Chapter Summaries

Zhu Yu, inhabiting Wu Ping'an's body, escaped the White Lotus Sect's underground ritual and was taken to Jiujiang's Imperial Observatory for inspection. There, a noblewoman's reaction to him made the officials treat him as an exalted young master, leaving his true identity untested.

• Yuan Tu explained that Envoy Bai had fled after abducting Wu Ping'an for the White Lotus Sect's reincarnation ritual, then led Zhu Yu and Yu out of the secret chamber.
• A black-armored fighter defeated Yuan Tu, but an Imperial Observatory officer ordered Ma Cheng to take Zhu Yu to the observatory while others pursued the White Lotus Sect.
• Ma Cheng escorted Zhu Yu to the observatory, where the officials recognized the costly materials in his clothes and hairpin and treated him with deference.
• A noblewoman saw Zhu Yu, turned pale, and fainted; her maid asked the observatory to detain him, and the officials avoided deciding whether he had been possessed.
• The observatory left Zhu Yu comfortably confined in a side room, while Ma Cheng suspected that he had been set up to take the blame.

Zhu Yu learned about the world’s martial and Dharma Master cultivation paths, then traveled to the Peerless Sect under Wu Shaoyang’s orders. His Peerless Token secured him immediate inner sect status, while a strange blaze appeared in the sky in Yan Province.

• Zhu Yu inferred that Ruan Li suspected his possession but would not kill him, then asked the Imperial Observatory guards for cultivation books.
• Zhu Yu studied the two cultivation paths and learned that Wu Shaoyang had sent him to the Peerless Sect with a warning not to leave.
• Ma Cheng escorted Zhu Yu out of Jiujiang City, and Zhu Yu learned that the Peerless Sect was led by the fifth-realm Sword Saint Dugu Xin.
• Zhu Yu presented his Peerless Token at the sect’s entrance and bypassed the first aptitude inspection without being tested.
• Deacon Mi explained that the token made Zhu Yu an inner sect disciple, while a sudden blaze lit the sky in Yan Province.

After an azure-gold manifestation was struck by a crimson attack in Yan Province, Qingping True Lord was revealed to have been injured, and the contest for Qingping Tower’s Manor lord was moved up to the next day. Zhu Yu prepared to compete and faced Shangguan Zhong and his allies on Welcome Island, where their confrontation was interrupted by a faint ripple.

• Yuan Tu fled after Yu erupted into an azure-gold light, while a hidden city in Yan Province transformed into a military battlefield and fired a crimson beam that pierced the manifestation.
• Zhu Yu learned that Qingping True Lord had been injured and that the Manor lord contest would take place the next day in one of nine secret realms.
• Zhu Yu agreed to help Shangguan Jiang intercept Shangguan Zhong if they entered the same secret realm, then learned the contest required driving out rivals and killing any Secret Realm Child.
• Zhu Yu arrived at Welcome Island with Shangguan Jiang as Shangguan Zhong and his companions came to enter the contest.
• Jiang Li tested Zhu Yu with an invisible force, felt a terrifying backlash, and recognized the strength of Zhu Yu’s Field.
• Shangguan Zhong accused Zhu Yu of killing Zhao Yuan, while Shangguan Jiang taunted him and his allies; a faint ripple then drew everyone’s attention.

Zhu Yu entered the Spirit Marsh Secret Realm, harvested a Tu Fishman and its spirit fish, and began clearing the realm with his Graveyard Field. Meanwhile, the ancient Tu Fishmen prepared for a new cycle and entrusted their clan to Whale, while three cultivators became trapped in Zhu Yu’s Field.

