Chapter Summaries

Li Yan gave Mu Guyue a Great Void Fruit to aid her breakthrough and returned to his cave dwelling to recover from years of strain. He then prepared Feng Hongyue to cultivate in a wood-element region inside the Tuban space, keeping him under control as a potential ally for future dangers.

• Li Yan offered Mu Guyue a Great Void Fruit, and she initially refused because it was too precious, but he insisted and told her to keep it secret.
• Li Yan mentioned Mu Sha and urged Mu Guyue to settle her mind before her sect-entry ceremony in a month; she accepted the fruit after he left.
• Li Yan returned to his cave dwelling, restored its formations, and slept for three days and four nights before considering his future plans.
• Li Yan moved Feng Hongyue into a vast forest of pure wood spiritual energy inside the Tuban space and encouraged him to cultivate toward the Void Refinement Realm.
• Feng Hongyue transformed into a towering tree and began comprehending the wood-element laws, while Li Yan kept his soul imprint on him and considered him a possible asset for crossing the Heavenly Demon Grassland.

Li Yan tested the abilities he had gained after reaching the Spirit Transformation Realm and resolved to strengthen his remaining life-preserving techniques. As he studied the newly appeared Severed Poison in seclusion, Chongyangzi of the Pure Yang Hall arrived at the Po Jun Sect demanding to see him.

• Li Yan found that his Nascent Soul teleportation, Night Concealment, Heaven-and-Earth Shaking, and Five Elements Chaotic Cloak had become much stronger.
• Li Yan discovered that years of using Five Elements Return to Primordial Chaos had fortified his meridians, allowing him to channel far more spiritual power than an ordinary early-stage Spirit Transformation Realm cultivator.
• Li Yan decided to investigate the thirty-third pale green thread, Severed Poison, and improve his Tidefall cultivation technique before traveling across the Heavenly Demon Grassland.
• Chongyangzi arrived at the Po Jun Sect with a young Nascent Soul cultivator and asked the gatekeeping disciples to take him to Li Yan.
• Banjiang summoned Shangguan Tianque and Ren Yanyu, who recognized Chongyangzi as a Pure Yang Hall elder and learned that he had reached the Void Refinement Realm.
• Shangguan Tianque told Chongyangzi that Li Yan was in seclusion and offered to handle any sect business in his place.

Chongyangzi visited the Broken Army Sect with his niece Tinglan to meet Li Yan and Mu Guyue, who had saved and cared for her in the Heavenly Demon Grassland. After thanking them publicly and showing the sect leaders that he valued them, Chongyangzi dismissed the others to speak with Li Yan in private.

• Tinglan explained to Shangguan Tianque that she had escaped the Heavenly Demon Grassland with Li Yan and Mu Guyue and had come to find them with her uncle, Chongyangzi.
• Li Yan arrived at the discussion hall, where Chongyangzi greeted him warmly after learning that Li Yan had saved Tinglan.
• Mu Guyue joined them, and Tinglan happily reunited with her while Chongyangzi thanked Li Yan and Mu Guyue for looking after his niece.
• Chongyangzi discussed their experiences in front of the Broken Army Sect leaders, making clear that he valued Li Yan and Mu Guyue.
• Chongyangzi asked Shangguan Tianque and the others to leave so he could speak privately with Li Yan, and Li Yan congratulated him on advancing his cultivation.

Chongyangzi thanked Li Yan for saving Tinglan and invited him to join Chunyang Hall, but Li Yan declined out of loyalty to his sect. Li Yan asked Chongyangzi to find a route to his lower realm and locate Guiqulaixi, and Chongyangzi explained why crossing realms was difficult.

• Chongyangzi praised Li Yan for protecting Tinglan and asked whether he had reached Spirit Transformation; Li Yan confirmed that he had.
• Chongyangzi invited Li Yan to join Chunyang Hall, but Li Yan declined because he felt loyal to his sect.
• Chongyangzi offered to help Li Yan and Mu Guyue, and Li Yan asked him to find a route to his lower realm and the shop Guiqulaixi.
• Chongyangzi explained that returning to a lower realm could require concealing one's aura from heaven and earth and locating a difficult-to-detect spatial node.
• Li Yan realized that he would need to hide the Immortal Spirit Realm's aura before entering a lower realm, or risk being lost in dangerous space.

