Chapter Summaries

Li Yan and Gong Shanhe survived the First Island Lord’s self-detonation, escaped with the Water-Repelling Golden-Eyed Beast, and spent two years recovering in hiding. With their strength partly restored, they decided to return to Gong Shanhe’s clan and gather news about the Qionglin Sect.

• Li Yan and Gong Shanhe were blasted away when the First Island Lord detonated his body, but defensive talismans and their formidable physiques kept them alive.
• Li Yan found the injured Water-Repelling Golden-Eyed Beast in its azure-droplet form, sealed it with a talisman, and escaped with Gong Shanhe as powerful figures approached.
• Li Yan recalled that his poisoned strike had pierced the First Island Lord’s soul, but the water-element armor had protected the nascent soul long enough for it to flee.
• Li Yan and Gong Shanhe evaded pursuit, fled for nearly a month, and recovered in a concealed underwater cave for two years.
• Gong Shanhe decided to return to his clan, and he and Li Yan set out to gather news about the Qionglin Sect along the way.

Li Yan and Gong Shanhe escaped the Qionglin Sect’s pursuit, while the injured First Island Lord’s condition forced the sect to relocate and vanish. More than two months later, Gong Chenying emerged from seclusion after nearly six years of cultivation and found that Li Yan was away and Gong Shanhe was not answering.

• Li Yan and Gong Shanhe learned that the Qionglin Sect had quietly relocated and that rival factions were fighting over its former territory.
• The Second Island Lord rescued the First Island Lord’s poisoned nascent soul, but the First Island Lord fell into a coma and later awoke with damaged memories and declining strength.
• The Second and Fourth Island Lords secretly moved the Qionglin Sect, which eventually disappeared from public knowledge.
• Li Yan and Gong Shanhe continued traveling and gathering information, deciding that the sect’s silence was preferable to drawing attention before they could locate it.
• Gong Chenying emerged from seclusion after nearly six years, learned Li Yan had left the Tianli Clan more than two years earlier, and found Gong Shanhe’s courtyard sealed and unanswered.

After years without word from Gong Shanhe and Li Yan, Gong Chenying resolved to search for them, but they returned to the Tianli Clan before she could leave. Gong Shanhe revealed their battle against Qionglin Sect, and the clan prepared a heavenly sacrifice for the Second Elder using the Third Island Master's remains.

• Gong Chenying learned that Qionglin Sect had vanished and that the Third Elder had sent ten Golden Core Realm cultivators to search for Gong Shanhe and Li Yan.
• Gong Chenying decided to leave and find them, but Hongyin told her she no longer needed to go when Gong Shanhe and Li Yan returned.
• Gong Shanhe recounted how he and Li Yan had killed a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator and gravely wounded Qionglin Sect's Grand Island Master, forcing the sect to relocate.
• Gong Shanhe warned the elders to guard against retaliation from Qionglin Sect, and Li Yan produced the Third Island Master's body and damaged Nascent Soul.
• Gong Shanhe ordered preparations for a heavenly sacrifice for the Second Elder, and the clan gathered its cultivators and warriors in the ancestral land the next day.

After returning from their assault on Qionglin Sect, Li Yan and Gong Shanhe helped restore unity within the Tianli Clan, which announced a grand wedding ceremony for the year after next. Three months before the ceremony, a patrol encountered four mysterious visitors at the clan’s southeastern border, and the Third Elder received word of their arrival.

• Li Yan returned with Gong Shanhe after crippling Qionglin Sect's First Island Master and bringing back the Third Island Master's body and Nascent Soul, earning renewed admiration within the Tianli Clan.
• After the heaven-sacrificing ceremony, the Tianli Clan's branch lines reconciled with Gong Shanhe, and he announced that the Ceremony of Qing A King Entering the Residence would be held the year after next.
• Li Yan suggested inviting Chan Master Xu Ji of Shamen Temple, then entered seclusion to heal while the Third Elder and Fourth Elder handled clan affairs.
• Three months before the ceremony, the Third Elder received a sound-transmission talisman reporting visitors at the southeastern front line.
• A patrol led by a Golden Core cultivator blocked four visitors, including an elegant young woman, two veiled elders, and a handsome young man, and sent a message to the clan.

