Chapter Summaries

At Azure Cloud Mountain, Wang Cheng, Zhang Hao, Zhang Zhiming, and Zhang Mengyao gathered as the sect’s newly chosen True Disciples and argued over their past rivalry and an absent preselected disciple. Lin Chen arrived unseen by the others, revealed himself, and said they could leave now that everyone had arrived.

• Wang Cheng arrived first and complained about nearly missing selection, Zhang Hao’s victory, and a True Disciple being preselected.
• Zhang Hao arrived, and he and Wang Cheng exchanged insults before nearly fighting over their previous contest.
• Zhang Zhiming intervened with vines, then asked where the other disciples were; Zhang Mengyao arrived and held her sword to Wang Cheng’s throat.
• Zhang Mengyao sensed something briefly, while Wang Cheng complained that the preselected disciple had not arrived.
• Lin Chen emerged from the shadows after none of the others sensed him, introduced himself, and told the group to go.

Lin Chen and the other candidates learned that the State of Mind Trial tested whether they could endure the loneliness of a long life on the path to immortality. The trial began by sending Lin Chen into a vivid vision of his eighteen-year-old self preparing for the college entrance examination.

• Lin Chen revealed that his strange entrance came from an improved Invisibility Technique, impressing the others while refusing Wang Cheng’s request to trade for it.
• As the group traveled to meet the Patriarchs, Zhang Mengyao explained that True Person Ziyun had imprisoned his loved ones in Spirit Trees because he could not bear to lose them to age and death.
• Lin Chen reflected that cultivators seeking longevity needed to preserve an enduring heart as well as an immortal body.
• Zhang Zhiming announced that the State of Mind Trial had already begun, and thick fog caused Lin Chen to lose consciousness.
• Lin Chen woke in the body of his eighteen-year-old self in a classroom, where a girl called him A Chen.

Lin Chen and the others passed the Azure Cloud Sect’s examination and were formally made True Disciples after swearing an oath and providing Life Essence Blood for Soul Lamps. True Ancestor Changqing then assigned them a dangerous mission to enter a secret realm, revealing that it was a Land of Fallen Spirit Transmutation.

• Lin Chen emerged from the mist with a renewed resolve, followed by Zhang Hao and Wang Cheng, who each shared what they wished to pursue.
• The group arrived at a medicinal garden beneath a colossal Spirit Tree, where True Ancestor Changqing and two Golden Core Spirit Energy Incarnations examined them.
• True Ancestor Changqing approved Lin Chen, Zhang Zhiming, and Zhang Mengyao as True Disciples after they swore to uphold the Sect Rules and surrendered drops of Life Essence Blood.
• Lin Chen eagerly declared his loyalty when True Ancestor Changqing mentioned a dangerous, important task, while Zhang Zhiming asked what the mission involved.
• True Ancestor Changqing said the three must enter a secret realm to fight for an item and revealed that it was a Land of Fallen Spirit Transmutation.

True Ancestor Changqing explained the Land of Fallen Spirit Transmutation and the contest to obtain an Enlightenment Stone, which the Qingyun disciples would enter through reincarnation as spirit plants. After dismissing the others to prepare, he asked Lin Chen to stay behind.

• True Ancestor Changqing revealed that the Land of Fallen Spirit Transmutation formed from the remains of two fallen Spirit Transformation cultivators and contained the powers that had shaped the Lingnan Cultivation World.
• True Ancestor Changqing explained that the disciples had to make the two powers fight to create an Enlightenment Stone before it vanished or they were assimilated.
• True Ancestor Changqing warned that the disciples would enter as divine souls, unable to bring external items or rely on their usual cultivation, though adapted techniques might still work.
• True Ancestor Changqing told the five disciples that they would reincarnate as spirit plants and battle the Mysterious Yin Gate's true disciples.
• Lin Chen considered whether his Body God could enter, while Zhang Hao worried about losing his talismans, artifacts, and techniques.
• True Ancestor Changqing dismissed the others to prepare and told Lin Chen to remain behind.

True Ancestor Changqing revealed the Azure Cloud Sect’s plan to have Lin Chen break through to Foundation Establishment and intercept the Mysterious Yin Gate disciples carrying the Enlightenment Stone. Lin Chen accepted a rich cache of resources and hurried back to his Laboratory to study the Golden Core, while True Person Qingyang disclosed another backup plan to Changqing.

