Chapter Summaries

Qu Jianlei agreed to cooperate with Lingyun Sect and joined Tianli and Han Li in striking at Pixiu, only to discover that the target was an abnormal avatar rather than a proper True Venerable. Pixiu disappeared afterward, leaving his businesses in disarray and the group wary of the mysterious being’s true body.

• Baiqiao persuaded Qu Jianlei to accept Lingyun’s support by warning that other factions might threaten his teammates if he remained unaffiliated.
• Qu Jianlei agreed to Tianli’s request and planned to use a decisive battle against Tengxi to strengthen his deterrence.
• Qu Jianlei and Han Li attacked their target, then realized they had killed an abnormal avatar rather than a proper True Venerable.
• Han Li proposed pursuing the target’s true body, while Qingkong offered to use the Curse Art to trace it; Qu Jianlei said he needed two months to recover.
• Tianli reported that Pixiu had vanished and his businesses had fallen into chaos, then asked Qu Jianlei whether he should reclaim them.

Qu Jianlei gathered allies to investigate Pixiu after Lingyun Sect declined to act promptly, and Qingkong traced the hidden enemy to a void Channel Entrance. The group pursued the target into the void, where they intercepted a disguised Warship and prepared to fight.

• Jin Ge told Qu Jianlei that the Heaven-Monitoring Mirror said True Venerable Tengxi had died of old age and the previous Pixiu had been impersonated, while Lingyun Sect would not investigate soon.
• Qu Jianlei left Yanfeng Three with Han Li, Jin Ge, Qingkong, Tianli, and Song Yue'er to hunt Pixiu's true body.
• At Rouzhao Five, Qingkong used the Source Tracing Technique for three days and located the enemy near a void Channel Entrance.
• The group followed Qingkong into the void, where he changed course toward a cluster of broken rocks and Qu Jianlei, Han Li, and Jin Ge moved to cut off the target.
• Han Li unleashed a wave of cold toward a nearby Warship, prompting its cultivators to flee as they realized Great Venerables—or possibly Immortal Venerables—were fighting nearby.

Han Li and five other True Venerables captured a fast-moving, malicious being hidden inside a massive chunk of rubble, then left with it to examine and seal it. They debated whether it was an Innate Spirit Treasure and looked to Qu Jianlei, whose connection to the being made him the likely first claimant.

• Song Yue'er mistakenly played Ghostly Lament, then switched to Ambush from Ten Sides as Han Li's Cold Qi Domain slowed the fleeing rubble.
• Tianli blocked the rubble, Qingkong immobilized it, and Jin Ge trapped it in the Jin Jing Net while the Grand Protector helped coordinate the capture.
• Qu Jianlei found no remaining karma but sensed strong malice, and the six True Venerables left through a spatial rift with the struggling stone.
• In a quiet stretch of starry space, Qingkong questioned whether the object was a Spirit Treasure, while Han Li proposed destroying its sentience and Tianli asked it to surrender.
• Han Li prepared an Array Plate to seal the object, Song Yue'er suggested stripping away its stone shell, and the group turned to Qu Jianlei because of his bond with it.

Qu Jianlei and the True Venerables burned away a stone shell to reveal and seal a vast, chestnut-shaped Spirit Treasure made of tangled roots. When the sealed roots threatened Qu Jianlei’s cave dwelling, he decided to enter and try to subdue the hidden consciousness himself.

• Qu Jianlei agreed to support any attempt to stop the consciousness from escaping, and the group chose Song Yue’er’s gentle fire to burn the stone shell.
• Song Yue’er used her soul-grating piece, “Burning the Zither,” to burn away the shell over two days, revealing a giant chestnut-shaped mass of tangled roots.
• Han Li used the Array Plate to seal the root mass and handed the plate to Qu Jianlei to store.
• Qu Jianlei sensed that Wind Forgotten was terrified and that his cave dwelling was becoming unstable from containing the sealed roots.
• After Han Li warned Jin Ge against putting the roots in his newly completed cave dwelling, Qu Jianlei decided to enter and try to subdue the hidden existence.

Qu Jianlei entered his Abode to subdue the sealed Chaos Wood Spirit, but its hidden divine sense launched a deadly attack. He repelled it with the Dao Stele and approached the Array Plate, still unsure how to deal with the dangerous spirit.

