Chapter Summaries

Wang Chen entered the Prefectural Governor's Mansion and swiftly killed Old Wu and a gray-clad Innate Martial Artist. He left Ruan Zhaoming alive for now because he wanted answers.

• Ruan Zhaoming raged at his guards for fleeing from Wang Chen, and Old Wu advised him to withdraw his forces and wait.
• Old Wu claimed the Blood Fiend Thousand Gu Array could stop Wang Chen and asked Ruan Zhaoming for ten veteran soldiers to strengthen it.
• Wang Chen appeared in the front hall, and Old Wu unleashed his gu insects before trying to activate the array.
• Wang Chen burned Old Wu with a Fire Crow and knocked the gray-clad Innate Martial Artist to his death with a sleeve strike.
• Wang Chen killed more than a dozen guards with a flash of Sword Light, and Ruan Zhaoming dropped to his knees and begged for mercy.
• Wang Chen told Ruan Zhaoming he was overthinking it, as Wang Chen intended to question him before deciding what to do.

After learning that the Yunyang Sect had abandoned its disciples and that Guiyuan Sect would take over the Nanshao Garrison Celestial Master's Mansion, Wang Chen prepared to leave rather than serve the new rulers. He sent Xiao Wan away with a task and supplies, then received another falcon message.

• Wang Chen received Fei Xinghe’s letter revealing that Sect Leader Ji Guantao and Yunyang Sect elites had taken Taihao Peak and ascended to the Upper Realm, leaving Wang Chen and the sect’s dependents behind.
• Wang Chen learned that Cao Chengping had surrendered to Guiyuan Sect and resolved not to remain as Garrison Celestial Master.
• Wang Chen wrote back to Fei Xinghe, thanking him for the timely intelligence.
• Wang Chen assigned Xiao Wan a task to deliver a gift to a family in Great Qian within three years, promised her freedom, and gave her Essence Blood Talismans for protection.
• Xiao Wan tearfully bid Wang Chen farewell and left the Celestial Master's Mansion; another flying falcon then arrived at the pavilion.

After receiving Cao Chengping’s edict stripping him of his post, Wang Chen refused to leave Nanshao City and chose to fight the Guiyuan Sect cultivators sent to punish him. He killed two attackers and turned his attention to the three still in the air.

• Cao Chengping’s edict condemned Wang Chen for killing Ruan Zhaoming, removed him as Protector Heavenly Master, and ordered him to await his successor in Nanshao City.
• Wang Chen dismantled the formations in the Star Observation Pavilion’s underground chamber, reclaimed the Spirit Stones, and made further arrangements at the Celestial Master Prefecture.
• Five Guiyuan Sect cultivators arrived above the Celestial Master Prefecture and demanded that Wang Chen come out to receive punishment.
• Wang Chen dodged a young Guiyuan Sword Cultivator’s strike and killed him with his Fire Crow Sword, earning six Heavenly Merit.
• Wang Chen evaded the remaining cultivators’ attacks, which destroyed the upper half of the Star Observation Pavilion, then killed the wounded middle-aged cultivator and earned eight Heavenly Merit.

Wang Chen killed Meng Zhichao and the other Guiyuan Sect cultivators, then gathered their immense haul and prepared to leave Southern Shao. As he took off, officials and local gentry begged him for help outside the Celestial Master's Mansion.

• Meng Zhichao and two surviving Guiyuan Sect disciples fled in different directions, but Wang Chen struck them down with Five Suns Dry Thunder and Fire Crow attacks.
• Meng Zhichao begged Wang Chen for mercy and offered to become his servant, but Wang Chen killed him with the Fire Crow Sword.
• Wang Chen extinguished the fire at the Star Observation Pavilion, collected the five cultivators' bodies, Storage Bags, magic tools, and supplies, and found more than seven thousand Spirit Stones.
• Wang Chen burned the corpses, performed rites for the dead, and decided to leave Southern Shao on his Willow Leaf Flying Boat.
• As Wang Chen rose above the Celestial Master's Mansion, officials and local gentry knelt and shouted for him to save them.

