Chapter Summaries

Su Mu used his Dao Lotus to disperse the Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation that appeared as he reached Nascent Soul Early Stage. He left the scene unharmed, while the watching cultivators recognized him as the current Emperor of Liang’s male consort and hurried away.

• Cultivators gathered to watch the Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation and wondered who could possibly survive it.
• Su Mu appeared beneath the tribulation clouds as Yu Guyue and the eldest princess watched with concern.
• Su Mu brought out his Dao Lotus, and the tribulation clouds dispersed without striking him.
• Su Mu realized he had reached Nascent Soul Early Stage and put away the Dao Lotus.
• A cultivator recognized Su Mu as the current Emperor of Liang’s male consort, prompting the watching cultivators to flee.

Su Mu reached the Nascent Soul Early Stage and discussed the Haotian Realm’s overwhelming resources and strength with Yu Guyue and the eldest princess. The Phoenix revealed it had fought in the Youtian Realm’s defeat long ago and was surprised to find Su Mu was a Dao cultivator.

• Yu Guyue confirmed Su Mu had reached the Nascent Soul Early Stage, and he said the breakthrough had felt easy.
• Su Mu asked whether they could summon the Qilin, but the eldest princess said the ceremony required more than Spirit Stones.
• Su Mu warned Yu Guyue and the eldest princess that the Haotian Realm had vast resources, many Nascent Soul Cultivators, and hidden experts, leaving them worried about their chances.
• The Phoenix heard them discussing the Haotian Realm and revealed it had taken part in the battle in which the Youtian Realm suffered a devastating defeat and its wutong trees were destroyed.
• The Phoenix expressed surprise that Su Mu was a Dao cultivator, and Su Mu asked what made Dao cultivators so formidable.

Su Mu and Yu Guyue searched for the Spirit Marrow mine the Phoenix had located beneath a ridge in the Savage Wilderness. They uncovered an unusually hard, cold black object that the Eldest Princess suspected was Shadow Iron.

• The Phoenix agreed to fight against the Haotian Realm but warned that the Youtian Realm’s humans needed to grow stronger, and it told Su Mu about a Spirit Marrow mine beneath a ridge fifty kilometers west.
• The Eldest Princess went to gather people to secure the mine while Su Mu and Yu Guyue flew west to investigate.
• Su Mu and Yu Guyue dug deep into the ridge until they struck an extremely hard layer they could not break through.
• The Eldest Princess arrived with her subordinates, and the three descended into the hole and uncovered a cold black object.
• The Eldest Princess examined the object and asked whether it was Shadow Iron.

Su Mu, Yu Guyue, and the eldest princess uncovered a Spirit Marrow deposit beneath a vein of shadow iron and learned how valuable its pure Spiritual Power was. They began collecting the deposit, grateful that the Phoenix had revealed its location.

• The eldest princess identified the shadow iron vein, and Su Mu tapped it to confirm that the Spirit Marrow deposit lay beneath it.
• Yu Guyue summoned her Jade Spirit Flame, which left her control and danced around Su Mu because it sensed the spirit flames that had tempered him.
• Yu Guyue used the Jade Spirit Flame to burn through the shadow iron, revealing a river of Spirit Marrow beneath it.
• Su Mu tried to extract the Spirit Marrow with a Law Technique, but the eldest princess explained that it could only be collected with jade and used a spirit jade bucket.
• Su Mu tasted a drop of Spirit Marrow and found that its gentle Spiritual Power could benefit cultivators at any stage without the side effects of pills.
• Yu Guyue admired the Spirit Marrow deposit and credited the Phoenix for telling them where to find it.

The eldest princess and Su Mu discovered a Spirit Marrow deposit, but a suspected spy led five Nascent Soul Cultivators to it, and they demanded most of the treasure. The eldest princess refused to yield and prepared to confront them, with Yu Guyue standing beside her.

• The eldest princess ordered a trusted aide to oversee mining the Spirit Marrow deposit.
• Dozens of cultivators arrived, and Su Mu suspected that someone in the eldest princess’s group had leaked their discovery.
• The eldest princess tried to strike the fleeing Core Formation Cultivator, but Yellow Springs True Person blocked her attack and claimed the man was under her protection.
• Five Nascent Soul Cultivators demanded a share of the deposit and offered to leave the eldest princess only a twentieth.
• The eldest princess challenged the five cultivators over their past seizures of treasures in the Savage Wilderness and demanded they submit or kneel.
• Yu Guyue stepped beside the eldest princess as she prepared to confront the five cultivators.

