Chapter Summaries

Lin Su brought Zhang Yiyu and Cai Zhulian to the Merfolk Holy Land, reassuring them that he would face the Devil Race by continuing to grow beyond their expectations. After his song drew Princess Yingying to him, she welcomed all three into the forbidden Merfolk Cloud Realm, where Lin Su and Yingying communicated through her Heart Pupil.

• Lin Su explained that the Merfolk Holy Land’s Origin Pool and mirror could help Zhang Yiyu and Cai Zhulian cultivate, and the two women eagerly agreed to go.
• Lin Su warned that his identity as Lingyun First Seat would soon be exposed, then argued that surpassing his former self was the best way to foil the Devil Race’s plans.
• At Cai Zhulian’s request, Lin Su sang “Night on the West Sea” while walking across the waves with Zhang Yiyu and Cai Zhulian.
• Princess Yingying heard the song, hurried to Yang Pass, and opened the forbidden route after telling Lin Su she had waited 247 days and nights for him.
• Yingying welcomed Lin Su, Zhang Yiyu, and Cai Zhulian into the Merfolk Cloud Realm, while Zhang Yiyu and Cai Zhulian debated Lin Su’s past claims and worried about keeping him out of trouble.
• Lin Su and Yingying walked together, communicating through her Heart Pupil, while Zhang Yiyu reconsidered whether the Heart Pupil was a good thing.

Lin Su returned to the transformed Merfolk Holy Land, then entered the Cloud Realm and used its Origin Qi Pool to reach a new Void-Peering Realm and open a Human Body Secret Realm. After mastering the mirror’s sword techniques, he entered the Ancient Bronze Mirror’s newly revealed staircase and became trapped on its first step.

• The Merfolk Tribe leader and her people welcomed Lin Su’s group, celebrated the Holy Land’s restoration, and invited them to ascend the Cloud Realm.
• Lin Su, Zhang Yiyu, and Cai Zhulian climbed the heavenly staircase while Yingying entered through Flying Fish Stream and successfully reached the first platform.
• Lin Su cultivated in the Origin Qi Pool until its bubbles vanished, reached the Peak of Peering into Humanity, entered his unusual Void-Peering Realm, and opened the Earth Secret Realm in his dantian.
• Lin Su climbed to the second platform and practiced the Dugu Nine Swords against the Ancient Bronze Mirror, refining his sword stances and Soul Destroying Stance.
• The mirror revealed three steps, and Lin Su entered it; the Withered Branch of Dao seized his Primordial Spirit, leaving him frozen on the first step as the mirror turned gray again.

Lin Su emerged from the Merfolk Holy Land after activating his Dao Root and mastering the Sky Void Rift, only to learn he had missed his annual meeting with Long'er. A disguised Long Wuhui then revealed that the Heavenly Machine Dao Sect had helped locate him and demanded his Enlightenment Golden Token; as Lin Su fought back, a gigantic dragon claw struck from the sea.

• Bi Xuanji left Yishui with Princess Yufeng, Lu Youwei, and Xie Xiaoyan to mobilize Dark Fragrance, while Li Xiaotian defeated Great Corner's army and Lin Zheng departed for the front with Princess Hongying.
• Long'er waited in vain for Lin Su at the Dao Gate's opening, while Cai Zhulian and Zhang Yiyu left the Merfolk Holy Land without him.
• Lin Su activated his Dao Root, learned to wield the Sky Void Rift, and discovered that three months had passed and he had missed his appointment with Long'er.
• Elder Chun took Lin Su aboard a turtle ship and revealed that Ji Wen had gained a wind-beast Dao Body and taken Xumi Zi's place among the Lingyun Ranking's supreme figures.
• Lin Su recognized that Elder Chun was actually Long Wuhui, who had lured him into West Sea Dragon Palace waters with information from the Heavenly Machine Dao Sect and demanded his Enlightenment Golden Token.
• Lin Su wounded Long Wuhui with a swift sword strike, but a gigantic dragon claw burst from the sea and attacked him.

Lin Su killed Long Wuhui and the dragon elder, hid their Inner Cores from the pursuing West Sea elders, and revived Elder Chun. He crossed the West Sea’s central boundary using the Mirage Dragon Inner Core’s transformation ability, but a dragon elder confronted him and demanded to know who he was.

