Xie Yan/Plot

Introduction
Like every isekai protagonist, Xie Yan is killed in a truck accident and sent to another world. He learns that his namesake over there was being used as a sex slave by Qin Xinci to fuel her cultivation, and was nearly dead as a result. After merging with his namesake and inheriting his memories, Xie Yan discovers a system which enables him to cultivate and master techniques efficiently. Trapped in the Mo Qing Sect, Xie Yan uses his wits to harvest origin points from the disciples around him and enters the 1st layer of the Acquired Realm.

He eventually enters the forbidden ancestral shrine of the Mo Qing Sect and discovers the statue of Yu Xiuluo, which is actually a system fragment that unlocks his ability to travel to other worlds. After completing his quest to Yun Shan and obtaining the Finger Of Nirvana technique, Xie Yan returns to the main world where he is about to be executed by the matriarch Yu Hongyan for trespassing the ancestral shrine. Xie Yan uses the Finger Of Nirvana to diagnose the secret injuries of Yu Hongyan and offers to treat them in exchange for sparing his life. The matriarch protects Xie Yan and deceives everyone by claiming she castrated him as punishment. Xie Yan begins a new life as the personal servant of the matriarch.

Blissful Temple Conspiracy
After successfully escaping Qin Xinci's clutches, Xie Yan spends his days healing the matriarch Yu Hongyan and writing porn about Qin Xinci to harvest origin points. He is rewarded with the Heavenly Guard technique from Yu Hongyan. One day, to exact revenge on the disciples who used to bully him, Xie Yan goads Qin Xinci into thrashing them all. He uses her to distract Ye Gucun while he breaks into his residence. There, Xie Yan discovers a letter mentioning Great Elder Wu Lingxian's ploy to overthrow the matriarch. Xie Yan doesn't steal anything and warns Yu Hongyan of the ploy.

A few days later, in an attempt to humiliate Yu Hongyan, Wu Lingxian proposes a match between Xie Yan and her disciple Shi Yan'er. Xie Yan accepts the challenge, and he secretly masters the Heavenly Guard. He also advances from 1st layer to the 3rd layer of the Acquired Realm. The next day, he performs the Heavenly Guard technique, astounding onlookers. Shi Yan'er is unable to break his defence and Xie Yan is declared victor, leaving Wu Lingxian fuming.

As a reward, Yu Hongyan permits him to pick any one skill from the Sutra Hall. On the way to the Sutra Hall, Xie Yan transmigrates to the world of Qian Ming and successfully completes his mission, having acquired the National Soul title, which doubles the power and reduces the cost of usage of his defensive skills by 90%. After returning, Xie Yan selects the Finger of Flowery Swords, an Innate Realm martial art created by the former patriarch of the Mo Qing Sect, Wen Tingyun. Later, Yu Hongyan advises Xie Yan to practice the martial art at the Yi Qing establishment in the city of Jiangling, where the 3rd Elder, Yu Xuanji resides. During his month long stay, Xie Yan uses his knowledge of various fine arts to drastically improve Yu Xuanji's business, earning her favour and winning the hearts of her disciples. After reaching the introductory level of the Finger Of Flowery Swords, Xie Yan departs from Jiangling and upgrades the martial art in seclusion. This also raises his cultivation level to the 6th layer of the Acquired Realm.

A few days later, Xie Yan is assailed by three Xueyi Lou assassins but he defeats them. He captures their leader Wind No. 12 and learns of the rival Blissful Temple's order to assassinate him and one of the elders of the Mo Qing Sect. He then learns the Ultimate Demonic Bliss Technique from the assassin, but kills him after realising his treachery. Out of options, Xie Yan travels to the world of Qun Xiong, where he completely masters the Ultimate Demonic Bliss Technique, mitigating its danger, as well as transforms the Heavenly Guard into the superior Divine Impact Of Zen.

Upon his return, Xie Yan confronts the Xueyi Lou squad and quickly brings them under his control by demonstrating superior proficiency in the Ultimate Demonic Bliss Technique. The assassin commander, Heaven No.3, informs Xie Yan about the contract to kill the 4th Elder Wei Rudao. Xie Yan permits the Xueyi Lou to execute the contract, on the condition that they retreat once he arrives to save Wei Rudao. The operation proceeds according to the plan, but he is surprised when his system doesn't detect emotions from Wei Rudao.

Xie Yan and Wei Rudao return to the Mo Qing Sect and report the incident to Yu Hongyan. Wei Rudao suspects the Great Elder Wu Lingxian to be the culprit because only she and Yu Hongyan knew about Wei Rudao's secluded location. Xie Yan suggests the use of plausible evidence to incriminate Wu Lingxian and use that excuse to quell the unrest in the sect.

