Chapter Summaries

Island-Moving Venerable and the other Spirit Transformation cultivators struggled against the Great Array, while Gongzhi Yang and Solitary Cold True Lord watched from beyond its spatial seal. Gongzhi Yang found the hidden palace at the array’s core and began simulating its nodes to locate a weak point, hoping to use the trapped cultivators’ strength to reach its treasures.

• The two divine-beast puppets shattered the Spirit Transformation cultivators’ joint attack, badly weakening their incarnations and injuring Island-Moving Venerable.
• Island-Moving Venerable proposed that one or more cultivators self-destruct to tear open the sealed space, but the others refused to sacrifice themselves without compensation.
• Venerable Tianzhao noticed the two Demon Venerables had vanished, and Island-Moving Venerable concluded that the array had captured their incarnations.
• Gongzhi Yang and Solitary Cold True Lord revealed that they had escaped through the spatial seal using Chaos Law Origin and watched the trapped cultivators from a fold in the void.
• Gongzhi Yang identified the divine beasts as formation puppets and discovered the ancient hall guarded by the array’s strange divine sense at its core.
• Gongzhi Yang and Solitary Cold True Lord simulated the array’s shifting nodes to search for a weak point, while Gongzhi Yang resolved to rely on the trapped cultivators to break the deadlock.

Gongzhi Yang secretly tampered with the Great Array, allowing the Spirit Transformation cultivators to break into its core and attack the strange divine sense. The divine sense detonated itself and the formation, destroying the ancient palace and nearly everyone there; Solitary Cold True Lord lost his Dharma body while Gongzhi Yang survived.

• The strange divine sense searched for the missing Demon Venerable incarnations, then unleashed a dragon-and-phoenix axe that blasted Island-Moving Venerable and the other Spirit Transformation cultivators.
• Gongzhi Yang found a core formation node and used spatial power to make it ripple, creating an apparent weakness in the Great Array.
• Island-Moving Venerable rallied the cultivators to the rippling spot, and several of them self-detonated to tear open a rift through the formation.
• Island-Moving Venerable and the remaining cultivators entered the core, attacked the unprotected strange divine sense, and gained the upper hand.
• As Solitary Cold True Lord and Gongzhi Yang approached the ancient palace, the strange divine sense detonated itself and the formation, annihilating the palace, Island-Moving Venerable, and the other cultivators.
• Solitary Cold True Lord shielded Gongzhi Yang from the blast, losing his Dharma body while Gongzhi Yang's remained intact.

Gongzhi Yang searched the spatial turbulence for treasures lost from the Secret Realm while Cheng Buzheng used the Heaven's Fortune Copper Coins to calculate an approximate search area. Meanwhile, Island-Moving Venerable learned that the incarnations had perished, abandoned the search for the lost Law Spiritual Items, and joined the other Spirit Transformation cultivators in summoning the juniors from the Secret Realm.

• Gongzhi Yang realized the turtle shell and Law Spiritual Items might have survived the spatial torrent, then entered the spatial turbulence to search for them.
• A mysterious figure reflected that the disaster had crippled the Spirit Transformation incarnations and delayed the human experts, serving the Progenitor's resurrection plan, before disappearing.
• After searching unsuccessfully near the Secret Realm, Gongzhi Yang relied on Cheng Buzheng's calculations to search a broader area of the spatial turbulence.
• Cheng Buzheng repeatedly used the Heaven's Fortune Copper Coins to calculate an approximate location, while Gongzhi Yang used the outside world to orient himself before reentering the turbulence.
• Island-Moving Venerable learned what happened to his incarnation, concluded the lost Law Spiritual Items were not worth searching for, and told several Spirit Transformation cultivators about the events and compensation.
• Island-Moving Venerable and the other Spirit Transformation cultivators combined their law-light and poured it into the spatial vortex to summon the juniors from the Secret Realm.

