Chapter Summaries

After discovering that his unofficial history revealed his identity, Zhou Yi visited Spring Breeze Pavilion, then sensed Lao Bai’s descendant in danger and rescued Bai Yan. He began training Bai Yan, whose determination earned him instruction in the Beast Blood Baptism.

• Zhou Yi read an unofficial history that named him as its author and described his decades at Spring Breeze Pavilion.
• Zhou Yi went to Spring Breeze Pavilion, sensed a calamity through divination, and found Bai Yan gravely wounded in a gang fight.
• Zhou Yi rescued Bai Yan with the Thunder Method and learned that the Bai family had fallen into hardship after an ancestor was implicated in the Crown Prince’s rebellion.
• Zhou Yi repaired Bai Yan’s jade pendant, added protective formations, and invited him to train for three months.
• Bai Yan endured the spirit ginseng porridge’s intense energy and proved his determination, so Zhou Yi began teaching him the Beast Blood Baptism.

Zhou Yi left Qianjing after helping Bai Yan complete his Beast Blood Baptism and traveled to the East Sea to learn about its cultivation world. He settled on Red Cloud Island as a rogue cultivator, intending to build a reputation and wait for a sect to invite him in.

• Bai Yan endured repeated essence-blood baptisms under Zhou Yi's protection and grew into a powerful-looking warrior.
• Zhou Yi departed Qianjing after visiting Lao Bai's grave, while a eunuch told Bai Yan that the court had cleared General Bai's name and would restore the family's gifts and provide compensation.
• Zhou Yi reached Xiaoyue Temple, where Temple Master Xiaoyue gave him a Jade Slip describing East Sea sects and customs; Zhou Yi learned that Red Cloud Island was a cultivator market run by Myriad Treasures True Monarch.
• Myriad Treasures welcomed Zhou Yi to Red Cloud Island and gave him a top-grade Cave Estate without charging rent.
• Zhou Yi secured his Cave Estate with layers of formations, then explored Wanbao Martial Market and decided to build a reputation as a rogue cultivator while waiting for a sect to approach him.

Zhou Yi opened Four Arts Hall in Wanbao Martial Market to make a name for himself among the East Sea sects. After months of successful business and growing connections with Golden Core cultivators, he had reentered the sects’ field of vision and established cordial ties with fellow cultivators.

• Zhou Yi decided to open a shop and build his reputation rather than wait for sects to approach him.
• Zhou Yi opened Four Arts Hall, selling high-quality spirit pills, Mystic Items, formation disks, and talismans at premium prices.
• Wanbao visited the shop, praised Zhou Yi’s craftsmanship, and received three Mystic Items to study.
• Wanbao’s visit revealed Zhou Yi’s identity as a Golden Core True Lord, drawing Rogue Cultivators who bought goods and spread news of the shop.
• Over several months, Four Arts Hall prospered, attracting sect disciples and True Lords who purchased its goods and grew acquainted with Zhou Yi.

Two years after settling in the East Sea, Zhou Yi received an invitation to Feng Yang’s four-hundredth birthday banquet and attended with Wanbao. Feng Yang tried to recruit him to help secure Earthfire Palace’s future, but Zhou Yi declined and warned the assembled sect leaders about the deadly Righteous-Demonic Sword Duel.

• Zhou Yi accepted Feng Yang’s invitation to Earthfire Palace’s birthday banquet and traveled there with Wanbao.
• At the banquet, Feng Yang lamented that Earthfire Palace lacked a reliable successor, prompting Zhou Yi to realize he was being recruited.
• Zhou Yi politely declined Feng Yang’s implied offer, saying he hoped to return to the Nine Continents after the Righteous-Demonic Sword Duel ended.
• When the sect leaders asked about the duel, Zhou Yi described a Nascent Soul Dao Lord’s devastating attack and warned that Golden Core cultivators risked being killed by Demon Venerables.
• Feng Yang lightened the somber mood and turned the gathering’s discussion toward artifact refinement.

Zhou Yi established himself in the East Sea while Earthfire Palace’s Feng Yang taught him artifact refinement. After Feng Yang was ambushed and badly injured, Zhou Yi helped uncover a betrayal within the sect.

