Recaps

Li Qing explored the second level of the Dream Grotto-Heaven, a vast labyrinth where Anomalies dropped valuable Essence Crystals and dead cultivators’ spiritual bodies were absorbed. He concluded that the grotto-heaven was using the summoned cultivators to harvest their essence, and detected more than a hundred cultivators inside.

• Li Qing reached the second level, sent out simulated Shadow Paper Dolls, and discovered a True Method Realm cultivator fighting a powerful Anomaly.
• The Anomaly killed the cultivator, whose shattered spiritual-body fragments sank into the ground and were absorbed by the Dream Grotto-Heaven.
• Li Qing observed a red-armored figure kill an Anomaly and find an Essence Crystal instead of an Essence Stone.
• Li Qing recorded his observations and learned that Essence Crystals contained purer essence while the grotto-heaven drained the essence of dead cultivators through their spiritual marks.
• Li Qing realized the Dream Grotto-Heaven had summoned cultivators to harvest their essence and estimated that over a hundred cultivators were inside.

Li Qing explored the Dream Grotto-Heaven’s second layer, discovered that he could bring essence crystals back to reality, and searched for a route to the third layer. Outside Goose City, more cultivators and their avatars gathered as the chapter ended with Li Qing’s Shadow Paper Doll spotting an unusual Daoist.

• Li Qing sent a simulated Shadow Paper Doll through the second layer and found powerful cultivators trapped there, unable to reach the third layer.
• Li Qing killed a malformed Anomaly with his techniques and used the Dream Entry Technique to transfer the essence crystal it dropped into reality.
• Li Qing hunted more Anomalies and collected around ten essence crystals while continuing to search for the next layer.
• Rogue Cultivators gathered outside Goose City and recognized famous cultivators collapsed along its boundary, while Spirit Consciousness Realm souls and avatars entered to investigate.
• Li Qing’s Shadow Paper Doll spotted an illusory Daoist with a dark treasure pearl inside him, using ghostly light transformed into Sword Qi to slay an Anomaly.

Li Qing learned how to pass through the second layer of the Dream Grotto-Heaven and entered the third layer, where a military formation ambushed his dream projection. After spotting patterns on the enclosing wall that might reveal the formation’s weakness, he began copying them.

• Li Qing observed a Daoist Son of Destiny open a dreamlike gate and leave the second layer, then recorded what he had seen.
• Li Qing discovered that killing twelve Anomalies granted a mark that opened the gate to the next layer, and he killed the final two Anomalies.
• Li Qing entered the third layer and was trapped in a tomb chamber transformed into a battlefield, where an army of over a thousand soldiers attacked his dream projection.
• Li Qing used World-Walking Star-Shifting to evade the army, then destroyed nine soldiers with his Dharma Body before escaping near the city wall.
• Li Qing noticed patterns on the wall that might form a diagram of the military formation, and his main body copied them onto paper.

Li Qing uncovered the heavenly-secret art behind the illusory military formation and destroyed its central calculating soldier, ending the formation. He explored the tomb’s three passageways and discovered powerful cultivators gathered before a black door.

• Li Qing realized the military formation used a heavenly-secret art to anticipate attackers and identified its central calculating device as its flaw.
• Li Qing used his projected techniques to reach the center of the thousand-man formation and destroy the soldier commanding it, causing the formation to collapse.
• Li Qing returned to the tomb chamber, concealed his presence, and sent simulated Shadow Paper Dolls down all three passageways.
• Li Qing found a dream-made study with four people searching its books and a nearby mass grave filled with stripped bones.
• Li Qing discovered more than a dozen powerful cultivators at the black door, including Mr. Centipede, the Double-Horned King, Zhu Chengli, Zheng Xingdou, Li Shiyang, Red-Haired Old Ghost, and a mysterious Daoist.

Li Qing’s dream projection recorded the Strategy School’s inheritance and discovered the mental condition for entering the Dreamgate to the fourth level. Zhu Chengli and Li Tiangang passed through it, while Li Qing’s records clarified that entry required profound mastery of the mind.

