Chapter Summaries

Li Yan and Shuang Qingqing subdued the eighteen Arhat statue puppets, and Li Yan gave Shuang Qingqing permission to study them. Shuang Qingqing explained that the statues likely used hidden formations and a special form of cultivated thought power, while the other Arhats were probably made from the same material but not specially refined.

• Li Yan reasoned that the Arhat statues met the conditions for powerful puppets, but he could not sense any souls or spiritual energy within them.
• Shuang Qingqing used her puppets and Purple-Winged Ice Phoenix to isolate and restrain the eighteen Arhat statues while Li Yan kept the others occupied.
• After all eighteen statues stopped moving, Shuang Qingqing thanked Li Yan and asked to keep them for study; Li Yan readily agreed.
• Li Yan asked why the statues lacked spiritual energy, whether they held souls, and whether the other Arhats were also puppets.
• Shuang Qingqing said hidden formations and a special cultivated thought power likely activated the eighteen statues, and that the remaining four hundred eighty-two Arhats had not been refined in the same way.

Shuang Qingqing and Li Yan discussed why the Eighteen Arhats had attacked and what role the puppets may have served in the ruined monastery. Li Yan searched the monastery and its pagoda forest for overlooked treasures, finding a distinctive burial niche as the chapter ended.

• Shuang Qingqing theorized that the Eighteen Arhats needed special mind-power and had likely guarded the Hall of Five Hundred Arhats as part of its protective formation.
• Shuang Qingqing proposed that either powerful invaders had dismantled the monastery’s formations or heavenly punishment had destroyed the city, and Li Yan left her to investigate the other halls.
• After finding nothing unusual in the Guanyin Hall, the Grand Hall of the Great Hero, or the meditation quarters, Li Yan headed for the pagoda forest.
• Li Yan searched the ruined pagodas and found a remote niche carved into a stone wall, containing a ceramic jar covered with yellow cloth.

Li Yan searched the mountain tombs and found no treasures, then recognized a hidden mountain path from a mural and explored a cave at its summit. He found no apparent relic or danger, but concluded the ancient city had been sealed away by a powerful formation.

• Li Yan compared a mural of a monk carrying a lantern with his red lantern, but neither the lantern nor the painting reacted.
• Li Yan searched the tower forest, found it thoroughly looted, and began circling back through the mountain range.
• Li Yan recognized a concealed mountain stairway as the path depicted in the mural and found a cave at its summit.
• Li Yan entered the cave and descended to a sealed chamber, where he found no carvings, creatures, or attacks.
• Li Yan sensed the green restriction beyond the mountain and reasoned that the city had been transported there and sealed by a powerful formation.

Li Yan discovered that the red hand-carried lantern illuminated a particular spot on the cave wall and eventually revealed a spatial fluctuation there. Suspecting it marked a passage to a hidden place beyond the ancient city, he decided to help open it.

• Li Yan brought out the red hand-carried lantern, which tugged him toward a stone wall and caused it to shine with pale light.
• Li Yan tested the Heaven-Stealing Kerchief against the wall, but it showed no reaction, while the lantern repeatedly lit the wall whenever it touched it.
• Li Yan reasoned that the lantern and the ancient city might share an origin, then let the lantern search the wall for a hidden passage.
• Li Yan noticed a spatial fluctuation where the lantern pressed against the wall and inferred that the damaged lantern could not open the passage by itself.
• Li Yan chose not to ask Shuang Qingqing for advice and began forming seals to help the lantern activate the passage.

Li Yan used the red hand lantern to pass through a hidden spatial passage and emerged in a vast forest, where he discovered six cabins and sensed powerful cultivators nearby. After Li Yan narrowly escaped their probing Divine Sense, two masked men in one cabin discussed the unexplained disturbance.

• Li Yan opened a spatial passage in the cave with the red hand lantern and entered it while concealed by black spiritual power.
• Li Yan emerged at the foot of a towering mountain in a dense forest and confirmed that the lantern could sense the passage back.
• Li Yan spread his Divine Sense and discovered six wooden cabins more than three hundred li away, some protected by formations and occupied by living beings.
• A powerful Divine Sense burst from an unprotected cabin, and Li Yan vanished just before two streams of Divine Sense swept over his former position.
• A masked man asked Brother Wu what he had sensed, and Brother Wu said he had felt watched but found nothing unusual.

Li Yan infiltrated a secret realm and discovered two powerful masked cultivators investigating after one sensed something unusual. He remained hidden near their cabins, uncertain whether they belonged to an assassination organization, and continued observing them before deciding whether to leave.

