Chapter Summaries

Luo Chen arrived at Heaven Earth Peak with Fu Chaosheng to seek a Star Gate Guest Elder appointment, while a chess match drew crowds at the Passing River. During his review by the Star Gate Seven Elders, he met Chu Yan, who revealed herself as the Pill Saint and said she was about to leave.

• Fu Chaosheng told Luo Chen that Pill Saint Chu Yan had reached Spirit Transformation and was about to ascend, then brought him toward Heaven Earth Peak to apply to Star Gate.
• On their way, Luo Chen heard that Heaven Origin Approaching Immortal was defeating the Shangjun Five Heroes at the Passing River.
• Luo Chen and Fu Chaosheng reached Heaven Earth Peak, where the Seven Elders scheduled Luo Chen's admission review for three days later.
• Fu Qinglan learned that Luo Chen had arrived and went to the Welcoming Immortal Hall, but he had already left to meet the Seven Elders.
• The Seven Elders questioned Luo Chen, and Chu Yan asked whether he could refine a Tier 5 Pill before identifying herself as the Pill Saint.

The Seven Elders granted Luo Chen the status of Temporary Guest Elder, allowing him to enter and leave Heaven Earth Peak but denying him its resources unless he earned them through contributions. After Fu Qinglan learned of Luo Chen’s dangerous rise through the cultivation world, she began to trust him as her protector and followed him to inspect his cave abode.

• After Luo Chen left the Star Gate assessment, Fu Chaosheng introduced him to his granddaughter Fu Qinglan and invited him to a banquet.
• The Seven Elders debated Luo Chen’s admission, and Chu Yan decided to appoint him a Temporary Guest Elder with access to Heaven Earth Peak but no free resources.
• Fu Qinglan worried that Luo Chen was too young to protect her during her Law True Intent cultivation in Mirage Dragon Cave Heaven, so Fu Chaosheng gave her a record of Luo Chen’s battles.
• After reading about Luo Chen’s achievements, Fu Qinglan decided he was capable of protecting her and went to speak with him.
• An elder gave Luo Chen tokens for his unusual External Affairs Guest Elder status, and he led Fu Qinglan to inspect his cave abode.

Luo Chen studied Fire Attribute Cultivation Methods and began devising a path to combine their strengths with the Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture. As his Flourishing Decay True Fire rapidly withered and inspired a cultivation epiphany, a mysterious woman on Heaven Earth Peak secretly guided Spiritual Opportunity to him and concealed his breakthrough.

• Fu Qinglan brought Luo Chen five Fire Attribute Cultivation Methods, intelligence on the Eastern Wasteland, and information about the Nascent Soul cultivators competing at Mirage Dragon Cave Heaven.
• Luo Chen demonstrated his powerful Nascent Soul Domain, overwhelming Fu Qinglan, then read reports describing devastation in the Eastern Wasteland and the destruction of two Nascent Soul Upper Sects.
• Luo Chen studied the Eastern Jia Fire Leaving Scripture and Purple Sun Divine Art, identifying ways to improve his mana's flow and purity.
• Luo Chen realized that his Flourishing Decay True Fire was rapidly entering its withering phase and considered incorporating its Wither-Bloom Cycle into a cultivation method.
• Luo Chen entered an epiphany as spiritual energy surged around him, and a mysterious woman drew Spiritual Opportunity from Central Province to him while shielding him from notice.

After a six-month epiphany, Luo Chen awakened with a self-created Wither and Bloom Dao Scripture and a seal that concealed and tempered his Nascent Soul mana. He stabilized his cultivation while preparing for the Five Hundred Year Competition, and agreed to accompany Fu Qinglan to Peach Garden to observe Chess Saint Ke Lianshan and assess their opponents.

