Chapter Summaries

After the Linyang Land God was killed, Zhou Yi took over Mount Wu, built temples, and slowly gathered believers through legitimate deeds. Eleven years later, Lin Heng returned to search for Qingfeng but left after learning the snake demon was missing and finding himself strangely drawn to the Mountain God’s attendant.

• Jin Yangzi spared Magistrate Zhao after hearing about the planned Capital Review and Grand Assessment, while Zhao appointed Huang San'er as the yamen warehouse steward in exchange for information about a buried treasure.
• The court commended Magistrate Zhao and appointed him acting Linyang Land God for ten years after the former Land God’s crimes were exposed.
• Zhou Yi rebuilt the Mount Wu temples, introduced himself to local people as their new Mountain God, and resolved to gather incense through protecting people, teaching the Dao, and answering prayers.
• Zhou Yi secretly saved hunters from a Black Bear, then restrained himself from manufacturing further dangers to attract believers; over the next ten years, his following grew and he relieved a severe snow disaster.
• Lin Heng returned to Mount Wu after eleven years, learned from Spirit Ginseng Child that Qingfeng was missing, and hurried away after becoming inexplicably drawn to the attendant.

Zhou Yi refined a Wish Power Pearl, watched Magistrate Zhao attain the Golden Core, and attended a banquet at Yuntong River Dragon Palace. He learned that the Great Heng emperor planned to purge the Orthodox Gods and might soon target wild gods, leaving Zhou Yi considering flight from Black Crow Mountain.

• Zhou Yi warned the Spirit Ginseng Child against further involvement with Lin Heng and refined incense into a Wish Power Pearl, reflecting on the risks and scarcity of divine power.
• Zhou Yi sensed Magistrate Zhao undergoing tribulation in Linyang County and heard him announce his Golden Core breakthrough.
• A river-patrol general invited Zhou Yi to Cloudreach River Lord Ao Xuan's banquet, where Zhou Yi met Wolf, Tiger, and Red Cloud Zen Master.
• During the feast, Zhou Yi learned that the Great Heng court had created the Investigation and Verification Bureau to punish Orthodox Gods and that the emperor might have become a Human Immortal.
• Ao Xuan warned that the emperor would likely target wild gods next, and Zhou Yi privately considered abandoning Black Crow Mountain and waiting for the conflict to end.

Ao Xuan warned Zhou Yi and the other wild gods that Great Heng planned to cleanse them, while offering some a chance to join the Yuntong Dragon Palace. Zhou Yi traveled to Azure Cloud City to trade spiritual treasures for Wish Power Pearls, then spent years at the Mystic Desire Pavilion until he had gathered the resources he needed to attempt forming a Nascent Soul.

• Ao Xuan explained that Great Heng would recruit wild gods with Void Return Realm backing or Nascent Soul cultivation, and invited the tiger demon, wolf demon, and Red Cloud Zen Master to join him as subordinate gods.
• Red Cloud Zen Master and the two demons agreed to seek refuge with the Dragon Palace, while Zhou Yi chose to wait and left to prepare on his own.
• Zhou Yi traveled to Azure Cloud City, studied its cultivation market, and sold a Seven-Colored Lotus Seed to the Myriad Treasures Tower for Spirit Stones and Wish Power Pearls.
• Zhou Yi spent two months exchanging his remaining Spirit Stones for Wish Power Pearls, then returned to Mount Wu for secluded cultivation.
• Over the next ten years, Zhou Yi repeatedly visited the Mystic Desire Pavilion and accumulated enough Wish Power Pearls and Nascent Soul materials to feel certain of success.
• After emerging from the Mystic Desire Pavilion, Zhou Yi turned back to celebrate before beginning his Nascent Soul attempt.

Zhou Yi overcame the Heart Demon Tribulation, condensed a Nascent Soul, and left Zhang Mountain as a Nascent Soul Dao Lord. After returning to Black Mountain, he found a new cultivator occupying his former divine post and discovered the man was a corrupt official who had fled the capital.

