Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “Born with a Rebellious Nature”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Qin Ming, known as “Sixth Brother” or Zheng Guang, continues provoking the Night Ruins Faction while secretly negotiating exchanges of medicinal tea for valuable resources.
• He trades medicinal tea for the severed leg of the silver-robed woman from the Heavenly Cripple, Earthly Defect faction. Mu Shinian also uses his mastery of time to temporarily save the dying Evergreen Undying Dao Body, demanding another bowl of medicinal tea in return.
• The Six Great Sages deliberately exaggerate their identities and backgrounds to intimidate the opposing faction. Niu Wuwei even allows others to believe he is connected to Taishang’s ancient Azure Ox.
• The Night Ruins Faction challenges Qin Ming. Ming Yi, the Innate Golden Body Dao Embryo, enters the arena and fights him using a powerful metal-based body and the Absolute Metal Domain.
• Qin Ming overwhelms Ming Yi through superior physical strength, the Great Sun True Form, and the Primordial Myriad Thunder Seal. He nearly destroys Ming Yi, forcing powerful elders to intervene.
• Rather than accept two bowls of medicinal tea in exchange for Ming Yi’s remains, Qin Ming destroys the surviving half of his body and obtains a priceless lump of Exotic Metal embedded within it.
• Qin Ming then battles a golden-haired woman of the Void Roc Clan. Despite her extraordinary speed, strength, and regenerative abilities, he defeats her decisively and tears off her newly regrown wings.
• He taunts Dao Mushroom by joking that the Void Roc’s wings would make good ingredients for “chicken stewed with mushrooms,” provoking the already furious Night Ruins experts and challenging Dao Mushroom to fight next.

Character Developments

• Qin Ming/Zheng Guang: Reveals himself to be far stronger than his supposed sixth-place ranking suggests. He is aggressive, shamelessly opportunistic, and treats battle as both entertainment and a way to obtain medicinal tea or treasures. His confidence borders on deliberate provocation, and he appears to enjoy making the opposing faction lose face.
• Ming Yi: Initially believes his newly forged metal body gives him overwhelming defensive power. Qin Ming’s superior strength and thunder techniques shatter that confidence. He is left humiliated and devastated after losing both his battle and a precious piece of Exotic Metal.
• The Void Roc woman: Demonstrates incredible speed, strength, and regeneration, but is still crushed by Qin Ming’s full-power assault. Her defeat further establishes how abnormal Qin Ming’s combat ability is.
• Mu Shinian: Appears refined but proves calculating and ruthless, using his time-based abilities to save the Evergreen Undying Dao Body only in exchange for medicinal tea.
• Niu Wuwei and Zhou Tian: Help maintain the group’s intimidating façade through sarcastic remarks and deliberate misinformation. They understand Qin Ming’s personality better than the others and recognize that his “kindness” is usually tied to profit.
• Meng Zhiyu and Taiyi: Become increasingly worried that Qin Ming’s recklessness and excessive strength will provoke a full-scale war.
• Night Ruins Faction: Their contempt for Qin Ming turns into caution and uncertainty. They begin questioning whether the Six Great Sages’ rankings are accurate, since the supposedly weakest member is already overwhelmingly powerful.

Significant Themes

• Arrogance and rebellion: Qin Ming’s defining trait is his refusal to behave according to expectations. He repeatedly insults stronger factions, challenges powerful opponents, and turns formal “Dao discussions” into humiliating battles.
• Power and reputation: The chapter explores how strength determines social standing. The Night Ruins Faction initially looks down on Qin Ming’s group, but Qin Ming’s victories completely reverse the power dynamic.
• Commerce amid conflict: Medicinal tea becomes a bargaining tool, showing how survival, healing, and treasure can be treated as commodities even during deadly confrontations.
• Deception and intimidation: Qin Ming and his companions exaggerate their origins and abilities to discourage the enemy from launching an all-out attack.
• Hidden potential: Qin Ming’s supposed ranking as sixth is misleading, causing the opposing side to fear how powerful the other members of his group might be.
• Humor amid danger: Sarcasm, taunts, and absurd jokes—especially Qin Ming’s comments about cooking the Void Roc with Dao Mushroom—offset the chapter’s severe violence and tension.

Character Interactions

• Qin Ming bargains with the injured silver-robed woman and her allies over the medicinal tea, treating her severed leg as a business transaction.
• Mu Shinian negotiates with the Night Ruins Faction over the Evergreen Undying Dao Body’s survival, while Niu Wuwei mocks the dying man and nearly disrupts the treatment.
• Qin Ming and Ming Yi clash in a brutal contest of physical power and elemental techniques, ending with Qin Ming’s victory and the destruction of Ming Yi’s remaining body.
• The Degraded Heavenly Immortal and another powerful elder intervene to protect Ming Yi, preventing Qin Ming from completely killing him.
• Qin Ming battles and defeats the Void Roc woman, while an elder from the phoenix carriage rescues her.
• Afterward, Qin Ming publicly challenges Dao Mushroom, using the defeated woman’s wings to taunt him and intensify the conflict.
• The chapter closes with Zhou Tian joking that Qin Ming’s rebellious behavior suggests he secretly wants to become the group’s leader.

Chapter Summary: “Clearing the Trial”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Qin Ming enters another trial arena and faces the Dao Mushroom, a powerful member of the Night Ruins faction.
• Before the fight, Qin Ming theatrically presents himself as the devoted “blade” of his elder siblings, Taiyi and Meng Zhiyu, while promising to cook them a meal from his defeated enemies. His exaggerated claims amuse and irritate the group.
• The Dao Mushroom begins the battle with overwhelming golden Divine Radiance, force fields, spatial distortions, and Dao-pattern attacks. Qin Ming counters with the Golden Light Shield, Great Sun Tathagata True Form, Thunder Seal Script, and other fused techniques.
• The fight escalates into a “mushroom war,” with both sides filling the sky with real and illusory mushrooms. Qin Ming uses his Spiritual Field, True Fire, lightning, and the Azure Lamp to destroy the mushroom illusions and expose the Dao Mushroom’s true body.
• The Dao Mushroom reveals increasingly powerful forms: a black-clad, eye-covered man wielding a saber, then a demonic female form. He invokes his ancestor’s legendary ability to “reopen a path” and manifests the pressure of the Thirty-Six Heavens.
• Qin Ming repeatedly breaks through these techniques with the Open Heaven Axe, golden threads, the Nine-Colored Sacred Fiend, and his various fused arts. He severely injures the Dao Mushroom, severing an arm and breaking his saber.
• When Qin Ming attempts to finish the battle, a Heavenly Immortal intervenes from a dragon-headed carriage. Qin Ming attacks the carriage, prompting other powerful Night Ruins figures to prepare to intervene.
• Taiyi’s intimidating presence causes the Heavenly Immortal-level figures to retreat. The group then realizes that Taiyi’s supposed ancient identity was largely a bluff: he possesses incomplete Past Life Wisdom but is not an ancient powerhouse revived in the present.
• Qin Ming and his companions share a farewell meal of Void Peng and Dao Mushroom. Despite her earlier objections, Meng Zhiyu eats enthusiastically.
• The group separates because the remaining trials are solitary. Qin Ming continues through multiple trials, acquiring scriptures and eventually completing the upper section of the Changing Fate Scripture.
• Qin Ming sends the Insect Emperor onward while placing his consciousness in Old Cloth. The Insect Emperor enters a ruined aerial garden filled with corpses and defeats a Phoenix Heavenly Fire manifestation, obtaining another scripture.
• Through nine further trials, Qin Ming and the Insect Emperor acquire the complete middle section of the Changing Fate Scripture.
• At the final middle-section trial, a warning advises challengers not to proceed farther because of likely danger. Qin Ming ignores it, reaches the Heaven-Piercing Stairway, and arrives at the apparent ultimate land.
• The lower section of the scripture begins to descend, but mysterious patterns activate beneath the Insect Emperor, and moving stone steles signal the start of a dangerous ritual.

Character Developments

• Qin Ming continues to display confidence, adaptability, and ruthless combat ability. He combines many arts instead of relying on a single technique and repeatedly overcomes powers associated with ancient legends.
• He also reveals a mischievous, provocative side, constantly teasing his companions and using exaggerated filial language to elevate them—and himself.
• The Dao Mushroom is established as a formidable and versatile enemy with multiple bodies, demonic abilities, illusion techniques, and a connection to a powerful ancestral legacy. Despite his confidence, he is ultimately overpowered by Qin Ming.
• Taiyi is shown to be more calculating than genuinely ancient. His incomplete Past Life Wisdom allows him to bluff the Heavenly Immortals into retreating, demonstrating strategic intelligence rather than overwhelming strength.
• Meng Zhiyu becomes increasingly interested in Qin Ming because of his Fundamental Scripture. Her attitude toward him softens considerably, though Qin Ming’s cooking jokes continue to embarrass her.
• Mu Shinian remains composed and sharp-tongued, openly challenging the hierarchy within the group and teasing Qin Ming.
• Zhou Tian acts as an amused observer who exposes Qin Ming’s double standards and suspicious ambitions.
• The Insect Emperor takes on the next stage of the journey independently, proving his strength by defeating trial manifestations and obtaining scriptures.

Significant Themes

• Strength versus reputation: The Dao Mushroom relies heavily on his ancestor’s legendary reputation, but Qin Ming proves that present strength matters more than inherited glory.
• Bluffing and hidden identities: Taiyi’s false impression of being an ancient revived powerhouse demonstrates how perception can be as powerful as combat ability.
• Adaptation and versatility: Qin Ming repeatedly changes tactics, counters illusions with illusions, and uses multiple divine arts in combination.
• Brotherhood and temporary fellowship: The group’s teasing, shared meal, and reluctant farewell emphasize the bonds formed during their journey, even though each must ultimately proceed alone.
• Dangerous pursuit of knowledge: Qin Ming knowingly ignores warnings to obtain the lower section of the Changing Fate Scripture, highlighting his ambition and willingness to confront taboo dangers.
• Fate and transformation: The Changing Fate Scripture and the mysterious ritual raise the possibility of body exchange, altered destiny, and the loss of one’s original identity.

Character Interactions

• Qin Ming’s mock-filial speech flatters Taiyi, Meng Zhiyu, Zhou Tian, and the others while allowing him to present himself as their loyal subordinate.
• The companions repeatedly mock his posturing, especially his desire to appear profound and his suspicious attempts to become the group’s leader.
• Meng Zhiyu’s interest in Qin Ming’s cultivation method contrasts humorously with her discomfort over his insistence on calling their meal “stewed chicken with mushrooms.”
• Taiyi intervenes diplomatically during the confrontation with the Heavenly Immortals, using his imposing presence to prevent a larger battle.
• The group’s farewell meal provides a brief moment of camaraderie before they separate and continue the trials individually.
• At the chapter’s end, Qin Ming remains mentally linked to the Insect Emperor, guiding and observing him as the next major danger begins.

