Chapter Summaries

Li Yan met Phantom Sect disciples at a registration site and tried to learn where his master and fellow Small Bamboo Peak disciples were. Senior Brother Xia suspected Li Yan might be a Devil Race impostor and began carefully inspecting his token.

• Li Yan showed his sect token to Senior Brother Xia and the Phantom Sect disciples, who mistook him for a messenger from the sect.
• Hua Siwang recognized Li Yan as a Small Bamboo Peak disciple and realized Li Yan had misled him about being Wanderer Jiang Hai's disciple.
• Zhu Gaotai told the other Phantom Sect disciples that Li Yan had once been a Qi Condensation disciple and had fought with formidable poison techniques in the secret realm battles.
• Li Yan explained to Senior Brother Xia that he had been away from the sect for more than two years and asked where his master and the other Small Bamboo Peak disciples were.
• Senior Brother Xia grew suspicious that Li Yan might have been possessed by a Devil Race member, examined his token, and ordered Li Yan to activate it.

Li Yan returned to the Phantom Sect with a conscription party and was escorted to Elder Hua while Xia Mingran and Zhu Gaotai checked whether he was truly himself. Elder Hua recognized him by his Fragmented Poison Body and asked how far he had cultivated it, leaving Li Yan to suspect she had once been involved in plans to study him.

• Li Yan proved his sect token was genuine, but Xia Mingran remained wary and took him to see Elder Hua with Zhu Gaotai accompanying them.
• Zhu Gaotai questioned Li Yan about their past in the secret realm and gradually became convinced that Li Yan had not been possessed.
• Xia Mingran explained Li Yan's return and his request to find Martial Uncle Wei, after which Elder Hua told Xia Mingran and Zhu Gaotai to leave and summoned Li Yan inside.
• Elder Hua asked Li Yan about his Fragmented Poison Body, and Li Yan recalled that some Phantom Sect elders had once wanted to study him as a humanoid beast.

Elder Hua tested Li Yan’s Fragmented Poison Body with her Soul-Falling Insect, but his Green Flames Burn Gold poison badly injured it. She asked about the poison’s strength, and Li Yan gave a cautious, partly guarded answer.

• Elder Hua restrained Li Yan and sent her Soul-Falling Insect to bite him.
• Li Yan’s green mist scorched the insect and destroyed its Soul-Falling Poison, forcing Elder Hua to recall and heal it.
• Elder Hua released Li Yan and asked whether the green mist was the power of his Fragmented Poison Body.
• Li Yan identified the poison as Green Flames Burn Gold and said it ranked among his body’s three strongest poisons.
• Li Yan cautiously explained that different poisons had different strengths and that one poison could not necessarily overcome another.

Elder Hua questioned Li Yan about his Fragmented Poison Body and explained how the gathering points and garrisons were organized as the Devil Race advanced. She sent him toward Wei Zhongran at Windcool Mountain after assuring him that his family in the Imperial Dynasty was safe, but Li Yan’s attempt to find help at the platform square ended with an irritated cultivator.

• Li Yan told Elder Hua that his Fragmented Poison Body had differentiated into twelve types, and she advised him not to squander his natural talent.
• Elder Hua said Wei Zhongran was stationed forty thousand li south and directed Li Yan to a teleportation array bound for Windcool Mountain.
• Li Yan asked whether the Devil Race had attacked the Imperial Dynasty, and Elder Hua assured him that his family was safe.
• Elder Hua gave Li Yan a jade slip instructing the teleportation-array keeper to verify his Phantom Sect waist token and send him to Windcool Mountain.
• Li Yan reached the platform square and stopped a Phantom Sect cultivator, who grew irritated at being addressed as Junior Brother.

Li Yan traveled from the Sword-Washing Pavilion to Windcool Mountain after paying to activate a teleportation array alone. He arrived safely and recognized an acquaintance among the cultivators who came to question the unusual activation.

