Chapter Summaries

Zhuang Jin took command of White Deer Academy and confronted Vice Head Cen Guangfu’s attempt to undermine his authority at the opening ceremony. After promising to investigate a student-selection dispute, he dismissed Cen and ended the ceremony by sharing perseverance as his secret to success.

• Cen Guangfu reassured his allies that they could make Zhuang Jin a figurehead and planned to damage his prestige at the opening ceremony.
• Zhuang Jin arrived at White Deer Academy on the Fire Phoenix Bird and impressed the teachers and students with his dramatic entrance.
• Ji Tongwei delivered a speech praising Zhuang Jin, then a Martial Student questioned whether Ji’s selection as outstanding student and representative had been unfair.
• Cen Guangfu implied that the student’s accusations needed investigation, but Zhuang Jin dismissed him as an irresponsible vice head, sealed him, and had the Fire Phoenix Bird carry him away.
• Zhuang Jin promised an answer about Ji Tongwei’s selection within ten days and declared fairness his priority.
• Zhuang Jin told the students that perseverance was his secret to success, prompting a standing ovation.

Zhuang Jin consolidated his authority at White Deer Academy through a sweeping reform, while his speech won admiration from Shangguan Yun Chang and others. Later, he joined Mai Yinghuang and four other Corpse Slaying Realm Martial Artists to discuss a secret art connected to breaking through to the Yin Spirit Realm.

• Shangguan Yun Chang watched Zhuang Jin's opening ceremony broadcast and was deeply moved by his speech, while Ge Mingzhi and Ji Tongwei recounted the events to their families.
• Zhuang Jin gave Shangguan Jin Feng evidence of Cen Guangfu's wrongdoing, prompting her to demand compensation from the Cen Family and Cen Zhongxuan to punish Cen Guangfu.
• Zhuang Jin used meetings and a reform campaign to identify allies and opponents, purge White Deer Academy's opposition, and place trusted people in key positions.
• Mai Yinghuang acquired an incomplete secret art said to aid a breakthrough to the Yin Spirit Realm and invited Zhuang Jin to an Appraising Techniques gathering.
• Mai Yinghuang hosted Zhuang Jin, Li Shicong, Bian Zhihao, Ge Zhaoqing, and Ao Zhiq, then began explaining the mysteries of the Yin Spirit.

Mai Yinghuang explained the three gates to the Great Yin God Realm and presented the incomplete Burning Art for the gathering to examine. After the others shared their insights, he announced that he would attempt a public breakthrough on the second day of the second lunar month, while Zhuang Jin suspected the secret art and Mai Yinghuang's gamble were tied to the Shangguan Family and the Sky Hanging Division.

• Mai Yinghuang described the Sense God, Origin Fusion, and Calm Heart gates and explained how martial practitioners could overcome them.
• Mai Yinghuang displayed the complete text of the incomplete Burning Art, and Zhuang Jin recognized similarities to a divine soul art Shangguan Yun Chang had taught him.
• Li Shicong, Ao Zhiq, Ge Zhaoqing, and Zhuang Jin each shared insights on the Burning Art, while Bian Zhihao warned Mai Yinghuang against risking a breakthrough.
• Mai Yinghuang announced that he would attempt to enter the Yin Spirit Realm publicly after the Dragon Boat Gathering on the second day of the second lunar month.
• Zhuang Jin suspected Mai Yinghuang's plan might involve tacit understanding with the Shangguan Family, and Ao Zhiq followed him after the gathering to request a private meeting.

Zhuang Jin refused Ao Zhiq’s attempts to trade for the Dual Spirit Union Art, then discussed the Appraising Techniques Gathering, the Treasure Gathering Basin, and martial cultivation with Shangguan Yun Chang. Shangguan Yun Chang explained how the body and divine soul limit lifespan at the Innate, Yin Spirit, and Yang God realms.

