Chapter Summaries

Surrounded by three Eastern Wilderness cultivators, Ying Xuan gave Yang Guanfeng her Golden Jade Hairpin and chose to stay behind, while he escaped. She destroyed her heart, soul, and blood to prevent her captors from using her, and Hong Yao reported her death to his master.

• Ying Xuan revealed her true appearance, thanked Yang Guanfeng for their time together, and explained that she had volunteered to go to the Eastern Region as a pretext for Tiger Chasing’s planned eastern campaign.
• Ying Xuan gave Yang Guanfeng her Golden Jade Hairpin and asked him to bring Flying Swallow Grass to her grave if he survived; he used the hairpin to teleport beyond the pursuers’ reach.
• Ying Xuan used golden threads to destroy her heart, sea of consciousness, and qi palace, killing herself and rendering her body useless to the Eastern Wilderness cultivators.
• Hong Yao told his master that Murong Ying Xuan and Consort Shu were dead; the old man recalled Ying Xuan’s childhood before leaving to inform the emperor and Imperial Preceptor.

During the Yang Family’s second grand sacrifice, Chen Yang absorbed prayer power from Pine Mountain, Sanglu Valley, and the Huang Family, striking the barrier that kept him from advancing. He cracked it open and discovered Heaven and Earth True Essence, leaving him hopeful that he could break through within three years; afterward, he formally named Yang Liu Yang Yuanliu.

• Chen Yang sensed that Yang Guanfeng was still alive, though his soul flame had become a phantom, and reflected that he had already sent him his insights on cultivation.
• Yang Lingqing led the Blood Burning Spirit Sacrifice, and Chen Yang strengthened his body with the spiritual power and soul flames it produced.
• Chen Yang swallowed prayer power gathered by the Yang Family, Sanglu Valley, and the Huang Family, then repeatedly struck the barrier above him as people across their territories worshipped.
• Chen Yang’s final blow cracked the barrier, allowing strands of Heaven and Earth True Essence to reach him, and he realized he might break through completely within three years.
• Yang Liu paid her respects to Chen Yang, who bestowed the character Yuan on her and formally renamed her Yang Yuanliu, the first third-generation cultivator of the Yang Family’s main branch to be recorded.
• Yang Lingqing called out Yuan Hong, who had sneaked into the main courtyard again and timidly emerged from behind the gate.

Yang Yuanhong met Chen Yang, who assessed his exceptional talent and ordered him to begin cultivating in three years so the Yang Lineage could better protect him. After the grand rite, Yang Lingqing presented three prospective vassal Lineages for Chen Yang to consider.

• Yang Yuanhong formally greeted Chen Yang and asked when he could begin cultivating the Dao.
• Chen Yang examined Yang Yuanhong and found that his Qi Meridians had developed far beyond those of ordinary children his age.
• Chen Yang ordered Yang Yuanhong to wait three years before entering the Dao, giving himself time to grow strong enough to protect the boy's talent.
• After the grand rite, representatives from across the region sought vassal ties with the Yang Lineage and asked Liu Zihao to set up formations.
• Yang Lingqing presented Chen Yang with the Lin Family of Willow Leaf, the Chu Family of Qinghe, and the Wei Family of White Stone as potential vassal Lineages.

Gao Hui arranged for the Wei Family to become connected to the Yang Family through Wei Xinqing’s marriage to Yang Lingshu. Xinqing traveled to Pine Mountain to cultivate while Lingshu received a family letter whose final instruction puzzled him.

• Gao Hui told Wei Zhongyun that the Yang Family had agreed to the match between Wei Xinqing and Yang Lingshu.
• Wei Xinqing agreed to go to Pine Mountain and wait for Yang Lingshu to return from Myriad Transformation Sect.
• Gao Hui took Wei Xinqing to Pine Mountain after Wei Zhongyun accepted the arrangement.
• Lü Fangxuan delivered a personal letter from the family head to Yang Lingshu at Heavenward Peak.
• Yang Lingshu read the letter and wondered why he had been told to tidy his bearing before returning home.

