Chapter Summaries

Chen Mu used his Ghost Gate Pass to support Yellow Springs Sect’s effort to recruit Dao Soldiers while cultivating on the coast. As sect members prepared to travel into Yizhou’s dangerous interior, he suspected they were gathering forces against the Demons of Mili Heaven and returned to seclusion.

• Chen Mu agreed to use Ghost Gate Pass to retrieve scattered Qi Refining cultivators, and Yuan Zhen arranged for disciples to collect Mutant Beasts to supply the vital essence and blood the technique required.
• Chen Mu stored the abundant sea catch in the Bottomless Pool and put the Five Ghosts Paper Figure to work maintaining Five Ghosts Moving Mountains.
• After another cultivation session, Chen Mu learned Tang Zhimu would join Yuan Zhen in recruiting Dao Soldiers and gave him Vermilion Feather Swords as beacons and protection.
• Chen Mu worried that Yellow Springs Sect was preparing to attack the Demons of Mili Heaven, then returned to seclusion to strengthen his cultivation.

Chen Mu continued relocating Qi Refining cultivators from across Yizhou to the coast with Yuan Zhen's help. At Bai Family Village, he recognized Bai Xiaoqing, who had secretly defected from Great Zhou, and confronted him about his identity.

• Chen Mu used the Qianji Talisman Seed to inspect Yuan Zhen's location, then traveled through Ghost Gate Pass and helped move hundreds of Qi Refining cultivators to the coast.
• Over the following weeks, Chen Mu repeatedly transferred scattered Qi Refining cultivators with Yuan Zhen's help and Hu Sheng receiving them at the coast.
• Chen Mu recognized Bai Family Village by its lightning-scarred Green Needle Tea Tree while transporting cultivators from the area.
• Bai Xiaoqing worried that Chen Mu would expose his defection from Great Zhou and bring trouble upon the Hong Family.
• Chen Mu stopped Bai Xiaoqing and teasingly asked whether he should call him Bai Xiaoqing or Hong Xiaoqing.

Chen Mu received the Divine Demon Manifestation Chart from Bai Xiaoqing and learned how Nether God Transformation worked. When Chen Mu examined the chart’s final God Summoning Diagram, his Second Heart and Yin Spirit Embryo reacted strangely.

• Bai Xiaoqing confessed that he had left the Dragon Locking Institute to pursue the Qi Refining Dao Path, and Chen Mu suspected him but did not expose him.
• Yuan Zhen conducted a Dao Soldier Contract signing ceremony on the coast, where nearly a thousand Qi Refining cultivators, including Bai Xiaoqing, became Dao Soldiers.
• Bai Xiaoqing visited Chen Mu and presented him with his Hong Family’s Divine Demon Manifestation Chart, which contained nine Nether God Transformation inheritances and a mysterious God Summoning Diagram.
• Chen Mu studied the chart and learned that Nether God Transformation practitioners drew Nether God Blood Essence into their bodies and visualized Divine Demon Manifestations to transform their physiques.
• When Chen Mu examined the final God Summoning Diagram, his Second Heart beat irregularly and the Yin Spirit Embryo in his Brow Secret Aperture trembled.

Chen Mu used the God Summoning Diagram to reunite with his Yin Spirit Heavenly Demon Body, discovering that he could now switch between human and Yinling forms and that his cultivation had improved. He completed the 67th Primordial Talisman with unexpected ease and credited the boost to his reunited Spirit God.

• Chen Mu stared at the God Summoning Diagram until the Second Heart and Divine Embryo synchronized, restoring all nine Secret Apertures and summoning the Heavenly Demon Body into him.
• Chen Mu feared that reuniting with the Heavenly Demon Body had violated the Deification Contract, but no backlash occurred, and he concluded the fusion might be part of the Great Zhou Heavenly God-Demon Transformation.
• Chen Mu switched between his human form and Yinling form, tested the Candle Dragon Transformation, and found that the reunited Heavenly Demon Body made its secret arts smoother.
• After resting for two days and helping Yuan Zhen transport seventy or eighty Qi Refining cultivators, Chen Mu entered seclusion and condensed the first sixty-six Primordial Talismans faster than before.
• Chen Mu condensed the 67th Primordial Talisman in one day and realized that the Heavenly Demon Body had strengthened his Spirit God, accelerating his Yellow Springs Gourd cultivation.

