Chapter Summaries

Elder He explained that Chu Xinghe had used the Spirit-Devouring Vortex and the Vast Heaven Holy Land’s resources to trigger a reversal in the Evil Shadow Continent’s earth veins, creating spirit mines and transforming the vortex. Elder He named the unique creation the Spirit-Gathering Vortex, while Chu Xinghe remained embarrassed by the praise and attention.

• Elder He explained that Chu Xinghe had predicted changes in the earth veins and poured the Vast Heaven Holy Land’s resources into the Spirit-Devouring Vortex to set them off.
• Gui Li argued that Chu Xinghe’s choice to bring him instead of Ma Liang proved he had planned for the earth-vein changes, and Ma Liang backed Gui Li’s explanation.
• Elder He explained that the earth-vein reversal created ten spirit mines and changed the vortex so it returned spiritual power, producing a ten-colored spirit stone from a Nine-Colored Spirit Stone.
• Cheng Xiaotian suggested calling the transformed vortex the Spirit-Spitting Vortex, but Elder He rejected the name and Chu Xinghe asked Elder He to name it instead.
• Elder He named it the Spirit-Gathering Vortex, earning the envy of other powerful figures who realized his name would endure as long as the unique vortex remained.
• Elder He warned the crowd that no one else could create a Spirit-Gathering Vortex because doing so required enough resources to change the Four Continents’ earth veins.

Elder He explained that the Spirit-Gathering Vortex created Ten-Colored Spirit Stones with no impurities, allowing cultivators to improve their chances of breaking through. The Four Continents’ leaders recognized its immense value, but the Vortex belonged to the Vast Heaven Holy Land, preventing them from seizing it.

• Cheng Xiaotian asked whether the Spirit-Gathering Vortex simply enhanced spirit stones like the Cui Clan’s Heart of the Earth.
• Elder He repeatedly emphasized that He Yanming of the Vast Heaven Holy Land had named the Spirit-Gathering Vortex, then demonstrated its effect by absorbing the spiritual power of a Ten-Colored Spirit Stone without expelling impurities.
• The big shots realized the Ten-Colored Spirit Stone contained no impurities and that the Vortex purified spirit stones rather than merely enhancing them.
• Elder He estimated that using a Ten-Colored Spirit Stone could raise a cultivator’s breakthrough chances by ten to twenty percentage points.
• The leaders coveted the Spirit-Gathering Vortex but held back from attacking because it belonged to the Vast Heaven Holy Land.

Ten-Colored Spirit Stones were shown to increase the chance of breaking through, while Zang Ling’s treatments and the Heart-Devouring Evil Spirits’ new cultivation path made bodily impurities easier to manage. At Down-and-Out Mountain, Wang Tieniu realized Chu Xinghe had kept him away because Xinghe’s real target was the Spirit-Devouring Vortex, not the spirit mines.

• Zang Ling explained that the Evil God's Fang still belonged to the Heart-Devouring Evil Lord and invited him to retrieve it from the Vast Heaven Holy Land, while warning of dangers on the way.
• Heart-Devouring Evil Spirits began treating cultivators for spirit stones, and their new way of cultivating earned them a welcome across the Three Continents.
• Elder He and other leaders calculated that Ten-Colored Spirit Stones raised breakthrough chances by at least ten percentage points, prompting Zheng Yu and other young geniuses to court Ma Liang.
• The leading figures wondered why the Vast Heaven Holy Land had ignored the spirit mines at Down-and-Out Mountain and why Chu Xinghe had recalled Wang Tieniu and forbidden him to leave.
• Wang Tieniu recalled that Chu Xinghe had called his plan important and realized Xinghe had been focused on the Spirit-Devouring Vortex all along.

Zheng Yu and the others realized Chu Xinghe had used the Spirit-Devouring Vortex, the shifting earth veins, Gui Li, and even rumors about spirit mines to create a Spirit-Gathering Vortex. The chapter ended with Chu Xinghe privately protesting as everyone kept praising his nonexistent master plan, while Bai Yu stayed silent about being labeled Chu Xinghe’s number two bootlicker.

• Zheng Yu realized Chu Xinghe had kept Wang Tieniu at the Vast Heaven Holy Land because Chu Xinghe was focused on the Spirit-Devouring Vortex rather than the spirit mines.
• Ma Liang explained that Gui Li, his Earth Sha Technique, and the Evil God Mask were crucial parts of Chu Xinghe’s plan to transform the vortex during the earth veins’ shift.
• Shen Chun claimed Chu Xinghe’s plan had begun when rumors about the spirit mines appeared and that Chu Xinghe had used those rumors to profit.
• The crowd speculated about who started the rumor, joking that the person might be competing with Yuan Ying to become Chu Xinghe’s top bootlicker.
• Chu Xinghe silently objected as Elder He and others interpreted his questions about the vortex as proof of careful planning.
• Bai Yu remained silent as the crowd called him Chu Xinghe’s number two bootlicker, despite his role as a founding member of the Xinghe Haters’ Group.