On the matriarch's orders, Xie Yan and Qin Xinci travel to the hidden Xueyi Lou base in the nearby town of Cilin. Qin Xinci hires the Xueyi Lou to deter the Blissful Temple from exploiting the unrest of the Mo Qing Sect, until the conclusion of the general meeting. Few days later, Xie Yan attempts to elicit emotions from Wei Rudao by falsely confessing his love for her, but curiously doesn't detect emotions from her.

The following day, Wei Rudao captures Bai Yuyan, a disciple of the Blissful Temple and presents her before Yu Hongyan, Xie Yan, and Qin Xinci. Bai Yuyan resists interrogation, but Xie Yan threatens to disfigure her unless she confesses. Bai Yuyan yields and confirms the suspicion against Wu Lingxian. She states that the Great Elder had wanted to create strife to eliminate the matriarch and usurp her position. Afterwards, Xie Yan is suspicious of Bai Yuyan's lack of emotion. He discusses the matter with Qin Xinci who explains that Bai Yuyan was practising the Daoist Art Of Mara, a signature technique of the Blissful Temple. Xie Yan suddenly realises the true culprit behind the conspiracy.

On the day of the sect meeting, Wei Rudao presents the matter and accuses Wu Lingxian of treason. Wei Rudao kills Bai Yuyan, which incites the matriarch and the four elders to fight among themselves. The leader of the Blissful Temple, Dang Hongchen, and her subordinates invade the Mo Qing Sect to kill its weakened elders. Wei Rudao is revealed to be the traitor, who hired the Xueyi Lou to assault her, so as to instigate mistrust between elders and the matriarch. With some help from Xie Yan, the elders of the Mo Qing Sect quickly replenish their power. Yu Hongyan chases down Dang Hongchen while the other elders use their own energy to reactivate the Great Sect Formation and trap their enemies. Yu Xuanji reveals that the infighting was actually Xie Yan's ruse to expose Wei Rudao and decisively defeat the Blissful Temple. The night before, he had alerted the elders about Wei Rudao and had conspired with them.

Meanwhile, Xie Yan is assaulted by Ye Gucun, who is also a traitor, but defeats him with Qin Xinci's help. Elsewhere, Yu Hongyan kills all the Blissful Temple elders while Dang Hongchen commits suicide. Xie Yan watches Yu Hongyan reluctantly kill Wei Rudao and the battle ends with the victory of the Mo Qing Sect.

City Of Qufeng
As a reward for unveiling the ploy of the Blissful Temple and playing a crucial role in its defeat, Xie Yan is appointed the master of the branch in Qufeng by the matriarch. Xie Yan travels to the city, along with Ji Changwu and Shi Yan'er as his new subordinates.

There, Xie Yan is introduced to the four local businessmen and he quickly realises that they cannot be trusted. The banquet is interrupted with the arrival of Ji Yuntao and Xie Daoyun, two members of the Five Beauties and Four Princes. Ji Yuntao warns them of the fugitive Yan Jie and uses him as an example to disparage the demonic sects. The Branch Master politely expresses his opinion that Yan Jie has to be apprehended.

Later, Xie Yan and Ji Changwu witness Ji Yuntao and Xie Daoyun defeat Yan Jie. Xie Yan suspects Ji Yuntao's goal to usurp the Mo Qing Sect cold iron mines and concludes that he is powerless to stop either him or Xie Daoyun. He orders Ji Changwu to observe their movements while he personally transmigrates to the world of Tong Ling, where he obtains the Enhanced Spirit Nurturing Technique. Xie Yan successfully completes his mission and returns to the main world, achieving 9th layer of the Acquired Realm and obtaining Cyany as his guardian spirit. To mitigate the danger of the Finger Of Nirvana (which he found diminishes his lifespan with each use), Xie Yan orders Cyany to steal Xie Daoyun's jade pendant. Though, ultimately, her touching the pendant was suffice to enable the modification of the Finger Of Nirvana, which allowed for the expenditure of origin points instead of lifespan.

Few days later, Xie Yan is invited to a banquet hosted by the local businessmen, who attempt to blackmail him into yielding the cold iron mining shares, or else face bankruptcy. Infuriated, the Branch Master unleashes his Finger Of Flowery Swords to intimidate the businessmen and emphatically tells them to leave. That same night, the businessmen intercept Xie Yan's warning message and detonate the Mo Qing Sect mines without leaving any evidence. In retaliation, Xie Yan dispatches Cyany, who destroys the mines of the businessmen in the same manner.

