Chapter Summaries

Chen Lin met Alan to investigate Yun Xiumian’s Wooden Hairpin and learned that Yun Xiumian was likely real but had been taken by the Yellow Springs Scroll after entering the Nightmare Realm. Alan explained what she knew about Nightmare Realm projections and revealed that Wuzhen Tower belonged to the Joy Sect, whose Patriarch’s Split Soul remained in the Tianxuan Realm.

• Chen Lin showed Alan Yun Xiumian’s Wooden Hairpin and described encountering her in the Nightmare Realm.
• Alan joined the two hairpins and confirmed that Yun Xiumian was not a projection, then reasoned that the Yellow Springs Scroll had likely reclaimed her.
• Alan explained that the Nightmare Realm could create projections by splitting off part of a person, with potentially profound and irreversible consequences.
• Alan said Yun Xiumian had chosen Chen Lin to rescue her and returned the Wooden Hairpin to him.
• Alan revealed that Wuzhen Tower belonged to the Joy Sect and sustained the Joy Patriarch’s Split Soul by drawing on yin-yang power.

Chen Lin considered the danger of rescuing Yun Xiumian, refused Luo Qinglan’s suggestion that Yang Zishi become his concubine, and told her about his relationships in the Northern Star Realm. After ten years of cultivation, Chen Lin reached Golden Core Perfection as the people around him prepared for several risky breakthroughs.

• Chen Lin concluded that he could not rescue Yun Xiumian from the Xuanyin Great King without help from Niuniu or the strength of a Great Vehicle Practitioner.
• Luo Qinglan proposed that Yang Zishi become Chen Lin’s concubine, but Chen Lin refused and said Yang Zishi was free to stay or leave.
• Chen Lin told Luo Qinglan that he had taken Luo Xiaoyu as a disciple and that another woman in the Northern Star Realm had become his partner; Luo Qinglan accepted the news and asked about finding Qin Lingyu, Sun Caiyi, and Chen Ling'er.
• Chen Lin devoted himself to cultivation for ten years while Luo Qinglan prepared to attempt spirit transformation, Zhuge Hengyun planned the same breakthrough, and Mu Xingchen prepared to form his nascent soul.
• Yang Zishi finished purifying the Spirit Storage Bottle, and Chen Lin told her to cultivate while he prepared to refine a high-grade Seven-Star Pill for her.
• Chen Lin reached Golden Core Perfection and left the courtyard with the Spirit Storage Bottle.

After absorbing the purified origin essence, Chen Lin strengthened his talent, formed his Nascent Soul, and refined two powerful treasures. He then altered Mu Xingchen’s fate to give him a chance at advancement and rushed him to the Tribulation Platform.

• Chen Lin had Wutian Tai appraise the light orb remnants, then absorbed them over half a year and greatly strengthened his talent origin and Fate Screen.
• Chen Lin used his improved ability to refine a Nascent-Crossing Pill and found that he could briefly predict Nascent Soul formation.
• Chen Lin and Luo Qinglan agreed to advance in secluded locations; Chen Lin formed his Nascent Soul, while Luo Qinglan began preparing to establish the Qingyang Sect before her own breakthrough.
• Chen Lin renamed and refined the Imperial Prince Seal as the Xuantian Seal, refined the Thousand-Layer Armor, and assessed his growing combat strength.
• Chen Lin gave Mu Xingchen a Nascent-Crossing Pill, saw that his destiny still pointed toward failure, and used qi luck force and his Fate Tentacle to reconnect one broken line.
• After suffering a backlash, Chen Lin hurried Mu Xingchen to the Tribulation Platform.

Mu Xingchen survived his Ascension tribulation but suffered severe damage when Chen Lin suppressed the strange forces in his body. Later, Zhuge Hengyun died attempting Ascension, while Luo Qinglan established the Qingyang Sect and prepared for her own dangerous breakthrough.

• Mu Xingchen endured the golden lightning tribulation, but strange forces overwhelmed him during the inner demon tribulation until Chen Lin struck him with lightning and took him away to recover.
• Three months later, Luo Qinglan told Chen Lin that Mu Xingchen had stabilized but would need about a hundred years to recover, and she explained that worsening assimilation left her little choice but to attempt Ascension.
• Zhuge Hengyun rejected Chen Lin's warning, asked him and Luo Qinglan to look after his son if he died, and perished beneath the three-colored tribulation before reaching the inner demon tribulation.
• Three years later, Yang Zishi had achieved core formation, Mu Xingchen could move normally, and Luo Qinglan had reestablished the Qingyang Sect on a mountain with an upper-grade spiritual vein.
• Chen Lin recognized that Luo Qinglan's breakthrough was drawing near.

