Chapter Summaries

Shen Mo weighed the advantages of becoming a Peak Master and agreed to contend for the newly established main peak. After Shen Mo and Yang Xuan both refused to yield, the sect ordered them to fight for the position in the Mountain and River Secret Realm in three days.

• Shen Mo considered the greater authority, resources, and workload of becoming a Peak Master, then agreed to compete for the position.
• Yang Xuan argued that Shen Mo lacked the cultivation and seniority for the role and asked him to step aside.
• Shen Mo refused, saying he would seize the day rather than wait ten thousand years, and Zhou Shili praised his resolve.
• An Origin Core Ancestor joined the Water Mirror discussion from the battle in Dingbo City, after which Yuan Qingshi and the other decision-makers settled on a contest.
• Yuan Qingshi decreed that Shen Mo and Yang Xuan would fight in the Mountain and River Secret Realm three days later, with the winner becoming Peak Master.

Shen Mo verified his battle merits, gathered cultivation resources, and caught up on the affairs of his acquaintances as he prepared for his fight with Yang Xuan. After a brief visit with Zhao Lingyin, he shut himself away to cultivate for the battle three days later.

• Shen Mo exchanged his Heavenly Demon battle merits for rare treasures through Evil-Punishing Hall after its hall master confirmed them with Elder Yao.
• Shen Mo settled accounts and bought materials from Shopkeeper Qian, who told him Qian Xiaohu was thriving at the Guardian Bureau and Qian Xiaofeng had become a Star Peak Inner Sect disciple after placing second in the Newcomer Tournament.
• Qian Xiaofeng refused Tang Lü's invitation to Rising Sun Peak and joined Star Peak, while Shen Mo postponed her apprenticeship ceremony until after his battle.
• Shen Mo returned the Black-Awning Dharma Boat to Yuan Jing, and the sect assigned Guo Xun to handle the secret teleportation altar matter.
• Shen Mo spent half an hour with Zhao Lingyin, then returned to Azure Cloud Peak and closed his doors to prepare for his fight with Yang Xuan.

Shen Mo spent Spirit Stones to use [Martial Drill] to derive and refine the Big Dipper Seven-Star Sword Array. He gained a foothold in Formation Dao and left with a stronger, more advanced sword formation that he could continue to master.

• Shen Mo gathered 215,000 low-grade Spirit Stones from his earnings, business shares, sect stipend, and trade profits to advance the Big Dipper Seven-Star Sword Array.
• Shen Mo used [Martial Drill] to derive the sword formation, gaining insights into Sword Dao and Formation Dao as his sword techniques improved.
• Shen Mo crossed the threshold into Formation Dao, reaching 24 experience while remaining ungraded.
• Shen Mo confirmed that the refined Big Dipper Seven-Star Sword Array was more intricate and about thirty percent stronger, though his mastery now stood at Mastery rather than Return to Simplicity (MAX).

Shen Mo strengthened the Big Dipper Seven-Star Sword Array and its seven Dao Swords, then tested their power in the Linjiang Mountain Range before his duel with Yang Xuan. He confirmed the array could unleash overwhelming attacks or form a sword prison, and left its full strength ready for the coming fight.

• Shen Mo reviewed his cultivation arts and decided to save his next major derivation for the Three-Heads Six-Arms True Immortal Technique after the Big Dipper Seven-Star Sword Array's cost rose sharply.
• Shen Mo fused rare elemental treasures into the seven Big Dipper Dao Swords over two days, improving their quality and their chances of awakening spirits.
• With only hours before his duel with Yang Xuan, Shen Mo flew to the Linjiang Mountain Range to practice the upgraded sword array.
• Shen Mo activated Dipper Rotation, shredding the surrounding mountains into dust with the array's offensive power.
• Shen Mo changed the seven Dao Swords' positions, turning the array into a sword prison that suppressed spiritual energy and cut off the space within its boundary.

Shen Mo and Yang Xuan began their duel for the position of Fourth Peak Master in the Mountain and River Secret Realm, where Yang Xuan’s Nine-Story Pagoda repeatedly dismantled and reproduced Shen Mo’s attacks. After testing its limits, Shen Mo launched a massive combination of techniques, artifacts, and talismans, leaving Yang Xuan visibly shaken.

