Chapter Summaries

Qi Refiners gathered at West Heaven Summit to witness the Dao Contention between Xuan Yehua and the Brahma Sun Dharma King, while powerful newcomers arrived and clashed with Yan Tianlie. The chapter ended with Hong Yuan emerging from a palanquin and engulfing Yan Tianlie in a torrent of fire and water.

• Duan Xingkong and the lord of Myriad Beasts Mountain fought near West Heaven Summit as cultivators gathered to watch the coming Dao Contention.
• Chen Qingjian spoke with Master Yun and other Refiners about the absent Star-Picking Pavilion and the experts assembled atop West Heaven Summit.
• Yan Tianlie arrived, burned away the combatants’ defenses, and stomped Duan Xingkong and the lord of Myriad Beasts Mountain into the sea.
• Yan Tianlie intercepted a flying palanquin and sent a wave of flame toward it as Yu Chaoshen and Lingyin watched from West Heaven Summit.
• Hong Yuan absorbed Yan Tianlie’s flames into a wine cup, then turned the cup’s contents into a waterfall of fire and water that engulfed Yan Tianlie.

Hong Yuan arrived at West Heaven Summit, where the gathered Qi Refiners recognized him as the visitor from beyond the realm and watched him meet the region’s powerful figures. As Hong Yuan spoke with Mister Under the Moon and explored the summit’s energies, the Blood Sea Demon Venerable approached, turning the distant ocean blood-red.

• The Corpse Demon Elder fled after Hong Yuan dismissed him, and Hong Yuan told Woodcutter, Leng Ningshuang, and the others to withdraw.
• Yan Tianlie swallowed the waterfall of fire and water, recognized Hong Yuan’s strength, and welcomed him to West Heaven Summit as the gathered Qi Refiners identified him as the Myriad Calamities Daoist.
• Hong Yuan greeted Lingyin and exchanged words with High Person Lingkong and Master Water Moon, who asked whether her disciple had left any final words.
• Mister Under the Moon invited Hong Yuan to sit and discuss the world beyond the Mist Sea, and they played a board game while Hong Yuan sensed the divine pillar and the surrounding Refiners.
• Immortal Zi Hengyue and Xiao Shengtai arrived as midnight neared, and the Blood Sea Demon Venerable’s approach made the distant ocean turn red.

Blood Sea Demon Venerable and Undying Demon Venerable arrived at West Heaven Summit, where the gathered Mystic Yellow experts confronted them before Brahma Sun Dharma King called for Xuan Yehua. Xuan Yehua appeared beneath the moon, and Corpse Demon Elder died in a blaze after recognizing Myriad Calamities Daoist’s attack; Hong Yuan then rose to face the Devil Master.

• Blood Sea Demon Venerable split the sea with his arrival and attacked West Heaven Summit, but Master Water Moon blocked his blood-red curtain with her Great Arhat Buddha Hand.
• Undying Demon Venerable appeared and struck at the gathered experts, who joined forces to resist him until Brahma Sun Dharma King stopped the gale.
• Undying Demon Venerable taunted Brahma Sun Dharma King over an old secret involving Xuan Yehua, and Brahma Sun Dharma King called for Xuan Yehua to appear.
• Xuan Yehua emerged beneath the bright moon, and Corpse Demon Elder recognized Myriad Calamities Daoist’s attack before burning to death while cursing him.
• Hong Yuan dropped his game piece when Corpse Demon Elder roared, then rose and fixed his gaze on Xuan Yehua.

Xuan Yehua and the Brahma Sun Dharma King fought over their rival paths on West Heaven Summit, unleashing powers that threatened the surrounding city. Their battle remained undecided as Xuan Yehua revealed a new form and the Brahma Sun Dharma King's apparent advantage began to falter.

