Chapter Summaries

After witnessing the Primordial Era Tribulation imprinted in the wooden box, Lu Qing reflected on the dangers of entering Reincarnation and resolved to complete the Five Steps of Dongzhen first. A new spiritual response toward the Dharma-Free Immortal Gate stirred his Divination, which warned him of a coming encounter at Little Yang Mountain.

• Lu Qing inferred that the figures who underwent Dao-Assimilation were peak Great Divine-Power Immortals of the Primordial Era, possibly including the White-robed Daoist.
• Lu Qing concluded that entering Reincarnation could trigger a perilous Tribulation and resolved to wait until he completed the Five Steps of Dongzhen.
• Lu Qing sensed that the time had come to cultivate the Dao arts of the Dharma-Free Immortal Gate.
• Lu Qing's Divination appeared again and warned that traveling north through Little Yang Mountain would bring him into a brief battle with two mysterious people and create dangerous Primordial Era Cause and Effect.
• Lu Qing recognized Little Yang Mountain in the Divination and guessed the identities of the two mysterious people.

Lu Qing used Divination to weigh whether to visit the Dharma-Free Immortal Gate or pass through Little Yang Mountain, learning that the gate would close for ten years and that the Mountain Dwellers were afflicted by black mist. He chose to travel as a Heavenly Secrets Avatar and faced the two Primordial Era seniors, preparing to awaken them through Dharma Combat.

• Lu Qing compared two Calming Hexagrams and learned that the Dharma-Free Immortal Gate would close its gates for ten years, while detouring around Little Yang Mountain would bring no gain or disturbance.
• Lu Qing chose the Divination that sent him through Little Yang Mountain, recalling his earlier encounter with its two Mountain Dwellers and the dangerous cause and effect surrounding the Heavenly Sun Path.
• Lu Qing left his Daoist Dojo as a Heavenly Secrets Avatar on the final day of the year and headed through the falling snow toward Little Yang Mountain.
• Lu Qing sensed a faint Restriction around Little Yang Mountain that blocked the snow and suspected that its Earth Qi was troubled.
• Lu Qing found the two Mountain Dwellers surrounded by black mist and realized that he would have to fight them in Dharma Combat to awaken them.

Lu Qing broke the two Mountain Dwellers free from a dangerous Heavenly Secrets vision and learned that Little Yang Mountain guarded the corpse of the Reincarnation Devil Master Fangxian. The wardens gave him a command talisman for his journey to see the Myriad Dao and revealed that the Immortal’s familiar name was Taihao.

• Lu Qing observed a disastrous future in the Heavenly Secrets and cut through its manifestations to awaken the two Mountain Dwellers.
• The Mountain Dwellers thanked Lu Qing and explained that Little Yang Mountain was the burial ground of Fangxian, whose corpse they guarded.
• One Mountain Dweller divined Lu Qing’s karmic affinity and gave him a fish-shaped command talisman, noting that it would help him reach the Myriad Dao.
• Lu Qing asked for the Daoist title of the Immortal whose ruins the wardens wanted him to report back about, and they answered that the Immortal was known as Taihao.

Lu Qing traveled on foot across Northern Heaven Continent and reached the Dharma-Free Immortal Gate, where its brilliant Fate Allotment and unusual cultivation path deepened his interest. At the gate’s Dao-Seeking Peaks, he studied a vast formation modeled on the 365 Main Celestial Circuit Stars and recognized its potential for divination.

• Lu Qing reflected on the dangers of Dao-Assimilation and the difficulty of tracing True Spirits through Reincarnation.
• Lu Qing saw the Dharma-Free Immortal Gate’s golden and silver Fate Allotment and became curious about its path of cultivation.
• Lu Qing walked toward the Dharma-Free Immortal Gate’s Dao-Seeking Peaks and examined the surrounding cities and jade platforms.
• Lu Qing recognized that the peaks formed a 365-star formation with each mountain as a Formation Eye, carrying an Aura of Heavenly Secrets.

