Chapter Summaries

Mu Guyue and the Broken Army Sect used the formation to deceive the Bright Flame Sect pursuers and kill the brown-robed old man. Ren Yanyu emerged badly injured, and she joined Mu Guyue and the others in attacking the remaining effeminate middle-aged man.

• The effeminate middle-aged man and the brown-robed old man doubted the tokens showing Ling Shan's team had perished, but they hesitated to retreat and continued attacking the formation.
• The two broke the formation and mistook Mu Guyue's disguised appearance for Elder Ling, then realized they had fallen for a trap.
• Mu Guyue blasted the brown-robed old man backward and beheaded him before he could recover.
• The effeminate middle-aged man attacked Mu Guyue with a silver spear as the Broken Army Sect cultivators emerged and charged under Banjiang's shout.
• Ren Yanyu emerged from the shattered formation, badly injured, and rushed to help Mu Guyue fight the remaining enemy.

Mu Guyue and Ren Yanyu defeated the Bright Flame Sect forces on the hillside, while Li Yan and Han Zhumei remained locked in a hidden contest. Han Zhumei detected Li Yan trying to escape and attacked him with a feathered arrow.

• Mu Guyue and Ren Yanyu killed the effeminate middle-aged man and the remaining Bright Flame Sect Nascent Soul cultivators, leaving only one Golden Core cultivator alive.
• Ren Yanyu found that Li Yan and Han Zhumei were still fighting, and Mu Guyue told her not to send Li Yan a sound transmission talisman.
• Outside the Mountain River Diagram, the observers reacted with shock to the Heavenbreaker Sect's survival, while Shangguan Tianque listened to Banjiang's account.
• Han Zhumei used the wind to detect patches of wild grass swaying out of rhythm and deduced that Li Yan was moving toward the outskirts.
• Li Yan cautiously retreated through the grass, but Han Zhumei fired a white feathered arrow at his position, forcing him to dodge.

Han Zhumei relentlessly pursued Li Yan with a storm of arrows, forcing him to sacrifice his right arm and part of his body to escape. Though badly injured and losing spiritual power, Li Yan concealed himself nearby and discovered that his Night Concealment Stealth could fool Han Zhumei at close range.

• Han Zhumei tracked Li Yan and opened fire with a relentless barrage of wind-driven arrows, forcing him to flee without a chance to retaliate.
• Li Yan dodged thousands of arrows but suffered dozens of wounds as his clothes and flesh were torn away and his spiritual power drained.
• Han Zhumei intensified her assault, and Li Yan sacrificed his right arm and part of his body to create a momentary spiritual-energy barrier and vanish.
• Han Zhumei pursued Li Yan, believing he could not have gone far, while the injured Li Yan hid in the grass nearby.
• Li Yan used Night Concealment Stealth to creep several meters without Han Zhumei noticing and realized the technique could deceive even Void Refinement cultivators.

Li Yan used a subtle scent blended from wild grasses to track Han Zhumei through the wilderness, then caught her off guard and killed her. Exhausted but alive, he confirmed that his mortal hunting methods had overcome her concealment.

• Li Yan silently crept toward Han Zhumei while she searched for signs of him.
• Han Zhumei sensed danger and tried to flee, but Li Yan struck her at overwhelming speed and killed her.
• Li Yan reflected that Han Zhumei’s stealth and powerful attacks had made her difficult to locate, while her weak defense offered an opening.
• Remembering how Uncle Guoxin used blended scents to track escaped prey on Great Green Mountain, Li Yan gathered wild grasses and mixed their juices.
• Li Yan confirmed the faint scent could blend into the surroundings and go unnoticed by Han Zhumei.

Li Yan defeated Han Zhumei inside the Mountains and Rivers Painting, only to discover that nearly all the Pojun Sect’s fighters had fallen. After Chunyang Hall declared the Pojun Sect the winner and protected its journey home, Li Yan received a private question from Han Zhumei as he departed.

