Chapter Summaries

As the Phantom Sect's fighters struggled against six powerful attackers, Qianji and Zi Kun were pushed to the brink. Bai Rou intervened with her ancient ape puppet, rescued Qianji, and told the demons to join Li Wuyi's group while she held off their enemy.

• Qianji and Zi Kun fought a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, while Qianji used ice swords formed from his clansmen to help block the enemy's attacks.
• Li Wuyi and Li Yuyin were wounded and suffered losses as the Phantom Sect's fighters tried to defend against the attackers.
• Qianji revealed his true form and struck at his opponent, but an invisible spell restrained him before he could land the blow.
• Bai Rou arrived in her ancient ape puppet and smashed the spell restraining Qianji, then ordered him and Zi Kun to help Senior Brother Wuyi and the others.
• Bai Rou realized that her puppet could withstand attacks from late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators and gained confidence as she faced the enemy.

Bai Rou joined the battle with an ancient ape puppet and held off a Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivator, while the other fights shifted between setbacks and brief recoveries. After Li Yuyin was gravely wounded protecting Yan Longzi, Wei Chituo prepared to risk a close-range strike to destroy their enemy’s body.

• Bai Rou used her ancient ape puppet to block a Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivator and began gaining the upper hand as she settled into the fight.
• Qianji briefly froze the cultivator opposing Zi Kun and the others, allowing Li Wuyi and Li Yuyin to join Yan Longzi’s battle.
• Wang Tian fell and Du Sanjiang was gravely weakened, while Wei Zhongran, Gong Chenying, and Zhao Min suffered injuries fighting a Spirit Transformation cultivator.
• Zi Kun and Qianji fought desperately in their true forms, forcing their opponent to contend with their opposing heat and frost attacks.
• Li Yuyin took a saber strike meant for Yan Longzi, who retaliated with Li Wuyi and the others and helped tear off their opponent’s arm.
• Wei Chituo agreed to attack at close range while the others protected and restrained their enemy.

The Phantom Sect fighters struggled to hold off the attackers as the enemy Spirit Transformation cultivator trapped Zhao Min and turned the Immortal-Binding Rope toward Li Zhaoyan. The chapter ended with Mo Qing, Wei Zhongran, and Gong Chenying realizing Li Zhaoyan was in danger and rushing to save her.

• The enemy Spirit Transformation cultivators grew anxious as their plans faltered, and one attacked Wei Zhongran, Mo Qing, and Zhao Min with a fox, an axe, and a green stone.
• The Nascent Soul cultivator fighting Qianji and Zi Kun transformed and unleashed powerful physical and soundwave attacks, forcing Qianji to sacrifice a crystalline wing to escape the claw.
• The green stone turned into mist and sealed Zhao Min inside a hard shell, after which the Spirit Transformation cultivator sent the Immortal-Binding Rope after her.
• Li Zhaoyan returned to the mountain gate after helping retrieve fallen Phantom Sect cultivators and hesitated when she saw Zhao Min falling inside the shell.
• The Spirit Transformation cultivator recognized Li Zhaoyan as Li Yan's descendant and redirected the Immortal-Binding Rope toward her while pursuing Zhao Min.
• Mo Qing abandoned his pursuit to save Li Zhaoyan, and Wei Zhongran and Gong Chenying realized they could not reach the rope in time.

Zhao Min tried to stop a Spirit Transformation cultivator’s golden rope from striking Li Zhaoyan, but Bai Rou swept Li Zhaoyan into the sect and took the rope’s attack while fighting in her ancient ape puppet. With the puppet’s formation disrupted and Bai Rou’s consciousness in chaos, she stamped a rune onto the formation as her final act of awareness.

• Zhao Min spotted the golden rope diving toward Li Zhaoyan and called for her to retreat, while Mo Qing tried to intercept it and had to dodge an axe.
• Bai Rou used the ancient ape puppet’s arm to knock Li Zhaoyan through the mountain gate, where Li Zhaoyan realized her master had saved her.
• The Nascent Soul cultivator fighting Bai Rou struck the puppet’s head, bound its legs with chains, and summoned a ghastly white flame.
• A Spirit Transformation cultivator redirected the golden rope toward Bai Rou’s trapped puppet and pierced its back, disrupting the Canheng Beidou Formation.
• Bai Rou’s consciousness fell into chaos, but she used her remaining awareness to stamp a rune onto the formation.

