Chapter Summaries

Shen Ge fought Zhang Sheng inside the Four Directions Cauldron while Su Liuyue and the others kept the elders from interfering. Zhang Sheng’s blood-path attacks wounded Shen Ge and sent him flying, but Shen Ge remained determined to kill him as Zhang Sheng’s flying sword closed in.

• Su Liuyue, Wang Yan, Chu He, and Jin Ling blocked the elders from interfering while Shen Ge attacked Zhang Sheng.
• Zhang Sheng used Heaven and Earth Palm to slam Shen Ge into the ground and shatter a small mountain, while Su Sui cried out from a distant peak.
• Shen Ge emerged from the rubble and unleashed a powerful colorless sword light, but Zhang Sheng countered with a blood-colored banner and blood sword.
• Shen Ge charged through Zhang Sheng’s blood-colored Gang wind, sustaining cuts despite his Golden Body Incantation.
• Zhang Sheng blocked Shen Ge’s sword strike with the Four Directions Cauldron, struck him in the chest, and sent a blood-colored flying sword after him.

Shen Ge killed Zhang Sheng after Mo Qingyu intervened and Su Liuyue and others helped break his defensive treasure. As Shen Ge tortured Zhang Sheng’s soul, Ziyang stopped him, and Shen Ge demanded to know whether Zhang Sheng deserved it for killing Mu Wan.

• Mo Qingyu severed Zhang Sheng’s arm with a sword strike, preventing him from killing Shen Ge, while Ziyang objected to her intervention.
• Shen Ge attacked Zhang Sheng with the formation’s Sword Qi, and Su Liuyue, Wang Yan, and others joined in until their combined strikes shattered the Four Directions Cauldron.
• Shen Ge killed Zhang Sheng by cutting off his head, then demanded to know where the thing Mu Wan had brought out was.
• When Zhang Sheng taunted him, Shen Ge ripped out his soul and began burning it, horrifying the watching elders.
• Ziyang used purple flame to destroy Zhang Sheng’s soul and ordered Shen Ge to stop; Shen Ge replied that Zhang Sheng had smashed Mu Wan’s body into a bloody mist and asked whether he should not have tortured him.

After learning that Mu Wan had died because of him, Shen Ge mourned at her grandfather’s grave and left the Spirit Moon Sect, but Li Xue’s words helped him face the loss and resolve to keep living.

• The Artifact Refining Hall elder, Jin Ling, Wang Yan, Chu He, and Mo Qingyu reacted furiously when Shen Ge revealed that Zhang Sheng had killed Mu Wan.
• Shen Ge knelt at Qingyou’s tombstone for three days, apologized, and then left the Heroic Spirit Grounds despite Su Liuyue’s offer of a pill and a chance to reconsider.
• Shen Ge bid farewell to his master Mo Qingyu and disciple Su Sui, then walked out of the Spirit Moon Sect’s grand formation.
• Zi Nü warned Ziyang not to let one false step become a lasting regret before leaving with Purple Eyes.
• Three days later, Li Xue invited Shen Ge to drink and urged him to keep living; Shen Ge accepted her counsel and began eating with renewed spirits.

Shen Ge and Li Xue left the Flowing Cloud Kingdom together after discussing his future and the burden he was waiting to resolve. Elsewhere, Lü Yang survived another robbery, Meng Yan fought a Flying Bear, and Wang Yan told Mu Wan’s grave that Shen Ge was alive and had avenged her.

• Li Xue warned Shen Ge to think carefully and keep what he had learned secret, then asked about his plans.
• Shen Ge said he had no ties to the mortal world and could only wait for the right moment to resolve the burden on his shoulders; Li Xue offered to travel with him.
• Shen Ge and Li Xue left the Flowing Cloud Kingdom together.
• Lü Yang killed the Five Wolves of Wolf Mountain, collected their Storage Bags, and escaped into the woods; two Rogue Cultivators decided not to pursue him and discussed targeting a Wan Household caravan.
• Meng Yan and his Thunder Eagle attacked a Flying Bear on the snowy plateau, blasting through its ice armor.
• Wang Yan visited Mu Wan’s grave and said Shen Ge was alive and had killed Zhang Sheng to avenge her.

