Chapter Summaries

Li Yan and Zhao Min negotiated with Ting Bixiao for access to the Giantwood Clan’s Wood Essence Pool, only to learn that its next opening was seventeen years away and its places were contested. They accepted Wusitu and Ting Shan’s challenge for two places, and the pool was set to open on the fourth day if they won.

• Li Yan and Agu Xi drank Snow-Capped Clarity Tea, revealing the exceptional purity of their magical power, while Zhao Min suppressed the tea’s effects to conceal hers.
• Li Yan asked Ting Bixiao to honor Agu Xi’s promise and let him and Zhao Min enter the Wood Essence Pool.
• Ting Bixiao explained the pool’s schedule and entry limits, then offered compensation, persuasion, or a wait of more than a hundred years as alternatives.
• Wusitu offered one place if Li Yan or Zhao Min defeated him, and Ting Shan offered the other if they beat him.
• Li Yan agreed to two matches the next morning and asked whether the pool could open early; Ting Bixiao agreed to open it on the fourth day if they won.
• Wusitu set the contest at the martial arena and said the clan’s people would be allowed to watch.

Li Yan agreed to Ustu’s demand for a public duel over the Wood Essence Pool, while Ting Bixiao explained that Ustu was using the dispute to stir resentment against Agu Xi’s returned clansmen. Afterward, Li Yan and Zhao Min concluded that a hidden Nascent Soul Realm cultivator had orchestrated the Giant Wood Clan’s recent purge and was overseeing the coming duel.

• Li Yan accepted Ustu’s demand to settle the Wood Essence Pool dispute through a public duel, and Ting Bixiao let Tingshan and Agu Xi leave.
• Ting Bixiao explained that Ustu resented Agu Xi’s return because of his ties to an exterminated branch and warned that further unrest could endanger the returned clansmen.
• Li Yan cautioned Ting Bixiao that he would fight back if Ustu tried to kill him, and Ting Bixiao guaranteed that neither duelist would die.
• Li Yan secured the courtyard and told Zhao Min that a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator likely existed within the Giant Wood Clan.
• Li Yan and Zhao Min reasoned that the cultivator had used Soul Search to uncover the betrayal, enabled the swift purge, and was secretly directing events and supervising the duel.

Li Yan and Zhao Min discussed the other clans’ possible Nascent Soul cultivators and prepared for the next day’s battles. Ustu secretly eavesdropped on them, believing he had discovered useful information, but the chapter ended as he thought about using a powerful magic treasure against his opponent.

• Li Yan explained why he suspected that some of the other six clans had Nascent Soul cultivators, and Zhao Min pointed out that his theory could be wrong.
• Li Yan and Zhao Min sensed someone outside their courtyard, and Li Yan quietly retrieved the formation flags he had planted there.
• Ustu planned to seriously injure Zhao Min in the upcoming battle, then approached the courtyard to spy on the pair.
• Ustu slipped his Divine Sense through the courtyard’s ordinary restrictions and overheard Zhao Min assess the attributes of his and Ting Shan’s cultivation arts.
• Ustu realized Zhao Min had mistaken his attributes, then thought that his magic treasure could defeat even a false Nascent Soul cultivator.

Li Yan and Zhao Min attended the Giantwood Clan’s martial gathering, where they were expected to compete for a place in the Wood Essence Pool. Before the duel began, Wustu fell mysteriously ill, and Li Yan’s knowledge of his symptoms prompted Ting Bixiao to confront him.

• Wustu tried to spy on Li Yan and Zhao Min but left after finding their courtyard restrictions difficult to break.
• Wustu spread word that outsiders sought a place in the Wood Essence Pool, stirring hostility among the Giantwood clansmen.
• Li Yan and Zhao Min arrived at the martial arena, where Ting Bixiao and Tingshan awaited them and the gathered clansmen watched in anticipation.
• As Wustu failed to appear, his chief disciple reported that Wustu’s spiritual power was vanishing and his condition was worsening.
• Li Yan asked whether Wustu’s skin had turned grayish-brown and his power drained faster when he circulated his technique, causing Ting Bixiao to turn on him suspiciously.