• Fu Chaosheng and Fu Qinglan worried as Luo Chen’s epiphany left him looking old and weak, but he awakened and told them he had only taken a short nap.
• Luo Chen inspected his wrinkled Nascent Soul and discovered that he had created the Wither and Bloom Dao Scripture and the Wither Bloom Divine Restriction, which sealed and tempered his mana.
• Luo Chen chose to pause cultivation, stabilize his realm, and refine pills while Fu Chaosheng and Fu Qinglan remained uneasy about his condition.
• Fu Qinglan visited Luo Chen often, and the two played Go as they built familiarity and discussed the twelve opponents and their protectors for the competition.
• Fu Qinglan invited Luo Chen to Peach Garden, where Celebrity Dao Yin would challenge Chess Saint Ke Lianshan, and Luo Chen agreed to go.

Luo Chen attended Chess Saint Ke Lianshan’s match at Peach Garden with Fu Qinglan, where he learned more about the contestants in the coming Mirage Dragon Cave Heaven competition. The gathering ended with Shi Ju of the Shi Family watching Luo Chen and Fu Qinglan, whose reaction suggested a history with him.

• Luo Chen concluded that Pill Saint Chu Yan had likely guessed he had refined a Tier 5 Pill through her own insight rather than Star Gate intelligence.
• Fu Qinglan brought Luo Chen to Peach Garden, where he recognized Ke Lianshan’s spirit-plant chessboard and learned about Xiang Qi and Dragon Abyss True Person, the competition’s lone Humble Family contestant.
• Winter Mountain Man and Lu Qiuzhen greeted Luo Chen and told him that Ghost Immortal Tower’s Northern Sea conflict had intensified and Li Canghai was gathering spirit mountains and seas.
• Luo Chen and Fu Qinglan reached Ke Lianshan’s match and sensed someone watching them.
• Fu Qinglan identified the watching man as Shi Ju of the Shi Family and reacted with visible unease.

Luo Chen learned about the Lanke Spirit Treasure and Shi Ju’s history of manipulating Fu Qinglan, then faced Elder Qi’s sudden test on the mountain path. Luo Chen escaped Qi’s punch with illusion arts and walked away with Fu Qinglan, leaving Qi stunned by how he had been caught in the illusion.

• Luo Chen shielded Fu Qinglan from Shi Ju’s mocking gaze and learned about Shi Ju’s talent, temperament, and influence in the Heaven Origin Dao Sect.
• Gu Daoyin and Ke Lianshan arranged a Go match and a trade involving a Rotten Ke Black Chess Piece, prompting Fu Qinglan to explain the Lanke Spirit Treasure and its powers.
• Luo Chen recognized similarities between the Lanke chess pieces and a Rotten Ke Black Chess Piece he had once obtained, and he left the Peach Garden with Fu Qinglan.
• Fu Qinglan told Luo Chen that Shi Ju had tried to make her his concubine and had used similar promises to exploit another cultivator and her family.
• Elder Qi appeared on the mountain path and attacked Luo Chen to test his ability to protect Fu Qinglan.
• Luo Chen used illusion arts to evade Qi Xiongcheng’s punch and left with Fu Qinglan, while Qi wondered when he had been trapped in the illusion.

Luo Chen stayed at Heaven Earth Peak after defeating Qi Xiongcheng, while preparations began for Pill Saint Chu Yan’s ascension and the Five Hundred Year Competition. As the peak opened to welcome cultivators from across the Mountain Sea World, Luo Chen joined the crowds gathering for the ceremony.

• Fu Qinglan learned that Luo Chen had defeated Qi Xiongcheng in one exchange, and Luo Chen told her he would stay at Heaven Earth Peak until Mirage Dragon Cave Heaven opened.
• Luo Chen learned from Seven Lamps True Person that Pill Saint Chu Yan’s ascension ceremony would take place at Heaven Earth Peak in roughly half a year, and that he should attend.
• Luo Chen withdrew from public gatherings, practiced alchemy and soul cultivation, and watched the Flourishing Decay True Fire weaken to a wisp of bluish-gold flame.
• Dragon Abyss True Person received intelligence linking Luo Chen to the Azure Sun Devil Monarch, but remained confident that he and Ming Yan could contend for the opportunity in Mirage Dragon Cave Heaven.
• Heaven Earth Peak opened after the bells and drums sounded, and Luo Chen prepared himself and flew toward the Cloud Sea Plaza as cultivators gathered from across the region.

