Chapter Summaries

Wang Ping cultivated a Primordial Spirit Qi Sea in the Divine Art Array, strengthening his Primordial Spirit and expanding his perception. Afterward, he told Yulian that his Primordial Spirit could travel hundreds of kilometers and cast basic spells, and might survive the destruction of his Physical Body.

• Wang Ping cast Sacred Divination, received a good omen, and practiced the Evergreen Cultivation Technique before returning with Yulian to the underground cavern.
• Wang Ping used the Divine Art Array to cultivate his Primordial Spirit, drawing in psionic energy and believers’ spirituality to form a Qi Sea.
• Wang Ping completed six major Heavenly Cycles, stabilized the Primordial Spirit Qi Sea, and continued cultivating it for two months.
• Wang Ping’s enhanced consciousness perceived energy particles throughout the real world and Inspiration World, then drew the attention of Psionic Creatures in outer space, so he severed the connection.
• Wang Ping told Yulian his Primordial Spirit could travel hundreds of kilometers, cast basic spells, and potentially survive the destruction of his Physical Body.

Wang Ping tested how his newly formed Primordial Spirit handled spells and complex arrays at the Mountain Top Dojo. As Yucheng and the others watched from afar, they discussed his progress and the bloodshed threatening the Chu Kingdom, which Yucheng said was not their concern.

• Liu Shuang saw Wang Ping’s Primordial Spirit testing the All Soldiers Are Grass and Trees Art and turning courtyard flowers into a humanoid guard.
• Yulian swallowed the petals created by the guard, and Wang Ping’s Primordial Spirit disappeared before he reappeared with his Physical Body.
• Wang Ping dispersed the flower guard and layered more than a hundred Iron Bamboo Swords into six nested Seven Star Killing Arrays over Thousand Wood Temple.
• Yucheng, Ruan Chunzi, and Yuan Zheng watched the arrays and discussed Wang Ping’s cultivation and the northern-southern war’s bloody past.
• Ruan Chunzi warned that the Chu Kingdom faced imminent bloodshed, but Yucheng said it had nothing to do with them.

Wang Ping prepared Iron Bamboo Swords for his Seven Star Killing Array and discussed Liu Shuang’s cultivation and their disciples’ lives with her. He advised Liu Shuang to spend half a year adjusting her state before attempting to fuse the last portion of spiritual consciousness, then watched her leave with mixed affection and concern.

• Wang Ping asked Mingshui to nourish ten Iron Bamboo Swords with Spirit Toxin for his Seven Star Killing Array.
• Wang Ping explained to Liu Shuang that artifact spirits lacked desires and that demonic weapons were aberrations born from extraterritorial consciousness.
• Wang Ping learned Liu Shuang had reached a cultivation bottleneck and told her that only the consciousness sealed by his Spirit Calming Talisman remained to be fused.
• Yulian advised Liu Shuang to spend half a year adjusting her state of mind before attempting the final fusion, and Liu Shuang agreed.
• Liu Shuang shared news about Liu Ling, Rong'er, and Zhao Yu'er, then chatted with Wang Ping before leaving the courtyard.

Wang Ping studied an incomplete array from the Demon Race Ruins that could enhance Spiritual Roots, while discussing the dangers of interfering in Nanlin Road’s mortal conflicts and hearing about Daoist Zhi Yuan. The Light Screen Panel revealed the array’s requirements and limitations, leaving Wang Ping with a promising but incomplete method to investigate.

• Wang Ping played Go with Yuan Zheng, warned him not to take back a move, and won before beginning a game with Ruan Chunzi.
• Ruan Chunzi asked whether Wang Ping would change the situation on Nanlin Road, and Wang Ping cautioned that cultivators’ intervention could cause far greater devastation.
• Yuan Zheng told Wang Ping about array-diagram rubbings from the Demon Race Ruins, and Yucheng explained that Su Hai’s Disciple had joined Daoist Zhi Yuan’s tutelage.
• Yucheng gave Wang Ping a bamboo slip containing the original and repaired array rubbings, which Wang Ping studied while playing Go.
• After Wang Ping memorized the diagrams, the Light Screen Panel identified the incomplete Body Tempering Array and listed its requirements, risks, and missing sections.

