Chapter Summaries

Zhu Yu entered the Fungal Domain with his spirit beasts to search for a God-Given Spirit Seed, and Cailing defeated a powerful second-tier fungal creature and brought him one. After they continued exploring, the ground began to shake and Zhu Yu felt a sudden sorrow.

• Yang agreed to wait outside for Zhu Yu, then bargained with Heitu to guide him to the Red Fire Ant teleportation passage as each plotted to get the other's Spider Silk Bag.
• Zhu Yu crossed into the Fungal Domain with Cailing, Baldy, Fire Tail, and the other spirit beasts, where he collected spores and recorded information about the mushrooms.
• The group reached a white fungal carpet that attacked them, and the spirit beasts used their innate spells to repel its mycelium.
• A second-tier fungal creature emerged, but Cailing transformed into a great bird and defeated it, then gave Zhu Yu the God-Given Spirit Seed it left behind.
• Zhu Yu promised Cailing half the future God-Given Fruit, stored the seed, and continued exploring the Mushroom Forest.
• As Zhu Yu examined an enormous mushroom, the earth shook and he felt an inexplicable sorrow.

Zhu Yu left the collapsing Fungal Domain with a haul of spirit seeds and God-Given seeds, then returned to his mountain with Heizi joining his group. There he found a Red Fire Ant beneath the Big Banyan Tree, and its familiar voice addressed him as an old ancestor.

• The Fungal Domain was absorbed by the Insect Realm, and Fire Tail found a spirit seed formed from a super-giant mushroom.
• Cailing returned with a God-Given seed after fighting a powerful being, so Zhu Yu gathered his companions and left the Red Fire Ants’ territory.
• Zhu Yu inspected three God-Given seeds on the road and learned that one was especially useful to Cailing.
• Zhu Yu returned to the Three-Headed Dog market, exchanged his remaining Jade Coins for Spirit Power Food, and left with his companions.
• The Three-Headed Dog threw Heizi toward Zhu Yu, and Zhu Yu agreed to bring Heizi home.
• At his mountain, Zhu Yu found a Red Fire Ant beneath the Big Banyan Tree, and it spoke to him in a familiar voice.

Zhu Yu recognized the Moon Sprite, now trapped in a Red Fire Ant shell, and kept it from fleeing after Cailing said it could help him become a Mountain Master. The Moon Sprite confirmed the Big-Winged Wasp clan could nurture a Life Realm, but said Zhu Yu first needed to steal a mythic-class talent, a Divine Ability, from a spirit beast bloodline.

• Zhu Yu recognized the Moon Sprite, and Cailing urged him to stop it because it knew something important about becoming a Mountain Master.
• The Moon Sprite tried to escape, but Zhu Yu blocked its path with Wind Blades and persuaded it to join the gathering beneath the Big Banyan Tree.
• Zhu Yu hosted the Moon Sprite and the spirit beasts with Spirit Power Food while Cailing explained that nurturing a Life Realm was a threshold beyond lord-class.
• Zhu Yu asked the Moon Sprite about the Life Realm, and it said the Big-Winged Wasp clan qualified only if it could trace back to a spirit beast bloodline and steal a mythic-class talent, a Divine Ability.

Zhu Yu established the Flower Peak Market Ruins, sent spirit fruits and Life Immortal Dew to his main body, and traded lord-level Meat Ganoderma fruits for Mysterious Origin Heavy Water and a unit of battle soldiers. He returned to Yinming Mansion with the soldiers and was about to hand them to Whale when a message arrived.

• Zhu Yu planted spirit seeds, organized the construction and promotion of Flower Peak Market Ruins, and transmitted valuable fruits and Life Immortal Dew to his main body.
• Zhu Yu discovered five cultivators’ Life Spirit Ruins gathering resources in the passage and learned through the Group Chat that they belonged to prominent True Persons.
• Dragon-Severing True Person explained that Insect Realm fruits worked best as ingredients in pills, so Zhu Yu offered his Meat Ganoderma fruits to the Group Chat.
• Zhu Yu traded five Meat Ganoderma fruits to True Person Heavy Water for five drops of Mysterious Origin Heavy Water and five to True Person Nine-Heads for a hundred Blue Flame Lizardmen battle soldiers.
• Zhu Yu used the Mysterious Origin Heavy Water to form five spring eyes in his Life Spirit Ruins, then returned to Yinming Mansion with the soldiers and received a message on his identity jade slip.

Zhu Yu learned that Ancestor Xiang was selling his alchemy inheritance and treasured items, but rejected their costly terms while expanding the Tu Fishmen breeding program in Yinming Mansion. Xiang Kui and Xiang Sui arrived at the mansion seeking an audience with Zhu Yu, and were stopped at the Inverted Tower.

