Chapter Summaries

Yue Shuwang arrived to stop the Dao contest between Yang Lingrui and Bai Songran from producing a third Heavenly Talent in the Northwest, forcing Shen Yue to fight her away from the others. The sect fighters then clashed around the contest, where Xiao Yize revealed that he had hidden help as Tingxue Tower’s pair tried to overwhelm him.

• Yue Shuwang and Xue Qingluan arrived above Guhui Town, and Yue Shuwang attacked Yang Lingrui and Bai Songran’s Dao contest while declaring that Azure Waves' Northwest needed only two Heavenly Talents.
• Shen Yue shielded the contest, drove Yue Shuwang back with five word spirits, and drew her into a fierce duel away from the others.
• Wu Zhao and Feng Lan fought the Hanshan Sect elders, Li Qingwan battled Xue Qingluan, and Xiao Yize faced Tingxue Tower’s pair while Zi He guarded Yang Lingrui.
• Tingxue Tower’s pair taunted Xiao Yize and pursued his Black Wood Swimming Dragon, but he adapted to their attacks and hinted that someone was helping him.
• The male Dao companion noticed a scorched mark at his feet and panicked as Xiao Yize spoke the word spirit “Fall.”

Qiu Ran joined the fight at Guhui Town as Yang Lingrui defeated Bai Songran in their Dao struggle and began seizing his Daoist Inheritance. Lang Wuhen attacked Yang Lingrui, but Yang Lingrui awakened with the moon-glow ribbons in his grasp and threatened to kill another Solitary Moon Direct Disciple.

• Qiu Ran recovered enough to join Xiao Yize, turning the battle against the Daoist couple from Tingxue Tower in Tiger Chasing's favor.
• Yang Lingrui showed Bai Songran his cultivation journey, causing Bai Songran to admit defeat and begin demonstrating his Dao arts.
• Yellow Wind swallowed Black Wind, signaling Yang Lingrui's victory as Xue Qingluan continued fighting Li Qingwan's army.
• Xue Qingluan summoned Lang Wuhen, who defeated Zi He's Gold Aspect Dharma Body and pressed toward Yang Lingrui.
• Yang Lingrui opened his eyes, seized Lang Wuhen's moon-glow ribbons, and vowed to kill another Solitary Moon Direct Disciple.

Yang Lingrui used his newly enhanced twin-wind domain to defeat and cripple Lang Wuhen, whose life-saving trump card activated before he could be killed. Afterward, Yang Lingrui chose to kill the unconscious Bai Songran rather than risk leaving a future enemy alive.

• Yang Lingrui trapped Lang Wuhen in twin winds that devoured his spells and Bright Moon Manifestation while repeatedly torturing him with Severance.
• Lang Wuhen lost his mind and exhausted his spiritual power, but a life-saving halo activated before Yang Lingrui could finish him.
• Yang Lingrui withdrew the winds, revealing himself unharmed and Lang Wuhen severely crippled as Xiao Yize watched.
• Yang Lingrui greeted Xiao Yize and told Zi He that Lang Wuhen could no longer cause trouble.
• When Xiao Yize asked what to do with the unconscious Bai Songran, Yang Lingrui decided to kill him to eliminate a future threat.

Yang Lingrui was targeted by two Spiritual Connection cultivators seeking revenge for their disciples, but Consort Xi intervened and forced them to retreat. She then dictated the terms for the other sects, leaving Xue Qingluan in her custody and allowing Yue Shuwang to be taken away.

• Yang Lingrui killed Bai Songran, but two Spiritual Connection Perfection cultivators froze the area and sent enormous hands toward him.
• Shen Yue called on his master for help, but the head of Chengtian Academy said intervention was unnecessary.
• Consort Xi cut apart the two hands and drove the Mountain Lord of Xuanling Mountain and the Sect Master of Xishuo Sect away.
• Consort Xi ordered Lanyue Sect to take Yue Shuwang and leave Xue Qingluan behind.
• Consort Xi required the Hanshan Sect and Tingxue Tower cultivators to surrender one arm each before leaving.

