Chapter Summaries

Island-Moving Venerable revealed the Myriad Manifestations Pure Source River, which could anchor Venerable Seeking the Dao’s array, and the assembled powers considered how to use it. Venerable Seeking the Dao confirmed that an enormous, weakened version of the array could cover Purgatory Continent, and the group agreed to gather the resources and cultivators needed to build it.

• Island-Moving Venerable revealed the Myriad Manifestations Pure Source River, a Formation Artifact comparable to a Spirit Treasure, and asked Venerable Seeking the Dao whether it could anchor the Heavenly River Array of Yin-Yang Reversal.
• Venerable Seeking the Dao said the river would let him bring out sixty percent of the array’s effects with modifications and supporting Array Flags, while Venerable Peach Blossom recognized the logic of his plan.
• Island-Moving Venerable argued that the array’s coverage mattered more than its power because the cultivators needed to gather Blood Baleful Mist, refine a venerable treasure, and draw out the hidden Mortal Cultivator.
• Venerable Seeking the Dao calculated that 129,600 Array Flags and many Mortal Cultivators could extend the array across all of Purgatory Continent, though its power would fall to at most thirty percent.
• The Spirit Transformation powers agreed to pool resources, collect Array Flags, and recruit Mortal Cultivators through a jointly issued dharma decree and gentle persuasion.

The Spirit Transformation cultivators agreed to stage attacks on the Purgatory Clan while preparing their defenses and relocating a teleportation array. Cheng Buzheng began discussing laws with Fire-Eroding Venerable, while Immortal Alliance City announced a lucrative volunteer campaign against the fiends, drawing crowds of cultivators weighing its risks and rewards.

• The Spirit Transformation cultivators chose to use their island as a base and stage attacks on the Purgatory Clan until the Heavenly River Array of Yin-Yang Reversal was completed.
• Demon Venerable Nether Sea relocated the teleportation array to the island, where the cultivators linked it to the earth veins and activated the Earth-Surging Golden Light Array.
• Cheng Buzheng selected Fire-Eroding Venerable as a partner for discussing laws, and the two began comprehending each other's insights in a protected stone hall.
• Immortal Alliance City displayed a recruitment list offering substantial rewards to cultivators who volunteered to fight the fiends.
• Cultivators gathered beneath the list, with some deciding to enlist for the rewards and others leaving after judging the danger too great or finding themselves ineligible.

The Immortal Alliance issued Venerable decrees to gather formation masters and Artifact Refiners and requisition third-rank array materials for an urgent task. Law Enforcement teams collected the resources and escorted the experts to the Immortal Alliance Headquarters, where cultivators from across the Alliance’s cities were also arriving.

• Law Enforcement teams fanned out across Immortal Alliance City under a decree allowing them to use spells while carrying the Venerable’s orders.
• A Law Enforcement captain ordered an artifact-refining shop to surrender its third-rank blank Array Flags and related materials and took Master Tao for the Alliance’s task.
• A formation master initially suspected the Law Enforcement cultivators of extortion, then accepted the decree requiring formation masters to complete an assignment and hand over controlled third-rank array materials.
• The formation master received a voucher for the materials and was escorted to the Immortal Alliance Headquarters.
• Law Enforcement teams gathered renowned formation masters and Artifact Refiners from Immortal Alliance City and brought more experts in from other cities by Teleportation Array.

The Demon Alliance delivered Lord Demon Venerable’s summons to the Illusory Moon Sect, whose ancestor refused to dissolve the sect and abandon its ancestral Spirit Vein. Meanwhile, an Immortal Alliance envoy warned his juniors to treat the White Cloud Sect with care, explaining its ancestor Cheng Buzheng’s ties to Venerable Peach Blossom and the Alliance’s efforts to support Grand Elder Cheng Changqing.

• The Demon Alliance Golden Core envoy delivered Lord Demon Venerable’s decree to Illusory Moon Ancestor and said the Illusory Moon Sect could avoid the summons only by dissolving and surrendering its Spirit Vein.
• Illusory Moon Ancestor rejected the envoy’s suggestion, insisting that preserving the sect’s ancestral foundation mattered more than his life.
• The decree spread inland, and Venerable-appointed cultivators began sealing Spirit Veins belonging to forces that refused to answer the summons.
• An Immortal Alliance Golden Core cultivator warned his juniors to act humbly when delivering the decree to the White Cloud Sect.
• The Immortal Alliance cultivator explained that Cheng Buzheng was Venerable Peach Blossom’s favored disciple and that the Alliance had selected seven Golden Core cultivators who opposed Cheng Changqing to clear obstacles to his future leadership.

