Chapter Summaries

Li Yan struggled to weed spirit grain fields, gradually improved his cultivation, and worked to repay his debt to the Mission Hall. Li Wuyi then explained the deadly Cycle of Life and Death competition that would follow next year’s secret realm gathering.

• Li Yan learned from Zhang Kui that he needed to channel metal or fire spiritual power into his hoe to remove the spirit grain weeds.
• Li Yan spent two months working in the fields, repaid part of his debt through his tasks, and advanced to the late seventh layer of the Qi Condensation Realm.
• Li Wuyi visited Li Yan and described the proposed Cycle of Life and Death competition in the secret realm.
• Li Wuyi explained that teams on intersecting paths had to fight until one group remained, while contracting black shadows would kill anyone left behind.

Li Wuyi explained the rules and deadly stakes of the Wheel of Life and Death, then told Li Yan that the sect master had personally selected him for the Qi Condensation Stage competition. Li Yan chose to participate, leaving himself a month to prepare for selection.

• Li Wuyi explained how the Wheel of Life and Death passages, blue crystals, and higher-level cultivators worked, and how the four great sects and Demon Beasts divided the passages.
• Li Wuyi told Li Yan that the sect would select 108 Qi Condensation Stage disciples to fight in the trial, and that the sect master had specifically named him despite his low cultivation level.
• Li Yan asked about the rewards, learned that even survivors who did not place in the top three received spirit stones, and decided to compete.
• Li Wuyi offered to help Li Yan obtain weapons, treasures, and pills, and explained that the Foundation Establishment selection would begin in a month.
• Li Yan asked whether Senior Sister Li and Fourth Senior Sister would both participate, and Li Wuyi left without answering.
• Li Yan suspected the sect master wanted to test his shattered poison body and feared that poor performance could cost him future preferential resources.

Li Yan attended the sect’s foundation establishment tournament with the small contingent from Small Bamboo Peak, while Li Wuyi briefed them on formidable rivals from Four Symbols Peak. The tournament had not yet begun when several streaks of light arrived, and Li Wuyi was still searching Spirit Insect Peak’s ranks for someone.

• Li Yan received a token alert that the major sect event was about to begin.
• Li Yan and ten others from Small Bamboo Peak gathered in their section, where Li Wuyi told them to uphold their peak’s dignity rather than move closer to another group.
• Li Wuyi warned the disciples about Four Symbols Peak’s Gan Shi, the formation-specialist twins Chu Weixiong and Chu Weili, and the poison-and-illusion expert Wei Feng.
• Li Wuyi examined Spirit Insect Peak’s many demon beasts while searching for someone, then several streaks of light flew in from the horizon.

Li Yan watched the gathered peaks’ cultivators and learned about their powerful competitors before Wang Tian’s Divine Sense attack prompted Li Wuyi to protect him. As the competition approached, Li Wuyi continued introducing the other peaks, while Wei Chi Tuo’s attempt to bring up Buli Peak ended with him nervously flattering Li Wuyi.

• Li Wuyi warned Li Yan and the others about Wang Tian, Zuo Shengyan, and Spirit Insect Peak’s other dangerous cultivators.
• After Zuo Shengyan noticed Li Yan looking at her, Wang Tian attacked him with Divine Sense, but Li Wuyi intervened and dispersed the attack.
• Gong Chenying and Li Yan’s other companions defended him, and Li Yan realized how dangerous Foundation Establishment cultivators could be.
• Li Wuyi introduced Baili Yuan and the poison experts of Laojun Peak, noting that Baili Yuan had once bested him.
• Wei Chi Tuo urged Li Wuyi to introduce Buli Peak, then panicked and praised the peak after Li Wuyi threatened to spar with him.

The Phantom Sect began its grand competition, and Li Yan learned the rules before drawing lot number Seventy-nine and watching the first matches start. In the pavilion, Yan Longzi and the elders discussed Small Bamboo Peak and Li Yan’s unusual cultivation, while Yan Longzi forbade them from pursuing experiments on him.

