Chapter Summaries

Zhang Chen exploited the underground chamber’s replenished divine power to gather enough points to upgrade the Water Immobilization Talisman into the Ocean Stabilizing Pearl. As he continued devouring Faith Power, Gu Mingyue and Wu Changming discovered that the chamber’s pool had lost water and began investigating the cause.

• Zhang Chen gave Little Bean a vial of Yellow Springs Water and decided to postpone refining the Six-Word Mantra Calligraphy so he could focus on upgrading the Water Immobilization Talisman.
• Zhang Chen used ten pangolins to dig a space beside the underground chamber, then secretly devoured its replenished divine power instead of wiping the main hall.
• Little Bean agreed to have Zhang Chen’s main-hall duty reassigned, allowing him to spend his time absorbing Faith Power underground.
• After three and a half days of devouring Faith Power, Zhang Chen upgraded the Water Immobilization Talisman into the Ocean Stabilizing Pearl, which could stabilize the origin of water.
• Gu Mingyue noticed that the golden water in the pool had fallen, and Wu Changming ordered an inquiry into whether Master or someone else had drawn away the Faith Power.

Zhang Chen refined the Six-Word Mantra Calligraphy and used it to draw Faith Power from the palace in Little Bean’s ancestral aperture, while preparations began for a Grand Competition that would decide a coveted Yellow Heaven Dao position. As Zhang Chen set his sights on winning, Wu Changming arrived at his courtyard and considered using him to foil Gu Mingyue’s plans.

• Gu Mingyue argued that his branch should enter the Grand Competition, but Wu Changming discovered that the Grand Worthy Teacher had only allowed Zhang Xiaohua to compete and learned that Zhang Xiaohua had awakened a bloodline and divine ability.
• Zhang Chen completed the initial refinement of the Six-Word Mantra Calligraphy and placed it inside the palace in Little Bean’s ancestral aperture, where it began absorbing Faith Power and caused her pain.
• The Daoist Temple announced that its Grand Competition would take place in three days, with the winner earning the Water God’s Blessing and a place among the Yellow Heaven Dao’s Southern Dipper Six Stars or Northern Dipper Seven Stars.
• Cheng Yu warned Zhang Chen about three formidable competitors from other temples: Chu Mingyue, Wu Minger, and Li Donglai; Zhang Chen resolved to win so he could rise within the Yellow Heaven Dao.
• Wu Changming appeared outside Zhang Chen’s courtyard and realized that getting Zhang Chen to win might let him thwart Gu Mingyue.

Wu Changming offered to take Zhang Chen as his disciple if he stopped Zhang Xiaohua in the Grand Competition, while warning him that Zhang Xiaohua had gained powerful golden-body methods. Zhang Chen upgraded his Righteous God Runes to Golden Light of the Righteous God and later joined the growing crowd of competitors, where Little Bean argued with a little fat boy about Chu Mingyue.

• Wu Changming entered Zhang Chen's courtyard, offered to make him his disciple, and tasked him with stopping Zhang Xiaohua at the Grand Competition.
• Wu Changming told Zhang Chen that Zhang Xiaohua had acquired an indestructible golden body and explained Gu Mingyue's role in concealing his aura and accepting him as a disciple.
• Zhang Chen tried to implicate Temple Master Liu Feng, but Wu Changming said Liu Feng's alliance with Zhang Xiaohua and Xie Lingyun was part of the Yellow Heaven Dao's larger plans.
• Zhang Chen used two million Experience Points to upgrade Righteous God Runes into the Fifth Order Golden Light of the Righteous God, which made Tenth Order Evil Beings retreat three paces.
• Zhang Chen saw more than a hundred competitors gathered for the Grand Competition, and Little Bean praised Chu Mingyue before a little fat boy challenged her assessment.

Little Bean knocked Li Donglai down with Dan Strength after he mocked her, and he hid his identity while befriending Zhang Chen to learn her secret. At Zhang Chen’s courtyard, Zhang Chen showed Li Donglai how to draw iron essence into his hands, and Li Donglai melted Zhang Chen’s cooking pot while testing the method.

