Chapter Summaries

Xu Lingtian told Chu Mu that the sect had investigated the Heavenly Palace and would summon him to a meeting of the nine lineages. Watching a pregnant woman enter the city prompted Chu Mu to seek a way to test fetal Spirit Root aptitude, and he realized he needed a more complete system of immortal Dao knowledge.

• Xu Lingtian told Chu Mu that the sect had confirmed the relic entrance’s discovery was coincidental and that the Heavenly Palace’s changes had occurred during the Sixty-Year Cycle.
• Xu Lingtian said the Sect Master would discuss the Heavenly Evolution Sacred Beast with the Nascent Soul Supreme Elders of the nine lineages and ordered Chu Mu to attend next year’s meeting.
• Chu Mu noticed a heavily pregnant woman entering the city and considered whether fetal Spirit Root aptitude could be tested before birth.
• Chu Mu connected fetal aptitude testing to the effects of the Peace Palace Creation Pill and his plans involving Immortal Fetus Nirvana.
• Chu Mu reflected on the limits of his fragmented knowledge and concluded that he urgently needed a complete system of immortal Dao knowledge.

Chu Mu refined his Immortal Fetus Nirvana concept, planning to create a pill that would transform a fetus into an exceptionally compatible Dao Fruit while acknowledging the idea remained largely untested. He decided to observe first and instructed Yan Qiuling to arrange Spirit Root experimentation discreetly.

• Chu Mu compared a simple Immortal Fetus Nirvana plan with his more ambitious approach and rejected the simple method for its likely flaws.
• Chu Mu devised a special Peace Palace Creation Pill that would improve a fetus’s Spirit Root and transform it using his own origins, but recognized the idea lacked evidence and could cost him a century of lifespan per pill.
• Chu Mu concluded that he needed to identify a compatible mother and fetus before proceeding, then decided to observe the pregnant woman near the city gate.
• Chu Mu asked Yan Qiuling to arrange Spirit Root experiments without using the True Inheritance Palace’s name or the sect contribution system unless necessary.

Chu Mu spent three months studying the emergence of Spirit Roots in pregnant cultivators, then joined the Longevity Sect’s massive mobilization aboard its flying boat. After crossing Great Chu, the boat arrived at the Longevity Sect Mountain Gate, as the sect prepared for the Nine Veins Grand Assembly and the perilous ancient Sky Palace Trial Land.

• Chu Mu had Yan Qiuling gather nearly a hundred pregnant female cultivators, and his research produced practical foundations for his Spirit Root plan.
• Thousands of Longevity Sect disciples boarded the Longevity Flying Boat at Dingbei Camp, and Chu Mu reflected on its power and the sect’s impending mobilization.
• Chu Mu learned that the sect was gathering tens of thousands of disciples for matters related to the ancient Sky Palace and the Nine Veins Grand Assembly.
• The Longevity Flying Boat stopped at several Marketplaces, taking on more disciples as it traveled north across Great Chu.
• The Longevity Flying Boat reached the Northern Territory and passed through the Mountain Gate into the Longevity Sect’s domain.

Chu Mu arrived at the Longevity Sect and surveyed its mountain layout before checking the privileges and merit points on his Ninth True Inheritance Token. As he recorded treasures to exchange, he noticed something on the token that caught his attention.

• Yan Qiuling explained the peaks and institutions of the Longevity Sect to Chu Mu as he viewed the sect from Flying Arrival Peak.
• Chu Mu declined Yan Qiuling’s offer to tour the sect and prepared to return to the True Inheritance Palace.
• Chu Mu activated his Ninth True Inheritance Token and saw its functions, treasure repository, and balance of 430,000 merit points.
• Chu Mu reviewed the treasure list and recorded items on a Jade Slip for Yan Qiuling to exchange.
• Chu Mu suddenly fixed a burning gaze on the treasures listed on the True Inheritance Token.

Chu Mu chose to join the Longevity Sect, signed its binding contract, and secured a Fire-Attribute Flood Dragon Divine Soul for his Nine Dragons Suppressing Prison technique. After Xu Changqing reported the sect’s approval of Chu Mu’s request, the two arrived at Starfire Peak’s Stone Hall, which concealed the Longevity Secret Realm.

