Chapter Summaries

Zhao Sheng returned to Chu Country City and discovered that a coordinated Hungry Ghost disaster and plague had killed at least three hundred thousand people, while the Zhao Estate had been emptied. He went to the Chu King Commerce Association to trade rare pills for a God Consecration Edict, and the chapter ended as he saw the legendary seal.

• The City Magistrate Office, Heavenly Dao Sect, and cultivation families suppressed rumors about the ghost disaster while secretly redirecting public attention toward Journey to the East.
• Five Wheels Hermit, Plague Daoist, and Elder Zi discussed their plans, including delaying their attack on Divine Prison and cultivating Plague Poison.
• After completing three of the Five Manifestations God, Zhao Sheng returned to Chu Country City and found its streets stricken by plague and the Zhao Estate deserted.
• Zhao Sheng learned that the Hungry Ghost disaster and plague had killed at least three hundred thousand people, and that Five Wheels Hermit and Plague Daoist had helped prisoners escape from Divine Prison.
• Zhao Sheng entered the Chu King Commerce Association and offered rare spirit pills in exchange for a God Consecration Edict.
• A senior representative brought out a golden case, and Zhao Sheng saw the God Consecration Edict inside.

Zhao Sheng traded for a God Consecration Edict and a Five Manifestations Snake God statue, then completed the consecration of the Five Manifestations Kidney Rat as an Orthodox God. He set out to find a place where the Five Manifestations were widely worshipped and build a temple.

• Zhao Sheng exchanged spirit pills, cultivation arts, and pill formulas with the Chu King Commerce Association for a God Consecration Edict.
• Zhao Sheng entered the Ghost Market, bought several overlooked treasures, and traded healing pills for a statue of the Five Manifestations Snake God.
• Zhao Sheng heard that the City Lord Manor had increased its bounties on wanted criminals and wondered about the ties between the authorities and the Ghost Market.
• Zhao Sheng spent three months refining the remaining tiger spirits and prepared the five Five Manifestations Gods for consecration.
• Zhao Sheng used the God Consecration Edict to consecrate the Five Manifestations Kidney Rat, creating the first Orthodox God among the Five Manifestations Gods.
• Zhao Sheng stored the five god statues and left to find a place to establish a temple before the edict's deadline.

Zhao Sheng and his companions were caught in a rat-demon attack at a ruined temple while escorting a court official’s party. As the official fell under the veiled woman’s control and the demons closed in, Zhao Sheng revealed his identity as a Red Lotus Walker and confronted the ghost cultivator.

• Jiang Commandant led the Crimson Dragon Cavalry and the court official’s party into a ruined temple for the night, where they found Zhao Sheng, his bookboy, and a physician.
• The bookboy warned that danger was approaching, and blood-eyed rats gathered outside before the physician transformed into a rat demon and sent a swarm into the temple.
• Jiang Commandant tried to lead the party through the temple wall, while the bookboy cleared a path with powerful punches and the rat swarm continued attacking.
• A second-rank black rat appeared, and Jiang Commandant urged the official to use his protective seal, but Zhao Sheng revealed that the veiled woman had already made the official her puppet.
• Zhao Sheng summoned a colossal Karmic Fire Red Lotus, revealing himself as a Red Lotus Walker, and identified the veiled woman as a ghost cultivator.

Zhao Sheng subdued the female ghost cultivator and Black-haired Demon Rat, rescued County Governor Liu, and let Ye Tianyun escort the official onward. Several days later, Zhao Sheng gathered the Five Manifestations God Sect’s leaders and spirit beasts at its main temple, where they accepted him as Sect Master.