Su Mu and the eldest princess rejected Yellow Springs True Person’s claim to the resources and decided to restrain the five cultivators rather than kill them. When the five attacked with God-Sending Incense, Su Mu’s Golden Lotus absorbed the smoke from all three defenders, leaving their opponents stunned.

• Yellow Springs True Person dismissed Su Mu as an early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, and Su Mu suggested killing her group for claiming his territory and treasures.
• The eldest princess proposed sparing the five, and Su Mu suggested placing restrictions on them; Yu Guyue and the eldest princess agreed.
• Yellow Springs True Person and the other four grew angry and attacked, while one Daoist lit God-Sending Incense directed at Su Mu, Yu Guyue, and the eldest princess.
• The incense smoke wrapped around the three and resisted their attempts to repel it, alarming Yu Guyue and the eldest princess.
• Su Mu summoned the Golden Lotus, which absorbed the smoke from him, Yu Guyue, and the eldest princess.
• Yellow Springs True Person and the other four were shocked when the Golden Lotus neutralized the God-Sending Incense.

Su Mu used the Azure Lotus’s binding technique to immobilize four of the five opposing cultivators, while Yu Guyue and the Eldest Princess pursued the one who escaped. After the battle, Su Mu questioned the Eldest Princess’s followers about whether they were loyal to their own side.

• Su Mu cast binding characters that pursued the enemy cultivators despite their talismans, attacks, and attempts to flee.
• One Daoist was pinned in midair after his escape treasure failed to free him from the binding character.
• The four remaining cultivators scattered and fled, but Su Mu’s characters caught and immobilized three more of them.
• Yu Guyue and the Eldest Princess chased the only cultivator Su Mu had not bound, while Su Mu noted that the Azure Lotus had dimmed from the strain.
• Su Mu turned to the Eldest Princess’s stunned followers and asked whether any of them were working against their own side.

Su Mu and the Eldest Princess forced the captured Nascent Soul Cultivators to submit to a blood-and-spirit restriction after the Eldest Princess dealt with a traitor. Su Mu warned her to kill any captives who later used their seniority to resist orders.

• Su Mu questioned the cultivators' loyalty until the Eldest Princess and Yu Guyue returned with five captured Nascent Soul Cultivators each.
• The Eldest Princess revealed a blood-covered cloth and ordered the captives to bind themselves to it or die.
• Su Mu threatened the captives for coveting their treasure, and they submitted by offering Essence Blood and Divine Sense.
• A Daoist asked for the restrictions to be released, but Su Mu rebuked him and warned the Eldest Princess to kill captives who disobeyed or pulled rank.
• The Eldest Princess agreed that killing one captive could keep the others obedient.

After leaving the Youtian Realm for the Haotian Realm, Su Mu learned that Ye Weixiao's people planned to infiltrate the Mysterious Yin Cult and might recover his Fallen Star Sword. While waiting in a restaurant, Su Mu experienced a strange Dao resonance that made nearby cultivators mistake him for a mighty expert.

• The eldest princess left trusted followers to oversee the Spirit Marrow vein, and Su Mu departed for the Haotian Realm.
• Ye Weixiao told Su Mu that her people were preparing a theft from the Mysterious Yin Cult and might steal his Fallen Star Sword.
• Su Mu offered Ye Weixiao a generous reward for the sword, then gave up his cave abode and waited in a city restaurant.
• Orthodox cultivators approached Su Mu, but he brushed them off while reading the Dao Scripture.
• A female Core Formation cultivator asked Su Mu for guidance, and he refused her.
• A strange Dao resonance emerged from Su Mu, impressing the nearby cultivators, and the woman stayed beside him hoping to receive guidance.

Su Mu met Ye Weixiao and her allies after they stole the Fallen Star Sword from the Mysterious Yin Cult. They split from their pursuers and hid by Ye Weixiao’s array, while the cultists chased the decoy flying boat ahead.

• Su Mu received Ye Weixiao’s message and flew to the meeting point she gave him.
• Ye Weixiao arrived, took Su Mu aboard her flying Law Treasure, and fled with several cultivators.
• One of the cultivators gave Su Mu the Fallen Star Sword, which flew to him and rejoiced at being reunited with him.
• Ye Weixiao warned that Mysterious Yin Cult pursuers were still behind them and said an array ahead could trap them.
• Su Mu and Ye Weixiao stayed hidden by the array while the flying boat continued onward as a decoy.
• The Mysterious Yin Cult cultivators pursued the boat, furious that their treasury had been robbed and the Fallen Star Sword stolen.