• Chu Mu found a Third Order Perfection Fire-Attribute Flood Dragon Divine Soul in the merit repository and ordered Yan Qiuling to exchange one hundred thousand Merit Points for it.
• While reviewing the Longevity Sect’s abundant resources, Chu Mu considered the trade-offs of sect membership and signed a Fourth-Order Divine Soul Contract promising obedience and loyalty.
• Yan Qiuling returned with the crimson Jade Box containing the bound Flood Dragon Soul, and Chu Mu noted that he still needed eight more dragons for Nine Dragons Suppressing Prison.
• Xu Changqing told Chu Mu that the sect had approved his request and led him to Starfire Peak’s Stone Hall, which concealed the Longevity Secret Realm.

Xu Changqing explained that the Spark Secret Realm was a vast, peaceful world that cultivated generations of people to supply the Longevity Sect with loyal disciples. He led Chu Mu into the Stone Hall, where Chu Mu entered the realm through a bronze gate.

• Xu Changqing described the Longevity Sect’s spiritual veins and secret realms, including the Spark Secret Realm’s role as the foundation of the sect’s inheritance.
• Xu Changqing explained that the Spark Secret Realm’s inhabitants lived under the Longevity Sect’s order, with most possessing Spirit Roots and many eventually joining the sect.
• Xu Changqing said that the Spark Secret Realm’s loyal disciples had helped the Longevity Sect survive its civil strife, while most current disciples still came from the realm.
• Chu Mu asked whether Xu Changqing had lived in the Spark Secret Realm as a child, and Xu Changqing recalled entering the sect at twelve and remembering the realm fondly.
• Xu Changqing led Chu Mu into the Stone Hall and explained that a True Inheritance Token would grant him passage through the bronze gate.
• Chu Mu stepped onto the altar, displayed the token, and vanished through the gate into the Spark Secret Realm.

Chu Mu examined the Spark Secret Realm’s maps and population records, discovering a vast society governed by strict spiritual-root-based rules. He decided to travel to Hope Sky City, where all Earthly Spiritual Root cultivators lived and the Longevity Sect selected disciples.

• Chu Mu arrived at Tianshu Hall and told Xu Tao he wanted to research spiritual roots, choosing to enter the secret realm and make his own selections.
• Xu Tao showed Chu Mu the Secret Realm Topographic Map and Household Register, which Chu Mu read with his Divine Sense.
• Chu Mu learned that the realm held more than ten billion people, that Earthly Spiritual Roots occurred at a rate of one in a thousand, and that those cultivators lived in Hope Sky City.
• Chu Mu saw that the Longevity Sect’s strict order controlled marriage and childbirth according to spiritual-root aptitude, and that Hope Sky City held annual disciple selections.
• After Yan Qiuling delivered a sealed Storage Talisman, Chu Mu told Xu Tao he would visit Hope Sky City and flew there on his Crimson Blade Light.

Chu Mu studied Longevity Sect’s records on spiritual roots and learned that the Peace Palace Creation Pill had produced unusually gifted children, strengthening his plans for Nirvana Rebirth. He then examined a list of Fire Spirit Root cultivators and summoned someone from a palace in Hope Sky City.

• Chu Mu wandered through Hope Sky City and reflected on how Longevity Sect’s system left most Earthly Spiritual Root cultivators living as ordinary people.
• Chu Mu used the aura of his True Inheritance Token to remove the Scripture Pavilion seals from Yan Qiuling’s Storage Talisman.
• Chu Mu spent more than a month studying Longevity Sect’s records on spiritual roots, then spent nearly a day organizing what he had learned.
• Chu Mu found that Peace Palace Creation Pills had greatly improved children’s spiritual-root aptitudes and had produced twenty-one infants with Heavenly Spiritual Roots.
• Chu Mu reviewed a list of more than 130,000 Earthly Spiritual Root cultivators with Fire Spirit Roots and sent a voice transmission to someone at a palace in the city.

