Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• The chapter opens with a broad history of the realm’s repeated cycles of unification and division, from the Yong Emperor and Sword Ancestor Taixu to the later rise and fall of powerful sects.
• In recent history, the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect destroyed the Five Clouds Sect with the help of twelve Void Realm fierce beasts and unified Yue Province. Shortly afterward, Changsun Wenqing of the Golden Goose Sect broke through to the Empty Nether Realm, defeated the Fivefold Balance Mountain, and unified Qi Province.
• The Central Land’s Seven Provinces eventually came to be ruled by seven major powers: the Sun-Shooting Divine Mountain, Form-Intent Sect, Golden Goose Sect, Grand Vacuity Sword Sect, Supreme Profound Abbey, Great Sun Vajra Temple, and Imperial Heaven City.
• Several major clashes demonstrated the might of the Empty Nether Realm. Li Qian of the Sun-Shooting Divine Mountain defeated Changsun Wenqing by half a move, while Zheng Qianling of the Form-Intent Sect was humiliated after challenging the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect and being driven away by fourteen fierce beasts.
• Over the following century, new generations of experts rose while older powerhouses disappeared. The Seven Provinces remained locked in alternating conflict and alliances.
• In the present, Chen Jichuan, Wang Yan, and Li Qingshan meet in Pengshan City to assess the strength of the realm and the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect.
• Li Qingshan reveals that the sect now possesses three Void Realm experts, one God-Seeing expert, seventeen Void Realm fierce beasts, and three Empty Nether-level combatants when Chen Jichuan, Li Qingshan, and the newly acquired Great Sun Golden Peng Bird are included.
• Chen Jichuan announces that he has summoned two Void Realm disciples, three hundred Innate Realm disciples, and eight Void Insight Realm allies from the Western Sea to reinforce the sect.
• With this growing military strength, Li Qingshan declares that the time has come to restore the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect’s former glory and potentially unify the realm. Chen Jichuan agrees to help end the realm’s long-standing chaos.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan has become an immensely influential figure after two centuries of activity in the Western Sea. He has collected sword steles, cultivated powerful allies, subdued fierce beasts, and secretly refined many enemies into corpses. Though personally uninterested in ruling the realm, he is willing to pursue unification to obtain ancient inheritances and aid his cultivation.
• Li Qingshan has grown from the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect’s former leading genius into its reliable leader and a mid-Empty Nether expert. He has quietly cultivated, managed the sect, and now openly embraces the ambition of restoring its former dominance.
• Wang Yan remains close to Chen Jichuan and understands the breadth of his influence better than Li Qingshan. Her quiet reaction reflects her familiarity with his extensive network and reputation.
• Shen Lang is identified as the sect’s most promising rising talent, reaching the mid Void Insight Realm before the age of 150 and becoming a major pillar of the sect.
• The chapter also introduces the leading experts of the current generation, including Lu Zheng, Liuyangzi, Yuanjue, Gu Huanzhen, Li Rong, Wei Hong, and Li Qingshan.

Significant Themes

• Cycles of unity and division: The realm repeatedly consolidates under exceptional figures before fragmenting again, suggesting that lasting unity requires more than individual strength.
• Rise and decline of heroes: Famous experts shine for a time before fading, while younger generations replace them. Power and reputation are portrayed as temporary.
• Accumulated strength and preparation: The Grand Vacuity Sword Sect’s resurgence results from long-term planning, hidden resources, talented disciples, fierce beasts, and Chen Jichuan’s relationships.
• Traditional martial power versus broader cultivation methods: Although the Qinling World has formidable martial experts, Chen Jichuan’s mastery of techniques from several worlds gives him unusual advantages over opponents of comparable realms.
• Ambition versus personal purpose: Li Qingshan seeks to restore the sect’s historical glory, whereas Chen Jichuan is motivated more by cultivation and access to ancient legacies, even though their goals now align.
• The succession of generations: The chapter emphasizes how every era produces new dominant figures while older legends vanish into obscurity.

Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan, Wang Yan, and Li Qingshan discuss the leading figures of the Seven Provinces and compare the sect’s current strength with that of its rivals.
• Li Qingshan praises Chen Jichuan’s extensive connections after learning that he can summon eight Void Insight Realm allies from the Western Sea.
• Wang Yan silently confirms Li Qingshan’s assessment, knowing that Chen Jichuan’s reputation and network are even greater than he reveals.
• Li Qingshan and Chen Jichuan share a close but practical bond: Li Qingshan governs the sect and handles internal affairs, while Chen Jichuan handles external battles, gathers resources, and supplies powerful reinforcements.
• Their conversation culminates in a shared commitment to end the realm’s chaos, with Li Qingshan providing the ambition and Chen Jichuan supplying the means.

Chapter Summary: “Black Whirlwind” vs. Lu Zheng

Key Plot Points and Events

• White Horse Lake, located between Xu and Yue Prefectures, becomes the site of a highly anticipated duel between the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect and the Form-Intent Sect.
• The battle revives memories of an old, unresolved confrontation between the two sects that occurred more than a century earlier.
• The Grand Vacuity Sword Sect issues two challenges:
  • Li Qingshan, “Five-Elements Spear,” challenges Wei Hong of the Golden Goose Sect at Green Lake Island.
  • Wang Shan, “Black Whirlwind,” challenges Lu Zheng, “Fist Seals the Four Seas,” of the Form-Intent Sect at White Horse Lake.
• Because Wang Shan is an unknown figure, martial artists throughout the region investigate his identity. They discover that he was once:
  • “Little Whirlwind” Wang Shan on the Hidden Dragon Ranking.
  • “Black Whirlwind” Wang Shan on the Earth Rankings.
  • The first commander of the Grand Vacuity Blood-Robed Army’s Fourth Division.
  • A former genius known as “Midas Touch.”
• On September 15, both sects surround White Horse Lake with their armies, while spectators gather on the surrounding mountains to watch.
• Lu Zheng arrives first and reveals his formidable presence. Though outwardly ordinary, he is a peak expert with eighth-layer Elixir Embracement cultivation, equivalent to the middle stage of the third Divine Realm rank.
• Chen Jichuan arrives under the identity of Wang Shan, riding the extraordinary Great Sun Golden Peng Bird, a Voidworld Divine Beast. Its appearance shocks the spectators and immediately elevates their expectations of the duel.
• Chen then reveals that Lu Zheng has brought the Six-Eared Earth-Drilling Rat, another renowned divine beast, as a hidden backup and means of escape.
• Both combatants recognize that the other has prepared carefully and possesses powerful support.
• After a brief exchange of words, Lu Zheng invites Chen to attack. Chen draws his sword and charges, beginning the battle.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan/Wang Shan: His mysterious reputation grows as his historical identity is uncovered. He displays confidence, keen observation, and strategic awareness by identifying Lu Zheng’s hidden ally. His possession and command of the Great Sun Golden Peng Bird demonstrate his extraordinary strength and status.
• Lu Zheng: Initially viewed by spectators as a powerful but somewhat familiar Form-Intent master, he becomes more cautious after seeing Chen’s divine beast mount. His confidence remains intact, but he recognizes that Chen can both fight aggressively and retreat safely.
• Wang Yan: As a member of the Blood-Robed Army, she carefully observes Lu Zheng and guards against trickery. She trusts Chen’s overwhelming abilities and remains calm, knowing that the Great Sun Golden Peng Bird gives him a powerful advantage.
• The spectators: Their curiosity about the unknown “Black Whirlwind” develops into excitement and respect as his past achievements and current strength are revealed.

Significant Themes

• Reputation and forgotten history: The chapter emphasizes how historical events become distorted over time, with Xu and Yue Prefectures remembering the earlier sect conflict in contradictory ways.
• The return of hidden talents: Wang Shan’s old achievements were buried for centuries, showing how great figures can disappear from public memory before reemerging.
• Preparation and hidden trump cards: Both sides arrive with powerful divine beasts, demonstrating that victory depends not only on personal cultivation but also on foresight and strategic resources.
• Public spectacle and martial prestige: The duel attracts experts from across the region, turning a private challenge into a major event that may redefine both warriors’ reputations.
• Appearances versus true strength: Lu Zheng looks ordinary despite possessing terrifying power, while Chen’s entrance is spectacular but leaves his personal abilities less obvious. The chapter repeatedly contrasts outward appearance with hidden capability.

Character Interactions

• Chen and Lu Zheng: Their initial conversation is courteous but highly strategic. Each compliments the other while subtly revealing that he knows about the opponent’s preparations. Their dialogue establishes mutual respect, suspicion, and competitive tension.
• Chen and the Great Sun Golden Peng Bird: Chen uses the divine beast as both a mount and a deterrent, giving him control over the battlefield and a reliable means of retreat.
• Lu Zheng and the Six-Eared Earth-Drilling Rat: Lu Zheng keeps the beast concealed underground, intending to preserve an escape route and prevent Chen from easily trapping him.
• Wang Yan and Lu Zheng: Though they do not directly fight, Wang Yan scrutinizes him carefully, reflecting the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect’s distrust and readiness for concealed tactics.
• The chapter concludes with Chen initiating the duel, setting the stage for the confrontation between his swordsmanship and Lu Zheng’s renowned spear and Form-Intent techniques.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan, appearing as “Wang Shan,” battles Lu Zheng at White Horse Lake to obtain the Form-Intent Sect’s “wood” stele inscription and true inheritance.
• Lu Zheng initially dominates the fight with his refined Five-Path Spear Technique, derived from the Form-Intent Sect’s Five-Elements Fist. His spearwork combines immense power with multiple layers and variations of force.
• Chen Jichuan relies only on swordsmanship and movement techniques at first, deliberately using the battle to temper his skills. Although his swordsmanship is superb, he gradually falls behind Lu Zheng, whose three centuries of combat experience and cultivation give him the advantage.
• The battle devastates White Horse Lake and White Horse Island, astonishing the spectators gathered nearby.
• Li Rong, a powerful archer from Sun-Shooting Divine Mountain, observes the fight from a Thunder-Electric Divine Eagle. He recognizes similarities between Chen Jichuan’s swordsmanship and that of Chen Shan, the Sword Tower master of the Western Sea, and suspects that “Wang Shan” and Chen Shan may be the same person.
• When Lu Zheng’s spear techniques reach an even higher level, Chen Jichuan admits that ordinary swordsmanship cannot defeat him. He then reveals his strongest technique: the Seven-Star Sword Diagram.
• Seven Yellow Essence Swords generate forty-nine streams of sword qi, forming a scroll-like formation that traps Lu Zheng. The diagram confines him at the Tianji position and prevents him from escaping.
• Chen Jichuan combines the sword formation with the Five-Thunder Oil-Pool Fire Curse, activating the Stove Fire previously planted inside Lu Zheng’s body.
• Lu Zheng is killed. His Reincarnation Spear and Reincarnation Armor fall from the Sword Diagram, confirming his defeat.
• At the same moment, Li Rong finally fires an arrow at Chen Jichuan, realizing too late that Lu Zheng has already been slain and regretting that he waited so long to act.

2. Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Demonstrates both humility and tactical patience. He knowingly fights at a disadvantage to sharpen his swordsmanship, then decisively reveals the Seven-Star Sword Diagram when conventional methods fail. His success proves that the formation can threaten even powerful Eighth-Layer cultivators and possibly Ninth-Layer opponents.
• Lu Zheng: Establishes himself as an extraordinarily formidable martial artist through his mastery of the Five-Path Spear Technique and Reincarnation Spear Art. However, his confidence and overwhelming offensive rhythm are ultimately countered by Chen Jichuan’s superior preparation and hidden techniques.
• Wang Yan: Correctly recognizes that Chen Jichuan is holding back and remains confident that his true sword qi and formations will turn the battle around. Her understanding of his abilities is deeper than that of the ordinary spectators.
• Li Rong: Becomes increasingly wary of the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect. He suspects that “Wang Shan” is connected to the Western Sea Sword Tower and realizes that the sect may possess far greater alliances and influence than previously believed. His hesitation to intervene becomes a costly mistake.

3. Significant Themes

• Hidden strength and strategic restraint: Chen Jichuan conceals his most powerful abilities, allowing him to mislead both Lu Zheng and the observers before delivering a decisive counterattack.
• Skill versus raw power: Lu Zheng’s immense strength and technical mastery initially overpower Chen Jichuan’s swordsmanship, but Chen’s specialized sword formation proves more decisive than direct confrontation.
• The value of long-term cultivation: Chen Jichuan’s hundreds of years of sword practice culminate in the creation of the Seven-Star Sword Diagram, showing the rewards of persistent effort.
• Political and sectarian conflict: The duel is not merely personal. It is part of the broader struggle between the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect and the Form-Intent Sect, with the outcome affecting the balance of power across the Seven Provinces.
• The danger of delayed action: Li Rong’s prolonged observation leaves him unable to prevent Lu Zheng’s death, emphasizing how hesitation can turn a carefully planned intervention into a missed opportunity.
• Identity and concealed connections: Li Rong’s suspicion that Wang Shan is actually Chen Shan introduces the possibility that Chen Jichuan’s identity and alliances are much more significant than they appear.

4. Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan and Lu Zheng: Their battle evolves from a contest of swordsmanship and spear technique into a clash between direct martial mastery and a complex sword formation. Chen respects Lu Zheng as a worthy opponent but ultimately kills him because their sects are engaged in an existential conflict.
• Chen Jichuan and Wang Yan: Though they do not directly interact during the fight, Wang Yan’s observations show her confidence in Chen and her familiarity with his hidden abilities.
• Chen Jichuan and Li Rong: They do not speak, but Li Rong watches Chen closely and eventually attacks him with an arrow. Chen’s victory over Lu Zheng occurs just before Li Rong’s intervention.
• Lu Zheng and the spectators: Lu Zheng’s powerful spear techniques impress the watching martial artists, many of whom initially regard him as the likely victor. His sudden death shocks them and transforms their view of “Wang Shan.”
• Li Rong and the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect: Li Rong’s thoughts reveal growing alarm over the sect’s expanding strength, particularly its possible ties to the Western Sea Sword Tower and the powerful Great Sun Golden Peng Bird.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan kills Lu Zheng, the Form-Intent Sect’s patriarch, by trapping him inside the Sword Qi diagram and combining attacks from within and without.
• While Chen is defending against a concealed arrow from the west, Wang Yan kills Zhou Tianyang, another Form-Intent Sect grandmaster, in a single sword strike.
• With both of its leading experts dead, the Form-Intent Sect’s three-thousand-man Black Armor Army is overwhelmed by Wang Yan and the Blood-Robed Army.
• The hidden attacker is revealed to be Li Rong of Sun-Shooting Divine Mountain. He flees after realizing he cannot defeat Chen alone.
• Chen pursues Li Rong across the sky. Li Rong’s exceptional archery repeatedly destroys or disrupts Chen’s attempts to form his sword array.
• Chen uses the Great Sun Golden Peng Bird to attack Li Rong from another direction, exploiting the difference between Li Rong’s powerful battle mount and his own weaker Thunder-Electric Divine Eagle.
• Li Rong tries to save himself by offering an alliance: Sun-Shooting Divine Mountain will help the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect conquer Qi and Xu Provinces without claiming any territory.
• Chen pretends to consider the offer, then refuses, declaring that he does not trust Li Rong. He seals Li Rong’s escape with his sword techniques, the Great Sun Golden Peng Bird, and twelve Void Insight Realm refined corpses arranged in the Twelve Celestial Branches Formation.
• Li Rong realizes he has been deceived and angrily calls Chen “truly despicable.”
• At White Horse Lake, Wang Yan gathers Lu Zheng’s and Zhou Tianyang’s treasures and corpses while observers speculate that the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect now possesses four Empty Nether Realm experts.
• Chen returns carrying Li Rong’s corpse, divine bow, and arrow quiver. The bow is identified as the famous Shooting Sun Bow, confirming that he has also killed “Realm-Settler” Li Rong.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan/Wang Shan: Demonstrates overwhelming tactical intelligence and ruthlessness. Rather than relying solely on direct strength, he uses preparation, deception, formations, his divine beast, and refined corpses to defeat stronger or difficult opponents. His willingness to fake consideration of Li Rong’s alliance highlights his distrust and pragmatic nature.
• Wang Yan: Establishes herself as a formidable warrior and battlefield commander. She kills Zhou Tianyang instantly and leads the Blood-Robed Army to annihilate the Black Armor Army. Her strength causes onlookers to suspect that she is another Empty Nether Realm expert.
• Li Rong: Initially attacks from concealment and hopes to benefit from Chen and Lu Zheng weakening each other. After Lu Zheng’s death, he becomes increasingly fearful, then regains confidence when his archery prevents Chen from forming the Sword Diagram. His confidence collapses once Chen combines the Great Sun Golden Peng Bird with the Twelve Celestial Branches Formation.
• The Grand Vacuity Sword Sect: Its rapid victories dramatically increase its reputation and political influence. With several powerful experts and armies, it appears poised to expand beyond its original territory.

Significant Themes

• Power through strategy rather than strength alone: Chen’s victories depend on preparation, formations, hidden spells, coordinated attacks, and deception.
• The collapse of old power structures: The deaths of Lu Zheng, Zhou Tianyang, and Li Rong signal the weakening of established sects and the rise of the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect.
• Trust and betrayal: Li Rong attempts to survive by offering cooperation, but Chen rejects the alliance because he considers Li Rong untrustworthy and has already been attacked by him.
• Reputation and perception: Witnesses interpret the battle as proof that the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect is rising rapidly, prompting some to consider joining it before its dominance is complete.
• The danger of overconfidence: Li Rong correctly identifies Chen’s difficulty in forming the sword array but fails to account for Chen’s mount, formations, and hidden resources.

Character Interactions

• Chen and Wang Yan fight in coordination: Chen kills Lu Zheng while Wang Yan eliminates Zhou Tianyang and leads the army assault.
• Chen pursues Li Rong in an aerial duel, with Li Rong using precision archery to counter Chen’s flying swords.
• Chen’s Great Sun Golden Peng Bird becomes a decisive combat partner, attacking Li Rong from the flank while Chen keeps him occupied.
• Li Rong attempts to negotiate with Chen, but Chen deceives him into lowering his guard before trapping him with twelve refined corpses.
• The surrounding martial artists observe and discuss the battle, spreading the belief that the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect has become a dominant force.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Wang Shan of the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect becomes famous as the “Seven-Star Sword Sage” after killing two Empty Nether Realm experts—Lu Zheng of the Form-Intent Sect and Li Rong of Sun-Shooting Divine Mountain—at White Horse Lake.
• With Li Qingshan, the “Five-Element Spear,” killing Wei Hong of the Golden Goose Sect, the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect launches a massive invasion of Northern Ridge.
• Its 140,000 Blood-Robed Army and newly equipped 800,000-strong Blacksteel Army attack Qi Province, Xu Prefecture, and Yunzhou across multiple routes.
• The sect’s overwhelming military and expert strength allows it to conquer the three provinces rapidly. By December 24, all four provinces of Northern Ridge are under its control.
• Wang Shan personally kills numerous renowned figures, including Lu Zheng, Li Rong, Sun Jiuheng, Bai Zhifei, Mo Xiang, Ji Ran, and Zhu Tianyu, causing his reputation to spread throughout the Seven Provinces.
• The source of Wang Shan’s influence is revealed: he was once known as Chen Shan, the “Western Sea Sword Sage” and master of the Sword Tower. Over two centuries, he cultivated friendships, helped younger experts, and earned countless favors across the Western Sea.
• Imperial Heaven City recognizes the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect as a major threat. Gu Huanzhen concludes that Wang Shan deliberately built his Western Sea network over centuries before returning to the Central Land.
• Gu Huanzhen plans to form an alliance with the Great Sun Vajra Temple and Supreme Profound Abbey, believing they must attack before the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect consolidates its power and crosses the Qinling Mountains.
• Meanwhile, Chen Jichuan searches for the remaining treasures and inheritances of the defeated sects. He obtains the inheritances of Sun-Shooting Divine Mountain and the Golden Goose Sect, as well as the Wood Sword Steles.
• Chen pursues Lu Bi, who attempts to escape underground with a Six-Eared Earth-Drilling Rat while carrying the Form-Intent Sect’s true inheritance. Chen ultimately kills him with a Sword Diagram.

Character Developments

• Wang Shan is established as not only an exceptionally powerful swordsman but also a far-sighted strategist and master network-builder. His centuries of relationships make him capable of mobilizing the Western Sea’s strongest experts.
• Li Qingshan is shown as Wang Shan’s principal counterpart within the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect, contributing directly to the conquest by defeating a Golden Goose Sect powerhouse.
• Gu Huanzhen shifts from surprise to alarm. He recognizes that Wang Shan’s rise threatens the balance of the entire Central Land and begins organizing resistance.
• Gu Shang provides the crucial intelligence that reveals Wang Shan’s identity as Chen Shan and explains the depth of his influence in the Western Sea.
• Chen Jichuan remains focused on gathering inheritances rather than governing the conquered territory. His pursuit of Lu Bi demonstrates his continued efficiency and ruthlessness.
• Lu Bi changes from a fleeing survivor into a desperate fugitive, but his attempt to preserve the Form-Intent Sect’s inheritance fails.

