Chapter Summaries

Yang Huai'an entered a Reincarnation simulation and examined the Destiny Scroll that revealed his life, while other Heavenly Prodigies began confronting their own Destinies in different worlds. In Peach Blossom Village, Lu Qing saw the Escort Agency youths off and continued pondering how providence related to the Heavenly Heart.

• Yang Huai'an confirmed that only he could see his Destiny Scroll and realized he had entered a Reincarnation simulation as Yang Huai'an.
• Yang Huai'an read a Destiny that foretold his household's decline, a life of hardship, and his death in a ruined temple, then considered how to pass the trial.
• A young child from Beyond the Heavens dismissed the cowardly Destiny of an imperial prince, while an honest-looking young man in a village eyed an arriving caravan as a chance to change his own Destiny.
• Li Qingmu and the Escort Agency youths thanked Lu Qing and prepared to leave Peach Blossom Village after receiving his help.
• Lu Qing reflected that providence might win the Heavenly Heart's recognition and wondered what Variable Fate would follow.

Lu Qing examined the Great Dao Heavenly Heart and concluded that its scattered providence offered a path to attaining Dao across the worlds in the Reincarnation Scroll. He suspected the scroll held a vast contest among both later cultivators and its native inhabitants, while the ownerless Heavenly Heart had existed since time immemorial and did not bear the Divine Lord's Dao.

• Lu Qing recognized that traces of Heavenly Heart providence appeared across worlds and resembled the path by which the Humanity Human Emperor attained Dao.
• Lu Qing sensed more than ten thousand strands of Heavenly Heart Fate Allotment in Little Li Heaven and noted that Hong Guang carried heavier providence than Li Qingmu.
• Lu Qing inferred that the Three Realms of Reincarnation were successive trials for each cultivator, leading to a struggle for the Great Dao Heavenly Heart.
• Lu Qing reasoned that native cultivators within the Reincarnation Scroll could compete alongside cultivators from later generations.
• Lu Qing sensed no trace of the Divine Lord's Dao in the Great Dao Heavenly Heart and concluded that it had existed since time immemorial, with the worlds' Heaven's Wills forming around it.

Lu Qing observed the Great Dao Heavenly Heart and realized that his insight into the Dao had shifted heaven and earth’s destiny, bringing spiritual vitality back to the Dharma-Ending world. After divining that he lacked karmic affinity with the Divine Lord and would gain little from pursuing the Heavenly Heart, he chose not to force the opportunity and watched the changing Heavenly Secrets.

• Lu Qing watched the painted scroll’s Word of Reincarnation change after he glimpsed the Heavenly Secrets and understood the Great Dao.
• Lu Qing sensed Heaven’s Will Providence descend and concluded that the world’s destiny had shifted toward the revival of spiritual vitality.
• Lu Qing divined that touching the Great Dao Heavenly Heart would bring neither benefit nor harm, then traced the result to his lack of karmic affinity with the Divine Lord.
• Lu Qing realized that his incarnation had entered the scroll’s inner layer through his main body’s cultivation and judged the opportunity ordinary for his Fate Allotment.
• Lu Qing decided not to force an affinity with the Great Dao Heavenly Heart and speculated that a Son of the Human Emperor bearing it would become an extraordinary Variable Fate.

Lu Qing experienced the strand of Heaven’s Will fate allotment on him and used the Earth-Vein Cloud Root to send silver radiance across the land. The light awakened cultivation in some beasts, while the radiant leaf remained undiminished in his hand.

• Lu Qing observed the providence surrounding him and looked toward the northern city where Hong Guang and his escort agency lived.
• Lu Qing sensed the mountain’s spirits and ghosts, which instinctively avoided the place where he resided.
• As night fell, Lu Qing released a streak of silver light that turned the sky bright as day and startled people and creatures across the region.
• Some beasts received silver radiance on their bodies and gained the chance to cultivate and pursue the Great Dao.
• Lu Qing examined the Earth-Vein Cloud Root, noting that its gift had nourished countless beings without diminishing its radiance.

Lu Qing used the Earth-Vein Cloud Root to revive Spiritual Vitality throughout Heaven and Earth, avoiding the Divine Lord’s Cause and Effect while advancing the world’s Great Era. As Spiritual Vitality returned, people across the Mortal Realm sensed that cultivation could begin again.

