Chapter Summaries

After the Taiyi Sect defeated the Joyous Union Sect and Beastmaster Sect, Tu Shan Jun captured their leaders and brought them to negotiations in the ancient tower. Taiyi revealed that he wanted to buy the Five Domains the Joyous Union Sect was abandoning, leaving Miaohe to realize the war had been a scheme to claim that territory.

• Miaohe called for a ceasefire, and the battle in Great Central City ended after half an hour amid devastation and heavy casualties.
• Miaohe and the Beast King accepted their defeat as Tu Shan Jun sealed their spiritual power with iron nails and captured them.
• Tu Shan Jun brought Miaohe and the Beast King to a banquet with Taiyi and the Golden Ao Palace cultivators.
• Taiyi offered peace and asked the Joyous Union Sect to sell its Five Domains to the Taiyi Sect at a favorable price.
• Miaohe realized that the Taiyi Sect had engineered the conflict to take control of the Five Domains.

After the Hehuan Sect learned its army and senior cultivators had been captured by the Taiyi Sect, Zhuxi weighed his options and chose to send Yincha to negotiate. Yincha recognized that the Taiyi Sect intended to take the Hehuan Sect’s Five Domains, while Qi Yuan hurried to Dazhong City to secure a share of the victory’s gains.

• Zhuxi received confirmation that the Hehuan Sect’s army, grand sect weapon, spirit-vessel fleet, and leading cultivators had been captured by the Taiyi Sect.
• Zhuxi and the elders considered seeking help or making peace, then agreed that Yincha would travel to negotiate on the sect’s behalf.
• Yincha told Jile that the Taiyi Sect intended to take the Hehuan Sect’s Five Domains, and Jile understood why she insisted on going herself.
• Zhuxi sat silently in the great hall as Yincha and Jile discussed the sect’s defeat outside.
• Qi Yuan learned of the Taiyi Sect’s victory and hurried toward Dazhong City with several vice alliance masters to reach the negotiations before the spoils were settled.

After the Hehuan Sect’s defeat, the Alchemy Alliance regretted missing a chance to profit, while Golden Ao reconsidered his palace’s future and urged Taiyi’s sect to relocate to the Hehuan Five Domains. Tu Shan Jun arrived at a gathering of Nascent Soul cultivators just as the Alchemy and Artifact Alliances appeared, leaving the negotiations about to begin.

• The Alchemy Alliance Leader learned that the Hehuan Sect had been defeated and told his Nascent Soul True Lords to invite someone who could explain what had happened.
• Gu Yu warned his junior brother not to steal supplies from a spirit ark in Dazhong City, where Taiyi Sect forces had ample provisions.
• True Lord Golden Ao told True Lord Qiongjing that he wanted Taiyi’s sect to settle in the Hehuan Five Domains, despite feeling disheartened by Tu Shan Jun’s strength.
• Taiyi welcomed nearly twenty Nascent Soul cultivators to a gathering in Qianyuan Dazhong City as Dan Chenzi and Elder Qiu arrived for the Alchemy and Artifact Alliances.
• True Lord Golden Ao met Tu Shan Jun and offered to give up Golden Ao Palace’s relocation condition so Taiyi’s sect could move to the Hehuan Five Domains.
• Tu Shan Jun entered the gathering as the black-robed, crimson-haired cultivator.

At a victory banquet in Great Central City, Taiyi negotiated the defeated factions’ surrender and the division of the Five Domains. Zhuxi agreed to lead Hehuan Sect back to the Eastern Wasteland, while Tu Shan Jun watched as Taiyi settled the factions’ disputes.

• Taiyi hosted the victorious factions, while Grand True Lord Phantom Spirit and Zhuxi offered to negotiate the return of their captured forces and property.
• Taiyi proposed that Hehuan Sect leave the Five Domains, and Zhuxi concluded that surrender was the only way to save his disciples.
• Zhuxi agreed to lead Hehuan Sect back to the Eastern Wasteland and leave most of the Five Domains’ inhabitants and resources behind.
• The Primordial Dao Alliance, Pill Alliance, Artifact Alliance, Beast Taming Sect, and Taiyi Sect argued over territory, resources, and war indemnities.
• Taiyi resolved the factions’ disputes, while Tu Shan Jun watched from his seat and declined to involve himself in the negotiations.