• The tree demon and nearby gods watched as Zhou Yi's formations withstood eight waves of lightning before he shattered the ninth wave with sword lights and passed the Lightning Tribulation.
• Zhou Yi endured a Heart Demon illusion in which he lived a long former life, then broke free and condensed a Nascent Soul.
• Zhou Yi refined his treasures, reconsidered his cultivation methods, and left Zhang Mountain after storing away his formations.
• Zhou Yi returned to Black Mountain and found that a middle Golden Core cultivator had taken over his Mountain God Temple.
• Zhou Yi questioned the new occupant with a soul-bewildering technique, learned he was a corrupt Ministry of Revenue official who had fled the capital, and killed him with lightning.

After killing the scholar who had usurped his Mountain God position, Zhou Yi traveled to the Great Heng Capital to claim an Orthodox God registry and investigate the city. He declined offers from several factions before Gu Xiao invited him to join the Mending Heaven Sect, and Zhou Yi accepted.

• Zhou Yi replaced the scholar's divine statue at the Mountain God Temple and left the Spirit Ginseng Child to guard it.
• Zhou Yi reached the Great Heng Capital, surveyed its cultivator society, and spent half a month learning about the city.
• Zhou Yi presented the scholar's soul to Wang Qing at the Investigation and Verification Bureau and requested an Orthodox God registry instead of taking a bureau post.
• Zhou Yi declined invitations from the Flying Immortal Sect and other factions while awaiting news about his registry.
• Gu Xiao introduced himself as a third-generation disciple of the Mending Heaven Sect and invited Zhou Yi to return to the sect.
• Zhou Yi accepted Gu Xiao's invitation after learning that the sect imposed no restrictions on disciples cultivating its scattered inheritance.

Zhou Yi joined the Mending Heaven Sect and was promoted to sixth-rank Azure Cloud Mountain God, gaining authority over a vast mountain range and its wild gods. With Gu Xiao’s help, he arranged for sect disciples to clear the region and secured a share of the court’s supplies, then established a Mountain God temple and resumed cultivating.

• Gu Xiao explained the Mending Heaven Sect’s doctrine and inheritance, and Zhou Yi activated his disciple token and learned that sect disciples were spread across Great Heng.
• The court promoted Zhou Yi from Mount Wu God to sixth-rank Azure Cloud Mountain God, but gave him only a yellow register and expected him to clear the wild gods in his territory.
• At the Hundred Flavors Pavilion, Gu Xiao promised that Mending Heaven Sect disciples would clear Azure Cloud Mountain and negotiated Zhou Yi’s share of the Wish Power Pearls and supplies.
• Zhou Yi traveled to Green Cloud Mountain, brought the Spirit Ginseng Child with him, carved a Mountain God statue, built a temple, and set up a Spirit Gathering Formation to resume cultivation.
• Half a year later, the Azure Cloud City God delivered half of the court’s wild-god campaign supplies to Zhou Yi’s temple, where Zhou Yi found tens of thousands of spiritual items.

Xu Zhixian visited Zhou Yi at Green Cloud Mountain to deliver the Mending Heaven Sect’s rewards and cultivation-method catalog, while Zhou Yi selected several arts and recruited him to serve as a local god. After Xu Zhixian left, Wang Hong arrived with Gu Xiao’s approval, and Zhou Yi appointed him Cloudreach River Lord and ordered him to purge the Yuntong wild gods.

• Xu Zhixian arrived at Green Cloud Mountain on the Sect Master's order and found Zhou Yi refining pills in Eternal Life Hall.
• Zhou Yi completed a batch of Purple Gold Pills and gave one to Xu Zhixian, who delivered the sect’s rewards and a catalog of cultivation methods.
• Zhou Yi selected the Grand Five Elements Escape Technique, Void Escape Technique, Azure Emperor Contemplation, and True Dragon Nine Transformations, then learned that the Grand Five Elements Escape Technique could add elemental spirit-root qualities.
• Zhou Yi offered Xu Zhixian a vacant divine post and persuaded him to return after completing his assignment to serve at Green Cloud Mountain.
• Wang Hong arrived with Gu Xiao’s communication sword talisman and pledged to follow Zhou Yi’s orders.
• Zhou Yi appointed Wang Hong Cloudreach River Lord and ordered him to purge the Yuntong wild gods.

