Chapter Summaries

After twelve years in seclusion, Li Qingyun emerged having reached the Pure Self Realm and found Lingbao Sect strengthened by a new generation of cultivators. He began preparing Miaoxuan and Nangong Fengchuan to break through into the Death Gate Realm, promising them protection and a surprise in Living Ghost Heaven.

• Many Lingbao Sect cultivators advanced in their cultivation while Li Qingyun remained in seclusion, giving the sect a stronger foundation and greater ambitions.
• Li Qingyun emerged from Qingyun Mansion after purifying You and welcomed the sect’s senior disciples, then spoke of setting plans in motion and visiting fellow Daoists.
• Li Qingyun examined Miaoxuan and Nangong Fengchuan’s Death Gate Inscriptions and learned that Nangong Fengchuan had failed to comprehend their true meanings because his Dao practice was limited.
• Li Qingyun told Miaoxuan and Nangong Fengchuan to begin their Death Gate Realm breakthroughs under his protection.
• Li Qingyun assured them that they would not have to remain hidden in the Bronze Secret Hall afterward and hinted at a surprise he had prepared in Living Ghost Heaven.

Miaoxuan, Nangong Fengchuan, and Nangong Ji advanced to higher realms, while Li Qingyun examined his Pure Self Realm and concluded he had not yet found the right way to cultivate it. He traveled to Calamity Kingdom intending to confront True Lord Peng Tai, but followed several Pure Self Realm True Lords into the dark mountains instead.

• Miaoxuan and Nangong Fengchuan broke through to the Death Gate Realm and entered the Bronze Secret Hall, while Nangong Ji broke through to the Yang God Realm the next day.
• Li Qingyun entered his Pure Self world and found that his many thoughts and experiences had become impurities he would need to purify before reaching the Sever Self Realm.
• Li Qingyun decided that cultivating the Pure Self Realm for now was pointless and set out to visit the Sever Self Realm cultivators of the Three Divine Palaces.
• Li Qingyun crossed several kingdoms and arrived in Calamity Kingdom, where he planned to confront True Lord Peng Tai of Mishin Palace.
• Li Qingyun noticed several Pure Self Realm True Lords enter the dark mountains and followed them through the green-mist barrier.

Li Qingyun forced his way into Mishin Palace’s private gathering to inspect the Heaven Purification Talismans, which could purify a Pure Self world. He seized both talismans from True Lord Peng Tai and examined their unfamiliar script, leaving the gathered True Lords stunned.

• Li Qingyun broke through the barrier of Xuantian Hall and entered the gathering uninvited.
• The True Lords recognized Li Qingyun, while Peng Tai offered to sell him a talisman for six commanderies’ worth of incense fiefs.
• Li Qingyun reached through the air and suppressed Peng Tai, then took both Heaven Purification Talismans from his hand.
• Li Qingyun examined the talismans and recognized their writing as a mysterious fusion of present-world Dao arts and strange runes.

Li Qingyun uncovered a disturbing mystery in Mishin Palace’s Heaven Purification Talismans, then confronted True Lord Huanglong after taking two of them. He left Peng Tai dead and Huanglong still opposing him in Xuantian Hall.

• Li Qingyun suspected the Heaven Purification Talisman’s runes and the runes of the present world and Living Ghost Heaven shared a hidden source, and he refused to use the talisman.
• True Lord Huanglong appeared and challenged Li Qingyun for taking the talismans, while True Lord Peng Tai and the other guests greeted him.
• Li Qingyun repelled Huanglong’s eye-severing strike and sent both talismans into Peng Tai, shattering his defense and wounding him.
• True Lord Huanglong attacked Li Qingyun with his Dao Kingdom, but Li Qingyun’s step shattered the vortices and dispersed the Dao Kingdom’s appearance.
• Li Qingyun struck at Peng Tai’s hidden Pure Realm, and despite Huanglong’s Severing Lights, he crushed Peng Tai into powder with a second stomp.

