Chapter Summaries

Wu Qun and alchemists from across the Four Continents celebrated the rebirth of extinct treasures and the new age Chu Xinghe had made possible. Meanwhile, the Earth Sha Evil Lord faced ruin from the Dead Spirit Realm’s drain on his division’s resources, and his First Elder surprisingly urged him to expose their secret as a possible escape.

• Wu Qun visited the Vast Heaven Holy Land, learned that its treasures would eventually be cultivated and sold publicly, and bowed to the First Elder in gratitude.
• Alchemists from across the Four Continents gathered to see the reborn treasures, while senior alchemists credited Chu Xinghe and the Muyue Kingdom with ushering in their glorious age.
• The Earth Sha Evil Lord struggled to pay for maintaining the Dead Spirit Realm, which drained and fractured the division’s poor earth veins.
• The Earth Sha Evil Lord considered releasing the Dead Spirit Realm and exposing the other Evil Lords, but feared the Shadow Ghosts and the Vast Heaven Holy Land’s retribution.
• The Earth Sha First Elder agreed that exposing themselves might offer a way to survive, leaving the Earth Sha Evil Lord furious and incredulous.

The Earth Sha Evil Lord agreed to seek help from the Vast Heaven Holy Land about the Dead Spirit Realm while concealing that his division had stolen its earth veins. At a meeting on disciple recruitment, Ma Liang declined a seat among the elders and stood beside Chu Xinghe, reaffirming his loyalty as the elders recognized his future role.

• The Earth Sha Grand Elder convinced the Earth Sha Evil Lord to report the Dead Spirit Realm's threat to the Vast Heaven Holy Land without admitting to the earth-vein theft, and the Evil Lord prepared to visit.
• Shen Chun summoned Chu Xinghe to a meeting about recruiting disciples, and Chu Xinghe dreaded being involved in recruitment again.
• The Vast Heaven Holy Land's elders had an extra chair prepared for Ma Liang to signal their recognition of his growing status and future as grand elder.
• Ma Liang reflected on how Chu Xinghe had helped him succeed and chose to stand beside him rather than take the chair.
• The elders smiled at Ma Liang's choice and approved of the grand elder's selection of him as a successor.

The Vast Heaven Holy Land appointed Ma Liang as chief examiner for this year’s disciple recruitment after Chu Xinghe declined to oversee it. As candidates in Haotian City scrambled to figure out Ma Liang’s preferences, Chu Xinghe celebrated—until Shen Chun arrived with news that the Earth Sha Evil Lord had come.

• The Grand Elder asked Chu Xinghe for his thoughts on this year’s recruitment, and Chu Xinghe urged the elders to leave the whole process to Ma Liang.
• The elders agreed that Ma Liang would serve as chief examiner, and Ma Liang promised to do his best despite his worries.
• News of Ma Liang’s appointment spread across the Four Continents, sending Haotian City’s candidates into an uproar as they tried to learn what might impress him.
• Chu Xinghe happily relaxed in his rocking chair, convinced that Ma Liang’s recruitment would not cause him trouble.
• Shen Chun appeared and told Chu Xinghe that the Earth Sha Evil Lord had arrived.

The Earth Sha Evil Lord visited the Vast Heaven Holy Land to ask for help suppressing an ancient Dead Spirit Realm and stopping its Shadow Ghosts. The Grand Elder focused on the escaped ghosts, and Elder He revealed that the Holy Land knew nine ways to find and kill them, leaving the Earth Sha Evil Lord stunned.

• The Grand Elder welcomed the Earth Sha Evil Lord to the Vast Heaven Holy Land, and Shen Chun warned Chu Xinghe to be wary of his visit.
• The Earth Sha Evil Lord told Chu Xinghe and the Holy Land's elders that changes to the Evil Shadow Continent's earth veins had opened an ancient Dead Spirit Realm that was spawning Shadow Ghosts.
• Shen Chun confirmed that Shadow Ghosts had caused unexplained killings on the Evil Shadow Continent, and the Earth Sha Evil Lord asked the Holy Land to suppress the realm.
• The Grand Elder argued that the immediate priority was hunting the escaped Shadow Ghosts, while the Earth Sha Evil Lord explained that only Mystic God-level divine sense could detect them.
• Elder He listed methods for finding and killing Shadow Ghosts, then revealed an ancient book titled The Complete Detailed Guide to Nine Ways to Find and Kill Shadow Ghosts, leaving the Earth Sha Evil Lord speechless.