• Zhou Yi accepted Feng Yang’s artifact-refining teachings but declined to join Earthfire Palace, while Wanbao explained that he sought Nascent Soul scriptures through the Righteous-Demonic Sword Duel.
• Over the next twelve years, Zhou Yi expanded his cultivation and Four Arts Hall’s reputation, and he befriended rogue cultivator Li Yu through their debates about storybooks.
• True Person Yuan Qi summoned Zhou Yi to Earthfire Palace, where he learned that Feng Yang had been gravely injured while seeking a Yin-Yang Spirit Pearl in the Sunken Sky Sea.
• Zhou Yi suspected Feng Yang’s attacker had received inside information and asked who knew Feng Yang’s route.
• Feng Yang ordered Yuan Qi to summon his junior brother, revealing that he suspected the junior brother had betrayed Earthfire Palace.

After Huo Yan fled with Earthfire Palace’s treasury, Feng Yang recruited Zhou Yi as a Grand Elder to help protect the sect. Zhou Yi accepted the authority and inheritance but remained determined to leave if danger came, and the chapter ended with him resisting a growing sense of responsibility toward the sect’s disciples.

• Yuan Qi told Feng Yang that Huo Yan had fled after emptying the sect treasury, and the news worsened Feng Yang’s injuries and despair.
• Feng Yang invited Zhou Yi to join Earthfire Palace, and Zhou Yi agreed after learning there was no safe place to escape east across the sea.
• Feng Yang granted Zhou Yi access to the sect’s scriptures and treasures, while telling Yuan Qi to entrust Zhou Yi with authority after Feng Yang’s death.
• Zhou Yi received the Grand Elder token, chose the Xiantian Pure Yang Scripture, copied several Earthfire Palace arts, and began cultivating in Spirit Fire Hall.
• Several months later, Feng Yang expelled the ghostly qi, and Zhou Yi was formally welcomed as Grand Elder before thousands of Earthfire Palace cultivators.
• Moved by the disciples’ welcome, Zhou Yi sensed responsibility for them but recited the Heart-Calming Incantation and reminded himself he was only a passerby.

Zhou Yi refined meteorites and prepared to forge the Earth Origin Shield, using his authority as Grand Elder to gather materials. Shi Bin offered his family’s heirlooms and sought Zhou Yi’s protection, and Zhou Yi agreed if he delivered another five thousand pounds of meteorites within half a year.

• Zhou Yi used earthfire and the Earthfire Treasure Tempering Art to refine meteorites into Celestial Star Essence and practiced forging the Earth Origin Shield.
• Zhou Yi ordered the Outer Affairs Hall to double mission rewards for meteorites and offered a Foundation Establishment Pill for every thousand pounds delivered.
• Shi Bin presented Zhou Yi with two thousand pounds of meteorites and a Jade Slip containing artifact-forging knowledge and the Earth Origin Shield’s forging method.
• Shi Bin explained his ancestor’s connection to the sect’s founding patriarch and asked Zhou Yi to take him into his service and protect the Shi family.
• Zhou Yi promised to protect the Shi family if Shi Bin delivered another five thousand pounds of meteorites within half a year.
• Shi Bin began bringing Zhou Yi meteorites and asking him cultivation questions, while rumors spread that the Shi family had attached itself to Elder Tang.

After fifteen years in seclusion, Zhou Yi completed the Black Tortoise Divine Armor and tested its formidable defenses. Meanwhile, Feng Yang revealed that he had arranged Shi Bin’s promotion to repay an old debt and hoped Zhou Yi would remain in Earthfire Palace to protect the sect.

• Zhou Yi appointed Shi Bin External Affairs Deacon, then entered seclusion with ten thousand jin of extraterrestrial meteorite and offered contribution points for refining five-metal essence.
• Fifteen years later, Yuan Qi told Feng Yang that Wan Bao and four True Lords had founded the Five Spirits Sect in Ji Province and sent promising disciples to the East Sea.
• Feng Yang explained that Shi Bin’s promotion was meant to help the Shi family repay a debt to his Eldest Senior Brother, and ordered Yuan Qi to keep sending clever disciples to Zhou Yi.
• Feng Yang said the Rivers and Mountains Cauldron might become a spirit treasure capable of protecting Earthfire Palace after Zhou Yi passed away.
• Zhou Yi tested the completed Black Tortoise Divine Armor, which blocked volleys of lightning and the Soul Stabilizing Mirror’s divine light without showing damage.

After emerging from fifteen years of seclusion, Zhou Yi tested his Black Tortoise Divine Armor, then strengthened the Earthfire Palace by supplying Foundation Establishment Pills and spirit ginseng and offering free monthly lectures. His first lecture drew most of the sect and ended with him teaching that survival and escape mattered more than fighting, leaving Feng Yang unsure whether Elder Tang was a blessing or a curse.