Significant Themes

• Long-term preparation and hidden ambition: Wang Shan’s return is the result of more than two centuries of cultivating alliances and influence.
• Power beyond individual strength: Although Wang Shan is immensely powerful, his greatest advantage is his ability to unite otherwise independent experts.
• Military superiority and technological advantage: The blacksteel armor transforms the Blacksteel Army into an almost unstoppable force, showing how accumulated resources can alter the balance of war.
• The collapse of established powers: The three Northern Ridge sects are overwhelmed by the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect’s superior experts and armies.
• Fear of rising hegemony: The conquest of Northern Ridge alarms Imperial Heaven City and the other major southern powers, setting up a broader conflict.
• The value of inheritances: Amid the political and military upheaval, Chen Jichuan’s search for sect legacies emphasizes the importance of knowledge, treasures, and accumulated traditions.

Character Interactions

• Wang Shan’s past relationships with Western Sea experts become the foundation of the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect’s military dominance.
• Gu Huanzhen and Gu Shang discuss Wang Shan’s history, with Gu Shang’s report revealing why so many Western Sea powerhouses are willing to fight for him.
• Gu Huanzhen and Pei Yuansheng debate the difficulty of confronting the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect, especially because of its control over the Qinling Mountains and the Iron-Armed Monkey Clan.
• Gu Huanzhen proposes inviting the Rock-Steadfast Sword Sage and Golden Light Bodhisattva to form a united front.
• Chen Jichuan pursues Lu Bi from the sky atop the Great Sun Golden Peng Bird, ending the chase by killing him and securing the last major Form-Intent Sect inheritance.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• After more than two centuries of exploration and conquest, Chen Jichuan obtains numerous lost Sword Steles and sect inheritances, including:
  • The complete “Wood” chapter and newly completed “Wind” chapter of the Taixu Ten Swords.
  • Most of the “Cloud” chapter.
  • The Form-Intent Fist and martial insights preserved in the Form-Intent Sect’s Vermilion Edict Iron Warrant.
  • The Sun-Shooting Archery Classic and Golden Goose Technique.
• He plans to conquer Imperial Heaven City, Great Sun Vajra Temple, and the Supreme Profound Sect to recover the remaining Sword Stele chapters and reconstruct the complete Taixu Ten Swords.
• Chen temporarily abandons political affairs to study the Sword Steles and Form-Intent Fist while the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect consolidates its control over the newly acquired provinces.
• The three Lingnan sects attempt to invade Northern Ridge, but the Qinling Chasm, powerful demonic beasts, and Iron-Armed Monkey Clan forces prevent them from making progress.
• Twenty years later, the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect invades Northern Ridge. Wang Shan decisively defeats the opposing coalition, killing several Empty Nether Realm experts and forcing the Dragon Turtle and Sword Bird to retreat.
• The Grand Vacuity Sword Sect subsequently unifies all seven provinces.
• More than a century later, the sect flourishes under Chen’s guidance. Flying Cloud Mountain becomes a premier cultivation site where elite disciples and powerful cultivators benefit from Chen’s aura and instruction.
• Chen reaches the Eighth Qi-Refining Layer, but finds the unified Qinling World too peaceful and lacking in worthy opponents. He decides to leave or seal himself away temporarily, explore other worlds, and wait for a future age of greater competition.
• Wang Yan, now 470 years old and nearing the end of her lifespan, agrees to use Chen’s improved Mysterious Gate Technique to enter a thousand-year suspended slumber. Chen promises to sleep as well and awaken her when he returns.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan grows from a conquering sect leader into an advanced cultivator increasingly focused on transcending the limits of the Qinling World. His interest in teaching weaker disciples fades as he recognizes the brevity of mortal life and the difficulty of achieving true transcendence.
• He becomes more ambitious and strategic, choosing to preserve his lifespan and seek opportunities in other worlds rather than stagnate at the Eighth or Ninth Qi-Refining Layer.
• Wang Yan reaches the Empty Nether Realm and Seventh Qi-Refining Layer through Chen’s guidance and the sect’s treasures, but cannot advance further. Facing death, she chooses preservation through suspended animation after learning Chen will accompany her.
• Wang Shan demonstrates overwhelming strength during the Northern Ridge campaign, establishing himself as the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect’s most powerful active combatant and ensuring the sect’s victory.
• Li Qingshan remains one of the sect’s supreme figures, fighting the Zixi Demon Dragon during the decisive campaign and later becoming the strongest cultivator in the unified world aside from Chen.

Significant Themes

• The pursuit of transcendence: Ordinary cultivation and worldly supremacy are insufficient for Chen, who seeks the Dao Fruit and a path beyond the current realm.
• The limits of time and mortality: Even powerful Void Realm and Empty Nether Realm cultivators eventually die, making longevity and suspended animation crucial alternatives.
• The importance of a great era: Supreme Powerhouses historically emerged during turbulent, brilliant ages filled with powerful rivals. Chen believes peace and stagnation cannot produce the same breakthroughs.
• Accumulation and inheritance: Sword Steles, sect treasures, divine beasts, and ancient legacies preserve knowledge across generations and allow institutions to flourish.
• Hope amid uncertainty: Chen’s plan to seal himself and Wang Yan reflects the belief that as long as death is postponed, future opportunities may still arise.

Character Interactions

• Chen works closely with sect members and old friends, sparring with Void Realm cultivators and discussing the Dao while consolidating the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect.
• Wang Yan remains Chen’s closest companion and aide, benefiting from his personal guidance and resources.
• Their final conversation is emotionally significant: Wang Yan hesitates to sleep because she fears never seeing Chen again, but accepts after he promises to awaken alongside her.
• Chen’s rare gesture of patting Wang Yan’s head and reassuring her reveals their deep trust, affection, and mutual dependence beneath their formal master-and-junior relationship.

Plot points and events

• After spending 460 years in the Qinling World, Chen Jichuan leaves it, having placed Li Qingshan and Wang Yan in hidden frozen slumber. He leaves the Five Ghost Yin Soldiers, eighteen Refined Corpses, and forty-nine paper effigies to guard them.
• Before departing, he secretly prevents the Mysterious Gate Technique from being passed on. With him, Li, and Wang gone, the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect loses three Empty Nether Realm experts and an important safeguard.
• In the real world, only one year and fifty-five days have passed. Chen is now in Coiling Dragon Mountain, where he has settled in Flame Dragon Grotto Market after parting ways with Han Jin.
• He has established himself as a cultivator, shopkeeper, and pill and artifact refiner. He cultivates Qi Refinement, external arts, and Dao Arts, while earning resources through commissions and sales.
• Chen uses Origin Force and cultivation aids to advance quickly, but remains cautious about the limits of real-world cultivation. After a routine day of work and cultivation, he spends one million Origin Force to open another world and is transported there.

Character development

• Chen is saddened by leaving Li and Wang behind, especially because Wang may die of old age before he can return. His affection and sense of responsibility conflict with his long-term ambitions.
• He remains disciplined and practical: despite faster progress in the Qinling World, he refuses to rush real-world cultivation or become complacent. He plans ahead for the resources each stage will require.
• His ambition is clear: he wants a future age of competition and rising talent, even if that means allowing the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect to decline.

Character interactions

• Chen’s relationship with Li Qingshan is marked by deep respect but an unavoidable conflict of aims. Li is devoted to the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect, while Chen’s plans deliberately undermine its lasting dominance; Chen knows Li may regard him as an enemy if he learns the truth.
• Chen’s bond with Wang Yan is familial and affectionate, making their separation especially painful.
• Chen and Han Jin traveled together to Coiling Dragon Mountain, then went their separate ways.

Significant themes

• Personal cultivation versus institutional prosperity: Chen values the possibility of individual transcendence more than a sect’s permanent dominance.
• The cycles of rise and decline: He believes the Grand Vacuity Sect’s decline will make room for other powers and a more vibrant era.
• Long separation and sacrifice: His choices carry emotional costs, particularly for those he leaves behind.
• Patience and planning: Rapid progress is useful, but cultivation still requires careful preparation, resources, and respect for its limits.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan enters a new Dao Fruit World and is immediately granted the vacant divine position of Sui Peace Prefecture Inspectorate Common City God, Lord of Majestic Efficacy.
• Unlike his previous incarnations, he begins at Level 20, equivalent to the peak of the world’s early cultivation stages, despite having no personal cultivation. His status and divine office grant him considerable power and authority.
• He examines the duties of his position: governing the yin and yang affairs of Peace Prefecture, overseeing the living and dead, rewarding virtue, punishing evil, and managing life, death, fortune, and misfortune.
• Chen travels from the ruined City God Temple into the Underworld and discovers that the former City God Domain has collapsed. The region is filled with wandering souls, resentful ghosts, and fierce spirits.
• Using his divine authority, he restores the ruined Dharma Domain’s central hall and recruits more than a dozen fierce ghosts as ghost constables and jailers, assigning them to capture spirits and guard the underworld prison.
• Returning to the mortal world, Chen realizes that the ruined temple is actually his City God Temple. His appearance causes the City God statue and other divine statues to restore themselves, symbolizing the return of divine order.
• While exploring Peace Prefecture City at night, Chen witnesses a one-horned monster pursuing a man. A red-headed ritual master intervenes and battles the creature.
• The city’s disturbance attracts numerous powerful Daoists and martial artists, revealing that Peace Prefecture contains many formidable experts and that the new world may be as strong as, or stronger than, the Qinling World.
• The ritual master defeats the monster with a magical disciplinary ruler, forcing it to revert into a Cinnabar Brush. He takes the treasure and flees, apparently unaware that the surrounding experts are treating the entire event as a joke.
• Chen explores the city and encounters numerous supernatural phenomena: an animated white cloth at the prefectural academy, strange sounds and pressure around various streets, and other objects or locations that appear to possess spiritual or ghostly qualities.
• At the end, Chen discovers that the Cinnabar Brush monster has reappeared, while the red-headed mage watches in confusion and shock, implying that the treasure or the apparent victory contains a hidden mystery.