Li Yan denied deliberately poisoning Wusitu, gave his disciple an antidote, and saw Ting Bixiao declare Wusitu defeated. Ting Shan then challenged the visitors, and Zhao Min entered the arena to fight him.

• Ting Shan accused Li Yan of secretly poisoning Wusitu, but Li Yan said the poison came from defenses he had set in his courtyard.
• Ting Bixiao confirmed that Li Yan and Zhao Min had not left their courtyard, and Li Yan sent Wusitu's disciple an antidote.
• Ting Bixiao declared Wusitu the loser and awarded the duel's slot to Li Yan's side, while Ting Shan asked to fight the visitors.
• Zhao Min stood to face Ting Shan as the Giant Wood Clan members mocked Li Yan for letting a woman fight.
• Ting Shan rushed Zhao Min and punched toward her throat, hoping to prevent her from using poison.

Zhao Min fought Ting Shan in a fierce aerial battle and overwhelmed him with her physical strength and skill. She stopped short of seriously injuring him, and Ting Shan conceded defeat, leaving the Giant Wood Clan cultivators to defend his chances in a full-strength fight.

• Ting Shan attacked Zhao Min, but she stopped his massive fist with two fingers and drove him backward with a rapid series of blows.
• Ting Shan summoned a barrage of logs, but Zhao Min smashed through them and sent splinters scattering against his barrier.
• Zhao Min blocked Ting Shan’s vine-armored kick and struck his neck with her elbow, breaking through his armor and forcing him to fall.
• Zhao Min withdrew without pursuing as Ting Shan recovered, dismissed his vine armor, and admitted defeat.
• Zhao Min said a full-strength fight might have seriously injured either of them, easing the Giant Wood Clan cultivators’ embarrassment.

After the Giantwood Clan’s contest, Li Yan and Zhao Min entered the clan’s sacred forest with Ting Bixiao and Ye Mingxin to reach the Wood Essence Pool. They discovered that the dreamlike forest was made up of ten-thousand-year-old spirit trees, while Shuang Qingqing’s search for her missing memories drew the attention of a mysterious crow.

• Ting Shan won the fight, and the clan prepared to decide who would receive its final place in the Wood Essence Pool.
• Shuang Qingqing learned that her missing memories were connected to her inability to suppress an opponent, while a seemingly ordinary crow watched and questioned how she had survived.
• Three days later, Ting Bixiao brought Li Yan, Zhao Min, and Ye Mingxin to a secluded rock wall and used a tiny spirit tree to open an entrance.
• Li Yan and the others entered a luminous forest filled with dense wood spiritual energy and followed Ting Bixiao to a small, milky-white lake.
• Ting Bixiao revealed that the lake gathered the wood essence of the forest, and Li Yan and Zhao Min realized the forest consisted of ten-thousand-year-old spirit trees.

Li Yan and his companions learned how the Giant Tree Clan’s sacred ground and Wood Essence Pool worked, including the danger of absorbing too much wood essence spiritual charm. Ting Bixiao explained how to enter and use the pool, and the three cultivators entered the tree hollows to begin cultivating.

• Li Yan marveled at the ancient spirit trees before Ting Bixiao warned him not to pluck their branches or leaves, which would vanish outside the forest and could provoke the trees.
• Ting Bixiao explained that the Giant Tree Clan maintained its bond with the sacred ground through faith power, while the sacred trees protected the clan and allowed its disciples to use the Wood Essence Pool.
• Two ancient spirit trees interrupted the conversation and told Ting Bixiao to let Li Yan and the others enter early, while keeping the next hundred-year cycle unchanged.
• Ting Bixiao warned Li Yan, Zhao Min, and Ye Mingxin to stop absorbing wood essence spiritual charm at seventy percent and explained its benefits for both the body and spiritual power.
• Ye Mingxin entered a tree hollow first, and Li Yan and Zhao Min followed into the other hollows to cultivate.

Li Yan and Zhao Min entered the Giant Tree Clan's Wood Essence Pool, where Li Yan began painfully refining its powerful wood essence. Outside, Tingyun Kingdom and the seven races destroyed the Tianlan Clan and justified the attack with accusations of atrocities, leaving the escaped Grand Celestial Master hunted and the Tianlan Grassland divided among the victors.