• Li Yan used scattered grass scent to locate Han Zhumei and killed her with a sudden close-range Phoenix Soaring attack, then discovered that only a few red dots and no green dots remained on his token.
• Han Zhumei emerged from the Mountains and Rivers Painting, leaving the Bright Flame Sect’s other cultivators shaken as both sides awaited the outcome.
• Elder Fang ended the contest, awarded the Pojun Sect its prizes, and gave both sects emergency tokens for contacting Chunyang Hall.
• Elder Fang kept the Bright Flame Sect, the Blood Lamp Sect, and the Seven Tigers Alliance behind while the Pojun Sect departed under Elder Zhou’s escort.
• As the Pojun Sect left, Han Zhumei asked Li Yan how he had found her hiding place.

Li Yan returned to the Po Jun Sect with resources from the Pure Yang Hall, then traveled back to the Dizhen Domain to update Xue Tieyi on Tang Feng and the passage project. He agreed to explain his visit to the other elders, who had not seen him since he bypassed their post in the yellow mist.

• Li Yan left the Po Jun Sect after telling Mu Guyue he needed to travel for several months, while Han Zhumei watched him with confusion.
• Shangguan Tianque divided the hundred top-grade spirit stones and two Great Wufruit among Li Yan, Mu Guyue, and Ren Yanyu; Mu Guyue declined a fruit, and Li Yan considered giving his to Zhao Min and Gong Chenying someday.
• Mu Guyue felt more comfortable in the Po Jun Sect after seeing Shangguan Tianque and Ren Yanyu share resources without greed.
• Several months later, Li Yan used his token to enter the Dizhen Domain and told Xue Tieyi why he had come and how Tang Feng was doing.
• Xue Tieyi asked Li Yan to explain his visit to the other elders, and Li Yan agreed after learning that the new teleportation arrays had allowed him to bypass them.

Li Yan visited Elder Hao and the others with news of Tang Feng and supplies for their formation work, then returned to the Pojun Sect for its advancement ceremony. At the ceremony, Donglin Tingyue shared a record suggesting that the Purple God Dragon-Elephants had migrated from the lower realm, giving Li Yan a possible lead on returning there.

• Li Yan told Elder Hao and Elder Tang about Tang Feng, delivered Tang Feng's jade slip, and gave the Soul Suppressing Palace formation materials he had brought from the Pojun Sect.
• After helping Master Lan examine the materials, Li Yan returned to the Pojun Sect, discussed its ceremony with Shangguan Tianque, and was shown the cave abode beside Mu Guyue's.
• Half a year later, representatives from many sects attended the Pojun Sect's advancement ceremony, where Master Wei and Han Zhumei sought out Li Yan and Mu Guyue.
• Li Yan welcomed Jia Fugui and Donglin Tingyue into his cave abode, where Jia Fugui reported that an intermediary would seek information about Guiqulaixi within thirty years.
• Donglin Tingyue told Li Yan that a lineage record described the Purple God Dragon-Elephants as an ancient clan that had migrated from the mortal realm to the Heavenly Demon Grassland, suggesting they might know a way back.

Li Yan learned that the Purple Divine Dragon Elephant lineage lived in the dangerous central region of the Heavenly Demon Grassland and considered seeking help from the Soul-Suppressing Palace to investigate. Thirteen years passed as the Po Jun Sect quietly grew stronger, while Li Yan cultivated the seventh layer of the Qiongqi Purgatory Art and demonstrated power that briefly distorted space.

• Donglin Tingyue warned Li Yan that the Purple Divine Dragon Elephant lineage likely had one or two Seventh Tier Demon Beasts, and Li Yan said he would not venture into the central region recklessly.
• Jia Fugui and Donglin Tingyue left after attending the Po Jun Sect's grand ceremony, determined to continue their cultivation and pursue enlightenment.
• Over thirteen years, Shangguan Tianque controlled the Po Jun Sect's gradual growth and recruited a longtime Rogue Cultivator as its fifth Spirit Transformation Supreme Elder.
• The late Nascent Soul Guest Elder entered long-term seclusion to seek an opportunity to reach Spirit Transformation.
• Li Yan practiced the prison-breaking technique of the seventh layer of the Qiongqi Purgatory Art, then briefly created a tiny black hole with a fist clench.

Li Yan discovered that demonic qi from Mu Guyue had helped strengthen his body and advance the Qiongqi Purgatory Art, while the Gui Water True Scripture purified and absorbed the qi. He resolved not to rely on yin-yang union as a shortcut, and Mu Guyue withdrew to cultivate after learning about the effect.