Wang Ping studied the Devouring and Transformation Array and began rebuilding the Yin-Yang Body Tempering Grand Formation at Strange Pavilion. He completed the reconstruction after three months, though the transformation array remained unusable until they obtained the bloodline power of a Core Formation Pig Yao.

• Wang Ping deciphered the array diagram and learned that its transformation array required a Core Formation Pig Yao's bloodline power and carefully prepared materials.
• Wang Ping told Daoist Yuanzheng, Yulian, Ruan Chunzi, and Yucheng that the array could improve Spiritual Roots, but the group agreed to rebuild the existing formation first.
• Wang Ping summoned Zhao Gan, who gathered the required materials, including five sets suited to different cultivation arts.
• Wang Ping entered Strange Pavilion, cleared the original array, and used two Puppets to draw the new array runes.
• Wang Ping placed the spiritual objects and adjusted the formation, completing its reconstruction in three months.

Wang Ping guarded Liu Shuang as she began fusing the spirit entity’s consciousness with her soul, a process that lasted through the changing seasons. The chapter ended when Wang Ping discovered that Taiyan cultivators from several sects had suddenly gone mad and were attacking everyone they saw.

• Wang Ping agreed to let Song Qu become Chong Qiu’s Personal Disciple, despite the risk that Chong Qiu might later discover the truth about him.
• Liu Shuang began her Secluded Cultivation at the core of the Nine Extremes Great Array, where Wang Ping helped her start fusing with the spirit entity’s consciousness.
• As Liu Shuang struggled with the process, Wang Ping gave her the medicinal power of a Sacred Heart Pill, while Yulian told her spirit hound to keep communicating with her.
• Wang Ping sensed a disturbance in Heaven and Earth, raised the sect barrier, and activated the isolation formation around the Mountain Top Dojo.
• Wang Ping used the Cave Heaven Mirror to investigate and discovered that Taiyan cultivators from several sects had gone mad and were attacking everyone they saw.

Wang Ping and Thousand Wood Temple's cultivators contained a wave of spiritual disturbances that devastated Yongshan County Town. Wang Ping traced the unrest to Huai Tree Souls and Heaven Connecting Talismans, then warned that Jinhuai City had become dangerous after his Puppets there lost contact.

• Wang Ping used the Cave Heaven Mirror to observe mutated disciples as Daoist Yuanzheng and others suppressed the disturbances at Thousand Wood Temple and Zhonghui County Town.
• Daoist Yuanzheng extinguished the flames consuming Yongshan County Town, where a mutated cultivator had caused widespread destruction, and Liu Ling suppressed the remaining heat with Wood Spirit Qi.
• Wang Ping told Yulian that the unrest likely began when a True Monarch's Heaven Connecting Talisman influenced Taiyan cultivators fused with Huai Tree Souls.
• Wang Ping and Yulian suspected True Monarch Huishan and Lord Xiaoshan were involved, while Wang Ping revealed that all his Puppets in Jinhuai City had lost contact.
• Yulian offered to investigate with her Primordial Spirit, but Wang Ping refused and noted that Daoist Wanzhi was at the nearby Six Hearts Sect.

Zi Luan destroyed two rampaging monsters in Jinhuai City and the northwest, exhilarated by evidence that he was not Lord Xiaoshan’s Puppet. Meanwhile, Dong Can arrived at the Thousand Wood Temple Ascension Stage, where Wang Ping had been waiting for him.

• Zi Luan destroyed a Huai Tree that had trapped civilians, extinguished the fire, and asked his disciples whether they sensed anything from a blossom.
• Zi Luan said Predecessor Wan Zhi had authorized him to handle the chaos and flew northwest, leaving Hong Yuan and Qin Zifeng behind.
• Hong Yuan realized that Zi Luan was testing whether he might be Lord Xiaoshan’s Puppet and that the blossom suggested he was not.
• Zi Luan defeated a flaming monster and a bloated monster near the Five Gods River, then flew toward more intense chaos farther north.
• Dong Can arrived at the Thousand Wood Temple Ascension Stage, reappearing after vanishing following his promise to Wang Ping.

