Chapter Summaries

Ye Hongyu survived the patriarch’s attempt to kill her and learned that Smoke Fiend had poisoned Liu Family Village’s inhabitants and set the village ablaze. As the village burned, Smoke Fiend explained how war and banditry had transformed his home and led him to kill.

• The patriarch tried to cut Ye Hongyu’s throat, but she revealed she had neutralized his poison and was protected by her cultivation.
• The patriarch mistook Ye Hongyu for the mountain god’s envoy, while Smoke Fiend tried to make him understand that Liu Family Village was doomed.
• Smoke Fiend’s pipe smoke caused the villagers to vomit blood and collapse, and he left the courtyard as it burst into flames.
• Smoke Fiend told Ye Hongyu that he had poisoned the villagers to spare them from being killed by her and believed the sinful village should disappear.
• Smoke Fiend explained that Liu Da had not returned to the village after death because it was no longer pure ground, then began recounting how war and bandits had destroyed the once-peaceful village.
• Smoke Fiend recalled that he had been a physician and had poisoned some of the bandits, while others, including Liu Da, had joined them.

Ye Hongyu and Shi Yongheng learned how Liu Family Village had fallen into ruin after its people were exploited and abandoned, and Shi Yongheng unleashed his anger at the Song Kingdom’s failures. He sent Liu Da and Smoke Fiend to the Academy, then continued traveling with Ye Hongyu toward Southern Jin, where they found conditions much better.

• Ye Hongyu questioned Smoke Fiend about how the village head and its remaining residents had used drugs to scare off corrupt visitors, and he recalled Liu Family Village’s past before collapsing into tears.
• As Smoke Fiend walked toward the burning courtyard, Shi Yongheng knocked him unconscious and remained silent until dawn.
• Shi Yongheng revived Liu Da, condemned the Song Kingdom, Zhishou Abbey, and Xiling, and flattened a mountain with a burst of killing intent.
• Li Manman arrived on Fuzi’s orders and escorted Smoke Fiend to the Academy, while Liu Da agreed to push Shi Yongheng’s wheelchair and kowtowed in gratitude.
• Shi Yongheng told Ye Hongyu to learn from the world for herself, then set out with her and Liu Da for Southern Jin.
• The travelers found Southern Jin much better than the Song Kingdom, with many Sword Garret disciples defending the innocent and fighting evil.

After years of traveling, Shi Yongheng, Ye Hongyu, and Liu Da arrived in Chang'an, where Ye Hongyu met the Academy’s Second Floor masters and Shi Yongheng settled into the Old Book Tower. The chapter left Shi Yongheng studying the Academy’s account of qi cultivation as Yu Lian suspected he was a Mind Master.

• Ye Hongyu and Shi Yongheng reached Chang'an with Liu Da after Ye Hongyu had advanced to Knowing Destiny and completed Foundation Establishment.
• Master Yan Se sensed Ye Hongyu’s arrival, greeted her at the gate tower, and questioned Shi Yongheng, whom he could not read.
• Jun Mo and Yu Lian welcomed the visitors at the Academy gates and told Shi Yongheng that Fuzi had prepared a desk for him in the Old Book Tower.
• Shi Yongheng sent Ye Hongyu to Back Mountain to spar with Jun Mo and had Liu Da find lodging in the Academy’s front courtyard.
• Shi Yongheng sat at his desk, drew down a book with his mind, and began reading about the Sea of Qi and Snow Mountain while Yu Lian wondered if he was a Mind Master.

Shi Yongheng shared his cultivation system with Yu Lian, who later converted her cultivation and returned to the Academy. After restoring his peak strength at Cliff of Repentance, Shi Yongheng left for Chang'an City with Chen Pipi.

• Shi Yongheng gave Yu Lian his cultivation method, and she promised to bring him insights into the Bright Sect's cultivation.
• Yu Lian delivered Heaven Demon insights and the Twenty-Three-Year Cicada method, then entered seclusion and completed her conversion to Supreme Purity cultivation a year later.
• Fuzi returned with Li Manman, whose cultivation had also reached the stage of breaking the core and forming the nascent soul, while the Academy prepared to open its gates to new disciples.
• Shi Yongheng entered Cliff of Repentance and restored his physical body to peak strength, noticing that his true essence had begun to transform.
• Shi Yongheng met Chen Pipi after leaving seclusion and took him to Chang'an City for a meal.

