Chapter Summaries

Fang Xiao learned that the mysterious Spirit Seed could suppress the rampaging Five Elements Spirit Plant and set out to investigate its main body. He left Xian Hua behind as he approached, with the plant’s increasingly violent reactions suggesting it feared the seed.

• The Sea-Shaking Ape examined Fang Xiao’s Spirit Seed but could not identify it, then discovered that it drained the Five Elements Spirit Plant’s roots.
• The Sea-Shaking Ape explained that the Spirit Seed could suppress the Five Elements Spirit Plant and might grow rapidly if nourished by it.
• Xian Hua warned Fang Xiao not to harm the Five Elements Spirit Plant, and Fang Xiao promised he would not damage the sect’s inherited treasure.
• Fang Xiao recalled the Sea-Shaking Ape into the Mobile Spirit Mansion and headed toward the Five Elements Spirit Plant’s main body with the Spirit Seed.
• As Fang Xiao approached, the plant’s roots and branches attacked more fiercely but repeatedly dodged away from him and the Spirit Seed.

Fang Xiao learned from a jade disc that the Five Elements Ancestor Master had cultivated the Five Elements Spirit Plant from a seed formed when a lower realm perished, and had left another Spirit Seed as a safeguard. The chapter ended with Fang Xiao at the plant, holding that seed and discovering the ancestor's hidden plan.

• Fang Xiao approached the Five Elements Spirit Plant and summoned the Void Suppressing Sword to investigate its condition.
• The Void Suppressing Sword Spirit returned with a five-colored jade disc containing the Spirit Plant's history.
• Fang Xiao learned that the Five Elements Ancestor Master had found three Spirit Seeds where a lower realm collapsed and had cultivated them in a newly formed grotto-heaven.
• The jade disc explained that the Five Elements Spirit Plant's empowerment ability came from the ancestor's arrangements, while its spiritual resonance had been slowly extracted to keep it from gaining sentience.
• Fang Xiao learned that the ancestor had left one Spirit Seed sealed near the plant so it could trigger resistance if the Five Elements Sect declined, and that the seed in Fang Xiao's hand was one of the three.

Fang Xiao separated the Spirit Seed from the Five Elements Spirit Plant and arranged for it to be guarded outside the grotto-heaven, slowing the plant’s attempt to gather spiritual intelligence. He resumed empowerment in the Five Elements Grotto-heaven, with his cultivation nearing its limit as he awaited the lightning tribulation.

• Fang Xiao learned that the Five Elements Spirit Plant lacked the ability to communicate and was instinctively gathering spiritual essence while trying to develop spiritual intelligence.
• Fang Xiao tried to seal the Spirit Seed with Primordial Chaos Mana, but it swallowed the mana and then lunged toward his dantian before the Void Suppressing Sword suppressed it.
• Fang Xiao recovered the last two gold token talismans from two Foundation Establishment Cultivators, bringing Tianlan Sect’s share of the fifteen talismans to thirteen.
• Fang Xiao left the Spirit Seed outside the grotto-heaven with the Sea-Shaking Ape, the Mobile Spirit Mansion, and the Void Suppressing Sword to guard it.
• Fang Xiao returned to the grotto-heaven, placed a token talisman on the stone platform, and began empowerment again as the Five Elements Spirit Plant’s unrest subsided.
• Fang Xiao’s cultivation rose toward its limit, and he waited for the lightning tribulation that would follow his advancement to the next realm.

After four years of empowerment in the Five Elements Grotto-heaven, Fang Xiao stopped cultivating to oversee Li Manshan and Jiang Qinyue’s joint tribulation, then prepared a formation for Yuan Chen’s far more dangerous trial. The chapter ended as Yuan Chen reached the formation with blood-red tribulation clouds close above him.

• Fang Xiao halted his spiritual essence empowerment when Li Manshan and Jiang Qinyue’s tribulation clouds approached.
• Li Manshan and Jiang Qinyue’s opposing tribulation clouds clashed and grew as they converged, while Fang Xiao watched from a safe distance.
• Fang Xiao sensed Yuan Chen’s spiritual essence pillar dispersing and left the grotto-heaven to prepare for his tribulation.
• Fang Xiao checked the formation and left two items for Yuan Chen before withdrawing to another mountaintop.
• Yuan Chen emerged from the grotto-heaven and reached the formation as his blood-red tribulation clouds gathered overhead.

