Chapter Summaries

Cao Wu merged his accumulated insights into the Equalizer Dao and rapidly advanced to the early Tribulation Crossing Stage, while Li Xiuchang urged his allies to prepare for a prison break. Seeking clues about Pure Land Country, Li Xiuchang’s clone visited the Zhang Clan’s ancient ancestor, who appeared to recognize the name.

• Cao Wu merged his Imitation Paths into the Equalizer Dao, reached the early Tribulation Crossing Stage, and had to pause because he could not undergo tribulation in the Second Dantian world.
• Li Xiuchang urged Yang Hao and Cao Wu to keep comprehending the Dao while he resolved to catch up with Cao Wu’s progress.
• Zhang Wanzhi promised Zhang Baizhi and Zhang Qianzhi that he would find a partner after returning to the Immortal Shade Realm.
• Wang Jingxing and the Reflection Organization discussed breaking into the Shadow Prison, while Li Xiuchang asked them to search for Pure Land Country and capture Chen Changsheng’s shadow again.
• Zhang Baizhi suggested that Li Xiuchang ask the Zhang Clan’s oldest ancestors about Pure Land Country, so Li Xiuchang’s clone visited the ancient ancestor, whose eyes glimmered as he recalled the distant past.

Li Xiuchang asked the Zhang Family Patriarch about finding Pure Land Country and gained a possible way to improve his own unreliable divination. He then worked with Zhang Wanzhi and the other two to upgrade his immortal artifacts, leaving him with a powerful new Equalizing Cannon.

• The Zhang Family Patriarch could not identify Pure Land Country but proposed forging a karma-tracking device to help Li Xiuchang’s divination connect its target to the images it revealed.
• Li Xiuchang told Zhang Wanzhi and his grandparents about the proposed device, while the Reflection Organization monitored Immortal Sun, the Shadow Prison, and Chen Changsheng’s shadow.
• Li Xiuchang asked Zhang Wanzhi, Zhang Qianzhi, and Zhang Baizhi to upgrade his immortal artifacts, and they agreed that the Equalizing Spear and Tiangang Mother-Child Pearls could be reforged together.
• The three artifact refiners upgraded the Rainbow Soul Banner to a high-grade immortal artifact and then spent several months fusing the Equalizing Spear with the Tiangang Mother-Child Pearls.
• Li Xiuchang tested the resulting Equalizing Cannon and found that its Equalizer Dao amplification gave it the power of a supreme-grade immortal artifact, with further strength possible after it absorbed more Innate Qi.

Li Xiuchang advanced his understanding of the Imitation Daos and learned that Senior Brother Gui Wuyan’s shadow had seemingly died, while his main body remained alive inside the sealed coffin. As the Zhang Household completed a blueprint for a crown to improve Li Xiuchang’s divinations, he decided to wait for it to help locate Pure Land Country before opening the coffin himself.

• Li Xiuchang finished refining the Rainbow Soul Banner and Equalizing Cannon, bringing both to supreme-grade power, and improved his method for comprehending and fusing the Imitation Daos.
• Li Xiuchang and Cao Wu agreed that mastering the time-acceleration Imitation Dao might speed up his cultivation, so Li Xiuchang focused on comprehending it.
• Li Xiuchang observed Senior Brother Gui Wuyan’s shadow nearing death but obeyed the coffin’s warning not to open it, hoping to find Pure Land Country and free him.
• The Zhang Household completed the complex blueprint for the Karma Crown, which could correct Li Xiuchang’s divinations and let Heaven’s will block unwanted sights and sounds.
• The Rogue Cultivator Alliance disintegrated in the Immortal Shade Realm, while the Reflection Organization prepared a prison raid and waited for Zhang Wanzhi and her grandparents to finish the crown.
• Senior Brother Gui Wuyan’s shadow appeared to lose its final breath without disappearing, and Li Xiuchang resolved to open the coffin if the completed crown could not locate Pure Land Country.