• The River-Facing Sect’s leaders and disciples gathered in the Mountain and River Secret Realm to witness Shen Mo and Yang Xuan’s duel for Fourth Peak Master.
• Shen Mo and Yang Xuan began fighting, and Yang Xuan’s Nine-Story Pagoda ground apart Shen Mo’s Samsara Sword Qi and sent imitations back at him.
• Shen Mo tested the pagoda with his Demon Slayer Sword Style and other attacks, using [Eyes Like Torches] to observe how it processed them.
• Shen Mo concluded that the pagoda struggled more with stronger and unfamiliar attacks, and could not perfectly reproduce divine abilities.
• Shen Mo transformed into Three-Heads Six-Arms form and unleashed Sword Qi, Great Hand Seals, Mountain Peak Treasure Orbs, the As-You-Will Soul-Snatching Needle, and dozens of talismans at Yang Xuan.

Shen Mo overwhelmed Yang Xuan’s Nine-Origin Illusion-True Exquisite Pagoda with talismans, Mountain Pearls, and direct weapon strikes. The pagoda was badly damaged, but Shen Mo was blasted away through the mountains after cracking its body.

• Shen Mo unleashed dozens of talismans to overwhelm the Nine-Story Pagoda while the twelve Mountain Pearls battered it back several miles.
• Yang Xuan used a Meta-Magnetic Spirit Gold flying sword to disrupt Shen Mo’s As-You-Will Soul-Snatching Needle, then summoned a Golden-Armored War General to shield the pagoda.
• Shen Mo cut down the Golden-Armored War General with the Star Meteor Sword Style and charged toward the pagoda.
• Yang Xuan drove the damaged pagoda at Shen Mo as the Mountain Pearls smashed its edges and shattered its finial.
• Shen Mo struck the pagoda directly with the Demon Slayer Sword, opening a huge gash, but the collision blasted him through more than a dozen mountain peaks.

Yang Xuan’s Nine-Origin Illusion-True Exquisite Pagoda struck Shen Mo, but Shen Mo survived with only minor injuries, and the two continued their fierce battle. When a Skull Spirit Artifact damaged the pagoda’s core, Yang Xuan lost its protection and was struck in the chest by Shen Mo’s Demon Slayer Sword Qi.

• Shen Mo rose from the rubble after the pagoda’s blow, and his physique quickly healed his cracked bones.
• Zhou Shili explained that Shen Mo’s mastery of cultivation methods, rather than the grade of the Dragon-Elephant Blood-Baleful Body alone, accounted for his strength.
• Yang Xuan and Shen Mo traded powerful techniques as their battle ravaged the surrounding mountains and valleys.
• A Skull Spirit Artifact entered the damaged pagoda and bit one of its nine Killing Intents, impairing its core and preventing Yang Xuan from controlling it properly.
• Yang Xuan sent three Golden-Armored War Generals to block Shen Mo’s Demon Slayer Sword Qi and activated defensive talismans, but the attack destroyed them all.
• Shen Mo’s sword light struck Yang Xuan squarely in the chest.

Shen Mo crippled Yang Xuan’s Illusionary Exquisite Pagoda, but Yang Xuan revealed a Stone Gate that created thirty-two real copies of himself. The copies sealed Shen Mo’s spiritual objects and attacked, leaving them trapped inside Shen Mo’s Big Dipper Sword Formation.

• Yang Xuan’s robe and armor failed to stop Shen Mo’s Demon Slayer Sword Qi, which wounded him and left sword intent rampaging inside his body.
• Shen Mo used the Skull Spirit Artifact to steal one of the Illusionary Exquisite Pagoda’s Killing Intents, crippling the pagoda’s ability to unravel Sword Qi and immortal arts.
• Yang Xuan suppressed and expelled the remaining Sword Qi, admitted he had underestimated Shen Mo, and put away the damaged pagoda.
• Yang Xuan opened a Stone Gate and produced thirty-two real copies of himself, while sealing the spiritual objects carried by Shen Mo and the copies.
• The thirty-two Yang Xuans attacked with immortal arts, but Shen Mo unleashed the Big Dipper Seven-Star Sword Array and trapped them within its formation.

Shen Mo trapped Yang Xuan in the Big Dipper Seven-Star Sword Array and steadily overwhelmed his clones, self-sacrifice techniques, and remaining defenses. After the array’s final attack, Yang Xuan emerged battered and fell from the air.

