Chapter Summaries

Bu Luo escaped a deadly ambush, looted his pursuers, and learned that Li Yan had reached Nascent Soul Realm and would hold a ceremony in nine years. The chapter then shifted to a secluded shop, where a black-veiled woman arrived to trade her latest haul with Elder Ge.

• Bu Luo trapped five pursuers in his formation, killed the two Foundation Establishment cultivators, and beheaded the black-bearded man with his silver disc and bamboo twig.
• Bu Luo collected the pursuers’ belongings, burned the corpses, retrieved his formation equipment, and fled the valley.
• Four days later, Bu Luo found a Wangliang Sect notice announcing that Li Yan and Li Yuyin had formed Nascent Souls and would hold a ceremony in nine years.
• Bu Luo resolved to reach late Golden Core Realm before visiting Li Yan at the ceremony.
• A black-veiled woman visited Elder Ge’s secluded raw-materials shop and handed him her Storage Pouch to inspect.

Mei Hongyu sold demon-beast corpses and gathered cultivation-world news from Old Ge, then discovered that Li Yan was alive and engaged to Zhao Min. The news unsettled her as she continued her journey toward the Northern Underworld Demon-Suppressing Tower, seeking a way to heal her son's injured soul.

• Mei Hongyu sold Old Ge three demon-beast corpses, kept the one-horned white-eyed wolf's beast core, and exchanged some of her payment for supplies.
• Old Ge had Dongsheng bring Mei Hongyu a jade slip containing five years of cultivation-world news, then warned Dongsheng to stop harboring improper thoughts about her.
• After leaving the market, Mei Hongyu checked that no one followed her and read the jade slip while flying away.
• Mei Hongyu stopped when she learned that Li Yan had returned to the Wangliang Sect, would hold a Nascent Soul Formation ceremony in nine years, and had become engaged to Zhao Min.
• Mei Hongyu recalled her past intimacy with Li Yan and the effects of the Wind Clarity Art, which had prevented intimacy with her husband and intensified her allure.
• Mei Hongyu continued toward the Northern Underworld Demon-Suppressing Tower after her husband's death and her son's soul injury.

Mei Hongyu saw Li Yan’s name again and found her long-settled emotions stirring, while Li Yan tested a new toxin produced by his Disjointed Poison Body. He discovered that the nearly invisible blood thread could threaten a Nascent Soul, but its full effect remained unknown.

• Mei Hongyu learned that Li Yan had appeared again and struggled with the old feelings that disrupted her calm.
• Mei Hongyu reflected on her stalled cultivation, her lost family, and her life as a Rogue Cultivator before flying away beneath the moon.
• Li Yan tested the blood thread on Demon Beasts for days but found no effect on their bodies, souls, blood essence, or behavior.
• Li Yan released his Nascent Soul to test the blood thread and watched it vanish from his finger and reappear above his head.
• Li Yan’s Nascent Soul sensed danger and returned to his body, leading him to suspect that the blood thread was a poison capable of attacking a Nascent Soul.

Li Yan tested the poison in his blood thread and realized it might threaten Nascent Soul cultivators who had lost their bodies, while his damaged Guiyi Water-Parting Spikes continued recovering in seclusion. Nine years later, Li Yuyin visited him after he emerged from seclusion, and their conversation began with her correcting his form of address.

• Li Yan tested the blood thread on a Rift-Splitting Rain Swallow’s demon core, found it harmless, and concluded it might specifically attack Nascent Souls.
• Li Yan inspected his damaged Guiyi Water-Parting Spikes and decided to nurture them while studying Soul-Enticing Slaughter and cultivating other techniques.
• Over the following years, Miao Wangqing gave birth to a son with a good earth spiritual root, and Li Wuyi briefly returned to Small Bamboo Peak before retreating again.
• Nine years later, Li Yuyin visited Li Yan’s courtyard, and her charm briefly affected Qianji until Li Yan’s voice brought him back to his senses.
• Li Yan welcomed Li Yuyin into his reception hall, where she objected to his formal greeting and reminded him of their seniority in the sect.

