Chapter Summaries

He Song examined the Nascent Soul cultivator’s records and possessions, learning about the cultivator’s life and the dangers that had claimed many gifted disciples. He estimated the immense value of his spoils and the strength the Spirit Stones could lend his array, then turned to test the corpse in the cultivation chamber again.

• He Song read the maps and records, discovering that their former owner was a Nascent Soul Middle Stage cultivator from the Purple Bamboo Domain who had traveled widely before returning to his sect.
• The records described how the cultivator’s father had supported his rise, how he explored distant domains, and how he returned to serve his sect after his father died.
• He Song learned that many talented disciples died through accidents and disasters before reaching Golden Core or Nascent Soul, and that the cultivator had eventually set up the Myriad Swords Return to Origin Array and gone into slumber.
• He Song inspected the Storage Pouch’s materials, medicines, artifacts, and miscellaneous treasures, estimating that the combined spoils were worth far more than tens of millions of mid-grade Spirit Stones.
• He Song considered how his Spirit Stones could power the Myriad Swords Return to Origin Array and help him contend with Nascent Soul Cultivators, then prepared to test the Nascent Soul corpse again while the two rogue cultivators remained unconscious.

He Song tested the Nascent Soul corpse with evil cultivators of decreasing cultivation and concluded that no lingering divine sense remained inside. He then sent a Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator to investigate a Treasure Vault, whose sealed doors resisted the man’s divine sense.

• He Song sent evil cultivators of progressively lower cultivation into the cultivation chamber, watched them search the Nascent Soul corpse, and killed them afterward.
• After a further Foundation Establishment cultivator died without being possessed, He Song judged the corpse safe but left it and the suppressed puppets behind for now.
• He Song controlled Clear Wind and Idle Cloud deeper into the cave abode and discovered a palace marked “Treasure Vault.”
• Suspecting the Treasure Vault might be a trap, He Song placed an unconscious Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator at its entrance to test it.
• The demonic cultivator woke, grew greedy after finding himself alone with the sealed vault, and failed to penetrate it with his divine sense.

He Song discovered that the treasure vault held resources and puppets for cultivation from Qi Refining through Golden Core, along with a Storage Pouch that delighted a Foundation Establishment rogue cultivator. When the rogue cultivator tried to swallow a pill, He Song sent Idle Cloud to kill him and collect the vault’s treasures.

• He Song used Clear Wind to inspect the treasure vault after a Foundation Establishment rogue cultivator slipped inside.
• He Song found cultivation treasures and puppets for several realms, then suspected the vault’s owner had prepared them for a future reincarnation or possession.
• The rogue cultivator rushed to the Golden Core section, found the Storage Pouch, and opened it with his divine sense.
• The rogue cultivator took out an unknown spirit pill and prepared to swallow it, so He Song sent Idle Cloud to kill him.
• Idle Cloud collected the treasures and Storage Pouch, cleared away the traces, and returned to Clear Wind and Mingyue.

He Song uncovered a hoard of cultivation treasures in the Nascent Soul abode and discovered it contained the Purifying Spirit Pill and Core Shattering and Infant Formation Method he needed to prepare for a Nascent Soul breakthrough. He left the chapter realizing he could soon begin preparing to advance to the Nascent Soul realm.

• He Song gave up hiding after exposing his presence and had Idle Cloud retrieve all the treasures from the vault.
• He Song examined the haul, finding resources for Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Golden Core cultivators, including Foundation Establishment Pills and more than ten Congealed Golden Cores.
• He Song identified the spiritual pills as Blood Refining Body Beads and postponed searching the evil cultivator's soul until he had checked the abode for dangers.
• He Song inspected the Storage Pouch and found both the Purifying Spirit Pill and the Core Shattering and Infant Formation Method inside.
• He Song realized he had the key resources needed to prepare for a Nascent Soul breakthrough and felt immense joy.

