Chapter Summaries

Twenty-four Heavenly Swords struck Divine Capital, annihilating the imperial palace and devastating the ancient city while cultivators struggled to protect its people. Wang Qi survived behind Liu Yi’s protection, and the chapter ended with the city’s destruction and a seven-colored aurora in the sky.

• A star appeared in the sky as Yi Xuan Sheng and the Emperor-Grade Heaven-Splitting Dao cultivator attacked the palace’s restrictions, unaware that Heavenly Swords were approaching from space.
• Zhuang Xue Ling rallied cultivators to shield mortals, while Feng Luoyi sent Wang Qi away from the impact zone.
• Wang Qi embraced Chen Youjia as the Heavenly Swords’ shockwave swept through Divine Capital, and a black figure intervened before the blast reached them.
• The Heavenly Swords vaporized the two Body Integration Cultivators and erased the city center, while Liu Yi protected Wang Qi, Chen Youjia, and the other survivors.
• Wang Qi and Chen Youjia surveyed the ruined city as Feng Luoyi redirected a charged particle stream into the sky, creating a seven-colored aurora.

After the Heavenly Sword destroyed Divine Capital, Feng Luoyi subdued a powerful Kunpeng in the South Sea and relied on Marquis Kelvin to contain the resulting disaster. He then assembled cultivators in the ruined city and launched the Divine Capital Special Zone, a trial to help ordinary people use the mana they had gained from the spreading curse.

• Feng Luoyi tracked the curses and sent four East Phoenix-model Heavenly Swords toward their targets.
• A blue figure subdued a polar Kunpeng, but the Heavenly Swords melted the South Sea ice until Marquis Kelvin froze the spreading waters.
• Feng Luoyi returned to Divine Capital, assured Zhuang Xue Ling that civilians had been evacuated, and summoned hundreds of cultivators through spatial gates.
• Feng Luoyi infected the assembled cultivators with the Devil's Great Curse and tasked them with finding ways for the city's newly empowered ordinary people to contribute to society.
• Feng Luoyi declared the sealed-off city a pilot site for reform, establishing the Divine Capital Special Zone.

Wang Qi learned that the Immortal Alliance’s upheaval in Divine Capital was part of a long-planned reform of Human Dao, then questioned Feng Luoyi about the Exiled Immortals and the secrets of human civilization. Feng Luoyi explained that immortals could become a solitary ruling class with absolute power over mortals, leaving Wang Qi with a chilling vision of the universe’s ultimate social order.

• Cultivators surveyed Divine Capital and began building temporary shelters as Feng Luoyi discussed the plan with Wang Qi, Chen Feng, Ai Qinglan, and Chen Youjia.
• Wang Qi concluded that the Immortal Alliance’s actions had cleared his suspicions, given cultivators access to powerful methods, and begun realizing the reform of Human Dao.
• Feng Luoyi took Wang Qi into the Myriad Immortal Illusion Realm and confirmed that Exiled Immortals came from beyond this world, while the truth about them remained classified.
• Feng Luoyi explained that foreign immortals had shaped human civilization and that revealing certain truths could destroy Human Dao’s foundations before its transformation was complete.
• Feng Luoyi described how an immortal could regard mortals as ants and monopolize the world’s resources, leaving Wang Qi chilled by the prospect of an eternal class hierarchy.

Feng Luoyi explained to Wang Qi how Modern Dharma had broken from Ancient Method through shared knowledge, the Immortal Alliance, and war against immortals. After confronting the possibility that ancient cosmic civilizations could surpass them, Wang Qi chose to continue as a Modern Dharma Cultivator and hoped their revolution would one day reach the universe.

• Feng Luoyi showed Wang Qi that Modern Dharma lineages differed from Ancient Method clans by sharing their discoveries through a common system.
• Feng Luoyi recounted how an Ancient Method-backed revolt nearly seized the Heavenly Sword, prompting Qian Xueshen to purge those who carried Ancient Method within them and the Immortal Alliance to consolidate Divine Province.
• Feng Luoyi described the Immortal Alliance's long war against banished immortals and warned Wang Qi that even Modern Dharma Cultivators could not be certain they were trustworthy or correct.
• Feng Luoyi challenged Wang Qi's belief that wisdom would inevitably win by showing him the vast universe and explaining that ancient beings might have accumulated knowledge for billions of years.
• Wang Qi simulated the universe with Feng Luoyi, learned that they had not encountered the terrifying nebula beings, and decided to remain a Modern Dharma Cultivator.