The Vast Heaven Holy Land debated how to distribute the Ten-Colored Spirit Stones produced by Chu Xinghe’s Spirit-Gathering Vortex. Chu Xinghe chose Gui Li’s one-stone-for-one-cart exchange plan over Ma Liang’s supposedly free offer, and the factions accepted the exchange as a bargain compared with Ma Liang’s terms.

• The Vast Heaven Holy Land began managing the Spirit-Gathering Vortex, and factions across the Four Continents sought to buy its limited supply of Ten-Colored Spirit Stones.
• Chu Xinghe rejected Ma Liang’s proposal to give the stones away for free and asked Gui Li to set the price.
• Gui Li proposed exchanging one Ten-Colored Spirit Stone for a cart of nine-colored spirit stones, citing the Evil Shadow Continent’s rules.
• Ma Liang explained that his free plan would require successful recipients to work for the Vast Heaven Holy Land for years or pay to buy out the obligation.
• Chu Xinghe chose Gui Li’s plan, and the Vast Heaven Holy Land announced the one-to-one exchange.
• After Ma Liang offered his free plan to complainers, the factions defended the exchange price, and Zheng Yu placed a large advance order.

Ma Liang explained that Tantai Jing had bought two-thirds of the Vast Heaven Holy Land’s Ten-Colored Spirit Stones, using the Demonic Sect’s growing commercial wealth. The chapter described Tantai Jing’s contract-based reforms, which the Demonic Sect’s leaders reluctantly approved before the changes unexpectedly helped the sect rise to prominence.

• The Vast Heaven Holy Land ran out of Ten-Colored Spirit Stones for exchange after Zheng Yu bought a large batch for Martial Emperor City and Tantai Jing bought two-thirds of the remaining supply for the Demonic Sect.
• Ma Liang told Chu Xinghe that the Demonic Sect had accumulated resources through its industries and now recruited disciples through contracts based on the value they created.
• Tantai Jing’s new system used a three-month trial, formal membership contracts, and six ranks that determined disciples’ resources and benefits.
• Tantai Jing defended the reforms to Yuan Ying and the other leaders, arguing that the Demonic Sect could not rely on the cohesion or loyalty expected of righteous sects.
• The Demonic Sect’s leaders unanimously approved the reforms, though many expected them to fail, and the changes instead helped the sect rise to prominence.

Tantai Jing reshaped the Demonic Sect by tying resources and promotions to members’ contributions, winning ordinary disciples’ support and stripping the middle ranks and elders of their influence. The reforms left the sect more united than before, with its members’ prosperity bound to its survival.

• Tantai Jing replaced fixed monthly resource allotments for members below elder rank with assessments based on their contributions, provoking the Demonic Sect’s idle middle ranks.
• Wu Xingyun considered asking Tantai Jing to abandon the reforms, but Tantai Jing persuaded him to wait and see how events unfolded.
• After hardworking disciples received increased resources, they rallied behind Tantai Jing and turned against the idle members who had demanded his removal.
• Tantai Jing tied promotions to value and work, allowing deserving disciples to rise while demoting or sidelining those who relied on flattery and underhanded dealings.
• Tantai Jing’s reforms weakened the middle ranks’ control over ordinary disciples and left the elders unable to mobilize the sect against him.
• The Demonic Sect’s total monthly resource spending fell while ordinary disciples’ allotments rose, and its members became invested in protecting the sect that provided for them.

Tantai Jing used the Demonic Sect’s reformed system to amass resources and corner the market on Ten-Colored Spirit Stones, reselling them at a steep markup. The first cultivators to use the stones discovered their breakthrough benefits exceeded expectations, though the chapter ended before their newly revealed effect was explained.

• Tantai Jing’s reforms made Demonic Sect disciples work harder by rewarding them with greater resources, rapidly increasing the sect’s business results.
• Tantai Jing ordered the Demonic Sect to buy up nine-colored spirit stones, then secured two-thirds of the Vast Heaven Holy Land’s Ten-Colored Spirit Stones and partnered with Zheng Yu.
• Tantai Jing and Zheng Yu sold the stones through black markets at twice the Vast Heaven Holy Land’s price, forcing cultivators who needed breakthroughs to buy them despite the cost.
• The first cultivators to use Ten-Colored Spirit Stones found that their effects exceeded the expected increase in breakthrough success, and one discovered an additional, irreplaceable benefit.

