Chapter Summaries

Zhou Qing and Mo Xingjian considered the meaning of Si Kong Yan’s Image Stone, then hosted imperial investigators searching for the Fifth Prince’s killer. After they left, Zhou Qing refined two One Color Arrays and traveled to Spirit Skull Mountain to sell one.

• Zhou Qing and Mo Xingjian suspected Si Kong Yan had secretly watched Gao Xuan and preserved an image of NanNan, and Mo Xingjian decided not to show the Image Stone to Gao Xuan.
• Zhou Qing encountered Yan Xiaohu, who lamented that he had repeatedly refused Lei Luo, then continued training with the First Patriarch in the Grotto-Heaven.
• County Governor Zhong Yao and Prefect Xiao Ji arrived with the Blood Forbidden Army and concealed guest Gao Xianzong, whom Mo Xingjian later identified as the imperial investigator probing Fifth Prince Xuan Yuan Fengtai’s death.
• Zhong Yao and Xiao Ji questioned Mo Xingjian about the sect’s leaders, then departed for Azure Flame Dao Palace after five days without finding grounds to accuse Taiqing Sect.
• Zhou Qing refined two One Color Arrays over three months and went to Spirit Skull Mountain, where he demonstrated his Wind Thunder Volcano Array and offered it for sale.

Zhou Qing sold his arrays, then fought and killed Ma Cheng, who had recognized him as Li Hanshan and tried to seize the remaining Image Stones. After meeting two mysterious monks, Zhou Qing returned to Spirit Skull Mountain, where the monks arrived and found far fewer resentful spirits than expected.

• Zhou Qing sold his Wind Thunder Volcano Arrays for eight and five Top-Grade Spirit Stones, earning a net profit of twelve Top-Grade Spirit Stones.
• Ma Cheng recognized Zhou Qing as the former Li Hanshan and trapped him in a Dual-Color Array to demand the remaining Image Stones.
• Zhou Qing revealed his Middle Stage Spirit Transformation cultivation, defeated Ma Cheng, and destroyed his Primordial Spirit and corpse.
• Two monks watched Zhou Qing kill Ma Cheng, then delivered his soul; the elder monk explained to his disciple why he had not intervened.
• Zhou Qing waited at Spirit Skull Mountain, and the two monks arrived to find few resentful spirits near the abyss.

After returning to Taiqing Sect, Zhou Qing traveled to Soaring Cloud Prefecture to trade Ma Cheng’s stolen goods and acquire Wood Attribute Spirit Stones for his cultivation. On his way back, he found a young man surrounded by assassins and recognized his revolting Sh*t Conception as he prepared to intervene.

• The big monk and the little monk descended into the abyss and delivered its gravekeepers, while Zhou Qing left after hearing about their actions.
• Zhou Qing returned to Taiqing Sect, inspected Ma Cheng’s Storage Bag, and set out for Soaring Cloud Prefecture aboard a flying boat crafted by Martial Uncle Wang.
• At the Myriad Phenomena Auction, Zhou Qing met Zhang Wanbao, exchanged the two-colored array disk and other goods for Wood Attribute Spirit Stones, and asked Zhang to find more.
• Xiao Cancan and Li Shitao visited Zhou Qing, who reassured them that the Lord of the Xiao Residence was safe, before he began his return journey.
• Ten days into the flight, Zhou Qing heard a familiar voice and found a young man surrounded by five black-robed cultivators; the young man unleashed his Sh*t Realm’s Extraterrestrial Flight.

After Shen Yunzhou visited the Taiqing Sect seeking Zhou Qing, Zhou Qing returned from training and missed him in Flame Dragon City. Back at the sect, Zhou Qing studied array inheritance and reached the defining threshold of a Level Three Array Master, startling the sect leaders and elders.

• Shen Yunzhou defeated the black-robed attackers with his filthy artistic conception, thanked Zhou Qing, and later followed the same route toward the Taiqing Sect.
• At the Taiqing Sect, Shen Yunzhou learned Zhou Qing was away and left a message for him using the words “Silver-Haired Ugly Woman.”
• When Zhou Qing returned, he learned Shen Yunzhou had already left Flame Dragon City after buying a Demonic Beast carcass, then went back to his Quiet Room to study arrays.
• Zhou Qing used the Enlightenment Ancient Tea Tree to comprehend Senior Xuan Qingzi’s array inheritance and formed his three-thousandth Spirit Seal.
• Mo Xingjian, Cao Zhengyang, Duanmu Shu, and the other sect leaders witnessed the golden light and realized Zhou Qing had become a Level Three Array Master.

