Chapter Summaries

King Xun revealed that the Royal Court planned to turn Zhongyuan Dao into a divine boat and use it to ascend to the Spirit Realm, a plan that would devastate the Taichang Realm. He demanded that Li Mobai and the others help operate the formations, refusing to let them bring their followers along.

• King Xun told Li Mobai and the others that the Royal Court’s troubles had begun with Tianlan Sect and demanded their cooperation.
• King Xun explained that the Twenty-Four Flying Stars Earth-Seeking Great Formation and the Eight Directions Spirit Realm Sky-Patrolling Great Formation would transform Zhongyuan Dao into an ascension vessel.
• Li Mobai and the others objected that the plan would consume the Taichang Realm’s spiritual resources and make cultivation far more difficult.
• King Xun revealed that the plan lacked six Spirit Transformation cultivators after Li Mobai, Qin Qing, and Fang Xiao had caused the Royal Court to lose six of them.
• Nan Xuan recognized that the Royal Court wanted them to help control the formations and agreed to consider joining the ascension plan.
• True Monarch Yu Jing asked whether they could bring their followers, but King Xun refused and warned that the Royal Court would bind them into the formations if they refused to cooperate.

King Xun demanded that Li Mobai, Qin Qing, and Purple Flame join the Royal Court’s plan to ascend to the Spirit Realm, forcing them to weigh their sect’s survival against the coming Devil Race invasion. Li Mobai agreed on the condition that they could send a message to Tianlan Sect, hoping to reach the Spirit Realm and persuade its patriarchs to save Fang Xiao and the disciples.

• King Xun gave the six Deity Transformation cultivators a choice between cooperating with the Royal Court’s ascent plan and being forced into the formation.
• Three mid-stage Deity Transformation cultivators chose to cooperate, while Purple Flame stood with Li Mobai and Qin Qing.
• Li Mobai stopped Qin Qing from refusing and agreed to cooperate, asking to send a message to their sect first.
• Li Mobai told Qin Qing that they might persuade Tianlan Sect’s Spirit Realm patriarchs to help their disciples if they reached the upper realm.
• Li Mobai said Fang Xiao’s exceptional talent might convince the patriarchs to act, so they needed to ascend as soon as possible.

Fang Xiao learned from Li Mobai and Qin Qing’s Identity Tokens that the Royal Court had transported them and other cultivators to the Central Royal Court for their ascent to the Spirit Realm. He decided not to interfere and turned his attention to escaping Zhongyuan Dao, protecting the sects, and preparing for the coming crisis.

• Fang Xiao received Li Mobai and Qin Qing’s Identity Tokens and read their messages explaining the Royal Court’s plan and their journey to the Spirit Realm.
• Fang Xiao considered using his Azure Dragon Azure Cloud Divine Ability to rescue Li Mobai and the others, but decided to let them ascend and help the two sects from the Spirit Realm.
• Fang Xiao worried that the Royal Court’s scheme to forge the Sky-Patrolling Earth-Seeking Divine Boat could bring unpredictable changes to Zhongyuan Dao and Taichang Realm.
• Fang Xiao concluded that he, Tianlan Sect, and Beimíng Sword Sect needed to withdraw from Zhongyuan Dao, while he raised his cultivation toward Spirit Transformation to face the coming threat.

Fang Xiao tried to leave Zhongyuan Dao as the Royal Court began using the region to refine a divine ark, provoking a devastating heavenly tribulation. He discovered that Emperor Teng had returned as a being above the Deity Transformation Stage, and the Taichang Realm’s rules began binding his descending giant palm.

• Fang Xiao decided to go to the Myriad Treasures Pavilion to seek what he needed to advance to the Deity Transformation Stage.
• Fang Xiao sensed that the Royal Court had begun refining a divine ark from Zhongyuan Dao and teleported toward the region’s edge to escape the ensuing tribulation.
• Lightning and spatial vortices shattered the area and destroyed Fang Xiao’s Sword Seals, interrupting his teleportation.
• Fang Xiao saw a gigantic palm and sensed that its owner was a being above the Deity Transformation Stage.
• Cultivators of the Royal Court welcomed Emperor Teng, and his giant palm descended into Zhongyuan Dao.
• The Taichang Realm manifested Chains of Rules that bound Emperor Teng’s palm and sought to force it out.