• Zhu Yu identified Shangguan Zhong’s spiritual-power mark as fake, entered the Spirit Marsh Secret Realm, and seized a Tu Fishman, extracting its essence, spells, and memories.
• Zhu Yu took three Green Jade Crucian Carp and learned that the Iron-Head Clan demanded fish-beast tribute from Tu Fishmen.
• Across the realm, cultivators arrived and began hunting Tu Fishmen and fish beasts, while an ancient Tu Fishman rode a giant whale and told Whale to remain in the ancestral land and lead the clan.
• Zhu Yu unleashed his Graveyard Field against hundreds of Tu Fishmen and more than a thousand fish beasts, killing nearly all of them and raising grave mounds over the lake.
• Three cultivators encountered Zhu Yu’s Field and were trapped just as two of them tried to activate their Identity Jade Tokens.

Zhu Yu expanded his Mass Grave Field by refining Tu Fishman tribes, then bought Zhang Cheng’s intelligence about the Spirit Marsh Secret Realm. The information prompted Zhu Yu to leave, while Zhang Cheng continued his information business without realizing Zhu Yu had killed his earlier avatar.

• Zhu Yu suppressed three cultivators with Soul Summoning; one destroyed his Dao Foundation and died, while Zhu Yu learned the other two came from Dead Soul Ravine and took their treasures, including a Five Elements Evasion Dharma Seed.
• Zhang Cheng discovered through his clones that at least five cultivators in the Spirit Marsh Secret Realm had condensed Fields, then began selling the information to interested cultivators.
• Zhang Cheng sold Yin Yu information for four hundred thousand Spirit Stones, and Yin Yu paid with a valuable Eastern Pearl before departing.
• Over seven days, Zhu Yu refined more than ten Tu Fishman tribes, adding nearly a hundred thousand Tu Fishmen to his Mass Grave Field and approaching the Field’s limit.
• Zhang Cheng offered Zhu Yu his collected intelligence for four hundred thousand Spirit Stones; Zhu Yu paid with fish-beast materials worth slightly more and gave him a Communication Jade Talisman.
• Zhang Cheng praised Zhu Yu’s generosity but wondered why he seemed familiar, unaware that Zhu Yu had killed his earlier avatar.

Zhu Yu suspected that Qingping cultivators had lured powerful rivals into the Spirit Marsh Secret Realm, then captured Bai Yan and forced her to serve as his mount. After defeating a sword cultivator and traveling toward the core, he received Qi Ming’s invitation to join a demon hunt, while Shangguan Zhong and other dangerous cultivators also headed for the gathering.

• Zhu Yu reviewed Zhang Cheng’s intelligence, suspected the Qingping clans had baited rivals into the Spirit Marsh Secret Realm, and set out to eliminate nearby cultivators before approaching its core.
• Bai Yan defeated the lake’s Tu Fishmen and fish beasts, but Zhu Yu trapped her in his Mass Grave Field and made her his mount.
• Bai Yan carried Zhu Yu north, and he quickly defeated a powerful sword cultivator before ordering her to continue west.
• Zhu Yu received Qi Ming’s invitation to join a demon hunt and directed Bai Yan toward the marked location.
• Shangguan Zhong and several other powerful cultivators received the invitation and converged on Qi Ming, while Shangguan Zhong’s bloody companion planned to catch them all in one net.

Hai received an order to kill the trial-takers but chose to risk his own life rather than endanger the Tu Fishman, and set out with Kun to meet them. At the gathering, Bai Yan arrived carrying Zhu Yu, whose presence alarmed Jiang Li and drew Qi Ming's interest.

• Hai read the order to kill everyone and decided that he would disobey it to protect the Tu Fishman and Whale.
• Hai rode Kun out of the core-water space to confront the trial-takers.
• Bai Yan arrived at the gathering as a Red Flame Bird with Zhu Yu riding on her back.
• Jiang Li recognized Zhu Yu and wondered whether he had followed their group into the secret realm.
• Zhao Jing insulted Zhu Yu and Bai Yan, while Jiang Li and the sturdy young man inferred that Zhu Yu was powerful.
• Qi Ming noticed Zhu Yu, exchanged a salute with him, and called him worth looking at.

Zhu Yu told Shangguan Zhong that the Shangguan Family had used him and his companions as bait, and Jiang Min attacked them in the Spirit Marsh Secret Realm. Qi Ming intervened to stop Jiang Min, but Jiang Min demanded Spirit Ruins Origin and a nearby voice urged Qi Ming to fight.

