Chapter Summaries

Huo Xuanhao entered the open region, sold talismans at the Yang Family shop, and headed toward the Yang Family’s fief while the old man in his jade pendant investigated the family. Chen Yang detected the probing, sent the King Insect after Huo Xuanhao, and learned that a soul-like presence accompanied him.

• Huo Xuanhao entered the open region, sold his and Luo Miao’s medicinal pills, and visited the Yang Family Talismans shop to sell Wang Gan’s inferior talismans to Xie Chuan.
• The old man in the jade pendant sensed a foreign divine consciousness in Xie Chuan’s sea of consciousness and instructed Huo Xuanhao to investigate the Yang Family branch.
• Chen Yang sensed someone probing Xie Chuan, suspected the Su Family Main Lineage was involved, and sent the King Insect to track travelers leaving the marketplace toward the Yang Family’s home.
• Huo Xuanhao bought spirit materials and spirit treasures, then left the marketplace for the Yang Family’s fief.
• The King Insect followed Huo Xuanhao and detected another aura within him, prompting Chen Yang to suspect an old soul was attached to an object.

Huo Xuanhao visited the Yang Family and discreetly investigated its origins while admiring its preparations for the trade route. The jade-pendant elder detected a hidden aura beneath the family courtyard, suggesting that the Yang Family's secret lay underground.

• Huo Xuanhao traveled through Tiger Chasing's developed western territory and saw the Yang Family's paved roads and busy relay stations.
• Huo Xuanhao reached the Yang Family's residence, where Dai Wei greeted him and led him to meet Yang Lingqing.
• Huo Xuanhao questioned Yang Lingqing about the family's talismans, while the jade-pendant elder suspected she had hidden secrets.
• The Spirit Pearl in Yang Lingqing's sea of consciousness activated and tried to trace the elder, but he severed his Primordial Spirit connection to avoid exposure.
• Huo Xuanhao praised the relay stations and asked whether the courtyard also had underground space, causing Yang Lingqing's smile to briefly stiffen.
• The jade-pendant elder extended his Primordial Spirit beneath the courtyard and discovered a mysterious aura underground.

The old man in the jade pendant seized Huo Xuanhao’s body and infiltrated the Yang Family’s underground cave residence, believing it held the Mingxu Sect’s secret. Yang Lingqing, Yang Yuanhong, and Chen Yang had already noticed him and prepared a trap, which ended as a small figure emerged from the cave.

• The old man in the jade pendant recalled that his sect’s Spirit Preservation Secret Technique was incomplete and believed the Yang Family could reveal the missing secret.
• Huo Xuanhao thanked the old man in the jade pendant, unaware that the old man planned to seize his body.
• The old man in the jade pendant attacked Huo Xuanhao, took over his body, and raised his cultivation to the Twelfth Floor of Qi Gathering.
• The old man in the jade pendant slipped past the Yang Family’s warning formation and found the hidden entrance beneath the central pavilion.
• Chen Yang revealed that he had deliberately used the cave’s mysterious aura to lure the old man into a trap, while Yang Lingqing, Yang Yuanhong, and Chen Yang watched his approach.
• The cave’s stone doors opened, and the old man in the jade pendant was astonished to see a small figure emerge.

Yang Yuanhong and the Yang Family’s spirit insect thwarted Ban Kuizhen’s attempt to escape after his attack failed. Ban Kuizhen was pulled into a mysterious palace beneath a sea of stars, where terrifying figures demanded that he kneel before the Divine Venerables.

• Ban Kuizhen attacked Yang Yuanhong with a fire art, but Yang Yuanhong shattered it with a single punch.
• Ban Kuizhen tried to flee past a Crystal Devouring Spirit Maggot Larva, then abandoned Huo Xuanhao’s body and sent his Primordial Spirit toward the surface.
• A mysterious force seized Ban Kuizhen’s Primordial Spirit and dragged him into a star-filled space beneath a vast white palace.
• Ban Kuizhen climbed the palace steps and entered its hall, where he saw four colossal monstrous shadows surrounding a radiant figure.
• The monstrous shadows called the figures Divine Venerables and demanded that Ban Kuizhen kneel in worship.