Chen Mu learned that Mili Heaven demons had descended across Yizhou and helped gather the scattered Nine Peaks Mountain disciples. The Yellow Springs Sect ordered its Qi Refining cultivators to enter Mili Heaven, leaving Chen Mu reluctantly preparing to join the dangerous campaign.

• Chen Mu watched the Emperor Flow Paste fall, then saw fireballs erupt from the golden moon and crash across the land.
• After Yuandu Academy announced an evacuation, Chen Mu and Yuan Zhen gathered the scattered Nine Peaks Mountain disciples and brought them safely back to the coastal base.
• Yuan Zhen opened a Heavenly Gate and announced that, by Ancestor Luofu Dao's order, Yellow Springs Sect's Qi Refining cultivators had to go to Mili Heaven.
• Yuan Zhen explained that the sect intended to concentrate its forces and destroy the demons' nest, while Chen Mu worried that Yizhou and Bazhou would be left exposed.
• Chen Mu considered fleeing but concluded that joining the others would offer more safety and access to Heavenly Star Vital Qi, and he resigned himself to the campaign.

Chen Mu arrived in Mili Heaven as a camp commander and avoided joining a group seeking Dao Merit, then volunteered to guard the Five Directions Banner during an assault on a flying island. After the battle, he discovered that his Jade Cicada Dao Foundation seemed to yearn for Mili Heaven’s Demon Qi.

• Chen Mu reflected on being separated from his former companions and found that the Divine Dispatch Order no longer worked in Mili Heaven.
• Wen Tong invited Chen Mu to join a group of Qi Refining cultivators seeking Dao Merit, but Chen Mu declined because he wanted to avoid danger.
• Jiang Daojun ordered several camps to attack a flying island, and Chen Mu volunteered to remain behind and guard the Five Directions Banner.
• Jiang Daojun and the Heavenly Demon rebirth cultivators attacked the island, defeated its demons, and returned to the cloud platform.
• Chen Mu used the Demon Sealing Curse to help replenish the Five Directions Banner and noticed that his Jade Cicada Dao Foundation seemed to attract the Demon Qi being stripped from returning Dao Soldiers.

Chen Mu discovered how to remove Demon Poison from Mili Heaven's Demon Qi and confirmed that the purified qi could be safely absorbed by living creatures. He found that it nourished his Jade Cicada Dao Foundation and decided it could sustain his cultivation of the Yellow Springs Gourd Method.

• Chen Mu used the Giant Spirit God, Divine Listening, and the Plague Immortal Method to extract Demon Poison from Demon Qi, allowing the Five Directions Banner to leave the purified qi untouched.
• Chen Mu tested purified Demon Qi on starving Luminous Algae and found that it revived them and made them shine more brightly than usual.
• Chen Mu tested the qi on Five-colored Pheasants and Yin Soul Monsters, confirming that they could absorb it without harm.
• Chen Mu sent purified Demon Qi into his Dao Foundation Jade Seed and found that it produced Dharma power and a faint sense of satisfaction.
• Chen Mu concluded that Demon Qi could nourish his Jade Cicada Dao Foundation and decided to use it in place of Heavenly Star Vital Qi for the Yellow Springs Gourd Method.

While stationed in Mili Heaven, Chen Mu refined Demon Qi to replenish his power and advance his cultivation, while Renzi Camp became a refuge for wounded Dao Soldiers. The chapter ended with Chen Mu successfully reaching the ninth tier of the Yellow Springs Gourd.

• Chen Mu discovered that his Soaring Golden Light had grown stronger as he cultivated his Jade Cicada Dao Foundation with purified Demon Qi.
• Chen Mu stored large quantities of purified Demon Qi in Thousand Lantern City and continued advancing the Yellow Springs Gourd.
• Chen Mu allowed Dao Soldiers to leave Renzi Camp only if they found one wounded Dao Soldier to replace each departing soldier.
• Over the following days, Renzi Camp exchanged hundreds of combat-ready soldiers for wounded Dao Soldiers, becoming a camp devoted to the injured.
• Chen Mu cultivated the Yellow Springs Gourd to Tier 9.

