Chapter Summaries

Qin Jiuge refused to leave Sound of Dharma Temple without a solution for obtaining the Heart of the Buddha, forcing Abbot Miaokong to negotiate. The abbot would not surrender the relic but proposed that Qin Jiuge pursue Cihang Jingzhai’s Heart of the Great Dao by resolving an old grievance, leaving Qin doubtful about the plan.

• Qin Jiuge and his companions settled into the Lotus Zen Courtyard, insisting Sound of Dharma Temple find a way to help him obtain the Heart of the Buddha.
• Abbot Miaokong and the monks discussed their predicament, while Zhishan argued that giving Qin Jiuge the Heart of the Buddha might be the simplest solution.
• Zhishan and the Mad Monk refused to take responsibility, so Abbot Miaokong went to meet Qin Jiuge during the night.
• Abbot Miaokong told Qin Jiuge that Sound of Dharma Temple could not give him the Heart of the Buddha, but suggested seeking Cihang Jingzhai’s Heart of the Great Dao.
• Abbot Miaokong explained that resolving an old grievance between Sound of Dharma Temple and Cihang Jingzhai might persuade its master to hand over the Heart of the Great Dao.
• Qin Jiuge questioned whether the abbot’s promise was true and called the proposed Karmic Entanglement absurd.

Qin Jiuge learned that the abbess of Cihang Jingzhai’s Karmic Entanglement was tied to Tianyuan City, so he traveled there with Li Xuanmiao and Qin Qing. In the city, a young woman’s predicament caught Li Xuanmiao’s interest, while Qin Jiuge stayed focused on resolving the abbess’s entanglement.

• Qin Jiuge accepted the old monk’s account of how an ordinary person had settled the abbess’s Karmic Entanglement and sent a token’s Buddhist light across Myriad Buddha Province.
• Qin Jiuge confronted Li Xuanmiao for feasting while he waited at Sound of Dharma Temple, and Li Xuanmiao claimed he had been gathering intelligence about the province.
• Qin Jiuge and Li Xuanmiao rested for the night, then continued toward Tianyuan City.
• At a city tavern, Qin Jiuge and Li Xuanmiao saw a young woman pursued by men from the Evil Tiger Gang, who said her father had gambled her away.
• Li Xuanmiao watched with interest, while Qin Jiuge declined to intervene and said the abbess’s Karmic Entanglement was in Tianyuan City.

Qin Jiuge and Li Xuanmiao spotted the extraordinary young man Chu Hua and realized a staged rescue was meant to draw him in. Chu Hua ignored the performance and left the inn without helping the girl.

• Li Xuanmiao pointed out Chu Hua, and Qin Jiuge recognized him as someone connected to their target after his jade pendant reacted.
• Qin Jiuge and Li Xuanmiao noticed that the Evil Tiger Gang, the girl, and the inn’s guests were all part of an elaborate act to attract Chu Hua.
• The people staging the scene reassured one another when Qin Jiuge and Li Xuanmiao stayed out of it.
• Chu Hua ate his meal while reading, ignored the girl and the guests’ scolding, then rose and left.

Qin Jiuge and Li Xuanmiao realized that Chu He’s pursuit of Fortune had become entangled with the Qin Family’s subordinate forces. After Li Tianyuan ordered his men to keep manipulating Chu He before capturing him, Qin Jiuge left for Cihang Jingzhai.

• Qin Jiuge and Li Xuanmiao discussed how the people of Tianyuan City were coordinating their actions to trap Chu He.
• Li Tianyuan gave Chu He another half month before ordering his men to capture him, hoping to take his Fortune and enter the Qin Family’s inner circle.
• Qin Jiuge realized that Li Tianyuan and Chu He both came from forces subordinate to the Qin Family.
• Li Xuanmiao teased Qin Jiuge about choosing which side to support, and Qin Jiuge insisted that the matter should be settled through fair competition.
• Qin Jiuge lost interest in watching the situation and headed straight for Cihang Jingzhai.