The Earth Sha Evil Lord sought help from the Vast Heaven Holy Land to find Shadow Ghosts, and Elder He proposed using Chu Xinghe’s White Rainbow power to enchant spirit stones. Just as the Earth Sha Evil Lord offered to pay for the hundreds of thousands of stones needed, Chu Xinghe insisted the Vast Heaven Holy Land provide them all.

• The Earth Sha Evil Lord was stunned when Elder He produced an ancient text describing nine methods for finding and killing Shadow Ghosts.
• Elder He explained that the nine methods were unsuitable for finding the many Shadow Ghosts that had escaped, then proposed a tenth method using the White Rainbow’s revealing power on spirit stones.
• The Great Sage and the others agreed that the White Rainbow could expose hidden Shadow Ghosts across the Evil Shadow Continent.
• The Earth Sha Evil Lord offered to provide the spirit stones needed, and Elder He estimated that three to five hundred thousand would suffice.
• Chu Xinghe abruptly declared that the Vast Heaven Holy Land would provide every spirit stone, leaving the Earth Sha Evil Lord and everyone present bewildered.

Chu Xinghe persuaded the Vast Heaven Holy Land to fund an increasingly elaborate plan to detect Shadow Ghosts across the Four Continents, raising the cost to forty million Nine-Colored Spirit Stones. After the Earth Sha Evil Lord described the still-unsealed Dead Spirit Realm, Chu Xinghe looked delighted and eager to hear more.

• Chu Xinghe insisted the Vast Heaven Holy Land would pay for the spirit stones needed to deal with the Shadow Ghosts, arguing that the Earth Sha Evil Spirits Division might not be able to afford them.
• Chu Xinghe expanded the plan from the Evil Shadow Continent to all Four Continents and argued for spare sets and denser formations to guard against failures and escaping Shadow Ghosts.
• Chu Xinghe calculated that the plan required thirty million Nine-Colored Spirit Stones, and the Grand Elder approved forty million to make the allocation ten million per continent.
• The Grand Elder ordered Shen Chun to arrange the forty million Nine-Colored Spirit Stones, while Ma Liang supported the stunned Earth Sha Evil Lord.
• Chu Xinghe turned to the Dead Spirit Realm, and the Earth Sha Evil Lord explained that it could not yet be sealed and was being suppressed with earth-vein power; Chu Xinghe listened with visible excitement.

Chu Xinghe eagerly persuaded the Earth Sha Evil Lord to transfer the resource-draining Dead Spirit Realm to the Vast Heaven Holy Land, then insisted on paying for it. The Earth Sha Evil Lord agreed to a Heavenly Dao Contract, but Chu Xinghe inflated the price from 4.5 million spirit stones to 10 million nine-colored spirit stones.

• The Earth Sha Evil Lord asked the Vast Heaven Holy Land to support the Earth Sha Evil Spirits as the Dead Spirit Realm consumed their resources.
• Chu Xinghe proposed using the Earth Vein Translocation Technique to move the Dead Spirit Realm to the Vast Heaven Holy Land, where it could be supplied and suppressed.
• Chu Xinghe offered to buy the Dead Spirit Realm, and the Earth Sha Evil Lord agreed to seal the transfer in a Heavenly Dao Contract.
• Chu Xinghe objected that the contract listed the Dead Spirit Realm as a free gift and demanded that the Earth Sha Evil Lord add a price.
• The Earth Sha Evil Lord added 4.5 million spirit stones, but Chu Xinghe changed the sum to 10 million nine-colored spirit stones.

Chu Xinghe paid 10 million spirit stones for the supposedly bottomless Dead Spirit Realm, while the Vast Heaven Holy Land's leaders trusted his decision and watched and waited. After Gui Li was summoned to help with the realm's transfer, he believed Xinghe had been tricked and urged him to reconsider.