Luo Chen attended the Heaven Origin Dao Sect’s grand ceremony for the Pill Saint’s ascension and learned more about the Star Gate’s power and Central Province’s cultivation families. As Sect Master Mo began the ceremony, a Primordial Spirit apparition of Chu Yan appeared, leaving Luo Chen stunned by the gulf between Nascent Soul and Spirit Transformation.

• Luo Chen entered Cloud Sea Plaza through the Sever Heaven Earth Connection Formation and was overwhelmed by the nearly hundred Nascent Soul cultivators gathered in the Star Gate’s viewing area.
• Seven Lamps Elder introduced Luo Chen to Hui Yuanhong, who was set to take an outer-province elder seat and hinted that the Dao Sect would soon ask Luo Chen to perform a service.
• Seven Lamps Elder explained how the Star Gate supported outer-province cultivators and their descendants, prompting Luo Chen to consider bringing his old friends from the Luo Tian Sect to Central Province.
• Luo Chen took his seat among the ceremony’s representatives, where Chang Feng Zi recognized him as the Azure Sun Devil Monarch and Fu Chaosheng exchanged a smile with him.
• Mo ShouZhuo arrived, silenced the gathering, and ordered the ceremony to begin as Heaven Earth Peak stirred and a Primordial Spirit apparition of Chu Yan appeared.

Pill Saint Chu Yan began ascending, but Mo ShouZhuo used the Heaven Origin Dao Sect’s chessboard to seize the Spiritual Opportunities meant to carry her away. After Chu Yan gave Luo Chen a Heavenly Secret Pill and departed through the Star Gate, the Mirage Dragon awakened and a hidden realm opened beside the Passing River.

• Luo Chen used Source Power and the Spirit Eye Art to watch Chu Yan draw vast Primordial Qi and Spiritual Opportunities from across the Mountain Sea World.
• As rosy ascension light reached Chu Yan, Mo ShouZhuo gathered Spiritual Opportunities into the Heaven Origin Dao Sect’s chessboard, interrupting her ascent and summoning a powerful Heavenly Tribulation.
• Chu Yan scattered Primordial Qi as Spirit Rain to benefit the gathered cultivators, then refined five spheres of light and gave one to Luo Chen to help his Flourishing Decay True Fire transform.
• Chu Yan left through the Star Gate after Mo ShouZhuo told her it was time, and the dark clouds and Tribulation Lightning dispersed.
• A dragon’s cry announced that the Spiritual Opportunity was full and the Mirage Dragon had awakened, as a vast misty mouth opened beside the Passing River.

Luo Chen entered Mirage Dragon Cave Heaven with Fu Qinglan and learned how its Illusion Chess Pieces protected entrants from the cave’s lingering power. As they set out to hunt Phantom Beasts and seek opportunities, the Heaven Origin Dao Sect’s leaders began a thousand-year plan whose endgame had arrived.

• The Heaven Origin Dao Sect’s thirteen leading young cultivators and their guardians received Illusion Chess Pieces from Mo ShouZhuo, then entered Mirage Dragon Cave Heaven.
• After the entrants departed, Mo ShouZhuo told gathered leaders that their thousand-year plans had reached the endgame, while Western Desert monks asked him for aid against the Demon Wasteland.
• Luo Chen woke in a peaceful landscape beside Fu Qinglan, who explained that the cave’s lingering consciousness had caused his unconsciousness and that her prior cleansing had prepared her for it.
• Luo Chen noticed a black spot forming on his White Chess Piece and learned that Phantom Beast influence would eventually force entrants to leave or risk becoming Phantom Beasts.
• Fu Qinglan explained that Dao Protectors hunted Phantom Beasts and guarded Nascent Soul disciples as they absorbed Illusion Cores to comprehend Law True Intent; Luo Chen agreed to go see a Phantom Beast.

