alone to talk.
• Wei Zhongran explained that Zhao Min and Gong Chenying would need to visit the Tianli Clan to continue their cultivation after reaching the Spirit Transformation Realm.
• Wei Zhongran told Li Yan that Little Beast could cultivate the Qiongqi Purgatory Art because of Li Yan’s contributions to the Tianli Clan, though later generations would face restrictions.
• Li Yan said he planned to travel to the Tianli Clan to protect Zhao Min and the others on their journey.
• Li Yan told Wei Zhongran that he had met Zuo Qiudan in the Main Dao Realm and that Zuo Qiudan had been in dire circumstances.

Li Yan learned about the secret-realm expedition from Wei Zhongran and suspected the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect had hidden intentions, prompting him to make plans of his own. After a month in seclusion, he arranged to leave Wangliang Sect for the Tianli Clan, then received an unexpectedly quick reply from Li Zhaoyan.

• Li Yan told Wei Zhongran how he had reached the Main Dao Realm, and Wei Zhongran urged him to leave Zuo's enemy for Zuo to deal with personally.
• Li Yan gave Wei Zhongran the location of the Pojun Sect and said he would skip the next secret-realm mission to seek Zhao Min and the others at the Tianli Clan.
• Wei Zhongran described the secret-realm teams and their dangers, and Li Yan privately concluded that the sects were concealing parts of the contest and that he would not let the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect's matter end there.
• After more than a month in seclusion, Li Yan informed the Sect Master that he planned to leave for the Tianli Clan, and the Sect Master approved his departure.
• When Wei Zhongran and Li Yan's Fourth Senior Sister did not reply, Li Yan messaged Li Zhaoyan, who promptly said she would come to see him.

Li Yan prepared to leave the sect to find his wife and the others at the Tianli Clan, while Li Zhaoyan told him that Wei Zhongran was traveling to explore the Immortal Spirit Realm. Before departing, Li Yan visited Miao Wangqing and gave her a mountain of alchemy materials to refine pills for their fellow disciples.

• Li Zhaoyan anxiously asked Li Yan why he was leaving again, and he said he was going to bring her mother and the others back from the Tianli Clan.
• Li Zhaoyan told Li Yan that she had gained insight into her future Spirit Transformation Heavenly Tribulation and that Wei Zhongran planned to travel and see the Immortal Spirit Realm.
• Li Yan realized Wei Zhongran's journey explained why his master had not answered his message, then set out to tell his senior brothers and sisters about his departure.
• Miao Wangqing replied to Li Yan's message and met him at Li Wuyi's courtyard, where he explained he was going to escort Sixth Senior Sister, Min'er, and the third person back from the Tianli Clan.
• Li Yan presented Miao Wangqing with a huge pile of alchemy materials so she could refine pills for their fellow disciples, leaving her amazed by the quantity.

Li Yan gave Miao Wangqing a trove of rare alchemy materials and reference jade slips before learning that Wei Zhongran had gone traveling with Li Yuyin. After returning to the Wangliang Sect, Li Yan prepared to leave again, while Zuo Qiudan departed for Pojun Sect after thanking the Phoenix Four Clans for protecting him.

• Li Yan persuaded Miao Wangqing to accept his rare materials and gave her jade slips listing materials and their uses.
• Miao Wangqing told Li Yan that Wei Zhongran had left on a journey with Li Yuyin, and Li Yan realized they were traveling together.
• Li Yan returned to his courtyard, reflected on his own burdens and his Master's freedom, and resolved to handle his own affairs.
• In the North Pasture Realm, Zuo Qiudan thanked Ming Feng, Ming Qi, and Ming Yu for escorting him and set out for Pojun Sect.

After years of traveling with the Phoenix Four Clans, Zuo Qiudan parted from them near the Pojun Sect and continued toward his destination alone. His alchemy skills had turned Li Yan’s entrusted escort into a genuine friendship, though Zuo Qiudan still kept his abilities and knowledge guarded.

