Chapter Summaries

After leaving the trial grounds, Sang Ying and her companions avoided choosing between the Yin Mountain Sect and the Moonless Household and hurried back to Moonless City to plan their departure. Wuyue Qing confronted her brother Wuyue Hao for sleeping through the chance to recruit the three cultivators, and Wuyue Hao resolved to invite them himself to avert his father's anger.

• Sang Ying asked Liu Duanyue and Wuyue Qing for time to discuss their demands, then left with her companions without accepting flying Law Artifacts.
• Liu Duanyue and Wuyue Qing resumed arguing after the three cultivators departed, and Liu Duanyue left to investigate them and devise an offer.
• Wuyue Qing returned to the Moonless Household and learned from the steward that Wuyue Hao had ignored her calls from inside his soundproofed courtyard.
• Wuyue Qing broke through Wuyue Hao's array, dragged him from his sleep, and told him that three cultivators had cleared every trial.
• Wuyue Hao learned from the steward that Wuyue Qing was telling the truth and decided to invite the three cultivators himself.

Wuyue Hao’s father blamed him for alienating Sang Ying and her companions, then gave him one last chance to secure their support. As the three planned to leave the Hidden Nether Realm after visiting Pagoda Mountain, a group led by a young man resembling Wuyue Qing approached their table.

• The Moonless Household head berated Wuyue Hao for offending Sang Ying and the others, then warned he would groom Wuyue Hao’s sister as heir if he failed again.
• Wuyue Hao left his father’s room resentful and resolved not to let his sister surpass him.
• At the inn, Sang Ying and her companions heard people discussing their success in the Severed Vitality Mystic Realm and learned through the innkeeper’s discreet treatment that the Yin Mountain Sect was trying to win them over.
• Gu Wangchuan suggested leaving the Hidden Nether Realm after they visited Pagoda Mountain, and Sang Ying agreed as the three planned to leave Moonless City quietly.
• A luxurious-robed young man resembling Wuyue Qing entered the inn with a group and confronted Sang Ying and her companions.

Wuyue Hao visited Sang Ying and her companions to apologize for his subordinates’ behavior and invite them to the Star-Repelling Pavilion, but they rejected him. He left the inn furious and secretly ordered a subordinate to deal with them.

• Wuyue Hao introduced himself as the eldest young master of the Moonless Household and explained the earlier dispute at the inn.
• Gu Wangchuan pointed out that Wuyue Hao should apologize to the shopkeeper, so Wuyue Hao bowed and apologized to him.
• Wuyue Hao invited Sang Ying, Gu Wangchuan, and Jiang Zhuoxue to the Star-Repelling Pavilion, but Sang Ying repeatedly declined on their behalf.
• Wuyue Hao grew angry when Sang Ying refused to give the Moonless Household face and stormed out with his group.
• Wuyue Hao boarded a flying Law Artifact, gave a subordinate a secret order, and declared that Sang Ying and her companions should die.

Sang Ying and her companions faced a night attack by corpse puppets after deciding to join the Yin Mountain Sect. Sang Ying captured the attackers and prepared to take them to the sect, while Jiang Zhuoxue refused the innkeeper’s offer of help.

• Jiang Zhuoxue urged Sang Ying to work with the Yin Mountain Sect rather than risk making enemies on both sides.
• A corpse puppet attacked Sang Ying’s room, but Sang Ying had already escaped and stabbed its controller.
• Gu Wangchuan blasted a corpse puppet out of his room while still asleep.
• Sang Ying gathered Jiang Zhuoxue and Gu Wangchuan and announced that they would go to the Yin Mountain Sect after she dealt with the attackers.
• The innkeeper offered help, but Jiang Zhuoxue refused, and Sang Ying returned carrying six captured attackers.

Sang Ying and her companions defeated a Moonless Household corpse patrol on their way to the Yin Mountain Sect. At the sect, Liu Duanyue awaited them and recalled the grudge that made him wish for the Moonless Household’s downfall.

