Chapter Summaries

Li Xiuchang learned that Wang Jingxing, Zhang Wanzhi’s longtime friend and an Immortal Dust Sect Grand Elder, had changed after entering the Immortal Shade Realm, likely because he had entered the Shadow World. The group revealed that other Grand Elders might have suffered the same fate and explained that they had been watching the sect’s outer grounds for a chance to find and save Wang, whose whereabouts remained unknown.

• Zhang Wanzhi recounted how Wang Jingxing’s behavior and memories changed after he returned from an expedition into the Immortal Shade Realm, and how the group confirmed he had not been possessed or replaced.
• Chen Changsheng explained that Wang’s condition was likely connected to the Shadow World and warned that other Grand Elders in the Immortal Dust Sect—and possibly the other great immortal sects—might have the same problem.
• Zhang Wanzhi told Li Xiuchang that Wang fled when the group confronted him, aided by two concealed Grand Elders who attacked them.
• Zhang Wanzhi said the Immortal Dust Sect later declared Wang dead, but Senior Brother Gui could neither confirm his death nor locate him, only divine a glimmer of hope connected to the sect’s outer grounds.
• Zhang Wanzhi and the others explained that they had disguised themselves as outer disciples to watch the Eastern Geng District, hoping to find Wang and uncover the truth.
• Xia Siyun and Lu Yang said they missed Wang and remembered how kind he had been to them.

Li Xiuchang discussed the search for Wang Jingxing with his senior brothers and learned why their leads had stalled. After revealing his extraordinary lifespan and aptitude for Divination Arts, he received Gui Wuyan’s complete inheritance and began practicing.

• Li Xiuchang asked how he could help save Wang Jingxing, and his senior brothers said he had already helped by growing quickly and uncovering new leads.
• Chen Changsheng explained that suspicious Grand Elders had entered the Immortal Shade and then secluded themselves, but the group could neither prove their guilt nor calculate whether they had entered the Shadow World.
• Li Xiuchang learned that the suspected Grand Elders had shown no conspicuously evil behavior, then claimed he had copied his Longevity Pills; Gui Wuyan used Divination Arts to say they had been bought through the Four Immortals Merchant Association.
• Li Xiuchang asked Gui Wuyan to teach him Divination Arts, and his senior brothers objected until he demonstrated a lifespan of two or three hundred thousand years and said all three incense sticks had burned during his Heaven Questioning Ritual.
• Gui Wuyan explained that high-level diviners could force glimpses of Heavenly Secrets at the cost of the Heavenly Dao’s goodwill and their own longevity, then gave Li Xiuchang the complete inheritance in a Jade Slip.
• Li Xiuchang quickly learned several basic divination methods from the Jade Slip and prepared to try them.

Li Xiuchang tried divination for the first time, but the Dao of Heaven turned his simple weather question into a costly revelation about the Confucian Sage. He survived the loss of more than one hundred thousand years of lifespan and concluded that the Sage would reincarnate and abandon the origin of the Confucian Path.

• Li Xiuchang used Yarrow Stalks to ask when it would rain, but the stalks arranged themselves too neatly to form a hexagram.
• After Senior Brother Gui suggested the Dream Divination Method, Li Xiuchang received an image of a young Confucian Sage at a Wordless Stele.
• The young Confucian Sage rejected the origin of the Confucian Path, noticed Li Xiuchang watching, and said he would open another path toward the supreme realm.
• Li Xiuchang awoke after losing more than one hundred thousand years of lifespan and told the senior brothers and senior sisters that the Dao of Heaven had tricked him.
• Li Xiuchang reasoned that the image showed the Confucian Sage would reincarnate and abandon the Confucian Path rather than renew its origin.

Li Xiuchang learned that the Confucian Sage had abandoned the origin of the Confucian Path and investigated Wenwen and Golden Horn’s unexplained entry into a secret realm. After confirming Golden Horn was safe, he traveled to the Demon Suppressing Realm, where Su Qingchun’s Confucian studies suggested a possible connection to Li Xiuchang’s Equalizer Dao.

• Li Xiuchang concluded that the Confucian Sage had reincarnated, rejected the Confucian Path, and left its shattered origin for someone destined to claim it.
• Gui Wuyan divined that Wenwen and Golden Horn were safe inside a secret realm in the Youhe Realm, and Chen Changsheng explained the realm’s divided, chaotic rule.
• Li Xiuchang replenished his lifespan to around four hundred thousand years and continued developing his Equalizer Dao and improving his Preaching Ranking position.
• Chen Changsheng found Wenwen’s main body, learned that the secret realm was training Golden Horn, and failed to enter through its Immortal Array.
• Li Xiuchang traveled to the Demon Suppressing Realm and asked Su Qingchun whether the Confucian Path shared principles with the Equalizer Dao.
• Su Qingchun suggested that the Confucian principle of teaching without discrimination might count as equality.

