Recaps

Lu Qing watched the Dao tribulation spread through the First Era after antiquity, sensing that it tested cultivators’ hearts and might hold the opportunity for his final step. As cultivators began turning mortal, he witnessed Purple Cloud True Person lose his cultivation aura and unsettle an elder who had once studied under him.

• The five Immortal Path True Persons and other cultivators noticed the Dao tribulation’s changes shaking the fortunes of the Six Paths, and some questioned whether cultivation ants could affect them.
• Lu Qing concluded that the tribulation was a trial of the Dao heart for cultivators beneath heaven and that even the most powerful figures were unlikely to intervene.
• Lu Qing withdrew his aura and watched ordinary cultivators turn mortal, sensing that the tribulation contained an opportunity for his final step.
• An elderly cultivator recognized Purple Cloud True Person as his former teacher, but Purple Cloud said he was no longer the person he had once been.
• The elder’s Coiled Dragon Jade Pendant protected him from the tribulation’s influence, and he left in the opposite direction from Purple Cloud True Person.

Lu Qing understood that the Dao tribulation had made spiritual opportunities dangerous to pursue and went into the mortal world to seek them. At the Spirit Ghost Sect, the Mountain Lord watched disciples disappear and cultivation grow more difficult, while the Patriarch and the Immortal Path True Persons remained unmoving.

• Lu Qing realized that cultivators had to break the Dao tribulation before cultivating again, then went to the mortal world to seek Dao opportunities.
• Several years later, the Spirit Ghost Mountain Lord found the Mission Hall nearly deserted and demanded to know why the sect's disciples had left.
• An elder told the Mountain Lord that the Dao tribulation had made it increasingly difficult to focus during cultivation.
• The Mountain Lord saw the elder's cultivator aura dim and feared he would suffer the same fate as the missing disciples.
• The Mountain Lord wondered when the Dao tribulation would end and suspected the Patriarch and the five Immortal Path True Persons were waiting for its full nature to become clear.

Lu Qing observed the Spirit Ghost Mountain Master as cultivators faced a Dao Calamity that stirred thoughts of abandoning their cultivation. He discovered that the calamity’s Dao-heart thoughts carried traces of destinies from other ages, while the Spirit Ghost Mountain Master resisted the temptation and feared a coming killing tribulation.

• Lu Qing watched the Spirit Ghost Mountain Master dismiss his followers to prepare for seclusion and guard their hearts.
• The Spirit Ghost Mountain Master worried that his sect might face a killing tribulation after the Dao-heart trial and questioned whether its patriarch could protect them.
• Lu Qing noticed that cultivators who passed the trial were not necessarily those with the firmest Dao hearts and concluded that the calamity’s thoughts did not arise from the formless alone.
• Lu Qing identified traces of destiny from other ages in the calamity aura and realized that a destiny tribulation accompanied the Dao-heart tribulation.
• A thought urged the Spirit Ghost Mountain Master to give up his position, but he rejected it as contrary to his lifelong wish.

The Spirit Ghost Mountain Master sensed Dao Heart Tribulation Qi generating thoughts that seemed to come from his own desires, and he struggled to distinguish them from his true intentions. The chapter left him facing increasingly greedy impulses to seek out abandoned ruins and seize their treasures.

• The Spirit Ghost Mountain Master recognized that a thought of giving up his position had arisen naturally, but he suppressed it with Dharma Power.
• He recalled that disciples entering Dao Heart Tribulation often failed to notice their own changes, and that their Ghost-God imprints vanished when they failed to pass through the tribulation.
• Another wisp of Tribulation Qi urged him to seek an ancient cultivator's cave beyond the mountain gate for its treasures.
• He reflected that powerful cultivators were especially vulnerable to Dao Heart Tribulation, while their abandoned treasures would tempt weaker cultivators.
• The Spirit Ghost Mountain Master decided his safety meant Heaven's Will had granted him Fortune Dao and considered traveling to a Southern Sea ruin and a northern frozen-sea Minor Realm.

Lu Qing watched Spirit Ghost Mountain Master resist the temptation of ownerless fortunes and endure the Dao Heart Tribulation. Spirit Ghost Mountain Master chose to remain within his mountain gate and focus on cultivating his Dao Heart as the world’s tribulation continued.

