Chapter Summaries

Chapter summary

Key plot points and events

• Li Ming returns from Undying Mountain to Kunlun Mountain and inspects the Kunlun Secret Realm. The Immortal Ascension Pool is flourishing, with the Human Emperor Seal, Solar Divine Tower, Boundless Divine Cauldron, Green Lotus Fairy’s Lotus Seed, and his son Li Fan safely developing within it.
• A thousand years after the Undying Heavenly Empress’s death, the Great Dao revives and a new golden age begins. The Ancient Starry Sky Road opens, drawing prodigies from across the inhabited worlds into a brutal contest for Emperor Enlightenment. Li Ming watches without interfering.
• Among the emerging contenders are heirs of Forbidden Zones, unusual races, and three powerful sons of the Underworld: Yama’s Son, Prison-Suppressing Son, and Nether Emperor’s Son.
• The three Underworld heirs attack a Six-Eared Macaque, but he defeats them with the Salvation Scripture, an inheritance of Lingbao Tianzun that powerfully counters the Underworld’s beings and energies. Their coffins, minions, and even the Yellow Springs water cannot withstand its purifying golden flames.
• Impressed, Li Ming seeks out the macaque and learns about his lineage: one of his ancestors guarded Lingbao Tianzun’s Spirit Mountain and passed down the sage’s teachings. The Six-Eared Macaques are few but consistently produce formidable cultivators.
• The Six-Eared Macaque takes Li Ming to meet his rival, a Fighting Saint Ape. The latter initially prepares to fight, then recognizes Li Ming and respectfully greets the Demon Venerable. Li Ming praises him as the strongest Fighting Saint Ape he has seen.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Ming remains a detached observer of the new generation, but the Six-Eared Macaque’s hidden strength and lineage capture his interest. He considers the possibility of nurturing a “Handsome Monkey King” and sees potential in both monkey clans.
• The Six-Eared Macaque is revealed to be far more capable than he first appeared: powerful, adept at disguise, careful in battle, and bearer of Lingbao Tianzun’s orthodox inheritance. After defeating the Underworld heirs, he calmly gathers their treasures and removes their lingering aura.
• The Fighting Saint Ape shifts instantly from aggressive challenger to respectful junior when he recognizes Li Ming. His Golden-Hooped Staff, inscribed “Sea-Calming Divine Needle,” catches Li Ming’s attention.
• The Six-Eared Macaques and Fighting Saint Apes are longstanding rivals who clash whenever they meet, competing for supremacy among monkey clans. Their rivalry is evident when the Fighting Saint Ape sees the Six-Eared Macaque, though Li Ming’s presence prevents a fight.

Significant themes

• A new age of competition: The revived Great Dao creates opportunities for countless prodigies, but the road to enlightenment remains violent and unforgiving.
• Inheritance and hidden potential: The Six-Eared Macaque’s lineage and scripture reveal how an obscure-seeming contender can possess extraordinary power.
• Opposing forces and specialized power: The Salvation Scripture’s pure-yang energy is especially effective against the Underworld, demonstrating that the right inheritance can overcome formidable strength.
• Legacy, rivalry, and possibility: The two monkey clans embody inherited traditions and enduring competition, while Li Ming’s interest suggests that either may shape the era’s future.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Ming praises the Fighting Saint Ape and Six-Eared Macaque, surprising the usually arrogant Fighting Saint Ape. The two monkeys exploit the opportunity to ask Li Ming for guidance.
• Li Ming gives each of them a powerful divine technique. After realizing they received techniques of equal value, the two become jealous and immediately begin fighting, battling from Divine City into the void.
• As geniuses continue advancing along the Ancient Starry Sky Road, Li Ming observes their successes, defeats, and changing Dao hearts while deepening his understanding of the “Red Dust Myriad Forms.”
• A massive explosion erupts near the Heaven-Piercing Ancient Star, awakening the Dark Supremes and revealing a mysterious Immortal Domain Rift radiating Northern Polar Immortal Light.
• The ancient legend of the Heaven-Piercing Divine Tree appears to be true: a jade-like branch extends from the rift, giving off an aura more potent than ordinary Immortal Medicines.
• Dark Supremes offer treasures, Origin Essence Blood, and Divine Oath Water to the branch. It absorbs these resources, adapts to the laws of the current world, and grows into an enormous divine tree.
• The tree forces the Immortal Domain Rift wider, eventually creating a vast passage. Twenty-three Dark Supremes gather and attempt to climb the tree into the Immortal Domain.
• At the same time, a mysterious figure in Five-Colored Immortal Light begins an extraordinarily terrifying Emperor Enlightenment Tribulation in the Cosmic Frontier Wasteland.
• Rather than waiting for the tribulation to end, the figure carries the tribulation directly onto the divine tree and into the Immortal Domain Rift. The resulting explosion shatters much of the tree and scatters branches and leaves containing genuine Immortal Domain Longevity Essence.
• Great Saints, Quasi-Emperors, and Dark Supremes scramble to obtain the fragments. The Longevity Essence repairs cracks in some Dark Supremes’ Immortal Platforms and restores traces of vitality.
• Several Dark Supremes enter the lightning-filled rift despite the danger, while others remain cautious, especially because Li Ming has not acted.
• Terrifying cries from within the rift mention the Undying Heavenly Emperor, suggesting that he may be involved in the events on the Road to Immortality.
• The universe soon manifests the phenomenon of Sky Cry—bloody storms, sinister winds, and ghostly wails—indicating that multiple Dark Supremes have already died.

Character Developments

• Li Ming: Remains calm and observant throughout the crisis. He refuses to rush into the Immortal Domain Rift, sensing that a dangerous hidden variable or trap may exist. His ability to comprehend the struggles of the Ancient Starry Sky Road reflects his growing understanding of the Red Dust Immortal Path.
• Fighting Saint Ape and Six-Eared Macaque: Their pride and competitiveness are emphasized. They eagerly seek Li Ming’s approval and teachings, but immediately turn on each other when they discover they received equally powerful techniques.
• Dark Supremes: Their desperation to become immortal becomes clear. Some recklessly abandon caution and charge toward the rift, while the more calculating ones wait for further developments. Their fear of missing a once-in-an-eternity opportunity overwhelms their usual restraint.
• The mysterious tribulation figure: Demonstrates extraordinary courage and power by enduring an unprecedented tribulation while entering the Immortal Domain Rift. His identity remains unknown, though Li Ming senses familiarity.
• Undying Heavenly Emperor: His possible presence or influence is raised as a major mystery, implying that his role in the Road to Immortality may not have ended.

Significant Themes

• Desperation for immortality: The Dark Supremes risk everything for a chance to enter the Immortal Domain, revealing the extreme fear of death and decay among ancient beings.
• Caution versus ambition: Li Ming and the more prudent Dark Supremes wait and observe, while others rush forward and perish, emphasizing the danger of acting on desire alone.
• Ancient myths becoming reality: The Heaven-Piercing Ancient Star and Divine Tree, long treated as legends, manifest before the entire universe.
• Uncertainty and hidden danger: Despite the apparent authenticity of the Immortal Domain Rift and its Longevity Essence, Li Ming suspects that the opportunity may conceal a deadly trap.
• The price of transcendence: Attempts to reach immortality trigger catastrophic tribulations, destroy the divine tree, and result in the deaths of multiple supreme beings.
• Red Dust cultivation: Li Ming’s path differs from the Dark Supremes’ desperate pursuit of the Immortal Domain; he continues seeking enlightenment through observing the experiences and emotions of living beings.

Character Interactions

• Li Ming’s praise encourages the two monkeys to request personal instruction.
• The Fighting Saint Ape and Six-Eared Macaque compete for Li Ming’s favor, then fight when neither receives an advantage over the other.
• The Dark Supremes temporarily cooperate to investigate and nourish the Divine Tree, but their shared goal of entering the Immortal Domain also creates tension and competition.
• Li Ming’s decision to remain still influences other Dark Supremes, who interpret his inaction as evidence that the rift may be dangerous.
• The mysterious tribulation figure unintentionally obstructs the Dark Supremes’ ascent and destroys much of the Divine Tree, causing them to resent him.
• The revelation of the Undying Heavenly Emperor’s possible involvement creates fear and suspicion among the Dark Supremes, who begin questioning the true nature of the Road to Immortality.

