Chapter Summaries

Xue Qingluan obtained a True Intent Formless Manifestation and realized she had to hide it to protect herself and Yang Lingrui from the Tiger Chasing Dynasty. After Yang Lingrui and Xue Qingluan withdrew from the lake’s contest, Ku Yun healed Zhang Jin and Yue Shuwang, restoring their ability to compete.

• Xue Qingluan used the True Intent Formless Manifestation to deduce two secret arts and resisted the urge to refine the treasure immediately.
• Xue Qingluan decided to conceal the treasure, fearing the Murong Clan would turn against the Yang Family if it learned they possessed two such treasures.
• Xue Qingluan continued guarding Yang Lingrui, unaware that his lost-soul state was an illusion created by Chen Yang and that his consciousness had remained clear.
• Chen Yang ordered Ku Yun to heal Zhang Jin and Yue Shuwang by channeling divine power into the lake.
• Zhang Jin took pills to restore his combat strength, while Yue Shuwang recovered from her chest wound as the lake’s healing warmth began to fade.

Yue Shuwang and the other cultivators fought over the True Intent Formless Manifestation while Su Lingyun set a trap involving the shifting Stone Tablet Treasure and Bloodstone fragments. Su Lingyun’s self-destruction incapacitated Xu Chen and Yue Shuwang, but He Shenglai realized the surviving Blood Puppet was still racing toward the treasure.

• Yue Shuwang blasted Zhang Jin into the lake with Moon Waterfall, but a beam from Su Lingyun forced her away from the True Intent Formless Manifestation.
• Su Lingyun drew the cultivators into a battle, then flew toward the treasure as the Stone Tablet Treasure changed owners and reappeared beside Yue Shuwang.
• Su Lingyun activated Bloodstone Devours the Body, wounded Xu Chen and Yue Shuwang, and severed Xu Chen’s right arm.
• He Shenglai warned the others to retreat, but Su Lingyun unleashed Clouds part... blood revealed, incapacitating Xu Chen and Yue Shuwang and injuring the retreating cultivators.
• He Shenglai spotted Su Lingyun’s Blood Puppet rushing toward the True Intent Formless Manifestation and realized the group was too far away to stop it.

Su Lingyun revealed that he had survived by transferring himself into the Blood Puppet and defended his ruthless pursuit of power to He Shenglai. As he approached the True Intent Formless Manifestation, he believed no one could stop him, but he had overlooked someone who could not afford to fail.

• He Shenglai used Clarity Eye Sorcery to spot Blood Jade in the Blood Puppet and realized Su Lingyun had survived by hiding part of himself within it.
• Su Lingyun regrew his upper body from the Blood Puppet and told He Shenglai he would sacrifice anything to restore the Su Family's former glory.
• He Shenglai rejected Su Lingyun's path, and both men understood that their families' centuries-old bond had ended.
• Su Lingyun approached the True Intent Formless Manifestation, convinced that the others were unable to stop him and planning to escape with it.
• Su Lingyun overlooked a person whose obsession with the treasure was greater than his own and who had wagered their remaining lifespan for power.

Zhang Jin forced a breakthrough to Spiritual Connection, triggering a tribulation and preventing Su Lingyun from taking the True Intent Formless Manifestation. Su Lingyun escaped, while He Shenglai gathered the others’ true essence to shelter them beneath a Wood Law Manifestation as the tribulation approached.

• Zhang Jin seized the Blood Puppet and held Su Lingyun back from the True Intent Formless Manifestation despite being gravely wounded.
• Zhang Jin began forcing a breakthrough into Spiritual Connection, drawing a tribulation over the lakeshore and frightening the Tiger Chasing Cultivators away.
• Su Lingyun abandoned the treasure and used the Bloodstone Dao Secret Technique to escape, dissolving the Blood Puppet formed from Su Lixue.
• He Shenglai reunited with Xue Qingluan and Yang Lingrui, who had recovered from his lost-soul state, then asked the others to lend him their true essence.
• He Shenglai used a He Family secret technique to transform into a Wood Law Manifestation that sheltered the group as Qiu Ran, Feng Lan, Xue Qingluan, Shen Yue, and Hong Yao collapsed from exhaustion.
• He Shenglai worried that his Wood Law Manifestation was too small to withstand Zhang Jin’s Spiritual Connection Tribulation.

