Chapter Summaries

Zhong Shan arrived with A Da to protect Liu Wushuang and persuade her to join his cause, then faced the Great Deer King’s attempt to recruit him. Nian Youyou revealed Zhong Shan’s status as the Great Luo Heavenly Dynasty’s new top scholar and helped end the confrontation, after which Zhong Shan went to speak privately with the Blazing Fire Wolf General.

• A Da struck Wu An and shielded Zhong Shan and Liu Wushuang from his attack, while Zhong Shan greeted Liu Wushuang and invited her to join him in building a legacy.
• Zhong Shan ordered Liu Wushuang to lead the wolf clan into the mountains, and the wolves withdrew as the Great Deer King and the Blazing Fire Wolf General returned to their camps.
• The Great Deer King aimed fifty thousand Armor Piercing Arrows at Zhong Shan and offered him a minor post in the Great Yu Emperor Dynasty, but Zhong Shan rejected the offer and mocked its terms.
• Nian Youyou emerged from a valley, stood beside Zhong Shan, and revealed that he was the Great Luo Heavenly Dynasty’s new top scholar with a Soft Position awaiting him.
• The Great Deer King accused Nian Youyou of betraying the Great Yu Emperor Dynasty, then withdrew with his troops when she said she had already repaid her debt.
• Zhong Shan asked A Da to wait and rode to a nearby mountain peak with the Blazing Fire Wolf General to speak privately.

Zhong Shan tried to recruit Blazing Fire Wolf General and his wolves, then traveled to Yuheng Sect after learning an Immortal Item had stirred up the region. There he reunited with Zixun, whose surprise at seeing him again caught Nian Youyou’s attention.

• Blazing Fire Wolf General rejected Zhong Shan’s demand that he and the wolves join Zhong Shan’s campaigns, then left with his pack.
• Liu Wushuang told Zhong Shan that Elder Zixun had come to Yuheng Sect to investigate the disturbance, and Nian Youyou revealed it involved an Immortal Item and Immortal Spiritual Energy.
• Zhong Shan refused to count finding the Immortal Item as one of the three thousand roses he owed Nian Youyou.
• At Yuheng Hall, Zixun dropped her book when Zhong Shan arrived, then quickly composed herself and greeted him coldly.
• Zixun and Nian Youyou recognized each other as Real Persons while Liu Suifeng welcomed Zhong Shan and A Da.

Zhong Shan analyzed Yuheng Sect’s historical records and identified a hidden site that had drawn sects to the region. He and his companions uncovered a nine-colored stone slab shaped like a woman’s right footprint, leaving Zhong Shan to consider the record that a foot had sealed a demonic calamity.

• After Zi Xun left Yuheng Sect, Zhong Shan asked Liu Suifeng and five disciples to recreate thirty thousand years of history with magic so he could review the changes more quickly.
• While Nian Youyou searched the rumored Immortal sites, Zi Xun warned her not to choose Zhong Shan and threatened to use her as a whetstone if he died because of her.
• Zhong Shan analyzed the historical reenactment and concluded that a region where sects had gathered despite thin spiritual energy concealed something important.
• Zhong Shan, A Da, and Nian Youyou reached the suspected valley, where A Da diverted a waterfall and cleared the lake and its silt.
• A Da uncovered a nine-colored stone slab shaped like a woman’s right footprint, and Zhong Shan hesitated as he recalled the record of a foot sealing a demonic calamity.

Zhong Shan investigated a giant footprint said to seal a fiendish creature, then ordered A Da to break it after the Great Deer King and Wu An ambushed him. The seal’s destruction unleashed a volcano and Immortal Spiritual Energy, drawing powerful figures to the scene.

• Zhong Shan and Nian Youyou cleared the area around the footprint and found that its cracks were imprinted on the laws of heaven and earth.
• Wu An attacked Zhong Shan, but Zi Xun blocked the killing blow; the Great Deer King revealed that he and Wu An had followed Zhong Shan.
• Zhong Shan ordered A Da to shatter the footprint, unleashing a volcanic eruption and causing Immortal Spiritual Energy to spread through the region.
• Wisdom Light Arhat, Golden Cicada, and Great Might Heavenly Dragon Bodhisattva arrived, and Great Might Heavenly Dragon Bodhisattva thanked Zhong Shan for saving his life.

