Recaps

Li Yan left the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower with a copper passage token and crossed the Pure Land Sect’s increasingly tense territory. As he continued north toward the Northern Abyss Sea to seek the Youwuqiong Tree, he found sects closing their gates and teleportation points becoming scarce.

• The gaunt Buddha gave Li Yan a copper token to protect him from scrutiny in Pure Land Sect territory, then told his fellow Buddha that demonic beasts, enemy nests, and human traitors threatened the Four Great Sects.
• Li Yan used the token to pass Pure Land Sect patrols and checked that the Snow Mosquitoes and sealed vengeful souls in Tuban remained safe.
• Li Yan continued north seeking the Youwuqiong Tree, while noting that he still lacked the Jade-Horned Snake and Icecloud Plume for the Guiyi Water-Parting Spike.
• Li Yan found that sects were closing their gates and refusing him access to teleportation arrays, even when he showed the copper token.
• After another half month of searching for teleportation points, Li Yan drew close to his destination without encountering any unexpected trouble.

Li Yan encountered three cultivators from the remote Mountain Manor of Sorrowful Spirits, whose concealed hostility made him wary. After the manor’s Golden Core pair tried to gauge his strength and stop him from leaving, Li Yan assessed the manor and its defenses before deciding how to respond.

• Li Yan discovered a mountain manor and was intercepted by two Golden Core cultivators and a False Core cultivator.
• The manor’s young master, Mo'er, insulted Li Yan for trespassing, and Li Yan apologized without showing fear.
• Li Yan sensed the trio’s hidden killing intent and recognized that the rough-featured man was testing him to learn his true strength.
• Li Yan said he had urgent business and tried to leave, but the young married woman in pink blocked his path and invited him to the manor.
• Li Yan secretly searched the manor with his Divine Sense and found no cultivators stronger than the two Golden Core cultivators, though one building had powerful array restrictions.

Li Yan killed Mo'er with a surprise attack, then fought the rugged-looking man and his wife as the manor disciples joined the battle. After taking a heavy blow, Li Yan flew toward the rugged-looking man, who sent his black net to capture him.

• Li Yan refused the rugged-looking man's invitation to enter the manor, and Mo'er attacked him with a golden hoop.
• Li Yan used Night Concealment and a Fireball Art empowered by the Li Fire Profound Yellow Fan to kill Mo'er and destroy his soul.
• The rugged-looking man attacked Li Yan with a black net, but Li Yan evaded it and counterattacked with ice spikes and a pitch-black club.
• The rugged-looking man struck Li Yan with the club, but Li Yan blocked it with his arms and was sent flying while spitting blood.
• The pink-robed young woman realized Mo'er's soul was gone, and the rugged-looking man sent his black net after the approaching Li Yan.

Li Yan used his concealed poison to wound the Golden Core manor lord and escape the black net, but the man’s wife intercepted his Li Fire and the lord transformed into a monstrous true form to suppress the poison. The transformed man vowed to kill Li Yan, leaving the battle poised to continue.

• Li Yan sent black water spiritual power through the manor lord’s net, hiding his poison in the attack and feigning weakness to get close.
• The poison began rotting the manor lord’s face and disrupted his control of the net, allowing Li Yan to escape and attack with the Li Fire Mysterious Yellow Fan.
• The young married woman in pink palace robes blocked the Li Fire with her flower treasure, which swallowed the flame but appeared damaged.
• The manor lord revealed his monstrous true form and regenerated his flesh to suppress Li Yan’s Three Thousand Threads of Worry.
• The transformed manor lord accused Li Yan of belonging to a major poison-cultivation sect and threatened to kill him.

Li Yan fled after the giant, monstrous man and the young married woman in pink palace robes proved far stronger than he expected. The pursuit ended abruptly when the woman began suffering a severe, mysterious affliction and fell from her flying sword.

