Chapter Summaries

Wang Ping negotiated with Kai Yun over the Fourth Realm succession and discovered that Ao Hong had entered secluded cultivation and would not meet him. He then sought Yuxing’s support for Huai Mo’s advancement, agreeing to assist the Yuqing Sect with its future plans in the West Continent.

• At a gathering with You Han, Ji He, and others, Wang Ping agreed to exchange intelligence and help stabilize Central Province while preparing for the Yuqing Sect’s Fourth Realm succession.
• Kai Yun traded sixteen Seven Star Swords for Wang Ping’s Artifact Cultivator secret art and declared that the Shangqing Sect would contend for the remaining Fourth Realm slot.
• Wang Ping prepared the Seven Star Swords, but after ten days without hearing from Ao Hong, he went to Huixin Island and learned from Hong Ze that Ao Hong was in secluded cultivation.
• Wang Ping sensed another aura around Ao Hong and left for the Hushan Kingdom to speak with Yuxing about protecting Huai Mo’s advancement.
• Yuxing agreed to support Huai Mo’s advancement after Wang Ping promised to help the Yuqing Sect with its future plans in the West Continent.

Wang Ping learned that Ao Yi was preparing to help Ao Hong advance to the Fourth Realm and foresaw a devastating war spreading across Central Province. He ordered the conflict in Hushan Kingdom ended quickly, then invited several leaders to tea, where Quan Wen revealed what the Demon Race had taken from True Sun Mountain.

• Daoist Huai Mo and Zi Luan discussed Huai Mo’s impending Fourth Realm advancement, and Zi Luan promised Taiyan Sect would protect him from interference.
• Leng Kezhen told Wang Ping that Ao Yi, Linshui Prefecture’s Eldest Master, was planning Ao Hong’s advancement and that Princess Xia Yao urged Wang Ping to end the Hushan Kingdom war quickly.
• Wang Ping foresaw Linshui Prefecture joining a wider war and a colossal dragon crossing a tribulation, then ordered Zi Luan to finish the fighting and invited Zhi Gong, Quan Wen, and Bu Qiong to Baishui Lake.
• Over tea, Quan Wen revealed that the Demon Race had sought the Demon Emperor’s body at True Sun Mountain, but Fifth Realm Ancestor Masters had taken it before the army reached the mountain’s heartland.
• Wang Ping told his guests he intended to suppress unrest in Hushan Kingdom swiftly and with overwhelming force.

The Hushan Kingdom’s forces crushed the Rebels’ advance toward Nanku City, while Zi Luan and Yueyang waited for the people behind the unrest to reveal themselves. As fighting erupted around Nanku City and Wolf Head Mountain, First Day gathered the spiritual essence from the southern war for a devastating Fire Spirit strike.

• Wang Xia agreed to drive the battle line to Nanku City within two days, and the king’s forces advanced while looting the southern tribes.
• Li Miaolin’s talismans triggered attacks inside Nanku City, but white beams from above destroyed the attackers until Taiyan cultivators repelled them and six Jimin Association cultivators appeared.
• Zi Luan struck Nanku City with his bronze sword, but Ming Xin blocked it and revealed that Vajra Temple and the Jimin Association were targeting Wolf Head Mountain to reclaim the Shangqing Sect’s treasure.
• Yueyang and the Yuqing cultivators joined the fight as Ming Xin’s forces confronted Zi Luan, while a large battle continued at Wolf Head Mountain.
• Ming Hui arrived to confront Luo Feng, and Vajra Temple’s flying vessel prepared an energy strike against Wolf Head Mountain as First Day gathered the Fire Spirit from the spiritual essence of the southern war.

Wang Ping arrived in time to protect Ke Yue and Luo Feng from Kai Yun’s attack, then agreed to duel Kai Yun over the contested slot. After Wang Ping trapped Kai Yun in an expansive formation-filled starry space, Kai Yun admitted defeat.

• Ke Yue and Luo Feng fought Monk Ming Hui while the Fire Spirit attacked, but Kai Yun launched a golden strike at Ke Yue before Wang Ping arrived and blocked it with successive barriers.
• Wang Ping and Yulian confronted Kai Yun over his attack on Ke Yue, and Kai Yun proposed a match to decide the slot.
• Wang Ping accepted the duel and took Kai Yun into outer space, where he created a vast transfer space and attacked with the Seven Star Swords.
• Wang Ping used the Heaven Connecting Talisman and a masked Puppet to disrupt Kai Yun’s consciousness, then trapped him with frozen space and spreading Wood Spirit vines.
• Kai Yun broke through Wang Ping’s attacks but recognized that Wang Ping had seized the initiative, so he admitted defeat.