Seven White Cloud Sect Golden Core elders plotted to exploit the Immortal Alliance summons to weaken Cheng Changqing and seize control of the sect, swearing an oath to protect their clans’ interests. When the envoy arrived, he called for True Lord Cheng, forcing Cheng Changqing to meet him and escort him inside while the local faction’s plan was disrupted.

• True Person Huang shared news that an Immortal Alliance envoy would soon summon Nascent Soul and Golden Core cultivators, threatening the seven clans’ influence over White Cloud Sect’s resources.
• The seven Golden Core elders discussed removing Cheng Changqing from the sect and taking control of the elders’ council while the Ancestor was away.
• The seven elders swore a Heart Demon Great Oath to distribute resources equally among their clans and not scheme against one another’s descendants.
• The Immortal Alliance’s Treasure Ship arrived, and its envoy publicly called for True Lord Cheng rather than privately entertaining the seven elders.
• Cheng Changqing emerged from the sect’s protective formation, received the envoy, and escorted him into White Cloud Sect.

The Immortal Alliance envoy delivered the Venerable’s decree, ordering seven White Cloud Sect Golden Core elders to answer the call against the Purgatory fiends and appointing Cheng Changqing Supervision Envoy of the Six Kingdoms. The seven elders chose to seek Cheng Changqing’s protection for their families and began planning how to win his trust before departing for the Forbidden Sea.

• The Immortal Alliance envoy read the Venerable’s decree, naming True Person Huang and six other Golden Core elders for the campaign against the Purgatory fiends.
• The decree appointed True Lord Cheng Supervision Envoy of the Six Kingdoms and authorized him to eliminate evil-path powerhouses attacking sects.
• After the envoy departed, Cheng Changqing returned to the sect while the seven summoned elders gathered in their cave mansions to discuss their families’ future.
• True Person Huang proposed either befriending the Grand Elder and answering the summons or merging their clans and sending only three elders on campaign.
• The seven elders decided to answer the summons and seek Cheng Changqing’s support, agreeing to surrender their authority and prepare him a lavish gift.

Demon Cultivators celebrated the Demon Venerable’s fair, large-scale bloodline baptism, while the decree sparked conflict in Heavenly Demon City and violence across the Six Kingdoms. Cheng Buzheng’s Dharma incarnation appeared as a Golden Core cultivator blamed the Blood Cloud Sect’s theft on him, leaving the sect’s cultivator pleading for help.

• Demon Cultivators flocked to the peak clans, eager to earn Contribution Points for bloodline baptism quotas, while recruiters turned away a water buffalo clan with no Lesser Demons.
• Devil Master Blood Child fought the Demon Alliance Elders over the decree, escaped using the Blood Void Escape Art, and drew the attention of hidden Old Devils.
• Demon Alliance cultivators and observers continued preparing under the decree as Mortal Cultivators took advantage of the Demon Venerables’ absence to hunt for resources.
• In Yue Kingdom, a blood-robed Golden Core cultivator attacked the Blood Cloud Sect and claimed True Lord Cheng would not find him.
• Cheng Buzheng’s Dharma incarnation appeared, and the Golden Core cultivator tried to save himself by returning his stolen treasures and blaming the Blood Cloud Sect.

Cheng Buzheng killed an evil cultivator while serving as Six Kingdoms Inspector and learned that disorder was spreading through the cultivation world. After most Cheng Immortal Clan members returned to the Secret Realm, he decided to seal the clan’s Teleportation Arrays until order was restored.

• Cheng Buzheng killed the blood-robed evil-path Golden Core True Person, took his treasures, and warned the Blood Cloud Sect's Golden Core Ancestor to avoid evil conduct.
• Cheng Buzheng received nine pleas for help in one day and reflected that the disappearance of the Nascent Soul Ancestors had allowed chaos to spread.
• Cheng Ping'an told Cheng Buzheng that nearly all clan members cultivating outside had returned, though a few remained missing with their Soul Lamps intact.
• Cheng Buzheng ordered Cheng Ping'an to post closure notices at the Teleportation Arrays leading outside the Secret Realm.
• Cheng Buzheng announced that the clan's outside Teleportation Array would be sealed after an hour, giving clan members time to decide whether to leave.
• The Cheng Immortal Clan members discussed the dangers beyond the clan and considered staying inside to cultivate.