Dong Can revealed that Xiu Yu was hiding in a village south of Five Dao Prefecture and was badly injured but recovering. Wang Ping gathered allies and forces to search the area, where Wu Fu appeared and offered his help.

• Daoist Yuanzheng brought Dong Can to the Back Mountain dojo, and Wang Ping learned that Xiu Yu was hiding south of Five Dao Prefecture after escaping Dong Can.
• Dong Can asked Wang Ping for protection in exchange for revealing Xiu Yu’s location, and Wang Ping agreed, sending Daoist Yuanzheng with him to Baishui Lake.
• Wang Ping summoned allies and sent Hu Qianqian’s forces to seal the routes south of Five Dao Prefecture while he and Ruan Chunzi flew to Baishui Lake.
• Wu Quan and a Tiger Demon joined Wang Ping, Ruan Chunzi, and the search as a barrier appeared around a village in the southern waterways.
• Wu Fu arrived after seeing Wang Ping’s ID Badge and offered to help.

Wang Ping sealed the village and discovered a hidden underground passage after Qingjiang invited him to meet her dying master, Xiu Yu. He reached an underground cavern where Xiu Yu’s spirit-body was near collapse, leaving their meeting about to begin.

• Hu Qianqian explained that Baishui Lake’s hastily raised barrier could not stop teleportation, while Wang Ping sensed Yuan Zheng and Dong Can outside it.
• Ping Tian emerged from underground and attacked the Demon Race guards with a Spirit Controlling Banner, but the Tiger Demon killed him and took the banner.
• Wang Ping planted vines and formed a sealing array around the village, while Wu Fu, Wu Quan, and Ruan Chunzi took positions to prevent anyone from escaping.
• Qingjiang invited Wang Ping to speak with Xiu Yu, and Wang Ping entered the underground corridor with Dong Can, Yuan Zheng, and the Tiger Demon.
• Wang Ping’s puppets led the group through the corridor as his vines consumed its Gold Spirit arrays, and he sensed Xiu Yu in a cavern as a dying spirit-body resembling an old tree.

Wang Ping confronted Xiu Yu’s Primordial Spirit, who revealed his resentment toward the path imposed on him and offered to hand over what Master had left behind. Xiu Yu then vanished through a transfer formation, leaving Wang Ping with his request to protect Qingjiang and his warning about Zi Luan.

• Wang Ping recognized that the Primordial Spirit before him was not the real Xiu Yu, and Xiu Yu admitted he had arranged for Dong Can to escape so he could speak with Wang Ping.
• Xiu Yu recalled his wish to travel and write, his survival of the Six Hearts Sect’s internal strife, and his repeated attempts to break free from Master’s prescribed path.
• Xiu Yu said his true controlling consciousness had detached before the Capital City incident and explained that the body before them had been left to bear the consequences of Master’s failure.
• Xiu Yu revealed that Master had left him items meant to help him advance to the Fourth Realm, along with Wood Spirit Origin, and offered them to Wang Ping while warning that Master meant to pit them against each other.
• Xiu Yu asked Wang Ping to care for Qingjiang, then said he had matters to settle with Zi Luan and disappeared through a transfer formation.

Wang Ping’s group confronted the aftermath of Xiu Yu’s escape, and Qingjiang delivered the treasures Xiu Yu had entrusted to her. After returning to Thousand Wood Temple, Wang Ping learned from Yulian that Xiu Yu was unlikely to reach the Fourth Realm and that Xiu Yu’s actions might jeopardize his alliance with Zi Luan.

• Wang Ping sensed Xiu Yu’s Primordial Spirit escaping northwest, while Qingjiang defended her master and handed over Wood Spirit Origin and a Fourth Realm bishi’s Primordial Spirit.
• Wang Ping’s group recovered seven Gold Spirit veins and divided them among the cultivators, with Wang Ping buying two at market price.
• On the way to Thousand Wood Temple, the group sensed an unusual surge of Wood Spirit Qi and debated whether Xiu Yu had fallen or escaped after suffering severe damage.
• Wang Ping brought Dong Can to recover and hosted the others at Thousand Wood Temple before returning to the Mountain Top Dojo.
• Yulian judged that Xiu Yu was unlikely to advance to the Fourth Realm and warned Wang Ping that Xiu Yu might be trying to drive a wedge between him and Zi Luan.