Li Yan sought a steady way to obtain supreme-grade spirit stones, and Chongyangzi revealed that the Pojun Sect could pursue promotion to a third-tier sect for a large reward. Li Yan learned the process would involve a difficult assessment in ten years, leaving him weighing whether to pursue it despite the risk of death.

• Li Yan exchanged for five supreme-grade spirit stones from Chongyangzi and planned to build a supply through several channels over time.
• Chongyangzi explained that the Pojun Sect met the minimum requirement to apply for promotion because it had three Spirit Transformation Realm cultivators.
• Chongyangzi said a successful promotion would bring the sect a hundred supreme-grade spirit stones and other resources, but the assessment would be difficult.
• Chongyangzi explained that Chunyang Hall would assess the sect, and that the Mingyan Sect had qualified for an assessment scheduled ten years later.
• Chongyangzi assured Li Yan that the Pojun Sect's members would pass the background checks and said deaths were permitted during the assessment unless a participant conceded in time.

Li Yan discussed the Po Jun Sect’s proposed rank promotion with Shangguan Tianque and Ren Yanyu, who agreed to pursue the dangerous assessment. After the Pure Yang Hall approved preparations, the sect celebrated its prospects and learned that Li Yan had reached Spirit Transformation; Li Yan then waited for Donglin Tingyue, who finally arrived at his cave residence.

• Li Yan told Shangguan Tianque and Ren Yanyu that Chongyangzi had proposed an assessment to raise the Po Jun Sect’s rank, and revealed that he had reached Spirit Transformation.
• Shangguan Tianque and Ren Yanyu agreed to pursue the assessment despite its dangers, and the three returned to inform Chongyangzi.
• Chongyangzi took Tinglan back to the Pure Yang Hall, while Mu Guyue declined his offers of aid and later attended her elder induction ceremony before preparing to cultivate in seclusion.
• The Po Jun Sect received a notification from the Pure Yang Hall to prepare for an assessment more than nine years later, and news of the promotion spread through the sect and beyond.
• As visitors arrived to congratulate the Po Jun Sect, Li Yan stayed in his cave residence until Donglin Tingyue arrived and he went out to welcome her.

Li Yan reconnected with Donglin Tingyue and Jia Fugui, renewed his search for a way to reach the lower realm, and returned to secluded cultivation. In the fifth year after his return, Mu Guyue began her Spirit Transformation tribulation, and Li Yan joined Shangguan Tianque and Ren Yanyu in guarding her.

• Donglin Tingyue visited Li Yan, revealed the pressure the Pojun Sect had placed on his lineage, and brought him jade slips about routes to the lower realm during a later visit.
• Li Yan traveled to the Abacus Sect and asked Jia Fugui to resume searching for information about Guiqulaixi and the lower realm.
• Jia Fugui later told Li Yan that he was pursuing a lead about a sect whose members might have appeared in the lower realm, while Tang Feng sent word that he was safe and well.
• Li Yan spent years in secluded cultivation as he waited for news, while the Pojun Sect's rank advancement excitement faded.
• In the fifth year after Li Yan's return, Mu Guyue's Spirit Transformation tribulation began, and Shangguan Tianque ordered outsiders to withdraw while he, Ren Yanyu, and Li Yan guarded her.

After Mu Guyue recovered from her successful Spirit Transformation, Shangguan Tianque gathered her, Ren Yanyu, and Li Yan to celebrate and discuss the Po Jun Sect’s upcoming advancement assessment. Mu Guyue later took Li Yan to her cave abode and revealed what she had left for Mu Sha about Li Yan, leaving him uneasy as she recalled their first encounter beneath the sea.

• Mu Guyue survived her Heavenly Tribulation and became a Spirit Transformation Realm Supreme Elder of the Po Jun Sect.
• Two years later, Shangguan Tianque summoned Li Yan, Ren Yanyu, and Mu Guyue to celebrate and discuss the sect’s advancement assessment.
• Mu Guyue readily agreed to help the Po Jun Sect, and Shangguan Tianque explained the evaluation process and preparations.
• Mu Guyue took Li Yan to her cave abode and told him she had left Mu Sha Li Yan’s Storage Pouch and a jade slip describing him as a disciple of the Four Great Sects.
• Mu Guyue said Mu Sha had likely been confused and explained that she had once hated Li Yan because their races were mortal enemies; Li Yan awkwardly called their meeting beneath the sea an accident.

