Chapter Summaries

At the Millennial Grand Sacrifice, Chu Xinghe’s words awaken the holy souls of those who died in the Battle to Vanquish Evil, bringing inheritances and a revival of Spiritual Qi across the Blazing Sun Continent. As Chu Xinghe worries that the Vast Heaven Sect has received no inheritance, a powerful pillar of golden light descends onto the altar where he stands.

• Experts from the righteous path and the Demonic Sect displayed their sects’ strength, while the Haotian Mirror revealed the Vast Heaven Sect’s palaces.
• Chu Xinghe declared, “This age of prosperity is as you wished,” and people across the Blazing Sun Continent repeated the words together.
• A thunderclap opened the sky, and the smiling holy souls of those who died in the Battle to Vanquish Evil appeared above the continent.
• Holy souls bestowed inheritances on descendants and inheritors, including Cheng Xiaotian, while restoring the world’s Spiritual Qi.
• Gu Mingchao and Chu Xinghe worried that the Vast Heaven Sect had received no inheritance as other factions gained blessings.
• An immense pillar of golden light descended onto the center of the altar, where Chu Xinghe stood.

The Millennial Grand Sacrifice granted powerful inheritances to the other sects, while Chu Xinghe unexpectedly received a pillar of golden light that reshaped his body and pushed his cultivation to the Seventh Rank Martial Saint realm. As the holy souls performed Shedding the Mortal Frame and Exchanging the Bones on him, the Misfortune Compass blocked the immense spiritual power from entering his spiritual sea.

• The holy souls gave inheritances to people from the other sects, but the Vast Heaven Sect received none.
• Cheng Xiaotian and Wu Xingyun entered the Half-Step Martial God realm after receiving inheritances, and other sect experts also grew stronger.
• A pillar of golden light enveloped Chu Xinghe, and the completed holy souls flew into it before pouring their power into him.
• Chu Xinghe broke through to the Seventh Rank Martial Saint realm as the golden light shattered and remade his body.
• The Great Sage recognized the process as Shedding the Mortal Frame and Exchanging the Bones, performed by the holy souls to repay Chu Xinghe.
• The Misfortune Compass spun and blocked the vast spiritual power from entering Chu Xinghe's spiritual sea.

The Misfortune Compass redirected the immense spiritual power transforming Chu Xinghe to Gu Mingchao, whose spiritual sea nearly shattered before the Compass helped him break through to the Quasi-God Realm. Gu Mingchao’s Nine-Colored Divine Manifestation formed, and a lightning tribulation descended on the Vast Heaven Sect.

• The Misfortune Compass blocked the spiritual power from entering Chu Xinghe’s spiritual sea, then redirected the pillar of light toward Gu Mingchao.
• The Great Sage stopped the Vast Heaven Sect elders from interfering, saying Chu Xinghe had secured Gu Mingchao a chance to break through to the Martial God Realm.
• Gu Mingchao absorbed the power, but his spiritual sea cracked and he began spitting blood as the elders watched helplessly.
• After Chu Xinghe threatened to kill himself if Gu Mingchao died, a ray of divine light entered Gu Mingchao and unleashed a powerful force within him.
• Gu Mingchao formed a Nine-Colored Divine Manifestation, healed his injuries, and dispersed the golden light as a lightning tribulation gathered over the Vast Heaven Sect.
• Gu Mingchao sent his divine manifestation into the sky, where it grew enormous and turned the falling lightning to ash.

Gu Mingchao used the spiritual power Chu Xinghe passed to him to survive the lightning tribulation and become the first Martial God in a thousand years. As the Blazing Sun Continent hailed Chu Xinghe as the Vast Heaven Sect’s greatest benefactor, the Great Sage’s words revealed that Chu Xinghe’s transformation could surpass even Martial God power.

• Gu Mingchao shattered the lightning tribulation and completed his breakthrough to the Martial God realm.
• Gu Mingchao returned to the Vast Heaven Sect, whose disciples cheered as his Nine-Colored Divine Manifestation demonstrated his power.
• Wu Xingyun regretted his earlier confidence when he saw that Gu Mingchao had surpassed him, and blamed Chu Xinghe for giving away the spiritual power.
• Chu Xinghe realized the Misfortune Compass had transferred the dangerous spiritual power to Gu Mingchao, saving both their lives while Chu Xinghe reached the Seventh Rank Martial Saint realm.
• People across the Blazing Sun Continent recognized Chu Xinghe as the Vast Heaven Sect’s greatest asset, and the Great Sage said his bodily transformation was greater than becoming a Martial God.