• Zhu Yu accused the Shangguan Family of using Shangguan Zhong and his companions as bait to draw in rivals for the Prefecture Master position.
• Jiang Min emerged and attacked the four companions, injuring Jiang Li and the burly young man and knocking Zhao Jing into the lake.
• Shangguan Zhong countered Jiang Min's attacks but found his sword light slowed and crushed by Jiang Min's Field, so he rescued Zhao Jing and prepared to leave.
• Qi Ming arrived by boat and asked Jiang Min to settle his grudge later, but Jiang Min demanded a hundred and eighty portions of Spirit Ruins Origin.
• An unseen voice called out to Qi Ming, urging him to stop holding back and beat Jiang Min.

Zhu Yu encouraged Bai Yan to attack the Qingping Cultivators after they insulted her, then killed Wu Ju with Lingxiao when Wu Ju trapped her in his pseudo-Field. He turned his sword on Shangguan Zhong and the others, leaving Shangguan Zhong trapped in a pale graveyard-like domain.

• Ji Feng appeared and joined Qi Ming and Jiang Min as cultivators gathered in the water-region space, including Yin Yu and Wu Ju.
• Bai Yan descended with Zhu Yu, and Wu Shu and other Qingping Cultivators insulted her; Zhu Yu gave her a bronze sword and urged her to kill them.
• Wu Ju used his Ten Thousand Laws Dharma Image to open a Dharma Domain that suppressed Bai Yan and weakened her connection to heaven and earth.
• Zhu Yu sent Lingxiao through the flaws in Wu Ju's domain and killed him, then collected his Dharma Image.
• Shangguan Zhong threw the unconscious Zhao Jing toward Lingxiao and retreated with Jiang Li and the sturdy young man, but the sword killed Zhao Jing and several Qingping Cultivators.
• Shangguan Zhong fought Lingxiao with his Taiyi Light-Splitting Sword, then Zhu Yu appeared and trapped him in a pale domain filled with grave-like mounds.

Zhu Yu drove off Shangguan Zhong after Yao Ye revealed himself through him, then joined Qi Ming and the others to hunt a second-order Thunder Kun. The Thunder Kun arrived with the aged Tu Fishman Hai, sent the beast away to protect its clan, and prepared to face the gathered cultivators alone.

• Yao Ye briefly took control of Shangguan Zhong and forced Zhu Yu’s Field back before Shangguan Zhong and his companions left the Spirit Marsh Secret Realm.
• Bai Yan gave Zhu Yu the Beast Bags and Storage Talismans, and Qi Ming proposed that the cultivators cooperate to kill the Thunder Kun and compete afterward for the mansion lord’s position.
• The Thunder Kun and Hai appeared, and the Thunder Kun killed a Heavenly Dao Sect cultivator who had identified Yue Lingfei’s severed head.
• Zhu Yu, Qi Ming, Yin Yu, the Spirit Race woman, Jiang Min, and the other cultivators readied their abilities and prepared to attack the pair.
• Hai released the Thunder Kun and ordered it to return to its birthplace to protect its clan, then faced the cultivators as lightning gathered around him.

Zhu Yu survived Hai’s thunder trial and agreed to make the Tu Fishman bloodline the source in his Life Spirit Ruins, then took Hai’s head into Mass Grave and gained a surge in its power. He was suddenly transported to an unfinished Qingping Tower, where an injured female Spirit Race cultivator appeared beside him.

• Hai tested Zhu Yu and the others with a storm of destructive thunder while they defended themselves with their Fields.
• Hai offered to entrust the Tu Fishmen to Zhu Yu and asked him to preserve their bloodline in his Life Spirit Ruins; Zhu Yu agreed after hearing of their potential.
• Zhu Yu swore an oath in Qingping’s name, absorbed Hai into Mass Grave, and gained a powerful boost to the Field’s proficiency.
• Yin Yu, Yu Du, Qi Ming, Ji Feng, Fang Min, and the other cultivators departed the Spirit Marsh Secret Realm, while Zhu Yu was suddenly transported away.
• Zhu Yu awoke in a vast, unfinished Qingping Tower and saw an injured female Spirit Race cultivator appear beside him.