• Spirit Ghost Mountain Master was tempted by the ownerless fortunes beyond the mountain, hoping one could repair flaws in his foundation and help him advance.
• Lu Qing observed that Spirit Ghost Mountain Master’s foundation flaws made him more vulnerable to the Dao Heart Tribulation, but he eventually settled his inner conflict and broke free of its disturbance.
• Lu Qing noticed blood-red upheaval in the fates of cultivators, while the mortal living beings beyond the mountain showed no sign of slaughter calamity.
• Spirit Ghost Mountain Master rejected the fortunes beyond the mountain, fearing that leaving the gate could expose him to the tribulation without his ancestor’s protection.
• Spirit Ghost Mountain Master kept his distance from the dimming mountain-protecting formation and focused on tempering his Dao Heart rather than pursuing spiritual opportunities.

Lu Qing observed the Dao Heart Tribulation persist as time accelerated, causing cultivators to age and die. He realized that fallen cultivators retained blank True Spirits, whose future lives would lack past-life Cause and Effect and Karmic Affinity, while the Tribulation continued to grow more apparent.

• The Spirit Ghost Mountain Master and the remaining elders sensed danger and focused on tempering their Dao Hearts as Tribulation Qi spread.
• Lu Qing recognized a temporal Killing Tribulation, in which the passage of time had accelerated rather than proceeded normally.
• After the first century, the master of the Ghost-God Mountain Gate was the sect's last survivor, while the old ancestor hesitated to break through.
• Lu Qing connected the cultivators' deaths to the lifespan changes following the Immortal Path Revision and saw that their surviving True Spirits had lost all Cause and Effect, fate, and destiny.
• An old cultivator sensed his body and Divine Soul nearing decay and relied on a Radiance Jade Tablet as the hundred-year Dao Tribulation continued.

As the Dao Tribulation’s killing intent intensified, an old cultivator hid behind a formation but sensed no way to escape the calamity. Lu Qing witnessed the tribulation destroy him and ancient beings sealed in underground coffins, while realizing that future generations would create such coffins again.

• An old cultivator recalled how a patriarch’s attempt to protect his descendant from the Dao Heart Tribulation had caused a devastating backlash, and he stayed secluded to avoid entanglement in others’ Cause and Effect.
• The old cultivator sensed the aura of passing years and an ominous premonition through his layered formation, but could find no way to cross the Dao Tribulation.
• As the tribulation’s killing intent emerged after lying dormant for a century, the old cultivator comforted himself that heaven and earth would leave a thread of hope.
• Lu Qing witnessed the old cultivator die in his Cultivation Cave and saw underground spaces shatter, exposing ancient coffins that crumbled before their occupants could awaken.
• Lu Qing realized that although these coffins had been destroyed, future generations would make more to preserve cultivators who had not attained Longevity.

After two hundred years of seclusion during the Dao Tribulation, Mistcloud True Person left his cave and discovered that his sect had fallen into desolation. Seeing the world’s killing intent and sensing his own decline, he resolved to seek a way to survive the Tribulation.

• Lu Qing observed Mistcloud True Person and the Spirit Ghost Mountain Master, both of whom had endured the two-hundred-year Dao Tribulation despite their cultivation being less profound than that of the realm’s foremost cultivators.
• Mistcloud True Person emerged from seclusion when the world turned into what seemed to be a blood sea and Asura battlefield.
• Mistcloud True Person saw that the mountains around his sect were eerily desolate and that the sect had lost its former Providence and grandeur.
• Mistcloud True Person sensed the killing intent across Heaven and Earth and realized his lifespan was draining away.
• Mistcloud True Person decided he could no longer remain in seclusion and set out to find a way to survive the Tribulation.

Lu Qing used the Great Dream Divine Ability to understand the final step from the Dongzhen Realm to seeking the Dao. After leaving a trace of his Dao shadow on two leaves and resolving to return to himself, he stepped into a new era of the Long River of Time.

• Lu Qing observed Mistcloud True Person begin to seek a path to survival and saw the Spirit Ghost Mountain Master maintain his resolve amid the Dao Calamity.
• Lu Qing confronted the serene unknown beyond the gate to seeking the Dao and realized that breakthrough required him to seek and comprehend the Great Dao itself.
• Lu Qing recognized that the gap between the Five Steps of Dongzhen and seeking the Dao demanded profound foundations or a desperate gamble for a heavenly opportunity.
• Lu Qing awoke from the Great Dream Divine Ability as the Spirit Ghost Mountain Master and Mistcloud True Person vanished, leaving a pale green leaf behind.
• Lu Qing understood that he had contended with himself for too long, united the myriad Daos within himself, and stepped into another era.

A mysterious observer recognized Lu Qing’s use of a divine ability resembling the Great Dream Immortal Sect’s lost inheritance, while five immortal figures discussed how the Dao Tribulation had exposed a new thread of fate. They left the tribulation underway, suspecting its sudden turning point was connected to the Great Dream Immortal Sect.

