Chapter Summaries

Lu Yang sent the corrupting Time-Shifting World-Transposing Instrument to the Star Palace, then predicted that the wounded Primordial Heavenly Demon would seek refuge in the Ten Thousand Martial Realm. He waited in the Void Darkness Light Sea and encountered the demon as it arrived.

• Lu Yang feared the Time-Shifting World-Transposing Instrument would erode his Dao Heart, so he sent it through a Star Gate to the Star Palace.
• Lu Yang reasoned that the Primordial Heavenly Demon would leave the Immortal Pivot and seek a new opportunity beyond it.
• Lu Yang concluded that the wounded demon would first visit an Outer Dao Great Realm Heaven rather than head straight to the Celestial Court.
• Lu Yang went to the Ten Thousand Martial Realm and waited in the Void Darkness Light Sea.
• The Primordial Heavenly Demon emerged from the void and found Lu Yang waiting for it.

Lu Yang attacked the Primordial Heavenly Demon with a thunderous palm, while the demon resisted by embracing his own identity and drawing on the Ten Thousand Martial Realm. Lu Yang crushed him and transformed his hand into part of the realm, leaving the demon’s fate uncertain.

• Lu Yang pursued the Primordial Heavenly Demon through the Void Darkness Light Sea and used Divine Firmament Thunder to prevent him from escaping or splitting into avatars.
• The Primordial Heavenly Demon recalled that he had originated as the Heart Demon of the Dragon-Serpent Shadow Bodhisattva and resolved not to become a discarded piece.
• The Primordial Heavenly Demon abandoned most of his body and fled as Xuan light while his remaining form tried to hold back Lu Yang’s palm.
• The Ten Thousand Martial Realm’s Destiny Stars and Decree Fruit Positions responded to the Primordial Heavenly Demon, but his sacrifice and the realm’s support could not stop Lu Yang’s palm.
• Lu Yang’s palm struck the Ten Thousand Martial Realm, crushing the Primordial Heavenly Demon and forming a bottomless crater.
• Lu Yang formed a Dharma Seal and turned his hand to rock, merging it seamlessly with the Ten Thousand Martial Realm.

Lu Yang sealed the Primordial Heavenly Demon beneath a mountain and learned that the Dao Lords had kept the World Honored One and Sacred Sect Ancestor from intervening. Seeing the Heavenly Demon sink into despair, Lu Yang urged him to join forces for revenge and offered him a role in a larger plan.

• Lu Yang left a fissure in the mountain sealing the Primordial Heavenly Demon so Spiritual Qi could reach him, then reasoned that the other Dao Lords had blocked Heaven's intervention.
• The Primordial Heavenly Demon recovered enough to take human form, but Lu Yang explained that his mountain seal was reinforced by his Dao Fruit, the Jade Book of Void Insight, Karmic Pacification, and the Ten Thousand Martial Realm.
• The Primordial Heavenly Demon explained that his despair had caused a Heart Demon to arise within his Heavenly Demon body, then shut himself away.
• Lu Yang realized the Primordial Heavenly Demon might become mindless if his obsession faded, so he told him that devouring Lu Yang's True Demon could restore him to his peak.
• Lu Yang appealed to the Primordial Heavenly Demon's desire for revenge against the Dao Lords and extended a hand, asking him to join forces as a chess piece.

Lu Yang summoned Chongguang to the Demon-Quelling Mountain Range and arranged for him to temper his obsession against the imprisoned Primordial Heavenly Demon rather than devour it. After creating a Divine General to serve beneath him, Lu Yang revealed his plan to blow up the Netherworld and make the Dao Lords’ Other Shore collapse.

• Lu Yang told Chongguang that the Primordial Heavenly Demon was sealed beneath the mountain and offered him the chance to devour it.
• Chongguang refused to devour the demon, explaining that their conflicting obsessions would weaken his control, but agreed to use it to temper himself.
• Lu Yang brought Chongguang to the imprisoned Primordial Heavenly Demon, and the two Heart Demons debated their different understandings of obsession.
• Lu Yang summoned the Thunder-Subduing Axe-Wielding Demon-Quelling Divine General from the Northern Exorcism Institute and placed it beneath his command.
• Lu Yang recalled a plan to open the Netherworld and wondered whether destroying it would collapse the Other Shore and bring the great figures in the heavens down.