At the Millennial Grand Sacrifice, the Great Sage explained that Chu Xinghe’s bodily transformation would let him advance without bottlenecks, while Xinghe privately lamented that the Misfortune Compass still controlled his progress. As the factions left to cultivate, they refused the appearance fees Xinghe had promised them, leaving him frustrated that they had turned down the spirit stones he wanted the sect to spend.

• The Great Sage explained the benefits of Chu Xinghe’s bodily transformation, and Gu Mingchao and the gathered sects rejoiced at Xinghe’s prospects and the world’s recovering Spiritual Qi.
• Ma Liang admired Xinghe’s composure, while Xinghe privately complained that the Misfortune Compass still prevented him from advancing unless the sect squandered resources.
• Cheng Xiaotian and representatives of the factions bowed to Xinghe in gratitude for awakening the holy souls and granting them inheritances.
• Cheng Xiaotian and the other factions left the Vast Heaven Sect to return to cultivation, and Gu Mingchao escorted them to the mountain gate.
• Xinghe hurried after the departing guests to hand them their promised appearance fees, but Cheng Xiaotian and the other leaders refused the spirit stones and left.
• Xinghe was left holding the spatial rings, frustrated that even Wu Xingyun and the Demonic Sect had refused the fees.

After the Millennial Grand Sacrifice made Chu Xinghe a celebrated figure and Gu Mingchao the first Martial God in a thousand years, Gu tried to promote Xinghe to chief disciple and take him as his disciple. The elders blocked him, leaving Xinghe promoted only to core disciple with ten thousand spirit stones, while Gu suffered defeat in his first battle as a Martial God.

• Experts across the land entered seclusion after receiving inheritances, and the usual battle between the righteous factions and the Demonic Sect was canceled.
• People praised Chu Xinghe for reviving Spiritual Qi and giving the Martial God inheritance to Gu Mingchao, who became the first Martial God in a thousand years.
• In the Haotian Grand Hall, Gu Mingchao announced that Chu Xinghe would become chief disciple and enter Haotian Palace.
• The Grand Elder and the other elders opposed Gu's decree, threatening to remove him if he used his authority to force it through.
• Gu Mingchao's first effort to assert his authority as a Martial God failed, and Chu Xinghe was made a core disciple and awarded ten thousand spirit stones.

Chu Xinghe lamented that the Millennial Grand Sacrifice had made the Vast Heaven Sect overwhelmingly powerful and left him no chance to cause it a loss. After Sect Master Gu Mingchao announced his seclusion, Chu Xinghe was assigned to inspect the sect's holdings on his behalf.

• Chu Xinghe observed that Gu Mingchao's rise to Martial God had made rival sects defer to the Vast Heaven Sect, while the Great Sage encouraged Gu Mingchao to pursue even higher realms.
• Lu Chengqing used the Haotian Mirror to dominate the entertainment world and accompanied Ma Liang as he negotiated successful advertising deals with other sects.
• Ma Liang returned with enough resources to fund the Haotian Mirror for a year, and the grand elder gave him the robes of a vice sect master's personal disciple.
• Gu Mingchao announced he would enter seclusion and convened a meeting to arrange sect affairs, with the vice sect master expected to serve as a mascot.
• Gu Mingchao proposed that Chu Xinghe inspect the sect's holdings in his place, and the hall heads agreed to send him despite his being a core disciple.

Chu Xinghe was assigned to inspect the Vast Heaven Sect’s businesses and hoped to use the trip to cause trouble, but the Dark Moon Clan’s sudden enthusiasm for cultivation left him terrified they would all break through while he was away. He delayed the inspection after the Great Sage promised that every Dark Moon Palace member would reach a breakthrough before Chu Xinghe returned.

• Gu Mingchao assigned Chu Xinghe to inspect the sect’s businesses, leaving Vice Sect Master Yan Shoujing disappointed that he was passed over.
• Chu Xinghe welcomed the inspection as a chance to disrupt the sect’s businesses, though the Grand Elder required Ma Liang and An Lan to accompany him.
• An Lan told Chu Xinghe that he had reached the Martial Emperor realm and that the Dark Moon Clansmen were also nearing breakthroughs after absorbing baleful Qi.
• Chu Xinghe asked Ma Liang to find cultivation techniques for the Dark Moon Clan to complete, but the major sects could not respond because their leaders were in seclusion.
• An Lan told the Dark Moon Clansmen that Chu Xinghe’s daily visits showed how much he cared about their cultivation, and two members broke through that night.
• The Great Sage promised that all of Dark Moon Palace would break through while Chu Xinghe was away, so Chu Xinghe postponed the inspection for several days.

