Chapter Summaries

Li Yan left Jia Fugui and Donglin Tingyue concealed near the stern and secretly went to the second level to investigate the cultivators controlling the vessel. He reached the first room without being detected, but his brief inspection found no one inside.

• Li Yan told Jia Fugui and Donglin Tingyue to hide near the stern while he investigated the second level alone, and he gave them a jade slip to verify his identity if he returned.
• Jia Fugui and Donglin Tingyue moved toward the bow and saw that Li Yan had disappeared up the staircase.
• Li Yan used the Heaven-Stealing Kerchief and his concealment techniques to pass through the restrictions and reach the second level unnoticed.
• Li Yan approached the first room and slowly opened a tiny gap in its powerful array restrictions.
• Li Yan quickly probed the first room with his Divine Sense and found it empty.

Li Yan investigated the upper deck of the vessel, discovered Yuan and an intelligent demon vine guarding the captured Chongyangzi, and hid inside their room after his presence was exposed. Yuan then encountered the old woman surnamed He near the stairway, but her expression changed as she prepared to question her.

• Li Yan sensed a powerful aura in the third room, and Yuan investigated after the Azurefall Demon Vine warned her that someone might be spying.
• Yuan found no response from the old woman surnamed He and discovered that the first-floor deck was empty, so she went downstairs to investigate.
• Li Yan entered the third room and saw Chongyangzi bound beside a thick vine, while Yuan emerged near the stairway and spotted the old woman surnamed He.
• Yuan's face changed drastically just as she was about to question the old woman surnamed He.

Yuan was poisoned by Li Yan’s trap on the first level and suspected that He had ambushed her, while Li Yan discovered that the Azurefall Demon Vine was a fifth-tier spirit plant guarding the captive Chongyangzi. The chapter left Li Yan abandoning his rescue attempt and uncertain how to proceed.

• Yuan was struck by Li Yan’s illusion poison and five Zhili Poisons at the stairway, but pills and her cultivation helped her suppress most of them as she retreated upstairs.
• Yuan found the first-level deck empty, ordered the Azurefall Demon Vine to guard the second level, and smashed open several rooms while searching for He.
• Yuan considered whether He had acted alone or Heart Tempering Valley had arranged the poisoning, then tried to contact the cultivators in the first-level rooms.
• Li Yan saw Chongyangzi bound by the vine and realized that Tianshan Garden and Fuling Manor had likely attacked the other sects.
• Li Yan sensed the Azurefall Demon Vine’s oppressive aura and recognized that he had mistaken the fifth-tier spirit plant for a fourth-tier one.
• Li Yan concluded that the vine could suppress Chongyangzi and abandoned his plan to rescue him.

Li Yan tried to exploit the stairway to trap the poisoned female cultivator surnamed Yuan, but she descended with the tall old man in green robes, complicating his ambush. The chapter left Li Yan struggling to pull both opponents into Tuban at once.

• Li Yan watched the female cultivator surnamed Yuan search the rooms and concluded that Chen Xingshan and the others had likely been killed.
• The female cultivator surnamed Yuan summoned the tall old man in green robes and told him to help kill everyone from Fuling Mountain Manor before they confronted the old woman surnamed He.
• The old man in green robes probed the poisoned stairway, and he and the female cultivator surnamed Yuan began descending after he judged the trap manageable.
• Li Yan waited at the stairway entrance and connected with Tuban, preparing an intangible passage to pull the descending enemy inside.
• Li Yan discovered that the tall old man in green robes followed the female cultivator surnamed Yuan, making it uncertain whether he could draw both into Tuban.

Li Yan used a dangerous ambush to pull the female cultivator surnamed Yuan and the green-robed elder into Tuban, though the effort severely injured his sea of consciousness. After recovering enough to secure the vessel, he confronted the elder inside Tuban, who tried to learn Li Yan’s identity.