Chapter Summary: “Mutual Convergence”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Qin Ming reaches a mysterious platform above the Nine Heavens after climbing the Heavenly Ladder. The platform is surrounded by a hazy, star-filled dome and dozens of ancient, damaged stone steles.
• He discovers that the platform has activated an ancient ritual. An invisible barrier prevents him from returning, while glowing patterns and flames spread beneath the steles.
• Dao-resonance pages fall from the sky, allowing Qin Ming to memorize most of the Changing Fate Scripture. However, the text is incomplete and ends abruptly. Other fragments contain disturbing messages such as “Who am I?”, “I miss [my] enemy,” and “Little Ancestor, you shouldn’t have come.”
• Qin Ming suspects the messages may relate to the Ancestor Worm or another ancient existence, suggesting that the Land of Fate Exchange has concealed secrets and may still be connected to beings surviving from before its destruction eight thousand years earlier.
• Niu Wuwei, Qin Ming’s Fifth Brother, briefly reaches the platform through a Heavenly Ladder. It is revealed that he used One Qi Transforms into Three Purities and the Forbidden Domain’s Diamond Ring to send in a phantom body rather than risking his true body. A mysterious pursuer drags the phantom back into the Cloud Mist Sea, forcing it to disperse.
• The stone steles begin testing Qin Ming. He:
  • Comprehends a powerful healing and life-restoring art.
  • Creates and stabilizes a Great Dao Tree using a single strand of consciousness.
  • Passes a soul-depth test, causing the testing stele to crack after reaching a tenth color.
  • Endures a confrontation with ancient Immortal Force, realizing that even outdated techniques can remain extraordinarily powerful.
  • Demonstrates overwhelming affinity with various Divine Substances by absorbing their essence.
  • Is tested for the presence of an internal “door” and Secret Treasure, a condition apparently connected to ancient revivals and the Longevity Calamity Domain.
• Qin Ming recognizes that the tests are not harmless examinations but stages of a ritual or binding contract. When he resists, an invisible force compels him to touch the stele.
• His results exceed the ancient limits, causing the fourteenth stele to break and the thirty-sixth stele to announce that he has surpassed the old record.
• A new path opens, leading to a further platform. Qin Ming is again forced forward. Bells toll, runes cover the ground and void, and the ritual reaches its climax.
• The complete continuation of the Changing Fate Scripture descends, but Qin Ming’s attention is captured by voices beyond the dome. Mysterious beings argue over his extraordinary “values” and whether ordinary people can bear his fortune.
• The chapter ends when a clear voice declares: “Since you have activated the contract, I will join you in Mutual Convergence!”

2. Character Developments

• Qin Ming: Becomes increasingly suspicious and cautious. Although confident in his strength, he recognizes that the Ultimate Land’s ancient techniques and rituals exceed his expectations. He shifts from treating the steles as opportunities to understanding them as components of a dangerous fate-exchange contract. His exceptional soul, body, comprehension, and internal “door” allow him to surpass every recorded standard.
• Niu Wuwei: Is shown to be far more formidable and resourceful than expected. Rather than entering personally, he uses a sophisticated combination of divine arts to send a substitute body. His fear of Qin Ming remains evident, but his ability to reach the Ultimate Land demonstrates his extraordinary cultivation.
• The unseen ancient beings: Their voices reveal that the ritual is supervised or contested by multiple powerful entities. They view Qin Ming as an extraordinarily valuable candidate and appear eager to exchange or converge with him.

3. Significant Themes

• Dangerous knowledge and incomplete truths: Qin Ming gains the Changing Fate Scripture, but key portions are withheld or fragmented. The chapter suggests that ancient knowledge is deliberately limited, and partial understanding may itself be dangerous.
• Fate exchange and identity: Messages questioning “Who am I?” and references to enemies, ancestors, and replacement hint at the instability of identity and the possibility of beings changing bodies, lives, or destinies.
• Tests as hidden contracts: What initially appears to be a series of trials is actually a ritual that evaluates Qin Ming as a potential vessel, material, or participant in a greater process.
• Ancient power and modern arrogance: Qin Ming’s confidence is tempered when the old Immortal Force matches his Chaos Force. The chapter emphasizes that ancient techniques remain dangerous even after thousands of years.
• Convergence across time and space: The ritual links Qin Ming’s present body, the Torn Cloth, the Ultimate Land, and distant unseen beings. The closing declaration suggests an impending merging of fates, powers, or existences.
• Resistance versus inevitability: Qin Ming repeatedly tries to refuse or delay the ritual, but invisible forces compel him onward, reinforcing the sense that he has entered a predetermined mechanism.

4. Character Interactions

• Qin Ming and Niu Wuwei: Their brief encounter is tense and revealing. Niu Wuwei does not recognize Qin Ming’s identity and attempts to escape while being pursued. Qin Ming realizes that the bull used a phantom body and admires the sophistication of his techniques.
• Qin Ming and the stone steles: The steles function as ancient examiners, testing his comprehension, consciousness, soul, body, strength, affinity with Divine Substances, and internal structure. Qin Ming treats them with skepticism and irritation, especially when they provide incomplete techniques or forcibly compel his participation.
• Qin Ming and the unseen beings: Though they do not directly appear, the voices beyond the dome discuss Qin Ming as an exceptional candidate. Their final declaration establishes a direct connection through the activated contract and sets up the chapter’s central mystery: what exactly will “Mutual Convergence” exchange or unite?

Chapter Summary: “Unrequited Love”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Qin Ming investigates the commotion outside the dome, where several people are fighting over who will undergo Mutual Convergence with him.
• He discovers that the apparent starry sky beyond the dome is an illusion. The reality outside is an expanse of terrifying black mist, with a gigantic floating cliff visible in the distance.
• The two locations are connected through contracts carved on stone tablets and a mysterious ritual. The people on the cliff claim their realm is Beyond Heaven, the Land of Eternal Life, and the ancestral homeland, though Qin Ming distrusts their inconsistent explanations.
• The people across the abyss reveal a magnificent city and insist that Qin Ming will eventually join them. They claim their ancestors once left Qin Ming’s homeland and that the current ritual will allow them to return.
• Qin Ming questions them about the Ancestor Worm, the nature of their realm, and why they are so eager to return if it is truly a paradise. Their vague answers deepen his suspicions.
• To convince Qin Ming, a powerful middle-aged man cuts through the black mist with two fingers, briefly revealing what appears to be a genuine starry sky. Meanwhile, Hong Dao secretly activates the ritual and begins the process of Changing Fate.
• Hong Dao expects Qin Ming to burn his soul and open the gate within his body. Instead, Qin Ming remains unharmed because his consciousness is elsewhere, resonating between the bodies of Torn Cloth and the Insect Emperor.
• The ritual unexpectedly forces Hong Dao to burn his own soul, body, Dao Fruit, and Secret Treasure to create the passage. His companions flee, leaving him to bear the consequences.
• The soul-powered gate pierces through the abyss and connects the two realms. Hong Dao survives long enough to enter Qin Ming’s side, but he is severely weakened and nearly destroyed.
• Qin Ming mocks Hong Dao throughout the process and waits to capture him, intending to use him to learn the truth about the mysterious Land of Fate Exchange.

Character Developments

• Qin Ming remains calm, observant, and suspicious. Rather than resisting impulsively, he analyzes the illusion, the contracts, and the ritual. His mental clarity allows him to avoid being consumed by the Changing Fate process.
• Qin Ming also demonstrates growing confidence and control over his unusual state of consciousness. He deliberately pauses and resumes his resonance to manipulate the ritual’s outcome.
• Hong Dao begins as a confident participant who expects to return home and gain a powerful ally. His confidence collapses when the ritual fails and turns against him, leaving him desperate, furious, and nearly dead.
• The people on the distant cliff are revealed to be manipulative and self-interested. They pretend to reassure Qin Ming while secretly planning to exploit the ritual and avoid personal risk.
• The unnamed woman and middle-aged man help maintain the deception, while Hong Dao becomes the unwilling sacrifice who physically opens the passage.

Significant Themes

• Deception versus perception: The beautiful starry sky is revealed to be an artificial illusion, symbolizing how appearances conceal dangerous truths.
• Distrust of promised paradise: Qin Ming questions the claim that the other realm is Beyond Heaven, recognizing that a truly desirable place would not inspire such desperate attempts to escape.
• Exploitation and betrayal: The other side presents Mutual Convergence as an equal exchange, but they intend for Qin Ming to pay the cost while they benefit.
• The limits of life and immortality: References to the Ancestor Worm and the inability of ancient beings to survive for thousands of years challenge the idea of an eternal realm.
• Control through knowledge: Qin Ming’s refusal to accept vague explanations protects him from manipulation. His awareness and skepticism allow him to turn the ritual against its creators.
• Power hidden within the body: The internal “gate” is shown to be capable of breaking through boundaries between realms, life and death, and even seemingly impassable voids.

Character Interactions

• Qin Ming questions the distant cultivators, forcing them to justify their claims about their realm and the purpose of the ritual.
• The people across the abyss attempt to flatter and reassure him by calling him a future companion and promising him a high status.
• Qin Ming challenges their stories, especially their claims about Beyond Heaven and the Ancestor Worm.
• The group privately encourages Hong Dao and promises to rely on him after he returns home, revealing their desire to use him as a pathfinder.
• Once the ritual turns against Hong Dao, they abandon him and teleport away, exposing their cowardice and lack of loyalty.
• Hong Dao’s final interaction with Qin Ming is dominated by Qin Ming’s sarcasm and Hong Dao’s helpless rage as he burns himself out to complete the passage.-vesm

Chapter Summary: “A Body Full of Treasures”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Qin Ming confronts Hong Dao after Hong Dao’s desperate descent across the Illusory Ancient Road. Hong Dao’s body and soul are nearly destroyed, and the Secret Treasure within his inner gate has been exhausted.
• Qin Ming initially attempts to seize Hong Dao, but a surviving ritual continues protecting him. Once the protection fades, Qin Ming attacks with Chaos Force and Forbidden Domain techniques.
• Hong Dao repeatedly escapes using the Substitute Death Technique, sacrificing bone fragments—including fingers, ribs, and other pieces of his ruined body. He eventually flees down the Heavenly Ladder into the Grotto-Heaven Ruins, with Qin Ming pursuing him.
• Hong Dao activates the Return-to-Light Technique, temporarily restoring enough vitality to fight for roughly half a quarter-hour. Observers on the distant cliff believe his combat experience and former Eighth Realm strength will allow him to kill Qin Ming.
• Contrary to expectations, Qin Ming blocks Hong Dao’s powerful attacks head-on and begins overpowering him physically. Hong Dao’s already ruined body cannot withstand a prolonged battle.
• Hong Dao abandons his fleshly body and uses the forbidden soul technique Turbid World Azure Lotus to strengthen and preserve his spirit. He prepares to fight through his soul rather than rely on his decayed body.
• While severing his connection to his ruined gate, Hong Dao discovers a damaged treasure vase containing a surviving Xinghai Silver Lotus, an extremely valuable Immortal Medicine capable of nourishing his soul and potentially enabling his revival.
• Before Hong Dao can use the medicine fully, Qin Ming’s consciousness—sent through the Torn Cloth—ambushes him and steals both the vase and the remnant Immortal Medicine.
• The chapter ends with Qin Ming’s true body arriving. He recognizes that Hong Dao’s body and soul are filled with valuable techniques and treasures, and prepares to “rob the rich and aid the poor.”

Character Developments

• Qin Ming: Remains calm, mocking, and ruthlessly practical. He shows no sympathy for Hong Dao, whom he regards as a vicious person who intended to sacrifice him. Qin Ming demonstrates unexpectedly powerful combat ability, blocking attacks from a former Eighth Realm expert. His greed and opportunism become more pronounced as he identifies Hong Dao as a living collection of treasures and techniques.
• Hong Dao: Experiences a dramatic collapse from supreme expert to ruined survivor. His pride and confidence repeatedly give way to despair, hope, and renewed desperation. Despite his broken body, he relies on accumulated techniques, Substitute Death, Return-to-Light, and Turbid World Azure Lotus to prolong his survival. His discovery of the Xinghai Silver Lotus briefly restores his hope, but Qin Ming’s theft leaves him in an even more desperate position.
• The distant observers: Initially believe Hong Dao can easily defeat Qin Ming once his temporary recovery begins. Their confidence weakens when Qin Ming matches Hong Dao’s strength and exposes the limitations of Hong Dao’s damaged body.

