Chapter Summaries

The Crimson Gold Puppet’s trap exposed Old Ghost Wang and drew the mutants into a fight, but Old Ghost Wang escaped and pursued the Endless Soul Flower. At the flower, the Lord of Monks swallowed both Old Ghost Wang and the Crimson Gold Puppet, leaving Lin Fan to decide whether to risk confronting it.

• The Crimson Gold Puppet revealed that he had used the spirit treasure as bait, and Old Ghost Wang summoned mutants through the Black Demon Gate before devouring them to strengthen himself.
• Old Ghost Wang tricked the Crimson Gold Puppet with a phantom body and fled toward the Endless Soul Flower, with Qin Yan and the Crimson Gold Puppet in pursuit.
• Lin Fan entered the next small world and found the Endless Soul Flower guarded by a transformed Undying Monk whose illusion was becoming real.
• The Ink-Clad Monk defeated and swallowed the Crimson Gold Puppet and Old Ghost Wang, then trapped Qin Yan and another Bianlin Guard in an illusion.
• Bloodlight Demon Saint identified the monk as a phantom body of the Lord of Monks and urged Lin Fan to seize the chance to hold it back and take the flower.

Lin Fan escaped an illusion cast by the Undying Monk and realized the apparent Bloodlight Demon Saint had been trying to lure him into danger. After the Crimson Gold Puppet and Old Ghost Wang fought to a standstill, both tried to recruit Lin Fan, leaving him to choose whom to trust.

• Lin Fan saw through the illusion by recognizing that the supposed Bloodlight Demon Saint was fake and that the Endless Soul Flower was bait.
• The illusion shattered, revealing Qin Yan and another Bianlin Guard trapped, the Crimson Gold Puppet fighting Old Ghost Wang, and the flower surrounded by mind-bending patterns.
• Lin Fan scattered paper figures and talismans as the Crimson Gold Puppet and Old Ghost Wang clashed, each dealing heavy damage to the other.
• Old Ghost Wang sensed Lin Fan nearby and offered him the flower and a path to immortality if he helped defeat the Puppet Palace Master.
• The Crimson Gold Puppet ordered Lin Fan to retrieve the flower, while Old Ghost Wang urged him to join his side, and Lin Fan considered their offers.

Lin Fan played the Puppet Palace Master and Old Ghost Wang against each other to secure rewards, then stole several petals from the Endless Soul Flower. The Lord of Monks summoned a horde of Undying Monks, forcing everyone to flee, with Lin Fan and Old Ghost Wang escaping in the same direction.

• Lin Fan negotiated with the Puppet Palace Master for Dao Crystals and the Nirvana Soul Condensing Method, but Old Ghost Wang warned that the Puppet Palace would eventually turn him into nourishment.
• Old Ghost Wang offered Lin Fan a Black Blood Jade Crystal, techniques, and entry to a wondrous region in the Black Demon Fog in exchange for the flower.
• Lin Fan accepted the Puppet Palace Master's technique manual and rushed toward the Endless Soul Flower while the Puppet Palace Master fought Old Ghost Wang.
• Lin Fan used multiple decoys to evade the Undying Monk's Void Illusory Realm and snatched several petals, but the monk blasted him away.
• The Lord of Monks summoned numerous Undying Monks to attack everyone, so the Puppet Palace Master fled with Qin Yan while Old Ghost Wang escaped in the direction Lin Fan had taken.

Lin Fan hid in a cavern and refined three Endless Soul Flower petals, advancing his divine soul to Spirit Separation and gaining the power to attack from afar. After giving Bloodlight Demon Saint a petal and saving the last one, Lin Fan tried to refine a Buddhist Treasure, whose prayer bead suddenly sucked his divine soul inside.

• Lin Fan hid in a sealed cavern and used the Wuji Sail to protect himself while refining an Endless Soul Flower petal with his divine soul.
• Lin Fan formed his first Spirit of Divine Soul, sharply increasing his perception, then refined two more petals and formed a total of three Spirits of Divine Soul.
• Lin Fan tested his new power by destroying astral wind from more than a hundred miles away with a manifested phantom.
• Lin Fan gave Bloodlight Demon Saint a petal to restore his strength and kept the final petal for his return to Bianlin City.
• Lin Fan began refining the Buddhist Treasure, but one of its prayer beads lit up and sucked his divine soul inside.