Wang Chen agreed to defend Nanshao City after Vice Prefect Wang Jingwen pleaded for the people and offered him a mysterious painting. He found the Maitreya Cult using civilians as a vanguard and began cutting through its forces with the Fire Crow Sword.

• Gentrymen begged Wang Chen to save Nanshao City from the approaching Maitreya Cult army.
• Wang Chen warned the petitioners that he had killed five Guiyuan Sect Heavenly Masters and no longer served as Nanshao's Protector Heavenly Master.
• Wang Jingwen declared he would risk the Guiyuan Sect's anger to protect the city and offered Wang Chen a treasured family painting.
• Wang Chen sensed something unusual in the painting, accepted it, and flew south to confront the Maitreya Cult army.
• Wang Chen saw the Maitreya Cult driving civilians toward Nanshao City as cannon fodder and attacked its vanguard with the Fire Crow Sword.
• The Maitreya Cult's Divine Mechanism Crossbows failed to penetrate Wang Chen's Protection Shield as his sword devastated the vanguard.

Wang Chen used his flying sword and talismans to rout the Maitreya army and protect civilians fleeing toward Nanshao City. He killed the Maitreya army’s leader with Five Suns Dry Thunder, triggering the collapse of the entire force.

• Wang Chen cut through the Maitreya followers and opened a path for civilians to flee toward Nanshao City.
• The Maitreya commander ordered archers to fire on the fleeing civilians, but Wang Chen scattered many arrows with Wind Summoning Talismans and attacked the archers with fireballs and Fire Crows.
• Wang Chen flew above the main force as the Maitreya army’s crossbows failed to reach him, and its leader offered him ten spiritual items to stop the attack.
• Wang Chen recalled the Fire Crow Sword and struck the Maitreya leader with Five Suns Dry Thunder, blasting him into charred cinders despite his Protection Talisman.
• The Maitreya followers lost faith and fled, and the retreat spread into a rout of the entire army.

After Wang Chen escaped Nanshao, Cao Chengping was ordered by a Guiyuan Sect cultivator to capture him and set out to pursue him. Cao Chengping ambushed Wang Chen in the mountains, and the chapter ended with Wang Chen caught in the range of a powerful lightning spell.

• A Guiyuan Sect cultivator blamed Cao Chengping for the deaths of five disciples and ordered him to capture Wang Chen.
• Wang Chen traveled north from Nanshao on Big Green Donkey while weighing his options for life as a Rogue Cultivator.
• After entering Guang'an Commandery, Wang Chen stopped to cook lunch and dodged a sudden attack with Shrink Ground into Inch.
• Cao Chengping revealed himself as Wang Chen's attacker and demanded that he surrender.
• Wang Chen mocked Cao Chengping for serving Guiyuan, so Cao Chengping struck the forest with Five Suns Dry Thunder while Wang Chen was still within its range.

Wang Chen fought Cao Chengping, a Purple Mansion master, and killed him after surviving his lightning assault and overpowering him at close range. Wang Chen was badly injured in the fight and began recovering after taking a Healing Pill.

• Cao Chengping attacked Wang Chen with a storm of lightning, but Wang Chen blocked a strike with his Mystic Iron Tortoise Shell Shield and escaped its destruction.
• Wang Chen counterattacked with the Fire Crow Sword, forcing Cao Chengping into the air and weakening his Protective Magic Armor.
• Wang Chen struck Cao Chengping with Vajra Fist, knocking him from the sky and preventing him from using Wang Chen's Soul Tablet to turn the fight.
• Cao Chengping's Jade Amulet blocked a fatal punch, but Wang Chen landed three more blows and left him defenseless.
• Cao Chengping pretended to beg for mercy while preparing a sneak attack, but Wang Chen's Fire Crow Sword pierced his skull and killed him.
• Wang Chen coughed up blood from his injuries, swallowed a Healing Pill, and began recovering.