Significant Themes

• Desperation and survival: Hong Dao repeatedly searches for a way to survive despite the destruction of his body, soul, and cultivation foundation.
• The collapse of pride: A once-unrivaled expert is reduced to a charred, fragmented body and must rely on evasive techniques and remnants of past power.
• Hidden strength and misjudgment: The observers underestimate Qin Ming because of his age and apparent realm, failing to account for his extraordinary physical power, Chaos Force, and hidden methods.
• Fate versus personal struggle: Hong Dao repeatedly interprets each narrow escape as Heaven giving him another chance to change his fate, while Qin Ming relentlessly overturns those hopes.
• Treasure and predation: The chapter emphasizes that powerful cultivators are valuable from head to toe—containing secret techniques, rare medicines, and hidden resources. Qin Ming adopts the role of the predator, taking advantage of Hong Dao’s accumulated wealth.
• Body and soul as separate paths: Hong Dao’s abandonment of his ruined body and reliance on the Turbid World Azure Lotus highlight the distinction between physical survival and spiritual continuation.

Character Interactions

• Qin Ming taunts Hong Dao about his murderous aura, ruined condition, and need to maintain his state of mind, deliberately aggravating him while waiting for the ritual’s protection to disappear.
• Hong Dao views Qin Ming with intense hatred, blaming him for turning his carefully arranged sacrifice into his own catastrophe.
• The observers on the cliff encourage Hong Dao and expect him to defeat Qin Ming, but their confidence turns to concern as Qin Ming withstands his attacks.
• Hong Dao attempts to overwhelm Qin Ming through physical force and later through a soul-based Forbidden Technique, but Qin Ming’s Chaos Force and Mind Clarity neutralize the attacks.
• Qin Ming and Hong Dao ultimately clash over the Xinghai Silver Lotus. Qin Ming uses the Torn Cloth to steal the medicine at the decisive moment, converting Hong Dao’s last major hope into his own gain.

Chapter Summary: “Ancestor Worm’s Swan Song, the Insect Emperor Opens the Gate”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Hong Dao abandons his ruined physical shell after using the Xinghai Silver Lotus to stabilize his dying soul. Although the medicine is nearly exhausted, it gives him enough time to attempt one final battle against Qin Ming.
• Qin Ming prepares cautiously in the Insect Emperor’s body, using the Jade Suit Sewn with Gold Threads, the Chaos Force, and resonance techniques to sense Hong Dao’s movements.
• Qin Ming disrupts the surrounding Dao rhythm, exploiting Hong Dao’s severely weakened condition. The disturbance causes Hong Dao’s divine soul to vomit mental blood, forcing him to act before he is ready.
• Hong Dao unleashes Ancestor Worm’s Cry, a forbidden technique derived from the dying Ancestor Worm’s final attack. The art manifests an insect atop the Turbid World Azure Lotus and releases devastating ripples of despair and decay.
• The ripples penetrate Qin Ming’s defenses and even affect his true body through the Torn Cloth, but the Insect Emperor’s body naturally counters insect-related forces. Qin Ming also escapes temporarily through the Nine Heavens Scripture and returns with only minor injuries.
• Qin Ming counterattacks with the golden threads of the Jade Suit, piercing Hong Dao’s soul. Hong Dao attempts to use Changing Fate to exchange bodies with Qin Ming, but the Jade Suit prevents the possession.
• Hong Dao then tries to plant the Turbid World Azure Lotus inside Qin Ming’s body. Qin Ming’s black vortex destroys the lotus roots while his golden threads attack the lotus and Hong Dao’s soul.
• Hong Dao’s Return-to-Light Technique collapses, pushing him to the brink of death. Qin Ming stops attacking and attempts to save him, both out of concern and because he wants to obtain Hong Dao’s techniques.
• While Qin Ming treats him, Hong Dao uses the Turbid World Azure Lotus art to prolong his life. Qin Ming deliberately provokes him into reciting and circulating more of the technique, successfully stealing and comprehending it.
• Just as Hong Dao is about to die, a hidden presence emerges from the lotus seed within his soul. This is Hong Dao’s ancient Ancestor, who had secretly been sleeping inside his Soul Sea and waiting for a chance to revive.
• The Ancestor reveals that he has enough power for only one strike. He intends to seize the Insect Emperor’s body and open the mysterious “gate” contained within it.
• The Ancestor reaches the gate and discovers that it is already loosening before he attacks, as though someone or something on the other side is opening it from within. The chapter ends on this ominous revelation.

Character Developments

• Qin Ming demonstrates increasing caution, tactical intelligence, and confidence. He uses environmental interference, defensive treasures, escape techniques, and layered counterattacks against Hong Dao’s forbidden arts.
• Despite his hostility toward Hong Dao, Qin Ming temporarily tries to preserve his life. His motives are mixed: he does not want Hong Dao’s knowledge to be lost and hopes to obtain more scriptures and techniques.
• Qin Ming’s attitude toward cultivation becomes more humble after suffering damage from Ancestor Worm’s Cry. He recognizes that his own fused techniques still require refinement.
• Hong Dao reveals the depth of his desperation. He uses multiple successive killing methods—Ancestor Worm’s Cry, Changing Fate, and body-rooting through the Azure Lotus—but each fails.
• Hong Dao’s arrogance and ruthlessness give way to panic, grief, and a desperate will to survive. His physical and spiritual decline shows that his temporary recovery was only an artificial extension of his life.
• Hong Dao’s Ancestor is revealed as an even more secretive and dangerous figure. He had hidden within Hong Dao’s lotus seed for years, using him as a vessel and waiting for access to a superior “door” that could enable resurrection.

Significant Themes

• The limits of defying fate: Hong Dao’s entire battle is an attempt to change his doomed destiny, but his exhausted lifespan and failed techniques show that temporary reversals cannot truly overcome the laws of life and death.
• Inheritance and exploitation: Qin Ming acquires Hong Dao’s techniques while pretending to save him, while Hong Dao’s Ancestor has likewise exploited Hong Dao by hiding inside his soul.
• Survival at any cost: Every major figure seeks a way to continue existing—Hong Dao through body exchange and forbidden arts, Qin Ming through adaptation and defense, and the Ancestor through possession and the mysterious gate.
• The danger of hidden threats: Qin Ming believes he is fighting one dying enemy, only to discover that an older and more dangerous entity has been concealed within Hong Dao all along.
• The meaning of “doors” and transcendence: The mysterious gate represents access to a higher realm or source of rebirth. Its apparent self-opening suggests that the Insect Emperor’s body contains secrets beyond what any character understands.

Character Interactions

• Qin Ming and Hong Dao engage in a battle of layered forbidden techniques: Hong Dao attacks the soul and attempts possession, while Qin Ming relies on the Insect Emperor’s natural resistance, the Jade Suit, the black vortex, and the Nine Heavens Scripture.
• Qin Ming refuses Hong Dao’s offer to exchange knowledge for peace, making clear that he will seize what he wants himself rather than trust a murderous old monster.
• When Hong Dao begins dying, Qin Ming unexpectedly urges him to survive and even calls him “Old Hong,” but openly admits that he is also trying to extract Hong Dao’s scriptures.
• Qin Ming’s mocking provocation briefly reignites Hong Dao’s soul, showing their antagonistic but strangely humorous dynamic even at the edge of death.
• Hong Dao’s final interaction is not truly with Qin Ming, but with the Ancestor hidden within him. Their brief exchange reveals a long-buried betrayal: the Ancestor used Hong Dao as a dormant vessel and now intends to abandon him to seize a better body.
• The chapter closes with the Ancestor confronting the mysterious gate, only to realize that the gate may already belong to another power.

Chapter Summary: “Inside the Insect Emperor’s Gate”

Plot Points and Major Events

• Qi Ze, Hong Dao’s ancestor and a former Eighth-Realm expert, attempts to open the mysterious gate within the Insect Emperor’s body. Although he initially uses only part of his strength, the gate opens far too easily and transforms, revealing ancient markings, clouds, stars, bloodstains, and an overwhelming majesty.
• Convinced that the gate may contain an ancient Supreme Expert at the point of resurrection—or at the weakest stage of decline—Qi Ze decides to enter rather than retreat.
• Inside, Qi Ze discovers a vast Secret Treasure containing both flourishing immortal mountains and a barren wasteland filled with deathly energy. The two forces merge into a terrifying human face, whose presence overwhelms his will.
• Under the influence of the gate’s Dao rhythm, Qi Ze bows and unconsciously offers up his lotus-seed origin. He eventually escapes, realizing too late that he has sacrificed the foundation of his remaining life.
• Qi Ze’s soul enters the Torn Cloth, where Qin Ming has already prepared to contain him. Qin Ming refuses further communication, fearing that Qi Ze may still possess dangerous hidden methods.
• Qin Ming searches Hong Dao’s soul, but Hong Dao’s protective restrictions cause his remaining Consciousness Spirit Light to shatter. Qin Ming gains little from the attempt.
• Within the Insect Emperor’s gate, the terrifying face of life and death condenses into a small worm. The worm eats Qi Ze’s lotus seed and cheerfully wonders whether it is finally time for resurrection, implying that the Insect Emperor is not truly dead.
• Qin Ming places the Insect Emperor’s body into the Torn Cloth, reassured temporarily by the president’s ambiguous but calming response.
• Qin Ming examines the damaged Xinghai Silver Lotus, an Immortal Medicine he obtained. After feeding it energy from Above the Nine Heavens, he discovers that it can still absorb power and may eventually recover.
• Reflecting on Hong Dao’s fragmented memories, Qin Ming learns more about Beyond Heaven, its inhabitants, their possible fear of the Night Mist World, and their mysterious desire to return to the lower realm.
• Qin Ming abandons plans to summon more ancient monsters and returns through the Illusory Ancient Road.
• He reunites with Niu Wuwei, who is badly injured after monsters near the end of the Heavenly Ladder suddenly revived and attacked him.
• Niu Wuwei reports seeing a mysterious, extremely evil figure resembling Qin Ming near the final platform, as well as evidence that another unknown person reached the region bordering Beyond Heaven.
• As Qin Ming and Niu Wuwei prepare to leave the Land of Fate Exchange, they sense hostile forces waiting outside to ambush returning experts and seize their gains. They decide to wait for Meng and the Second Brother before leaving.

Character Developments

• Qi Ze: His confidence and former dignity collapse under the influence of the Insect Emperor’s gate. Though he initially displays the courage of a former Peerless Expert, he is forced into submission, loses his lotus-seed origin, and becomes nearly extinguished. His fate highlights the terrifying power of the ancient being within.
• Qin Ming: He becomes increasingly cautious and distrustful. Despite joking about his relationship with the Insect Emperor, he is deeply afraid of provoking such an ancient existence. He also shows greater strategic restraint, choosing not to risk further exploration after obtaining substantial rewards.
• Hong Dao: Even in his final moments, Hong Dao refuses to surrender his dignity or allow his soul to be searched. His protective restrictions destroy his remaining spirit rather than let Qin Ming freely access his memories.
• The Insect Emperor: The supposed corpse shows signs of imminent resurrection. His childlike worm form contrasts sharply with the sinister aura radiating from his body, making him even more unsettling and unpredictable.
• Niu Wuwei: He suffers severe injuries but survives his encounter with the revived monsters. His observations provide Qin Ming with important warnings about mysterious figures and the danger surrounding the final stage of the Heavenly Ladder.

