Chapter Summaries

Dong Fuyi and Pei Buchong infiltrated the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect on the Northern Ice Continent, fought its cultivators, and escaped after Dong Fuyi was badly injured. Half a year later, Li Yan continued recovering in seclusion, while Dong Fuyi and his companions traveled through the shattered void toward the Desolate Moon Continent to find him.

• Dong Fuyi confronted Xiao Yunzong inside a yin-yang subsidiary formation, where Xiao Yunzong tried to delay him until reinforcements arrived.
• Pei Buchong killed the sect’s cultivators outside the formation and cleaned away the bodies and traces of battle.
• A badly wounded enemy escaped through a spatial rift, and Dong Fuyi emerged injured before ordering Pei Buchong to break the formation and free their companion.
• Half a year later, Banjiang gave the recovering Li Yan a bottle of Immortal Transformation Liquid, which stabilized his soul after a day.
• Dong Fuyi, a yellow-robed Daoist, and Pei Buchong traveled through the shattered void toward the Desolate Moon Continent, where Dong Fuyi intended to find Li Yan.

True Lord Qianzhong, Dong Fuyi, and Pei Buchong set out for the Lost Continent to seek news of Li Yan and Ping Tu. Over the next thirty years, the Tianli Clan survived the Sword-Washing Sect’s destruction and repeated attacks, while Hong Yin and Gong Chenying eventually left to pursue answers and check Li Yan’s soul lamp.

• True Lord Qianzhong sensed news of Li Yan through his Divine Thought on the Lost Continent, and he, Dong Fuyi, and Pei Buchong agreed to go there before returning to the Immortal-Spirit Realm.
• Xue Longzi’s attempt to seize the Tianli Clan ended with Wan Qingshe dead and Xue Longzi dragged into a spatial rift by King Qing'a; the Skyfire wind beasts then destroyed the Sword-Washing Sect.
• Sword cultivators attacked the Tianli Clan seven times over twenty years, but the clan and Yan San’s wind beasts fought them off at great cost, and the attacks eventually ceased.
• Trade and cooperation between humans and wind beasts grew, while the Tianli Clan gained strength as its Third Elder and A Yuan advanced and the Fifth Elder recovered and broke through.
• In the twenty-seventh year after Li Yan left, Hong Yin departed for the Desolate Moon Continent with Gong Chenying, Qianji, and Zi Kun to investigate the Red-Whisk Temple, while Gong Chenying planned to check Li Yan’s soul lamp.

Thirty years after Li Yan vanished from the Wind God Continent, Zhao Min encountered Hong Yin, Gong Chenying, and the others in turbulent space, while Li Yan remained in seclusion in the Immortal Spirit Realm. The Pojun Sect faced a provocation from the Dragon Capturing Sect as Li Yan slowly healed his damaged sea of consciousness.

• Gong Chenying left the Wind God Continent with the two demons, while Su Hong mourned Li Yan’s disappearance and Zhao Min later set out to search for him.
• Thirty-seven years into Li Yan’s seclusion, Mang Yan and three Dragon Capturing Sect cultivators demanded that Shangguan Tianque surrender five Pojun Sect disciples for a soul search.
• Shangguan Tianque refused, recognizing the accusation as a pretext to weaken the Pojun Sect and target a promising disciple.
• A Dragon Capturing Sect woman threatened Shangguan Tianque’s red-robed junior sister with violence, bringing the confrontation to the brink of battle.
• Li Yan continued mending his sea of consciousness and estimated that he would need about ten more years before he could safely use a little divine sense.

Li Yan left seclusion after Banjiang told him that four Nascent Soul cultivators were overwhelming Shangguan Tianque and his junior sister. He joined the battle, killed Mang Yan with a single punch, and charged the sinister middle-aged man despite his soul-attacking bronze bell.

• Banjiang interrupted Li Yan's seclusion to report that the sect was under attack and Shangguan Tianque and his junior sister were close to defeat.
• Li Yan learned that the enemy had four Nascent Soul cultivators and rushed into the sky without waiting for further explanation.
• Mang Yan and his allies pressed Shangguan Tianque and his junior sister, who argued over whether she should flee or stand with him.
• Li Yan struck Mang Yan from behind, shattered his protective barrier, destroyed his body, and crushed his Nascent Soul before it could escape.
• The sinister middle-aged man rang his bronze bell at Li Yan, but Li Yan resisted the soul attack and launched another savage attack at him.