Chen Yang used Fu Yin and Wu Hua to frighten Ban Kuizhen’s Primordial Spirit into revealing the Jade Firmament Sect’s role in destroying Elder Yu’s sect and pursuing the Method of Breakthrough and Spirit Preservation. After verifying Ban Kuizhen’s account by extracting his memories, Chen Yang learned how powerful the Central Region’s forces were and resolved to keep advancing despite the challenges ahead.

• Fu Yin and Wu Hua’s presence terrified Ban Kuizhen, who begged Chen Yang to spare his life and confessed that the Jade Firmament Sect had coerced him into confronting the Yang Family.
• Ban Kuizhen revealed that the Su Family had told the Jade Firmament Sect about the Mingxu Sect’s Method of Breakthrough and Spirit Preservation, leading to the sect’s destruction.
• Chen Yang considered binding Ban Kuizhen’s Primordial Spirit to serve as a gate guardian, then extracted and examined all of his memories.
• Chen Yang confirmed Ban Kuizhen had not participated in the Mingxu Sect’s destruction or its aftermath and learned that the Jade Firmament Sect remained a marginal second-rate force in the Central Region.
• Chen Yang learned that the Central Region’s top talents could challenge Spiritual Connection cultivators from the Qi Gathering Realm, and he felt renewed determination to face the road ahead.

Chen Yang punished Ban Kuizhen and returned Huo Xuanhao’s soul to the real world, receiving creation force for answering his prayer. After the crisis ended, Chen Yang turned his attention to the Su Family’s scheme against the Yang Family.

• Chen Yang confirmed Ban Kuizhen’s account, ordered him to retrieve the Jade Firmament Sect’s Method of Breakthrough and Spirit Preservation, and secretly placed divine power in his Primordial Spirit to kill him if he betrayed the Yang Family.
• After Ban Kuizhen’s Primordial Spirit dispersed, Chen Yang found Huo Xuanhao’s fading soul and chose to protect it in response to its prayer.
• Chen Yang returned Huo Xuanhao’s soul to the real world and divided the creation force he received among Fu Yin, Wu Hua, and the infant Blood Sun Venerable God.
• Ban Kuizhen awakened in Huo Xuanhao’s body, but Huo Xuanhao’s returning soul forced him out; Yang Yuanhong took the unconscious Huo Xuanhao back to the family to recover.
• Ban Kuizhen worshipped Chen Yang’s stone body and left for his sect, while Chen Yang resolved to remember the Su Family’s scheme and its valuable jade.

Huo Xuanhao woke after five days in the Yang Family, believing its members had saved him from possession and feeling deeply grateful to them. When he realized he had nowhere he wanted to return to, Yang Lingqing offered him a pill furnace, and Huo Xuanhao chose to stay with the Yang Family as an alchemist.

• Huo Xuanhao woke and learned from Yang Yuanhong that the Yang Family had cared for him while he recovered.
• Wu Tong escorted Huo Xuanhao to Yang Lingqing, where Huo thanked the Patriarch for saving him and shared his past.
• Yang Lingqing comforted Huo Xuanhao, helping him ease his gloom as he recovered in the Yang Family.
• When Huo Xuanhao prepared to leave, he realized he could not return to the Eastern Wilderness and did not want to go back to Befeng City.
• Huo Xuanhao offered his pill-making skills to Yang Lingqing, who gave him a pill furnace she had obtained for him.
• Huo Xuanhao gratefully accepted the furnace and decided to remain with the Yang Family.

Huo Xuanhao settled into the Yang Family and successfully refined his first Spirit Nurturing Pill, giving the family a promising new source of income. Chen Yang learned from Ban Kuizhen’s memories that Central Region geniuses could defeat cultivators across major realms through special physiques and supreme treasures, leaving him to consider how far Yang Yuanhong would measure up.

• Huo Xuanhao committed himself to serving the Yang Family and, with Chen Yang’s unseen help and the family’s support, made rapid progress in pill refinement.
• Two months after joining the Yang Family, Huo Xuanhao refined his first defective Spirit Nurturing Pill, and Yang Lingqing congratulated him.
• Huo Xuanhao thanked the Yang Family for funding his studies, while Yang Lingqing recognized that his pills could eventually provide the new fief with another source of income.
• Chen Yang reviewed Ban Kuizhen’s memories and concluded that Yang Yuanhong would rank only around the middle of the Central Region’s Heavenly Talent Ranking.
• Chen Yang learned that innate special physiques and supreme treasures were essential for Qi Gathering cultivators to challenge Spiritual Connection opponents, and recalled Murong Qiuhan’s use of the Tiger Chasing imperial jade seal to kill a Core Formation Cultivator.

