Chapter Summaries

After Xia Siyun rejected Chu Ya, his affection for her only grew stronger, and a mysterious attacker ambushed him inside the Immortal Dust Sect. The attacker beat Chu Ya unconscious and escaped, prompting Grand Elder Chu Tianfan to track a suspicious middle-aged man.

• Li Xiuchang realized Chu Ya would not give up pursuing Xia Siyun, then followed him and the returning disciples toward the sect.
• Chu Tianfan learned someone had breached the Sect Protecting Great Array and waited near Chu Ya for the attacker to appear.
• The attacker threw Most Stinky Snail Noodles and an intoxicating wine jar, leaving nearby disciples trapped in a cycle of nausea and sleepiness.
• The mysterious figure pulled Chu Ya through Chu Tianfan's golden bell and repeatedly struck him with a pot lid until he lost consciousness.
• Chu Tianfan raised his Heaven's Net Umbrella, found a suspicious middle-aged man near another formation breach, and marked him for tracking.

Li Xiuchang used “Send Enemy a Thousand Miles” to help Chen Changsheng’s clone escape the Immortal Dust Sect’s Grand Elders. The clone ended up in another world on the same layer as the Immortal Shade Realm, apparently overcoming a long-standing barrier between such worlds.

• Chu Tianfan and Duanmu Huai chased the mysterious middle-aged man across the Immortal Dust Sect, but he repeatedly escaped their pursuit.
• Li Xiuchang fled the mixed scents that had incapacitated Wang Long and Pang Yuanfu, then met Chen Changsheng’s disguised clone, who asked him to use “Send Enemy a Thousand Miles.”
• Li Xiuchang sent Chen Changsheng’s clone away, and Chu Tianfan and Duanmu Huai concluded that the mysterious man had escaped after his tracking mark vanished.
• Li Xiuchang rescued Wang Long and Pang Yuanfu before returning to House Thirteen of the Eastern Geng District, where his senior brothers and sisters questioned him about the technique.
• Chen Changsheng explained that his clone had left the Immortal Shade Realm and reached another world on the same layer, leaving Li Xiuchang stunned by the direct passage between them.

Li Xiuchang learned that his “Send Enemy a Thousand Miles” spell could send targets to another realm, and he agreed to practice it on Chen Changsheng’s clones while Chen Changsheng searched for a passage back. Meanwhile, Chu Tianfan traced the attacks on Chu Ya to a powerful female cultivator Chu Ya had once confessed to and then abandoned.

• Zhang Wanzhi, Xia Siyun, and Chen Changsheng discussed the potential of Li Xiuchang’s spell, and Chen Changsheng offered his clones as practice targets.
• Mo proposed that Chen Changsheng use his connection to his clones to search the other realm for a passage to the Immortal Shade Realm, and the group settled on both plans.
• Steady volunteered to let Li Xiuchang practice on his main body, but Chen Changsheng refused because he recognized the turtle’s attempt to escape his control.
• Chu Tianfan woke Chu Ya in the Immortal Dust Sect’s core area and asked whether he had offended anyone who might be behind the repeated attacks.
• Chu Ya recalled a powerful female cultivator who had accepted his confession and followed him after he abruptly ended their relationship.
• Chu Tianfan concluded that the female cultivator was probably the attacker and imagined that she still loved Chu Ya despite resenting his abandonment.

Li Xiuchang tested whether his Send Enemy a Thousand Miles technique could send Chen Changsheng's clones to other worlds, then began preparing to form a Nascent Soul and learned that Senior Brother Lu Yang and Senior Sister Xia Siyun had become a couple. The chapter left Li Xiuchang enduring their unabashed displays of affection during class.