Feng Luoyi sent Wang Qi to the West Sea to investigate the Dragon Race as a banished immortal and possible Holy Envoy, while the Immortal Alliance prepared for future moves there. After gaining control of the Flame of Life, Wang Qi said goodbye to his friends in Divine Capital and departed with Liu Yi.

• Feng Luoyi explained the Immortal Alliance's plans for monitoring banished immortals and asked Wang Qi to seek contact with the Dragon Race in the West Sea.
• Feng Luoyi offered to send a strand of his consciousness with Wang Qi and warned him to keep his banished-immortal identity until the Primordial Spirit stage.
• Wang Qi tamed the Flame of Life while contemplating the Divine Capital's new order, and Chen Feng, Ai Qinglan, and Chen Youjia came to see him off.
• Wang Qi gave Chen Feng a rough Golden Core Human Dao blueprint and shared an affectionate farewell with Chen Youjia.
• Wang Qi joined Liu Yi and left Divine Capital for the West Sea.

Wei Yijing tried to save Wei Yilong and the other children from the flood dragon king Black Whiskers, but Wang Qi intervened and revealed overwhelming power. After using the encounter to leave a trace for the Dragon Race, Wang Qi blasted off part of the flood dragon’s cheek and collected it for dinner.

• Wei Yilong led a group of children out to hunt sea demons, and Wei Yijing caught up with them and ordered them back toward shore.
• Wei Yijing sensed a nearly transforming flood dragon and recognized it as Black Whiskers, then shielded the children when it attacked their spirit boat.
• Wang Qi stopped Black Whiskers from devouring Wei Yijing and the children, though the flood dragon bit his hand.
• Wang Qi told the children that battlefield danger should not be treated lightly while Black Whiskers gathered its demon power.
• Wang Qi confirmed with Feng Luoyi that he had left a trace for the Dragon Race, then struck Black Whiskers with the Dao Heart Pure Yang Mantra and blasted off part of its cheek.

Wang Qi continued fishing for dragons in the West Sea, hoping to draw out a true dragon while Feng Luoyi questioned the Dragon Clan’s silence. After half a year without progress, Wang Qi considered entering the deep sea himself if the Black Whisker Jiao King did not bring reinforcements.

• Wang Qi routed the Black Whisker Jiao King and healed Wei Yijing’s injured group before warning them about the dangers beyond Lande.
• Wei Yijing recognized Wang Qi as a powerful Border Guard and pursued him to warn him that the Jiao King served White Whisker Martial King.
• Wang Qi discussed his fruitless six-month effort to attract true dragons with Feng Luoyi and admitted that the peaceful West Sea was boring him.
• Wang Qi slept beneath the stars, reflected on the dangers hidden in the universe, and woke to find that no demon beasts had approached him.
• Wang Qi roasted the Jiao King’s face and told Feng Luoyi he might enter the deep-sea region if the Jiao King did not bring his elders within a few days.

Wang Qi discussed his plans to enter the deep-sea region and his cultivation with Feng Luoyi, who insisted he wait until he had stabilized and reached Foundation Establishment Perfection. As Wang Qi developed an unprecedented Dual Golden Core concept, Wei Yijing arrived and urged him to leave the dangerous area, while Feng Luoyi agreed to monitor the Black Whisker Jiao King.

• Wang Qi asked Feng Luoyi whether he could head into the deep-sea region, but Feng Luoyi told him to wait until he had stabilized, reached Foundation Establishment Perfection, and converted his cultivation method.
• Wang Qi explained his plan to encode his cultivation methods into Tianyan Tulu and use Heavenly Position Skill as hardware for an unprecedented Dual Golden Core.
• Feng Luoyi said he had entrusted Jiyin Valley with the Path of Living Beings aspect of Wang Qi's plan and forbade him from touching the God Plague Curse, divine spirit system, and Devil's Great Curse.
• Zhen Chanzi warned Wang Qi that someone was approaching, and Wei Yijing arrived after mistaking his true dragon aura for an illusion concealing a demon beast.
• Wei Yijing tried to drag Wang Qi toward Lande, but Feng Luoyi told him to go with her because his identity and mission were classified, promising to notify him if the Black Whisker Jiao King approached the coast.

