Chapter Summaries

Shuang Qingqing questioned Li Yan about Gu Jiuqi, a long-vanished Small Bamboo Peak master whose fate remained unknown. After unsettling Li Yan and Bai Rou, she promised Li Yan a powerful puppet in exchange for every record he could recall, and he began recounting them.

• Shuang Qingqing asked Li Yan whether he knew Gu Jiuqi, and Li Yan explained that the former Small Bamboo Peak master had vanished tens of thousands of years earlier.
• Li Yan suspected Shuang Qingqing might have known Gu Jiuqi personally, and she froze his spiritual power while warning him against wild guesses.
• Bai Rou stepped between Shuang Qingqing and Li Yan, after which Shuang Qingqing released him and claimed she had only been testing them.
• Li Yan said Gu Jiuqi had left behind his peak master's token and a jade slip before disappearing, while his soul lamp went out a century later without revealing whether he had ascended or died.
• Shuang Qingqing explained that Gu Jiuqi had once cared for an important Woodflow Sect item and promised to refine Li Yan a powerful puppet if he shared everything he knew.
• Li Yan accepted the offer and began recounting the Phantom Sect's records about Gu Jiuqi as Shuang Qingqing questioned him for details.

Li Yan answered Shuang Qingqing’s questions about the Woodflow Sect before leaving to meet his master, Wei Zhongran. He learned that Shuang Qingqing had healed Elder Chigong’s injuries at Bai Rou’s request, then waited outside Wei Zhongran’s cave as night fell.

• Shuang Qingqing questioned Li Yan at length about the Woodflow Sect, and he carefully avoided revealing anything he considered too sensitive.
• Li Yan left Shuang Qingqing’s cave, and Bai Rou told him that Elder Chigong’s injuries had greatly improved after Shuang Qingqing intervened.
• Bai Rou explained that she had pleaded with Shuang Qingqing to help Elder Chigong, who would now recover after several years of secluded recuperation.
• Li Yan learned that Elder Chigong and the other severely injured cultivators would leave Windcool Mountain that night.
• Li Yan flew to Wei Zhongran’s cave, found his master absent, and sat down to meditate while waiting.

Li Yan received rare Third Rank Jade-Horned Snake remains as a reward for his mission and learned how his actions had helped protect Fengliang Mountain during the battle. With the final materials needed for his natal magical treasure in hand, he planned to return to the sect and begin forging it.

• Wei Zhongran gave Li Yan a Storage Pouch containing the remains of a peak Third Rank Jade-Horned Snake that had failed its tribulation.
• Li Yan realized Ancestor Mo Qing had protected him during the mission because Wei Zhongran had asked him to intervene.
• Wei Zhongran explained that Li Yan's mission destroyed a dangerous treasure before it could threaten the battlefront and the defenses near Yinmo Cliff.
• Li Yan decided to return to the sect with Elder Chigong and the others to forge his natal magical treasure.
• As he flew away, Li Yan thought about Small Bamboo Peak, Zhao Min, Chen Ying, Li Wuyi, and Lin Daqiao.

Li Yan was caught in a catastrophic attack that destroyed Windcool Mountain and fled through the collapsing mountains amid a deadly stone rain. After escaping the wreckage, he learned that the Devil Race had arrived and saw human and devil Nascent Soul cultivators halt their battle at the command of figures believed to be Spirit Transformation cultivators.

• As Li Yan flew toward his cave abode, an explosion struck Windcool Mountain, shattered his spiritual power, and brought down the mountain around him.
• Li Yan activated his Windcool Mountain token, recognized that enemies had breached the area, and fled through the stone rain while cultivators around him fell.
• Li Yan escaped beyond the grand formation to a forest east of Windcool Mountain, where his Divine Sense recovered but could not penetrate the dust-covered center.
• A voice announced that the Devil Race had arrived and ordered Nascent Soul Realm cultivators to form ranks and meet the enemy.
• The dust cleared to reveal Windcool Mountain in ruins and hundreds of dead cultivators, while human and devil Nascent Soul cultivators withdrew from battle under the command of figures high above.

