Chapter Summaries

Li Yan returned to the mountain village where he had grown up with Gong Chenying and Zhao Min, while the two women encountered ordinary life unlike anything they had known. Near the village, they found Blood Leaf Sect cultivators guarding the Li family on orders from the Phantom Sect, and Li Yan learned that the protection was connected to a cultivator who had left the Green Mountain Pass military four years earlier.

• Li Yan led Gong Chenying and Zhao Min from Great Green Mountain toward his childhood village, and Zhao Min watched the unfamiliar lives of ordinary people along the road.
• On the mountain path, Li Yan recalled childhood adventures with his siblings and village children as Zhao Min asked about his youth.
• Li Yan and the two women sensed two black-robed cultivators, vanished from the path, and confronted them on a nearby peak.
• Xu Shi and Wang Wuyi identified themselves as Blood Leaf Sect disciples and said they had been ordered to guard the village against harm from the border dynasties.
• Xu Shi explained that a Phantom Sect cultivator from the Green Mountain Pass military had entered the sect four years earlier, and Li Yan confirmed that the village was surnamed Li.

Li Yan learned that the Blood Leaf Sect and two cultivation Lineages had secretly protected his family since his disappearance, and he prepared to return to his village with Gong Chenying and Zhao Min. After Li Yan left, Xu Shi and Wang Wuying recognized his group as Phantom Sect cultivators and decided to report the encounter to their sect.

• Li Yan questioned Xu Shi about his family and learned that his parents were well, his Fourth Sister had married, and his Third Brother had started a family.
• Li Yan gave Xu Shi and Wang Wuying bottles of Spirit-Raising Pills and told them to reassure Blood Leaf High Person that the Blood Leaf Sect would remain safe for the next hundred years.
• Xu Shi and Wang Wuying identified Li Yan's group as Phantom Sect cultivators and realized Li Yan might be the cultivator whose family they had guarded.
• Xu Shi ordered that one of them stay behind while the other returned to the sect to report the encounter to the sect master and patriarch.
• Li Yan told Gong Chenying and Zhao Min that his family did not know he had become a cultivator, then planned what identities to give them when they met his family.

Li Yan returned to his mountain village with Gong Chenying and Zhao Min and found his family working in the fields. His reunion with his parents and Li Wei left the village stunned, and the chapter ended with his family embracing him in tears.

• Li Yan used his Divine Sense to find his family and recognized his sister-in-law and nephew among them.
• The chapter recounted how the commander-in-chief reduced the village’s taxes because of Li Yan’s belt, and how the villagers shared the resulting benefits with Uncle Chang’s family.
• Little Wu remarked on the newcomers’ fine clothes, and Li Wei stepped forward to protect his family as Li Yan approached.
• Li Yan recognized Li Wei and knelt before Uncle Chang, calling himself Fifth Brother.
• Li Yan’s mother recognized him and threw herself onto him, while Li Wei and Uncle Chang wept at his return.

Li Yan reunited with his family and villagers, introducing Gong Chenying and Zhao Min as the daughters of an imperial physician and a marshal. As the family prepared to return home with the wheat, Li Yan secretly reassured Li Wei that his injured leg could be healed and hinted that he had enough gold to help the family start a business.

• Li Yan's mother and the villagers recognized him, and he reunited with his brother Li Wei, sister-in-law Xiaoyu, and nephew Li Wenwu.
• Li Yan introduced Gong Chenying and Zhao Min to his family and claimed they were the daughters of an imperial physician and Marshal Zhao.
• Li Yan said he served under Marshal Zhao, and Uncle Chang ended the villagers' questions and led everyone toward home.
• Li Yan told Li Wei that Gong Chenying could heal his leg, then privately showed him a pouch full of gold and asked whether he wanted to take their parents to Green Mountain Pass to do business.

Li Yan returned to his mountain village with Zhao Min and Gong Chenying, and the villagers welcomed them with astonishment and excitement. Li Guoxin arranged a village feast, leaving Zhao Min and Gong Chenying stunned by the villagers’ warm, boisterous hospitality.

