Chapter Summaries

Lin Fan mastered the Calamity Immortal Soldier Talisman and chose Chen Quan to become its spirit. The talisman was completed, while the Bloodlight Demon Saint waited for a possible chance to become one too.

• Xi Yun welcomed Lin Fan back, and they spent the evening together.
• Lin Fan spent 220 years of lifespan to master the Spirit Control Secret Records and learned the Calamity Immortal Soldier Talisman's rune.
• Lin Fan realized the talisman needed a complete living soul and enough soul power, then summoned Chen Quan and offered him the role of talisman spirit.
• Lin Fan chose Chen Quan over the Bloodlight Demon Saint and refined the talisman, with Chen Quan transforming into its spirit.
• The completed Calamity Immortal Soldier Talisman returned to Lin Fan's palm, and he told the Bloodlight Demon Saint it might become a talisman spirit in the future.

Lin Fan learned the Divine Bone’s legendary origins and chose to use it to awaken his third Dao Fruit rather than save it as an item for Dao Integration. The Fusion Dao Fruit appeared, and he immediately used it to combine two techniques into Flowing Cloud Sword Dao.

• Lin Fan examined the Divine Bone, and Bloodlight Demon Saint identified it as a fragment of ancient divine remains that could greatly improve the chances of Dao Integration.
• Bloodlight Demon Saint explained that Lin Fan’s Primal Divine Statue could also serve as an item for Dao Integration, though it risked backlash, while refining Demonic Beast Blood Essence was a safer but weaker option.
• Lin Fan decided to prioritize obtaining a third Dao Fruit and integrated the Divine Bone into the panel.
• The panel revealed the Fusion Dao Fruit, which let Lin Fan fuse mastered techniques by spending lifespan and greatly increased the fused technique’s power without side effects.
• Lin Fan spent one hundred years of lifespan to fuse the Flowing Cloud Sword Scripture and Blood Gathering Art into Flowing Cloud Sword Dao.

The Dark Green Paper Figure exposed and captured spies from the Yunmeng Sect in the Paper Making Building, killing those who refused to talk. After it left with surviving spies, Xue Jie told Lin Fan to take charge of the building, and Lin Fan suspected Paper Figure Peak held something the Yunmeng Sect wanted.

• The Dark Green Paper Figure confronted Xue Jie about spies at Paper Figure Peak and warned him about his responsibility for the Paper Making Building.
• Xue Jie called Lin Fan over, and Lin Fan stood by as the slaves gathered in the workshop.
• The Dark Green Paper Figure exposed a slave as Zhao Xuankong, a Yunmeng Sect Direct Disciple, and restrained him with threads.
• After Zhao Xuankong refused to reveal his plans, the Dark Green Paper Figure cut him apart and captured several more Yunmeng Sect spies.
• One or two spies revealed parts of their missions, and the Dark Green Paper Figure left with the survivors.
• Xue Jie told Lin Fan to take charge of the Paper Making Building, and Lin Fan wondered what the Yunmeng Sect sought at Paper Figure Peak.

Lin Fan learned that Yunmeng Sect was using the Inspection Office’s pursuit of the vanished Insect Cultivator to pressure Ling Xiao Sect, while the Paper Figure Peak’s leader warned that internal discord could threaten the sect. After taking charge of six workshops, Lin Fan intervened when a foreman tried to assault a newcomer’s sister, leaving the workshop silent.

• Xue Jie told Lin Fan that Yunmeng Sect had contacted the Inspection Office and might be using the Insect Cultivator case to target Ling Xiao Sect.
• A Dark Green Paper Figure reported the spies and the Inspection Office’s claims to Paper Figure Peak’s leader, who warned that turmoil within the sect could bring it down.
• Lin Fan stayed at Paper Figure Peak and took responsibility for six workshops after Xue Jie lost some authority over the Paper Making Building.
• Xi Yun alerted Lin Fan to a confrontation downstairs, where a foreman and his men attacked a newcomer and seized the newcomer’s sister.
• Lin Fan shouted at the foreman, and the workshop fell silent.