Li Yan and his companions reached the city gate, where Captain Liu Chengyong noticed Li Yan’s insight and directed him toward the Imperial Guard’s recruitment. Liu later explained that Strategist Ji personally tested recruits for a potential successor, leaving Li Yan’s chances uncertain as the party entered the city.

• Li Yan reasoned that the Meng Kingdom was unlikely to launch another major attack after repeated defeats, impressing Li Guoxin and the soldiers at the gate.
• Li Guoxin presented the group’s travel permit and said Li Yan would enlist in the Imperial Guard while Li Yu and Li Shan would become apprentices.
• Captain Liu Chengyong praised Li Yan’s insight, warned that recruitment would soon close, and let the group pass into the city.
• Liu told his soldiers that Strategist Ji tested recruits for a potential successor, and they discussed a former recruit who had died while practicing Ji’s martial arts.
• Liu said he had only offered Li Yan a few helpful reminders, though the soldiers suspected he was looking broadly for promising candidates.

Li Yan underwent Strategist Ji’s painful test of his meridians and was found to have mixed spirit roots suited to Ji’s sect. After learning that Ji was a renowned martial hero, Li Yan accepted his offer to become his disciple, and Ji prepared to take him away for further instruction and an investigation of his background.

• Li Yan entered the tent and let Strategist Ji test his meridians with silver needles, enduring waves of intense pain as five colors of qi appeared on his face.
• Strategist Ji removed the needles and concluded that Li Yan had mixed spirit roots, then explained that he was seeking an heir to his teachings.
• Strategist Ji offered to accept Li Yan into his school and described the dangerous requirements of its martial arts.
• Li Yan recalled Strategist Ji’s reputation as a commander who had slain an enemy deputy marshal and agreed to become his disciple.
• Li Yan told Strategist Ji that he could read the classics but had learned no profound martial arts or internal cultivation.
• Strategist Ji said he would explain the sect rules and investigate Li Yan’s background, then invited him to leave; Li Yan hesitated before following.

Li Yan arrived at the Phantom Sect and swiftly killed two invading Spirit Transformation cultivators, only to learn that the sect had no idea why it was under attack. As the survivors assessed the damage and debated the attackers’ unknown origins, Li Yan and Gu Jiuqi agreed to conceal Li Yan’s Spirit Transformation strength while they investigated.

• Li Yan killed two Spirit Transformation attackers with a rapid strike and Fragmented Poison, while Gu Jiuqi’s banner concealed the fight from those outside.
• Gu Jiuqi told Li Yan that he did not know where the attackers had come from, and the two Nascent Souls Li Yan held dissolved into red powder.
• Wei Zhongran, Li Wuyi, Baili Yuan, Zhao Min, Gong Chenying, and others recognized Li Yan, while Li Zhaoyan reunited with the unconscious Bai Rou below.
• Gu Jiuqi ordered the cultivators to check casualties, then gathered with Li Yan and the Phantom Sect survivors to assess the attack and treat the wounded.
• Li Yan and Gu Jiuqi agreed to keep Li Yan’s Spirit Transformation cultivation secret and considered whether the attackers and a mysterious helper had come from the Immortal-Spirit Realm.

Li Yan found that Bai Rou’s sea of consciousness was on the verge of collapse, so he decided to ascend to the Immortal-Spirit Realm to seek a cure. He then went to investigate Zi Kun and discovered that grief over Qianji’s death had driven him into deviation.

• Gu Jiuqi and Li Yan treated the Phantom Sect’s wounded Nascent Soul cultivators, while Gu Jiuqi promised to seek information from his true body in the upper realm.
• Li Yan told Zhao Min and Gong Chenying that Bai Rou’s sea of consciousness might collapse within a year and that he planned to ascend with her to seek help.
• Gong Chenying warned Li Yan that something was wrong with Zi Kun, and Zhao Min said she had a private matter to tell him afterward.
• Li Yan found Zi Kun grieving over Qianji and saw that his aura had become chaotic and unstable.
• Zi Kun lost control and attacked Li Yan, who suppressed him and diagnosed that his recent breakthrough and grief had caused deviation.

