Chapter Summaries

Gu Jinlai reached the White Aries Star Palace with his group and attracted attention from the gathered powers. After Princess Jiang Lingxue offered him access to the imperial family’s Creator-realm breakthrough method in exchange for joining Great Qian, Gu Jinlai chose to pursue the Aries Star Lord’s inheritance and entered the palace trial.

• Gu Jinlai arrived at the White Aries Star Palace beside the Heavenly Dragon Wood, while gathered cultivators discussed his reputation and Dragon Sparrow Manor and the Great Sun Sword Sect showed hostility.
• Jiang Lingxue introduced herself as the Forty-Sixth Princess and invited Gu Jinlai to the imperial capital, offering access to Great Qian’s Creator-realm breakthrough method.
• Zhang Yukun warned Gu Jinlai that imperial recruitment required stringent agreements witnessed by True Spirit oaths, and urged him to focus on the Aries Star Lord’s inheritance.
• Gu Jinlai bowed to the Heavenly Dragon Wood and requested entry to the palace trial; the dragon inspected him, then opened the palace doors.

Gu Jinlai entered the White Goat Star Palace and chose the relatively safe True Dragon Trial, which tested practical skills in refining Spirit Artifacts. He left the chapter having learned that the palace’s artifact spirit could simulate and create spiritual materials, and he sought to memorize its extensive material database.

• Gu Jinlai and Zhang Yukun entered the White Goat Star Palace, where they learned that only a few people had passed any of its three trials.
• Gu Jinlai chose the True Dragon Trial, while the other Celestial Masters selected trials based on their own aims.
• Gu Jinlai entered the right palace and began the True Dragon Trial, which required analyzing materials and refining a Spirit Artifact embryo.
• The artifact spirit examined Gu Jinlai and demonstrated more than a thousand material combinations, explaining that his spirituality would suit the Hidden Dragon Trial better.
• Gu Jinlai asked to see more materials after crafting an acceptable Spirit Artifact, intending to memorize the artifact spirit’s database.

Gu Jinlai used the Aries Star Palace’s materials and the artifact spirit’s help to assemble a gigantic wind-turbine Spirit Artifact, hoping to aid the palace in harnessing storm energy. The artifact spirit and watching Celestial Masters doubted its usefulness, so Gu Jinlai asked for strong winds to demonstrate what it could do.

• Gu Jinlai asked the artifact spirit to keep teaching him about materials and decided to create a wind turbine to help the Aries Star Palace harness thunderbolts.
• The artifact spirit offered to simulate materials and assist Gu Jinlai, giving him preferential treatment as a Celestial Monarch with a crystallized True Spirit.
• Gu Jinlai drew on his knowledge and rapidly designed a wind turbine, then directed the artifact spirit to simulate and assemble its components in public.
• Celestial Masters watched the towering device take shape and speculated about its purpose, but grew disappointed when it seemed to have little use beyond storing thunder.
• The artifact spirit called the finished turbine a gigantic toy, and Gu Jinlai asked it to simulate strong winds so they could see what the device could do.

Gu Jinlai passed the True Dragon Pass by demonstrating a wind turbine that converted storm energy into stored thunder, earning Ziyang’s approval. After learning the Spirit Artifact received a score of only 120, Gu Jinlai chose to present another design and entered a private space to have it simulated and evaluated.

• Gu Jinlai demonstrated how his wind turbine gathered storm energy and stored it as thunder, impressing Ziyang and the watching Heavenly Masters.
• Ziyang introduced himself and approved the wind turbine as proof that Gu Jinlai had passed the True Dragon Pass.
• Zong Heng, Si Tianyan, and Guan Xingyun discussed Gu Jinlai’s crystallized True Spirit and the advanced abilities it could grant him.
• Gu Jinlai asked Ziyang what score the wind turbine would receive, and Ziyang rated it at 120 because its efficiency was low.
• Gu Jinlai announced that he had another Spirit Artifact to submit, and Ziyang opened Private Space Three for its simulation and appraisal.

Gu Jinlai used Ziyang’s simulations to build a nuclear fusion engine from refined trace elements in krypton gold, intending it as the power core for a Chengying Mecha capable of contending with a Saint. When Gu Jinlai warned that activating the elements could release immense energy, Ziyang took a sample to the White Sheep Star Palace’s testing ground, leaving Gu Jinlai behind.

