Chapter Summaries

Chu Mu traveled by flying boat toward Tyrant Province City, reflected on the Chu River and Mist Frost True Water, and cultivated during the journey. Wangcai then sensed something familiar near the Vast Mountains, but Chu Mu found no trace of an anomaly.

• Chu Mu admired the Chu River's towering mouth and considered the treasures hidden in its water veins.
• Chu Mu recalled Mist Frost True Water's ability to cleanse the heart and help cultivators survive the heart demon tribulation when breaking through to Nascent Soul.
• Chu Mu returned to the cabin and cultivated as the flying boat passed over the Chu River and continued toward Tyrant Province City.
• After more than ten days, Wangcai grew restless and told Chu Mu it sensed a familiar scent outside the flying boat.
• Chu Mu lowered the Array Restrictions and surveyed the Vast Mountains, but his Divine Sense detected no anomaly.

After Wangcai’s Bloodline Divine Ability manifested, Chu Mu followed its tracking to a battle site and discovered the Zhao sisters fleeing the Ba Dao Alliance. When a Golden Core cultivator approached, Chu Mu concealed himself aboard his Flying Boat, leaving his intentions unresolved.

• Chu Mu examined the ancient inscription in Wangcai’s bloodline and realized Wangcai’s Bloodline Divine Ability had manifested.
• Wangcai tracked a familiar Divine Soul Aura across roughly two hundred li, leading Chu Mu to the traces of a recent battle.
• Chu Mu followed Wangcai and found Zhao Shuang and her sister fleeing several Ba Dao Alliance Foundation Establishment Cultivators.
• Wangcai sensed a Golden Core cultivator approaching from the southwest as the Zhao sisters remained under pursuit.
• Chu Mu put Wangcai aboard the Flying Boat and vanished without revealing whether he would intervene.

Chu Mu watched the Ba Dao Alliance capture the Zhao Shuang sisters and moved to save them when Luo Hao began a Soul Search. He killed Luo Hao and the pursuing cultivators, rescued the sisters, then erased the evidence of the battle with a formation that destroyed itself in a sea-wide surge.

• Luo Hao and the Ba Dao Alliance cultivators overwhelmed the Zhao Shuang sisters and demanded that they reveal the rogue cultivator's whereabouts.
• Chu Mu recognized Luo Hao and decided to intervene, despite the danger of provoking the Ba Dao Alliance and its Fourth Order Blade Intent True Cultivator.
• As Luo Hao began to Soul Search Zhao Shuang, Chu Mu's Blade War Puppet killed the Ba Dao Alliance cultivators and struck down Luo Hao when he tried to flee.
• Chu Mu pulled the Zhao Shuang sisters into the sky and disappeared with them into the void.
• Chu Mu set up a Third-Order Array Formation that absorbed the sea's water vapor, then shattered in a tsunami that erased the battle's traces.

Chu Mu rescued the Zhao Shuang sisters after killing Luo Hao and other Ba Dao Alliance cultivators, then returned toward Tyrant Province City as its Fourth Order Blade Intent True Cultivator investigated the deaths. He believed he had concealed his involvement, but recognized that the sisters remained a possible liability, and examined Wangcai’s newly emerged Tracking Divine Ability.

• A furious Fourth Order Blade Intent True Cultivator discovered that his disciple’s grandson had been killed, and news of a Ba Zhou Alliance Golden Core True Person’s death spread through Tyrant Province City.
• Xu Lingtian speculated that the killing arose from a dispute over interests and might involve remnants of forces his sect had destroyed.
• Chu Mu returned to his flying boat with the injured Zhao Shuang sisters and gave them Jade Bottles to help them recover.
• Chu Mu reviewed how he had concealed his role in Luo Hao’s death and considered the Zhao Shuang sisters his greatest remaining risk.
• Chu Mu teased Wangcai about remembering Zhao Shuang, then used Spirit Radiance Blessing and Divine Sense to study its Tracking Divine Ability.

Chu Mu investigated Wangcai’s Bloodline Divine Ability and discovered that it could track targets through disguises and most barriers from as far as twelve hundred li. After testing Wangcai among his spiritual treasures, Chu Mu considered using the ability to pursue the young man who had traded him Nine Heavens Profound Gold.