• Xuan Yehua dismissed the Brahma Sun Dharma King's remaining words and struck with the Great Liberation Divine Palm, forcing most observers to retreat while Hong Yuan stayed and analyzed the qi.
• The Brahma Sun Dharma King summoned the Luminous Mandala, drawing power from millions of believers and trapping Xuan Yehua in a fierce clash.
• The Mandala expanded and exploded, but Mister Under the Moon used the Hanging Moon Academy's art of Rites, Music, Punishments, and Governance to restrain the blast and protect the city.
• Xuan Yehua and the Brahma Sun Dharma King continued fighting evenly, while the Undying Demon Venerable warned that Xuan Yehua's strength surpassed Master Water Moon's expectations.
• Xuan Yehua transformed into the Six Desires Heavenly Demon and clashed with the Brahma Sun Dharma King's Vajra Demon-Breaking and Five Luminaries Wheel.
• As Master Water Moon declared the demonic sect defeated, Xuan Yehua revealed the Red Lotus Aspect, a realm beyond the Heavenly Maiden Aspect.

Xuan Yehua revealed the Red Lotus Aspect and struck down the Brahma Sun Dharma King with a blade of bloodflame that tore open the sky and devastated the surrounding city. The Dharma King fell from the heavens, leaving West Heaven Summit in ruins, though his final words suggested he had turned the demon’s power to his own purpose.

• The Undying Demon Venerable explained that Xuan Yehua had perfected the Red Lotus Aspect and celebrated the Limitless lineage’s chance to overcome the Buddhist Sect.
• Xuan Yehua declared that he had burned away his demonic thoughts, then slashed through the Brahma Sun Dharma King’s Vulture Peak Sacred Realm and pierced the Dharma King’s chest.
• Xuan Yehua’s strike tore a vast wound across the sky, sending destructive currents into the coastal city while Qi Refiners tried to shield its people from the rising sea.
• The Brahma Sun Dharma King recited a story about the Vajra Bodhisattva borrowing a demon’s power, then the blade’s flames erupted inside him and he fell from the sky.
• West Heaven Summit’s monastic buildings collapsed into dust, and Yu Chaoshen, Yan Tianlie, and the other experts looked toward the platform in surprise.

The Brahma Sun Sacred Palace sacrificed its monks and bodhi trees to bring Xuan Ling to a higher realm, above the Great Vehicle. As Xuan Yehua attacked him, the Heavenly Heart Zen Monastery learned that a true Sacred Buddha had appeared.

• The Undying Demon Venerable sensed something wrong and attacked the two bodhi trees, but their golden ripples repelled him.
• The bodhi trees sent their gathered qi into the fallen Brahma Sun Dharma King, while the monks—including Fanwu and Fankong—were revealed to have willingly died and merged with the trees.
• The trees dissolved into golden dust and formed a vast bodhi tree beneath the sea, where Xuan Ling appeared as a Sacred Buddha whose presence disrupted Human Dao Refiners’ control of their qi.
• Yu Chaoshen and the other Mystic Yellow experts realized Xuan Ling had risen above the Great Vehicle, and Xuan Yehua charged at him with the Great Liberation Divine Palm.
• At the Heavenly Heart Zen Monastery, the Long-Brow Monk sensed Xuan Ling’s emergence and told the other monks that their Buddhist lineage had produced a true Sacred Buddha.

Xingyuanzi and the Star-Picking Pavilion detected an ominous anomalous star as the Brahma Sun Dharma King transformed into a Sacred Buddha and subdued Xuan Yehua and the two Demon Venerables. When the Dharma King tried to claim Hong Yuan as his disciple, Hong Yuan revealed his understanding of the true human Dao and unleashed a powerful strike.

