Chapter Summaries

The Ancestor of the Yun Family reincarnated into the newborn son of Marquis Wei Tieyi, retaining his memories and using the Heaven Investigating Instrument to uncover Lu Yang’s cultivation and whereabouts. He ended the chapter resolved to kill Lu Yang before he could reach Foundation Establishment.

• The Ancestor of the Yun Family explained to Yun Zhiqiu that he planned to reincarnate into the Demon Sect’s Law Refining Secret Realm and earn Merit by freeing the souls trapped there.
• The Ancestor of the Yun Family died as the lamp went out, after giving Yun Zhiqiu instructions for concealing his reincarnation.
• Decades later, Wei Tieyi celebrated the birth of a son in Tianjing City, unaware that the Ancestor of the Yun Family had reincarnated into the infant.
• The Ancestor of the Yun Family recognized that someone was cultivating the Saint Thief, then used the Heaven Investigating Instrument to pierce the obscured Karma.
• The Ancestor of the Yun Family discovered that Lu Yang practiced several powerful techniques and could have a forty percent chance of reaching Foundation Establishment, so he vowed to kill him.

The Ancestor of the Yun Family manipulated Karma to create a new stage of Martial Dao, hoping to lure Lu Yang out and disrupt the Saint Thief. As Martial Dao Celestials emerged across the world, Lu Yang recognized the danger but stayed in the Law Refining Secret Realm and prepared to send an avatar to investigate.

• The Ancestor of the Yun Family decided to make Lu Yang’s cultivation of the Saint Thief his tribulation and began stirring Karma to create a fourth step of Martial Dao.
• Ten years later, Wang Boyuan attained the fourth step, Exploring the Changes Between Heaven and Humanity, and shared his insights with the world.
• Chang Qingjing, Xuan Ku, and four others also broke through, bringing the number of Martial Dao Celestials to seven and overturning Lu Yang’s original framework.
• Lu Yang calculated the changes and suspected that the new stage threatened the Saint Thief and was meant to draw him out of the secret realm.
• Lu Yang resolved to remain in his fortified position and used the Ten Thousand Spirit Banner and a strand of Primordial Breath to prepare an avatar for scouting.

Lu Yang sent his Martial Dao-trained Primordial Breath Avatar toward Tianjing City to seek insight into the Fourth Step, while the Ancestor of the Yun Family plotted to use the avatar to advance his scheme. In Tianjing City, Lu Yang encountered Ji Xiongying, whose ambition for immortality had been stirred, and cut him with a Sword Qi Talisman.

• Lu Yang completed a Primordial Breath Avatar that had reached the Martial Dao Third Step and sent it toward Tianjing City to meet Wang Boyuan.
• Wei Yun sensed the avatar's departure, and the Ancestor of the Yun Family decided to have warriors in the secret realm attack it and resist their confinement.
• Ji Xiongying studied the Heavenly Book and, driven by stirred desires, resolved to become an Immortal.
• Ji Xiongying confronted Lu Yang in the sky above Tianjing City and attacked him, mistaking him for an unworthy Rogue Cultivator.
• Lu Yang cut Ji Xiongying's palm with a Sword Qi Talisman, then ignited another talisman and unleashed its Sword Qi against him.

Lu Yang defeated Ji Xiongying with talismans and divine sense, then disappeared into the capital. The Ancestor of the Yun Family began manipulating events to gather the Celestials against Lu Yang, while Ji Xiongying found a book describing a way to slay an Immortal and pursue eternal life.

• Ji Xiongying tried to recruit Lu Yang in exchange for the Martial Dao Celestial method, but Lu Yang rejected his offer and shattered his fist intent with divine sense.
• Lu Yang unleashed dozens of Sword Qi Talismans, badly wounded Ji Xiongying, and slipped into a street crowd after Ji Xiongying escaped.
• The Ancestor of the Yun Family watched Ji Xiongying’s defeat and stirred Karma to spread word of Lu Yang and unite the Celestials against him.
• Ji Xiongying found a sealed chamber in a mountain cave and discovered a book describing a seven-weapon array to slay an Immortal.
• Ji Xiongying became obsessed with killing Lu Yang and obtaining eternal life.

Lu Yang visited Wang Boyuan at Haoran Academy to learn about the fourth step of Martial Dao, then used the Fate Gazing Technique to investigate Tianjing City. He discovered that nearly everyone faced a violent death despite the city’s Karma appearing peaceful, and suspected a Foundation Establishment True Person was hiding a scheme against him.