After killing Cao Chengping, Wang Chen looted his belongings, buried him with exorcism rites, and continued north while recovering from his injuries. He left Great Qian and remained on the long journey back to the Cultivation World, following the road once traveled by his father, Wang Shaoyuan.

• Wang Chen recovered from his internal injuries and reflected on how he had narrowly defeated Cao Chengping, earning five hundred Heavenly Merit points.
• Wang Chen searched Cao Chengping's belongings, found only modest supplies and a few Magic Tools, then burned the corpse and used ten Exorcism Talismans to lay him to rest.
• The Big Green Donkey rejoined Wang Chen unharmed, and Wang Chen rode north while healing and assessing the resources he had collected.
• Wang Chen spent three hundred Heavenly Merit to raise his Physique, comprehension, and Divine Soul by one point each.
• Wang Chen traveled through Guang'an Commandery, skirted Qian Capital, and left Great Qian, with tens of thousands of miles still separating him from the Cultivation World.

Wang Chen reached Ascension Town and prepared to cross the Great Marsh of the Eastern Wilderness to reach the Cultivation World, avoiding the risks of traveling through Qian Capital. His display of strength earned the martial wanderers’ respect as he settled in for the night.

• Wang Chen arrived at Ascension Town and booked a superior room at the inn.
• Wang Chen ordered the attendant to prepare porridge from his own Spirit Rice and Demonic Beast Meat while he watched the distant Great Marsh of the Eastern Wilderness.
• Wang Chen recalled that Ascension Town marked the start of the Ascension Road and that Wang Shaoyuan had crossed the marsh to reach the Cultivation World.
• Wang Chen decided to take the Ascension Road because he feared the Guiyuan Sect might be hunting him and doubted the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce route was safe.
• Wang Chen pinched a gold bar in half, impressing the martial wanderers, and paid the attendant before finishing his porridge.

Wang Chen drove off a night intruder, then killed seven martial artists who followed him into the Great Marsh of the Eastern Wilderness to demand his porridge recipe. As he traveled farther into the marsh, the fog began feeding moisture into the Grand Mystic Mirage Dragon True Form Diagram and raising its Unsealing Points.

• Wang Chen sensed a Night Walker on the inn roof and chased him away with a shout before resuming cultivation.
• Wang Chen left the inn at dawn on the Big Green Donkey and confronted seven masked martial artists who had followed him into the Great Marsh of the Eastern Wilderness.
• The martial artists demanded the recipe for Wang Chen's porridge, and Wang Chen told them it used White Corn and spotted pig meat.
• When the leading Innate Martial Artist signaled an attack, Wang Chen killed all seven with the Fire Crow Sword and cremated their bodies.
• As Wang Chen rode into the foggy marsh, he took out the Grand Mystic Mirage Dragon True Form Diagram, which absorbed moisture and steadily gained Unsealing Points.

Wang Chen stayed in the Great Marsh of the Eastern Wilderness while the Grand Mystic Mirage Dragon True Form Diagram absorbed water vapor and unsealed. The diagram revealed the Mystic Mirage Dragon Art, a cultivation method that could reach the Nascent Soul realm.

• Wang Chen discovered the diagram gained unsealing points from the marsh’s water vapor and decided to stay overnight.
• Wang Chen built a stone shelter, cooked dinner, and frightened off approaching Great Marsh Wolf Beasts with a shout.
• Wang Chen cultivated through the night to strengthen his Qi Condensation foundation.
• Wang Chen found that the diagram had unsealed and that its displayed points had risen to 100,000.
• Wang Chen channeled Mana into the diagram and received the Mystic Mirage Dragon Art as a Spiritual Light Law Seed.
• Wang Chen believed the art was a good recompense for saving hundreds of thousands of mortals, despite receiving no Merit Points.

