Chapter Summaries

Zhang Xuanchen killed Hei Chuanwu and met Yu Lan’er and the Feather Clan’s nascent soul experts. Yu Lan’er led him and his companions to the Feather Clan’s Holy Temple, where the Feather Tribe Great Shaman awaited.

• Hei Chuanwu used Black Sea as a shield, but Zhang Xuanchen’s Blazing Flame Evil Vanquisher killed Black Sea and wounded Hei Chuanwu.
• Zhang Xuanchen caught Hei Chuanwu with a golden dragon claw and burned him to ash with earth vein profound sun fire.
• Little Flame, Great Sage, Little Peach, Azure Lion, and Hu Nuannuan arrived, and Yu Lan’er and six Feather Clan nascent soul experts greeted Zhang Xuanchen.
• Yu Lan’er said the Feather Tribe Great Shaman had foreseen Zhang Xuanchen’s arrival and invited him to the Feather Clan for answers.
• Zhang Xuanchen accepted Yu Lan’er’s invitation, and she led the group through the Ancient Forest to the Feather Clan’s Holy Temple.

Zhang Xuanchen and his companions entered the Feather Clan settlement, where he befriended a group of children by sharing pastries. As they continued toward the Holy Temple, he shared more snacks with his companions, whose enthusiastic squabbling revealed how much they enjoyed them.

• Yu Lan'er led Zhang Xuanchen and the others through a misty valley into the Feather Clan settlement.
• Zhang Xuanchen greeted the watching children and offered them pastries, which they accepted after Yu Lan'er gave permission.
• Yu Tiance and Yu Hui'er thanked Zhang Xuanchen and happily ate the treats as he promised to bring more.
• Yu Lan'er thanked Zhang Xuanchen for the pastries, and he credited her trust in letting the children eat them.
• Little Flame and Great Sage asked Zhang Xuanchen for snacks, while Little Peach argued that she had too few to share.
• Zhang Xuanchen handed out more pastries to his companions, and Azure Lion tasted a walnut cookie with surprise.

Zhang Xuanchen and his companions visited the Feather Clan Holy Temple, where they met the childlike Feather Tribe Great Shaman and learned he had reached peak Spirit Transformation. The Great Shaman tasted Zhang Xuanchen’s pastries, revealing his fondness for them despite trying to maintain a solemn demeanor.

• Hu Nuannuan and Yu Lan'er praised the pastries’ flavor and gentle spiritual energy, and Zhang Xuanchen agreed to discuss trading recipes after their visit.
• Yu Lan'er presented her Silver Token, and the Feather Clan Warriors opened the Holy Temple doors for the group.
• Little Flame and Great Sage laughed at the Great Shaman’s childlike appearance, but he calmly stopped Yu Lan'er from scolding them.
• Xuanjing told Zhang Xuanchen that the Great Shaman had reached peak Spirit Transformation, and Zhang Xuanchen apologized for his companions’ behavior.
• The Great Shaman noticed Little Peach’s Cream Cake, and Zhang Xuanchen offered him pastries from the Myriad Spirit Ring.
• The Great Shaman tasted the Cream Cake, enjoyed it, and tried to hide his enthusiasm by calling its flavor acceptable.

Zhang Xuanchen confronted Yu Cang over the Feather Clan’s failure to help the Heavenly Dragon Sea Domain during the Demon Calamity. Yu Cang revealed the Little Seven-Star Sealing Art, showing Zhang and the others that Feather Clan cultivators were sacrificing their strength to seal over a hundred Demon Seeds, while the captives warned that the Devil Race would soon find the Xuanqiong Realm.

• Zhang Xuanchen asked Yu Cang why the Ancient Forest and Cloudmist Continent had not helped the Heavenly Dragon Sea Domain during the Demon Calamity, and Yu Cang admitted the Feather Clan had been unable to send aid.
• Little Flame accused the Feather Clan of making excuses, and Yu Lan'er confronted him with her spear before Yu Cang ordered her to stand down.
• Yu Cang apologized for the Feather Clan’s absence and brought out an Array Plate to show Zhang Xuanchen what had prevented them from helping.
• The Array Plate transported everyone to an ancient altar where seven Feather Clan cultivators maintained a formation sealing more than a hundred Demon Seeds.
• The Demon Seeds addressed Yu Cang and warned that the seal would fail and the Devil Race would locate the Xuanqiong Realm.