• Li Yan’s hidden transmission trap caught the female cultivator surnamed Yuan and the green-robed elder, and he overcame their attempts to escape with magic treasures and a final surge of power.
• Li Yan sent both cultivators into Tuban, where he separated and confined them, then set up formations and took pills to recover from his overexertion.
• After an hour and a half, Li Yan found that his sea of consciousness remained intact but damaged, and he confirmed that no one else was aboard the flying vessel.
• The green-robed elder found himself trapped in Tuban’s fire-dominated desert and studied its five elemental rings before Li Yan appeared.
• The green-robed elder recognized Li Yan as the figure from the ambush, realized he was not Fellow Daoist He, and asked who he was.

Li Yan used Tuban’s Five Elements power to overwhelm the green-robed old man, then Soul Searched Chongyangzi and formed a plan to return to Pure Yang Hall without killing him. The chapter left the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator trapped on a riverbank as the poison in her body began to stir.

• Li Yan rained powerful fire on the green-robed old man, who failed to break Tuban’s laws and was burned nearly to death.
• Li Yan rescued Chongyangzi from the flames, stopped short of killing the green-robed old man, and left him trapped in Tuban.
• Li Yan Soul Searched Chongyangzi and learned about the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator’s attack, Pure Yang Hall, and the Heavenly Demon Grassland.
• Li Yan decided Chongyangzi could help him return openly to the sect and began forming a new plan.
• The Yuan-surnamed female cultivator failed to escape the riverbank where Tuban had trapped her, and the suppressed poison in her body began to stir.

Li Yan attacked the woman surnamed Yuan inside his spatial treasure, using its power to overwhelm her despite his damaged divine sense. After she tried to seduce him into sparing her, he opened a fissure beneath her and crushed her body and Nascent Soul, leaving the riverside grass restored.

• The woman surnamed Yuan healed herself beside the river and forced out part of Li Yan's poison while waiting for her unseen attacker to appear.
• Li Yan appeared across the river, and the woman surnamed Yuan recognized him as someone Chen Xingshan had brought to the expedition.
• Li Yan summoned an enormous axe from the storm clouds and struck the woman surnamed Yuan's red flower, knocking her back and then battering her until she fell.
• The woman surnamed Yuan pleaded for her life and offered to become Li Yan's slave, then used her beauty to distract him as he prepared a final shot.
• Li Yan opened a fissure beneath the woman surnamed Yuan, and the earth crushed her body and Nascent Soul before the ground closed again.

Li Yan learned from the female cultivator surnamed Yuan’s memories that Heart Refining Valley had orchestrated a plan to steal the Great Fruitless Fruit tree and destabilize Chunyang Hall. After altering Chongyangzi’s memories and reassuring Qianji’s companions, Li Yan returned to the flying boat, where Chongyangzi awoke and found his enemies gone.

• Li Yan killed the unconscious female cultivator surnamed Yuan’s Nascent Soul, spared her souls, and discovered Heart Refining Valley’s plan to steal the Great Fruitless Fruit tree and destroy Chunyang Hall from within.
• Li Yan learned that Heart Refining Valley and its allies had secretly sabotaged small sects and helped foster suspicion toward the Blood Lamp Sect.
• Li Yan used the rules of the realm to alter Chongyangzi’s memories while he remained sealed.
• Li Yan told Qianji’s five Snow Mosquito companions that Qianji was safe but unreachable, gave them pills and jade slips, and encouraged them to cultivate.
• Li Yan returned to the flying boat, removed most of the poison and formations, and waited as Chongyangzi regained consciousness.
• Chongyangzi surveyed the damaged boat, found his storage treasures missing, and discovered that the female cultivator surnamed Yuan, the Jadefall Demon Vine, and the old woman surnamed He were gone.

Chongyangzi awakened to find the flying vessel nearly empty and questioned Li Yan about the massacre and the disappearance of Yuan and the Biluomo Vine. After hearing Li Yan’s account, Chongyangzi remained suspicious, and Li Yan brought him to the deck to call out the surviving cultivators.