• Zhou Yi confirmed that the Black Tortoise Divine Armor could automatically block a wide range of attacks, then left seclusion to check on the Rivers and Mountains Cauldron.
• While posing as a young disciple, Zhou Yi spoke with Yu Shou in line at the cauldron and learned that several lineages had accumulated enough merit points to seek Foundation Establishment Pills.
• As Elder Tang, Zhou Yi gave Shi Bin Foundation Establishment Pills and spirit ginseng, raised the cauldron-refining rewards, and announced free monthly lectures for all disciples.
• At his first lecture, Zhou Yi taught Qi Refinement fundamentals to a packed hall, and Feng Yang recorded his explanations for the Earthfire Palace's inheritance.
• Zhou Yi taught the disciples that escape and preserving their lives came before killing, while Feng Yang wondered whether Elder Tang's influence was a blessing or a curse.

After Zhou Yi’s lectures reshaped life in Earthfire Palace, he consolidated his influence over the sect while cultivating in peace. He discovered that the tree root he had nurtured for decades was the legendary Innate Spirit Root, the Jianmu Tree, and learned it could transform lifespan into spiritual qi.

• Zhou Yi’s lecture inspired disciples to stay in the Lecture Hall, and the Law Enforcement True Person suppressed a dispute over who could attend.
• Feng Yang endorsed learning life-preserving arts, easing tensions between Earthfire Palace’s Lineage and ordinary disciples.
• Shi Bin offered Zhou Yi storybooks and female cultivators, but Zhou Yi accepted the books and sent the cultivators away.
• Over three years, Zhou Yi became Earthfire Palace’s de facto leader as three disciples advanced to Foundation Establishment using his pills.
• Zhou Yi used the Black Tortoise Divine Armor to shield his cultivation chamber and revealed the tender sprout on the tree root he had nurtured.
• Zhou Yi identified the root as the Innate Spirit Root, Jianmu Tree, and found that watering it with Creation Jade Dew made it release far more spiritual qi.

Zhou Yi and Feng Yang attended the Five Spirits Sect’s gathering, where Wanbao tried to unite the East Sea sects under his banner by offering resources and scriptures. Zhou Yi swore loyalty to the Earthfire Palace and challenged Wanbao’s claim that he could form a Nascent Soul after the Righteous-Demonic Sword Duel.

• Zhou Yi advised Feng Yang to invoke his advanced age to discourage the Five Spirits Sect from coercing the Earthfire Palace into joining its war against the demonic path.
• Wanbao invited the East Sea’s True Lords and Foundation Establishment cultivators to Red Cloud Island and proposed that the East Sea unite under the Five Spirits Sect in exchange for cultivation resources and scriptures.
• True Monarch Xie agreed to merge the White Rainbow Sect into the Five Spirits Sect, and Wanbao urged Zhou Yi to do the same with the Earthfire Palace.
• Zhou Yi swore that betraying the Earthfire Palace would cost him five hundred years of lifespan, reassuring Feng Yang that he would stay.
• Zhou Yi questioned why Wanbao remained sect master instead of focusing on Nascent Soul cultivation, and Wanbao said he would attempt to form a Nascent Soul after the Righteous-Demonic Sword Duel.
• Zhou Yi cited the Nine Provinces’ difficulty in producing Nascent Soul cultivators and challenged Wanbao to prove himself capable of matching Ancestor Xuanxiao.

Zhou Yi left Five Spirits Sect’s banquet after exposing the limits of Nascent Soul cultivation and warned Feng Yang that the demonic sects might infiltrate the East Sea. Meanwhile, Blood Moon Demon Lord and Huo Yan secretly cursed Feng Yang at Fire Bamboo Island, intending to kill him and then target Tang Xuan.

• Zhou Yi and Feng Yang left Red Cloud Island after Wan Bao accused Zhou Yi of resisting the alliance, and many other True Lords departed as well.
• Feng Yang apologized to Zhou Yi at Earthfire Palace and worried that Five Spirits Sect would pressure the sect after his death.
• Zhou Yi warned Feng Yang that the four demonic sects might use the East Sea as a refuge, and Feng Yang told him to save the sect’s inheritance and disciples if they invaded.
• Zhou Yi used the Minor Heaven Severing Art and received the oracle words “Blood Moon.”
• Huo Yan brought Blood Moon Demon Lord to Fire Bamboo Island, where they prepared a hidden altar and used Feng Yang’s belongings to cast the Black Witchcraft Curse.
• Blood Moon Demon Lord said the curse had taken ten years from Feng Yang’s lifespan and would kill him within three to five days, then said he could also curse Tang Xuan to death.

