Chapter Summaries

Li Yan learned from the cave abode and the memories of two two-winged "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" that the place had been an empty refuge guarded by their clan, whose members had defected from the Devil Race to the Verdant Continent. He uncovered the clan’s long history of being stranded there and learned that "Venerable Duanmu" had agreed to let Meng Zhiyuan return to the clan just as the war reached its final stage.

• Li Yan explored another room, confirmed it had been used for alchemy or artifact refinement, and concluded the cave abode was empty and safe for now.
• Li Yan pieced together from his Soul Search and Meng Zhiyuan’s account that the "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" had guarded an unoccupied cave abode for Spirit Transformation cultivators.
• The "Dark Spirit Demon Bat" clan had defected from the Devil Race to the Verdant Continent under a blood contract, leaving some members behind to fight while most relocated.
• The clan’s remaining fighters suffered heavy losses, withdrew from battle, and spent generations stationed at the cave abode without being sent back to their clan.
• As the stranded clan ran out of resources and Meng Zhiyuan neared the end of his lifespan, the five four-winged bats pleaded for help and "Venerable Duanmu" agreed to let Meng Zhiyuan return.
• The great battle at the front reached its final critical juncture just as "Venerable Duanmu" received orders.

The Dark Spirit Demon Bats learned how Venerable Duanmu sealed their clan within the land of restrictions, where they waited for millennia and gradually discovered that the power sustaining their lives was fading. After finding three sealed corridors at the far end of the restricted land, the four six-winged bats continued their search for the formation core.

• Venerable Duanmu offered the Dark Spirit Demon Bats a choice, and they chose to have their clan sealed within a fifty-li radius by the Laws of Life.
• The bats waited for Venerable Duanmu to return, but those who tried to leave the restricted range rapidly turned to dust, and one six-winged bat died after blasting open the mysterious cave abode.
• As ancient Dark Spirit Demon Bats began dying, the four six-winged leaders concluded that the power sustaining their bloodlines was weakening.
• After sixty years of searching, the four leaders traced that power to the force operating the land of restrictions and found that it was declining.
• The four leaders organized a clan-wide search for the formation core and discovered three sealed corridors at the far end of the land of restrictions.

The four six-winged "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" discovered that failing supreme-grade spirit stones threatened their clan, so they modified the formation to sustain it by sacrificing demonic beasts and occasional cultivators. When a young man in white arrived, he effortlessly killed their four strongest members and entered the mysterious cave residence, then reappeared moments later.

• Meng Zhiyuan's master broke into the formation core and found mountains of mostly depleted supreme-grade spirit stones powering the restricted area.
• The four six-winged "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" spent seventy-three years building a secondary formation that converted spirit stones, essence blood, demon cores, and Golden Cores into power for the passageways.
• The "Dark Spirit Demon Bat" clan lured and killed demonic beasts and occasional cultivators to keep the formation running, but the dwindling prey made the remaining spirit stones drain faster.
• A young man in white arrived at the cave residence, and Meng Zhiyuan's master led the other three six-winged "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" in an ambush.
• The young man in white immobilized and killed all four bats in an instant, gathered their blood into a dark sphere, and entered the mysterious subsidiary cave residence without being hindered by its restrictions.
• The young man in white reappeared in the plaza a breath and a half later, leaving the watching "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" terrified.

The young man in white spared the Dark Spirit Demon Bats after killing their ancestors, then left them a Soul-Seizing Illusory Formation and clues to possible escape. Much later, Li Yan pieced together the bats’ history from their memories and realized he was inside one of the cave dwellings once occupied by Venerable Duanmu and the other guardian expert.

• The young man in white searched ten Dark Spirit Demon Bats’ souls and decided to spare the race despite their ambush.
• The young man in white sent three dark-red balls containing the lingering souls of their ancestors into passages leading to the formation’s core, creating a Soul-Seizing Illusory Formation.
• The young man in white told the Dark Spirit Demon Bats that they might escape by isolating the laws of heaven and earth or by asking someone who entered the mysterious cave dwelling to take them away.
• The Dark Spirit Demon Bats later struggled to survive as their numbers fell, the top-grade spirit stones powering their formation neared exhaustion, and their prey became scarce.
• Li Yan compared the bats’ memories with Meng Zhiyuan’s account and concluded that he was inside one of the cave dwellings once used by Venerable Duanmu and the other guardian expert.