• Lin Su killed the dragon elder and Long Wuhui, then collected their Inner Cores along with Elder Chun’s.
• Lin Su concealed all three Inner Cores in his secret realm and escaped detection by hiding inside a sea monster while eight dragon elders searched the West Sea.
• Lin Su discovered remnants of Elder Chun’s and Long Wuhui’s souls, refined Long Wuhui’s Inner Core, and used Elder Chun’s Inner Core and the Power of Spring Return to revive him.
• Elder Chun urged Lin Su to return to the Merfolk Holy Land and stay away from the West Sea’s central boundary, but Lin Su crossed it anyway.
• Lin Su tested the Mirage Dragon Inner Core’s ability to make him appear as different people, then encountered a dragon elder who asked who he was and why he carried the dragon clan’s aura.

Lin Su killed several West Sea Dragon Clan elders while studying the completed Universe Formation Diagram, then tried to escape across the sea border disguised as Long Wentian. His disguise was exposed in the Night Sea, where he killed a powerful elder with Space Law, but Nightmare Eight-Legged Serpents surrounded the area.

• Lin Su revealed himself to a West Sea elder, killed him, and refined his Inner Core, then continued killing elders over the next two days.
• The Dragon Lord mobilized three Top-tier Elders and twenty high-ranking elders as Lin Su studied the Universe Formation Diagram and reached the edge of the West Sea.
• A powerful elder trapped Lin Su near the boundary, but Lin Su disguised himself as Long Wentian and claimed he had not seen Su Lin.
• A little dragon girl took Lin Su toward the Night Sea, then revealed that she knew he was Long Wuhui and had lured him into a Dragon Clan forbidden ground.
• The elder exposed Lin Su's disguise and attacked, but Lin Su used three Space Rifts to kill him; Nightmare Eight-Legged Serpents then appeared, and the Little Demoness fled.

Lin Su escaped the Nightmare Eight-Legged Serpent with the Little Demoness, who revealed she had known he was impersonating Long Wentian and brought him to the East Sea Dragon Palace. Long Wentian welcomed Lin Su as a brother, and the chapter ended as Dragon Clan disciples gathered to climb the Heavenly Ladder.

• Lin Su asked how the Little Demoness had seen through his disguise, and she explained that she had spotted Long Wentian drinking beneath Dragon Gate Pass when she left her clan.
• The Little Demoness took Lin Su to the East Sea Dragon Palace, where she introduced him to Long Wentian as a man who had impersonated him and behaved outrageously with a Mother Sea Pig.
• Long Wentian recognized Lin Su, introduced him to the Dragon Clan as his human friend, and brought him to his turtle-shell villa for a meal and drinks.
• Long Wentian explained that the pearl Lin Su had given him was linked to the Ancient Dragon Palace, then offered to attack the West Sea Dragon Palace on Lin Su's behalf.
• Lin Su told Long Wentian that he had already killed Long Wuhui and eight elders, astonishing him.
• A crowd gathered to watch two disciples climb the Dragon Clan Heavenly Ladder, and Long Wentian explained how its fixed counterattack strength differed from the Jade Pool Heavenly Staircase.

Lin Su and Long Wentian climbed the Dragon Gate Heavenly Ladder without releasing its accumulating pressure, causing the fabled Ancient Dragon Gate to appear. They stopped at the eighty-fourth step with broken bones, agreed to return and reach the summit before advancing to Heavenly Phenomenon Manifestation, and celebrated with wine.

• Lin Su and Long Wentian began climbing the Heavenly Ladder together, and Lin Su refused to slow down or release the pressure between steps.
• As they climbed past the sixtieth step, the ladder and the surrounding seas blazed with golden light and transformed into dragon forms, while the Sixth Princess ordered her maid to investigate Lin Su.
• Lin Su and Long Wentian reached the eighty-first step, where an ancient current reshaped their bodies and a phantom gateway appeared in the sky.
• An old Dragon Clan expert recognized the phantom as the Ancient Dragon Gate, and the gathered disciples realized that the two had revealed it by climbing without releasing the ladder's pressure.
• Lin Su and Long Wentian climbed to the eighty-fourth step, where their bones broke, then agreed to return and reach the summit before entering Heavenly Phenomenon Manifestation.
• After their injuries healed, Lin Su produced two jars of Baiyunbian, and the two drank together atop the mountain.

Long Wentian told Lin Su how the Martial Saint had used the Weiyang Brush to create the Night Sea and destroy the Foreign Evil Sect, prompting Lin Su to seek the ink drop hidden there. Lin Su and the Long siblings entered the Night Sea to find the sea eye, where the chapter left them facing its dangers.