• Lu Yang entered Haoran Academy and met the disheveled Wang Boyuan in his study.
• Lu Yang asked Wang Boyuan to explain the fourth step of Martial Dao, and Wang described how his Fate Gazing Technique used the Three Talents to infer fate and Karma.
• Ancestor of the Yun Family secretly observed their discussion and dismissed Wang Boyuan’s method as a mortal conjecture caused by his own manipulation of Karma.
• Lu Yang used the Taiwei Treasure Repository and Wang Boyuan’s method to examine Tianjing City, finding that many residents faced a great calamity of violent death even though the city’s overall Karma showed no change.
• Lu Yang realized that Heaven’s secrets and Karma had been obscured and suspected a Foundation Establishment True Person in the secret realm was targeting him.

Ji Xiongying recruited Wang Boyuan to help kill an Immortal, while Lu Yang realized a reincarnated Foundation Establishment cultivator was targeting him. Rather than flee, Lu Yang planned to turn the danger into an opportunity by inventing the identity Di Shitian and the supposed fifth Martial Dao realm, Shattering the Void.

• Ji Xiongying showed Wang Boyuan a tome and urged him to join in killing an Immortal so they could gain eternal life and build a peaceful world; Wang Boyuan agreed.
• Lu Yang concluded that his unseen enemy could manipulate Karma despite lacking Foundation Establishment, and suspected a reincarnated Foundation Establishment cultivator was behind the threat.
• Lu Yang suspected the Ancestor of the Yun Family had created the Martial Dao Celestials and was using Ji Xiongying to lure his true body out of its protected cave dwelling.
• Lu Yang decided not to alert True Person Yinshan because overcoming the threat could help complete his Saint Thief and True Method of Yin-Transformation Corpse-Dissolution.
• Lu Yang devised a plan to pose as the ancient Immortal Di Shitian and convince the Martial Dao Celestials that he had created a fifth realm called Shattering the Void.

After three years of meeting Martial Dao Celestials, Lu Yang faced the seven Celestials and the Imperial Palace’s forbidden army in Tianjing City, claiming he could shatter the void. As his aura rose amid a storm of Talismans, the Ancestor of the Yun Family secretly urged Ji Xiongying to kill him.

• Lu Yang reflected on the Human and Heavenly transformations of the fourth step of Martial Dao as he walked through the dark streets of Tianjing City.
• Ding Feiying ambushed Lu Yang with his Demonic Blade, but Lu Yang’s Golden Light Talismans stopped the slash and his Sword Qi forced Ding to retreat.
• Ji Xiongying gathered Ding Feiying, Wang Boyuan, Xuan Ku, Chang Qingjing, Hua Xiangrong, and Guan Qiankun to surround Lu Yang, while the forbidden army approached.
• Lu Yang attacked Xuan Ku with a concealed Sword Qi talisman, drawing only a drop of blood, then unleashed over a hundred Talismans as his aura continued to rise.
• Lu Yang announced that he would shatter the void, alarming the Celestials and the watching Ancestor of the Yun Family, who concluded that he was fabricating a path beyond the Celestial realm.
• The Ancestor of the Yun Family sent his will to hasten Lu Yang’s death, and Ji Xiongying urged the Celestials to kill Lu Yang and share immortality.

Lu Yang used his Primordial Breath Avatar to fight seven Martial Dao Celestials, then staged a false Shattering the Void to lure Ji Xiongying out of the Law Refining Secret Realm. Ji Xiongying discovered the deception too late and was pinned by Luo Wuya, who planned to refine him into a corpse.

• Lu Yang's avatar battled the seven Celestials until the Ancestor of the Yun Family manipulated Karma, empowering their weapons enough to damage it.
• Lu Yang revealed the Taixiao Mirror, blasted the Celestials away, and staged a Shattering the Void that inspired Ji Xiongying to imitate him.
• Ji Xiongying followed Lu Yang through the rift and realized he was outside the secret realm, looking into a crystal sphere containing Great Zhou and the bewildered Celestials.
• Ji Xiongying tried to warn the Celestials, but Luo Wuya pinned him with Radiance and declared him excellent material for a refined corpse.
• Lu Yang offered Ji Xiongying to Luo Wuya, and Ji Xiongying cursed Lu Yang as Luo Wuya began to refine him.