Li Yan searched the vast, abandoned cave dwelling for Xing Ming and Feng Moru, while Mu Guyue healed her injuries by absorbing the Black Jade Mysterious Dragon Grass and unknowingly stirred the remnants of lust poison in her blood. When Li Yan approached her hidden location, Mu Guyue recognized him as the Foundation Establishment cultivator from her past who had since reached the Golden Core Realm.

• Li Yan concluded that Venerable Duanmu and the others had taken their belongings when they left, then continued searching the empty cave dwelling for Xing Ming and Feng Moru.
• Mu Guyue absorbed the Black Jade Mysterious Dragon Grass to heal her injuries, unaware that its aura was strengthening the lust poison still in her blood.
• Li Yan searched the abandoned spirit plant garden, felt an intense warning of danger, and stopped to inspect his surroundings.
• Mu Guyue sensed Li Yan approaching and initially decided to ignore him, believing her illusion formation would conceal her.
• Mu Guyue opened her eyes, saw Li Yan, and recognized his familiar aura as belonging to the Foundation Establishment cultivator she had once pursued.

Li Yan encountered Mu Guyue, the Nascent Soul Devil general he had once escaped, inside the cave dwelling. Mu Guyue attacked as Li Yan fled toward the entrance, and the chapter ended with him racing to escape her pursuit.

• Mu Guyue recognized Li Yan and decided to capture him and search his soul for information about their location.
• Li Yan sensed danger in the spirit plant garden and turned to leave, but Mu Guyue appeared and confronted him.
• Li Yan recognized Mu Guyue as the Devil general who had guarded Nameless Mountain and fled using Phoenix Soars to Heaven.
• Mu Guyue pursued Li Yan and slashed at him, but he narrowly evaded the attack and suffered a scalp wound.
• Li Yan pushed his movement technique to its limit and raced toward the cave dwelling's entrance, hoping to use the Heaven-Stealing Kerchief to escape.

Li Yan and Mu Guyue’s battle was disrupted when Mu Guyue’s suppressed lust poison overwhelmed them both, leaving them unable to control themselves. Li Yan awoke beneath a courtyard vine trellis beside the sleeping Mu Guyue, with the events of the night returning to him.

• Li Yan used the Guiyi Water-Parting Spike and tried to deliver his Fragmented Poison Body at close range, but Mu Guyue knocked him away.
• Mu Guyue’s body erupted with heat and she breathed pale-red vapor onto Li Yan, while the poison also sent both their spiritual power and demonic power out of control.
• As Mu Guyue’s attacks weakened, Li Yan struck her wrists and knocked away her crescent hand-guard blades before her kick sent him into the spell restriction.
• Overcome by the lust poison, Li Yan and Mu Guyue lost their remaining clarity and became physically intimate.
• Li Yan awoke beneath a vine trellis beside the sleeping, unclothed Mu Guyue and remembered what had happened.

Li Yan escaped Yuheng Cave after waking beside the still-sleeping female demon general, then searched the neighboring cave dwellings for Xing Ming and Feng Moru. He found them trapped in Flowing Wave Cave and prepared to lead them out, fearing the demon general would soon break free.

• Li Yan found himself unharmed beside the sleeping female demon general, grabbed his storage items, and fled through the cave dwelling gate using the Heaven-Stealing Kerchief and Night Concealment Stealth.
• Li Yan emerged from Yuheng Cave, found the plaza empty, and tried the gates of Heaven Spirit Cave and Flowing Wave Cave with the Heaven-Stealing Kerchief.
• Li Yan entered Flowing Wave Cave and sensed Xing Ming and Feng Moru inside, then summoned the Snow Mosquito King and ordered it to use the Heaven-Stealing Kerchief when signaled.
• Xing Ming and Feng Moru, trapped in the empty cave dwelling for more than two days, received Li Yan's voice transmission and hurried to meet him.
• Li Yan urged Xing Ming and Feng Moru to leave immediately, warning that a terrifying existence could escape, while Feng Moru asked how they could get past the sealed exit.

Li Yan escaped the deep-sea cave abode with Xing Ming and Feng Moru, then swore a blood oath with them to keep its secrets hidden. Mu Guyue awoke after the encounter in Jade Balance Cave, weak and consumed by shame and murderous intent toward Li Yan.