Emperor Teng’s incomplete Void Refining breakthrough depended on escaping the Taichang Realm and reaching the Spirit Realm, and he used the great formations to help pull the Zhongyuan Dao outward. As the formations lifted the land and the realm itself repelled it, Fang Xiao realized he might be crushed before he could escape and took out a talisman.

• Emperor Teng remained unable to act while the Chains of Rules bound his methods, and the chapter revealed that he had used a near-sixth-tier pill to enter Void Refining without enough spiritual energy to complete his transformation.
• Emperor Teng planned to leave the Taichang Realm aboard the Sky-Patrolling Earth-Seeking Divine Boat, gather top-grade fifth-tier Spirit Veins, and raise them to the sixth tier so he could complete his breakthrough in the Spirit Realm.
• The thirty-two Deity Transformation cultivators returned to their formation positions, allowing the Eight Directions Spirit Realm Sky-Patrolling Great Formation and the Twenty-Four Flying Stars Earth-Seeking Great Formation to unleash sixth-tier power.
• Emperor Teng borrowed the Taichang Realm’s repelling force to lift the Zhongyuan Dao, while the giant hand appeared to draw closer to Fang Xiao.
• Fang Xiao realized he could not escape the pressure in time and took out a talisman.

Fang Xiao used the One Qi Deity Transformation Talisman to temporarily reach the Deity Transformation threshold, but the growing pressure from the giant hand still threatened his escape. He unleashed the Great White Sword Pellet with the Primordial Sword Body’s power of Dao Slaying, opening a gap in the hand and cutting its inner veins.

• Fang Xiao activated the One Qi Deity Transformation Talisman and rapidly advanced to the threshold of initial Deity Transformation.
• Fang Xiao’s divine soul and spiritual power reached the peak of early-stage Deity Transformation, letting him temporarily withstand the pressure as Zhongyuan Dao continued to rise.
• Fang Xiao realized that even peak Deity Transformation strength could not resist a Void Refining existence, and his escape slowed as the pressure mounted.
• Fang Xiao summoned the Great White Sword Pellet and imbued its attack with the Primordial Sword Body’s power of Dao Slaying.
• The Great White Sword Pellet slipped through the giant hand’s surface and unleashed sword light that severed the veins within it.

Fang Xiao escaped Emperor Teng’s Void Refining technique and watched the Royal Court ascend to the Spirit Realm with Zhongyuan Dao. After bidding farewell to the three Martial Uncles, he headed for the Myriad Treasures Merchant Association’s teleportation array.

• Fang Xiao used the Great White Sword Pellet’s Dao Slaying power to weaken Emperor Teng’s giant palm and flee eastward.
• Emperor Teng noticed Fang Xiao’s ability but chose not to interfere, keeping his attention on the Sky-Patrolling Earth-Seeking Divine Boat and Zhongyuan Dao.
• Fang Xiao sensed the Sword Seal, teleported from Zhongyuan Dao to East Lin Dao with the Void Cutter Sword, and recalled the Great White Sword Pellet.
• Fang Xiao watched Zhongyuan Dao pass through a spatial vortex and disappear as the Royal Court ascended to the Spirit Realm with everyone in it.
• Fang Xiao congratulated the three Martial Uncles on their ascension and set off toward the Myriad Treasures Merchant Association’s teleportation array.

Fang Xiao realized the Ruins of the Underworld were consuming Taichang Realm and draining its spiritual qi, making the realm’s decline unavoidable. He began planning to save its people and turn the sinking realm into a trap for the Devil Race, but first had to deal with the scouts in the Northern Plains.

• Fang Xiao saw the Ruins of the Underworld swallow parts of East Lin Dao and recognized that Taichang Realm was entering an irreversible decline.
• Fang Xiao judged that the Ruins of the Underworld’s devouring had slowed, but warned that spiritual qi would keep diminishing and cultivation would become harder.
• Fang Xiao considered asking the ancestor to evacuate sect disciples and using his small world as a refuge for some living beings.
• Fang Xiao planned to seize other realms as a possible home for Taichang Realm’s people and to use Taichang Realm’s destruction to wipe out the Devil Race army.
• Fang Xiao concluded that the Devil Race scouts in the Northern Plains had to be eliminated to keep the plan secret.