To fulfil the mining tax set by the imperial court, Xie Yan journeys to the Great River Alliance in Xishan, only to discover that Ji Yuntao had sent a junior disciple of his sect to secure a deal a few hours ahead of him. Nevertheless, he heals the leader of the Alliance, Zhen Zhen'er, and she agrees to sell him the necessary ore as well. Upon Xie Yan's return to Qufeng, Ji Changwu proposes a raid on the local businessmen's ore shipment, to which the Branch Master assents. However, Ji Changwu discovers that it was a bait and that the four businessmen have already plundered the Mo Qing Sect's shipment.

Two days later, during the Jiangnan meeting, Xie Yan uses Cyany's techniques to fill the Jiangnan meeting members with apprehension. It is revealed that Xie Yan had anticipated the local businessmen's attempt to steal his ore, so he had a second shipment prepared. Also, the first shipment turns out to be filled with counterfeit ore, which causes the businessmen to be arrested for fraud. Although Xie Yan successfully thwarts Ji Yuntao's plan, the Imperial Inspector Cao Tianhou recommends that the mines of the Qufeng businessmen be handed to Ji Yuntao and Xie Daoyun. Xie Yan disagrees with the decision, and Cao Tianhou sanctions a duel between him and Ji Yuntao, after the vote is split.

The two opponents fight and, since neither side can prevail over the other, Xie Yan decides to fight a battle of attrition against Ji Yuntao. Realising Xie Yan's intent, Ji Yuntao concedes the duel, acknowledging the Branch Master's abilities. He tells Xie Yan that he will not pursue the matter anymore and decides to depart Jiangnan.

Suddenly, Xie Daoyun transitions to the Innate Realm. Xie Yan fears that Xie Daoyun might oppose him, but she assures that she will not cause trouble. To everyone's surprise, Qin Xinci arrives at the venue, revealing herself to have achieved the Innate Realm one month prior. She challenges Xie Daoyun to a fight, to which the latter declines and leaves with Ji Yuntao. Afterwards, the Mo Qing Sect members sail to Qufeng. Qin Xinci tells Xie Yan that the matriarch had known everything happening in Qufeng, but did not interfere because she was confident in Xie Yan's acumen. Nevertheless, Qin Xinci was sent to Qufeng to assist Xie Yan. Xie Yan is silently dismayed that despite his struggles, Qin Xinci is still stronger than him.

Few days later, Xie Yan learns that he has been recognised as the Magical Dignified Prince by the Qunying Pavilion of the Han Empire. He forcibly recruits the four local businessmen into the Mo Qing Sect and feeds them with (fake) poison pills to prevent insubordination, unifying the entire city of Qufeng under the control of the Mo Qing Sect. The following day, Xie Yan suddenly departs Qufeng, dumping his paperwork on Qin Xinci to prevent her from capturing him. He returns to the Mo Qing Sect to obtain new martial techniques from Yu Hongyan.

Liu Qingmei
After returning to the sect, Xie Yan receives the Startling Rainbow Escape from Yu Hongyan. He requests for more techniques but the matriarch firmly refuses, stating that she will permit him new techniques only after he enters the Innate Realm and masters the Finger Of Flowery Swords. That night, Cyany foolishly infiltrates the Sutra Pavilion to steal more techniques and is caught by the Inheritance Elder, who admonishes Xie Yan. Curious about Cyany, the elder gives her the Wordless Scripture, a mysterious technique that only ghosts can read. Xie Yan and Cyany are unable to decipher it and store it.

A few days later, Yu Hongyan insists Xie Yan to attend an emergency meeting among the sect elders. Xie Yan is surprised that Bai Suyuan, the interim High Priestess of the Blissful Temple has arrived at the Mo Qing Sect. Bai Suyuan explains the situation at the Blissful Temple and the return of Dang Hongchen's old rival, Liu Qingmei. Liu Qingmei had secured an alliance with Ge Yi of the Xin Mo Sect and was seeking vengeance from the Mo Qing Sect. Given the weakened state of the Blissful Temple, Bai Suyuan had disagreed with Liu Qingmei. The High Priestess offers an alliance to the elders in exchange for assassinating Liu Qingmei.

Xie Yan implicitly prompts Yu Hongyan to use a method on Bai Suyuan to prevent insubordination. On Bai Suyuan's request, Yu Hongyan orders Xie Yan to accompany the High Priestess to the Blissful Temple to act as a liaison. On the way, Bai Suyuan warns Xie Yan of Ge Yi's son, Ge Huaiyu, the Thousand-Faced Prince, a master of disguise who is presently assisting Liu Qingmei. Unknown to Bai Suyuan and Xie Yan, some assassins from the Xueyi Lou copy the password they had agreed on.

In the following days, Xie Yan masters the Startling Rainbow Escape while residing in the Datong city inn. Meanwhile, Liu Qingmei is made aware of Bai Suyuan's plot to assassinate her and decides to trap the latter in her own plan. Bai Suyuan was relying on the Xueyi Lou commander Heaven No.5, unaware that the latter was already bribed by Ge Huaiyu and had exposed all her plans to him and Liu Qingmei.