Li Xiuchang used the Karma Crown, Golden Abacus, and Xuanwu Turtle Shell Imprint to divine the location of Pure Land Country, but the revelation instead showed the Sky-Piercing Immortal Tree bearing fruit. A second divination revealed that the Compassionate Masses Dao Ancestor and Buddha Ancestor had each taken a fruit in both the Shadow World and the Immortal Shade Realm, ending with Li Xiuchang glimpsing a world inside Buddha Ancestor’s fruit.

• Li Xiuchang and Chen Changsheng confirmed that Gui Wuyan’s shadow corpse was truly dead, though Chen Changsheng urged Li Xiuchang to trust Gui Wuyan’s plan.
• Zhang Wanzhi finished refining the Karma Crown, but the Heavenly Dao blocked Li Xiuchang’s senses when he first put it on.
• Li Xiuchang performed a Heaven Questioning Ritual with the Three Great Dao Ancestors’ statues and used the Karma Crown, Golden Abacus, and Xuanwu Turtle Shell Imprint to divine Pure Land Country’s location.
• Li Xiuchang’s divination showed the Sky-Piercing Immortal Tree bearing a fruit that an unidentified figure took, but the revelation did not explain Pure Land Country’s location.
• Li Xiuchang divined the fruit again and saw the Compassionate Masses Dao Ancestor and Buddha Ancestor each take one in both the Shadow World and the Immortal Shade Realm.
• Li Xiuchang looked into the fruit in Buddha Ancestor’s palm and saw the Buddha Kingdom in Palm.

Li Xiuchang deduced that the Pure Land Country was hidden atop the Sky-Piercing Immortal Tree and traveled there with his companions. After his exceptional merit appeared to open a way into it, he vanished, leaving the others waiting.

• Li Xiuchang used a vision to conclude that the Pure Land Country had grown from a fruit atop the Sky-Piercing Immortal Tree and was likely hidden there.
• The Heavenly Dao blocked Li Xiuchang from performing another divination, so he set out with Zhang Wanzhi, Wang Jingxing, Mo Tu, and the cook couple toward Immortal Yang.
• In his Second Dantian world, Li Xiuchang used his newly grasped Imitation Dao of Time Acceleration to hasten his own cultivation and help Cao Wu work on merging time-related Imitation Daos.
• Li Xiuchang and his companions flew through the astral qi layer and reached the top of the Sky-Piercing Immortal Tree, but saw no fruit or obvious entrance.
• Mo Tu released his merit-auspicious cloud without effect, while Li Xiuchang tried his own merit and then stopped responding, leading the others to suspect he had entered the Pure Land Country.

Li Xiuchang reached Nirvana Temple in Other Shore City and asked Buddha Ancestor to save Gui Wuyan, who was trapped in an immortal coffin. Buddha Ancestor transferred his Buddhist insights into the coffin as he underwent nirvana, leaving Li Xiuchang to wonder what made Gui Wuyan the right successor and to check on his condition.

• Li Xiuchang arrived in Pure Land Country, learned that Nirvana Temple was in Other Shore City, and traveled west to find it.
• Shi Di’s shadow guided Li Xiuchang to Nirvana Temple, where he met Buddha Ancestor and presented Gui Wuyan’s coffin.
• Buddha Ancestor said Gui Wuyan needed nirvana to resolve the conflict between his Buddhist and immortal paths.
• Buddha Ancestor transformed into Buddhist light and sent his life’s Buddhist insights into Gui Wuyan’s coffin as monks mourned his departure.
• Li Xiuchang wondered why Buddha Ancestor had chosen Gui Wuyan, then decided to observe Gui Wuyan’s shadow.

Li Xiuchang discovered that his merit kept him trapped in Pure Land Country, so he cultivated at Nirvana Temple in hopes of growing strong enough to escape. Meanwhile, the Reflection Organization waited anxiously for news, and a powerful, seemingly intelligent Wandering Corpse appeared in Immortal Shade, which Li Xiuchang recognized as Brother Scar.