• Ao Zhiq asked Zhuang Jin for a secret technique to restore his son’s divine soul and offered information and service in exchange, but Zhuang Jin refused.
• Ao Zhiq’s spiritual pressure clashed with Zhuang Jin’s, and Zhuang Jin readied a Jade Token whose aura forced Ao Zhiq to calm down and apologize.
• Zhuang Jin told Shangguan Yun Chang about the Appraising Techniques Gathering, and she said Grandmother had arranged the incomplete Burning Art and Mai Yinghuang’s planned public breakthrough.
• Shangguan Yun Chang advised Zhuang Jin to stop short of the later revolutions of the Nine Revolutions Golden Body Art and promised him a chance to attempt the Yin Spirit breakthrough using the Hanging Sky Mirror Authority.
• Shangguan Yun Chang explained that Feng Yunyang’s descendant Feng Qingyin had been watched because of the Treasure Gathering Basin, which could raise the grade of pills.
• Shangguan Yun Chang explained that divine-soul lifespan limited Innate practitioners, while bodily lifespan restricted Yin Spirit and Yang God practitioners, and added that borrowing the Hanging Sky Mirror’s power affected lifespan.

Zhuang Jin considered how an immortal’s changes eight hundred years ago had shaped Great Qian’s martial world, then attended the central district’s dragon boat race. The chapter ended with Mai Yinghuang publicly breaking through the first Yin God Gate, Sense God, amid thunder.

• Zhuang Jin connected the immortal’s relics, Mysterious Lands, and limits on martial practitioners’ lifespans to a carefully arranged system, though he decided he was not yet strong enough to investigate its purpose.
• News spread that Mai Yinghuang would break through publicly, and the dragon boat race drew martial practitioners and commoners to Spirit Lake on the second day of the second lunar month.
• At the central district gathering, Zhuang Jin gave secondary old tree Ice Berries to visiting juniors, while Shangguan Yun Chang gave her old tree fruit to Ji Tongwei and Ge Mingzhi.
• After the race, Mai Yinghuang ascended Star Picking Tower and asked the gathered crowd to watch quietly as he prepared to break through.
• Mai Yinghuang resonated with the thunderclouds, burned his spiritual power to open the Mud Pill Palace, and broke through the Sense God gate of the Yin God Realm.

Mai Yinghuang used lightning, a Spirit Nurturing Bead, and extensive preparations to pass the first two Yin God Gates, but rain disrupted his final breakthrough and he died after directing his remaining power into the sky. Months later, Zhuang Jin had completed his accumulation at the One-Corpse Realm.

• Mai Yinghuang opened the Yin God Secret Treasury by combining the thunderclouds with the Burning Art, then used lightning and a Spirit Nurturing Bead to complete Origin Fusion.
• Cen Zhongxuan tried to interfere, but Xuanyuan Zhengji stopped him, while Shangguan Jin Feng urged everyone to keep watching.
• Mai Yinghuang began the final gate, but unexpected rain dispersed the lightning he planned to use and left him unable to complete Calm Heart.
• Mai Yinghuang flew into the sky and released his remaining energy, dying as the observers watched; Ge Zhaoqing and Ao Zhiq later joined the others in raising an empty tomb for him.
• Months passed, and Zhuang Jin completed his accumulation at the One-Corpse Realm of the Innate Corpse Slaying Realm.

Zhuang Jin slew the Middle Corpse Worm White Worm, reached the Two Corpses stage of the Innate Corpse Slaying Realm, and planned to seek Blood Changing Realm Exotic Beast Meat during the Funiu Mountain Range’s Qi Tide to advance his body-tempering art. After the Qi Tide triggered upheavals at Cloud Pool Mountain and White Deer Academy began its year-end examination, Zhuang Jin left the students under protection and ventured deeper into the mountains.

