Chapter Summaries

Lu Yang entered the Immortal Pivot and used the Jade Book of Void Insight and Karmic Pacification to obtain four Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, reaching Foundation Establishment Perfection and forming Pine and Cypress Wood. As the True Lords debated which faction he belonged to, Sky Soaring contacted him and suggested they meet.

• Lu Yang sent the Banner Spirits to the Northern Exorcism Institute and planned to use it to establish tribulations and rebuild the Righteous Dao.
• Lu Yang entered the Immortal Pivot, causing the Old Dragon Lord to flee and drawing the attention of more than ten covert observers.
• Lu Yang used the Jade Book of Void Insight and Karmic Pacification to summon Geng Metal, Yin Wood, Xin Metal, and Mao Wood.
• Lu Yang formed his Dao Foundation and Lifebound Divine Ability, reaching Foundation Establishment Perfection as the four elements became Pine and Cypress Wood.
• The Immortal Pivot's True Lords concluded that Lu Yang was likely a returning Sacred Sect True Lord, while Lu Yang wondered why Pine and Cypress Wood had appeared without a ritual.
• Sky Soaring sent Lu Yang a message suggesting they meet.

Lu Yang claimed the Pine and Cypress Wood Fruit Position, gaining the True Constant Heart mystery and the chance to restore the Dharma Body Path. Sky Soaring appeared after shielding them from other True Lords’ attention, and Lu Yang invited him to continue their conversation in the Heavenly Remnant Consciousness.

• Lu Yang used the five divine powers he had refined to claim Pine and Cypress Wood without a ritual, while Sky Soaring sensed a possible connection to his sealed past.
• Lu Yang gained complete command of Pine and Cypress Wood and realized he could eventually perfect his Dharma Body, but restrained himself from doing so immediately.
• Lu Yang learned that True Constant Heart accelerated his recovery and permanently weakened repeated attacks against him, and he decided Pine and Cypress Wood suited him.
• Sky Soaring concealed Lu Yang from the observing True Lords, asked how Lu Yang knew about Chen Earth's affairs, and heard Lu Yang propose they speak in the Heavenly Remnant Consciousness.

In the Human World, Lu Yang explained the flaws in Sky Soaring’s Five Elements Fruit Position and asked how he had achieved Five Elements Perfection despite them. Sky Soaring agreed to reveal his secret after Lu Yang captured Hongyun, and Lu Yang returned to the Xuanling Realm to cultivate Divine Firmament Thunder.

• Lu Yang explained how Sky Soaring’s Fruit Position allocation had deficiencies, especially the incompatibility between Sand-In-Metal Earth and Great Forest Wood.
• Lu Yang revealed that the Fruit Position controlled as the foundation had to be supported by compatible ingredients, prompting a powerful radiant phenomenon in the Human World.
• Sky Soaring withheld the explanation for his Five Elements Perfection until Lu Yang offered to help kill Hongyun.
• Lu Yang and Sky Soaring agreed to discuss the secret after Lu Yang captured Hongyun, and Sky Soaring left the Human World.
• Lu Yang returned to the Xuanling Realm, accepted a quiet chamber from the Supreme, and began closed-door cultivation to perfect Divine Firmament Thunder.

After ten years of cultivation, Lu Yang perfected Divine Firmament Thunder and prepared to condense its Fruit Position mystery with Patriarch Tingyou’s formation treasures. He chose to specialize in modifying Images, then established the Heart Demon Tribulation across the Void Darkness Light Sea and named his new mystery the Great Tribulation Lord.

• Lu Yang completed Divine Firmament Thunder by adding the missing Wood element to its Image.
• Lu Yang entered the Northern Exorcism Institute, where Patriarch Tingyou provided a Mystery-Illuminating Mirror and seven Origin-Responding Cauldrons to aid his Fruit Position mystery.
• Lu Yang weighed observation, deconstruction, combination, and modification, then chose to specialize in modifying Images.
• Lu Yang used his ascension ritual to transform the Image of inner obsessions into the living Heart Demon Tribulation, spreading the change through the Void Darkness Light Sea.
• Lu Yang named his newly formed Divine Firmament Thunder mystery the Great Tribulation Lord.

After completing his Fruit Position Ascension Ritual, Lu Yang considered its strengths and flaws and planned to revive the Righteous Dao and establish the Northern Exorcism Institute. Meanwhile, the newly created Heart Demon Tribulation nearly killed Daoist Lan and left Chen Shan warning him that cultivators across the Xuanling Realm were falling to it.