Lu Qing explored the Dharma-Free Immortal Gate’s Dao-Seeking Peaks, studying the distinct Dao Rhymes preserved in their mountains. After considering a Sword Dao focused on destruction and rebirth, he found an Alchemy Phenomenon on another peak as other cultivators gathered to observe it.

• Lu Qing examined a jagged peak and recognized its newly formed Sword Dao Dao Rhyme.
• Lu Qing judged the peak’s solitary Sword Dao unsuited to be his own foundation, though it could help desperate cultivators pursue destruction followed by rebirth.
• Lu Qing left the peak and entered another, where Five Elements mist and rosy clouds concealed an Alchemy Phenomenon.
• Lu Qing saw that the Alchemy Phenomenon preserved an imprint of the past and offered a clear opportunity to comprehend Dao.
• Other cultivators noticed the phenomenon, entered the mountain, and settled in different places to observe it.

Lu Qing consulted the Thunder Dragon artifact spirit about Primordial Era Shouyang Mountain and was advised to keep cultivating rather than pursue dangerous knowledge. Fu Huazi then revealed that the Human Path was about to emerge and asked the Thunder Dragon to lend him its eyes to examine the future Heavenly Secrets concerning the Son of the Human Emperor.

• Lu Qing observed alchemy phenomena related to the Four Symbols and considered the sealed Dharma-Free Immortal Gate and the Mountain Dwellers’ mountain.
• The Thunder Dragon artifact spirit recalled that an undying Devil Master had perished at Shouyang Mountain but could not remember who had acted against him.
• Lu Qing explained what he had discovered, and the Thunder Dragon warned him that learning too much before reaching Seeking Dao could hinder his cultivation.
• After Lu Qing left, Fu Huazi and the White Crane Ancestor arrived, and the Thunder Dragon and White Crane Ancestor began to quarrel before Fu Huazi stopped them.
• Fu Huazi said the Human Path was about to emerge and that trouble affecting the Son of the Human Emperor could overturn Humanity Fate Allotment.
• Fu Huazi asked the Thunder Dragon to lend him its eyes to glimpse the future Heavenly Secrets, whose high perspective revealed Fate Allotments but not the fate of the Daoist Lineages beneath them.

Thunder Dragon suspected a frightening possibility and decided to act, while Lu Qing used his incarnation at the Dharma-Free Immortal Gate to examine its Fate Allotment as the sect closed its mountain gates. The Fate Allotment suddenly roared and surged, leaving cultivators wondering what had changed in the Upper Immortal Gate.

• Thunder Dragon considered a terrifying possibility and resolved not to stand by idly.
• Lu Qing continued managing Outer Academy affairs and reflected on the Profound Heaven Bell’s warning that Fate Allotment was rooted in the Dao.
• Lu Qing observed disciples of the Dharma-Free Immortal Gate hurrying back as the sect closed its mountain gates for ten years.
• Lu Qing saw that the Dharma-Free Immortal Gate’s Fate Allotment appeared calm, and suspected its Heavenly Secrets had been concealed amid internal disputes.
• The surrounding Fate Allotment roared and churned, startling cultivators who wondered what had happened in the Upper Immortal Gate.

Lu Qing witnessed a Dao-seeking figure at the Dharma-Free Immortal Gate choose to return through Dao-Assimilation, an event that stirred heaven and earth before erasing the figure from memory. Lu Qing realized his divination had foretold that he would arrive too late to gain anything, and he left with the divination’s deeper meaning still unknown.

• Lu Qing concealed his Energy Flow and Heavenly Mandate as countless gazes from across the world turned toward the Dharma-Free Immortal Gate.
• Lu Qing recognized the mysterious figure’s aura of time and inferred that the gate had closed for ten years because the figure was facing a choice between Dao-Assimilation and extending his life.
• The figure sighed that the times would not wait, and Lu Qing saw him choose the mortal world and step onto a Great Dao that shattered beneath his feet.
• The figure vanished through Dao-Assimilation as spiritual rain fell and the surrounding cultivators gradually forgot him.
• Lu Qing examined his fading divination and concluded that he was destined to arrive too late to witness the figure’s return through Dao-Assimilation.