• The giant, monstrous man struck Li Yan with his black staff, sending him crashing into a mountain, but Li Yan survived and realized he could not win the fight.
• The young married woman in pink palace robes attacked Li Yan with her flower’s toothed maw, but he escaped by leaving an afterimage and fled with the Cloud-Piercing Willow.
• The giant, monstrous man and the young married woman pursued Li Yan, while the four Foundation Establishment cultivators watched and discussed his apparent False Core cultivation.
• Li Yan and his pursuers raced for several hundred li as each considered the other’s abilities and motives.
• The young married woman developed intense pain and white matter spread through her eyes, then she fell from her flying sword as the giant, monstrous man stopped to help her.

Li Yan used the poison Affection Conveyed Through the Eyes to weaken a monstrous giant and his wife, then fled when both demon beasts revealed their true forms and resisted its effects. After more than half a day of pursuit, Li Yan was still escaping on his flying treasure, while the couple remained unable to catch him despite their immense power.

• Li Yan realized his poison had begun affecting the young woman after she touched her husband’s charred remains, and he used the opening to flee.
• The monstrous giant recognized Li Yan as a Wangliang Sect poison cultivator and accused him of spying on the couple for the sect.
• The young woman briefly suppressed the poison, then revealed her demon-beast form and joined her husband in pursuing Li Yan.
• Li Yan escaped on the Cloud-Piercing Willow, while the couple ordered that he be captured alive for a soul search.
• Li Yan fled for more than half a day and spent three drops of Melting Bamboo Shoot restoring his magical power, but his pursuers still could not catch him.

Li Yan fled from the monstrous giant and his wife while they struggled with the poison suppressing their power. The wife’s poison struck as the giant returned to help her, and she unexpectedly stabbed him in the abdomen, leaving their pursuit in chaos.

• The monstrous giant increased his speed by easing the poison’s suppression, while his wife followed and suffered a surge of pain after weakening her own suppression.
• Li Yan saw the giant closing in and planned to use the Great Dragon-Elephant Array and his full strength to trap and attack him near a rugged mountain.
• The poison overwhelmed the young woman, forcing the monstrous giant to abandon his chase and rush back to catch her.
• Li Yan continued toward the mountain, relieved that the poison had stopped the couple from pursuing him together.
• As the monstrous giant sent spiritual power into his wife, she drove her black hands into his lower abdomen, and he stared at her in disbelief.

The young woman killed the monstrous giant and destroyed his soul, then unleashed her fury across the surrounding landscape before collapsing. Li Yan emerged, killed her, and claimed her demon core, whose unfamiliar power stirred his killing intent and led him to examine her pink flower.

• The young woman repeatedly stabbed the monstrous giant, struck his demon core, and crushed it, destroying his soul as his body fell and burst apart.
• The young woman rampaged through the nearby mountains and forest before collapsing in a pit and whispering about her husband and Mo'er.
• Li Yan appeared and sliced the motionless young woman's body apart, then took her demon core after confirming her soul had perished.
• Li Yan found that the demon core contained strange purplish-black spiritual power that roused killing intent and agitation in him.
• Li Yan noticed the young woman's pink flower, drew it to himself, and found that it did not respond to his spells or spiritual power.

Li Yan confirmed that the dead couple’s magic treasures could not be controlled, identified one of them as a cultivator from the Northern Abyss Demon Suppression Tower, and returned to Sorrow Spirit Manor. He entered the manor undetected and found its remaining cultivators besieging a protective formation, unaware that he had arrived.

• Li Yan found the young woman’s and monstrous giant’s Storage Pouches, collected their treasures and spirit stones, and recognized the young woman as one of the cultivators he had encountered at Red Maple Pool Lake.
• Li Yan concluded that the manor held no Golden Core Realm experts and flew back to Sorrow Spirit Manor, using spirit stones to power the Cloud-Piercing Willow.
• Li Yan scanned the manor and found twenty-four cultivators, including six Foundation Establishment cultivators and a false core formation expert attacking a failing protective formation.
• The manor’s cultivators recalled how Li Yan had killed the young manor master, poisoned the manor master, and escaped the married couple’s attack.
• Li Yan concealed his presence and entered the manor as the cultivators discussed whether he could have been a Golden Core Realm expert and worried about Mi Heng’s possessiveness toward Fairy Miao.

