Chapter Summaries

Jiang Chen endured a heavenly lightning tribulation while infusing the Secret Realm Core with a spirit, succeeding at the cost of injuries to his soul and heart. He sealed the remaining Soul-Shocking Profound Sound Lightning inside the core and began healing.

• Dark clouds gathered over Peaceful Sect, and a faint bolt of heavenly lightning struck Jiang Chen in the Spirit Grotto to destroy the Secret Realm Core’s forming spirituality.
• Jiang Chen shielded himself and the core with his Divine Soul Golden Body, then used the Heart Ape in the Heart Mirror to withstand further lightning bolts.
• The Secret Realm Core’s spirituality blossomed, completing Jiang Chen’s Spirit Infusion and bringing the lightning tribulation to an end.
• Jiang Chen realized the tribulation had severely wounded his soul and heart and left the Heart Ape nearly shapeless.
• Jiang Chen identified the lingering lightning as Soul-Shocking Profound Sound Lightning, sealed it inside the Secret Realm Core, and began regulating his injuries.

Jiang Chen attempted to use the Mountain-River Possession Secret Art to merge the Heart of the Secret Realm with the Hundred Fruit Garden Secret Realm and take control of it. As the azure light spread through the realm, his consciousness faced a consuming darkness, but his main body kept his incarnation anchored.

• Jiang Chen reflected on Yuhuan Continent's spiritual energy recovery and the Impermanence Sect's role in restoring it.
• Jiang Chen decided to make the Hundred Fruit Garden Secret Realm his own by taking control of the grand formation's core.
• Jiang Chen entered the Heart of the Secret Realm with his consciousness and experienced the realm's essence, gaining a slight understanding of the void.
• Jiang Chen summoned the Soul-Shocking Profound Sound Lightning and sensed that it had grown stronger after taking root in the Heart of the Secret Realm.
• Jiang Chen circulated the Mountain-River Possession Secret Record, causing azure light to spread from the Heart of the Secret Realm across the Hundred Fruit Garden.
• Jiang Chen merged his consciousness with the Hundred Fruit Garden Secret Realm, enduring a consuming darkness while his main body anchored him.

After Chen Yongzu faked his death, the Qu and Qiao families launched a war that plunged the Nanjing Kingdom into chaos while the Peaceful Sect stayed neutral. Chen Yongzu revealed that he had engineered the conflict to draw out a hidden treasure and use it to break through to the Purple Mansion stage.

• Chen Yongzu's cultivation phenomenon collapsed, and news spread that he had died from backlash while practicing an evil art.
• Qu Shihan persuaded Qu Tingshui to ally with the Qiao Family and attack the Chen Family, and the two families divided the kingdom's eastern and western territories.
• The Chen Family and the Qu-Qiao alliance fought a brutal war as the Peaceful Sect fortified the Southern Four Prefectures and avoided taking sides.
• As calamity spread, corpses increasingly transformed, and Chen Yongzu watched the strange energy rise from his hidden position in the Golden Lodge.
• Chen Yongzu revealed that he had deliberately provoked the war to lure out a buried treasure, which he planned to refine to reach the Purple Mansion stage.

After a year of effort, Jiang Chen successfully possessed the Hundred Fruit Garden Secret Realm and awoke as its spirit, discovering a new spirit manor formed by the secret realm’s heart. He sensed a connection between his split soul and divine objects, especially the statue of the Spring God, whose nature now seemed different to him.

• Jiang Chen’s consciousness revived after his spirituality spread through the Hundred Fruit Garden Secret Realm, and he realized he had become its spirit.
• Jiang Chen sensed that the secret realm’s heart had formed a new spirit manor and opened the void to reveal it.
• Jiang Chen entered the spirit manor, formed a palace from spirituality, and established his split soul there to refine the secret realm’s spirituality.
• Jiang Chen retrieved the Golden Toad and the statue of the Spring God from his true body’s storage bag and sensed both were connected to gods.
• Jiang Chen found that the statue of the Spring God gave him a stronger sense of affinity than the Golden Toad and no longer seemed like a dead object.

Jiang Chen uncovered the Azure Sun Nurturing Talisman inside the Spring God statue and considered studying the divine path before deciding whether to cultivate it. He also examined the transformed Soul-Shocking Profound Sound Lightning, named his secret realm body the Spirit Lord, and returned to meditation.

