Chapter Summaries

Zheng Fa and the others helped Venerable Chengkong, Wuzhi, and Xie Qingxue drive off the Yin-Yang Rakshasa and defeat the Eight-Serpent Giant, while Zheng Fa secured the Blood River Ancestor's cooperation. The Netherworld Immortal then revealed his betrayal and the Pure Tranquility Bamboo's remaining limit, before prompting Wuzhi to act.

• Venerable Chengkong's Pure Tranquility Bamboo cleared the battlefield's poisonous mist and disturbed minds, allowing the Thunder God to wound the Eight-Serpent Giant as the other cultivators cut off his snake heads.
• The Yin-Yang Rakshasa escaped into darkness, while Zheng Fa pressured the Blood River Ancestor to sign contracts and join the Immortal Sect.
• The Netherworld Immortal appeared carrying a Blood-Baleful Flag made from the Yin-Yang Rakshasa's vital blood and explained that the Rakshasa could not be revived.
• The Netherworld Immortal revealed that he had tampered with the Pure Tranquility Bamboo and explained that he had joined the Demonic Sect to combine its methods with the Supreme Dao's.
• The Netherworld Immortal announced that the five Blood-Baleful Flags were complete and warned that the Pure Tranquility Bamboo could be used only once more, then pointed at Wuzhi, who apologized to Venerable Chengkong.

Wuzhi attacked Venerable Chengkong over the Pure Tranquility Bamboo, but the Netherworld Immortal’s scheme destroyed the bamboo and enabled him to summon the Great Freedom Devil Ancestor. Xie Qingxue killed Qin Mu with Venerable Tianhe’s Green Duckweed Sword, but Qin Mu revived with a Dharma Body, and Zheng Fa escaped with one of the Blood-Baleful Flags.

• Wuzhi revealed that he wanted the Pure Tranquility Bamboo and fought Venerable Chengkong, who used it to restrain him.
• The Pure Tranquility Bamboo shattered, allowing the Netherworld Immortal to activate the Five-Direction Blood-Baleful Formation and summon the Great Freedom Devil Ancestor.
• Xie Qingxue summoned Venerable Tianhe’s Green Duckweed Sword and pierced Qin Mu and the demon-god shadow, seemingly killing him.
• Qin Mu revived from the ashes with a Dharma Body and fought Venerable Chengkong and Wuzhi, gaining the upper hand.
• Zheng Fa seized one of the Blood-Baleful Flags with the Five-Colored Divine Radiance and fled into the Nine Mountains Realm.

Zheng Fa seized a Blood-Baleful Flag, foiling the Netherworld Immortal’s plan to revive the Great Freedom Devil Ancestor, and the remaining enemies withdrew. At Bright Mountain, Zheng Fa was honored for his role in the campaign and was asked to have the Nine Mountains Sect guard Tai-Liang Prefectures.

• Zheng Fa used his rainbow escape light to steal a Blood-Baleful Flag from the Five-Direction Blood-Baleful Formation, and the Netherworld Immortal later fled with the other four flags when Zheng Fa appeared.
• Wuzhi withdrew from the battle and praised Zheng Fa, while Zheng Fa and the others gathered withered Pure Tranquility Bamboo branches before Wuzhi left.
• Venerable Chengkong and Xie Qingxue returned to Bright Mountain with Zheng Fa, where the gathered cultivators celebrated the defeat of the Great Freedom Demon Cult and toasted Xie Qingxue and Zheng Fa.
• Zheng Fa drew Senior Sister Zhang beside him during the toast, recognizing her and the others’ contributions to the victory.
• Venerable Chengkong warned that the Netherworld Immortal remained a threat, then offered to cede four prefectures and thirteen commanderies and asked Zheng Fa to have the Nine Mountains Sect guard Tai-Liang Prefectures.

