Chapter Summaries

Zhou Qing investigated the Divine Ruins Heavenly Palace’s help requests and entered its forbidden-zone simulation, where he discovered the Old Hen eating Dead Crows and fought the Corpse Wax Crows. He later met Shen Han Yi and watched her demonstrate her Phoenix Dao Pattern, which devastated several black boats.

• Zhou Qing saw that Shen Han Yi and Si Kong Yan could offer rare Wood Attribute Spirit Stones, and decided to travel to the Imperial Capital to seek Xuan Yuan Yi Chen and Si Kong Yan.
• After finding no one else online in the Divine Ruins Heavenly Palace, Zhou Qing entered the forbidden-zone simulation and discovered the Old Hen paddling along the Blood River while eating Dead Crows.
• Zhou Qing fought two Corpse Wax Crows, watched one absorb the other and reach the Severing Spirit Realm, and was repeatedly defeated in the simulation.
• Zhou Qing tried to open a coffin bound by the withered tree’s roots, but the tree struck him across the Blood River and he returned to his real body.
• Zhou Qing met Shen Han Yi in the Divine Ruins Heavenly Palace and offered guidance on her Phoenix Dao Pattern.
• Shen Han Yi demonstrated her divine power, and her blood-colored phoenix sent several black boats off course and destroyed three of them.

Zhou Qing taught Shen Han Yi five strands of the Hundred Tribulations Blood Curtain, but she refused to reveal her other difficulty. He then planned a journey to the Imperial Capital with Luo Lingling, and the chapter ended with Wu Sha bringing NanNan to the Taiqing Sect to find her father, Dong Lisheng.

• Zhou Qing showed Shen Han Yi how to strengthen the Phoenix Dao Pattern by using backlash and taught her the first five strands of the Hundred Tribulations Blood Curtain.
• Zhou Qing guessed Shen Han Yi was carrying many spirit stones and offered help, but she denied having any difficulty and he left without learning about her plan.
• Zhou Qing went to Divine Peak, found the Old Hen outside his courtyard, and decided to bring it along on his trip to the Imperial Capital.
• Luo Lingling asked Zhou Qing to help her obtain permission to find Big Brother, and Zhou Qing agreed to travel with her after explaining Martial Uncle Gao Xuan and NanNan's situation.
• Zhou Qing and Luo Lingling planned to leave the Taiqing Sect secretly, while Yan Xiaohu prepared to gather his brothers in a mining vein.
• Wu Sha arrived at the Taiqing Sect with NanNan, who said she had come to find her father, Dong Lisheng.

Gao Xuan reunited with NanNan, while Zhou Qing and Luo Lingling left the Taiqing Sect for the Imperial Capital. After reaching Soaring Cloud Prefecture, they gathered travel information, disguised themselves, and continued their journey by flying boat, where Luo Lingling asked Zhou Qing about his earlier meeting with Eldest Brother.

• Gao Xuan welcomed NanNan back to the Taiqing Sect and confirmed with the Lu Sisters that she had no hidden dangers; Wu Sha learned that Si Kong Yan had gone to the Imperial Capital and left to find him.
• Lu Yuanzhi and Lu Yuanjiu agreed to watch over the sect, gave Zhou Qing insights on Severing Spirit and a Foxfire Lamp, and warned him that Emperor Xuan Yuan Hao might be monitoring A-Chen.
• Luo Lingling told Zhou Qing that Yan Xiaohu was agonizing over whether to report their departure, so Zhou Qing and Luo Lingling left the sect that night; Lu Yaoyao later returned to closed-door cultivation to pursue the Transformation Spirit Realm.
• At the Myriad Phenomena Auction, Zhang Wanbao gave Zhou Qing a detailed map of the Imperial Capital route and said he planned to marry Xiao Cancan after reaching the Nascent Soul Realm.
• Zhou Qing and Luo Lingling adopted the identities Chicken Young Master and Niu Dali, then set out toward the Imperial Capital and discussed disguising themselves to surprise Eldest Brother.
• Two months into their journey, Luo Lingling found Zhou Qing beside the flying boat after thinking it was unmanned, then asked him to recount how he had met Eldest Brother in Greenwood City.