Su Hong, escorted by two black-robed elders and accompanied by Wan Qingshe, arrived at the Tianli Clan on business involving materials the clan had ordered. The Third Elder, Sikou Zhanmei, received them and invited the group inside to discuss their respective business.

• Sikou Zhanmei appeared before the visitors, and Su Hong introduced herself as a representative of Return Home who had come about the Tianli Clan's materials order.
• Su Hong explained that Wan Qingshe had joined them after meeting her at the market, while privately recognizing his possessive interest in her.
• Wan Qingshe offered to accompany Su Hong to the Tianli Clan, and she accepted the convenient travel arrangement despite suspecting he wanted to stay close to her.
• Sikou Zhanmei asked Wan Qingshe what business he had with the clan after he requested to meet the First Elder.
• Wan Qingshe accepted Sikou Zhanmei's explanation that the First Elder and Clan Chief Gong Shanhe were in seclusion, and she invited the visitors inside to talk.

Su Hong completed the Tianli Clan’s transaction by delivering a living fire-attributed Nascent Soul body for Hong Yin and receiving the remaining spirit stones. She then asked the Third Elder whether Li Yan had come to the clan, revealing that she suspected he was someone she knew from the Desolate Moon Continent.

• The Third Elder brought Su Hong, Wan Qingshe, and the two black-robed elders to a receiving hall, while Wan Qingshe privately disparaged the Tianli Clan and its customs.
• Su Hong identified herself as a steward from Guiqu Laixi’s main headquarters and presented the living body intended for Hong Yin’s possession.
• The Third Elder accepted the body and paid Su Hong the remaining high-grade spirit stones, then received a jade slip detailing the soul-sealing technique and precautions.
• Su Hong asked whether Li Yan had come to the Tianli Clan, and the Third Elder questioned her motives before Su Hong explained their connection through a voice transmission.
• After hearing Su Hong’s detailed account of Li Yan on the Desolate Moon Continent, the Third Elder recognized that Su Hong knew more about him than she did.

Su Hong learned that Li Yan was in the Tianli Clan and traveled there, where she met him as he prepared to become the Qing'a King. Their reunion ended with Su Hong deciding to stay for his wedding ceremony and teasing him about the invitation.

• Su Hong found Li Yan’s name in Guiqulaixi’s information and chose to join the Tianli Clan transaction so she could see him.
• The Third Elder told Su Hong that Li Yan was with the clan and would soon become the Qing'a King, prompting Su Hong to request a meeting as an “old acquaintance from the wind and snow.”
• Li Yan received the message in his secret chamber, finished his cultivation session, and went to meet Su Hong.
• Su Hong sent Uncle Ning and Uncle Lian outside, then teased Li Yan about becoming Dao Companions again and about leaving the Qingqing Continent without bidding her farewell in person.
• Su Hong said she would stay for Li Yan’s wedding wine and asked him to give her an invitation, while Li Yan agreed and she playfully claimed her presence brought him prestige.

Li Yan and Su Hong left their private conversation to meet Wan Qingshe, a Sword-Washing Sect cultivator whose interest in Su Hong stirred his jealousy. The Third Elder warned Li Yan that Wan had come to demand an explanation about the Tianli Clan’s peace with the Wind Beasts, leaving Li Yan to face a powerful sect’s challenge to the clan’s controversial alliance.

• Su Hong told Li Yan that the Third Elder and Wan Qingshe were waiting in the main hall, and explained that Wan came from the Sword-Washing Sect.
• Li Yan suspected Wan had followed Su Hong, but the Third Elder warned him by voice transmission that Wan had come with ill intent.
• Wan greeted Li Yan, then invited Su Hong to travel with him; Su Hong declined and stood behind Li Yan.
• The Third Elder explained that Wan represented the Sword-Washing Sect and had come to demand an explanation for the Tianli Clan’s peace with the Wind Beasts.
• Li Yan learned that the alliance had divided other forces, with some seeking to learn from it and others condemning the Tianli Clan.