Wang Hong took control of the Yuntong River for the court and Mending Heaven Sect, killing Ao Xuan while Ao Lie was prevented from intervening. At Azure Cloud Mountain, Zhou Yi rejected Quiet Void’s attempt to secure influence and executed him, while reflecting on the danger of giving Green Cloud Mountain’s wild gods to the sect.

• Ao Xuan mocked the Azure Cloud Mountain God until Wang Hong arrived to claim the Yuntong River, then attacked him after Wang Hong invoked the court’s authority.
• Wang Hong summoned Mending Heaven Sect cultivators and Nether Soldiers, who defeated Ao Xuan and the Dragon Palace’s allies; Ao Xuan died, and his hide was made into a warning.
• Ao Lie tried to take his son away, but an elder stopped him by order of his master, forcing him to return to the Ji River and vow vengeance against Great Heng.
• The Mountain God of Yi Mountain, Quiet Void, offered Zhou Yi wealth and beautiful women, then proposed helping him control Green Cloud Mountain’s other wild gods.
• Zhou Yi condemned Quiet Void for harming the people and executed him, then considered how the Mending Heaven Sect’s growing authority could threaten Great Heng.

The Mending Heaven Sect expanded its control over Green Cloud Mountain while Emperor Yuanding used its mountain god to further his ambitions. After ten years, Zhou Yi attended a gathering of sect members, where he learned that Great Heng’s ancestor had reached the Void Return Realm through the secret art of Incense Divinity.

• Nether soldiers destroyed the Feng River God’s remaining servants and installed Gu as the new Feng River Lord.
• Emperor Yuanding approved the Azure Cloud Mountain God’s repeated requests for rewards, and a year later the Mending Heaven Sect took control of Green Cloud Mountain.
• Over ten years, the Mending Heaven disciples cleared the mountains, established temples, and helped the local population grow while incense offerings declined.
• Zhou Yi traveled to Yongning City God Temple and met several Mending Heaven Sect seniors, earning their respect by revealing that he had concealed himself while watching Pei Yuanzhou fight the Dragon Emperor.
• Pei Yuanzhou told Zhou Yi that Great Heng’s ancestor had used Incense Divinity to become a Void Return True God after his cultivation foundation was damaged.

Zhou Yi learned that the Mending Heaven Sect and Buddhism planned to spread Incense Divinity while profiting from rising Wish Power Pearl prices, and he received a share of the pearls gathered under Green Cloud Mountain. He also asked about the art’s origins and the Immortal Realm before seeking the sect’s help in strengthening an artifact spirit.

• Zhou Yi questioned the dangers of Incense Divinity, and Pei Yuanzhou explained that its divine bodies depended on territory and a constant supply of Incense and Fire Prayer Power.
• Pei Yuanzhou revealed that Arhat Yinguang would explain Incense Divinity in the Great Heng Capital on next year’s Buddha’s Birthday, and that the Mending Heaven Sect planned to buy Wish Power Pearls before their prices rose.
• Gu Xiao distributed Wish Power Pearls gathered under Green Cloud Mountain, giving Zhou Yi his shares from the mountain and Yongning Prefecture.
• Zhou Yi asked Pei Yuanzhou where the Incense Mind Condensation Art came from and learned that it had reportedly arrived in Great Yong from beyond the heavens.
• Zhou Yi asked how to access the Mending Heaven Sect’s records on the Immortal Realm, then requested a method to improve an artifact spirit without harming its intelligence.

Gu Xiao revealed that Wish Power Pearls could help restore the Yellow Ox by strengthening its Spirit Soul within Jianmu Tree, though the process risked future consequences. Zhou Yi began gathering pure offerings for the Yellow Ox and used a Pearl to advance its restoration, which he expected to take centuries.

