Chapter Summaries

Zheng Youlin met Yuan Zhen to exchange information about the Five Immortals Sect, while carefully invoking the authority of the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect. He recounted how he and his companions had witnessed two Five Immortals Sect cultivators kill six others, and revealed that their investigation had uncovered a trail of vanished witnesses.

• Zheng Youlin entered Yuan Zhen’s room, mistook his concealed cultivation for an ordinary mortal’s, and sat down after sensing a defensive formation activate.
• Yuan Zhen asked how Zheng Youlin had learned that Five Immortals Sect cultivators killed Luo Gucheng’s disciples, and Zheng Youlin requested information in return on behalf of his sect.
• Zheng Youlin explained that the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect had sent him to investigate the Five Immortals Sect and that he and his companions had tracked two of its members.
• Zheng Youlin recounted how the two Five Immortals Sect cultivators swiftly killed six opponents, including a Void Refinement Realm cultivator, then fled before his group could catch them.
• Zheng Youlin and his companions investigated the victims’ identities and learned that people who had spoken at length with them had later vanished.

Zheng Youlin recounted how the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect traced clues about the Five Immortal Sects to Luo Gucheng and tried to bargain with Yuan Zhen. Yuan Zhen poisoned and captured him, then discovered through soul searching that Zheng Youlin’s mission was actually tied to investigations by the Phantom Sect and Miesheng Sect.

• Zheng Youlin explained that his group had tracked sightings of the dead sword cultivators westward until they learned the men came from Luo Gucheng.
• Zheng Youlin urged Yuan Zhen to cooperate, warning that the Five Immortal Sects could destroy Luo Gucheng and that the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect could help set a trap.
• Yuan Zhen distracted Zheng Youlin with promises of a direct clue, then used poison to leave him conscious but unable to move.
• Yuan Zhen performed a soul search on Zheng Youlin, gave him part of a pill, and sent him away alive.
• Yuan Zhen learned that Zheng Youlin and another Void Refinement cultivator had been investigating Phantom Sect and Miesheng Sect activity, while the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect remained unaware that Phantom Sect disciples had escaped the Ghost Domain.

Zheng Youlin recounted how he and his junior brother identified and pursued two Five Immortals Sect cultivators, only to be outmaneuvered by them twice. Yuan Zhen learned that their supposed information trade was a deception, and Li Yan realized the pair might have come seeking him; with another Yin-Yang Chaos Sect cultivator still nearby, he could no longer stay hidden.

• Zheng Youlin and his junior brother spotted a woman they suspected belonged to the Five Immortals Sect and followed her to an inn, where they discovered she had a male Senior Brother.
• The man and woman vanished from the inn, but Zheng Youlin and his junior brother later found them killing six sword cultivators on the road to a city.
• Zheng Youlin and his junior brother rushed to ambush the pair, fell into their trap, and watched them flee after the male cultivator stopped the woman from attacking again.
• Zheng Youlin revealed to Yuan Zhen that the promised information trade was a pretext and that he and his junior brother had lost track of the Five Immortals Sect cultivators.
• Li Yan recognized the pair from the memories and suspected they had come to meet him, but he realized another Yin-Yang Chaos Sect cultivator was still nearby.

Li Yan, disguised as Yuan Zhen, captured Qiu Yu and two other Refining Void cultivators to learn whether they had revealed information about the Five Immortal Sects. After confirming their silence, Li Yan implanted a jade-white gu insect in Qiu Yu and began testing his control over him.

• Li Yan lured Qiu Yu into a room and knocked him unconscious, then used a Soul Search to confirm he had not disclosed information about the Five Immortal Sects.
• Li Yan summoned the other two Refining Void cultivators and confirmed they had also kept the secret, then changed his appearance from Yuan Zhen to Zheng Youlin.
• Li Yan placed a jade-white gu insect in Qiu Yu's brain and used it to make him wake and answer questions.
• Li Yan ordered the controlled Qiu Yu to call out the Supreme Grand Elder, and Qiu Yu crashed into the courtyard formation before Li Yan stopped its lethal restriction.

