Chapter Summary: “Opening the Divine Spring”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Yuanchen determines that his physical body and five viscera have reached perfection, making further Earth Immortal Path cultivation impossible without advancing to the Divine Spring Realm.
• He chooses to delay condensing his Primordial Spirit and instead opens his Divine Spring first. This will:
  • Accelerate the growth of Dongyang Grotto-Heaven.
  • Quickly upgrade the Earth Book into a sixth-rank Dharma treasure.
  • Increase his mana and defensive power.
  • Make his future Primordial Spirit Tribulation stronger, allowing it to temper his already powerful body.
• Liu Yuanchen visits the secret chamber where the Eight Desolations Pavilion’s great grandmasters are studying laws. He asks the Azure Origin Pill King for guidance.
• The grandmasters are astonished to learn that Liu Yuanchen, only 195 years old, is prepared to reach the Divine Spring Realm—more than three centuries earlier than the Pavilion’s most talented cultivators.
• The Azure Origin Pill King explains that the main requirements are a strong physical body, sufficient Soul Origin, and a Water Spirit Pearl or similar resource. Liu Yuanchen reveals that Dongyang Grotto-Heaven possesses a naturally formed Spirit Spring Pearl.
• Returning to Dongyang Grotto-Heaven, Liu Yuanchen prepares for the breakthrough beneath the Ginseng Fruit Tree:
  • He summons the Earth Book and uses it to create a powerful defensive barrier.
  • He retrieves the Spirit Spring Pearl from the First Spirit Nexus.
  • He inscribes runes on the pearl and within the Spirit Nexus to regulate the pearl’s energy and create a stable connection between his body and Grotto-Heaven.
• The pearl releases immense Ren Water Essence into Liu Yuanchen’s Spirit Platform. His body, soul, and Spirit Platform quickly become saturated.
• The Immortal Seed’s roots absorb the excess energy and transfer it through the Ginseng Fruit Tree into the First Spirit Nexus. This creates a stable energy channel linking the Spirit Spring Pearl, Liu Yuanchen’s Spirit Platform, the Immortal Seed, the Ginseng Fruit Tree, and Dongyang Grotto-Heaven.
• Over the course of a year, Liu Yuanchen shapes the condensed Ren Water Essence into a Spring Eye.
• At age 196, bubbles rise from the Spring Eye, signaling the formation of the Divine Spring. Liu Yuanchen successfully breaks through.

Character Development

• Liu Yuanchen demonstrates extraordinary talent, discipline, and confidence. His breakthrough age is unprecedented among the Human Race’s Earth Immortal Path cultivators.
• His rapid progress is attributed to his superior inheritances, including Grand Immortal Zhenyuan’s Earth Immortal teachings, the Five Elements Ancestor Witch inheritance, the Innate Gods-and-Devils Forging Method, the Jadeglow Twofold Ceremonial Lamp, and the rapid development of Dongyang Grotto-Heaven.
• He becomes increasingly independent and powerful, relying on his own preparations and resources rather than conventional pills or sect methods.
• His connection with the Immortal Seed and Ginseng Fruit Tree deepens, revealing that they are not merely cultivation resources but active components of his breakthrough and energy circulation.
• After reaching the Divine Spring Realm, his Life Soul and Seven Po Souls begin rapidly strengthening, while his Jumang Ancestor Witch Nascent Dharma Form becomes more solid.

Character Interactions

• Liu Yuanchen and the Azure Origin Pill King: Liu Yuanchen respectfully seeks advice, while the Pill King is shocked by his age and progress. He offers practical guidance and praises Liu Yuanchen’s potential.
• Liu Yuanchen and Golden Flame Venerable/Venerable Sea Severing: The senior cultivators compare Liu Yuanchen’s achievement with the historical records of their peers and disciples, emphasizing how extraordinary his cultivation speed is.
• Liu Yuanchen and the Immortal Seed/Ginseng Fruit Tree: Though not a conventional conversation, their relationship is central to the breakthrough. The Immortal Seed actively protects Liu Yuanchen from excess energy and establishes the channel that stabilizes the new Divine Spring.

Significant Themes

• Extraordinary talent versus conventional limits: Liu Yuanchen’s progress vastly surpasses the Human Race’s established cultivation records.
• Preparation and controlled advancement: He carefully chooses the Divine Spring breakthrough over Primordial Spirit condensation, maximizing long-term benefits and minimizing waste.
• Integration of body, soul, and world: The breakthrough links Liu Yuanchen’s body to his Grotto-Heaven through the Spirit Platform, Immortal Seed, Ginseng Fruit Tree, and First Spirit Nexus.
• Inheritance and innovation: Liu Yuanchen combines several ancient and powerful cultivation methods, creating advantages unavailable to ordinary cultivators.
• Growth through symbiosis: His personal advancement and Dongyang Grotto-Heaven’s development reinforce one another, showing that his cultivation is inseparable from the growth of his internal world.
• Foundation for future advancement: The newly formed Divine Spring will nourish his souls and Jumang Ancestor Witch Dharma Form, preparing him for the later Dharma Form Realm.

Chapter Summary: “The Terrifying Power of the Earth Book”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Yuanchen spends a year consolidating his breakthrough into the Divine Spring Realm. His Divine Spring develops into a Spring Eye about five inches wide, producing vast quantities of liquid spiritual power.
• The spiritual power is primarily wood-attribute, but also contains a significant amount of water-attribute energy. This allows Liu Yuanchen to cultivate water-based abilities and comprehend Water-Attribute Laws more effectively.
• His excess energy is distributed among his body, soul, Immortal Seed, Ginseng Fruit Tree, Yin-Yang Spirit Flame, and especially the Earth Book.
• The Earth Book advances to the sixth rank. Its Ancestral Vein Imprint produces twice as much energy, its capacity increases, and its forty-eight Acquired Treasure Restriction Prototypes grow stronger.
• Liu Yuanchen tests the newly enhanced Jadeglow Twofold Ceremonial Lamp, discovering that he can unleash it at several times its previous power. He concludes that using the Sea-Calming Pearl might allow him to kill a seventh-realm expert.
• Dongyang Blessed Land fully develops into Dongyang Grotto-Heaven. Its main spirit vein expands, new branch spirit veins form, and its existing veins begin advancing toward the sixth rank.
• Liu Yuanchen returns to Coiled Dragon Mountain, where his master Zhao Hong and second martial uncle Ling Yu congratulate him.
• Zhao Hong and Ling Yu engage in a long, humorous argument over who deserves credit for Liu Yuanchen’s success, exposing each other’s embarrassing pasts through Image-Recording Pearls.
• Liu Yuanchen tests the Earth Book’s defensive strength against Ling Yu. Ling Yu’s White Tiger attack, powerful enough to seriously injure a late Divine Spring Realm cultivator, fails to damage the Mountain-and-River Phantoms.
• Zhao Hong then attacks Liu Yuanchen while transformed into the Zhu Yan form. His powerful staff strike destroys the phantoms of Blackcloud Ridge and the Luochuan River, but they rapidly regenerate, while Coiled Dragon Mountain remains intact.
• Liu Yuanchen concludes that the Earth Book’s defense has reached the peak of the Seventh Realm, making it nearly impossible for ordinary sixth-realm cultivators—and even many seventh-realm experts—to break through.

Character Development

• Liu Yuanchen completes his transition into a true Divine Spring Realm cultivator. His body, soul, spiritual power, divine abilities, and magical treasures all improve significantly.
• His breakthrough greatly increases his combat potential. He can now sustain spirit treasures longer, unleash them with far greater power, and potentially threaten seventh-realm opponents.
• Liu Yuanchen also becomes more confident in his defensive abilities. Rather than merely cultivating, he actively seeks practical tests through combat.
• Zhao Hong remains boastful and competitive, taking great pride in Liu Yuanchen’s achievement and claiming credit for his disciple’s success. Despite his arrogance, he is careful not to seriously injure Liu Yuanchen during the test.
• Ling Yu is still a formidable Divine Spring Realm cultivator, but he is shocked by the Earth Book’s defensive power. His rivalry with Zhao Hong is portrayed humorously, especially through their mutual exposure of embarrassing secrets.

Significant Themes

• The importance of foundations and long-term potential: Breaking through to the Divine Spring Realm raises the limits of Liu Yuanchen’s body and soul, strengthening his future ability to condense a primordial spirit and comprehend laws.
• Accumulation leading to overwhelming strength: The Earth Book’s power comes not only from Liu Yuanchen’s breakthrough but also from years of growth involving the Ancestral Vein Imprint, spirit veins, grotto-heaven, and treasure restrictions.
• Defense as a form of dominance: Liu Yuanchen’s terrifying defensive power allows him to withstand attacks from opponents above his cultivation level, giving him exceptional confidence and strategic security.
• The relationship between cultivation and resources: Spiritual energy is carefully distributed among Liu Yuanchen’s body, soul, spirit roots, flames, treasure, and grotto-heaven, showing how a powerful cultivator manages multiple sources of growth.
• Mentorship, credit, and rivalry: The quarrel between Zhao Hong and Ling Yu humorously explores how teachers and elders claim responsibility for a prodigy’s achievements, while their concern for Liu Yuanchen reveals genuine familial bonds.

Character Interactions

• Zhao Hong proudly praises Liu Yuanchen as an extraordinary disciple, while Ling Yu challenges Zhao Hong’s claim to having taught him much.
• The two martial brothers trade insults and expose one another’s weaknesses, turning Liu Yuanchen’s breakthrough celebration into a comedic argument.
• Liu Yuanchen mediates between them and secretly records their embarrassing exchanges.
• Ling Yu tests Liu Yuanchen with a White Tiger summoned from a scroll, but the attack cannot meaningfully damage the Earth Book’s defenses.
• Zhao Hong follows with a much stronger attack in his Zhu Yan transformation. Though he destroys several defensive phantoms, the Earth Book rapidly repairs them.
• Ling Yu mocks Zhao Hong afterward, claiming that Zhao Hong used nearly all his strength rather than the stated seventy percent. Their rivalry continues even as both recognize how astonishing Liu Yuanchen’s growth has become.

Chapter Summary: Merit Transformed into a Golden Lotus

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Zhao Hong and Ling Yu resume their usual argument, turning it into a physical sparring match. Liu Yuanchen records their embarrassing fight before asking to test his improved offensive technique.
• Liu uses the Nine Heaven-Cleaving Forms, manifested through the Nascent Dharma Form of the Jumang Ancestor Witch. Drawing on the imagery of Pangu splitting the heavens, he delivers a powerful axe strike against Zhao Hong’s Zhu Yan Manifestation.
• The attack severely weakens Zhao Hong’s defensive manifestation but does not injure his true body. Liu realizes that the technique has become much stronger because his breakthrough into the Divine Spring Realm strengthened his Nascent Dharma Form.
• Zhao Hong boasts about Liu’s strength and mocks Ling Yu, who retaliates by predicting that Liu will surpass Zhao within a century. After Ling leaves, Zhao privately admits that he was nearly exposed as weaker and asks Liu to teach him the technique. Liu explains that it is a Witch Race inheritance he can only partially reproduce.
• After parting with his Master, Liu assesses his new strength. He believes he can now fight ordinary seventh-realm cultivators and might even kill one through surprise attacks involving the Sea-Calming Pearl, though eighth-realm Primordial Immortals remain completely beyond him.
• Since his cultivation cannot be advanced quickly, Liu decides to focus on accumulating Heavenly Dao Merit. He already possesses eight merit lightwheels and needs one more to begin forming a Nine-Petaled Merit Golden Lotus.
• To gain merit safely, he chooses to repair damaged Spirit Veins and Earth Veins in the Yang Realm’s Blackcloud Ridge, avoiding the more dangerous Netherworld region watched by the Heaven-Restoration Sect and its eighth-realm experts.
• Liu travels underground to a severely damaged Spirit Vein Source near the Demon Cloud Sea. Using the Earth Book, the Gathering Qi into Stone Authority, and the Earth-Spirit Dragon-Transformation Secret Art, he reconstructs and revitalizes the vein.
• The repair produces an enormous amount of merit. The Earth Book’s Merit Golden Lotus Mark nearly fills its ninth petal, while Liu’s nine merit lightwheels transform into a golden orb, then into a nine-petaled golden lotus.
• The accumulated merit continues expanding the lotus, causing an unexpected tenth petal to form and a partially completed eleventh petal to appear before the merit is exhausted.