Chen Mu learned that the Investiture of the Gods could guarantee a path to True Spirit, then witnessed Mili Heaven’s dangers firsthand when a soldier developed Mili Syndrome. After curing the man, Chen Mu found a crowd of wounded soldiers waiting outside his residence the next morning, hoping he would treat them too.

• Chen Mu overheard Dao Soldiers discussing the Investiture of the Gods and considered checking the Haotian Treasure Record.
• Chen Mu observed the unusually dense Emperor Flow Paste fall over Mili Heaven, then heard a terrifying roar from below the seabed.
• A black-robed Dao Soldier afflicted with Mili Syndrome attacked the camp, and Chen Mu restrained him before using the Plague Immortal Method to remove the Demon Poison.
• The cured soldier offered Chen Mu a fire essence heart, but Chen Mu refused it and asked him to gather unwanted Monster Flesh instead.
• The next morning, a crowd of wounded soldiers gathered at Chen Mu’s residence and pleaded for him to save them.

Chen Mu used a second consciousness to have the Giant Spirit God treat wounded Dao Soldiers while he cultivated, collecting monster flesh to nourish his Yin Soul Monsters. After seeing the benefits of his work, Jiang Daojun assigned him to guard the Five Directions Cloud Platform and doubled his Dao Merit, leaving Chen Mu with a safer, permanent duty.

• Chen Mu agreed to treat wounded soldiers in exchange for monster flesh, which could nourish the Yin Soul Monsters in his Five Ghosts Bag.
• A square-faced young Dao Soldier received treatment for demon poison and an injured arm, then decided to bring more monster corpses to Renzi Camp in the future.
• Chen Mu used the Yin Spirit Heavenly Demon Body's second consciousness to let the Giant Spirit God treat patients while he continued cultivating the Yellow Springs Gourd.
• As the Five Directions Cloud Platform advanced through Flying Islands, Renzi Camp treated a steady flow of wounded Dao Soldiers, helping restore their combat strength.
• Jiang Daojun praised Chen Mu's work, assigned him to guard the Five Directions Cloud Platform, and promised to double his Dao Merit.

Wu Neng'er led Mingling Island’s small folk away after Grandmother warned that a Human Demon Dao Ancestor was coming to seize the island. Months later, Chen Mu’s Five Directions Banner shattered as the Cloud Platform split and Mili Syndrome erupted among the Renzi Camp Dao Soldiers, leaving him facing a trap that had swallowed Jiang Daojun’s forces.

• Grandmother urged Wu Neng'er and the others to flee Mingling Island while she stayed behind to face the Human Demons and potentially self-destruct.
• Wu Neng'er reluctantly accepted Grandmother’s order and led his younger brothers and sisters toward the Endless Sea.
• After months of battles, Chen Mu and the other camp commanders assembled in Xuan Yuan Hall to attack another Flying Island.
• Jiang Daojun led the assault, while Chen Mu gathered the Renzi Camp’s mana into the Five Directions Banner, which suddenly shattered.
• The Flying Island’s defenses rose again, fog swallowed the attacking Dao Soldiers, and the Five Directions Cloud Platform split apart.
• Hundreds of Renzi Camp Dao Soldiers transformed and attacked those around them as Chen Mu realized Demon Poison had triggered Mili Syndrome.

Wu Neng'er secretly dragged the Five Directions Banner into the Mili Dreamscape, leaving the Five Directions Cloud Platform exposed as he watched Grandmother battle the Human Demons on Mingling Island. Chen Mu stabilized the platform and its Dao Soldiers, then moved the force away from the Flying Island to wait for news of Jiang Daojun.

• Wu Neng'er used his Sun-Hiding Divine Ability to pull the Five Directions Banner into the Mili Dreamscape, scattering the Five Directions Cloud Platform and exposing those aboard to Mili qi.
• Chen Mu arrived too late to catch Wu Neng'er, then used the Five Ghosts Moving Mountains Technique to envelop the ruined cloud platform with his Hundred Thousand Yin Souls.
• Chen Mu found the Renzi Camp Dao Soldiers in chaos and used the Giant Spirit God’s abilities to calm, heal, and strengthen them before ordering them to stay put.
• Chen Mu decided not to approach the Flying Island, left a Vermilion Feather Sword to watch it, and carried the Xuan Yuan Hall and Renzi Camp away to await Jiang Daojun’s fate.

