Chapter Summaries

Li Qingyun cleansed the last gray-shadow contamination from his Golden Core and gained a dramatic boost from the incense offerings in You Capital, accelerating his path toward the Yin God Realm. Outside the capital, True Lord Jihua ordered Biyou’s forces to strengthen the rebels and hasten the fall of You Capital and its protective array.

• Li Qingyun used Lightning Cones to defeat a sinister shadow in the inner-scene ruins and recovered an ancient Golden Core whose residual Core Aura could cleanse and strengthen his own Golden Core.
• Li Qingyun searched nine Inner Mansion ruins, absorbed the Core Aura from several old cores, and reduced the gray-shadow contamination to a faint trace.
• Three days after the battle to protect the nation, incense offerings across You Capital transformed the mysterious Daoist effigy, tripling Li Qingyun’s comprehension speed and raising his daily spiritual-power gains to nine furnaces.
• Li Qingyun sensed that this growth could bring him to Nascent Soul Great Perfection in about a year and let him pursue the Yin God Realm before the Li Dynasty’s fortune declined.
• True Lord Jihua saw that the Five Spirits Fortune Protection Array was weakening and ordered Biyou’s Opening Mansion Realm forces to support the Liu clan and strengthen the rebels against You Capital.

Li Qingyun watched Great You’s fortune decline and intervened in the looming struggle between Biyou Palace and Moon Yin Palace by ordering the Southern and Western kings to enter the inner commanderies. As the realm fractured into five powers, he reached Nascent Soul Great Perfection and planned to return secretly to his sect to seek the method of advancing to Yin Spirit.

• Imperial clan nobles sent princesses and commandery princesses to Lingbao Temple, while Li Qingyun focused on cultivation; Princess Bao Sheng, Li Shaojiang, broke through to Opening Mansion.
• After sensing Great You’s fortune rapidly wearing away, Li Qingyun questioned Shangguan Wan'er about Moon Yin Palace and went to the Imperial Garden, where Zhaozong was drunk and quarreling with his consorts.
• Li Qingyun told Zhaozong to secretly decree that Shama Ding'an and Ye Ran lead their armies into the inner commanderies to suppress the rebellion.
• Shama Ding'an and Ye Ran invaded the inner commanderies, while Moon Yin Palace seized nine commanderies, plunging Great You into an age divided among five powers.
• Over the following months, Li Qingyun advanced to Nascent Soul sixth layer and then Nascent Soul Great Perfection, and resolved to return secretly to his sect to seek the method for reaching Yin Spirit.

Li Qingyun secretly left Youjing for the Lingbao Sect, entrusting Princess Bao Sheng with control of the capital’s grand array and concealing his departure with an illusionary double. He reached the sect disguised as Chen Tao.

• Li Qingyun praised Princess Bao Sheng for reaching Golden Core and gave her a jade talisman containing hypotheses for refining baleful intent to reach Nascent Soul.
• Li Qingyun entrusted Princess Bao Sheng with five spirit golden cauldrons to control Youjing’s grand array and ordered her to keep his departure secret.
• Li Qingyun left an illusionary double in the hall and transformed himself into an aged Daoist priest before slipping out of Youjing.
• Li Qingyun bypassed Qinghe County and traveled through war-torn Pingyang County toward the Lingbao Sect.
• Li Qingyun entered the sect’s grand guardian array in disguise, changed his appearance in a mountain forest, and took on Chen Tao’s identity.

Li Qingyun disguised himself as Chen Tao to enter Ancestor’s Cave and learn the method for reaching the Yin God Realm. After discovering that Yang God blood could improve the breakthrough, he asked whether Linghui had any in storage, leaving the others surprised and suspicious.

• Li Qingyun appeared on Linghui Peak disguised as Chen Tao and reassured Yue Changsong, Lin Jing, and Xu Xuan that the Southern Border holdings were safe.
• Li Qingyun entered Ancestor’s Cave and found the final cavern, where True Teach Ancestor Dao Lord’s painting revealed the Yin God breakthrough method and hints about later realms.
• Li Qingyun learned that reaching the Yin God Realm required a Yin Talisman Seed and Yin God blood, while Yang God blood would work even better.
• Li Qingyun recalled encountering a mysterious soul corpse and realized it was connected to the Yang God breakthrough.
• Li Qingyun returned in Chen Tao’s guise and asked Yue Changsong whether Linghui had any Yang God blood, prompting Lin Jing’s suspicion and Xu Xuan’s explanation of its benefits.