Li Yan and the Third Elder rejected Wan Qingshe’s attempt to pressure the Tianli Clan into ending its dealings with the Wind Beasts. Wan Qingshe left after being rebuffed, while Su Hong followed Li Yan, leaving the Third Elder wondering about their connection.

• Li Yan and the Third Elder discussed the Sword Cleansing Sect’s opposition to the Tianli Clan’s peace talks and the clan’s refusal to submit to outside demands.
• Wan Qingshe questioned Li Yan about his origins and connection to Su Hong, but Li Yan ended the conversation and headed for the door.
• Su Hong followed Li Yan, prompting Wan Qingshe to accuse him of treating a guest rudely.
• The Third Elder defended Li Yan as an honored guest and told Wan Qingshe the clan would consider his demand, while making clear he should leave.
• Wan Qingshe denounced the Tianli Clan’s support of the Wind Beasts and departed after the Third Elder dismissed his warning.
• The Third Elder watched Su Hong stand beside Li Yan and wondered whether she had come to stay because of him.

Wan Qingshe used his suspicion that Li Yan might be a wanted criminal as an excuse to challenge him to a three-sword test. Li Yan accepted, and the chapter ended after he effortlessly deflected Wan Qingshe’s first surprise attack.

• The Third Elder asked Li Yan to host Su Hong while she went to visit Hongyin.
• Wan Qingshe confronted Li Yan, claiming his master, Heavenly Sword Hua, had detected Li Yan’s arrival and demanding that he prove his cultivation arts were not those of a wanted villain.
• Li Yan recognized Wan Qingshe’s accusation as a pretext to bully the Tianli Clan and agreed to block three swords.
• The group traveled to a remote mountain region, where Wan Qingshe attacked Li Yan with a sudden sword strike aimed at his head.
• Li Yan precisely struck Wan Qingshe’s flying sword and deflected it without visibly moving, leaving Wan Qingshe shocked.

Li Yan stopped Wan Qingshe’s colossal sword attack with a punch and sent the sword crashing back through its vortex, injuring Wan Qingshe. As Wan Qingshe charged again, Li Yan reflected on the power of his life-bound treasure and the cultivation method behind his counterattack.

• Wan Qingshe summoned a colossal azure sword from a storm-filled vortex and drove it down at Li Yan.
• Li Yan stopped the sword with his fist, then hurled it back into the vortex, causing it to explode and injure Wan Qingshe.
• Li Yan flew away as Su Hong, the Third Elder, and the others fled the blast waves sweeping across the mountain peaks.
• Wan Qingshe recovered, summoned his azure sword, and charged Li Yan again with greater ferocity.
• Li Yan recalled that the Guiyi Water-Parting Spike had withstood Wan Qingshe’s first strike and that he had used Tuban and the Nine Cauldrons Gui Water cultivation method to repel the second.

Wan Qingshe attacked Li Yan with his Shattered Shadow Sword, but Li Yan caught the real sword and exposed the gap in their abilities. Jealous of Su Hong’s affection for Li Yan, Wan Qingshe launched a poisoned sneak attack; Li Yan struck back and appeared unharmed, leaving Wan Qingshe shocked by the Jade-Scaled Mystic Snake’s condition.

• Wan Qingshe unleashed his Shattered Shadow Sword, and Li Yan caught the real flying sword between two fingers without being harmed by the illusions.
• The Third Elder announced that Wan Qingshe’s three moves were over, and Li Yan returned the sword as Su Hong asked him to join the shop as an executive elder.
• Jealous of Su Hong’s warmth toward Li Yan, Wan Qingshe secretly sent his Jade-Scaled Mystic Snake to bite Li Yan’s neck.
• Li Yan knocked the snake away, vanished, and struck Wan Qingshe from behind, injuring him and sending him flying a hundred zhang.
• The Third Elder demanded the antidote, while Su Hong identified the snake as a venomous Jade-Scaled Mystic Snake capable of killing nascent soul cultivators.
• Li Yan told the Third Elder not to intervene and appeared unaffected by the venom; Wan Qingshe then saw the snake return in a condition that shocked him.

Li Yan defeated Wan Qingshe’s ambush with his poison techniques, but spared him to avoid provoking the Spirit Transformation cultivator backing him. As Li Yan and Su Hong returned to the Tianli Clan, the Third Elder made arrangements in response to the Sword Cleansing Sect’s actions.