Ding Yushan and the trapped cultivators faced the imminent collapse of their formation while Mi Heng prepared a powerful strike from outside. Ding Yushan feared that reinforcements had not arrived, and the chapter ended as Mi Heng unleashed his attack.

• The Foundation Establishment cultivators feared the manor lord’s punishment over the young manor lord’s death and resolved to capture some intruders alive for Soul Search.
• Mi Heng continued breaking the formation and began forming a blazing sphere of lightning.
• Inside the formation, the wounded formation master used a bronze formation disk and runes to stabilize the barrier.
• Ding Yushan regretted leading his group into danger and wondered why their long-range sound transmission had brought no reinforcements.
• The chapter revealed that Ding Yushan and Bao Wuxin were promising senior disciples of the Wind Snow Sect.

Ding Yushan and Bao Wuxin learned why their master planned to send them into the Northern Abyss Demon Suppression Tower: the Wind Snow Sect faced a danger tied to the unexplained disappearances of many sects. Their master revealed that Demonic Beasts were likely responsible, and that the seal at the Yin Demon Abyss Rift was weakening.

• Ding Yushan's master returned from his travels and privately told Ding Yushan and Bao Wuxin that many sects had vanished without explanation.
• Their master announced that both disciples would enter the Northern Abyss Demon Suppression Tower in a month, prompting Ding Yushan to question the cost and timing.
• Ding Yushan reasoned that the sect would not risk such a huge expense unless a major crisis threatened it, and Bao Wuxin apologized for thinking only of his own gains.
• Their master confirmed Ding Yushan's suspicions and said he had investigated the disappearances after sensing danger.
• Their master explained that the disappearances might be connected to Demonic Beasts, whose war against humans continued around the weakening Yin Demon Abyss Rift.

Ding Yushan’s master warned him and Bao Wuxin that the loosening seal at Demon Abyss Cliff and the rise of Demonic Beasts threatened the cultivation world, then sent them to the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower to strengthen themselves. After the couple left on a Pure Land Sect mission, Ding Yushan took charge of the Wind Snow Sect and received a summoning order; the chapter ended with him joining Foundation Establishment cultivators gathered at the Heaven-Piercing Sect.

• Ding Yushan’s master told Ding Yushan and Bao Wuxin that the seal at Demon Abyss Cliff was weakening, vanished sects might be connected to Demonic Beasts, and calamity could be approaching.
• Ding Yushan’s master sent the two disciples to the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower and warned them to keep the matter secret.
• Ding Yushan and Bao Wuxin returned more than half a year later with new gains and injuries, but learned from a jade slip that Ding Yushan’s master and his wife had left on a Pure Land Sect mission.
• Ding Yushan took control of the Wind Snow Sect, leaving Bao Wuxin to oversee it when a Pure Land Sect summoning order called for Foundation Establishment cultivators.
• Ding Yushan traveled with two junior disciples to the Heaven-Piercing Sect, where hundreds of Foundation Establishment cultivators had gathered under the command of Golden Core elders.

Ding Yushan's squad completed missions for Heavensoaring Sect and investigated Yellow Dazzle Valley, where they found no sign of devil activity. On the way back, they spotted a wanted rogue cultivator whom Ying Kai recognized, and the squad faced a chance to pursue the fugitive.

• Ding Yushan led a mixed-sect squad on missions against suspected Devil Race activity and learned that devil soldiers could overpower human cultivators of the same rank.
• After the squad completed its first two missions, Heavensoaring Sect rewarded them with pills and spirit stones, easing their doubts about the promised rewards.
• Ding Yushan investigated Yellow Dazzle Valley and discovered that its disciples had missed their summons because the Great Elder was in life-or-death seclusion and the sect master was guarding him.
• On the journey back, Ding Yushan's squad noticed a suspicious green-robed cultivator near Yellow Dazzle Valley.
• Ying Kai recognized the green-robed cultivator as a rogue evil cultivator wanted by Nine Palaces Mountain for abducting and killing one of its female disciples.