Yu Cang explained why the Feather Clan could not aid the South Sea Immortal Continent: they had to maintain a seal containing 127 powerful demon seeds. After learning how dangerous the seeds were and why they could not be destroyed with their current strength, Zhang Xuanchen apologized, while Little Flame promised to return and help once it reached the middle stage of Void Refinement.

• Yu Cang revealed that the Feather Clan's cauldrons sealed 127 demon seeds, including 17 at the Spirit Transformation realm, and explained that maintaining the seal occupied most of the clan's cultivators.
• Yu Cang explained that the clan had sent Yu Lan'er and six Nascent Soul cultivators after Hei Chuanwu because the Demon Saint seed possessing him threatened to grow stronger.
• Zhang Xuanchen apologized to Yu Cang for accusing the Feather Clan, and Little Flame argued with Yu Lan'er over its earlier insults.
• Yu Cang demonstrated how demon seeds possessed hosts and explained that unhosted seeds could only be destroyed by powerful cultivators with suitable countermeasures.
• Yu Cang predicted that Zhang Xuanchen, Little Flame, and their companions would eventually become strong enough to destroy the seeds, prompting Little Flame to promise to return and help.

Yu Cang explained that the Feather Clan and other powers had guarded sealed Demon Seeds for hundreds of thousands of years, and Zhang Xuanchen and his companions honored their sacrifice. Back in the Holy Temple, Little Flame, the Great Sage, and Yu Lan'er argued over the costs of the realms merging until Zhang Xuanchen called them all pawns on a game board beyond their control.

• Yu Cang told Zhang Xuanchen that powerful clans and nations across the Xuanqiong Realm sealed Demon Seeds, which were awakening as the realms merged and spiritual energy rose.
• Yu Cang explained that the Feather Clan had maintained its seal for generations as part of its world-saving duty, and Zhang Xuanchen and his companions bowed in respect.
• Yu Cang transported everyone from the altar back to the Feather Clan Holy Temple.
• Yu Lan'er mocked Little Flame for previously blaming the Feather Clan, and Little Flame and the Great Sage argued that the merging of Secret Realms had brought the Demon Calamity sooner.
• The Great Sage challenged Yu Lan'er’s claim that others should welcome the chance to grow stronger, citing the lives lost to the Demon Calamity and the Feather Clan’s own desire to survive.
• Zhang Xuanchen stopped the argument and said that all living beings were pawns on a game board, though some had seen the board and others had not.

Zhang Xuanchen traded with the Feather Clan for rare resources and the Grand Void Feather Escape Technique, then learned more about the demon calamity threatening the Ancient Forest and Cloudmist Continent. After the banquet, he resolved that his group needed strength beyond the Spirit Transformation realm.

• Zhang Xuanchen agreed to trade recipes, pills, techniques, and seeds with the Feather Clan for its unique resources.
• Yu Lan'er presented golden feather dew, cloud-pattern feather iron, and soul-cleansing feather, while Yu Cang offered the Grand Void Feather Escape Technique in exchange for a body refinement method.
• Zhang Xuanchen traded the Heavenly Gang Body Refinement Art for the escape technique and also acquired wind-supporting divine wood for Zhang Deling.
• At the Feather Clan banquet, Zhang Xuanchen taught Yu Lan'er and other Feather Clan women how to make pastries, while his companions sampled the food and discussed cultivation.
• Zhang Xuanchen learned that the Ancient Forest's powers cooperated against sealed demon seeds and that a seal in one of Cloudmist Continent's ancient cities had developed problems.
• After the banquet, Zhang Xuanchen told Xuanjing and Shuoxing that they needed to become stronger because Spirit Transformation strength was not enough.

Zhang Xuanchen and his companions left the Feather Clan and returned toward the Heavenly Dragon Sea Domain. Half a year later, Luo Lingshuang broke through to the nascent soul middle stage and joined Su Muyan and the Zhang Family elders to protect Zhang Detian as he prepared to form his Golden Core.