After the Secret Realm’s guidance activated early, cultivators began leaving while Cheng Buzheng entered the spatial turbulence to search for the moving tortoise shell. The returning cultivators reunited with the Spirit Transformation venerables, who learned of their losses and Island-Moving Venerable promised compensation.

• True Lord Mingxiang and True Lord Lei Zhong activated their Jade Talismans and left the Secret Realm, while the Divine Baleful Old Devil’s and Venerable Tianzhao’s divine-sense incarnations did the same.
• When his Jade Talisman activated, Gongzhi Yang chose to remain long enough to search for the tortoise shell, then met Cheng Buzheng’s true body and departed after Cheng Buzheng reclaimed his power.
• Cheng Buzheng used the Heaven's Fortune Copper Coins to locate the tortoise shell, then hurried into the spatial turbulence near the Cloud Sea Region to search for it.
• Cultivators from the three alliances returned above the shattered island, and their departing powers entered the waiting Spirit Transformation old monsters, revealing what had happened in the Secret Realm.
• Island-Moving Venerable promised compensation, while Divine Baleful Intent Old Devil and other venerables remarked that his avatar had also been lost, drawing amused looks from their fellow cultivators.

The Spirit Transformation Ancestors inspected the Nascent Soul cultivators’ belongings and punished those who had hidden or consumed treasures from the Secret Realm. After the compensation for lost incarnations was settled, Venerable Zongbao asked Island-Moving Venerable to postpone an earlier agreement with the Demon Race while she sought the missing Solitary Cold True Lord and coveted his techniques.

• True Lord Mingxiang gave Venerable Zongbao both her own Storage Bag and the Sea Suppressing Alliance’s Secret Realm harvest for inspection, and Venerable Zongbao returned them after taking several Spirit Medicines.
• Divine Baleful Old Devil searched a Devil Master’s soul, then swallowed his mindless Nascent Soul for consuming a Secret Realm treasure against orders.
• Blood Sea Old Devil pursued Blood Stele True Lord, killed him, and then inspected the Blood Fiend Gate cultivators’ belongings.
• Gongzhi Yang explained that his sparse possessions came from an old poison and the cost of treating his injuries, so Blood Sea Old Devil returned his Storage Bags and ordered him to watch cultivators who had accepted a Dharma decree.
• Island-Moving Venerable, Venerable Tianzhao, and the other human Spirit Transformation Ancestors paid the agreed compensation for the incarnations lost in the Secret Realm.
• Venerable Zongbao asked Island-Moving Venerable to seek a delay to the agreement with the Demon Race, hoping to find Solitary Cold True Lord and obtain his sealing and movement techniques.

Island-Moving Venerable agreed to discuss delaying retaliation against the Purgatory Race with Demon Venerable Nether Sea, while Cheng Buzheng discovered that a Profound Water Heavenly Crystal from the secret realm was fake. Back at the Sea Suppressing Alliance, Venerable Zongbao investigated Solitary Cold True Lord and began piecing together the hidden scheme behind his actions.

• Island-Moving Venerable agreed to visit Demon Venerable Nether Sea to discuss postponing the alliance’s retaliation against the Purgatory Race, while telling the other Spirit Transformation cultivators not to delay their preparations.
• Cheng Buzheng found a black crystal in the spatial turbulence and identified it as a Profound Water Heavenly Crystal, but it shattered in his hand and led him to suspect the secret realm’s treasures were fake.
• True Lord Mingxiang and Ji Longzi told the alliance cultivators that the secret realm had contained no Mind-Nourishing Flowers, prompting Ji Longzi to warn those holding Thought-Severing Powder to sell it before the news spread.
• Venerable Zongbao learned that Solitary Cold True Lord’s mark in the Heaven-Peering Mirror had been unusual, but found his quiet room empty and its traces thoroughly erased.
• Venerable Zongbao questioned True Lord Hanyue about Solitary Cold True Lord’s recent actions, then connected the clues to a damaged soul origin, soul-type Spirit Medicine, Thought-Severing Powder, Old Daoist Zeyi, and Gongzhi Yang as she began investigating the hidden figure behind the scheme.

