Chapter Summaries

Wang Ping visited Jiutian Pavilion’s sacrificial altar and watched its members offer Outer Realm creatures to their imagined Saint. The ceremony culminated in a milky-white halo entering a corpse soldier Puppet, leaving its effect unknown.

• Wang Ping met Yu Heng at a damaged transfer array, asked about its frequent use, and accepted an invitation to visit Jiutian Pavilion’s altar.
• Wang Ping told Yu Heng that the Shangdan Sect remained divided and chaotic, and Yu Heng reflected that its inheritance had survived.
• Wang Ping met Zi Xuan and Daoist Cang Yue at the sacrificial high platform and agreed to observe their ceremony without joining Jiutian Pavilion.
• Yu Heng activated the arrays, which trapped Outer Realm creatures and gathered their spirituality for the offering.
• After hours of devout worship, a milky-white halo appeared among the Saint’s symbols and entered the corpse soldier Puppet’s glabella.

Wang Ping witnessed Jiutian Pavilion’s strange sacrifice and learned that its elders sought power from possibly real Saints, then resumed overseeing the sect’s affairs. Years later, with West Continent’s politics shifting and Taiyan cultivators disappearing, he learned Daoist Huai Mo was preparing for advancement as Wang Ping and Yulian looked ahead to leaving seclusion.

• Wang Ping watched Cang Yue probe the corpse soldier puppet and learned that Jiutian Pavilion’s sacrificial array could absorb uncontrolled spirituality, though its origins and the Saints remained uncertain.
• Wang Ping returned to the Starry Sky Illusory Realm, discussed the Saints with Yulian, and resumed meditation while Yulian communicated with believers.
• The transfer array to outer space was repaired, the ecological zone began construction, and the Liang Dynasty formed in West Continent with Xiao Shan and Hui Shan among its enshrined True Lords.
• Dong Can reported Taiyan Sect’s expansion in West Continent, and Wang Ping promised to help him prepare for advancement before directing Zi Luan to gather Taiyan Third Realm slots.
• Zi Luan and his allies arranged for Taiyan cultivators in West Continent to disappear, and the disappearances stopped after Vajra Temple representatives visited the Taiyan Sect.
• In New Calendar Year 53, Wang Ping received Daoist Huai Mo’s message that he was preparing his advancement ritual and might advance within one sixty-year cycle.

After a century of secluded cultivation, Wang Ping emerged with a newly formed body infused with Wood Spirit energy and greatly increased strength. He prepared to leave Thousand Wood Temple’s mountain ranges, where Ao Hong had arrived to meet him.

• Over the century, Wang Ping used puppets to spread teachings and preserve Central Province’s customs as civilization slowly recovered.
• Wang Ping’s cultivation stirred the Wood Spirit energy, drawing the attention of Rongyang, Zhi Gong, Daoist Yuxing, Kai Yun, and Ao Hong; Ao Hong headed to Thousand Wood Temple to meet him.
• The Huai Tree formed a complex system of runes, restored the withered vegetation, and gave Wang Ping a fragmented memory of an ancient civilization and a distant planet.
• The Huai Tree merged into Wang Ping’s Primordial Spirit, restoring him to human form with a powerful Wood Spirit body.
• Wang Ping described his new abilities to Yulian and said he could now confront Cang Ji head-on.

After advancing his cultivation, Wang Ping learned the next stage of Taiyan Talisman and began cultivating by stealing pure Wood Spirit Qi, while planning to gather Wood Spirits and call upon True Monarch Xiaoshan. He welcomed Ao Hong and Zhi Gong, then went to greet Daoist Gong Wu as Ao Hong refused to join them.

• Wang Ping read True Monarch Xiaoshan's memories, learned the method for Taiyan Talisman, Fifth Realm, Volume Three, and carved a statue of Xia Pei for an altar.
• Wang Ping used the Sky-Veiling Talisman and Heaven Connecting Talisman to steal and absorb a strand of pure Wood Spirit Qi, then resolved to gather Wood Spirits and establish Spirit Gathering Arrays across the Central Continent.
• Wang Ping dismissed the guards around Thousand Wood Temple, ordered his disciples to withdraw, and welcomed Ao Hong, who brought fruit wine and discussed Divine Art and the conflicts in the cultivation world.
• Wang Ping and Ao Hong welcomed Zhi Gong, who presented Wang Ping with a ten-thousand-year ginseng plant.
• Daoist Gong Wu of the True Sun Sect arrived, and Wang Ping went to welcome him while Ao Hong refused to come along.