Lu Qing witnessed a Dao-seeking expert's Dao Transformation and, while traveling through the Northern Heaven Continent, realized he had begun to comprehend the red dust Great Dao. He returned toward his dojo after observing that the Dao Transformation's spirit rain and the aftermath of the Nine Heavens Dao Assembly had spurred cultivators across the continent toward breakthroughs.

• A Dharma-Free Immortal Gate elder recognized that a Dao-seeking expert had chosen Dao Transformation and worried that the expert's departure would unleash struggles within the sect.
• Lu Qing left the Dharma-Free Immortal Gate and encountered spirit rain falling over a Northern Heaven Continent city, where cultivators and businesses welcomed its benefits.
• As Lu Qing walked through the rain, he sensed its red dust Dao rhyme and realized that his own wandering had brought him into harmony with the red dust Great Dao.
• Lu Qing returned toward his dojo and surveyed the Northern Heaven Continent, seeing signs that many cultivators were approaching breakthroughs after the Nine Heavens Dao Assembly.

After the Dao Debate Assembly, Lu Qing examined changes in the world’s Fate Allotments, including the rise of Human Emperor Purple Qi and the growth of the Eight Wastelands. He returned to Southern Heaven Continent and found White Crane Boy’s cultivation had advanced.

• Lu Qing saw purple qi emerge within Humanity Fate Allotment and concluded that the present Son of the Human Emperor had likely appeared.
• Lu Qing considered how the Human Emperor’s rivals would possess their own Heavenly Mandates and wondered whether the Dharma-Free Immortal Gate’s ten-year closure had a deeper purpose.
• Lu Qing observed that the Demonic Path had grown quieter and that the Eight Wastelands had filled with Rogue Cultivators and new sects despite its heavy cultivation Cause and Effect.
• Lu Qing wondered whether a Demon corpse suppressed at Little Yang Mountain was connected to the mountain’s severed head.
• Lu Qing returned to Southern Heaven Continent and found White Crane Boy’s Primordial Spirit aura had broken through, while White Marsh’s realm continued to fluctuate.

White Marsh showed Lu Qing an auspicious omen verse that foretold renewal, purple qi, and a moment when Heavenly Secrets would open. Lu Qing sensed that a bright-moon radiance and an opportunity for good fortune would soon appear, then returned to meditation while considering the ancient powers who might emerge in a new Great Era.

• White Marsh told Lu Qing that its Heavenly Secrets Divine Ability had revealed an auspicious omen and showed him a verse written in Spirit Script.
• Lu Qing joined his incarnation to his main body and interpreted the verse as promising renewal, noble Fate Allotment, and the return of clarity to Heavenly Secrets.
• Lu Qing divined that a radiance like a bright moon would appear soon and sensed that the coming good fortune would have to be grasped.
• Lu Qing meditated by Heavenly Secret Lake and reflected on Reincarnation, the Red Dust Way, and the possibility that ancient cultivators might emerge in another Great Era.

White Marsh discovered the Human Emperor Purple Qi and set out to claim the merit of following its bearer. Meanwhile, Fu Huazi and the White Crane Ancestor discussed a troubling vision of the future and concluded that the emerging Purple Qi was protected, though Variable Fate could still alter what lay ahead.

• White Marsh found the Human Emperor Purple Qi and flew toward it, hoping to earn great Merit by following the Son of the Human Emperor.
• The White Crane Ancestor observed that the formation was weakening as the thing at Little Yang Mountain called to it more strongly.
• Fu Huazi told the White Crane Ancestor that he had seen an emperor, living beings plunged into misery, and Daoist lineages disappearing.
• The White Crane Ancestor questioned how that vision fit with the bright Heavenly Secrets and the golden light in the Six Paths Fate Allotment.
• Fu Huazi argued that the future was changeable and that the absence of spiritual warnings meant Variable Fate could still emerge.
• The White Crane Ancestor concluded that the Human Emperor Purple Qi was sheltered by the Human Path's Fate Allotment.