Luo Qinglan began the Nirvana Technique to break through, and Chen Lin watched anxiously as she transformed into a golden phoenix and plunged into a volcano. After the flames vanished, a blood-red chrysalis emerged and began to crack, leaving her fate uncertain.

• Luo Qinglan told Chen Lin she would attempt her breakthrough in three days and warned him to avoid the Nightmare Realm and take care of himself.
• Chen Lin gathered Grass, Mu Xingchen, Huang Liu, Ling Qianshan, and the hired Dao Rhyme Powerhouse Nie Cangqiong to guard Luo Qinglan at an erupting volcano.
• Luo Qinglan manifested Nirvana Fire, transformed into a golden phoenix, and plunged into the volcanic crater.
• Nie Cangqiong told Chen Lin that nirvana had a vanishingly small chance of success for someone at Luo Qinglan's level, but warned that interference would ruin the technique.
• The volcano's flames contracted into the crater, then a blood-red chrysalis wrapped in golden flame emerged and began to crack.

Chen Lin fought off Huo Qian when the fire phoenix tried to seize Luo Qinglan’s Vermilion Bird Feather, then discovered her remnant soul still existed within it. He left the chapter badly injured from using his fate ability to protect her fragile soul and began recovering while hoping to bring her back.

• Huo Qian attacked Luo Qinglan’s cocoon, but Nie Cangqiong wounded the fire phoenix and ordered him to leave.
• Luo Qinglan’s cocoon shattered, leaving only the Vermilion Bird Feather; Huo Qian tried to take it, and Chen Lin immobilized and killed him with the Thunder God Sword.
• Nie Cangqiong warned everyone to keep Huo Qian’s death secret, then Chen Lin searched the crater with Mu Xingchen and found nothing.
• Chen Lin and Mu Xingchen examined the feather but could not detect Luo Qinglan, so Chen Lin used the Vermilion Bird Feather with his fate ability and saw her faint remnant soul in the destiny river.
• Chen Lin moved the fate line near Luo Qinglan’s soul, suffered severe backlash, and told Mu Xingchen that her remnant soul was inside the feather before starting to recover.

Thirty years later, Chen Lin remained unable to restore Luo Qinglan’s remnant soul or find Qin Lingyu and the others, but he successfully broke through to spirit transformation. After returning to the Qingyang Sect, he found that his talent ability had not improved and considered the dangers of learning how to extract talent origins before taking out a statue.

• Chen Lin lamented Luo Qinglan’s fading remnant soul and the continued absence of Qin Lingyu and the others, then focused on consolidating his cultivation for a breakthrough.
• Chen Lin told Mu Xingchen he would travel to the Xuanyue Continent for Lan Ruxue’s ceremony and explained that Zhou Shiwu was searching for Nan Mochu and the Tavern Proprietress.
• Chen Lin underwent the spirit transformation tribulation with Huang Liu and Alan guarding him, while Ling Qianshan and Ling Qianxue watched from nearby.
• Chen Lin survived the three-color lightning tribulation and successfully returned to the spirit transformation realm, then declined invitations from representatives of various factions.
• Chen Lin returned to the Qingyang Sect and realized his talent ability had not improved, considered the risks of learning a talent-origin extraction method, and took out a statue.

Chen Lin finally refined Scholar after reaching the Spirit Transformation Realm and tested its power in the Wangyue Mountain Range. Scholar effortlessly killed a peak fifth-rank Double-Headed Giant Wolf, leaving Chen Lin amazed but unwilling to risk testing it against a rank six opponent.

• Chen Lin used his Primordial Spirit Power to refine Scholar's Artifact Spirit over the course of a month.
• Chen Lin traveled to the Wangyue Mountain Range and tested Scholar by having it kill a group of silver-tailed monkeys with a single sword strike.
• Chen Lin encountered a peak fifth-rank Double-Headed Giant Wolf, which trapped him in a Primordial Spirit Domain and attacked with a Rule Force blade.
• Scholar immobilized the wolf's blade and domain with its brush, then killed the wolf with its flying sword.
• Chen Lin collected the wolf's Remnant Soul, monster cores, and corpse, then ended his tests because Scholar's energy was nearly depleted and a rank six opponent would be too dangerous.