• Sang Ying, Jiang Zhuoxue, and Gu Wangchuan left the inn with captured Moonless Household cultivators and corpse puppets in tow.
• A hooded corpse controller ordered the group to turn back because Moonless City’s nighttime curfew was in effect, but Sang Ying challenged him.
• Sang Ying destroyed the corpse controller’s powerful corpse puppets and continued toward the Yin Mountain Sect with her companions.
• Sect Master Liu and Liu Duanyue prepared guest quarters for the arriving group after hearing that the Moonless Household had tried to assassinate them.
• Liu Duanyue recalled how the Moonless Household’s second young master had led his sister to her death and hoped the household would finally suffer misfortune.

Sang Ying and her companions reached the Yin Mountain Sect with the assassins they had captured, and Sang Ying arranged to make the Moonless Household's head answer for the attack. Wuyue Hao learned that his men had failed, then faced an authoritative middle-aged man who challenged him.

• Sang Ying and her companions arrived at the Yin Mountain Sect, where Liu Duanyue welcomed them and led them to the guest courtyard.
• Sang Ying handed Liu Duanyue the captured assassins and asked him to help bring them before the Moonless Household's head.
• Jiang Zhuoxue followed Sang Ying to her room while Gu Wangchuan went to sleep, and Sang Ying meditated on her sword technique and approaching Nascent Soul Realm.
• A corpse controller reported to Wuyue Hao that Sang Ying had captured his men and destroyed his Golden Core Realm corpse puppets.
• Wuyue Hao berated the corpse controller and despaired over the consequences of his failed assassination attempt.
• A middle-aged man kicked open Wuyue Hao's door and asked what that made Wuyue Hao if his men were useless trash.

The head of the Moonless Household stripped Wuyue Hao of his authority after learning he had offended Sang Ying, then underestimated her response to the attack. The next day, Sang Ying brought witnesses to the city lord’s manor and demanded a public investigation, forcing the household head to face her.

• The head of the Moonless Household removed Wuyue Hao from household affairs and planned for his younger sister’s child to inherit.
• The head learned that Sang Ying and her companions had gone to the Yin Mountain Sect and ordered a subordinate to be offered as a scapegoat if the sect demanded an explanation.
• Sang Ying arrived at the city lord’s manor with corpse puppets and living guest elders, accusing Moonless City of failing to protect visiting cultivators.
• A collateral-branch disciple reported that Sang Ying had invoked the household head’s reputation and warned that mishandling the case could alienate cultivators from other realms.
• The head ordered the manor gates opened and agreed to meet Sang Ying’s demand for an investigation.

Sang Ying brought the corpse puppets and their controllers to the city lord’s manor and demanded that the acting city lord investigate their attack on her group. She left the Wuyue household head facing public pressure to use soul-searching to verify the controllers’ claims.

• Sang Ying asked that cultivators gathered outside be allowed to witness the hearing, and the manor let a group enter.
• Sang Ying and her companions presented the corpse puppets and controllers as evidence of the attack and demanded compensation for the inn’s damage and losses.
• Sang Ying told the Wuyue household head to investigate the matter publicly and give them a satisfactory answer.
• A corpse controller claimed they attacked Sang Ying because they resented her gains from the Severed Vitality Mystic Realm.
• Sang Ying demanded that the Wuyue household head use his soul-searching Cultivation Method to verify the controller’s statement.

Sang Ying pressed the Wuyue household head to use the Soul Search Technique on the captured corpse controllers, refusing to accept a confession that conveniently blamed the attack on a single man. The confrontation ended with Wuyue realizing Sang Ying wanted compensation from his household, and Sang Ying looked ahead to the coming contest between the two households.