• Zhu Yu learned that Ancestor Xiang planned to sell his alchemy inheritance, Crimson Cauldron, and other resources, but could not confront him without challenging Godfall's authority.
• Zhu Yu examined Meng's rapid cultivation progress and hoped she would break through to Second Tier before an upcoming battle.
• Zhu Yu assigned the Dragon-man Battle Soldiers and Golden Blade Array to whale, then offered Qi Refining disciples Tu Fishmen to raise for contribution points.
• Zhu Yu declined Ancestor Xiang's inheritance and Danding because their prices required a lifespan-extending item and an auxiliary Foundation Establishment quota.
• Xiang Kui and Xiang Sui arrived at Yinming Mansion, and Xiang Kui warned his younger brother not to casually invoke Zhu Yu's name.
• The brothers reached the Inverted Tower, where someone challenged them by asking who they were.

Zhu Yu welcomed Xiang Kui and Xiang Sui into the Yinming Mansion, then witnessed Blood Slave’s breakthrough and the awakening of Xiao Qing and Little White. The chapter ended with Xiao Qing and Little White reunited with Zhu Yu in their transformed two-headed-snake forms.

• Zhu Er led Xiang Kui and Xiang Sui into the Inverted Tower, while Liu Qin left the gate after declaring he would not live as a slave.
• Zhu Er learned from Liu Qin’s message that his nephew wanted to become a True Person and assigned the gatekeeping post to Liu San instead.
• Zhu Yu invited the Xiang brothers to join the Yinming Mansion, but Xiang Kui declined an Affiliate Foundation Establishment Seat because Ancestor Xiang had already arranged one with True Person Nine-Heads.
• Xiang Sui presented Zhu Yu with a Five Elements Great Pill and other gifts, then agreed to refine pills and teach disciples for the mansion.
• Blood Slave emerged from its egg as an early second-rank Vampire Marquis with the Blood Demon bloodline and knelt before Zhu Yu.
• Zhu Yu found Meng facing the transformed Xiao Qing and Little White, who changed into a two-headed snake and eagerly greeted him.

Zhu Yu celebrated his pets’ growth and discovered that Little Jade had cultivated Blade Intent, while the Lady of Pleasure contacted him with a catalogue of Abyssal goods. As his banquet began and True Person Ma Feng arrived with his newborn son, Zhu Yu noticed something unexpected down the mountain.

• Zhu Yu inspected Xiao Qing and Little White’s awakened Naga Great Serpent bloodline and sensed that his Split Spirit was progressing through the Canglan Spirit Ruins as Milo Storm Helstota.
• Zhu Yu arranged a banquet to celebrate the Blood Slave’s breakthrough and his pets’ growth, and Little Jade revealed that she had cultivated Blade Intent.
• The Lady of Pleasure contacted Zhu Yu through a Mark and offered him an illustrated catalogue of goods, including a Titan and a Dragon Maiden, whose prices he found too high.
• Xun Su, Ni Ying, Bai Meng, Qiao Hewei, and other guests arrived for the banquet, followed by True Person Ma Feng and Chen Ying with their infant son.
• Zhu Yu welcomed Ma Feng, congratulated him on his son, and gave Chen Ying a jade pendant necklace before turning in surprise toward the mountain.

Zhu Yu accepted Yao Ye as a subordinate and discovered that the Shangguan Family’s hidden Divine Ability, Dao Heart Demon Seeding, was altering Yao Ye’s memories. After hosting a banquet, Zhu Yu gave True Person Ma the promised Life Immortal Dew, and True Person Ma asked him to wait.

• True Person Ma placed Zhu Yu’s protective jade token around his infant son’s neck and brought his family to the banquet.
• Yao Ye sought refuge with Zhu Yu, explaining that the Shangguan Family’s Great Ancestor had planted a demon seed in him to seize his Divine Ability Dharma Domain.
• Zhu Yu used True Sight Eye to confirm the demon seed was changing Yao Ye’s memories, then accepted Yao Ye’s offer of service while promising to help remove it.
• Zhu Yu rewarded Liu San with permission to choose a cultivation method and skill inheritance, prompting Zhu Er to urge his son to inherit the name Zhu Er.
• Zhu Yu hosted a banquet for his guests, then gave True Person Ma a bottle containing sixty drops of Life Immortal Dew.
• True Person Ma accepted the Life Immortal Dew and told Zhu Yu to wait while he went to fetch something.

