Chapter Summaries

Lu Qing and the other cultivators encountered Four Seasons Birds as their tower ships crossed a Daoist Dojo, and learned the birds were connected to the Heavenly Court's age. As the seasons began moving again, Lu Qing sensed the million years of stagnation behind the arriving snowstorm and glimpsed a hazy figure creating a world and sending the birds forth.

• A spatial tremor halted the tower ships, and snow-white birds emerged from cracks in space, turning the spring landscape into a frozen winter.
• A cultivator identified the birds as Four Seasons Herald Birds from the Heavenly Court's age and explained their role in governing the seasons.
• Chen Yu concluded that the birds posed no threat if left undisturbed, and the tower ships resumed their journey toward the mountain foothills.
• Lu Qing realized that the Dao Prefecture's laws had remained frozen in spring for a million years and that the arriving snow marked the seasons circulating anew.
• Lu Qing glimpsed a hazy figure beside the River of Time creating a world, touching the Four Seasons Birds, and telling them to go.

Lu Qing realized that ancient immortals were gradually being erased from time and memory, revealing how the Era of Variables might overcome fixed destiny. As his tower ship continued onward, he concealed his incarnation’s fate and wondered who the players in the cosmic game were; in the Nine Heavens, the Heavenly Net Chessboard began producing new favored figures across the great worlds.

• Lu Qing recalled the figures he had seen on the Vermilion Bird World's Long River of Time and realized that some had vanished from his memory because their Dao had been erased.
• Lu Qing concluded that the Era of Variables was advancing as immortals’ traces faded, and that their return might still turn fixed destinies into variables.
• Lu Qing severed his connection to the stirring fate and concealed his incarnation’s destiny.
• Lu Qing questioned who the opposing players were among heaven’s will, fixed destiny, variables, and fellow travelers beyond the chessboard.
• Figures on Cloud Platforms watched the Heavenly Net Chessboard in the Nine Heavens, where new destiny-favored people emerged throughout its great worlds.

Lu Qing studied a Heavenly Mandate marked by blazing fire and suspected it was connected to Divine Lord Lihuo and an inheritance in All-Immortal Dao Province. The arriving cultivators reached a vast mountain range whose shape and presence resembled a sleeping giant.

• Lu Qing observed the Heavenly Net Chessboard and recognized a future Heavenly Mandate whose momentum manifested as blazing fire.
• Lu Qing considered whether the fire-linked Heavenly Mandate would arise from Divine Lord Lihuo's Dao inheritance in All-Immortal Dao Province.
• Lu Qing searched the cultivators present and concluded that none of the current prodigies seemed destined to trigger the coming Heavenly Secret.
• Lu Qing inferred that the Dao Prefecture might hold both the All-Immortal Gate's inheritance and Divine Lord Lihuo's inheritance, with the latter requiring Karmic Affinity.
• The cultivators arrived at the Dao Prefecture's center and saw an ancient mountain range that seemed like a sleeping giant.

Qin Tianshi's group compared the mountain range to the Central Divine Mountain of the Eight Wastelands and decided to press onward despite the possible connection. Behind them, Zhu Changshou and the other cultivators discussed the Heavenwatch Mirror, the inheritance, and the arrival of Demonic Path cultivators.

• Tu Miao'er recognized that the mountain range resembled the Central Divine Mountain, and Hua Guzhao recalled its Earth Vein map.
• Zhuang Chengkong said the mountains shared a form but not a spirit, while Tu Miao'er argued that the group should continue forward.
• Qin Tianshi's group moved ahead as Yao'er urged Zhu Changshou to use his Heavenwatch Mirror before others gained the advantage.
• Zhu Changshou said Dao Inheritance depended on Karmic Affinity and that Heavenly Secrets were difficult to calculate.
• The cultivators behind them noticed Demonic Path figures and speculated that they had come to hinder others from claiming the inheritance.

Three cultivators discussed Dao Ming, a former Suspended Blade Sect prodigy who had defected after taking some of the sect’s inheritance and was rumored to have suffered a Dao Injury tied to Fish-Water Method cultivators. They entered Immortal Province without urgency, and the Green Robe cultivator anticipated a dramatic encounter if Dao Ming met the Suspended Blade Sect’s current-generation blade prodigy.

