Chapter Summaries

Zhang Lingshan and Yuan Jun arrived in Spring Domain and learned that its supposed freedom was controlled by White Brow True Monarch and other boat-owning powers. After hearing how the Turbid Flow trapped newcomers and made cultivation dangerous, Zhang Lingshan chose to approach White Brow True Monarch’s steward to learn the cost of renting land.

• A steward offered Zhang Lingshan and Yuan Jun land and protection under White Brow True Monarch, but they initially refused to pay.
• Zhang Lingshan questioned an exhausted man, who explained that the Turbid Flow’s ground and air harmed cultivators and that crossing the river required a specially made boat ticket costing one Immortal Artifact.
• The man said several families monopolized the boats, while Spring Domain’s surrounding storms pulled people back toward it and made escape difficult.
• Zhang Lingshan left the man and asked White Brow True Monarch’s steward about renting land, and she said they would discuss the price after they arrived.

Zhang Lingshan killed White Brow True Monarch’s steward after she demanded ten Immortal Artifacts for passage, then seized the empty boat with the crowd before leaving Spring Domain. He captured Chen Junhao and his wife outside the domain and had Chen Junhao guide him toward Azure Dragon True Monarch’s territory, learning that Spring Domain’s Dao Spring drew power from cultivators’ Dao Rhyme.

• Zhang Lingshan killed White Brow True Monarch’s steward when she demanded ten Immortal Artifacts, and the crowd followed him onto the empty boat.
• Zhang Lingshan left Spring Domain with Yuan Jun by enduring the Inter-Domain Storms and moving through them swiftly.
• Zhang Lingshan captured Chen Junhao and his wife outside Spring Domain, and Yuan Jun confronted Chen Junhao for misleading them.
• Chen Junhao explained that Azure Dragon True Monarch had given him a Sinan Compass to promote Spring Domain and that its Dao Spring grew more wondrous as people cultivated there.
• Chen Junhao led Zhang Lingshan and Yuan Jun back through the currents and pointed out Azure Dragon True Monarch’s Treasure Ship.

Zhang Lingshan arrived in the Central Domain with Yuan Jun and sought land to cultivate amid the Dao Spring’s powerful Dao Rhyme aura. After deciding to rent a plot without meeting Azure Dragon True Monarch, he and Yuan Jun gave false names and origins to the female land steward, who showed them a location on a map.

• Chen Junhao explained that the Spring Domain was an expanding anomaly with no Domain Lord, and Zhang Lingshan realized the World Lord might not notice what happened there.
• As the ship neared the Central Domain, Zhang Lingshan sensed Divine Aura that accelerated both his cultivation and his comprehension of the Ghost Dao Dharma Aspect.
• Chen Junhao used a lotus-leaf treasure to carry Zhang Lingshan and Yuan Jun from the ship to the Central Domain’s Dao Rhyme barrier, where magical treasures were forbidden.
• Zhang Lingshan chose to rent land directly, and Chen Junhao guided the pair through the misty settlement to the land steward’s shop.
• Yuan Jun introduced himself as Yuan Jun from Pinghai Domain and Zhang Lingshan as his brother Yuan Shan, and the female steward showed them a plot on her geomancy map.

Zhang Lingshan and Yuan Jun rented a plot in Spring Domain by paying two medium-grade Immortal Artifacts, then Zhang Lingshan settled in to cultivate the Ghost Dao Dharma Aspect. With Chen Junhao and his wife gone and Yuan Jun mapping the boundaries, Zhang Lingshan began fusing Ghost Dao Dharma Aspects with help from the Dao Rhyme aura and Derive Myriad Techniques.

