Chapter Summaries

Chen Changsheng negotiated with Li Ziming to let Li Changsheng and his allies pursue change without interference from the great clans. After leaving the Li Family, Chen Changsheng explained to Chen Feng that preserving the Pill Epoch’s fragile balance mattered more than using force.

• Chen Changsheng told Li Ziming that Li Changsheng had the courage to accomplish what others called impossible, and Li Ziming admitted he had nearly killed the son who could revive the family.
• Chen Changsheng urged Li Ziming to give Li Changsheng and his companions room to grow, while shielding them from pressure by the great clans.
• Chen Changsheng told the gathered elders they could challenge or oppose the group, but must not influence the great clans’ decision; he argued that any resistance would reveal whether the group had support among the Pill Epoch’s cultivators.
• Chen Changsheng left the Li Family headquarters, and Li Ziming ordered someone to deliver his calligraphy to Li Changsheng and tell him to walk the road ahead himself.
• Chen Feng offered to eliminate the elders, but Chen Changsheng warned that killing would create fear and provoke people either to seek his death or pretend to submit while plotting against him.

Chen Changsheng explained to Chen Feng why negotiation and restraint mattered when reforming the Pill Epoch, then revealed that the mysterious man in the Li Family Ancestral Tomb was likely a descendant of the Li Family's progenitor. He left Chen Feng understanding that the noble clans opposed him over both his plan to dissolve them and his arrangements for their progenitors to leave.

• Chen Changsheng explained that he negotiated before killing to avoid driving enemies into desperate retaliation.
• Chen Changsheng warned Chen Feng that killing the mysterious man could provoke the noble clans, Four Sects, Pill Domain, and Heavenly Dao Society and disrupt the Pill Epoch's reforms.
• Chen Changsheng said the Heavenly Dao Society supported him because of Dream's pressure, his ability to restore their freedom, and the noble clans' growing power.
• Chen Changsheng identified the mysterious man as a likely descendant of the Li Family's progenitor and explained that the Five Clans' progenitors had been members of the Heavenly Dao Society.
• Chen Changsheng said the noble clans held a grudge because his plans would let their progenitors leave while making them birds in a cage, and because he intended to dissolve the clans.

Chen Changsheng explained why the Five Clans’ foundation had grown independent and why he planned to subdue some members rather than attack them all, then revealed that he wanted Chen Feng to reunite with Liu Qingqing. Elsewhere, Liu Yidao and Wang Hao prepared Jin Tu to target the Wang Family, citing Chen Changsheng’s and Li Changsheng’s recent moves as evidence that the situation had changed.

• Chen Changsheng told Chen Feng that the Five Clans’ foundation wanted independence but still needed protection from the Five Clans’ progenitors and the Heavenly Dao Society.
• Chen Changsheng warned that killing the Five Clans’ foundation outright could provoke the Heavenly Dao Society and eventually Dream, and said his plan was to beat some into submission, kill others, and win over the rest.
• Chen Changsheng said he now had powerful allies and support from the Forbidden Ground, then told Chen Feng that Liu Qingqing had become the Pill Epoch’s King of the Night and that he intended to find her.
• Long Ji worried that Jin Tu’s serious injuries might kill him, while Liu Yidao said Jin Tu chose to keep fighting despite his blood feud.
• Wang Hao returned and announced that Jin Tu would target the Wang Family after recovering, then told Liu Yidao that Chen Changsheng had brought the children of Baleful Shadow out of the Void Crack and Li Changsheng had safely visited the Li Family’s Ancestral Tomb.

Wang Hao explained why the Wang Family and Zheng Family were suitable targets for Chen Changsheng’s plans and argued that the Pill Epoch’s reforms, the contest for Number One Under Heaven, and the Virtual World’s opening were converging toward a major war. He intended to exploit the coming conflict for gain, while the exact sacrifices and alliances remained uncertain.

• Wang Hao predicted that Chen Changsheng’s preparations would soon accelerate the cultivation and growth of important figures in the Pill Epoch.
• Wang Hao said he had chosen the Wang Family and Zheng Family because their positions were ambiguous and the era needed enemies to drive reform through war.
• Wang Hao explained that the Pill Epoch’s reforms, the struggle for Number One Under Heaven, and the Virtual World’s opening were connected by competing interests and could trigger a full-scale war.
• Wang Hao recalled that he and the Heart Demon had supported Chen Changsheng’s Epoch Massacre for their own advancement, which led Wang Hao to found the Nether River Forbidden Ground and Ye Yongxian to become the Pill Epoch’s Heart Demon.
• Wang Hao declared that clever players could profit from the great war he believed was about to erupt in the Pill Epoch.