He Song verified that the two pills he found were genuine Purifying Spirit Pills and decided to leave the Nascent Soul abode unexplored until after he broke through. He returned to Lingyun Capital after setting up protective arrays and teleportation safeguards, preparing to enter seclusion for his breakthrough.

• He Song verified the two Purifying Spirit Pills, confirmed their authenticity, and stored them with the rest of his treasures.
• He Song decided not to risk probing the Nascent Soul corpse or the abode’s hidden contingencies until after reaching the Nascent Soul Realm.
• He Song found that the Myriad Swords Return to Origin Array had enough Spirit Stones to run for centuries and resolved to leave it active during his seclusion.
• He Song arranged protective arrays and teleportation safeguards, assigning Idle Cloud, Mingyue, and Clear Wind to sever the teleportation routes if the defenses were breached.
• He Song used the teleportation array to return to Lingyun Capital and prepared to secure himself before attempting his breakthrough.

He Song returned to Lingyun Capital to prepare for a safe breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Realm, choosing the Treasure Gathering Pavilion branch for its protection and his ability to conceal his true identity. He established himself as the Mysterious Turtle True Lord and prepared the branch residence and array for his attempt.

• He Song decided Lingyun Capital was safer than the One Yang Sect’s vicinity or Purple Bamboo Capital for his breakthrough, and that the local Treasure Gathering Pavilion could provide protection.
• He Song returned to Lingyun Capital, gathered his belongings, and used his connections to secure a guest elder’s residence inside the Treasure Gathering Pavilion branch.
• He Song spread word that a guest elder at Golden Core Great Perfection was staying at the residence so the branch’s Pavilion Master would recognize his identity if his breakthrough began.
• He Song installed the Myriad Swords Return to Origin Array in the residence to defend and conceal himself during his breakthrough.

He Song prepared a protected underground chamber in Lingyun Capital for his Nascent Soul breakthrough and sought guidance from Meng Guan and True Monarch Luo Jing. Their advice on the essential pills, treasured land, and Core Shattering and Infant Formation methods left him confident as he prepared to begin.

• He Song extended the Myriad Swords Return to Origin Array underground, carved out a chamber several thousand meters below the surface, and set up multiple Spirit Gathering Arrays.
• He Song wrote to Meng Guan for advice, and Meng Guan explained the need for a Purifying Spirit Pill, a treasured land, and a thoroughly studied Core Shattering and Infant Formation Method.
• Meng Guan described how to shatter the Golden Core, form the Nascent Soul, and use Purifying Spirit Pills to resist inner demons during the process.
• He Song asked True Monarch Luo Jing for further guidance, and she sent him additional breakthrough tips from her experience and access to the Treasure Gathering Pavilion’s resources.
• He Song committed both friends’ advice to memory and estimated that his two Purifying Spirit Pills and preparations gave him an eighty- to ninety-percent chance of success.

He Song prepared for his Nascent Soul breakthrough by mastering four secret arts, isolating himself from every possible disturbance, and shattering his Golden Core. Because his immortality spared him the usual loss of vitality, he began condensing a Nascent Soul with little interference and gathered the Golden Core fragments’ spirituality at the center of his dantian.

• He Song studied the Core Shattering and Infant Condensation Art and chose the Core-Splitting Art, Core-Breaking Art, Reverse Circulation Nascent Formation Art, and Heaven-Earth Essence Condensation Technique to master.
• After mastering all four arts, He Song secluded himself behind defensive arrays, set aside his Purifying Spirit Pills, and cut off messages and access to Yu'er.
• He Song waited for an auspicious day, entered his dantian, and repeatedly used the Core-Splitting Art to shatter his Golden Core.
• He Song realized he felt neither his vitality nor his lifespan draining away, which he attributed to his immortal nature, and continued without blocking out the remaining pain.
• He Song activated the Heaven-Earth Essence Condensation Technique and gathered the spirituality from his Golden Core fragments at the center of his dantian.