Significant Themes

• The danger of ancient power: The chapter emphasizes that remnants of ancient Supreme Experts can remain overwhelmingly powerful even when apparently dead or weakened.
• Loss of autonomy and dignity: Qi Ze’s forced submission and Hong Dao’s self-destructive soul restrictions both explore the lengths powerful cultivators will go to preserve control over their fate.
• Resurrection and uncertain identity: The Insect Emperor’s awakening raises questions about whether an ancient being can return unchanged, especially when its body and consciousness appear divided.
• Caution versus ambition: Qin Ming repeatedly weighs the benefits of further exploration against the risks of awakening monsters or attracting powerful enemies. His decision to retreat marks a more prudent approach.
• The mystery of Beyond Heaven: Fragmented memories suggest that the upper realms are not necessarily safe. Their inhabitants may have fled an ancient disaster and fear dangers both above and below.
• Hidden enemies and competing factions: Powerful organizations wait outside the Land of Fate Exchange to ambush returning cultivators, showing that opportunism and conflict extend beyond the dangerous ruins themselves.

Important Character Interactions

• Qi Ze and the Insect Emperor’s gate: Qi Ze tries to force open the gate, but the gate’s presence overwhelms him and compels him to surrender part of his origin.
• Qin Ming and the Insect Emperor: Qin Ming jokes about their supposed “bond,” but his humor masks anxiety over possible revenge. He ultimately stores the body away rather than risk direct contact.
• Qin Ming and Hong Dao: Qin Ming offers false—or at least opportunistically sincere—comfort while attempting to extract Hong Dao’s knowledge. Hong Dao resents him but protects his secrets until his soul disintegrates.
• Qin Ming and the president: Qin Ming seeks reassurance and possible intervention. The president’s brief response calms him but leaves the Insect Emperor’s true condition unclear.
• Qin Ming and Niu Wuwei: Their reunion combines concern, banter, and information-sharing. Niu Wuwei’s report of a Qin-like evil figure and another traveler reaching Beyond Heaven significantly increases Qin Ming’s suspicion.
• Qin Ming and external enemies: Qin Ming and Niu Wuwei recognize that hostile organizations are waiting outside to ambush the returning cultivators, prompting them to delay their departure.

Chapter Summary: “Taking the Stage”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Qin Ming and Niu Wuwei discover that the route out of the Land of Fate Exchange has been blocked by hostile forces using a killing formation. They retreat into the Illusory Ancient Road, which protects them from an attacking Earth Immortal wielding a terrifying sword technique.
• Wen Lingxi returns severely injured after exploring a dangerous secret realm in search of a rare stellar flame. Her apparent physical body is destroyed, but she reveals that it was actually a Divine Lotus Body created through a secret damage-transfer technique; her true body remains safe.
• Mu Shinian later returns missing an arm, only to reveal that he too had been using a substitute body—a Dharma body made from Revival Wood. Niu Wuwei is outraged that nearly everyone had concealed the fact that they were not using their true bodies.
• Taiyi, Meng Zhiyu, and Zhou Tian return as well. Zhou Tian, cautious as ever, is the last to arrive after circling around to ensure the group’s safety.
• Once the group returns to reality, they find themselves surrounded by forces from the Demon Court, the Strange Insect Alliance, and other organizations. A massive blood moon appears, revealing the presence of the Longevity Abomination Organization, which wants to exchange longevity research for the Changing Fate Scripture.
• The group is isolated by a formation, but Meng Zhiyu summons assistance with an immortal talisman. The Old Dream Insect then appears and creates a purple Dao road to escort his descendants through the blockade.
• The Longevity Abomination Organization counters with a blood-red road and attempts to intercept them. Numerous powerful factions then arrive, hoping to obtain or exchange for the Changing Fate Scripture.
• The Demon Court’s Time Beast, Wen Lingxi’s White Phoenix master, and other supreme experts join the confrontation. Their presence turns the attempted escape into a major standoff among several ancient and powerful organizations.
• To prevent the younger generation from being endangered, the Old Dream Insect considers allowing the factions to exchange other scriptures for the Changing Fate Scripture. He encourages the group to demand valuable compensation.
• When he identifies Qin Ming as someone who has cultivated the Longevity Force and possesses a Jade Suit Sewn with Gold Threads, Qin Ming realizes he too has attracted the attention of powerful elders and may be drawn into the escalating conflict.

Character Developments

• Qin Ming remains cautious and perceptive, repeatedly sensing danger before it appears. He gains a deeper understanding of the Changing Fate Scripture, speculating that its true purpose may be transforming one’s fate through self-change rather than merely altering the body or spirit.
• Niu Wuwei shows his usual impulsive and humorous personality, but he is genuinely offended to discover that Wen Lingxi, Mu Shinian, and possibly others have been using substitute bodies. His anxiety increases when powerful figures consider notifying Tushita Palace about him.
• Wen Lingxi demonstrates remarkable composure despite suffering what appears to be fatal damage. Her revelation that she possesses a Divine Lotus Body shows both her preparation and the depth of her hidden resources. Her relationship with her master is also highlighted when the White Phoenix arrives to protect her.
• Mu Shinian maintains his elegant, carefree demeanor even after losing an arm. His Revival Wood Dharma body reveals that he is just as cautious and well-prepared as the others.
• Meng Zhiyu acts decisively and confidently, using powerful connections and magical tools to summon aid. She remains calm even while surrounded by hostile forces.
• Taiyi is shown to possess considerable influence, especially through his connection to Wen Lingxi’s master and the broader network of powerful allies.
• Zhou Tian continues to embody extreme caution, taking the safest possible route and avoiding unnecessary confrontation.
• The Old Dream Insect emerges as an overwhelmingly powerful and domineering protector. He openly challenges the Longevity Abomination Organization and is willing to threaten every faction that attempts to exploit his descendants.
• The Time Beast and White Phoenix reinforce the group’s protection and demonstrate the immense influence of Qin Ming’s companions.

Significant Themes

• Hidden identities and self-preservation: Many characters use substitute bodies, Dharma bodies, or secret techniques to survive deadly trials. Their precautions reveal the extreme danger of the Land of Fate Exchange.
• The value and danger of knowledge: The Changing Fate Scripture is so powerful and mysterious that it attracts numerous supreme organizations, even though most experts may be incapable of truly understanding it.
• Powerful backing and influence: The younger characters survive largely because of the strength and reputation of their elders. The chapter emphasizes the protection—and potential burdens—that come with belonging to powerful lineages.
• Risk versus reward: The factions waiting outside refused to explore the Land of Fate Exchange themselves but seek to seize the rewards from those who did. This creates resentment and exposes their opportunism.
• Changing fate and transformation: Qin Ming begins to question the true meaning of “Changing Fate,” suggesting that it may involve altering one’s own essence or destiny rather than simply changing one’s body.
• Composure amid danger: Despite overwhelming enemies and possible disaster, Meng Zhiyu, Wen Lingxi, and the Old Dream Insect remain calm and assertive, contrasting with Niu Wuwei’s comic panic.

Important Character Interactions

• Qin Ming and Niu Wuwei work together to rescue Wen Lingxi and extinguish the heavenly fire consuming her body.
• Niu Wuwei humorously complains that Wen Lingxi and Mu Shinian deceived him by traveling in substitute bodies, then suspiciously examines Taiyi and demands to inspect Meng Zhiyu as well.
• Meng Zhiyu confidently leads the group through the crisis, while Qin Ming recognizes how much their powerful allies reduce the dangers they face.
• Wen Lingxi reacts joyfully when her White Phoenix master arrives, revealing the strength of their bond.
• The Old Dream Insect confronts the Longevity Abomination Organization directly, refusing to let them intimidate or control his descendants.
• The Time Beast supports the Old Dream Insect but warns that the conflict may become too dangerous to resolve peacefully.
• The Old Dream Insect encourages the group to demand valuable scriptures in exchange for access to the Changing Fate Scripture, while Niu Wuwei worries that involving Tushita Palace will bring him unwanted trouble.
• The final interaction places Qin Ming under direct scrutiny when the Old Dream Insect identifies his unusual cultivation and proposes contacting Qin Ming’s own hidden backers.

Chapter Summary: “Trading Scripture”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Qin Ming firmly denies belonging to the mysterious, powerful Lineage associated with Tushita Palace. Old Dream Insect and Time Beast pretend to believe him, using the Lineage’s reputation to intimidate the surrounding forces.
• The major factions avoid open conflict because a battle among Supreme Experts would have enormous consequences and consume scarce Primordial Qi and Wondrous Yellow Qi. Instead, they negotiate a trade involving the incomplete Changing Fate Scripture.
• Qin Ming’s group discusses which supreme techniques and scriptures they should demand. Their requests include:
  • The

Diamond Ring Technique

• The

Primordial Myriad Thunder Seal

• The

Ascendant Immortal Sword Scripture

• The

Mortal Scripture

Ancestor Worm’s Cry

• Other famous true scriptures
• The group initially demands thirteen scriptures, shocking Old Dream Insect and Time Beast. They eventually reduce the request to six.
• After extensive bargaining, the factions agree to exchange the Changing Fate Scripture for the complete Primordial Myriad Thunder Seal, a speed technique from the Traveler Civilization, and incomplete portions of Ancestor Worm’s Cry, along with Ancestor Worm Relics. The trade is scheduled to occur in Jade Radiance City.
• The opposing side requests guidance battles between their disciples and Qin Ming’s group. Instead of adding more scriptures to the bargain, both sides agree to use treasures and rare materials as stakes.
• Luo Shaohua challenges Niu Wuwei, seeking revenge for their previous conflict. She fights him at the same realm, and their battle becomes extremely bloody before being stopped without a clear victor.
• Si Yeli, a seductive pipa-playing Saint Disciple, challenges Qin Ming, believing he is the weakest of the Six Great Sages. Qin Ming easily controls the battle with zither music, forcing her to improve while deliberately avoiding humiliating her. She eventually recognizes that he is guiding her rather than simply defeating her.
• Meng Zhiyu defeats a young-looking Ancestor who challenged her.
• Si Yeli gives Qin Ming Heavenly Light Liquid, and he agrees to continue guiding her after they reach Jade Radiance City.
• Five days later, after arriving in the city, Meng Zhiyu secretly attempts to cultivate the mysterious Longevity Force. She suffers severe backlash, coughing blood and developing cracks across her body. Old Dream Insect warns that the technique may be sinister and could allow outsiders to be controlled, but Meng Zhiyu insists on trying again.

Character Developments

• Qin Ming remains cautious about his identity and refuses to associate himself openly with the mysterious Lineage. He also demonstrates confidence and restraint, defeating Si Yeli effortlessly while using the fight to help her improve.
• Old Dream Insect and Time Beast act as political negotiators and intimidators. They use the reputations of Tushita Palace and Qin Ming’s supposed Lineage to discourage hostile action, though they privately understand that their claims are mostly strategic bluffs.
• Taiyi reveals that the Primordial Myriad Thunder Seal is essential to recovering his past-life cultivation and future Dao Fruit. His request becomes one of the central goals of the scripture exchange.
• Meng Zhiyu shows ambition and deep curiosity, especially toward the Insect Emperor’s Mortal Scripture and Ancestor Worm’s Cry. Her reckless attempt to master Longevity Force exposes both her determination and her vulnerability.
• Niu Wuwei is protective of Tushita Palace’s secret techniques and becomes increasingly frustrated by the group’s audacious demands. His battle with Luo Shaohua reveals his courage but also leaves him badly wounded.
• Si Yeli begins the chapter overconfident, believing Qin Ming’s apparent ranking makes him an easy target. After being overwhelmed, she realizes his technique is actually a form of instruction and develops respect for him.
• Luo Shaohua emerges as a determined rival driven by revenge. Her use of a Diamond Ring alarms Niu Wuwei and suggests deeper tensions between Tushita Palace’s orthodox line and outside branches.