Chu Xinghe learned that the Savage Wilderness Tribes were once again raising demonic beasts and that their King, Douding'er, had invoked an alliance token to demand resources from the Vast Heaven Sect. Feng Fei had been tasked with refusing without breaking the alliance, but Chu Xinghe insisted the sect should provide the maximum amount of resources.

• Chu Xinghe searched the Vast Heaven Sect for a way to stop the Dark Moon Clan from cultivating, then met Feng Fei, who revealed he was troubled by a request from the Savage Wilderness Tribes.
• Feng Fei explained that the Savage Wilderness Tribes had repeatedly raised demonic beasts that ate their handlers, and that the recovery of Spiritual Qi had renewed their dangerous experiments under King Douding'er.
• Douding'er sent the Vast Heaven Sect a Haotian Token and requested one last batch of resources, while the grand elder instructed Feng Fei not to provide any.
• Feng Fei asked Chu Xinghe how to refuse the request without violating the alliance, and Chu Xinghe argued that the sect should give the Savage Wilderness the maximum amount of resources.

Chu Xinghe persuaded the Vast Heaven Sect to bring the Savage Wilderness Tribes and their demonic beasts to the City of Dark Moon, where they could continue their research without endangering the sect. The Great Sage went to retrieve them, and Douding'er emerged from the Land of Wilderness believing the Vast Heaven Sect had given the tribes hope of survival.

• Chu Xinghe rejected Ma Liang’s suggestion to let the Savage Wilderness Tribes perish and take their territory, then proposed moving them to the Vast Heaven Sect to research demonic beasts.
• Chu Xinghe suggested housing the Savage Wilderness’s demonic beasts in the City of Dark Moon, where the Great Sage’s seal would contain them and disrupt the Dark Moon Clan’s cultivation.
• The Grand Elder approved Chu Xinghe’s plan, and the Great Sage agreed to follow the Saint’s arrangements.
• The Grand Elder sent the Great Sage to the Land of Wilderness to bring the Savage Wilderness Tribes out.
• The Savage Wilderness Tribes emerged with their demonic beasts, and Douding'er felt moved that the Vast Heaven Sect had offered them hope of survival.

Douding'er accepted the Vast Heaven Sect’s offer to shelter the nearly extinct Savage Wilderness Tribes and let them research demonic beasts in the City of Dark Moon. The tribes arrived at the sect with young demonic beasts, where Chu Xinghe saw their desperate condition as a chance to advance his own cultivation.

• Douding'er prepared the Savage Wilderness Tribes for a final attempt to control demonic beasts after years of isolation and decline.
• An Zhi offered to bring the tribes into the Vast Heaven Sect and demonstrated his resurrection by letting demonic beasts devour him.
• Douding'er accepted the offer and proposed giving the Vast Heaven Sect half the Land of Wilderness, but An Zhi refused the worthless land.
• The Savage Wilderness Tribes chose young demonic beasts to bring and traveled to the Vast Heaven Sect using the Flute of Space and Time.
• The grand elder and the sect’s chief disciples welcomed the tribes, while Ouyang Ming and Ouyang Ling remarked on their pitiful state.
• Chu Xinghe saw the tribes and their demonic beasts as a way to use up the sect’s resources and help him become a Martial God.

Chu Xinghe welcomed the Savage Wilderness Tribes to the Vast Heaven Sect, expecting their demon-beast research to consume resources without producing results. After a demon beast ran amok and was killed, the Ouyang Lineage turned its cremation into a feast, and the tribes discovered that demon beasts were delicious.

• Chu Xinghe arranged lodgings for the Savage Wilderness Tribes in the City of Dark Moon and watched them spend the Vast Heaven Sect's resources raising demon beasts.
• Douding'er befriended Ouyang Ling, while the demon beasts grew quickly and became increasingly uncontrollable.
• A demon beast broke out of its cage, and Great Sage An Zhi killed it before it could attack anyone.
• Ouyang Ling declared that the demon beast deserved cremation, but Ouyang Ming and the Ouyang Lineage roasted it and ate it.
• Douding'er and the Savage Wilderness Tribes tasted the demon beast and realized they could eat the creatures they had previously buried, forging a lasting friendship with the Ouyang Lineage.