Yuan Chen endured his second lightning tribulation by capturing and tempering its Heavenly Fire Yang Thunder, with Fang Xiao’s gifts helping him survive the final assault. After the last thirty-six bolts were absorbed by a wooden slip, the tribulation ended and Yuan Chen advanced to Nascent Soul Middle Stage.

• Yuan Chen used his Golden Crow manifestation and Sun-Drying Vast Light Mirror to trap the first twelve bolts of Heavenly Fire Yang Thunder and temper his soul with them.
• When eighteen stronger bolts formed, Yuan Chen drew out more tribulation lightning and continued tempering his soul as his strength and health deteriorated.
• Yuan Chen drank Fang Xiao’s Spirit Milk Wine to restore his magical power and prepared to face the final stage of the tribulation.
• Yuan Chen sent Fang Xiao’s wooden slip into the final Lightning Pillar, splitting its thirty-six bolts apart and drawing them into the slip.
• The tribulation clouds dispersed, and Yuan Chen completed his tribulation and advanced from Nascent Soul Early Stage to Nascent Soul Middle Stage.

Fang Xiao managed Yuan Chen’s tribulation preparations, then returned to the Five Elements Grotto-heaven, where he helped Xian Hua and continued his cultivation. Three years later, he had reached the Nascent Soul Late Stage and stayed behind to study the Grotto-heaven’s laws before it closed.

• Fang Xiao left Yuan Chen to temper his soul under Zhenkong’s protection and returned to the Five Elements Grotto-heaven to continue receiving empowerment.
• Fang Xiao noticed Xian Hua undergoing tribulation and sent her a Taibai Sword Sect cultivation method and sword art suited to her Gold attribute Heavenly Spiritual Root.
• Fang Xiao began empowerment at the central position while Li Manshan and Jiang Qinyue cultivated nearby and stabilized their realms.
• Three years later, Fang Xiao had advanced to the Nascent Soul Late Stage and completed the first stage of the Great Five Elements Heavenly Heart Art.
• Fang Xiao remained in the Grotto-heaven to study Primordial Replacing Five Elements and observe the operation of its laws before the Grotto-heaven closed.

Fang Xiao was expelled from the Five Elements Grotto-heaven after gaining insight into borrowing the force of heaven and earth, then gave command tokens and cultivation guidance to his fellow disciples. After they departed, he confronted Xian Hua, who asked why he had given her a cultivation art.

• Fang Xiao was forced out of the Five Elements Grotto-heaven and realized its Dao tracks could briefly resist the power of transmission.
• Fang Xiao considered how to develop a Yin-Yang Five Elements Heavenly Heart Art and concluded that condensing a True Spirit remained his priority.
• Fang Xiao examined Yuan Chen's progress in harmonizing Yin and Yang, then gave Li Manshan command tokens for the Tianlan Sect.
• Fang Xiao gave the three disciples insights into Yin-Yang cultivation and urged them to prepare for the journey to the Central Lands.
• Fang Xiao recalled the Void Suppressing Sword and Mobile Spirit Mansion, then called out to Xian Hua.
• Xian Hua asked Fang Xiao why he had given her a cultivation art and whether he intended to use her or the Five Elements Sect.

Fang Xiao explained how Yuan Ye’s death left the Five Elements Sect vulnerable and offered Xian Hua protection in exchange for her loyalty. Xian Hua agreed to swear an oath, leaving the Five Elements Sect’s future tied to Fang Xiao’s support.

• Fang Xiao described the Five Elements Sect’s weakness after Yuan Ye’s death and warned Xian Hua that other Nascent Soul Sects might seize its resources.
• Xian Hua asked Fang Xiao to help the Five Elements Sect survive its crisis.
• Fang Xiao demanded that Xian Hua pledge loyalty to him, promising that the sect would regain its freedom after they passed away.
• Xian Hua questioned whether Fang Xiao could secure the Tianlan Sect’s support, and Fang Xiao offered to include conditions for the sect to help her become Sect Master.
• Fang Xiao pretended to leave, and Xian Hua agreed to the oath; they settled its terms and swore it together.