• Chu Xinghe used his bizarre rounding logic to raise the Dead Spirit Realm's price from 4.5 million to 10 million spirit stones and signed the Heavenly Dao Contract with the Earth Sha Evil Lord.
• Elder He silenced the Fate Divinity and chose to trust Xinghe, prompting the Vast Heaven Holy Land's leaders to watch and wait.
• The Grand Elder summoned Gui Li from the Civil Engineering Department to help handle the Dead Spirit Realm and guard against tricks from the Earth Sha Evil Lord.
• Gui Li greeted the Earth Sha Evil Lord without recognizing him, convincing the lord that Gui Li had wholly become a disciple of the Vast Heaven Holy Land.
• After hearing that Xinghe had bought the Dead Spirit Realm, Gui Li exclaimed that Xinghe had been foolish to acquire a bottomless pit.

After signing a contract to relocate the Dead Spirit Realm, Chu Xinghe was relieved when Gui Li warned that it would consume Vast Heaven Holy Land’s resources without end. As rumors spread and Bai Yu accused Chu Xinghe of deliberately draining the Holy Land, Zheng Yu defended him and revealed that Chu Xinghe had refused Martial Emperor City’s offer to cover part of the costs, suggesting he had another plan.

• Chu Xinghe realized he had signed the contract without first asking Gui Li about the Dead Spirit Realm, but Gui Li’s anger convinced him the deal would be a loss.
• Gui Li warned that the Dead Spirit Realm would consume Vast Heaven Holy Land’s resources, then promised to prevent the Earth Sha Evil Lord from trying any tricks.
• The Earth Sha Evil Lord abandoned his thoughts of switching the earth veins back, and he returned to the Evil Shadow Continent to prepare for the Dead Spirit Realm’s relocation.
• Vast Heaven Holy Land announced that it would handle the Shadow Ghosts, while news of the contract and the Dead Spirit Realm’s cost spread across the Four Continents.
• Bai Yu posted that Chu Xinghe’s real goal was to consume Vast Heaven Holy Land’s resources, and Zheng Yu rebutted him by saying Chu Xinghe had refused Martial Emperor City’s offer to pay ten percent of the expenses.

Chu Xinghe used his Xinghe Avatar to handle his busy duties while encouraging Ma Liang to take risks in recruiting disciples. He settled back into his rocking chair, but Elder He appeared before him looking suspiciously immaculate.

• Chu Xinghe liked Bai Yu’s post and downvoted Zheng Yu’s post, prompting both men to claim his reactions proved their analyses correct.
• Chu Xinghe supervised the Earth Sha Evil Lord’s preparations and Gui Li’s cooperation while Ma Liang asked for advice about recruiting disciples.
• Chu Xinghe urged Ma Liang to seek unusual geniuses and take risks instead of recruiting only safe, talented candidates.
• Ma Liang suggested Chu Xinghe split himself in two, and Chu Xinghe realized his Xinghe Divinity could handle his duties while his original body rested.
• Chu Xinghe sent his Xinghe Avatar to work at the Earth Sha Evil Spirits Division and watch Gui Li, then relaxed in his rocking chair until Elder He appeared looking unusually immaculate.

Elder He told Chu Xinghe that his Fate Divinity had begun strengthening and completing itself, though neither Chu Xinghe nor Holy Lord Gu Mingchao knew why. Meanwhile, Gui Li and the others investigated the strange earth-vein changes as the Earth Sha Evil Lord finished preparing the translocation formation.

• Elder He showed Chu Xinghe his growing Fate Divinity and explained that it had started changing while he was with the Holy Mother of Wujiang.
• Holy Lord Gu Mingchao and Chu Xinghe both advised Elder He to watch quietly as things changed, so he went back to the Holy Mother of Wujiang.
• The Earth Sha Evil Lord completed most of the Earth Vein Translocation Grand Formation while Gui Li investigated why the Vast Heaven Holy Land's earth veins had strengthened and the Earth Sha Evil Spirits' had declined.
• Wu Man and Zang Ling debated whether the Earth Sha Evil Lord had deliberately swapped the two sides' earth veins, but Zang Ling argued the Evil Lords would have discovered the imbalance through the Heavenly Secrets Evil Lord's calculations.

The Earth Sha Evil Lord transported the Dead Spirit Realm to the Vast Heaven Holy Land, where its new earth veins awakened its power and made it impossible to seal completely. Gui Li and White Tiger Holy Venerable temporarily suppressed it with an Earth Vein Grand Formation that required a constant supply of resources, while Chu Xinghe celebrated the outcome.