2. Character Developments

• Liu Yuanchen demonstrates major growth in both confidence and combat ability. His breakthrough has significantly enhanced the power of the Nine Heaven-Cleaving Forms, and he now possesses enough strength to contend with seventh-realm opponents.
• Despite his increased power, Liu remains cautious and recognizes the danger posed by superior Divine Abilities and eighth-realm cultivators. He prioritizes steady development, merit accumulation, and strategic safety rather than reckless confrontation.
• Zhao Hong is shown to be boastful and competitive in front of Ling Yu, but privately nervous about being outmatched. He acknowledges Liu’s strength and humorously attempts to become Liu’s disciple.
• Ling Yu continues to needle Zhao Hong while accurately recognizing Liu’s exceptional potential, predicting that Liu will surpass his Master within a relatively short period.
• Liu’s understanding of his inherited Witch Race technique deepens. He realizes that its increasing power is connected to the Jumang Nascent Dharma Form and possibly the elusive Law of Strength.

3. Significant Themes

• Power balanced by caution: Liu’s strength has advanced dramatically, but the chapter emphasizes that power does not eliminate the danger of higher realms, mysterious Divine Abilities, or overwhelming opponents.
• Inheritance and self-comprehension: Liu’s strongest technique originates from Witch Race illusions and cannot simply be taught to others. True mastery depends on personal insight, lineage, and comprehension.
• Merit and fate: Heavenly Dao Merit is portrayed as a force that improves luck, reduces calamities, supports cultivation, and increases access to opportunities. Liu deliberately pursues merit as a long-term foundation for survival and advancement.
• Restoration and creation: Repairing damaged Spirit Veins not only benefits Liu but also restores the world’s spiritual environment, allowing the Ancestral Spirit Vein to nurture more life and generate continuing merit.
• Transformation through accumulation: The nine merit lightwheels evolving into a golden lotus symbolizes how gradual accumulation can trigger a qualitative breakthrough. The lotus exceeding the expected nine petals suggests Liu’s merit may possess unusual, potentially unprecedented properties.

4. Character Interactions

• Zhao Hong and Ling Yu’s argument becomes a comic martial exchange, highlighting their familiar rivalry.
• Liu’s demonstration of the Nine Heaven-Cleaving Forms turns the sparring session into a test of his progress, with Zhao serving as both opponent and evaluator.
• Zhao proudly claims Liu as his disciple when boasting to Ling Yu, then reverses their relationship privately by asking Liu to teach him.
• Liu responds patiently but firmly, explaining the limitations of his understanding and the unique conditions required to reproduce the technique’s true power.
• Ling Yu’s departure leaves Zhao relieved, revealing the contrast between Zhao’s public arrogance and private insecurity.
• Liu’s later decisions show him acting independently while still building upon the teachings, techniques, and resources inherited from his sect and the Witch Race.

Chapter Summary: Intelligence on the Black Lotus Holy Sect

Key Plot Points and Events

• After repairing a severely damaged Yang Realm Spirit Vein Source, Liu Yuanchen’s Merit Lightwheels transformed into a Merit Golden Lotus, which grew to ten and a half petals.
• He realizes that more severely damaged Spirit Vein Sources yield greater Merit. He also discovers that his vast Earthly Dao Merit has earned him partial recognition from Blackcloud Ridge.
• Liu Yuanchen concludes that he may eventually gain Blackcloud Ridge’s Heavenly Dao Authority through accumulating Merit rather than repairing the entire Ancestral Vein or driving out the Demon and Dragon Races.
• He estimates that reaching the next qualitative transformation of his Merit Golden Lotus will require repairing another six or seven Spirit Vein Sources.
• While traveling toward another damaged Spirit Vein Source, he detects a four-layer, thirty-six-petaled Demon Qi Black Lotus hidden in a Spirit Nexus.
• He worries that allowing it to grow could spread demonic qi throughout Blackcloud Ridge, corrupt living beings, threaten Coiled Dragon Mountain, and interfere with his plans to obtain authority over the region.
• Destroying it himself would be easy, but doing so might alert the Black Lotus Holy Sect and expose his movements. He therefore decides to consult Liu Hun, an intelligence agent of the Heaven-Restoration Sect.
• Liu Yuanchen uses his Substitute-Death Clone ability to return to the Netherworld and question Liu Hun about the Black Lotus Holy Sect.

Character Developments

• Liu Yuanchen becomes more confident in his long-term plan to obtain Blackcloud Ridge’s Heavenly Dao Authority. He shifts from viewing complete restoration of the Ancestral Vein as necessary to recognizing Merit accumulation as a safer and more practical path.
• His understanding of Merit deepens: Earthly Dao Merit not only strengthens his cultivation-related abilities but also creates a bond between him and the land itself.
• Liu Yuanchen displays increasing strategic caution. Instead of immediately destroying the Demon Qi Black Lotus, he prioritizes gathering intelligence and assessing possible retaliation.
• Liu Hun proves valuable as a source of intelligence, revealing the history, methods, and previous defeats of the Black Lotus Holy Sect.
• The chapter also establishes that Liu Yuanchen is increasingly connecting current factions and treasures to ancient mythological powers, particularly Devil Ancestor Luo Hou.

Important Information About the Black Lotus Holy Sect

• The Black Lotus Holy Sect originated from an extraterritorial lifeform invasion. Its first sect master was an extraterritorial being who controlled native creatures of the Origin Spirit Realm.
• After the Human Race destroyed the invading extraterritorial lifeforms, the sect suffered heavily and went into hiding.
• The sect uses the Black Jade Lotus Platform to create Demon Qi Black Lotuses, which grow around Spirit Veins and Earth Veins.
• These lotuses absorb spiritual qi and convert it into demonic qi, gradually corrupting the minds of living beings and making them violent and bloodthirsty.
• The negative energy generated by slaughter nourishes the Demon Qi Black Lotuses, and their accumulated power ultimately flows back into the Black Jade Lotus Platform.
• The Black Jade Lotus Platform is both an Acquired Spirit Root and an Acquired Spirit Treasure. It can attack and defend, continue growing petals, and potentially produce lotus seeds.
• The platform is believed to have originated from a lotus seed of the Innate Black Lotus beneath the Demon Cloud Sea. Liu Yuanchen infers that both may descend from Luo Hou’s Twelve-Petaled World-Ending Black Lotus.
• The Heaven-Restoration Sect previously located and destroyed the Black Lotus Holy Sect’s headquarters. More than ten Longevity Immortals participated, and Heaven Hound Dao Lord personally killed the sect master.
• The Black Jade Lotus Platform self-destructed before the Heaven-Restoration Sect could seize it.
• At the time of the attack, the Holy Sect had three Longevity Immortals, all of whom were killed. Liu Hun suspects the sect currently has no Longevity Immortal, explaining its retreat into secrecy.

Significant Themes

• Merit and divine authority: Liu Yuanchen’s Earthly Dao Merit allows him to gain recognition from the land and potentially acquire Heavenly Dao Authority without relying solely on military conquest.
• Restoration versus corruption: The repair of Spirit Vein Sources represents healing and renewal, while the Demon Qi Black Lotuses exploit the same spiritual network to spread corruption.
• Strategic caution: Power alone is not enough; Liu Yuanchen must balance immediate gains against the danger of exposing his identity and movements.
• Ancient legacies: The chapter links present-day factions and treasures to the ancient Dao-Devil War, Luo Hou, and remnants of extraterrestrial powers.
• Hidden powers and intelligence: The Black Lotus Holy Sect, Heaven-Restoration Sect, Demon Race, Dragon Race, and Human Race all operate through secrecy, infiltration, and long-term schemes.

Character Interactions

• Liu Yuanchen privately analyzes the relationship between his Merit and Blackcloud Ridge’s growing recognition of him.
• He detects the Demon Qi Black Lotus and debates whether to destroy it or avoid provoking the sect behind it.
• He contacts Liu Hun, who confirms the sect’s origins, methods, treasures, and history of conflict with the Heaven-Restoration Sect.
• Their conversation gives Liu Yuanchen enough information to judge the Black Lotus Holy Sect as dangerous but probably lacking top-level Longevity Immortal protection.

Chapter Summary: Myriad Spirits Dao Lord’s Origins

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Yuanchen learns that the Heaven-Restoration Sect nearly destroyed the Black Lotus Holy Sect. The Black Jade Lotus Platform was shattered, and three of the sect’s Longevity Immortals were killed.
• Despite the damage, the Black Jade Lotus Platform may eventually recover because it is both an Acquired Spirit Root and a spirit treasure. Given enough resources, it could regrow from a surviving fragment or lotus seed.
• Liu Yuanchen reflects that the Heaven-Restoration Sect’s attack inadvertently protected the Human Race. Had the Black Lotus Holy Sect remained intact after the Human Race’s defeat by the Demon Race, it could have exploited the prolonged war and grown into a major power by feeding on battlefield demon qi.
• He discovers that Myriad Spirits Dao Lord located the Black Lotus Holy Sect’s hidden headquarters by tracing the energy produced by plants and Spirit Roots. The Demon Qi Black Lotus’s outwardly spreading energy became a tracking method.
• Liu Yuanchen worries that Myriad Spirits Dao Lord might similarly track him through the many spirit plants he has cultivated. He concludes that his many avatars, his defenses at Coiled Dragon Mountain, and his ability to switch bodies make him difficult to capture.
• Liu Hun reveals that the search for the Black Lotus Holy Sect took roughly half a year, suggesting that Myriad Spirits Dao Lord’s tracking ability is powerful but not instantaneous.
• Liu Yuanchen investigates Myriad Spirits Dao Lord’s origins and learns that he is rumored to be a Spirit Root that gained sentience. His unusual authority over Wood Spirits and exceptionally rapid cultivation support this theory.
• The exact Spirit Root from which Myriad Spirits Dao Lord originated remains unknown. Possibilities include an Acquired Spirit Root such as a Flat Peach descendant or another rare plant with complete or restored Dao Resonance.
• Myriad Spirits Dao Lord is said to specialize in water- and wood-attribute Divine Abilities, further making Liu Yuanchen suspect a connection to the Flat Peach Tree or possibly the Five-Element Pine.
• Liu Hun knows little about the Black Lotus Holy Sect’s surviving techniques or the exact degree of control the Black Jade Lotus Platform possesses over Demon Qi Black Lotuses.
• Concerned that the Demon Qi Black Lotus at Blackcloud Ridge may eventually become a threat—and that the Black Lotus Holy Sect may still possess a hidden Longevity Immortal—Liu Yuanchen decides not to confront it directly.
• Instead, he plans to have Azure Scale relocate the lotus near the Demon Cloud Sea, allowing the Demon Race and the Black Lotus Holy Sect to clash while shifting the danger away from himself.

Character Developments

• Liu Yuanchen: Becomes more cautious regarding both Myriad Spirits Dao Lord and the Black Lotus Holy Sect. He reassesses the Heaven-Restoration Sect’s historical role, recognizing that its destructive attack ultimately benefited humanity. He also demonstrates strategic opportunism by planning to redirect the Demon Qi Black Lotus rather than destroy it himself.
• Liu Hun: Serves as an information source about the Heaven-Restoration Sect and its leaders. Although his knowledge is incomplete, he provides valuable details about Myriad Spirits Dao Lord’s tracking ability, origins, and reputation.
• Myriad Spirits Dao Lord: Gains greater importance and mystery. He is revealed to be potentially a Spirit Root incarnation, possesses unusual authority over Wood Spirits, cultivates at an extraordinary rate, and may be far more powerful than Liu Yuanchen previously assumed.
• Azure Scale: Though absent from the immediate conversation, he becomes part of Liu Yuanchen’s next scheme. His advancement to the Mid-Stage Fate Mark Realm makes him suitable for relocating the Demon Qi Black Lotus.

