Chapter Summaries

The Yang Family members traveled to Qiulu City’s Yanxia Town to pursue opportunities in the Black Snake Secret Treasure and Mayfly Treasure Land. Gu Zhengyuan arranged affordable lodging and explained the dangers of both sites, leaving Yang Lingrui concerned about the fierce competition for scarce Mayfly Essence.

• Gao Hui escorted the six Yang Family members across Wangyue City's border into Qiulu City's territory.
• Gu Zhengyuan welcomed the group in Yanxia Town and arranged six cave dwellings at a reduced price.
• Gu Zhengyuan warned Yang Linghu that black snakes became violent while shedding and advised him to guard against poison and cold while fighting at a distance.
• Gu Zhengyuan warned Yang Lingrui about ancient illusion formations in the Mayfly Treasure Land and explained that Mayfly Essence was rare and difficult to harvest.
• Yang Lingrui worried that cultivators would fiercely compete for the scarce Mayfly Essence.

Yang Lingrui learned a covert method for collecting Mayfly Essence and prepared for the treasure land, but his attempt to stay unnoticed failed because of his striking appearance. A cultivator named Zhu Xuan approached him on behalf of a young lady who had met him at the market.

• Gu Zhengyuan explained that Yang Lingrui could use wind arts to place a hidden technique inside Mayfly larvae and later conceal any essence they produced.
• Yang Lingrui and Yang Linghu bought supplies at the market, then split into groups to travel to their respective treasure lands.
• At the Mayfly Treasure Land, Yang Lingrui led Xie Chuan and Lü Lianshun away from the crowded entrance camps and tried to blend in with ordinary cultivators.
• Yang Lingrui realized his appearance drew attention and left the crowd to alter his face, telling Xie Chuan and Lü Lianshun to stay hidden.
• Zhu Xuan introduced himself as an escort from the Feng Family and told Yang Lingrui that his young lady wanted to speak with him after meeting him at the market.

Yang Lingrui followed Zhu Xuan to meet Feng Lingyue and Feng Linghua, uncertain whether the Feng Family supported the Dynasty or the sects. Feng Lingyue intended to discourage her sister’s infatuation, but Yang Lingrui’s appearance stunned her, leaving him unsure how the sisters would receive him.

• Yang Lingrui considered how to handle the Feng Family depending on which side it supported as Zhu Xuan led him to their camp.
• Feng Linghua told Feng Lingyue that Yang Lingrui was exceptionally handsome, while Feng Lingyue prepared to end her sister’s interest in him.
• Feng Lingyue assessed Yang Lingrui’s cultivation as ordinary and assumed he came from no powerful family.
• When Yang Lingrui entered, Feng Lingyue was struck speechless by his appearance, while Feng Linghua blushed and stole glances at him.
• Yang Lingrui greeted the sisters as Willow Leaf Lin Yu, confused by their reactions.

Yang Lingrui met Feng Lingyue and Feng Linghua, secured a place on their expedition by demonstrating his wind arts, and learned that they sought Mayfly Essence in the Mayfly Treasure Land. Meanwhile, Solitary Moon Mountain arrived and claimed a prime position, with Wang Weiming among its disciples.

• Feng Linghua revealed that she had disguised herself when Yang Lingrui helped her in the market, and Feng Lingyue explained that she had invited him to thank him.
• Yang Lingrui asked to travel with the Feng sisters into the treasure land, then demonstrated his wind arts by placing the Clear Wind Enters Body method inside a mayfly larva.
• Feng Lingyue invited Yang Lingrui to explore with the Feng Family and promised a reward if they obtained Mayfly Essence.
• Seven people from Solitary Moon Mountain arrived by cloud boat, and their Dao Protector forced a sect to yield its claimed area.
• Wang Weiming, the younger son of Wang Xiong, meditated among Solitary Moon Mountain's disciples.

Wang Weiming planned to use cultivators entering the Mayfly Treasure Land as potential Dao Stones while preparing to search for Mayfly Essence. In the Black Snake Secret Treasure, Yang Linghu, Liang Yi, and Zhao Qi avoided a deadly poison valley and discovered a hidden cave, which Zhao Qi warned might be dangerous.