• Jiang Chen discerned that the Spring God statue was an extraordinary body and found the Azure Sun Nurturing Talisman inheritance hidden within it.
• Jiang Chen learned that the Azure Sun Nurturing Talisman could lead cultivators along the divine path, but decided to wait until he learned more from the Impermanence Sect before cultivating it.
• Jiang Chen discovered that the Soul-Shocking Profound Sound Lightning had condensed a lightning seed and become second-rank spirit lightning.
• Jiang Chen planned to keep refining the secret realm and study the spirit lightning as a way to temper his soul.
• Jiang Chen named his secret realm body the Spirit Lord and entered meditation.

Jiang Chen used the Spirit Lord and the Return-to-Origin Spirit-Locking Grand Formation to shrink the Hundred Fruit Garden Secret Realm and carry it away from Wind Valley. While traveling south, he discovered that calamity qi was spreading across the Nanjing Kingdom from near Fire Origin City, where an earth treasure appeared to be hidden.

• Jiang Chen connected with the Spirit Lord and used the grand formation to shrink the Hundred Fruit Garden Secret Realm, then placed it in his sleeve.
• Cultivators arrived at Wind Valley after Jiang Chen left and found the area devastated; some reported the secret realm’s disappearance to the Qiao Family.
• Jiang Chen traveled south and encountered a corpse demon, suspecting that the conflict in the Nanjing Kingdom involved more than a struggle for power.
• Jiang Chen viewed the region through the Spirit Lord and saw grayish-white calamity qi spreading from beneath the earth, densest toward Fire Origin City.
• Jiang Chen detected a miserable green sun beneath Fire Origin City, suffered a blow to his elevated consciousness, and suspected it was an earth treasure behind the kingdom’s changes.

The Qu and Qiao families breached Fire Origin City and fought the last Chen Family defenders as calamity aura gathered around the city. Chen Yongzu watched for the earthly treasure to emerge, and when it rose from a fissure, its ghastly green light began transforming entranced cultivators into corpse fiends.

• Qu Shihan warned Qu Tingshui that a Dao Foundation-level corpse fiend had massacred a city, but Qu Tingshui chose to continue the siege of Fire Origin City.
• Three days later, the city’s grand formation collapsed, and the Qu and Qiao families stormed in, overwhelming the Chen Family defenders and Black Armor Army.
• Chen Yongling questioned whether the family’s sacrifices were worthwhile, and Chen Yonghou insisted they would be if Chen Yongzu reached the Purple Mansion realm.
• Qu Tingshui and Qiao Yong led Dao Foundation cultivators into battle against Chen Yonghou and Chen Yongling while Chen Yongzu watched from a hidden golden cottage.
• A huge fissure split Fire Origin City, and a ghastly green sun rose from beneath it as the earthly treasure emerged.
• The treasure’s radiance entranced many cultivators, whose eyes went lifeless and whose flesh began to rot.

A strange earth treasure appeared over Fire Origin City, turning people into living corpses, while Chen Yongzu emerged rejuvenated after draining four captives. Chen Yongzu began suppressing the treasure, but Qiao Yong and the other Dao Foundation cultivators attacked him before he could claim it.

• The Rotting Spirit Calamity Pearl's emergence mutated people in Fire Origin City into living corpses and threw the city into chaos.
• Qiao Yong attacked the pearl with nine wind pythons, but its power destroyed them and burned him with green flames.
• Chen Yongzu emerged from the imperial palace restored to middle age, while Chen Yongling lay dead and Chen Yonghou watched in shock.
• Chen Yongzu used the Three Tribulations Subduing Flame to suppress the pearl and identified it as the Rotting Spirit Calamity Pearl.
• Qiao Yong urged the Qu Family and Qiao Family cultivators to attack Chen Yongzu, and they unleashed spirit arts against the imperial palace.

Chen Yongzu completed Four Symbols Reversing Fate and overwhelmed the Qu and Qiao Households’ cultivators, then moved to claim the Rotting Spirit Calamity Pearl. Jiang Chen arrived to stop him, summoned the Spirit Lord through the Hundred Fruit Garden Secret Realm, and wielded the Five Mountains Boulder Pestle as everyone in Fire Origin City looked up at his towering form.