Zheng Fa rejected the Tai-Liang Prefectures because the Netherworld Immortal remained a threat, and borrowed the Pure Tranquility Bamboo instead. Examining a slice revealed that Heaven-and-Earth Spirit Roots used a spiritual-energy cell structure as a nucleus, leaving Zheng Fa and Professor Tian with a new explanation for their nature.

• Venerable Chengkong offered the Nine Mountains Sect Tai Province and Liang Province, but Zheng Fa declined the territories and asked for the Pure Tranquility Bamboo instead.
• Senior Sister Zhang asked for the bamboo on Zheng Fa's behalf, explaining that she could risk losing face where he could not, and Venerable Chengkong lent it to him.
• Xie Qingxue told Yan Wushuang to visit the Nine Mountains Sect and learn from Zheng Fa's ability to unite his sect, while Yan Wushuang joked that he might take his father's Sect Leader position.
• Zheng Fa and the Nine Mountains Sect examined the Blood-Baleful Flag and cut a slice from the Pure Tranquility Bamboo for research.
• Zheng Fa recognized that Heaven-and-Earth Spirit Roots used a spiritual-energy cell structure as a nucleus, and Professor Tian agreed with his explanation.

Zheng Fa and Tang Lingwu celebrated Old Man Bai’s birthday, where their heartfelt greeting as his former students contrasted with the guests seeking favor. Afterward, Old Man Bai presented Zheng Fa with a comprehensive book uniting topology and talismanic research, leaving the group to continue their experiments on the Heaven-and-Earth Spirit Root.

• Professor Tian and Tang Lingwu reasoned that the Heaven-and-Earth Spirit Root’s spiritual-energy structure functioned like a cell nucleus and proposed testing it with plant cells.
• Old Man Bai’s daughter and son-in-law complained about his decisions, but he said he had kept them from the nursing home to protect Zheng Fa from people seeking favors.
• Martial arts instructors, university representatives, and other guests crowded into Old Man Bai’s home with birthday wishes and gifts.
• Zheng Fa and Tang Lingwu arrived and called Old Man Bai their teacher, moving him and earning him greater respect from the guests.
• Zheng Fa and his companions continued experimenting with Old Man Bai’s cells and various plant cells to cultivate Fusang Wood.
• Old Man Bai showed Zheng Fa a massive book combining topology with talismanic scripts and revealed that he had written it instead of continuing his planned textbook.

Zheng Fa pursued a new way to cultivate Pure Tranquility Bamboo after experiments to grow Fusang Wood failed, while preparing the Creation Jade Disc as a guarded knowledge network. The chapter ended with Qian True Person and Blood River Ancestor beginning tests on Pure Tranquility Bamboo cells, as Venerable Chengkong worried that an incoming Supreme Dao chief seat might force Zheng Fa to give the bamboo back.

• Zheng Fa gave the Creation Jade Disc to Old Man Bai, then explained that its knowledge network would be separated from anonymous forum access to protect the Modern World from the Xuanwei Realm.
• Professor Tian reported that spiritual-energy structures from Zheng Fa’s cells killed plant cells within seconds, and Tang Lingwu proposed that the failures might come from the theory, the plant species, or the environment.
• Zheng Fa proposed plant cell dedifferentiation as a way to cultivate Pure Tranquility Bamboo, and Senior Sister Zhang and Uncle-Master Pang agreed to pursue it alongside the search for Fusang Wood.
• Venerable Chengkong learned that the Supreme Dao chief seat would arrive in half a month and worried that he would demand the Pure Tranquility Bamboo back, putting Zheng Fa at risk.
• Blood River Ancestor demonstrated that the Great Freedom Demon Cult’s Bewitchment Art could stimulate plant growth, and Zheng Fa told Lin Bufan he would give him responsibilities suited to his background.
• Three days later, Qian True Person and Blood River Ancestor had successfully achieved plant cell dedifferentiation and prepared to test whether Pure Tranquility Bamboo cells could do the same.