Ying Kai and Ding Yushan’s group discovered that the fugitive’s hidden cave concealed a Devil Race-style teleportation formation, and they reported it to the Nine Peaks Sect. After waiting for orders and an opportunity to investigate the other end, the group drew lots, and Ding Yushan stepped onto the formation himself.

• A black smoke swept the rogue cultivator away from the Nine Palaces Mountain Golden Core elder, and Ying Kai recognized him as a fugitive from an earlier incident.
• Ying Kai’s group found the rogue cultivator vanish into a concealed formation, but Ding Yushan stopped them from approaching after suspecting the site had companions or a cave dwelling.
• Ying Kai inspected the rocks and discovered a defensive mother formation concealing a teleportation formation similar to one previously found at a suspected Devil Race gathering point.
• Ding Yushan’s group reported the discovery, received orders to monitor the site and find the formation’s other end, then lay in ambush for a day and a half without seeing anyone arrive.
• The group decided to test the teleportation formation and drew lots; when Ding Yushan’s third junior sister drew the lot, Ding Yushan stepped onto the formation in her place.

Ding Yushan and the Seventh Squad were ambushed by Devil Race cultivators after discovering the green-robed cultivator at a manor, and their formation collapsed under the assault. With reinforcements still far away, Ding Yushan stood between his gravely wounded third junior sister and their captors, declaring that his life and death were his alone to decide.

• Ding Yushan and the Seventh Squad investigated a manor, found the green-robed cultivator there, and were surrounded by its cultivators as two Golden Core Realm enemies approached.
• The Golden Core Realm cultivators attacked from afar, killing three members of the group and gravely injuring three others before Ying Kai sheltered the survivors inside his formation.
• The Golden Core Realm cultivators stopped attacking and left after a powerful Foundation Establishment cultivator lured them away, but the manor's remaining cultivators continued breaking the damaged formation.
• Ying Kai collapsed, and Mi Heng and the other attackers stormed the formation as Ding Yushan fought to protect his wounded third junior sister from the green-robed cultivator.
• A Nine Palaces Mountain cultivator urged the survivors to flee, but the attackers struck him down; Ding Yushan then stepped in front of his third junior sister and offered to die with her.
• A False Core cultivator restrained Ding Yushan with a gray talisman, and Ding Yushan unleashed his aura and declared that his life and death belonged to him alone.

Li Yan emerged from hiding and subdued Mi Heng and the Sorrow Spirit Manor cultivators while sparing Ding Yushan’s group. The surviving cultivators stared at the solitary black-robed figure as the battle turned in their favor.

• Mi Heng used talismans and demonic arts to disrupt Ding Yushan’s spiritual power and stop him from detonating his magic treasure.
• Mi Heng’s reinforcements attacked the Wind Snow Sect cultivators, while more than twenty Qi Condensation cultivators rushed toward Ding Yushan’s Fourth Junior Brother.
• Li Yan’s poison arts froze the Qi Condensation cultivators and reduced them to dust, then left the Sorrow Spirit Manor’s Foundation Establishment cultivators blank and immobile.
• Ding Yushan’s Third Junior Sister cried out, and Mi Heng sensed danger and tried to flee.
• Li Yan struck Mi Heng down and appeared before the remaining cultivators as a black-robed figure.

Li Yan questioned Ding Yushan about the patrol squads and learned that the manor’s Golden Core cultivators were Devil Race beings from another realm. After realizing the Devil Race was emerging across the cultivation world, he concluded that a great upheaval was approaching.

• Ding Yushan recognized Li Yan as the black-robed cultivator he had met at Red Maple Pool and respectfully asked whether he had entered the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower.
• Li Yan confirmed they had met and asked Ding Yushan to explain his patrol squad and recent events, while implying that the manor’s Golden Core pair posed no further threat.
• Ding Yushan recounted the patrol squad’s situation, and Li Yan learned that the manor’s enemies were Devil Race beings from another realm.
• Li Yan reflected on the Devil Race’s strength, Shuang Qingqing’s battle prowess, and the danger of the Devil Race’s renewed activity.
• The Purple Divine Dragon Elephant revealed its inherited hatred of the Devil Race, while Li Yan concluded that their forces were emerging because a major opportunity had arisen.

