Recaps

Li Yan learned that Chongyangzi and Ting Xingzhi were ambushed after investigating the monks Yunchen and Yunxin, who had murdered Chongyangzi’s sister. Seeking to repay Chongyangzi without endangering the Po Jun Sect, Li Yan secretly traveled toward Sanze Temple to assess Yunchen and plan a concealed strike.

• Li Yan used Bewitching Soul Art on Tinglan and learned that Yunchen and Yunxin had raped and murdered Chongyangzi’s sister, then ambushed Chongyangzi and Ting Xingzhi when they sought revenge.
• Li Yan learned that Ting Xingzhi had begun using the Great No-Fruit to attempt a breakthrough, while Tinglan and her companions waited for Senior Brother Wang’s intelligence before deciding whether to target Yunchen.
• Li Yan left the Po Jun Sect secretly and, after more than three months of circuitous travel, reached a marketplace near Sanze Temple.
• Li Yan decided to investigate Sanze Temple and kill Yunchen only if he could do so without leaving evidence or exposing the Po Jun Sect.
• Li Yan concealed himself in a tree more than a hundred li from Sanze Temple and watched the worshippers traveling along the mountain path.

Li Yan infiltrated Three Marsh Temple, used a low-ranking monk’s memories to identify Shiji, and searched Shiji’s memories for information about Abbot Yunchen. Finding no direct lead on Chongyangzi, Li Yan changed his plan and approached Yunchen’s chamber disguised as Shiji, carrying a jade slip about repair materials.

• Li Yan secretly captured an azure-robed monk on the mountain road and searched his memories for information about Three Marsh Temple and Shiji.
• Disguised as a mortal pilgrim, Li Yan entered Three Marsh Temple and observed its guarded areas before slipping into the grounds unnoticed.
• Li Yan followed Shiji to his meditation chamber, subdued him, and searched his memories, learning that Shiji had seen Yunxin but knew nothing about Chongyangzi.
• Li Yan erased Shiji’s memory of the attack and kept him unconscious while deciding to use a brief opportunity to reach Yunchen.
• Disguised as Shiji, Li Yan stood outside Yunchen’s chamber with a jade slip about repair materials, and Yunchen opened the door.

Li Yan, disguised as Shi Ji, attempted to assassinate Yun Chen with poisoned incense and soul arts, but Yun Chen’s awareness nearly exposed the deception. Li Yan ultimately incapacitated Yun Chen and began to search his soul, still wondering how the abbot had recognized him.

• Shi Ji presented Yun Chen with a jade slip whose deadly poison released Soul-Scattering Incense, but Yun Chen turned the trap against him and subdued him with the wooden fish.
• Yun Chen destroyed the poisoned jade slip and contained its black smoke in a sphere of Buddhist light before questioning the seemingly subdued Shi Ji.
• When Yun Chen tried to extract Shi Ji’s memories, a hidden spike and soul attack disrupted his control of heaven and earth, while the attacker struck through his Vajra Buddha Body.
• The attacker revealed himself to be Li Yan, who had captured Shi Ji and used his appearance and memories to enter the chamber.
• Li Yan injected black water into the unconscious Yun Chen, then restrained him and began searching his soul, puzzled that Yun Chen had suspected the disguise.

Li Yan escaped Yun Chen’s Buddhist mind-force attack when the Undying Nether Phoenix bloodline in his right arm dispelled the illusion. He trapped Yun Chen in the formation, subdued him with a noose, and added layers of seals, leaving Yun Chen captured and unable to resist.

• Yun Chen broke free of Li Yan’s restraint, but Li Yan retreated into the formation’s gate of life as Yun Chen fled toward the meditation room door.
• Yun Chen’s mind-force attack drew Li Yan into an illusion of his loved ones suffering, until the Undying Nether Phoenix bloodline burned away the illusion and restored Li Yan’s senses.
• Li Yan recognized that the silver sand in his right arm had awakened the Phoenix bloodline and cleansed the invading mind force.
• Yun Chen realized an illusion formation kept him from reaching the door, then tried to find the barrier by flying blindly through the room.
• A noose caught Yun Chen and stripped him of his strength as Li Yan emerged and confronted him.
• Li Yan covered Yun Chen with sealing runes and attached three emerald talismans to his dantians.