Zhou Qing and Luo Lingling joined a Myriad Treasures Chamber of Commerce vessel bound for the Imperial Capital so Zhou Qing could obtain a Wood Attribute Spirit Stone. After a month of quiet travel, Zhou Qing remained wary of the powerful guards and the mysterious living cargo aboard the Cloud Whale.

• Zhou Qing checked his Personal Panel, then spent the next two months cultivating while Luo Lingling looked after the Old Hen.
• In Shaking Light Prefecture, Luo Lingling found a recruitment notice, and Zhou Qing applied as a Level Two Array Master using the name Chicken Young Master.
• Jin Mantang hired Zhou Qing and his assistant Luo Lingling to travel aboard the Cloud Whale, promising him a Wood Attribute Spirit Stone after the mission.
• Zhou Qing and Luo Lingling boarded the vessel, heard a powerful beast roar, and discovered that five Great Perfection Spirit Transformation experts were guarding it in secret.
• A month passed without incident, while Zhou Qing noticed the hidden experts watching him and heard occasional roars from the vessel's lower decks.

Zhou Qing and Luo Lingling discovered that the Echo Conch aboard the Cloud Whale was a decoy, while the ship carried valuable treasures and a half-pureblood thunder wyrmling. The Calamity Cloud Bandits ambushed the vessel, and their leaders revealed their targets as Zou Lun admitted he had betrayed the Myriad Treasures Chamber of Commerce.

• Luo Lingling noticed that the beast roars were repeating in a loop, and Zhou Qing used his strange twin pupils to discover five Black Robes and an Echo Conch below deck.
• Zhou Qing and Luo Lingling concluded that the Cloud Whale was a decoy and chose to stay aboard because Zhou Qing needed Wood Attribute Spirit Stones.
• Zou Lun persuaded Jin Mantang to open the array core, then secretly destroyed it and removed its Top-Grade Spirit Stones as the Cloud Whale entered the Lightless Sea.
• The Calamity Cloud Bandits trapped the Cloud Whale with Spirit-Magnetic Chains and Cloud-Swallowing Giant Pythons, while Zhou Qing spotted their surrounding warships.
• Jin Mantang found the ruined array core and Zou Lun's mocking message, then the bandit leaders Mo Qisha, Yin Hongxiao, and Tu Qianyue demanded the Nine Netherworld Demon Lotus, a thunder wyrmling, and an artifact-refining text.
• Zou Lun reappeared and told the bandit leaders that the treasures were guarded in the lowest hold, then accepted their promise of a Fourth-Level Array Master's notes and a Nine Netherworld Lotus Seed.

The Calamity Cloud Bandits attacked the Cloud Whale, while Zhou Qing discovered that the vessel was a decoy and began repairing its array core. Jin Mantang chose to defend the ship and the Chamber of Commerce, but Elder Mo and the other attendants were overwhelmed by six newly revealed Great Perfection Transformation Spirit experts.

• Elder Mo and his attendants clashed with Yin Hongxiao, Tu Qianyue, and Mo Qisha as the Calamity Cloud Bandits battered the Cloud Whale with their warships.
• Jin Mantang paid the passengers and urged them to escape, but Zhou Qing realized that the ship's cargo hold was empty and that the Cloud Whale had been used as bait.
• Jin Mantang resolved to repay the Myriad Treasures Chamber of Commerce and rallied the remaining guards, while Zhou Qing stayed aboard with Luo Lingling and used four thousand Spirit Seals to repair the array core.
• Elder Mo revealed that the real transport ship had already delivered the treasures elsewhere and led the attendants in an attempt to escape using their Intent Realms.
• Tu Qianyue called on six powerful allies to make their pledge to the Calamity Cloud Bandits, and they intercepted the fleeing attendants and killed them with their terrifying Intent Realms.

Zhou Qing repaired the Cloud Whale’s array and confronted the Calamity Cloud Bandits, defeating their nine Great Perfection Spirit Transformation leaders. After the battle, he killed Tu Qianyue and collected the bandits’ spoils.

• Tu Qianyue searched the Storage Bags, then demanded that Jin Mantang hand over the treasures aboard the Cloud Whale.
• The Cloud Whale’s array repaired itself, and Zhou Qing appeared, repelled three bandit leaders, and defeated Tu Qianyue in a clash of fists.
• Zhou Qing suppressed and shattered the nine leaders’ intents, then fought their combined divine abilities in the clouds.
• After a phoenix cry ended the battle, Zhou Qing extracted Tu Qianyue’s memories, shattered his Primordial Spirit, and collected three Blood Phoenix Tribulation Crystals and more than a dozen Storage Bags.