Li Qingyun, disguised as Chen Tao, went to Linghuang Peak to negotiate with Nangong Fengchuan for a drop of Yang God life blood. He agreed to help Fengchuan at the Death Gate Realm in exchange, then left with the blood while keeping his breakthrough plans secret.

• Lin Jing argued that Chen Tao should find his own resources and insisted that one of Linghui Peak’s two remaining drops of Yin God blood be saved for him.
• Li Qingyun visited Linghuang Peak and met with Nangong Fengchuan, who recognized his Nascent Soul Great Perfection cultivation.
• Nangong Fengchuan offered one drop of Yang God life blood in return for Li Qingyun’s help against his enemies and entry into the Death Gate Realm in the future.
• Li Qingyun agreed, confirming that he held the Thunder Duke divine position, and Nangong Fengchuan handed him the heavy drop of life blood.
• Nangong Fengchuan offered to protect Li Qingyun as he broke through, but Li Qingyun declined because he still needed to find the Yin Talisman seed and wanted to keep his return secret.

Li Qingyun left the Lingbao Sect and entered the Xuanming River through his Inner Mansion to search for a Yin Talisman Seed. He found a Sword Technique Yin Talisman Seed but yielded it to Huo Dushan, then noticed another Yin Hall approaching and prepared to inspect it more carefully.

• Li Qingyun traveled far from the Lingbao Sect, disguised himself, and concealed his secluded mountain retreat with an array.
• He sent his True Infant into the Xuanming River and descended deep beneath the riverbed, where he found an ancient bronze Yin Hall.
• Li Qingyun encountered cultivators competing for the hall’s Yin Talisman Seed and learned that stronger True Infants could overwhelm weaker entrants.
• Huo Dushan of the Fu Yue Sect claimed the Sword Technique Yin Talisman Seed, and Li Qingyun withdrew because it was not his preferred choice.
• Two other True Infants fought Huo Dushan for the seed while Li Qingyun left the hall and noticed another approaching Yin Hall with a yin sword carved on its doors.

Li Qingyun learned that Lei Yao and Gu Xin had seized control of the Xuanming River’s source, so he gathered fellow True Infants and led them upstream. He arrived at the river eye with six allies as a new Yin Hall emerged and saw the formidable pair commanding a large group of infant spirits.

• Li Qingyun noticed that cultivators ignored Yin Halls with closed doors and concluded that their talisman seeds had already been claimed upstream.
• After hearing that Lei Yao and Gu Xin had usurped the river eye, Li Qingyun invited Zhao Anzhi to join him in challenging them.
• Li Qingyun and Zhao Anzhi recruited four or five more True Infants, forming the seven-member Alliance of the Unconvinced.
• Li Qingyun and his allies reached the river eye, where more than a hundred infant spirits guarded the abyss and a bronze Yin Hall emerged.
• Zhao Anzhi identified Gu Xin and Lei Yao, whose power and commanding presence made the Alliance of the Unconvinced wary.

Li Qingyun and his group confronted Gu Xin and Lei Yao over the underworld talisman seed at the Xuanming River’s eye. Revealing his Lord of Thunder divine post, Li Qingyun overwhelmed their forces and drove Lei Yao from the river domain.

• Gu Xin and Lei Yao challenged Li Qingyun’s group and sent infant spirits to attack them.
• Li Qingyun revealed his powerful destiny fire, introduced himself as He Xiao, and proposed competing fairly for the talisman seed.
• Lei Yao rejected his proposal and led an assault while Gu Xin attacked with his glazed lamp.
• Li Qingyun’s Lightning Cone broke Gu Xin’s attack and shattered the glazed lamp, then drove away several infant spirits.
• Li Qingyun pierced a Lei Tian Sect cultivator’s infant spirit and continued attacking Gu Xin and Lei Yao.
• Li Qingyun’s Lightning Cone pierced Lei Yao’s infant spirit, forcing her to vanish from the river domain.