Qin Jiuge obtained the Heart of the Great Dao from Cihang Jingzhai after agreeing to Shi Feiyu attending him, but the sect master used his name to settle her feud with the Li Family. Back at the Qin Family Ancestral Tomb, the Vermilion Bird Quasi-Emperor repaired its formation after receiving payment, and Qin Jiuge returned to the family residence to meet a sharp gaze.

• Qin Jiuge agreed to the master of Cihang Jingzhai's conditions and took the Heart of the Great Dao, but left Shi Feiyu behind.
• The master of Cihang Jingzhai used Qin Jiuge's name to arrange the destruction of the Li Family of Tianyuan City, and 3,476 family members were killed.
• Qin Jiuge returned to the Qin Family Ancestral Tomb with Li Xuanmiao and waited for the Vermilion Bird Quasi-Emperor.
• The Vermilion Bird Quasi-Emperor demanded payment before repairing the formation, and Qin Jiuge handed him a Storage Ring filled with treasures.
• After the formation was restored, Qin Jiuge returned to the Qin Family residence and was met by a sharp gaze.

Feng Ming summoned Qin Jiuge to help Li Changge, who faced growing opposition from Quasi-Emperor experts within the Sky Phoenix Dynasty. Li Changge rejected relying on Qin Jiuge and prepared to settle the dispute through a battle, while Qin Jiuge set off for Sky Phoenix City with Li Xuanmiao.

• Feng Ming told Qin Jiuge that Li Changge was being ostracized for defending him and asked him to help her.
• Qin Jiuge agreed to go to Sky Phoenix City and persuaded Li Xuanmiao to come by claiming he still owed him a favor.
• Li Changge's retainers urged her to seek the Qin Family's support as internal strife grew after the Sky Origin Dynasty fell.
• Li Changge refused Qin Jiuge's help and warned that anyone who opposed her decision would be expelled from her residence.
• Li Changge revealed that she had arranged a battle with the Sky Phoenix Quasi-Emperor and said her own Quasi-Emperor allies would stand with her.

Qin Jiuge arrived at the Eldest Princess's Residence to help Li Changge, prompting her retainers to believe their alliance had secured their position. Meanwhile, Sky Phoenix Quasi-Emperor and the Imperial Clan's Quasi-Emperors considered Qin Jiuge a threat but hesitated to confront him while the Great Emperors' relationship remained unclear.

• Qin Jiuge announced that he was outside the hall and offered to meet Li Changge, causing her retainers to celebrate his support.
• Qin Jiuge entered the hall and told Li Changge he had come to help; she insisted that his decision did not mean she owed him anything.
• Li Changge left, and Qin Jiuge followed her as the retainers interpreted their exchange as flirtation and grew confident in their combined strength.
• Li Changge complained to Qin Jiuge that his arrival had made her retainers take her less seriously, and he teased her before following her again.
• In the Sky Phoenix Dynasty's forbidden grounds, Sky Phoenix Quasi-Emperor and the Imperial Clan's Quasi-Emperors discussed Qin Jiuge's arrival and the possibility of killing him if he opposed them.
• The Quasi-Emperors acknowledged that the Qin Family's Great Emperor and the Sky Phoenix Dynasty's Great Emperor might be on friendly terms, so they held back from open conflict.

The Sky Phoenix Quasi-Emperor backed a struggle against the young members of the royal family, hoping to seize the Dragon of Fortune and strengthen the dynasty’s future prospects. As the decisive battle began, observers realized that its real stakes were control of the Sky Phoenix Dynasty, and Li Xuanmiao predicted that Li Changge would fight in person.

• The Sky Phoenix Quasi-Emperor urged the royal family’s Quasi-Emperors to fight the young generation and seek the Dragon of Fortune, while they confidently agreed.
• The factions gathered at an ancient battlefield outside Sky Phoenix City to watch the Sky Phoenix Royal Family’s decisive battle.
• Han Changsheng and Xu Lang discussed the conflict with Sikong Changfeng, who gave a terse reply.
• Xu Lang asked Li Xuanmiao whether Qin Jiuge or Li Changge would enter the battle, alone or together.
• Li Xuanmiao said Li Changge would fight because the contest would determine who controlled the Sky Phoenix Dynasty.