Zhou Qing defeated the Calamity Cloud Bandits, gathered their spoils, and advanced to five thousand Spirit Seals during six months of cultivation aboard the Cloud Whale. When a Myriad Treasures Chamber of Commerce vessel arrived and Chen Xuan tried to recruit him, Zhou Qing and Luo Lingling had already departed for the Imperial Capital.

• Zhou Qing used the Avici Karma Fire Mirror to capture and kill the Calamity Cloud Bandits, then recovered several Blood Phoenix Tribulation Crystals.
• After recovering, Zhou Qing learned from Luo Lingling that the bandits' Storage Bags held a wealth of spirit stones, and he uncovered details about Xuan Yuan Shuo's Array Hall and Master Si Tu's notes.
• Zhou Qing fed fourteen Wood Attribute Spirit Stones to the Enlightenment Ancient Tea Tree, gave Luo Lingling two Blood Phoenix Tribulation Crystals, and cultivated until he condensed five thousand Spirit Seals.
• A Myriad Treasures Chamber of Commerce retrieval vessel found the Cloud Whale, and Chen Xuan thanked Zhou Qing for saving Jin Mantang and the surviving crew.
• After hearing Jin Mantang's account, Chen Xuan and Jin Mantang planned to recruit Zhou Qing, but they found his cabin empty and discovered a note saying he and Luo Lingling would meet them in the Imperial Capital.

Zhou Qing and Luo Lingling rescued Lan Caiwei, who revealed that Gui Ao’s group was in the Imperial Capital seeking medicine for the injured Xiang Chuan. They traveled there with her, but Lan Caiwei’s fearful reactions left Zhou Qing suspecting that something was wrong; the chapter ended as they arrived before the vast Imperial Capital.

• Zhou Qing and Luo Lingling left the Myriad Treasures Chamber of Commerce and spotted Lan Caiwei fighting Blood Head Monk outside an ancient city.
• Zhou Qing overwhelmed Blood Head Monk with lightning, Luo Lingling stopped his escape, and Lan Caiwei killed him and destroyed his Primordial Spirit.
• Lan Caiwei recognized Zhou Qing as Gui Ao’s junior brother and explained that she had gone to Blood Baleful City to find Ghost Soul Grass for the injured Xiang Chuan.
• Zhou Qing gave Lan Caiwei a Profound Origin Spirit Nurturing Pill and decided that he and Luo Lingling would travel with her to the Imperial Capital to look for Gui Ao.
• During the four-month journey, Zhou Qing and Luo Lingling suspected Lan Caiwei was hiding something, then marveled at the Imperial Capital’s immense scale when they arrived.

Zhou Qing and Luo Lingling followed Lan Caiwei to the Imperial Capital to find Gui Ao and Xiang Chuan, but discovered that Lan Caiwei was leading them into a trap tied to the Nangong Family. Zhou Qing defeated Nangong Ye and captured his Primordial Spirit, and the group fled as the Imperial Capital’s cultivators watched.

• Lan Caiwei led Zhou Qing and Luo Lingling to Xiang Chuan’s cave dwelling, where they found signs of an old battle and no trace of Xiang Chuan.
• Luo Lingling suspected Lan Caiwei and learned that she feared the Nangong Family, while Lan Caiwei directed them toward the family’s estate.
• Luo Lingling returned from asking about the Nangong Family and exposed Lan Caiwei, who tried to flee before Zhou Qing struck her down and bound her.
• Nangong Ye confronted Zhou Qing, revealed his hostility toward Gui Ao, and fought him above the Imperial Capital.
• Zhou Qing shattered Nangong Ye’s Azure Dragon Scales, broke his Sea of Blood, Mountain of Corpses intent domain, and captured his Primordial Spirit.
• Zhou Qing rejoined Luo Lingling, and they escaped on the flying vessel while cultivators below watched the Nangong Family elder’s defeat.