• Sang Ying argued that the corpse controllers had intended to kill her and her companions, and urged the acting city lord to search their souls.
• The Wuyue household head reluctantly agreed, but an unfamiliar middle-aged cultivator rushed in, confessed to ordering the attack, and tried to kill himself.
• Sang Ying stopped the man and insisted the acting city lord search the captured corpse controllers despite their confession and the crowd's growing criticism.
• Sang Ying challenged Wuyue to honor his promise to handle the matter impartially, and he realized she was seeking compensation from the Wuyue Household.
• Sang Ying reflected that compensation after the attack became public would be more than hush money and anticipated the contest between the two households.

After the Moonless Household’s failed attempt to cover up the assassination plot, its head punished his eldest son and brought Wuyue Qing into clan affairs, assigning her to oversee the contests against the Yin Mountain Sect. As the three contests approached, Sang Ying and her companions focused on the contest of fortuitous opportunity, and Sang Ying proposed that she and Jiang Zhuoxue enter it together.

• Sang Ying left the city lord’s manor with compensation after the Moonless Household’s head abandoned the soul search, and news of the eldest young master’s assassination plot spread through Moonless City.
• The head of the Moonless Household sent his eldest son to the clan’s forbidden grounds, then allowed Wuyue Qing to take part in household affairs and oversee the upcoming contests.
• Wuyue Qing and Liu Duanyue exchanged barbs after both sides’ participant lists revealed they had recruited cultivators from another world.
• Sang Ying, Gu Wangchuan, and Jiang Zhuoxue discussed the contests and settled on the contest of fortuitous opportunity because their cultivation or injuries ruled them out of the contest of strength.
• Sang Ying suggested that she and Jiang Zhuoxue take part together in the secret-realm treasure contest.

Sang Ying and her companions joined the Yin Mountain Sect’s competition against the Moonless Household, hoping to help the sect take control of Moonless City. At the arena, Wuyue Qing unveiled a coordinated team of five cultivators from another small world and challenged Liu Duanyue to accept their match.

• Gu Wangchuan offered Sang Ying and her companions’ help to the Yin Mountain Sect, and the sect’s master and his son eagerly accepted.
• Liu Duanyue reminded Sang Ying and her companions that each person could enter only one event and that the Moonless Household had invited a Nascent Soul Realm Rogue Cultivator.
• Sang Ying noticed the arena’s elaborate formations, then spotted Wuyue Qing and the male cultivator who had previously clashed with Gu Wangchuan.
• The Moonless Household head and Sect Master Liu traded barbed remarks from the stands while Wuyue Qing and Liu Duanyue prepared to begin the competition.
• Wuyue Qing brought five coordinated cultivators from another small world onto the arena and challenged Liu Duanyue to accept their match.

The Moonless Household changed the competition rules by sending five cultivators onto the arena, and Sect Master Liu forced it to allow contestants to compete in multiple matches. Sang Ying and Gu Wangchuan prepared to challenge the five, but the Yin Mountain Sect’s first disciples were quickly defeated.

• The Moonless Household head put five cultivators onstage without consulting Sect Master Liu, who objected to the rule change.
• Sect Master Liu demanded that each person be allowed to compete in more than one match, and the Moonless Household head eventually agreed.
• Gu Wangchuan volunteered to fight, but Liu Duanyue warned him against facing all five alone.
• Sang Ying agreed to join Gu Wangchuan and proposed waiting to see what the five could do before choosing their opponents.
• The Yin Mountain Sect’s first five disciples and their corpse puppets faced the five cultivators, who formed an array and knocked them unconscious.

Sang Ying explained how the Moonless Household’s five-person formation worked and proposed ways for the Yin Mountain Sect to counter it. After the opponents challenged the cultivators who had passed the Severed Vitality Mystic Realm trial, Gu Wangchuan was eager to accept.