• Shi Tian and Shi Di explained that Li Xiuchang could leave Pure Land Country by breaking its realm wall, but they could not do so because the wall resisted Buddhist attacks.
• Li Xiuchang failed to damage the realm wall enough to escape, then settled at Nirvana Temple to cultivate until he could reach Golden Immortal strength.
• Zhang Wanzhi and the others waited for news of Li Xiuchang, left Mo Tu behind to keep watch, and delayed their prison-break plan again.
• Li Xiuchang, Cao Wu, and Yang Hao advanced their Dao comprehension through accelerated time, and Li Xiuchang reached the peak of the late Mystic Immortal stage.
• Chen Changsheng fought a powerful Wandering Corpse that showed signs of intelligence, but it fled when reinforcements were called.
• Li Xiuchang recognized Chen Changsheng's description of the scarred Wandering Corpse as Brother Scar, who had saved his group years earlier.

Li Xiuchang’s allies discussed the recovered Wandering Corpse and urged him to take more time to cultivate, while he broke through to the Golden Immortal realm in the Pure Land Country. Immersed in the Equalizer Dao, he fused multiple Imitation Daos of Time, leaving his Second Dantian world vastly expanded and the Imitation Dao of Time formed.

• Li Xiuchang and Chen Changsheng concluded that Brother Scar’s recovered consciousness might mean his original body was alive and could become an ally in their Shadow World prison-break operation.
• Chen Changsheng persuaded Li Xiuchang not to rush out of the Pure Land Country, and Li Xiuchang decided to report his safety after breaking through before returning to cultivate if his allies did not need him.
• Jiao Hong and Liang Daocheng warned the Immortal Shade Realm’s forces not to fight Brother Scar head-on, while Chen Changsheng searched unsuccessfully for the Wandering Corpse.
• Li Xiuchang began breaking through to the Golden Immortal realm and, while exploring the Equalizer Dao’s origin, gained insights that let him fuse multiple Imitation Daos.
• Li Xiuchang completed his breakthrough, triggering merit clouds and sweet rain across the Pure Land Country as his Second Dantian world grew to nearly three times the size of the Immortal Shade Realm.
• Li Xiuchang’s Soul Slicing Saber advanced to a high-grade immortal artifact, and he successfully formed the Imitation Dao of Time.

Li Xiuchang completed the fusion of the Imitation Dao of Time, then returned to cultivation after failing to break through the realm wall into the Shadow World. As he developed his clones and used time acceleration to grow the Dragon Blood Tree, Gui Wuyan’s shadow revived inside a cocoon and began changing into a young man.

• Li Xiuchang completed the Imitation Dao of Time and assigned Cao Wu the task of developing it while he continued comprehending its branches.
• Li Xiuchang tore open a crack in the realm wall but could not pass through before it healed, so he returned to Nirvana Temple to cultivate.
• Li Xiuchang mastered the branches of Time Acceleration, Time Reversal, Time Deceleration, and Time Stop, and accelerated the growth of the Dragon Blood Tree.
• Li Xiuchang drew Innate Qi into his Blood Diamond Clone, raising its strength toward that of his main body, while his Second Nascent Soul Clone reached the Golden Immortal level.
• After Chen Changsheng told him Gui Wuyan’s shadow was changing, Li Xiuchang found it forming inside a cocoon and heard it beg him to kill it.
• Over the next half month, Gui Wuyan’s shadow grew into a young man with Nascent Soul cultivation, then stopped advancing at the Void Refinement Stage as the cocoon began emitting Buddhist light.

Li Xiuchang completed his comprehension of the Imitation Dao of Time, greatly increasing his power and control over the Equalizer Dao. After leaving Pure Land Country and returning to Immortal Shade, he found that his Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters did not answer his messages.