Li Qingyun drove the cultivators away from the Xuanming River’s river eye, but the rare Lightning Method Yin Talisman Seed did not appear before his fate aura ran out. The next day, he returned and ordered a new group guarding the river eye to withdraw.

• Li Qingyun defeated Gu Xin, declared that no one could approach the river eye, and sent the remaining cultivators fleeing.
• Zhao Anzhi entered a Fire Method Yin Hall and disappeared; later, Huang Pu did the same after entering a Curse Technique Yin Hall.
• After learning that nineteen Yin Halls emerged each day and that Lightning Method Yin Talisman Seeds were rare, Li Qingyun dispersed his remaining fate aura and returned to the stone grotto.
• Li Qingyun studied lightning methods overnight, then entered the Inner Mansion at noon the next day with his fate aura restored.
• Li Qingyun arrived at the river eye and ordered the six True Infants and more than thirty Void Infants guarding it to withdraw.

Li Qingyun seized a rare Xuanming Lightning Method Yin Talisman Seed and used Nangong Fengchuan’s Yang God blood to condense his Yin God. The chapter ended with his nine-layered Yin God formed inside his Inner Mansion, strong enough to crush True Lord Luoyan.

• Li Qingyun persuaded the cultivators gathered downstream to yield the river eye while he searched for a Lightning Method Yin Talisman Seed.
• A Xuanming Lightning Method Yin Talisman Seed appeared in the first bronze hall, and Wen Yihan and several Void Infants rushed to claim it.
• Li Qingyun killed Wen Yihan and the pursuing Void Infants, entered the hall, and collected the talisman seed containing Xuanming River Mother Qi.
• Li Qingyun subdued the seed within his True Infant, then swallowed Nangong Fengchuan’s Yang God blood to nourish it.
• Li Qingyun’s True Infant transformed into a nine-zhang-and-nine-chi Yin God bearing nine layers of halos.

After forming his Yin God, Li Qingyun discovered the stars in his inner landscape and used one to roam into the mortal world. He possessed the impoverished scholar Li Zhenbai, sharpened his understanding of scripture, and left him talismans before returning to his inner landscape.

• Li Qingyun saw nineteen stars in his inner landscape and sent his soul nian toward a star in the southern sky.
• Li Qingyun emerged in a county town and possessed the sleeping scholar Li Zhenbai.
• Li Zhenbai woke with a clear mind, read the Classic of Purity and Tranquility, and believed he had gained an epiphany that could help him enter the Daoist Academy.
• Cai Ping scolded Li Zhenbai for shouting at night and reminded him that she had a large load of clothes to wash the next day.
• Li Qingyun used Li Zhenbai's body to create and leave behind a dozen-odd yellow talismans, then withdrew his soul nian and returned through the star.

After forming his Yin God, Li Qingyun received a distress call from Miaoxuan through her ocarina and ventured into the dangerous mists of the Inner Mansion to find her. He escaped the pull of a giant grave, but Miaoxuan remained somewhere deeper within.

• Li Qingyun realized his Yin God could survive the Li Dynasty’s destruction by possessing another body, though he could not save his relatives that way.
• Miaoxuan’s ocarina manifested in Li Qingyun’s Inner Mansion and sent him a weak plea for help from within the Divine Treasury.
• Following the ocarina’s guidance, Li Qingyun crossed the Xuanming River and entered a fog-filled region where strange whispers attacked his Yin God.
• Li Qingyun found a massive grave with a blank tombstone, and its burial force tried to drag him inside.
• Li Qingyun broke the grave’s pull with his divine light and moved out of its reach.

Li Qingyun ventured deep into the Misty Tomb Forbidden Zone, overcame True Lord Guyuan, and found the grave where Miaoxuan had been trapped for over a hundred years. Miaoxuan revealed that Moon Yin Palace and Biyou Palace had conspired against her, then asked Li Qingyun to transfer life flame before hers went out.