• Chongyangzi searched the vessel, found only Li Yan and the bodies of Chen Xingshan and another cultivator, and broke through the formation blocking the stairs.
• Chongyangzi questioned Li Yan about the deadly poison and the battle; Li Yan recounted how He slaughtered cultivators below and how he ambushed the injured Yuan on the upper deck.
• Chongyangzi considered Li Yan’s account but remained doubtful because the bodies of Yuan, He, and the other enemies were missing.
• Donglin Tingyue and Jia Fugui wondered why someone had swept through the lower deck without searching for them or finding Li Yan.
• Li Yan and Chongyangzi walked onto the deck, and Li Yan called for the hidden cultivators to come out.

Li Yan and Chongyangzi reunited with Jia Fugui and Donglin Tingyue, who verified their identities before emerging from hiding. Chongyangzi pieced together the rebellion and the battle, then told the two Nascent Soul cultivators they would undergo Bright Refinement, Heart Inquiry after returning.

• Jia Fugui stopped Donglin Tingyue from approaching Li Yan and Chongyangzi until they confirmed their identities with Li Yan’s jade slip.
• Li Yan and Chongyangzi called for the hidden pair, and Chongyangzi detected Jia Fugui and Donglin Tingyue at the stern.
• Jia Fugui and Donglin Tingyue recounted what they had witnessed while Chongyangzi questioned them and reconstructed the events aboard the vessel.
• Chongyangzi concluded that Tianshan Garden and Fuling Mountain Manor had betrayed them, and suspected Li Yan’s combat strength was exceptional.
• Chongyangzi told Jia Fugui and Donglin Tingyue they would undergo Bright Refinement, Heart Inquiry after they returned.

Li Yan and the others traveled with Chongyangzi toward the Great Fruitless tree after the crisis aboard the flying boat ended. Chongyangzi bypassed the usual route of pursuit and slaughter, flying them straight toward the core region so they could study the terrain.

• Chongyangzi promised to spare Li Yan the Heart-Questioning through Bright Refinement if Zuo and Jia Fugui's accounts matched, and Li Yan thanked him while remaining wary.
• Chongyangzi said they would visit the Great Fruitless tree before returning, while privately grieving the loss of his storage rings and the wealth they contained.
• Li Yan, Zuo, and Jia Fugui returned to the first level and chose rooms near one another for safety.
• After half a day, Chongyangzi summoned them to the deck, where they saw the sandstorm had vanished and the flying boat had reached the Great Fruitless region.
• Chongyangzi flew past the usual desert route toward the core region and urged Li Yan, Zuo, and Jia Fugui to study the terrain.

Li Yan, Jia Fugui, and Donglin Tingyue reached the Great Fruitless Fruit tree with Chongyangzi, who rewarded each of them with a fruit for their service. After their return to Chunyang Hall, Li Yan was questioned by a Void Refinement expert while the other two underwent Illuminating Refinement Heart Questioning, and the chapter left them gathered beside a teleportation formation with Chongyangzi.

• Li Yan and his companions reached the Great Fruitless Fruit tree, where Chongyangzi opened the formation and showed them the four fruits.
• Chongyangzi gave Li Yan, Jia Fugui, and Donglin Tingyue one Great Fruitless Fruit each and told them to keep the reward secret.
• Chongyangzi added restrictions around the tree, then led the three back toward Chunyang Hall by flying boat.
• At the desert lake, Chongyangzi left the boat alone before returning and continuing the journey to Chunyang Hall.
• Chunyang Hall questioned Li Yan and subjected Jia Fugui and Donglin Tingyue to Illuminating Refinement Heart Questioning.
• Chongyangzi met Li Yan beside a teleportation formation, and Jia Fugui and Donglin Tingyue soon arrived as well.

Chongyangzi offered Li Yan a place in Chunyang Hall, but Li Yan refused and asked the sect to show consideration for Pojun Sect amid the coming conflict. Chongyangzi gave him another Great Fruitless Fruit, and after the group escaped the Blood Lamp Sect under Chunyang Hall’s cover, Li Yan asked Jia Fugui about the Guiqulaixi trading firm.

