Chapter Summaries

Ling Ji defeated Wen Qi and his fellow Longevity Palace disciples, but Song Heqing intervened and attacked Ling Ji, Wenjun, and their companion with his Fortune Gourd and Five-Colored Bats. The three were surrounded as Ling Ji prepared to counterattack with thunder pearls.

• Ling Ji smashed Wen Qi’s flying sword, struck him down, and defeated the other Longevity Palace disciples.
• Song Heqing appeared and claimed he would discipline Ling Ji, while secretly planning to plant demon seeds in Ling Ji and Wenjun to steal their lifespan allotments.
• Wenjun empowered Ling Ji with a Lotus Platform, and Ling Ji met Song Heqing’s pine staff with a powerful blow.
• Song Heqing summoned Five-Colored Bats to hold off Ling Ji’s staff and used the Fortune Gourd’s green light to threaten him.
• Song Heqing surrounded Ling Ji, Wenjun, and their companion with bats and drew them toward the gourd, so Ling Ji shouted and grabbed a handful of thunder pearls.

Ling Ji, Wenjun, and Sun Yuwei escaped Song Heqing’s Fortune Gourd and fled through the Nine-Bend Yellow Sand Array. They lured him into a prepared Thunderfire Array, then escaped underground as its combined lightning and fire erupted around him.

• Ling Ji, Wenjun, and Sun Yuwei used thunder pearls, thunderfire blossoms, and a chained formation to break Song Heqing’s hold on them and flee.
• Ling Ji carried Wenjun and Sun Yuwei toward the mountains, but Song Heqing pursued them with a bat-filled cloud.
• Sun Yuwei moved the three through the Nine-Bend Yellow Sand Array, and Ling Ji ordered her to take them to the prepared Thunderfire Array so they could retaliate.
• Ling Ji gave Sun Yuwei ten Yin-Yang Five Elements Divine Thunder Talismans, which she placed in a Five Elements Origin-Gathering Array atop the Thunderfire Heaven-Blasting Array.
• The three feigned exhaustion as Song Heqing attacked, then activated the array and escaped underground using Mud Pellets.
• The array erupted in a vast ocean of lightning and fire, and Song Heqing regretted provoking them.

Ling Ji, Wenjun, and Sun Yuwei watched Song Heqing survive their Thunderfire Array, but Emperor Miaoyuan arrived and subdued him with the Primordial Unity Banner. He reassured his disciples and concealed the battle’s aftermath, leaving them to realize he had been nearby all along.

• Ling Ji, Wenjun, and Sun Yuwei prepared to escape through the Azure Palace gate while watching the Thunderfire Array erupt.
• Song Heqing broke free of the lightning pillar after burning a hundred years of his lifespan, then charged at the three disciples.
• Emperor Miaoyuan appeared, and Ling Ji, Wenjun, and Sun Yuwei recognized him as their master and took shelter beside him.
• Song Heqing unleashed blood bats, but Emperor Miaoyuan used the Primordial Unity Banner to turn spirit insects against them and seal Song Heqing in a crystal sphere.
• Emperor Miaoyuan said he would take Song Heqing to the Night-Pacifying Division and reassured his disciples that he would prevent a greater calamity.
• Ling Ji, Wenjun, and Sun Yuwei noticed the lightning flower and signs of the battle had vanished, and realized Emperor Miaoyuan had concealed the scene.

Emperor Miaoyuan watched Ling Ji, Wenjun, and Sun Yuwei defeat Song Heqing, then delivered him and evidence of the lifespan-stealing demonic seeds to Lu Qing in Peng City. After warning the Special Affairs Department about Heavenly Demon arts, Ling Qing left to discuss reopening Baozhu Temple and Jiushao Palace.

• Emperor Miaoyuan watched Ling Ji, Wenjun, and Sun Yuwei trap Song Heqing with their Thunderfire Array and escape, then praised their efforts and advised them to prioritize survival in a crisis.
• Emperor Miaoyuan led the three away and contacted Lu Qing, arranging to meet in Peng City so their association would not alert Xiao Mo and his group.
• Emperor Miaoyuan handed Song Heqing to Lu Qing and explained how the demonic seeds had been used to steal people's lifespans.
• Ling Qing warned Lu Qing that Heavenly Demon arts were difficult to detect and guard against, and Lu Qing promised to find an expert to help investigate.
• Ling Qing left Peng City to speak with Baozhu Temple and Jiushao Palace about reopening their temples.

