Chapter Summaries

Chu Huai Xu learned that the sect wanted him to take demon-slaying missions before entering the [Origin Spirit Realm], so he could experience fighting Evil Cultivators firsthand. He agreed, then considered the realm’s links to Evil Cultivators and the monopoly on [Xuanhuang Origin Fragments], ending with the thought that killing people made him stronger too.

• Li Chunsong told Chu Huai Xu that the Sect Leader and Junior Uncle wanted him to complete missions to Descend the Mountain to Eliminate Demons before entering the [Origin Spirit Realm].
• Li Chunsong explained that Chu Huai Xu needed experience killing Evil Cultivators because the [Origin Spirit Realm] was their root and they would be among his future opponents.
• Chu Huai Xu agreed to choose missions at the Disciple Courtyard after learning that the sect would explain the realm’s situation when he returned.
• Chu Huai Xu wondered whether the Four Great Sects and the Moon Kingdom’s imperial family monopolized the [Xuanhuang Origin Fragments] and therefore controlled access to Ninth Realm cultivation.
• Chu Huai Xu recalled that Evil Cultivators grew stronger by killing people and thought that he did too.

Chu Huai Xu and Han Shuangjiang chose a demon-eradication mission, while Qin Xuanxiao confronted Niu Yuanshan over the traitors Mu Bing Jiu and Huo Ding Yi. The chapter ended with Qin Xuanxiao ordering Niu Yuanshan to take his own life as a test.

• Chu Huai Xu told Han Shuangjiang that he would accept a demon-suppression mission, and she agreed to accompany him.
• At the Disciple Courtyard, Chu Huai Xu chose the Chixi Stream Demon Eradication mission led by Liu Tianfeng and Mo Qingmei.
• Qin Xuanxiao summoned Niu Yuanshan and questioned him about whether he had noticed signs of Mu Bing Jiu and Huo Ding Yi's betrayal.
• Niu Yuanshan admitted that he had failed to foresee the betrayal and begged Qin Xuanxiao to punish him.
• Qin Xuanxiao accused Niu Yuanshan of a grave mistake and ordered him to take his own life.

Qin Xuanxiao tested Niu Yuanshan by ordering him to kill himself, then stopped him and decided to keep him alive as a spy caught between the organization and the Dao Sect. After returning home, Niu Yuanshan reflected on his long life in the Dao Sect, drank the wine Chu Huai Xu had given him, and fell asleep.

• Qin Xuanxiao stopped Niu Yuanshan from stabbing himself and explained that he had been testing his obedience.
• Qin Xuanxiao ordered Niu Yuanshan to remain a Dao Sect deacon so his fate could reveal Chu Huai Xu's position and the Dao Sect's knowledge of Huo Ding Yi.
• Niu Yuanshan returned through the Outer Sect, accepted an orange from Wang Lingtao, and greeted the disciples who respected him.
• At home, Niu Yuanshan removed his Golden Mask and reflected on his years in the Dao Sect and his rejection of Mo Qingmei.
• Niu Yuanshan opened the Erlang Wine Chu Huai Xu had given him, drank the half-jar, and fell asleep.

Liu Chengqi blamed his father and Chu Huai Xu for losing the opportunity in the Cold Pond Secret Realm, while Liu Tianfeng promised to ask Chu Huai Xu what he had found. The next day, Chu Huai Xu joined Liu Tianfeng, Mo Qingmei, and twenty Outer Sect Disciples on a Demon Suppression mission, where they met Sword Sect disciple Zhao Qianfeng at Chixi Stream.