White Crane Ancestor and Fu Huazi discussed Lu Qing’s coming trials, the return of the Human Path, and the powerful rivals tied to the Profound Heaven Dao Sect’s Dao Child. Meanwhile, Lu Qing’s Red Dust Avatar continued managing Immortal City and began refining the Immortal City Heavenly Prison.

• White Crane Ancestor and Fu Huazi considered the dangers facing the Son of the Human Emperor and agreed that the Human Path’s rise would involve slaughter.
• White Crane Ancestor worried that Lu Qing’s reincarnation cultivation would bring a difficult tribulation, while Fu Huazi trusted Lu Qing’s Dao Heart and aptitude.
• White Crane Ancestor and Fu Huazi discussed how the Profound Heaven Dao Sect’s Dao Child would need to stand above other Children of Providence to gather the sect’s momentum.
• Fu Huazi told White Crane Ancestor that Lu Qing was ready to leave his master’s tutelage, prompting White Crane Ancestor to end the conversation and cultivate.
• Lu Qing’s Red Dust Avatar continued handling Immortal City’s affairs and began refining the Immortal City Heavenly Prison through the Artifact Dao.

Lu Qing considered the forces stirring across the cultivation world while observing Buddhist cultivators settling in the Immortal City. As an insight into tribulations as a cycle of reincarnation emerged, he sent his Divine Sense to his main body in the Purple Mansion Realm.

• A cultivator interested in investigating the Heavenly Prison drew Lu Qing’s attention, but he sensed no malicious Cause and Effect or Karmic Affinity.
• Lu Qing observed that the Buddhist cultivators had settled into the city, where the old monk’s reflections on guiding others stirred his Buddha Nature.
• Lu Qing pondered the Western Heaven Continent’s conflict, the struggle to find a path beyond the current realm, and the signs that some powerful cultivators could no longer wait.
• Lu Qing connected recurring tribulations with reincarnation, reasoning that True Spirits returned to the Nether Sea when tribulations arose.
• Lu Qing sent a thread of Divine Sense from his avatar into his main body’s Purple Mansion Realm.

While in seclusion, Lu Qing used his Dao Heart to glimpse a possible future Human Emperor and gained confidence about his coming trial of Reincarnation. He examined the Nether Sea’s connection to the Great Dao of Reincarnation, while Gray Crow sensed the Nether Sea stirring again.

• Lu Qing’s avatar and true body united in Dao Heart, revealing branching futures and a possible Human Emperor bearing purple qi and golden dragon Fate Allotment.
• Lu Qing glimpsed his own figure in Heavenly Secrets and took the clear, pure aura as a sign that his confidence in the Reincarnation trial had grown.
• Lu Qing considered the threat of Fangxian Reincarnation and the importance of preserving his own Reincarnation Dao.
• Lu Qing followed Reincarnation Dao Rhymes to discover that the Nether Sea lay amid a vast void beyond the Nine Heavens and might have emerged from the core of Nine-Nether.
• Gray Crow watched the Nether Sea warily and cawed that it had stirred again.

Gray Crow sensed a disturbance in the Reincarnation Nether Sea and chose to enter the cycle of reincarnation to seek the era’s Dao fortune. Lu Qing glimpsed a future connection to the True Spirit, while the Heavenly Sun Earth Continent drew new visitors and Dharma-Free Immortal Gate disciples.

• Gray Crow sensed the Great Dao answering a disturbance and worried that the Human Path might produce a Human Emperor who could threaten reincarnation.
• Gray Crow shed its cultivation and chose to enter worldly reincarnation, realizing that reincarnation beings had to give up Heaven’s favor to seek Transcendence.
• Lu Qing saw a True Spirit enter reincarnation and divined that he would deal with it in the future.
• Stargazing cultivators noticed changes in celestial phenomena and speculated that new cultivation methods could transform the Stargazing Way.
• Cultivators from other continents arrived in the Heavenly Sun Earth Continent to exchange resources and explore its paths.
• Dharma-Free Immortal Gate disciples continued traveling in the Heavenly Sun Earth Continent despite their sealed mountain gate.