Li Xiuchang found that the Confucian principle of “education without discrimination” closely matched the Equalizer Dao and began absorbing the Confucian Path’s origin. After returning to the Immortal Dust Sect Market, he agreed to protect Yang Hao, an orphaned prodigy with an Innate Sacred Body.

• Su Qingchun explained the two meanings of “education without discrimination,” and Li Xiuchang recognized their connection to the Equalizer Dao.
• Li Xiuchang began comprehending the Confucian Path’s origin through a Wordless Stele and assigned one stone tablet to Su Qingchun to study.
• Li Xiuchang returned to the Eastern Geng District and headed to Danxiang Tower after Song Yu asked him to meet the delivered prodigy.
• Song Yu introduced Yang Hao, an orphan with an Innate Sacred Body, and the village chief explained that the boy needed protection from people who might seek to possess him.
• Li Xiuchang promised to keep Yang Hao safe at the Immortal Dust Sect Market, then asked what work the boy could do; Yang Hao said he could do arithmetic.

Li Xiuchang discovered that Yang Hao was gifted at arithmetic but could neither retain written characters nor learn cultivation techniques, even after Heart Questioning Dao Ancestor repeatedly tried to teach him. Gui Wuyan divined that Yang Hao’s unusual traits came from an extraordinary previous life, leaving Li Xiuchang to wonder whether Heart Questioning Dao Ancestor had known him before his reincarnation.

• Li Xiuchang tested Yang Hao’s arithmetic and writing, then assigned him to collect payments and tend the incense at Danxiang Tower.
• Yang Hao’s incense offerings vanished rapidly before Heart Questioning Dao Ancestor’s statue, and the Dao Ancestor tried to transmit a cultivation technique that Yang Hao immediately forgot.
• Yang Hao’s plea brought another transmission attempt, but he forgot the technique again and reported that Heart Questioning Dao Ancestor had called him stupid.
• Li Xiuchang’s senior brothers and sisters examined Yang Hao and concluded that he was innately unable to learn written language or cultivation techniques.
• Li Xiuchang gave Gui Wuyan Longevity Cake so he could divine Yang Hao’s origins; Gui Wuyan determined that Yang Hao was an ordinary mortal in this life but may have been a mighty expert in his previous life.
• Li Xiuchang wondered whether Heart Questioning Dao Ancestor had known Yang Hao in his previous life.

Li Xiuchang learned that Yang Hao could comprehend the Dao despite being a mortal, then strengthened him with Longevity Pills and began training him in swordsmanship, imagining him as the future sect master of the Sword Seeking Sect. The chapter ended with Chen Changsheng reporting that Wenkeng and Golden Horn had returned from a secret realm, where five Divine Beast Bloodlines were needed to proceed.

• Gui Wuyan said Yang Hao might help Li Xiuchang in the future and could have an advantage in comprehending the Dao despite being unable to read.
• Li Xiuchang gave Yang Hao a Longevity Pill, strengthening his body and soul, then let him choose a weapon; Yang Hao chose a sword and quickly showed talent for swordsmanship.
• Li Xiuchang gave Yang Hao Longevity Pills and aura-concealing treasures, arranged for a Yin Soul employee to teach him, and returned to the Eastern Geng District.
• Chen Changsheng told Li Xiuchang that Wenkeng and Golden Horn had emerged from a secret realm to seek reinforcements because five Divine Beast Bloodlines were needed to open its later stages.
• Chen Changsheng said Wenkeng possessed a trace of Black Tortoise bloodline and that the secret realm recognized Golden Horn's bloodline as another Divine Beast Bloodline.

Li Xiuchang learned that Golden Horn had reached the Sixth Tier and that the Sacred Beast Secret Realm required five Divine Beast Bloodlines to open its third stage, so he joined Steady and Golden Horn on a journey to find more descendants of divine beasts. At sea, they discovered that Golden Falcon was famous for trying to elope with the Silver Moon King’s daughter, and the story left off as the clam spirit explained Golden Falcon’s motive.

