Chapter Summaries

Lu Qing entered the primordial cataclysm three thousand years in the past, alarming Dao Lords across time and revealing that he intended to alter its course. He reached the tribulation’s strange boundary between reality and illusion and prepared to use a lingering thread of cause and effect to help his sect.

• Lu Qing disturbed the tribulation qi and breached a barrier in the Long River of Time, drawing the attention of Dao Lords across the worlds.
• Dao Lords recognized that Lu Qing had intervened in the past and realized his Great Dao foundations had advanced astonishingly quickly.
• In the Dao Sect, Yu Youshu trusted Lu Qing’s judgment, and the Clan Master received word that Lu Qing had his own plans.
• Lu Qing’s true body crossed through the Great Dao into the past, calming the ripples in the Long River of Time.
• Lu Qing examined the primordial cataclysm’s shifting boundary between reality and illusion and identified how the demon calamity had arisen.
• Lu Qing decided to use the lingering thread of cause and effect to help remove the hidden danger facing his sect.

Lu Qing used a strand of cause and effect to wear away the Primordial Cataclysm’s tribulation cycle in the past, leaving the Cultivation World’s history intact while eliminating a hidden danger. After receiving Heaven-Earth Merit, he gained new insight into turning the illusory into the real and considered cultivating another Great Dao world.

• Lu Qing wielded a strand of cause and effect to cut through Mirror Flower Water Moon and introduce an outside variable into the past.
• Lu Qing’s intervention stirred the River of Time and caused part of the distant tribulation qi to vanish, drawing the attention of powerful figures across many eras.
• Lu Qing explained that he had not changed the past, but had used cause and effect to reverse the tribulation cycle through time and reincarnation.
• Heaven and earth bestowed merit on Lu Qing and the worlds within his Great Dao for eliminating the tribulation cycle’s lingering danger.
• Lu Qing gained spiritual insight into turning the illusory into the real and considered cultivating another Great Dao world.

Lu Qing returned from dispersing the Tribulation Cycle and learned that the event three thousand years earlier had arisen from a chance convergence rather than a deliberate cause. The Dao Sect opened its treasury to him, and its leaders began explaining how that twist of fate had formed.

• Lu Qing concluded that he needed to evolve a heaven and earth unique to his Great Dao to glimpse the path to Transcendence.
• He wore away the Tribulation Cycle, preventing Variable Fate from disturbing the distant past while leaving history largely unchanged.
• Lu Qing returned to the Dao Sect, where the Clan Master granted him access to the sect treasury with a Jade Token.
• Lu Qing asked the Clan Master and the Chiefs what had caused the Tribulation Cycle three thousand years earlier.
• Yu Youshu and the others explained that the cycle had resulted from an exceedingly unlikely twist of fate involving a fragment of the Primordial Cataclysm entering the Long River of Time.

Lu Qing learned that the ancient tribulation had prompted the Dao Sect to station supreme treasures and powerful figures in its treasury as a precaution. As he considered how a person of great fortune might have confronted the tribulation, his mortal-world incarnation encountered such a person at the Earth Continent Dao field.

• Zhang Qingyun explained that the three-thousand-year tribulation had appeared through an extraordinarily unlikely coincidence and that precautions had been taken to guard against it.
• Zhang Qingyun said the White Crane Ancestor no longer needed to guard the grand formation in the sect treasury now that the tribulation had worn away.
• Lu Qing reasoned that heaven and earth might have nurtured people of great fortune to resolve the tribulation, but suspected they would have faced it head-on and needed powerful allies.
• Lu Qing withdrew his divine sense after realizing his speculation had wandered into strange territory.
• Lu Qing's mortal-world incarnation encountered a person of great fortune at the Earth Continent Dao field.

The Red Dust incarnation observed the birth of Mo Mingsheng, an ancient-era reincarnated variable and visitor from beyond the heavens, while Lu Qing left him undisturbed under their Dao pact. The chapter ended with Lu Qing turning his attention to the expanding worlds below, where newly merged sea regions fueled fierce slaughter among deep-sea beings.

• A clan patriarch declined to pursue a newly born person favored by fortune, sending an ordinary Mission Hall task instead of risking the clan’s fortune.
• Cultivators recognized that recruiting people favored by fortune could bring tribulation aura and that battles among such geniuses often ended in death.
• The Red Dust incarnation identified the child-shaped figure within the golden radiance as Mo Mingsheng, a reincarnated visitor from beyond the heavens.
• The Red Dust incarnation concluded that two other reincarnated variables were likely to appear and that only three could reincarnate within the dream within a dream.
• Lu Qing’s incarnation recognized another variable’s innate origin and chose not to interfere because of the existing Dao pact.
• Lu Qing observed that newly born sea regions were continually merging into the Four Seas, intensifying slaughter among deep-sea beings.