• Li Xiuchang sent Chen Changsheng's clones to different worlds, including one ruled by demonic cultivators, and confirmed that the technique could reach worlds on the same level but not the Upper or Lower Realm.
• Chen Changsheng's clones searched the other worlds for routes connecting to lower-level worlds and ultimately the Immortal Shade Realm.
• Li Xiuchang read the Nascent Soul cultivation methods for the Charcoal Burning Skill, raised his Diamond Core to the Golden Core pinnacle, and successfully merged Spiritual Sense into it as the first step toward forming a Nascent Soul.
• Li Xiuchang learned that Senior Brother Lu Yang had passed the first-grade Immortal Brew Master assessment and that Senior Sister Xia Siyun had moved in as his apprentice.
• Senior Sister Xia Siyun and Senior Brother Lu Yang openly acted like a couple during Li Xiuchang's practical lessons, leaving him embarrassed and privately grumbling about their behavior.

Li Xiuchang tested the Send Enemy a Thousand Miles technique on other people’s clones, discovering that it sent Stabilizer’s clone back to its main body and accidentally stranded Zhang Wanzhi’s clone in dangerous Immortal Shade. After pausing those experiments, he showed Stabilizer his Spirit Pet Golden Horn, who had mastered Turtle Mimicry, and refused Stabilizer’s request to become its master.

• Li Xiuchang sent Xia Siyun’s clone to a world Chen Changsheng’s clone had explored, then refused Stabilizer’s request to test the technique on its main body without Chen Changsheng’s approval.
• Chen Changsheng brought Stabilizer’s clone for an experiment, and Li Xiuchang sent it back beside Stabilizer’s main body, which was confined in a cage.
• Li Xiuchang sent Zhang Wanzhi’s flashy clone to Immortal Shade’s core region, where it endured great danger before escaping wounded.
• Li Xiuchang paused experiments on other people’s clones and continued sending Chen Changsheng’s clones to other worlds.
• Stabilizer came to play with Li Xiuchang and met Golden Horn, who had mastered Turtle Mimicry; Li Xiuchang rejected Stabilizer’s offer to become Golden Horn’s master.

Li Xiuchang made Wenyuan Golden Horn’s teacher while supervising its lessons and continued strengthening the beetle with special food. At the Four Immortals Merchant Association’s opening, Chen Gao revealed a rumor that a Western Region sect had captured an Ascender alive, jolting Li Xiuchang.

• Li Xiuchang agreed to let Wenyuan teach Golden Horn cultivation and combat, provided he supervised every lesson and Wenyuan did not impose its ideas on the beetle.
• Wenyuan taught Golden Horn to read and understand human speech, but its wing-made sounds made speaking human language impractical.
• Li Xiuchang fed Golden Horn Natal Magic Treasures and medicinal paste, then practiced talisman arts using Charcoal Attribute Mana as spirit ink.
• The Four Immortals Merchant Association opened with a discount promotion that drew a large crowd, and Li Xiuchang hosted its guests and core members.
• Chen Gao told Li Xiuchang, Yue Chongshan, and the others that a Western Region sect had reportedly captured an Ascender alive, and Li Xiuchang reacted with inward alarm.

A sudden wave of ascenders from multiple lower realms spread across the Immortal Shade Realm, fueling rumors and panic. After Li Xiuchang condensed his divine soul, Xia Siyun brought him to a meeting where the senior disciples decided to capture an ascender and question them, leaving Li Xiuchang awkwardly caught up in their plans.

• Chen Gao told Li Xiuchang, Ye Zhixing, and Yue Chongshan that ascenders from a lower realm had begun appearing in the Western Region in large numbers.
• Li Xiuchang reported the news to Zhang Wanzhi, who and the others in Eastern Geng District dismissed it as a problem the Ascension Pavilion could handle.
• Ascenders began appearing across all four regions, spreading rumors and panic while the Four Great Immortal Sects struggled to track them.
• Li Xiuchang condensed his divine soul, then learned from Wang Long that ascenders had appeared in the Northern and Eastern Regions as well.
• Xia Siyun brought Li Xiuchang to meet Lu Yang, Zhang Wanzhi, Chen Changsheng, and Mo Tu, who discussed capturing an ascender to learn what was happening.
• Xia Siyun brought out lots to decide who would capture an ascender, and Li Xiuchang timidly asked whether he had to draw one too.