• Ming Feng agreed to let Zuo Qiudan leave the group after they reached a point less than three hundred thousand li from the Pojun Sect.
• During the journey, Zuo Qiudan refined Pills for the Phoenix Four Clans, impressing their cultivators with his skill and even producing Pills for Body Integration Realm cultivators.
• The Phoenix Four Clans grew close to Zuo Qiudan and came to value him as a gifted alchemist and friend.
• Ming Feng escorted Zuo Qiudan as he said farewell to the other clans, and Zuo Qiudan thanked Ming Feng, Ming Qi, and Ming Yu before preparing to depart.

Zuo Qiudan parted from Ming Qi and the four clans as they prepared to enter the Heavenly Demon Grassland, while the Pojun Sect remained quietly established under Shangguan Tianque and Ren Yanyu. The chapter followed Bu Luo, now a Spirit Transformation elder, as he embraced his familiar bamboo basket and oversaw the sect’s medicinal Pills.

• Ming Qi thanked Zuo Qiudan and asked him to convey the four clans’ gratitude to their benefactor, Li Yan, if he encountered him.
• Zuo Qiudan left for the Pojun Sect, and Ming Feng led Ming Qi and Ming Yu toward the Heavenly Demon Grassland.
• The Pojun Sect settled into a quiet, guarded period of growth under Shangguan Tianque and Ren Yanyu, with Chongyangzi helping conceal its affairs.
• Bu Luo returned to carrying a forged bamboo basket stocked with magical treasures because his familiar way of reaching behind him remained faster than using his storage ring.
• Shangguan Tianque and the others recognized Bu Luo’s unusual but highly skilled alchemy, while Bu Luo continued to praise his former young master, Zuo Qiudan.
• Bu Luo inspected the Grade Five and higher Pills stored in the Purple Qi Pavilion, where most were sealed as reserves for the sect.

Bu Luo learned that Zuo Qiudan had arrived at Pojun Sect and rushed to reunite with the master he had searched for over many years. After they embraced and exchanged greetings at the mountain gate, Bu Luo led Zuo Qiudan into the sect to speak privately.

• Bu Luo wondered whether Li Yan had found news of Zuo Qiudan while walking through Pojun Sect.
• A Purple Qi Pavilion cultivator told Bu Luo that Zuo Qiudan was waiting at the mountain gate and had asked for him.
• Zuo Qiudan examined Pojun Sect's surroundings and formations while the gate disciples watched him cautiously.
• Bu Luo hurried to the gate, recognized Zuo Qiudan, and knelt to pay his respects.
• Zuo Qiudan welcomed Bu Luo and agreed to follow him into the sect, where they could talk privately.

Bu Luo reunited with Zuo Qiudan, while Li Yan secretly set out to follow the Wangliang Sect team headed for a secret realm. The team reached a city and settled into an inn for the night, unaware that Li Yan was pursuing them.

• Bu Luo escorted Zuo Qiudan to his cave residence, eager to catch up with his former young master.
• Li Yan left the sect secretly and flew toward the secret realm, planning to catch the Wangliang Sect team and disrupt its agreement with the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect.
• Li Yan reviewed the route and information he had gathered from Wei Zhongran, intending to avoid revealing that he was following the team.
• Zhuang Muhua traveled with the Wangliang Sect team to a cultivator city, where its two Void Refinement Realm leaders decided they would rest for the night.
• Zhuang Muhua and four companions took rooms in a courtyard at Wind Evening Pavilion.

Li Yan followed the Wangliang Sect group to their final city before the secret realm and chose to impersonate Zhuang Muhua to infiltrate them. By dawn, he had captured Zhuang Muhua, taken his place, and left the inn with the group undetected.