After the battle at Guhui Town, Consort Xi rewarded Yang Lingrui and the cultivators who had defended the town, then punished the Lanyue Sect’s Xue Qingluan by ordering her to become Yang Lingrui’s companion cultivation maid. Yang Lingrui accepted Consort Xi’s arrangement.

• Consort Xi gathered the cultivators at Guhui Town, praised Yang Lingrui for killing the two sect masters, and bestowed their incarnation palms upon him.
• Consort Xi gave the incarnation arms to Shen Yue and Li Qingwan, rewarded Qiu Ran with Gold-patterned Thunder Soul Wood, and granted battle merit to Xiao Yize, Zi He, and the others.
• Consort Xi ordered Xue Qingluan to remain behind rather than return to the Lanyue Sect, and Xue Qingluan submitted to her disposition.
• Consort Xi named Xue Qingluan Yang Lingrui’s companion cultivation maid and offered him a jade bracelet, making clear that he would decide whether to accept her.
• Yang Lingrui agreed to follow Consort Xi’s arrangement and take Xue Qingluan.

After the battle at Guhui Town, Yang Lingrui learned that Consort Xi had placed Xue Qingluan with him to draw him and the Yang Family closer to the Dynasty. He freed Xue Qingluan from her Magic Seal, then crushed her hopes of manipulating him by making clear that he could kill her at any moment.

• The four captured sect disciples chose to serve on the Tiger Chasing front lines rather than face trial in the Penal Division.
• After the Eastern Wilderness forces around Guhui Town were purged, Xiao Yize stayed to garrison the area, Qiu Ran returned to the rear to recuperate, and Yang Lingrui's companions set out for their stations.
• Five days later, Yang Lingrui summoned Xue Qingluan, who explained that Consort Xi had placed her with him to draw him into the Dynasty's plans for the Yang Family.
• Yang Lingrui concluded that the Dynasty was backing him as a newly risen prodigy and wanted him to establish an independent faction rather than depend on the He Family.
• Yang Lingrui shattered the jade bracelet and removed Consort Xi's Magic Seal from Xue Qingluan.
• When Xue Qingluan considered manipulating Yang Lingrui, he overwhelmed her with killing intent and warned that he could kill her with a thought, prompting her to kneel and beg for her life.

Yang Lingrui visited He Shenglai in the plantation, where they discussed Yang’s new status as a prodigy and He’s plans for cultivating both plants and people. He Shenglai ended by saying that now they had both reached important milestones, everyone was delighted.

• After frightening Xue Qingluan into submission, Yang Lingrui went to the plantation to meet He Shenglai.
• He Shenglai told Yang Lingrui that the Noble Family Order would soon reach Pine Mountain and advised him to wait until Essence Condensation before refining the two palms.
• He Shenglai warned Yang Lingrui not to show too much kindness to the Lanyue Sect female cultivator.
• Yang Lingrui and He Shenglai recalled their first meeting and discussed the Yang Family’s past poverty and the He Family’s difficult history.
• He Shenglai explained that the Dynasty had sent people to reassure him about Yang Lingrui’s rise, then said that both their paths had reached satisfying milestones.

The Yang Family received its Noble Family Order and generous rewards from the Tiger Chasing Dynasty, while Yang Lingqing negotiated terms for the family’s future involvement in government. The chapter ended with Yang Yuanliu preparing to follow Xuan Zhou to Chongtian City as his student and serve in the Immortal Patrol Division.

• Yang Lingrui realized that He Shenglai had used his future achievements to test and validate He Shenglai’s Dao.
• Xuan Zhou arrived at Pine Mountain with the Noble Family Order, and the Dynasty formally recognized the Yang Family as a local noble family.
• The Dynasty granted the Yang Family a Spirit Crystal mine vein, a Treasure Pavilion, and a land grant, which Yang Lingqing planned to use when the family was stronger.
• Xuan Zhou raised the possibility of a Yang Family member entering government, and Yang Lingqing asked for guarantees against obstructed advancement and cultivation.
• Xuan Zhou agreed to personally guide and protect a Yang Family junior, and Yang Lingqing brought Yang Yuanliu to meet him.
• Yang Yuanliu became Xuan Zhou’s student and prepared to serve with him at the Immortal Patrol Division in Chongtian City.