Lin Fan stopped an attack on two unusual newcomers in the Paper Making Building and ordered Xi Yun to keep them alive. He then advanced his sword technique and Black and White Yama Art, while deciding not to use the Green Light Divine Statue to join the dao because of its dangerous cause and effect.

• Lin Fan struck down the sharp-beaked slave and warned that anyone causing trouble in the engine room would bring about their own destruction.
• Lin Fan told the guarded siblings that they had to follow the Paper Making Building’s rules, then ordered Xi Yun to make sure they did not die.
• Xi Yun explained that the pair seemed more like a master and servant than siblings and had likely been tricked into becoming slaves.
• Lin Fan spent 160 years of lifespan to pre-empt Starry Sky Sword Control Technique and practiced controlling a sword with his heart.
• Lin Fan spent another 220 years to advance Black and White Yama Art to the seventh layer.
• Lin Fan rejected using the Green Light Divine Statue to join the dao unless he could find no other option, fearing irreversible cause and effect.

Lin Fan learned from a Moon Raven that a young woman at the Paper Making Building was the daughter of a Commandery Governor and was plotting to escape with her guard, Wang Jie. The next morning, Lin Fan went to the Paper Making Building with Xi Yun at his side.

• Lin Fan spent the night with Xi Yun, then sent a talisman transformed into a Moon Raven to spy on two people at the Paper Making Building.
• The young woman asked Wang Jie whether he liked her and offered herself to him, but he slapped himself, reaffirmed his vow to protect her, and refused to take advantage of her.
• After the Moon Raven returned, Lin Fan learned that the young woman was a Commandery Governor's daughter and wondered how she had ended up at Paper Figure Peak.
• The next morning, Lin Fan rose from bed with Xi Yun and went to the Paper Making Building with her following close behind.

Lin Fan obtained books on the Paper Figure Art, was placed in charge of the Paper Making Building, and learned the art’s basics through the Pre-emptive Dao Fruit. He made a paper tiger and brought it to life with his blood, filling the building with a roar.

• Lin Fan had Xi Yun buy fifteen hundred books about the Paper Figure Art after he nearly ran out of books to copy.
• A Dark Green Paper Figure told Lin Fan that Xue Jie had been confined for three months and assigned Lin Fan to manage the Paper Making Building.
• The Dark Green Paper Figure gave Lin Fan a Basic Paper Figure Art manual and signed him up for Elder Liang’s lesson at Ascension Tower three days later.
• Lin Fan used the Pre-emptive Dao Fruit to advance the Basic Paper Figure Art to entry level and studied how to create paper figures.
• Lin Fan shaped a paper tiger from special paper and used his blood to give it eyes, triggering a burst of blood light and a roar that shook the Paper Making Building.

After his first paper tiger tried to attack him, Lin Fan learned that the Basic Paper Figure Art contained a hidden flaw that could let its creator control cultivators and use them to reach the Dao Integration Realm. He fused the art with the Shadowless Escape Technique, creating the apparently complete Shadowless Paper Figure Art.

• Lin Fan refined a white paper tiger, which entered his sea of consciousness and attacked him.
• The Bloodlight Demon Saint destroyed the tiger and identified a hidden flaw in the Basic Paper Figure Art: it lacked a control method and could make its cultivators vulnerable to backlash or possession.
• The Bloodlight Demon Saint warned Lin Fan that the art could let its creator draw power from paper figures refined by other cultivators to pursue the Dao Integration Realm.
• Lin Fan used his Fusion Dao Fruit to combine the Shadowless Escape Technique with the Basic Paper Figure Art, spending one hundred years of lifespan.
• Lin Fan checked his cultivation panel and found the new Shadowless Paper Figure Art in place of the two original techniques.