• Chu Mu spent days examining Wangcai’s Bloodline Divine Ability and recorded its complex inscriptions on a Jade Slip.
• Chu Mu’s experiments showed that Wangcai could locate hidden pills and see through Chu Mu’s Heaven Deceiving Pill disguise, with a maximum range of about twelve hundred li.
• Chu Mu suspected Wangcai’s tracking ability had mutated through its unusual bloodline transformations and fusion.
• Chu Mu spread out spiritual treasures for Wangcai to memorize by scent, then promised to find it female dogs with excellent bloodlines when they returned to Crimson Clouds.
• Chu Mu reviewed the projection of the young man who had traded Nine Heavens Profound Gold at True Understanding Pavilion and considered using Wangcai’s tracking ability to find him.

Chu Mu learned that Zhao Shuang and Zhao Yu were fleeing with Xie Yu, an heir carrying the last hope of the ruined East Lake Xie Family. After Zhao Shuang privately revealed Xie Yu’s location, Chu Mu promised the sisters protection and redirected his Flying Boat toward him.

• Chu Mu questioned Zhao Shuang about the Ba Dao Alliance’s pursuit and learned that her husband’s Nine Heavens Profound Gold had caused the uproar.
• Zhao Shuang revealed that Xie Yu was a direct-line heir of the East Lake Xie Family, whose surviving clansmen had scattered after Longevity Sect destroyed their escape party.
• Chu Mu asked about the Xie Family’s secrets, but Zhao Shuang refused to disclose her husband’s secret without his permission and asked whether she could trust Chu Mu.
• Zhao Shuang privately told Chu Mu where Xie Yu was, and Chu Mu offered to protect her and Zhao Yu aboard his Flying Boat.
• Chu Mu marked Xie Yu’s location on a map of Tyrant Province and changed the Flying Boat’s course toward him.

Chu Mu reunited Xie Yu with the Zhao sisters and brought them aboard his flying boat, then traveled to Tyrant Province City while weighing the risks of pursuing the Nine Heavens Profound Gold. He entered the city as an honored guest of the Ba Dao Alliance, representing the True Understanding Pavilion.

• Zhao Yu questioned whether Chu Mu could be trusted, and Zhao Shuang decided they had to rely on his protection to survive Tyrant Province.
• Chu Mu spotted Xie Yu emerging from his hiding place and allowed him to board the flying boat and reunite with the Zhao sisters.
• Chu Mu promised to escort Xie Yu and the Zhao sisters out of Tyrant Province after he finished his business there.
• Chu Mu crossed the Ba Zhou Basin and worried that Nascent Soul cultivators might compete for the Nine Heavens Profound Gold.
• Chu Mu reached Tyrant Province City with Wangcai and entered as a distinguished guest representing the True Understanding Pavilion.
• Ba Dao Alliance cultivators escorted Chu Mu to a dedicated residence in South City.

Chu Mu explored Tyrant Province City before discovering a Blood Kill Pavilion contact point and visiting the Longevity Sect stronghold to meet Xu Changqing. There, he learned that Xu Changqing had formed a sword cultivator’s Sword Core and gave him the Illusion God Mask.

• Chu Mu toured the crowded city ahead of the Ba Dao Alliance's Millennial Celebration and noticed a low house resonating with his Blood Kill Tokens, identifying it as a Blood Kill Pavilion contact point.
• Chu Mu concealed his appearance and went to the Longevity Sect stronghold, where Chang Bao and Wu Xun recognized his True Inheritance Token and welcomed him.
• Xu Changqing arrived and reminded Chang Bao and Wu Xun that Chu Mu's status as the Ninth True Inheritance was a sect secret.
• Xu Changqing explained that his Immortal Fetus Golden Core was a sword cultivator's Sword Core, also called a Sword Pellet, and offered to record the method for Chu Mu.
• Chu Mu revealed his Supreme-Grade Magic Treasure Illusion God Mask and gave it to Xu Changqing as a gift for forming his core.

Chu Mu told Xu Lingtian that the Chen Family’s Fourth Order War Puppet contained a hidden backdoor that could let someone seize control, and presented evidence of the flaw. Xu Lingtian judged the revelation a great merit and offered to bid for the Nine Heavens Profound Gold Chu Mu sought.

