Chapter Summaries

Lu Yuan weighed the strength and practices of the ancient clans before deciding that the Maha Ancient Clan posed no reason to delay his visit. He arrived at the Floating Tu Ancient Clan’s territory and announced himself.

• Lu Yuan considered how hidden families and open ancient clans gathered resources, and learned that some hidden families secretly engineered wars and plundered their victims.
• Lu Yuan concluded that the Maha Ancient Clan was not strong enough to deter him and expected the Floating Tu Ancient Clan to compromise rather than risk conflict.
• Lu Yuan recalled visiting the Five Ancient Clans more than five hundred years earlier to secure the Nine-tailed Fox Clan’s standing on the Crimson Continent.
• Lu Yuan reached the Floating Tu Ancient Clan’s land, revealed his Earth Supreme aura, shattered the void, and announced his visit.

Lu Yuan repeatedly called for the Floating Tu Ancient Clan to receive him, while Qing Qing Cang refused to respond. Clan relatives argued that he should be let in or confronted, and Qing Qing Cang’s sister-in-law secretly hoped their pressure would help Qing Yan Jing, leaving Lu Yuan to make his own impression.

• Lu Yuan repeatedly announced that he had come to visit the Floating Tu Ancient Clan, but the clan ignored him.
• A white-haired elder scolded Qing Qing Cang for leaving Lu Yuan outside and urged him to handle the dispute openly.
• A middle-aged man and Qing Qing Cang’s sister-in-law argued that the clan should either accept Qing Yan Jing’s relationship with Lu Yuan or settle the matter directly.
• Qing Qing Cang silently drank tea and suspected his sister-in-law was secretly supporting Qing Yan Jing, despite her public criticisms of her niece.
• Qing Qing Cang’s sister-in-law reflected that her long-standing affection for Qing Yan Jing made her supposed change of allegiance unconvincing, and she hoped Lu Yuan could persuade Qing Qing Cang himself.

Lu Yuan waited outside the Floating Tu Ancient Clan rather than force his way through its unstaffed protective array, leaving the clan’s elders to decide how to receive him. Inside, Qing Qing Cang’s presence and the divisions among the Warmonger, Pacifist, and Neutral factions kept the clan from acting, while the Neutral Faction weighed the risks and benefits of marrying Qing Yan Jing to Lu Yuan or Maha Tian.

• Lu Yuan recognized that breaking the Floating Tu Ancient Clan’s array by force would weaken his position and put Qing Yan Jing in an awkward position, so he chose not to force his way inside.
• After calling out three times without a reply, Lu Yuan sat on a nearby mountaintop and waited while the clan’s elders argued inside.
• Qing Qing Cang continued drinking tea and said nothing, preventing the elders from opening the array or making a decision without him.
• The Warmonger Faction hesitated to remove Qing Qing Cang because they feared the Pacifist Faction, Lu Yuan, the Endless Fire Territory, and the Maha Ancient Clan would exploit the resulting conflict.
• The Neutral Faction saw risks in giving Qing Yan Jing to Maha Tian, including losing her strength and array knowledge, while a marriage to Lu Yuan could preserve her place in the clan and secure the Endless Fire Territory as an ally.
• The Pacifist Faction supported Qing Yan Jing’s choice and opposed tearing her and Lu Yuan apart.

The Floating Tu Ancient Clan elders remained deadlocked over Qing Yan Jing’s marriage, wary of provoking Qing Qing Cang or triggering a conflict with Lu Yuan and the Endless Fire Territory. Qing Yan Jing entered the meeting hall, and Qing Qing Cang revealed that he had already agreed to the marriage and had only been making Lu Yuan wait as a fatherly test.

• The Warmonger, Pacifist, and Neutral Factions argued over Qing Yan Jing’s marriage while Qing Qing Cang stayed silent, leaving the elders unsure of his intentions.
• The elders considered how a confrontation could draw in Lu Yuan, Xiao Yan, and allied forces, while Qing Qing Cang’s influence over Qing Yan Jing made escalation risky.
• Qing Yan Jing bypassed the guards and appeared outside the main hall, signaling that she would take a personal stand.
• Qing Qing Cang scolded Qing Yan Jing for disobeying him but recognized her arrival as a sign that his test had gone on long enough.
• Qing Qing Cang revealed that he had already decided Qing Yan Jing would marry Lu Yuan and had delayed only to make Lu Yuan experience waiting.