• Zhang Xuanchen told Yu Cang he trusted his account of the altar and left the Holy Temple with Little Flame and the others.
• Yu Tiance, Yu Hui'er, and the other children gave Zhang Xuanchen Cloud Honey Fruits, and he encouraged them to cultivate and protect their home.
• Zhang Xuanchen and his companions boarded the Mystic Firmament Warship and set off for the Heavenly Dragon Sea Domain.
• Half a year later, Luo Lingshuang broke through from the nascent soul early stage to the nascent soul middle stage.
• Zhang Deling told Luo Lingshuang that Zhang Detian was about to break through to Golden Core, and Luo Lingshuang went with her to join Su Muyan and the Zhang Family elders.

Zhang Detian survived his tribulation and formed a first-grade golden core, using the lightning to advance his Divine Dragon Hegemony Body Art to early three transformations. He reunited with his mother, Luo Lingshuang, and the Zhang Family elders after his aura stabilized.

• Luo Lingshuang reassured Su Muyan that Zhang Detian's strong foundation and defenses would help him survive the golden core tribulation.
• Zhang Detian used the Vermilion Sun Sacred Fire Canon and his defensive artifact to withstand the early tribulation bolts.
• Zhang Detian charged into the lightning to temper his body, enduring severe injuries as his Divine Dragon Hegemony Body Art improved.
• The final bolt drove Zhang Detian into the mountain, where he broke through to early three transformations and reached early Golden Core.
• Luo Lingshuang confirmed Zhang Detian had survived and advanced, then led Su Muyan and the elders to him after his aura stabilized.
• Zhang Detian greeted his mother, Seventh Aunt, and the elders, and Su Muyan expressed pride and concern over his wounds.

Zhang Detian celebrated forming a First-grade Golden Core while Zhang Deling chose to remain at Foundation Establishment to seek her own Great Dao. A year later, Zhang Xuanchen returned to Xuanxiao Mountain with spiritual treasures and his companions.

• Zhang Deling congratulated Zhang Detian on his breakthrough, and Luo Lingshuang gave him a healing pill before the group returned to Xuanxiao Mountain.
• Zhang Deling told Zhang Detian she planned to stay at Foundation Establishment while seeking a Great Dao suited to her, and he advised her not to let her cultivation fall behind.
• Over the next year, Zhang Xuanchen found Frost Soul Jade Marrow and Nine Yang Earthheart Milk, sharing the treasures among Little Flame, himself, and the family lineage.
• Zhang Xuanchen took Hu Nuannuan and Azure Lion to the Purple Cloud Mountain Range and the Azure Nether Mountain Range before returning to Xuanxiao Mountain aboard the Mystic Firmament Warship.
• Zhang Dexiao rushed to greet Zhang Xuanchen and his companions at the mountain gate.

Zhang Xuanchen returned to the Zhang Family and announced that Zhang Detian would succeed him as Clan Leader in three years. He planned to enter seclusion and then travel with Luo Lingshuang to the Central Land Immortal Continent, leaving the Lineage in Zhang Detian’s care.

• Little Flame teased Zhang Dexiao about Ni Xin'er, but Zhang Xuanchen told them to let their relationship develop naturally.
• Zhang Xuanchen met with Zhang Detian and the elders in the Lineage's Main Hall and announced that Zhang Detian would become Clan Leader in three years; every elder supported the decision.
• Zhang Xuanchen explained that he would spend the next three years in seclusion before leaving with Luo Lingshuang for the Central Land Immortal Continent, and entrusted Zhang Detian with the Lineage and succession preparations.
• Zhang Xuanchen asked Zhang Detian to keep Zhang Dexiao out of trouble while he and Luo Lingshuang were away.
• After the meeting, Zhang Xuanchen and Luo Lingshuang walked toward the Profound Heaven Villa, discussed their plans to travel, and went inside together.

Zhang Xuanchen shared a feast with his family and friends while they discussed his planned journey to the Central Land Immortal Continent. He assigned Little Flame to watch over the family and entered seclusion for three years.