Chapter Summary: “This Was All a Conspiracy”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The opening of the Immortal Domain Rift and the appearance of the Heaven-Piercing Jianmu initially seem to offer a path into the Immortal Domain. However, Dark Supremes attempting to approach it sense overwhelming danger and retreat.
• Inside the rift, the Jianmu’s path has become a Corpse Mountain Blood Sea Formation. Numerous Dark Supremes are trapped within it, while the Undying Daoist presides over the formation atop a sea of corpses.
• The observers realize that the “Undying Heavenly Emperor” is not personally present; the figure is his Faith Body, the Undying Daoist. The rift and Road to Immortality are revealed to be a long-prepared trap designed to refine the Dark Supremes and seize their Origin Essence Blood.
• The Undying Daoist undergoes an extraordinarily powerful Heavenly Tribulation, apparently seeking Emperor Enlightenment again and using the tribulation to attack and refine the trapped Dark Supremes.
• The Great Achievement Tyrant Body, Great Achievement Sacred Body, Six-Eared Macaque, Fighting Saint Ape, and other contemporary prodigies enter the conflict. The Undying Daoist dismisses them as inferior because they have not fused with the Heavenly Heart Imprint, then unleashes the tribulation against them.
• The lightning eventually targets the Undying Daoist most heavily, while the Corpse Mountain Blood Sea Formation forces the Dark Supremes to share in the tribulation. The prodigies barely escape and realize the enormous gap between themselves and a true enlightened being.
• Three Dark Supremes launch a coordinated attack using powerful techniques, including Six Paths Reincarnation Fist and a World-Destroying Millstone. The Undying Daoist defeats them effortlessly, destroying their bodies with a single exchange.
• The three Dark Supremes reconstruct themselves through the formation, but their apparent rejuvenation comes from burning their remaining origins. They have little hope of survival unless they can enter the true Immortal Domain.
• The tribulation later changes from destructive lightning into a strange, almost immortalizing phenomenon of golden rain, immortal flowers, Grand Dao sounds, and visions of Immortal Spirits. The Dark Supremes’ vitality and damaged Immortal Platforms begin to recover.

Character Developments

• Undying Daoist: Revealed to be far more powerful than expected. Though only the Undying Heavenly Emperor’s Faith Body, he appears to have undergone multiple Red Dust Immortal Transformations and may be living through another lifetime. His purpose is not merely survival but a greater transformation or scheme involving the Immortal Domain and the trapped Supremes.
• Undying Heavenly Emperor: Remains absent and mysterious. Li Ming suspects he may have been affected by Dark Strangeness, may be transforming elsewhere, or may be using the Undying Daoist as a future main body through a main-body/secondary-body method.
• Dark Supremes: Initially hope to seize the opportunity to enter the Immortal Domain, but become victims of the trap. They regain temporary peak strength by consuming Jianmu longevity essence, yet face death, forced Extreme Sublimation, and the loss of their remaining lifespans.
• Contemporary Prodigies: The Great Achievement Tyrant Body, Immortal or Sacred Bodies, Six-Eared Macaque, and Fighting Saint Ape discover that their Quasi-Emperor-level power is still vastly inferior to that of a truly enlightened figure.
• Li Ming: Remains an observer rather than intervening. He correctly identifies the Immortal Domain Rift as a conspiracy and plans to wait until the opposing forces weaken before acting.

Significant Themes

• The false promise of immortality: The Road to Immortality is exposed as bait, showing that apparent salvation may conceal exploitation and death.
• Power and transformation: The chapter emphasizes the terrifying strength gained through repeated Red Dust Immortal Transformations and raises the possibility that such transformations can rival or surpass traditional cultivation advantages.
• Schemes within schemes: The Undying Heavenly Emperor, the Undying Daoist, and Dark Strangeness may all be involved in a long-term plan involving possession, parasitism, or the creation of a new main body.
• The gap between realms: Even exceptionally powerful contemporary cultivators are shown to be insignificant before a being who has undergone true enlightenment and multiple transformations.
• Survival at any cost: The Dark Supremes burn their origins, consume longevity, and risk Extreme Sublimation to survive, while the Undying Daoist treats them as resources for his own advancement.

Character Interactions

• The Dark Supremes collectively observe and debate the identity of the figure in the rift, eventually recognizing him as the Undying Daoist rather than the true Undying Heavenly Emperor.
• The Undying Daoist contemptuously confronts the contemporary prodigies, attacking them with his tribulation and belittling their failure to fuse with the Heavenly Heart Imprint.
• Li Ming watches the Undying Daoist and Dark Supremes fight without intervening, viewing both sides as malicious forces that can weaken each other.
• Three Dark Supremes directly challenge the Undying Daoist with their strongest techniques, but he crushes them almost effortlessly, deepening the fear and uncertainty of the remaining Supremes.
• The trapped Dark Supremes resent the Undying Daoist for destroying their hopes of becoming immortals, while he responds with complete disdain and continues using them as fuel for his formation and transformation.

Chapter Summary: True Immortal Descends

Key Plot Points and Events

• A strange, immensely powerful tribulation descends as the Undying Daoist attempts to refine more than twenty Dark Supremes. The Dark Supremes speculate that it may be an unprecedented Immortal Ascension Tribulation, despite the impossibility of becoming immortal in the current world.
• The tribulation manifests ancient Daoist temples, Immortal Weapons, Immortal Spirits, historical powerhouses, the Primal Ten Evils, and even a lightning phantom resembling Li Ming. The Undying Daoist battles and destroys many of them, repeatedly rebuilding his body after suffering devastating injuries.
• The tribulation escalates further, producing Immortal King phantoms transformed from Immortal Medicines. These enemies wield Immortal Weapons and possess terrifying strength, yet the Undying Daoist still tears them apart.
• A Reincarnation Millstone then appears, followed by a mysterious Heavenly Insect descending from an Immortal Domain Rift. The creature is a severely wounded but genuine True Immortal, whose arrival overwhelms the tribulation and shatters its manifestations.
• The Heavenly Insect identifies the Undying Daoist as an Immortal Gold Sacred Spirit and seeks to seize his Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold body so it can recover and eventually become an Immortal King.
• The injured True Immortal effortlessly tears through the Dark Supremes, devouring them to counteract the suppression of this world’s laws. It also badly injures the Undying Daoist in a single exchange.
• The Undying Daoist retaliates by combining the Nine Secret Techniques and unleashing a genuine immortal technique through the Undying Heavenly Saber. His five-colored saber strike cleaves the Heavenly Insect in half, though the creature quickly regenerates.
• Regaining confidence, the Undying Daoist transforms into a gigantic Phoenix and prepares for a full battle against the equally enormous Heavenly Insect. Both are revealed to be beings connected to the Immortal Domain, and the confrontation remains unresolved.

Character Developments

• Undying Daoist: Demonstrates extraordinary growth, surviving the tribulation and revealing that his body has transformed into a Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold Sacred Spirit. His strength approaches the True Immortal realm despite remaining technically within the Human Dao Realm. His confidence briefly falters when the Heavenly Insect overwhelms him, but he recovers after successfully using an immortal technique.
• Li Ming: Remains an observer throughout the conflict. He recognizes that the lightning phantom resembling him is merely a projection and does not intervene because he believes he can handle the Heavenly Insect if necessary. His observations also confirm the ruined state of the Immortal Domain.
• Dark Supremes: Initially hope to benefit from a conflict between the Undying Daoist and Demon Venerable, but instead become helpless victims. Many are trapped, refined, or devoured, realizing that the Undying Daoist is just as ruthless and dangerous as the Demon Venerable.
• Immortal Domain Heavenly Insect: Introduced as a powerful but severely wounded True Immortal. It is arrogant toward Human Dao cultivators, but becomes shocked after discovering that the Undying Daoist can wield a life-threatening immortal technique.

Significant Themes

• The limits of cultivation realms: The Undying Daoist challenges the assumption that a Human Dao cultivator cannot threaten a True Immortal, showing that special physiques, transformations, and accumulated power can bridge the gap.
• Evolution and transformation: The Undying Daoist’s body evolves from a Faith Body into a Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold Sacred Spirit, emphasizing the importance of physical transformation and unique foundations.
• The danger of ambition: The Undying Daoist’s attempt to use the Immortal Domain Rift as bait accidentally summons a True Immortal, demonstrating how schemes can produce consequences beyond one’s control.
• Power and survival: The Dark Supremes, once rulers of the world, are reduced to prey. The chapter highlights the merciless hierarchy governing powerful cultivators.
• The decline of the Immortal Domain: The injured Heavenly Insect and the unstable Immortal Domain Rift reveal that the Immortal Domain has suffered catastrophic destruction, with surviving beings scattered and desperate.