• Liu Tianfeng found Liu Chengqi drunk and tried to persuade him that Chu Huai Xu's success came from more than the Cold Pond Secret Realm.
• Liu Chengqi accused Liu Tianfeng of giving Chu Huai Xu the chance to enter the Secret Realm by following Niu Yuanshan's advice and handing over the Pill King Token fragments.
• Liu Tianfeng said he would lead a team down the mountain for a Demon Elimination Mission and ask Chu Huai Xu what he had obtained beneath the Cold Pond.
• Chu Huai Xu and Han Shuangjiang joined Liu Tianfeng, Mo Qingmei, and twenty Outer Sect Disciples, and Liu Tianfeng explained that they were going to investigate Evil Cultivators at Chixi Stream.
• The group rode Black Cloud Colts to the meeting place, where they met Zhao Qianfeng, the Sword Sect disciple who had requested their help.

Chu Huai Xu joined the Dao Sect team investigating Evil Cultivators at Chixi Stream and warned the stewards that Zhao Qianfeng seemed suspicious. The team entered the stream to destroy the Evil Cultivators’ Altar, while Liu Tianfeng secretly instructed two disciples to watch Zhao Qianfeng.

• Zhao Qianfeng recognized Chu Huai Xu as the Xuanhuang Champion, then described how he had captured an Evil Cultivator and learned about Chixi Stream.
• Chu Huai Xu received the Chixi Stream Demon Eradication mission, which promised an extremely high probability of triggering a Hidden Plot.
• Chu Huai Xu privately warned Liu Tianfeng and Mo Qingmei that Zhao Qianfeng seemed strange, and both stewards agreed to be cautious.
• Liu Tianfeng assigned Lei Ming, Zhou Yuan, and Zhao Qianfeng to remain outside, then secretly told Lei Ming and Zhou Yuan to watch Zhao Qianfeng.
• Liu Tianfeng led the group into Chixi Stream to destroy the Altar, which he believed anchored the Evil Cultivators’ power.

Chu Huai Xu joined the Dao Sect disciples in raiding an underwater Evil Cultivator den and eagerly killed the trapped enemies, surprising Liu Tianfeng and Mo Qingmei. Outside Chixi Stream, Zhao Qianfeng secretly identified Chu Huai Xu to an unseen contact as a likely holder of a High-grade or even Super Grade Spiritual Embryo.

• Chu Huai Xu shattered an underwater illusion with a Heart Sword slash, revealing a stone gate that Liu Tianfeng and Mo Qingmei opened.
• Liu Tianfeng sealed the den with a blood-marked Compass, and the Dao Sect group entered as the Evil Cultivators tried to flee.
• Chu Huai Xu raced ahead and killed the Evil Cultivators with swift, ruthless attacks, intent on claiming their Experience Points.
• Han Shuangjiang fought in her Heavenly Man State while Mo Qingmei battled the scar-faced Third Realm Evil Cultivator and Liu Tianfeng guarded the younger disciples.
• An unseen messenger demanded that Zhao Qianfeng identify anyone with a High-grade Spiritual Embryo, and Zhao Qianfeng covertly pointed out Chu Huai Xu as a likely candidate.

Scarface attacked Chu Huai Xu and Mo Qingmei while burning his life and Spirit Fetus power, then triggered the Hidden Plot, [Body Possession]. After Scarface exploded, an ancient aura entered Chu Huai Xu’s body and rushed toward his Spiritual Embryo Treasury, where a voice discovered his Mid-grade Spiritual Embryo.

• Scarface used a deadly Spiritual Sense attack to overpower Mo Qingmei and tried to reach Chu Huai Xu, whom he believed had a Super Grade Spiritual Embryo.
• Chu Huai Xu rushed to help Mo Qingmei and struck Scarface with True Qi, Sword Qi, Sword Intent, and Sword Heart.
• Scarface demanded Chu Huai Xu’s power to restore his Boundless Dharma Body, triggering the Hidden Plot, [Body Possession].
• Scarface’s giant sword struck as Mo Qingmei tried to protect Chu Huai Xu, and the attack left her Sea of Consciousness badly damaged.
• Scarface exploded; Chu Huai Xu grabbed Mo Qingmei while Liu Tianfeng countered the blast, but an ancient aura swept over everyone and entered Chu Huai Xu’s body.
• A voice reached Chu Huai Xu’s Spiritual Embryo Treasury and exclaimed that the Xuanhuang Champion had a Mid-grade Spiritual Embryo.