Cui Yunzheng and Lu Jun learned that Li Changsheng and the Chang Sheng Epoch had declared war on the noble clans, backed by evidence Wang Lan had provided. Wang Lan warned them that opposing Li Changsheng could bring them into conflict with the elusive Imperial Tutor, then threatened to expose their families’ secrets if Cui Yunzheng harmed him.

• Wang Hao explained to Bie Chen and the others that great figures valued profit above all else, and that Chen Changsheng earned their respect by giving up benefits for his principles.
• Cui Yunzheng and Lu Jun compared the rebellions within their families and learned that unrest had shaken the foundations of the noble clans.
• Wang Lan arrived and announced that Li Changsheng had declared war on the noble clans, with the Five Tigers Group and more than seventy percent of the Chang Sheng Epoch’s major powers supporting him.
• Wang Lan said Li Changsheng had evidence against all Five Clans Noble Clan and warned Cui Yunzheng and Lu Jun that the Imperial Tutor might decide the war.
• Cui Yunzheng discovered that Wang Lan had supplied Li Changsheng with information and threatened him, but Wang Lan countered by threatening to expose secrets belonging to Cui Yunzheng’s family.

Wang Lan forced Lu Jun and Cui Yunzheng to accept Li Changsheng’s invitation to meet. At the Heavenly Lotus Sect, the Holy Maiden asked Zhou Jingting, who called herself Yi An Jushi, to stop elders from committing the sect to opposing the dissolution of the great clans, and Zhou Jingting agreed to kill them all.

• Lu Jun stopped Cui Yunzheng from attacking Wang Lan and questioned why he had helped Li Changsheng.
• Wang Lan admitted Li Changsheng’s words had persuaded him and threatened to expose Lu Jun and Cui Yunzheng’s cooperation unless they agreed to meet.
• Lu Jun accepted Li Changsheng’s invitation, and Wang Lan handed him a Jade Slip with the meeting details.
• The Heavenly Lotus Sect’s Holy Maiden woke the drunken Zhou Jingting and asked her to help suppress elders who wanted the sect to oppose the great clans’ dissolution.
• Zhou Jingting asked the Holy Maiden to find a remote place so she could kill the elders.

Mo Bai confronted Zhou Jingting for the Heavenly Lotus Sacred Method and brought up the tragic story behind a poem she had written. Zhou Jingting attacked him, then unleashed her Lotus Blossoms at a Thought technique, turning the water lotuses into real flowers filled with law power.

• Zhou Jingting told the Holy Maiden that the Heavenly Lotus Sect must protect itself, then warned her not to challenge her after marking her forehead with a white lotus.
• The Holy Maiden left, and Zhou Jingting continued drinking on her boat until Mo Bai emerged from the water and demanded the Heavenly Lotus Sacred Method.
• Zhou Jingting explained that Mo Bai could obtain the method from the sacred land or by capturing the Holy Maiden, while Mo Bai recounted the tale of a gifted woman who killed her husband after discovering his affair.
• Zhou Jingting dismissed Mo Bai and attacked him with a Killing Array formed from water lotuses, but Mo Bai countered with three Great Dao Laws and a Qilin manifestation.
• Zhou Jingting recited her poem, condemned men who lacked romance, and used Lotus Blossoms at a Thought to transform the water lotuses into real flowers radiating law power.

Zhou Jingting nearly killed Mo Bai in a fierce battle, but an intervention from Mo Bai’s life lamp saved him. Unable to finish off someone who resembled her dead former lover, she spared him, and Mo Bai woke to confront her about her feelings.

• Zhou Jingting pierced Mo Bai’s defenses and overwhelmed his attacks with her lotus techniques, damaging his Ten Thousand Beasts Life Lamp.
• Mo Bai’s Ink Ruler fought Zhou Jingting, but a Bodhi Leaf immobilized it while Zhou Jingting continued striking the life lamp.
• The Primordial Qilin moved to intervene, but the Moon God challenged him and took him into the chaos.
• A phantom man emerged from Mo Bai’s life lamp, shattered Zhou Jingting’s lotuses, and restored the lamp; Mo Bai surrendered and collapsed.
• Zhou Jingting stopped her sword before killing the unconscious Mo Bai, then carried him away on a boat.
• After Mo Bai woke, he said Zhou Jingting had spared him because he resembled her dead lover, and she snapped her writing brush in anger.