• Uncle Chang and Aunt Chang brought Zhao Min and Gong Chenying through the village, proudly introducing them to villagers along the road.
• Li Guoxin gathered the villagers at the entrance and warmly welcomed Li Yan home.
• Li Yan reunited with Li Shan, who told him that Li Yu was still working as a head cook in town and offered to fetch him.
• Aunt Chang introduced Zhao Min as Marshal Zhao’s daughter and Gong Chenying as Imperial Physician Gong’s daughter, prompting the villagers to stare and gossip.
• Li Guoxin called off household cooking and ordered the villagers to prepare a shared feast at the village entrance.

Zhao Min and Gong Chenying joined Li Yan’s homecoming feast in the mountain village, where the villagers’ warmth stirred Zhao Min’s memories of childhood and led the women to learn stories about Li Yan. The celebration continued with Li Yan drinking alongside his old friends, who tried to get him drunk and discover whether the two women cared for him.

• As the villagers prepared the feast, Zhao Min and Gong Chenying discussed how village life differed from the solemn, lonely life of cultivators, and Zhao Min reflected on the warmth she had felt there.
• Li Guoxin welcomed Li Yan home and announced that the village feast would begin, after which villagers gathered around the tables to eat and drink.
• Aunt Chang seated village women beside Zhao Min and Gong Chenying, and their conversation gradually turned to Li Yan’s childhood.
• Li Yu served Li Yan his golden crispy spirit-tailed chicken, and Li Yan praised the dish as he ate.
• Li Shan and Li Yan’s other childhood friends tried to coax him into revealing whether Zhao Min and Gong Chenying were interested in him, then attempted to get him drunk.
• Li Yan drank with seven or eight companions without using spiritual power to dispel the wine, while they became dizzy and he remained unaffected.

Li Yu and the other villagers tried to outdrink Li Yan by drawing him into a childhood game, then recruited Zhao Min and Gong Chenying to even the teams. The women’s sharp senses helped them win repeatedly, and although Li Yan asked them to lose some rounds, Li Yu’s group still lost three more times.

• Li Yu told the others that Li Yan’s drinking strength likely came from martial arts and devised a plan to make him drink more by involving his guests.
• Li Yu proposed Seeking Locust Leaves, a childhood game, and persuaded Li Yan to bring Zhao Min and Gong Chenying onto his team.
• Zhao Min found Li Yu’s hidden locust leaves almost immediately, and Gong Chenying and Zhao Min then won seven rounds in succession.
• Li Yan realized the women were using their cultivators’ keen senses and secretly asked them to lose some rounds.
• After the women began losing occasionally, Li Yu’s side regained its confidence but suffered three more consecutive defeats.

Li Yan settled into village life while Zhao Min and Gong Chenying grew close to his family, and Gong Chenying’s healing brought an influx of patients that Li Guoxin eventually stopped. The chapter then shifted to the Red Cicada Sect, where its sect master and an elder discussed a secret search for a valuable item and the danger posed by the Phantom Sect.

• Li Yan worked the fields and winnowed wheat while Zhao Min learned village cooking and Gong Chenying cured Li Wei, Uncle Chang, and Aunt Chang.
• Gong Chenying’s reputation attracted patients from nearby villages, so Li Guoxin sent away the women who had spread word of her skills and blocked outsiders at the mountain entrance.
• Li Yan found no spiritual roots among the villagers, reunited with his eldest and fourth sisters, and gave his father ten thousand taels of gold before beginning to study the Woodflow Sect’s introductory puppet technique.
• At the Red Cicada Sect, Immortal Maiden Red Candle told an elder that a magical treasure would help them search for one of three missing items.
• Immortal Maiden Red Candle warned the elder that the Phantom Sect might have uncovered and destroyed other hidden sects, leaving the elder alarmed by the possibility that an entire sect had vanished.

Su Hong investigated the disappearance of sects across the Desolate Moon Continent and suspected a hidden force was moving against the four great sects. Meanwhile, leaders of the four great sects shared evidence of that force’s agents and discussed searching for up to four mysterious items.

