Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• The Great Shun Founder is killed by Kun Yun in a single strike, after Wang Ping manipulates events so that Kun Yun can take revenge. The surrounding cultivators had anticipated the death, but are shocked by how quickly it happens.
• Wang Ping appears to have paid for his intervention with lost lifespan and vitality. Kun Yun, believing the performance, promises to repay him. Hengxu offers first a Life-Giving Creation Pill, then a rarer Complete Melody Life-Preservation Pill. Wang Ping accepts the latter.
• Wang Ping has Kun Yun hand the True Lord’s handwritten decree to Hengxu, who retrieves it for the Contemplation Constant Realm.
• The Xuanxiao Saintess and Light-Holding Holy Son question Wang Ping’s concealed identity and connect him to the fugitive who gained the Merit Deed Free and Easy Wandering. Wang Ping openly claims to be that person and admits his earlier injury was an act, leaving everyone unsure what to believe.
• Tian Xing arrives and disperses the gathering, preventing the others from pressing the confrontation. Wang Ping realizes that his identity as the Mystic One Daoist Scion will now be widely known throughout the Immortal Sect.

Character developments

• Wang Ping demonstrates his skill at deception, escape, and controlling how others interpret events. He turns apparent self-sacrifice into a chance to obtain a valuable pill, while his candid confession only deepens the mystery around him.
• Kun Yun is grateful to Wang Ping, convinced he made a costly sacrifice to help avenge him.
• Hengxu treats Wang Ping with increased respect after witnessing his methods, but recognizes that Wang Ping and Kun Yun are using his generosity to secure a better reward.
• The Xuanxiao Saintess and Light-Holding Holy Son grow suspicious of Wang Ping and probe his identity, but cannot determine whether his statements are truthful.
• Tian Xing asserts authority simply by arriving; his presence ends the gathering without a fight.

Significant themes

• Truth and deception: Wang Ping’s performance makes even his truthful statements seem questionable.
• Reputation and exposure: His actions establish his status, but also draw attention to his identity and abilities.
• Power and hierarchy: The characters’ choices are shaped by the gulf between their cultivation levels and by the danger of challenging stronger figures.
• Mercy, revenge, and self-interest: Kun Yun’s revenge is fulfilled, while the others maneuver around the decree and the rewards that follow.

Character interactions

• Wang Ping and Kun Yun work together: Wang Ping engineers the Founder’s death, then lets Kun Yun believe he suffered for it.
• Wang Ping and Hengxu negotiate indirectly through the offered pills; Hengxu ultimately provides the more valuable one, and Wang Ping accepts it before returning the decree.
• The Saintess and Holy Son challenge Wang Ping with questions, while he responds with a mixture of humor and apparent candor that frustrates their attempts to read him.
• Tian Xing’s intervention ends the questioning and sends the other cultivators away.

Plot points and events

• After the Great Shun Founder’s death, Tian Xing arrives at Gongshun Grotto-Heaven and meets Kun Yun and Wang Ping.
• Tian Xing discusses the reappearance of Heaven-Reversing Palace, an immortal realm created by the Great Rebel Ancestor. It emerges only at long intervals, and its strict entry rules mean only Tribulation Transcendence cultivators can enter.
• He recounts how Gan Wujia gained extraordinary power and a Spirit Treasure inside the palace, suggesting it contains a major secret.
• Tian Xing explains that he helped because Mingyou asked him to—and because the favor settles an old debt with Kun Yun. He also says that he and Mingyou plan to achieve True Cultivation within three years.
• Tian Xing reveals that his own path to True Cultivation depends on supporting Mingyou. His Merit Deed, Treading the Tiger’s Tail, rewards him for aligning himself with someone of superior standing, so their shared success binds them more firmly than ordinary loyalty.
• After Tian Xing leaves, Wang Ping realizes his remarks were deliberate hints: Mingyou likely needs a Merit Deed found in Heaven-Reversing Palace, and Wang Ping and his companions may be expected to help obtain it. Mingyou senses Wang Ping has understood and praises him as promising.

Character developments and interactions

• Kun Yun greets Tian Xing as his former master, but Tian Xing rejects the old master-disciple relationship, treating him more as an equal. Kun Yun is curious about Tian Xing’s motives and remains puzzled by his message.
• Wang Ping maintains his composure when Tian Xing addresses him by name, avoiding any sign that might expose his identity. He listens carefully, then reads the hidden meaning behind Tian Xing’s ostensibly casual conversation.
• Tian Xing is unusually open about his cultivation path and his bond with Mingyou. He frames their relationship not as brotherhood but as a practical, deeply committed partnership built on a shared Dao.
• Mingyou, though absent from the meeting, has arranged Tian Xing’s help and appears to be testing Wang Ping’s ability to interpret the hints.

Significant themes

• Shared ambition and mutual dependence: Tian Xing and Mingyou trust one another because each needs the other to succeed.
• Hidden motives and indirect communication: Tian Xing conveys a plan without stating it outright, while Wang Ping must infer what is being asked of him.
• Power, patronage, and cultivation: The chapter presents advancement as shaped not only by talent but also by backing, alliances, and the right Merit Deed.
• History’s lingering secrets: Heaven-Reversing Palace—and the unexplained gains made by those who entered it—may hold the key to the next stage of the characters’ cultivation.

Key events

• Inside Gongshun Grotto-Heaven, Wang Ping studies his newly acquired Profound Unity Calamity-Crossing Ring and recognizes it as a rare Spirit Treasure embodying the Water Trigram, with three strands of Heaven-and-Earth Qi corresponding to heaven, earth, and humanity.
• He reflects that the Great Rebellion destroyed or damaged the Qi needed to form five of the eight trigram-based Spirit Treasures. Only the Mountain, Qian, and Water Trigrams retain viable paths. This helps him understand the Divine Weapons Institute’s strength and why his master Mingyou may have chosen it.
• The ring’s Yellow Springs mystery transforms the recently deceased Great Shun Founder into a loyal Yin Spirit, preserving nearly seventy percent of his former cultivation. Wang Ping confirms that the Founder did not tamper with an ancient scripture before his death.
• Wang Ping considers the ring’s other abilities: Azure Heavens can aid escape and empower Yin Spirits, while Profound Market can trade them for power, treasures, or even survival. The ring’s Water Trigram also conceals Wang Ping from observation, making it especially useful for ambushes and looting.
• The chapter ends with Wang Ping examining the scripture that supposedly offers a way to continue the severed path of a Corpse-Liberated Immortal: “Cultivating Qi, Forgetting Words, Guarding the One Scripture.”

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Ping continues to show strategic, calculating judgment. He decides not to pursue the Spirit Treasures left behind in his former life, recognizing that they are dangerous and unnecessary.
• He becomes increasingly aware of the ring’s formidable potential—and of how its methods make him seem aligned with the Demonic Path. He jokingly blames Water Qi for the unsavory impression.
• The Great Shun Founder has become a compliant servant, stripped of independent thought. He verifies the scripture for Wang Ping, then is returned to the ring. Their relationship is now entirely one of master and tool.

Significant themes

• Power and moral compromise: The ring rewards killing by turning the dead into loyal, reusable weapons, raising the cost of Wang Ping’s growing power.
• Cultivation as a reflection of larger conflicts: The damaged trigrams show how the ancient Great Rebellion shaped present-day techniques, institutions, and Dao Strife.
• Pragmatism and survival: Wang Ping weighs danger against opportunity, favoring hidden advantages and reliable resources over conspicuous treasures.
• The continuity of lost paths: The ancient scripture offers a possible answer to the severed Corpse-Liberated Immortal Dao, setting up the next stage of Wang Ping’s investigation.