• Li Qing’s dream projection recorded the Record of Civil Strategy and Martial Tactics and information about rituals for cleansing Aberration.
• The projection reached the Dreamgate, where cultivators’ attacks and other attempts passed through without entering the fourth level.
• Li Tiangang concluded that the gate required meeting a condition rather than using brute force, and Zhu Chengli vanished through it after speaking about seeing mountains and water.
• Li Tiangang changed his aura and passed through the gate, prompting the remaining cultivators to realize that a different approach was needed.
• Li Qing’s records identified the gate as the Dreamgate and explained that one had to gather the mind, let no thoughts arise, and avoid its perception to pass through.

Li Qing used the power of dreams to pass through the Dreamgate and entered a mist-shrouded lake where a Longevity Stele stood beside the Heaven-Calculating Strategist, Ma Bowen. After the stele’s strange inscriptions nearly affected him, he concealed himself again as the experts discussed the treasure’s perilous history and considered examining its power.

• Li Qing concealed his thoughts with the Civilization Torrent and used his Dream Projection to pass through the Dreamgate unseen.
• Li Qing entered a lake surrounded by mist and saw six Divine Soul Realm experts, eight Spirit Consciousness Realm experts, and a small island at its center.
• Li Qing spotted the cyan Stone Stele and the figure seated before it, then used the Civilization Torrent and Human Path Undying Dharma Body to resist the stele’s strange information.
• Li Tiangang noticed Li Qing’s hidden presence, but Li Qing quickly shifted positions and concealed himself again.
• Li Tiangang identified the treasure as the Longevity Stele and revealed that Ma Bowen had obtained it.
• Zhu Chengli explained that the Longevity Stele was linked to longevity, immense karma, Disaster, and the unnatural deaths of its past masters, while Li Qing took out a Record Book.

Li Qing learned that Ma Bowen had built the Dream Grotto-Heaven to use the Longevity Stele in a scheme for resurrection and survival through a world-ending Tribulation. The Double-Horned King seized the stele and tried to leave, but the King of Yang Province attacked him with a Dao artifact.

• Li Qing read that Ma Bowen had linked Goose City's residents to the Dream Grotto-Heaven and planned to sacrifice cultivators to fuse with the Longevity Stele and regain life.
• Li Qing wondered what Tribulation could destroy all living beings and reflected that he knew little about the world.
• The Double-Horned King used a gigantic black palm to seize the Longevity Stele and tried to put it into an earthen-yellow bag, which burned to ash when it touched the stele's azure light.
• The Double-Horned King declared the stele his and charged toward the gate.
• The King of Yang Province intercepted the Double-Horned King with a Dao artifact spear, and the Double-Horned King blocked it with the Longevity Stele.

Li Qing discovered that Ma Bowen had become a Longevity Ghost and learned the curses inscribed on his body while the battle over the Longevity Stele raged. The stele began devouring Zheng Xingdou, and Zhu Chengli tried to protect him as the danger spread.

• Mr. Centipede transformed and fired golden rays that killed a School of Diplomacy cultivator, while Li Qing used his Dream Entry Technique to shield himself.
• Li Qing approached Ma Bowen's corpse and noticed that its moving inscriptions accelerated whenever someone died; the Double-Horned King was torn apart, and his Longevity Stele fell into the lake.
• Li Qing touched Ma Bowen's skin and read the Longevity Curse and Longevity Spirit Curse, realizing Ma Bowen had become a Longevity Ghost and was about to awaken.
• The Longevity Stele seized Zheng Xingdou's severed arm and began draining his power, while Zheng Xingdou failed to stop it with his Legalist Decree.
• Zhu Chengli shielded Zheng Xingdou with divine light and a scripture as the stele continued to threaten him.

Ma Bowen awoke with the Longevity Stele and attacked everyone in the fourth level of Dream Grotto-Heaven. Li Qing escaped his cyan light, while Mr. Centipede reached the Great Ape King and warned him of Ma Bowen’s overwhelming power and Double Horn’s death.