• Li Yan led Xing Ming and Feng Moru out of the cave abode, concealed the opened restriction, and returned the Snow Mosquito King to its mysterious space.
• Meng Zhiyuan discovered the escape too late and feared that stronger cultivators would return to threaten his clansmen.
• Li Yan, Xing Ming, and Feng Moru reached the surface, agreed to conceal what they had found beneath the sea, and sealed their pact with a blood oath.
• Feng Moru left to recover, while Xing Ming and Li Yan discussed how they would explain Xuancai Jun's matter to Six Plates Hall.
• Mu Guyue awoke in Jade Balance Cave with little spiritual power and recalled what had happened, then resolved to kill Li Yan.

After fleeing the hidden cave, Li Yan left Mu Guyue behind, but she recovered, uncovered clues about his sect, and tried unsuccessfully to break into the Heavenly Spirit Cave. Four days later, Xing Ming and Li Yan returned to Starfall Valley, where Li Yan went straight to heal his wounds.

• Mu Guyue considered killing Li Yan but watched him flee without detecting any killing intent from him.
• Mu Guyue broke Li Yan's Storage Pouch imprint, searched his belongings, and learned that he was a Wangliang Sect cultivator who had come to the Lost Continent.
• A day later, Mu Guyue attacked the Heavenly Spirit Cave's restriction for several hours but could not break through, then concealed the underwater mountain peak with a formation.
• Meng Zhiyuan and his companions sealed the restricted area's connection to the outside world after Mu Guyue appeared, while Meng feared the danger to his clan.
• Four days later, Xing Ming and Li Yan returned to Starfall Valley, and Li Yan went directly to his cave abode to heal his wounds.

Li Yan analyzed his encounter with Mu Guyue, concluded her love poison had likely erupted accidentally, and checked his body for hidden dangers before meditating. At Falling Star Valley, Shuang Chongshan agreed to refine an early-stage intermediate puppet for the sect, and he went to meet a visitor after the materials arrived.

• Li Yan reasoned that Mu Guyue had been injured and afflicted with love poison, then inspected his body thoroughly and sent a sect transmission talisman.
• Zhu Luomu asked Shuang Chongshan to refine a mid-stage intermediate puppet, but Shuang Chongshan explained the difficulty and agreed to make an early-stage one.
• Shuang Chongshan kept to himself at Falling Star Valley while Shuang Lianzhou worked in the Shattered Star Chamber and Ming Ling cultivated in her room.
• Shuang Chongshan sensed a visitor, used his star-shaped token, and went toward the hall, pleased that the sect had prepared the puppet materials in only three days.

Li Yan questioned Shuang Chongshan about the Duye Clan’s formation experts, then revealed that he had captured Shuang Chongshan’s Fourth Aunt, a female cultivator surnamed Yang. After reuniting them, Li Yan heard Yang explain her connection to a secret cave beneath the sea, leaving her promise to keep its secret unspoken and unverified.

• Zhu Luomu summoned Shuang Chongshan to Li Yan’s cave abode, where Li Yan asked whether the Duye Clan had female Golden Core Realm cultivators skilled in formations.
• Li Yan dropped an unconscious woman before Shuang Chongshan, who recognized her as his Fourth Aunt and begged Li Yan to spare her.
• Li Yan explained that Yang had aided his enemy, but he had only sealed her spiritual power and knocked her unconscious; he let Shuang Chongshan speak with her and warned him not to undo the seal.
• After Yang awakened, Shuang Chongshan left them alone at her request, and Li Yan asked whether she had told him about the secret cave beneath the sea.
• Yang thanked Li Yan for saving Shuang Chongshan’s family and said she would never reveal anything about the secret cave, leaving Li Yan to decide whether to believe her.

Li Yan questioned Shuang Wuyan about her ties to Song Rongdao and the dangerous sea cave, then demanded that she forget what she knew about it. When she refused to let him alter her memories, Li Yan offered to keep her in Falling Star Valley under a poison-based bargain, leaving her to decide whether to accept.

