Chapter Summaries

Jiang Cun fought the Chu Kingdom cultivators as their tactics turned increasingly desperate, while Wang Ping and the others observed from the Chu Army encampment. The battle grew more chaotic, and Lord Xiaoshan noted that half an hour remained.

• Jiang Cun killed a metal-bodied enemy but lost his chance to stop the other Gold cultivators when one sacrificed himself to break through Jiang Cun's attack.
• A Chu Kingdom Artifact Cultivator used life-for-life tactics to kill two Imperial Court Artifact Cultivators and detonated his natal artifact formation, severely injuring two more.
• Jiang Cun moved to rescue the wounded cultivators but was intercepted by three Earth Vein cultivators, forcing two Fire Cultivators to leave a neighboring battlefield and reinforce him.
• Zi Luan criticized Jiang Cun's lack of combat experience, and Min You and Xiu Yu discussed Jiang Cun's and Wang Ping's rapid cultivation.
• The three Wood Cultivators poisoned and controlled two enemy cultivators, while Lord Xiaoshan asked whether half an hour remained.

Wang Ping watched Yu Zuo’s forces batter the Imperial Palace while anticipating the next move of the great figures. The Yuqing Sect cultivators broke the barrier with their golden cores, and Lord Xiaoshan led Wang Ping and the others toward the Capital City as the battle inside began.

• Jiang Cun retreated behind the repaired Imperial Palace barrier after two Imperial Court cultivators fell, while Yu Zuo’s forces continued their coordinated assault.
• Wang Ping sensed the Divine Art affecting him and told Yulian that he was anticipating what the great figures would do next.
• Two Yuqing Sect cultivators unleashed divine lightning, then sacrificed themselves by using their golden-core spaces to collapse the Imperial Palace barrier.
• Yu Zuo released his suppressed Demon Race aura, transformed into a many-headed beast, and charged through the opening with the other attackers.
• Jiang Cun shielded the altar, while Ao Yi, Ao Hong, and Daoist Guang Zuo watched the battle near it.
• Lord Xiaoshan led Daoist Wanzhi and Daoist He Feng toward the Capital City, followed by Wang Ping, Zi Luan, Xiu Yu, and Min You.

Wang Ping arrived at the Imperial Palace as the battle over Lord Xiaoshan and the altar reached its climax, while the Fourth Realm cultivators confronted one another above the palace. A new Fire Cultivator arrived from the north, leaving the conflict poised to escalate.

• Wang Ping saw the transformed Yu Zuo, the besieged altar, Ao Yi, Ao Hong, and Daoist Guang Zuo as the Imperial Palace lay in ruins.
• The remaining Chu Kingdom cultivators sacrificed their lives in battle, and the Earth Vein cultivators and Water cultivators broke Jiang Cun's ice wall.
• Ao Hong transformed into a dragon and entered the Clouds to fight Daoist Wanzhi, while Yulian sensed a force of cultivators approaching from a hundred li away.
• Lord Xiaoshan led Wang Ping, Zi Luan, and Xiu Yu toward the altar under Min You's protection, while Ao Yi waited for the appointed hour.
• Daoist Guang Zuo and Daoist He Feng entered the Clouds to fight, and a new Fourth Realm Fire Cultivator arrived from the north.

Lord Rongyang arrived at the Imperial Palace and attacked Lord Xiaoshan, but Lord Xiaoshan reflected his Heavenfire. Lord Rongyang condemned Xia Yao for trying to alter fate and moved to fight Ao Yi, leaving Xia Yao and Emperor Yuanding at the altar.

• Lord Rongyang’s flames shattered Lord Xiaoshan’s golden barrier, while Emperor Yuanding urged Xia Yao to calm herself and she used Divine Art to suppress her emotions.
• Ao Yi revealed that the newcomer was Lord Rongyang and dispersed the Fire Spirit energy around the altar to protect it.
• Lord Rongyang attacked Lord Xiaoshan with Heavenfire, but Lord Xiaoshan reflected the fiery line into the ground.
• Lord Rongyang accused Xia Yao of defying fate and declared that the people had already chosen who should hold the Central Province divine artifact.
• Ao Yi challenged Lord Rongyang, then flew into the Clouds, and Lord Rongyang followed him instead of attacking Xia Yao or Emperor Yuanding.

Emperor Yuanding passed the Xia Imperial Family’s Divine Art inheritance to Xia Yao, sacrificing his life as she experienced countless lives and lost her remaining human desires. Xia Yao faced Lord Xiaoshan, who invoked a golden map-like curtain that erased the rain and heat.