He Shenglai worried that the group lacked enough of Daozhen's true essence to bring the technique to its peak, and resolved to sacrifice his vital blood and lifespan if needed. He then sensed that Yang Lingrui's contribution remained unexpectedly steady and powerful.

• He Shenglai estimated that they were nearly two hundred strands of Daozhen's true essence short, with only Ling Rui left.
• He Shenglai decided he would offer his vital blood and lifespan if the group still fell short.
• He Shenglai noticed that Yang Lingrui's true essence showed no sign of weakening.
• He Shenglai carefully sensed Yang Lingrui's contribution and was astonished.

Chen Yang secretly helped Zhang Jin survive his Spiritual Connection tribulation, and Zhang Jin was sent from the Waning Moon Realm to the Rising Sun Realm after breaking through. Yue Shuwang then discovered that the Jade Firmament Sect Stone Tablet Treasure had vanished, leaving her exposed to Zhang Jin, who had witnessed her use it to kill Ban Kuizhen and Xu Chen.

• Chen Yang shielded Zhang Jin from most of the tribulation, allowing him to break through into the First Layer of Spiritual Connection despite his unstable cultivation.
• Ban Kuizhen judged Zhang Jin’s new cultivation extremely weak and reflected on the power of the Venerable God’s methods.
• The Dao laws teleported Zhang Jin to the Rising Sun Realm because Spiritual Connection cultivators could not remain in the Waning Moon Realm.
• Yue Shuwang suspected that the He Family had obtained the True Intent Formless Manifestation and initially believed her journey had still been worthwhile because she possessed the Stone Tablet Treasure.
• Yue Shuwang discovered that the Stone Tablet Treasure had disappeared and realized Zhang Jin had seen her use it to kill Ban Kuizhen and Xu Chen.

After surviving the Spiritual Connection Tribulation, He Shenglai protected and restored his unconscious companions, then sealed the True Intent Formless Manifestation inside his sea of consciousness. The group was teleported out of the trial ground, where factions waiting outside the abyss still had no news of who had claimed the Ancient Path Treasure.

• Yue Shuwang lamented losing the Stone Tablet Treasure and failing to obtain the True Intent Formless Manifestation, though she had survived the battle.
• He Shenglai withdrew from his Wood Law Manifestation and confirmed that Yang Lingrui and the others had survived the tribulation without serious injuries.
• He Shenglai fed the group Origin Nurturing Fruits, sharing his family's rare supply to replenish their true essence.
• He Shenglai resisted the urge to refine the True Intent Formless Manifestation and sealed it temporarily within his sea of consciousness.
• As the trial space began to collapse, He Shenglai stored the unconscious Yang Lingrui and the others in a flower bud before being teleported away.
• Outside the Rift Valley Abyss, the waiting factions wondered whether anyone had obtained the Ancient Path Treasure.

The factions waited outside the abyss while Wen Zishu assessed the likely contenders for the supreme treasure. He Shenglai and Yue Shuwang emerged and fled with their allies, while Jade Firmament Sect mistakenly believed they had been eliminated and waited uneasily for its own cultivators.

• Wen Zishu told Murong Qiuhan that Su Lingyun and He Shenglai were the likeliest contenders, with Jade Firmament Sect as a possible disruptor.
• Jade Firmament Sect's stewards confidently judged that Xu Chen, Ban Kuizhen, and Zhang Jin could defeat the other factions and claim the treasure.
• The five-colored radiance rose from the abyss, and He Shenglai emerged carrying a spirit treasure before telling Wen Zishu and the others to flee.
• Yue Shuwang emerged next, and the Lanyue Sect cultivators received her and hurried away.
• The Su Family's leader sensed something through his jade pendant and led his people away, while Jade Firmament Sect wrongly assumed its rivals had been eliminated.
• The radiance vanished without revealing any Jade Firmament Sect cultivators, leaving its members confused and afraid as they continued to wait.

He Shenglai and the others regrouped after the trial, and he reported that Yue Shuwang had obtained the Jade Firmament Sect's Stone Tablet Treasure, Zhang Jin had reached Spiritual Connection, and he himself had claimed the True Intent Formless Manifestation. The group resolved to investigate Su Lingyun and Jingyun Peak for evil arts.