Shi Yongheng took Chen Pipi to Red Sleeve House, where they encountered Jian Dajia and Yan Se, before the Academy’s mountain-climbing admissions assessment began. Ning Que overcame several trials and emerged from an illusion beneath a dark, gloomy sky.

• Shi Yongheng brought Chen Pipi to Red Sleeve House, where Jian Dajia welcomed them and explained her connection to Ke Haoran.
• Jian Dajia asked after Chen Pipi’s Second Senior Brother and promised not to tell Fuzi that Chen Pipi had slipped away.
• Yan Se encountered Chen Pipi outside Red Sleeve House, and Shi Yongheng explained that he had brought him there to broaden his horizons.
• Cao Zhizhang announced that the first climber to reach the summit could become Fuzi’s personal disciple, and the gathered cultivators began the assessment.
• Long Qing took the lead as the mountain path challenged the climbers with sharp stones, nails, shifting terrain, fire, ice, and mist.
• Ning Que overcame the mist, opened a wooden gate by imprinting a character onto it, and struggled through an illusion of his past before facing a dark, gloomy sky.

Ning Que joined the Academy’s Back Mountain and was appointed Tianxia Walker to lead its disciples against the Wastelanders, while Xiling assembled an alliance to invade the Desolate Plain. The Demon Sect’s new Sect Master, Lin Yi, remained confident that the coalition could be countered as its forces advanced north.

• After reaching the Second Floor, Ning Que discovered that the cripple from the Old Book Tower held a respected position in Back Mountain and apologized to him.
• Xiling summoned armies and cultivators from several nations to attack the Desolate Plain after the Golden Tent Royal Court pledged loyalty to the Demon Sect and a prophecy pointed to the Bright Scroll there.
• At a meeting of the Desolate Plain’s leaders, Lin Yi assured Tang that the Demon Sect had countermeasures and that powerful figures would not intervene against them.
• Fuzi appointed Ning Que as the Academy’s Tianxia Walker, and Shi Yongheng told him to treat the expedition as experience rather than a serious effort to target the Wastelanders.
• The Xiling-led alliance gathered troops and cultivators and advanced into the grasslands, while Tang Kingdom proceeded at a slower pace.
• The Demon Sect’s leaders gathered around a bonfire north of the Golden Tent Royal Court to discuss their next move.

Lin Yi confronted the coalition gathered to attack the Golden Tent Royal Court and overwhelmed its strongest cultivators. He left with Qi Nian and Ye Su as captives, while the coalition sent word to Xiling’s headmaster and Xuankong’s chief.

• Lin Yi told the Demon Sect elders that Tang’s cultivators would avoid fighting them and assigned the elders to command the troops while he and Tang handled the coalition’s cultivators.
• Luo Kedi outlined the coalition’s attack plan, but Shu Cheng objected to Tang Kingdom’s army being made the main force.
• Lin Yi arrived at the command tent with Tang and defeated Qu Ni, Luo Kedi, and dozens of Profound Insight cultivators with a single strike.
• Lin Yi wounded Qi Nian and Ye Su, then sent Ye Hongyu flying when she intervened to protect them.
• Lin Yi seized Qi Nian and Ye Su and vanished with Tang, demanding that Xiling’s headmaster and Xuankong’s chief show sincerity if they wanted the captives alive.
• Luo Kedi sent word to Xiong Chumo, and Qu Ni arranged for a Xuankong disciple to notify its chief.

Lin Yi established the Great Ming Dynasty after negotiating with Great Tang and forcing Xiling and Xuankong to pay compensation. He then expanded the dynasty by conquering the Left and Right Royal Courts, Yan Kingdom, and Moon Wheel.