• Lin Chen told True Ancestor Changqing that the Azure Cloud Sect’s team would struggle to coordinate, but he would act at the crucial moment.
• True Ancestor Changqing explained that Lin Chen’s rapid Foundation Establishment breakthrough could let him reach the valley exit and seize the Enlightenment Stone from the Mysterious Yin Gate disciples.
• True Ancestor Changqing gave Lin Chen a Storage Ring containing a complete Golden Core, breakthrough resources, Spirit Stones, and sect privileges, and Lin Chen promised to reclaim the Enlightenment Stone.
• After Lin Chen left, True Person Qingyang told True Ancestor Changqing that Junior Brother Zhentian was preparing to break through to the Golden Core Realm and could help form the Four Symbols Spirit-Sealing Formation.
• Lin Chen returned to the mountain peak where the Laboratory was located to study the Golden Core and improve his Inner Core Technique.

Lin Chen studied how the Golden Core affected the Blood Pool and concluded that it carried information about its former body, leading him to theorize how Golden Core formation, body seizure, and longevity worked. His experiments gave him a direction for further research, though the mechanisms behind spiritual-energy immortality remained conjectural.

• Lin Chen found that he could neither dismantle the Golden Core nor extract its Origin, and his attempt to remove its preserving leaf nearly overloaded the Laboratory's formation.
• Lin Chen used indirect observation and found that the Golden Core's dissipating spiritual energy caused the Blood Pool to form organs resembling those of an Arm-reaching Demon Ape, the species of the Sky-reaching Demon Ape from which the Core came.
• Lin Chen theorized that cultivators inscribed information about their bodies into spiritual energy, that this information formed a Golden Core, and that it could explain Golden Core Cultivators' ability to seize bodies.
• Lin Chen reasoned that Golden Core Cultivators could control spiritual energy naturally and extend their lives by preserving the information stored within it, while a High-grade Spirit Stone's energy and Activity Level might last about a thousand years.
• Lin Chen set aside his thoughts about the limits of immortality and decided that his findings had shown him the direction of his next research.

Lin Chen developed an Artificial Dantian to simulate cultivation and gather data for studying how Essence, Qi, and Spirit were inscribed into spiritual qi. He planned to spread the Inner Core Technique in the Dagan Dynasty after the battle at the Land of Fallen Spirit Transmutation, leaving him poised to build strength and pursue the Golden Core Great Dao.

• Lin Chen created an Artificial Dantian that could simulate cultivation at the Qi Refining Stage and below.
• Lin Chen used the Artificial Dantian to generate Innate Qi and began investigating how a cultivator's Essence, Qi, and Spirit were inscribed into it.
• After several days, Lin Chen found that his research model still lacked data and decided that spreading the Inner Core Technique was urgent.
• Lin Chen planned to leave for the Dagan Dynasty after the battle at the Land of Fallen Spirit Transmutation, where he could research the Golden Core Great Dao with less attention from cultivators.
• Lin Chen resolved to accumulate strength, develop the Inner Core Martial Way, and return with power enough to influence the war.

After the Azure Cloud Sect and Mysterious Yin Gate withdrew their forces, Lin Chen spent years cultivating in peace, developing alchemy, farming, and research while preparing to spread the Inner Core Martial Way. His diary ended as turmoil stirred beyond the mountains and his peaceful days came to an end.

• The Azure Cloud Sect and Mysterious Yin Gate recalled their forces, leaving the border peaceful while cultivators anticipated a larger conflict.
• Lin Chen used his avatars to gather Cloudglow Ganoderma, tend experimental rice fields, and refine pills through Water Alchemy.
• Lin Chen cultivated by absorbing pills while sleeping and settled into a routine of farming, research, and gathering ingredients.
• Lin Chen recorded breakthroughs in high-yield rice, cloning, information networks, and a Body God-based Soul Computer as he prepared to spread the Inner Core Martial Way.
• Lin Chen wrote that his leisurely days were over because the wind had risen outside.

The Mysterious Yin Gate unleashed its century-old Corpse Poison across its own cities to create zombies and gather corpses for its struggle against the Azure Cloud Sect. As the conflict over the Land of Fallen Spirit Transmutation reached a decisive stage, both sects prepared to act, and Lin Chen set out after receiving a warning from Xu Mengyun.

