Chapter Summaries

Ling Qing gave Ling Ji and Wenjun divine artifacts for protection, while Zhang Yang and Chang Miaoyu verified his background before the group entered the dungeon at Duke Wen Platform. Ling Qing arrived in a scene from Xu Xing’s story and faced dozens of possible identities, including the Ruler of Ling State.

• Ling Qing transformed his Dragon-Born Staff into the Azure Dragon Ruyi for Wenjun and taught both children how to activate and refine their divine artifacts.
• Zhang Yang and Chang Miaoyu investigated Ling Qing and learned from Zhang Yang’s Mount Longhu friend about his role in the Mount Lao Sect.
• Zhang Yang’s trust in Ling Qing grew after learning his background and seeing the treasures he had given Ling Ji and Wenjun.
• Zhang Yang had Ling Qing, Ling Ji, and Wenjun attach their auras to a wooden key, then the five of them went to Duke Wen Platform.
• When the actor playing Teng Wengong knelt on the ruler’s seat, Ling Qing was pulled into the dungeon and saw Xu Xing leaving the capital with his disciples.
• Ling Qing was presented with dozens of identity choices, including the Ruler of Ling State.

Ling Qing entered a dungeon as the ruler of the tiny Ling State, which was under attack by Qi forces, and discovered that his cultivation had been sealed. He summoned Ling Ji and Wenjun to Lingqiu City and learned that his ruler identity granted him the Spirit Illumination Divine Canon.

• Ling Qing chose to enter the dungeon as the ruler of Ling State and appeared in a hall where ministers begged him to respond to an impending attack.
• Ling Qing used a Qingfu bug to contact Ling Ji and Wenjun, learned they were both in Lingqiu City, and ordered attendants to bring them to him.
• Ling Qing learned that Ling State was a tiny vassal of Zhu, and that more than a thousand Qi soldiers led by Chi Wa were attacking its five hundred old and infirm defenders.
• Ling Qing realized that his cultivation had been sealed, though he could still use several abilities and external objects that did not require magical power.
• Ling Qing discovered that his identity came with the Spirit Illumination Divine Canon, which taught him to borrow a state's power and cultivate the Spirit Illumination Divine Lord True Form.

Ling Qing studied the Spirit Illumination Divine Canon and realized Ling State’s peril threatened him through its national fate and the people’s resentment. When Qi State attacked Spirit Hill City, he had Ling Ji and Wenjun repel the invaders with their magical artifacts, then ordered his officials to restore order and assess the damage.

• Ling Qing learned that the Spirit Illumination Divine Canon used national fate and the gathered thoughts of the people, which could poison him if Ling State fell.
• Ling Ji and Wenjun arrived, and Ling Qing led them and Ling State’s officials to the city wall as Qi State’s army attacked.
• Ling Qing ordered Ling Ji to shield Spirit Hill City with the Yuan Sha Gourd and Wenjun to incapacitate the Qi soldiers with the Azure Dragon Ruyi.
• Cao Xu organized the townspeople to bind the fallen Qi soldiers after Ling Qing gave the order.
• Ling Qing told Situ Yan Ru to pacify the people and tally losses, assigned Ling Huai to help Cao Xu settle the prisoners, and ordered Meng Zhuo to repair the damaged buildings and walls.

Ling Qing managed Ling State’s postwar affairs and studied the royal cultivation method that restricted his mana. After announcing he would enter seclusion, he began using the Turbid Sha Origin Cauldron to remove the restrictions on his body.

• Yan Ru reported that Ling State lacked enough grain to feed its captured Qi soldiers, and Ling Qing agreed to seek their ransom.
• Ling Qing learned the structure of Ling State’s government and delegated routine matters to its six ministers.
• Ling Qing compared the Spirit Illumination Divine Canon with shamanic and divine-path methods, concluding that his Meritorious Spirit Talisman Method could help him overcome the restrictions.
• Ling Qing told Yan Ru and the other ministers to govern while Ling Ji and Wenjun defended the state, then entered his sleeping palace.
• Ling Qing released Turbid Sha Essence from the Turbid Sha Origin Cauldron, sealed the palace, and began removing the restrictions on his body.

Ling Qing transferred his subjects’ prayers into a jade seal and transformed the rule sustaining his sovereignty into the Ling State Lord authority. He bound that authority to the seal, freeing himself from its restriction but making his right to rule depend on possessing the seal.

• Ling Qing forged a jade seal from Turbid Sha Essence and transferred his subjects’ prayers into it as talismans.
• Unable to comprehend the rule’s full scope, Ling Qing limited it to the Ling State and condensed it into the Ling State Lord Talisman Edict.
• Ling Qing placed the Talisman Edict in the Spirit Illumination Treasure Seal and sealed it with restrictions, creating the Ling State’s Heaven-mandated jade seal.
• Ling Qing realized that he had lost his position as ruler unless he held the seal, and that whoever gained it could claim the Ling State’s authority.

