Chapter Summaries

He Song prepared Qing Lingzi and Wang Youzi to pursue breakthroughs while spending more than a hundred years cultivating, mastering Spirit Transformation pill formulas, and refining a second Dao artifact. The chapter left him with stronger cultivation, new pills and defenses, while both women had entered seclusion to attempt breakthroughs.

• He Song passed the Nine Refinements Return to Origin Technique and his breakthrough insights to Qing Lingzi and Wang Youzi, ordering them to capture devil cultivators and evil cultivators rather than righteous-path Nascent Souls.
• He Song supplied the women with treasures and Spirit Stones, then sent them into seclusion within Nine Abyss Return-to-Void Arrays to attempt Spirit Transformation breakthroughs.
• Over more than a hundred years, He Song advanced his cultivation and comprehended several Spirit Transformation pill formulas, including the Profound Clarity Dao Seeking Pill, Heavenly Dipper Essence-Gathering Pill, and Iceheart Jade Marrow Pill.
• He Song mastered the Bluefall Yellow Springs Pill, a powerful poison pill whose antidote consumed the user's lifespan, and refined a dozen or so of the pills.
• He Song refined his second Dao artifact, the Nine Heavens Star Armor, which strengthened his defenses and could detect or block hidden attacks.

After refining the Nine Heavens Star Armor, He Song reviewed the outside world and received news that his old friend Wei Fan had become the Nine Yang Dao Lord. He Song decided not to attend Wei Fan’s Primordial Spirit Assembly, choosing to protect his hidden identity and respond only after the event had passed.

• He Song completed refining the Nine Heavens Star Armor, strengthening his defenses and ability to withstand ambushes.
• He Song reflected on the Soul Locking Sect and Blood Soul Sect’s long war, noting that their leaders had yet to meet in battle.
• Wei Fan informed He Song that he had become the Nine Yang Sect’s new Nascent Soul cultivator and invited him to the Primordial Spirit Assembly ten years later.
• Wei Fan said he would introduce He Song and Meng Guan to his Dao companion, the previous Nine Yang Dao Lord’s daughter, who had reached Nascent Soul Great Perfection.
• He Song was pleased by Wei Fan’s breakthrough but decided not to attend, planning to wait twenty years before opening the Sound Transmission Talisman so he could claim he had missed the event.

He Song learned that Wei Fan had established himself as a Spirit Transformation cultivator and taken control of the Nine Yang Sect, then arranged to congratulate him in person without exposing his true body. He sent his puppet Clear Wind to Nine Yang City, where Meng Guan and Wei Fan welcomed him on a scenic mountain platform.

• He Song gathered reports about Wei Fan's Primordial Spirit Assembly, learning that Wei Fan's Spirit Transformation-level strength was accepted and the assembly ended without incident.
• Ten years after the assembly, He Song answered messages from Meng Guan and Wei Fan, apologizing for his long silence and agreeing to meet them in Nine Yang City.
• Wei Fan took control of the Nine Yang Sect, reunited it with the One Yang Sect, and established his authority alongside Meng Guan while the former Holy Master withdrew from sect affairs.
• He Song chose to attend the meeting through Clear Wind, a puppet that resembled him, to avoid drawing the attention of the former Holy Master or other watchers.
• He Song controlled Clear Wind to Nine Yang City and went to the agreed meeting place, where Meng Guan and Wei Fan brought him to a high platform on a beautiful immortal mountain.
• Meng Guan greeted He Song warmly and remarked that his bearing remained as splendid as ever.

He Song met Wei Fan and Meng Guan at the Nine Yang Sect, apologized for missing Wei Fan’s Primordial Spirit Assembly, and gave them fifteen Spirit Transformation jade talismans while testing Wei Fan’s attitude toward him. Autumn Water Fairy joined their gathering, and Wei Fan’s friends learned how her support had helped him rise to become the Nine Yang Sect’s Holy Lord; the four ended the chapter sharing a family banquet.

• He Song greeted Wei Fan and Meng Guan, then gave Wei Fan ten Spirit Transformation jade talismans and Meng Guan five as gifts and an apology.
• He Song privately watched their reactions, using the gifts to test whether Wei Fan would support him if he pursued Spirit Transformation outside the Six Great Sacred Lands.
• Autumn Water Fairy arrived, and Wei Fan introduced her as his Dao companion to He Song and Meng Guan.
• The four shared a family banquet while Meng Guan and Wei Fan recounted their years apart and their experiences in the One Yang Sect and Nine Yang Sect.
• Wei Fan recounted how he had once given up on further cultivation, then grew close to Autumn Water Fairy and, with her father’s support, became the Nine Yang Sect’s Holy Lord.