• News of the shadows and Immortal Shade spread to other worlds, and the Four Great Immortal Sects sent Daluo Golden Immortal envoys to deter forces seeking to interfere.
• Li Xiuchang finished comprehending the Imitation Dao of Time, regained more than eighty percent control of the Equalizer Dao, and learned that Yang Hao had advanced to the Mystic Immortal realm.
• Li Xiuchang used his improved time acceleration to mature the Dragon Blood Tree and refine Hundred Refinements Immortal Iron into high-grade immortal material.
• Li Xiuchang bade farewell to Shi Tian and Shi Di, then easily pierced the realm wall and left Pure Land Country.
• Li Xiuchang evaded the shadows at Immortal Sun and reached outside Immortal Shade, but none of his Senior Brothers or Senior Sisters answered his messages.

Li Xiuchang discovered that his companions had launched an early assault on Shadow Prison and raced to reach them before shadow reinforcements arrived. As Zhang Wanzhi and the others faced capture, an unseen rescuer whisked them away, leaving Brother Scar behind to demand why he had not been saved.

• Li Xiuchang noticed that Golden Immortal shadows were rushing toward a battle and inferred that his senior brothers and sisters might be involved.
• Li Xiuchang realized the battle was at Shadow Prison and hurried there after suspecting the Reflection Organization had begun its prison break early.
• Wang Jingxing, Zhang Wanzhi, Mo Tu, and the others were surrounded after helping Brother Scar break prisoners out, and they refused Shadow Chen Changsheng's demand to surrender.
• Brother Scar prepared to cut through the shadows' law millstone and cover the others' escape.
• An unseen rescuer rapidly carried Zhang Wanzhi and the others away, while Brother Scar remained and heard an unfamiliar voice invite him to fight alongside it.

Li Xiuchang used his mastery of the Imitation Dao of Time to rescue Brother Scar and defeat the surrounding shadows, then met up with Zhang Wanzhi and the others. Chen Changsheng's shadow escaped death by choosing to die and revive, while Li Xiuchang's companions realized how powerful he had become.

• Li Xiuchang arrived at high speed and helped Brother Scar break free from Chen Changsheng's shadow by reversing the turtle-shell shields' time.
• The shadows attacked Li Xiuchang together, but he manipulated time to evade them and kill dozens with the Soul Slicing Saber.
• Chen Changsheng's shadow split into three streams to flee, but Li Xiuchang and Brother Scar destroyed all three forms after the shadow chose death over capture.
• Brother Scar learned Li Xiuchang's identity and praised his strength, then Li Xiuchang released Zhang Wanzhi and the others from his Second Dantian.
• Zhang Wanzhi and the others learned Li Xiuchang had killed the shadows and recognized that he was no longer the weakest among them.

Li Xiuchang reunited with Zhang Wanzhi and the others after defeating numerous Shadow Golden Immortals, then described his experiences in Pure Land Country and reassured them that Gui Wuyan was safe. Brother Scar explained how avenue mastery, Dao Founder status, and combining complementary avenues determined how cultivators could grow stronger, and revealed that anyone could potentially become a Dao Ancestor.

• Zhang Wanzhi and the others marveled at Li Xiuchang's strength, then learned from him that Gui Wuyan had survived nirvana and inherited the Buddha Ancestor's mantle.
• Mo Tu remarked that Li Xiuchang, Chen Changsheng, and Gui Wuyan had surpassed the rest, prompting Zhang Wanzhi, Lu Yang, Xia Siyun, and Wang Jingxing to seek guidance from Brother Scar.
• Brother Scar revealed that he was a disciple of the Heaven Observing Dao Ancestor and the founder of the sword path, explaining why his strength exceeded that of other sword cultivators.
• Brother Scar explained that cultivators could surpass ordinary Daluo Golden Immortals by mastering powerful avenues, while the Four Sacred Beasts possessed Dao Founder-like authority over their natural avenues.
• Brother Scar said anyone could become a Dao Ancestor by completely comprehending other avenues and fusing them with a primary avenue into a mutually complementary system, giving Yin and Yang as an example.

Li Xiuchang and the others learned how Dao Ancestors could be made, rescued the remaining prisoners from the Shadow Prison, and decided to leave the Shadow World before the Confucian Sage’s shadow intervened. They organized a return for those whose shadows had been found, while Li Xiuchang stayed behind to help the rest and wait for a spatial rift.

