Chapter Summaries

Lu Yang secured Crown Prince Longxing’s authority in Tian Wu Hall and used it to bring the hall and Imperial City Bureau further under his control. Afterward, Lu Yang reflected on his limits in the Dao Court and prepared to visit the rear palace.

• Lu Yang persuaded Crown Prince Longxing to sit on the dragon throne, then had Xiao Shan refuse Li Tai’an’s request for an audience.
• Li Tai’an forced his way into Tian Wu Hall, but Longxing rebuked him and ordered him to leave.
• Lu Yang convinced Longxing that his loyalty was to Tian Wu, prompting the Crown Prince to order an investigation of the officials, the disbanding of the All-Heaven Department, and heightened protection in Tian Wu Hall.
• After leaving the hall, Lu Yang considered how Longxing’s authority would aid his plans, acknowledged that he still lacked control over Jiangdong, and examined Hongyun’s Gold Nature.
• Lu Yang summoned a young eunuch and ordered him to lead the way to the rear palace.

Lu Yang entered the Four Treasuries Dao Canon under the pretext of investigating a Demon Sect spy, hoping to find combat arts that suited his Image of Fire in the Sky. He found two promising Dao arts but remained unsure what else to choose when the Empress arrived.

• Lu Yang persuaded Eunuch An to let him enter the harem by claiming he was investigating a Demon Sect spy in Tian Wu Hall.
• Lu Yang examined the Four Treasuries Dao Canon and considered how to strengthen his spell-combat abilities against True Person Demon-Sweeping.
• Lu Yang selected the Beacon Sunfire Scripture and the Sun-Viewing Imperial Radiance Register, but judged them insufficient on their own.
• The Empress arrived at the Four Treasuries Dao Canon.

Lu Yang met Empress Xiao in the Four Treasuries Dao Canon hall, where she proposed an alliance against the Three Dukes faction and the court officials. After agreeing to cooperate without making an explicit promise, Lu Yang learned that she had memorized the entire Dao Canon and saw an opportunity to gain her knowledge.

• Empress Xiao arrived at the Four Treasuries Dao Canon hall and examined Lu Yang’s mysterious Half-Human Half-Dragon Image.
• Empress Xiao thanked Lu Yang for helping Crown Prince Longxing take control of Tian Wu Hall, then warned that she saw ambition in him.
• Empress Xiao proposed that she and Lu Yang suppress the Three Dukes faction so Longxing could stabilize his position and delegate authority to Lu Yang.
• Empress Xiao revealed her family’s ties to Jiangbei and said she wanted Official Positions for her family, then urged Lu Yang to join forces with her.
• Lu Yang accepted her instructions without making an explicit commitment, and Empress Xiao offered to choose a Dao method for him because she had memorized the entire Four Treasuries Dao Canon.
• Lu Yang realized he could use the Heaven Mending Scripture to learn Empress Xiao’s knowledge and strengthen his Dao attainment before seeking Gold.

Empress Xiao guided Lu Yang toward the Gold-Inlaid Military Command Talisman, a Geng Metal Dao art suited to his Fire in the Sky cultivation, and lent him authority to draw on the Immortal Kingdom Dao Law. After he mastered it, she tasked him with targeting five capital garrison commanders whose posts could combine with her Imperial Talisman to suppress the hundred officials.

• Empress Xiao explained that Fire in the Sky encompassed both the sun and moon, leading Lu Yang to realize that Geng Metal suited his path of venturing into danger.
• Empress Xiao selected the Gold-Inlaid Military Command Talisman for Lu Yang and gave him a letter talisman granting him access to the Immortal Kingdom Dao Law's empowerment.
• Lu Yang comprehended the Gold-Inlaid Military Command Talisman and realized Fire in the Sky would let him seize entire divine abilities to fuel it.
• Empress Xiao gave Lu Yang the names and divine abilities of five capital garrison commanders and explained that their posts could combine with her Imperial Talisman into the powerful As If the Emperor Arrives position.
• Lu Yang recognized that targeting the five commanders served both his cultivation and Empress Xiao's bid to quell the hundred officials.

Lu Yang used coerced testimony to launch a sweeping purge of officials in Tianwu City, while Empress Xiao revealed she possessed Seven Radiance Heaven and intended to use it to advance her cultivation. The chapter ended with Lu Yang capturing and controlling the All-Heaven Troop-Commanding Minister after destroying his residence, then ordering the Imperial City Bureau to interrogate him.