Lin Fan mastered the Tianji Buddhist Beads and perfected Shadowless Paper Figure Art, creating the powerful Paper Sword Master. When Old Ghost Wang tracked him down in the astral-wind realm, Lin Fan revealed his true appearance and killed him, leaving with his treasures.

• Lin Fan broke the Buddhist kingdom’s attempt to convert him, seized the Tianji Buddhist Beads’ core imprint, and learned how its eighteen Mote Spaces worked.
• Lin Fan spent 250 years of lifespan to perfect Shadowless Paper Figure Art and created a Paper Sword Master paper figure.
• Old Ghost Wang followed the aura of the Endless Soul Flower to the astral-wind realm and scattered illusory figures to search for Lin Fan.
• Lin Fan appeared behind Old Ghost Wang, revealed his true form, and refused his offer to trade a Black Blood Jade Crystal for a Soul Flower.
• Lin Fan and the Paper Sword Master killed Old Ghost Wang with a coordinated attack.
• Lin Fan looted Old Ghost Wang’s storage artifact, taking three Black Blood Jade Crystals and several hundred Dao Crystals.

Lin Fan found Qin Yan in the Sea of Suffering, and she used her compass to guide them back to Bianlin City. After returning the Endless Soul Flower to the city authorities, Lin Fan faced the Crimson Gold Puppet and reunited with Li Hanru.

• The Crimson Gold Puppet waited beyond the Sea of Suffering for Lin Fan, then left after eight days without seeing him emerge.
• Lin Fan found Qin Yan fighting hideous creatures and learned she had escaped the illusory void realm with her compass.
• Lin Fan told Qin Yan what had happened and gave her the last piece of the Endless Soul Flower, which she took to report to Bianlin City's leaders.
• Qin Yan guided Lin Fan out of the Sea of Suffering, and they returned to Bianlin City.
• The Crimson Gold Puppet asked Lin Fan about the Endless Soul Flower, then left after learning Qin Yan had taken it to the City Lord's Mansion.
• Li Hanru visited Lin Fan, and he recounted his experiences while glossing over some details.

After the Puppet Palace Master withheld Lin Fan’s promised reward, Lin Fan advanced his soul cultivation, but the city ordered him to command the Cangyun Mountain outpost. He accepted the order and left Bianlin City, while the Crimson Gold Puppet made clear it expected him to die outside the city.

• Li Hanru warned Lin Fan that the Puppet Palace was not a place to stay, then continued making puppets with him.
• The Bianlin City Lord discussed Lin Fan’s abilities with Qin Yan and arranged for him to be sent away from the Puppet Palace.
• After receiving no promised reward, Lin Fan destroyed the Nirvana Soul Condensing Method and used his Pre-emptive Dao Fruit to cultivate the Eight Divisions Yama Scripture and improve the Heart-Piercing Life and Death Talisman.
• Qin Yan ordered Lin Fan to take charge of the Cangyun Mountain outpost and gave him more than a thousand Dao Crystals as Bianlin City’s reward.
• When Lin Fan challenged the order, the Crimson Gold Puppet threatened to execute him, so Lin Fan accepted and left with a member of the Bianlin Guard.

Lin Fan arrived at Cangyun Mountain stronghold and learned that its appointed leader had to earn the guardians’ support through strength. When the guardians challenged his right to lead, Lin Fan invited them all to attack him together.

• A Bianlin Guard escorted Lin Fan to Cangyun Mountain and introduced him to Meng Que before leaving him in her care.
• Meng Que led Lin Fan through a spatial formation into the hidden stronghold and explained that eighty-three cultivators lived there, including five Veteran Dao Achieve guardians.
• Meng Que warned Lin Fan that the stronghold’s guardians would not accept him as leader unless he proved his strength.
• Iron Mad Daoist and a black-clad swordsman mocked Lin Fan’s cultivation and Puppet Palace background, demanding that he leave.
• Lin Fan challenged all the guardians to attack him together, stunning them and Meng Que.