• The female ghost cultivator unleashed a ghostly shriek that incapacitated Jiang Wuyang and the Crimson Dragon Cavalry, while the Black-haired Demon Rat fled and Zhao Sheng burned away the ghost mist and sealed her in the Ghost Sealing Altar.
• Da Bai defeated the Black-haired Demon Rat, and Zhao Sheng made it submit to a master-servant contract before ordering it to withdraw the rats; a transformed middle-aged man pleaded for his life.
• Zhao Sheng revived County Governor Liu, and Ye Tianyun explained how he had joined Zhao Sheng and brought him to the ruined temple to subdue the Rat Great God.
• Ye Tianyun offered to escort County Governor Liu to his post, and the grateful official left with Jiang Wuyang and the surviving Crimson Dragon Cavalry.
• Several days later, Zhao Sheng met the Five Manifestations God Sect’s leaders at its main temple, where Ye Tianyun and the temple masters knelt and acknowledged him as Sect Master.
• Zhao Sheng released a vast aura that overpowered the six spirit beasts’ pressure and made everyone in the hall lower their heads.

Zhao Sheng replaced the Five Manifestations God Sect’s old idols with newly consecrated gods, secured the sect’s Orthodox God status, and set his followers up to spread the faith across Songlan Prefecture. He returned to Chu Country City to find Zhao Hongyun and his family alive, then emerged from secluded cultivation as Daoist San Bao, newly advanced to Foundation Establishment.

• Zhao Sheng destroyed the old Five Manifestations statues and consecrated the new gods, whose divine appearance convinced the gathered spirit mediums that they had become true gods.
• Zhao Sheng explained the gods’ abilities, assigned Ye Tianyun and the five temple masters to spread the faith, and gave them spirit beasts, cultivation manuals, and books.
• Zhao Sheng left Qian'an Prefecture after the Five Manifestations Sect had been preliminarily unified and returned to Chu Country City.
• Zhao Sheng found Zhao Hongyun and his family alive at the Zhao Estate, heard how they had escaped the ghost calamity and plague, and then returned to his cultivation cave.
• Five days later, Daoist San Bao emerged from the cave abode after advancing to Foundation Establishment.

After Zhao Sheng broke through to Foundation Establishment, the Inspector reassigned him from the Divine Prison to the Document Archive and quietly used him to restore the temple’s reputation. Zhao Sheng settled into his new post, then received a summons from Yu Shu, the temple priest, whose rivalry with the Inspector made the meeting potentially dangerous.

• Zhao Sheng reported back to the Prison God Temple, and the Inspector offered him a post at the Demon Subduing Hall before assigning him as a Filing Supervisor in the Document Archive.
• After Zhao Sheng left, the Inspector and a shadowy Enchanting Demon discussed his background, the temple’s prison-break scandal, and Yu Shu’s possible investigation.
• Zhao Sheng met Gu LiuDan and Zeng Lang, learned the Document Archive’s duties and security rules, and began overseeing its clerks and case records.
• Zeng Lang repeatedly left Zhao Sheng to cover his shifts and borrowed more than three hundred Spirit Stones from him.
• More than two months later, Zeng Lang told Zhao Sheng that Yu Shu had summoned him, and the two headed to the temple priest’s courtyard.

Zhao Sheng met Yu Shu, learned of the many ghosts and gods recorded in a secret register, and later discovered that City Lord Deng Jingyuan had banned Journey to the East. When High Priest Que Yue recognized Zhao Sheng’s instant movement and exposed his hidden potential, Zhao Sheng fled but was struck unconscious by Que Yue’s divine thought.

• Yu Shu questioned Zhao Sheng about his contact with ghosts and gods, invited him to join his faction, and gave him the secret Records of Ghosts and Gods.
• Zhao Sheng left Yu Shu’s room and traded pointed compliments with Zeng Lang, who hurried away after Zhao Sheng mentioned the Inspector General’s trust in him.
• Deng Jingyuan ordered Journey to the East and Five Virtues Treatise confiscated and burned as forbidden books.
• Gu Yu worried that the ban had ruined Wu Ying’s plans, but Zhao Sheng revealed himself and said the ban suited his intentions.
• High Priest Que Yue appeared, dismissed Gu Yu, and recognized Zhao Sheng’s instant movement divine skill as evidence of his future place among the Nascent Soul seats.
• Zhao Sheng fled across long distances, but Que Yue planted a divine-thought brand on him and knocked him unconscious with a strike.