Chen Lin reunited with Zhou Shiwu and met Nan Mochu, who warned him that Qiu Mufan would eventually seek him out. Nan Mochu used Vermilion Bird essence blood to stabilize Luo Qinglan’s fading remnant soul, and Chen Lin urged Zhou Shiwu to attempt Core Formation before he left for the Xuanyue Continent.

• Chen Lin learned that the Liangyi Sect would depart for the Xuanyue Continent in one month and welcomed Zhou Shiwu, who had traveled from Disheng City using Chen Lin’s token.
• Nan Mochu arrived and explained that Qiu Mufan was a Dao Realization Realm expert who might come looking for Chen Lin because he had the Dragon Fish Goblet.
• Nan Mochu gave Chen Lin her Transmission Bead and asked him to notify her if Qiu Mufan contacted him.
• Chen Lin showed Nan Mochu the Vermilion Bird Feather containing Luo Qinglan’s fading remnant soul, and Nan Mochu used a drop of Vermilion Bird essence blood to stabilize it.
• Chen Lin saw Luo Qinglan’s destiny fish grow more solid, then summoned Zhou Shiwu and urged him to attempt Core Formation before Chen Lin’s departure.

After securing Luo Qinglan’s recovery and leaving safeguards in place at Qingyang Sect, Chen Lin attended an underground trading convention before his trip to Moon Reflection Palace. There, he recognized a withered piece of true soul wood as resembling the Black Staff he had found in the Land of Divine Beings.

• Zhou Shiwu successfully achieved Ascension, and Chen Lin accepted him as his second formal disciple.
• Chen Lin entrusted Luo Qinglan’s recovery to Mu Xingchen, left Grass at Qingyang Sect, and gave Mu Xingchen instructions for seeking help if trouble arose.
• Chen Lin changed his appearance and entered an underground trading convention, where Sun Tianfu began the proceedings.
• Sun Tianfu offered a withered piece of true soul wood for five hundred spirit crystals, claiming it might still contain true soul origin.
• Chen Lin noticed the wood resembled the Black Staff from the Land of Divine Beings and listened as a cultivator asked Sun Tianfu to explain true soul origin.

Chen Lin traveled from Liangyi City to Moon Reflection City for the grand ceremony and was assigned to help receive visitors. His first patrol dispute involved a monk named Nian Kong accusing a young woman of being a fox demon, leaving Chen Lin to judge the conflict.

• Sun Tianfu failed to sell the true soul wood, then auctioned Yuan-Enhancing Pills and a spirit treasure before opening the convention to private trades.
• A White-Robed Youth named Qiu persuaded the convention's proprietor, Fellow Daoist Hua, to give him information about cultivators whose souls could not be probed.
• Chen Lin joined the Liangyi Sect's teleportation convoy and traveled with Ling Qianshan, Ling Qianxue, and other cultivators to Moon Reflection City.
• Chen Lin visited Murong Qing, who assigned him to patrol a street and oversee six Nascent Soul Cultivators.
• Chen Lin intervened when a young woman accused Nian Kong of using a soul-bewitching method to abduct her; Nian Kong claimed she was a fox demon he had tracked, and Chen Lin recognized his Dharma name.

Chen Lin enforced Moon Reflection City's rules after the Old Monk compensated Hu Qingxia, then recognized the black-robed man as the Umbrella-Wielding Manikin who had once pursued him. When Han Qingxue confronted the man, a White-Robed Youth intervened and identified him as a Qiu Clan servant, leaving Chen Lin wary of the Soulless Sect and the Qiu Clan.

• Chen Lin ordered the Old Monk to compensate Hu Qingxia for fighting in the city, and the monk gave her a Calming Bead before leaving.
• Hu Qingxia thanked Chen Lin, discarded the bead, and departed; Chen Lin told his subordinate to hand it over to their superiors.
• Chen Lin stopped a black-robed man, recognized him as the Umbrella-Wielding Manikin, and accused him of carrying a Celestial Demon's aura.
• The black-robed man broke free of Chen Lin's formation restraints with his Black Umbrella, but Han Qingxue seized him after pulling him back from the void.
• A White-Robed Youth intervened and said the black-robed man was a Qiu Clan servant who had left the Sin Army, while the Soulless Sect's secret art kept his demonization under control.