• Li Qing guided his Dream Projection toward the gate as Ma Bowen rose from the island and reclaimed the Longevity Stele.
• Ma Bowen declared that everyone would die, and Zhu Chengli, Mr. Centipede, the Red-Haired Old Ghost, the King of Yang Province, and the other cultivators attacked him.
• Ma Bowen unleashed cyan light from the Longevity Stele, shattering the attacks and destroying Li Qing’s Dream Projection.
• The cyan light pursued Li Qing through their connection, but he used his defensive techniques to break it apart and disappeared before it could find him.
• Dream Grotto-Heaven contracted under the cyan glow, and the Great Ape King pierced it with his staff to rescue Mr. Centipede.
• Mr. Centipede told the Great Ape King that Ma Bowen had the Longevity Stele, had surpassed the Divine Soul Realm, and had killed Double Horn, so they fled together.

After Ma Bowen’s scheme consumed Goose City in a terrifying tribulation, Li Qing watched from a distance and later searched the deserted city for survivors and resources. He found no trace of Ma Bowen, but gathered Goose City’s remaining gold and silver for his subordinates.

• Li Tiangang and Zhu Chengli broke through the azure barrier and escaped the grotto-heaven, while Zhu Chengli learned that Zheng Xingdou had fallen.
• A giant figure appeared over Goose City as lightning struck the city, and a twelve-grade azure lotus protected Ma Bowen as the Longevity Stele absorbed the lightning.
• Li Qing watched from a hundred li away and concluded that Ma Bowen had turned Goose City’s residents into sacrifices through a scheme spanning centuries.
• After the storm ended, Li Qing sent a Shadow Paper Doll into the silent, deserted city, where he heard the voices of its dead residents but found no sign of Ma Bowen.
• Li Qing searched the Demon Extermination Hall and other locations, found no valuable resources, and transported more than a hundred thousand taels of gold and a million taels of silver to his subordinates.

Li Qing refined the resources he had taken from Goose City while learning that Yang Province City was preparing for Ma Bowen’s possible return and investigating the exposed spies. After the city’s formation was lifted, he ate at a roadside stall, where a white-clad figure suddenly appeared beside him.

• Li Qing absorbed ten Baleful Intent-grade Essence Stones and twelve Essence Crystals, raising his magical power to sixty-nine units and his essence to two hundred and twenty units.
• Li Qing used the Shadow Paper Doll to learn that Goose City’s disappearance had spread and that Yang Province City had activated its formation to guard against Ma Bowen.
• Wen Zhengming recorded that Li Shiyang and other leaders planned to attack Wild Goose Mountain, while four great Dao Lineages investigated Li Qing’s memory-altering Black Hand and the spies he exposed.
• Yang Province City lifted its formation, and Li Qing left the inn to eat Yangzhou assorted fried rice at a roadside stall.
• Li Qing noticed a disheveled figure dressed in white seated nearby, realizing that the person had appeared without him sensing their presence.

Li Qing encountered a terrifying white-clothed logical Anomaly and trapped it in his Qimen Dunjia Formation, fighting to destroy it before its question could ensnare him. He finally struck it with the Sword Pellet, making the Anomaly vanish, and turned his attention to the pellet.

• Li Qing spotted the white-clothed man asking whether its clothes were pretty and escaped to a mountain hollow, where he trapped it in his formation.
• Li Qing attacked with the formation, his protective abilities, and a Shadow Paper Doll empowered by tribulation qi, but the Anomaly endured the assault.
• Li Qing used a Curse-Grade Essence Stone to replenish his dharma power, then lost the Golden Needle and found that an Evil-Extinguishing Talisman could not stop the Anomaly's black mist.
• Li Qing released the Sword Pellet as the formation struck the Anomaly with meteors and magma, then pierced it with a blue flash that made it disappear.
• A white garment drifted down, and Li Qing focused his attention on the Sword Pellet.

Li Qing completed the Sword Pellet’s transformation and discovered that the white garment left by a Logic Anomaly was a dangerous logic relic. He tested its effects in Yang Province City’s prison and learned that it could engulf both the wearer and the person who answered its question, while silence forced the wearer to stay near the person being questioned.

• Li Qing saw that the Sword Pellet had become a new kind of treasure and absorbed it into his abdomen.
• Li Qing used his record book and the Jade Tablet to identify the burned white garment as a logic relic, then stored it in a Universe Bag carried by a Shadow Paper Doll.
• Li Qing returned to Yang Province City and brainwashed the prisoners Han Yu and Black Chief to test the garment.
• Han Yu asked whether his clothes were pretty, and after Black Chief said he liked them, the garment enveloped and consumed them both before repairing itself.
• Li Qing tested the garment on other death-row prisoners and found that any answer triggered it, while silence compelled the wearer to remain beside the person questioned and made that person want to answer.