Fang Xiao arranged for the Five Elements Sect to help establish his future sect, then traveled to Demon Slaying City to prepare for hunting Deity Transformation Stage Demon Cultivators. He rented a cave dwelling and began cultivating the Great Five Elements Heavenly Heart Art, discovering that progress in the Taichang Realm was far slower than it had been in the Five Elements Grotto-heaven.

• Fang Xiao released Xian Hua after giving her guidance and decided the Five Elements Sect would help him establish and manage a sect outside the Eastern Domain.
• Fang Xiao informed Ling Taichu of his plans, and Ling Taichu agreed to support his arrangements for the Five Elements Sect.
• Fang Xiao arrived in Demon Slaying City, where cultivators gathered as demon beasts began appearing and the Tianlan Sect offered rewards through the Monster Slaying List.
• Fang Xiao posted a task seeking information about high-level Demon Cultivators and rented a Fourth Order cave dwelling under the identity of a Core Formation cultivator.
• Fang Xiao tried cultivating the Great Five Elements Heavenly Heart Art in the Taichang Realm and found that he had achieved only minor success, far short of great accomplishment.

Fang Xiao refused Lu Zhike and Tan Hainian’s invitation to hunt demons, sensing that they were trying to lure him into a trap. Back in his cave dwelling, he prepared to brew Five Elements Spirit Wine to aid his cultivation of the Great Five Elements Heavenly Heart Art.

• Lu Zhike and Tan Hainian invited Fang Xiao to join a group scouting demon activity, but he refused and suspected they had targeted him as a wealthy victim.
• Tan Hainian wanted to punish Fang Xiao, but Lu Zhike stopped him and proposed holding a trade fair to lure in people for the Venerable Lord’s plans.
• Fang Xiao returned to his cave dwelling and examined the branches and leaves collected from the rampaging Five Elements Spirit Plants.
• Fang Xiao planned to brew the materials into Five Elements Spirit Wine that could balance the five elements within his body and improve his cultivation.

Fang Xiao tested a fifth-tier Soul Strengthening Pill to accelerate the growth of his divine soul, but discovered that its medicinal potency resisted refinement and had to be drawn out bit by bit. He began refining the pill’s released power inside his Soul Nurturing Gourd, where its instinctive resistance continued.

• Fang Xiao spent a year cultivating the Great Five Elements Heavenly Heart Art and strengthening his divine soul, reaching about forty percent of the way to peak Nascent Soul.
• Fang Xiao sent the fifth-tier Soul Strengthening Pill into his sea of consciousness and found that neither the Nine Revolutions Primordial Heaven Art nor his Nascent Soul Dao Sword could readily affect it.
• Fang Xiao used the Nascent Soul Dao Sword to knock a strand of crimson-gold medicinal potency loose from the pill and drew it into the Soul Nurturing Gourd.
• Fang Xiao’s divine soul refined the strand with the Nine Revolutions Primordial Heaven Art, but the medicinal potency resisted even after spreading through his soul.

Fang Xiao began refining the fifth-tier Soul Strengthening Pill and sensed that his divine soul was nearing a breakthrough to True Spirit. Meanwhile, a Demon Race cultivator captured Core Formation cultivators, turned them into human slaves, and sent them back toward Demon Slaying Immortal City to await orders.

• Fang Xiao felt the Soul Strengthening Pill strengthen his divine soul and focused on the Great Five Elements Heavenly Heart Art and refining the pill to condense a True Spirit.
• A black-cloaked Demon Race cultivator ambushed a group of fleeing Core Formation cultivators in the Southern Wilderness and captured them.
• Lu Zhike and Tan Hainian accepted cultivation resources from the Demon Race cultivator in exchange for helping him.
• The Demon Race cultivator infused the captured cultivators with Demonic Qi, turning them into human slaves under Lu Zhike and Tan Hainian's command.
• Nine people, including Lu Zhike and Tan Hainian, submitted to the Demon Race cultivator and were ordered to return to Demon Slaying Immortal City and wait for further instructions.