• Long Wentian explained that the Foreign Evil Sect had shattered the ancient Dragon Clan and that the Martial Saint later destroyed its forces with the Weiyang Brush, creating the Night Sea.
• Lin Su decided to enter the Night Sea to find the night ink that could help awaken the Martial Saint, and Long Wentian agreed to accompany him.
• Long Wentian introduced Lin Su to Longying and Long Yueliang, who had entered the Night Sea before and knew a route to its sea eye.
• Long Yueliang revealed that a sea monster had dragged her into the Night Sea and died after striking an ancient formation inside the sea eye.
• Lin Su, Long Wentian, Longying, and Long Yueliang entered the Night Sea, where Long Wentian punched apart a giant Frenzied Shark.

Lin Su and Long Wentian fought their way through regenerating Night Sea monsters to reach the sea eye, where Long Ao ambushed them over Long Wuhui’s death. As a powerful pursuer joined the battle, Lin Su and the others fled into the sea eye, but Long Ao and two elders caught up; Lin Su used Space Rifts to slow them before he emerged from the sea eye beneath dark clouds.

• Long Wentian, Longying, Lin Su, and Long Yueliang fought through waves of Night Sea monsters, and Lin Su warned them to head for the sea eye after seeing the creatures regenerate.
• Long Ao emerged from a Golden Shark with West Sea elders and challenged Lin Su over Long Wuhui’s death, while Long Wentian defended Lin Su and fought Long Ao.
• Longying killed one elder with the Sea God's Eye, but a powerful dragon-claw attack forced the group to retreat into the sea eye.
• Long Ao and two elders pursued the group through the sea eye, and Lin Su killed one pursuer with a Space Rift while using more rifts to slow the others.
• Lin Su’s Spiritual Power ran low as he escaped the pursuers and shot out of the sea eye beneath dark, churning clouds.

Lin Su led the Dragon Family siblings through the Sea Eye formation and past the forest guarded by the Ancient Evil Phoenix Zither, while the West Sea Dragon Palace pursued them. They reached a bridge guarded by two chessboard manifestations, and Lin Su realized they would have to play chess to pass.

• Lin Su guided Long Wentian, Longying, and Long Yueliang through the ancient formation as Elder Chu Hai and Elder Ru Hai pursued them and failed to break through by force.
• The group crossed the formation illusion and entered a Phoenix Tree forest, where Longying stopped Long Yueliang from touching a Golden Phoenix Fruit after sensing both sacred and evil auras.
• The Ancient Evil Phoenix Zither attacked with sword-like leaves, but Lin Su used his flute to disrupt its music and led the siblings toward the forest exit.
• Elder Chu Hai, Elder Ru Hai, Long Ao, and another elder entered the forest and drew the zither's retaliation as Lin Su and the siblings escaped.
• At the Single Plank Bridge, Long Wentian and Long Yueliang were repelled by the chessboard, and Lin Su identified the two old men as manifestations that required them to play chess to pass.

Lin Su led the Dragon Family through the Evil Phoenix Chessboard’s deadly trials, exposing its weakness and surviving a lethal attack in the study. The group entered a Painting Room, where a black phoenix skeleton painting reacted to Long Yueliang’s raised saber.

• Lin Su challenged the old man in black by invoking the phoenix lineage’s ability to be reborn, causing the chessboard and Single Plank Bridge to vanish and transporting the group away from the West Sea Dragon Palace experts.
• Lin Su explained that the Evil Phoenix Chessboard could not deny the phoenix lineage’s rebirth without destroying itself, then identified the next trial as a study.
• Lin Su stepped in front of Longying to face the murderous character “phoenix,” endured its final sword strike, and restored his body by shifting his Primordial Spirit.
• Longying was shaken by Lin Su’s willingness to risk his life for her, while Long Yueliang noticed her sister blushing.
• The group entered a Painting Room, where a black bone in the phoenix skeleton painting rose and aimed at Long Yueliang after she raised her saber.

Lin Su stole the core bone from the Black Phoenix Skeleton and escaped the West Sea pursuers, only for all four to fall into the Earth Phoenix Tomb. Surrounded by Netherworld Ghost Bats, Lin Su offered to help the West Sea Dragon Palace obtain the tomb’s secret treasure in exchange for ending their feud.

• Lin Su kept the West Sea pursuers from attacking by warning them that the black bones reacted to Killing Intent, while Long Yueliang provoked Long Ao.
• Elder Chu Hai activated a Deceive Heaven Formation to block Killing Intent, but Lin Su used its effect to seize the core black bone and store it in his Inner Space.
• The Black Phoenix Skeleton shattered the formation and attacked; Lin Su fled as the bones struck the West Sea experts and sent him toward an abyss.
• Lin Su and the three pursuers fell into the Earth Phoenix Tomb, where Netherworld Ghost Bats awakened around them.
• Lin Su warned that blood would summon the bats and offered to help the West Sea Dragon Palace find the tomb’s secret treasure if they agreed to settle their grievances.