• Yan Longzi announced the competition divisions, advancement numbers, and schedule, then Peng Buxing explained the five-battle format and its risks.
• Li Yan and the other Foundation Establishment participants drew lots, and Li Yan received lot number Seventy-nine.
• Peng Buxing activated the Thousand-Li Flowing Light Mirror, and the stage elders began the first round of battles.
• Yan Longzi and the elders discussed Wei Zhongran, Li Wuyi, and Junior Sister Li’s wish to match Changting with Li Wuyi.
• The elders discussed Li Yan’s rapid cultivation and Fragmented Poison Body, and Yan Longzi ordered them not to study or dissect him.

Li Yan reviewed the Foundation Establishment tournament and the strengths and defeats of his fellow disciples before receiving five days of intensive sparring arranged by Li Wuyi. The training left him battered but revealed his growing resistance to poison and the unusual depth of his magical power.

• Gong Chenying, Zhao Min, Wei Chituo, and Yun Chunqu reached the top forty-nine, while Miao Wangqing, Wen Xinliang, Lin Daqiao, and Zuo Shengyan were eliminated.
• Wen Xinliang poisoned Zuo Shengyan with Two-headed Fly powder, and Wang Tian later vented his anger on other opponents.
• Li Yan studied the tournament matches, then received Li Wuyi's message arranging five days of sparring with his senior brothers and sisters.
• Li Wuyi and the other disciples took turns sparring with Li Yan, repeatedly overwhelming him as they taught him combat techniques.
• Li Yan's sparring partners discovered that he recovered from poison and grew more resistant to it, while his magical power rivaled that of a cultivator at the beginning of the ninth Qi Condensation level.

Li Yan watched Zhu Gaotai and Fei Ling clash in the first round of the Qi Condensation Realm competition, revealing rare treasures and multiple elemental techniques. The two exchanged hidden attacks and escaped each other’s traps, leaving their match unresolved as Li Yan considered how he might face opponents of their caliber.

• Li Yan arrived at the Qi Condensation Realm competition and watched the competitors draw their match numbers.
• Li Yan focused on the match between Zhu Gaotai of Buli Peak and Fei Ling of Spirit Insect Peak, both perfected tenth-level Qi Condensation Realm cultivators.
• Fei Ling launched wind blades and sent his Blood-Brown Saber Mantis after Zhu Gaotai, but Zhu Gaotai evaded them with Earth Escape Art.
• Zhu Gaotai revealed his Heavenbreaking Hammers and trapped Fei Ling and the mantis between their giant forms, but Fei Ling escaped a li away using wind techniques.
• Fei Ling counterattacked with hidden Frost Vine Thorns, which Zhu Gaotai avoided, and the two recognized each other’s unusual spiritual roots and techniques.
• Li Yan watched the exchange and wondered what he could rely on against opponents like Zhu Gaotai and Fei Ling.

Zhu Gaotai defeated Fei Ling in a prolonged arena match, and Li Yan was selected for the fourth round against Lü Qiutong of Laojun Peak. As the elders and Zhao Min watched with interest in Li Yan’s Fragmented Poison Body, Lü Qiutong began their match.

• Zhu Gaotai released two Jar Thunder Gu, forcing Fei Ling to admit defeat after one climbed onto his neck.
• Li Yan was selected to fight in Arena Four and received Gong Chenying’s warning that his Laojun Peak opponent used medicines.
• Li Yan discovered that Lü Qiutong was only at the middle stage of the sixth level of Qi Condensation, but suspected his low cultivation concealed an unusual ability.
• Elder Hua, Yan Longzi, other elders, Zhao Min, and Li Changting watched Li Yan’s match and discussed his Fragmented Poison Body.
• Li Yan and Lü Qiutong introduced themselves, and Lü Qiutong moved to begin the fight.

Li Yan used water-element poison arts to overcome Lu Qiutong’s fire attacks and spiritual artifact, leaving the spectators baffled by how Lu had been poisoned. Yan Longzi concluded that Li Yan’s method was not Divine Sense poison.