Luo Chen and Fu Qinglan traveled into the Mirage Dragon Cave Heaven, where Luo Chen demonstrated his power by capturing Phantom Beasts and helping Fu Qinglan pursue a Tier 4 Illusion Core. When Lin Jingtang tried to claim a wounded Tier 4 Phantom Beast for Lin Bufan, Luo Chen refused to yield, insisting that Fu Qinglan’s path to Spirit Transformation came first.

• Chang Feng Zi and his companions hunted Phantom Beasts in a valley, but Luo Chen broke their formation with the Azure Sun Great Handprint and took the strongest Illusion Core to examine before returning it.
• Luo Chen considered whether Illusion Cores could be used to recreate the Ghost God Heart Questioning Mirror, while Fu Qinglan explained that Tier 4 cores could aid her cultivation.
• Lin Bufan led Lin Jingtang to a Tier 4 Phantom Beast, and Lin Jingtang fought it through the forest until it fled as a streak of white light.
• Luo Chen caught the wounded Phantom Beast with nine Crimson Chains after his Cloud Searching Divine Claw and Nascent Soul Domain failed to restrain it.
• Lin Jingtang objected when Luo Chen claimed the Phantom Beast, and Fu Qinglan began to suggest yielding it because Lin Bufan was her friend.
• Luo Chen challenged Fu Qinglan to stop yielding what her cultivation required and declared that he would claim nothing concerning her Great Dao for anyone else.

Luo Chen seized a Tier 4 Illusion Core from Lin Jingtang with a devastating palm strike, then escorted Fu Qinglan to a cave abode to cultivate. Examining the core, he discovered it contained a trace of Spiritual Opportunity like the ingredient in the Heavenly Secret Pill and realized the Dao Sect disciples were using these opportunities to comprehend Law True Intent.

• Luo Chen refused to yield the Illusion Core to Lin Jingtang and struck him with the Azure Sun Great Handprint, sending him hundreds of miles away.
• Lin Bufan stopped Lin Jingtang from pursuing Luo Chen, warning that a fight would leave them weakened for the coming struggle over Illusion Cores.
• Luo Chen left with Fu Qinglan, found a mountain cave for her to cultivate in, and kept the Tier 4 Illusion Core to examine.
• Luo Chen used his enhanced vision to sense Spiritual Opportunity inside the Illusion Core, and the core reacted to the Heavenly Secret Pill.
• Luo Chen concluded that the Dao Sect disciples sought the Spiritual Opportunities within Illusion Cores to comprehend Law True Intent and began forming a plan.

Luo Chen helped Fu Qinglan pursue Law True Intent in the Mirage Dragon Cave Heaven and lured a Tier 4 Phantom Beast into a prepared trap to obtain its Illusion Core for her. Half a year later, Fu Qinglan emerged from cultivation still defeated, and Luo Chen realized she had failed again.

• Luo Chen concluded that Fu Qinglan was using her Nascent Soul and a Tier 4 Illusion Core to seek Law True Intent, while he guarded her and cultivated with pills.
• After Fu Qinglan emerged disappointed by her failure, Luo Chen led her to a plain and used a Heavenly Secret Pill as bait to lure a Tier 4 rabbit Phantom Beast.
• Luo Chen trapped the rabbit with formations, the Primal Chaos Cauldron, and a Fire Phoenix attack, then gave its Illusion Core to Fu Qinglan.
• While they waited for the rabbit, Fu Qinglan told Luo Chen about her life and cultivation in the Heaven Origin Dao Sect.
• Half a year later, Fu Qinglan emerged from the cave residence looking defeated, and Luo Chen asked whether the Illusion Core had still not been enough.

Luo Chen learned that time flowed a hundred times faster inside the Mirage Dragon Cave Heaven, meaning he could lose a century of lifespan, and realized Fu Chaosheng had concealed the cost of their cooperation. Though angry, he accepted that the bargain still had benefits and planned to use his time in the Cave Heaven for his own cultivation while continuing to help Fu Qinglan leave sooner.