Significant Themes

• Unintended consequences: The Heaven-Restoration Sect acted for its own reasons, yet its destruction of the Black Lotus Holy Sect prevented a major future threat to humanity.
• Hidden power and uncertain origins: Myriad Spirits Dao Lord’s mysterious Spirit Root origin emphasizes that appearances and public rankings do not reveal a cultivator’s true potential.
• Strategic caution: Liu Yuanchen repeatedly avoids direct confrontation with uncertain enemies and relies on preparation, avatars, information, and indirect action.
• The danger of incomplete knowledge: Much of the Black Lotus Holy Sect’s inheritance and Myriad Spirits Dao Lord’s identity remains concealed, forcing Liu Yuanchen to plan around possibilities rather than certainties.
• Using enemies against one another: Rather than personally eliminating the Demon Qi Black Lotus, Liu Yuanchen intends to place it where the Demon Race and Black Lotus Holy Sect may weaken each other.

Character Interactions

• Liu Yuanchen questions Liu Hun about the Heaven-Restoration Sect’s assault, Myriad Spirits Dao Lord’s abilities, his origins, and the Black Lotus Holy Sect’s remaining power.
• Liu Hun answers respectfully but admits the limits of his knowledge, especially regarding secret inheritances and Myriad Spirits Dao Lord’s true identity.
• Liu Yuanchen mentally compares Myriad Spirits Dao Lord with Dao Lord Hongyuan and Heaven Hound Dao Lord, concluding that the three leaders of the Heaven-Restoration Sect each possess extraordinary foundations.
• Liu Yuanchen’s final plan involving Azure Scale shows his continued willingness to manipulate other factions and distant allies to resolve threats indirectly.

Chapter Summary: “Slaying a Supernatural Ability Realm Cultivator”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Yuanchen enters Luochuan Blessed Land through a wisp of Divine Sense. The land has expanded to roughly one hundred miles and has become a Nine-Vein Blessed Land after he imprinted eight additional Spirit Veins using the Earth Book Imprinting Technique.
• Each Spirit Vein contains an Earth-Spirit Seed, and a small patch of sky has begun forming. However, the Blessed Land’s development is extremely slow, and its main purposes remain stealing Heavenly Dao Authority from the Luochuan River and potentially locating the Luochuan Dragon King’s inheritance.
• Azure Scale now rules the Blessed Land as its Dragon King, with the Old Turtle serving as Turtle Prime Minister and Yin Linzi as a general.
• Liu Yuanchen gives Azure Scale a special Moonwater Demon Lotus seed containing absorbed Demon Qi. He orders him to use it to eliminate the Demon Qi Black Lotus hidden in a Spirit Nexus beneath Coiled Dragon Mountain, then move the seed near the Demon Cloud Sea in the Yang Realm.
• Azure Scale places the seed inside the Demon Qi Black Lotus’s seedpod. The seed absorbs the entire lotus and condenses its Demon Qi, successfully removing the threat of the lotus contaminating the surrounding Ancestral Spirit Vein.
• A Black Lotus Holy Sect elder appears and attacks Azure Scale, accusing him of ruining the elder’s plans. The elder, wearing a four-layer lotus emblem, is revealed to be a sect elder rather than an ordinary Black Lotus Envoy.
• Azure Scale escapes through the earth under the protection of the Earth Book’s defensive barrier. Liu Yuanchen retrieves him into Luochuan Blessed Land and attempts to flee through the Earth Vein.
• The elder catches up and identifies Liu Yuanchen. Since revealing his ability to travel through Earth Veins would endanger Liu Yuanchen’s future plans, Liu decides that killing the elder is preferable to escaping.
• Liu pretends to be frightened and defenseless while allowing the elder to pursue and repeatedly intercept him. The elder assumes Liu’s defensive treasure will eventually exhaust its power.
• When the elder lowers his guard, Liu attacks with the Sea-Calming Pearl, piercing the elder’s shield and destroying his physical head.
• The elder’s Primordial Spirit escapes his body and boasts that Liu cannot harm it because he has not mastered laws and cannot fully control the Sea-Calming Pearl.
• Liu then activates the imitation Jadeglow Twofold Ceremonial Lamp. Its jade-green light bewilders the Primordial Spirit, drawing it into the lamp, where it is trapped and destroyed.
• Liu successfully kills a late Supernatural Ability Realm Black Lotus Holy Sect elder while preserving his identity and Earth-Vein travel method.

Character Developments

• Liu Yuanchen demonstrates increased strategic maturity and ruthlessness. Rather than flee and risk exposing his ability to traverse Earth Veins, he deliberately baits the elder into pursuing him and waits for the ideal moment to counterattack.
• His mastery of multiple treasures and techniques becomes clearer. He combines the Earth Book’s defensive power, the Sea-Calming Pearl’s penetrating attack, and the Jadeglow Twofold Ceremonial Lamp’s soul-confounding ability.
• Liu also shows growing confidence in his own schemes. He initially intends to frame the Demon Race for the theft of the Demon Qi Black Lotus, and the elder’s mistaken assumption regarding Ao Zhenting unintentionally helps him.
• Azure Scale shifts from a neglected mount to a useful subordinate entrusted with an important and dangerous mission. He obeys Liu’s orders despite not fully understanding them and survives the elder’s pursuit through his defensive protection.
• The Black Lotus Holy Sect elder is portrayed as arrogant and overconfident. He underestimates Liu, becomes distracted by the prospect of capturing him for promotion, and continues taunting Liu even after losing his physical body. His arrogance directly contributes to his death.

Significant Themes

• Cunning over brute force: Liu defeats a stronger opponent through deception, patience, and carefully concealed abilities rather than immediately engaging in open combat.
• The danger of arrogance: The elder repeatedly underestimates Liu, assumes his defenses will fail, and pursues him recklessly. His confidence prevents him from recognizing the trap.
• Preserving hidden advantages: Liu prioritizes protecting the secrecy of his Earth-Vein travel ability and future plans over a simpler escape.
• Control of corruption: The removal of the Demon Qi Black Lotus prevents the contamination of the Ancestral Spirit Vein and reflects Liu’s broader efforts to manage dangerous supernatural forces.
• Resources and long-term planning: Luochuan Blessed Land, the Dragon King’s possible inheritance, Azure Scale, and the various treasures all form part of Liu’s expanding power structure and future ambitions.
• The limits of cultivation and treasures: The elder believes Liu cannot harm a Primordial Spirit without mastering laws, but Liu’s possession of a soul-affecting treasure allows him to overcome that limitation.

Character Interactions

• Liu Yuanchen and Azure Scale: Liu gives Azure Scale direct orders and entrusts him with the Demon Qi Black Lotus mission. Azure Scale responds with loyalty and obedience, while Liu protects him with the Earth Book’s barrier and later retrieves him into Luochuan Blessed Land.
• Azure Scale and the Black Lotus elder: The elder mistakes Azure Scale for a subordinate of Ao Zhenting and attacks him, demanding the return of the Black Lotus. Azure Scale avoids a direct confrontation and escapes through the earth.
• Liu Yuanchen and the elder: Their pursuit becomes a psychological battle. The elder attempts to intimidate and exhaust Liu, while Liu deliberately acts weak and frightened, leading the elder into a fatal ambush.
• Liu Yuanchen and the elder’s Primordial Spirit: After the elder abandons his physical body, he mocks Liu and claims he cannot be killed. Liu counters with the Jadeglow Twofold Ceremonial Lamp, trapping the Primordial Spirit and ending the confrontation.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Black Lotus Holy Sect learns that its Demon Qi Black Lotus on Golden Spring Peak was taken by a Fate Mark Realm Flood Dragon. Elder Wu pursued the thief but was defeated after his attack failed against a powerful defensive treasure.
• The Sect Master, Great Elder, and Second Elder debate whether the culprit was the Dragon Race or Liu Yuanchen and the Eight Desolations Pavilion. They conclude that only a powerful expert—likely Ao Zhenting of the Dragon Race—could have trapped Elder Wu’s primordial spirit.
• Elder Wu’s Soul Lamp shows that his body has been destroyed and his primordial spirit captured. The Sect Master attempts to locate him through the Demon Qi Black Lotus, but the divination is blocked by an extremely powerful protective force. The backlash shatters the projection and kills the messenger who delivered the report.
• Liu Yuanchen realizes that his actions may have triggered the Black Lotus Holy Sect’s investigation. He uses his Substitute-Death Clone to return secretly to the Netherworld, hides the Earth Book in an underground Spirit Nexus, and shelters inside Dongyang Grotto-Heaven.
• Using the Jadeglow Twofold Ceremonial Lamp, Liu Yuanchen interrogates Elder Wu, whose mind has been completely subdued. Wu reveals that the Black Lotus Holy Sect has one Earth Immortal Realm Sect Master, thirteen Origin Immortal Realm cultivators, and over fifty seventh-realm experts.
• Wu knows little about the sect’s headquarters because even outer sect elders are transported there in spatial artifacts. He confirms that the headquarters lies within a hidden Grotto-Heaven and identifies a branch altar in Blackcloud Ridge.
• Liu Yuanchen refines Wu Shan’s primordial spirit and corpse with the lamp. The resulting energy fully restores the lamp’s fifteen Acquired Treasure Restrictions, turning it into a complete Mid-Grade Acquired Spirit Treasure.
• The lamp’s flames become significantly stronger, and its feedback greatly enhances Liu Yuanchen’s Life Soul. It also provides him with valuable insights into the Illusory Law and Ren Water Law.

Character Developments

• Liu Yuanchen becomes more cautious and strategically minded after recognizing that the Black Lotus Holy Sect may be tracking him through Wu Shan and the Demon Qi Black Lotus. He prioritizes retreat and concealment rather than risking direct confrontation.
• He also discovers the full potential of the Jadeglow Twofold Ceremonial Lamp: it can suppress and control minds, extract information, refine living beings and corpses, repair itself, grow stronger, and transmit law insights to its master.
• Elder Wu/Wu Shan changes from a powerful Black Lotus Holy Sect elder into a helpless, mentally controlled source of intelligence before being completely refined by the lamp.
• The Black Lotus Holy Sect’s leadership becomes alarmed and increasingly hostile. The elders recognize that their sect faces threats from both the Human Race and the Dragon Race, while the Sect Master’s failed divination demonstrates that Liu Yuanchen—or his allies—possess exceptionally strong protective methods.

Significant Themes

• Escalating conflict and hidden power: The chapter reveals the Black Lotus Holy Sect’s considerable strength while showing that Liu Yuanchen possesses defenses capable of resisting or obstructing even its highest-level techniques.
• Caution versus aggression: The sect considers retaliatory action, but Liu Yuanchen survives by retreating, concealing his traces, and exploiting the separation between the mortal and Netherworld realms.
• The dangers and benefits of treasures: The Jadeglow Twofold Ceremonial Lamp is both a terrifying weapon and a tool for cultivation, capable of controlling minds, destroying enemies, and strengthening its wielder.
• Secrets and restricted knowledge: Even a senior outer sect elder knows almost nothing about the Black Lotus Holy Sect’s true headquarters, emphasizing the organization’s secrecy and internal hierarchy.
• Power gained through refinement: The lamp’s restoration and growth through consuming Wu Shan’s essence demonstrate the cultivation world’s harsh principle that an enemy’s destruction can directly become one’s own strength.

Character Interactions

• The Sect Master, Great Elder, and Second Elder argue over whether Liu Yuanchen or the Dragon Race defeated Elder Wu, revealing their differing opinions and personal biases.
• The Sect Master ultimately mediates the dispute and attempts to locate Elder Wu through the Demon Qi Black Lotus.
• Liu Yuanchen questions Wu Shan after suppressing his mind with the lamp. Wu Shan responds mechanically and truthfully, providing limited but important information about the sect’s hierarchy and strength.
• Liu Yuanchen’s interaction with the lamp shifts from experimentation to discovery: by testing its effects on Wu Shan, he realizes that the artifact can refine powerful beings, repair its own restrictions, and provide cultivation insights.