• Gu Jinlai asked Ziyang to simulate the materials and processes needed to create an inertial-confinement nuclear fusion engine.
• Gu Jinlai had Ziyang produce a hundred pieces of krypton gold, then used shared spirituality to identify and extract the trace elements he needed.
• Over three days, Gu Jinlai described the engine’s components while Ziyang simulated their assembly, completing a huge Spirit Artifact.
• Ziyang calculated that ordinary Celestial Masters would need 3,622 workers and ten years to refine the engine, while Gu Jinlai planned to use Demonic Spirits to reduce the labor time.
• Gu Jinlai instructed Ziyang to heat the refined trace elements beyond a hundred million degrees, and Ziyang took a krypton gold sample to the Star Palace testing ground to study the reaction.

Ziyang used the Aries Star Palace to simulate Gu Jinlai’s idea of heating refined trace elements, triggering a catastrophic energy release inside the palace. The palace’s defenses contained the blast, but its rear hall was heavily damaged, and Ziyang dismissed the disaster as a slight accident.

• Ziyang searched the Aries Star Palace’s warehouse for kypton gold and used the palace to refine one kilogram of trace elements.
• Ziyang heated the trace elements with spiritual power, reduced their quantity to conserve the palace’s energy, and continued increasing the temperature.
• The trace-element cores fused through the strong nuclear force, releasing blinding energy that instantly destroyed Ziyang’s spiritual body.
• Ziyang’s avatars activated the Aries Star Palace’s formations as the building shook, cracked, and suffered damage throughout its halls.
• A pillar of scorching light burst from the Aries Star Palace into the sky, alarming the Celestial Masters and the Heavenly Dragon Wood outside.
• The Heavenly Dragon Wood asked Ziyang what had happened, and Ziyang weakly replied that the experiment had suffered a slight accident.

Gu Jinlai tested a nuclear-fusion engine with Zi Yang’s help, impressing the artifact spirit with its potential as a weapon despite its poor cost as a power core. He then worked with Zi Yang to develop plans for several advanced war machines, leaving their designs more feasible.

• Gu Jinlai considered using a nuclear-fusion weapon against a huge, slow-moving Demonic Beast King, such as the Violent Bear King in Mu Province.
• Zi Yang simulated the nuclear-fusion engine, allowing Gu Jinlai to study its construction and spiritual changes.
• Zi Yang criticized the engine as an impractical power core but rated its potential as a killing weapon at one thousand points.
• Gu Jinlai told Zi Yang he wanted to recreate the Celestial Master civilization’s golden age and outlined concepts for Sky Sword missiles, a Black Tortoise fighter aircraft, an Azure Luan mothership, and a Chengying Mecha.
• Gu Jinlai and Zi Yang pooled their knowledge to resolve technical problems and refine feasible designs for the Black Tortoise fighter aircraft, Azure Luan mothership, and Chengying Mecha.

Gu Jinlai and Ziyang spent a month exchanging ideas about advanced technology, nearly exhausting the White Ram Star Palace’s energy and causing it to close early. Before Gu Jinlai left, Ziyang promised to arrange a future opening for him and offered him one of three treasures for passing the True Dragon Trial.

• Celestial Masters noticed that the White Ram Star Palace’s artifact spirit had grown distracted and that the palace was beginning to close early.
• Ziyang told Gu Jinlai that their month of simulations had nearly exhausted the palace’s energy, though their discussions had helped them develop plans for the Xuannü Fighter, Qingluan Mothership, and Chengying Mecha.
• Ziyang said he would make wind turbines and have Sky Dragon Wood roam the Qian Heaven region to gather energy, then promised to open the palace for Gu Jinlai again in one to four years.
• Ziyang praised Gu Jinlai’s prospects in the remaining trials and promised him a special future opportunity, while Gu Jinlai thanked him for their exchange.
• Ziyang offered Gu Jinlai a choice between the spiritual-energy-rich Heavenly Spirit Pearl, a kilogram of a krypton-gold-derived element with Earthly Immortal-level power, and a formation method that could increase his Spirit Artifact resonance rate tenfold.

Gu Jinlai proposed and simulated a detailed theory for creating an artificial sun to pass the Ascending Dragon Pass and earn another treasure. Ziyang was shaken by the demonstration, and Gu Jinlai asked whether he had passed the test.