Tang Yu rescued the Wan Household caravan from an ambush by overwhelming the attackers with arrays. As Shen Ge watched, the two surviving robbers discussed a Jade Slip he had left behind before deciding to raise Cloud Brocades.

• Wan Xing led six Wan Household disciples in a formation that briefly raised him to the Pseudo Golden Core Stage, but the attackers’ assault began to break their defenses.
• Tang Yu arrived and trapped the attackers in several arrays, killing more than half of them; a man and woman escaped into the mountain forest.
• The escaped pair decided to stop robbing travelers and go to Tiger Roar Forest to catch Cloud Brocades.
• The man and woman talked about trying to make a bicycle described in Shen Ge’s Jade Slip and argued over whether it contained a fortuitous opportunity.
• Shen Ge felt awkward after realizing the pair had read his Jade Slip, and he was relieved he had not left his portrait in it.

Shen Ge and Li Xue reunited with Lü Yang, who had chosen to live as a rogue cultivator, and the three shared wine on a mountaintop. Elsewhere, Meng Yan escaped the Ice and Snow Plateau with a beast core for his master and resolved to return for a strange fire-element treasure.

• Shen Ge recognized Lü Yang’s presence near a concealed cave and went down with Li Xue to meet him.
• Lü Yang explained that he had refused to join the Evergreen Sect and preferred the freedom of living on his own.
• Lü Yang misunderstood Shen Ge and Li Xue’s relationship, but Li Xue corrected him and warned him not to joke about Shen Ge’s lost love.
• Lü Yang invited Shen Ge and Li Xue to drink with him on a mountaintop, and they flew there together.
• Meng Yan escaped an Ice Crystal Bird on the Ice and Snow Plateau with an Ice and Snow Flying Bear core intended to help Zhu Lian break through to the Nascent Soul Realm.
• Meng Yan spotted a strange fire-element treasure in the frozen region and decided to return for it later.

Mo Shang emerged from seclusion after reaching the Middle Golden Core Stage, while Bai Lili planned to seek out Shen Ge. Shen Ge and Li Xue parted ways near the Ice and Snow Plateau, leaving him to settle in a new cave abode as she returned to the sea to cultivate.

• Mo Shang left his hiding place after advancing to the Middle Golden Core Stage and took out his Soul-Summoning Banner to seek fresh blood.
• Bai Lili decided to find Shen Ge, whom she regarded as prey, and summoned Yu Shang to help her.
• Shen Ge and Li Xue said farewell to Lü Yang, and Shen Ge gave him a Golden Core talisman before they traveled north.
• Shen Ge and Li Xue reached a barren mountain near the Ice and Snow Plateau, where Shen Ge carved out a cave abode.
• Li Xue told Shen Ge she would return to the sea to cultivate, and the two parted after discussing her plan to accompany him to the Spirit Moon Sect someday.

Shen Ge, living under the name Ye Lin, considered an auction hosted by the Hehuan Sect but chose to stay away. After hearing rumors about a newly discovered South Sea secret realm, he decided to ask Li Xue about it and whether she had obtained anything worth trading.

• Lu Xiu told Shen Ge about the Hehuan Sect's upcoming auction, but he decided not to attend because it could attract trouble and he lacked Spirit Stones.
• Shen Ge ordered Lu Xiu to tend the Spirit Plants, then complained when she ran off in fear of being eaten.
• Shen Ge overheard cultivators discussing the South Sea ruins, a death in the Spirit Moon Sect, and men drained by Hehuan Sect women at the auction.
• Shen Ge made Lu Xiu soak her hands in spiritual liquid before she prepared tea and snacks.
• Shen Ge decided to ask Li Xue about the South Sea secret realm and whether she had acquired anything he could trade for.