• Zhang Lingshan negotiated the rent with Steward Wang, and Yuan Jun paid with the Black Light Cover and Golden Light Bracelet, which barely qualified as two medium-grade Immortal Artifacts.
• Steward Wang gave Zhang Lingshan a Token for locating and marking the rented plot, and warned that late payment or hiding extra cultivators would be punished with death.
• Zhang Lingshan asked Chen Junhao about a Compass and a map, then warned him to avoid meddling and returned Chen Junhao's wife from the Spirit Beast Bag.
• Zhang Lingshan entered the Stone House and ordered Yuan Jun to mark the plot's boundaries before staying outside until summoned.
• Zhang Lingshan began cultivating the Ghost Dao Dharma Aspect, while the figures within Derive Myriad Techniques experimented with fusing different Ghost Dao Dharma Aspects.

Zhang Lingshan used the Spring Domain’s surging Dao Rhyme and a Comprehension Stone Stele to complete the Yama Dharma Aspect, forming a ghost realm inside the Gate of All Wonders. He began gathering Vital Qi to strengthen the Five Elements Rules so he could transfer the realm intact.

• The Dao Spring’s Dao Rhyme surged toward Zhang Lingshan, prompting Azure Dragon True Monarch and the other four True Monarchs to rush to investigate.
• The five True Monarchs and people across the Spring Domain began comprehending the powerful Dao Rhyme as it spread through the domain.
• Zhang Lingshan brought out the Comprehension Stone Stele and released Zhang Zixin, Zhang Jinxuan, East Wind Tower Master, and others from the Portable Dwelling to cultivate.
• Zhang Lingshan completed the Yama Dharma Aspect, and countless Ghostly Entities poured through crimson gates to fill the Gate of All Wonders with a ghost realm.
• Zhang Lingshan decided to use the Five Elements Rules to transfer the Yama Ghost Realm intact, then shattered his stone house and absorbed Vital Qi to gain more Energy Points.

The five True Monarchs confronted Zhang Lingshan after his cultivation drew the Spring Domain’s Vital Qi and Dao Rhyme, then attacked him together. Zhang Lingshan’s strange turtle-shell and tree defenses absorbed and purified their Dharma Images, leaving the True Monarchs shocked as the assault failed.

• Vital Qi drained toward Zhang Lingshan, the mist thinned, and people across the Spring Domain rushed toward the source of the change.
• Yellow Crane True Monarch, White Brow True Monarch, Red Cloud True Monarch, Purple Beard True Monarch, and Azure Dragon True Monarch arrived and saw Zhang Lingshan and others receiving the Funnel Spirit Rain.
• Azure Dragon True Monarch attacked Zhang Lingshan with his Azure Dragon Dharma Image, but a Turtle Shell Phantom swallowed it and turned its power into Vital Qi rain.
• The five True Monarchs joined forces and sent their Dharma Images against Zhang Lingshan and his companions.
• A great tree tore apart Purple Beard True Monarch’s Dharma Image, while Turtle Shell Tree Shields blocked and absorbed the other four attacks.
• Steward Wang searched for Chen Junhao, while Chen Junhao and his wife watched in dread as Zhang Lingshan’s defenses repelled the combined assault.

Zhang Lingshan’s defenses and Demon God Dharma Aspect repelled the five True Monarchs, who then devised a plan to destroy Dao Spring and interrupt his cultivation. As they prepared to sacrifice Immortal Artifacts, the Spring Domain darkened and Red Lacquer Gates appeared behind them.

• Azure Dragon True Monarch and the other four True Monarchs attacked Zhang Lingshan’s Turtle Shell Tree Shield with their signature treasures, but his Demon God Dharma Aspect struck them down and disrupted their assault.
• The five True Monarchs retreated to Dao Spring Plaza and decided to destroy Dao Spring while Zhang Lingshan was cultivating, hoping to injure him and seize his secrets.
• Azure Dragon True Monarch proposed detonating three high-grade, ten mid-grade, and thirty low-grade Immortal Artifacts from each True Monarch inside Dao Spring.
• The Spring Domain suddenly darkened, Yin winds and energy gathered, and Red Lacquer Gates appeared behind the five True Monarchs.