Wang Qi reached Land Immortal City with Wei Yijing, where his fame and Exiled Immortal status drew attention from old acquaintances. In the Holy Dragon Abyss, a young dragon received a command to flee east and seek the Human-Demons, but human cultivators attacked her group as they headed for the surface.

• Wei Yijing brought Wang Qi to Land Immortal City, where Mao Zhi'a recognized him and Wei Yijing learned he was the famous exam champion.
• Feng Luoyi told Wang Qi to stay in Land and observe the sea while he monitored it for the Black Whisker Jiao King and the Dragon Clan's lord.
• Wang Qi learned that many of his former classmates had left their sects and come to the West Border, while Wei Yijing invited him to meet them.
• In the Holy Dragon Abyss, a mysterious voice ordered a young dragon to leave the Holy Land, go east, and find the Human-Demons and the Heavenly River Dragon Army.
• The young dragon fled toward the surface with two other young dragons, but an Integrated Body Realm Cultivator of the Emperor-Grade Heaven-Splitting Dao attacked them.

The Dragon King’s cultivators ambushed three young dragons at Holy Dragon Abyss, but one dragon escaped east with the Holy Land’s envoy’s warning. In Land City, Wang Qi reunited with Ai Changyuan and discussed their research into gravity and the Path of the Misty.

• The Dragon King’s cultivators used a spiritual pearl and a golden bow to ambush three young dragons, killing two after the dragons fought back.
• One wounded dragon used its blood to conceal the other’s tracks, and the other escaped east while the cultivators hurried after it.
• Wang Qi met Ai Changyuan in Land City, where Ai Changyuan explained that he had been sent to serve as a Border Guard after his mana surged during his research.
• Wang Qi and Ai Changyuan discussed combining gravity, the Path of the Misty, and Relativity, and Wang Qi offered to exchange cultivation methods using Crescent Moon.

Wang Qi and Ai Changyuan exchanged ideas on cultivation, gravity, and quantum gravity, sharing secret methods after confirming they both had access to confidential Immortal Alliance information. Ai Changyuan’s parting challenge left Wang Qi questioning whether a spell’s success could prove the theory behind it, and he recognized his empiricist error.

• Wang Qi and Ai Changyuan discussed the Ghost Soldier, their cultivation methods, and Wang Qi’s proposed dual Golden Core.
• Ai Changyuan showed Wang Qi his research on quantum gravity and an imaginary-time spacetime model, while Feng Luoyi explained that the Immortal Alliance had concealed some astronomical findings.
• Wang Qi and Ai Changyuan confirmed each other’s access to secret Immortal Alliance work and exchanged methods involving celestial gravity and reference frames.
• Ai Changyuan argued that a workable spell did not prove its underlying theory was correct, leaving Wang Qi to realize he had fallen into empiricism.

Wang Qi questioned whether Modern Dharma’s theories truly approached the Great Dao, but Feng Luoyi guided him through the doubt until he recognized his own path and advanced to Foundation Establishment Late Stage. Feng Luoyi then told him that disturbances near Holy Dragon Abyss and in the West Border meant Wang Qi must reach Foundation Establishment Perfection and investigate overseas.

• Wang Qi woke from a nightmare and told Zhen Chanzi that he doubted whether Modern Dharma’s mathematical theories reflected the Great Dao.
• Feng Luoyi appeared and urged Wang Qi to keep examining his doubts as an essential trial for Modern Dharma cultivators.
• Wang Qi admitted he could not prove Modern Dharma was closer to the Dao, but remained convinced it was closer than any path he had seen.
• Wang Qi calmed his mind and broke through to Foundation Establishment Late Stage.
• Wang Qi said he wanted to investigate the Misty Unfixed Cloud Sword and explore mathematics and logic.
• Feng Luoyi reported unrest near Holy Dragon Abyss and in the West Border, and ordered Wang Qi to reach Foundation Establishment Perfection before investigating overseas.