• Fu Qinglan told Luo Chen that the Cave Heaven’s time flow was roughly one hundred times faster than the outside world and that cultivating with Illusion Cores had yielded insights, but no Law True Intent yet.
• Luo Chen inspected Fu Qinglan’s Illusion Chess Piece and realized that her progress might keep them trapped in the Cave Heaven for decades or even a century.
• Luo Chen recognized that Fu Chaosheng had concealed the lifespan cost, grew furious at the deception and his own carelessness, then concluded that the promised resources made the bargain worthwhile.
• Luo Chen resolved to focus on his own progress by improving his spells, transforming his Flourishing Decay True Fire, refining his treasures, and studying the Soul Splitting Art.
• Luo Chen gave Fu Qinglan a third Tier 4 Illusion Core and shut himself away behind a protective formation, while Fu Qinglan resolved to comprehend Law True Intent quickly so he could leave.

Luo Chen hunted Phantom Beasts while helping Fu Qinglan search for the Wood Origin, and he considered how her method might improve his Wither and Bloom Dao Scripture. After capturing two Phantom Beasts, he sensed two powerful cultivators approaching: Heavenly Mountain True Person and Fierce-Eyed Arhat.

• Luo Chen continued undoing the Penglai Octagonal Pavilion’s restrictions and agreed to let Fu Qinglan accompany him on his next hunt.
• Luo Chen used a white bull Phantom Beast to practice his spells, then asked Fu Qinglan about her difficulty finding Origin Power.
• Fu Qinglan explained how Nascent Soul cultivators searched for Law Origin using Spiritual Opportunity, and Luo Chen considered adapting the method to his Cultivation Method.
• Luo Chen expanded his bait array’s range and defeated a giant python and a flying eagle Phantom Beast, capturing both Illusion Cores.
• Luo Chen sensed two hidden arrivals and identified them as Heavenly Mountain True Person and Fierce-Eyed Arhat.

Luo Chen faced Xiang Qi’s allies, who sought his Heavenly Secret Pill and Gray Small Cauldron, and battled Fierce-Eyed Arhat and Heavenly Mountain True Person. After exposing Fierce-Eyed Arhat’s flaw and forcing the hidden Gu Cultivator to reveal his strength, Luo Chen unleashed his Nascent Soul Domain and Fire Phoenix Ignites the Plains.

• Yu Xu agreed to help Xiang Qi capture Desolate Rogue in exchange for the two Illusion Cores, while Xiang Qi claimed Luo Chen’s Heavenly Secret Pill.
• Luo Chen activated his formation, but Fierce-Eyed Arhat destroyed the three mountains and broke its foundation.
• Luo Chen fought Fierce-Eyed Arhat in close combat while Heavenly Mountain True Person attacked with a Flying Sword.
• Luo Chen identified Fierce-Eyed Arhat’s failure to seal his vital essence and challenged Heavenly Mountain True Person to use his Gu.
• Luo Chen unfolded his Nascent Soul Domain, then unleashed the Grandmaster Level Fourth-Order spell Fire Phoenix Ignites the Plains.

Luo Chen defeated Fierce-Eyed Arhat with a technique that shattered his flawed Golden Body, then survived a surprise attack and struck Heavenly Mountain True Person from a thousand miles away. Heavenly Mountain True Person escaped death, Xiang Qi fled, and Luo Chen and Fu Qinglan left to hunt Phantom Beasts elsewhere.

• Luo Chen unleashed his Grandmaster-level Fire Phoenix Ignites the Plains, forcing Heavenly Mountain True Person to retreat after his True Artifact began to crack.
• Luo Chen overwhelmed Fierce-Eyed Arhat in close combat, then used the hidden forces left by his many attacks to tear apart the monk's Eighteen-Foot Golden Body.
• As Fierce-Eyed Arhat vanished, his prayer beads attacked Luo Chen, and Heavenly Mountain True Person's Swimming-Fish Flying Sword ambushed him, but Luo Chen emerged unharmed and seized the sword.
• Luo Chen used Flame Dragon Descends to attack Heavenly Mountain True Person from a thousand miles away, destroying the surrounding area, while Heavenly Mountain True Person escaped death and left behind a storage ring.
• Yu Xu fled, and Fu Qinglan told Luo Chen that Xiang Qi had escaped; Luo Chen accepted that Xiang Qi was no longer a major threat and led Fu Qinglan to another hunting ground.