Liu Qingmei permits Ge Huaiyu to capture Xie Yan. That night, the Xueyi Lou assassins approach Xie Yan, using the password he and Bai Suyuan had agreed on, and lure him to the Xueyi Lou base in Datong where Ge Huaiyu has laid an ambush for him. There, Xie Yan learns that Bai Suyuan's plan has been compromised. Much to the shock of Heaven No.5, Xie Yan effortlessly suppresses the advancing Xueyi Lou assassins using the Ultimate Demonic Bliss Technique. Just then, Heaven No.3 arrives at the base to confront Heaven No.5. and properly introduces his colleague to Xie Yan.

Xie Yan explores the Xueyi Lou base when he detects the disguised Ge Huaiyu and attacks him. Unable to defeat Xie Yan, Ge Huaiyu flees fifteen miles into the forest using the Blood Ray Escape. Just when he is about to recuperate, Ge Huaiyu is startled when Xie Yan corners him. Desperate, the Thousand-Faced Prince restores his energy and fights Xie Yan, but he is no match for the Magical Dignified Prince. Critically wounded, Ge Huaiyu flees yet again, but is fatally stabbed by Xie Yan. Xie Yan immediately regrets his action because he really wanted to possess Ge Huaiyu's Mantra Of Formlessness. Dismayed, he examines Ge Huaiyu's corpse and discovers only a few masks and two notebooks detailing the art of disguise and some notable identities, along with their background information. Xie Yan decides to impersonate Ge Huaiyu and cremates the corpse. He lies to Heaven No.3 and Heaven No.5 that Ge Huaiyu has escaped. Xie Yan is interested to learn that Heaven No.5 was originally from the Xin Mo Sect and gathers every detail about Ge Huaiyu from him.

The following day, Xie Yan disguises himself as Ge Huaiyu and appears before Heaven No.5, who is unable to see through the disguise. Pleased with the outcome, Xie Yan proceeds to infiltrate the Blissful Temple, to secretly assist Bai Suyuan. There, Xie Yan (in the guise of Ge Huaiyu) meets Liu Qingmei and claims that he murdered Xie Yan after robbing his identity and martial arts. Perturbed by Liu Qingmei's sexual advances, he excuses himself and flees to Ge Huaiyu's residence in the Blissful Temple. Although content that he can successfully deceive Liu Qingmei, Xie Yan concludes that his best option is to journey to another world. He then travels to the world of Zhan Shen where he obtains the Eight Difficulties Demonic Technique. Xie Yan successfully fulfils his mission and returns to the main world.

After returning, Xie Yan is shocked that he is unable to improve either the Finger Of Flowery Swords or the Eight Difficulties Demonic Technique beyond Level 4. He realises that he cannot rely on the system to enter the Innate Realm, but he has no idea how to do it himself. Liu Qingmei approaches Xie Yan, but he uses the "Despised By Gods And Demons Alike" curse to repel her sexual advances. Later, Liu Qingmei reveals to Xie Yan (still believing him to be Ge Huaiyu) that she used to date Xu Min, but broke up with him and began to date Ge Huaiyu's father, Ge Yi. Lately, Xu Min and Ge Yi are vying for the position of the patriarch of the Xin Mo Sect and Liu Qingmei fears that Ge Yi may learn of her past romance with Xu Min. Few hours later, Ge Yi arrives at the outskirts of the Blissful Temple. The next day, Xie Yan is annoyed upon learning of Ge Yi's sudden arrival, because now, he must swiftly adjust his plans. Nevertheless, Xie Yan maintains his facade and deceives Ge Yi. Ge Yi falls for the ruse and begins to suspect Liu Qingmei- unaware that his son, the real Ge Huaiyu is dead.

That evening, Xie Yan re-examines the situation and decides to use Ge Yi in place of the Mo Qing Sect to assassinate Liu Qingmei. A few days later, at the Datong auction house, Xie Yan shows Ge Yi the love letter Xu Min wrote to Liu Qingmei and instigates him against her. That night, Xie Yan lures Liu Qingmei into the woods and accuses her of cheating on Ge Yi with Xu Min. He threatens to expose the matter and uses the "Despised By Gods And Demons Alike" to goad Liu Qingmei into assaulting him. Ge Yi furiously confronts Liu Qingmei and fights her. Liu Qingmei attempts to explain, only to be viciously wounded by Heaven No.3 and Heaven No.5. Liu Qingmei detonates her body and attempts to escape in her weakened spirit form, but Xie Yan lures her with the "Despised By Gods And Demons Alike" and kills her with the Finger Of Flowery Swords.

