Chapter Summaries

Chen Mu advanced his Dao Foundation and Cloud Mirage Heavenly Demon Body while cultivating the Plague Immortal Method. Jiang Daojun sealed Mingling Island to protect his chance at the Investiture of the Gods, leaving Chen Mu cut off from his Vermilion Feather Swords and considering Thousand Lantern City as his remaining refuge.

• Chen Mu refined Pure Yang Qi with the Yellow Springs Gourd, nurturing his Dao Foundation until it reached its limit for the session.
• Chen Mu tempered his Cloud Mirage Heavenly Demon Body by refining Netherworld Qi and Taiyin Qi into the Yin Spirit Embryo.
• Chen Mu used the Plague Immortal Method to extract Demon Poison from a Mingling Demon, then continued training the method for experience.
• Wu Jie told Chen Mu that Jiang Daojun would seal the Haotian Treasure Record and Mingling Island while entering seclusion in Xuan Yuan Hall to heal and protect his chance to ascend the Investiture of the Gods.
• Chen Mu discovered that the Five Directions Banner had severed his connection to the Vermilion Feather Swords and resolved not to risk sneaking out, leaving Thousand Lantern City as his fallback refuge.

Chen Mu sought Mingling Demon corpses to advance the Plague Immortal Method, but Jiang Daojun’s decree and warnings about Demon Poison kept him from obtaining or hunting them. He continued cultivating cautiously and discovered that the Life and Death Seal was slowly improving the Seven Emotions Curse and Mustard Seed Spell.

• Chen Mu learned from Lu Jia that Jiang Daojun had ordered all Mingling Demons to be surrendered and their Demon Poison handled collectively.
• Chen Mu visited Wu Jie, who refused to provide corpses and warned that the demons and their poison were unusually dangerous.
• With his supply of Demon Poison limited, Chen Mu considered secretly hunting Mingling Demons but decided the risk was not worth it.
• Chen Mu continued cultivating the Plague Immortal Method slowly while his Dao Foundation and Divine Fetus Yinhun steadily developed.
• Chen Mu discovered that the Life and Death Seal inside the Big Eyeball in Thousand Lantern City was raising the proficiency of the Seven Emotions Curse and Mustard Seed Spell.

Chen Mu discovered that Mingling Island’s lively camps were an illusion hiding a deadly Mili Dreamscape. After awakening, he found that the Qi Refining cultivators around him had become Mingling Demons, leaving him to face the danger of the transformation he had narrowly escaped.

• Chen Mu noticed that people at the market showed no emotions, despite their lively behavior.
• Chen Mu visited Wu Jie and gained permission to handle Mingling Demon corpses in Gengzi Camp so he could remove their Demon Poison.
• Chen Mu secretly used the Seven Emotions Curse on Wu Jie and found that Wu Jie had no genuine emotions either.
• Chen Mu suspected he was trapped in the Mili Dreamscape, examined his Jade Cicada Dao Foundation, and broke free of the white threads covering his eyes.
• Chen Mu used True Hearing to discover that Renzi Camp’s residents were cocooned and had transformed into Mingling Demons, including a Qi Refining cultivator he had seen meditating in the dreamscape.

Chen Mu tried to escape Mingling Island but discovered that Wu Jie was a spy who had trapped him with a Potter Wasp Insect. Chen Mu resisted the insect and used the Nightmare Curse to burn Wu Jie with the Delusion Seven Emotions Flame.

• Chen Mu decided to flee Mingling Island, but Wu Jie confronted him at the island's barrier.
• Chen Mu and Wu Jie attacked each other, and Wu Jie accused Chen Mu of trying to report the Spirit Eye's location.
• Chen Mu told Wu Jie that they were trapped in the Mili Dreamscape and would become Mingling Demons if they did not escape.
• Wu Jie revealed that he had planted a Potter Wasp Insect in Chen Mu to corrupt his Jade Seed, but the Heavenly Demon Armor blocked it.
• Chen Mu burned the insect with the Delusion Seven Emotions Flame, then used the Nightmare Curse to engulf Wu Jie in colorless flames.

Chen Mu killed Wu Jie with the Yellow Springs Gourd, then escaped Mingling Island as Jiang Men’s power nearly overwhelmed him. After fleeing more than a thousand li and confirming he was not being pursued, Chen Mu boarded the Dragon Bone Boat to recover while it carried him farther away.