• Gu Jinlai asked to challenge the Ascending Dragon Pass so he could choose another of the three treasures, and Ziyang agreed to an exception if he passed within a day.
• Gu Jinlai spent his final wisp of Purifying Light to organize his knowledge and proposed creating an artificial sun.
• Gu Jinlai explained how vast quantities of hydrogen could produce a star with power comparable to the sun, and Ziyang began simulating the idea.
• Gu Jinlai described the sun's structure and energy processes as Ziyang's simulation came to resemble the real sun.
• Ziyang was astonished and thought of Gu Jinlai as a Creator of the World, while Gu Jinlai asked whether he had passed the test.

Gu Jinlai declined the dangerous Hidden Dragon Pass and chose the Celestial Spirit Pearl and the Myriad Spirits Gathering Stars Formation instead. He left Aries Star Palace with new followers bound for Lingxiao City, while hostile observers watched them depart.

• Ziyang offered Gu Jinlai the Star Lord's inheritance if he cleared the Hidden Dragon Pass, but Gu Jinlai refused because the trial was too dangerous and Aries Star Palace was running low on energy.
• Gu Jinlai chose the Celestial Spirit Pearl and the Myriad Spirits Gathering Stars Formation's disk and formula as his two rewards.
• Ziyang gave Gu Jinlai the treasures and said he would return to invite him to challenge the Hidden Dragon Pass when Aries Star Palace had recharged.
• Gu Jinlai rejected Zhang Daoyan and Wan Wusheng's invitation to join the Great Qian imperial family and reaffirmed his plan to protect Lingxiao City and establish a Celestial Master sacred land.
• Xiang Fengyun and five other Celestial Masters agreed to join Lingxiao City, and Gu Jinlai led his group out of Aries Star Palace as hostile gazes followed them.

Gu Jinlai’s group faced a coordinated threat from Dragon Sparrow Manor and allied forces as they traveled home from the Aries Star Palace. Gu Jinlai rejected a detour, rested in a county town, and began refining the Heavenly Spirit Pearl while his pursuers prepared an ambush near the Sky River.

• Cheng Wanli warned Gu Jinlai that Dragon Sparrow Manor’s Ye Dongliu had stirred up forces from Li Province, and that nineteen groups were following them.
• Gu Jinlai refused to split up or detour, arguing that Crocodile Dragon Marsh and the Sky River posed greater dangers, and chose to cross at Canglang Peak.
• Gu Jinlai’s group entered a county town to rest, where Gu Chifeng and the others guarded the inn while Gu Jinlai entered his room.
• Gu Jinlai discovered that his clear light was exhausted and used the Heavenly Spirit Pearl to strengthen his spiritual perception.
• Ye Dongliu met with ten Spirit Transformation grand cultivators and assured Yu Fan and Yuan Chaoxi that Dragon Sparrow Manor and the Demonic Beasts would attack Gu Jinlai after he crossed the Sky River.

After consuming the Spirit Pearl, Gu Jinlai’s spiritual awareness surged, giving him a devastating new close-range attack that could endanger him as well as his enemies. He sent his convoy ahead and hid to ambush Dragon Sparrow Manor, whose forces recognized him as he charged.

• Gu Jinlai absorbed the Spirit Pearl and used the Eternal Furnace and Chengying Sword to calculate that he could unleash attacks with the force of nearly a hundred tons of explosives, though the blasts could kill him too.
• Gu Jinlai ordered Gu Chifeng, Cheng Wanli, and the others to continue toward Tianhe while he stayed behind to deal with the factions following them.
• Gu Chifeng disguised himself as Gu Jinlai and led the convoy onward, while Gu Jinlai waited beside the road without Guya or a close-defense cannon.
• Dragon Sparrow Manor’s formation cautiously probed the roadside as it pursued the convoy, but its divine sense detected Gu Jinlai only when he was just over six hundred meters away.
• Gu Jinlai charged the formation and transformed into a giant; Dragon Sparrow Manor’s forces recognized him and shouted for an array and reinforcements.

Gu Jinlai charged Dragon Sparrow Manor’s convoy without the Heavenly Sword and overwhelmed the forces gathered against him. The recruited sects fled in panic, leaving Dragon Sparrow Manor’s allies accusing Ye Dongliu of deceiving them.