• Qu Jianlei dismissed the other True Venerables’ warnings and entered his Abode to make the Chaos Wood Spirit submit.
• Qu Jianlei’s High-Fidelity Replica and the other Stick Figures reacted fearfully as the sealed Array Plate thrashed and radiated a sinister aura.
• The Chaos Wood Spirit sent a sharp, bloodthirsty divine sense at Qu Jianlei, who teleported repeatedly while releasing the Dao Stele.
• The Dao Stele’s Coercive Pressure stopped the attack, and the divine sense withdrew into the Array Plate.
• Qu Jianlei confirmed the spirit remained sealed inside the Array Plate and approached it with the Dao Stele.

Qu Jianlei pursued the Array Plate while trying to understand a rare thought sent by the Dao Stele, which ultimately identified the being inside as an Evil Spirit and destroyed its response. Afterward, Qu Jianlei examined the damaged seal and wondered whether the entity had really been an Evil Spirit rather than a Chaos Wood Spirit.

• Qu Jianlei pursued the fleeing Array Plate and sensed a mysterious, seemingly harmless thought that he judged came from the Dao Stele.
• Qu Jianlei followed the Array Plate while trying to decipher the Dao Stele’s intent, and he realized the Dao Stele cared about the huge tree root involved.
• Qu Jianlei charged at the Array Plate, and the Dao Stele unleashed its aura, apparently declaring the entity inside an Evil Spirit and killing it.
• Qu Jianlei encouraged the Stick Figure ornament for protecting the Array Plate, then examined the Array Plate after Big Head Butterfly recovered from its rigid state.
• Qu Jianlei found that the entity’s escape had damaged Han Li’s layered seal and questioned whether it had been a Chaos Wood Spirit instead of an Evil Spirit.

Qu Jianlei defeated the Chaos Wood Spirit and shared the remaining Ugly Tree Root with the True Venerables, then revealed that he had taken a mysterious compass from its core. The group identified it as a compass tied to fate and wondered whether it connected to the Heretical Cultivators’ compasses, while Han Li urged them to treat it as a tool.

• Qu Jianlei removed Han Li’s seal and dealt with the Evil Spirit, which he said was likely a Chaos Wood Spirit that had turned evil.
• Qu Jianlei shared the remaining half of the Ugly Tree Root among the True Venerables, and Song Yue'er first asked for all of it before agreeing to split it after Han Li mentioned opportunities in another world.
• True Venerable Tianli invited the others to discuss the industries left under True Venerable Tengxi’s name.
• Song Yue'er noticed that the Ugly Tree Root’s core felt abnormal, prompting the True Venerables to investigate the missing piece.
• Qu Jianlei revealed that the missing core contained an ancient compass, and True Venerable Tianli identified it as a Luck Compass before Han Li argued that it contained fate instead.
• The Grand Protector asked whether the compass was connected to the Heretical Cultivators’ compasses, and Han Li said the compass was only a tool and trusted Qu Jianlei to control it.

Qu Jianlei concealed the Creation Compass while the others settled Tengxi’s assets and Lingyun Sect carried out an internal purge. On Jiuyou Island, he studied the compass and found that neither it nor the Dao Stele reacted to the other, leaving its secrets unresolved as he began trying to comprehend it.

• Qu Jianlei concealed the compass and shared half of Ugly Tree Root, while the True Venerables settled on Han Li’s explanation that it was a Fate Compass.
• True Venerable Tianli announced that Tengxi had left him his assets, and rumors spread that Tianli had avenged Tengxi with Lingyun’s backing and would share the properties with the other five True Venerables.
• Lingyun Sect disciplined several powerful stewards, including one taken away just before attempting the Out-of-Body Realm.
• Qu Jianlei hid on Jiuyou Island and studied the Creation Compass with the help of the Ritual Artifact’s Heroic Spirits.
• Qu Jianlei placed the compass near the Dao Stele, but the Dao Stele showed no reaction, so he began trying to comprehend the compass’s true meaning of creation.

After studying the Compass on Jiuyou Island for half a year, Qu Jianlei heard from Bai Qiao that Lingyun Sect faced fierce opposition to supporting him. Bai Qiao warned that the rumors crediting Qu Jianlei’s Years Divine Ability with killing Tengxi could make others fear him more, leaving Qu Jianlei frustrated that he had not been told sooner about the plan to exploit those rumors.