Wang Ping used the Heavenly Eye to uncover Kai Yun’s history, from his family’s destruction and rise through the realms to his betrayal of Kai Yu. Kai Yun revealed that Immortal Tiangong had ordered him to prevent Ao Yi from reaching the Fifth Realm, and Wang Ping questioned how they could stop someone so powerful.

• Wang Ping used the Heavenly Eye to observe Kai Yun’s past and learned that Kai Yun survived his tribe’s destruction, entered cultivation, and became a Gold Spirit cultivator.
• Wang Ping saw that Kai Yun had betrayed his senior brother Kai Yu to obtain his Physical Body and used it to advance to the Fourth Realm.
• Wang Ping concluded that Mystic Gate’s history began far earlier than Dao Palace records suggested and that the gathering Kai Yun attended was likely the same one Quan Wen had brought him to.
• Wang Ping shared the visions with Yulian, then revealed himself and approached Kai Yun.
• Kai Yun said Immortal Tiangong had ordered him to prevent Ao Yi from advancing to the Fifth Realm, and explained that his contest over Hushan Kingdom had only been a show for Linshui Prefecture.
• Wang Ping asked Kai Yun to join them in stopping Ao Yi, then questioned why Ao Yi would hide if no one could threaten him.

Wang Ping defeated Kai Yun and learned that Ao Yi would need to be sealed, then arranged to gather intelligence on Linshui Prefecture while maintaining relations with it. He visited the True Sun Sect to seek Rongyang’s aid and learned that Rongyang was cultivating at a critical juncture but would not stand aside.

• Kai Yun told Wang Ping that Ao Yi could only be sealed and that the Taiyan Sect would need to help, while Wang Ping won Yuqing Sect’s Fourth Realm slot by defeating Kai Yun.
• Wang Ping returned to his companions, reinforced his alliance with Zhi Gong, and restored the fire-scorched land before they gathered for tea at Wolf Head Mountain.
• Wang Ping instructed Leng Kezhen to monitor Linshui Prefecture and investigate its plans for Ao Yi while preserving the Taiyan Sect’s outwardly friendly relationship with it.
• Wang Ping traveled to the True Sun Sect and met Qu Xuan, Daoist Gong Wu, and Daoist He Feng.
• Daoist Gong Wu told Wang Ping that Rongyang was at a critical stage of cultivation but had promised the True Sun Sect would not stand by while the Taiyan Sect remained its ally.

Wang Ping gathered the Wood Spirit Origin in secluded cultivation while monitoring the world and the approaching sect grand competition. As Ao Yi’s possible appearance loomed, Wang Ping and Yulian waited to see what move he would make, while Star Sea offered a risky way to speed Wang Ping’s cultivation.

• Wang Ping left the True Sun Sect without receiving a clear promise of support, then received a message from True Lord Yuanwu ordering him to stop Ao Yi’s advancement.
• Wang Ping concealed his intentions, established formations in Thousand Wood Mountain, and used Central Province’s fortune to begin gathering the Wood Spirit Origin.
• Five years later, Prefect Yuxing guarded Daoist Huai Mo as he advanced to the Fourth Realm, while Wang Ping observed the process and resisted the urge to examine the Heavenly Dao too deeply.
• By New Calendar Year 119, Wang Ping’s Wood Spirit Origin had begun to take physical form, and his Wood Spirit’s completion had reached 61/100 as the sect grand competition approached.
• Yulian suspected Ao Yi would appear at the competition, and Wang Ping said they would wait for him to make his move; Star Sea offered to speed Wang Ping’s cultivation at the risk of causing problems in his Fifth Realm advancement.

The Taiyan Sect and Earth Cave Sect delegations arrived at Central Island for the Sect Grand Tournament, where Hong Ze warned Leng Kezhen that Ao Yi sought the Fifth Realm and revealed other plans. Wang Ping received the intelligence and weighed whether to oppose Ao Yi, while the tournament opened with the arrival of Eldest Lord.

• The Taiyan Sect and Earth Cave Sect delegations reached Central Island aboard Linshui Prefecture's flying boat and settled into the Dragon Palace grounds.
• Hong Ze met Leng Kezhen privately, confirmed Ao Yi had awakened to pursue the Fifth Realm, and disclosed plans concerning the Dao Palace headquarters and Linshui Prefecture's vacant Fourth Realm position.
• Leng Kezhen halted the Taiyan Sect's planned operation at the tournament and sent his intelligence to Wang Ping, who discussed Ao Yi's advancement with Yulian and Star Sea.
• On the third day of February, cultivators and spectators gathered at the Dragon Palace and Central City for the Sect Grand Tournament.
• A white dragon and five Flood Dragons arrived above the plaza, and Eldest Lord appeared as Linshui Prefecture disciples greeted him.