• Wu Jie transformed through Blood Drop Rebirth, but a force took control of him and reshaped him to resemble Dao Lord Jiang Men.
• Chen Mu’s Nightmare Curse failed against Wu Jie, so he used the Yellow Springs Gourd to sever Wu Jie’s head.
• Jiang Men’s invisible force vanished, allowing Chen Mu to escape through a Ghost Gate just before Jiang Men attacked the island.
• Jiang Men discovered that Chen Mu possessed the Yellow Springs Gourd and returned to Mingling Island after the Five Directions Banner’s barrier rose again.
• Chen Mu healed his severe injuries, fled more than a thousand li, and used his swords and True Hearing Supernatural Ability to check that Jiang Men was not pursuing him.
• Chen Mu entered the Dragon Bone Boat, shrank it to finger length, and let it swim away while he rested and recovered.

After escaping Mingling Island, Chen Mu recovered aboard the Dragon Bone Boat and reflected on how the Yellow Springs Gourd had helped him survive Jiang Men’s attack. He later found a wrecked Flying Island and recognized the remains of the Qianji Sect’s mechanical crows, leaving him near signs of his former employer.

• Chen Mu treated his injuries and concluded that Yellow Springs Qi had wounded Jiang Men’s descending split soul and severed Wu Jie’s head.
• Chen Mu realized that Wu Jie had been assimilated by the Mili Dreamscape and suspected Jiang Men had helped conceal Mingling Island’s Spirit Eye.
• Chen Mu decided to cultivate the Seven Emotions Curse and continued steering the Dragon Bone Boat through Mili Heaven in search of Qi Refining cultivators.
• Two months later, Chen Mu spotted a ruined Flying Island and cautiously sent the Vermilion Feather Sword to scout it from the sea.
• Chen Mu found destroyed artifacts, a wrecked Cloud Bat Airship, and mechanical crow carcasses etched with Silver Veins, then recognized them as belonging to the Qianji Sect.

Chen Mu spent six months gathering Demon Qi while traveling through Mili Heaven, then realized the Emperor Flow Paste had stopped appearing and suspected the Qi Refining cultivators were nearing the end of their campaign. At a Qianji Sect stronghold, Lan Xiuzhu revealed that the three Dao Ancestors had eroded Mili Heaven’s source and planned to return as the realm was incorporated into Hundred Intentions Heaven.

• Chen Mu gathered Demon Qi on an unnamed floating island, then set out to follow the Qianji Sect cultivators while avoiding danger.
• Chen Mu traveled for half a year, training his abilities and stockpiling Demon Qi at floating islands without catching up to the cultivators.
• Chen Mu noticed that the full moon had appeared without the usual Emperor Flow Paste and concluded that the Qi Refining cultivators had likely caused its disappearance.
• Lan Xiuzhu learned that Elder Dong had found a Spirit Eye and was using a Spiritual Mechanism Seal to control it.
• Yin Changsheng questioned Lan Xiuzhu about surrendering the last Spirit Eye, and Lan Xiuzhu said the three Dao Ancestors had eroded Mili Heaven’s source and would soon use the realm’s power to exile its demons.

As the Celestial Stars shifted and Demon Qi dwindled, Chen Mu retaliated against the violent Yellow Immortals by secretly draining their Demon Qi. The Dao Ancestors began exiling Mili Heaven’s demons, and Chen Mu was caught in the spell as he vanished from Yellow Immortal Island.

• Chen Mu observed the changing stars and concluded that the campaign in Mili Heaven was nearing its end.
• After Yellow Immortals pursued him with foul mist for gathering Demon Qi, Chen Mu escaped and vowed to retaliate.
• Chen Mu secretly sucked away a White-Bearded Yellow Immortal’s gathered Demon Qi and resolved to drain the island.
• Lan Xiuzhu explained to Yin Changsheng that the Celestial Stars’ upheaval was settling and ordered the island searched for all traces of Demon Qi.
• As the Dao Ancestors’ exile spell took effect on Yellow Immortal Island, Chen Mu and the island’s Yellow Immortals froze and gradually disappeared.