Li Yan ignored a soul attack and killed Mang Yan and the sinister middle-aged man’s physical body, then returned to cultivation while Shangguan Tianque and his junior sister destroyed the Dragon Seizing Sect. Shangguan Tianque later negotiated with the Blood Lantern Sect, which sought to recruit Li Yan, and he and the woman in red resolved to keep him in the Broken Army Sect.

• Li Yan resisted the copper bell’s soul attack, killed the sinister middle-aged man’s body, and collected the copper bell and three rings, while the man’s Nascent Soul escaped.
• Li Yan returned to his cave residence and resumed cultivating, and Yu Banjiang watched in shock as the cave gates closed.
• Shangguan Tianque and his junior sister killed the plump woman, pursued the wounded seductive woman, and destroyed the Dragon Seizing Sect.
• Shangguan Tianque’s forces occupied the Dragon Seizing Sect’s territory, and he later agreed to pay the Blood Lantern Sect forty percent of the sect’s annual Attendant in exchange for protection and a settlement.
• Shangguan Tianque learned that the Blood Lantern Sect wanted to recruit Li Yan, and the woman in red insisted that they keep him in their sect.

Li Yan used the True Essence Pill to repair his sea of consciousness and awaken his severely damaged Nascent Soul, then spent years recovering in seclusion. He emerged and summoned Yu Banjiang, who feared he was about to leave the Army-Breaking Sect, but Li Yan only wanted to speak with Shangguan Tianque.

• Shangguan Tianque and the woman in red discussed Li Yan’s refusal to meet them and decided to tell the Blood Lamp Sect that he remained in seclusion.
• Li Yan endured the pain of opening Tuban and retrieved the True Essence Pill, then took it to treat his injuries.
• Eight months later, Li Yan’s Divine Sense had recovered, and he visited the Snow Mosquito clan within Tuban while reflecting on Qianji and Zi Kun.
• The True Essence Pill repaired Li Yan’s sea of consciousness and awakened his Nascent Soul, though the Nascent Soul remained badly damaged and his spiritual power had only partly returned.
• Five years later, Li Yan emerged from seclusion and summoned Yu Banjiang, who worried that Li Yan intended to leave the Army-Breaking Sect.
• Li Yan reassured Yu Banjiang and asked after Shangguan Tianque, and Yu Banjiang offered to send him a voice transmission.

Li Yan examined Banjiang and identified an unresolved problem with his divine soul: his Earth Soul and Human Soul had overlapped after being forced back into his body. He offered to help separate them with a talisman, but Banjiang was left to consider the dangerous procedure and consult Shangguan Tianque.

• Banjiang allowed Li Yan to examine him, and Li Yan found that damage from Banjiang’s heart demon tribulation had not fully healed.
• Li Yan explained that Banjiang’s Earth Soul and Human Soul had overlapped, causing dizziness during deep meditation.
• Banjiang asked whether the problem could be repaired, and Li Yan warned that separating and restoring the souls could be fatal or leave him unconscious.
• Li Yan offered to use a talisman to ease the pain of separating Banjiang’s soul, asking for no reward in return for Banjiang’s past help.
• Li Yan urged Banjiang to consult Shangguan Tianque and suggested that Shangguan stand guard during the procedure.

After leaving seclusion, Li Yan met with Shangguan Tianque and Ren Yanyu and agreed to treat Yu Banjiang’s damaged soul. He declined an invitation to meet the Blood Lamp Sect, choosing to remain with the Pojun Sect, where his appointment as an elder was discussed.

