Chapter Summaries

Zhu Yu and the others cornered the injured Qiu Chen, but he escaped through a passage to the Insect Realm using a Star Disk and Boundary Marker. After the group divided the island’s treasures and left, a moon-white-robed figure arrived and investigated the vanished passage.

• Zhu Yu extracted the old man’s memories, located the unconscious Qiu Chen, and sent Lu Wanrong and Xing Sida toward the island’s center while Shangguan Zhong fled the battle outside.
• Qiu Chen tried to escape the pavilion, but Lu Wanrong, Xing Sida, and Zhu Yu’s insects intercepted him; Little Jade wore down his sword light as he fled.
• Qiu Chen used the Star Disk and Boundary Marker to open a passage and entered the Insect Realm, leaving his bronze sword behind for Little Jade to retrieve.
• Wu Yang explained the Insect Realm passage and Qiu Chen’s Spirit Ruins Master Mark, then calmed tensions between Zhu Yu and Lu Wanrong before the group agreed to divide the island’s treasures.
• Zhu Yu and the others stripped the island of its treasures and withdrew, while a moon-white-robed figure arrived and searched the vanished passage site.

After Tang Valley’s team sold the spiritual treasures taken from Qiu Chen’s island, Zhu Yu used his share to seek access to a Reception Platform. The platform connected him to a distant location, and he prepared to fight for his life.

• Wu Yang’s team returned to Tang Valley, where Zang Hai appraised their spoils and paid two hundred thousand Spirit Stones for them.
• Wu Yang distributed the Spirit Stones, giving Zhu Yu seventeen thousand, and announced that the team would rest in Tang Valley for half a month before returning to the lake region.
• The Third Steward’s high prices frustrated the cultivators, while Zhu Yu asked Wu Yang about a Reception Platform and received his Mark to seek its use.
• The Third Steward brought Zhu Yu to Zang Hai, who agreed to open the Reception Platform in exchange for Zhu Yu’s own Mark.
• Zhu Yu activated the array-artifact Reception Platform and felt its connection forming with a distant place.

Zhu Yu lured the half-crippled Qi Hong into a fight, absorbed Wu Yong’s Blood Qi, and killed him after his God Word transformed and True Astral Force emerged. Though Zhu Yu believed he was dying, he went with Wu Yong to Master Sang’s estate, where he confronted Physician Wang and Retainer Yang.

• Zhu Yu led Qi Hong to the Reception Platform, where Wu Yong struck him repeatedly to transfer Blood Qi and strengthen him.
• Qi Hong overwhelmed Zhu Yu until Wu Yong intervened and gave him the rest of his Blood Qi, while a surge of True Astral Force awakened inside Zhu Yu.
• Zhu Yu’s transformed God Word let him control the True Astral Force, and he killed Qi Hong with the Gold-Shattering Hammer.
• Qi Hong’s remains became Spirit Ruins Origin, which empowered the hammer and transformed Zhu Yu’s God Word; Wu Yong said news of the kill would spread in seven days.
• Wu Yong brought the gravely injured Zhu Yu to Master Sang’s estate, where Physician Wang and Retainer Yang demanded compensation before Zhu Yu suddenly appeared before them and challenged them.

Zhu Yu defeated Yang Yan, received gifts from Sang Qi, and secretly stored the Grass Return Pill fragment for later use despite his fatal injuries. He prepared to leave the estate as the Border-Expansion War began, and Mi Sheng appeared ninth on the Hidden Dragon Ranking.

• Zhu Yu subdued Yang Yan, then released him after Wu Yong asked him to spare Master Sang's retainer.
• Physician Wang discovered that Zhu Yu's organs were shattered and believed he was near death, while Zhu Yu explained that he could not feel pain.
• Sang Qi rewarded Zhu Yu with the Soft Hedgehog Armor and a Grass Return Pill fragment, which Zhu Yu secretly stored in his ring.
• Zhu Yu warned Liang Kuan that the Border-Expansion War had begun, gave him the remaining gold and silver, and said his Split Spirit would leave in a few days.
• Zhu Yu studied the Soft Hedgehog Armor and Gold-Shattering Hammer for eight days before Mi Sheng appeared ninth on the Hidden Dragon Ranking.

Mi Sheng rose to ninth place on the Hidden Dragon Ranking after killing Qi Hong, but he removed his half-formed Dao Fruit and died when a powerful lightning tribulation struck Fengyang County. As Zhu Yu escaped and left Wu Yong a letter, rebellions began spreading across several provinces.