In the aftermath, Xie Yan speaks with Ge Yi and is initially thrilled at the prospect of learning the martial arts of the Xin Mo Sect, but gradually changes his mind after learning that practicing the Mantra Of Formlessness can actually hinder him from ascending the Innate Realm. Ge Yi suggests the Demonic Wisdom Cleansing for Ge Huaiyu to ascend the Innate Realm, but he must sacrifice the Mantra Of Formlessness and other martial arts, except the Mantra Of The Inner Demons Of The Six Desires (which Xie Yan is unaware of). Xie Yan decides against accepting the proposal, fearing that this could prove fatal for him. He vehemently declines Ge Yi's proposal, stating that he will enter the Innate Realm by his own merit and Ge Yi agrees with the decision, permitting him to travel the world for two years. At dawn, Xie Yan leaves the Blissful Temple after informing Bai Suyuan of Liu Qingmei's death and Ge Yi's departure. He returns to the Mo Qing Sect to seek Yu Hongyan's guidance once again.

Innate Realm and Xie Daoyun
At the Mo Qing Sect, Xie Yan reports his success to Yu Hongyan, who is all too pleased with him. He requests the matriarch for instructions to enter the Innate Realm. Yu Hongyan explains that different cultivation techniques impose unique conditions to enter the Innate Realm. She advises Xie Yan to seek the Inheritance Elder and find the corresponding conditions for the Finger Of Flowery Swords, written by its creator, the former patriarch Wen Tingyun.

Xie Yan visits the Inheritance Elder who tells him that the secret to enter the Innate Realm lies in the pages of Wen Tingyun's autobiography, the Flowery Anecdotes. After spending the next few days studying the biography, Xie Yan concludes that he requires pristine beauty energy to overcome his final hurdle and ascend the Innate Realm. To obtain such energy, he must attract an excellent, innocent, and inviolable beauty. The next day, Yu Hongyan permits Xie Yan to venture into the Han Empire for ascending the Innate Realm. He decides to visit his parents first before searching for his desired woman. After an arduous journey, Xie Yan returns to his village and reunites with his family. There, he defeats the local commandant Zhang Zhizheng for unjustly trouncing his cousin Xie Xuan, and gives the commandant's lands to the latter as wedding gifts.

Afterwards, Xie Yan proceeds to the Buddhist city of Luoyang upon learning that his younger sister, Xie Ran has been initiated as a disciple by the Liantai Temple over there. Although he is able to meet Xie Ran, her master insists him to never see her again because he is from a demonic sect. While exploring Luoyang, Xie Yan detects a system fragment, a holy bone relic stored in the Guiling Temple. The next day, in order to touch the relic, Xie Yan disguises himself as the famous monk Shenxiu of the Vermilion Bird Temple, and undertakes the three spiritual trials at the great festival jointly held by the Fan Xinzhai, the Liantai Temple, and the Guiling Temple. "Shenxiu" swiftly clears the first two trials but quits the third trial since he is not a true monk (although he cleverly uses the Eight Difficulties Demonic Technique to distract the monks from the truth). Ironically, Shenxiu is declared the victor because quitting the third trial was paradoxically the only way to clear the third trial. After inadvertently winning the tournament, Xie Yan reaches the system fragment, which is actually the jade casket storing the relic. He fuses it with the system, gaining an upgrade for his travel function. However he must wait for this upgrade to finish.

Later, Xie Yan realises that Xie Daoyun of the Fan Xinzhai fulfils all the requirements for his desired woman and decides to win her affections in order to reach the Innate Realm. Still disguised as Shenxiu, he accompanies her and the Golden Dignified Prince, Di Xiaoyao to the Ji Ye ruins. Xie Yan resolves to court Xie Daoyun under the garb of Shenxiu. In the following days, Xie Yan gains Xie Daoyun's appreciation by narrating parables to her, much to Di Xiaoyao's annoyance. One month later, the group reaches their destination, and there, Xie Yan encounters three Innate Realm monks from the Vermilion Bird Temple. They warn him of Xi Sanmei's rampage and that he was last seen in Ji Ye. Xie Yan coaxes them to go to the nearby Hulu town, but the following night, he encounters Xi Sanmei of the Da Huanxi Sect. To repair his damaged cultivation base, Xi Sanmei plans to steal a Bodhi Rosary from Di Xiaoyao and suggests poisoning Xie Daoyun in order to blackmail the prince. Xie Yan (as Qin Wuque) disagrees with the suggestion and requests Xi Sanmei's help in winning Xie Daoyun's heart. Xi Sanmei agrees to restrain his assault on Xie Daoyun and leaves. Repulsed by Xi Sanmei's malice, Xie Yan commands Cyany to summon the three monks in order to assassinate the villain.