• The Earth Sha Evil Lord activated the Earth Vein Translocation Grand Formation as Gui Li activated the matching formation at the Vast Heaven Holy Land, transporting the Dead Spirit Realm to the Haotian Mountain Range.
• Gui Li and the White Tiger Holy Venerable used the Vast Heaven Holy Land’s formations to try to seal the Dead Spirit Realm after it arrived.
• The Dead Spirit Realm merged with the Vast Heaven Holy Land’s earth veins and grew stronger, so Gui Li warned White Tiger to stop the sealing attempt.
• Gui Li used the Evil God Mask and the power of the earth veins to temporarily suppress the Dead Spirit Realm, but the formation required countless resources every day.
• Gui Li explained that the Dead Spirit Realm could devour earth veins, and Chu Xinghe laughed as the Misfortune Compass spun rapidly.

The Dead Spirit Realm consumed far more resources after settling in the Vast Heaven Holy Land, and the Earth Sha Evil Lord offered compensation. Chu Xinghe refused and had him sent away, leaving outsiders baffled about his plan while the Grand Elder trusted him to handle the situation.

• The Dead Spirit Realm’s resource consumption surged, and Gui Li lamented that it reduced his daily workload.
• The Earth Sha Evil Lord offered to return the ten million spirit stones, but Chu Xinghe said the Heavenly Dao Contract proved the change had been unforeseen and refused compensation.
• Chu Xinghe arranged for Civil Engineering Department disciples to send the Earth Sha Evil Lord back and warned the Little Bear King to dismiss anyone offering resources as an impostor.
• The Grand Elder asked whether they should hold the Earth Sha Evil Lord accountable, and Chu Xinghe assured him that everything was within his calculations.
• Observers expected Chu Xinghe to demand compensation, while Zheng Yu insisted his actions had a deeper purpose despite being unable to explain it.

Ma Liang visited Chu Xinghe to discuss his plan for recruiting disciples in Haotian City, where candidates were anxious about his preferences as chief examiner. When Ma Liang proposed recruiting only formation masters, Chu Xinghe realized the plan could bring enormous returns and dreaded that Ma Liang would abandon it as too risky.

• Hua Xizhong defended Chu Xinghe against accusations that he was a mole, arguing that no faction would trust such an unrestrained spy.
• Chu Xinghe celebrated the Dead Spirit Realm consuming Vast Heaven Holy Land resources and anticipated collecting forty million manifestation spirit stones.
• Ma Liang told Chu Xinghe he was nervous about his upcoming role as chief examiner and had devised a recruitment plan for his advice.
• Chu Xinghe urged Ma Liang to trust his judgment, then stopped him from leaving when Ma Liang said he would instead select candidates with the best talent.
• Ma Liang proposed recruiting only formation masters, but said the White Tiger Holy Venerable and Elder Ling Mou had warned that the plan was risky and resource-intensive.

Ma Liang considered recruiting formation masters for the Vast Heaven Holy Land’s Formation Spirit Palace, but the White Tiger Holy Venerable warned that their training was costly and success was rare. Hearing this, Chu Xinghe realized he had overlooked how difficult and resource-intensive formation cultivation was, and regretted not using it earlier to drain the sect’s resources.

• Ma Liang visited the Formation Spirit Palace and learned from Elder Ling Mou and the White Tiger Holy Venerable that it was the only palace without disciples outside the Demon Race.
• Ma Liang proposed recruiting three thousand formation masters, but the White Tiger Holy Venerable explained that few would succeed and their training would consume enormous resources.
• Ma Liang and the White Tiger Holy Venerable discussed how formation masters needed precise memorization, extensive practice, and resources to develop.
• Chu Xinghe realized that his Innate Formation Mastery had blinded him to the difficulty of the path and regretted missing the chance to use it to consume the sect’s resources.

Chu Xinghe approved Ma Liang’s plan to recruit three thousand disciples and send them to the Formation Spirit Palace, convinced that their likely failure would consume resources before they could transfer to other training. He left to imbue spirit stones with White Rainbow, eager to keep using resources against the Shadow Ghosts.

• Chu Xinghe realized formation masters had low training success rates but consumed vast resources, and decided Ma Liang’s plan could serve his aims.
• Ma Liang worried that recruiting only formation masters would be too risky and disappoint prodigies who had waited to join the Vast Heaven Holy Land.
• Chu Xinghe proposed recruiting disciples normally and then sending them to study formations, with unsuccessful students able to transfer to other palaces.
• Ma Liang accepted Chu Xinghe’s plan as a way to combine risk with safety and set off for Haotian City to carry it out.
• Chu Xinghe planned to make up for the disciples’ lost training time by refining medicine, using even more sect resources.
• After a huge breakfast, Chu Xinghe left to imbue spirit stones with White Rainbow and deal with the Shadow Ghosts.