Lu Qing considered the expanding seas and Heaven and Earth, concluding that the Nine Heavens were developing along a path unlike the ancient one. After he returned to the Long River, the story shifted to the weakened Demon Abyss, where the old devils remained hidden in a former Return Ruins.

• Lu Qing observed that the West Sea was expanding amid dangerous fluctuations and that the Nine Heavens were following a different path from the ancient world.
• Lu Qing judged that the great era's major variables would take centuries to fully develop, leaving time for cultivation.
• Lu Qing returned his true body to the Long River, though the effects of his actions persisted.
• The Demon Abyss was shown as a decaying refuge after several old devil lords had disappeared.
• The remaining Demon Sect old devils stayed in the abyss, where a possible connection to the Primordial Cataclysm appeared exceedingly unlikely.

The Old Devils trapped in the Demon Abyss divined that several People of Heavenly Mandate would emerge, including a possible reincarnation of the Devil Master. They decided to send their influence into the Nine Heavens to awaken him and seize Demonic Path Providence, while the purple-robed young man noticed their scheme and saw a chance to advance his Providence Transformation.

• The Old Devils explained that Heaven’s Will kept them confined to the Demon Abyss and that they hoped the Devil Master’s reincarnation could help them escape.
• The Old Devils divined signs of multiple People of Heavenly Mandate and suspected the Devil Master’s reincarnation might be among them.
• The Old Devils worried that a Human Emperor could trigger a future Killing Tribulation that would engulf the Demon Abyss.
• The Old Devils agreed to activate their old contingencies and have the Devil Master understand his former self and awaken his Heavenly Mandate.
• The purple-robed young man sensed the Old Devils’ distant activity, judged it did not threaten his Dao, and considered using it to advance his Providence Transformation.

A purple-robed young man considered how ancient immortals could influence the coming tribulation without openly violating the Dao pact. He sent the cloud-shaped Purple Cloud to undergo three destined reincarnations, leaving it at Reincarnation Pass in the East Sea.

• The purple-robed young man connected the Devil Master's revived Dao aura and the disturbance along the river to ancient arrangements and the Profound Heaven Dao Sect.
• He decided not to make an open move because the Dao pact barred powerful figures from entering the struggle too soon.
• The purple-robed young man realized reincarnation could let others enter the tribulation while strengthening Reincarnation and earning heaven and earth's merit.
• He summoned the cloud-shaped Purple Cloud and told it to undergo three destined reincarnations before returning.
• The Purple Cloud drifted toward Reincarnation Pass in the East Sea, where a vicious hound guarded the gateway.

The Netherworld processed another group of special true spirits as reincarnation grew more active. In the Nine Heavens, Li Beiyun told Humanity-Dao White Marsh that he would recover his incomplete destiny pattern, while newly arrived people with special providence began appearing across the world.

• The evil demon sent a cloud-shaped true spirit and the other special true spirits into the Underworld Hall to enter reincarnation.
• The evil demon reflected on the Netherworld’s growing role, its vacant immortal offices, and the rise of a Great Tribulation outside.
• Humanity-Dao White Marsh questioned Li Beiyun about his identity, and he named himself and said he would recover his destiny pattern and complete his Fate Allotment.
• Manifestations of Spirit Light appeared across the Nine Heavens as another group of people bearing special providence entered the mortal world.
• An old man observed the growing number of Wisdom Light flames and recognized that reincarnation had caused the spectacle.

An old man realized that powerful figures were sending gifted individuals into reincarnation to build a tide of variables against the Ancient Era and the Primordial Immortals. He sent his attendant to face a tribulation, while the Reincarnation Dao Body watched the growing signs of an approaching Great Tribulation.

• The old man concluded that reincarnation could erase old entanglements and help powerful figures use the present age's Providence against the Primordial Immortals.
• The old man asked his attendant to enter the mortal world and repay his debt of cause and effect through reincarnation, and the boy gladly agreed.
• The Reincarnation Dao Body observed unusual true spirits and recognized that the next Great Tribulation would arise from them.
• The Reincarnation Dao Body continued strengthening the Reincarnation Underworld as tribulation qi began to spread.

Bifang observed the growing calamities surrounding Hidden Dragon prodigies and recognized that Liu Yuzhen’s fate was connected to Liu Chen, the Grand Heaven Dao Sect disciple believed to have died in the Profound Heaven Domain. He left Liu Yuzhen as a possible future variable in the sect’s plans.

