Chapter Summaries

After the Xuantian Divine Hall teleported everyone else away, Li Qing remained behind and tried unsuccessfully to take the Seven Marvelous Immortal Tree. The hall’s Artifact Spirit revealed that Li Qing was a Successor of the Demon Venerable and offered the tree, other treasures, and immortal arts in exchange for Li Qing taking it to the immortal realm when he ascended; Li Qing accepted the deal.

• The Xuantian Divine Hall teleported its visitors away, but Li Qing remained in the space containing the Seven Marvelous Immortal Tree.
• Li Qing tried to uproot the tree, store it, and cut through the reinforced ground, but none of his efforts worked.
• The Artifact Spirit of the Immortal Imprisonment Hall appeared and explained how it had recognized Li Qing as a Successor of the Demon Venerable.
• The Artifact Spirit offered the Seven Marvelous Immortal Tree in exchange for Li Qing taking it to the immortal realm, but Li Qing hesitated because the immortal realm had once ordered Demon Venerable successors killed.
• Li Qing negotiated for additional rewards, and the Artifact Spirit offered Chaos Origin when he reached the Body Integration Realm, a World Stone, and immortal arts alongside the tree.
• Li Qing agreed to the transaction and promised to take the Xuantian Divine Hall with him when he ascended to the immortal realm.

Li Qing explored the Xuantian Immortal Hall and learned several Immortal Arts, including the Golden Cicada Molting Technique and the fire-based Void Flame. After the hall sent him back to Nanfeng County City, he worried about how much time had passed and resolved to keep the Seven Marvelous Immortal Tree secret.

• Li Qing learned the immortal world's language, read the incomplete ice Dao art Cold Sky Flash, and memorized its inscriptions despite being unable to cultivate it.
• The Xuantian Immortal Hall brought Li Qing to a decay-filled prison cell, where he comprehended the Immortals' collaboratively created Golden Cicada Molting Technique.
• Li Qing learned the fire-element Immortal Art Void Flame, then inspected other techniques that were unsuitable for him.
• The Xuantian Immortal Hall explained that killing an Immortal brought Karmic Obstacles, said it had given Li Qing everything valuable except the Chaos Origin, and sent him away.
• Li Qing returned to Nanfeng County City in the Great Yu Kingdom and worried that others might have noticed his extended stay inside the hall.
• Li Qing resolved not to reveal the Seven Marvelous Immortal Tree to anyone.

After learning that Xuantian Immortal Hall's closing had drawn little attention to him, Li Qing took stock of his treasures and chose to return to Jade Capital City after refining his Human Seed Bag. In the Valley of Hundred Flowers, he completed the artifact and was confronted by a mysterious Body Integration Realm cultivator who wanted to learn his method.

• Li Qing gathered reports about Xuantian Immortal Hall and learned that his own presence there had gone unnoticed, despite the valuable treasures and breakthroughs others had gained.
• Li Qing reviewed his gains, including his improved cultivation, completed Kunpeng Treasure Art, Wind Spiritual Root, Seven Marvelous Immortal Tree, and Realm Stone, and decided to return to Jade Capital City after visiting the Valley of Hundred Flowers.
• Li Qing entered the Valley of Hundred Flowers and extracted its natural Dao patterns to finish refining his Human Seed Bag, finding abandoned cave abodes and fields of Heavenly Desire Flowers along the way.
• Li Qing completed the Mysterious-grade Spirit Treasure, Human Seed Bag, and attracted a young man in white robes who praised his method and asked him to teach it.
• Li Qing sensed the stranger was a human Body Integration Realm cultivator and demanded his name before discussing any deal.

Li Qing fought Qin Yu, the newly advanced Young Sect Master of the Joyful Union Demonic Sect, after Qin Yu tried to seize his secret refining technique. Li Qing escaped using his Kunpeng inheritance and headed back to Nanfeng County City to teleport to Jade Capital City.

• Qin Yu used his Soul-Swaying Bell to try to make Li Qing reveal the Heaven-Stealing Dao Patterns, but Li Qing resisted and counterattacked.
• Qin Yu summoned Demonic Flowers and pollen, while Li Qing burned them away with the Great Sun Golden Flame and struck at Qin Yu with his sword.
• Qin Yu paralyzed Li Qing's left arm, and Li Qing identified him as the Joyful Union Demonic Sect's Young Sect Master before transforming into a Nine-headed Serpent.
• Qin Yu summoned the Heavenly Demon Maiden Manifestation, which destroyed three of Li Qing's serpent heads and trapped him in space.
• Li Qing escaped the manifestation's bite with his Kunpeng form, shocking Qin Yu with his speed and revealing his Kunpeng inheritance.
• Li Qing flew back to Nanfeng County City and planned to use the Teleportation Array to travel to Jade Capital City.

