Chapter Summaries

Fang Qing used the Lord of the Charnel Forest’s Human-Skin Thangka and sealed Golden Nature to take control of the Temple of All Living Beings Without Form as its Buddha Child. After Sangji advanced to middle-stage Purple Mansion, Fang Qing explored whether he could strengthen him with a Position Seal and a Duzi status, but learned that Dharma lineages limited what could be combined.

• Fang Qing arrived at the Temple of All Living Beings Without Form, where Jiumoluo Jie recognized him as a Buddha Child and explained the status and power of Buddha Children.
• Fang Qing ordered Jiumoluo Jie to resume treating Sangji as before, then witnessed Sangji advance to middle-stage Purple Mansion in the Dust-Cleansing Pool.
• Fang Qing’s Golden Nature status made the temple’s monks’ Sole Secret Deities answer to him, allowing him to control the temple while the Lord of the Charnel Forest remained absent.
• Fang Qing gave Sangji the Lotus Temple Position Seal to refine, but stopped him when the attempt caused signs of Dao Transformation; he then healed Sangji and considered finding him a seal from the correct lineage.
• Fang Qing questioned Sangji about Dharma lineages and considered combining a temple Position Seal with a Duzi status, while recognizing that Duzi statuses could not be stacked.

Fang Qing returned from the Esoteric Treasury with Maiden Earth Golden Nature, intelligence about the major powers, and suspicions that Great Sun Tathagata had noticed him. Back in the Qi Refinement Way, he decided to consolidate his Nascent Soul cultivation and build strength while keeping a low profile before Grand Yellow Heaven opened.

• Fang Qing questioned Jiumoluo Jie about Position Seals, Temple of All Living Beings Without Form’s remaining treasures, and intelligence on the other great powers.
• Jiumoluo Jie reported that the temple’s treasures had mostly been spent in a Shaman ritual and described developments among the Esoteric temples, Monster Demon Way, and Supreme Unity Arcane Sect.
• Fang Qing sent Sangji back to oversee White Bone Way, then returned through Deathless Temple to Jade Spring Island.
• Fang Qing reflected on the dangers of Lord of the Charnel Forest’s trap and the Esoteric Treasury’s long-lived Position Seal holders and reincarnation method.
• Fang Qing suspected Great Sun Tathagata had shown him attention, then resolved to consolidate his cultivation, refine Puppets, and gather intelligence before Grand Yellow Heaven opened.

Fang Qing left seclusion to gather materials for two powerful creations and visited Shang Yuanxin at Shang Clan Immortal City. Shang Yuanxin explained the dangers surrounding his Nascent Infant Pill qualification, while the Octagonal Trade Tower lacked the rare Bone-Spirit Flower Fang Qing needed.

• Fang Qing refined his Nascent Soul treasures and the Myriad Waters Cauldron, then studied the Mystic Flame Demon Corpse and True Spirit Puppet secret arts.
• Fang Qing decided to seek materials in Shang Clan Immortal City and visit Shang Yuanxin, whose fate he had previously divined.
• Shang Yuanxin told Fang Qing that he had secured the exchange qualification for a flawed Nascent Infant Pill and had been transferred back to Shang Clan Island.
• Fang Qing requested three large pieces of Mysterious Soul Crystal, a three-thousand-year-old Bone-Spirit Flower, and yang-attributed blood essence from the Octagonal Trade Tower.
• Shang Yuanxin described the casualties in the Void Ruins Secret Realm and Zhan Hongxiu's escape from an ambush by Nascent Soul cultivators.
• Uncle Fu reported that the tower had Mysterious Soul Crystal and yang-attributed blood essence but no Bone-Spirit Flower, prompting Shang Yuanxin to suspect interference from a clan brother.

Fang Qing went to Copper Immortal Island to obtain a three-thousand-year-old Bone-Spirit Flower from Crippled Immortal, avoiding the danger and intrigue surrounding Shang Yuanxin. When Crippled Immortal refused and attacked him, Fang Qing fought back with his Devouring Sea Flask, and the two began a battle over the island.