Chu Xinghe realized he had to inscribe formations on all forty million spirit stones and tried to find a way to share the work. He arranged for Tai Chu to teach the formation to Shu Da, setting up a contest between the Shadow Rats’ inability to learn and the Taiyin Evil Spirits’ perfect record of passing on techniques.

• The Civil Engineering Department prepared forty million spirit stones for Chu Xinghe, who began inscribing formations on them with White Rainbow before realizing the task meant making forty million formations by hand.
• When Huang Ritian insisted the Vast Heaven Holy Land had to keep its promise of forty million formations, Chu Xinghe tried to teach the formation to Shu Da, but Shu Da could not understand it despite more than two hundred attempts.
• Chu Xinghe brought the Taiyin Evil Spirits to the Civil Engineering Department and planned for Tai Chu to learn the formation and pass it on to the Shadow Rats.
• The Holy Lord, the Grand Elder, and the palace heads gathered to witness whether the Shadow Rats could learn through Tai Chu’s transmission or remain unable to learn any cultivation technique.

Chu Xinghe taught Tai Chu a formation, and Tai Chu successfully passed it on to Shu Da’s true body, who had previously been unable to learn formations. Although Shu Da struggled to use the formation, the Holy Land realized that the Three Shadow Rat Brothers’ numbers could turn his low success rate into a formidable weapon.

• Chu Xinghe taught Tai Chu how to inscribe a formation, and Tai Chu learned it after watching once.
• Tai Chu failed to teach Shu Da’s clone, but Holy Lord Gu Mingchao recognized it was not Shu Da’s true body.
• Tai Chu taught Shu Da’s true body the formation, and Shu Da successfully inscribed it after learning it.
• Elder Ling Mou suggested that Tai Chu could mass-produce formation masters, but Shu Da’s many failed attempts showed that learning a formation did not guarantee mastery.
• Elder He pointed out that the Three Shadow Rat Brothers could use their vast numbers to overcome Shu Da’s low success rate, prompting everyone to consider how many formations they could produce at once.

Chu Xinghe tried to use Shu Da and his brothers to complete forty million formations, but Elder Ling Mou pointed out that Shu Da could not form arrays on spirit stones. The White Tiger Holy Venerable revealed that Chu Xinghe’s Flying Locust could multiply and handle the task, leaving everyone convinced Chu Xinghe had planned it all while Chu Xinghe privately seethed at the misunderstanding.

• Shu Da thanked Chu Xinghe for giving the Shadow Rat Clan a future, and Chu Xinghe hoped the brothers’ new abilities would help him complete forty million formations while consuming resources.
• Chu Xinghe told Shu Da to practice by setting formations on spirit stones, but Elder Ling Mou warned that Shu Da lacked the skill to succeed at that.
• The White Tiger Holy Venerable explained that Chu Xinghe’s Flying Locust could multiply into ten thousand arraysmiths and make the forty million formations manageable.
• Elder Ling Mou and the Vast Heaven Holy Land’s elders praised Chu Xinghe for supposedly planning around Flying Locust, while Chu Xinghe privately cursed the White Tiger Holy Venerable for revealing the solution publicly.

Chu Xinghe mass-produced formation-engraved spirit stones to protect the Four Continents, astonishing formation masters with his Innate Formation Mastery and Flying Locust. As he drove toward completing forty million formations, Ma Liang arrived in Haotian City and was stunned by what he saw.

• Chu Xinghe left Shu Da and the others, then frantically used Flying Locust to make detection spirit stones and formation-engraved spirit stones.
• Shu Da and Gui Li praised Chu Xinghe’s apparent selflessness and hard work as he ignored their pleas to rest.
• The Vast Heaven Holy Land distributed formation-engraved spirit stones, and formation masters across the Four Continents were shocked by their complexity and sheer number.
• Formation masters learned that Flying Locust let Chu Xinghe control more than ten thousand tools at once, making forty million formations possible in under ten days.
• Ma Liang arrived safely in Haotian City and was dumbfounded by how much the city had changed.