Ling Qing advised his disciples on cultivation and protective treasures, then discussed Sun Yuwei’s choice of a cultivation method. Sun Yuwei asked for an array-focused path, and Ling Qing told her the strongest fit was the Myriad Phenomena Array Evolution Dao Foundation method, which he could pass on after she joined Daoqing Temple.

• Ling Qing hosted Sun Wentai and Sun Wenyuan at Daoqing Temple before they departed, entrusting Sun Yuwei to his care.
• Ling Qing answered his disciples’ cultivation questions and stressed that protective treasures were useful but could not replace personal cultivation and realm.
• Ling Qing reviewed the treasures Ling Ji and Wenjun possessed and promised to prepare magical treasures for Sun Yuwei.
• Ling Qing presented Sun Yuwei with several cultivation methods and asked which she wished to choose.
• Sun Yuwei asked which method focused on arrays, and Ling Qing identified the Myriad Phenomena Array Evolution Dao Foundation method as the best fit, available after she joined the temple.

Ling Qing delayed Sun Yuwei’s choice of a primary cultivation method but taught her formation foundations and set aside materials for her, while Ling Ji and Wenjun advanced toward Human Immortal. The chapter ended with Ling Qing agreeing to meet representatives from four temples and palaces who had requested an audience.

• Ling Qing offered Sun Yuwei several cultivation methods, and she chose to wait for a suitable primary method while studying formations in the meantime.
• Ling Qing copied and explained a supplementary Formation Path volume for Sun Yuwei and created a separate storehouse of formation materials for her.
• Ling Ji worked to complete his Myriad Beast Spirit-Taming Dao Foundation, while Wenjun prepared to nurture her Myriad Transformations Sacred Embryo.
• Daoist Yunsheng told Ling Qing that the abbots of Morning Sun Temple, God of Wealth Temple, Azure Splendor Temple, and Jade Emperor Palace had requested an audience.
• After reading their respectful invitations, Ling Qing scheduled a meeting for the day after tomorrow, and Daoist Yunsheng went to reply and arrange a reception.

After Ling Qing flattened Longevity Palace, Lunan’s religious leaders interpreted the attack as a bid to dominate their cultivation world and considered how to respond. The four Daoist establishments prepared to visit Daoqing Temple, and Zhao Guanhou decided to join them.

• The Daoist and Buddhist establishments learned that Ling Qing had destroyed Longevity Palace and taken Song Heqing, and they speculated that he meant to establish Daoqing Temple as Lunan’s authority.
• The four Daoist temples sent visiting cards to Daoqing Temple, while the Buddhist monasteries reduced their activities and sought support from other Buddhist temples.
• Zhao Guanhou, leader of Iron Temple, asked Zhang Husheng how the Daoists’ visit had gone, and Zhang said Daoist Yunsheng had invited them to Qingyun Mountain to discuss the Dao.
• Zhang Husheng warned Zhao Guanhou that resisting Ling Qing could leave Iron Temple vulnerable to True Person Dao Li and Five Peaks Temple later.
• Zhao Guanhou agreed to travel with Zhang Husheng’s group to meet Ling Qing.

Zhang Husheng led the leaders of five local temples and palaces to Daoqing Temple to meet Ling Qing. They discovered that Qingyun Mountain had become a Blessed Land, revealing the depth of Ling Qing’s cultivation and the growing power of his temple.

• Zhang Husheng agreed to lead Zhao Guanhou, Li Peng, Xiao Daocheng, and Wang Haocheng to Daoqing Temple, while their disciples followed.
• The group reached Shangling Village and found Qingyun Mountain unremarkable until they spotted buildings atop Gu Peak.
• Daoist Yunsheng welcomed the visitors alongside Ling Hongyou and Man Jianjun and guided them through the mountain gate.
• The visitors saw that Qingyun Mountain had expanded and filled with dense vital energy, spiritually radiant plants, and intelligent-seeming creatures.
• Daoist Yunsheng explained that Ling Qing had opened Qingyun Mountain Blessed Land before establishing the Mount Lao Sect, leaving the group astonished.

Ling Qing welcomed Zhang Husheng and other Lunan cultivators to Daoqing Temple, where they were astonished by the strength of his young disciples. He proposed an alliance led by Daoqing Temple to uphold religious order in Lunan, and the visitors agreed to cooperate.