Li Yuyin visited Li Yan to tell him about the Nascent Soul ceremony and thank him for the help that enabled her advancement. After she left, Li Yan learned Zi Kun was helping prepare for the ceremony and set out to meet familiar visitors in the sect.

• Li Yan and Li Yuyin discussed how to address each other, and she told him the Nascent Soul ceremony was scheduled for the next day.
• Li Yuyin said she would attend only the first half of the ceremony because she needed to return to healing, and Li Yan agreed to cover the rest.
• Li Yuyin thanked Li Yan for the Tribulation Essence Qi that had helped her form a Nascent Soul, though she did not reveal that Gu Jiuqi had arranged it.
• Li Yuyin left after urging Li Yan to prepare for the ceremony, and Li Yan reflected on her unusual behavior.
• Li Yan summoned Qianji, learned that Zi Kun was helping Li Wuyi and the others prepare for the ceremony, and dismissed Qianji.
• Li Yan sensed familiar visitors in the Phantom Sect and went to see them before the ceremony.

Li Yan gave Qianji a mark that let him enter and leave Tuban while within five hundred zhang, allowing Qianji to reunite with his clan. As guests gathered for Li Yan’s Nascent Soul ceremony, they traded rumors about his obscure past and remarkable deeds.

• Li Yan offered to bring some Snow Mosquitoes out of Tuban, but Qianji declined because his clansmen needed extreme cold.
• Li Yan placed a mark in Qianji’s sea of consciousness, enabling him to enter and leave Tuban within five hundred zhang, and Qianji joyfully returned to the space.
• Li Yan left the courtyard while keeping control over the passage to Tuban through his Divine Sense.
• Cultivators from major sects and Lineages gathered at Junlin Pavilion for a small trade fair before Li Yan’s Nascent Soul ceremony.
• Elder Fan asked Fellow Daoist Wang about Li Yan, and Wang recounted how Li Yan had saved the Azure Sixteenth Squad at Tonggui Ridge.
• Guests exchanged stories about Li Yan’s role in the South Sea conflict, the destruction of the Devil Race’s Heaven-Shaking Thunder stores, and his long disappearance after falling into Yin Demon Cliff.

As preparations for Li Yan’s Nascent Soul Formation ceremony continued, he privately reunited with Huchen Wuding, who had become head of the Huchen Lineage. They discussed old acquaintances and cultivation, and Huchen Wuding left with new insights to consider.

• Huchen Wuding left a gathering of disciples after Li Yan sent him a private message inviting him to talk.
• Huchen Wuding met Li Yan on a secluded mountain and congratulated him on reaching the Nascent Soul Realm.
• Li Yan asked about Patriarch Huchen and learned that he had left the Lineage years ago, leaving Huchen Wuding in charge.
• Li Yan and Huchen Wuding recalled Zhuo Lingfeng, who had disappeared after leaving the Huchen Lineage with Li Yan.
• The two discussed poisonous spirit plants, alchemy, and cultivation methods for more than two hours, and Huchen Wuding returned home to reflect on Li Yan’s guidance.

Li Yan met with Hu Chenwuding to exchange knowledge about poison cultivation, then reunited with Buluo, who had infiltrated a sect under Phantom Sect's jurisdiction. Buluo shared the Truth-Confusing Pills he and Zuo Qiudan had developed, while Li Yan learned how their disguise method worked.

• Li Yan reflected on the poison methods he had gleaned from Hu Chenwuding and the cultivation shortcuts he had offered in return.
• Li Yan contacted Buluo, who had been waiting alone at Junlin Pavilion while the others attended a trading fair.
• Buluo explained that he had disguised himself as a disciple of a sect under Phantom Sect's jurisdiction after knocking out one of its members.
• Li Yan praised Buluo's disguise, and Buluo revealed that he and Zuo Qiudan had developed it using two kinds of Truth-Confusing Pills.
• Buluo gave Li Yan both bottles of pills and explained how they altered and fixed the wearer's face and bones.

Li Yan and Bu Luo exchanged rare treasures and discussed the silver pages from the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower before parting. The next morning, guests began arriving at the Phantom Sect’s open mountain gate.