• A gaze examined the leaves left behind by Lu Qing and suspected they reflected the Great Dream Immortal Sect’s Great Dream divine ability.
• The observer wondered who had used the lost technique, then let the mystery rest.
• Wuyun True Person drew no notice as the observer contrasted his fate with the Spirit Ghost Mountain Master’s.
• Five figures in immortal light sensed that Lu Qing’s Great Dream had stirred the river of time and questioned whether he belonged to the Great Dream Immortal Sect.
• The five figures saw the killing tribulation arrive and anticipated lightning tribulation and immortal shadows.
• The five figures calculated that the sudden tribulation point might be the thread of life they had been seeking, and wondered what connection it had to the Great Dream Immortal Sect.

Lu Qing traversed the Long River of Time, observing the Great Daos, ancient stars, reincarnation, and the destinies of those who had returned through rebirth. He watched a once-mighty reborn cultivator die without achieving Longevity, then continued toward a deeper understanding of destiny and the Dao hearts of others.

• The cultivators divined signs of an extraordinary figure in the distant future but focused on the Dao tribulation they still faced.
• Lu Qing’s Dao aura unfolded as he passed through the worlds of the formation Dao, heavenly secrets, reincarnation, and the stars.
• Lu Qing examined reincarnation’s connection to the present world and saw how ancient stars sent their fortune into the Nine Heavens.
• Lu Qing followed the Long River of Time and observed reborn people whose traces of time remained branded into their souls.
• Lu Qing watched a celebrated reborn powerhouse reach the end of his lifespan, destroy a region, and die without attaining Longevity.
• Lu Qing turned from the destinies of others toward understanding their Dao hearts.

Lu Qing observed the countless fates of reborn cultivators and gained a clearer view of the path from Dongzhen to Dao-Seeking. As he contemplated the Long River of Time, his sword Dao transformed toward the unity of all things, shaking the cosmos and all worlds.

• Lu Qing viewed the fates of reborn people and saw some prosper, some perish after becoming complacent, and others abandon cultivation or later return to it.
• Lu Qing saw the long river of fate from beginning to end and understood why Dongzhen cultivators sought seclusion and a path to Dao-Seeking.
• Lu Qing resolved that he would not remain in the Dongzhen Realm and watched a new scene emerge within the Long River of Time.
• Lu Qing’s sword Dao changed from a sword entwined with fortune into tranquil, pure sword light flowing with heaven’s natural cycle.
• Lu Qing contemplated the unity of all Daos as the great Dao beneath him shook the cosmos and all worlds.

A powerful breakthrough shook the Long River of Time, and cultivators across different eras sensed an unprecedented disturbance. In the Ninefold Heaven, Dao of Inquiry figures gathered around the Heavenly Net Chessboard and recognized that someone was breaking through.

• A surge of power rippled through the Long River of Time, but observers could not glimpse the person behind it.
• Figures in the present-day Nine Heavens sensed a change in the heavens and detected an unusual aura resembling Dao Inquiry.
• A cloud boy told the purple-robed figure that the Heavenly Net Chessboard had changed, and the figure went to inspect it.
• Dao of Inquiry cultivators gathered on the Cloud Platforms and concluded that the disturbance came from someone breaking through.
• Cultivators watching from the Long River of Time regarded the breakthrough as an unprecedented event.

A mysterious Cultivator’s breakthrough shook the Great Daos, and the Immortal Path’s Providence surged as the figures on the Cloud Platform sensed a new Dao Companion. A white jade Buddhist figure tried to peer across time and test the newcomer, but was suppressed, leaving the others to reconsider the balance of the Six Paths’ Providence.

• The figures on the Cloud Platform sensed a Dao Tribulation and could not divine who was breaking through because the heavenly secrets were concealed.
• The Immortal Path’s Providence shone brilliantly and its Fate Allotment surged, signaling that it had gained another Dao Companion.
• Great Daos manifested across the worlds, and powerful figures sensed the newcomer’s formidable foundations and wondered what place he might claim on the Cloud Platform.
• A white jade figure in a Green-Tiled Pavilion looked beyond the curtain of rain toward the distant years, but saw and heard nothing.
• The white jade figure pressed his palms together and said he bore no ill intent as cracks spread across him under the newcomer’s crushing suppression.
• The Cloud Platform figures watched the Buddhist Sect figure’s failed probe and considered whether the Six Paths’ Providence would remain under the Immortal Path’s control.

A newly emerged Seeking Dao cultivator from the Glazed Buddhist Sect appeared to have suffered a backlash, while a purple-robed Dao Lord witnessed the Myriad Dao manifest and recognized the aura of Reincarnation. The heavens and ancient powers were stirred by the birth of a Samsara Dao Lord, whose identity remained unknown.