Character Development

• Chen Jichuan transitions from an outsider starting over in a new world into a powerful official with immediate divine authority. His City God position gives him resources, influence, and a foundation far superior to his previous incarnations.
• He demonstrates caution and strategic thinking: rather than rushing beyond his divine domain or intervening in every supernatural incident, he first studies the world and evaluates its dangers.
• Chen begins actively governing his territory by restoring his divine hall and organizing the Underworld’s chaotic spirits. This marks his development from cultivator to administrator and protector of an entire region.
• His confidence grows as he realizes that his divine strength allows him to contend with high-level cultivators within Peace Prefecture.
• The red-headed ritual master is introduced as brave and skilled but somewhat inexperienced or overconfident. He defeats the monster and claims the Cinnabar Brush, yet fails to understand the strange circumstances surrounding it.
• The surrounding experts appear far more knowledgeable than the ritual master, suggesting that they recognize the brush’s unusual nature or have seen similar events before.

Significant Themes

• Divine authority and responsibility: Chen’s title is not merely a source of power; it requires him to restore order, judge the dead, and manage the balance between the living and the dead.
• Order emerging from ruin: The shattered City God Domain and ruined temple represent the collapse of divine institutions, while Chen’s arrival begins their restoration.
• The difference between status and cultivation: Chen possesses no personal cultivation yet commands strength through his divine office, emphasizing that authority, position, and external power can be as important as individual training.
• A world filled with hidden supernatural life: Spirits inhabit objects, places, and tools, making the mortal city itself a realm of concealed dangers and mysteries.
• Appearance versus reality: The apparent defeat of the Cinnabar Brush monster may not be genuine, and the experts’ amused reactions suggest that events are more complicated than they seem.
• The importance of observation: Chen repeatedly chooses to watch and gather information rather than act rashly, establishing his cautious approach to an unfamiliar world.

Important Character Interactions

• Chen interacts with the fierce ghosts in the Underworld, intimidating them through his divine presence before transforming them into official servants.
• He encounters the one-horned monster and the pursued man but deliberately remains hidden, choosing to observe rather than interfere.
• The red-headed ritual master confronts and battles the monster, using Dao Arts, magical weapons, and a disciplinary ruler to force it into its Cinnabar Brush form.
• Numerous Daoists and martial artists gather around the fight, creating an audience whose reactions imply that they understand something the ritual master does not.
• Chen observes the ritual master’s confidence after obtaining the brush, while the later reappearance of the monster leaves the mage bewildered.
• Through his tour of Peace Prefecture City, Chen begins forming an understanding of the strange relationship between ordinary residents, supernatural entities, local experts, and the restored City God authority.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan settles in an empty residence in Peace Prefecture City and returns to the City God Domain to study his divine authority.
• He discovers that the City God’s divine path talisman absorbs scattered faith from the city, refining it into incense power and then divine power.
• The City God’s Merit Pool is currently dry because the temple is dilapidated and receives little worship. Chen realizes that a flourishing faith base could eventually support divine abilities, assistants, ghost constables, Yin soldiers, and the full operation of the City God’s Office.
• Chen plans to build up incense offerings by eliminating the city’s ghosts and monsters, believing that protecting the people will naturally earn their devotion.
• Over the next ten days, he cultivates while secretly investigating the world and fabricating a mortal identity in Peace Prefecture City.
• He learns that the Great Sui dynasty is corrupt and declining, while ghosts, demons, and monsters are widespread. Numerous Daoist and ritual traditions compete to combat them, especially the Lushan, Meishan, and Maoshan lineages.
• Chen compares the world’s sophisticated Dao Arts with the crude techniques he previously learned. He identifies systematic study of Dao Arts as his first major goal, followed by improving martial arts, understanding the divine path, and mastering alchemy and artifact refinement.
• At night, the ailing scholar Lu Guannian is mysteriously summoned by an official to take an examination. He is brought to a magnificent supernatural government office filled with scholars and provincial graduates.
• The examination question is “One person, two persons; with intent, without intent.” After answering, Lu Guannian is questioned about how good and evil should be rewarded or punished.
• Lu argues that intentional good should not necessarily be rewarded and unintentional evil should not necessarily be punished, emphasizing moral intent.
• The presiding official praises his answer but gives no clear judgment. Lu later sees the plaque identifying the place as the “City God’s Office” and awakens at home, realizing the examination was likely a dream or spiritual summons.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Gains a deeper understanding of the City God’s powers, the importance of incense, and the structure of divine administration. He becomes more ambitious and strategic, outlining a long-term plan involving faith, Dao Arts, martial arts, divine authority, alchemy, and artifact refining.
• Lu Guannian: Is portrayed as an upright, respected scholar who has been embittered by decades of bureaucratic corruption but has retained his moral principles. His examination reveals his nuanced belief that intent must be considered when judging virtue and wrongdoing.

Significant Themes

• Faith and divine power: Even weak, casual worship can accumulate into substantial incense power when gathered from many people.
• The relationship between justice and morality: The City God’s examination emphasizes the distinction between deliberate and accidental good or evil, as well as the difficulty of judging human conduct fairly.
• Corruption and social decline: The failing Great Sui dynasty is contrasted with the moral ideals represented by the City God’s Office.
• Learning and adaptation: Chen recognizes the superiority of this world’s Dao Arts and intends to reorganize and improve his own techniques.
• Order versus supernatural chaos: The City God’s Office represents an organized system of judgment and protection in a world overrun by ghosts, demons, and corrupt human institutions.

Character Interactions

• Chen primarily interacts with the divine path and the people of Peace Prefecture indirectly, observing the city and planning how to earn its trust.
• Lu Guannian interacts with the mysterious official and yamen runners during the supernatural examination. The official praises Lu’s written response, then questions him directly about moral judgment.
• The encounter suggests that Chen, as the newly established City God, may be beginning to recruit capable and virtuous human officials for his divine administration.

Chapter Summary: “Orthodox Deity? The Revival of the Divine Way?!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Yu Ningzi visits Ding Yangzi, a senior elder of the Meishan Sect, to ask about the mysterious one-horned monster haunting Peace Prefecture City.
• Ding Yangzi explains that the monster was originally a Judge’s Brush, once a ritual artifact of the Peace City God. After the Divine Way collapsed, the White Lotus Sect worshiped and corrupted it into a spirit monster.
• He reveals that the other monsters of Peace Prefecture—including the White Cloth Monster and Duck Monster—were also former divine artifacts belonging to the city’s deceased gods.
• The White Lotus Sect may possess the City God Seal and be attempting to refine it, hoping to seize the divine office of Peace Prefecture. If successful, its leader could gain control over an entire prefecture’s incense and authority, potentially becoming as powerful as the Black Mountain Ghost King.
• As Ding Yangzi prepares to investigate, a divine ripple spreads from Peace Prefecture City. He recognizes it as a City God Dharma Domain, proving that the city’s divine office has been restored.
• Chen Jichuan’s City God Office has revived sufficiently to gain Heaven’s recognition and reward. Its returning officials and growing underworld forces have stabilized the Dharma Domain.
• Alarmed by the emergence of a seemingly orthodox City God, Ding Yangzi mobilizes troops and travels toward Peace Prefecture with Yu Ningzi.
• Three other major ritual masters—representing Maoshan, Lushan, and Yin Mountain—also lead massive armies toward the city. Each force numbers in the tens of thousands.
• Chen Jichuan calmly observes their arrival. Rather than fight, he invites the four leaders into his divine residence for discussions.
• During the meeting, the ritual masters identify Chen as a genuine orthodox deity, despite the long-standing collapse of the Divine Way. They become deeply interested in learning how he obtained his divine office and whether his existence signals the revival of orthodox godhood.

Character Developments

• Yu Ningzi demonstrates persistence and courage. Though the danger surrounding Peace Prefecture is immense, he refuses to retreat and follows Ding Yangzi into the confrontation.
• Ding Yangzi is established as a powerful but cautious elder. His use of the Meishan Combat-Duel Omen Incantation shows that he considers Chen’s emergence and the White Lotus Sect situation extremely dangerous.
• Chen Jichuan displays confidence and composure. Despite facing four enormous orthodox sect armies, he remains calm, recognizes their legitimacy, and chooses negotiation instead of immediate conflict.
• Yuan Chengzi is shown to be direct and impatient, becoming the first to openly question Chen about his origin and divine investiture.
• The four ritual masters—Ding Yangzi, Xuan Weizi, Yuan Chengzi, and Zhi Feizi—are portrayed as leading representatives of their respective sects and among the most influential ritual masters in Great Sui.

Significant Themes

• The collapse and possible revival of the Divine Way: The chapter centers on the shocking possibility that orthodox gods and divine offices may be returning to the world.
• Orthodoxy versus corruption: The White Lotus Sect turns sacred ritual artifacts into monsters, while Chen Jichuan appears to embody a legitimate, Heaven-recognized divine authority.
• The consequences of lost divine institutions: With the gods and underworld destroyed, ritual sects have lost access to troops, assistance, and divine networks. Chen’s appearance could restore these systems.
• Power through divine offices and incense: Control of a City God position offers enormous influence, since it grants authority over a region and access to the faith and offerings of its people.
• The danger of stolen legitimacy: The White Lotus Sect’s plan mirrors the earlier rise of the Black Mountain Ghost King, showing how corrupted or stolen divine authority can produce powerful regional tyrants.
• Cooperation over conflict: Although the orthodox sects arrive ready for battle, Chen’s willingness to communicate creates the possibility of an alliance against the White Lotus Sect.

Character Interactions

• Yu Ningzi seeks Ding Yangzi’s guidance after failing to permanently defeat the one-horned monster.
• Ding Yangzi explains the monster’s history and warns Yu Ningzi about the White Lotus Sect’s larger scheme.
• Ding Yangzi and Yu Ningzi travel together to Peace Prefecture, with Yu Ningzi following despite the elder’s clear caution.
• Chen Jichuan and the four arriving ritual masters initially face one another in a tense standoff, surrounded by massive military forces.
• Once they recognize that Chen lacks any evil aura and appears to be a genuine orthodox deity, the ritual masters abandon their immediate hostility.
• Chen invites them into his Dharma Domain, where formal introductions take place.
• Yuan Chengzi voices the central question for all the sects: how Chen obtained a legitimate divine office when Heaven and the Divine Way have supposedly been cut off.
• The chapter ends with the sects awaiting Chen’s explanation, hopeful that his existence may mark the beginning of the Divine Way’s restoration.

