The Journey So Far...
WARNING: SPOILERS FOR VOLUMES 1 AND 2 AHEAD!!!!
Volume 1
- Tsuyuki Yoru was once an Ascendent known as the Darkened Moon, who was known as the patron deity of monsters and spirits. In the long distant past, he twisted himself into a spirit of the Void, and was influenced by their destructive qi to destroy several nations and the lesser Ascendents who ruled them. For this, he was punished, and his own consort and general, The Sword Saint, locked him in a Labyrinth beneath the earth.
- After the world had moved on, Yoru found a means of escape by latching onto a passing cultivator named Tenri Lin. He bound himself to Tenri's advancement, reducing himself to a mere Bronze in order to walk freely upon the earth.
- Yoru decided to work with Tenri, revealing his secrets and helping the younger cultivator with his job as the Administrator of Saikan, a town in the Moon-Soaked Shore.
- It was during this time that Yoru discovered that the people of the Moon-Soaked Shore lived under the oppressive rule of the Lunar Hunt, a group of "tax collectors" who were little more than bandits. Though they were tasked with collecting the taxes from the local towns, they also used their yearly visits to identify and purge any cultivator using moon qi, no matter how old.
- Yoru saved a girl named Lang Xinya (age 9), who then became his disciple in order to learn how to channel her burgeoning moon qi. The two were forced to flee from the Hunt.
- The pair were taken in by a Spirit Beast Honeybee named Pollen, named for the most important resource known to her people. Queen Pollen sought help with a territorial crisis taking place within the forest between the bees, the hornets, and the spiders. Yoru agreed to help in exchange for sanctuary for himself and Xinya.
- Yoru then travelled far in order to meet with the spiders, but was attacked in the first town he came across within their territory. A wicked spider witch was raising corpses into a small army of puppets under her command. Yoru escaped with the help of a hornet named Pharyx.
- Pharyx brought Yoru back to his home where he met with the two Queens of the hornets, one of which was Pharyx himself. After hearing Yoru's proposals, a joint mission between the Honeybees and the Hornets was proposed in order to defeat the spiders and bring peace to the forest.
- Pollen, Pharyx, Xinya, and Yoru formed a small party who attacked the spider nest. During their assault, the spider witch was killed, but resurrected by a hidden master unknown to the group. The matriarch of the spiders was summarily killed and peace was restored. During the fight, Yoru advanced to Iron.
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- During this time, Tenri fought and triumphed over the Lunar Hunt's Lieutenant, sending him running. He also advanced to Iron, though his poor vision was not corrected.
- Yoru returned to Saikan.
Volume 2
- Unhappy with their recent defeats, The Lunar Hunt sent a force of cultivators to lay siege to Saikan and destroy the entire town. This plot would have succeeded if it weren't for one of Yoru's blooded techniques, Flash Back, which allows him to unravel reality itself, effectively undoing events and turning back time to try them again. On the second iteration, the siege was swiftly defeated by Yoru, Tenri, Pollen, and Pharyx.
- Yoru revealed his secrets to Xinya, who accepted him without hesitation, much to his surprise.
- After hearing rumors of a ghost in the woods hindering the Lunar Hunt cultivators, Yoru and Tenri embarked on a mission to lure out the Flower Maiden and form an alliance with her. In doing so, they joined a caravan crew they believed she would target.
- Also working the caravan job was a wandering cultivator called Kansi Ren, who Yoru immediately recognized as the Sword Saint's Disciple. Another Cultivator from the Chained-Demon Sect named Lian Liu joined the crew, recognizing Yoru for who he was immediately.
- The Flower Maiden attacked the caravan, but the merchants escaped. Yoru and Tenri offered to help her with a separate problem: the Chain-Bound Fury, another ghost wandering the woods with a striking similarity to Yoru himself.
- The Fury was, in truth, a reality double created by Yoru while he was an insane Ascendent. He re-absorbed the Fury, thus resolving the problem.
- On their way back, an unknown organization bearing Lunar Hunt insignia attacked Tenri's home. In the fires, his wife was killed.
- Not leaving time to mourn, they received notice of a spirit cleansing festival being sent to Saikan. Preparations were made and the visiting sect was escorted from the Black City, a city in a pocket of the Spirit Realm which can be accessed from anywhere.
- At the festival, the commander of the Lunar Hunt, Shen Tori discovered Yoru and Xinya and unleashed the calamitous Tide Serpent, but it was swiftly defeated by Yoru and co. During the Battle, Xinya was kidnapped for being Shen Tori's granddaughter.
- Yoru and co. travelled to the Hunting Lodge where Yoru engaged in a duel with Shen Tori and won.
- In the aftermath, the group encountered the region's Governor, a Gold level Cultivator beyond their means of fighting. They fled, ending up in the Black City by accident, where they were immediately assaulted by monstrous yokai. Yoru was stabbed and thrown in a lake, where he believed he would drown, as he is unable to swim. However, just before he lost consciousness, a dark figure was seen diving into the waters above him.