• Chongyangzi warned Li Yan, Donglin Tingyue, and Jia Fugui to keep the incident secret and showed them Chunyang Hall’s planned public account.
• Chongyangzi invited Li Yan to join Chunyang Hall, but Li Yan declined because Pojun Sect had saved his life and he feared a war with Heart Refinement Valley.
• Chongyangzi accepted Li Yan’s decision and gave him an additional Great Fruitless Fruit as a reward.
• Chunyang Hall disguised the three with illusory companions and escorted them away from the Blood Lamp Sect to delay Heart Refinement Valley’s investigation.
• Jia Fugui thanked Li Yan and offered him help, and Li Yan asked whether Jia knew of the Guiqulaixi trading firm.

Li Yan returned from the battle for the Great Wu Fruit and asked Jia Fugui and Donglin Tingyue to help locate Returning Home. After reaching the Broken Army Sect, he concealed the true events of the battle while reporting a fabricated account to Shangguan Tianque and Ren Yanyu.

• Li Yan asked Jia Fugui about the trading firm Returning Home, and Jia Fugui promised to investigate through his sect’s Grand Elder.
• Li Yan and Donglin Tingyue traveled back together through patrols and inspections, then parted near the Broken Army Sect’s territory after Donglin Tingyue offered to search for Returning Home.
• Li Yan returned to the Broken Army Sect and met Shangguan Tianque and Ren Yanyu, who questioned him about the Great Wu Fruit battle.
• Li Yan heard that Shangguan Tianque had refined two sixth-grade Spirit-Connecting Pills and that the Broken Army Sect was patrolling for surviving members of Heavenly Mountain Garden and Spirit Subduing Mountain Manor.
• Li Yan gave Shangguan Tianque and Ren Yanyu a false account of the battle, saying Chongyangzi had survived an ambush and killed the two sects’ Nascent Soul cultivators.
• Shangguan Tianque asked whether the Great Wu Fruit tree had been lost, and Li Yan assured him that it remained safe.

Li Yan returned to seclusion after learning of the sects’ secret conflict, sorting through his spoils and cautiously hiding the treasures that might expose him. Seven years later the turmoil eased and Shangguan Tianque attained spirit transformation, but in Li Yan’s eleventh year of seclusion, a Nascent Soul man and woman arrived at the Pojun Sect with an ordinary-looking black dog.

• Li Yan warned Shangguan Tianque and Ren Yanyu to keep Chunyang Hall’s findings secret, and they realized the warning also protected him.
• Li Yan rested, beat the sealed green-robed old man in Tuban, and examined his spoils, including Chongyangzi’s jade ruler and Yuan’s flying knife.
• Li Yan hid most of the loot and resumed cultivation while battles between Chunyang Hall, Heart Refining Valley, and other sects spread beyond the Pojun Sect.
• Seven years later the upheaval subsided, and Shangguan Tianque survived his spirit transformation tribulation; Ren Yanyu later entered seclusion as well.
• In Li Yan’s eleventh year of seclusion, a Nascent Soul man and a masked woman arrived at the Pojun Sect’s gate with a black dog that showed no spiritual power.

Li Yan emerged from a long seclusion after receiving word that Donglin Tingyue and Jia Fugui had come with information he had asked them to seek. He met with them and learned about the sect and the wider conflict while preparing to hear what they had discovered.

• Donglin Tingyue and Jia Fugui arrived at the Broken Army Sect with the Dark Blazing Demon Hound and asked to see Li Yan about information he had requested.
• Yu Banjiang initially said Li Yan was in seclusion, but a message from the visitors reached Li Yan and prompted him to end his meditation.
• Li Yan welcomed Donglin Tingyue, Jia Fugui, and the demon, then spoke privately with Yu Banjiang.
• Yu Banjiang told Li Yan that Shangguan Tianque had reached Spirit Transformation, Yu Banjiang had become sect master, and the conflict between Pure Yang Hall and Heart Refining Valley had subsided.
• After Yu Banjiang left, Li Yan prepared to discuss the information the visitors had brought.

Li Yan learned that a distant trading house called Returning Home might be near Dragon-Burying Abyss, and arranged for Jia Fugui to seek a meeting with the cultivator who had seen it. Donglin Tingyue then asked Li Yan to help capture an immature Great-Winged Golden Roc in the dangerous Heavenly Demon Grassland.

