Chapter Summaries

Jiang Sheng agreed to accompany Lin Fan to investigate a Water-Fire Secret Realm in the Chu Kingdom, and they met Mu Chan at an auction house in Qingyang Commandery. The chapter left them anticipating an auctioned treasure-map fragment that might lead to a golden core cultivator’s estate and information about Earthcore Spirit Marrow.

• Lin Fan told Jiang Sheng about a naturally formed Water-Fire Secret Realm in the Chu Kingdom, and Jiang Sheng agreed to travel with him.
• Jiang Sheng left Tian Ming'an with instructions and pills before setting out with Lin Fan toward the Wei Kingdom.
• Lin Fan and Jiang Sheng changed into fine scholar and noble attire and drew attention upon arriving at Qingyang Commandery.
• Lin Fan introduced Jiang Sheng to Mu Chan at the auction house and explained that she had discovered the Water-Fire Secret Realm, which was expected to emerge within two years.
• Lin Fan told Jiang Sheng that the auction might offer information about Earthcore Spirit Marrow and a golden core cultivator’s estate.
• The auction host announced a fragment of a treasure map said to concern a True Person’s estate, and Lin Fan recognized it as the item he had been waiting for.

Lin Fan and Jiang Sheng followed a treasure-map fragment to a cave abode in Wild Mountain, where Lin Fan exposed and killed a group of bandits posing as relic hunters. They left for Thousandfold Mountain Valley after Jiang Sheng determined the abode was merely an abandoned Purple Mansion Realm site.

• Lin Fan won an ancient treasure-map fragment at auction and arranged to meet Mu Chan outside Thousandfold Mountain Valley in three months.
• Lin Fan and Jiang Sheng traveled to Wild Mountain, where they rescued Chen Zhixing from bandits and received his fragment scroll, which fit Lin Fan’s map.
• Lin Fan and Jiang Sheng found the cave abode marked by the joined fragments and discovered bandits watching them through a formation projection.
• Lin Fan revealed his Purple Mansion Realm strength, destroyed the formation, and killed the Foundation Establishment bandits hiding inside.
• Jiang Sheng identified the cave abode as an abandoned Purple Mansion Realm site, and Lin Fan left for Thousandfold Mountain Valley.

Jiang Sheng and Lin Fan traveled across the Chu Kingdom to reach Thousandfold Mountain Valley, where they were ambushed by demon monkeys controlled by an unseen enemy. Jiang Sheng drew the enemy out with fire-dragon talismans, and Lin Fan prepared to strike.

• Jiang Sheng found a genuine treasure-map fragment among the belongings of rogue cultivators, and Lin Fan kept it before they set out for Thousandfold Mountain Valley.
• Jiang Sheng and Lin Fan spent more than half a month traveling into the Chu Kingdom, avoiding trouble with its powerful clans as they crossed toward the valley.
• Jiang Sheng and Lin Fan entered Thousandfold Mountain Valley and followed Lin Fan’s route toward the hidden secret realm Mu Chan had revealed to him.
• Lin Fan realized they had been led off course and suspected they had entered a trap as demon monkeys appeared in the mist.
• Jiang Sheng used two fire-dragon talismans to kill the demon monkeys and draw out their controller, while Lin Fan prepared to kill the hidden enemy with one strike.

Jiang Sheng and Lin Fan avenged Ma Hefeng by attacking and wiping out the Ma Clan hunting party in Thousandfold Mountain Valley. They took the clan members’ belongings and continued toward the secret realm, expecting the Ma Clan’s Golden Core cultivators to pursue them.

• Lin Fan killed Ma Hefeng, and he and Jiang Sheng decided to attack the Ma Clan after discovering the dead man’s identity.
• The Ma Clan’s hunting party learned that Ma Hefeng and other clansmen had died, then faced Jiang Sheng and Lin Fan’s sudden assault.
• Lin Fan killed a middle-stage Purple Mansion Realm cultivator while Jiang Sheng and he slaughtered the party’s branch-family members and servants.
• Ma Hehui and Ma Hexiao offered compensation, but Jiang Sheng resumed his attack and killed the remaining Ma Clan members.
• Jiang Sheng and Lin Fan divided the storage bags and set out to find the secret realm, prepared to fight the Ma Clan’s experts if they came after them.