Venerable Zongbao visited Blood Sea Old Devil in Heavenly Demon City, claiming she wanted an alliance and to find compatible Dao companions for her disciples while secretly investigating Gongzhi Yang. Cheng Buzheng’s dharma body passed her examination without revealing its connection to Solitary Cold True Lord, leaving Venerable Zongbao’s suspicions dispelled and the identity usable.

• Venerable Zongbao proposed a partnership with Blood Sea Old Devil and suggested a marriage alliance between their disciples.
• Blood Sea Old Devil summoned several Nascent Soul disciples, but Venerable Zongbao rejected them as incompatible with her disciples’ cultivation arts.
• Blood Sea Old Devil summoned Gongzhi Yang, and Venerable Zongbao examined his body and found no sign of law-origin power.
• Venerable Zongbao rejected Gongzhi Yang as a match, apologized to Blood Sea Old Devil, and left the Demon Alliance headquarters.
• Cheng Buzheng revealed that he had withdrawn the source of laws from Gongzhi Yang’s dharma body so Venerable Zongbao would not discover his true identity.

Venerable Zongbao summoned Old Daoist Zeyi to question him about Solitary Cold True Lord’s disappearance and inspect the strange poison that had damaged his soul origin. She confirmed the poison matched Gongzhi Yang’s injury but declined to remove it, saying it would fade on its own in about fifty years.

• Venerable Zongbao arrived at Immortal Alliance City and asked the alliance to summon True Lord Ze Yi.
• Old Daoist Zeyi recalled giving away treasures to his fellow disciples and was then escorted to meet Venerable Zongbao.
• Venerable Zongbao questioned Old Daoist Zeyi about his dealings with Solitary Cold True Lord, and he explained that they had met during the Abandoned Mansion expedition and had not met again afterward.
• Venerable Zongbao claimed Solitary Cold True Lord had stolen an alliance treasure, then used that explanation to examine Old Daoist Zeyi’s damaged soul origin.
• Venerable Zongbao found the same stubborn spiritual poison that afflicted Gongzhi Yang and told Old Daoist Zeyi it would take about fifty years to dissipate, declining to remove it because the cost was too great.

Venerable Zongbao reconsidered her search for the Spirit Transformation cultivator while the return of the alliance powers overturned the markets for soul-type Spirit Medicine and [Thought-Severing Powder]. The price collapse ruined hoarding sects and clans, drove the Myriad Phenomena Sect's Sect Master to flee, and triggered a widespread bounty hunt for him.

• Venerable Zongbao concluded that her suspicions about Gongzhi Yang and True Lord Ze Yi were mistaken and wondered how to resume tracing the Spirit Transformation cultivator.
• Cultivators learned that the Secret Realm held no [Mind-Nourishing Flower], sending soul-type Spirit Medicine prices soaring while [Thought-Severing Powder] prices crashed.
• The Changyang Sect Master feared his sect was ruined by its [Thought-Severing Powder] losses, but a steward reminded him that selling their soul-type Spirit Medicines could limit the damage.
• The Myriad Phenomena Sect's Sect Master erased and replaced his Soul Lamp's imprint, then fled with the lamp to evade his Ancestor.
• Cultivators discussed the Wang Immortal Clan's impending bankruptcy and the bounty on the fugitive former Myriad Phenomena Sect Sect Master, whose six disciples had been killed by the Ancestor.

Cheng Buzheng found the refined turtle shell he needed in the spatial turbulence, then returned home and reunited with his Dharma body, completing his True Spirit. He planned to refine the [Luo River Turtle Shell] before preparing for a breakthrough and began the work at the Earth Fire Chamber.

