Chapter Summaries

The Baiyou Merchant Alliance demanded compensation from Houde while attacking its cultivators, and Qu Jianlei and Han Li waited for reinforcements before striking back. After the Alliance divined their positions, three concealed True Venerables attacked a returning group of cultivators while Qu Jianlei, Han Li, and Jin Ge were still far from the Void Passage.

• The Merchant Alliance demanded six Tier 5 Spirit Veins from Houde and refused to compensate True Venerable Houde for his injuries.
• Houde True Venerables grew angry, but most stayed cautious because attacking the Merchant Alliance could trigger a war across realms.
• Han Li and Qu Jianlei waited to see how many True Venerables the Merchant Alliance could gather, intending to hurt the Alliance decisively.
• Jin Ge returned to Houde, learned what had happened, and urged Han Li and Qu Jianlei to attack.
• Two days later, someone from the Merchant Alliance performed divination on Qu Jianlei, Han Li, and Jin Ge; Qu Jianlei failed to uncover the diviner’s identity and the three headed for the void.
• Three concealed True Venerables attacked a returning group of cultivators after divining the trio’s positions and confirming they could not arrive in time.

After the Baiyou Merchant Alliance's True Venerables ambushed and robbed a returning party, Qu Jianlei organized Houde's True Venerables to wear down the alliance through repeated divinations. The chapter ends with more cultivators volunteering to join, though Qu Jianlei warned them to bear the risks themselves.

• Three True Venerables from the Baiyou Merchant Alliance ambushed a returning party, robbed it, and escaped despite the escorting True Venerable's vigilance.
• Qu Jianlei, Han Li, and Jin Ge arrived too late, and Lingyun sent Elder Youjian to warn the Merchant Alliance that it would no longer protect its True Venerables in the dispute.
• Elder Youjian approached Jin Ge after negotiations failed, and the rival sides began exchanging divinations almost daily, forcing Jin Ge to withdraw because he could not withstand the counterattacks.
• Qu Jianlei asked Jin Ge to recruit six skilled True Venerables to join the divinations, and many Houde cultivators volunteered to help.
• After the two injured True Venerables and others demanded to participate, Qu Jianlei agreed, warning that anyone who joined had to accept the consequences of the Merchant Alliance's counterattacks.

Houde’s True Venerables intensified their divinations against the Baiyou Merchant Alliance while Qu Jianlei and Han Li uncovered signs of a hidden Soul-Splitting Realm treasure and possible supply smuggling. As they prepared to move Dusts into the Outer-Domain camps, Jin Ge returned with Qu Jianlei’s long-awaited Creation Rules.

• Houde’s True Venerables increased their divinations against the Baiyou Merchant Alliance, whose counterattacks failed before it concealed its True Venerable auras with a treasure.
• Jin Ge inspected Lang Mai’s subordinates’ Storage Equipment and confiscated supplies, while an unnoticed speck of dust attached itself to one cultivator’s robe and slipped into the Outer-Domain camp.
• Han Li told Qu Jianlei that the Baiyou Merchant Alliance had a palace capable of shielding against divination, and Qu Jianlei urged Lingyun to inspect supply traffic into the Outer-Domain camps.
• Qu Jianlei and Jin Ge planned to smuggle more Dusts into the guarded camps through the other Outer-Domain groups, so they could approach the camps unexpectedly.
• Jin Ge returned after being summoned by Baiqiao and told Qu Jianlei that his Creation Rules had arrived.

Qu Jianlei and Han Li received a Creation Rule from True Venerable Han Wei and learned Wanwu Realm would fall silent about Linhe. They later launched an assault on the Trade Alliance’s palace, where Qu Jianlei’s seven-colored lightning met a defense whose true struggle unfolded beyond the visible world.

• True Venerable Han Wei delivered one Creation Rule and said he would try to persuade Wanwu Realm’s True Venerables to stay out of Qu Jianlei’s conflict.
• Half a month later, Wanwu Realm stopped discussing True Venerable Linhe, and Qu Jianlei warned that the Trade Alliance might soon strike back.
• Jin Ge used divination to identify the start of a third sneak attack, then went to reinforce the others while Qu Jianlei and Han Li prepared their own assault.
• Qu Jianlei and Han Li appeared outside the four great camps, and Qu Jianlei struck the Trade Alliance’s palace with seven-colored lightning resembling True Venerable Xiaoyou’s Suiyue.
• The lightning failed to break the palace, and the gathered True Venerables sensed that the fierce confrontation was taking place partly in another space or dimension.