• Lu Qing wondered why he could not trace the origins of Ye Kong, the Hidden Dragon prodigy.
• Cultivators watched Ye Kong flee the Cao Family’s pursuit and debated whether his fortune would save him again.
• Bifang heard reports that Hidden Dragon prodigies had faced mounting calamities, with some losing their lives.
• Bifang saw Liu Yuzhen in a Grand Heaven Dao Sect city and connected him to Liu Chen, who had supposedly died in the Profound Heaven Domain.
• Bifang recognized that Liu Yuzhen’s fate carried the Grand Heaven Dao Sect’s fortune and considered him a potential future variable.

Bifang assessed the tribulation surrounding the contest for the heavenly mandate and sensed that the Grand Heaven Dao Sect was behind Liu Yuzhen’s transforming fate. When the sect’s providence stirred, Bifang felt guided toward an opportunity nearby, one that was neither fully destined nor freely drifting.

• Bifang recognized that the contest for the heavenly mandate had entered a new stage, while his abundant providence and merit kept tribulation aura from attaching to him.
• Liu Yuzhen left the city, briefly sensed someone watching him, and hurried back to his sect to submit his mission.
• The Grand Heaven Dao Sect’s elders observed that its providence had stirred with another transformation of Liu Yuzhen’s fate and vowed that their plans would succeed.
• Bifang saw the sect’s providence ripple across the surrounding territories and identified the Grand Heaven Dao Sect as the force behind the transformation.
• Bifang sensed a nearby opportunity through his providence and judged that it carried more affinity than a drifting chance, though someone with greater providence could claim it first.

Ye Kong followed the Seeking Dao Immortal Cauldron fragment toward a grotto-heaven, vowing to survive the Cao Family’s attempt to kill him. As cultivators and bearers of fortune gathered at the emerging medium grotto-heaven, Bifang studied Ye Kong’s unusual destiny while Wen Fang cautiously prepared to investigate the opportunity.

• Ye Kong accepted the cauldron fragment’s guidance toward a grotto-heaven and vowed to take revenge on the Cao Family if he survived.
• The cauldron fragment warned Ye Kong that the Cao Family’s eldest son carried the fortune of an ancient qilin and urged him to break through quickly.
• Cultivators spotted a medium grotto-heaven emerging and began gathering to enter it.
• Bifang recognized Ye Kong’s complex fortune and speculated that he might be a variable connected to several of the Six Paths.
• Bifang decided to wait for the grotto-heaven’s opportunity to come to him, while Wen Fang chose to calculate the risks before approaching.

A treasure boat carrying Human Path Heavenly Prodigies passed a newly emerged Grotto-Heaven without stopping, while its passengers discussed the danger ahead. The group was traveling to confront a mysterious Variable Fate who hunted Sons of the Human Emperor and other Human Path prodigies.

• Wen Fang divined the Grotto-Heaven’s fortune with a coin and decided that Heaven’s Will had decreed he should go.
• Cultivators near the Grotto-Heaven debated its risks and the possibility of an Old Devil attempting possession and rebirth.
• Several people aboard the treasure boat reported that a Grotto-Heaven had appeared, but the boat continued on without stopping.
• Yang Buwen and the other guests paid little attention to the Grotto-Heaven, then praised Chang Yuexian and Li Jiuyang’s strength.
• Chen Zhen warned Chang Yuexian, Li Jiuyang, and the others not to lower their guard against the person they had come to confront.
• The passengers prepared to face a Variable Fate who hunted Sons of the Human Emperor and Human Path Heavenly Prodigies to seize their Destiny Patterns and Humanity Providence.

Li Beiyun faced a force of Human Emperor geniuses who came to kill him, while Bifang discovered a jade tablet that could seek out opportunities and raise an incarnation’s fortune. The battle remained underway as Bifang put the tablet away.

• The assembled geniuses discussed Li Beiyun’s strength and Chang Yuexian’s fate, while Chen Zhen watched them in silence.
• A strategist explained that Li Beiyun had killed Rahu’s Year Star and taken his destiny, prompting the group to prepare for him.
• Li Beiyun sensed the enemies approaching by river and blocked the pressure from their treasure vessel before they attacked.
• Li Beiyun killed a speaker with a sudden palm, then fought the geniuses as they unleashed divine light and magic across the river and surrounding land.
• Chen Zhen urged the others to use every measure against Li Beiyun, but Li Jiuyang warned that hidden measures could strengthen his fortune.
• Bifang examined a jade tablet from a grotto-heaven, learned that it concealed era encounters and raised the upper limit of fortune, then put it away.