Zhou Qing condensed Three Thousand Spirit Seals and became a Level Three Array Master, while Taiqing Sect’s leaders kept his breakthrough secret. After celebrating with his fellow disciples, he met Shen Yunzhou and learned that Shen Han Yi had been searching for a way to save her younger brother.

• Zhou Qing used the Enlightenment Ancient Tea Tree’s aid to condense Three Thousand Spirit Seals, and Cao Zhengyang and the elders agreed to conceal his advancement to a Level Three Array Master.
• Cao Zhengyang announced that Qi had emerged from seclusion and Lu Yaoyao had reached the Nascent Soul Late Stage, while Mo Xingjian publicly attributed Zhou Qing’s breakthrough phenomenon to his own technique.
• Yan Xiaohu learned about Zhou Qing’s achievement, and Mo Xingjian warned him not to spread the news.
• Zhou Qing hosted a gathering at Jade Cuisine Hall, where Yan Xiaohu drunkenly urged him to remember Taiqing Sect as his home and his fellow disciples as his family.
• Zhou Qing met Shen Yunzhou at the mountain gate and confirmed that Shen Yunzhou was Shen Han Yi’s younger brother, the person she had sought to save.

Zhou Qing learned more about Shen Han Yi’s aid to Shen Yunzhou and received a life-saving reward from him, while Lu Yaoyao and Shen Yunzhou discussed Yan Sen. Li Shitao and Xiao Cancan arrived seeking a Wood Attribute Spirit Stone to help Li Niang give birth, and Shen Yunzhou supplied one before giving Zhou Qing ten more; the group then entered Taiqing Sect.

• Shen Yunzhou questioned Zhou Qing about how he knew Shen Han Yi’s name, and Lu Yaoyao joined them and explained what Yan Sen had done at the ruins.
• Lu Yaoyao described Zhou Qing’s role in finding the Kun Peng Palace clue, prompting Shen Yunzhou to thank him for saving his life and praise his noble character instead of offering money.
• Xiao Cancan and Li Shitao arrived from Soaring Cloud Prefecture, and Li Shitao asked Zhou Qing for a Top-Grade Wood Attribute Spirit Stone to support Li Niang during childbirth.
• After Zhou Qing said he had used all five of his stones, Shen Yunzhou gave Li Shitao one of his own to help Li Niang.
• Shen Yunzhou then gave Zhou Qing ten more Top-Grade Wood Attribute Spirit Stones as repayment, and Zhou Qing welcomed him into Taiqing Sect.

Shen Yunzhou’s account of finding a hidden cave led Zhou Qing and Taiqing Sect to investigate Lei Wuji’s suspicious activity in the Eastern Region. Inside, they discovered the cave was an ancient Corpse Raising Ground, but found no one there.

• Shen Yunzhou described his foul-smell cultivation, introduced his dung beetle, and showed Zhou Qing an image of Lei Wuji guarding a hidden cave.
• Shen Yunzhou explained how he had followed a strange odor to the cave, and Zhou Qing realized it lay in Tianji Gate’s former territory and might conceal a serious threat.
• Zhou Qing brought the image to Mo Xingjian, and Taiqing Sect’s leaders gathered to discuss Lei Wuji, the Fifth Prince’s death, and the region’s mounting dangers.
• Cao Zhengyang led Taiqing Sect’s disguised experts to the Gobi, where Shen Yunzhou reopened the barrier and guided them into the cave.
• Zhou Qing identified the entrance as an ancient Corpse Raising Ground, and the group found no sign of Lei Wuji or anyone else inside.

Zhou Qing’s group escaped Lei Wuji’s deadly trap in the desert, while the Tianji Gate Grand Elders revealed their scheme to exploit the Golden Thunder Sect and control the other sects. Later, Zhou Qing met Shen Han Yi in the Divine Ruins Heavenly Palace and received an Eight Times Post that expanded the reach of his strongest spiritual sense.