Chen Changsheng was chosen to capture an ascender, while Li Xiuchang studied how to shatter his Second Diamond Core and prepare another spiritual soul. The next morning, Wenwen asked Li Xiuchang to help him escape his formation, and Chen Changsheng secretly told Li Xiuchang to agree.

• The Eastern Geng District assigned Chen Changsheng to capture an ascender and explain how the Four Great Immortal Sects dealt with those they captured.
• Lu Yang said Li Xiuchang’s Fourth-grade Body Cultivation could let him withstand travel between the upper and lower realms despite his not having reached the Nascent Soul Realm.
• Li Xiuchang failed to shatter his Second Diamond Core with magic power, then used his Soul Slicing Saber and Equalizer Dao to make a small crack that quickly healed.
• Li Xiuchang decided to postpone risking a collision between his two Second Diamond Cores and began pouring Spiritual Sense into the second one to cultivate another spiritual soul.
• Wenwen asked Li Xiuchang to help him escape, claiming he had found a flaw in Chen Changsheng’s formation.
• Chen Changsheng told Li Xiuchang to agree, so Li Xiuchang promised Wenwen he would help break the formation.

Li Xiuchang helped Wengwen escape its prison, only to learn that Chen Changsheng had planned its route to a lower realm full of demonic cultivators. Back at the sect, Li Xiuchang was asked to interrogate a captured demonic-cultivator ascender, whose screams shocked the watching senior brothers and sisters.

• Li Xiuchang helped Wengwen break the arrays imprisoning its true body and removed the cage's talisman after Chen Changsheng secretly assured him it was safe.
• Wengwen escaped toward Immortal Severing Cliff while its incarnation stayed behind, and Chen Changsheng told Li Xiuchang he had arranged for Wengwen to reach a realm overrun by demonic cultivators.
• Wengwen's true body breached the Immortal Dust Sect's defenses and entered the lower-realm passage, while Chen Changsheng beat Wengwen's incarnation without letting it betray Li Xiuchang.
• Chen Changsheng's incarnation brought a captured demonic-cultivator ascender to No. 8, Eastern Geng District, and asked Li Xiuchang to practice interrogating him.
• Li Xiuchang asked Chen Changsheng to add a protective barrier, then began interrogating the ascender as the watching senior brothers and sisters turned pale at his methods.

Li Xiuchang learned that the ascension tide originated from the Reclining Buddha Stone Statue in the Zen Heart Realm, where sleeping cultivators gained breakthroughs. After the Immortal Shade Realm’s sects began sending experts below, Li Xiuchang prepared to follow Zhang Wanzhi and Mo Tu to investigate, while Wengweng invited him to join its plan to unify the demonic path.

• The demonic cultivator ascender told Chen Changsheng that the Reclining Buddha Stone Statue had caused waves of cultivators to break through and ascend from the Zen Heart Realm.
• Lu Yang and Chen Changsheng reassured Li Xiuchang that powerful experts from the Upper Realm were unlikely to descend, and Zhang Wanzhi proposed visiting the statue.
• Li Xiuchang agreed to travel to the lower realm after Chen Changsheng’s clone investigated and the Four Great Immortal Sects made their move.
• Chen Changsheng killed the demonic cultivator ascender, and several days later Li Xiuchang prepared to leave, assigning his Yin Souls and Golden Horn to stay behind.
• Wengweng visited Li Xiuchang, boasted that it had escaped Chen Changsheng’s clones and gathered demonic cultivators as underlings, and invited Li Xiuchang to become its vice sect master.
• After Li Xiuchang promised to visit Wengweng, Zhang Wanzhi summoned him to meet outside the sect and depart for the lower realm.