Li Yan stabilized Zi Kun after his breakthrough triggered dangerous spiritual deviation, then learned that Zi Kun had preserved the last fragments of Qianji’s soul. Li Yan used soul power to examine and secure the fragments, leaving Qianji’s chance of recovery uncertain.

• Li Yan spent an hour calming Zi Kun’s violent spiritual power and explained that Zi Kun needed to stabilize his new realm through proper cultivation.
• Zi Kun recognized Li Yan and asked whether he had mentioned Qianji, but Li Yan told him to recover before discussing anything further.
• Zi Kun revealed that he had preserved one soul and two ethereal souls from Qianji, though they were faint and might disperse if removed from his body.
• Li Yan summoned the fragments and surrounded them with pure soul power, condensing and stabilizing them.
• Li Yan carefully examined Qianji’s black mosquito-shaped soul and then collected it, praising Zi Kun for saving it.

Li Yan used a Soul-Returning Pill to begin restoring Qianji’s soul and assured Zi Kun that Qianji could eventually be revived. After learning that the Spirit Transformation cultivators were searching for a mysterious enemy, Li Yan tried to locate the secret realm with a round diamond crystal but could not sense it.

• Li Yan told Zi Kun that the Soul-Returning Pill could restore Qianji’s soul over roughly five hundred years.
• Li Yan brought Zi Kun into a concealed snowy cave in Tuban and used the pill’s red mist to begin restoring Qianji’s soul.
• Li Yan woke Zi Kun when the red mist’s soul power drew him into a dangerous, entranced state, then promised that Qianji could be revived.
• Li Yan learned that Gu Jiuqi and five other Spirit Transformation cultivators had decided to search for the mysterious cultivator who attacked Phantom Sect.
• Li Yan went to a secluded mountain peak and tried to use the round diamond crystal to sense the secret realm, but could not find it.

Li Yan found that the secret realm had vanished and worried about Ping Tu, while searching for a way to save Bai Rou. Zhao Min revealed she had a True Essence Pill gifted by the yellow-robed Daoist, who had once secretly sought Li Yan and left instructions from Martial Uncle Qian Zhong.

• Li Yan found he could no longer contact the secret realm and planned several ways to find a True Essence Pill for Bai Rou within a year.
• Li Yan worried that Ping Tu might be in danger and resolved to seek news of the secret realm and his old friend.
• Li Yan called Zhao Min to speak privately after reflecting on his past at the mountain platform.
• Zhao Min told Li Yan she had a True Essence Pill that could save Bai Rou and explained that she had given the other pill to Senior Sister Ying.
• Zhao Min said the yellow-robed Daoist who had helped them escape the Holy Demon Palace had secretly visited the Phantom Sect looking for Li Yan and had instructed her to tell him what happened on the Wind God Continent.

Li Yan learned that Qianji’s soul could be restored and heard that people across the Desolate Moon Continent and beyond were searching for cultivators with mixed spiritual roots. Suspecting the search was connected to the Five Immortals Sect or his own unusual circumstances, he went with Zhao Min to consult Gong Chenying.

• Li Yan deduced that the yellow-robed Daoist who visited Zhao Min was likely Qian Zhong’s true body and learned that Qian Zhong was connected to the vanished secret realm and the True Essence Pills.
• Li Yan told Zhao Min that Zi Kun had recovered from cultivation deviation and had preserved part of Qianji’s soul, which might be restored after about five hundred years.
• Zhao Min explained that Zi Kun and Qianji had stayed in the far north after encountering people searching for cultivators with mixed spiritual roots.
• Li Yan summoned Gong Chenying, who provided further details about the search and the many unfamiliar Nascent Soul cultivators involved.
• Li Yan concluded that the search might target the Five Immortals Sect or reveal his own mixed-spiritual-root aptitude.

Li Yan suspected that the attack on the Phantom Sect had been aimed at him and worried that the sect would suffer for his sake. After telling Gong Chenying and Zhao Min that he had reached Spirit Transformation and agreeing to help heal Bai Rou, he was discovered by Dong Fuyi, who had just returned to the sect.