Chapter Summary: “Life Tribulation Descends”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Wang Ping studies The Scripture of Cultivating Qi, Forgetting Words, and Guarding the One, discovering the principles and history of the ancient Qi-Nurturing Method.
• He learns that Qi-Nurturing cultivators nurture Heaven and Earth’s qi within their bodies, but the method cannot support True Cultivation because one body can resonate with only a single strand of qi.
• The more advanced Breath-Consuming Method replaced Qi-Nurturing because it transformed the physical body itself and allowed cultivators to practice True Cultivation.
• Wang Ping realizes that the evolution from Qi-Nurturing to Breath-Consuming, and later to Qi Refinement, occurred through prolonged Dao Strife. He suspects that the current conflict between the Immortal Sect and the Brahma Kingdom may represent another major transformation of the Immortal Dao.
• The scripture explains the Heaven-Mending Method, which can restore a cultivator who has become a Corpse-Liberated Immortal by refining a new body and returning their transformed qi to physical form.
• Wang Ping understands that the Great Shun Founder had gathered vast spiritual materials to reconstruct a physical body and resume his original cultivation path.
• Wang Ping initially considers preserving the Great Shun Founder as a Yin Spirit for his expertise, but realizes that his own reincarnation ability can provide him with a perfectly compatible body, making the Heaven-Mending Method unnecessary.
• His sudden realization that everything has gone too smoothly makes him suspect that his Life Tribulation has finally arrived.
• He deduces that the Great Shun Founder was likely bait connected to the Brahma Kingdom. The Brahma Cultivators who were supposed to receive him may have used his disappearance to locate Wang Ping.
• Wang Ping’s suspicions are confirmed when his Water Trigram detects extreme danger. He discovers that he has been silently removed from the Gongshun Grotto-Heaven and transported into an unfamiliar starry realm.
• A powerful Brahma cultivator appears: Life-Slayer, master of the Treasure Gourd, carrying the Secret-Trace Vajra Pestle. He reveals that the Great Shun Founder was insignificant compared with him and calmly invites Wang Ping to visit the Brahma Kingdom.

Character Developments

• Wang Ping gains a deeper understanding of the evolution of Immortal Dao cultivation and the advantages and limitations of different lineages.
• His strategic thinking develops as he recognizes that the Great Shun Founder’s apparent defeat was part of a larger plan.
• He becomes increasingly cautious, realizing that his hidden karma and successful schemes cannot prevent his Life Tribulation forever.
• Wang Ping also recognizes the unique advantage provided by his reincarnation ability: he can obtain a new body without the immense cost and risk of body reconstruction.
• The Great Shun Founder is revealed to have been merely a pawn or bait in the Brahma Kingdom’s larger scheme.
• Life-Slayer is introduced as the true threat, a powerful and confident Brahma figure whose status and abilities far exceed those of the Great Shun Founder.

Significant Themes

• Evolution and competition between Dao lineages: Cultivation methods develop through conflict, adaptation, and the replacement of inferior systems.
• Orthodox versus unorthodox cultivation: The physical body is portrayed as essential to the orthodox Immortal Dao, while becoming a Corpse-Liberated Immortal is treated as a dangerous deviation—though it can offer temporary power.
• Dao Strife and historical transformation: Wang Ping sees the current Immortal Sect–Brahma Kingdom conflict as potentially comparable to earlier shifts in cultivation history.
• Fate and hidden consequences: His smooth success is exposed as part of a larger arrangement, reinforcing the principle that gains are balanced by inevitable tribulations.
• Bait, manipulation, and strategic concealment: The Great Shun Founder’s role demonstrates how apparently important figures may be expendable pieces in conflicts between greater powers.
• The cost of advancement: Every cultivation path offers advantages but also imposes limits, risks, or sacrifices.

Character Interactions

• Wang Ping’s main interaction is intellectual: he analyzes the ancient scripture, the Great Shun Founder’s motives, and the relationship between the Immortal Sect and Brahma Kingdom.
• His realization about the Great Shun Founder reframes their previous confrontation: Wang Ping believed he had won a significant victory, but the battle was likely arranged to expose him.
• At the chapter’s conclusion, Wang Ping directly encounters Life-Slayer, who addresses him respectfully as “benefactor” but effectively places him under threat by transporting him away and inviting him into the Brahma Kingdom.
• The encounter establishes a tense relationship between the two: Life-Slayer is outwardly calm and courteous, while Wang Ping immediately understands that this is the true arrival of his Life Tribulation.

Plot points and events

• Wang Ping realizes that Life-Slayer, an Ascetic Monk serving the Lord of Esoteric Traces, has recognized his true identity and secretly pulled him out of Gongshun Grotto-Heaven.
• Life-Slayer explains that he overheard Wang Ping’s conversation with Tian Xing. He intends to seize Wang Ping’s Seven Sons Heart-Linked Gourd and earn merit by converting a Daoist scion to the Brahma Kingdom.
• Wang Ping suspects the ordeal may be a test arranged by Water Qi True Lord, rather than a scheme that has escaped the True Lord’s notice. He decides to resist, believing that surviving could secure his place as the Mystic One Daoist Scion.
• Wang Ping flees using Free and Easy Wandering and concealment arts, but Life-Slayer’s “White-Hair Mark Between the Brows” exposes him and a vast Buddha palm pursues him.
• Wang Ping invokes the Peace Scripture, wishing to escape alive, then uses the Azure Heavens art and the Water Trigram to dodge the palm and slow its pursuit. Life-Slayer follows, confident Wang Ping cannot escape.
• Back in the Grotto-Heaven, Kun Yun reveals that he deliberately withdrew his Divine Sense, allowing Life-Slayer to take Wang Ping. He believes the ordeal was arranged by Chaos Profound Unity Primordial Sovereign and will determine whether Wang Ping proves worthy of being a true Daoist scion.

Character developments

• Wang Ping shifts from shock to resolve. Though he fears losing his Daoist-scion identity and the True Lord’s support, he chooses to fight rather than surrender, relying on his skills and resources.
• Life-Slayer is revealed as a powerful, calculating opponent. He took the opportunity to target Wang Ping for both the Spirit Treasure and the prestige of converting him.
• Kun Yun is exposed as a deliberate participant in the setup, though he sees the ordeal as a test rather than a betrayal that will cause lasting harm.

Character interactions

• Life-Slayer addresses Wang Ping respectfully as a “benefactor” even while hunting him, and Wang Ping privately curses him and suspects others may have helped arrange the trap.
• Kun Yun’s apparent passivity concealed an intentional choice: he gave Life-Slayer the chance to act, leaving Wang Ping to face the trial alone. He expects Wang Ping to confront him afterward and is confident their cultivation gap will keep him safe.

Significant themes

• Trials as proof of worth: Wang Ping’s survival may determine whether he deserves the Daoist-scion role.
• Loyalty and manipulation: Apparent allies may be following a larger plan, and Wang Ping cannot yet tell whether this is protection, betrayal, or both.
• Power and self-reliance: Institutional backing is conditional; Wang Ping believes he must prove his usefulness to earn recognition.
• Fate versus agency: Though the encounter may be shaped by his Life Tribulation and powerful figures’ plans, Wang Ping still chooses how to respond.

Chapter Summary

• Wang Ping is relentlessly pursued through the Cosmic Deep Space by Life-Slayer, an Ascetic Monk serving the Lord of Esoteric Traces. Wang Ping’s combined cultivation, Water Trigram, and Profound Unity Calamity-Crossing Ring give him strength comparable to a Corpse-Liberated Immortal, but Life-Slayer nearly matches his flight speed through the Merit Deed Divine Foot Travel.
• Wang Ping’s Water Trigram makes him faster as danger increases, yet Life-Slayer has the advantage: Heaven’s Eye Insight keeps Wang Ping within the monk’s sight and prevents his attempt to teleport away with Free and Easy Wandering. Wang Ping uses Sound Listening to learn that he has reached Supreme Tenuity, outside the Immortal Sect’s territory, and realizes he has no reliable sense of direction.
• Concluding that Life-Slayer is blocking the route back to safety, Wang Ping risks traveling through time. He sends his true body three seconds into the past, hides, and turns back—but Life-Slayer appears ahead of him. The monk can also traverse time, using Past-Life Passage to intercept him and block his access to the past.
• Life-Slayer attacks with Mind-Reading Passage, the Six Roots Purity Mantra, and the Secret-Trace Vajra Pestle, aiming to subdue and capture Wang Ping rather than kill him. Wang Ping briefly loses control of his senses and faces suppression of his powers and Destiny Form.
• At the crisis point, the Complete Melody Life-Preservation Pill Wang Ping previously obtained from Hengxu activates. It adapts to the mantra, releases powerful Metal Qi, and helps Wang Ping break the pestle’s seal. He then tries to escape to Gongshun Grotto-Heaven.
• A hidden Qi Refiner weakens the pill’s power before Wang Ping can get away. Wang Ping identifies the saboteur as Jing Lang, who had previously fought Kun Yun and traveled alongside the Xuanxiao Saintess.

