Chapter Summaries

Li Qingyun escaped the Middle Land after the continent temple’s attempt to capture him failed, and returned to the Eastern Desolation with his followers. He recognized that his break with the continent temple was irreversible and urged Houtu to strengthen herself as conflict spread across the Langtian Continent.

• Li Qingyun and his allies attacked the Middle Land forces, and Li Qingyun struck Jiang Wang back while the Merfolk clone drained his strength.
• The Middle Land’s weakened grand trend of heaven and earth gave Li Qingyun and Merfolk Quan Lei an opening to escape into the Eastern Desolation.
• Jiang Wang and the other Middle Land forces retreated after the saint ordered them to pull back, while Li Qingyun warned that he would remember their actions.
• Li Qingyun returned to the domain temple and praised Houtu for guarding his jade body, then warned her not to swallow blood-red winding stones to advance faster.
• News of the clash between the continent temple and Eastern Desolation domain temple spread, prompting public debate over Li Qingyun’s defiance.

Li Qingyun weathered Limò’s political pressure and the Eastern Desolation’s Great Ruin while steadily refining the Sixth Fruit. By October, he attained the Nose Connection Fruit and believed he could face Saint Venerable Limò head-on despite not yet reaching the Seventh Fruit.

• Dao Lords from other continents sought refuge with Li Qingyun, who accepted several Fourth and Fifth Fruit cultivators into the Eastern Desolation Domain Temple.
• Saint Venerable Limò distributed tamed crimson Binding Stones to prominent Middle Land families, while the Continent Temple withheld the Eastern Desolation’s newcomer ascension slots.
• The Eastern Desolation survived its year-end Great Ruin with few Lousefolk casualties, and Li Qingyun continued refining the Sixth Fruit.
• Miss Shi sold most of her reduced Binding Incense to disciples of the Three Pure Ones, while Soul-Qingyun questioned her about Binding Patterns without learning their secret.
• Li Qingyun attained the Nose Connection Fruit in October and judged his strength comparable to a Seventh Fruit cultivator, enough to challenge Limò.

After concealing his Sixth Fruit Position from the Continent Temple, Li Qingyun discovered that his Nose Connection Fruit let him smell the demon stench carried by Dao Lords and mortals. He identified Li Mo as an overwhelming source of foulness and resolved to suppress his sense of smell when meeting him.

• Li Qingyun concealed his Sixth Fruit Position and ordered Yuan Han to burn the Continent Temple's decrees instead of obeying its summons.
• Li Qingyun used the Nose Connection Fruit to sense the vitality of living beings and found that Dao Lords carried fishy odors and a deeper demon stench.
• Li Qingyun inferred that Wei Zu Heaven was the source of the demon stench on mortals, while the Great Thousand World's native races lacked it.
• Li Qingyun asked Jade Furnace Dao Lord to smell his aura, and she detected only a faint fishy scent, confirming that she could not smell the demon stench.
• Li Qingyun sensed Li Mo's intense demon stench and fishy odor from the Central Earth Continent Temple, then decided to close off his Nose Connection Fruit whenever he faced him.

Li Qingyun used the Nose Connection Fruit to uncover the Great Thousand World's pervasive corruption and the horrific stench of its Ancestral Temple, strengthening his resolve to overturn the void sky and save cultivators. As the new year began, he left for the Blackwater Mother River to confront Miss Shi about the tether-pattern, while the Three Pure Ones Temple disciples heard him expound the Dao De Jing.

• Li Qingyun expanded his Nose Connection Fruit's range and sensed Seventh Fruit Saint Venerables across neighboring continents, then discovered the overwhelming pollution centered on the Great Thousand Ancestral Temple.
• The truth nearly corrupted Li Qingyun, but he suppressed the black vapor and concluded that the Great Thousand World's Dao Path led cultivators toward annihilation and consumption.
• Li Qingyun resolved to overturn the void sky, advance toward the Heavenly Eye Fruit, and destroy anyone who obstructed his effort to set chaos right.
• During the year's Great Ruin, attacks by Dao Lords from the South Sea and North Desert breached Eastern Wasteland sacrificial temples, killing hundreds of louse-race mountainfolk; Li Qingyun accepted the Domain Lords' apologies while recognizing Saint Venerable Limò's hand behind them.
• On the first day of the new year, Li Qingyun left his jade body for the Blackwater Mother River to demand that Miss Shi explain the tether-pattern.
• At the Three Pure Ones Temple, Li Qingyun expounded the Twelve Chapters of the Dao De Jing to more than three hundred disciples, who listened in awe.