Yang Lingshu prepared for the Two Sects Grand Competition, while Yang Lingrui’s cultivation surged during the Dynasty’s tour of prominent sites. The chapter left Yang Lingrui approaching the ninth layer of Qi Gathering and eager to visit Chengtian Academy’s Enlightenment Stone.

• Yang Lingshu learned that the Grand Competition would take place in one month and resolved to win first place for Tianxing Peak.
• Lü Fangxuan reported that Daoyuan Mountain had a newly inducted disciple at the peak of the Fourth Layer of Qi Gathering with violet-gold talent.
• Yang Lingshu told Lü Fangxuan to cultivate in the inner sect and promised him a Marrow Cleansing Pill if he earned a decent rank.
• Yang Lingrui toured the Tiger Chasing Dynasty’s notable events and looked forward to sensing Chengtian Academy’s Spiritual Connection-grade Enlightenment Stone.
• Yang Lingrui’s cultivation accelerated after he studied Li Yuande’s Stair-Climbing Essentials, and it surged toward the ninth layer of Qi Gathering.

Yang Lingrui concealed his rapid cultivation progress and prepared to use the Enlightenment Stone at Chengtian Academy. After Zi He asked him to carry on their ancestor’s hopes, Yang Lingrui arrived at the academy and was assigned Feng Linghua as his guide.

• Yang Lingrui told Zi He that he was about to break through to the ninth level, and Zi He confirmed that he had obtained the ancestor’s insight.
• Zi He asked Yang Lingrui to explore the heights of cultivation in their ancestor’s stead, and Yang Lingrui vowed to do so.
• Yang Lingrui traveled with the other young cultivators to Chengtian Academy, using an external form Zi He had prepared to ease the pressure of suppressing his realm.
• The academy welcomed the visitors and assigned Feng Linghua to guide Yang Lingrui around the grounds.
• Yang Lingrui recognized Feng Linghua as someone he had met before, while she felt an unexplained familiarity with him.

Yang Lingrui toured Chengtian Academy’s Painting Academy with Feng Linghua, then joined her the next day to visit the Chess Academy. There he reunited with Li Qingwan, and the two silently reflected on how their families’ fortunes had changed.

• Feng Linghua showed Yang Lingrui the Painting Academy’s Seven-Colored Corridor and Dianjing Pavilion, where he learned that Shen Yue had once obtained the Essence of Painting Skill despite not studying the painting Dao.
• Feng Linghua returned Yang Lingrui to his cave abode, and he meditated before the next day’s tour.
• Feng Linghua told Yang Lingrui that her friend Li Qingwan studied the chess Dao and led him to Li Qingwan’s cave abode.
• Yang Lingrui and Li Qingwan recognized each other, exchanged greetings, and recalled their families’ changed fortunes without speaking of them aloud.
• Feng Linghua remembered that Li Qingwan’s family had old ties with the Songshan Yang Family and asked her to show them around the Chess Academy.

Yang Lingrui toured the Chess Academy with Li Qingwan and Feng Linghua, where Li Qingwan demonstrated her formidable Dragon Slaying Chess. As Feng Linghua recounted how she fell for Young Master Lin, Li Qingwan asked her to show his portrait to Yang Lingrui, leaving him uneasy.

• Li Qingwan explained the Chess Academy’s Lan Ke Chess Platform and advised a disciple struggling with one of its games.
• Li Qingwan solved the platform’s most difficult game with Dragon Slaying Chess and received a token as a reward.
• Li Qingwan brought Yang Lingrui and Feng Linghua to a mountain pavilion, where she asked Yang Lingrui whether he had ever fallen for someone.
• Yang Lingrui denied having romantic interests, and Feng Linghua told them how she met and fell for Young Master Lin.
• Feng Linghua asked Yang Lingrui if he had met Young Master Lin, and he said he might have seen him as a child before his family moved away.
• Li Qingwan asked Feng Linghua to show Yang Lingrui the portrait of Young Master Lin, hoping it would jog his memory.