Wang Ping received True Sun Sect’s warning about the struggle over West Continent and agreed with Ao Hong and Zhi Gong to support True Lord Xuanqing’s plans. After surveying a century of changes in Central Province, he was asked by Ao Hong to help strike back at Taiyin Sect.

• Daoist Gong Wu relayed True Lord Xuanqing’s warning that Wang Ping must advance his plans in the Yuqing Sect without joining the Shangqing Sect’s Fourth Realm cultivator.
• Ao Hong and Zhi Gong agreed to support Xuanqing’s arrangements in West Continent, while Ao Hong planned to watch for a chance to oppose Vajra Temple and Taiyin Sect.
• Zhi Gong told Wang Ping that Vajra Temple had derailed their effort to weaken it through the Demon Race and that Kai Yun wanted to meet Wang Ping alone.
• After Ao Hong and Zhi Gong left, Wang Ping surveyed Central Province and saw that Lan Kingdom had rebuilt the south while its regional autonomy threatened future unrest.
• Ao Hong returned and asked Wang Ping to help him teach Taiyin Sect a lesson.

Wang Ping agreed to let Ao Hong seek Demon Race help against the Taiyin Sect and ordered Liu Shuang to acquire natural Wood Spirits. He studied the Yuqing Secret Method and considered the implications of Huai Mo’s planned advancement before ending the night cooking alone while Yulian and the Sanhua cat caught fish.

• Ao Hong proposed recruiting a Demon Race elder to help drive the Taiyin Sect from the Southeast Sea Region, and Wang Ping agreed to join if Ao Hong succeeded.
• Wang Ping sent Liu Shuang to buy natural Wood Spirits, assigning Central Province to Li Miaolin and sending Liu Shuang to West Continent with Wen Yi.
• Wang Ping examined Guardian of Purity’s cultivation and learned the stages and dangers of the Yuqing Secret Method.
• Wang Ping learned Huai Mo expected to refine his spirit body within three years and suspected Prefect Yuxing wanted him to advance, while Yulian cautioned against assuming Xuanqing True Lord had planned everything.
• Wang Ping, Yulian, and the Sanhua cat went to Zhonghui City for cooking supplies, then Yulian and the cat caught fish as Wang Ping prepared food and felt lonely.

Wang Ping met with Bu Qiong to discuss the Demon Domain’s request and the space Ecological Zone, but Ao Hong’s urgent call drew him to a battle against the Taiyin Sect. Wang Ping and Yulian arrived to support Ao Hong and confronted Cang Lan, while Wang Ping chose to make their intervention look like a show of force.

• Zi Luan reported that the Taiyan Sect had recruited more than twenty Third Realm cultivators, whom he encouraged to establish Daoist temples across Nan Fang.
• Bu Qiong asked Wang Ping to allow the Demon Domain to build a dojo on Central Sky Mountain, but he refused and agreed to inspect the Ecological Zone in outer space.
• Ao Hong sent Wang Ping urgent messages saying he had persuaded a Demon Domain elder and was going to cause trouble for the Taiyin Sect, then Wang Ping sensed Ao Hong’s aura and went to help him with Yulian.
• Wang Ping and Yulian reached the battlefield, where Ao Hong fought Cang Ji and the Snake Demon Bailin fought Cang Lan, who wielded the Yin Yang Felt.
• Ao Hong called on Bailin to help him attack Cang Ji and told Wang Ping to hold off Cang Lan, while Wang Ping and Yulian restrained Cang Lan and Wang Ping summoned a Puppet wearing a Mask of Faces.

Cang Ji fought Ao Hong beneath the sea while Wang Ping and Cang Lan faced off above, until Kai Yun and Prefect Yuxing intervened. Ao Hong demanded that the Taiyin Sect leave the Southeast Islands, and Cang Ji refused as the gathered powers weighed the sect’s future.

• Ao Hong attacked Cang Ji with Water Spirit techniques, while Cang Ji countered with the Life and Death Banner, Ice Fire, and Corpse Soldiers before Ao Hong and Bailin drove the battle beneath the sea.
• Wang Ping vanished with Yulian as Lingzong arrived, and Bu Qiong followed; Cang Lan became trapped in Wang Ping’s shifted space and could not reach Cang Ji.
• Kai Yun stopped Lingzong from acting, Cang Lan went to aid the injured Cang Ji, and Wang Ping withdrew his spatial blockade.
• Ao Hong and Cang Ji emerged from the sea, and Ao Hong demanded that the Taiyin Sect withdraw from the Southeast Islands; Cang Ji refused.
• Prefect Yuxing arrived and said the Taiyin Sect had promised to leave the islands once it found a new residence, while Kai Yun remained silent.