Zhang Lingshan’s Yama Dharma Aspect absorbed the Spring Domain’s inhabitants and turned the five True Monarchs into the Five Direction Ghost Generals. After more than three months of cultivation, he still could not balance his three Dharma Aspects, so he sent his companions into the Portable Dwelling and entered the Dao Spring to investigate it.

• Zhang Lingshan used the Yama Dharma Aspect to drag Azure Dragon True Monarch, White Brow True Monarch, Yellow Crane True Monarch, Red Cloud True Monarch, and Purple Beard True Monarch through the Red Lacquer Gates, turning them into ghosts.
• The Yama Ghost Realm absorbed nearly everyone in the Spring Domain, while Zhang Lingshan spared Zhang Zixin, Zhang Jinxuan, Yuan Jun, and his other companions.
• Zhang Lingshan tried to bring the Demon God Dharma Aspect and Jade Buddha Dharma Aspect up to the Yama Dharma Aspect’s level, but after more than three months he still could not form Three Heads and Six Arms.
• Bai Yuqing, Huang Chang, the East Wind Tower Master, Eagle Minister, and the others advanced in cultivation while Zhang Lingshan comprehended beside the Dao Spring.
• Zhang Lingshan sent his companions into the Portable Dwelling, then jumped into the Dao Spring to uncover its secrets.

Zhang Lingshan entered the Dao Spring to comprehend how to form Three Heads and Six Arms, and turned the failed Three Mountains Spirit Dividing Record into a new technique based on his Soul Tree. Meanwhile, Yi Chen questioned whether He Zhiqiou had truly ascended and decided to inspect his great hall himself.

• Zhang Lingshan studied spiritual Cultivation Methods in the Dao Spring and derived the Three Mountains Spirit Dividing Record from He Zhiqiou's ring.
• Zhang Lingshan failed to create divine-consciousness walls with the Five Elements Rules and his other methods, realizing the spirit-dividing technique could not be practiced as written.
• Zhang Lingshan used the Soul Tree's roots as a living foundation to divide his sea of consciousness and began comprehending the Spirit Dividing Tree.
• Yi Chen doubted that He Zhiqiou had ascended to the Incense and Fire Divine Cult by sacrificing Yin Henghe and Chen Xuanjiang, and went to inspect He Zhiqiou's great hall in person.

Yi Chen used the World-Illuminating Stone to search the Mortal Realm for the Profound Gold Body and discovered the strange Dao Spring in Spring Domain. He reached the spring, found no sign of the Profound Gold Body, and sensed that entering might improve his understanding of the Five Elements Rules.

• Yi Chen examined He Zhiqiu's great hall, concluded that He Zhiqiu might not have killed Chen Xuanjiang, and decided to search for the Profound Gold Body.
• Yi Chen checked Chen Xuanjiang's exchange records, learned that Chen Xuanjiang had acquired numerous treasures, and resolved to keep the Profound Gold Body secret while preparing his own hunt.
• Yi Chen exchanged for and refined magic treasures, then used the single-use World-Illuminating Stone to search the Mortal Realm for five days.
• Yi Chen found the strange Dao Spring in Spring Domain, traveled there, and learned from a trapped resident that the area had once turned pitch-black and that those who entered had not returned.
• Yi Chen flew to the Dao Spring and found an empty settlement; his Elemental Magnetic Seal showed no sign of the Profound Gold Body, but the spring seemed to sharpen his Immortal Divine Sense and perception of the Five Elements Rules.

Yi Chen uncovered a mysterious great tree beneath the Dao Spring and tried to claim it, but the tree repelled his attacks and revealed extraordinary powers. He realized his Mortal Realm might have the potential to become a Great Thousand World and resolved to take control of it.