• Fang Qing learned that Crippled Immortal had bought up the Shang Clan's Bone-Spirit Flowers and decided to negotiate with him directly rather than send Shang Yuanxin into danger.
• Fang Qing arrived at Copper Immortal Island and asked Crippled Immortal to sell him a three-thousand-year-old Bone-Spirit Flower for twice the market price.
• Crippled Immortal refused, attacked Fang Qing with a divine-sense strike and hidden wooden spikes, and dismissed the danger to his disciples and followers.
• Fang Qing dodged the attack and released Three-Thousand Weak Water from his fourth-rank Devouring Sea Flask, weighing down the island and restricting flight.
• Crippled Immortal transformed his cane into a wooden dragon, rose into the air, and formed a bronze sword formation as Fang Qing sent the weak water surging toward it.

Fang Qing defeated Crippled Immortal with his water-element treasures and forced him to surrender a five-thousand-year Bone-Spirit Flower. He then arranged for Crippled Immortal to help refine two treasures and began preparing a special Spirit Contract to protect the secret of their work.

• Fang Qing used the Myriad Waters Cauldron’s water ape to destroy Crippled Immortal’s Refined Corpses and wound his drought demon corpse, forcing Crippled Immortal to yield a five-thousand-year Bone-Spirit Flower.
• Fang Qing accepted the flower and High-Grade Spirit Stones, then demanded compensation for Crippled Immortal’s earlier sneak attack.
• Fang Qing made Crippled Immortal agree to help refine two treasures and invite him to Copper Immortal Island, where Fang Qing settled into a fourth-order mid-grade spiritual abode.
• Fang Qing replaced his Purple Mansion Divine Abilities with Maiden Earth’s White Bone Visualization and Dust-Cleansing Karmic Affinity, then began constructing an altar to refine a Spirit Contract.

Fang Qing used the spiritual rank of [Maiden Earth] to create a powerful shamanic contract, then made the Crippled Immortal sign it to keep his identity and stolen treasures secret. He hired the Crippled Immortal to refine corpses and a puppet, and returned to secluded cultivation hoping to trade for fourth-tier Essence Spirit Great Pills.

• Fang Qing performed a shamanic sacrifice and received a blank contract capable of binding even a Great True Person.
• Fang Qing presented the contract to the Crippled Immortal, who signed it with his mana aura and felt its terrifying binding force.
• Fang Qing showed the Crippled Immortal the Winged Tiger and other refined corpses, revealing that they came from powerful factions and assigning him preliminary refinement work.
• Fang Qing offered the Crippled Immortal chances to trade for a Heavenly Infant Fruit and a Nascent Infant Pill in exchange for successfully completing the work.
• Fang Qing returned to his cave abode and circulated the Devouring Sea Method, planning to use the Crippled Immortal to trade his treasures for fourth-tier Essence Spirit Great Pills.

Fang Qing investigated the surge of Wood Virtue cultivators in Profound Void Heaven and discovered that a [Horn Wood] True Lord was backing Guangmu’s bid for the Principal Position. He forced True Person Sanmu to reveal what he knew and bound him to the Lord Mountain Association, but left still wondering who had placed Chuli Sect in Southern Wu.

• Fang Qing observed reports of new Wood Virtue Purple Mansions and suspected they were part of a wider plan to support Guangmu.
• Fang Qing entered Jade Pivot Immortal Hall through Profound Void Heaven and considered the sealed Grotto-Heaven beyond it.
• Fang Qing trapped True Person Sanmu in a private residence and forced him to name a [Horn Wood] True Lord as Guangmu’s backer.
• True Person Sanmu explained that he helped spread Wood Virtue cultivation techniques and guide Rogue Cultivators to create a flourishing spectacle for Guangmu’s bid.
• Fang Qing took a thread of Sanmu’s aura and made him join the Lord Mountain Association.
• Fang Qing accused Sanmu of hiding information about Chuli Sect, then left unconvinced that Sanmu knew who had placed the sect as a chess piece in Southern Wu.