Wang Chen mastered the Mystic Mirage Dragon Art and discovered that the Grand Mystic Mirage Dragon True Form Diagram could capture living creatures and carry him through the air. After spending half a month refining the treasure, he used it to cross the Great Marsh of the Eastern Wilderness and emerged onto plains where Heaven and Earth spiritual energy was present.

• Wang Chen stayed in the Great Marsh to study the Grand Mystic Mirage Dragon True Form Diagram and learned the Mystic Mirage Dragon Art.
• After the diagram's points reached 100,000, Wang Chen refined it with the Mystic Mirage Dragon Art and captured Big Green Donkey inside it.
• Wang Chen spent half a month cultivating and refining the diagram, then stored Big Green Donkey inside it before departing.
• Wang Chen used the diagram to fly across the Great Marsh, lowering his altitude when he felt the marsh pulling him down and stopping to replenish the treasure's energy.
• After seven days of flying, Wang Chen left the Great Marsh and reached plains with sparse Heaven and Earth spiritual energy.

Wang Chen returned to the Cultivation World and headed toward Yunyang City, hoping to find cultivation resources and learn what happened to his nominal master. After two Guiyuan Sect disciples recognized him and attacked, he killed them, concealed the evidence, and approached the city in disguise.

• Wang Chen returned from the Mortal World, stored Big Green Donkey in the Grand Mystic Mirage Dragon True Form Diagram, and traveled north toward Yunyang City.
• Two Guiyuan Sect cultivators intercepted Wang Chen and recognized him as a Yunyang Sect disciple.
• Wang Chen killed both cultivators with the Fire Crow Sword and Body Immobilization Technique, then took their Flying Shuttles and Storage Bags.
• Wang Chen fled a hundred li, burned the corpses, and used the Thousand Transformations Mask to change his appearance.
• Wang Chen circled around for a thousand li and reached the outskirts of Yunyang City disguised as an ordinary Rogue Cultivator.

Wang Chen returned to Yunyang City and found it under Guiyuan Sect’s control, with the Myriad Treasures Pavilion and Four Seas Chamber of Commerce gone. Unable to buy the cultivation technique he sought and seeing the city’s disorder, he left, resolving not to return.

• Wang Chen entered Yunyang City, saw his own wanted notice, and paid the unchanged entrance fee.
• Wang Chen found the city crowded and tense, with Guiyuan Sect’s influence apparent and its cultivators rarely present.
• Wang Chen discovered that the Myriad Treasures Pavilion and Four Seas Chamber of Commerce had closed, ruining his plan to buy the Innate Five Elements Technique.
• Wang Chen learned from an old cultivator that the Myriad Treasures Pavilion had withdrawn three months earlier, then considered the danger facing the former Yunyang territory.
• Wang Chen witnessed a Guiyuan Sect cultivator assault a teahouse waiter and force the proprietor to hand over Spirit Stones.
• Wang Chen paid his bill, left the teahouse and city, and decided he would never return.

Wang Chen returned to Sunset Peak and found his former home and Peach Blossom Valley devastated, but he reunited with Changchun, who explained why Yunyang Sect had fled to the Upper Realm and warned that a thousand-year Spirit Tide was bringing a devastating calamity. Changchun urged Wang Chen to reach the higher realm after advancing his cultivation, leaving him facing the prospect that most people in the Mountain Sea Realm would not survive.

• Wang Chen found Sunset Peak and his estate ruined, with its spiritual energy greatly diminished.
• Wang Chen discovered that Peach Blossom Valley had been devastated and Changchun's late wife's grave had disappeared.
• Changchun appeared, and Wang Chen removed his Thousand Transformations Mask and greeted his master.
• Changchun explained that Ji Guantao had taken his people to the Upper Realm while he had chosen to remain behind.
• Changchun described how Nine Peaks Sect had exploited Yunyang Sect and said Ji Guantao's plan had preserved its bloodline.
• Changchun warned Wang Chen that the rising thousand-year Spirit Tide would bring a great calamity and urged him to seek the higher realm after advancing his cultivation.