Li Yan used the Brain-Eating Gu to control the unconscious Qiu Yu, then killed the remaining witnesses in Luo Gucheng’s forbidden grounds. He escaped the sect disguised as Zheng Youlin and continued through the city in disguise, searching for Zheng Youlin’s residence while staying alert to danger.

• Li Yan used the Brain-Eating Gu to make the unconscious Qiu Yu speak and move while keeping the insect from consuming his brain.
• Li Yan killed the two Void Refinement elders with the Fuxi Disc, then went to the main hall and killed Yuan Zhen.
• Li Yan used Yuan Zhen’s identity token to open the courtyard gates and left the sect alongside the gu-controlled Qiu Yu, disguised as Zheng Youlin.
• After reaching a secluded alley, Li Yan changed into the disguise of a short, fat man and entered Luo Gucheng’s streets.
• Li Yan searched for Zheng Youlin’s residence while keeping his Divine Sense close and preparing to flee if he detected trouble.

Li Yan entered Immortal-Approaching Inn in disguise to identify the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect cultivator waiting there and decide how to eliminate him. He recognized Senior Sister Ling and suspected the black-robed man with her, then secretly contacted her and asked her to leave the inn before they spoke.

• Li Yan let the Brain-Eating Gu kill Qiu Yu and planned to eliminate Zheng Youlin's waiting junior brother to protect his scheme against Luo Gucheng.
• Li Yan reached Immortal-Approaching Inn disguised as a fat man and entered the busy dining hall.
• Li Yan noticed Senior Sister Ling and a black-robed man at a nearby table, sensed them discreetly, and stayed to watch them.
• Senior Sister Ling headed toward the passage to the rear courtyard, but Li Yan sent her a voice transmission telling her to leave the inn first.
• Senior Sister Ling returned to the table and told the black-robed man that Junior Brother Li was there, though she had not discovered where he was.

Li Yan reunited with Ling Yao and Zhao Ziming in Luo Gucheng and explained how he had identified them while pursuing two Yin-Yang Chaos Sect cultivators. After revealing that he had captured Zheng Youlin, he urged them to help capture the remaining target, Jiang Tianqing, before their quarry became suspicious.

• Ling Yao and Zhao Ziming recognized Li Yan when he approached them in disguise, and the three met in a room with its restrictions activated.
• Li Yan explained that he detected Ling Yao’s Gui Water spiritual power but had not seen through Zhao Ziming’s concealment.
• Ling Yao realized that Li Yan had advanced to the middle stage of the Void Refinement Realm, and Li Yan redirected their discussion to the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect cultivators.
• Li Yan told Ling Yao and Zhao Ziming that he had captured Zheng Youlin and identified Jiang Tianqing as the remaining target inside the Immortal Arrival Inn.
• Li Yan produced the unconscious Zheng Youlin, then asked the others to help capture Jiang Tianqing quickly.
• Zhao Ziming agreed to hear Li Yan’s plan, noting that the three of them could now devise a more reliable attack.

Li Yan adjusted his plan to impersonate Zheng Youlin and use Ling Yao and his senior sister’s help to approach Jiang Tianqing. Meanwhile, Jiang Tianqing followed a Luo Gucheng elder to meet Yuan and found Zheng Youlin waiting inside, but Zheng’s reaction left him uneasy.

• Li Yan explained that Zheng Youlin’s cultivation and mannerisms would make impersonation risky, but his companions’ arrival made the plan easier.
• Jiang Tianqing grew suspicious when Zheng Youlin failed to return, then received a voice-transmission token summoning him to negotiate with Yuan.
• A brocade-robed Luo Gucheng elder escorted Jiang Tianqing to Yuan’s private artifact-refining courtyard, where Jiang Tianqing cautiously examined the people nearby.
• Jiang Tianqing saw Yuan seated in the reception hall and Zheng Youlin beside him, and Zheng asked why he had not come in to pay his respects.

Jiang Tianqing entered Yuan Zhen’s courtyard to discuss a lead on the Five Immortals Sect and the demand that the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect make Yuan Zhen’s sect directly subordinate. As Jiang Tianqing weighed whether to cooperate or attack, the man posing as Zheng Youlin poisoned him, leaving him collapsed and unconscious.