He Song used the Heaven-Earth Essence Condensation Technique to gather his Golden Core’s spirituality and form the rudiment of a Nascent Soul, preparing Purifying Spirit Pills against an inner demon. When the demon struck, he destroyed several illusions but remained trapped, eventually finding himself in a modern city and recalling the accident that had taken him from his former life.

• He Song shattered his Golden Core and used its mana to gather and strengthen the spirituality in his dantian.
• He Song gradually transformed the unified spirituality into a hazy, increasingly human-shaped Nascent Soul rudiment.
• He Song sensed scorching heat, swallowed a Purifying Spirit Pill, and prepared his second pill before an inner-demon illusion appeared.
• He Song shattered illusions of alluring female cultivators and vengeful pursuers with his divine sense and sword light.
• He Song found himself in a modern city, watched an ambulance leave an accident scene, and remembered being struck by a vehicle while crossing the road.

He Song confronted a heart demon that resembled him while attempting to condense his Nascent Soul. After discovering that the demon resisted his strongest attacks, he destroyed it with his Hundred Flowers Secret Technique infused with the Purifying Spirit Pill’s power, and the illusion vanished.

• He Song dispelled the bustling-city illusion with his divine sense and faced a heart demon that looked exactly like him.
• He Song fortified himself with his defensive treasures and cast the Hundred Flowers Secret Technique as the heart demon attacked.
• He Song found that the heart demon’s Golden Core Late Stage attacks barely threatened his defenses, while his Ruyi Zijing Ding only weakened the demon slightly.
• He Song combined the power of a hundred flowers with the Purifying Spirit Pill’s medicinal strength and struck the heart demon.
• The flower swept over the heart demon and destroyed it, ending the darkness and restoring the scene from before He Song entered seclusion.

He Song destroyed his heart demon and continued condensing his Nascent Soul embryo, making progress faster than expected. Once the embryo formed, he began filling it with spiritual power, creating a vortex that drew spiritual energy from the Treasure Gathering Pavilion branch in Lingyun Capital and attracted the branch master’s attention.

• He Song recalled his unleashed spiritual power after destroying the heart demon, then resumed condensing his Nascent Soul embryo.
• He Song noticed that his progress had advanced during the heart demon battle and considered whether he might need only one Purifying Spirit Pill, but put the thought aside.
• He Song gradually formed the humanoid Nascent Soul embryo in his dantian and began filling it with spiritual power.
• He Song formed a vortex inside the embryo, which began drawing spiritual power from his body and then external spiritual energy.
• A second spiritual energy vortex formed above He Song’s residence, and powerful cultivators noticed the strange phenomenon.
• The Treasure Gathering Pavilion branch master began investigating the unusual spiritual energy vortices.

Jade Xuanzi realized that He Song’s growing spiritual energy vortex came from his attempt to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm, and she protected him while he completed the first stage. He Song then began transferring part of his divine sense into his Nascent Soul, the next step toward completing his breakthrough.

• Jade Xuanzi investigated the growing spiritual energy vortex and learned that He Song, a Golden Core Great Perfection Guest Elder, was in seclusion at its center.
• Jade Xuanzi concluded that He Song was attempting to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm and decided to protect him.
• Jade Xuanzi announced that no one would disturb He Song, and He Song thanked her before resuming his cultivation.
• He Song absorbed and refined spiritual energy until the Nascent Soul embryonic form in his dantian had accumulated mana to completion.
• He Song began sending divine sense from his Mud Palace Pill into the Nascent Soul so he could control it.

He Song split his divine sense evenly, fused half of it with the Nascent Soul embryo, and established firm control over it. As the embryo awakened and drew in a second surge of spiritual energy, Jade Xuanzi and other powers in Lingyun Capital recognized that He Song had successfully broken through into the Nascent Soul Realm.