The Ten-Colored Spirit Stone was revealed to protect a cultivator’s meridians if a breakthrough failed, allowing a second attempt. Zheng Yu’s tests further showed that the stone seemed to improve the odds of success on that second attempt, sending the Four Continents into a frenzy.

• The chapter explained that breakthroughs carried a risk of failure, and that low-level cultivators often avoided them because a failed attempt could leave them crippled.
• Cultivators discovered that when a Ten-Colored Spirit Stone was used during a failed breakthrough, its power protected their meridians and allowed them to try again.
• A chosen of heaven used that second chance and successfully advanced to a new rank.
• Tantai Jing halted external sales of Ten-Colored Spirit Stones after their breakthrough-protecting ability became known.
• Zheng Yu tested the stones with Martial Emperor City disciples and confirmed that they too received a second attempt after failing.
• Zheng Yu announced that the disciples’ second attempts seemed more likely to succeed than their first, further exciting the Four Continents.

The Ten-Colored Spirit Stone’s breakthrough benefits became clear, causing the Four Continents to accept its price and seek future allocations from the Vast Heaven Holy Land. After reassuring the major forces that sales would continue at the original terms, Chu Xinghe saw Rogue Cultivators lament that they could never obtain the stones and vowed to help them rise.

• Zheng Yu estimated that a Ten-Colored Spirit Stone greatly improved breakthrough odds, protected meridians after failure, and enabled a stronger second attempt, prompting uproar across the Four Continents.
• Major forces and evil lords visited the Vast Heaven Holy Land, and Chu Xinghe initially thought they wanted him to sell more stones.
• The visitors asked the Vast Heaven Holy Land to keep selling its usual allocations to outsiders, even offering to pay far more.
• Chu Xinghe promised the stones would continue to be sold at the previously announced prices and quantities, and the visitors left satisfied.
• Rogue Cultivators lamented that the stones were beyond their reach, so Chu Xinghe watched them through the Haotian Mirror and vowed to carry them to new heights.

Chu Xinghe persuaded the Vast Heaven Holy Land to give surplus Ten-Colored Spirit Stones to selected Rogue Cultivators for free, and the Four Continents erupted over the announcement. Bai Yu celebrated the giveaway as the first time Chu Xinghe would suffer a loss.

• Chu Xinghe proposed giving surplus Ten-Colored Spirit Stones to Rogue Cultivators, arguing that the stones could give them hope and help them break through.
• The Grand Elder and the other seat holders approved Chu Xinghe’s plan, and Gu Mingchao found inspiration for his writing in Xinghe’s actions.
• The Vast Heaven Holy Land announced that it would select Rogue Cultivators to receive Ten-Colored Spirit Stones for free, sparking excitement and disbelief across the Four Continents.
• Demonic Sect elders criticized the giveaway, saying the stones could instead be sold for a huge profit.
• Bai Yu published an article declaring that Chu Xinghe’s record of never taking a loss was about to be shattered.

Bai Yu tried to reassure the White Spirit Evil Lord that the White Spirit Division had not lost much by selling its spirit mines, but news that most of its mines had become worthless sent the Evil Lord fainting. The Evil Lords sought help from the Earth Sha Evil Lord, who revealed that Gui Li’s use of the Evil God Mask had sent Evil Shadow Continent’s earth veins out of control, leaving their fate uncertain.

• Bai Yu endured accusations that he had defected and that his rumors had helped Chu Xinghe, while the White Spirit Evil Lord also suspected him of joining the Vast Heaven Holy Land.
• The White Spirit Evil Lord mocked Bai Yu for becoming known as Evil Shadow Continent’s number one defector, and Bai Yu argued that selling the spirit mines for high prices had still benefited the White Spirit Division.
• A White Spirit elder reported that shifting earth veins had turned more than seventy percent of the White Spirit Division’s major spirit mines worthless, causing the White Spirit Evil Lord to faint.
• After recovering, the White Spirit Evil Lord urged everyone to stay calm and joined the other Evil Lords in asking the Earth Sha Evil Lord to repair the earth veins.
• The Earth Sha Evil Lord explained that Gui Li had already altered Evil Shadow Continent’s earth-vein power with the Evil God Mask, leaving the veins beyond his ability to restore and their eventual state unknown.