• Li Yan accepted two bottles of Truth-Confounding Pills from Bu Luo as a gift for forming a Nascent Soul.
• Li Yan gave Bu Luo ten drops of Melt Bamboo Shoot, which Bu Luo tested and recognized as a powerful way to restore spiritual power.
• Li Yan asked Bu Luo about pages of other colors and learned the names of eight people who had fought over the silver pages, six of them under the Pure Land Sect.
• Bu Luo left the Phantom Sect after congratulating Li Yan, and Li Yan vanished from the mountain peak after seeing him off.
• The next morning, cultivators arrived at the Phantom Sect’s open mountain gate on flying treasures and powerful spirit beasts.

The Phantom Sect welcomed cultivators arriving to celebrate the ceremony, including Hanglin and the Great Profound Sect delegation. Li Yan reunited with Qiu Jiuzhen, whose doubts about his rise to Nascent Soul deepened as the ceremony awaited its remaining guests.

• Phantom Sect disciples registered arriving cultivators and escorted them to the plaza or the high platform.
• Hanglin arrived with more than twenty Golden Core disciples from the Great Profound Sect and greeted the Nascent Soul cultivators.
• Li Yan recognized Qiu Jiuzhen among the Great Profound Sect disciples, and she watched him with complicated feelings as she confirmed his identity.
• Hanglin congratulated Li Yan, then placated Li Yuyin when she complained that he had not congratulated her.
• Wei Zhongran asked the guests to return to their seats while they waited for the ceremony and the remaining arrivals.
• Qiu Jiuzhen wondered how Li Yan had overcome his supposedly poor aptitude, then told her junior sister that he had seemed unremarkable when they met in a secret realm.

At the Phantom Sect’s celebration, Li Yan answered Nascent Soul cultivators’ questions about the Lost Continent while concealing what he knew about the Sacred Devil Palace. Below the platform, Bai Rou encouraged Sun Guoshu to focus on cultivation as she watched Li Yan, whose greeting had unsettled her feelings.

• Qi Jinghong asked Li Yan to describe the Lost Continent, and Li Yuyin jokingly demanded a supreme-grade spirit stone for the information.
• Li Yan reassured Qi Jinghong and gave the gathered cultivators a selective account of the Lost Continent, including its Black Devil and White Devil territories and the Divine Path.
• Bai Rou sat with Four Symbols Peak cultivators alongside Sun Guoshu and Tang Yuniang, while Sun Guoshu lamented his slow cultivation.
• Bai Rou urged Sun Guoshu to settle his thoughts and cultivate earnestly, then looked toward Li Yan and recalled how his greeting had unsettled her.

As cultivators gathered for Li Yan’s Nascent Soul ceremony, Li Wuyi’s arrival sparked a brief clash between the Phantom Sect and Great Profound Sect. The ceremony was disrupted when Yuyuan and her wounded party reached Laojun Peak and reported a deadly ambush by Devil Race remnants.

• Tang Yuniang listened to Bai Rou and the others, and concluded that Bai Rou’s feelings were directed toward Li Yan rather than Sun Guoshu.
• Li Wuyi arrived with Li Changting, Miao Wangqing, Wei Chi Tuo, and two unfamiliar cultivators, and Li Changting provoked Qiu Jiuzhen and the Great Profound Sect guests.
• Li Wuyi defused the quarrel, while pressure from the Nascent Soul cultivators forced both sides to sit down.
• More guests arrived as the ceremony approached, but several major sects, including Ten-Step Academy, had yet to send representatives.
• Mo Qing sensed an intruder, and Yuyuan arrived at Laojun Peak with several bloodied Golden Core cultivators, including Wang Lang.
• Wang Lang reported that two devil generals and more than ten devil fiends had ambushed them, killing Wu Shan and three junior brothers while Yuyuan burned her essence blood to lead the survivors to safety.

At the Phantom Sect gathering, Yu Yuan revealed that two Devil Generals had ambushed the Ten-Step Academy, prompting fears that other sects had also been attacked. Before Mo Qing could organize an investigation, conspirators launched a coordinated assault, leaving the platform and plaza in bloody chaos.