Cheng Buzheng gave his descendants an hour to decide whether to leave Ping'an City in search of cultivation resources, and sealed the Teleportation Arrays when the hour ended. Elsewhere, Venerable Peach Blossom led the battered human and demon armies out of the Blood Baleful Mist and marched toward the Forbidden Sea headquarters.

• Chengye persuaded his cousin, Ninth Sister, to join him in seeking an opportunity in an Abandoned Mansion, and they hurried to the Teleportation Hall with other descendants.
• Cheng Buzheng allowed more than twenty descendants to leave, then sealed the Teleportation Arrays against entry from the outside world.
• Venerable Peach Blossom emerged from the Blood Baleful Mist with the human and demon legions, whose commanders reported their losses.
• Venerable Peach Blossom ordered the armies to recuperate after their ranks were replenished and led them onward.
• Fire-Eroding Venerable encouraged the others to let Venerable Peach Blossom focus on comprehending the Law of Fire, and the group agreed to coordinate Purgatory Clan intelligence with Nether Sea.

Sha Minghong poisoned and killed a fellow Black Spirit Tiger Shark Clan demon to take its Nine Mystic Illusion Spirit Grass, then ordered his followers to gather more and prepare a false account of the killing. As they were about to return to the island, an enormous army appeared on the horizon.

• Sha Minghong attacked the poisoned black tiger shark, but its horn-fused treasure shielded it from his first strike.
• Sha Minghong and his five followers battered the shield until Sha Minghong split the black tiger shark in two with a sword strike.
• Sha Minghong took all ten stalks of Nine Mystic Illusion Spirit Grass from the dead demon’s storage ring and let his followers divide the remaining treasures and Spirit Materials.
• Sha Minghong told his followers to find another hundred stalks of Nine Mystic Illusion Spirit Grass by any means and promised to recommend them for Spirit Purification Army vacancies.
• Sha Minghong instructed his followers to claim that Sha Yuanqu had betrayed them and gave them Jade Slips depicting supposed enemies he said he had already killed.
• As Sha Minghong and his followers prepared to return to the island, they saw an enormous army approaching across the horizon.

Sha Minghong used the vacancies in the Pure Spirit Demon Guard to promise his five great demons a chance to join, then secretly prepared to advance his bloodline with Nine Mystic Illusion Spirit Grass. Meanwhile, Venerable Peach Blossom’s group returned to the island and learned that the grand array was still incomplete, leaving the two races anxious as the Blood Baleful Mist thinned.

• Sha Minghong and his five great demons descended from the clouds to salute Fire-Eroding Venerable and the other powerful figures, then Sha Minghong explained that vacancies in the Pure Spirit Demon Guard offered his subordinates a rare opportunity.
• Venerable Peach Blossom and the other Venerables entered the island, where Island-Moving Venerable and Demon Venerable Nether Sea welcomed them.
• Cheng Buzheng reported the intelligence gathered during the feigned attack, including the approximate locations of the Purgatory Clan’s divine envoys and priests.
• Venerable Seeking the Dao told Cheng Buzheng that the [Heaven-and-Earth Reversal Dark Heavenly River Grand Array] still lacked enough cultivators and that one-fifth of its Array Flags remained unfinished.
• Sha Minghong reported his staged ambush and the supposed killing of a traitor, and the Black Spirit Tiger Shark Clan elders issued a kill-on-sight order against the alleged traitor.
• Sha Minghong secured his Cave Mansion with two formations and used his blood-red stone stele to refine a stalk of Nine Mystic Illusion Spirit Grass into a drop of blood.

Sha Minghong advanced his bloodline and began preparing to break through to Nascent Soul Late Stage, while Cheng Buzheng returned to his true body after two discussions of the Dao and checked his cultivation panel. The two races’ forces regrouped on the artificial island as the battle with the Purgatory Clan continued to loom.

• Sha Minghong absorbed the blood from the stele, advanced his bloodline to high grade, and decided to pursue a Nascent Soul Late Stage breakthrough despite the scarcity of Nine Mystic Illusion Spirit Grass.
• Sha Minghong shattered piles of mid-grade Spirit Stones, swallowed a Spirit Pill, and entered seclusion to break through.
• Island-Moving Venerable and the other venerables departed with the reorganized armies, while Venerable Peach Blossom and Fire-Eroding Venerable spent two months discussing the Dao and studying each other’s laws.
• Venerable Peach Blossom noticed Sha Minghong’s breakthrough but lost interest after Fire-Eroding Venerable explained why the junior was cultivating on the island.
• Island-Moving Venerable and the returning forces arrived at the artificial island, bearing signs of heavy losses from battles in the Blood Baleful Mist.
• Cheng Buzheng’s true body reflected on his progress in the Law of Fire and inspected his cultivation panel.