Chu Xinghe arranged for the Ouyang Lineage, Dark Moon Clan, and Savage Wilderness Tribes to form a bizarre cycle of breeding, feeding, and eating demonic beasts, then set out to inspect the sect’s businesses. Rather than visit the prepared northern branches, he took Ma Liang and An Lan south to launch a surprise inspection and expose misconduct.

• The Ouyang Lineage and Dark Moon Clan developed a cycle in which the Dark Moon Clan let demonic beasts eat them, force-fed the beasts until they died, and then ate them with the Ouyang Lineage.
• Douding'er realized the Vast Heaven Sect’s methods might wipe out the demonic beasts of the Land of Wilderness, while Chu Xinghe accepted the increased breeding costs as a useful way to consume resources.
• The Grand Elder arranged an inspection of the northern branches, and their stewards prepared carefully because Chu Xinghe would inspect on the sect master’s behalf.
• Ma Liang found An Lan being eaten by a demonic beast before their departure, and invoked Chu Xinghe’s name to stop An Lan from repeating the experience.
• Chu Xinghe set up a teleportation array that took him, Ma Liang, and An Lan south instead of north, intending to conduct a surprise inspection and publicly expose any dirty business.

Chu Xinghe traveled south with Ma Liang and An Lan to conduct an unannounced inspection of the Vast Heaven Sect’s businesses. After choosing Rong City’s meteorite iron mine as his starting point, he surrounded it with the Ten Thousand Ghosts Grand Formation and took control of the sect members there.

• Ma Liang gave Chu Xinghe a Fox-Pattern Mask he had taken from the sect treasury after following Ouyang Ling’s advice, and Chu Xinghe used it to disguise himself as Tieniu.
• Chu Xinghe, Ma Liang, and An Lan traveled to Rong City and saw the thriving Vast Heaven Trading Company and pharmacy without entering either business.
• Chu Xinghe decided to investigate Rong City’s meteorite iron mine, suspecting that the large-scale ore trade concealed shady dealings he could expose.
• Chu Xinghe went to the mine with Ma Liang and An Lan, ordered Ma Liang to deploy the Ten Thousand Ghosts Grand Formation, and had the ghosts seize control of the sect members there.
• The mine’s stewards were stunned by the sudden ghostly takeover and wondered who dared to interfere with the Vast Heaven Sect’s mine.

Chu Xinghe used a surprise inspection to descend on the Vast Heaven Sect’s southern meteoric iron mine, where Ma Liang’s Ten Thousand Ghosts Grand Formation prevented anyone from hiding evidence. The inspection revealed that the ore supposedly reserved for the sect was defective, and Xu Wei turned his suspicion toward a young man in the group.

• Ma Liang’s Ten Thousand Ghosts Grand Formation surrounded the mine, and Chu Xinghe revealed himself to Xu Wei and the mine’s supervisors.
• Chu Xinghe rejected Xu Wei’s offer to delay the inspection until the next day and ordered Ma Liang to guard the entire mine.
• Xu Wei led Chu Xinghe through the mine, explaining its operations and showing him the ore warehouse.
• Xu Wei presented the ore reserved for the sect as the highest quality, but Chu Xinghe found that it was all defective.
• Xu Wei realized someone had tampered with the ore and fixed his gaze on a young man at the back of the group.

Chu Xinghe discovered that Luo Zheng had mixed defective meteorite iron into a shipment intended for the Vast Heaven Sect and punished him, while secretly deciding not to investigate the mine’s widespread embezzlement. The chapter ended with Chu Xinghe burning a ledger in front of the anxious mine managers.

• Xu Wei panicked when Chu Xinghe found defective ore among the mine’s finest meteorite iron shipment, and Chu Xinghe grew furious because the ore could endanger sect disciples.
• Xu Wei identified warehouse chief Luo Zheng as responsible, and Ma Liang used the Soul-Devouring Formation to expose Luo Zheng’s crimes and gambling debts.
• Chu Xinghe ordered Luo Zheng executed and demoted Zhang Peng after Luo Zheng pleaded for help on his uncle’s behalf.
• Ma Liang revealed that most mine managers, including Xu Wei, had embezzled resources, but Chu Xinghe decided to overlook it to keep the mine running and continue causing the sect losses he wanted.
• Chu Xinghe summoned Xu Wei and the other managers, then burned a ledger before their bewildered eyes.

