Chapter Summaries

After Zhao Li’s battle with Hun Tiandi made him famous, the Great Li Dynasty drew a flood of newcomers whose arrival would test whether it could sustain its promise of opportunity. In his Pocket World, Zhao Li completed his mastery of World in Hand and began breaking through a barrier that had blocked him for years.

• Rumors about Zhao Li spread across the continent, and investigations revealed that he was the Imperial Advisor of the Great Li Dynasty.
• Newcomers flocked to Great Li, while Zhao Li and the continent’s powerful factions waited to see whether the dynasty would thrive or falter under the strain.
• Zhao Li refined his combined Five-Colored Divine Light and World in Hand into a palm-born world capable of evolving real-world features.
• Zhao Li reflected that his improved ability might let him suppress Hun Tiandi if they fought again.
• After fully digesting his battle insights, Zhao Li began a breakthrough by directing his body to assault the barrier that had blocked him for years.

Zhao Li broke through to Nine-Star Dou Sheng in his Pocket World and discovered how his world connected to the Dou Qi Continent. He gained greater control over the Power of Heaven and Earth, but wondered whether reaching full control—and the First Emperor’s level—was possible without the missing Plane Embryo.

• After months of meditation, Zhao Li shattered the Nine-Star realm barrier and absorbed the breakthrough’s power.
• People throughout the Pocket World sensed Zhao Li’s will manifesting and looked toward the Void.
• Zhao Li perceived the Pocket World as a Great Formation that drew from and fed back into the Dou Qi Continent, and he wondered whether Dou God-level worlds strengthened the continent.
• Zhao Li noticed a Rule Network around his Inner Core that increased his ability to mobilize the Power of Heaven and Earth by ten percent.
• Zhao Li speculated that complete control over World Power might require the Plane Embryo and lamented that it had been shattered.

Zhao Li reflected on the mysteries surrounding the Dou Qi Continent and his path to becoming a Dou Di before visiting Medicine Mountain. He told Lin Lan he intended to refine a Ninth Grade Golden Pill, leaving Lin Lan to wonder at his disciple’s next feat.

• Zhao Li considered the shattered Plane Embryo, the secrets beneath the Godfall Ice Plains, and the clues he had uncovered about changes to the world.
• Zhao Li vowed to reach Dou Di by any means necessary and believed doing so would reveal the great secret behind the world.
• Zhao Li appeared at Medicine Mountain and saw that its medicinal ingredients had flourished under Lin Lan’s care.
• Zhao Li urged Lin Lan to leave the garden and explore, but Lin Lan said he preferred tending the medicinal plants.
• Zhao Li entered Medicine Mountain to gather what he needed, and Lin Lan guessed he was going to refine another Ninth Grade Golden Pill.

Zhao Li entered Medicine Mountain and gathered the ingredients needed to refine another Ninth Grade Golden Pill. He began refining it with the Power of Heaven and Earth, leaving five opposing masses of medicinal liquid, which he drew into his Life Flame as the final stage began.

• Lin Lan reflected on Zhao Li's extraordinary growth, then entered Medicine Mountain after him.
• Zhao Li explored Medicine Mountain, assessed its Formation, and gathered the medicinal ingredients he needed.
• Zhao Li used the Power of Heaven and Earth to strip impurities from the ingredients and refine them into medicinal liquid.
• The medicinal liquid divided into five masses corresponding to metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, each capable of forming a Profound Pill.
• Zhao Li summoned his Life Flame and sent it to swallow the five masses of medicinal liquid.

Zhao Li completed a Ninth Grade Golden Pill, and its Purple Qi Coming from the East nourished Medicine Mountain and restored the Pocket World. After capturing the pill and branding it with his soul imprint, he thought it could help Ye Yunsheng advance to Nine-Star.

• Zhao Li refined the fused medicinal energies into a pill, exhausting much of the Dou Qi in the Pocket World.
• Thunder struck the Energy Cocoon for half an hour before the cocoon cracked and the pill absorbed the lightning.
• Purple qi emerged as the Golden Pill was completed, with most of it flowing to Medicine Mountain and the rest restoring the Pocket World.
• The pill formed an illusory Five Elements Small Mountain that Lin Lan judged more powerful than a Ninth Grade Golden Pill he had seen over ten years earlier.
• The Golden Pill escaped into the Void, but Zhao Li fixed the Void with Five Colors radiance, seized the pill, and branded it with his soul imprint.
• Zhao Li thought the Golden Pill might help Ye Yunsheng break through to Nine-Star.

Ye Yunsheng recounted her Dragon Gate experience to Zhao Li, who worried that Yao Chen’s disappearance suggested fate was resisting his changes to the world. Zhao Li found Ye Yunsheng struggling with lawlessness across Great Li and arrived to comfort her as she described the problems she could not solve.