• Shangguan Tianque and Ren Yanyu suspected that Li Yan was a Spirit Transformation cultivator after hearing reports about the devastation at Heart-Refining Valley.
• Jia Fugui told Li Yan that a trading house called Returning Home had reportedly been seen in Purple Qi Comes from the East, near Dragon-Burying Abyss, but the information was uncertain and the journey there was perilous.
• Li Yan gave Jia Fugui ten thousand high-grade spirit stones to pursue a meeting with the cultivator who had seen the trading house; Jia Fugui returned half and agreed to make inquiries.
• Li Yan asked Jia Fugui, Donglin Tingyue, and Nightfire about Dragon-Burying Abyss, but none could provide further information, and Donglin Tingyue warned that reaching the eastern region would be extremely dangerous.
• Donglin Tingyue explained that she had found an immature Great-Winged Golden Roc in the Heavenly Demon Grassland and asked Li Yan to help her capture it, offering compensation for his assistance.

Li Yan agreed to help Donglin Tingyue and Jia Fugui capture a juvenile Great-winged Golden Peng in exchange for the Parting Flowers, Brushing Willows art. As they set out from the Pojun Sect, Shangguan Tianque wondered whether Li Yan was secretly far stronger than his apparent nascent soul middle-stage cultivation suggested.

• Donglin Tingyue explained that the Donglin Lineage wanted the Great-winged Golden Peng for its Supreme Great Elder and described the risks of capturing the fourth-tier beast near its powerful flock.
• Li Yan asked Donglin Tingyue for the Parting Flowers, Brushing Willows art, and Donglin Tingyue offered it in exchange for Li Yan's help.
• Li Yan agreed to join Donglin Tingyue and Jia Fugui, then visited Shangguan Tianque before they departed from the Pojun Sect on the Rouge Bird with the large black dog.
• Shangguan Tianque watched the group leave and wondered whether Li Yan's apparent cultivation increase concealed a strength that could rival or surpass his own.

A gray-robed elder decided to investigate the Lost Continent for clues about the Five Immortals Sect, while Hong Yin encountered a demon beast resembling the Yin Mountain Beast in the Northern Underworld Demon-Suppressing Tower. Elsewhere, Jia Fugui’s Bewildering Tail Plume concealed three people and a dog in a dangerous grassland.

• The gray-robed elder reflected on the failed ambush and chose to visit the Lost Continent to search for traces of the Five Immortals Sect.
• Hong Yin searched demon-beast memories for clues, eventually finding a brief vision of overwhelming power before moving deeper into the tower.
• Hong Yin encountered a giant, spiked lizard-like beast that resembled the Yin Mountain Beast and decided to capture it for a Soul Search.
• Jia Fugui’s Bewildering Tail Plume concealed three people and a dog from the dangerous creatures in the grassland.

Jia Fugui, Donglin Tingyue, Li Yan, and the black dog ambushed a Great-winged Golden Peng in the Heavenly Demon Grassland as he pursued the Glasswing Butterfly. The Peng escaped their first strike but crashed into Donglin Tingyue’s formation, while the Glasswing Butterfly ordered nearby Demon Beasts to stay out of the fight.

• After five days without finding their target, Jia Fugui, Donglin Tingyue, Li Yan, and the black dog prepared to move to a new ambush site.
• Two powerful auras approached, and Donglin Tingyue recognized the Great-winged Golden Peng from his portrait as the beast he had been seeking.
• The Glasswing Butterfly fled from the Peng, who had attacked and pursued her, while the ambushers debated whether to strike.
• The group launched a surprise attack that wounded the Peng, but he used a spatial technique to escape the worst of it and transformed into his golden true form.
• Donglin Tingyue raised a green formation that blocked the Peng’s escape and sent him hurtling backward.
• The Glasswing Butterfly realized the humans had come to hunt the Peng and ordered nearby Demon Beasts to withdraw rather than join the battle.