• Li Yan showed his sect token and Elder Hua’s jade slip, then learned from Rong Bo that the Windcool Mountain array was not scheduled to operate until the day after tomorrow.
• Li Yan declined to ask Elder Hua for permission and paid roughly five hundred and eighty low-grade spirit stones to teleport alone.
• Li Yan arrived at Windcool Mountain and looked forward to seeing the people from Small Bamboo Peak, especially Gong Chenying, while wondering whether Zhao Min was there.
• Four cultivators guarding the arrays flew over, questioned why the array had been activated for one person, and fixed their attention on Li Yan.

Li Yan arrived at Windcool Mountain to report back to his master, Wei, and reunited with Du Sanjiang, whose probing questions revealed his keen insight. After Du Sanjiang escorted him through the guarded mountain compound, Wei summoned Li Yan into his cave dwelling.

• Du Sanjiang recognized Li Yan and introduced him to three other Four Symbols Peak disciples, then questioned him about his visit and Li Yan said he had come to find his master.
• The disciples allowed Li Yan to pass, and Du Sanjiang led him from the teleportation valley through Windcool Mountain's guarded grounds.
• Li Yan sensed three Golden Core Realm cultivators nearby and wondered whether the Devil Race was approaching, while he and Du Sanjiang carefully avoided revealing too much about themselves.
• Du Sanjiang explained that the buildings among the peaks belonged to a branch academy of Ten-Step Academy and brought Li Yan to a cave dwelling.
• Wei opened the cave gate, called Li Yan inside, and told Du Sanjiang to withdraw.

Li Yan returned to Wei Zhongran and recounted his northern journey, including his breakthroughs and near-death experiences, while concealing several personal secrets. Wei Zhongran praised Li Yan’s deeds at Xuanqing Temple and began asking about his unfinished natal treasure, whose primary material came from the North Sea.

• Li Yan greeted Wei Zhongran, who noticed that Li Yan had suppressed his cultivation despite reaching a level near the Golden Core Realm.
• Li Yan told Wei Zhongran about his northern journey, explaining his breakthroughs and survival while omitting several sensitive encounters and discoveries.
• Wei Zhongran said Grandmaster Mo Qing had praised Li Yan for his actions at Xuanqing Temple.
• Li Yan suspected the Guluo Nine-Tailed Turtle eyeball had drawn Grandmaster Mo Qing’s attention, but Wei Zhongran deferred explaining its significance because it related to the Devil Race invasion.
• Li Yan told Wei Zhongran that he had not refined his natal treasure and still needed two supplementary materials after finding its primary material in the North Sea.

Li Yan told Wei Zhongran that he needed a jade-horned snake and Icecloud Plumes to refine a growth-type water-element magic treasure, and Wei Zhongran supplied one of the plumes. Wei Zhongran tested Li Yan’s ability to endure its cold and judged his strength to be around the late Foundation Establishment Realm, though he still could not determine Li Yan’s true realm.

• Wei Zhongran realized Li Yan intended to refine a growth-type magic treasure and offered to help find his remaining materials.
• Li Yan named the jade-horned snake and Icecloud Plumes, and Wei Zhongran revealed that he had two plumes left from a seven-colored ice goose.
• Wei Zhongran tossed Li Yan an Icecloud Plume, and Li Yan caught it while resisting its freezing chill with his spiritual power.
• Wei Zhongran watched as the frost overwhelmed Li Yan, then removed it and retrieved the plume before Li Yan could endure much longer.
• Wei Zhongran estimated that Li Yan could withstand a challenge at around the late Foundation Establishment Realm but remained unsure whether that reflected his true cultivation or his unusual body.

Wei Zhongran gave Li Yan two Icecloud Feathers and explained how the Devil Race had breached the barrier between worlds and begun invading the Desolate Moon Continent. Li Yan learned that his actions at the Mystic Clarity Temple had disrupted the Devil Race’s plan to steal a Realm-Breaking Pearl, though the invasion in the Southern Sea was already underway.