Bifang watched a fierce battle between Human Path cultivators as Providence spilled from the wounded, and he recognized that the struggle of the Human Path and the Tribulation had begun. He expected the single-horned beast of Providence to win, ushering in an all-out slaughter among the Sons of the Human Emperor.

• Bifang saw a single-horned beast of Providence wound an auspicious beast, causing Providence to spill across the world.
• Nearby cultivators intercepted scattered Providence and fled with what they had gathered.
• Bifang identified the battle as a clash between Human Path cultivators that included several Sons of the Human Emperor.
• Bifang considered whether the single-horned beast or Ling Congzi might be connected to an unusual Destiny Pattern, but could not determine its bearer.
• Bifang concluded that the single-horned beast would likely defeat the Sons of the Human Emperor and that the struggle on the Path of the Human Emperor had entered its slaughterous phase.

Cultivators watched the Variable Fate battle three Sons of the Human Emperor, while Mo Mingsheng adjusted to life in a future age after transmigrating from the Great Dream Immortal Sect. Lu Qing's Red Dust Avatar traced the lingering cause and effect to Mo Mingsheng's former world and determined it lay beyond the Nine Heavens.

• Cultivators debated why the Variable Fate was fighting the three Sons of the Human Emperor and how the Human Path's contest for providence had changed.
• Mo Mingsheng realized he had traveled through time into the future, settled in a city, and found work as an apothecary boy after losing his Dharma Power.
• Mo Mingsheng recalled the strange cycles at the Great Dream Immortal Sect and wondered whether Wang Chunrong and Xiao Yuan had also reached the future.
• Lu Qing's Red Dust Avatar examined Mo Mingsheng's Fate River and saw a fading thread of cause and effect leading to his former world.
• Lu Qing's Red Dust Avatar concluded that Mo Mingsheng's former world was outside the Nine Heavens and chose not to enter it.

Lu Qing’s Red Dust Avatar watched the upheaval of providence in the north as elders assessed Li Beiyun’s threat and the coming Human Path struggle. At Kunpeng Sea, the Nineteenth Young Master left after his eldest brother’s taunts, prompting Elder Yimu to notice that a Kunpeng Young Master had departed from the Alliance’s plan.

• Lu Qing’s Red Dust Avatar observed the northern tide of providence and considered how the Great Age had changed the world.
• Several old observers concluded that Li Beiyun could defeat the Sons of the Human Emperor and warned that the Human Path’s struggle could shift the fortunes of every path.
• At Kunpeng Sea, the Nineteenth Young Master’s eldest brother mocked him and suggested the person outside was not the Human Emperor’s reincarnation.
• The Nineteenth Young Master grew angry and decided to leave Kunpeng Sea despite the danger.
• Elder Yimu sensed that a Kunpeng Young Master had departed and realized the move differed from the All-Living Alliance’s original plan.

As the great tribulation spread, the All-Living Alliance and the blue-robed cultivators on Golden Turtle Island stayed out of the Human Path’s growing conflict. A month later, Li Beiyun’s providence had overwhelmed the three Sons of the Human Emperor, who were still fighting because retreat would mean losing everything.

• Elder Yimu judged that the spreading tribulation made action dangerous and kept the All-Living Alliance from openly intervening.
• The blue-robed cultivators on Golden Turtle Island watched the Human Emperor Contest and recognized Li Beiyun as a Human Path Variable Fate.
• The Golden Turtle Island cultivators chose to observe events rather than risk angering the present-day powerhouses of the Nine Heavens.
• A month passed without anyone intervening, while the stream of providence and its single-horned avatar grew increasingly powerful.
• The three Sons of the Human Emperor continued fighting Li Beiyun after their companions were slain, since retreat would let his providence devour their destiny and providence.

Huang Wuxuan learned that the powerful stranger was from another era and, warned that he could not defeat him, chose to seek a fortune-changing opportunity instead. Elsewhere, ancient powers discussed the approaching great tribulation and the role of variables, while the battle on Northern Heaven Continent ended with a final devastating strike.

• Huang Wuxuan questioned the Mysterious Stone Tablet about the stranger, and it said he was not of this era but could not identify his origins.
• The Mysterious Stone Tablet warned Huang Wuxuan that he would die if he tried to kill the stranger and urged him to seek a place that would strengthen his fortune when the tribulation came.
• Huang Wuxuan accepted the warning and decided to pursue that opportunity rather than confront the stranger.
• Ancient voices from two Human Path Dao lineages discussed the stranger, the Dao Pact, reincarnation, and the approaching great tribulation, agreeing not to interfere openly.
• The stranger's final strike tore open the azure heavens and shattered clouds stretching ten thousand miles.