• Lu Yang returned to the Heavenly Court as a First-Class True Lord and reflected on the instability of his Fruit Position Ascension Ritual, comparing it with True Lord Flying Snow's and Patriarch Tingyou's rituals.
• Lu Yang decided to reestablish the Righteous Dao and promote the Northern Exorcism Institute by offering lightning arts to fight Heart Demons.
• Daoist Lan survived a lightning tribulation, but a Heart Demon tricked him with a vision of becoming Supreme before he realized he was about to step into an abyss.
• Daoist Lan escaped the illusion as the Heart Demon vanished, then met Chen Shan, who said the new Heart Demon Tribulation had killed many cultivators.
• Chen Shan was struck by lightning after warning Daoist Lan not to curse Lu Yang, and Daoist Lan worried about how anyone could survive increasingly difficult tribulations.

Daoist Chenshan recruited Daoist Lan into the Righteous Dao by promising protection from lightning and Heart Demon tribulations, while Lu Yang opened the Righteous Dao and founded the Northern Exorcism Institute across Immortal Pivot. The chapter left Chongguang accepting Lu Yang’s Dharma Seal in hopes of continuing his severed Dao Path.

• Daoist Chenshan told Daoist Lan about the Righteous Dao’s tribulation-reducing Talismans and the Northern Exorcism Institute’s lightning arts against Heart Demons.
• Daoist Lan accepted Chenshan’s Jade Plaque and flew to the Heavenly Court to register, while Chenshan sought more recruits so he could enter the Institute.
• Lu Yang sent Dharma Seals across Immortal Pivot and announced the founding of the Righteous Dao and Northern Exorcism Institute, offering to teach divine abilities and methods for eliminating Heart Demons while excluding Pure Land cultivators.
• True Lord Flying Snow allowed Sacred Sect disciples to pursue the new path, and Chongguang took one of Lu Yang’s Dharma Seals.
• Chongguang activated the Dharma Seal, which opened the Sea of Suffering and carried him away as he sought help continuing his Dao Path.

Lu Yang learned that the Sun-Shooting Bow was only part of a larger Dao soldier and wondered why Dao Lords maintained lineages. After sensing that Martial Uncle Chongguang had arrived, Lu Yang saw a chance to use him to improve his flawed Heart Demon Tribulation ritual.

• Lu Yang visited the Northern Exorcism Institute and asked Patriarch Tingyou about the Banner Spirits' progress on designing Dao soldiers.
• Patriarch Tingyou explained that the Sun-Shooting Bow's plans were incomplete and suggested it belonged to a larger city-like Dao soldier with repair facilities.
• Lu Yang reasoned that the Star Palace would eventually seek cooperation with him to preserve the Xuanling Realm as a bridgehead.
• Lu Yang asked why Dao Lords established lineages, and Patriarch Tingyou suggested that burdening themselves with Lower Cultivators might be the purpose.
• Lu Yang sensed that Martial Uncle Chongguang had chosen him and decided Chongguang could help strengthen his Heart Demon Tribulation ritual.
• Chongguang arrived in an unfamiliar hall after passing through a vast Sea of Imagery and wondered where he had been brought.

Chongguang sought an audience with Lu Yang, offering a way to hinder Sky Soaring in exchange for a path to advancement. Lu Yang instead gave him a perilous method to become a Heart Demon attached to Lu Yang, while a vast resentment connected itself to Lu Yang from the Void Darkness Light Sea.

• Chongguang entered the empty hall, saw its righteous inscriptions, and asked to serve the Immortal Lord of Tribulation and Karma in exchange for a Dao Path.
• Lu Yang appeared after Chongguang offered a way to deal with Sky Soaring, and Chongguang endured the force of Lu Yang’s gaze without collapsing.
• Lu Yang agreed to help Chongguang and offered him a dangerous path that could lead to a position no worse than that of an orthodox True Lord, but could also destroy his soul.
• Lu Yang handed Chongguang The Scripture of the Self-Transforming Freedom Heart Demon, a method designed to strengthen Lu Yang’s Fruit Position Ascension Ritual through a Heart Demon True Lord.
• Lu Yang sensed a fierce, ancient resentment connecting to him and thought that the Void Darkness Light Sea had suffered ascetics for too long.