Character Developments and Interactions

• Wang Ping proves resourceful under extreme pressure, combining his Trigram’s danger-responsive power, Sound Listening, time travel, concealment, and the pill’s adaptive abilities. Despite his formidable strength, he remains vulnerable to unfamiliar techniques, poor knowledge of the cosmic geography, and interference from other Qi Refiners.
• Life-Slayer is revealed as a patient, methodical opponent. He has several powerful Merit Deeds—including vision, mind, and time-related abilities—and deliberately holds back lethal force because he wants Wang Ping alive.
• Jing Lang enters as a covert third party, exploiting Wang Ping’s desperate position by targeting the pill that has become his best chance of escape.

Significant Themes

• Adaptation under danger: Wang Ping’s Water Trigram and the pill both turn crises into sources of strength, though neither guarantees safety.
• A contest of powers and countermeasures: Speed, sight, time travel, and spiritual suppression each meet an opposing technique, making escape a battle of abilities as much as endurance.
• Vulnerability amid great strength: Even a cultivator capable of challenging an immortal-level opponent can be cornered by unfamiliar geography, specialized techniques, and outside interference.
• Capture versus destruction: Life-Slayer’s restraint makes the pursuit more ominous: Wang Ping is not being chased to be killed, but to be taken alive.

Chapter Summary: “The True Lord’s Purpose”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Wang Ping is trapped and pursued by Life-Slayer, an Ascetic Monk whose cultivation vastly surpasses his own. The [Complete Melody Life-Preservation Pill] initially helps him resist suppression, but Life-Slayer’s influence over the pill weakens its effects.
• Rather than being discouraged, Wang Ping realizes the pill’s failure may have fulfilled the condition needed to activate the [Peace Scripture]’s eighth scroll, [Creation Plays Tricks].
• He uses [Wish Fulfillment] to empower his Merit Deed, [Free and Easy Wandering]. The enhancement allows him to escape Life-Slayer’s [Heaven’s Eye Insight] and break free of the [Secret-Trace Vajra Pestle] and surrounding formations.
• Life-Slayer abandons his earlier restraint and unleashes the lethal [Thousand-Spoked Wheel Aspect Beneath the Foot]. Wang Ping recognizes that even a glancing blow will kill him.
• To survive, Wang Ping uses [Profound Market], offering the Great Shun Founder’s Yin Spirit as collateral. The technique redirects Life-Slayer’s attack toward the Yin Spirit.
• Wang Ping orders the Great Shun Founder to self-destruct. The resulting explosion delays Life-Slayer just long enough for Wang Ping to escape through [Free and Easy Wandering].
• Life-Slayer quickly recovers from the damage caused by Wang Ping’s escape from [Heaven’s Eye Insight], locates him again, and resumes the pursuit.
• Wang Ping reaches a desolate star but discovers that his Life Tribulation remains active and that his Dharma Power is nearly exhausted. He cannot both recover and continue fleeing, creating a seemingly impossible deadlock.
• He considers an extreme solution: becoming a Corpse-Liberated Immortal. Although this would sever his current Dao Path, it could give him the power to confront Life-Slayer.
• Wang Ping recalls the [Heaven-Mending Method] from [Cultivating Qi, Forgetting Words, Guarding the One Scripture], which could theoretically restore a Corpse-Liberated Immortal to the Tribulation Transcendence Stage.
• Because the [Peace Scripture] provides him with perfectly compatible bodies when he revives, Wang Ping realizes he may possess the one advantage needed to make the method work.
• He begins to suspect that the True Lord’s true purpose in guiding him may have been to obtain this method and prepare him to become a Corpse-Liberated Immortal—but he remains afraid that the method could be a trap.

Character Developments

• Wang Ping demonstrates composure, adaptability, and strategic thinking under overwhelming pressure. He turns the apparent failure of the divine pill into an opportunity to activate [Wish Fulfillment].
• His survival increasingly depends not on direct combat but on exploiting the interactions among his scriptures, Merit Deeds, treasures, and sacrificial techniques.
• Wang Ping acknowledges the enormous gap between himself and Life-Slayer. His confidence does not become arrogance; instead, he accurately recognizes that he has survived only because Life-Slayer initially wanted him alive and because [Free and Easy Wandering] is extraordinarily powerful.
• His willingness to consider becoming a Corpse-Liberated Immortal marks a major shift. He had previously regarded that path as unacceptable because it would destroy his future advancement, but desperation forces him to reconsider his deepest principles.
• Life-Slayer becomes more ruthless after Wang Ping escapes. He abandons restraint and repeatedly attempts to kill him, though Wang Ping’s escape still causes serious damage to his [Heaven’s Eye Insight].
• The Great Shun Founder’s Yin Spirit is reduced to a sacrificial decoy. Wang Ping’s command causes him to self-destruct, emphasizing both the severity of Wang Ping’s situation and the ruthless necessities of survival.

Significant Themes

• Desperation turning into opportunity: The pill’s diminished effect appears disastrous, but it triggers the exact chain of events Wang Ping needs to strengthen [Free and Easy Wandering].
• The difference between cultivation realms: Wang Ping cannot truly fight Life-Slayer. His survival illustrates the vast gulf between Tribulation Transcendence and Qi Refinement.
• Ingenuity versus brute force: Wang Ping survives through timing, layered techniques, sacrifice, and clever use of rules rather than superior strength.
• The cost of survival: Escaping requires Wang Ping to sacrifice the Great Shun Founder’s Yin Spirit and perhaps even abandon his own Dao Path.
• Trust and hidden design: Wang Ping questions whether the True Lord’s arrangements were secretly intended to lead him toward the [Heaven-Mending Method].
• Irreversible choices: Becoming a Corpse-Liberated Immortal may provide immediate power, but it could permanently sever Wang Ping’s cultivation future. The chapter ends with him confronting the possibility that survival itself may demand an irreversible sacrifice.

