Chapter Summaries

Chu Mu disguised himself as a Wang Family cultivator and attacked Lie Shan Shi to inspect the Thread-drawing Gu he had refined. After confirming a subtle difference in its spirituality, Chu Mu realized his own Thread-Pulling Gu had lost that weakness after fusing with the Saint Spirit Gu’s soul.

• Chu Mu transformed into the guise of Wang Tianshan and waited for Lie Shan Shi to leave Yan Lie Mountain.
• Chu Mu ambushed Lie Shan Shi in the sky, struck him twice, and forced him to escape with a blood-based Gu technique.
• Chu Mu staged a fruitless pursuit and used a Compass to locate Lie Shan Shi hiding in a mountain cave.
• Chu Mu reviewed what he had observed in Lie Shan Shi’s Sea of Consciousness and confirmed that his Thread-drawing Gu was more spiritual than Chu Mu’s Thread-Pulling Gu had been before its fusion with the Saint Spirit Gu’s soul.

Chu Mu examined the Thread-drawing Gu after it gained the ability to shift between illusion and reality, then sealed it away while considering whether it had truly been the source of his anomaly. As his flying boat headed toward the Great Chu Cultivation Realm, he explored his new Nascent Soul powers and realized that the Flower of Similarity’s fate had tied him to the Longevity Sect despite the Great Terror he suspected lurked within it.

• Chu Mu found that the Thread-drawing Gu had gained a tangible body and could shift between physical and illusory forms, then sealed it in a Jade Box and stored it in his Qiankun Space.
• Chu Mu flew toward the Great Chu Cultivation Realm and studied how Heaven and Earth Power strengthened Nascent Soul cultivators and made their battles difficult to resolve.
• Chu Mu discovered that his Great Sun True Fire had absorbed Heavenly Thunder Fire and developed a lightning rune that enhanced its destructive power.
• Chu Mu considered the Great Terror he suspected was hidden within the Longevity Sect and the Human Alliance, but recognized that the Flower of Similarity’s changes made it nearly impossible to alter her fate or remove her from the Longevity Sect system.

Chu Mu returned to the True Understanding Pavilion in Yao Guang City and reunited with Chang Hongyi after secretly forming his Nascent Soul. He decided to keep his breakthrough hidden, and Chang Hongyi began telling him about the turmoil in the Outer Sea.

• As the Longevity Sect's Mountain Opening Ceremony approached, the True Understanding Pavilion continued to thrive under Chang Hongyi's management.
• Chu Mu slipped through the Pavilion's lakeside formation and reunited with Chang Hongyi, who offered him intelligence about the Pavilion and Lie Yan.
• Chu Mu told Chang Hongyi that he had left to form his Nascent Soul and revealed his new cultivation.
• Chang Hongyi realized Chu Mu had caused the Nascent Soul-forming phenomenon in the Endless Desert Sea, which had drawn attention from the Heaven's Secrets Lineage and a Longevity Sect Grand Elder.
• Chu Mu said he would conceal his Nascent Soul cultivation as a trump card, and Chang Hongyi warned him that the Outer Sea had become a bloody maelstrom.

Chu Mu visited Cangshui Marsh and found Lie Yan rapidly approaching Golden Core formation, while new revelations about the Heavenly Evolution Sacred Beast and the Outer Sea made him question the Longevity Sect. After returning to Yao Guang City and avoiding an immediate summons to the Outer Sea, he spotted returning warships and flew toward one of them.

• Chu Mu and Chang Hongyi traveled from Yao Guang City to Cangshui Marsh, where Lie Yan served as Deputy Garrison Envoy and was nearing the Pseudo-Core Realm.
• Chu Mu gave Chang Hongyi a one-use jade talisman and learned from a Jade Slip that the Heaven's Secrets Lineage Master had overseen the unraveling of Demon Souls tied to the Dark Serpent Clan and the Heavenly Evolution Sacred Beast.
• Chu Mu considered whether to cultivate Lie Yan to the Nascent Soul Realm or exchange the Nirvana Rebirth method with the Longevity Sect, but doubted whether the sect could still be trusted.
• Chu Mu lifted the seal on his True Inheritance Token, reported that he had reached Golden Core Completion, and received permission to stabilize his cultivation instead of joining the Outer Sea conflict.
• Chu Mu asked Chang Hongyi to discreetly investigate several spirit materials and gave her alchemical pills before noticing battle-scarred Longevity Flying Boats returning from the Outer Sea.
• Chu Mu transformed into a Crimson Blade Light and flew toward one of the returning Longevity Flying Boats.