• Little Bean struck Li Donglai with Dan Strength, knocking him onto his backside and surprising Zhang Chen.
• Li Donglai denied being Yellow Wind Temple’s Li Donglai, called himself Li Lai, and followed Zhang Chen while Little Bean chased after Chu Mingyue.
• Li Donglai stayed in Zhang Chen’s courtyard and demonstrated his bloodline ability by chewing and swallowing a lump of iron.
• Zhang Chen used his Devouring Dharma Eye to suggest that Li Donglai guide stomach qi through his hands to extract iron essence.
• Li Donglai tried the method, melted Zhang Chen’s iron pot into a lump of iron dregs, and asked Zhang Chen how he had thought of it.

Zhang Chen learned that Yellow Heaven Dao’s Faith Power was disappearing and realized his nightly point-stealing might be involved. He stopped to reconsider his plans, suspecting Zhang Xiaohua’s jade tablet was also draining the temple and fearing the Grand Worthy Teacher’s trap.

• Li Donglai vowed to protect Zhang Chen, then backed down when Zhang Chen asked him to deal with Zhang Xiaohua and sought Zhang Chen’s advice about his Copper Skin Iron Bones ability.
• Li Donglai complained that Chu Mingyue had excluded him from a Night-Luminescent Cup gathering, but Cheng Yu explained that Li Donglai had insulted the cup and fought the guests.
• Little Bean explained that Chu Mingyue was like a brother to her and urged Zhang Chen to give up competing against him.
• Zhang Chen saw Chu Mingyue entertaining Zhang Xiaohua and their fellow disciples, then overheard Wu Changming tell Liu Feng that Faith Power was vanishing and the Grand Worthy Teacher planned to track the thief.
• Zhang Chen decided to stop stealing points for now and considered letting Zhang Xiaohua take the blame, but turned back when he suspected the grand hall was a trap.

Zhang Chen and Li Donglai rushed to defend Cheng Yu after Chu Mingyue blamed her for breaking the Night-Luminescent Cup and beat her. They left the mountaintop without resolving the dispute, while Li Donglai planned to settle it during the Grand Competition.

• Zhang Chen stayed in the courtyard and refrained from stealing points, then joined Li Donglai on a tour of Yellow Dawn Temple.
• Zhang Xiaohua accidentally dropped and shattered Chu Mingyue's Night-Luminescent Cup, and Chu Mingyue blamed Cheng Yu and struck her.
• Zhang Chen arrived and challenged Chu Mingyue, while Zhang Xiaohua denied remembering how the cup had broken.
• Li Donglai demanded that Chu Mingyue accept the same blows he had dealt Cheng Yu before they would pay for the cup, then clashed with him when he tried to stop them leaving.
• Zhang Chen and Li Donglai carried Cheng Yu away, and Li Donglai said he would cripple Chu Mingyue during the Grand Competition.

Zhang Chen entered the Yellow Heaven Dao Grand Competition after Li Donglai lent him a Treasure Sword, and he advanced through every round with his Ultrasound-assisted fighting. He reached the top ten as Zhang Xiaohua displayed his defensive divine ability and the masked Wu Minger drew Zhang Chen’s attention, while Chu Mingyue continued to threaten him.

• Zhang Chen found the Jade Tablet missing from the morning lesson hall statue and suspected a high-ranking mole within the Yellow Heaven Dao had warned Zhang Xiaohua.
• Li Donglai gave Zhang Chen his Treasure Sword, and Zhang Chen claimed his swordsmanship was unmatched before the Grand Competition began.
• Liu Feng announced the competition rules, and Chu Mingyue threatened to cripple Zhang Chen if they met in the ring.
• Zhang Chen defeated his opponents in successive rounds by reading their movements with Ultrasound and quickly exploiting their weaknesses.
• Zhang Chen observed Zhang Xiaohua’s weapon-repelling gauze robe and noticed the mysterious masked Wu Minger as the first day’s matches ended.