Yang Lingrui avoided revealing his connection to Feng Linghua’s beloved Young Master Lin as Li Qingwan grew suspicious. On the sixth day, the group entered Chengtian Academy’s Cave Heaven within a Painting to encounter the Spiritual Connection-level Enlightenment Stone, where Mountain Master Wei Kangping welcomed them.

• Yang Lingrui persuaded Feng Linghua not to show him her portrait and offered to investigate Young Master Lin, while Li Qingwan watched him suspiciously.
• Li Qingwan recalled that both Young Master Lin and Yang Lingrui excelled at wind arts and wondered whether they were the same person.
• After touring the Qin Academy and Chengtian Academy, Yang Lingrui and the others entered the Cave Heaven within a Painting to see the Enlightenment Stone.
• Shen Yue led the disciples in greeting Wei Kangping, who reminded the Chengtian Academy students to remember the visitors’ favor.
• Wei Kangping saw through the young cultivators’ disguises and concealed realms, then caused the Enlightenment Stone to hum and shine with multicolored radiance.

Yang Lingrui overcame a heart demon during his Enlightenment Stone trial and received the inheritance of the Yellow Wind Dao Tradition. As gales revealed his disguised face to everyone in the Cave Heaven within a Painting, his true appearance was exposed.

• Shen Yue entered enlightenment instantly and manifested a verdant mountain, while Su Lixue, Li Qingwan, Feng Linghua, and several other geniuses also gained insights or triggered phenomena.
• Yang Lingrui touched the Enlightenment Stone and found himself on the ancient yellow-earth road he had seen in the Mayfly Treasure Land inheritance site.
• Fearing that he would die as he had foreseen, Yang Lingrui nearly succumbed to a heart demon, but his Spirit Pearl fortune awakened memories that restored his resolve.
• Yang Lingrui reached an altar and received the complete inheritance of the Yellow Wind Dao Tradition.
• A yellow-wind phenomenon appeared behind Yang Lingrui, and its gales scattered his disguise to reveal his true face.

Yang Lingrui revealed his dazzling true appearance while attaining enlightenment, stunning the academy disciples and stirring complex reactions among those who knew him. As Feng Linghua grieved over discovering that Young Master Lin had never existed, Yang Lingrui entered another epiphany and rapidly advanced to the ninth level of cultivation.

• Yang Lingrui revealed his true face while triggering an anomaly from the Enlightenment Stone, leaving the gathered disciples astonished.
• Xiao Yize learned that Yang Lingshu was Yang Lingrui's younger clansman, while Murong Qiuhan privately recalled the spirit-bird anomaly she had triggered earlier.
• Feng Linghua clutched her painting scroll and wept after realizing Young Master Lin had been a false identity, and Feng Lingyue and Li Qingwan comforted her.
• Shen Yue recognized Li Qingwan's concern for Yang Lingrui and felt defeated, while Su Lingyun regretted not killing him earlier.
• Yang Lingrui's cultivation surged through the eighth level and reached the ninth level as Wei Kangping realized he had entered an epiphany.

Yang Lingrui refined the Yellow Wind Treasure Bead during enlightenment, reaching the Ninth Level Peak and gaining powerful new techniques before returning to the Cave Heaven within a Painting. After others congratulated him, Shen Yue visited his cave abode, while Murong Qiuhan arrived at He Shenglai’s solitary peak and found him unwilling to give her up.

• Yang Lingrui refined the Yellow Wind Treasure Bead, reached the Ninth Level Peak, and inherited the World-Stealing Wind Scripture, Yellow Wind Shading Heaven Art, and Soaring Book.
• Yang Lingrui tested his corrosive yellow wind and recognized that the Soaring Book improved his breakthrough chances and his control over techniques.
• Yang Lingrui returned to the Cave Heaven within a Painting, where Zi He and the other cultivators congratulated him after seeing his enlightenment.
• After the ceremony, Yang Lingrui memorized the names and backgrounds of cultivators seeking his acquaintance, then withdrew to his cave abode.
• Shen Yue of the academy arrived to visit Yang Lingrui, while Murong Qiuhan visited He Shenglai and he told her to abandon her feelings because Yang Lingrui would be useful to him.