Chu Mu noticed unusually dense Killing Intent among low-tier Longevity Sect disciples returning aboard the Longevity Flying Boat and joined Old Ancestor Xuan Cheng to investigate. They found tens of thousands of disciples affected, with some already suffering severe erosion, while a strange force seemed to be preventing the Killing Intent from damaging their foundations.

• Chu Mu boarded the Longevity Flying Boat and sensed excessive Killing Intent in the Emerging Cloud Cabin.
• Qin Mei told Chu Mu that she was responsible for the flying boat during the return voyage.
• Old Ancestor Xuan Cheng summoned Chu Mu and asked whether he had noticed anything unusual.
• Chu Mu and Old Ancestor Xuan Cheng entered the Emerging Cloud Cabin, where the assembled disciples bowed to them.
• Chu Mu sensed that the disciples’ Killing Intent had pooled to an abnormal density and was eroding some of them, though a peculiar force seemed to limit the damage.

Old Ancestor Xuan Cheng showed Chu Mu the Divine Fiend Grand Array, which used cultivators’ malice to form a battle array and had become a major force in the Human Alliance’s war. As Longevity Sect’s forces gathered at Longevity Immortal Mountain, Chu Mu remained uncertain whether his suspicions about Xuan Cheng and the Heaven’s Secrets Lineage were mistaken.

• Old Ancestor Xuan Cheng explained the Divine Fiend Grand Array to Chu Mu and praised Chu Mu’s own array at the True Understanding Pavilion.
• Chu Mu probed Xuan Cheng about the Secret Realm but found no sign that the elder was acting unusually.
• More than a hundred thousand Longevity Sect disciples disembarked at Longevity Immortal Mountain, each carrying a blood-red jade talisman linked to the Divine Fiend Grand Array.
• Chu Mu studied the talisman and considered how the array could let large groups of cultivators fight opponents across realms.
• Chu Mu wondered whether he had wrongly suspected the Heaven’s Secrets Lineage, then gave a Divine Edict to a disciple and flew toward Longevity Immortal Mountain.

Chu Mu learned that the Divine Fiend Grand Array had been used in the war against the Demon Alliance and considered the political struggles surrounding it. Facing a shortage of resources for Nascent Soul cultivation, he left the True Inheritance Palace and went to the Scripture Pavilion.

• Yan Qiuling told Chu Mu that the Human Alliance had formed nine Divine Fiend Legions, and that rumors of the Longevity Sect seeking greater influence had hindered the war effort.
• Chu Mu asked whether the Divine Fiend Grand Array had shown abnormalities, but Yan Qiuling had heard of none and cautiously asked whether it had a flaw.
• Chu Mu searched his stored treasures and the sect's Merit Points Treasure Repository, finding almost nothing of fourth-order value to aid his Nascent Soul cultivation.
• Chu Mu reflected on the difficulty of obtaining high-order Spirit Herbs and Demon Cores, and on the limited resources available to him if he concealed his true cultivation.
• Chu Mu left the True Inheritance Palace and entered the Scripture Pavilion, recalling how his blade-intent system had developed from the Void Abyss Blade Scripture and how his planned fusion with his Great Sun True Fire had been delayed.

Chu Mu spent more than two years studying the Scripture Pavilion’s upper floors, absorbing the Longevity Sect’s alchemy arts and pill formulas while reflecting on the limits his concealed cultivation placed on his opportunities. As he descended, he encountered a Foundation Establishment disciple named Lie Yan, who bowed to him.

• Chu Mu entered the Scripture Pavilion’s tenth floor and began studying its ancient alchemy arts and pill formulas.
• With Spirit Radiance Blessing, Chu Mu studied the collections on the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth floors for more than two years, mastering and incorporating their knowledge.
• Chu Mu regretted that his concealed Nascent Soul cultivation kept him from obtaining fourth-tier resources and earning wealth as an arts master, but decided preserving his life was more important.
• Chu Mu concluded that he had absorbed much of the Longevity Sect’s upper-floor knowledge and considered whether he could help restore its inheritance after a calamity.
• As Chu Mu descended to the eighth floor, Foundation Establishment disciple Lie Yan approached and paid his respects.