Lin Su led the West Sea Dragon Palace group through the tomb’s formations, then revealed he had trapped them in a Five-Step Heavenly Mechanism Formation and killed Long Ao, Elder Chu Hai, and Elder Ru Hai. After opening the next stone door, he lured a powerful woman’s Primordial Spirit into his sea of consciousness and struck it with his Soul Destroying Sword, but her final explosion left his mind blank.

• Lin Su broke the formations in the first five passages while Elder Chu Hai and Elder Ru Hai watched, unaware that he had left a larger formation intact.
• Lin Su activated the Five-Step Heavenly Mechanism Formation and killed Long Ao, Elder Chu Hai, and Elder Ru Hai, avenging the West Sea Dragon Palace’s slaughter of humans.
• Lin Su used the fourth stance of the Universe Formation Breaking Hand to open the stone door, revealing a drop of blood and a drop of ink inside.
• A woman’s Primordial Spirit emerged from the blood, tried to overwhelm Lin Su, and charged into his sea of consciousness after he provoked her.
• Lin Su struck the woman’s Primordial Spirit with his Soul Destroying Sword and seized her to search her soul, but she exploded and left his mind blank.

Lin Su awakened the Weiyang Brush’s power, which erased the Night Sea and killed Long Ao and the other survivors there. After explaining the Foreign Evil Sect’s plans to Long Wentian and Longying, Lin Su faced the Dragon Lord of the West Sea, who attacked him for killing the Holy Son, until a saber strike from Long Wentian’s father cut off the dragon claw.

• Lin Su deciphered the Evil Phoenix’s soul fragments, touched the Night Ink with the Weiyang Brush, and unleashed golden light that destroyed the Night Sea and swept him and the others into the sky.
• Lin Su concealed the Weiyang Brush’s role, told Long Wentian, Longying, and Long Yueliang that a restriction had killed Long Ao and the elders, and explained how the Foreign Evil Sect had tried to recruit Human traitors.
• Long Wentian warned Lin Su that remnants of the evil sect might remain in the Human literary path, and Lin Su argued that evil thoughts existed even without the sect.
• Long Yueliang asked Lin Su to play his tune again, and he teased her for having done nothing during their adventure.
• The Dragon Lord of the West Sea appeared and threatened Lin Su for killing the Holy Son; Long Wentian stood up for his brother, but the Dragon Lord’s claw was severed by a saber strike from Long Wentian’s father.

Long Canghai advanced to Law-Setting and crushed the West Sea Dragon Lord’s forces, while Lin Su left the sea and returned to Great Cang. At Heavenly Machine Peak, Lin Su confronted Daoist Hong Ye about the Heavenly Machine Dao Sect’s downfall and his repeated attempts to have Lin Su killed.

• Long Canghai ordered the East Sea fleets to attack the Southwest One Hundred and Eight Islands, then defeated the West Sea Dragon Lord and severed the West Sea Dragon Palace’s Sea-Calming Pillar.
• Long Wentian explained that Long Canghai had reached Law-Setting, and Lin Su crossed the Human-Sea Dividing Line after playing “Mountain Song is Like Spring River Water” for Long Yueliang and Longying.
• Lin Su reflected on his four-month journey, including his Lingyun First Seat title, his Void-Peering breakthrough, and the loss of the Weiyang Brush, whose awakened old man he believed would return as a king.
• After reaching East Province, Lin Su flew to Heavenly Machine Peak, where he found Daoist Hong Ye waiting by the Heavenly Machine Wall.
• Lin Su accused Daoist Hong Ye of repeatedly arranging dangers for him and asked why the Heavenly Machine Dao Sect had fallen into ruin despite its mastery of heavenly secrets.

Lin Su shattered Daoist Hong Ye’s confidence during their encounter, damaging Hong Ye’s Dao realm and making him feel compelled to defeat Lin Su. Lin Su returned home to reunite with his mother and learned that the cross-species grafting experiment had succeeded.