Zhu Yu learned that the Starry Wood’s fruit would take about ninety years to mature even with improved cultivation, and he considered seeking the Moon Sprite’s help. After True Person Ma returned with a jade box, Zhu Yu sensed that something beyond the heavenly barriers had finally made a move.

• Zhu Yu arranged for Zhu Er to take Little White and Little Seven out, while Little Black stayed behind and told him the Starry Wood had set flower buds.
• Zhu Yu visited the Starry Wood and used the True Sight Eye to learn that its fruit would mature in about ninety years with a specific daily supply of spirit resources.
• Zhu Yu considered asking the Moon Sprite for help and sent the information to his Split Spirit before giving Little Black instructions.
• True Person Ma returned and handed Zhu Yu a jade box, but Zhu Yu sensed a presence beyond the barriers and saw a blue mark appear in a magic mirror.

Zhu Yu watched one cultivator’s Life Spirit Ruins expand to nearly two hundred zhang, then saw three others begin their Foundation Establishment breakthroughs and suspected Qingping True Lord was preparing an invasion of the Martial Realm. After witnessing Baize’s overwhelming power and receiving a Second-Order Spirit Vein Bead from True Person Ma, Zhu Yu cultivated for a month before news roused him.

• Zhu Yu explained to True Person Ma that raising Life Spirit Ruins into Foundation Establishment required surviving the Black Sea’s erosion, while they wondered how the quota-holding cultivators would establish their foundations.
• A cultivator’s Life Spirit Ruins expanded to nearly two hundred zhang before vanishing from the Mirror Image, and three more cultivators began evolving their Life Spirit Ruins.
• Zhu Yu suspected Qingping True Lord had forced the three cultivators to break through and concluded that an invasion of the Martial Realm might be imminent.
• Zhu Yu saw Baize display immense power in the Immortal Grave Spirit Ruins and judged that she and True Lord Huiyue had reached Foundation Establishment Perfection.
• True Person Ma gave Zhu Yu a Second-Order Spirit Vein Bead, which Zhu Yu placed in his Life Spirit Ruins before cultivating for a month.
• A piece of news roused Zhu Yu from his cultivation.

Zhu Yu, Cang Li, Zang Hai, and other Spirit Ruins Masters gathered at Qingping Tower, where they discovered Qingping True Lord’s formidable sword intent and met twelve Qingping Cultivators. The True Lord appeared before them and they bowed in greeting.

• Zhu Yu arrived outside Qingping Tower and sensed that the towering structure was a sword artifact with immense, tightly restrained sword intent.
• Cang Li and Zang Hai arrived, and Cang Li and Zhu Yu promised to return Zang Hai’s favors within their abilities.
• A yellow-robed young man and a blue-robed woman arrived; the woman sat beneath the tower to contemplate its sword intent, while Zang Hai spoke with the young man.
• Three former Affiliate Foundation Establishments arrived as Spirit Ruins Masters, while two others were confirmed to have perished in the Black Sea.
• Zhu Yu and the others entered Qingping Tower and found twelve Qingping Spirit Ruins Masters waiting inside.
• Qingping True Lord appeared in the hall, and Zhu Yu and the others bowed respectfully to him.

Qingping True Lord ordered the Foundation Establishment cultivators to enter the Martial Realm and destabilize Great Yu, offering rewards for conquered territory and punishments for failure. Back in Yinming Mansion, Zhu Yu guided Whale through a perilous breakthrough into an Affiliate Foundation Establishment, transforming him into a Hui within Zhu Yu’s Life Spirit Ruins.

• Qingping True Lord announced that the cultivators would enter the Martial Realm in half a month and gave them one year to throw Great Yu into chaos, promising rewards for capturing provinces or commanderies and punishments for those who failed to act.
• Shangguan Wanhe asked Zhu Yu to release Shangguan Zhong, but Zhu Yu refused because Shangguan Zhong had joined Yinming Mansion and left through his Bronze Gate.
• A woman in white told two companions that the youth who appeared to be Shangguan Great Ancestor was only a bloodline inheritance, not the original man or a life-extending method.
• Zhu Yu summoned Whale, Hong Youfu, and Qiao Heyong and said he would guide their foundations into his Life Spirit Ruins so they could break through.
• Whale risked his life to forge a Dragon Transformation Foundation, entered Zhu Yu’s Life Spirit Ruins, and endured a painful transformation into a Hui.
• Zhu Yu recognized Whale’s transformed foundation as an Affiliate Foundation Establishment and sent the miniature black Hui out of the Life Spirit Ruins.