After defeating the Hehuan Sect, Taiyi arranged for the Taiyi Sect and Golden Ao Palace to leave the Ghost Sea and settle in the Hehuan Sect’s fertile Five Domains. As the fleet departed, Taiyi and Tu Shan Jun discussed the Kun Yun Sect, whose Venerables they hoped not to provoke for now.

• Tu Shan Jun met Donghai Jun in a city smithy, where they discussed Taiyi’s plan to move the sect from the Ghost Sea into the Hehuan Sect’s territory.
• Taiyi and the other parties finalized arrangements for dividing the Hehuan Sect’s lands, affiliates, markets, and resources.
• Taiyi led the spirit-ark fleet out of the Ghost Sea, carrying most of the Taiyi Sect and the relocating Golden Ao Palace toward the Five Domains.
• Qian Fei entertained younger cultivators aboard the fleet with stories of the sect’s difficult years in the Ghost Sea.
• Taiyi told Tu Shan Jun they had made it out, and Tu Shan Jun warned him that Golden Ao had encountered a Kun Yun Sect cultivator near the Ghost Sea formation.

Sixty years after the Taiyi Sect took control of the Five Domains, Taiyi reflected on his bond with Tu Shan Jun and the Soul Banner as his body showed signs of decay. He led the sect through an ancestral rite and realized that a century had passed since his arrival in Xingluo.

• The Taiyi Sect consolidated its control of the Five Domains, absorbed the Golden Ao Palace, and welcomed many former Hehuan Sect disciples.
• Tu Shan Jun persuaded Taiyi to stop the sect from profiting from brothels and courtesan houses, and the industry was transferred to the Yuandao Alliance, the Alchemy Alliance, and the Artifact Alliance.
• Taiyi recalled that Tu Shan Jun had become increasingly distant and considered how his death would draw him into the Soul Banner, which he could not destroy without endangering the sect.
• Taiyi entered the Ancestral Hall and reflected on his past, his dependence on the Soul Banner, and his bond with Tu Shan Jun.
• Taiyi led the sect in an ancestral rite before its disciples and realized that a hundred years had passed since he arrived in Xingluo.

Taiyi weighed whether Qiu Wandao or Yu Long should succeed him as sect master while facing his approaching death. He asked Tu Shan Jun to advise him, leaving the choice unresolved.

• Taiyi reflected on Taiyi Sect’s growth and considered Qiu Wandao and Yu Long as candidates to succeed him.
• Taiyi summoned Tu Shan Jun, who discussed his cultivation and his difficulty forging Dao Soldiers.
• Taiyi told Tu Shan Jun that his injuries had left him with little time and that he needed to choose the next sect master.
• Taiyi named Qiu Wandao and Yu Long as the candidates and asked Tu Shan Jun which one could shoulder the responsibility.
• Tu Shan Jun laughed at being asked to choose.

Taiyi and Tu Shan Jun discussed the cost of wielding the Soul Banner and the choice of the next sect master, agreeing to ask the candidates what they wanted. At a gathering of Taiyi Sect’s direct disciples, Taiyi announced that it was time to choose his successor, and the disciples looked toward the two Nascent Soul candidates.

• Tu Shan Jun asked whether the next Soul Banner wielder would be bound to enter it after death, and Taiyi admitted he would not destroy the treasure to spare them.
• Taiyi urged Tu Shan Jun not to blame himself for deaths beyond his control, but Tu Shan Jun proposed asking the two candidates whether they wanted to become sect master.
• Tu Shan Jun asked whether Taiyi’s illness could be treated, and Taiyi said only legendary divine medicine might save him before leaving to repair the formation in the Sea of Ghosts.
• Yu Long attended Taiyi’s gathering with the direct disciples and recognized senior brothers Qian Fei, Zhang Dezhi, Xu Zhao, Qiu Wandao, and Wu.
• Taiyi announced that the sect should choose its next master and declared that the successor must have cultivation above Nascent Soul, drawing everyone’s attention to the two candidates.

Zhou Xinglie returned to Taiyi Sect with news that the formation over Ghost Sea had been breached, while Taiyi prepared Yu Long to succeed him as sect master. Taiyi revealed that Martial Uncle was the Soul Banner’s artifact spirit and explained that whoever controlled it could command its power, but could not reincarnate after death.