• Chen Yongzu emerged unharmed from the ruins, declared his high-grade Dao Foundation complete, and attacked the six Dao Foundation cultivators with True Flame Transforming Spirits.
• Chen Yongzu killed one cultivator, ignored another’s attempt to surrender, and turned to claim the subdued Rotting Spirit Calamity Pearl.
• Jiang Chen arrived above Fire Origin City, recognized the pearl as an earth treasure capable of causing a catastrophe, and decided to intervene.
• Jiang Chen summoned the Spirit Lord and drew on the Hundred Fruit Garden Secret Realm’s power.
• Jiang Chen called forth the Five Mountains Boulder Pestle and joined it with the Spirit Lord, imposing a crushing presence over the city.

Jiang Chen attacked Chen Yongzu with the Five Mountains Boulder Pestle, shattering Fire Origin City and killing him after Chen Yongzu’s Dao Foundation reversed and his power ran wild. Jiang Chen then killed Qu Tingshui, leaving both late-stage Dao Foundation cultivators of Nanjing Kingdom dead.

• Jiang Chen struck Chen Yongzu with the Five Mountains Boulder Pestle, but Chen Yongzu survived behind the Three-Tribulation Fire-Subduing Chain and Four Symbols Dharma Robe.
• Jiang Chen drew on the Hundred Fruit Garden Secret Realm and swung the pestle a second time, while Chen Yongzu tried to draw more power from the Corpse Calamity Pearl.
• Chen Yongzu’s Dao Foundation reversed again, his power ran wild, and he realized he had been set up.
• Jiang Chen’s second blow shattered the scarlet serpent, destroyed the imperial palace, and split Fire Origin City apart.
• Jiang Chen killed Qu Tingshui with the Soul-Shocking Profound Sound Lightning, leaving both late-stage Dao Foundation cultivators of Nanjing Kingdom dead.

Jiang Chen searched Chen Yongzu’s remnant soul, confirmed that Chen Yongzu had been used as a sacrifice, and collected his treasures and inheritance. He left Fire Origin City burning as a forbidden land, unaware that someone had watched his actions from above.

• Jiang Chen examined Chen Yongzu’s corpse and remnant soul, learning that Chen Yongzu’s plan to seize Dao foundations had made him a target for another’s scheme.
• Jiang Chen retrieved and sealed the Rotting Spirit Calamity Pearl, then claimed the Three-Tribulation Fire-Subduing Chain.
• Jiang Chen found Lu Xuanping’s jade slip containing the Four Symbols Dharma Robe inheritance and deduced that the complete Four Symbols inheritance was likely in Lu Xuanping’s hands.
• Jiang Chen refined and took Chen Yongzu’s Golden Lodge, collected its contents and the Chen Family spirit vein, and reflected that Fire Origin City and the Chen Family had fallen after five hundred years.
• Jiang Chen set Fire Origin City ablaze with the Blood-Baleful True Flame to keep the corpse calamity from spreading, then departed as an unseen observer watched him from above.

Ge Zimo urged Ge Qingshan to seize Jiang Chen and take his earth treasure, but Ge Qingshan revealed that Jiang Chen carried an Impermanence Sect Dharma seal tied to the formidable Daoist Yuangang. The Ge Clan withdrew from any confrontation and decided to watch developments in the Nanjing Kingdom.

• Ge Zimo pressed Ge Qingshan to pursue Jiang Chen and claim the Rotting Spirit Calamity Pearl and his other treasures.
• Ge Qingshan stopped Ge Zimo and warned that attacking Jiang Chen could bring disaster upon the Ge Clan.
• Ge Qingshan identified the Impermanence Sect as the reason for his caution and explained that Jiang Chen bore a Dharma seal containing dragon-whale power.
• Ge Qingshan speculated that Daoist Yuangang, the One Breath Overwhelms the Seas True Lord, had taken an interest in Jiang Chen and might have accepted him as a personal disciple.
• Ge Qingshan ordered Ge Zimo to inform his cousin and monitor changes in the Nanjing Kingdom, then concealed himself.