• Gu Xiao explained that artifact-soul techniques grew from ancient attempts to transform spirit-root aptitude and that Wish Power Pearls could strengthen a Spirit Soul through pure incense and prayer power.
• Zhou Yi ordered temples under Green Cloud Mountain to add Yellow Ox God statues, instructing worshippers to offer only sincere devotion without expecting rewards or protection.
• Zhou Yi used a thousand years of lifespan to create Creation Jade Dew and then fed a pure Wish Power Pearl's prayer power into Jianmu Tree to strengthen the Yellow Ox's remnant soul.
• Zhou Yi estimated that restoring the Yellow Ox would require more than ten thousand Wish Power Pearls and over a thousand years at Green Cloud Mountain's current rate.
• The Spirit Ginseng Child asked whether Zhou Yi would save it if it died, and Zhou Yi promised he would bring it back to life.

Zhou Yi joined his senior brothers at Yinguang Arhat’s scripture lecture, where their questions challenged Buddhism’s authority and its claims about immortality. After the Arhat departed, Zhou Yi tried to flee the capital but was stopped by a mysterious white-haired Daoist bearing the character “Intercept.”

• Zhou Yi agreed to attend Yinguang Arhat’s lecture after learning the sect wanted its disciples to question him, and he arranged for Ling Ming and Pei Yuanzhou to ask the prepared questions.
• Yinguang Arhat’s Buddhist light benefited the capital’s citizens, and he lectured on the Heart Sutra before Ling Ming asked whether the imperial court could arrest a criminal who became a monk.
• Yinguang Arhat said Buddhist criminals should face imperial judgment, then answered Pei Yuanzhou’s question by declaring that even Buddhas and Bodhisattvas could not escape Nirvana.
• Yinguang Arhat invited Zhou Yi to join his Buddhist tutelage, but Zhou Yi refused and hurried away from the capital to avoid the coming turmoil.
• A white-haired old Daoist embroidered with the character “Intercept” called after Zhou Yi as he flew east.

After fleeing a Heaven Severing Sect cultivator, Zhou Yi hid in Kunlun Grotto-Heaven and learned to cross the void. He later visited the descendants of a fisherman he had once helped, discovered that the Mount Qi Wu God was extorting incense taxes, and killed one of the god’s enforcers, deciding to take the mountain god’s place.

• Zhou Yi escaped the pursuing Heaven Severing Sect cultivator by burning lifespan and essence blood, then hid in Kunlun Grotto-Heaven and used a puppet to conceal his true whereabouts.
• Zhou Yi practiced the Void Escape Art and successfully crossed several hundred zhang through the void, though the astral winds cracked his Black Tortoise Divine Armor.
• Zhou Yi traveled to Kaoshan Town to visit the descendants of the fisherman he had met eighty years earlier and learned that the old man had died after failing at Foundation Establishment.
• Zhou Yi discovered that the Mount Qi Wu God demanded incense taxes from the townspeople and that its bird-feathered enforcer was targeting the Wu family’s ancestral relics.
• When the enforcer threatened Zhou Yi and declared that anyone without a mountain god token was a Heretical Devil, Zhou Yi dragged him back, destroyed his Spirit Soul, and collected the remnant in the Myriad Souls Banner.

Zhou Yi negotiated his entry into the Heaven Severing Sect while remaining embedded in the Mending Heaven Sect, securing promises of techniques, territory, and Wish Power Pearls. After arranging for Bai Suixin to deal with Mount Qiwu's god and prepare a staged attack on Green Cloud Mountain, Zhou Yi returned to Yongning Prefecture and called for Gu Xiao's help when Heaven Severing Sect demons came looking for him.

• Wu Qiong feared the Mount Qi Wu God’s retaliation and planned to flee overseas, but Zhou Yi promised to resolve the danger and waited for Bai Suixin to arrive.
• Bai Suixin revealed that the Heaven Severing Sect wanted Zhou Yi to spy on the Mending Heaven Sect’s plans regarding divinity, and Zhou Yi bargained for cultivation techniques, Mount Qiwu, Wish Power Pearls, and future Five Elements rare treasures.
• Bai Suixin told Zhou Yi to kill the Hundred-Eyed Demon Lord during a planned attack on Green Cloud Mountain so a Mending Heaven Sect Human Immortal would notice him.
• Zhou Yi accepted the Heaven Severing Sect’s disciple token and learned that the sect followed Heaven’s Will by allowing or advancing calamities, unlike the Mending Heaven Sect’s efforts to prevent them.
• Zhou Yi asked Bai Suixin to kill the Mount Qi Wu God and promised him a share of the incense power, then returned to Green Cloud Mountain while Bai Suixin agreed to protect the Wu family.
• Several days later, Zhou Yi reached the City God Temple of Yongning Prefecture and sent Gu Xiao a message asking for help because Heaven Severing Sect demons had come looking for him.