While in seclusion, Lu Qing refined his Daoist Dojo through his growing mastery of the Artifact Dao, then entered a Time Tributary where White Marsh’s fortune verse led him to mysterious Time Purple Qi. The qi strengthened Lu Qing’s Dao foundations before vanishing, leaving him puzzled by its lack of past, present, or future.

• Lu Qing observed that the Dharma-Free Immortal Gate’s Supreme Treasure had limited the effects of a powerful figure’s departure, while he judged the Heavenly Sun Path dangerous because of its connection to Devil Master Heavenly Sun.
• Lu Qing completed his understanding of the Artifact Dao and infused his Daoist Dojo’s building with refining Dao Rhyme, making it resemble a starry, naturally concealed treasure.
• White Marsh sensed the disturbance at the mountain and concluded that Lu Qing was cultivating; months later, news spread that the Dharma-Free Immortal Gate had shut its gates.
• Lu Qing entered a Time Tributary and found Time Purple Qi emerging there, recognizing that it fulfilled the latter half of White Marsh’s fortune verse.
• Lu Qing held the purple qi and gained a sudden increase in his Great Dao foundations before it dispersed; he found no past, present, or future associated with it and thought of the Reincarnation Nether Sea.

Humanity-Dao White Marsh searched across Great Eras for candidates bearing the Human Emperor Fate Allotment and found several hidden Sons of the Human Emperor. It marked a youth in a village and turned to investigate a second candidate in a Cultivation City, preparing to divine his fate.

• At its master's Daoist Dojo, White Marsh noticed its Divine Ability had advanced and watched Chaosheng cultivate.
• Humanity-Dao White Marsh entered a Great Era beyond the Heavens and used its Heavenly Eye to search for the Human Emperor Fate Allotment.
• It spotted a golden streak of fate and followed it to a youth working in a village field, whose ordinary-looking fate concealed golden light and purple qi.
• White Marsh left a Dao Marker in the village youth's brow and realized another Son of the Human Emperor was nearby.
• It found a strikingly handsome youth cultivating in seclusion in a Cultivation City and began gathering its Divine Sense to divine his fate.

White Marsh and Lu Qing sensed changes in fate and the Heavenly Secrets, while a vast, mysterious Buddha-like golden light spread across the West Sea. Cultivators gathered to investigate, but no one knew what lay within the light, and the chapter ended as two disciples spotted a great sect approaching.

• White Marsh stirred the surrounding fate allotment and began observing its threads across distant heavens and earths.
• Lu Qing noticed a ripple in the Heavenly Secrets and saw Humanity's golden fate light growing brighter as a new Tribulation Cycle approached.
• Lu Qing detected ancient fate within a vast Buddha-like light spreading across the West Sea and wondered whether it concealed an old scheme or merely a cultivation opportunity.
• Cultivators sent investigators to the West Sea and gathered near the coast, but those within the golden light had sent no news.
• Two fellow disciples watched the West Sea from a cloud and saw people from a great sect arrive.

Lu Qing learned that the ancient golden light over the West Sea had drawn powerful factions and that the Destinies of some Primordial Immortal Seeds had fallen within it. The chapter left the golden light’s secrets unresolved as Lu Qing sought to understand its connection to the Primordial Immortal Seeds.

• Cultivators from the Seeking Dao Immortal Sect, the Divine Path, the Buddhist Sect, and the Demon Race arrived at the West Sea, while those who charged into the golden light were reduced to blood mist.
• Lu Qing returned to the Dao Sect and listened to a Hall of Deliberation meeting while continuing to cultivate and earn Dao Merit.
• Qingxuan explained to Lu Qing that Primordial Immortal Seeds had once possessed the aptitude to become Immortals, but some had Destinies outside the Immortal Path of this age.
• Qingxuan said divination revealed that the Destinies of some Primordial Immortal Seeds had fallen into the golden light, leading elders to suspect it was an ancient handiwork.