Zhu Yu strengthened Hong Youfu and Qiao Heyong’s foundations, then prepared Yinming Mansion for Qingping Tower’s campaign against the Martial Realm. With fewer than three days before the invasion, Meng reached first-rank perfection and began a breakthrough ritual under Lady of Pleasure’s power.

• Hong Youfu transformed his Dao Foundation into Futu Tower, gained the Futu and Filthy Blood Divine Abilities, and left the Life Spirit Ruins to adjust to his cultivation.
• Zhu Yu nurtured Qiao Heyong’s crescent moon Dao Foundation, helping him enter the Blade Dao and raise his Blade Intent to minor accomplishment before he departed to train.
• Yinming Mansion’s cultivators learned they had to join Qingping Tower’s campaign against the Martial Realm, and they rushed to prepare while the Law Enforcement Hall punished merchants who exploited the mobilization by raising prices.
• Meng reached first-rank perfection, and Zhu Yu told her to attempt a breakthrough through an altar ritual dedicated to Lady of Pleasure.
• Lady of Pleasure’s power reached the altar, and she offered Zhu Yu discounted Spirit Ruins products while Meng’s advancement proceeded.

Zhu Yu watched Meng awaken as a second-order Divine Spirit agent, then was transported with the other cultivators far from the Immortal Grave Spirit Ruins to begin an invasion of the Martial Realm. As they prepared to exploit their first chance to seize territory, scarlet stars appeared in the darkness and sent Zhu Yu an otherworldly cultivation inheritance.

• Lady of Pleasure told Zhu Yu that capturing a certain Source could let him negotiate for a Demigod, and the back room's darkness receded as Meng awakened with a second-order aura and a Divine Ability Dharma Domain.
• Zhu Yu examined Meng's Divine Spirit Agent Mark, stored supplies, and watched Hong Youfu defeat Qiao Heyong and Whale in sparring.
• Three days later, Qingping True Lord transported Zhu Yu and the other cultivators away from the Immortal Grave Spirit Ruins on Qingping duckweed, leaving them unable to return without completing their task.
• Zhu Yu told Zang Hai, Cang Li, and the Yellow Clad Youth what he knew about the Great Yu Dynasty and urged them to seize as much territory as possible before the Martial Realm could respond.
• The Qingping duckweed stopped beneath a darkness filled with scarlet stars, and Zhu Yu received a first-tier otherworldly inheritance called the Soul-Deterring Ghost Pattern.

Zhu Yu learned that the Ruins Beast’s gifts could mark cultivators as prey, though the True Sight Eye had removed his mark. Through his Martial Realm Split Spirit, he prepared to reveal his strength at the Peerless Sect’s thousandth-anniversary celebration and sensed that the White Dragon King was a Fifth Realm expert.

• Zhu Yu sorted the Ruins Beast’s gifts into four second-order inheritances across ghost-cultivation and secret-potion Dao Paths.
• Zang Hai explained that Ruins Beast gifts carried tracking marks, prompting cultivators who had received them to search themselves for danger.
• Zhu Yu checked his Life Spirit Ruins, then shifted his attention to his Split Spirit at the Peerless Sect in the Martial Realm.
• Zhu Yu told Ma Cheng he would become the Peerless Sect’s number one Inner Sect disciple the next day, since the thousandth-anniversary celebration was a chance to make his name.
• A whip-wielding young woman struck Zhai Xiao after he insulted the Peerless Sect’s guests, and an elderly man apologized by giving the onlookers valuable Eastern Pearls.
• Zhu Yu recognized the departing elderly man as a Fifth Realm expert and suspected he was the White Dragon King.

Zhu Yu learned that the White Dragon King and many other powerful figures had come to Peerless Sect for the Inner Sect Grand Competition, which could bring its winner fame and a place on the Dragon and Phoenix List. After receiving valuables and the sharp weapon Cheng Ying from Assistant Prefect Wu, Zhu Yu cultivated with the Human Hope they contained as guests flooded Peerless Sect ahead of the competition.

• Zhu Yu discussed the White Dragon King and the prestige awaiting the winner of Peerless Sect's Inner Sect Grand Competition with Ma Cheng.
• Ma Cheng revealed that Assistant Prefect Wu had sent Zhu Yu a cartload of valuables and the sharp weapon Cheng Ying.
• Zhu Yu explained how his God Word, Haoran Righteous Qi, had reached perfection after he sensed the Haoran Long River through writing Quiet Night Thought.
• Zhu Yu absorbed Human Hope from Wu Shaoyang's gifts and tested Cheng Ying, which cut through the camphorwood chest with ease.
• Zhu Yu began cultivating with the valuables, while Peerless Sect suppressed visiting Martial Artists who caused trouble.
• Bai Xiaosheng sold booklets about the visiting forces and experts, and the arriving guests and female cultivators made Peerless Sect busier than Jiujiang Prefectural City.

