Chapter Summaries

The Huchen Lineage’s medicinal-herb trial continued as the contestants’ results revealed fierce competition among the family branches. With only two barriers left, Huchen Wanli’s lead remained uncertain, and the crowd watched for the final results.

• Huchen Wanli emerged unconscious after completing 312 herbs, the highest count so far, and recovered after being given a pill.
• Huchen Gu completed 301 herbs, while Huchen Huiqing emerged with 308 and exchanged taunts with Huchen Wanli over the remaining contestants.
• Huchen Huiqing noticed Huchen Wuding still inside a gray barrier and warned Huchen Wanli that another concubine’s son could threaten his lead.
• Huchen Qiukong emerged from a dark barrier with 311 herbs, leaving Huchen Wandong disappointed that his branch had fallen one herb short of the top result.
• The Huchen patriarch defended support for talented collateral-branch disciples, and attention shifted to the two barriers still occupied.

Hu Chen Rivers and Seas stunned the plaza by completing 337 medicinal plants, exposing his hidden talent and shifting the elders’ political calculations. As Hu Chen Wuding struggled to finish eight more plants inside his barrier, the crowd’s attention turned to a new commotion.

• Hu Chen Rivers and Seas emerged unconscious after completing 337 medicinal plants, shocking the crowd and enraging Hu Chen Wanli.
• Hu Chen Huiqing mocked Hu Chen Wanli, while Xie Xiaoxiao challenged Ye Luoyan over Rivers and Seas’s success.
• The Xie Lineage ancestor praised Rivers and Seas as a product of Ye family blood, but the Ye Lineage ancestor affirmed his place in the Hu Chen Lineage and sided with its ancestor.
• The Chi Lineage ancestor remarked that the spectacle might not be over.
• Hu Chen Wuding endured severe pain and exhaustion as he used his Divine Sense to form eight medicinal herbs at once.
• Hu Chen Rivers and Seas regained consciousness and acted guilelessly toward Hu Chen Wanli before a sudden clamor interrupted the plaza.

Huchen Wuding stunned the Huchen Lineage by winning the first assessment with 513 stalks, revealing his mastery of the pure Ghost Domain Poison Scroll. The Huchen Patriarch confirmed Wuding’s first-place standing and ordered the top ten to rest before the finals, while he grew suspicious of Li Yan; Wuding then left to recover.

• Huchen Wuding’s light barrier turned black, and after he was ejected unconscious, the crowd discovered that he had gathered 513 stalks.
• Huchen Wandong realized Wuding had followed the pure cultivation path of the Ghost Domain Poison Scroll, while Huchen Jianghai and Huchen Wanli struggled to accept his victory.
• The Huchen Patriarch declared Wuding temporarily first and ordered the ten advancing disciples to rest for two hours before the final matches.
• The Huchen Patriarch noticed Li Yan’s unusually calm reaction to his display of power and privately suspected that Li Yan might be connected to another great sect.
• Huchen Tingchun named the ten finalists, and Huchen Wuding told Huchen Huiqing to return and recover before leaving the square.

Hu Chen Wuding entered the decisive battle to choose the Hu Chen Lineage’s next inheritor and set up a genuine Rakshasa Thousand Poison Net in the rear mountains. As the ten contestants began fighting, Ancestor Hu Chen alone recognized the depth of Wuding’s mastery of the Ghost Domain Poison Scroll.

• Hu Chen Wanli dismissed Hu Chen Wuding’s first-round success as luck and expected his cultivation to win the next round.
• Hu Chen Tinchun announced that the ten contestants would fight without spiritual artifacts or magic treasures, and the last one standing would become the next-generation inheritor.
• Xie Xiaoxiao challenged the rules, but Ancestor Hu Chen defended them as a test of true strength and silenced her with his authority.
• Ancestor Hu Chen used a divine ability to display the rear-mountain battle, where the ten contestants searched, prepared defenses, or formed alliances.
• Hu Chen Wuding chose a defensive position and began setting up the Rakshasa Thousand Poison Net, astonishing the spectators with his knowledge of poison.
• The observers doubted Wuding’s formation, but Ancestor Hu Chen recognized it as genuine before a great battle erupted in the rear mountains.