• Lu Qing found that the Earth-Vein Cloud Root was a rare treasure, but left it in Heaven and Earth to avoid carrying the Divine Lord’s Cause and Effect.
• Lu Qing used the reward to accelerate the world’s Great Era and felt Heaven and Earth’s Providence favor him.
• Moon Essence spread across the land as beasts awakened to Wisdom Light and one wild beast revealed the shadow of a Primordial Era Suanni.
• Recluses, monks, young people, and others sensed the sudden surge of Spiritual Vitality and realized it had returned.
• People recognized that the revival of Spiritual Vitality had removed the first obstacle to cultivation and could enable countless people to enter the Dao.

Lu Qing entered the mortal world under Fang Guike’s fate and traveled to Tao City, where stories spread that immortals had appeared. A young cultivator in a carriage heard that Qingchen Temple had witnessed the immortals and considered the limits of his reincarnated body.

• Lu Qing concealed his spells and walked into the mountains, taking on Fang Guike’s karmic fate as his immortal bearing faded.
• Lu Qing reached Tao City and ordered Spring-Calling Noodles at a street stall.
• Customers traded stories about immortals appearing outside the city and said a Qingchen Temple Daoist master had witnessed them.
• A young man in a carriage heard the reports and judged that the immortals had cultivated quickly, while deciding against seizing another body.
• Visitors crowded outside Qingchen Temple, which had temporarily closed its doors.

Qingchen Temple debated whether to pursue the cultivation method left by Lu Qing, while the Temple Master chose young Taoists to keep trying to enter the Dao. As upheaval spread across the world, Lu Qing sensed that Tao City had acquired a trace of Providence.

• Qingchen Temple’s Taoists discussed the Golden Core energy and the risks of cultivating the manual left by the Immortal, and several volunteered to take the first step.
• The Temple Master considered who had the talent to cultivate as the temple’s young Taoists practiced Shuoxuan Temple’s visualization method for more than a month without finding an Energy Flow.
• A Taoist reported turmoil among the Southern Wastes’ Sixteen Paths, fighting among southeastern coastal families, a devastating sandstorm in the Western Wastes, and imperial officials searching the Central Six Paths.
• The Temple Master ordered the Taoists to keep watching for news and prepared Qingchen Temple for others seeking its Immortal Fate.
• Lu Qing entered Tao City and sensed that the city had gained a trace of Providence.

Lu Qing reflected on fate, heaven’s will, and the mysteries of the Dao’s heaven’s heart while sensing that several groups were spreading the Dao in ways heaven’s will approved. Meanwhile, cultivators entered the Immortal Continent and gathered cautiously, impressed by its ancient aura.

• Lu Qing sensed that cultivators from beyond Little Li Heaven had entered Tao City and remained caught in mortal fate.
• Lu Qing perceived six distinct fortunes tied to people spreading the Dao and recognized that heaven’s will approved of their aims.
• Lu Qing pondered the Dao’s heaven’s heart and the unknown trials of seeking the Dao.
• Several dozen cultivators entered the Immortal Continent and felt as if they had crossed into an ancient age.
• The cultivators gathered in small groups or stood apart, keeping their temporary alliance wary and loose.

Fahua led a group of cultivators from the Nine Heavens into the West Sea Strange Gate Temple's Immortal Continent, where a blizzard threatened their lifespans. After crossing the snowstorm, they reached an ancient curtain of rain near the Central Divine Mountain, with the region's dangers still unclear.

• Several dozen cultivators entered the Immortal Continent and headed toward the Daoist dojo, having heard that its Divine Lord did not slaughter wantonly.
• The group crossed a goose-feather blizzard that carried a bone-deep chill and seemed capable of taking away their lifespans.
• Fahua urged the cultivators to stop worrying and keep moving, and the group followed his lead toward the Central Divine Mountain.
• The cultivators traveled quickly through the vast Immortal Continent and reached a misty curtain of rain that divided the land from the snowstorm outside.

Cultivators entered a painting scroll after discovering that each step drew them farther inside, while Lu Qing spent ten quiet years living as Fang Guike in Tao City. By the end, reports of immortals and cultivation had spread throughout the world, even reaching ordinary marketplace conversations.