Li Qingyun preached to his disciples about escaping Heavenly Secrets and the deeper source stench, drawing the attention of the Incense Seller, Miss Shi. After inviting her to speak privately, he met her in his Jade Pure root body and learned that she recognized him as different from the other Dao Lords, though she believed their origins were not the same.

• Li Qingyun taught the Three Pure Ones disciples that comprehending the Dao De Jing could purify them, and he introduced the idea of a deeper source stench.
• Miss Shi stopped outside the temple when she heard Li Qingyun discuss the source stench and wondered whether he was truly human.
• Li Qingyun ended his sermon and invited Miss Shi to speak with him after she sold her Binding Incense.
• The disciples bought Binding Incense from Miss Shi and chatted with her before she went to the rear hall.
• Li Qingyun met Miss Shi in his Jade Pure root body and asked whether she found him different from herself.
• Miss Shi examined Li Qingyun and said he was unlike the other Dao Lord Masters, but that their origins seemed different.

Li Qingyun tried to obtain the Shi household’s Binding Patterns from Shi Wei, but she refused to violate her ancestral teachings. After he let her go, he secretly followed her trail to the Shi family’s hidden sanctuary, where she mourned her grandfather’s grave.

• Li Qingyun offered Shi Wei ten jade beads in exchange for the secrets of the Binding Patterns, but she refused, citing her grandfather’s command.
• Li Qingyun threatened Shi Wei and her stone turtle, but she remained willing to die and warned that her death would defeat Soul Searching.
• Li Qingyun sent Shi Wei back to her stone turtle and let them leave the Three Pure Ones Temple.
• Shi Wei and the stone turtle escaped through a route shaped by Binding Patterns and erased their tracks in a yellow corpse-water current.
• Li Qingyun followed the trail into the current, while Shi Wei returned to a secluded valley surrounded by countless tombs.
• Shi Wei knelt before her grandfather’s newly raised tomb and wept, promising not to sell incense outside again.

Li Qingyun followed Shi He to her home in Stone Valley and confronted her with what he knew about the Shi clan’s hidden past. Shi He agreed to trust him only if he could reproduce a binding character, but the character began to fade from his memory as he watched.

• Li Qingyun entered Shi He’s stone house and found her among the graves of Stone Valley.
• Shi He demanded her ancient binding book back, then tore it apart and swallowed the pieces.
• Li Qingyun revealed that he suspected the Shi clan had once ruled the Great Chiliocosm, leaving Shi He stunned.
• Shi He traced a complex binding character on the stone table and challenged Li Qingyun to reproduce it before she would believe him.
• Li Qingyun tried to preserve the character in his memory, but it rapidly blurred, so he flared his Jade Pure Profound Light.

Li Qingyun deciphered the Binding Pattern character for Shi He and learned the patterns’ secrets and the history of the Great Thousand World. He left Shi He cultivation methods in Binding Pattern script, while suspecting the patterns could help his Merfolk clone break through the Ancestral Return Realm Stage Three ceiling.

• Li Qingyun studied the character in the stone house while Shi He waited outside, prepared to die if he failed.
• Li Qingyun reproduced the character and called it “lei,” convincing Shi He to trust him.
• Over two days, Li Qingyun mastered the mysteries of the Binding Patterns and learned from Shi He about Ancestor Binding Heaven, Wei Zu Heaven, and the true humans’ past.
• Li Qingyun inferred that the Binding Patterns might help his Merfolk clone advance and that Wei Zu Heaven had not fully controlled the Great Thousand World.
• Li Qingyun recorded methods for reaching and cultivating beyond the Ancestral Return Realm in Binding Pattern script for Shi He.