• Cheng Buzheng found and collected a refined turtle shell in the spatial turbulence, then calculated the locations of other law-based Spiritual Items and learned that the [Ancient Forbidden Abyss] remained unknown to him.
• Gongzhi Yang created a Soul Puppet with his appearance and aura, transferred his Storage Bag to it, and returned to Cheng Buzheng.
• Cheng Buzheng reunited with Gongzhi Yang and felt his True Spirit become complete, deciding to refine the [Luo River Turtle Shell] before preparing to break through to the middle Spirit Transformation stage.
• Cheng Buzheng sent a Sound Transmission Talisman to his wife’s Quiet Room, but received no response because she was in deep meditation.
• Cheng Buzheng went to the Earth Fire Chamber in Ping'an City and began refining the [Luo River Turtle Shell].

Island-Moving Venerable visited Demon Venerable Nether Sea to discuss delaying the human and demon races’ joint counterattack against the Purgatory Race after human cultivators suffered severe losses in a Secret Realm. Nether Sea agreed in principle, and the two established a mutual pledge against unauthorized attacks in each other’s territory.

• Ao Xuan and the Golden Flood Dragon Imperial Guard intercepted Island-Moving Venerable, recognized him, and escorted him to a palace at sea while Nether Sea was summoned.
• Island-Moving Venerable and Nether Sea agreed that the planned counterattack should be postponed until their weakened seniors and cultivators recovered, and Nether Sea said he would consult the other Demon Venerables.
• Island-Moving Venerable asked whether Nether Sea knew anything about cultivator Gu Jue, but Nether Sea had no records of him.
• Island-Moving Venerable showed Nether Sea the disguised forms of two Demon Venerables who had infiltrated the Secret Realm, and Nether Sea denied that they were his incarnations and promised to investigate.
• Island-Moving Venerable and Nether Sea pledged to respond if members of either race launched a large-scale attack in the other’s territory, then Island-Moving Venerable departed.
• Nether Sea wondered who the disguised Demon Venerables were and said he would warn the clans at their assembly before returning to his clan.

After six months, Cheng Buzheng completed the Luo River Heavenly Book, whose manifestation stirred the Spirit Energy across Ping'an City. He reunited with Murong Wanwan and explained the treasure’s costs and limits, leaving her to cultivate while she agreed not to use it to protect the younger generation before reaching the Spirit Transformation realm.

• A giant turtle phantom appeared over Ping'an City as Spirit Energy surged, and Uncle Wenlin identified the phenomenon as a sign of Ancestor Cheng Buzheng’s breakthrough or treasure refinement.
• Murong Wanwan emerged from seclusion and received Cheng Buzheng’s message that he had succeeded in refining his treasure.
• Cheng Buzheng opened the cauldron in Artifact Refining Chamber Jia No. 1 and obtained the jade-like Luo River Turtle Shell, also called the Luo River Heavenly Book.
• Cheng Buzheng returned home, reunited with Murong Wanwan, and celebrated his advancement with her.
• Murong Wanwan asked to borrow the treasure and learn Supreme Unity Six-Line Divine Calculation, but Cheng Buzheng refused, explaining the art’s difficulty and lifespan cost below Spirit Transformation.
• Cheng Buzheng advised Murong Wanwan to let the clan’s younger generation rely on themselves, and she agreed while insisting they still help Ping'an.

Cheng Buzheng divined the prospects of his coming breakthrough, then spent years restoring and deepening his law comprehension through meditation and Spirit Medicine. Seven years later, he stopped his prolonged cultivation with his Chaos Law comprehension restored to its previous peak but not yet advanced to the Second Realm.

• Cheng Buzheng asked Murong Wanwan to guard him while he began preparing for a breakthrough in the Quiet Room.
• Cheng Buzheng used the [Luo River Turtle Shell] repeatedly to divine his prospects and concluded that five signs of great fortune meant his breakthrough should proceed smoothly.
• Cheng Buzheng entered the sea of law origins and comprehended Chaos Law, using soul-type Spirit Medicine to restore his depleted mental strength.
• Cheng Buzheng saw his Chaos Law comprehension return to 77 particles, the level he had reached at his peak, and resolved to keep cultivating toward the Second Realm.
• Cheng Buzheng continued comprehending laws and replenishing his mental strength with Spirit Medicine for seven years before finally stopping.

