Chapter Summaries

Li Yan confessed to Zhao Min and Gong Chenying that he had a son with Mu Guyue, a Black Devil general, and asked to bring her into the Li family. Zhao Min and Gong Chenying withdrew to consider the revelation while Li Yan waited outside, uncertain how they would respond.

• Zhao Min guessed that Li Yan's new Dao Companion might be Su Hong, but Li Yan denied it and began explaining another relationship.
• Li Yan recounted how he had met Mu Guyue, fathered Mu Sha, and encountered her again in a secret realm, while concealing the Dizhen Domain and Soul Suppressing Palace.
• Zhao Min and Gong Chenying were shocked to learn Mu Guyue was a Black Devil general and that Mu Sha was already near the Nascent Soul Realm.
• Zhao Min recalled Li Yan's guilty behavior during their earlier reunion, while Li Yan explained that Mu Guyue would not marry him and planned to leave for the Black Devil Race with their son.
• Gong Chenying asked Li Yan to leave so she and Zhao Min could think things over; Li Yan waited beneath a tree, and the two women kept their chamber closed for several days.

Li Yan bid farewell to Li Wuyi and honored Zhao Zhi at her cenotaph before working with Dong Fuyi to conceal the sect’s secrets and arrange protection for Small Bamboo Peak. Dong Fuyi bound Feng Hongyue to guard the sect for a thousand years, then recognized Li Yan’s Soul Cultivator technique and urged him to rely on the sect’s Five Elements cultivation method.

• Li Yan asked Li Wuyi to ascend with him, but Li Wuyi refused, explaining that he and Li Changting would stay to protect Small Bamboo Peak and nurture its next peak master.
• Li Yan left Li Wuyi information about ascension nodes, Immortalization Fluid, and cultivation pills, then secretly arranged with Dong Fuyi to alter cultivators’ memories and conceal the sect’s secrets.
• Li Yan visited Zhao Zhi’s cenotaph with Zhao Min and Gong Chenying, and Zhao Min wept as she recalled her mother’s final words during the Heavenly Tribulation.
• Li Yan asked Dong Fuyi to secure Feng Hongyue as a powerful guard for the lower realm, and Dong Fuyi marked him so he would remain for a thousand years in exchange for the promise of freedom and advancement.
• Dong Fuyi noticed Li Yan’s Soul Cultivator technique and told him that the Five Elements cultivation method, especially the Guiyi Water-Parting Spike, could overcome Soul Cultivators.

Li Yan arranged for Feng Hongyue to guard the Wangliang Sect for a thousand years, then prepared to leave after helping his fellow disciples and arranging supplies for them. The chapter ended as he gathered Wei Zhongran, Li Zhaoyan, Zhao Min, and Gong Chenying to discuss his departure, while the dispute over Mu Guyue remained unresolved.

• Li Yan brought Feng Hongyue to Gu Jiuqi, and Feng Hongyue transformed into a towering pine that protected a forbidden area in the Wangliang Sect.
• Li Yan and Gu Jiuqi discussed the enemy cultivators’ techniques, and Li Yan described sensing two rough, interwoven forces in one enemy’s attack.
• Li Yan left pills and a jade slip for Sun Guoshu and Wang Tian, asking Wang Tian to pass supplies to Zuo Shengyan.
• Gu Jiuqi told Wei Zhongran and the other Nascent Soul Cultivators to reopen the sect and said he had contacted the upper realm.
• Li Yan called Zhao Min and Gong Chenying out of seclusion and asked Li Zhaoyan to stay as he prepared to discuss troubling matters with them.

Li Yan persuaded his family and Wei Zhongran to risk ascending together with Dong Fuyi’s help, partly to find a cure for Bai Rou. As they prepared to depart within half a month, Zhao Min and Gong Chenying also agreed that Mu Sha could join the Li family while Mu Guyue’s place remained unresolved.

• Li Yan explained that Dong Fuyi had discovered a lingering force in Bai Rou’s Sea of Consciousness and that the Immortal-Spirit Realm herb Hazy Moon Clear could treat her.
• Li Yan said Dong Fuyi could use spatial laws to help the group ascend through a node to the Cangxuan Realm, and Wei Zhongran and Zhao Min agreed to proceed despite the danger.
• Li Zhaoyan learned she could ascend with her family, and Wei Zhongran agreed to depart within half a month after consulting Patriarch Mo.
• Zhao Min asked Li Zhaoyan to visit the Woodstream Sect, explain Bai Rou’s injuries to Yu Niang, and bring back anything Bai Rou might need.
• Gong Chenying told Li Yan that she and Zhao Min accepted Mu Sha as his bloodline and would allow him into the Li family, while cautioning that Mu Guyue’s return could provoke Wei Zhongran.