• Zhou Xinglie told Wu Rong that Ghost Sea’s formation had been breached and stayed at his cave abode while they waited for Taiyi to emerge from seclusion.
• Qiu Wandao refused Taiyi’s offer of the sect master position, leaving Yu Long as the chosen successor.
• Taiyi brought Yu Long to the Patriarch Hall and began explaining the sect’s inheritance, responsibilities, and the Soul Banner’s ownership.
• Taiyi revealed that Martial Uncle was actually an artifact spirit, and Yu Long realized that controlling the Soul Banner would give him the strongest power in the sect.
• Taiyi warned Yu Long that after death, the Soul Banner’s master could not reincarnate but could continue fighting for the sect within the banner.

Yu Long weighed whether to bind himself to the Soul Banner after death, then sought comfort in visiting his aging sister and drinking with Wu Rong. Wu Rong and Zhou Xinglie suspected their master might not be human and resolved to watch what happened when the Soul Banner was next used.

• Taiyi told Yu Long to take time before deciding whether he would enter the Soul Banner after death, and reminded him that he could still protect him for decades.
• Yu Long visited his sister and found her aged after many years apart, then left without telling her about his worries.
• Yu Long drank with Wu Rong and asked whether he would enter the Soul Banner; Wu Rong said he would, while Yu Long chose not to reveal Taiyi's question.
• After Yu Long left, Wu Rong and Zhou Xinglie connected the Soul Banner's history and Taiyi's actions to the possibility that their master was not human.
• Wu Rong said they should observe whether Taiyi and his senior brother went together when the Sea of Wandering Souls formation was repaired, and Zhou Xinglie smiled at his resolve.

At Ghost Soul Sea, Venerable Chuiyun and Venerable Fuyou opened the damaged array sealing the Baleful Intent. Tu Shan Jun emerged from seclusion and prepared to travel there with Taiyi, while Zhou Xinglie anxiously concealed the reason for his unease as he joined them.

• Venerable Chuiyun and Venerable Fuyou agreed to reclaim their former opportunities and tore open the array sealing Ghost Soul Sea.
• Tu Shan Jun left seclusion at Pill Peak and spoke with Zhou Xinglie, who explained that he and Fang Yingxue had been unable to have children.
• Tu Shan Jun decided to examine Zhou Xinglie and Fang Yingxue again after returning to Great Central City, then went to Taiyi for help sealing Ghost Soul Sea.
• Tu Shan Jun told Taiyi that the remaining Baleful Intent might advance the Soul Banner into a Dao armament, and Taiyi agreed to accompany him.
• Zhou Xinglie boarded Tu Shan Jun's spirit boat and saw Taiyi coming along, which filled him with dread.

Zhou Xinglie and Tu Shan Jun traveled to Nether Soul Sea after its sealing formation was breached, while Wu Rong sought Fiend’s support for his bid to become the next Sect Master. The ancient battlefield beneath the sea emerged, and two Venerables confronted the Taiyi Sect group, leaving them unable to depart freely.

• Zhou Xinglie resolved to plan carefully with Wu Rong but held back from acting while under surveillance in the sect.
• Wu Rong asked Fiend to support his bid for the Sect Master position and offered to loosen the restriction around Fiend’s neck if he succeeded.
• At Nether Soul Sea, Tu Shan Jun identified the breached formation and raised a barrier as the remaining formation collapsed.
• An ancient battlefield surfaced from beneath the sea, and Taiyi proposed using the Baleful Intent to advance the Soul Banner.
• Venerable Fuyou and Venerable Chuiyun emerged from the battlefield and told Taiyi’s group they could not easily leave.

Taiyi and Tu Shan Jun faced Venerables Fuyou and Chuanyun, who intended to kill them and seize the Taiyi Sect’s foothold. With escape impossible, they began using the Soul Banner to absorb the battlefield’s Baleful Intent, and the Venerables realized Tu Shan Jun shared its origin and might not be a cultivator.