The Dark Green Paper Figure reported on Lin Fan’s progress as Paper Figure Peak prepared for rebirth, while the Paper Figure Child’s blood-feeding ritual killed nearly a hundred slaves. Three days later, Lin Fan attended Elder Liang’s Paper Figure Art lecture at Ascension Tower, where disciples gathered to learn her craft and seek her inheritance.

• The Dark Green Paper Figure told a mysterious figure that it had taught Lin Fan the technique, and the figure declared its plan to elevate Paper Figure Art into the strongest art.
• The Paper Figure Child summoned the slaves to a Daoist temple, where its chanting drove them to smash their heads and it absorbed their blood.
• A woman followed the slaves, but an unseen figure covered her mouth and kept the Paper Figure Child from noticing her.
• Lin Fan watched the ritual and realized the Paper Figure Child was growing stronger and killing more slaves with each feeding.
• Three days later, Lin Fan entered Ascension Tower, where disciples gathered for Elder Liang’s Paper Figure Art lecture and hoped to win her favor and inheritance.

Lin Fan attended Elder Liang’s lesson on the Paper Figure Art, where Guo Wei and Gu Lian argued over two methods of cultivation. Lin Fan proposed combining them, but the disciples dismissed his idea, and Elder Liang expressed disappointment.

• Elder Liang arrived at Ascension Tower and recognized Lin Fan as a new Paper Figure Peak disciple who had brought the peak a unique cultivation inheritance.
• Elder Liang explained that the Paper Figure Art could be cultivated by using paper figures as clones or by refining oneself into a paper figure.
• Guo Wei argued that paper figures worked best as clones, while Gu Lian favored transforming oneself into an indestructible paper figure.
• Elder Liang asked Lin Fan for his opinion, and he suggested combining the two methods.
• The disciples mocked Lin Fan’s proposal, and Elder Liang said it would take exceptional talent to make it work before Lin Fan withdrew into silence.

An injured Paper Figure Peak disciple sought refuge with Master Xing, who agreed while secretly binding him with a pill and ordering him to spy. Meanwhile, Lin Fan advanced the Shadowless Paper Figure Art and reached the Ninth Grade of the Cloud Soaring Realm.

• A wounded disciple claimed Paper Figure Peak had tortured him and cut off his resources, and asked Master Xing to take him in.
• Master Xing agreed but ordered the disciple to remain at Paper Figure Peak and gather intelligence for the sect, then gave him a Golden Cloud Blood Pill that placed his life under Master Xing's control.
• After the disciple left, a woman in a jade-green dress warned Master Xing that he was untrustworthy, but Master Xing said the pill made him useful.
• Lin Fan used the Pre-emptive Dao Fruit to advance the Shadowless Paper Figure Art to entry level and outlined a two-headed tiger paper figure.
• Lin Fan discovered that his mental power had grown and his cultivation had advanced to the Ninth Grade of the Cloud Soaring Realm.

Lin Fan strengthened his paper figure and divine soul, then resolved to cultivate four arts to their limits before pursuing Dao integration. At the Paper Making Building, a series of skinning murders continued, and Lin Fan began considering how to investigate the killer.

• Lin Fan refined the Two-headed Paper Tiger without suffering backlash and advanced the Black and White Yama Art to the eighth layer.
• Lin Fan decided to master talismans, swordsmanship, ghost-cultivation arts, and the Paper Figure Art before seeking Dao integration.
• Lin Fan told Xi Yun he would petition to make her his personal maidservant so she could leave the Paper Making Building.
• After another corpse was found skinned, Lin Fan brought Xi Yun into his cultivation room to discuss the string of murders.

Lin Fan uncovered Yunmeng Sect spies infiltrating the Paper Making Building and secretly hunted them down. After killing eighteen, he suspected their focus on Paper Figure Peak concealed a larger plan.