• Yi Chen entered the Dao Spring using a Long Nail Pillar and a Transparent Thread as a safeguard, then traced the Five Elements Rules to the spring's bottom.
• Yi Chen brushed away the soil for two days and uncovered a towering tree whose presence gave him a clearer understanding of heaven and earth.
• Yi Chen tried to imprint his will on the tree, but Avici Hellfire destroyed his seals and the tree pulled his Golden Light Box into itself.
• Yi Chen's attempts to bind and cut the tree failed when Blade Intent and light armor protected it, and a Thunder Tribulation appeared as he summoned Azure Silk Rain.
• Yi Chen inferred that the tree contained a Small World and a Lightning Spirit Pearl, and concluded that his Mortal Realm could grow into a Great Thousand World.
• Yi Chen declared that he would subdue the tree, but his expression suddenly changed as he prepared to summon more treasures.

Zhang Lingshan used his Jade Buddha Dharma Aspect to withstand Yi Chen’s attacks, turning the Yuan-Devouring Insects into nourishment and resisting Yi Chen’s Bagua formation. As Yi Chen began to trap him, Zhang revealed a third Dharma Aspect, the Yama Ghost Realm, whose gates opened around the World Lord.

• Yi Chen recognized the great tree as Zhang Lingshan’s Dharma Aspect and tried to draw him out with the Elemental Magnetic Seal, but Zhang’s burly figure took the seal away.
• Yi Chen unleashed Yuan-Devouring Insects against Zhang’s Demon God Dharma Aspect, but Zhang burned them with pure Qi and Blood Flame and absorbed their remains.
• Yi Chen used his Bagua Disk and Bagua Dharma Aspect to bind Zhang’s Jade Buddha Dharma Aspect between opposing forces, cracking its defenses and pulling up its roots.
• Zhang told Yi Chen that he had three Dharma Aspects and revealed the Yama Ghost Realm.
• Red Lacquer Gates opened around Yi Chen, and Azure Dragon True Monarch and the other ghosts reached out to drag the World Lord inside.

Zhang Lingshan defeated Yi Chen by combining his three Dharma Aspects into a Three Heads and Six Arms Mystical Power, then used the Star Shifting Technique to trap Yi Chen’s soul in the Yama Ghost Realm. He kept Yi Chen’s body intact and offered to release his soul if Yi Chen cooperated.

• Zhang Lingshan merged the Demon God, Jade Buddha, and Yama Dharma Aspects and revealed his Opening Heavenly Eye and Three Heads and Six Arms Mystical Power.
• Yi Chen attacked with Immortal Artifacts and magic treasures, but Zhang Lingshan’s defenses held, and he seized Yi Chen’s Bagua Disk.
• Yi Chen used the Long Nail pillar’s chain to flee, but Zhang Lingshan caught up with his Red Cloud Dao Art and moved them both to the Red Lacquer Gate with the Star Shifting Technique.
• Yi Chen realized his soul had been drawn into Zhang Lingshan’s Yama Ghost Realm while his body remained intact, wrapped in Profound Gold Liquid.
• Zhang Lingshan offered to release Yi Chen’s soul and let him return to his body if he cooperated.

Zhang Lingshan learned from Yi Chen that ascenders under the Great Qing Dynasty were sent to the Pig Pen, and the two decided that going there was their only route to the Immortal Realm. Yi Chen offered to serve Zhang Lingshan and help him survive there, while Extreme Soul Immortal Venerable proposed a bargain that Zhang Lingshan dismissed.

• Zhang Lingshan questioned Yi Chen about using the World Lord Teleportation Array, but Yi Chen explained that ascending under his identity would expose them and that the Great Qing Dynasty sent Mortal Realm ascenders to the Pig Pen.
• Yi Chen described the Immortal Realm's cultivation ranks and said that the Great Qing Dynasty's ascenders were sold as laborers, while teleporting elsewhere without a reliable destination would be dangerous.
• Zhang Lingshan summoned Extreme Soul Immortal Venerable and learned that the Immortal Venerable was a powerful figure in the Immortal Realm.
• Extreme Soul Immortal Venerable and Yi Chen agreed that Zhang Lingshan should go to the Pig Pen, and Yi Chen offered to return to his preserved physical body and help him there in exchange for loyalty.
• Yi Chen offered his Soul Imprint, but Extreme Soul Immortal Venerable warned Zhang Lingshan not to trust it and offered a method to control Yi Chen in return for spiritual-power-enhancing treasures.
• Zhang Lingshan put away the Extreme Yin Ghost Seal before Extreme Soul Immortal Venerable could finish his offer, deciding to handle Yi Chen himself.