Fang Qing learned that a powerful spirit demon was growing more intelligent and set his sights on hunting it once his Mystic Flame Demon Corpse was ready. He also heard that Heavenfiend Old Monster had obtained a complete lightning-path Heaven-Connecting Numinous Treasure and risen to challenge the Eastern Sea’s major powers.

• Fang Qing reviewed his cultivation progress and concluded that completing Origin Spring Ripple could let him advance to the Purple Mansion Late Stage.
• Crippled Immortal showed Fang Qing the repaired corpse intended for a Mystic Flame Demon Corpse and agreed to trade a Prime Quality Nascent Infant Pill for a fourth-tier water-attribute Essence Spirit Great Pill.
• Crippled Immortal told Fang Qing that a spirit demon had destroyed Windwalker Sect, devoured its Nascent Soul Early Stage supreme elder, and escaped pursuit after learning to use magical treasures.
• Fang Qing resolved to hunt the spirit demon after refining the Mystic Flame Demon Corpse, while doubting that the proposed Demon-Slaying Assembly would come together.
• Crippled Immortal revealed that Heavenfiend Old Monster had restored a lightning-path Heaven-Connecting Numinous Treasure and defeated two Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivators, raising Bloodfiend Island’s standing among the major powers.

Fang Qing completed refining the Mystic Flame Demon Corpse, gained strength by devouring two Fourth-Order Great Pills, and decided to pursue the Garbed Spirit Demon before it grew stronger. He left his cave abode and used a fragment of its garment to track it through the Great Void.

• Fang Qing prepared to refine the Great Demon's corpse with the Withered-Bone Jade Flame and [Maiden Earth], completing the Mystic Flame Demon Corpse after several months.
• Crippled Immortal visited Fang Qing with a water-aspected Demon Pill and an earth-aspected Essence Spirit Great Pill, then warned him that repeated exchanges for Nascent Infant treasures could expose their connection.
• Fang Qing devoured both Fourth-Order Great Pills, strengthening his primary Nascent Soul and advancing the Essence Spirits within the pills into battle-ready forms.
• Fang Qing divined that the Garbed Spirit Demon would soon grow much stronger by devouring Nascent Soul cultivators, so he chose to attack immediately rather than wait for the True Spirit Puppet.
• Fang Qing left a talisman double in his cave abode and traveled through the Great Void, using a garment fragment from the Garbed Spirit Demon to track it.

The Hu Family learned that its long-secluded elder Hu Yanzhou had succeeded in breaking through to the Purple Mansion, transforming the clan into an Immortal Clan. Sangji then received an invitation to attend Guangmu True Person’s gold-seeking ceremony at Sky Horn Sect and prepared to go alone.

• Hu Zhaoming warned Hu Yunshu and Hu Chengan that the weakened Hu Family had to avoid conflict, and said Hu Ruowei would marry into the Lu Family.
• Hu Yunshu realized the Hu Family’s Dao Foundation elders had suffered grave losses while supporting Hu Yanzhou’s attempt to break through to the Purple Mansion.
• A Wood Virtue Spirit Atmosphere rose from Black Tea Mountain, and Hu Yunshu recognized that Hu Yanzhou had succeeded.
• Sangji concluded that Sky Horn Sect had helped raise the Hu Family’s new Purple Mansion True Person as part of a wider arrangement involving the Esoteric Treasury and Wood Virtue.
• Leshan True Person delivered Sangji an invitation to Guangmu True Person’s gold-seeking ceremony at Sky Horn Sect on the first day of the eighth month.
• Sangji accepted the invitation and ordered Moonlight White and Void Sparrow to guard the White Bone Way while he attended alone.

Fang Qing gathered intelligence about Guangmu’s gold-seeking ceremony through the Lord Mountain Association while the Garbed Spirit Demon lured and slaughtered the Profound-Tide Sect’s Core Formation elders. As the demon prepared to devour the sect’s disciples, a yellow-robed youth emerged from the Great Void and struck it.