After a Spirit Transformation strike destroyed Windcool Mountain, Li Yan and the surviving cultivators regrouped, only to discover a hidden force of Nascent Soul cultivators emerging behind them. The scene shifted to the Spirit Transformation leaders of the Desolate Moon Continent confronting Demon General Tutai and three silent Great Masters over the revealed Yin Demon Cliff Rift.

• Li Yan regrouped with Wei Zhongran, Bai Rou, Gong Yuantai, and the surviving members of Azure Sixteen Squad after the destruction of Windcool Mountain.
• A dozen Nascent Soul cultivators, including two late-stage grand cultivators, emerged from underground behind the Windcool Mountain survivors.
• Tutai told Divine Monk Daling, Su Changyang, and Zhantian that he had found the Yin Demon Cliff Rift by sensing demon qi and accused them of concealing it by relocating three sites.
• Tutai demanded that the Desolate Moon Continent cultivators surrender, while Divine Monk Daling identified the ancient immortal art Dao Transforms Helplessness as the force behind the attack.
• The middle of the three black-robed Great Masters revealed his face and asked Divine Monk Daling whether his praise was a plea.

The Great Master confronted Divine Monk Daling and the other Spirit Transformation cultivators, revealed that he knew of their efforts to awaken a powerful wolf Demon Beast, and prepared to fight them. Li Yan arrived with reinforcements at Fengliang Mountain as battle began, startling his seniors with his rapid rise to the False Core stage.

• The Great Master rejected Daling’s appeal and announced that he would fight Daling, Su Changyang, Zhantian, and the hidden Yuan Du.
• The Great Master exposed the four cultivators’ plan to break the restrictions around the late fifth-rank wolf Demon Beast’s retreat and explained how he had attacked Fengliang Mountain after devil qi escaped from Yinmo Cliff.
• Li Yan recognized his sect seniors and other familiar cultivators among the reinforcements, alongside transformed Demon Beasts from the secret realm.
• Master Liaoyuan shouted for the cultivators to attack, and the Nascent Soul fighters rose into the sky as the Golden Core cultivators charged.
• Lin Daqiao, Wei Chituo, Li Wuyi, and the others recognized Li Yan’s False Core cultivation and were stunned by his rapid progress.

Li Yan and the Desolate Moon Continent’s forces fought the Devil Race and foreign cultivators as the Spirit Transformation battle raged overhead. The chapter ended with Great Master releasing his Spirit Transformation cultivation, prompting Great Decree to warn that everyone could be forced out of the Desolate Moon Continent.

• Zhao Min and Gong Chenying saw Li Yan return at the Pseudo-Core realm, while their squad joined the battle.
• Su Changyang, Tutai, Great Master, and the other Spirit Transformation cultivators fought their opponents above Windcool Mountain as the continent’s forces gained a numerical advantage below.
• Wei Zhongran and Zuo Qiudan coordinated to cut through enemy cultivators, while Li Yan left his squad’s command to Gong Yuantai and hunted low-ranking devils alone.
• Tutai shouted to Great Master when the three aerial battlefields drew close together.
• Great Master withdrew from Great Decree and Yuandu, then released his Spirit Transformation cultivation, and Great Decree warned that the cultivators would be squeezed out of the Desolate Moon Continent.

Great Master trapped Da Ling, Su Changyang, Zhantian, and Yuandu in golden light that severed their connection to heaven and earth and devoured their blood essence. As they struggled to escape, Tutu prepared to use the Lesser Realm-Breaking Pearl and a black bow to open the Yin Demon Cliff fissure.

• Great Master formed two golden rings, using one to halt the opening black gate in the clouds and the other to trap Da Ling, Su Changyang, Zhantian, and Yuandu.
• The golden light cut the four off from the power of heaven and earth and began devouring their blood essence; Da Ling, Su Changyang, and Zhantian lent spiritual power to sustain Yuandu.
• Zhantian urged the others to break out, and they saw that Great Master was struggling to maintain the art and could control the light only within roughly three hundred zhang.
• Tutu rose above the ground with the Lesser Realm-Breaking Pearl and a black curved bow, drawing in spiritual qi as he prepared to open the Yin Demon Cliff fissure.
• Da Ling and the others recognized Tutu's plan and struggled toward the golden light's edge while ordering their sects to withdraw, take over the battle lines, and defend the fissure.

