Chapter Summaries

Wang Ping learned that Zuo Xuan had died after a failed attempt to advance to the Third Realm, and he listened as Hu Qianqian played in her memory. He heard news of the sect’s progress and missing companions, then sent everyone to gather their disciples and grand-disciples.

• Liu Shuang explained that Zuo Xuan’s Flood Dragon bloodline overwhelmed her during her advancement, and that she died after using her remaining vitality to help Zuo Liang reach the Second Realm.
• Liu Shuang and Xia Weny shared Zuo Xuan’s final words and described how Thousand Wood Temple honored her; Wang Ping paid his respects and asked Hu Qianqian to play the zither in her place.
• Hu Qianqian played as Wang Ping remembered his early days at Thousand Wood Temple and the changes that had taken place since then.
• Xia Weny reported that Su Hai had advanced to the Second Realm and that Thousand Wood Temple had begun trading with the Later Xia Imperial Court for Essence Wood Divine Soul; Liu Shuang added that Ling'er had also reached the Second Realm.
• Liu Shuang said there had been no news from Wang Yang or Yu'er, while Yang Rong revealed that many sect members had taken disciples who had begun teaching disciples of their own.
• Yulian urged everyone to bring their disciples and grand-disciples to Wang Ping’s Daoist grounds.

Wang Ping reflected on his absent Master, reviewed the state of his sect and believers, and received a message from Zi Luan after completing a major cultivation step. Zi Luan congratulated him and asked whether he planned to prepare for advancement to the Fourth Realm.

• Wang Ping met Zhao Mingming, learned that Zhao Yu'er had sent him to make amends, and instructed Liu Shuang to teach him well.
• Wang Ping spent the morning remembering his Master, then visited the Mountain Top Dojo and recalled that he had planted flowers to raise bees for Yulian.
• Wang Ping activated the Divine Art Array and observed that his believers were concentrated on Nanlin Road and Ningzhou Road, with smaller groups elsewhere.
• Wang Ping examined Li Hui's memories and learned how Wen Hai had established a Daoist temple and city while gathering intelligence on Thousand Wood Temple.
• Zi Luan contacted Wang Ping, congratulated him on his cultivation progress, and asked whether he intended to advance to the Fourth Realm.

After more than a century of secluded cultivation, Wang Ping discussed his plans to advance to the Fourth Realm with Zi Luan, who revealed that he had captured a remnant of Xiu Yu’s Primordial Spirit. Zi Luan also apologized for the Southern Cultivation World’s fragmentation, and Wang Ping learned that Gan Xing had died after a failed advancement.

• Zi Luan warned Wang Ping that advancing to the Fourth Realm was perilous and that he would watch people he cared about die over the coming centuries.
• Zi Luan revealed that he had destroyed Xiu Yu’s Physical Body and captured one of his Primordial Spirit strands, though Wang Ping wondered whether the crystal might be a means of escape.
• Zi Luan urged Wang Ping to leave a successor before attempting his advancement, and Wang Ping said he had his own arrangements and could still train successors.
• Wang Ping rejected Zi Luan’s attempt to provoke him and said Xiao Zhu and Wen Yi had the resolve and ability to reach the Third Realm.
• Zi Luan apologized for his mistaken judgment that had left the Southern Cultivation World fragmented, and Wang Ping told him not to dwell on it.
• Wu Quan and Gan Qi appeared, and Zi Luan explained that Gan Xing had died after failing his advancement twenty years earlier.

Wang Ping learned that Gan Xing had died after leaving his artifact formation as a legacy for Gan Qi, then discussed the Southern Cultivation World's political instability with Zi Luan, Wu Quan, and Gan Qi. They planned to target Mozhou Road, using the investigation into the siege that killed Wang Ping's grand-disciple as their justification, and proposed acting during the factions' grand competition in one month.

• Zi Luan and Wu Quan explained that Gan Xing had fused his artifact formation into Gan Qi before dying, and Gan Qi reassured Wang Ping that his death was not Wang Ping's fault.
• Wu Quan warned that land annexation and noble-family control threatened to plunge the Southern Cultivation World into chaos, while Linshui Prefecture's influence and the Ji Kingdom posed additional dangers.
• Gan Qi identified Mozhou Road's infiltration by Linshui Prefecture and the aristocratic families' growing control of the mortal world as the two main problems.
• Wu Quan proposed using corruption charges to weaken powerful clans and helping the Chu emperor reclaim authority, while Gan Qi said they would first strike Mozhou Road's cultivation world.
• Gan Qi revealed that Linshui Prefecture spies and Mozhou Road cultivators had helped cause the siege that killed Wang Ping's grand-disciple, and that four surviving attackers had been located within a Great Sect.
• Zi Luan proposed using the four factions' grand competition in one month as an opportunity to act against the surviving attackers.