The ley-line inversion devastated the Evil Spirit divisions, while the Vast Heaven Holy Land announced that Evil Spirit Rogue Cultivators would have the same chance as others to receive Ten-Colored Spirit Stones. As more Evil Spirits set out to learn about Chu Xinghe, Bai Yu gathered the Xinghe Haters' Group and promised he still had a plan.

• The shifting ley lines ruined the Nine Divisions' major spirit mines and transferred resources to smaller divisions, many of which had ties to forces from the Three Continents.
• The Evil Lords accused the White Spirit Evil Lord of secretly siding with Chu Xinghe, but Bai Yu had already fled before his leader could find him.
• Bai Yu resolved to prove he had not defected and seized on the Vast Heaven Holy Land's free Ten-Colored Spirit Stone distribution as an opportunity to oppose Chu Xinghe.
• The Vast Heaven Holy Land announced that qualified Rogue Cultivators from Evil Shadow Continent would have the same chance to receive stones as those from the other continents.
• Excited Evil Spirit Rogue Cultivators began leaving Evil Shadow Continent, and Bai Yu convened the Xinghe Haters' Group and told its members he still had ideas.

Bai Yu persuaded the Xinghe Haters' Group to target Ma Liang and undermine the Vast Heaven Holy Land’s free Ten-Colored Spirit Stone offer. Meanwhile, Chu Xinghe burned Ma Liang’s profit-making plans and insisted that this giveaway remain completely free, unaware that the haters were preparing to attack Ma Liang.

• Erlüzi and the other leaders urged Bai Yu to stop making schemes that made their group look like Chu Xinghe’s supporters, but Bai Yu rallied them to hate proactively.
• Bai Yu proposed accusing Ma Liang of exploiting the free Ten-Colored Spirit Stone offer, hoping public anger would force the Vast Heaven Holy Land to sideline him and weaken Chu Xinghe.
• The Xinghe Haters' Group began preparing an attack on Ma Liang.
• Ma Liang arrived at the Vast Heaven Holy Land with thirty-two plans to give away the spirit stones while making a profit, after the grand elder arranged for him to learn from Chu Xinghe.
• Chu Xinghe burned Ma Liang’s plans and insisted the offer have no extra conditions, claiming his Star Divination Art warned that anything else would bring disaster.

Chu Xinghe imposed strict rules on Ma Liang’s Ten-Colored Spirit Stone giveaway to ensure it was genuinely free, while the Xinghe Haters' Group launched a campaign accusing Ma Liang of planning to make recipients work for the stones. Ma Liang mistook Chu Xinghe’s precautions for a prophecy of the attack and resolved to repay his senior brother with an enormous surprise.

• Chu Xinghe ordered Ma Liang to make the giveaway unconditional, free of extra costs, and fair to all Rogue Cultivators, then urged him to accept the loss as an act of mutual support.
• Ma Liang struggled to organize the giveaway under Chu Xinghe’s rules and could not understand the deeper meaning of his senior brother’s advice.
• Bai Yu and Vice Leader Erlüzi used a rumored earlier proposal from Ma Liang to accuse him of disguising forced labor as a free Ten-Colored Spirit Stone plan.
• The Xinghe Haters' Group spread the accusations across the Haotian Mirror, stirring controversy among Rogue Cultivators and damaging Ma Liang’s reputation.
• Ma Liang saw the attacks, credited Chu Xinghe’s Star Divination Art with foreseeing them, and decided to give Chu Xinghe an enormous surprise.

Ma Liang dispelled rumors about the Ten-Colored Spirit Stone giveaway after Chu Xinghe’s warning helped him avoid a reputation crisis. Chu Xinghe lamented that the rumor-mongers had missed a chance to blacken his name, while Bai Yu prepared another move against him.

• Ma Liang realized Bai Yu’s accusations could have ruined his reputation if the Vast Heaven Holy Land had announced the rumored giveaway plan, so he clarified on the Haotian Mirror that the Ten-Colored Spirit Stones would be free and that the allegations were baseless.
• Ma Liang asked Shen Chun to punish the rumor-mongers, but Shen Chun explained that Chu Xinghe had ordered the Vast Heaven Holy Land not to target the Xinghe Haters' Group because they could be useful.
• Ma Liang admired Chu Xinghe’s willingness to tolerate and use haters, then resolved to handle the Ten-Colored Spirit Stone giveaway well and surprise him.
• Chu Xinghe privately regretted warning Ma Liang, wishing Bai Yu had directed the attack at him instead, and urged the Xinghe Haters' Group to make a bolder effort to ruin his name.
• Bai Yu gathered Big Smart, Erlüzi, Sanpao, Si Bangchui, Wu Quezi, and Lao Liu at the group's secret base and announced that their failed attack had only been the first round and that he had another idea.