Han Li, Qu Jianlei, and Jin Ge broke through the palace’s Spirit Severing-level defenses, triggering a Grand Lord’s warning and preparing to face the force behind it. The chapter left them attacking while they readied their defenses against what they realized was only a contingency thought, not the Grand Lord in person.

• Jin Ge arrived and warned the watching Cultivators of the Three Realms to show restraint while Lingyun handled its business, but none of them intervened.
• Han Li used the Seven-Colored Lightning to crack the palace wall and weaken its misty defenses with a single strike.
• Qu Jianlei worried about the cost of Han Li’s precious treasure and resolved that Dao Companions should share burdens rather than take each other for granted.
• A vast pressure sent a warning to everyone, demanding to know who dared ruin its karma, and Han Li told Jin Ge it was his turn to act.
• Jin Ge attacked the palace with a Golden Wheel Slash and raised a golden-threaded net, while Han Li released his Cold Qi Domain as they prepared to retreat or fight.

Han Li, Jin Ge, and Qu Jianlei were trapped in the Hunyuan Tiandu Array after damaging the palace, and the array’s controllers announced they would capture them. Han Li released True Venerable Xiwu, who helped Qu Jianlei adapt their Yinyun Array as the four prepared a mobile defense and counterattack.

• Han Li and Jin Ge realized the palace’s damage had triggered a contingency, and Qu Jianlei pulled them away from the enemy’s spatial array.
• The Hunyuan Tiandu Array warped and shattered the surrounding spatial rules, trapping the three True Venerables while spectators watched from outside.
• Qu Jianlei used four array plates to shield the group from outside observation, while the array’s controllers identified their formation as the Hunyuan Tiandu Array.
• Han Li released True Venerable Xiwu, who confirmed the array was not an illusion and recognized faults linking it to other spaces.
• Xiwu strengthened their Yinyun Array with Qu Jianlei’s guidance as the four True Venerables planned a mobile defense capable of counterattacking.

Qu Jianlei and the others sheltered inside a temporary array while he investigated the Grand Lord’s spatially nested Maze Array. Finding no array core, Qu Jianlei proposed using array dao to force a way out, while Han Li prepared to try divination with Creation aura as the group faced a growing energy-wave attack and possible infiltration.

• Qu Jianlei, Xiwu, and Jin Ge set up and maintained a movable protective array as violent energy battered them inside the grand array.
• Han Li sensed spatial nesting, and Qu Jianlei identified their prison as a dangerous Maze Array unlike the Dead Silent Zone.
• Han Li offered to handle the array core if Qu Jianlei found it, while Jin Ge took charge of maintaining the array.
• After analyzing the grand array, Qu Jianlei discovered that it had no array core, and Xiwu warned that someone may have entered the field.
• Qu Jianlei proposed breaking the array through array dao and offered Han Li his Ugly Tree Root’s Creation aura to aid divination.
• Han Li agreed to try the divination as Jin Ge and Xiwu questioned how relaxed the group seemed despite their predicament.

Qu Jianlei, Han Li, Jin Ge, and True Venerable Xiwu searched for a way through the Great Monarch’s formation while surviving its hazards and growing signs that the array was being controlled. Qu Jianlei began trying to seize control of it as True Venerable Bucai led cultivators toward the Void Passage.

• Han Li used Ugly Tree Root to guide the group, then watched Qu Jianlei perform his own divination and learned the indicated route was relatively dangerous.
• The group encountered a Space Vortex whose intensified suction revealed Nether Chains; Jin Ge recognized them, and True Venerable Xiwu concluded the formation’s controllers had found them.
• Qu Jianlei decided to try to take control of the grand array, while Han Li and the others prepared to protect him and continued their own divinations.
• Jin Ge and True Venerable Xiwu worried about the humiliation of being trapped and rescued as True Venerable Bucai led a team toward the entrance of the Void Passage.

Houde cultivators learned that Qu Jianlei, Han Li, and Jin Ge were trapped in the Trade Alliance’s Tiandu Great Array, but Lingyun Sect chose to avoid escalating the conflict. After more than twenty days, the array and the palace began trembling, suggesting the trapped cultivators might be trying to break free.