• Lin Yi captured enemies for ransom and visited the Tang Emperor to propose exchanging conquered southern territories for land on Great Tang's northern border.
• Lin Yi captured Lu Chenjia, Dao Shi, Ye Hongyu, Luo Kedi, and others as the Xiling allied army and the Wastelanders began negotiations.
• Lin Yi demanded Xiling and Xuankong withdraw and pay compensation, killing Luo Kedi and Qu Ni to pressure them into agreeing to pay six hundred thousand taels each.
• Xiling withdrew its troops, and Lin Yi renamed the Golden Tent Royal Court's palace the Great Ming Palace and established the Great Ming Dynasty.
• After collecting the compensation and releasing the captives, Lin Yi issued decrees inviting talented applicants to become officials and offering land to migrating settlers.
• The Great Ming Kingdom destroyed the Left and Right Royal Courts, Yan Kingdom, and Moon Wheel, growing to nearly four times its former size.

Lin Yi established the Great Ming Dynasty’s government, military, and schools while its people prospered. Fuzi then ascended to battle Haotian, becoming the moon and blocking the Divine Kingdom, while other countries began plotting against the Tang Kingdom.

• Lin Yi organized the Great Ming Dynasty into prefectures, established schools and the Bright Sect, and created systems to govern and oversee the realm.
• After two years of reforms, the Great Ming Dynasty prospered, and neighboring rulers improved their people’s livelihoods to discourage them from leaving.
• Lin Yi saw two radiant figures above the Desolate Plain, while Shi Yongheng recognized that Sang Sang had become Haotian.
• Fuzi fought Haotian above the Divine Kingdom, shattered its gate, and transformed into the moon to block the Divine Kingdom.
• The Tang Emperor and people mourned Fuzi’s departure, while other countries and sects celebrated and vowed to destroy the Tang Kingdom; they considered the Great Ming Dynasty but feared Lin Yi.

After Fuzi ascended, Xiling rallied nations and sects to wage war against Tang, while the Dao Sect celebrated until a huge fist destroyed the Green Mountain Ant Cave. Ning Que was left devastated at the Wei River after Fuzi and his new wife departed to fight in heaven.

• The monks of the Sky Pillar Sect and the Dao Sect powerhouses celebrated Fuzi’s ascension and vowed to destroy Tang and its allies.
• Chen Mou returned to Zhishou Abbey, but a vast fist struck Green Mountain and obliterated the Green Mountain Ant Cave.
• Xiong Chumo ordered Xiling and allied nations, sects, and cultivators to assemble for a campaign against Tang, while the Great River Kingdom and Ming Kingdom remained neutral.
• A million-strong army gathered for the largest war in a thousand years as Ning Que despaired by the Wei River over Fuzi and his wife leaving to fight in heaven.

Ning Que learned that Sang Sang was still in the human world while Fuzi fought to keep her there, then joined the Academy’s preparations to defend Tang. The battle at Green Gorge intensified as the Academy faced Xiling’s forces and the Abbey Master’s allies.

• Shi Yongheng admitted he had known Sang Sang’s identity and brought Ning Que back to the Academy.
• Li Manman divided the Academy’s forces among the threats at Xuankong Temple, Green Gorge Pass, and Chang’an, while Shi Yongheng gave Ning Que the God-Shocking Formation’s core.
• Shi Yongheng sent Ning Que to master the formation and led the other Academy disciples to Green Gorge, where he trapped the Abbey Master and the Scripture Lecturer in a formation.
• Shi Yongheng wounded Xiong Chumo and sent him to Green Gorge, where Ye Hongyu killed him and the Xiling Divine Palace’s experts reacted in shock.
• Jun Mo defeated Ye Su after a fierce duel, while Liu Bai defeated Li Manman and Shi Yongheng arrived at Green Gorge in his wheelchair.

Shi Yongheng defeated the allied forces at Green Gorge, while Lin Yi and Emperor Ming destroyed Xuankong Temple and freed its enslaved serfs. Shi Yongheng returned to the Academy, leaving Jun Mo to guard the surrendered soldiers as Tang prepared to collect ransoms or recruit them.