Chen Lin encountered Qiu Musheng of the Soulless Sect and was reassigned to the Teleportation Hall, where he reunited with True Lord Wanmeng. True Lord Wanmeng told him that several Lower Realm cultivators had ascended, but he had no news of Silver Fairy beyond a possible clue about Silver Immortal City.

• Qiu Musheng persuaded Han Qingxue to let his subordinate go, and Han reassigned Chen Lin to the Teleportation Hall.
• Chen Lin waited at the Teleportation Hall for familiar faces until the Myriad Aspects Sect arrived and he recognized True Lord Wanmeng.
• Chen Lin and True Lord Wanmeng left together and exchanged news about their lives in the Upper Realm.
• True Lord Wanmeng told Chen Lin that Hundred Flowers Fairy, Jin Xingyun, and Dantai Yunjin had ascended, while Lord Qing and Zhuge Hengyun had perished.
• True Lord Wanmeng said he had not seen Silver Fairy, but had heard of a Silver Island and Silver Immortal City in the Myriad Star Archipelago.

Chen Lin discussed the Central Continent and Nightmare Realm exploration with True Lord Wanmeng, then considered relocating to Central City to escape Qiu Musheng and reunite with old companions. After Chen Lin reported his encounter with a skeletal alchemist to Lan Ruxue, she rewarded him with a Godly Profound Fruit and offered to help him refine it.

• True Lord Wanmeng told Chen Lin about the harsh Myriad Star Archipelago, the prosperous but fiercely competitive Central Continent, and the resources he had gained from Nightmare Realm exploration.
• Chen Lin considered joining True Lord Wanmeng in exploring the Nightmare Realm and traveling with Luo Qinglan to Central City, but decided to gather more information before committing.
• Murong Qing summoned Chen Lin to meet Lan Ruxue, who warned him not to return to the Holy Domain after a major upheaval.
• Chen Lin described losing the Boundary-Breaking Disc in the Jingguang Realm and encountering a skeletal old man who captured otherworldly creatures to refine pills.
• Lan Ruxue accepted Chen Lin's detailed records of the Jingguang Realm and rewarded him with an initial-profound Godly Profound Fruit, which he swallowed so she could help refine it.

Chen Lin used the fruit Lan Ruxue gave him to advance from early to mid Spirit Transformation, then learned that Daoist Destiny had warned his fate-altering ability could bring backlash. The next morning, Daoist Destiny had already left, and Murong Qing cautioned Chen Lin to use his talent less as she took him to the ceremony grounds.

• Lan Ruxue guided Chen Lin through refining the fruit’s energy, helping him break through to mid Spirit Transformation and advising him to avoid cultivation pills for a year.
• Murong Qing asked Chen Lin to help at the ceremony the next day after noticing his increased cultivation.
• Daoist Destiny told Chen Lin that influencing others’ destinies could change his own, then left without explaining further.
• Chen Lin went to Murong Qing the next morning hoping to question Daoist Destiny, but learned he had already departed after performing a divination for Lan Ruxue.
• Murong Qing explained Daoist Destiny’s divinations always came true and warned that fate backlash had ruined his chance to ascend and damaged his body.
• Chen Lin promised to use his talent ability cautiously, and Murong Qing took him and several disciples to the ceremony grounds.

Chen Lin attended the Moon Reflection Palace’s grand ceremony, where he met White Dove, now a favored descendant of a Great Vehicle practitioner from the Rainbow Realm. As the ceremony ended, Qiu Musheng learned more about Chen Lin’s past and was told not to act rashly against him.

• Chen Lin asked Murong Qing about Qiu Musheng and decided to focus on reaching the Central Continent rather than seek help against him.
• During the three-day ceremony, Chen Lin met Li Chenshui, discussed his promotion to mid Spirit Transformation, and built connections with powerful cultivators.
• On the third day, a Great Vehicle practitioner from the Rainbow Realm arrived, and Lan Ruxue unexpectedly asked Chen Lin to welcome the guests.
• Qiu Musheng told a Great Elder that Chen Lin might be connected to true soul wood and Qiu Daoli, and the Great Elder urged him to hold off because Chen Lin had ties to Lan Ruxue.
• Chen Lin reunited with White Dove, learned she was the Great Vehicle practitioner’s only direct descendant, and heard that her father had died after failing to ascend.
• White Dove invited Chen Lin to visit the Rainbow Continent after the planes fused, while Chen Lin said he would leave Moon Reflection City after the ceremony.