Qing Qing Cang allowed Lu Yuan into the Floating Tu Ancient Clan, dressing up his decision as repayment for an old favor while privately resenting him. Qing Yan Jing’s past choices had tied her Father’s hands, leaving him unable to oppose her without risking his own position.

• Qing Qing Cang noticed Qing Yan Jing and ruled that Lu Yuan could enter the clan, claiming the clan owed him for returning cultivation arts centuries earlier.
• Qing Yan Jing had previously sought Xiao Yan’s support against the pressure surrounding her Marriage Contract with Maha Tian, while taking care not to provoke the Maha Ancient Clan without evidence.
• Qing Yan Jing had secretly taught Lu Yuan the Great Floating Tu Art Yang Scroll, a gesture that effectively pledged her to him under the clan’s rules.
• Qing Qing Cang had also given Lu Yuan the Great Floating Tu Art Yin Scroll in the past, making it difficult for him to condemn Qing Yan Jing’s decision without implicating himself.
• Qing Qing Cang concluded that opposing Qing Yan Jing could expose his own past actions and damage the clan leader’s reputation, so he accepted being tied to her plan.

Qing Yan Jing persuaded Qing Qing Cang to let Lu Yuan enter the Floating Tu Ancient Clan without being branded as an improper guest. After years apart, she met Lu Yuan at the gates and teased him about how little he had changed.

• Qing Qing Cang considered how he could disown Qing Yan Jing but chose not to interfere with her plans.
• Qing Yan Jing argued that the age gap between her and Lu Yuan was insignificant for cultivators and asked her father to let him enter under a proper identity.
• Qing Qing Cang agreed to receive Lu Yuan as a guest from the Endless Fire Territory and told the elders to distinguish his identity and stance clearly.
• The Floating Tu Ancient Clan lifted its protective array and opened its gates.
• Qing Yan Jing led three elders representing different factions outside to meet Lu Yuan, then joked that she had become an old maid while he had barely changed.

Lu Yuan explained that he had appeared in the ancient era when the Ten Thousand Clans fought the Extraterrestrial Evil God Race, making him older and more senior than the Floating Tu Ancient Clan’s ancestors. He left the three elders behind Qing Yan Jing struggling to accept his claim, while revealing that he had avoided altering history by harming the ancient clans.

• Lu Yuan joked that the people behind Qing Yan Jing and most of their ancestors had not lived as long as he had.
• Lu Yuan reflected on how cultivators’ attitudes toward aging and death depended on their circumstances and the limits of their cultivation paths.
• Lu Yuan explained that a cultivator’s aptitude, resources, and breakthrough prospects determined how much strength and lifespan they could gain.
• Lu Yuan recalled becoming famous when the Floating Tu Ancestor was an Immortal Grade Heavenly Sovereign and said he had avoided harming the Floating Tu Ancient Clan to prevent changes to history.
• The three elders behind Qing Yan Jing recognized Lu Yuan but doubted his boast until they realized he meant he had been alive before their ancestors were born.

Lu Yuan reunited with Qing Yan Jing, who understood his time-traveling absences and welcomed him without demanding explanations. They entered the Floating Tu Ancient Clan’s main hall to face its divided elders over their relationship and the coming confrontation with the Maha Ancient Clan.

• Qing Yan Jing pointed out that Lu Yuan was still physically in his twenties despite the years she had spent without him, and Lu Yuan accepted that his timeline had kept him from sharing those years.
• Qing Yan Jing reassured Lu Yuan that she would not blame him for his absences, then embraced him and inferred that he had changed events and traveled among other women.
• Qing Yan Jing led Lu Yuan into the Floating Tu Ancient Clan, teasing him about his actions and explaining that she would not give up her freedom or their relationship for the clan.
• Lu Yuan and Qing Yan Jing arrived at the clan’s main hall, where internal divisions over their relationship and the conflict with the Maha Ancient Clan awaited them.