• Wei Zhongran gave Li Yan two third-tier Icecloud Feathers and agreed to keep watch for a high-grade Jade-Horned Snake.
• Li Yan asked Wei Zhongran about reports that the Devil Race had breached the barrier and occupied the Grand Profound Sect’s headquarters.
• Wei Zhongran explained that three Realm-Breaking Pearls had opened the Yinmo Cliff Rift, which cultivators had sealed but still had to guard against incursions.
• Wei Zhongran revealed that Realm-Breaking Pearls could regain their power and that the Devil Race had sought one hidden in the Mystic Clarity Temple.
• Li Yan realized that his actions had thwarted the Devil Race’s attempt to seize the pearl and prevent an even greater invasion.

Wei Zhongran explained how the Devil Race deceived the cultivators of the Desolate Moon Continent, opened a passage in the South Sea, and invaded. Li Yan learned that the passage had collapsed after allowing roughly ten thousand devil cultivators through, but Wei Zhongran’s final words renewed his anxiety.

• Wei Zhongran told Li Yan that the Devil Race had infiltrated sects across the continent, obtained two 'Realm-Breaking Pearls,' and used a feint at Devilshade Cliff to draw attention away from the South Sea.
• A Devil General self-detonated at Devilshade Cliff while the Devil Race attacked with a 'Realm-Breaking Pearl'; the sealing formation held, but one Nascent Soul cultivator lost his physical body and another’s cultivation fell.
• Wei Zhongran explained that the Devil Race used a 'Realm-Breaking Pearl' to locate a weak point in the South Sea barrier, where a single pearl opened a passage between the two realms.
• Wei Zhongran said four Devil Marshals breached the Grand Mysticism Sect’s headquarters, which held out for only half a day against them.
• Wei Zhongran explained that the four Devil Marshals’ crossing irreversibly damaged the South Sea passage, which collapsed within two hours after letting roughly ten thousand devil cultivators through.
• Li Yan’s relief at learning that the passage had collapsed faded when Wei Zhongran spoke again.

Wei Zhongran told Li Yan that the Devil Race had overwhelmed the Desolate Moon Continent’s defenders and that its army included many powerful human cultivators, likely from another conquered continent. Meanwhile, Patriarch Yuandu demonstrated the mysterious attackers’ techniques to three Spirit Transformation experts, who recognized them as ancient immortal arts and began reconsidering how to oppose the invasion.

• Wei Zhongran explained that the Devil Race had four known Spirit Transformation experts, while Patriarch Yuandu had escaped the destruction of the Supreme Mystery Sect with only his Nascent Soul; two fourth-order Demon Kings were coming to aid the continent.
• Wei Zhongran told Li Yan that the Devil Race’s forces included more than four hundred human cultivators, including over twenty Nascent Soul cultivators, and that most experts suspected they came from another conquered continent.
• Li Yan felt powerless before the invading army’s strength and agreed that the human cultivators were probably outsiders rather than humans from the Devil Realm.
• At a distant hall, Daling questioned Patriarch Yuandu about whether the three mysterious Spirit Transformation cultivators who attacked his sect had used devil arts; Yuandu said their techniques were different.
• Zhantian explained that he and Su Changyang had failed to approach the enemy camp because a late-stage Spirit Transformation cultivator detected them, then asked Yuandu to reproduce the attackers’ methods.
• After Yuandu traced the techniques he had witnessed, Daling, Zhantian, and the brocade-robed elder recognized them as ancient immortal arts.

The Four Great Sects discussed the threat posed by the Devil Race and resolved to defend the fissure at Demon Yin Cliff, while Wei Zhongran explained the war situation to Li Yan. The enemy was preparing a larger assault, and Li Yan learned that his senior brothers and sisters had been transferred to the fissure and were safe.

• Zhan Tian, Su Changyang, and Venerable Daling weighed the danger of the late-stage Spirit Transformation enemy and agreed they had to stop the Devil Race from reaching Demon Yin Cliff.
• Yuandu offered to spend a month preparing the technique “Five Lords Descend as Immortals” so he could help bring down a Spirit Transformation opponent.
• Wei Zhongran told Li Yan that the Devil Race sought to reopen the Demon Yin Cliff fissure and that Windcool Mountain guarded the southern approach.
• Wei Zhongran recounted Windcool Mountain’s costly victory over a probing attack and warned Li Yan to keep the military information secret.
• Li Yan learned that his Eldest Senior Brother had gone to the fissure over a year earlier and that his other senior brothers and sisters had been transferred there ten days ago.