• Miaosuanzi sensed violent qi fluctuations from the Western Sea and concluded that the Buddhist Sect's plan had succeeded, while Xingyuanzi and the others spotted an anomalous star beside the Brahma Sun Dharma King's star.
• At West Heaven Summit, the Brahma Sun Dharma King transformed his Vajra Demon-Breaking qi into bodhi calamity-subduing qi and overwhelmed Xuan Yehua.
• The Brahma Sun Dharma King revealed that Xuan Yehua was his own demonic seed, named him Xuan Fa, and sealed Xuan Yehua and the Demon Venerables Blood Sea and Undying.
• The Brahma Sun Dharma King secured the Hanging Moon Academy's allegiance, then tried to recruit Hong Yuan as his second disciple, but his bodhi qi could not penetrate Hong Yuan's body.
• Hong Yuan explained that true human Dao did not rely on borrowing others' strength, then gathered his blood qi, astral qi, and numinous energy into a punch against the Brahma Sun Dharma King.

As blood rain and furious Ghost Gods filled the sky, Chen Qingjian and the others risked approaching the battle between Hong Yuan and the Brahma Sun Dharma King. Hong Yuan continued to fight the transformed Dharma King, and the chapter ended as the Dharma King unleashed the Five Luminaries Life-and-Death Wheel.

• Wen Yuyi discovered that the rain was blood, while Ghost Gods’ howls shook the onlookers’ souls.
• Chen Qingjian moved closer to witness the battle, and Master Yun, Zhu Qizi, Mo Xianyin, Wen Yuyi, and Shang Jianming shielded him with their linked qi.
• Hong Yuan struck the Brahma Sun Dharma King with a fist empowered by the lightning, while Mister Under the Moon retreated in shock at his strength.
• The Brahma Sun Dharma King met Hong Yuan’s attacks with [Bodhi Calamity-Subduing], shaking West Heaven Summit and sending waves surging into the sky.
• Hong Yuan urged the Dharma King to attack again as the Dharma King summoned the Five Luminaries Life-and-Death Wheel.

Hong Yuan defeated the Brahma Sun Dharma King and formed the [Six Voids Calamity], becoming the Dao Lord of Myriad Tribulations. The talisman’s cracks revealed that his new power was destroying his Dao and would eventually kill him, but he asked the gathered experts for their cultivation manuals and turned his attention to the Demon Palace figures.

• Hong Yuan shattered the West Heaven Summit, overwhelmed the Brahma Sun Dharma King, and formed a lightning-patterned talisman embodying the true Human Dao.
• Hong Yuan identified the talisman as [Six Voids Calamity] before the dying Brahma Sun Dharma King, who warned that Hong Yuan’s haste would bring everything to nothing and then died.
• Mister Under the Moon and the Xuanhuang Qi experts bowed to Hong Yuan as Dao Lord of Myriad Tribulations, then saw cracks in his talisman and realized his new Dao was breaking apart.
• Hong Yuan asked the assembled experts to lend him their cultivation manuals, then freed Undying, Blood Sea, and Xuan Yehua and asked what they thought.
• The Long-Brow Monk learned that Brahma Sun had fallen, while Xingyuanzi saw the western star go dark and hurried away from the Mist Sea.

After destroying the Brahma Sun Sacred Palace, Hong Yuan learned the hidden history of the Heavenly Astral and Earthly Fiend realms and continued gathering cultivation arts across the Celestial Star Sea. He reached the Star-Picking Pavilion, where Xingyuanzi welcomed him and asked to witness the true Human Dao.

• News spread that Hong Yuan had destroyed the Brahma Sun Sacred Palace, while secret reports claimed his Dao and arts were flawed and his life was nearly over.
• Hong Yuan learned that the Earthly Fiend and Heavenly Astral realms drew on mystic yellow and grand void power, and that the Celestial Star Sea's major sects possessed incomplete inheritances.
• Hong Yuan decided not to seek a remedy for the cracks in his [Six Voids Calamity] talisman, since the divided body's death would transfer its power to his original body.
• Hong Yuan visited the Heavenly Heart Zen Monastery and compelled Long-Brow Monk and the other monks to let him examine their arts.
• Hong Yuan studied techniques at the Ice Soul Sect and then arrived at the Star-Picking Pavilion, where Xingyuanzi offered its texts in exchange for seeing the true Human Dao.