Lin Fan challenged the Cangyun Mountain guardians and fought Iron Mad Daoist to prove his strength. He defeated Iron Mad Daoist with numerous paper figures, leaving the other guardians stunned.

• Lin Fan insulted the guardians and challenged them to attack him.
• Iron Mad Daoist stepped forward to teach Lin Fan a lesson while the other guardians watched.
• Lin Fan summoned a Nine Nether Profound Maiden, but Iron Mad Daoist broke free of its ice and destroyed it with a metal axe.
• Lin Fan deployed dozens of Nine Nether Profound Maidens, forcing Iron Mad Daoist to counter with iron-armored figures.
• Lin Fan summoned more than a dozen Paper Sword Masters, whose sword qi overwhelmed Iron Mad Daoist and left him injured and pleading for mercy.
• Meng Que and the other guardians watched in shock as Iron Mad Daoist lost.

Lin Fan defeated the guardians at the Cangyun Mountain stronghold with his many Paper Figure Puppets and established himself as its supreme authority. After learning about the Nine Yang Great Array and the Black Demon Fog’s mutant attacks, he let Meng Que lead him to his cave dwelling.

• Lin Fan challenged the guardians, then used more than twenty Paper Figures to defeat the Man in Black and the other two who attacked him.
• The guardians submitted to Lin Fan in Cangyun Hall, where he declared himself supreme and ordered them to rise.
• Iron Mad Daoist explained that the Nine Yang Great Array protected the stronghold from the Black Demon Fog, while mutants periodically attacked its array cores.
• The guardians told Lin Fan that most mutants were mid-stage Dao Achieve, a few were Veteran Dao Achieve, and those returning to the fog could recover rapidly.
• After the guardians left, Meng Que apologized to Lin Fan and offered to guide him to his cave dwelling.

Lin Fan settled into his grotto-heaven at the Cangyun Mountain outpost and discovered that copying its ancient books earned him lifespan. He learned that the outpost’s supplies from Bianlin City had been delayed, leaving its arrays and cultivators at risk, and said he would find a way to address the shortage.

• The Crimson Gold Puppet learned that Lin Fan had defeated several protectors and agreed to follow the original plan after a woman warned it that the outpost would soon fall.
• Meng Que showed Lin Fan his grotto-heaven and brought him ancient books about the outpost at his request.
• Lin Fan copied an ancient book and received five years of lifespan, then earned seventy or eighty years by copying more books over the next few days.
• Lin Fan learned that mutants regularly attacked the outpost’s arrays and that repairing them consumed substantial resources.
• A protector told Lin Fan that Bianlin City had not delivered supplies for over a month and that the outpost’s reserves would last only one more month.
• Lin Fan told the protectors he would think of a way to resolve the supply shortage.

Lin Fan received supplies at the Cangyun Mountain stronghold and learned that a Storm Tide might soon emerge from the Black Demon Fog. After advancing his Eight Divisions Yama Scripture, he prepared for the Primordial Spirit lightning tribulation and realized he could strengthen his Tianji Buddhist Beads by converting mutants.

• Qin Yan delivered supplies to the Cangyun Mountain stronghold and warned Lin Fan that a Storm Tide might soon arrive.
• Lin Fan wondered whether the Lord of Monks had possessed Qin Yan after learning that the Undying Monk could escape the Sea of Suffering by taking over a body.
• Lin Fan advanced the Eight Divisions Yama Scripture to proficiency, strengthening his Spirit of Divine Soul as he neared the Spirit Tempering stage.
• The Bloodlight Demon Saint explained how he had survived his Primordial Spirit lightning tribulation and said the Tianji Buddhist Beads could serve as a powerful protective treasure.
• Lin Fan decided to suppress and convert mutants from the Black Demon Fog to increase the Tianji Buddhist Beads' power.