• Li Yan established the Great Dragon-Elephant Array in the Wood Essence Pool, kept Zi Kun and Qianji outside, and began absorbing the wood essence after dismissing his protective barrier.
• Five Nascent Soul Cultivators attacked the Tianlan Clan; the Second Celestial Master died, while the Grand Celestial Master's original body was destroyed and his nascent soul escaped with a clone.
• The seven races and Tingyun Kingdom accused the Tianlan Clan of massacring mortals and betraying their former allies, and invited major powers to investigate their evidence.
• Six first-rate sects issued a bounty on Tianlan Clan cultivators, and Tingyun Kingdom and the seven races divided the Tianlan Grassland among themselves.
• Li Yan converted the wood essence into spiritual power as it scoured his flesh and meridians, causing severe pain and expelling dark gray impurities from his body.

Li Yan and Zhao Min absorbed all the Wood Spirit Essence in the pool, leaving Ye Mingxin unable to cultivate and upsetting Ting Bixiao. As they left, Li Yan gave Ye Mingxin a rare fourth-grade Dustless Pill to help her form her Golden Core.

• Li Yan and Zhao Min continued absorbing the Wood Spirit Essence until the lake was completely clear, while observers wondered about their unusual physiques and Li Yan's hidden wood spiritual root.
• On the thirteenth day, Ye Mingxin discovered that the pool held no Wood Spirit Essence and could not absorb any more.
• When Ting Bixiao arrived on the fifteenth day, he found Ye Mingxin outside the pool and learned that its essence had been exhausted.
• Ting Bixiao summoned Li Yan and Zhao Min to leave, then suspected they were not human cultivators because they had absorbed so much Wood Spirit Essence.
• Li Yan gave Ye Mingxin his fourth-grade Dustless Pill, and Ting Bixiao urged her to thank the two visitors.

Ye Mingxin received a rare Dustless Pill from Li Yan, while Ting Bixiao revealed the Tianlan Clan’s destruction and gave Li Yan a token promising aid from the seven clans. Li Yan and Zhao Min departed, leaving Ustu to plot revenge, and Li Yan finally showed Zhao Min that his cultivation remained at the early Golden Core Realm.

• Ye Mingxin inspected the Dustless Pill, and Ting Bixiao warned her to keep it secret before she left with it.
• Ting Bixiao told Li Yan and Zhao Min that the Tianlan Clan had been destroyed and that the seven clans and Tingyun Kingdom now controlled its grasslands.
• Ting Bixiao gave Li Yan a seven-clan token and promised their help, while Li Yan declined a celebration and departed with Zhao Min.
• Ustu learned that Li Yan had left and, still weakened by the poison, abandoned his immediate plan to pursue him.
• Several thousand li away, Zhao Min asked about Li Yan’s cultivation, and he revealed an aura showing that he remained at the early Golden Core Realm.

After advancing in cultivation, Li Yan and Zhao Min traveled to Eastflight Market City to seek news and meet Su Hong, an old acquaintance from Li Yan’s past. Su Hong recognized Zhao Min after she revealed her true appearance, then asked why the pair had come to the Azure Continent, but neither answered.

• Li Yan and Zhao Min reflected on their breakthroughs after absorbing wood spirit essence from the Giant Wood Clan.
• Zhao Min asked whether they would visit Li Yan’s old friend, and Li Yan explained that he hoped Su Hong could help them learn about the Desolate Moon Continent.
• At Eastflight Market City, Li Yan asked the Return Home receptionist whether Su Hong had received his message; four days later, the receptionist brought them to her.
• Su Hong welcomed Li Yan and recognized Zhao Min as a late Gold Core cultivator, while privately considering a chance to spar with Li Yan.
• Zhao Min revealed her true appearance and Su Hong recognized her; Su Hong asked why they had come to the Azure Continent, but Li Yan and Zhao Min remained silent.

Li Yan and Zhao Min met Su Hong in her shop and sought information about returning to the Desolate Moon Continent. Li Yan deduced that Su Hong and Returning Home had left the continent before the war between the two realms, while Su Hong’s question about how they reached the Green Continent remained unanswered.