• Ao Yi attacked Lord Rongyang with a net of water, but Lord Rongyang evaded it as their battle shook the land.
• Jiang Cun warned that no one else was coming to protect Central Province, then retreated west with the other Water cultivators.
• Emperor Yuanding told Xia Yao to retreat north if she could not fulfill her mission, and she promised to choose each step carefully.
• Emperor Yuanding placed the silver-white sphere into Xia Yao’s brow, transferring the inheritance before his body shattered and died.
• Xia Yao experienced countless individual fates, then opened her eyes with her remaining human desires gone.
• Lord Xiaoshan appeared before Xia Yao and raised a golden map-like curtain that made the rain and heat waves vanish.

Xia Yao expanded her Divine Art Array across Central Province and attacked Lord Xiaoshan with the Heavenly Swords, but he revealed that his secular name was Xia Pei and questioned her about who had built Capital City's array. The swords halted around his golden lotus, leaving his connection to the array unresolved.

• Ao Yi attacked Lord Rongyang with a spell that gathered the Water Spirit Qi, and Lord Rongyang countered with Heavenly Fire.
• Xia Yao used her Primordial Spirit to activate the Divine Art Array, creating an illusory city that drew strength from her realm and subjects.
• Lord Xiaoshan's people's faith began crushing Xia Yao's illusory city, prompting her to strengthen the array and summon the Heavenly Swords.
• The array consumed the Imperial Palace and the mountain beneath it, while Wang Ping was thrown out of the palace grounds.
• Xia Yao expanded the Divine Art across the northern Cloud Sea Grassland and the Southeast Sea Region, then ordered the Heavenly Swords to execute Lord Xiaoshan.
• The swords stopped and circled Lord Xiaoshan's golden lotus as he revealed his secular name was Xia Pei and asked who had set up Capital City's Divine Art Array.

Lord Xiaoshan seized Xia Yao’s territory and formed the initial shape of a divine kingdom, then waited for Heaven and Earth to answer the fate written on his Sky-Veiling Talisman. Meanwhile, Ao Hong took Ao Yi’s true Dragon Qi and fled, and Lord Xiaoshan’s talisman finally received a stream of Wood Spirit Qi.

• Lord Xiaoshan absorbed Xia Yao’s territory into his map and sent her flying north, leaving her with only the Cloud Sea Grassland.
• Lord Xiaoshan formed a divine kingdom from the lives and devotion of Central Province’s people, then waited for an answer from the Sky-Veiling Talisman.
• Ao Hong trapped Ao Yi with the Water Stabilizing Pearl and Daoist Wanzhi’s Life-and-Death Seal, then swallowed the true Dragon Qi Ao Yi offered and fled north.
• Daoist Guang Zuo vouched for Ao Yi, and Daoist Wanzhi released him after Ao Yi promised Linshui Prefecture would not interfere in Lord Xiaoshan’s affairs.
• Ao Yi pursued Ao Hong while Daoist Guang Zuo flew north, and a stream of Wood Spirit Qi descended onto Lord Xiaoshan’s Sky-Veiling Talisman.

Lord Xiaoshan absorbed the Wood Spirit within the Sky-Veiling Talisman and endured a barrage of divine lightning while refining it. After his Primordial Spirit merged with his spiritual body and suppressed his awakening spiritual veins, he began inscribing the Heaven Stealing Talisman, leaving Wang Ping, Zi Luan, and Xiu Yu to stabilize the Wood Spirit during his advancement.

• Wang Ping resisted the urge to observe the Wood Spirit after Yulian warned him that doing so was dangerous.
• Lord Xiaoshan absorbed the Sky-Veiling Talisman and its Wood Spirit into his Primordial Spirit, provoking repeated bolts of divine lightning.
• Lord Xiaoshan used a Puppet, his spiritual body, and a golden Divine Art hall to withstand the lightning strikes.
• Wang Ping observed Lord Xiaoshan refining the Wood Spirit in Inspiration World, but Yulian jolted him out of its dangerous influence.
• Lord Xiaoshan finished digesting the Wood Spirit, merged his Primordial Spirit with his spiritual body, and suppressed his spiritual veins.
• Lord Xiaoshan began inscribing the Heaven Stealing Talisman as Wang Ping, Zi Luan, and Xiu Yu prepared to stabilize the Wood Spirit.