Hong Yuan defeated Xingyuanzi’s Northern Dipper Seven-Kill Star Formation, studied the Star-Picking Pavilion’s records, and then deliberately shattered his body to unleash a world-shaking calamity. Many powerful figures sensed his apparent fall and began preparing to act, while a fleeting sign suggested he might have survived in another form.

• Hong Yuan broke Xingyuanzi’s Northern Dipper Seven-Kill Star Formation with [Six Voids Calamity] and spared the Star-Picking Pavilion’s disciples.
• Hong Yuan spent a fortnight studying the Star-Picking Pavilion’s records about Gu Huanzhen and the Source World’s Heavenly Sects before leaving to tour the islands.
• Hong Yuan walked out to sea, shattered his body, and sent his consciousness and [Six Voids Calamity] talisman into the clouds, unleashing immense lightning and a calamity that shook the Celestial Star Sea.
• The Long-Brow Monk at the Heavenly Heart Zen Monastery declared that it was time to demand an explanation, while Xingyuanzi sensed Hong Yuan’s star fall and briefly glimpsed an even greater star rise.
• Lingyin and other Earthly Fiend experts sensed the upheaval, and Wild Blade set out after hearing that the Dao Lord of Myriad Tribulations had fallen.

Hong Yuan returned from the Celestial Star Sea with an awakened Karmic Calamity Dao Seed, expanded Taisui Blessed Land, and new powers that let him spread Six Voids Calamity through the people of the Heavenly Capital. As he took Granny Meng, Li Daoyi, Feng Nanyan, Bai Yunsheng, Hong Yi, and Hong Ying on a journey, Xingyuanzi and other outsiders emerged from the Mist Sea, where the Long-Brow Monk tried to restrain Wild Blade.

• Hong Yuan gained more than eight hundred years of lifespan as Taisui Blessed Land expanded, and the Karmic Calamity Dao Seed sprouted its first leaf, granting him Six Voids Calamity and the ability to reflect a Divided Body’s memories.
• Hong Yuan perfected the Nine-Turn Qi-Blood Furnace Method and spread Six Voids Calamity through more than a hundred thousand people in the Heavenly Capital, briefly drawing on their essence, qi, and spirit to command the surrounding momentum of heaven and earth.
• Hong Yuan met Granny Meng, who said she kept dreaming of a mysterious presence calling to her, and he taught her the perfected Nine-Turn Qi-Blood Method.
• Hong Yuan summoned Granny Meng, Li Daoyi, Feng Nanyan, Bai Yunsheng, Hong Yi, and Hong Ying, then carried them through the sky in a ribbon of Six Voids Calamity.
• Xingyuanzi and other powerful figures emerged from a hole in the Mist Sea, and Wild Blade prepared to charge into the Dao Court World until the Long-Brow Monk and his companions blocked him with Buddhist light.

Hong Yuan revealed that he had survived and overwhelmed the Earthly Fiend experts who had gathered to explore his domain. After crushing the Heavenly Heart Zen Monastery’s leaders and defeating the others, he demanded that they bow to him.

• Wild Blade confronted Long-Brow Monk, who claimed he had come to cleanse the land of Ten Thousand Tribulations’ demonic influence.
• Lingyin and Immortal Zi Hengyue challenged Long-Brow Monk, while the assembled Earthly Fiend experts showed little support for the monastery.
• A sea of lightning manifested [Six Voids Calamity], and Hong Yuan confirmed his presence as five enormous pillars of force closed around the gathered experts.
• Long-Brow Monk urged everyone to attack together, and the Earthly Fiend experts unleashed their powers against the pillars, but the attack shattered their Xuanhuang Qi and crushed Wild Blade and others.
• Hong Yuan descended and killed Long-Brow Monk and the other Heavenly Heart Zen Monastery leaders, then demanded that everyone bow to Ten Thousand Tribulations.