• Old Dog Wang met a new female slave who revealed herself as a black figure, killed him, and planned to collect ten more human skins.
• Lin Fan caught the black figure, searched its soul, learned it was a Yunmeng Sect spy, and destroyed it.
• Lin Fan tracked down another spy using an insect call and a two-headed paper tiger, then searched its soul.
• Lin Fan secretly killed Yunmeng Sect spies over the following days as they tried to damage the Paper Making Building.
• After killing his eighteenth spy, Lin Fan wondered why the Yunmeng Sect focused on Paper Figure Peak and suspected something was amiss.

Lin Fan formed the Black and White Yama Dharma Body after perfecting the Black and White Yama Art, then repeatedly tried to fuse the dangerous Sky Swallowing Demonic Art. After many costly failures, he successfully combined it with the Desolate Heaven Bright King Dharma Form to create the Sky Swallowing Bright King Art.

• Xue Jie visited Lin Fan and said the higher-ups had assigned him to manage Beast Taming Building, so he would not return to Paper Making Building.
• Lin Fan spent the remaining time copying books before using 250 years of lifespan to perfect the Black and White Yama Art.
• Lin Fan formed the Black and White Yama Dharma Body and realized it could suppress ghost cultivators in battle.
• Lin Fan attempted to fuse the Sky Swallowing Demonic Art, spending hundreds of years of lifespan as the Fusion Dao Fruit repeatedly failed.
• The Fusion Dao Fruit successfully fused the Sky Swallowing Demonic Art and Desolate Heaven Bright King Dharma Form into the Sky Swallowing Bright King Art.

After fusing his cultivation arts into the Sky Swallowing Bright King Art, Lin Fan handed control of the Paper Making Building to Ding Yu and focused on copying books to gain longevity. As Ding Yu expanded his influence among the slaves, Lin Fan suspected Paper Figure Peak was draining their vitality, while a weakened man prepared to help a girl escape.

• Lin Fan confirmed that the Sky Swallowing Bright King Art had replaced his two former arts while preserving his Bright King Dharma Form and removing the arts’ flaws.
• A Dark Green Paper Figure assigned Ding Yu to assist Lin Fan at the Paper Making Building, and Lin Fan arranged a place for him to stay.
• Lin Fan gave Xi Yun a Maidservant Token so she could leave the Paper Making Building and serve in his cave dwelling.
• Lin Fan let Ding Yu manage the building and continued copying books, gaining around eighty years of longevity each day as Ding Yu recruited slaves and selected women to serve as cauldrons.
• Lin Fan suspected Ding Yu was fattening the slaves to supply the Paper Figure Child with vitality and blood, and concluded that a powerful figure at Paper Figure Peak was nearing the Unification Realm.
• A weakened man told a graceful young girl that the Paper Figure Arts had drained the slaves’ strength and promised to find a chance to help her escape.

A Paper Figure Peak disciple reported rising Yunmeng Sect activity and heard that the peak’s sacrifices had been forgotten in the current age. Lin Fan learned that Xi Yun was really Bai Zhen of the imperial city’s Bai Family, then a violent explosion shook Paper Figure Peak as he and Bai Zhen woke.

• A dark-green paper figure reported increased Yunmeng Sect spies to a mysterious white figure, who warned it against asking questions.
• The white figure recalled Paper Figure Peak’s past battles and lamented that the age had made its reputation and Paper Figure Art forgotten.
• Xi Yun asked Lin Fan why he had kept her by his side, and he said she resembled someone and might eventually be sent away.
• Xi Yun revealed that her birth name was Bai Zhen and that she came from one of the imperial city’s four great families.
• Lin Fan reassured Bai Zhen that he would not mistreat her, and she embraced him.
• A violent explosion shook Paper Figure Peak while Lin Fan and Bai Zhen were in bed, and Lin Fan quickly dressed and handed her clothes.

Yunmeng Sect launched a major assault on Paper Figure Peak, and Lin Fan discovered that he was one of their targets. After killing two Yunmeng Sect Direct Disciples, he chose to hide and observe the battle, leaving his next move dependent on whether Paper Figure Peak survived.