• The Zhang Family sent invitations across its trade routes announcing that the clan leader succession ceremony would take place in three years.
• Zhang Xuanchen joined Luo Lingshuang, Zhang Dexiao, Zhang Deling, Little Flame, Great Sage, and Little Peach for breakfast, and Zhang Dexiao explained that Ni Xin'er had returned to the Azure Nether Mountain Range to prepare for a breakthrough.
• Zhang Xuanchen reminded Little Flame to fetch his wife from the East Sea Dragon Court, fulfill his marriage promise, and remain on Xuanxiao Mountain to guard the family while he was away.
• Great Sage and Little Peach asked to accompany Zhang Xuanchen to the Central Land Immortal Continent, and Zhang Xuanchen agreed while warning them not to cause trouble.
• After the meal, Zhang Xuanchen told Luo Lingshuang he would cultivate in seclusion for three years and left routine clan affairs to Detian and the elders.

Zhang Xuanchen and his companions refined his Star River Burning Wind Myriad Transformations Art to support his Spirit Transformation cultivation, then trained the Falling Star Tribulation Finger and the Three Lives Borrowing Strength Great Technique. Two years later, he mastered the finger technique’s first five strikes and reached lesser mastery.

• Zhang Xuanchen, Xuanjing, and Shuoxing spent a year deducing a revised Star River Burning Wind Myriad Transformations Art, bringing it to fifth-grade mid-stage.
• Zhang Xuanchen began cultivating the Falling Star Tribulation Finger and, with Shuoxing’s guidance, practiced its first five strikes.
• Zhang Xuanchen also trained the Three Lives Borrowing Strength Great Technique, following Xuanjing’s advice to stabilize his present-life body and align his three auras.
• After two years of training, Zhang Xuanchen used Falling Stars to split a mountain and demonstrated that he could wield all five strikes at will.

After emerging from seclusion, Zhang Xuanchen showed off his improved strength and learned that his brother Zhang Xuanlong had reached Golden Core. With Xiao Tian’s succession ceremony three days away, Zhang Xuanchen went to see how preparations and visiting guests were faring.

• Zhang Xuanchen demonstrated that his Three Lives Borrowing Strength Great Technique had reached minor mastery, granting him four times his combat strength, and Xuanjing warned him to use it carefully.
• Zhang Xuanchen left seclusion and reunited with Zhang Xuanlong, congratulating him on reaching Golden Core and praising his steady foundation.
• Zhang Xuanlong told Zhang Xuanchen that Xiao Tian’s succession ceremony was three days away and guests from across the Heavenly Dragon Sea Domain had crowded the region.
• Zhang Xuanlong recounted how Zhang Family disciples had defeated visiting youngsters who challenged the Xuanxiao Ten Prodigies and Ten Heroes.
• Zhang Xuanchen cautioned Zhang Xuanlong to treat defeated guests with restraint, then went with him toward Skyward Peak.

Zhang Xuanchen and Zhang Xuanlong surveyed the thousands of guests gathered at Skyward Mountain for the Zhang Family ceremony. When the crowd recognized Zhang Xuanchen as Venerable Blazing Firmament, they bowed across the mountain, and he welcomed them to rise.

• Zhang Xuanchen and Zhang Xuanlong looked down from Skyward Hall at the many guests and Zhang Family disciples gathered for the ceremony.
• Visitors praised the Zhang Family’s spiritual resources and its disciples’ courtesy and discipline.
• A Golden Core cultivator recognized Zhang Xuanchen as Venerable Blazing Firmament and bowed to him.
• Guests across the Dao Platform and white jade stairs joined in greeting Zhang Xuanchen, while Zhang Xuanlong felt proud of his Seventh Brother.
• Zhang Xuanchen swept his sleeve and told everyone to rise.

At the Zhang Family’s gathering, Wei Wushuang reflected on the gulf between his progress and Zhang Xuanchen’s and decided to leave his lineage after the succession ceremony to seek the Great Dao. Wei Tian warned Wei Youqian to show proper respect to the newly revered Venerable Blazing Firmament, while privately realizing that the Wei Family’s First Ancestor had likely saved the lineage from destruction by restraining it decades earlier.

• Wei Wushuang watched Zhang Xuanchen and resolved to leave the Wei Family after the succession ceremony to seek opportunities and pursue the Great Dao.
• Wei Youqian recognized Zhang Xuanchen and began calling him Brother Xuanchen, but Wei Tian stopped him and instructed him to use the title Venerable Blazing Firmament.
• Wei Tian reflected that the Wei Family’s First Ancestor had prevented the lineage from making a disastrous move against Zhang Xuanchen decades earlier.
• Wei Tian and Wei Youqian stood quietly with the other Wei Family members, regarding Zhang Xuanchen with awe.