Wang Ping unsealed Lord Xiaoshan’s memories and learned the requirements and possible methods for advancing to the Fourth Realm. The memories and the Light Screen Panel pointed him toward splitting his Primordial Spirit, while leaving him suspicious that Lord Xiaoshan had planned this path for him.

• Wang Ping decided to cooperate with Zi Luan and the others, while reflecting on the need for a safe place to advance.
• Wang Ping isolated himself, summoned the Heaven Connecting Talisman, and unsealed part of Lord Xiaoshan’s memories as Yulian kept watch.
• Wang Ping learned that he must consult Daoist Wanzhi before attempting advancement and discovered the latter half of Taiyan Talisman and the Body Outside Technique.
• Wang Ping read the Light Screen Panel’s advancement methods, which included splitting his Primordial Spirit, constructing a fortune formation, or borrowing a True Lord’s consciousness.
• Wang Ping examined Bishi’s sealed Primordial Spirit and suspected Lord Xiaoshan had steered him toward splitting his own Primordial Spirit through the Incarnation Technique.

Wang Ping prepared to seek the Fourth Realm and summoned his allies, while displaying his power by rapidly growing crops and trees around Zhonghui County Town. He learned that Wu Fu knew about his Divine Art Array through a prophecy, then announced a gathering tied to the Inner Sect competition and the search for those who had besieged Hu Xin.

• Wang Ping read the Body Outside Technique's instructions, then told Yulian he planned to seek the Fourth Realm by testing the road ahead and identifying friends and enemies.
• Wang Ping used Wood Spirits to mature the rice fields outside Zhonghui County Town and rapidly grow banyan trees throughout the town.
• Wang Ping summoned Yuan Zheng, Ruan Chunzi, Dong Can, Wu Fu, and his disciples to the Mountain Top Dojo, where Wu Fu explained that advancing with Evil Fire required a spiritually rich Divine Art Array.
• Ruan Chunzi hinted that a prophecy had revealed Wu Fu's knowledge of the Divine Art Array, and Wang Ping stopped Yulian from asking further questions.
• Wang Ping told Xia Weny he would attend next month's Inner Sect competition, where Zi Luan, Wu Quan, and Gan Qi were also expected to appear.
• Wang Ping said Gan Qi had information about the four remaining people who had joined the ten-person group that besieged Hu Xin.

Wang Ping learned that Zi Luan and Wu Quan were tied to efforts against Mozhou Road and that Zi Luan was investigating the Heavenly Secrets of his Fourth Realm advancement. After leaving the others to play chess, Wang Ping announced that he would begin planning for the Fourth Realm.

• Hu Qianqian said she knew where the four Cultivators were, but Wang Ping dismissed her concern and invited the others to play chess.
• Xia Weny and Ruan Chunzi proposed rallying Cultivators against Guangshan Temple, while the group discussed the political history of the daoist temples in Mozhou Road.
• Xia Weny reported that Wu Quan and Zi Luan supported a plan against daoist priest Zhi Gong’s Fourth Realm plans, and that Zi Luan’s Disciples were searching Demon Race Ruins and calculating the fortune of Heaven and Earth.
• Dong Can revealed that Zi Luan had reached an agreement with First Day to clear Mozhou Road, prompting Wang Ping to consider the effect on local people’s support.
• After finishing his chess game with Yuan Zheng, Wang Ping took Yuan Zheng, Hu Qianqian, and Xia Weny through the garden and declared that he would begin planning for the Fourth Realm.

Wang Ping arranged to buy Third Realm Primordial Spirits, discussed selling improved Power Pills, and pursued plans to strengthen his disciples and unify Central Province. He also declared that he would confront Guangshan Temple directly for the four Cultivators, with Ruan Chunzi, Dong Can, and Wu Fu agreeing to support him.

• Wang Ping asked Yuan Zheng to arrange purchases of Third Realm Primordial Spirits through Sun Shulin, and Xia Weny confirmed they had enough money to begin.
• Wang Ping explained that his improved Power Pills could drain half the true essence from an Immortal Realm Fire Cultivator, and he considered how they could affect conventional warfare.
• Wang Ping asked Hu Qianqian to find out whether the Demon Race would sell its secret art for cultivating spirit veins.
• Wang Ping ordered Liu Shuang and Yang Rong to focus on Secluded Cultivation and strive to reach the Third Realm within two hundred years.
• Wang Ping declared that he would go directly to Guangshan Temple to demand the four Cultivators and fight if necessary, while avoiding nearby towns and Imperial Court officials.
• Ruan Chunzi, Dong Can, and Wu Fu pledged to support Wang Ping.