• Li Qingyun followed the xun through increasingly dangerous graves and encountered True Lord Guyuan of Biyou Palace, who tried to bar his way.
• Li Qingyun defeated True Lord Guyuan with a single blow and continued deeper into the graveyard, giving his name as Gu Xin of Mingdeng Sect.
• Li Qingyun found a nine-zhang-three grave bearing the incomplete name “Ling... Xuan...” and called out to Miaoxuan.
• Miaoxuan told Li Qingyun that Moon Yin Palace and Biyou Palace had destroyed her physical body and trapped her Yin God while she sensed the mysterious soul corpse.
• Miaoxuan asked Li Qingyun to transfer some life flame to her and later establish a divine seat and gather Incense and Fire Prayer Power.
• Li Qingyun sensed Miaoxuan motionless inside the grave, her life flame nearly extinguished.

Li Qingyun restored Miaoxuan’s Yin God with his life flame, learned that the Yin Jade Pure Lotus could help her escape her seal, and left the Misty Tomb Forbidden Zone. After returning to the present world, he found Moon Yin Palace’s Saintess Miao Qingyi trying to break into a mountain storing the Zhong Household’s provisions and summoned Shangguan Wan’er to claim them.

• Li Qingyun fed his life flame through the tombstone, reviving Miaoxuan’s fading Yin God and learning that Biyou Palace and Moon Yin Palace had destroyed and scattered her physical body.
• Miaoxuan told Li Qingyun that the Yin Jade Pure Lotus could reshape her body and free her from the seal, while he promised to seek it once his cultivation improved.
• Li Qingyun left the Misty Tomb Forbidden Zone, where other Yin God cultivators watched his nine-zhang-and-nine-chi Yin God in awe and speculated about his origins.
• Li Qingyun returned to the present world after nine days and found Miao Qingyi and Zhong Household cultivators attacking the formation around a hidden store of grain and weapons.
• Li Qingyun recognized the provisions’ value amid the war and summoned Shangguan Wan’er, offering her a chance to earn Dao merit by taking them.

Li Qingyun incapacitated Miao Qingyi and the Zhong family, then sent Shangguan Wan'er to seize their supplies and strengthen her position in Moon Yin Palace. In You Capital, Princess Bao Sheng struggled to defend the Five Spirits Fortune Protection Array as Biyou Palace and Purple Gold Palace attacked, and Biyou Palace’s peak masters struck at the forming Emperor Sha.

• Li Qingyun used an illusion to knock Miao Qingyi, the other Moon Yin Palace disciples, and the Zhong family unconscious, then retrieved his array equipment.
• Shangguan Wan'er arrived, and Li Qingyun ordered her to take the Zhong family’s provisions and armor and use the merit to rise toward the Twelve Saintesses.
• Shangguan Wan'er collected the supplies and armor, pleased that the haul could help her earn sect resources and break through to the Opening Mansion Realm.
• In You Capital, Princess Bao Sheng defended the Five Spirits Fortune Protection Array against five Nascent Soul cultivators from Biyou Palace and Purple Gold Palace.
• Princess Bao Sheng sacrificed her blood to the Kirin Golden Cauldron, beginning to summon Emperor Sha of the Profound Sect.
• Mu Chao and Wang Zhen attacked the forming Emperor Sha with the Crimson Dragon Sword and Dragon Subduing Seal, aiming to weaken the array by capturing its dragon baleful intent.

Li Qingyun returned to Youjing and turned the battle against the intruders, killing Biyou Palace’s Mu Chao and Wang Zhen despite interference from three Yin God experts. The fighting paused when True Lord Jihua appeared to restrain the three, while Biyou Palace and Lingbao Temple’s leaders began arguing over the losses and the division of Great You’s territory.

• Li Qingyun arrived inside the array and accelerated the Profound Sect Emperor Sha’s formation, allowing it to repel the Crimson Dragon Sword and Dragon Subduing Seal.
• Li Qingyun seized both enemy treasures and ordered the array to attack the five Nascent Soul cultivators trapped inside.
• True Lord Guyuan tried to force open the array, but Li Qingyun drove back his Yin God palm and the Profound Sect Emperor Sha killed Purple Gold Palace’s three Nascent Soul cultivators.
• Li Qingyun summoned Divine Lightning to break the attacks of True Lord Guyuan and two other Yin God experts, while the Profound Sect Emperor Sha killed Mu Chao and Wang Zhen.
• True Lord Jihua stopped the three True Lords from destroying Youjing, then challenged Yuan over the failed plan as Song demanded compensation for Biyou Palace’s losses.