Li Yan’s companions accepted Mu Sha’s existence, and Li Yan left the Wangliang Sect with his group after visiting his family’s graves and resolving Zi Kun’s blood pact. At an ascension node, Dong Fuyi secretly rendered the others unconscious and arranged to bring everyone to the Immortal Spirit Realm while keeping Mu Guyue and her son separate from Li Yan’s other family.

• Gong Chenying and Zhao Min gradually accepted that Li Yan had a son with Mu Guyue, though they still resented Mu Guyue and preferred not to meet her.
• Li Yan visited his family’s ruined graves in the Great Green Mountain, abandoned his search for Li family descendants, and dissolved his blood pact with Zi Kun.
• Li Yan and his companions quietly left the Wangliang Sect, leaving Li Yuyin behind to recover and help guard the sect.
• Dong Fuyi led the group through spatial turbulence to a stable ascension node among giant red-spotted mushrooms.
• Dong Fuyi secretly incapacitated Wei Zhongran and the others, then planned with Li Yan to bring Mu Guyue and her son through the node separately and alter the group’s memories of the ascent.

Li Yan arrived in the Lost Continent to take Mu Guyue and her son with him, and met Mu Guyue to discuss their ascent. He arranged for Mu Sha to meet him, but Mu Sha had not yet decided whether to leave the Black Devil Race.

• Li Yan reached the Lost Continent and headed toward the Black Devil Race to find Mu Guyue and Mu Sha.
• Mu Guyue received Li Yan in the night sky and asked about his companions and their plans to ascend.
• Li Yan told Mu Guyue that Zhao Min and the others had softened toward her after learning about Mu Sha, and explained that they would ascend separately from her.
• Mu Guyue told Li Yan that Mu Sha was staying at a military camp and seemed unwilling to ascend; Li Yan resolved not to let him remain in the Black Devil Race army.
• Mu Sha followed Mu Guyue's summons to a mountain near the border and saw her standing beside Li Yan.

Li Yan met Mu Sha, the son he had never seen, and explained that he had been unable to come to the Black Devil Race before. Mu Sha refused to ascend with Li Yan and Mu Guyue without first testing Li Yan’s strength, and the chapter ended as he launched a sudden attack.

• Mu Sha questioned whether Li Yan was the father he had imagined and asked why he had only appeared now.
• Li Yan said his cultivation had once been too low to come safely, then urged Mu Sha to ascend with him and Mu Guyue to the Immortal-Spirit Realm.
• Mu Sha declined, arguing that he wanted to temper himself in the lower realm, and questioned whether Li Yan could demonstrate the strength of a Spirit Transformation cultivator.
• Li Yan agreed to let Mu Sha attack with all his strength, and Mu Sha accepted the challenge.
• Mu Sha vanished and struck at Li Yan from behind with a green weapon and a knee aimed at vulnerable parts of his body.

Li Yan effortlessly defeats Mu Sha, reveals his extraordinary physical strength and healing, and is recognized as Mu Sha’s father. More than two years later, Li Yan and Dong Fuyi prepare to ascend through a safer spatial node, bringing Mu Guyue, Mu Sha, and the others along.

• Mu Sha attacks Li Yan with a bone spur and a green whip, but Li Yan catches the whip and sends him flying exactly fifty zhang.
• Li Yan sees Mu Sha’s wounds healing and cuts his own wrist with the whip’s blade to demonstrate his faster recovery; he recognizes the weapon as the Love Sky Vine he had lost.
• Mu Sha realizes Li Yan is his father and kneels to greet him.
• More than two years later, Dong Fuyi rejects Li Yan’s proposed ascension node as unstable and chooses the safer node beneath the red-spotted mushrooms.
• Dong Fuyi sends Mu Guyue and Mu Sha into Li Yan’s Tuban space, then Li Yan is pulled into the spatial node.

Li Yan and his companions reached the Cangxuan Realm, used Immortal Transformation Liquid to adapt, and began traveling toward the Wangliang Sect. As Li Yan shared knowledge and stayed close to Li Zhaoyan, Zhao Min’s resentment softened, while Dong Fuyi endured the others’ growing suspicion over his fee.