A Divine Soul possessed Chu Huai Xu, then realized he was the Realm Lord's Successor and tried to take over his body. Chu Huai Xu drove it out with his Heart Sword, but after Han Shuangjiang's blood strengthened it, the Divine Soul lunged at her.

• The Divine Soul lamented that Chu Huai Xu had only a Mid-grade Spiritual Embryo and recognized him as the Realm Lord's Successor.
• Chu Huai Xu ignored the Divine Soul's claims and used his Heart Sword to strike it three times, forcing it from his body and destroying most of its power.
• Han Shuangjiang rushed to Chu Huai Xu and checked whether he was injured; he reassured her and noticed a cut on her hand.
• Han Shuangjiang's blood flew into the Divine Soul's Killing Aura, strengthening it and revealing her Super Grade Spiritual Embryo.
• The Divine Soul lunged toward Han Shuangjiang, and Chu Huai Xu roared at it in fury.

Chu Huai Xu battled a possessing Divine Soul that jumped from Ge Long into Liu Tianfeng, while the steward fought to reclaim his body. The Domain God Talisman activated as Liu Tianfeng used his last strength to beg Chu Huai Xu to obtain a Xuantian Fetal Breath Pill for his son Chengqi.

• Chu Huai Xu struck the Divine Soul with his Heart Sword, but it fled into Ge Long and took control of him.
• Liu Tianfeng and Chu Huai Xu attacked Ge Long, and the Divine Soul made him use the Xuanming Blood Burning Technique to explode toward Chu Huai Xu.
• Chu Huai Xu endured the blast and slashed the escaping Divine Soul with his Heart Sword, but its remaining wisps possessed Liu Tianfeng.
• Liu Tianfeng severed his own arm to stop his possessed body from striking Chu Huai Xu, while he struggled against the Divine Soul for control.
• The Domain God Talisman began to burn, and Liu Tianfeng pleaded with Chu Huai Xu to ask for a Xuantian Fetal Breath Pill for his son Chengqi.

After Liu Tianfeng sacrificed himself to activate the Domain God Talisman, Chu Huai Xu helped Mo Qingmei secure the altar and uncover Zhao Qianfeng’s role in the conspiracy. Though the sects’ rules barred private punishment, Chu Huai Xu destroyed Zhao Qianfeng’s sword spirit and left him unable to cultivate the sword.

• The Domain God Talisman annihilated Liu Tianfeng, and Chu Huai Xu used his Heart Sword to destroy the lingering Divine Soul.
• Chu Huai Xu revived Mo Qingmei, who ordered the disciples to clear the altar and destroy its Formation.
• The disciples found Zhao Qianfeng unconscious, and Chu Huai Xu slapped him awake and forced him to confess that a strange Divine Soul had ordered him to find a body with a High-grade Spiritual Embryo.
• Mo Qingmei explained that the Four Great Sects’ rules required Zhao Qianfeng to be returned to the Sword Sect for punishment, so Chu Huai Xu could not punish him privately.
• Chu Huai Xu destroyed the sword spirit in Zhao Qianfeng’s Destined Sword, wrecking his sword cultivation foundation, and told him not to cultivate the sword anymore.

After Chu Huai Xu destroyed Zhao Qianfeng’s Destined Sword spirit, he returned to the Dao Sect while puzzling over the mysterious Divine Soul he had encountered. Mo Qingmei reported the incident to Li Chunsong, who summoned the Dao Sect’s higher-ups after learning Chu Huai Xu had encountered a [Primordial Spirit].