After a three-day gathering, Wang Ping arranged cultivation support for Shen Xiaozhu and Xuan Ling, then began refining Puppets to expand Thousand Wood Temple’s forces and prepare for his advancement. More than ten days later, he completed the first batch and turned to improving Power Pills.

• Wang Ping asked Xia Weny about the Huai Tree Soul’s memories, and Xia Weny and Xuan Ling shared the memories they had obtained.
• Wang Ping told Shen Xiaozhu to proceed with secluded cultivation and assigned Wen Yi to protect her, then approved Xuan Ling’s plans to build a cultivation cavern and gather formation materials.
• Wang Ping selected Corpse Soldiers to refine into Puppets and told Xia Weny about his plans to deploy them through sects and local forces.
• Wang Ping refined and dispatched the first Puppet, then continued working on Puppets alongside his daily cultivation and study.
• After more than ten days, Wang Ping completed the first batch of Puppets and began trying to improve the Power Pills.

Wang Ping experimented with refining stronger Power Pills, learned that the balancing formation was essential, and tested the explosive pills’ power. As the Thousand Wood Temple grand competition began, Wang Ping, Zi Luan, Wu Quan, and Gan Qi arrived before the assembled disciples and faction leaders.

• Wang Ping’s attempt to refine a Power Pill without the balancing formation exploded, costing fifty thousand taels and wounding his cheek.
• Wang Ping refined Power Pills with the balancing formation, noticed that a pill drew in spiritual energy, and had Yulian test its blast, which covered ten zhang.
• Wang Ping spent more than half a month refining Puppets and completed only one, which could cultivate at most to the Foundation Establishment Realm but could live a long time.
• Zi Luan, Wu Quan, and Gan Qi arrived at the Mountain Top Dojo ahead of the grand competition, while Hu Yin sent a letter expressing regret at being unable to attend.
• Xia Weny and Shen Xiaozhu brought newly accepted junior disciples to pay their respects on the day before the competition.
• Wang Ping, Zi Luan, Wu Quan, and Gan Qi appeared at the Thousand Wood Temple grand competition, where more than a thousand disciples and faction leaders bowed to them.

Wang Ping attended the Southern Cultivation World’s grand competition, recalled his past ties to Three Fire Temple, and received promises of support for a possible advance to the Fourth Realm. After the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment contests produced their winners, several Thousand Wood Temple Outer Disciples suddenly began vomiting blood.

• Xia Weny led the ceremony of respects and announced the grand competition’s three stages and individual matches.
• Wang Ping and the other leaders discussed their promising Qi Refining disciples and placed bets; a Three Fire Temple Fire Cultivator won first place.
• Wang Ping asked about Daoist Huoxing and recalled serving under him at Yongming Port, then heard Wu Quan, Zi Luan, and Gan Qi offer support for his possible advance to the Fourth Realm.
• Zhao Mingming prayed before his match and won by exhausting his opponent’s true essence with his All Soldiers Are Grass and Trees Art.
• A Thousand Wood Temple Fire Academy disciple won first place in the Foundation Establishment competition, while Mu Yun also competed as a favored contender.
• Several Thousand Wood Temple Outer Disciples began vomiting blood, and chunks of flesh squirmed in what they spat out.

Wang Ping responded to a Spirit Toxin outbreak during the tournament and learned that infected sandalwood incense had spread the poison through a Red Boat and sect disciples across Nanlin Road. The incense supplier had disappeared, and Wang Ping ordered further investigations while anticipating a confrontation.

• Wang Ping contained the blood-vomiting Outer Disciples and sent Xia Weny to investigate while keeping the tournament underway.
• Xia Weny reported that a tiny gu insect in sandalwood incense had infected people connected to a Red Boat in Zhonghui County Town and Outer Disciples from sects along Nanlin Road.
• Xia Weny revealed that the incense came from a merchant caravan that traveled to West Continent, but the caravan had vanished.
• Wang Ping ordered continued investigations and detection formations in Zhonghui County Town, while Ruan Chunzi linked the attack to the enmity from Wang Ping's assault on True Sun Mountain.
• Gan Qi warned that the incident could lead others to accuse Wang Ping of interfering in the struggle over the Central Province Divine Artifact.