Su Mu and Ye Weixiao escaped the Mysterious Yin Cult’s pursuers and reached a hidden refuge, where Su Mu began nurturing the Fallen Star Sword with the Azure Lotus’s Dao resonance. After a month in seclusion, he emerged with one lotus-petal mark on the sword fully charged and prepared to help the two injured cultivators recover.

• Ye Weixiao and Su Mu activated a formation to delay the Mysterious Yin Cult’s pursuers, then escaped aboard the flying boat.
• They reached Ye Weixiao’s secluded refuge, where the injured cultivators received treatment, and Su Mu supplied ten-thousand-year-old spirit medicines.
• Su Mu entered seclusion and used the Azure Lotus’s Dao resonance to nurture the Fallen Star Sword without diminishing the Dao Lotus.
• Ye Weixiao watched over the refuge and helped its young cultivators while Su Mu spent a month in seclusion.
• Su Mu emerged with one lotus-petal mark on the sword fully filled with azure light, then learned the injured cultivators were still recovering.
• Su Mu took out more spirit medicines for the injured cultivators.

Su Mu hid with Ye Weixiao while the Mysterious Yin Cult and other sects searched for him and the Fallen Star Sword. As Su Mu discussed the Dao with Ye Weixiao, a second Dao Lotus appeared within him, while gathered cultivators began to approach breakthroughs.

• Ye Weixiao advised Su Mu to stay hidden and let others believe he was in seclusion, preparing to break through to the Nascent Soul Early Stage.
• Su Mu asked Ye Weixiao about the Tribulation Transcendence senior, but she said she had found no useful leads and had stopped asking around.
• Su Mu and Ye Weixiao discussed cultivation and the Dao, and Ye Weixiao listened as Su Mu shared what he had learned from the Dao Scripture.
• A second Dao Lotus began to form as Su Mu spoke, and cultivators gathered around them to listen and comprehend.
• Su Mu discovered that the second Dao Lotus had opened two petals, while the surrounding cultivators showed signs of impending breakthroughs.

After a month of explaining the Dao to Ye Weixiao, Su Mu gained deeper insight and a second Dao Lotus bloomed. Devil Lord Ye summoned Su Mu to Everlasting Cloud City, where Su Mu found many Demonic Sect disciples and entered the courtyard at Devil Lord Ye’s call.

• Su Mu stopped explaining the Dao when he noticed the other cultivators were still immersed in contemplation, and Ye Weixiao told him a month had passed.
• Ye Weixiao said the Mysterious Yin Cult’s inspections continued to cause discontent among cultivators.
• Su Mu received Devil Lord Ye’s message ordering him to go to Everlasting Cloud City and worried his identity had been discovered.
• Ye Weixiao judged that Su Mu was unlikely to have been exposed, and Su Mu set out for the city with the Fallen Star Sword.
• Su Mu arrived in Everlasting Cloud City, noticed many Demonic Sect disciples, and entered the courtyard after Devil Lord Ye called to him.

Su Mu arrived at a remote courtyard and revealed that he had reached the Nascent Soul Realm, surprising Devil Lord Ye and the gathered Devil Cultivators. Mi Hongling also arrived as a Nascent Soul Cultivator and challenged Su Mu to test his skills, leaving them seated beside each other as they waited to learn why they had been summoned.

• Su Mu entered the courtyard, where Devil Lord Ye noticed his breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Realm and accepted that he had been cultivating in seclusion.
• Devil Lord Ye invited Su Mu to sit among the gathered core disciples of the Demonic Sect, some of whom envied his rapid advancement.
• After waiting until noon the following day, Su Mu saw Mi Hongling arrive and recognized her.
• The gathered Devil Cultivators spoke fearfully about Mi Hongling killing members of their own sect.
• Mi Hongling noticed Su Mu's Nascent Soul cultivation, said she wanted to test his skills, and sat beside him after he agreed they could find a chance to fight.

Devil Lord Ye assigned the gathered cultivators to locate Su Mu and True Person Fire Cloud, whom they feared as powerful great devils. Su Mu and Mi Hongling confidently accepted the search, but Mi Hongling asked how they were supposed to find the two men.

• Devil Lord Ye showed the cultivators images of Su Mu and True Person Fire Cloud and explained that they were their next targets.
• A cultivator warned that the two men were too powerful for them to capture, citing Su Mu’s Dao Lotus and the Fallen Star Sword and True Person Fire Cloud’s slaughter of cultivators.
• Su Mu said the two men were nothing to worry about, while Mi Hongling claimed she could kill either one if she knew where to find him.
• Devil Lord Ye clarified that they only had to locate and follow the two men, not fight them.
• Mi Hongling asked how they were supposed to find Su Mu and True Person Fire Cloud.

