Chapter Summaries

The secret realm’s magic sword erupted in a powerful attack after the cultivators of the Wangliang Sect and Life Extinction Sect had emerged, then became inert and could no longer reopen the entrance. Elder Yang and the burly man surnamed Liao blamed the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect for secretly tampering with the entrance, while Li Yan concealed his strength and watched.

• The beautiful woman surnamed He suspected the two sects had plotted against her and charged toward the vanished secret realm entrance.
• A burst of white light struck the two sects outside the secret realm, and Elder Yang and the burly man surnamed Liao shielded their disciples from the impact.
• Elder Yang and the burly man surnamed Liao identified the source as the magic sword that opened the secret realm and examined it after its attack weakened.
• The two elders confirmed the sword was undamaged, but their opening techniques failed to restore the entrance.
• The burly man surnamed Liao and Elder Yang concluded that the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect had tampered with the entrance and that the beautiful woman surnamed He had closed it deliberately.

Li Yan’s actions helped trigger a crisis around the secret realm, but the sects and the Gold Radiance Blood Leech clan each misunderstood what had happened. The secret realm drifted away from the Cangxuan Realm, leaving Elder He trapped inside, where the demons’ attempt to capture her began a battle that lasted more than twenty years.

• Elder Yang and Liao concluded that the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect had secretly controlled the secret realm, then left together to warn their sects while concealing their suspicions from their disciples.
• Li Yan inferred that the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect had sealed the entrance to conceal its schemes, unaware that the Gold Radiance Blood Leech clan had severed the passage and moved the secret realm.
• The Wangliang Sect and Life Extinction Sect accused the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect, which denied the charges and blamed them in turn, leaving the sects hostile and preparing for a possible conflict.
• Elder He became trapped in the secret realm and searched for an exit, while the Gold Radiance Blood Leech clan mistook her for an expert preparing to unleash a devastating attack.
• The four demons ambushed Elder He in their traps, but she killed one Body Integration Realm demon and wounded the others, forcing them to retreat.
• Elder He pursued the demons, suspecting they had killed the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect’s disciples, and the battle between them continued for more than twenty years.

Li Yan left the secret realm expedition and set out for the White Devil Race, hoping to obtain the later portions of Zhao Min’s cultivation technique. As he crossed the sea, he studied the route through Dim Heaven Dark Earth and weighed the dangers of crossing it on foot.

• The poisoned He woman was captured by the three Demon Cultivators, who planted slave seals on her and made her their cultivation furnace.
• Li Yan secretly released Zhuang Muhua after leaving Elder Yang and the others, then sent Gong Chenying a message asking the group to wait for him at the Tianli Clan.
• Li Yan headed toward the White Devil Race, planning to seek the later portions of the Heavenly Demon White Jade Disk technique for Zhao Min.
• Li Yan disguised himself as an ordinary young man and examined a map while crossing the sea toward Dim Heaven Dark Earth.
• Li Yan reviewed accounts of the wilderness’s damaged laws and dangers, then studied collected jade slips as he considered how to cross it.

Li Yan crossed the sea and entered Dim Heaven Dark Earth, studying how its increasingly chaotic laws of heaven and earth affected cultivation as he traveled deeper. The chapter ended with Mei Hongyu practicing a technique that trapped three copper coins inside a rainbow barrier.

• Li Yan chose to cross Dim Heaven Dark Earth rather than spend years traveling around it, then reached its coast after more than three years at sea.
• Li Yan walked across the Gobi and sensed the five elements and spiritual energy becoming increasingly unstable as he approached the wasteland.
• At the mountain boundary, Li Yan explained how the chaotic laws would prevent cultivators from using spell techniques and began climbing into Dim Heaven Dark Earth.
• Li Yan reached the summit, tested the Five Elements Chaotic Cloak without achieving fusion, and descended through the treetops to continue deeper.
• Mei Hongyu formed five rainbow lights into a barrier and trapped three copper coins inside as they clinked against one another.

Mei Hongyu’s divination left her unable to see through the mist surrounding Li Yan or understand how he had changed her fate. Four years later, Li Yan crossed a storm-lashed grassland in Dim Heaven Dark Earth, where chaotic laws prevented cultivators from using techniques and the rain steadily drained their strength.

• Mei Hongyu divined her own fate and connected its unsettling changes to Li Yan, but her calculations showed only an impenetrable mass of mist.
• Li Yan traveled through Dim Heaven Dark Earth and found that he could no longer control techniques or borrow the power of heaven and earth.
• Li Yan survived repeated encounters with other cultivators by striking first and relying on spiritual power, physical strength, and poison.
• Li Yan continued across a grassland in a torrential downpour and recalled records warning that travelers should stop when such storms began.

