Chapter Summaries

Lu Zhengping attempted to advance to the Fourth Realm through the path of an Artifact Cultivator, but lightning destroyed his True Spirit, Primordial Spirit, and Physical Body. Before he died, he sent a jade slip away, while Wu Quan and the others investigated the ruined formation and concluded the method depended on the Southern Sea Daoist.

• Gan Xing was forced back by Lu Zhengping’s golden Long Swords as Lu Zhengping’s artifact formation and Primordial Spirit transformed under the influence of the True Spirit.
• Lu Zhengping unleashed lightning against himself and declared that Artifact Cultivators could advance to the Fourth Realm.
• A blood-red jade slip flew away from the lightning, and Wu Quan smashed the floating land apart while the lightning continued to consume Lu Zhengping.
• Liu Huaien, Wu Fu, and Gan Xing watched as Lu Zhengping’s True Spirit, Primordial Spirit, and Physical Body were destroyed, then discussed the jade slip and his possible successor.
• Wu Quan, Gan Xing, Liu Huaien, and Wu Fu recorded the ruined palace formation and concluded that advancing by this method required the Southern Sea Daoist’s help.

Zuo Xuan received Wang Ping’s orders to prepare a Dharma assembly and find someone to represent all people under heaven in worshipping the Prefect’s golden statue. As she organized the preparations, Daoist Yuanzheng revealed that Liaoyuan had died while seeking a Third Realm slot in the West Continent, where a powerful hidden dojo might exist.

• After confirming that the golden statues had been completed across the Southern Four Routes, Zuo Xuan visited the Six Hearts Sect and waited until dusk to meet Wang Ping’s projection.
• Wang Ping ordered Zuo Xuan to hold a Dharma assembly in Jinhuai Prefecture City in half a month and select a virtuous southern representative to worship the Prefect’s statue on behalf of everyone under heaven.
• Wang Ping declared that the emperor could no longer serve as the realm’s common lord, said the Demon Race would signal when the south could move north, and told Zuo Xuan to continue investigating the Empty Mountain Association.
• Zuo Xuan instructed Yun Shan to prepare the assembly and sent Hong Yuan to invite officials from Haizhou Road, Mozhou Road, and Ningzhou Road, lifting flight restrictions across the Southern Four Routes for the event.
• At Thousand Wood Temple, Daoist Yuanzheng said Liaoyuan had perished in the West Continent while vying for a Third Realm slot, and Daoist Tianshan warned that the region might conceal a True Lord’s dojo.
• As Daoist Yuanzheng prepared to respond, hurried footsteps approached Daoist Yucheng’s courtyard.

The southern routes prepared to establish the Chu Kingdom, alarming the Imperial Court and Qi while the Daoist Scripture Hall was revealed to have lost its authority. After a night of debate, the aristocratic families selected Liu Jie as Lord Marquis, just before the ritual assembly was to begin.

• Xia Yao sent Wang Ping a letter after learning the south would rebuild its court and choose its ruler by vote.
• Yang Kui sent an envoy to denounce the south, but clerks exposed him and Noble Family scions beat him in the streets.
• Zhong You found only two Second Realm cultivators at the Daoist Scripture Hall headquarters and declared that the Hall existed in name alone.
• Zuo Xuan coordinated the ritual assembly with the route officials and honored guests, while the southern families continued arguing over a Lord Marquis.
• The aristocratic families selected Liu Jie as Lord Marquis and arranged for six great families, including Wang Ping's bloodline, to share the Chu Kingdom's rotating premiership.
• Liu Jie's elders brought him to the Lord Marquis Palace, fitted him with a python robe, and prepared him for the ritual assembly.

Lord Marquis Liu Jie proclaimed the founding of Chu in Jinhuai, and three years later Princess Xia Yao brought several regions back under Imperial Court control before launching a counteroffensive against the Qi Yang regime. At Baishui Lake, Hu Xin warned Hu Qianqian that the Demon Domain was stirring conflict and might target the True Sun Sect.

• Liu Jie performed the grand rite in Jinhuai and announced the State of Chu to all under heaven.
• Yang Kui died after attacking the Imperial Court's forces, and his successor Yang Min withdrew Qi Yang's soldiers to defensive positions.
• Three years later, Princess Xia Yao returned to Capital City, reclaimed Anqing, Beiyuan, and Qingpu Road for the Imperial Court, and sent troops to attack the Qi Yang regime.
• Hu Xin returned to Baishui Lake with a wound and told Hu Qianqian that the Demon Domain was encouraging clans in Ningzhou Road to encircle Shanwu Road.
• Hu Xin said she had heard that the Demon Race's target was the True Sun Sect, leading Hu Qianqian to recall Zuo Xuan's warning about the Demon Race.