• The Green Robe cultivator recognized Dao Ming among the cultivators heading toward the Immortal-Human Path inheritance and noted his former ties to the Suspended Blade Sect.
• Chen Jingtian and Chen Xiaodi joined the Green Robe cultivator in discussing rumors that Fish-Water Method cultivators had caused Dao Ming’s Dao Injury and taken his inheritance.
• The three continued their leisurely journey, unconcerned about competing for the inheritance because they had come to broaden their horizons.
• The Green Robe cultivator said Dao Ming had not let go of his karmic entanglement and predicted a spectacle if he met the Suspended Blade Sect’s current-generation prodigy.

Chen Jingtian and Chen Xiaodi discussed Dao Ming’s broken Dao and the cultivators gathered for the coming Dharma Combat. Lu Qing recognized a black-robed Suspended Blade Sect cultivator’s demonized Providence and saw that demonization was his fixed Destiny.

• Chen Jingtian said Dao Ming remained trapped in a Passion Tribulation and that his path of Great Dao cultivation had been severed.
• Chen Xiaodi asked whether the Heavenwatch Tower’s Zhu Changshou and his retainers had the best chance in the Dharma Combat.
• Lu Qing recognized the Suspended Blade Sect and noticed a black-robed cultivator flying toward the center.
• The black-robed cultivator sensed someone observing his Providence and suspected a passing powerhouse.
• Lu Qing examined the cultivator’s Destiny and found that demonization was fixed, despite his having entered the Suspended Blade Sect.

Lu Qing examined Dao Ming’s fate and discovered that the former Suspended Blade Sect prodigy was entangled with the providence of the Demonic, Spirit, and Demon Paths. As rain began falling over the Daoist Dojo, Lu Qing suspected the gathered figures of Heavenly Mandate would turn it into another battleground for the Great Era’s shifting fates.

• Lu Qing studied Dao Ming’s Destiny and traced its connection to demonic providence, wondering why the Suspended Blade Sect had accepted him.
• Lu Qing recognized Dao Ming as a renowned prodigy of the previous generation whose Destiny had only begun to manifest with the Great Era.
• Lu Qing saw that Dao Ming’s fate involved the Spirit Path, the Demonic Path, and the Demon Race, with an uncertain future beyond demonhood.
• Lu Qing surveyed the Heavenly Net Chessboard and suspected the Daoist Dojo would become a battleground for competing paths and Variable Fates.
• Thunder sounded over the sacred mountain, clear rain began to fall, and the surrounding wind and snow stopped.

Lu Qing and the cultivators arrived at Divine Mountain, where strange rain divided the springlike landscape from a timeless world of snow. As groups of cultivators gathered before the mountain, a frigid blade light suddenly cut across the sky.

• The cultivators left the floating ship and followed Zhu Changshou toward Divine Mountain, noting the strange rain and the boundary between the green mountain and the frozen world.
• Lu Qing sensed traces of divinity in Divine Mountain but saw that the ancient earth veins could no longer give rise to new spirituality.
• Qin Tianshi's group and several veiled groups gathered near the mountain, keeping their distance from one another.
• Several extravagant flying treasures arrived, while Chen Jingtian and the cultivator in green continued toward the mountain at ease.
• Little Brother Chen spotted the blade-wielding monster from the Suspended Blade Sect, and a cold blade light flashed across the sky.

No Blade of the Suspended Blade Sect arrived at the Daoist Dojo with a fearsome display, drawing attention to his potential rivalry with Dao Ming. The two kept their distance, while Lu Qing and the others watched from the outskirts and avoided getting involved.

• No Blade entered in a striking blaze of blade light, making the gathered cultivators wary of his power.
• Chen Jingtian explained that No Blade cultivated a formless blade Dao and might rival Dao Ming, whose severed Dao and unusual Providence made his prospects hard to judge.
• The Green Robe cultivator noted that Dao Ming’s Dao had been severed, while Lu Qing identified Human Emperor Fate and a Demonic Heaven Destiny Pattern around him.
• No Blade and Dao Ming acted like strangers and made no move against each other, disappointing cultivators who had expected a confrontation.
• Lu Qing, Chen Jingtian, and Chen Xiaodi stayed at the edge of the divine mountain’s domain, prepared to leave rather than join the struggle over Dao Inheritance.

Cultivators from several sects gathered before a divine mountain at the center of the Immortal Continent and debated whether it was connected to the Eight Wastelands. As the inheritance trial appeared to begin, the rain turned into a dangerous storm infused with the aura of time.

• Chen Jingtian and Little Brother Chen refused to greet the extravagant core disciple from the Four Symbols Spirit Palace, saying they were not of the same path.
• Cultivators gathered at the divine mountain and speculated that it might be connected to the Eight Wastelands and the Demonic Path.
• The cultivators wondered whether the inheritance trial had begun as fine rain drifted around them.
• The rain intensified into a torrential storm, and cultivators discovered that its raindrops carried the aura of time.
• Some cultivators were caught in the rain and rapidly aged, while others raised treasure light to shield themselves.