• Zhuang Muhua and the other cultivators settled into rooms at the Wind Evening Pavilion Inn, while Zhuang Muhua stayed in to study pill formulas.
• Li Yan tracked the group to the inn and decided to impersonate a middle-stage Spirit Transformation Realm alchemist to enter the secret realm with them.
• Li Yan identified Zhuang Muhua as his target and watched the courtyard using his divine sense.
• Before dawn, Li Yan checked out, returned to the inn in secret, captured Zhuang Muhua, and took his appearance and place in the room.
• Li Yan greeted the other disciples as Zhuang Muhua and joined the group as the two Void Refinement Realm cultivators led them toward the city gate, unaware of the substitution.

Li Yan arrived with a Wangliang Sect team at a swamp where three sects were gathering to explore a secret realm. Elder Yang gave the team a golden leaf for emergencies, and they prepared to enter under strict mission rules.

• Li Yan traveled with Zhang Su, Hu Qianqiu, and their team to the secret realm's entrance in a vast swamp.
• Elder Yang and the elders from the Life Extinction Sect and Yin-Yang Chaos Sect revealed themselves in light spheres among the trees.
• Zhang Su confirmed that the team understood its exploration route, the dangers of Radiant Gold Blood Earthworms, and the ban on investigating other sects' areas.
• Elder Yang gave Zhang Su a golden leaf that could summon a rescue but would end the team's mission if used.
• The team learned that it should seek help from its fellow sect teams before using the leaf, then return to the sect if the leaf was activated.

Zhang Su led the Wangliang Sect team through the three sects’ joint Light Gate into the secret realm. After consulting the golden leaf’s map with Hu Qianqiu, he set course for the location last explored by Wei Zhongran’s team.

• Elder Yang and the leaders of the other two sects joined their three broken sword sections into a Light Gate, and Zhang Su led his team through it.
• Li Yan surveyed the gray, swamp-filled secret realm as the Light Gate behind the team vanished.
• Zhang Su used the golden leaf to view the realm’s map and passed it to Hu Qianqiu for inspection.
• Zhang Su and Hu Qianqiu confirmed their direction and the locations of other teams and sects, then Zhang Su steered the jade ruyi toward their destination.
• Li Yan listened to Zhang Su and Hu Qianqiu’s discussion and learned that they were entering the realm for the first time.

Li Yan joined Zhang Su and the other cultivators as they entered the secret realm and learned about its Radiant Gold Bloodworms and other dangers. The group reached the last foothold cleared by Wei Zhongran’s team, where Zhang Su prepared them to resume exploring.

• Li Yan secretly scanned for Yin-Yang Chaos Sect cultivators while flying with Zhang Su’s group through the mire.
• The cultivators passed low-level Demon Beasts as Li Yan considered the danger and history of Radiant Gold Bloodworms.
• Zhang Su guided the jade ruyi to an island where Wei Zhongran’s team had left a protective formation.
• Zhang Su explained that the group would explore ahead in two teams after an hour of familiarizing themselves with the island, and warned them to beware of unknown dangers.

Zhang Su divided the team into squads to cautiously explore the dangerous secret realm, and Li Yan searched the swamp while disguised as Zhuang Muhua. After spotting Gleaming Gold Blood Worms and approaching them to study their attacks, he sensed danger and was caught in a sudden eruption of sludge, shielding himself with fire-element spiritual power.

• Zhang Su assigned the disciples to two squads led by himself and Elder Hu, with a rendezvous planned after half a month.
• Li Yan joined Hu Qianqiu's squad and slowly searched the swamp while learning its environment and avoiding low-level Demon Beasts.
• Over four days, Li Yan found three pieces of Stove-Heart Earth but otherwise gained little.
• Li Yan sensed a gathering of Gleaming Gold Blood Worms and flew toward them to observe their group attack.
• Near the worms, Li Yan sensed danger, retreated, and found sludge erupting around him, so he enveloped himself in fire-element spiritual power.