• Wang Weiming reflected on his stalled cultivation and considered killing other cultivators inside the Mayfly Treasure Land to find a suitable Dao Stone.
• Yang Linghu led Liang Yi and Zhao Qi into the Black Snake Secret Treasure during its third wave of entrants, and the three avoided clashes as they traveled deeper.
• A burly cultivator entered a poisonous valley and died after hooked plants delayed him and poisonous effects overcame him; sect cultivators later crossed safely after taking pills.
• Yang Linghu chose another route to avoid crowds, and the trio spent two days traveling while easily defeating several ghostly monsters.
• Zhao Qi tripped against a rock wall and accidentally opened a stone door, revealing a hidden cave in the poison valley.
• Yang Linghu and Liang Yi praised Zhao Qi for finding the hidden area, while Zhao Qi cautioned that his bad luck meant the cave could hold danger.

Yang Linghu and his companions crossed the poison valley and explored the Black Snake habitats in search of the Black Snake Blood Scale. After Liang Yi and Zhao Qi returned to a safer level, Yang Linghu continued alone, finding several blue crystals but no Blood Scale or other cultivators.

• Yang Linghu agreed with Zhao Qi to leave the cave unexplored and lead the group into the poison valley to search for Black Snakes.
• A creature concealed deep inside the cave lured newly arrived cultivators inside by presenting itself as an inheritance and producing a yellowed book.
• Yang Linghu, Liang Yi, and Zhao Qi crossed the miasma-filled land and killed three Black Snakes that ambushed them in the first cold-pool region.
• The group searched the first habitat, found a glowing blue crystal, and continued deeper into the Secret Treasure Vault Land.
• Yang Linghu sent Zhao Qi and Liang Yi back to a safer level, then explored the second habitat alone and collected three more dark-blue crystals.
• Yang Linghu wondered why he had seen no other cultivators, unaware that three groups had entered the cave and died.

Wang Weiming resumed hunting cultivators in the Mayfly Treasure Land and targeted the Feng Family, where Feng Lingyue confronted him. Their techniques clashed, and both revealed powerful Spirit Control Methods.

• Wang Weiming killed several Sixth Level of Qi Gathering cultivators, was driven into hiding by a group hunt, and later resumed attacking disciples of major factions.
• Yang Lingrui finished tending the Mayfly Spirit Insect larvae while Feng Linghua praised his work with a painting of him.
• Feng Lingyue warned Feng Linghua not to trust Yang Lingrui, while Feng Linghua quietly believed he might not be what he seemed.
• After a Feng Family guard went missing, Feng Lingyue gathered her people and prepared to face Wang Weiming herself.
• Wang Weiming appeared and challenged Feng Lingyue, who bound him with Word Spirit spells before he dispelled them with silver moonlight.
• Feng Lingyue revealed her own Spirit Control Method as azure characters appeared around her.

Yang Lingrui witnessed Feng Lingyue and Wang Weiming display the powerful Spirit Control Method as they fought, while he searched for essence during the spirit insects’ metamorphosis. The metamorphosis activated a large illusion formation that scattered the group, leaving Feng Lingyue separated from her sister and determined to escape and find her.

• Feng Linghua explained to Yang Lingrui how cultivators using Spiritual Connection-grade techniques could wield the Spirit Control Method.
• Feng Lingyue and Wang Weiming exchanged powerful attacks, and Yang Lingrui reflected on the Yang Family’s weakness compared with the great families and sects.
• The spirit insects began metamorphosing, and Yang Lingrui sensed a wisp of essence inside a Mayfly Spirit Insect while Feng Linghua shielded him with a golden bell.
• Feng Lingyue unleashed a killing move against Wang Weiming, and their spells collided in a powerful blast.
• The metamorphosis activated a large illusion formation that separated Yang Lingrui, Feng Linghua, Feng Lingyue, and Wang Weiming.
• Feng Lingyue realized her sister was missing and decided to leave the illusion formation before searching for her.

Yang Lingrui collected the Mayfly Essence and was pulled into a hidden teleportation array with Wang Weiming, where they experienced strange visions. When Wang Weiming remained unconscious, Yang Lingrui seized his only chance and killed him before he could retaliate.