As the Longevity Sect prepared for its Nine Veins Grand Assembly and an unprecedented Mountain Opening Ceremony, Chu Mu revealed that his research into changing spiritual-root aptitude had advanced to three or four tenths. He agreed to host the ceremony, while keeping the vulnerable details of his Nirvana Rebirth Plan secret.

• The Longevity Sect’s central control over Great Chu left the Mountain Opening Ceremony as the main path for independent cultivators, and the Sect raised its recruitment quota to nine thousand disciples.
• Xu Changqing watched hundreds of pregnant cultivators with Earthly Spiritual Root aptitude leave the pavilion, then asked Chu Mu about his research.
• Chu Mu said the Sect’s inheritance had helped him grasp three or four tenths of how to alter spiritual-root aptitude, but he concealed the details of his Nirvana Rebirth Plan.
• Xu Changqing told Chu Mu that the Nine Veins Grand Assembly would begin in three days and that custom called for Chu Mu to host the Mountain Opening Ceremony.
• After Xu Changqing explained that the Internal Affairs Hall and Enforcement Hall would handle most of the work, Chu Mu accepted the responsibility.

Chu Mu activated the True Inheritance Palace with his True Inheritance Token and discovered it could transform and connect to a deeper, familiar realm. After crossing into a Longevity Sect that seemed empty of people, he met Chu Yan, an exceptionally gifted young Foundation Establishment disciple.

• Chu Mu arrived at the crimson True Inheritance Palace and learned that he needed to activate its True Inheritance Array.
• Chu Mu examined the crimson tower and realized it converted, purified, and compressed spiritual energy to a quality comparable to High-Grade Spirit Stones.
• Chu Mu placed his True Inheritance Token into the tower, gaining control over the palace and transforming its sprawling halls into a small courtyard.
• Chu Mu followed a newly awakened connection from the token and crossed into a Longevity Sect that appeared to have no people present.
• Chu Yan arrived and greeted Chu Mu as her Senior Brother.

Chu Mu explored Longevity Heaven and learned how its vast soul realm connected cultivators across much of Great Chu. After Chu Yan tried to recruit him into helping strengthen the Peeking Truth Vein, Xu Changqing interrupted, and Chu Mu reflected that the Longevity Sect still felt like only a temporary stop in his wandering life.

• Chu Mu recognized Longevity Heaven as an illusion-of-the-soul realm forged into reality and learned it replicated Longevity Nine Thousand Li while covering more than half of Great Chu.
• Chu Yan asked Chu Mu for guidance on her Blade Intent, and he sent an insight into her Sea of Consciousness.
• Chu Yan asked Chu Mu to bring promising disciples into the Peeking Truth Vein during the Mountain Opening Ceremony.
• Xu Changqing arrived and objected, saying candidates had to pass the sect's assessment and prove their character and aptitude.
• Chu Mu stayed silent and considered the Longevity Sect another temporary stop in his life as a wandering cultivator.

Chu Mu oversaw the Longevity Sect’s Mountain Opening Ceremony and reviewed applicants while holding the Sect Master’s Decree, which put him in charge of selecting and training the first Sky Palace Relic exploration team. After the arts and Guest Elder selections were announced, he began the law division’s final comprehension test by presenting the candidates with a Cloud Mist Talisman.

• The Longevity Sect opened its mountain gate and began recruiting through the arts, law, and Guest Elder divisions.
• After the Nine Veins Grand Assembly, Chu Mu received the Sect Master’s Decree and responsibility for choosing and training the first Sky Palace Relic exploration team.
• Chu Mu examined applicants’ histories and assessments, including Yan Xunshan, an aging artifact refiner attempting the arts division for the third time.
• Chu Mu kept the customary equal split between the arts and law quotas, and the ceremony accepted four thousand five hundred arts disciples and one thousand Guest Elders.
• After ten days of screening, Chu Mu announced the selected names and prepared the law division’s final comprehension assessment.
• Chu Mu formed a Cloud Mist Talisman in the sky and gave the law division candidates one incense stick to comprehend it.

