Chapter Summaries

Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang used Xiao Yuying’s reputation and a rumor about Imperial Flowing Essence to lure demons toward a trap near the Thunder Pool. The chapter ended as Senior Sister Zhang completed a powerful illusion formation that even Xiao Yuying could not see through.

• Zheng Fa learned that the Azure Cloud Great Sage commanded the demons in the Nine Mountains Sect’s region, including ten Nascent Soul Demon Kings, and recruited the Golden Crow to help mislead a Qiongqi descendant.
• In Fengcheng County, the Qiongqi descendant and his companions heard that Xiao Yuying had found a secret realm in the Thunder Pool containing Imperial Flowing Essence, and they decided to investigate despite his suspicions.
• Zheng Fa, Xiao Yuying, Uncle-Master Pang, and Senior Sister Zhang prepared a trap in a mountain hollow beside the Thunder Pool.
• Senior Sister Zhang used heaven-grade talismans to raise an illusion formation, which Xiao Yuying said she could not yet see through.

Zheng Fa and his allies lured a suspicious Qiongqi-blooded demon into a secret cave by staging a false treasure lead. The demon escaped with a jade bottle and became famous among his people, while half a month later his followers still wondered why he had not returned.

• The square-faced young man watched Xiao Yuying investigate a staged Imperial Flowing Essence appearance and cautiously followed the Golden Crow when it seemed to sense a treasure.
• Zheng Fa, Senior Sister Zhang, Uncle-Master Pang, and Xiao Yuying waited in a cave and captured the square-faced young man after he followed the Golden Crow inside.
• The Golden Crow admitted its excited behavior had been genuine, and Zheng Fa arranged for Xiao Yuying to praise the demon as he fled with a jade bottle.
• The square-faced young man's followers believed he had stolen a treasure from Xiao Yuying and fled the valley, spreading his reputation as a Demon Race hero.
• Half a month later, the square-faced young man's followers at their new stronghold debated why he had not returned.

Zheng Fa learned that the Azure Cloud Great Sage might lead an attack on the Nine Mountains Sect, prompting Uncle-Master Pang to leave for Bright Mountain to seek Venerable Tongming’s aid. In the modern world, Zheng Fa worried that he could not master Spiritwood Lightning in time, while Old Man Bai went to meet someone he had met on a gay dating app.

• The square-faced young man revealed that the Demon Race was awaiting the Azure Cloud Great Sage, who had ordered the alliance with the Demonic Sect and might attack the Nine Mountains Sect after a hundred days.
• Uncle-Master Pang decided to seek aid from Venerable Tongming and leave Thunder Pool Market for Bright Mountain, while Aunt-Master Huang brought the elite disciples to the marketplace.
• Uncle-Master Pang urged Senior Sister Zhang to keep Zheng Fa alive, entrusted his branch’s disciples to Zheng Fa, and privately asked him to save him if possible.
• In the modern world, Zheng Fa worried that his progress on Spiritwood Lightning was too slow, and Tang Lingwu felt he was keeping things from her.
• Tang Lingwu learned that Old Man Bai had gone to meet an online friend from a gay dating app, leaving her stunned.

Old Man Bai explained his old qigong-seeking fellow disciple and considered bringing him to the Nursing Home, while Zheng Fa remained focused on preparing for the Demon Race attack. Professor Tian then discovered that pea shoots had developed a new cellular structure and a faint trace of spiritual energy, prompting Zheng Fa and Old Man Bai to propose studying the structure and examining their own bodies.

• Old Man Bai told Zheng Fa and Professor Tian about his former junior brother, a gifted physicist who had spent years searching for qigong and ancient inheritances.
• Old Man Bai considered inviting his old acquaintance to the Nursing Home, but Zheng Fa remained wary and focused on the coming Demon Race attack and his cultivation.
• Professor Tian showed Zheng Fa and Old Man Bai a new structure in pea shoot cells, and they confirmed that the plants contained a faint trace of spiritual energy.
• Zheng Fa suggested the new cellular structure might be a spiritual plant's equivalent of meridians, and Old Man Bai proposed studying their own cellular structures.
• Professor Tian agreed to check the materials and protocols before they attempted human experiments.

Zheng Fa investigated a strange change in his cells and found it might be connected to newly appearing spirit talismans and the Fusang Wood. Meanwhile, Yan Wushuang resolved to reform the Tianhe Sect and asked Zheng Fa to join his tiny group, but Zheng Fa refused.