Li Yan subdued Yunchen and searched his soul, learning how Yunchen controlled monks in the temple and had recognized Li Yan’s disguise as Shiji. Yunchen had also prepared Soul-Bereaving Incense to trap Li Yan, but Li Yan had sensed the poison as soon as he entered the abbot’s chamber.

• Li Yan restrained Yunchen with Ghost Trace, sealed him repeatedly, and rendered him unconscious before searching his soul.
• Li Yan learned that Yunchen had planted mental-power seeds in Shiji and other monks to monitor and control them, enduring karmic backlash in the process.
• Li Yan discovered that Yunchen recognized his disguise because Yunchen sensed Shiji’s condition and noticed the intruder lacked the mental-power aura tied to his puppet.
• Yunchen had lit Soul-Bereaving Incense and used the violet mallet wooden fish as a catalyst while pretending to study a jade slip.
• Li Yan realized the sandalwood fragrance was dangerous when his cultivated soul reacted to it upon entering Yunchen’s chamber.

Li Yan overcame Yun Chen’s Soul-Scattering Incense and subdued him, then learned that a śarīra and Yun Chen’s Sumeru Five Viscera fusion had let his Nascent Soul resist Li Yan’s seal. Li Yan recorded the technique and discovered that the śarīra’s lingering light still protected Yun Chen’s Nascent Soul.

• Li Yan recognized the Soul-Scattering Incense, secretly neutralized it, and let Yun Chen believe his plan was working.
• Li Yan trapped Yun Chen with an array, injured his soul with the Guiyi Water-Parting Spike, and defeated him with the Five Elements Wildcloak and a sky-piercing elbow strike.
• Li Yan learned that Yun Chen had killed a wandering monk and taken his ancient śarīra, which had strengthened his Buddhist abilities.
• Yun Chen’s attempt to refine the śarīra nearly killed him, so he later used the Sumeru Five Viscera art to reverse-fuse part of his Nascent Soul with it.
• Li Yan found that a faint layer of light from the śarīra had helped Yun Chen’s Nascent Soul resist his seal, then recorded the Sumeru Five Viscera technique into a jade slip.

Li Yan uncovered Yunchen and Yunxin’s crimes and their plan to destroy Ting Lan’s Lineage, then took Yunchen’s place to draw Yunxin into a meeting. Yunxin arrived at Sanzhe Temple, where Yunchen warned him that Ting Xingzhi had set a trap for them.

• Li Yan searched Yunchen’s memories, confirming that Yunchen and Yunxin had committed many atrocities and planned to eliminate Ting Lan’s Lineage without leaving evidence.
• Li Yan judged Soul-Bereaving Incense to be inferior, sealed Yunchen inside Tuban, and used his appearance to send Yunxin a jade slip requesting a meeting.
• Shiji briefly gained an insight while studying a red date, but lost it during meditation and resumed examining the date.
• Yunxin arrived at Sanzhe Temple and met the disguised Yunchen in the abbot’s chamber.
• Yunxin said he had found people investigating him and wanted to use them to lure in a larger target.
• Yunchen told Yunxin that the investigators were Chongyangzi’s disciples and that Ting Xingzhi had arranged the situation as a trap.

Li Yan killed Yun Xin and Yun Chen through a carefully arranged trap, then escaped before the temples could pursue him. After ensuring their deaths would reach Ting Lan and the others, he headed toward the Dizhen Domain.

• Yun Chen warned Yun Xin that Chongyangzi’s allies were bait and explained his plan to exploit one of the hired experts.
• Yun Xin drank Li Yan’s Withering-tainted tea and withered into ashes, while Li Yan took Yun Xin’s place and left Sanzhe Temple.
• Minghua Temple discovered Yun Xin’s broken life plaque and found Yun Chen dead in the abbot’s chamber, with Yun Xin’s ashes beneath his kasaya.
• Li Yan explained how he had arranged the deaths and delayed the temples’ investigation, then crushed Yun Chen’s Nascent Soul after the chamber was opened.
• Li Yan decided to bypass the Po Jun Sect and flew toward the Heavenly Demon Grassland on his way to the Dizhen Domain.