Mo Bai convinced Zhou Jingting that he sought the Heavenly Lotus Sacred Method to pursue the Great Dao, not to woo her, and she gave him its first level in exchange for three tasks. She began telling him about her rise through the Heavenly Lotus Sect, leaving the story before revealing what happened next.

• Zhou Jingting warned Mo Bai that provoking powerful people could get him killed, but Mo Bai insisted that challenging her would help him grow stronger.
• Zhou Jingting explained that Mo Bai lacked a complete cultivation method and urged him to seek the Heavenly Lotus Sacred Method from the sect's Holy Maiden instead.
• Mo Bai declared that he would keep challenging Zhou Jingting until she taught him the method, and said he wanted to defeat her as a legendary female cultivator rather than pursue romance.
• Zhou Jingting gave Mo Bai a Jade Slip containing the first level of the Heavenly Lotus Sacred Method and promised the remaining three levels if he completed three tasks.
• Zhou Jingting asked Mo Bai to help kill people threatening the Heavenly Lotus Sect and to hear her story; she began recounting how she defeated the sect's opponents as she rose through its ranks.

Zhou Jingting told Mo Bai how her brilliance and success in the Heavenly Lotus Sect ended after she fell in love with a Zheng Family genius who betrayed their vow. After catching him with another woman, she killed them both, and Mo Bai said the betrayal deserved punishment.

• Zhou Jingting described defeating the Heavenly Lotus Sect's younger generation through her mastery of literature and the arts, earning the Heavenly Lotus Sacred Method and a future as Holy Maiden.
• Zhou Jingting explained that the Five Clans Noble Clan had obstructed her, but she overcame their schemes and won the sect's recognition.
• Zhou Jingting recounted meeting a Zheng Family genius in a duel, then falling for him after he pursued her for three years.
• Zhou Jingting said she agreed to give up becoming Holy Maiden so she could marry him, while secretly planning to change the rule barring Five Clans members from the position.
• Zhou Jingting caught the man with another woman and killed them both after he broke his promise to have only her; Mo Bai said those who betrayed their vows deserved to pay.

Mo Bai learned why Zhou Jingting withdrew from the world after killing her unfaithful husband: she resented a society and sect that tolerated aristocratic privilege while suppressing her talent. Zhou Jingting revealed that she had been waiting for an opportunity and for someone like Mo Bai to help overturn the Pill Epoch’s entrenched order.

• Mo Bai told Zhou Jingting that her husband had betrayed his vow and failed in his duties, and Zhou Jingting said the world itself had truly trapped her.
• Zhou Jingting recalled being told to restrain herself despite defeating powerful opponents, while people praised Mo Bai’s boldness and dismissed her as a common-born woman suited for marriage.
• Zhou Jingting explained that she married a Five Clans descendant hoping to escape prejudice, but after she killed him, her sect blamed her for acting impulsively over a trivial matter.
• Zhou Jingting said she remained grateful to the Heavenly Lotus Sect for preserving her life, yet withdrew because she believed its outlook was short-sighted.
• Zhou Jingting revealed she had been waiting for the Five Clans Noble Clan to fall into chaos, for a chance to change the Pill Epoch, and for someone capable of recognizing her talent; she had hoped Mo Bai might come.

Mo Bai agreed to help Zhou Jingting leave the Heavenly Lotus Sect and settle at Ten Thousand Races Academy, where she intended to test whether a woman from the Pill Epoch could become dean through her own abilities. After learning the truth behind Zhou Jingting’s broken marriage, Mo Bai proposed that they partner to overthrow the great clans; elsewhere, Chen Changsheng heard of Zhou Jingting’s ambition and decided to find her a worthy female opponent.