• Zheng Fa examined his altered cells with Old Man Bai, Professor Tian, and Tang Lingwu, who revealed that hundreds of unfamiliar Talisman Diagrams had recently appeared in the Nursing Home's spiritual qi.
• Zheng Fa suspected the Fusang Wood was connected to the new spirit talismans and angrily cursed it, after which it trembled in response.
• Zheng Fa brought books on computing and neural networks to Senior Sister Zhang, who wanted to use them to understand her Composite Talisman Diagram research; Aunt-Master Huang promised to protect him for Senior Sister Zhang's sake.
• Yan Wushuang told Zheng Fa that he intended to honor Venerable Tianhe's will, reform the Tianhe Sect, and seek a new path for the Xuanwei Realm.
• Yan Wushuang invited Zheng Fa to join his organization, but admitted it had no Nascent Soul or Spirit Transformation cultivators and only two members including Zheng Fa, so Zheng Fa promptly left.

Zheng Fa refused Yan Wushuang’s invitation to challenge the Immortal Sect system, then turned to cultivating mountain mushrooms in Half-Mountain City to improve its people’s food supply. Xiao Qing’s grief over her lost parents surfaced in a dream, and the townspeople began building a larger temple for Lord Thunder God.

• Zheng Fa refused to join Yan Wushuang’s plan, and Yan revealed that Old Han considered Zheng Fa the next patriarch.
• Xiao Yuying offered to protect Zheng Fa if the Nine Mountains Sect fell, while Zheng Fa warned that the Demon Race’s threat might reach beyond the sect’s station.
• Xiao Qing helped harvest mountain mushrooms grown in consecrated jars, and Zheng Fa was astonished by their high yield.
• Zheng Fa explained how Half-Mountain City residents could grow the mushrooms at home, giving them a way to eat without risking mountain expeditions.
• Xiao Qing cried and fell asleep beside the divine statue, dreaming of her deceased parents and pleading for Lord Thunder God not to leave.
• The townspeople gathered outside the temple and announced that they would build a bigger one for Lord Thunder God.

Zheng Fa prepared the Heavenly Stele Realm for farming, spent his Heavenly Merit on spirit materials, and cultivated the Wind-Thunder Body. His merit reached ten thousand, causing the God-Investiture Register to bestow a Copper Seal and reveal a mysterious tombstone-like object in the main hall, while Xiao Yuying and Yan Wushuang argued over recruiting him.

• Zheng Fa told Xiao Qing to have Half-Mountain City's residents clear fertile land in the river valley so they could begin farming.
• Zheng Fa exchanged more than seven thousand Heavenly Merit for spirit materials, but feeding them to the Fusang Wood only made it grow without blooming.
• Zheng Fa cultivated the Wind-Thunder Body, gained great speed, and accidentally entered the previously inaccessible main hall.
• The God-Investiture Register announced that Zheng Fa had accumulated ten thousand merit and bestowed a Copper Seal, whose light revealed a tombstone-like shape at the back of the hall.
• Outside the Heavenly Stele Realm, Xiao Yuying refused to let Yan Wushuang recruit Zheng Fa for a plan that might kill him, while Zheng Fa's name began glowing gold on the stele.
• Yan Wushuang declared that Zheng Fa was the next Founder and said he would fight Xiao Yuying for him.

Zheng Fa discovered that the Copper Seal could now bring people into the Heavenly Stele Realm, then returned to find Yan Wushuang trying to arrange potential partners for him. Senior Sister Zhang grew suspicious of Xiao Yuying and learned that Senior Sister Yuan also had feelings for Zheng Fa, leaving him bewildered by their strange looks.

• Zheng Fa found a gravestone in the Heavenly Palace and wondered whether the Heavenly Stele Realm was one enormous tomb.
• The Copper Seal updated its instructions and granted Zheng Fa two subordinate-god slots, allowing him to bring people into the Heavenly Stele Realm.
• Yan Wushuang dragged Zheng Fa away and offered to introduce him to Tianhe Sect women, Mysterious Maiden Sect cultivators, and men, but Zheng Fa rejected the offers.
• Senior Sister Yuan told Senior Sister Zhang that Yan Wushuang was trying to steal Zheng Fa away, and Senior Sister Zhang became suspicious of Xiao Yuying.
• Senior Sister Yuan admitted she might compete for Zheng Fa if Xiao Yuying pursued him, and Zheng Fa entered Senior Sister Zhang's courtyard to find her looking at him strangely.