Li Qingyun repelled Biyou Palace’s attack on the Li Dynasty and arranged offerings for Miaoxuan before leaving a flawless clone in the You Capital. He then traveled to the Southern Border, where he saw the spreading dark clouds and arrived at He Lao Dock to check on the refuge.

• Li Qingyun assessed the power balance among Great You’s sects as Song Fengyang and the Biyou Palace forces faced him outside the array.
• Li Qingyun reassured Princess Bao Sheng that she had defended the Five Spirits Fortune Protection Array well and urged her to pursue infant transformation.
• Li Qingyun ordered Zhaozong to arrange offerings for Miaoxuan and grant her the title Lingbao Miaoxuan Protector of the Country True Person.
• Li Qingyun infused his sculptural clone with Yin God divine sense, then left it in the You Capital while he traveled toward the Southern Border.
• Li Qingyun saw dark clouds covering the border commanderies and arrived at He Lao Dock, where mountain folk and displaced cultivators had sought refuge.

After a year apart, Li Qingyun returned to He Lao Dock, where Li Zuo, Yuanbao, and the Lingbao Temple disciples had built a thriving refuge. He reunited with them and offered Chen Tao Yin God Blood to attempt a final breakthrough, leaving the old cultivator hopeful despite the risks.

• He Lao Dock prospered under the protection associated with Abbot Li, and Xu Jing's Youdao Division filled with Dao officials seeking refuge.
• Li Zuo returned to Lingbao Temple with Yuanbao, where residents and disciples greeted them and A'li's group prepared a communal dinner.
• Chen Tao worried over Li Qingyun's struggles in Youjing and privately lamented that he had only about two years left to live.
• Li Qingyun arrived through a spatial rift, reunited with the disciples, and told Chen Tao privately that he had become a Yin God.
• Li Qingyun offered Chen Tao Yin God Blood to support another attempt at breaking through, and Chen Tao agreed to make one final gamble.

Li Qingyun gave Chen Tao three drops of his unusually potent Yin God blood so Chen Tao could try to break through, then returned to the Misty Tomb Forbidden Zone. He reached Miaoxuan’s tomb and found her life flame recovering; she asked him to treat her as an equal.

• Li Qingyun gave Chen Tao three drops of his white-gold Yin God blood and encouraged him to challenge the Yin God Realm again.
• Li Qingyun and Chen Tao meditated, with Chen Tao sending his virtual infant to contend for a Yin Sigil seed while Li Qingyun entered his inner landscape.
• Li Qingyun crossed into the Misty Tomb Forbidden Zone and observed Yin God cultivators using the tombs as places to cultivate.
• Li Qingyun tested the resistance of True Lord Kuixia’s tomb, reassured her, and continued onward past Biyou Palace’s tombs.
• Li Qingyun reached Miaoxuan’s tomb and learned that her life flame had improved; Miaoxuan asked him to stop calling her senior and treat her as an equal.

Li Qingyun ventured deeper into the Misty Tomb Forbidden Zone, where he learned that a prodigy from the mysterious Fu Kingdom occupied the God Corpse Tomb. He pushed into the forbidden zone’s core despite its dangerous aura and reached a strange lotus growing on a mound of bones and flesh.

• Li Qingyun left Miaoxuan in the Yin Tomb and continued exploring the misty forbidden zone.
• He found True Person Xiaose in a nine-zhang-six tomb and learned that a Fu Kingdom prodigy occupied the God Corpse Tomb.
• Li Qingyun introduced himself to True Person Xiaose as Gu Xin and continued deeper into the tomb region.
• He reached the core area, where dark-red blood-soaked mud attacked him and he used the Lightning Cone to hold it back.
• Li Qingyun followed the jade light through the fog and found an odd lotus growing on a mound of bones and flesh.