Wang Ping learned that Zi Luan had destroyed Xiu Yu’s Primordial Spirit, then chose to defend Qingjiang after someone tried to put her on the Dao Palace’s wanted list. As Chu Kingdom descended into rebellion, Liu Shuang completed her integration and began preparing for a difficult breakthrough; the chapter ended with Zi Luan urgently summoning Wang Ping through a Communication Token.

• Wang Ping received Zi Luan’s message confirming that he had completely destroyed Xiu Yu’s Primordial Spirit, and he declined to explain the situation further to Zi Luan.
• Wang Ping learned that someone had proposed placing Qingjiang on the Dao Palace’s wanted list and decided to defend her at Baishui Lake Daoist Grounds.
• Disorder spread throughout Chu Kingdom, and the proposal concerning Qingjiang disappeared as the Imperial Court struggled to contain rebellions.
• Liu Shuang integrated the spiritual entity consciousness within her divine soul, and Wang Ping began helping her prepare for a difficult breakthrough to the Third Realm.
• After spending months arranging Liu Shuang’s cultivation formation, Wang Ping received an urgent request from Zi Luan to activate projected consciousness and discuss a matter.

Wang Ping and the other leaders agreed to intervene as the Chu Kingdom’s Imperial Court weakened, coordinating efforts to stabilize the realm without openly involving themselves. Wang Ping then used a Puppet placed in the court to begin manipulating events, while reflecting that the True Lords might be manipulating them in turn.

• Wang Ping and Yulian joined Wu Quan, Gan Xing, and Zi Luan through a formation, where Gan Xing described a carp Spirit Beast and its evolving demonic weapon.
• Zi Luan warned that noble families had weakened the Chu Kingdom’s royal family and that the court might enthrone a new emperor, risking chaos across the Southern Cultivation World.
• Wang Ping and the others agreed to stabilize Nanlin Road and Liangjiang, send Disciples secretly to Jinhuai City, and wait rather than lead efforts to unify Central Province.
• Zi Luan urged Wang Ping to notify Zhi Gong about the situation, and the projected cultivators ended their meeting.
• Wang Ping summoned a Puppet serving as Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War and began using the Cave Heaven Mirror’s communication channels to influence events.

Wang Ping used divination and the Heaven Connecting Talisman to understand a coming upheaval and the universe’s surveillance of living beings. After Li Dui’s family was imprisoned, Wang Ping discovered how to conceal himself within Wood Spirit Qi and decided to examine the Wood Spirit Origin before continuing his cultivation.

• Wang Ping received repeated Sacred Divinations about his own future, then cast divinations for the world and received three Yin Trigrams indicating a great upheaval.
• Wang Ping began Qi Refining cultivation in the underground cavern while Yulian stayed by his side.
• Three days later, the Chu Kingdom Emperor imprisoned over three hundred members of Li Dui’s family and implicated thousands more.
• Wang Ping used the Heaven Connecting Talisman to observe the universe’s vast web of life and found that the Luck Borrowing Talisman blocked its probe of his spiritual meridians.
• Wang Ping realized he could conceal his aura and Primordial Spirit by merging with Wood Spirit Qi, and chose to inspect the Wood Spirit Origin before advancing his cultivation.

Wang Ping examined the Wood Spirit Origin and, after nearly losing himself to the Huai Tree’s memories, followed the Light Screen Panel’s instructions to use it with the Heaven Connecting Talisman. The Wood Spirit Origin fused with the talisman and began guiding him into the fifth step of the Taiyan Talisman’s cultivation.

• Wang Ping and Yulian examined the Wood Spirit Origin, and Wang Ping compared it to the Fire Spirit of True Sun Mountain.
• Wang Ping touched the Wood Spirit Origin and was overwhelmed by the Huai Tree’s memories until Yulian struck him and brought him back to his senses.
• Wang Ping asked Yulian to help suppress the consciousness in his Spiritual Meridians during his next cultivation, and she agreed.
• A day later, Wang Ping used the Heaven Connecting Talisman, placed the Wood Spirit Origin in his mouth, and became concealed from the universe’s surveillance.
• The Wood Spirit Origin fused with the Heaven Connecting Talisman and began assimilating Wang Ping’s body and Primordial Spirit Consciousness as he entered the fifth step of cultivation.