The Demonic Dao used Old Freak Tong to deduce Su Mu and True Person Fire Cloud’s approximate locations, then sent search parties after them. Su Mu took charge of pursuing himself and warned Ye Weixiao to abandon her cave abode before the searchers arrived.

• Devil Lord Ye told the gathered cultivators that Old Freak Tong had located Su Mu to the south and True Person Fire Cloud to the east-west.
• Su Mu volunteered to pursue himself, while Mi Hongling asked to go after him so she could fight him.
• Devil Lord Ye assigned Su Mu to search for Su Mu and sent Mi Hongling after True Person Fire Cloud.
• Su Mu and Mi Hongling departed with separate groups of Devil Cultivators, who spread out to search independently.
• Su Mu sent Ye Weixiao a voice transmission warning her that Old Freak Tong had traced her vicinity and urging her to leave with the others.

Su Mu joined the Devil Cultivators’ search for himself after Old Freak Tong divined the location where he had used his real face. As the search spread, the Devil Cultivators killed local cultivators while Su Mu kept up his cover, and Mi Hongling was left unable to contact anyone.

• Ye Weixiao told Su Mu that Old Freak Tong had divined his location from his real face, but his changed appearance now prevented an exact reading.
• Su Mu and the Devil Cultivators reached the estimated area, split up to search, and Su Mu warned them not to fight him if they found him.
• Su Mu searched slowly and passed hidden cave abodes, prompting nearby cultivators to flee after hearing that others were searching the area.
• Some Devil Cultivators killed low-level cultivators to harvest their Essence Blood, and Su Mu sensed their actions but did not intervene.
• Mi Hongling sent Su Mu a voice transmission asking whether he had found Su Mu, but he ignored her, leaving her unable to contact the other Devil Cultivators.

Su Mu continued to evade the search while leading Devil Cultivators through the area, even as Old Freak Tong's divination suggested he had once been nearby. After ten days without finding him or Ye Weixiao's cave abode, Su Mu stopped the search and waited, while Devil Lord Ye was unreachable as he pursued True Person Fire Cloud.

• Su Mu asked Devil Lord Ye about the failed search, and Devil Lord Ye learned that Old Freak Tong's divination pointed to a location where Su Mu might have been seen days earlier.
• Su Mu continued sending Devil Cultivators to search, though he relaxed with wine as their patrols drove Rogue Cultivators away.
• Mi Hongling told Su Mu she had found True Person Fire Cloud, then entered the valley where he was hiding.
• After ten days without finding Su Mu or Ye Weixiao's cave abode, the Devil Cultivators asked Su Mu to end the search.
• Su Mu tried to contact Devil Lord Ye but received no reply, guessed he was pursuing True Person Fire Cloud, and told the Devil Cultivators to stop searching and wait.

Su Mu and the Devil Cultivators set an ambush at Setting Sun Valley to capture True Person Fire Cloud, who carried something Devil Lord Ye wanted. A faint trace of Spiritual Power alerted Fire Cloud to the trap, letting him escape and leaving Devil Lord Ye furious and suspicious of a spy among his people.

• Devil Lord Ye ordered Su Mu and the Devil Cultivators to set up an interception at Setting Sun Valley, and a core disciple said Fire Cloud had something the sect needed.
• The Devil Cultivators prepared and concealed a formation in the valley while Su Mu notified Devil Lord Ye and recovered his Spiritual Power.
• True Person Fire Cloud fled toward the valley as Devil Lord Ye pursued him and demanded that he surrender the item.
• A faint flash of Spiritual Power revealed the ambush to Fire Cloud, who swerved around the formation and escaped with a fast movement technique.
• Devil Lord Ye abandoned the pursuit and angrily searched the Devil Cultivators around Su Mu for whoever had warned Fire Cloud.

After a spy attacked, Devil Lord Ye questioned the gathered cultivators, but Mi Hongling and Ye dismissed the accusation against Su Mu. Su Mu left after crippling a cultivator who tried to frame him, while Mi Hongling began to suspect the remaining group because none of them had found Su Mu.

• Mi Hongling asked Su Mu whether he had found Su Mu, and he challenged the implication that everyone on his side was a spy.
• The Devil Cultivators defended themselves, then accused Su Mu because he had no known sect or origins.
• Devil Lord Ye rejected the accusation, reasoning that Su Mu’s actions against the Buddhist Sect made him an unlikely spy.
• When a Devil Cultivator accused him of fleeing, Su Mu restrained the man, crushed his core, and told Devil Lord Ye to search his soul.
• Su Mu left, and Mi Hongling suggested that the remaining Devil Cultivators might all be suspect because none had found Su Mu.