• Golden Horn returned to the Immortal Dust Sect with Steady’s clone, apologized to Li Xiuchang, and revealed that it had reached the Sixth Tier after gaining Great Dao insights in the Sacred Beast Secret Realm.
• Steady told Li Xiuchang that it planned to search overseas for three more Divine Beast Bloodlines, and Li Xiuchang offered information about the Silver Falcon King and its son, Golden Falcon.
• Gui Wuyan divined that the trip would bring danger and gains if Li Xiuchang, Steady, and Golden Horn went alone, so Li Xiuchang prepared to leave with them.
• Before departing, Li Xiuchang posted teaching threads, left Yang Hao another bottle of Longevity Pills, and promised him a greater opportunity when he returned.
• Li Xiuchang, Steady, and Golden Horn reached the offshore region and questioned a clam spirit about the Silver Falcon King and Golden Falcon.
• The clam spirit said Golden Falcon had tried to elope with the Silver Moon King’s daughter and began explaining that he wanted to father a Kunpeng.

Li Xiuchang traveled into the deep sea seeking Golden Falcon and recruited a pelican demon as his guide after learning where Golden Falcon lived. He reached Silver Falcon King's territory and began offering Golden Falcon an opportunity, asking Silver Falcon King whether it knew that other worlds existed.

• Li Xiuchang learned that Golden Falcon had come from the eastern deep sea and continued east to look for him.
• Li Xiuchang and Goldenhorn were swallowed by a Fifth Tier pelican, which apologized, offered its savings, and gave them directions to Golden Falcon's birdcage on Golden Peng Island.
• The pelican, nicknamed Big Mouth, joined Li Xiuchang as a guide; it told him that Water Ape King's young son was friends with Golden Falcon and had Zhu Yan bloodline.
• At the edge of Silver Falcon King's territory, a seagull stopped Li Xiuchang's group and went to notify the king.
• Silver Falcon King confronted Li Xiuchang, who said he had an opportunity for Golden Falcon and asked whether the king knew other worlds existed.

Li Xiuchang recruited Silver Falcon King and Golden Falcon to join an expedition into the Sacred Beast Secret Realm, proving Steady’s Immortal Beast Status/Rank when Silver Falcon King tested him. Silver Falcon King agreed to help recruit two more Divine Beast Bloodline candidates and accompanied the group toward Water Ape King’s territory.

• Li Xiuchang swore a Dao oath to prove he belonged to one of the Four Great Immortal Sects, and Silver Falcon King invited him to her cave abode.
• Li Xiuchang told Silver Falcon King and Golden Falcon about the Sacred Beast Secret Realm and showed them Steady and Golden Horn as two Divine Beast Bloodlines.
• Silver Falcon King attacked Steady to test Li Xiuchang, but Steady’s Status/Rank pressured her and the others into submission.
• Golden Falcon proposed Yuan Bao and Jing Jing as the remaining candidates, while Silver Falcon King agreed to help Li Xiuchang approach their parents and escort her son.
• The pelican accidentally swallowed Silver Falcon King and Golden Falcon, then spat them out, and Silver Falcon King warned Li Xiuchang about Water Ape King’s temper as they set off.

Li Xiuchang visited Water Ape King with Silver Falcon King and Golden Falcon to discuss an opportunity for Yuan Bao, but Water Ape King's hostility toward humans led to a fight. Li Xiuchang overwhelmed him with the Tiangang Mother-Child Pearls and his giant-ape Dharma Form, leaving Water Ape King defeated and fearing he would be enslaved again.

• Silver Falcon King brought Li Xiuchang and Golden Falcon to Water Ape King's island territory to discuss an opportunity connected to Yuan Bao.
• Water Ape King rejected Li Xiuchang because he was human, and Li Xiuchang began to leave before Water Ape King blocked their way.
• Li Xiuchang struck Water Ape King with the Tiangang Mother-Child Pearls, electrocuting him and forcing him into the sea.
• Water Ape King attacked Li Xiuchang, who transformed into his golden giant-ape Dharma Form and crushed him in a contest of strength.
• Water Ape King invoked the Great Dao Source and fought again, but Li Xiuchang's empowered saber shattered his monk's staff and defeated him.

Li Xiuchang subdued the Water Ape King, recruited Yuan Bao for the Sacred Beast Secret Realm, and persuaded the pelican to stay after it revealed knowledge of human experts at sea. He gathered the young divine beasts and set off with the Silver Falcon King for the secret realm, where Senior Brother Chen Changsheng was preparing a Teleportation Array.