After Feng Yang died under suspicious circumstances, Zhou Yi investigated his natural-looking remains and suspected a hidden curse. The Blood Moon Demon Lord used Ancient Witchcraft against Zhou Yi, but Zhou Yi’s defenses blunted it, and the Demon Lord chose to proceed cautiously rather than risk a stronger curse.

• Zhou Yi announced Feng Yang’s death, inspected the body with Earthfire Palace’s Foundation Establishment cultivators, and ordered a discreet investigation into possible evil magic.
• Yuan Qi announced Feng Yang’s death, and Earthfire Palace’s disciples mourned their former protector.
• Huo Yan gave the Blood Moon Demon Lord a meditation cushion bearing Tang Xuan’s aura, and the Demon Lord used Ancient Witchcraft to curse Zhou Yi.
• Zhou Yi’s Black Tortoise Divine Armor blocked most of the curse, and he destroyed the remaining black qi after losing about ten years of lifespan.
• The Blood Moon Demon Lord explained Ancient Witchcraft’s backlash and rejected Huo Yan’s suggestion to curse Zhou Yi repeatedly, wary that Zhou Yi might have a countermeasure.

Zhou Yi endured Blood Moon Demon Lord’s repeated lifespan-draining curse spells, then pursued him when he fled toward the Nine Provinces. Zhou Yi destroyed the Demon Lord, purified the Profound Yin Pearl, and claimed its vast trove of treasures.

• Zhou Yi refined a Pure Yang Sword and discovered that his Black Tortoise Divine Armor could block the curse-spell black qi, which dissipated after taking his lifespan.
• Blood Moon Demon Lord repeatedly cursed Tang Xuan, sacrificing more than four hundred years of lifespan as Huo Yan urged him to keep trying.
• Near death, Blood Moon Demon Lord ended the ritual and fled toward the Nine Provinces, expecting to escape using the Profound Yin Pearl.
• Zhou Yi pursued Blood Moon Demon Lord and bombarded the pearl with Thunder Method, evading the Demon Lord’s counterattack with his faster escape art.
• Blood Moon Demon Lord’s ghostly body collapsed from exhaustion, leaving a ghost-face curse imprint on Zhou Yi’s Black Tortoise Divine Armor.
• Zhou Yi erased the imprint, purified the Profound Yin Pearl with Pure Yang Spirit Fire, and found it filled with Spirit Stones, spiritual materials, Jade Slips, Mystic Items, and pills.

Zhou Yi learned the Nether Curse from the Blood Moon Demon Lord’s spoils and used it to kill Huo Yan and the tyrannical Flying Bear Demon King. He sent Yellow Ox to publicize the demon’s death as heavenly punishment, intending to deter other Demon Kings from oppressing humans.

• Zhou Yi learned from Liu Yu’s memories that Huo Yan had escaped, then ordered Yuan Qi to hide Earthfire Palace’s elite disciples in a secret spirit land.
• Zhou Yi examined the Blood Moon Demon Lord’s treasures, discovered the Nether Curse, and successfully cast it using Huo Yan’s hair.
• Zhou Yi sent Yellow Ox to Moyun City to find a Demon King who had been abusing humans, and Yellow Ox reported the Flying Bear Demon King’s crimes.
• Zhou Yi cursed the Flying Bear Demon King, who lost six hundred years of lifespan and died while fleeing toward Azure Wave Lake.
• The people of Moyun City gathered around the fallen Demon King and consumed his body, while Zhou Yi asked Yellow Ox to spread the story that heaven had punished him.
• Zhou Yi resolved to curse several more Demon Kings to discourage them from oppressing humans.

Wanbao planned to expand the Five Spirits Sect's influence by provoking the Earthfire Palace, while Zhou Yi dealt with signs of Ghost King Sect spies and Five Spirits Sect aggression. Zhou Yi prepared a forged letter and jade hairpin to draw Xiao Tiezhun toward the Ghost King Sect, as Xiao Tiezhun struggled to break the deadlock in the war against the demonic sects.

• Wanbao ordered the Five Spirits Sect Branch to stir up conflict with the Earthfire Palace and use a disciple's injury or death as grounds for war.
• Yuan Qi told Zhou Yi that Ghost King Sect spies had blood-sacrificed commoners and that the Five Spirits Sect had seized children with spirit roots; Zhou Yi ordered captured Five Spirits Sect disciples detained.
• Zhou Yi decided to use Xiao Tiezhun to distract the Ghost King Sect and announced that he would travel to Nine Provinces while entering secluded cultivation.
• Zhou Yi collected ancient texts across Cloud Province, used them to create a convincing copy of Xiao Tiezhun's old letter, and placed a jade hairpin in its envelope.
• Xiao Tiezhun considered how the righteous alliance could defeat the demonic sects, whose fortified headquarters had resisted decades of attacks.