• Yang Xuan conjured more than thirty clones and unleashed their immortal arts, but the sword formation sliced them apart.
• Yang Xuan sent clones burning with golden flames to attack the formation, while Shen Mo strengthened it with the Big Dipper Dao Swords and his divine abilities.
• Shen Mo used Star Shift to cut down Yang Xuan’s attacking clones, and the formation continued crushing the survivors.
• Yang Xuan reverted to his true body and used talismans and magical artifacts to survive, but Shen Mo spent half an hour wearing down his resources and strength.
• Shen Mo unleashed Dipper Rotation, and Yang Xuan emerged from the sword light battered before plunging from midair.

The River-Facing Sect established Azure Cloud Peak and named Shen Mo its master as news spread about his exploits and the sect’s plans involving the Myriad Dipper Archipelago. Shen Mo began building the new peak’s staff and prepared for its opening ceremony, which depended on Guo Xun setting up a teleportation altar.

• A mountain from the Linjiang Mountain Range merged with the sect’s spiritual vein, and the River-Facing Sect announced plans for a fourth main peak.
• The sect announced Yuan Chengshan’s death and appointed Yu Yan as master of the Immortal Welcoming Hall after Yang Xuan and Jiang Lingfeng declined the position.
• The River-Facing Sect invited factions across the Red Flame Kingdom to a ceremony celebrating the new peak and Shen Mo’s appointment.
• The sect named the new peak Azure Cloud Peak and renamed the original Azure Cloud Peak Little Azure Cloud Peak.
• Shen Mo took Qian Xiaofeng as his personal disciple and began recruiting elders and deacons for Azure Cloud Peak.
• The peak’s opening was scheduled to wait until Guo Xun reached the Blood-Baleful Sect’s headquarters and built a teleportation altar.

Shen Mo organized Azure Cloud Peak’s staff and welcomed the Blood-Baleful Sect Disciples before the peak’s founding ceremony. After being formally installed as Peak Master, he celebrated with friends and learned that Chen Mengze was close to opening her Spirit Sea while Cao Ren’s rapid cultivation brought him nearer to the Dragon-Rearing Pool’s grasp.

• Jiang Lingfeng and Guo Xun returned with a Formation Dao elder and nearly a hundred Blood-Baleful Sect Disciples, while Spirit Sea Realm elders departed to guard the sect’s stronghold in the Myriad Dipper Archipelago.
• The River-Facing Sect assigned the Blood-Baleful Sect Disciples a residence in the Outer Sect and prepared Azure Cloud Peak for its founding ceremony.
• Yuan Qingshi formally named Shen Mo the Azure Cloud Peak Master and gave him the Azure Cloud Dharma Sword and the other symbols of office.
• Shen Mo hosted guests for three days of banquets and then gathered with friends at Cloud-Viewing Mansion.
• Shen Mo discovered that Chen Mengze was nearing the Spirit Sea Realm and arranged fourth-grade spirit pills to help her, while Uncle Chen became an Inner Sect steward at Azure Cloud Peak.
• Cao Ren advanced from the fifth to the seventh layer of the Qi Gathering Realm, bringing him closer to the Dragon-Rearing Pool’s claim.

Shen Mo weighed the risks of helping Cao Ren strengthen the Counter-Dragon Curse, then focused on his duties as Azure Cloud Peak Master. He arrived to investigate a brawl between Blood-Baleful Sect Disciples and ordinary Outer Sect disciples, where Jin Chinian corrected a disciple for calling him their ancestor.

• Shen Mo decided that deducing the Counter-Dragon Curse would be safer than the Dragon Transformation Curse, but Cao Ren postponed the costly gamble until the Dragon-Rearing Pool's threat grew closer.
• Shen Mo noted Zhao Lingyin's progress toward opening her Spirit Sea and tentatively agreed with her that they would become Dao Companions afterward.
• After the guests left River-Facing Sect, Shen Mo worked to select stewards, establish cultivation grounds, and refine the Blood-Baleful lineage's cultivation and combat systems.
• Jin Chinian summoned Shen Mo to the Outer Sect, where a mass brawl had left disciples from both the Blood-Baleful Sect and River-Facing Sect injured.
• A burly Blood-Baleful disciple knelt to explain the clash, but Jin Chinian ordered him not to call Shen Mo an ancestor and addressed him as Azure Cloud Peak Master.