Lu Yang completed the Saint Thief, gathered the Fortune of the Law Refining Secret Realm, and formed a Law Degree that made him immune to attacks from those of lower status. After surviving the Ancestor of the Yun Family’s Heavenly Thunder, Lu Yang tracked him to Tianjing City and appeared before him.

• Lu Yang absorbed the Fortune of 140 million living beings and completed his Saint Body, forming a Law Degree.
• The Ancestor of the Yun Family realized his scheme had strengthened Lu Yang’s Martial Dao system and made its momentum unstoppable.
• The Ancestor of the Yun Family used the Heaven Investigating Instrument to direct Heavenly Thunder at Lu Yang, but Lu Yang remained unharmed.
• Lu Yang sensed the Ancestor of the Yun Family watching him, and the Ancestor severed their karmic connection and concealed his heavenly secrets.
• Lu Yang searched the Law Refining Secret Realm for an aura he had not stolen, located the Ancestor of the Yun Family in Tianjing City, and stepped out of the void before him.

Lu Yang erased Tianjing City from the secret realm and fought the Ancestor of the Yun Family, who used the Heaven Investigating Instrument to pin down Lu Yang’s Saint Manifestation. Meanwhile, Lu Yang’s Primordial Breath Avatar reached True Person Yinshan’s cave to report that someone inside the secret realm was a threat.

• Lu Yang erased Tianjing City and stored its inhabitants in the deepest part of the Law Refining Secret Realm, leaving the Ancestor of the Yun Family trapped with him.
• Wang Boyuan recognized that Heaven and Earth were incomplete before he vanished with the rest of Tianjing City.
• Lu Yang and the Ancestor of the Yun Family clashed, and Lu Yang manifested a Saint Golden Body with the completed Saint Thief.
• The Ancestor of the Yun Family used the Heaven Investigating Instrument to scramble Lu Yang’s movements and pin down his Saint Manifestation.
• Lu Yang’s Primordial Breath Avatar arrived at True Person Yinshan’s cave and called out to report a bad person inside the secret realm.

Lu Yang outmaneuvered Yun Qingchuan, the Ancestor of the Yun Family, and helped True Person Yinshan destroy his consciousness. True Person Yinshan secretly handed Yun Qingchuan’s soul and the Heaven Investigating Instrument to Lu Yang, who agreed to help conceal the affair.

• Yun Qingchuan sacrificed his body to unleash a Karma-locking sword at Lu Yang, but the two powers became locked in a stalemate.
• Lu Yang used a fake Mysterious Yin Form-Capturing Great Art to trick Yun Qingchuan into delaying his escape, while True Person Yinshan sealed the reincarnation passage.
• True Person Yinshan arrived, crushed the sword, and erased Yun Qingchuan’s consciousness.
• True Person Yinshan collected the Heaven Investigating Instrument and weighed reporting the matter against keeping the treasure and soul.
• Lu Yang asked to borrow Yun Qingchuan’s soul, and True Person Yinshan handed it over after they agreed to conceal the affair.

After ten years of secluded cultivation, Lu Yang prepared to attempt Foundation Establishment, but learned that Luo Wuya had died trying. True Person Yinshan gave Lu Yang an Ascension Order, while he and True Person Chongguang privately hoped Lu Yang would succeed so they could pursue a dangerous opportunity.

• Lu Yang spent ten years in seclusion, used the Dao-Clarifying Jade Slip to advance his skills, and developed the Yin Spirit Ghost Immortal Method for a future life.
• Lu Yang uncovered the Heaven-Stealing Secret in Zhao Xuhe's Jade Slip after its confidentiality restriction expired.
• Lu Yang learned that Luo Wuya had died after failing his Foundation Establishment attempt and told True Person Yinshan he planned to enter seclusion and try himself.
• True Person Yinshan gave Lu Yang an Ascension Order, which Lu Yang accepted despite suspecting there might be a scheme behind the offer.
• After Lu Yang left, True Person Chongguang and True Person Yinshan discussed how they needed another Foundation Establishment cultivator to help them pursue an opportunity before the Millennial Calamity.

Lu Yang used the Ascension Order, the Saint Thief, and his True Dragon Sha to ascend into the Foundation Establishment Realm and forge an Immortal Foundation. Demonic thoughts distracted him, however, and his first attempt ended when the foundation shattered.