• True Person Yunshi and True Person Taiyin oversaw the Corpse Poison massacre, sacrificing the Mysterious Yin Gate’s subjects to produce corpses and zombies.
• True Person Taiyin learned that the seal over the Land of Fallen Spirit Transmutation had weakened, while a Blood Shadow proposed sending assassins to ensure the Mysterious Yin Gate obtained the Enlightenment Stone.
• True Person Qingyang gathered four Golden Core cultivators, including Elder Zhentian, and prepared the Four Symbols Spirit Sealing Grand Formation to strike at the Mysterious Yin Gate’s Golden Cores if necessary.
• Lin Chen received a message from a spirit talisman and left the mountains several days later as the Azure Cloud Sect’s operation began.
• Xu Mengyun sent Lin Chen a warning on a red leaf, and he reassured her before continuing on his way.

Lin Chen and the other four cultivators joined True Ancestor Changqing and a force of Azure Cloud Sect Foundation Establishment fighters to travel toward the Land of Fallen Spirit Transmutation. After seven days aboard the tower ship, they reached the mountain range hiding its entrance, where a vast tide of spiritual qi revealed their destination.

• Lin Chen arrived at the square and joined Zhang Zhiming, Zhang Mengyao, Wang Cheng, and Zhang Hao as they prepared to enter the Land of Fallen Spirit Transmutation.
• True Ancestor Changqing arrived with more than thirty battle-hardened Azure Cloud Sect Foundation Establishment cultivators, including five True Disciples.
• True Ancestor Changqing summoned a tower ship, and the group boarded before flying toward the Hengduan Mountain Range.
• After seven days and seven nights, the tower ship reached the mountain range and hid within the clouds under True Ancestor Changqing's direction.
• Lin Chen saw the clouds churn into a vast tide of spiritual qi and recognized it as the entrance to the Land of Fallen Spirit Transmutation.

Lin Chen and the Azure Cloud Sect arrived at the Land of Fallen Spirit Transmutation, where True Ancestor Changqing confronted True Person Yunshi of the Mysterious Yin Gate. As the two sides prepared to open the sealed passage, a Flying Boat from the Rogue Cultivator Alliance arrived, disrupting their plans.

• True Ancestor Changqing ordered Lin Chen and the other Azure Cloud Sect cultivators to wait while he watched the boundary of the Land of Fallen Spirit Transmutation.
• True Person Yunshi arrived aboard a bone Flying Boat and attacked True Ancestor Changqing with a Corpse Hand.
• True Ancestor Changqing countered with his Longevity Peach technique, and their collision unleashed a massive Spiritual Energy Storm.
• True Ancestor Changqing and True Person Yunshi recognized each other and exchanged taunts as their disciples gathered.
• True Person Yunshi said they should wait for the other arrivals, and True Ancestor Changqing realized the Rogue Cultivator Alliance was approaching.
• The Rogue Cultivator Alliance's Flying Boat descended before the gathered cultivators.

True Ancestor Changqing and True Person Yunshi used relics from the Spirit Transformation cultivators to open a passage into the Land of Fallen Spirit Transmutation, where Lin Chen and the other disciples entered. Mysterious Yin Gate’s cultivators secretly brought in five Blood Shadows, and a decayed hand emerged from a grave mound in the valley’s core.

• True Person Situ arrived on Mysterious Yin Gate’s side, despite knowing that doing so would offend Azure Cloud Sect.
• True Ancestor Changqing and True Person Yunshi used a Spirit Tree branch and a corpse fragment to stir the powers of life and death and open a passage into the valley.
• Azure Cloud Sect’s disciples, including Lin Chen, entered the passage, followed by five Mysterious Yin Gate True Disciples.
• Five Blood Shadows infiltrated the passage by hiding in shadows, then used the Mysterious Yin Gate cultivators’ essence blood and Foundation Establishment corpses to disguise themselves from the valley’s power.
• The Mysterious Yin Gate cultivators continued toward the valley’s core while the Blood Cultivators hid in the shadows behind them.
• A stiff, decayed hand thrust out from a gigantic grave mound in the core of the Land of Fallen Spirit Transmutation.