• Su Hong learned that fifty-seven sects and Lineages had vanished and that Nascent Soul patriarchs from the Ten-Step Academy and Grand Mystic Sect had secretly left their sects.
• Su Hong concluded that a concealed force was contending with the four great sects, ordered her findings sent to the main altar, and suspended major operations.
• Master Liaofan, Mo Qing, Chong Yue, and Gongsun Changxing compared reports of infiltrators and vanished sects across their territories.
• Chong Yue and Gongsun Changxing revealed that their sects had destroyed suspected agents, and Gongsun Changxing said a captured patriarch’s memories suggested there were no more than four items.
• Mo Qing proposed that the hidden force sought something connected to the Yin Demon Cliff fissure, while Gongsun Changxing warned that old survivors might have another hidden base.
• The four leaders decided to divide the regions where they had received intelligence and search for the items with increased forces.

Li Yan learned from Gong Chen-Ying that Zhao Min was the daughter of their master, who had been separated from her parents and later joined Buli Peak under a new name. After Gong Chen-Ying finished recounting Zhao Min’s past, Li Yan offered to listen when she was ready to share her own history and promised to accompany her to the Tianli Clan.

• Li Yan asked Gong Chen-Ying why Zhao Min was treated differently from other disciples who had left Small Bamboo Peak.
• Gong Chen-Ying revealed that Zhao Min was originally Wei Minqing, the daughter of their master and a member of the Wei cultivation lineage.
• Gong Chen-Ying explained that Zhao Min had been left with the Wei family to cultivate, became withdrawn, and returned to Small Bamboo Peak unable to reconnect with her parents.
• Gong Chen-Ying recounted that Zhao Min later joined Buli Peak, changed her name, and that their master destroyed the abandoned bamboo residences in grief.
• Li Yan gently touched Gong Chen-Ying's hair and promised to listen whenever she was ready to speak and to accompany her to the Tianli Clan.

Li Yan spent time at home with Gong Chenying and Zhao Min before receiving an urgent order for all traveling Wangliang Sect disciples to return. He left the village to seek materials for his lifebound magical treasure while the two women returned to the sect, and he arranged for the Bloodleaf Sect cultivators to send letters to his family.

• Gong Chenying and Zhao Min learned to cook, and Li Yan joined a hunting party to bring back demon beast meat for them.
• Xu Shi and Wang Wuying delivered two jade slips ordering Wangliang Sect disciples away on trials to return within half a month; Wei Zhongran's message exempted Li Yan but called for Gong Chenying and Zhao Min to return.
• Li Yan decided to continue searching for materials for his lifebound magical treasure, while Gong Chenying and Zhao Min prepared to return to the sect.
• After six more days, Li Yan left the village with the two women and promised his family he would send letters.
• Li Yan gave Xu Shi and Wang Wuying letters for his family and instructions to arrange official identities for the three travelers.

Li Yan left Gong Chenying and Zhao Min and traveled toward the Northern Underworld Sea, planning to visit the Pure Land Sect and seek the Crimson Mother Essence and a Boundless Wanderer tree. Near Mystic Purity Temple, four cultivators arrived at the gate just as an unknown group blocked their way.

• Li Yan parted from Gong Chenying and Zhao Min, who urged him to stay safe as he set out alone.
• Li Yan reviewed Ping Tu’s warning that a Blue Demon Flood Dragon guarded the Boundless Wanderer tree and considered how to approach it safely.
• Li Yan suppressed his cultivation, disguised himself as a Bloodleaf Sect disciple, and planned a route through teleportation formations toward the Pure Land Sect.
• Li Yan used maps gathered from Wei Zhongran and smaller sects to locate Mystic Purity Temple and its eight-thousand-li teleportation formation.
• Fatty Luo Three, Song Bo, Qin Chengyi, and Senior Brother Liu discussed their overnight gambling losses and Senior Brother Liu warned Qin Chengyi against gambling.
• A group flew out beside Mystic Purity Temple’s mountain gate and blocked the four cultivators from entering.