• Shi Yongheng used the Immortal Transformation Ancient Flute to kill the enemy cultivators and force most of the allied troops to surrender, then killed seventy thousand who remained defiant.
• Shi Yongheng freed the Chief Lecturer and Abbey Dean from the formation and revealed that he had survived heavenly punishment.
• Lin Yi captured Xuankong Temple's remaining chief monks, destroyed the temple, and freed a million serfs as the General Who Pacifies the West advanced with a hundred thousand troops.
• Emperor Ming arrived, praised Lin Yi's actions, and killed the Chief Lecturer with a strike to the forehead.
• Shi Yongheng left Jun Mo in charge of the surrendered soldiers and returned to the Academy with the other disciples.
• Half a month later, the Tang Emperor sent a general and fifty thousand troops to Green Gorge to collect ransom payments or take the prisoners into Tang's army.

Haotian returned to Peach Mountain and Xiling prepared a Radiance Sacrifice, choosing Chen Pipi as its offering. As chaos broke out at the ceremony, Lin Yi revealed that he had reached the Immortal Realm and stopped the Drunkard and Butcher from intervening.

• Haotian descended on Peach Mountain, where the long-dormant peach trees bloomed and the lamp in the Hall of Light went out.
• The Academy planned to keep Haotian in the human world, and Ning Que disguised himself and went to Xiling to try to win Sang Sang back.
• Xiling announced that Chen Pipi would be the offering at the Radiance Sacrifice, prompting Ye Su to attend and worry about his sister and junior brother.
• Liu Bai set out for Xiling, while Li Manman found the Drunkard and Butcher and asked them to stay out of the coming events.
• Lin Yi appeared and revealed he had reached the Immortal Realm, convincing the Drunkard and Butcher to stand aside.
• The Radiance Sacrifice began on Peach Mountain, but chaos erupted as Haotian’s plan to gather believers’ Mind Power and open a path to the Heavenly Kingdom unfolded.

Ning Que interrupted Haotian’s ritual, and Liu Bai and Lin Yi joined the battle against her. After Shi Yongheng revealed himself as Lin Yi’s true body and attacked Haotian, she restored the destroyed Xiling Divine Palace, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Ning Que disrupted Haotian’s ritual, and Liu Bai arrived from Southern Jin to fight her, but Haotian’s space and temporal powers overwhelmed him.
• Lin Yi rescued Liu Bai and used immortal power to restore him, then merged into Shi Yongheng and regenerated his severed limbs.
• Shi Yongheng challenged Haotian and attacked with a net of sword energy that destroyed half of Peach Mountain and the Xiling Divine Palace.
• Haotian unfolded her own world and restored the shattered Divine Palace while the Sword Garret disciples and other onlookers began withdrawing.

Shi Yongheng used the power of the people and the God-Shocking Formation to defeat Haotian and seal her inside the Jade Dynasty World. After his power briefly reached the Mahayana realm, he summoned the seven volumes of the Heavenly Book and began an incantation that transformed heaven and earth.

• Shi Yongheng attacked Haotian with countless weapons and the Little Bell, wounding her for the first time.
• Shi Yongheng and Haotian fought across the world for two days, causing disasters before their battle returned to the skies above the Tang capital.
• The faith of Tang and Ming’s people flowed into Shi Yongheng, while the God-Shocking Formation strengthened him with Human World Power.
• Shi Yongheng used the Little Bell to drag Haotian into the Jade Dynasty World, cutting her off from Haotian World and defeating her.
• Shi Yongheng briefly entered the Mahayana realm, summoned the seven volumes of the Heavenly Book, and recited an incantation that transformed heaven and earth.

Shi Yongheng defeated Haotian, took control of the Heavenly Dao, and moved the Haotian World into Shenzhou Haotu as a continent. He and Fuzi ventured beyond the stars, explored a new world, and learned that their strength matched its God King Realm before Fuzi asked what they would do next.

• The Heavenly Dao recognized Shi Yongheng as its new master, while Haotian lost her divine power and became mortal.
• Shi Yongheng and Fuzi left for the stars, and Shi Yongheng used the Little Bell to draw in the Haotian World and place it as a continent in the East Sea.
• Shi Yongheng and Fuzi traveled through the void to another world, then investigated its history and visited the Shushan Sect.
• Shi Yongheng and Fuzi studied the world's cultivation system and learned that their strength was comparable to the God King Realm.
• Fuzi asked Shi Yongheng what he planned to do after they returned to the Human Realm.