Zhou Qing learned why Lan Caiwei and the others betrayed Gui Ao, then discovered a message summoning them to Blood Maple Forest. He and Luo Lingling headed there and found Zhao Hanyue, Man Jingang, and Mo Lanxin waiting under the Nangong Family’s control.

• Zhou Qing slaughtered more than a hundred pursuers after they chased his flying vessel and captured Nangong Ye’s Primordial Spirit.
• Zhou Qing searched Nangong Ye’s memories and learned the Nangong Family had pursued Gui Ao after Gui Ao killed Nangong Xiao over a spear at an auction.
• Lan Caiwei confessed that she and the others had helped capture Gui Ao in hopes of obtaining an antidote to their poison, and Zhou Qing confirmed her account by searching her soul.
• Luo Lingling warned that killing Nangong Ye had angered both the Nangong Family and the royal family, but she and Zhou Qing decided to follow a message directing them to Blood Maple Forest.
• Zhou Qing and Luo Lingling reached Blood Maple Forest, where Zhao Hanyue, Man Jingang, and Mo Lanxin discussed their poison and the Nangong Family’s control over them.

Gui Ao lured the Nangong Family and his former companions into a deadly confrontation, while Zhou Qing secretly picked off the surrounding cultivators. The chapter ended as Gui Ao fought Zhao Hanyue, Man Jingang, and Mo Lanxin, and Nangong Xuan sensed that something was happening around the battlefield.

• Mo Lanxin explained that Nangong Ye's death had enraged the Nangong Family, and five elders arrived with twenty Transformation Spirit Cultivators to hunt Gui Ao.
• Zhou Qing and Luo Lingling followed the elders with the bound Lan Caiwei, then realized the deliberately cut trees marked a trap and watched the Nangong Family destroy the gorge.
• Nangong Xuan used a Mirror of Reflected Images to locate Gui Ao, who escaped the elders' attack before they cornered him and found Xiang Chuan's severed head.
• Zhao Hanyue, Man Jingang, and Mo Lanxin offered to kill Gui Ao in exchange for their lives, and Nangong Xuan decreed that only the one who killed him could survive.
• While Gui Ao fought the three former companions, Zhou Qing used his concealment to kill the surrounding cultivators one by one.
• Gui Ao suffered severe wounds but inflicted devastating injuries on his opponents, and Nangong Xuan turned as the final outer cultivator fell.

Zhou Qing defeated and killed Nangong Xuan and the other four Nangong elders, while Gui Ao overcame his enemies and reunited with Zhou Qing. News of the Nangong Family’s losses shook the Imperial Capital, where the imperial family first ordered an investigation and then withdrew its support for the Nangong Family after learning of Zhou Qing’s merits.

• Zhou Qing destroyed the five Nangong elders’ attacks, then fought through their overlapping Intent Realms and killed them.
• Gui Ao defeated Zhao Hanyue and Mo Lanxin after Zhou Qing’s allies revealed themselves, then allowed the three former friends to die by their own hands and burned their bodies.
• Zhou Qing removed his Chicken Head Mask and reunited with Gui Ao, then took the injured Gui Ao away from Blood Maple Forest.
• News spread that the Nangong Family’s six Great Perfection Spirit Transformation cultivators and their accompanying cultivators had been killed, prompting Emperor Xuan Yuan Hao to order an investigation into the Chicken Head Mask Person.
• The imperial family canceled its investigation after learning that the Chicken Head Mask Person had slain the Calamity Cloud Bandits and was a Level Three Array Master; Jin Mantang recognized Zhou Qing and resolved to help protect him.
• A white-clad figure arrived at the Imperial Capital, closed his eyes, and murmured that he had returned.

Zhou Qing reunited with Gui Ao and Luo Lingling after they survived the Nangong Family’s attack, and the three decided to remain in the Imperial Capital rather than flee. Zhou Qing visited Xuan Yuan Yi Chen to ask for help finding Gui Ao, while the prince confirmed he had concealed the Taiqing Sect’s connection to the fugitives.