He Song reunited with Meng Guan and Wei Fan, shared stories, and received valuable tea trees from Wei Fan. When Wei Fan asked about concealing a Spirit Transformation breakthrough, He Song admitted he lacked the necessary arrays, and Wei Fan gave him two sets to help him break through unnoticed.

• He Song reflected that Autumn Water Fairy had likely helped Wei Fan become the Nine Yang Sect's Holy Lord and that her father had chosen Wei Fan for his loyalty and lack of sect backing.
• He Song, Meng Guan, Wei Fan, and Autumn Water Fairy shared their experiences, renewed their friendship, and enjoyed fine tea together.
• Wei Fan gave He Song several tea trees, including varieties that produced Nascent Soul spirit tea.
• After Autumn Water Fairy returned to the Nine Yang Sect's mountain gate, Wei Fan asked He Song whether his Spirit Transformation inheritance described how to hide a breakthrough.
• He Song recounted seeing a giant palm attack a cultivator during a Spirit Transformation breakthrough and said he had searched unsuccessfully for a concealment array.
• Wei Fan gave He Song a Myriad Forms Return to Truth Array and a Spirit Transformation Spirit Gathering Array, explaining that together they could conceal a breakthrough.

Wei Fan gave He Song two arrays to conceal and support a future breakthrough, then confirmed the Nine Refinements Return to Origin Technique was genuine. He recorded his own breakthrough experience and insights for He Song, leaving Wei Fan hopeful that another Nascent Soul cultivator would soon reach the Spirit Transformation Realm.

• Wei Fan considered how He Song and possibly Meng Guan becoming Spirit Transformation cultivators could strengthen the Nine Yang Sect and shift the balance among the holy lands.
• Wei Fan gave He Song a Spirit Transformation concealment array and a Spirit Transformation Spirit Gathering Array, and He Song accepted them with sincere gratitude.
• Wei Fan asked to inspect the Primordial Spirit secret technique from He Song's inheritance, and He Song handed him the Nine Refinements Return to Origin Technique.
• After studying the technique, Wei Fan confirmed it was genuine and capable of supporting a breakthrough to the Spirit Transformation Realm.
• Wei Fan inscribed his insights from the technique and his own breakthrough into a Jade Slip and gave it to He Song, expressing hope that another Nascent Soul cultivator would soon break through.

He Song learned that Wei Fan had tailored breakthrough insights for his Nine Refinements Return to Origin Technique, strengthening his prospects of reaching the Spirit Transformation Realm. Wei Fan promised to help Meng Guan break through as well, while the three agreed to keep their plans and any future breakthroughs secret; they then resumed their journey as He Song learned more about the Nine Yang Sect.

• He Song thanked Wei Fan for breakthrough insights tailored to the Nine Refinements Return to Origin Technique and described his pills and concealment formation.
• Meng Guan felt competitive urgency about reaching the Spirit Transformation Realm, and Wei Fan promised to help him when circumstances allowed.
• Wei Fan warned He Song and Meng Guan to conceal their plans and any future breakthroughs to avoid provoking the other holy lands, and they agreed.
• Wei Fan lifted the restrictions, and Autumn Water Fairy returned hours later as the group continued traveling without mentioning their private discussion.
• He Song learned about the Nine Yang Sect's factions, including its sect faction and Nascent Soul cultivation families.

After leaving Nine Yang City with gifts and two Spirit Transformation grand arrays, He Song put his new treasures to use and considered how they could strengthen him. He planned to study formations after improving his own combat power, while cultivating Spirit Transformation spiritual tea for his use and sale.

• He Song learned from Meng Guan and Wei Fan about the Nine Yang Sect’s vast numbers of Nascent Soul Cultivators and reflected on how the scarcity of such cultivators could help secure his future safety.
• After several months in Nine Yang City, He Song departed with Meng Guan, Wei Fan, and the Autumn Water Fairy bidding him farewell, carrying gifts that included Spirit Transformation spiritual tea and two grand arrays.
• He Song returned to the Treasure Gathering Pavilion branch in Zetianjing and used his cave abode’s spiritual energy to cultivate the tea tree and put his other gifts to use.
• He Song considered how much he had gained from the visit, including Wei Fan’s arrays and insights into the Nine Refinements Return to Origin Technique, and judged the rewards more valuable than the talisman jades he had given.
• He Song weighed puppets, spirit beasts, and formations as ways to improve his strength, but decided that his followers made puppets unnecessary and Yu'er and Nascent Soul demon beasts offered little help.
• He Song resolved to study Spirit Transformation grand arrays after bringing his personal combat power up to the level of other Spirit Transformation cultivators.