The four patriarchs remained trapped in golden light as Devil Marshal Tutai fired a Lesser Realm-Breaking Pearl toward the fissure at Yinmo Cliff, forcing Fengliang Mountain’s cultivators to retreat and defend. The pearl reached the fissure without activating, and Tutai was shocked as the battlefield’s fate remained uncertain.

• Daling, Su Changyang, and Zhantian struggled toward the edge of the golden light while Yuandu could barely resist its effects.
• The Sixth Master and the Eleventh Master escaped their restraints, and Devil Marshal Tutai fired the Lesser Realm-Breaking Pearl toward Yinmo Cliff.
• Four voices ordered the cultivators to fall back and defend, while the Sixth Master and the Eleventh Master killed two Nascent Soul Cultivators in a single encounter.
• Zhu Luan flew up to delay the two Spirit Transformation cultivators, while Mo Gu and Mo Qing retreated; Liaoyuan and Qian also rose to fight.
• The Sixth Master and the Eleventh Master ordered their forces to pursue the fissure and revealed their intent to capture the white-armored dragon scorpion alive.
• Shuang Qingqing moved toward Bai Rou, preparing to escape, but the pearl did not activate after falling into the fissure, and Tutai’s laughter stopped in shock.

A mysterious gray-robed old man seized Tu Tai’s Lesser Realm-Breaking Pearl, struck down Sixth Master and Eleventh Master, and rescued Liaoyuan and his companions. He revealed Great Master had sacrificed three hundred years of his lifespan to use an ancient immortal art, leaving Great Master shaken and wondering how much the old man knew about his clan.

• Tu Tai was shocked when the Lesser Realm-Breaking Pearl disappeared, while Sixth Master and Eleventh Master overwhelmed Liaoyuan, Zhu Luan, the old man, and the White-Armored Dragon Scorpion.
• Liaoyuan and the others unleashed their last defenses, but Sixth Master and Eleventh Master suppressed them and prepared to kill them.
• A gray-robed old man appeared, attacked Sixth Master and Eleventh Master with a mind-breaking strike, and suppressed the surging power within Liaoyuan and his companions.
• The old man revealed that he held Tu Tai’s pearl, while Great Master lost control of his golden rings and the sky gate vanished.
• The gray-robed old man identified Great Master’s Sun Moon Year Wheel and said its use had cost him three hundred years of lifespan.
• Great Master feared the old man had learned about his clan’s history in turbulent space after hearing him question the clan’s motives.

A mysterious gray-robed elder appeared at Yin Demon Cliff, subdued Great Master and Tu Tai, and was recognized by Su Changyang as the legendary Chi Mei Envoy of the Phantom Sect. The battle below halted as Li Yan realized the elder was Uncle Gu, the quiet Treasure Pavilion keeper from Small Bamboo Peak, though his true identity remained a mystery to the others.

• The gray-robed elder appeared with the Small Boundary-Breaking Pearl and prevented Great Master and Tu Tai from activating it.
• Su Changyang recognized the elder as the Chi Mei Envoy, and the elder confirmed his identity while mentioning their past connection.
• Da Ling, Zhan Tian, and Yuan Du recalled legends describing the Chi Mei Envoy as the Phantom Sect's strongest guardian.
• The elder turned his attention toward Great Master and Tu Tai as the fighting below fell silent.
• Li Yan recognized the elder as Uncle Gu, the seemingly feeble keeper of Small Bamboo Peak's Treasure Pavilion, while Wei Zhongran and Zhao Zhi also remained unaware of his identity.

Shuang Qingqing recognized the Phantom Sect’s gray-robed protector as Gu Jiuqi, an ancient peak master whose identity and history shocked the cultivators around them. Gu Jiuqi turned to fight Great Master while Su Changyang and two others prepared to hold off Tutuai, and Li Yan’s group reached the Yin Demon Cliff fissure as the battle resumed.

• Shuang Qingqing recognized the gray-robed old man as Gu Jiuqi, and the Phantom Sect cultivators realized he had once been a renowned peak master over forty thousand years earlier.
• Gu Jiuqi and Shuang Qingqing exchanged private words, with Gu Jiuqi postponing questions about her damaged soul and past until after the Devil Race invasion was dealt with.
• Gu Jiuqi attacked Great Master and told Su Changyang, Da Ling, and Zhan Tian to hold off Tutuai while he fought.
• The battle erupted again, and Li Yan and the others flew to the northern side of Windcool Mountain, where they saw the Yin Demon Cliff fissure and the wounded cultivators fighting below.