Ma Yuntong ordered Ma Yunzhi to investigate the deaths of the Ma Clan cultivators in Thousandfold Mountain Valley while weighing the political risks of retaliation. Unaware of the investigation, Lin Fan and Jiang Sheng reached the Hundred-Eyed Spider’s cave and received permission to pass through toward the secret realm.

• Ma Yuntong sent Ma Yunzhi and the gu guards to investigate the deaths in Thousandfold Mountain Valley, instructing him to act cautiously and protect the Ma Clan’s reputation.
• Lin Fan scattered Ma Hehui’s, Ma Hexiao’s, and the others’ belongings across the surrounding area to complicate the Ma Clan’s search, but kept their spirit stones and magical artifacts.
• Lin Fan showed Jiang Sheng the spider silk surrounding the cave and explained that he had made an agreement with its Hundred-Eyed Spider Queen.
• The late Purple Mansion Realm Hundred-Eyed Spider Queen gave Lin Fan and Jiang Sheng white threads and let them pass through her cave.
• Lin Fan and Jiang Sheng entered the pitch-black cave on their way to the secret realm.

Lin Fan and Jiang Sheng reached the pool concealing the Water Fire Secret Realm, where they met Mu Chan and Xiang Yao and entered the realm together. After agreeing to divide the spoils according to their contributions, they split up to search the water and fire spirits’ lairs.

• Lin Fan led Jiang Sheng through the Hundred-Eyed Spiders’ mountain tunnel to a secluded valley and revealed that the secret realm lay beneath its pool.
• Jiang Sheng set up a Flowing Light Jadewater Formation, and he and Lin Fan waited ten days for Mu Chan and Xiang Yao to arrive.
• Xiang Yao told the group that the Ma Clan was searching Thousandfold Mountain Valley for the killers of its descendants and cultivators, then set up a Watercloud Illusory Mist Formation.
• The four descended through the pool and entered the Water Fire Secret Realm by combining water and fire spiritual power to open its entrance.
• Lin Fan and Mu Chan flew toward the water spirits’ lair, while Jiang Sheng and Xiang Yao set off toward the fire spirits’ lair.

Jiang Sheng and Lin Fan fought the Golden Core Realm fire and water Spirit Kings while Xiang Yao and Mu Chan searched for spirit pearls. Jiang Sheng badly wounded the fire Spirit King, which healed and grew six arms, while Lin Fan summoned a fiery heavenly dragon and claimed he would win the wager.

• The fire Spirit King ordered the fire spirits to attack, and Jiang Sheng cut through their lava barrage with the Qingping Sword while Xiang Yao engaged the enemies below.
• Jiang Sheng challenged the fire Spirit King as Xiang Yao fought other fire spirits, then shattered the king’s lava spear and pierced its chest with a sword strike.
• The fire Spirit King healed itself with molten fire, grew four additional arms, and attacked Jiang Sheng with six lava spears.
• Lin Fan evaded the water Spirit King’s attacks while Mu Chan moved around it to search for Water Spirit Pearls.
• Lin Fan unleashed a fiery heavenly dragon, forced the surrounding water spirits back, and told the water Spirit King he expected to win his wager with Brother Yuanchen.

Lin Fan, Jiang Sheng, Xiang Yao, and Mu Chan defeated the Water and Fire Spirit Kings and collected Spirit Pearls before leaving the secret realm. After dividing their gains, Lin Fan proposed that Jiang Sheng help him kill a Golden Core cultivator from the Ma Clan.

• Lin Fan and Jiang Sheng fought the Water and Fire Spirit Kings while Xiang Yao and Mu Chan gathered the Fire Spirit Pearls and Water Spirit Pearls.
• Jiang Sheng killed the Fire Spirit King, and Lin Fan killed the weakened Water Spirit King; the four then reunited and escaped the secret realm.
• Jiang Sheng and Lin Fan reflected on how water and fire complemented each other, then the group divided the Spirit Pearls, giving the extras to Lin Fan and Jiang Sheng.
• Lin Fan traded two extra Water Spirit Pearls and a spirit sword crystal for three of Jiang Sheng's Fire Spirit Pearls.
• Lin Fan told Jiang Sheng that the Ma Clan's people were searching for them and asked him to help kill their Golden Core cultivator.