• Lu Qiutong tested Li Yan with fire arts and Piercing Lamp poison, then used six purple spiritual pearls to force him into a direct clash.
• Li Yan’s rain curtain coated the pearls with an unknown adhesive poison, slowing them and damaging their spirituality.
• Lu Qiutong tried to recall the pearls, but after doing so he fell backward under the poison’s effects.
• The watching cultivators speculated that Li Yan had used Divine Sense poison, while Zhao Min recognized him as one of the Three Great World-Refining Poison Bodies.
• Yan Longzi stated that Li Yan’s poison was not Divine Sense poison.

Li Yan defeated Lü Qiutong with two Fragmented Poisons, then reflected on how he had used the arena battle’s vapor to conceal the poison that caused Lü Qiutong to collapse. Yan Longzi and the elders examined the poisons, while Lü Qiutong left determined to remember Li Yan’s name.

• Yan Longzi and the elders identified that Li Yan had used an unknown poison rather than Divine Sense poison and ordered the spirit pearls brought for inspection.
• A Foundation Establishment cultivator declared Li Yan the winner, removed Lü Qiutong and the poisoned spirit pearls, and sent Li Yan away.
• Li Changting asked Zhao Min whether Li Yan had used Divine Sense poison, and Zhao Min reasoned that Lü Qiutong’s body, not his Divine Sense, had been affected.
• Li Yan returned to Small Bamboo Peak, thanked his fellow disciples for helping him train, and sat down to recover and reflect on the battle.
• Li Yan recalled how he had concealed Branches Sharing the Same Breath in the vapor from his water and fire techniques, while Maggots Clinging to the Bone corroded Lü Qiutong’s spirit pearls.
• Yan Longzi and the elders inspected the poisons, discussed possible ingredients, and arranged to remove the poison from the pearls; Lü Qiutong left remembering Li Yan’s name.

Li Yan faced Zhou Guan'er, a stronger Spirit Insect Peak cultivator whose Ghost-Faced Horse and wood-element attacks overwhelmed him. As Li Yan struggled inside his rain barrier, the battle remained undecided, though his dwindling spiritual power made defeat seem close.

• After two wins and two losses, Li Yan was assigned to fight Zhou Guan'er on Battle Platform Nine.
• Zhou Guan'er revealed that Wang Tian had ordered him to beat Li Yan badly, then summoned his Ghost-Faced Horse and attacked with ghostly flames and shrieks.
• Zhou Guan'er’s vines pierced Li Yan’s ankle and poisoned him, but Li Yan used wood-element grass to restrain the vines while shielding himself with a rain curtain.
• Zhou Guan'er intensified his attacks, broke through Li Yan’s grass barrier, and launched a flying dagger while Li Yan enclosed himself in the rain curtain and protective spiritual radiance.
• Spectators and Li Yan’s companions worried that his spiritual power would run out, while Yun Chunqu remarked that Li Yan needed more sparring practice.

Li Yan defeated Zhou Guan'er and his Ghost-Faced Horse by remotely triggering poison hidden in seemingly ordinary grass, earning his thirty-third win. The match left the sect’s overseers and spectators wondering how he had controlled the poison, while Yan Longzi knew Li Yan had no formula to reveal.

• Li Yan held off Zhou Guan'er and the Ghost-Faced Horse as his spiritual power dwindled and their attacks neared his defenses.
• Zhou Guan'er committed himself to driving his flying dagger through Li Yan’s rain curtain, unaware that the last translucent clumps of grass behind him contained dormant poison.
• Li Yan remotely triggered the poison, which struck the Ghost-Faced Horse and then Zhou Guan'er, leaving both unable to control themselves.
• An overseer subdued Zhou Guan'er and the Ghost-Faced Horse, then declared Li Yan the winner with thirty-three wins.
• Li Changting, Zhao Min, and other onlookers discussed Li Yan’s precise trap, while Wang Tian and Zuo Shengyan grew furious at Zhou Guan'er’s defeat.
• The overseeing cultivator learned that Li Yan had used remotely triggered poison, and Yan Longzi concluded that Li Yan had no formula and that his limited aptitude made the secret less dangerous to keep.