Ling Qing refined the Divine Lord of Numinous Illumination into a guardian god and used it to wield the sovereign authority of Ling State without surrendering his own cultivation. He tested whether that authority could control other powers within the state and discovered that Ling State had grown more prosperous and trusted during his month in seclusion.

• Ling Qing used the Spirit Illumination Treasure Seal and Ling State citizens' wishes to refine the Divine Lord of Numinous Illumination and add it to the Book of Summoning.
• Ling Qing borrowed the divine lord's power to access Ling State's sovereign authority, confirming that the rules' restriction did not prevent him from using his own cultivation.
• Ling Qing placed the remaining Turbid Sha Qi and Alienated Plant authorities under Ling State's sovereign authority and controlled their effects throughout the state.
• Ling Qing left a connection that let him borrow the state's authority while keeping the Divine Lord of Numinous Illumination in the Book of Summoning to recover.
• After a month in seclusion, Ling Qing sensed that Qi had exchanged prisoners and delivered supplies, raising the people's trust in Ling State and bringing him pure power of prayers.

Ling Qing began cultivating an incarnation of the Wondrous Dao Sovereign, using Ling State’s fortune to form its Sacred Embryo and planning for it to command a Myriad Phenomena Dharma Realm. After ending his seclusion, he heard Yan Ru report that the Qi State prisoner exchange had filled Ling State’s treasury with supplies for three years.

• Ling Qing combined the Meritorious Spirit Talisman Method with his other techniques to envision an incarnation that could gather Talisman Edicts and rule a Myriad Phenomena Dharma Realm.
• Ling Qing planted a spirit seed, formed the framework of Heaven, Earth, and Man, and fused the Five Elements to turn the seed into an embryo in a little over ten days.
• Ling Qing ended his seclusion and left the Turbid Sha Origin Cauldron in his bedchamber to nourish the embryo over time.
• Ling Qing summoned Yan Ru and the others to discuss state affairs after hearing their routine reports.
• Yan Ru reported that, under Sima Cao’s direction, the Qi State prisoner exchange was complete and its supplies, together with the Chiwa clan’s ransom, would cover Ling State’s expenses for three years.

Ling Qing prepared a spirit platform to select talented people from across Ling State, offering them access to knowledge and abilities if they awakened one of its six jade steles. As more than a thousand citizens gathered for the selection, Ling Huai reported that a deity summoned from the platform had improved the prison and strengthened the power he could borrow.

• Ling Qing warned that Qi State might invade again, then ordered Meng Zhuo to clear land east of the city and Yan Ru to organize an open selection for talent.
• Ling Qing announced that people of any gender, age, or status could take part, with advancement and new opportunities for those who passed.
• Ling Ji used the Yuan Sha Gourd to build a massive spirit platform with six jade steles in three days.
• Ling Qing explained that sincere, talented candidates could awaken a stele and receive the knowledge and abilities stored within it.
• Ling Huai said an Earth Sha Star deity summoned from the Divine stele had gathered the prison's baleful qi and strengthened the power he could borrow.

Ling Qing and Ling State’s ministers prepared to select citizens for gifts from the spirit platform’s six steles. Yan Yu began the selection, and the Scripture Stele responded to his bow with countless classic texts as the ceremony got underway.

• Ling Huai, Gu Zuo, and the other ministers discussed the methods and knowledge they had received from the spirit platform the previous day.
• Cao Xu asked Ling Qing for permission to begin the selection, eager to recruit talented recipients of the Movement Stele’s gifts for his army.
• Cao Xu took charge at the spirit platform and called Yan Yu, the first candidate, forward.
• Yan Yu climbed the platform stairs and felt his mind grow clear as he approached the six jade steles.
• Yan Yu bowed to the Scripture Stele, which illuminated with countless texts that stirred in his awareness.

Ling Qing oversaw the Spirit Platform ceremony, where examinees received scriptures, talismans, and cultivation methods according to their talents. Yan Yu gained a Meritorious Treasure Talisman and was appointed to serve at the Situ Manor, while the ceremony continued with mixed results.

• Yan Yu received ten volumes of true scriptures, a Meritorious Treasure Talisman, and two cultivation methods, then was promoted to the first rank and assigned to the Situ Manor.
• Ling Qing praised Yan Ru’s family and explained how the Meritorious Treasure Talisman gathered merit and blessings.
• Yan Qing eagerly climbed the Spirit Platform and paid respects to the six jade steles.
• Yan Qing, Cao Shuang, Meng Kuan, Gu Hun, Wenren Qin, and other youths received gifts from the steles.
• Ge received no response from any of the six jade steles, and Cao Xu announced that he had gained nothing.