Character Interactions

• The Dark Supremes debate whether the tribulation signifies the birth of a True Immortal and argue over whether the Undying Daoist is more or less dangerous than the Demon Venerable.
• The lightning phantom resembling Li Ming briefly encounters the Undying Daoist but is destroyed instantly without a real battle.
• The Undying Daoist and the Heavenly Insect exchange insults and threats. The insect views him as a valuable Immortal Gold body, while the Undying Daoist dismisses it as a wounded outsider unworthy of challenging the Immortal Phoenix lineage.
• Their first direct clash heavily favors the Heavenly Insect, but the Undying Daoist’s counterattack proves that he possesses a genuine technique capable of threatening a True Immortal, setting up the chapter’s climactic battle.

Chapter Summary: Kill Undying Daoist

Key Plot Points and Events

• Undying Daoist, having mastered and fused the Nine Secret Techniques into one supreme immortal art, confronts the severely injured True Immortal-level Immortal Domain Heavenly Insect.
• The two battle evenly. Both repeatedly destroy each other’s bodies and Primordial Spirits, only to revive through powerful regeneration techniques.
• Undying Daoist gradually gains confidence and uses the Heavenly Insect’s power to fuel his own transformation. He summons a terrifying Heavenly Tribulation and borrows the power of the world’s Myriad Dao to suppress his opponent.
• The Tribulation splits the Heavenly Insect in two, but the insect reforms and pierces Undying Daoist’s body. Using the impact, Undying Daoist breaks through the void, shatters the Heavenly Heart Imprint, and rises above the world’s laws.
• The battle eventually falls silent. Undying Daoist’s body is found shattered, while the Heavenly Insect disappears, suggesting that both may have perished.
• Dark Supremes from the Forbidden Zones rush to seize the Heaven-Piercing Divine Tree’s fragments, Undying Daoist’s remains, and the Heavenly Insect’s corpse. They fight among themselves for the spoils.
• The Immortal Domain Heavenly Insect suddenly revives through black flames. Revealing an even more terrifying True Immortal aura, he crushes and devours Dark Supremes, their avatars, weapons, and Forbidden Secret Arts with ease.
• The Heavenly Insect adapts to the Lower Realm by replacing his Immortal Dao Laws with this world’s Grand Dao Laws. He then activates the Corpse Mountain Blood Sea Grand Formation, intending to refine the entire world and sacrifice its living beings.
• He uses the corpses and Dao Laws of Dark Supremes to strengthen himself and recreate a True Immortal Dao Fruit. One Forbidden Zone after another is destroyed as its inhabitants are dragged out, refined, and consumed.
• The Dark Supremes are unable to resist and desperately call for the Demon Venerable, but Li Ming remains hidden through the Bronze Mirror.
• After the Heavenly Insect has slaughtered extensively, Li Ming finally reveals himself in the Cosmic Frontier Wasteland and confronts him.

Character Developments

• Undying Daoist: Demonstrates extraordinary growth, becoming far stronger than expected. His confidence develops throughout the battle, and he uses the Heavenly Insect and the world’s laws as stepping stones for further transformation. Though apparently killed, his true fate remains uncertain.
• Immortal Domain Heavenly Insect: Initially fights Undying Daoist as an injured but formidable True Immortal. After reviving, he becomes openly arrogant and ruthless, regarding the Lower Realm’s Supremes as inferior creatures and treating all living beings as resources for his cultivation.
• Li Ming/Demon Venerable: Remains hidden while observing the crisis, concealing his aura with the Bronze Mirror. Having completed his Fifth Lifetime, he eventually emerges with a terrifying presence and killing intent, positioning himself as the world’s final hope against the Heavenly Insect.
• Dark Supremes: Their arrogance and competitive nature give way to fear and desperation. Despite their power and attempts at resistance, they are helpless before a True Immortal and are forced to hope that Li Ming intervenes.

Significant Themes

• Transformation through conflict: Undying Daoist and the Heavenly Insect both use their opponent’s strength, the world’s laws, and catastrophic tribulations to evolve.
• The gulf between realms: The Heavenly Insect’s effortless destruction of Dark Supremes emphasizes the overwhelming difference between True Immortals and even the strongest beings of the Lower Realm.
• Predation and survival: The Heavenly Insect views the entire world as food, while the Dark Supremes—normally predators themselves—become prey.
• Pride and contempt: The Heavenly Insect’s belief in his superiority drives his attempt to dominate the world, while the chapter sets up Li Ming’s challenge to that arrogance.
• Uncertainty between death and rebirth: Both major combatants repeatedly revive, leaving Undying Daoist’s apparent death ambiguous and reinforcing the importance of endurance and transformation.
• The world as a battleground: The Lower Realm’s laws, formations, living beings, and even the Heavenly Heart Imprint become tools in the struggle for survival.

Character Interactions

• Undying Daoist and the Immortal Domain Heavenly Insect engage in a prolonged, evenly matched battle that escalates from direct combat to a struggle over control of the world’s laws.
• The Heavenly Insect treats the Dark Supremes as expendable prey, crushing their resistance and consuming their bodies, Primordial Spirits, and Dao Laws.
• The Dark Supremes, previously hostile toward Li Ming, now silently depend on him for salvation; some hope he will kill the Heavenly Insect, while others would accept both powerful figures dying together.
• Li Ming finally addresses the Heavenly Insect directly, challenging his assumption that he is invincible in the Lower Realm and setting the stage for their confrontation.

Chapter Summary: “Could This Be the Footprint Emperor?”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Immortal Domain Heavenly Insect, a True Immortal who has devoured numerous Dark Supremes, attacks Li Ming with the Corpse Mountain Blood Sea Formation.
• Li Ming withstands the attack effortlessly, revealing strength far beyond that of an ordinary Humanity Supreme.
• He unleashes the full power of his Fifth-Lifetime transformation, causing the Myriad Dao and Chaos Sea to resonate with him. The Dark Supremes realize that he possesses True Immortal-level combat strength and may have succeeded on the path of Red Dust Immortal cultivation.
• Li Ming and the Heavenly Insect engage in a devastating battle that destroys galaxies, voids, and portions of the Chaos Sea. Li Ming’s physical body and Flying Immortal Power prove superior, injuring the Heavenly Insect despite his True Immortal status.
• As the battle reaches a stalemate, the Heavenly Insect reveals a mysterious Bronze Lamp containing terrifying Immortal Flame. He intends to use it to kill Li Ming, devour the world’s living beings, and possibly advance toward the Immortal King Realm.
• Li Ming recognizes that the lamp’s flame shares the same origin as the incomplete Immortal Flame in the Fire Domain. He suspects it may be connected to the remains of the legendary Footprint Emperor, possibly even a Quasi-Immortal Emperor.
• A youthful figure emerges from the Bronze Lamp. Rather than obeying the Heavenly Insect, this mysterious lamp spirit condemns his plan to sacrifice the living beings of the world.
• The lamp spirit merges with the Immortal Flame in the Fire Domain and turns its power against the Heavenly Insect. The Heavenly Insect is unable to resist and is burned to ash, along with the Corpse Mountain Blood Sea Formation.
• The Bronze Lamp and Immortal Domain Rift disappear, leaving only the phenomenon of Sky Cry as proof of the many Dark Supremes’ deaths.

Character Developments

• Li Ming: Reveals that his strength has continued to grow during his Fifth Lifetime. He can now contend with an injured True Immortal and remains calm even when faced with the Bronze Lamp’s overwhelming power. His mastery of the Dao, physical body, and Flying Immortal Power establishes him as one of the strongest beings in the world.
• Immortal Domain Heavenly Insect: Begins as arrogant and contemptuous, believing all beings beneath the True Immortal realm to be insignificant. After discovering Li Ming’s strength, he becomes wary but remains greedy and ruthless. His desire to obtain the Immortal Flame and sacrifice the world ultimately leads to his destruction.
• Dark Supremes: Shift from resenting or fearing Li Ming to viewing him as a comparatively principled protector. They begin seriously questioning whether Li Ming’s Red Dust Immortal path is the correct route to transcendence.
• Bronze Lamp Spirit: Appears as an ancient yet youthful and immensely powerful entity. It demonstrates its own will and moral judgment, refusing to serve the Heavenly Insect’s destructive ambitions.

Significant Themes

• Mortal-world ascension: Li Ming’s Fifth-Lifetime transformation challenges the belief that true immortality can only be achieved by entering the Immortal Domain.
• Continuous growth versus stagnation: Li Ming continues cultivating and transforming, while the Dark Supremes have remained stagnant, gradually decaying through endless waiting.
• Power and morality: The Heavenly Insect possesses immense strength but uses it selfishly, treating all life as expendable. Li Ming, despite his fearsome reputation, is portrayed as more restrained and principled.
• Karma and consequence: The lamp spirit emphasizes that every living being possesses fortune and karma, and that sacrificing an entire world for personal advancement is unacceptable.
• Origins of ultimate power: The chapter deepens the mystery surrounding the Fire Domain’s Immortal Flame, suggesting it may be a remnant of a supreme fallen being such as the Footprint Emperor.