Chu Mu used the Cloud Mist Talisman to conceal a Blade Intent inheritance and advance his Nirvana Rebirth Plan by planting its influence within the Longevity Sect. After the Mountain Opening Ceremony ended, he withdrew from his sect duties to focus on studying Spirit Roots.

• Xu Changqing examined the Cloud Mist Talisman, and Chu Mu explained that comprehending it could reveal the path to becoming an inheritor of the Peeking Truth Vein.
• Chu Mu considered how the talisman’s layers concealed his Blade Intent inheritance and how spreading similar talismans could help disguise his plans.
• Chu Mu decided the Longevity Sect offered the stable environment he needed to carry out his Nirvana Rebirth Plan.
• The Mountain Opening Ceremony concluded after nine thousand disciples were selected, and the Cloud Mist Talisman began spreading throughout the cultivation world.
• Chu Mu organized his Mind Illusion experiences, arranged resources for Wangcai, and returned to Spark World to study Spirit Roots.

After years of research into Fetus Protection Creation and Nirvana Rebirth, Chu Mu completed a personal Peace Palace Creation Pill formula, but it required two costly ingredients drawn from his own origins. He hesitated over whether to risk the loss of a century of lifespan and damage to his true fire origin to test an unproven theory.

• Chu Mu’s years of studying pregnant cultivators and the Longevity Sect’s records advanced his plan from thirty or forty percent to seventy or eighty percent complete.
• Chu Mu concluded that his Golden Core cultivation prevented him from uncovering the deeper mysteries of spirit roots, so the remaining progress would depend on practical testing.
• Chu Mu wrote a unique Peace Palace Creation Pill formula with twelve rare ingredients and no distinction between Ruler, Minister, Assistant, and Envoy ingredients.
• Chu Mu used resources purchased with millions of merit points to gather ten of the formula’s twelve ingredients.
• Chu Mu saw that the final ingredients required part of his Essence, Qi, and Spirit origin and part of his true fire origin, and he hesitated over the risks.

After emerging from seclusion, Chu Mu checked Wangcai’s rapid cultivation progress and explained the choices awaiting him at the Fourth Order threshold. He reviewed the sect’s leads on flood dragon souls, then resolved to proceed with his plans.

• Chu Mu emerged from the Spark Secret Realm and returned to the True Inheritance Palace, where Wangcai woke and greeted him.
• Chu Mu examined Wangcai’s condition, found him nearing Late Third Order, and advised him to stabilize his cultivation before seeking a breakthrough.
• Chu Mu explained the choice between assuming human form and shedding the demon beast body, then sent Wangcai his understanding of the Third-to-Fourth Order passage and told him to choose for himself.
• Yan Qiuling reported progress on Chu Mu’s reward for flood dragon souls and presented a Jade Slip; Chu Mu ordered the reward continued and declined invitations from disciples and elders.
• Chu Mu examined a collected flood dragon soul and the reported leads, then closed his eyes and became resolute.

Chu Mu severed the origins of his Essence, Qi, Spirit, and True Fire in an attempt to undergo Nirvana Rebirth, unleashing a blaze that destroyed the pavilion and threatened the True Inheritance Palace. The ancient tower suppressed the flames, and after Chu Mu fell into the Spiritual River, Wangcai carried his broken body into the tower; years then passed in silence.

• Wangcai prepared to charge into the shaking pavilion, but Chu Mu ordered him to stay back.
• Chu Mu severed his own origins, suffering devastating damage as his Essence, Qi, Spirit, and True Fire spiraled out of control.
• Chu Mu's uncontrolled flames destroyed the pavilion and rained across the True Inheritance Palace.
• Chu Mu weakly commanded the ancient tower to suppress the fire, and its nine dragon souls devoured the flames.
• Chu Mu and the ancient tower fell beside the Spiritual River, and Wangcai carried Chu Mu's broken body into the tower.
• The True Inheritance Palace returned to order, and years passed while the ancient tower remained by the river.