Mo ShouZhuo and the Heaven Origin experts discussed the shifting regional wars and the early elimination of Xiang Qi’s Dao Protector, while Luo Chen spent twenty years cultivating in the Mirage Dragon Cave Heaven. After mastering Calming the Waves enough to manifest Sword Edge, Luo Chen told Fu Qinglan he had a way to provide the spiritual opportunity she needed and invited her to set out with him.

• Mo ShouZhuo learned that the Fierce-Eyed Arhat, Xiang Qi’s Dao Protector, had been eliminated from the Mirage Dragon Cave Heaven after suffering severe injuries, and the Heaven Origin experts debated who had defeated him.
• Luo Chen spent twenty years training his spells, refining the Penglai Octagonal Pavilion, advancing his Formation Dao, and creating a second Split Soul.
• Luo Chen used the Micro Dust Origin Art to master Calming the Waves, then unexpectedly produced Sword Edge with the Yuan Tu Sword.
• Fu Qinglan told Luo Chen that she had failed to find the Wood Origin despite cultivating with the illusion cores they had gathered.
• Luo Chen told Fu Qinglan that a massive supply of spiritual opportunity could help her find the Origin Power and asked her to rest before setting out with him.

Luo Chen discovered that Gu Daosu was undergoing an Epiphany at Three Rainbows Waterfall and prepared to lure Phantom Beasts there to harvest Illusion Cores for Fu Qinglan. After creating a Movement Array as a retreat, he set the Heavenly Secret Pill as bait in a lake near the waterfall and began calming his mind as the plan started.

• Luo Chen brought Fu Qinglan to Three Rainbows Waterfall, where they sensed an immense concentration of Spiritual Opportunity and determined that Gu Daosu was comprehending Law True Intent.
• Luo Chen spent several days refining a Nine Heavens Ten Earths Great Shift Array and gave one formation disc to Fu Qinglan to hide and guard as his retreat.
• Luo Chen concealed himself in a lake near Three Rainbows Waterfall and built a formation to amplify the Heavenly Secret Pill’s medicinal power and attract Phantom Beasts.
• Luo Chen placed the Heavenly Secret Pill above the Primal Chaos Cauldron, then set aside his distracting thoughts and used Micro Dust Origin Art to calm his mind.

Dragon Abyss True Person and Ming Yan hunted for Illusion Cores while Shi Ju pursued a powerful Phantom Beast and plotted to seize a Heavenly Secret Pill. Their actions converged on Three Rainbows Waterfall, where an immense horde of Phantom Beasts charged at Gu Daosu and the gathered cultivators.

• Dragon Abyss True Person and Ming Yan agreed to gather five more Illusion Cores before cultivating, then spotted a Tier 4 Phantom Beast and pursued it.
• Shi Ju learned that the Desolate Rogue was still in the Cave Heaven and set out to claim his Heavenly Secret Pill, but a great eagle burst from an abyss and flew west.
• Phantom Beasts across the Cave Heaven rushed toward Three Rainbows Waterfall while Gu Daosu remained unaware in his Epiphany.
• Madam Xu drove off approaching beasts, discovered more than ten Tier 4 Phantom Beasts nearby, and used a secret technique to raise her cultivation and protect Gu Daosu.
• Gu Yuan, Gu Chen, Dragon Abyss True Person, Ming Yan, and other cultivators gathered near the waterfall as the beasts massed around them.
• A massive White Eagle arrived and led the High-Order Phantom Beasts in a charge, turning the standoff into a desperate battle against the horde.