• Brother Scar explained that natural Great Daos could produce a Dao Ancestor through fusion, while artificial Great Daos had to surpass their limits, and Li Xiuchang considered developing his Equalizer Dao with other Great Daos.
• Zhang Wanzhi guessed that Chen the Turtle was the Azure Dragon’s reincarnation, but Brother Scar rejected the idea and noted that Chen Changsheng’s shadow had used the Earth Dao.
• Li Xiuchang and the others freed the remaining prisoners, screened them, and brought those without problems back to the Reflection Organization.
• Li Xiuchang warned that the Confucian Sage’s shadow might act after the Buddha Ancestor entered nirvana, so the group agreed to begin leaving the Shadow World.
• Li Xiuchang and his companions compiled a homecoming list, found that more than seventy percent could return, and Li Xiuchang gave them Immortal Concealment Talismans before setting out toward Immortal Sun.

Li Xiuchang helped return the captured originals to Immortal Shade Realm, but Fu Yuan remained trapped in Immortal Sun because his shadow had escaped. At the welcoming feast, Li Xiuchang revealed his time-acceleration ability and offered to help his senior brothers and sisters cultivate toward becoming Dao Ancestors.

• Li Xiuchang sent the originals and shadows into position for their replacements, and the replacements returned many missing experts to Immortal Shade Realm while sending their shadows back to Immortal Sun.
• The Immortal Shade experts reunited with their friends and families, thanked Li Xiuchang, and welcomed the returning Grand Elders to the Immortal Dust Sect.
• Li Xiuchang discovered that Fu Yuan had not returned because his shadow had escaped, and he promised to help the Four Great Immortal Sects find it.
• At the Immortal Dust Sect welcoming feast, Chen Changsheng explained that his unusual clone technique let his main body and clone cultivate different Daos.
• Li Xiuchang used his Imitation Dao of Time to accelerate time for his senior brothers and sisters, then arranged to help them cultivate while they taught him in turn.

Li Xiuchang used his humanoid Dao Comprehension Tree clones to accelerate cultivation and teaching, while his Equalizer Dao reached the Daluo Golden Immortal level. At Chu Ya and Ye Yuqiu's wedding, Zhang Wanzhi's family teased him about remaining unmarried, and he seized the chance to speak privately with Elder Liu.

• Li Xiuchang's clones accelerated cultivation across the Immortal Shade Realm and his Second Dantian World while he considered recruiting more geniuses to strengthen the Equalizer Dao.
• Li Xiuchang learned that Fu Yuan had once owned the Heart-Questioning Sword and arranged for him to try pulling it from the Sword Seeking Sect's boulder after they returned.
• As the Immortal Shade Realm and Shadow World remained in a tense stalemate, Cao Wu's work helped Li Xiuchang's Equalizer Dao advance to the Daluo Golden Immortal level.
• Li Xiuchang and his senior brothers and sisters attended Chu Ya and Ye Yuqiu's wedding and brought expensive gifts.
• Zhang Qianzhi and Zhang Baizhi teased Zhang Wanzhi about not marrying, and Zhang Wanzhi used Elder Liu's arrival to draw her aside for a private conversation.

Li Xiuchang reached the Daluo Golden Immortal realm, gathered treasures in the Shadow World, and returned to Xianyang to close a spatial rift. After cutting the Sky-Piercing Immortal Tree branch anchoring it, he was stopped by a powerful figure he recognized as the Confucian Sage's Shadow.

• Li Xiuchang mastered the Equalizer Dao, advanced to the Daluo Golden Immortal realm, and became stronger than any Golden Immortal opponent.
• Li Xiuchang explored half the Shadow World and seized powerful shadows' treasures, but failed to find the Preaching Ranking Key or the shadows of Yang Hao and Cao Wu.
• Members of the Reflection Organization reported a spatial rift beside the Sky-Piercing Immortal Tree in Xianyang, and Li Xiuchang hurried there to return to the Immortal Shade Realm.
• Li Xiuchang charged through the shadows guarding the rift, used Time Stop and the Equalizing Cannon to clear a path, and severed the tree branch stabilizing the rift.
• As Li Xiuchang tried to pass through the rift, an unseen force stopped him and interrupted Time Stop, and he recognized the figure appearing in the sky as the Confucian Sage's Shadow.