Li Xiuchang, Zhang Wanzhi, and Mo Tu entered Immortal Severing Cliff with Chen Changsheng’s help and crossed from the Immortal Shade Realm into Sea Boat Realm. As the trio prepared to continue to Zen Heart Realm, Li Xiuchang caught sight of a woman in the crowd and felt his heart race.

• Li Xiuchang left the Immortal Dust Sect with Zhang Wanzhi and Mo Tu, and the three disguised themselves before heading to Immortal Severing Cliff.
• Chen Changsheng drew the three guarding elders away while Li Xiuchang, Zhang Wanzhi, and Mo Tu slipped into the passage.
• The trio endured the passage’s violent winds and crushing boundary pressure, then arrived together in Sea Boat Realm.
• Zhang Wanzhi explained that Sea Boat Realm was a sparsely populated ocean world whose elected realm masters relied on the Four Great Immortal Sects for support.
• Li Xiuchang, Zhang Wanzhi, and Mo Tu concealed their Cultivation Levels and walked through a city toward the passage to Zen Heart Realm.
• Li Xiuchang saw a radiant woman’s profile in the crowd, and his heartbeat suddenly quickened.

Li Xiuchang discovered that a demonic cultivator had planted a Love Demon Seed in his soul, but Mo Tu removed it before it could fuse with him. After learning that Chu Ya had suffered the same attack and turned it into a means of cultivating the Heartless Sword Dao, the three senior brothers continued toward the Zen Heart Realm and entered its passage.

• Li Xiuchang told Zhang Wanzhi and Mo Tu that a strange woman had made him feel an irresistible longing, and Mo Tu extracted a pink demon seed from his soul.
• Mo Tu identified the seed as a Love Demon Seed from the Desire Demon Sect, but the woman sensed his attempt to track her and severed their connection.
• Mo Tu confirmed that the seed had not fused with Li Xiuchang's soul, and he and Zhang Wanzhi explained that Chu Ya had also been struck by one and was using the resulting yearning to cultivate the Heartless Sword Dao.
• Zhang Wanzhi taught Li Xiuchang about the Sea Boat Realm and the dangers of exploring lower realms as they traveled toward the Zen Heart Realm.
• The three reached the seabed vortex passage, where Mo Tu frightened the Golden Core guards with his aura and led Li Xiuchang and Zhang Wanzhi inside.

Li Xiuchang arrived in the Zen Heart Realm with Zhang Wanzhi and Mo Tu, learned that he had to suppress his strength to avoid being forcibly ascended, and headed for the Reclining Buddha Stone Statue. The trio entered the Sleeping Buddha Temple after Mo Tu intimidated its monks, who welcomed them by claiming they had profound affinity with the Buddha.

• Li Xiuchang sensed the Ascension Rule in the Zen Heart Realm, and Zhang Wanzhi warned him that revealing Nascent Soul or fourth-stage Body Cultivator strength would send him to the Upper Realm.
• Li Xiuchang, Zhang Wanzhi, and Mo Tu learned from an old passerby that the Reclining Buddha had awakened and that visitors could not yet sleep beside it to cultivate.
• Li Xiuchang saw an opportunity to gather spirit plants near the Reclining Buddha without being put to sleep, and the trio flew to the Sleeping Buddha Temple.
• Zhang Wanzhi surveyed the temple and found mostly local Buddhist Cultivators, while many visitors from the Four Great Immortal Sects had already left.
• Li Xiuchang challenged the young monks guarding the entrance after they denied him entry, and Mo Tu threatened them with his soul energy and Baleful Intent.
• An abbot welcomed all three inside, praising Mo Tu as a benevolent man of great merit despite his fearsome appearance.