• He Shenglai and the others descended into a hidden valley, where Wen Zishu and Xiao Yize found Yang Lingrui and the others safe inside the spirit treasure flower bud.
• He Shenglai recounted how Yue Shuwang killed the white-haired cultivator and Xu Chen, Su Lingyun killed Su Lixue and fled after Zhang Jin triggered the Spiritual Connection Tribulation, Zhang Jin broke through, and He Shenglai obtained the True Intent Formless Manifestation.
• He Shenglai pledged loyalty to the Dynasty and promised that the He Family would continue its alliance with the Murong Clan.
• Hong Yao and the others reacted with surprise when He Shenglai confirmed that Zhang Jin had reached Spiritual Connection and been sent to the Rising Sun Realm.
• Wen Zishu said he would ask the Immortal Patrol Division to investigate Jingyun Peak, and he told Zi He to notify the Evil Extermination Division about Su Lingyun's use of evil arts.

Chen Yang kept Ban Kuizhen’s spirit in the Shattered Divine Palace with the Blood Sun youngling while the cultivators prepared to leave the Twilight Ancient Path. The path began showing signs of closing, but Chen Yang still could not safely release Ban Kuizhen, leaving him trapped with the terrifying youngling for longer.

• The Murong Clan’s princess offered to support Lord Wen in court as Tiger Chasing prepared to use the Su Family’s weakness to move against Jingyun Peak.
• Chen Yang withdrew his consciousness from Ku Yun’s inner realm and placed Ban Kuizhen’s Primordial Spirit in the Shattered Divine Palace.
• Ban Kuizhen tried to speak with the Blood Sun youngling but panicked at its overwhelming bloody presence.
• Spatial fluctuations appeared in the Twilight Ancient Path, signaling that it would close in about a day and endanger anyone left inside.
• Chen Yang decided to keep Ban Kuizhen hidden until the Tiger Chasing officials were no longer watching, forcing him to remain with the Blood Sun youngling.

After leaving the Ancient Path, Zhang Jin faced questions from the Jade Firmament Sect and other factions about what had happened inside. He revealed that Xu Chen and Ban Kuizhen had died and that he had triggered his Spiritual Connection Tribulation to stop Su Lingyun, leaving everyone stunned.

• Tiger Chasing and the Murong Clan group hid in the canyon until the Ancient Path opened, then left without being found by the allied factions searching for them.
• The Jade Firmament Sect True Persons discovered that Zhang Jin had broken through to the Spiritual Connection Realm and questioned him about the expedition and the True Intent Formless Manifestation.
• Zhang Jin claimed that a Lanyue Sect prodigy had taken the Jade Firmament Sect's Stone Tablet Treasure and killed Ban Kuizhen and Xu Chen with its power.
• Pressed on how he had survived, Zhang Jin admitted that greed kept him from helping Xu Chen and Ban Kuizhen, and that Hong Yao had trapped him with lightning.
• Zhang Jin said Su Lingyun had nearly obtained the True Intent Formless Manifestation, but Zhang had stopped him by triggering his Spiritual Connection Tribulation and trying to perish with everyone.

Zhang Jin reported that Tiger Chasing had obtained the True Intent Formless Manifestation, while the Jade Firmament Sect demanded answers over its losses and stolen treasure. Chang Chengsheng rebuffed the sect’s public challenge, and the Jade Firmament True Persons dropped their complaint about the deaths but insisted their treasure be returned.

• Zhang Jin told the factions that he had survived the Spiritual Connection Tribulation and that a Tiger Chasing cultivator had gained the True Intent Formless Manifestation.
• Jia Huarai and Sikong Shang celebrated Tiger Chasing’s success as other factions congratulated them or worried about the dynasty’s growing power.
• The Jade Firmament Sect confronted the Lanyue Sect, and Chang Chengsheng argued that casualties were an ordinary risk of pursuing treasures.
• The Jade Firmament True Persons backed away from demanding accountability for Xu Chen and Ban Kuizhen’s deaths but insisted that their sect’s stolen treasure be recovered.