Li Yan braved the rain and lightning in Dim Heaven Dark Earth to reach a ruined sect tower where he could shelter. He entered to find three cultivators already inside, and they all turned to watch him.

• Li Yan used his divine sense and the map to locate nearby sect ruins, then hurried toward them through the storm.
• Lightning struck when Li Yan accelerated, forcing him to slow down before he entered the forest.
• Li Yan crossed the ruined sect grounds and found a remnant tower known to offer shelter from rain and snow.
• Li Yan discovered an old man in purple robes, a yellow-robed sword cultivator, and an old woman in red robes inside the tower.
• The three cultivators looked toward the entrance as Li Yan appeared and stopped before them.

Li Yan took shelter from the storm in a tower occupied by a violet-robed old man, a red-robed old woman, and a yellow-robed sword cultivator. He kept his distance and feigned meditation while studying their reactions, then settled into a tense watch as the others grew quiet.

• Li Yan assessed the three strangers’ auras and recognized the yellow-robed young man as a potentially dangerous sword cultivator.
• The violet-robed old man welcomed Li Yan and claimed that the three had arrived separately, but Li Yan remained suspicious.
• Li Yan approached the red-robed old woman, noticed her hostile reaction, and chose a spot more than ten zhang from the tower entrance and the others.
• Li Yan swallowed a pill and began meditating to recover his strength while the yellow-robed young man shifted his sword case within easy reach.
• Li Yan deliberately tested the strangers’ reactions and concluded that the red-robed old woman distrusted the others, the yellow-robed young man feared danger from every direction, and the violet-robed old man seemed confident.
• Li Yan moved farther from the three, and silence returned to the tower as the storm raged outside.

Li Yan and the three cultivators watched an unexplained storm of blue lightning sweep past the ruined tower, but an invisible force then rose inside and trapped them in a Ghost Gathering Array. The tower entrance vanished as black shadows attacked, leaving the four to fight in the darkness.

• After the rain weakened, deafening thunder and blue lightning appeared outside the ruined tower and streaked across the ground.
• The blue lightning turned back toward the tower, passed along its side, and continued onward without striking it.
• Li Yan watched the other three and judged that they were wary strangers rather than accomplices.
• An invisible force emerged from the tower walls, formed black threads and shadows, and made the entrance disappear.
• The red-robed old woman identified a Ghost Gathering Array and used her vine staff to repel the shadows, while the yellow-robed young man drew two swords and attacked.

Li Yan and three other cultivators were trapped in a ghost-gathering array inside the ruined tower, where they could not draw on the laws of heaven and earth. The purple-robed old man killed the yellow-robed young man in a surprise attack and confronted the red-clad old woman, while Li Yan remained surrounded by ghosts.

• Li Yan, the purple-robed old man, the yellow-robed young man, and the red-clad old woman fought off ghostly yin souls after an array appeared in the tower.
• The red-clad old woman and yellow-robed young man proposed searching opposite sides for the array eye, while the purple-robed old man claimed the middle.
• The purple-robed old man secretly probed Li Yan with divine sense, then used a burst of speed to ambush the yellow-robed young man.
• The purple-robed old man struck the yellow-robed young man dead, seized his Nascent Soul and belongings, and moved toward the red-clad old woman.
• The red-clad old woman accused the purple-robed old man of causing the array, while Li Yan and the others remained beset by ghosts.
• The purple-robed old man warned the red-clad old woman that he knew she was waiting to attack and invited her to use her poison.

The purple-robed old man killed the red-robed old woman and revealed that he was a Body Integration Realm ghost cultivator who had hidden his true power and identity. He then attacked Li Yan, intending to crush him with overwhelming force, and the chapter ended as the black staff descended.

• The purple-robed old man distracted the red-robed old woman by exposing her poison cultivation, then smashed her body and seized her Nascent Soul and treasures.
• Li Yan finished killing the remaining ghosts and recognized that the purple-robed old man was a Body Integration Cultivator.
• The purple-robed old man admitted that his butterfly blades concealed his identity as a ghost cultivator and explained how he had used the formation and ghosts to assess his opponents.
• The purple-robed old man stepped before Li Yan and brought his black staff down, using overwhelming force to suppress him.

Li Yan defeated the purple-robed old man in a brutal close-range fight, then survived the strange formation’s collapse and searched the man’s memories. He learned that the ghost cultivator was Qiu Zhongnuo of the Nightwalker Sect, a name connected to Li Yan’s earlier escape from the underworld.

• Li Yan and the purple-robed old man exchanged devastating blows, and Li Yan used his rapid recovery and a broken saber’s fragments to destroy the old man’s body and seize his Nascent Soul.
• Li Yan searched for a way to break the formation as the ghost creatures attacked, but the formation faded and the creatures were pulled into the tower walls.
• Li Yan left the tower, waited in shelter while searching Tuban’s memories, and returned after confirming the tower posed no immediate danger.
• Li Yan’s prolonged Soul Search revealed the purple-robed old man’s identity as Qiu Zhongnuo, a member of the Nightwalker Sect.
• Li Yan recalled using a Nightwalker Sect cultivator’s identity to escape Yellow Springs City and return to the Yang Realm.