Wang Ping ordered Thousand Wood Temple to pressure Guangshan Temple while investigating a suspected plot behind the poison and the conflict in Mozhou Road. As his allies made their own arrangements, Ruan Chunzi discussed Wang Ping’s ambitions with Miaoyu, who warned that his path carried heavy karma.

• Wang Ping ordered Xia Weny to stop most of the investigation, have Qianqian demand Guangshan Temple surrender the culprit within five days, and tell the Chu Kingdom Imperial Court to define the matter as a grudge between the temples.
• Zi Luan, Wu Quan, and Gan Qi departed, and Ruan Chunzi speculated that someone had poisoned the Outer Disciples to push Thousand Wood Temple to the front.
• Wang Ping told Yuan Zheng to contact Liu Chang about the civil war in Linshui Prefecture and instructed Dong Can to keep the Imperial Court in line without letting matters descend into chaos.
• Ruan Chunzi told Yuan Zheng that Zi Luan was unlikely to have planted the poison and said Wang Ping intended to scheme for the Fourth Realm.
• Miaoyu asked Ruan Chunzi why he supported Wang Ping, and warned that Wang Ping’s heavy karma would make his path difficult.

Yongchang Emperor Liu Kai learned that Great-Grandmaster Changqing planned to act against Guangshan Temple and order the court to keep major families out of Mozhou Road. He agreed to issue the required documents and watched for the court’s reaction, while Liu Jun pledged to ensure the plan went smoothly.

• Liu Jun told Liu Kai that an envoy from Thousand Wood Temple had announced Changqing’s plan to make an example of Guangshan Temple.
• Liu Jun suggested the upheaval in Mozhou Road could shift political power and let the Liu family gain the region’s mortal assets.
• Liu Kai ordered Liu Jun to explain that the court must send documents across the realm and restrain major families from interfering in Mozhou Road.
• Liu Kai decided to attend the deliberation hall and issue the documents with his imperial seal rather than help provoke the court.
• Liu Kai asked what would happen if the court refused to follow Changqing’s plan, and Liu Jun promised to ensure it proceeded smoothly.

Wang Ping and his allies set out for Guangshan Temple after learning that Zi Luan expected the temple to have already fallen. At the ruined temple, Hu Qianqian discovered that four survivors had been captured and ordered them brought to Hu Xin’s grave, just as fighting began in the nearby county town.

• True Monarch Changqing led a large force of cultivators across Nanlin Road toward Mozhou Road.
• At Mountain Top Dojo, Wang Ping and the summoned cultivators discussed their desired shares, including Gan Qi’s request to use the battle’s spiritual essence to complete his physical fusion.
• Zi Luan said Guangshan Temple could not hand over the people they wanted because the temple might already have been destroyed, and Wang Ping led the group toward it.
• In Zhonghui County, Wu Fu told Leng Kezhen that the attack on Thousand Wood Temple had likely been a search for something, while Leng Kezhen delayed deciding whether to follow him.
• At Guangshan Temple, Hu Qianqian’s forces found four unconscious survivors, and she ordered them taken to Hu Xin’s grave as fighting broke out in the county town.

Hu Qianqian oversaw a staged attack at Guangshan Temple in which supposed reinforcements self-destructed and devastated nearby towns. Wang Ping and his companions then faced eight Third Realm cultivators, who launched a coordinated assault.

• Hu Qianqian sent Niu Qi and Wang Ben away with four captives, then defeated two Water cultivators who attacked her.
• Cultivators posing as reinforcements announced their temples and self-destructed, killing civilians near the county towns.
• Wang Ping and his companions watched the destruction from above the Clouds, and Yulian questioned Zi Luan about the apparent scheme.
• Hu Qianqian led more than a hundred Immortal Realm disciples and over twenty Second Realm cultivators toward Cloud Sparrow Temple.
• Eight Third Realm cultivators confronted Wang Ping's group, and Cheng Xi led the enemy party.
• Dong Can blocked a ghost-head saber strike as the Water cultivators attacked with a formation, while Wu Quan and Wu Bing countered their spells and the Artifact Cultivators advanced with Golden Armored Puppets.

Wang Ping and his allies fought Cheng Xi and the other Linshui Prefecture cultivators, but their enemies escaped after Cheng Xi used a powerful talisman. Ruan Chunzi identified the metal disk as the Fate-Determining Plate, leaving Wang Ping aware of the artifact's power to manipulate fortune.