Zhou Yi reported his infiltration of the Heaven Severing Sect to the Mending Heaven Sect and agreed to keep spying while helping capture the Hundred-Eyed Demon Lord alive. He then headed for Great Heng to prepare for future scrutiny, while Wu Ming learned of a rare treasure on Green Cloud Mountain and set out to seize it.

• Zhou Yi told Gu Xiao that the Heaven Severing Sect had forced him to join, and Danxiazi ordered him to continue undercover and lure the Hundred-Eyed Demon Lord to the Mending Heaven Sect.
• Danxiazi explained that Spirit Transformation cultivators could not directly fight over Incense Divinity, and Zhou Yi agreed to investigate the Heaven Severing Sect in exchange for a chance to become Danxiazi's master's disciple.
• Gu Xiao promised to gather Pei, Ling Ming, and An to capture Wu Ming, while Zhou Yi agreed to invite them to Green Cloud Mountain and promote the Yellow Ox God there.
• Zhou Yi traveled to Great Heng's capital to seek a technique that could alter his apparent bone age and considered, then rejected, taking Yinguang Arhat as another master.
• A Daoist told Wu Ming that a rare Double Pupil Bird eye was on Green Cloud Mountain, and Wu Ming departed for Great Heng to claim it and strengthen his Hundred-Eyed Golden Light.

Wu Ming investigated the Green Cloud Mountain God, then followed Bai Suixin’s divination to the Azure Cloud Mountain God Temple, intending to steal the Chongming Eye. Zhou Yi and his senior brothers exposed Wu Ming’s disguise and trapped him in the temple’s formations, leaving them to capture him.

• Wu Ming spent a year investigating the Green Cloud Mountain God and concluded that the deity was a Heretical Devil.
• Wu Ming offered Bai Suixin pills and Wish Power Pearls, and Bai Suixin named a favorable opportunity three months later to seize the Chongming Eye.
• Zhou Yi discussed his farming policies and the mortal world with his senior brothers before they noticed Wu Ming approaching in disguise as Lady Miaomiao.
• Wu Ming entered the Eternal Prosperity Hall and danced and sang for Zhou Yi and the four senior brothers, hoping to conceal his identity and attack later.
• Zhou Yi revealed that he knew Wu Ming was a Devil Lord, and Wu Ming tried to escape but was ensnared by the temple’s layered formations.
• Zhou Yi asked his senior brothers to capture Wu Ming.

Zhou Yi captured Wu Ming, tortured and searched his Nascent Soul, and learned the Centipede Secret Codex and details of his hoarded wealth. He then went to the Mending Heaven Sect and became Iron Crown Immortal’s disciple, leaving his new master to ask what reward he wanted.

• Zhou Yi and Gu Xiao, Ling Ming, An Yunguang, and Pei Yuanzhou defeated Wu Ming with formations and spirit artifacts, and Zhou Yi sealed his Nascent Soul before storing it in a gourd.
• Zhou Yi spent years torturing Wu Ming and eventually searched his memories, learning his ruthless rise through the cultivation world and recording the Centipede Secret Codex.
• After learning Bai Suixin had invited him to become Mount Qiwu’s new Mountain God, Zhou Yi took Sun Xing’s appearance, abolished the incense tax, and governed Mount Qiwu for ten years.
• Zhou Yi finished searching Wu Ming’s memories, gathered his cultivation techniques and possessions, and decided to seek a master at the Mending Heaven Sect.
• Iron Crown Immortal accepted Zhou Yi as his disciple after Zhou Yi presented Wu Ming’s Nascent Soul, then asked what reward Zhou Yi wanted.