Luo Sanpang and three fellow cultivators returned to Xuanqing Temple after ignoring a sect order, and Kong Nantian confronted them at the mountain gate. As the four went to answer to the Sect Master, Kong reflected on the disappearance of two nearby sects and resumed his patrol when an azure streak approached.

• Kong Nantian stopped Luo Sanpang, Liu, Song Bo, and Qin Chengyi at the mountain gate for breaking the order that disciples remain within the sect.
• Qin Chengyi recited the Sect Master's order, and Liu and Song Bo admitted their mistake and offered to explain themselves to the Sect Master.
• Kong told the four that the Sect Master had summoned Foundation Establishment cultivators the previous evening, and Liu sternly warned Luo to behave humbly when they met him.
• The four saluted Kong Nantian and headed up the mountain, while Kong recalled that two nearby sects had vanished and that the Phantom Sect had ordered an investigation.
• A new disciple learned from a senior that Luo Sanpang relied on the sect ancestor's favor and was obsessed with the number three; Kong silenced the chatting patrol disciples and noticed an azure streak flying toward the gate.

Li Yan reached Xuanqing Temple to use its teleportation array to travel to Lishui City and negotiated a discount with Feng Zhiran. Feng Zhiran led him through the temple’s elaborate formations toward the teleportation array, while Li Yan learned of the sect’s history and reached a pond surrounded by pavilions.

• Li Yan arrived at Xuanqing Temple after failing to find needed materials at a nearby market.
• Feng Zhiran questioned Li Yan and explained that the northern teleportation array could take him to Lishui City for three hundred spirit stones, or allow him to travel alone for a higher fee.
• Li Yan bargained with Feng Zhiran and agreed to pay two hundred and twenty spirit stones for the teleportation and fifty more as a fee, saving thirty spirit stones.
• Feng Zhiran checked Li Yan’s Blood Leaf Sect token, mistook him for a possible descendant of Blood Leaf High Person, and escorted him inside.
• Feng Zhiran showed Li Yan the temple’s formations and described its past ties to the Phantom Sect as they made their way through the temple.
• Feng Zhiran led Li Yan to a pond of blooming lotuses surrounded by groves, pavilions, and towers.

Li Yan waited at Tiandu Temple’s guest courtyard for enough travelers to gather for the northbound teleportation array, while taking precautions against intrusion. When the group assembled, he found himself among several powerful and suspicious-looking cultivators, and the party set out for the array.

• Feng Zhiran led Li Yan to a guest courtyard near the teleportation array and warned him not to wander into the formation-protected residences.
• Li Yan chose a private side room, searched it with Divine Sense, and set up protective formation flags before meditating.
• A servant summoned Li Yan when the northbound group was complete, and Li Yan retrieved his formation flags before leaving the room.
• Li Yan joined the travelers outside the main hall and assessed a Foundation Establishment cultivator with two young companions, two late Foundation Establishment figures in black robes, and a sorrowful young man with a dangerous hunched attendant.

Li Yan and the other visitors were detained by the Profound Clarity Temple after a series of explosions and the report that Senior Brother Liu had been killed. The group was summoned to the scene, where the temple's Sect Master was waiting to explain what had happened.

• Li Yan and the visitors heard explosions from inside the Profound Clarity Temple, followed by a cry that Senior Brother Liu had been killed.
• Daoist Ji arrived with three fellow Daoists and ordered the visitors to remain under watch while the temple investigated.
• Sect Master Yue challenged Daoist Ji, who warned the visitors not to move freely through the temple's array-protected grounds.
• Daoist Ji recognized Blood-Hand Flying Sickle, Fellow Daoist Lin of the Blood Hand Sect, whose bloody fan unsettled the gathered cultivators.
• A deep-voiced Sect Master Gong summoned the visitors to the courtyard where the disturbance had occurred, and Daoist Ji led them there under guard.

Li Yan and the other cultivators were brought to Xuanqing Temple to investigate the mysterious death of Senior Brother Liu. After examining the body, Li Yan discovered that Liu's heart had been destroyed by spiritual power, while Taoist Gong questioned the gathered guests under the pressure of his False Core aura.