After Zhao Sheng repeatedly escaped Daoist Que Yue’s attempts to investigate his Phase Displacement, Que Yue made him his disciple rather than risk losing the talent. Zhao Sheng recovered at Que Yue’s residence, where his new Senior Brother Zhai Kong visited seeking the master’s guidance on reaching Nascent Soul.

• Zhao Sheng used Phase Displacement to escape Que Yue’s probing, but Que Yue sealed his Dantian and repeatedly subdued him.
• After Zhao Sheng’s ninth escape attempt left him badly weakened, Que Yue proposed taking him as a disciple, and Zhao Sheng became his fifth disciple.
• News of Que Yue’s new disciple spread through Diancang Province, prompting the Gu, Wu, and Fang clans to seek his favor and circulate Journey to the East.
• Zhai Kong visited Zhao Sheng, admired the spiritual peach tree, Cloud Firmament Sword Intent Diagram, and spiritual tea, then explained that he hoped to obtain Que Yue’s guidance on breaking through to Nascent Soul.

Zhao Sheng concealed his true insights from Zhai Kong, then studied the Star Sea Sword Dao he had genuinely comprehended from the Cloud Firmament Sword Intent Diagram. After accepting gifts and the first two volumes of the Great Gu Formation Scripture from the Gu Clan and other city families, he began exploring how to develop his sword cultivation further.

• Zhai Kong tested Zhao Sheng with heart sword strikes and a Five Elements Sword Dao demonstration, while Zhao Sheng showed glimpses of his own sword principles and received Zhai Kong's Jade Slip of sword insights.
• Zhao Sheng spent the night contemplating the stars and realized that the Star Sea Sword Dao he had learned from the Cloud Firmament Sword Intent Diagram far surpassed Zhai Kong's demonstration.
• Gu Yang and Gu Yu visited to apologize, gave Zhao Sheng a True Dragon Talisman Treasure, and traded the first two volumes of the Great Gu Formation Scripture for his one-use sword token.
• The Wu Family, Fang Family, and other powerful families visited Zhao Sheng over the next two days and presented him with valuable gifts.
• Zhao Sheng experimented with forming a Star Sea Sword Dao foundation through his apertures, considered using Sword Pellets as formation artifacts, then began studying the Great Gu Formation Scripture.

Zhao Sheng prepared to form a core by refining the Five Manifestations God Sect’s incense power and a Nascent Soul Ghost King’s soul core while the five ghoul gods returned to their places. After nearly half a year in seclusion at Nuan Yu Peak, he began drawing a lightning tribulation, and the chapter ended as tribulation clouds gathered overhead.

• Daoist Que Yue warned Zhao Sheng not to divide his attention among too many paths, gave him a Nascent Soul Ghost King soul core, and studied his Spirit Shadow Branch without discovering more about his teleportation talent.
• Zhao Sheng visited the Five Manifestations God Temple, heard Ye Tianyun report the sect’s expansion, and gave him a sword token to deliver to Green Wind Temple Priest in response to the Heavenly Dao government temple’s ultimatum.
• Zhao Sheng sealed the temple, established a great array, and used karmic fire to refine the incense power of the five ghoul gods into wish power.
• Zhao Sheng summoned the Five Manifestation Ghoul Gods back into his organs and refined the Ghost King soul core over three months, strengthening his body and Spiritual Power.
• After nearly half a year of seclusion, Zhao Sheng drew Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy to Nuan Yu Peak, and dark tribulation clouds gathered above the temple.

Zhao Sheng endured the Golden Core Tribulation at the Five Manifestations God Temple and emerged with a newly formed Golden Core. When the Green-Haired Old Man and Gong Boran attacked, Zhao Sheng killed the old man with a True Dragon Talisman Treasure and destroyed Gong Boran in battle.