• Li Yan planned to learn about the North Pasture Realm and find a way to contact the lower realm before pursuing the Wangliang Sect or Guiyi Immortal Sect.
• Shangguan Tianque and Ren Yanyu arrived to welcome Li Yan, and Li Yan learned that the Pojun Sect had absorbed the Dragon Seizing Sect’s territory.
• Yu Banjiang told Shangguan Tianque that Li Yan had identified a way to heal his soul, and Li Yan arranged to treat him after three days of recovery.
• Shangguan Tianque and Ren Yanyu told Li Yan how they had founded the Pojun Sect together and asked about his origins, but Li Yan shared little.
• Shangguan Tianque invited Li Yan to meet the Blood Lamp Sect, but Li Yan refused and then agreed to stay in the Pojun Sect as they discussed his appointment as an elder.

Li Yan joined the Breaker Army Sect as its third elder and helped separate Banjiang’s intertwined souls. After surveying the surrounding region, he returned to the sect with plans to recover his cultivation and investigate routes toward a cross-domain teleportation array, while his search for Return Home remained fruitless.

• Li Yan accepted the Breaker Army Sect’s offer but declined a formal entry ceremony, and the sect announced him as its third elder.
• Li Yan used a concealed talisman and brush to draw Banjiang’s intertwined souls apart while Shangguan Tianque and Ren Yanyu watched.
• Shangguan Tianque thanked Li Yan after he confirmed that Banjiang had possessed two intertwined souls rather than a simple injury.
• Li Yan surveyed the region, attended the sect’s brief welcoming ceremony, and learned that the route to the nearest cross-domain teleportation array crossed the perilous Heavenly Demon Grassland.
• Li Yan found no trace of Return Home in the marketplaces he visited and returned to the Breaker Army Sect, where disciples greeted him respectfully.

Shangguan Tianque asked Li Yan to accompany him to the Endless Market to bid on rare Silver Void Grass, and Li Yan agreed after learning the journey could be dangerous. Three months later, they set out together on a powerful Azure Cloud Sparrow.

• Shangguan Tianque invited Li Yan to either accompany him to the Endless Market or guard the sect, and Li Yan chose to travel with him.
• Shangguan Tianque revealed that he planned to bid on two four-thousand-year-old coexisting Silver Void Grasses and feared an ambush if they won them.
• Li Yan agreed to prepare for the trip, and Shangguan Tianque gave him thirty thousand high-grade spirit stones as compensation.
• Li Yan shut himself in his cave abode and cultivated for three months to recover his Nascent Soul.
• Shangguan Tianque and Li Yan departed for the Endless Market aboard an Azure Cloud Sparrow, whose speed and quality impressed Li Yan.

Li Yan traveled with Shangguan Tianque to a vast marketplace, learning about Meteor Palace puppets and the Immortal-Spirit Realm along the way. They settled at the Between Water and Clouds Inn ahead of an auction in seven days, while Shangguan Tianque hinted he might leave before then.

• Li Yan questioned Shangguan Tianque about the Azure Cloud Sparrow, and learned it was a rare, powerful puppet crafted by Meteor Palace and identifiable by its meteor insignia.
• Shangguan Tianque told Li Yan they were nearing the marketplace, where they paid the entry fee and learned a Void Refinement cultivator guarded the area.
• Shangguan Tianque led Li Yan to the Between Water and Clouds Inn and warned him that formations recorded conflicts and that the first person to provoke trouble would be punished.
• Li Yan and Shangguan Tianque discussed how mortals lived and worked in the Immortal-Spirit Realm, and Li Yan recalled his family and the village from his past.
• The inn attendant showed Li Yan and Shangguan Tianque their protected rooms, and Shangguan Tianque said the auction would take place in seven days and offered to advance Li Yan spirit stones if needed.
• Shangguan Tianque said he had matters to attend to and might not accompany Li Yan around the marketplace, prompting Li Yan to suspect he intended to leave before the auction.

Li Yan searched the market for a defensive formation and information about “Returning Home,” but found neither at a price or in a form he could use. He then explored a free market, where an item caught his attention, and began examining a stall.

• Li Yan inspected his inn room, set up a warning formation, and decided to search the market for better defenses.
• A masked woman of the mid-stage Nascent Soul Realm emerged from the neighboring courtyard, and she and Li Yan cautiously assessed each other before heading out.
• Li Yan visited shops, rejected overpriced formations, and learned that the market mainly served cultivators at the Spirit Transformation Realm and below.
• Unable to find information about “Returning Home” or a way to send messages to the lower realm, Li Yan went to the free market and lowered his aura to the mid-stage Golden Core Realm.
• As Li Yan browsed the stalls, he thought of Bai Rou, Sun Guoshu, Zhao Min, and the others, then stopped at a stall and began examining its wares.