• Gui Ao and Luo Lingling discussed the turmoil in the Eastern Region and agreed the three of them should avoid the approaching Nangong Family ancestor, but Zhou Qing insisted they face the trouble instead of fleeing.
• The three returned to the Imperial Capital in disguise, learned the imperial family would not interfere, and Zhou Qing resolved to visit Xuan Yuan Yi Chen.
• Gui Ao and Luo Lingling waited at the abandoned Jintian Palace while Zhou Qing went alone to Yi Yun Residence and met Xuan Yuan Yi Chen using his Azure Lotus Token.
• Zhou Qing confronted Xuan Yuan Yi Chen about the Nangong Family learning Gui Ao’s identity, and the prince admitted he had ordered his Dao Protectors to keep the Taiqing Sect’s location secret.
• Xuan Yuan Yi Chen asked about the mysterious Chicken Young Master, and Zhou Qing requested the prince’s help finding Gui Ao.

Zhou Qing helped Xuan Yuan Yi Chen identify how to activate the Four Ghosts Saluting Gate and received Wood Attribute Spirit Stones, then declined to reveal more about other sinister artifacts or join the Array Hall. When he returned to Jintian Palace, he witnessed Gao Xianzong confront Nanny Su over the First Prince’s death and slaughter the palace eunuchs.

• Xuan Yuan Yi Chen refused to openly help Zhou Qing search for his Eldest Brother, then asked him to recall how to activate the Four Ghosts Saluting Gate.
• Zhou Qing appraised the gate and told Xuan Yuan Yi Chen that four specific Demonic Beast blood essences were needed; he received eight Top-Grade Wood Attribute Spirit Stones and thirty crystalline Top-Grade Spirit Stones.
• Xuan Yuan Mu Qian brought Zhou Qing breakfast, but he refused it, prompting her to protest that she had not poisoned him.
• Xuan Yuan Yi Chen invited Zhou Qing to study at the Array Hall and gather information about the Nangong Family, but Zhou Qing declined and left after Xuan Yuan Mu Qian invited him to visit her residence.
• Zhou Qing returned to Jintian Palace in disguise and saw Gao Xianzong overseeing its cleanup, while Luo Lingling warned him that imperial palace personnel were inside.
• Nanny Su accused Gao Xianzong of concealing the First Prince’s death, and Gao Xianzong killed the palace eunuchs with silver threads before threatening her.

Zhou Qing visited the Myriad Treasures Chamber of Commerce to collect and exchange his reward, where he learned Jin Mantang had endured a soul search to prove Zhou Qing’s deeds. The president, Mo Tianheng, offered Zhou Qing an attendant position; Zhou Qing refused, but accepted a distinguished guest token and fifty-three Top-Grade Wood Attribute Spirit Stones.

• Nanny Su asked Gui Ao and Luo Lingling to remove the corpses from the abandoned palace after Gao Xianzong left, and Zhou Qing joined them as they departed.
• Zhou Qing went to the Myriad Treasures Chamber of Commerce and learned Jin Mantang had damaged his divine soul by willingly undergoing a soul search to testify for him.
• Jin Mantang hurried to meet Zhou Qing, explained the reward had been raised to six hundred and sixty-six Top-Grade Spirit Stones, and offered to exchange it for Wood Attribute stones.
• Mo Tianheng appeared and transported Zhou Qing to a palace, where he offered him generous terms to become an attendant of the chamber of commerce.
• Zhou Qing declined the position, and Mo Tianheng gave him a distinguished guest token and a Storage Bag containing fifty-three Top-Grade Wood Attribute Spirit Stones and one hundred and thirty-six other Top-Grade Spirit Stones.

Zhou Qing witnessed a white-robed Severing Spirit expert kill Gao Xianzong and realized the man’s Evil-Level Fish tag combined Lin Jin’s and Si Kong Yan’s tags, leaving him unsure of their relationship. After months of cultivating in Ancient Beast Wilderness, Zhou Qing rushed to rescue Gui Ao and Luo Lingling from the Nangong Family, but found them using decoys to escape.