Li Yan escaped Yellow Springs City through the Nightwalker Sect’s teleportation array, nearly exposing the sect to punishment from Ye Luo’s faction. Years later, the two ghost creatures Li Yan brought back became evidence when the Wangliang Sect and Life Extinction Sect sought to settle accounts with the Netherworld.

• Li Yan teleported out of Yellow Springs City and destroyed the array’s city-side formation, while Qiu Zhongnuo failed to stop him.
• Qiu Zhongnuo repaired the array, concealed what had happened, and killed the guards after learning they had let Li Yan escape disguised as a disciple.
• Qiu Zhongnuo told his two martial brothers about the escape, and the three feared Ye Luo’s faction would discover their sect’s involvement.
• Qiu Zhongnuo returned to Yellow Springs City, found no major trouble, and arranged for a disciple to manage the sect while he returned to the Yang Realm.
• Years later, news from the Wangliang Sect spread through Yellow Springs City after it and the Life Extinction Sect sought to settle accounts with the Netherworld, putting the ghost creatures Li Yan had taken back in the spotlight.

After learning that the escaped cultivator had taken two ghost creatures, Qiu Zhongnuo and the other Nightwalker Sect patriarchs abandoned their sect and went into hiding to protect their lineage. Blaming Li Yan for their ruin, Qiu Zhongnuo later searched for him and his relatives, but left without finding them, unaware he had encountered some without recognizing them.

• Qiu Zhongnuo and the other two patriarchs decided Fengdu City’s investigation could expose the Nightwalker Sect, so they abandoned its foundations, altered its records, and relocated the sect in secrecy.
• The Nightwalker Sect settled in a new location under strict rules, while Qiu Zhongnuo blamed himself and eventually left after sensing his fellow patriarchs’ lingering dissatisfaction.
• Qiu Zhongnuo went to the Wangliang Sect seeking vengeance, learned Li Yan’s name and appearance, and waited nearby for him and his relatives.
• Qiu Zhongnuo discovered Li Yan had already left with Zi Kun and Bu Luo, then waited years for Li Yan’s relatives to appear.
• Qiu Zhongnuo finally left, unaware that he had encountered Li Yan’s relatives during his vigil without recognizing them.

Qiu Zhongnuo recounted how he traced a damaged jade slip’s reference to the Green-faced Gate to the ruined sect where Li Yan was staying. After decades of searching, he accidentally activated the Great Disputation Ghost Array and uncovered another tower level.

• Qiu Zhongnuo found a damaged jade slip that mentioned the Green-faced Gate, an ancient ghost sect famed for raising the Seven Spirit Mist Roar.
• Qiu Zhongnuo entered Dim Heaven Dark Earth and spent decades searching for the Green-faced Gate, eventually settling at ruins he suspected belonged to it.
• Qiu Zhongnuo used a ghost creature to draw lightning around the ruins, and the ghostly souls and specters of a hidden formation appeared inside the tower.
• Qiu Zhongnuo recognized the formation as the Great Disputation Ghost Array and realized he had found the Green-faced Gate.
• Qiu Zhongnuo located the formation eye, but the ghostly souls and specters were suddenly pulled into the tower walls, dissolving the formation and revealing another tower door.

Qiu Zhongnuo discovered how to reactivate the damaged Great Wrangling Ghost Array and locate its inner array eye, but found the Seven-Spirit Mist Roar sealed beyond his current strength. He was left searching for a safe way to break the seal without destroying the ruined tower or what lay within it.

• Qiu Zhongnuo repeatedly sent a ghost around the ruined tower, but the Great Wrangling Ghost Array failed to reappear.
• Qiu Zhongnuo retraced the ghost’s first route and realized lightning had activated the array only when it struck along the formation’s circular foundation.
• Qiu Zhongnuo guided the ghost along that route, reactivated the array, and found that it could remain active for only several dozen breaths.
• Qiu Zhongnuo located the inner array eye and discovered that a powerful seal protected the Seven-Spirit Mist Roar, which he could not break with his remaining spiritual power.
• Qiu Zhongnuo rejected using lightning to attack the seal because it could destroy the ruined tower, expose both array eyes, and cause the seal to kill what it protected.

Qiu Zhongnuo devised a forbidden technique to break the Great Wrath Ghost Array and spent years ambushing cultivators in Dim Heaven Dark Earth to gather the Nascent Souls it required. After learning his plans through Soul Search, Li Yan realized Qiu Zhongnuo had targeted his family and blamed the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect.