The next day, Di Xiaoyao, Xie Daoyun, and Xie Yan visit the Ji Ye ruins. There, Di Xiaoyao receives unexpected news about some fragments of the Soaring Hornless Dragon Scripture being discovered and is forced to depart for a few days, leaving Xie Daoyun alone with Xie Yan. Xie Yan realises that the greatest obstacle in attracting Xie Daoyun is her cultivation method: although she can derive spiritual meaning from any topic and converse with anyone, it also renders her virtually impossible to seduce. Just then, Xi Sanmei begins his attack. Xie Daoyun engages him briefly, but is no match for Xi Sanmei and is poisoned by him. Xi Sanmei remembers his promise to Qin Wuque and allows him to escape with Xie Daoyun. Xie Yan and Xie Daoyun spend the following days escaping from Xi Sanmei, but all of Xie Yan's attempts to attract Xie Daoyun with his affability end in vain. One night, Xi Sanmei loses his patience and decides to rape Xie Daoyun. An enraged Xie Yan orders Cyany to summon the three Vermilion Bird Temple monks currently stationed outside the ruins entrance. Xie Yan enters the fray, but he and Xie Daoyun are no match for Xi Sanmei due to his high cultivation rank. Xie Daoyun and Xie Yan flee, but moments later, they collapse from being poisoned. Xie Yan is unable to completely cure the poison because Xi Sanmei's worm has entered his heart and the Finger Of Nirvana cannot extract foreign objects. Xi Sanmei confronts Xie Daoyun, but is suddenly ambushed by the three monks summoned by Xie Yan.

The three monks assail Xi Sanmei, who angrily exposes Shenxiu's identity as Qin Wuque. Xie Yan flees with Xie Daoyun, and along the way, discloses the details of Qin Wuque's undercover status to her. Xi Sanmei overcomes the three monks and breaks free, but at the expense of his cultivation base, reducing him to the first layer of the Innate Realm. After stalling the monks, Xi Sanmei intercepts Xie Yan and Xie Daoyun. He injures Xie Yan's heart and forces him to maim Xie Daoyun. Instead, Xie Yan tears open his chest and extracts the virulent worm from his heart. He promises Xie Daoyun that he will protect her with his life. Xie Daoyun expresses her trust in Xie Yan (still unaware of his true identity) before fainting. Frustrated over his failure to reach the Innate Realm, Xie Yan is unable to contain his rage. Xi Sanmei attacks Xie Yan but the latter blocks it, roaring that he is neither Qin Wuque nor Shenxiu. Having lost all of his options and burning with murderous intent, Xie Yan confronts Xi Sanmei, and the two wounded antagonists fight to the death. Both opponents sustain bloody wounds, but Xi Sanmei begins to fear Xie Yan's inexorable rage and attempts to flee. Xie Yan seizes the frightened Xi Sanmei in the sky and fatally impales him with the Finger Of Flowery Swords, finally killing the lunatic.

In the aftermath, Xie Yan reunites with Cyany, and he admits to her that Xi Sanmei was the strongest opponent he had ever faced so far. After enduring so much peril, Xie Yan chooses to give up on courting Xie Daoyun. He heals the girl, but leaves before she can wake up. With a heavy heart, Xie Yan carves a farewell message for her, although he never discloses the truth about his identity or his intentions to her. At dusk, as Xie Yan begins his return to the Mo Qing Sect, he is surprised to finally obtain the pristine beauty energy he had yearned for weeks, proving that Xie Daoyun fell in love with his Shenxiu persona. The star-crossed lovers come to the melancholic realization that they must part, never to meet again.

That night, in the forest, Xie Yan begins his ascension to the Innate Realm. The beauty energy transforms into Xie Daoyun and lovingly embraces Xie Yan, merging with his spirit. As he begins to cultivate, he is suddenly overwhelmed with pain and violent energy bursts from his body, destroying his surroundings. At long last, Xie Yan ascends to the Innate Realm. He soars across the night sky, revelling in his newfound powers. He also discovers that the Finger Of Flowery Swords can manifest a powerful primordial spirit in the form of Xie Daoyun. Xie Yan is elated by his new ability, but soon realizes that because he suddenly entered the Innate Realm using the system, his body had insufficient time to adapt, and therefore, it is still too weak to contain Xie Yan's new powers as an Innate Realm expert. To solve this problem, Xie Yan decides to practice a martial art that can strengthen his body rather than his cultivation. He then discovers that the upgrade of his travel function has been completed.