• Zhuang Jin slew the Middle Corpse Worm White Worm, refined his Innate Gang Yuan, and decided to leave the Lower Corpse Worm Red Worm for later.
• Zhuang Jin considered hunting Blood Changing Realm Exotic Beasts during the Qi Tide to accelerate his Nine Revolutions Golden Body Art.
• Shangguan Yun Chang told Zhuang Jin that Cui Pangui was troubling Ao Zhiq and that upheavals at Cloud Pool Mountain threatened the Immortal's Ruins; Zhuang Jin left both matters to her judgment.
• The December Qi Tide caused violent tremors and Ice Flow Slurry eruptions around Cloud Pool Mountain, drawing Martial Artists into the dangerous area.
• During White Deer Academy's year-end examination, Zhuang Jin assigned the Purple Kangaroo Rat to watch over Ji Tongwei, then left to explore deeper in the Funiu Mountain Range.

Zhuang Jin investigated the Qi Tide at Cloud Pool Mountain, then hunted medicinal herbs at Tianmen Mountain and fought a powerful Kui Ox. He killed the beast and left with its corpse, but encountered a panicked figure near the edge of the Second Layer Death Zone.

• Zhuang Jin found that Ice Flow Slurry had erupted at Cloud Pool Mountain, then avoided the powerful Exotic Beasts there and went to Tianmen Mountain to fish with medicinal herbs.
• Zhuang Jin escaped a third-stage Blood Changing Realm Sky-Rending Dragon King after luring it away with herbs.
• Zhuang Jin encountered a second-stage Blood Changing Realm Kui Ox and fought it using his sword techniques, Ultimate Ice attribute, and Sacred Spirit Pearl.
• Zhuang Jin identified the Kui Ox's shifting weak point, froze it in place, and killed it with a sword strike that destroyed its Five Viscera and Six Entrails.
• Zhuang Jin sealed and froze the Kui Ox's corpse, then encountered a panicked figure as he was about to leave the Second Layer Death Zone.

Zhuang Jin encountered Ao Zhiq, who had stolen a Divine Essence Fruit, then learned how the Spring Spirit Autumn Monster’s fruit and Ao Zhiq’s escape were connected. The chapter ended with Zhuang Jin reflecting on Ao Zhiq’s motives and whether he could truly escape the forces pursuing him.

• Zhuang Jin met Ao Zhiq carrying a Kui Ox corpse, and the two parted cautiously without fighting over the treasure in Ao Zhiq’s pouch.
• Zhuang Jin and Shangguan Yun Chang grilled Kui Ox meat, while Shangguan Yun Chang sent some to the Ji Family for Ji Tongwei, who had placed first in the assessment.
• Shangguan Yun Chang told Zhuang Jin that Ao Zhiq had stolen the Divine Essence Fruit from the Spring Spirit Autumn Monster after discovering Li Shicong’s plan to harvest it.
• Shangguan Yun Chang explained that the provincial governor and Li Shicong had placed a bounty on Ao Zhiq, whose injured soul might be healed by the fruit.
• Zhuang Jin learned that Shangguan Jin Feng was tracking Ao Zhiq and protecting his son, and he wondered whether Ao Zhiq could escape the forces pursuing him.

Zhuang Jin advanced the Nine Revolutions Golden Body Art to its eighth revolution and heard about Ao Zhiq’s escape with the Divine Essence Fruit. Ao Zhiq healed his divine soul by consuming the fruit and set out for Capital Yong’an, but two figures intercepted him and seized control of his body.

• Zhuang Jin broke through to the eighth revolution of the Nine Revolutions Golden Body Art with the help of Kui Ox meat.
• Li Shicong, Bian Zhihao, and Ge Zhaoqing visited Zhuang Jin, where Li Shicong revealed that Ao Zhiq might be killed and the Divine Essence Fruit extracted from his corpse.
• Ao Zhiq swallowed the Divine Essence Fruit, healed his divine soul, and retained much of its medicinal power as a foundation for a possible breakthrough to the Yin God Realm.
• Ao Zhiq decided to leave for Capital Yong’an to seek greater opportunities.
• Two figures confronted Ao Zhiq as he left his cave, and one of them immobilized him before declaring that he would not die.