Li Yan was trapped in a Mud Tide and attacked by a swarm of Gleaming Gold Blood Leeches, but he escaped by merging with his sword. A powerful leech watched him flee while its clan prepared to move the secret realm and trap the outside cultivators inside for revenge.

• Li Yan recognized the Mud Tide as it drained his spiritual power and discovered Gleaming Gold Blood Leeches concealed within it.
• Li Yan used fireballs to burn through the leeches and their golden threads, but the swarm quickly weakened his attacks and blocked his retreat.
• Li Yan merged with his Guiyi Water-Parting Spike and cut through the leeches, threads, and lightning to escape.
• An enormous Gleaming Gold Blood Leech withdrew its divine sense and vowed that the invaders would die in the secret realm.
• The Gleaming Gold Blood Leech revealed that its great clans were preparing to move the secret realm and erase its entrance, trapping the cultivators inside.

Li Yan escaped a mire ambush by Radiant Gold Bloodworms and later discovered that the sixth-order beast had withdrawn its clan deeper into the secret realm. He rejoined the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect group, where Zhang Su and Hu Qianqiu organized a rest period and preparations for their next expedition.

• Li Yan used the Ji Yi Water-Parting Spike to flee a mire filled with Radiant Gold Bloodworms and sensed a sixth-order Demon Beast beneath it.
• Li Yan decided to report the danger to Hu Qianqiu later, but the Radiant Gold Bloodworms migrated away before he returned to investigate.
• The sixth-order Radiant Gold Bloodworm withdrew deeper into the secret realm after suspecting Li Yan’s presence had exposed its position.
• Hu Qianqiu summoned the cultivators to an island, where Zhang Su and Hu Qianqiu confirmed everyone had returned safely.
• Zhang Su gathered reports on dangers and searched areas, then ordered the cultivators to rest, replenish supplies, and prepare for their next expedition.

Li Yan used a clone disguised as Zhuang Muhua to remain at the team’s resting place while his true body secretly headed toward the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect’s search area. After capturing and searching a female cultivator, he learned the sect had only two teams in the secret realm, leaving him to revise his plan.

• Li Yan agreed to refine pills for one cultivator, then concealed a Zhuang Muhua clone inside a formation and left the resting area.
• Li Yan traveled cautiously through cleared territory toward the rear of the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect’s search area.
• Li Yan found a lone female Yin-Yang Chaos Sect cultivator and struck her unconscious before bringing her into Tuban.
• Li Yan searched the female cultivator’s soul and learned that one of the sect’s teams had left the secret realm two months earlier, while its replacement had not arrived.

Li Yan investigated the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect’s teams and deduced where one would gather, while keeping his wider plan dependent on the Wangliang Sect and Life Extinction Sect proceeding normally. He reached the gathering island as Xu Yusheng, Shi Chen'an, and their team assembled, leaving him poised to act.

• Li Yan learned that the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect had fewer than forty Spirit Transformation cultivators remaining and that one team would not gather for more than a month, so he sought out the other team.
• Li Yan discovered that the other team would gather in four days and that Shi Chen'an was still recovering from a serious injury, then tracked the two leading cultivators to predict their gathering sites.
• Li Yan selected two likely islands as gathering locations, watched one of them, and confirmed that the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect cultivators were heading there.
• Xu Yusheng arrived at the island and reflected on his prospects for advancing to the late Void Refinement Realm after returning from the secret realm.
• Shi Chen'an joined Xu Yusheng, still pale from the ambush by a Radiant Gold Blood Leech that had disguised itself as a withered tree.
• More than ten cultivators, including the woman Li Yan had Soul Searched, gathered on the island, and Xu Yusheng and Shi Chen'an began asking about their recent experiences.

Li Yan secretly used five-element vibrations to draw Xu Yusheng and the others out of their defenses, then lured Radiant Gold Blood Leeches onto their island. The chapter ended as the leeches launched their attack on the startled group.