Huichen Wanli and Huichen Huiqing were eliminated alongside two Foundation Establishment disciples after their battle, while Huichen Jianghai revealed his true cultivation and fought Huichen Wuding. The chapter ended with Huichen Jianghai sacrificing blood to strengthen his defense as Huichen Wuding’s poison net contracted around the mountaintop.

• Huichen Wanli and a Foundation Establishment disciple attacked Huichen Huiqing’s vine defenses, but she persuaded another Foundation Establishment disciple to join her against them.
• The two Foundation Establishment disciples fought until both were heavily injured and eliminated, while Huichen Huiqing and Huichen Wanli also knocked each other unconscious and were eliminated.
• Huichen Jianghai and a branch-line disciple attacked Huichen Wuding’s poison formations, and Huichen Jianghai revealed that his cultivation had reached the peak of early Foundation Establishment.
• Huichen Wuding launched a poisonous web that overwhelmed the branch-line disciple, who was rescued from the rear mountain, leaving only Huichen Wuding and Huichen Jianghai.
• Huichen Jianghai strengthened his blue defensive arc with blood from his toe, dissolving part of Huichen Wuding’s net and forcing it to contract toward the summit.

Huchen Wuding overturned Huchen Jianghai’s apparent victory by using poisonous pills, leaving both men injured and Jianghai unconscious. Huchen Wandong assessed them before the Huchen patriarch, saying Wuding would recover but Jianghai faced a long treatment for several deadly poisons.

• Zhuo Lingfeng and Li Yan recognized that Huchen Jianghai had used Offering One's Flesh to the Tiger, and Li Yan estimated he had sacrificed only one toe.
• Huchen Jianghai drove the Rakshasa Thousand-Poison Net to within five feet of Huchen Wuding, who suddenly smiled and released a dozen poisonous pills.
• Huchen Wuding withdrew the net and fled as Huchen Jianghai’s attack struck him; the pills burst into poisonous smoke that incapacitated Jianghai.
• Two enormous hands caught the grievously injured Huchen Wuding and unconscious Huchen Jianghai, and Huchen Tingchun carried them to the viewing stand.
• Ye Luoyan pleaded with the Huchen patriarch to save Jianghai after discovering the poisons in his body.
• Huchen Wandong examined both sons and told the Huchen patriarch that Wuding would recover, while curing Jianghai could take a very long time.

The Huchen Patriarch praised Huchen Wuding’s rare talent but declared that Wuding and Huchen Jianghai would share first place and face a new contest to decide the heir. When the Patriarch set the contest for that day and appeared to favor the fourth branch, Huchen Wuding conceded, and Zhuo Lingfeng took him and Li Yan aside to explain what he knew about the Patriarch’s motives.

• The Huchen Patriarch cured Huchen Jianghai’s poison and injuries, then praised Huchen Wuding for his skill with pills and the Ghost Realm Poison Scroll.
• Ye Luoyan challenged Wuding’s result, but Zhuo Lingfeng argued that using pills had not violated the trial’s rules.
• The Huchen Patriarch declared Huchen Wuding and Huchen Jianghai joint first-place finishers and ordered a separate contest that day to choose the heir.
• After Huchen Wandong objected that Wuding’s side lacked suitable contestants, Wuding conceded, saying no one on his side could compete.
• Zhuo Lingfeng asked for half an incense stick to let Wuding recover, then brought him to Li Yan and raised a barrier so he could explain the Patriarch’s motives.

Li Yan deduced that Ancestor Hu Chen had arranged the final assessment to kill Zhuo Lingfeng and Li Yan while securing Hu Chen Wuding as the heir. Hu Chen Wuding realized the lineage’s plan was to separate him from Zhuo Lingfeng and bind him to the Hu Chen Lineage, leaving them with no clear way to resist.

• Hu Chen Wuding questioned Zhuo Lingfeng’s certainty that he would become the heir, while Li Yan sensed that Zhuo Lingfeng expected a deadly outcome.
• Li Yan warned that he and Zhuo Lingfeng would die if they did not take part in the final assessment, and Zhuo Lingfeng apologized for drawing Li Yan into the danger.
• Li Yan explained that Ancestor Hu Chen wanted Zhuo Lingfeng dead because Hu Chen Wuding’s attachment to him threatened the lineage’s authority and reputation.
• Hu Chen Wuding struggled to accept Li Yan’s reasoning as Zhuo Lingfeng steadied him with spiritual power.
• Hu Chen Wuding concluded that Ancestor Hu Chen planned to separate him from Zhuo Lingfeng, use Zhuo Lingfeng’s death to drive him to cultivate within the lineage, and let time erase his desire for revenge.