Chapter Summary: “City God Borrows Troops!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan confirms his legitimacy as the newly appointed City God of Peace Prefecture by revealing the aura of a golden edict.
• Yuan Chengzi and the other Daoists accept that Chen is a genuine deity rather than a demon or White Lotus Sect impostor. They decide it is safer and more beneficial to befriend him.
• Chen takes advantage of their friendly words and directly asks to “borrow” several tens of thousands of troops to strengthen the weak City God’s Office.
• Although shocked and reluctant, the Daoists cannot easily refuse without offending him.
• Chong Hezi, abbot of Golden Blossom Abbey and leader of the Golden Glory Sect, volunteers all eight hundred of his sect’s troops, along with five hundred sets of armor and weapons.
• Forced to respond, Yuan Chengzi and the other major Daoists each contribute about one thousand troops and hundreds of sets of equipment. Other ritual masters also offer smaller contingents.
• Chen acquires a total of 5,782 troops and 4,099 sets of armor and weapons, most of them high-quality elite forces.
• After the other Daoists leave to discuss how to deal with the newly emerged City God, Chen studies his new military resources and considers how they can be organized.
• Chen summons Chong Hezi privately and offers him an official position in the City God’s Office.
• Chong Hezi gratefully accepts, pledging the Golden Blossom Abbey and the Golden Glory Sect to Chen’s service.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Demonstrates boldness, opportunism, and political shrewdness. He uses the Daoists’ desire to avoid conflict to obtain a large military force at little cost. He also recognizes Chong Hezi’s practical value and recruits him to help administer the City God’s troops.
• Chong Hezi: Reveals himself as ambitious but highly pragmatic. His decision to offer all of Golden Blossom Abbey’s troops is a major gamble intended to secure Chen’s favor and revive the declining Golden Glory Sect. His gamble succeeds when Chen appoints him.
• Yuan Chengzi, Ding Yangzi, and the other Daoists: Initially attempt to flatter Chen and maintain cordial relations, but they become irritated when he takes their polite offers literally. Their reluctant contributions show both their fear of offending him and their desire to preserve their sects’ resources.
• The Golden Glory Sect: Gains a powerful opportunity for advancement by aligning itself with the new City God. Under Chen’s protection, it may expand its influence throughout Peace Prefecture.

Significant Themes

• Political alliance and opportunism: Both Chen and Chong Hezi exploit the situation for mutual benefit. Chen gains troops and administrative expertise, while Chong Hezi gains patronage and the chance to restore his sect.
• The revival of the divine path: The appearance of a genuine golden-edict City God suggests that the divine order may be returning, causing the Daoists to reconsider their future strategies.
• Power and legitimacy: Chen’s authority is accepted because of the heavenly edict, not because anyone understands his origins. His official status gives him leverage over powerful sects.
• The value of military resources: Yin troops are precious assets cultivated over generations. Their quality, organization, and command determine the strength of both sects and divine institutions.
• Risk and reward: Chong Hezi risks his entire sect’s military strength, but the gamble earns him a position close to Chen and potentially secures his sect’s survival.

Character Interactions

• Chen maintains a polite, humble facade while making an extremely demanding request of the assembled Daoists.
• The Daoists respond with outward friendliness but inward resentment, especially after Chong Hezi sets the precedent by offering his entire force.
• Chen praises Chong Hezi’s generosity and moral reputation, strengthening their personal alliance.
• In private, Chen offers Chong Hezi an official role, while Chong Hezi formally submits his sect to Chen’s authority.
• Their partnership is mutually beneficial: Chong Hezi understands military administration, while Chen provides divine authority, protection, and access to the resources of Peace Prefecture.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan settles into his role as the newly appeared City God of Peace Prefecture, ignoring suspicion and political maneuvering while strengthening his authority.
• He recruits capable souls from the underworld and mortal realm, including the unjustly dead, failed scholars, and martial artists, to help administer his domain.
• Using his City God status, he gathers treasures, recruits experts, and obtains manuals from Daoist temples and martial sects throughout Peace Prefecture.
• His cultivation progresses dramatically faster than in his previous life:
  • He reaches the Eighth Qi-Refining Layer in roughly sixty years.
  • His Dao Arts cultivation advances to the Sixth Night-Roaming Layer.
  • His external martial arts reach the Seventh Elixir-Embracement Layer before later advancing to the Tenth Tier.
• Once he reaches the limits of his former life, he focuses on improving his cultivation methods and techniques rather than simply increasing his realm.
• Through repeated use of the Derivation Technique, he upgrades the Sword Diagram, Five Forms Eight Methods Fist, and Grand Yin Body-Refining Method to Heterodox Grade.
• He also strengthens important techniques, including Wind-Thunder Wings, Concealment Technique, and the Seven-Origin Calamity-Resolving Ruyi Heavenly Gang Light-Splitting Sword Formula.
• Five hundred years pass. Dynasties rise and fall: Great Sui collapses, Northern Rong unifies the realm as Da Rong, and Da Rong eventually declines into regional fragmentation.
• Chen Jichuan becomes a legendary military and political figure in Da Rong. After suppressing rebellions and expanding the empire, he is granted the title “King Who Stood Shoulder to Shoulder,” becoming the dynasty’s first king of a different surname.
• Despite his immense prestige, he remains loyal and peaceful in Peace Prefecture. However, the imperial clan repeatedly suspects and alienates him, contributing to Da Rong’s decline.
• Peace Prefecture flourishes under his protection, becoming a vast, populous haven where demons, monsters, and warfare are largely absent.
• At age 518, Chen Jichuan reaches:
  • Eighth Qi-Refining Layer
  • Tenth Tier of the Elixir Embracement Realm
  • Tenth Tier of Night Roaming
• Although he has surpassed his previous achievements, his cultivation once again stagnates, and he struggles to find a path toward further breakthroughs.

Character Development

• Chen Jichuan becomes more patient, calculating, and long-term oriented. Rather than chasing immediate power, he builds institutions, gathers talent, and methodically strengthens his foundation.
• His experience from the Qinling World allows him to advance far more efficiently in this life.
• He grows from a powerful cultivator into a regional guardian, political leader, military commander, and quasi-legendary figure.
• His attitude toward worldly power becomes increasingly detached. He recognizes that dynasties and imperial authority are temporary, while cultivation is the only route to true longevity.
• Reaching the limits of his past life forces him to transition from rapid advancement to painstaking innovation and self-improvement.
• Despite political suspicion and imperial hostility, he remains restrained and does not seek rebellion or usurpation.

Significant Themes

• The transience of worldly power: Dynasties, titles, imperial authority, and military achievements all inevitably decline.
• Cultivation versus mortality: Chen Jichuan views cultivation as the only path toward permanence amid the constant rise and fall of human societies.
• Accumulation and patience: Centuries of preparation, study, and experimentation gradually produce overwhelming strength.
• Knowledge as power: Chen improves not only through treasures and resources but also through exchanging insights with experts and synthesizing different traditions.
• The burden of excellence: Chen’s extraordinary achievements earn both admiration and suspicion, isolating him from the imperial court.
• Cycles of history: Great Sui and Da Rong follow the same pattern of establishment, prosperity, decline, and impending collapse.

Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan interacts with Daoist masters such as Ding Yangzi and Yuan Chengzi, debating the Dao and sparring to improve his cultivation.
• He draws knowledge from temples, sects, martial artists, and scholars across Peace Prefecture and beyond.
• His relationship with the Da Rong imperial clan deteriorates as they fear his influence and repeatedly distrust him, despite his loyalty and service.
• The people of Peace Prefecture admire him so deeply that they identify more with Prince Chen than with the distant emperor.
• His protection allows refugees and common people from war-torn regions to gather in Peace Prefecture, reinforcing his reputation as a benevolent and stabilizing ruler.

Ending Status

The chapter ends with Chen Jichuan having reached the Tenth Tier in both external martial arts and Dao Arts, while remaining at the Eighth Qi-Refining Layer. Having once again encountered a bottleneck, he must seek a new breakthrough before his current lifespan is exhausted.

Chapter Summary: “Clear the Court of Traitors!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan reflects on the conflict between his divine office and his cultivation. Although remaining a City God after death would grant him a long existence, it would bind him to incense offerings, karma, and the burdens of divine administration, leaving little opportunity for further cultivation.
• He resolves to continue pursuing the cultivation path during the forty or fifty years remaining in his mortal life rather than become a full-time god.
• At Prince Chen’s Residence, Chen practices his Five Forms Eight Methods Fist. His martial art has evolved by combining techniques from both the Qinling and Da Rong worlds and has been enhanced by the Creation ability.
• He reaches the Tenth Tier of the Elixir Embracement Realm, successfully condensing his tenth drop of essence blood. This places him among the strongest First Rank martial artists in Da Rong.
• Despite his immense strength, Chen remains unable to advance to the Second Rank Soul Refinement Realm. He must perceive the Seven Po, a difficult process requiring deep bodily insight, comprehension, experience, and perhaps luck.
• Chen concludes that only intense, life-and-death battles may provide the pressure and inspiration needed to break through his bottleneck.
• The chapter then shifts to Peace Prefecture’s political situation. Chen’s former identity as the renowned Peace City God has faded in public memory, while his mortal identity as Prince Chen has become extremely popular.
• For two centuries, Prince Chen has protected Peace Prefecture, suppressing bandits and mountain raiders while remaining loyal and inactive in the broader civil war. The people increasingly worship him and hope he will overthrow the failing Da Rong dynasty.
• At a gathering of his civil and military officials, Zhang Yanghao openly denounces Da Rong’s corruption, military weakness, factionalism, and suffering among the people.
• Zhang urges Chen to raise an army, execute the corrupt ministers, “clear the court of traitors,” and restore peace to the realm. The assembled officials enthusiastically support the proposal, recognizing that Chen’s rebellion could make them founding heroes of a new dynasty.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Reaffirms that cultivation, rather than divine longevity or political power, remains his true priority. His physical cultivation reaches a major milestone with the formation of ten essence-blood drops, but he recognizes that raw strength alone will not overcome his Soul Refinement bottleneck. Politically, he appears to be approaching a long-awaited decision to intervene in Da Rong’s collapse.
• Zhang Yanghao: Emerges as Chen’s boldest political adviser. He publicly voices the grievances that others have only hinted at and directly calls for rebellion under the justification of removing corrupt officials and restoring order.
• The civil and military officials: Their loyalty is mixed with ambition. They genuinely resent Da Rong’s dysfunction but are also eager to gain status and glory as founding ministers if Chen establishes a new regime.
• The people of Peace Prefecture: Their perception of Chen has shifted from reverence for a distant City God to personal devotion toward a living protector and potential savior of the realm.

Significant Themes

• Cultivation versus divine duty: The chapter contrasts the freedom and progress of cultivation with the longevity but restrictive obligations of godhood.
• Accumulation and perseverance: Chen’s repeated lifetimes, martial experience, and disciplined practice demonstrate how diligence can compensate for limited innate talent.
• Strength versus breakthrough: Even possessing extraordinary physical power does not guarantee advancement; true progress requires insight, spiritual sensitivity, and opportunity.
• Political legitimacy and rebellion: The planned uprising is framed not as personal ambition but as an act of loyalty to the people and a campaign against traitorous officials.
• The suffering of common people: Whether under a prosperous or collapsing state, ordinary people bear the consequences of political disorder, corruption, war, and banditry.
• Reputation and changing identities: Chen’s divine reputation has faded, while his human identity as Prince Chen has gained influence, showing how public devotion depends on immediate protection and visible action.