Character Interactions

• Wang Ping and Life-Slayer: Their interaction is a one-sided pursuit rather than a fair battle. Life-Slayer’s overwhelming power forces Wang Ping to rely on evasion and deception, while Wang Ping’s repeated escapes frustrate and injure him.
• Wang Ping and the Great Shun Founder: Wang Ping treats the Yin Spirit as a sacrificial means of escape, ordering it to redirect and absorb Life-Slayer’s attack before self-destructing.
• Wang Ping and the True Lord: Though the True Lord does not appear directly, Wang Ping reflects on whether his current crisis and access to the [Heaven-Mending Method] were deliberately arranged as part of a larger test or plan.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• On the desolate planet at [Supreme Tenuity], Wang Ping struggles with a decisive choice: trust his mother, the Water Qi True Lord, and preserve his identity as a Dao Seed, or abandon that path and reincarnate for the sake of safety.
• He realizes that his true priority is not merely preserving his current Dao Path, but remaining faithful to his Dao heart. His nature has always driven him toward higher realms rather than simple survival.
• Through his understanding of the [Water Trigram], Wang Ping grasps that Water Qi cultivation requires concealment during ordinary times but complete openness at the moment of breakthrough. A cultivator must remain firm and unyielding amid danger.
• Convinced that he must follow his ambitions, Wang Ping decides to gamble that the Water Qi True Lord genuinely cares for him. He begins breaking through to the Corpse-Liberated Immortal realm, despite the possibility that doing so will sever his future Immortal Dao.
• He uses the [Peace Scripture] to kill and revive himself, creating a new compatible body and a backup body before beginning the transformation.
• As his Dharma Power, Divine Abilities, Destiny Form, soul, and true spirit merge, Wang Ping’s original body becomes an unwanted shell. He reaches the breakthrough simply by standing up and casting it off.
• Meanwhile, Life-Slayer arrives, expecting Wang Ping to be recovering his strength. Instead, he discovers Wang Ping’s new Corpse-Liberated Immortal form and is shocked that a powerful Dao Seed would willingly abandon the Qi Refinement path.
• Wang Ping’s transformation produces immense heavenly phenomena: an image of an underground spring, a dragon hidden in the abyss, the Underworld, and the Ghost Gate Pass. His breakthrough is marked by the omen: “The Primordial Spirit sheds its old shell; the spirit platform first shines upon the mortal womb.”
• Rather than retreating, Wang Ping challenges Life-Slayer to fight again. His new form disintegrates into further manifestations, ultimately becoming a Dragon Kun, then transforming into a giant peng and flying into the universe.

Character Developments

• Wang Ping: Resolves his internal conflict and chooses ambition, advancement, and loyalty to his Dao heart over caution. He accepts the risk of losing his Immortal cultivation future and demonstrates extraordinary determination by voluntarily becoming a Corpse-Liberated Immortal.
• Life-Slayer: Remains Wang Ping’s pursuer but develops reluctant admiration and regret upon witnessing Wang Ping’s self-sacrifice. He insists that he never truly intended to kill Wang Ping and views Wang Ping’s refusal to submit as another example of cultivators’ stubbornness.
• Water Qi True Lord: Though absent from the immediate action, her earlier teachings guide Wang Ping’s breakthrough. Her interpretation of the Water Trigram becomes the key to his decision.
• Kun Yun and Mingyou: Their histories serve as examples of how background and support from powerful True Persons or True Lords influence a cultivator’s chances of practicing Qi Refinement and advancing.

Significant Themes

• Dao heart versus Dao Path: The chapter argues that a cultivator’s fundamental principles and inner resolve are more important than preserving a particular cultivation route.
• Risk and ambition: Wang Ping chooses an uncertain opportunity for greater advancement over a safe but limited existence.
• True meaning of cultivation: Advancement requires more than talent, heavenly qi, and Merit Deed; the cultivator’s conduct and personal principles must correspond to the deeper meaning of the relevant Dao imagery.
• Transformation and rebirth: Wang Ping’s death, resurrection, and shedding of his physical body symbolize abandoning an old identity and entering a fundamentally different stage of existence.
• Misunderstanding between ideologies: Life-Slayer believes submission to the Brahma Kingdom would offer peace and equality, while Wang Ping and other powerful cultivators reject such surrender in favor of freedom and their own Dao paths.

Character Interactions

• Wang Ping internally interprets the Water Qi True Lord’s teachings and realizes that her guidance was ultimately telling him to follow his own Dao heart.
• Life-Slayer arrives immediately after Wang Ping’s transformation and reacts with astonishment and pity, believing Wang Ping has ruined his future.
• Wang Ping rejects Life-Slayer’s implied offer of submission and instead taunts him, declaring that their previous battle was unsatisfying and demanding another confrontation.
• Their exchange establishes that the next conflict will not be a chase or one-sided pursuit: Wang Ping, now transformed, actively seeks battle and demonstrates a new, mysterious power.

Key events

• Upon becoming a Corpse-Liberated Immortal, Wang Ping discovers that high-level combat revolves around Qi-Borrowing Manifestation: opponents manifest their qi through forms rooted in their Dao.
• Wang Ping manifests his pinnacle-grade Hibernating Dragon Kun as a colossal Kunpeng. Life-Slayer counters with a golden Buddha form, and Wang Ping tests it by recreating Great Shun Founder’s Yin Spirit and detonating it. Life-Slayer’s body is damaged but quickly regenerates.
• Life-Slayer analyzes the Dao behind Wang Ping’s Kunpeng form, identifying its connection to Earth Yin Water, the Qian Trigram, and Heavenly Yin Water. His Dao-arguments dismantle the form, preventing Wang Ping from manifesting it.
• Wang Ping realizes that Qi Refiners fight by exposing and attacking the foundations of each other’s Daos. Because Corpse-Liberated Immortals retain foundations rooted in their former mortal cultivation, they are especially vulnerable once an opponent understands them.
• Life-Slayer invites Wang Ping to enter the Brahma Kingdom, abandon his Immortal Dao, and become a Buddhist protector. Wang Ping refuses and counters with his own Dao insight, based on the Water Trigram. He identifies a hidden truth about the Brahma Kingdom’s founder: the Living Buddha originally cultivated Human Yang Fire, the Qi of Establishing the Apex of Civilized Merit. His words begin cracking Life-Slayer’s golden body.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Ping learns the rules of Qi Refinement combat and recognizes that Life-Slayer has won their first exchange by crippling his Kunpeng manifestation. Rather than panic, he draws on earlier instruction about the Water Trigram and finds a way to strike back.
• Life-Slayer demonstrates formidable Dao insight, easily penetrating the basis of Wang Ping’s Destiny Form. He remains confident enough to offer Wang Ping conversion into the Brahma Dharma—but is visibly affected when Wang Ping turns the debate toward the Living Buddha.
• Their encounter shifts from spectacular physical attacks to a contest of knowledge: Life-Slayer exposes Wang Ping’s Dao, while Wang Ping uses his own understanding to uncover a weakness in Life-Slayer’s religious lineage.

Significant themes

• Dao as both weapon and vulnerability: In high-level combat, understanding an opponent’s principles can wound them more deeply than physical force.
• The risks of fixed foundations: Corpse-Liberated Immortals retain identifiable roots from their former cultivation, making them easier to counter once those roots are exposed.
• Learning and adaptation: Wang Ping’s prior lessons let him respond to a seemingly decisive defeat and challenge an opponent on equal intellectual ground.
• Faith, power, and hidden history: The final revelation suggests that the Brahma Kingdom’s celebrated origins may conceal an earlier, different path of cultivation.

Plot points and events

• Wang Ping reveals that the Brahma Dharma grew from the Immortal Sect and argues that its Living Buddha once cultivated Human Yang Fire. His reasoning links the posthumous signs of Water Qi among [Lord of Esoteric Traces]’s followers to the Water Trigram, then interprets that bodhisattva’s protection of the Living Buddha’s secrets as the missing human-yang element that completes the trigram.
• Each part of Wang Ping’s explanation cracks Life-Slayer’s golden body, weakening him until it shatters. Wang Ping concludes that the Brahma Kingdom may have founded its Dharma by taking authority from the Immortal Sect’s eight trigrams—one reason the two powers remain bitter enemies.
• Wang Ping suspects the True Lord made him a Daoist Scion to investigate this conflict, perhaps with the aim of reclaiming Water Trigram authority. He decides that, whatever the larger scheme, he has passed the trial of becoming the [Mystic One Daoist Scion].
• Life-Slayer then uses a prepared formation to pull Wang Ping toward the Brahma Kingdom’s [Northern Crimson-Net Golden Pure Land]. More than a dozen Ascetic Monks attack, leaving Wang Ping unable to escape.
• Expecting the True Lord to intervene, Wang Ping is stopped just before reaching the Pure Land by a slender hand. The Brahma Kingdom identifies the rescuer as Lian Ruzhao, who coolly challenges their outrage.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Ping demonstrates exceptional Daoist insight, piecing together scattered clues and using his understanding to defeat Life-Slayer in a contest of doctrine. He remains composed even when captured, trusting that his trial has been passed and help will come.
• Life-Slayer shifts from astonishment at Wang Ping’s comprehension to alarm and hostility. Though his golden manifestation is destroyed, he responds by trying to seize Wang Ping rather than conceding.
• Lian Ruzhao enters as Wang Ping’s rescuer, confidently confronting the Brahma Kingdom.
• Wang Ping’s exchange with Life-Slayer is chiefly intellectual: Wang Ping exposes the implications of Brahma Dharma’s origins, while Life-Slayer’s reactions reveal how threatening that knowledge is to the kingdom.