In the Land of Fallen Spirit Transmutation, the Mysterious Yin Gate Demonic Cultivators emerged as powerful zombie forms and prepared to face Azure Cloud Sect. After the Flying Yaksha discussed their unknown opponents, a vast horde of corpses rose and advanced toward the forest.

• The Flying Yaksha and Bloated Corpse King gathered in the graveyard and waited for the other Mysterious Yin Gate cultivators to choose zombie forms.
• The Ironclad Sha Corpse, Ksitigarbha Walking Corpse, and Corpse Howl emerged, joining the others as the cultivators’ reincarnated forms.
• The Flying Yaksha explained that Patriarch Yunshi’s corpses and ghosts had strengthened their forces and assessed Zhang Zhiming, Zhang Mengyao, Wang Cheng, Zhang Hao, and Lin Chen as potential opponents.
• The Flying Yaksha ordered the group to follow its plan, reasoning that Zhang Hao and Lin Chen might struggle to coordinate with each other.
• Countless zombies rose from the graveyard and advanced as a corpse tide toward an endless forest enclosed by a Great Wall of trees.

Lin Chen reincarnated as Sacred Wood Mandu in the Land of Fallen Spirit Transmutation, gaining extraordinary analytical abilities as he and the others chose spiritual plants for the coming battle. After the group split up to attack the enemy’s key nodes, the forest’s trees came alive and marched toward a horde of zombies.

• Lin Chen chose Sacred Wood Mandu, reincarnated as a human-shaped Spirit Tree, and discovered that it gave him immense intelligence and helped him refine his techniques.
• Zhang Mengyao chose Sword Grass, Zhang Hao chose How, Zhang Zhiming chose Unquenchable Wood, and Wang Cheng chose Mustard Seed in the Palm.
• Zhang Zhiming explained that the group had to capture the enemy’s important nodes while protecting their own, then proposed splitting into three groups.
• Zhang Zhiming and Zhang Mengyao teamed up, Zhang Hao left alone, and Lin Chen agreed to travel with Wang Cheng.
• The group set off, and the Spirit Trees uprooted themselves and marched toward the attacking zombies at the forest’s border.

The Treant Army battled the Corpse Tide in the Land of Fallen Spirit Transmutation until Lin Chen used Sword Grass and finely controlled Sword Qi to turn the tide. As his sword threads cut down the zombies, a Soul Computer built from his Body God appeared in his pupils.

• The Treant Army and the Corpse Tide clashed, with both sides suffering losses and neither gaining an advantage.
• Wang Cheng used wind blades to kill zombies and opened a breach in the Corpse Tide, then learned that killing zombies earned Life Origin feedback.
• Lin Chen suggested Wang Cheng use [Floating Leap] to lift and drop treants, then prepared to join the battle himself.
• Lin Chen formed Sword Grass phantoms and wove Sword Qi into threads that sliced through zombies and nets that protected the advancing treants.
• Wang Cheng realized Lin Chen had adapted his methods to the Land of Fallen Spirit Transmutation, while a Soul Computer appeared in Lin Chen's pupils.

Lin Chen used Sacred Wood Mandu's enhanced Soul Computer to analyze the battle and realized the Treant Army was losing despite its apparent advantage. As he and Wang Cheng retreated to investigate, Mysterious Yin Gate's Demonic Cultivators ambushed them, surrounding Lin Chen with five attackers.

• Lin Chen completed the conversion of his Soul Computer into Sacred Wood Mandu and assessed the limits of his abilities in the Land of Fallen Spirit Transmutation.
• Wang Cheng used Lin Chen's advice to smash treants into the Corpse Tide, killing more than a hundred zombies.
• Lin Chen modeled the battle and determined that the Treant Army was losing because the Corpse Tide was advancing faster than the forest could produce treants.
• Lin Chen told Wang Cheng to retreat and use the Treant Army to probe the enemy while they gathered information.
• A Flying Yaksha and hidden zombies attacked Lin Chen as he and Wang Cheng withdrew, and attackers from three more directions joined the ambush.

Lin Chen used the Spirit Silk Technique and his analytical abilities to turn the Demonic Cultivators’ coordinated ambush against them, then escaped into the forest. The Flying Yaksha’s group injured Wang Cheng and split up to pursue both men, with the Ksitigarbha Walking Corpse insisting on hunting Lin Chen.

