Chapter Summaries

Yu Ci's Heart Refining Dharma Fire burned through the Inner Void but could not fully destroy the death demons, which kept emerging from his fear of death. As the demons overwhelmed Old Daoist Xusheng in Bìluò Heaven, Yu Ci sealed and burned them, then began imposing order on the chaotic spiritual energy.

• Yu Ci flooded the Inner Void with Heart Refining Dharma Fire, but the death demons left behind residue and continued to regenerate from within the flames.
• Yu Ci recognized that his fear of death was producing the demonic shadows, and his Primordial Spirit began calculating desperately for a way to deal with them.
• Old Daoist Xusheng was transported to Bìluò Heaven, where the flames vanished and a horde of death demons surrounded his altar sanctuary.
• Yu Ci shouted "Seal!" and froze more than a hundred death demons in ice before his golden flames burned them into ash.
• Yu Ci suppressed the chaotic vital Qi in Chengqitian and manifested an intricate spiritual talisman to control the field.

Yu Ci prepared Chengqitian to rise beyond the realms while using the Grand Profound Seal to force the Demonic Calamity into it. He secured Immortality Pills to offset the lifespan the process would consume, and Xiao Wu began carrying Chengqitian higher into the void.

• Yu Ci used Sun Moon Washing and Refining Talismans to sort the vital energy pouring through the great gate and asked Xiao Wu to protect Chengqitian as it rose.
• Xiao Wu worried that Yu Ci would die in the Demonic Calamity, but he reassured her and then vanished to continue his preparations.
• Yu Ci visited Gu Zhi and took four Immortality Pills, testing one before swallowing the other three.
• Yu Ci restarted the Grand Profound Seal, sealing the other heavenly realms and forcing the inner demons into Chengqitian.
• Xiao Wu transformed into rosy light, enveloped Chengqitian, and accelerated its ascent.

Yu Ci continued raising Chengqitian while balancing its energy harvest against the strain on his life, then halted at two thousand miles to adjust to the dangerous magnetic forces. He ordered Old Daoist Xusheng to leave and return in scheduled intervals, then prepared to disperse the excess essence energy filling Chengqitian.

• Yu Ci tracked the growing harvest of Essence Profound Truths and confirmed it was nearing a balance with Chengqitian's upkeep.
• Yu Ci told Xiaowu to stop at two thousand miles, where violent magnetic forces threatened Chengqitian's circulation.
• Yu Ci ordered Old Daoist Xusheng to return after twelve hours, remain for two hours, and repeat the cycle while building scenery.
• Yu Ci entered Chengqitian's dharma altar and said, "Disperse!"

Yu Ci fought off waves of death demons in Chengqitian and resolved to keep enduring the tribulation, while You Rui fled through the Azure Sky Domain aboard the Wave-Splitting Flying Boat. The chapter ended with an enemy stopping You Rui’s boat and striking through its front window.

• Yu Ci used the Jade Capital Three Lights Origin-Breaking Demon-Dispelling Talisman, other talismans, and the ritual altar’s defenses to repel successive waves of death demons.
• Yu Ci realized the death demon tribulation was an unavoidable consequence of his realm and Void Divine Ability, but continued fighting and grew accustomed to facing death.
• After twelve hours, Old Daoist Xusheng arrived to help suppress the death demons, and Yu Ci rested under Little Five’s protection before committing to remain in Chengqitian.
• You Rui piloted the Wave-Splitting Flying Boat through the dangerous Azure Sky Domain, seeking refuge from the pursuers who had hunted her for nearly a year.
• A man appeared in front of You Rui’s boat and spread a vast net of light threads across its path.
• The net slowed the boat and injured You Rui, then the man lunged forward and pierced the front window with one claw.

Yu Ci used his Five Directions Starfall Kill Seal and death demons to kill Zuo Zhe after the Void Stepping cultivator seized You Rui. You Rui survived and learned that Xusheng had summoned her for a year, while Yu Ci reflected that time had passed without his noticing.

• Zuo Zhe captured You Rui after destroying the Wave-Splitting Flying Boat and sealed her cultivation with a Silver Mercury Aperture-Locking Needle.
• Zuo Zhe noticed Xusheng and a little girl in the Azure Sky Domain, then pursued them when they vanished.
• Xusheng's projection tried to stop Zuo Zhe, but Zuo Zhe pressed on and was caught in Yu Ci's Void Stepping Domain.
• Yu Ci's starfall seal and death demons overcame Zuo Zhe, whose body decayed into rotten mud.
• You Rui begged Xusheng to save her, and Xusheng explained that he had summoned her many times before.
• Yu Ci told Xusheng that the seal was insufficient for a Void Stepping cultivator and remarked that a year had passed since he last saw You Rui.