After learning that the Royal Court’s scheme had destroyed Zhongyuan Dao and left the Taichang Realm vulnerable to the Devil Race, Fang Xiao enlisted the Myriad Treasures Merchant Association to prepare for resistance. Li Fa brought him to a secluded grotto-heaven that might help him reach peak Nascent Soul, and Fang Xiao stepped inside.

• Fang Xiao concluded that the human cultivators were too weak to face the Devil Race and left to pursue greater strength.
• Fang Xiao reunited with Li Fa and Zi Xun, explained the Royal Court’s plan and Zhongyuan Dao’s destruction, and said the missing cultivators’ fate remained unknown.
• Fang Xiao asked the Myriad Treasures Merchant Association to investigate the missing cultivators, warn the sects, and secretly gather materials for the Three Demon-Quelling Artifacts.
• Li Fa agreed to handle preparations and took Fang Xiao through several teleportation formations while Zi Xun left to arrange the investigation.
• Fang Xiao arrived at a sealed hall, recognized a grotto-heaven entrance, and walked toward it.

Li Fa led Fang Xiao into the Beichen Grotto-heaven and explained the Beichen Sect’s history and the grotto-heaven’s purpose. Fang Xiao recognized its Grand Formation of the Myriad Stars but questioned how star power could safely raise his cultivation.

• Li Fa explained that the grotto-heaven lay in Beichen Dao and that its name came from the ancient Beichen Sect.
• Li Fa described how the Beichen Sect practiced star-powered body refinement before its destruction and how the Myriad Treasures Merchant Association came to possess the grotto-heaven.
• Fang Xiao considered the sect’s lost dual-cultivation arrangement and noted that balancing Dao and body cultivation was rare and difficult.
• Li Fa showed Fang Xiao a Dao platform bearing more than a hundred banners and identified its formation as the Grand Formation of the Myriad Stars.
• Fang Xiao recognized the formation’s connection to star power and asked how it could improve his cultivation without damaging his foundation.

Fang Xiao entered the Grand Formation of the Myriad Stars to test whether star force could enhance cultivation and temper his body. He drew down a vast torrent of star force and endured it with his Indestructible Body, preparing to pursue body refinement alongside spiritual cultivation.

• Li Fa gave Fang Xiao a Jade Slip describing how to contain and circulate star force, along with cultivation resources, and explained that star force could accelerate cultivation.
• Fang Xiao replaced the Jade Slip’s method with the aperture technique from the Nine Revolutions Primordial Heaven Art and entered the Grand Formation of the Myriad Stars.
• Fang Xiao found that Li Fa’s Fourth Order pills could not improve his cultivation, so he used his own Spirit Milk Wine instead.
• Fang Xiao activated the formation and drew in star force, which first tempered his body as he examined its nature.
• Fang Xiao raised the formation’s power to the Fifth Order, filling it with a river of star force that he endured using his Indestructible Body.

Li Fa feared Fang Xiao had been killed by the Grand Formation of the Myriad Stars, but Fang Xiao stopped the formation after absorbing its stellar power. Fang Xiao discovered the power was tempering his body and could refine Spirit Milk Wine more than five times faster, offering a path to reach peak Nascent Soul sooner than Li Fa expected.

• Li Fa worried that Fang Xiao had been overwhelmed by the formation’s stellar power, then saw the formation stop and confirmed Fang Xiao was still inside.
• Fang Xiao endured stellar power ravaging his body and recognized its potential to raise his physical strength toward peak Deity Transformation.
• Fang Xiao drank Spirit Milk Wine and used the stellar power to refine it in fewer than twenty breaths.
• Fang Xiao realized the stellar power could accelerate his cultivation-resource refinement and that he could reach peak Nascent Soul even sooner than Li Fa had predicted.

Fang Xiao arranged for better cultivation resources and outside intelligence before entering seclusion in the Grand Formation of the Myriad Stars. Meanwhile, the Tianlan Sect prepared for the coming Devil Race invasion after Li Mobai and Qin Qing ascended, committing its resources to strengthening the sect.