• Shen Yunzhou collected Corpse Liquid from the abandoned altars before Cao Zhengyang sensed danger and led the group into a defensive formation as Lei Wuji’s trap destroyed the cave passage.
• Cao Zhengyang and the others returned safely to Taiqing Sect, where they warned the peak masters to remain cautious of the Golden Thunder Sect.
• Ling Xuzi, Yu Hengzi, and Tian Shuzi discussed how they had lured Lei Wuji toward the Corpse Puppets and planned to use the conflict among the sects to seize control of Taiqing Sect’s Grotto-Heaven Forbidden Zone.
• Zhou Qing reassured Lu Yaoyao, then entered the Divine Ruins Heavenly Palace and spoke with Shen Han Yi, who suspected his divine power resembled the Blood Phoenix in her forbidden zone.
• Zhou Qing agreed to explore Shen Han Yi’s forbidden zone, and the Strange Post Record gave him an Eight Times Post that expanded the reach of his strongest spiritual sense eightfold for one incense stick.

Zhou Qing taught Shen Han Yi the Hundred Tribulations Blood Curtain and explored the Ten Thousand Mines with her, but they could not reach the eerie central plain. After the plain rang with a dying beast’s cry, Zhou Qing used the Eight Times Post to reveal a distant mine tunnel and a bronze coffin.

• Zhou Qing offered Shen Han Yi the Hundred Tribulations Blood Curtain, explained that its cultivation required her to remain untouched, and transmitted the divine power into her Sea of Consciousness.
• Zhou Qing and Shen Han Yi encountered two White Jade Dock cultivators who were hunting a nearly dead divine beast, then followed them toward the central plain.
• Skeletal claws attacked the cultivators and Zhou Qing and Shen Han Yi; Old Guan was dragged into a mine tunnel, while Shen Han Yi fought the claws before they retreated.
• Zhou Qing and Shen Han Yi tried several routes through the forbidden zone but could only glimpse the central plain, where they heard a colossal beast’s mournful cry.
• Zhou Qing handed Shen Han Yi the Eight Times Post and instructed her to pour in her mental strength, causing a black ring to reveal a mine tunnel with a bronze coffin hanging at its entrance.

Zhou Qing and Shen Han Yi used the Eight Times Post to watch Zhou Qing’s Second Uncle tend to an injured divine beast on the Blood-colored Plains, while Zhou Qing remained wary of Si Kong Yan’s probing. Back at the Taiqing Sect, Lu Yaoyao tried to pursue a Filial Piety Conception by serving Zhou Qing, Shen Yunzhou reported progress with his Conception, and Lin Jin arrived to buy more Bad Luck Talismans.

• Shen Han Yi shifted the Eight Times Post’s rings until Zhou Qing spotted his Second Uncle caring for an injured divine beast on the Blood-colored Plains, and Zhou Qing stopped her from recording the scene.
• Zhou Qing confronted Si Kong Yan in the Divine Ruins Space, but stayed silent when Si Kong Yan tried to bait him about Xuan Yuan Fengtai and NanNan’s Image Stone.
• News reached Zhou Qing that Golden Thunder Sect elders’ Soul Fires had gone out and that an unknown force had attacked a Taiqing Sect mine, while Lu Yaoyao asked him for guidance on her Conception.
• Lu Yaoyao proposed entering a Conception through filial piety and offered to serve Zhou Qing, but left after he repeatedly refused.
• Shen Yunzhou told Zhou Qing that Corpse Liquid had helped complete his Conception, and Elder Jiang Pu and Elder Wuzhu separately arrived before Lin Jin asked to buy more Bad Luck Talismans.

Zhou Qing refused Xuan Yuan Shuo’s request to help at the border after learning that Xuan Yuan Shuo had ordered a soul search, though he offered a costly path to reconciliation and entered seclusion to prepare. Meanwhile, the mysterious monk Jue Ming and his disciple Kong Chan reached the Golden Thunder Sect seeking someone who could answer their riddles, and Lei Lie admitted them.