Zhuang Jin received a Kui Ox Drum from Shangguan Yun Chang, while Bian Zhihao discovered the Treasure Gathering Basin and centuries-nurtured Precious Pills at Luoxia Mountain and slaughtered witnesses before fleeing. The news set the Prefecture Yamen and Cang Prefecture’s great powers hunting for Bian Zhihao, with powerful figures preparing to act.

• Shangguan Yun Chang gave Zhuang Jin a Kui Ox Drum that could briefly hinder powerful opponents, and Zhuang Jin accepted it before returning to cultivation.
• A cave collapsed at Luoxia Mountain, revealing the Treasure Gathering Basin and Precious Pills inside a centuries-old corpse’s cave.
• Bian Zhihao reached the cave first, took the basin and pills, then lured nearby Martial Artists close and killed them to conceal his discovery.
• Bian Zhihao destroyed the cave and fled with the treasures as news of the massacre and the Treasure Gathering Basin spread through the prefectural city.
• The Prefecture Yamen and the Three Great Prominent Families of Cang Prefecture launched a search for Bian Zhihao, while Xuanyuan Zhengji, Shangguan Jin Feng, Cen Zhongxuan, and Ge Daogan prepared to move.

Zhuang Jin joined the contest to capture Bian Zhihao and secured the Treasure Gathering Basin and its Precious Pills for the Cang Prefecture side. After receiving powerful rewards, he refined the Super Gang Yuan Pill and began rapidly building his cultivation.

• Shangguan Jin Feng asked Zhuang Jin to join the pursuit of Bian Zhihao, and he agreed to represent the Shangguan Family.
• Li Shicong and other fighters from Cang Prefecture confronted Bian Zhihao, while Lan Prefecture fighters repeatedly intervened to help him escape.
• Zhuang Jin fought a white-browed elder and used the Kui Ox Drum to create an opening, then killed Bian Zhihao after he chose not to flee.
• Bian Zhihao passed the Treasure Gathering Basin and Precious Pills to Zhuang Jin and warned him to beware of Li Shicong.
• The leaders of Cang Prefecture awarded the Treasure Gathering Basin to the Shangguan Family, and Zhuang Jin received three Precious Pills and a Wood Spirit Pearl.
• Zhuang Jin fed the Wood Spirit Pearl to the Sacred Spirit Pearl, then swallowed the Super Gang Yuan Pill to accelerate his cultivation.

Zhuang Jin refused Li Shicong’s suspicious offer of an Essence Fruit in exchange for a soul-strengthening secret art, while Li Shicong secretly involved Ge Zhaoqing in an unknown scheme. Zhuang Jin then slew his final corpse worm, reached the Third Corpse Slaying Realm, and began planning his eventual breakthrough to the Yin Spirit Realm.

• Li Shicong visited Zhuang Jin after reaching the Third Corpse Slaying Realm and offered an Essence Fruit for Zhuang Jin’s soul-strengthening secret art, claiming Ao Zhiq had told him about it.
• Zhuang Jin grew suspicious of Li Shicong’s stable aura, the fruit’s allure, and his explanation, so he refused the exchange.
• Li Shicong offered Ge Zhaoqing an Energy Fruit, and Ge Zhaoqing considered using it as he prepared to pursue leadership of the Ge Family.
• Zhuang Jin used the Super Gang Yuan Pill to complete his accumulation at the Second Corpse Slaying Realm, then slew the Red Worm and advanced to the Third Corpse Slaying Realm.
• Zhuang Jin gained a Leakless Body and assessed his strength, resolving to build up his cultivation and pursue the Yin Spirit Realm.

Zhuang Jin and Shangguan Yun Chang uncovered Li Shicong’s scheme to turn Martial Artists into human puppets using the Spring Spirit Autumn Monster’s Three Origin Fruits. With the Shangguan, Cen, and Ge Families preparing to expose Li Shicong and Xuanyuan Zhengji, Zhuang Jin agreed to serve as bait in a plan to draw them out.