Li Yan confirmed that Mi Heng was a human cultivator who practiced devil arts, then left the survivors of Grieving Spirit Manor to deal with the captured cultivators. After learning about a nearby teleportation formation, he set out alone toward the Sea of Northern Darkness.

• Li Yan examined Mi Heng and the other cultivators, confirming that Mi Heng practiced devil arts while the rest were ordinary humans.
• Ding Yushan explained how the Devil Race used human cultivators as servants and spies, and Li Yan told the survivors that the others would recover from a hallucinogen.
• Li Yan collected the captured cultivators' Storage Pouches and magical treasures, then searched the manor for hidden valuables but found none.
• Li Yan asked Ding Yushan about the teleportation formation and learned it could shorten his return journey toward the Heaven-Reaching Gate.
• Ding Yushan's group gathered their dead and searched the manor while Li Yan waited, then Li Yan flew alone toward the Sea of Northern Darkness.

Gong Chenying’s team returned from a deadly fight against Devil Race creatures, while Phantom Sect’s forces battled across the region and Li Wuyi faced increasingly dangerous devils at the Yin Devil Cliff fissure. Meanwhile, Bai Rou learned that her master’s alarming message had been a ruse to bring her back to Woodstream Sect, where he led her toward the back mountain.

• Gong Chenying defeated a Devil Race creature, gathered the bodies of three dead disciples, and led the survivors back to report to the sect.
• Li Changting and Zhao Min fought devil soldiers with gu insects, and Li Changting warned Zhao Min that she might soon be sent to the Yin Devil Cliff fissure to join Li Wuyi.
• Li Wuyi and five Golden Core cultivators fought a devil emerging from the widening fissure, and Li Wuyi later worried that the seal was failing as more devils appeared.
• Phantom Sect sent Wei Chi Tuo, Yun Chunqu, Miao Wangqing, Wen Xinliang, and other disciples on missions, while Li Yan remained missing and his soul lamp still burned.
• Bai Rou returned to Woodstream Sect after hearing her master was near death, only to find him healthy and delighted as he took her toward the back mountain.

Shuang Qingqing returned to the Woodflow Sect, seized a body, and rebuilt the sect’s strength while Bai Rou learned the extent of her ancestor’s plans. The chapter ended with Shuang Qingqing suspicious of Bai Rou’s Phantom Sect master but agreeing to leave him alone for now.

• Bai Rou realized the Woodflow Sect had grown and that the surrounding sects had disappeared, then Shuang Qingqing teased her about Li Yan.
• Shuang Qingqing explained that she had returned to the Woodflow Sect and taken a suitable female cultivator’s body, while her divine-soul thread restored the sect’s lost arts and guided its disciples.
• Shuang Qingqing killed five cultivators who tried to exploit the Woodflow Sect, then slew their Golden Core Realm ancestor and extorted resources from the lineage.
• Shuang Qingqing questioned Bai Rou about her Phantom Sect master’s messages and threatened to confront him after emerging from seclusion.
• Bai Rou defended her master, and Shuang Qingqing agreed to let the matter rest for now.

Bai Rou discussed her progress with Shuang Qingqing, while Su Hong prepared to leave the Desolate Moon Continent after identifying Li Yan as the cultivator she once met. On a remote island, Venerable Wan began preparations to open a passage, leaving four Golden Core Realm juniors to guard him.

• Bai Rou told Shuang Qingqing she had grasped the Thousandfold Ancient Ape’s core formation but still struggled to control the timing of Stellar Shift.
• Su Hong prepared to return to headquarters after the Honored Lord ordered her back, reflecting on her discovery that Junior Brother Li was Li Yan.
• Su Hong regretted that Li Yan had not returned to the Phantom Sect and vowed to capture and frighten him if they met again.
• Venerable Wan arrived on an uninhabited island with four Golden Core Realm juniors and cleared a path through the vegetation with his steps.
• Venerable Wan told the four juniors to guard the area while he laid a formation and worked for at least half a year to open a passage.