Li Yan and Mu Guyue gave in to their feelings, then faced the consequences of their complicated relationship. Four months later, Chunyang Hall officials arrived at the Pojun Sect and explained that the sect’s promotion assessment would begin with a trial defended by the Blood Lamp Sect.

• Mu Guyue kissed Li Yan, and the two became intimate while intoxicated.
• Afterward, Mu Guyue told Li Yan she would never take a Dao Companion and would regard him only as Mu Sha’s father, but Li Yan pulled her back and kissed her again.
• Four months later, Chongyangzi and a second Chunyang Hall elder visited the Pojun Sect to verify its candidates and explain the upcoming promotion assessment.
• The officials confirmed Mu Guyue’s eligibility and announced that the first trial would require the Pojun Sect and Mingyan Sect to break through the Blood Lamp Sect’s defense.
• Shangguan Tianque questioned whether the Seven Tigers Alliance could conduct a fairer trial, and the young elder explained that the Blood Lamp Sect’s trial would require approval from at least half of Chunyang Hall’s elders.

The Pure Yang Hall explained that the Po Jun Sect would face a dangerous Blood Lantern Sect trial before fighting the Bright Flame Sect for promotion rewards. The Po Jun Sect prepared its forces for over a year, and Mu Guyue returned with only seventy-five trainees, including the three Nascent Soul cultivators.

• Elder Zhou and Chong Yangzi told Shangguan Tianque that the Po Jun Sect would first face the Blood Lantern Sect, then fight the Bright Flame Sect, with failed Spirit Transformation cultivators barred from the second stage.
• Shangguan Tianque learned that the Pure Yang Hall would guard both sects during the assessment and restrict observers to the Seven Tigers Alliance.
• Li Yan proposed that Mu Guyue train the sect's Nascent Soul and Golden Core cultivators in large-scale battle methods, and Mu Guyue warned that the training would cause casualties.
• Mu Guyue took Banjiang and eighty-six Golden Core Realm cultivators away for training, while Ren Yanyu became acting sect master and Shangguan Tianque prepared formations and magic treasures.
• More than a year later, Mu Guyue returned two months before the assessment with only seventy-five people, including the three Nascent Soul cultivators.

The Broken Army Sect prepared to leave on an expedition to secure cultivation resources, with Shangguan Tianque leading the party aboard his Azure Cloud Sparrow. After receiving confirmation from Chongyangzi that two late-stage Spirit Transformation cultivators would guard their side, the group continued toward the Blood Lantern Sect.

• Mu Guyue removed twelve Golden Core Realm cultivators from the expedition group, leaving fifty to set out after three days of rest.
• Shangguan Tianque rallied the sect’s disciples, promising rewards and support for the families of those killed in battle.
• Shangguan Tianque assigned Yang Jian and Cheng Guoshan to guard the sect, activated its core formations, and led the expedition aboard the Azure Cloud Sparrow.
• A short distance from the sect, Shangguan Tianque met two Pure Yang Hall cultivators, who delivered an audio jade slip from Chongyangzi.
• Shangguan Tianque confirmed that Chongyangzi had arranged for two late-stage Spirit Transformation cultivators to guard their side, then resumed the flight toward the Blood Lantern Sect.

Li Yan and the Po Jun Sect arrived at the Blood Lantern Sect to undergo an assessment for elevation in rank. After being shown the sect’s hostile reception and the assembled spectators and powerful figures, they reached the high platform and paid their respects to Chongyangzi and the other Void Refinement cultivators.

• Shangguan Tianque presented the Po Jun Sect’s token at the Blood Lantern Sect gate, and a Golden Core disciple escorted the group inside.
• The Blood Lantern Sect led the Po Jun Sect to a plaza crowded with more than ten thousand spectators, including Qi Condensation disciples, Nascent Soul cultivators, and members of the Seven Tigers Alliance.
• Li Yan spotted Chongyangzi, three other Void Refinement cultivators, and numerous Blood Lantern Sect, Seven Tigers Alliance, and Pure Yang Hall representatives on the high platform.
• Shangguan Tianque identified Wu Gouzi as the Blood Lantern Sect’s sole Void Refinement Supreme Elder and noted that no Bright Flame Sect cultivators had arrived yet.
• Shangguan Tianque led the Po Jun Sect group onto the high platform and bowed to Chongyangzi and the other Void Refinement cultivators.

