Chapter Summaries

Fang Xiu cultivated in the Nether Palace and struggled to find a path to the fifth rank. In the underworld, Chang De was appointed Judge of the Soul Hooking Division and departed for the Netherworld Son of Heaven City after greeting an old acquaintance at Xun Capital Academy.

• Fang Xiu reflected on the power of his fourth-rank Netherworld Mountain and found no clue for advancing to the fifth rank.
• Fang Xiu planned to visit the Heavenly Realm and consult its Heaven Dao Main Soul and the crow about cultivation methods.
• A divine edict appointed Barren Ancient Mountain’s Chang De as Judge of the Soul Hooking Division.
• Chang De received an Orthodox God’s official robe and divine authority, then departed in a grand procession for the Netherworld Son of Heaven City.
• Chang De stopped at Xun Capital Academy, where he spoke with an acquaintance projecting his consciousness through the Incense Divine Artifact, and the two bid farewell.

Tang Li rejected Fu Hou’s appeal to help Young Lord Ji Gu, judging Gao Country doomed and planning to move the Esteemed Sage Academy to Pan Country. After Tang Li wounded E Hong while protecting Ji Gu, he established the academy in Bu Land and revealed that ordinary people could cultivate Grand Righteous Qi through the sages’ scriptures, while the struggle over Gao Country intensified.

• Tang Li met Fu Hou, who warned that King Gao was gravely ill and asked him to support Young Lord Ji Gu against E Hong.
• Tang Li criticized Ji Gu’s hesitation and E Hong’s ambition, declared that Gao Country was likely to fall, and said he would move the Esteemed Sage Academy to Pan Country.
• After King Gao died, Ji Gu fled toward Shao Country, and Tang Li wounded E Hong with the power of the Dao Transmission Jade Slip as E Hong pursued him.
• Tang Li rebuilt the Esteemed Sage Academy in Bu Land and taught that studying the sages’ scriptures could nurture Grand Righteous Qi without a spirit root.
• Scholars and non-cultivators flocked to the academy, which revived Bu City and drew attention to Tang Li’s supplementary Dao Transmission Jade Slip.
• E Hong deposed Gao Country’s young king, renamed the country Hong, and allied with Pan Country as Shao Country backed Ji Gu.

Fang Xiu saw Qing Yang’s disciples bring their master’s coffin to the Nether Capital and watched them carry him away through the Three Realms Abyss. As Zhang Heming and Jia Yi departed too, Fang Xiu was left alone before the Nether Palace, contemplating mortality and whether anyone could truly become immortal.

• Fang Xiu reflected on Tang Li’s rise and the growing influence of Xun Capital Academy.
• Zhang Heming, Jia Yi, and their disciples arrived at the Nether Capital, carrying Qing Yang’s coffin.
• Zhang Ping knelt before Fengdu and announced that his master had died, leaving Fang Xiu stunned by memories of Qing Yang.
• Fang Xiu promised to help the Zhang family if anything happened to them and watched Qing Yang’s disciples carry the coffin through the Three Realms Abyss.
• Zhang Heming told Fang Xiu that Qing Yang had spent two hundred years seeking an elusive chance at immortality, then wondered whether anyone could truly become immortal.
• Zhang Heming and Jia Yi departed through the Three Realms Abyss, leaving Fang Xiu alone before the Nether Palace.

After the ruins of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains opened for the first time in over twenty years, Kong Huai emerged and fled toward Shao Country with the countries’ forces pursuing him. He escaped the Tier-3 cultivators by bluffing that he could fire the Divine Bow again.

• Cultivators in Ancient Watchtower City traded stories about the hidden ruins and the heavenly city said to lie within them.
• A pillar of light blasted apart the mist, announcing that the ruins had opened, while red spiritual light streaked toward Shao Country.
• Officials saw Kong Huai emerge from the ruins and recognized him as the man who had remained inside since the previous exploration.
• Dozens of cultivators pursued Kong Huai toward the Li River, while a fiery-red figure beneath the riverbed watched them pass.
• More than a dozen Tier-3 cultivators cornered Kong Huai near Phoenix Yang Lake, and Shao Country officials arrived to meet him.
• Kong Huai pretended to draw the exhausted Divine Bow, frightened his pursuers, and escaped back to Shao Country.