• Su Hong sent Mi'er outside, and Li Yan set up an additional barrier before discussing their business.
• Su Hong congratulated Li Yan and Zhao Min on their cultivation, teased them about their closeness, and alluded to the snowy night when Li Yan saved her.
• Zhao Min surprised Li Yan and Su Hong with sharp remarks about the snowy-night incident, then Su Hong asked what help they wanted.
• Li Yan explained that he and Zhao Min wanted to return to the Desolate Moon Continent and offered spirit stones or magic treasures for the information.
• Su Hong offered to answer for free if Li Yan first explained how they had reached the Green Continent.
• Li Yan inferred that Returning Home had left the Desolate Moon Continent before the war between the two realms, or that Su Hong herself had already departed.

Li Yan and Zhao Min asked Su Hong how they could return to the Desolate Moon Continent, but learned that crossing continents required a dangerous escort or a costly message sent through Return Home. They left with a possible ten-year route for contacting the Phantom Sect, while Li Yan also learned that Howling Cold Stone was unavailable.

• Li Yan told Su Hong that he and Zhao Min had been trapped in a mysterious space for decades before arriving on the Green Continent.
• Su Hong explained that crossing continents required a Nascent Soul Realm escort and would cost at least three premium spirit stones for both of them.
• Li Yan asked Su Hong to send word to the Phantom Sect; she estimated the message would take about ten years and cost one thousand low-grade spirit stones.
• Li Yan asked about Howling Cold Stone, but Su Hong said the merchant alliance had none in stock and that the last known pieces had been sold decades earlier.

Su Hong sold Li Yan and Zhao Min information about the Soul Prison Clan’s hidden cavern, where Hanhau Stone had been found, and shared a possible route to the Desolate Moon Continent. She left them with the startling claim that the Soul Prison Clan might be the Immortal-Seeking Lineage, originally founded by cultivators from that continent.

• Su Hong charged Li Yan thirty thousand low-grade spirit stones for two pieces of information, including a history of the Soul Prison Clan’s cavern and its Hanhau Stone.
• Su Hong explained that the cavern had once belonged to the Soul Prison Clan, had been opened periodically, and was now guarded by sects that charged visitors ten thousand low-grade spirit stones.
• Li Yan asked about the second piece of information, and Su Hong said the merchant alliance suspected the Soul Prison Clan’s records might reveal a way to reach the Desolate Moon Continent.
• Su Hong asked whether Li Yan knew of the Immortal-Seeking Lineage, and Zhao Min explained that Li Yan had been targeted by its members before entering the immortal path.
• Su Hong apologized and claimed the Soul Prison Clan might be the Immortal-Seeking Lineage, whose founders had come from the Desolate Moon Continent.
• Li Yan urgently asked Su Hong what evidence supported her claim.

Su Hong explained why the Soul Prison Clan may have originated from the Desolate Moon Continent and revealed a suspicious statue that could mark an intercontinental passage. Li Yan and Zhao Min decided to visit the hidden cavern, and Su Hong sold them two entry tokens and provided maps and instructions.

• Su Hong cited a jade slip describing how three martial arts masters from Desolate Moon founded the Soul Prison Clan after reaching the Green Plains Continent and obtaining cultivation methods.
• Li Yan inferred that the founders may have crossed between continents through a passage hidden in their underground sect, while Su Hong identified a strange damaged statue as the most suspicious possible clue.
• Su Hong added that the Soul Prison Clan's hostility toward the Devil Race supported its connection to Desolate Moon.
• Li Yan said he would visit the hidden cavern to search for the Hao Han Stone, and Zhao Min insisted on accompanying him.
• Su Hong sold Li Yan two entry tokens for seven thousand low-grade spirit stones each and gave him a jade slip containing maps, instructions, and Desolate Moon script explanations.
• Li Yan thanked Su Hong and prepared to leave, but suddenly paused.

Li Yan and Zhao Min encountered Shuang Qingqing, a Nascent Soul expert from the Desolate Moon Continent, at a Return Home shop. Shuang Qingqing recognized Li Yan and brought him to meet the person in charge, only to find Su Hong and learn that Li Yan and Zhao Min were already inside.