Zhang Chen prepared to challenge Zhang Xiaohua despite the Yellow Heaven Dao’s plan to make Zhang Xiaohua the Star God by harvesting the other contestants’ destiny. Li Donglai rejected that plan, left the sect, and attacked Chu Mingyue, while Zhang Chen continued modifying his sword and was met by Wu Minger.

• Zhang Chen confirmed that the Grand Worthy Teacher’s will still watched over the main hall, then told Chu Mingyue he had prayed for the patriarch not to bless him.
• Liu Feng ordered Li Donglai to lose to Zhang Xiaohua, explaining that the competition was meant to gather destiny for the Young Lord.
• Li Donglai refused to let Zhang Xiaohua harvest his destiny and left the Yellow Heaven Dao, then defeated Chu Mingyue and tied him to a tree.
• Zhang Chen planned to use Blood Filth on his Treasure Sword and began modifying it with an Iron Sword, hammer, and chisel.
• Wu Minger entered Zhang Chen’s courtyard, and Zhang Chen recognized him with surprise.

Wu Minger and Li Donglai attacked the competition disciples and fled Yellow Dawn Temple, while Zhang Chen secretly let Wu Minger escape when they crossed paths. The contest resumed with Chu Mingyue facing Zhang Chen, and Chu Mingyue charged at him as the chapter ended.

• Wu Minger attacked Zhang Chen with Extreme Cold Power, but Zhang Chen suppressed it and sent him fleeing in terror.
• The temple learned that Li Donglai and Wu Minger had injured the competing disciples and escaped, so Liu Feng ordered a mountain search.
• Zhang Chen let the wounded Wu Minger pass and asked him not to reveal their meeting; Wu Minger escaped before the pursuing disciples arrived.
• Liu Feng resumed the martial contest after removing Li Donglai and Wu Minger from the top ten, and the lots matched Zhang Chen against Chu Mingyue.
• Chu Mingyue threatened Zhang Chen, who taunted him over his injuries and Little Bean's missing teeth; Chu Mingyue erupted with Qi and Blood and charged.

Zhang Chen defeated Chu Mingyue with a hidden Body Immobilization Talisman, then unexpectedly pierced Zhang Xiaohua’s protective divine ability and won the contest. When Liu Feng tried to force him to surrender the victory, Zhang Chen refused, and the crowd challenged Liu Feng’s attempt to favor the Young Lord.

• Zhang Chen immobilized Chu Mingyue with a concealed talisman and cut off his manhood, then pretended the injury had been an accident.
• Liu Feng ordered Chu Mingyue taken for treatment and warned Zhang Chen against competing with Zhang Xiaohua, but Zhang Chen insisted on trying.
• Zhang Xiaohua entered the arena and formed his Golden Gauze Clothing, but Zhang Chen pierced it and stopped his sword at Zhang Xiaohua’s throat.
• Zhang Chen withdrew his sword and accepted Zhang Xiaohua’s supposed concession, while he saw destiny flow from Zhang Xiaohua into himself.
• Liu Feng demanded that Zhang Chen admit defeat and kneel, but Zhang Chen argued that the contest should be decided by ability rather than status.
• Elders and spectators rebuked Liu Feng for trying to force Zhang Chen to surrender, warning that his actions made Zhang Xiaohua look unable to accept defeat.

Zhang Chen won the Grand Competition, but Liu Feng and Gu Mingyue moved to strip him of first place to appease the Pacifying Border Prince's Mansion. Gu Mingyue investigated Zhang Chen and traced his victory over Zhang Xiaohua to the Iron Sword, while Zhang Chen realized the Grand Worthy Teacher's presence had disappeared and planned to resume stealing incense offerings.