Cheng Buzheng completed his comprehension of all 365 Chaos Law essences and spent years refining a way to apply them as he pursued the Law Rune Realm. After perfecting [Chaos Strike] by combining all 365 essences, he absorbed the Light Screen’s resulting insight, but his breakthrough remained unresolved.

• Cheng Buzheng completed the final Chaos Law essence, reaching the peak of the First Realm, and recognized that he needed to enter the Law Rune Realm to advance to the middle Spirit Transformation stage.
• Cheng Buzheng used soul-type Spirit Medicine to restore his spiritual strength and began developing ways to apply the Chaos Law without relying on the Small Plate.
• Cheng Buzheng tested his crude [Chaos Strike] in an [Illusory World Art] Light Screen and found that it had grown strong enough to defeat three of his former selves.
• Cheng Buzheng spent ten years improving [Chaos Strike], using simulated Spirit Transformation experts as opponents while integrating his insights into the technique.
• Cheng Buzheng unleashed a [Chaos Strike] combining all 365 Chaos Law essences, shattered the Light Screen, and absorbed the light that entered his glabella.

Cheng Buzheng broke through into the Law Rune Realm, manifesting a vast celestial phenomenon over Ping'an City that convinced his descendants he was a powerful Spirit Transformation cultivator. After three days of preparation, he began attempting to advance from the early to the middle stage of Spirit Transformation, and his body transformed into a Chaos Rune surrounded by Law particles.

• Cheng Buzheng reflected on the limits of his illusory battle and began comprehending how to enter the Law Rune Realm.
• After years of contemplation, Cheng Buzheng's breakthrough triggered a star-filled celestial phenomenon above Ping'an City, where 365 chaotic celestial bodies appeared.
• Murong Wanwan guarded Cheng Buzheng's quiet chamber while his descendants watched the spectacle and guessed that their Ancestor was a peak Spirit Transformation powerhouse.
• Cheng Buzheng condensed the 365 celestial bodies into a Chaos Rune and confirmed that his Chaos Law had reached the Rune Realm.
• Cheng Buzheng meditated for three days, then began his middle-stage breakthrough, transforming into a Chaos Rune as two Law particles orbited it.

Cheng Buzheng’s breakthrough caused another vast celestial phenomenon as a new Dharma Body formed from law particles, worrying Murong Wanwan and Cheng Ping'an until it dissipated. After examining his strengthened body and divine sense, Cheng Buzheng began tempering his magic power to complete his advance into the mid-stage Spirit Transformation realm.

• Spirit Energy surged through the Secret Realm, and two Cheng Immortal Clan cultivators recognized the disturbance as resembling Cheng Buzheng’s earlier breakthrough phenomena.
• Cheng Ping'an emerged from seclusion at the late Golden Core stage and reassured Murong Wanwan while they waited outside Cheng Buzheng’s Quiet Room.
• A vast phantom of Cheng Buzheng appeared above Ping'an Immortal City, addressed the clan descendants, and dissolved into motes of light.
• Inside the Quiet Room, law particles formed Cheng Buzheng’s dark-golden skeleton, organs, meridians, and new fleshly body.
• Cheng Buzheng inspected his strengthened Dharma Body and divine sense, then began tempering his magic power with the origin of laws.

After three years of seclusion, Cheng Buzheng emerged having reached the middle stage of Spirit Transformation and reunited with Murong Wanwan and Cheng Ping'an. He warned Ping'an not to inquire into Spirit Transformation cultivation and agreed to hold a private family celebration while keeping his breakthrough secret from the major sects.

