Chapter Summaries

After Chu Xinghe lost his newly gained Martial God cultivation, Ma Liang revealed that the Fengdu Token and Soul-Devouring Banner had allowed him to command Ghost Valley’s ancient ghosts. White Tiger explained that Xinghe had planned to give Ma Liang control of the valley, leaving Ma Liang and the Vast Heaven Sect celebrating while Xinghe remained speechless.

• Chu Xinghe discovered that his Martial God cultivation had vanished, then saw ancient ghosts gathering over the Vast Heaven Sect.
• Elder He recognized the ghosts as coming from Ghost Valley, and the Grand Elder realized Ma Liang could command them through the Soul-Devouring Banner and Fengdu Token.
• Ma Liang told Chu Xinghe that he could now control Ghost Valley’s powerful ghosts and was approaching the Martial God realm.
• White Tiger explained that Xinghe had hesitated to use the Fengdu Token as Ghost Valley’s formation foundation because he did not want Ma Liang to suffer a loss.
• White Tiger revealed that Xinghe had understood the Soul-Devouring Banner could control all of Ghost Valley’s ghosts, prompting the sect to praise Xinghe while he stayed silent.

Ma Liang took control of Ghost Valley and became the new King of the Nether Domain, turning the Vast Heaven Sect’s supposed loss into a major gain. As Chu Xinghe struggled with his reduced cultivation, he and the Beast God prepared to send White Tiger back so the Beast God could draw on the Blood Spirit Stones.

• Ma Liang gained the Nether Domain Grand Formation and control of Ghost Valley’s ghosts, and vowed to work harder for Chu Xinghe.
• Gu Mingchao advised Ma Liang not to neglect his own cultivation, while the Grand Elder publicized his new power across the two continents.
• Zheng Yu celebrated the Vast Heaven Sect’s growing strength, while Wu Xingyun blamed Tantai Jing and Yuan Ying for helping Chu Xinghe profit from Ghost Valley.
• Yuan Ying carved “wronged” into his face and swore he would destroy the Vast Heaven Sect.
• Chu Xinghe realized the Misfortune Compass had reduced his cultivation to the eighth rank, but relied on the Blood Spirit Stones being consumed by White Tiger’s formation to keep gaining cultivation.
• The Beast God urged Chu Xinghe to send White Tiger back so he could use the two million Blood Spirit Stones to recover.

White Tiger returned to Spirit Beast Island after enjoying his stay at the Vast Heaven Sect, but the Four Holy Beasts Grand Formation rejected him because it was overflowing with power from Chu Xinghe’s Blood Spirit Stones. He was left unable to resume his place in the formation for up to eight hundred years, shocking Chu Xinghe and the Beast God.

• Ma Liang arranged for ancient ghosts from Ghost Valley to give Elder Tian special training to help him improve.
• White Tiger eagerly taught Vast Heaven Sect disciples about formations but fled after exchanging teleportation-formation knowledge with the grand elder, whose methods made White Tiger’s own skills worse.
• After the Ghost Valley matter was settled, White Tiger returned with Chu Xinghe to Spirit Beast Island and headed for the White Tiger Divine Hall.
• White Tiger entered the Four Holy Beasts Grand Formation, but the Misfortune Compass began turning slower and the formation blasted him back out.
• White Tiger tried to enter the formation repeatedly, while Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, and Xuanwu realized that Chu Xinghe’s 1.2 million Blood Spirit Stones had overloaded it.
• Xuanwu told White Tiger that the excess power might take eight hundred years to run out, leaving White Tiger, Chu Xinghe, and the Beast God stunned.

White Tiger became unable to return to the Four Holy Beasts Grand Formation after the Beast God infused it with too many Blood Spirit Stones, so he went to the Vast Heaven Sect to help Chu Xinghe. White Tiger began teaching formations at the sect, and the Formation Spirit Clan joined soon afterward, leaving Chu Xinghe to curse the Beast God over the sect’s enormous gains.

• The Beast God’s attempt to use the Four Holy Beasts Grand Formation backfired, leaving White Tiger unable to return and obligated by the Beast God Handwritten Decree to help Chu Xinghe.
• White Tiger promised to teach formations to the Vast Heaven Sect’s disciples for the next eight hundred years, and Chu Xinghe gave up on trying to prevent him from doing so.
• Chu Xinghe brought White Tiger back to the Vast Heaven Sect, where the first elder celebrated the chance to improve the sect’s formation skills.
• Major formation sects dismissed White Tiger’s ability to teach enough people to transform the Vast Heaven Sect’s formations.
• Ling Mou led the Formation Spirit Clan from the Demon Star Continent to join the Vast Heaven Sect, which established the Formation Spirit Palace.