• Qu Jianlei suspected the Compass still carried traces of the Wood Spirit and continued studying creation by himself.
• Jin Ge brought Bai Qiao to meet Qu Jianlei, and Bai Qiao confirmed the Chaos Wood Spirit’s death had been verified and praised by the World Envoy.
• Bai Qiao told Qu Jianlei that Lingyun’s factions were resisting support for an outsider, especially a True Venerable, and offered to use his personal resources until the sect’s procedures changed.
• Qu Jianlei refused to accept support if it would make him bear the political fallout, but Bai Qiao warned that refusing could bring more trouble because others feared his Years Divine Ability.
• Bai Qiao explained that investigators suspected Qu Jianlei had used the Years Divine Ability to erase Tengxi, and said the rumor could establish his might.
• Qu Jianlei challenged Bai Qiao’s belief that the rumor would fool True Venerables and complained that he would have killed Xuan Yi instead if Bai Qiao had disclosed the plan earlier.

Qu Jianlei prepared for the expedition to another world, bringing cultivators from Cangwu Realm to join Houde’s enormous invasion force. At the Lingyun Sect’s Warship, True Venerable Bucai challenged him over his conduct, and Qu Jianlei opened his Years Divine Ability as the other True Venerables fled.

• Qu Jianlei refused Bai Qiao’s proposed assignment and said he might send a clone to the other world instead of going himself.
• A rumor spread that Qu Jianlei was hunting evil True Venerables to perfect his Years Divine Ability, and he moved Duo Gan and Jing Yuexin to Jiuyou Island before departing.
• Qu Jianlei left a clone to guard Jiuyou Island and took cultivators from Red Leaf Ridge and Cangwu Realm to the agreed gathering point.
• Qu Jianlei arrived with Jin Ge at the Expedition, a Lingyun Sect Warship surrounded by a vast force preparing to invade another world.
• True Venerable Bucai criticized Qu Jianlei for failing to greet the gathered seniors, and Qu Jianlei opened his left eye, prompting the nearby True Venerables to retreat.

Qu Jianlei attacked True Venerable Bucai with the Years Divine Ability after Bucai challenged his authority, forcing Qingkong to intervene before their clash escalated. Han Li then asked whether anyone else opposed the expedition leadership, leaving the gathered cultivators stunned and silent.

• True Venerable Bucai provoked Qu Jianlei, who pursued him with the Years Divine Ability as Bucai tried to escape behind warships.
• The Years Divine Ability bypassed the ships, damaging one and threatening Bucai until Qingkong ordered Qu Jianlei to stop and promised an explanation.
• Qingkong reprimanded Bucai and told him he could leave the expedition; Bucai insisted he would not go rather than back down.
• Qu Jianlei stopped attacking, having aimed to demonstrate that he could not be bullied and to diminish Bucai's lifespan.
• Han Li asked if anyone else was unconvinced and warned against internal conflict, leaving the assembled cultivators unable to respond.

The Houde Realm’s vanguard launched a massive campaign into the Asura World, overwhelming its defenses and beginning a wide-ranging conquest. As cultivators raced to claim its opportunities, Qingning confirmed the expedition’s three-year timetable before it moved on to the Tree Race World.

• Three days after the dispute involving True Venerable Bucai, Lingyun Sect’s fleet departed and spent a year and seven months traveling to the Asura World.
• The vanguard broke through the guarded breach, where two True Venerables seized the defending Asura Secondary Nests and the rest of the fleet poured into the world.
• The Five-Person Group stayed behind to establish a management camp at the breach, while cultivators and True Venerables spread out to explore and fight.
• After returning from a month of searching with True Venerable Tianli, Qingning said the cultivators’ battles had made the area difficult to explore quietly.
• True Venerable Xuan Yi announced that he had obtained Primordial Yin-Yang Qi, encouraging the cultivators to intensify their search for treasures.
• Before setting out to explore again, Qingning asked Qu Jianlei about the deadline, and Qu Jianlei confirmed that the group would spend three years in the Asura World before moving on to the Tree Race World.