• The Moonless Household’s team mocked the Yin Mountain Sect and defeated more of its groups, while Liu Duanyue warned Sang Ying not to compete.
• Sang Ying asked Liu Duanyue to find three teammates because Jiang Zhuoxue would not participate, and Liu chose strong cultivators for her group.
• Sang Ying explained that the five opponents linked their spiritual power through a formation and used lightning spirit orbs to defeat their challengers.
• Sang Ying said she could use her Ice Spirit Root to block the formation’s lightning Spiritual Qi, restoring the Yin Mountain Sect’s confidence.
• The Moonless Household’s leader challenged the three cultivators who had passed the Severed Vitality Mystic Realm trial, and Gu Wangchuan wanted to face them.

The five cultivators from the Black Tortoise Realm insulted the Hidden Nether Realm and challenged Sang Ying’s group, angering the spectators and Moonless City’s leaders. After the five activated their formation before the signal, the referee let Sang Ying and her companions attack too, and the fight ended behind spreading white mist.

• The five Black Tortoise Realm cultivators mocked Sang Ying and the Severed Vitality Mystic Realm, angering Liu Duanyue, Sect Master Liu, and the Moonless City crowd.
• Liu Duanyue accepted the challenge on behalf of the Yin Mountain Sect and sent Sang Ying and her companions to face the five.
• Sang Ying traded taunts with the five, while Gu Wangchuan and the other Yin Mountain Sect disciples laughed at them.
• The five activated their formation before the gong, ignoring the referee’s orders to stop.
• The referee authorized Sang Ying’s group to attack, and light covered the arena as the two sides fought.
• Screams sounded from within the light before it vanished and spreading white mist concealed the arena.

Sang Ying and her Yin Mountain Sect companions defeated the Moonless Household’s challengers in the first match, overcoming a coordinated formation and then winning the remaining bouts through teamwork. The rival leaders prepared their disciples for the next two matches, with Wuyue Qing watching Sang Ying intently.

• Sang Ying froze the arena and turned the five Moonless Household outsiders’ lightning formation against them, leaving them unconscious and charred.
• The referee declared Sang Ying’s group the winners of the first match, and her companions celebrated their escape from the formation.
• Sang Ying and the three Yin Mountain Sect disciples won later bouts as the Moonless Household’s unfamiliar fighters struggled to coordinate and sometimes defeated their own teammates.
• The Moonless Household’s final group attacked Sang Ying as her ice melted, but she held them off with her sword and helped secure a crushing victory.
• Sect Master Liu and the Moonless Household head traded taunts, then each ordered their side to defeat the other in the next two matches; Wuyue Qing looked back at Sang Ying with an unusual expression.

After the Yin Mountain Sect won the first match, Wuyue Qing ordered three of its participants confined, but Gao Heng was found dead and the Moonless Household accused Sang Ying and her companions of murder. The Moonless Household’s men tried to arrest them at the Yin Mountain Sect guest courtyard, where Liu Duanyue and the disciples blocked their way.

• The Yin Mountain Sect disciples celebrated Sang Ying’s victory and hoped to reclaim Moonless City in the remaining matches.
• Wuyue Qing feared her household would lose control of the city and secretly ordered three Yin Mountain Sect participants confined before the second match.
• Sang Ying and her companions learned that Gao Heng had died, and Sang Ying questioned the timing of his death before Liu Duanyue agreed the circumstances seemed suspicious.
• The Moonless Household’s men forced their way to the guest courtyard and accused Sang Ying and two others of murdering Gao Heng.
• Liu Duanyue and the Yin Mountain Sect disciples blocked the courtyard, while the Moonless Household’s leader demanded that the three go with them for questioning.

The Moonless Household accused Sang Ying, Gu Wangchuan, and Jiang Zhuoxue of involvement in Gao Heng’s death and tried to remove them from the second contest. Sang Ying agreed to go to the city lord’s residence after secretly advising Liu Duanyue, while Gu Wangchuan hinted that their own plan was proceeding smoothly.