• The latest issue of Sound Heard Throughout the World revealed that Mi Sheng, also known as Zhu Yu, had manifested the God Word "Superior Person" and killed Qi Hong, earning ninth place on the Hidden Dragon Ranking.
• Lu Wanrong recognized Mi Sheng and envied his sudden gains, while White Tofu and Dong Cheng'en learned of his ranking and argued over White Tofu's failure to claim feedback from the Divine Seed he had given him.
• Lu Changming said the Heavenly Hero Star was dead and that he, Fu Shui, and Ling Sheng had occupied several other stars before he went to begin his plan.
• As a lightning tribulation gathered over the Sang Family estate, Zhu Yu stored his half-formed Dao Fruit in the ring, left Mi Sheng's dying body, and escaped; the lightning then struck and burned the courtyard.
• Wu Yong found Zhu Yu's letter among the ashes, and the next issue of Sound Heard Throughout the World reported Mi Sheng's death, leaving White Tofu, Dong Cheng'en, Lu Wanrong, and the stronghold bandits to react to the news.
• Rebels rose in Shi County and then in neighboring Yu and Hai Provinces as garrison troops failed to respond, and unrest began spreading across the Great Yu Dynasty.

Zhu Yu examined the rewards he had brought back from the Foreign Spirit Ruins, learned that Little Black recognized a damaged Treasure Herb as a Heaven-Sent Divine Seed, and meditated for half a month. At Wu Yang’s gathering, he learned about the Insect Realm and the Immortal Tomb before a message from Qi God interrupted a plan to attack the remaining Qingping islands.

• Zhu Yu thanked Third Steward and Senior Brother Zang for their help, then inspected the Foreign Spirit Ruins rewards he had sent through the ring.
• Zhu Yu decided to preserve the incomplete Dao Fruit, the Origin Artifacts, and the Hope Fire, then gave the dying Treasure Herb Fragment to Little Black.
• Little Black swallowed the fragment and identified it as a Heaven-Sent Divine Seed, though it knew nothing more about it.
• Zhu Yu took pills and meditated for half a month before meeting Wu Yang, who explained that the Insect Realm welcomed outsiders and drew in lesser Spirit Ruins to devour them.
• Wu Yang told Zhu Yu that the Immortal Tomb was a Longevity Crossing-World Boat, and Zhu Yu realized the Heavenly Dao Sect was effectively plundering Spirit Ruins.
• Wu Yang reported that only a few Qingping islands still resisted and began proposing that the group join forces, but he and Zhu Yu received a message from Qi God.

Zhu Yu entered the Insect Realm, found a dying White Fox that had swallowed a strange Big-Winged Wasp egg, and took over the wasp as it transformed. He obtained a God-Given Spirit Seed named White-Tail Pear and planned to nurture and plant it in the Insect Realm.

• Zhu Yu arrived in the Insect Realm and avoided being assimilated by its immense will.
• Zhu Yu searched the forest and found a Spirit Seed growing on an ancient tree, along with a dying White Fox in its hollow.
• The White Fox swallowed a strange brown egg and died, while the Spirit Seed withered and the ancient tree began to flourish.
• Zhu Yu discovered a Big-Winged Wasp inside the egg and took over its body as it began transforming.
• The ancient tree produced a bluish-white fruit, and Zhu Yu's wasp body retrieved the God-Given Spirit Seed within it.
• Zhu Yu identified the seed as a White-Tail Pear that strengthened coordination and agility, stored it in his Life Sac, and planned to nurture it and trade between realms.

In the Insect Realm, Zhu Yu examined the White Fox’s Spirit Seed and resources, ate its fruit, and began clearing the mountainside to prepare for cultivation. As he reflected on his Split Spirit’s confusion and his own growing indifference to killing, he realized that a Spirit Ruins’ Dao Path could reshape a cultivator’s temperament and influence their choices.

• Zhu Yu inspected the White Fox’s stored Spirit Power Food and Life Origin Stones, then ate Giant Peak Grapes and identified their stamina-enhancing effect.
• Zhu Yu decided to nurture the Giant Peak Grape Spirit Seed during his second instar and used Earth Spike to clear shrubs and weeds from the mountainside.
• Zhu Yu rested at the summit and wondered whether traveling through Foreign Spirit Ruins could itself be a form of cultivation.
• At Mirror Lake, Zhu Yu realized that his emotions had grown unusually indifferent and suspected that Spirit Ruins and cultivators’ power had changed him.
• Zhu Yu concluded that conflicting Dao Paths could influence a Split Spirit’s temperament, then weighed letting his Insect Realm Split Spirit follow its feelings against the risk of recklessness.