• Wan Qingshe’s Jade-scaled Mystic Serpent attacked Li Yan, who poisoned the magical treasure and struck Wan Qingshe with a toxin that rapidly drained his magical power.
• Wan Qingshe fled after taking pills, and Li Yan told the Third Elder not to pursue him because he was unharmed.
• Li Yan explained that Wan Qingshe would suffer from the poison for years, but he had spared him to avoid drawing the Sword Cleansing Sect’s Spirit Transformation cultivator into conflict with the Tianli Clan.
• Su Hong showed concern for Li Yan and asked whether he had felt the serpent’s venom enter his body; Li Yan denied having symptoms and changed the subject to Hong Yin’s physical body.
• The two masked elders privately speculated that Li Yan possessed a peerless poison body, while the Third Elder informed the Great Elder and Gong Shanhe about the incident and prepared the clan for further trouble.

Li Yan and Su Hong grew closer through their conversations, while Su Hong became increasingly curious about his rise in power. As the Qing'a King Entering Residence Ceremony approached, Hong Yin sealed herself away to attempt a body seizure, and Li Yan reunited with Gong Chenying, who had been spending time with Su Hong.

• Li Yan maintained his friendship with Su Hong, judging that her powerful merchant establishment and its connections made her valuable to know, while Su Hong found his mysterious strength increasingly intriguing.
• Hong Yin accepted the physical body Su Hong had brought, then sealed herself and the body inside a secret chamber to attempt a body seizure, leaving Gong Chenying instructions to break in and kill whoever remained if she sent no message after half a year.
• After emerging from seclusion, Gong Chenying befriended Su Hong and showed her around the Tianli Clan, leaving Li Yan with fewer chances to spend time with Gong Chenying.
• Qianji and Zi Kun emerged from Tuban with a group of cultivators and mortal warriors, while the Tianli Clan prepared for the Qing'a King Entering Residence Ceremony.
• Ten days before the ceremony, Gong Chenying visited Li Yan in the pavilion, and he teased her about keeping Su Hong company and not yet receiving her congratulatory gift.

Li Yan inspected the healing bracelet Su Hong had given Gong Chen Ying and confirmed that it had no hidden dangers and could rapidly heal wounds. As their wedding preparations began, the Tianli Clan elders brought Li Yan to the newly built King Qing'a residence and arranged for him to learn the wedding rites.

• Gong Chen Ying showed Li Yan the valuable healing bracelet Su Hong had insisted she accept and asked him to check it for hidden dangers.
• Li Yan examined the bracelet, tested its healing effect on a wound he made in his arm, and found no sign of tracking or surveillance.
• Gong Chen Ying told Li Yan that Tianli Clan custom would keep them apart until the wedding, then kissed his forehead before leaving.
• The Third Elder brought the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Elders to explain the wedding arrangements and escort Li Yan to the King Qing'a residence in the Second Elder's branch.
• Li Yan joked about taking the name Miao Yan, and the elders laughed as they began preparing him to learn the wedding etiquette.

Li Yan endured the Tianli Clan’s elaborate wedding customs and returned with Gong Chenyin to the Qing'a King Residence, where cultivators gathered for their celebration. The visitors witnessed the peaceful passage through wind beast territory, and Divine Monk Konghai and Chan Master Xujie arrived as the festivities began.

• Li Yan joined the Tianli Clan’s wedding procession, watched Qianji, Zi Kun, and A Ling handle the village’s challenges, and passed Su Hong’s test of eating half-cooked rice before returning with Gong Chenyin.
• The Tianli Clan held a vast wedding banquet, and more than forty Golden Core cultivators and seven Nascent Soul cultivators arrived to congratulate Li Yan.
• The visiting cultivators crossed wind beast territory without being attacked, and they realized that the Tianli Clan’s agreement with the beasts had transformed their journey.
• Divine Monk Konghai and Chan Master Xujie arrived at the Qing'a King Residence, and Li Yan welcomed them before they joined the other guests.