Yu Ci continued adapting to the death demon calamity while arranging for You Rui and preparing Old Daoist Xusheng for a dangerous transfer of his spiritual pivot. In the Graveyard of Grudges, Kou Chu and Li Shan collected a valuable magical treasure fragment and planned to deliver it to Xusheng, but their coded exchange alarmed Li Shan.

• Yu Ci confronted the death demon’s presence in Chengqitian and resolved to deal with Shadow Ghost after his current task.
• Xusheng reported that You Rui had condensed her true spirit into Chengqitian and pledged herself to Yu Ci.
• Yu Ci instructed Xusheng to have Kou Chu protect his Dharma during the upcoming spiritual pivot transfer, while Xiaowu and Yu Ci handled Chengqitian.
• Kou Chu collected tiny magical treasure fragments in the Graveyard of Grudges, and Li Shan returned with a larger fragment he had obtained through a deception.
• Kou Chu proposed entering the city to deliver their jade box to Xusheng and used their secret code, making Li Shan’s scalp tingle.

Yu Ci emerged from a year of seclusion in the Wumeng Cicada Molt, his body and eyes altered by living alongside death, and set out to find Gu Zhi. He met Magistrate Zi Qu, who said the Third Palace Master had left something for him, while Xiaowu had secretly swallowed two followers who were tracking Kou Chu and Li Shan.

• Kou Chu sensed a hostile presence trailing him and Li Shan as they traveled toward Fengdu City, and the two realized their recent treasure-fragment transaction might have been a trap.
• Shao Fu and a ghost cultivator followed Kou Chu and Li Shan into Fengdu City, but Xiaowu appeared as a little girl and used five-colored radiance to pull them into Chengqitian.
• Yu Ci awoke from his year-long slumber and examined his corpse-like body and disturbing, blood-dark eyes before restoring his eyes to a more normal state and donning the Wumeng Cicada Molt.
• Yu Ci learned that Xiaowu felt unwell after swallowing two followers and told her to leave them in Chengqitian for him to deal with later.
• Yu Ci walked through the True Cultivator Circle toward Gu Zhi, but Magistrate Zi Qu stopped him and said the Palace Master wanted to see him and that the Third Palace Master had left something behind.

Yu Ci met Yu Qing Xuan through a projected incarnation, and she revealed that she had identified him despite his disguises and questioned whether he had received a Shangqing Sect lineage. After taking the Extreme Orbit Celestial Beads and learning that Yu Ci had only three to five years to live, Yu Qing Xuan threatened him and asked what meaning there was in his living.

• Zi Qu led Yu Ci through Yuangguang Pavilion, where Wen Ying prepared a talismanic array to project Yu Qing Xuan from Flying Spring Mountain.
• Yu Qing Xuan recognized Yu Ci beneath his disguises and explained that she had matched his lifespan to the stars using Purple Subtle Dipper Calculation.
• Yu Ci admitted his identity and showed Yu Qing Xuan the bead strand Zhu Tai Yi had given him.
• Yu Qing Xuan identified the strand as the Extreme Orbit Celestial Beads, took it, and returned the wooden bead containing the Heavenly Barrier Natal Golden Talisman method.
• Yu Ci told Yu Qing Xuan that he had only three to five years left to live, and she seized him with an invisible pressure and questioned the meaning of his life.

Yu Qing Xuan demanded that Yu Ci seek at least a hundred years of life and prepare a Shangqing disciple to inherit the Taiyi lineage if he failed, while Yu Ci resisted her attempt to seal his spirit. After agreeing to the lifespan requirement and receiving two items from Zi Qu, Yu Ci obtained Undying Pills from Gu Zhi and prepared to enter seclusion for his next attempt.