• Fang Qing convened the Lord Mountain Association in Profound Void Heaven, where True Person Sanmu and other members reported that Guangmu would seek gold on the first day of the eighth month and shared news of other sects’ plans.
• Senior Brother Yuyang returned to the Profound-Tide Sect after hearing that a Nascent Soul devil was attacking the Eastern Sea and followed his junior sister to the Patriarch Hall.
• Yuyang discovered that the Supreme Elder and his junior sister had been killed and their cores removed, while the Garbed Spirit Demon slaughtered the sect’s Core Formation elders inside the Heavenly Dipper Shield.
• The Garbed Spirit Demon used the Profound Tide Banner to kill nearly all the Core Formation cultivators, then turned toward the Foundation Establishment and Qi Refinement disciples outside.
• A yellow-robed youth emerged from the Great Void and punched the Garbed Spirit Demon, knocking it backward and disrupting its ability to traverse the Great Void.

Fang Qing captured the Garbed Spirit Demon with the Myriad Waters Cauldron and fled the Profound-Tide Sect before the South Sea Twin Fiends could question him. When the Beast-Taming Gate’s Earth Qilin confronted him in the Great Void, Fang Qing used [Maiden Earth] radiance to frighten it off, and the Qilin escaped with the Twin Fiends.

• Fang Qing sealed the Great Void and used the Mystic Flame Demon Corpse, his artifacts, and Three-Thousand Weak Water to overpower the Garbed Spirit Demon.
• Fang Qing invoked [Maiden Earth] to suppress the demon as it claimed to be Profound Heaven, then trapped it inside the Myriad Waters Cauldron.
• Fang Qing left the Profound-Tide Sect as the South Sea Twin Fiends demanded an explanation, and he vanished into the Great Void.
• The Earth Qilin arrived to hunt the demon, but Fang Qing used [Maiden Earth] radiance to make it flee back into the world.
• The Earth Qilin seized the South Sea Twin Fiends, carried them to a Desolate Island, and declared that Fang Qing had been a Spirit Transformation monster.

Fang Qing refined the Garbed Spirit Demon and gained insight into using water and fire to harmonize yin and yang. In Xituo Commandery, Fang Daoling encountered Hu Yunshu fleeing her pursuers and considered taking her in after learning her family had lost its Purple Mansion protector.

• Fang Qing burned the Garbed Spirit Demon with the Mystic Flame Demon Corpse’s Withered-Bone Jade Flame and his Ignorance-Slighting Ashen Flame for forty-nine days, but it restored itself by refining the cultivators it had devoured.
• Fang Qing realized water and fire could work together to overcome the Spirit Demon’s protection, then began refining it with the spirit waters in the Myriad Waters Cauldron.
• Fang Daoling searched Xituo Commandery for spirit assets to support his lineage and encountered Hu Yunshu fleeing cultivators from the Lu and Ye Families.
• Hu Yunshu explained that Hu Yanzhou had been taken to Great Treasury Temple and severed ties with the Hu Family, leaving her without his protection.
• Hu Yunshu offered Fang Daoling her storage pouch, which contained a Dao Foundation spirit item, and begged him to save her; he considered taking her in and attacked her pursuers with blades of waterlight.

As Old True Person Guangmu prepared to seek gold beneath the Great Chun Tree, Fang Qing refined the Garbed Spirit Demon and recovered the lower half of the Supreme Simplicity Golden Book. He began studying the book while Guangmu’s disciples waited in the Withered Silence Hall and the Vast Sea Sect aligned itself with the Sky Horn Sect.