• Li Yan restored part of Shuang Wuyan’s spiritual power and asked about her background and relationship with Song Rongdao.
• Shuang Wuyan explained that she had used the name Yang Yuehua while searching for her scattered Duye Clan, and that she had helped Song Rongdao explore ruins and break formations.
• Shuang Wuyan recounted how she had helped Song Rongdao investigate the sea cave and wondered how Li Yan’s group had tracked them.
• Li Yan warned Shuang Wuyan to forget the sea cave and implied that he might erase her memories; she refused to let him enter her soul and said she would rather die.
• Li Yan offered to poison Shuang Wuyan and keep her in Falling Star Valley until he resolved the sea-cave matter, promising an antidote and her freedom within one hundred years.
• Shuang Wuyan asked how she could trust Li Yan’s promise, and he rejected swearing an oath while reminding her that he could threaten her relatives if he chose.

Li Yan kept Shuang Wuyan in Falling Star Valley by poisoning her and offering her the status and resources of a guest elder, then arranged supplies for his planned seclusion. He returned to Sacred Demon City and found that the scrutiny around Dongli Qing’s death had eased, though he suspected the Sacred Demon Palace might be preparing a new trap.

• Li Yan persuaded Shuang Wuyan to remain in Falling Star Valley by pointing out that her exposed ties to Shuang Chongshan’s family could be used against her, then planted poison in her body and offered her cultivation resources in exchange for refining puppets or arrays.
• Shuang Wuyan refused an elder’s duties, agreed to cultivate in peace, and went to reunite with Shuang Chongshan’s family; Li Yan secretly used a Snow Mosquito to confirm that she had not revealed her underwater secret cave.
• Li Yan summoned Xing Ming, who learned from Zhang Ming about Shuang Wuyan and received two antidote pills that would delay her poison for ten years; Xing Ming then hurried to visit Shuang Chongshan.
• Li Yan planned to enter long-term seclusion if Zhao Min found no route of departure, while considering investigating other passages to the Desolate Moon Continent and preparing for his future Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation.
• Zhu Luomu delivered spirit stones and pills to Li Yan, and seven days later Li Yan quietly left Falling Star Valley; four days after that, he returned to Sacred Demon City and noticed fewer Divine Senses watching him after Dongli Qing’s death.
• Li Yan suspected the Sacred Demon Palace had either slowed its investigation after finding no leads or begun plotting a new way to draw out those involved in Dongli Qing’s death.

Li Yan learned that Zhao Min had not contacted him and grew concerned that she might be unable to send word. After hearing about Holy Devil Palace’s crackdown and its retaliatory attacks, he resolved to enter the palace carefully to gather information, then settled into a new residence and spoke with the cultivator surnamed Chu.

• Su Yuan reported on Holy Devil City, including Holy Devil Palace’s strict inspections and rumors that it had retaliated against the Black Devil Race by assassinating powerful cultivators.
• Li Yan worried that Zhao Min might be in danger and decided not to send another sound-transmission talisman, choosing instead to gather information inside Holy Devil Palace.
• Li Yan rewarded Su Yuan with a Blood-Refining Amber Pill after Su Yuan arranged a spacious residence for him.
• Li Yan moved into the residence and visited Holy Devil Palace, where he learned that outside cultivators were confined to the outer palace and that departures and sound-transmission talismans could be monitored.

Mu Guyue spent ten years pregnant, repeatedly wavering between killing her unborn child and protecting him, while still planning to use his blood to find Li Yan. Thirty years later, Li Yan emerged from forty years of seclusion in Saint Demon City, stronger but stalled at a Golden Core bottleneck.

• Mu Guyue searched for Li Yan after returning from the Demon-Devouring Abyss but found no trace of him, then discovered she was carrying his child.
• Mu Guyue repeatedly tried to kill the child, but his joy and their blood bond weakened her resolve until she began to protect him.
• Mu Guyue remained in seclusion through her pregnancy, expecting to give birth soon and still considering using the child's blood essence to track Li Yan.
• Li Yan emerged after forty years of seclusion, having refined the remaining Undying Underworld Phoenix blood essence and strengthened his body.
• Li Yan recalled that he had instructed Su Yuan to send Xingming antidotes for Shuang Wuyan every nine years and to watch for Zhao Min's message talisman.
• Li Yan realized he had reached the middle Golden Core Realm but failed to break through to the late stage, while his Qiongqi Purgatory Art had peaked at its third level.