Chang Chengsheng decided that the Lanyue Sect would keep the Stone Tablet Treasure and delayed the dispute until the younger cultivators emerged from the ancient path. Meanwhile, the Wind Thunder Temple speculated about its missing prodigy Lin Hui and placed its hopes on Lin Hui and Zheng Qidao surpassing the Jade Firmament Sect.

• The factions' cultivators linked the Jade Firmament Sect's lost Stone Tablet Treasure to the method of preserving spirit seized from the Mingxu Sect decades earlier.
• Chang Chengsheng resolved to keep the treasure, questioned Zhang Jin's account, and proposed waiting until the younger cultivators could testify.
• Zhang Jin insisted his story was true and said the Tiger Chasing and Su Family cultivators could confirm it when they emerged.
• The Wind Thunder Temple cultivators wondered why Lin Hui had not joined the treasure contest and guessed he had found another opportunity in the Waning Moon Realm.
• A Wind Thunder Temple True Person declared that Zheng Qidao could claim the True Intent Formless Manifestation in the Starlight Realm, and the temple's cultivators looked forward to the Jade Firmament Sect's decline.

The factions gathered after leaving the Waning Moon Realm, where He Shenglai revealed he had obtained the True Intent Formless Manifestation and the Su Family accepted its loss. As Chang Chengsheng questioned the Jade Firmament Sect about the missing treasure, a soul search exposed Zhang Jin’s betrayal and Ban Kuizhen’s voluntary sacrifice, leaving An Sixian shaken by his disastrous decisions.

• Jia Huarai reunited with the Tiger Chasing cultivators and learned that He Shenglai had obtained the True Intent Formless Manifestation.
• The Su Family treated Su Lingyun’s injuries, and he accepted that He Shenglai had won the treasure contest while hinting that their conflict would continue.
• Chang Chengsheng questioned Yue Shuwang about the vanished Stone Tablet Treasure and suspected that an outside force had controlled it.
• Chang Chengsheng confronted the Jade Firmament Sect True Person about Zhang Jin’s betrayal and the treasure’s use by a Su Family cultivator.
• The Jade Firmament Sect True Person used the Soul Searching Technique on Zhang Jin, revealing that Zhang Jin had obstructed Xu Chen and Ban Kuizhen had sacrificed himself to save him.
• An Sixian realized Ban Kuizhen’s sacrifice was genuine and that his own plans had led to disastrous losses for the sect.

Jade Firmament Sect confirmed Zhang Jin had concealed the truth about the struggle for its Stone Tablet Treasure and offered Lanyue Sect three medium-sized Spirit Crystal mine veins to get it back. Chang Chengsheng insisted that Lanyue Sect could not return the treasure because it was not in the sect’s hands, leaving the gathered powers stunned and Jia Huarai inclined to believe him.

• A Jade Firmament Sect True Person searched Zhang Jin’s soul and revealed that he had attacked Xu Chen and that the Stone Tablet Treasure had aided Yue Shuwang during the tribulation.
• Jade Firmament Sect demanded the treasure back and offered Lanyue Sect three medium-sized Spirit Crystal mine veins in exchange.
• Chang Chengsheng told the Jade Firmament Sect True Persons that he was unable to return the treasure because Lanyue Sect did not possess it.
• The gathered powers reacted with disbelief, while Jia Huarai judged that Chang Chengsheng had a genuine reason to deny having the treasure.

A Jade Firmament Sect True Person attacked Chang Chengsheng after interpreting his words as a refusal to return the sect’s supreme treasure. Their clash devastated the snowy peaks and endangered nearby cultivators, while Chen Yang watched and recognized that both True Persons controlled two Spiritual Incarnations.

• A Jade Firmament Sect True Person charged at Chang Chengsheng, and Chang summoned the Lanyue Sect’s immortal vessel to protect Yue Shuwang and the others.
• The guardian True Persons of the other top forces evacuated their younger cultivators into immortal vessels as the battle’s shockwaves swept across the mountains.
• Nearby middle- and lower-tier forces suffered destroyed boats and casualties because many lacked vessels or Spiritual Connection cultivators to protect them.
• Chen Yang used divine power to observe the otherwise invisible fight and saw the combatants exchange swift, concealed techniques through their main bodies and two Spiritual Incarnations each.
• Chen Yang concluded that controlling two Spiritual Incarnations gave Chang Chengsheng and the Jade Firmament Sect’s True Person a major advantage over newly advanced True Persons such as Sikong Shang.