• He Song decided to divide his unusually powerful divine sense in half, following the customary method to avoid the dangers of an uneven allocation.
• He Song used the Nascent Soul Condensation secret art to merge half his divine sense into the embryo and strengthen his control over it.
• He Song completed the division of his divine sense, and the Nascent Soul in his dantian stretched and sat cross-legged.
• A massive spiritual energy vortex formed at the Treasure Gathering Pavilion branch in Lingyun Capital, drawing the attention of Jade Xuanzi and other local powers.
• Jade Xuanzi concluded that He Song had successfully condensed his Nascent Soul and anticipated that he would become a Nascent Soul guest elder of the Treasure Gathering Pavilion.

He Song completed his breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Realm inside a Treasure Gathering Pavilion branch while Jade Xuanzi guarded him. He resumed cultivating after gaining his new strength and settling into the realm.

• Jade Xuanzi released her Nascent Soul Middle Stage aura to warn others that she was protecting the cultivator undergoing a breakthrough.
• He Song continued absorbing spiritual energy, strengthening his mana, divine sense, body, and Nascent Soul as the surrounding energy gathered around the Pavilion branch.
• He Song sensed his breakthrough nearing completion and continued absorbing spiritual energy to stabilize his cultivation.
• He Song’s body, mana, and divine sense surged as he fully entered the Nascent Soul Realm.
• He Song waited to gain control of his new strength, then resumed cultivating with a goal beyond breaking through to Nascent Soul.

After consolidating his breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Realm, He Song examined Jade Slips from a Nascent Soul abode and found spells and a cultivation method linked to the Nine Yang Sect. He decided not to risk using the sect’s techniques and asked True Monarch Luo Jing to report his breakthrough and raise his Treasure Gathering Pavilion privileges so he could obtain other methods.

• He Song used his newly strengthened divine sense to examine the Jade Slips from the Nascent Soul abode and memorized the Violet Sun Bodyguard Art and Mystic Heaven Earth-Spirit Shield.
• He Song discovered the Nine Yang True Flame Formula, a powerful method that could be cultivated to the Spirit Transformation Realm, and connected it and the Violet Sun Bodyguard Art to the Nine Yang Sect.
• He Song concluded that cultivating the Nine Yang Sect’s techniques could bring dangerous trouble, potentially involving Spirit Transmutation Holy Lands, so he chose not to use them.
• He Song sent True Monarch Luo Jing a message announcing his breakthrough and asking her to report it and raise the permissions of his Guest Elder Token.
• He Song waited for True Monarch Luo Jing’s reply so he could use his Spirit Stones to select Nascent Soul methods and secret arts from the Treasure Gathering Pavilion’s treasury.

After breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm, He Song received True Monarch Luo Jing’s advice and sensed the surrounding space, which he could not yet control. He obtained the Void Traversal Technique and the Five Elements Origin-Gathering Art from the Treasure Gathering Pavilion, then considered the rare items needed to fully benefit from the cultivation art.

• He Song scanned the Jade Slips from the Nascent Soul cave dwelling and committed their cultivation arts and secret techniques to memory.
• True Monarch Luo Jing’s message congratulated He Song on his breakthrough, recommended an all-five-elements cultivation art, and urged him to obtain the Void Traversal Technique.
• He Song sensed a membrane around himself that he identified as space, but he could not manipulate it with his divine sense, spiritual power, or body.
• After his Guest Elder Token’s authority changed, He Song exchanged Contribution Points for the Void Traversal Technique and the Five Elements Origin-Gathering Art.
• He Song learned that the Five Elements Origin-Gathering Art could improve elemental spirit-root aptitude or grant missing spirit roots, but required extremely precious spiritual items.

He Song chose the Five Elements Origin-Gathering Art after learning it could strengthen his body and prevent his Nascent Soul from outgrowing its physical vessel. He selected several defensive and offensive Nascent Soul spells, then began searching for a replacement for the Hidden God Technique, which was no longer suitable for his cultivation.