The Demon Race’s invasion spread across the Central Continent, drawing several kingdoms and sects into war while the True Sun Sect fought to defend True Sun Mountain. Zuo Xuan learned that the Demon Race had brought overwhelming forces to the mountain and feared the coming battle would weaken the sect or force it to compromise.

• Bai Zhan led the Demon Race into Shanwu Road, and successive armies invaded Dawang Prefecture, Ningzhou Road, and Qianjiang Road.
• The Chu Kingdom, Xia Yao’s Imperial Court army, and Datong Kingdom mobilized, and their campaigns brought mixed victories as the war continued into Yuan Ding 29.
• Zuo Liang told Zuo Xuan that Qi Yang’s noble families wanted to trade Guest Pass for wealth and status, and Zuo Xuan warned that the Chu Kingdom would soon face the True Sun Sect.
• An Immortal Realm cultivator reported tremors from the north, and intelligence later revealed that two Great Demons had shattered much of True Sun Mountain’s main peak.
• Hu Qianqian told Zuo Xuan that the Demon Race had assembled more than twenty Great Demons and three Core Formation demons, but predicted the True Sun Sect would compromise rather than risk losing its strongest cultivators.

As wars and rivalries intensified across the realm, the Demon Race withdrew from True Sun Mountain after obtaining a mysterious weapon once used by Yao Emperor Yao Xi. A sudden surge of Wood Spirit Qi signaled that Wang Ping had emerged from seclusion, just as Yun Shan arrived at the Six Hearts Sect seeking answers from Lord Xiaoshan.

• The Taiyin Sect attacked the Yuqing Sect, the Northern Kingdom army besieged Mountain-Suppressing Pass, and Sun God Sect envoys defeated True Sun Sect cultivators beneath True Sun Mountain.
• Princess Xia Yao sent Anqing Prefecture's defenders to reinforce Mountain-Suppressing Pass, while Wang Lian refused calls to send troops into Xishi Road.
• After the armies fought a bloody battle at Guest Pass, the Demon Race withdrew from True Sun Mountain to Mianzhu County, and Hu Qianqian told Zuo Xuan that the Demon Domain had obtained a weapon once used by Yao Emperor Yao Xi.
• Zuo Xuan, Hong Yuan, and Hu Qianqian tried to intercept Yun Shan as he flew toward the Six Hearts Sect, but invisible barriers stopped them.
• Wang Ping emerged and summoned Hu Qianqian, Zuo Xuan, and Hong Yuan to his side before offering Yun Shan a chance to leave.
• Yun Shan knelt before Wang Ping and asked him to convey several questions to Lord Xiaoshan.

Yun Shan publicly interrogated Lord Xiaoshan over the suffering caused by his actions, but received no answer. After leaving the Six Hearts Sect, Yun Shan perished through the First Day step, and Xiu Yu reminded Wang Ping and Zi Luan to focus on their urgent task.

• Yun Shan asked Lord Xiaoshan three questions about the disasters in Mozhou Road and Central Province, his allegiance to the righteous path, and whether he still cared about the common people.
• Lord Xiaoshan sealed away his remaining compassion and declared that nothing could stop his advancement.
• Zi Luan ordered Yun Shan to step aside, but Yun Shan left without receiving an answer.
• Yun Shan took the First Day step and disintegrated into ashes, leaving behind a blackish-purple sphere that Zi Luan retrieved.
• Xiu Yu arrived with Qingjiang and urged Wang Ping and Zi Luan to stop dwelling on Yun Shan and attend to their task.

After emerging from secluded cultivation, Wang Ping organized an offensive against True Sun Mountain, gathering allies and troops under a reorganized Dao Palace. He prepared for the campaign while Zi Luan warned that advancing his cultivation further could make him one of the strongest Third Realm cultivators.

• Lord Xiaoshan assigned Xiu Yu to attack the Imperial Court's army and build a sacrificial temple, while Wang Ping was ordered to seize True Sun Mountain and Zi Luan was tasked with supporting them.
• At Thousand Wood Temple, Yuan Zheng questioned whether Wang Ping could take True Sun Mountain, while Yucheng noted that the sect had been weakened by its war with the Demon Domain.
• Wang Ping proposed renaming the Daoist Scripture Hall the Great Evolution Palace, but Gan Xing and Wu Quan rejected the name, and the group agreed to call it the Dao Palace.
• Wang Ping ordered Zuo Xuan to gather elites from Nanlin Road and Ningzhou Road and recruit former Daoist Scripture Hall seats, while Hu Qianqian's troops were assigned as the vanguard.
• Wu Quan and Gan Xing negotiated for their factions to receive benefits if True Sun Mountain fell, and Wang Ping agreed to their requests.
• Zi Luan reminded Wang Ping that further progress in Great Evolution cultivation could rank his strength among the top hundred Third Realm cultivators.