Chen Yang used True Dragon Breath to strengthen Yang Yuanhong and hoped it would help him develop an acquired special physique, believing the boy might be needed to protect Yang Lingrui from the coming conflict between the He and Su Families. After a long peaceful stretch, Su Lixue found Su Lingyun entertaining children at the Su Family compound.

• Chen Yang used his newly gained ability to nurture Yang Yuanhong with True Dragon Breath, hoping to trigger an acquired special physique.
• Chen Yang reflected that the Su Family’s arrival in Chongtian City marked the start of open conflict and that Yang Yuanhong might be the Yang Family’s only chance to help Yang Lingrui escape it.
• Yang Yuanhong’s black flood dragon manifestation absorbed the True Dragon Breath, while a nearby spirit insect also fed on its traces.
• The Yang Families experienced a long period without trouble, though Chen Yang sensed that a storm was approaching.
• Su Lixue searched for Su Lingyun and found him among the mortal children at the Su Family compound, where they eagerly listened to his stories.

Su Lingyun explained to Su Lixue that his care for the children and his love for the Su Family were sincere, then revealed his devotion to her. That night, he sacrificed three children to fish the Su Family’s bloodline treasure from the well, finally obtaining the blood jade.

• Su Lingyun named all thirty-six children and described their families and favorite foods, proving to Su Lixue that he cared for them and had written the letters they received from the mountain.
• Su Lingyun told Su Lixue that the Su Family loved fiercely, mourned its dead, and hated just as deeply, then confessed that she was all he had left to love.
• Su Lingyun brought three children to Jingyun Peak and used them to help fish in the well while he watched the lines.
• As the three children succumbed to crushing pressure one after another, Su Lingyun broke through three fishing rods and finally pulled a piece of blood jade from the well.
• Su Lingyun recognized the blood jade as the Su Family’s bloodline treasure, and Pei Xuejian entered to congratulate him and remove the children’s corpses.

Yang Lingrui received He Shenglai’s request for help as the Twilight Ancient Path prepared to open, setting off a contest between the He and Su Families. After learning that powerful forces across the Northwest would join the expedition, Yang Lingrui left Pine Mountain with Xue Qingluan for Myriad Layer Forest.

• A He Family messenger delivered He Shenglai’s letter to Yang Lingrui, announcing that he had reached Mid Essence Condensation and asking for help at the Twilight Ancient Path.
• Yang Lingrui told the messenger he would depart for Myriad Layer Forest in one month and ordered Xue Qingluan to accompany him.
• Yang Lingrui learned through Yang Yuanliu that the expedition would draw forces from the Dynasty, neighboring Dynasties, and the Eastern Wilderness, including the Tiger Chasing Evil Extermination Division.
• Yang Yuanliu explained that the Twilight Ancient Path was a major ancient land where several prominent True Intent Realm cultivators had gained opportunities.
• After settling affairs at home, Yang Lingrui departed with Xue Qingluan, carrying the Crown Prince Gold Token.

Jade Firmament Sect lost its chance to enter the Heaven Ascending Tower and decided to seek opportunities in the Northwest at the Twilight Ancient Path. Ban Kuizhen emerged after rapidly rebuilding his cultivation, where he met An Sixian and realized the sect’s lavish support likely came with an expectation.

• Jade Firmament Sect’s leaders learned they had lost the contest for entry qualifications to the Heaven Ascending Tower and resolved to send cultivators to the Twilight Ancient Path in the Northwest.
• An Sixian reported that Wind Thunder Temple also planned to travel to the ancient path, easing the elders’ sense of embarrassment about leaving the Central Region.
• Ban Kuizhen emerged from seclusion after restoring the Essence Condensation Realm to Fifth Level Cultivation in less than a year with the sect’s extensive support.
• An Sixian congratulated Ban Kuizhen, who reflected on their shared past and their diverging cultivation fortunes.
• Ban Kuizhen thanked An Sixian formally as Elder An rather than addressing him as Brother An.