Cheng Buzheng reflected on the difficulty of advancing his law cultivation and resumed comprehending laws while the cultivators in the Forbidden Sea discussed the Purgatory Clan’s aggressive behavior. The group judged that a decisive battle was not imminent, but Cheng Buzheng offered to help complete the defensive array before the enemy could strike.

• Cheng Buzheng assessed his stalled law comprehension and planned to advance the Five Elements Laws and Chaos Law before reaching the late Spirit Transformation stage.
• Island-Moving Venerable reported that the Purgatory Clan had fought fiercely in the Blood Baleful Mist, and he warned the others to prepare for a possible attack on the island.
• Venerable Peach Blossom suggested that the Purgatory Clan’s changed strategy might signal that a hidden expert was preparing to act.
• Venerable Zongbao said the Purgatory Clan showed no signs of launching a decisive battle and believed its recent actions were only probing.
• Cheng Buzheng asked Venerable Seeking the Dao how many Array Flags remained and offered to inscribe them to speed up the defensive array.

Spirit Transformation Venerables discussed preparations for a coming battle against the Purgatory Clan, learning that the Array Flags were ready but they still needed more cultivators. After the gathering ended, Fire-Eroding Venerable invited Venerable Peach Blossom to appraise a treasure, prompting other Venerables to seek his favor as Cheng Buzheng left the hall with Fire-Eroding Venerable.

• Several Spirit Transformation Venerables offered to help with the array formations, but Venerable Seeking the Dao said the final batch of Array Flags was already on its way.
• Island-Moving Venerable and Demon Venerable Nether Sea reported that the armies still needed about one hundred thousand more cultivators, likely arriving within six to ten days, and urged everyone to prepare for battle.
• Demon Venerable Nether Sea and Island-Moving Venerable left, and Cheng Buzheng prepared to leave the hall.
• Fire-Eroding Venerable invited Venerable Peach Blossom to appraise a treasure, and other Venerables rushed to invite him and offer gifts in hopes of gaining his protection.
• Venerable Peach Blossom agreed to visit the others after keeping his appointment with Fire-Eroding Venerable, while members of the Return to Origin Immortal Sect privately considered how to win his favor.
• Cheng Buzheng concluded that the other Venerables were courting him because they believed he was estranged from the Return to Origin Immortal Sect, then left the hall with Fire-Eroding Venerable.

Venerable Peach Blossom examined Fire-Eroding Venerable’s damaged spatial pearl and decided he wanted it, recognizing it as a portable cultivation space with the potential to be repaired. Fire-Eroding Venerable offered it as a gift in exchange for help if he was endangered in the coming battle.

• The cultivators remaining in the stone hall secretly formed alliances while exchanging cultivation insights.
• Fire-Eroding Venerable brought Venerable Peach Blossom to a hall and presented him with a pale-golden treasure pearl for appraisal.
• Venerable Peach Blossom explored the pearl’s damaged inner space and found fertile soil, dense Spirit Energy, and a declining Spirit Vein.
• Venerable Peach Blossom recognized the pearl’s value as a portable Cave Mansion and decided he wanted it.
• Fire-Eroding Venerable offered the pearl to Venerable Peach Blossom and asked him to help if danger threatened during the coming battle.

Cheng Buzheng, posing as Venerable Peach Blossom, accepted a spatial pearl from Fire-Eroding Venerable in exchange for a promise to help if he saw him in danger. He then appraised another Spirit Transformation cultivator’s treasures, but left without agreeing to protect him, ending with the burly man’s [Space-Rending Origin-Locking Banner] still in his possession.

• Fire-Eroding Venerable offered a pale golden spatial pearl, and Venerable Peach Blossom agreed to help him if danger arose within his capabilities.
• Fire-Eroding Venerable accepted the terms, and Venerable Peach Blossom took the pearl before leaving the Cave Mansion.
• Venerable Peach Blossom visited a burly Spirit Transformation cultivator, who asked him to appraise a damaged bronze Nine-Dragon Great Seal.
• Venerable Peach Blossom declined the Great Seal and prepared to leave, but the burly man revealed the [Space-Rending Origin-Locking Banner] and explained its past use.
• Venerable Peach Blossom recognized the Banner’s value but did not want it, and he left without promising the burly man protection.