• Shangshan Realm cultivators secretly spread word that Qu Jianlei, Han Li, and Jin Ge were trapped, and Lingyun Sect sent True Venerable Bucai to seek an explanation from the Trade Alliance.
• The Trade Alliance refused to negotiate in person and warned that the conflict could not end peacefully unless someone of sufficient standing intervened.
• True Venerable Bucai reported back that negotiations had failed, while Lingyun Sect gathered more than a dozen True Venerables near the camp and prepared to receive the trapped cultivators if they escaped.
• After Qu Jianlei and the others had been trapped for more than twenty days, the Tiandu Great Array and the palace began trembling, drawing a vast crowd of watchers.
• Song Yue'er urged True Venerable Bucai to prepare for a rescue, but Bucai said he sensed no danger around Jin Ge.
• Over the next three days, the trembling intensified as cultivators watched in silence.

Qu Jianlei deciphered the Tiandu Great Array and found a way to hide from the Merchant Alliance’s attacks while preparing to break it. On the seventh day, he began guiding the others through a method that used Creation aura to resist the array’s Great Monarch karma.

• The great array and the palace vanished, and the cultivators’ divinations warned that approaching the area could bring uncontrollable changes.
• Song Yue'er questioned Li Yuren, who said Cangwu trusted True Venerable Qu to handle the uncontrollable situation.
• Qu Jianlei explained that the Merchant Alliance’s attackers had used translocation to escape after the four True Venerables tried to draw them out.
• Han Li divined that something was wrong, and Qu Jianlei said he had found a lead on how to break the hastily arranged array and hide from their attackers.
• Qu Jianlei said the array’s karma prevented them from using it to counterattack, and estimated that breaking it would take five to fifteen days.
• On the seventh day, Qu Jianlei gave Jin Ge and Xiwu Ugly Tree Root and told the three True Venerables to release Creation aura so he could guide it against the Great Monarch karma.

Han Li and the other True Venerables fought the Baiyou Merchant Alliance’s palace and Starry Sky Three Powers Array formations in the void. Qu Jianlei completed a second, weaker Defense Array as the enemy multiplied its attacks.

• Han Li destroyed the palace that appeared in the void, but learned it was an illusion when more palaces manifested through Body Manifestation into Thousands.
• Han Li used Seven-Colored Lightning to destroy more than a hundred palace avatars, forcing the Baiyou Merchant Alliance to reveal five figures in a Starry Sky Three Powers Array.
• The five figures struck Qu Jianlei’s mobile Defense Array with black lightning while Qu Jianlei began building a replacement and Jin Ge repaired and replenished the shield.
• The attackers produced more than ten Starry Sky Three Powers Array avatars and continued their assault.
• Qu Jianlei finished a second Defense Array, weaker and slower than the first but still comparable to a Mountain Protecting Grand Formation.

Qu Jianlei’s Years ability was blocked, but his right eye unleashed Creation and Destruction, throwing the enemy formations into chaos. Han Li, Jin Ge, and True Venerable Xiwu destroyed nearly all the palaces and arrays, leaving four True Venerables struggling to resist.

• Qu Jianlei’s Years ability failed to overcome the enemy arrays’ defenses, though Xiwu noticed that it made the palaces easier to destroy.
• Qu Jianlei opened his right eye, and its Creation and Destruction power drew in divine senses and disrupted the enemy formations.
• Jin Ge attacked with Golden Ray while Han Li continued striking the palaces with Seven-Colored Lightning, and Xiwu sent white light against another enemy array.
• Han Li and Xiwu destroyed the remaining palaces and arrays until only one battered palace and one array with four True Venerables remained.
• Qu Jianlei’s right eye began to weaken, while the four surviving True Venerables, exhausted and terrified, continued fighting because they could not escape.

Han Li, Qu Jianlei, Jin Ge, and Xiwu defeated the Merchant Alliance True Venerables after their array failed, though two enemies self-destructed and Qu Jianlei was left weakened by using Creation and Destruction. The survivors secured the area and discovered that the Great Monarch’s array had exiled them to a place about ten days from Houde.