Zheng Fa and the Nine Mountains Sect successfully cultivated Pure Tranquility Bamboo cells by increasing the spiritual energy, giving the Nine Mountains Realm a potential Heaven-and-Earth Spirit Root. As Old Yuan prepared for a possible breakthrough to Spirit Transformation, Yan Wushuang gave Zheng Fa a secret booklet about Tianhe Sect's Founder and received a Comprehensive Mirror in return.

• Zheng Fa, Qian True Person, Blood River Ancestor, and the others saw their first attempt to cultivate Pure Tranquility Bamboo cells fail, then succeeded after Senior Sister Zhang used the Mountain-River Seal to greatly increase the laboratory's spiritual energy.
• Qian True Person worried about the cells' slow growth, while Old Yuan asked Zheng Fa about his cultivation and revealed he had a fifty percent chance of reaching Spirit Transformation after studying the immortal formation and several techniques.
• Zheng Fa urged Blood River Ancestor to share the Great Freedom Devil Ancestor's method with Old Yuan, but Blood River Ancestor feared the Holy Ancestor's punishment.
• Yan Wushuang gave Zheng Fa a secret booklet containing information he had recorded about the Founder and explained that he did not want the Founder to return, though he hoped Zheng Fa might help his father when the Spiritual-Energy Decline came.
• Zheng Fa gave Yan Wushuang a Comprehensive Mirror and taught him how to send encrypted messages, signaling his willingness to keep a private channel open.

Zheng Fa discovered that Xie Qingxue might know the Nine-Turn Golden Core Method, while Xie Qingxue took Yan Wushuang’s Comprehensive Mirror and secretly enjoyed using it. When First Seat Mingde arrived, Zheng Fa returned the Pure Tranquility Bamboo and received a Supreme True Spirit Pill from Venerable Chengkong as compensation.

• Zheng Fa read Yan Wushuang’s booklet and found Xie Qingxue’s remark linking Venerable Tianhe’s swordsmanship to the Nine-Turn Golden Core Method.
• Senior Sister Zhang speculated that Xie Qingxue might be connected to Venerable Tianhe, possibly as his reincarnation.
• Xie Qingxue took Yan Wushuang’s Comprehensive Mirror, kept it for several days, and used it in secret.
• First Seat Mingde arrived at Bright Mountain and refused to engage with the Xuanwei cultivators, insisting that only people from the Supreme Dao tend the Pure Tranquility Bamboo.
• Zheng Fa returned the Pure Tranquility Bamboo to Venerable Chengkong, who explained that Mingde could track his former disciple, the Netherworld Immortal.
• Venerable Chengkong gave Zheng Fa a Supreme True Spirit Pill as compensation, and Zheng Fa brought it back to the laboratory.

Zheng Fa used Supreme True Spirit Pills to strengthen his Divine Soul and advanced to the Golden Core Middle Stage, triggering the Pure Tranquility Bamboo to grow and transform the Nine Mountains Realm. As the realm’s spiritual energy changed and the Immortal-Mortal Divide vanished, Zheng Fa began to suspect that the bamboo’s ability to draw in outside spiritual energy might explain the Spiritual-Energy Decline.

• Blood River Ancestor explained that the Supreme True Spirit Pill was a rare Supreme Dao pill that strengthened the Divine Soul and could aid Nascent Soul Formation.
• First Seat Mingde told Venerable Chengkong that Netherworld Immortal had betrayed the Supreme Dao after Mingde refused to teach him the Two Modes True Explanation, then used a Grand Unity Spirit Pill to revive the Pure Tranquility Bamboo.
• Zheng Fa took two Supreme True Spirit Pills, expanded his Divine Soul, and used it to temper his Golden Core until he advanced to the Golden Core Middle Stage.
• Old Yuan and Blood River Ancestor witnessed Zheng Fa’s Golden Core appear like a sun, while the Pure Tranquility Bamboo sprouted in the Medicine Garden.
• The Pure Tranquility Bamboo transformed the Nine Mountains Realm’s spiritual energy, spread roots through the realm, and began drawing nourishment from outside it, leading Zheng Fa to suspect a link to the Spiritual-Energy Decline.
• The Immortal-Mortal Divide disappeared, and Xiao Qing and the mortals saw the Heavenly Palace Nine Isles shine in the sky beside Zheng Fa’s sun.