Wang Ping watched Ao Hong force the Taiyin Sect to agree to leave the Southeast Islands, then traveled with Bu Qiong to meet Quan Wen and inspect the Demon Race’s new Ecological Zone in outer space. The chapter ended with Wang Ping examining the artificial planet and learning why the Demon Race needed his disciples’ help with its transmission formations.

• Cang Ji agreed to move the Taiyin Sect out of the Southeast Islands within half a year after Ao Hong, Kai Yun, and Wang Ping pressed him.
• Kai Yun invited Wang Ping to visit his dao field, while Wang Ping and Ao Hong divided responsibility for monitoring the Vajra Temple and Taiyin Sect.
• Wang Ping and Bu Qiong traveled to Four Symbols Mountain, where Quan Wen guided them toward the transfer formation and Wang Ping greeted Hou Jun, Shan Wei, and two Demon Race cultivators.
• Quan Wen activated the transfer formation and explained that spiritual lifeforms had gathered around the Demon Race’s artificial Ecological Zone, while Yulian absorbed their spiritual energy.
• Wang Ping inspected the Ecological Zone and located it beyond the asteroid belt, and Bu Qiong explained that the Demon Race’s space transmission formations consumed too much energy.

Cang Ji and Cang Lan returned to the Taiyin Sect stronghold on Nine Star Island after fighting Ao Hong, where Daoist Lin Shuang questioned the value of their campaign in Hushan Kingdom. She urged Cang Ji to stop mistaking wounded pride for loyalty to tradition and accept the Taiyin Sect’s move to West Continent.

• Cang Ji and Cang Lan returned to the Taiyin Sect’s stronghold on Nine Star Island and paid their respects to Daoist Lin Shuang.
• Daoist Lin Shuang noted that Linshui Prefecture had benefited from the Taiyin Sect’s retreat from Hushan Kingdom.
• Cang Ji questioned whether the Taiyin Sect should give up its foothold in Hushan Kingdom, and Lin Shuang asked what the campaign had truly gained.
• Cang Ji defended the campaign as a way to preserve the Taiyin Sect’s tradition against the Mystic Sect and Yuqing Sect.
• Daoist Lin Shuang accused Cang Ji of protecting his pride rather than tradition and told him to accept the move to West Continent.

Wang Ping considered the Demon Race’s proposals for Central Province, joined Bu Qiong and Quan Wen’s secret gathering, and oversaw the Ecological Zone’s development. After inviting Kai Yun to meet, Wang Ping heard him argue that Central Province should have no dynasties or Imperial Courts because divine artifacts destabilized the world’s fate and spirituality.

• Quan Wen asked Wang Ping to reserve a mountain in the Central Sky Mountain Range and consider forming an organization to govern Central Province, but Wang Ping said humans had to settle there first and that he would discuss the organization with Kai Yun.
• Bu Qiong invited Wang Ping to join her gathering, and Wang Ping accepted its Communication Token after considering the intelligence and connections it might provide.
• Wang Ping inspected the Ecological Zone’s formations, construction, Sparrow Clan settlement, and remaining needs, then had Que Cai visit and sent Kai Yun an invitation to meet on Haizhou Road.
• Wang Ping met Kai Yun and led him toward Thousand Wood Temple, while Kai Yun declared that dynasties and Imperial Courts should no longer exist in Central Province because divine artifacts would destabilize the world’s fate and spirituality.

Wang Ping and Kai Yun negotiated over the cultivation world's future, then Kai Yun asked him to help capture a Gold Spirit Attribute True Spirit. After Kai Yun left, Li Miaolin arrived at Thousand Wood Temple with six natural Wood Spirits, and Wang Ping inspected one of them.

• Wang Ping challenged Kai Yun's teachings and argued that Central Province's prosperity made talk of the Sea of Suffering and destiny unnecessary.
• Kai Yun warned that a surge of powerful cultivators would bring conflict, and Wang Ping agreed to his proposal while privately considering an Ecological Zone in outer space.
• Wang Ping and Kai Yun discussed West Continent's Taiyan Sect dissidents before Kai Yun asked Wang Ping to help trap a Gold Spirit Attribute True Spirit.
• Kai Yun left after sharing tea, and Wang Ping told Yulian that Kai Yun might be pursuing advancement beyond the Fourth Realm.
• Li Miaolin carefully climbed to the summit and delivered six natural Wood Spirits, which Wang Ping examined.

Wang Ping cultivated with Star Sea’s help, assigned new tasks to Xuan Ling and Zi Luan, and investigated a gathering through a Puppet while his compatibility continued to rise. After spending Spring Festival with Ao Hong and reflecting on old friends, Wang Ping sensed energy rippling above the altar to True Monarch Xiaoshan.

