Chapter Summaries

After defeating the Rakshasa Ghost King, Yu Ci recovered the Three Treasures Ship and arranged to travel east to Xi Yu Lake so he could recuperate in seclusion. He consumed the last Seven Emotions Demonic Pill, unleashing a blaze that burned through the Myriad Demon Pool and rebirthed its fiends.

• Yu Ci restored the collapsed void and brought the Three Treasures Ship back, while the watching immortals cautiously kept their distance.
• Wu Yuanchen approached Yu Ci, accepted a genuine healing Seven Emotions Demonic Pill, and immediately left to recover from his injuries.
• Yu Ci woke the unconscious cultivators and asked Shen Wan to arrange a quiet room aboard the ship as it headed east to Xi Yu Lake.
• Yu Ci entered seclusion and swallowed the final Seven Emotions Demonic Pill, which he revealed was a deadly poison.
• The pill’s power erupted inside the Myriad Demon Pool, burning countless fiends to ash while others were reborn amid the flames.

Yu Ci suppressed the turbulent Myriad Demon Pool while contemplating the seed of the Realm of Truth and refining his understanding of the laws of heaven and earth. After thirty-six days of meditation aboard the Mountain-Moving Cloud Boat, he met Shen Wan and Bai Xiufeng, who had come to thank him for saving the Three Treasures Ship.

• Yu Ci used the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror to suppress demons breaking free from the poisoned Myriad Demon Pool as he continued strengthening his control over it.
• Yu Ci withdrew his attention from the pool and meditated on the Realm of Truth seed, discerning how the laws of heaven and earth passed through his domain and acquired his imprint.
• Yu Ci emerged from the quiet room after exactly thirty-six days and sensed Xuan Huang, Baiyi, and Xue Zhi nearby.
• Yu Ci surveyed the Mountain-Moving Cloud Boat and its powerful flight as Shen Wan arrived with a group of cultivators.
• Shen Wan thanked Yu Ci for saving everyone on the Three Treasures Ship and introduced Bai Xiufeng, the chief manager of Tri-Lake Pavilion.

Yu Ci toured the Three Treasures Ship with Bai Xiufeng and Shen Wan, where Bai tested Yu Ci’s attitude toward the Great Abyss Soul Shock Cannon. Yu Ci agreed to defer its destination until a friend could inspect it at Xi Yu Lake, while discovering that the Siming Sect was the true intended recipient.

• Bai Xiufeng welcomed Yu Ci and led him on a private tour of the Three Treasures Ship, praising Shen Wan’s role in its conversion.
• Bai Xiufeng expressed Suixin Pavilion’s support for Yu Ci’s return and the re-established Shangqing lineage.
• Bai Xiufeng showed Yu Ci the ship’s cargo hold and its remaining treasures, including the area connected to the Great Abyss Soul Shock Cannon.
• Yu Ci identified the cannon and said he would decide where it went after a friend examined it at Xi Yu Lake.
• Bai Xiufeng mentioned the Hundred Refinements Gate’s research into Sea-folk aliens, and Yu Ci discovered that the Siming Sect was behind the cannon’s intended purchase.

Yu Ci accepted Bai Xiufeng’s gift of the Shangqing Sect’s Tiger Chariot Jade Carriage Hidden Wheel and rode it to meet Great Sorcerer Cang You, who had arrived from Flying Soul City on Madam Xia’s behalf. As the carriage’s talisman patterns lifted it into the air, Yu Ci reflected on the Shangqing Sect’s destruction and his role in preserving its remaining lineage.

• A messenger told Yu Ci that Great Sorcerer Cang You from Flying Soul City had come to pay his respects.
• Bai Xiufeng presented Yu Ci with the Tiger Chariot Jade Carriage Hidden Wheel, an old Shangqing Sect treasure he had kept in his collection.
• Shen Wan recounted the carriage’s legendary uses by Shangqing Ancestor Wei and successive sect masters.
• Bai Xiufeng explained that four Core Formation women from orthodox mysterious sects drew the carriage and could activate its talisman patterns.
• Yu Ci rode the carriage toward the upper deck as its talismans carried it into the air, and he contemplated the fall of the Shangqing Sect.