Significant themes

• Understanding versus merely knowing: Wang Ping’s insight matters because he has grasped the reasons behind the secret, not just its facts.
• Competing traditions and stolen authority: The Brahma Kingdom’s rise may have involved appropriating the Immortal Sect’s trigram authority, making their rivalry both spiritual and political.
• Power through knowledge: Wang Ping’s reasoning physically weakens Life-Slayer, but the Brahma Kingdom answers with force and attempted capture.
• Trials, trust, and hidden agendas: Wang Ping wonders whether the True Lord is using him as a pawn, yet still relies on the protection he believes his status should bring.

Key plot points

• Wang Ping is rescued by the Martial Dao First Seat, Lian Ruzhao—his “Little Mom”—when she destroys Life-Slayer’s teleportation array with overwhelming power.
• The Brahma cultivators recognize Lian as a dangerous opponent and decline to help Life-Slayer, recalling how she once defeated one of their Ascetic Monks.
• Lian explains that her Martial Dao avoids the risks associated with the Brahma Kingdom’s methods: it cultivates neither spiritual qi nor the Eight Trigrams, and she intends to abandon even the small amount of Human Yang Fire she uses.
• She demonstrates the realm beyond Great Grandmaster, which she calls Shattered Void and suggests may also be called Martial Saint. Her fully realized “self” forms a Spiritless World that overrides the surrounding void.
• Lian’s punch reaches Life-Slayer across the shattered distance, cracks his Spirit Treasure, and further damages his already shaken Dao foundation.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Ping is thrilled to be reunited with Lian and admires both her strength and her affection. He watches her demonstration as a lesson from his master.
• Lian Ruzhao is revealed as a formidable Martial Dao pioneer: confident, protective of Wang Ping, and able to challenge powerful Brahma practitioners directly.
• Life-Slayer shifts from aggression to caution around Lian. Her direct, physical fighting style frustrates him because each landed blow causes real harm without relying on a Dao debate.
• The Brahma cultivators fear Lian’s strength and choose self-preservation over intervening.

Significant themes

• Self and reality: Lian’s perfected inner “self” creates a world governed by mortal physical laws, challenging the surrounding cosmic order.
• Power through direct action: Martial Dao contrasts with the elaborate methods of Immortal and Brahma traditions; its argument is simply the strength of the fist.
• Independence and risk: Lian’s chosen path sets her apart from established doctrines, while the history of Fire Qi shows the political costs of defying powerful institutions.
• Mentorship and care: Lian’s rescue and instruction offer Wang Ping both protection and a model of the strength he hopes to understand.

Plot points and events

• Wang Ping reflects on the First Seat Lian Ruzhao’s Martial Saint breakthrough. He realizes her version of Martial Dao rejects supernatural paths, but his own future “Self” might allow him to combine Martial Dao with Immortal and Brahma cultivation.
• Lian Ruzhao is disappointed that Wang Ping has gained no Martial Dao insight, especially since she hopes his progress might reveal a method others can follow. Determined to teach him personally, she takes him away despite Life-Slayer’s presence.
• Life-Slayer realizes that Wang Ping’s revelations about the [Lord of Esoteric Traces] have exposed more than they seemed to, and suspects the Brahma Kingdom understood the larger plan but chose not to interfere.
• Wang Ping pieces together the [Chaos Profound Unity Primordial Sovereign]’s scheme: his pursuit by the Brahma Kingdom was a staged-looking but genuinely perilous trial, designed to bring him into contact with the Fire Qi Dao Lineage through Lian Ruzhao. His earlier clues, resources, and escape routes were all part of the test.
• Having passed, Wang Ping is recognized as the True Lord’s [Mystic One Daoist Scion] and receives the Merit Deed [Misguided Peril], which brings successive dangers upon his enemies.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Ping moves from frustration and suspicion toward understanding and gratitude. He recognizes that his suffering served a larger purpose and feels reassured by receiving the True Lord’s Merit Deed.
• Lian Ruzhao shows intense personal investment in Wang Ping’s future. Frustrated by his lack of Martial Dao insight, she resolves to keep him close and mentor him herself.
• Life-Slayer is left behind as Lian Ruzhao takes Wang Ping away. His presence and the Brahma Kingdom’s restraint help Wang Ping understand the political maneuvering at work.
• Wang Ping’s relationship with the True Lord shifts: he had resented her dangerous tests, but now interprets them as proof that she has finally accepted him as a genuine heir.

Significant themes

• Trials and recognition: Wang Ping’s ordeal is both a real danger and a test that determines whether he deserves the status of Daoist Scion.
• Hidden strategies and political deception: The apparent conflict with the Brahma Kingdom conceals cooperation and maneuvering among the Immortal Sect’s factions.
• Competing cultivation paths: Wang Ping considers whether Martial Dao can coexist with Immortal and Brahma cultivation, unlike Lian Ruzhao’s more extreme path.
• Family, loyalty, and belonging: Wang Ping’s resentment gives way to affection once he feels acknowledged by the True Lord.

Summary

Key Events and Changes

• The event originally offered 100 boxes of mooncakes and 10 Demon-Subduing Victory Blades:
  • Top three voters received a blade.
  • Voters ranked fourth through twentieth received mooncakes.
• Because readers showed little interest in mooncakes, the rewards were revised to 120 prizes worth 5,000 coins each.
  • The top twenty voters were guaranteed one prize.
  • The remaining 100 prizes were distributed through a random draw.
• Some readers objected because they had voted heavily to secure a top-three position and win a blade.
• In response, the operations team added two supplements:
  1. The number of draw slots increased from 100 to 150, adding 50 extra chances.
  2. The top three voters could choose between a Demon-Subduing Victory Blade or 16,800 coins. Ranks four through twenty could choose between 5,000 coins or mooncakes.
• No registration was required. Anyone who voted between September 1 at midnight and September 15 at 20:00 was eligible.
• The announcement emphasized that casting more votes increased one’s chances of winning.

Character and Group Developments

• The readers/voters became dissatisfied when the original blade reward was removed, particularly those who had voted strategically for a top-three ranking.
• The operations team responded to reader feedback by restoring the blade option and expanding the prize pool.
• The top twenty voters retained guaranteed rewards, while the top three received special prize flexibility.

Significant Themes

• Fairness and compensation: The organizers attempted to address disappointment caused by changing the original rewards.
• Reader feedback and responsiveness: The event was adjusted after participants raised concerns.
• Competition and probability: More votes improved a participant’s chances, while high-ranking voters received guaranteed or enhanced rewards.
• Choice and value: Winners could select between different prizes based on preference and equivalent value.

Character Interactions

• Readers communicated their dissatisfaction to the operations team.
• The operations team considered these complaints and negotiated a compromise that preserved the revised coin-based system while reinstating the blade option for the top three.
• The announcement directly encouraged all eligible voters to participate and wished them luck.