Li Xiuchang and his companions visited the Reclining Buddha Stone Statue, where Li Xiuchang gathered rare Buddhist spirit plants and Zhang Wanzhi struggled to open a hidden space inside the statue. With Li Xiuchang drawing a growing crowd to watch, Zhang Wanzhi found the motivation to push through, and a golden light burst from the statue’s brow.

• Li Xiuchang rebuffed elders of the Four Great Immortal Sects, while Zhang Wanzhi accepted a token inviting them to visit the Immortal Shade Realm.
• At the Reclining Buddha Stone Statue, Li Xiuchang found Arhat Tree sap useful for Fourth-grade Body Cultivation and collected samples of spirit plants with the abbot’s permission.
• Zhang Wanzhi and Mo Tu discovered a hidden space in the statue’s head, but Zhang Wanzhi could not find a way inside.
• Li Xiuchang told the abbot about the hidden space and drew Buddhist Cultivators from the eight major sects to watch Zhang Wanzhi work.
• Motivated by the enormous audience, Zhang Wanzhi pushed himself for several days until golden light shot from the statue’s brow and illuminated the Zen Heart Realm.

Zhang Wanzhi opened the entrance hidden in the Reclining Buddha Stone Statue, but its Buddhist light admitted only people who manifested unusual phenomena after the golden light rain. Li Xiuchang and Mo Tu qualified alongside Buddhist Cultivators from across the Zen Heart Realm, and they entered the passageway as Zhang Wanzhi was left outside.

• Golden light burst from the Buddha statue and swept across the Zen Heart Realm, prompting believers to worship while a small monk in a higher-level world wondered who had activated the final trial early.
• Zhang Wanzhi opened the hole between the statue’s brows and basked in the Buddhist Cultivators’ praise, but he could not break through the Buddhist light blocking the entrance.
• After the golden light rain fell, Buddhist Cultivators manifested Buddha Phantoms or Lotus Platform Phantoms, revealing that only those with such phenomena could enter.
• Li Xiuchang manifested a Buddha seated on a lotus platform, while Mo Tu produced a cloud of merit; both phenomena drew attention and qualified them to enter.
• Mo Tu passed through the Buddhist light, Li Xiuchang followed, and Buddhist Cultivators from across the Zen Heart Realm began gathering at the entrance.
• In the passageway, Li Xiuchang asked Mo Tu about his merit and considered how his Equalizer Dao might have influenced his lotus-platform phenomenon.

Li Xiuchang and Mo Tu entered a trial inside the Reclining Buddha Stone Statue, where participants received targeted training and competed for resources. Li Xiuchang exploited the trial’s special energy to rapidly advance his Body Cultivation, while Mo Tu endured unwanted Buddhist training and Zhang Wanzhi waited outside.

• Li Xiuchang realized that his Equalizer Dao had been mistaken for Buddhadharma, making him uniquely qualified alongside Mo Tu to enter the trial.
• The golden Buddha transmitted the trial’s rules, and twenty-eight Buddhist Cultivators vanished into separate training spaces.
• Li Xiuchang combined Arhat Tree Sap, special energy, and points added to his Vajra Dharma Image to accelerate his marrow refinement and gain more resources.
• Li Xiuchang broke through to the mid-stage of Fourth-grade Body Cultivation after using fewer than fifty inches of added length.
• Zhang Wanzhi waited outside the statue, frustrated that he could not enter, while Mo Tu endured Body Cultivation and Buddhist lectures and considered breaking out.

Li Xiuchang advanced his Body Cultivation and Equalizer Dao through the Buddha-head trial, while Mo Tu broke free and ascended. After Li Xiuchang returned to the main hall, tribulation clouds gathered over him.