Yu Ci met Flying Soul City's Great Shaman Cang You, who presented him with the Clear Sky Discourse program and a magical map of the Northern Territory. The map revealed real-time intelligence, including a report of a death in the Azure Sky Domain.

• Yu Ci arrived at the reception hall in the White Tiger Chariot and met Cang You, Flying Soul City's envoy.
• Cang You presented Yu Ci with the Clear Sky Discourse participant list and explained that the gathering would help mediate disputes over seven important voids.
• Yu Ci found a Northern Territory map concealed in the jade codex and manipulated it to view the Three Northern Lakes and surrounding terrain in detail.
• Cang You explained that the map combined information from six intelligence organizations and tracked major events involving Void Stepping cultivators and above.
• Yu Ci examined a blood-colored death marker and saw mirage images of the Azure Sky Domain battlefield and a fallen wreck, accompanied by a Lian Hu note.

Yu Ci examined the Northern Territory Sentiment Map, which revealed disputes over how to respond to the demon calamity and the political influence of the major sects. As he sailed toward Xi Yu Lake, he considered how to rebuild Shangqing amid those powers, then invited Shen Wan to explore the chariot’s realm with him.

• Yu Ci studied the map’s messages and recognized the Pure Void Virtue Sect’s proposal, marked with the seal of “Dao follows Nature.”
• Yu Ci saw that the Yin Mountain Sect opposed opening another front against the demons, and that some Xiyu Alliance sects supported its position.
• Cang You explained that Yu Ci could not yet speak on the map without recognition, alliance approval, and an annual commitment to publish key news.
• After Cang You left, Yu Ci reflected on the authority of the map and his lack of a plan for rebuilding Shangqing among powerful sects.
• Yu Ci entered the White Tiger Chariot for clarity, greeted Shen Wan, and invited her to wander its realm with him.

Yu Ci questioned Shen Wan about Suixin Pavilion, the Shen lineage, and the resources in the Taixiao Divine Court, then accepted her request to help her family regain a foothold. He kept Shen Wan in the carriage as he began testing the Tiger Chariot Jade Carriage Hidden Wheel’s hidden functions, hoping her cultivation could help him understand it.

• Shen Wan explained that Suixin Pavilion, the Bai family, and Bai Xiufeng each had interests in Shangqing’s resources and that the Taixiao Divine Court’s pathways could attract powerful rivals.
• Yu Ci listened as Shen Wan described the Shen lineage’s decline and threats from the Lei clan, then accepted her request to help secure her family’s future.
• As Shen Wan prepared to leave, Yu Ci asked her to remain and look at the scenery, while she wondered about his intentions.
• Yu Ci studied the carriage’s rune patterns and considered how its visualization arts and deity-summoning functions might work.
• Yu Ci decided that Shen Wan could serve as a test subject while he investigated the carriage’s hidden abilities.

Yu Ci recognized Shen Wan’s warning that rumors about his relationships could damage his standing as head of the Shangqing lineage, but he could not offer a convincing defense. He set the matter aside and used Shen Wan to investigate the Tiger Chariot Jade Carriage Hidden Wheel in his Inner Void, where the experiment began to blur the boundary between her and the carriage.

• Shen Wan warned Yu Ci that rumors involving Cold Smoke and Xue Zhi could harm his reputation and invite others to exploit his apparent weaknesses.
• Yu Ci accepted Shen Wan’s warning but sensed that her faith in him had become entangled with emotions he could not safely control.
• Yu Ci brought the Tiger Chariot Jade Carriage Hidden Wheel and Shen Wan into his Inner Void to study the carriage’s power through her.
• Shen Wan connected with the yin and yang qi in the Inner Void and watched the carriage repeatedly shift between solid and illusory states.
• Shen Wan realized that her own state was changing in step with the carriage, while Yu Ci observed every thought and sensation she experienced.