Li Changge confronted the Sky Phoenix Quasi-Emperor over the balance of power in the Sky Phoenix Dynasty and fought him on the ancient battlefield. As their inherited techniques clashed, Qin Jiuge predicted that the Quasi-Emperor would win, while Xu Lang misunderstood his reasoning and took pride in his own answer.

• Xu Lang passed off Li Xuanmiao's analysis as his own and received praise from the Rogue Cultivator Alliance.
• Qin Jiuge declined to fight and encouraged Li Changge to be careful as she stepped onto the ancient battlefield.
• Li Changge invoked the old clan rules against the Sky Phoenix Quasi-Emperor, who challenged her to prove her strength.
• The Sky Phoenix Quasi-Emperor and Li Changge summoned battlefield weapon fragments with their matching Heavenly Phoenix techniques and began clashing.
• Qin Jiuge told Xu Lang that the Sky Phoenix Quasi-Emperor was certain to win, then asked who would benefit him more from that outcome.
• Xu Lang concluded that Li Changge's victory would benefit the Qin Family and smugly praised his own insight.

Qin Jiuge explained to Xu Lang why Li Changge’s defeat could benefit the Qin Family, then quietly helped preserve Xu Lang’s pride before Sikong Changfeng. The chapter ended with Qin Jiuge recalling how Xu Lang had supported him in the past and explaining why he was willing to help him now.

• Xu Lang realized that Li Changge’s failure might benefit the Qin Family and asked Qin Jiuge to explain.
• Qin Jiuge said Li Changge was no ordinary woman, and Xu Lang blurted out that Qin Jiuge planned to devour her family line.
• Qin Jiuge told Xu Lang to prepare to lead the Rogue Cultivator Alliance, while Xu Lang insisted he had earned the position through his own talent.
• After Qin Jiuge removed the soundproof barrier, Xu Lang claimed to Sikong Changfeng that Qin Jiuge had only offered him guidance.
• Qin Jiuge sent Sikong Changfeng a voice transmission to stop him from exposing Xu Lang, then explained that Xu Lang had helped him before and deserved his support.

Qin Jiuge withheld his help as Li Changge fought the Sky Phoenix Quasi-Emperor for control of the Sky Phoenix Dynasty, and she was defeated. Li Changge left disappointed in Qin Jiuge, while Feng Ming, Sima Lang, and Wang Jian confronted him afterward.

• Sikong Changfeng mocked Qin Jiuge for failing to help Li Changge, while Qin Jiuge reasoned that her victory could threaten the Qin Family’s ambitions.
• Li Changge and the Sky Phoenix Quasi-Emperor clashed with their spears, and he urged her to admit defeat rather than risk damaging the imperial family.
• Li Changge refused to yield, so the Sky Phoenix Quasi-Emperor attacked at full strength and knocked her from the fight.
• Qin Jiuge caught Li Changge and promised to help her win back her honor next time, but she broke away and left disappointed.
• Feng Ming criticized Qin Jiuge for not helping Li Changge, while Sima Lang defended his choice and Wang Jian joked about Sima Lang taking his livelihood.

As Li Changge entered seclusion and the Sky Phoenix Dynasty’s power shifted, Wang Jian and Sima Lang sought refuge with Qin Jiuge, while Feng Ming secured her place as his personal maid. The group escaped aboard the Nine Phoenix Spirit Boat, but Wang Jian and Sima Lang turned their attention to its cabin.

• Sima Lang proposed that he and Wang Jian seek Qin Jiuge’s protection as their prospects in the Sky Phoenix Dynasty grew uncertain.
• Feng Ming asked Qin Jiuge not to abandon her, then accepted being his personal maid when he agreed to protect her.
• Wang Jian and Sima Lang ended their argument and agreed to rely on Qin Jiuge’s help.
• The Sky Phoenix Quasi-Emperor returned to find Li Changge’s Wutong Pavilion deserted, while the royal Quasi-Emperors explained that Li Changge had entered seclusion and warned him not to escalate matters.
• Qin Jiuge took Wang Jian and Sima Lang aboard the Nine Phoenix Spirit Boat as they left the Sky Phoenix Dynasty.
• Wang Jian and Sima Lang shifted their attention from the departing Quasi-Emperors to the spirit boat’s cabin.