• Zhao Sheng endured nine rounds of Tribulation Thunder, transformed his Spiritual Power into True Essence, and successfully formed a Golden Core.
• The Green-Haired Old Man and Gong Boran arrived at the temple and demanded Zhao Sheng's Golden Core.
• Zhao Sheng struck first with his Divine Sense sword, badly injuring the Green-Haired Old Man and setting him alight with karmic fire.
• The Green-Haired Old Man attacked with his green fur while Gong Boran surrounded Zhao Sheng with pink phantoms, but Zhao Sheng escaped and summoned a True Dragon Talisman Treasure.
• The true dragon swallowed the Green-Haired Old Man, and Zhao Sheng chased Gong Boran through the sky.
• Zhao Sheng overcame Gong Boran's spells, restrained him with a Five-Colored Great Hand, and destroyed him with two punches.

Zhao Sheng defeated Gong Boran, subdued the Green-Haired Old Man, and helped restore the Five Manifestations God Sect before leaving to visit Flying Snow Peak. Ten years later, the Gatekeeper Old Man arrived to see Daoist Que Yue and recognized Zhao Sheng’s surname as Zhao.

• Gong Boran ambushed Zhao Sheng with the Blood Poison Shuttle, but Zhao Sheng struck him down and took his storage seals and weapon.
• Zhao Sheng found the Green-Haired Old Man alive in a green tumor, sealed him in a jar, and ordered Ye Tianyun to repair the temple and manage its guardian spirit beasts.
• The Five Manifestations God Temple reopened, its reputation and following grew, and the Green-Haired Old Man submitted to Zhao Sheng and was placed under Ye Tianyun’s command.
• Ten years later, Zhao Sheng reached Flying Snow Peak and met Li Daohang, who told him Daoist Que Yue was in seclusion.
• The Gatekeeper Old Man arrived by boat, praised Que Yue’s choice of disciple, and told Zhao Sheng that his surname was Zhao.

Patriarch Men ordered Daoist Que Yue to leave Diancang and suppress the sea eye beneath the Wu Continent Sea, while Zhao Sheng learned that his Southern Sky Zhao Clan blood might have a purpose there. Que Yue gave Zhao Sheng a Geng Metal Pearl for refining Sword Pellets, and Zhao Sheng began seclusion as unrest spread through Diancang Province.

• Patriarch Men revealed that Zhao Sheng descended from the Southern Sky Zhao Clan and told Que Yue he must transfer from guarding Diancang to suppressing the sea eye beneath the Wu Continent Sea.
• Que Yue accepted the assignment after Patriarch Men warned that the hardship could help him pursue Spirit Transformation, and agreed to take Zhao Sheng with him to the Wu Continent Sea.
• Que Yue told Zhao Sheng that his Zhao Clan blood might prove useful and gave him an Innate Geng Metal Pearl to refine five Geng Metal Sword Pellets.
• Que Yue ordered Zhai Kong and Li Daohang to clean up Diancang Province's affairs before his departure, and they launched investigations and punished corrupt clans and officials.
• Zhao Sheng entered seclusion to refine Sword Pellets, and three months later a blue-black little man slipped into his secret chamber and whispered in his ear.

Zhao Sheng won the Heavy Willow Armor at auction and traded Qiu Santong’s hidden secret for Emperor God's Blood from Yu Shu. The Sound Reporting God absorbed the blood and began transforming as Zhao Sheng refined his new armor.