The yellow-robed old man activated a Realm-Breaking Pearl on a hidden island, hoping to locate a passage between realms. The pearl reacted at a reef and released what he recognized as pure devilish qi.

• The yellow-robed old man concealed the island with a grand formation while Fairy Red Candle, Zhong Mengyin, and two male Golden Core cultivators guarded its corners.
• He activated the gray pearl, revealing a golden pupil as the formation contained its brilliant light.
• The yellow-robed old man recalled that the Devil Race had only two Realm-Breaking Pearls left after an earlier attempt at Yin Devil Cliff failed.
• As the golden light faded and the pearl seemed about to go dormant, it spun toward a reef protruding from the puddle.
• The Realm-Breaking Pearl struck the reef, which began emitting faint black smoke that the yellow-robed old man identified as genuine devilish qi.

Li Yan crossed the perilous Sea of Northern Darkness in search of the Boundless Wandering tree while a demonic cultivator activated a Worldbreaking Pearl at a weak point between worlds. The chapter ended with Li Yan fighting off a Netherflame Eagle and a Storm Dragon Shark as the eagle attacked him again.

• The yellow-robed old man sensed pure demonic qi at a weak point in the barrier and used hand seals to help the Worldbreaking Pearl reach it.
• Li Yan flew through the Sea of Northern Darkness for more than ten days, enduring scarce spiritual qi, exhausting currents, and repeated Demon Beast attacks.
• Li Yan used the Cloud-Piercing Willow to evade a second-tier Netherflame Eagle’s ambush and struck back with a black water spike.
• A middle second-tier Storm Dragon Shark lunged from the waves, but Li Yan detected its killing intent and avoided its bite.
• Li Yan unleashed the Li Fire Mysterious Yellow Fan to block the shark’s retreat while the Netherflame Eagle shattered his water spike and charged again.

Li Yan killed a Storm Dragon Shark and a Netherflame Eagle, then continued his journey through the Northern Nether Sea. He found the Boundless Wandering Tree he sought, but its late-third-rank Blue Demon Flood Dragon guardian remained asleep beneath it.

• The Storm Dragon Shark attacked Li Yan with its spines while the Netherflame Eagle prepared to unleash its Ghastly Flame Star Orb.
• Li Yan's attack caused the Netherflame Eagle's feathers to melt and its body to erupt in red blotches, then he evaded the shark's spines and killed the Storm Dragon Shark with a soul attack.
• Li Yan collected the two beasts' cores and valuable parts, driving off other Demon Beasts that had gathered nearby.
• On a distant meteorite, three long-haired cultivators and a crowd watched a passage toward the Desolate Moon Continent widen; the eldest brother estimated it would open in about a year.
• More than half a year later, Li Yan found the Boundless Wandering Tree on a reef and cautiously watched its sleeping late-third-rank Blue Demon Flood Dragon guardian from afar.

Li Yan stole a branch of the Boundless Roaming tree and endured a relentless pursuit by the Blue Demon Flood Dragon across the Northern Underworld Sea. He finally escaped into the mountains, but his severe injuries left him needing urgent recovery.

• Li Yan waited for the Blue Demon Flood Dragon to leave the Boundless Roaming tree, stole a branch, and fled as the enraged beast rallied sea demons to pursue him.
• Li Yan used Five Elements Return to Primordial Chaos to survive the dragon’s attacks, then relied on the Cloud-Piercing Willow, Melting Bamboo Shoot, and Great Dragon-Elephant Array to keep escaping.
• The Blue Demon Flood Dragon pursued Li Yan for more than four months, hoping to seize his Melting Bamboo Shoot, until Li Yan vanished beyond its reach.
• Li Yan reached the edge of the Northern Underworld Sea and confirmed that the Blue Demon Flood Dragon had abandoned its pursuit.
• Li Yan flew several thousand li into the mountains, found a secluded place, and hid there to recover from his grave injuries.