Lord Xiaoshan prepared to suppress the Wood Spirit and advance toward the Heaven-Stealing Realm while warning Xiu Yu about the Heavenly Dao. As allies gathered beyond the golden hall, he connected their composite formation to the Divine Kingdom, and hundreds of consciousnesses linked to Wang Ping’s formation.

• Lord Xiaoshan drew Wang Ping into the golden hall and explained that he would send the group away after suppressing the Wood Spirit.
• Lord Xiaoshan demonstrated the Heavenly Dao’s power to Xiu Yu with the Sky-Veiling Talisman, and Xiu Yu thanked his Master.
• Lord Xiaoshan identified Master Kaiyun, Cang Ji, and the Southern Sea Daoist among the figures gathered outside the hall.
• Wang Ping, Zi Luan, and Xiu Yu entered meditation as Lord Xiaoshan activated a Wood Spirit Array that fixed their bodies and Primordial Spirits in place.
• Lord Xiaoshan connected the composite formation to the Divine Kingdom, where ten Heavenly Swords formed an array and sent a pillar of Divine Art light skyward.
• Hundreds of consciousnesses connected to the formation in Wang Ping’s sea of consciousness.

Lord Xiaoshan used a vast Divine Art network to connect the people of Central Province and seal its Wood Spirits, apparently preparing for an advance to the Fifth Realm. As his plan unfolded, observers wondered whether he could succeed, and the chapter ended with him studying a blank talisman in Capital City.

• Ao Yi and Daoist Guang Zuo saw Lord Xiaoshan's Divine Art curtain and discussed the humanity and rationality needed to advance to the Fifth Realm.
• Ao Yi explained that the Dragon Lord had to live new lives to repay the debt from taking a shortcut during his own advancement.
• Tens of thousands gathered at Lord Xiaoshan's statue in Zhonghui County Town, where a Cultivator linked their prayers to the Divine Art network.
• Daoist Yucheng and Ruan Chunzi realized that Lord Xiaoshan had used the network to seal Wood Spirits across much of Central Province, making their cultivation easier.
• Daoist Yucheng and Ruan Chunzi inferred that hundreds of Second Realm Taiyan Talisman cultivators had helped build the Sealing Array, and Yucheng said he hoped Lord Xiaoshan would succeed.
• In Capital City, Lord Xiaoshan surveyed the Heavenly Cycle and focused on a blank talisman.

Master Kaiyun broke into the golden hall but was thrown back by Lord Xiaoshan’s purple sword, while the cultivators fought across the sky. The golden hall then sealed itself off behind a Divine Art Array, cutting off all view of what was happening inside.

• Master Kaiyun smashed through the golden hall’s illusory wall, but Lord Xiaoshan’s purple sword enlarged and hurled him into the Clouds.
• Lord Rongyang blocked Master Kaiyun as Daoist Wanzhi tried to capture Cang Ji, whose escape was aided by the Southern Sea Daoist’s spell.
• Daoist He Feng attacked the Southern Sea Daoist with flames, but the Southern Sea Daoist used the Mask of Faces to extinguish the fire and nearly devour He Feng with poison.
• Daoist He Feng reignited the flames, and the Southern Sea Daoist fled as the opposing cultivators repositioned for battle.
• Divine Art runes sealed the golden hall, and ten Heavenly Swords formed a Divine Art Array that cut it off from the outside world.

Master Kaiyun attacked the golden light screen but failed to break through, while Lord Xiaoshan concealed his aura inside it to advance toward the True Lord realm. Lord Xiaoshan absorbed the Wood Spirit Origin and began drawing the Heaven Stealing Talisman.

• Master Kaiyun emerged from collapsing space and struck the golden light screen, shattering his fist and breaking his arm.
• Lord Rongyang questioned Master Kaiyun, who explained that he would keep fighting despite knowing the odds were against him.
• The fighting outside paused after the cultivators sensed Lord Xiaoshan's aura disappear, and they failed to see through the golden light screen.
• Inside the screen, Lord Xiaoshan copied portions of his memories into Wang Ping, Zi Luan, and Xiu Yu, then opened a sealed Wooden Box containing the Wood Spirit Origin.
• Lord Xiaoshan swallowed the Wood Spirit Origin and began drawing the Heaven Stealing Talisman on the blank talisman.

Wang Ping, Zi Luan, and Xiu Yu’s array helped suppress the Heavenly Dao as Lord Xiaoshan completed his Wood Spirit assimilation, but his transformation remained unstable. After recovering his memories and regaining his original appearance, Lord Xiaoshan prepared to fuse with the Heaven Stealing Talisman and advance to True Lord.