Wang Ping prepared to attack True Sun Mountain while arranging help from allies and tending to matters within Thousand Wood Temple. As he prepared to condense his Primordial Spirit, Yulian asked to use his Nine Revolutions Pill to advance her soul, and they agreed to test her method with a Spirit Yuan Pill first.

• Wang Ping and Yucheng discussed recruiting Wen Yang and trustworthy disciples for the campaign against True Sun Mountain, while Daoist Yuanzheng said Ruan Chunzi might be contacted.
• Daoist Yuanzheng recounted Liaoyuan’s misfortune, said he had sent disciples to the West Continent to investigate, and took Yuan Hu’s spirit body to restore its Samadhi True Fire.
• Yulian told Wang Ping that Shen Xiaozhu and Rong'er were cultivating in seclusion, and Wang Ping let Zhao Yu'er visit Shuang'er with a token.
• Wang Ping met with Xia Weny and Song Qu to review their cultivation, then heard Zhao Gan report on the sect’s pill business and expanded barrier formations.
• Wang Ping summoned his Primordial Spirit and prepared to condense it, but Yulian asked to use the Nine Revolutions Pill to advance her soul.
• Wang Ping agreed to test Yulian’s proposed method with a Spirit Yuan Pill before she took the Nine Revolutions Pill.

Wang Ping helped Yulian take a Nine Revolutions Pill and cultivate her Primordial Spirit while he tested the limits of his own. After discovering that his Primordial Spirit could not safely stray far from its spiritual body, he recorded his findings and began planning preparations for an assault on True Sun Mountain.

• Yulian linked her Qi Sea and soul to Wang Ping as he used the Taiyan Talisman method to strengthen his Primordial Spirit and nurture the Huai Tree's Soul Lure.
• Wang Ping resisted the malicious memories carried by spiritual energy, then used a Spirit Yuan Pill to draw its potency onto himself.
• Yulian swallowed a Nine Revolutions Pill, and Wang Ping soothed her pain with Blessing Talismans and the Green Wood Technique until she adapted to the surging spirituality.
• Wang Ping found that his Primordial Spirit's spirituality rapidly dissipated when it moved away from the spirit entity's physical body, and he concluded that separating their consciousness was dangerous.
• Wang Ping used divination before separating a small portion of desire-consciousness, saw it return, and recorded his findings after confirming Yulian was well.
• Wang Ping planned to prepare Puppets containing the Five Elements Condensation Technique and poison artifacts for his attack on True Sun Mountain.

Wang Ping tested a Puppet corpse soldier empowered by the Five Elements Condensation Technique and saw it unleash a devastating energy storm. He also accepted Xia Yao's dissolution of their alliance and agreed to help Daoist Tongyu obtain a body to attempt rebuilding his cultivation.

• Wang Ping inspected Cang An's sealed spirit body and considered using its Third Realm energy, but chose to test the technique with Puppet corpse soldiers first.
• At the isolated island, Wang Ping received Xia Yao's letter dissolving their alliance, replied to her, and ordered Zuo Xuan to expel Linshui Gate's publicly known Disciples from the south.
• Daoist Tongyu asked Wang Ping to find an intact Taiyin Second Realm body so he could attempt to restore his cultivation, and Wang Ping sent Liu Shuang a secret letter to arrange it.
• Wang Ping activated the Five Elements Condensation Technique in a Puppet corpse soldier, whose explosion carved a crater more than three kilometers wide and struck the island's Jia Talisman barrier.
• Wang Ping summoned a second Puppet made from a Second Realm Gold cultivator's body, which he had also equipped with the Five Elements Condensation Technique.

Wang Ping prepared new weapons and poison techniques before gathering allied Third Realm cultivators and leading Chu Kingdom's forces toward Ningzhou Road after Lord Xiaoshan declared war on True Sun Mountain. The allied army set out to confront True Sun Mountain's cultivators.