Chu Xinghe inspected the meteorite iron mine and burned an account book rather than investigate its irregularities, then promised to double the benefits of the mine’s stewards and workers. The stewards praised him, while Ma Liang remained baffled by his decision and its likely cost.

• Xu Wei worried that Chu Xinghe would uncover the mine’s embezzlement and punish its staff during his inspection.
• Chu Xinghe burned an account book in front of Xu Wei, Ma Liang, and the mine’s stewards.
• Chu Xinghe praised Deacon Xu’s leadership, said he would not examine the accounts, and promised to double the resources of stewards and other enterprise workers starting next month.
• The stewards knelt to thank Chu Xinghe, who told them to submit clean accounts at year’s end.
• Ma Liang wondered why Chu Xinghe rewarded people who had taken sect resources and fretted over the expense of doubling benefits across the Vast Heaven Sect’s enterprises.

After Chu Xinghe promised to double compensation at the Meteoric Iron Mine, Xu Wei explained that the offer was a chance for the stewards to return what they had embezzled and start over. The stewards restored the accounts and repaid their stolen funds, and Ma Liang arranged for the lesson to be spread throughout the Vast Heaven Sect’s enterprises.

• News that Chu Xinghe would double compensation spread through the Meteoric Iron Mine, where disciples and stewards celebrated.
• At a meeting, Xu Wei told the stewards that Chu Xinghe expected them to restore the accounts and return everything they had taken, not falsify the books again.
• The stewards agreed to repay their shortfalls, and Xu Wei promised to help those who could not pay immediately.
• Steward Li and the others worked through the night to correct the books and record how much each steward had returned.
• Xu Wei gave Ma Liang the restored accounts, and Ma Liang understood Chu Xinghe’s plan to encourage repayment while preventing future embezzlement.
• Ma Liang told Xu Wei to notify the sect’s enterprises that Chu Xinghe had given them the same one-time opportunity to make things right.

Chu Xinghe’s attempt to keep the Vast Heaven Sect’s businesses from making honest accounts instead led stewards and managers to repay what they had taken, while the elders praised his solution and celebrated the sect’s increased revenue. He then learned that Wei Xin was an incorruptible, highly effective manager whose work could make the mine prosper, and decided to reward him extravagantly rather than punish him.

• Xu Wei’s messages offered every business a chance to repay missing funds in exchange for double compensation, prompting managers across the Vast Heaven Sect to revise their ledgers and hand over what they had taken.
• The Grand Elder and the other chief elders praised Xinghe’s handling of the meteorite iron mine after every business submitted revised accounts, and Feng Fei calculated that the sect’s revenue had doubled despite the increased compensation.
• Chu Xinghe realized that the managers’ honest accounts had ruined his plan to let them hide their corruption, while Ma Liang mistakenly thought Xinghe was disappointed in him for failing to understand his intentions.
• Ma Liang told Chu Xinghe that Wei Xin was an incorruptible and capable manager whose plans had steadily increased the mine’s income.
• Chu Xinghe decided that, since Wei Xin had done nothing wrong, he would reward him extravagantly instead of punishing him.

Chu Xinghe promoted Meteoric Iron Mine manager Wei Xin directly into the Vast Heaven Sect's inner sect, believing the move would keep his management talents from benefiting the mine. Wei Xin celebrated the promotion as his chance to spy more effectively for the Cloud Firmament Sect and vowed to help bring down the Vast Heaven Sect.

• Xu Wei praised Wei Xin's management skills, and Chu Xinghe decided to reward him by admitting him directly into the inner sect.
• Ma Liang explained the promotion as a chance for Wei Xin to become an internal manager and perhaps a deacon, while Chu Xinghe privately planned to keep him from returning to the mine.
• News of Wei Xin's promotion spread through the Meteoric Iron Mine, and Wei Xin joyfully thanked Chu Xinghe and Xu Wei.
• After Xu Wei left, Wei Xin revealed that he had spent fifteen years spying for the Cloud Firmament Sect under Ling Su's orders.
• Wei Xin celebrated Chu Xinghe's decision as an opportunity to access and sell the Vast Heaven Sect's secrets, vowing to help destroy the sect.