• Chu Mu asked Xu Lingtian about the Chen Family’s Fourth Order War Puppet and revealed that it contained a hidden backdoor that could allow someone to take control.
• Chu Mu explained that the flaw came from the fragmentary puppetry text the Chen Family used and warned that new puppets could inherit it.
• Chu Mu gave Xu Lingtian a Jade Slip documenting the puppet’s structure and the hidden backdoor.
• Xu Lingtian questioned Chu Mu about his responsibility for the repair, and Chu Mu said the Chen Family had approved and recorded the work and that he had left a contingency of his own.
• Xu Lingtian declared the information a great merit for the sect and offered to bid on the Nine Heavens Profound Gold for Chu Mu.
• Chu Mu thanked Xu Lingtian and presented him with another Jade Slip.

Chu Mu traded information with Xu Lingtian for help securing Nine Heavens Profound Gold and investigating the Chen Family’s war puppet text, then stayed at True Understanding Pavilion while visitors flocked to meet him. The Ba Dao Alliance’s millennial celebration began, and Chu Mu took his place among the guests as Ba Dao Real Person prepared to give a discourse on the Dao.

• Xu Lingtian told Xu Changqing to secretly investigate where the Chen Family obtained its fragmentary war puppet text and to ask Ba Dao for the Nine Heavens Profound Gold.
• Chu Mu left the Longevity Stronghold relieved that Xu Lingtian would handle the dangers surrounding the gold and the Chen Family’s Fourth Order War Puppet.
• Chu Mu remained inside True Understanding Pavilion for several days as cultivators came to visit him.
• The Ba Dao Alliance began its millennial celebration in Tyrant Province City, drawing a huge crowd to hear Ba Dao Real Person’s discourse on the Dao.
• A maid escorted Chu Mu to a private tower compartment after True Understanding Pavilion presented a Third Order War Puppet as its congratulatory gift.

Chu Mu attended the alliance’s Millennial Celebration and watched Ba Dao Real Person deliver a seven-day Dharma exposition and Dao teaching. The teaching ended with Chu Mu having gained profound insights, while Ba Dao Real Person briefly noticed him during the ceremony.

• Chu Mu watched the crowded plaza gather for the celebration and longed to reach the Nascent Soul realm.
• Ba Dao Real Person arrived atop the platform, and his Fourth Order blade intent overwhelmed Chu Mu’s own blade intent, briefly injuring him.
• Ba Dao Real Person began expounding on his cultivation and revealed the insights of a Nascent Soul expert to the gathered cultivators.
• Chu Mu suppressed his turbulent mana and used Spirit Radiance Blessing to follow the teaching and study Ba Dao Real Person’s blade intent.
• After seven days and nights, Ba Dao Real Person concluded the teaching and vanished, and Chu Mu joined the cultivators in thanking him for the Dao teaching.

After gaining major insights from a Nascent Soul’s Dharma Exposition, Chu Mu studied a Sword Core cultivation system and considered how it compared with his Blade Intent and Great Sun True Fire paths. He chose to keep his established, mutually supportive cultivation system and took his place at the alliance auction, where he continued reflecting on the teachings.

• Chu Mu realized the Dharma Exposition had greatly advanced his Great Sun True Scripture and clarified how Golden Core cultivation differed from earlier realms.
• Chu Mu studied the Sword Core system in Xu Changqing’s Jade Slip and recognized its resemblance to the Void Abyss Blade Scripture and a possible Blade Core path.
• Chu Mu decided not to change his established cultivation, since his Blade Intent and Great Sun True Fire systems complemented and reinforced one another.
• Xu Changqing informed Chu Mu that his father had gone to meet Ba Dao Real Person and that the Nine Heavens Profound Gold would be withdrawn from the auction for him.
• Chu Mu entered the True Understanding Pavilion’s auction chamber and resumed contemplating the Nascent Soul’s teachings.

Chu Mu inferred that Xie Yu, Zhao Shuang, and Zhao Yu sought a Fourth-Order Restriction Breaking Talisman to reach a relic inheritance, then watched the auction sell a Supreme-Grade Magic Treasure Ten Thousand Souls Banner for over thirteen thousand High-Grade Spirit Stones. The Nine Heavens Profound Gold was withdrawn as a finale item, and the auction replaced it with the Azure Lotus Core Flame.