• Zhang Xiaohua admitted defeat to Zhang Chen, who was declared the winner of the Grand Competition, while Liu Feng left without announcing the rewards.
• Zhang Chen returned to his courtyard, where Liu Feng confronted him for disobeying the order to lose and then confined him there pending news from the sect.
• The Grand Worthy Teacher sent Wu Changming to South of the River Dao, ordered Gu Mingyue to investigate Zhang Chen, and placed him in charge of the God Conferral Ceremony.
• Gu Mingyue told Liu Feng he would handle the matter and ordered Zhang Chen stripped of first place for injuring Chu Mingyue, then went to examine Zhang Chen himself.
• Gu Mingyue found no unusual power in Zhang Chen but identified the Iron Sword's Filth Power as the reason it pierced Zhang Xiaohua's Protective Barrier; Zhang Chen said he had obtained it from the Inspection Directorate.

After Yellow Dawn Temple stripped Zhang Chen of his Grand Competition champion reward and Star God qualification, he plotted to provoke a conflict between the temple and the Pacifying Border Prince's Mansion. He gave Xie Lingyun Yellow Springs Water and recruited Fox Immortal NanNan for a secret task, leaving his plan against Zhang Xiaohua poised to begin.

• Gu Mingyue returned the Treasure Sword to Zhang Chen and left, while Zhang Chen resolved to grow strong enough to avenge the indignity.
• Liu Feng told Zhang Chen that Gu Mingyue had revoked his champion reward and Star God qualification, and Zhang Chen silently vowed to disrupt the God Conferral Ceremony.
• Zhang Chen visited the Eight Trigrams Furnace and gave Xie Lingyun a bottle of Yellow Springs Water, which she accepted and said would help her reach the Yang Spirit realm.
• Zhang Chen asked Xie Lingyun to spread a rumor that the Longevity Tree Coffin might be hidden beneath Yellow Dawn Temple, and she agreed to investigate and exploit the resulting conflict.
• Fox Immortal NanNan asked Zhang Chen for Yellow Springs Water, and he offered to reward her if she first carried out a task, intending to send her as a spy to Zhang Xiaohua.

Zhang Chen sent Fox Immortal NanNan undercover at the Pacifying Border Prince's Mansion, while a rumor about the Longevity Tree Coffin pushed the Pacifying Border King toward a risky scheme against Yellow Dawn Temple. Back at the temple, Zhang Chen sought blood for his cultivation and learned the Great Sovereign Demon King expected to be free when Zhang Chen died in four years.

• Zhang Chen threatened Fox Immortal NanNan into spying on Zhang Xiaohua and the Pacifying Border Prince's Mansion, promising only that he would not personally kill Zhang Xiaohua.
• Fox Immortal NanNan used Zhang Chen's Yellow Springs Water to possess the Red-Haired Fox, then entered Yellow Dawn Temple while Zhang Chen returned to his Small Building.
• A covert agent's report told the Pacifying Border King that a Longevity Tree Coffin might lie beneath Yellow Dawn Temple, and Five Six Teacher proposed spreading the rumor to force the temple to seek their protection.
• The Pacifying Border King approved Five Six Teacher's plan, confident that his Million Strong Army would let him control events in the Northern Lands.
• Zhang Chen asked the Great Sovereign Demon King for blood to cultivate the Blood Transformation Divine Blade, and the demon king directed him toward the Spiritual World and its Thirty-Three Heavens.
• The Great Sovereign Demon King noticed Zhang Chen had only four years of lifespan left and exclaimed that he would be free then.

Zhang Chen gathered Incense Power and upgraded his Fire Aversion Talisman while searching for a way to obtain higher-level Qi Refining incantations. After Zhang Xiaohua was badly beaten, the Enforcement Elder summoned Zhang Chen following morning lessons.