The Black Demon Fog expanded rapidly as mutants gathered near the Cangyun Mountain stronghold, prompting Lin Fan and the Protectors to seek reinforcements from Bianlin City. Bianlin City ordered an investigation into the fog's source, while Lin Fan sent paper figures and talismans into it.

• Iron Mad Daoist learned that the Black Demon Fog was expanding and that mutants were gathering, after nearly all the scouts he sent out were killed.
• Iron Mad Daoist reported the danger to Lin Fan, and the Protectors agreed to request reinforcements from Bianlin City.
• The Lord of Bianlin City heard that several strongholds faced the same threat and ordered the Myriad Poison Palace Master and Ghost Array Palace Master to arrange an investigation.
• The Myriad Poison Palace Master required the Puppet Palace to provide cultivators for the infiltration, prompting the Crimson Gold Puppet to leave angrily.
• Lin Fan sent paper figures and talismans into the Black Demon Fog.

Lin Fan rescued the dying Bianlin Guard Zhou Chang from the Female Infant and learned that a demon tide threatened Bianlin City. After Zhou Chang died, the Tianji Buddhist Beads drew his purified soul and corpse into a Buddhist kingdom, revealing a way for Lin Fan to counter the strange.

• Zhou Chang fled through the Black Demon Fog, but the Female Infant caught him, destroyed his Demon-Repelling Umbrella, and mortally wounded him.
• Lin Fan's Three-Eyed Flood Dragon defeated the Female Infant with Lightning Annihilation and approached the dying Zhou Chang.
• Zhou Chang told Lin Fan that a demon tide was imminent, mutants had infiltrated one or two outposts, and Bianlin City was at risk of falling.
• After Zhou Chang died, the Tianji Buddhist Beads gathered his soul and corpse, cleansed away the strange aura, and drew him into their Buddhist kingdom.
• Lin Fan discovered Zhou Chang within the beads and realized their power could help him stand against the strange.

Lin Fan encountered Guna, a powerful orthodox member of the Saint Clan, inside the Black Demon Fog and defeated her after revealing his true form. He used the Tianji Buddhist Beads to draw her into its Buddhist kingdom, where the power of salvation began purifying her.

• Guna emerged from the Black Demon Fog, revealed herself as the creator of the Dark Blood Infant, and attacked the Three-Eyed Flood Dragon.
• The Three-Eyed Flood Dragon escaped Guna's furnace by using a clone, but Guna caught up with it before it could leave the fog.
• Lin Fan appeared and fought Guna, reflecting her attack with Starlight Shifting before trapping her with the golden cauldron and overwhelming her with his paper people and talismans.
• Lin Fan subdued Guna, took her storage artifact, and used the Tianji Buddhist Beads to bring her into its Buddhist kingdom.
• Lin Fan saw Buddhist light purifying Guna's eerie substance and added a Heart-Piercing Life and Death Talisman as a precaution.

Lin Fan strengthened the Tianji Buddhist Beads by converting Mutants, then went to the Sea of Suffering to undergo the Primordial Spirit Thunder Tribulation. After surviving the ordeal, he formed his Primordial Spirit.

• Lin Fan found fifteen Black Blood Jade Crystals and an eerie token in Guna's storage artifact, then destroyed the weapons and pills contaminated with eerie matter.
• Lin Fan used paper figures and Avatar Talismans to convert more than a dozen Mutants, greatly increasing the power of the Tianji Buddhist Beads.
• The Ancient Clan planned to seize Bianlin City during the Storm Tide, and Master Wang was appointed to oversee the operation after warning that the human cultivators should not be underestimated.
• Lin Fan left a Paper Sword Master disguised as himself at the stronghold and traveled to the Sea of Suffering to undergo his Primordial Spirit Thunder Tribulation.
• Lin Fan endured an hour of lightning by using the Tianji Buddhist Beads, his techniques, and the Indestructible Dao Fruit at the cost of a thousand years of lifespan.
• After Heaven and Earth's energy entered his divine soul, Lin Fan emerged from a Golden Cocoon with his Primordial Spirit formed.