• The cultivators admired the divine mountain and painting scroll, then noticed treasures scattered across the surrounding landscape.
• A cultivator identified rare herbs and flowers, but Fahua warned the group that appearances could be false.
• The group tested the stairs and discovered that every step carried them deeper into the painting scroll.
• After entering the painting, the cultivators were scattered in different directions.
• Lu Qing lived quietly in Tao City as Fang Guike for ten years, without the mysteries of cultivation or his former abilities.
• News of immortals spread throughout the world, and ordinary people began discussing cultivation and the pursuit of immortality.

In Tao City, young disciples from Fallen Phoenix Temple arrived to compete in Qingchen Temple’s gathering of Dao arts, while rumors of immortals and supernatural changes filled the realm. At a restaurant, Black Tiger Mountain bandits discussed the temples and their own Mountain Lord, hinting at tensions between the groups.

• Tao City residents discussed the strange events and immortals that had appeared since the meteors fell ten years earlier.
• Young disciples from Fallen Phoenix Temple passed a street performance on their way to Qingchen Temple’s contest, and one dismissed the folk tricks as inferior to their temple’s arts.
• A junior sister in pink wanted to watch the rope-climbing act, while her senior brother urged the group to hurry.
• Black Tiger Mountain bandits watched from a nearby restaurant and discussed Fallen Phoenix Temple, Qingchen Temple, and their Mountain Lord’s supposed magnanimity.

Black Tiger Mountain Stronghold learned that several groups had come to Tao City seeking a spirit herb and decided to report the news to the Mountain Lord. Meanwhile, Lu Qing ran a bookshop in the eastern market, where he had remained for ten years after the fate tied to his previous Word of Reincarnation was destroyed.

• A bandit reported that people from Fallen Phoenix Temple had arrived in Tao City, along with unfamiliar groups searching for a spirit herb.
• The Black Tiger chiefs warned that the cultivators seeking the herb could threaten them and agreed to report the matter to the Mountain Lord.
• Lu Qing leisurely read an illustrated book behind the counter of his newly opened bookshop in the eastern market.
• Lu Qing reflected that ten years had passed since the fate tied to his previous Word of Reincarnation had been annihilated.

Lu Qing observed the rising changes in the world and the strange performances appearing in the city, while considering the risks of accepting an ancient Divine Lord’s inheritance. He recorded a street performer’s Heavenly Ladder act and realized that it resembled strange tales from his previous life, including another account already written in his booklet.

• Lu Qing reflected on how his intervention had affected the simulated reincarnation and considered whether to accept the Cloud Root and the Cause and Effect tied to an ancient Divine Lord.
• Lu Qing watched sect disciples expose a folk acrobat’s Heavenly Ladder performance as a trick and heard them quarrel with the performer.
• Lu Qing recorded the Heavenly Ladder performance in his booklet and sensed Dao Rhyme emerging from the words.
• Lu Qing recognized that the Heavenly Ladder resembled a strange tale from his previous life and found the familiar story of Planting Pears already written on the next page.

Lu Qing suspected that the Nine Heavens’ Reincarnation Scroll recreated familiar tales and might shape the world’s future trials. Days later, a brocade-clad youth visited his bookstore, and Lu Qing sensed that the young man was another person of Providence.

• Lu Qing connected the tales appearing in Little Li Heaven to stories from Liaozhai and suspected a visitor from Beyond the Heavens had arrived before him.
• Lu Qing considered how reincarnation and awakened past lives could affect the Era of Great Contention, especially for outsiders.
• A brocade-clad youth and his discreet old servant entered Lu Qing’s bookstore while visiting for Qingchen Temple’s Daoist assembly.
• The youth bought an illustrated booklet titled “Records of Martial World Oddities” for one hundred coins.
• After the pair left, Lu Qing sensed that the brocade-clad youth was another person of Providence, not someone who had risen from humble beginnings.

Lu Qing continued cultivating through a reincarnation simulation while his incarnation watched over the expanding Immortal City and the Nine Heavens. He sent law-enforcement cultivator Yu Chengguang north with a mysterious water-like treasure to investigate stirring heavenly secrets.

• Lu Qing considered how Return to One and future tribulations would shape his path, while wondering how much time had passed outside the simulation.
• Lu Qing’s mortal-world incarnation continued overseeing the Immortal City, whose growing prosperity and strict laws drew cultivators from across the region.
• Yu Chengguang visited Lu Qing’s residence and received a task to travel north with a mysterious treasure.
• Yu Chengguang left the City Lord’s residence, recognized that the treasure caused the sound of surging water, and set out to investigate a possible passage to the lower realm or Demonic Path activity.