Zhu Yu won a Prefecture Master position, learned about Foundation Establishment from Zang Hai, and experienced Qingping True Lord’s overwhelming presence before entering the realm reflected by his natal fate. He returned to Tomb Island to celebrate with his companions, where Xiang Kui began explaining how he had been eliminated.

• Zhu Yu accepted a jade slip from Zang Hai containing information about Foundation Establishment and the Spirit Ruins Master, while declining his offer of investment.
• Qingping True Lord appeared, and his shifting forms overwhelmed Zhu Yu and the other cultivators before they awoke on a platform beside the Qingping Tower.
• Zhu Yu saw a duckweed leaf in his Divine Sea, entered the realm reflected by his natal Underworld Yin-Nurturing Locust Tree, and returned with his Prefecture Master position secured.
• News spread that Zhu Yu, Shangguan Jiang, and others had won Prefecture Master positions, prompting accusations of cheating from cultivators of Qingping and the Heavenly Dao Sect.
• Zhu Yu returned to Tomb Island and received Xiang Kui, Xiang Sui, Liang Kuan, and Lu Wanrong; Xiang Kui said he had misjudged his opponents.

Zhu Yu accepted an invitation to True Person Xiang’s thousandth birthday celebration, prepared to break through to Foundation Establishment, and learned more about the Nine Heavens Thunder Domain. Meanwhile, Hua Ling finally reached the Insect Realm to trade with Zhu Yu, bringing news of the Giant Flea clan’s journey to a newly born Wilderness region.

• Xiang Kui told Zhu Yu that Cen Lu had betrayed him in the Little Spirit Ruins, then invited him to True Person Xiang’s birthday celebration, which Zhu Yu agreed to attend with an avatar.
• Zhu Yu assessed his spoils from the Spirit Marsh Secret Realm, including Wu Ju’s Ten Thousand Laws Divine Ability Dharma Seed and Hai’s Mystic Water Thunder, which could grant entry to the Nine Heavens Thunder Domain.
• Zhu Yu decided to attempt Foundation Establishment in a month, while Qingping Tower attracted new recruits and Zhu Er sold the secret-realm spoils for nearly nine million Spirit Stones.
• Xiang Kui explained that True Person Xiang had evolved Life Spirit Ruins within Godfall True Lord’s Life Spirit Ruins, then asked whether Zhu Yu might take Xiang Sui as a subordinate after his breakthrough; Zhu Yu deferred the discussion.
• Mountain Master Ye Lian led the Giant Flea clan into the Wilderness border and ordered them to camp, while Hua Ling set out to trade with Zhu Yu.
• Zhu Yu heard Hua Ling’s drumbeats and welcomed him, and Hua Ling explained that he had been delayed by a journey to a newly born Wilderness region and was still far from becoming a Mountain Master.

Zhu Yu learned about the newly fallen Fungal Domain from Hua Ling and shared his abundant White-Tail Pear harvest with him. Hua Ling explained how valuable the God-Given fruits were and revealed that Life Immortal Dew could restore Starry Wood, then gave Zhu Yu a bottle of the dew and a Fire Date spirit seed.

• Hua Ling described the luminous, fungus-filled Fungal Domain, its Star Mushroom seeds, and the limits on entering it before its world membrane faded.
• Hua Ling admired Zhu Yu’s thriving One-Leaf Lotus, then froze when Zhu Yu told him the White-Tail Pear God-Given had ripened 345 fruits.
• Hua Ling laughed with relief at the harvest, examined the God-Given fruits, and tasted Zhu Yu’s preserved fruit while Cailing gave him a feather.
• Hua Ling valued each White-Tail Pear fruit at roughly 20,000 Life Origin Stones and agreed to trade the harvest, while Zhu Yu apologized for eating five fruits and let him pay later.
• Zhu Yu asked about restoring Starry Wood, and Hua Ling explained that Life Immortal Dew could revive it before giving him a bottle and a Fire Date spirit seed.