After the White Tiger and the Formation Spirit Clan joined the Vast Heaven Sect, Zheng Yu secured Martial Emperor City two hundred annual spots for its disciples to study formations there. The Misfortune Compass rewarded Chu Xinghe with power that ignored defenses, and he discovered it could destroy even the sect’s toughest trial spirits.

• The Beast God ignored Chu Xinghe’s calls while Chu Xinghe reflected on the White Tiger and Formation Spirit Clan joining the Vast Heaven Sect.
• Zheng Yu returned with one million Blood Spirit Stones and persuaded the Vast Heaven Sect to let Martial Emperor City send two hundred disciples each year to study formations.
• Chu Xinghe made Zheng Yu take the Blood Spirit Stones back, and the Misfortune Compass raised Chu Xinghe’s cultivation limit to Middle Eighth Rank.
• The Misfortune Compass transformed some of Chu Xinghe’s spiritual power into a strange force that pierced the defenses of a trial spirit.
• Chu Xinghe tested the new force with Purple Lightning Flash and the Haotian Sword Casket’s divine swords, destroying multiple trial spirits with absolute damage.

Chu Xinghe discovered that the Misfortune Compass gave him power capable of bypassing defenses, then continued teaching poison arts at the Spirit Crane Palace to consume sect resources. At the Dark Moon Palace, he learned Hu Wenhai had gone home for his sister Hu Wenjing’s wedding and that the Hu family could not afford her dowry, prompting Chu Xinghe to see a new opportunity.

• Chu Xinghe realized the Misfortune Compass converted some of his power into misfortune that could bypass defenses, though he knew he could not defeat a Martial God in a direct fight.
• Chu Xinghe taught the Voodoo Arts at the Spirit Crane Palace while its disciples consumed sect resources refining poison pills that few people would buy.
• Chu Xinghe complained that the White Tiger and the Formation Spirit Clan were teaching formations across the sect, but chose to avoid interfering in case his actions brought the sect profits.
• Chu Xinghe visited the Dark Moon Palace and learned from An Lan that Hu Wenhai had taken leave to attend his sister Hu Wenjing’s wedding.
• An Lan explained that Hu Wenhai’s family could not afford Hu Wenjing’s dowry and asked Chu Xinghe to help; Chu Xinghe eagerly recognized the opportunity.

Chu Xinghe decided to arrange a generous dowry for Hu Wenjing, while Hu Wenhai returned home and discovered his family could not match the Ling Lineage’s lavish betrothal gifts. Hu Buqi promised to find a solution himself, leaving Hu Wenhai worried about his aging father.

• After An Lan explained the situation, Chu Xinghe killed him and resolved to provide Hu Wenjing with a proper dowry for the sake of Hu Wenhai and the Vast Heaven Sect’s reputation.
• Hu Wenhai returned to Luheng City, where Hu Buqi and the Hu family welcomed him home and celebrated his return.
• Hu Buqi showed Hu Wenhai the problem: the resources he brought home were insufficient to give Hu Wenjing a respectable dowry matching the Ling Lineage’s extravagant betrothal gifts.
• Hu Wenhai explained that he could not bring himself to ask the Vast Heaven Sect for more resources after receiving so much support despite making no contribution to the sect.
• Hu Buqi told Hu Wenhai to rest and spend time with his sister while he sought help from his own friends, and Hu Wenhai watched him leave with concern that his father had grown old.

As the Hu Lineage struggled to prepare Hu Wenjing’s dowry, the Ling Lineage’s wedding procession arrived in Luheng City led by Fan Sheng, who publicly belittled the Hu family’s preparations. Just as Hu Wenhai accepted the insult to avoid disrupting his sister’s wedding, Ma Liang appeared and confronted Fan Sheng.

• Hu Wenhai watched Hu Buqi fail to borrow resources, so Hu Buqi scraped together the Hu Lineage’s valuables for Hu Wenjing’s dowry.
• The Ling Lineage mocked the shabby dowry, while Ling Bufan arranged for Fan Sheng to lead Ling Wuqi’s wedding procession.
• Fan Sheng led the grand procession into Luheng City and arrived at the Hu Lineage, where guests compared its splendor with the Hu family’s modest preparations.
• Fan Sheng dismissed the Hu Lineage’s gift and demanded that the bride be brought out without the usual ceremony.
• Ma Liang arrived and rebuked Fan Sheng for acting like an idiot and making a fool of himself.