Li Qing documented the White Robe’s lethal question-and-answer logic, then learned that the four great Dao Lineages were preparing to rebel across North Province in three days. He used the Wish Spell to send warnings through his network, as Wang Qianqiu received a dream revealing spies near Dragon Path City and Zhu Yiba continued building his forces in Two Realms City.

• Li Qing recorded the White Robe’s effects and concluded that it could be used as a dangerous weapon against high-level cultivators, but had to be kept away from him.
• The Jade Tablet revealed that the four great Dao Lineages had gathered in North Province and planned to raise their armies in three days, while spies elsewhere in Yang Province prepared to disrupt its support.
• Li Qing decided he could no longer preserve his network of spies and used the Wish Spell to convey warnings to key people in four main cities.
• Zhang Blackskin used the Dream Entry Technique to show Wang Qianqiu a future involving more than a thousand spies near Dragon Path City, and Wang went to find Chen Yilong.
• Zhu Yiba continued expanding his information network and trained five hundred soldiers using a cultivation method and military formation obtained by Zhu Yuqing and Wu Derui.

Zhu Yiba and other officials learned through mysterious black-hand messages that the Monster, Demon, Ghost, and Buddhist lineages were preparing to seize the north, prompting urgent investigations and a sweeping purge. The Black Hand of the North became widely known after nearly a thousand spies were captured, while four powerful figures gathered in a northern brothel.

• Zhu Yiba heard an untraceable warning that the four great Dao lineages planned to raise troops in North Province and rebel.
• Su Muqin and Yue Taishan considered whether the black hand's partial spy lists reflected limited reach or a deliberate deception, and prepared for the Hundred Schools of Thought's decision.
• Master identified the four paths' plan to use the north as a base and wondered what the mysterious black hand intended.
• Zhou Yulong took command in Yang Province City and ordered a purge of suspected spies, especially along the route to Two Realms City.
• Authorities captured nearly a thousand Monster, Demon, Ghost, and Buddhist spies across Yang Province and North Province, spreading the Black Hand of the North's reputation.
• Four powerful figures, including a gaunt monk and a man in a black imperial robe, gathered in a northern brothel.

The four leaders of the northern conspiracy debated whether to launch their invasion or first uncover the mysterious force that had crippled their spy network, and they decided to summon Yuan Zhihui. Meanwhile, Li Qing expanded his influence across Yang Province before Mouse Little Brother reported that a major event had halted the standoff at Wild Goose Mountain.

• Demon Bull King reported that their spy network had suffered devastating losses and weighed an immediate invasion against delaying to investigate the mysterious black hand.
• Bone Bright Venerable proposed inviting Yuan Zhihui, and the leaders agreed to give him ten days to find the hidden enemy before starting the war.
• Li Qing decided to strengthen his sphere of influence, seize more Essence Stones, and advance toward the Spirit Consciousness Realm.
• Li Qing subdued gangs in five major Yang Province cities, expanding his information network across half the province.
• Mouse Little Brother told Li Qing that a major event had stopped the former Yang Province Army and the Demon Race Alliance from fighting at Wild Goose Mountain.

After learning that thousands of Anomalies had appeared at Wild Goose Mountain and that its treasury held valuable resources, Li Qing uncovered a record predicting a coming doomsday Tribulation. He traveled to the mountain to investigate and found a heavily guarded army whose soldiers wielded powerful martial qi and blood.

• Mouse Little Brother told Li Qing that thousands of Anomalies had disrupted the battle at Wild Goose Mountain and that the Great Ape King had stored supplies in the mountain's treasury.
• Li Qing consulted his record book, which identified the Anomalies as an omen of an approaching doomsday Tribulation and led him to question the Longevity Tree's purpose.
• Li Qing decided to investigate Wild Goose Mountain and prioritize securing resources, despite worrying that doing so might force him to cross his own limits.
• Li Qing reached Wild Goose Mountain and saw over ten thousand martial soldiers and hundreds of cultivators guarding its outskirts.
• Li Qing sent a Shadow Paper Doll into the mountain and observed a rune-armored squad whose linked blood qi strengthened its formation.