Character Interactions

• Chen trains alone, using his martial practice to strengthen his body and seek a breakthrough.
• He reflects internally on the limitations of godhood and his own cultivation path.
• Zhang Yanghao addresses Chen directly before the assembled officials, accusing Da Rong’s ministers of corruption and urging military action.
• The officials respond collectively, echoing the call to “execute the treacherous ministers” and “clear the court of traitors.”
• Their reaction reveals both their confidence in Chen’s authority and their anticipation that he may finally begin a campaign to seize control of the realm.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• The chapter opens with a historical account of Chen Jichuan’s rise. As Da Rong’s Side-by-Side King, he rescued the failing dynasty, defeated the eighteen feudal lords who sought to punish him, and earned the title “Number One God of War Beneath Heaven.”
• After Emperor Gongzong’s betrayal forced Chen Jichuan to withdraw, the capital fell into chaos. Gongzong committed suicide, and Da Rong collapsed.
• Chen Jichuan later raised an army again to rescue the people. Within seven years, he conquered hundreds of prefectures, unified the realm, replaced Rong with Hui, founded Great Hui, and established Peace Prefecture as the capital.
• After reigning for seven years, he abdicated in favor of his adopted son, Chen Pu, who became Emperor Taizong.
• Nearly a century later, Chen Jichuan is living incognito as the headmaster of an ordinary academy in Dangtu County. Though outwardly unremarkable, he remains Great Hui’s founding emperor and legendary warrior.
• He advises three sixteen-year-old students—Yan Xian, Xu Chen, and Lin Yong—to take the provincial examination, while also giving each a letter of recommendation to a suitable master:
  • Yan Xian is sent toward the Azure Cloud Sect.
  • Xu Chen is sent toward Medicine King Valley.
  • Lin Yong is sent to study under the famed scholar Meng Yong.
• Chen reflects on his long life. Though he has cultivated for centuries and reached the tenth layer of First Rank in both external martial arts and Dao Arts, he has failed to break through to the next realm. Years of warfare have also left him with hidden injuries.
• With only two years remaining before his lifespan ends, Chen decides to confront the Nine-Mountain King, a powerful demon ruler. He sends letters to allies and leaves Dangtu County, entering the Nine Heavenly Mountains in disguise.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Revealed as both a legendary founding emperor and a patient, humble teacher. He has moved from conquest and kingship to scholarship, medicine, ordinary labor, and teaching, seeking insight into Dao Arts through experiencing different lives. Though nearing death and unable to advance further, he remains concerned with protecting humanity and cultivating future talent.
• Yan Xian: A passionate, chivalrous youth with a strong hatred of demons and monsters. His personality makes him well suited to the Azure Cloud Sect’s sword arts and demon-subduing techniques.
• Xu Chen: Kind, sincere, and devoted to healing. His ambition to cure illness and help ordinary people makes Medicine King Valley an ideal destination.
• Lin Yong: The most talented and diligent of the three, with strong literary ability and upright character. He is selected to study under Meng Yong and may eventually become a capable scholar and administrator.
• Chen Pu: Though only briefly mentioned, he is established as Chen Jichuan’s adopted successor and the current emperor of Great Hui.

Significant Themes

• The burden of greatness: Chen Jichuan’s military achievements made him a legendary ruler, but victory did not grant him spiritual advancement or immortality.
• Mortality and legacy: Facing the end of his life, Chen seeks to leave a lasting impact through his students and through protecting the realm from major supernatural threats.
• Duty versus personal ambition: Chen repeatedly rejects power for himself, first refusing the throne offered by Gongzong and later abdicating after founding Great Hui.
• Cultivation through lived experience: Rather than pursuing secluded cultivation alone, Chen studies Dao Arts by working as a cook, physician, constable, and teacher, suggesting that wisdom can be found in ordinary human life.
• The tension between order and chaos: Great Hui enjoys nearly a century of peace, but demons, ghosts, heretical sects, and strange supernatural forces continue to threaten the realm.
• Mentorship and the continuation of ideals: Chen guides three young people toward paths suited to their virtues, passing on the values of justice, compassion, and responsible governance.

Character Interactions

• The academy students enthusiastically discuss stories of Emperor Taizu, unaware that the legendary emperor is their own headmaster.
• Chen interacts gently but firmly with Yan Xian, Xu Chen, and Lin Yong, encouraging them to attempt the provincial examination while offering each a more suitable alternative path.
• The students are astonished that their seemingly ordinary headmaster has connections to elite sects and one of the greatest scholars in the dynasty.
• Chen’s relationship with the youths is paternal and instructional: he recognizes their individual talents, prepares opportunities for them, and leaves their ultimate success to their own effort and fortune.
• The chapter ends with Chen abandoning his peaceful teacher’s life temporarily to confront the Nine-Mountain King, linking his private legacy-building with his continuing duty to defend the world.

Chapter Summary: “Nine-Mountain King: Qizhenzi!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan travels to Divine Banner Peak in Heavenly Mountain and hides in a cave beneath the dried-up Skyward Pool.
• The Nine Mountains are introduced as a remote refuge for demons, ghosts, evil Daoists, and wicked monks driven out of the Central Land. Once chaotic and divided, they were unified decades earlier by the mysterious Daoist Qizhenzi, who defeated the region’s strongest monsters and became known as the Nine-Mountain King.
• Chen Jichuan is revealed to be Qizhenzi. He deliberately assumed this identity to provoke the righteous forces of Great Hui into attacking the Nine Mountains.
• Great Hui’s founding emperor, Chen Jichuan, and the powerful Peace Prefecture City God organize a major expedition against the Nine Mountains. Their extensive networks bring together sects, mages, heroes, divine officials, and other righteous experts from across the realm.
• Chen reflects on his six lifetimes across five worlds and his centuries of glory as Prince Chen, the founding emperor, and the Nine-Mountain King. Despite reaching the peak of the First Rank in both martial cultivation and Dao arts, he has repeatedly failed to break through to the Second Rank.
• He concludes that his lack of progress is not shameful, recognizing how few people in history have achieved the Second Rank. His accumulated battles and life experiences have nevertheless strengthened both his martial path and his soul.
• Chen believes that a life-or-death struggle with the righteous experts may finally provide the pressure needed for a breakthrough. Since he cannot fight his righteous allies openly, he created the identity of Qizhenzi to lure them into a genuine conflict.
• Months later, Chen summons the Demon Kings, Ghost Kings, evil Daoists, and wicked monks of the Nine Mountains. He falsely announces that Great Hui’s forces are coming to exterminate them and urges them to resist and invade the Central Land if victorious.
• The demons argue among themselves, revealing that they remain disorganized and distrustful despite nominally following Chen. Chen privately recognizes them as a “heap of loose sand,” but uses their arrogance and ambitions to prepare them for battle.
• The chapter ends with Chen smiling sinisterly, fully committed to manipulating both sides and turning the coming campaign into the ultimate battle of his life.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan/Qizhenzi: His identity as the Nine-Mountain King is exposed. He is portrayed as powerful, calculating, and introspective. Although frustrated by centuries of failed breakthroughs, he gains emotional peace by accepting his achievements and seeks one final extreme battle to surpass his limits.
• Great Hui’s founding emperor: Chen’s former public identity is remembered as an unmatched warrior, legendary general, and respected ruler who voluntarily abdicated after founding Great Hui.
• The Peace Prefecture City God: Presented as a benevolent but immensely influential divine ruler whose six centuries of connections allow him to mobilize a vast coalition.
• The Nine Mountains’ demons and monsters: They are shown to be individually dangerous but collectively unreliable, united only by fear, ambition, and Chen’s authority. Their selfishness and mutual distrust make them poor allies.

Significant Themes

• The difficulty of transcendence: Even extraordinary cultivators can remain trapped at the threshold of the next realm for centuries.
• Acceptance versus ambition: Chen learns to accept that reaching the First Rank is already an extraordinary achievement, yet he continues pursuing a higher breakthrough.
• The pursuit of meaning through struggle: Chen seeks a final, all-out conflict not merely to defeat enemies but to test his limits and give purpose to his long life.
• Identity and manipulation: By becoming Qizhenzi, Chen exploits the fears and expectations surrounding his own legendary reputation.
• Order versus chaos: The righteous coalition is organized through loyalty and long-standing relationships, while the Nine Mountains remain fragmented despite their apparent unity.
• The moral ambiguity of power: Chen acts against the demons while pretending to lead them, using deception for both personal cultivation and the broader goal of eliminating a future threat.

Character Interactions

• Chen maintains indirect opposition with his former identity as Great Hui’s founding emperor, allowing the righteous world to believe it is confronting the Nine-Mountain King rather than the emperor himself.
• He is connected to the Peace City God through their shared role in organizing the expedition, though his current identity prevents an open alliance.
• Chen addresses the assembled demons and monsters as their leader, exaggerating the threat from Great Hui and provoking their pride and greed.
• The demons respond with suspicion, bravado, and competing opinions, exposing their lack of trust in one another.
• Chen dominates the gathering through his commanding voice and authority, while privately manipulating the assembled creatures toward the battle he desires.