Chapter Summary: “Radiant Realm”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Wang Ping awakens inside the Radiant Realm, an immortal realm governed by a True Lord associated with Fire Qi and the Li Trigram.
• To avoid appearing before the True Lord’s lineage as a Corpse-Liberated Immortal, Wang Ping reintegrates himself into a prepared physical body. His cultivation consequently falls back to the Third Tribulation Realm, though he retains the ability to return to his stronger Corpse-Liberated state when needed.
• His injuries from Life-Slayer remain, especially damage to his Dao foundation and Destiny Form. A newly arrived Daoist Scion explains that Life-Slayer used the Dragon-Subduing Brahma Chant to specifically target the dragon transformation hidden within Wang Ping’s Destiny Form.
• The Radiant Realm’s Daoist Scion, Ming De, gives Wang Ping a powerful pill refined with Celestial Yin Fire. Its Fire-and-Water profundity restores Wang Ping’s damaged Destiny Form and repairs his Dao foundation.
• Ming De reveals his own achievement, Conquering the Fiefdom, through a manifestation of rising and setting sunlight. Wang Ping understands that this represents the Fire Qi True Lord’s intention to eliminate the Living Buddha, who once belonged to Fire Qi’s lineage but later severed himself from it.
• Wang Ping responds by manifesting his own achievement, Misguided Peril, representing Water Qi’s willingness to confront and oppose the Brahma Kingdom.
• The two achievements—Fire’s “Conquering the Fiefdom” and Water’s “Misguided Peril”—appear opposed but actually complement one another, symbolizing cooperation between the Water and Fire lineages.
• Satisfied, Ming De invites Wang Ping to a more secret location to discuss their next steps.

Character Developments

• Wang Ping demonstrates caution and political awareness by hiding his Corpse-Liberated state and presenting himself as the Mystic One Daoist Scion.
• He gains greater confidence in the True Lord of Water Qi after realizing that the True Lord allowed him to preserve his prepared body and escape the dangers of the previous trial.
• His understanding of Daoic symbolism deepens as he interprets Ming De’s achievement and recognizes the broader conflict between Fire Qi, Water Qi, and the Brahma Kingdom.
• Wang Ping’s Dao heart is reaffirmed: by choosing Corpse Liberation despite extreme danger, he maintained his inner principles and earned the achievement of Misguided Peril.
• Ming De is introduced as the Radiant Realm’s Daoist Scion and as an ally of Wang Ping’s lineage. He displays both generosity—by providing the healing pill—and political responsibility as the representative of Fire Qi.

Significant Themes

• Daoic symbolism and political intent: Achievements are not merely techniques but declarations of allegiance and the will of supreme True Lords.
• Water and Fire as complementary forces: Though seemingly opposed, the two lineages can support one another through the principles of yin and yang, concealment and revelation, danger and transformation.
• Peril turning into opportunity: Wang Ping’s dangerous choice to become a Corpse-Liberated Immortal ultimately strengthens his Dao foundation and allows him to receive a powerful achievement.
• Lineage, betrayal, and conquest: The Living Buddha’s departure from Fire Qi is treated as an internal betrayal or unresolved danger that Fire Qi must eventually eliminate.
• Strength and vulnerability: Wang Ping temporarily regresses in cultivation and remains injured, but the chapter emphasizes that true power also lies in resilience, preparation, and understanding.

Character Interactions

• Wang Ping and Lian Ruzhao: Lian Ruzhao observes and lightly teases Wang Ping after he restores his physical body, while Wang Ping respectfully acknowledges her presence as his master.
• Wang Ping and Ming De: Ming De diagnoses Wang Ping’s injuries, provides a healing pill, and explains the deeper Fire-and-Water principles behind it. Their interaction quickly develops into one of mutual respect and strategic alliance.
• Their exchange of achievements serves as a formal dialogue between the Water Qi and Fire Qi lineages, confirming that both sides are prepared to cooperate against the Brahma Kingdom and the Living Buddha.

Key events and plot

• Wang Ping and Lian Ruzhao follow Ming De to a secluded courtyard, where Ming De reveals that the Water Qi lord intends to kill the Lord of Esoteric Traces, a bodhisattva of the Brahma Kingdom.
• The target is exceptionally hard to reach: formerly a Water Qi True Person and disciple of Wang Ping’s lord, he knows his old master’s methods and survives by staying inside the Pure Land, rarely venturing out without other bodhisattvas. Wang Ping recognizes that this patient caution has foiled years of attempts to lure him into the open.
• Ming De explains that the Immortal Dao has changed its cultivation system eight times since the Heavenly Venerable founded it. Wang Ping knows of only the changes from Qi Cultivation to Qi Assimilation and then Qi Refinement.
• Ming De begins tracing those transformations, starting with the original teaching, “Endure calamities, nurture qi, cultivate the Dao, and thus ascend to immortality.” The first stage evolved from Calamity Endurance to Calamity Transformation, then to Tribulation Transformation and Tribulation Breaking after Fate and Life Tribulations appeared. A new method, Tribulation Transcendence, combined their strengths and ended the first Dao Strife. Ming De notes that the earliest practitioners were called cultivators of the Dao until the Breath-Consuming Method prompted the change from “Dao” to “Truth.”

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Ping is direct and practical, immediately asking Ming De for the plan. Ming De initially finds this undignified, but respects Wang Ping’s unconventional, “wild” background and his ability to find a way through desperate situations—qualities Ming De believes his lord deliberately values.
• The two establish a candid, respectful exchange: Wang Ping probes the assassination plan, while Ming De first explains the target’s defenses and then shares ancient cultivation history. Wang Ping listens closely and asks informed questions.
• Lian Ruzhao remains bored and disengaged during the discussion, serving as a contrast to Wang Ping’s focus.
• Ming De’s account also frames the Water Qi lord as a patient strategist who tests Wang Ping rather than shaping him into a predictable disciple.

Significant themes

• Wildness versus domestication: Carefully molded disciples may be polished but predictable; those who develop independently can discover possibilities in situations others consider hopeless.
• Caution versus risk: The Lord of Esoteric Traces survives through extreme caution, while Wang Ping’s willingness to take risks is presented as a different path—and one his lord may prize.
• Adaptation and progress: Immortal Dao history advances through repeated revisions, conflict, and the synthesis of competing methods.
• Knowledge and historical memory: Ancient doctrines may remain technically accessible yet be forgotten by ordinary cultivators, underscoring the value of preserved records and attentive study.

Plot and revelations

• Ming De explains the history of the Immortal Dao’s competing systems. The Qi-Nurturing and Breath-Consuming methods once sparked a major Dao Strife. The Breath-Consuming Method prevailed after a Dao Lord pioneered True Cultivation, becoming the first True Person and defeating the other Dao Lords.
• Later upheavals replaced “Qi Assimilation” with Qi Refinement as the orthodox path. The True Lords also changed a key word in the Heavenly Venerable’s Nine-Character True Words from “then” to “and,” opening a path from True Cultivation to immortality.
• The history of immortals remains uncertain: unlike True Persons and True Lords, immortals leave few reliable records, and even their names and deeds are largely unknown.
• Ming De says the ancient, discarded traditions still have strength and a valuable advantage: their practitioners escaped the theft of Qi Refiners’ lifespans and remain immortal.
• The Lord of Esoteric Traces covets a treasure held by an ancient Dao Lord. Since the Lord cannot safely enter the Heavenly Market Tenuity, the True Lords plan to use the Dao Lord as bait during Heaven-Reversing Palace’s appearance and kill the pursuer outside Brahma Kingdom.
• The ancient Dao Lord wants to leap from his rank to the Ultimate Position of True Lord through “Borrow the False to Cultivate the True.” He needs a Lower Cultivator’s help, and the True Lords have chosen Wang Ping—especially because Water Qi is trusted to handle schemes.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Ping listens to Ming De’s account, questions its gaps, and grows wary as the discussion touches on immortal history and Brahma Kingdom’s ambitions. He then redirects the conversation to the practical matter of the Lord of Esoteric Traces.
• Ming De acts as an informant and recruiter, explaining the True Lords’ strategy and why Wang Ping is suited to it. He presents the assignment as a matter of trust, though his confidence in Water Qi’s “deviousness” alarms Wang Ping.
• Wang Ping protests that he is neither a schemer nor a typical Water Qi Dao Son. Ming De takes his innocent manner as proof that he is exactly right for the job, leaving Wang Ping speechless.