Murong Qiuhan failed to persuade He Shenglai to hand over Yang Lingrui, while Shen Yue confirmed that Yang Lingrui had no romantic feelings for Li Qingwan and became his friend. As the academy departed for Daoyuan Mountain, Yang Lingrui learned Li Qingwan had been summoned to the palace by Consort Xi.

• Murong Qiuhan asked He Shenglai to let her take Yang Lingrui to the palace, but he refused.
• Shen Yue asked Yang Lingrui about his relationship with Li Qingwan, and Yang Lingrui said he had no romantic feelings for her or anyone else.
• Shen Yue used the Clear Heart Discernment Scripture to verify Yang Lingrui was telling the truth, then proposed they become friends.
• Shen Yue told Yang Lingrui that the academy would leave for Daoyuan Mountain in five days and arranged for someone to guard his cave dwelling.
• Yang Lingrui boarded the cloud boat with Shen Yue and asked about Li Qingwan, who was absent.
• Shen Yue explained that Consort Xi had summoned Li Qingwan to the palace, taking precedence over the Two Sects Grand Competition.

Li Qingwan began making progress toward the Soldier Path while Consort Xi revealed why Tiger Chasing had protected her from the Lanyue Sect. Six days later, the academy’s cloud ship reached Daoyuan Mountain, where Xiao Yize and He Shenglai discussed the coming competition.

• Li Qingwan won her second dead-end chess game as Consort Xi warned that she had to clear one thousand games and switch to the Soldier Path before her fifteen-year reprieve ended.
• Consort Xi recalled Li Qingwan’s potential and her own rise as Tiger Chasing’s sole Soldier Path cultivator, whose military value had persuaded the Emperor and Grand Preceptor to protect Li Qingwan.
• Li Qingwan entered a state of comprehending the Soldier Path’s killing intent, and Consort Xi left to visit the Heavenly Book Grotto-Heaven at Chengtian Academy.
• Six days after departing, the cloud ship arrived at Daoyuan Mountain, where disciples welcomed Qiu Ran as a key contender in the grand competition.
• Xiao Yize told He Shenglai that Qiu Ran’s Thunder Fire True Intent made him difficult to beat, then joked that his junior brother could still secure a draw for the Myriad Transformation Sect.

Yang Lingshu joined the Myriad Transformation Sect elders at the Two Sects Grand Competition, where he and Xiao Yize faced expectations to challenge Daoyuan Mountain. Just as the contest was about to begin, Ding Xiu arrived with disciples from three Northwest sects, interrupting the gathering.

• Xiao Yize welcomed Yang Lingshu and promised to look after him, while Mo Xian argued with Xiao Yize.
• Yang Lingshu spotted a Daoyuan Mountain disciple with golden eyes and recognized her as his greatest opponent.
• Lü Fangxuan greeted Yang Lingrui in the Class A viewing seats as the invited forces gathered.
• The elders announced the challenge-call and naming-challenge rules, and the elite contest between Qiu Ran and Xiao Yize was set to begin first.
• Daoyuan Mountain shook as an enormous interrealm immortal boat appeared above its protective formation.
• Ding Xiu announced that he had brought disciples from the three Northwest sects to visit the mountain.

Jia Huarai confronted Ding Xiu and barred Lanyue Sect’s Spiritual Connection cultivators from entering Daoyuan Mountain, allowing the competition to proceed. After Pang Yong swiftly defeated Pan Qi, Yang Lingshu proposed that Lü Fangxuan challenge him, though she gave Fangxuan only a forty percent chance of winning.

• Ding Xiu pressured Daoyuan Mountain to open its formation, but Mu Lei resisted and Jia Huarai arrived to check him.
• Jia Huarai warned Lanyue Sect that anyone above Spiritual Connection who entered the mountain would be killed, and Ding Xiu accepted the restriction.
• The sects opened the formation and the gathering became a contest between Lanyue Sect and Tiger Chasing’s cultivators.
• Pang Yong challenged the gathered cultivators, then defeated Pan Qi in five moves with his body-tempering technique.
• Yang Lingshu suggested that Lü Fangxuan face Pang Yong and said he had a forty percent chance of winning.