• The Wu-surnamed cultivator asked Cultivator Du to inspect the secret realm’s entrance while he searched its deepest part, and they split up to investigate.
• Li Yan stayed hidden as a masked cultivator swept the area with Divine Sense, then followed him to a wooden cabin.
• Li Yan saw another masked figure arrive and inferred that the two were Body Integration Realm cultivators, one in the middle stage and one in the early stage.
• Li Yan suspected the men might belong to an assassination organization, but he stayed hidden near their cabins to learn more.

Li Yan secretly listened as Cultivator Du and Cultivator Wu discussed their secret realm, a rushed mission to raise Demon Beasts, and the upheaval in their faction. Their mention of “Return, O Return” and Elder Yan shocked Li Yan, but he stayed concealed and continued assessing the chance to steal a Demon Beast.

• Li Yan hid outside the room while Cultivator Du and Cultivator Wu confirmed they had found no signs of intruders or problems with the secret realm’s entrance.
• Cultivator Du and Cultivator Wu discussed an advancement mission, revealing that fewer than fifty specially raised creatures remained and that they had little chance of success after the schedule was shortened.
• Li Yan inferred that the creatures were powerful Demon Beasts and considered sneaking into the nearby wooden houses to steal one.
• Cultivator Du and Cultivator Wu complained that “Return, O Return” had uncovered Elder Yan and destroyed the True Inheritance Hall, shocking Li Yan as he listened.

Li Yan recognized the two masked cultivators as members of the mysterious force opposing Return Whence You Came and reasoned that their hidden base was a secret realm used to cultivate unusual seeds. He left the wooden house unseen as Cultivator Du departed and Cultivator Wu began preparing to refine a Rift Garment Pill, giving Li Yan more room to investigate.

• Li Yan connected the Grey Masks and the cultivators’ remarks about Return Whence You Came to the force he had encountered before, and concluded this was likely one of its isolated secret sites.
• Li Yan pieced together that only Cultivator Du and Cultivator Wu were stationed nearby and estimated that the secret realm spanned several hundred li.
• Li Yan overheard the cultivators say their seeds had been carefully selected and might succeed with special methods, leading him to suspect they were cultivating plants rather than Demon Beasts.
• Cultivator Du left and told Cultivator Wu to refine a Rift Garment Pill for their plan, and Cultivator Wu agreed.
• Li Yan slipped out through the rear window as a restriction appeared around the wooden house, then realized Cultivator Wu’s pill refining would distract him.

Li Yan secretly followed Cultivator Du through the secret realm, gauging its boundaries and weighing the danger of the two Body Integration cultivators and the formations. He decided to risk a strike that would hinder Cultivator Du, then prepared to flee if anything went wrong.

• Li Yan used a brief sweep of Divine Sense to estimate the secret realm’s boundaries and found no other powerful cultivators nearby.
• Li Yan followed Cultivator Du toward the formation-protected wooden huts while considering the faction’s methods for dealing with “Return Home.”
• Li Yan judged that the huts likely held no cultivator stronger than Du and Wu, but recognized that being discovered could leave him with little chance to escape.
• Li Yan resolved to prepare a rapid escape and attempt to keep Cultivator Du from pursuing him, then sped up as Du neared a hut.
• Cultivator Du continued thinking about his difficult task and hoped Cultivator Wu’s insights would help them make progress.

Li Yan infiltrated Cultivator Du’s wooden hut and used Soul-Scattering Water and a strike to the Nascent Soul to incapacitate him before he could raise an alarm. He concealed a giant white-glowing box with formation flags, then explained the risks and methods behind his attack.

• Cultivator Du sensed that the formation around the wooden hut had activated and opened its door.
• Li Yan struck Cultivator Du with Soul-Scattering Water as the cultivator’s spiritual power scattered, then pinned his Nascent Soul with a Gui Water spike.
• Li Yan found no other cultivators in the hut and spotted a giant box concealed by a white restriction.
• Li Yan surrounded the box with purple formation flags, making it vanish from view.
• Li Yan explained that he had used Soul-Scattering Water, a Gui Water attack, and Soul-Bewildering Art to stop Cultivator Du before he could call for help.

Li Yan ambushed Cultivator Du, captured him, and moved him into Tuban to question him about the Brain-Wrapping White Corpse Gu. Cultivator Du repeatedly denied that the gu had been planted in him, and Li Yan began to use spiritual power to investigate further.

• Li Yan struck Cultivator Du with the Soul-Bewildering Technique and Soul-Losing Water, then pinned his Nascent Soul before he could resist.
• Li Yan sealed the white-glowing box, confirmed Cultivator Du was still alive, and transferred him into Tuban while leaving his avatar to watch outside.
• Li Yan removed Cultivator Du's Grey Mask and examined the seemingly waterlike treasure before questioning him.
• Li Yan repeatedly asked whether the Brain-Wrapping White Corpse Gu had been planted in Cultivator Du, and the injured cultivator consistently answered no.
• Li Yan placed his palm on Cultivator Du's head and began channeling spiritual power to investigate further.