Chapter Summary: “Condensing the Primordial Spirit”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Yuanchen discovers that the Jadeglow Twofold Ceremonial Lamp can extract and provide insights into laws from defeated enemies. This greatly reduces the difficulty of comprehending the many laws required to develop an Earth Immortal Grotto-Heaven.
• After killing Wu Shan, Liu examines his storage pouch but finds little of value beyond a few artifacts, talismans, and spirit stones. He concludes that Wu Shan’s real wealth was likely hidden at the Black Lotus Holy Sect’s branch altar, which he avoids investigating to prevent exposure.
• The Demon Qi Black Lotus absorbed by a lotus seed begins draining the seed’s life force. Liu places the seed in his Lesser Cosmos, where its demon qi merges with his existing Moonwater Demon Lotus, which already contains Innate Demon Qi.
• Reflecting on his battle with Wu Shan, Liu recognizes that his combat experience is lacking. Wu Shan’s Primordial Spirit nearly escaped, which could have exposed Liu’s numerous secrets—including the Earth Book, Sea-Calming Pearl, rapid cultivation speed, and exceptional breakthrough age.
• Liu decides to strengthen his soul and comprehend Spatial Law, allowing him to better wield the Sea-Calming Pearl and improve his spatial abilities.
• Over the following years, the Ceremonial Lamp helps Liu absorb Wu Shan’s understanding of Illusory Law and Ren Water Law. He condenses Law Fragments of both within his Life Soul, reaching a level of comprehension comparable to a late-stage Supernatural Ability Realm cultivator.
• After ten years of secluded cultivation, Liu’s Life Soul and Seven Po Souls reach their limits. At age two hundred, he begins attempting to condense a Primordial Spirit.
• Using the Soul-Attracting Secret Art and two Soul-Attracting Banners refined by Zhao Hong, Liu summons back his wandering Earth Soul and Heaven Soul.
• He consumes a Yin-Yang Water-Fire Pill and uses the Soul-Gathering Secret Art while infusing Innate Primordial Qi into his Life Soul. His Three Souls and Seven Po Souls gradually merge.
• After several years, the fused soul becomes a Yin Spirit, then develops into a miniature version of Liu Yuanchen. His primordial spirit finally takes shape.
• The chapter ends as a dark cloud forms above Dongyang Grotto-Heaven and terrifying pressure descends:

Liu’s Heavenly Tribulation is about to begin.

Character Development

• Liu Yuanchen becomes increasingly cautious and strategic. Although his power grows rapidly, he deliberately hides his cultivation progress and avoids seeking outside guidance to prevent powerful factions from investigating him.
• He develops greater self-awareness after recognizing his lack of combat experience and the danger posed by allowing an enemy’s Primordial Spirit to escape.
• His mastery of laws advances dramatically, particularly in Illusory Law and Ren Water Law. He also realizes that mastering Spatial Law is essential to unlocking the full power of the Sea-Calming Pearl.
• Liu’s soul cultivation reaches an unprecedented stage for his age. By successfully forming a Primordial Spirit at just over two hundred years old, he demonstrates extraordinary potential while also attracting the danger of Heavenly Tribulation.
• Wu Shan, though dead, continues to influence Liu through the law insights extracted from his remains and through the hidden dangers created by his nearly escaping Primordial Spirit.
• Zhao Hong contributes indirectly by refining the trusted Soul-Attracting Banners Liu uses during his breakthrough.

Significant Themes

• Power gained through preparation and exploitation of resources: Liu combines treasures, enemy remnants, pills, inherited techniques, and secluded cultivation to overcome obstacles that would normally take centuries.
• The danger of extraordinary talent: Liu’s rapid progress is both an advantage and a liability. If revealed, it could provoke the Divine Court and other major factions.
• Secrecy and survival: Liu repeatedly chooses caution over immediate gains, refusing to investigate Wu Shan’s hidden wealth or use suspicious artifacts supplied by others.
• The relationship between cultivation and cosmic order: Reclaiming the Heaven and Earth Souls reconnects Liu to the Heavenly Dao and Reincarnation, while the impending Heavenly Tribulation represents the universe resisting his partial escape from its restraints.
• Transformation and self-integration: The fusion of the Three Souls and Seven Po Souls symbolizes Liu’s advancement from fragmented spiritual existence into a unified, higher form of being.

Character Interactions

• Liu’s past confrontation with Wu Shan remains central. Wu Shan’s arrogance and decision to approach Liu closely enabled Liu to restrain and kill him, but the battle exposed weaknesses in Liu’s combat technique.
• Liu interacts indirectly with the Black Lotus Holy Sect through Wu Shan’s branch altar and stolen possessions, choosing not to provoke the sect by investigating further.
• The Moonwater Demon Lotus responds to the Demon Qi Black Lotus as though recognizing a related source, allowing the demon qi to merge safely.
• Liu relies on techniques and tools connected to Zhao Hong, trusting her personally refined Soul-Attracting Banners over the supplies provided by the Heaven-Restoration Sect.
• His Heaven and Earth Souls, initially independent and resistant to fusion, are drawn into unity through the Life Soul and the attraction of Innate Primordial Qi, completing his spiritual transformation.

Chapter Summary: Primordial Spirit Thunder Tribulation

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Yuanchen prepares to undergo his Primordial Spirit Tribulation inside Dongyang Grotto-Heaven, relying on the Earth Book and the Grotto-Heaven’s sturdy spatial structure for protection.
• Concerned that the tribulation might damage the Ginseng Fruit Tree and other precious spirit plants, he initially plans to move to the barren outer region. However, the Ginseng Fruit Tree conveys intense excitement through their connection, apparently wishing to receive the tribulation’s baptism.
• Liu Yuanchen remains beneath the tree and allows the tribulation to descend. The tribulation clouds expand across the entire Grotto-Heaven, becoming far more extensive than those associated with ordinary peerless geniuses. This confirms the benefits of his earlier breakthrough into the Divine Spring Realm.
• Before the lightning begins, the tribulation produces spiritually nourishing rain. The rain strengthens the vegetation, allows a Yellow-Scaled Pine to become a second-rank spirit plant, invigorates Xiao Yu and the Dao Soldiers, and reinforces Liu Yuanchen’s Primordial Spirit.
• The Earth Book protects Liu Yuanchen through the successive lightning strikes by manifesting the defenses of Blackcloud Ridge, Luochuan River, and Coiled Dragon Mountain. As the tribulation intensifies, these defensive phantoms are gradually shattered, though they successfully weaken the lightning.
• The later tribulations use increasingly powerful white, blue, and golden lightning. Liu Yuanchen absorbs much of their power, strengthening his body, Primordial Spirit, blood qi, bones, and marrow.
• Golden Lightning tempers his bones and marrow, causing him great pain but ultimately giving him golden bones and jade-like marrow. He also uses the Marrow-Refining Secret Art and Innate Primordial Qi to enhance the process.
• The final golden tribulation destroys all three major Earth Book defensive manifestations, but the remaining barrier holds. Liu Yuanchen absorbs only part of the residual power, while the Ginseng Fruit Tree captures the rest.
• The Ginseng Fruit Tree absorbs the scattered golden lightning, causing its first flower bud to blossom into a mysterious golden flower surrounded by five-colored immortal light.
• Three years later, Liu Yuanchen finishes consolidating his cultivation. His Primordial Spirit now bears visible marks of the Ren Water and Illusory Laws, indicating a level comparable to the Divine Ability Realm.
• His physical strength has more than doubled, and he reaches the rare state of Golden Bone Jade Marrow, normally associated with experts who have perfected the Golden Body Realm of the Ancient Physical Body Path.

Character Developments

• Liu Yuanchen: Becomes much stronger in all three cultivation paths. His Primordial Spirit grows more solid and powerful, his body is reforged through lightning, and his bones and marrow reach an exceptionally advanced state. His success also creates uncertainty about his future cultivation, since his Primordial Spirit has already reached the level of a Divine Ability Realm cultivator despite only recently being condensed.
• Ginseng Fruit Tree: Demonstrates an unusual connection to the Heavenly Dao and an apparent desire to undergo tribulation. Its absorption of the remaining lightning leads to the blooming of a golden flower, suggesting a major future development.
• Xiao Yu and the Dao Soldiers: Initially frightened by the heavenly might, they later emerge to enjoy the nourishing tribulation rain. Xiao Yu in particular visibly grows stronger.
• Yellow-Scaled Pine: Breaks through its innate limitations and advances into a second-rank spirit plant due to the tribulation rain.

Significant Themes

• Tribulation as both danger and opportunity: The Heavenly Tribulation is not merely an obstacle; its rain and lightning nourish the Grotto-Heaven, spirit plants, body, and Primordial Spirit.
• Harmony between cultivation and nature: Liu Yuanchen’s breakthrough benefits the entire ecosystem of Dongyang Grotto-Heaven, while the Ginseng Fruit Tree actively participates in and gains from the process.
• The value of preparation and defensive treasures: The Earth Book’s layered defenses allow Liu Yuanchen to endure increasingly destructive lightning and convert much of its power into cultivation resources.
• Breaking conventional boundaries: Liu Yuanchen’s Primordial Spirit and physical body advance far beyond normal expectations, challenging the established sequence of cultivation realms.
• Uncertainty in uncharted cultivation paths: Because Liu Yuanchen is pursuing Qi Refinement, Primordial Spirit, and Physical Body cultivation together—and has even returned toward an innate state—he cannot determine whether he should pass through the Divine Ability Realm normally or advance directly toward Immortal Ascension.

Character Interactions

• Liu Yuanchen attempts to communicate with the Ginseng Fruit Tree through his Plant Sight and Hearing authority, but the tree does not respond through ordinary plant language. Instead, it communicates emotions through their Immortal Seed connection.
• The tree’s excitement persuades Liu Yuanchen to remain beneath it and let it receive the tribulation’s power.
• Liu Yuanchen uses the Earth Book’s manifested mountain and river defenses to withstand the lightning, while guiding the weakened energy into his body.
• The Ginseng Fruit Tree later captures the lightning Liu Yuanchen refuses to absorb, transforming it into the energy needed to bloom its golden flower.
• Liu Yuanchen observes the reactions of Xiao Yu, the Dao Soldiers, and the spirit plants, recognizing that his tribulation has become a blessing for the entire Grotto-Heaven.

Chapter Summary: The Terrifying Potential of Golden Bone Jade Marrow

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Thunder Tribulation produces unexpected benefits for Liu Yuanchen:
  • It helps him forge Golden Bone Jade Marrow, greatly strengthening his physical body.
  • Its residual power causes the Ginseng Fruit Tree in his Dongyang Grotto-Heaven to bloom for the first time.
  • The tree’s fragrance contains powerful vitality and influences the growth of other plant-based beings.
• Liu Yan emerges from Liu Yuanchen’s body and reveals that absorbing some of the tribulation’s lightning allowed him to advance by a minor realm. The Ginseng Fruit Tree’s fragrance may enable him to condense a primordial spirit within twenty years and potentially reach the seventh realm within a thousand years.
• Liu Yuanchen discovers that Xiao Yu has also benefited enormously. Xiao Yu is approaching the Spirit Platform Realm and has grown from one foot to over two feet tall, marking a major stage in his development.
• After more than ten years of seclusion, Liu Yuanchen returns to the Yang Realm to investigate the situation surrounding the Black Lotus Holy Sect. He finds that Coiled Dragon Mountain has remained peaceful, with no retaliation or significant conflicts.
• Lacking reliable intelligence, Liu Yuanchen visits the Eight Desolations Pavilion and consults the Azure Origin Pill King and other grand martial ancestors.
• The elders recognize that Liu Yuanchen has forged Golden Bone Jade Marrow. They test his weight and physical strength, discovering that he weighs over 1,200 jin and possesses extraordinary bodily power.
• Venerable Sea Severing tests Liu Yuanchen’s punch. Although he cannot be injured, he must use significant force-dissolving techniques, and the impact shatters the stone beneath his feet. He concludes that Liu Yuanchen’s physical strength is comparable to Zhao Hong’s.
• The elders realize that Liu Yuanchen is an exceptionally young Divine Spring Realm cultivator and predict that he may become the future number one expert of the Origin Spirit Realm.
• Interested in improving the offensive power of his Nine Heaven-Cleaving Forms, Liu Yuanchen asks about the Law of Strength. Venerable Sea Severing gives him a book containing his insights, while Golden Flame Venerable provides a spirit-treasure fragment containing the same law.