• Daoist Yunsheng showed Zhang Husheng and the others the Qingyun Mountain Blessed Land before bringing them to the Guest Hall to meet Ling Qing.
• Ling Qing welcomed the visitors, and Zhang Husheng introduced himself as the abbot of Azure Splendor Temple along with his companions and disciples.
• Ling Qing introduced Ling Ji, Wei Wenjun, and Sun Yuwei, whose remarkable cultivation impressed and humbled the visiting cultivators.
• Ling Qing explained that Daoqing Temple would lead an alliance across Lunan to punish cultivators who broke laws or religious precepts and assist the Special Affairs Department.
• Zhang Husheng and the others agreed to cooperate with Ling Qing.

Ling Qing expounded on freedom, morality, and cultivation, establishing how the Lunan Religious Alliance would balance national law with sect precepts. He left Zhang Husheng and the others with his view that true freedom came from overcoming restraints within the heart, whether one entered the world as Kun or withdrew from it as Peng.

• Ling Qing answered Zhang Husheng and the others’ questions about cultivation and teaching, explaining that true freedom required mastering the heart rather than acting wantonly.
• Ling Qing argued that good and evil depended on one’s heart and described how Yan Chixia’s moral restraint reflected entering the world while his own views leaned toward withdrawing from it.
• Ling Qing set out rules for the Lunan Religious Alliance, making national law its baseline and sect precepts a higher standard, with punishments handled by the sects and the Special Affairs Department.
• Ling Qing explained Zhuangzi’s transformation of Kunpeng, teaching that true freedom came from breaking the heart’s belief that rules and the mortal world were restraints.
• Ling Qing told his listeners that entering the world could mean being Kun and withdrawing from it could mean being Peng, and that both forms of life could be free.

Ling Qing taught Zhang Husheng and the other temple leaders principles of heart cultivation, then shared guidance on their different traditions during a banquet. After they departed, they began organizing the Lunan Religious Alliance, which would coordinate religious groups under the Special Affairs Department’s supervision and the laws of reality.

• Ling Qing explained principles of heart cultivation and invited Zhang Husheng and the others to stay overnight at his temple.
• At the banquet, Ling Qing answered questions about sword cultivation, divine cultivation, and orthodox Daoist methods, easing Zhao Guanhou’s concerns about his lineage.
• Ling Qing led the guests and the temple’s people in evening lessons, and Daoist Yunsheng arranged their lodgings.
• The next morning, Zhang Husheng and the others departed and began contacting other Taoist temples and religious groups about forming the Lunan Religious Alliance.
• Ling Qing and Daoist Yunsheng continued preparing for the temple opening while the chapter described the alliance’s role under the Special Affairs Department and the laws of reality.

Ling Qing helped organize Qingyun Mountain while the Night-Pacifying Division prepared to rescue Xiao Mo’s victims and arrest his followers. Before Baozhu Temple’s opening, Xiao Mo and the other members of the Twelve Immortals arrived as Zhu Guang’s guests, leaving Daoist Lingguan to receive them.

• Ling Qing learned that the Special Affairs Department was drafting cultivation laws and accepted that his past actions in reality could also be subject to legal sanctions.
• Ling Qing organized the expanded blessed land on Qingyun Mountain, planting stored vegetation and settling captured insects in suitable places.
• Lu Qing told Ling Qing that the Night-Pacifying Division had identified most of Xiao Mo’s victims and planned to remove their demonic seeds in a little over a month; Ling Qing promised to help if needed.
• On October 10, Ling Qing and other Mount Lao Sect disciples arrived early for Baozhu Temple’s opening, and guests began gathering for the ceremony.
• On October 14, Zhu Wenshan brought Xiao Mo and nine members of the Twelve Immortals to the temple and asked Daoist Lingguan to receive them before he left to attend to other matters.

Lu Qing and his allies trapped Xiao Mo and his followers inside Zhang Yuanbai’s Thirty-Five Heavens and Wondrous Dao Emperor’s Dharma Realm while Daoist Lingguan attacked. Across China, the Night-Pacifying Division also began capturing people bound to demonic seeds, as the operation continued.