Chapter Summary: “Sensing the Soul Shadow, the Final Three Steps!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• In the fourth year of Qingli, the righteous forces of the Central Plains—including the Great Hui Court, the Peace City God Office, the Three Mountains Dharma Sect, the Four Great Sects, and numerous rogue cultivators—besiege Nine Mountains.
• Qizhenzi, the Nine-Mountain King, leads the demons and monsters in a fierce resistance. He proves nearly invincible in both martial combat and Daoist battles.
• The war lasts for dozens of days and becomes known as the First Heavenly Mountain Sword Duel. The righteous forces lose over half of their elite experts, while roughly seventy percent of the Nine Mountains’ demons perish.
• Qizhenzi ultimately dies after fighting dozens of peak Elixir Embracement Realm cultivators alone. His body and soul are destroyed, and the calamity centered on Heavenly Mountain is finally eliminated.
• This entire lifetime is revealed to have been experienced by Chen Jichuan through the Dao Fruit. Awakening in Flame Dragon Grotto, he realizes that the climactic battle enabled him to sense the long-hidden Soul Shadow and break through in his external martial arts.
• Chen Jichuan explains the three stages required to advance from the peak of Elixir Embracement to Soul Refinement:

Sense the Soul Shadow

Capture it

Refine it

• His extensive experience, powerful qi and blood, and mastery of Manifest, Hidden, and Transformative Force allow him to capture the Soul Shadow easily once he has sensed it.
• In the Great Hui World, he had sensed the Soul Shadow but lacked sufficient vitality to complete the breakthrough before dying. In the real world, his cultivation is still too weak. However, in the Qinling World, he is young, vigorous, and possesses enough essence blood and cultivation to break through successfully.
• Before beginning the breakthrough, Chen Jichuan decides to return to Great Chu and visit his only family member, Chen Shaohe, whom he has not seen for five hundred years of Dao Fruit experiences.
• He discovers that the original teleportation array cannot transport him now that he has reached Qi Refinement. Fortunately, he previously analyzed and strengthened the array and now plans to gather materials and modify it so he can return safely.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan achieves a major advancement in his understanding of martial cultivation. He recognizes that external martial arts cultivate the body’s seven Po, or Life Cultivation, while Dao Arts cultivate the three Hun, or Nature Cultivation.
• His external martial arts reach the threshold of Second Rank, Soul Refinement, after he senses the Soul Shadow during the final battle.
• His repeated lives have given him immense experience, a solid foundation, and deep insight into the requirements and dangers of breakthrough.
• Chen’s attitude toward family and mortality becomes clearer. Although he seeks immortality and invincibility, his true motivation is protecting those he loves and preventing separation through death.
• Qizhenzi is portrayed as a tragic, heroic final opponent. Despite overwhelming odds, he refuses to retreat and dies after exhausting himself in battle.
• Chen Shaohe does not appear directly, but Chen Jichuan’s longing for him highlights the importance of their relationship and suggests that Shaohe may have reached the Innate Realm during Chen’s absence.

Significant Themes

• Persistence and reward: Chen Jichuan’s lifetime of planning, cultivation, and sacrifice finally allows him to sense the Soul Shadow.
• The difficulty of advancement: The transition to Soul Refinement depends not only on comprehension but also on physical vitality, qi and blood, willpower, age, and life experience.
• Life and nature cultivation: The chapter distinguishes bodily cultivation of the Po from spiritual cultivation of the Hun, presenting them as complementary aspects of human cultivation.
• Mortality and regret: Many cultivators may sense the path forward yet fail because their bodies and vitality have already declined.
• Family as the true motivation for cultivation: Chen Jichuan’s pursuit of power is ultimately driven less by abstract exploration than by his desire to protect his family and eliminate the pain of parting.
• The impermanence of relationships: Repeated lives teach Chen that friends, teachers, disciples, and relatives cannot always be retained, making the relationships he still has especially precious.

Character Interactions

• Qizhenzi clashes with the combined forces of the Four Great Sects and dozens of elite cultivators, becoming the central figure in the decisive battle.
• Chen Jichuan’s interaction with the enemies during the battle is primarily physical and transformative: fighting them simultaneously pushes his body, will, and martial understanding to their limits.
• His emotional connection with Chen Shaohe shapes his next decision. After centuries of separation across Dao Fruit lifetimes, Chen prioritizes returning to Great Chu and reuniting with him.
• The chapter also emphasizes Chen’s past relationships with teachers, friends, disciples, and family, showing how repeated life-and-death separations have shaped his personality and ambitions.

Chapter Summary: “Money Makes the Devil Turn Millstones!”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• The chapter introduces Flame Dragon Grotto, a former wasteland transformed into a cultivation sanctuary by six rogue cultivator masters known as the Six Patriarchs of Flame Dragon Cave.
• Over the centuries, the area developed into the Flame Dragon Grotto Market, a major gathering place for rogue cultivators. Three sects descended from the patriarchs’ disciples eventually came to dominate the region:
  • Flamecloud Sect, known for alchemy and artifact forging.
  • Divine Banner Sect, famous for formations, particularly its Ten-Directional True-Fire Demon-Refining Formation.
  • Seven Profound Sect, whose members specialize in sword cultivation.
• After spending more than two years in the market, Chen Jichuan has become familiar with its powers and has established himself as “Master Chen,” a respected alchemist and artifact forger.
• Chen has repeatedly refused invitations to join the three sects because he values independence and fears that joining could expose the secrets he carries.
• He is currently trying to gather five extremely rare materials—Dockstone, Geng Metal, Five-Glow Wood, Fire-Yang Stone, and Primordial Heavy Water—to construct or upgrade a teleportation formation.
• Luo Ming, a manager of the Divine Banner Sect, visits Chen and confirms that the major sects have monopolized these materials for centuries. He offers to help acquire them for Chen.
• Chen gives Luo a bottle of Jade-Spirit Pills, worth approximately 240,000 Spirit Stones, as a sign of sincerity and a reward for making arrangements.
• Luo again attempts to recruit Chen as an honored guest elder of the Divine Banner Sect, promising protection, resources, manuals, and freedom from commercial worries.
• Chen politely declines, citing his preference for freedom. Luo accepts his decision and promises to obtain the materials within three to five months, though likely at a high price.
• Chen eagerly agrees to pay with Spirit Stones, pills, or magical treasures, prioritizing the completion of his teleportation formation over the cost.

2. Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan is shown as increasingly established, wealthy, and influential within the market. His expertise in alchemy and artifact forging has earned him recognition and bargaining power.
• Despite his success, Chen remains cautious and secretive. His refusal to join a sect is not merely a matter of personal preference; he fears that powerful cultivators might discover his hidden abilities and secrets.
• Chen also demonstrates pragmatism. Although he values independence, he is willing to spend a fortune and exploit his connections when his goals require resources unavailable to ordinary rogue cultivators.
• Luo Ming is portrayed as socially adept, perceptive, and commercially minded. He genuinely values Chen’s talents but also seeks to recruit him because doing so would benefit the Divine Banner Sect and advance Luo’s own standing.
• Luo proves flexible rather than forceful: once Chen refuses recruitment, Luo shifts toward helping him acquire materials, recognizing that cooperation can still benefit both sides.

3. Significant Themes

• Wealth as power and leverage: Chen’s wealth, especially his valuable pills, allows him to gain access to resources that would otherwise be nearly impossible to obtain. The title reflects how money—or valuable goods—can motivate even powerful individuals.
• Independence versus security: Joining a sect would give Chen protection, resources, and access to knowledge, but it would also impose obligations and increase the risk of exposing his secrets. He chooses autonomy despite the difficulties.
• Resource monopolies and institutional power: The three major sects control rare teleportation-formation materials, demonstrating how established organizations possess advantages that individual cultivators cannot easily overcome.
• Mutual benefit and negotiation: Chen and Luo’s relationship is based on practical exchange. Neither fully sacrifices his interests; instead, they negotiate a profitable arrangement.
• The strategic importance of teleportation formations: These formations are not merely conveniences. They allow sects to connect distant assets, reinforce dangerous locations, and access resource-rich areas while reducing travel risks, making their materials highly valuable.

4. Character Interactions

• Chen and Luo begin with polite conversation, but Luo quickly reveals that he knows about Chen’s search for teleportation materials.
• Chen uses the discussion to test whether the Divine Banner Sect might possess the resources he needs, while Luo uses it as another opportunity to recruit him.
• Chen’s gift of Jade-Spirit Pills changes the tone of the meeting, demonstrating both his wealth and his determination. Luo becomes more candid and personally invested in helping him.
• Luo presents the advantages of joining the Divine Banner Sect, while Chen respectfully but firmly rejects the offer.
• Their final agreement establishes a cooperative relationship: Luo will use the Divine Banner Sect’s influence to locate the rare materials, and Chen will compensate him with pills, treasures, or money.

Chapter Summary: “Return to Qinling World!”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• While waiting for Luo Ming to gather materials for upgrading the teleportation array, Chen Jichuan purchases additional materials from the Flamecloud Sect and Seven Profound Sect.
• He decides to use the waiting period to return to Qinling World and continue cultivating there.
• Over six hundred years, Chen Jichuan repeatedly enters Qinling World rather than abandoning it completely. He does this to:
  • Keep up with the world’s developing grand era.
  • Ensure his Qinling World cultivation remains synchronized with his progress in Great Hui World.
• His cultivation and abilities advance significantly. His major cultivation methods—the Sword Diagram, Five Forms Eight Methods Fist, and Grand Yin Body-Refining Method—reach Heterodox Grade.
• He also develops or improves eight powerful High-Tier Arts, including:
  • The Lesser Forty-Nine Wind-Thunder Escape Technique for explosive speed and breaking encirclements.
  • The Grand Yin Magnetism Stealth Method for concealment, tracking, and evasion.
  • The Three-Unity Indestructible Golden Light Bodyguarding Method, combining defenses for body, qi, and soul.
  • The Bloodlight Reflection Grand Yin Divine-Mirror Method for investigation and tracing.
  • The Five Thunders Orthodox Method and Seven-Origin sword art for offense.
• Chen Jichuan observes that his techniques now give him the potential to fight ordinary second-order cultivators despite remaining in the Qi Refinement Realm.
• After approximately 760 years since the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect unified Qinling World, the sect has nearly collapsed:
  • Its three Empty Nether ancestors—Wang Shan, Li Qingshan, and Wang Yan—disappeared.
  • As their influence faded and foreign experts departed, rebellions spread across the Seven Provinces.
  • The Gu Clan of Imperial Heaven City seized Yong Prefecture with a powerful prodigy and a secretly built army.
  • Revolts also broke out in Lingnan, Northern Ridge, Yunzhou, and Xu Prefecture.
  • The Grand Vacuity Sword Sect lost nearly all its territory and now controls only Pengshan Commandery.
• Chen Jichuan travels through Pengshan Commandery and witnesses the sect’s decay firsthand.
• From a teahouse in Drizzle City, he listens to news about the many powerful figures emerging during this chaotic era.
• He has secretly nurtured several promising experts by supplying hidden treasures, including the Sword Ancestor’s Sword Stele and the Yong Emperor’s Vermilion Edict Iron Warrant.
• His goal is to gather the strongest figures for a great battle that will help him capture and refine the Soul Shadow, allowing him to break through to the Second-Order Soul Refinement Realm.
• Before entering seclusion, however, Chen Jichuan realizes that one urgent matter still needs to be resolved.

2. Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan becomes much more powerful and versatile. His cultivation foundation, combat methods, defensive abilities, escape techniques, and investigative skills are all greatly enhanced.
• He demonstrates long-term planning and patience by continuing to monitor Qinling World while cultivating in Great Hui World.
• Rather than merely cultivating for personal strength, he begins deliberately influencing the development of Qinling World by secretly supporting promising experts.
• His ambitions grow from simply surviving and advancing to orchestrating a large-scale battle involving the world’s strongest figures.
• Chen Jichuan also becomes increasingly confident in his ability to challenge opponents above his cultivation level.