Jiang Chen returned to Pureheart Retreat, where Daoist Yuangang praised his improved foundation, told him to settle his affairs, and warned him against cultivating Daoist Four Symbols' inheritance. Meanwhile, Lu Xuanping completed the Four Symbols Origin-Returning Canon after avenging his family and chose to follow his transformed Dao Foundation’s guidance eastward in search of fortune.

• Jiang Chen greeted Daoist Yuangang, who recognized that his essence, qi, and spirit were complete and said he was one Impermanence Flower away from a superior Dao Foundation.
• Daoist Yuangang told Jiang Chen to finish his affairs in the Nanjing Kingdom and return to the sect, then warned him to treat Daoist Four Symbols' inheritance only as a reference.
• After Jiang Chen left, Daoist Yuangang wondered whether Daoist Four Symbols' true inheritance was about to emerge on Yuhuan Continent, but decided not to involve himself.
• Lu Xuanping recovered from his near-decayed state and reflected on how he had avenged his family by using the inheritance and his Four Symbols Physique to defeat Chen Yongzu and seize his foundation.
• Lu Xuanping's Dao Foundation transformed into a high-grade Four Symbols Dao Foundation, and he planned to seek an earth treasure to open his Purple Mansion.
• Lu Xuanping followed the fortune-sensing guidance of his Dao Foundation and decided to travel east.

Jiang Chen gathered the Nanjing Kingdom’s surviving powers and founded the Peaceful Dao Alliance, transforming the Peaceful Sect into the state church. After Hermit Fuling established Dao Foundation with Jiang Chen’s support, Jiang Chen revealed that he intended Fuling to lead the church after his departure.

• Jiang Chen arrived at Wooden Fish Summit atop a flood dragon and invited the gathered forces to join the Peaceful Dao Alliance.
• Qu Shize pledged the Qu Family’s support, and Qiao Min agreed to join on behalf of the Qiao Family.
• Jiang Chen and the gathered cultivators established the Alliance, made Jiang Chen its nominal leader, and reformed the Peaceful Sect into the Peaceful Church.
• After three days, a river phenomenon marked Hermit Fuling’s successful establishment of a mid-grade Dao Foundation.
• Hermit Fuling thanked Jiang Chen for his teachings, and Jiang Chen chose him to lead the Peaceful Church after Jiang Chen left.

After helping establish the Peaceful Dao Alliance and expand the Peaceful Church, Jiang Chen gathered his followers and departed the Nanjing Kingdom for the Impermanence Sect. He left by crossing the void aboard a Cloudwing Flying Boat carried by Daoist Yuangang’s ancient whale.

• The Peaceful Dao Alliance suppressed the calamities, took over rule of the Nanjing Kingdom, and watched the Peaceful Church rapidly expand.
• Wang Yuan delivered the resources and list he had gathered, and Jiang Chen decided it was time to leave.
• Jiang Chen summoned his chosen companions, including Wang Yuan, the Black and White Elders, the Azure Flower Empress, and Ruthless Nun, onto the Cloudwing Flying Boat.
• Daoist Yuangang transformed fierce wind into an ancient whale, carried the flying boat, and broke through the void as the people of the Nanjing Kingdom watched.
• The Hermit Fuling and the Peaceful Dao Alliance cultivators bid farewell to Jiang Chen, who looked forward to reaching the Impermanence Sect.

As the ancient whale carried Daoist Yuangang and Jiang Chen into the Impermanence Sect, Jiang Chen contemplated Great Splendor Mountain and entered enlightenment. His insight stirred the mountain, causing it to reveal an extraordinary method and draw the attention of the sect’s cultivators; the chapter left Jiang Chen immersed in his comprehension as Daoist Yuangang stood beside him.

• The ancient whale brought Daoist Yuangang and Jiang Chen through the sect’s formation to Great Splendor Mountain.
• Daoist Yuangang explained that the Impermanence Sect had raised Great Splendor Mountain from an ordinary spirit mountain, while Azure Firmament Mountain had once been the continent’s foremost mountain before it was broken in the war between humans and demons.
• Jiang Chen contemplated Great Splendor Mountain, entered enlightenment, and received a wisp of its divine intent.
• An extraordinary method was branded into Jiang Chen’s heart, and his mind began evolving its principles.
• Great Splendor Mountain rang throughout the sect, prompting Purple Mansion True Persons to search for the disciple who had comprehended its secret method.
• The sect’s cultivators identified Jiang Chen beside Daoist Yuangang, and their eagerness to approach him diminished.