• Empress Xiao showed a palace maid Seven Radiance Heaven, which she said could let her control the Imperial City Bureau's Incense Fire God, and hoped to complete its Fruit Position Prototype.
• Lu Yang visited the Interrogation Room, rewarded the exhausted Imperial City Bureau cultivators, and used Puppet on Strings to make Ning Haohe produce testimony implicating officials in collusion with the Jiangbei Demon Sect.
• Lu Yang gave the testimony to Xiao Shan and ordered the Imperial City Bureau to arrest everyone named on its list.
• When the All-Heaven Troop-Commanding Minister invoked his Official Position to resist, Lu Yang struck his residence with the Beacon Sunfire Scripture and reduced it to a crater.
• Lu Yang secretly controlled the half-dead minister with Puppet on Strings and ordered his men to interrogate him about his accomplices.

Lu Yang took control of the Five Armies Command Mansion by using Puppet on Strings to turn its commanders loyal to him, while Li Tai'an suspected that Lu Yang was the World Honored One. With Tianwu City under his control, Lu Yang planned to obtain the Empress’s Imperial Talisman and use the Dao Court’s system of Official Positions to target the Three Dukes’ disciples.

• The Junior Mentor, Junior Guardian Li Tai'an, and Junior Preceptor discussed the evidence against Ning Haohe, and Li Tai'an blamed Lu Yang for purging dissidents.
• Lu Yang entered the Five Armies Command Mansion and used Puppet on Strings to make its five Capital Garrison Commanders loyal to him.
• Li Tai'an arrived and ordered the two commanders who were disciples of the Three Dukes to come with him, but they refused and declared their loyalty to the Empress’s decree.
• Li Tai'an suspected that Lu Yang was the World Honored One and fled before he could say anything more.
• Lu Yang recognized that controlling the Five Armies Command Mansion gave him control of Tianwu City, and planned to secure the Imperial Talisman and frame the Three Dukes’ disciples as rebels.

Li Tai'an plotted to rally officials against Lu Yang and weaken his influence, while Lu Yang strengthened his military talisman and broke through to refine his first strand of Gold Nature. The chapter left the officials preparing a dangerous remonstration as Lu Yang’s cultivation advanced.

• Li Tai'an urged the Junior Mentor to oppose the Imperial City Bureau and proposed inviting Suppress-South King Wu Tai'an to the capital.
• Li Tai'an persuaded Zheng Pingyi to watch Lu Yang and planned to lead a hundred officials to Xuanwu Gate, accepting that some might die.
• Li Tai'an argued that the officials’ remonstration would force Empress Xiao and the Crown Prince to question Lu Yang’s ambitions.
• Lu Yang used Wise Ruler's Governance to merge the Five Armies Commanders’ Lifebound Divine Abilities into the Gold-Inlaid Military Command Talisman.
• Lu Yang’s deepening understanding of Fire in the Sky loosened his cultivation bottleneck, and he refined his first strand of Gold Nature.

Lu Yang condensed a thread of Gold Nature and decided to save it until he became a True Lord before settling it. When officials gathered at Xuanwu Gate to demand an audience with the Crown Prince, Lu Yang turned their unrest into grounds for martial law and a purge.

• Lu Yang condensed Gold Nature, judged the amount too small to raise a Blessed Land, and chose to wait until he attained True Lord before settling it with the Hundred Lives Book.
• Xiao Shan reported that officials were gathering at Xuanwu Gate to see the Crown Prince, and Lu Yang ordered the gate held while secretly arranging for officials to provoke the Imperial City Bureau.
• Officials gathered outside Xuanwu Gate, where a cultivator was injured and the confrontation erupted into open violence.
• Lu Yang declared the officials rioters, then used the All-Heaven Troop-Commanding Minister's testimony to accuse them of being Jiangbei Demon Sect spies.
• Lu Yang ordered martial law, authorized the Capital Garrison to execute unauthorized officials, promised rewards to the Five Armies Camp, and sent the troops out.

Lu Yang used the Five Armies Camp and the Imperial City Bureau to crush the officials gathered outside Xuanwu Gate, alarming Empress Xiao and the court’s senior officials. He secretly entered Tian Wu Hall and demanded that Empress Xiao hand over the Imperial Talisman so he could arrest the Junior Preceptor, Junior Guardian, and Junior Mentor.