Li Qingyun killed True Lord Peng Tai and fought True Lord Huanglong, whose Severing Intent briefly grew stronger after his fellow Daoists restored his confidence. Li Qingyun defeated Huanglong in a direct clash and continued to overpower his Dao Kingdom, leaving Huanglong’s cultivation and resolve in decline.

• True Lord Huanglong’s confidence faltered after Li Qingyun killed True Lord Peng Tai, but two Mishin Palace Daoists shouted him back to clarity.
• True Lord Huanglong’s Severing Intent recovered and sharpened, so Li Qingyun attacked him with a palm strike infused with his Pure Realm and thunderous power.
• True Lord Huanglong met Li Qingyun’s palm with a severing stroke, and their clash shattered the grand formation and split the bronze palace in two.
• True Lord Huanglong was defeated, his Dao heart shattered and his aura declining, while Li Qingyun’s Pure Realm steadily drove back Huanglong’s Dao Kingdom.

Li Qingyun pursued True Lord Huanglong through his past-life realms while resisting attacks from two other Mishin Palace cultivators. At the final realm, Huanglong summoned hidden power that revealed him as a reincarnated being wavering between human and Human-Demon, and Li Qingyun prepared to strike with the full might of his Fifth-Order Thunder Venerable lightning.

• Li Qingyun's thunder lotuses broke True Lord Huanglong's Immaculate Dao Kingdom and drove him into the depths of the void.
• Two Mishin Palace Sever Self Realm cultivators attacked Li Qingyun, who fled through twenty-eight past-life realms before their Severing Light dissipated.
• Li Qingyun returned to his Jade Blue Daoist Nation and pursued Huanglong to the end of his final past-life realm.
• Huanglong reopened his Daoist Nation and threatened to perish together with Li Qingyun, but Li Qingyun charged at him with a vast Pure Light Dao Kingdom.
• Huanglong summoned hidden power with the command "Let all return to their places," revealing an aura above Void Sky and a nature between human and Human-Demon.
• Li Qingyun recognized Huanglong as a reincarnated ancient Dao Lord and released the full divine might of his Fifth-Order Thunder Venerable lightning.

Li Qingyun fought True Lord Huanglong, whose strange Three Fruits Realm power threatened to destroy his Dao Kingdom and true body. Li Qingyun used Jade Pure Essence to repel and wound him, then pursued the fleeing Huanglong.

• True Lord Huanglong dispersed Li Qingyun’s thunder lotuses and used his gloomy wind and edicts to threaten Li Qingyun’s Dao Kingdom and true body.
• Li Qingyun invoked Jade Pure Radiance, withdrew his Dao Kingdom into himself, and resisted Huanglong’s attempt to strip away his power.
• True Lord Huanglong mistook Li Qingyun’s Jade Pure Radiance for the power of an outer demon and attacked him again.
• Li Qingyun counterattacked with a strand of Jade Pure Essence, rotting Huanglong’s hand and scattering the dark substance covering him.
• True Lord Huanglong fled into the void, and Li Qingyun pursued him, determined to finish him after spending Jade Pure Essence.

Li Qingyun defeated True Lord Huanglong in the void, though the strange entity within Huanglong vanished in a way that blurred Li Qingyun’s memories. Back at the ruins of Xuantian Hall, Mishin Palace’s True Lord Xuanhuo and True Lord Qingwen learned that Huanglong had perished.

• Li Qingyun overwhelmed True Lord Huanglong after Huanglong’s severing light weakened, then shattered his true form with two consecutive palm strikes.
• A strange wind, dark blood, and a vengeful consciousness emerged where Huanglong fell, but a sound from above the Void Sky erased the signs and blurred Li Qingyun’s memories of the entity.
• Li Qingyun concluded that he had suppressed Huanglong and returned through the void to the present world.
• At the ruins of Xuantian Hall, True Lord Xuanhuo and True Lord Qingwen wagered on how quickly Huanglong would defeat Li Qingyun, confident in their junior’s secret technique and Mishin Palace’s heritage.
• Mishin Palace’s protective array shook as Huanglong’s severing-light phantom rose, dimmed, and disintegrated, leaving the mountain gate shrouded in sorrow.