Shen Ge traveled to the South Sea with Li Xue and Lü Yang after learning that ruins linked to the Sea Demon Sect had appeared. Inside, he entered the sect’s inheritance trial and easily defeated its first opponent, but found that the second opponent could regenerate after being destroyed.

• Lü Yang told Shen Ge he had broken through to the Golden Core Stage, then informed him that Li Xue wanted them to investigate the newly surfaced South Sea ruins.
• Shen Ge learned the ruins were the former site of the Sea Demon Sect, where Mu Wan had been gravely injured, and set out after giving Lu Xiu a formation disc and instructions.
• Shen Ge met Li Xue and Lü Yang on the South Sea coast, and the three flew to a dark vortex above a small island and entered the ruins.
• Shen Ge appeared in a blood-red arena, defeated a Foundation Establishment Early Stage fire python, and received the first trial reward.
• In the second round, Shen Ge destroyed a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage Sea Demon, but it repeatedly reformed from the surrounding water Qi.

Shen Ge passed the Sea Demon Sect’s trials and entered its underwater ruins, where he joined Lü Yang and Li Xue to investigate the Alchemy Chamber. Their attacks cracked a sealed door, and Lü Yang began breaking it down as the group prepared to fend off greedy onlookers.

• Shen Ge killed the Sea Demon repeatedly, earned a sect disciple token, and entered the Sea Demon Sect ruins.
• Shen Ge found Golden Core cultivators searching the ruins and followed Lü Yang to the Alchemy Chamber, where Li Xue was examining a sealed door.
• Li Xue identified a possible weak point in the door’s array and directed Lü Yang and Shen Ge to attack it with her.
• The three cultivators cracked the array, attracting the attention of nearby cultivators who began eyeing the opportunity.
• Shen Ge set up a defensive array while Li Xue guarded the crowd, and Lü Yang broke down the door to enter and claim its contents.

Lü Yang and Shen Ge found pills in a ruined room, but a greedy crowd tried to seize them until Shangguan Ouyang intervened. The group was then pressured into helping break another formation, where Li Xue’s first suggested attack point failed.

• Lü Yang burned a mantis-like bug that flew from the room, then found two medicine bottles in the ruined pill room and quickly sealed one after its fragrance revealed pills above the fourth grade.
• Shen Ge activated the formation to deter the crowd, but Shangguan Ouyang arrived and stopped the cultivators from attacking them before taking the bug’s corpse to investigate.
• After Lü Yang confirmed that they had looted the room, Qianyuan and the others blocked the group’s way and asked them to break another formation in exchange for twenty percent of the contents.
• Li Xue agreed to help for a twenty-percent share, examined a nearby door, and pointed out a spot for the others to attack.
• When their attacks failed to break the formation, Li Xue said she would examine it again, while Shen Ge wondered whether she had made a mistake on purpose.

Shangguan Ouyang and the Spirit Moon Sect disciples worried that ancient formations sealed the insects that had destroyed the Sea Demon Sect, and they decided to inspect one. Elsewhere, Zhang Hao moved deeper into the ruins while Li Xue finally found a way to break the pill room formation, letting someone rush inside.

• Shangguan Ouyang warned that the ancient formations might be seals containing dangerous insects, and Junior Brother Wang agreed to inspect a larger one.
• Zhang Hao crawled out through a hole, reflected on the deadly insect and the danger in the ruins, then headed toward another section.
• Qianyuan grew impatient with Li Xue's repeated attempts to find the pill room formation's weak point, while Shen Ge told him not to disturb her.
• A fellow Daoist warned Qianyuan that Shen Ge had killed a Golden Core Peak elder of the Spirit Moon Sect, and Qianyuan chose not to test him.
• Li Xue marked another point in the formation, and the group broke it open before one of them rushed into the pill room.

Shen Ge, Lü Yang, and Li Xue faced pressure to keep exploring after Golden Core-stage purple mantises attacked, while Shangguan Ouyang’s group found rare spiritual materials and Zhang Hao discovered a worm that could devour Divine Sense. A powerful medicinal fragrance then drew everyone toward an Alchemy Chamber, where a divine pill remained protected by deadly formations and Shen Ge’s group collected its drifting fragrance.