• Empress Xiao woke from meditation and saw the officials forcing their way toward Xuanwu Gate as the Imperial City Bureau’s human wall fell back.
• The Five Armies Camp arrived and, alongside the Imperial City Bureau, beat and pursued the officials in a battle Lu Yang had called the Fighting Tournament.
• Empress Xiao realized Lu Yang had gained control of the Five Armies Camp, while Li Tai'an and the other senior officials failed to detect Du Huan and watched the palace.
• Empress Xiao summoned the Five Armies Commander into Tian Wu Hall, intending to test their loyalty and take control of them.
• Lu Yang appeared beside the five commanders using his Petty Person talent, then ordered them to salute Empress Xiao.
• Lu Yang told Empress Xiao that the All-Heaven Troop-Commanding Minister had implicated the Junior Preceptor, Junior Guardian, and Junior Mentor in colluding with the Demon Sect and assassinating His Majesty, and asked for the Imperial Talisman to arrest them.

Lu Yang confronted Empress Xiao and demanded imperial authority to arrest officials, then trapped her inside Kunning Palace and fought her. Outside, the Five Armies Commander kept Crown Prince Longxing waiting as the palace shook with their battle.

• Li Tai'an suspected that Lu Yang was the World Honored One and worried that Empress Xiao might be in danger.
• Lu Yang asked Empress Xiao for the Imperial Talisman and authorization to make arrests, while the Five Armies Commander stood behind him.
• Empress Xiao refused to yield, and Lu Yang declared that he would not leave; the Five Armies Commander then exited the hall.
• Empress Xiao called for the Three Solitaries, but Lu Yang's Double-Departure Imperial Mountain-Sea Chart sealed the hall and swallowed her cry for help.
• Empress Xiao attacked Lu Yang with Seven Radiance Heaven, but he remained unaffected, and she realized he had reached Foundation Establishment Perfection and formed a Blessed Land.
• The Five Armies Commander told Crown Prince Longxing that Empress Xiao was in seclusion as Kunning Palace rumbled with muffled impacts.

Lu Yang and Empress Xiao fought a spell battle inside the Double-Departure Imperial Mountain-Sea Chart, each countering the other's Divine Abilities. After seeing through Empress Xiao's trap, Lu Yang changed tactics and struck her soul with Qian Tian Total Control Myriad Forms, leaving her facing his sword.

• Lu Yang and Empress Xiao exchanged Divine Abilities as she escaped his Beacon Sunfire Scripture with Hundred Flowers Palace and summoned Mountain-Sitting Lord.
• Empress Xiao used Containing Myriad Treasures to seal Lu Yang's Separation and Union Jade Scepter, but Lu Yang countered it with Mountain Moving True Method and Imperial Life Steward.
• Lu Yang captured Empress Xiao's white tiger with Wise Ruler's Governance, then used Rise and Fall Affairs and Coiled Dragon Root to discover she was luring him into a trap with Same as the World.
• Lu Yang transformed with Qian Tian Total Control Myriad Forms and struck Empress Xiao with its Total Control mystery, leaving her disoriented before his sword.

Lu Yang stripped Empress Xiao of her powers and treasures, then used the Heaven Mending Scripture to absorb her cultivation while trying to recruit her to his cause. After revealing his perfected Seven Radiance Heaven External Dao Fruit Position and promising to share the glory of Golden Seeking, he persuaded Empress Xiao to embrace him willingly.

• Lu Yang used Wise Ruler's Governance to deprive Empress Xiao of Same as the World, her other Divine Radiance, and her treasures, then suppressed her and used the Heaven Mending Scripture to absorb her cultivation.
• Crown Prince Longxing waited outside Kunning Palace, grew frustrated that Empress Xiao had not emerged, and left as the palace trembled.
• Empress Xiao realized Lu Yang had used the Heaven Mending Scripture to make her a cultivation furnace, while Lu Yang said her immense cultivation would require more than one attempt to absorb.
• Lu Yang offered Empress Xiao a place in his cause and argued that she had little prospect of Golden Seeking while Crown Prince Longxing could inherit the throne.
• Lu Yang revealed his perfected Seven Radiance Heaven External Dao Fruit Position and promised not to keep the glory of Golden Seeking to himself, and Empress Xiao willingly embraced him.