Chu Mu met Lie Yan, gave him precious pills, and sensed the powerful bond between them as Lie Yan neared Golden Core formation. He then felt that Wangcai was about to hatch and transformed the True Inheritance Palace to supply the Giant Egg with vast amounts of Metal Attribute spiritual qi.

• Chu Mu suppressed an instinctive urge to devour Lie Yan, welcomed him as a junior brother, and warned him to honor his devotion to Junior Sister Chu.
• Chu Mu congratulated Lie Yan on his impending Golden Core formation and gave him nearly a hundred Alchemical Pills, including ten pill-pattern treasure medicines.
• Lie Yan reflected on his good fortune and the cultivation path that the pills would open to him.
• Chu Mu considered how Lie Yan’s coming Golden Core formation related to his Nirvana Rebirth Plan and the Immortal Fetus Golden Core.
• Chu Mu sensed that Wangcai was about to be born, took control of the True Inheritance Palace, and converted its spiritual qi into Metal Attribute energy for the Giant Egg.
• The Giant Egg devoured the gathered spiritual qi, briefly forming mysterious golden patterns as its extraordinary birth phenomenon intensified.

Five years after his secluded work, Chu Mu restored the Ancient Puppet Head in the Outer Sea and returned to a Giant City amid the war. He reflected on how a devastating Human Alliance defeat and the Longevity Sect’s mass conscription had forced him into the campaign he had hoped to avoid.

• The formation around the Ninth True Inheritance Palace dispersed after a little more than a year, and rumors about Chu Mu’s secluded work faded with time.
• In the fifth year, Chu Mu and several Longevity Sect disciples met the silver-haired old man as he examined the awakened Ancient Puppet Head.
• The old man took the restored puppet head and the Dream Essence, gave Chu Mu a Jade Box, and departed after praising his work.
• Chu Mu told the disciples to return to the city and report their success, then headed toward the Giant City above the black sea.
• Chu Mu recalled that the Human Alliance had suffered a crushing defeat, losing more than half its core legions and worsening its internal conflicts.
• Chu Mu explained that the Longevity Sect’s mass conscription had ended his plan to avoid the Outer Sea war.

Chu Mu used Dream Essence to perfect his Nebula disguise while serving in Demon Suppression City’s Hundred Skills Hall. He then reviewed the tasks ahead, including finding the last Dragon Soul for his Nine Dragons Suppressing Prison Tower, and worried over Wangcai’s astonishingly rapid growth.

• Chu Mu recalled how repairing an ancient puppet had earned him Dream Essence from Elder Desolate Puppet.
• Chu Mu entered Demon Suppression City and returned to his post in the Hundred Skills Hall.
• Chu Mu reforged the Nebula with Dream Essence, making its disguise flawless against Nascent Soul Realm perception.
• Chu Mu considered tempering his Blade Intent Treasure and finding the final Dragon Soul needed to complete his Nine Dragons Suppressing Prison Tower.
• Chu Mu reflected that Wangcai had already reached the third-order demon beast realm and was still transforming.

Chu Mu discovered that Wangcai had advanced to the late third order and undergone a profound transformation after the mysterious Giant Egg took over its body. Wangcai now possessed an extraordinary bloodline and three powerful Bloodline Divine Abilities, and its cultivation continued to rise.

• Chu Mu sensed that Wangcai had advanced from the Third-Order Middle Stage to the late third order while he repaired the ancient puppet.
• Chu Mu observed Wangcai’s crimson-gold appearance and concluded that its bloodline had surpassed the Cultivation World’s established hierarchy, with dark and Metal attributes beginning to fuse.
• Chu Mu identified Wangcai’s retained Tracking Divine Ability and its new Nether Form, which let it move through shadows and space while resisting attacks and striking souls.
• Chu Mu examined Wangcai’s Devouring Divine Ability, which rapidly digested Blood Food and foreign energies and could consume some attacks while Wangcai used Nether Form.
• Chu Mu judged that Wangcai could be difficult for him to face at the same realm as its cultivation continued to grow.

Chu Mu learned that Wangcai’s unknown bloodline prevented it from taking human form and forced it onto the Ancient Demon Beast cultivation path. After considering what the bloodline might reveal about ancient ties to the Upper Realm, he left Wangcai to stabilize its cultivation and returned to his duties.