• Fang Xiao confirmed that refining Spirit Milk Wine with star power made his cultivation five to six times faster and arranged for Li Fa to provide Fifth Order pills and regular intelligence.
• Fang Xiao returned to the Grand Formation of the Myriad Stars and began closed-door cultivation.
• The Tianlan Sect's council gathered amid a surge in Nascent Soul and Deity Transformation cultivators, but Li Mobai and Qin Qing's Identity Tokens left the sect's leaders unsettled.
• Ling Taichu urged the council to accept the two cultivators' departure and focus on preparing to resist the Devil Race.
• Chen Zhongsheng declared full-scale war preparations, ordering disciples recalled, the sect placed in semi-closed status, and its reserves opened to support cultivation.

Ling Taichu explained the Heaven and Earth Dao Track to Li Manshan, Jiang Qinyue, and Yuan Chen, then gave them a joint-cultivation art based on Fang Xiao’s findings. The group planned to use the Great Yin-Yang Five Elements Heavenly Heart Art to reach the Dao Track, but Li Manshan noticed they still needed a Metal Spiritual Root candidate.

• Ling Taichu told Li Manshan, Jiang Qinyue, and Yuan Chen about the Heaven and Earth Dao Track and how it could help them advance.
• Wen Daoyun explained that the Dao Track could let them condense a True Spirit early, but they would still need Spirit Within Mana to wield primordial qi safely.
• Ling Taichu gave the three Jade Slips containing the Great Yin-Yang Five Elements Heavenly Heart Art, adapted from Fang Xiao’s cultivation insights.
• Yuan Chen recognized that the new art shared its core principle with the Great Five Elements Heavenly Heart Art and asked whether its ritual connected to the Dao Track.
• Ling Taichu assigned Yuan Chen the center of Yin and Yang and said Li Manshan and Jiang Qinyue would each take one Yin-Yang Dao.
• Li Manshan pointed out that the group still lacked a Metal Spiritual Root candidate, and Jiang Qinyue scolded him for assuming the elders had not considered it.

Ling Taichu explained why Xian Hua had been chosen to join the cultivation of the Heaven and Earth Dao Track, while Chen Zhongsheng prepared to risk a breakthrough to Deity Transformation. After two and a half years in seclusion, Fang Xiao emerged from Beichen Grotto-heaven at peak Nascent Soul.

• Wen Daoyun teased Li Manshan, and Ling Taichu explained that Fang Xiao had arranged for Xian Hua to join because the Great Five Elements Heavenly Heart Art belonged to her.
• Jiang Qinyue glared at Li Manshan when he speculated that Fang Xiao wanted Xian Hua as a Dao companion, and Yuan Chen defended Fang Xiao's unwavering Dao Heart.
• Ling Taichu ordered Li Manshan, Jiang Qinyue, and Yuan Chen to improve their cultivation so they would not lose face before Xian Hua and the Five Elements Sect.
• Chen Zhongsheng resolved to use the Heaven and Earth Dao Track to find his true nature and stake everything on a breakthrough to Deity Transformation.
• After two and a half years, Fang Xiao emerged from the Grand Formation of the Myriad Stars at peak Nascent Soul, having been delayed because his small world absorbed most of the star power.

Fang Xiao reviewed his cultivation and abilities after spending two and a half years in the Grand Formation of the Myriad Stars, then prepared to meet Li Fa and find a place to undergo Deity Transformation tribulation. He concluded that his divine soul needed support and that using his Primordial Chaos Dao Venerable to develop Great Daos in his minor world was beyond his current reach.

• Fang Xiao set aside creating celestial bodies in his minor world until after he advanced to Deity Transformation and stabilized the Taichang Realm.
• Fang Xiao decided to meet Li Fa for intelligence after spending two and a half years inside the Grand Formation of the Myriad Stars.
• Fang Xiao assessed his cultivation, finding his mana strongest, his Body Refining progress second, and his divine soul lagging behind.
• Fang Xiao planned to use the Twelve-Story Building to strengthen his divine soul while seeking more resources that could improve it.
• Fang Xiao considered using the Primordial Chaos Dao Venerable to evolve Great Daos in his minor world, but recognized that he could not yet reach the Heaven and Earth Dao Track.