Zheng Fa planned reforms to Nine Mountains education after the Immortal-Mortal Divide ended, then visited Half-Mountain City to tell its people he had once been mortal and urge them to learn without worshipping a supreme god. Back on Myriad Immortals Island, he learned more about Venerable Tianhe’s legendary Golden Core strength, while Xie Qingxue demanded Yan Wushuang teach her how to argue on the forum.

• Zheng Fa proposed three levels of education, with Paradise Island training teachers and administrators and University Island divided between research and military training.
• Zheng Fa appeared in Half-Mountain City, revealed that he had once been mortal, demonstrated his powers, and urged the people to learn from their books.
• Zheng Fa toppled the Thunder God statue and told the people that no supreme god should rule their hearts.
• Zheng Fa found a forum thread debating how many Venerable Tianhes he could defeat, and Blood River Ancestor explained that Venerable Tianhe had been called the greatest Golden Core in recorded history.
• Blood River Ancestor mentioned the lost Tianhe Sword Way techniques Sword Refining into Silk and One Sword Gives Birth to Ten Thousand Laws or One Sword Breaks Ten Thousand Laws, which Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang recognized from Yan Wushuang’s booklet.
• Xie Qingxue angrily demanded that Yan Wushuang teach her how to argue on the forum.

Zheng Fa investigated a Tianhe Sect netizen’s claims about Venerable Tianhe and used the netizen’s explanation of Tianhe Sword Way to connect the Nine-Turn Golden Core Method to changing combinations of Five-Element Sub-Talismans. As he considered expanding the Comprehensive Mirror’s reach and developing spiritual-material production, he left the chapter reflecting that his breakthrough depended on ideas from the modern world.

• Xie Qingxue and Yan Wushuang discussed the backlash against Xie Qingxue on the Nine Mountains forum, and Xie kept the Comprehensive Mirror.
• Zheng Fa defended a heavily criticized Tianhe fan, then realized the fan might be Xie Qingxue after they described Tianhe Sword Way as a path of endless change.
• Xie Qingxue privately explained that Tianhe Sword Way could give rise to ten thousand methods, then concealed her identity and told Yan Wushuang to take responsibility for her comments if questioned.
• Zheng Fa considered using Comprehensive Mirrors to broaden the Nine Mountains disciples’ horizons and went to the laboratory to discuss producing valuable spiritual materials with Madam Xuanhua.
• After scanning Mirage Dragon Breath, Zheng Fa discovered that its particles corresponded to multiple Five-Element Sub-Talismans and proposed that nine additional combinations explained the Nine-Turn Golden Core Method.
• Zheng Fa linked the method’s transformations to Tianhe Sword Way and modern science, while Madam Xuanhua joined the forum to argue with Xie Qingxue about Zheng Fa’s comprehension.

Zheng Fa and the others developed a theory for the Tianhe Sword Way and discovered that the Pure Tranquility Bamboo rejected other shoots and reacted badly to the Fusang Wood within him, so he entrusted Senior Sister Zhang with controlling it. At Bright Mountain, First Seat Mingde secured the Xuanwei cultivators’ help to hunt Qin Mu by displaying his power and a surviving Pure Tranquility Bamboo, while the Nine Mountains Sect’s reaction reminded him of his own contempt for them.