• Jiang Tianqing checked Zheng Youlin’s aura and surveyed the courtyard before entering to meet Yuan Zhen.
• Zheng Youlin told Jiang Tianqing that Yuan Zhen would reveal the lead on the Five Immortals Sect only if his sect became directly subordinate to the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect.
• Jiang Tianqing considered whether to agree to the demand or capture Yuan Zhen and extract the information by Soul Search.
• Jiang Tianqing secretly asked Zheng Youlin whether they should strike, and sudden pain erupted in his body and dantian.
• The impostor posing as Zheng Youlin rose as Jiang Tianqing realized he had been poisoned, and Jiang Tianqing collapsed with his skin turning bluish-purple.

Li Yan used Zheng Youlin’s memories to disguise himself and arrange a trap for Jiang Tianqing outside Luo Gucheng. Jiang Tianqing entered the courtyard cautiously, but Li Yan’s group did not spring the trap yet, and his suspicions began to fade.

• Li Yan disguised Zhao Ziming as Yuan Zhen and had Ling Yao pose as a young sword cultivator to draw Jiang Tianqing out of the city.
• Li Yan captured a Spirit Transformation couple and chose their residence as the ambush site, storing them safely in Tuban.
• Li Yan studied Zheng Youlin’s memories and used Jiang Tianqing’s suspicion to devise a staged invitation that would appear natural.
• Ling Yao delivered the message, and Jiang Tianqing followed her to the courtyard after hearing that Zheng Youlin would greet him.
• Jiang Tianqing entered cautiously, but Li Yan’s group kept the courtyard normal instead of attacking, and Jiang Tianqing’s suspicions slowly receded.

Li Yan used a carefully staged meeting and poisoned chairs to kill Jiang Tianqing before he could react. He escaped Luo Gucheng with Zhao Ziming and Ling Yao, and Zhao Ziming realized how effortlessly Li Yan could eliminate a powerful opponent.

• Li Yan lured Jiang Tianqing into the main hall by posing as Zheng Youlin and persuading him to sit beside him.
• Jiang Tianqing sat on a poisoned chair, and the poison entered his body and killed him before he could defend himself.
• Li Yan removed Jiang Tianqing and the chairs, then released Zhao Ziming and Ling Yao and led them out of the courtyard.
• Outside the city, Zhao Ziming concealed the group in a forest, where Li Yan showed them Jiang Tianqing's corpse.
• Zhao Ziming marveled at how quickly and quietly Li Yan had killed a Void Refinement cultivator from the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect.

Ling Yao and Zhao Ziming explained how they had crossed the world to find Li Yan, then overheard three cultivators say they had located a short-haired young man in the Phantom Sect. Suspecting the men were searching for Li Yan, they decided to follow them and learn whether they posed a threat.

• Ling Yao asked Li Yan for poison, and he agreed to give her and Zhao Ziming poison with antidotes and explain how to use it.
• Ling Yao told Li Yan that the sect had begun sending disciples out in pairs to gain experience without elders secretly protecting them, and she and Zhao Ziming had traveled together toward the Phantom Sect.
• After leaving a nearby city, Ling Yao noticed two cultivators following a man and persuaded Zhao Ziming to investigate; they discovered the three were traveling together after using a counter-tracking trick.
• Zhao Ziming secretly listened to the three cultivators and heard them say their target was in the Phantom Sect and that they had finally found a short-haired young man.
• Zhao Ziming and Ling Yao suspected the men were searching for Li Yan, so they decided to follow them and eliminate any threat if necessary.

Zhao Ziming and Ling Yao ambushed a group of Luo Gucheng cultivators and learned from Elder Feng’s Soul Search that they were hunting Li Yan after uncovering his identity as a Five Immortals Sect cultivator. They told Li Yan what they had discovered, revealing that Luo Gucheng’s Grand Supreme Elder had reconstructed scenes of Li Yan’s killings and secretly ordered the search.