• Cheng Buzheng finished refining his magic power, confirmed his Spirit Transformation Realm middle-stage cultivation, and decided to postpone refining the Wood Law origin in the Spirit Medicine King.
• Cheng Buzheng left the Quiet Room and reunited with Murong Wanwan while Cheng Ping'an awkwardly watched.
• Cheng Buzheng confirmed his breakthrough and told Cheng Ping'an that learning about Spirit Transformation cultivation before reaching that realm could harm his future cultivation.
• Cheng Buzheng explained that he had to conceal his breakthrough from the major sects and agreed to celebrate privately with his family.
• Cheng Buzheng and Murong Wanwan set the family celebration for September twenty-second, and Cheng Buzheng then sent Cheng Ping'an away and invited his wife to rest.

A level-four emergency summons drew Cheng Immortal Clan descendants from markets across the cultivation world back toward the Great Zhou Dynasty, while preparations for Cheng Buzheng’s banquet continued in Ping'an City. Some descendants hurried home, but one man chose to pursue an opportunity involving an Abandoned Mansion first.

• At Spirit Mountain Market, Cheng Wentai discovered a level-four emergency message ordering him to return to the clan before September 22, so he and his wife departed by flying boat.
• In Gan Kingdom, an elderly cultivator and his grandson Fo Quan escaped watchers, then ambushed and killed the robbery cultivators pursuing them; the grandfather gave Fo Quan a Talisman Treasure for protection.
• A Cheng clan descendant in Bright Luo Kingdom hesitated between returning by the deadline and exploring an Abandoned Mansion with Fellow Daoist Fei, then chose to pursue the opportunity first.
• Across the Secret Realm, clan members prepared for Cheng Buzheng’s banquet, Cheng Ping'an bought precious Spirit Fruits, and more relatives returned to Ping'an City.

Cheng Ping'an ordered Cheng Qingyang's branch to prepare six performances for the Ancestor's celebration banquet, then learned that several younger clan members had ignored a Level Four Emergency Summons. He sent Cheng Qingyao and the Enforcement Hall to punish them, and the captured offenders were settled in Cheng Family Fort after their cultivation was crippled and memories erased.

• Cheng Qingyang scolded his son because several descendants had refused to return despite the clan's Level Four Emergency Summons.
• Cheng Ping'an told Cheng Qingyang's branch to provide six eye-catching performances at the Ancestor's banquet, and Cheng Qingyang reluctantly accepted.
• Cheng Qingyang admitted that several juniors had ignored the emergency summons, so Cheng Ping'an ordered Cheng Qingyao to handle the matter personally.
• Cheng Qingyao led black-robed Enforcement Hall cultivators to the Teleportation Hall and captured more than a dozen offenders, including a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator.
• The offenders appeared as vacant-eyed mortals in Cheng Family Fort in Gourd Valley, where clan members kept their punishment a secret.

On September twenty-second, the Cheng Immortal Clan held a lavish celebration for Cheng Buzheng aboard the Flying Immortal Pavilion, drawing clan members to admire the treasure and feast on rare spiritual fruits and wines. Cheng Buzheng and Murong Wanwan prepared to join the banquet, which grew lively as the clan gathered.

• The Cheng Immortal Clan brought out the Flying Immortal Pavilion, and juniors discussed its speed, Spirit Stone-powered operation, and value as a strategic treasure.
• Cheng Ping'an arrived at Cheng Buzheng and Murong Wanwan’s courtyard, reminding them of the celebration; they told him to go ahead while they got ready.
• Cheng Ping'an welcomed the juniors into the Flying Immortal Pavilion, where they admired the banquet’s Spirit-Replenishing Fruits, White Tiger Jade Fruit, and spirit wines.
• A child threw a tantrum over the fruit, and his father carried him outside and disciplined him, prompting other parents to warn their children to behave.
• Foundation Establishment Realm clan members arrived and took their places, then began chatting, including one who asked an Eighth Brother to refine a second-rank Soul Puppet.