• Li Yan reflected on his techniques and found that the Qiongqi Purgatory Art had advanced to the mid-stage Spirit Transformation Realm, partly through demonic qi from Mu Guyue.
• Li Yan investigated the demonic qi and discovered that his Gui Water True Scripture transformed it into ordinary mana while its physical-strengthening power remained in his body.
• Li Yan told Mu Guyue about the effect but kept the Gui Water True Scripture secret, and learned she had gained no benefit herself.
• Li Yan found that the demonic qi's effects had weakened as his body grew stronger, though it had helped him raise the Qiongqi Purgatory Art by a minor realm.
• Mu Guyue shut herself in her cave abode to cultivate, while Li Yan decided not to become dependent on yin-yang union for advancement.

Li Yan discovered that his new poison, Pitch Night, could suppress Divine Sense and began exploring how to combine it with illusion poison. Meanwhile, Su Hong traveled to the North Pasture Realm to investigate reports of people asking about Return and Come Again, only to learn that Manager Ni had not yet investigated them.

• Li Yan condensed his thirty-third poison outside his body and found that it blocked Divine Sense within its range and disrupted it in anyone who inhaled it.
• Li Yan suspected the poison had been shaped by the unusual Heavenly Tribulation he survived in the Dizhen Domain and named it Pitch Night.
• Li Yan considered blending Pitch Night with illusion poison so an enemy would unknowingly suffer both effects.
• Su Hong traveled from the trading house’s main headquarters to the North Pasture Realm after receiving promising news in the lower realm.
• Su Hong asked Manager Ni whether he had identified the people who had inquired about Return and Come Again, and he explained that he had not yet investigated them.

Su Hong questioned Shopkeeper Ni about inquiries involving the Guiqulaixi shop and messages to the lower realm, while Jia Fugui brought Li Yan news that someone who had seen the shop would meet him. Li Yan learned the meeting would require a perilous journey lasting decades or longer, leaving him to consider how to reach the distant sect.

• Su Hong asked Shopkeeper Ni to recount the inquiries about the Guiqulaixi shop and sending messages to the lower realm.
• Jia Fugui arrived at the Pojun Sect after achieving spirit transformation without using the Great Fruitless Fruit.
• Jia Fugui told Li Yan that his intermediary had found someone who had seen the Guiqulaixi shop and that the person was willing to meet.
• Jia Fugui explained that reaching the person's sect would take over thirty years by a dangerous route across the Heavenly Demon Grassland or possibly nearly a hundred years by the safer northern route.
• Li Yan asked whether he could pay to be teleported across the Heavenly Demon Grassland, but Jia Fugui warned that its demon beast races would not transport living beings.

After Jia Fugui warned Li Yan that someone was tracing inquiries about Returning Home Inn, Li Yan planned to seek the inn and investigate the Purple Divine Dragon Elephant clan on his way to the lower realm. He could not secure Elder Hao or Elder Tang for fifty years, returned to the Po Jun Sect to cultivate and received top-grade spirit stones, but a message from Chongyangzi disrupted his seclusion.

• Jia Fugui told Li Yan that someone was investigating who had been asking about Returning Home Inn and gave him a jade slip showing where a cultivator who had seen the inn lived.
• Li Yan decided to travel across the Heavenly Demon Grassland, meet that cultivator, and consider detouring to the Purple Divine Dragon Elephant clan to find another route to the lower realm.
• Li Yan visited the Dizhen Domain, but Elder Hao and Elder Tang could not accompany him until fifty years later because they were occupied with securing the Soul-Suppressing Palace.
• Li Yan returned to the Po Jun Sect and learned from Shangguan Tianque that the sect had gained another Spirit Transformation Realm Supreme Elder and acquired more than twenty top-grade spirit stones for him.
• After Li Yan resumed cultivation, a messenger bearing the Pure Yang Hall insignia arrived at his cave dwelling with a jade slip from Chongyangzi.

Li Yan learned that Guiqu Laixi had appeared in Ghostsound City, a dangerous border city controlled by Mocha Hall, the Moji Dao Sect’s mortal enemy. Chongyangzi warned him against going there early, but Li Yan asked whether an early tour of duty would count toward the Heaven-Breaking Gate’s future assignment.