Bai Yu convinced the Xinghe Haters' Group that Ma Liang’s public promise to give away Ten-Colored Spirit Stones had trapped the Vast Heaven Holy Land into a costly choice, so the group prepared a campaign against Chu Xinghe. Ma Liang struggled to devise a giveaway plan and left Chu Xinghe’s office with only a cryptic hint, while Chu Xinghe laughed at the challenge.

• Bai Yu argued that the Xinghe Haters' Group had seized the initiative by forcing the Vast Heaven Holy Land to honor Ma Liang’s public promise or face accusations of breaking it.
• Bai Yu ordered the group’s professional haters to prepare articles attacking Chu Xinghe’s undefeated reputation as soon as the Vast Heaven Holy Land announced its plan.
• Ma Liang lost sleep over how to distribute the Ten-Colored Spirit Stones fairly without causing harm or a crushing loss for the Vast Heaven Holy Land.
• Ma Liang asked Chu Xinghe for advice, but Chu Xinghe told him he had already given a hint and sent him away to think it over.
• Chu Xinghe privately laughed, pleased that Ma Liang’s confidence in understanding him would be tested.

Chu Xinghe sent Qin Xiangqian to Ma Liang, hoping the two would fail to turn his vague hints into another profitable plan. Ma Liang was already struggling to understand how to distribute the Ten-Colored Spirit Stone, and the chapter left him facing Qin Xiangqian’s request for guidance.

• Ma Liang believed Chu Xinghe had hidden the answer to the Ten-Colored Spirit Stone problem as a test of his ability to spot hidden dangers.
• Qin Xiangqian returned to the Vast Heaven Holy Land in light purple grand deacon robes to report to the Grand Elder and seek Chu Xinghe’s advice about the Vast Heaven Chamber of Commerce.
• Chu Xinghe feared that giving Qin Xiangqian advice would inspire him to devise an even more successful plan.
• Chu Xinghe told Qin Xiangqian that he had already given Ma Liang the solution and sent him to seek Ma Liang’s guidance.
• Ma Liang encountered Qin Xiangqian, who began explaining why he had returned.

Chu Xinghe sent Qin Xiangqian to help Ma Liang, expecting the pressure to leave Ma Liang confused, but Ma Liang regained his composure and interpreted Xinghe’s advice about mutual help and a win-win. Ma Liang realized the Ten-Colored Spirit Stone plan could also help the Vast Heaven Chamber of Commerce break into the Evil Shadow Continent, though he had not yet explained how.

• Chu Xinghe delighted in sending Qin Xiangqian to add to Ma Liang’s troubles, hoping the pressure would unsettle him.
• Qin Xiangqian found Ma Liang in poor spirits and explained that Chu Xinghe had sent him for help with the Ten-Colored Spirit Stone.
• Qin Xiangqian argued that Chu Xinghe was testing Ma Liang by making him face pressure without relying on Xinghe to solve everything.
• After hearing Xinghe’s remarks, Ma Liang remembered the advice to help one another and achieve a win-win, and declared that it revealed the Ten-Colored Spirit Stone plan.
• Qin Xiangqian described the Vast Heaven Chamber of Commerce’s losses and failed attempts to enter the Evil Shadow Continent market.
• Ma Liang claimed the plan would prevent a loss on the Ten-Colored Spirit Stone and serve as the first step toward opening the Evil Shadow Continent to the chamber of commerce.

Ma Liang realized that Xinghe’s free Ten-Colored Spirit Stone drawing could bring evil spirits into the Vast Heaven Chamber of Commerce and break its market blockade on the Evil Shadow Continent. After the Great Elder approved Ma Liang’s plan, Ma Liang announced it across the Four Continents, sparking an uproar.

• Ma Liang explained to Qin Xiangqian that entry in the free Ten-Colored Spirit Stone drawing would require proof of a purchase from the Vast Heaven Chamber of Commerce, drawing evil spirits into its shops.
• Qin Xiangqian rushed to prepare the Vast Heaven Chamber of Commerce, while Ma Liang refined the plan and decided to present it to the Great Elder.
• The Great Elder recognized Xinghe’s strategy in the plan, approved it with his seal, and authorized Ma Liang to announce it across the Four Continents.
• Ma Liang publicly announced the free Ten-Colored Spirit Stone plan, and the Four Continents erupted into an uproar.