Yu Ci awakened the Tiger Chariot Jade Carriage Hidden Wheel’s true intent, manifesting a white tiger that carried him and Qizhen away at extraordinary speed. As the carriage crossed the void, Yu Ci began to perceive a vast realm of stars and reflected lights connected to his Shangqing Dao Foundation.

• As the carriage’s true intent sharpened, Shen Wan realized that flaws might have marred her earlier comprehension of the True Text Spirit Talisman.
• Yu Ci activated the talismanic script, summoning a white tiger that repelled the four female cultivators pulling the carriage.
• Yu Ci questioned Qizhen, a disciple of the destroyed Yujing Gate, and chose her to drive the carriage.
• Yu Ci sent Shen Wan and the other three cultivators back to the ship, then departed with Qizhen in the white tiger carriage.
• As the carriage sped through the void, Yu Ci perceived stars, layers of cobblestones, and reflected lights linked to his Shangqing Dao Foundation.

Yu Ci used the Tiger Chariot Jade Carriage Hidden Wheel to seek a target in the northern lands and found the dead Purple-Haired Daoist, whose body had been corrupted by a heavenly demon. The white tiger revived him in a strange state, and he began walking northeast.

• Yu Ci identified the carriage’s sensed stars, reflections, and pebbles as potential targets, then directed Qizhen toward the nearest pebble.
• After seven days, the carriage reached a swamp in Five Chain Lake, where Yu Ci discovered the dead Purple-Haired Daoist buried in the mud.
• Qizhen recognized the Daoist and explained that he was a renowned northern Rogue Cultivator with unusual, concealed abilities.
• Yu Ci used a talismanic art to revive the Daoist, but the white tiger detected and destroyed the heavenly demon inside him, extinguishing his remaining life.
• The white tiger growled again and restored the Daoist to a moving state; after circling nearby, he turned northeast and walked away.

Yu Ci and Qizhen followed the Purple-Haired Daoist across the northern lands as he tracked the people responsible for a trail of battles and deaths. At their destination, attackers struck him, but his baleful force blocked their combined assault with startling precision.

• Yu Ci identified the wreckage of a crashed flying shuttle and followed the Purple-Haired Daoist as he continued north.
• The Purple-Haired Daoist traced the pursuit through battle sites and overcame difficult terrain, gradually recovering his judgment and speed.
• The Purple-Haired Daoist reached a foggy swamp, where a hidden group recognized him and decided to attack.
• One attacker struck the Purple-Haired Daoist with a molten copper bead, but his baleful force prevented it from harming him.
• The cultivators launched Myriad Peaks Mountain at the Purple-Haired Daoist, and a spirit banner of five-colored baleful force appeared to hold it aloft.

The Purple-Haired Daoist revealed his mastery of the Ten Absolute Spirit Banners and formed powerful armor to resist the Qionglu Society’s assault. Yu Ci uncovered the society’s role in ambushing the Daoist and learned that they sought to exploit his knowledge of a void world.

• Steward Chang increased Myriad Peaks Mountain’s pressure and sent Killing Intent arrows at the Purple-Haired Daoist, who endured the attacks behind golden light.
• The Purple-Haired Daoist unleashed the Ten Absolute Spirit Banners, forcing Myriad Peaks Mountain back and injuring the cultivator who controlled it.
• Steward Chang recognized the Shangqing Dharma Gate technique and ordered Steward Ge to join the fight.
• The Purple-Haired Daoist covered himself in talisman-woven armor, which Steward Chang identified as an outward manifestation of an Inner Deity.
• Steward Ge arrived as Yu Ci read the cultivators’ emotions and identified them as members of the Qionglu Society.
• Yu Ci learned that the society had ambushed the Purple-Haired Daoist’s group to seize information about a void world.

Yu Ci observed the Purple-Haired Daoist’s strange revival while the Qionglu Society fought to control the swamp. When allies arrived to rescue the Purple-Haired Daoist, he attacked their shuttle, leaving their fate unclear.