Tinglan learned that Yunchen and Yunxin had died at Sanze Temple, and her seniors concluded the news was genuine rather than a trap. Years later, Chongyangzi accepted that the monks were dead, while Tinglan recalled that Li Yan had visited and left pills for him during his seclusion.

• Tinglan received an urgent summons and learned that Yunchen and Yunxin had both died.
• Tinglan questioned whether the deaths were a trap, but her eldest senior brother explained that Minghua Temple's investigation and the Moji Dao Sect's response supported the news.
• Tinglan left with her second senior sister to warn Manor Lord Ting and protect her lineage from suspicion.
• Minghua Temple failed to discover the killer, and Chongyangzi eventually verified that the two monks were dead.
• Chongyangzi and Ting Xingzhi remained bitter that they had not personally killed the monks, and Tinglan remembered Li Yan had left pills for Chongyangzi.

Chongyangzi investigated whether Li Yan had secretly killed Yunchen and Yunxin after learning that Li Yan had visited him before leaving the Pojun Sect. Decades later, Li Yan entered the Dizhen Domain and was teleported into the Soul Suppressing Palace, where a displeased purple-robed man awaited him.

• Chongyangzi realized Li Yan had left the Pojun Sect soon after visiting him and questioned Tinglan about the visit.
• Tinglan admitted that she and other disciples had planned to scheme against Yunchen and Yunxin, and Chongyangzi warned them against acting beyond their abilities.
• Chongyangzi suspected Li Yan might have killed Yunchen and Yunxin, but his calculations suggested Li Yan could not have reached Sanze Temple in time.
• Chongyangzi questioned Tinglan and Shangguan Tianque again, learned Li Yan had been at the middle stage of Spirit Transformation, and ultimately left the deaths unexplained.
• Li Yan entered the Dizhen Domain and was teleported into the Soul Suppressing Palace, where a burly man in purple robes glared at him.

Li Yan reunited with the Soul-Suppressing Palace’s elders and leaders, whose return to the sect was tied to their search for the Soul Prison Clan and its lost cultivation methods. They pretended not to recognize Li Yan and accused him of infiltrating the Dizhen Domain, leaving him to apologize and promise to follow their lead.

• Li Yan entered the main hall and greeted Elder Hao, Elder Tang, Master Lan, Xue Tieyi, and Tang Feng with praise and apologies for delaying his promise.
• Li Yan observed the group’s cultivation progress and reflected on the Soul-Suppressing Palace’s flawed techniques and its need to find the Soul Prison Clan’s inheritance.
• The purple-robed man and Tang San pretended Li Yan was an unknown intruder and accused the sect leaders of allowing him to infiltrate the Dizhen Domain.
• Xue Tieyi rebuked Tang Feng for failing to capture Li Yan, and Tang Feng claimed he could not defeat him before asking the elders and Sect Master to act.
• Li Yan apologized to the group and promised to follow their lead from then on.

Li Yan explained why he had broken his promise to return sooner, and Elder Hao and Elder Tang accepted his reasons and prepared to descend to the lower realms with him. They planned to leave the next morning, while Tang Feng was ordered to remain and manage Soul-Quelling Palace as Xue Tieyi prepared to break through.

• Master Lan reproached Li Yan for his delay, and he apologized to Soul-Quelling Palace.
• Li Yan recounted his journey to the Mortal Realm, his reunion with his relatives, and the detours that had delayed his return.
• Elder Hao told Li Yan that they had found two stable passage nodes to the lower realms, including one near the Lost Continent.
• Elder Hao announced that he and Lan Feng would descend with Li Yan early the next morning, while Tang Feng asked to join them.
• Elder Tang and Xue Tieyi ordered Tang Feng to stay and manage the sect while Elder Tang guarded Xue Tieyi during his planned breakthrough.