• Li Yan watched the group from concealment and waited until they had scattered to rest.
• Li Yan sent vibrations through the ground, creating rustling sounds that made Xu Yusheng and the others leave their protected locations to investigate.
• Xu Yusheng and Shi Chen'an searched for the sound's source, but it stopped before they could find it.
• The rustling resumed, and Xu Yusheng and the others spotted Radiant Gold Blood Leeches swarming across the island.
• The Radiant Gold Blood Leeches sprang into the air and attacked the group.

Xu Yusheng and the cultivators were trapped in a premeditated Radiant Gold Bloodworm ambush that cut them off from one another and steadily drained their strength. As two concealed sixth-tier beasts closed in and Xu Yusheng weakened, he sent a voice transmission to another team for help, but still held back from using his life-saving golden leaf.

• Radiant Gold Bloodworms swarmed the island, separating the cultivators before Xu Yusheng and Shi Chen'an could organize them.
• Xu Yusheng sensed three concealed sixth-tier auras and urged the others to gather around him without revealing the danger to the weaker cultivators.
• Li Yan remained at the island's edge, maintaining spells and monitoring the battle as the bloodworms kept attacking in endless waves.
• Xu Yusheng failed to find his companions, exhausted his magical power and divine sense, and realized two of the concealed beasts were approaching him.
• Xu Yusheng sent a voice transmission requesting help from another team, but chose not to crush his golden leaf and summon the elder outside the secret realm.

Li Yan’s carefully prepared ambush trapped Xu Yusheng and Shi Chen'an’s team on an island, where hallucinogenic poison made them fight imaginary Radiant Gold Blood Leeches. After killing them all, Li Yan confirmed that the first half of his plan had succeeded.

• Li Yan watched Xu Yusheng send a sound-transmission talisman instead of using his golden leaf, then saw Shi Chen'an call for help as well.
• Li Yan launched his attack as Xu Yusheng and Shi Chen'an continued fighting the leeches, and the two cultivators died amid the battle.
• Li Yan found Xu Yusheng, Shi Chen'an, and eighteen others dead, with no Radiant Gold Blood Leeches left on the island.
• Li Yan recalled enclosing the island with the Ghost Trace formation and using hallucinogenic poison to make the team believe they were fighting leeches.

Li Yan used the Ghost Trace formation and hallucinogenic poison to lure the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect cultivators into exhausting themselves fighting imagined Glittering Gold Blood Leeches, then killed all twenty and disguised the evidence. After Xu Yusheng and Shi Chen'an sent pleas for help, another squad arrived at the island, where Li Yan's trap awaited them.

• Li Yan drew the island's defenders out of their formation with strange sounds, poisoned them, and made them hallucinate Glittering Gold Blood Leeches.
• Li Yan isolated the cultivators with the Ghost Trace formation and pressured Xu Yusheng and Shi Chen'an until they sent sound transmission talismans requesting help.
• Li Yan attacked the exhausted cultivators and killed all twenty, including Xu Yusheng and Shi Chen'an.
• Li Yan cleared the poison, corroded the corpses and magic treasures to imitate leech attacks, and rearranged the bodies before leaving.
• A dozen members of the other squad arrived at the island, led by two young men.

Heng Guyuan’s group reached the island and found Xu Yusheng and the others dead, but no Brightgold Blood Worms or clear sign of an ambush. After Gao Bing’s team and the short young man searched the island, Heng Guyuan descended with the others to look for traces of the enemy.

• Heng Guyuan and the short young man surveyed the corpses and sent Gao Bing and three disciples to search the island.
• Gao Bing’s group found no demon beasts, traps, or formations and reported that Xu Yusheng and the others had been killed by attacks to vital areas.
• The short young man descended and inspected the island, then signaled Heng Guyuan that he had found no immediate danger.
• Heng Guyuan concluded that the Brightgold Blood Worms had likely retreated and joined the search, trusting the formation the short young man had secretly prepared.