• Lin Fan sensed the attack on Paper Figure Peak and told Xi Yun to stay behind and conceal her connection to him.
• Two Yunmeng Sect Direct Disciples recognized Lin Fan from a wanted portrait and demanded that he reveal his secrets.
• Lin Fan used his movement art to seize the two men, searched their memories, and learned that nearly four hundred disciples and seven mighty experts were attacking Paper Figure Peak.
• Lin Fan killed the two Direct Disciples and learned that the Yunmeng Sect was targeting the Paper Making Building and trying to capture him.
• Lin Fan avoided enemy search parties and hid in a secluded place, planning to remain at Paper Figure Peak if it held or infiltrate the Yunmeng Sect if it fell.
• Lin Fan sent Ancient Demon Talismans to investigate the fighting while keeping himself out of the battle.

Lin Fan tracked the battle between the Yunmeng Sect and Paper Figure Peak as a hidden fourth enemy turned the fight against the peak’s elders. Amid the chaos, Brother Jie and the Commandery Governor’s daughter nearly escaped, but a paper figure attacked them before a black shadow intervened.

• Lin Fan learned that three Yunmeng Sect experts were fighting three elders of Paper Figure Peak and suspected more enemies remained hidden.
• A fourth Yunmeng Sect expert appeared and engulfed the three elders in black radiance.
• Brother Jie led the Commandery Governor’s daughter along a secret route away from the Paper Making Building, but collapsed before they could cross the final cliff.
• Brother Jie tried to protect the girl from a pursuing paper figure, and she ran ahead as he fell wounded.
• A black shadow appeared and shattered the paper figure, annihilating its divine soul.

Lin Fan discovered that the Yunmeng Sect was abducting Paper Figure Peak disciples while the peak was under attack, and he secretly protected Xi Yun from another attacker. The battle culminated in the detonation of a powerful Paper Figure Child, collapsing several peaks.

• Lin Fan noticed that practitioners from Lingxiao Peak and Luoyun Peak had not arrived to help Paper Figure Peak.
• Guo Wei led a group of Paper Figure Peak disciples away, but two Yunmeng Sect experts intercepted them and forced them onto a flying boat.
• Lin Fan realized the Yunmeng Sect's actions suggested a more complicated plan than a straightforward attack on Paper Figure Peak.
• A Yunmeng Sect cultivator broke into the courtyard and tried to abduct Xi Yun, but Lin Fan killed him before he could harm her.
• An argument erupted atop Paper Figure Peak, and a Paper Figure Child detonated, sending a devastating shockwave through the surrounding peaks.

After the attack devastated Paper Figure Peak, Lin Fan was promoted to direct disciple and tasked with rebuilding the Paper Making Building. A month later, he suspected the injured Paper Figure Peak Master could no longer control the Paper Figure Child and chose to advance his Flowing Cloud Sword Dao.

• Lingxiao Peak and Luoyun Peak cultivators arrived too late to prevent the destruction of Paper Figure Peak, and Lin Fan later found Xi Yun safe in the detached residence.
• Two days after the battle, the surviving cultivators counted hundreds of casualties, including Ding Yu, while the Paper Figure Peak Master remained gravely injured and secluded.
• The Dark Green Paper Figure promoted Lin Fan to direct disciple, gave him foundational arts, and ordered him to rebuild the Paper Making Building and train suitable slaves.
• Lin Fan received 531 new slaves, rebuilt the Paper Making Building, and resumed production.
• A month after the upheaval, Lin Fan noted that the Paper Figure Child had not devoured Blood Qi and suspected the Paper Figure Peak Master remained badly injured.
• Lin Fan resolved not to reveal his strength before reaching the Dao Integration Realm and asked the Pre-emptive Dao Fruit to advance the Flowing Cloud Sword Dao to the entry level.