Li Yan asked Elder Hao and Elder Tang San to examine Qianji’s damaged soul, and they agreed to hasten its recovery before the group traveled to the lower realm. After reaching the Lost Continent, Li Yan located their position and led them toward the ancient ruins battlefield, while Feng Tao returned to her family after failing to find a breakthrough.

• Li Yan asked Elder Hao and Elder Tang San to inspect Qianji’s soul, and Elder Hao confirmed it was recovering but offered a technique that would shorten the process to at least 108 years.
• Elder Hao and Elder Tang San agreed to perform the Return-to-Spirit Dao technique, and the group departed for the node passage after allowing time for the ritual.
• Seven years later, Elder Hao, Master Lan, and Li Yan reached the meteor-sand river and entered the node passage to the lower realm.
• After arriving in the Lost Continent, Li Yan searched cultivators to determine their location, then told Elder Hao and Master Lan that their destination was five or six days away.
• Elder Hao guided Li Yan in Sacred Soul Transformation and soul arts during their journey, and Li Yan improved his ability to fight Starfall Beasts using soul techniques alone.
• Feng Tao returned to the Feng family after failing to make progress toward the middle stage of Nascent Soul, while her rise had helped the family’s ancestor form a golden core.

Feng Tao wandered through the Feng Lineage, letting memories of her family and past surface as she sought insight into her cultivation bottleneck. At the entrance to the Yin Burial Caverns, she recalled the calamity that had shaped her early life and wondered whether Zhang Ming had returned to his master rather than perished.

• Feng Tao reflected on her aging Dao companion, her scattered descendants, and her inability to advance beyond the initial Nascent Soul stage.
• As Feng Tao wandered the fortress, childhood memories stirred grief over her deceased parents and companions.
• Feng Tao unknowingly reached the Yin Burial Caverns and stepped back when the protective formation warned her away.
• Feng Tao saw familiar figures in the mist and remembered how Fang Guangjun’s attack had nearly killed her and her fellow disciples.
• Feng Tao recalled Zhang Ming’s role in saving the Feng Lineage and Falling Star Valley, and doubted that he had died after disappearing.

Li Yan, Elder Hao, and Master Lan searched the Feng family’s Yin Tomb Caverns for clues to the Great Ancestor’s soul and the missing pieces of a broken wine jar. Finding the Feng family’s excavated tombs stripped clean, they headed deeper into the caverns, where fewer traces had been disturbed.

• Master Lan slipped through the Feng family’s protective formation with Li Yan and Elder Hao, and Li Yan recognized Feng Tao as a Nascent Soul cultivator inside the castle.
• Li Yan led the others into the Yin Tomb Caverns and pointed out the spot where he had found the Great Ancestor’s token.
• Elder Hao, Master Lan, and Li Yan searched the nearly depleted blood pool and the surrounding tomb but found no unusual souls or useful clues.
• Elder Hao concluded that the Feng family had cleared and altered the tombs, so they should search deeper where the grand formation had not reached.
• Li Yan agreed to continue, disappointed that his search had not uncovered any remaining pieces of the broken wine jar.

Li Yan, Elder Hao, and Master Lan found no clues to the Great Ancestor in the Yin Tomb Cavern, so they decided to search Feng Family Fort before traveling to the Soul Prison Clan on the Qingqing Continent. They reached the ancient Soul Prison Clan ruins, where a vast desert stretched ahead.

• Elder Hao concluded that the Great Ancestor had likely hidden important items in a Storage Pouch before he fell, but could not explain what had happened to his remnant soul.
• Master Lan proposed going to the Soul Prison Clan on the Qingqing Continent to investigate clues left by the Second Ancestor and the others.
• Li Yan agreed to a thorough search of Feng Family Fort, including cultivators' storage spaces and the family's treasure storehouse.
• Elder Hao, Li Yan, and Master Lan secretly passed through the guarded entrance to the ancient Soul Prison Clan ruins.
• The three emerged beneath a dim sky and looked out across a boundless desolate desert.