After securing Yi Chen’s obedience, Zhang Lingshan went to the Source River Cauldron to cultivate and discovered that the Resentful Ghost Pool could rapidly convert his flesh into mental strength. He began using it inside the cauldron, where Immortal Spirit Qi could restore his body, and his Immortal Divine Sense started to grow quickly.

• Zhang Lingshan restored Yi Chen’s body, marked his soul, and ordered him to gather treasures while explaining that they should ascend together after the Realm Lord Hall competition.
• Zhang Lingshan reached the Source River with Yi Chen, then left him at the Realm Lord Hall to collect treasures and traveled to the river’s source.
• Zhang Lingshan, Zhang Zixin, and Zhang Jinxuan entered the Source River Cauldron and began sensing the Immortal Spirit Qi within it.
• Zhang Lingshan took out the Resentful Ghost Pool and used it to burn away his flesh, relying on the cauldron’s Immortal Spirit Qi to replenish his body.
• Zhang Lingshan’s mental strength rose from 36 gai to 37 gai as his body rapidly grew thinner and recovered.

Zhang Lingshan advanced his Immortal Divine Sense and strengthened his cultivation methods while seeking a way past the Mortal Realm’s limits. After fusing the Xuantian True Scripture, his body dissolved into the boiling, blood-red Source River Cauldron, leaving Zhang Zixin and Zhang Jinxuan to fear and hope that he was breaking through.

• Zhang Lingshan raised his Immortal Divine Sense to the Third Level, surpassed Yi Chen’s perception, and secretly deepened his Soul Tree mark on him.
• Zhang Lingshan found that further Immortal Divine Sense training consumed his body faster than it could recover, so he planned to improve his Profound Gold Body and accumulate Energy Points.
• Zhang Lingshan raised Xuantian Wuji Gong to Greater Accomplishment, which pushed Xuantian Extreme Fire Technique to Perfection and revealed its Fire Dao Rhyme effect.
• Zhang Lingshan spent a month cultivating, received more treasures from Yi Chen, and perfected the Heavenly Demon Transformation Saint Great Law and his remaining cultivation methods.
• Zhang Lingshan perfected Xuantian Wuji Gong, gained Cultivation Method Self-Formation, and fused the Xuantian True Scripture.
• Zhang Zixin pulled Zhang Jinxuan from the Source River Cauldron when it boiled red and Zhang Lingshan’s body seemed to dissolve into it; she insisted he was breaking through beyond the Mortal Realm’s rules.

Zhang Lingshan completed the Xuantian True Scripture, then gathered resources and expanded his Yama Ghost Realm while seeking a way to accumulate enough Energy Points to evolve his cultivation method. He and Yi Chen entered the Dust Domain, where Zhang Lingshan discovered that the dust came from a source deeper within.

• Zhang Lingshan's body was reborn in the Source River Cauldron, and the fused Xuantian True Scripture gained Cultivation Method Self-Evolution.
• Zhang Lingshan had Yi Chen summon Dharma Aspect Realm cultivators and confiscate their Storage Rings, then sent over a hundred evil cultivators into the Yama Ghost Realm and absorbed their bodies.
• Zhang Lingshan brought the Ghost King Domain's Domain Lord into the Yama Ghost Realm, named him Ghost Commander, and placed the Five Direction Ghost Generals under his command.
• Zhang Lingshan asked Yi Chen about the Dust Domain, and Yi Chen led him there after they discussed its unusual, dangerous conditions.
• Zhang Lingshan protected Yi Chen as they traveled through the crushing dust and identified a source ahead, explaining that it was not a vortex absorbing dust from the Mortal Realm.