• Wang Ping decided to craft Five Elements Condensation Techniques from Cang An's spiritual body and explored merging poison consciousness with Mingshui through Body Erosion.
• Wang Ping asked Hu Qianqian to find a wanted False Core realm Lizard Yao, while he stabilized his cultivation and continued condensing his Primordial Spirit.
• Inner Sect disciples gathered in Ningzhou Road and at Guest Pass, and Lord Xiaoshan's envoy delivered a declaration of war to True Sun Mountain on the eighteenth day of the sixth month.
• Wu Quan, Gan Xing, Daoist Zhi Gong, Hu Yin, Shan Wei, Layman Tong Ming, and Daoist Huai Mo arrived to answer Wang Ping's call, bringing the allied Third Realm force to eight cultivators including Wang Ping.
• Wang Ping reviewed the assembled Demon Race, government, logistical, and sect forces, then led the cultivators north from Jinhuai City toward Ningzhou Road.

The True Sun Sect and the Demon Race prepared for war after bloodshed in Shuanghe City, while Chang Jing chose to hold the defensive line. Wang Ping arrived at the Laishan District camp with a formidable force and surveyed True Sun Mountain.

• The True Sun Sect captured Shuanghe City, but Shan Huan's purge of residents linked to the sect provoked a retaliation that killed every demon in the city.
• The True Sun Sect failed to advance into Laishan District and debated striking the Chu Kingdom or disrupting Lord Xiaoshan's plans, but Ruan Chunzi warned that deploying Third Realm cultivators would turn the conflict into a fight to the death.
• Chang Jing asked Wen Yang to assess Changqing, then decided to defend the line and delay matters until the thirtieth year of Yuan Ding.
• Wang Ping's forces assembled at a vast camp in Laishan District, where Ningzhou and demon troops faced the True Sun Sect's mountain-ring defenses.
• Taishan and the other commanders welcomed Wang Ping as he arrived with eight Third Realm cultivators, more than sixty Second Realm cultivators, and over two hundred Immortal Realm cultivators.
• Wang Ping looked toward True Sun Mountain, noting the damaged gap beside its main peak and the smoke clouding the volcano's summit.

Wang Ping met Daoist Chang Jing and the other leaders of the True Sun Sect above Shuanghe City as their armies prepared to face one another. Their exchange confirmed that neither side would abandon its path, and both groups returned to their camps to prepare for the unavoidable battle.

• Wang Ping arrived at the training grounds, where Wen Hai, Liu Yu, the soldiers, and the Qi practitioners saluted him.
• Hu Yin identified Daoist Chang Jing as the True Sun Sect's sect leader and Daoist Guang Zuo's Personal Disciple as Chang Jing and six other Third Realm cultivators approached.
• Wang Ping and his companions flew out to meet Chang Jing's group above Shuanghe City.
• Chang Jing warned Wang Ping that opposing the True Sun Sect could damage his cultivation, but Wang Ping urged him to leave True Sun Mountain and listen to the people.
• Daoist Huai Mo and Daoist Wen Yuan exchanged barbs before Wang Ping and Chang Jing agreed that their conflict could not be avoided.
• The cultivators on both sides exchanged polite salutes and returned to their camps, while the soldiers and Qi practitioners breathed a sigh of relief.

Wang Ping assessed the forces facing True Sun Sect and agreed to a three-pronged campaign after his commanders judged their army capable of fighting. The invasion began with troops marching out from Lai Mountain toward Shuanghe City.

• Hu Qianqian delivered Wen Yang’s secret letter, which reported that True Sun Sect could field no more than ten Third Realm cultivators and planned to fight defensively.
• Wang Ping asked his commanders whether their assembled forces were ready to attack, and Taishan and Liu Shuang described the armies, terrain, and front lines.
• Liu Shuang recommended attacking along all three routes and said their forces could withstand the expected attritional fighting, provided no extraordinary power intervened.
• Wang Ping handed Liu Shuang his identity token after reviewing her battle plan.
• On the ninth day of the seventh month, ten thousand vanguard troops marched toward Shuanghe City, followed by thirty thousand central army troops and fifty thousand rear army troops.

The Chu army launched its first assault on Shuanghe City, but failed to take the walls after a day of bloody fighting. As a larger offensive began the next morning, Hu Qianqian brought Wang Ping a Lizard Yao soul and False Core for his research.

• The Chu army bombarded Shuanghe City and sent successive formations of soldiers and siege towers toward its southwestern wall, while the True Sun Sect defenders fought them off.
• The first day's battle ended with no Chu soldiers reaching the wall and thousands of attackers and defenders dead, though the Chu army suffered far fewer casualties in later assaults.
• Both armies rested overnight while scouts watched the buffer zone, and the Chu vanguard camp expanded ahead of the next day's offensive.
• Wang Ping awoke to the renewed war drums and checked on Yulian near his temporary Dao Palace.
• Hu Qianqian gave Wang Ping the soul of a second-realm Lizard Yao and its False Core, explaining that she had obtained them for his study of elemental poison.
• Wang Ping accepted the gifts and looked over the vast battlefield below Lai Mountain, where millions were fighting under his will.