Li Yan chose to enter the final assessment alongside Zhuo Lingfeng despite the danger, hoping to keep them both alive and protect Hu Chen Wuding’s side. Ancestor Hu Chen revealed that the contest would take place on a mountain filled with poisonous plants, then explained the rules and warned the participants to avoid marked forbidden areas.

• Hu Chen Wuding warned Li Yan that Ancestor Hu Chen might kill him regardless of whether Zhuo Lingfeng entered the assessment, while Zhuo Lingfeng asked Hu Chen Wuding to return his remains to a hidden valley if he died.
• Li Yan declared that he would take part, arguing that they could win the contest and might still find a way to survive afterward.
• Zhuo Lingfeng dispelled the light barrier, and Ancestor Hu Chen announced that the participants had to race from the foot of a mountain to its summit.
• Ancestor Hu Chen displayed the mountain’s dangerous vegetation, prompting Hu Chen Wuding to identify poisonous plants for Li Yan while the onlookers worried about the assessment’s difficulty.
• Ancestor Hu Chen explained that the mountain was an illusion created by a magical treasure, allowed magical abilities and treasures, and warned the participants to stay three zhang away from red barriers marking forbidden areas.

Li Yan volunteered to represent Zhuo Lingfeng’s side in the poison test against Huchen Wanmu, and the two entered separate paths up the artifact-made mountain. Huchen Wanmu cautiously advanced after taking poison-resistant pills, while Li Yan’s progress remained unseen.

• Huchen Wanmu challenged Zhuo Lingfeng to begin the test, but Li Yan rose and accepted the contest instead.
• Li Yan told Huchen Wanmu the contest tested poison skills rather than combat, then flew with him to the rear mountain.
• Huchen Tingchun explained that the two could choose separate paths, warned them they could not fly, and said he would intervene if danger arose.
• Li Yan chose a path without hesitation, and Huchen Wanmu entered the other after him.
• Huchen Wanmu tested the flight restriction, identified the poisons along his path, and swallowed a costly white pill.

Li Yan entered the Huchen Lineage’s poison trial and discovered that his disjointed poison body could absorb powerful toxins, possibly strengthening both it and the Gui Water True Scripture. As Huchen Wanmu raced ahead and Li Yan cautiously began climbing, Huchen Wanmu encountered trouble while Patriarch Huchen watched for a chance to manipulate the contest.

• Huchen Wanmu advanced quickly through the poison-filled path, reinforcing his defenses as he went.
• Li Yan pretended to take an antidote, then tested the surrounding poisons and found that his body could neutralize them.
• Li Yan absorbed several kinds of deadly poison at once, stirring his disjointed poison body and speeding up his spiritual power.
• Li Yan moved onward to seek more poison, while Patriarch Huchen grew frustrated that he had delayed at the entrance.
• Huchen Huiqing questioned Huchen Wuding about Li Yan, and Wuding assured her that Li Yan was only getting accustomed to the surroundings.
• Huchen Wanmu stopped after running into trouble as Li Yan slowly climbed behind him.

Hu Chen Wanmu studied a deadly peach blossom grove guarded by swarms of Three-Legged Carrion Worms while Li Yan advanced through the poisoned trial by absorbing toxins into his Fragmented Poison Body. Li Yan reached the grove from a separate path and noticed Hu Chen Wanmu waiting nearby, leaving both cultivators facing the same obstacle.

• Hu Chen Wanmu retreated from the peach blossom grove after determining that its forceful petals and venomous Three-Legged Carrion Worms made crossing it too dangerous.
• Li Yan continued absorbing selected toxins, which increased and refined his spiritual power while causing severe pain and changing his skin color.
• The spectators and Patriarch Hu Chen mistook Li Yan’s rapid recovery from poison for the effect of a powerful detoxifying treasure.
• Li Yan discovered that each poison eventually stopped benefiting his cultivation and could begin accumulating inside his body.
• Li Yan reached a point just over ten zhang from the peach blossom grove, sensed Hu Chen Wanmu watching him, and saw him on a separate path beyond the brambles.

Li Yan reached the peach blossom grove and revealed that he was an early Foundation Establishment cultivator when he repelled its deadly petals. As he weighed the dangers ahead and the Hu Chen Ancestor’s likely attempt to kill him, he searched for a way to continue without leaving himself exposed.