Lu Yang used the Imperial Talisman and Empress Xiao’s edict to defeat the officials resisting his takeover and secure control of Jiangdong. As the remaining officials were stripped of their positions, Fire in the Sky noticed him.

• Wu Tai'an led his army to Tianwu City, but Xiao Shan and the Imperial City Bureau blocked his entry.
• Li Tai'an arrived with the Junior Preceptor and Junior Mentor, lowered the city formation, and ordered Wu Tai'an to execute Xiao Shan and the bureau cultivators.
• Lu Yang arrived with the Empress’s edict and revealed the Imperial Talisman, forcing the officials and Wu Tai'an to kneel.
• Empress Xiao stripped Li Tai'an, Zheng Pingyi, and Kong Xingxiao of their positions, ordered officials to obey Lu Yang, and had Wu Tai'an arrested for treason.
• Lu Yang used As If the Emperor Arrives to strip the four opponents of their Official Positions and take control of Jiangdong.
• Fire in the Sky brightened to a lamp’s flame and turned its attention toward Lu Yang.

Lu Yang refined his first strand of Gold Nature with Empress Xiao’s help and learned that the Fire in the Sky inheritance might be held by the Zou Yu Descendants in Jiangbei. He planned to win recognition for his Pseudo Dynasty by expanding its territory, and the story shifted to the Dragon Palace of the Four Seas Sect.

• Lu Yang and Empress Xiao cultivated together, and he finally refined one strand of Gold Nature with her help.
• Lu Yang sensed that growing Gold Nature suppressed his humanity, then regained his composure by drawing close to Empress Xiao.
• Empress Xiao told Lu Yang that the Fire in the Sky inheritance had vanished from the Four Treasuries Dao Canon and that its remaining lineages were Overseas and in Jiangbei with the Zou Yu Descendants.
• Lu Yang considered seeking the Fire in the Sky True Art from the Zou Yu Descendants.
• Empress Xiao explained that Lu Yang needed a great meritorious undertaking for the Immortal Kingdom Dao Law to recognize his Pseudo Dynasty, and Lu Yang declared that he would expand its territory.

Tian Qiu learned that Du Huan had sent True Dragons from Jiangdong claiming the Dao Court belonged to the Dragon Clan, then triggered Fire in the Sky while investigating their claim. Convinced Du Huan had won a Fruit Position’s favor and saved the clan, Tian Qiu ordered the True Dragons to move to Jiangdong and address Du Huan as His Majesty.

• Tian Qiu suppressed the True Dragon Clan’s radical calls to invade inland and worried that Buddhist Fate was drawing him toward the World Honored One.
• Tian Qiu considered secretly sending some True Dragons to Jiangdong for refuge after receiving intelligence about the World Honored One and Guangming.
• Chong Ling told Tian Qiu that Du An and other True Dragons had arrived from Jiangdong claiming the Dao Court belonged to their clan.
• Du An gave Tian Qiu a fragment of the Sea-Commanding Conch and said Lord Du Huan had sent him.
• Tian Qiu tried to trace the claim’s Karma, provoked Fire in the Sky, and concluded Du Huan had received a Fruit Position’s favor.
• Tian Qiu ordered the entire True Dragon Clan to go to Jiangdong and told them to treat Du Huan as His Majesty.

Lu Yang accepted the Imperial Seal and founded a new dynasty as Jiangdong’s officials and people witnessed his coronation. Tian Qiu and Chongguang submitted on behalf of Overseas and Jiangbei, expanding Lu Yang’s authority across three regions and raising his chance of Golden Seeking to sixty percent.

• Empress Xiao dressed Lu Yang for the coronation and worried that rebelling against Emperor Jiayou would bring them a terrible fate.
• Lu Yang stood before Tian Wu Hall as Jiangdong’s officials and people bowed, and the weight of the region strengthened his Blazing Radiance Dao Foundation.
• Crown Prince Longxing presented the Great Seal and recited the abdication speech taught to him by the Imperial City Bureau.
• Lu Yang accepted the Imperial Seal and declared that he would inherit the imperial succession and found a dynasty.
• Lu Yang’s Immortal Kingdom Dao Law spread into Jiangbei and Overseas as Tian Qiu and Chongguang appeared and submitted to him.
• Lu Yang named the new era Huanming, and sun and moon shared the sky as he claimed authority over Jiangdong, Jiangbei, and Overseas.