• Li Yan connected the Phantom Sect attack to the Immortal-Spirit Realm cultivators seeking the Five Immortal Sects and feared he had brought disaster upon the sect.
• Li Yan told Gong Chenying about Qianji and the other demon, easing her grief over Qianji's death.
• Gong Chenying told Li Yan that Zhao Min had a True Essence Pill that could treat Bai Rou, and Li Yan offered to refine it for her.
• Li Yan revealed to Zhao Min and Gong Chenying that he had reached Spirit Transformation and asked them to keep it mostly secret.
• Li Yan meditated to recover before treating Bai Rou, while Dong Fuyi returned and sensed his familiar Gui Water aura on Small Bamboo Peak.
• Dong Fuyi broke Li Yan's restriction, saw him inside, and recognized him.

Li Yan reunited with Dong Fuyi, his long-lost master, after returning to the Wangliang Sect and helping defeat its attackers. Dong Fuyi learned how Li Yan had vanished into another realm and began to explain who the new enemies were.

• Dong Fuyi discovered that Li Yan had returned to the Wangliang Sect and recognized him as his missing disciple.
• Li Yan confirmed Dong Fuyi's identity, greeted him as his master, and explained that his body-tempering technique had advanced ahead of his Gui Water True Scripture.
• Li Yan told Dong Fuyi that the Wangliang Sect's allies had pursued the attackers and that the six enemies who had come there were dead.
• Dong Fuyi confirmed that he had been one of the mysterious cultivators who appeared two days earlier and asked where Li Yan had been all these years.
• Li Yan recounted his journey to the North Pasture Realm and return through Guiqulaixi, and Dong Fuyi began explaining who their enemies were.

Dong Fuyi explained the Five Immortal Sect’s blood feud with the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect and revealed that Yu Zishu had targeted Li Yan and the Phantom Sect. Li Yan chose to protect the sect by erasing the memories of those who knew the secret, leaving Dong Fuyi to address the difficult plan.

• Dong Fuyi told Li Yan how the Five Immortal Sect’s unusual Five Elements cultivation and the Yin-Yang Chaos Sect’s persecution had sparked a generations-long feud.
• Dong Fuyi revealed that Yu Zishu had traced Li Yan through information about his Nascent Soul advancement, while the Phantom Sect had suffered collateral harm.
• Li Yan asked Dong Fuyi how to save the Phantom Sect and explained that he felt indebted to the sect for nurturing him.
• Dong Fuyi said he had captured and killed Yu Zishu after a Soul Search, and that Yu Zishu had kept his investigation secret from Xiao Yunzong and his other subordinates.
• Dong Fuyi explained that information about Li Yan had leaked from within the Phantom Sect and proposed killing or erasing the memories of those who knew about it.
• Li Yan chose to erase their memories, and Dong Fuyi said that option would be troublesome.

Li Yan arranged for Dong Fuyi to help conceal his secrets and asked him to treat Bai Rou, whose sea of consciousness had been badly injured. Dong Fuyi traced the damage to the ancient ape puppet and golden rope, but warned that even if Bai Rou’s sea of consciousness was stabilized, the fused restraining force meant she would not awaken.

• Li Yan proposed gathering the sect’s cultivators and altering their memories in three months, after issuing a summons for disciples outside the sect to return.
• Dong Fuyi told Li Yan that Qianzhong, Pei Buchong, and Ping Tu had returned to the upper realm, and explained that he had given Li Zhaoyan the Nine Yang Mystic Bird egg.
• Li Yan asked Dong Fuyi to examine Bai Rou and heal her, and Dong Fuyi offered him two True Essence Pills.
• Dong Fuyi examined Bai Rou, then inspected the golden rope and ancient ape puppet that had been involved in her injury.
• Dong Fuyi explained that the damaged puppet’s formations had mixed its power with Bai Rou’s Divine Sense and magic power, while the rope’s restraining force had seeped into her sea of consciousness.
• Dong Fuyi warned Li Yan that Bai Rou would not awaken even if her sea of consciousness could be stabilized, leaving Li Yan devastated.

Li Yan asked Dong Fuyi how to save Bai Rou and learned that Moonveil Clarity might purify her damaged sea of consciousness, though finding it would be difficult. They also planned how Li Yan would bring his loved ones to the Immortal Spirit Realm, leaving him to sort out their destinations and many unresolved arrangements.