• Qiu Zhongnuo concluded that the Nether Infant Transforms into Evil forbidden art could break the formation if he gathered eighty-one Nascent Souls of sufficiently high grades.
• Qiu Zhongnuo began hunting cultivators in Dim Heaven Dark Earth, using ambushes at the Green-Faced Gate to assess and weaken his prey.
• Over the years, Qiu Zhongnuo killed twenty-seven Void Refinement Realm cultivators, nearly forty Spirit Transformation cultivators, and one Body Integration Realm cultivator.
• Li Yan learned Qiu Zhongnuo's plans through Soul Search and grew gloomy when he realized the cultivator had set his sights on his family.
• Li Yan was relieved that Zhao Min and Gong Chenying had stayed away from danger until they became stronger.

Li Yan defeated Qiu Zhongnuo, sealed his Nascent Soul, and resolved to eliminate the Nightwalk Sect’s senior cultivators before they could threaten him or his family. He searched Qiu Zhongnuo’s treasures and found an enormous fortune, though few items especially interested him.

• Li Yan realized the ruined tower’s disturbance was connected to a hidden ghost and watched Qiu Zhongnuo use overwhelming power to kill the poison cultivator in red.
• Li Yan exploited the purple-robed ghost cultivator’s weak physical body and defeated Qiu Zhongnuo, then sealed his Nascent Soul inside Tuban.
• Li Yan planned to destroy Qiu Zhongnuo’s soul after leaving Dim Heaven Dark Earth and later kill the Nightwalk Sect’s cultivators at Spirit Transformation Realm or above.
• Li Yan opened Qiu Zhongnuo’s spatial treasures and found mountains of Supreme-Grade Spirit Stones, valuable materials, red spider lilies, talismans, and magical treasures.
• Li Yan judged that most of Qiu Zhongnuo’s treasures were of limited interest to him and reflected that the wilderness had prevented the cultivators Qiu Zhongnuo killed from escaping.

Li Yan finished examining Qiu Zhongnuo’s seized treasures, left the Great Wrath Ghost Formation untouched, and eliminated the hidden ghost before continuing across Dim Heaven Dark Earth. After several more years of crossing the desert, he sensed that he was nearing its edge and rushed onward at full speed.

• Li Yan found Qiu Zhongnuo’s many ghosts and dozens of captured Nascent Souls, including those of the cultivators Qiu Zhongnuo had planned to use against the formation.
• Li Yan decided not to open the Great Wrath Ghost Formation because doing so could take decades or centuries and might require killing people for their Nascent Souls.
• Li Yan located and destroyed Qiu Zhongnuo’s concealed, intelligent ghost to prevent it from exposing Qiu Zhongnuo’s secrets or the formation.
• Li Yan continued through Dim Heaven Dark Earth for several years, enduring its dangerous terrain and scarce spiritual energy.
• Li Yan sensed the laws of heaven and earth becoming gentler, realized he was nearing the region’s edge, and flew ahead at full speed.

After escaping Dim Heaven Dark Earth, Li Yan hid in a canyon and destroyed Qiu Zhongnuo’s Nascent Soul to prevent his return through reincarnation. He then searched the souls of the Nascent Souls Qiu Zhongnuo had captured, leaving twenty-six alive and destroying the rest.

• Li Yan flew beyond Dim Heaven Dark Earth and found a secluded stream in a canyon where he concealed himself with a formation.
• Li Yan searched Qiu Zhongnuo’s Nascent Soul again, then altered his souls and spirits before erasing him completely.
• Li Yan took the captured Nascent Souls from Qiu Zhongnuo’s Spirit Storage Ring and began searching them to learn their origins.
• Li Yan destroyed Nascent Souls he judged unsuitable to spare while setting aside those he chose to preserve.
• Li Yan finished searching all sixty or seventy Nascent Souls, leaving twenty-six in a separate Spirit Storage Ring.

Li Yan weighed the character of the surviving Nascent Souls and decided to spare some of them after checking their memories, hoping to form karmic bonds of good fortune. He revived the yellow-robed young man and questioned him, leaving the man's fate dependent on what he said about his background.

• Li Yan decided that the yellow-robed young man, the old woman in red, and the Body Integration Realm cultivator were not evil enough to kill outright.
• Li Yan Soul Searched the yellow-robed young man and the old woman in red, judged their characters acceptable, and confirmed that each had a faction or family behind them.
• Li Yan awakened the yellow-robed young man's Nascent Soul inside a formation restriction, and the young man instinctively tried to retreat and reach for his missing sword case.
• Li Yan warned the young man that he had saved him and could kill him for attacking, then explained that the old man in purple had destroyed their bodies and that they had left Dim Heaven Dark Earth.
• Li Yan asked the yellow-robed young man to explain his background and made clear that his answers would affect whether Li Yan released him.