The author explained how Dao Lord began as an attempt to write the kind of xianxia he wanted to read, despite advice to follow popular formulas and the novel's weak performance. He announced that Dao Lord would go premium this Friday and promised a 10,000-word update that day, while acknowledging that he might need to find work if the book did not earn enough.

• The author said that several novels he followed had stopped updating, leaving him unable to find books he wanted to read, so he started writing Dao Lord.
• The author described revising and resubmitting the story after Penglai Daoist failed to get a contract, until Liu Xing accepted Dao Lord, Beginning Foundation Establishment in Penglai.
• The author said readers' comments, votes, recommendations, and tips helped the novel reach the first and second recommendation rounds, though it missed the third before later receiving another opportunity.
• The author explained that he wrote 6,000 words a day and planned to keep updating, though he might seek work if the novel had no prospects.
• The author announced that Dao Lord would go premium this Friday and promised to update 10,000 words that day.

Lin Fan and Jiang Sheng prepared to confront Ma Yunzhi, while Ma Yunzhi’s Gu Guards continued slaughtering their way through the Thousandfold Mountain Valley. Xiang Yao and Mu Chan left safely after Xiang Yao challenged Ma Yunzhi, and Xiang Yao suspected the Ma Clan deaths were connected to Jiang Sheng and Lin Fan.

• Lin Fan and Jiang Sheng agreed to fight Ma Yunzhi and flew out of the valley to meet him.
• Ma Yunzhi ordered the Gu Guards to keep expanding their purge through the Thousandfold Mountain Valley, killing cultivators and other living creatures.
• Xiang Yao rebuked Ma Yunzhi for the massacre and suggested the Mountain Lord might be responsible for the Ma Clan descendants’ deaths.
• Ma Yunzhi let Xiang Yao and Mu Chan pass because he feared the consequences of provoking the Xiang Clan, then ordered the Gu Guards to push another five hundred li inward.
• Xiang Yao told Mu Chan she suspected Jiang Sheng and Lin Fan were connected to the deaths, and the two discussed their constrained futures and the Water-Fire Spirit Pearls.

Lin Fan and Jiang Sheng lured Ma Yunzhi away from the Ma Clan camp and revealed that only the two Purple Mansion cultivators planned to fight him. Ma Yunzhi attacked Lin Fan, who summoned Azure Rainbow and unleashed his sword intent, leaving their battle underway.

• Lin Fan attacked the Ma Clan camp and killed two Purple Mansion Gu Guards who pursued him.
• Ma Yunzhi left the camp to hunt Lin Fan, while the remaining Gu Guards assumed their Golden Core lord had nothing to fear.
• Ma Yunzhi found Lin Fan beside the dead captains and suspected a Golden Core ambush when Lin Fan calmly confronted him.
• Jiang Sheng revealed himself and told Ma Yunzhi that only he and Lin Fan were attacking.
• Ma Yunzhi sent his Crescent Moon Scimitar toward Lin Fan, who summoned Azure Rainbow and unleashed sweeping sword Qi.

Jiang Sheng and Lin Fan combined their water and fire techniques to defeat and kill Ma Yunzhi, a Golden Core True Person, in Thousandfold Mountain Valley. The Ma Clan camp realized Ma Yunzhi’s pressure had vanished and moved to investigate, while news of his death stunned Chu Kingdom.

• Ma Yunzhi attacked Lin Fan and Jiang Sheng, but Lin Fan withstood his scimitar assault while Jiang Sheng pierced Ma Yunzhi’s baleful aura with the Qingping Sword.
• Ma Yunzhi recognized the pair as the ones who killed Ma Clan cultivators and unleashed his full power, summoning two venomous flood dragons from his Crescent Moon Scimitar.
• Jiang Sheng and Lin Fan used “River Flow” and “Heaven Burning” together, combining water and fire attacks against Ma Yunzhi’s flood dragons and gu insects.
• The combined blue and red attacks broke through Ma Yunzhi’s defenses, shattered his golden core, and sent him falling from the sky.
• The Ma Clan’s gu guards noticed Ma Yunzhi’s pressure and the storm had disappeared, and the two remaining Purple Mansion officers ordered the camp to break and investigate.
• The Shanhe Calendar recorded that Ma Yunzhi had been slain by Purple Mansion Realm cultivators, and the news stunned Chu Kingdom.