Zhu Yu reached the island where the cultivators were preparing to attack the final Qingping stronghold, then bought several Dharma Seeds at its makeshift Market, including the damaged Cold Flame. After agreeing to join forces with Lu Wanrong and Xing Sidao, he examined Cold Flame in seclusion, pleased that it had another use.

• Zhu Yu refined Lingxiao while his Split Spirit buried the White Fox and went back to sleep.
• Wu Yang led Zhu Yu and the others across Mirror Lake to an island, where Huo Yuan ordered them to prepare to uproot the final Qingping Cultivator stronghold in three days.
• Zhu Yu bought the Soul Search, Earth Entry, and Wood Spirit Armor Dharma Seeds at the island's Market.
• Zhu Yu recognized the mustached stall owner who had sold him Little Black and bought the damaged Cold Flame Dharma Seed for 7,500 Low-grade Spirit Stones.
• Lu Wanrong proposed joining forces, and Zhu Yu and Xing Sidao agreed before the three returned to the hill.
• Zhu Yu set up a Spiritual Power barrier and examined Cold Flame, realizing it had another use.

Zhu Yu repaired and refined the Cold Flame Dharma Seed, discovering that its power could attack and scout across a vast range. Three days later, he joined Wu Yang and the others for the assault on No-Return Island, where Huo Yuan prepared to strike its barrier.

• Zhu Yu used part of Lian Sheng's Field to repair Cold Flame, then tested its freezing attack and ten-li scouting range.
• Xiang Kui spoke with Bronze-Headed Daoist, who agreed to request a Foundation Establishment Great Medicine for him and noted Zhu Yu and others for possible Ghost Ruins assignments.
• Three days later, Wu Yang told Zhu Yu, Lu Wanrong, and Xing Sida that they would help hold off a Qi Refining Perfection cultivator during the attack on No-Return Island in exchange for merit.
• Wu Yang led the cultivators onto three Flying Boats, and they approached No-Return Island as its defenders raised a white barrier.
• Huo Yuan transformed into a flame giant and swung his enormous flaming spear down toward the island.

The attackers approached Mirror Lake Island after mistaking Ji Yong's aura for Pseudo-Foundation Establishment, but Ji Yong used a Golden Light Talisman to frighten them into retreating. When the assault resumed, Zhu Yu joined Lu Wanrong and Xing Sida in fighting the island's defenders, and Black Tiger's Nether Flame overwhelmed a young girl's Peach Tree Dharma Image.

• Huo Yuan attacked the island's formation barrier, and a middle-aged swordsman emerged with eighteen other Qi Refining Perfection cultivators.
• Wu Yang suspected the swordsman was Pseudo-Foundation Establishment, while the attackers debated testing him and the burly man ordered them to attack together.
• Ji Yong drew his saber and unleashed a Golden Light Talisman that blinded and isolated everyone, prompting the burly man, Huo Yuan, and the others to flee.
• After the golden light faded, Wu Yang and the attackers surrounded the formation, and Zhu Yu set out with Lu Wanrong and Xing Sida to fight them.
• Zhu Yu, Lu Wanrong, Xing Sida, and Little Jade attacked a young girl wielding a Peach Tree Dharma Image, and Black Tiger's Nether Flame engulfed it.

Zhu Yu and his companions helped break Qingping’s defenses, defeated Yue Lan, and hunted down fleeing cultivators before returning to No-Return Island. As the Heavenly Dao Sect prepared to evacuate the Qingping Spirit Ruins, the sky split open and the battlefield began to separate into two worlds.

• Zhu Yu combined the Lingxiao sword’s Sword Qi Rainbow Transformation and Cold Flame to break Yue Lan’s defenses, forcing her to retreat into the formation.
• Lu Wanrong gave Zhu Yu a spiritual crystal containing a trace of Spirit Ruins Origin, and Zhu Yu’s group waited while the Heavenly Dao Sect breached the island formation.
• After the formation collapsed, Zhu Yu, Lu Wanrong, and Xing Sida pursued fleeing Qingping cultivators, and Zhu Yu killed more than a dozen enemies.
• Zhu Yu returned to No-Return Island, where Wu Yang showed him a mobilization order directing Squad 1578 to return to the stronghold.
• The sky split open, and the Heavenly Dao Sect ordered its cultivators to assemble and evacuate the Qingping Spirit Ruins.
• Wu Yang explained that the Azure Tower’s Spirit Race had long lifespans and high spiritual awareness before darkness completely divided the battlefield.

After the Qingping Spirit Ruins campaign, Zhu Yu counted his spoils, uncovered a hidden fortune and the identity of a slain cultivator, and agreed to join Wu Yang, Lu Wanrong, and Xing Sida in an alliance. The group reached the Heaven-Filling Tower, learned their transfer order had been voided, and Zhu Yu reunited with Xiang Sui and Liang Kuan before preparing to enter the Heavenly Dao Market Ruins.