Xiao Tiezhun contacted Huang Yuniang, the Ghost King Sect’s sect master, and persuaded her to prepare an ancient teleportation formation in the sect’s core. He gathered the leaders of four righteous sects to plan a strike through the formation and revealed a Great Sun Treasure Pearl to deal with the Ghost King Sect’s possible Ghost God.

• Li Long delivered Xiao Tiezhun a letter and jade hairpin from Huang Yuniang, prompting Xiao Tiezhun to contact her through the hairpin.
• Xiao Tiezhun reminded Huang Yuniang of her oath to uphold the righteous path and asked her to set up an ancient teleportation formation in the Ghost King Sect; she agreed to finish in a month.
• Xiao Tiezhun invited the One Qi Sect, Spirit Sword Sect, and Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple to join the campaign against the demonic path.
• Zhang Yunqing, Sky Sword, and Faming met with Xiao Tiezhun, who explained that Huang Yuniang would help them reach the Ghost King Sect’s inner core.
• Xiao Tiezhun proposed attacking the other demonic sects first, then striking the Ghost King Sect with their sect-defending treasures, and revealed a Great Sun Treasure Pearl to counter its possible Ghost God.

After the Ghost King Sect was destroyed, Zhou Yi tightened Earthfire Palace’s defenses while the remaining demonic leaders planned to destroy the ancestral vein and seal themselves away. The Blind Daoist agreed to join Blood Demon Child and Golden Daoist, setting the stage for a drastic upheaval across the Nine Provinces and Four Seas.

• Huang Yuniang helped Xiao Tiezhun and the righteous ancestors infiltrate the Ghost King Sect, then teleported away as they began their assault.
• Xiao Tiezhun and the righteous alliance killed the Ghost King Sect’s Demon Lords, slaughtered its remaining cultivators, and shattered the spiritual vein beneath Fengdu Mountain.
• Zhou Yi ordered Earthfire Palace to stop recruiting disciples for ten years because Ghost King Sect survivors might infiltrate East Sea sects.
• Yuan Qi reported that East Sea sects had taken in many talented newcomers, including three with Heavenly Spirit Roots, while the Five Spirits Sect fortified its headquarters.
• Blood Demon Child and Golden Daoist persuaded the Blind Daoist to join them in destroying the ancestral vein and using an ancient sealing method to survive the resulting decline in spiritual energy.
• The three demonic leaders planned to detonate their sect-suppressing treasures at the spiritual vein’s core and sacrifice cultivators to prolong their sealed lives.

Zhou Yi learned that the demonic ancestors had severed the ancestor vein, causing spiritual qi across the world to wither. As cultivators and demons realized the crisis, the Dragon Emperor ordered the Ten Thousand Mountains stripped of spiritual items.

• Zhou Yi questioned Yuan Qi about strange events in the East Sea and learned Wanbao had died when the demonic sects attacked the Five Spirits Sect.
• As Zhou Yi prepared to retreat, the sun, moon, and stars appeared together, and a vision revealed that the ancestor vein had been shattered.
• Yuan Qi confirmed Earthfire Palace’s spirit vein had stopped producing spiritual qi, and Zhou Yi warned that cultivation would become increasingly difficult.
• Ao Cang learned the ancestor vein had been severed and recognized that his ambitions depended on spiritual qi.
• The Dragon Emperor ordered the demons to collect every spiritual item in the Ten Thousand Mountains and bring them to Azure Wave Lake within a month.

After the ancestral vein was severed, spiritual energy began draining away and disasters spread across the Nine Provinces. Zhou Yi prepared Earthfire Palace to survive the coming decline and turned to the Jianmu Tree as a future source of spiritual energy.

• Heavenly Lord Yuanling and Zen Master Miaoshan found the Heavenly Demon Sect empty and learned that the ancestral vein had been severed, while another Daoist reported the same destruction at the Blood God Sect and Heavenly Corpse Sect.
• A maidservant in Marquis Weiwu's Estate became a zombie and killed two servants, as other ghosts and spirits rampaged through Qianjing until Zhou Yi destroyed them with yin lightning.
• Zhou Yi told Earthfire Palace's True Persons to conserve Spirit Stones and relocate to the Nine Provinces, then ordered them to prepare Spirit Gathering Formations and extract resources while keeping all disciples.
• Zhou Yi watered the Jianmu Tree with Creation Jade Dew and found that the growing sprout continued to produce spiritual energy, which he hoped would sustain his Golden Core cultivation.