Li Qing returned to Jade Capital City after escaping the Joyful Union Demonic Sect’s Young Sect Master and asked Dean Chen to arrange a meeting with Master Ying about a formation for his four killing swords. As Master Ying began studying Li Qing’s swords, Xia Wushuang revealed that he knew a formation that could suit Li Qing’s needs.

• Li Qing returned to the Grand Academy and told Dean Chen about his battle with the Joyful Union Demonic Sect’s Young Sect Master and his suspicions about the man’s interest in his secret art.
• Dean Chen agreed to honor their earlier deal and took Li Qing to meet Master Ying, an Eighth-rank Formation Master.
• Li Qing found Xia Wushuang trapped in Master Ying’s formation and asked Master Ying to spare his friend.
• Li Qing described his plan for a four-sword formation, and Master Ying agreed to consider a suitable formation concept after examining the Immortal Slaying Sword and Immortal Trapping Sword.
• After Master Ying sealed and then released Xia Wushuang’s mouth, Xia Wushuang said he knew an unnamed formation that would suit Li Qing.

Xia Wushuang demonstrated the Myriad Manifestation Immortal Formation and won Master Ying’s wager, leading Li Qing to choose it as the foundation for his future sword formation. After securing promises of rare materials, Xia Wushuang asked Li Qing to help him with two people on the Tianyuan Continent.

• Master Ying and Xia Wushuang wagered a core formation material as they each demonstrated a formation for Li Qing’s four killing swords.
• Master Ying displayed a simplified Heavenly Meteor Nine Tribulations Formation, while Xia Wushuang’s Myriad Manifestation Immortal Formation revealed far greater power and countless transformations.
• Xia Wushuang offered Primordial Spirit Crystal and arranged for Li Qing to obtain a Myriad Law Stone, and Li Qing chose the Myriad Manifestation Immortal Formation despite its other rare material requirements.
• Xia Wushuang asked Li Qing to take him away, but explained that he already had a master and could not accept Master Ying as his direct disciple.
• Xia Wushuang told Li Qing he could never return to the Tianyuan Continent and asked him to kill two people there in the future.

Li Qing settled into cultivation at the Grand Academy while the Great Yu Kingdom prepared to seize the Valley of Hundred Flowers. The sovereign announced his abdication and made control of the valley the condition for inheriting the throne, setting the Princes and their allies into motion.

• Li Qing entrusted Master Ying with refining the Myriad Manifestation Immortal Formation into a formation diagram, memorized two assassination targets, and returned to his cave abode to cultivate.
• Li Qing began nourishing the Seven Marvelous Immortal Tree into the Immortal Slaying Sword and cultivating the Void Flame.
• Eight divisions of Sky Cavalry gathered in Nanfeng County as the Joyful Union Demonic Sect appeared in the Valley of Hundred Flowers, and the sovereign announced his intention to abdicate.
• The palace decreed that whoever brought the Valley of Hundred Flowers into Great Yu territory would become the next sovereign, prompting Princes to rally ministers and allies.
• Prince An secured support from foreign-race patriarchs and planned to seek the Mo Family's backing, while Prince Huai won over the Yan Family, which issued mobilization orders.

Prince Li Yang began his Body Integration Realm breakthrough as the princes raced to claim the Valley of Hundred Flowers, which the emperor had made the test for succession. After Li Yang entered his tribulation, the three rival forces converged on Nanfeng County City and King Ning led his troops toward the valley.

• Court ministers argued over which prince to support until a eunuch announced that Prince Li Yang had begun breaking through.
• A five-colored kirin appeared above Jade Capital City, and Li Qing learned that whoever brought the Valley of Hundred Flowers into Great Yu's territory would inherit the throne.
• After two days, Prince Li Yang reached the Body Integration Realm and entered a Great Heavenly Tribulation, attacking the Heavenly Lightning Palace head-on.
• Prince An, Prince Huai, and King Ning arrived at Nanfeng County City with their forces, where the city lord told them the Eight Heavenly Cavalry had already advanced toward the Valley of Hundred Flowers.
• King Ning ordered his troops to set out for the Valley of Hundred Flowers.