Character Developments

Liu Yuanchen

• Successfully forges Golden Bone Jade Marrow, vastly exceeding normal human physical limits.
• Gains greater confidence in his potential and begins reassessing the offensive possibilities of his physical strength.
• Remains cautious and practical, initially underestimating the importance of Golden Bone Jade Marrow.
• Recognizes that comprehending the Law of Strength could greatly enhance his Nine Heaven-Cleaving Forms and allow him to defeat seventh-realm experts without relying on the Sea-Calming Pearl.

Liu Yan

• Advances by a minor realm after absorbing tribulation lightning.
• Gains hope of condensing a primordial spirit through prolonged exposure to the Ginseng Fruit Tree’s fragrance.
• May eventually fuse his main body and physical body and attempt a breakthrough to the seventh realm.

Xiao Yu

• Makes dramatic progress toward the Spirit Platform Realm.
• Experiences significant physical growth, suggesting that the tribulation and Ginseng Fruit Tree have accelerated both his cultivation and development.

The Eight Desolations Pavilion’s grand martial ancestors

• Show intense excitement and admiration toward Liu Yuanchen after discovering his Golden Bone Jade Marrow.
• Treat him as an unparalleled genius and potential future leader of the human race.
• Offer him valuable resources and personal insights to help him cultivate the Law of Strength.

Significant Themes

• Extraordinary talent and potential: Golden Bone Jade Marrow is revealed to be an almost legendary constitution, historically associated with cultivators who eventually reached the Longevity Immortal Realm and became pillars of humanity.
• Physical strength as a path to supremacy: Liu Yuanchen’s body may rival True Dragons and eventually allow him to contend with or kill powerful seventh-realm experts.
• Unexpected benefits from tribulation: The Thunder Tribulation not only strengthens Liu Yuanchen but also affects the Ginseng Fruit Tree, Liu Yan, Xiao Yu, and the overall development of his Grotto-Heaven.
• Nurturing and accumulation: The Ginseng Fruit Tree’s long growth cycle emphasizes the importance of patience, while its fragrance demonstrates how one powerful spiritual resource can benefit an entire ecosystem.
• Mentorship and collective support: The elders of the Eight Desolations Pavilion respond to Liu Yuanchen’s breakthrough with enthusiasm and immediately provide him with knowledge and treasures.
• Balancing defense and offense: Although Liu Yuanchen possesses strong defensive resources through the Earth Book, he realizes that his offensive abilities remain limited and seeks to strengthen them through physical power and the Law of Strength.

Character Interactions

• Liu Yuanchen and Liu Yan discuss the effects of the Ginseng Fruit Tree’s fragrance, with Liu Yan explaining its ability to help plant beings develop spiritual intelligence.
• Liu Yuanchen observes Xiao Yu’s breakthrough but deliberately avoids disturbing him.
• The Azure Origin Pill King identifies Liu Yuanchen’s improved physical strength and draws attention to the rarity of Golden Bone Jade Marrow.
• Venerable Sea Severing and Golden Flame Venerable comically weigh and inspect Liu Yuanchen, then test his physical strength.
• Venerable Sea Severing compares Liu Yuanchen’s strength to Zhao Hong’s and provides him with his Law of Strength insights.
• Golden Flame Venerable contributes a spirit-treasure fragment to aid Liu Yuanchen’s comprehension.
• The elders’ astonishment and praise transform the gathering from a discussion of cultivation laws into a celebration of Liu Yuanchen’s unprecedented potential.

Summary: Chapter "Ghost Lingzhi Gains Spirit"

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Yuanchen visits Azure Origin Pill King and receives a metal fragment of an Acquired Spirit Treasure (likely a hammer or mace used by Witch Race experts). The fragments were scavenged from the ancient Witch–Demon battlefield by the Heaven-Restoration Sect.
• Azure Origin Pill King reports that ~8 years earlier, unrest erupted in the Demon Cloud Sea, and the Demon Race fought a great battle against an unknown force deep in Blackcloud Ridge, losing several Divine Ability Realm experts.
• Liu Yuanchen reveals that over a decade ago, his avatar found a Demon Qi Black Lotus in Blackcloud Ridge and framed the Demon Race for it, successfully provoking conflict between the Black Lotus Holy Sect and the Demon Race. The Grand Martial Ancestors note they also weakened Demon Race defenses beforehand, making the Black Lotus Holy Sect bold enough to strike.
• Liu Yuanchen shares intelligence on the Black Lotus Holy Sect: 1 Longevity Immortal, 13 eighth-realm experts, dozens of seventh-realm experts, and the sect master's Black Jade Lotus Platform (both spirit treasure and Spirit Root). The elders decide to avoid direct confrontation and let the Divine Court and Red Wasteland Marquisate handle future Black Lotus plots.
• Liu Yuanchen returns to the Netherworld and decides to transfer Liu Yan's avatars to the Yang Realm to monitor Blackcloud Ridge, where he hopes to use the Jadeglow Twofold Ceremonial Lamp on Eerie Creatures to gain law insights.
• Liu Yan recommends the Ghost Lingzhi as his successor, which has matured to the fourth rank. Liu Yuanchen waits for nightfall, shatters the stone shell shielding it from sunlight, and uses the Enlightenment Secret Art. The Ghost Lingzhi gains spirit, becoming a youth who is named Liu Ling.

2. Character Developments

• Liu Yuanchen — Demonstrates strategic cunning and long-term scheming (framing the Demon Race). Shows caution by refusing to enter the Netherworld's Blackcloud Ridge due to the threat of Primordial Immortals. His physical strength has improved, allowing a sixth Divine Ability avatar.
• Liu Yan — Transfers to the Yang Realm, which he prefers as a Yang-Realm creature; proves resourceful by recommending a replacement.
• Liu Ling (new) — A Ghost Lingzhi Wood Spirit; youthful, proud, and glib-tongued, demanding a surname from Liu Yuanchen. Possesses an innate spore-based Minor Divine Ability: tens of thousands of soybean-sized avatars that can parasitize yin-attributed objects for scouting or destroy yin souls, but are destroyed by sunlight.
• Grand Martial Ancestors — Show pragmatism and willingness to sacrifice other factions rather than risk their own experts.

3. Significant Themes

• Intelligence and information warfare — Liu Yuanchen's lack of a proper Yang-Realm intelligence network prompts the transfer of Liu Yan; his information advantage is repeatedly shown as crucial.
• Indirect manipulation — Framing the Demon Race and letting other factions take the fall (Divine Court, Red Wasteland Marquisate) rather than direct engagement.
• Cautious cultivation — Avoiding head-on conflict with far stronger forces; turtling and slow preparation are validated as effective strategies.
• Recycling resources — Using remnants (spirit treasure fragments, Eerie Creatures, and the Ghost Lingzhi) to gain strength, law insights, and new subordinates.

4. Character Interactions

• Liu Yuanchen ↔ Azure Origin Pill King & Venerable Sea Severing — Exchange intelligence; Liu Yuanchen warns against underestimating the Black Lotus Holy Sect; the elders agree on a policy of avoidance.
• Liu Yuanchen ↔ Liu Yan — Delegates the Yang Realm intelligence mission; Liu Yan recommends the Ghost Lingzhi as his Netherworld replacement.
• Liu Yuanchen ↔ Liu Ling — Enlightens the Ghost Lingzhi, bestows the name "Liu Ling" (dropping "zhi" to conceal its origin), and examines the new spirit's abilities. Liu Ling's cheeky request for a surname shows the familiar, almost father-son dynamic Liu Yuanchen maintains with his subordinates.

Chapter Summary: “Enlightenment Through the Lamp”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Yuanchen determines that Liu Ling’s Ghost Lingzhi ability, nearly useless in the sun-filled Yang Realm, is extraordinarily powerful in the Netherworld, where yin energy is abundant.
• Liu Ling explains that his “clones” are essentially equal individuals once separated from one another. Each possesses intelligence comparable to an ordinary person, while spore-born clones have weaker but growing intelligence.
• Liu Yuanchen realizes Liu Ling could potentially create an enormous intelligence network capable of monitoring the Netherworld. He assigns Liu Ling to oversee Netherworld Blackcloud Ridge and orders Liu Yan to transfer his Netherworld responsibilities to him.
• Liu Yan remains responsible for surveillance in the Yang Realm. Liu Yuanchen hopes that together their networks will allow him to monitor the entire Red Wasteland across both realms.
• Since his cultivation has only recently advanced, Liu Yuanchen focuses on strengthening himself through Law comprehension, particularly the Space Law and Force Law. Space will improve his speed and ability to strike primordial spirits, while Force will enhance his Nine Heaven-Cleaving Forms.
• He spends three years cultivating at Netherworld Coiled Dragon Mountain. His progress is substantial, aided by his powerful primordial spirit, though he concludes that using the Jadeglow Twofold Ceremonial Lamp is far more efficient than relying solely on personal comprehension.
• The lamp allows him to experience Wu Shan’s past Law-comprehension memories directly, creating an immersive illusion that increases his efficiency more than tenfold without forcibly implanting understanding.
• Liu Yan reports that his surveillance range in the Yang Realm has expanded across more than fifteen thousand li. He has been searching for sixth- or seventh-realm Eerie Creatures, especially those associated with the Space or Force Laws, while guarding against ambushes by the Black Lotus Holy Sect and Myriad Gods Sect.
• Liu Yan discovers a newly advanced seventh-realm Soul Wraith near an unnamed lake. Liu Yuanchen sends Divine Ability Clone No. 6 to investigate, then replaces the clone with his main body.
• The Soul Wraith appears to be a powerful Demon-Elephant remnant soul fused with a Wood Spirit, making it a likely source of Force Law insights.
• Liu Yuanchen attacks it with the Sea-Calming Pearl, restrains it with emerald light, and seals it inside the Jadeglow Twofold Ceremonial Lamp. After three hours, the Soul Wraith disappears, leaving behind a small amount of mysterious liquid.
• When Liu Yuanchen attempts to comprehend the resulting Law insights, the lamp unexpectedly pulls him inside. He finds himself transformed into a Four-Tusked White Elephant, reliving the creature’s memories as a powerless observer.
• The vision shows the elephant growing stronger through repeated battles before eventually arriving beneath a towering Bodhi Tree, where a bald, yellow-robed elder is preaching the Dao.

Character Developments

• Liu Yuanchen becomes more strategically minded, building surveillance networks rather than relying solely on personal strength. He also recognizes that Law comprehension is currently the most efficient way to improve his combat ability.
• Liu Ling is revealed to be far more valuable than expected. His clones possess independent judgment and can multiply through both lingzhi growth and spores, making him potentially capable of overseeing the entire Netherworld.
• Liu Yan proves reliable and effective, expanding his intelligence-gathering range and carefully monitoring possible threats while searching for suitable Eerie Creatures.
• The Demon-Elephant Soul Wraith is presented as a possible vessel of ancient memories and Law insights. Its unusual form suggests a remnant soul from a powerful Four-Tusked White Elephant fused with a Wood Spirit.

Significant Themes

• The value of abilities depends on environment: Liu Ling’s power is weak in the Yang Realm but nearly unparalleled in the yin-rich Netherworld.
• Intelligence and preparation as forms of power: Liu Yuanchen strengthens his position by creating extensive surveillance networks and gathering information before acting.
• Law comprehension and inherited experience: The Jadeglow Twofold Ceremonial Lamp demonstrates that insight can be gained through immersive experience rather than simple study, though personal understanding remains essential.
• Strategic growth versus direct cultivation: Because Liu Yuanchen’s recent breakthroughs limit immediate cultivation gains, he turns to Laws, treasures, planning, and specialized resources.
• The boundary between memory and identity: Entering the lamp causes Liu Yuanchen to experience the life of another being from within, raising the possibility that understanding Laws requires temporarily inhabiting another existence.