• Hu Chen Wanmu watched Li Yan approach the grove and hoped its petal attacks would injure him, while debating whether to use a valuable talisman.
• Li Yan detected Three-Legged Carrion-Eating Worms beneath the Sanguine Worm Leaves, then drew the grove’s petals into an attack and blasted them away with fireballs.
• Hu Chen Wanmu realized Li Yan was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and observers in the plaza and on the light screen discussed Li Yan’s cultivation and powerful treasures.
• The Xie Lineage Ancestor and Chi Lineage Ancestor remarked on the density of Li Yan’s spiritual power, while the Hu Chen Ancestor admitted he did not know Li Yan’s origins.
• Li Yan considered the risks of crossing the grove and the Hu Chen Ancestor’s possible attacks, then decided he needed a reliable plan before proceeding.

Li Yan used a concealed toxin and mastered basic spells of every element to force his way through the peach blossom grove while making Patriarch Huchen hesitate to kill him. He reached the middle of the grove, but his rapid advance was consuming spiritual power as the trial continued.

• Li Yan decided to conceal his Wangliang Sect identity and use varied spells to make Patriarch Huchen suspect a powerful faction stood behind him.
• Li Yan swallowed pills, cloaked himself in Green Flame Burns Gold, and rushed toward the peach blossom grove.
• Li Yan used fully mastered spells of all five elements to blast aside the attacking petals, astonishing Huchen Wanmu and the spectators.
• Three-legged carrion worms spat maggot-filled liquid at Li Yan, but Green Flame Burns Gold dissolved the maggots and killed the worms that produced them.
• Li Yan revealed that he had secretly used a Ghost Chariot Talisman for protection and continued through the grove, reaching its middle within a dozen or so breaths.
• Huchen Wanmu grew greedy and jealous of Li Yan's apparent pill, while Huchen Wuding and Zhuo Lingfeng praised the Wangliang Sect's poison methods.

Li Yan survived the peach blossom grove by using pills, a sword, and seven boulders to force his way through, then continued climbing to search for rare poisonous plants and beasts. Huchen Wanmu began crossing the grove with ten Vajra Talismans, while Patriarch Huchen watched Li Yan’s seemingly ordinary progress.

• Li Yan used his sword to block three petals, swallowed pills from two bottles, and charged through the grove beneath seven boulders.
• Li Yan reached the far edge and recovered briefly, while the spectators reacted with surprise and Huchen Wanmu remained behind in the grove.
• Li Yan resumed climbing to explore the treasure’s higher reaches as Huchen Wanmu used ten Vajra Talismans and his magical power to cross the grove.
• Li Yan found rare poisonous plants and demon beasts, pausing along the way to collect or study them while making his actions appear ordinary.
• Patriarch Huchen watched Li Yan closely as he continued through the magical treasure.

Li Yan secretly devoured poisonous energy inside Patriarch Huchen’s treasure while Huchen Wuding endured the trial and became heir to the Huchen Lineage. After the contest, the rival patriarchs departed or stayed for the inauguration, and Huchen Wandong privately apologized to Wuding and warned him that the patriarch knew of the main and fourth branches’ plot.

• Patriarch Huchen noticed that more than a tenth of the poisonous energy in his treasure had vanished and suspected Li Yan was absorbing it.
• Huchen Wanmu exhausted his spiritual power in the peach blossom grove, fell into the poisonous leaves, and was rescued by a huge hand.
• Patriarch Huchen moved Li Yan back to the square and declared Huchen Wuding the winner and heir to the Huchen Lineage’s two hundred and forty-seventh generation.
• Patriarch Huchen scheduled the inauguration ceremony for three days later, while Patriarch Xie and Patriarch Chi declined to stay and Patriarch Ye remained.
• Patriarch Xie recognized Li Yan as a cultivator from the Ten-Step Academy, and Chi Dongli invited Huchen Wuding and his companions to visit her.
• Huchen Wandong apologized to Huchen Wuding for failing him and Xiangyun, then revealed that Patriarch Huchen knew what the main and fourth branches were plotting.

Li Yan faced Patriarch Hu Chen’s questioning after surviving the assessment by making the patriarch believe he was a Ten-Step Academy disciple. He revealed that he was actually from Phantom Sect, but Patriarch Hu Chen dismissed the protection that identity might offer and left Li Yan’s fate in danger.