Lu Yang left the Primordial Heavenly Demon and Chongguang sealed together, using nourishing lightning to strengthen them while he prepared for a future plan against the Other Shore. Back in the Xuanling Realm, Upper True Haoyuan arrived to confront him over the chaos his actions had caused in the Star Palace.

• Lu Yang ordered the Thunder-Subduing Axe-Wielding Demon-Quelling Divine General to guard the seal and strike the Primordial Heavenly Demon daily with nourishing lightning, strengthening both the demon and Chongguang.
• The Primordial Heavenly Demon resolved to become Tribulation and challenge the Dao Lord, while Lu Yang left the Ten Thousand Martial Realm and considered how he would enlist him and Chongguang in future plans.
• Lu Yang returned to the Xuanling Realm and planned to investigate De Chongfu's Heavenly Remnant Consciousness, but the Xuanling Realm Supreme warned him that the Star Palace had come looking for him.
• Upper True Haoyuan explained that the Star Palace had delayed confronting Lu Yang because the birth of the Heart Demons and the True Demon had repeatedly changed their plans.
• Upper True Haoyuan said Lu Yang's recent use of the Star Gate had thrown the Star Palace's secluded cultivation chambers into chaos, so the Star Palace had decided to reclaim his Star Gate and deal with him promptly.

Lu Yang negotiated a public alliance with Star Palace in exchange for a hegemon-grade Dao armament that could enhance his Fruit Positions. Star Soul revealed that the armament relied on the oldest Forbidden Knowledge, which had killed every cultivator who learned it except him.

• Haoyuan Upper True offered cooperation, and Lu Yang agreed to provide Star Palace with free Demon-Breaking Thunder Talismans.
• Haoyuan Upper True asked Lu Yang for fifty thousand years of lifespan, a public alliance, and help taking the Celestial Court and locating the Dharma Body Path; Lu Yang agreed to all three in exchange for a hegemon-grade Dao armament.
• Haoyuan Upper True brought Star Soul, the designer of the armament, to tailor it to Lu Yang's Fruit Position.
• Star Soul explained that the hegemon-grade Dao armament worked by inscribing Forbidden Knowledge into a medium made from strategic-grade Dao armaments.
• Haoyuan Upper True revealed that every cultivator who had learned the oldest Forbidden Knowledge had exploded to death, including a Great True Lord of the Dharma Power Dao, except Star Soul.

Star Soul explained that Supreme Fruit Positions embodied source laws, including the Five Heavenly Numbers, and Lu Yang realized Tribulation could elevate Divine Firmament Thunder to a Supreme Fruit Position. Haoyuan Upper True hinted at Star Soul’s extraordinary background but revealed only a cryptic “Eh.”

• Lu Yang avoided hearing Forbidden Knowledge and asked whether hegemon-class Dao weapons could enhance Supreme Fruit Positions.
• Star Soul described Supreme Fruit Positions as source laws and named Yin-Yang, the Five Elements, the Three Foundations, and the Five Heavenly Numbers.
• Star Soul explained that Fixed Number, Variable, Fortune, Destiny, and Tribulation governed all forms and affairs, prompting Lu Yang to connect them to the Dao Lords and the World Honored One.
• Lu Yang realized Tribulation’s blessing could raise Divine Firmament Thunder to Supreme rank and support his plan to collapse the Other Shore.
• Star Soul confirmed that hegemon-class Dao weapons could enhance Supreme Fruit Positions, and Lu Yang asked Haoyuan Upper True about Star Soul’s background.
• Haoyuan Upper True said one word, “Eh,” as his answer about Star Soul.

Lu Yang learned that Star Soul had been enlightened by the Dao Lord of Dharma Power Dao but was now severely contaminated by the World Honored One, and Star Palace promised to forge him an uncontaminated overlord-grade Dao soldier within thirty years. As Lu Yang returned home, Sky Soaring appeared, and Lu Yang asked him to honor his promise to answer questions.