• Yang Lingrui used Chen Yang's preserved consciousness to navigate the illusion array and collected the Mayfly Essence from the third spirit insect colony.
• Yang Lingrui pretended to be trapped in an illusion while Wang Weiming opened a stone gate with a glowing insect embryo, activating a teleportation array that pulled them both inside.
• Yang Lingrui passed through visions of his life and unfamiliar scenes, then awoke near a jade box containing an ancient stone fragment.
• Yang Lingrui saw that Wang Weiming was still trapped in the same dreamlike state and attacked him with his strongest techniques and three Mountain-Splitting Talismans.
• Wang Weiming awoke gravely injured and tried to attack Yang Lingrui, but Yang Lingrui's five wind blades severed his limbs and head.

Yang Lingrui killed Wang Weiming, gained the Mayfly Phantom Clone Art, and advanced to the peak of the Sixth Level of Qi Gathering. Meanwhile, a red-clad child reported the inheritance’s acquisition, and Solitary Moon Mountain’s Guardian Cultivator discovered Wang Weiming’s death and demanded an interrogation.

• Yang Lingrui confirmed Wang Weiming was dead, touched the stone shard, and received its inheritance along with a surge of spiritual power that raised his cultivation to the peak of the Sixth Level of Qi Gathering.
• Yang Lingrui absorbed the Mayfly Phantom Clone Art, learned it included Mayfly Footwork and Feather Transformation Phantom Clone, and left through the opened stone door.
• In Chongtian City, the red-clad child told his master that the Mayfly inheritance had been taken and reported the strange deaths and renewed inheritance flame in the Black Snake Secret Treasure.
• The old man promised a treasured pill to whoever could bring out the Black Snake Secret Treasure’s final opportunity, then chased the red-clad child after he mocked his past predictions.
• At the Mayfly Treasure Land entrance, the Solitary Moon Mountain Guardian Cultivator found Wang Weiming’s jade tablet shattered and demanded to interrogate the departing disciples, while the other Core Formation Cultivators dismissed the death as a common danger of the treasure land.

Yang Linghu returned from hunting black snakes and discovered that a monster had emerged from a blood cocoon and slaughtered many cultivators near the poison valley. After warning Zhao Qi and Liang Yi to stay below, he left the valley and rescued a cultivator from the monster.

• Yang Linghu killed a black snake after two days of fighting, collected its blood scale, and counted the tenth day of the secret treasure’s opening.
• Yang Linghu returned to Zhao Qi and Liang Yi, then led them upward toward the poison valley entrance.
• Yang Linghu found numerous mangled cultivator corpses and a broken blood cocoon, and concluded that a monster had emerged after devouring their flesh and blood.
• Yang Linghu told Zhao Qi and Liang Yi to remain below and gave them protective pills and talismans before heading out alone.
• Yang Linghu killed a half-human, half-snake monster that had pinned down a cultivator, who clung to his leg and begged him not to leave.

Yang Linghu learned that a powerful snake monster was hunting cultivators in the Secret Treasury and set out to unite the settlements against it. After opening two settlements to Rogue Cultivators, he headed toward three more controlled by powerful factions.

• Yang Linghu rescued Liu Qing, who told him that a half-human, half-snake monster could regenerate and split off smaller monsters after devouring flesh and blood.
• Liu Qing explained that Rogue Cultivators were denied protection unless they paid, and he guided Yang Linghu to a settlement where he had been turned away.
• Yang Linghu intimidated the gatekeeper, defeated the settlement's leader, and made Jin Qiang agree to admit Rogue Cultivators.
• Yang Linghu and Jin Qiang led Liu Qing and a growing group of Rogue Cultivators to a second settlement, where Yang Linghu defeated its leader and secured another agreement to open the gates.
• Jin Qiang warned Yang Linghu that the remaining three settlements were controlled by great clan disciples and a major sect, but Yang Linghu ordered him to lead the way.

Yang Linghu united the Rogue Cultivators with the Pan Family, disrupting Dou Hong’s hunt and driving him to target vulnerable settlements. Dou Hong reached the Carefree Sect settlement during a feast, where he began killing the guards.