• Zhang Chen discussed longevity and pan peaches with the Great Sovereign Demon King, then put him away and considered collecting blood from the Water God and bloodline clans.
• Fox Immortal NanNan found Zhang Xiaohua, who recognized her and welcomed her into his arms.
• Zhang Chen stole Incense Power for five days, accumulated ten million points, and upgraded his Fire Aversion Talisman as far as his points allowed.
• Zhang Chen fell asleep and was beaten by the Emperor's Daughter in a dream; afterward, he considered several ways to find advanced Qi Refining incantations.
• Disciples reported that Zhang Xiaohua had been severely injured, and three days later the Enforcement Elder stopped Zhang Chen after morning lessons to speak with him.

Zhang Chen refused to help Zhang Xiaohua, who was being tormented in his dreams by the Emperor's Daughter, and secretly directed Fox Immortal NanNan toward the Longevity Tree Coffin. NanNan tampered with the Thousand Mile Marriage Thread, while the Elder of Teaching Merit prepared a Water God sculpture containing the jade fragment used to steal Incense Faith.

• Zhang Xiaohua begged Zhang Chen to heal him, but Zhang Chen pretended he could not help and left him to suffer.
• Gu Mingyue gave Zhang Xiaohua the Thousand Mile Marriage Thread and two Rice Straw dolls containing Xie Lingyun's hair and Zhang Xiaohua's hair, explaining that they would unite them after seven days.
• Fox Immortal NanNan confronted Zhang Chen, who told her that retrieving the Longevity Tree Coffin might stop the female corpse from tormenting Zhang Xiaohua.
• Fox Immortal NanNan secretly replaced Zhang Xiaohua's hair in the doll with Zhang Chen's, then replaced Xie Lingyun's hair in the other doll with a leaf.
• The Elder of Teaching Merit ordered carpenters to fell a spiritual tree for a Water God sculpture and later hid Zhang Xiaohua's jade fragment inside the sculpture's mouth.
• Fox Immortal NanNan saw Zhang Xiaohua's injuries worsening and considered using her Dream Ingress Technique to help him.

After Fox Immortal NanNan revealed that Zhang Xiaohua’s calamity came from the Ancient God-Devil’s corpse, Zhang Xiaohua hurried down the mountain. Zhang Chen upgraded his Fire Aversion Talisman into an innate Fire Aversion Pearl, while rumors about the Longevity Tree Coffin brought the Pacifying Border King and one hundred thousand troops to Yellow Dawn Temple.

• Fox Immortal NanNan endured the Ancient God-Devil’s assault in Zhang Xiaohua’s dream, then told him the tree coffin and its corpse were the source of his calamity.
• Zhang Xiaohua decided to descend the mountain, while rumors of the Longevity Tree Coffin drew spies toward Yellow Dawn Temple.
• Gu Mingyue learned the Pacifying Border King was investigating the rumors and asked him to bring one hundred thousand troops to the temple to discuss the crisis.
• Zhang Chen absorbed enough Incense Qi to upgrade his Fire Aversion Talisman into the innate Fire Aversion Pearl, then decided to save his remaining points.
• Two days later, Little Bean told Zhang Chen that the Pacifying Border King had arrived at the foot of the mountain with one hundred thousand troops, whose gathered fate suppressed the Daoist Temple.

Zhang Chen avoided Five Six Teacher’s revenge by relying on Zhang Xiaohua, then secretly learned that the Pacifying Border Prince’s Mansion planned to use an Ancient Water God’s power to seize the Miluo River Water God’s authority. He warned Xie Lingyun of an impending upheaval at Yellow Dawn Temple and discovered that six-colored flames were breaking through a treasure’s restrictions in his Eight Trigrams Furnace.

• Zhang Chen refused to join the Daoist Temple’s reception for the Pacifying Border King and asked Zhang Xiaohua to protect him from Five Six Teacher.
• Zhang Xiaohua persuaded Five Six Teacher to spare Zhang Chen for now, promising to hand him over after Zhang Chen helped accomplish a task.
• Zhang Chen hid beneath the floor and overheard Zhang Xiaohua, the Pacifying Border King, and Five Six Teacher discuss using an Ancient Water God’s power to seize the Miluo River Water God’s authority.
• Zhang Chen left to warn Xie Lingyun that Yellow Dawn Temple faced a major upheaval during the God Conferral Ceremony, and she said she would wait until the temple’s experts had departed before slaughtering a god.
• Zhang Chen returned to his Eight Trigrams Furnace and found six-colored flames powerful enough to make the restrictions on an earthy yellow pearl begin to crumble; Xie Lingyun asked what the flames were.