Li Yan learned that the Yin Demon Cliff Rift was even more dangerous than Windcool Mountain, but Wei Zhongran kept him at Windcool Mountain to help defend it before they could travel there together. Li Yan reached Heavy Edge Camp to report for duty, while Wei Zhongran reconsidered whether he had been too cautious about Li Yan's abilities.

• Wei Zhongran told Li Yan that the Devil Realm was widening the Yin Demon Cliff Rift and that Gong Chenying, Zhao Min, and other sect members had gone there.
• Li Yan asked to join them, but Wei Zhongran assigned him to guard Windcool Mountain for a time and said he could accompany him to the Rift later.
• Wei Zhongran gave Li Yan jade slips with his duty assignment and a map, then reflected that Li Yan might be more capable than he had assumed.
• Li Yan flew to Heavy Edge Camp, passing other camps and groups of cultivators who noticed the golden small bamboo on his sleeve.
• Li Yan arrived at the palace atop Heavy Edge Camp.

Li Yan reached the Heavy Vanguard Camp to join the Ninth Squad and waited in their Qian Nine side hall while they were away on a mission. When the squad returned that evening, he recognized someone among them just as they opened the door.

• Li Yan asked Ren Mingyuan where to find the Ninth Squad, and Ren Mingyuan directed him to their Qian Nine side hall.
• Li Yan declined Ren Mingyuan’s advice to seek out the duty Martial Uncle first and went to the squad’s quarters instead.
• Li Yan opened the empty side hall, settled inside, and waited until evening.
• Li Yan sensed about twenty people approaching and recognized someone in the returning group.
• A burly man questioned who had entered the hall, and a delicate voice suggested the visitor might be a newly assigned cultivator before someone flung open the door.

Li Yan joined the Ninth Squad of the Heavy Vanguard Camp at Windcool Mountain, where he reunited with Bai Rou and Chu Weixiong. After completing his assignment and settling into a cave dwelling, he sat waiting for someone.

• Li Yan met Bai Rou and the Ninth Squad members, who recognized him as Wei Zhongran's personal disciple and welcomed him to the squad.
• Bai Rou asked Chu Weixiong to help Li Yan complete his formalities and find a cave dwelling.
• Li Yan learned that Chu Weili had failed to establish his foundation and remained in seclusion at the sect.
• Chu Weixiong accompanied Li Yan to the Hall of Ten Thousand Swords, where Wei Zhongran's influence made the procedures quick and easy.
• Li Yan secured a cave dwelling near the Heavy Vanguard Camp, installed a protective formation, and tidied the rooms.
• Li Yan brewed tea and waited quietly in the sitting room.

Li Yan met with Sun Guoshu, who had been reassigned to Windcool Mountain after the Phantom Sect’s conscription order. After rewarding him for finding an Icecloud Plume and asking him to search for Jadehorn Snakes, Li Yan began to intimidate him with a hint of his pressure, leaving Sun Guoshu unsettled.

• Sun Guoshu told Li Yan that Miss Bai had arranged for him to join her Ninth Squad at Windcool Mountain to avoid serving under someone else.
• Sun Guoshu reported that he had found a second-grade Icecloud Plume and that Miss Bai had bought it for twenty thousand low-grade spirit stones.
• Li Yan gave Sun Guoshu three thousand spirit stones as compensation, promised to reimburse Miss Bai, and asked him to search for second-grade Jadehorn Snakes.
• Li Yan invited Sun Guoshu to sit and began asking him about another matter.
• Li Yan deliberately released a faint pressure that made Sun Guoshu feel uneasy, then let it vanish before Sun Guoshu could understand what had happened.

Li Yan questioned Sun Guoshu about Bai Rou’s leadership of the Ninth Squad and learned that her powerful puppets had earned her the captaincy. After Sun Guoshu left, Bai Rou visited Li Yan, and they discussed Shuang Qingqing’s return to the Woodflow Sect and the help Li Yan had given her.