After Lan Ruxue’s discourse on the Dao, Chen Lin prepared to travel to the Central Continent with Holy Monarch Bai Yuandu’s party and arranged for Ling Qianshan to send a coded letter to the Qingyang Sect. Qiu Musheng then confronted him and asked whether he possessed the true soul wood and the Rainbow Fan.

• Lan Ruxue delivered a half-day discourse on the Dao that helped Chen Lin stabilize his cultivation and prompted many cultivators to break through.
• Chen Lin told True Lord Wanmeng he would travel to the Central Continent with the Holy Monarch’s party rather than use the Myriad Aspects Sect’s Teleportation Passage.
• Chen Lin arranged his departure with White Dove and gathered supplies while asking about the Soulless Sect.
• Chen Lin gave Ling Qianshan a coded letter for Mu Xingchen and left without returning to Liangyi City.
• Qiu Musheng stopped Chen Lin, formed a Soundproofing Formation, and asked whether he had the true soul wood and the Rainbow Fan.

Chen Lin escaped Qiu Musheng’s suspicion by giving him a Rainbow Fan rib, and Murong Qing secured him a valuable ancient beast core before warning him about the Soulless Sect. He traveled with White Dove and Bai Yuandu to Central City, where he parted from the group and headed to meet True Lord Wanmeng, only to spot the ubiquitous Wuzhen Tower.

• Chen Lin resisted Qiu Musheng’s Heart-Seizing Art, handed over a Rainbow Fan rib, and summoned Murong Qing, who intervened and accepted a Rank Seven golden essence mouse core as compensation.
• Murong Qing warned Chen Lin to avoid provoking the Soulless Sect and encouraged him to maintain his connection with White Dove; Chen Lin later received White Dove’s message that the group was departing.
• Chen Lin joined White Dove, Bai Yuandu, and their powerful companions, then traveled with them through Bai Yuandu’s intact Boundary-Breaking Disc to Central City.
• Bai Yuandu met City Lord Wei Duxing, while Chen Lin collected an Identity Token and left the group to seek out True Lord Wanmeng in the Outer City.
• Chen Lin flew to the eastern Outer City and noticed an enormous pleasure ship bearing the name Wuzhen Tower.

Chen Lin reunited with Hundred Flowers Fairy, True Lord Wanmeng, Jin Xingyun, and Dantai Yunjin in Central City, where they caught up at Hundred Flowers Fairy’s residence. He warned Jin Xingyun against entering the Immortal Stele and revealed that bloodline powers and talent abilities were resurrection seeds left by powerful beings.

• Chen Lin greeted his old companions and eased the awkwardness over their differing cultivation levels by asking Jin Xingyun to call him Elder Brother.
• Hundred Flowers Fairy led Chen Lin and the others to her flower-filled courtyard, where he reunited with Shang Xuelian and explained that Luo Qinglan was recovering from serious injuries.
• The group shared news from their past, and Hundred Flowers Fairy learned that Lord Qing and Zhuge had died.
• Jin Xingyun asked whether the Immortal Stele offered inheritances, and Chen Lin warned that its trial could destroy the souls of those who failed.
• Chen Lin explained that bloodline powers and talent abilities were resurrection seeds left by powerful beings, and Hundred Flowers Fairy confirmed she had heard similar claims.

Chen Lin reunited with Jin Xingyun and the others, offered to refine pills to help them ascend, and discussed the approaching fusion of the Tianxuan Day Plane. He learned that Hundred Flowers Fairy feared her past-life memories would erase her identity, gave her a portrait and a lead to investigate, and obtained her spirit wine brewing inheritance.

• Chen Lin told Jin Xingyun that the bloodline drawback was difficult to resolve and discussed the imminent fusion of the Tianxuan Day Plane with the group.
• Jin Xingyun, Shang Xuelian, and Dantai Yunjin learned Chen Lin could refine Ending Hostility Pills for them if they covered the material costs.
• Chen Lin showed Hundred Flowers Fairy a portrait, and she revealed that she suspected she was a reincarnated mighty figure whose memories might overwhelm her when she reached Void Refinement.
• Hundred Flowers Fairy said she could not stop her cultivation from advancing, and she removed her veil briefly to leave a trace of her own identity.
• Chen Lin gave Hundred Flowers Fairy the portrait and the location of the Good Fortune Ruins, and she gave him a Jade Slip containing her spirit wine brewing inheritance and insights.