Significant Themes

• Political intimidation and strategic deception: The powerful factions rely as much on reputation, implication, and psychological pressure as on actual combat.
• The value and danger of knowledge: Supreme scriptures are treated as priceless resources, but even possessing them does not guarantee successful cultivation.
• Inheritance and legitimacy: The conflict between Tushita Palace’s orthodox lineage and external branches reflects competing claims to authority and tradition.
• Guidance through combat: Battles are not always about killing or victory; Qin Ming and Meng Zhiyu’s group use them to test, temper, and teach.
• Ambition versus danger: The pursuit of forbidden techniques such as Ancestor Worm’s Cry and Longevity Force promises immense power but carries unknown and potentially sinister consequences.
• Scarcity and compromise: Because energy and ancient scriptures are limited, even Supreme Experts must negotiate, compromise, and calculate their risks.

Character Interactions

• Qin Ming repeatedly denies his connection to the mysterious Lineage while Old Dream Insect and Time Beast knowingly play along.
• The younger group debates what to demand in the scripture trade, with Qin Ming supporting Taiyi’s request for the Primordial Myriad Thunder Seal and expressing interest in any Supreme Scripture Chapter.
• Niu Wuwei clashes verbally with Mu Shinian and the others over their attempt to obtain Tushita Palace’s Diamond Ring Technique.
• Qin Ming and Si Yeli engage in a one-sided but constructive battle, where his zither music controls her movements and forces her to develop.
• Niu Wuwei and Luo Shaohua fight a fierce, unresolved duel rooted in their opposing lineages and her desire for revenge.
• Meng Zhiyu defeats the Ancestor who challenges her, then later receives Old Dream Insect’s warning about the dangers of Longevity Force.
• Old Dream Insect and Time Beast serve as intermediaries between the younger cultivators and the ancient factions, managing negotiations while reacting with disbelief to the group’s excessive demands.

Chapter Summary: “A Joy So Great He Forgot Night Prefecture”

Key Plot Points and Events

• In seclusion, Meng Zhiyu forcibly practices the crude version of the Silk Book Method with the Forbidden Profound Art. The technique causes violent surges of Divine Substance in her body, leading to severe bleeding, instability, and damage to her Mental Field and Pure Yang Consciousness.
• Old Dream Insect repeatedly warns Meng Zhiyu to stop, but she stubbornly persists, relying on Thorough Enlightenment Immortal Tea and healing Saint medicine to endure the process.
• Meanwhile, Qin Ming, disguised as “Zheng Guang,” enjoys a comfortable and prosperous stay in Jade Radiance City. He receives banquets, gifts, cultivation resources, and invitations from powerful organizations, joking that he has become so comfortable he has forgotten Night Prefecture.
• Qin Ming spars with Si Yeli through music and dance, then advises her on cultivating her physical form, spirit, and Dao nature. He estimates that her chances of reaching the Great Sage Domain are only about thirty percent, while Si Yeli deliberately grows closer to him by addressing him as “Teacher Zheng Guang.”
• Qin Ming tends the damaged Xinghai Silver Lotus with Heavenly Light Liquid, hoping to revive the rare treasure and profit from it.
• Ji Xingran invites Qin Ming and Niu Wuwei to a banquet hosted by Grandmasters from the Ji, Bai, and Wen families. The hosts treat them as peers, offer valuable Exotic Metal, and express admiration for their achievements in the Land of Fate Exchange.
• The banquet reveals growing concerns about the wider world: demonic cultivators are active, ancient Divine Lords are returning through Body Seizure, and terrifying roars have emerged from the deeper regions of the Night Mist World. One voice may belong to a being barely maintaining the Heavenly Immortal realm.
• After the banquet, the elders bring Qin Ming and Niu Wuwei to the luxurious underground Imperial City, where powerful Flood Dragons massage and nourish their bodies with Five-Colored Divine Light and medicinal soup. The younger generation initially misunderstands the scene, but discovers it is merely an extravagant cultivation treatment.
• Wen Chongguang jokingly suggests that his daughter Wen Lingxi choose Qin Ming—or even Niu Wuwei—as a Dao Companion, embarrassing everyone.
• Qin Ming receives roughly a month’s worth of cultivation benefits from the treatment, emphasizing the value of wealth and resources in advancing one’s cultivation.
• At the end of the chapter, Old Dream Insect urgently summons Qin Ming because Meng Zhiyu’s condition has worsened. Qin Ming leaves Si Yeli and rushes to investigate.

Character Developments

• Qin Ming: Becomes increasingly aware that his revealed strength and potential have dramatically elevated his social status. He enjoys Jade Radiance City’s hospitality while remaining practical, seeking Divine Substance, Exotic Metals, and resources for cultivation. Despite his relaxed lifestyle, he is concerned about Meng Zhiyu and immediately responds to her crisis.
• Meng Zhiyu: Displays extreme determination and stubbornness, refusing to abandon a dangerous cultivation method even as it damages her body and spiritual origin. Her persistence suggests both strong ambition and a willingness to risk destruction for greater power.
• Old Dream Insect: Acts as a worried protector toward Meng Zhiyu, repeatedly urging her to stop. His helplessness grows as her condition deteriorates.
• Si Yeli: Becomes more respectful and personally attentive toward Qin Ming. She hopes to learn from him and uses subtle charm and emotional closeness to maintain their connection, though she remains far weaker than him.
• Niu Wuwei: Continues to benefit from his status as a Hidden Disciple of Tushita Palace. He acts as Qin Ming’s companion at important social events and shares his surprise at the extravagance of Jade Radiance City.
• Wen Lingxi, Bai Zhilan, and Ji Xingran: Show embarrassment over their elders’ overly familiar behavior and secret indulgences, while also revealing their own curiosity about the underground Imperial City.
• The Grandmasters: Ji Yunzhou, Bai Shanhai, and Wen Chongguang are portrayed as approachable, humorous, and unusually youthful in outlook, while still taking the dangerous state of the cultivation world seriously.

Significant Themes

• The cost of ambition: Meng Zhiyu’s dangerous training illustrates how the pursuit of power can threaten the body, spirit, and very foundation of a cultivator.
• Power and social status: Qin Ming’s treatment changes once others recognize his potential. His strength grants him access to elite circles, resources, and respect.
• Cultivation through resources: The chapter emphasizes that rare medicines, Exotic Metals, medicinal soup, and specialized treatments can greatly accelerate progress—provided one has the wealth to obtain them.
• Pleasure versus discipline: Qin Ming enjoys banquets, dancing, music, and luxury, while the cultivation world remains dangerous and unstable. Meng Zhiyu’s suffering contrasts sharply with Qin Ming’s temporary comfort.
• Hidden dangers beneath prosperity: Jade Radiance City appears peaceful and luxurious, but rumors of Heavenly Immortals, demonic cultivators, ancient Divine Lords, and an approaching chaotic era create an ominous backdrop.
• Misunderstanding and social humor: The younger characters mistake the Flood Dragon treatments for something scandalous, creating comic relief amid the chapter’s darker developments.

Important Character Interactions

• Qin Ming and Si Yeli: He provides serious cultivation guidance while she attempts to deepen their relationship through respectful address and subtle seduction. Qin Ming remains largely unaffected by her charm.
• Qin Ming and Niu Wuwei: They act as reliable companions, attending elite gatherings together and discussing the benefits and risks of their growing fame.
• Qin Ming and the Grandmasters: The elders treat them as equals, exchange friendly banter, provide gifts, and ask them to protect Wen Lingxi in the future.
• Wen Lingxi and her father: Wen Chongguang embarrasses her by speaking too casually and later suggesting Qin Ming or Niu Wuwei as potential partners. She responds with frustration and disbelief.
• Meng Zhiyu and Old Dream Insect: Their exchange highlights her stubborn resolve and his protective concern as her cultivation veers toward disaster.
• Qin Ming and Meng Zhiyu: Though they do not meet directly in most of the chapter, her worsening condition becomes the final turning point, drawing Qin Ming away from his comfortable routine and toward another crisis.

Chapter Summary: “Bearing the Taboos”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Qin Ming is invited to visit Meng Zhiyu, whose cultivation has gone wrong after she practiced a dangerous scripture derived from Qin Ming’s Silk Book Method.
• To avoid trouble, Qin Ming brings Niu Wuwei and Zhou Tian, two fellow disciples, despite Old Dream Insect’s preference to speak with him privately.
• Old Dream Insect confirms that Meng Zhiyu has cultivated Qin Ming’s secret technique and asks what compensation is required.
• Qin Ming uses the situation to negotiate several Dream Insect Clan techniques. In exchange for keeping their respective scriptures secret, Old Dream Insect agrees to teach him:
  • A technique that reverses reality and illusion for a brief moment
  • A method for extracting Pure Yang Consciousness from the body
  • Other top-tier secret arts
    He refuses to teach Qin Ming “Borrowing the Body to Comprehend the Dao,” identifying it as a racial innate ability.
• Qin Ming examines Meng Zhiyu and discovers that her cultivation has created deadly forces within her body: deathly energy, corrosive Devouring Force, and damage to her spirit and vitality.
• He successfully removes and absorbs these negative forces, converting them into useful powers for himself.
• Meng Zhiyu insists on attempting the technique again so Qin Ming can identify her mistake. Qin Ming realizes that the method must initially revolve around Heavenly Light rather than Pure Yang Spirit Light.
• Meng Zhiyu immediately explodes into pieces while attempting the revised method. Qin Ming and Old Dream Insect flee, while Niu Wuwei and Zhou Tian are horrified by the bloody scene.
• Qin Ming helps reconstruct Meng Zhiyu’s body and concludes that the cultivation method contains several dangerous taboos, including Longevity, Devouring, and death-related forces. It is almost impossible for ordinary practitioners to cultivate safely.
• Qin Ming claims that he has independently created and improved the method, explaining that others would need to receive a Primordial Seed from him to cultivate it. He proposes binding Meng Zhiyu with Dao oaths, including an oath not to harm him. She remains interested but cautious.
• Several days later, powerful organizations arrive in Jade Radiance City to exchange supreme treasures and scriptures. Qin Ming obtains the Primordial Myriad Thunder Seal and fragments of speed techniques from the Traveler Civilization, while eagerly awaiting the Ancestor Worm Relic.
• The chapter ends with a terrifying phenomenon: Thunder Sparrows, a Seventh Realm Crimson God Insect and its swarm, and even a gigantic Kirin Hoof appear to be fleeing from something even more frightening approaching from the depths of the Night Mist World.

Character Developments

• Qin Ming: Becomes increasingly skilled at exploiting his mysterious identity and negotiating from a position of imagined authority. He demonstrates medical and analytical mastery by diagnosing and curing Meng Zhiyu’s cultivation damage. He also gains a deeper understanding of the dangers and origins of Chaos Force, realizing that his own successful cultivation may depend on a unique state or past experience.
• Meng Zhiyu: Her determination to master Longevity Force is strengthened despite the severe risks. She proves both ambitious and courageous, repeatedly attempting a technique that causes her body to disintegrate. However, she remains wary of becoming dependent on Qin Ming through his Primordial Seed and Dao-oath system.
• Old Dream Insect: Reveals strong concern for Meng Zhiyu and great fear of Qin Ming’s supposed Lineage. Though powerful enough to intimidate Great Sages, he chooses negotiation because he fears the consequences of offending Qin Ming’s alleged background.
• Niu Wuwei and Zhou Tian: Serve as comic relief and witnesses to the danger surrounding Qin Ming and Meng Zhiyu. Their shocked reactions emphasize how abnormal and frightening Meng Zhiyu’s cultivation is.