• On the concealed Sky-Piercing Flying Boat, Zhao Yu and Zhao Shuang discussed their past dealings with Chu Mu as Xie Yu considered whether to ask him for help obtaining an inheritance.
• Chu Mu monitored the trio through a projection and deduced that they had brought Nine Heavens Profound Gold to bid for a Fourth-Order Restriction Breaking Talisman so they could enter a relic.
• The auction offered a Supreme-Grade Magic Treasure Ten Thousand Souls Banner, and bidders drove its price above thirteen thousand High-Grade Spirit Stones.
• Chu Mu watched the Ten Thousand Souls Banner sell for an enormous price and reflected on the many lives required to refine it.
• The auction announced that the Nine Heavens Profound Gold had been withdrawn and introduced the Azure Lotus Core Flame as a replacement finale item.

Chu Mu recognized the Azure Lotus Core Flame at the auction and realized that refining it could evolve his Great Sun True Fire and Great Sun True Scripture. Bidding by powerful factions pushed the priceless flame’s price beyond thirty thousand High-Grade Spirit Stones.

• A maid brought out the Crimson Spirit Jade box, and the auctioneer revealed the Azure Lotus Core Flame to the crowd.
• The auctioneer demonstrated the flame’s heart-cleansing effect, leaving the cultivators amazed and eager to bid.
• Chu Mu calmed down and decided he wanted the Azure Lotus Core Flame for its potential to evolve his cultivation, not for its heart-cleansing power.
• The auctioneer set the starting bid at ten thousand High-Grade Spirit Stones, and the Nine Heavens Sect immediately offered twenty thousand.
• Factions in the private rooms drove the price beyond thirty thousand High-Grade Spirit Stones as the hall fell silent.

Chu Mu watched the Azure Lotus Core Flame auction, learned from Xu Changqing’s Jade Slip about the hidden Nascent Soul powers contending in the Vast Ocean Cultivation Realm, and saw the Nine Heavens Sect win the flame for sixty-nine thousand High-Grade Spirit Stones. After returning to the True Understanding Stronghold, he concluded that the real focus of the gathering in Tyrant Province was Old Ancestor Ba Dao.

• Chu Mu realized he could not compete with the major factions for the Azure Lotus Core Flame and suspected the Nine Heavens Sect wanted it to counter the effects of its Ten Thousand Souls Banner.
• Chu Mu consulted Xu Changqing’s Jade Slip and learned that the Nine Heavens Sect was led by the Nascent Soul Ghost Cultivator Heavenly Yin Old Ancestor, while several rising factions concealed powerful backers.
• The Nine Heavens Sect won the Azure Lotus Core Flame with a bid of sixty-nine thousand High-Grade Spirit Stones, and Chu Mu watched the auction end without obtaining any of its finale treasures.
• Chu Mu and Xu Changqing passed each other as they left the auction hall, and Chu Mu received a voice transmission before disappearing into the crowd.
• Back at the True Understanding Stronghold, Chu Mu watched the Ba Dao Alliance’s stronghold and judged that Old Ancestor Ba Dao was the true focus of the Nascent Soul cultivators gathered in Tyrant Province.

Chu Mu and Xu Changqing discussed the Ba Dao Alliance’s conspicuous rise and questioned Old Ancestor Ba Dao’s motives. The chapter ended when Chu Mu sensed something amiss and identified a phantom of the Chen Family’s Fourth Order War Puppet, asking Wangcai where it was.

• Xu Changqing delivered the Crimson Copper Iron Box containing the Nine Heavens Profound Gold to Chu Mu.
• Xu Changqing told Chu Mu that major powers and Nascent Soul experts had gathered at the Ba Dao Alliance’s headquarters, but he found Old Ancestor Ba Dao’s ostentatious celebration suspicious.
• Chu Mu and Xu Changqing considered why the Ba Dao Alliance would draw attention while the Chen Family still held power, but they could not determine Old Ancestor Ba Dao’s intentions.
• Chu Mu sensed something toward the southeast, summoned Wangcai, and manifested the image of a Chen Family Fourth Order War Puppet.
• Chu Mu asked Wangcai where the war puppet was.

Chu Mu discovered that more than ten Fourth Order War Puppets and several Fourth-Order Array Formations had been concealed in Tyrant Province City, leading him to suspect the Chen Family had turned the Millennial Celebration into a trap for the gathered Nascent Soul Great Experts. After the city was sealed under the Ba Dao Alliance’s wanted-criminal pretext, Chu Mu failed to leave and began investigating the arrays, tracing an unknown formation toward the city center.