After True Lord Huanglong's soul lamp went out, Li Qingyun emerged from the void and faced True Lords Qingwen and Xuanhuo, who attacked him to avenge their junior brother. Li Qingyun retreated into his previous-life lands and invited them in, where the two Sever Selves began ravaging the layered realms together.

• True Lords Qingwen and Xuanhuo discovered that True Lord Huanglong's soul lamp had gone out and confronted Li Qingyun as he emerged from the void.
• Li Qingyun confirmed that he had killed Huanglong and prepared to fight Qingwen and Xuanhuo.
• Qingwen and Xuanhuo attacked, piercing Li Qingyun's Pure Realm and driving him into his previous-life lands.
• Li Qingyun evaded Xuanhuo's needle-like Severing Lights and invited both True Lords into his previous-life lands.
• Qingwen charged into Li Qingyun's previous-life lands, and Xuanhuo followed with his Dao Nation.
• Qingwen and Xuanhuo joined forces to ravage Li Qingyun's previous-life lands as they advanced.

Li Qingyun trapped Xuanhuo and Qingwen among the fortified lands of his past lives and defeated them with thunder lotuses and overwhelming dharma power. The two Mishin Palace cultivators severed themselves to escape, while Li Qingyun returned to the present age and left the watching True Lords stunned.

• Li Qingyun restored and strengthened his first twenty-nine past-life lands, then attacked Xuanhuo and Qingwen with thunder lotuses and giant palms.
• Xuanhuo and Qingwen tried to retreat, but Li Qingyun's restored past-life lands blocked their way and his attacks battered their Dao Kingdoms and bodies.
• Li Qingyun blasted Qingwen away and shattered Xuanhuo's Dao Kingdom as the two struggled to break through the barriers.
• Xuanhuo and Qingwen severed themselves to escape, sacrificing nearly half their cultivation rather than submit to Li Qingyun.
• Li Qingyun returned to the present age without obvious injuries, while the watching True Lords wondered whether Mishin Palace would decline after his defeat of its three Sever Self Realm cultivators.

After defeating Mishin Palace’s cultivators, Li Qingyun addressed the watching True Lords and declared that his Lingbao Sect would seek greater support. When Mishin Palace Sect Master Ying Zhou challenged him, Li Qingyun swept him into the deeper void, then learned that the Three Divine Palaces’ founders might still exert power from above Void Sky; that power struck back at him, and he transferred the backlash to his soul corpse.

• Li Qingyun recovered his dharma power and told the watching True Lords that he had defeated Mishin Palace’s cultivators while defending himself, then hinted that Lingbao Sect would seek more support.
• True Lord Ying Zhou challenged Li Qingyun’s account and accused him of attacking Mishin Palace, but Li Qingyun swept him into the deeper void with a flick of his sleeve.
• The watching True Lords discussed the Three Divine Palaces’ history and revealed that their founding patriarchs might have attained a level above Void Sky.
• Li Qingyun looked toward Void Sky and was struck by a powerful backlash that threatened his Inner Mansion and Dao foundation.
• Li Qingyun transferred the backlash into the Soul Corpse Body in the Abyss of Burial Extinction.

Li Qingyun taunted the Void Sky Dao Lords and redirected their karmic backlash to revive more of the mysterious soul corpse, but the backlash eventually ceased. He attacked Mishin Palace’s mountain gate, drawing True Lord Xuanhuo out to confront him.

• Li Qingyun mocked the Void Sky, redirecting its backlash into the soul corpse and reviving its shoulder, arm, neck, and torso.
• Li Qingyun continued provoking the Dao Lords, but their backlash stopped, and they whispered that he was an outer demon who should be dealt with after ascending.
• Li Qingyun struck at Mishin Palace’s mountain gate, shaking the surrounding void.
• True Lord Xuanhuo appeared outside the gate and used his horsetail whisk to shatter Li Qingyun’s palm force.

After forcing Mishin Palace to yield, Li Qingyun returned to Lingbao Sect and ordered its influence and incense offerings expanded. The sect rushed to secure overseas posts, while Shangguan Wan'er quietly cultivated in Moon Yin Palace.