Prince Li Yang survived his tribulation, entered the Body Integration Realm, and received an imperial title and fiefs, but failed to recruit Dean Chen, Master Ying, or the Grand Academy’s masters to support his bid for the throne. Meanwhile, the Great Yu princes and the Joyful Union Demonic Sect moved toward a battle for Valley of Hundred Flowers, and Li Yang prepared to send his Heavenly Wolf Division there.

• Prince Huai and Prince An discussed Prince Ning’s departure and the dangers of confronting the Joyful Union Demonic Sect, then set out for Valley of Hundred Flowers.
• Qin Yu led disciples and elders from the Joyful Union Demonic Sect’s halls and Blood Fiend Peak out to meet the approaching Great Yu forces.
• Prince Li Yang survived his tribulation, advanced to the Body Integration Realm, received six rounds of heavenly dao empowerment, and was granted the title of Prince Liyang along with two counties and three hundred thousand spirit stones.
• Prince Liyang asked Dean Chen, the Grand Academy’s masters, and Master Ying for support, but they all declined or refused to meet with him.
• Ministers told Prince Liyang that the Eight Heavenly Cavalry had clashed with the Joyful Union Demonic Sect and urged him to mobilize his Heavenly Wolf Division for Valley of Hundred Flowers.

Li Qing overcame the difficulty of using an immortal art by adapting the incomplete Spirit Fusion Art to sustain Void Flame. After receiving Prince Ning’s secret letter, he learned that Prince Ning suspected Prince An and Prince Huai of colluding with the Shadow Race and tasked him with protecting his family and investigating the princes.

• Li Qing discovered that ordinary mana and Kunpeng Divine Power could not sustain Void Flame, then found the incomplete Spirit Fusion Art in the Demon Venerable’s memories.
• After months of experimentation, Li Qing fused three Heaven and Earth Spirit Fires with Kunpeng Divine Power and his mana, enabling him to use Void Flame for five breaths.
• Qin Yu refused to leave the besieged Valley of Hundred Flowers, learned that the Spiritual Hou Clan demanded two ten-thousand-year Heavenly Desire Flowers, and discovered that his father had secretly arrived.
• A mole delivered Prince Ning’s secret letter to Li Qing, which accused Prince An and Prince Huai of possible ties to the Shadow Race and assigned him two tasks.
• Li Qing burned the letter and resolved to protect Prince Ning’s family while considering how to investigate Prince An and Prince Huai.

Li Qing guarded King Ning’s family in Jade Capital City while Prince Huai died and King Ning was severely wounded in the battle at the Valley of Hundred Flowers. After a Shadow Race assassin infiltrated King Ning’s Estate and escaped Li Qing, the emperor ordered an investigation.

• Li Qing arrived at King Ning’s Estate to protect the Princess Consorts and Crown Prince Fufeng while King Ning was away.
• News from the Valley of Hundred Flowers revealed that Prince Huai had been killed, King Ning had been severely wounded, and a division of Sky Cavalry had been wiped out.
• Prime Minister Li Tianzheng reached the battlefield and broke Qin Wuming’s Dark Domain, while Prince An led a charge against the enemy.
• Li Qing stayed at the estate until news confirmed King Ning would survive, then drove off a Shadow Race assassin who fled his flames.
• The Primary Princess Consort announced the attempted assassination, and the emperor ordered an investigation after the news spread through Jade Capital City.

Li Qing received an imperial reward for saving the Princess Consort while the Shadow Race investigation uncovered a hidden base in Prince An’s Estate, casting suspicion over the succession struggle. As Li Qing weighed evidence pointing toward King Ning and worried about the approaching end of the war, he sought to claim his promised resources and asked Master Ying to speed up a formation diagram.

• The Empress rewarded Li Qing with a Wood Jade Bead and promised that the Imperial Family would investigate the Shadow Race, while Li Qing advised the Princess Consort to remain inside King Ning’s Estate.
• Imperial secret agents found an Eye of Shadow and several Shadow Race members in Prince An’s Estate, and the Imperial Family placed its household under house arrest.
• Li Qing considered whether King Ning or Prince An had framed the other and noticed several clues that pointed toward King Ning’s possible connection to the Shadow Race.
• Li Qing returned to the Grand Academy, claimed the Art of Condensing Sha into Armor and the Five Elements Great Elixir formula, then visited Master Ying to ask about his formation diagram.
• Master Ying said the formation diagram would take about five more years and mocked Li Qing for becoming entangled in the Imperial Family’s troubles; Li Qing asked him to explain further.