• Wang Lang and Yu Yuan reported that two Devil Generals had ambushed the Ten-Step Academy roughly thirty thousand li east of the Phantom Sect, and Hang Lin warned that other missing sects might also be in danger.
• Mo Qing began discussing an investigation, but Qi Jinghong and Hang Lin attacked him and Yu Yuan as other conspirators struck the Nascent Soul cultivators beside them.
• Li Yan disrupted Qi Jinghong's attack and saved Mo Qing, while Hang Lin wounded Yu Yuan before One Leaf Arhat intervened.
• Cultivator Ye killed Mu Zuowang and destroyed his Nascent Soul, while Great Mirror Chan Master attacked Li Yuyin and Wei Zhongran helped her escape.
• Conspirators ambushed cultivators across the plaza, killing dozens of Golden Core cultivators, and more than a hundred survivors flew into the air as fighting spread.

Li Yan stopped Qi Jinghong from attacking Mo Qing as the assembled cultivators uncovered Hang Lin and several Nascent Soul Cultivators as Devil Race agents. When Hang Lin activated a temporary spatial teleportation array to summon reinforcements, Mo Qing, Arhat Yiye, Wei Zhongran, Li Yan, and Li Yuyin attacked it while the others fought the traitors.

• Li Yan interrupted Qi Jinghong's attempted attack on Mo Qing.
• Mo Qing and the others realized Hang Lin, nine Tai Xuan Sect disciples, and several Nascent Soul Cultivators had betrayed the Human Race, while Hang Lin and the others' history revealed how the Devil Race had coerced and recruited them.
• Arhat Yiye and a wounded Tai Xuan Sect disciple confronted Hang Lin, but he ignored them.
• Hang Lin activated an array disk and opened a temporary spatial teleportation array to summon reinforcements.
• Mo Qing, Arhat Yiye, Wei Zhongran, Li Yan, and Li Yuyin attacked the opening as Wei Zhongran, Li Wuyi, the Pure Land Sect monks, and other cultivators charged the traitors.

Li Yan and the defenders of Phantom Sect fought off an ambush while Wei Zhongran’s attack and a mysterious finger from a black hole drove back the enemy Nascent Soul cultivators. Reinforcements from the Devil Race and other domains emerged through the portal, but Li Yan and Li Yuyin believed Martial Uncle Gu was still within the sect.

• Wang Lang gave Li Yuyuan the pill Li Yuyin sent and ordered the others to attack the enemies.
• Wei Zhongran broke through the defenders’ formation with a powerful strike, but a phantom hand from a black hole blocked his attack and blasted the fighters backward.
• Phantom Sect cultivators and their allies joined the battle, and both sides suffered casualties in the chaotic aerial fighting.
• A force of more than three hundred Devil Race and other-domain cultivators emerged from the black hole, including two devil generals and a black-robed mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.
• Li Yan and Li Yuyin recognized the danger of the arriving force but silently concluded that Martial Uncle Gu’s presence in the sect meant the enemy was not enough to prevail.

Great Master’s assault on Phantom Sect was interrupted when Gu Jiuqi appeared and destroyed the teleportation formation, confronting him in the sky. Gu Jiuqi also recognized Sixth Master among the attackers, while Great Master prepared to hold him off for three hundred breaths.

• The Devil Race cultivators charged Li Yan and the others while Hang Lin and his companions hesitated over the fading teleportation array.
• A hidden point of cold light struck the black hole, and the resulting blast shattered Hang Lin’s formation disk as Gu Jiuqi appeared.
• Gu Jiuqi confronted Great Master, who had come to join the attack after ambushing cultivators elsewhere.
• Gu Jiuqi recognized the black-robed Nascent Soul cultivator as Sixth Master and mocked him for surviving their earlier battle with greatly diminished cultivation.
• Great Master assessed that no other Spirit Transformation cultivator had appeared and resolved to delay Gu Jiuqi for three hundred breaths.