Jiang Sheng recovered from his injuries in Plain County and painted scenes of the autumn harvest and nearby mountains while Jiang Jinyu attended him. As he considered how Zheng Kingdom’s royal family centralized power through the Heavenly Official Institute, the county magistrate hurried over after spotting his paintings, still intent on something.

• Jiang Jinyu watched Jiang Sheng paint the autumn harvest and recalled how her father had sheltered him when he arrived in Plain County badly wounded.
• Jiang Sheng reflected on surviving his fight with Ma Yunzhi’s Golden Core and chose to stop dwelling on what might have happened differently.
• Jiang Sheng considered how Zheng Kingdom’s royal family used the Heavenly Official Institute to gather cultivators under its authority, unlike the systems in Chu Kingdom and Qi Kingdom.
• Jiang Jinyu ground ink and watched Jiang Sheng paint a landscape, which he said reflected his familiarity with mountains and waters.
• The county magistrate finished working in the fields, spotted Jiang Sheng painting, and hurried over; Jiang Sheng remarked that the magistrate still had not given up.

Jiang Sheng rejected an invitation to attend the Zheng Kingdom’s grand gathering and decided to leave Plain County, explaining to the Jiang Family why immortal cultivation made lasting ties with mortals impossible. He departed after giving Jiang Dewen a cultivation method, leaving the family to consider the wealth and status it might bring.

• Jiang Sheng dismissed Magistrate Zheng Jin’s invitation to the grand gathering, saying he would not perform before a crowd.
• Jiang Sheng decided to leave Plain County and went to bid farewell to Jiang Dewen and Jiang Jinyu.
• Jiang Sheng explained that mortals and cultivators had different lifespans and that severing earthly ties early was best for both sides.
• Jiang Jinyu refused Jiang Sheng’s offer of a cultivation method, but Jiang Sheng gave the jade slip to Jiang Dewen instead.
• Jiang Dewen realized the method could earn the Jiang Family wealth and status if he handed it over to the authorities.

Jiang Dewen gave Jiang Sheng’s cultivation manual to Zheng Jin, and the manual’s journey through the Zheng Kingdom’s offices drew the attention of Chancellor Gongsun Chan and Emperor Zheng Tu. Realizing Jiang Sheng might be a prodigy who had slain a Golden Core cultivator, Zheng Tu ordered that he be kept in the kingdom as the Ten-Thousand-Year Tribulation approached.

• Jiang Jinyu told Jiang Dewen that meeting Jiang Sheng had changed her heart, and Jiang Dewen promised to secure her a place at the Heavenly Official Institute.
• Jiang Dewen presented Jiang Sheng’s manual to Zheng Jin, who recognized it as a valuable cultivation manual from the Chu Kingdom and sent it up the administrative chain.
• Gongsun Chan learned that the manual came from the Ma Clan and informed Zheng Tu that Jiang Sheng had recovered in Plain County before leaving.
• Zheng Tu connected Jiang Sheng to reports of two young Purple Mansion cultivators who had killed a Golden Core cultivator and concluded that the prodigy was likely in the Zheng Kingdom.
• Zheng Tu explained that the fourth Ten-Thousand-Year Tribulation would arrive in a little over a hundred years and ordered Gongsun Chan to keep the prodigy in the kingdom.

The author explained the novel’s cultivation philosophy and introduced Jiang Sheng’s character and convictions. The author also announced the book’s premium launch, update schedule, subscription milestones, and reward-based extra chapters.

• The author argued that cultivation should temper a person’s character and described a vision in which living beings were not inherently ranked as noble or base.
• The author said the story would focus on people who pursued their own ideals and either succeeded or failed, rather than on conventional heroes and villains or righteous and demonic factions.
• The author described Jiang Sheng as a cool, detached cultivator who followed his own principles, seized cultivation grounds for his advancement, and could both disregard many lives and save people he cared about.
• The author promised eight thousand characters per day after the book went premium and ten thousand on launch day, with higher sustained output tied to first-day subscription milestones.
• The author offered extra chapters for monthly tickets and tips during the remainder of January and asked readers to wait until the premium launch to subscribe, tip, or cast tickets.