• Mo Tianheng gave Zhou Qing a specially marked Purple Gold Token, and Zhou Qing left the Myriad Treasures Chamber of Commerce with sixty-five Wood Attribute Spirit Stones.
• A white-robed Severing Spirit expert killed Gao Xianzong, and Zhou Qing recognized the man’s Evil-Level Fish tag as a combination of Lin Jin’s and Si Kong Yan’s tags.
• Zhou Qing cultivated in Ancient Beast Wilderness for months, gathering eight thousand Spirit Seals before deciding he needed to strengthen himself before considering Si Kong Yan’s task.
• Nangong Lu led twenty Great Perfection Transformation Spirit Cultivators into Ancient Beast Wilderness to capture Gui Ao and confront the masked Chicken Young Master.
• After Gui Ao and Luo Lingling sent Zhou Qing messages telling him to stay away, Zhou Qing flew toward them and found them surrounded by Nangong Lu’s forces.
• Gui Ao used a Paper Doll Decoy against Nangong Lu, while Luo Lingling’s figure also turned transparent and she mocked the Nangong Family.

Zhou Qing hunted down Nangong Family cultivators searching for Gui Ao and Luo Lingling, then confronted Nangong Lu after the Nangong heir trapped the wounded pair in a formation. Their battle escalated from hand-to-hand combat to Nangong Lu’s spine-born Soul-Losing Whip, but Zhou Qing healed its corrosive wounds and prepared to strike again.

• Zhou Qing killed two separated Nangong Family cultivators, then used their Communication Jade Slips to locate more targets.
• Zhou Qing ambushed Nangong Yue, overcame his Mountain Intent and Blood Burning Pill, and devoured him with his blood-colored wings.
• Nangong Lu activated the Three Talents Spirit Locking Array around Gui Ao and Luo Lingling, who resolved to protect Zhou Qing while they were trapped and injured.
• Nangong Lu realized Zhou Qing had been eliminating his scattered cultivators, and Zhou Qing appeared before him displaying twelve Storage Bags.
• Zhou Qing and Nangong Lu fought hand to hand until Nangong Lu tore out his own spine and wielded it as the Nine-Segment Soul-Reaping Whip.
• Nangong Lu’s Eerie Green Ghost Fire rotted Zhou Qing’s arm, but Zhou Qing’s Demon Subduing Golden Bones expelled the fire and healed the injury as he pointed his sword at Nangong Lu.

Zhou Qing shattered Nangong Lu’s Intent Realm and defeated his eight allies, but Nangong Lu summoned a Severing Spirit projection that struck Zhou Qing with devastating force. Zhou Qing survived, revealed eight thousand spirit seals fused with lightning, and left the Nangong Family’s master convinced he had to be killed.

• Zhou Qing broke Nangong Lu’s corpse-filled Intent Realm, overcame the eight elders’ combined Intent Realms, and refined them into Blood Crystals.
• Luo Lingling and Gui Ao discovered Old Hen and hurried toward the distant explosion, believing Zhou Qing was in danger.
• Nangong Lu destroyed three powerful treasures and summoned his Severing Spirit master through a Jade Pendant.
• The master struck Zhou Qing with a giant finger of Death Qi, but Zhou Qing survived and began healing through his Demon Subduing Golden Bones.
• Zhou Qing unleashed Thunder Seal Unification, fusing eight thousand spirit seals with lightning and shocking the Severing Spirit projection.
• The projection recognized Zhou Qing’s extraordinary array talent and decided he could not be allowed to live.

Zhou Qing exchanged the Nangong Family’s spoils for Wood Attribute Spirit Stones and received intelligence from Mo Tianheng before Si Kong Yan confronted him and revealed his identity and past. Si Kong Yan began explaining the origin of the imperial secret formula, leaving Zhou Qing asking where the Old Emperor had obtained it.

• Zhou Qing met Mo Tianheng in the Myriad Treasures Chamber of Commerce, traded the Nangong Family’s spoils for sixty Wood Attribute Spirit Stones and 288 Top-Grade Spirit Stones, and received intelligence about the dynasty’s factions and Emperor Xuan Yuan Hao.
• Si Kong Yan approached Zhou Qing, Gui Ao, and Luo Lingling in the teahouse, identified them, and used a Jade Bead to create a soundproof barrier.
• Zhou Qing recognized Si Kong Yan as Lin Jin and learned that Lin Jin had been one of Si Kong Yan’s incarnations and had returned to his main body.
• Si Kong Yan revealed that he was First Prince Xuan Yuan Xuan Huang and said he had tried to steal the Severing Spirit advancement formula to help his grandmother.
• Si Kong Yan recounted how the imperial family tortured and killed him after his grandmother’s death, and Zhou Qing asked where the Old Emperor had obtained the secret formula.