Jia Huarai revealed that he had cultivated three Spiritual Incarnations and joined the battle between Chang Chengsheng and the Jade Firmament Sect True Person. Once the Starlight Realm disciples emerged safely, Zheng Qidao learned that he was the only survivor among the three prodigies brought by the Central Region sects.

• As the Starlight Realm disciples neared teleportation, Jia Huarai revealed three Spiritual Incarnations and sent them to separate Chang Chengsheng and the Jade Firmament Sect True Person.
• When the two combatants refused to stop, Jia Huarai and two Wind Thunder Temple True Persons intervened, and the other factions prepared to join them.
• The disciples emerged from the Ancient Path, and the Wind Thunder Temple elders found Zheng Qidao alive and brought him to safety.
• Zheng Qidao apologized for failing to obtain the True Intent Formless Manifestation, but the elders reassured him that his safe return mattered most.
• After sect members explained the deaths of the Central Region prodigies, Zheng Qidao realized he was the only survivor and felt fortunate to have escaped alive.

The Wind Thunder Temple asked the Northwest factions for clues about the death of its prodigy, Lin Hui. Jia Huarai investigated and presented the Mountain River Map as evidence, leaving the two True Persons to see a record of Lin Hui fleeing rather than the full circumstances of his death.

• The Wind Thunder Temple's True Persons asked the Northwest factions whether their disciples knew how Lin Hui had died.
• Hong Yao told Jia Huarai that she had encountered Lin Hui, and Feng Lan showed that the Mountain River Map had recorded Lin Hui escaping.
• Murong Qiuhan admitted to Jia Huarai that Lin Hui had been ground to death by his own supreme treasure, the golden Thunder Hammer.
• After hearing that the Eastern Desolation Dynasty had seen red, purple, and blue lightning, the Wind Thunder Temple's True Persons approached the Tiger Chasing cloud boat.
• Jia Huarai showed the Wind Thunder Temple's True Persons the Mountain River Map, which depicted Lin Hui refining his steward and then fleeing from Yang Lingrui.

The Wind Thunder Temple True Persons used a secret art to learn that Lin Hui had died from his own Thunder Hammer, clearing Tiger Chasing of responsibility. Chang Chengsheng then accused Tiger Chasing and the Su Family of benefiting from a scheme in the Trial Ground, but Jia Huarai threatened him and left, and the Su Family soon departed as well.

• The Wind Thunder Temple True Persons used Lin Hui's essence blood in a lifespan-consuming secret art and saw that his Thunder Hammer had killed him.
• The Wind Thunder Temple True Persons accepted that Lin Hui had likely died while using the Thunder Hammer and released the gathered factions to leave.
• Chang Chengsheng told the Su Family True Person that the Stone Tablet Treasure might have manipulated events in the Trial Ground to create conflict.
• Jia Huarai responded to Chang Chengsheng's accusation with a death threat, then withdrew his aura and returned to Tiger Chasing's immortal vessel.
• The Su Family True Person demanded evidence from Chang Chengsheng and left when he could not provide any.

Jia Huarai explained why Tiger Chasing could not risk killing Chang Chengsheng, while Chen Yang rewarded Xue Qingluan with a True Intent Formless Manifestation for saving her master. When Chen Yang used his Enlightenment Divine Ability on her, he and Xue Qingluan were drawn into a strange lunar landscape.

• Sikong Shang asked Jia Huarai why they had not seized the chance to kill Chang Chengsheng, and Jia Huarai warned that doing so could leave them unable to return alive.
• Jia Huarai ordered Sikong Shang to study at Chengtian Academy after their return, saying his mental strength needed improvement.
• Yang Lingrui and Yang Lingshu told Xue Qingluan that Chen Yang had secretly aided them, and Chen Yang revealed himself as the Immortal Venerable.
• Chen Yang gave Xue Qingluan a True Intent Formless Manifestation as a reward for risking her life to save her master, then had her offer a drop of essence blood.
• Chen Yang activated his Enlightenment Divine Ability, carrying himself and Xue Qingluan into a desolate white landscape where a small jade-white beast leapt into her arms.