Kong Huai used the Incense Divine Artifact to destroy Shao Country’s capital formation and escape with Lin Shu aboard Zhou Yang’s Treasure Ship. As they left the Mountain Sea World, Kong Huai grieved for his master and said they were going home.

• The Shao King attacked the Directorate of Astronomy, wounded Lin Shu, and trapped its cultivators beneath the capital’s formation.
• More than a hundred cultivators sacrificed themselves and the Directorate’s Incense Money to empower the Incense Divine Artifact, and Kong Huai fired it at the royal palace.
• The arrow destroyed the palace and the formation, allowing Lin Shu to carry Kong Huai out of the capital as the Shao King pursued them.
• Mountain Gods, Water Masters, and other deities obstructed the pursuit until Zhou Yang arrived in a third-rank Treasure Ship and took Lin Shu and Kong Huai aboard.
• The Treasure Ship escaped across the sea with the Incense Divine Artifact, while Shao Country’s power struggles and wars continued in their wake.
• Aboard the ship, Kong Huai mourned his master, and Lin Shu and Zhou Yang told him they were going home.

Kong Huai, Lin Shu, and Zhou Yang returned to the mortal world with the Suiren Bow as Fang Xiu waited for the Eastern Continent’s unification to complete his plan. In Bu City, Tang Li discovered that an old scroll was Sage Feng’s original manuscript, and its characters pulled his divine soul into the scroll.

• Kong Huai carried the Suiren Bow through the Immortal Realm Gate with Lin Shu, Zhou Yang, and the Shao Country cultivators returning to the mortal world.
• Fang Xiu sensed that the Incense Divine Artifact had left the Mountain Sea World and said his plan was nearly complete, pending the Eastern Continent’s unification.
• Bu City prospered around Esteemed Sage Academy, where Tang Li expanded the library and grew closer to Third Order Power through the Dao Transmission Jade Slip.
• Tang Li opened an ancient scroll sent by Pan Kingdom Young Lord Zhao and realized it was Sage Feng’s original manuscript.
• The scroll unfurled in a rush of light, and its characters pulled Tang Li’s divine soul and will into its world.

Tang Li experienced a vision of Sage Feng passing the Dao to Zhuang Li during the final days of Great Huan, then witnessed Xun Capital’s destruction and spoke with Sage Feng about ending the age of chaos. He awoke in Esteemed Sage Academy determined to build a prosperous new era and earn a place in history.

• Tang Li recognized that he had been transported to Xun Capital Academy in the era of Huan King Hua, where Sage Feng taught the Twenty-Four Sages.
• Sage Feng passed the Dao Transmission Jade Slip to Zhuang Li, naming him the next Confucius, then warned the students to remain inside before disappearing.
• As ghosts and dead souls flooded Xun Capital during the Great Witch Yun Rebellion, Sage Feng appeared to Tang Li and asked what choice he would make for the realm.
• Tang Li vowed to end the age of chaos and restore the Academy, and Sage Feng promised to welcome him as the fifth Sage of the literary Dao.
• Tang Li witnessed the Dragon Hill Emperor Lord depart in a Bronze Chariot with ten million Netheworld Soldiers before the vision shattered and he awoke at Esteemed Sage Academy.
• Tang Li put away Sage Feng's Dao Transmission scroll and left, resolved to create a prosperous age worthy of remembrance.

Prince Ji Gu’s suicide revived resistance in Hong Country as Pan Country expanded, conquered Shao Country, and united the region. With Shao Country defeated, King Hong E Hong burned Gaoyang and died amid its destruction, leaving Pan Country’s envoys to find only ruins and refugees.