Zhang Xuanchen announced rules for the three days before the succession ceremony, then learned from Shuoxing that Yan Jin of the Southern Bright Flame Palace had become relevant again. Zhang Xuanchen searched the surrounding area for Yan Jin but could not sense him.

• Zhang Xuanchen announced that the succession ceremony would begin in three days and invited guests to exchange insights, cooperate, trade, or spar on the Martial Arts Platform.
• Zhang Xuanchen forbade unauthorized fighting and threatened to expel or execute anyone who broke the rules, and the guests agreed to comply.
• Zhang Xuanchen left the Dao Platform and headed toward his courtyard, intending to speak with Luo Lingshuang.
• Shuoxing asked Zhang Xuanchen whether he remembered Yan Jin of the Southern Bright Flame Palace, whom Shuoxing had once marked with a Starry Mark.
• Zhang Xuanchen searched the nearby Cloud Sea, mountain paths, and Guest Peaks with his spiritual sense but found no trace of Yan Jin.

Zhang Xuanchen learned that Yan Jin was hiding in Lingxiao Immortal City and decided to kill him before leaving the Zhang Family vulnerable. He appeared over Fengyue Pavilion in Blood-Golden Dragon Armor and summoned the Southern Bright Flame Palace, leaving Yan Jin’s confrontation about to begin.

• Shuoxing located Yan Jin at Fengyue Pavilion, and Zhang Xuanchen decided to eliminate him before departing for the Central Land Immortal Continent.
• Yan Jin brooded over Zhang Xuanchen’s rise and planned to blood-sacrifice the Southern Bright Flame Palace with the Myriad Souls Blood Baleful Array to break through to Spirit Transformation.
• Zhang Xuanchen appeared above Fengyue Pavilion, activated the Divine Dragon Hegemony Body Art, and called for the Southern Bright Flame Palace to come out and face him.

Zhang Xuanchen publicly accused Yan Jin of being a high-rank demon seed and used the Demon-Detecting Mirror to expose his true form. The city learned that a demon had been hiding within the Southern Bright Flame Palace, while the mirror drew attention as a powerful way to detect such threats.

• Zhang Xuanchen appeared over Lingxiao Immortal City and summoned the Southern Bright Flame Palace, alarming Lu Yuan, Nangong Qing, and Yan Jin.
• Zhang Xuanchen trapped Yan Jin in the Starry Tower’s chains and boundary, and Yan Jin protested that he had done nothing wrong.
• Zhang Xuanchen identified Yan Jin as a remnant soul parasitized by a high-rank demon seed, but Yan Jin denied the charge and Lu Yuan produced a Demon-Seeking Pearl that showed no demon qi.
• Zhang Xuanchen explained that the pearl could not reveal concealed high-rank demon seeds and summoned the Demon-Detecting Mirror.
• The mirror’s Truth-Breaking Divine Light burned away Yan Jin’s disguise, revealing demonic runes, armor, horns, and a mass of demon qi.
• Nangong Qing realized Yan Jin had been possessed for years, and cultivators across the city praised Zhang Xuanchen while taking interest in the mirror.

Zhang Xuanchen killed Yan Jin after the Demon-Detecting Mirror exposed him as a demon, then announced that the Xuanxiao Zhang Clan would auction twelve mirrors in five years. The city’s major powers rushed to prepare for the auction as Zhang Xuanchen departed Lingxiao Immortal City.

• Zhang Xuanchen crushed Yan Jin with the Star Boundary and Star Chains, then burned his remains to ash.
• Zhang Xuanchen told the cultivators of Lingxiao Immortal City that the demonic threat had been eliminated, and they thanked and praised him.
• Zhang Xuanchen explained that the Demon-Detecting Mirror could reveal demonized creatures within twenty li but was too difficult to produce in large numbers.
• Zhang Xuanchen announced that the Xuanxiao Zhang Clan would auction twelve Demon-Detecting Mirrors at its merchant guild in five years, prompting the city’s powers to scramble for funds.
• Xuanjing teased Zhang Xuanchen for his shrewd sales pitch, and Zhang Xuanchen vanished from the city in specks of starlight.