Jiang Chen officially entered the Impermanence Sect after comprehending the Taihua Heaven-Supporting Secret Register and received an Impermanence Flower and a Dao-Seeking Token. Daoist Yuangang led him to Void Dao Hall, while the sect’s disciples recognized him as a growing rival for a true disciple position.

• Jiang Chen comprehended the Taihua Heaven-Supporting Secret Register, a body-refining art that forged the bones and could benefit even Celestial Phenomenon cultivators.
• The sect granted Jiang Chen an Impermanence Flower and a Dao-Seeking Token, and his name was inscribed in the jade scripture, confirming his entry into the Impermanence Sect.
• Jiang Chen realized the Impermanence Flower could help him forge his Dao Foundation, while the Dao-Seeking Token gave him a chance to encounter the sect’s core inheritances.
• Daoist Yuangang dispersed the divine senses watching Jiang Chen, explained that Dharma lineages might seek to recruit him, and arranged for his servants to remain at Affairs Peak.
• Daoist Yuangang led Jiang Chen onto Great Splendor Mountain and toward Void Dao Hall, while several Dao Foundation disciples discussed the increased competition for one of the twelve true disciple positions.

Jiang Chen entered the Void Dao Hall to seek an inheritance from the Void Dao-Seeking Stele, which selected the difficult Primordial Unity True Explanation for him. The sect’s awakened consciousnesses debated his prospects and agreed to wait and see whether he could master it.

• Daoist Yuangang guided Jiang Chen to the Void Dao Hall and explained that the Dao-Seeking Token would connect him to its inheritances.
• Jiang Chen climbed the three thousand Dao-Seeking Jade Steps while Daoist Yuangang and Yun Wuya watched, and Yun Wuya asked whether Yuangang would take him as a personal disciple.
• Jiang Chen entered the hall’s starry interior, where the Dao-Seeking Token awakened the cultivation methods and he opened his mind to their selection.
• The Primordial Unity True Explanation, despite being dim and isolated, erupted with light and drew Jiang Chen into its inheritance.
• The Void Dao-Seeking Stele trembled, awakening consciousnesses in the Impermanence Heavenly Realm, and they discussed the difficulty of mastering the Primordial Unity True Explanation before deciding to wait and see.

After receiving the Primordial Unity True Explanation, Jiang Chen settled on Jade-Green Mountain and began secluding himself to forge his Dao Foundation. His move drew the attention of Profound Flood Dragon, who suspected Daoist Yuangang might pass his inheritance to Jiang Chen and decided to meet him.

• Jiang Chen awakened with an initial understanding of the Primordial Unity True Explanation and left Great Splendor Mountain with Daoist Yuangang.
• Daoist Yuangang gave Jiang Chen Jade-Green Mountain as his cultivation ground and urged him to forge his Dao Foundation.
• Jiang Chen assigned Red Jade to manage the mountain, then entered the Hundred Fruit Garden Secret Realm and encouraged Taoyao to cultivate.
• After three days of preparation, Jiang Chen returned to his cave dwelling and began his Dao Foundation breakthrough.
• Profound Flood Dragon learned that Jiang Chen had moved into Jade-Green Mountain and resolved to find an opportunity to meet him.

After a month of cultivation, Jiang Chen condensed a flawless Dao Foundation, transforming his body and true qi. He discovered that his Primordial Unity Dao Foundation had granted him the innate divine ability One-Qi Primordial Embryo, and began to understand its powers.

• Jiang Chen used his soul power to reconcile the conflicting transformation mysteries of his true qi and the Impermanence Flower.
• Jiang Chen gathered his essence, qi, and spirit to form a primordial embryo in his sea of qi, completing his Dao Foundation.
• The primordial embryo transformed Jiang Chen's true qi into spiritual power and his flesh into a spirit body of white jade.
• Jiang Chen recognized that he had achieved a flawless Primordial Unity Dao Foundation and could enter a spiritified state without backlash.
• Jiang Chen examined the One-Qi Primordial Embryo and learned its mysteries of embryonic breathing and primordial qi.