Li Yan, Elder Hao, and Master Lan returned to the ruins of the Soul Prison Clan, where Elder Hao ordered Lan Feng to seal the entrance and kill every intelligent being inside. As cultivators were slaughtered and the ruins vanished from reach, Li Yan stood in an empty pavilion, looking over its bare racks.

• Elder Hao recognized the ruins as the former home of the Soul Prison Clan and mourned that the Third Patriarch had never returned.
• Elder Hao told Lan Feng to seal the entrance and ordered the killing of all intelligent beings in the ruins.
• Lan Feng went to reseal the entrance while Li Yan anticipated that the Soul Prison Clan would disappear from the world again.
• Cultivators arriving outside could no longer find the cave, while those searching the underground ruins began dying silently.
• Elder Hao and Master Lan killed cultivators by destroying their souls, sometimes leaving companions terrified as they died one by one.
• Li Yan stood on the third floor of a pavilion at dusk, looking at its empty racks.

Li Yan, Elder Hao, and Master Lan searched the ruined Soul Prison Clan grounds for clues, then investigated a damaged statue of the Second Ancestor and the Trial Long Alley Formation. The chapter left Elder Hao and Master Lan entering a door in the formation’s golden wall, while Li Yan remained behind.

• Li Yan and the others finished searching another former repository, finding only tangled traces and no cultivation manuals.
• Elder Hao and Master Lan examined a damaged statue by a dark pool, recognized it as the Second Ancestor, and decided to leave it in place until they understood the formation around it.
• Master Lan warned Li Yan that the statue served as a movable formation entrance and praised his precautions for keeping it from being moved.
• The three entered the true Trial Long Alley Formation, where Elder Hao’s soul power frightened the low-ranked soul spirits into hiding.
• Elder Hao stepped through a small door in a glowing yellow wall, and Master Lan followed, heading to inspect the formation’s exit.

Li Yan, Elder Hao, and Master Lan emerged from the underground long alley into a weakening soul-attacking water prison and found evidence of a battle among Soul Prison Clan members. They climbed to a ruined plaza, where the search for the clan’s fate continued.

• Li Yan, Elder Hao, and Master Lan were teleported into separate cells in a water prison, where red soul-attacking light surrounded their cages.
• Elder Hao broke the restriction with soul power, and Li Yan and Master Lan followed, escaping their cells.
• The three examined the shattered cages and prison debris, concluding that a great battle had taken place and that the Soul Cultivator treasures suggested an internal conflict.
• Master Lan proposed that they go upstairs, and the three left the prison by its stairway.
• Li Yan emerged onto a vast, devastated plaza that he suspected had once hosted major Soul Prison Clan gatherings.

Elder Hao, Li Yan, and Master Lan examined the ruined plaza and found that many Soul Prison Clan cultivators had apparently died from soul arts. Their discovery of an enormous Soul Crystal Sprout raised questions about how it had reached the Mortal Realm.

• Elder Hao identified hundreds of corpses in Soul Prison Clan robes among the plaza’s remains.
• Li Yan and Master Lan found no fatal bone wounds on the Soul Prison Clan corpses and suspected soul arts had killed them.
• Elder Hao considered whether conflict between the Great Ancestor’s and Third Ancestor’s branches had caused the clan’s downfall.
• Master Lan found a large gray object among a pile of clothing and recognized it as a Soul Crystal Sprout.
• Elder Hao confirmed the object was a Soul Crystal Sprout and wondered whether the Soul Prison Clan had cultivated it from seeds.

Li Yan concluded that sentient Soul Crystal Sprouts had fought the Soul Prison Clan, possibly causing its disappearance. After searching the site again, Li Yan, Elder Hao, and Master Lan found that it may have been the clan’s final battlefield, but why the victor left without returning remained unknown.

• Li Yan found more Soul Crystal Sprouts, and the group saw that none had been found among cultivators whose skeletons remained.
• Li Yan explained that the Soul Crystal Sprouts had likely gained sentience, formed a race, and fought the Soul Prison Clan.
• Master Lan and Elder Hao agreed that the Soul Crystal Sprout race could be connected to the Soul Prison Clan’s disappearance, though finding the reclusive race would be difficult.
• Li Yan suggested searching the plaza and prison again, and the three separated to investigate the site more thoroughly.
• After three hours, Li Yan, Elder Hao, and Master Lan concluded that the site may have been the Soul Prison Clan’s final battle and a core location, but they could not explain why the victor had departed in haste and never returned.