Significant themes

• Doctrinal change and conflict: Immortal history is shaped by fierce struggles over which cultivation system becomes orthodox.
• The cost of progress: New paths rise through upheaval, while discarded traditions survive outside the mainstream.
• Uncertainty surrounding immortality: Records about immortals are scarce, making their existence and history difficult to verify.
• Pragmatism and reputation: Powerful leaders recruit Wang Ping for his faction’s reputation and presumed skill at scheming, regardless of his own self-image.

Key plot points and events

• After leaving a meeting with Ming De, Wang Ping reflects on his assignment to the Burial-Star Sand Sea, a perilous cosmic realm where ancient Daoist lineages maintain sanctuaries amid deadly Star Sand. Ming De’s instructions include having Wang disguise himself as a Qi-Nurturing Method cultivator so the lineages will not recognize him as an Immortal Sect disciple.
• Lian Ruzhao announces she will leave with Wang Ping, then immediately takes him back to the main hall for a hands-on assessment of his martial arts.
• The four hidden Martial Great Grandmasters—Lian Ruzhao, the tomb keeper, King Linjiang, and Zen Master Longshu—are revealed to have been living inside the Divine Weapon Martial Arena, which Wang realizes functions like a Grotto-Heaven. They inspect and warmly welcome him.
• Lian Ruzhao judges that Wang has strong physical potential but has let his martial practice lapse. His once-formidable blade technique has also lost some of its original force because it was born from the defiant resolve he felt during earlier persecution.
• She proposes that Wang help discover a broadly accessible path from Martial Great Grandmaster to Martial Saint. He is hesitant until she points out that the achievement could earn him a valuable Merit Deed.

Character developments

• Wang Ping remains focused on immortal cultivation, but the promise of a Merit Deed makes him reconsider committing to martial arts. He is also moved by the Great Grandmasters’ unexpected warmth and concern.
• Lian Ruzhao takes a mentor’s role, evaluating Wang’s abilities and explaining that his changing mindset is natural. She believes martial arts depend on fidelity to the self, not on preserving one’s old techniques or emotional state.
• The four Great Grandmasters show affection and confidence in Wang, seeing him as a successor whose potential may exceed their own.

Significant themes

• Identity and growth: A person’s state of mind changes with experience; martial arts must adapt, while remaining true to the self.
• Mentorship and belonging: Wang’s welcome from the Great Grandmasters contrasts with the exploitation and neglect he experienced earlier in the Immortal Sect.
• Legacy and accessibility: Lian hopes to create a Martial Saint path others can follow, rather than one dependent on her exceptional circumstances.
• Merit and ambition: Wang’s interest in advancing martial arts is awakened by the possibility that doing so could yield a Merit Deed.

Character interactions

• Ming De treats Wang as a trusted peer, explaining the mission and its dangers in detail.
• Lian Ruzhao playfully but firmly examines Wang, then offers guidance on his martial potential and recruits him to help chart a new path.
• The four Great Grandmasters tease, praise, and question Wang with affectionate familiarity, giving him a sense of care he has rarely experienced.

Key plot points and events

• Wang Ping sets aside his ambition to become a Martial Saint and immediately tries to work out how to bridge the gap between Great Grandmaster and Martial Saint.
• He reasons that a Martial Saint’s power comes from strengthening the “self” until it can impose a personal worldview on reality. Since he cannot reproduce the First Seat’s Spiritless Dharma Extinction worldview, he decides to combine martial training with the Immortal Dao’s Twenty-Four Qi and the body’s twenty-four spirits.
• Wang Ping channels his retained Nether-Piercing Qi into his kidney spirits. The experiment produces an odd, controllable “mighty bird” but no useful martial power, leaving him frustrated.
• Lian Ruzhao and four elderly Martial Great Grandmasters observe the attempt. She identifies a flaw: there are only twenty-four surviving forms of heaven-and-earth qi, while the original total was thirty, so Wang Ping’s proposed correspondence is incomplete.
• The group discusses the seniors’ strength and mortality. Their power came from shattering their Fate Stars, but that does not give them enough support to become Martial Saints. Wang Ping, as a cultivator with a Kunpeng Destiny Form rather than a Fate Star, cannot use the same method.
• Wang Ping realizes he has skipped a step: his martial cultivation is effectively only at the Second Layer of Tribulation Transcendence. He must first find a way to reach the Third Layer before pursuing Martial Saint.
• Ming De arrives with a token and a map for Wang Ping’s meeting with a Dao Lord in the Burial-Star Sand Sea, whose sanctuary is called Nonaction. Wang Ping accepts them but privately wonders whether the offer conceals a catch.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Ping shows his characteristic impatience and experimental mindset, but also learns to reassess his ambition when he recognizes that he has overlooked a necessary stage. His mixed identity as martial artist and cultivator complicates his progress.
• Lian Ruzhao shares insight into Martial Saint power, critiques Wang Ping’s theory, and encourages him to keep experimenting. She also reveals that her own lifespan may be indefinite as long as her sense of self remains firm.
• Zen Master Longshu offers a more nuanced view of the seniors’ Fate-Star method, comparing ordinary people to grains of sand in the river of fate and arguing that the method is appropriate for becoming a Great Grandmaster, even if it cannot lead to Martial Saint.
• Ming De acts as a helpful intermediary, delivering the means for Wang Ping’s meeting with the Dao Lord. Wang Ping’s lingering suspicion keeps the exchange from feeling entirely reassuring.

Significant themes

• The self and worldview: Martial Saint power depends on cultivating an inner identity strong enough to shape reality.
• Experimentation and uncertainty: The Martial Dao is still being developed; its practitioners must test ideas without a reliable path.
• The limits of borrowed systems: Wang Ping draws on Immortal Dao knowledge, but its concepts do not transfer neatly into martial cultivation.
• Ambition versus foundations: Wang Ping’s breakthrough begins with recognizing that he must master the next attainable stage before pursuing the highest realm.
• Fate and mortality: The seniors’ strength and shortened prospects show how power gained through fate has limits, while Lian Ruzhao’s longevity depends on the stability of her “self.”

Chapter Summary: “A Big Score Before Leaving!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Wang Ping remains wary of the Fire Qi Dao Lineage’s proposal because of his past experience being deceived in the Eight Trigrams Furnace. Since the current conflict involves True Lords and Bodhisattvas, he fears being used by forces vastly more powerful than himself.
• Ming De suggests that Wang Ping return to the Spirit Transformation Realm and consult his True Lord. After reflecting, Wang Ping decides to seek her instructions, trusting her somewhat because she has supported his cultivation rather than suppressing it.
• Wang Ping realizes that his recent transformation into a Corpse-Liberated Immortal will cause enemies such as the Xuanxiao Saintess and Light-Holding Holy Son to believe his Dao path has been severed. They may attack him to seize his supposed inheritance.
• Rather than avoid these enemies, Wang Ping plans to exploit their greed. He intends to create a false inheritance and lure all hostile cultivators into a trap, hoping to eliminate them together and obtain their treasures and Yin Spirits.
• His confidence comes from his increased strength as a Corpse-Liberated Immortal, the mobility provided by Free and Easy Wandering, and the assistance of the Chief Seat, the era’s only Martial Saint. Her close-range technique, Shattered Void, could kill ordinary Qi Refiners if Wang Ping prevents them from escaping.
• After Ming De leaves, Wang Ping contacts You Xuexin inside the Eight Trigrams Furnace through the Dharma Consort Talisman. Using her as an intermediary allows him to enter the furnace without exposing his true body to the surveillance of the Profound Firmament Responsive-Origin True Person.
• You Xuexin takes Wang Ping to the Heavenly Craft Estate, where he retrieves his vast collection of treasures. Among them are five Spirit Treasures intended to serve as bait, especially the Six Directions Eternal-Suppression Cauldron.
• Wang Ping activates the cauldron, using Great Gan’s National Fortune to summon Immortal Talisman from the capital to Far-Pacifying Pass. Immortal Talisman willingly enters the Heavenly Craft Cave Abode, demonstrating their mutual trust.
• Immortal Talisman correctly realizes that Wang Ping’s supposed abandonment and Dao severance were largely a cover. Wang Ping explains that he plans to create an inheritance secret realm and invite everyone who covets his supposed legacy, then destroy them in one operation.
• If successful, Wang Ping expects to acquire at least two Qi Refinement-level Yin Spirits, producing a major increase in strength.