Zhong Shan and the others discovered a colossal Taiji disk deep beneath the magma, where an immortal’s Residual Thought emerged from its Azure Light. The figure looked exactly like Zhong Shan’s wife, Gan Bao Er, leaving him stunned.

• Zhong Shan and A Da descended through the magma with the other powerful cultivators and found a giant Taiji disk surrounded by Azure Light.
• Great Might Heavenly Dragon Bodhisattva cut open the Azure Light, allowing the dark-red yin fish to escape and flee upward as several experts pursued it.
• The Azure Light blasted Wisdom Light Arhat away, then condensed into a transparent woman who turned the yang fish into a Blue Rose.
• Nian Youyou identified the woman as an immortal’s Residual Thought, and Zhong Shan recognized that she looked exactly like Gan Bao Er.

Zhong Shan met an immortal’s Residual Thought beneath the volcano and learned that she had a mysterious connection to Bao Er. She gave him an immortal rose, then drove off intruders before refusing to reveal her identity.

• Zhong Shan told Bao Er about meeting a woman who looked exactly like her, and Bao Er reacted in disbelief.
• The immortal told Great Might Heavenly Dragon Bodhisattva that he had released the Sin Demon, prompting him to abandon the rose and pursue it; she then recognized Golden Cicada but refused his request for the flower.
• The immortal dismissed the others and kept Zhong Shan behind, asking about Bao Er and saying Bao Er was hers; she gave Zhong Shan the rose and warned that its Immortal Spiritual Energy could disperse or overwhelm him.
• Wisdom Light Arhat and Blazing Fire Wolf General returned to seize the flower, but the immortal destroyed Wisdom Light Arhat’s physical body and froze the volcano to stop Blazing Fire Wolf General.
• Zhong Shan asked the immortal to spare Blazing Fire Wolf General, and she let him escape for Bao Er’s sake before telling Zhong Shan he was not worthy to know her identity.

Zhong Shan gave the immortal flower to Zi Xun after refusing Nian Youyou’s claim, while the immortal taught him the Central Formula to pass on to Bao Er. After the immortal left, Wisdom Light Arhat tried to seize Zhong Shan’s body, but Zhong Shan drew him into his Niwan Palace, where the Eight Extremes Heavenly Tail swallowed him.

• The immortal gave Zhong Shan the Central Formula on a Jade Slip for Bao Er and took him out of the frozen volcano.
• Zhong Shan chose Zi Xun to receive the immortal flower, and the immortal forced it into her body despite her refusal.
• The immortal vanished as dark clouds gathered, and Great Deer King, Blazing Fire Wolf General, and the other visitors departed.
• Wisdom Light Arhat rushed into Zhong Shan’s body to seize it, but the Red Phoenix Heavenly Scripture trapped him.
• Zhong Shan drew Wisdom Light Arhat into his Niwan Palace, where the Eight Extremes Heavenly Tail swallowed him.

After refining Wisdom Light Arhat, Zhong Shan broke through to the Golden Core Seventh Stage and agreed to let Nian Youyou travel with him. Back at Yuheng Sect, he learned that Xian Xian had reached the Golden Core Stage and appointed Liu Wushuang to command the Wolf Cavalry of Blazing Fire Mountain Range.

• Eight Extremes Heavenly Tail devoured and refined Wisdom Light Arhat, allowing Zhong Shan to break through to the Golden Core Seventh Stage.
• Nian Youyou asked to follow Zhong Shan, and he agreed after learning that a Sin Demon had drained the blood of Great Deer King's subordinates and other victims.
• Zhong Shan returned to Yuheng Sect with A Da and Nian Youyou, while wolves across the Divine Land howled in excitement as Xian Xian reached the Golden Core Stage.
• Zhong Shan read Zi Xun's warning to be careful of Nian Youyou, then accepted Liu Wushuang's decision to follow him and appointed him commander of the Wolf Cavalry of Blazing Fire Mountain Range.