Li Yan bought four Twin-Winged Flying Bear bones and a mysterious Red Handheld Lantern after sensing an aura resembling the Heaven-Stealing Kerchief's. Back in his room, he examined the lantern and discovered its faint aura vanished under close inspection, leaving him to investigate its materials by sight.

• Li Yan bought four beast bones from the portly middle-aged cultivator, then bargained for the Red Handheld Lantern and paid ten low-grade spirit stones.
• Li Yan sensed that the lantern's faint aura resembled the Heaven-Stealing Kerchief's, though he could not identify its source.
• Li Yan continued shopping before returning to the Water Amid Clouds Inn, where he noticed the black-robed masked woman entering her courtyard nearby.
• Li Yan examined the lantern with his Divine Sense and found its aura appeared from a distance but disappeared when he inspected it closely.
• Li Yan used magical power in his eyes to study the lantern's parts and found a sinew cord and a frame made of forty-nine warm, flexible Demon Beast bones.

Li Yan tested the red lantern and the Heaven-Stealing Kerchief without uncovering the lantern’s secrets before Shangguan Tianque invited him to a small trading gathering ahead of an auction. As they prepared to leave, Donglin Tingyue emerged from a nearby courtyard, and Shangguan Tianque introduced him to Li Yan.

• Li Yan examined the red lantern, tested it with flames, and tried using the Heaven-Stealing Kerchief as a wick, but neither produced a reaction.
• Shangguan Tianque contacted Li Yan and invited him to a trading gathering with Nascent Soul cultivators before the market auction.
• Shangguan Tianque offered Li Yan ten thousand high-grade spirit stones, and Li Yan thanked him.
• Shangguan Tianque said they would wait for another acquaintance, then a masked man emerged from the courtyard opposite Li Yan’s lodging.
• Shangguan Tianque introduced the man as Donglin Tingyue of the Donglin Lineage, surprising Li Yan.

Li Yan accompanied Shangguan Tianque and Donglin Tingyue to a private trading gathering, where the cultivators were surprised to meet the man who had killed Mang Yan. As the gathering assembled, Liu Huaigu of the Azure Ram Temple arrived, and Shangguan Tianque warned Li Yan that he was hostile to their sect.

• Shangguan Tianque introduced Li Yan to Donglin Tingyue, who was surprised that the quiet young cultivator had killed Mang Yan.
• Shangguan Tianque and Donglin Tingyue led Li Yan through a concealed path to a rented courtyard where a trading gathering was underway.
• Shangguan Tianque introduced Li Yan to Shentu Tianduan and the other attendees, who recognized Li Yan as Mang Yan's killer.
• Shentu Tianduan welcomed Li Yan and his companions, and Shangguan Tianque identified the gathering's human and Demon Race cultivators.
• Liu Huaigu arrived from the Azure Ram Temple, and Shangguan Tianque privately warned Li Yan that the Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivator was powerful and hostile toward their sect.

At a small trading meet, Liu Huaigu needled Shangguan Tianque about his plans to acquire rare materials, while Li Yan observed the gathering of Nascent Soul cultivators. Shentu Tianduan opened the trading with a 2,700-year-old Iceflame Fruit, which the icy young man from the Mysterious Nether Ghost Serpent clan ultimately bought at a steep price.

• Liu Huaigu revealed that Shangguan Tianque was seeking materials for a breakthrough, then learned that the newly appointed Po Jun Sect elder beside him was Li Yan.
• Donglin Tingyue urged Shentu Tianduan to begin the trading meet before the cultivators could provoke a confrontation or test Li Yan's strength.
• Shentu Tianduan displayed a 2,700-year-old Iceflame Fruit, and Li Yan felt the ice law power within stir the Gui Water in his dantian.
• Shentu Tianduan set the Iceflame Fruit's starting price at 400,000 mid-grade spirit stones and explained that it might contain a thread of fire law power as well as ice law power.
• Donglin Tingyue, the icy young man from the Mysterious Nether Ghost Serpent clan, and the tall woman from the Frostcloud Crane clan competed for the fruit, driving its price sharply higher.
• The icy young man from the Mysterious Nether Ghost Serpent clan won the Iceflame Fruit, while Li Yan chose not to bid.