Character Interactions

• Liu Yuanchen questions Liu Ling about the intelligence and independence of his clones, then assigns him command of Netherworld surveillance.
• Liu Yuanchen orders Liu Yan to transfer his Netherworld duties to Liu Ling, establishing distinct intelligence responsibilities for the two subordinates.
• Liu Yuanchen and Liu Yan maintain a cooperative master-servant relationship based on trust, with Liu Yan reporting his discoveries and confirming that no enemies are nearby.
• Liu Yuanchen relies on Liu Yan’s information to ambush the Soul Wraith, while using his clone, the Heavenly Dao Domain, the Sea-Calming Pearl, and the Jadeglow Twofold Ceremonial Lamp in combination.
• The chapter ends with Liu Yuanchen entering the Soul Wraith’s memories and encountering the mysterious elder beneath the Bodhi Tree, setting up the next stage of his enlightenment.

Chapter Summary: A Dream Spanning Myriad Ages

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Yuanchen enters an illusion within the Jadeglow Twofold Ceremonial Lamp, experiencing the memories of the Four-Tusked White Elephant Soul Wraith.
• He witnesses Dharma Master Cixin, a disciple descended from Saint Zhunti of the Western Sect, preaching beneath a Bodhi Tree in the Origin Spirit Realm.
• Cixin subdues the unruly Four-Tusked White Elephant with golden chains and attempts to recruit him as a mount. After months of chanting and spiritual conversion, the elephant submits.
• Over thousands of years, Cixin travels with the elephant, spreading the Western Sect’s teachings. Eventually, he establishes a temple, while the elephant serves as its protector and reaches the Earth Immortal Realm.
• A devastating war between the Witch and Demon Races destroys the temple and kills nearly all its disciples. The elephant dies defending the temple, while the severely wounded Cixin escapes into the void.
• The illusion shifts to the elephant’s later existence as a remnant soul inhabiting a young pine tree. The Soul Wraith consumes the pine’s developing sentience and uses its body to cultivate, eventually controlling the Wood Spirit’s physical form.
• Liu Yuanchen awakens after experiencing tens of thousands of years inside the illusion, though only one year has passed in reality.

Character Developments

• Liu Yuanchen: Gains valuable insight into the Western Sect, the Bodhi lineage, the Four-Tusked White Elephant, and the nature of Soul Wraiths. He acquires two Law Fragments:
  • Jia Wood Law, originating from the ancient pine.
  • Force Law, inherited from the elephant’s innate strength.
• Dharma Master Cixin: Initially appears as a compassionate preacher but is revealed to be a relatively obscure third-generation Western Sect disciple. He converts the elephant, establishes a temple, and spreads his teachings before fleeing after the Witch-Demon war destroys his work.
• Four-Tusked White Elephant: Begins as an arrogant, violent Primordial Immortal who rejects Cixin’s offer. Through prolonged chanting and spiritual influence, he becomes obedient and devoted, eventually protecting Cixin’s temple. His later remnant soul becomes a low-intelligence Soul Wraith that parasitizes the ancient pine.

Significant Themes

• The distinction between merit and cultivation: Liu Yuanchen learns that a luminous manifestation reflects cultivated Laws, while a Merit Lightwheel represents accumulated merit; the two are unrelated.
• Karmic ties and lineage: The Bodhi Tree’s connection to Saint Zhunti reminds Liu Yuanchen that even seemingly minor encounters with Saint-descended beings may create dangerous future karma.
• Conversion and control: Cixin’s preaching gradually transforms the elephant’s temperament, suggesting the Western Sect’s strength lies not only in combat but also in spiritual influence and persuasion.
• Cycles of life and corruption: The elephant’s death, transformation into a Soul Wraith, and occupation of the pine illustrate how consciousness can persist while becoming distorted or parasitic.
• Time and opportunity: Liu Yuanchen experiences countless years in the illusion but gains only one year’s worth of external time, allowing him to accumulate immense cultivation insights efficiently.

Character Interactions

• Liu Yuanchen observes the relationship between Cixin and the Four-Tusked White Elephant from within the elephant’s experience.
• The elephant repeatedly insults and challenges Cixin, while Cixin responds with patience, restraint, golden bindings, and persistent scripture chanting.
• Cixin’s physical and spiritual fusion with the Bodhi Tree allows him to overpower and ride the elephant.
• After the elephant’s conversion, their relationship changes from hostility to cooperation: the elephant becomes Cixin’s mount, companion, and temple guardian.
• Liu Yuanchen reflects critically on Cixin and the Western Sect, admiring their methods while viewing their teachings as skilled persuasion rather than genuine moral purity.

Resulting Gains for Liu Yuanchen

• The Jia Wood Law improves the efficiency of his Heaven-Reaching Divine Wood Technique by roughly four to five times and can strengthen his Jumang Dharma Form.
• The Force Law greatly enhances his physical combat potential and should increase the power of his Nine Heaven-Cleaving Forms.
• His Divine Spring Realm advances to the middle stage, with a spring eye about one foot wide and waters rising over five inches.
• His Primordial Spirit grows to two and a half feet and reaches a level of Law comprehension comparable to Supernatural Ability Realm cultivators.
• He decides to focus future Law acquisition on the remaining Yin-Yang Five-Element Laws—Fire, Earth, Metal, and Yin-Yang—while continuing to seek Space Law through the Sea-Calming Pearl.

Chapter Summary: “Fire Vein Conceals a Grotto-Heaven”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Yuanchen evaluates his Primordial Spirit, which has been strengthened through the Innate Gods-and-Devils Forging Method, the Jadeglow Twofold Ceremonial Lamp, and thunder tribulation. Although it surpasses ordinary Primordial Spirit Realm cultivators, he is uncertain whether it has reached the Supernatural Ability Realm.
• He decides to cultivate his Primordial Spirit through the Divine Path’s Yin Spirit and Yang Spirit methods. His goal is to combine the powerful foundation of the Qi Refinement Path with the Divine Path’s superior Primordial Spirit-tempering techniques.
• Because he lacks a suitable cultivation manual and cannot yet reveal that he has condensed a Primordial Spirit, Liu Yuanchen plans to join the Great Xia Academy. His previous reward for defeating the Luochuan Dragon King allows him to join once he reaches the fifth realm and improves a fifth-rank pill formula.
• Liu Yuanchen begins improving the fifth-rank Lunar Soul-Nourishing Pill, intended to nourish the Seven Po Souls. He masters its refinement but realizes that replacing scarce Yang Realm herbs with common Netherworld herbs will require years of painstaking experimentation.
• His work is interrupted when his junior brother, Meng Tieshan, sends an urgent plea for help. The Underground Fire Vein he has been suppressing is growing increasingly powerful, and its magma is approaching the surface.
• Liu Yuanchen uses his Substitute-Death Clone Minor Divine Ability to reach Scarlet Flame Volcano. He discovers that the Fire Vein’s energy has risen from roughly fourth-rank to lower-grade fifth-rank strength, with an eruption likely within a few years.
• He meets Meng Tieshan underground and uses the Merit Dharma Eye to inspect his karmic burden. More than ninety percent of Meng Tieshan’s Karmic Force has dissipated because his efforts to suppress the Fire Vein have earned him substantial Merit.
• Liu Yuanchen descends more than five thousand zhang beneath the surface to investigate. His improved cultivation, Golden Bone Jade Marrow, Earth Book, Water-Attribute Law, and One-Origin Heavy Water allow him to endure the extreme heat better than before.
• He senses violent Yang Qi far exceeding what an ordinary Earth Vein could produce. Following it to the Fire Vein’s source, he discovers a spatial rift from which high-grade eighth-rank lava and solar energy are pouring.
• Liu Yuanchen concludes that the Fire Vein has two sources: the original fire-attribute Earth Vein and the spatial rift. He suspects the rift leads to a powerful Grotto-Heaven, possibly a Grand Grotto-Heaven or a Minor Grotto-Heaven containing a spirit treasure or Innate Treasure Material.

Character Development

• Liu Yuanchen becomes increasingly strategic and ambitious. He carefully designs a cultivation route that combines multiple systems rather than relying on a single tradition.
• His confidence grows as his physical body and Primordial Spirit improve. He can now endure environments that were previously impossible for him to enter.
• He also demonstrates greater responsibility toward nearby civilians and family territories by immediately responding to the Fire Vein crisis.
• His resourcefulness is emphasized through his plans to join the Great Xia Academy, improve a pill formula, and investigate the mysterious spatial rift.
• Meng Tieshan has made significant moral and karmic progress. His long-term suppression of the Fire Vein has nearly erased his Karmic Force and may soon earn him positive Merit, though his cultivation has stalled because of the burden.

Significant Themes

• Integration of cultivation paths: The chapter explores how the Qi Refinement, Divine, and Demon paths influence one another, with Liu Yuanchen seeking to synthesize their strengths.
• Cultivation and sacrifice: Meng Tieshan’s effort to suppress the Fire Vein benefits the surrounding population but delays his own advancement.
• Responsibility and protection: Liu Yuanchen’s urgency reflects the consequences of powerful cultivators’ actions on ordinary people and populated regions.
• Discovery and hidden opportunity: The dangerous Fire Vein is revealed to conceal a potentially enormous opportunity—a previously unknown Grotto-Heaven or treasure-bearing space.
• Knowledge as power: Liu Yuanchen relies on understanding Laws, pill properties, spiritual energy, and ancient cultivation systems to solve problems rather than using brute force alone.

Character Interactions

• Meng Tieshan contacts Liu Yuanchen for help after admitting that he can no longer control the Fire Vein.
• Liu Yuanchen reassures him, tells him to continue cultivating, and encourages him to pursue a breakthrough into the Golden Body Realm.
• Their exchange shows Liu Yuanchen acting as a reliable senior brother and mentor, while Meng Tieshan trusts him completely.
• Liu Yuanchen’s connection to the Great Xia Academy and his past dealings with the Grand Preceptor Ancestor also shape his future plans, though those figures do not directly appear in the chapter.

Chapter Summary: “An Invitation from Great Xia Academy”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Yuanchen discovers that the spatial rift beneath the Fire Vein likely conceals a Grotto-Heaven. He realizes it could provide enormous amounts of Innate Primordial Qi and might contain a powerful treasure, possibly even an Innate Spirit Treasure or Spirit Root.
• Because he cannot yet survive inside the rift, Liu Yuanchen decides to keep the Grotto-Heaven secret until his cultivation and the Earth Book become strong enough for him to enter safely.
• Returning to Scarlet Flame Volcano, he suppresses the volcano using the Earth Ancestor Witch Divine Ability, Virtue Bearing All Things. The ability converts the surrounding fire-attribute energy into earth-attribute spiritual soil, causing the lava to recede.
• Liu Yuanchen explains the technique to Meng Tieshan, noting its similarity to Meng’s fire-domain ability, Blazing Fire Illuminating Heaven. He encourages Meng to cultivate at the volcano and accumulate Merit while working toward the Golden Body Realm.
• Liu Yuanchen sends Yellow-Scaled Pine Dao Soldiers to collect the transformed soil. Since the Red Wasteland lacks fertile land, the soil can be processed into valuable Spirit Field Soil, benefiting both Liu Yuanchen and the region’s inhabitants.
• For two years, Liu Yuanchen attempts to improve the Lunar Soul-Nourishing Pill by replacing rare Netherworld ingredients with more common Yang Realm herbs. His experiments largely fail.
• Azure Origin Pill King advises him that he is approaching the problem incorrectly: to reduce cost, he should accept weaker effects or additional side effects rather than preserve the original efficacy. Liu Yuanchen immediately understands the flaw in his approach.
• Before he can continue experimenting, his grandmaster presents him with an invitation from Great Xia Academy. The Academy wants him to research the Witch Race Inheritance and promises official student status if he makes sufficient progress.
• Liu Yuanchen and the elders recognize that the invitation is politically motivated. Yan Zongrui, the Academy’s Left Deputy Director and likely aligned with the Divine Court, intends to draw Liu Yuanchen away from the Eight Desolations Pavilion and claim control over the research results.
• Azure Origin Pill King argues that the invitation should still be used as an opportunity to obtain more Ancestor Witch inheritances. The Eight Desolations Pavilion can protect its interests by publicly sharing previously deciphered inheritances and claiming that any duplicate discoveries already belong to them.
• Liu Yuanchen agrees to send a clone to Asking Dao Mountain rather than risk his true body. Although Golden Flame Venerable worries that the Divine Court may use curses against the clone, Venerable Sea Severing reveals that Liu Yuanchen has already demonstrated resistance to such techniques.