Ao Yi reappeared and tried to place the Dao Palace under Linshui Prefecture’s control, but Rongyang and other Second Seat representatives challenged his authority. After Master Wangqing warned Ao Yi against suppressing others, the confrontation ended with Rongyang returning to the Northern Continent snow mountains.

• Ao Yi announced that Linshui Prefecture would lead the Dao Palace, and You Hua asked the other sects to accept the arrangement.
• Monk Ming Qi and Qing He challenged the proposal, while Yang Shu and Ao Yi defended Linshui Prefecture’s authority.
• Rongyang emerged from seclusion, halted Ao Yi’s show of power, and accused him of arrogance and failing to protect all living beings.
• Rongyang and Daoist Lin Shuang confronted each other, while Wang Ping and Star Sea realized she had used Taiyin Evil Cultivator methods to reach the Fourth Realm’s completion.
• Master Wangqing appeared and warned Ao Yi not to use cultivation to suppress others, after which Ao Yi and Rongyang argued over their responsibilities and the Tao Te Ching.
• Rongyang prepared to fight Ao Yi, but Master Wangqing intervened, and Rongyang returned to the Northern Continent snow mountains.

After Ao Yi gained control of the Dao Palace, the Demon Race split into factions and fought over clansmen who had moved to the Southeast Sea Region. Ao Yi then turned to gathering public devotion in Central Province, while Wang Ping continued his secluded cultivation and prepared to attend a new temporary gathering.

• Linshui Prefecture won the sect tournament, and the Dao Palace meeting gave it two Chief positions while the Demon Race received the third.
• Ao Yi proposed creating Dao Palace-like organizations across West Continent, and Wang Ping remained in seclusion as the power struggle unfolded.
• A year later, the Demon Race fractured into two factions after relocated clansmen slipped beyond the Elder Council's control, and the conflict ended after Vajra Temple intervened.
• Ao Yi demanded that temples and shrines in Central Province enshrine his divine statue and spread stories of his protection of all beings.
• Wang Ping concluded that Ao Yi sought to gather fate and fortune to transform into a True Dragon, then prepared to attend a temporary gathering scheduled for three days later.

Wang Ping joined the gathering, where members traded commissions and intelligence as they prepared for Ao Yi’s possible advance to the Fifth Realm. The meeting ended with the group pledging to warn and support one another, while Wang Ping sent Zi Luan instructions and resumed cultivating.

• Quan Wen introduced Shi Xu to Wang Ping, and Cang Lan commissioned the gathering to acquire energy crystals and intelligence on Taiyin Evil Cultivators.
• Wang Ping advised Cang Lan to use Vajra Temple’s public investigation to oppose the Taiyin Evil Cultivators, while keeping a covert investigation active.
• Quan Wen and Bailin offered rewards for killing Demon Domain defectors, and Wang Ping decided Zi Luan could help carry out the work.
• You Han warned that Ao Yi’s advancement might require a cosmic flood and a massive ritual, while Bailin reported that Ao Yi was preparing to attack Vajra Temple’s influence in West Continent.
• Quan Wen explained that Kai Yun had once belonged to the gathering and betrayed Cang Lan, but Wang Ping declined to pursue him.
• The members promised to share warnings about danger to one another, and Wang Ping later instructed Zi Luan before continuing to gather his Wood Spirit Origin.

Zi Luan received five directives from Wang Ping and guided Taiyan Sect through fifty years of controlled turmoil while Wang Ping remained in secluded cultivation. After completing the Wood Spirit Origin, Wang Ping emerged but chose to keep his return secret.

• Zi Luan told Que Cai, Xuan Ling, and Li Miaolin about Wang Ping’s five directives, assigning them to manage population and wars, establish a secret outer-space Ecological Zone, strengthen garrisons, and handle Demon Race relations.
• The Southern Cultivation World developed amid recurring conflicts, while Dao Palace branches contained major unrest and Linshui Prefecture fought Vajra Temple in West Continent.
• Over fifty years, Wang Ping’s divine kingdom expanded, Daoist Huai Mo neared the Fourth Realm, and other figures established themselves across the continents.
• Wang Ping completed the Wood Spirit Origin and fed it to his Wood Spirit, explaining to Yulian and Star Sea why gathering it was safer than absorbing Wood Spirit Qi directly.
• Hu Qianqian visited Wang Ping, who gave her two Blessing Talismans for her juniors’ false-core breakthroughs and told her not to reveal that he had emerged from secluded cultivation.

