Chapter Summaries

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.

The Grand Elder ordered an investigation into the vanished Soul Prison Race ruins while Elder Hao, Master Lan, and Li Yan traced rumors about the Sunshade Race. After reaching its forest territory, the three prepared to capture a clansman and search their memories, leaving the identity of the race unresolved.

• The young man in silver reported that the Soul Prison Race ruins had vanished, and the Grand Elder gave him five days to uncover the truth.
• The Grand Elder considered whether the Soul Prison Race had returned or whether other factions were responsible, then destroyed the butterfly in her palm and vanished from the courtyard.
• Elder Hao, Master Lan, and Li Yan discussed whether the Sunshade Race was connected to the Soul Prison Race, and Li Yan suggested its members might conceal soul-cultivation abilities.
• The three traveled to the Sunshade Race's forest territory, where Elder Hao proposed capturing a clansman for Soul Searching and Li Yan volunteered to do it.
• Li Yan brought an unconscious Golden Core Realm woman to a cave, where Elder Hao prepared to conduct the Soul Search.

Li Yan, Elder Hao, and Master Lan investigated the Sun-Shrouding Clan and discovered that its members were Soul Crystal Sprouts, though they no longer practiced Soul Cultivator techniques. After infiltrating the clan’s core region, they captured and searched a Nascent Soul cultivator to learn more about the clan’s connection to the Soul Prison Clan.

• Li Yan seized a Golden Core woman from a collateral branch of the Sun-Shrouding Clan, and Elder Hao’s Soul Search found that the clan cultivated wind techniques but no Soul Cultivator arts.
• Master Lan killed the woman and exposed her true form as a Soul Crystal Sprout, whose wind attribute and powerful soul confirmed the clan was connected to their search.
• Li Yan, Elder Hao, and Master Lan entered the clan’s core region unseen and detected four Nascent Soul cultivators and a concealed Spirit Transformation cultivator.
• Li Yan urged them to quietly search a Nascent Soul cultivator before confronting the Spirit Transformation cultivator, to avoid disrupting the Mortal Realm’s balance.
• Elder Hao killed a silver-robed Nascent Soul cultivator, collected his soul, and spent more than half an hour searching it for information.

Elder Hao learned from a Sunshroud Clan elder that the clan had secretly supported the Soul Prison Clan and fought alongside it against the Devil Race. The revelation explained the Sunshroud Clan’s role in the ambush that brought down the Great Ancestor and left the Third Ancestor gravely injured.

• Elder Hao crushed the silver-robed cultivator’s head after searching his memories, then told Master Lan and Li Yan that the Sunshroud Clan had investigated the vanished Soul Prison Clan ruins.
• Elder Hao explained that the Sunshroud Clan had secretly practiced soul arts while publicly presenting itself as a powerful wind-attribute clan.
• Elder Hao revealed that the Sunshroud Clan had once cooperated with the Soul Prison Clan and sent hidden Soul Cultivators to fight under its name during the Devil Race invasion.
• The Devil Race targeted the Soul Prison Clan after suffering losses to the allied Soul Cultivators, and its traps caused the Great Ancestor to vanish and the Third Ancestor to be severely injured.
• The Sunshroud Clan also lost many elite cultivators in the battle, but it preserved far more of its high-end strength than the Soul Prison Clan.

The "Sun-Obscuring Clan" planned to exploit the "Soul Prison Clan's" internal turmoil and the Second Ancestor's search for the Great Ancestor to seize the clan and feed its ancestral tree powerful souls. They gradually lured the wary Second Ancestor toward their trap, leaving him close to accepting their deliberately harsh conditions.

• The "Sun-Obscuring Clan" learned that the "Soul Prison Clan" had fractured, with the Third Ancestor gone and the Second Ancestor preoccupied with finding the Great Ancestor.
• The "Sun-Obscuring Clan" decided to target the "Soul Prison Clan" so its ancestral tree could consume powerful souls and regain its spirituality.
• The "Sun-Obscuring Clan" confirmed the Third Ancestor's departure by visiting and questioning the Second Ancestor, then spread a story about searching for missing clan members and contacting a remnant soul.
• The Second Ancestor heard that the "Sun-Obscuring Clan" had communicated with a remnant soul and cautiously asked whether they could help him find the Great Ancestor.
• The "Sun-Obscuring Clan" played reluctant and set harsh conditions, gradually weakening the Second Ancestor's suspicions.

Elder Hao’s Soul Search revealed how the Veiling Sun Clan lured the Second Ancestor into a trap while pretending to help him find the Great Ancestor’s soul. The Second Ancestor discovered the ambush and unleashed a forbidden technique, but the Veiling Sun Clan interrupted it just before it could manifest.

• The Veiling Sun Clan used the Second Ancestor’s desperation to negotiate for rare soul-protecting treasures and arrange a secret-art casting in the plaza.
• Two Veiling Sun Clan experts set a killing formation while their hidden cultivators waited in spirit storage pouches, but the Second Ancestor noticed the trap before the formation closed.
• The Second Ancestor attacked the experts and opened the prison exit so his hidden Soul Prison Clan cultivators could join the fight.
• The Veiling Sun Clan released its larger force, overwhelmed the Second Ancestor’s reinforcements, and blocked him from activating the plaza’s defenses.
• The enraged Second Ancestor unleashed his Spirit Transformation Realm cultivation and began a devastating strike, but the two experts suppressed him and interrupted the technique as it neared completion.