• Lin Jin refused to sell Zhou Qing another Bad Luck Talisman, while Zhou Qing wondered about Lin Jin and Si Kong Yan’s plans involving Gao Xianzong and the Fifth Prince.
• Jiang Pojun told Zhou Qing that Xuan Yuan Shuo had sent him to request help with the turmoil among the demon emperors after the Spider Emperor’s fall.
• Zhou Qing rejected the request, then told Jiang Pojun he would reconsider for ten Top-Grade Wood Attribute Spirit Stones as compensation for Xuan Yuan Shuo’s soul search.
• Zhou Qing entered seclusion to comprehend a second Phoenix Dao Pattern, while Shen Yunzhou stayed at the Taiqing Sect and prepared to support him.
• Jue Ming and Kong Chan arrived at the Golden Thunder Sect with three riddles and bribed Elder Gong Zhen to present them to the sect master.
• Lei Lie welcomed Jue Ming and Kong Chan into the Golden Thunder Sect after Kong Chan noticed a resentful aura around him.

Zhou Qing accepted five Top-Grade Wood Attribute Spirit Stones from Xuan Yuan Shuo and agreed to help with a matter at the borderlands, then visited the White Jade Grand Ruins Academy to check on Lu Yuanjiu. Lu Yuanzhi revealed that her sister was recovering and asked whether they could spend their lives at Taiqing Sect if they both reached the Severing Spirit Realm.

• Zhou Qing condensed a second Phoenix Dao Pattern before Jiang Pojun arrived to negotiate on Xuan Yuan Shuo's behalf.
• Zhou Qing accepted five Top-Grade Wood Attribute Spirit Stones and agreed to leave for the borderlands with Jiang Pojun and Shen Yunzhou.
• Zhou Qing learned that Lin Daochen had not found Second Senior Sister, then reunited with Lu Yuanzhi at the academy.
• Lu Yuanzhi showed Zhou Qing that Lu Yuanjiu was sleeping peacefully after taking the Nine-Leaf Soul Concentrating Flower, and Zhou Qing confirmed she would recover within half a year.
• Lu Yuanzhi told Zhou Qing she expected to reach the Severing Spirit Realm within five years and that Lu Yuanjiu might attempt it again after recovering.
• Lu Yuanzhi asked whether she and Lu Yuanjiu could spend the rest of their lives at Taiqing Sect if they both reached the Severing Spirit Realm.

Zhou Qing joined Xuan Yuan Shuo at Great Demon Mountain and impersonated the Peng Emperor to rally the Demon Kings. He then flew to the Thousand Illusions Maze, where the Flood Dragon Emperor and Qing Luo Beast awaited him amid the struggle over the Spider Emperor’s former territory.

• Lu Yuanzhi told Zhou Qing that she and her elder sister wanted to join the Taiqing Sect, while explaining that they could not yet free Imperial Concubine Chen without endangering her daughter.
• Zhou Qing returned to the border with Shen Yunzhou, agreed to help Xuan Yuan Shuo, and set out with him for Great Demon Mountain while Shen Yunzhou secretly followed.
• Xuan Yuan Shuo helped Zhou Qing enter the Peng Emperor’s cave, where Zhou Qing transformed into the Golden Winged Great Peng and convinced Xuan Hu, Chi Xiao Sun, and Old Ape that their ruler had emerged from seclusion.
• Zhou Qing ordered the Demon Kings to seek gains in the Flood Dragon Emperor’s abandoned territory and learned that the Spider Emperor’s Thousand Illusions Maze might contain Top-Grade Wood Attribute Spirit Stones.
• Zhou Qing flew to the ruined Thousand Illusions Maze, where Flood Dragon Emperor Xuan Qiu and the Qing Luo Beast greeted him.

Zhou Qing exposed the Wei Lun Demon, drove off the Crimson Fiend Tiger Lord, and used his apparent breakthrough to settle the Demon Emperors’ dispute over Ye Luo’s territory. He arranged for humans to train in Blood Hell Mountain and bargained fifteen Top-Grade Wood Attribute Spirit Stones from Xuan Qiu before leaving, while Xuan Yuan Shuo pursued the fleeing Tiger Lord.