• The assembled cultivators examined the white-boned Buddha figure and debated whether the newly emerged Seeking Dao cultivator belonged to one of the Immortal Path's Nine Sects.
• The Buddha figure vanished, leaving the others unable to calculate the newcomer's origins or true fate.
• A purple-robed young man watched Great Daos manifest across the world and recognized the scene of his own past Dao attainment.
• The purple-robed young man sensed Reincarnation Dao stirring in Nether Sea and realized the new Dao Lord had comprehended Reincarnation.
• Cultivators, hidden powers beyond the heavens, and ancient beings were awakened by the emergence of a Samsara Dao Lord, but none identified who it was.

As a white-clad young man ascended the Path toward reincarnation, ancient beings beyond heaven attacked to prevent him from taking command of the Nether Sea. The chapter ended with onlookers recognizing several attackers and marveling at their origins.

• Hidden ancient beings feared the young man would bring order to reincarnation and seize authority over the Nether Sea.
• As the young man climbed the heavenly stairway in the Long River of Time, the ancient beings sent chilling killing arts against him.
• A dozen or so figures attacked together, aiming to damage his Dao foundation and stop him from gaining full control of reincarnation.
• Observers noted that the attackers had not sent their true bodies into time and doubted they could knock the young man down completely.
• Onlookers recognized a surviving old lion and a former swordsman among the attackers, and the figures on the Cloud Platform reacted with surprise.

Lu Qing ascended the Dao path, endured attacks from ancient powers, and attained the realm of seeking the Dao. After he destroyed the Burial Ground and those who had attacked him, a dormant figure above the heavens sensed the emergence of a new, unusual fate.

• Lu Qing’s incarnation declined the Profound Heaven Dao Sect’s offer to intervene, saying his true body wished to test his Dao against the attackers.
• As Lu Qing climbed the final steps of the Dao path, waves of killing intent and divine abilities surged at him from across time.
• Lu Qing swept away the attacks and annihilated the Burial Ground and the old monsters behind it.
• Lu Qing reached the end of the Great Dao and declared that he had finally attained the realm of seeking the Dao.
• A dormant figure above the heavens sensed that a future heavenly secret unlike any other was taking shape.

Lu Qing entered the Azure Cloud Ninefold Heaven after reaching the Dao-seeking realm and met other Dao seekers, including Fu Huazi and Yu Youshu of the Profound Heaven Dao Sect. He learned that Dao seekers could descend to the lower realm, while the mysteries of the Heavenly Net Chessboard remained unexplained.

• Lu Qing sensed his connection to the Nine Heavens after breaking through and entered the Azure Cloud Ninefold Heaven, where other Dao seekers warmly greeted him.
• The Dao seekers recognized the Immortal Path aura and Profound Heaven Dao Sect fate around Lu Qing, and the purple-robed figure noted that the sect had gained another Dao seeker.
• Fu Huazi told Lu Qing that he would be the First Seat of Seeking Truth, and Yu Youshu welcomed him to the Mysterious Heaven Mountain Gate’s Dao field.
• Yu Youshu explained that Dao seekers could descend to the lower realm and described the Azure Cloud Ninefold Heaven as the remnant of the shattered sixth heaven, suited to cultivation.
• Lu Qing learned that Dao seekers had no established order or precedent for cultivation, while the secrets of the Heavenly Net Chessboard remained unclear.

Lu Qing reached the threshold of Dao-Seeking and recognized that only variables could bring change to the empty path ahead. After the new Dao Lord destroyed the Void Ground, the cultivation world and the Profound Heaven Dao Sect prepared for the upheaval and celebration his arrival would bring.

• The Sect Master reminded Lu Qing to hold fast to his spiritual heart as he faced the unknown ahead on the Great Dao.
• At a Daoist grounds in the Southern Heaven Continent, the Mortal World incarnation watched the heavens and reflected that he had become one of the chess players.
• Three ancestor-level cultivators discussed the Void Ground's destruction and suspected the newly emerged Dao Lord was connected to reincarnation.
• News of the new Dao Lord spread, and the Profound Heaven Dao Sect felt the changes as Lu Qing oversaw both the Dao-Seeking and Outer Sect Main Lineages.
• The Dao Sect celebrated its new powerful expert by distributing cultivation resources and anticipated opening its gates for a feast.

The Outer Sect Main Lineage’s disciples discussed the newly established Dao-Seeking Lineage as Spirit Plant disciples took their monthly examination. When one disciple’s Rainfall Technique cloud exploded but still produced precise rain, the chief examiner received an urgent message on his sect token.