• Li Yan led the group out of the ascension passage and had them settle in temporary caves to use Immortal Transformation Liquid and merge with the Immortal Spirit Realm’s laws.
• Li Yan arranged for the group to recover and adapt while he and Dong Fuyi stood guard, with Bai Rou’s condition requiring extra time.
• Over a year later, Li Yan and the others traveled toward the Wangliang Sect as Dong Fuyi pretended to be unfamiliar with the Cangxuan Realm.
• Li Zhaoyan stayed beside Li Yan and asked him about the Immortal Spirit Realm, while Zhao Min watched their closeness and felt the thorn in her heart begin to melt.
• Wei Zhongran asked Li Yan how much Dong Fuyi had charged, and Li Yan said it was fifty supreme-grade spirit stones.
• Mo Qing, Zhao Min, and Gong Chenying grew displeased with Dong Fuyi’s fee, while Dong Fuyi silently resented being blamed for Li Yan’s dealings.

After nine years of travel, Li Yan and his companions reached the territory of the upper-realm Phantom Sect, with Dong Fuyi ending his escort and departing. They approached the sect’s imposing mountain gate, where its familiar appearance reminded them of the Phantom Sect in the lower realm.

• Li Yan and his companions traveled through the Immortal-Spirit Realm, using teleportation arrays and relying on spirit stones from Dong Fuyi and contributions from Mo Qing and Wei Zhongran.
• Dong Fuyi escorted the group for nine years, then left them several tens of thousands of miles from the Phantom Sect’s core territory.
• Li Zhaoyan sensed life from the Nine Yang Mystic Bird egg, and Li Yan learned that the lower realm’s laws had likely suppressed it.
• Li Yan revealed his mid-stage Spirit Transformation Realm cultivation as the group approached the Phantom Sect.
• Li Yan and his companions saw the thousand-zhang mountain gate and recognized the upper-realm Phantom Sect as strikingly similar to the sect in the lower realm.

Mo Qing and the Phantom Sect group arrived at the upper realm sect, where guards questioned how they had ascended together. While Li Yan spoke with the guards and assessed the sect, he learned that the upper realm Phantom Sect followed the same five-peak structure as the lower realm.

• Mo Qing identified the group as disciples of the lower realm's Phantom Sect, and their identity tokens prompted six upper realm guards to appear.
• Li Yan and the others recognized Four Symbols Peak emblems on the guards' robes and wondered whether the upper realm sect shared the lower realm's five peaks.
• The burly bald guard questioned how so many cultivators had ascended together and was surprised that a Golden Core Realm cultivator had joined them.
• Mo Qing confirmed that they had ascended together, and the guards sent the others away while the burly bald man stayed to question Li Yan.
• Li Yan concealed details while speaking with the guard, who suspected that Li Yan already knew the Immortal-Spirit Realm.
• Li Yan inferred that ascended cultivators returned to the same peaks they had belonged to in the lower realm, with Laojun Peak as the main peak.

Li Yan and his companions waited at the Phantom Sect’s mountain gate, where Mo Qing’s master, a late-stage Void Refinement cultivator, arrived and chastised him. Da Cen then appeared to welcome the Small Bamboo Peak disciples, reunited warmly with Mo Qing, and was stunned to recognize Li Yan as a powerful Spirit Transformation cultivator.

• Li Yan carefully parried the brawny bald man’s questions while Mo Qing and Wei Zhongran watched their exchange.
• A black-clad late-stage Void Refinement cultivator appeared above the group, and Mo Qing recognized her as his master, Elder Lu.
• Elder Lu scolded Mo Qing for remaining at late-stage Nascent Soul and wondered about Li Yan’s unexpected strength.
• Da Cen arrived to receive the Small Bamboo Peak disciples, briefly acted distant toward Mo Qing, then embraced him and joked with him.
• Da Cen recognized Li Yan and was shocked to discover that the young man he remembered as a Foundation Establishment cultivator had reached Spirit Transformation; Wei Zhongran stepped forward to greet him and began transmitting an explanation.

Mo Qing reunited with his master at Laojun Peak while Wei Zhongran brought Li Yan and the others to Small Bamboo Peak, where Da Cen learned how Li Yan had reached Spirit Transformation and heard about the mysterious attack on the lower-realm Phantom Sect. Da Cen prepared to report the matter, but the attackers’ origins and motives remained unknown.