Lu Yang traced the history of the Void Darkness Light Sea through the Karmic Net and uncovered how cultivators, their three Great Daos, and Fruit Positions had developed. The connection broke when he approached forbidden knowledge, leaving him injured but aware of a dormant Great Dao called Tribulation.

• Lu Yang sensed karmic memories revealing that the Void Darkness Light Sea’s first cultivators triggered a great Tribulation as the Sea’s automatic defense against cultivators.
• The memories showed Dharma Body and dharma power cultivators fighting for a thousand years, until the Spell Dao emerged and the three groups later reached a truce.
• Lu Yang learned that Si Sui devoured Fruit Positions to take control of the Dharma Body Great Dao, while masters eventually arose for the Dharma Power Dao and Spell Dao.
• The three Great Dao masters discovered that the Dao Path had been severed and secluded themselves to seek a breakthrough.
• A deafening boom severed Lu Yang’s connection to the Karmic Net, and he used True Constant Heart to survive the backlash from forbidden knowledge.
• Lu Yang concluded that the Void Darkness Light Sea had a dormant, anti-cultivator Great Dao called Tribulation.

At the Northern Exorcism Institute, Lu Yang watched Chongguang master the He Transforms into the Heart Demon Scripture and manifest a Heart Demon shaped by his lifelong pursuit of the Dao. Lu Yang sent Chongguang to Jiangnan Sword Pavilion to attempt the perilous path to True Lord, and Chongguang’s return to the world stirred Tribulation.

• Lu Yang and Chongguang emerged from their meditation after the Karmic Net collapsed, and Chongguang thanked Lu Yang for his guidance.
• Chongguang revealed that he had refined a Heaven of Freedom and gained the ability to enlighten and command Heart Demons.
• Lu Yang examined Chongguang’s Heart Demon, recognizing it as a manifestation of Chongguang’s unwavering desire to seek the Dao.
• Lu Yang explained that Chongguang could reach True Lord by devouring a True Lord’s Heart Demon, but warned that failure would destroy his soul and True Self.
• Chongguang agreed to pursue the Heart Demon path, and Lu Yang directed him to Jiangnan Sword Pavilion to confront True Lord Cheng Tian Zhengde’s Heart Demon affliction.
• After Lu Yang sent Chongguang back to Immortal Pivot, the Karmic Net trembled and Tribulation answered his return.

Lu Yang used the Great Tribulation Lord to alter Hongyun’s decision and set a minor Tribulation in motion, hoping to awaken the Sea of Suffering’s missing Image and perceive the Great Dao of Tribulation. He saw Tribulation stirring within the Sea of Suffering and resolved to use it to kill True Lord Cheng Tian Zhengde.

• Lu Yang concluded that sensing Tribulation required a chain of events capable of bringing about the death of a higher-realm cultivator, and he decided to target a Golden Core True Lord.
• Lu Yang used the Great Tribulation Lord to modify an event in the Sea of Suffering, causing Hongyun to choose to travel to Gantang Circuit and reclaim his Grotto-Heaven Fragment.
• Hongyun left Sacred Fire Cliff, convinced his fortune favored the journey and that Xue Feihong could help guard against any trap.
• Lu Yang realized his alteration had opened a minor Tribulation without alerting Hongyun or Feixue, and the Sea of Suffering revealed a glimpse of the Great Dao of Tribulation.
• Lu Yang decided to use the Tribulation to kill True Lord Cheng Tian Zhengde and deepen his perception of the Dao.

Xiaohai True Person broke through to Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, giving the Coastal Li Clan hope of resisting the Jiangbei demons, but the Sword Pavilion’s attention left him fearful. A hidden Daoist revealed that Xiaohai’s Heart Demon had emerged and planned to use him to refine a second Heart Demon Innate Divine Ability.

• The Coastal Li Clan argued over whether to resist the Jiangbei demons or surrender until Xiaohai True Person arrived.
• Xiaohai True Person displayed his Ren Water Innate Divine Ability, Dragon-Roving Rain, and the Li Clan Head announced his breakthrough to Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.
• Xiaohai told the clan that the Sword Pavilion would send a cultivator to assist them, though privately he feared the Sword Pavilion intended to kill him.
• A hazy shadow warned Xiaohai that the Sword Pavilion wanted to seize his opportunity and urged him to choose whether to live or resign himself to fate.
• Invisible black qi emerged from Xiaohai’s Sea of Consciousness and formed a Heart Demon in his likeness while he remained unaware.
• A Daoist above Gantang Circuit revealed that he had nurtured Xiaohai’s breakthrough and intended to use his Heart Demon to refine a second Heart Demon Innate Divine Ability.