• Hu Chen Wuding asked Li Yan whether Patriarch Hu Chen would spare them, and Li Yan said that his plan during the assessment had bought them a chance to survive.
• Patriarch Ye told Hu Chen Wuding, Li Yan, and Zhuo Lingfeng that Patriarch Hu Chen wanted them on the viewing platform, where the patriarch questioned Li Yan about his name and origins.
• Patriarch Hu Chen’s pressure nearly forced Li Yan to answer, but the five spiritual power cauldrons in Li Yan’s dantian restored his clarity; when Zhuo Lingfeng intervened, the patriarch hurled him aside and injured him.
• Li Yan explained that he had deliberately displayed Miao Zhengyi’s sword during the assessment to make Patriarch Hu Chen suspect he was a Ten-Step Academy disciple and hesitate to kill him.
• Li Yan denied belonging to Ten-Step Academy, identified himself as a Phantom Sect disciple, and showed Patriarch Hu Chen a genuine Phantom Sect token.
• Patriarch Hu Chen said that being a Phantom Sect disciple would not stop Li Yan from dying without anyone investigating.

Li Yan used his Phantom Sect identity and fabricated claims about the sect tracking slain disciples to make Patriarch Hu Chen hesitate to kill him and Zhuo Lingfeng. After recognizing Li Yan as a disciple of Small Bamboo Peak under Wei Zhongran, Patriarch Hu Chen released them, leaving Hu Chen Wuding free as well.

• Patriarch Hu Chen restrained Hu Chen Wuding, Li Yan, and Zhuo Lingfeng, while Hu Chen Wuding threatened to abandon his cultivation if the others were killed.
• Li Yan warned Patriarch Hu Chen that the Phantom Sect could trace a disciple's death and explained that he was outside the sect on an important mission.
• Patriarch Hu Chen took Li Yan's token and returned it to test whether Li Yan could activate it.
• Li Yan revealed the token's golden bamboo mark, and Patriarch Hu Chen recognized him as a disciple of Small Bamboo Peak and Wei Zhongran.
• Patriarch Hu Chen released Zhuo Lingfeng and Hu Chen Wuding, deciding not to risk the Hu Chen Lineage by killing Li Yan.

Li Yan received the Xuanming Token and prepared to leave Wanze Ridge, while Huchen Wuding secured a Dustless Pill and spirit stones for Zhuo Lingfeng. After Zhuo Lingfeng thanked Li Yan for his help, he asked whether Li Yan knew Li Wuyi.

• Li Yan told Patriarch Huchen that he would leave after receiving the Xuanming Token, and Patriarch Huchen agreed to send greetings to Da Cen.
• Huchen Wuding obtained the Xuanming Token, a Dustless Pill, and one hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones from Huchen Wandong, who asked that the pill and stones go to Zhuo Lingfeng.
• Zhuo Lingfeng accepted the gifts, paid his respects at Yue Xiangyun's former room, and left Huchen Wuding behind in tears.
• Li Yan and Zhuo Lingfeng watched the gate disappear and discussed Huchen Wuding's resourcefulness.
• Zhuo Lingfeng thanked Li Yan for helping Huchen Wuding and saving his life, then asked whether Li Yan knew Li Wuyi.

Li Yan and Zhuo Lingfeng reminisced about their past and traveled together to a market, where Zhuo Lingfeng departed to visit Yue Xiangyun. After teleporting away from Patriarch Huchen’s reach, Li Yan prepared to find a safe place to refine the poisonous energy within him.

• Zhuo Lingfeng recalled competing against Li Wuyi and other talented cultivators, while Li Yan told him that Li Wuyi had formed his golden core.
• Li Yan learned that Zhuo Lingfeng had less than sixty years to live after losing decades of his lifespan and retaining hidden injuries from a dangerous expedition.
• Li Yan declined Zhuo Lingfeng’s offer to help with his confidential mission, but the two agreed to travel together toward a teleportation array.
• After two days, Zhuo Lingfeng left Li Yan at a market to visit Yue Xiangyun, carrying an emerald-jade comb and warning Li Yan to tread carefully.
• Li Yan found no useful artifact-refining materials at the market and teleported fifty thousand miles north to escape Patriarch Huchen’s reach and refine the poisonous energy he had absorbed.