Wang Ping observed the mortal celebrations in Zhonghui City and began carving the scene into a Five Elements Stone, then watched Jiang Cun endure the lightning punishment of his Fourth Realm advancement. Two months into Jiang Cun’s trial, True Monarch Xiaoshan’s consciousness reappeared and gave Wang Ping a Wood Spirit Origin, while hinting that he and Yuxiao had once glimpsed and tried to alter the future.

• Wang Ping brought Yulian and the Sanhua cat to Zhonghui City’s Spring Festival banquet, where he gradually shared the common people’s happiness and later began carving his impressions into a Five Elements Stone.
• Wang Ping sensed Jiang Cun advancing to the Fourth Realm and used a Puppet’s vision to observe the Flood Dragon struggling against lightning punishment above the sea.
• Ao Yi watched over Jiang Cun’s trial as storms and life-giving rain spread across the Southern Cultivation World, forcing Zi Luan to organize measures against the flooding.
• Two months after Jiang Cun began his trial, energy fluctuations from True Monarch Xiaoshan’s altar summoned Xiaoshan’s consciousness before Wang Ping.
• True Monarch Xiaoshan gave Wang Ping a Wood Spirit Origin and said he and Yuxiao had once deduced distant futures and tried to change events, leaving Wang Ping wondering whether he had appeared in those visions.

Wang Ping learned that the Wood Spirit Origin he received was contaminated and arranged for Kai Yun to purify it in exchange for helping capture a Fourth Realm True Spirit. After Kai Yun departed with the treasure, Wang Ping returned to hiding while the threat of Ao Yi remained unresolved.

• True Monarch Xiaoshan told Wang Ping that Yuxiao might reveal what he had seen, but Hui Shan was also searching for him and could prevent Yuxiao from appearing.
• Wang Ping and Yulian discovered necrotic Wood Spirit particles contaminating the Wood Spirit Origin, and Star Sea suggested seeking a Gold cultivator to purify it.
• Wang Ping arranged a meeting with Kai Yun in space and carefully verified that Kai Yun had no one following him.
• Kai Yun agreed to purify the Wood Spirit Origin in exchange for Wang Ping helping him capture a Fourth Realm True Spirit, and promised to finish within one sixty-year cycle.
• Wang Ping refused to act against Ao Yi before Vajra Temple took responsibility, while Yulian rebuked Kai Yun for avoiding the conflict.
• Kai Yun left with the Wood Spirit Origin, and Wang Ping collected his transfer formations and disappeared into the void.

Wang Ping investigated the Huai Tree and then traveled to the Misty Sea, hoping to escape Ao Yi's pressure and learn more about Ancestor Master Yuxiao. He reached Heavenly Palace City and prepared to enter the dangerous mist with Yulian.

• Wang Ping learned from the Sanhua cat that cultivators could survive the Misty Sea's outer regions by following established routes and guarding against its poisonous spiritual energy.
• Wang Ping and Yulian used a Transfer Formation to reach the enormous Huai Tree, where Wang Ping left an External Avatar and failed to observe the tree's past with his Heavenly Eye.
• 'Star Sea' said the Huai Tree was Ancestor Master Yuxiao's Physical Body and speculated that the Blessed Land's laws had rejected Yuxiao; after Wang Ping left, a blue-robed figure appeared and insisted Wang Ping would have to traverse the Misty Sea himself.
• Wang Ping and Yulian crossed the Southern Chaotic Sea to Heavenly Palace City, where Wang Ping observed the port, its inhabitants, and the unusual spiritual energy surrounding a sea creature's corpse.
• Wang Ping examined the multicolored spiritual energy filling the Misty Sea and then called Yulian to accompany him toward the distant mist.

Wang Ping and Yulian entered Kun Palace, a perilous ancient realm filled with mutated cultivators, illusion arrays, and strange Five Elements energy. After passing through its aerial passage toward Mountain Palace, Wang Ping encountered the pressure of the Mountain Suppressing Art.

• Wang Ping used his Heavenly Eye to learn that the Misty Sea's reefs were remnants of an ancient civilization, and he and Yulian found that its spiritual energy rejected them.
• Wang Ping sent Golden Armored Soldiers into the Misty Sea, located Kun Palace, and entered with Yulian after reading the memories of two mutated cultivators.
• An illusion trapped Wang Ping's consciousness near the aerial passage, but Yulian shattered it and freed him.
• Wang Ping tested the northern mist with two Golden Armored Soldiers, which vanished when the mist assimilated them.
• Wang Ping and Yulian passed through the aerial passage toward Mountain Palace, where the Golden Armored Soldiers were struck by the pressure of the Mountain Suppressing Art.