Chongguang ambushed Ye Guyue with his Heart Demon abilities, then used them to alter her memories and make her believe she had been his disciple. As his Heart Demon grew more powerful and began to influence his own thoughts, Chongguang resolved to use a trap in Jiangnan to target Hongyun and True Lord Cheng Tian Zhengde.

• Ye Guyue flew toward Jiangnan, intending to kill Xiaohai True Person and absorb the Coastal Li Clan's opportunities into the Sword Pavilion.
• Chongguang appeared before Ye Guyue and used Formless Realm to invade her Sea of Consciousness, leaving her trapped in a Heart Demon illusion.
• Chongguang used Five Poisons Heart to erase Ye Guyue's confusion and convince her that she had been his disciple before reincarnating into the Sword Pavilion.
• Chongguang realized his Heart Demon had begun magnifying his doubts, suppressed it, and reaffirmed his determination to keep using the He Transforms into the Heart Demon Scripture.
• Chongguang decided to set a trap in Jiangnan for Hongyun and True Lord Cheng Tian Zhengde, hoping to devour stronger cultivators.

Lu Yang celebrated gaining Chongguang’s Heart Demon divine abilities and studied the World Honored One’s cultivation method for principles he could adapt. In Gantang Circuit, Chongguang recognized that a Tribulation was underway and prepared to draw Hongyun into the conflict over the Grotto-Heaven Fragment.

• Lu Yang received three Heart Demon divine abilities from Chongguang and hoped to use them to strengthen Heart Demons and profit from selling lightning techniques.
• Lu Yang examined the Great Derivation Divine Refining Art and planned to adapt its useful principles into his own cultivation method.
• Chongguang sensed an unexplained chill but refrained from calculating its cause, believing the Karmic Net’s silence marked a rare opportunity and a Tribulation.
• Chongguang summoned Xiaohai True Person and Ye Guyue, saw that Heart Demons had replaced their souls, and asked how many people had arrived outside Gantang Circuit.
• Xiaohai True Person reported that True Person Tanxu had surrounded Gantang Circuit, and Chongguang resolved to use the confrontation to lure Hongyun into the fray.

The Peak Master of Heaven Mending and Wu Cang laid a trap outside Gantang Circuit to ambush Ye Guyue and Xiaohai True Person, while Chongguang watched from the clouds and devised a plan to escalate the conflict between the Sacred Sect and Sword Pavilion. The two sides moved toward a confrontation, with Chongguang aiming to draw out a Sword Pavilion Great True Person for the Heart Demon.

• The Peak Master of Heaven Mending criticized Wu Cang for thinking like a loose cultivator and explained that Xiaohai True Person would come out if Ye Guyue had arrived as reinforcements.
• The Peak Master of Heaven Mending revealed that he had intercepted Ye Clan communications to learn Ye Guyue's movements, then ordered Wu Cang to lure her and Xiaohai True Person into the formation.
• Xiaohai True Person and Ye Guyue left Gantang Circuit and charged toward the three Sacred Sect cultivators.
• Chongguang identified Chen Taihe beneath the smoky veil and noted that his Edict Jade Token made attacking him risky.
• Chongguang decided to target the Sword Pavilion, draw out a Great True Person for the Heart Demon to devour, and use the resulting escalation to justify confronting the Peak Master of Heaven Mending.

Wu Cang and Xiaohai True Person's clash filled the battlefield with fog, allowing the Peak Master of Heaven Mending to trap Ye Guyue. Chongguang then used Five Poisons Heart to command Ye Guyue to self-destruct, while plotting to delay Chen Taihe and attract a powerful Sword Pavilion cultivator.

• Wu Cang unleashed Heavenly Furnace Divergent Fire, and Xiaohai True Person used the Territory-Expanding Ship to escape before summoning Dragon-Roving Rain, which fed the flames and filled the battlefield with fog.
• Ye Guyue feigned being caught by Wu Cang's fire, giving the Peak Master of Heaven Mending an opening to strike her with Mountain-Sitting Lord and suppress her with Red Ru Scale.
• Ye Guyue struggled against the Peak Master of Heaven Mending's oceanic suppression, while the fog obstructed Divine Thought across the battlefield.
• Chongguang used three Heart Demon divine abilities to incapacitate Wu Cang and Pu Xu, then decided he needed a Great True Person to strengthen his Heart Demon.
• Chongguang used Five Poisons Heart on Ye Guyue and commanded her to self-destruct.