• Li Yan asked Dong Fuyi whether Bai Rou could be restored, and Dong Fuyi said she needed gentle treatment first and might later be saved with the rare herb Moonveil Clarity.
• Dong Fuyi agreed to take Li Yan and several others to the Immortal Spirit Realm, while explaining that carrying people in a Spirit Storage Space would multiply the dangers of ascension.
• Dong Fuyi explained that Tuban's upper-realm materials and the creatures' long exposure to its environment had helped Li Yan and his Demon Beasts survive ascension without Immortal Transformation Fluid.
• Li Yan asked to bring his loved ones into the Five Immortals Sect, but Dong Fuyi warned they might be unable to leave until reaching the Void Refinement Realm.
• Li Yan decided his loved ones should go to the upper-realm Wangliang Sect, and Dong Fuyi offered a Cangxuan Realm ascension node and promised to escort them.
• Li Yan considered the unresolved arrangements for Zhao Min, Gong Chenying, Mu Guyue, Mu Sha, and Zi Kun, then decided to ask Dong Fuyi for help planning them.

Li Yan and Dong Fuyi discussed the Phantom Sect’s troubles and Li Yan’s cultivation while preparing for Li Yan to refine a pill for Bai Rou. Dong Fuyi’s guidance gave Li Yan a rush of insight, and he left the conversation with his spiritual power stabilized and a clearer path toward advancing.

• Li Yan asked Dong Fuyi to help alter the sect cultivators’ memories in three months, while he used the time to refine the True Essence Pill for Bai Rou.
• Dong Fuyi and Li Yan left Zhao Min and the other two women meditating under their seals, then met on a secluded peak of Small Bamboo Peak.
• Dong Fuyi questioned Li Yan about his cultivation and answered Li Yan’s questions, becoming astonished by his mastery of Gui Water techniques and body-refining arts.
• Li Yan kept several cultivation secrets from Dong Fuyi while considering how the Five Immortal Sects and Soul-Suppressing Palace might coexist.
• Dong Fuyi advised Li Yan not to rush his breakthrough and used his power to calm Li Yan’s surging spiritual energy and clarify his new insights.

After ten days of treating Bai Rou, Li Yan reassured Zhao Min, Gong Chenying, and Li Zhaoyan that her life was safe, then eased his daughter’s fear by discussing her Nine-Yang Mysterious Bird egg and sharing his knowledge. The family’s conversation left Li Zhaoyan more comfortable with Li Yan, while he learned that his senior brothers and Mo Qing wanted to see him before he left.

• Dong Fuyi sealed the laws from Li Yan’s body into his Nascent Soul and regretted not having guided him sooner.
• Ten days later, Li Yan told Li Zhaoyan, Zhao Min, and Gong Chenying that Bai Rou’s life was no longer in danger, though she had not awakened.
• Li Yan explained the Nine-Yang Mysterious Bird egg’s rare bloodline and encouraged Li Zhaoyan to keep trying to hatch it.
• Li Yan discussed the Heavenly Demon Grassland and Puppet Arts with Li Zhaoyan, helping her relax and recognize his knowledge.
• Gong Chenying told Li Yan that his eldest senior brother had visited and that his second senior brother’s condition had stabilized.
• Zhao Min told Li Yan that Mo Qing wanted to see him before he left, after entrusting the injured Li Yuyin to Changting.

Li Yan reunited with Zhao Min and Gong Chenying, gave Li Zhaoyan cultivation treasures, and shared Great Wu Fruits with his wives. He then revealed that he had gained another Dao companion, leaving both women shocked and hurt.

• Li Yan gave Li Zhaoyan pills and Nascent Soul-grade magic treasures and urged her to cultivate diligently.
• Li Yan told Zhao Min, Gong Chenying, and Li Zhaoyan about his battle with Xue Longzi and his time in the Immortal-Spirit Realm.
• Li Yan showed Zhao Min and Gong Chenying two Great Wu Fruits and explained that they could help cultivators comprehend the laws of heaven and earth.
• Li Yan gave one Great Wu Fruit to each woman and said they could save them for future breakthroughs.
• Li Yan admitted that he had gained a new Dao companion, and Zhao Min and Gong Chenying reacted with anger and dismay.