Li Qingyun gave Shi He powerful cultivation methods and told her that his Cave Tribe disciple might visit the Three Pure Ones Temple, then left Stone Valley. Shi He accepted his help to preserve humanity’s last refuge, unaware that a shadowy filament had emerged from her ear.

• Li Qingyun sensed a fragile new life in a grave, and Shi He said she had named it Shi Xiao Chong and feared it might not be born.
• Li Qingyun told Shi He about the Cave Tribe and said his disciple might visit the Three Pure Ones Temple within a year or two.
• Li Qingyun advised Shi He to sell Binding Incense exclusively to the Three Pure Ones Temple if necessary, then used the character “bondage” to leave Stone Valley.
• Shi He wondered whether her ancestors would blame her for revealing Stone Valley to Li Qingyun and hoped he would bring humanity a different future.
• Ghostly winds swept through Stone Valley, and a pale, shadowy filament wriggled out of Shi He's ear.

Li Qingyun returned to the Eastern Desolation Domain Temple, where his Merfolk clone used the Binding Patterns to grow stronger while Houtu began learning them. The Domain Temple’s influence continued to expand, and Li Qingyun’s cultivation and plans advanced as he kept his connection to the Three Pure Ones Sect secret from the ancestor Dao Lords.

• Li Qingyun returned from the Mother River, aware that Limò had been watching him, while his Merfolk clone killed Dao Lords who infiltrated the Domain Temple.
• Li Qingyun taught Houtu the Binding character and sent her to study it, while his Merfolk clone cultivated the Binding Patterns and began attacking the barrier to Ancestral Return Realm Stage Four.
• After a month, Houtu successfully read and wrote the Binding character, and Li Qingyun continued advancing toward the Heavenly Eye Fruit Position.
• Wandering Dao Lords pledged allegiance to the Eastern Desolation Domain Temple, while Chihun, Zhenhui, and Yulu benefited from its provisions and advanced their cultivation.
• Zhenhui revealed that he had sensed an opportunity for the fourth fruit, while the ancestor Dao Lords remained unaware that Li Qingyun founded the Three Pure Ones Sect.

Li Qingyun completed the Seventh Fruit Position and concealed his breakthrough while preparing to challenge Limò’s hold over Langtian Continent. He sent Tushan Wenshan and Quan Lei to the Ancestral Temple to learn the rules for contesting the continental lordship, as Limò’s forces moved to intercept them.

• Li Qingyun completed the Heavenly Eye Fruit Position, becoming a Saint Venerable, then concealed his true cultivation as the Fifth Fruit Position.
• Li Qingyun ordered Tushan Wenshan to bring a grand gift to the Ancestral Temple and investigate how the Eastern Desolation could challenge the central lands.
• Tushan Wenshan suggested that winning the Saint Ancestors’ attention might require Ancestral Return Realm human sacrifices or treasures from beyond the heavens and the Mother River.
• Quan Lei, Tushan Wenshan, Spider Two, and their party set out for the Ancestral Temple on the Ancient Saint Continent.
• Jiang Wang and an ancestor of the Qi Family left the central lands to confront the party, unaware that Li Qingyun’s Merfolk clone had reached Ancestral Return Realm Stage Four.

Li Qingyun used his newly formed Heavenly Eye Fruit to see the hidden true forms and mutations of those around him, as well as the layered structure of the Great Thousand World. He watched Zhu Yuyan prepare to ascend at year’s end, then withdrew his gaze, reflecting on how difficult it was to preserve affection after seeing the truth.

• Li Qingyun saw Tushan Wenshan’s true form as countless blood lice, with agitated clusters at his head and heart.
• Li Qingyun examined Houtu’s golden bones, black blood, and mysterious-rune particles until she sensed the spying and shielded her aura.
• Li Qingyun saw Jade Furnace Dao Lord’s true form and the bronze chain locking her three Dao Fruits, whose far end was hidden in chaos.
• Li Qingyun looked into the Shadowed Domain and saw contamination in Mengshan, Miaoxuan, A'li, and Zhu Yuyan, who had reached the great completion of the Sever Self Realm.
• Zhu Yuyan decreed that she would ascend at year’s end and named Yeyue as her successor; Li Qingyun watched the mortal realm’s reaction before withdrawing his gaze.