• Sangji and Jiumoluo Jie arrived at the Sky Horn Sect, where True Person Sanmu told them Guangmu would seek gold beneath the Great Chun Tree on the first day of the eighth month.
• Great True Person Guangmu told Su Huan and Suyuan that he might die or cease to be himself during his attempt, gave them a jade bottle, and ordered them to hide in the Withered Silence Hall.
• Su Huan and Suyuan entered the Withered Silence Hall, where Suyuan opened the jade bottle and revealed an ordinary brown pill.
• True Person Le Shui admitted to Leshan that he feared their Water Virtue True Lord had fallen and explained why the Vast Sea Sect needed the Sky Horn Sect’s protection.
• Fang Qing used water and fire to destroy the Garbed Spirit Demon’s garments, suppressed its golden light, and recovered the lower half of the Supreme Simplicity Golden Book.
• Fang Qing found Immortal Luo’s storage pouch among the demon’s spoils, including a Heavenly Infant Fruit, a Heaven-Connecting Numinous Treasure fragment, Spirit Transformation insights, and a Great Void travel cloth, then began comprehending the Golden Book.

True Person Guangmu attempted to attain Metal beneath the Great Chun Tree, and the [Horn Wood] Golden Seat responded after he used his four Divine Abilities to pass through death and rebirth. Meanwhile, Fang Qing studied the Supreme Simplicity Golden Book and uncovered the arrangements and hidden traps governing Golden Seats and the path to [Year Guardian].

• True Person Guangmu summoned cultivators from across the world and demonstrated his [Horn Wood] Divine Abilities as the gathered Purple Mansion cultivators watched.
• True Person Guangmu drew the vitality from the Great Chun Tree, withered away, and emerged anew through Perching on a Withered Branch in Silence.
• The [Horn Wood] Golden Seat responded to True Person Guangmu, leaving Sangji and the other observers astonished that he might succeed.
• Fang Qing connected the Golden Seats to Golden Core advancement and worked out the required positions for seeking [Year Guardian].
• Fang Qing realized that mismatched positions and certain polluted Golden Seats could trap cultivators or cause them to die, and he worried about the dangers still hidden.

Fang Qing realized that establishing a Principal Position could invite usurpation, just as True Lord Kui Zang Xianqing attacked Guangmu after he established [Horn Wood]'s Principal Position. Guangmu’s fall erased him from people’s memories, while Suyuan sacrificed himself to send Su Huan into reincarnation.

• Fang Qing concluded that orthodox positions carried the hope of becoming a [Year Guardian] and that usurpation could be an alternative to reincarnation or abdication.
• Guangmu established [Horn Wood]'s Principal Position, became True Lord Eastern Pole Year Guardian Azure Root, and received recognition from Wood Virtue cultivators.
• True Lord Kui Zang Xianqing revealed himself and attacked Guangmu, using his concealed authority over [Kui Wood] to erase Guangmu and undermine his position.
• Wolves descended on Sky Horn Sect, devoured the Great Chun Tree, and left the sect's cultivators unable to remember Guangmu or why they had gathered.
• Suyuan gave Su Huan the reincarnation medicine and used the Pure Yang Ritual Sword to kill her, sending her toward reincarnation as he had planned.

Fang Qing learned that True Lord Kui Zang Xianqing had seized the orthodox [Kui Wood] position and was hiding the master of [Horn Wood], then planned to watch the turmoil and preserve valuable lineages. Great True Person Le Shui faced the Flood Dragon King and the Yinglong Envoy while escorting Leshan away, leaving Vast Sea Sect’s fate uncertain.

• Fang Qing realized True Lord Kui Zang Xianqing had seized [Kui Wood] and was concealing True Lord Eastern Pole Year Guardian Azure Root, and he decided not to personally interfere with Sky Horn Sect.
• Great True Person Le Shui explained to Leshan that [Kui Wood]'s Hiding had concealed a Sky Horn Sect figure, then ordered Vast Sea Sect to seal its mountain for a hundred years.
• The Flood Dragon King confronted Le Shui and Leshan at sea, but Le Shui used [Chariot Water] to wound him and warned that the fight favored Le Shui.
• The Yinglong Envoy appeared beside the Flood Dragon King, and Le Shui sent Leshan fleeing while he stayed behind to face them.
• Leshan reached Southern Wu and saw storms and [Chariot Water] spirit objects spread across the land as he mourned Le Shui.
• The Yinglong Envoy told the Flood Dragon King that their attack had only been a probe and that he had allowed Leshan to escape because Sword Pavilion guarded Southern Wu.