Zhou Yi received the complete True Dragon Nine Transformations and a vast supply of dragon blood from Iron Crown Immortal, who had beaten and drained Ao Guang to help him cultivate a Human Immortal body. After settling into Heaven Mountain and building ties with Mending Heaven Sect disciples, Zhou Yi offered them divine posts under Mount Qiwu for their clansmen, leaving him with a plan to expand his network and resources.

• Zhou Yi asked Iron Crown Immortal for an escape technique, but his master explained how Zhou Yi could combine his Xiantian True Human body with the True Dragon Nine Transformations to improve his aptitude.
• Iron Crown Immortal left to obtain the complete True Dragon Nine Transformations and dragon blood, while Zhou Yi learned about the Mending Heaven Sect's power and its Human Immortals from fellow disciples.
• Iron Crown Immortal returned with the complete inheritance and a vat of true dragon blood, revealing that he had taken them from Ao Guang after a fight.
• Iron Crown Immortal sent Zhou Yi to cultivate at Golden Light Hall, and Zhou Yi spent three years making connections throughout Heaven Mountain.
• At a banquet hosted by Daoist Lord Xuan Hong, Zhou Yi offered the other Nascent Soul cultivators divine posts under Mount Qiwu for their clansmen in exchange for a share of their earnings.
• Zhou Yi secured the disciples' agreement to send their clansmen to govern Mount Qiwu's mountains and waterways, then considered negotiating with the Heaven Severing Sect for more territory.

Zhou Yi uncovered embezzlement among Mount Qiwu’s subordinate gods, replaced most of them with loyal cultivation families, and recruited Bai Suixin into a scheme to acquire more territories through demon-slaying. After Danxiazi and Fufengzi helped deceive Bai Suixin with a false auspicious divination, Zhou Yi learned that Great Heng had no wild gods left to replace.

• Wu Qiong told Zhou Yi that subordinate gods had secretly withheld Wish Power Pearls, and Zhou Yi delayed the sect’s distribution while arranging to deal with them.
• Luo family members exposed Yu Mountain God’s crimes, and over the next half year Zhou Yi’s allies replaced the gods of fourteen of Mount Qiwu’s sixteen territories.
• Zhou Yi gave Bai Suixin a bag of Wish Power Pearls and suggested that acquiring more Mount Qiwus could help Bai Suixin reach Spirit Transformation.
• Bai Suixin took a staged auspicious divination as a sign to seek merit and agreed to send demons to Mount Qiwu, where Zhou Yi could defeat them and claim their territories.
• Danxiazi and Fufengzi revealed that they had fabricated the auspicious divination, negotiated shares of future gains with Zhou Yi, and learned that Great Heng had no wild gods remaining.

Zhou Yi learned that the Mending Heaven Sect was guiding the struggle over divine investiture while its patriarchs used the promise of ascension to restrain powerful immortals. After years of gathering Wish Power Pearls and cultivating, he distributed profits from Mount Qiwu to his fellow disciples and promised more territory, while Bai Suixin prepared a new plan to lure a demon connected to the Hundred-Eyed Demon Lord.

• Fufengzi and Danxiazi told Zhou Yi that the sect’s patriarchs had secured the Void Return immortals’ cooperation by offering them a path to ascension, and Zhou Yi praised their effort to protect the people.
• Zhou Yi collected Wish Power Pearls from Great Heng and found that refugees had nearly doubled Green Cloud Mountain’s population, increasing its offerings.
• Zhou Yi told the Iron Crown Immortal about his dealings with Bai Suixin, and his master concealed his origins and gave him misleading intelligence to pass to the Heaven Severing Sect.
• The Iron Crown Immortal revealed that the seal restraining the Heaven Leak was weakening and vowed to mend the heavens with his own body if it came to that, deepening Zhou Yi’s regard for his master.
• After nine years of cultivation, Zhou Yi distributed Wish Power Pearls from Mount Qiwu to his fellow disciples, prompting many to seek mountain-god and river-lord territories for their clansmen.
• Bai Suixin told Zhou Yi that she planned to lure down a demon connected to the Hundred-Eyed Demon Lord to avenge Wu Ming.