• Ye Dongliu persuaded Yuan Chaoxi, Ouyang Qing, and other Spirit Transformation cultivators to attack Gu Jinlai together in exchange for Spirit Artifacts.
• Twelve flying swords struck at Gu Jinlai, but his Great Sun Eternal Radiance weakened their Yin Spirits and sword spirituality.
• Gu Jinlai shattered one flying sword with the Shadowless Sword and used six rapid strikes to cripple six cultivators’ attacks and damage three more swords.
• Yu Fan ordered the Yellow Heaven Sect elders to retreat after seeing that the combined attack had failed.
• Ye Dongliu realized the attack had been defeated, while Yuan Chaoxi and Ouyang Qing accused him of giving them false information and fled with the other recruited forces.

Gu Jinlai cut through the fleeing forces and killed Ye Dongliu, but Dragon Sparrow Manor’s disciples rallied to fight him despite the overwhelming gap in strength. After slaughtering them and killing Xu Qingqing and her master, he vowed to return with his forces and destroy Dragon Sparrow Manor.

• The scattered forces fled as Gu Jinlai pursued Dragon Sparrow Manor, and Ye Dongliu burned his essence, energy, and spirit to unleash the Shattered Sword Art before Gu Jinlai killed him.
• Dragon Sparrow Manor’s fighters mistook Gu Jinlai’s bloodied state for severe injury and charged him, but he cut them down with the Chengying Sword and destroyed a grand cultivator’s flying sword with the Eternal Heavenly Curse.
• As Dragon Sparrow Manor’s survivors broke and fled, a Spirit Transformation elder urged Xu Qingqing to escape and report the battle, but she refused to leave him.
• Gu Jinlai’s flying Chengying Sword killed Xu Qingqing and struck down her master, after which Gu Jinlai declared that he would return with his forces to wipe out Dragon Sparrow Manor.

Gu Jinlai survived the ambush by Dragon Sparrow Manor and defeated its twelve Spirit Transformation grand cultivators, though many attackers escaped. After rejoining his convoy, he ordered Star Province to prepare for war against Dragon Sparrow Manor.

• Gu Jinlai surveyed the devastated battlefield, collected the valuable weapons and armor, and pursued Cheng Wanli, Gu Chifeng, and the others.
• Yu Fan realized Gu Jinlai’s strength had been underestimated and decided the Yellow Heaven Sect should seek reconciliation and avoid provoking Star Province.
• The factions that had joined the ambush fled toward their territories, while Gu Jinlai caught up with his convoy the next day.
• Gu Jinlai told his companions he had defeated Dragon Sparrow Manor’s twelve Spirit Transformation grand cultivators and killed the three led by Ye Dongliu.
• Gu Jinlai reassured Xiang Fengyun and the others that Star Province would protect them from demons.
• Gu Jinlai ordered preparations for war and declared that Dragon Sparrow Manor would pay for colluding with demons.

Dragon Sparrow Manor decided to awaken Huo Yuqing and prepare for war against Gu Jinlai’s forces, choosing Longxiao City as its battlefield. Meanwhile, Gu Jinlai crossed into Star Province and was welcomed by Xin Tianqi.

• After learning Ye Dongliu and his group had died, Long Xiangtian urged Dragon Sparrow Manor to awaken Huo Yuqing, despite the risk to her chance of obtaining the Fortune Immortal Fruit.
• Ye Qianqiu and Long Yinfeng agreed that the manor could not defeat Gu Jinlai without Huo Yuqing, and the elders accepted the decision to prepare for war.
• Long Xiangtian chose Longxiao City as the battlefield so Huo Yuqing could recover and Dragon Sparrow Manor could use the Dragon Profound Formation.
• Gu Jinlai’s group crossed Tianhe, avoided the Yellow Heaven Sect’s core region, and entered Star Province after blasting aside attacking Demonic Beasts.
• Xin Tianqi arrived to welcome Gu Jinlai, and the Purgatory Sect’s Celestial Masters parted ways with the group to return to their sect.

Gu Jinlai prepared Star Province to wage an all-out war against Dragon Sparrow Manor, relying on artillery to overcome the enemy’s superior numbers and flying swords. As the Purgatory Sect debated whether to help him, the Yellow Springs Sect moved against Chi Province, forcing the sect to rule out joining the war.