Character Interactions

• Li Ming and the Heavenly Insect exchange insults and challenge each other’s understanding of strength, with Li Ming repeatedly undermining the Insect’s arrogance.
• Their battle evolves from testing attacks into a full-scale clash between comparable True Immortal-level powers.
• The Heavenly Insect attempts to command the Bronze Lamp and use it as a weapon against Li Ming, but the lamp spirit instead questions and condemns him.
• Li Ming observes the lamp spirit cautiously and prepares the Bronze Immortal Hall, recognizing that the mysterious entity may possess power beyond what even the Heavenly Insect expected.

Chapter Summary: “Weirdness Reappeared”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After the young man’s phantom transforms into the Bronze Lamp and returns through the Immortal Domain Rift, Li Ming prepares to collect the Immortal Domain Heavenly Insect’s corpse.
• The rift suddenly erupts, and a dark figure attacks him. Immortal Ascension Light protects Li Ming and reveals that the attacker is Undying Daoist, who survived by hiding in the rift and devouring the Heaven-Piercing Jianmu branch.
• Undying Daoist is revealed to have been parasitized by Dark Strangeness. The Weird creature has fused with him, greatly increasing his strength and giving him a corrupt, decaying aura.
• Undying Daoist battles Li Ming across the Chaos Sea. Their confrontation devastates galaxies and tears apart the surrounding chaos, while the observing Dark Supremes are shocked that Undying Daoist can contend with the Demon Venerable.
• The Weird creature reveals a grudge against Li Ming, claiming that Li Ming caused the destruction of one of its former avatars. Their exchange confirms that it previously attempted to parasitize Lingbao Tianzun, Boundless Heavenly Venerable, and Emperor Zun.
• Using Undying Daoist’s body, the creature unleashes the Nine Secrets Unity Technique, then activates the Immortal Phoenix Origin and creates a terrifying black Phoenix through a unique forbidden art. Li Ming defeats each attack with Immortal Ascension Light and Flying Immortal Power.
• Realizing it cannot win, the creature attempts to flee. Li Ming’s Heaven-Burying Coffin and Heavenly Demonic Saber, which had been waiting in ambush, trap and suppress it.
• The Heaven-Burying Coffin has become an Immortal Weapon. It uses Faith Power and Immortal Dao Laws to weaken and torture the Weird creature.
• Li Ming begins refining the creature’s strange energy with his own power rather than relying on the Bronze Mirror, hoping to develop resistance to Dark Strangeness.
• Li Ming employs his newly created Six Paths Reincarnation Art, which causes the Weird aura to retreat and briefly allows Undying Daoist’s divine sense to resurface.
• The Weird creature takes advantage of Undying Daoist’s weakened consciousness, devouring it completely and gaining full control of his body.
• Rather than surrender, the creature suddenly detonates itself. Its self-destruction generates a catastrophic Grand Dao storm powerful enough to blast away the Heaven-Burying Coffin’s lid.

Character Developments

• Li Ming/Demon Venerable: Demonstrates overwhelming combat power, calmly countering the Weird creature’s strongest techniques. He also reveals a research-oriented side, deliberately refining the Weird energy to understand it and build resistance against Dark Strangeness.
• Undying Daoist: Is confirmed not to be truly dead, but his body and power have been seized by a parasitic Weird creature. His remaining divine sense briefly resurfaces before being completely consumed.
• The Weird Creature: Proves to have survived through multiple hosts and contingencies. It is ambitious, vengeful, and determined to sacrifice the world to increase its strength. Although unable to defeat Li Ming, it retains enough power to destroy itself in a devastating final attack.
• Dark Supremes: Their earlier suspicions about the Undying Heavenly Emperor and Undying Daoist are reinforced. They watch the battle with fear, fascination, and envy, particularly because of the complete Nine Secret Techniques.

Significant Themes

• The persistence of evil and contamination: Dark Strangeness survives through repeated hosts and hidden avatars, making it difficult to eliminate permanently.
• Identity and possession: Undying Daoist’s body remains, but his consciousness and agency are gradually erased by the parasitic creature.
• Power versus understanding: Li Ming does not merely seek to destroy the Weirdness; he studies and refines it to understand its nature and resist future contamination.
• Hidden conspiracies and survival: The Weird creature’s history of parasitizing major figures shows that the conflict has existed across multiple eras and that many apparent deaths were incomplete.
• Sacrifice and destruction: The creature’s goal of sacrificing the entire world contrasts with Li Ming’s effort to protect and understand it, while its final self-destruction demonstrates its refusal to submit.

Character Interactions

• Li Ming and Undying Daoist engage in a prolonged battle, exchanging increasingly powerful divine arts.
• Undying Daoist accuses Li Ming of causing the destruction of a former avatar; Li Ming responds by questioning and exposing the creature’s history of parasitizing powerful cultivators.
• The Weird creature attempts to overpower and eventually flee from Li Ming, but Li Ming anticipates its escape and traps it with the Heaven-Burying Coffin and Heavenly Demonic Saber.
• Li Ming’s Six Paths Reincarnation Art briefly reconnects with Undying Daoist’s suppressed consciousness, but the Weird creature destroys that possibility by devouring his divine sense.
• The chapter ends with the Weird creature detonating itself, leaving the result of the explosion unresolved.

Plot and events

• Li Ming pursues and destroys the self-destructing weird creature. The Bronze Mirror erases it, leaving behind a trace of corrupted black blood. By studying the blood, Li Ming locates a hidden immortal embryo: the Undying Heavenly Emperor’s eldest son, parasitized by another seed of the creature.
• Li Ming decides to save the Heavenly Emperor’s Son rather than kill him. Using his mastery of Dao patterns, the Bronze Coffin, the Heavenly Demonic Saber, and the Bronze Mirror, he suppresses and removes the seed without harming the embryo. He destroys the corrupted Fortune Origin Eye, erases the prince’s memories to protect the Bronze Mirror’s secret, and keeps the embryo as possible bait for the Undying Heavenly Emperor.
• A great tribulation erupts in the Cosmic Frontier Wasteland. The Six-Eared Macaque survives the Immortal Domain Rift, merges with the Heavenly Heart Imprint, and becomes the first emperor of his clan. His achievement is credited in part to Li Ming’s earlier guidance.
• The Six-Eared Macaque’s ascension inspires celebrations throughout the universe. His former training grounds become places of Dao insight, and expectations arise that he will repair the Ancient Starry Sky Road and leave opportunities for future cultivators.
• Many races, clans, and sacred grounds travel to pay homage to the new emperor and to Li Ming. Li Ming relocates Undying Mountain closer to the universe’s center, welcoming visitors partly because their faith strengthens the Bronze Mirror and his connection to Human destiny.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Ming displays overwhelming power and careful strategic judgment: he saves the Heavenly Emperor’s Son, conceals the Bronze Mirror’s role, and preserves the prince as leverage against the Undying Heavenly Emperor. He is also pleased that his casual teaching helped the Six-Eared Macaque reach Emperor Enlightenment.
• The Heavenly Emperor’s Son is rescued from corruption but remains in an immortal embryo, kept hidden as bait.
• The Six-Eared Macaque rises from a surviving prodigy to an Ancient Emperor, earning admiration from both the Human Race and other peoples.
• The universe’s races and cultivators respond with excitement, treating the macaque’s rise as a shared triumph and seeking Li Ming’s protection and guidance.

Significant themes

• Mentorship and legacy: Li Ming’s influence enables the macaque’s historic achievement, while the emperor’s ascension creates opportunities for later generations.
• Power paired with caution: Li Ming can erase formidable threats, but remains wary of the Undying Heavenly Emperor and keeps useful leverage.
• Renewal after catastrophe: Amid immense deaths and cosmic threats, the new emperor’s rise offers hope and a path toward rebuilding.
• Faith and reputation: Public reverence for Li Ming brings him spiritual power and helps the world recover, making his stature both a political and supernatural force.