• Yu Ci reasoned that the Purple-Haired Daoist had gained the Shangqing cultivation method without proper guidance, and that the carriage’s spiritual essence had awakened his dormant power.
• Yu Ci reflected on how the Qionglu Society’s united defense contrasted with the ruthless competition among cultivators, and wondered whether the revived Purple-Haired Daoist was still himself.
• Steward Ge deployed the Qionglu Society’s Dragon Catcher against the Purple-Haired Daoist, but half-moon flying daggers emerged from the fog and shattered the artifact.
• The flying daggers disrupted the Qionglu Society’s formation as a shuttle burst from the fog and sped toward the Purple-Haired Daoist to rescue him.
• The Purple-Haired Daoist struck the approaching shuttle with the Ten Absolute Spirit Banners, engulfing it in glowing rays as someone inside cried, “Master!”

The Purple-Haired Daoist and the slovenly Daoist fought off and killed the Qionglu Society cultivators who had cornered them. The slovenly Daoist carried off the fallen Purple-Haired Daoist and the people sheltered beneath the pagoda, then concealed their trail as they fled.

• The Qionglu Society cultivators destroyed the flying shuttle but failed to breach the Nine-Story Pagoda protecting the group inside.
• The slovenly Daoist used his sword lights to kill two cultivators, while Steward Chang and Steward Ge continued attacking the pagoda.
• The Purple-Haired Daoist unleashed the Crimson Rainbow Sword and Ten Absolute Spirit Banners as the slovenly Daoist charged through the enemy formation, killing more than half their subordinates.
• Steward Chang fled but was killed by the Purple-Haired Daoist's roar and Golden Cymbals, while Steward Ge was trapped and killed by the spirit banners and sword bridge.
• After the Purple-Haired Daoist collapsed, the slovenly Daoist rescued him and the five people beneath the pagoda, then used a Talisman Disk to scramble the battlefield's traces before escaping by boat.

Yu Ci and Qizhen witnessed Yu Ci summon a Three-Life Ghost Crow to destroy a giant eye that appeared in the tribulation clouds. As they departed, Yu Ci reflected on the powerful fighters at his disposal and the lack of cultivators able to carry on the Shangqing lineage.

• Qizhen stopped the carriage at Yu Ci's command as a giant blood-red eye emerged in the tribulation clouds and swept the marsh with ghostly green light.
• Yu Ci opened a passage to the Nine Nether Underworld and summoned a Three-Life Ghost Crow.
• The ghost crow sacrificed one of its plumes to withstand the eye's beam, then struck the eye and shattered its divine ability.
• Heaven and Earth Law Will sent a massive arm after the ghost crow, but lightning destroyed it before the bird returned to the Nine Nether Underworld.
• A distant voice asked whether Yu Ci was True Man Yu, but Yu Ci ignored it and told Qizhen to leave.
• Yu Ci assessed his available fighters and concluded that few cultivators could inherit the Shangqing lineage.

Yu Ci considered how to rebuild the Shangqing lineage, concluding that he should gather its scattered survivors and search its abandoned void worlds. Elsewhere, a slovenly Daoist helped a young cultivator of Shangqing methods, but their journey was intercepted by Nangong Cheng of the Qionglu Society, who questioned him about Yu Ci and the Li Chen Sect.

• Yu Ci reviewed the resources and generations needed to restore a major sect and resolved to find Shangqing survivors and remnants in the void worlds.
• The slovenly Daoist warned a young Daoist that his master’s Shangqing cultivation should not be altered without an expert’s guidance, then sent the other survivors away with Earth Evasion treasure robes.
• The slovenly Daoist advised the young Daoist to seek True Man Yu if his master awakened, and took him south by way of Central South.
• Nangong Cheng of the Qionglu Society intercepted the black-canopied flying boat and recognized the slovenly Daoist as someone resembling Daoist Qianbao.
• Nangong Cheng praised the Li Chen Sect and brought up Yu Ci’s battle with the Divine Lord of the Eastern Sea, while the slovenly Daoist pretended not to know of Heavenly Monarch Yuanxu.

The Knight, actually Daoist Qianbao, tried to take the injured Purple-Haired Daoist and his disciple past Nangong Cheng, who used his Dark Domain to destroy their boat and suppress them. Daoist Qianbao unleashed a strange water domain to escape, and Nangong Cheng prepared to counter it with nine black pearls.