Qu Jianlei projected to his team after they encountered a dispute over a spirit-stone mine, where Cangwu cultivators and another group both claimed the spoils. With the Great Strength Tribe as their ally, the Cangwu team began seizing resources across the region, while other cultivators struggled to imitate their ability to work with Asuras.

• Qu Jianlei's Cangwu team spent months exploring while resisting upper-realm cultivators who followed them and sought to learn from their experience.
• Jia Shuiqing met the Ten-Armed Ancestor of the Great Strength Tribe, who welcomed the cultivators' invasion and pledged the tribe's cooperation.
• Cangwu cultivators clashed with another team over a spirit-stone mine, and Jia Shuiqing summoned Qu Jianlei to resolve the dispute.
• Qu Jianlei negotiated with the opposing True Venerable, securing seventy percent of the mine for his side and turning the two teams into allies.
• The Cangwu team and the Great Strength Tribe attacked resource sites together, while cultivators from another region failed to copy their success in subduing Asuras.

The Cangwu cultivators expanded their influence in the Asura World, then regrouped and traveled through the Federation into the Empire. After settling old ties there and hearing about the Empire’s Digital Phantom Fund and offer to unify the three nations, Jia Shuiqing said the cultivators would likely not return after exterminating the Alien Race.

• The Jiuxian team agreed to cooperate with the Cangwu cultivators, sharing information and joining them against major targets.
• Wen Xian discovered other True Venerables studying the worlds’ intersection, and the Cangwu team’s influence grew as more teams joined its cooperation.
• When the three-year limit ended, some cultivators stayed in the Asura World while the main force set out for the Federation and the Tree Race World.
• The Federation contacted the cultivators, but Red Leaf Ridge declined further contact and the team continued into the Empire.
• Rhine and the others returned from settling their ties in the Empire with news of the Digital Phantom Fund, its vast Energy Block reserves, and two legion-class warships offered to them.
• Jia Shuiqing told Empire officials that cultivators had no interest in mortal affairs and would likely not return after exterminating the Alien Race.

Qu Jianlei and the other True Venerables joined forces to claim an opportunity in the Tree Race World, then agreed to delay its emergence so Qingning could use it to help Qing'er advance. Qingning offered an Asura Brood Mother as payment, and Wen Xian prepared to seal the opportunity.

• Qu Jianlei, Han Li, and Qingning arrived at the Star Cluster and found Qingkong and Song Yue'er fighting two Mother Trees.
• The seven True Venerables defeated the Tree Race forces and agreed to split the opportunity evenly between the Five-Person Group and Qingkong and Song Yue'er.
• Han Li divined that the remains of two fallen Mother Trees could unlock the opportunity, but Wen Xian proposed breaking it open directly.
• Qingning sensed the opportunity's strong vitality and asked to use it for Qing'er; Qu Jianlei's divination showed it would improve her chances of advancing.
• Wen Xian agreed to delay the opportunity's emergence, and Qingning offered an Asura Brood Mother to pay for sealing it.

Qingning arranged Qing'er’s secluded breakthrough with help from the True Venerables, while Qu Jianlei’s group continued exploring the Tree Race World amid growing tensions and disorder. In the twenty-fifth year, Qu Jianlei prepared to return to Houde, but True Venerable Qianhuan proposed a partnership to rent out his defensive Spirit Mountain.

• Qingning offered a half share of a Tier 5 Spirit Vein for Qing'er’s opportunity, but Qu Jianlei asked for Tianqiong Crystals instead, and Song Yue'er agreed to buy one.
• The True Venerables agreed to support Song Yue'er’s breakthrough, and Qingning built a seclusion site where Qing'er began her retreat.
• Over the following years, more Human Race cultivators arrived, trade and territorial disputes grew around Main Camp, and Qu Jianlei criticized the Star Tapirs as selfish stakeholders rather than reliable partners.
• In the twenty-fifth year, Qu Jianlei decided to return to Houde to prepare Jing Yuexin and Duo Gan for advancement and follow up on the Tier 5 Spirit Vein.
• True Venerable Qianhuan approached Qu Jianlei with a business proposal: they would rent out Qianhuan’s Spirit Mountain as protection for cultivators facing Half-Step Soul Division Insect Race members.