• Yang Linghu, using the name Zhang Chen, gained Pan Yin and the Pan Family’s support, but the leaders of two other families rejected their alliance.
• Yang Linghu’s plan drew the Rogue Cultivators into settlements, where they killed the monster clones; he later helped repel a large attack on Jin Qiang’s settlement.
• Dou Hong’s hunger and deteriorating body worsened after Yang Linghu disrupted his hunting, so he devoured his clones and advanced to the Fifth Level of Qi Gathering.
• Dou Hong chose two poorly defended settlements as targets and headed out under cover of darkness.
• At the Carefree Sect settlement, Senior Brother ordered the guards to join the feast, and Dou Hong killed two cultivators outside the gate.

Yang Linghu and Pan Yin found a settlement destroyed by the Doppelganger Snake-people and returned to prepare the gathered cultivators for the monster's attack. As the exit began opening, Dou Hong struck, knocked Yang Linghu into the forest, and began slaughtering the cultivators.

• Yang Linghu and Pan Yin found the settlement's cultivators dead and realized the monster was heading toward another clan settlement.
• Pan Yin invited Yang Linghu to join her family, but he politely refused and returned with her to the Secret Treasure's exit.
• Yang Linghu organized the cultivators into formations and rallied them when Third Level Doppelganger Snake-people attacked.
• Yang Linghu led the fight while Dou Hong stayed hidden, using the doppelgangers to wear down the cultivators before attacking.
• When the exit began opening, Dou Hong burst from the forest, struck Yang Linghu into the woods, and used a roar to disrupt the cultivators before attacking them.

Yang Linghu killed Dou Hong and secured the Black Snake Swallowing Cloud Art after surviving the ambush. Meanwhile, Yang Lingrui left the Mayfly Treasure Land with its inheritance, while the Feng sisters emerged without finding him.

• Pan Yin trapped Dou Hong in an iron cage, then fled with her family as the other cultivators escaped and Dou Hong slaughtered those left behind.
• Dou Hong reached Peak Sixth Level by devouring cultivators and went to eat the apparently unconscious Yang Linghu, who ambushed him and killed him with two Mountain-Splitting Talismans.
• Yang Linghu took the Black Snake Swallowing Cloud Art, burned Dou Hong's corpse, and returned to Zhao Qi and Liang Yi after treating his injuries.
• Yang Lingrui left the Mayfly Treasure Land in disguise with Xie Chuan and Lü Lianshun, who had gathered low-grade spiritual materials for the Yang Family.
• The Solitary Moon Mountain Guardian Cultivator fled after the other cultivators confronted him over Wang Weiming's actions and death.
• Feng Lingyue rescued Feng Linghua from illusion-struck cultivators, and Feng Linghua asked whether she had seen Yang Lingrui as they left the treasure land.

After surviving the Black Snake Secret Treasure, Yang Linghu and his companions headed toward Yanxia Town, but a sudden moonbeam killed him and left only his right arm. At the Yang Family ancestral hall, Chen Yang confirmed Yang Linghu’s soul flame had gone out and Yang Lingrui’s was wavering, while the Tiger Chasing Dynasty used the sects’ reprisals as a pretext to seize three northern strongholds.

• Pan Yin accepted that Zhang Chen had likely died in the Black Snake Secret Treasure and left with Pan Baocai, while Liu Qing thanked the senior who had saved him before departing the exit.
• Yang Linghu, Zhao Qi, and Liang Yi gathered eighteen storage pouches and other spoils from the Secret Treasure, then left for Yanxia Town after discussing names for Yang Linghu and Wu Tong’s unborn child.
• A moonbeam pierced Yang Linghu’s protective talisman, and he kicked Zhao Qi and Liang Yi out of its path before it struck him and destroyed his body.
• Zhao Qi found only Yang Linghu’s right arm in the crater, while Yang Lingqing felt a terrible premonition at the Songshan Yang Family and hurried to the ancestral hall.
• Chen Yang told Yang Lingqing that Yang Linghu’s soul flame had gone out and Yang Lingrui’s had begun flickering, as the Tiger Chasing Dynasty retaliated against the sects by capturing three northern mountain strongholds.

Yang Lingrui stayed behind to protect Xie Chuan from a Blood Feather Hall cultivator, but was brutally beaten after managing to wound him. Just as the attacker moved to kill Yang Lingrui, Zi He of the Tiger Chasing Dynasty's Evil Extermination Division intervened.