Lü Fangxuan defeated Pang Yong on the Dao Discussion Platform by using fourth-level Earth Element Sorcery to turn Pang Yong’s powerful attacks against him. After recovering, Lü Fangxuan chose to challenge another opponent.

• Mo Xian ordered Lü Fangxuan to accept Pang Yong’s challenge after Yang Lingshu judged that Lü had a chance to win.
• Pang Yong attacked with full force, but Lü Fangxuan anticipated his moves and used quicksand to deflect his blows and entangle his limbs.
• The elders realized Lü Fangxuan had secretly cultivated his sorcery to the fourth level, while Yang Lingshu estimated his chance of victory had risen to sixty percent.
• After a quarter-hour of struggling, Pang Yong exhausted himself and conceded, giving Lü Fangxuan the victory.
• Lü Fangxuan thanked Yang Lingshu with a bow, recovered with the elders’ help, and called out another challenge.

Yang Lingshu accepted Zheng Han’s challenge after the Wukui Sect targeted him, only to reveal he had reached the peak of the Fourth Layer of Qi Gathering. Zheng Han’s elemental techniques initially pressured him, but Yang Lingshu’s refined footwork let him evade every strike as their fight continued.

• Lü Fangxuan conceded to Zheng Han after winning the opening bout, and Zheng Han challenged Yang Lingshu by name.
• Yang Lingshu rose to meet the challenge, while Yang Lingrui and others recognized that the Wukui Sect had underestimated his recent progress.
• Yang Lingshu revealed his peak Fourth Layer cultivation, surprising Zheng Han.
• Zheng Han attacked with fast metal and wind techniques, breaking Yang Lingshu’s wooden shield and dodging his water technique.
• Yang Lingshu evaded Zheng Han’s close-range golden blade strikes with exquisite footwork.

Yang Lingshu defeated Zheng Han with the Mayfly Footwork and concealed wood-magic roots, then withdrew rather than face a stronger opponent. Qi Wei of Daoyuan Mountain took the stage to challenge He Kai.

• Yang Lingshu evaded Zheng Han's attacks with the Mayfly Footwork and defeated him by activating root seedlings hidden in the fragments of his wooden shield.
• The match overseer stopped Zheng Han, declared Yang Lingshu the winner, and Yang Lingshu chose to continue fighting.
• A Lanyue Sect elder sent He Kai, a Direct Disciple at the Peak of Fifth Level of Qi Gathering, to challenge Yang Lingshu.
• Yang Lingshu withdrew from the match, and Xiao Yize understood that it was Daoyuan Mountain's turn to take the spotlight.
• Qi Wei used lightning magic to land on the platform and announced that she would accept He Kai's challenge.

Qi Wei defeated He Kai after using the dangerous Lightning Swallowing Method, but the technique left her injured and unable to continue. Daoyuan Mountain then sent Chu Hao onto the platform, beginning the major clash between the Tiger Chasing Dynasty and the Northwest Four Sects.

• He Kai summoned eight Fifth Level beast paintings, but Qi Wei destroyed them with her lightning arts and broke through his Green Mountain Cover.
• He Kai unleashed a Sixth Level winged tiger painting, forcing Qi Wei toward the edge of the Dao Discussion Platform.
• Qi Wei swallowed a lightning pellet with the Lightning Swallowing Method, entered the Sixth Level Realm, and destroyed the winged tiger.
• He Kai conceded, and Qi Wei spat out the pellet before coughing up black blood from the technique’s damage.
• Xiao Yize told Yang Lingshu that Qiu Ran was formidable, while Yang Lingshu understood that Xiao Yize’s own strength matched Qiu Ran’s.
• Daoyuan Mountain sent Chu Hao, a Ninth Level Peak cultivator, to face the opposing side.