• Upper True Haoyuan explained that Star Soul had once overseen Star Palace and its Array Treasure research, but World Honored One contamination had left him half-mad and forced Star Palace to imprison him.
• Lu Yang worried Star Soul might taint his overlord-grade Dao soldier, and Upper True Haoyuan promised Star Palace would repeatedly test it for contamination.
• Upper True Haoyuan reclaimed the Star Gate and said the Dao soldier would be ready within thirty years, when Lu Yang must collect it in person and travel with Star Palace to the Celestial Court.
• Lu Yang denied having any connection to Sacred Sect after Upper True Haoyuan left, then encountered Sky Soaring on his way home.
• Lu Yang told Sky Soaring that Hongyun was at his disposal and Feixue would no longer interfere, then demanded the promised answers to his questions.

Lu Yang and Sky Soaring traded questions about the gap between Great True Lords and Dao Lords, the six steps toward proving the Other Shore, and the Lord of Netherworld. Lu Yang revealed that the Lord of Netherworld was near death, leaving Sky Soaring with crucial knowledge for his plans.

• Lu Yang guessed that Sky Soaring had combined the Empty Attainment Great Dao with Five Elements Fruit Positions, and Sky Soaring confirmed it indirectly.
• Lu Yang asked how Great True Lords compared with Dao Lords, and Sky Soaring proposed that they trade questions and answers.
• Sky Soaring asked what connection Netherworld had to Tribulation, and Lu Yang denied that there was one.
• Sky Soaring explained that six steps led from Late Golden Core toward Golden Core Perfection and seeking proof of the Other Shore.
• Sky Soaring asked what state the Lord of Netherworld was in, and Lu Yang revealed that the Lord was near death and had used up his avatar to contact him.

Lu Yang and Sky Soaring bargained over their remaining questions, and Sky Soaring explained the six steps of a Great True Lord. Lu Yang left as soon as he had the information, leaving Sky Soaring furious at being tricked.

• Sky Soaring inferred that the Netherworld's master was near death and suspected the Sacred Sect's Old Immortal wanted him to kill the master.
• Lu Yang proposed exchanging partial answers until one of them pieced together the other's full secret, and Sky Soaring agreed.
• Sky Soaring explained the six Great True Lord steps, from entering through Golden Core completion, and described their links to Dao Fruit Secret Arts and the Other Shore.
• Lu Yang identified the limits of Great True Lords who gathered the Three Lines, and Sky Soaring confirmed his deduction.
• Lu Yang vanished from the Human World after receiving the explanation, and Sky Soaring erupted in anger at being played.

After learning how powerful he had become, Lu Yang realized that imperfection and Variables could undermine even the greatest schemes. Sky Soaring moved to reclaim Covered Lamp Fire and Long Flowing Water, but Lu Yang struck at Suo Huan instead of Hongyun, leaving Sky Soaring confused.

• Lu Yang placed the Xuanling Realm on alert and reflected on Mu Changsheng's secrets and his own strength.
• Lu Yang realized that the world's inherent flaws and Variables could cause even Dao Lords' schemes to fail.
• Sky Soaring forced Hongyun to begin Golden Seeking and reclaim Covered Lamp Fire while True Lord Flying Snow remained focused on her breakthrough.
• Sky Soaring sensed Lu Yang's attack, but was astonished when a towering palm descended toward Suo Huan in Overseas instead of Hongyun.

Lu Yang intervened in Overseas to save Suo Huan from Sky Soaring’s scheme, severing his connection to Long Flowing Water and replacing him with Mu Changsheng’s Dao Abomination. Sky Soaring let Lu Yang go, then sent Covered Lamp Fire and Long Flowing Water into the Netherworld as Hongyun’s Golden Seeking failed and Hongyun died.

• Lu Yang reached from the Xuanling Realm into Overseas with his true Dharma Body and confronted Sky Soaring while enclosing Suo Huan and Long Flowing Water in his palm.
• Lu Yang told Sky Soaring he only wanted to save Suo Huan, whom Sky Soaring had used as a pawn.
• Lu Yang severed Suo Huan’s connection to Long Flowing Water and replaced him with Mu Changsheng’s Dao Abomination.
• Sky Soaring concluded that Lu Yang had acted to save Suo Huan, reflected on his own past, and resolved to live only for himself.
• Sky Soaring sent Covered Lamp Fire and Long Flowing Water into the Netherworld as Hongyun’s Golden Seeking failed and Hongyun died.