At the trading gathering, Donglin Tingyue offered a mysterious, indestructible silver sand as a reward for curing his younger brother’s unknown poison. Li Yan recognized that the toxin corroded and solidified spiritual power, and Liu Huaigu voiced a similar theory, but no cure had yet been found.

• Shangguan Tianque sold a rare wood-element pill ingredient for 370,000 mid-grade spirit stones after Liu Huaigu had repeatedly raised prices against his earlier bids.
• Donglin Tingyue presented mysterious silver sand that could attack the sea of consciousness and offered it in exchange for help treating his poisoned younger brother.
• The cultivators examined a piece of the victim’s flesh, but none recognized the poison or found a way to remove it.
• Li Yan determined that the toxin corroded and solidified spiritual power, causing the channels to petrify more severely than the flesh.
• Liu Huaigu proposed that the poison corroded spiritual power, and Donglin Tingyue asked what evidence supported his opinion.

At the trade meet, Li Yan demonstrated that he could remove the poison damaging Donglin Tingyue’s younger brother, surprising the gathered cultivators. Because his cure required him to personally use an immortal art rather than provide pills, Donglin Tingyue weighed the risks and ultimately asked him to accompany her to the Donglin Lineage.

• Liu Huaigu explained that the poison targeted spiritual power and said he needed to examine Donglin Tingyue’s younger brother before deciding how to treat it.
• Li Yan declared that he could treat the poison, then showed the others a piece of flesh whose damaged meridians had recovered after his technique removed most of the poison.
• Donglin Tingyue and Li Yan discussed the matter privately, and Li Yan revealed that his immortal art devoured magical power rather than relying on antidote pills.
• Donglin Tingyue considered the risks of letting Li Yan treat her brother directly, who could resist the poison for about a year, and decided to invite Li Yan to the Donglin Lineage.
• Li Yan said he could not leave immediately because he had other matters to attend to.

Li Yan and Shangguan Tianque secretly left the market after Shangguan Tianque won the twin-grown Sky Silver Grass at auction. They traveled southwest aboard the White Jade Boat with Donglin Tingyue, and the journey remained calm as they continued toward their destination.

• Donglin Tingyue offered to travel with Shangguan Tianque after he finished his business, and he agreed to her proposal.
• Four days later, Li Yan accompanied Shangguan Tianque to the auction, where Shangguan Tianque spent nearly all his spirit stones to win the Sky Silver Grass.
• Three nights later, Li Yan and Shangguan Tianque met outside the market in disguises, and Shangguan Tianque revealed that he had invited Donglin Tingyue to join them.
• Donglin Tingyue arrived, and the three boarded Shangguan Tianque's White Jade Boat to travel southwest while avoiding other parties.
• Five days into the journey, Li Yan kept watch while Shangguan Tianque and Donglin Tingyue meditated, and the group continued without incident.

Li Yan, Shangguan Tianque, and Donglin Tingyue were ambushed by six Nascent Soul Realm cultivators who suspected Shangguan Tianque was their target. The trio scattered to escape, and the attackers divided their forces to pursue them, leaving Li Yan facing a mid-stage Nascent Soul Realm cultivator.

• Li Yan sensed an attack and guided the White Jade Boat through a barrage of projectiles before the attackers surrounded the trio.
• The six ambushers revealed their Nascent Soul Realm cultivation, and Donglin Tingyue recognized the two matching red-robed masks as a reason to fear they had been targeted.
• The gaunt young man ordered the six to kill the trio, so Donglin Tingyue urged them to split up and break through.
• Li Yan and Shangguan Tianque agreed to scatter first, and the three left the White Jade Boat and flew in separate directions.
• The gaunt young man and a masked red-robed cultivator pursued Shangguan Tianque, while a mid-stage Nascent Soul Realm old man flew after Li Yan.