Wang Ping completed the Wood Spirit Form for both his Physical Body and Primordial Spirit, gaining the ability to conceal himself within Wood Spirits and wield them directly. After awakening from an unexpectedly long meditation, he discovered that 152 years had passed and found Thousand Wood Temple filled with unfamiliar disciples.

• Wang Ping absorbed Wood Spirits through the Heaven Connecting Talisman, while Yulian received some through their connected Primordial Spirits and fell asleep.
• Wang Ping’s Physical Body and then his Primordial Spirit completed their assimilation into the Wood Spirit Form during two brief periods of sleep.
• Wang Ping realized he could hide his aura within Wood Spirits and use them to disrupt an opponent’s connection to their elemental spirits.
• Wang Ping and Yulian awoke in a dark, dusty cave, found that most of the formations had failed, and carefully inspected Thousand Wood Temple.
• Yuan Zheng and Ruan Chunzi appeared before Wang Ping and told him he had been in Secluded Cultivation for 152 years.

After emerging from Secluded Cultivation, Wang Ping learned that 152 years had passed and his Master, Daoist Yucheng, had left to travel with no word since. He reunited with his disciples and asked to spend time alone with them.

• Wang Ping returned to Daoist Yucheng's courtyard and asked Yuan Zheng and Ruan Chunzi where his Master was.
• Yuan Zheng explained that Daoist Yucheng had left 102 years earlier, and that they had not awakened Wang Ping because Daoist Zi Luan warned his cultivation could be harmed.
• Wang Ping learned that Daoist Yucheng had left him the advice to think carefully before acting, then hesitated to message him through the Communication Token.
• Liu Shuang arrived and greeted Wang Ping as her Master, and Xia Weny and Shen Xiaozhu soon joined them.
• Wang Ping saw that Xia Weny had reached the Second Realm and Shen Xiaozhu had perfected the First Realm, then asked to be alone with his disciples.

After emerging from Secluded Cultivation, Wang Ping reunited with his Disciples and learned how war and rebellion had transformed the Southern Cultivation World. He heard that Hu Qianqian had avenged Hu Xin and been confined, then sent Yang Rong and Yulian to summon her.

• Wang Ping returned to his familiar home, greeted his Disciples and Yang Rong, and asked where Hu Qianqian was.
• Wang Ping used the Cave Heaven Mirror's remaining Puppets to learn that Chu Kingdom's northern campaign had faltered, the Datong Marquisate had betrayed its alliance, and rebellion had spread across Chu Kingdom.
• Liu Shuang explained that Hu Xin had led a Demon Race rebellion, been killed by ten Immortal Realm cultivators, and been avenged by Hu Qianqian, who killed six of them and was confined by the Dao Palace.
• Wang Ping gave his Dao Palace Chief ID Badge to Yang Rong and asked her to summon Hu Qianqian, while Yulian went with her.

Wang Ping surveyed how war had transformed Chu Kingdom and learned that civil conflict, foreign invasion, and the deaths of countless cultivators had left much of the Central Continent depopulated. As Yulian and Yang Rong returned, he asked about Zuo Xuan and learned that she had died after helping Zuo Liang reach the Second Realm.

• Wang Ping used his Primordial Spirit Consciousness to observe Huixian City, Shang'an Prefecture City, and the largely abandoned regions of Five Dao Prefecture.
• Xia Weny and Shen Xiaozhu told Wang Ping about Chu Kingdom’s civil war, the aristocratic families’ coup, and the Southeast Islands’ invasion.
• Wang Ping learned that the Southeast Islands’ attack had been launched by Linshui Prefecture’s Seventh Prince to plunder supplies, leaving many regions empty.
• Yulian and Yang Rong returned with Hu Qianqian, and Xuan Ling arrived soon afterward.
• Liu Shuang told Wang Ping that Zuo Xuan had failed to advance to the Third Realm, helped Zuo Liang reach the Second Realm, and later died in her cultivation grounds.