Key plot points and events

• Li Ming gives a month-long sermon at the Undying Mountain. The gathered cultivators gain profound insights, and their worship generates a great tide of Faith Power.
• The newly enlightened Six-Eared Macaque returns as an Ancient Emperor and pays Li Ming deep respect. Their discussion of the Dao further amazes the assembled experts.
• The Golden Age’s earlier catastrophe is recalled: the Undying Daoist’s scheme at the Immortal Domain Rift killed many Supremes and prodigies, while Li Ming saved the world by defeating the Undying Daoist and the Immortal Domain Heavenly Insect.
• Twenty thousand years pass. The Six-Eared Ancient Emperor disappears in old age, while Li Ming continues to cultivate in seclusion. The Golden Age nevertheless persists, producing new prodigies.
• Li Ming observes a battle between a Great Achievement Azure Heaven Tyrant Body and an Immortal Golden Body. After the latter wins, Li Ming tests him, judges that he has not reached his limits, and effortlessly sends him flying.
• Li Ming visits the Ancient Starry Sky Road and sees that the era’s remaining prodigies are training in the Corpse Mountain Blood Sea formation, which he repurposed as a trial ground.
• Returning to Earth, Li Ming examines the Boundless Heavenly Venerable inside the Boundless Divine Cauldron. He discovers that the Heavenly Venerable is pursuing an “Eternal Grand Dream” and the interplay of illusion and reality. Intrigued, Li Ming enters the dream through the Way of Reincarnation.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Ming remains the world’s dominant figure, revered even by the reigning Emperor. He is curious about Faith Power, the continuing Golden Age, and the Heavenly Venerable’s unusual cultivation. Though overwhelmingly powerful, he shows no hostility toward later generations’ prodigies.
• The Six-Eared Macaque has advanced from a survivor of the Immortal Domain Rift to an Ancient Emperor, then eventually vanishes in old age. His respectful meeting with Li Ming reinforces Li Ming’s unmatched standing.
• The Boundless Heavenly Venerable has become the Boundless Divine Cauldron’s Weapon Deity while retaining a form of consciousness and cultivating within its protected world. Rather than merely seeking release, he is attempting to restore himself and attain a higher state through dream cultivation and the Way of Illusion and Reality.
• The Immortal Golden Body proves stronger than the Tyrant Body in their duel and wants to challenge Li Ming, but Li Ming considers him not yet ready.

Significant themes

• Reverence and power: The world’s rulers and cultivators recognize Li Ming as a figure beyond ordinary Imperial Sovereigns.
• Golden Age and loss: The era’s extraordinary talent continues despite the deaths of many prodigies, while its survivors and later generations carry forward old rivalries.
• Ambition beyond convention: Li Ming pursues Red Dust Immortal Ascension in the mortal world, while the Boundless Heavenly Venerable seeks an unconventional path through dreams and illusion.
• The nature of reality: The Heavenly Venerable’s practice blurs the boundary between dream and waking existence; Li Ming’s use of reincarnation allows him to enter and explore that realm.

Plot and events

• Boundless Heavenly Venerable awakens inside the Boundless Divine Cauldron, though he says he remains partly asleep as its Weapon Deity. He explains that his Eternal Grand Dream was meant to restore his body and Primordial Spirit and potentially lead to immortality.
• His plan has turned dangerous: the cauldron’s hold over him grows stronger as his power returns. If he becomes immortal, he fears he may be trapped permanently as the Weapon Deity of a true Immortal Weapon.
• Li Ming reassures him that there are ways to escape or begin again, and promises that in a future lifetime he may be able to refine the cauldron into an Immortal Weapon so Boundless can undergo Nirvana. Boundless resolves to keep pursuing Red Dust Immortal Ascension.
• Li Ming gives him a branch of the Heaven-Piercing Jianmu, an Immortal Medicine, and recounts how he defeated the Undying Daoist and the Immortal Domain Heavenly Insect—incarnations of Weird that threatened to destroy the world. Boundless is enraged to learn the world narrowly escaped catastrophe.
• Li Ming leaves Kunlun. Over the following years, the Ancient Starry Sky Road declines as its golden age nears its end. The Six-Eared Macaque’s suppression fades, but no Quasi-Emperor succeeds in attaining Emperor Enlightenment. Li Ming watches the continuing struggles without interfering, while his reputation keeps the Dark Supremes at bay.
• A new Dao-Proving Tribulation suddenly erupts in the Cosmic Frontier Wasteland. The figure undergoing it is recognizable to Li Ming but unknown to everyone else. Observers wonder whether the person intends to defy the usual path of merging with the Heavenly Heart Imprint, and the chapter ends on the mystery of their identity.

Character development and interactions

• Boundless Heavenly Venerable moves from anxiety about being consumed by the cauldron toward renewed determination, encouraged by Li Ming’s support and example.
• Li Ming acts as a mentor and ally, offering practical hope and the Jianmu branch while demonstrating his immense strength and commitment to the Red Dust Immortal Path.
• The two share mutual respect as rare fellow travelers pursuing immortality in the mortal world.
• The cosmic community grows increasingly aware of the approaching end of the golden age, then becomes stunned and unsettled by the unprecedented tribulation.

Significant themes

• Resolve and alternate paths to immortality: Li Ming and Boundless reject the conventional route through the Immortal Domain.
• Risk, transformation, and identity: Boundless’s pursuit of power may cost him his human self; his survival depends on adapting or beginning again.
• Mentorship and fellowship: Shared ambition gives isolated cultivators encouragement and purpose.
• Changing eras and uncertainty: The Starry Sky Road’s decline contrasts with the sudden emergence of a potentially history-making challenger.

Key events

• Rumors spread that someone was attempting Emperor Enlightenment during the Golden Age, but no one could identify the contender.
• At the Cosmic Frontier Wasteland, a mysterious figure endured an immense tribulation. His Underworld aura and black treasure wheel led observers to suspect he was an ancient Underworld power.
• God Venerable and a powerful woman—apparently his close companion—arrived to watch. God Venerable, already at Alternative Enlightenment, realized another contender might reach the throne before him.
• The figure was revealed as Netherworld Venerable, whose corpse spirit had awakened again after countless ages. He faced the tribulation with irreverent complaints, then demonstrated overwhelming strength.
• During the ordeal, Netherworld Venerable forged a new Tongtian Treasure Wheel from rare materials, refining it with the tribulation’s lightning. Some Dark Supremes secretly attacked, hoping the tribulation would kill him, but his warning and power quickly silenced them.
• Netherworld Venerable drew on immense faith power and defeated the tribulation’s manifested Immortal Spirits. He then shattered the heavenly heart imprint rather than simply merging with it.
• His ascent collided with Li Ming’s superior Dao imprint. Li Ming deliberately withdrew his Dao, allowing Netherworld Venerable to brand the heavenly heart imprint and complete his enlightenment.
• After the tribulation ended, Netherworld Venerable became a new enlightened ruler. God Venerable bowed and withdrew to cultivate. Netherworld Emperor Duan De then went to visit Li Ming, dropping his imperial air and revealing his familiar, shamelessly roguish demeanor.

Character developments and interactions

• Netherworld Venerable emerges as a powerful, unconventional figure: ancient, formidable, irreverent, and capable of pursuing enlightenment again after corpse-spirit awakening. His reputation as a feared Underworld founder is reinforced when even the Dark Supremes back down.
• Li Ming quietly supports Netherworld Venerable by restraining his own Dao at the crucial moment. He also rejects the Dark Supremes’ attempt to use the old Corpse Calamity as an excuse to oppose him.
• God Venerable witnesses a rival surpass him and recognizes how far he still has to go; his respectful bow and return to seclusion show humility and resolve.
• The Dark Supremes shift from curiosity and opportunism to fear and caution. Their attempted interference fails, and they are reminded of Netherworld Venerable’s bloody history.
• Netherworld Emperor Duan De transitions from an awe-inspiring newly enlightened figure back to his sly, comic self when he approaches Li Ming.

Significant themes

• The cost and uncertainty of longevity: repeated transformations and corpse-spirit awakening can preserve a being, but raise questions about whether the revived person remains the same individual.
• Power, Dao, and succession: enlightenment is not merely a contest for the heavenly heart imprint; some figures can challenge or transcend its usual rules.
• Restraint and respect among powerful beings: Li Ming’s choice to yield space enables another’s rise, while the Dark Supremes’ caution reflects the fragile balance among rulers.
• Contrasts in character: immense authority coexists with irreverent behavior, especially in Netherworld Venerable’s complaints during the tribulation and Duan De’s abrupt return to his roguish persona.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• The newly awakened Duan De visits Undying Mountain and greets Li Ming, the Demon Venerable. He has attained Emperor Enlightenment but remembers little of his past lives. The Dark Supremes, wary of both Duan De and Li Ming, retreat into slumber.
• Li Ming and Duan De travel to the Underworld, where Duan De’s return stirs the three Quasi-Emperors who serve there. Duan De briefly encourages them before taking Li Ming to his meditation palace.
• The two discuss Duan De’s past and his path through reincarnation. Li Ming explains that Duan De’s body has served several enlightened lives, including the Tribulation Heavenly Venerable and the Netherworld Venerable, and that his nine-life path may culminate in the merging of all nine lives.
• With Duan De’s consent, Li Ming examines his four Reincarnation Seals. He discovers that each life leaves a seed of spiritual awareness in the body, linking successive awakenings. He also finds that the Netherworld Venerable once used an Immortal Medicine method to extend a life, suggesting that varied transformations across nine lives could lead to extraordinary power.
• Li Ming shares the memories he uncovers with Duan De. Duan De places them in the Tongtian Treasure Wheel so they can guide future transformations, while remaining cautious about letting past memories overwhelm his present identity.
• More than five thousand years pass. As the Golden Age nears its end, Li Ming announces that he will suppress his own Dao and Duan De’s, giving other Quasi-Emperors a final opportunity to attain Emperor Enlightenment. A peerless talent triggers an Enlightenment Tribulation in the age’s final year.