• Zhou Jingting asked Mo Bai to help her leave the Heavenly Lotus Sect for Ten Thousand Races Academy, where she planned to prove that a female cultivator could rise to become dean.
• Zhou Jingting rejected Mo Bai’s offer to influence the academy’s choice and declared that she would accept defeat only if her abilities fell short.
• Zhou Jingting told Mo Bai that her former husband had been ordered to marry her, loved another woman, and had knelt to beg Zhou Jingting to spare that woman; Zhou Jingting killed him, and the woman took her own life.
• Mo Bai invited Zhou Jingting to partner with him against the great clans, and she agreed; he also warned her not to cultivate the Heavenly Lotus Sacred Method.
• Chen Changsheng told Chen Feng that he had heard Zhou Jingting wanted to become dean of Ten Thousand Races Academy, then decided to find her a worthy female opponent.

Chen Changsheng explained to Chen Feng that a talented woman’s belief in female cultivators’ ability to stand at the world’s pinnacle made her ideas exceptional. He argued that social expectations had trapped women’s potential, and left Chen Feng considering why female cultivators would not endure physical changes to strengthen themselves.

• Chen Changsheng told Chen Feng that the woman’s belief in female cultivators’ strength set her apart, and cited Gongsun Huaiyu, Zi Ning, and Sun Yuqing as remarkable women.
• Chen Changsheng argued that female cultivators were far less prominent because traditional roles left them protected and unprepared for the cultivation world’s cruelties.
• Chen Feng agreed that men and women showed no great difference in comprehension, but could not explain the gap in their achievements.
• Chen Changsheng said many female cultivators avoided physically demanding body tempering because it could make them bulky, rough-skinned, and grow facial hair.
• Chen Feng found those changes hard to accept, then asked why cultivators would not endure them temporarily and alter their appearance later.

Chen Feng reunited with Liu Qingqing after a hundred thousand years apart, while Li Changsheng invited Cui Yunzheng and Lu Jun to help dismantle the noble clans. The reunion ended with promises to face the future together, and the two invited cultivators were left speechless by Li Changsheng’s blunt plan.

• Chen Changsheng explained to Chen Feng that female cultivators faced invisible constraints that could prevent them from becoming true powerhouses.
• Liu Qingqing found Chen Feng, reunited with him, and promised not to leave his side again.
• Chen Feng promised Liu Qingqing they would face whatever came together, even death.
• Cui Yunzheng and Lu Jun confronted Li Changsheng about involving them in his plans.
• Li Changsheng said he intended to use the noble clans’ power to dismantle noble clans completely and gain no personal profit.
• Li Changsheng told Cui Yunzheng and Lu Jun that if they refused, he would expose their relationship and use the noble clans to eliminate them.

Li Changsheng and Cui Yunzheng agreed to openly oppose the aristocratic clans, while Chen Changsheng escalated his plans to reform the Pill Epoch. He prepared to use military pressure and an Epoch-passage project to force the clans into conflict and build support for a new order.

• Lu Jun left after declaring that he and Li Changsheng would be opponents the next time they met, while Cui Yunzheng stayed to learn more about Li Changsheng's path.
• Cui Yunzheng told Li Changsheng he admired his resistance to the aristocratic clans and wanted to join him, and Li Changsheng gave him a Jade Slip of Cui Family scandals to expose.
• Chen Changsheng ordered Liu Qingqing to coordinate the Greenwood Epoch's army and establish a garrison in the Pill Epoch, rejecting assassination as a way to weaken the clans.
• Chen Changsheng told Chen Feng he intended to eliminate hereditary clans and eventually rely on people like Li Changsheng to carry the Pill Epoch's New Era after outside forces withdrew.
• Chen Changsheng planned to fund an Epoch-passage project through the God of Wealth Hall and the Three Teachings, expecting the Bai Ze clan to outsource construction to the Five Tigers Group and use the Greenwood army's resources for the work.

Chen Changsheng explained how he would use an Epoch Passage and control of medicinal herb supplies to reform Pill Epoch and weaken the Five Clans Noble Clan, while sparing those willing to support reform. At the Bai Ze Garrison, Wang Hao summoned the skeptical Bai Ze Clan Leader with news of an opportunity involving Chen Changsheng.

• Chen Changsheng told Chen Feng that God of Wealth Hall could build an Epoch Passage on land it owned at the Epoch Boundary without Pill Epoch's permission.
• Chen Changsheng explained that Five Tigers Group had secured medicinal herb shares through the Dragon, Phoenix, Kirin, and Demon races, giving it leverage over the Five Clans Noble Clan's market.
• Chen Changsheng said he would spare noble clanspeople who supported reform, but punish those stubborn or guilty of serious crimes; Chen Feng asked him to save a few strong opponents for him.
• At the Bai Ze Garrison, Wang Hao told the Bai Ze Clan Leader to gather the clan because Chen Changsheng was bringing them a chance to make money.
• The Bai Ze Clan Leader doubted Wang Hao knew about Chen Changsheng's plan before he did.