An Sixian gave Ban Kuizhen a sect assignment tied to the Twilight Ancient Path in the Northwest, where cultivators sought rare treasures and inheritances. Ban learned he would protect the Jade Firmament Sect’s disciples in the Waning Moon Realm using the sect’s supreme treasure, an opportunity that answered the Venerable God’s task he had been pursuing.

• An Sixian assessed Ban Kuizhen’s restored Core Formation foundation and delivered him a sealed scroll containing the sect’s orders.
• Ban Kuizhen read about the Twilight Ancient Path, its three cultivation realms, and the True Intent Formless Manifestations that could open a path to higher cultivation.
• Ban Kuizhen concluded that the assignment was to protect the Jade Firmament Sect’s prodigy Xu Chen and other disciples in the Waning Moon Realm.
• An Sixian explained that Ban was the only Core Formation cultivator able to wield the sect’s supreme treasure and warned him about three Northwest prodigies.
• Ban Kuizhen realized the treasure was the mind-and-soul-striking stone tablet seized from the Mingxu Sect, and recognized the assignment as an answer to the Venerable God’s task.

Jade Firmament Sect forced Ban Kuizhen to accept a Soul-Hosting Insect before assigning him to guard its supreme treasure, convincing him that the sect had discarded him. He resolved to join Venerable God's side, then discovered the insect had not affected his Primordial Spirit after a full day.

• An Sixian presented Ban Kuizhen with a Soul-Hosting Insect, claiming it was insurance for his mission to the Northwest.
• Ban Kuizhen realized the insect's fusion with his Primordial Spirit could not be reversed and that the sect had marginalized him.
• After An Sixian challenged his loyalty, Ban Kuizhen swallowed and refined the Soul-Hosting Insect, accepting the mission.
• An Sixian told Ban Kuizhen to stabilize his realm and prepare to guard the sect's supreme treasure during the trip to the Yang Family.
• Ban Kuizhen resolved to leave the Jade Firmament Sect and cast his lot with Venerable God's side.
• A day later, Ban Kuizhen noticed that the Soul-Hosting Insect had not changed his Primordial Spirit.

Ban Kuizhen discovered that Chen Yang’s power protected him from the Soul-Hosting Insect, then departed for the Northwest as Xu Chen’s Dao Protector. The Jade Firmament Sect and Wind Thunder Temple set out on separate vessels, while Xu Chen confidently assessed the rivals he expected to meet on the ancient path.

• Ban Kuizhen sensed a mysterious force shielding his Primordial Spirit from the Soul-Hosting Insect and silently vowed to complete his mission for the Venerable God.
• An Sixian and Xu Chen came to collect Ban Kuizhen, and Xu Chen produced a starlit stone stele that the sect assigned to him for the journey.
• Ban Kuizhen boarded the Jade Firmament Sect’s immortal vessel with Xu Chen and a large group of cultivators heading to the Northwest.
• The Jade Firmament Sect’s vessel encountered Wind Thunder Temple’s vessel, and both groups continued toward the Northwest while keeping their distance.
• Xu Chen told his fellow disciples that he had previously beaten Wind Thunder Temple’s Core Formation talent and considered the Northwest’s ranked cultivators inferior to him.

Yang Lingrui and Xue Qingluan toured the He Family’s impressive spiritual plant grounds in Myriad Layer Forest before Yang Lingrui met He Shenglai in a fierce contest. The two found each other’s hiding places and ended the exchange on friendly terms, with He Shenglai praising Yang Lingrui’s strength.

• Ban Kuizhen listened as the Jade Firmament Sect disciples discussed the Ancient Path and privately believed the Yang Family’s hidden talent far surpassed their rivals.
• Yang Lingrui and Xue Qingluan entered Myriad Layer Forest and toured the He Family’s extensive cultivation grounds above and below the water.
• The reception cultivator escorted Xue Qingluan along the lakeshore while Yang Lingrui went alone to He Shenglai’s courtyard.
• He Shenglai’s formations trapped Yang Lingrui, who broke the deadwood cage and erased the courtyard’s hidden defenses.
• He Shenglai struck Yang Lingrui with a spike, but both men revealed their true positions and narrowly countered each other’s attacks.
• He Shenglai praised Yang Lingrui’s abilities, and Yang Lingrui pointed out that He Shenglai had held back methods meant for Su Lingyun.