Li Qing observed the imperial army’s disciplined Dao soldier formations defeat anomalies at Wild Goose Mountain and learned that the demons had withdrawn into mobile grotto-heavens. He arranged to possess a toad demon sent outside, preparing to investigate the demons’ refuge.

• Li Qing watched a ten-man squad use shields and spears to kill an anomaly, and he recognized the strength of the imperial army’s battle formations.
• Li Qing discovered that battle formations and formations disrupted his Shadow Paper Doll, and he saw soldiers and Dao Lineage cultivators efficiently hunt anomalies across Wild Goose Mountain.
• Li Qing concluded that the people of this world would act decisively if his identity were exposed, then decided to find Mouse Little Brother.
• Li Qing learned that the demons had abandoned their valley and moved into grotto-heavens controlled by three demon kings.
• Li Qing instructed the toad demon king to send a demon outside, and the toad demon king sent out one of its soldiers with a token.
• Li Qing’s Shadow Paper Doll silently slipped into the shadow of the departing toad demon.

Li Qing infiltrated the Toad Demon King's grotto-heaven with a Shadow Paper Doll and learned its layout while searching for a way to reach the guarded storeroom. At Wild Goose Mountain, he discovered Zhu Chengli, the King of Yang Province, and Mo Tianyun using a strange radiance on five captured Anomalies.

• The Toad Demon King ordered regular patrols while Li Qing's Shadow Paper Doll entered the grotto-heaven unnoticed.
• Li Qing enlisted Mouse Little Brother to guide a rat through the grotto-heaven and reveal its layout, restrictions, and guarded storeroom.
• Li Qing concluded that he would need to lure the Demon Kings away before he could take supplies from the storeroom.
• A Shadow Paper Doll spotted several squads escorting captured Anomalies from Wild Goose Mountain into the military camp.
• Li Qing saw Zhu Chengli, the King of Yang Province, and Mo Tianyun in a tent as Mo Tianyun sent multicolored strands of radiance into the five restrained Anomalies.

Li Qing discovered that Yang Province City's army was using Mo Tianyun's Trace the Source spell to track monsters back to Wild Goose Mountain's mobile grotto-heaven, and he planned to use the scheme to his advantage. Mouse Little Brother warned Great Ape King, who recognized the human army's plan, while signs of Great Ape King's own Aberration emerged.

• Mo Tianyun marked five Anomalies with the Mo Family technique Trace the Source, and Yang Province City's soldiers brought them toward monster groups.
• Li Qing deduced that monsters who killed the marked Anomalies could lead the human army to Wild Goose Mountain's grotto-heaven, and recorded the scheme.
• Li Qing told Mouse Little Brother about the plan and instructed him to reveal it to Great Ape King to earn his trust.
• Mouse Little Brother heard two voices arguing inside Great Ape King's chamber, and Li Qing realized Great Ape King appeared to be undergoing an unusual Aberration.
• Mouse Little Brother informed Great Ape King about Yang Province City's actions, and Great Ape King laughed as he recognized what the army was trying to do.

The Great Ape King learned that humans planned to track demons who killed Anomalies and use them to find the grotto-heaven, so he planned to lure Yang Province City's army into an ambush. He chose Falling Star Valley and sent Mr. Centipede to recruit the Demonic Path expert Crimson Flame Patriarch.

• The Great Ape King praised Mouse Little Brother for uncovering the humans' tracking scheme and rewarded him with three Baleful Intent-tier Essence Stones and a promise of his choice of magic artifact after victory.
• Mouse Little Brother summoned Green Snake Gentleman, who threatened to eat him once he grew fatter, then joined Mr. Centipede at the Great Ape King's palace.
• The Great Ape King explained the human plan and asked for a suitable ambush site, and Green Snake Gentleman and Mr. Centipede proposed Falling Star Valley.
• The Great Ape King gave them the Hundred Demon Slaughtering Array and ordered them to take over a thousand demon soldiers, set the trap, and use themselves as bait.
• The Great Ape King sent Mr. Centipede to Eastern Bright City to contact Crimson Flame Patriarch of the Heaven-Burning Demon Cult and recruit him for the ambush.