Chen Mu and Renzi Camp were caught in the Mili Dreamscape, where their companions and defenses vanished and his abilities were suppressed. Wu Neng'er explained that Chen Mu would be assimilated into the dream, then disappeared, leaving Chen Mu stranded.

• Chen Mu kept Renzi Camp and Xuan Yuan Hall far from Mingling Island while he watched for danger and waited to learn what had happened there.
• Chen Mu realized the Dao Soldiers were repeating old conversations, and his Hundred Mile Qi Seal revealed that they and then Xuan Yuan Hall, the Giant Spirit God, and the Yin Souls were illusions that vanished.
• Chen Mu tried to escape, but cold white beams attacked him and his Divine Listening could sense only a short distance.
• Wu Neng'er appeared and told Chen Mu that they were in the Mili Dreamscape, where his abilities were useless and he would eventually be assimilated.
• Wu Neng'er vanished into the void, leaving Chen Mu trapped in the dreamscape.

Chen Mu was trapped in the Mili Dreamscape, where most of his secret arts failed and he realized he was only a projection of his Spirit God. He escaped through Thousand Lantern City and awoke in the real world, finding that all five thousand Dao Soldiers remained trapped in the dream.

• Chen Mu tested his abilities in the Mili Dreamscape and found that only techniques tied to his Jade Cicada Dao Foundation and Yin Spirit Divine Embryo still worked.
• Chen Mu reasoned that he could use Thousand Lantern City as a passage back to his physical body, but an unseen gaze watched him as he tried to open it.
• Chen Mu discovered that sacrificing Jade Cicada Qi Mechanism weakened the barrier to Thousand Lantern City, then used enough Qi to open its gateway.
• Chen Mu entered Thousand Lantern City and followed the pull of his physical body back to the real world.
• Chen Mu awoke in his rocking chair and saw that all five thousand Dao Soldiers at Renzi Camp were still trapped in the Mili Saint Venerable's dream.

Chen Mu used the Nightmare Curse and Delusion Seven Emotions Flame to ambush and kill Wu Neng'er, breaking the threat to the Dao Soldiers trapped in the Mili Dreamscape. The surviving Spirit Gods returned, but nearly five hundred Dao Soldiers had died, and Chen Mu remained worried about the danger of Mili Heaven and Jiang Daojun's fate.

• Chen Mu traced the Dao Soldiers' Spirit Gods into the Mili Dreamscape with the Nightmare Curse and planted Seven Emotions Flame within them.
• Wu Neng'er found a lone Dao Soldier and attacked, triggering the hidden flame, which followed his power out of the dreamscape.
• Chen Mu struck Wu Neng'er with four Black-White Lights and burned away his remains with the Seven Emotions Flame.
• The surviving Dao Soldier Spirit Gods returned after Wu Neng'er's death, while Chen Mu counted nearly five hundred casualties and feared for Jiang Daojun's safety.

Chen Mu waited for Jiang Daojun to escape the Mili Dreamscape, then joined the battered survivors on Mingling Island. As the wounded were treated, Wu Jie explained that the illusion had turned allies against one another and caused Wen Tong’s death.

• Chen Mu concluded that the Mili Dreamscape had eroded the Dao Soldiers and damaged the Five Directions Banner, while wondering why the Jade Cicada Dao Foundation had protected him.
• After waiting until late on the third night, Chen Mu saw Jiang Daojun burst out of Mingling Island badly wounded, then led the Renzi Camp toward the island.
• Chen Mu used the Giant Spirit God to treat wounded Dao Soldiers after Jiang Daojun reactivated the Five Directions Banner to shield part of Mingling Island.
• Wu Jie thanked Chen Mu for replenishing his vital energy and lamented that restoring his severed limbs would consume the Dao Merit he had hoped to use for a Magic Artifact.
• Wu Jie told Chen Mu that an illusion had made Dao Soldiers mistake one another for monsters, and that Wen Tong had died from Netherflame Burning Heart after killing allies, including Wu Jie’s leg.