Character Developments

• Liu Yuanchen becomes more strategic and cautious. He recognizes the value of the hidden Grotto-Heaven but refuses to act recklessly before he is strong enough to enter it.
• His mastery of Earth Ancestor Witch techniques deepens, and he uses them not only for combat but also for environmental transformation and economic benefit.
• His failure with pill refinement reveals a tendency to become too narrowly focused, but he readily accepts Azure Origin Pill King’s correction and adjusts his thinking.
• Liu Yuanchen also shows growing political awareness. He quickly sees that Great Xia Academy’s invitation may conceal an attempt to control the Witch Race Inheritance and weaken the Eight Desolations Pavilion.
• Meng Tieshan gains a valuable cultivation site and is encouraged to pursue the Golden Body Realm.
• Azure Origin Pill King acts as both mentor and political strategist, correcting Liu Yuanchen’s alchemical method and helping him identify a way to exploit the Academy’s scheme.
• Venerable Sea Severing demonstrates confidence in Liu Yuanchen’s ability to resist curses and supports using the invitation to obtain further inheritances.
• Golden Flame Venerable serves as the cautious voice, highlighting the danger posed by the Divine Court’s curse techniques.

Significant Themes

• Preparation and patience: Liu Yuanchen understands that powerful opportunities must sometimes be postponed until he has enough strength to exploit them safely.
• Resource conversion and practical cultivation: Virtue Bearing All Things transforms destructive volcanic energy into useful spiritual soil, showing how cultivation abilities can improve society and generate wealth.
• Knowledge as political power: The Witch Race Inheritance is treated like intellectual property. Whoever controls its interpretation and distribution gains influence over other factions.
• Strategic cooperation versus hidden motives: Great Xia Academy’s invitation appears generous but is actually designed to draw Liu Yuanchen and the Eight Desolations Pavilion into a disadvantageous arrangement.
• Adaptability: Both alchemy and political strategy require Liu Yuanchen to change his original approach rather than cling to a flawed plan.
• Collective benefit versus factional control: The Eight Desolations Pavilion contrasts with Great Xia Academy and the Divine Court by presenting itself as willing to share inheritances with the broader Human Race.

Important Character Interactions

• Liu Yuanchen and Meng Tieshan discuss the Fire Vein and compare their respective Ancestor Witch Divine Abilities.
• Liu Yuanchen’s interaction with Azure Origin Pill King shifts from alchemical instruction to political strategy. The Pill King corrects Liu Yuanchen’s pill-making assumptions and exposes the Academy’s hidden agenda.
• Liu Yuanchen, Azure Origin Pill King, Venerable Sea Severing, and Golden Flame Venerable debate whether to accept Great Xia Academy’s invitation.
• The elders ultimately persuade Liu Yuanchen to cooperate indirectly, using a clone to investigate Asking Dao Mountain while protecting the Eight Desolations Pavilion’s claim over the inheritances.
• The chapter ends with reassurance that Liu Yuanchen’s previous defeat of a Bloodfire Soul-Devouring Curse proves he has some defense against the Divine Court’s curse-based assassination methods.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Yuanchen reflects on his increased protection against curses: he now possesses the Earth Book and a Merit Golden Lotus, making ordinary curses and those used by the Divine Court or Curse Demon Race largely ineffective. However, techniques on the level of the Nail-Head Seven Arrows Scripture remain beyond his defenses.
• Golden Flame Venerable warns that their journey from the Red Wasteland to Luochuan Kingdom may invite ambushes from the Demon Race and Myriad Gods Sect, especially near the Snowfield and Savage Sandplain.
• Azure Origin Pill King reveals that Savage Sandplain has become a safe and active trade route. Its sandstorms now suppress Sky-Suspended Ghost City rather than assisting it, allowing travelers to pass through safely.
• Liu Yuanchen investigates the Earth Book and discovers that the Ancestral Spirit Vein’s spiritual energy mysteriously vanishes beneath Savage Sandplain. He concludes that a hidden power or formation is drawing energy from the vein and restraining Sky-Suspended Ghost City.
• Based on the connection between Blackcloud Ridge, the Ancestral Vein, and the declining appearances of Sky-Suspended Ghost City, Liu Yuanchen suspects that the city and Savage Sandplain were connected to ancient actions by the Witch and Demon Races.
• Liu Yuanchen decides to travel through Savage Sandplain rather than take the more dangerous northern route. He and his allies depart for the Great Xia Academy, intending both to seek the Witch Race Inheritance and recruit the Academy’s Earth Immortal factions.
• Liu Yuanchen consults Liu Hun, who provides records from the Heaven-Restoration Sect:
  • Sky-Suspended Ghost City predates the Heaven-Restoration Sect.
  • It contains beings from various races and possibly other worlds, who trade pills, artifacts, talismans, formations, and even Acquired Spirit Treasures.
  • The cities in the Yang and Yin Realms are confirmed to be the same entity.
  • Originally, the city followed strict rules and did not harm those who obeyed them.
  • After the invasion of Extraterritorial Lifeforms more than sixty thousand years ago, the Netherworld city became unstable and began killing visitors.
  • A powerful formation beneath Savage Sandplain suppresses the Yang-Realm city; Heaven-Restoration Sect experts who investigated it never returned.

Character Developments

• Liu Yuanchen becomes increasingly confident in his defensive strength and investigative abilities. He moves from speculation to a clearer theory that Sky-Suspended Ghost City is an ancient interworld hub linked to the Primordial Great World.
• He also demonstrates strategic foresight by planning to win over Earth Immortal factions within the Great Xia Academy, even considering revealing a lifespan-extension technique if necessary.
• Azure Origin Pill King serves as a knowledgeable adviser, clarifying the recent changes in Savage Sandplain and helping shape the travel strategy.
• Liu Hun is shown to be a valuable intelligence source within the Heaven-Restoration Sect. His information allows Liu Yuanchen to connect the city’s history with the invasion of Extraterritorial Lifeforms.
• Golden Flame Venerable emphasizes the military dangers of the journey and the possibility of coordinated ambushes.

Significant Themes

• Ancient secrets and hidden history: The origins of Sky-Suspended Ghost City, Savage Sandplain, and the separation of the Origin Spirit Realm from the Primordial Great World remain unresolved.
• Balance between suppression and corruption: The Ancestral Spirit Vein appears to restrain the city in the Yang Realm, while the Netherworld lacks an equivalent force. The city’s corruption began after the arrival of Extraterritorial Lifeforms.
• Power depends on both strength and energy level: Liu Yuanchen’s discussion of curses highlights that a technique’s rank and origin can matter more than its immediate destructive power.
• Political alliances and long-term strategy: The journey is not merely exploratory. Liu Yuanchen intends to secure allies within the Great Xia Academy while pursuing the Witch Race Inheritance.
• Interworld connections: Sky-Suspended Ghost City may be a marketplace or passage linking different worlds, possibly created as a fallback route for ancient races returning to the Primordial World.

Important Character Interactions

• Golden Flame Venerable warns Liu Yuanchen and the others about likely ambushes and hostile terrain.
• Azure Origin Pill King contradicts Liu Yuanchen’s assumptions about Savage Sandplain, explaining that its sandstorms now suppress the ghost city.
• Liu Yuanchen investigates the Ancestral Spirit Vein and shares his decision to cross Savage Sandplain directly.
• Liu Hun answers Liu Yuanchen’s inquiry, providing crucial historical information about the ghost city’s inhabitants, rules, connection between the Yin-Yang Realms, and corruption by Extraterritorial Lifeforms.
• Liu Yuanchen’s final deductions strongly suggest that Sky-Suspended Ghost City was once controlled or used by the Witch and Demon Races but has since fallen under Extraterritorial influence.

1. Key Plot Points / Events

• Liu Yuanchen confirms that Sky-Suspended Ghost City is a passage to other worlds, but it is controlled by Extraterritorial Lifeforms possibly linked to the Innate Black Lotus and Devil Ancestor Luo Hou.
• He fears a future invasion of the Origin Spirit Realm and realizes he must grow stronger quickly; he resumes cultivation.
• His cultivation focuses on strengthening his Nascent Dharma Form in the Physical Body Path: increasing its height (to 100 zhang), making it able to withstand sixth-rank magic treasure attacks, and merging laws into it to form Law Patterns (Witch Patterns).
• His Divine Ability Clones No. 5 and No. 6 fuse into one and travel west aboard the Sky-Piercing Warship toward Asking Dao Mountain, passing through the Savage Sandplain without incident.
• Using the Earth Book, he discovers that his clones can leave imprints of spirit veins in the book even when his true body stays behind; later, he successfully transmits energy to the distant clone, proving the Earth Book works beyond normal range.
• The clone arrives at the Eight Desolations Divine Prefecture, where the elder council of Eight Desolations Pavilion is meeting.
• The elders discuss how to handle the Witch Race Inheritance that Liu Yuanchen is about to decipher at the Great Xia Academy, balancing their reputation against pressure from the Divine Court.
• They adopt Seven-Treasure Apothecary’s plan: Liu Yuanchen delays Yan Zongrui, the clone in the pavilion immediately records the inheritance, then Eight Desolations Pavilion submits it to the academy first and makes it public — turning the tables on the Divine Court.
• Liu Yuanchen splits into two clones again: one stays at Eight Desolations Divine Prefecture to record and submit the inheritance, while the other goes to the Great Xia Academy.

2. Character Developments

• Liu Yuanchen: Grows more determined and cautious after learning the severity of the Extraterritorial threat. He shows strategic patience and willingness to use his clones/earth book creatively.
• Eight Desolations Pavilion elders: Display unity and political cunning; they prioritize both reputation and practical advantage.
• Seven-Treasure Apothecary: Emerges as a clever strategist, refining the plan to maximise moral high ground.
• Venerable Ten Thousand Mountains: Shows blunt but loyal willingness to take reputational hits for the pavilion’s benefit.

3. Significant Themes

• Power and cultivation urgency: Threats from other worlds drive the protagonist’s need for self-improvement.
• Political maneuvering and reputation: The elders navigate rivalry with the Divine Court while maintaining public image.
• Inheritance and knowledge sharing: The Witch Race inheritance is treated as both a resource and a weapon in sect politics.
• Resource strategy: The Earth Book’s expanding marks reflect growth through exploration and accumulation.

4. Character Interactions

• Liu Yuanchen internally debates the dangers of Sky-Suspended Ghost City and the Devil Ancestor’s legacy.
• Zhang Lingxu, as Pavilion Master, leads the elder council discussion.
• Venerable Ten Thousand Mountains, Blazing Fire Venerable, and others support different strategies.
• Seven-Treasure Apothecary presents the winning plan, which is unanimously approved.
• Liu Yuanchen coordinates his two clones to execute the plan in real time.