• Zhu Yu searched the Qingping Cultivator corpses, found a high-grade water-element artifact and other valuables on a young woman, then discovered a concealed Storage Talisman on a middle-aged man.
• Zhu Yu found about fifty thousand Qingping Spirit Stones in the talisman and recognized the dead cultivator as the swordsman who had frightened Wu Yang and the others into hiding.
• Wu Yang, Lu Wanrong, and Xing Sida invited Zhu Yu to form an alliance, and Wu Yang gave the group access to the Heavenly Dao Market Ruins through a Foreign Spirit Ruins Mark.
• The flying boat reached the Heaven-Filling Tower, where Wu Yang learned that the transfer order had been voided; he then told the others they could enter the trading bazaar in about seven days.
• Xiang Sui and Liang Kuan reunited with Zhu Yu, Xiang Sui apologized for misjudging the battlefield, and the three joked about a welcome feast before Liang Kuan remarked that Zhu Yu had made a name for himself.

Zhu Yu learned that his death had made him famous across the Nine Provinces, then departed the Qingping Spirit Ruins with Xiang Sui and Liang Kuan. As the World-Crossing Boats crossed the crystal wall, a Ruins Beast granted them strange knowledge, and the chapter ended with Zhu Yu returning to familiar spiritual surroundings.

• Liang Kuan told Zhu Yu that World Tower had named him first on the Falling Blossoms Ranking, making his story famous throughout the Nine Provinces.
• Xiang Sui and Liang Kuan explained how they had fared during the war, and Zhu Yu thanked Xiang Sui for trying to arrange their transfer back to the garrison.
• Zhu Yu decided to stop teaching and move to a better corpse field, then boarded a World-Crossing Boat with Xiang Sui and Liang Kuan as the war ended.
• As the boats crossed the Spirit Ruins crystal wall, Zhu Yu and the other cultivators saw a vast Ruins Beast and received unfamiliar knowledge, including the Begging God Ritual.
• Xiang Sui explained that the knowledge came from the remnants of devoured Spirit Ruins, and Zhu Yu exchanged jade slips with him and Liang Kuan while warning them not to activate the Ritual rashly.
• After the boats returned, Zhu Yu awoke beneath eleven crescent moons and recognized the familiar spiritual energy.

After returning from the Qingping Spirit Ruins Battlefield, Zhu Yu rented a Grade A Armor-Casting Corpse Land and explored its Corpse Fields. He found many neglected Purple-Veined Snake-Person corpses and several well-preserved chieftains, then wondered whether the ancient courtyard contained Iron-Armored Corpses.

• Zhu Yu left teaching behind and rented a Grade A Armor-Casting Corpse Land, paying with Spirit Stones from the Qingping Spirit Ruins.
• Zhu Yu entered the land and replaced the previous owner's name, Zhou Qian, with his own on the stone stele.
• Zhu Yu inspected the ten mu of Low-Grade Corpse Fields and found that nearly sixty percent of the two hundred Purple-Veined Snake-Person Corpse Seeds were infested or decaying.
• Zhu Yu ordered corpse oil, Orifice-Sealing Mud, and maintenance spices to restore the neglected corpses.
• Zhu Yu inspected the Mid-Grade Corpse Fields and found thirty Purple-Veined Snake-Person Chieftain Corpse Seeds, most of them still salvageable.
• Zhu Yu noticed dense Yin Baleful Spirit Qi and an aura of metal and iron coming from the ancient courtyard, and wondered whether it held Iron-Armored Corpses.

Zhu Yu discovered and claimed a valuable Corpse-Rearing Coffin containing a dormant Six-Armed Naga whose soul was sealed, while its former owner, Liu Qing, came looking for him. When Zhu Yu returned to his home, he found several cultivators waiting to target it.

• Zhu Yu entered the Upper Grade Armor-Casting Corpse Land, found a huge Upper Grade Corpse-Rearing Coffin, and broke the green Mark that claimed it.
• Zhu Yu refined the coffin and discovered it contained a dormant Six-Armed Naga with a sealed soul, so he linked himself to her remnant soul and left her sealed in the coffin to be nurtured.
• Liu Qing arrived at Zhu Yu's mound, failed to get a response, and threatened that Zhu Yu should stay in the Yin-Underworld Grotto before leaving.
• Zhu Yu returned to find his home had become a target, while a plump cultivator warned several men and women that entering the mountain would break the rules.