• Senior Sister Zhang reframed Zheng Fa’s Tianhe Sword Way theory as phase transitions in spirit materials, and the group proposed materials to test its four sword phenomena.
• Qian True Person reported that every attempt to root another Pure Tranquility Bamboo had failed because the surviving bamboo drained its vitality, and Zheng Fa suspected that such spirit roots were unique and mutually repellent.
• Zheng Fa discovered that the Pure Tranquility Bamboo reacted against the Fusang Wood inside him, so Senior Sister Zhang took charge of the bamboo instead.
• First Seat Mingde asked the assembled Xuanwei cultivators to join him in hunting his former disciple, Qin Mu, but they hesitated until he offered secret-transmission pills and revealed his auspicious cloud and Pure Tranquility Bamboo.
• First Seat Mingde arranged the pursuit of Qin Mu in East Sea Commandery, then learned from Venerable Chengkong that the Nine Mountains Sect had looked at him with the same disdain he showed Xuanwei cultivators.

Xie Qingxue warned Yan Wushuang that the Netherworld Immortal’s flight to East Sea Commandery might involve the Demon Race and sent him to the Nine Mountains Realm for safety. There, Yan Wushuang saw Zheng Fa organize spring planting, put captured Demon Cult disciples to work, and prepare for the looming threat; meanwhile, Qin Mu appeared before First Seat Mingde’s force and seemed relieved when he did not find Zheng Fa.

• Xie Qingxue told Yan Wushuang to stay in the Nine Mountains Realm, explaining that the Netherworld Immortal had escaped past hunts before and might have ties to the Demon Race.
• Yan Wushuang flew across Liang Province, saw the devastation left by the Great Freedom Demon Cult, and rescued a sect whose cultivators were being branded as Demon Cult remnants so another group could seize its Spirit Vein.
• Yan Wushuang reached the Nine Mountains Sect and found Zheng Fa directing more than a thousand disciples to guide spring planting throughout the mortal world.
• Zheng Fa made the captured Blood River Ancestor and other Great Freedom Demon Cult disciples use their techniques to cultivate silkworms, while Yan Wushuang praised the Nine Mountains Sect’s efforts to improve ordinary people’s lives.
• Yan Wushuang told Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang about Xie Qingxue’s concerns over the Demon Race, and they discussed the danger while continuing to develop the Nine Mountains Realm.
• First Seat Mingde excluded Zheng Fa from the hunt for Qin Mu, but when the Spirit Transformation cultivators found Qin Mu on an island, Qin Mu searched behind them and seemed relieved not to find Zheng Fa.

Netherworld Immortal Qin Mu lured the Five Sects’ Spirit Transformation cultivators into the Seven-Dragon Vast-Sea Formation, trapping them while Demon Race forces advanced on East Sea Commandery. Zheng Fa and Zhang Wuyi faced four Spirit Transformation cultivators among the demons, and Zheng Fa asked whether they could be killed with the Pure Tranquility Bamboo.

• Netherworld Immortal Qin Mu confronted First Seat Mingde and questioned whether heaven had repeatedly thwarted his plans, then lured the assembled Spirit Transformation cultivators into the Seven-Dragon Vast-Sea Formation.
• The Jade Pool Spirit Transformation cultivator explained that the formation trapped its creator as well as its enemies, while Xie Qingxue realized Qin Mu’s real target was East Sea Commandery.
• Netherworld Immortal revealed that the Demon Race had agreed to help him, but Venerable Chengkong deduced that the Seven Great Sages had taken Great Freedom Heaven and abandoned the alliance.
• Zheng Fa and Zhang Wuyi saw a Demon Race army approaching the coast, and Zheng Fa struck with the Sun-Moon Bell while Zhang Wuyi rescued the fishermen.
• A green-faced Demon Race Spirit Transformation cultivator and three more cultivators bearing Great Freedom Demon Cult auras emerged, while the Seven Great Sages remained absent.
• Zheng Fa asked Senior Sister Zhang whether they could kill the four Demon Race Spirit Transformation cultivators with the Pure Tranquility Bamboo.

Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang lured the Demon Race Spirit Transformation cultivators toward the Nine Mountains Realm, hoping to defeat them without revealing the Pure Tranquility Bamboo. After the demons entered their trap, Senior Sister Zhang confronted the Flood Dragon Spirit Transformation with the bamboo as Blood River Ancestor faced the intruders.

• Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang planned to stop the Demon Race army and agreed to lure its Spirit Transformation cultivators into the Nine Mountains Realm while concealing the Pure Tranquility Bamboo.
• First Seat Mingde regretted leaving Zheng Fa behind as he and the others searched the Seven-Dragon Vast Sea Formation for a way out.
• Senior Sister Zhang repeatedly harassed the four Demon Race Spirit Transformation cultivators, then attacked their weaker followers to provoke them into entering the Nine Mountains Realm.
• The Crab Spirit Transformation entered the realm, and the Flood Dragon Spirit Transformation followed with another cultivator after seeing signs that the Crab had gained the upper hand.
• The Flood Dragon Spirit Transformation discovered the Crab dead and the entrance gone, then saw Senior Sister Zhang holding the Pure Tranquility Bamboo as Blood River Ancestor denied betraying the Holy Ancestor.

First Seat Mingde and the others risked themselves to search for Qin Mu while Zhang Wuyi and Zheng Fa subdued the Demon Race Spirit Transformations. The Azure Cloud Great Sage arrived with proof that the Seven Great Sages had turned against the Great Freedom Demon Cult, leaving Zheng Fa wary as the survivors discussed the cult’s collapsing power.

• First Seat Mingde burned his Divine Soul and spiritual power to search the formation for Qin Mu, while the others continued to monitor Zhang Wuyi’s battle.
• Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang defeated the demon woman, and Jiao Wuji surrendered his Soul Seal and began signing Zheng Fa’s contracts.
• Yan Wushuang arrived to help, and Zheng Fa reassured him before pursuing the remaining Demon Race army with the Sun-Moon Bell.
• Vast auras rose beneath the sea, but the Azure Cloud Great Sage emerged alone and asked to enter the Nine Mountains Realm for a conversation.
• The Azure Cloud Great Sage claimed the Seven Great Sages had killed Demon Race traitors and offered their bodies as an apology, while Jiao Wuji accused them of betrayal.
• Uncle-Master Pang, Jiao Wuji, Blood River Ancestor, and Zheng Fa concluded that the Seven Great Sages had waited until the Great Freedom Demon Cult was losing before turning against it.

The Seven Spirit Transformation cultivators learned that the Nine Mountains Sect had defeated the demons, but First Seat Mingde’s strike destroyed the Pure Tranquility Bamboo before the formation collapsed and the Netherworld Immortal died. Shi Linglong and Chen Ting then revived Qin Mu with the Nine Nether Talisman Edict and tried to recruit him, while Zheng Fa asked Yan Wushuang to help research the Tianhe Sword Way, leaving Yan wavering after the Blood River Ancestor’s persuasion.

• Xie Qingxue reported that the Nine Mountains Sect had killed two Spirit Transformation demons, captured another, and that the Seven Great Sages had killed the last one, so the Great Freedom Devil Ancestor could not revive.
• First Seat Mingde’s already-activated Pure Tranquility Bamboo unleashed its full-power strike and shattered, and the Netherworld Immortal later broke the Seven-Dragon Vast Sea Formation and died.
• Shi Linglong and Chen Ting used the Nine Nether Talisman Edict to revive Qin Mu and offered him a place in the Nine Nether Sect, while claiming they would help revive the Great Freedom Devil Ancestor.
• Zheng Fa asked Yan Wushuang to demonstrate Sword Qi Thunderclap and Sword Light Transforms into a Rainbow and let him scan his sword for research into the Tianhe Sword Way.
• The Blood River Ancestor urged Yan Wushuang to cooperate, arguing that Zheng Fa’s research would give him a chance to learn the Tianhe Sword Way and preserve the Tianhe Orthodoxy in the Nine Mountains Realm.