Ling Qing held a Spirit Platform trial that granted selected candidates powerful teachings and positions, while inviting travelers from other states to become citizens of Ling State and take part. After the trials, he reassured those who failed and offered them a cultivation method to prepare for next year.

• The Spirit Platform testing ended with fewer than half of the Ling State participants passing, and only ten receiving official posts.
• Zuo Qiu Yi of Lu State asked to take the trial and become a citizen of Ling State, and Ling Qing accepted his request.
• Zuo Qiu Yi received military texts, cultivation arts, and the Predator's Howl spell, so Ling Qing appointed him to the Sima Office as a shi.
• Forty travelers from other states registered as prospective citizens, and all gained something from the trial.
• Ling Qing addressed the more than six hundred people gathered at the platform, explaining that the selection would strengthen Ling State and promising a cultivation method to those who had failed.

Ling Qing taught the Purifying Karma Seal and other cultivation methods to Ling State’s people, strengthening their loyalty and laying the groundwork for the state’s future. After testing yielded twelve hundred inheritors, he summoned Yan Ru and the other ministers to decide how to arrange them.

• Ling Qing taught the Purifying Karma Seal while spiritual flowers and golden lotuses helped the listeners understand the method and cleanse their bodies and hearts.
• Ling Qing continued through the night, also explaining the Modified Five Animal Frolics and the Spirit Talisman Visualization Method, then ended his teaching at sunrise.
• Cao Xu, Yan Ru, Zuo Qiu Yi, and the others thanked Ling Qing, and Zuo Qiu Yi resolved to spread word of his lord’s virtue and might before returning home to move his family.
• After seven or eight days of testing, Ling State had selected twelve hundred people, including more than two hundred newcomers from other states.
• Ling Qing housed the selected people in palace halls and summoned Yan Ru and the ministers to discuss their assignments.

Ling Qing ranked the newly qualified people of Ling State and assigned many of them to strengthen the army, restore agriculture, and serve in government offices. He gave Gu Zuo Jade Essence Rice to cultivate, while the remaining candidates were divided among the Offices of Works and Justice.

• Yan Ru announced that 1,263 people across Ling State had qualified, including 532 candidates of suitable age, and described the scholars’ ranks and numbers.
• Ling Qing ordered Cao Xu to select 200 people for the army, including ten high scholars, and promised Wild Spirit Artifacts to strengthen the troops.
• Ling Qing assigned Gu Zuo fifty candidates with agricultural inheritances and presented him with Jade Essence Rice to plant across Ling State.
• Ling Qing directed Meng Zhuo to choose thirty candidates with earth-and-wood inheritances for the Office of Works and Ling Huai to choose ten with divine path methods for the Office of Justice.

Ling Qing assigned the surplus recruits to a new academy and oversaw reforms while refining the prayers that strengthened his divine authority. A month later, ministers reported progress on the Ling State’s army and spiritual farming, as state-wide reforms continued.

• Ling Qing ordered an academy built beside the Spirit Terrace, with Yan Yu and other scholars teaching young recruits and serving as professors.
• Ling Qing directed Yan Ru to draft the academy’s framework and Meng Zhuo to have the Office of Works create a sand-table model for its layout.
• Ling Qing inspected the Ling State’s reforms and used accumulated prayers to consecrate Divine Lord of Numinous Illumination and expand the Ling State Lord’s authority.
• A month later, Cao Xu reported that he had formed a new army of three hundred men, trained with Zuo Qiu Yi as deputy general.
• Ling Qing praised Cao Xu and his officers after viewing the army’s fierce bearing with the Dharma Eye of True Insight.
• Gu Zuo reported that the Office of Agriculture had planted Jade Essence Rice in ten mu of spiritual fields and expected a harvest of ten dan.

Ling Qing established the Academy of Numinous Illumination to educate Ling State’s scholars and attract talented people from across the realm. As the state grew stronger, its generous selection and schooling policies began drawing people and Hundred Schools disciples toward it.

• Meng Zhuo completed the academy, and Yan Ru reported that its regulations and system were ready.
• Ling Qing opened the Academy of Numinous Illumination, named himself its honorary Chancellor, and assigned Yan Ru and Ling Huai to oversee its affairs.
• The academy established six halls, and Ling Ji and Wenjun enrolled to study.
• Ling Qing lectured at the Bright Platform and instructed the academy’s leaders to welcome anyone seeking knowledge and let teachers share their learning.
• Ling Qing hoped to attract talents such as Xu Xing, while Ling State’s growth strengthened the Divine Lord of Numinous Illumination.
• The Ling State’s talent selections and academy drew people from Zhu State and obscure disciples of the Hundred Schools.

Families fleeing Zhu State traveled toward Ling State, where they hoped to find safety and education for their children. After a wolf pack surrounded their convoy, Ling Qi of the Soaring Cavalry rescued them and escorted them toward Ling State.