• Venerable Fuyou explained that he and Venerable Chuanyun planned to eliminate Taiyi and Tu Shan Jun because the Taiyi Sect threatened their standing.
• Tu Shan Jun told Zhou Xinglie to flee, blocked Fuyou’s Golden Feather Blade with a prepared formation, and helped Zhou escape.
• Tu Shan Jun judged that the two Venerables were stronger than early Spirit Transformation cultivators and said he needed to advance the Soul Banner into a Dao Soldier to survive.
• Taiyi and Tu Shan Jun agreed to expose the Soul Banner’s secret rather than die, and Taiyi summoned it to absorb the ancient battlefield’s Baleful Intent.
• Tu Shan Jun surrounded Taiyi with layered formations as the Soul Banner drew in Baleful Intent, and Venerables Chuanyun and Fuyou opened their Dharma Eyes.
• Venerable Chuanyun and Venerable Fuyou realized that Tu Shan Jun shared the Soul Banner’s origin and might not be a cultivator.

Venerable Fuyao and Venerable Chuoyun eyed Taiyi’s Soul Banner as he used the Ghost Sea’s Baleful Intent to refine it, while their dispute over powerful treasures threatened to erupt. Taiyi advanced to the late Nascent Soul stage, and Fuyao struck the sea to supply more Baleful Intent, leaving Tu Shan Jun to recognize the overwhelming gap between Venerables and himself.

• Venerable Fuyao and Venerable Chuoyun questioned each other’s retreat and displayed the Heaven-Devouring Cauldron and Heaven Roc Saber as they argued over their sect’s inheritance.
• Venerable Fuyao and Venerable Chuoyun redirected their attention to Taiyi, who was refining the Soul Banner with the Ghost Sea’s Baleful Intent.
• Taiyi broke through to the late Nascent Soul stage while continuing to guide the Soul Banner’s transformation.
• Venerable Fuyao declared he would help make up for the insufficient Baleful Intent and slashed the sea with the Heaven Roc Saber.
• Tu Shan Jun realized Fuyao’s slash had killed sea creatures and sent their remains into the Baleful Intent, while reflecting on how easily a Venerable could breach his own small world.

Venerable Chuiyun and Venerable Fuyao escalated their duel by unleashing their solidified small worlds and clashing their Spirit-Wandering Heaven-Swallowing Kun and Black-Gold Heavenly-Winged Roc. As Tu Shan Jun blocked the formation, he urged Taiyi to use the distraction to refine the Dao Soldier.

• Venerable Chuiyun’s formation was shattered by Venerable Fuyao’s golden feather blades, and the two exchanged powerful techniques beneath the Ghost Sea.
• Tu Shan Jun watched their battle and realized that he needed to answer powerful long-range spells with Dao arts rather than rely only on physical strength.
• Venerable Chuiyun summoned his small world through the Heaven-Swallowing Cauldron, and Venerable Fuyao countered with the Black-Gold Heavenly-Winged Roc.
• Venerable Chuiyun and Venerable Fuyao charged at each other to settle their old rivalry.
• Tu Shan Jun blocked the formation and told Taiyi to refine the Dao Soldier while the Venerables were occupied; Taiyi began the sacrifice.

Taiyi and the two Venerables fought amid the Sea of Wandering Souls while nearby sects and the East Sea gathered to investigate. After Zhou Xinglie’s life-saving token was crushed, Taiyi’s elders learned that Taiyi’s Sect Master Martial Uncle, Wu Rong’s master, and Zhou Xinglie were at the battlefield and prepared to jump there.

• Taiyi gathered Baleful Intent inside his formation to refine a treasure as the Soaring Venerable attacked the Cloud-Drooping Venerable with the Heavenly Roc Saber.
• The Myriad Dharma Sect and East Sea cultivators arrived to observe the battle, and Ao Zhen recognized Tu Shan Jun as the cultivator guarding Taiyi’s formation.
• The Soaring Venerable froze the Spirit-Roaming Giant Kun and the surrounding sea in an expanding field of ice.
• At Taiyi Peak, Xu Zhao learned that Zhou Xinglie’s life-saving token had been crushed and summoned the Supreme Elders.
• Wu Rong told the elders that the Sect Master Martial Uncle, his master, and Zhou Xinglie had gone to the Sea of Wandering Souls, and they ordered Taiyi Hall opened for a domain-bastion jump.

Nascent Soul cultivators gathered over the Sea of Ghosts as Venerables Chuiyun and Fuyou fought over Taiyi and his spirit artifact treasure. As Taiyi Hall prepared to intervene, Taiyi refined the soul banner into a Dao soldier, and Tu Shan Jun began transforming with it.