Chu Xinghe arrived at the Hu Lineage's residence for Hu Wenhai's sister's wedding, corrected Fan Sheng's disrespectful conduct, and presented a lavish dowry gift. Ma Liang read out the first items as the assembled guests watched in shock.

• Ma Liang confronted Fan Sheng, then bowed to Chu Xinghe when Chu Xinghe appeared and scolded him for causing trouble on the wedding day.
• Fan Sheng apologized to the Hu Lineage after Chu Xinghe told him not to skip the wedding proceedings.
• Chu Xinghe greeted Hu Wenhai and said he had prepared a modest gift for Hu Wenhai's sister.
• Ma Liang summoned a teleportation formation and began listing Chu Xinghe's gifts, including ten cartloads of ninth-rank Shadowless Pills.
• Ma Liang announced fifty cartloads of spirit weapons forged by the Ouyang Lineage, leaving the crowd astonished.

Chu Xinghe sent an enormous dowry to the Hu Lineage for Hu Wenjing’s wedding, and the gifts took so long to announce that the ceremony’s usual schedule was disrupted. Ling Bufan moved the wedding to the Hu Lineage, where the Vast Heaven Sect supplied everything needed and the ceremony finally began.

• Ma Liang read Chu Xinghe’s gift list as Vast Heaven Sect disciples brought out carts of spirit weapons, Blood Spirit Stones, and other treasures for the Hu Lineage.
• Hu Wenhai was overwhelmed by Chu Xinghe’s generosity and vowed his loyalty to him.
• Ling Bufan brought the Ling Lineage to the Hu Lineage after learning Chu Xinghe had arrived, then bowed to Chu Xinghe with his descendants.
• When Chu Xinghe worried that the procession had missed the proper time, Ling Bufan declared that the ceremony could be held at the Hu Lineage, and Fan Sheng agreed that the northwest had such a rule.
• Ma Liang arranged for the Vast Heaven Sect to supply ceremony goods and borrowed cooks and ingredients from the Artifact Refining Palace, whose members agreed once they learned Chu Xinghe had ordered it.
• The wedding ceremony began at the Hu Lineage with cooks and ingredients transported from the Artifact Refining Palace.

The Hu Lineage’s wedding banquet became a grand occasion after Chu Xinghe’s arrival drew powerful figures from across the northwest. When Ling Wuqi gave Hu Wenhai a black stick, the Great Sage identified it as the Heaven-Measuring Ruler.

• Ma Liang directed Vast Heaven Sect civil engineering disciples to restore the Hu residence, while Artifact Refining Palace cooks prepared the banquet.
• Zheng Yu and other chief disciples from the ten great sects arrived with lavish gifts, honoring Chu Xinghe rather than the Hu Lineage.
• Hu Buqi thanked Chu Xinghe’s influence for the wedding’s splendor, and Hu Wenhai promised to live up to his Senior Brother’s hopes.
• At the banquet, Chu Xinghe wished Ling Wuqi and Hu Wenjing a happy marriage and promised to help them if they ever needed him.
• Ling Wuqi gave Hu Wenhai a black, talisman-marked stick he had found in ruins, and the Great Sage appeared and recognized it as the Heaven-Measuring Ruler.

At Hu Wenjing’s wedding, the Great Sage recognized the Heaven-Measuring Ruler as the source of the Ancient Heaven-Reaching Talisman Art’s inheritance, but its age-corrupted surface seemed to make it useless. When Chu Xinghe’s Phoenix Divine Fire accidentally cleansed it, the inheritance entered Hu Wenhai, while Chu Xinghe was left lamenting that he had changed the Hu Lineage’s fate.

• The Great Sage identified the Heaven-Measuring Ruler Ling Wuqi gave Hu Wenhai as the ancient treasure of the Heaven-Reaching Old Man, but said its corrupted talismans prevented access to its inheritance.
• Chu Xinghe offered the Ling Lineage ten times the wedding gifts in exchange for the ruler, then multiplied the offer again when they tried to refuse.
• Chu Xinghe took the Heaven-Measuring Ruler from Hu Wenhai, and his Phoenix Divine Fire erupted and burned away its black marks.
• The restored talismans streamed into Hu Wenhai, giving him the complete inheritance of the Ancient Heaven-Reaching Talisman Art.
• Hu Buqi and the Hu Lineage knelt to thank Chu Xinghe, while Chu Xinghe panicked over having accidentally transformed Hu Wenhai’s prospects.