Lu Yuan entered the Floating Tu Ancient Clan's main hall as Qing Yan Jing's suitor and explained that his feelings for her were genuine, despite the Maha Ancient Clan's marriage arrangement and the objections of clan elders. A neutral elder warned him that the Endless Fire Territory could not protect him forever, and Qing Yan Jing rose to refute the elder.

• Lu Yuan considered why the Maha Ancient Clan would preserve its marriage alliance with Qing Yan Jing despite her refusal, and how his strength and the Endless Fire Territory affected her position.
• Lu Yuan greeted the Floating Tu Ancient Clan's Heavenly Sovereigns, and one elder challenged his intentions by citing his many close relationships and his conflict with the Maha Ancient Clan.
• Lu Yuan clarified that the women named were his confidantes and girlfriends, not wives, and said his relationship with Qing Yan Jing mattered more than the political difficulties it brought.
• A neutral elder warned Lu Yuan that the Endless Fire Territory might sacrifice him in a crisis and argued that his inability to endure humiliation would prevent him from achieving great things.
• Qing Yan Jing immediately refuted the elder's criticism of Lu Yuan.

Qing Yan Jing defended her choice to marry Yuan and warned the Floating Tu Ancient Clan not to pressure him, arguing that the Endless Fire Territory had the strength and allies to withstand conflict. Her forceful stance silenced the elders, leaving Qing Qing Cang to smooth things over.

• Qing Yan Jing rejected the Neutral Faction elder's doubts and explained why the Endless Fire Territory could protect Yuan and endure a war.
• Qing Yan Jing said marrying Maha Tian might have benefited her family, but she trusted her judgment and chose Yuan for herself.
• Qing Yan Jing confronted the elders and made clear they should direct their objections at her rather than mistreat Yuan, their guest.
• The Floating Tu Ancient Clan fell silent after Qing Yan Jing threatened to break with the clan rather than submit.
• Qing Qing Cang stepped in to ease tensions as the elders avoided challenging Qing Yan Jing further.

Lu Yuan considered why the Endless Fire Territory could not withstand a united front from the Five Ancient Clans and why Qing Qing Cang’s support mattered to Qing Yan Jing’s marriage. Qing Qing Cang avoided declaring his position directly, but a Floating Tu Ancient Clan elder angrily challenged the Maha Ancient Clan’s threat.

• Lu Yuan weighed the strengths and weaknesses of clan and sect systems, noting that Xiao Yan’s strength made the Endless Fire Territory difficult to attack while it remained vulnerable to several clans acting together.
• Lu Yuan recognized the neutrality of the Tai Ling, Barren, and Black Heaven Ancient Clans and considered Qing Qing Cang’s support essential to Qing Yan Jing’s marriage.
• Qing Qing Cang told Qing Yan Jing that the Maha Ancient Clan’s war preparations made an open commitment too risky for the Floating Tu Ancient Clan.
• A short Immortal Grade Heavenly Sovereign elder rebuked Qing Qing Cang’s cautious phrasing and challenged the Maha Ancient Clan to threaten the Floating Tu Ancient Clan.

Qing Qing Cang addressed a senior Floating Tu Ancient Clan ancestor as his grand uncle while weighing how clan elders and ancestors could act in the dispute over Qing Yan Jing and Maha Tian's Marriage Contract. The chapter explained that the first-tier ancestors who survived the ancient war knew the Years Master’s significance, but they remained uninvolved, leaving Lu Yuan’s historical standing as a potential way to resolve the dispute.

• Qing Qing Cang called the old Heavenly Sovereign his grand uncle, reflecting the clan’s respect for seniority among its ancestors.
• The chapter explained that elders managed clan affairs, while ancestors could remove a clan chief only if his decisions harmed the clan.
• The account recalled that Qing Qing Cang had stepped down in the original work to take responsibility for Qing Yan Jing and preserve her life.
• The chapter described how Lu Yuan had been remembered as the Years Master and credited with helping protect the Myriad Heavens during the ancient war.
• The first-tier ancestors of the Floating Tu Ancient Clan had not intervened in the dispute, though their old ties with the Maha Ancient Clan could have helped dissolve the Marriage Contract peacefully.
• The chapter concluded that Lu Yuan could use his historical credentials to turn the situation around, but he had not accompanied Xiao Yan to confront the Maha Ancient Clan.