• Yu Qing Xuan explained that Yu Ci would need a hundred years of life before she could send him along a star track to the Ziwei Enclosure, and required him to cultivate a successor for the Shangqing lineage.
• Yu Qing Xuan tried to seal Yu Ci's spirit so his foundation could survive reincarnation, but Yu Ci resisted and began to leave.
• Yu Ci agreed to abide by the hundred-year lifespan requirement, and Zi Qu told him that the Third Palace Master had left two things for him.
• Yu Ci gathered crucial items around Fengdu City and met Gu Zhi, asking him for an Undying Pill to prolong his life.
• Gu Zhi gave Yu Ci five Undying Pills after Yu Ci promised to visit Mr. Qingsong, and told him that Fairy Su Yu had left a letter for him.

Yu Ci examined the gifts Zhan Shuicheng had left and discovered that the porcelain bottle contained Liquid Profound Truth, a rare cultivation aid with a formula she had hidden in a Nine Lives Phantom Spirit Talisman. After learning how to use it, Yu Ci prepared to study it further and pursue his breakthrough.

• Yu Ci summoned Xiao Wu and set up a Four Extremes Celestial Star Divine Prohibition in his dwelling before examining Zhan Shuicheng's gifts.
• Yu Ci recognized the black jade talisman as a Nine Lives Phantom Spirit Talisman and identified the emerald incense as supreme-grade Biyou Incense.
• Yu Ci activated the talisman, and a black cat delivered Zhan Shuicheng's recorded message and instructions for using the Liquid Profound Truth.
• Yu Ci memorized Zhan Shuicheng's formula, thanked the cat, and realized the talisman concealed a talisman within itself.
• Yu Ci identified the bottle's contents as Liquid Profound Truth and considered how its special method could help him absorb Essence Profound Truth.

Yu Ci used the Cultivating Supreme Vow Boundless Buddha Light to complete more of his Heavenly Barrier Natal Golden Talisman and shift his Life and Death Profound Mechanism into Zhao Yao Star. As he linked talisman pathways and connected Zhao Yao with Heavenly Wolf, Bi Star, and Bei Luo Shi Men, he uncovered a broader resonance among four stars and their regions.

• Yu Ci confirmed that Zhan Shuicheng’s cultivation art could safely draw in Liquid Profound Truth and transform it into vitality, then prepared to strengthen his foundation against the Dead Demon Tribulation.
• Yu Ci burned the Pratyekabuddha Dharma Realm Shards in the Buddha Bone Furnace and used the resulting Buddha light to temper his Heavenly Barrier Natal Golden Talisman.
• Yu Qing Xuan sensed Yu Ci shift his Life and Death Profound Mechanism from the Black Tortoise star region to Zhao Yao Star and judged the result barely passable.
• Yu Ci completed twelve Twenty-Eight Mansions talismans and identified connected talisman pathways spanning the Prayer and Propitiation, Refinement and Salvation, and Demon Slaying branches.
• Yu Ci connected Zhao Yao Star with Heavenly Wolf, Bi Star, and Bei Luo Shi Men, forming a resonance among four stars and their star regions.

Yu Ci’s cultivation unexpectedly projected him into the Three Enclosures, but he halted that advance and redirected his effort toward stabilizing his breakthrough. He prepared to nourish his newly manifested Pure Yang Primordial Spirit, leaving the gathered Essence Profound Truth contained in Chengqitian rather than allowing it to flow into his body at once.

• Yu Qing Xuan sensed Yu Ci’s formidable restriction and worried that his killing nature might lead him to the wrong star, though she recognized he was still far from entering the Ziwei Enclosure.
• Yu Ci perceived the four stellar domains and realized he had reached the Three Enclosures only through an incomplete projection, while his shifting-palaces progress had begun to outpace his Heavenly Barrier Natal Golden Talisman.
• Yu Ci chose to shift his target, using Buddha Light to refine nearly ten talismans into Seed True Talismans and strengthen his foundation instead of forcing his advance into the Three Enclosures.
• Yu Ci’s Primordial Spirit manifested signs of Innate Pure Yang, and he ignited Biyou Incense with his gaze to stabilize the foundation that Buddha Light had rapidly raised.
• Yu Ci connected to Chengqitian, gathered its accumulated Essence Profound Truth into a luminous mist, and held it back from feeding into his true body while he steadied his mind.

Yu Ci used Zhan Shuicheng’s spell technique to absorb Essence Profound Truth and Liquid Profound Truth, but the sudden surge overwhelmed his Yin spirit and revived the deadly demonic tribulation. The Grand Profound Seal then manifested a star-patterned dharma robe that let Yu Ci suppress the tribulation, leaving his dead qi nearly exhausted and yang qi rising.