Li Yan used concealed Divine Sense-controlled poison and a defensive fighting style to earn his thirty-third victory in the Qi Condensation competition. As the competition reached its final stage, he was assigned to face cultivator Four hundred and five on the seventeenth battle platform.

• A sword-case cultivator reported that the Phantom Sect had sent Qi Condensation cultivators into the Life-and-Death Wheel, while the bright-eyed young man said the Grand Mysteries Sect and Pure Land Sect were still trapped elsewhere.
• Li Yan defeated a Buli Peak cultivator with hidden poison and earned his thirty-third victory before the supervising Foundation Establishment cultivator ended the match.
• Spectators discussed Li Yan’s concealed cultivation and his poison-based tactics, while he returned to Small Bamboo Peak to meditate and recover.
• Li Changting praised Li Yan’s potential, but Zhao Min said he could not yet compare with Li Wuyi and hoped he would enter the Life-and-Death Wheel.
• Two days later, with one hundred and forty contestants remaining, Li Yan was matched against Four hundred and five on the seventeenth battle platform.

Li Yan fought Du Sanjiang, a renowned Four Symbols Peak formation expert, and struggled to endure his attacks despite his poison and evasive tactics. Du Sanjiang trapped Li Yan inside a completed formation and activated its assault, leaving Li Yan facing countless golden spears.

• Li Yan prepared to fight Du Sanjiang, while Wei Chi Tuo, Lin Daqiao, Yun Chunqu, and Gong Chenying warned him to be cautious.
• Li Wuyi, supervising Battle Platform Seventeen, encouraged Li Yan but promised not to interfere.
• Li Yan opened the match with a sandstorm laced with poison and retreated, but Du Sanjiang advanced behind a small protective formation.
• Li Yan repeatedly dodged Du Sanjiang's powerful earth-element attacks, while Du Sanjiang pressed him into a confined area and wore down his spiritual power.
• Du Sanjiang drew Li Yan into a tornado and completed a formation around him, trapping him in a vast golden space.
• Du Sanjiang activated the formation, and countless golden long ge spears rushed toward Li Yan from every direction.

Li Yan defeated Du Sanjiang by using the midnight-activated poison Moonlit Longing, though Du Sanjiang was left severely poisoned and Li Yan nearly exhausted his spiritual power. The sect declared Li Yan the winner, and he recovered while Wang Tian looked for another chance to target him.

• As Du Sanjiang's golden halberds closed in, Li Yan endured the attack until Moonlit Longing drew on the moonlight and broke Du Sanjiang's protective formation.
• Du Sanjiang collapsed from the poison, and Li Wuyi carried him away while protecting his heart meridians.
• Yan Longzi and the elders identified the toxin as an automatically activated Fragmented poison, and Du Sanjiang's life was no longer in danger.
• The sect declared Li Yan victorious, and Li Yan returned to Small Bamboo Peak and meditated to recover.
• Zhao Min and Li Changting suspected Li Yan had borrowed power from heaven and earth, while Wang Tian assumed he had used a concealed spirit treasure and vowed to target him again.

Li Yan finished the Qi Condensation Realm competition and gathered with his Small Bamboo Peak seniors for the secret realm gathering and Wheel of Life and Death. The group reached the Phantom Sect’s entrance platform, where about one hundred and fifty cultivators had already assembled.

• Wang Tian told Zuo Shengyan he would not directly kill a fellow sect member but hinted that misfortune could befall his targets during the secret realm gathering.
• Li Yan used his poison techniques to win three of four final matches, placing among the top one hundred and eight, then returned to cultivating and tending the spirit herb garden.
• Li Yan received Li Wuyi’s summons and met his senior brothers and sisters, who teased him about spending time with Zhao Min; Li Wuyi encouraged him to see her more often.
• Li Wuyi assigned Miao Wangqing to manage Small Bamboo Peak and Wen Xinliang and Lin Daqiao to oversee its missions while he led the participating disciples to the gathering.
• Li Yan traveled with Li Wuyi and four other Small Bamboo Peak disciples to the entrance halfway up the peak and found about one hundred and fifty Phantom Sect cultivators waiting there.