Zhu Yu returned to find his neighbors intimidated by his new strength and welcomed Bai Meng to his hilltop home. After moving into the Grade A Zone, he began settling into his new Corpse Field, where an unseen voice suddenly called his name.

• Zhu Yu arrived at his old Corpse Field on Black Tiger, and the men confronting Bai Meng fled at the sight of him.
• Zhu Yu invited Bai Meng home, learned he worked as a duty disciple in the Corpse Hall, and told him how Qingping Spirit Ruins had been partly conquered.
• Zhu Yu served Bai Meng Green Wrigglers and deduced a method for cultivating them with poison and several medicinal ingredients.
• Bai Meng learned Zhu Yu had moved to the Grade A Zone, exchanged contact information with him, and received a jade pot of Green Wrigglers to take home.
• Zhu Yu sold his Corpse Taro, packed his belongings, and moved with Little Black and Black Tiger to his Grade A Corpse Field.
• As Zhu Yu approached his new home, an unseen voice asked whether he was Zhu Yu.

After refusing to surrender the Corpse-Rearing Coffin and Little Six-Armed Naga to Liu Qing, Zhu Yu settled into his new courtyard, planted spirit seeds, and prepared food and supplies. The next day, he received a delivery and processed the Qingping Cultivators, finding their abilities mostly unremarkable.

• Zhu Yu ignored Liu Qing’s demand for the Corpse-Rearing Coffin and entered the defensive formation around the Armor-Casting Corpse Land, while Liu Qing suppressed his anger and left.
• Zhu Yu arranged an experimental room and a Small Five Elements Array in his new courtyard, then discovered three Black Feather Chicken chicks in the rice jar.
• Little Black planted Starry Wood and Pure Bamboo in the rear courtyard and told Zhu Yu that the Treasure Herb had been nurtured into a Spirit Seed.
• Zhu Yu cooked for Little Black and Little Jade, ordered supplies worth four thousand Contribution Points, and took a Soul Dispersing Pill before meditating.
• Little Black and Black Tiger collected a delivery, and Little Black gave the servant Blood Tooth Spirit Rice as a reward.
• Zhu Yu processed the Qingping Cultivators, found their abilities mostly ordinary, and decided to trade the two Late Qi Refining Corpse Seeds for better ones later.

Zhu Yu spent months repairing and replacing damaged corpse seeds in his Corpse Fields, then visited the Corpse Hall to buy replacements suited to Armor-Casting Corpse Land. Bai Meng showed him a rare Grass-Crowned Monkey, but after Zhu Yu declined it, Bai Meng led him to a different corpse seed and opened its coffin, revealing a flash of gold.

• Zhu Yu repaired a Purple-Veined Snake-Person Chieftain Corpse Seed, removed Bud-Eating Worms, and learned it required Green Spirit Python essence blood to cultivate.
• Zhu Yu inspected and cleaned the corpse seeds in his Mid-Grade and Low-Grade Corpse Fields, discarded the unsalvageable ones, and composted roughly fifty or sixty ruined seeds.
• Zhu Yu went to the Corpse Hall and asked for Bai Meng, who led him to a cavern to inspect available corpse seeds.
• Bai Meng offered Zhu Yu a Grass-Crowned Monkey said to be the offspring of a monkey king, but Zhu Yu declined because it did not suit his Armor-Casting Corpse Land.
• Bai Meng led Zhu Yu to another ice coffin containing a corpse seed with a powerful physique and opened it, revealing a flash of brilliant gold.

Zhu Yu rejected a valuable Puppet Spirit, bought Qingping Corpse Seeds, and buried Black Tiger in his Armor-Casting Corpse Land. At the Immortal Tomb Trading Market, he surveyed shop prices and set up a stall, where an Ox-Head Person asked about his Storage Talisman.

• Zhu Yu turned down Bai Meng’s Gold Puppet and chose fifty low-grade Qingping Corpse Seeds at five hundred Spirit Stones each.
• Bai Qi identified the insect beneath Zhu Yu as an Insect Clan Warrior with a Life Sac, and Bai Meng reacted with surprise at Zhu Yu’s luck.
• Zhu Yu planted the Qingping Corpse Seeds and buried Black Tiger in the Armor-Casting Corpse Land beside the Little Six-Armed Naga.
• Zhu Yu entered the Immortal Tomb Trading Market in a cloud body and discovered that Zhu Family Spirit Materials sold most items far cheaper than Treasures of the World.
• Zhu Yu compared artifact prices at Wanjia Artifact Workshop and estimated the value of his captured high-grade artifacts.
• Zhu Yu set up a stall with cloud replicas and descriptions of his items, and an Ox-Head Person asked how much he wanted for his Storage Talisman.