After eight years in seclusion, Chu Mu emerged with his injuries healed but his life source and cultivation foundation badly damaged, having lost 140 years of lifespan. He met Chang Hongyi, learned of Zhao Shuang’s unanswered messages, and tasked Hongyi with securing a hidden spiritual vein for his Nirvana Rebirth Plan.

• Chu Mu left the ancient tower after absorbing its true fire and realized his life-source injury had cost him 140 years of lifespan and damaged the foundation of his Golden Core Late Stage cultivation.
• Chang Hongyi visited Chu Mu and reported that she had moved most of the True Understanding Pavilion’s businesses to Great Chu and that the Chen Family had declined while the Righteous Path Alliance remained locked in conflict.
• Chang Hongyi told Chu Mu that Zhao Shuang had sought him urgently years earlier, and Chu Mu asked Hongyi to keep her at the True Understanding Pavilion if she returned.
• Chu Mu gave Chang Hongyi an Array Disc and ordered her to repair the restrictions concealing a nearly Fourth Order fire-attribute spiritual vein within the Earth Vein Sea of Fire.
• Chu Mu considered how the spiritual vein’s fortune could support his Nirvana Rebirth Plan, and Chang Hongyi left to carry out his instructions.

Chu Mu oversaw preparations for the Longevity Sect’s Sky Palace Trial before withdrawing into seclusion to refine the Peace Palace Creation Pill. After nearly fifty days at the final stage of alchemy, the pill began to take shape, but its formation remained undecided.

• Chu Mu reviewed messages and left the True Inheritance Palace to handle affairs related to the Sky Palace Relic.
• The Longevity Sect gathered tens of thousands of selected disciples at Thousand-Seeker Peak to prepare for the Sky Palace Trial.
• Chu Mu briefly managed Thousand-Seeker Peak’s affairs, then returned to seclusion for several years.
• Chu Mu emerged from the True Inheritance Palace, cleared his mind, and entered the ancient tower to begin refining the Peace Palace Creation Pill in his one-use Nirvana Furnace.
• Over ninety days, Chu Mu refined the spiritual materials into a fire-red liquid, then focused on the final Pill Formation stage.
• After nearly fifty days of transformation, the Alchemical Pill began to take shape in the furnace.

Chu Mu completed a Two Pill Pattern Peace Palace Creation Pill and spent several years integrating himself into the Longevity Sect while expanding the True Understanding Pavilion. At the chapter’s end, Chang Hongyi reported that she had secured an unnamed person outside the Chu Capital, and Chu Mu asked whether the arrangements had left any flaws.

• Chu Mu used the palace formations to contain the pill’s sky-piercing light and retrieved the completed Two Pill Pattern Peace Palace Creation Pill.
• After several days, Chu Mu returned to Thousand-Seeker Peak and began personally handling sect affairs and cultivating ties across the Longevity Sect.
• Over the next several years, Chu Mu integrated into the sect’s order while pursuing another crucial, unstated purpose.
• Five years later, the True Understanding Pavilion held its renowned auction in Yao Guang City, where Chu Mu watched from a private pavilion.
• Chang Hongyi told Chu Mu that she had arranged for an unnamed person in a secular county town outside the Chu Capital and that everyone involved had signed Soul Contracts and sworn Oaths of the Dao Heart.

Chu Mu secretly sheltered a pregnant cultivator in Luocheng County as part of a plan to use his enhanced Peace Palace Creation Pill to alter her unborn child’s Spiritual Root. He left the outcome uncertain as he waited for her to give birth.

• Chang Hong'er reported that the pregnant woman, secretly declared dead by the Longevity Sect, was guarded and hidden in the Grand Mansion.
• Chu Mu ordered Chang Hong'er to monitor the Golden Core cultivators involved and the Spirit Vein at Jingmen, then told her to return to Yao Guang City.
• Chu Mu revealed that his plan concerned the mysteries of Spiritual Roots and could defy fate if it succeeded.
• After Chang Hong'er departed, Chu Mu stayed behind to watch over the woman until she gave birth.
• Chu Mu considered the uncertain effects of his original Two Pill Pattern Peace Palace Creation Pill, which he hoped could produce a Heavenly Spiritual Root.