Chen Yang secretly controlled Elder Yu during a Dynasty assessment of the Yang Family’s talisman arts, helping him impress Talisman Master Jiang Chun'an and earn official registration. Jiang Chun'an also invited Elder Yu, now using the name Yu Liyang, to Talisman Mountain’s Gathering of Heroes Banquet.

• Jiang Chun'an questioned Elder Yu about the Yang Family’s talisman inheritance and success rates as Chen Yang concealed himself in Elder Yu’s sleeve.
• Chen Yang controlled Elder Yu as he refined a Divine Movement Talisman, first displaying flaws and then improving its stability with a second tracing.
• Jiang Chun'an praised the finished talisman and registered Elder Yu as a Qi Gathering Talisman Master under the name Yu Liyang.
• Jiang Chun'an gave Yu Liyang an invitation to Talisman Mountain’s Gathering of Heroes Banquet.

Chen Yang secured an invitation for Elder Yu to the Gathering of Heroes Banquet and continued preparing his avatar to obtain the Hundred Artifacts Tower’s inheritance. He chose Yao Santu as his route into the Hundred Refinements Secret Realm, and the chapter ended with Yao Santu asking the stone for help cultivating.

• Jiang Chun'an described the Gathering of Heroes Banquet, and Elder Yu gratefully accepted the invitation at Chen Yang's instruction.
• Chen Yang concluded that his avatar could pass as an ordinary stone and reviewed the forging skills it had learned at the Hundred Artifacts Tower.
• Chen Yang selected Yao Santu, a diligent but poorly gifted forging disciple, as someone who could bring the avatar into the Hundred Refinements Secret Realm.
• Steward Zhang urged Yao Santu to leave the Hundred Artifacts Tower, but relented when Yao Santu pleaded to stay until the Secret Realm opened.
• Yao Santu returned to his room, took out a green-speckled stone, knelt before it, and agreed to every condition in exchange for help cultivating.

Yao Santu used Chen Yang’s blood-related divine ability to heal his wrist and strengthen his cultivation, then devoted himself to reaching the Qi Gathering Realm. A year later, he arrived bloodied but successful to register for the Hundred Refinements Secret Realm.

• Yao Santu cut his wrist to offer blood, and Chen Yang’s green light healed the wound as the blood qi strengthened Yao Santu’s mind and cultivation.
• Yao Santu resolved to cultivate for another year and enter the Hundred Refinements Secret Realm, despite his poor aptitude and the other laborers’ doubts.
• Yao Santu told the two young laborers he would keep striving without regret, and they began helping with his work so he could cultivate more.
• A year later, Steward Zhang waited anxiously as registration for the Hundred Refinements Secret Realm drew to a close.
• Yao Santu arrived with blood-soaked clothes and announced that he had successfully gathered qi and wished to enter the Secret Realm.

Yao Santu entered the Hundred Refinements Secret Realm after breaking through to Qi Gathering through years of persistence, then excelled in several trials. When he reached Spirit Infusion, an ancient voice promised to help him.

• Steward Zhang confirmed Yao Santu had reached Qi Gathering, and the elder admired the damage to his meridians as proof of his perseverance.
• Yao Santu entered the Secret Realm with Senior Immortal Stone and began its trials among five other disciples.
• Yao Santu endured the mining trial for three hours and earned a green ball of light, then led the spirit ore sorting trial and earned another.
• Yao Santu passed the smelting trial and outperformed the remaining disciple in forging, earning a second blue ball of light and advancing alone.
• Yao Santu attempted the Spirit Infusion trial despite lacking experience, when knowledge flooded his mind and an ancient voice told him to keep trying.