• Wangcai sensed hidden auras, and Chu Mu used his spiritual perception to detect more than ten concealed Fourth Order War Puppets in Tyrant Province City.
• Chu Mu suspected Old Ancestor Ba Dao and the Millennial Celebration were part of a Chen Family scheme to ensnare the assembled Nascent Soul Great Experts, while Xu Changqing hurried toward the city center.
• Chu Mu disguised himself and tried to leave, but Ba Dao Alliance cultivators sealed the city and posted wanted notices depicting Xie Yu and the three Zhao Shuang sisters.
• Chu Mu saw that five Fourth-Order Array Formations protected the city, then learned from a guard that the activated city-protecting array prevented ordinary cultivators from leaving.
• While speaking with the guard at the City Tower, Chu Mu examined the array restrictions and traced an unknown formation toward the city center where the Nascent Soul cultivators had gathered.

Xu Changqing exposed the Chen family's hidden forces and alerted Xu Lingtian, triggering a clash that revealed a trap surrounding Tyrant Province City's Nascent Soul cultivators. The Chen family activated twelve blood-fed Hundred-Foot War Puppets, reinforcing the formation as the trapped cultivators struggled to escape.

• Xu Changqing broke through the Assembly Hall's restrictions and warned Xu Lingtian that more than ten Chen family Fourth Order War Puppets had appeared in Tyrant Province City.
• Xu Lingtian destroyed the Assembly Hall and surrounding buildings, exposing the formation sealing the city center, while Chen Jin Sheng and Old Ancestor Ba Dao escaped outside it.
• Chen Jin Sheng appeared with Ba Dao Real Person and four Chen family Nascent Soul cultivators, who reinforced the formation as the trapped cultivators attacked it.
• Xu Changqing told Xu Lingtian that Chu Mu had discovered the danger, and Xu Lingtian urged the trapped cultivators to join forces against the formation.
• Twelve blood-red Hundred-Foot War Puppets emerged from underground after tens of thousands of nearby cultivators were killed and their blood absorbed.
• The twelve War Puppets strengthened the formation, leaving the Nascent Soul cultivators unable to shake it with their combined attacks.

Chu Mu realized that the Chen Family had built a Twelve Blood Fiends Corpse Transformation Grand Array around twelve Fourth Order War Puppets, using the city’s cultivators as fuel to trap every faction in Tyrant Province City. He saw that his own alteration to the war puppets’ hidden access point had compromised his chances of exploiting the scheme and left him caught in the danger he had helped create.

• Chu Mu recognized the Chen Family’s plan to use the Twelve Blood Fiends Corpse Transformation Grand Array and the city’s spirit and earth veins to conceal twelve Fourth Order War Puppets.
• Chu Mu concluded that the array had already killed tens of thousands of cultivators and could consume the hundreds of thousands gathered in Tyrant Province City, trapping the Nascent Soul experts there.
• Chu Mu realized that the war puppets he had repaired formed the core of the Chen Family’s scheme, which could turn Ba Zhou Basin into a forbidden land filled with evil entities.
• Chu Mu regretted altering the hidden access point to warn the Chen Family’s controller, since that change gave the Chen Family time to respond if he activated the contingency.
• Chu Mu recognized that his attempt to avoid suspicion had instead reduced his ability to seize control of the situation and left him caught in the Chen Family’s scheme.

At Cloud Eagle Pavilion, Qing Ling and the Chen family used arrays and surveillance projections to expose Golden Core cultivators hiding throughout Tyrant Province City. They could not locate Chu Mu, but recovered records showing his movements and a sword-light attack on the Assembly Hall, leaving the gathered cultivators shocked.

• Qing Ling ordered Chen Jun to use a Heavenly Mark Crystal Stone to track Golden Core cultivators by their Divine Soul Auras.
• Chen Jun's projections revealed more than a dozen hidden Golden Core cultivators, but showed no trace of Chen Guangwu, Extremely Yin Real Person, or Chu Mu.
• The Five Elements Grand Array exposed spatial fluctuations around Extremely Yin Real Person's cloth sack and Chen Guangwu near the city-center battle.
• Chen Jun rejected the suggestion that Chu Mu had escaped the sealed city, and Qing Ling ordered him to display Chu Mu's recorded movements.
• The projections showed Xu Changqing's Sword Light attacking the Assembly Hall, shocking the cultivators watching.