Significant Themes

• The danger of forbidden knowledge: Powerful cultivation arts carry hidden costs, and improper practice can damage the body, spirit, and fundamental vitality.
• Appearances and deception: Qin Ming is only a Rogue Cultivator, but he successfully maintains the image of a mysterious and powerful heir. Others’ fear of his supposed Lineage gives him leverage.
• Cultivation as experimentation: Qin Ming and Meng Zhiyu treat cultivation like a process of deduction and testing, but the consequences of failure are catastrophic.
• Control versus inheritance: Qin Ming’s Primordial Seed could allow the method to be passed on while also giving him influence over its practitioners, raising questions about trust, authority, and dependence.
• Powerful beings fleeing greater danger: The closing scene expands the scale of the world, suggesting that even Seventh Realm creatures and legendary phenomena are threatened by an unknown force.

Important Character Interactions

• Qin Ming deliberately brings Niu Wuwei and Zhou Tian to meet Meng Zhiyu, both for protection and to discourage Old Dream Insect from acting recklessly.
• Old Dream Insect and Qin Ming conduct a tense but polite negotiation over the stolen scripture. Qin Ming uses restraint and implication rather than openly threatening the Dream Insect Clan.
• Qin Ming and Meng Zhiyu develop a relationship based on mutual curiosity and exchange: she wants his knowledge of Chaos Force, while he seeks her clan’s forbidden techniques.
• Old Dream Insect protects Meng Zhiyu while also attempting to prevent her from revealing too much about the scripture’s origins.
• Qin Ming’s healing of Meng Zhiyu deepens her trust in him, but his offer of a Primordial Seed also makes her suspicious of the control he might gain over her.

Chapter Summary: “Chaos Erupts”

Key Plot Points and Events

• A gigantic, mysterious Kirin Hoof emerges from the Night Mist World and devastates the fleeing creature hordes. Its mere passage destroys countless Crimson God Insects and Thunder Sparrows, terrifying the cultivators of Jade Radiance City.
• Massive migrations of Flying Snakes, Flood Dragons, giant beasts, Spirit Apes, and even Decayed Deities follow. Several powerful creatures fight and die, prompting Jade Radiance City’s major lineages to search for valuable corpses and materials.
• The migration eventually ends, but the behavior of the fleeing creatures convinces the city’s experts that something catastrophic has occurred in the deeper regions of the Night Mist World.
• Many Seventh Realm experts—including Old Dream Insect, the Demon Court’s Time Beast, White Phoenix, and the blood-moon figure—quietly leave to investigate or “pick up bargains.” Their absence causes the welcoming banquet to end prematurely.
• Qin Ming studies the supposed Ancestor Worm Relics he obtained and discovers that most are counterfeit. However, he finds a genuine scripture fragment inscribed on Night Silver by an Ancestor Worm disciple and successfully extracts part of the forbidden art “Ancestor Worm’s Cry.”
• Qin Ming gives the miraculous medicinal tea from the Land of Fate Exchange to Niu Wuwei, asking him to deliver it to Qing Yue. He also plans to leave Jade Radiance City, cultivate in seclusion, and possibly search for Jiang Ran.
• He learns that the mysterious Mysterious Maiden Palace may have disappeared, raising concerns about Jiang Ran’s whereabouts. He also hears that the Primordial Yellow Dao Field remains powerful and active.
• The major organizations—the Godlike Society, Strange Insect Alliance, and Rebirth Figurine Organization—are behaving unusually, apparently searching for something important and developing a mysterious Longevity Land.
• Old Dream Insect returns from the deeper regions and reveals that a Heavenly Immortal went mad, fled outward, and triggered the widespread disturbance. Si Yeli adds that the Dream Insect Clan and the Time Beast gained the remains of a Heavenly Immortal, suggesting that powerful factions may have deliberately provoked the crisis to obtain a Great Medicine.
• Si Yeli departs after thanking Qin Ming for his guidance. Qin Ming warns her that her chances of becoming a Great Sage are limited, while she secretly cautions him about the danger posed by the Dream Insect Clan.
• Meng Zhiyu chooses to cultivate the dangerous Longevity Force. Qin Ming gives her a Primordial Seed but warns that the path may cause severe physical agony and could ultimately prove fatal.
• The Six Great Sages finally part ways. Meng Zhiyu warns that conventional cultivation methods may become ineffective as the world’s environment deteriorates.
• Traveling alone, Qin Ming senses an unseen, icy presence following or passing near him. He conceals himself with Old Cloth and remains hidden for weeks while distant roars destroy mountains. The chapter ends with him continuing cautiously through the Night Mist World, increasingly convinced that a terrifying force is moving nearby.

Character Developments

• Qin Ming becomes more cautious and aware of the vast danger of the Night Mist World. The Kirin Hoof reminds him of his own insignificance, while the growing disturbances make him question his recent good fortune.
• He gains a genuine portion of the Ancestor Worm’s forbidden art, marking an important cultivation breakthrough.
• Qin Ming also takes on greater responsibility toward others, giving Qing Yue the medicinal tea and helping Meng Zhiyu begin the Longevity Force path despite its dangers.
• Meng Zhiyu demonstrates deep knowledge of the Night Mist World and its history. She remains calm amid the crisis and decisively chooses a dangerous new cultivation path.
• Si Yeli grows more respectful toward Qin Ming, sincerely thanking him and warning him about the Dream Insect Clan before leaving.
• Niu Wuwei and Zhou Tian reveal their plans to investigate other organizations and mysterious developments, showing that the Six Great Sages are beginning to follow separate paths.
• Old Dream Insect becomes increasingly suspicious, especially after obtaining Heavenly Immortal remains from the deeper regions.

Significant Themes

• The overwhelming scale of the Night Mist World: Even beings as powerful as Seventh Realm experts are cautious about entering its depths, while phenomena like the Kirin Hoof remain beyond ordinary understanding.
• Chaos as both disaster and opportunity: The migration brings terror, but powerful factions also treat the dead and wounded creatures as valuable resources.
• The limits of knowledge: The Kirin Hoof may be a creature, a rule manifestation, an immortal remnant, or merely a phenomenon. No faction possesses a definitive explanation.
• Dangerous pursuit of power: Organizations and ancient experts may be provoking calamities to obtain Great Medicines or Heavenly Immortal remains.
• Changing cultivation conditions: The worsening world environment may force cultivators to revise their techniques and find new ways to withstand Dao-rhyme disturbances.
• Luck and hidden danger: Qin Ming’s successive gains feel almost too fortunate, and the ominous presence following him suggests that his luck may carry unseen consequences.

Character Interactions

• Qin Ming consults Meng Zhiyu about the Kirin Hoof, the Night Mist World, and the deeper disturbance.
• He discusses the crisis and possible expeditions with Niu Wuwei, Zhou Tian, and Taiyi.
• Qin Ming mentors Si Yeli, cautioning her about her chances of reaching the Great Sage realm.
• Si Yeli repays his guidance with Heavenly Light Liquid and warnings about the Dream Insect Clan.
• Qin Ming advises Meng Zhiyu about the Longevity Force and personally implants the Primordial Seed in her body.
• The Six Great Sages share a final farewell, expressing hope that each will grow stronger before their next reunion.
• Qin Ming’s final solitary journey is marked by suspicion that an unseen entity—or possibly a larger supernatural force—is tracking him.

Chapter Summary: “Opening the Gate”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Qin Ming flees through the Night Mist World while being relentlessly pursued by a terrifying, unidentified powerhouse. He suppresses his cultivation and uses Torn Cloth/Exotic Gold Cloth to conceal his aura, hoping to break the pursuit.
• He arrives at a remote plateau and observes the harsh lives of ordinary people. He helps a poor boy survive an attack by a mutated Scarlet Bear, allowing the boy to obtain a spiritual plant needed to evolve and cure his sick father.
• Witnessing the plateau’s poverty and constant danger makes Qin Ming reconsider his recent status and privileges. He realizes that traveling with powerful allies and being mistaken for a member of a mysterious Lineage had distorted his understanding of the world.
• A decaying wild god rules the plateau and massacres an entire town to consume its Blood Essence and souls. Qin Ming attacks it with a lightning spear but cannot save the inhabitants or defeat the god.
• The pursuing blackened monster suddenly appears and kills the wild god effortlessly. It reconstructs Qin Ming’s destroyed lightning spear, using it to continue tracing him.
• The monster repeatedly searches for Qin Ming with an enormous charred hand. A second powerhouse, concealed within a golden Scorching Sun, intervenes and battles the black figure. The golden figure tells Qin Ming to flee, though Qin Ming remains uncertain whether it is helping him or pursuing its own agenda.
• Qin Ming escapes through numerous Ancient Mist Gates, traveling tens of thousands of miles and passing through twelve gates. Despite his precautions, the black monster continues tracking him through residual traces of his aura.
• The President explains that powerful secret arts can trace someone from even a fragment of their aura. She suggests a method to sever the fate-based connection, but Qin Ming must first create a distance of more than a month’s journey—something he cannot accomplish while being pursued.
• Qin Ming speculates that the black monster came from the far shore of the Land of Fate Exchange. It may have followed the path opened by Hong Dao and be seeking the Insect Emperor’s gate. Its repeated cry of “Open the gate” suggests a connection to ancient gates, Beyond Heaven, or another forbidden domain.
• While fleeing, Qin Ming witnesses increasing lawlessness in remote regions. Decaying old monsters and wild gods massacre towns and cities to prolong their failing lives, suggesting that widespread chaos is beginning.
• A Divine Magnetic Storm appears, filled with distorted magnetic fields, Void Cracks, and a massive void Black Hole. Qin Ming enters it in hopes of escaping the two pursuers, despite its unpredictable and dangerous nature.
• Before entering the storm, he sees the blackened monster unleash the terrifying Ancestor Worm’s Cry. The golden-sun figure withstands the attack, proving itself to be an equally powerful ancient existence. Qin Ming is then swept into the storm, uncertain where it will take him.

Character Developments

• Qin Ming: Becomes more humble and self-reliant. He recognizes that his reputation as a Great Sage and the protection of powerful companions gave him a false sense of security. He resolves to rely on genuine cultivation rather than borrowed status. Despite fear, he remains compassionate, helping the struggling boy and attempting to stop the wild god’s massacre. His survival instincts and ability to analyze the pursuers’ origins also become sharper.
• The poor boy: Demonstrates courage and resourcefulness by fighting the Scarlet Bear despite overwhelming danger. His desire to save his sick father gives him a strong emotional motivation and reflects the struggles of ordinary people.
• The wild god: Is revealed as a decayed, desperate ruler whose fear of death has driven him to consume his own subjects. His grotesque transformation and final resistance show both his former strength and his physical and spiritual decline.
• The blackened monster: Emerges as an ancient, immensely powerful being, likely connected to the far shore or the gate opened by Hong Dao. Its obsession with opening the gate and pursuit of Qin Ming suggest a desperate final objective.
• The golden-sun figure: Remains mysterious but appears capable of opposing the black monster. Its warning to Qin Ming hints at possible assistance, though its motives are unclear.