After Lu Yang assessed the real odds of attaining Fire in the Sky, he discussed unifying the realm with his allies and then entered Eternal Paradise. He discovered that Patriarch Tingyou had quietly secured nearly all of Jiangnan for him, sharply improving his chances.

• Lu Yang realized that nominal submission from Jiangbei and Overseas left his odds of attaining Fire in the Sky below thirty percent unless he established genuine rule.
• Lu Yang toasted Empress Xiao, Tian Qiu, and Chongguang, telling them they depended on one another to seek Golden Seeking.
• Chongguang warned Lu Yang that Ye Guangji could prevent him from taking Jiangnan, and Lu Yang decided he could not wait for Ye Guangji to destroy himself in the Pure Land.
• Lu Yang entered Eternal Paradise through Patriarch Tingyou's sphere of light and saw that the light of Fire in the Sky had increased.
• Lu Yang learned that Patriarch Tingyou had recruited Jiangnan sect leaders into Eternal Paradise, giving Lu Yang effective control over every region there except the Sword Pavilion.

Lu Yang took control of Patriarch Tingyou’s Eternal Paradise and redesigned it into a profit-driven system that used false bodies, banknotes, and paid features while expanding across the four regions. As he inspected its operations months later, he discovered a possessed Sacred Sect Disciple carrying a jade fragment inhabited by Sky Soaring.

• Lu Yang learned that Eternal Paradise resembled an enormous Black Box and helped reinforce the seal on the True Lords, extending their forced descent from thirty to forty years.
• Lu Yang decided that Eternal Paradise wasted Carefree Heaven’s Fruit Position power by using it to improve cultivators, and replaced that system with false bodies that could reclaim the power.
• Lu Yang introduced Eternal Paradise Banknotes, mission rewards, paid enhancements, and revival limits to make members work and pay for benefits.
• Lu Yang ordered Eternal Paradise to expand into Jiangbei and Overseas, and the system rapidly spread through the world’s four regions.
• Months later, Lu Yang inspected Eternal Paradise from Tian Wu Hall and found a possessed Sacred Sect Disciple being guided by a figure in a jade fragment: Sky Soaring.

Xiao Shiye believed his luck had returned through Eternal Paradise and Sky Soaring, while Lu Yang used Xiao Shiye to observe Sky Soaring’s plans. After Sky Soaring brought Xiao Shiye into the Law Refining Secret Realm and encountered Mu Changsheng, he realized Lu Yang had deceived him and resolved to take a different course.

• Xiao Shiye recalled how his fortunes had shifted from extraordinary opportunities to misfortune, then improved again after he joined Eternal Paradise and met Sky Soaring.
• Xiao Shiye asked Sky Soaring what to exchange his Contribution Points for, and Sky Soaring told him to obtain access to the Law Refining Secret Realm.
• Lu Yang wondered whether Sky Soaring had deliberately approached Xiao Shiye, then severed his connection and used Puppet on Strings to keep observing safely.
• Sky Soaring used the Perception Barrier to bring Xiao Shiye into the Law Refining Secret Realm, where Mu Changsheng appeared and knocked Xiao Shiye unconscious with his Divine Sense.
• Mu Changsheng recognized Sky Soaring as the one who had taken his soul, and Sky Soaring realized Lu Yang had tricked him and decided he could no longer hesitate.

Sky Soaring used Mu Changsheng’s mistaken timeline to lure Lu Yang into uncovering forbidden knowledge tied to the World Honored One. Lu Yang realized the knowledge had drawn Buddhist attention, and a powerful Buddha manifestation appeared over Jiangxi.

• Sky Soaring prepared to use outside help against Lu Yang, but Lu Yang severed his false body of Xiao Shiye after sensing danger.
• Lu Yang tried to calculate the danger and unknowingly used the Dao of Karma to uncover Sky Soaring and Mu Changsheng’s conversation about how long Mu Changsheng had been trapped.
• Lu Yang noticed contradictions in the timelines of Mu Changsheng, True Lord Clear Serene Flying Snow, and Emperor Jiayou, then recognized the secret as forbidden knowledge linked to the World Honored One.
• Buddhist Fate clung to Lu Yang, and he inferred that Sky Soaring had used the knowledge to endanger his path to Seeking Gold through Jiangxi.
• A vast Golden Body Great Buddha appeared over Jiangxi, showing that the World Honored One had raised the stakes without personally entering the fray.