Wang Hao persuaded the Bai Ze Clan Leader to let him control the Epoch Passage project, arguing that the Bai Ze Clan needed his expertise to manage it. He presented a detailed, low-cost plan and began explaining why the God of Wealth Hall and the Three Teachings would rely on outside builders.

• The Bai Ze Clan Leader received news of the Epoch Passage opportunity and questioned how Wang Hao had learned of it so early.
• Wang Hao argued that the Bai Ze Clan could not handle the project alone, and Xiao Hei confirmed that Wang Hao's help was necessary.
• Wang Hao asked for authority to plan the Epoch Passage while the Bai Ze Clan carried out the construction, and the Bai Ze Clan Leader agreed.
• Wang Hao showed the Clan Leader his detailed plans and explained that the God of Wealth Hall and the Three Teachings would initiate the project but avoid building it themselves because the costs would be difficult to control.

Wang Hao persuaded the Bai Ze Clan Leader to outsource part of the Epoch Passage project and recruit Quasi-Emperor experts to control the dangers in Hundun. He estimated the plan could earn the Bai Ze Clan 60 to 160 billion Divine Source.

• Wang Hao argued that outsourcing the Epoch Passage project would reduce risks from Chaos Beasts and personnel problems, and proposed hiring the Five Tigers Group to take on part of the work.
• Wang Hao suggested giving the Five Tigers Group one-fifth of the Pill Epoch portion and using large numbers of Quasi-Emperor experts to deal with Chaos Beasts in Hundun.
• Wang Hao proposed hiring Quasi-Emperors from minor factions for low fees, with Chaos Beast corpses and the chance to cultivate in Hundun as incentives.
• Wang Hao offered to bring the Nether River Forbidden Ground's Quasi-Emperors, including himself, for 1.888 billion Divine Source.
• Wang Hao estimated the project would cost 800 billion Divine Source, leave about 260 billion after the Five Tigers Group's share and construction costs, and yield the Bai Ze Clan roughly 60 to 160 billion after hiring experts.

Wang Hao explained the immense profits of the old Sky Abyss World and arranged to profit from the Bai Ze Clan’s work on the Epoch Passage. He then led Liu Yidao and the others to claim a share of Li Changsheng’s materials, where Chen Changsheng confronted him over interfering.

• Wang Hao told the Bai Ze Clan Leader that the old Sky Abyss World earned at least one trillion Divine Source daily and assured him the Bai Ze Clan would benefit from the Virtual World.
• Wang Hao persuaded the Bai Ze Clan Leader to charge him eight hundred and eighty million Divine Source to serve as a guard.
• Wang Hao stopped Liu Yidao and the others from pursuing revenge against the Zheng Family and told them that Li Changsheng’s group held materials worth fourteen billion Divine Source.
• Chen Changsheng delivered four billion Divine Source in materials to Li Changsheng and explained that the Bai Ze Clan had withheld two billion from the group’s sixteen-billion share.
• Liu Yidao and the others arrived, and Chen Changsheng confronted Wang Hao for learning about the project and interfering so quickly.

Wang Hao negotiated with Chen Changsheng to receive part of the Epoch Passage projects in exchange for secretly killing the Pill Epoch’s mid-tier combatants. He then claimed ninety billion Divine Source from the Five Tigers Group and led the construction of a passage through the Epoch Barrier, where Long Ji confronted the arriving powerhouses.

• Wang Hao asked Chen Changsheng to let him contract Epoch Passage projects, and Chen agreed in exchange for Wang Hao secretly killing Quasi-Emperor-level or stronger enemies on a list.
• Chen Changsheng left, and Wang Hao took half the Storage Bags before declaring that his group would keep ninety billion of the Five Tigers Group’s one hundred and forty billion Divine Source.
• Wang Hao teleported everyone to the Epoch Boundary and summoned over a hundred of his avatars to help him punch a passage through Hundun.
• Liu Yidao widened the opening with his blade after Wang Hao asked him to make the passage larger.
• Long Ji and Bie Chen arrived as nearby powerhouses noticed the disturbance, and Long Ji ordered them to leave after Meng De showed him the God of Wealth Hall contract.