• Lü Lianshun died after asking Yang Lingrui to protect the Lü Family and Fang Xuan, and Xie Chuan carried his body toward Yanxia Town.
• A black-clad Blood Feather Hall cultivator appeared, and Yang Lingrui told Xie Chuan to flee while he held the attacker back.
• Yang Lingrui blocked the cultivator's attack on Xie Chuan, then used talismans and the Black Sparrow Feather Fan to fight him alone.
• Yang Lingrui wounded the black-clad cultivator with a wind cone, but the man smashed him into the ground and mangled his knee.
• As the black-clad cultivator dropped his steel needle toward Yang Lingrui's forehead, Zi He caught it with a golden external manifestation hand and identified himself as a member of the Evil Extermination Division.

Zi He rescued Yang Lingrui from a Blood Feather Hall assassin and revealed his identity as an Execution Guard of the Evil Extermination Division. Learning that Yang Linghu and the others might also be targets, Yang Lingrui insisted on going to the Black Snake Secret Treasure, while Zhao Qi and Liang Yi faced another ambush.

• The black-clad cultivator attacked Yang Lingrui, then fled after Zi He’s manifestation shield blocked his strike; Zi He killed him with a silent arrow.
• Zi He gave Yang Lingrui three potent pills, and Yang Lingrui recovered enough to stand after three hours.
• Zi He explained that Solitary Moon Mountain had lost twenty-eight disciples and that Yang Lingrui had killed one of its direct disciples and gained an inheritance.
• Yang Lingrui realized his elder brother might be in danger, reopened his wounds by forcing his spiritual power, and persuaded Zi He to carry him toward the Black Snake Secret Treasure.
• Zhao Qi and Liang Yi encountered an Eighth Level Qi Gathering cultivator from Blood Feather Hall, and Zhao Qi prepared a Mountain-Splitting Talisman while pretending to sob.

Zhao Qi narrowly escaped a Blood Feather Hall cultivator before Hong Yao rescued him and gave him a Dragon Transformation Pill for the Yang family. He reunited with Yang Lingrui and learned that Yang Linghu had died, then Yang Lingrui vowed to take his brother home.

• Zhao Qi fought off the Blood Feather Hall cultivator with talismans and fled while carrying Yang Linghu’s severed arm.
• Hong Yao killed the pursuer, asked Zhao Qi about the Black Snake Secret Treasure inheritance, and gave him a Dragon Transformation Pill for his family.
• Hong Yao carried Zhao Qi and Liang Yi through the air, then found Yang Lingrui and Zi He and asked Zi He to take the family to Yanxia.
• Zhao Qi told Yang Lingrui that Yang Linghu had protected them and died, while Liang Yi blamed himself for failing to help.
• Yang Lingrui took Yang Linghu’s severed arm, wrapped it in cloth, and said he would take his brother home.

After the Yang Family completed the Dynasty’s secret decree at great cost, Yang Lingrui returned home under heavy escort while Qiulu’s authorities divided the spoils and punished the sects that had attacked Tiger Chasing. At the final meeting, the Dynasty learned that only the Yang Family and North Wu Qingfeng Cave had fulfilled their missions, and its leader praised the Yang Family’s achievement despite its weakness.

• Gu Zhengyuan accepted the Yang Family’s secret decree and spiritual materials, then arranged for Yang Lingrui and his companions to return home safely.
• Zi He spent his merit to hire a Twelfth Floor of Qi Gathering Perfected Cultivator to escort the Yang Family, and Yang Lingrui promised to repay his kindness.
• Liao Jian read out the compensation awarded to Qiulu and Wangyue’s major forces for the incident involving the northern sects.
• Tiger Chasing destroyed the mountain gates of the three sects led by Wu Kui Peak, imprisoned their surviving members, and demanded heavy compensation from their Upper Sects.
• At a meeting in Qiulu City, the Dynasty’s leader learned that only the Songshan Yang Family and North Wu Qingfeng Cave had completed their secret decree missions.
• The Dynasty’s leader praised the Yang Family for succeeding despite having no Late Qi Gathering cultivator.