The Pojun Sect and Mingyan Sect assembled before the Blood Lamp Sect’s judges for their assessment, revealing the vast difference in their numbers and foundations. As Chongyangzi called both sects to the platform, Li Yan studied Mingyan’s powerful cultivators and considered how he might face their strongest fighters.

• Chongyangzi introduced Elder Fang, Supreme Elder Wu, Alliance Leader Ding, and the other judges to Shangguan Tianque and his party.
• The Mingyan Sect arrived with six Spirit Transformation cultivators, seven Nascent Soul cultivators, and a hundred Golden Core cultivators, dwarfing the Pojun Sect’s force.
• The Pojun Sect’s Golden Core cultivators assessed Mingyan’s numbers and considered how Mu Guyue’s group tactics could fare against them.
• Li Yan identified Mingyan’s late-stage Spirit Transformation cultivators, Wei Fuzi and Han Zhumei, and weighed the dangers of their abilities.
• Chongyangzi summoned both sects to the platform, and Shangguan Tianque led the Pojun Sect forward as Mingyan’s cultivators focused on him and his companions.

Wu Gouzi announced the rules for the first trial and revealed that contestants would have to fly through the Blood Tuo Lamp. Four late-stage Spirit Transformation cultivators from Pure Yang Hall entered the lamp, and its towering wick ignited.

• Mingyan Sect remained uncertain about Li Yan and Mu Guyue, while Donglin Tingyue and Jia Fugui kept the Great Wu Fruit battle secret out of fear.
• Wu Gouzi explained that each sect could send contestants into the first trial one at a time, and a single successful attempt would let the sect advance.
• Wu Gouzi summoned and enlarged the Blood Tuo Lamp, then said contestants had to fly from its base and escape through its top opening.
• Four late-stage Spirit Transformation cultivators from Pure Yang Hall entered the lamp through separate doors in its base.
• The Blood Tuo Lamp’s pillar-like wick ignited, and Wu Gouzi smiled.

Li Yan and the Broken Army Sect discussed how to survive the Blood Tuo Lamp trial and chose Shangguan Tianque to enter first, while Bright Flame Sect sent Scholar Wei. The lamp began rotating after Scholar Wei entered, leaving Shangguan Tianque uncertain whether the trial was meant to make the two sects confront each other.

• Wu Gouzi explained the one-day limit, escape talismans, and dangers of the Blood Tuo Lamp trial, including four late Spirit Transformation attacks near the end.
• Shangguan Tianque warned Li Yan and the others that the lamp’s flames could burn them and might retain some of the Blood Tuo Lamp’s ability to drain blood essence.
• Li Yan and Shangguan Tianque agreed that the cultivators should avoid fighting the attacks head-on and focus on enduring them while crossing the lamp quickly.
• Broken Army Sect selected Shangguan Tianque to enter first, followed by Li Yan, Ren Yanyu, and Mu Guyue; Bright Flame Sect chose Scholar Wei.
• Scholar Wei entered from the north, and the lampshade began rotating; Shangguan Tianque saw that entering from the south might bring him close to Scholar Wei and wondered whether the setup was intended to provoke conflict.

Shangguan Tianque entered the Blood Tuo Lamp through a crack and appeared opposite Wei Fuzi, while the others watched and discussed the trial. Wei Fuzi resisted the lamp’s fiery attacks with his strange flame, but a larger head emerged and confronted him with a blood-devouring attack.

• Shangguan Tianque used a golden talisman to shield himself and entered the crack in the lampshade, appearing across from Wei Fuzi near the wick.
• Ren Yanyu, Li Yan, and Mu Guyue realized the gaps sent entrants to fixed locations, while Wu Gouzi claimed the trial used only thirty percent of the Blood Tuo Lamp’s power.
• Chongyangzi wondered whether Shangguan Tianque was the Breaker Army Sect’s strongest cultivator and suspected Li Yan was concealing his strength.
• Wei Fuzi used his white strange flame to absorb the attacking fiery heads and flew upward until an invisible barrier stopped him.
• A larger head appeared from the wick, triggered Wei Fuzi’s blood-devouring alarm, and attacked him with a solid spear of flame that collided with his white-flame shield.