Zhong Shan used Xianxian’s bloodline authority to make Blazing Fire Wolf General honor his pledge and lead the Blazing Fire Mountain Range wolves to join him. The wolves gathered outside Yuheng Sect, while Zhong Shan also kept Bao Er from practicing the mysterious Central Formula.

• Zhong Shan summoned Xianxian at Blazing Fire Mountain Range, and every wolf in the valley knelt before it.
• Xianxian rebuked Blazing Fire Wolf General for breaking his promise and ordered him to follow Zhong Shan into battle with the mountain’s wolves.
• Blazing Fire Wolf General submitted, and Xianxian returned to Sky Wolf Island with the Central Formula Jade Slip.
• Zhong Shan advised Bao Er not to practice the Central Formula because the immortal who left it might have hidden tricks inside.
• Zhong Shan told A Da and Nian Youyou that Blazing Fire Wolf General would bring the mountain’s wolves to join them.
• Liu Suifeng reported a large wolf pack outside Yuheng Sect, and Zhong Shan said he had summoned them and would soon take them away.

After four months away, Zhong Shan returned to Matchless City with Blazing Fire Wolf General and fifty thousand Demon Wolves. The Emperor named him the Great Luo Heavenly Dynasty’s top scholar, granted him the title of Eastern Marquis and command of a self-recruited army, and Zhong Shan began preparing to conquer the Twelve Coastal Cities.

• Zhong Shan arrived at Matchless City with fifty thousand Demon Wolves and introduced Liu Wushuang as their Wolf Cavalry Commander.
• Shui Wuhen told Zhong Shan that two imperial envoys were waiting, and Zhong Shan went to receive them.
• The first edict named Zhong Shan the top scholar and made him a Soft Position body, connecting him to the Great Luo Heavenly Dynasty’s providence.
• The second edict made Zhong Shan the Eastern Marquis and Eastern Grand Marshal, authorized him to recruit five million troops, and ordered him to pacify the Twelve Coastal Cities.
• Zhong Shan asked Shui Wuhen for a map of the Twelve Coastal Cities and examined the imperial edicts, realizing his cultivation speed had risen to five times its original rate.

Zhong Shan assessed the Twelve Coastal Cities and ordered Shui Wuhen to strengthen and train his army before any assault. Meanwhile, Great Emperor Nalan refused Iron Blood’s plea to recall Yi Yan, who expected Nalan to summon him only if the war went badly.

• Zhong Shan learned that the Twelve Coastal Cities were ancient fortresses and decided to inspect them before planning an attack.
• Shui Wuhen reported how Marquis Qitian, Golden Cicada, and Water Mirror had retaken cities, and warned that Xiao Wang had returned to command the Great Radiance Emperor Dynasty’s forces.
• Zhong Shan ordered Shui Wuhen to screen and train his troops instead of rushing into battle, and planned to select promising soldiers for the Wolf Cavalry.
• Iron Blood urged Great Emperor Nalan to recall Yi Yan after the Great Luo Heavenly Dynasty retook its lost cities, but Nalan refused and threatened to brand Yi Yan a traitor if he left the City in the Sky.
• Iron Blood told Yi Yan about the audience, and Yi Yan said Nalan would summon him only if defeat reports arrived.

Zhong Shan welcomed the Western Poison Emperor to Matchless City after the poison expert incapacitated nearly two thousand guards while demanding to see the city lord. The Western Poison Emperor agreed to enter the city and discuss what he wanted, leaving Zhong Shan to learn what he had come to take.

• The Western Poison Emperor arrived at Matchless City's south gate and poisoned guards who tried to stop him, causing nearly a thousand people to faint.
• Zhong Shan heard that the intruder had incapacitated the guards and went to the south gate with A Da and Chi Huo.
• A Da identified the intruder as the Western Poison Emperor, a peak Emperor Realm expert known for poisoning an entire city.
• Zhong Shan recognized the Western Poison Emperor from an encounter years earlier and introduced himself as the person overseeing Matchless City.
• The Western Poison Emperor said he had come to take something, and Zhong Shan invited him to his residence to discuss it.
• The Western Poison Emperor swept his sleeve to cure the unconscious guards, then followed Zhong Shan into the city.