Li Yan gathered with the Phantom Sect cultivators at the plaza and watched the Supreme Mystery Sect arrive aboard a flying boat. The sect elders prepared to open the secret realm, leaving the gathered disciples waiting below.

• Li Yan joined the Qi Condensation Realm disciples and exchanged subtle greetings with Zhao Min while observing the other cultivators and the glowing stele.
• Elder Peng and the other Phantom Sect elders sensed an approaching guest, and a massive flying boat appeared carrying Immortal Master Hangwu and the Supreme Mystery Sect.
• Peng Wuxing greeted Hangwu, and both sects descended into the plaza before agreeing to open the secret realm.
• The elders sent five Golden Core Realm cultivators from each sect to the stele, while keeping the two groups of disciples apart.

The Taixuan Sect and Phantom Sect paid Lord Heavenly Stele to open a passage into the secret realm, then began sending cultivators through. As Li Yan entered with the final groups, he sensed a dangerous, deathly aura among the Phantom Sect cultivators facing him.

• Lord Heavenly Stele complained about the energy required to open the passage, and Elder Peng and Daoist Hang Wuxian each offered five hundred mid-grade spirit stones.
• Ten Golden Core cultivators combined their power to open a black-and-white passage and affixed a golden seal above its entrance.
• Peak Mistress Li and two Phantom Sect elders entered first, followed by the Taixuan Sect Golden Core cultivators and then the Foundation Establishment groups.
• Li Yan watched Li Wuyi enter and noticed several cultivators glaring at his eldest senior brother with hostility.
• As Li Yan approached the passage with nine others, he sensed a familiar but deathly aura among the opposing Phantom Sect group, then stepped inside after being urged to hurry.

Li Yan and the Wangliang Sect cultivators entered the hidden realm, where they discovered the Supreme Mystery Sect's Qi Condensation disciples had unusually high cultivation levels. Elder Peng warned that the three rival sects might be working together and offered the Wangliang Sect a choice: withdraw from the Wheel of Life and Death or risk fighting at a disadvantage.

• A silver-haired Nascent Soul cultivator observed Li Yan noticing the abnormalities among the Supreme Mystery Sect's Qi Condensation disciples and decided to leave the matter to Peng Wuxing and the other elders.
• Li Yan passed through the black-and-white passage and arrived in the hidden realm, where dense spiritual energy, unfamiliar beasts, and a vast grassland surrounded him.
• Li Wuyi warned Li Yan that the Supreme Mystery Sect's Qi Condensation disciples seemed abnormal and that the Wheel of Life and Death might be a trap.
• Peng Wuxing led the Wangliang Sect party into the hidden realm on a giant demon beast as the Supreme Mystery Sect departed on a glowing vessel.
• Elder Peng told the Wangliang Sect cultivators that the rival sects might have joined forces and offered them the choice to withdraw or fight despite their disadvantage.

The Wangliang Sect chose to face the dangers of the Wheel of Life and Death, though Li Yan remained wary of the Supreme Mystery Sect and unsure whether to participate. The sects reached a valley where they met three Demon Beast leaders and their followers, whose leering insults inflamed the human disciples.

• Elder Peng urged the Wangliang Sect to decide whether to enter the Wheel of Life and Death, and many Foundation Establishment cultivators and Qi Condensation disciples chose to fight.
• Li Yan withheld his decision, troubled by a familiar feeling connected to the Supreme Mystery Sect, and rebuked a Buli Peak cultivator who questioned his silence.
• The Wangliang Sect and Supreme Mystery Sect traveled to a valley and landed before its blocked entrance, where hundreds of Demon Beasts had gathered.
• The human leaders exchanged greetings with the Demon Beast leaders: the black-robed Brother Yin, the white-clad young noble, and the massive Brother Yan.
• As the leaders made introductions, Demon Beasts openly leered at and mocked the female human disciples, who and their male companions silently marked the beasts as enemies.