Lu Qing recognized the Blank Scroll as a trial tied to the Reincarnation Great Dao and the All-Immortal Sect’s inheritance. As cultivators gathered around it, the rain began to weaken, hinting that its golden light was changing the trial.

• The cultivators debated the harmless but unsettling rain, while Lu Qing watched from his room and understood that it carried the passage of a million years.
• A glowing Blank Scroll appeared above the mountain and unfurled, leaving the gathered cultivators to speculate about its purpose.
• Lu Qing sensed a connection to the Reincarnation Great Dao and concluded that the scroll held the Divine Lord’s trial and possibly the All-Immortal Sect’s inheritance.
• Lu Qing saw the Heavenly Net Chessboard’s Providence surge and predicted that Persons of Heavenly Mandate would soon be drawn to the scroll.
• The scroll’s golden light blocked cultivators from approaching, and observers noticed that the rain was weakening around it.

The cultivators realized the rain and fading golden light marked the painted scroll’s gradual awakening across a vast span of time, while Lu Qing sensed reincarnation and other Dao rhymes within it. When the rain ended, the blank scroll began depicting the mountain range before them, leaving the cultivators astonished.

• The cultivators connected the weakening rain to the fading golden light and concluded they should wait for the rain to stop before approaching the scroll.
• The cultivators reasoned that the rain reflected the natural passage of time and that the scroll was awakening from its frozen past.
• Lu Qing sensed the Great Dao of Reincarnation and traces of other Dao rhymes within the blank scroll.
• Several veiled Dao shadows beyond the Immortal Continent recognized the scroll as a rare treasure and spoke of time and transcendence.
• When the final raindrop fell, ink appeared on the scroll and formed a mountain-range phantom matching the mountain before the cultivators.

Cultivators entered the bluestone path that appeared before them, leading into the painting and the Divine Lord’s Dao Inheritance trial. Lu Qing sensed that the painting bore traces of the era three thousand years ago and realized its Reincarnation might let cultivators explore many cultivation paths in pursuit of Transcendence, though its restrictions and dangers remained unknown.

• A bluestone stairway appeared before every cultivator, and some began climbing into the painting.
• Chen Xiaodi worried that he and his companions were unworthy of the trial, but the Green Robe cultivator and Chen Jingtian argued that reaching the place meant they had Karmic Affinity.
• Lu Qing sensed a faint trace of the era three thousand years ago in the stairs and wondered whether someone had encountered the painting in the past.
• Lu Qing recognized Reincarnation within the painting and speculated that it enabled cultivation simulations across different paths.
• Lu Qing surmised that the Divine Lord had used the painting to seek Transcendence, but that the method still carried unknown restrictions or dangers.

Lu Qing investigated the Reincarnation worlds inside the Daoist Dojo and decided his incarnation should explore their strange familiarity. Meanwhile, cultivators from the Nine Heavens watching the Immortal Province feared that another Heavenly Mandate was emerging.

• Lu Qing sent a strand of his essence, qi, and spirit into the painting and learned that its Reincarnation worlds drew in the True Spirits of heaven and earth.
• Lu Qing chose to have his incarnation investigate the Daoist Dojo rather than disturb his true body in the First Era.
• Cultivators from the Thirty-Two Grotto-Heavens and Seventy-Two Blessed Lands watched the Immortal Province and discussed the Dao inheritances it might contain.
• An old cultivator read signs in the celestial stars and warned that a new Heavenly Mandate might have been conceived, linked by Destiny to the Eight Wastelands.

Lu Qing entered a Reincarnation Scroll and found himself in a Dharma-Ending world, where he used the abandoned identity of Fang Guike to gain recognition from heaven and earth. The scroll announced that passing its Three Realms of Reincarnation would grant entry to the All-Immortal Sect and the Immortals' Dao Field.

• Old Zheng and the other Daoists discussed the Daoist Dojo's connection to the Eight Wastelands and the coming of another Person of Heavenly Mandate.
• Lu Qing entered the painted world and found himself floating in an abandoned mountain cottage beside the skeleton meant to provide his simulated identity.
• Lu Qing determined that the skeleton belonged to Fang Guike, whose Destiny had ended at age sixty, and used its remaining Cause and Effect to form an old cultivator's body.
• After gaining heaven and earth's recognition, Lu Qing heard the Reincarnation Scroll explain that those who passed its Three Realms could receive the All-Immortal Sect's register and ascend to the Immortals' Dao Field.