• Chu Huai Xu destroyed Zhao Qianfeng’s Destined Sword spirit, leaving Zhao unconscious and effectively crippled.
• The Dao Sect party returned to the sect with Zhao Qianfeng, while Chu Huai Xu considered the Divine Soul’s claims about the Realm Lord and the [Dao Canon].
• Mo Qingmei reported Liu Tianfeng and Ge Long’s deaths and the Divine Soul encounter to Li Chunsong, who gave her a Spirit Pill.
• Li Chunsong summoned the Dao Sect’s higher-ups to Inquiry Peak and told them that Chu Huai Xu had encountered a [Primordial Spirit].

After Chu Huai Xu returned from the Altar, the Dao Sect leaders learned that he had destroyed a Primordial Spirit and summoned him to explain what happened. He demonstrated his power by annihilating another Primordial Spirit with a glance, leaving the leaders stunned.

• Li Chunsong told the Dao Sect leaders that Chu Huai Xu had encountered a Primordial Spirit at the Altar, while Liu Tianfeng and Ge Long had died.
• The leaders summoned Chu Huai Xu and asked him to recount his journey, including his encounter with the Realm Lord and his fight against the Primordial Spirit.
• Chu Huai Xu explained that his Heart Sword had driven the Primordial Spirit from his body and weakened it, but it later possessed Ge Long and then Liu Tianfeng.
• Jiang Zhi questioned whether Chu Huai Xu had truly destroyed the Primordial Spirit and presented a surviving wisp for him to test himself against.
• Chu Huai Xu glanced at the wisp in Jiang Zhi’s Golden Bowl and completely destroyed it.

Chu Huai Xu destroyed a Primordial Spirit Soul Seed that the Dao Sect had been unable to erase, prompting Jiang Zhi to reveal the catastrophe that befell his generation in the Origin Spirit Realm. The chapter left Chu Huai Xu wondering whether his future First Master had died in the Fourth Layer and learning that only Jiang Zhi and his mad Fifth Senior Brother survived their generation’s expedition to the Fifth Layer.

• Chu Huai Xu used his Heart Sword to destroy the Primordial Spirit Soul Seed in Jiang Zhi’s Golden Bowl, earning a system reward that improved Information Scan and his Spiritual Sense Power.
• Jiang Zhi explained that the Soul Seed came from the Fifth Layer of the Origin Spirit Realm, where anyone below the Seventh Realm would die upon entry.
• Chu Huai Xu connected the Origin Spirit Realm’s layers and competitions to the realms they required, then wondered if his future First Master had died when the Fourth Layer opened.
• Jiang Zhi revealed that his Junzi Temple Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters entered the Fifth Layer while he stayed behind injured, and only his Fifth Senior Brother returned.
• Jiang Zhi said his Fifth Senior Brother went mad after sealing the Primordial Spirit inside his own body and Sea of Consciousness, leaving their generation nearly wiped out.

Xiang Yan explained that the Primordial Spirits in the Origin Spirit Realm belonged to people from the Kunlun Cave Heaven, whose Kunlun Sacred Sect sought to escape its world’s Age of Dharma Decline by invading the Xuanhuang Realm. He revealed that their predatory cultivation system let the powerful consume others and seize their bodies in the name of practicing immortality.

• Jiang Zhi realized Chu Huai Xu’s Heart Sword could control the Malevolent Aura and counter the Primordial Spirit problem, and reflected on the favors Chu had done for him.
• Chu Huai Xu asked Xiang Yan what he would face in the Origin Spirit Realm, and Xiang Yan explained that the trip to suppress demons had prepared him to understand Evil Cultivators and the Great Tribulation.
• Xiang Yan said Primordial Spirits were souls belonging to outsiders from the Kunlun Cave Heaven, and that their enemy would ultimately be a person who possessed one.
• Xiang Yan contrasted the Xuanhuang Realm’s Dao-following-Nature cultivation with the Kunlun Sacred Sect’s attempt to create a world within themselves and live as long as Heaven and Earth.
• Xiang Yan explained that the Kunlun Cave Heaven’s Age of Dharma Decline drove the Kunlun Sacred Sect to seek a way out in the Xuanhuang Realm and pursue Heavenly Dao Origin Power.
• Xiang Yan described how the Kunlun Sacred Sect’s powerful cultivators consumed others, seized bodies through Body Possession, and called their Evil Cultivation practice of immortality.