Yu Chengguang discovered that a spatial rift near the immortal city had opened onto a lower realm and considered the opportunities and dangers it might hold. The mortal-world incarnation observed the gathering heavenly omen but chose not to interfere as cultivators approached the rift.

• Yu Chengguang recognized that the strange lights near the immortal city likely came from a spatial rift leading to a lower realm.
• Yu Chengguang recalled how discovering an otherworldly realm could bring great fortune and decided to notify the relevant cultivators.
• The mortal-world incarnation saw turbulent fate-energy gathering on the Heavenly Net Chessboard near the rift in the north.
• The mortal-world incarnation dispersed the clouds to view the spatial rift and identified it as the cause of the heavenly omen.
• Black-robed cultivators arrived at the rift while the mortal-world incarnation chose not to intervene, and he saw that the greater trend arose from the Northern Heaven Continent's Central Land.

Lu Qing realized that the future heavenly workings centered on Northern Heaven Continent and examined a hidden spatial rift filled with demonic and uncanny auras. He sent Yu Chengguang and a group of Immortal City cultivators to investigate the lower realm and prepare to incorporate it into Immortal City.

• Lu Qing connected the future heavenly workings centered on Northern Heaven Continent to the ancient immortals of Shouyang Mountain and the calamities caused by the Ancient Demon Sect.
• Lu Qing examined the spatial rift and sensed demonic, evil, ghostly, and divine auras within the lower realm.
• Yu Chengguang led the Immortal City cultivators toward the rift and explained that they would investigate the lower realm before incorporating it into Immortal City.
• The cultivators agreed to establish a Heaven and Earth anchor after entering and prepared methods to capture the lower realm.
• A young cultivator used a luopan to determine that the advantageous entry point lay to the southeast, and the group vanished into the rift.

As the lord of Cloud Lake began its dragon passage toward the Dragon Gate, Jinyang Prefecture prepared for the danger along its route. Zhu Jinming and the Demon-Slaying Bureau feared the flood dragon’s success would create another supreme demon and leave the dynasty unable to contain the coming threats.

• The Demon-Slaying Bureau gathered as its leader warned that the lord of Cloud Lake would soon pass through Jinyang Prefecture on its way to the Dragon Gate.
• The leader explained that the higher-ups had issued an assignment because demons were likely to emerge along the flood dragon’s route.
• After the meeting, demon-slaying guards worried that Jinyang Prefecture and nearby settlements would be destroyed as the dragon passage began.
• Shan Yun asked Zhu Jinming why the higher-ups had allowed the lord of Cloud Lake to attempt its transformation into a true dragon.
• Zhu Jinming said he did not know why the world was filling with demons and worried that the dynasty lacked the time to strengthen its forces.

The black flood dragon’s Dragon Gate Leap stirred the rivers and drew human cultivators and demons to watch, each weighing the risks and rewards of its success or failure. As the flood dragon’s tribulation gathered, the observers recalled a past failed transformation and remained uncertain how this one would end.

• The flood dragon’s journey through Cloud Lake raised water levels and gathered clouds as human sects and demons watched its attempt to transform.
• A goat-headed demon, a pig-headed demon, and a monkey-headed demon planned to wait for the flood dragon to fail so they could seize its remains.
• The observers judged that intervening during the Dragon Gate Leap would mean facing both the flood dragon and its tribulation, so few great cultivators dared to act.
• Mountain sects recalled a flood dragon that died more than three hundred years earlier beneath a single devastating bolt of purple lightning.
• The sects’ divinations produced conflicting results, leaving them unable to determine whether the black flood dragon would survive its tribulation.

The black flood dragon faced the lightning tribulation that could transform it into a true dragon, while celestials and demons watched. Benefactor struck once to hinder the clouds, but the flood dragon pressed onward as the first lightning bolts fell and it suddenly raised its head.

• Celestials and demons gathered to watch the black flood dragon approach the Dragon Gate and face its lightning tribulation.
• The black-clad young man, Benefactor, unleashed a blade strike that checked the black clouds and surging waters.
• The flood dragon swallowed the blade light in black mist and declared that one strike could not stop it.
• The pig demon and its companions waited, hoping the flood dragon would fail and leave Cloud Lake's treasures to them.
• The lightning tribulation began, weaker demons fled, and the flood dragon raised its head with a roar as the clouds showed signs of thinning.