He Shenglai told Yang Lingrui how the Su and He Families went from allied powers to enemies after their ancestors disagreed over a perilous plan in the Central Region. He revealed that the He ancestors killed a Su genius who was pursuing an Enlightenment Opportunity, leaving the families’ grudge rooted in that choice.

• Yang Lingrui asked He Shenglai why the He Family and Su Family had become enemies.
• He Shenglai explained that the families descended from the same lineage, later formed the Pact of Wood and Stone, and once wielded power together through four True Intent Cultivators.
• He Shenglai said the families moved to the Central Region despite disagreement over whether to leave the Northwest, then discovered a valuable spirit mine and an Enlightenment Opportunity.
• He Shenglai recounted that the Su Family secretly tried to refine the opportunity to raise a third True Intent Cultivator, despite the threat of a stronger major sect.
• He Shenglai said the He Family’s two ancestors killed the Su cultivator seeking Dao enlightenment rather than risk the lives of both families in a battle with no retreat.

He Shenglai recounted the centuries-old feud between the Su and He Families, then explained the Twilight Ancient Path and its supreme opportunity to Yang Lingrui. As Chen Yang prepared for the dangers awaiting Yang Lingrui, an unknown Yang Family trump card was already traveling from the Central Region.

• He Shenglai explained how the He Family ancestors killed a Su Family prodigy to preserve both families, and how the resulting losses and blame turned their alliance into a lasting feud.
• Yang Lingrui concluded that the old dispute was too difficult to judge, while He Shenglai said the coming conflict between him and Su Lingyun would reunite the paths of Wood and Stone regardless of its outcome.
• He Shenglai told Yang Lingrui about the Twilight Ancient Path’s special Dao laws and the True Intent Formless Manifestation sought by Northwest forces.
• Chen Yang’s avatar listened from Yang Lingrui’s sleeve and prepared its reserves to face a powerful creature within the ancient path.
• Chen Yang decided not to bring Yang Yuanhong, and assessed Yang Lingrui’s likely enemies and allies among the factions heading to the ancient path.
• An exceptionally powerful, hidden Yang Family trump card was already on the road from the Central Region.

Yang Lingrui reunited with Yang Lingshu and Yang Yuanliu after they arrived in Chongtian City for the journey to the ancient path. He then met his old friend Zi He, who revealed that his younger sister had been staying in his courtyard in disguise and asked whether Yang Lingrui wanted to see her.

• The He Family's cloud boat reached Chongtian City, where Yang Lingrui reunited with Yang Lingshu and Yang Yuanliu and greeted Archives Director Zou Zhongyi.
• Zou Zhongyi promised to protect Yang Yuanliu during the ancient-path journey and explained that he had secured her a place in the group.
• Yang Lingrui took Yang Lingshu to the imperial capital's Evil Extermination Division to meet Zi He, who welcomed them and joked with Yang Lingrui.
• Zi He brought the brothers to his courtyard, where Yang Lingrui sensed a familiar aura and learned that Zi He's younger sister had been staying there in disguise.

Yang Lingrui visited Li Qingwan and learned that her Soldier Path cultivation had left her enduring a tribulation after executing sixteen thousand prisoners. Although Li Qingwan claimed failure would only force her to start over, Chen Yang saw that her soul was nearly consumed and that failure would destroy her consciousness.

• Zi He led Yang Lingshu away while Yang Lingrui followed Li Qingwan's aura to a courtyard overwhelmed by killing intent.
• Yang Lingrui met Li Qingwan and saw the rust-like scars spreading across her body as she explained that this was a stage of Soldier Path cultivation.
• Li Qingwan told Yang Lingrui that she had spent two years executing sixteen thousand prisoners in the Penal Division and expected to need another year to overcome the tribulation.
• Yang Lingrui encouraged Li Qingwan, while Chen Yang realized her soul was nearly swallowed by the scars and that failure would leave her a mindless walking corpse.