Lord Wu Ping visited Peerless Sect to see her half-brother Wu Ping'an, but he refused to meet her before the Inner Sect Grand Competition. As the sect gathered for the competition the next morning, a startling sword light arrived from Two Peaks Canyon.

• Lord Wu Ping recorded an image of herself at Immortal Gazing Bridge and headed with Baozi to find Wu Ping'an.
• Wu Ping'an learned Lord Wu Ping had arrived and asked Ma Cheng to turn her away, claiming he was cultivating for the competition.
• Lord Wu Ping accepted the refusal and planned to watch the competition, while telling Baozi she had another idea for a sword dance recording.
• At a banquet, Tao Yao and Fu Heng discussed Lord Wu Ping and Wu Ping'an, and Tao Yao later ordered her maid to investigate him.
• The next morning, Peerless Sect's disciples and elders assembled for the Inner Sect Grand Competition, and a sword light burst from Two Peaks Canyon onto the altar.

At the Peerless Sect’s ceremony, Sword Saint Dugu Xin’s overwhelming sword intent shook the gathered martial leaders as the sect began its Inner Sect Grand Competition. Zhu Yu entered the first arena bout, revealed his late-stage God Speech Realm cultivation and Haoran Righteous Qi, and defeated Yulou with a single strike, leaving the competition underway.

• Dugu Xin appeared and released sword intent that alarmed the White Dragon King, Wanyan Hong, and other powerful guests.
• The Peerless Sect performed its sacrifice ceremony, gathered Human Hope, and announced that three true disciples would be chosen through the Inner Sect Grand Competition.
• Zhu Yu drew number 999 and faced Yulou in the opening bout of arena one.
• Yulou manifested the special God Word Detailed Within Roughness and began a lengthy introduction before the match.
• Zhu Yu revealed Haoran Righteous Qi, blocked Yulou’s Light Splitting Shadow technique, and held Cheng Ying at Yulou’s throat.
• Zhu Yu showed mercy, and Yulou thanked Senior Brother Wu for sparing him.

Zhu Yu and Yulou completed a sworn-brotherhood rite after their arena bout and received Flood Dragon Pearls from the White Dragon King. Zhu Yu discovered that his Haoran Righteous Qi subtly made others grow attached to him, while the pearl rapidly gathered Human Hope for his cultivation.

• Yulou praised Zhu Yu's character, apologized for his sneak attack, and asked to become his sworn younger brother; Zhu Yu accepted and the rite succeeded.
• Dong Biwu arranged for Dong Qing'er and Lin Lu to marry after they returned to the Cang River, and Dong Qing'er silently accepted her father's decision.
• Dong Biwu gave Zhu Yu and Yulou a Flood Dragon Pearl each, and they thanked him before leaving the arena.
• The later bouts drew little Human Hope as the spectators' expectations rose after Zhu Yu and Yulou's successful sworn-brotherhood rite.
• Zhu Yu examined the Mark he had gained and concluded that Haoran Righteous Qi gradually made people regard him as a friend.
• Zhu Yu observed his Flood Dragon Pearl absorbing Human Hope faster than he could and estimated that the gathered amount could bring his cultivation to perfection.

Zhu Yu discovered that sworn brotherhood allowed brothers to share Human Hope and planned to gather three thousand sworn siblings after winning the Inner Sect Grand Competition. In his first-round match against Liu Peisan, Zhu Yu faced Liu’s formidable True Essence Armor Condensation by writing poetry with his rusty sword, drawing the attention of powerful spectators.

• Zhu Yu sensed the bond formed when he and Yulou swore brotherhood, including their ability to share Human Hope, and resolved to gather three thousand sworn younger brothers and sisters.
• Zhu Yu spent three days cultivating while the first round of the Inner Sect Grand Competition unfolded and the crowds gathered at Peerless Sect.
• The deacon called Zhu Yu and Liu Peisan to the arena, where Liu revealed his God Speech, [Ten-Mile Headless], and its power to produce a thread of Golden Body Realm Blood Qi True Essence.
• Liu Peisan covered himself in scarlet True Essence armor and charged Zhu Yu with his staff, astonishing the spectators with his ability to condense armor across realms.
• Zhu Yu drew his rusty ancient sword and wrote two lines of poetry in the air as Liu attacked, prompting White Dragon King Dong Biwu, Green-Eyed Blue Ghost Wanyan Hong, the imposing middle-aged man, and the grand elder to look toward the sky.