Jiang Sheng traveled north through Peace Prefecture and Bright Prefecture as he headed toward the Zheng Capital, where a grand gathering was planned. When bandit cultivators threatened travelers on the road, Jiang Sheng killed them without breaking his calm journey.

• Jiang Sheng paid the passage fee at a military pass after telling the guard he was not heading to the Zheng Capital.
• An inn attendant told Jiang Sheng that the Cloud-Turning Steed had helped catch horse thieves and warned him that the roads had become dangerous.
• In Bright Prefecture, Li Qingyun warned Jiang Sheng that a stranded woman was bait for bandit cultivators, while Li Tai arrived to help her confront three ninth-layer Qi Refinement bandits.
• Jiang Sheng ignored the confrontation and rode toward the carriage, killing the bald bandit when he attacked.
• Jiang Sheng continued north on the Cloud-Turning Steed as Sister An and the remaining bandit were killed by an unseen strike.

Jiang Sheng traveled to the Zheng Capital with Li Tai and Li Qingyun, then settled into a cultivator’s inn and met his neighboring guest, Jing Yu. Jing Yu invited him to dine at the Hundred-Zhang Tower, where Jiang Sheng accepted his hospitality but questioned its generosity.

• Li Tai and Li Qingyun followed Jiang Sheng after he saved them from robber cultivators, hoping to travel safely to the Zheng Capital.
• Jiang Sheng agreed to visit the Zheng Capital after learning that Li Tai and Li Qingyun were headed there for the military examinations.
• Jiang Sheng, Li Tai, and Li Qingyun reached the Zheng Capital before the year’s end and marveled at its immense walls, grand bridges, and crowded streets.
• Jiang Sheng rented a first-class courtyard at a cultivator’s inn and sent the Cloud-Turning Steed to play in the bamboo grove.
• Jing Yu introduced himself as Jiang Sheng’s neighbor and invited him to the Hundred-Zhang Tower for a meal.
• Jing Yu served Jiang Sheng fine dishes and Hundred-Fruit Brew, and Jiang Sheng praised the wine but said the generous hospitality made him uneasy.

Jiang Sheng attended a gathering at Azure Pool Ward with Jing Yu and watched Ning Zheng and Lu Fang duel with transformation spells. The gathering was interrupted by two young Purple Mansion Realm cultivators whose powerful duel drew everyone’s attention.

• Jing Yu invited Jiang Sheng to a small gathering at Azure Pool Ward, and Jiang Sheng accepted.
• Jing Yu brought Jiang Sheng to Azure Pool Ward, where they met Hou Liang, Ning Zheng, and Lu Fang.
• Hou Liang, Ning Zheng, and Lu Fang enjoyed the gathering while Jiang Sheng declined to join in the beauties’ attentions.
• Ning Zheng and Lu Fang began a spell duel, conjuring animals that transformed and fought one another.
• A thundercloud and sword light clashed above Azure Pool Ward, revealing two young Purple Mansion Realm cultivators dueling in earnest.
• One of the two cultivators shouted, “Gongsun De, take this move of mine!”

After Nangong Jun and Gongsun De’s reckless duel nearly endangered the gathered cultivators, they hosted a banquet at Qinghua Pool to apologize and recruit talent. As the guests displayed their abilities, Jing Yu challenged Jiang Sheng to a contest, and wind and clouds gathered as it began.

• Nangong Jun’s lightning serpent escaped Gongsun De’s wind formation, but an unseen force diverted it before it struck the courtyards.
• Jiang Sheng quietly watched as the gathering continued into the night, then joined Jing Yu, Hou Liang, Ning Zheng, and Lu Fang on their way to Qinghua Pool.
• Gongsun De and Nangong Jun apologized for their duel and offered to cover the guests’ expenses while using the banquet to attract talented followers.
• Zhang Pingyu summoned the moon and dancing fairies, prompting other cultivators to perform spells and displays of skill for the two young nobles.
• Jing Yu invited Jiang Sheng to a contest, Jiang Sheng accepted, and wind and clouds rose around them.