• Wang Ping gave the Natural Wood Spirit to Star Sea, who absorbed it and supplied Wood Spirit Qi to help Wang Ping cultivate, raising his compatibility to (66/100).
• Wang Ping summoned Xuan Ling and Zi Luan, assigning Xuan Ling the dissolution of the Lan Kingdom Imperial Court and Zi Luan the creation of Spirit Gathering Arrays across Central Province.
• Wang Ping sent an enlightened Puppet to investigate the gathering, where he observed Cultivators accepting and posting tasks before the projection space closed.
• Over the following months, Wang Ping’s compatibility reached (70/100), and he learned from Ao Hong that Jiang Cun had agreed to take the Fourth Realm slot.
• After Ao Hong left the Mountain Top Dojo, Wang Ping sensed energy rippling above the altar dedicated to True Monarch Xiaoshan.

Wang Ping awakened a consciousness bearing True Monarch Xiaoshan’s aura, which urged him to pursue the Fifth Realm and keep invoking Xiaoshan’s secular name. Later, Wang Ping convened representatives at Taiyan Sect to discuss restoring the Dao Palace, and the meeting began debating how the Demon Race should be governed.

• Wang Ping and Yulian entered a sea of consciousness and encountered a figure resembling True Monarch Xiaoshan, who warned Wang Ping that he could say little and encouraged him to pursue the Fifth Realm.
• Yulian judged the consciousness’s aura and karma similar to Xiao Shan’s, while Wang Ping concluded that powerful factions were involved in efforts to awaken him.
• Wang Ping and Yulian discussed the turmoil among Lan Kingdom’s great clans, and Wang Ping continued cultivating as the years passed.
• Wang Ping invited representatives of several factions to Taiyan Sect to discuss restoring the Dao Palace, and the gathered sect members greeted him as Prefect.
• Prefect Yuxing proposed placing the Demon Domain under a management system supervised by the Mystic Sect and Heaven Sect, and Ao Hong challenged the proposal’s opponents.

Wang Ping led a meeting to redesign the Dao Palace and decide how the Demon Race would participate in Central Province’s cultivation world. The group agreed on a new governing structure and a contest to determine who would prepare the headquarters, but Kai Yun ended by insisting that West Continent had to be jointly managed by the Mystic Sect and Heaven Sect.

• Bu Qiong argued against oppressing the Demon Race, while Prefect Yuxing said they should be punished for past wrongs and Kai Yun supported their participation under supervision.
• Kai Yun proposed adding Dao Palace conferences and a Second Seat position for the Demon Race, but Zhi Gong and Bu Qiong debated how the system should be reorganized.
• Wang Ping proposed keeping the Second Seat, establishing regional Dao Palace branches and a supervisory department, and limiting the lower seats to non-interfering roles.
• Quan Wen offered to establish Dao Palace organizations in the Demon Domain, and Kai Yun said Zhongshan Kingdom could join; the group then debated when higher authorities could intervene and where to place the headquarters.
• Mansu suggested that sects compete in thirteen years, with the lowest-ranked side responsible for preparing the headquarters, and Prefect Yuxing agreed before leaving.
• Kai Yun asked about West Continent, and Wang Ping said he would not interfere; Kai Yun replied that tradition required the Mystic Sect and Heaven Sect to manage it jointly.

Wang Ping negotiated the Second Seat meeting’s responsibilities and headquarters, then turned his attention to spreading his Dao while unrest swept across the southern lands. As the new year approached, his Primordial Spirit and Physical Body compatibility reached its maximum of 100/100.

• Kai Yun proposed that the factions share responsibility for West Continent, and Wang Ping and Zhi Gong offered support without committing to interfere in its affairs.
• After Kai Yun left, Wang Ping and Ao Hong agreed that Linshui Prefecture would be one of the Second Seat meeting’s three Chiefs, and Wang Ping proposed Mianzhu County as the headquarters.
• Wang Ping instructed Zi Luan to manage the arrangements, then asked who could be trusted; Zi Luan warned that the Demon Race might prove more reliable than Ao Hong.
• Ke Yue wondered whether becoming Wang Ping’s Puppet could give her a chance to advance, but Luo Feng warned her that the True Yang Fourth Realm slot was not hers.
• A coup ousted Lan Kingdom’s Old Emperor, and conflicts spread across the southern lands; Wang Ping’s faith spirituality grew as he healed believers and allowed Vajra Temple to establish temples.
• As Spring Festival of New Calendar year 107 neared, Wang Ping’s Primordial Spirit and Physical Body compatibility reached (100/100).