Lu Qing recognized the Reincarnation Simulation as a trial in the first realm of the Reincarnation and studied the Reincarnation Scroll’s rules. He realized that the trial involved the mortal life of Fang Guike, but its conditions for success remained uncertain.

• Lu Qing inferred that the Reincarnation Simulation was connected to the Reincarnation Great Dao and might offer insight for his own cultivation.
• Lu Qing saw a white-lit scroll labeled [Scroll Painter] and identified the current realm as the Grand Era of Fleeting Life in the Lesser Li Heaven Realm.
• Lu Qing used his Divine Sense to reveal Fang Guike as the Scroll Painter and read the Word of Reincarnation describing Fang Guike’s fruitless sixty-year search for Immortals.
• Lu Qing considered whether the trial required fulfilling Fang Guike’s obsession, overturning his fate, or living out his prescribed life.
• Lu Qing concluded that the Reincarnation evaluation had no fixed fate and that the trial’s true requirements were still unclear.

Lu Qing settled in a remote hut in Little Li Heaven, intending to study the realm and its people blessed by Providence. Meanwhile, Hong Guang and his companions from the Goldenstone Escort Bureau searched the deep mountains for signs of immortals, unaware of Lu Qing nearby.

• Lu Qing decided to remain in the hut for a time and use the reincarnation trial to observe Little Li Heaven and those blessed by Providence.
• Hong Guang and Li Qingmu led several young martial practitioners into the mountains on a commission to investigate legends of immortals.
• The group rested by a mountain stream, caught fish, and discussed their wealthy employer’s reason for seeking evidence of immortals.
• After lunch, Li Qingmu led the group deeper into the dense forest and warned them to stay together in case they encountered fierce beasts or a spirit tiger.

After seven days trapped in the mountains, Li Qingmu and his companions followed a newly discovered path through a narrow pass. They emerged into a fertile mountain plain, where a waterfall, streams, gardens, and a courtyard lay ahead.

• The group grew exhausted and frightened after wandering in circles for seven days, repeatedly finding their own mark on a banyan tree.
• Li Qingmu tried to keep his junior brothers from losing heart while considering the danger of the mountain and the sheepskin map’s lack of details.
• Hong Guang spotted a narrow path between steep cliffs that the group had not taken before, and they proceeded along it.
• Hong Guang sensed wind and the scent of flowers ahead, giving the hungry group hope of finding food or people.
• The group passed through the mountain path and discovered a plain with a waterfall, spring-fed pond, streams, a vegetable garden, a peach orchard, and a verdant courtyard.

Lu Qing, disguised as Fang Guike, welcomed Hong Guang, Li Qingmu, and their companions into his mountain garden and learned about their search for Immortals. Their encounter with a bearer of Providence solidified Fang Guike’s altered Cause and Effect, while revealing that Heavenly Will and Heavenly Heart both existed in Little Li Heaven.

• Lu Qing watched Hong Guang, Li Qingmu, and their companions arrive, then invited the hungry travelers to share his freshly caught fish.
• Fang Guike introduced himself as an old man named Fang, and Hong Guang explained that the group had come into the mountains seeking Immortals.
• Fang pointed out a path leading to towns and a city on the mountain’s northern side, and he suggested poisonous plants had caused the travelers’ ghost-wall illusion.
• Lu Qing gave the group rooms for the night and observed that Heaven’s Will did not punish his techniques when he approached Hong Guang with goodwill.
• Lu Qing recognized Hong Guang’s Providence as the qi of Little Li Heaven’s Heavenly Heart, and the added Cause and Effect made Fang Guike’s fate solid.

Lu Qing formed a connection of Cause and Effect with Fang Guike and deepened his understanding of Reincarnation, while considering the risks of becoming the Samsara Dao Lord. He perceived more of the painted world's mysteries as the other cultivators examined the Spirit Script.

• Lu Qing formed a connection of Cause and Effect with Fang Guike and felt his Destiny in the mortal world become more solid.
• Lu Qing transformed his Reincarnation World into a Six Paths of Reincarnation where True Spirits and Destiny entered the cycle.
• Lu Qing considered the Nether Sea Authority and concluded that he could not follow the path of becoming a Dao Lord, since the Samsara Dao Lord was bound to Nine-Nether.
• Lu Qing reflected on the layers of Reincarnation, heaven and earth, and time within Little Li Heaven and Mortal World Heaven.
• The cultivators in the painted scroll studied the shining Spirit Script and formed different conjectures about their world.