• Yu Ci raised his Essence Profound Truth absorption rate with Zhan Shuicheng’s mental cultivation method and poured in the year’s accumulated supply.
• Yu Ci’s Grand Unity Star Pivot Clone diverted the deadly demonic tribulation, allowing his Yin spirit to leave his body and absorb the Essence Profound Truth with pure yang fire.
• Yu Ci released the Liquid Profound Truth, whose potency overwhelmed his Yin spirit and caused the deadly demonic tribulation to regain strength.
• The spell technique’s new transformation drew on the Grand Profound Seal, which sealed the excess Innate Vital Energy into a star-patterned dharma robe around Yu Ci’s Yin spirit and body.
• Yu Ci used the robe’s starlight to suppress the deadly demonic tribulation, as his dead qi nearly ran out and yang qi began to rise.

Yu Ci’s absorption of the Essence Profound Truth unleashed thunder and linked his Azure Dragon True Intent with the fish-dragon manifestation in Chengqitian. The resulting Golden Horned Black Dragon drew the Yin Mountain Sect’s ghost cultivators into battle, where its thunder, fire, and yang-gang power overwhelmed their techniques.

• Yu Ci absorbed the Essence Profound Truth, stabilized his Dao foundation, and awakened a thunderous resonance between the Azure Dragon True Intent and his fish-dragon manifestation.
• Mo Xiao, She Mou, and Gou Lao Jiu noticed a storm-hidden region in the Azure Sky Domain, and Mo Xiao struck it with his sword Qi.
• A Golden Horned Black Dragon emerged and damaged Wang Jiuquan’s Soul-Hooking Smoke Rope with its Pure Yang True Fire and dragon’s cry.
• Wang Jiuquan used the Nine Springs Banner to warp space and attack the dragon, but the Seven Star Heavenly Robe sealed the banner’s power.
• The Golden Horned Black Dragon ignored Wang Jiuquan’s freezing waves and unleashed thunder, fire, and yang-gang energy that disrupted the ghost cultivators’ foundations.

Yu Ci attacked Wang Jiuquan with thunder techniques, badly damaging his ghost body, while Wang identified Yu Ci as a remnant of the Shangqing Sect. As Wang prepared to seal the area and retaliate, a scream and crimson karmic flames revealed that Hun Liao was in danger.

• Wang Jiuquan recognized the Nine-Five Thunder Command Method and suspected its user belonged to the fallen Shangqing Sect.
• Wang Jiuquan tried to rescue his subordinates, but Yu Ci targeted him with the Upper Azure Star-Glow Induction Divine Thunder.
• Wang Jiuquan defended himself with the Nine Springs Banner, but the purple-gold thunder badly damaged half his ghost body.
• Yu Ci regretted that Wang Jiuquan had managed to blunt the divine thunder before it could strike directly.
• Wang Jiuquan summoned the Vast Sea Ancient Array to seal the area and capture the Shangqing Sect remnant.
• Wang Jiuquan heard a scream and saw crimson karmic flames, realizing that Hun Liao was in danger.

Wang Jiuquan activated the Vast Sea Ancient Array and turned the battle against Hun Liao and the Golden Horned Black Dragon in his favor, but the dragon used a profound transformation divine ability to escape. Hun Liao then struck while the array’s seashell hub slipped from Wang Jiuquan’s control, forcing him to abandon part of his ghostly body and flee as his remaining avatar prepared to unleash the Calamity-Escaping Secret Method.

• Hun Liao fled after his attack, while Wang Jiuquan activated the Vast Sea Ancient Array and used Yin Gui Heavy Water and a Sky-Suspended Great River to suppress the battlefield.
• Wang Jiuquan trapped Hun Liao with the Azure Wave Demon Army, but the Golden Horned Black Dragon broke free and transformed into a beam of light that made a hundred-mu region vanish.
• Wang Jiuquan recognized the dragon’s escape as a high-tier Profound Transformation Divine Ability and suspected its user was a remnant of the Shangqing Sect.
• Hun Liao let the Azure Wave Demon Army tear him apart, then re-formed from Karmic Fire and struck Wang Jiuquan with sword intent.
• The seashell hub slipped out of Wang Jiuquan’s control, so he abandoned the half of his body tainted by Karmic Fire and fled with the seashell and Nine Springs Banner.
• Wang Jiuquan’s remaining avatar blasted Hun Liao apart and began to unleash the Calamity-Escaping Secret Method.