Chen Mu explored a mist-shrouded forest that seemed unlike either Mili Heaven or the Yin Nether Underworld, then encountered two strange one-eared beings sheltering beneath a giant Moon Bark Tree. The chapter ended with Chen Mu learning that his Yin Spirit Embryo let him understand and speak their language, as the pair introduced themselves as Duocai and Duobao.

• Chen Mu found that the forest’s cold mist weakened his supernatural abilities and that his Dew Gathering Incantation did not work.
• Chen Mu spotted a colossal Moon Bark Tree and decided to investigate it.
• Duocai and Duobao sheltered beneath the tree behind a smoke dome made by burning God-Protecting Incense as a Black Wind Demon battered it.
• Chen Mu appeared beside the pair, frightening them into fleeing before they returned and knelt before him.
• Chen Mu recognized that Duocai and Duobao resembled Yinling and discovered that his Yin Spirit Embryo enabled him to understand and speak their language.
• Duocai and Duobao told Chen Mu their names.

Chen Mu learned about Mist Ridge and its outsiders from Duocai and Duobao, then followed them to White Bird City to settle in. He rented a courtyard in Qing'an District and received a copy of the Rootless Sutra, leaving him wary of the unexpected gift.

• Chen Mu questioned Duocai and Duobao about Mist Ridge, the Black Wind Demon, and other outsiders, and learned that outsiders had arrived more than a dozen years earlier.
• Duocai explained that the Black Wind Demons devoured vital breath, that the Moon King Tree was a mirage, and that milky-white Moon Burdock Beads were called Longevity Rice.
• The brothers used their Qingfu Parent-Child Insect to guide Chen Mu’s party through the mist toward White Bird City, where the City Lord’s Divine Ability cleared the fog.
• Chen Mu entered Qing'an District with the brothers and rented a spacious courtyard from Steward Zhang, paying a year’s rent in Longevity Rice borrowed from them.
• Steward Zhang gave Chen Mu house deeds, a key, and a copy of the Rootless Sutra, prompting Chen Mu to wonder whether the scripture concealed a trap.

After settling into his Mist Ridge courtyard, Chen Mu adapted his cultivation to the local conditions and searched for a way to make Longevity Rice. He discovered a method for turning Moon Burdock Beads into artificial Jade Dew Beads, giving him a potential food supply in his new home.

• Chen Mu learned from Duocai and Duobao that reciting the Rootless Sutra could awaken divine abilities, then promised to repay the Longevity Rice he had borrowed from them.
• Chen Mu concealed his courtyard with Breath-Sealing Stones and the Minor Three Talents Light Blocking Restriction.
• Chen Mu concluded that a Qi Refining cultivator's secret technique had displaced him from Mili Heaven because he had stored too much Demon Qi, and decided to settle in Mist Ridge.
• Chen Mu continued cultivating with stored Mili Heaven Demon Qi and used the local environment to strengthen his Yin Spirit, while pausing the Plague Immortal Method.
• Chen Mu reasoned that Return Vitality Soup and Spirit Nurturing Wine might substitute for Yin Spirit Jade Dew, then used them to transform a Moon Burdock Bead into an artificial Jade Dew Bead.

Chen Mu learned that White Bird City's scriptures and protection might conceal a scheme, then continued cultivating while investigating Mist Ridge. After the Exquisite Jade Disk produced Earth Spirit Vital Qi, he considered using Yama Feast to learn how to refine more of them.

• Chen Mu hired Duocai and Duobao to find information about Mist Ridge and received a rough map of White Bird City.
• At Fan Chamber, Chen Mu overheard that Old Gongsun had died after abandoning White Bird City's Rootless Sutra to pursue a Divine Ability through Formless City's One Heart Scripture.
• Chen Mu suspected that city scriptures drew people into accepting something like the Heavenly Demon Spirit Seeds hidden in his Eastern Extreme Longevity Scripture, and wondered why he had never encountered a Black Wind Demon.
• After several months of cultivation, Chen Mu's Mustard Seed Spell improved, and he decided White Bird City suited his stable cultivation needs despite his limited supply of Demon Qi.
• Chen Mu used a White Jade Coin and the Exquisite Jade Disk to produce Earth Spirit Vital Qi, then considered using Yama Feast to learn how to refine more disks.

Chen Mu sacrificed the Exquisite Jade Disk to learn its secrets, then used White Jade Coins to refine a working replacement and secure his supply of Earth Spirit Vital Qi. After more than half a year in White Bird City, Duocai and Duobao visited to demonstrate a newly awakened Divine Ability, and the hidden aura it released stirred an unexpected craving in Chen Mu’s Yin Spirit Embryo.