Cheng Buzheng visited Spirit Transformation cultivators to assess their offerings, but found little worth accepting and suspected some were trying to exploit his future battlefield service. He met Stone Ape Demon Venerable, who hosted him with thousand-year monkey wine, and the two shared stories of their cultivation journeys.

• Cheng Buzheng visited several Spirit Transformation cultivators, rejected their low-value offerings, and grew frustrated at their apparent reluctance to part with better treasures.
• Cheng Buzheng suspected demon sovereigns might be encouraging the poor offerings to provoke him and reduce the number of human cultivators on the battlefield, though he also considered that the cultivators might simply lack valuable treasures.
• Cheng Buzheng arrived at Stone Ape Demon Venerable’s cave, where Stone Ape welcomed him and offered a rare jar of monkey wine aged for a thousand years.
• Cheng Buzheng initially declined the wine because he did not want to incur a favor, but accepted after Stone Ape insisted they might not have another chance before the coming battle.
• Cheng Buzheng tasted the monkey wine, felt its power improve his Dharma body, and praised its quality before he and Stone Ape shared stories about their cultivation paths.

Cheng Buzheng, disguised as Venerable Peach Blossom, negotiated with Stone Ape Demon Venerable and obtained a Spirit Eye Tree in exchange for promising aid under the Heart Demon Great Oath. He left to meet the remaining Spirit Transformation cultivators before refining the spatial Spirit Pearl and planting the tree.

• Cheng Buzheng presented a carefully fabricated life history to reassure Stone Ape Demon Venerable that he repaid kindness and kept firm boundaries.
• Stone Ape Demon Venerable revealed a sealed Spirit Eye Tree and explained its cultivation benefits and how he had obtained it.
• Cheng Buzheng asked about the tree’s origins, then pretended to hesitate while considering the proposed exchange.
• Cheng Buzheng agreed to aid Stone Ape Demon Venerable under the Heart Demon Great Oath, while reserving the right to favor closer allies if several requests came at once.
• Stone Ape Demon Venerable gave Cheng Buzheng the Spirit Eye Tree and a Jade Slip containing its unsealing technique.
• Cheng Buzheng left with the tree and decided to visit the remaining Spirit Transformation cultivators before tending to the spatial Spirit Pearl.

Cheng Buzheng, posing as Venerable Peach Blossom, visited Spirit Transformation cultivators seeking valuable treasures and then negotiated with Return to Origin Immortal Sect’s elders over aid in an upcoming battle. Venerable Daoyuan offered him a silver Spirit Realm Heavenly Book page, which Cheng recognized but suspected might contain an inheritance unsuitable for human cultivators.

• Cheng Buzheng visited several Spirit Transformation cultivators and demon venerables, but found none of their treasures worth taking.
• Outside Venerable Daoyuan’s Cave Mansion, hidden observers sensed that Venerable Peach Blossom had noticed them and discussed tensions within the Return to Origin Immortal Sect.
• Venerable Daoyuan and the other elders asked Venerable Peach Blossom to rescue them if they faced danger, and he made clear that he would not help for free.
• The elders acknowledged that using Law Origin had a cost, and Venerable Daoyuan presented a silver Heavenly Book page as a gift.
• Cheng recognized the page as identical to the one bearing the [Creation Heaven-Mending Art] in his Cosmic Thumb Ring and wondered whether its inheritance was too demanding or unsuitable for humans.

Cheng Buzheng accepted the Return to Origin Immortal Sect’s Silver Page Heavenly Book in exchange for promising to help them in the coming battle. Back in his true body, he unlocked the page and discovered it contained a human-cultivable art that delighted him, though its full nature was not yet revealed.

• Venerable Peach Blossom agreed to help the Return to Origin Immortal Sect and received the Silver Page Heavenly Book from Venerable Daoyuan.
• After Venerable Peach Blossom left, the sect’s Spirit Transformation elders worried that the page’s cultivation method might be too difficult to use and that he might resent their bargain.
• Venerable Peach Blossom sent the Silver Page Heavenly Book, a jade-green tree, and a pale-gold pearl through a gateway to Cheng Buzheng’s true body.
• Cheng Buzheng used the Ruyi Refinement Method to unlock the Silver Page Heavenly Book and watched its characters appear on an illusory scroll.
• Cheng Buzheng realized the art was not exclusive to another race and grew excited as more of its text emerged.