• The Merchant Alliance’s True Venerables threatened the group and offered a ransom, but Han Li and his companions continued their attack.
• Han Li spotted another enemy avatar, and the group focused on the True Venerable at the front left, whose Remnant Soul Qu Jianlei’s Creation and Destruction ability erased.
• Han Li killed the True Venerable who begged for mercy, while the leading True Venerable and the remaining avatar self-destructed rather than be captured.
• Xiwu went to collect the enemies’ auras as Jin Ge set up a Defense Array, and Han Li stayed to protect the exhausted Qu Jianlei.
• Jin Ge sensed that they were about ten days’ journey from Houde, and Han Li concluded that the Great Monarch’s array had exiled them far from their original location.

After the battle, Han Li and his companions found two Abodes among their defeated enemies and debated what to do with the dangerous Palace. Han Li claimed the Palace, seized it despite its hidden defenses, and discovered that Lang Mai’s divine sense had been inside; the group then decided to wait for Qu Jianlei to recover while Han Li considered striking back at the Merchant Alliance.

• Qu Jianlei spoke with Jin Ge and Han Li, saying he needed at least a year to recuperate, while Xiwu revealed that she had found two Abodes inside the defeated True Venerables’ shells.
• Xiwu confirmed that no Remnant Souls had escaped, and she and Jin Ge discussed selling the Palace to Lingyun until Han Li declared it an ownerless object and claimed it for himself.
• Jin Ge and Qu Jianlei agreed that Han Li deserved the Palace, while the remaining two Abodes would be divided among Jin Ge, Xiwu, and Qu Jianlei.
• Han Li tested the Palace from a distance, calculated its secrets, and put it away despite a strand of Lang Mai’s divine sense inside; he then destroyed the strand in his Abode.
• Xiwu proposed concealing the heavenly secrets while Qu Jianlei recovered, but Han Li said he wanted to see who could find them and wondered how many True Venerables remained in the Merchant Alliance’s camp.

Qu Jianlei recovered and returned with Han Li, Jin Ge, and Xiwu after the Merchant Alliance’s forces were destroyed. Houde Realm celebrated the victory, while Elder Youjian asked whether any enemies had survived.

• Qu Jianlei recovered enough to use the Years Divine Ability to extract two cave dwellings from the fallen True Venerables, then gave the better one to Xiwu and Jin Ge.
• Xiwu, Jin Ge, Han Li, and Qu Jianlei returned to the Four Great Camps after eight days, where Houde Realm and the Three Realms cultivators had been waiting for news.
• Tianli confirmed that the returning figures were genuine, and Jin Ge said the Merchant Alliance had been wiped out to the last.
• Houde Realm’s cultivators erupted in celebration, while the Three Realms cultivators reacted with disbelief and fear.
• Elder Youjian appeared and asked Jin Ge whether the Merchant Alliance had left any survivors.

After the Merchant Alliance’s defeat, Han Li’s companions revealed that he had taken a Palace belonging to a possibly living Grand Lord, while Qu Jianlei negotiated over the remaining enemies. The chapter ended with Han Li realizing that Qu Jianlei’s restraint might be part of someone’s attempt to keep him from becoming too powerful.

• Jin Ge announced that the Merchant Alliance’s attackers had been killed and that Han Li had taken their Palace as spoils.
• Han Li said he was unsure whether the Palace’s original owner was still alive, and Jin Ge defended the group’s actions when Song Yue'er questioned them.
• Jin Ge asked Elder Youjian to support a search of the Merchant Alliance camp, but Qu Jianlei threatened to enter without authorization until True Venerable Beiliu offered to mediate and arrange compensation.
• Qu Jianlei accepted Beiliu’s offer of time to negotiate, while Jin Ge warned that they would leave Houde Realm if the compensation proved unsatisfactory.
• After Han Li invoked the story of Wang Jian, he inferred that someone might fear Qu Jianlei becoming too powerful and confronted him about it.

Qu Jianlei realized Lingyun feared the faction forming around him, despite his having no intention of building one, and left the confrontation with Han Li. After resting for a month, the two went to claim the Tier 5 Spirit Vein the Merchant Alliance had abandoned.