Shangguan Tianque raced through the Blood Tu Lamp’s sea of fire, but its increasingly powerful attacks drained his magic and vitality as he climbed. Near six hundred zhang, a fiery phoenix emerged from the wick and struck at him with Spirit Transformation Realm power.

• Shangguan Tianque used his fire-control arts to divide the flames and raced upward, reaching the hundred-zhang checkpoints where he had to defeat powerful creatures.
• The observers watched Shangguan Tianque maintain a lead over Master Wei, while Li Yan and the others suspected that each hundred-zhang mark imposed a barrier and a special challenge.
• Above three hundred zhang, flame-formed demon beasts replaced the heads and grew stronger as the two cultivators struggled upward through each section.
• After an hour and a half, Shangguan Tianque reached nearly six hundred zhang, having exhausted his golden bell talisman, used three magical treasures, and swallowed three bottles of pills.
• A fiery-red phoenix emerged from the wick and fired two dark-red balls of flame at Shangguan Tianque, who recognized it as a Spirit Transformation Realm demon beast.

Shangguan Tianque struggled to climb the Blood Tu Lamp, but mounting injuries forced him to abandon the trial while Master Wei continued ahead. He returned to the Pojun Sect and prepared to brief Elder Li and the other entrants on what he had encountered inside.

• Master Wei resumed climbing past six hundred zhang as Shangguan Tianque remained stalled, drawing cheers from the Blazing Flame Sect and mockery toward the Pojun Sect.
• Shangguan Tianque broke past six hundred zhang, but Master Wei reached seven hundred while he lagged behind around six hundred thirty.
• Shangguan Tianque crushed his escape talisman and appeared at the lamp's base, badly injured and disappointed to see Master Wei still inside.
• Ren Yanyu tried to approach Shangguan Tianque, but he flew back to the Pojun Sect to report what he had learned about the Blood Tu Lamp.
• Shangguan Tianque explained that injuries and failing meridians had forced him to quit after defeating a fire-wreathed phoenix and advancing only a few dozen zhang farther.

Li Yan entered the Blood Tuo Lamp after Chong Yangzi sent him a cryptic clue, while Wei Fuzi finally passed the seven-hundred-zhang mark. Li Yan began climbing through the lamp’s trials with ice attacks, still unsure what Chong Yangzi’s words meant.

• Ren Yanyu supported the injured Shangguan Tianque, cast a restriction to conceal their conversation, and watched him begin meditating to recover.
• Li Yan approached Wu Gouzi, received an escape talisman, and heard Chong Yangzi’s voice transmission: “The lamp is the extreme of yin blood; flowing water draws blood away!”
• Li Yan entered the Blood Tuo Lamp and appeared opposite Wei Fuzi, just as Wei Fuzi broke past the seven-hundred-zhang mark.
• Inside the lamp, Li Yan used icy arrows against the flame-born heads while conserving his Flying Spirit Pills and pondering Chong Yangzi’s clue.
• Li Yan began ascending through the trial, and Chong Yangzi realized that he had not understood the clue and was relying on water and fire clashing.

Li Yan realized the Blood Tu Lamp’s fire was formed from yin blood and that its flames were draining his blood, so his water laws were making matters worse. As Master Wei pushed past nine hundred zhang, Li Yan prepared to use the Fuxi Disc against a stronger head at two hundred zhang.

• Li Yan killed the head at one hundred zhang with an ice spear, then sensed that the sea of fire had taken some of his blood.
• Li Yan understood Chongyangzi’s warning and concluded that the entire sea of fire could devour blood, while his water laws were merging with it rather than suppressing it.
• Master Wei continued climbing toward nine hundred zhang as the Demon Beasts drained his blood and blood essence, his magical power waned, and pill toxins began to trouble him.
• Li Yan resumed ascending and reasoned that the heads might be formed from absorbed blood essence carrying traces of their former owners’ abilities.
• At two hundred zhang, Li Yan faced a blood-red head with stronger flames and took out the Fuxi Disc, intending to respond with its yin-and-yang powers without revealing Li Fire.
• Master Wei broke past nine hundred zhang.