Elder Hao, Master Lan, and Li Yan searched the valley exit but found no clues, then used the broken wine jar to teleport back toward the underground long alley. The teleportation instead brought them to an unfamiliar sealed stone chamber, leaving them to investigate their new surroundings.

• Elder Hao concluded that the Soul Crystal Buds might have defeated the Soul Prison Clan and decided to search the Desolate Moon Continent for more clues.
• Elder Hao, Master Lan, and Li Yan searched the mountain valley around the pool but discovered nothing unusual.
• The three returned to the underwater teleportation array, and Li Yan activated it with the broken wine jar.
• After the long teleportation, Li Yan and the others arrived in a small black-stone chamber instead of the underground long alley.
• The three stepped away from the fading formation and spread their Divine Senses through the sealed, doorless chamber.

Li Yan, Master Lan, and Elder Hao uncovered a hidden cave dwelling and found evidence that it had belonged to the Second Ancestor of the Soul Prison Clan. They began examining its records for clues about the clan’s history and the Black Devil Race.

• Master Lan used a bronze compass to locate a concealed exit, and a wall rose to reveal a cave dwelling.
• The three inspected the hall and nearby chambers as Elder Hao deduced that the teleportation array connected the Desolate Moon Continent to the ancient Soul Cultivator’s cave dwelling.
• Elder Hao examined jade slips in a Stone Chamber and concluded that the cave dwelling had belonged to the Second Ancestor.
• Master Lan and Li Yan read a clan intelligence report addressed to the Second Ancestor, confirming the cave dwelling’s owner.
• Elder Hao searched the remaining records and sent a selection of jade slips and a scroll to Li Yan and Master Lan.

Elder Hao, Master Lan, and Li Yan discovered evidence that the Sun-Obscuring Race may have conspired against the Soul Prison Race, explaining its disappearance. After finding further clues about the race’s dealings, they left the Second Ancestor’s cave residence and resolved to keep investigating.

• Elder Hao identified a jade slip describing an offer to help the Soul Prison Race contact the Netherworld, and he and Master Lan suspected the Sun-Obscuring Race was behind the Soul Prison Race’s destruction.
• Elder Hao theorized that the Sun-Obscuring Race infiltrated the Soul Prison Race, attacked the Second Ancestor, and was driven off when he activated the clan’s formation.
• Elder Hao vowed to search Qingqing Continent for the Sun-Obscuring Race and exterminate it if it was responsible for the Soul Prison Race’s disappearance.
• Li Yan urged the group to search for more clues, and they found additional jade slips recording dealings with the Sun-Obscuring Race and hints of its attempts to tempt the Second Ancestor.
• Master Lan broke the gate’s formation restrictions, and the three exited the cave residence into the overgrown valley.

Master Lan and Elder Hao concluded that the Second Ancestor had hidden the cave entrance’s formation so skillfully that they would have to seek the Sun-Obscuring Clan elsewhere. Meanwhile, the Soul Prison Clan entrance vanished, stirring chaos across Qingqing Continent, and a silver-robed youth brought news of the disappearance to the Grand Elder.

• Master Lan praised the Second Ancestor’s concealed formation, and Elder Hao decided to leave and search for the Sun-Obscuring Clan, possibly using the Soul Crystal Sprout to identify it.
• Sects whose cultivators died in the Soul Prison Clan ruins blamed the major powers when the entrance disappeared and demanded an explanation.
• The major powers failed to find the entrance, while rumors spread that the Soul Prison Clan had returned or that the powers were hiding a massacre and dividing its treasures.
• A silver-robed youth entered the forest courtyard and bowed to the Grand Elder in yellow.
• The silver-robed youth told the Grand Elder that the Soul Prison Clan ruins had suddenly disappeared.