The system offers a different transportation option, the Physical Descent Mode to Xie Yan. He chooses this mode and travels to the world of Ba Quan, which proves to be unexpectedly demanding compared to previous minor worlds. Unfortunately, the quest in Ba Quan horribly spirals out of control when, despite his best efforts, Xie Yan unexpectedly fails the system mission to stop the impossibly formidable Evil God Ava from devouring the world. Realizing that his failure was an inevitable outcome, Xie Yan admits defeat and escapes the Evil God, retreating to the main world. Xie Yan brings with him Ba Quan's ultimate martial art, the Everlasting Dominating Fist, which stabilizes his body, and vastly enhances his longevity. The martial art also increases Xie Yan's physical strength, raising his actual combat prowess to Innate Realm - 3rd Layer. He also obtains a seed and a trace of beauty energy from the Evil God (who is in love with Xie Yan), but due to their malevolent nature, he stores them for later use. Xie Yan's Finger Of Nirvana reverts to consuming his life force, although this is no longer a concern, thanks to the Everlasting Dominating Fist.

Xin Mo Sect
Xie Yan learns that six months have elapsed in the main world while he was in Ba Quan, using the Physical Descent Mode- almost one year since he took leave from the Mo Qing Sect. Cyany has become unwell while refining the Evil God's beauty energy, which is a very slow process. At Hulu town, Xie Yan meets Qin Xinci, who is recruiting Li Fengjiao, the leader of Jingwu sect. The next morning, Qin Xinci, Xie Yan, and Li Fengjiao visit the nearby Xiaoba Mountain where they harvest the Mysterious Yang Fruit, a precious ingredient for pills. They learn of the Mysterious Yin Fruit growing nearby, whose ownership is being contested between Tu Wangsheng of the Supreme Esoteric Sect and Zhao Shi, the son of the Chongling Dao Daoist Master. Xie Yan plans to harvest the Mysterious Yin Fruit to cure Cyany, so he parts ways with Qin Xinci, who returns to the Mo Qing Sect with Li Fengjiao. After disguising himself as Ge Huaiyu, Xie Yan utterly defeats Zhao Shi with a few solid punches and steals the Mysterious Yin Fruit with absurd ease. Tu Wangsheng gives up and flees the mountain. Zhao Shi is treacherously murdered by his martial sister, Yan Ruyu to blackmail Ge Huaiyu. Xie Yan feeds the Mysterious Yin Fruit to Cyany, which cures her.

Few days later, en route to the Mo Qing Sect, Xie Yan stops by Zhaohu city to stay abreast with current affairs. Unfortunately, he runs into Ge Huaiyu's father, Ge Yi, the deputy patriarch of the Xin Mo Sect. Still believing Xie Yan to be Ge Huaiyu, Ge Yi insists him to come to the Xin Mo Sect. Although wary of the risks, Xie Yan changes his plans and decides to use this opportunity to study new martial arts, as well as assassinate Ge Yi. One week later, Xie Yan and Ge Yi arrive at the Xin Mo Sect, where they meet Xu Min and his son-in-law Cui Jing. The four men present themselves before the Sect Master, Yuan Sheng.

Yuan Sheng is furious when Xie Yan doesn't have the Xin Mo seal on his body, which forces Xie Yan to yield the (incomplete) Everlasting Dominating Fist to them. The Sect Master is placated and drops the matter. Afterwards, Xie Yan attempts to collect the Mantra Of The Inner Demons Of The Six Desires from other disciples, but the Xin Mo seal restricts them from doing so. He enters Ge Huaiyu's room, but doesn't find the latter's Mantra Of Formlessness or anything useful. Later, Xie Yan receives the Six Desires Golden Pill from Ge Yi, to help him practice the Mantra Of The Inner Demons Of The Six Desires. Surprisingly, this pill is compatible with Xie Yan's Eight Difficulties Demonic Technique and provides him with a secondary source of Demonic True Energy, with a large capacity. For fear of rousing suspicion, Xie Yan doesn't ask Ge Yi for the Inner Demons Mantra. The next day, he visits Xu Min who is in charge of the martial arts library, but learns that entering the library is a tedious process, involving the Sect Master's permission. Xu Min grows increasingly suspicious of Xie Yan and covertly marks him with a faint alcohol pheromone to identify him in any disguise. However, Xie Yan detects Xu Min's trick and decides to exploit it, since he can use his martial arts to suppress the scent and erase the mark whenever he wants.

Afterwards, Xie Yan admits that his trip to the Xin Mo Sect has been a failure, and posing as Ge Huaiyu is becoming increasingly difficult. The only option left is to retreat from the sect and explore Ge Huaiyu's hideout, located in the nearby city of Yudu. After collecting origin points from the disciples around him, Xie Yan takes Ge Yi's permission to proceed to Yudu. Xie Yan locates the hideout, only to be exasperated that the Mantra Of Formlessness carved on the cave walls has already been expunged by Ge Huaiyu. While resting in the cave, Xie Yan suddenly encounters Yan Ruyu and learns that the original Ge Huaiyu had shared the hideout with her. Yan Ruyu is easily fooled into believing Xie Yan to be Ge Huaiyu.