He Song began studying Spirit Transformation arrays to strengthen his defenses and expand his supply of precious spirit herbs, while postponing plans for exposed medicine gardens until he could conceal and protect them. As his four puppets were forced from safe positions into the war between the Soul Locking Sect and Blood Soul Sect, he prepared them for survival and continued his studies.

• He Song selected righteous-path Spirit Transformation arrays from Wei Fan’s collection and the Blood Demon Sword Lord’s inheritance, then began with the Spirit Transformation Spirit Gathering Array.
• He Song realized that expanding his medicine gardens would require a Spirit Transformation concealment array and protective puppets and killing arrays, so he limited the Spirit Gathering Array’s immediate use to his cave abode.
• He Song’s experience with arrays and past use of Enlightenment Tea Leaves helped him comprehend the Spirit Transformation Spirit Gathering Array quickly.
• As the Soul Locking Sect and Blood Soul Sect war intensified, the four puppets under He Song were pushed out of rear positions and forced to join the fighting.
• He Song equipped the four puppets with life-saving items and treasures to counter Nascent Soul Great Perfection cultivators, while continuing his array studies with little concern about the mental strain of controlling them.

He Song awakened when a Nascent Soul Great Perfection demonic cultivator pursued Ghost Soul, then lured the attacker into a concealment formation and killed him with Evening Snow and Flowing Firefly. He turned the corpse into Demon One, expanded his hidden forces in the Soul Locking Sect and Blood Soul Sect, and later finished mastering two Spirit Transformation grand arrays before preparing to build medicinal gardens.

• He Song took control of Ghost Soul as a Nascent Soul Great Perfection demonic cultivator pursued him, and led the pursuer into a remote area.
• When the demonic cultivator attacked He Song's concealment formation, Evening Snow and Flowing Firefly forced him inside and killed him.
• He Song refined the corpse into Demon One and sent it back to the Soul Locking Sect, where it could support his other puppets.
• With Demon One's help, He Song killed three more Nascent Soul Great Perfection demonic cultivators, refined them as Demon Two, Demon Three, and Demon Four, and placed them within the Soul Locking Sect and Blood Soul Sect.
• After more than a century, He Song mastered the Spirit Transformation Spirit Gathering Array and the Heavenly Cycle Hidden Moon Array.
• He Song began preparing array disks, array flags, and puppets so he could establish and guard medicinal gardens.

He Song prepared new formations and Nascent Soul-limit puppets, then traveled to gather Spirit Transformation materials by secretly controlling leaders of unsupported Nascent Soul Sects. He discovered that the Black Tiger Sect’s supposed Nascent Soul Great Perfection ancestor had secretly reached Spirit Transformation, withdrew without confronting him, and continued onward while considering the cultivation world’s powerful Nascent Soul forces.

• He Song refined three Spirit Gathering Arrays, three Heavenly Cycle Hidden Moon Arrays, and six powerful puppets after killing six Nascent Soul Great Perfection demonic cultivators.
• He Song found Qing Lingzi and Wang Youzi both attempting breakthroughs to Spirit Transformation and realized he needed four more Dao artifacts to strengthen them.
• He Song left seclusion, searched for medicine-garden sites, and began using the Ten-Thousand Tribulation Soul-Enslaving Contract to control leaders of unsupported Nascent Soul Sects and collect their Spirit Transformation materials.
• He Song reached the Black Tiger Sect and sensed that its hidden ancestor had already advanced to Spirit Transformation, so he abandoned his plan and left without being detected.
• As he traveled onward, He Song considered the powerful Nascent Soul cultivators among the Six Great Holy Lands, including the Treasure Gathering Pavilion’s Mid Nascent Soul Stage Pavilion Master.

He Song weighed the consequences of the six great holy lands suppressing new Spirit Transformation cultivators, then returned from his journey with new resources, intelligence, and medicinal gardens under his control. He resumed seclusion to master two remaining Spirit Transformation grand arrays and strengthen his combat power.