Hu Wenhai received the Heaven-Measuring Ruler after Chu Xinghe’s Bright Gold Divine Fire broke its seal, and Ma Liang framed Chu’s generous payment to the Ling Lineage as proof of his honor. As the banquet guests celebrated Hu Wenhai’s future and Chu Xinghe’s reputation grew, news of the inheritance reached the Gongsun Clan, which feared its standing as the foremost talisman lineage was already slipping.

• Hu Wenhai obtained the Heaven-Measuring Ruler and realized that Chu Xinghe’s Bright Gold Divine Fire had purified it so he could inherit the Heaven-Reaching Old Man’s talisman knowledge.
• Ma Liang told Hu Wenhai that Chu Xinghe had paid the Ling Lineage ten times the resources to act honorably and openly, and Hu Wenhai thanked Chu Xinghe for his new future.
• Chu Xinghe silently fumed over the Bright Gold Divine Fire’s unexpected intervention while Ma Liang and Zheng Yu led the gathering in praising Vast Heaven.
• Ma Liang and Zheng Yu shielded Chu Xinghe from guests seeking to toast him, while visitors flocked to congratulate the Hu Lineage on its impending rise.
• After news of the Heaven-Measuring Ruler spread, the Gongsun Clan gathered in distress and could not explain how it had begun to decline when Chu Xinghe had not targeted it.

After returning from the Hu Lineage, Chu Xinghe proposed that the Vast Heaven Sect support the families of disciples from humble backgrounds with regular allowances and extra help during major events. The Grand Elder and the palace heads supported the plan, while Sect Master Gu Mingchao was left behind before he could voice his approval.

• Chu Xinghe returned to the Vast Heaven Sect and told the Grand Elder his plan to provide financial support for disciples' families.
• The Grand Elder recalled losing his own parents and relatives before he could return home in glory, and he was moved by Chu Xinghe's proposal.
• Chu Xinghe argued that the sect should ease disciples' worries about their families and support the families of those who died serving the sect.
• The Grand Elder summoned Shen Chun and gathered the palace heads at Sect Master Gu Mingchao's carving room to present the proposal.
• Elder He, Elder Yu, and the other head elders approved the plan and left before Gu Mingchao could say he supported it too.

The Vast Heaven Sect announced subsidies for the families of disciples from humble backgrounds, and Chu Xinghe’s decision won their gratitude and admiration across the world. As Wu Xingyun reflected on the family he had lost, Vast Heaven Sect disciples gathered to honor Chu Xinghe, but Ma Liang urged them to repay him through their actions instead.

• The Vast Heaven Sect announced family subsidies for every disciple from a humble background, and Zheng Yu recognized the scale and influence of Chu Xinghe’s decision.
• Humble families across the world praised Chu Xinghe and began favoring the Vast Heaven Sect, while disciples from humble backgrounds left minor sects that criticized the subsidies.
• Wu Xingyun remembered how the Bodhi Sect had abandoned his family, prompting him to wonder whether he might have avoided becoming the Demonic Emperor if he had joined the Vast Heaven Sect.
• Vast Heaven Sect disciples gathered outside the Spirit Crane Palace to thank Chu Xinghe, but Ma Liang scolded them and urged them to assist Chu Xinghe through their deeds.
• The disciples accepted Ma Liang’s words and joined in shouting, “Heaven blesses Vast Heaven!”

Chu Xinghe watched the Misfortune Compass settle without triggering backlash, while Vast Heaven Sect disciples eagerly pursued formation training under White Tiger. When White Tiger tried to gather the outer sect, he learned that Chu Cheng was impossible to summon and went to see him himself.

• Chu Xinghe saw the Misfortune Compass stop spinning and concluded that the benefits to the disciples and the resources spent had canceled each other out.
• Vast Heaven Sect disciples devoted themselves to cultivation, and White Tiger taught formation techniques to large crowds before switching to lessons organized by palace.
• White Tiger arrived at the outer sect and demanded that Liu Bo gather every disciple for his lesson.
• Liu Bo explained that the outer sect was divided between ordinary disciples and Chu Cheng, whom he could not make assemble.
• White Tiger followed Liu Bo to Chu Cheng's wooden house and heard Chu Cheng loudly insulting Chu Xinghe before seeing him.

White Tiger repeatedly beat Chu Cheng after Chu Cheng insulted him, while the Vast Heaven Sect developed its formation training and Chu Xinghe settled into a quiet routine. When ancient poisons afflicted Wuj iang’s young geniuses, Ji Changfeng sent the desperate Wuj iang Holy Mother to Chu Xinghe for help.