Li Qingyun encountered an ancient corpse in the true Black and Gray World and discovered a possible connection to Dao Lord Qionghua. After her corpse vanished, he continued deeper into Black Mountain, where his formidable appearance frightened off a Six Fruit corrupted being.

• Li Qingyun entered the true Black and Gray World and found the ancient female corpse he had encountered before, recognizing that she had once possessed Body Root Fruit cultivation.
• A yin-jade hairpin fell from the corpse, and Li Qingyun read the name Qionghua on it, recalling that he had seen her in the Lingbao Temple Twin Steles test.
• Li Qingyun bowed to Qionghua and offered to help her if she had regrets or a contingency connected to him, then watched her corpse vanish into the bloodwater.
• Li Qingyun kept the Qionghua hairpin and swept toward Black Mountain's deeper levels.
• A Six Fruit corrupted being saw Li Qingyun and fled in terror, while he chose not to pursue it.

Li Qingyun slaughtered corrupted ones in Black Mountain, strengthened his hold on Black Tower, and began refining the Heaven-Pacifying Sword. After awakening the sword’s remnant will, he heard its former owner accept that the weapon would pass into his hands.

• Li Qingyun attacked the corrupted ones around Black Tower, then inspected the tower and found that his refinement had advanced by about one-seventh.
• Li Qingyun traveled to the broken sword, defeated its powerful corrupted leader, and recognized the sword as the Heaven-Pacifying Sword, also called the Immortal Slaying Sword.
• Li Qingyun sent his Jade Pure Primordial Root Body to imprint the Heaven-Pacifying Sword with runes, carefully concealing the refinement.
• Li Qingyun located a nearly silent remnant will in a crack in the sword’s notch, and its former owner revealed that it had forged the sword from a Great Thousand and told him to cherish it.

Li Qingyun failed to seize the Heaven-Pacifying Sword after its former owner, Hanging Sword Heaven Master, destroyed his Jade Pure runes. Meanwhile, the Moon Yin Palace planned Zhu Yuyan’s ascension and sought to renew ties with Li Qingyun, while his slow-moving emissary group left the Eastern Desolation and was tracked by the Limò Prefectural Temple.

• Hanging Sword Heaven Master named himself, told Li Qingyun to treat the sword well, and shattered his residual will, sweeping away many of Li Qingyun’s Jade Pure runes.
• Dao Lord Han Yue and the Moon Yin Palace patriarchs discussed Zhu Yuyan’s coming ascension and whether to place her in a Daoist temple near Li Qingyun.
• The Moon Yin Palace leaders agreed that Dao Lord Han Yue would seek a nearby temple for Zhu Yuyan and that Dao Lord Wu Jun should contact Li Qingyun to establish ties.
• Li Qingyun’s emissary group traveled slowly by water because Tushan Wenshan struggled with the journey, and the Limò Prefectural Temple tracked their exposed route.

Li Qingyun’s Merfolk clone led Tushan Wenshan and his party toward the Mother River’s mouth, carrying a supposed grand gift while Jiang Wang and Qilian Shan pursued them under Saint Venerable Limò’s orders. The chapter ended as masked Mother River Dao Lords blocked their way in an ambush.

• Jiang Wang and Qilian Shan waited to ambush Quan Lei’s party, with Jiang Wang vowing revenge and Qilian Shan asserting his superiority.
• Tushan Wenshan feigned exhaustion during the journey, while Yu Guinong praised him and Spider Two asked to eat some louse spawn.
• Li Qingyun’s Merfolk clone forbade Spider Two from touching the louse spawn, calling them an important gift, and carried the group onward.
• At the Mother River’s mouth, masked wandering Dao Lords appeared and blocked the group’s path.
• Tushan Wenshan and Yu Guinong panicked and turned to Lord Quan for help.