• Zhao Sheng watched the auction and won the Heavy Willow Armor for 2.4 million Spirit Stones after Yu Shu agreed to yield it.
• Zhao Sheng paid the merchant guild with second-grade true talismans and spirit pills, then met Yu Shu in a cave residence.
• Yu Shu offered Emperor God's Blood in exchange for the location of the things Qiu Santong had hidden in the Han Hai River Great Desert, and Zhao Sheng agreed to retrieve them.
• Yu Shu told Zhao Sheng that the incoming governor was a Nascent Soul High Priest from the main God Guarding Lineage and mentioned Elder Zhou.
• Zhao Sheng let the Sound Reporting God enter the Emperor God's Blood, where its divine body became visible as it absorbed the liquid.
• Zhao Sheng refined the Heavy Willow Armor, and after half a month the cup shattered as the transformed Sound Reporting God floated up and vanished.

Zhao Sheng used the Sound Reporting God to contact his family and sect, then traveled with Daoist Que Yue and Zhai Kong to the Earth-Core Sea Eye, where Flying Snow Peak descended into the vortex. After arriving at Myriad Blossom Heavenly Palace, Zhao Sheng met sword cultivator Hong Qingqiu, who challenged him without warning and was nearly struck by Zhao Sheng’s sword.

• Zhao Sheng sent the Sound Reporting God to contact Zhao Changli and later received Ye Tianyun’s report on the Five Manifestations God Sect.
• Zhao Sheng sold unused treasures and bought cultivation resources while Daoist Que Yue prepared to take Flying Snow Peak beyond the realm.
• Four Nascent Soul High Priests helped Daoist Que Yue launch Flying Snow Peak into the void, and Zhai Kong told Zhao Sheng he planned to seek a deputy palace master position at Myriad Blossom Heavenly Palace.
• Flying Snow Peak descended into the Earth-Core Sea Eye, and Zhao Sheng and Zhai Kong were welcomed by Qiu Hanzhang and other Golden Core High Priests.
• Hong Qingqiu attacked Zhao Sheng to test his swordsmanship, but Zhao Sheng evaded him and nearly wounded him with a sword strike.

Zhao Sheng learned why cultivators divided territory around the Sea Eye and discovered that Coiling Spirit Tablets could lead to the buried Qiu Ling Sect’s treasures. He joined Zhai Kong, Hong Qingqiu, and Tu Xinjing on a descent into the Sea Eye, where the growing pressure and Heavy Willow Armor’s vitality affected him as they neared the depths.

• Hong Qingqiu explained that Golden Core cultivators claimed territories to clear out sea demons and ghosts, and that Coiling Spirit Tablets opened a route to the Qiu Ling Sect’s buried main altar.
• Hong Qingqiu invited Zhao Sheng and Zhai Kong to search the Sea Eye for tablets, and they agreed to go with Tu Xinjing three days later.
• Zhao Sheng tested the Heavy Willow Armor, then met Zhai Kong, Hong Qingqiu, and Tu Xinjing above the sea and descended with them.
• The four passed through ghost-filled waters and reached the upper level of the Sea Eye, where they followed Hong Qingqiu down the vortex wall.
• As the currents and pressure intensified, Zhao Sheng’s Heavy Willow Armor absorbed the surrounding vitality and stirred his Golden Core True Essence, while Hong Qingqiu warned the group to stay close.

Zhao Sheng and the others entered the Profound Darkness Region to hunt Thousand Clawed Ghost Octopuses and search for the Coiling Spirit Tablet. They killed five octopuses after using a Myriad Splendor Cave as bait, but found no tablet and hid nearby to wait for more.

• Zhao Sheng followed Hong Qingqiu and Zhai Kong through the Sea Eye vortex’s dangerous currents, protecting Tu Xinjing with an ice sphere.
• Hong Qingqiu led the group into a Myriad Splendor Cave and explained that the Coiling Spirit Tablet was hidden inside a Thousand Clawed Ghost Octopus.
• Hong Qingqiu prepared a Bewildering God Trapping Formation, and Tu Xinjing placed Whistling Sea Whale brain marrow inside as bait.
• A Thousand Clawed Ghost Octopus forced its way into the cave, and Zhao Sheng, Zhai Kong, Hong Qingqiu, and Tu Xinjing killed it and four others.
• Hong Qingqiu found no Coiling Spirit Tablet among the five octopuses, so the four cultivators concealed themselves to await more.