Li Qing put his plan to draw the Monsters of Wild Goose Mountain into battle into motion, arranging for Yang Province City’s forces to inflict heavy losses while allowing the Monster Kings under his control to escape. The battle began with both sides suffering casualties, and the demons were being driven back.

• Great Ape King ordered Mouse Little Brother to keep watch over Yang Province City’s army and report any news about its Divine Soul Realm experts.
• Li Qing intercepted the report, divined the plan’s prospects, and decided to notify Yang Province City when its army began moving.
• Yang Province City soldiers released an Anomaly to attack a wolf Monster patrol; after the wolf Monsters killed it, Li Qing confirmed that his hidden influence had gone undetected.
• The Yang Province City army sent squads up Wild Goose Mountain, where Li Jia’s squad clashed with a group of fox demons.
• After nearly half a day of fighting, both sides had suffered at least a hundred casualties, and the outnumbered Monster Path forces were being pushed back.

The Yang Province City army discovered the monsters’ hiding place and prepared to strike, but the Memory Black Hand warned Dong Qingming that the Monster Path had laid a trap with the Heaven-Burning Patriarch. Mo Tianyun, Zhu Chengli, and the King of Yang Province learned of the warning and decided to continue their advance while waiting for reinforcements to turn the ambush against their enemies.

• The monsters retreated into the mountains, and Mo Tianyun used a mirror to locate their gathering point.
• The King of Yang Province ordered the army to conceal itself, split into five teams, and infiltrate the mountains while a formation disguised the camp as occupied.
• Li Qing waited for events to unfold as Dong Qingming marched with Mo Tianyun’s force in a battle-armor puppet.
• Dong Qingming received a Memory Black Hand message warning that the Monster Path had prepared a dangerous formation and recruited the Heaven-Burning Patriarch.
• Mo Tianyun, Zhu Chengli, and the King of Yang Province confirmed they had received the warning and agreed to continue the operation while slowing down for Zhou Yulong and the newly appointed prefect to arrive.

Li Qing sent a Shadow Paper Doll into the Demon Race’s grotto-heaven and bypassed its Frost Formation to loot the treasure vault. After the vault was breached, Green Snake Gentleman realized someone had entered, while Mr. Centipede reacted in shock.

• Li Qing used a toad demon soldier’s shadow to slip a Shadow Paper Doll into the grotto-heaven, then transferred it to a mouse and sent it toward the palace warehouse.
• The Shadow Paper Doll used talismans and Li Qing’s dream projection to withstand the warehouse’s restrictions and Frost Formation while recording the formation for the Jade Tablet.
• Li Qing studied the optimized formation, found flaws in the original, and guided the Shadow Paper Doll through the frost blockade.
• The Shadow Paper Doll found chests of Essence Stones and a Fierce-grade Anomaly, then packed them into a Universe Bag.
• Green Snake Gentleman sensed that someone had breached the grotto-heaven’s treasure vault, and Mr. Centipede questioned how anyone had entered.

The Great Ape King learned that the Toad Demon King had repeatedly opened the grotto-heaven and then fled, raising suspicions that it was a human spy. As Zhou Yulong and Yang Province’s new prefect arrived, the Demon Race and human armies clashed at Falling Star Valley while Li Qing left with the stolen treasure.

• The Great Ape King questioned Golden-Furred Rat and learned that the Toad Demon King had opened the grotto-heaven twice to send out patrols.
• Golden-Furred Rat reported that the Toad Demon King had left the grotto-heaven, and the Great Ape King ordered the Demon Race army to prepare for battle.
• Golden-Furred Rat warned that two powerful figures were racing from Yang Province City, and the humans activated a formation that trapped the Demon Race army at Falling Star Valley.
• The Great Ape King summoned the Hundred-Armed Demon God to attack the barrier as human generals and nine thousand Daoist soldiers joined the battle.
• Li Qing left Wild Goose Mountain with the stolen treasure, saw Zhou Yulong and the new prefect arrive, and smiled.