Shen Mo enforced River-Facing Sect’s rules equally on Blood-Baleful Sect disciples, then resumed cultivation while Azure Cloud Peak developed and Chen Mengze joined it. By winter, Shen Mo had advanced his cultivation and upgraded several Destinies.

• Jiang Lingfeng asked Shen Mo and Jin Chinian to go easy on Blood-Baleful Sect disciples who had taken part in a mass brawl, but Shen Mo insisted they be punished under sect rules.
• Jin Chinian’s Law Enforcement Hall severely punished the brawlers, especially the disciples who had started the provocation, and Jiang Lingfeng gave Shen Mo the rewards from the mission to find Yuan Chengshan.
• Shen Mo found that the Heavenly Immortal Ageless Art was suited only to women, set it aside for Zhao Lingyin and Senior Sister Chen, and continued cultivating the Primordial One Qi Art.
• Chen Mengze opened her Spirit Sea and joined Azure Cloud Peak after Shen Mo secured her place there, while the peak gradually developed and retained its business income.
• Over the following seasons, Shen Mo cultivated, practiced alchemy and talisman making, and advanced roughly one minor stage every six months.
• By winter, Shen Mo had upgraded his Quick-Witted Destiny to Resourceful and raised Cicada Sense and Supreme Excellence to purple grade.

Shen Mo investigated the ancient altar after Lü the Groom caused it to activate, suspecting the demon soul had built a matching array in the Taiyi Sword Alliance’s realm. Trusting his strength and drawn by the rare opportunity, he activated the altar and teleported there alone.

• Shen Mo continued cultivating, gained the Blood Shadow divine ability, and saved Spirit Stones toward deducing the Three-Heads Six-Arms True Immortal Technique.
• The Demon Calamity worsened as new fourth-tier Great Heavenly Demons appeared, while Shen Mo was not chosen for the team investigating the Heavenly Demon Realm.
• After the Newcomer Tournament, Shen Mo sensed Lü the Groom’s soul mark glowing in the Soul Refining Banner and suspected it had completed its task of building a teleportation altar.
• Shen Mo traveled to the island altar, where Elder Sun reported that the ancient array had activated twice without anyone being seen.
• Shen Mo activated the ancient altar and stepped through alone to the foreign realm where the Taiyi Sword Alliance was located.

Shen Mo arrived in a foreign domain and found Yang Chengxiong waiting with a killing array, seeking to seize the Soul Refining Banner. Yang Chengxiong resisted Shen Mo’s attempt to reclaim Lü the Groom’s soul as the array attacked, leaving Shen Mo fighting back with his Azure Cloud Umbrella and seven Dao Swords.

• Shen Mo arrived at a mountain valley, where Yang Chengxiong and powerful hired fighters had prepared a killing array around the teleportation array.
• Yang Chengxiong revealed that he and Lü the Groom had become fused, and demanded Shen Mo hand over the Soul Refining Banner.
• Shen Mo activated Lü the Groom’s Divine Soul imprint in the banner, but Yang Chengxiong pinned his soul in place with seven Soul-Fixing Nails.
• Yang Chengxiong ordered the fighters to unleash the array, and its destructive beams cracked Shen Mo’s Azure Cloud Umbrella.
• Shen Mo sent out his seven Dao Swords to meet the killing array, and the two forces tore through the valley.

Shen Mo survived the formation clash, but Yang Chengxiong betrayed the Yellow Springs Valley cultivators and escaped after Shen Mo pursued him. Three days later, Yang Chengxiong arrived with the Heaven-Patrolling Daoist Temple as Shen Mo was building an ancient formation altar, forcing Shen Mo to flee.

• The two formations collided, severely injuring the cultivators and leaving Shen Mo with only slight wounds.
• Yang Chengxiong attacked and killed Yellow Springs Valley cultivators, while Shen Mo struck at him and forced him to escape with talismans.
• Shen Mo slaughtered the fleeing Yellow Springs Valley cultivators and, three days later, began rebuilding an ancient formation altar in a remote place.
• Yang Chengxiong arrived aboard a Tower Ship Dharma Boat bearing the Heaven-Patrolling Daoist Temple's flag, and Shen Mo dismantled the unfinished altar and fled.
• A middle-aged Daoist emerged from the ship and spat a blazing true flame toward Shen Mo.