• Li Xiuchang reached late fourth-grade Body Cultivation as the trial diverted resources from slower participants to him, then absorbed the remaining energy and began comprehending Buddhist teachings through his Equalizer Dao.
• Li Xiuchang deepened his Equalizer Dao in a dream, while Mo Tu resisted the trial, tore open his space, and returned to the main hall.
• A rosy light marked Mo Tu for ascension, and he was pulled through a portal before the abbots could tell him Zhang Wanzhi had left.
• Li Xiuchang awoke with his Equalizer Dao at minor mastery and received a message inviting him to another trial in the Pure Land Realm in a hundred years.
• Li Xiuchang returned to the main hall, learned that Mo Tu was gone, and saw dark tribulation clouds gather directly above him as the abbots fled.

Li Xiuchang endured a Golden Core heavenly tribulation and ascended from Sleeping Buddha Temple. He fled the unfamiliar Upper Realm when a Heavenly Yin Sect elder pursued him, then used a Scrawny Old Man as a decoy.

• Li Xiuchang faced three Lightning Tribulations and an Inner Demon Tribulation, which strengthened his sea of consciousness before he ascended through a portal.
• Several old abbots watched Li Xiuchang disappear and decided to wait for Zhang Wanzhi to return.
• Li Xiuchang arrived in an unfamiliar realm, hid his aura, and fled as a powerful pursuer approached.
• Li Xiuchang transformed into a white horse and outran the Heavenly Yin Sect elder, who called on nearby disciples to help capture him.
• A Scrawny Old Man tried to flee when the pursuer identified himself as a Heavenly Yin Sect elder, but Li Xiuchang chased him and drew the elder’s attention toward him.

Li Xiuchang escaped pursuit in the dangerous Myriad Mountains Realm, learned that the passage to Zen Heart Realm was controlled by Demon King Palace, and decided to wait for his Senior Brothers to find him. Back in Zen Heart Realm, Mo Tu and Zhang Wanzhi learned that Li Xiuchang had ascended and immediately followed him to the Upper Realm.

• The Scrawny Old Man attacked Li Xiuchang with his nail-headed arrow, but Li Xiuchang damaged it with the Soul Slicing Saber and escaped as the Heavenly Yin Sect Elder caught up to the Scrawny Old Man.
• Li Xiuchang sent Old Pan away with Send Enemy a Thousand Miles, fled the Heavenly Yin Sect Elder, and captured the Scrawny Old Man's fleeing Nascent Soul.
• The Scrawny Old Man told Li Xiuchang that he was in the Myriad Mountains Realm and that Demon King Palace controlled the passage to Zen Heart Realm; Li Xiuchang decided to wait for Senior Brother Zhang Wanzhi and Senior Brother Mo Tu.
• Mo Tu returned to Sleeping Buddha Temple and learned that Li Xiuchang had ascended, then summoned Zhang Wanzhi back.
• Mo Tu and Zhang Wanzhi ascended to the Upper Realm to search for Li Xiuchang.

Li Xiuchang hunted Rogue Cultivator bandits in the Myriad Mountains Realm to draw the attention of his senior brothers, then learned that the Demon King Palace had been annihilated. When two Nascent Soul bandits attacked him, he revealed his strength and split Du Kong’s manifested Dharma Form in two.

• Li Xiuchang used poisonous smoke and distinctive weapons to ambush Rogue Cultivator bandits, letting survivors spread word of his methods so his senior brothers might recognize him.
• Li Xiuchang learned that the Demon King Palace had been annihilated around the time he ascended and wondered whether his senior brothers were responsible, but chose to keep waiting in the Myriad Mountains Realm.
• Two Nascent Soul bandits, the Red-haired Demonic Cultivator and Du Kong, confronted Li Xiuchang, who revealed his Fourth-grade Body Cultivation Late Stage strength and summoned his Vajra Dharma Image.
• Li Xiuchang drove the Red-haired Demonic Cultivator back with his Second Diamond Core, then combined his sabers and fought Du Kong in close combat.
• Li Xiuchang transformed his Dharma Form into a Golden Fur Ape and manifested it as a giant ape king, whose enormous Soul Slicing Saber destroyed Du Kong’s prayer bead and split his Big Belly Buddha Dharma Form in two.