Fang Qing learned that Guangmu’s Gold attainment and disappearance had been erased from the world’s memory, then directed Jiumoluo Jie and Sangji to approach the weakened Vast Sea Sect. The chapter left True Person Leshan refusing to join the Esoteric Treasury as Sangji proposed a trade of cultivation techniques.

• Fang Qing reminded Sanmu that Guangmu had attained Gold as Eastern Pole Year Guardian Azure Root, though people outside the Profound Void Grotto-Heaven would forget him again.
• Sanmu reported that Great True Person Le Shui had died and that Leshan had returned to the Vast Sea Sect and closed its mountain.
• Fang Qing dismissed the other cultivators, ordered Sanmu to let him inspect the Sky Horn Sect’s Dao Treasury, and logged out as a vast consciousness stirred nearby.
• Fang Qing reflected on the rising power of awakened True Lords and studied the Supreme Simplicity Golden Book, considering the risks of choosing a Breath-Nourishing Dao lineage.
• Jiumoluo Jie and Sangji arrived at the Vast Sea Sect, where Leshan mistook them for members of the Sword Pavilion and refused Jiumoluo Jie’s proposal to relocate and become the Vast Sea Temple.
• Sangji clarified that they had another request and asked Leshan whether he would trade cultivation techniques with their temple.

Leshan negotiated with Temple of All Living Beings Without Form over two more Vast Sea Sect legacies, while True Person Sanmu gained a second Divine Ability but failed to secure the Sky Horn Sect’s [Horn Wood] legacy. Fang Qing received Sanmu’s [Dipper Wood] materials in Profound Void Heaven, where he met a powerful white beast and learned it was probing his connection to [Maiden Earth].

• Leshan recognized Temple of All Living Beings Without Form’s role in Steel Strength Dudzi’s interest and asked what it would offer for the Cloud-Sea Hidden-Scale Scripture and Gongsun's Insight on Viewing Clouds.
• True Person Sanmu advanced to the Purple Mansion Middle Stage and formed the Divine Ability Bridge Sinking Moon.
• True Person Suyuan offered Sanmu a copy of the [Dipper Wood] Dao Treasury but refused his request to study the Sky Horn Sect’s [Horn Wood] legacy.
• Fang Qing reviewed his cultivation progress and considered his prospects for reaching the Golden Seat without refining Golden Nature.
• Sanmu reported to Fang Qing that Suyuan would not surrender the Sky Horn Sect’s legacy, but offered three [Dipper Wood] Purple Mansion legacies instead.
• A white, sheep-shaped immortal subordinate appeared before Fang Qing in Profound Void Heaven and asked whether he was from the Monster Demon Way.

Fang Qing learned about Bai Ze’s Supreme Unity lineage and its knowledge of the [Year Guardians], then escaped when Bai Ze turned hostile. Back in his cave abode, he reconsidered his path to Golden Core and settled on pursuing the vacant [Winnowing Basket Water] position while weighing other dangerous possibilities.

• Bai Ze described the Supreme Unity Ancestor’s disciples and revealed that it had awakened only recently, after forgetting what happened when a [Year Guardian] began to awaken.
• Bai Ze explained that manifested Dao rightful positions were difficult to change, leading Fang Qing to conclude that [Rooftop Moon] held the Lunar Yin Principal Position and had placed itself on a doomed path.
• When Fang Qing asked where Profound Void Subtle True Lord was, Bai Ze transformed into a hostile Black Ze and attacked him.
• Fang Qing escaped by ending the borrowed disciple’s True Spirit, then wondered whether Bai Ze’s fractured nature reflected its missing master’s condition.
• Fang Qing weighed pursuing thunder, combining Dao lineages, and other approaches, but chose vacant [Winnowing Basket Water] as his main route toward Golden Core.