Significant Themes

• The unreliability of status and reputation: Qin Ming realizes that honor, protection, and social influence can disappear instantly. Only personal strength is dependable.
• The harshness of the lower world: Life outside prosperous cities is brutal, with ordinary people threatened by beasts, wild gods, and collapsing social order.
• Decay and desperation: Ancient and powerful beings are approaching the ends of their lives. Their attempts to survive lead them to murder, consume Blood Food, and risk catastrophic actions.
• The beginning of widespread chaos: The violence in remote regions suggests that the Night Mist World is entering a larger period of disorder.
• Fate, aura, and inescapable pursuit: Qin Ming’s efforts to hide are repeatedly defeated by secret arts that follow traces of his existence, emphasizing how difficult it is to escape powerful forces.
• The danger of forbidden gates: The repeated phrase “Open the gate,” Hong Dao’s earlier sacrifice, and the involvement of far-shore entities point toward a dangerous connection between worlds or realms.

Character Interactions

• Qin Ming indirectly assists the boy by restraining the Scarlet Bear, allowing the boy to kill it and retrieve the spiritual plant.
• Qin Ming attacks the wild god after witnessing its massacre, but the intervention comes too late to save the town.
• The blackened monster kills the wild god and uses the destroyed lightning spear to trace Qin Ming.
• The golden-sun figure battles the black monster and warns Qin Ming to escape, creating an ambiguous alliance.
• Qin Ming consults the President, who explains the principles behind aura-tracking and offers a possible method for severing the pursuit.
• The chapter ends with Qin Ming entering the Divine Magnetic Storm while the two ancient powerhouses continue their battle, leaving his fate and destination unknown.

Key plot points and events

• Qin Ming is swept through the Divine Magnetic Storm and emerges in an unknown part of the Night Mist World. He discovers he has landed near Ascension Mountain, a legendary range bordering the region’s dangerous depths.
• He reaches Chang Geng village, where mutated beasts—including an old yellow ox, a horse, and a dog—farm spirit grain. The ox explains that outsiders often settle in the area, that Ascension Mountain is perilous, and that villages’ Fire Springs protect residents from strange nighttime forces.
• Qin Ming learns that Ascension Mountain absorbs most of the region’s spiritual vitality, yet contains extraordinary treasures alongside deadly hazards. He rents the ox’s old house and stays in the village rather than exploring.
• He isolates himself to practice Severing All Causes, hoping to break a Fate-Aligned Contract that may let a powerful being track him. After more than thirty days, the chairwoman judges that he has met the required separation period.
• Qin Ming speaks with Jia Heng, the village head, who describes the region’s weakening old experts, the coming upheaval in the Dao, and his own plan for one final expedition. Jia also recounts the mountain’s many wonders and dangers.
• The chairwoman investigates clues in Ascension Mountain and borrows Qin Ming’s Two Figurines and Insect Emperor as possible incarnations. Two days later, a vision appears above the mountain: an enormous Azure Ox on a mysterious road, accompanied by purple qi and auspicious clouds. The Two Figurines and Little Worm seem to react independently, leaving Qin Ming unsure whether they are being controlled or acting on their own.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Ming remains cautious despite the mountain’s lures. He prioritizes breaking his supernatural bond, cultivates in seclusion, and begins mastering Ancestor Worm’s Cry as a combat technique. His curiosity and ambition are repeatedly tested by reports of immense treasures.
• The old yellow ox serves as Qin Ming’s guide to local customs and dangers. Its warmth grows after Qin Ming gives it a spirit herb, and it offers him shelter.
• Jia Heng becomes a drinking companion and source of knowledge. Though he suspects Qin Ming may be a Great Sage and invites him to join a future expedition, Qin Ming declines to commit.
• The chairwoman grows increasingly active and reveals that Ascension Mountain holds clues to a mystery from her past. Her request to use Qin Ming’s companions as incarnations makes him uneasy, especially because he fears for the Insect Emperor.
• The final scene raises uncertainty about the companions’ agency: Qin Ming suspects that the Two Figurines and Little Worm may have moved on their own, even as the chairwoman appears to be investigating through them.

Significant themes

• Temptation versus restraint: Ascension Mountain’s riches lure explorers into danger, while Qin Ming chooses patience and preparation.
• A world in decline and transition: Even powerful beings struggle amid unstable Dao conditions, prompting fears that the coming era will bring catastrophe.
• Mystery and uncanny danger: Fire Springs offer protection, but the landscape also holds disturbing phenomena and unexplained forces.
• Fate and independence: Qin Ming seeks to sever the bond tying him to a powerful pursuer, while the apparent self-directed actions of his companions further blur the line between control and autonomy.

Chapter Summary: “Seeing God”

Key plot points and events

• The president teases Qin Ming about how he used to treat the Insect Emperor and the Two Figurines as servants. Qin Ming suspects they may have revived, but they remain strangely still; the president neither confirms nor denies what is happening. She also warns him to guard his will on Ascension Mountain, where his impulses may be amplified.
• Qin Ming and the president witness a vision of the ancient Azure Ox of Tushita Palace being brutally wounded and drenched in blood. The president insists the event truly happened, though not necessarily in the present.
• The president explains that Ascension Mountain is protected by a Heavenly Immortal formation and that powerful outsiders may already control parts of it. She recalls possibly burying herself there—or somewhere farther away—and suspects a hidden road within the mountain may lead to a distant place. After finding a strange stone she buried in an earlier era and hearing an echo when she tested the road, she continues investigating.
• Qin Ming visits Ancestor Wu Town and learns that few powerful experts remain there; many have left because Dao Rhythm Surges make fighting too dangerous. He then joins villagers setting out for Ascension Mountain.
• Rather than venture far into the mountain, Qin Ming chooses a secluded spot on its lower slopes to resume cultivating the Secret Sect Path. He uses a body belonging to one of the Two Figurines, with the Figurine and the Insect Emperor guarding him.
• The mountain’s abundant spiritual energy rapidly advances his cultivation. As he probes it, Qin Ming senses ancient remains, weapons, formations, and countless traces of past practitioners.
• Qin Ming attempts the Fifth Realm, Seeing God. He perceives numerous godlike imprints across the mountain, including several powerful presences. One vast figure recognizes the Figurine, recoils, and kneels; the other imprints follow suit, bowing as though before their sovereign.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Ming remains cautious and strategic: wary of Ascension Mountain’s dangers, he begins with a controlled cultivation experiment rather than pushing into its depths. His rapid progress shows how well suited the mountain is to the Secret Sect Path.
• The president reveals fragments of her past and a possible connection to the mountain’s hidden road. She remains enigmatic, guiding Qin Ming without explaining the full nature of the Figurines’ condition.
• The Two Figurines and Insect Emperor serve as Qin Ming’s guards and, through the Figurine’s body, become central to his experiment. The ancient presences’ reverence for the Figurine hints at a formidable past or status that Qin Ming does not yet understand.
• Jia Heng and the villagers welcome Qin Ming into their expedition, share stories of the village chief’s lucky finds, and head deeper into the mountain while Qin Ming stays behind to cultivate.

Significant themes

• The past still shaping the present: Ancient battles, buried remains, and surviving imprints make history an active force within Ascension Mountain.
• Power and hidden identity: The Figurine’s authority over the apparent gods suggests a concealed history and immense significance.
• Risk, restraint, and ambition: Qin Ming seeks the mountain’s cultivation benefits while carefully testing its dangers.
• Memory and rebirth: The president’s uncertain recollections and repeated lives raise questions about immortality, lost history, and what survives across eras.

Key plot points and events

• On Ascension Mountain, Qin Ming uses the Two Figurines’ apparent ancient authority to summon the reverence of countless External Gods. He leaves quickly, recognizing that the mountain is dangerous and that its spirits are mostly instinctive imprints of the dead.
• Back in Everbright Village, Qin Ming grows close to the villagers. He teaches Huang Youwei a cultivation method and shares treats with the little white fox girl, while Jia Heng confides his grief over his missing junior brother, Gu Dongbo, a gifted heir of the fallen Azure Nether Dojo.
• Qin Ming tests breakthroughs on the Two Figurines and the Insect Emperor, guiding both to the Seeing God realm without triggering the powerful will he fears may inhabit the mountain. He then advances his own cultivation there, reaching Seeing God and strengthening his connection to the mountain.
• The Chairwoman reveals a message from her future self and hints that she may leave through a strange magnetic storm. She fears a coming calamity for herself and other ancient beings.
• Jia Heng sets off alone to investigate Gu Dongbo’s fate. When Qin Ming returns to the village, he finds that enemies have used the Quiet Picture Scroll to conceal a massacre. Old Huang, Huang Youwei, Jiang Chunli, the little fox girl, and other villagers are dead. Jia Heng, mortally wounded, blames himself for leading the attackers to them.
• The killers are linked to the Immortal Field and have broken the Azure Nether Dojo’s old agreement. One attacker traps the villagers’ souls beneath a Yin Fiend banner and uses their cries—including the little girl’s pleas—to taunt Qin Ming. Qin Ming draws his blade, and his immense Saber Qi erupts.

Character developments

• Qin Ming becomes more confident and deliberate in cultivation, carefully testing dangers through the Two Figurines and Insect Emperor before advancing himself. His growing attachment to the village is revealed by his horror and rage at its destruction.
• Jia Heng shifts from grieving over Gu Dongbo to risking everything to learn the truth. He returns fatally wounded and consumed by guilt for the villagers’ deaths.
• The Chairwoman grows increasingly troubled by a possible impending tribulation and considers leaving, suggesting that even powerful ancient beings are vulnerable.
• The villagers are shown as people Qin Ming has come to care about: Huang Youwei is earnest and hardworking, Jiang Chunli is shyly affectionate toward Qin Ming, and the little fox girl is playful and generous.

Significant themes

• The fragility of peace: The village’s apparent calm proves to be an illusion, shattered by sudden violence.
• Power and responsibility: Qin Ming’s cultivation brings strength, but his bonds with ordinary people make him feel the weight of their suffering.
• Decline and impermanence: Jia Heng’s account of Azure Nether’s former glory underscores how even great sects and heroes can fade.
• The danger of ambition and old promises: Ascension Mountain’s treasures and ancient agreements cannot protect the weak from ruthless powers.
• Attachment and grief: Qin Ming’s relationships with the villagers turn their deaths into a personal catastrophe.

Character interactions

• Qin Ming treats Huang Youwei as a younger brother, teaches him, and exchanges playful gifts with the little fox girl and her mother.
• Jia Heng turns to Qin Ming for news of Gu Dongbo and shares the history of Azure Nether; Qin Ming offers comfort but cannot dispel his fears.
• The Chairwoman discusses her ominous memories and possible departure with Qin Ming, who worries about her safety.
• Jiang Chunli shyly asks whether Qin Ming will stay; his answer that he will leave disappoints her.
• In the closing confrontation, the attackers taunt Qin Ming with the villagers’ trapped souls. His response marks a sharp break from the chapter’s earlier warmth and domestic calm.

Key plot points and events

• Qin Ming returns to Everbright Village to find its inhabitants—including the elderly, children, and the little fox girl—massacred by intruders from deeper within the Night Mist World. Their bloodstained belongings let him witness their final moments and learn how indiscriminately they were killed.
• Enraged, he draws his Exotic Metal Blade and kills the black-clad youth responsible for the fox girl’s parents’ deaths, subjecting him to prolonged spiritual and physical torment.
• The attackers’ three Grandmasters join the fight, but Qin Ming demonstrates that his strength has grown dramatically: he wounds two of them, breaks the Kirin elder’s space-binding art with Ancestor Worm’s Cry, and overwhelms their formation.
• Qin Ming forces the remaining fighters to their knees, captures their soul light in the Yellow Gauze Canopy Umbrella, and kills them. Once he takes the Soul Banner from the goateed elder, he defeats and kills all three Grandmasters as well.
• The captured villagers’ spirits—including the fox girl, Huang Youwei, and Jiang Chunli—remain conscious in the banner. Qin Ming entrusts them to the umbrella, which agrees to nurture their souls rather than let them fade.
• Jia Heng, the ruined village chief, reveals that another powerful being is on Ascension Mountain: a Fifth Realm White Qilin with the potential to become a Great Sage. Qin Ming sets out to confront it.