• Chen Mu used Yama Feast to consume the Exquisite Jade Disk and gained the Linglong Heavenly Secret Spell and its Artifact Refining Technique.
• Chen Mu discovered that White Jade Coins contained the Three Lights Jade needed to forge new Exquisite Jade Disks.
• After wasting more than two thousand White Jade Coins, Chen Mu refined a usable jade disk and successfully infused it with the Linglong Heavenly Secret Spell, allowing it to produce Earth Spirit Vital Qi.
• Chen Mu settled into a routine of cultivation and artifact refining in White Bird City, where more than half a year passed.
• Duocai and Duobao told Chen Mu they had awakened halves of the Wind Listening Divine Ability and planned to leave for Formless City.
• The brothers successfully cast their Divine Ability, and the aura it released caused Chen Mu’s Yin Spirit Embryo to stir with intense craving.

Chen Mu investigated Supernatural Power and found a way to replenish his mana in White Bird City, easing his need to leave Mist Ridge. He then learned that outsiders were searching for a Divine Weapon after one appeared near the city, and reconsidered what he knew about city lords’ divine powers.

• Chen Mu tested the Rootless Sutra’s Supernatural Power and found that it repeatedly stirred his Yin Spirit Embryo, so he began reciting the scripture himself.
• After days of recitation produced little change, Chen Mu continued cultivating while focusing more of his afternoons on the Rootless Sutra.
• Chen Mu arranged thirty-nine Exquisite Jade Disks around his courtyard and used them to gather Earth Spirit Vital Qi, discovering a practical way to restore his mana.
• A gray-clad man escaped the Black Wind and found a barrier that blocked the mist, then suspected a masterless Divine Weapon had appeared and headed deeper into the forest.
• At Fan Chamber, Xu Gui told Chen Mu that outsiders had come to White Bird City seeking a Divine Weapon after someone found its barrier nearby.
• Chen Mu used True Hearing to listen to the discussions and reconsidered his understanding of Supernatural Power and city lords’ divine might.

Chen Mu learned that the White Bird Divine Weapon had enabled Lu Gong to establish White Bird City, and its discovery sparked a citywide search. While the searchers scoured Mist Forest, Chen Mu found that the Rootless Sutra could draw in Divine Ability power and accelerate his Yin Spirit Embryo’s growth.

• Chen Mu concluded that Lu Gong had concealed the Divine Weapon’s role in founding White Bird City and expected the newly revealed secret to cause unrest.
• As treasure seekers left White Bird City, Xu Gui told Chen Mu he would stay behind rather than risk his life for the Divine Weapon.
• Lu Gong confronted Vice City Lord Qin Yue about the Qin Family’s interest in the weapon, and Qin Yue offered a Divine Weapon Fragment in exchange for Lu Gong’s help.
• Searchers repeatedly found traces of the elusive Divine Weapon in Mist Forest, but it vanished before they could reach it, drawing more people into the hunt.
• Chen Mu used the Rootless Sutra to draw a wisp of Divine Ability power into his Yin Spirit Embryo and discovered that it increased the Embryo’s capacity to absorb Netherworld Qi.

Chen Mu refined Linglong Jade Disks and used a star formation to build an artificial Earth Vein Spirit Spring that could gather and replenish Earth Spirit Vital Qi. As outsiders and Weapon Masters flooded White Bird City over a Divine Weapon, violence spread beyond the city, leaving Chen Mu uncertain how long he could remain in peace.

• Chen Mu spent half a month reciting the Rootless Sutra and discovered that his daily supernatural power supply increased with his scripture proficiency but remained capped.
• Xu Gui returned from gathering over a thousand grains of Longevity Rice while others searched for the Divine Weapon, and planned to spend the year at Fan Chamber.
• After several months of refining artifacts, Chen Mu completed 108 Linglong Jade Disks and used 24 pearls in a Lesser Cosmic Stars Formation to gather Earth Spirit Vital Qi and replenish empty White Jade Coins.
• As more outsiders arrived, fighting outside White Bird City intensified, and Xu Gui told Chen Mu that multiple Weapon Masters had joined the search for the Divine Weapon.
• Chen Mu recognized that the city’s growing chaos threatened his peaceful life and wondered how much longer he could stay.