• Li Yan sensed that Xuanqing Temple's formations had activated around the group and recognized that Taoist Gong was near the False Core Realm.
• Luo Sanpang recounted how he and Qin Chengyi broke into Liu's courtyard after hearing his faint plea for help, only to find him dead.
• Taoist Gong warned the guests that he would question them, then led them to inspect Liu's body.
• Li Yan found tiny fissures in Liu's heart and concluded that spiritual power had shattered it, likely after Liu tried to open the courtyard formation.
• Bloody-Handed Flying Sickle asked Taoist Gong whether he had found any clues, while Li Yan secretly kept watch over the gathered cultivators.

Daoist Gong investigated the baffling murder of Junior Brother Liu, whose courtyard formation remained intact and whose Storage Pouch had vanished. After ruling out the initial suspects, he questioned formation expert Gui Liugang, who moved to examine the courtyard’s restrictions while two mysterious black-robed cultivators watched.

• Daoist Gong outlined the murder’s unexplained clues and proposed that an acquaintance, a formation master, or a trick involving Junior Brother Liu’s apparent death could be responsible.
• Daoist Gong questioned Luo Sanpang and Qin Chengyi, but Qin showed his Storage Pouch and both men produced witnesses confirming their movements and the time they arrived.
• Kong Nantai arrived after activating the sect’s grand formation, and Daoist Gong turned his attention to Gui Liugang’s possible role in the murder.
• A black-robed cultivator recognized Gui Liugang as the famed “Banners Sweeping Through Connected Camps,” and his companion recounted Gui’s reputation as a formation master.
• Gui Liugang concealed his anger at the two black-robed cultivators and walked toward the courtyard to examine Xuanqing Monastery’s formations, followed by Blood-Handed Flying Sickle.

Daoist Gong and the visiting cultivators investigated Senior Brother Liu’s murder, finding that the killer had used wood- and water-attributed power but had left no trace of entering or escaping the sealed courtyard. After Sect Master Yue and Gui Liugang were cleared, suspicion fell on the remaining guests, including Li Yan, as they awaited further questioning.

• Gui Liugang inspected the courtyard formation and found no sign that anyone had broken through it, while Li Yan noticed the formation’s spirit stones had been drained by Luo Sanpang’s attack.
• Gui Liugang, Sect Master Yue, and the blood-handed flying sickle scholar concluded that Senior Brother Liu’s fatal wound had been made by a wood- and water-attributed finger attack or matching magic treasures.
• Li Yan recognized a clue in the wound and heard the purple-robed young man whisper “Xiren,” while the hunchbacked servant noticed Li Yan looking toward them.
• Daoist Gong offered to let guests leave if they gave convincing explanations, but said the rest would have to stay until his master returned if they could not.
• Sect Master Yue and Gui Liugang corroborated each other’s whereabouts, and Hall Master Ji confirmed their alibis by questioning the servants, clearing both groups.
• Daoist Gong ruled out the blood-handed flying sickle scholar because his fire-dominated roots and blood-aura cultivation did not match the evidence, leaving Li Yan and several other guests under suspicion.

Daoist Gong questioned those who had stayed in the side room and allowed several people to leave, while Li Yan and four others remained under suspicion. Qin Chengyi escorted them to guest quarters for the night as Daoist Gong arranged guards and waited for the Golden Core cultivator to return.

• Zhang Peng and his wife explained their visit, showed their medicine and Pine Moon Sect tokens, and Daoist Gong let them leave after recognizing their master, Min Songzi.
• The purple-robed young man and his hunchbacked servant admitted they could not prove they had stayed in the side room, while one black-robed man and Li Yan made the same admission.
• Daoist Gong sent Kong Nantai to escort the cleared guests away, then ordered Luo Sanpang to guard Senior Brother Liu's place and Qin Chengyi to arrange accommodations for the remaining five.
• Qin Chengyi led Li Yan, the purple-robed young man, and the two black-robed cultivators to a guest courtyard with six rooms and small protective formations.