• Ye Yunsheng told Zhao Li how the Dragon Emperor’s illusion had shaped her experience, and Zhao Li concluded that only a Dou Di could create such a convincing world.
• Zhao Li estimated that refining his Golden Elixir would let Ye Yunsheng reach Nine-Star, then resolved to search for Yao Chen after she broke through.
• Zhao Li found Ye Yunsheng missing from the Imperial Palace and used a Jade Token to locate and contact her.
• Ye Yunsheng inspected a village destroyed by outsiders and learned it was the thirteenth such incident in the prefecture.
• Ye Yunsheng embraced Zhao Li and described how loopholes, violent disputes, and criminals escaping justice left her unable to protect people under Great Li’s laws; Zhao Li grew furious as he listened.

Zhao Li explained to Ye Yunsheng that laws could restrain the strong but could not prevent all wrongdoing, and he would not let principle force her to endure injustice. He gave her a Ninth Grade Golden Pill to help her grow stronger, leaving her with a new chance to pursue her ambitions.

• Zhao Li grew angry after hearing Ye Yunsheng’s grievances, but she urged him not to punish anyone in a way that would undermine the laws he had established.
• Zhao Li told Ye Yunsheng that laws restrained the strong only when backed by greater power, and that he would not let her suffer merely to preserve their reputation.
• Ye Yunsheng asked whether crimes could be prevented before they happened, and Zhao Li said people’s choices could not be fully controlled, though the law could make consequences harder to ignore.
• Zhao Li changed the subject by showing Ye Yunsheng a Ninth Grade Golden Pill, which she recognized.
• Zhao Li gave Ye Yunsheng the pill and encouraged her to become stronger and pursue what she wanted.

Zhao Li persuaded Ye Yunsheng to take the Five Elements Golden Pill and prepared a vast supply of energy to support her breakthrough. As she refined the pill amid a growing Energy Tornado, Gu Shu arrived to investigate but kept his distance after recognizing Zhao Li.

• Zhao Li showed Ye Yunsheng the Five Elements Golden Pill and convinced her to take it, saying he had already used one and that it would benefit her more.
• Zhao Li gathered dense energy around Ye Yunsheng, and she swallowed the pill and began refining its power and Five Colors Rule Origins.
• An Energy Tornado formed as Zhao Li drew energy from far away and added a faint trace of wild Origin of Heaven and Earth to aid Ye Yunsheng's breakthrough.
• After about fifteen minutes, Zhao Li sensed Ye Yunsheng had entered meditation and knew her breakthrough was certain.
• Gu Shu, a Seven-Star Dou Sheng of the Gu Clan, arrived to investigate the disturbance, recognized Zhao Li, and stopped several thousand li away.
• Zhao Li acknowledged Gu Shu's greeting and told him to go back.

Zhao Li kept Gu Shu from disturbing Ye Yunsheng's breakthrough, and Gu Shu suspected the pill being refined was a Ninth Grade Golden Pill. In the Ancient Realm, Gu Yuan worried about Zhao Li's power and the Gu Clan's future, then grew more concerned after Gu Shu reported the disturbance.

• Zhao Li ordered Gu Shu to leave before he could interfere with Ye Yunsheng's breakthrough, and Gu Shu recognized that a powerful pill was being refined.
• Gu Shu suspected the disturbance came from a Ninth Grade Golden Pill and hurried back to inform the Gu Clan.
• Gu Yuan watched the nearly finished Fire Spirit nurtured by the Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame and hoped it would grow into a protector for the Gu Clan.
• Gu Yuan reflected on Xiao Xuan's failed breakthrough, Hun Tiandi's ambitions, and the danger Zhao Li posed to the balance of power.
• Gu Shu told Gu Yuan about the Eastern Region disturbance, Zhao Li's order to leave, and his suspicion about the pill, leaving Gu Yuan deeply concerned.

Gu Yuan learned of Zhao Li’s possible ability to obtain Ninth Grade Golden Pills and decided to approach him personally, while Ye Yunsheng faced a mysterious tribulation during her breakthrough. The chapter left Zhao Li stunned by the powerful, Dou Di-like body manifesting around Ye Yunsheng.

• Gu Shu reported Zhao Li’s Golden Pills and the breakthrough he had witnessed to Gu Yuan, who decided to make contact with Zhao Li himself later.
• Gu Yuan ordered Gu Shu to keep the incident quiet, then concluded that Zhao Li and Great Li deserved the Gu Clan’s attention.
• Zhao Li watched heavenly lightning gather above Ye Yunsheng as her breakthrough reached its final stage and the Origin began to riot.
• Ye Yunsheng recognized the lightning as a tribulation tied to perfecting her physical body, and Zhao Li retreated while staying ready to intervene.
• Zhao Li saw a vast, yin-infused figure resembling an enlarged Ye Yunsheng and exclaimed that she had a Dou Di Body.