Wang Ping perfected the compatibility between his Primordial Spirit and Physical Body, gaining precise control of his Wood Spirit and discovering that his cultivation strained the limits of the world. After breaking the memory seal left by True Monarch Xiaoshan, he learned that Yuxiao might still be alive and that he should seek him in the Misty Sea to advance to the Fifth Realm.

• Wang Ping tested his new control over Wood Spirit Qi in the starry sky, absorbed spiritual energy across tens of thousands of miles, and blocked Yulian's Extreme Cold with a Wood Spirit barrier.
• Wang Ping and Yulian returned to the Mountain Top Dojo, where Star Sea absorbed an energy crystal and advised Wang Ping that Wood Spirit Origin was best for advancing to the Fifth Realm.
• Star Sea demonstrated that he could drain the world's spiritual energy with the black sphere, while Yulian told Wang Ping that Star Sea's first human emotion was loneliness.
• Wang Ping broke the memory seal left by True Monarch Xiaoshan and learned that Yuxiao might still be alive and could reveal himself if Wang Ping went to the Misty Sea as a Disciple of Thousand Wood Temple.
• Wang Ping recovered the next secret arts of Taiyan Talisman Volume Five, which listed five ways to perfect his Wood Spirit Physical Body and warned him to maintain his humanity.

Wang Ping inspected the Cave Heaven Mirror and Central Continent's Spirit Gathering Arrays before going to assist Dong Can with his advancement. After suppressing a Fourth Realm True Spirit and altering its thoughts, Wang Ping prepared the way for Dong Can to merge with it.

• Wang Ping examined the Cave Heaven Mirror's formations and found that one-third of its mirror-spaces were damaged.
• Wang Ping learned that Central Continent's Spirit Gathering Arrays were nearly ready, but forests would need to be restored to replenish its Wood Spirit Qi.
• Wang Ping traveled with Yulian to Dong Can's hidden mountain retreat, where Dong Can prepared to advance using a sealed Fourth Realm True Spirit and a demon weapon.
• Wang Ping deduced that Dong Can had only one chance in tens of thousands to succeed, but Dong Can chose to proceed and asked Wang Ping to suppress the True Spirit's consciousness.
• Wang Ping broke the seal, suppressed the True Spirit, and used the Mask of Faces to make it want to merge with Dong Can's Primordial Spirit.

Dong Can attempted to merge his consciousness with a Fourth Realm True Spirit and demonic weapon, but after a prolonged struggle he lost, leaving behind his remains and an improved ascension secret art. Wang Ping suppressed the True Spirit, uncovered the art’s requirements, and offered to share it with Kai Yun in exchange for something of equal value.

• Dong Can swallowed the Fourth Realm True Spirit and activated his bloodline array, but Heavenly Dao lightning struck as the two consciousnesses began fighting for control.
• Ao Hong, Yulian, Prefect Yuxing, and other Cultivators gathered at Blood Mountain while Wang Ping warned that interference would make Dong Can’s failure more likely.
• After twenty days, Kai Yun declared that Dong Can’s Primordial Spirit could no longer contend with the True Spirit, and Dong Can announced that he was leaving.
• Kai Yun tried to seize Dong Can’s remains, but Yulian froze him and Ao Hong attacked while Wang Ping suppressed the Fourth Realm True Spirit and recovered the remains.
• Wang Ping read Dong Can’s additions to the Fourth Realm Artifact Cultivator secret art and offered Kai Yun a chance to borrow it in exchange for something of equal value.

Wang Ping prepared an advancement method for Fourth Realm Artifact Cultivators while waiting for Daoist Huai Mo to advance, then attended a temporary gathering of powerful figures. The gathering began discussing a plot to disrupt a possible Jade Clarity advancement ceremony in Hushan Kingdom.

• Wang Ping agreed to trade Kai Yun a Puppet for the sixteen Seven Star Swords and left Chen Ming with a new advancement method after Dong Can's failed breakthrough.
• Wang Ping wrote a Fourth Realm Artifact Cultivator method that could draw spirituality from the Inspiration World, while Yulian and Hu Qianqian discussed his disciples' growing fear of him.
• Wang Ping received word that Daoist Huai Mo would advance in two months and accepted an invitation to a temporary gathering scheduled for the twentieth day of the third month.
• Wang Ping joined Quan Wen, Bu Qiong, You Han, Wang Yan, Ji He, Bailin, and Cang Lan at the gathering and learned that some people planned to cause unrest in Hushan Kingdom to disrupt a possible Jade Clarity advancement ceremony.