Gu Jiuqi and Great Master renewed their battle above the Ninefold Heaven while their allies fought to decide the conflict below. Li Yan faced Qi Jinghong, who countered his soul attack with pure yang power, and the chapter left their duel continuing amid Qi Jinghong’s scorching scarlet cauldron.

• Gu Jiuqi pursued Great Master into the Ninefold Heaven, while Mo Qing and the others prepared to fight the Devil Race’s Nascent Soul cultivators below.
• Li Yan warned Bai Rou to protect herself and urged Li Wuyi, Zi Kun, and the others to coordinate defensively.
• The Devil Race fighters surrounded Mo Qing, Wei Zhongran, Li Yuyin, and One-Leaf, assigning multiple opponents to their strongest targets.
• Wei Zhongran charged two devil generals with his black-gold war hammers, while Grand Mirror Zen Master blocked Li Yuyin and Sixth Master and Hang Lin confronted One-Leaf.
• Qi Jinghong attacked Li Yan with his crimson brush, but Li Yan evaded and struck at his soul with a black rune.
• Qi Jinghong neutralized Li Yan’s soul attack with pure yang spiritual power, then transformed his brush into a blazing scarlet cauldron that burned away Li Yan’s following attack.

Li Yan defeated and killed Qi Jinghong by turning Qi Jinghong’s Stone-Melting Crimson Flame against him, then using the Guiyi Water-Parting Spike and his poison to destroy his nascent soul. The battle continued around them, with Li Yan’s side still facing seven nascent soul cultivators and badly outnumbered.

• Qi Jinghong forced Li Yan’s spectral soul threads into view and engulfed him in the crimson flame cloud.
• Li Yan emerged from the cloud and sent a blood-red attack through Qi Jinghong’s pure yang true fire, fatally wounding him.
• Li Yan stabbed Qi Jinghong with the Guiyi Water-Parting Spike and used its poison to destroy Qi Jinghong’s nascent soul.
• Li Yan recalled that he had disguised his attacks as soul techniques to provoke Qi Jinghong into using the flame that could counter his own mysterious red-cloud treasure.

Li Yan discovered that the blood river in the Li Fire Mysterious Yellow Fan had strengthened the Flying Scythe Blood Mantises and found a way to compress its red clouds with the Nine Cauldrons Gui Water technique. In the battle, he killed Qi Jinghong in a few breaths and then turned his attention to Wei Zhongran, who was fighting two devil generals.

• Li Yan found that the eight Flying Scythe Blood Mantises had grown stronger in the blood river, subdued the hostile third-rank spirit essence, and refined all eight anew.
• Li Yan detected unfamiliar water spiritual energy in the blood river and discovered that practicing the Nine Cauldrons Gui Water technique could compress its red clouds.
• Li Yan used the Li Fire Mysterious Yellow Fan against Qi Jinghong, blocked his Pure Yang True Fire with Five Elements Return to Primordial Chaos, and destroyed his nascent soul with the Guiyi Water-Parting Spike and Nascent Soul Poison.
• The Nascent Soul Cultivators on both sides were stunned by Qi Jinghong's death, while Li Yan took his storage ring and looked toward Wei Zhongran's battle.
• Li Yan saw that Wei Zhongran was holding his ground against two devil generals despite being forced to retreat.

Li Yan joined Li Yuyin against Great Mirror Zen Master while the battles across the battlefield continued. Bai Rou’s puppets killed the two Golden Core cultivators, though more than thirty puppets were destroyed.

• Wei Zhongran held off two demon generals, and Li Yan chose to help Li Yuyin rather than One Leaf Arhat, who said he could last roughly thirty more breaths.
• Li Yan flew to Li Yuyin as Sixth Mister urged his allies to attack with everything they had; Wei Zhongran shifted to delaying the demon generals.
• Bai Rou trapped two Golden Core cultivators inside her puppet formation and coordinated attacks against them.
• An azure python destroyed more than ten puppets before a crocodile puppet pierced its head, and one Golden Core cultivator’s aura vanished.
• Bai Rou’s puppets killed the second Golden Core cultivator, losing more than thirty puppets, and an armor-clad puppet brought her the men’s Storage Pouches.