Changchun ended his master-disciple bond with Wang Chen, gave him a jade pendant and imparted the Four Seasons and Longing sword arts before challenging the Guiyuan Sect. After demonstrating his hidden strength and injuring a Golden Core True Person, Changchun vanished, leaving Wang Chen to continue on his own path.

• Changchun gave Wang Chen a jade pendant marked with the character "Meng" and imparted the Four Seasons and Longing sword arts before ending their master-disciple bond.
• Changchun challenged the Guiyuan Sect at Sunset Peak, and Wang Chen disguised himself and hid to watch.
• Changchun revealed his Thunder Sound Sword Qi and killed more than twenty Guiyuan Sect cultivators, including an arriving Purple Mansion cultivator.
• Changchun revealed he was a Golden Core True Person and used the Four Seasons Sword to destroy True Person Chen's attack while passing the sword's insight to Wang Chen.
• Changchun used the Longing sword to wound True Person Chen, then recalled his sword and vanished.

Wang Chen settled into Dongwu Stockade and listened for news while cultivating, finding little beyond rumors about the Yunyang Sect and Guiyuan Sect. After offering osmanthus cakes to a hungry little girl, he quietly left the teahouse and headed home.

• Wang Chen walked through Dongwu Stockade, where he had settled half a month earlier to cultivate under the protection of its Purple Mansion stockade chief and formation.
• Wang Chen visited his usual teahouse, paid for Spiritual Tea and osmanthus cakes, and listened to the patrons’ conversations for useful information.
• The tea drinkers repeated rumors about the Yunyang Sect’s departure for the Upper Realm and blamed the Guiyuan Sect for the Human Hunting Case.
• Wang Chen saw a young girl sheltering from the rain with a little girl, and he offered the little one his plate of osmanthus cakes.
• The little girl thanked Wang Chen, but he had already left the teahouse and walked home through the rain.

Wang Chen settled into his hidden chambers beneath his new home in Dongwu Stockade and found that he had run out of Vajra Butter for body cultivation. When three cultivators came demanding payment for the former owner's debt, Wang Chen drove them off and learned they belonged to the Three Rivers Society.

• Wang Chen returned to his new home, entered the underground passages he had dug, and cultivated the Heavenly Dragon Vajra Righteous Dharma with his last bottle of Vajra Butter.
• Wang Chen decided to search the Marketplace for more Vajra Butter after realizing the fourth level required more than one bottle per session.
• Wang Chen saw someone pounding on his door through the Duck Mirror and went upstairs to confront three cultivators.
• The burly cultivator claimed Wang Chen owed five hundred Spirit Stones because the former owner, Zhong Xing'an, had fled, but Wang Chen shouted the three men into retreat.
• Wang Chen's neighbor warned him that the men belonged to the Three Rivers Society, and Wang Chen resolved to remember the group.

Wang Chen spent the night digging a hidden escape tunnel beneath his home in Dongwu Stockade, then began his morning with breakfast before heading to the Marketplace. He planned to set up a stall there, while continuing to build a network of underground passages for the approaching calamity.

• Wang Chen used his Earth Stone Technique and emptied Storage Bags to extend his second escape tunnel north beneath the mountains.
• Wang Chen rested in his secret chamber until dawn, then washed up using habits from his Previous Life.
• Wang Chen greeted his neighbor, Fellow Cultivator Chen, and hurried away as residents brought out night-soil buckets for collection.
• Wang Chen ate beast-meat flatbreads, Fried Evil Spirits, and sweet tofu pudding at the breakfast stall whose owner he had taught to make fried dough sticks.
• Wang Chen paid for breakfast and headed to Dongwu Stockade's Marketplace to set up a stall.