• The woman in black brought Mo Qing toward Laojun Peak and asked him to explain Li Yan’s return to the lower realm and the mysterious cultivators’ attack on the Phantom Sect.
• Wei Zhongran and the others accompanied Da Cen to Small Bamboo Peak, where Da Cen questioned them about their identities, Li Zhaoyan, and Li Yan’s cultivation.
• Wei Zhongran explained that Li Yan had ascended to the Immortal-Spirit Realm before and achieved Spirit Transformation there, and Da Cen learned that Li Zhaoyan was Wei Zhongran’s granddaughter.
• Wei Zhongran told Da Cen about the eight mysterious cultivators who attacked the lower-realm Phantom Sect, including two who might have come from the upper realm.
• Li Yan admitted he had killed the attackers before conducting a Soul Search, and he and Wei Zhongran explained that the surviving clues pointed to several small realms but identified no specific origin or shared sect.

Li Yan and his companions were questioned by Da Cen about the mysterious cultivators they had encountered, then registered as Small Bamboo Peak disciples and received new tokens, supplies, and courtyard assignments. After the group passed the tests for better residences, Li Yan settled on a courtyard in the Spirit Transformation Realm area while Li Zhaoyan chose to cultivate among peers.

• Li Yan described the dead Spirit Transformation cultivator’s briefly unleashed power, and Da Cen considered whether it involved water and fire spiritual roots or a trade with upper-realm cultivators.
• Da Cen took the group to Small Bamboo Peak’s administrative office, where a steward verified their identities, reforged their tokens, and gave them sect supplies and rulebooks.
• The steward explained that relatives and direct disciples could enter a courtyard with its owner’s permission, but the group chose tests to qualify for better locations.
• Li Yan faced waves of fourth-rank Demon Beasts in a bamboo-sea trial and concealed part of his strength, while Li Zhaoyan endured her own test for an hour using Puppet Arts.
• After the group selected courtyards, Li Yan chose the Spirit Transformation Realm area, while Li Zhaoyan preferred to meet cultivators of her own realm and grow stronger before traveling with Bai Rou.

Li Yan settled his companions in the Phantom Sect and was summoned with Da Cen and Wei Zhongran to answer the elders’ questions about the attack in the lower realm. A medical expert could not remove the binding force in Bai Rou’s sea of consciousness, but suggested a possible remedy involving the Longyue Qing Immortal Herb and a Dreamreturn Ant demon core.

• Zi Kun chose to stay and cultivate after Li Yan told him that the Purple Divine Dragon Elephant clan might live in the Heavenly Demon Grassland, while Zhao Min and Gong Chenying stayed in Li Yan’s courtyard to cultivate.
• Li Yan waited in the Phantom Sect for a summons, planning to explain the lower-realm attack and to rely on his Fragmented Poison Body and soul cultivation to conceal his secrets.
• Da Cen brought Li Yan and Wei Zhongran to Laojun Peak, where Mo Qing and seven Void Refinement elders questioned them about the attackers, their belongings, and the two mysterious Spirit Transformation cultivators.
• Da Cen examined Bai Rou and then brought in a late-stage Void Refinement medical expert, who confirmed that a binding force remained in her sea of consciousness and was unlikely to be safely removed.
• The medical expert suggested that the Longyue Qing Immortal Herb and a Dreamreturn Ant demon core might help Bai Rou, and Li Yan was stunned by the demon’s name.

Li Yan prepared to leave in search of the Luminous Moon Clear immortal herb to save Bai Rou, giving his companions resources and cultivation techniques before departing with Dong Fuyi. Zhao Min and Gong Chenying realized he also intended to bring Mu Guyue and Mu Sha back, while Li Yan and Dong Fuyi set out through turbulent space toward the Jieyou Realm to track the Black Devil Race.

• The young man in yellow explained that a fifth-rank or higher Dreamreturn Ant demon core could help purify a Nascent Soul cultivator’s sea of consciousness, giving Li Yan another possible way to save Bai Rou.
• Li Yan gave Zi Kun and Wei Zhongran pills and spirit stones, then gave Zhao Min and Gong Chenying resources and basic Soul Cultivator techniques while instructing them to protect Li Zhaoyan’s cultivation.
• Li Yan told Zhao Min and Gong Chenying that Mu Guyue had gifted the Da Wu Fruits, then left for the sect gate.
• Zhao Min and Gong Chenying realized Li Yan planned to bring Mu Guyue and Mu Sha back and resolved to reach Spirit Transformation so they might meet them.
• Li Yan met Dong Fuyi at the agreed marketplace, and Dong Fuyi swept him into turbulent space as they headed toward the Jieyou Realm to locate the Black Devil Race.