• Zhuang Jin told Shangguan Yun Chang about Li Shicong’s suspicious interest in the Dual Spirit Union Art and the Essence Fruit, and she brought the matter to Shangguan Jin Feng.
• Shangguan Jin Feng investigated the Spring Spirit Autumn Monster and concluded that Li Shicong had refined its Spirit Spring Mother Tree to control people who consumed its Three Origin Fruits.
• Shangguan Yun Chang explained that Li Shicong had likely made Ao Zhiq a human puppet, targeted Zhuang Jin and Ge Zhaoqing as further candidates, and was working with Xuanyuan Zhengji.
• Shangguan Jin Feng informed the Cen and Ge Families, whose leaders agreed to help trap Li Shicong and Xuanyuan Zhengji.
• Zhuang Jin accepted a plan to conceal his breakthrough, complete his cultivation with another Super Gang Yuan Pill, and go out with Li Shicong as bait while the family leaders waited in ambush.

Zhuang Jin lured Li Shicong into revealing his human puppets and master-puppet fusion, then struck him with a Jade Token that could unleash a half-step Yin Spirit Realm attack. Li Shicong’s body was destroyed, but he appeared to return through Ge Zhaoqing and Ao Zhiq as Zhuang Jin sounded the Kui Ox Drum.

• After a month of cultivation, Zhuang Jin completed his accumulation for the Third Corpse Slaying Realm but delayed attempting a breakthrough to avoid attracting the attention of powerful observers.
• Zhuang Jin agreed to join Li Shicong and Ge Zhaoqing on a hunt for a Kui Ox, while Shangguan Jin Feng, Cen Zhongxuan, and Ge Daogan secretly followed them and tracked Xuanyuan Zhengji.
• Deep in the Funiu Mountain Range, Zhuang Jin exposed Li Shicong’s plan to refine him into a human puppet and revealed that Ge Zhaoqing had already become one.
• Li Shicong summoned Ao Zhiq and linked himself with both human puppets, forming a Swaying Spirit Tree phantom that suppressed Zhuang Jin’s icy-snow momentum.
• Zhuang Jin activated his prepared Jade Token and annihilated Li Shicong’s body with a half-step Yin Spirit Realm strike.
• Li Shicong returned through Ge Zhaoqing and Ao Zhiq, who threatened Zhuang Jin in unison, and Zhuang Jin sounded the Kui Ox Drum.

Zhuang Jin used an array of treasures to destroy Li Shicong’s remaining puppets, while Shangguan Jin Feng and the other family heads subdued Xuanyuan Zhengji. After learning that Xuanyuan would remain Provincial Governor and that the families had divided the rewards, Zhuang Jin resolved to keep a low profile until he reached the Yin Spirit Realm.

• Zhuang Jin used the Yin-Yang Soul Cleansing Jade and Sacred Spirit Pearl to withstand the puppets’ attacks, then trapped and destroyed ‘Ao Zhiq’ and ‘Ge Zhaoqing’ with the Ice Soul Sword Domain.
• Shangguan Jin Feng, Cen Zhongxuan, and Ge Daogan exposed Xuanyuan Zhengji and forced him into the Funiu Mountain Range, where they defeated him and made him surrender benefits.
• Zhuang Jin returned to Cang Prefecture City while the three family heads dealt with Xuanyuan Zhengji.
• Shangguan Yun Chang told Zhuang Jin that Xuanyuan would keep his post because killing or replacing him carried risks, and that the three families had divided the seized benefits.
• Zhuang Jin accepted his share of the rewards but decided to lie low and focus on breaking through to the Yin Spirit Realm.

Zhuang Jin completed the ninth revolution of the Nine Revolutions Golden Body Art and planned to leave Cang Prefecture City to break through to the Yin Spirit Realm. As the Cen Family and Xuanyuan Zhengji schemed around him, Shangguan Jin Feng decided how to handle the threat she believed he posed to the Shangguan Family.