Chu Huai Xu learned that the Origin Spirit Realm led to Kunlun Cave Heaven, where immortal cultivators might be waiting, and discovered the danger could include a reincarnated Nascent Soul expert. As he grasped how the Bronze Sword and its Sword Spirit could protect Xu Ziqing, he realized the Dao Ancestor had prepared for this threat a thousand years in advance.

• Xiang Yan explained that Kunlun Cave Heaven had five cultivation realms and that its Qi Refining cultivators were normally comparable to Xuanhuang Realm cultivators in the Second Realm, though Heaven and Earth Origin suppressed them.
• Nangong Yue and Jiang Zhi told Chu Huai Xu that previous entrants had roughly an eighty-percent chance of winning, but Li Chunsong warned that the suppression might weaken this time.
• Xiang Yan said Kunlun Cave Heaven cultivators might have spent a thousand years plotting against the Xuanhuang Realm and warned that Chu Huai Xu could face a Qi Refining cultivator who had reincarnated after body snatching.
• Chu Huai Xu reasoned that the Bronze Sword's Sword Spirit could fight and guard Xu Ziqing's Primordial Spirit against possession, and understood why the Dao Ancestor had arranged for Little Xu and the Bronze Sword to enter.
• Chu Huai Xu reflected that the Dao Ancestor had placed a piece on the board a thousand years earlier, competing against Kunlun Cave Heaven's long-lived cultivators across time.

Chu Huai Xu learned how Kunlun Cave Heaven’s Primordial Spirits reached the Xuanhuang Realm and how their pursuit of Eternal Life could cause the Great Tribulation of Heaven and Earth. Jiang Zhi gave him the Golden Bowl and explained Zhong Ming’s belief that attachments and accepting death made their people different from immortal cultivators.

• Chu Huai Xu resolved not to let the Evil Sword devour Primordial Spirits, and Lu Pan reassured him that the elders would prepare for dangers posed by ancient cultivators.
• Jiang Zhi explained that Primordial Spirits from Kunlun Cave Heaven crossed through the Origin Spirit Realm and needed suitable vessels to possess in the Xuanhuang Realm.
• Chu Huai Xu asked to take the Golden Bowl, and Jiang Zhi gave it to him as thanks for avenging his senior brothers and sisters.
• Jiang Zhi explained that Kunlun Cave Heaven sought Xuanhuang Origin Fragments and that gathering enough could enable a large-scale invasion of the Xuanhuang Realm.
• Chu Huai Xu said Eternal Life was the root of the conflict, and Jiang Zhi agreed that immortal cultivators’ longevity bred greed and threatened the world.
• Jiang Zhi recalled Zhong Ming’s words before entering the Fifth Layer: people with attachments and hopes could face death, and when death came, they should die.

Chu Huai Xu learned how the Xuanhuang Realm’s Spirit Fetuses differed from the Kunlun Cave Heaven’s Spiritual Roots and asked about the strength of the opposing cultivators. As he considered the importance of the Xuanhuang Origin Fragment, he wondered whether he needed it at all because he relied on his system to advance.

• Chu Huai Xu reflected on Zhong Ming’s sacrifice and asked Jiang Zhi whether the Xuanhuang Realm’s Evil Cultivators sought Eternal Life.
• Jiang Zhi explained that Xuanhuang cultivators had Spirit Fetuses rather than Spiritual Roots, and that Evil Cultivators advanced by devouring other people’s Spirit Fetuses.
• Chu Huai Xu asked how many Nascent Soul Stage cultivators lived in the Kunlun Cave Heaven, and Xiang Yan said their numbers were unknown but likely low.
• Chu Huai Xu considered how refining the Xuanhuang Origin Fragment could help cultivators break through to the Ninth Realm and recognized the importance of his trip to the Origin Spirit Realm.
• Chu Huai Xu wondered whether he needed the Xuanhuang Origin Fragment since his system let him level up.