Chen Mu completed the Rootless Sutra and discovered it had strengthened the Seven Emotions Curse, then witnessed a disturbance in the Mist Forest as Qin Yue seized Lu Gong’s Divine Weapon. Lu Gong revealed he had split the weapon to foil Qin Yue’s scheme, leaving Qin Yue with only a crippled Divine Weapon.

• Chen Mu completed the Rootless Sutra, doubling the Divine Ability power he could draw and transforming the sutra into a secret curse he could cast without reciting.
• Chen Mu noticed the Seven Emotions Curse had advanced to Tier 4 and suspected the Rootless Sutra was connected to the Heavenly Demon Path.
• Xu Gui told Chen Mu that the Celestial Demon Cloud Mirage was said to weave the illusory scenes seen across Mist Ridge, but he knew nothing about the Heavenly Demon Path.
• Chen Mu saw a silver pillar of light rise from the Mist Forest and concluded that another fight over a Divine Weapon had broken out.
• Qin Yue used the Three Paths Stone and nine Mountain Moving Envoys to suppress Lu Gong and extract the White Bird Divine Weapon from him.
• Lu Gong revealed that he had split the Divine Weapon and hidden a piece elsewhere, leaving Qin Yue with a crippled weapon and enraging him.

Chen Mu and Xu Gui fled White Bird City after God-Confusing Mist invaded, taking a remote route toward Three Paths City. In the forest, a Gray Stone flew from Xu Gui into Chen Mu, and Vice City Lord Qin Yue confronted him.

• At Fan Chamber, Xu Gui explained that Divine Weapons shortened their wielders’ lives and planned to leave White Bird City for Three Paths City, with Chen Mu agreeing to go.
• A surge of God-Confusing Mist engulfed Qing'an District, convincing Chen Mu and Xu Gui to flee immediately.
• The next day, Xu Gui led Chen Mu through a remote path in Mist Forest and insisted it was safe despite eerie cries from the woods.
• A Gray Stone struck Xu Gui in the forehead, and Xu Gui recognized the arriving purple-clad man as Vice City Lord Qin Yue.
• The Gray Stone turned into gray air and entered Chen Mu, after which Qin Yue stared at him as if he were a dead man.

Chen Mu killed Qin Yue and took possession of the Divine Weapon, then brought Xu Gui to a secluded valley to avoid Three Paths City. He used the Life and Death Seal to activate the stone indirectly, hoping to draw on its power without sacrificing his lifespan, and successfully drove the mist back.

• Qin Yue ordered his Gray-clad Men to capture Chen Mu and take him to Three Paths City, but Chen Mu summoned the Candle Dragon Dharma Image and swallowed all nine men.
• Chen Mu used the Yellow Gourd to kill Qin Yue, whose body turned to ashes and left behind a Gray Stone that merged with the stone in Chen Mu's Secret Aperture.
• Chen Mu offered the Divine Weapon to Xu Gui, but Xu Gui refused because he feared being killed for it.
• Chen Mu and Xu Gui settled in a Small Valley, where Chen Mu guessed the stone was a Root Vessel and decided to try controlling it with the Life and Death Seal.
• The Life and Death Seal entered the stone, and a barrier spread out from it, pushing the mist away from the valley.

After taking control of the White Bird Divine Weapon, Chen Mu learned that the Rootless Sutra refined living beings’ desires and Seven Emotions into Supernatural Power. He returned to White Bird City, claimed authority, killed Qin Wu, and forced the remaining generals to accept Xu Gui as vice city lord and receive a new scripture.

• Chen Mu received the Divine Weapon’s complete Rootless Sutra and learned it used the Seven Emotions and desires of living beings to produce Supernatural Power.
• Chen Mu decided to return to White Bird City, where its large population could provide the Divine Weapon with what it needed.
• At White Bird Lake, Qin Wu urged the other generals to defect to Three Paths City, while Cheng Hu and Zhu Gui resisted his plan.
• Chen Mu arrived with Xu Gui, declared that he would rule White Bird City, and named Xu Gui vice city lord.
• Chen Mu used Candle Dragon to kill Qin Wu, then compelled the remaining generals to stay and gave each a copy of the Eastern Extreme Longevity Scripture.