• Li Qingyun broke through Mishin Palace's formation, threatened True Lord Xuanhuo, and departed after establishing Lingbao Sect's dominance.
• Li Qingyun considered the risks of ascending, his enmity with Mishin Palace, and the sect's need for more incense offerings and powerful cultivators.
• Lingbao Sect's elders and disciples competed for overseas assignments, especially the coveted Chief Overseer posts.
• Young cultivators visited Li Xiuxuan, hoping she would support their bids for Chief Overseer positions.
• The five sects of You Kingdom grew wary of Li Qingyun's authority, while Shangguan Wan'er continued cultivating in seclusion.

Shangguan Wan'er received news of Li Qingyun’s victory and sent him congratulations, though she doubted he would ever see them. In Qingyun Mansion, Li Qingyun continued studying Mishin Palace’s Heaven Purification Talisman and replied to messages from his allies, including Shangguan Wan'er.

• Shangguan Wan'er reflected on her declining standing in the Moon Yin Palace and how she had become a target of mockery among the saintesses.
• A talisman letter informed Shangguan Wan'er that Li Qingyun had crushed Mishin Palace and killed a Sever Self Realm expert, and she prepared a congratulatory message for him.
• Li Qingyun tried to decipher Mishin Palace’s Heaven Purification Talisman, but the talisman paper twisted and burned to ashes as Li Xiuxuan watched uneasily.
• Li Qingyun sensed talisman letters arriving from across the mortal world and reviewed messages congratulating him and offering support for the Lingbao Sect’s expansion.
• Li Qingyun sent replies to important figures and also answered Shangguan Wan'er’s message before Li Xiuxuan approached him about candidates to oversee outer regional temples.

Li Qingyun attempted to draw a complete Heaven Purification Talisman, but its strange manifestation convinced him that Mishin Palace’s talisman concealed a danger. Searching the talisman-path Chaos Space for answers, he battered against a barrier above its highest realms until Supreme Pure Mystic Talisman Zhiming Enlightenment Dao Lord appeared and explained that the path had been severed in ancient times.

• Li Xiuxuan asked Li Qingyun to appoint three young Golden Core cultivators as chief overseers, and he approved Xu Sheng and Chen Xijian for the positions.
• Li Qingyun sealed Qingyun Mansion and completed a Heaven Purification Talisman, which transformed into a monstrous black mouth that tried to swallow him.
• Li Qingyun dispersed the talisman and its remnants, then entered the talisman-path Chaos Space to investigate what had gone wrong.
• Li Qingyun’s crescent-moon talisman spirit repeatedly struck an unseen barrier above the sun-and-moon realm, scattering some of his talismanic foundation.
• Supreme Pure Mystic Talisman Zhiming Enlightenment Dao Lord manifested and told Li Qingyun that the path of talisman arts had been severed in ancient times.

Li Qingyun learned that the Heaven Purification Talisman was a sacrificial talisman and resolved to use his knowledge to reopen the blocked Talisman Arts Great Dao. He expanded Lingbao Sect’s reach across nineteen mortal kingdoms, and within a month his talismanic accumulation surpassed the Dao Lord’s.

• The Primordial Clarity Profound Talisman Manifesting Brightness and Sensitizing Dao Lord warned Li Qingyun that the Heaven Purification Talisman was a sacrificial talisman before vanishing.
• Li Qingyun realized the talisman consumed offerings and could be dangerous, but decided that mastering it might provide his path to the heavens.
• Li Qingyun repeatedly struck the chaotic barrier in the talisman space and heard that his path was blocked by insufficient incense and foundation, not because it had been severed.
• Li Qingyun selected grand view masters for the outer garrison, choosing Zheng Kun for the Chi Kingdom and appointing several previously overlooked rising stars.
• Lingbao Sect cultivators departed to establish temples across other nations, while Nangong Jender opened state borders for them.
• A month later, the new Lingbao Temples were gathering incense, and Li Qingyun’s talismanic accumulation had surpassed the Dao Lord’s.