Lu Yuan addressed the Floating Tu Ancient Clan’s objections to his marriage with Qing Yan Jing, explaining his readiness to face the Maha Ancient Clan and promising not to interfere in her clan or restrict her choices. He ended by asserting his cultivation and influence among the Holy Clan, arguing that the threatened siege would not justify an attack on him.

• Qing Qing Cang’s Grand Uncle objected to praise for the Maha Ancient Clan and implicitly supported Qing Yan Jing, while Qing Qing Cang and her Aunt raised opposing concerns.
• Lu Yuan considered the clan’s internal checks and balances and decided that he needed to answer its objections himself.
• Lu Yuan explained that he understood the consequences of opposing the Maha Ancient Clan over Qing Yan Jing’s marriage contract with Maha Tian, and said he would bring the Floating Tu Ancient Clan greater benefits without sacrificing its reputation.
• Lu Yuan denied needing anything from the clan and said Qing Yan Jing’s understanding of his character mattered more to him than convincing everyone else.
• Lu Yuan refused to marry into Qing Yan Jing’s family but promised not to interfere in the clan or dictate where she lived, and said he treated his confidantes equally in status.
• Lu Yuan cited his Earth Supreme Completion cultivation and influence among the Holy Clan as reasons the Maha Ancient Clan could not legitimately rally the Myriad Heavens against him.

Lu Yuan’s remarks led Qing Yan Jing and Qing Qing Cang to realize he might be the Years Master from several hundred thousand years ago, rather than the more recent Years Master. The revelation eased Qing Qing Cang’s hostility, though he still intended to question Lu Yuan about his relationship with his daughter.

• Qing Yan Jing connected Lu Yuan’s ability to travel through time with the ancient Years Master’s history and realized they might be the same person.
• Qing Yan Jing considered how the ancient Years Master’s extraordinary deeds had gone largely unknown, while the more recent Years Master had become famous among cultivators of his era.
• Qing Qing Cang reconsidered his hostility after realizing Lu Yuan might have participated in the ancient war and outranked even the Floating Tu Ancient Clan’s oldest Ancestor.
• Qing Qing Cang remained concerned as a father and decided that certain matters about Lu Yuan and Qing Yan Jing still needed to be clarified.

Lu Yuan persuaded the Floating Tu Ancient Clan to consider supporting Qing Yan Jing, and Qing Qing Cang gave them until the next day to discuss a proposal. Lu Yuan’s leverage rested on a smaller three-way balance of power nested within the broader standoff between the human race, the Holy Clan, and the Beast Race.

• Qing Qing Cang chose not to confront Lu Yuan and considered how a father-in-law’s actions could affect his daughter’s marriage.
• The Floating Tu Ancient Clan weighed its options and recognized that expelling Qing Yan Jing would cost it a powerful Heavenly Sovereign and Grandmaster Spirit Array Expert.
• Qing Qing Cang asked Qing Yan Jing to host Lu Yuan while the elders discussed the matter and prepared a proposal for the next day.
• Qing Yan Jing thanked Qing Qing Cang and the elders, while Lu Yuan also saluted them.
• Lu Yuan considered how the Five Thousand Heavenly Sovereigns among the human race and the similarly powerful Holy Clan shaped a larger balance around the Beast Race’s neutrality.

Lu Yuan waited while the Heavenly Sovereigns discussed his marriage to Qing Yan Jing, then spent time with her in her courtyard. Qing Yan Jing described how she had fought to preserve her autonomy and challenged him to a future rematch, while Lu Yuan reflected that his strength now surpassed hers.

• Lu Yuan accepted that the Heavenly Sovereigns kept private matters from him, just as he and Qing Yan Jing had their own conversations and secrets.
• Qing Yan Jing cheerfully led Lu Yuan to her courtyard, where she explained that her talent and Qing Qing Cang's support had helped her resist the Floating Tu Ancient Clan's marriage expectations.
• Lu Yuan recognized that he had misunderstood the meaning of the Great Floating Tu Art Yang Scroll and regretted making Qing Yan Jing wait years to understand his feelings.
• Qing Yan Jing said she was happy Lu Yuan had come and challenged him to fight again after he became a Heavenly Sovereign.
• Lu Yuan judged that Qing Yan Jing's abilities could place her among the Nine Emperors in the right circumstances, but she was still two minor realms below his current level.