• Chu Cheng insulted White Tiger and threatened to cook him, so White Tiger returned to the cabin several times to beat him with sticks.
• White Tiger’s instruction helped identify formation-talented disciples, who were sent to the Formation Spirit Palace for specialized training.
• Chu Xinghe chose to lie low while the Spirit Crane Palace studied poisons and steadily consumed resources.
• Ancient venomous creatures emerged from a ruin in Wuj iang, poisoning many young geniuses with toxins that Wuj iang’s Holy Water could not cure.
• Ji Changfeng examined the afflicted disciples and admitted he had less than a ten percent chance of treating them, then urged the Wuj iang Holy Mother to take them to Chu Xinghe.
• The Wuj iang Holy Mother set out for the Vast Heaven Sect with the poisoned geniuses, while Chu Xinghe remained unaware in the Spirit Crane Palace.

Chu Xinghe’s attempt to keep Spirit Crane Palace’s poison-pill production harmless turned into a supposed act of foresight when Wuj iang prodigies arrived suffering from ancient poisons. Mu Bai used the prepared antidotes to cure them, and the chapter ended with Shi Biao reporting that the Vast Heaven Trading Company’s poison pills were selling like crazy.

• The Wuj iang Holy Mother arrived at the Vast Heaven Sect with poisoned prodigies, and the Grand Elder led her to Spirit Crane Palace to seek Chu Xinghe’s help.
• Chu Xinghe identified the ancient poisons afflicting the Wuj iang prodigies at a glance, impressing the Wuj iang visitors.
• Mu Bai used poison pills that Chu Xinghe had ordered Spirit Crane Palace to prepare, and the pills cured the afflicted prodigies.
• The Wuj iang Holy Mother revealed when the ancient poisonous creatures had appeared, and Mu Bai and the Grand Elder realized the timing matched Chu Xinghe’s sudden orders to refine poison pills.
• The Grand Elder asked whether Chu Xinghe had mastered the Star Divination Art, while Chu Xinghe privately regretted the misunderstanding and tried to order the pills removed from sale.
• Shi Biao rushed back and told Chu Xinghe that the Vast Heaven Trading Company’s poison pills were selling like crazy.

Shi Biao explained to Chu Xinghe how the Vast Heaven Trading Company won over the Demon Race through fair prices, reliable service, and generous compensation when it made mistakes. The company had secured seventy percent of the Demon Star Continent’s trade, and Shi Biao expected it to exceed ninety percent.

• A Demon Race customer received a thousandfold refund for a defective spirit treasure and protection from robbers, prompting rumors about the Vast Heaven Trading Company to spread across the Demon Star Continent.
• Demon Race customers flocked to the company to buy goods and sell their resources, while Shi Biao offered to purchase their treasures at seventy percent of the standard selling price.
• Humans and members of the Demon Race began joining forces to hunt in secret realms, and the Demon Race increasingly sold its finds to the Vast Heaven Trading Company to avoid being cheated.
• After the company underpaid for an ancient rare treasure it had failed to identify, its appraisers tracked down the Demon Race seller and paid him additional compensation.
• Shi Biao told Chu Xinghe that the company supported itself and controlled seventy percent of the Demon Star Continent’s trade, then vowed to capture more than ninety percent.

Shi Biao saw the Vast Heaven Trading Company's poison pills sell out after news spread of ancient venomous creatures and ruins in Wuj iang territory. Zheng Yu tried to make Martial Emperor City buy heavily, but its Great Elder's caution left the sect with only a small stock, and Cheng Xiaotian disciplined him for ignoring Zheng Yu.

• Shi Biao told Senior Brother Xinghe that the Vast Heaven Trading Company followed honest business practices and raised concerns about the slow sales of its poison pills.
• Senior Brother Xinghe ordered Shi Biao to raise poison pill prices tenfold, and Shi Biao later found buyers snapping up the pills after news of Wuj iang's ancient venomous creatures and ruins spread.
• Zheng Yu ordered Martial Emperor City to buy a large supply of poison pills, but Martial Emperor City's Great Elder instructed the disciples to purchase only a small amount and wait.
• After the news from Wuj iang territory reached them, Zheng Yu realized the Great Elder's caution had cost Martial Emperor City a chance to profit.
• Martial Emperor City's Great Elder asked Cheng Xiaotian to remove him from his position, but Cheng Xiaotian withheld six months of his resources and warned the sect to follow Zheng Yu's decisions.