Chen Yang guided Yao Santu through Spirit Infusion and Artifact Forging in the Secret Realm, helping him obtain an Essence Condensation Perfection-level inheritance. The chapter ended with Chen Yang discovering that the inheritance contained the building methods he needed for his inner grotto-heaven.

• Yao Santu completed Spirit Infusion after Chen Yang helped him absorb the forging insights, earning a golden sphere.
• The elders learned that Yao Santu had passed the Spirit Infusion trial and decided to promote him to core disciple after the trial.
• Zhu Yan and Kong Wudong forged magical artifacts while Chen Yang helped Yao Santu improve his curved saber.
• Chen Yang gave Yao Santu another piece of mysterious power, inspiring him to redo the forging steps and complete a higher-quality artifact.
• Yao Santu received the Hundred Refinements True Understanding Record, an Essence Condensation Perfection-level forging inheritance.
• Chen Yang examined the inheritance and found the building methods he needed to create his inner grotto-heaven.

Yao Santu’s artifact-forging achievement earned him a place as Ma Yongsheng’s Direct Disciple, while Chen Yang quietly returned to Pine Mountain and continued training Yang Yuanhong. The chapter left Yang Yuanhong with the strength to challenge even a Great Sect’s Direct Disciple.

• Yao Santu returned from the Hundred Refinements Secret Realm with a fine-grade spirit treasure, and Ma Yongsheng accepted him as his Direct Disciple.
• Yao Santu searched for Chen Yang after he vanished, then heard Chen Yang’s farewell and vowed to cultivate diligently.
• The Yang Family’s holdings and surrounding villages expanded as visitors flocked to Pine Mountain, while Wei Zhongyun refused gifts to follow the Main Family’s example.
• Chen Yang withdrew to a hidden cave dwelling with Yang Yuanhong, who reached the Fifth Layer Realm and mastered powerful movement and phantom-clone techniques.
• Chen Yang determined that Yang Yuanhong could kill late-stage cultivators and defeat a Great Sect’s Direct Disciple with his full strength.

Chen Yang trained Yang Yuanhong in Pine Mountain for a year, then returned him to the Yang Family Forbidden Ground as the boy’s combat ability and temperament had greatly improved. Using the Hundred Refinements True Understanding Record and treasures gathered by Yang Lingqing, Chen Yang repaired his cave heaven and established its initial spiritual energy cycle.

• Chen Yang put Yang Yuanhong through a year of dangerous mountain training until the boy’s combat control and strength improved substantially.
• Chen Yang brought Yang Yuanhong back to the Yang Family Forbidden Ground after the Yang Family’s visitors stopped coming.
• Yang Lingqing welcomed Yang Yuanhong’s return and gave Chen Yang two storage bags of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.
• Chen Yang used the Hundred Refinements True Understanding Record to find and patch twelve flaws in his cave heaven.
• Chen Yang placed refined treasures in the cave heaven’s twelve spirit positions, completing its foundational circulation system after a month.

Chen Yang stabilized his internal grotto-heaven by gradually introducing creatures, then used Liu Zihao’s cultivation experiences to study the Way of Formations. As a formation insight returned through their heart-and-soul connection, Liang Yi’s soul flame went out.

• Chen Yang brought the grotto-heaven to life and found that most creatures could not survive there at first.
• Chen Yang tested its carrying capacity over multiple releases until the grotto-heaven became stable and self-sustaining.
• Chen Yang sent Elder Yu and Gao Hui toward Qiulu City ahead of the Gathering of Heroes Banquet.
• Chen Yang taught Liu Zihao the Way of Formations through an illusory world and shared Liu Zihao’s insights.
• Chen Yang realized that secondhand insights could not replace patient study and practice.
• A cultivation insight returned to Chen Yang, and Liang Yi’s soul flame extinguished.

Chen Yang learned that the Eastern Wilderness had turned the tide of the war and forced Tiger Chasing into a disastrous retreat. As Zhao Qi led a battered unit through enemy lines, Tiger Chasing reinforcements arrived just as the survivors faced another blockade.