Hong Yuan recruited the Celestial Star Sea experts into his Dao Court, then crossed into Vysseran by possessing Rosha and began studying its wood-string spellcasting system. The chapter ended when a crocodile puppet attacked Rosha’s patrol squad and a gray-robed man revealed himself as an enemy controlling it.

• Hong Yuan appointed the Earthly Fiend experts as Dao Patrollers, made Lingyin an Attendant, and tasked her with establishing a Dao Court branch at the Heavenly Heart Zen Monastery.
• Hong Yuan explored the Mist Sea, checked the worlds he had visited, and sent his consciousness into another world rather than traveling there in his true body.
• Hong Yuan awakened in Rosha’s body in Vysseran, a world where the Wesseland Federation had fought Otherworldly Demons for centuries.
• Hong Yuan learned about the world’s Spellcaster ranks and used his Dao Seed to perceive and draw in the wood string.
• A marsh crocodile attacked Lynn’s patrol squad, killing one soldier and seizing another, while a gray-robed man directed it as an Otherworldly Demon puppet.

Hong Yuan helped defeat a gray-robed cultivator and his crocodile puppet, then registered as an Awakened at Radiant City. He discovered that Lynn’s mithril ring contained the spirit of Aldrick Fane, founder of the High Tower Institute.

• Hong Yuan restrained the gray-robed cultivator with Thorn Entanglement, allowing Lynn to kill him with a wind blade, while Molly destroyed the berserk crocodile puppet with Burning Finger.
• Molly praised Rosha, confirmed his awakening as a Spellcaster, and promised him a promotion and another reward for his service.
• Hong Yuan led the squad back to Radiant City, registered as an Awakened, and received a copper identity seal and a private room.
• Lynn awoke and met the spirit emerging from his ring, who introduced himself as Aldrick Fane, founder and first director of the High Tower Institute.
• Hong Yuan listened from a nearby room and realized that the ring’s spirit was an archmage rather than a cultivator’s ghost.

Hong Yuan chose money over a String Sorcery reward, studied String Sorcery, and used his newly created Green Sprout to ease Lynn’s injuries and sharpen his mind. Lynn headed to the library with Fane praising Hong Yuan’s talent, while Molly learned that Rosha had rejected the path she hoped he would take.

• Hong Yuan considered Fane’s request for Lynn to investigate the fate of his old friends and reflected on the Strings of Force and his own cultivation.
• Hong Yuan demonstrated Resonant Green Sprout, which improved apprentices’ focus and awakening prospects, then decided to pursue String Sorcery without relying on the Strings of Force.
• Hong Yuan received a promotion to squad leader and chose the monetary reward instead of a low-level String Sorcery.
• Hong Yuan visited the barracks library, learned the ranks of Spellcasters from Aldrick Fane’s book, and surveyed the String Sorceries on the third floor.
• Hong Yuan used Green Sprout on the injured Lynn, clearing his mind and easing his fatigue and pain; Fane praised Hong Yuan while Lynn headed to the library.
• Molly learned that Rosha had chosen money over a String Sorcery and dismissed the prospect of training him as her disciple.

One month after Lynn advanced to an intermediate awakened, he returned from a patrol and learned that Rosha’s Green Sprout had drawn the attention of powerful institutions and organizations. At a gathering in Radiant City, Hong Yuan chose to speak privately with Professor Harold of the High Tower Institute.

• Lynn used Storm Slash to kill a green-robed old man attacking two patrol squads, then told the survivors to clean up before more Otherworldly Demons arrived.
• Fane urged Lynn to apply to the High Tower Institute and warned that Rosha’s Green Sprout could make him a target for powerful people seeking to awaken their descendants.
• Lynn learned that Federation officials, academies, and major powers had gathered to investigate Rosha’s Green Sprout.
• Hong Yuan recognized the greed and hostility of the people studying him, though he had deliberately revealed Green Sprout to attract their attention while keeping a low profile.
• Representatives from the Arcane Academy and Silver Ring Merchant Guild offered Hong Yuan positions and promised support.
• Hong Yuan asked Professor Harold of the High Tower Institute to speak with him privately, and Harold agreed.