Zhong Shan helped the Western Poison Emperor find Matchless City's Immortal Stele and secured his permission to use his name as a deterrent. Afterward, A Da revealed that the world had seventy-two Immortal Steles.

• Zhong Shan had Shui Wuhen search Matchless City's records while he questioned the Western Poison Emperor about the Immortal Steles and offered him an honorary position in the army.
• Shui Wuhen found that an Immortal Stele had been buried beneath the City Lord Manor's central hall, and Zhong Shan ordered it uncovered.
• The Western Poison Emperor collected the stele and agreed to let Zhong Shan use his name to frighten enemies, promising to return in a year for news about other steles.
• Zhong Shan ordered the central hall rebuilt and reviewed the records about the Immortal Steles.
• A Da told Zhong Shan that there were seventy-two Immortal Steles in the world.

Zhong Shan learned that the Great Hong Heavenly Dynasty’s Seventy-Two Immortal Steles had been scattered among powerful factions, then organized Matchless City’s defenses before scouting the Twelve Coastal Cities. After finding the cities heavily fortified and on wartime alert, he ordered his men to gather their histories and the defending generals’ grudges before making plans.

• A Da told Zhong Shan that the Great Luo Heavenly Dynasty possessed fifteen of the Seventy-Two Immortal Steles, whose purpose remained unknown.
• Zhong Shan ordered Liu Wushuang to train the Wolf Cavalry and Shui Wuhen to guard Matchless City while he was away.
• Zhong Shan led Zhao Chuan and others to scout the Twelve Coastal Cities and found their defenses formidable, with the Great Yu Emperor Dynasty on wartime alert.
• Zhong Shan rejected suggestions to use civilians or infiltrators to seize Coastal City Number One and ordered his scouts to record the terrain and investigate its generals.
• After scouting all twelve cities, Zhong Shan told Zhao Chuan to collect their historical records and information about the defending generals’ grudges and disputes.

Zhong Shan discovered General Wu An’s army imprisoning Hao Meili and a wounded golden dragon in the One Qi Battle Array, and he intervened to free them. After the formation briefly collapsed and was restored, Zhong Shan recognized Hao Meili as a likely heir of the Great Hong Heavenly Dynasty and prepared to seek help from the dragon race.

• A scout reported that General Wu An was leading one hundred thousand soldiers toward the East Sea, so Zhong Shan set out with his group.
• Zhong Shan’s group found Wu An, Xie Yan, and their army surrounding a formation that imprisoned Hao Meili and a wounded golden dragon; Xiao Qiu Shui lay unconscious nearby.
• Xie Yan confronted Hao Meili over Xiao Qiu Shui and demanded that she honor their agreement to become his Dao Companion, but she refused.
• Zhong Shan ordered six Armor Piercing Arrows fired at key figures in the formation, briefly dispersing the barrier and allowing the golden dragon to roar before the army restored the cage.
• Wu An ordered nearly twenty thousand arrows fired at Zhong Shan’s group, but Nian Youyou, A Da, and Zhi Huo blocked them, and Zhong Shan revealed himself to Wu An.
• Zhong Shan recognized Hao Meili as a possible Hao family heir and decided to save her and the golden dragon by seeking reinforcements from the dragon race.

Zhong Shan watched the dragons rescue Hao Meili and devastate Wu An’s army with a flood from the East Sea. He pursued Wu An’s surviving troops, but as they reached a coastal city, a huge fireball began falling from the sky.

• Zhong Shan provoked Wu An by warning him about the consequences of imprisoning the dragon, and Xie Yan’s advice caused the army’s morale to waver.
• A flood carrying a horde of dragons swept in from the east, shattered the One Qi Battle Array, and rescued Hao Meili and the injured Golden Dragon.
• Wu An fled with only thirty thousand elite soldiers after the flood killed or submerged much of his army, while Hao Meili stopped the dragons from pursuing him.
• The dragons carried the floodwaters and the eight Immortal Steles back toward the East Sea, and Zhong Shan’s group set off after Wu An.
• Zhong Shan and his companions caught sight of Wu An’s troops near the third of the Twelve Coastal Cities, where a colossal fireball suddenly fell from the sky.