3. Significant Themes

• Preparation and patience: Chen Jichuan spends centuries building a foundation before attempting his next breakthrough.
• The rise and fall of power: The Grand Vacuity Sword Sect’s transformation from a thriving hegemon into a decaying remnant illustrates how authority fades when its strongest leaders disappear.
• Cycles of history: Qinling World moves from unification and prosperity into rebellion, fragmentation, and renewed competition among heroes.
• Cultivation as more than raw power: Chen Jichuan emphasizes that powerful techniques, defenses, escape methods, and intelligence-gathering abilities are essential for protecting one’s Dao.
• Behind-the-scenes influence: Chen Jichuan shapes the era indirectly, secretly nurturing powerful figures and intensifying the competition among the world’s experts.
• The search for breakthrough through conflict: He intends to use a massive battle not merely to defeat enemies, but to refine the Soul Shadow and achieve a higher realm.

4. Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan deals with the stewards of the Flamecloud Sect and Seven Profound Sect to obtain teleportation-array materials.
• His past connection to Li Qingshan and Wang Yan is recalled; he once deceived them by claiming he was undergoing frozen-seal cultivation.
• The disappearance of Wang Shan, Li Qingshan, and Wang Yan destabilizes the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect and encourages rebellions throughout the Seven Provinces.
• Chen Jichuan maintains indirect relationships with numerous experts by monitoring them, supplying them with treasures, and cultivating them as future opponents or participants in his planned battle.
• Although he does not directly confront the rising heroes yet, he deliberately prepares the conditions for their eventual clash.

Chapter Summary: “At the End of the Road, the Golden Roc Comes South!”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• At North Camp River in Pengshan Commandery, the declining Grand Vacuity Sword Sect faces a decisive challenge from six major sects: the Golden Goose Sect, Five Clouds Sect, Spring Silkworm Sect, Heavenly River Sect, Sun God Palace, and Golden Blade Asura Sect.
• The Grand Vacuity Sword Sect was once powerful enough to unify all seven provinces, but centuries of decline have reduced it to controlling only Pengshan Commandery. If it loses, the sect will be completely expelled from Yue Prefecture.
• Wang Tuan, the sect’s patriarch and the “Whistling West Wind,” leads thirty-four Void Realm and Divine Realm experts. He is the sect’s strongest remaining fighter, while Sun Zhenshan is its only other Empty Nether Realm expert.
• The battle proceeds as a series of duels. Wang Tuan defeats:
  • Iron Brush Master Changsun Chongyang of the Golden Goose Sect.
  • Yan Sidao, the Phantom Spear of the Spring Silkworm Sect.
• Although injured and exhausted, Wang Tuan accepts a third challenge from Zhang Jian, the Night Asura and founding patriarch of the Golden Blade Asura Sect. Zhang Jian is widely regarded as the strongest expert in Yue Prefecture.
• The prolonged battle leaves Wang Tuan gravely wounded and nearly helpless. Just as Zhang Jian is about to kill him, an unknown sword strike knocks Zhang Jian into North Camp River.
• A massive Golden Light appears in the sky: a Great Sun Golden Peng Bird arrives from the south with three unidentified figures standing on its back, bringing the chapter to a dramatic cliffhanger.

2. Character Developments

• Wang Tuan: Demonstrates remarkable courage, endurance, and loyalty to the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect. Despite fighting consecutively against stronger or fresher opponents, he refuses to retreat because Pengshan and the sect’s survival depend on him. His injuries and exhaustion reveal the desperate state of the sect.
• Sun Zhenshan: Though injured from an earlier battle with Meng Qi of the Sun God Palace, he tries to intervene when Wang Tuan is threatened. His willingness to fight despite his wounds shows his loyalty, but his inability to rescue Wang Tuan in time emphasizes the sect’s weakness.
• Zhang Jian: Establishes himself as a superior fighter to Wang Tuan, steadily controlling the final duel and nearly killing him. His confidence is shattered when an unseen force suddenly defeats him.
• The Grand Vacuity Sword Sect: Its former glory is contrasted with its present vulnerability. The sect’s remaining experts are demoralized and wounded, while outsiders debate whether its historic achievements were genuine or dependent on outside support.
• The six opposing sects: Their alliance reflects both political opportunism and longstanding revenge, particularly from the Golden Goose, Five Clouds, and Spring Silkworm Sects, which were once destroyed by the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect.

3. Significant Themes

• The rise and fall of power: The chapter portrays the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect as a former hegemon nearing extinction, emphasizing that prosperity and dominance are temporary.
• History and changing narratives: Observers argue over whether the sect truly earned its past glory or relied excessively on Western Sea experts and demon beasts. The text suggests that history becomes distorted as later generations reinterpret the past.
• Fate and decline: Wang Tuan recognizes that the sect’s downfall may be the result of accumulated weaknesses, including its reliance on outside forces and the loss of past inheritances.
• Honor versus revenge and survival: Although some observers criticize the six sects for ganging up on one opponent, the sects view the conflict as justified revenge and a chance to reclaim what was lost.
• Loyalty and sacrifice: Wang Tuan’s repeated battles, despite exhaustion and injury, demonstrate the burden of leadership and devotion to one’s sect.
• Unexpected hope: The arrival of the Golden Peng interrupts what seemed to be certain defeat, suggesting that the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect’s fate may not yet be sealed.

4. Character Interactions

• Wang Tuan battles Changsun Chongyang, defeating him with overwhelming sword qi after hearing disparaging comments about his sect.
• Yan Sidao immediately challenges Wang Tuan after Changsun Chongyang withdraws. Wang Tuan prevents the injured Sun Zhenshan from fighting and personally accepts the duel.
• Sun Zhenshan attempts to rescue Wang Tuan during his battle with Zhang Jian, but his injuries leave him too slow to intervene.
• Zhang Jian nearly kills Wang Tuan, only to have his saber knocked away by a mysterious sword attack.
• The final interaction is between Zhang Jian and the newly arrived Great Sun Golden Peng Bird and its three unknown riders, whose presence abruptly changes the balance of power.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• The legendary Great Sun Golden Peng Bird, former mount of the Seven-Star Sword Saint, suddenly appears over the North Camp River carrying three people. Its arrival shocks both sides of the battlefield.
• The three newcomers are revealed to be Chen Jichuan, Li Qingshan, and Wang Yan, the Three Founding Ancestors of the Revival of the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect. They had vanished roughly six hundred years earlier after entering a state of suspended sleep.
• Their identities are recognized when present-day Grand Vacuity Sword Sect leaders Wang Tuan and Sun Zhenshan respectfully address them as “Patriarchs.” The wounded sect disciples and experts follow their example.
• Chen Jichuan provides healing pills, though Wang Tuan cautiously refuses to consume them immediately because the sect is still surrounded by enemies and the newcomers’ identities have not yet been fully verified.
• To test the present era’s experts and help his senior brother regain his combat strength, Chen Jichuan sends Li Qingshan to fight Zhang Jian, the Golden Blade Asura Sect’s founder and strongest warrior.
• Li Qingshan publicly announces himself as the legendary Five-Elements Spear, causing widespread disbelief and astonishment. Many spectators cannot accept that someone believed to have disappeared centuries ago is still alive.
• Li Qingshan and Zhang Jian engage in a fierce, evenly matched battle over the North Camp River. Both are third-level Empty Nether Realm experts, but Zhang Jian’s greater combat experience gradually gives him the advantage.
• As Li Qingshan begins to falter, Zhang Jian unleashes a sudden killing strike. Before it can land, Chen Jichuan uses a remotely controlled sword strike to knock Zhang Jian away and save Li Qingshan.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan is established as calm, confident, and overwhelmingly powerful. He treats the battlefield as a controlled opportunity to assess modern experts and help his companions grow rather than as an immediate threat.
• Li Qingshan is emotionally shaken by the decline of the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect after six centuries of sleep, but he regains focus through combat. His battle reveals that, despite his legendary status, he lacks the experience against same-level opponents that modern experts possess.
• Wang Yan is similarly disturbed by how much the world has changed. Her view of the present age expands as she learns that Zhang Jian, whom she considers extraordinarily powerful, ranks only among the Central Land’s top twenty.
• Wang Tuan reacts with intense reverence and gratitude toward the returning Patriarchs, especially after Chen Jichuan saves him from Zhang Jian. However, his caution remains intact, shown by his refusal to immediately trust the healing pills.
• Sun Zhenshan quickly recognizes the significance of the Patriarchs’ return and becomes one of their most respectful supporters.
• Zhang Jian is portrayed as a ruthless and highly experienced modern fighter. Although initially skeptical of Li Qingshan’s identity, he proves capable of pressuring the legendary Patriarch and nearly killing him.

Significant Themes

• The passage of time and historical change: The returning Patriarchs find that the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect has declined from the dominant power of the Central Land to a weakened faction under siege.
• The contrast between past and present: Legendary figures from the old era remain powerful, but modern experts have developed greater combat experience through constant conflict. The chapter emphasizes that “the men of the present have surpassed the men of old.”
• Legacy versus reality: The public remembers the Three Founding Ancestors as almost mythical figures, yet their return reveals them as living people who must confront a world very different from the one they knew.
• Trust and caution: The sect leaders honor the newcomers but still avoid blindly trusting them, demonstrating the importance of survival instincts amid political and military danger.
• The creation of heroes through conflict: Chen Jichuan believes the current age of strife offers Li Qingshan and Wang Yan opportunities to test themselves, adapt, and possibly break through to higher realms.
• Uncertainty surrounding the Patriarchs’ return: Their reappearance may save the Grand Vacuity Sword Sect, but it is also likely to attract the attention of the other six prefectures and create new dangers.

Important Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan and the Grand Vacuity disciples: He accepts their reverence but immediately focuses on practical matters, offering medicine and directing the next battle.
• Chen Jichuan and Li Qingshan: Chen treats Li as both a senior brother and a warrior who needs to reawaken his abilities, deliberately sending him against Zhang Jian.
• Wang Tuan and Sun Zhenshan: They act together in recognizing and honoring the Patriarchs, while also sharing concern over the authenticity of the newcomers and the consequences of their return.
• Wang Yan and Wang Tuan: Wang Yan questions him about the modern world, learning how dramatically the power structure and cultivation landscape have changed.
• Li Qingshan and Zhang Jian: Their duel represents the direct collision between an undefeated legend of the past and a battle-hardened champion of the present.
• Chen Jichuan and Zhang Jian: Chen intervenes remotely at the crucial moment, demonstrating that Zhang Jian’s skill cannot overcome the overwhelming control Chen has over the battlefield.