• Xuan Yuan Shuo warned Zhou Qing about someone hidden nearby, and Zhou Qing used his double pupils to expose the Wei Lun Demon.
• The Crimson Fiend Tiger Lord intruded, and Zhou Qing struck him into a distant mountain, revealing his apparent Severing Spirit Realm Middle Stage strength and forcing him to flee.
• Zhou Qing claimed Ye Luo’s territory for Xuan Qiu, and the Qing Luo Beast and Wei Lun Demon accepted his decision before withdrawing.
• Zhou Qing told Xuan Qiu that humans would enter Blood Hell Mountain for ten years of military drills, and Xuan Qiu reluctantly agreed.
• Zhou Qing negotiated fifteen Top-Grade Wood Attribute Spirit Stones from Xuan Qiu, then departed before his borrowed puppet form expired.
• Xuan Yuan Shuo pursued the Crimson Fiend Tiger Lord while Zhou Qing left to return to Great Demon Mountain.

Zhou Qing and Shen Yunzhou reunited and traveled inland, where they encountered Li Niang being pursued over stolen spirit herbs. After escaping her, Zhou Qing resumed his journey and reflected on the War of the Five Sects, suspecting that Si Kong Yan had preserved the sects’ strength as part of a larger imperial scheme.

• Shen Yunzhou found Zhou Qing, and they took his flying boat back toward Vast Expanse Prefecture.
• Zhou Qing and Shen Yunzhou saw Li Niang surrounded by people pursuing her for stealing spirit herbs; Zhou Qing fled when she called him her husband, while Shen Yunzhou paid for the herbs and drove the pursuers away.
• Li Niang mistook Shen Yunzhou for someone who had hidden Zhou Qing, then suddenly came to her senses and left; Shen Yunzhou later caught up with Zhou Qing through the teleportation plazas.
• Zhou Qing visited the Treasures Pavilion and learned Xiao Cancan and Li Shitao had already left, then arranged for Zhang Wanbao to look for Five Elements Spirit Stones.
• As they traveled toward the Eastern Region, Zhou Qing considered the War of the Five Sects and concluded that Si Kong Yan had likely preserved the five great sects’ living strength.
• Shen Yunzhou asked Zhou Qing about the Old Peng King’s death site and the origins of his Golden Winged Great Peng transformation, and Zhou Qing asked what Lu Yaoyao meant by calling him a Fated Person.

Zhou Qing and Shen Yunzhou discovered that NanNan controlled the Black-Clad Puppets and confronted Si Kong Yan, who revealed that he knew Zhou Qing was a spy. The chapter ended with Si Kong Yan holding NanNan and Zhou Qing demanding to know what he wanted in exchange for taking her away.

• Shen Yunzhou told Zhou Qing that his sister had awakened the Entangling Karma Nascent Soul, and the two spotted Black-Clad Puppets emerging from an abyss on Azure Mist Mountain.
• Zhou Qing and Shen Yunzhou followed the puppets to Si Kong Yan and NanNan, then watched NanNan command more than a hundred thousand puppets to disappear underground.
• Si Kong Yan recognized Shen Yunzhou and drew attention to Lin Jin, while Zhou Qing concluded that Si Kong Yan and Lin Jin were connected.
• Si Kong Yan introduced NanNan as the daughter of Zhou Qing's friend and tried to make her believe her father had abandoned her, but Zhou Qing said the Image Stone had never reached Martial Uncle Gao Xuan.
• Si Kong Yan accused Zhou Qing of being a chess piece who had forgotten his identity, and NanNan collapsed before puppets carried her away underground.
• Shen Yunzhou condemned Si Kong Yan for using a child as leverage, and Zhou Qing demanded to know what he wanted before he would let NanNan go.

Si Kong Yan forced the Taiqing Sect to confront a choice between Gao Xuan’s daughter NanNan and the Three Peak Lords, while Zhou Qing returned with news of two potential Severing Spirit Realm allies. After a month of cultivation, Zhou Qing emerged to find Li Daoxuan in distress from sparring with Shen Yunzhou.

• Si Kong Yan proposed trading NanNan’s life for the heads of the Three Peak Lords, and Zhou Qing stopped Shen Yunzhou from attacking him as he left.
• Lin Jin departed after saying he was curious about Gao Xuan’s choice and did not have much time left; Zhou Qing and Shen Yunzhou returned to the Taiqing Sect.
• Zhou Qing told Cao Zhengyang and Mo Xingjian about NanNan, Si Kong Yan’s trap, and Lin Jin; he also revealed that Lu Yuanzhi and Lu Yuanjiu could become Severing Spirit Realm cultivators, and the leaders agreed to keep them secret.
• Zhou Qing told Lu Yaoyao and Yan Xiaohu to keep Lu Yuanzhi’s situation confidential, then learned that Shen Yunzhou had gone to spar with Li Daoxuan.
• Zhou Qing cultivated beside the Enlightenment Ancient Tea Tree for a month, then found Li Daoxuan vomiting and calling Shen Yunzhou a Dog Demon in human form.