• Zhu Wenshan explained how he had helped Lu Qing investigate Xiao Mo’s connections and lure him and his followers to Baozhu Temple.
• Lu Qing coordinated the ambush, and Zhu Guang activated the temple formation as Zhang Yuanbai and Wondrous Dao Emperor trapped the Bright Light Hall within their realms.
• Daoist Lingguan attacked Xiao Mo with the Limitless Taiyi Diagram, but Xiao Mo split into sixteen streams of demonic light to flee.
• Zhang Yuanbai dispersed everyone in the hall throughout the Thirty-Five Heavens, where the Dharma Realm and Baozhu Temple’s formation contained them and exposed Xiao Mo’s demons.
• Night-Pacifying Division personnel captured people across China by drawing black threads from them and binding the threads with Golden Hoops.

Ling Qing and his allies sprang an ambush on Xiao Mo and the Twelve Immortals inside Bright Light Hall after Baozhu Temple’s protective formation activated. The battle spread across the hall, while Zhang Hongren and Wang Zhijin remained unsure whether Ling Qing’s group had a valid reason to attack.

• After the temple’s protective formation rose, Xiao Mo sensed a deadly threat and fled using the Lesser Heavens Demon Escape Art, with Daoist Lingguan pursuing him.
• Ling Qing ordered his fellow disciples to seize the Twelve Immortals and attacked Lu Tiansheng, Zhang Yuge, and Zhang Muzhou with his incarnations and true body.
• Tian Yong, Tian Ying, Li Li, Zhang Zhe, Sun Yuling, Han Fu, and Zhao Zhen joined the fight against the other immortals.
• Li Qing tried to help Emperor Miaoyuan by attacking Zhang Muzhou with thunder pearls, but Zhang Muzhou sent them back and later countered the disciples’ attacks with mysterious qi.
• Zhang Hongren and Wang Zhijin, unaware of the Twelve Immortals’ true background, wondered whether Ling Qing’s group was attacking them over a personal grudge.

Zhang Yuanbai divided the Twelve Immortals among the Thirty-Five Heavens, where Ling Qing, Li Qing, and the emperors fought to capture them. After Zhang Muzhou and Zhang Yuge were subdued, Ling Qing went to check on Daoist Lingguan and Xiao Mo’s battle.

• Zhang Yuanbai arranged the fighters across the Thirty-Five Heavens to keep Li Yongquan and the other Twelve Immortals from joining forces.
• Emperor Miaoyuan discerned Zhang Muzhou’s incomplete evolving Qi, while Li Qing unleashed the Red Fire Divine Thunder Net and helped capture him.
• Ling Qing slowed Zhang Yuge with spells and Nine Heavens Astral Wind, then sealed his spiritual awareness and captured him.
• Emperor Miaoxiang summoned savage beasts against Lu Tiansheng, transformed into a Primordial Spirit Dragon, and attacked him with his claws.
• Ling Qing sent Li Qing and Emperor Miaoyuan to help the other senior brothers, then went to see how Daoist Lingguan and Xiao Mo were faring.

Xiao Mo shattered his Dao heart and unleashed his demonic powers to fight Daoist Lingguan while secretly sending celestial demons to search for an escape. Ling Qing arrived and used the Hundred Poisons Ten Thousand Gu Banner to capture most of them, unaware that the demons inside were beginning to break free.

• Xiao Mo destroyed his Dao heart of forgetting emotions and ceasing thoughts, empowered his demon gods, and fought Daoist Lingguan with his Dharma treasures.
• Xiao Mo sent millions of celestial demons and demon insects to search for a way out of the Thirty-Fifth Heaven.
• Ling Qing arrived, and Daoist Lingguan told him to collect the scattered demons while he kept Xiao Mo occupied.
• Ling Qing used his Dharma Eye of True Insight to find the demons, then chose the Hundred Poisons Ten Thousand Gu Banner to capture them more efficiently.
• Ling Qing captured seven or eight out of every ten celestial demons with the banner, while Zhang Yuanbai and Wondrous Way guided him toward their clusters.
• The celestial demons inside the banner gradually adapted to its power and began breaking free of their restraints.

Ling Qing contained Xiao Mo’s heavenly demons in the Ten Thousand Gu Banner, where they fused with gu insects and became a dangerous new species. As the remaining battles ended, the Twelve Immortals’ forces were defeated, but the Heavenly Demon Golden Cicada Gu remained a threat under seal.