Lin Fan condensed a Primordial Spirit and entered the Calamity Crossing Realm after returning it to his body. He learned that advancing further would require Dao imprints and a Primordial Spirit cultivation method, which he might find in Bianlin City.

• Lin Fan formed a Primordial Spirit universe, discovered he could use divine abilities and teleport, and tested how many paper figures and Avatar Talismans he could control.
• Lin Fan asked the Bloodlight Demon Saint how to advance, then returned his Primordial Spirit to his body and broke through to the Calamity Crossing Realm.
• The Bloodlight Demon Saint explained that Calamity Crossing Realm cultivators needed to comprehend Dao imprints and that Lin Fan needed a Nascent Soul cultivation method to strengthen his Primordial Spirit.
• The Bloodlight Demon Saint suggested that Bianlin City might possess a Primordial Spirit cultivation method, and Lin Fan realized his current status might prevent him from accessing it.

After reaching the Calamity Crossing Realm, Lin Fan learned more about the mutants and stayed in the Sea of Suffering to adapt to his strength. At Cangyun Mountain, the Man in Black betrayed the stronghold as mutants invaded, and three powerful figures arrived to threaten its defenders and Bianlin City.

• Lin Fan asked Bloodlight Demon Saint about the mutants and learned that some formed powerful races in the depths of the Black Demon Fog, which even top cultivators rarely survived entering.
• At Cangyun Mountain, the Man in Black killed several cultivators, damaged the defensive formation, and declared that he wanted freedom and strength in the darkness.
• Ironcrush Guardian rushed to confront the Man in Black as mutants breached the stronghold and attacked its formations; Meng Que and other cultivators joined the battle.
• The Man in Black used strange matter to overpower Ironcrush Guardian and fight off the other Guardians, while the Paper Sword Master sensed the crisis but judged that he could not intervene without his true body.
• Three powerful black figures appeared, killed or wounded the Guardians, and demanded the stronghold's surrender, declaring that Bianlin City would also fall.

The damaged Nine Yang Great Array failed to hold off Night Owl and the mutants, and Protector Tie Kuang died destroying the traitorous Man in Black. Lin Fan then emerged with a flood of paper figures and Avatar Talismans, crushed the remaining mutants, and began searching Night Owl’s soul.

• Protector Tie Kuang and the cultivators poured their strength into the Nine Yang Great Array, but Night Owl used Master Wang’s Soul Suppressing Seal to destroy it.
• The Man in Black stabbed Tie Kuang, who trapped him with his sword and blew himself up; the Paper Sword Master then killed the Man in Black with a surprise strike.
• Night Owl destroyed the Paper Sword Master, but a flood of paper figures and Avatar Talismans surged from the Blood Mist and slaughtered the mutants.
• The Paper Sword Master emerged from the Blood Mist, shattered the Soul Suppressing Seal, and overwhelmed Night Owl.
• Lin Fan used the Soul Searching Technique on Night Owl and received streams of information.

Lin Fan learned that the mutated ones were targeting Bianlin City’s protective array and took control of Night Owl after the Cangyun Mountain stronghold fell. In Bianlin City, Qin Yan revealed that the Ancient Clan of the Nirvana Royal Court was behind the attacks, and the city prepared to defend itself without reinforcements from Po Wang City.

• Lin Fan discovered that the outer stronghold arrays supported Bianlin City’s protective array and resolved to seek a Nascent Soul cultivation method.
• Lin Fan sent Meng Que and the surviving cultivators away, then bound Night Owl with a Heart-Piercing Life and Death Talisman and attached his Primordial Spirit to Night Owl’s sea of consciousness.
• The Myriad Poison Palace Master and the Crimson Gold Puppet argued over whether Bianlin City should abandon the strongholds or send reinforcements to protect them.
• Si Xiu questioned why the attacks had begun then, and Qin Yan reported that the Ancient Clan under the Nirvana Royal Court was leading the assault.
• The City Lord said Po Wang City could not send help, and Bianlin City chose to hold its ground and mobilized its defenses.