• Chu Mu sensed that the energy in the mysterious Giant Egg had driven Wangcai’s extraordinary leap in cultivation and told it to remain in the Qiankun Space until its cultivation stabilized.
• Chu Mu asked Wangcai whether it would choose Shape Transformation or the Ancient Demon Beast path upon entering the Fourth Order, and Wangcai conveyed that its bloodline made Shape Transformation impossible.
• Chu Mu explained that Wangcai’s bloodline might be an ancient relic from the Upper Realm, beyond the Cultivation World’s usual bloodline classifications.
• Chu Mu reflected that his Nascent Soul realm and Spirit Radiance had helped him glimpse the truth behind Wangcai’s Bloodline Divine Abilities.
• Chu Mu left demon beast Blood Food for Wangcai, exited the Qiankun Space, and headed toward the Hundred Skills Hall government office.

Chu Mu oversaw the Immortal Skills Division’s work, refined core components for Subduing Flood Dragon warships, and gave the disciples their year-end lecture. Returning home, he received a Fire Attribute Jiaolong soul from Xu Changqing, who then revealed he had another serious matter to discuss.

• Chu Mu visited the Immortal Skills Division and approved production of its assigned warships and pills, as well as arrangements for his year-end lecture.
• Chu Mu refined the core components for the Subduing Flood Dragon Suppressing Sea vessels over several months using the Earth Fire Room.
• Chu Mu handed the completed components to the division and gave its disciples a lecture before returning to his residence.
• Xu Changqing gave Chu Mu a Fire Attribute Jiaolong soul, bringing him one soul short of completing his Nine Dragons Suppressing Prison Tower.
• Xu Changqing told Chu Mu he had another matter that required his help, and Chu Mu recognized it was likely serious.

Xu Changqing told Chu Mu that the Vein Master’s soul injuries had concealed an erosion of his mind and consciousness, and that the sect’s Sect Master had also been informed. The Sect Master emerged from seclusion and brought them to Longevity Immortal Mountain, where he entered the activated bamboo forest sword formation using Xu Changqing’s command token.

• Xu Changqing asked Chu Mu how to counter an external demon in the form of pure spiritual energy that even fourth-rank Sword Intent could barely suppress.
• Xu Changqing revealed that the Vein Master’s wounds had eroded his mind and forced him to seal himself inside his Cave Abode, and he explained why he had sought Chu Mu’s help.
• Chu Mu realized the erosion might be connected to the Heavenly Evolution Sacred Beast and feared that cultivators across the Human Alliance could be affected.
• Xu Changqing said he had witnessed unusual phenomena in the branch’s Life Soul Hall after Lie Yan entered it, and promised to keep the matter secret even from the Vein Master and Sect Master.
• The Longevity Sect Master tore through the stone house roof, ordered Chu Mu and Xu Changqing back to the sect, and swiftly carried them to Longevity Immortal Mountain.
• The Sect Master took Xu Changqing’s command token and entered the activated bamboo forest sword formation, causing its gathered Sword Intent to dissipate and revealing a path through the forest.

Chu Mu and Xu Changqing entered the bamboo forest cave abode and found Xu Lingtian sealed inside, his mind eroded by a force he identified as the Heavenly Evolution Sacred Beast. The Longevity Sect Master restored Xu Lingtian and combined their Sword Intent, revealing power beyond the Nascent Soul Realm as Chu Mu suspected the Sacred Beast was responsible.

• Chu Mu followed Xu Changqing through the dangerous bamboo forest sword formation to the bamboo house.
• The Longevity Sect Master broke the sealing formation, and Xu Lingtian awoke with his seven apertures’ Talismans falling away.
• Xu Lingtian said the Heavenly Evolution Sacred Beast had likely caused his condition.
• The Longevity Sect Master placed his palm on Xu Lingtian’s head, and their Sword Intents joined in a display that destroyed the bamboo house.
• The Longevity Sect Master declared that their power surpassed the limits of the Nascent Soul Realm, while Chu Mu concluded that the Heavenly Evolution Sacred Beast was the likely source of Xu Lingtian’s erosion.

Xu Lingtian explained that an undetectable force could replace a person by twisting their Original Self, leaving no way to identify or resist it. Chu Mu revealed that the Wang Family Old Ancestor’s demon body had carried the Saint Spirit Gu and presented the fused Gu to the Longevity Sect Master and Xu Lingtian.