Character developments

• Duan De begins as a newly awakened Emperor with a distinct identity and few memories. Through Li Ming’s explanations and his own examination of the Reincarnation Seals, he gains a clearer understanding of his path and renewed confidence in his future.
• Li Ming acts as Duan De’s guide and collaborator. His investigation deepens his understanding of reincarnation and reveals a potentially more powerful route for completing the nine-life process.
• Duan De’s past lives remain separate from his present self, though their memories and spiritual traces shape the path connecting them.

Significant themes

• Identity across reincarnation: Each awakened life is an independent person, yet all are rooted in one continuous process.
• Memory and selfhood: Past knowledge can guide transformation, but it may also threaten the present self if allowed to dominate.
• Destruction and renewal: Death, dormancy, and corpse awakening are stages in Duan De’s long cultivation rather than simple endings.
• Mentorship and trust: Duan De’s willingness to expose his deepest secrets allows both men to gain insight.
• Opportunity and the end of an era: Li Ming’s decree gives aspiring Emperors a last chance before the Golden Age ends and the Grand Dao falls dormant.

Character interactions

• Li Ming and Duan De share a respectful, increasingly trusting exchange: Li Ming recounts Duan De’s history, examines the seals with permission, and warns him to protect his current identity.
• Duan De responds with curiosity and gratitude, accepting Li Ming’s guidance while choosing how to preserve and use his recovered memories.
• The Underworld’s three Quasi-Emperors acknowledge Duan De as their returned master, while the Dark Supremes avoid confrontation under the combined influence of his return and Li Ming’s deterrence.

Plot and key events

• At the end of the Golden Age, God Venerable merges with the Heavenly Heart Imprint and becomes the God Race’s first Imperial Sovereign.
• He visits Demon Venerable Li Ming to thank him for suppressing his Grand Dao Brand, which helped him attain Emperor Enlightenment. Outsiders mistake the visit for a challenge.
• God Venerable does challenge Li Ming, who defeats him with a single finger, shattering his body, Primordial Spirit, and Divine Marked Purple Gold Bell. Li Ming deliberately spares him, allowing him to recover and learn from the experience.
• After God Venerable regenerates with his self-created God King Rebirth Art, Li Ming explains the difficulties that exceptional physiques face in attaining Emperor Enlightenment, advises him on future cultivation, and gives him a True Dragon Elixir fruit to support a second life.
• The public sees only a humiliating defeat and invents conflicting accounts of the encounter. Meanwhile, God Venerable returns home to widespread recognition and visitors.
• God Venerable declares the God Race independent of the Human Race. He names himself its lord, designates his partner as its mother, renames its ancestral star God Star, and plans to cultivate a distinct Divine Blood lineage.
• He later meets his friend, the Great Achievement Immortal Golden Body. They discuss the God Race’s vulnerability and agree to an alliance between their lineages, while acknowledging the Immortal Golden Body’s feud with the Tyrant Bloodline.

Character developments and interactions

• God Venerable emerges as both a formidable cultivator and a far-sighted leader. He accepts Li Ming’s superior strength respectfully, values his guidance, and turns his ambitions toward establishing a lasting, independent God Race.
• Li Ming / Demon Venerable is revealed as alive, overwhelmingly powerful, and more mentor than enemy: he defeats God Venerable without killing him, offers practical advice, and gives him Immortal Medicine.
• The Immortal Golden Body is shown to be God Venerable’s private friend despite their past battles. He accepts an alliance but is cautious about drawing the God Race into his lineage’s conflict with the Tyrant Bloodline.
• God Venerable’s partner, though mostly offstage, is described as powerful and fiercely jealous, reinforcing the contrast between his public authority and private domestic life.

Significant themes

• Power and perspective: God Venerable’s defeat is devastating, yet his survival and achievement remain impressive; outsiders’ incomplete view distorts the truth.
• Mentorship and growth: Li Ming’s victory becomes a lesson rather than an execution, and God Venerable’s recovery opens the way to further cultivation.
• Identity and nationhood: The God Race’s separation raises questions about inherited traits, belonging, and the pursuit of a distinct collective future.
• Legacy and survival: God Venerable’s plans for Divine Blood, a new race, and alliances reflect his concern for protecting his people beyond his own lifetime.

Plot and key events

• God Venerable gives up trying to persuade the Immortal Golden Body to join him in destroying the Tyrant Bloodline. Their “alliance” is only a formality, and their meeting feels like a farewell.
• Near the end of his life, the Immortal Golden Body attempts Emperor Enlightenment. Despite his Alternative Enlightenment and repeated attacks on the tribulation, he is ultimately reduced to ash. Li Ming witnesses his death but chooses not to intervene.
• Li Ming continues cultivating in the Undying Mountain, studying the Chaotic Body and preparing for his next lifetime.
• Netherworld Emperor Duan De summons Li Ming to investigate a strange hollow sun containing a ruined Fortune Origin Eye. Their investigation reveals two powerful beings—one holy, one red-haired and sinister—born as twins from the Eye and able to become emperors without a tribulation.
• Duan De tries to capture them, but they resist. Li Ming seals them with his Flying Immortal Power, and Duan De takes them back to the Underworld for purposes he keeps secret.
• Li Ming tends his Immortal Medicines inside the Bronze Immortal Hall, hoping they may take root in the Immortal Weapon and eventually be reborn.
• After tens of thousands of years, God Venerable has become a Sacred Spirit Stone Embryo, while Duan De has apparently gained a major breakthrough from the two captured beings. Li Ming’s long absence leads many to believe he has died.
• When Li Ming has lived nearly 130,000 years in this lifetime, a new emperor appears. The Dark Supremes suspect Li Ming’s Grand Dao Imprint has vanished and debate whether to emerge, but fear he may be setting another trap. The chapter ends with the revelation that the new emperor is a Sacred Spirit.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Ming remains detached and pragmatic: he feels some regret at the Immortal Golden Body’s death but refuses to force an intervention, judging their values incompatible. He assists Duan De when asked, then leaves without probing his plans.
• The Immortal Golden Body makes one final, defiant attempt to escape mortality, but his strength cannot overcome the tribulation or God Venerable’s Dao.
• God Venerable watches his old friend’s final trial in silence, accepting that he cannot save him. His own later transformation into a Sacred Spirit Stone Embryo suggests a new stage beyond his former life.
• Duan De is excited by the Fortune Origin Eye’s inhabitants and determined to claim them. His partnership with Li Ming is effective but limited to this investigation; he keeps his intentions for the captives private.
• The Dark Supremes are divided between their hunger for action and fear of Li Ming, whose past violence makes them wary of assuming he is truly gone.

Significant themes

• Power versus mortality: Even near-emperor strength cannot guarantee a breakthrough or defeat time.
• Conflicting values: Li Ming’s pragmatic outlook contrasts with the Immortal Golden Body’s generosity and restraint.
• Rebirth and transformation: The Immortal Medicines, God Venerable’s change, and the Fortune Origin Eye’s births all suggest that life can begin again in unexpected forms.
• Uncertainty and suspicion: The new emperor’s appearance unsettles the cosmic order, while the Dark Supremes cannot tell whether Li Ming is absent or laying a trap.

Key plot points and events

• The Spirit Emperor, a Sacred Spirit, achieves Emperor Enlightenment during the Grand Dao’s Unmanifest age, beginning a new imperial era.
• Li Ming—the Demon Venerable—remains alive in the Undying Mountain, despite the universe believing he has died. His Grand Dao is sealed within himself so it will not obstruct another’s enlightenment.
• The Spirit Emperor establishes Spirit God Mountain and gathers Sacred Spirits around him. Their arrogance and oppression make life miserable for other races, who miss the peace and relative equality of Li Ming’s rule.
• Three thousand years after his enlightenment, the Spirit Emperor goes to the Undying Mountain to seize Li Ming’s legendary Immortal Weapons, openly threatening to rob his grave.
• Li Ming emerges, revealing that he is still alive. The Spirit Emperor attacks in desperation, but Li Ming effortlessly destroys his techniques and saber, then kills him with a single sweep of the Heavenly Demonic Saber.