• Prince Ji Gu cut out his heart and died after realizing Shao Country had never intended to restore Gao Country, prompting surrendered cities and clans to rebel against Shao Country.
• Confucius Tang Li brought the Dao Transmission Jade Slip to Pan Country, became Minister of Works, and helped secure Min Country’s surrender.
• Pan Country conquered Li Country, then King Pan led a five-hundred-thousand-strong army against Shao Country and Tang Li shattered Shao Country’s defensive formation.
• King Shao Che Yan and the East Dragon Cauldron vanished after Shao Country fell, leaving Hong Country as the last remaining state.
• King Hong E Hong transformed into a great demon, slaughtered people in his palace, and burned Gaoyang before dying on his throne.
• Pan Country’s envoys reached Gaoyang and found it reduced to ruins as thousands of refugees fled in every direction.

Pan Emperor unified the realm, received the Dragon Seal as a sign of his Emperor Lord Status, and established a new dynasty. After relocating the capital and adopting Tang Li’s reforms, Pan Country entered an era of renewal, while a Taoist watching history at Nether Capital Immortal Island declared that it was over and vanished into the Three Realms Abyss.

• After E Hong’s fire brought Hong Country under Pan Country, Pan Emperor proclaimed the Pan Dynasty and claimed Great Huan’s Mandate of Heaven.
• As Pan Emperor prayed at the Heavenly Terrace, nine Flood Dragons converged into a five-clawed golden dragon that delivered the Dragon Seal to him.
• The court moved the capital to Yangshe, renamed it Yangjing, and Tang Li pushed through the Prefecture and County System despite Noble Clan Grand Masters’ opposition.
• After the reforms were completed, Tang Li resigned and returned to the Esteemed Sage Academy to teach students.
• At Nether Capital Immortal Island, a white-robed Taoist watched Pan Emperor receive the Dragon Seal, said, “It’s over,” and was swept into the Three Realms Abyss.

Zhou Yang and Kong Huai established the Incense Divine Artifact project in Wei Port City, securing the Suiren Bow and using its power to suppress supernatural abilities in the city center. They planned to turn the whole city into an independent domain and use Energy Stones to help establish order among supernatural beings.

• Zhou Yang and Wuxi returned to the country with the Incense Divine Artifact, and Wei Port City was placed under martial law.
• Kong Huai oversaw construction of a fortified headquarters beneath the financial center tower, where the Suiren Bow was secured behind powerful restrictions.
• Zhou Yang explained to officials that only souls could reach the Suiren Bow, that only three vetted people could move it, and that it had to remain at the base.
• Hua planned to transform Wei Port City into an Extraordinary City, drawing on the artifact and residents' wish power to create a domain that could isolate the city and enforce order.
• Kong Huai and Zhou Yang discussed how an abundant supply of Energy Stones could change the world and help establish order among supernatural beings.

Fang Xiu visited White Harbor Grand Library, where John Vogel discussed the fourth tier, his own breakthrough, and his desire to study the Incense Divine Artifact. Fang Xiu refused to reveal its secrets and returned home to find Wind Crow Roster Joel criticizing Chen Jin’s Witchcraft Garden.

• Fang Xiu visited the White Harbor Grand Library and met John Vogel, who showed him the upper floor and discussed alchemy and artifact refinement.
• John Vogel described fourth-tier beings as close to gods, while Fang Xiu insisted they were still human.
• John Vogel explained that he had borrowed the Fountain of Youth from the Celestial Master to reach the fourth tier.
• John Vogel asked Fang Xiu to reveal the secret of the Incense Divine Artifact and offered his life's work and possessions in exchange, but Fang Xiu refused.
• Fang Xiu returned home and heard Wind Crow Roster Joel loudly criticizing the construction of Chen Jin’s Witchcraft Garden.

Wind Crow Roster explained how the Blanc Alchemy School had used Arcane Civilization principles to build the Witchcraft Garden. Its account gave Fang Xiu a new inspiration about how to break through to the fifth order.