• The Water Ape King accepted his defeat, apologized to Li Xiuchang, and handed over a Storage Bag as compensation.
• Li Xiuchang refused to let the Water Ape King enter the Sacred Beast Secret Realm and recruited his son Yuan Bao instead.
• The pelican swallowed and spat out the Water Ape King, then asked to remain with Li Xiuchang and revealed that it knew of human experts hiding on islands.
• The Silver Falcon King carried Li Xiuchang, Golden Falcon, and Yuan Bao to the Silver Moon King, who agreed to let Whale Jing join them and warned Golden Falcon to stop pursuing her daughter.
• Li Xiuchang and the Silver Falcon King departed with Golden Falcon, Yuan Bao, and Whale Jing for the Sacred Beast Secret Realm while Senior Brother Chen Changsheng prepared a Teleportation Array.

Li Xiuchang and the demon beasts entered the Sacred Beast Secret Realm in Youhe Realm and passed its first trial. They gathered at the second trial, where Wenwen explained that they had to comprehend the Artistic Conception left on one of four stone walls.

• Li Xiuchang led Silver Falcon King and the five little divine beasts through a temporary Teleportation Array into an undersea cavern in Youhe Realm.
• Wenwen and Golden Horn opened the secret realm entrance by spilling Golden Horn's blood on a seaweed-covered rock, and Li Xiuchang and the others entered.
• The secret realm separated the group for its first trial, where each entrant fought increasingly numerous demon beasts matched to their Cultivation Level.
• Li Xiuchang and Silver Falcon King passed the first trial, followed by Golden Falcon and Jing Jing; Yuan Bao barely passed by relying on his treasures and other life-saving methods.
• Wenwen explained that the second trial required comprehending the Artistic Conception left by a divine beast's strike on any one of four stone walls.

Li Xiuchang comprehended the Azure Dragon and Vermilion Bird Artistic Conceptions, passed the second trial, and helped Yuan Bao find renewed hope in the Black Tortoise Artistic Conception. As Yuan Bao began trying again with the aid of the Great Dream True Scripture, Li Xiuchang also started comprehending the Black Tortoise Artistic Conception.

• Steady Steady explained that the four stone walls held Artistic Conceptions of the Four Sacred Beasts, and the demon beasts each chose a wall to study.
• Li Xiuchang repeatedly endured the Azure Dragon's claw in his visions, then used the Great Dream True Scripture to comprehend the Azure Dragon Artistic Conception and pass the second trial.
• Li Xiuchang comprehended the Vermilion Bird Artistic Conception and strengthened a basic Fireball Spell, while Silver Falcon King succeeded in comprehending the White Tiger Artistic Conception.
• After learning that Yuan Bao had lost hope, Li Xiuchang persuaded him to try the defensive Black Tortoise Artistic Conception again and taught him the Great Dream True Scripture under a Dao Oath.
• Yuan Bao resumed studying the Black Tortoise Artistic Conception, and Li Xiuchang joined him, finding himself transformed into a Black Tortoise divine beast under a tide of attacks.

Li Xiuchang comprehended all four Artistic Conceptions and helped Yuan Bao finish the second trial, but the group discovered Yuan Bao lacked Divine Beast Bloodline. A divination pointed to Li Xiuchang as the nearest Divine Beast Bloodline, and the secret realm confirmed it, leaving him wondering how a human could possess one.

• Li Xiuchang comprehended White Tiger Artistic Conception and combined all four Artistic Conceptions, while Yuan Bao continued struggling with Black Tortoise Artistic Conception.
• After several days, Yuan Bao finally comprehended Black Tortoise Artistic Conception, and the group proceeded to the third trial's wall with five copper plates.
• The copper plate before Yuan Bao stayed dark, revealing that Yuan Bao was not Water Ape King's offspring and did not possess Divine Beast Bloodline.
• Yuan Bao decided to leave the sea after the secret realm and promised to explain the truth to Silver Falcon King, while the group searched for another candidate to fill the fifth plate.
• Li Xiuchang used yarrow stalks to divine the nearest Divine Beast Bloodline, and the omen indicated himself despite costing him more than a thousand years of lifespan.
• Li Xiuchang stood before the empty copper plate, which lit up, and the others reacted with astonishment as he wondered how he could possess Divine Beast Bloodline.

Li Xiuchang and four demon beasts entered the third secret-realm trial, where Qing Cang revealed that the trials would award Azure Dragon Blood. The chapter ended with Qing Cang saying that all four Sacred Beasts had fallen.