• Xu Lingtian told the Longevity Sect Master that a force was silently twisting his Original Self and could create an indistinguishable version of him.
• Xu Lingtian said there was no solution unless they gained control of the Sky Palace Relic and used its ancient power to investigate the threat.
• Chu Mu asked about the Heaven's Secrets Lineage’s earlier trip to the southwest and explained that he had sought a cure for his divine-soul injury using the Thread-drawing Gu recipe.
• Chu Mu recounted finding the Wang Family Old Ancestor performing a Blood Sacrifice and killing him after the demon’s damaged mind gave him an opening.
• Chu Mu showed a projected record of the fight and presented the Saint Spirit Gu, which had fused with the Thread-drawing Gu, for the two Nascent Soul experts to examine.

The Longevity Sect Master and Xu Lingtian confirmed that the Saint Spirit Gu came from Heaven's Secrets Lineage, while Chu Mu explained why he suspected the Divine Fiend Grand Array could be tied to a hidden scheme. The group agreed to keep their findings secret, and the Longevity Sect Master gave Xu Lingtian an ancient treasure to suppress his condition while he sought a cure.

• The Longevity Sect Master examined the transforming Gu, and Xu Lingtian identified it as Heaven's Secrets Lineage's Saint Spirit Gu, sequence Qian, number thirty-eight.
• Xu Changqing warned that Heaven's Secrets Lineage's Original Selves might have been extinguished and their minds controlled, raising concerns about the Divine Fiend Grand Arrays used by the Human Alliance.
• Chu Mu said the array itself showed no abnormality but argued that its sudden appearance and lack of recorded experiments suggested a deeper problem.
• Chu Mu conjectured that the Divine Fiend Grand Array might spread the Heavenly Evolution Sacred Beast's corruption through Killing Intent and the removal of its effects.
• The Longevity Sect Master ordered Chu Mu and Xu Changqing to keep the discussion secret, then gave Xu Lingtian an ancient miniature tower to suppress his condition.

Chu Mu examined the Other Self forming within Xu Lingtian and deduced that its creation required a hidden medium to evade detection. He left after the Longevity Sect Master dismissed him, with the force’s origin and a way to suppress it still unknown.

• Xu Changqing asked Xu Lingtian to let Chu Mu examine the Other Self, and Xu Lingtian agreed while the Longevity Sect Master watched closely.
• Chu Mu sensed the Other Self imitating Xu Lingtian and becoming more complete, but he could not discern the nature of Heaven’s Evolution.
• Chu Mu reasoned that external power needed a medium to infiltrate and evolve unnoticed, and connected his own altered memories to the Thread-Pulling Gu and his injuries.
• The Longevity Sect Master said he could not secretly implant and evolve power in a cultivator, while Xu Lingtian questioned whether someone had plotted against him.
• Chu Mu suggested a stronger force acting on the mind and divine soul might suppress the Other Self, but the Longevity Sect Master knew of no suitable treasure and explained that refining one was impractical.
• The Longevity Sect Master dismissed Chu Mu and Xu Changqing, and they left through the bamboo grove.

After confirming that the legendary Heavenly Evolution Sacred Beast's calamity had returned, Chu Mu warned Xu Changqing and Lie Yan about the danger and prepared for the Longevity Sect's response. The Sect Master ordered disciples and Nascent Soul cultivators to return to the sect within half a year, leaving Chu Mu and Chang Hongyi facing the looming crisis.

• The Longevity Sect Master returned the Sacred Spirit Thread-drawing Gu to Chu Mu through Xu Changqing, who then asked Chu Mu how the sect should respond to the hidden enemy.
• Chu Mu told Xu Changqing that identifying friend from foe was urgent as the Great Terror had descended on the cultivation world again.
• At the mountain gate, Chu Mu warned Lie Yan to avoid the Outer Sea conflicts and agreed to refine Lie Yan's Great Sun Golden Wheel if he was free in ten days.
• Chu Mu told Chang Hongyi about the Heavenly Evolution Sacred Beast and said they could only wait and watch for changes.
• The Sect Master's decree ordered disciples of the second rank and above, selected second-rank disciples, and several Outer Sea Nascent Soul cultivators to return to the Longevity Mountain Gate within half a year, or be treated as traitors.