Ye Yunsheng passed the final test of the Profound Yin Dharma Body and learned to control it according to her will. She planned to study the Dharma Body in seclusion, leaving Zhao Li responsible for Great Li as Imperial Advisor.

• The Thunder Cloud’s eighty-one lightning bolts fed Creation Force to Ye Yunsheng’s forming Dharma Body until it nearly became solid.
• Zhao Li tried to pull Ye Yunsheng away from the final beam of light, and the Dharma Body struck at him with another consciousness apparently inside it.
• Zhao Li unleashed his Orange-Gold Flame and Soul Power to destroy the consciousness, but the phantom vanished before his attack reached it.
• Ye Yunsheng explained that the final test had challenged her to choose between perfecting the Dharma Body and protecting Zhao Li, and she had chosen to protect him.
• Ye Yunsheng revealed that she had mastered the Dharma Body, then told Zhao Li she would enter seclusion to study it and entrusted Great Li to him.

After Ye Yunsheng entered seclusion to consolidate her breakthrough, Zhao Li investigated abuses of power in Great Li and confronted Jie Panshou, a corrupt prefect who had manipulated public opinion. Zhao Li decided to expose Jie Panshou publicly rather than kill him outright.

• Ye Yunsheng refined the Ninth Grade Golden Pill, advanced her strength, and entered seclusion in the Pocket World to study the Profound Yin Dharma Body.
• Zhao Li returned to Great Li's Imperial Palace, considered whether the Dou Di Body was the Supreme Dharma Body, and set out to deal with officials Ye Yunsheng had identified.
• Over three months, Zhao Li punished several officials who had abused their authority.
• Zhao Li confronted Jie Panshou in Cloud Prefecture and presented records of how he had manipulated a case and public opinion for personal gain.
• Jie Panshou admitted that he had treated commoners and the law as tools, then broke down when Zhao Li threatened to make the public learn the truth about him.
• Zhao Li chose to expose Jie Panshou to the people instead of killing him, intending to make him suffer through the public judgment he had once manipulated.

Zhao Li watched the public turn against Jie Panshou and discussed the incident with Gu Yuan, who had come to Great Li to assess Zhao Li’s work. Gu Yuan asked whether Zhao Li could refine Ninth Grade Golden Pills, opening a discussion about possible cooperation.

• After Jie Panshou’s wrongdoing was exposed, the crowd that had defended him turned to condemn him, and Zhao Li reflected on how they avoided admitting their own mistakes.
• Gu Yuan approached Zhao Li at the restaurant and remarked on how quickly the crowd changed its position.
• Gu Yuan explained that he had spent more than ten days visiting Great Li and admired Zhao Li’s decision to Transmit Dharma broadly, though he doubted it could overcome limited resources.
• Gu Yuan asked Zhao Li whether he could refine Ninth Grade Golden Pills, and Zhao Li confirmed that he could.

Zhao Li agreed to refine a Ninth Grade Golden Pill for Gu Yuan once he recovered, provided Gu Yuan supplied the ingredients. When Zhao Li asked about Heavenly Flames, Gu Yuan grew wary, suspecting he might know about the Gu Clan’s flame and its soon-to-be-born Fire Spirit.

• Zhao Li decided he would refine pills for the ancient clans in exchange for sufficient benefits, since he believed no one on the continent could threaten him.
• Gu Yuan offered Zhao Li a Millennium Spirit Medicine and promised to provide whatever else he needed for a Ninth Grade Golden Pill.
• Zhao Li agreed to attempt the refinement after recovering and told Gu Yuan to prepare the medicinal ingredients.
• Zhao Li asked whether Gu Yuan had any Heavenly Flames, hoping to obtain part of the Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame’s origin.
• Gu Yuan suspected Zhao Li might know about the Gu Clan’s Heavenly Flame and its Fire Spirit, so he decided to wait until the Fire Spirit was born before discussing the matter further.

Zhao Li offered Gu Yuan Ninth Grade Golden Pills in exchange for Exotic Flames, but Gu Yuan refused to discuss the Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame. They arranged for Zhao Li to refine medicine, and Zhao Li left wondering whether fate was steering events toward the original story.

• Zhao Li offered Gu Yuan compensation for Exotic Flames, but Gu Yuan claimed he had no information about them.
• Gu Yuan asked whether Zhao Li would still refine medicine, and Zhao Li agreed once the Medicinal Ingredients were prepared.
• Gu Yuan gave Zhao Li a Communication Talisman and promised to contact him if he learned anything about Exotic Flames.
• After Gu Yuan vanished, Zhao Li reflected on his changed behavior and wondered why the Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame mattered so much to the Gu Clan.

Zhao Li reflected on Great Li’s flourishing cultivation and technology, realizing that its reforms had not changed the underlying exploitation because he remained the strongest force shaping society. He chose not to intervene further and hoped someone would rise through the system to challenge him and judge his actions.