Li Yan and Gong Chenying’s wedding brought the Tianli Clan’s allies and the three wind beast clans together, while Yan San’s unexpected gift signaled goodwill. After the wedding night, Li Yan and Gong Chenying both discovered mysterious changes in their bodies, leaving Li Yan unsure what had caused them.

• Su Hong spoke with the Nascent Soul cultivators and made several deals as the wedding celebrations continued.
• Yan San arrived alone to congratulate Li Yan and presented three storage rings filled with spirit stones and rare Sky Eye Pit materials before departing.
• Li Yan told Zhuo Lingfeng and Divine Monk Konghai about the wind beasts and stressed that strength was needed to encourage them to change; Konghai left soon afterward, apparently eager to discuss an idea with other monks.
• Su Hong took her leave, teasing Li Yan about marrying again, and Li Yan later joined Gong Chenying in their wedding chamber.
• The morning after their wedding, Li Yan found that the elemental threads in his Nascent Soul had grown thicker and that he had gained new insights into wood, fire, and earth; Gong Chenying also examined herself and seemed puzzled.

Li Yan and A-Ying investigated the unusual cultivation changes they experienced after their wedding night, then entered seclusion when those insights began to fade. A-Ying successfully formed a Nascent Soul, while years later Li Yan refined the eighth drop of Undying Nether Phoenix essence blood and endured severe damage to his bones and flesh.

• A-Ying discovered that her spiritual power had improved and that she had gained an elusive feeling toward fire-element power, and she and Li Yan speculated that their Three Talents and Five Elements spiritual roots were connected to the change.
• After their later intimacy produced no similar effects, Li Yan and A-Ying noticed their newfound feelings fading and entered separate periods of seclusion to comprehend them.
• Seven years later, A-Ying underwent the Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation and successfully formed her Nascent Soul, then returned to seclusion to stabilize her realm.
• Four years later, A-Ying emerged with her realm stabilized and combat strength sufficient to contend with a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, while Li Yan remained in seclusion.
• As Li Yan's five elements approached balance, he refined his final drop of Undying Nether Phoenix essence blood, causing his flesh to peel from his bones and cracks to spread through them.

Li Yan nearly lost control while refining the Undying Underworld Phoenix's blood essence, but his five-element powers helped him break through to the Nascent Soul Late Stage. He tested how different elements changed Nine Cauldrons Gui Water and ended by wondering how to find the lost cultivation techniques for Gong Chenying's Three Talents Spirit Root.

• Li Yan's eighth drop of blood essence overwhelmed his body, but his Nascent Soul released wood-, fire-, and earth-element powers that repaired and protected him as he refined it.
• Li Yan gained insight into the flexible interplay of the five elements, manifested a water marking on his forehead, and broke through to the Nascent Soul Late Stage after nine days.
• Li Yan tested Nine Cauldrons Gui Water, finding that earth-element power increased its striking force while metal-element power made it faster but less enduring.
• Li Yan reflected that he had not gained insight into the law of life or improved Soul-Tethering Kill, and wondered why the Three Talents Spirit Root's cultivation records had been lost.

Li Yan inspected his breakthrough to the late Nascent Soul Realm and discovered two powerful new Five Immortal Sect techniques, then spent five years stabilizing his cultivation. He emerged to find Gong Chenying had stabilized her Nascent Soul, while Hong Yin had left to travel the Wind God Continent.

• Li Yan found that his spiritual power and Nascent Soul had grown greatly, with silver streaks from the Undying Nether Phoenix's essence blood appearing on his Nascent Soul.
• Li Yan discovered the Five Elements Chaotic Cloak, which disrupted nearby Five Elements laws at the risk of severe backlash to his sea of consciousness.
• Li Yan learned Shaking Heaven and Earth could teleport with the physical body and carry another person, giving him new confidence that he could escape with Gong Chenying.
• Li Yan spent five years stabilizing his realm while Gong Chenying stabilized her Nascent Soul and became an elder of the Tianli Clan.
• Hong Yin stabilized her late Nascent Soul Realm, reinforced the underground seal with the Great Elder and Yan San, and departed to investigate the Wind God Continent.
• Li Yan emerged from seclusion and congratulated Gong Chenying on entering the Nascent Soul Realm.