Wang Qi discussed the flaws in the Misty Unfixed Cloud Sword with Zhen Chanzi and Ai Changyuan, then agreed to spar with Ai Changyuan. At West Qin Harbor, onlookers gathered to watch them, and Bai Junjie realized his Myriad Dharma Sect fellow disciple would face a nominee for the Dao Root Award.

• Wang Qi told Zhen Chanzi that the Misty Unfixed Cloud Sword's explanation was insufficient and said he planned to revise its principles.
• Ai Changyuan told Wang Qi that Lu Xiaoqian had been harshly scolded by Breaking Reason True Person over one of her explanations.
• Wang Qi and Ai Changyuan agreed to spar after breakfast and headed to West Qin Harbor.
• Bai Junjie watched duels at a tea house and dismissed an earlier fight as uninteresting.
• Bai Junjie noticed Ai Changyuan arriving with a Myriad Dharma Sect disciple, and Huang Shiyun identified Ai Changyuan as a nominee for the Dao Root Award.

Wang Qi and Ai Changyuan’s spar escalated as they revealed powerful Foundation Establishment techniques, while Wang Qi asked Ai to help him travel overseas in secret. Wang Qi appeared to win, but Ai launched a surprise attack through the arm he had touched, leaving the outcome unresolved.

• Wang Qi’s Unfathomable Body Technique let him evade Ai Changyuan’s sword exchanges, but Ai used Myriad Image Celestial Pull to crush Wang Qi’s capillaries with gravity.
• Wang Qi healed himself with the Flame of Life, prompting Bai Junjie to identify him as the Myriad Dharma Sect genius who had won the Daoist Artifact and Dao Seed awards.
• Ai unleashed seven gravitational fields with his Foundation Establishment-level Collapsing Heaven Palm, and Wang Qi told him he needed an unofficial sea vessel for a secret mission near Holy Dragon Abyss.
• Wang Qi’s black entropy torrent disrupted Ai’s spell and made his mana boil, after which Wang Qi declared victory and healed him with the Flame of Life.
• Ai secretly sent something into Wang Qi’s body through his arm and warned him to raise a defensive spell.

Wang Qi survived Ai Changyuan’s gravity-based ultimate spell, which manipulated the passage of time inside a temporary event horizon. After explaining how the spell worked, Ai Changyuan revealed that the Immortal Alliance possessed remarkably advanced celestial observations.

• Wang Qi chose to endure Ai Changyuan’s spell with his defenses active rather than burn away the mana Ai had planted in his body.
• Ai Changyuan warped space and unleashed gravitational-wave blades that wounded Wang Qi while time passed roughly a hundred times faster around him.
• Wang Qi realized the sun had risen much higher in his personal time and asked whether Ai had accelerated time; Ai explained that his spell was based on an event horizon.
• Wang Qi called the spell the ability to manipulate eternity and an instant, and Ai credited Divine Land’s gravity for powering it.
• Ai told Wang Qi that the Immortal Alliance’s celestial records contained observations that seemed impossibly detailed and ancient.

After sparring with Ai Changyuan, Wang Qi reunited with Wu Shiqin, who had become an Enforcement Officer and brought him to see the Immortal Alliance’s new army. He discovered that the soldiers’ mana and pseudo-divine abilities were built using his own technology, and Feng Luoyi promised him a detailed paper about the breakthrough.

• Ai Changyuan told Wang Qi that strange celestial observations had drawn the attention of the Dark Department, while Wang Qi said he had recovered but could not safely use the Misty Unfixed Cloud Sword on Ai Changyuan.
• Wu Shiqin confronted Wang Qi and Ai Changyuan over fishing boats overturned by their battle, and Ai Changyuan offered Wang Qi a jade pendant leading to his family’s residence for a tailor.
• Wu Shiqin showed Wang Qi the Zhenhai Army, whose thirty thousand recruits had been mortals until a recent Immortal Alliance breakthrough gave them mana.
• Feng Luoyi explained that the army’s mana, pseudo-divine abilities, and artificial Foundation Bases relied on Wang Qi’s Devil’s Great Curse, God Plague Curse, and technology.
• Feng Luoyi promised Wang Qi a detailed paper on the method and assured him that he would receive proper credit.