Fang Xiao assessed the three natal treasures that needed to grow before his Spirit Transformation tribulation and considered where to undergo it safely. After emerging from seclusion at peak Nascent Soul, he reunited with Li Fa and asked for news of the Taichang Realm.

• Fang Xiao concluded that his Profound Origin Dao Platform, Soul Nurturing Gourd, and Nascent Soul Dao Sword were his most pressing weaknesses, and hoped his coming breakthrough would let them advance into Spirit Treasures.
• Fang Xiao weighed the danger of choosing a tribulation site, since powerful enemies—including peak Deity Transformation true devils—could threaten him outside the blessed grotto-heaven.
• Li Fa visited Fang Xiao, congratulated him on reaching peak Nascent Soul, and said he had prepared a suitable blessed grotto-heaven for his tribulation.
• Fang Xiao thanked Li Fa for the Myriad Treasures Merchant Association’s support, accepted his offer of friendship, and asked about the situation outside after two and a half years in seclusion.

After emerging from seclusion, Fang Xiao learned that the Devil Race threat was spreading and that Six Desires True Monarch had destroyed the Shi Mo Sect’s leader and threatened the Sky-Separating Grand Array. Enraged that the Beimíng Sword Sect had barred Nie Ying from entering, Fang Xiao asked Li Fa to prepare a teleportation array to the North Sea.

• Li Fa gave Fang Xiao a Jade Slip containing news from the two and a half years of his seclusion.
• Fang Xiao learned that the Royal Court had targeted him through Emperor Teng, while the other Deity Transformation cultivators returned safely and the Devil Race threat became widely known.
• Fang Xiao learned that the Tianlan Sect and Beimíng Sword Sect had grown stronger, but that True Monarch Wansheng had been killed by Six Desires True Monarch and the Shi Mo Sect’s array was left without its guardians.
• Fang Xiao learned that a new Spirit Transformation cultivator of the Beimíng Sword Sect had barred Nie Ying from the sect, claiming she was an outsider after True Monarch Ziyan’s departure.
• Fang Xiao decided to intervene on Nie Ying’s behalf and asked Li Fa to prepare a teleportation array to the North Sea.

Li Qingyun and Peng Gan argued over whether Nie Ying should be allowed back into the Beimíng Sword Sect and whether Ziyan's grotto-heaven should be opened. As Peng Gan dismissed Li Qingyun's warning about driving Nie Ying to despair, an angry voice interrupted them.

• Peng Gan demanded that Li Qingyun open Ziyan's grotto-heaven and argued that Nie Ying should not return to the Beimíng Sword Sect.
• Li Qingyun accused Peng Gan of coveting the grotto-heaven, while Peng Gan claimed he was protecting the sect from Nie Ying's possible plans to rebuild the Shi Mo Sect.
• Li Qingyun acknowledged the risks to the sect but warned that rejecting Nie Ying and taking away her last attachments could drive her to despair.
• Peng Gan offered to take the blame if Ziyan ever learned what they had done, but an unidentified speaker challenged him and threatened to show him his true worth.

Fang Xiao confronted Li Qingyun and Peng Gan at the Beimíng Sword Sect, revealing that he had mastered all six transformations of the Carefree Roaming Scroll. He said he had come to intervene on behalf of Purple Flame’s dao companion, and prepared to use force against Peng Gan despite Li Qingyun’s plea to reconsider.

• Fang Xiao appeared beside Li Qingyun and Peng Gan, then dispelled Li Qingyun’s Wind Scroll attack with a wave of his hand.
• Fang Xiao exposed Peng Gan’s ambush and forced him to flee, then sent a streak of cold light that cut off Peng Gan’s hair crown.
• Fang Xiao revealed six versions of himself and declared that Purple Flame had taught him every transformation of the Carefree Roaming Scroll.
• Peng Gan argued that Fang Xiao was an outsider interfering in a Beimíng Sword Sect internal affair, but Fang Xiao said he was a Rogue Cultivator and would crush Peng Gan by force.
• Li Qingyun urged Fang Xiao to spare Peng Gan for the sake of their shared lineage and Purple Flame.