Zhou Qing shattered Shen Yunzhou’s intent realm in their spar, then learned Taiqing Sect was suffering increasingly deadly attacks on its mineral veins and investigated clues pointing toward a corpse that consumed spiritual essence. As Shen Yunzhou’s dung beetle detected a familiar scent among the returned dead, Zhou Qing and the sect prepared to uncover what had happened.

• Li Daoxuan told Zhou Qing how a month of sparring with Shen Yunzhou’s foul intent realm had left him sick and exhausted, and Zhou Qing promised to take over.
• Zhou Qing sparred with Shen Yunzhou and repeatedly shattered his intent realm, then advised him to consider how an opponent’s speed could overcome an intact realm.
• Cao Zhengyang told Zhou Qing that attacks on Taiqing Sect’s mineral veins had killed many disciples, and Zhou Qing examined images of the dried corpse and the victims before arranging to inspect the bodies with Shen Yunzhou.
• Cao Zhengyang reported that two monks had asked the Golden Thunder Sect three Buddhist koan questions while searching for someone who might have lost his memories.
• Zhou Qing, Shen Yunzhou, and the sect leaders gathered at Heroic Souls Return to Dust Valley as a vessel brought the fallen disciples home, and Shen Yunzhou’s Black Gold Dung Beetle rushed toward it after detecting a familiar scent.

Zhou Qing uncovered Tianji Gate’s scheme to provoke a war between Taiqing Sect and Golden Thunder Sect, then urged Taiqing Sect to strike Tianji Gate before it could escalate the conflict. Cao Zhengyang and the Peak Lords were left to consider Zhou Qing’s sudden call for war.

• Zhou Qing connected the corpses attacking Taiqing Sect’s mines to the Corpse Yin Sect site and suspected Golden Thunder Sect, while urging the sect to investigate missing Spirit Transformation cultivators instead of rushing into battle.
• Tian Hong defected to Taiqing Sect and presented two Image Stones showing Golden Thunder Sect removing coffins and Lei Wuji transforming into a corpse-like creature.
• Zhou Qing appraised the first Image Stone and discovered it had been copied from Yu Hengzi’s recording, leading him to suspect Tianji Gate had engineered the evidence and the conflict.
• Zhou Qing concluded Tianji Gate had used the dried corpse attacks and Tian Hong to turn Taiqing Sect against Golden Thunder Sect, and Ling Yuexiao killed Tian Hong after Zhou Qing declared him untrustworthy.
• Zhou Qing identified Tianji Gate as the force behind the scheme and called for Taiqing Sect to make a swift attack, arguing that the sect should strike while its rivals were weakened.

Zhou Qing persuaded Taiqing Sect’s leaders to launch a war against Tianji Gate, and Taiqing Sect mobilized nearly all its forces while securing Azure Feather Immortal Sect as an ally. The combined fleets headed west in secret, leaving Zhou Qing to learn that their spies had eliminated the enemy sects’ watchers.

• Zhou Qing exposed his deductions about Tianji Gate’s conspiracy, and Cao Zhengyang and the Peak Lords unanimously approved an attack.
• Cao Zhengyang ordered the sect to assemble, opened the treasury, assigned battle forces, and sent Mo Xingjian and Zhou Qing to enlist Azure Feather Immortal Sect.
• Mo Xingjian ordered Azure Feather Immortal Sect to prepare for war, and Zhou Qing and Mo Xingjian visited the dying Profound Abyss Immortal, who apologized and asked them to preserve her sect’s inheritance.
• Taiqing Sect and Azure Feather Immortal Sect assembled their fleets and headed west toward Tianji Gate; Azure Feather Immortal Sect’s elders agreed to join the campaign after seeing Taiqing Sect’s strength and Cao Zhengyang’s offer to share the spoils.
• Zhou Qing learned that spies watching Taiqing Sect and Azure Feather Immortal Sect had been eliminated before the three rival sects discovered their alliance.