• Fang Xiu questioned Wind Crow Roster about the Witchcraft Garden’s flaws, and the crow explained that it had rushed while merging the garden with an independent witchcraft space.
• Wind Crow Roster described the Arcane Civilization as a civilization of plane creators whose arcanists made Arcane Gardens and, in rare cases, complete planes.
• Wind Crow Roster revealed that the Blanc Alchemy School had modeled the Witchcraft Garden on the Arcane Civilization and had tried to develop it into a mythical wonderland.
• Fang Xiu learned that the Blanc Alchemy School had explored the supreme mysteries of alchemy before its effort failed, and he gained a new spark of inspiration for reaching the fifth order.

Fang Xiu considered using the independent Witchcraft Garden as a fifth-tier attunement object and entrusted it to Chen Jin, then received Zhang Heming’s disciples in White Harbor. Zhang Yuzhen invited him to the third Dao Discussion Conference, whose purpose had not yet been explained.

• Fang Xiu discussed with Chen Jin and Wind Crow Roster Joel how the Witchcraft Garden could serve as an early step toward a mythic attunement object and the fifth tier.
• Fang Xiu offered the Witchcraft Garden, house, and Gerald's Magic Box to Chen Jin for her future breakthrough, while Black Fiend said he was not ready for the fourth tier.
• Fang Xiu advised Black Fiend to consider divine cultivation if he lacked confidence in breaking through to the fourth tier, then playfully rubbed Wind Crow Roster Joel’s head.
• Zhang Yuzhen, Zhang Yusu, and other disciples of Zhang Heming arrived in White Harbor and paid their respects to Fang Xiu.
• Zhang Yuzhen told Fang Xiu that Zhang Heming had sent him to invite his Martial Uncle to the third Dao Discussion Conference.

Fang Xiu returned to Wei Port City for the Dao Discussion Conference and visited Zhang Heming at Three Goat Temple. He offered the aging Celestial Master a chance to pursue Orthodox Godhood by seeking the position of Celestial Master in the Great Pan Dynasty, and Zhang Heming agreed to try after the conference.

• Fang Xiu arrived in Wei Port City, where extraordinary beings were being closely screened, and the Zhang family welcomed him.
• Fang Xiu saw the Energy Tower and recognized that officials were shaping Wei Port City into a formation modeled on the Incense Divine Realm.
• Fang Xiu went to Three Goat Temple and found Zhang Heming compiling a Dao scripture despite his failing health.
• Fang Xiu proposed that Zhang Heming seek appointment as Celestial Master of the Great Pan Dynasty to earn the merit needed for Orthodox Godhood.
• Zhang Heming considered the political opportunity involving the Pan Emperor and the Xuanyuan Clan, then agreed to go to the Mountain Sea World after the conference.

The first two days of the Dao Discussion Conference brought transcenders together to present new techniques and debate paths to immortality. As the second day ended, Fang Xiu had heard many promising ideas but remained uncertain whether paths like martial cultivation could overcome their difficulties.

• Zhang Heming opened the conference in the Peach Blossom Forest, where dozens of transcenders presented new methods and received criticism from senior cultivators.
• On the second day in the Dao Palace, Martial Ancestor Lu Wu demonstrated how he combined minor divine abilities into a martial body and described his vision for the martial path.
• Tai Liang explained that his Primordial Spirit method fused his blood vitality, body, and spirit before discarding everything else, provoking a debate over what it meant to remain human.
• Zhang Heming answered that retaining morality and propriety made someone human, while Corpse Herding School Maji defended corpse cultivation before angrily leaving the stage.
• Sword Immortal Lin Shu and other cultivators presented their paths, and Fang Xiu listened through the day, taking in the range of possible inheritances.

At the Dao Discussion Conference, Hong Yuan unveiled the Buddhist Golden Body, a method that used Incense Wish Power to refine the body while claiming its flaws could be resolved. After the conference, Fengdu, Jia Yi, and Zhang Heming discussed the many cultivation paths and prepared for the next day's talks on Tier-4 and longevity.

• Hong Yuan appeared at the conference and demonstrated his golden body, startling the audience with its Incense Wish Power.
• Hong Yuan explained that the Buddhist Golden Body refined the flesh with Incense Wish Power and invited cultivators to join the Buddhist school, while Jia Yi denounced the method's dangers.
• The second day's conference ended amid debate over Hong Yuan's claim that he had found a way to overcome the method's flaws.
• Fengdu and Jia Yi stayed at the Three Goat Temple with Zhang Heming to discuss cultivation paths and prepare for their presentations on Tier-4 and longevity.
• Fang Xiu praised Hong Yuan's method as an impressive new path if its flaws could truly be resolved.