Li Xiuchang escaped Confucian Sage’s shadow with help from Confucian Sage, then followed him to the Demon Suppressing Realm, where the Confucian Sage demon corpse had broken free. After stopping Fu Yuan’s shadow from escaping, Li Xiuchang sealed it and put it in his Beast Taming Bag.

• Confucian Sage’s shadow attacked Li Xiuchang with Primordial Demonic Power, but Confucian Sage entered Immortal Shade and forced the shadow to retreat.
• Li Xiuchang used Merit Golden Light and time reversal to remove the black energy from his body, escaped through the spatial rift, and closed it.
• Confucian Sage took Li Xiuchang to the Demon Suppressing Realm, where the Confucian Sage demon corpse had gathered the realm’s Primordial Demonic Power and broken through the realm wall.
• Confucian Sage restrained the demon corpse as it tried to enter the Upper Realm, while Li Xiuchang searched the area for whoever had released it.
• Li Xiuchang found Fu Yuan’s shadow, weakened and immobilized it, stopped its attempted self-detonation with time reversal, and sealed it in his Beast Taming Bag.

Li Xiuchang helped the Confucian Sage suppress the demon corpse and cleanse Primordial Demonic Power from a world above the Demon Suppressing Realm. After returning to the Immortal Shade, he sent Fu Yuan’s and Gui Wuyan’s shadows through a reopened spatial rift, then reunited the Confucian Sage with Cao Wu and Yang Hao, where Fu Yuan addressed him as “Uncle-Master.”

• The Confucian Sage absorbed the black mist into a yin-yang fish and sealed the demon corpse’s compressed Primordial Demonic Power beneath the Ascension Pavilion, which he summoned from the Immortal Shade Realm.
• The Confucian Sage took Li Xiuchang to a world above the Demon Suppressing Realm, where they searched for and eliminated the Primordial Demonic Power that had leaked through the boundary wall.
• Li Xiuchang used Time Reversal and merit to cure a young monk whose inner force had reacted with Primordial Demonic Power, and he and the Confucian Sage cleared the rest of the world.
• Li Xiuchang reopened the spatial rift with Time Reversal and threw Fu Yuan’s and Gui Wuyan’s shadows into the Shadow World before closing it again.
• The Confucian Sage reunited with Cao Wu and Yang Hao, while Fu Yuan greeted him respectfully as “Uncle-Master.”

Li Xiuchang learned that Confucian Sage and Buddha Ancestor were reincarnated identities of two of the Three Great Dao Ancestors, and that the Dao Ancestors were fellow disciples of Heaven Observing Dao Ancestor. At the Seventh Layer World, he met Heaven Observing Dao Ancestor and discovered that the Yin-Yang Mirror’s automatic balancing function had stopped, leaving Heaven Observing Dao Ancestor to operate it manually.

• Cao Wu underwent his heavenly tribulation, ascended to the Upper Realm, and left with Confucian Sage and Yang Hao.
• Fu Yuan told Li Xiuchang that Confucian Sage and Buddha Ancestor were junior fellow disciples of Heaven Observing Dao Ancestor, and that Heart Questioning Dao Ancestor and Compassionate Masses Dao Ancestor were the same beings under different names.
• Heart Questioning Dao Ancestor returned with Li Xiuchang, Fu Yuan, Cao Wu, and Yang Hao to the Seventh Layer World to visit Heaven Observing Dao Ancestor.
• Fu Yuan reunited with Heaven Observing Dao Ancestor, who welcomed him and acknowledged Heart Questioning Dao Ancestor’s return to his original identity.
• Confucian Sage explained that the Yin-Yang Mirror had once balanced yin and yang between the positive and negative worlds automatically, and Li Xiuchang realized Heaven Observing Dao Ancestor now had to adjust it himself.