After Renzi Camp stabilized, Chen Mu received supplies and medical Dao Soldiers to continue treating the wounded while making rapid progress on the Yellow Springs Gourd. Jiang Men discovered a Spirit Eye on Mingling Island and sealed the island to keep its location secret as Chen Mu settled into a peaceful routine and prepared for another cultivation retreat.

• Wu Jie told Chen Mu that Jiang Daojun would cover half the Dao Merit cost of recovery items and asked Chen Mu to replenish his vitality so he could use a Jade Void Talisman to regrow his limbs.
• Wu Jie explained that Jiang Daojun was holding Mingling Island because controlling its Spirit Eye could earn him a place on the Investiture of the Gods.
• Jiang Daojun's guards delivered healing supplies, Dao Merit, and several hundred medical Dao Soldiers to Renzi Camp, leaving Chen Mu able to focus more on cultivation.
• Jiang Men found the Spirit Eye hidden in a tree beside the lake and decided to seal Mingling Island and prevent anyone from leaving or sending messages.
• Over the following months, Mingling Island remained calm, and Chen Mu cooked Five-colored Pheasants with his Five Ghosts Moving Mountains Technique while his Yellow Springs Gourd experience rose to 8967 of 10000.
• Chen Mu decided to rest before beginning another retreat to complete the Yellow Springs Gourd.

After years of effort, Chen Mu completed the Yellow Springs Gourd Method and crossed the Sixth Gate of Qi Refining. He examined the gourd’s Spiritual Mechanism, discovered how it produced Pure Yang Qi to nourish his Dao Foundation, and noticed striking similarities between Qi Refining and Yinling cultivation.

• Chen Mu delegated Renzi Camp’s affairs to his deputy generals and secluded himself to finish condensing the Yellow Springs Gourd’s final Primordial Talisman.
• After two months of failed attempts, Chen Mu completed the Yellow Springs Gourd and realized he had crossed the Sixth Gate of Qi Refining.
• Chen Mu examined the gourd’s Spiritual Mechanism and deduced that condensing its Primordial Talismans had fused parts of his Spirit God into it.
• Chen Mu used the Yellow Springs Gourd to produce Pure Yang Qi, which nourished his Dao Foundation and clarified how it could grow into a Primordial Spirit.
• Chen Mu compared Qi Refining with Yinling cultivation and wondered which path had copied the other.

After nurturing his Dao Foundation, Chen Mu discovered that his Yellow Springs Gourd had developed a powerful Divine Ability that could injure Primordial Spirits. He spent several days resting before Wu Jie arrived with a gift of monster corpses to thank him for helping restore his limbs.

• Chen Mu learned that Yellow Springs Qi could attack Primordial Spirits, though the gourd could store only one strand and needed at least a day to produce another.
• Chen Mu summoned the spiritual Yellow Springs Gourd, watched it befriend the Five Ghosts Little Paper Men, and reflected on how Spiritual Treasures and Dao Foundations could evolve together.
• Chen Mu left seclusion and spent several days resting outside the Green Jade Immortal Residence.
• Wu Jie visited Chen Mu after the Jade Void Spell restored his limbs and removed the hidden harms from his past cultivation.
• Wu Jie gave Chen Mu a box of Mustard Seed Jade Talismans filled with monster corpses as thanks for helping replenish his qi and blood.

Chen Mu examined demons newly found on Mingling Island and discovered they still carried Demon Poison despite the Five Directions Banner. He then traced the unexpected growth of two secret arts to the Life and Death Seal and decided to train the Plague Immortal Method.

• Wu Jie told Chen Mu that demons periodically emerged on Mingling Island, possibly because of the island itself.
• Chen Mu extracted Demon Poison from the demon corpses and suspected that Demon Poison could spread by means beyond Demon Qi.
• Chen Mu noticed that his Seven Emotions Curse and Mustard Seed Spell had gained experience without deliberate practice.
• Chen Mu realized that the Life and Death Seal in Thousand Lantern City Pivot Eye was letting him comprehend the Cave Heaven’s mysteries and improve those secret arts.
• Chen Mu decided to practice the Plague Immortal Method to better protect himself from Mili Heaven Demon Poison.