Lu Yang used his counterfeit City-Wall Earth to inspect the Karmic Net and discovered that someone had altered the Karma surrounding the Primordial Heavenly Demon and Martial Uncle Chongguang. He traced the change to the World Honored One’s enlightened incarnation using the Time-Shifting World-Transposing Instrument, and found that Buddha Light had appeared where it should not have.

• Lu Yang dismissed concerns about rescuing Suo Huan and returned to his cave abode.
• Lu Yang transformed Divine Firmament Thunder into a counterfeit City-Wall Earth and used it to observe the Karmic Net.
• Lu Yang considered using the Dharma Body Path to attract Tribulation, while noting that Great Sea Water and Great Forest Wood were still missing from his plans.
• Lu Yang sensed a disturbance in the Karma concerning the Primordial Heavenly Demon and Martial Uncle Chongguang, then entered the Karmic Net to investigate.
• Lu Yang traced the altered Karma to the Time-Shifting World-Transposing Instrument and found that Buddha Light had descended on the third day after he suppressed the Primordial Heavenly Demon.

Lu Yang watched four Vajra Realm Tathagatas attack the seal holding the Primordial Heavenly Demon, but realized their assault was a distraction. The missing Vajra Realm Sun Tathagata, Di Mouni, appeared behind Lu Yang and revealed that he was the World Honored One’s true target.

• Lu Yang sensed a Vajra Realm force entering the scene of Karma and waited outside to see what it intended.
• The four Tathagatas transformed the Ten Thousand Martial Realm and attacked the Demon-Quelling Mountain Range to free the Primordial Heavenly Demon.
• The thunder talisman summoned the Thunder-Subduing Axe-Wielding Demon-Quelling Divine General, whose strike damaged the Buddha Land and drove the four Tathagatas back.
• Lu Yang realized that the attack on the mountain was a diversion and wondered where Vajra Realm Sun Tathagata was.
• Di Mouni appeared behind Lu Yang, introduced himself as Vajra Realm Sun Tathagata, and asked to speak with him.

Lu Yang met the World Honored One, who disguised his descent as the Vajra Realm Sun Tathagata and revealed that he knew of Lu Yang’s plan to overturn the Other Shore. The World Honored One expressed interest in cooperating, and Lu Yang resolved not to be intimidated into giving away his help for free.

• Lu Yang recognized that the Vajra Realm Sun Tathagata was the World Honored One’s True Self consciousness, though the Tathagata denied being the person Lu Yang had in mind for now.
• Lu Yang inferred that the World Honored One had secretly descended in disguise to avoid alerting the other Dao Lords.
• The World Honored One revealed that he knew Lu Yang planned to collapse the Netherworld and overturn the Other Shore, leaving Lu Yang stunned that his secret plan had been exposed.
• The World Honored One told Lu Yang that not knowing his own origins was a blessing and assured him that he had come in peace.
• The World Honored One claimed he had long been a friend to lower cultivators and said he had helped Sky Soaring, while Lu Yang suspected he had come seeking cooperation.
• Lu Yang resolved to hold firm and bargain rather than let the World Honored One exploit him for free.

Lu Yang negotiated with the Great Sun Tathagata of the Vajra Realm and received a Dao Fruit Secret Art to strengthen City-Wall Earth. He realized the art’s apparent dependence on Sky Soaring could be bypassed because he already possessed the mysteries of Covered Lamp Fire.

• The Great Sun Tathagata of the Vajra Realm mistook Lu Yang for an embodiment of vengeance and offered a City-Wall Earth Dao Fruit Secret Art as a trade.
• Lu Yang scanned the World Honored One’s Divine Thought and confirmed that it contained no traps.
• Lu Yang accepted the Time-Shifting World-Changing Dao Fruit, whose combination was City-Wall Earth, Covered Lamp Fire, and Pine and Cypress Wood.
• The Great Sun Tathagata of the Vajra Realm said Lu Yang would need to cooperate with Sky Soaring to obtain one Fruit Position, and Lu Yang feigned anger.
• Lu Yang concluded that the World Honored One meant to use him to draw attention away from Sky Soaring, but he could use his own Covered Lamp Fire mysteries instead.