Zheng Fa learned that the Copper Seal could bring Senior Sister Zhang and another companion into the Heavenly Stele Realm, while Xiao Yuying arrived to collect on their agreement to explore a secret realm. After seeing Zheng Fa’s detailed expedition plan, Xiao Yuying praised his preparation and remarked that Zhang Wuyi had good judgment.

• Zheng Fa showed Senior Sister Zhang the Copper Seal and explained that it could bring companions into the Heavenly Stele Realm; he proposed taking Senior Sister Yuan as well, and Senior Sister Zhang reluctantly agreed.
• Xiao Yuying arrived at Zheng Fa’s courtyard and confirmed that their agreement to explore the secret realm still stood.
• Xiao Yuying proposed setting out the next day and explained that the secret realm held a Bronze Hall whose lock required profound lightning arts.
• Xiao Yuying warned Zheng Fa not to act on his own in the dangerous secret realm, then examined his detailed plan for gathering information and managing risks.
• Xiao Yuying praised Zheng Fa’s thorough preparation and said Zhang Wuyi had good judgment, leaving Zheng Fa puzzled.

Zheng Fa disguised himself as a woman and traveled with Xiao Yuying into a blood-red wasteland surrounding a Tianhe Sect relic. The Setting-Sun Sword Immortal warned Xiao Yuying away from the Secret Realm, but other cultivators arrived and suspected them of joining forces, leaving retreat difficult.

• Xiao Yuying disguised Zheng Fa with her Rainbow Raiment and carried him out of the sect in her War Chariot, pulled by her Iron-Eating Beast.
• Xiao Yuying and Zheng Fa crossed a desolate wasteland where the red earth was said to be blood, and unseen dangers attacked their chariot.
• Yan Wushuang and the Setting-Sun Sword Immortal met them and asked to travel with them; the Setting-Sun Sword Immortal revealed that many cultivators had come for a Tianhe Sect relic.
• The Setting-Sun Sword Immortal warned Xiao Yuying that the Secret Realm was dangerous and concealed a Tianhe Sect secret, while Zheng Fa realized the old man was secretly warning him too.
• Two Hundred Immortals Alliance Nascent Soul cultivators arrived and accused Xiao Yuying and the Tianhe Sect of joining forces, making it hard for them to withdraw without arousing suspicion.

Xiao Yuying and the Setting-Sun Sword Immortal revealed the long history behind the New Method and devised a staged fight to keep other cultivators from suspecting their alliance. At the Bronze Hall, Yan Wushuang was hurled into its doors, which opened to reveal an enraged voice and a terrifying killing aura.

• Xiao Yuying told Zheng Fa and the Setting-Sun Sword Immortal that the Demonic Sect Holy Ancestors had also pursued new immortal methods, prompting the group to reconsider the history of cultivation.
• Zheng Fa proposed that Xiao Yuying and the Setting-Sun Sword Immortal stage a fight so other cultivators would believe they had abandoned the treasure; they chose Yan Wushuang to suffer a real injury.
• The four traveled deeper into the Secret Realm and reached the Bronze Hall, where numerous Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators had gathered around its locked door.
• Xiao Yuying and the Setting-Sun Sword Immortal pretended to quarrel and fight, then Xiao Yuying struck Yan Wushuang with a pearl and sent him flying toward the hall.
• Yan Wushuang hit the Bronze Hall's doors, which opened as a voice called them Tianhe traitors and released a murderous aura that shocked the gathered cultivators.

Zheng Fa and his companions escaped the Bronze Hall’s skeleton, whose devastating sword strike killed dozens of cultivators before it crumbled while calling for the Immortal-Slayer. A month later, Zheng Fa returned to the deserted site to study its soil and gathered the skeleton’s scattered bones into a coffin.

• Zheng Fa, Xiao Yuying, the Setting-Sun Sword Immortal, and Yan Wushuang fled as the skeleton transformed the Bronze Hall into a sword and unleashed a deadly strike.
• The skeleton killed five Nascent Soul cultivators and thirteen Golden Core cultivators, then called for the Immortal-Slayer before collapsing into ordinary bones.
• The surviving cultivators found no treasures or inheritance, and the Setting-Sun Sword Immortal left with Yan Wushuang after Zheng Fa and Xiao Yuying thanked him.
• A month later, Zheng Fa brought Senior Sister Yuan and Senior Sister Zhang to excavate the site, explaining that the soil held research value.
• Zheng Fa gathered the skeleton’s scattered bones, placed them in a coffin, and respectfully cupped his hands toward it.

Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang examined a Tianhe disciple’s bones and battlefield soil, inferring that Venerable Tianhe’s New Method merged a cultivator with a life-bound Dharma Treasure and could cleanse spiritual energy of imposed rules. Zheng Fa later explained the theory to Tang Lingwu and Old Man Bai, who described the method as formatting spiritual energy.

• Zheng Fa used the Void-Piercing Spirit Eye to examine a bone fragment and found gaps in its cells, then worked with Senior Sister Zhang to sort and document fragments in the soil.
• Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang matched spiritual metal particles from a bronze sword to the gaps in cells from the bones and blood, suggesting the sword had been cultivated into the wielder’s body.
• Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang theorized that the Tianhe New Method merged a life-bound Dharma Treasure with the body and could cleanse spiritual energy of Divine-Name Sub-Talism rules.
• Senior Sister Zhang explained Zheng Fa’s findings to Aunt-Master Huang, who was astonished that they had inferred so much from the bones and soil.
• In the modern day, Tang Lingwu listened to Zheng Fa explain the Tianhe New Method and summarized it as formatting spiritual energy.

Zheng Fa and Tang Lingwu struggled to safely study Spiritwood Lightning through spirit talismans, while Tang Mudao unexpectedly sent medical equipment to the Nursing Home. Tang Mudao arrived in person, leaving Zheng Fa to assess the shrewd businessman who had appeared to help them.

• Old Man Bai received Tang Mudao's request to visit, and Zheng Fa agreed to let him come to the Nursing Home.
• Tang Lingwu proposed studying how spirit talismans changed magnetic fields, and Zheng Fa began testing hundreds of diagrams in the laboratory.
• Several experiments caused fires, and Tang Lingwu warned that nearly every diagram produced a magnetic field, making the results difficult and dangerous to interpret.
• Several trucks arrived with medical equipment from Tang Mudao, which Zheng Fa and Old Man Bai initially considered refusing.
• Tang Mudao arrived at the Nursing Home, greeted everyone warmly, and struck Zheng Fa as a slick businessman rather than a scholar or Taoist priest.

Tang Mudao sought Zheng Fa’s Dao after investigating Old Man Bai and the Nursing Home’s supernatural events, and Zheng Fa considered whether to admit him. Zheng Fa tested Tang Mudao with the Great Dream Talisman, which revealed his lifelong pursuit of the Dao and his complicated feelings about his late father.

• Tang Mudao revealed that he had investigated Old Man Bai’s rejuvenated appearance and linked the Rainbow Mountain Goddess’s manifestations to Zheng Fa’s arrival.
• Tang Mudao knelt before Zheng Fa and begged to learn the Dao, offering equipment, overseas partnerships, and wealthy clients in exchange.
• Zheng Fa, Old Man Bai, Tang Lingwu, and Professor Tian discussed Tang Mudao’s suitability, and Old Man Bai argued that his worldly skills could help manage the Nursing Home’s affairs.
• Zheng Fa gave Tang Mudao a Great Dream Talisman as a test, and Tang Mudao accepted without hesitation.
• In the dream, Tang Mudao spoke to his father’s photograph about recognizing deception in qigong and religious circles before discovering genuine Daoist arts.
• Professor Tian suggested that Tang Mudao’s pursuit of the Dao reflected an obsession shared across two generations.

Zheng Fa introduced an Academic Achievement Points System at the Nursing Home, allowing Tang Mudao to join and earn access to immortal arts through study and research. In the Xuanwei Realm, Zheng Fa proposed building a school in the Heavenly Stele Realm to educate people loyal to Nine Mountains Sect and the New Method.

• Zheng Fa proposed an Academic Achievement Points System, and the others agreed to use it to regulate access to immortal arts and research.
• Zheng Fa let Tang Mudao join the Nursing Home but told him to study foundational subjects and produce research before receiving any Daoist inheritance.
• Tang Mudao developed an array-based method for measuring magnetic-field changes around pea seedlings, helping Zheng Fa and the others detect the moment the seedlings produced spiritual qi.
• Zheng Fa awarded Tang Mudao one hundred points for his contribution, and Tang Mudao asked to study whatever Professor Bai cultivated because he considered Bai cautious and safe.
• Zheng Fa told Senior Sister Zhang and Senior Sister Yuan he wanted to establish a school in the Heavenly Stele Realm to cultivate people devoted to Nine Mountains, the New Method, and research.