Shen Mo escaped the Heaven-Patrolling Daoist Temple’s Origin Core pursuer and returned to the River-Facing Sect after discovering that the other domain could not serve as a refuge. He told the sect leaders that their relocation plan had failed, while news arrived that the expedition into the Heavenly Demon Realm had found clues about the invasion.

• Shen Mo survived the middle-aged Daoist’s true flame and fled for half a month, using a disguise and spirit pills to recover outside a city.
• Shen Mo learned that the Heaven-Patrolling Daoist Temple was hunting him and wielded overwhelming power, making the other domain an impossible refuge for the Red Flame Kingdom.
• Shen Mo sent a jade talisman to the River-Facing Sect, used a severed-arm clone to mislead divination, and returned to the Sea of Buried Immortals through the ancient formation.
• Shen Mo told Elder Sun to seal the Dharma Altar, then traveled to the River-Facing Sect and reported his findings to Yuan Qingshi and the other leaders.
• Yuan Qingshi set aside the relocation plan and noted that the sect’s expedition into the Heavenly Demon Realm had sent back clues about the Heavenly Demons invading other domains.

Shen Mo learned that realms across the world were falling to the Demon Calamity as the Five Great Immortal Sects gathered intelligence on the threat. At Longevity Hall, Yuan Qingshi presented the Ghost Corpse Sect’s request for help excavating a Heavenly Monarch’s tomb, leaving the sect to weigh the risks of the discovery.

• Shen Mo learned that many isolated realms had fallen to the Heavenly Demons and that the Five Great Immortal Sects were investigating realms under attack.
• Yuan Qingshi told Longevity Hall that the Ghost Corpse Sect had invited the sect to help excavate a Heavenly Monarch’s tomb.
• Tian Zhaoquan warned that the Ghost Corpse Sect could gain too much power from the excavation and urged the sect to prepare ways to restrain it.
• Shen Mo learned that the Ghost Corpse Sect had spent more than a century solving the tomb’s trials and had nearly reached its core.
• The Ghost Corpse Sect hoped to refine the Nameless Heavenly Monarch’s remains into a Corpse Puppet that could carry a mobile Blessed Land, making it a powerful asset if the Red Flame Kingdom fell.

The River-Facing Sect agreed to help the Ghost Corpse Sect uncover the Heavenly Monarch Remains and refine them into a Corpse Puppet, while seeking safeguards against relying on the Ghost Corpse Sect. Shen Mo led a forty-person delegation to the Southern Border to help overcome the Heavenly Monarch Tomb’s trials.

• Yuan Jing and Shen Mo argued that the River-Facing Sect should aid the Ghost Corpse Sect while bargaining for a way to restrain the Corpse Puppet.
• Yuan Qingshi and the three available Supreme Elders agreed to devote their strength to helping the Ghost Corpse Sect and seek control over the Corpse Puppet.
• The River-Facing Sect selected Shen Mo to lead thirty-nine others, including Zhao Lingyin, Wu Gong, and Mingyu, to the Southern Border.
• Zhao Lingyin persuaded Shen Mo to let her join the expedition so she could seek an opportunity to break through the Qi Gathering Realm.
• Shen Mo and the delegation traveled to Five Poisons City, where a Five Poisons Sect Elder welcomed them and escorted them toward the Heavenly Monarch Tomb.

Shen Mo led the River-Facing Sect through the poisonous Southern Border Poison Domain toward the Heavenly Monarch Tomb, protecting the disciples with pills and the Woman Earth Bat Great Hand Seal. They arrived at the Ghost Corpse Sect’s camp, where elders and elite disciples, including Li Chen, came to greet them.

• A Five Poisons Sect elder warned Shen Mo that the miasma ahead required poison protection as they approached the Poison Domain.
• Shen Mo stopped the River-Facing Sect group and ordered everyone to take poison-warding pills, then used Great Hand Seals to protect each disciple.
• Shen Mo led the protected group through the poisonous fog, whose miasma steadily eroded the Woman Earth Bat phantom around them.
• After two hours, Shen Mo and the River-Facing Sect reached the Heavenly Monarch Tomb area, where the Heavenly Sword Sect had already arrived but the Moon-Deriving Sect and Seven Star Altar had not.
• At the Ghost Corpse Sect’s camp, several elders and elite disciples, including Li Chen, came to visit Shen Mo and the River-Facing Sect.