• Qianyuan and the other cultivators fought and killed three Golden Core-stage purple mantises, then divided up their remains while Shen Ge and Lü Yang agreed to press on.
• Qianyuan persuaded the group to continue breaking formations, and Li Xue agreed to waive her share this time in exchange for twenty percent of whatever they found next.
• Shangguan Ouyang’s group entered a treasure vault containing several usable spiritual materials, while Shangguan urged everyone to remain cautious.
• Zhang Hao put away a tiny worm that had bitten and devoured his Divine Sense, then rushed toward a distant treasure light and medicinal fragrance.
• Shen Ge, Lü Yang, and Li Xue watched people fight near an undamaged divine pill in the Alchemy Chamber and collected its drifting fragrance into Qi pills.

Shangguan Ouyang and the Spirit Moon Sect used a formation to claim the divine pill and drive the other cultivators away. Shen Ge secretly decided to stop them from taking it, leaving Li Xue and Lü Yang alarmed by his plan to face the seven experts alone.

• Zhang Hao and the other cultivators restrained themselves from taking the divine pill after judging it too dangerous and valuable to fight over.
• Shangguan Ouyang and six Spirit Moon Sect cultivators formed a barrier around the pill and ordered everyone inside to leave.
• Qianyuan blustered at Shangguan Ouyang but promptly left the formation, and the remaining cultivators followed.
• Shangguan Ouyang told Junior brother Wang to dismantle the surrounding formations and retrieve the pill for the Spirit Moon Sect.
• Shen Ge told Li Xue he would not let the Spirit Moon Sect claim the pill, while Li Xue suggested recruiting Zhang Hao.
• Shen Ge told Li Xue and Lü Yang to stay out of it, and Li Xue challenged his plan to face all seven cultivators alone.

Shen Ge sabotaged the elders’ attempt to claim a peerless pill, shattered it, and urged the gathered cultivators to help him escape with its fragments. After being badly wounded in the ensuing fight, he seized an opening created by Qianyuan’s talisman and vanished.

• Shen Ge spoke with Shangguan Ouyang and the elders about the pills he had found and learned that his Mystic Spirit Pill could temper the body and increase cultivation.
• Li Qingshuang urged Shen Ge to return to the sect and look after Su Sui, while Shen Ge asked about Mo Qingyu before Martial Uncle Wang broke the formation.
• Shen Ge attacked Martial Uncle Wang as he reached for the peerless pill, and the outside cultivators joined the fight against Shangguan Ouyang and the other six elders.
• Shen Ge shattered the pill, took its three largest fragments, and offered the remaining pieces to the cultivators if they helped him escape.
• Qianyuan secretly used a talisman to open a small hole in the elders’ formation, and the injured Shen Ge escaped through it as a gentle breeze.

Shen Ge destroyed the pill and escaped Shangguan Ouyang’s group, then chose to remain in the Sea Demon Sect despite warnings of danger. Lü Yang left with a share of Shen Ge’s gains, while Shen Ge and Li Xue stayed behind.

• Shen Ge tossed the pill fragments to the crowd, letting the fighting distract Shangguan Ouyang and the others while he disappeared.
• Qianyuan and Zhang Hao each escaped with a pill fragment, and Li Xue and Lü Yang found Shen Ge injured outside the crowd.
• Shen Ge refused to leave, saying he would not let the Spirit Moon Sect take anything valuable back, while Zhang Hao warned that remnants of the sect’s destroyer might still be present.
• Li Xue decided to stay with Shen Ge, but urged Lü Yang to leave because he was the weakest of them and lacked a Law Treasure.
• Shen Ge gave Lü Yang a mantis Demon Beast foreclaw and a pill fragment, and Lü Yang flew to the formation and left the Sea Demon Sect.

A sealed chamber released an evil demon after the cultivators defeated an octopus Demon Beast. Shangguan Ouyang rallied the survivors to fight the False Nascent Soul demon, whose Fear Scream left Shen Ge shaken as it crushed and absorbed a Golden Core expert.