• Zhuang Jin completed his Flawless Golden Body with the Super Body Strengthening Pill and planned to leave during the Qingming public memorial to break through outside the city.
• Cen Zhongxuan tried to persuade Ge Daogan to turn the Shangguan Family against Zhuang Jin, but Ge Daogan refused to join his scheme.
• Xuanyuan Zhengji learned that Zhuang Jin likely carried the Yin-Yang Soul Cleansing Jade and planned to seize it amid discord between the Three Great Prominent Families.
• Shangguan Jin Feng investigated the rumors about Zhuang Jin and reviewed his records while weighing the risk he posed against Shangguan Yun Chang's feelings for him.
• Shangguan Jin Feng decided to act against Zhuang Jin to protect the Shangguan Family's ancestral foundation.

Zhuang Jin used the Qingming memorial ceremony as cover to hide in Cloud Pool Mountain and break through to the Yin God Realm. He passed all three gates, but the world’s limits prevented his body from advancing further.

• Zhuang Jin sensed that Shangguan Jin Feng might be turning against him and prepared cautiously for trouble.
• Zhuang Jin left for Funiu Mountain Range on Qingming and used the Sacred Spirit Pearl to conceal himself while he traveled to Cloud Pool Mountain.
• Xuanyuan Zhengji slipped away from the public memorial ceremony, while Shangguan Jin Feng let a Cen Family member delay her pursuit.
• Zhuang Jin recalled the dangers faced by other cultivators seeking Yin God and resolved to pursue the breakthrough despite the risks.
• Zhuang Jin opened the Yin God Secret Treasury, resisted his inner demons, fused his origins, and calmed his Divine Origin to pass all three gates.
• Zhuang Jin achieved the Yin God Realm, but stopped his body’s transformation when he sensed that the world’s environment constrained it.

Zhuang Jin examined the power of his new Yin God Realm breakthrough and discovered that his soul and domain far surpassed those of ordinary practitioners. When Xuanyuan Zhengji confronted him for the Yin-Yang Soul Cleansing Jade, Zhuang Jin overwhelmed his domain and prepared to test his strength against him.

• Zhuang Jin explored his Sea of Souls, Yin God Domain, divine essence, and Martial Dao Glazed Golden Core after breaking through to the Yin God Realm.
• Zhuang Jin assessed his strength against Cang Prefecture’s four other Yin God practitioners and believed he could challenge them.
• Xuanyuan Zhengji tracked Zhuang Jin to Cloud Pool Mountain and demanded the Yin-Yang Soul Cleansing Jade, revealing that Cen Zhongxuan had supplied the information and hinting at the Shangguan Family’s stance.
• Zhuang Jin confirmed that he had just broken through and invited Xuanyuan Zhengji to test his methods.
• Xuanyuan Zhengji and Zhuang Jin spread their domains, but Zhuang Jin’s much larger, stronger ice domain crushed Xuanyuan Zhengji’s domain.
• Zhuang Jin unleashed thousands of ice swords toward Xuanyuan Zhengji.

Zhuang Jin defeated Xuanyuan Zhengji, tested his new Yin Spirit Realm powers against the Chaos Ape King, and returned to Cang Prefecture City during the Qingming public memorial ceremony. He publicly confronted Xuanyuan Zhengji and revealed his breakthrough, leaving the crowd stunned.

• Xuanyuan Zhengji used the Nine-Bend Vine Dragon to defend against Zhuang Jin, but Zhuang Jin's domain-powered sword attack shattered it and injured him, forcing him to flee.
• Zhuang Jin chose to let Xuanyuan Zhengji escape, then challenged the approaching Chaos Ape King and discovered that its inner heaven and earth resisted his domain while its soul remained vulnerable.
• Zhuang Jin used a God Slaying Thorn to stun the Chaos Ape King, withdrew as more Adamantine Realm Exotic Beasts approached, and headed for Cang Prefecture City.
• Xuanyuan Zhengji returned bloodied to the public memorial ceremony and accused Cen Zhongxuan and Shangguan Jin Feng of setting him up.
• Zhuang Jin arrived on the Fire Phoenix Bird, demanded an explanation from Xuanyuan Zhengji, and revealed his Yin Spirit Realm cultivation to the stunned crowd.