Zhong Shan watched Wu An’s army and Wu An himself get crushed by a bizarre shower of meteorites, then collected the meteorites and absorbed Wu An’s Primordial Spirit. He returned to the site of the flood deaths to investigate missing footprints and learned that Xie Yan had been killed by ten Red-Clothed People, leaving the circumstances of Xiao Qiu Shui’s disappearance unresolved.

• Ten meteorites struck the same crater, burying Wu An’s remaining thirty thousand soldiers and killing Wu An.
• Zhong Shan collected the meteorites, let Wu An’s Primordial Spirit enter his body, and swallowed it with the Eight Extremes Heavenly Tail, but gained no cultivation breakthrough.
• Zhong Shan ordered his group to return to the place where the dragons had been imprisoned and found footprints near Xiao Qiu Shui’s missing corpse.
• Zhong Shan followed the footprints northwest and learned from a scout that ten Red-Clothed People had carried a coffin and fought someone in a valley.
• Zhong Shan and his group found Xie Yan’s dismembered body, which had been cut into exactly one hundred pieces with his head taken away.

Zhong Shan learned that Hao Meili might possess the Myriad Evil Body, whose curses brought immediate retribution on anyone who targeted her. He connected her to the Hao family’s hidden bloodline and summoned A Da to ask about Third Prince Hao’s actions sixteen years earlier.

• Zhong Shan returned to Matchless City after investigating the Twelve Coastal Cities and asked Blazing Fire Wolf General about Wu An and Xie Yan’s deaths.
• Blazing Fire Wolf General explained that Hao Meili might be a Myriad Evil Body, protected by Heaven and Earth from anyone who targeted her.
• Zhong Shan concluded that people could avoid her curses by not targeting her and told Blazing Fire Wolf General to think of Emperor Xuan Sha whenever he saw her.
• Zhong Shan reasoned that Third Prince Hao had concealed a newborn Hao family bloodline and intended to pass her “Establish Heavenly Court.”
• Zhong Shan suspected that Hao Meili was Third Prince Hao’s daughter and asked A Da about the Third Prince’s actions on Sky Wolf Island sixteen years earlier.

Zhong Shan arranged for A Da to return to the Ancient Saintly Capital and asked King Da Xuan for fifteen Immortal Steles to support a campaign against the Twelve Coastal Cities. While his troops trained and gathered intelligence, he waited for an unspecified opportunity, then brought Nian Youyou to a plaza filled with roses.

• Zhong Shan learned that Third Prince Hao's body had been taken by the princess for study, then sent A Da to deliver her a letter in the Ancient Saintly Capital.
• King Da Xuan and his strategists discussed Zhong Shan's ambition and agreed to seek fifteen Immortal Steles for him in exchange for his promise to take the Twelve Coastal Cities within a year.
• Zhong Shan told his generals to continue training their troops and gathering intelligence, despite their concern that other armies had already begun taking cities.
• Zhong Shan brought Nian Youyou to the City Lord Manor plaza, where she found it filled with roses.

Zhong Shan fulfilled his promise to give Nian Youyou thousands of roses and recited nearly three thousand lines to her, while she enjoyed the attention despite his awkward delivery. Later, he received word from Princess Qian You and fifteen Immortal Steles from King Da Xuan, then prepared to launch a campaign as rival commanders watched Matchless City.

• Zhong Shan showed Nian Youyou a plaza containing 2,980 kinds of roses and recited the promised sweet nothings until she asked him to repeat them, prompting him to flee.
• Two months later, A Da reported that Princess Qian You was well and would visit after reaching the Emperor Realm, and Zhong Shan read her letter saying she missed him.
• Ten days later, an envoy delivered fifteen Immortal Steles from King Da Xuan, and Zhong Shan promised to take the Twelve Coastal Cities within a year.
• Zhong Shan told Shui Wuhen to prepare the troops without revealing his plans, while Marquis Qitian ordered further investigation into Zhong Shan's inactivity.
• Mister Shui Jing said Zhong Shan's continued training meant he was confident of victory and predicted that he would soon make his move.