After Ye Guyue self-destructed and Xiaohai True Person escaped, Lu Yang used the Great Tribulation Lord to alter the likely response to the crisis in Gantang Circuit. True Person Demon-Subduer volunteered to confront the demonic fiends instead of True Person Demon-Queller, setting out to face the conflict himself.

• Ye Guyue self-destructed with her Spiritual Treasures, badly injuring the Peak Master of Heaven Mending and disrupting the battlefield.
• The Peak Master of Heaven Mending learned that Xiaohai True Person had escaped and ordered a Flying Message sent to Hongyun requesting reinforcements, including a Great True Person.
• Lu Yang examined possible outcomes and changed the flow of events so that True Person Demon-Subduer would respond instead of True Person Demon-Queller.
• Ye Shaoying received news of Ye Guyue's death and prepared to ask True Person Demon-Queller to intervene.
• True Person Demon-Subduer volunteered to deal with the demonic fiends and set out for Gantang Circuit.

Hongyun grew suspicious of the situation in Gantang Circuit and sought True Lord Flying Snow’s advice, but she refused to intervene and told him to send Hongju instead. In the Sea of Suffering, Lu Yang realized True Lord Flying Snow had kept Hongyun out of his minor tribulation, then turned his attention to Sword Pavilion.

• Hongyun recovered to Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, grew angry at Chen Taihe’s report, and sensed that something was wrong.
• A message about Sword Pavilion dispatching True Person Demon-Subduer prompted Hongyun to visit True Lord Flying Snow without first calculating the omens.
• True Lord Flying Snow found no abnormality in her calculations but suspected Hongyun was shifting the risk to her, so she refused to help and ordered him to keep Hongju’s mission while staying at Sacred Fire Cliff.
• Hongyun agreed to send Hongju and concealed his resentment toward True Lord Flying Snow.
• Lu Yang observed that True Lord Flying Snow had preserved Hongyun from his tribulation and concluded that his current power could not manipulate cultivators at the same level.
• Lu Yang left Hongyun alone for the moment and turned his attention toward Sword Pavilion.

True Person Demon-Subduer arrived at Gantang Circuit seeking to kill the Peak Master of Heaven Mending, while Chongguang watched and planned to exploit the conflict. Hongju then approached the circuit to retrieve a Grotto-Heaven Fragment, unaware that Chongguang intended to strike when the sides were weakened.

• True Person Demon-Subduer broke through Gantang Circuit’s forbidden formations and defeated Xiao Hai True Person’s Dragon-Roving Rain with his own divine ability.
• True Person Demon-Subduer condemned Xiao Hai True Person for surviving Junior Sister Ye’s death and declared that he would be relegated to a menial disciple.
• Chongguang observed through the Heart Demon and restrained it, deciding to gather intelligence before attacking True Person Demon-Subduer.
• Chongguang sensed a new arrival and planned to attack after the opposing sides had fought until both were battered.
• Hongju arrived with the Peak Master of Heaven Mending, Pu Xu, and Wu Cang, intending to retrieve the Grotto-Heaven Fragment beneath Gantang Circuit and leave quickly.

Chongguang used his Heart Demon to keep True Person Demon-Subduer confused while Long Tu tried to awaken him, tricking Long Tu into exhausting much of his Divine Thought. Chongguang revealed the deception and prepared to kill Long Tu.

• True Person Demon-Subduer considered retreating when he sensed Chongguang was a Foundation Establishment Perfection cultivator, but Xiaohai True Person's Heart Demon stirred his fury.
• Long Tu's Divine Thought warned True Person Demon-Subduer that a soul technique was influencing him, and Chongguang realized Long Tu was an extraterrestrial wanderer without Gold Nature.
• Chongguang alternated between easing and strengthening the Heart Demon's influence, making Long Tu believe his Divine Thought was repeatedly restoring True Person Demon-Subduer's clarity.
• Long Tu spent large portions of his Divine Thought attacking Chongguang, mistaking his exaggerated cries and apparent weakness for signs that his assaults were working.
• Chongguang dropped his act, thanked Long Tu for the Divine Thought, and declared that he would kill him.