Li Yan used a Soul Search on Cultivator Du and uncovered Huiyan Hall’s structure, its infiltration of Return Home, and the hidden purpose of Cultivator Du’s research. The search left Li Yan facing the possibility that Huiyan Hall still had a powerful insider in Return Home and had preserved the Brain-Wrapping White Corpse Gu.

• Li Yan completed a Soul Search of Cultivator Du and learned that Huiyan Hall was led by an unknown hall master, with Tribulation Transcendence Realm deputy hall masters and mysterious Protectors.
• Li Yan discovered that Cultivator Du had been recruited for his Demon Beast expertise and that his freed Void-Rending Thunder Eagle, left behind at Huiyan Hall, was stronger than its former master.
• Li Yan learned that Huiyan Hall had infiltrated Return Home through the True Transmission Hall, which had been exposed and destroyed after Li Yan’s clue to Su Hong took effect.
• Li Yan inferred that Huiyan Hall still had an important figure inside Return Home and was preparing to infiltrate it again once Cultivator Du finished his task.
• Li Yan discovered that Cultivator Du’s research mission had begun with raising Brain-Wrapping White Corpse Gu eggs in the Demon Immortal Hall.

Li Yan uncovered Cultivator Du’s memories about Huiyan Hall’s cultivation of the Brain-Winding White Corpse Gu and the secret of its higher grades. He learned that the Silver and Golden Corpse Gu could thwart soul-searching and even enslave True Immortals, but he decided the Gu was too dangerous to use himself.

• Li Yan learned that Huiyan Hall recruited Cultivator Du to cultivate its scarce Brain-Winding White Corpse Gu eggs after an expert died on a mission.
• Cultivator Du successfully raised the first Gu, earned lavish rewards, and recorded his methods for Huiyan Hall.
• Huiyan Hall gave Cultivator Du and three others a jade slip revealing the Silver and Golden Corpse Gu and ordering them to cultivate higher-grade insects.
• Cultivator Du deduced that Huiyan Hall’s hall master possessed an incomplete ancient inheritance and had recruited experts because White Corpse Gu cultivation had reached a bottleneck.
• Li Yan learned that Golden Corpse Gu could enslave even True Immortals who tried to search its host’s soul, but he chose not to use the Gu himself.

Li Yan learned through Soul Search that Huiyan Hall was rushing to cultivate the Brain-Wrapping Silver Corpse Gu to protect future hidden agents from interrogation. After uncovering a sealed box containing Brain-Wrapping White Corpse Gu in the secret realm, he weighed whether to steal the insects and leave or kill the cultivator surnamed Wu and attempt to advance them himself.

• Li Yan learned that Huiyan Hall had suffered a major attack after its True Transmission Hall was exposed, and that Cultivator Du and others had been ordered to cultivate the Brain-Wrapping Silver Corpse Gu as quickly as possible.
• Li Yan inferred that the Gu would help Huiyan Hall conceal the identities and intelligence of future hidden agents, but decided not to involve himself in the traitor investigation again.
• Li Yan considered the red lantern's ability to connect spaces and obtained a temporary method to enter Huiyan Hall from Cultivator Du's memories.
• Li Yan returned to his main body in the wooden hut and identified a sealed box as containing the Brain-Wrapping White Corpse Gu that Cultivator Du and the cultivator surnamed Wu planned to advance.
• Li Yan weighed stealing the Gu and escaping against killing the cultivator surnamed Wu and using the secret realm's resources to attempt the advancement.

Li Yan used information extracted from Cultivator Du to exploit Cultivator Wu’s trust and kill the mid-stage Fusion Realm cultivator by surprise. He survived the encounter, but the chapter ends with his next steps still uncertain.

• Li Yan decided to obtain a Rending Garment Pill and use Cultivator Du’s existing methods to advance the Gu insects.
• Cultivator Wu finished refining the pills and went to Cultivator Du’s cabin to help with the ongoing Gu experiment.
• At Cultivator Du’s request, Cultivator Wu prepared to sprinkle half a Rending Garment Pill into a red flower.
• Li Yan’s soul attack left Cultivator Wu convulsing, and Li Yan emerged from hiding, made him inhale pink mist, and struck him down with the Water-Splitting Thorn technique.
• Li Yan revealed that he had repeatedly searched Cultivator Du’s memories and planned the ambush by studying Cultivator Wu’s weaknesses and habits.
• Li Yan realized he could exploit the cultivators’ separate resource allocations and their reliance on communication to make Cultivator Wu overlook his tampering.