• The cultivators killed the octopus Demon Beast and divided the valuables from its corpse.
• A blast broke the central formation, and a giant evil demon emerged as Shen Ge and Li Xue rushed toward the teleportation formation.
• Shangguan Ouyang identified the creature as an evil demon and urged everyone to kill it before it threatened the Spirit Moon Sect and the Southern Barbarian Lands.
• The demon roared, grew to mountain size, and used its Fear Scream to overwhelm Shen Ge with terror.
• The demon crushed a Golden Core expert and absorbed him, while Shangguan Ouyang warned the survivors to guard their minds and attack without holding back.

Shangguan Ouyang and the others fought the fiend while channeling their spiritual power through a formation, but the fiend’s strength overwhelmed them. After Shangguan Ouyang severed one of its arms, Yang Feng took his place and prepared a powerful sword strike as the fiend attacked.

• Shangguan Ouyang had Yang Feng, Li Qingshuang, and the others channel their spiritual power to him, while Qianyuan shielded them from the fiend’s flames and Li Xue reinforced the shield.
• The fiend killed three Golden Core experts with eye beams, and Shen Ge narrowly escaped before striking back with black-and-white Sword Qi.
• The fiend recognized the power of reincarnation and destruction in Shen Ge’s sword, restrained him, and reached for him until Shangguan Ouyang cut off its arm with a sudden sword strike.
• The fiend attacked Shangguan Ouyang, but the group’s shields and Hua Ji’s defensive formation bought them time to escape; Shangguan Ouyang promised to repay Hua Ji.
• Yang Feng took over the formation’s main position, drew in the others’ spiritual power, and restored his youthful appearance as the fiend attacked with boulders and a descending foot.
• Yang Feng raised his sword and unleashed a streak of Sword Qi that shook the secret realm.

Yang Feng sacrificed himself to kill the demon with a sword strike, and the survivors escaped the collapsing secret realm as another monster emerged. Shen Ge and Li Xue reached the mainland, while the others fled separately and found the entrance sealed.

• Yang Feng's final sword killed the demon, though it also wounded Shen Ge before Yang Feng disappeared.
• Li Qingshuang collected Yang Feng's Storage Bag, and the survivors bowed in farewell while Shen Ge and Li Xue quietly headed for the exit.
• When another formation cracked and a black tentacle burst through, Shen Ge covered the exit formation with talismans before he and Li Xue teleported away.
• Shen Ge and Li Xue landed at sea, where Li Xue killed a fish demon, and the two flew toward the mainland.
• The talismans destroyed the secret realm's teleportation formation as a huge black octopus emerged, while the survivors escaped by different routes.
• Shangguan Ouyang and the others found that the secret realm's entrance had vanished and concluded that the creature inside was sealed away.

Shen Ge and Li Xue reunited with Lü Yang and Zhang Hao, where Shen Ge warned them about the danger in the South Sea and recounted the evil devil’s attack. Meanwhile, Shangguan Ouyang reported the secret realm’s destruction to the Spirit Moon Sect, and Mo Qingyu said she would deal with Shen Ge herself.

• Shen Ge and Li Xue reached Lü Yang’s cave abode, where they met Zhang Hao and warned them to avoid the South Sea and Spirit Moon Sect territory.
• Shen Ge told Lü Yang and Zhang Hao that an evil devil had nearly rivaled a Nascent Soul cultivator, killed several cultivators, and been slain by Yang Feng.
• Shangguan Ouyang reported to Ziyang that the Sea Demon Sect had been destroyed, Yang Feng had died fighting the devil, and a giant octopus might still threaten the South Sea.
• The Pill Hall elder accused Shen Ge of destroying a sixth-grade Moon Spirit Pill and attacking Wang, then demanded that the sect punish or kill him.
• Mo Qingyu told Ziyang she would handle Shen Ge herself and left, declaring that she was going to kill her rebellious disciple.