• The five Mysterious Yin Gate Demonic Cultivators coordinated an ambush on Lin Chen while the Bloated Corpse King kept Wang Cheng occupied.
• Lin Chen activated the Soul Computer and Sacred Wood Mandu, used the Spirit Silk Technique to redirect the attacks, and severely injured the Ksitigarbha Walking Corpse and Ironclad Sha Corpse.
• Lin Chen dodged the Flying Yaksha’s and Corpse Howl’s follow-up attacks and escaped into the forest, leaving Wang Cheng behind.
• Wang Cheng pretended to make a desperate stand, then used Floating Leap to flee, but the Flying Yaksha pierced his abdomen with death Qi.
• The Flying Yaksha ordered the group to continue its plan and hunt Lin Chen, while the injured Ksitigarbha Walking Corpse demanded to join the pursuit.
• The zombies split into two groups to pursue Lin Chen and Wang Cheng.

Lin Chen escaped the ambush, then turned on the three corpse-like pursuers and used Spirit Threads to kill the Ksitigarbha Walking Corpse. He let the Flying Yaksha and Corpse Howl flee and disappeared into the forest, wary that more enemies might arrive.

• Lin Chen abandoned Wang Cheng and fled through the forest, judging that the demonic cultivators had the advantage and that his offensive methods were limited.
• The Flying Yaksha and Corpse Howl attacked Lin Chen while the Ksitigarbha Walking Corpse waited underground, trying to trap him between their strikes and a deathly-aura barrier.
• Lin Chen used Spirit Threads to rebound away from the barrier and feigned a powerful sword strike, drawing the Flying Yaksha and Corpse Howl apart and prompting the Ksitigarbha Walking Corpse to charge in.
• Lin Chen’s Spirit Thread net sliced the charging Ksitigarbha Walking Corpse into pieces, revealing that it had been his true target all along.
• The Flying Yaksha and Corpse Howl fled, and Lin Chen chose not to pursue them before more enemies could arrive.

Zhang Hao used a broken jade pendant to witness the creation of the Lingnan Cultivation World and learned that two rival Spirit Transformation Heavenly Lords had designed it as a battlefield for their reincarnated duel and as nourishment for the victor. He left to answer Wang Cheng’s distress signal and spread the truth, while a face on the Spirit Tree sensed a Heavenly Lord’s aura but could not locate its reincarnated source.

• Zhang Hao pressed the broken jade pendant engraved with "Lin" against a Spirit Tree and was drawn into a vision of two opposing powers creating the Lingnan Cultivation World.
• Zhang Hao watched a green-black spiritual light reincarnate through eight lives in the Azure Cloud Sect and Mysterious Yin Gate, then enter a ninth life as a baby boy whose family bore the name Lin.
• Zhang Hao realized the two Spirit Transformation Heavenly Lords had deliberately created the cultivation world as a chessboard for their duel and as provisions for the eventual victor.
• Zhang Hao received Wang Cheng’s distress signal, decided to go help, and resolved to tell the cultivators what he had learned.
• After Zhang Hao left, a face appeared on the Spirit Tree and wondered why it could sense a Heavenly Lord’s aura but not the reincarnated Heavenly Lord.

The Demonic Cultivators planned to avoid Lin Chen and pick off his allies, using corpse odor to locate Zhang Mengyao and Zhang Zhiming. Lin Chen finished evolving, but learned that Flying Yaksha had killed several of his companions.

• The Bloated Corpse King mocked Flying Yaksha for losing a teammate, but Flying Yaksha silenced the dispute and ordered the Demonic Cultivators to target weaker opponents while avoiding Lin Chen.
• Ironclad Sha Corpse proposed using Wang Cheng as bait, while Flying Yaksha planned to exploit the Azure Cloud Sect cultivators’ poor coordination.
• Zhang Mengyao and Zhang Zhiming found the decaying, injured Wang Cheng and tried to retreat, but corpse odor let the Demonic Cultivators track and surround them.
• Flying Yaksha and the other three Demonic Cultivators attacked Zhang Mengyao and Zhang Zhiming from all sides.
• Lin Chen completed his evolution beneath the ancient tree and concluded that killing one enemy had given him the advantage.
• Lin Chen received messages that Flying Yaksha had killed Unquenchable Wood, Sword Grass, and Mustard Seed in the Palm.