Zhang Chen learned that Liu Ji had become Gu Mingyue’s Closed-Door Disciple and discovered the old village chief possessed immense fate. After Liu Ji warned him about his slave status and shared what he knew of Zhang Chen’s father, Zhang Chen returned to stealing Incense Faith until the pool filled, allowing the Investiture of Gods to begin.

• Zhang Chen encountered Chu Mingyue, who warned that Yellow Heaven Dao would face unrest before leaving; Zhang Chen later found Chu Mingyue’s room empty and abandoned his plan to kill him that night.
• Zhang Chen saw Liu Ji at Yellow Dawn Temple, where Gu Mingyue accepted him as a Closed-Door Disciple, and used his Dharma Eye to discover Liu Ji’s tremendous fate.
• Liu Ji recognized Zhang Chen and told him that Zhang Chen’s father had come from the capital as a criminal slave, then warned Zhang Chen to find a way to erase his own slave status.
• Liu Ji offered to help Zhang Chen secretly in a private crisis, while Zhang Chen concealed that his younger siblings were safe below the mountain.
• Zhang Chen resumed stealing Incense Faith, and seven days later the pool beneath Yellow Dawn Temple filled, bringing the Investiture of Gods within reach.

Gu Mingyue and Liu Feng prepared to seize power through Yellow Heaven Dao’s Bestowal Ceremony, while Zhang Chen discovered that the Innate Mosquito could reach into his Meditation Realm. After learning more about the barrier between worlds, Zhang Chen turned to investigating his family’s past and their slave status.

• Gu Mingyue ordered invitations sent for a Bestowal Ceremony in three days and told Liu Feng he would receive the Miluo River Water God position, while Gu Mingyue took control of Yellow Heaven Dao in the northern lands.
• Xie Lingyun told Zhang Chen that Yellow Heaven Dao planned to bestow gods, and Zhang Chen warned her that Zhang Xiaohua might target her during the ceremony.
• Zhang Chen entered his Meditation Realm, where the Innate Mosquito appeared and attacked through a watery barrier before an unknown frost power froze it and drove it away.
• The Great Sovereign Demon King explained that the Meditation Realm was a small spiritual pond connected to the Spiritual World and identified the barrier as the boundary between the Material World and Spiritual World.
• Zhang Chen decided to ask Xie Lingyun to investigate his slave status, his father’s demotion, and what had happened in Upper Capital City.

Zhang Chen learned that his father’s past was tied to a secret upheaval over imperial power, and that he was a descendant of the Upper Capital Zhang Family. As the God Conferral Ceremony approached, Little Bean sensed danger and fell into an unnatural sleep, leaving Zhang Chen to open the door to her room.

• Xie Lingyun told Zhang Chen that his father’s identity was sealed in a top-secret file connected to an imperial succession crisis, and identified Zhang Chen as a direct descendant of the Zhang Family.
• Xie Lingyun warned Zhang Chen to avoid Upper Capital and offered him safer alternatives, but he rejected her proposals and kept pursuing his own goals.
• Xie Lingyun explained that the Pacifying Border King would likely withdraw the troops before the God Conferral Ceremony, giving them a chance to act near Yellow Dawn Temple.
• Zhang Chen hid ten pangolins in a cave as preparations to enter the underground chamber, then returned to the Daoist Temple.
• Little Bean said a flashing thing in her head made her afraid, then slept through the night and remained asleep despite Zhang Chen calling and knocking.
• Zhang Chen used the Water Control Technique to open Little Bean’s locked room after she failed to answer him.