After the World Honored One concealed the karma of their meeting, Lu Yang recovered the encounter through Patriarch Tingyou and reasoned that the World Honored One had inferred the Other Shore Collapse Plan from its causes rather than discovered it directly. Growing wary of further delays, Lu Yang entered De Chongfu, a fragment of Heavenly Remnant Consciousness arranged by the Monster-Rearing Peak Master.

• Lu Yang realized his memories of meeting the World Honored One had been obscured along with the karma of their encounter, leaving him with a false memory of a breakthrough.
• Patriarch Tingyou showed Lu Yang the encounter preserved through the Righteous Banner, giving him proof that the World Honored One had visited and concealed their meeting.
• Lu Yang and Patriarch Tingyou reasoned that the World Honored One had used karma to infer the possible collapse of Other Shore and may have been tasked with identifying dangerous Variables.
• Lu Yang decided not to wait for the Star Palace Dao soldiers and entered De Chongfu to investigate the Heavenly Remnant Consciousness fragment.

Lu Yang explored the ruined De Chongfu and found a Jade Slip containing a Netherworld blueprint, its knowledge purified by the World Honored One’s dharma light. He realized the Sacred Sect Ancestor may have arranged for the Jade Slip to reach him, leaving him alarmed that he was being plotted against again.

• Lu Yang entered the ruined De Chongfu and found a Jade Slip on a broken throne, surrounded by white light that shifted into seven colors.
• The Jade Slip played a recording of the First Generation Monster-Rearing Peak Master explaining the conditions for claiming his legacy and admitting that his secret realm had collapsed after his defeat.
• Lu Yang guessed that the Jade Slip was meant for someone who had entered Responding King, and suspected True Lord Flying Snow had pursued it on the Sacred Sect Ancestor’s orders.
• The Jade Slip opened for Lu Yang, and he received knowledge of the Netherworld’s blueprint, purified by the World Honored One’s dharma light.
• Lu Yang realized True Lord Flying Snow had traded away the Jade Slip despite its importance and feared the Sacred Sect Ancestor was plotting against him.

Lu Yang studied the Jade Slip bearing the Netherworld blueprints and reasoned that the World Honored One was helping conceal his discovery from the Sacred Sect Ancestor. He learned how the Netherworld’s seven components processed souls and true spirits, and realized it was designed to grow into a second Other Shore capable of bearing a Dao Lord.

• Lu Yang concluded that the World Honored One had intervened to protect him and support the Other Shore Collapse Plan, though he remained unsure what would happen when he left De Chongfu.
• Lu Yang decided to memorize the Netherworld blueprints before Restarting and immersed his mind in the Jade Slip.
• Lu Yang learned that the Netherworld’s Ghost Gate handled the reception and reincarnation of souls according to their karma and fortune.
• Lu Yang discovered that the Yellow Springs Road and other components restored scattered true spirits, while the Four Ghost Domains housed dead spirits who cultivated the Netherworld’s Dao.
• Lu Yang realized that the Netherworld could keep growing until it became a second Other Shore capable of bearing a Dao Lord.

Lu Yang studied the Netherworld’s design and realized it could revive the dead, create a sustainable cultivation system, and support multiple Dao Lords. He concluded that the Immortal Pivot Four Dogs had killed the First Generation Monster-Rearing Peak Master to prevent rivals from arising, while the Dao Lords used the Netherworld only to buy time for their own ambitions.

• Lu Yang read the Jade Slip and learned how the Netherworld gathered scattered souls, revived dead spirits, and organized ghost cultivators into four domains.
• Lu Yang realized that the Netherworld could stabilize the Void Darkness Light Sea by reinforcing its foundation and recycling ghost cultivators into its hierarchy.
• Lu Yang discovered that the Netherworld Lord Hall could support as many Dao Lords as the Other Shore, and understood why the Immortal Pivot Four Dogs had suppressed the Netherworld.
• Lu Yang concluded that the Dao Lords had allowed the Netherworld to ease the Light Sea’s collapse only to buy time for their own Dao Paths, then condemned them as beasts.