• A young Daoist, Chongyangzi’s youngest disciple, delivered Li Yan a jade slip announcing that Guiqu Laixi had appeared in northern Ghostsound City.
• The young Daoist explained that Ghostsound City belonged to Mocha Hall and described the ongoing conflict between Mocha Hall and the Moji Dao Sect, along with the risks of infiltrating the city.
• The young Daoist told Li Yan that Chongyangzi had confirmed Guiqu Laixi was an outside human cultivator shop and that no such shop had been found on the Moji Dao Sect’s side.
• The young Daoist relayed Chongyangzi’s warning that infiltration was extremely dangerous and advised Li Yan to wait until he reached late Spirit Transformation.
• Li Yan asked whether going on rotational duty early would count toward the Heaven-Breaking Gate’s future assignment, and the young Daoist said it could if Chongyangzi arranged it.

Li Yan and Mu Guyue learned they could reach the northern front through a rotation with the Moji Dao Sect, giving them a chance to find Guiqulaixi in Ghostsound City. Chongyangzi arranged their departure, and after they arrived at Chunyang Hall, they received news of Tinglan’s progress and a gift she had prepared for Mu Guyue.

• Li Yan learned that cultivators traveled to the Moji Dao Sect through teleportation arrays and asked Chongyangzi’s disciple about rotation duties and whether he and Mu Guyue could serve together.
• After seven months of waiting, Li Yan received Chongyangzi’s message that he could set out within five days, and he persuaded Mu Guyue to join him in seeking Guiqulaixi in Ghostsound City.
• Li Yan and Mu Guyue told Shangguan Tianque they were traveling to temper themselves, then teleported to Chunyang Hall to meet Chongyangzi.
• Chongyangzi told Li Yan and Mu Guyue that Tinglan had reached the Nascent Soul Late Stage and gave Mu Guyue the congratulatory gift Tinglan had prepared for her.
• Mu Guyue accepted Tinglan’s gift and realized Li Yan was frustrated that Tinglan had given her a present but not him, despite Li Yan having supported Tinglan in the past.

Li Yan and Mu Guyue joined Elder Zhou and Alliance Master Ding on a journey to Ghostbreak City, after Chongyangzi arranged their passage and gave them some final instructions. At the Moji Dao Sect, they learned they could restock supplies before a dangerous assignment, while Elder Zhou revealed Li Yan’s connection to the Great No-Fruit battle.

• Chongyangzi told Li Yan and Mu Guyue that they would travel with Elder Zhou’s group and explained the arrangements for their duty.
• Chongyangzi escorted Li Yan and Mu Guyue to the Pure Yang Hall’s teleportation array, where Elder Zhou and Alliance Master Ding were waiting.
• The group teleported to the Moji Dao Sect, and Li Yan and Mu Guyue concealed how little the journey had affected them.
• Elder Zhou warned the cultivators about the dangers ahead and offered them time to buy discounted supplies before they continued to Ghostbreak City.
• Alliance Master Ding asked Elder Zhou whether Li Yan and Mu Guyue knew Chongyangzi, and Elder Zhou explained that Li Yan had fought in the Great No-Fruit battle.

Li Yan and Mu Guyue joined an Ink Extreme Dao Sect expedition, learning that its own disciples supplied the lower-ranked forces for the war while allied sects restrained powerful opponents. After a long teleport and a half-month voyage across a black sea, Li Yan asked Mu Guyue why they had not teleported directly to the border, and she described special arrays that could be destroyed remotely.

• Alliance Leader Ding renewed his hatred of Heavenly Mountain Garden and Spirit-Subduing Mountain Manor after Elder Zhou confirmed that one of the cultivators involved in the old incident was still alive.
• Li Yan and Mu Guyue bought discounted goods at the Hall of Affairs, then saw the Ink Extreme Dao Sect send another group of seventeen Spirit Transformation, thirty Nascent Soul, and two hundred Golden Core cultivators with them.
• Elder Zhou explained that the sect used its own lower-ranked cultivators to occupy territory and seize resources while allied sects handled higher-level opponents.
• The group endured a two-hour teleport to a desolate valley beside a black sea, where Elder Zhou summoned a large flying vessel for their onward journey.
• Li Yan recognized the vessel from an earlier battle and traveled toward its middle with Mu Guyue, then asked why they had not teleported straight to the border.
• Mu Guyue guessed that the border had special teleportation arrays for powerful cultivators or supplies, which their controllers could destroy remotely.