Li Qingyun’s Merfolk clone faced an ambush by Mother River wandering Dao Lords and Middle Land powerhouses, then revealed overwhelming strength and slaughtered the attackers. The surviving enemies fled as Li Qingyun turned on the remaining Ancestral Return cultivators.

• Quan Lei and Li Qingyun warned the wandering Dao Lords to leave, but their leader ordered everyone to attack.
• A thunderous roar disrupted both sides, and Li Qingyun’s Eight-armed Naga form unleashed binding threads that pierced the vanguard and drove the six-fruit Dao Lord to flee.
• Li Qingyun charged Jiang Wang and punched through his true form, forcing the former Middle Land leader to retreat in defeat.
• Li Qingyun struck down Qilian Shan, sealed his corpse, and continued attacking the Middle Land powerhouses.
• The remaining cultivators fled in terror, with Jiang Wang still ahead of them.

Li Qingyun’s Merfolk clone defeated the Middle Land’s Ancestral Return experts, killed Jiang Wang, and escaped Saint Venerable Limò by crossing to Ancient Saint Continent. There, Tushan Wenshan explained that the group had to apply at the Hundred Saints Great Temple before they could ascend to the Great Thousand Ancestral Temple.

• Jiang Wang begged Quan Lei to spare him, but Quan Lei killed him and collected the corpses of the fallen cultivators as blood food.
• Saint Venerable Limò confronted Quan Lei’s clone, who mocked him and left with Tushan Wenshan and the Eastern Wilderness envoys.
• Li Xuanji and the Three Pure Ones disciples destroyed more than a dozen temples along the Time Ruin Mother River, killing their masters and residents.
• Quan Lei’s clone escorted Tushan Wenshan and the others across the Mother River and through the Xu Eye to Ancient Saint Continent.
• At the Hundred Saints Great Temple, Tushan Wenshan explained that they needed to submit an application before they could enter the Great Thousand Ancestral Temple.
• Li Qingyun’s Merfolk clone sensed the powerful devotion of the louse clan worshipers and learned that the hundred ancient saints were revered across multiple races.

Li Qingyun’s Merfolk clone and the Eastern Desolation Domain delegation encountered the horrific human sacrifices practiced at the Hundred Saints Great Temple. After Wine Master Ji delayed their visit to the ancestral temple, the delegation waited at his expensive inn for half a month with no news.

• Li Qingyun’s Merfolk clone sensed that Louse clansmen were sacrificing themselves in the Merit Hall to win blessings for their lineages.
• Tushan Wenshan and Yu Guinong offered gifts to Wine Master Ji, who pocketed them and told the delegation to wait at the Wannian Inn.
• Li Qingyun recoiled from the Merit Hall’s bloodshed and left without paying respects to the hundred ancient saints, while the delegation followed him.
• Tushan Wenshan agreed to rent eight rooms at the costly Wannian Inn after Li Qingyun stopped him from bargaining.
• The delegation waited for half a month as Wine Master Ji’s manager repeatedly brushed off Tushan Wenshan’s requests and the inn’s daily expenses drained their money.

Li Qingyun’s Merfolk clone joined the Eastern Wasteland delegation seeking permission to worship at the Ancestral Temple, then realized that Ancestral Return Realm visitors were being sent there as sacrifices. He deliberately made his body appear tainted so the temple officials would bar him from entering.

• Li Qingyun’s Merfolk clone paid respects at the Great Temple and reflected on how Wei Zu Heaven had erased or corrupted humanity and other races.
• Tushan Wenshan and Yu Guinong bribed Shopkeeper Ji, who secured the Eastern Wasteland delegation’s places to ascend to the Ancestral Temple.
• At Ascension Hall, Wine Master Ji warned that many worshippers never returned, while Li Qingyun noticed the Temple Keepers’ knowing expressions toward the departing delegations.
• Li Qingyun concluded that the Ancestral Temple was sacrificing Ancestral Return Realm visitors to the Holy Ancestors and feared his clone would be trapped there.
• Li Qingyun spread blood-red strands across his Merfolk body, prompting Wine Master Ji and the Temple Keepers to declare him impure and order him out.