Character developments

• Li Ming: Though extremely old, he remains youthful, vital, and overwhelmingly powerful. He is initially content to let the Spirit Emperor rule, but responds decisively when the Emperor threatens his resting place and weapons.
• The Spirit Emperor: A formidable Sacred Spirit who creates his own cultivation method and reaches the peak of his power, but proves arrogant and cruel. His confidence collapses when he discovers Li Ming is alive and vastly stronger than he is.
• The people of the universe: Their memories of Li Ming shift from admiration to grief as they believe him dead, highlighting how much they valued the peace and stability of his reign.

Significant themes

• Power and humility: The Spirit Emperor mistakes his status as the current sovereign for invincibility; Li Ming’s effortless victory exposes the gulf between rank and true strength.
• Legacy and reputation: The Spirit Emperor dismisses stories of Li Ming’s past deeds as exaggerations, only to learn their force firsthand.
• Just rule versus tyranny: Li Ming’s era is remembered for coexistence and the Human Race’s revival, while the Spirit Emperor’s reign brings oppression and fear.
• Death and mistaken appearances: Li Ming’s presumed death invites others to challenge his legacy, but his return overturns the universe’s assumptions.

Character interactions

• Li Ming notices the Spirit Emperor’s enlightenment and allows it to proceed, having restrained his own Grand Dao and weapons.
• The Spirit Emperor’s threats against Li Ming’s grave and treasures provoke Li Ming to reveal himself.
• Their confrontation is brief and one-sided: the Spirit Emperor attacks with his sacred feathers, Flying Immortal power, and silver saber, but Li Ming nullifies them and kills him with the Heavenly Demonic Saber.

Summary

• Spirit Emperor’s defeat: After surviving Li Ming’s earlier strike, Spirit Emperor is flung back to Gouchen Ancient Star and crushed beneath Spirit God Mountain. The Myriad Souls Banner—now an Immortal Weapon—pins him there. Li Ming shows him no mercy and intends to imprison him for millennia.
• The world reacts: Dark Supremes awaken but stay hidden, convinced Li Ming’s apparent weakness was a trap. Across the universe, people celebrate his survival and strength, while human communities draw confidence from his example. Sacred Spirits retreat from public view.
• Spirit Emperor’s imprisonment and death: Over three thousand years, the banner repeatedly drains and torments Spirit Emperor, using him as a spectacle for visiting cultivators and even distributing his blood. His Dao injuries, shattered pride, and lost faith in immortality leave him broken. Hoping to escape, he gives up his imperial cultivation to become a Dark Supreme, but the banner swallows him, adding him to its collection. His death at just over six thousand years old becomes a universal shock; the public never learns the full truth.
• Demon Mountain: Spirit God Mountain is renamed Demon Mountain and becomes a sacred site dedicated to Li Ming. Its restored Divine Spring benefits those who worship him, while other races envy the human clans receiving its water.
• A new transformation begins: Li Ming senses his current lifetime nearing its end and prepares for transformation in the Underworld. A mysterious heartbeat grows stronger as immense life force gathers. Dark Supremes recognize the aura as belonging to the Netherworld Venerable, whose revival should not yet be occurring. Li Ming’s Myriad Souls Banner shields the process from their sight, and the Netherworld Venerable’s weapon awakens.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Ming remains overwhelmingly powerful and inscrutable. His treatment of Spirit Emperor turns a public challenge into a prolonged punishment, while his protection of the Netherworld Venerable’s transformation shows his influence extends beyond combat.
• Spirit Emperor falls from arrogant ruler to humiliated prisoner, then to a despairing captive who briefly chooses survival over death. His final attempt to escape only leads to his absorption into the banner.
• The Dark Supremes respond to Li Ming with fear and caution, choosing concealment over confrontation. They also urge Spirit Emperor to keep living, though they cannot save him.
• The wider world turns Li Ming into a symbol of hope and reverence, while Spirit Emperor becomes a cautionary legend about arrogance and misjudgment.

Significant themes

• Power and consequence: Challenging Li Ming brings Spirit Emperor not only defeat but lasting physical and psychological ruin.
• Public image versus hidden truth: The universe remembers Spirit Emperor as a short-lived, failed emperor, unaware of the banner’s role in his death.
• Worship and authority: Li Ming’s power inspires faith, reshapes sacred geography, and benefits those who venerate him.
• Death and transformation: As Li Ming approaches the end of his lifetime, the Netherworld Venerable’s unexpected heartbeat hints that death may lead to another form of existence.

Key plot points and events

• In the Underworld, Netherworld Emperor Duan De completes an extreme transformation: he destroys his old body and uses the life essence of the Source God and Source Ghost—deities born from the Fortune Origin Eye—to be reborn. His new body is younger, brimming with vitality, and more powerful.
• Li Ming, who guarded him during the process, recognizes that Duan De’s approach could help him pursue a new lifetime of his own. The two meet in the Netherworld Emperor Hall and exchange insights on longevity and the Red Dust Immortal path.
• Afterward, Li Ming continues studying the Chaotic Body and methods of transformation. The Dark Supremes remain quiet under his watch, while the Spirit Emperor’s lingering Grand Dao suppression keeps the era short on powerful cultivators.
• A great upheaval in the Cosmic Frontier Wasteland reveals that the Feathered Immortal Cauldron has become a true Immortal Weapon. Its aura resembles that of the long-presumed-dead Boundless Heavenly Venerable.
• The Boundless Divine Cauldron arrives, its Weapon Deity taking the Heavenly Venerable’s form. The Dark Supremes infer that the Heavenly Venerable survived by becoming the Feathered Immortal Cauldron’s Weapon Deity.
• Duan De and Li Ming join the gathering. Li Ming proposes helping the Boundless Heavenly Venerable break free from the cauldron and live another lifetime. The chapter ends as Duan De recognizes the Heavenly Venerable as an old acquaintance.

Character developments and interactions

• Duan De successfully applies his Destruction-and-Rebirth method, emerging stronger and more youthful. Grateful to Li Ming, he offers to share what he learned; the two speak openly as longtime companions.
• Li Ming gains a possible model for his own transformation and continues pursuing longevity without targeting the Dark Supremes unless they threaten the living. He now takes the lead in planning how to free the Boundless Heavenly Venerable.
• The Boundless Heavenly Venerable is revealed to have survived in an extraordinary form, hidden within the Feathered Immortal Cauldron. His Weapon Deity and the Boundless Divine Cauldron’s spirit appear to respond to one another.
• The Dark Supremes move from suspicion to a plausible understanding of the Heavenly Venerable’s alternative path, watching the revelation with shock and fascination.

Significant themes

• Destruction as renewal: Duan De’s rebirth requires his old body to collapse before new life can form.
• Alternative paths to longevity: The chapter contrasts reincarnation, bodily transformation, and survival through becoming a weapon spirit.
• Knowledge shared across ages: Li Ming and Duan De exchange hard-won insights, while the Heavenly Venerable’s past connections link generations of cultivators.
• Power and responsibility: Li Ming tolerates the Dark Supremes so long as they do not inflict mass suffering, but is prepared to intervene if they do.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Li Ming reveals that Boundless Heavenly Venerable survived the Mythology Era’s great calamity by becoming the weapon deity of the Feathered Immortal Cauldron. But because the cauldron has become a true Immortal Weapon, Boundless is at risk of being permanently assimilated into it.
• Li Ming and Netherworld Emperor Duan De join forces to awaken Boundless and break him free. Boundless rouses himself, recognizes them, and helps direct a combined assault that shatters the cauldron. Li Ming gathers the fragments and re-forges the weapon into an Immortal Weapon embryo.
• Boundless briefly reappears as a young man, then explains that he must begin life again as an infant: he seals away his old Dao Fruit and cultivation so he can cultivate anew and attain Emperor Enlightenment.
• The weapon deity returns to the Feathered Immortal Cauldron, while Boundless seals his Dao Fruit in the Boundless Divine Cauldron and keeps the damaged Feathered Immortal Cauldron within his body for protection.
• Boundless becomes an infant, chooses the Dao Scripture of Daode Tianzun, and later travels the Ancient Starry Sky Road as a youth. After more than two thousand years, he triggers an Enlightenment Tribulation in an era when the Grand Dao is unmanifest. He shatters the Heavenly Heart Imprint and becomes Supreme once more.
• After his successful rebirth and renewed Enlightenment, Boundless flies first to the Undying Mountain to visit Li Ming.