Zhu Yu gave Hua Ling Life Immortal Dew and a Fire Date, then sent him to trade White-Tail God-Given Fruits for soul-enhancing fruits, spirit-power food, and borrowed funds. Hua Ling returned with the goods and discovered Zhu Yu had raised a West Mansion Begonia, whose future fruit Zhu Yu promised to sell him.

• Zhu Yu thanked Hua Ling for the Life Immortal Dew and Fire Date, gave him three hundred and forty White-Tail God-Given Fruits and preserved fruit, and asked him to find a God-Given plant that improved soul aptitude.
• Hua Ling brought the fruits to the One-Leaf Lotus Mountain Master, traded half of them for five soul-enhancing God-Given Fruits and spirit-power food, and borrowed three million Life Origin Stones.
• Hua Ling gave the One-Leaf Lotus Mountain Master preserved fruit and returned to Zhu Yu with the trade goods and loan.
• Heitu arrived to show Zhu Yu and Hua Ling a batch of items he had acquired, while Zhu Yu led Hua Ling into the Small Five Elements Spirit Array.
• Hua Ling found the West Mansion Begonia, ran around it excitedly, and drew an angry outburst from the spirit seed.
• Zhu Yu promised Hua Ling that he could buy some of the West Mansion Begonia's future fruit, and Hua Ling praised him as a good bug.

Zhu Yu arranged for nearby spirit beasts to buy and resell his spiritual-power fruits, then inspected Heitu’s supposed treasures from the Fungal Domain. He discovered that most were worthless, but the bundle also contained a God-Given Spirit Seed that was about to be nurtured into being.

• Hua Ling told Zhu Yu that Life Immortal Dew was restricted by the ten great clans and warned that too much could harm insects and God-Given plants.
• Zhu Yu invited Heitu to bring its Fungal Domain goods to his mountain, then gathered Baldy, Fire-Tail, and the other spirit beasts to look for treasures.
• Hua Ling gave Zhu Yu prices for his Silver Wattle, Soapberry, and Sour Jujube fruits, and Zhu Yu offered the nearby spirit beasts the chance to buy them on credit.
• The spirit beasts and Heitu agreed to buy the fruits, with each family taking a thousand of each kind and the remaining Silver Wattles going to whoever sold fastest.
• Heitu revealed a bundle of broken stones, branches, and leaves, which Zhu Yu and the others began inspecting for one Life Origin Stone apiece.
• Zhu Yu’s appraisal identified a God-Given Spirit Seed in the bundle, tainted by the auras of two domains and close to being nurtured into being.

Zhu Yu sorted Heitu’s discarded stones and branches, finding a God-Given Spirit Seed, then examined the valuable gifts Hua Ling had brought and sent several items through the Myriad Star Disk. After the disk signaled Foundation Establishment, Zhu Yu arrived at the Xiang family’s birthday gathering, where he and several powerful cultivators entered the ancestral hall.

• Zhu Yu gave Heitu a Jade Coin worth one hundred thousand Life Origin Stones for his remaining finds, and Heitu happily accepted it.
• Zhu Yu sorted nearly ten thousand items, found one God-Given Spirit Seed, and stored it with his other acquisitions.
• Zhu Yu examined the Mountain Master-level Spirit Power Food and Autumn Moon Walnuts, then sent five walnuts and a bottle of Life Immortal Dew through the Myriad Star Disk.
• Zhu Yu ate a Horse Tooth Spirit Power Fruit and planned to adapt the God-Given Spirit Seed and take in special spirit seeds as Life Seeds.
• Zhu Yu’s Myriad Star Disk signaled Foundation Establishment, while Zhu Yu attended Ancestor Xiang’s birthday gathering at the Xiang family’s courtyard.
• Xiang Kui led Zhu Yu and several formidable cultivators into the ancestral hall, where they greeted Ancestor Xiang.