After the Great Yu Kingdom captured and purified the Valley of Hundred Flowers, Li Qing feared the Princes’ return would begin the imperial struggle and focused on strengthening his Void Flame. At the capital, the palace array exposed a Shadow Race member parasitizing Prince An, who escaped the Emperor’s first attack by plunging Jade Capital City into a darkness law domain.

• Master Ying continued refining the array diagram, and Li Qing left Xia Wushuang in his care before returning to the Grand Academy to cultivate Void Flame.
• After half a year of fighting, Qin Wuming withdrew the Joyful Union Demonic Sect from the Valley of Hundred Flowers, while Great Yu’s forces claimed the territory.
• Prince An and Prince Ning stayed behind to eradicate the valley’s demonic qi, and the Great Yu troops later returned to Jade Capital City, where Prime Minister Li led the Princes toward the palace at the Emperor’s summons.
• The Imperial Palace’s qilin array revealed that Prince An was possessed by a powerful Shadow Race member, who cast off his disguise and attacked the capital.
• The Great Yu Emperor exposed the Shadow Race member beneath the city, but the enemy invoked Shadow Return Void Realm and twisted Jade Capital City as the chapter ended.

The Great Yu Imperial Lord quelled the Shadow Race attack, but the case was allowed to fade away and King Ning was chosen to inherit the throne. With the succession settled, Li Qing turned to refining the Five Elements Returning Origin Pill and learned that the palace’s Chief Alchemist, Ye Qingchen, might be able to help.

• The Great Yu Imperial Lord used the Heaven-reaching Crimson Kirin Staff and the city formation to repel the Shadow Race expert, then stopped pursuing him after Prime Minister Li urged him to protect the capital.
• Master Ying told Li Qing that the Shadow Race case would likely be set aside, and months later Prince An awoke with missing memories while the investigation became an unsolved mystery.
• The princes received rewards, King Liyang became commander-in-chief of the Thirteen Divisions of Sky Cavalry, and Prince Huai was buried with great ceremony.
• A year later, the Great Yu Imperial Lord abdicated to pursue a breakthrough, and an Imperial Decree named King Ning as his successor.
• Li Qing sought Master Wu’s help refining the Five Elements Returning Origin Pill, but Master Wu declined after describing his four failed attempts.
• Master Wu advised Li Qing to approach Ye Qingchen, the palace’s Chief Alchemist, who had once refined sentient pills.

Li Qing attended Emperor Ning’s enthronement, declined an appointment as Director of the Secret Supervision Institute, and asked the new emperor to arrange for Ye Qingchen to refine pills for him. At the Imperial Pill Pavilion, Ye Qingchen demanded a thousand years of lifespan for each refinement, and Li Qing proposed the Five Elements Returning Origin Pill.

• Li Qing received Prince Ning’s invitation to the enthronement and decided to attend so he could ask for Ye Qingchen’s help.
• Prince Ning ascended the throne as Emperor Ning, while a Purple Gold Kirin appeared over the palace and impressed the gathered crowds.
• Emperor Ning offered Li Qing the post of Director of the Secret Supervision Institute, but Li Qing declined because he planned to travel to Tianyuan Continent.
• In the Imperial Study, Li Qing asked Emperor Ning to speak with Ye Qingchen about refining pills, and Emperor Ning agreed to approach the Chief Alchemist.
• Li Qing visited the Imperial Pill Pavilion, where Ye Qingchen said he would take a thousand years of lifespan for each refinement.
• Li Qing asked whether Ye Qingchen could refine the Five Elements Returning Origin Pill.

Li Qing paid Ye Qingchen a thousand years of lifespan to refine the Five Elements Returning Origin Pill using his Five Yuan Dates. The pill batch succeeded, produced a Spirit Forming Pill that survived a Pill Tribulation, and left Li Qing with twelve pills.

• Ye Qingchen agreed to refine the pill after Li Qing confirmed the Five Yuan Dates he had gathered, then extracted exactly one thousand years of Li Qing's lifespan in a demon-spirit cauldron.
• Ye Qingchen used the five dates and his Senluo Spirit Fire to begin refining the pill while Li Qing waited in the Imperial Pill Pavilion.
• After thirty days, Ye Qingchen opened the cauldron, releasing a five-colored Pill Cloud and thunder as the batch triggered a Pill Tribulation.
• A leopard-shaped Spirit Forming Pill leaped from the cauldron and endured the lightning before guarding the other pills.
• Li Qing collected twelve pills, including the leopard-patterned Spirit Forming Pill, and thanked Ye Qingchen.