Zheng Fa planned to bring basic literacy and mathematics education to the Heavenly Stele Realm, then entered the Heavenly Palace with Senior Sister Zhang and Senior Sister Yuan. In Half-Mountain City, he gave Xiao Qing books and promised to help her become a capable temple caretaker.

• Zheng Fa explained to Senior Sister Zhang that he wanted to teach the people of the Heavenly Stele Realm reading, writing, and mathematics before introducing cultivation knowledge.
• Zheng Fa entered the Heavenly Palace with Senior Sister Zhang and Senior Sister Yuan, where Xiao Yuying and Yan Wushuang discussed cooperating with Zheng Fa and his organization.
• Senior Sister Zhang and Senior Sister Yuan appeared in the Heavenly Palace, and Zheng Fa explained that his God-Investiture Register could now bring people into the realm.
• Xiao Qing asked Zheng Fa to replace her as temple caretaker because she struggled to manage the city's disputes and offerings.
• Senior Sister Zhang quickly calculated an accurate offering distribution plan, and Zheng Fa gave Xiao Qing books on grammar and mathematics so she could learn to manage her duties.

Zheng Fa used the Thunder Methods to improve the valley’s weather and transform a wild bean into a new Spirit Plant, then opened a school for Half-Mountain City’s children. He began their first lesson by urging them to learn from him, become him, and surpass him.

• Senior Sister Zhang cleared the skies with Rain-Stopping Thunder, bringing sunshine and easing the aches of people in the valley.
• Zheng Fa used Spiritwood Lightning to transform a variety of wild bean into a Spirit Plant, and Senior Sister Zhang agreed that they had discovered a cultivation method together.
• Xiao Qing told Half-Mountain City’s residents that children aged five to ten had to attend the temple to study, alarming parents who did not know what studying meant.
• The parents brought their children to the temple, and Zheng Fa reassured the nervous students that they would learn to think, observe the world, and help build Half-Mountain City.
• Zheng Fa told the children to learn from him, become him, and surpass him.

Zheng Fa’s Copper Seal upgraded to a Silver Seal, granting access to new islands in the Heavenly Palace. He and the two senior sisters discovered that people’s voices fueled a sun-and-moon bell that accelerated the growth of spirit plants and beasts, and they realized the realm was a remnant from an ancient spiritual-energy decline whose powerful Celestial Venerable had ultimately failed.

• Zheng Fa discussed the children’s limited study hours and lack of food with Senior Sister Yuan and Senior Sister Zhang, then promised Xiao Qing that the Spirit Plant beans would reward diligent students.
• Zheng Fa brought the senior sisters to Myriad Treasures Hall, where he tried to spend their more than twenty thousand Heavenly Merit, but the Copper Seal upgraded before providing any materials.
• A voice declared that Zheng Fa had thirty thousand Heavenly Merit, granted him a Silver Seal, and authorized him to travel the Heavenly Palace.
• Zheng Fa and the senior sisters traveled to a newly revealed island and found a medicine garden full of young spirit plants and beasts.
• The Silver Seal broadcast people’s voices, awakening a golden bell that aged the garden’s contents by a year with each toll.
• Senior Sister Zhang and Zheng Fa concluded that the bell and Heavenly Palace belonged to the second or third decline of spiritual energy, and that the Celestial Venerable’s effort to restore the Heavenly Court had failed.

Zheng Fa and his senior sisters explored the ruined Heavenly Palace, where a surviving inscription revealed that Nine Nether had once sought to open a great path for Xuanwei and kill the gods who opposed it. The discovery left Zheng Fa questioning whether the present-day Devil Ancestors had abandoned their original ideals or found another path.

• Zheng Fa observed that Spirit Plants gained spiritual qi in twenty-four surges during each cycle of the sun and moon, and he suspected Spiritwood Lightning might have twenty-four forms.
• Zheng Fa considered using Xiao Yuying's Magnetic Rail Body to measure the magnetic fields behind the Spirit Plant changes.
• Zheng Fa and his senior sisters explored the alchemy grounds and empty cultivator residences, finding signs that the Heavenly Palace's inhabitants had evacuated before a great battle.
• Zheng Fa, Senior Sister Zhang, and Senior Sister Yuan reached the ruined palace complex and discovered an ancient inscription on a courtyard wall.
• Senior Sister Zhang read that Nine Nether had vowed to open a great path for Xuanwei and kill the gods who barred it.
• Zheng Fa wondered whether the Devil Ancestors had become the very evils they once fought, or whether they had truly found another path.