Li Yan brought Mu Guyue and Mu Sha to the Black Devil Race and gave Mu Sha a secret Soul Cultivator technique before seeing them off. He stayed nearby with Dong Fuyi for three years to make sure they settled safely, while his search for a way to heal Bai Rou made no progress.

• Dong Fuyi and Li Yan escorted Mu Guyue and Mu Sha across realms, and Li Yan altered their memories before bringing them near the Black Devil Race.
• Li Yan taught Mu Sha a foundational Soul Cultivator method and warned him to keep it secret and kill anyone he used it against.
• Mu Guyue agreed that she might accompany Li Yan to the North Pasture Realm to explain matters to Senior Brother Shangguan and the others.
• Mu Guyue and Mu Sha entered the Black Devil Race's territory, while Li Yan and Dong Fuyi stayed nearby to watch over them.
• Dong Fuyi secretly investigated the Black Devil Race for three years as Li Yan searched the Jieyou Realm for a way to heal Bai Rou, whose consciousness injury remained unchanged.

Li Yan secretly protected Mu Guyue and Mu Sha from a steward who had been withholding their cultivation resources, then met Mu Guyue and gave her poisons, antidotes, and instructions before preparing to leave. Mu Guyue recognized that Li Yan had arranged the steward’s disappearance and later deaths of those who pursued the matter, and she was left deeply moved by his care.

• Mu Guyue planned to kill the steward who had withheld her and Mu Sha’s cultivation resources, but he disappeared before she could act.
• Mu Guyue and Mu Sha were investigated after the steward vanished, but the clan found no evidence against them and eventually dropped the case.
• Mu Guyue noticed that another cultivator who had been investigating her and Mu Sha was killed, and she began to suspect the deaths were connected.
• Li Yan sent Mu Guyue a sound transmission, met her at a marketplace, and confirmed his identity by silently mouthing “Dizhen Domain.”
• Li Yan admitted he had handled the two matters to protect Mu Guyue and Mu Sha, then gave her poisons, antidotes, and a jade slip with instructions.
• Mu Guyue was moved by Li Yan’s secret protection as he prepared to leave.

Li Yan and Dong Fuyi raced across realms to bring Mu Guyue and her child to the Black Devil Race, then set out for the Gui Water Immortal Sect. During the decades of travel, Dong Fuyi guided Li Yan’s cultivation, which advanced rapidly as Li Yan carefully stabilized his foundation and kept his soul-cultivation technique secret.

• Dong Fuyi used teleportation arrays and dangerous journeys through spatial turbulence to bring Li Yan across realms and deliver Mu Guyue and her child to the Black Devil Race.
• Dong Fuyi and Li Yan returned to the edge of the Cangxuan Realm and headed toward the Gui Water Immortal Sect, expecting the journey to take about thirty years.
• Li Yan’s Gui Water True Scripture reached the late stage of Spirit Transformation under Dong Fuyi’s guidance, and Li Yan restrained his progress to protect his foundation.
• Dong Fuyi tested Li Yan’s Fragmented Poison Body, found that its toxins could threaten Void Refinement cultivators, and confirmed that it would not harm Li Yan’s spiritual roots or cultivation.
• Li Yan continued training the Qiongqi Purgatory Art while making little progress with Holy Soul Transformation, which he concealed because he had not yet learned Elders Hao and Tang’s attitudes.

Dong Fuyi brought Li Yan to a hidden entrance of the Five Immortals Sect and showed him how its restriction was opened. Inside, Li Yan saw the sect’s vibrant lake and five colored rings, where two sect members greeted Dong Fuyi and examined Li Yan.

• Dong Fuyi descended with Li Yan into the remote reed marsh and used a small cauldron and hand seals to reveal the sect’s entrance.
• Dong Fuyi pulled Li Yan through the opening and told him the cauldron and seals would let him enter again, warning him to watch for Demon Beasts and cultivators.
• Li Yan emerged beside a vast, clear lake surrounded by spring greenery and saw five enormous colored rings suspended above it.
• Dong Fuyi flew toward the black ring, but a middle-aged man and a woman in pale green robes emerged from the black and azure rings.
• The woman recognized Dong Fuyi and asked whether Li Yan was the disciple he had found.