Zhao Sheng fought through a massive Thousand Clawed Ghost Octopus swarm, found a Coiling Spirit Tablet, and traded an extra tablet to Hong Qingqiu. After parting from Zhai Kong, he descended into the abyss and carved out a hidden cave dwelling deep beneath the sea.

• Zhao Sheng and the others were overwhelmed by a swarm of thousands of Thousand Clawed Ghost Octopuses, and they took shelter in nearby caves as the creatures attacked.
• Zhao Sheng fought the octopuses alone, found a Coiling Spirit Tablet among them, and took it while evading the monsters’ strikes.
• After other Golden Core High Priests joined the battle, Zhao Sheng gave Hong Qingqiu an extra Coiling Spirit Tablet in exchange for a Void Storage Seal.
• Zhai Kong returned to Heavenly Prefecture, while Zhao Sheng chose to remain in the Profound Darkness Region and seek a secluded place to cultivate.
• Zhao Sheng descended a hundred li beneath the sea and carved a cave dwelling behind a thick layer of stone.

After the Earth-Core Sea Eye’s earth qi tide erupted, Zhao Sheng collected a Yi Wood Azure Flame and received a mission from Patriarch Men to hunt Zhu Liuer. Zhao Sheng confronted Zhu Liuer in Sea Boat City and trapped him with a Five-Colored Giant Palm as a crimson fire lotus appeared before him.

• Zhao Sheng’s cultivation advanced to the late Fourth Layer of the Golden Core Realm, though the Ghoul Octopus Emperor’s roars repeatedly interrupted him.
• Zhao Sheng hid in a stone shell during the earth qi tide and collected a petrified tree containing a Yi Wood Azure Flame as he rose through the Sea Eye.
• After the tide subsided, Daoist Zhai Kong delivered Patriarch Men’s mission ordering Zhao Sheng to capture or kill Zhu Liuer, a wanted elder of the Defying Heaven Alliance.
• Zhao Sheng traveled to Sea Boat City and attacked Zhu Liuer aboard a treasure ship, breaking through the Windfall Killing Formation with his Star Sea Sword Formation.
• Zhu Liuer transformed into a giant water pillar and attacked Zhao Sheng, but Zhao Sheng resisted his techniques and sealed Zhu Liuer’s Golden Core with a Five-Colored Giant Palm.
• A crimson fire lotus appeared before Zhu Liuer as Zhao Sheng pressed his attack.

Zhao Sheng received a precious Karmic Fire Lotus Crystal from the sect patriarch, then attended a gathering where Daoist Zhen revealed a disputed account of Centipede Province’s sinking. After winning a duel for a wisp of Fire in Stone, Zhao Sheng wondered who was orchestrating events around the Nascent Soul Pill.

• Daoist Zhai Kong gave Zhao Sheng a bounty that included Innate Geng Metal and a Karmic Fire Lotus Crystal bestowed by the sect patriarch, who urged him to earn more merits.
• Zhao Sheng refined the crystal, strengthening his Karmic Fire Red Lotus and advancing his understanding of the Red Lotus Sutra, before Daoist Zhai Kong took him to a gathering of Golden Core cultivators.
• At the gathering, Zhao Sheng disputed Wu Qinyou’s praise of the failed cross-realm expedition, and Daoist Zhen presented a map and a purported last message from Myriad Manifestations True Lord linking a palm from the west to Centipede Province’s sinking.
• Daoist Zhai Kong dismissed the stone tablet as a likely forgery by Sky Pillar spies, leaving Daoist Zhen embarrassed, while Zhao Sheng privately questioned whether that explanation was true.
• Zhao Sheng defeated a sallow-faced Daoist in a duel and won a Spirit Fire Cauldron containing Fire in Stone, then wondered who was setting a board behind the scenes around the Nascent Soul Pill.