• Zhao Ziming and Ling Yao followed six sword cultivators toward the Phantom Sect, prepared an ambush, and killed five Spirit Transformation Realm cultivators before capturing Elder Feng.
• Zhao Ziming and Ling Yao fled after Zheng Youlin and Jiang Tianqing emerged from a trap, then later explained the encounter to Li Yan and learned the two belonged to the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect.
• Li Yan explained that Zheng Youlin and Jiang Tianqing had identified Ling Yao from a slight fluctuation in her concealed aura while she was excited in a marketplace.
• Zhao Ziming and Ling Yao performed a Soul Search on Elder Feng and learned that the group belonged to Luo Gucheng and had been searching for a black-clad, short-haired young man.
• Elder Feng’s memories revealed that Luo Gucheng’s Grand Supreme Elder had reconstructed scenes of Li Yan’s killings with the Sword Spirit Connecting Sun and Moon divine ability and had secretly dispatched elders to track him.

Zhao Ziming and Ling Yao spent decades eliminating people who knew Li Yan’s identity, then discovered Yin-Yang Chaos Sect cultivators heading toward Luo Gucheng and feared Li Yan’s secret had been exposed. When Li Yan arrived, they told him what they had done, and he thanked them for risking their lives to protect him and his relatives.

• Zhao Ziming and Ling Yao learned Li Yan was in danger and traveled to the Phantom Sect, but found he had left to travel.
• Over several decades, Zhao Ziming and Ling Yao tracked down and killed people who knew Li Yan’s appearance, then came to Western Qi Market to target those in Luo Gucheng.
• Zhao Ziming and Ling Yao identified Zheng Youlin and another Yin-Yang Chaos Sect cultivator, followed them toward Luo Gucheng, and sent warnings to their sect.
• Zhao Ziming and Ling Yao considered killing the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect cultivators and dealing with Luo Gucheng, but worried about the risks and Li Yan’s relatives.
• Li Yan unexpectedly arrived at Luo Gucheng, heard what Zhao Ziming and Ling Yao had done, and bowed to thank them for protecting him.

Li Yan reunited with Zhao Ziming and Ling Yao, explained how he survived the pursuit from 'Luo Gucheng' and arranged to redirect suspicion toward the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect, then learned how the Five Immortal Sect and its disciples were faring. The three planned to update the sect that the danger had changed and that Second Martial Uncle and the others might not need to come.

• Zhao Ziming and Ling Yao dismissed Li Yan's thanks, and Li Yan recounted his ordeal in the lower realm and his escape from two Body Fusion Realm pursuers.
• Li Yan explained how he had used the deaths of Zheng Youlin and Jiang Tianqing and other clues to leave 'Luo Gucheng' and its allies with a grudge against the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect.
• Ling Yao told Li Yan that the Five Immortal Sect had sent most disciples out to gain experience, while Martial Uncle Dong and Martial Uncle Qian Zhong were preparing to attempt the Tribulation Transcendence Realm.
• Ling Yao reported that Ping Tu had gone out with a senior sister from the Earth Immortal Sect and that Pei Buchong had left alone after breaking through to the late Void Refinement Realm.
• Li Yan asked Zhao Ziming and Ling Yao to notify the sect that the situation had changed and that Second Martial Uncle and the others might not need to come.

Li Yan gave Zhao Ziming and Ling Yao poison and antidotes, then explained why he could not travel with them and entrusted Zheng Youlin to their care. He also revealed that he had captured Xiao Yunzong, a Fusion Realm cultivator, leaving Zhao Ziming and Ling Yao stunned until he explained that Xiao Yunzong had already been gravely weakened.

• Zhao Ziming said he would send a second encrypted message so the sect elders would know the situation had been resolved and would not make the trip.
• Li Yan gave Zhao Ziming and Ling Yao poison and antidote bottles and explained how to use them safely.
• Li Yan declined to travel with Zhao Ziming and Ling Yao, and Zhao Ziming described their plan to return to the sect by a different route.
• Li Yan handed Zheng Youlin over to Zhao Ziming and suggested the sect might find a use for him.
• Li Yan revealed that he had also captured Xiao Yunzong and asked Zhao Ziming and Ling Yao to deliver him alive to Qian Zhong.
• Zhao Ziming and Ling Yao were shocked by the capture, and Li Yan explained that Xiao Yunzong had been severely weakened by Dongfo Yi, Qian Zhong, and the Northern Ice Continent before Li Yan found him.