Li Qingyun remained stalled in the Pure Self Realm, so he devoted himself to talisman arts while Lingbao Sect spread its Dao Lineage across the kingdoms. After crushing sects that attacked Lingbao temples, he secured the incense offerings and continued building his talisman foundation without yet challenging the chaotic barrier again.

• Zhu Yuyan formally visited Lingbao Sect with Wu Yue, Yeyue, Shangguan Wan'er, and others, while Moon Yin Palace sent disciples to neighboring kingdoms to spread its Dao Lineage.
• Shangguan Wan'er became temple master in Zhu Kingdom, and Moon Yin Palace returned to Fu Kingdom, where Rotten Moon Palace's attacks caused heavy losses before Moon Yin Palace established a foothold.
• Li Qingyun focused on talisman arts as his progress in the Pure Self Realm stalled, and his Talisman Arts light cluster surpassed the Most Pure Mystic Talisman Enlightened Compassion Dao Lord's in the Chaos Space.
• After Lingbao temples in Ye and Feng Kingdoms were attacked, Li Qingyun investigated and killed the powerful figures of both kingdoms' state-protecting sects, deterring further challenges to Lingbao Sect.
• Li Qingyun's talisman arts foundation grew to surpass the Dao Lord's, but he refrained from striking the chaotic barrier and spent another two years preparing.

After years of cultivation, Li Qingyun sacrificed his Talisman Arts foundation to cleave through the chaos and discovered the abandoned Talisman Arts Great Dao. At its highest reaches, he glimpsed Primordial Talisman Qi, only to see a mysterious figure extinguish its light.

• Li Qingyun spent four years accumulating Talisman Arts power, then sent his talisman sword against the chaos obstructing the Great Dao.
• The sword shattered, and observers—including the Supreme Pure Profound Talisman Zhiming Enlightenment Dao Lord—believed Li Qingyun had failed and destroyed his Talisman Arts foundation.
• Li Qingyun's remaining Dharma spirit slipped through the obstruction and entered the withered, abandoned Talisman Arts Great Dao.
• He ascended the sequence stairway, sensing the ranks from Talisman God through Talisman Saint and Talisman Ancestor.
• At the end of the stairway, Li Qingyun sensed that the Great Dao could transcend into Primordial Talisman Qi.
• A tangled, mysterious figure appeared and brushed the fruit-shaped Primordial Talisman Qi, causing it to go dark.

Li Qingyun used his profound understanding of Talisman Arts to complete a Heaven Purification Talisman and cleanse the contamination in his Dao Kingdom. After the successful purification, he received a message from Zhu Yuyan saying she had also broken through in the Pure Self Realm.

• Li Qingyun narrowly escaped the gaze of an indescribable phantom and realized how terrifyingly powerful it was.
• Li Qingyun understood how to counter the Sacrificial Talisman’s hidden horror, then completed a Heaven Purification Talisman by repeatedly disrupting its summoning.
• Li Qingyun made an immense Great Vow and used the talisman to remove a vast amount of contamination from his Dao Kingdom without losing anything else.
• Li Qingyun concluded that Sacrificial Talismans could help him reach the Pure One Realm within five years and began preparing another talisman.
• Zhu Yuyan sent Li Qingyun a talisman letter saying she had finally broken through in the Pure Self Realm.

After Zhu Yuyan’s breakthrough, Li Qingyun mass-produced Heaven Purification Talismans and used them to purify his Dao Kingdom. He then returned to the abandoned Talisman Arts Great Dao sequence space, where the Primordial Talisman Qi concealed and nourished his dharma spirit at the Talisman Ancestor’s position.

• Li Qingyun sent Zhu Yuyan a brief congratulatory message after learning of her breakthrough.
• Li Qingyun drew three Heaven Purification Talismans before stopping to recover from the mental depletion.
• Li Qingyun burned the three talismans in his Dao Kingdom, purifying it at the cost of thoughts and things within it.
• Seven days later, Li Qingyun entered the abandoned Talisman Arts Great Dao sequence space again and found that he could still reach the Talisman Ancestor’s position.
• The Primordial Talisman Qi concealed Li Qingyun’s tiny dharma spirit and silently nourished it.