A large Beast Tide approached Demon Slaying Immortal City, and Chen Zhongsheng prepared the city for a siege. After the teleportation arrays suddenly failed, he led the remaining cultivators to investigate the spatial disturbance and defend the city.

• A messenger flew into Demon Slaying Immortal City, and eight Golden Bell rings warned that a large Beast Tide with Transformed Demon Beasts was coming.
• Chen Zhongsheng told the other Nascent Soul Cultivators that he had alerted Tianlan Sect and secured the Teleportation Hall against sabotage.
• Spatial fluctuations swept through the city, and Chen Zhongsheng learned from Fellow Daoist Lin that every teleportation array had failed.
• Chen Zhongsheng reported the failure to Ling Taichu and urged the cultivators to find the spatial disturbance before the city was besieged.
• Chen Zhongsheng warned that anyone who left after the formation activated could not return, then led the willing cultivators out to investigate.

Demon Slaying Immortal City came under a Beast Tide assault while its teleportation formations were locked, leaving Fang Xiao facing the threat without outside aid. He used his Soul Nurturing Gourd to shatter the remaining power of his fifth-tier Soul Strengthening Pill as he risked everything to condense a true spirit.

• Demon Slaying Immortal City sealed its gates and raised its formation just as the Beast Tide arrived, forcing those left outside to flee.
• The Beast Tide attacked the city, and a cloaked middle-aged man ordered a final assault after learning that a transformed Demon Cultivator had blocked the teleportation formations for at least five days.
• Fang Xiao sensed that space had been locked down and realized that Spirit Transformation reinforcements might not reach the city before it fell.
• Fang Xiao decided to risk condensing a true spirit and slashed his nearly depleted Soul Strengthening Pill into four pieces with his Nascent Soul Dao Sword.
• Fang Xiao pulled the four pill fragments into the Soul Nurturing Gourd, which shattered them into clouds of crimson-gold radiance.

Fang Xiao refined a fifth-tier Soul Strengthening Pill until his divine soul reached peak Nascent Soul, allowing him to discover his true nature and form a True Spirit. He gained the ability to sense heaven-and-earth vital energy and prepared to intervene in Demon Slaying Immortal City as a pseudo-Deity Transformation cultivator.

• Fang Xiao used the Soul Nurturing Gourd and Nascent Soul Dao Sword to suppress the pill’s medicinal power while cultivating with the Great Five Elements Heavenly Heart Art.
• Fang Xiao sensed an elusive presence within his mind but could not reveal it while his divine soul remained below peak Nascent Soul.
• Fang Xiao refined the remaining medicinal power until his divine soul reached peak Nascent Soul, and the presence emerged and imprinted itself on his divine soul.
• Fang Xiao’s memories reversed to their origin and then flowed forward again as his divine soul and mind united, forming his True Spirit.
• Fang Xiao realized that his True Spirit let him sense heaven-and-earth vital energy and strengthened his Nascent Soul Dao Sword and Thought Sword, but his mana could not yet wield that energy.
• Fang Xiao suppressed his desire to study his new abilities and prepared to step into the crisis in Demon Slaying Immortal City.

Fang Xiao emerged from cultivation and discovered that a Spirit Transformation Demon Cultivator had trapped Demon Slaying Immortal City behind a spatially locked grand array. He shattered the beast head attacking the city, revealing himself as a powerful human True Lord and forcing the Demon Cultivator's forces to reconsider their assault.

• Chen Zhongsheng learned that extracting the array artifacts locking the city’s teleportation array would take at least half a month, while shutting down the grand array would leave the city exposed.
• Fang Xiao assessed the enemy and used his sword intent to raise a tornado that shredded the enormous beast head biting the city-protecting grand array.
• The cultivators in Demon Slaying Immortal City cheered, and Chen Zhongsheng realized a True Lord had come to their aid.
• The Demon Cultivators outside the city feared a fight between Spirit Transformation experts and began considering retreating.
• The middle-aged Spirit Transformation Demon Cultivator recognized that Fang Xiao’s unexpected presence had derailed his plan to destroy the city from behind its protective array.