• Xiao Mo abandoned Li Yongquan, Lu Tiansheng, and the others to seek an escape while Ling Qing captured most of his heavenly demons in the Ten Thousand Gu Banner.
• The heavenly demons possessed gu insects and drove them to slaughter one another, triggering the banner’s gu-refining power and binding the demons to their hosts.
• The slaughter produced fewer than twenty thousand Heavenly Demon Golden Cicada Gu, which Ling Qing suppressed and sealed within the Mysterious Altar.
• Tian Yong defeated Immortal Cloud Yun Tanyue by cutting his flying sword in two, while Li Li shattered Zhou Zijue’s Tathagata Great Hand Seal and badly wounded him.
• Zhang Zhe kept Li Yongquan occupied until Emperor Miaoyuan and Li Qing trapped and blasted him, then the fighters joined forces to defeat the remaining members of the Twelve Immortals.

Xiao Mo attempted to escape the Grand Subtle Heavenly Palace, but Daoist Lingguan captured him before a dungeon opening pulled them both inside. They reincarnated as infants in different places, and Xiao Mo was taken in by a Daoist who recognized his potential for the Supreme Forgetting Emotions Sect.

• Xiao Mo detonated the Seven Emotions Heavenly Demon and Nine Desires Heavenly Demon, sacrificed his treasures, and burned his lifespan to flee toward the Southern Heavenly Gate.
• Daoist Lingguan followed Xiao Mo to the Southern Heavenly Gate and used divine diagrams to suppress all Twenty-Four Gods in his body.
• A dungeon opening appeared as Daoist Lingguan tried to take Xiao Mo away, and both vanished into it.
• Back in the Bright Light Hall, Ling Qing and the others learned that Daoist Lingguan had pursued Xiao Mo into the dungeon, so Zhu Guang and Lu Qing planned to wait for their return.
• Inside the dungeon, Daoist Lingguan and Xiao Mo reincarnated as infants; after Xiao Mo was abandoned in the wilderness, a Daoist from the Supreme Forgetting Emotions Sect took him in.

After Baozhu Temple’s opening ceremony, Ling Qing returned to Daoqing Temple and resumed developing Qingyun Mountain Blessed Land. He examined the Hundred Poisons Ten Thousand Gu Banner and inscribed the Heavenly Demon Golden Cicada Gu’s template onto the Spirit-Commanding Whip.

• The Night-Pacifying Division captured Xiao Mo, Li Yongquan, Lu Tiansheng, and the demons under Xiao Mo’s control while rescuing the victims seeded with demons.
• Baozhu Temple held its opening ceremony and blessing ritual over several days, and Ling Qing left Tang Deng and a team to watch for the return of Daoist Lingguan and Xiao Mo.
• Lu Qing departed to manage the captured prisoners, report on the operation, and inspect the Night-Pacifying Division for demonic influence.
• Ling Qing returned to Daoqing Temple, sent Ling Hongcai to Zhu Guang with herbs and spiritual fruits, and continued expanding Qingyun Mountain Blessed Land.
• Ling Qing drew a Heavenly Demon Golden Cicada Gu from the Hundred Poisons Ten Thousand Gu Banner, suppressed it with the Primordial One Qi Divine Talisman, and inscribed its template onto the Spirit-Commanding Whip.

Ling Qing refined the Heavenly Demon Golden Cicada Gu into Spirit Sword Golden Cicada Gu using Geng Metal qi, Spirit Dragon's Power, and the Heavenly Star Jewel Treasure Restriction. He completed the transformation after more than a month, creating demon-subduing sword insects that could grow by refining and devouring demons.

• Ling Qing assessed the strength and dangers of the 13,205 Heavenly Demon Golden Cicada Gu and decided to refine them into Dao soldiers rather than risk using them as they were.
• Ling Qing went to Listening Waves Pavilion on Ding Mountain to use its abundant Geng and Xin metal qi for the refinement.
• Ling Qing used Geng Metal Demon-Slaying Sword Qi to remove the Gu insects' demonic nature, then gathered their source essence and formed spiritual-light treasure pearls in their consciousnesses.
• Ling Qing applied Primordial Demon-Slaying Spirit-Refining Sword Qi to reshape each Gu insect, strengthening its body and removing its ability to devour its master.
• After more than a month, Ling Qing transformed the insects into Spirit Sword Golden Cicada Gu with Innate Formless Sword Qi and the ability to grow by refining demons.