• Gu Jinlai told Xin Tianqi that Dragon Sparrow Manor’s growing strength made an immediate attack necessary, and Xin Tianqi outlined the forces Star Province could deploy.
• Gu Jinlai planned to seek help from the Purgatory Sect and said Star Province would use grenade launchers and heavy artillery to destroy Dragon Sparrow Manor’s flying swords and forces.
• Gu Jinlai ordered the troops assembled in Baihe City to prepare for the march, while the other major sects sent people to Jiang Province to watch the conflict.
• Lu Dengxian received Gu Jinlai’s request for aid, and the Purgatory Sect’s elders debated whether to join the war against Dragon Sparrow Manor.
• Zhang Liefeng announced that the Purgatory Sect could not intervene because Old Ancestor Youquan of the Yellow Springs Sect had entered Chi Province.

Purgatory Sect debated how to respond to Netherworld Sect’s invasion and agreed to let its elders in Star Province cooperate with Gu Jinlai while the main forces held the border. At Baihe City, Gu Jinlai assembled his artillery and troops, then marched toward Jiang Province before the rest of his forces arrived.

• Lu Dengxian, Liu Jingtao, and Zhang Liefeng discussed Netherworld Sect’s invasion and whether Purgatory Sect should support Gu Jinlai against Dragon Sparrow Manor.
• Lu Dengxian agreed to send Lu Zhanxian, Shi Chen, Sha Wujin, and the elders and protectors in Star Province to cooperate with Gu Jinlai.
• Gu Jinlai inspected the eighty thousand troops gathered at Baihe City, including artillery and thirteen hundred Demonic God bodyguards.
• Cheng Wanli reported that Dragon Sparrow Manor had withdrawn from Quesian City to prepare for a decisive battle at the provincial capital.
• Gu Jinlai ordered the army to set out for Jiang Province while the troops from Changjun City and Yuanhua City followed behind.

Gu Jinlai marched into River Province and uncovered how Dragon Sparrow Manor’s martial hierarchy exploited ordinary people. With Dragon Roar City’s elite army gathered to defend the capital, he chose Dragonrise Mountain as the battlefield and began fortifying it.

• Lu Zhanfeng explained that the Yellow Springs Sect had forced the Purgatory Sect to withhold reinforcements, and Gu Jinlai accepted that he had to rely on himself.
• Gu Jinlai’s army occupied Sparrow Immortal City and three more cities on its way to Dragon Roar City, meeting little resistance.
• Gu Jinlai read intelligence describing Dragon Sparrow Manor’s fief system and how its martial institutions and elites exploited ordinary people.
• Xin Tianqi reported that 56,000 elite soldiers had gathered in Dragon Roar City, and Gu Jinlai chose Dragonrise Mountain as his main battlefield.
• Gu Jinlai ordered Gu Chifeng to keep Dragonrise Mountain from falling, then led the Demon God Guards to establish an artillery position and defenses on a peak near the city.

Gu Jinlai and Dragon Sparrow Manor prepared for a siege as both sides laid out plans to exploit the coming battle. After arranging gun emplacements and an ambush on Dragon Soaring Mountain, Gu Jinlai set the bombardment of Dragon Roar City to begin in half an hour.

• Ye Qianqiu and Long Xiangtian urged Dragon Sparrow Manor's elders to hold Dragon Roar City and wear down Star Province's forces rather than advance recklessly.
• Long Xiangtian warned that Gu Jinlai's troop mobilization could leave Star Province vulnerable to internal turmoil, while Ye Qianqiu said Dragon Sparrow Manor would strike if the invaders split their forces.
• Gu Jinlai ordered reinforced gun emplacements built on Dragon Soaring Mountain to protect his cannons and bait Dragon Sparrow Manor's Spirit Transformation grand cultivators.
• Nian Wangbu arranged decoy cannon positions packed with explosives and prepared to bombard Dragon Roar City with forty-eight cannons.
• Gu Jinlai showed Xin Tianqi, Cheng Wanli, Nie Shisan, Lu Zhanfeng, Shi Chen, and Sha Wujin where to ambush incoming flying swords and where to retreat if the plan failed.
• Gu Jinlai and the others headed to their assigned positions, with the bombardment scheduled to begin in half an hour.