Character developments

• Qin Ming shifts from grief and fury to decisive action. His ability to defeat multiple Grandmasters shows how far he has advanced, but his compassion is as important as his strength: he seeks to preserve the villagers’ souls and refuses to ignore injustice within his reach.
• Jia Heng is consumed by guilt for leading the attackers to the village, yet Qin Ming’s intervention revives his hope. After the massacre, he considers taking his own life but instead gives Qin Ming crucial information.
• The Yellow Gauze Canopy Umbrella reveals its original purpose as a vessel for protecting and nurturing souls, not merely capturing enemies. It accepts Qin Ming’s request to care for the villagers.
• The attackers’ leaders go from confidence and contempt to alarm as they discover Qin Ming is far stronger than expected.

Significant themes

• Justice and vengeance: Qin Ming retaliates against those who slaughtered innocents, though the dead cannot be restored.
• The value of ordinary lives: The villagers’ helplessness and the attackers’ casual cruelty expose a world where the powerful treat common people as disposable.
• Power and responsibility: Qin Ming recognizes that he cannot prevent every distant tragedy, but believes he must act when wrongdoing lies within his reach.
• Memory and preservation: Saving the villagers’ soul light offers a measure of hope amid irreversible loss.

Character interactions

• Qin Ming confronts the black-clad youth with the villagers’ deaths, then battles the three Grandmasters as they try to protect their followers.
• He taunts the attackers’ belief that their status places them above ordinary people, declaring that he will bring them down.
• The spirits of the fox girl, Huang Youwei, and Jiang Chunli speak through the Soul Banner, making the losses immediate and personal for Qin Ming.
• Qin Ming entrusts the villagers’ souls to the umbrella, while Jia Heng’s confession and warning redirect him toward the White Qilin on Ascension Mountain.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Qin Ming refuses to flee after the Kirin Cult’s attack on Chang Geng Village. He intends to confront White Qilin on Ascension Mountain and seeks information before going.
• Jia Heng, gravely injured by a soul search and certain he will be crippled, gives Qin Ming an incomplete copy of the Azure Nether Scripture. He dies soon afterward, still grieving the lost Azure Nether Dojo and wondering what happened to Su Qingwei.
• Qin Ming searches the attackers’ souls and learns that White Qilin belongs to the powerful Kirin Cult. The medicine garden he oversees contains rare medicines, and its Supreme Ancestor guardian is temporarily away. Qin Ming also discovers that the garden is a Grotto-Heaven Ruins, entered with a land deed.
• Qin Ming sees that the villagers are dead and cannot save them all. He gathers their bodies and finds a peaceful, identical Everbright Village inside the Yellow Gauze Canopy Umbrella, where their lives continue. He decides not to return unless he can someday set things right.
• Hui Chang joins Qin Ming despite her wound. They use Severing All Causes and the Silent Stillness Scroll to conceal their traces, then travel up Ascension Mountain.
• Qin Ming uses three slain Grandmasters’ bodies as decoys to enter the medicine garden. Inside, he and Hui Chang conceal themselves while White Qilin and his retainers gather.
• Qin Ming’s decoys attack White Qilin. Qin Ming emerges and kills a Grandmaster with his improved Ancestor Worm’s Cry and Exotic Metal Blade. The chapter ends as one decoy’s severed hand strikes White Qilin across the face.

Character developments

• Qin Ming moves from anger and mourning to careful preparation. Though eager for justice, he gathers intelligence, exploits the guardian’s absence, and uses deception rather than charging in recklessly. He also shows compassion by preserving the villagers’ bodies and their peaceful lives inside the umbrella.
• Jia Heng accepts his coming death with dignity, entrusts Qin Ming with the Azure Nether Scripture, and remains haunted by the fate of his former sect and Su Qingwei.
• Hui Chang remains composed and loyal, choosing to accompany Qin Ming despite being injured. Her knowledge of concealment techniques helps make the raid possible.
• White Qilin is revealed as an arrogant, privileged figure whose casual orders have caused the massacre of ordinary villagers. His confidence falters when his supposed allies attack him.

Significant themes

• Justice versus survival: Qin Ming rejects the idea that victims should simply flee while their aggressor remains untouchable.
• Power and impunity: White Qilin’s status shields him from consequences, while ordinary people pay the price for his actions.
• Loss and preservation: Qin Ming cannot restore the dead, but the umbrella’s hidden village offers a way to preserve their lives and memories.
• Strategy amid overwhelming danger: Ascension Mountain is a realm of extreme threats, so courage alone is insufficient; information, patience, and deception matter.
• Decline and legacy: Jia Heng’s death and gift of the scripture underscore the fall of the Azure Nether Dojo and the fragile survival of its teachings.

Character interactions

• Jia Heng urges Qin Ming to leave, but ultimately respects his resolve and passes on the scripture.
• Qin Ming relies on the Yellow Gauze Canopy Umbrella to preserve souls and conceal the villagers’ lives, while treating its captured enemies as sources of intelligence.
• Hui Chang advises Qin Ming on erasing traces and joins him on the raid.
• White Qilin dismisses the wounded Grandmasters returning from the village; Qin Ming’s decoys exploit that arrogance to launch a surprise attack.

Key plot points and events

• Qin Ming’s group launches a surprise attack in the sealed Immortal Field. Qin Ming kills a Grandmaster with a single saber strike and captures his soul in the Yellow Gauze Canopy Umbrella.
• White Qilin retaliates with powerful techniques, while Qin Ming’s possessed Grandmaster bodies fight with extreme self-destructive ruthlessness. The president disrupts an enemy servant’s power with her Myriad Aperture Illumination Art.
• Qin Ming confronts White Qilin directly. Their Forbidden Techniques shake the Immortal Field, weaken the protections around its medicinal treasures, and expose a Five-Colored Fire Spring.
• White Qilin’s Great Five Elements Divine Spear proves formidable, but Qin Ming counters with an expanding array of arts, culminating in the Primordial Unity Lamp. Its flame breaks White Qilin’s space-freezing technique and gives Qin Ming the advantage.
• The president joins the battle against White Qilin, while Qin Ming defeats the old servant, kills him, and captures his soul. Qin Ming and the president then attack White Qilin together and kill him.
• With the battle over, Qin Ming turns his attention to the Immortal Field’s abundant medicines. Elsewhere, the Supreme Ancestor admits he has arranged for Qin Ming to receive a gift of precious medicines, trusting him to take no more than his allotted share.

Character developments

• Qin Ming demonstrates exceptional strength, tactical flexibility, and increasing mastery of Chaos Force. He fights with lethal urgency, explaining that the massacre he witnessed has fueled his rage.
• White Qilin, previously confident in his status as a future Great Sage, is shaken to meet a younger opponent who can match him. As Qin Ming and the president gain the upper hand, his composure and confidence collapse.
• The president reveals that her strength and spirituality have recovered substantially. She proves powerful enough to wound White Qilin and fight him on equal terms.
• The old servant reflects that a Dao Injury kept him from becoming an Ancestor despite centuries of cultivation, then dies at Qin Ming’s hand.

Significant themes

• Power and humility: White Qilin’s certainty in his superiority breaks when confronted by Qin Ming and the president.
• Ruthlessness and survival: Qin Ming’s side uses desperate, self-sacrificing tactics, while Qin Ming prioritizes ending a dangerous battle quickly—even by joining forces against one opponent.
• Mastery through struggle: Qin Ming probes his techniques in combat and recognizes that fully realizing Ancestor Worm’s Cry requires understanding the despair that gave rise to it.
• Opportunity and restraint: The ruined protections reveal the Immortal Field’s riches, while the Supreme Ancestor’s confidence that Qin Ming will respect limits introduces the question of how he will handle them.

Character interactions

• Qin Ming taunts White Qilin after slapping him through a possessed body, intensifying their rivalry.
• White Qilin and Qin Ming exchange increasingly powerful techniques, each recognizing the other as an extraordinary adversary.
• The president intervenes against White Qilin and fights beside Qin Ming, whose surprise at her recovery underscores how much her abilities have returned.
• The Supreme Ancestor’s companion questions the wisdom of gifting medicines to Qin Ming; the Ancestor defends his trust in him and anticipates a future return.

Plot points and events

• Qin Ming and Hui Chang expose the White Qilin’s death-feigning trick. Trapped inside the sealed Grotto-Heaven Ruins, the Qilin burns through several escape talismans before surrendering and offering a Dao oath. Qin Ming refuses to negotiate and kills him; the Yellow Gauze Canopy Umbrella consumes his powerful soul light.
• With time running short, Qin Ming begins harvesting the Immortal Field’s Strange Medicines. After Hui Chang explains that the field’s Restrictions draw power from an underground Five-Colored Fire Spring, Qin Ming uses the two figurines and Insect Emperor to command ancient imprints beneath Ascension Mountain to divert the spring.
• The Restrictions fall, and Qin Ming uses the Torn Cloth to take the entire garden—including its rare medicinal soils—and collects some of the spring water. To conceal the theft and the Qilin’s death, he and Hui Chang sever karmic traces, using the Qilin’s hoof and Dragon Qi as decoys to misdirect any investigation.
• Qin Ming hides deep within Ascension Mountain, intending to escape aboard a Divine Magnetic Storm rather than use a predictable Mist Gate. Meanwhile, Supreme Ancestor Qi Wang returns to discover the garden ruined and the White Qilin dead. He realizes the disaster could bring the Kirin Cult’s wrath down on him, and Ascension Mountain is soon swept by turmoil.
• While concealed, Qin Ming builds his Flesh God-City and completes his tempering. All three of his paths reach the Fourth Heaven of the Grandmaster Domain. Though successive breakthroughs have left him exhausted, Strange Medicines help him overcome the barrier and reach the Fifth Heaven. After further cultivation, he prepares to leave when the storm forms.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Ming is ruthless and resourceful: he kills the Qilin without hesitation, turns the laborious harvest into a complete raid, and uses both ancient mountain powers and deception to cover his tracks. His rapid advancement finally meets resistance, teaching him that even his talent has limits and that he must cultivate more carefully.
• Hui Chang proves knowledgeable and strategic, identifying the Fire Spring as the source of the field’s Restrictions and devising ways to obscure the crime’s karmic trail. She works closely with Qin Ming, but her farewell suggests their paths are about to diverge.
• The White Qilin goes from confident predator to desperate captive. His threats and offer of an oath fail to move Qin Ming; his death becomes a major liability for Qi Wang and the Kirin Cult.
• The Yellow Gauze Canopy Umbrella complains about being made to pick herbs but helps with the harvest and is rewarded with the Qilin’s soul light.
• Qi Wang returns from his visit expecting good fortune from his connection to the future Great Sage, only to find the garden stripped and the Qilin dead. His alarm shifts from anger at the loss to fear for his own survival.

Significant themes

• Ambition and consequence: Qin Ming’s bold raid secures an extraordinary haul but guarantees a dangerous response from powerful organizations.
• Resourcefulness and concealment: Ancient powers, stolen medicinal soil, and deliberately muddled karmic traces turn a desperate escape into a carefully planned operation.
• Limits and restraint: Qin Ming’s breakthrough shows that talent and rare medicines cannot erase the cost of repeated advancement; he must slow down and consolidate his gains.
• Opportunity versus risk: The Immortal Field offers immense rewards, but harvesting it—and remaining on Ascension Mountain—carries equally immense danger.