Qu Jianlei and True Venerable Qianhuan arranged to rent out Spirit Mountain, while Qu Jianlei and Han Li sensed a hidden expert at the worlds’ intersection. After returning to the Houde Realm, Qu Jianlei reflected on how his growing cultivation status was changing his relationships with his companions.

• Qu Jianlei agreed to Qianhuan’s plan to rent Spirit Mountain for Extreme Spirit Stones, and Qianhuan revealed that its owner had tacitly approved moving it.
• Qu Jianlei told Han Li about the plan, and Han Li proposed splitting the rental income and the risk with him.
• Qu Jianlei and Han Li left clones at camp, traveled through the Asura World, and sensed a withered-looking True Venerable at the worlds’ intersection whom they suspected was more than Out-of-Body Realm.
• Qu Jianlei and Han Li returned to the Houde Realm more than a year later, and Han Li warned Qu Jianlei that some bonds could not be forced as he tried to maintain ties with his companions.

Qu Jianlei returned to Jiuyou Island, then went to Yanfeng Three to search for Qianhuan’s true body and discuss the front line and Lingyun’s support with Bai Qiao. He agreed that a teammate who advanced to the Out-of-Body Realm could serve as Lingyun’s nominal guest elder, and the chapter left him staying behind while the front-line campaign continued.

• Qu Jianlei returned to Jiuyou Island, where Jing Yuexin and Duo Gan revealed they had absorbed primordial essence and Jing Yuexin asked him to divine her chances of entering seclusion.
• Qu Jianlei left Qinghu and Bentley to protect Jing Yuexin and Duo Gan, then departed for Yanfeng Three to search for Qianhuan’s true body.
• Bai Qiao asked Qu Jianlei about Lingyun’s gains at the front and Qingning’s Dao Companion’s plans to break through to the Out-of-Body Realm.
• Bai Qiao explained that Human Race Great Monarchs would not appear unless Alien Race Soul Division experts did, and Qu Jianlei said he would remain behind for a while.
• Bai Qiao offered Lingyun’s support resources and invited Qu Jianlei to join as a guest elder; Qu Jianlei said his teammate could become a nominal guest elder after advancing.

Qu Jianlei negotiated Lingyun Sect support and arranged a nominal guest-elder position for Bentley, then tasked True Venerable Qianhuan with bargaining for a Tier 5 Spirit Vein. As the Red Leaf Ridge Team prepared for a wave of Nascent Soul breakthroughs in Cangwu, returning expedition members brought wealth and drew offers of spirit veins from major forces.

• Qu Jianlei declined Lingyun Sect’s honorary-elder role, explaining that he wanted to avoid responsibilities that might hinder his search for resources, and recommended Bentley as a guest elder instead.
• Bai Qiao agreed to register Bentley as a nominal guest elder with limited benefits and missions, then urged Qu Jianlei and Han Li to keep their rivalry over reaching Soul-Splitting in perspective.
• True Venerable Qianhuan asked Qu Jianlei for more time to settle their debt, and Qu Jianlei told him to negotiate for either of two Tier 5 Spirit Veins while offering to cover part of a reasonable price.
• Hua Xiezhi, Fourth Boss, and Xiang Xue prepared to advance to Nascent Soul in Cangwu rather than risk affecting Jiuyou Island’s spirit vein.
• Returning Cangwu cultivators brought back wealth and news from the other world, prompting Star Palace and other major forces to offer spirit veins for Red Leaf Ridge cultivators’ breakthroughs.

Qu Jianlei warned Bentley against taking a dangerous escort mission, then agreed to travel with Han Li and a group of Cangwu cultivators to the other world. During their journey, Qu Jianlei and Han Li discovered what appeared to be an artificially created spatial trap and prepared to confront whoever had set it.

• Bentley asked Qu Jianlei whether to accept Lingyun Sect’s escort mission, and Qu Jianlei divined danger and advised him to refuse.
• Han Li invited Qu Jianlei to return to the other world, and Qu Jianlei agreed so he could observe Qing'er’s progress and help the expedition.
• Qu Jianlei gathered Cangwu cultivators traveling with Lingyun Sect and brought them along in his Abode.
• While traveling, Qu Jianlei and Han Li sensed a spatial anomaly that appeared to be a man-made trap.
• Qu Jianlei tore open the Subspace layer and grew to more than a thousand kilometers tall as Han Li prepared to guard him.