• Su Hong teased Li Yan about staying on the Green Continent, and Zhao Min remarked that they should seek Su Hong's help again before the pair left the private room.
• Li Yan and Zhao Min met a veiled woman in azure gauze on the stairs and recognized her as Shuang Qingqing; she released her aura to subdue cultivators who had stared at her.
• Shuang Qingqing recognized Li Yan, recalled that he and Gu Jiuqi had vanished into the Yin Demon Abyss, and asked him to accompany her to meet the shop's person in charge.
• The attendant led Shuang Qingqing to Su Hong's private room, where Su Hong greeted her and discovered Li Yan and Zhao Min were already there.
• Su Hong tried to send Li Yan and Zhao Min out to avoid offending Shuang Qingqing, but they stayed in place as Mi'er opened the door for them.

Li Yan reunited with Twin Qingqing at Su Hong’s shop, where Twin Qingqing bought information about Heavenly Spirit Clan Great Elder Twin Fengyan. After learning that Twin Fengyan would return to the clan in half a month, she asked whether the shop could hire a Nascent Soul cultivator to fight, but Su Hong said it only arranged escorts and protection; Elder Yang might discuss the matter when he returned.

• Li Yan recognized Twin Qingqing and signaled to Su Hong that he knew the Nascent Soul cultivator, so Su Hong sent Mi'er outside and greeted Twin Qingqing.
• Li Yan explained that Su Hong came from the headquarters of “Return Home,” and Twin Qingqing asked about the whereabouts of the Heavenly Spirit Clan’s Great Elder.
• Su Hong sold Twin Qingqing information for one thousand mid-grade spirit stones, reporting that Twin Fengyan traveled abroad and was expected to return to the clan in half a month.
• Twin Qingqing declined further records and quietly suggested she was waiting for someone’s return before making a move.
• Twin Qingqing asked how much it would cost to hire a Nascent Soul cultivator for a battle, and Su Hong explained that the shop did not directly arrange combat and that Elder Yang might discuss it later.

After leaving Return Home, Shuang Qingqing tested Li Yan’s discretion, told Zhao Min that her parents had survived, and heard how the pair reached the Qingqing Continent. She then asked them to wait for Bai Rou and protect her, leaving Li Yan worried that the Heavenly Spirit Clan’s Grand Elder might prevent Bai Rou from arriving.

• Shuang Qingqing left Return Home with Li Yan and Zhao Min after declining to hire its services, while Su Hong ordered Mi'er to gather information about the Heavenly Spirit Clan.
• Beside a mountain stream, Shuang Qingqing praised Li Yan’s control of the Cloud-Piercing Willow and confirmed that she had given him the treasure in return for his past help.
• Shuang Qingqing told Zhao Min that Wei Zhongran and his wife had survived the battle and searched for her, and Li Yan comforted Zhao Min as she became emotional.
• Li Yan explained how he and Zhao Min had survived the Yin Devil Abyss fissure and reached the Qingqing Continent, while omitting some of their secrets.
• Shuang Qingqing asked Li Yan and Zhao Min to wait half a month for Bai Rou and look after her, offering them a hundred high-grade spirit stones.
• Li Yan questioned whether the Heavenly Spirit Clan’s Grand Elder might prevent Bai Rou from arriving, and Shuang Qingqing had not yet answered.

Li Yan offered to seek help for Shuang Qingqing, who revealed that Bai Rou was being held by her adversaries and that she needed allies before confronting the Heavenly Spirit Clan. After learning how Li Yan’s past favor to two clans might secure Nascent Soul cultivators’ aid, Shuang Qingqing decided to pursue that plan rather than approach Returning Home.

• Shuang Qingqing explained that Bai Rou was in her adversary’s hands and told Li Yan and Zhao Min to wait for her or find a way to leave the Qingqing Continent.
• Li Yan offered to seek help, saying two clans owed him favors that might bring Nascent Soul cultivators to Shuang Qingqing’s aid.
• Shuang Qingqing questioned Li Yan about the Tianlan Clan’s destruction, and he explained how he and Zhao Min had become involved while searching for a route home.
• Shuang Qingqing identified the two clans as members of the seven-clan alliance and judged there was about a thirty percent chance their Nascent Soul cultivators would act.
• Shuang Qingqing chose to approach the two clans instead of visiting Fellow Daoist Yang at Returning Home, hoping to keep Bai Rou from dying.