When Yan Ruyu mentions the Xilan Treasury, Xie Yan recalls from Ge Huaiyu's journal that the treasury stores precious energy stones, which are necessary to maintain the power of Great Sect Formations. Fetching such stones would greatly enhance the defence of the Mo Qing Sect. Yan Ruyu recounts to Xie Yan about her adventure with Ge Huaiyu to Xilan, a small nation bordering the Han Empire. On Ge Huaiyu's whim, the duo had massacred princess Xilan Wei and her bodyguard retinue. Xilan Wei was the last surviving member of the royal bloodline, and when she died, her body shrivelled. Blood from the Xilan royal bloodline was necessary to open the treasury, so it was never raided. But recently, Yan Ruyu had discovered the existence of a Zombie Blood Leech which could be injected into Xilan Wei's corpse to recreate her blood, thus unlocking the treasury.

According to Yan Ruyu, these leeches are owned by Xu Min, so she had devised a plan to rob the leeches from Xu Min, which requires the cooperation of Ge Huaiyu/Xie Yan. Later, Cyany awakens after digesting the Mysterious Yin Fruit, and is now strong enough to suppress the beauty energy of the Evil God without any difficulty. She explains to Xie Yan that she can now read few pages of the Wordless Scripture, its actual title being the Complete Collection Of Ghostly Daoist Spells. One of Cyany's spells can use illusions to disguise targets, which is much more convenient than Ge Huaiyu's disguise technique. Afterwards, Xie Yan and Yan Ruyu arrive at Yudu, where the latter explains her plan to participate at Xu Min's poetry contest next week and steal the leeches after the event's conclusion. The theft is to be accomplished by incapacitating Xu Min's steward, Xu Jiu, and impersonating him to enter the Black Tortoise vault of Xu Min, where the leeches are stored.

That night, Xie Yan is surprised to discover another new ability of Cyany- regardless of the distance, he and the Guardian Spirit can now quickly speak to one other, and Cyany can share her field of vision in real time with Xie Yan. Upon further experimentation, Xie Yan discovers that- with a sliver of his consciousness- he can even possess Cyany's ghostly body, and access her unique skills in that state, while remaining in control of his main body.

After one week of preparation, Xie Yan and Yan Ruyu attend the soirée at Xu Min's mansion to participate at the poetry contest. This time, Xie Yan uses his original identity, although Yan Ruyu remains clueless. During the contest, Xie Yan's encomiast poem for Xu Min stirs controversy among the guests, but Xu Min is impressed and the contest concludes with Xie Yan as the winner. After the contest, Xu Min's attendants open an exhibition of various artifacts. Xie Yan approaches the Six Bronze Statues Of Joy, and unexpectedly, he receives the Zen Technique Of Joy, a double cultivation secret method belonging to the Da Huanxi Sect.

Later, in Xu Min's absence, Xie Yan subtly provokes Xu Jiu over the controversial poem. Cui Jing intervenes and proposes to settle the dispute by conducting a poetry writing duel, where opponents are permitted to employ spiritual attacks against one other. During the duel, Xu Jiu's mental will gradually succumbs to Xie Yan's steady attack (from the Eight Difficulties), and Cui Jing is tricked into declaring the duel as a draw. After the party is over, Xie Yan requests Yan Ruyu to put Xu Jiu and his wife to deep sleep. Later, Cyany uses the truth confession spell on the steward to learn the necessary details about the Black Tortoise vault. Cyany replaces Xu Jiu with a disguised Xie Yan, while she possesses the original Xu Jiu and infiltrates the vault submerged in the river. She successfully steals the box containing the Zombie Blood Leeches and escapes, while Xie Yan (disguised as Xu Jiu) invades the vault. Xie Yan defeats the guards and damages the vault with an internal explosion, drawing Xu Min's attention. He deliberately appears before Xu Min as Ge Huaiyu, reeking with the alcohol pheromone, before escaping. Xu Min takes the bait and suspects Ge Yi.

With all his goals achieved, Xie Yan happily leaves Yudu the following day. Yan Ruyu explains that planning the heist for the Xilan Treasury will require six months, and wants to prioritize participating at the Great Summit of the Nine Sects, held by the nine great demonic sects of the Han Empire. She explains that the reason she murdered Zhao Shi was because she wanted to avoid being tortured by him as a part of mastering his martial art. She had framed Ge Huaiyu because that was the most plausible excuse she could provide her Daoist Master. Xie Yan requests Yan Ruyu to falsely testify that Ge Huaiyu had indeed murdered Zhao Shi.