Feng Ming misunderstood Qin Jiuge’s intentions when he took a strand of her hair to make a life token, then stayed in his cabin after the spirit boat jolted them together. By the next day, rumors about their relationship spread among the passengers as the Nine Phoenix Spirit Boat neared Qin Province.

• Feng Ming warned Qin Jiuge that she would not submit to him, but he teased her until she reluctantly said she would leave matters to him.
• Qin Jiuge plucked a strand of Feng Ming’s hair to make a life token so he could sense if she was in danger and come to her rescue.
• A powerful air current shook the Nine Phoenix Spirit Boat, and Feng Ming fell into Qin Jiuge’s arms before accusing him of taking advantage of her.
• Qin Jiuge opened the cabin door and told Feng Ming she could leave, but she hesitated and stayed.
• The next day, Sima Lang, Wang Jian, and the other passengers speculated that Feng Ming and Qin Jiuge had become intimate as the boat approached Qin Province.

After returning to the Qin Family, Qin Jiuge was caught in a misunderstanding that he and Feng Ming had spent the night together, while Feng Ming secretly regretted pushing him away. Qin Ming then pressed his son about why he had not started a family, leaving Qin Jiuge facing pressure to produce an heir.

• Feng Ming dressed up and regretted rejecting Qin Jiuge’s interest, but Qin Jiuge left the room without noticing her disappointment.
• The people aboard the spirit boat teased Qin Jiuge and assumed he had been intimate with Feng Ming after seeing her limp, though she had hurt her knee on the doorframe.
• Sima Lang and Wang Jian urged Qin Jiuge to treat Feng Ming gently, while he privately protested that he was innocent.
• Qin Jiuge and the others arrived at the Qin Family, where the household welcomed them and family members speculated about the supposed encounter with Feng Ming.
• Qin Ming took Qin Jiuge out to admire the moon and asked why he had not made a move on any of his wives.

Qin Jiuge and Qin Ming discussed the clan elders’ demands that Qin Jiuge produce heirs, but Qin Ming could offer no solution. After Qin Ming defended his son before the elders, they turned their attention to Qin Ming as a possible answer to the Qin Family’s concerns.

• Qin Jiuge and Qin Ming traded emotional performances before Qin Ming told his son to stop pretending and asked what he intended to do about the clan’s demands.
• Qin Jiuge said the matter could not be rushed, and Qin Ming failed to come up with a solution before letting him leave.
• Qin Ming explained Qin Jiuge’s burdens to the elders, arguing that the Qin Family needed its own path to the Great Emperor Realm rather than relying forever on Senior Azure Emperor.
• The elders reconsidered Qin Ming’s role in the family and suggested that he, instead of Qin Jiuge, could try producing heirs.

The Qin Family Elders pressured Qin Ming to help expand the family’s bloodline, and he reluctantly agreed, sparking a clan-wide push to prepare for pregnancy. Qin Jiuge felt relieved he had avoided the same fate, but Bing Qingqing then asked what he planned to do as the Divine Son.

• The Qin Family Elders persuaded Qin Ming that producing more descendants was his duty to the family’s legacy.
• Qin Ming relented, and the Elders declared him the model for the Qin Family’s plan to have everyone prepare for pregnancy.
• Several days later, rumors spread that Qin Ming had taken nearly eighteen concubines, while young Qin Family members worried the plan would disrupt their cultivation.
• Qin Jiuge heard the news and felt relieved he had not agreed to take part; Qin Run, Qin Wuchen, and Qin Shidi declined his offer to help them contribute.
• Bing Qingqing arrived after the three men left and shyly asked Qin Jiuge what he intended to do for the family’s legacy.