Li Qing said farewell to his graduating disciples, received the Myriad Manifestation Immortal Formation from Master Ying, and left the Great Yu Kingdom with Xia Wushuang. They set out toward Canglan Continent on a route that would eventually take them to Tianyuan Continent, while Emperor Ning learned that Li Qing had departed without saying goodbye.

• More than thirty graduating disciples thanked Li Qing for teaching them artifact refinement, and he encouraged them to face the unknown before they left the Grand Academy.
• Dean Chen used his Painting Dao to make Li Qing’s parting poem appear across the academy’s sky and on a scroll for departing students to see.
• Master Ying gave Li Qing the Myriad Manifestation Immortal Formation, an Eighth-tier Grand Array that still required rare materials to reach its full power.
• Li Qing and Xia Wushuang bid farewell to Master Ying and left for the Great Yu Kingdom’s frontier, planning to travel through Canglan Continent, Empty Reef Island, the Night Sea, and Leiming Continent.
• Emperor Ning learned that Li Qing had left without saying goodbye and regretted that he could not recruit him.

Li Qing and Xia Wushuang reached Empty Reef Island after years of sailing and crossed its heavenly river to the dangerous Night Sea. After being caught in a dream bubble they could not quickly escape, Li Qing awoke in an unfamiliar scene where he had apparently been waiting for his wife to give birth to twins.

• Li Qing and Xia Wushuang confirmed they had reached Empty Reef Island and sailed up its river into the clouds.
• Li Qing used his Wind Spiritual Root to calm the waves as the Sea Breeze traveled through the heavenly river toward Night Sea.
• Xia Wushuang warned Li Qing about Night Sea’s deadly dream bubbles, and they entered the dark sea seeking starlight to navigate.
• The Sea Breeze touched a dream bubble, briefly trapping Li Qing and Xia Wushuang in a dream before they awoke.
• After another bubble caught them, Li Qing awoke beside a midwife announcing newborn twins and realized something was wrong.

Li Qing and Xia Wushuang were swallowed by a blood-red dream bubble left by a Mahayana-stage powerhouse, where they retained their awareness but could not break free. They followed a Blood Race army to a ravine with nine blood pools, and Li Qing recalled the Blood Ember Demon Lord, the Blood Race’s Mahayana ancestor.

• Li Qing escaped a dreamscape by using the Startle God Spear, then watched Xia Wushuang awaken from a dream of his own.
• The two sailed through the Night Sea, growing more resistant to dreamscapes and strengthening their souls as they traveled.
• Xia Wushuang accelerated the Sea Breeze into a massive blood-red dream bubble, which swallowed the ship and carried them into a Mahayana-level dream.
• Li Qing and Xia Wushuang realized they had retained their awareness, but Xia Wushuang’s soul formation could not break the dreamscape.
• The two followed a passing Blood Race army across a battlefield and watched its members pour gathered blood into nine pools.
• Li Qing recalled that the Blood Race had once existed on the Tianyuan Continent and had been led by the Mahayana-stage Blood Ember Demon Lord.

Xia Wushuang awakened Blood Ember Demon Lord in the Blood Race’s dreamscape, where the remnant fought Netherhorn Divine Venerable and asked Li Qing and Xia Wushuang to kill the Blood Race traitors. After Li Qing received the Demon Lord’s cultivation method, the dream’s hidden trap took hold, but the Demon Venerable’s will awakened in his sea of consciousness and shattered the dream bubble above Night Sea.

• Xia Wushuang spoke Blood Ember Demon Lord’s name, summoning the Demon Lord’s remnant spirit, which imprisoned the Blood Race members and confronted them over their sacrifice and lost inheritance.
• The Blood Race members lit soul-summoning incense, bringing Netherhorn Divine Venerable into the dreamscape; he fought Blood Ember Demon Lord, who used the Dream Dao Law to trap him in a blood-colored cage.
• Blood Ember Demon Lord asked Li Qing and Xia Wushuang to kill the Blood Race traitors and promised them his Dao methods; Xia Wushuang attacked, and Li Qing joined him in killing the confused Blood Race members.
• Blood Ember Demon Lord transmitted the Blood Soul Creation Scripture and its Scripture Introduction; Li Qing condensed a blood seed, which grew into a tree that took over his body as Xia Wushuang and the corpses vanished.
• Li Qing realized the events had been a dream, but the blood tree grew into his sea of consciousness; the Demon Venerable’s memories and will awakened, destroying the tree and the blood seed.
• The Blood Moon-like dream bubble above Night Sea shattered, the Sea Breeze fell out of it, and the awakened will in Li Qing’s sea of consciousness devoured the dream’s spiritual feedback as Night Sea began to boil.