Wang Ping encountered Chang Jing’s Primordial Spirit before returning to his hut to refine the Lizard Yao’s false core with the Purgatory Banner. He left the core’s divine soul consciousness unmerged for now, after learning that using it properly might let him condense another false core.

• Wang Ping sensed Chang Jing’s Primordial Spirit, neutralized its Fire Spirit energy with Ten Thousand Communication Talismans, and exchanged a salute with Chang Jing and the other cultivators.
• Wang Ping returned to his hut, concealed it with formations, and prepared to refine the Lizard Yao’s false core with Mingshui’s help.
• Wang Ping refined the false core, broke its bloodline marks, and fed the resulting energy to the Purgatory Banner.
• Mingshui said the Purgatory Banner would need a day to digest the false core’s energy, though without Mingshui’s help it would take at least half a year.
• Wang Ping and Mingshui tested the banner’s effect on a divine soul consciousness and found it clumsy, learning that the right method might let Wang Ping condense another false core from it.

Wang Ping oversaw the campaign against the True Sun Sect while experimenting with Mingshui and the Purgatory Banner. As the army advanced toward True Sun Mountain, Ke Yue sent Wang Ping a calling card requesting an audience.

• Wang Ping had Mingshui attempt to use the Lizard Yao's soul to awaken spirituality in the Purgatory Banner, but Mingshui's consciousness could not retain the resulting imprint and he had to wait until the next day to try again.
• Wang Ping recorded the experiment, checked on Yulian, and spoke with Gan Xing, who warned him that many cultivators had ties to the True Sun Sect.
• The Chu Army captured Shuanghe City after days of fighting, then faced a great fire and a battle between Immortal Realm cultivators that destroyed part of the city.
• Over the next half month, the fighting spread along the front, and the Demon Race advanced to the foot of True Sun Mountain as the surrounding Fire Candle Forest burned.
• On the eighth day of the eighth month, Zuo Xuan brought Wang Ping a calling card from Ke Yue, the First Day Third Realm cultivator whose Primordial Spirit Feng Miao had captured.

Wang Ping learned that First Day planned to attack True Sun Mountain in two months and sought guidance from Lord Xiaoshan and Wen Yang. As the True Sun Sect prepared to rally cultivators across the regions, Wang Ping received a second round of attack plans.

• Ke Yue told Wang Ping, Daoist Zhi Gong, and Hu Yin that First Day would openly attack True Sun Mountain in two months to claim a Fire Spirit vein.
• Wang Ping decided to consult the Prefect and sent letters to Lord Xiaoshan and Wen Yang about the developing conflict.
• Lord Xiaoshan replied, "Proceed as planned," and Wang Ping relayed his intention to the other Third Realm cultivators.
• The True Sun Sect counterattacked north of Shuanghe City but was driven back in less than half a day.
• Wen Yang told Wang Ping that Chang Jing had learned of First Day's plan and was gathering major realm cultivators from every region.
• Zuo Xuan, Liu Shuang, Taishan, and Liu Yu submitted their second round of attack plans to Wang Ping.

Wang Ping ordered fierce assaults on True Sun Mountain to provoke its response and force a decisive battle by the end of September, despite the risks of heavy casualties and First Day's involvement. The other Third Realm cultivators agreed to gather their Second Realm disciples as a reserve and wait to decide how to use them based on the battlefield.

• Liu Yu reported that the True Sun Sect's main force remained at its camp and that the advance could reach True Sun Mountain by the end of the year.
• Wang Ping gathered Zuo Xuan and the other Third Realm cultivators, then said he wanted to disrupt the True Sun Sect's plans and see how it responded.
• Wang Ping ordered Zuo Xuan to attack every defensive line without regard for casualties and to engage the True Sun Sect's main force in a decisive battle by the end of September.
• Wu Quan and Gan Xing warned Wang Ping that deploying Second Realm cultivators and allowing First Day to join the fighting could put their forces and sects at grave risk.
• Daoist Zhi Gong proposed gathering the Second Realm cultivators first and deciding how to use them according to battlefield conditions, and Wang Ping agreed.
• Wang Ping summoned Liu Shuang, Hu Qianqian, and Zhao Yu'er to gather his Second Realm cultivators.