Zhu Yu witnessed the decaying state of Ancestor Xiang’s Life Spirit Ruins and received a warning not to fully merge his own Life Spirit Ruins with the Immortal Grave Spirit Ruins during Foundation Establishment. He prepared for his breakthrough while strengthening his Dao Foundation and nurturing the Starry Wood, and half a month passed.

• Xiang Kui brought Zhu Yu and other clan members to Ancestor Xiang’s Life Spirit Ruins, where darkness was eroding the remaining land and Ancestor Xiang’s body.
• Ancestor Xiang served Botanical Essence to the visitors; Zhu Yu recognized its malice, but drank it after Ancestor Xiang pressed him, while the others drank willingly.
• Ancestor Xiang warned Zhu Yu to flee if possible after Foundation Establishment and not to completely merge his Life Spirit Ruins with the Immortal Grave Spirit Ruins.
• Zhu Yu returned to his mausoleum, considered the dangers of Foundation Establishment, and resolved not to delay his breakthrough, which he expected to attempt in ten days.
• Zhu Yu ate God-Given Fruits of the Autumn Moon Walnut to strengthen his Dao Foundation, then fed ten drops of Life Immortal Dew to the Starry Wood and saw it nearing transformation.
• Half a month passed as Little Black and Little Seven remained with the Starry Wood.

Zhu Yu used his Prefecture Master position and carefully prepared foundation to evolve his Life Spirit Ruins, successfully reaching Foundation Establishment and awakening two innate Divine Abilities. He began protecting his new Ruins with the Origin Spirit Bead, then prepared to raise his Dao Foundation.

• Zhu Yu connected his Dao Foundation, body, and cultivation to the Prefecture Master position, then entered a channel in the Foundation Establishment Realm to safely evolve his Life Spirit Ruins.
• Foundation Establishment cultivators across the Immortal Grave Spirit Ruins sensed Zhu Yu’s breakthrough, while Zhou Tong, Hong Xingwang, Liang Kuan, and Lu Wanrong arrived at Tomb Island to guard his home.
• Bai Yan arrived at Tomb Island seeking Zhu Yu, but the four deacons kept her from entering while he remained in seclusion.
• Zhu Yu expanded his Life Spirit Ruins to nearly a hundred mu, broke through the limits of his divine sense, and drew Black Water into the Ruins to create a Black Sun.
• The Life Spirit Ruins nurtured the innate Divine Abilities Mass Grave and Superior Person, granting Zhu Yu overwhelming control over his Ruins and the ability to survive as long as they endured.
• Zhu Yu shattered the Water-attribute Origin Spirit Bead to shield his Life Spirit Ruins and prepared to raise his Dao Foundation.

Zhu Yu opened the Source Sea in his Life Spirit Ruins and fused it with the Immortal Grave Spirit Ruins, reaching Foundation Establishment and gaining access to a sect exchange group. After learning about his cultivation benefits and duty to open a prefecture, he considered how to begin his new responsibilities.

• Zhu Yu crossed the Black Sea, opened the Source Sea, and expelled corrosive Black Water after it damaged one of his Corpse Puppets.
• Zhu Yu reached the mountain of Bronze Gates and chose to fuse his Life Spirit Ruins with the Immortal Grave Spirit Ruins, greatly reducing the Black Sea's erosion.
• The will of the Immortal Grave Spirit Ruins gave Zhu Yu a Mark and information, and he joined the Heavenly Dao Sect's Foundation Establishment Exchange Meeting as Yinming.
• Zhu Yu learned that Qingping True Lord had been injured by a treasure artifact from Gensokyo, while the other True Lords debated whether to investigate.
• Zhu Yu learned that Foundation Establishment True Persons could choose a cultivation method, explore beyond the domain, and receive an annual stipend, but were also responsible for opening a prefecture.
• Zhu Yu decided not to rush into exploring Spirit Ruins and reflected that nurturing disciples could aid his cultivation and future expeditions.