Li Yan and the Phantom Sect cultivators entered the Yin Devil Cliff Rift as the Devil Realm launched a desperate assault, and Zhu Luan ordered them to support Ten-Step Academy while staying within fifty zhang of the cliff. As Li Yan descended into the devilish fog, Mei Hongyu recognized him from an earlier encounter and silently wished him safety.

• Zhu Luan told Li Yan and the Phantom Sect cultivators that the Devil Realm was battering the barrier and ordered them to help Ten-Step Academy without descending more than fifty zhang.
• Li Wuyi warned Li Yan to join forces with the others, while Gong Chenying urged him to be careful; Li Yan also saw Zhao Min and Li Changting prepare to descend.
• Wei Chi Tuo led Gong Chenying, Lin Daqiao, and Li Yan beneath the cliff, where dense devilish qi stirred violent thoughts until Li Yan steadied his mind.
• Mei Hongyu recognized Li Yan as the young man she had known as Young Master Jiang, recalled their encounter, and hoped he would survive before descending into battle.
• Gong Chenying warned Li Yan that the devilish fog could overwhelm the mind and advised him to replenish spiritual power with spirit stones rather than absorb too much spiritual qi.

Li Yan and his companions descended into the Yin Devil Abyss Rift and were immediately attacked by multiple devil cultivators and a devil beast. As the battle spread across the rift, they realized the unprecedented surge of enemies likely marked the Devil Realm’s coordinated assault on the barrier.

• Li Yan watched Li Wuyi fight a devil head and recognized that his senior brother’s combat strength had nearly reached the mid-stage Golden Core Realm.
• Li Yan descended in formation with Lin Daqiao, Gong Chenying, and Wei Chi Tuo, and they were attacked from several directions.
• Wei Chi Tuo blocked a devil soldier’s saber strike, while Gong Chenying evaded an assassin’s spike and counterattacked with a powerful kick.
• Li Yan struck a slender attacker emerging from the mist, while Lin Daqiao was driven back by a devil beast’s claw.
• The group heard battles erupt throughout the rift and realized that an unprecedented wave of devil cultivators had arrived.
• Li Yan and the others concluded that Zhu Luan Patriarch’s prediction of a coordinated assault on the barrier was likely correct.

As the cultivators fought the demonic forces at Yinmo Cliff, Li Yan killed a powerful demonic commander with uncanny speed, stunning Gong Chenying and the others. The battle continued as Lin Daqiao asked what cultivation realm Li Yan had reached.

• Li Changting and Zhao Min fought with their gu insects while discussing the Ten-Step Academy’s losses and Li Yan’s strength.
• Li Changting teased Zhao Min that Li Yan’s rapid improvement might come from a technique for harvesting yin to replenish yang, while Zhao Min secretly watched Li Yan kill a demonic cultivator.
• A gaunt demonic commander attacked Li Yan with two blue chains, but Li Yan vanished from their path and split the commander in two before he could scream.
• Gong Chenying wounded the urn-shaped demonic cultivator with a kick, while Wei Chituo and Lin Daqiao continued fighting their own opponents.
• After witnessing Li Yan’s swift kill, Lin Daqiao asked him what cultivation realm he was really in.

Li Yan stunned his fellow disciples by killing a powerful devil cultivator in a direct clash, while Wei Zhongran received a secret mission from Gu Jiuqi to place an item beneath Yin Devil Cliff. Gu Jiuqi’s plan to seal the fissure depended on breaking an unusual spatial barrier, but he had discovered that even one Realm-Breaking Pearl could no longer provide enough force.

• Li Yan killed a gaunt devil cultivator without using a visible magic treasure, leaving Gong Chenying, Wei Chituo, and the others astonished by his strength and movement technique.
• Wei Zhongran searched beneath Yin Devil Cliff while Gu Jiuqi sent him a Storage Pouch and ordered him to place its contents at a location twenty-four thousand zhang below the fissure.
• Gu Jiuqi explained that he had spent thousands of years studying the fissure and had found an abnormal spatial barrier that might be broken to make the fissure close.
• Gu Jiuqi said he had hoped to use a Realm-Breaking Pearl to shatter the barrier, but the Devil Race’s earlier activation of one had altered the spatial laws and strengthened it.
• After examining the destructive power of the Realm-Breaking Pearl Mo Qing brought back, Gu Jiuqi concluded that one pearl could no longer break the barrier completely.