• Li Yan asked Sun Guoshu how Bai Rou became captain despite being weaker than several members of the Ninth Squad, and Sun Guoshu explained that her three mother-and-child puppets had helped the squad defeat a powerful enemy.
• Li Yan questioned Sun Guoshu about Windcool Mountain, then thanked him and asked him to keep searching for refining materials.
• After Sun Guoshu departed, Li Yan revealed that he had sensed Bai Rou waiting outside and invited her into his cave abode.
• Bai Rou asked how Li Yan had discovered her and acknowledged that her cultivation and puppet skills had improved thanks to the fortune she received from Shuang Qingqing.
• Li Yan inferred that Shuang Qingqing had returned to the Woodflow Sect, and Bai Rou confirmed that her Grand Ancestor had rescued Li Yan in the Ancient Flying Sand Grottoes and later returned to the sect.

Bai Rou restored the Woodflow Sect’s cultivation arts under Shuang Qingqing’s guidance and stubbornly refined her first natal puppet, with Shuang Qingqing assisting her at a crucial moment. As demon-realm invasion preparations spread, Elder Chi Gong promised to protect the Woodflow Sect from conscription, and Li Yan inferred that Shuang Qingqing had negotiated with the Phantom Sect’s Nascent Soul patriarchs.

• Shuang Qingqing taught Bai Rou the Woodflow Sect’s Wooden Meteor art and Celestial Pivot and Dipper Shift, helping her cultivation surge to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment.
• Bai Rou’s first attempt to refine a natal puppet failed, and she chose to dismantle her imperfect second attempt rather than accept an inferior treasure.
• Shuang Qingqing appeared, advised Bai Rou during the next refinement, and supplied precious materials that helped her finish her natal magic treasure a month later.
• After news of the demon-realm invasion spread, Bai Rou gave Shuang Qingqing’s jade slips to Elder Chi Gong and later asked him to spare the Woodflow Sect’s Foundation Establishment cultivators from conscription.
• Elder Chi Gong agreed to protect the Woodflow Sect but told Bai Rou that, as a Phantom Sect disciple, she would still be conscripted.
• Bai Rou told Li Yan how she had refined her puppet, and Li Yan deduced that Shuang Qingqing’s jade slip had contained terms for protecting the Woodflow Sect; Bai Rou blushed when he praised her puppet.

Li Yan repaid Bai Rou for the artifact-refining materials and shared a guarded account of his travels, including his encounter with Shuang Qingqing. He then asked about Windcool Mountain’s situation and learned that the Devil Race army had grown to twenty to thirty thousand, far more than he had expected.

• Bai Rou gave Li Yan a Storage Pouch containing an Ice Cloud Feather and four supplementary materials, and Li Yan returned 56,300 spirit stones for them.
• Bai Rou accepted the extra spirit stones to cover future purchases and asked Li Yan about his travels and meeting with Shuang Qingqing.
• Li Yan told Bai Rou selected stories while concealing the more dangerous details of his experiences in the Flying Sand Ancient Cavern.
• Li Yan asked Bai Rou about Windcool Mountain’s duties and the Devil Race army, and she said the army numbered around twenty to thirty thousand.
• Li Yan was startled because Master had told him the Devil Race army numbered only around ten thousand.

Li Yan learned from Bai Rou about the enemy forces, the dangers of missions, and the possibility of encountering concealed Golden Core Realm opponents. After Bai Rou left, he checked Tuban's space and heard the Snow Mosquito King confronting an arrogant voice.

• Bai Rou explained that the Devil Race's forces included hidden remnants, controlled cultivators, and Qi Condensation scouts gathering intelligence.
• Bai Rou told Li Yan that mysterious cultivators from another region included powerful Golden Core Realm and Nascent Soul cultivators, while routine missions could still lead squads into deadly encounters with concealed Golden Core Realm enemies.
• Bai Rou warned Li Yan that squads had already been wiped out and that patrols and distress messages offered only a chance of rescue.
• Bai Rou left Li Yan's cave dwelling at midnight, and Li Yan considered how little he could do to avoid the dangers of war.
• Li Yan sent his Divine Sense into Tuban's space and heard the Snow Mosquito King challenge an arrogant bodiless remnant soul.