Wang Ping and Yulian forced their way through the Mountain Palace and entered the Fire Palace, where they discovered an ancient Soul Devouring Array beneath a volcano. They sent the Golden Armored Soldiers ahead into the Water Palace, but rain struck and cut off Wang Ping's contact with them.

• Wang Ping learned from the hidden cultivators that the Ascension Platform's metal Puppets blocked passage and grew stronger to match challengers, so he sent his Golden Armored Soldiers to defeat them with Wood Spirit poison.
• Wang Ping and Yulian crossed into the next region, where they found a volcanic Fire Palace and a Fire Spirit connected to the surrounding space; Wang Ping's attacks dispersed its form, but it reappeared.
• Wang Ping used his Heavenly Eye to discover an ancient Soul Devouring Array beneath the volcano and saw memories of Golden Crows and metal Puppets using it to refine the Primordial Spirits of flaming birds.
• Wang Ping withdrew his Golden Armored Soldiers from the Fire Spirit battle and sent them through the passage into the Water Palace, where rain engulfed them and severed his connection to them.

Wang Ping and Yulian entered the Water Palace, uncovered the remains of a battle that had killed its guardian beasts, and crossed the passage into the Wind Palace. As a pale humanoid creature emerged from a dead Old Huai Tree, Wang Ping faced a new threat.

• Wang Ping and Yulian entered the Water Palace, where corrosive rain and powerful repulsion guarded a swamp island and deep pool.
• Wang Ping and Yulian found a battlefield beneath the pool, and Wang Ping used his Heavenly Eye to learn that metal Puppets had enslaved and trained the giant beasts that guarded the marsh.
• Wang Ping judged the passage to the Wind Palace too dangerous to force directly, then used a Jia Talisman and a Puppet to lead the group through the mist.
• Wang Ping and Yulian reached the Wind Palace, where they saw mountain peaks covered with dead Old Huai Trees and questioned the differing strengths of the five regions.
• A humanoid creature with deathly pale skin burst from the trunk of an Old Huai Tree.

Wang Ping subdued the Wood Spirit defenses, discovered how the humanoid Puppets had been made, and used one to bypass the Thunder Palace passage toward the Earth Palace. He arrived in the Earth Palace with Yulian, where a Gold Spirit attack wounded him and forced him to cut off and regrow his left leg.

• Wang Ping suppressed the Wood Spirit poison, bound three humanoid creatures and the Old Huai Trees, and replenished his Wood Spirit with energy crystals.
• Wang Ping used his Heavenly Eye to see that the creatures were Puppets assembled by metal Puppets and implanted with unconscious Wood Spirits, then identified the Disciple guides as possible sect tokens.
• Wang Ping twisted a Puppet's consciousness and used it to scout the Thunder Palace, then led Yulian through the passage toward the Earth Palace.
• Wang Ping's Puppet ran out of energy near the Earth Palace passage and exploded, but Wang Ping resisted the passage's repulsive force and crossed with Yulian.
• A Gold Spirit attack shattered Wang Ping's Transfer Talisman and struck his left leg, so he severed the leg and escaped with Yulian using the Cave Heaven Mirror.

Wang Ping reached the Five Elements Halls and learned that Hui Xi and Lian Jun were Fourth Realm cultivators who had bound their Primordial Spirits to the halls to survive. After Yuxiao brought Wang Ping back to the cavern beneath Sanhe Prefecture, he questioned Wang Ping’s trust in Xiaoshan and began explaining his past.

• Wang Ping and Yulian evaded the metal Puppets and encountered the Primordial Spirits Hui Xi and Lian Jun, who explained how they survived within the Five Elements Halls.
• Hui Xi and Lian Jun fought fiercely, then returned to their respective halls as Wang Ping and Yulian watched.
• Wang Ping approached the Azure Hall, but a transfer array pulled him through its barrier while a blue-robed figure dealt with the Golden Armored Soldiers outside.
• Wang Ping found himself back beneath Sanhe Prefecture, where Yuxiao revealed himself as the Thousand Wood Temple Ancestor Master and identified True Monarch Huishan as the one who had followed Wang Ping.
• Yuxiao warned Wang Ping about overusing his ability to observe the world and asked whether Xiaoshan had told him that they once observed the future.