Mu Guyue explained the military value and secrecy of teleportation formations, and Li Yan traveled with her and the Pure Yang Hall cultivators toward Ghost Severing City. After arriving in the bleak frontier landscape, Elder Zhou warned them about military regulations and the competing factions they would serve alongside.

• Mu Guyue explained that Ghost Severing City might have secret teleportation formations reserved for emergencies and that she would search for one if the city were besieged.
• Li Yan and Mu Guyue rested in adjoining cabins as the flying vessel continued over the black sea, while Li Yan stayed alert and watched the other cultivators.
• Twenty-two days later, Elder Zhou summoned everyone, and the group left the vessel above a desolate land beneath dark cyan clouds.
• Elder Zhou told the cultivators to stay together as they crossed the mountains toward Ghost Severing City and explained how they would be assigned under military regulations.
• Elder Zhou explained that Pure Yang Hall's Council of Elders would intervene only in punishments involving life and death, while Moji Dao Sect expected the factions to cooperate.

Li Yan and the cultivators accompanying Elder Zhou entered Severed Ghost City, a heavily guarded stronghold controlled by the Moji Dao Sect. After seeing its hostile patrols and vast formations, they followed Elder Zhou deeper into the city under orders not to descend or look around.

• Elder Zhou explained that the Moji Dao Sect controlled Severed Ghost City and required factions to serve in mixed armies, then led the group north with Alliance Leader Ding.
• Li Yan and the others reached the immense southern wall and entered through a narrow opening in the gate after Elder Zhou and Alliance Leader Ding presented tokens.
• Inside the gate, the group saw green-armored patrols, including Spirit Transformation cultivators, and a gray-haired old man whom Li Yan suspected was a powerful Void Refinement expert.
• The group passed over a vast plaza filled with banner-enclosed formations and churning gray mist as Elder Zhou warned them not to descend or look around.

Li Yan and Mu Guyue arrived at Ghost-Breaking City and learned how Moji Dao Sect’s brutal war against the Demon-Slaying Hall affected its cultivators. Although they had hoped to remain in the city, they were assigned to lead a squad replacing troops at a western frontier beacon tower.

• Elder Zhou explained that exhausted green-armored warriors were kept in the southern city to recover in purification formations, and described the severe casualties and psychological effects of the fighting.
• Alliance Leader Ding rebuked cultivators who feared being sent into battle, reminding them that sect resources came with obligations.
• Elder Zhou brought the newcomers to the black tower, where they registered and received identity tokens, supplies, and information about city resources and military assignments.
• A Pure Yang Hall steward told Li Yan and Mu Guyue that they had been assigned to a western frontline beacon tower, where they would command four Nascent Soul cultivators and fifty Golden Core Realm cultivators from Moji Dao Sect.
• Li Yan and Mu Guyue accepted the assignment, which kept them together and brought Li Yan closer to Ghostsound City, while the troops they replaced returned to recover.

Li Yan and Mu Guyue led a squad through the bleak frontier toward the South Fang Beacon Tower, learning how the beacon line defended Ghostbreak City and preparing for enemy scouts. After more than two days of cautious travel, they reached the end of the mountain range and assessed how long the tower could hold out before reinforcements arrived.

• The steward sent Li Yan and Mu Guyue to the barracks to meet their squad and gave them three days to prepare before deployment.
• Li Yan and Mu Guyue led several dozen cultivators across the harsh, frozen frontier toward the South Fang Beacon Tower.
• Li Yan and Mu Guyue explained the beacon towers’ role in spotting attacks, supplying scouts, and delaying ghost cultivators until reinforcements arrived.
• Li Yan and Mu Guyue compared the terrain with their jade-slip map and marked missing details, impressing the four Nascent Soul cultivators with their planning.
• After more than two days, the squad reached the end of the mountain range, and Mu Guyue estimated that the tower could hold until the armies behind them arrived.