• Lu Yang studied the Ten Thousand Chariots Dragon Ascension Scroll, refined the Ascension Order, and began lifting his Sea of Consciousness.
• With the Nine Heavens Barriers open and his ascent shortened by the Saint Thief, Lu Yang reached the Foundation Establishment Realm and saw True Person Yinshan seated on a black Immortal Foundation.
• True Person Yinshan warned Lu Yang to focus as demonic thoughts stirred his distractions, and Lu Yang began forging his Immortal Foundation.
• After losing thirty percent of his true qi, Lu Yang reduced the size of his Immortal Foundation until he could barely complete it.
• Demonic thoughts made Lu Yang mistake a vision of True Person Yinshan for reality, and the distraction left his Immortal Foundation riddled with holes.
• Lu Yang's Immortal Foundation shattered, and he called out to the Hundred Lives Book.

Lu Yang restarted his life with his previous cultivation, evaded the Peak Master of Heaven Mending, and stole the genuine divine talisman while leaving a fake in its place. At Joyous Union Hall, he planned to use Yu Suzhen to test whether Heaven-Stealing Secret could be stacked and make her a Daughter of Destiny to rival Xiao Shiye.

• Lu Yang chose cultivation as his reward and regained his Qi Refining peak state, techniques, and status from his previous life.
• The Peak Master of Heaven Mending traced Lu Yang through the Karmic Net, but Lu Yang left behind his Primordial Breath Avatar and secretly took Liu Xin's genuine divine talisman, replacing it with a fake.
• The Peak Master of Heaven Mending failed to find Lu Yang and accused Daoist Hongyun of taking Pan Long's inheritance; Daoist Hongyun denied involvement and wondered who had drawn him into the dispute.
• A Sacred Sect disciple named Xiao Shiye suddenly became clear-minded and heroic.
• At Joyous Union Hall, Lu Yang decided to let Yu Suzhen transcend death on him and test whether she could use Heaven-Stealing Secret to indirectly target Liu Xin, Zhao Xuhe, and Xiao Shiye.

Lu Yang used the Heaven-Stealing Secret to turn Yu Suzhen into a humanoid Cauldron, then watched as she advanced in the Joyous Union Hall and outmaneuvered Liu Xin. The chapter left Liu Xin poisoned and unconscious while Yu Suzhen planned to learn his techniques before draining him.

• Yu Suzhen broke through to the Qi Refining First Layer after draining a young man, while Lu Yang observed as a yin spirit and confirmed the first step of the Heaven-Stealing Secret had succeeded.
• Lu Yang realized his corpse had become a furnace for merging his three superior divine abilities into a Corpse-Dissolution Immortal, with Merit Fortune as the refining fire, and remembered that he could Restart.
• Lu Yang made Yu Suzhen a humanoid Cauldron whose cultivation and Fortune he could drain, and planned to pass the Heaven-Stealing Secret to her so she could grow stronger.
• Liu Xin gave Yu Suzhen the Primordial Dao Scripture, then carried her into his cave residence after pretending they were going to discuss the Dao.
• A day later, Yu Suzhen revealed that she had poisoned Liu Xin because she suspected his intentions, and said she would learn his methods before draining him; Liu Xin spat blood and fainted.

Lu Yang set Yu Suzhen on a path to power with Heaven-Stealing Secret, then left the Sacred Sect to pursue other opportunities and prepare for a future Foundation Establishment breakthrough. On the road, he released Chen Xin'an from the Ten Thousand Spirit Banner and began questioning the newly awakened true disciple.

• Lu Yang secretly replaced the Primordial Breath Ten Thousand Spirit Banner and altered Yu Suzhen's copy of the Primordial Dao Scripture, giving her Heaven-Stealing Secret instead.
• Yu Suzhen used Heaven-Stealing Secret to drain cultivators and broke through to the Middle Qi Refining Stage, while Lu Yang watched and planned to use her to target Xiao Shiye and the Colorful Merit Fish.
• Lu Yang decided to leave the Sacred Sect, reasoning that distance would help him evade a Foundation Establishment True Person if his scheme drew attention and would give him time to attempt Foundation Establishment.
• Lu Yang traveled toward the mortal world with the Ten Thousand Spirit Banner and released Chen Xin'an, who realized Liu Xin was dead and asked whether Lu Yang had killed him.
• Lu Yang confirmed that he had killed Liu Xin, while Chen Xin'an failed to recognize him as a Sacred Sect Disciple.