Chu Huai Xu asked how the Dao Sect would compensate Steward Liu’s family and sought a Xuantian Fetal Breath Pill for Liu Chengqi, but Jiang Zhi repeatedly ordered him to stop meddling and cultivate. Chu Huai Xu finally confronted Jiang Zhi, warning that the sect’s refusal to answer could destabilize his Dao heart before he entered the Origin Spirit Realm.

• Jiang Zhi urged Chu Huai Xu to focus on cultivation, while Li Chunsong praised him and Xiang Yan advised him not to rush.
• Chu Huai Xu asked how the sect would handle Steward Liu and Ge Long, and Xiang Yan explained that Liu Tianfeng’s family would receive Contribution Points under sect rules.
• Chu Huai Xu asked whether the compensation could buy a Xuantian Fetal Breath Pill for Liu Chengqi and offered to contribute any shortfall.
• Jiang Zhi rejected Chu Huai Xu’s request and told Li Chunsong to take him away, but Chu Huai Xu remained and insisted on receiving a clear answer.
• Chu Huai Xu warned Jiang Zhi that after witnessing a fellow disciple’s death and preparing to risk his life in the Origin Spirit Realm, the unanswered question could destabilize his Dao heart.

Chu Huai Xu clashed with Jiang Zhi over the Xuantian Fetal Breath Pill, then received the pill and Tai Tingbai’s Alchemy notes. After meeting Mo Qingmei and Niu Yuanshan, he privately urged Old Niu to follow his own heart if trouble came, leaving their future relationship unresolved.

• Chu Huai Xu resisted Jiang Zhi’s pressure and challenged the sect’s handling of the pill, before leaving the hall with Li Chunsong.
• Jiang Zhi and Xiang Yan agreed to compensate Liu Tianfeng’s son with a Xuantian Fetal Breath Pill, and Xiang Yan assigned the remaining arrangements.
• Li Chunsong explained Jiang Zhi’s behavior, and Tai Tingbai delivered the pill along with his early Alchemy Experience Notes.
• Mo Qingmei and Niu Yuanshan visited Chu Huai Xu, who teased them about their relationship while Old Niu remained troubled by Chu Huai Xu’s betrayal of their organization.
• Chu Huai Xu privately told Niu Yuanshan to consider his own heart before acting if trouble arose, then saluted him and left.

Chu Huai Xu visited Liu Chengqi to deliver the Xuantian Fetal Breath Pill Steward Liu had secured for him, while confronting Liu Chengqi’s despair over his damaged Spiritual Embryo and his father’s death. After Chu Huai Xu left, Liu Chengqi grieved over the gift, then his Blazing Fire Spiritual Embryo returned to normal and he resumed cultivation.

• Niu Yuanshan reflected on Chu Huai Xu’s skillful use of Dao Sect titles, while Chu Huai Xu tried a sour Spirit Orange and prepared to visit the Liu Family with Han Shuangjiang.
• Chu Huai Xu asked Liu Chenggong to take him to Liu Chengqi, then woke the drunken Liu Chengqi with a precise Heart Sword technique and requested to speak with him alone.
• Liu Chengqi admitted he had been jealous of Chu Huai Xu and despaired over his damaged Spiritual Embryo, while Chu Huai Xu recognized the depth of his grief and resentment.
• Chu Huai Xu left the Xuantian Fetal Breath Pill for Liu Chengqi and asked him to keep its source secret, explaining that his father had obtained it for him.
• Liu Chengqi opened the pill box, broke down over his father’s sacrifice, and that night his Blazing Fire Spiritual Embryo recovered and he began cultivating again.