• He Song estimated that fewer than five unaffiliated Spirit Transformation cultivators existed beyond the six great holy lands, and considered how their suppression might preserve stability while limiting future growth.
• He Song decided he would not interfere with the six great holy lands’ actions, since their rule allowed him to cultivate peacefully and protected the lives of lower-order cultivators and mortals.
• Several months later, He Song returned to his cave abode after controlling numerous Nascent Soul cultivators, gathering Spirit Transformation materials, and selecting sites for medicinal gardens.
• He Song established a loose faction of unbacked Nascent Soul Sects, whose controlled leaders would collect Spirit Transformation materials and supply intelligence for his network.
• He Song arranged for remote medicinal gardens to be protected by peak Nascent Soul puppets, then entered seclusion to study the offensive and defensive Spirit Transformation grand arrays he had yet to master.

He Song considered how Spirit Transformation composite arrays could help him defeat Nascent Soul cultivators, then discovered that Qing Lingzi’s first attempt to break through had failed. He reassured her that he would provide another Mysterious Yellow Bodyguard Pill, leaving her to recover and prepare for another attempt.

• He Song resolved to pursue a four-layer Spirit Transformation composite array, while imagining that a ten-layer array might eventually rival Void Refinement power.
• He Song sensed a disturbance in Qing Lingzi’s Nine Abyss Return-to-Void Array and sent a puppet to investigate, suspecting she had broken through.
• He Song found Qing Lingzi injured after her failed breakthrough attempt; she had reached the half-step Spirit Transformation Realm.
• Qing Lingzi knelt and asked He Song to punish her for failing and wasting the Mysterious Yellow Bodyguard Pill.
• He Song told Qing Lingzi to heal and promised to give her another pill, assuring her that he had enough for both her and Wang Youzi to reach Spirit Transformation.

He Song gave Qing Lingzi and Wang Youzi Mysterious Yellow Bodyguard Pills after both failed their first attempts to break through to the Spirit Transformation Realm. While he studied a grand array, the Soul Locking Sect defeated the Blood Soul Sect, leaving He Song with a stronger foothold there and doubts about the missing Blood Demon Sword Lord.

• He Song reassured Qing Lingzi, gave her a Mysterious Yellow Bodyguard Pill, and promised further pills if she continued to fail.
• Wang Youzi also failed her first breakthrough attempt, so He Song comforted her and gave her a Mysterious Yellow Bodyguard Pill.
• He Song's eight puppets noticed an eerie pause in the fighting between the Soul Locking Sect and the Blood Soul Sect and prepared escape routes.
• When the Soul Locking Sect's leader attacked after several years of silence, He Song recalled his four puppets from the Blood Soul Sect while his other four joined the assault.
• The Soul Locking Sect defeated and scattered the Blood Soul Sect, and He Song's four puppets there were rewarded with positions as elders.
• He Song wondered whether the Blood Demon Sword Lord was dead, since he doubted the two sect leaders could have settled their evenly matched conflict so quickly.

He Song comprehended the Myriad Thunder Tribulation Sea Array and the Azure Sea Bright Moon Array, strengthening his cave abode’s defenses. He then traveled east, establishing remote backup cave abodes as relay points and continuing toward the Endless Sea.

• He Song concluded that the Blood Demon Sword Lord had probably been imprisoned by the leader of the Soul Locking Sect, then set the mystery aside and continued cultivating while his puppets infiltrated the sect.
• After years of seclusion, He Song mastered the Myriad Thunder Tribulation Sea Array and the Azure Sea Bright Moon Array.
• He Song installed both formations in his cave abode, giving it stronger defenses and time to let him escape if several Nascent Soul cultivators attacked.
• He Song decided to build new backup cave abodes eastward, since his existing Nine Abyss Return-to-Void Arrays were tied to medicinal gardens.
• He Song traveled east using teleportation arrays, buying maps in each immortal city and leaving remote cave abodes behind as relay stations.
• He Song entered the sphere of influence of another Spirit Transmutation Holy Land and emerged from a teleportation array to obtain a local map.

He Song traveled through the Heavenly Dipper Sword Sect’s territory to the Endless Sea, where he established concealed strongholds to serve as escape routes. After creating several temporary abodes across remote islands, he returned to his original residence with greater security.

• He Song suppressed his displayed cultivation to Golden Core Great Perfection and crossed the Heavenly Dipper Sword Sect’s territory without encountering danger.
• He Song learned that the Endless Sea had scattered islands and that cultivators who ventured far across it had vanished without reaching the far shore.
• He Song flew deep into a remote stretch of the Endless Sea and raised an island from beneath the sea.
• He Song covered the island and surrounding waters with Spirit Transformation formations, built palaces, planted spiritual treasures, and installed a teleportation array.
• He Song established several more temporary abodes in remote sea regions, then returned to his original abode after only a few months.