• Zi Luan organized the attack, and Wang Ping's group engaged the Linshui Prefecture cultivators and their puppets in battle.
• Wang Ping and Yulian countered Cheng Xi's Transfer Talismans with the Seven Star Killing Array, while Ruan Chunzi held off Que Cai.
• Cheng Xi used a metal disk to release auroras that affected Wang Ping's Primordial Spirit, but Yulian's seawater and Wang Ping's Divine Art Array eased the effects.
• A black flood dragon emerged from Cheng Xi and swallowed Yulian's seawater as Que Cai seized the metal disk.
• Cheng Xi activated a Heaven Connecting Talisman and escaped with Que Cai, the flood dragon, and the other cultivators.
• Ruan Chunzi identified the disk as the Fate-Determining Plate and explained that it could use spirituality to influence a person's fortune.

Cheng Xi’s attempt to alter Changqing’s fate failed, so he and Que Cai planned to disrupt Changqing’s cultivation by cooperating with others. Wang Ping and his companions arrived at the island, discovered traces of the Taiyan Sect’s Transfer Talismans and Fate-Determining Plate, and learned that Cheng Xi’s branch had once been driven into exile.

• Cheng Xi recovered from the failed fate-altering ritual, explaining that Changqing’s cultivation and Lord Xiaoshan’s Divine Art Array had made the attempt too dangerous.
• Cheng Xi warned Que Cai against letting jealousy control her and proposed cooperating with others to disrupt Changqing’s cultivation for one or two hundred years.
• Cheng Xi and Que Cai vanished through a transfer array as Dong Can, Gan Qi, Wu Quan, and Wu Bing arrived to investigate the island.
• Wang Ping and his companions descended, and Zi Luan used his Heaven Connecting Talisman to reveal the array runes and damaged Transfer Talismans.
• Zi Luan and Ruan Chunzi identified the traces as belonging to Cheng Xi’s Taiyan Sect lineage and discussed its forbidden curse talismans and Fate-Determining Plate.
• Ming Xin said the story he had heard was that Wang Ping had driven the lineage into the Southeast Sea Region.

After learning why a Taiyan Sect lineage had been driven to the Southeast Sea Region, Wang Ping asked Zi Luan whether they could kill Cheng Xi, but Zi Luan said the odds were low. Wang Ping withdrew from the campaign against the sects and gathered Yuan Zheng and Ruan Chunzi to discuss whether Thousand Wood Temple could kill Cheng Xi.

• Zi Luan and Ming Xin argued over the Taiyan Sect’s history, and Ruan Chunzi explained that a Fourth Realm Great-Grandmaster’s death had left the lineage unprotected and forced it into exile in the Southeast Sea Region.
• Meng Xin asked whether they should continue pursuing their enemy, but Wang Ping decided they should return and plan carefully.
• Wang Ping privately asked Zi Luan how to kill Cheng Xi, and Zi Luan warned that a Taiyan cultivator skilled in Transfer Talismans would be difficult to kill.
• Yulian told Wang Ping that Zi Luan seemed unusually absent-minded, and Wang Ping scattered weed seeds at the entrance to let Zi Luan know he had done so.
• Wang Ping told Hu Qianqian to leave the campaign against the sects to others and summoned Ruan Chunzi and Yuan Zheng.
• Yuan Zheng and Ruan Chunzi explained why Dong Can remained at Thousand Wood Temple, and Wang Ping asked whether the temple had enough strength to kill Cheng Xi.

Wang Ping discussed the threat posed by Cheng Xi and revealed that he planned to secure a Fourth Realm slot by using the Central Province Divine Artifact struggle to build reliable alliances. He left the meeting committed to confronting Cheng Xi openly if possible, while Yuan Zheng and Ruan Chunzi proposed first investigating his connections and gaining control of the Chu Kingdom’s court.

• Ruan Chunzi assessed Cheng Xi’s influence in Linshui Prefecture and said they needed to learn whether he served the Third Prince, the Seventh Prince, or a neutral faction.
• Wang Ping told Yuan Zheng and Ruan Chunzi that he intended to pursue the Fourth Realm of the Taiyan Talisman and needed to identify his enemies and allies before advancing.
• Wang Ping explained that the Central Province Divine Artifact struggle could create alliances through shared interests, while Ruan Chunzi warned that Fourth Realm advancement involved choosing sides and incurring heavy debts.
• Yuan Zheng offered to protect Thousand Wood Temple while Wang Ping cultivated, and Wang Ping revealed that Lord Xiaoshan had directed him to seek Daoist Wanzhi for a Fourth Realm slot.
• Wang Ping said he wanted to eliminate Cheng Xi openly to demonstrate his stance and gauge other factions’ reactions, though he would use other methods if necessary.
• Yuan Zheng proposed investigating Cheng Xi’s background, clarifying the Linshui Prefecture situation, and bringing the Chu Kingdom’s court under their control before acting.