• Lin Su taunted Daoist Hong Ye for meeting him through an avatar and undermined Hong Ye’s belief in himself, causing Hong Ye’s Dao intent to collapse and making him spit blood.
• Lin Su flew east toward home, while Hong Ye realized that he would need to defeat Lin Su to regain his confidence and continue pursuing the Dao.
• The old madam sensed that Lin Su was returning and waited with Xiao Xue and prepared dishes; Qiu Shui Hua Ping also felt her heart leap.
• Lin Su arrived near dawn and reunited with his mother, who had waited outside for an hour and a half before sharing a meal with him.
• Lin Su learned that his eldest brother and sister-in-law had won a great victory at Blood Rain Pass and that cross-species grafting had succeeded, producing a new crop called a peach-plum.
• Lin Su left his mother and silently entered the attic, where he saw the moonlit Dongting and the Four Lines of Poetry carved on the Red Pavilion.

After returning from the Jade Pool Gathering, Lin Su reunited with his wives, told them he had not entered the Holy Hall, and composed a Ci poem for them. He then inspected the first successful batch of Blue and White Porcelain and set its standard, while Mo Qing and Feng Wu wondered whether he had deliberately revealed his connection to the Agricultural Sage's Sacred Family.

• Lin Su reunited with Qiu Shui Hua Ping and told her he had become the Lingyun First Seat at the Jade Pool Gathering.
• Lin Su returned to the West Courtyard, told his wives he had not entered the Holy Hall, and composed a Ci poem about parting for them.
• Meiniang announced that the Porcelain Factory had successfully fired its first batch of Blue and White Porcelain, and Lin Su led his family to see it.
• Lin Su approved the porcelain and declared that it should be made in the color of a sky cleared after rain; Luyi suggested stamping the phrase onto it, and he agreed.
• Mo Qing and Feng Wu watched the news about Lin Su and debated whether he had deliberately revealed the Agricultural Sage's Sacred Family's support through his Ci poetry.

Lin Su discovered that two elders of the Painting Sage Sacred Family had used a painting to drain King Chen’s life force. Their confession revealed that the Great Cang Emperor had ordered King Chen’s assassination, leaving King Chen and Lin Su facing an unavoidable struggle for the throne.

• Mo Qing told Feng Wu that Lin Su had announced his stay with the Agricultural Sage to attract offers from the Great Sacred Families.
• Lin Su brought Sister Chen to Mei Ridge, where he found King Chen gravely ill despite his healthy organs.
• Using Thousand Degrees Pupil, Lin Su traced King Chen’s declining vital aura to a mountain occupied by two elders of the Painting Sage Sacred Family.
• Lin Su broke into the elders’ Painting Realm, subdued them, and found a Whirlwind Diagram that was draining King Chen’s life force.
• Lin Su used Literary Way Cleansing of the Heart to make the elders confess that the Great Cang Emperor had commissioned them to kill King Chen.

Lin Su killed two elders of the Painting Sage Sacred Family despite their imperial edict, then explained to King Chen that the Emperor would avoid open confrontation because Lin Su had gathered powerful allies. He revealed that his three armies were meant to defend Great Cang’s borders, not support a coup.

• Lin Su rejected King Chen’s order to release the two elders and killed them both.
• Gexin carried the corpses away to be buried atop Mei Ling, while Lin Su restored King Chen’s vitality and assured him the aftermath would be handled.
• Lin Su told King Chen that the Emperor would pretend to know nothing because confronting them openly carried too great a cost.
• Lin Su revealed that he had gained the Dragon City Army, Prince Nan’s iron cavalry, and the forces at Blood Rain Pass, along with support from the capital’s Literary Way.
• Lin Su rejected the idea of a military coup, explaining that the three armies were meant to guard Great Cang’s vulnerable borders against foreign invasions.

Lin Su returned to Haining Academy, where the success of its technical classes had drawn thousands of students and changed the academy’s reputation. Bao Shan inscribed the motto “Teach According to Aptitude” and entered the Literary Path, while Lin Su was left owing him an even larger wine allowance.

• Lin Su told King Chen that he had no desire for the throne and recognized King Chen as the emperor in his heart; King Chen then ordered Gexin to draw in the spies’ net and prepare to test the Emperor.
• Sister Chen told Lin Su that Haining Academy had expanded with refugee children and new students after its technical classes defeated Qiankun Academy in arithmetic.
• Bao Shan, Great Confucian Ding, and Ren Taiyan welcomed Lin Su back, and Ding Chengru apologized for having once looked down on the technical classes.
• At Ren Taiyan’s urging, Lin Su asked Bao Shan to inscribe Haining Academy’s motto, and Bao Shan wrote “Teach According to Aptitude.”
• The sacred saying’s new interpretation brought down Sacred Light, and Bao Shan entered the Literary Path.
• Bao Shan rejected Lin Su’s attempt to save the wine and doubled his allowance to ten jars a month.