• Wang Ping sensed immense power in meditation, while Xiu Yu’s Primordial Spirit fell asleep and Zi Luan’s remained active; a mysterious gaze was blocked by a protective barrier.
• Wang Ping, Zi Luan, and Xiu Yu suppressed the Heavenly Dao force invading Lord Xiaoshan’s consciousness as his memories became disordered and his body transformed into a Huai Tree.
• The Divine Art Map and a Puppet’s memories helped Lord Xiaoshan repeatedly regain clarity and finally stabilize his Primordial Spirit.
• Lord Xiaoshan merged his Primordial Spirit with the Wood Spirit Spiritual Meridian and returned to his original appearance, but his Physical Body began splitting again.
• Lord Xiaoshan used Divine Art to stabilize his body and turned toward the Heaven Stealing Talisman, the final step in advancing to True Lord.

Lord Xiaoshan sent Wang Ping, Zi Luan, and Xiu Yu out of the battlefield after entrusting Wang Ping with the ten Heavenly Swords and leaving all three sealed memories. As they waited outside the Capital City, Lord Xiaoshan confronted the gathered Fourth Realm cultivators with the Heaven Stealing Talisman and warned that someone would fall if they did not leave.

• Daoist Wuma joined Southern Sea Daoist, Master Kaiyun, and Cang Ji outside the golden light screen and said Lord Xiaoshan would not drain the Central Continent's living beings to advance.
• Lord Xiaoshan ended his connection to the Divine Art map, gave Wang Ping the ten Heavenly Swords, and instructed Xiu Yu and Zi Luan before teleporting the three away.
• Wang Ping, Zi Luan, and Xiu Yu arrived at a mountain transfer array, where Xiu Yu flew east and Wang Ping chose to wait for the outcome in Capital City.
• Yulian told Wang Ping that Lord Xiaoshan had left sealed memories in the Spirit Seas of all three, and Wang Ping found that his portion had fused with his own memories.
• Lord Xiaoshan appeared before Master Kaiyun and the other cultivators holding the Heaven Stealing Talisman and warned them to leave or face a death.

Lord Xiaoshan fought Master Kaiyun, Daoist Wuma, and the Southern Sea Daoist while the others contained Cang Ji. He trapped his opponents with talismans and a forest, but the Southern Sea Daoist escaped the Sky Forest only to be caught in the Jimin Association's white radiance.

• Master Kaiyun chose to stand with Lord Xiaoshan, who attacked him with an ancient azure longsword as Master Kaiyun tried to strike back.
• Cang Ji split his body to rescue Master Kaiyun and attack Lord Xiaoshan, but Daoist Wanzhi intercepted one half with a pagoda.
• Lord Xiaoshan disabled Daoist Wuma's Sky-Veiling Talisman and trapped him in a Wood Spirit Sealing Array, then used puppets and the Seven Star Killing Array to restrain his opponents.
• Daoist Wanzhi blocked Cang Ji's Yin Thunder, while Lord Xiaoshan's Sky Forest suppressed the Southern Sea Daoist and Daoist Wuma.
• The Southern Sea Daoist vanished along with much of the forest, reappeared dozens of kilometers away, and was enveloped by a white radiance from the Jimin Association.

Guan Xi, Ma Zuo, and Chongyun revealed themselves as the original leaders of the Jimin Association while Southern Sea Daoist escaped and Daoist Wuma was sealed. As Lord Xiaoshan began using the Heaven Stealing Talisman, Master Kaiyun tried to stop him but was blocked by Lord Rongyang and Min You.

• Guan Xi attacked Southern Sea Daoist with white light, but Southern Sea Daoist escaped after using the Mask of Faces to twist fate.
• Ma Zuo attacked Guan Xi and demanded his power, while Chongyun agreed to Ma Zuo's request but refused to fight.
• Guan Xi told Chongyun that he had deliberately let Southern Sea Daoist escape and discussed which sects the Jimin Association should watch or approach.
• Lord Xiaoshan's forces sealed Daoist Wuma in a Wood Spirit Sealing Array before he could use the Sky-Veiling Talisman.
• Lord Xiaoshan communicated with the Heaven Stealing Talisman, and Master Kaiyun tried to stop him but was blocked by Lord Rongyang and Min You.