Lu Yang used his Saint Thief status to search Chen Xin'an’s memories, uncovering a possession scheme and learning the Severing Thoughts to See Self Heavenly Silkworm Secret. After hearing about the cultivation paths across the world, Lu Yang decided to return to Skull Mountain and investigate the Witch Ghost Secret Realm for a way to improve his chances of Foundation Establishment.

• Chen Xin'an lied that destroying the Ten Thousand Spirit Banner would prevent the spirits from reincarnating, but Lu Yang recognized the deception and suppressed him with his Saint Thief status.
• Lu Yang forced Chen Xin'an to reveal that he planned to teach him the Severing Thoughts to See Self Heavenly Silkworm Secret, withhold its unifying method, and possess him after his mind split into nine consciousnesses.
• Chen Xin'an revealed that he was a Divided Spirit of the already-dead Chen Xin'an and disclosed the complete secret method to Lu Yang.
• Chen Xin'an identified Lu Yang as a Sacred Sect Disciple and wondered why he lacked the restrictions normally placed on disciples who received great divine abilities.
• Chen Xin'an described the cultivation paths of Jiangdong, Jiangxi, and Overseas, and Lu Yang decided to return to Skull Mountain to explore the Witch Ghost Secret Realm for Foundation Establishment opportunities.

Lu Yang entered the Witch Ghost Secret Realm cautiously, testing the Sword Qi that guarded its entrance before sending in his Primordial Breath Avatar. Inside, he learned the realm held living people and a ghost-devouring path of survival, unlike the empty secret realm he remembered, and wondered what would cause the Sword Qi to destroy it.

• Lu Yang found the Witch Ghost Secret Realm and used Chen Xin'an and other Banner Spirits to test its Golden Core Sword Qi, discovering that it allowed entry but prevented escape.
• After waiting for his Primordial Breath Avatar to regain the Martial Dao Celestial realm, Lu Yang sent it into the secret realm and explored a ruined city filled with Earthly Baleful Yin Qi.
• A youth pulled Lu Yang toward cover from a Yellow Robe old man, but Lu Yang searched the youth's soul to learn the secret realm's language, history, and ways of survival.
• Lu Yang learned that people in the realm could not cultivate under the Sword Qi overhead and sought survival by devouring ghosts, then questioned why the realm had been alive in this life but empty in his previous one.

Lu Yang discovered that the Witch Ghosts in the secret realm carried fragments of a great divine ability and began capturing them with his Ten Thousand Spirit Banner. When a black-robed Daoist confronted him, Lu Yang thwarted his ghost’s soul-catching power and recognized the great divine ability behind the Daoist’s summoned Patriarch.

• Lu Yang learned how mortals in the secret realm used the Command Ghosts to Serve Yama system and refined a Yellow-Clad Ghost into a Banner Spirit.
• Lu Yang realized the Witch Ghosts carried fragments connected to a great divine ability and decided to gather them with the Ten Thousand Spirit Banner.
• A black-robed Daoist arrived with attendants and accused Lu Yang of killing the local Ghost Messenger and stealing the Witch Ghosts.
• The Daoist used Name-Calling Fall to divine Lu Yang’s name, but Lu Yang obscured his Karma and stopped the attack.
• The Daoist summoned the Tingyou Sect Patriarch through a red-wax statue, and Lu Yang recognized the divine ability beneath it as Mysterious Underworld Lord Soul-Capturing Position.

Lu Yang destroyed the Tingyou Sect’s Patriarch Statue and defeated the black-robed Daoist, then discovered that Witch Ghosts revived through the Earth Vein beneath Skull Mountain. He captured the newly revived ghost anyway, unconcerned about the damage to the Earth Vein or his future merit.

• Lu Yang’s Primordial Breath Avatar fought Patriarch Tingyou’s Red Wax Idol, while his true body trapped it in the Blood-Washing Heavenly River Sword Formation Map and crushed it with the Saint Thief’s power.
• Lu Yang collected the Mysterious Underworld Lord Soul-Capturing Position from the idol’s remains and concluded that the Tingyou Sect’s Patriarch was a reincarnated Foundation Establishment cultivator.
• The black-robed Daoist attacked Lu Yang in rage, and Lu Yang crushed him into powder with Primordial True Qi.
• Lu Yang waited and watched the black-robed Daoist revive as the Witch Ghost Name-Calling Fall, learning that Witch Ghosts returned through the Earth Vein beneath Skull Mountain.
• Lu Yang seized the revived Witch Ghost and tossed it into the Ten Thousand Spirit Banner despite the potential cost to the Earth Vein and his merit.