He Song studied the Profound Origin Puppet Refining Technique and planned to gather the materials and Nascent Soul cultivator corpses needed to make puppets. As he continued his research in seclusion, Wei Fan informed him that the previous generation's Nine Yang Dao Lord had died, and the Nine Yang Sect would hold a funeral ceremony.

• He Song set aside a demonic puppet-refining art and began studying the orthodox Profound Origin Puppet Refining Technique, which came from the Profound Heaven Sect.
• He Song discovered that the technique shared principles with the Tai Hao Xuan Yuan Scripture, speeding his study, and learned that refining Nascent Soul Puppets required great quantities of Spirit Transformation materials, Nascent Soul cultivator corpses, and Dao artifact-level skill.
• He Song decided to seek materials and corpses over the coming millennia while relying on followers to preserve his strength, and his forces began searching for them.
• Wei Fan sent He Song a message that the previous generation's Nine Yang Dao Lord had died and that the Nine Yang Sect would hold a farewell ceremony before burying his remains in a secret realm within its mountain gate.

He Song rejected Wei Fan’s invitation to attend the previous Nine Yang Dao Lord’s funeral and spent years mastering the Profound Origin Puppet Refining Technique, reforging his puppets to conceal them from Nascent Soul cultivators. After raising his publicly displayed cultivation to Nascent Soul Great Perfection, he received a new invitation from Wei Fan concerning the Spirit Transformation Realm.

• He Song considered whether the previous Nine Yang Dao Lord was truly dead and concluded that the Nine Yang Sect faced little risk of an external attack.
• He Song told Wei Fan that his seclusion was at a critical stage and declined to visit the Nine Yang Sect; Wei Fan later offered to protect him if he attempted a Spirit Transformation breakthrough.
• He Song mastered the Profound Origin Puppet Refining Technique and recalled and reforged his puppets, including the four stationed in the Soul Locking Sect.
• He Song raised his displayed cultivation to Nascent Soul Great Perfection and studied Spirit Transformation spells and secret arts.
• Wei Fan sent He Song another letter, inviting him to the Nine Yang Sect to discuss a matter concerning the Spirit Transformation Realm.

He Song accepted Wei Fan’s invitation and traveled to Nine Yang Sect, where Wei Fan revealed that the previous Holy Master had died and began explaining the world’s hidden history. He told He Song and Meng Guan that a million years ago an invasion of Yin energy devastated a once-vast cultivation world, leaving their present lands as a small surviving fringe region.

• He Song realized the previous Nine Yang Dao Lord had likely died of old age and decided to visit Wei Fan to learn the secrets he had promised to share.
• He Song sent a Nascent Soul-limit puppet to Nine Yang City, where Meng Guan escorted him into Nine Yang Sect and Wei Fan’s cave abode.
• Wei Fan sealed the cave with a Spirit Transformation concealment formation and warned He Song and Meng Guan that revealing what he said could destroy Nine Yang Sect.
• Wei Fan asked about the origins of the Myriad Monster Realm, then explained that a million years ago the cultivation world was larger, richer in spiritual energy, and home to cultivators of far higher realms.
• Wei Fan said eerie Yin-energy beings invaded the world, and a Great Vehicle cultivator sought help from another world to drive them back.
• Wei Fan explained that the invaded lands remained saturated with Yin energy, creating the Myriad Monster Realm and leaving the current cultivation world as a small fringe region where Spirit Transformation was the highest realm.

Wei Fan explained that the Six Holy Lands protected the cultivation world from the Myriad Monster Realm, sent cultivators nearing Spirit Transformation to another world, and culled other cultivators through wars to preserve resources. He then revealed that powerful Yin Souls had invaded a million years ago, and He Song learned that the formation protecting the world was weakening at its western edge.

• Wei Fan explained that the cultivation world was surrounded on three sides by the Myriad Monster Realm and that the Six Holy Lands maintained a great formation left by ancient Grand Ascension sects.
• Wei Fan told He Song and Meng Guan that the Six Holy Lands sent cultivators nearing Spirit Transformation to another world, while wars reduced the population and freed resources for the formation.
• Wei Fan revealed that the Nine Yang Sect Holy Lord had attacked Blood Demon Sword Lord out of personal vengeance and blamed the Soul Locking Sect, causing its civil war.
• Wei Fan explained that Yin Souls had invaded a million years earlier and that Yin energy corrupted regions and strengthened ferocious beasts.
• Wei Fan said the Nine Yang Sect had established the One Yang Sect near the formation's edge to respond to beast attacks, and that each use of the formation pushed its protection farther back.