Wang Qi celebrated the Zhenhai Army’s adoption of technologies he developed, which promised him immense rewards and the spread of cultivation among ordinary people. He predicted this would transform society and research, then recruited Ai Changyuan to collaborate on artificial Golden Cores.

• Wang Qi told Ai Changyuan and Wu Shiqin that his technologies had enabled the Zhenhai Army and would earn him merit points whenever they were used.
• Wang Qi predicted that the Immortal Alliance would extend the technology to ordinary people, breaking the divide between mortals and cultivators and accelerating research.
• Wang Qi imagined a new era of rapid scientific progress and privately considered the enormous wealth he could gain from the technology’s adoption.
• Wang Qi proposed that Ai Changyuan collaborate with him on artificial Golden Cores using the Ghost Soldier Crescent Moon as an experimental subject.
• Ai Changyuan agreed to the project, and he and Wang Qi sealed their partnership with a handshake.

After arranging to develop artificial Golden Cores with Ai Changyuan, Wang Qi settled in Land City and discussed the project’s effects on the Immortal Alliance with Feng Luoyi. He received permission to study the Zhenhai Army and entered its camp, where an Enforcement Officer recognized him as the fallen immortal Wang Qi.

• Wang Qi and Wu Shiqin left the Ai Family residence, and he explained why he had recruited Ai Changyuan before inviting her to join later stages of the research.
• Wang Qi rented a house near North Prosperity Harbor and asked Feng Luoyi about the Immortal Alliance’s response to his artificial Golden Core project.
• Feng Luoyi explained that the project could disrupt the Alliance’s gradual economic transition, while the Alliance would preserve its research principles and distribute future benefits among sects.
• Wang Qi asked to visit the Zhenhai Army camp and study its techniques, and Feng Luoyi approved his request.
• Wang Qi arrived at the camp with Wu Shiqin and showed his research qualification certificate to two Enforcement Officers.
• One Enforcement Officer reacted to Wang Qi’s name and asked whether he was the fallen immortal Wang Qi.

Wang Qi visited the Zhenhai Army to study its curse-based combat system, but first confronted Bai Yaowen, who blamed him for his family’s deaths in Divine Capital. With Administrator Ma’s approval, Wang Qi began examining the army’s equipment and organization.

• Bai Yaowen accused Wang Qi of helping cause the deaths of his family in Divine Capital and threatened to expose him, but left without drawing his sword.
• Wang Qi told Wu Shiqin that the Divine Capital incident was classified and reflected on the Immortal Alliance’s reluctance to dismantle the old order before a new one was ready.
• Wang Qi met Administrator Ma Chgengxiao, who apologized for Bai Yaowen’s conduct and authorized Wang Qi to observe the Zhenhai Army.
• Centurion Zu Zhipeng introduced himself and showed Wang Qi a wrist-worn device used to receive orders and send messages.
• Zu Zhipeng began presenting the Zhenhai Army’s equipment, and Wang Qi interrupted to ask about the storage-space stones in the centurion’s standard belt.

Wang Qi investigated the Zhenhai Army’s artifacts and spiritual abilities, discovering how its soldiers’ powers were linked to the army’s cultivation system. After demonstrating that he could use their artifacts, he asked centurion Zu Zhipeng to show him the army’s techniques and equipment, including its strange fire guns.

• Zu Zhipeng explained how his storage belt worked, and Wang Qi found that its compartments released items through a simple magical-power trigger.
• Wang Qi examined the Zhenhai Army’s ownerless banner and weapons, but could not use them; Zu Zhipeng demonstrated the soldiers’ unusual spiritual perception.
• Wang Qi used the Dao Heart Pure Yang Mantra’s power to activate the banner and realized the soldiers’ abilities came from a system that depended on their membership in the Zhenhai Army.
• Zu Zhipeng recognized Wang Qi as a Myriad Dharma Sect Immortal Master, thanked him for helping create the army’s cultivation method, and agreed to demonstrate its abilities.
• Zu Zhipeng described the army’s troop types, and three gun-arrow fighters showed Wang Qi their machine-gun-like fire guns and machine-written talisman ammunition.