• Beast Taming Sect, Heavenly Roc Sect, and Kun Cloud Sect cultivators arrived, prompting Chuiyun and Fuyou to realize their battle could expose the treasure to more powerful cultivators.
• Fuyou broke through Tu Shan Jun’s formations and struck at Taiyi, but Tu Shan Jun blocked the Heavenly Roc Blade and endured Fuyou’s soul-art attack.
• Inside Taiyi Hall, Wu Rong ordered the others to wait until Taiyi Splitting Light was ready and an opportunity arose to help their sect members.
• After a quarter of an hour, Wu Rong ordered Qiu Wandao to activate Taiyi Splitting Light against the two Venerables.
• Taiyi announced that he had refined the soul banner into a Dao soldier, then seized it as Tu Shan Jun’s body began changing with black-purple water.

Wu Rong revealed that he had used the Dao of Fate to help Taiyi refine the vast baleful intent, allowing the Soul Banner to advance into a Dao soldier and strengthening Tu Shan Jun’s body. As Venerable Chuiyun and Venerable Fuyao threatened Taiyi over the treasure, Taiyi tried to turn the two rivals against each other.

• Wu Rong explained that Taiyi Dividing Light had struck the Eye of Baleful Intent, easing Taiyi’s task and triggering the eruption of two centuries of accumulated power.
• The Soul Banner’s advancement transformed Tu Shan Jun’s body, leaving him at peak condition and prompting him to wonder whether he had gained an Ageless Dao body.
• Taiyi absorbed the remaining baleful intent into the Soul Banner, and Venerable Chuiyun and Venerable Fuyao recognized that it had become a Dao soldier.
• Taiyi prepared to flee with Tu Shan Jun, but Venerable Fuyao threatened to expose the artifact spirit’s secret and offered protection in exchange for the treasure.
• Venerable Chuiyun made a competing offer, while Taiyi refused to hand over the treasure and challenged the two Venerables to fight for the right to negotiate.

Taiyi and Tu Shan Jun faced the two Venerables as they tried to seize the Soul Banner. With Tu Shan Jun battered into a skeleton and the Venerables closing in, Taiyi unleashed his lineage’s final protection to drive them away.

• Yu Long called for the cultivators to gather their strength and attack the Venerables if they struck, and Wu Rong and others supported him.
• Fuyou Venerable attacked Taiyi, but Tu Shan Jun stepped in and blocked the Heavenly Roc Blade with the Soul Banner.
• Fuyou’s full-strength assault stripped away Tu Shan Jun’s flesh, but the skeleton continued to wield the banner and resist the black-gold roc.
• Taiyi ignored the Venerables’ demands and apologized to Tu Shan Jun, who did not blame him for the Soul Banner’s secret being exposed.
• The two Venerables joined forces against Taiyi, who summoned eight Nascent Soul phantoms and used a stone-jade sword to call down a terrifying thundercloud.
• Fuyou and Chuiyun fled from the thundercloud as Taiyi used the final protection left by his master’s lineage.

Taiyi killed Venerable Fuyou with his thunder technique, while his newly advanced Soul Banner and Tu Shan Jun let him stand against Venerable Chuiyun. Chuiyun withdrew with the Celestial Roc Saber and vowed to return for Taiyi’s treasures; Taiyi and Tu Shan Jun went back to the Taiyi Hall as a mysterious figure was ordered to retrieve a ringing sword.

• Venerable Fuyou burned his blood essence and used the Kunpeng Secret Art to face Taiyi’s descending lightning, but the strike killed him and left the Celestial Roc Saber broken.
• A mysterious armored man caught the broken Celestial Roc Saber, restored it, and spoke of unifying the Stellar Sea and reviving the Kunpeng Sect.
• Venerable Chuiyun challenged Taiyi, but Tu Shan Jun and the Soul Banner’s eight Nascent Soul ghost kings protected him, making Chuiyun unwilling to risk a fight.
• Chuiyun took the Celestial Roc Saber, blocked the Celestial Roc Sect cultivators, and withdrew after promising to return for Taiyi’s treasures.
• Taiyi and Tu Shan Jun returned to the Taiyi Hall with the ghost kings, while an unknown palace’s white-robed figure confirmed the sword’s location and was ordered to bring it back.