After enduring a month or two of passionate nights with Bing Qingqing and Lian Nishang, Qin Jiuge fled home to seek body-tempering methods and strengthen himself. He arrived in Myriad Buddha Province aboard the Sound of Dharma Temple’s Flying Divine Boat, where someone questioned why he needed another body-tempering method.

• Bing Qingqing invited Qin Jiuge to spend the night with her, and Lian Nishang later seized him and took him to her bedchamber.
• Qin Jiuge spent a month or two with the women and became visibly exhausted.
• Qin Run sent Qin Shidi to give Qin Jiuge Great Strength Tiger Demon King Pills, but Qin Jiuge made Qin Run and Qin Shidi swallow them instead.
• Qin Jiuge decided to leave home and seek body-tempering methods after the women wore him down.
• Qin Jiuge arrived above Myriad Buddha Province aboard the Sound of Dharma Temple’s Flying Divine Boat, where someone asked why the Glazed Golden Body Method and Crimson Hound Art were not enough.

Qin Jiuge pressed young monk Zhishan to reveal a stronger body-refining method, and Zhishan suggested entering the Demon Suppressing Pagoda. Qin Jiuge took Zhishan there and summoned Monk Miaokong and Mad Monk, leaving Zhishan with little hope of avoiding the joint cultivation.

• Young monk Zhishan told Qin Jiuge that Sound of Dharma Temple had no stronger body-refining technique unless Qin entered the Demon Suppressing Pagoda.
• Qin Jiuge accused Zhishan of misleading him before and proposed that they temper the Vajra Glazed Body Refining Method together.
• Qin Jiuge grabbed Zhishan and brought him to the Demon Suppressing Pagoda, where the Demon Subduing Great Array began to resonate with them.
• Zhishan tried to refuse, citing his responsibilities at Sound of Dharma Temple, but Qin Jiuge summoned Monk Miaokong and Mad Monk.
• Qin Jiuge offered Zhishan's companions the choice of letting Zhishan enter the pagoda with him or going in themselves, and Monk Miaokong urged Zhishan to accept.

Mad Monk agreed to let Monk Zhishan enter the Demon Suppressing Pagoda with Qin Jiuge so their temple’s ties with the Qin Family would endure. Qin Jiuge and Zhishan entered the sealed pagoda, discussed the possibility of facing a Half-step Great Emperor Realm demon, and encountered the first floor’s taunting ghosts.

• Abbot Miaokong offered Mad Monk the choice of entering the Demon Suppressing Pagoda himself or sending his disciple, and Mad Monk chose Monk Zhishan.
• Qin Jiuge and Monk Zhishan entered the Demon Suppressing Pagoda with bronze tokens as the Dragon-Severing Stone sealed the entrance behind them.
• Monk Zhishan warned Qin Jiuge that he would need to fight the demons on the later floors and raised the possibility of a Half-step Great Emperor Realm expert within the pagoda.
• Qin Jiuge insisted he could face such an expert and said they could withdraw with their tokens if necessary.
• Ghostly voices on the first floor threatened to devour the intruders, but Qin Jiuge and Monk Zhishan remained unfazed.

Young monk Zhishan and Qin Jiuge battled ghosts as they climbed the Demon Suppressing Pagoda, with Zhishan handling the lower floors and Qin Jiuge taking over from the fourth. Qin Jiuge’s Vajra Glazed Method began improving, and he realized the pagoda could help him reach a much higher level.

• Young monk Zhishan used Buddhist techniques to defeat the ghosts on the first floor, then relied on the Vajra Glazed Arhat Method as they continued upward.
• At the fourth floor, Zhishan withdrew and left Qin Jiuge to face the ghosts on his own.
• Qin Jiuge activated the Vajra Glazed Method and fought the ghosts, whose attacks helped his stalled body-tempering cultivation begin to improve.
• Qin Jiuge questioned Zhishan about why he had not sought his help sooner, and Zhishan explained that he had feared the danger posed by a Half-step Great Emperor Realm expert.
• Zhishan reflected that he had little choice but to cooperate because he was crucial to the Sound of Dharma Temple and did not yet have authority over it.