Shi Yongheng and Fuzi concealed their identities and joined Shushan, where they cultivated for centuries until Shi Yongheng achieved the True Immortal Realm. After rescuing the divine maiden Shui Bi from a sea monster, Shi Yongheng encountered Demon Venerable Chonglou.

• Shi Yongheng and Fuzi entered Shushan as disciples and cultivated in seclusion, while Xuanxin eventually made Shi Yongheng sect master and Fuzi Sword-Wielding Elder.
• After three hundred years, Shi Yongheng deduced the True Immortal Realm, survived its lightning tribulation in the East Sea, and returned to Shushan as a True Immortal.
• Shi Yongheng met Qingwei, Canggu, Heyang, Youxuan, and Jingming practicing swordsmanship, then placed restrictions around Taiji Cave and left Shushan.
• Shi Yongheng found Shui Bi fighting a nine-headed sea monster, rescued her, and killed the creature.
• Shui Bi introduced herself to Shi Yongheng, but their conversation was interrupted when Chonglou appeared and recognized her as someone from the God Realm.

Shi Yongheng fought Chonglou to a draw, then invited him and Shui Bi to share drinks at a tavern. After drinking themselves into a stupor, the two men rented rooms for the night, and Shi Yongheng made sure Shui Bi was settled in a separate room.

• Shi Yongheng and Chonglou clashed in a fierce battle over the sea and each unleashed a final powerful attack, which ended in a draw.
• Shi Yongheng introduced himself to Chonglou and suggested they try something more interesting than fighting: drinking.
• Shi Yongheng, Shui Bi, and Chonglou went to a tavern, where Shi Yongheng ordered liquor and added drops of spiritual water to it.
• Shi Yongheng and Chonglou drank jar after jar without using their powers to ward off the alcohol, while Shui Bi also drank and eventually fell asleep at the table.
• Shi Yongheng and Chonglou staggered off to rented rooms, and Shi Yongheng carried Shui Bi to a separate room before returning to his own.

After spending more than a century roaming with Shui Bi, Shi Yongheng remained away while monsters besieged Shushan. Fuzi emerged from seclusion to save the mountain, defeat the invading leaders and forces, and appoint Qingwei and four elders before leaving to pursue his breakthrough.

• Shi Yongheng invited Shui Bi to travel with him, and he played her a song on the Immortal Transformation Ancient Flute.
• More than a century later, monsters and evil spirits attacked Shushan while Shi Yongheng was still away.
• Fuzi unleashed a storm of sword energy from the Cliff of Repentance and joined the battle as the Monster Realm's main force arrived with the Demon Emperor and Evil Spirit King.
• Fuzi killed the Demon Emperor and Evil Spirit King, then slaughtered the remaining monsters and evil spirits.
• Fuzi named Qingwei Shushan's twenty-second sect leader and assigned Canggu, Heyang, Youxuan, and Jingming their roles as the Four Great Elders.
• Fuzi left for the depths of the Endless Sea to enter seclusion and attempt a breakthrough.

Decades after Fuzi entered seclusion and Shi Yongheng traveled the mortal world, the demons returned and overwhelmed the cultivators. Shushan’s five elders mastered the Purest Method and unleashed the power of Taiji Hall to bind the Heavenly Demon Emperor and the Evil Spirit King atop the Demon-Locking Tower.

• Demons and evil spirits invaded again, devastating the sects and forcing Shushan’s five elders to seek a way to turn the tide.
• Elder Heyang found the forbidden Purest Method, and all five elders cultivated it, greatly increasing their power while sealing away the evil thoughts it expelled.
• Canggu struck the Heavenly Demon Emperor with a powerful palm, and Qingwei ordered the Shushan disciples to retreat.
• The five elders used their hairpins, Shushan’s earth-vein power, and their blood to activate Taiji Hall’s golden formation, which destroyed the weaker demons.
• Daoist Qingwei seized the Heavenly Demon Emperor and the Evil Spirit King and bound them atop the Demon-Locking Tower.