Qing Yan Jing explained that being invincible within the same realm was relative, since combat strength depended on personal methods, talent, and whether one had inherited a complete cultivation path. She concluded that no one could be absolutely invincible, as unknown powerhouses might always exist beyond the known hierarchy.

• Qing Yan Jing assessed her same-realm strength as roughly 0.8 of Lu Yuan’s and described how she and other elites could fight across realms.
• Qing Yan Jing compared Maha Tian and the leading cultivators of the Five Ancient Clans, noting that several could contend with him despite his reputation.
• Qing Yan Jing explained that inherited paths shaped the limits of the Lord of Undying and the Western Heaven Battle Emperor, while Lin Dong had forged his own path and defeated the latter.
• Qing Yan Jing argued that claims of being invincible in the same realm were nominal, since multiple contenders could emerge and unknown fighters might appear.
• Qing Yan Jing used nested rankings of victories to show how one cultivator’s relative superiority over another established a chain of challengers.

Lu Yuan and Qing Yan Jing discussed their combat abilities and the realm gap between Earth Supremes and Heavenly Sovereigns. Qing Yan Jing warned him that his breakthrough would bring inner demons and urged him to hold firm to his beliefs.

• Lu Yuan changed the subject rather than turn his teasing exchange with Qing Yan Jing into a fight.
• Qing Yan Jing explained that her Boundless Light Body gave her an advantage over Lu Yuan despite his exceptional strength, since she had reached the Spirit Grade Heavenly Sovereign realm.
• Lu Yuan assessed their combat abilities as evenly matched overall, depending on whether he used his ultimate moves.
• Qing Yan Jing advised Lu Yuan that advancing from Earth Supreme to Heavenly Sovereign would be difficult because of his deeper foundation.
• Qing Yan Jing tapped Lu Yuan over the heart and warned him to resist inner demons and never waver in his beliefs.

Lu Yuan considered how cultivators leveraged Heaven and Earth Power through extraordinary power, Mental Power, or external objects, and why each method had different strengths and limits. He concluded that advancing further required both a higher realm and a steady state of mind, since instability at the Heavenly Sovereign level could trigger inner demons and Qi Deviation.

• Lu Yuan explained that cultivators could leverage Heaven and Earth Power by disrupting its order with extraordinary power, soothing and controlling it with Mental Power, or relying on external objects.
• Lu Yuan compared the first method's broad amplification with the second method's specialized but limited enhancement, noting that the two methods could also be combined.
• Lu Yuan described how Small World existences such as Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena could control all laws, though their permissions weakened in higher-level worlds.
• Lu Yuan noted that spirit arrays made by Qing Yan Jing and Xiao Yan's Strange Fire Eternal Ruler could also help leverage Heaven and Earth Power, implying powerful experts stood behind such objects.
• Lu Yuan recognized that further leveraging Heaven and Earth Power required raising his realm, while a stable state of mind was necessary to avoid inner demons and Qi Deviation.

Lu Yuan secluded himself in Qing Yan Jing’s courtyard to safely attempt a breakthrough, while their cohabitation sparked rumors across the Floating Tu Ancient Clan. As Lu Yuan’s body remained in the secret chamber, his consciousness was summoned above the Star River to meet the being who claimed to be his Past Self.

• Qing Yan Jing placed Lu Yuan in her courtyard despite the reputational risks of living with a man while bound by a Marriage Contract to Maha Tian.
• Members of the Floating Tu Ancient Clan privately debated Qing Yan Jing and Lu Yuan’s relationship, but neither paid attention to the gossip.
• Qing Yan Jing kept Lu Yuan in her courtyard because her Spirit Array protections and her father Qing Qing Cang offered greater security during his breakthrough.
• Lu Yuan entered secluded cultivation in the secret chamber to attempt to break through the bottleneck between Earth Supreme and Heavenly Sovereign.
• Lu Yuan’s consciousness left his body and was summoned above the Star River, where he saw the being who claimed to be his Past Self.