The Sun Devouring Mastiff revealed its true form and attacked Demon Slaying Immortal City, seeking to devour its inhabitants. Fang Xiao launched a pair of refined sword threads at the demon’s head, forcing it to recognize the threat to its demon soul and decide to flee.

• The Sun Devouring Mastiff revealed its true form, spread crimson-black demon fire across the sky, and attacked the city-protecting formation.
• Fang Xiao sent sixteen sword threads at the demon, then merged them into two as his Sword Dao Realm advanced.
• The Sun Devouring Mastiff spotted Fang Xiao’s sword threads and defended itself with demon fire while shrinking its body.
• The Sun Devouring Mastiff realized the sword threads targeted its demon soul and decided to retreat rather than risk severe injury.

Fang Xiao trapped the fleeing Sun Devouring Mastiff in his sword domain and used the Thought Sword to kill the Demon Race forces below Spirit Transformation. He fused his Nascent Soul Dao Sword into Sword Breaks Myriad Laws and sent it after the Mastiff, which answered with pure Demonic Qi as the chapter ended.

• The Sun Devouring Mastiff fled toward the Southern Wilderness, and transformed Demon Cultivators began retreating or seeking new masters.
• Fang Xiao spread his sword domain over the battlefield and used the Thought Sword to kill a million demon beasts and transformed Demon Cultivators, leaving the Mastiff alive.
• The Nascent Soul Dao Sword escaped the Mastiff’s beast-head phantom after Fang Xiao fused its sword silk into a single point of light.
• Fang Xiao empowered the Nascent Soul Dao Sword with Sword Breaks Myriad Laws and launched it at the fleeing Mastiff.
• The Sun Devouring Mastiff countered with thick, pure Demonic Qi, and Fang Xiao sent the sword point charging into it.

Fang Xiao defeated the Sun Devouring Mastiff after it unleashed True Demonic Qi, destroying the beast’s Demon Soul with the Nascent Soul Dao Sword. Though Fang Xiao suffered severe mental exhaustion, he restored the sword and left the cultivators in Demon Slaying Immortal City stunned by the battle.

• The Sun Devouring Mastiff released True Demonic Qi, which infiltrated the Nascent Soul Dao Sword and began to impair Fang Xiao’s control of it.
• Fang Xiao drove the contaminated sword into the Sun Devouring Mastiff’s head, grievously wounding its Demon Soul.
• Fang Xiao attacked again and used a rare hand seal to unleash white light that extinguished the Sun Devouring Mastiff’s Demon Soul.
• Fang Xiao caused the Nascent Soul Dao Sword to self-destruct inside the beast’s sea of consciousness, then recreated it with the Primordial Sword Embryo and confirmed it had recovered.
• The cultivators in Demon Slaying Immortal City marveled that a mysterious Spirit Transformation Sword Cultivator had slain a million demon beasts and killed a Spirit Transformation demon.

Fang Xiao revealed to Chen Zhongsheng that he had slain the demons surrounding Demon Slaying Immortal City and asked him to manage the spoils. Chen Zhongsheng agreed to retrieve the high-rank Demon Cores for Fang Xiao, send the remaining materials to Tianlan Sect, and reward the city’s cultivators.

• Chen Zhongsheng received Fang Xiao’s message and went to meet him at his cave dwelling.
• Fang Xiao admitted that he had killed the demons and demonstrated Sword Breaks Myriad Laws, leaving Chen Zhongsheng astonished that he had mastered it at Nascent Soul Late Stage.
• Fang Xiao asked Chen Zhongsheng to retrieve the third- and fourth-rank Demon Cores, send the other demon beast materials to Tianlan Sect, and distribute suitable rewards to the city’s cultivators.
• Chen Zhongsheng agreed to credit Ling Taichu for the deed and arrange the cleanup and rewards as the city prepared to reopen its gates.