• Zhao Li suspected Gu Yuan valued the Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame because of its importance to a promising junior, and he planned to look for Yao Chen after matters settled.
• Zhao Li praised Ye Yunsheng’s Dou Di Body after she perfected her Profound Yin Physique, but grew troubled by the risks of others exploiting his reforms.
• After three months, Zhao Li examined Great Li’s prosperity and saw that prefectures had replaced sects while people remained pressured to trade their labor and principles for resources.
• Zhao Li concluded that he himself was the greatest capital in Great Li and that its apparent improvements depended on his mercy.
• Zhao Li decided to let the people recognize and confront the system’s problems themselves, and wondered whether a future challenger would thank him or hate him.

Zhao Li and Ye Yunsheng reunited and discussed her powerful Profound Yin Dharma Body, while Zhao Li remained troubled by dangers beyond the Pocket World. The next morning, Gu Yuan’s Communication Talisman vibrated, leaving Zhao Li wondering whether the Medicinal Ingredients had been gathered.

• Ye Yunsheng appeared before Zhao Li, startling him with her ability to evade his Spiritual Sense, and told him she had reached Nine-Star Dou Sheng.
• Zhao Li and Ye Yunsheng spent time together, and Zhao Li discovered that he was no match for her strengthened body.
• Zhao Li reflected that he could not relax until he grew strong enough to face threats beyond the Pocket World, then asked Ye Yunsheng about her Profound Yin Dharma Body.
• The next morning, Zhao Li told Ye Yunsheng he needed to investigate his lingering doubts before he could feel at ease.
• Gu Yuan’s Communication Talisman began vibrating, and Zhao Li wondered whether Gu Yuan had gathered all the Medicinal Ingredients.

Zhao Li ignored Gu Yuan's messages until Ye Yunsheng sent him away, then decided to demand more from the Gu Clan for refining a Ninth Grade Golden Pill. Gu Yuan accepted Zhao Li's request to borrow Ninth Grade Pill Formulas, but insisted that Zhao Li refine one of each corresponding pill.

• Zhao Li ignored Gu Yuan's Communication Talisman while admiring Ye Yunsheng, who urged him to handle his business.
• Zhao Li left Ye Yunsheng and decided to fleece the Gu Clan by demanding a higher price for refining a Ninth Grade Golden Pill.
• Gu Yuan sensed Zhao Li's malice in the Ancient Realm, then waited impatiently for a reply on the talisman.
• Zhao Li asked Gu Yuan to lend him several Pill Formulas, claiming that studying them would help him refine the pills.
• Gu Yuan agreed to provide the formulas and ingredients, but required Zhao Li to refine one of each corresponding pill.
• Zhao Li agreed, pleased that his demand had made Gu Yuan grit his teeth.

Zhao Li accepted Gu Yuan’s rare ingredients and three Ninth Grade Golden Pill formulas, agreeing to refine pills in exchange for the Gu Clan’s resources. Gu Yuan chose a mountain range outside the Ancient Realm as the refining site, and Zhao Li examined the formulas, including the unusual Nirvana Pill.

• Zhao Li and Gu Yuan each privately believed their bargain favored them, and they met the next morning to exchange resources.
• Gu Yuan gave Zhao Li a Storage Ring containing ingredients for ten Ninth Grade Golden Pills and three pill formulas.
• Zhao Li asked Gu Yuan to find a secluded place for refining, warning that a Ninth Grade Golden Pill would cause a tremendous disturbance.
• Gu Yuan rejected the idea of bringing Zhao Li into the Ancient Realm and took him to a mountain range near Ancient Saint City.
• Zhao Li examined the Fire God Pill, Thunder God Pill, and Nirvana Pill formulas, noting that the Nirvana Pill could dissolve and rebuild a user’s realm and foundation.

Zhao Li refined a Ninth Grade Golden Pill for Gu Yuan, demonstrating his extraordinary alchemy and drawing the attention of powerful observers. Gu Yuan collected the pill and gained insight from Zhao Li’s technique, while Zhao Li kept the remaining ingredients and considered how wealthy the Gu Clan was.

• Zhao Li studied Gu Yuan’s Pill Formulas and began refining an easier pill as the first part of their deal.
• Zhao Li gathered Heaven and Earth Energy and used his Fire Origin to complete the pill, while Gu Yuan watched and learned from his technique.
• The pill’s Thunder Tribulation passed, and Zhao Li sealed away the purple qi that appeared afterward.
• Gu Yuan took the finished Ninth Grade Golden Pill and thanked Zhao Li, agreeing to wait for him to refine the remaining pills.
• Gu Yuan realized Zhao Li could keep much of the valuable ingredients, while Zhao Li checked his Storage Ring and remarked on Gu Yuan’s wealth.