Hun Liao tried to consume Wang Jiuquan’s exploding avatar while Yu Ci intervened to disrupt the Hell Path operation. Yu Ci knocked the Hell Path fragment away with the Equality Bead, leaving Hun Liao blasted apart as the avatar detonated again.

• Hun Liao used karmic fire to consume Wang Jiuquan’s avatar and plucked its yin thunder from the explosion.
• The karmic fire reached for She Mou and Mo Xiao, but lightning blasts drove the two ghost cultivators away.
• Yu Ci watched from the Azure Sky Domain and recognized that Hun Liao and other infiltrators were strengthening the Hell Path by sending victims into the Yellow Springs Secret Mansion.
• Yu Ci struck Hun Liao’s Hell Path fragment with the Equality Bead, severing it from its true body and drawing it away.
• Wang Jiuquan’s avatar erupted in sickly green light, blasting Hun Liao apart and leaving the Hell Path fragment beyond his reach.

Yu Ci captured the Hell Path Fragment and used its Heart Refining Dharma Fire to destroy Hun Liao before escaping the battle above Fengdu City. Back in his main body, he completed his breakthrough, assessed his extended lifespan, and announced Jiu Yan’s return to life while distancing himself from the chaos.

• Yu Ci captured the two injured Yin Mountain Sect ghost cultivators and the Hell Path Fragment with the Equality Bead.
• The Heart Refining Dharma Fire restored the Hell Path Fragment’s true essence, and Yu Ci used it to burn away Hun Liao as he rebuilt his body around it.
• Yu Ci sensed that powerful figures had noticed the fight, then withdrew Hun Liao and the fragment into Chengqitian and escaped.
• Yu Ci returned to his main body and reflected on the talismanic technique that had let him escape Wang Jiuquan’s formation.
• Yu Ci completed his Azure Dragon cultivation adjustment and calculated that he had gained nearly eighty years of life, before accounting for the Marrow Burning Curse.
• Yu Ci had Xiaowu put away the Four Extremes Celestial Star Divine Prohibition and announced that Jiu Yan had come back to life.

Yu Ci traveled with Gu Zhi toward Huayan City and considered Half-Mountain Island’s offer to cultivate at Sea Mirage Tower. As he reflected on the Form Stabilization Pass, he asked about routes to the Nine Heavens’ Outer Domain, prompting Gu Zhi to suspect he had a Void Stepping Art.

• After the battle near Fengdu City, inquiries reached the Yin Mountain Sect while Wang Jiuquan was away treating his injuries.
• Yu Ci and Gu Zhi set out for Huayan City, and Yu Ci read Su Yu’s letter inviting him to Sea Mirage Tower.
• Gu Zhi explained Sea Mirage Tower’s value and said a ten-year stay could help Yu Ci reach the Void Stepping realm.
• Yu Ci said he did not plan to leave the Northern Wastes soon and considered the difficulty of his Form Stabilization Pass.
• Yu Ci asked about traditional routes from the Northern Wastes to the Nine Heavens’ Outer Domain, and Gu Zhi inferred that he possessed a Void Stepping Art.

Yu Ci traveled with Gu Zhi toward Huayan City and learned about the scarcity of Void Stepping Arts and the challenges of ascending into the outer realms. At Black Moon Lake, they discovered that Mr. Mei had abandoned his body to cultivate in the outer realms, leaving Gu Zhi to suspect his apparent death might not have been an accident.

• Gu Zhi explained the rarity of Void Stepping Arts and described the Northern Wasteland’s difficulties for cultivators ascending into the outer realms.
• Gu Zhi offered to ask a Buyun Society acquaintance about ascending into the outer realms, while Yu Ci prepared to protect Old Daoist Xusheng during his move to Chengqitian.
• Yu Ci and Gu Zhi traveled from Fengdu City to Black Moon Lake, where they boarded a boat to visit Mr. Mei.
• An Evergreen Gate hidden-agent leader reported that Mr. Mei’s body had decayed, and Gu Zhi initially reacted with fury.
• The hidden-agent leader clarified that Mr. Mei had cultivated the Yang God and gone to the outer realms, and Gu Zhi ordered the news concealed for three days.
• Gu Zhi wondered whether Mr. Mei’s apparent passing had been an accident or had been premeditated.