Character Developments

• Wang Ping: Becomes more decisive and confident. Although still suspicious and shaped by past betrayals, he learns to distinguish between different allies and chooses to trust his True Lord and Immortal Talisman provisionally. His strategic thinking also becomes more aggressive: instead of merely surviving pursuit, he plans to turn enemy greed into a weapon.
• Ming De: Shows understanding of Wang Ping’s distrust and tries to reassure him, though he recognizes that the lack of transparency among the True Lords has damaged everyone’s ability to trust.
• You Xuexin: Remains a loyal hidden agent within the Eight Trigrams Furnace. Her excitement at receiving Wang Ping’s summons reflects her continued devotion and readiness to assist him.
• Immortal Talisman: Displays strong insight by immediately seeing through the public story about Wang Ping’s Dao path. His willingness to respond through National Fortune and enter the hidden estate confirms his trust and cooperative relationship with Wang Ping.

Significant Themes

• Distrust and betrayal: Past schemes have made Wang Ping suspicious even of potential allies, while the competing agendas of True Lords and Bodhisattvas make genuine trust difficult.
• Manipulating greed: Wang Ping turns rumors about his inheritance into bait, using the ambitions of his enemies against them.
• Survival through strategy: Raw strength alone is insufficient against higher-level cultivators, so Wang Ping relies on traps, mobility, hidden identities, allies, and favorable terrain.
• Trust and cooperation: The coordinated actions of Wang Ping, You Xuexin, and Immortal Talisman contrast with the widespread suspicion within the Immortal Sect.
• Transformation and identity: Wang Ping’s Corpse-Liberated Immortal state becomes both a source of strength and a tool for deception, allowing him to appear weakened while preparing a counterattack.
• Preparation before departure: The chapter frames Wang Ping’s planned ambush as one final major harvest before he leaves, emphasizing both urgency and ambition.

Important Character Interactions

• Wang Ping and Ming De: Discuss whether Wang Ping should trust the Fire Qi Dao Lineage; Ming De advises him to consult his True Lord, while Wang Ping remains wary but agrees.
• Wang Ping and You Xuexin: Wang Ping uses the Dharma Consort Talisman to appear within her consciousness, then has her guide him to the Heavenly Craft Estate.
• Wang Ping and Immortal Talisman: Wang Ping summons Immortal Talisman through Great Gan’s National Fortune and reveals his true plan. Their smooth cooperation highlights their unusually strong trust.
• Wang Ping and his enemies: Though they do not confront him directly in the chapter, Wang Ping anticipates that their greed and belief in his supposed inheritance will draw them into his planned killing ground.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Wang Ping reveals that he never obtained the Great Rebellion’s inheritance, astonishing Immortal Talisman, who cannot believe Wang advanced to the Third Tribulation Realm, glimpsed Qi Refinement, and escaped a True Person’s pursuit through talent alone.
• Wang Ping proposes creating an inheritance secret realm to lure hostile Qi Refiners—especially Jing Lang, Fa Ji, and possibly several others—and eliminate them.
• Immortal Talisman warns that the plan is extremely dangerous. Although eight Inner Sect Disciples have become Corpse-Liberated Immortals and could assist, they are much weaker than Wang Ping and would have only a limited chance of killing even one Qi Refiner.
• Wang Ping nevertheless intends to use the eight immortals as visible bait. Their apparent strength should attract bold enemies while concealing his true advantages.
• Immortal Talisman speculates that Wang Ping may have support from a Spirit Transformation Realm expert or a True Lord, but Wang denies receiving outside assistance. He wants to handle the matter privately rather than burden the True Lord he serves.
• Immortal Talisman explains that a convincing inheritance secret realm must be extraordinarily durable, like the Great Rebellion’s Heavenly Craft Cave Abode, which can even restrain a True Person’s will.
• Wang Ping produces five powerful Spirit Treasures—the Seven Sons Heart-Linked Gourd, Begging-the-World Alms Bowl, Dragon-Elephant, Heavenly Martial Profound-Subduing Armor, and Six Directions Eternal-Suppression Cauldron—and proposes using them to anchor the realm’s array.
• Immortal Talisman briefly considers betraying Wang Ping to seize the treasures, but decides against it because Wang’s control over the Heavenly Craft Cave Abode makes the attack too risky and would destroy their valuable trust.
• Neither Wang Ping nor Immortal Talisman is skilled enough to construct the necessary array. Immortal Talisman suggests Gan Wujia, the Heaven-Stealing Thief, who possesses the necessary expertise.
• Wang Ping contacts Gan Wujia through the Five Thieves Stealing Heaven Method. The technique allows the Heaven-Stealing Thief to project his consciousness into Wang Ping’s mind, though doing so carries the risk of being trapped or destroyed.
• Wang Ping politely but suspiciously addresses Gan Wujia as “Good Master,” immediately making the thief wary. When Wang mentions a plan to lure in and kill Qi Refiners, Gan Wujia becomes interested and asks for details.

Character Developments

• Wang Ping remains highly confident, calculating, and audacious. He treats the eight Corpse-Liberated Immortals as bait rather than his main force, suggesting he possesses further hidden advantages.
• Immortal Talisman shifts from disbelief and skepticism to active cooperation. His personal desire to eliminate the Xuanxiao Saintess and Jing Lang also motivates him, as doing so may force Profound Firmament Responsive-Origin True Person to rely more heavily on him.
• Gan Wujia is shown to be cautious and distrustful of Wang Ping’s intentions. Although he wants to withdraw, the prospect of killing Qi Refiners draws him into the discussion.
• The relationship between Wang Ping and Immortal Talisman deepens. Immortal Talisman’s temptation to betray him demonstrates the immense value of Wang’s treasures, but his decision to preserve their partnership highlights the rarity of trust within the Immortal Sect.

Significant Themes

• Trust versus betrayal: Immortal Talisman considers seizing Wang Ping’s treasures but ultimately values their fragile alliance and the practical benefits of mutual trust.
• Ingenuity over direct strength: Wang Ping relies on deception, bait, strategic terrain, and powerful artifacts rather than simply confronting Qi Refiners openly.
• Hidden power and uncertainty: Wang’s rapid cultivation progress and unexplained confidence lead others to suspect secret inheritances or powerful allies, even though he denies possessing either.
• Political and personal ambition: Immortal Talisman wants enemies dead not only for revenge but also to strengthen his position with his True Person patron.
• The dangers of powerful techniques: The Five Thieves Stealing Heaven Method protects Wang Ping from soul-searching but also gives Gan Wujia a potential route into his consciousness.

Character Interactions

• Wang Ping and Immortal Talisman debate the feasibility of the assassination scheme, with Immortal Talisman repeatedly warning that the proposed bait is too weak while Wang remains confident.
• Wang reassures Immortal Talisman that he will not request aid from his True Lord, emphasizing the distinction between public duties and private grudges.
• Immortal Talisman initially entertains betrayal after seeing Wang’s five Spirit Treasures, but their conversation and Wang’s control of the Heavenly Craft Cave Abode restrain him.
• Wang Ping and Gan Wujia reunite through their unusual master-disciple connection. Wang’s overly warm greeting makes Gan suspicious, but the potential reward of killing Qi Refiners persuades him to hear the plan.