Character developments and interactions

• Boundless Heavenly Venerable completes a perilous transition from weapon deity to a new human life. His rebirth does not restore his former power immediately: he must cultivate from infancy, but his foundation and accumulated insights allow him to rise again. His renewed Enlightenment confirms his exceptional strength and resilience.
• Li Ming acts as Boundless’s chief protector and strategist, having concealed the plan from dangerous observers and prepared to contain the cauldron’s fragments. He also repairs the weapon after its destruction.
• Netherworld Emperor Duan De willingly assists Li Ming despite not being the genuine Netherworld Venerable. Boundless recognizes the old friendship between the true Netherworld Venerable and himself, and expresses hope of sharing wine with his former friend once he reaches the end of the Red Dust Immortal Path.
• The Boundless Divine Cauldron’s weapon deity celebrates its master’s return and credits Li Ming’s covert protection with keeping the plan hidden from the Dark Supremes.
• Duan De jokes that Boundless should have been reborn as a chubby child; Boundless explains that his youthful form is only temporary. The exchange adds warmth to an otherwise momentous reunion.

Significant themes

• Rebirth through sacrifice and perseverance: Boundless must relinquish his former body and cultivation to truly begin again.
• Transformation and identity: His existence shifts from Heavenly Venerable to weapon deity, then back to human life, showing that identity can endure profound changes.
• Friendship and mutual aid: Li Ming and Duan De risk immense power to free Boundless, while Boundless’s gratitude and memories of old bonds reinforce the value of loyalty.
• Fortune, hardship, and resilience: Boundless survives repeated near-death crises through preparation, chance, and persistent cultivation.
• Defying an impossible age: In an era when no one is expected to attain Enlightenment, Boundless breaks the Heavenly Heart Imprint and rises above his contemporaries, becoming the era’s exceptional figure.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Ming, despite being in the late stages of his Fifth Lifetime, still possesses astonishing vitality, blood, and strength. His solid cultivation foundation, Chaotic Body Origin, accumulated scriptures, and mastery of the Grand Dao have allowed him to avoid the decline that normally accompanies old age.
• Boundless Heavenly Venerable reaches his own Fifth Lifetime, fully repairing his Dao injuries and perfecting his body, Primordial Spirit, and Five Great Secret Realms. He travels to the Mythical Battlefield to challenge Li Ming and test his new power.
• Boundless Heavenly Venerable unleashes his strongest attack, powerful enough to kill a Crippled Immortal. Li Ming effortlessly counters with Immortal Ascension Light and defeats him in a single overwhelming exchange.
• Li Ming estimates that Boundless Heavenly Venerable is comparable to a Crippled Immortal, but still far weaker than himself. The defeat leaves Boundless Heavenly Venerable shocked and questioning whether repeated transformations could eventually bring him to Li Ming’s level.
• Li Ming advises him that the answer must be discovered through his own path. Boundless Heavenly Venerable accepts the guidance and departs with renewed determination.
• Li Ming subsequently disappears from public view and disguises himself as an ordinary mortal, wandering through the mundane world. He observes the deaths of mortals and the rise and fall of dynasties, using this experience of impermanence and loneliness as another form of cultivation.
• Twenty thousand years later, rumors spread that Netherworld Emperor Duan De’s Grand Dao is collapsing and that he is nearing death. Because Duan De has undergone Corpse Spirit Awakening, his possible death and future transformation attract great attention.
• Li Ming senses that Duan De still has several thousand years of life remaining and suspects that his apparent decline is deliberate. He secretly visits the Underworld and enters the Netherworld Emperor Hall.
• He finds Duan De pretending to be an aged, dying emperor inside a Yellow-Mud Coffin, surrounded by Immortal Medicine, rare treasures, and burial materials. Li Ming immediately sees through the deception.
• Duan De admits that he is making early preparations and hints that he may be planning another transformation or “fishing” operation, but he refuses to reveal his actual burial or transformation site.

Character Developments

• Li Ming: Demonstrates that his late-Fifth-Lifetime state is far beyond ordinary Supreme-level aging. His immense strength, longevity, and insight have made him almost unfathomable to other cultivators. His period of living as a mortal also reveals a more contemplative side, as he studies death, change, and the loneliness of invincibility.
• Boundless Heavenly Venerable: Successfully reaches his Fifth Lifetime and becomes powerful enough to threaten a Crippled Immortal. However, his defeat by Li Ming exposes the enormous gap between them. Rather than becoming discouraged, he converts his shock into renewed ambition and seeks to understand his own path.
• Netherworld Emperor Duan De: Appears to be approaching death, but his behavior reveals his characteristic cunning and secrecy. He prepares an elaborate false burial and conceals his true intentions, reinforcing his reputation as an elusive figure who repeatedly survives through Corpse Spirit Awakening.

Significant Themes

• The limits of cultivation and longevity: Li Ming’s extraordinary survival challenges the normal lifespan of Supreme cultivators and emphasizes the difference between ordinary methods and a truly solid Grand Dao foundation.
• Individual paths to transcendence: Li Ming tells Boundless Heavenly Venerable that no one else can provide the answer to whether repeated transformations will lead to ultimate power. Each cultivator must discover and perfect their own Dao.
• Invincibility and loneliness: Li Ming’s mortal journey shows that supreme power brings isolation. By witnessing ordinary lives and deaths, he seeks a deeper understanding beyond combat and cultivation.
• Deception, fate, and survival: Duan De’s staged decline highlights the importance of concealment in the dangerous cultivation world. Even near death, he remains calculating and impossible to predict.
• Impermanence and transformation: The decline of Grand Dao Imprints, the rise and fall of dynasties, and repeated Lifetimes all reinforce the cyclical nature of existence.

Character Interactions

• Li Ming and Boundless Heavenly Venerable: Their battle is respectful but overwhelmingly one-sided. Boundless attacks at full strength, while Li Ming neutralizes him effortlessly. Afterward, Li Ming offers indirect guidance rather than a direct answer, encouraging Boundless to rely on his own comprehension.
• Li Ming and Netherworld Emperor Duan De: Their private meeting is marked by mutual wariness and subtle humor. Li Ming exposes Duan De’s false weakness, while Duan De tries to understand how he was seen through. Li Ming maintains an enigmatic image, refusing to explain the true source of his insight.
• The wider cultivation world: Powerful cultivators and Dark Supremes react with awe and uncertainty to the transformations of Boundless Heavenly Venerable, Li Ming’s rumored survival, and Duan De’s possible death, underscoring how both men have become legendary and unpredictable figures.

Key plot points and events

• Li Ming recommends primordial Earth, specifically Kunlun Mountain, as Netherworld Emperor Duan De’s ideal place to undergo Corpse Spirit Awakening. Its Dragon Veins can speed his nine-lifetime reincarnation process.
• Duan De abandons his original burial site, seals away his memories and aura inside the mysterious Yellow-Mud Coffin, and disappears into Kunlun’s Dragon Veins. His apparent death triggers ominous signs across the universe as his Grand Dao Imprint collapses.
• Five thousand years later, Li Ming witnesses the coffin’s transformation: Duan De’s body and primordial spirit truly die, but a new Reincarnation Seal forms and nurtures a primordial spirit seed. He now has five seals, advancing faster than expected.
• Li Ming leaves the coffin undisturbed, repairs the area, and continues wandering among mortals. At nearly 160,000 years old, he reflects on the loneliness of extreme longevity and understands how isolation may harden the Dark Supremes, though he rejects their slaughter of ordinary beings.
• Later, the Boundless Heavenly Venerable begins transforming into a Sacred Spirit Stone Embryo again. Having failed in a previous attempt, he is determined to succeed; Li Ming watches closely and prepares a contingency in case the transformation goes wrong.

Character developments and interactions

• Duan De remains secretive and cautious, entrusting his transformation to the Yellow-Mud Coffin and Kunlun’s natural power. His renewed progress demonstrates the resilience of his reincarnation method.
• Li Ming acts as Duan De’s adviser and witness, but respects the limits of his role rather than interfering with a process that must be endured alone. His reflections reveal growing awareness of the emotional cost of immortality.
• The Boundless Heavenly Venerable shows unwavering resolve to attempt his transformation once more. He and Li Ming part on friendly terms, exchanging hopes of meeting again a million years later.
• The Dark Supremes suspect Duan De’s apparent death may be a deliberate disguise, but lack evidence and return to slumber.

Significant themes

• Death, rebirth, and hidden identity: Duan De’s apparent death conceals another stage in his cycle of reincarnation.
• Longevity and loneliness: Immortality brings profound isolation as generations of familiar people disappear.
• Respect for personal choice: Li Ming offers guidance and protection but does not override the transformations Duan De and the Boundless Heavenly Venerable must undertake themselves.
• Power and morality: Li Ming understands how long isolation can distort the Dark Supremes, yet insists that suffering does not excuse sacrificing countless lives.