• Li Xiuchang, Golden Horn, Golden Falcon, Jing Jing, and Steady filled bronze plates with their blood and entered the portals that recognized their bloodlines.
• The five arrived in a room with five stone platforms, and Steady awakened a green-robed Thought Incarnation by striking one of them.
• The Thought Incarnation introduced himself as Qing Cang, the Son of the Azure Dragon, and explained that descendants of all four Sacred Beast lineages had built the secret realm and would oversee four trials.
• Qing Cang said the combined rewards for the four trials would be five drops of Azure Dragon Blood, including four drops of True Blood and one drop of Essence Blood, so the contestants would compete for the greater prize.
• Qing Cang explained that Sacred Beast Blood could improve bloodlines and Dao comprehension, then revealed that all four Sacred Beasts had fallen.

Li Xiuchang learned why the Four Sacred Beast Lineages created the secret realm and discovered that Qing Cang had mistaken him for a Demon Beast. The group began the third trial, which tested their comprehension of the Wood Dao through planting spirit plants, with Azure Dragon Essence Blood and a Dragon Blood Tree Seed as rewards.

• Qing Cang explained that the Four Sacred Beasts had died in battle and had instructed their lineages to nurture an expert who could surpass them.
• Qing Cang described how Divine Beast bloodlines weakened across generations and restricted their descendants, so the secret realm sought worthy Demon Race geniuses from outside the four lineages.
• Qing Cang realized Li Xiuchang was human, but accepted that the secret realm had admitted him and told everyone to place their Blood Pills on stone platforms.
• Li Xiuchang asked to receive Azure Dragon Blood separately, but Qing Cang explained that the rewards had to fuse into their Blood Pills and could not be given to others.
• Qing Cang announced that the third trial would test the group's Wood Dao comprehension by showing them the Azure Dragon planting a Dragon Blood Tree, and promised Essence Blood and a Dragon Blood Tree Seed as rewards.

Li Xiuchang witnessed the Azure Dragon create and cultivate Dragon Blood Trees, gaining deep insights into Spirit Plant Cultivation Arts and the Wood Dao before earning Azure Dragon Essence Blood. After the group entered the White Tiger Household’s trial room, Li Xiuchang wondered whether the White Tiger was female.

• Li Xiuchang watched the Azure Dragon create Dragon Blood Tree seeds with the Wood Dao and use its blood and simple methods to grow them, gaining extensive cultivation insights.
• The Azure Dragon’s trial awarded Li Xiuchang Azure Dragon Essence Blood and gave True Blood to Steady-Steady, Jin Jiao, and Jing Jing; the Golden Falcon received nothing.
• Qing Cang told Li Xiuchang and the others that Bai Sui would oversee the White Tiger Household’s next trial and warned them to speak little.
• Li Xiuchang and the others entered the next trial room and found a Lion Tiger Beast waiting; Li Xiuchang wondered if the White Tiger was female.

Li Xiuchang passed the White Tiger trial by studying the White Tiger’s Metal Dao and artifact refining, earning White Tiger Essence Blood. He and his companions then reached the Vermilion Bird trial, where the Fire Sparrow King revealed that Qing Cang’s true form was a Dog Dragon.

• Bai Sui explained that the trial tested comprehension of the Metal Dao and that mastering all its insights would unlock a chance to forge a specified artifact for an additional reward.
• Li Xiuchang entered the illusion and studied the White Tiger creating metal materials and refining artifacts, gaining insights into materials and the limits of Metal Dao alone.
• Li Xiuchang earned White Tiger Essence Blood, while Jing Jing gained no insights; his two clones began digesting his accumulated trial insights.
• Li Xiuchang and his teammates continued to the Vermilion Bird trial, where the Fire Sparrow King welcomed them and asked about their earlier performance.
• The Fire Sparrow King said Qing Cang had avoided showing his true form, then identified it as a Dog Dragon, shocking Li Xiuchang.

Li Xiuchang completed the Vermilion Bird trial and reached Xuanwu Pass, where Wowo’s Xuanwu lineage earned them special favor from Xuanjue. After receiving Water Dao insights from Wowo, Li Xiuchang entered the illusion and realized that Xuanwu’s shell patterns were central to the trial.

• Fire Sparrow King explained that the Vermilion Bird trial tested comprehension of the Fire Dao and offered a growing Fire Seed to anyone who could retrieve it from a mass of flame.
• Li Xiuchang and his teammates completed the trial, gained Vermilion Bird blood essence, and added red to Li Xiuchang’s Blood Pill.
• At Xuanwu Pass, Wowo bonded with Xuanjue, who explained the Water Dao trial and the additional reward: a rubbing of an ancestral turtle shell.
• Wowo told Li Xiuchang that Xuanjue had secretly given it Water Dao insights, which Wowo passed on to him before the trial began.
• In the illusion, Li Xiuchang watched Xuanwu control the sea and make soup, then noticed the patterns on its shell and realized they were the trial’s most important feature.