Gu Jiuqi seized an imitation World-Breaking Pearl during the battle at Yin Demon Cliff and believed it could help collapse the rift when combined with the genuine pearl. He secretly sent Wei Zhongran into the rift carrying both pearls and instructions to activate them, leaving Wei with only a narrow chance to escape.

• Gu Jiuqi recognized the incoming Little World-Breaking Pearl as an imitation and captured it after severing Tu Tai's Divine Sense.
• Gu Jiuqi judged that the imitation and the genuine World-Breaking Pearl together had a thirty percent chance of collapsing the Yin Demon Cliff rift, then went to rescue the cultivators above.
• Gu Jiuqi ordered Da Ling to keep cultivators from venturing more than fifty zhang into the rift and secretly chose Wei Zhongran for the mission.
• Gu Jiuqi gave Wei Zhongran a Storage Pouch containing both pearls, an activation incantation, and a drop of wine to resist the rift's suction.
• Wei Zhongran descended into the rift while studying the incantation and recalling that he would have only eight to ten breaths to escape after activating it.

Li Yan and the Windcool Mountain cultivators fought the Devil Cultivators as Wei Zhongran warned everyone to flee the Yin Devil Cliff fissure. A World-Breaking Pearl’s power erupted below, while the Black Devil Race prepared a massive assault through the passage between the two realms.

• Li Yan killed four Devil Cultivators in thirty breaths while Gong Chenying, Wei Chi Tuo, and Lin Daqiao struggled against their opponents.
• Wei Zhongran announced that all cultivators had to leave the Yin Devil Cliff fissure immediately.
• Gu Jiuqi told Great Master that the passage between the two realms had been altered and that their great task had succeeded.
• Da Ling, Su Changyang, and Zhan Tian kept Tu Tai occupied as the Devil Race forces retreated below.
• A World-Breaking Pearl’s power surged from the fissure, shaking it and prompting cultivators on both sides to stop fighting and flee upward.
• On the Lost Continent, the Black Devil Race assembled its forces to break through the passage and seize the Desolate Moon Continent.

The Demon Emperor ordered more demon soldiers into the tri-colored vortex while Tutu’s actions caused it to collapse, and he realized Li Yan had deliberately triggered the disaster. At the Yin Demon Cliff fissure, Wei Zhongran emerged amid a catastrophic upheaval as both sides fought desperately to reach him and the abyss.

• The Demon Emperor ordered three units of demon soldiers to enter the vortex in each batch, despite the heavy losses.
• The vortex began to collapse, and the Demon Emperor recognized that Li Yan had deliberately caused it.
• Li Yan and his companions fled upward from the Yin Demon Cliff fissure as spatial forces shattered the surrounding mountains and trapped demons below.
• Wei Zhongran shot out of the fissure, and Li Yan, Gong Chenying, and the others recognized their master.
• Tutu tried to force his way toward Wei Zhongran, while the Windcool Mountain cultivators fought to block the charging demons.

Wei Zhongran struggled to escape the collapsing Yin Demon Cliff fissure, but a giant hand reached through the failing barrier between realms to kill him. Su Changyang, Daling, Zhantian, and Tuutai unleashed their full power above as the battle below intensified around Wei Zhongran.

• Wei Zhongran fought the abyss’s suction and falling debris, while the collapsing fissure swallowed devil cultivators trying to stop him.
• A giant phantom hand reached from the abyss and seized at Wei Zhongran, and Su Changyang moved to intercept it.
• Tuutai blocked Su Changyang and erupted with his full Spirit Transformation cultivation, intending to drag his opponents into turbulent space.
• Daling and Zhantian unleashed their hidden power while Su Changyang raised a barrier to protect the Desolate Moon Continent.
• Zhu Luan, Mo Zhucha, Li Yan, and other human cultivators fought off devil and foreign-region forces, who tried to prevent anyone from reaching Wei Zhongran.