• Chen Yang sensed that Zhao Qi and Xie Chuan were in grave danger and learned that the Seventh Prince had submitted to the First Prince, allowing the Eastern Wilderness to launch a devastating counterattack.
• Xie Chuan and the remnants of his unit retreated after repeated encirclements, carrying the unconscious Chu Xuan and badly wounded Zhao Qi while mourning Liang Yi, who had sacrificed himself to save Zhao Qi.
• Zhao Qi directed the unit south, then east and north, before turning west to evade the pursuers and reach the retreat route.
• Five Eastern Wilderness cultivators blocked the unit's path west; Xie Chuan engaged their captain while Dai Wei and the remaining female cultivator fought the others.
• Dai Wei wounded one enemy cultivator and held off the others until three figures emerged from the western forest, one of them killing an Eastern Wilderness cultivator with a kick.

Zhao Qi's battered unit reached safety with Han Wang's help, while the withdrawal report revealed the many cultivators who had died in the Eastern Wilderness counterattack. After reading the losses, the Tiger Chasing Emperor ordered the Murong Clan and Tianyang to prepare for a stronger response.

• Han Wang rescued Zhao Qi and the surviving soldiers, then used a pill from Young Master Lingshu to restore Zhao Qi's strength and clear his poisoned meridians.
• Chu Xuan learned that Liang Yi had died and wept silently as the unit continued its retreat.
• Three days later, Zhao Qi's unit reached the Tiger Chasing positions as the only unit from its direction to bring back ordinary soldiers alive.
• Yang Lingshu read the withdrawal report and saw the names of Liang Yi and many other fallen cultivators.
• The Tiger Chasing Emperor refused to send the Imperial Preceptor to the battlefield and ordered the Murong Clan to set out while Tianyang prepared the Dragon Banner.

Tiger Chasing and Eastern Wilderness remained locked in a standoff while the First Prince weighed whether to pursue peace or expand north. As he began preparing peace talks, a Five-Clawed Golden Dragon appeared over the camp, disrupting his plans.

• Tiger Chasing and Eastern Wilderness deployed their Spiritual Connection cultivators across three fronts, where Tao Yuan and an Eastern Wilderness True Person exchanged blows and both sides settled into a tense deadlock.
• The First Prince arrived at the Eastern Wilderness camp with a red-clad female cultivator and the Seventh Prince crawling on a chain, then asked his teacher about the odds of victory.
• The First Prince considered avoiding a costly war with Tiger Chasing and turning north to seize his Third Brother’s territory instead.
• The red-clad female cultivator gouged out the Seventh Prince’s eyes after he privately mocked her relationship with the First Prince, and the First Prince comforted him before preparing to send envoys to negotiate with Tiger Chasing.
• A Five-Clawed Golden Dragon descended from the western sky, and the red-clad female cultivator sealed the First Prince’s senses after he saw its golden imperial radiance.

Tiger Chasing launched a full-scale eastern offensive, forcing the First Prince of Eastern Wilderness to respond while the Tiger Chasing Emperor risked the dynasty’s future on the battle. On the Northern Frontline, Tiger Chasing’s prodigies disrupted Eastern Wilderness’s forces, and a Core Formation Cultivator came under a sudden attack.

• Consort Xi joined the Tiger Chasing Emperor before the army, and their presence strengthened the soldiers’ morale and Martial Qi.
• The red-robed female cultivator dispelled the First Prince’s projection after Tiger Chasing’s True Dragon targeted his Soaring Dragon Aura, leaving the First Prince shaken.
• The First Prince learned that Tiger Chasing had launched a full-scale offensive and ordered more Eastern Wilderness troops to the battlefield.
• The Tiger Chasing Emperor’s gamble put the dynasty’s survival at stake, since victory could restore its fortunes while defeat could lead to its collapse.
• On the Northern Frontline, yellow wind helped Tiger Chasing’s Core Formation Cultivators suppress their opponents, while a Falling Moon concealed a corrosive attack that pierced an Eastern Wilderness cultivator’s protective true essence.