After ending a forty-year seclusion, Li Yan learned that Zhao Min had sent no word and investigated the Holy Demon Palace and Falling Star Valley. A disturbance around the Little Purple Divine Dragon Elephant drew him into Tuban, where he found the egg still alive as the restrictions around it shook under surging fire spiritual energy.

• Li Yan emerged from seclusion, summoned Su Yuan, and learned that no transmission talisman had arrived and that Su Yuan had used four of the jade bottles while preserving records of sightings matching Li Yan's description of a person.
• Su Yuan reported that Li Yan's seclusion had lasted exactly forty years, described changes in Falling Star Valley, and confirmed that he had no news from the Holy Demon Palace about Zhao Min.
• Li Yan gathered information around Holy Demon City and visited the Holy Demon Palace, but remained worried by Zhao Min's silence.
• The Snow Mosquito King sent Li Yan a warning about an unusual disturbance near the Little Purple Divine Dragon Elephant in Tuban.
• Li Yan entered Tuban, found the egg alive amid violent fire spiritual energy, and calmed the trembling restrictions before the Snow Mosquito King asked whether the elephant was about to hatch.

Li Yan watched as the purple egg in the desert hatched into a powerful elephant, which transformed into a purple-robed youth and thanked him for granting it a body. The youth recognized Li Yan as his master, while the injured Snow Mosquito King arrived and discovered that the youth had reached the third tier without undergoing a Heavenly Tribulation.

• The Snow Mosquito King joined Li Yan to watch the purple egg pulse and crack beneath the five colored rings.
• The egg burst, and a tiny elephant swallowed its shell, grew enormous, and destroyed Li Yan's formation with its roar.
• Li Yan stopped the resulting sandstorm and restrained the Snow Mosquito King, but the elephant sent him flying before transforming into a purple-robed youth.
• The purple-robed youth knelt before Li Yan, thanked him for granting him a body, and congratulated him on reaching the Golden Core Realm.
• The Snow Mosquito King returned injured, recognized the youth as the former remnant-soul elephant, and realized he had reached the third tier without a Heavenly Tribulation.
• The purple-robed youth mocked the Snow Mosquito King's second-tier cultivation and offered to teach him if he kowtowed.

Li Yan named the newly embodied Purple God Dragon-Elephant Zi Kun and the Snow Mosquito King Qianji, then discussed their cultivation and kept them hidden in Tuban while he remained in Saint Demon City. After receiving Zhao Min’s urgent message, he met her and learned she had reached the peak of the mid-stage Golden Core Realm, though she had come to discuss an important matter.

• Li Yan named the Purple God Dragon-Elephant Zi Kun and the Snow Mosquito King Qianji, and Zi Kun explained that his body had formed at the third tier because it came from an ancient skull.
• Li Yan told Qianji and Zi Kun they must stay hidden in Tuban in Saint Demon City, promised to seek cold substances for Qianji, and caught Zi Kun up on events from the past seventy years.
• Su Yuan delivered Zhao Min’s jade slip to Li Yan, who replied that he was still in Saint Demon City.
• Zhao Min arrived at Li Yan’s courtyard, noticed his unease, and said she had reached the peak of the mid-stage Golden Core Realm in forty years.
• Li Yan asked Zhao Min whether she had gone somewhere to temper herself.

Zhao Min told Li Yan how the White Devil Race had forced her into a Dao Companion arrangement with a Nascent Soul cultivator, and Li Yan decided to hide her in his mysterious space immediately. As Zhao Min prepared to enter, she learned that Li Yan’s bonded spirit beasts could help her stay in contact with him.

• Zhao Min explained that she had spent more than forty years fighting in an ancient secret realm and had been ordered by the Supreme Great Elder to become a Nascent Soul cultivator’s Dao Companion.
• Zhao Min told Li Yan that the arrangement could be announced within five days, while the wedding date remained uncertain.
• Li Yan urged Zhao Min to leave the Holy Devil Palace and enter his mysterious space at once, and she agreed.
• Li Yan explained that he would send his divine sense inside every two to ten days and that Zi Kun and Qianji could relay messages to him.
• Zhao Min recognized that Qianji belonged to the Snow Mosquito Clan and suspected Li Yan had brought the mosquitoes out of the Pure Land Sect’s Northern Underworld Demon-Suppressing Tower using his mysterious space.