Zheng Fa and his companions analyzed Yan Wushuang’s Tianhe sword arts and uncovered how the Five-Element Sub-Talismans connected to Venerable Tianhe’s cultivation methods. After Venerable Chengkong thanked the Nine Mountains Sect for saving him, Zheng Fa asked about Fusang-related spirit roots, and First Seat Mingde eventually obtained a Vast-Sun Mulberry branch for him.

• Yan Wushuang demonstrated Sword Qi Thunderclap and Sword Qi Rainbow, revealing their immense power and transformations of Spirit Artifacts.
• Zheng Fa discovered that the Five-Element Sub-Talismans combined with one another inside the flying sword, and he deduced how Tianhe Sect’s sword-refining steps related to Venerable Tianhe’s cultivation methods.
• Venerable Chengkong visited Zheng Fa to thank the Nine Mountains Sect for saving his life and offered Supreme Dao pills.
• Zheng Fa asked Venerable Chengkong about Fusang-related spirit roots, and Chengkong told him about Vast-Sun Mulberry, a rare root guarded by Vast Sun Mountain.
• First Seat Mingde brought Venerable Chengkong a Vast-Sun Mulberry branch after trading with Vast Sun Mountain’s Sect Leader.

Zheng Fa learned that the Blood-Baleful Flags had vanished, raising the possibility that the Great Freedom Devil Ancestor could still return, while Venerable Chengkong gave him the Vast-Sun Mulberry. Back in the Nine Mountains Realm, Zheng Fa received new experimental data on Golden Core Engineering and asked Tang Mudao and Cheng Yun to help him find a breakthrough.

• Zheng Fa discovered that Jiao Wuji and the other Spirit Transformation demons had hidden the Blood-Baleful Flags beneath an island, but Jiao Wuji returned with the cave emptied and no flags found.
• Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang considered whether the Seven Great Sages or the possibly surviving Netherworld Immortal had taken the flags, and Zheng Fa warned that the Great Freedom Devil Ancestor might still be resurrected.
• At Bright Mountain's victory banquet, Venerable Chengkong gave Zheng Fa the Vast-Sun Mulberry, then learned that the Blood-Baleful Flags were missing and the Netherworld Immortal might not be dead.
• Madam Xuanhua's Golden Core Engineering team failed to make Material Particles produce a second sub-rune, while Yan Wushuang offered to seek help from his Eldest Senior Sister.
• Madam Xuanhua gave Zheng Fa the team's experimental data, trusting his comprehension to solve the problem, and Zheng Fa asked Tang Mudao and Cheng Yun for ideas.

Zheng Fa agreed to expand the Nursing Home so more experts could research cultivation in a spiritual-energy-rich environment, then created a Divine Firmament External Core to support modern cultivation. Cheng Yun brought Professor Wang and other recruited scholars to the Nursing Home, where Team Leader Yang revealed that cultivation had produced controlled nuclear fusion and invited them to take Zheng Fa’s assessment.

• Old Man Bai urged Zheng Fa to expand the Nursing Home because its researchers lacked the expertise and experimental opportunities needed to advance Golden Core research.
• Team Leader Yang presented plans to recruit established experts and educated newcomers, and Zheng Fa approved pursuing both avenues.
• Zheng Fa refined a pill cauldron and used it to create a Divine Firmament External Core, which he described as a controllable nuclear reactor.
• Cheng Yun brought Professor Wang to the Nursing Home after his nuclear engineering project was discontinued, and Professor Wang learned that controlled nuclear fusion had been achieved through cultivation.
• Team Leader Yang presented the Nursing Home’s cultivation achievements to the gathered scholars and told them they could see the real Golden Core if they passed Zheng Fa’s assessment.
• Professor Wang abandoned his plan to go abroad and eagerly asked Cheng Yun whether there was a trick to the assessment.