• Gu Wangchuan denied that he and his companions had anything to do with Gao Heng’s death and challenged the Moonless Household’s accusations.
• Jiang Zhuoxue offered to deal with the Moonless Household, but Sang Ying refused to risk exposing him or bringing trouble to the Yin Mountain Sect.
• Sang Ying agreed to accompany Wuyue Wensheng’s group, then asked to speak privately with Liu Duanyue before leaving.
• Sang Ying advised Liu Duanyue to persevere through the fifth stage, and he promised that the Yin Mountain Sect would win the contest.
• Sang Ying, Gu Wangchuan, and Jiang Zhuoxue boarded the flying Law Artifact for two days of confinement, while Gu Wangchuan winked at Liu Duanyue.

Sang Ying and her companions were taken to the city lord’s manor and held inside a courtyard surrounded by trapping formations, while Wuyue Qing prepared to exploit what Wuyue Wensheng had learned about the Yin Mountain Sect’s trial strategy. The chapter ended with Liu Duanyue reassuring Sect Master Liu that the Yin Mountain Sect would still win the second match.

• Wuyue Wensheng brought Sang Ying, Jiang Zhuoxue, and “Gu Wangchuan” to a trapped rear courtyard and told them the city lord was too busy to meet them.
• Sang Ying and her companions acted dissatisfied but accepted the courtyard’s hospitality, while Wuyue Wensheng left to report to Wuyue Qing.
• Wuyue Wensheng told Wuyue Qing what he had overheard about the Yin Mountain Sect’s disciples, and she ordered him to keep Sang Ying and the others confined until the second match ended.
• Sect Master Liu angrily scolded Liu Duanyue for allowing the Moonless Household to take Sang Ying and her companions away.
• Liu Duanyue whispered a reassurance to Sect Master Liu, who became hopeful that the Yin Mountain Sect would win the second match.

Sang Ying and her companions used Wuyue Wensheng’s promise to make requests to present him with an enormous list of rare cultivation supplies. Outside the Severed Vitality Mystic Realm, Wuyue Qing prepared to crush the Yin Mountain Sect in the second match, while the detained companions remained unable to participate.

• "Gu Wangchuan" berated Wuyue Wensheng for keeping them confined, and Sang Ying asked when they could leave and whether they could meet the Yin Mountain Sect’s young sect master.
• Wuyue Wensheng said they would remain guests until the investigation ended and explained that the young sect master was leading disciples into the Severed Vitality Minor Secret Realm.
• Sang Ying asked to make requests, and "Gu Wangchuan" unfurled a huge scroll listing numerous rare items for Wuyue Wensheng to procure.
• Wuyue Wensheng struggled to accept the costly list and contacted Wuyue Qing for instructions.
• At the Severed Vitality Mystic Realm, Liu Duanyue’s disciples confronted Wuyue Qing over the detained guest elders, and Wuyue Qing ordered her people to defeat the Yin Mountain Sect decisively.

Wuyue Qing rushed the second contest, confident that the Moonless Household would win after learning Sang Ying’s techniques, while Sang Ying’s group secretly carried out their own plan. As the contest ended, Liu Duanyue declared that the Yin Mountain Sect had won, and nine bell tolls announced that every stage had been cleared.

• Wuyue Qing urged Liu Duanyue to begin the contest, and Liu sent the Yin Mountain Sect’s ten cultivators into the trial grounds.
• Liu Duanyue reminded his last contestant to use what Sang Ying had taught him, while Wuyue Qing believed the Moonless Household was certain to win.
• Wuyue Qing agreed to Sang Ying’s group’s demands, but Wuyue Wensheng selected only a few of the requested costly supplies to prepare.
• Sang Ying praised “Gu Wangchuan” for his performance and reassured him that their plan had no flaws.
• A Moonless Household cultivator emerged claiming to have passed the sixth stage, but Liu Duanyue calmly declared the Yin Mountain Sect the winner.
• Before the Yin Mountain Sect’s final contestant emerged, nine bell tolls announced that all the stages had been cleared.