• Miao and his family joined Ren Bi’s convoy, and other villagers fleeing Zhu State joined them on the road.
• As the group neared Ling State, a pack of wolves surrounded them, so Mr. Shang organized their defenses and ordered them to move slowly toward the border.
• A golden eagle swooped down, and Ling Qi used his jade halberd to kill the wolves threatening the convoy.
• Ling Qi introduced himself as a knight of Ling State’s Soaring Cavalry and said he had come by order of their lord to receive the refugees.
• Ling Qi led the group toward Ling State, and they continued without further trouble.

Mr. Shang and his companions arrived in Ling State, where they learned about its jade customs and underwent registration and talent testing in Lingqiu City. As the newcomers received citizenship and the children were admitted to the academy, Ling Qing saw their jade-white aura rise into the auspicious cloud covering Ling State.

• Mr. Shang and his party crossed into Ling State and traveled to Lingqiu City, marveling at its welcoming people, jade ornaments, and transformed city.
• An elder told Mr. Shang that Ling State was the kingdom of the Jade God and recounted how Lord Zi Ji had protected Lingqiu City with the Yuan Sha Gourd.
• Yan Ru climbed to Ling Qing's platform and reflected on how Ling State and Lingqiu City had changed since the talent selection half a year earlier.
• Mr. Shang, Ren Bi, Miao, and the others registered as newcomers and received jade seals before being sent to the Spirit Platform for testing.
• Mr. Shang, Zhuang, and the others became citizens of Ling State, while Ren Jie and Jue were admitted to the academy and granted the rank of shi.
• Ling Qing saw a jade-white aura rise from the newcomers and join the auspicious cloud shrouding Ling State.

Ling Qing watched Ling State’s jade-based rites and Divine Spirit Domain take shape as he prepared to expand the state under a Zhou royal investiture. With Wenren Li’s mission nearing Luoyi, Ling Qing expected the edict to let him accept four cities and relieve Lingqiu’s overcrowding.

• Ling Qing used the authority of the Ling State Lord and the jade god to establish jade rites, personal and official seals, and six ritual vessels for Ling State.
• Yan Ru reported that Wenren Li, Yan Yu, and Zuo Qiu Yi were nearing Luoyi to seek a noble title from the Zhou royal house through the Duke of Lu.
• Ling Qing ordered Yan Ru to have Zuo Qiu Yi bring back the investiture edict as soon as it arrived.
• Ling Qing recalled that Cao Gong and neighboring city magistrates had offered four cities after Cao Xu’s Tiger Might Soldiers defeated their forces.
• Ling Qing and Yan Ru anticipated accepting the four cities once the edict arrived, giving Ling State room for incoming migrants and further expansion.

Ling Qing assessed the prospects of Ling State’s expansion and cultivated after a day of governing. He reviewed his completed foundation and considered the authorities and methods he still needed to develop before advancing.

• Ling Qing used the Dharma Eye of True Insight to assess Teng State’s rising prospects and Zhu State’s decline, then considered expanding Ling State by taking territory from Zhu State.
• Ling Qing delayed opening the Divine Spirit Domain until Ling State’s territory and national fortune had grown, then gathered stellar astral qi at the Dharma Altar.
• Ling Qing returned to the northern hall, sat on a meditation cushion, and devoted himself to cultivation.
• Ling Qing examined his 365 Spirit Talisman Mysterious Altars and identified the unopened Path of Elements and his barely cultivated Spirit Restraint and Transformation Method as unfinished parts of his foundation.
• Ling Qing concluded that building further divine authorities would be difficult and time-consuming, based on his previous efforts to establish the authorities he already possessed.

Ling Qing developed a method to condense divine office authority by combining spirit refinement, divine descent, and worship, then tested it by creating a flame spirit and strengthening it into a fire god. The experiment ended with the spirit bearing a fire essence and the beginnings of authority over scorching, though it had not yet gathered that authority outright.

• Ling Qing realized he could refine an empty deity shell and let worshippers and the concepts of heaven and earth fill it, building on the success of the seventy-two Di Sha Divine Generals.
• Ling Qing arranged several cultivation methods on silk and compared the Spirit Sensing Technique with the Spirit Refinement Technique.
• Ling Qing used Animate Flame and the Spirit Refinement Technique to turn a small flame into a flame spirit, then added a Spirit Sensing Talisman Seal to condense a fire essence.
• Ling Qing found the weak flame spirit could not draw in the authority over scorching and combined merit-based incense gathering with the Spirit Illumination Divine Canon’s gathering of heavenly concepts.
• Ling Qing strengthened the flame spirit with spirit-talisman restrictions, fire-element energies, and techniques for drawing in and containing authority, transforming it into a vicious fire god with a grain of red fire essence.