Raven suggested Rosha's Green Sprout String Sorcery might be the rare Life String, while Hong Yuan joined the High Tower Institute and secretly used awakened Spellcasters' mental power to nourish Green Sprout. After helping Count Gros's son awaken, Hong Yuan traveled with Harold toward Serinburg, where their train came under attack.

• Harold announced that Rosha had joined the High Tower Institute, and Raven urged Alberto to consider whether Rosha possessed the Life String.
• Count Gros summoned Hong Yuan and asked him to awaken his son, Yuli, who had been unable to communicate with the strings of force.
• Hong Yuan awakened Yuli, accepted Gros's reward, and secretly planted a seed linked to Green Sprout so Yuli's mental power would nourish it.
• Hong Yuan grew Green Sprout by awakening Spellcasters and scattered more seeds while traveling by train with Harold.
• At Radiant City's station, Lynn saw Rosha board with Harold before the train departed for Serinburg.
• The train jolted violently, and someone cried that enemies had attacked, prompting others to ask whether they were Otherworldly Demons.

Key plot points and events

• A violent attack strikes Harold and Hong Yuan’s train. Harold senses at least two Resonance Masters among the attackers, while the train’s String Sorcery wards form enormous hands that grip the earth and slow it before it derails.
• In the chaos, a Spellcaster crashes into Harold’s carriage. Ahead, three Spellcasters try to escort a frightened young woman, Amelia Winster, to safety.
• Two powerful Spellcasters battle with water and fire sorcery, tearing apart the carriage and its roof. Hong Yuan protects himself from flying debris with a screen of green light.
• A silver-masked figure in a dark red robe demands that Amelia come with him. Harold recognizes the attackers as members of the True God’s Strings, a church that regards String Sorcery as divine revelation rather than something people should study.
• The chapter closes with a history of the church: once the dominant religious power in Vysseran, it was weakened by war with the Lorne Empire and subsequent rebellions. Its further decline began after an Otherworldly Demon arrived through a rift in the Mist Sea.

Character developments and interactions

• Harold shifts from wary observer to active protector. He recognizes the danger, tries to keep Hong Yuan safe, and understands that Amelia’s prominent family makes the attack especially serious.
• Hong Yuan remains composed amid the violence. His green-light abilities shield him from debris, and his attention turns toward the distant attackers.
• Amelia Winster is terrified but recognizes Harold and calls on him for help, revealing her connection to a powerful noble lineage.
• The attackers’ demand for Amelia establishes a direct conflict between the True God’s Strings and the forces protecting her.

Significant themes

• Faith versus inquiry: The church treats sorcery as sacred and condemns its study, opposing the modern view of it as a force that can be understood and used.
• Power and political history: The church’s former dominance, the rise of the Lorne Empire, and the influence of noble houses show how religious authority and political power have repeatedly challenged one another.
• Vulnerability amid spectacle: Even formidable sorcery leaves ordinary passengers caught in the attack’s terror and destruction.

Harold confronted a silver-masked member of the True God's Strings to protect Amelia Winster, while Lynn watched the Resonance Masters fight from a safe distance. When three bronze-masked Spellcasters attacked Amelia’s group and endangered Hong Yuan, Hong Yuan retaliated with Eternal Tree-Binding Burial.

• Harold stepped in front of Amelia and challenged the silver-masked man, who attacked with fire, wind, and a concealed string sorcery.
• Harold countered with Air Cannon and Flame Lash, but the silver-masked man swallowed him in black energy before Harold forced his way out.
• Lynn fled the battle, then stopped at a distance to watch after Fane assured him he could protect him.
• The silver-masked man ordered his companions to seize Amelia and summoned three more string sorceries to keep Harold occupied.
• Three bronze-masked Spellcasters attacked Amelia’s group near Hong Yuan’s carriage, and Hong Yuan transformed a table into vines that engulfed one of them with Eternal Tree-Binding Burial.