Li Yan handed the captured Xiao Yun Sect over to Zhao Ziming and Ling Yao, who prepared to return to the Five Immortals Sect. There, Elder Yang, Elder Guan, and Elder Hong investigated several missing elders and found Elder Yu’s and Elder Wen’s residences empty, while Martial Uncle Yuan was also absent.

• Zhao Ziming told Li Yan that Xiao Yun Sect was valuable enough to require Master’s involvement, and Ling Yao agreed that they should bring him back to the sect.
• Li Yan let Zhao Ziming and Ling Yao take Xiao Yun Sect and planned to travel with them toward a nearby market before continuing his own journey.
• Elder Yang summoned Elder Hong after Elder Qiu disappeared following a meeting with a visitor from the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect, while Elder Yu and Elder Wen also failed to answer their doors.
• Elder Hong learned that Martial Uncle Yuan was away and that Elder Qiu had escorted the visitor to his residence before vanishing himself.
• Elder Yang, Elder Guan, and Elder Hong forced open Elder Yu’s and Elder Wen’s residences and found neither elder inside.

Elder Yang, Elder Guan, and Elder Hong broke into Martial Uncle Yuan’s courtyard and discovered that Elder Wen, Elder Yu, and Yuan Zhen had been killed, while the courtyard’s treasures were stolen. They concluded that a poison-assisted assassin using yin-yang laws was responsible, and suspected the Yin-Yang Primal Chaos Sect.

• Elder Yang suspected Elder Wen had gone to Martial Uncle Yuan’s courtyard, and the three elders decided to break its restrictions despite having no way to contact the two Supreme Elders.
• Five days later, a blast came from the rear restricted grounds, and Elder Yang ordered the sect’s disciples to remain calm and keep silent about the disappearances.
• Elder Yang, Elder Guan, and Elder Hong found the corpses of Elder Wen, Elder Yu, and Yuan Zhen, with their Nascent Souls destroyed and their storage treasures missing.
• The elders determined that Yuan Zhen had been poisoned before being killed, while Elder Wen and Elder Yu had been ambushed and slain directly.
• Elder Yang and Elder Hong identified yin-yang law power in the fatal wounds and accused the Yin-Yang Primal Chaos Sect of attacking their sect.

Elders Yang, Hong, and Guan linked the killings and Qiu Yu’s disappearance to a past investigation into attacks at the Western Qi Marketplace, though they mistook Li Yan’s clues as evidence against the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect. Realizing the two Supreme Elders and another search team might also be missing or in danger, they sealed the courtyard and rushed to the Huayan Sect for help.

• Elder Guan questioned why the enemy had killed some elders but spared others, and Elder Yang suspected Qiu Yu because he had last escorted the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect visitor away.
• Elder Hong proposed that Qiu Yu might have been controlled or might have colluded with the visitor, and noted that the victims had all spent a long time outside the sect.
• Elder Guan and Elder Yang connected the missing and slain elders to the old search for the Western Qi Marketplace attackers, and Elder Yang concluded that the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect might be destroying evidence.
• Elder Hong remembered that Elder Feng’s team had never returned and realized the two Supreme Elders had also been away without sending news.
• Elder Yang sealed the courtyard with formation flags, then led Elders Hong and Guan toward the Huayan Sect to seek help.

Mei Hongyu emerged from Li Yan’s spirit-storage space and learned that he intended to help her find her sect before they continued to the inter-realm teleportation grand formation. The chapter ended with a handsome young man in the Main Dao Realm asking two subordinates whether they had discovered anything.

• Li Yan checked Mei Hongyu’s soul and congratulated her on advancing to the peak of the late Nascent Soul stage.
• Mei Hongyu thanked Li Yan for providing a cultivation environment that had greatly improved her progress and state of mind.
• Li Yan told Mei Hongyu they were in the western part of the Cangxuan Realm and that he planned to take her to her sect.
• Li Yan recalled leaving Zhao Ziming and Ling Yao and decided to help Mei Hongyu because her low cultivation left her vulnerable.
• Mei Hongyu said she could find her sect herself, but Li Yan deferred the discussion until they reached the inter-realm teleportation grand formation.
• In a fortified room in the Main Dao Realm, a handsome young man asked a rotund fat man whether he had discovered anything.