Zhang Lingshan discovered the Earth Spirit Pearl and learned that gathering all ten Spirit Pearls could transform his Small World into a Great Thousand World. He arranged plans for his followers before returning to Xuanjiang Domain, then asked East Wind Tower Master and Eagle Minister whether they would go with him.

• Zhang Lingshan took the Earth Spirit Pearl from the dust, and Yi Chen explained that ten Spirit Pearls could transform a Small World into a Great Thousand World.
• Yi Chen realized Zhang Lingshan already had a Small World, praised his fortune, and agreed to search the Mortal Realm for more Spirit Pearls.
• Zhang Lingshan told Xuanqing, Huang Chang, and Bai Yuqing to rebuild Xuantian Island and said they could join his sect after he established himself in the Immortal Realm.
• Zhang Lingshan declined to bring his followers on his first ascent, promising to return for them once he had secured a foothold in the Immortal Realm.
• Zhang Lingshan appointed Nan Yu domain lord of Henghe Domain, gave him treasures and Divine Dew, and told him to work with Yi Chen.
• Zhang Lingshan asked East Wind Tower Master and Eagle Minister whether they would return to Xuanjiang Domain with him.

Zhang Lingshan studied the connecting formation, built its entrance in the Source River Cauldron, and returned to Xuanjiang Domain to create its exit. At Ascension Islet, he learned that Qi Shuyan had been detained over his connection to Zhang Lingshan, then found San Kuangsheng interrogating him and saw Zhang Wusheng brought in battered and bloodied.

• Zhang Lingshan sent Yuan Jun and the others to Xuanjiang Domain, then asked Zhang Zixin and Zhang Jinxuan to analyze the Source River Cauldron's connecting formation.
• Zhang Lingshan mastered He Zhiqiou's Teleportation Array Patterns and set up a heavily protected entrance to the connecting formation beneath the Source River Waterfall.
• Zhang Lingshan returned to Xuanjiang Domain with Zhang Zixin and Zhang Jinxuan and went to Ascension Islet to see Qi Shuyan and establish the formation's exit.
• A steward told Zhang Lingshan that San Kuangsheng had summoned Qi Shuyan for questioning, and Zhang Lingshan rewarded the steward before leaving to search for the meeting.
• At the Rogue Cultivator Alliance headquarters, San Kuangsheng and the Qingxuan City Lord accused Qi Shuyan of helping Zhang Lingshan, then had Zhang Wusheng thrown before him.

Zhang Lingshan returned to Xuanjiang Domain, rescued Qi Shuyan, and revealed that he had defeated the Realm Lord before destroying San Kuangsheng and the other Rogue Cultivator Alliance leaders. After learning the Zixuan City Lord was missing, Zhang Lingshan headed to Moon God Palace and pinned Xia Ru to the ground with a spear.

• San Kuangsheng interrogated Qi Shuyan and Zhang Wusheng about Zhang Lingshan, while Qi Shuyan learned the Realm Lord Hall competition had supposedly been moved forward.
• Zhang Lingshan appeared amid the Red Lacquer Gates, freed Qi Shuyan, and declared that the Realm Lord had been no match for him.
• Zhang Lingshan turned San Kuangsheng, the Azure Dragon Gate Master, Divine Sword True Monarch, Heaven Sword True Monarch, and Moon God Palace Master into ghosts, then learned the Zixuan City Lord was trapped somewhere in Xuanjiang Domain.
• Zhang Lingshan left the Qingxuan City Lord behind for Eagle Minister and the others, then sent Qi Shuyan back to Ascension Hall.
• After Xia Ru learned the Moon God Palace Master's Soul Tablet had shattered and prepared to flee, Zhang Lingshan pinned her to the ground with a spear to avenge Xuantian Shangren.