• He Song realized that the Five Elements Origin-Gathering Art could strengthen his body and help prevent cultivation stagnation caused by a gap between his physical body and Nascent Soul.
• He Song searched the Treasure Gathering Pavilion's treasury and chose the Mystic Heaven Earth-Spirit Shield and Violet Sun Bodyguard Art, along with two other defensive spells, to practice.
• He Song selected the Black Tortoise Mountain-Stomping Step and Earthspirit Ninefold Seal as his Nascent Soul offensive spells.
• He Song recognized that the Hidden God Technique was no longer reliable for concealing himself from other Nascent Soul Cultivators and searched the treasury for a replacement.

He Song searched the Treasure Gathering Pavilion’s treasury and exchanged for Nascent Soul techniques, spells, and artifacts to build his strength and protect himself. He began cultivating the Five Elements Origin-Gathering Art, then set a manageable daily routine of studying three secret arts and refining two upper-grade spirit artifacts while consolidating his cultivation.

• He Song selected the Void Escape Technique to conceal himself even from Nascent Soul Cultivators and chose other techniques, spells, and artifacts for his future cultivation.
• He Song spent Spirit Stones to obtain Contribution Points and exchanged them for the secret arts he intended to master first.
• He Song focused on cultivating the Five Elements Origin-Gathering Art until he entered its gate, then added the Void Traversal Technique to his daily practice.
• He Song began studying the Mystic Heaven Earth-Spirit Shield and Black Tortoise Mountain-Stomping Step while refining the Five Elements Heavenly Stellar Shield and Primordial Yellow Heaven-Breaking Seal.
• He Song limited his daily training to three secret arts and two artifacts so he could master Nascent Soul combat abilities while consolidating his cultivation.

He Song studied the Void Traversal Technique and two Nascent Soul spells during decades of seclusion, while outside events unfolded. He learned that Meng Guan had formed his Nascent Soul, helped the righteous side win the war, and that the recovered territory was divided among the victorious sects.

• He Song studied spatial techniques in the Void Traversal Technique and learned that Nascent Soul cultivators could make their dwellings appear miniature, while the Near-and-Far Technique required far deeper mastery.
• He Song continued cultivating the offensive Black Tortoise Mountain-Stomping Step and defensive Mystic Heaven Earth-Spirit Shield so he could face other Nascent Soul Cultivators.
• He Song received messages revealing that Meng Guan had secretly begun his Nascent Soul breakthrough during the war, with Wei Fan sending messages in his place.
• Meng Guan formed his Nascent Soul more than ten years earlier, mastered its power, and returned to the war between the righteous and demonic paths.
• Meng Guan's strength tipped the war toward the righteous side, and the three northern demonic sects surrendered two states each that they had taken from the Locking God Sect.
• Snow Wind Palace did not claim all six states, since the One Yang Sect and Purple Cloud Sect had also contributed greatly to the victory.

He Song learned that the righteous alliance had ended its war after One Yang’s strength failed, and considered the future of Meng Guan and the Purifying Spirit Pill he still possessed. After notifying his acquaintances of his Nascent Soul breakthrough and replying to their congratulations, he returned to studying secret arts and refining spirit artifacts.

• He Song inferred that One Yang was near death or had lost his combat power, explaining why the righteous sects accepted a swift end to the war and divided the spoils.
• He Song congratulated Meng Guan on entering the Nascent Soul Realm, and Meng Guan congratulated He Song while reporting his efforts to find a Purifying Spirit Pill for Wei Fan.
• He Song recalled that he still had one Purifying Spirit Pill and weighed giving it to someone or auctioning it, but postponed the decision.
• He Song reviewed news from his years in seclusion and judged the rise and fall of Golden Core Sects insignificant compared with his new status.
• He Song informed his acquaintances that he had reached the Nascent Soul Realm, replied to their congratulations, and resumed studying three secret arts and refining two high-grade spirit artifacts.