• Elder Youjian explained that Qu Jianlei's influence, Cangwu's growing presence, and his allies had created the beginnings of a powerful faction that Lingyun regarded warily.
• Qu Jianlei understood Lingyun's ambiguous support and suppression, then agreed with Han Li to end the confrontation and headed for the Channel Entrance.
• Elder Youjian stopped Jin Ge and asked him to return to the sect to explain what had happened.
• Qu Jianlei and Han Li discussed Baiqiao's suspicions at Tianli's spirit vein, then rested for a month to recover.
• Qu Jianlei and Han Li inspected the drifting Tier 5 Spirit Vein, and the transfer was completed without the Merchant Alliance appearing.

Qu Jianlei and Han Li worked to anchor the Tier 5 Spirit Vein while receiving visitors and attracting support, as Han Li’s accusation against True Venerable Lang Mai led to Lang Mai’s disappearance. After they refused Lingyun Sect’s request to fight a newly emerged Soul-Splitting Realm Human-Faced Bee, Beiliu invited them to negotiate at the Channel Entrance.

• Qu Jianlei and Han Li began arranging the costly materials and exchanges needed to anchor the Tier 5 Spirit Vein in the Space Sub-layer.
• Han Li revealed sealed divine consciousness as evidence that True Venerable Lang Mai had colluded with the Merchant Alliance, and two months later Lang Mai’s clone disappeared.
• True Venerables continued visiting Qu Jianlei, with some offering to join him, while Qingkong expressed interest in future campaigns against other Cultivation Worlds.
• True Immortal Bu Hu exchanged for the Black Colt Tower and warned Qu Jianlei that the Baiyou Merchant Alliance might be in contact with Lingyun Sect.
• A Soul-Splitting Realm Human-Faced Bee attacked Cultivators in the Otherworld and escaped after injuring several True Venerables, but Qu Jianlei and Han Li declined Lingyun Sect’s request to return and fight.
• Beiliu invited Qu Jianlei and Han Li to the Channel Entrance for negotiations on behalf of the Baiyou Merchant Alliance.

Qu Jianlei and Han Li rejected the Baiyou Merchant Alliance’s proposed settlement and discussed protecting the new path to the Out-of-Body Realm. Qingning and Qing’er returned to Houde, where Qing’er was guarded while stabilizing her realm, and Elder Youjian came to ask Qu Jianlei to help his grand-disciple attempt the breakthrough.

• Beiliu and Wan An offered compensation, a liaison point, and a trade for the Palace, but Han Li and Qu Jianlei insisted the avatar’s destruction would not be forgiven and refused to become the alliance’s nominal consecrators.
• Han Li demanded an intact Soul-Splitting Level Artifact for the Palace and immediate payment of the compensation, while Beiliu said he would report the demands to the alliance.
• News of the negotiations spread through Houde, and Qu Jianlei stopped Han Li from trying to divine who had leaked it.
• Lingyun sent True Venerables to hunt the Soul-Splitting Realm Human-Faced Bee, then Qingning and Qing’er returned to Houde, where Baiqiao assigned Lingyun disciples to guard them.
• Qingning thanked Qu Jianlei and Han Li, then learned that Qu Jianlei had avoided using his territory because the new path to the Out-of-Body Realm would attract trouble.
• Elder Youjian visited Qu Jianlei to request help for his grand-disciple, a Nascent Soul Supreme with little hope of reaching the Out-of-Body Realm by normal means.

Elder Youjian investigated Qu Jianlei’s new path to the Out-of-Body Realm and learned that Qu had achieved Perfect Out-of-Body, though the method remained dangerous and difficult. Word spread among the Houde Realm’s True Venerables, who began pressuring Qingning and approaching Qu Jianlei for details.

• Elder Youjian asked Qu Jianlei about helping others use the new out-of-body path, and Qu warned him that it was risky and incomplete.
• Elder Youjian questioned Bai Qiao, who revealed that Qu Jianlei had achieved Perfect Out-of-Body and that the path was replicable but difficult.
• Bai Qiao informed True Venerable Xuan Yi, and covert gossip about the new path spread among the Houde Realm’s True Venerables.
• True Venerables repeatedly questioned Qingning, who limited what he disclosed and warned that he would seek Qu Jianlei’s permission before saying more.
• As interest grew, True Venerables began visiting Qu Jianlei while he worked on stabilizing the spiritual vein, offering rare materials in hopes of learning about the new path.