Li Yan killed the cultivator surnamed Wu with the Other Shore Flower and Rouge Pillow, then took control of the Mind-Tangling White Corpse Gu cultivation process. After preparing the Gu insects, he entered another hut and began examining the cultivators being held as materials.

• Li Yan used Cultivator Du’s memories and the Other Shore Flower to lure the cultivator surnamed Wu into a trap, then killed him with Rouge Pillow and further attacks.
• Li Yan collected Cultivator Du and Wu’s remains, checked the pills, and inspected the forty-six Mind-Tangling White Corpse Gu in the box.
• Li Yan set up warning, illusion, and killing formations at the secret realm’s entrance, searched the realm, and prepared medicinal liquid for the Gu insects.
• Li Yan treated one Gu insect with the medicinal liquid and carried the box to another wooden hut for the final trial.
• Li Yan found thirty unconscious Huiyan Hall cultivators being held as materials and began a Soul Search on a woman near the door.

Li Yan used a Soul Search to judge a captive woman and, after learning she had slaughtered a cultivation clan and disobeyed Huiyan Hall, chose her as material for a Brain-Entangling Corpse Gu cultivation trial. The gu entered her body undetected, but when she abruptly twisted her neck and died, Li Yan saw her soul vanish and the trial’s outcome remained uncertain.

• Li Yan learned that the woman was a vicious blood-essence extractor who had slaughtered a clan and fled Huiyan Hall after abandoning a mission.
• Li Yan decided to use the woman for his cultivation trial and fed her half a Garment-Rending Pill.
• Li Yan released a Brain-Entangling Corpse Gu onto the woman’s forehead, and it entered her body while leaving no trace detectable by his divine sense.
• Li Yan used Cultivator Du’s incantation to locate the gu in the woman’s lower abdomen and waited for signs of incompatibility.
• The woman suddenly opened her green-lit eyes, twisted her neck until it broke, and died as gray fluid poured from her face and her soul vanished.

Li Yan continued testing Gu cultivation formulas on cultivators, adjusting ingredients according to the fluids produced by each failure. After sensing what might have been someone watching him, he reached the final two people in the hut, where the chapter left him facing a young woman.

• Li Yan recognized the gray fluid from a failed test as close to one of Cultivator Du's predicted outcomes and altered the formula accordingly.
• Over two days, eighteen of the first thirty cultivators died, and Li Yan recorded several outcomes that exceeded the twelve predictions before all further attempts failed.
• Li Yan entered the final wooden hut, Soul Searched its cultivators, and tested a Gu insect on the sturdy middle-aged man, whose death produced a known black-gray fluid.
• Li Yan briefly sensed that something was spying on him, but the sensation vanished and did not return during later tests.
• Li Yan spared a handsome young man after Soul Searching him, then approached the final cultivator, a delicate-looking young woman.

Li Yan discovered that the final sealed pair were Jin Zhiyuan’s children and that Jin Zhiyuan and his wife had hidden their souls in their son and daughter. He threatened to trigger the deadly poison in their bodies unless they revealed themselves, leaving their next move uncertain.

• Li Yan Soul Searched the final female cultivator, gathered the scattered materials, and pretended to leave the wooden hut.
• Li Yan turned back and called out Jin Zhiyuan, warning that he would activate the poison in the young man and woman if the hidden souls did not emerge.
• Li Yan recalled sensing an unexplained soul fluctuation when the first burly man died and connected it to the familiar face of the young man.
• Li Yan Soul Searched the young man and found memories identifying him as Jin Zhiyuan’s son, then discovered that his sister was the final female cultivator.

Li Yan uncovered Jin Zhiyuan’s hidden presence within his children and poisoned both bodies to keep the souls from escaping. After Jin Zhiyuan and his wife revealed themselves, they recognized the poison and suspected Li Yan belonged to Homeward Bound.

• Li Yan searched Jin Zhiyuan’s children’s memories, learned their connection to Huiyan Hall, and secretly poisoned both bodies.
• Jin Zhiyuan and his wife awakened within their children’s bodies, and Jin Zhiyuan questioned Li Yan’s identity.
• Jin Zhiyuan reasoned that Li Yan was not part of the mysterious force and asked whether the secret realm had been conquered by outsiders seeking the Brain-Tangling White Corpse Gu.
• Jin Zhiyuan and his wife raised their auras to Void Refinement levels and prepared to fight, but discovered Li Yan’s poison consuming their spiritual power.
• Li Yan asked how Jin Zhiyuan had returned from the dead and warned that another self-destruction could destroy their children’s souls.
• Jin Zhiyuan suspected Li Yan was a cultivator of Homeward Bound.