• Outer Sect Main Lineage disciples wondered about the Dao-Seeking Lineage, the sect’s celebrations, and the mysterious Dao Lord from the Profound Heaven Dao Sect.
• Spirit Plant disciples gathered to take their monthly examination by casting the Rainfall Technique.
• One disciple’s unstable cloud exploded, then transformed into droplets that watered his spirit field accurately.
• The chief examiner received a flashing notification on his sect identity token and read a few lines of spirit-script that shocked him.

News that Lu Qing had become a Dao-Seeking True Person and First Seat Senior astonished the outer sect and his Sword Lineage fellow disciples. The chapter ended with the Sword Lineage disciples discussing his rise as they gathered for Li Luoyang’s sermon.

• An elder at Spirit Plant Peak received the sect’s notice and realized that Elder Lu was the newly revealed Dao Lord of Unity.
• The Spirit Plant Peak elders and disciples learned of Lu Qing’s status, while sect members celebrated and regretted not joining the peak earlier.
• Lu Qing’s Sword Lineage fellow disciples gathered in the Dao arena for Li Luoyang’s sermon and exchanged uneasy, animated reactions to the news.
• Qingchen, Qingxuan, and Qingjue discussed how their junior fellow disciple had become a First Seat True Person faster than even Qingxuan had advanced.

Li Jueqi reflected on how thoroughly Lu Qing had kept his brilliance hidden before attaining Dao Inquiry. Li Luoyang named Lu Qing the First Seat True Person and urged his disciples to continue cultivating, leaving them to reckon with how briefly Lu Qing had taken to reach such heights.

• Li Jueqi remembered that Lu Qing had been so low-key that few disciples knew of his cultivation or achievements.
• Li Luoyang's disciples discussed Lu Qing's exceptional aptitude and recalled his ties to their master and the Profound Heaven Dao Academy.
• Li Luoyang arrived and formally declared Lu Qing the First Seat True Person of the Dao-Seeking Lineage and the two outer sect lineages.
• Li Luoyang encouraged his disciples to cultivate diligently and not look down on themselves.
• The disciples realized that Lu Qing had reached Dao Inquiry in less than five hundred years.

After attaining the Dao of Unity, Lu Qing established laws for samsara and raised a Dao body to govern the Nether Sea. The Netherworld Court arose, and cultivators across the Nine Heavens sensed the world’s transformation.

• Lu Qing shut out the world’s Dao sounds and decided to form a Dao body to guard and reorganize samsara in the Nether Sea.
• Lu Qing’s divine intent reached his incarnation in the Reincarnation Nether Sea, stirring its waters and alarming the ancient beings within it.
• The incarnation emerged as a vast Dao shadow, drawing the attention of powerful figures across the Nine Heavens and making them recognize the Samsara Dao Lord.
• Lu Qing declared that he was the Lord of Samsara and established laws throughout the Nether Sea.
• Lu Qing ordered the Netherworld Court to arise and govern the reincarnation of true spirits, causing fortune to surge and accelerating the world’s transformation.

After becoming a Dao Lord, Lu Qing reflected on the newly manifested Netherworld Court and the dangers posed by reincarnation, ancient immortals, and the contest between fate and variables. He decided to return from the Azure Cloud Ninefold Heaven to his cultivation ground in the Southern Heaven Continent.

• Cultivators sensed the Netherworld Court and feared that Lu Qing’s reincarnation path could threaten those who had escaped heavenly condemnation.
• Lu Qing considered how the return of reincarnation and his attainment of the Dao had shifted the balance of fate and variables.
• Lu Qing decided to leave the Azure Cloud Ninefold Heaven and return to his own cultivation ground.
• Magnificent phenomena appeared around Lu Qing’s mist-shrouded cultivation ground in the Southern Heaven Continent.

Lu Qing returned to his Dao grounds after breaking through and considered the wider world and the growing variables surrounding the cultivation age. He chose to cultivate within time, with White Marsh joining him and White Crane Boy remaining to tend the Spirit Fields.

• Lu Qing returned to the Dao grounds, greeted White Marsh and White Crane Boy, and heard that all was well below the mountain.
• Lu Qing reflected on the First Era, the Nine Heavens, and the vastness of the world he could now perceive.
• Lu Qing asked White Crane Boy and White Marsh whether they would enter the Long River of Time; White Crane Boy chose to stay, while White Marsh agreed to go.
• Lu Qing considered the growing variables, the possible political consequences for his sect, and the need to leave an incarnation or Dharma body at the Dao-Seeking Hall.
• Lu Qing judged that his Calamity Avoidance talent was not ready to use and turned his attention to preparations for what lay ahead.