Lord Rongyang and Daoist He Feng drove Master Kaiyun from the battlefield, while Cang Ji also fled. Lord Xiaoshan emerged from his motionless state and unleashed a vast Wood Spirit force, leaving the others to retreat as a Huai Tree forest spread around him.

• Daoist He Feng and Lord Rongyang attacked Master Kaiyun with flames, burning his spirit-body Physical Body and destroying his bronze bell.
• Master Kaiyun escaped west as a golden Primordial Spirit Consciousness, while Daoist He Feng took a Gold Vein Crystal from his remains and said Master Kaiyun had deliberately lost.
• Cang Ji fled east, and Daoist Wanzhi and the others gathered near the motionless Lord Xiaoshan.
• Lord Xiaoshan summoned his Primordial Spirit, fused it with the Heaven Stealing Talisman, and released Wood Spirit Qi that withered Daoist Wanzhi's spiritual veins and stole some of her lifespan.
• Lord Rongyang, Daoist Wanzhi, and Min You retreated, while Daoist He Feng remained nearby; Huai Tree saplings spread into a vast forest as Lord Xiaoshan's spirit-body Physical Body began to melt.

Wang Ping and Zi Luan watched a vast Huai Tree Forest spread around the cloud-piercing tree as cultivators who approached it vanished. Months passed while rumors drew more people to the forest, and then Lord Xiaoshan’s consciousness briefly stirred in Wang Ping’s mind before Wood Spirit aura surged again.

• A gigantic Huai Tree rose from the forest after Lord Xiaoshan’s aura disappeared, and Zi Luan suspected his advancement had not failed.
• Three Third Realm cultivators flew toward the Huai Tree and turned to dust when they touched its branches.
• The Huai Tree Forest expanded nearly a hundred li, forcing Wang Ping and Zi Luan to retreat and conceal themselves.
• Over the following months, cultivators gathered around the forest, and rumors about Fourth Realm legacies and Lord Xiaoshan’s Treasure Vault drew more people inside, where they disappeared.
• On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, Lord Xiaoshan’s cold, rational consciousness briefly stirred in Wang Ping’s mind before Wood Spirit aura surged from the forest.

Lord Xiaoshan confronted True Monarch Huishan, who came to claim the Huai Tree’s Wood Spirit Origin and the Heaven Stealing Talisman. As Huishan began devouring the forest’s Wood Spirit Qi, Xiaoshan activated the talisman and released Daoist Wuma, whose body carried another portion of Wood Spirit Origin.

• Lord Xiaoshan asked True Monarch Huishan whether he could refine a new spirit body, and Huishan said he would fail before demanding the Huai Tree’s Wood Spirit Origin and Heaven Stealing Talisman.
• Lord Xiaoshan refused to yield, and Daoist Ma Zuo attacked Huishan with a rune-engraved warhammer before being overwhelmed by Huishan’s power and disappearing in white light.
• True Monarch Huishan began draining the forest’s Wood Spirit Qi, while Lord Xiaoshan retrieved a vine-woven Wooden Box from the ground.
• Lord Xiaoshan activated the Heaven Stealing Talisman, opened the box, and released Daoist Wuma from a sealed crystal.
• Lord Xiaoshan activated a token and drove it into Daoist Wuma, unraveling his Wood Spirit seals and revealing another portion of Wood Spirit Origin within him.

Lord Xiaoshan used the Divine Jade Brush and the Heaven Stealing Talisman to fuse with True Monarch Huishan through the gigantic Huai Tree, leaving their combined spirit vein in Lord Xiaoshan’s form. True Lord Yuanwu and the Star Demoness discussed the aftermath as Lord Xiaoshan sent a sphere of light south.

• Lord Xiaoshan activated the Heaven Stealing Talisman through the Divine Jade Brush, and the gigantic Huai Tree seized him and True Monarch Huishan as their spirits fused.
• True Lord Yuanwu absorbed Master Kaigong’s attack with his emerald-green gourd, while True Monarch Lingshan, Daoist Baiyan, and Master Kaigong confronted him over the conflict.
• The Huai Tree fused Lord Xiaoshan and True Monarch Huishan into an irregular spirit vein, and the other True Monarchs withdrew after Daoist Baiyan warned that the world would be awash in blood.
• True Lord Yuanwu met the Star Demoness at his courtyard, discussed Lord Xiaoshan’s chances and Xuanqing’s condition, and decided to keep the Divine Jade Brush.
• Lord Xiaoshan’s form finally prevailed within the spirit vein, and he sent a white sphere of light southward.