• The Knight deflected Nangong Cheng’s questions and demanded passage for the injured Purple-Haired Daoist and his disciple, along with an explanation for the Qionglu Society’s destruction of his flying shuttle.
• The Knight started the black-awning boat and pushed forward as Nangong Cheng warned him about the danger near Xi Yu Lake.
• Nangong Cheng activated his Dark Domain, crushing the boat and subjecting the Knight to extreme fluctuations in pressure.
• The Knight used a Nine-Story Pagoda to shield the Purple-Haired Daoist and his disciple, then charged through the Dark Domain and coughed blood.
• The Knight released a strange water domain that transformed the swamp and let him vanish into the waves.
• Nangong Cheng tried to crush the water domain with his Dark Domain, then cast nine pitch-black pearls into the air.

Nangong Cheng fought Daoist Qianbao over the Mishui Pearls, but Qianbao stripped away their refinements and seized control. After both were left nearly helpless, Nangong Cheng rose again, glowing with blue light, just as another voice arrived and fell silent in surprise.

• Nangong Cheng used the Mishui Pearls and his Dark Domain to break through Daoist Qianbao’s water domain and locate him.
• Daoist Qianbao’s water region drained the Mishui Pearls’ refinement layers and let him contest Nangong Cheng for control.
• Nangong Cheng abandoned control of the pearls and intensified his Dark Domain, forcing Daoist Qianbao to expose himself while rescuing the Purple-Haired Daoist and his disciple.
• Daoist Qianbao released a clear light that stripped the Mishui Pearls of their refinements, while a Shadowless Heart Blade struck Nangong Cheng during the backlash.
• The Dark Domain and water world collapsed, leaving Nangong Cheng and Daoist Qianbao weakened in the mire as the young Daoist hurried to help.
• Nangong Cheng stood again, glowing with blue light, as a distant voice told him not to move and then abruptly fell silent.

Yu Ci arrived as Daoist Qianbao fought Nangong Cheng, killed Nangong Cheng with a sword strike, and trapped a Parasitic Yuan Worm that had been hiding in his body. He rescued the injured Qianbao and confronted Liu Xiandong of the Qionglu Society over the worm and Nangong Cheng’s death.

• Yu Ci’s sword qi split Nangong Cheng in two before the arriving Qionglu Society cultivator could stop him.
• Yu Ci’s lamp-bearing heavenly being revealed and trapped the Parasitic Yuan Worm that escaped Nangong Cheng’s corpse, while another Qionglu Society cultivator fled in terror.
• Yu Ci treated Daoist Qianbao’s injuries and helped him onto the carriage, where the two recognized and greeted each other warmly.
• Daoist Qianbao told Yu Ci that his Nine Great Beads were his spoils from the fight and that his Three-Essence Divine Light would need months to recover.
• Liu Xiandong introduced himself and requested an explanation for Nangong Cheng’s death, but Yu Ci demanded that he explain the Parasitic Yuan Worm first.

Yu Ci confronted Liu Xiandong over the Qionglu Society’s ambush and exposed the society’s suspicious distribution of magic tools tied to Parasitic Yuan Worms. After Yu Ci departed, the Nether Demon Eye confronted Liu Xiandong, who realized the society’s sinister nature and was immobilized by a strange force as a beam of light descended from the heavens.

• Yu Ci pressured Liu Xiandong with questions about the Qionglu Society’s ambush, the Shangqing Sect’s legacy, and Nangong Cheng’s motives.
• Yu Ci and Daoist Qianbao examined the nine Mishui Pearls, and Liu Xiandong admitted the society had distributed them during the calamity.
• Yu Ci accused the society of supplying similar tools to Liu Xiandong and left with Qizhen, while Liu Xiandong stood by helplessly.
• After fleeing the swamp, Liu Xiandong met the Nether Demon Eye, who implied the Qionglu Society was a den of demons and prepared a sealed bottle.
• Liu Xiandong tried to attack the bottle, but a bulging force surged through his body and paralyzed him before a stream of pure light descended from the heavens.