Chapter Summary: Dijiang Ancestral Witch Inheritance

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Yuanchen divides his attention between two clones: Clone No. 5 remains at the Eight Desolations Divine Prefecture, while Clone No. 6 travels with Venerable Sea Severing and other elders to the Great Xia Academy on Asking Dao Mountain.
• The group climbs Asking Dao Mountain, where Liu Yuanchen learns about the preserved cave dwellings and inheritances of ancient sages. Venerable Sea Severing explains the history of Venerable Pine Spring and Dao Lord Xuanyang, whose remaining Dao Embryo and cultivation may still be comprehended by later cultivators.
• They pass over the Great Xia Academy, whose ostentatious golden architecture reflects its rivalry with Asking Dao Mountain. The golden roofs even produce dazzling light capable of disorienting weaker cultivators flying overhead.
• Left Assistant Director Yan Zongrui receives them and presents a strange statue representing Dijiang, the Space Ancestral Witch. He claims to have found it in his treasury and invites Liu Yuanchen to unlock its secrets.
• Yan secretly activates a black barrier around the hall, suppressing the connection between Liu Yuanchen’s clone and main body. Liu Yuanchen and Venerable Sea Severing recognize the trick, but Liu remains confident because the Earth Book still preserves his energy connection.
• Liu Yuanchen activates the statue with his essence, qi, and spirit. He enters a chaotic spatial inheritance trial filled with shifting, overlapping miniature spaces and survives by using his existing Misty Space Minor Divine Ability.
• Dijiang’s inheritance enters Liu Yuanchen’s Sea of Consciousness as an inheritance seed. It contains Physical Body Path cultivation, Witch Script, combat arts, part of the Twelve-Celestial Capital Gods and Fiends Formation, and Dijiang’s unique method of absorbing spatial energy.
• Meanwhile, Clone No. 5 records the inheritance onto a beast-hide book. Zhang Lingxu orders multiple copies to be made and sent to the Great Xia Academy, allowing the Divine Court to obtain the inheritance despite its attempt to isolate Liu Yuanchen.

Character Developments

• Liu Yuanchen demonstrates increasing confidence and resourcefulness. He immediately sees through Yan Zongrui’s false explanation and remains calm despite the isolation formation.
• His mastery of the Earth Book proves crucial: it protects the energy link between his main body and clones even when ordinary divine or formation-based connections are suppressed.
• Liu’s prior comprehension of spatial power, particularly the Misty Space Minor Divine Ability, enables him to survive Dijiang’s inheritance trial and serves as the foundation for acquiring stronger spatial techniques.
• Venerable Sea Severing continues to act as a protective elder and openly challenges Yan Zongrui when the barrier is activated.
• Yan Zongrui is revealed as an intermediary for the Divine Court or Great Xia Divine Dynasty. Though he pretends ignorance, his actions suggest a deliberate attempt to control or monitor Liu Yuanchen’s inheritance process.
• Zhang Lingxu and Seven-Treasure Apothecary cooperate strategically, ensuring that the inheritance is copied and shared on their own terms.

Dijiang’s Inheritance and Abilities

• Dijiang’s cultivation method absorbs spatial energy from chaotic void currents or stable worlds, grotto-heavens, and blessed lands. However, draining inhabited or established spaces creates severe karmic consequences.
• Spatial Domain: Generates countless overlapping miniature spaces that can trap enemies, store objects, or alter the stability, size, and structure of space.
• Universe Within the Abdomen: Creates an internal spatial universe focused on devouring and digesting other spaces. It can strengthen the cultivator and potentially reproduce the properties of devoured special spaces, with the ultimate potential to consume even a Greater Thousandfold World.

Significant Themes

• Inheritance and continuity: Ancient sages preserve their knowledge through cave dwellings, Dao Embryos, and Ancestral Witch inheritances, allowing later generations to build upon their achievements.
• Institutional rivalry: Asking Dao Mountain and the Great Xia Divine Dynasty express their hostility through architecture, etiquette, and subtle power struggles.
• Superficial authority versus genuine cultivation: The Academy’s extravagant appearance contrasts with the profound legacies preserved in the humble sage dwellings.
• Adaptability and preparation: Liu Yuanchen’s previous mastery of spatial techniques and the Earth Book allows him to overcome restrictions designed to contain him.
• Power and karmic cost: Dijiang’s abilities are immensely powerful, but consuming the spatial energy of worlds carries serious moral and karmic consequences.

Important Character Interactions

• Venerable Sea Severing educates Liu Yuanchen about the history of Asking Dao Mountain and its ancient inheritances.
• He and Yan Zongrui exchange polite greetings, but tension emerges when Yan secretly seals the hall; Sea Severing warns him not to repeat such disrespect.
• Yan presents the Dijiang statue to Liu Yuanchen while concealing his likely connection to the Divine Court’s broader agenda.
• Liu Yuanchen outwardly cooperates while privately recognizing Yan’s deception and planning to turn the situation against him.
• At the end, Zhang Lingxu and Seven-Treasure Apothecary arrange for the inheritance to be copied and delivered to the Academy, ensuring the Divine Court gains nothing exclusively from its attempt to control the process.

Summary: "Failing to Steal the Chicken and Losing the Rice"

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Yuanchen deliberately stalls for two days in a Great Xia Academy hall, pretending to crack the Dijiang Ancestral Witch Inheritance using a clone, while his true plans unfold elsewhere.
• Seven-Treasure Apothecary secretly brings the full Dijiang Ancestral Witch Inheritance to Venerable Sea Pacifying (Grand Chancellor of Great Xia Academy) and secures his support to make the inheritance publicly available to all Academy students, effectively undermining Yan Zongrui's plan to use it as leverage against Eight Desolations Pavilion.
• After the stall, Liu Yuanchen hands over the inheritance to Yan Zongrui—but omits two of its Divine Abilities. As soon as the hall's isolating formation is lifted, Yan Zongrui receives urgent messages revealing that Eight Desolations Pavilion had already made the inheritance public. He realizes he has been outmaneuvered.
• Liu Yuanchen officially enrolls as an Academy disciple and heads to the Scripture Repository, seeking a superior method for cultivating a Divine Path Primordial Spirit.
• Yan Zongrui reports to a mysterious purple-robed prince, who berates him for the failure, suspects a traitor, and orders Yan Zongrui to resign his post and go to Dragon River Pass. The prince also asks him to arrange a meeting with Liu Yuanchen, hoping to recruit or ally with him.
• At the Scripture Repository, Liu Yuanchen meets An Changsheng and reveals his late Soul Condensation cultivation, which deflates An Changsheng's pride.

2. Character Developments

• Liu Yuanchen: Demonstrates strategic cunning and patience; uses a clone as a decoy, keeps crucial divine abilities secret, and ultimately achieves his goal of entering the Academy to research Primordial Spirit cultivation. His strength and influence continue to grow.
• Yan Zongrui: Gambles on controlling the Ancestral Witch Inheritance but loses badly. His arrogance and impatience lead to humiliation and demotion—a clear example of overreaching.
• Venerable Sea Pacifying: Shrewdly chooses to side with Eight Desolations Pavilion, calculating that it is the safer and more beneficial path for himself and the Academy's students.
• Venerable Sea Severing: Plays a supportive yet mocking role, teasing Yan Zongrui about his lack of emotional control.
• The purple-robed prince: Emerges as a higher power behind Yan Zongrui; pragmatic and ruthless, he pivots quickly to trying to recruit Liu Yuanchen.

3. Significant Themes

• Political maneuvering and factional rivalry: The struggle between Eight Desolations Pavilion and Divine Court over resources and influence.
• Misdirection and foresight: Liu Yuanchen's clone act and Eight Desolations Pavilion's preemptive release of the inheritance illustrate the value of preparation and deception.
• Cost of failed ambition: The title's idiom—"failing to steal the chicken and losing the rice"—perfectly captures Yan Zongrui's complete reversal of fortune.
• Knowledge for the common good: Publicizing the inheritance is framed as strengthening the Human Race, a recurring motivation.

4. Character Interactions

• Liu Yuanchen ↔ Yan Zongrui / Venerable Sea Severing: Liu Yuanchen maintains a polite facade while outplaying Yan Zongrui; Sea Severing provides commentary and protection.
• Seven-Treasure Apothecary ↔ Venerable Sea Pacifying: A diplomatic negotiation where Sea Pacifying agrees to publicize the inheritance, binding the Academy to Eight Desolations Pavilion.
• Yan Zongrui ↔ Purple-robed prince: A subordinate–superior exchange filled with tension; the prince’s cold logic reveals the political stakes.
• Liu Yuanchen ↔ An Changsheng: A brief reunion where Liu Yuanchen subtly flexes his superior cultivation, causing An Changsheng to storm off, highlighting both his competitive nature and Liu Yuanchen's rising stature.

Chapter Summary: Lunar Yin Spirit Refinement

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Yuanchen searches the Great Xia Academy’s Scripture Repository for a suitable method to temper his primordial spirit.
• He selects the Lunar Yin Spirit Refinement Art, a technique that uses pure yin energy to gradually transform a primordial spirit into a Pure Yin Primordial Spirit.
• Though the technique is exceptionally fast and can use relatively low-quality resources, it consumes an enormous quantity of spiritual materials—far more than ordinary refinement methods.
• Liu realizes the technique is ideal for him because the Jadeglow Twofold Ceremonial Lamp can produce extremely pure yin energy. He also possesses other resources, such as Moonlight Divine Water, though he decides to reserve the latter for a later stage.
• He then finds the complementary Solar Spirit Refinement Art, which will allow him to cultivate a Pure Yang Primordial Spirit after reaching the seventh realm. His Netherworld Sun Fragment, yang flames, and other resources make this technique equally suitable.
• After recording both techniques, Liu is summoned by Yan Zongrui, the Great Xia Academy’s Left Director.
• Yan reveals that his master, Second Prince Xia Lingchen, wishes to meet Liu in Yuan Capital.
• Liu refuses, recognizing that the Second Prince is involved in the Great Xia Divine Dynasty’s succession struggle. He insists that the Eight Desolations Pavilion should not interfere in the dynasty’s internal affairs and avoids becoming entangled in a political conflict with the Divine Court.
• Back on Netherworld Coiled Dragon Mountain, Liu begins cultivating the Lunar Yin Spirit Refinement Art.
• He uses the Zhurong Ancestor Witch True Form Diagram to refine a strand of the Jadeglow Lamp’s dangerous black flame into pure yin energy before absorbing it into his primordial spirit.
• The energy transforms into silver, moonlight-like power. Though it initially causes intense cold and slows his thoughts and bodily energy, Liu successfully withstands and assimilates it.
• His primordial spirit visibly changes, developing a silver mark at the brow while losing some of its former golden radiance.
• His divine sense expands from roughly 180 li to 200 li, and his Origin Astral Force, True Essence, and soul essence all improve after being refined through the new technique.

Character Developments

• Liu Yuanchen demonstrates confidence in his advantages and resources, recognizing that techniques too expensive for ordinary cultivators are particularly well suited to him.
• He becomes more politically cautious, refusing to support Xia Lingchen despite Yan Zongrui’s respectful request. Liu prioritizes the long-term interests of the Eight Desolations Pavilion over immediate political opportunities.
• His mastery of the Zhurong Ancestor Witch True Form Diagram deepens. He discovers that because the Jadeglow Lamp’s power manifests as flame, Zhurong can control and refine even its yin fire.
• Liu’s primordial spirit begins its transformation toward a Pure Yin Primordial Spirit, strengthening both his spiritual awareness and overall cultivation.

Significant Themes

• Resource advantages and cultivation efficiency: Liu’s special treasures and techniques allow him to overcome limitations that would make the same path impossible for ordinary cultivators.
• Balance between yin and yang: The Lunar Yin and Solar Spirit Refinement Arts form a complementary progression, reflecting the importance of cultivating both polar forces.
• Political neutrality and strategic patience: Liu rejects involvement in the Second Prince’s succession struggle, believing the Eight Desolations Pavilion should avoid provoking stronger powers until it has greater strength.
• Mastery through integration: Liu combines several inheritances—the Jadeglow Lamp, Zhurong’s power, and Great Xia Academy techniques—to create a cultivation method uniquely suited to him.
• Danger and controlled advancement: Even powerful resources can harm him if used recklessly, so Liu carefully refines the lamp’s energy before absorption.

Character Interactions

• Liu Yuanchen and Yan Zongrui: Yan approaches Liu politely and respectfully, clarifying that the invitation is a request rather than an order. Liu remains cautious, suspects possible ulterior motives, and ultimately refuses the summons without hostility.
• Yan Zongrui and Xia Lingchen: Yan’s willingness to personally invite Liu reveals his loyalty to his master, the Second Prince, and suggests Xia Lingchen is seeking talented allies or outside support.
• Liu Yuanchen and the Zhurong Ancestor Witch manifestation: Liu uses Zhurong as an intermediary to tame the Jadeglow Lamp’s dangerous yin flames, demonstrating cooperation between his different cultivation inheritances.