Tai Liang brought his young disciple to watch the Dao Discussion Conference, where four Tier-4 extraordinary beings created a celestial mountain in the sky and shared their views on Tier 4. After the conference ended, the attendees departed and the mountain dissolved into mist.

• Tai Liang told his disciple that the conference would demonstrate the power of Tier-4 extraordinary beings and warned her about the dangers of the Mountain Sea World.
• Divine Lord Jia Yi, Fengdu Daoist, Zhang Heming, and John Fogel combined their powers to create a jade temple and Daoist arena on a mountain above the clouds.
• Extraordinary beings and viewers around the world watched in astonishment as attendees rode the wind to the celestial mountain and entered the conference.
• The four Tier-4 extraordinary beings discussed their paths and understandings of Tier 4 while the audience listened in person and through livestreams.
• The Dao Discussion Conference ended at sunset, more than a hundred attendees flew away, and the celestial mountain dissolved into mist.

Fang Xiu returned to White Harbor by underground train and saw ordinary workers arriving to help the city grow. After entering his home, he found Wind Crow Roster Joel instructing Chen Jin on refining the independent Witchcraft Garden.

• Fang Xiu left Wei Port City by ship and returned to White Harbor through the underground train station.
• He rode the crowded train with newly assigned workers, including Claire and Xu Le, and told them they might have jobs in White Harbor.
• Fang Xiu left the train at White Harbor, where Claire, Xu Le, and the other newcomers saw the city for the first time.
• Fang Xiu returned home through a door that briefly became a Black Vortex.
• Fang Xiu found Wind Crow Roster Joel instructing Chen Jin on refining the independent Witchcraft Garden.

Chen Jin began forging the Witchcraft Garden into a Grotto-Heaven Magic Treasure, but Fang Xiu was interrupted by the collapse of a divine kingdom above the Mountain Sea World. He decided to prepare for a covert journey into the world of the Eternal Ring to learn more about its gods and the approaching Doomsday Twilight.

• Fang Xiu found the Witchcraft Garden’s spaces twisted together as Chen Jin refined Gerald's Magic Box into a single treasure, while Black Fiend and Wind Crow Roster Joel played amid the spatial chaos.
• Chen Jin told Fang Xiu she intended to make the house a Grotto-Heaven Magic Treasure, potentially allowing it to grow beyond Tier-5 and eventually become an immortal artifact.
• Fang Xiu sensed a major disturbance, crossed into the Mountain Sea World’s celestial palace, and saw a collapsing divine kingdom above the World Tree.
• Chen Jin, Black Fiend, and Wind Crow Roster Joel recognized the divine kingdom, and Joel warned that a True God might be nearing its fall.
• Fang Xiu decided to investigate the world of the Eternal Ring and planned to use Wind Crow Roster Joel’s ability to travel between planes without being discovered.

Fang Xiu inspected Chen Jin’s newly created spatial magic treasure and discussed the long path required to turn it into a true Grotto-Heaven Magic Treasure. After incorporating a Space Teleportation Gate, he confirmed that the Household could travel between locations around the world.

• Fang Xiu tested the treasure’s self-repairing rooms, and Chen Jin explained that the Tier-5 magic treasure could contain 320 shifting houses.
• Fang Xiu and Chen Jin discussed how the treasure might become a Grotto-Heaven Magic Treasure, with Chen Jin estimating that reaching Tier-5 would take about a century.
• Fang Xiu promised Black Fiend a reward if she trained diligently and could break through Tier-4 without taking the divine path.
• Fang Xiu asked Chen Jin to incorporate a Space Teleportation Gate into the treasure, and she agreed to try.
• Fang Xiu opened the completed gate in Wei Port City and confirmed that the Household could appear at different locations around the world.